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John D. Harbron family fonds, 78 results 78
Danny Grossman Dance Company fonds, 15 results 15
Donald Stovel Macdonald fonds, 14 results 14
Lloyd Mackenzie fonds, 8 results 8
Toronto Telegram fonds, 5 results 5
J.L. Granatstein fonds, 1 results 1
Clara Thomas Archives collection, 1 results 1
Macdonald, Donald S., 1932-, 14 results 14
Adams, Ellen C., 1925-1982, 1 results 1
Beer (family), 1 results 1
Allan, James R., d. 1916, 1 results 1
Beer, Vivien, 1 results 1
Shore (family), 1 results 1
Tucker, Albert, 1 results 1
Canada. Dept. of Energy, Mines and Resources, 6 results 6
Syncrude Canada Ltd., 4 results 4
Canada. Department of National Defence, 3 results 3
Josef, Franz, 2 results 2
Canada. Canadian Forces Base (Summerside, P.E.I.), 1 results 1
Canada. Canadian Forces Base (Bagotville, Que.), 1 results 1
Canada. Royal Canadian Navy, 1 results 1
Canada. Canadian Forces Base (Chilliwack, B.C.), 1 results 1
Cuba, 15 results 15
Athabasca Oil Sands, 7 results 7
Halifax, 5 results 5
Submarines, 7 results 7
Petroleum industry, 6 results 6
Synthetic lubricants, 6 results 6
Documentary photography, 4 results 4
Military bases, 3 results 3
Airports, 2 results 2
(1) S.1. : trip diaries : Alberta, 1984?
(19) : S.1. : trip diaries : Mid Canada Corridor Conference : Western Arctic
(4) S.1. : trip diaries : B.C. - Alaska
Airport inquiry board
Alissa York fonds
Fonds consists of drafts, manuscripts, notes, research material, edits, and character sketches created by Alissa York as part of her process creating her short story collection, Any Given Power (1999), and her novels: Mercy (2003), Effigy (2007), Fauna (2010), and The Naturalist (2016).
York, Alissa
Archie Alleyne fonds
Accession consists of material documenting the career of Archie Alleyne as a musician, philanthropist, and influential figure in the Toronto jazz music scene. Material includes collected material on other Toronto-based jazz musicians; posters, photographs, and other memorabilia from performances and events; correspondence; material related to the Archie Alleyne Scholarship Fund; notebooks; and drafts and research material for his memoir, Colour Me Jazz: The Archie Alleyne Story (2015). Audio-visual material includes recordings of jazz-related programming broadcast on television, audio interviews with jazz musicians, and released and unreleased music performances
Alleyne, Archie
Battle of the Atlantic Place
Part of J.L. Granatstein fonds
File consists of a promotional booklet for a development to be built around HMCS Sackville and adjacent to the Marine Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. The booklet provides an overview of the concept, historical context, exhibits, and architectural design. It was prepared for the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust.
Beer family fonds
Fonds consists of correspondence between Captain James R. Allan and Vivien Beer of Strathroy, Ontario before Captain Allan, was killed; press clippings and photographs of Captain Allan and Private Walter Beer while serving in World War I and scenes of various members of the Beer family.
Beer (family)
Canada, Department of National Revenue fonds
Fonds consists of registers of British vessels employed in the coasting trade on Canada's Atlantic coast. One volume records vessels that arrived at Bridgetown, Nova Scotia, between 1876 and 1906, and the other volume lists vessels that departed from this port between 1876 and 1910. The registers include date of entry, rig and name of vessel, the master's name, port of departure or destination, whether the vessel was carrying cargo or ballast, and the number of tons and crew permitted under transire or coasting license.
Canadian Pacific Railway : North Toronto sub-division
Canadian Yesterdays : JD : (1) correspondence on his books
Canadian Yesterdays : correspondence : book promotion
Canadian Yesterdays : rough chapter(s) : artwork collected foto-copies by 2000 : ch 5 : Ontario and Quebec
Canadian Yesterdays : rough chapter(s) outline : artwork collected fotocopies by 2000 : ch 3 : heroes of war and peace
Canadian Yesterdays : rough chapter(s) outline : artwork collected fotocopies by 2000 : ch 4 : lifestyles
2016-043/012(006
Canadian Yesterdays : rough chapter(s) outline : artwork collected fotocopies by 2000 : ch 6 : the west and the artic
Canadian Yesterdays : rough chapter(s) outline : artwork collected fotocopies by 2000 : ch 7 : industry
Canadian Yesterdays : rough chapter(s) outline : artwork collected fotocopies by 2000 : ch 8 : Canada and U.S.A.
Canadian Yesterdays : rough chapter(s) outline : artwork collected fotocopies by 2000 : ch 9 : the future
Canadian Yesterdays : rough chapter(s) outline : artwork collected fotocopies by 2000 : cover
Canadian Yesterdays : rough chapter(s) outline : artwork collected photocopies by 2000 : ch 1 : meaning of Canada
Canadian Yesterdays : rough chapter(s) outline : artwork collected photocopies by 2000 : ch 2 : prime ministers and politicians
Coptic Canadian History Project (CCHP) collection
Collection consists of records accumulated by the Coptic Canadian History Project (CCHP) pertaining to the history and activities of Coptic immigrants in Canada.
Cuba : Canadian and Cuban trade policies
Cuba : Canadian-Cuban relations research notes
1991, [199-]
Cuba : Cuban relations with Canada and North America
Cuba : Selected articles on Canada and Cuba, 1960-1995/Harbron
File contains a document which compiled selected documents on Canada and Cuba written by John Harbron.
Cuba : research
[197-?], 1981, 1991
File contains two excerpts of interview transcripts with Sr. Francisco Quijada, a Cuban bibliography research notes, and correspondence regarding research on the Cuban community in Miami and Cuban-Canadian trading relations.
Cuba: (5) Castro, Fidel
File contains photo of Harbron with Fidel Castro at Canadian Embassy in Havana during the March 1975 official Canadian Trade Mission of Alastair Gillespie to Cuba.
Ellen C. Adams fonds
The fonds documents Ellen C. Adams' political activities at municipal level in the Toronto area for the period 1956-1975, including her involvement with the Avenue Bay Cottingham Ratepayers' Association and the Confederation of Resident and Ratepayer Associations (CORRA). Records include subject files pertaining to the City of Toronto Council, the City of Toronto Planning Board, Toronto municipal elections, transportation and the waterfront, as well as meeting minutes, periodicals, books, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, a map and directory, reports, papers and briefs.
Adams, Ellen C., 1925-1982
Fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists (FFIDA) Dance Ontario Halifax Gala : Living Arts Showcase
Part of Danny Grossman Dance Company fonds
Herbert Hunt fonds
1926-[20--?], predominant 1926-1938
Fonds consists of diaries, account books, crop records, photographs, publications and drafts written by Hunt, correspondence, contracts, receipts, government documents and publications, newspaper and magazine articles, maps, and ephemera. Hunt’s correspondence with various government officials and travel coordinators documents his enrollment in the Settlement Scheme, and the processes involved in migrating from England to Canada. Hunt’s participation in the scheme is further documented by his accumulation of government publications and legal documents, as well as the journals and receipts that pertained to his farming activities. Photographs and maps depict Hedgerows farm and its location. Newspaper and magazine clippings and other printed ephemera collected by Hunt, while in Saskatchewan and after his return to England, record his continued interest in the fates of his fellow settlers. Although Hunt published an essay recounting his experiences positively, his drafts speak of his ultimate discontent with the Settlement Scheme.
Hunt, Herbert William
Householder
File consists of Donald S. Macdonald's reports to the electors of Rosedale, and photographs of Macdonald attending events in the riding.
Inez Elliston fonds
Fonds consists of research materials, committee records, community advocacy documentation and government policy correspondence, curriculum materials, surveys, reports and other textual material related to the professional, volunteer and community activities of Inez Elliston. Material relates to her professional interest in educational curriculum development, particularly in relation to multicultural policies developed at the federal and provincial levels, and how such policies were implemented in local school boards. Other material relates to Elliston's involvement in local, municipal, provincial, national and international organizations and committees involved in social issues related to women's rights, (particularly immigrant women, ethnic and cultural minorities, women of of colour and aboriginal women, issues of gender in urban communities, domestic violence, safety and accessibility), immigrant school children (particularly in the area of assessment, anti-racist, cultural interrelation, vocational training, and children's rights), adult learners (particularly in the areas of vocational training, anti-racist programming and policies for adult immigrant learners) and citizenship (in particular areas of multiculturalism, inter-cultural dialogue, tolerance, anti-Hate Group community efforts, political organization and celebration of diversity).
Elliston, Inez N., 1930-
Jim Galloway fonds
Fonds consists of records pertaining to the life and work of Canadian-Scottish Jazz musician and Toronto Jazz Festival founder, Jim Galloway. Records include those pertaining to his early life in Scotland, his work as a booking agent and radio host with CKFM, his administrative roles with the Toronto Jazz Festival, and his life as a performing saxophonist. In addition to the administrative contracts, correspondence, notes, travel records, gig and festival memorabilia, sheet music, and other records pertaining to Galloway's career, the fonds includes extensive audio recordings of Galloway's radio show, Toronto Alive, as well as various other recordings created or compiled by Galloway throughout his career.
Galloway, Jim, 1936-2014
Kingston : March 1997
Latin America : Canada : foreign policy and Latin America : development
File contains published articles about Canadian foreign policy in Latin America and development.
Latin America : duplicates : my articles : urban guerillas
File contains published articles linking urban guerilla tactics in Latin America and Quebec separatists.
Letter to William Martin
Part of Clara Thomas Archives collection
File consists of a handwritten letter written from a brother and sister to their father in Kent, England, describing their decision to leave Hamilton, Upper Canada, due to unrest in the colony and to escape British tyranny, and to move to Rochester in the state of New York.
London, Ontario : January 1997
Fonds consists of records pertaining to the personal and professional life of Italian-Canadian artist Luigi Nasato. These records, dating from 1931 to 2015, document Nasato’s early life and education in Istrana, Italy, as well as his emigration to first Argentina and then Toronto, Ontario. The records primarily pertain to Nasato’s artistic output and include several hundred drawings, sketches, paintings, and preliminary studies created over the course of his career, as well as a number of awards granted to Nasato on the basis of his artistic contributions. Many of the artistic works included in the fonds relate to projects completed in Toronto and environs, particularly to mosaic projects created by Nasato at a number of churches in the region. Fonds also includes notes on art history and artistic technique created by Nasato as both a student and professional artist, as well as miscellaneous textual and financial records pertaining to the practicalities of his artistic career. Also included in the fonds is an extensive collection of photographs and clippings, compiled by Nasato over the course of his life, most of which document works of art created by Nasato and others.
Nasato, Luigi, 1924-2014
Lynn Crosbie fonds
Fonds consists of records documenting Lynn Crosbie’s work as a writer, journalist and teacher, including manuscripts, draft articles and poems, published copies of her articles and poems, correspondence, videocassettes, audio cassettes, photographs, notebooks, day planners, lecture notes, research materials, course materials and student assignments. Also included in the fonds are personal photographs, correspondence, ephemera, memorabilia, notebooks and sketchbooks.
Crosbie, Lynn, 1963-
Madeleine Boss Lasserre fonds
Fonds illustrates Madeleine Boss Lasserre’s career and interests as a music educator of children and adults in Toronto, Ontario. Most of the material was created between 1925 and 1977, while Lasserre was actively employed with the Margaret Eaton School and the Toronto Conservatory of Music. A small subset of the records were created outside of this time span. Records include: Dalcroze teaching and demonstration notes and diagrams; correspondence with colleagues and students; material pertaining to general early childhood education; and material related to the administration and promotion of courses in Dalcroze Eurhythmics. Fonds contains notes and notebooks, pamphlets, programmes, correspondence, clippings and scrapbooks, as well as photographs of Lasserre and other members of the Dalcroze and music communities.
Lasserre, Madeleine Boss, 1901-1998
Media : newspaper articles and photographs
File consists of newspaper articles interviewing Ruth Macdonald on the life of a politician's wife and showing her skating with Mitchell Sharp, an article from Time magazine regarding the formation of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Cabinet shuffle in 1970, photographs of Ruth Macdonald as part of a delegation visiting Aule Alm in Germany, and photographs of Donald S. Macdonald visiting the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering at CFB Chilliwack.
Minister's visit to CFB Bagotville and CFB Summerside, 4-5 Apr 1971
Minister's visit to Toronto, March 3, 1971
Moving North : Northern Ontario : itineraries
Moving North : Northern Ontario and Manitoulan Island
Navy : Canada : Canadian Navy (1) : Harbron articles
Navy : Canada : Canadian Navy (1) : Harbron articles : Datalinks on navy : 1990s
File contains articles written by journalists other than Harbron in "Strategic Datalink" from the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies.
Navy : Canada : Canadian Navy (1) : Harbron articles : Scientific American
Navy : Canada : Canadian Navy (1) : Harbron articles : correspondence with Minister of National Defense
Navy : Canada : Canadian Navy (1) : Harbron articles : general : 1990s
1994-1996, [199-]
File contains research and notes.
Navy : Canada : Canadian Navy (1) : Harbron articles : ice breakers
1969, 1986-1988, [198-]
Navy : Canada : Canadian Navy (3) : research : 1980s : submarines
Navy : Canada : Canadian Navy (3) : research : cargo submarines
Navy : Canada : Canadian Navy (4) : research : U.S. subs in arctic
Navy : Canada : Canadian navy (2) : NOAC 1980s : general
Navy : Canada : Canadian navy (2) : research : NOAC : nostalgia items for "BUMPH" : armed forces unification 1967
Navy : History Today article written by Harbron : Franz Josef's forgotten uboats
Newfoundland : 1999
Newfoundland : correspondence
Newfoundland Tour : March 1999
Notes to be used during Minister's campaign
File consists of speaking notes outlining the work of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources to meet the growing demand for energy, particularly in terms of resources under the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Hudson Bay, the Arctic, and the Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory, including exploration for oil and gas and the Mackenzie valley pipeline.
Part of Lloyd Mackenzie fonds
File consists of photograph album documenting Mackenzie's trips to Kingston, Miami and the Thousand Islands, a cruise of the Caribbean as well as his life in Toronto.
File consists of a photograph album documenting Mackenzie's travels to Spain and Morocco as well as his life in Toronto.
File consists of a photograph album documenting Mackenzie's trips to Agawa Canyon, Manitoulin Island, Georgian Bay as well as his life in Toronto.
File consists of a bound album containing photographs documenting the activities, friendships and extended family of the Mackenzies in Toronto, Long Branch and New Toronto.
File consists of a photograph album documenting Mackenzie's travels in Latin America (Puerto Rico), the U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), Canada (Halifax, Niagara Falls) and the United States (Florida). Also includes photographs of Mackenzie's life in Toronto.
Results 1 to 100 of 140
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Movie Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK – latest animated feature from DC goes as dark as it can, but the end result is mostly dim.
On January 28, 2017 December 29, 2017 By ANDREW HOPEIn Movie Reviews
Animation isn’t my thing. I mean, other than classic Tom and Jerry, I just never caught the bug. I have a fondness for some Pixar material, and I really loved The Incredibles and The Iron Giant, but that’s mostly it. My most recent trip there was Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom, but that was purely because I’m a fan of Lovecraft. The movie itself was pretty poor, as I said in my review here. So yeah, not a huge fan. But comic books are in my DNA, and I will usually try to watch animated features with the major characters. It rarely works out well – head on over to my review of 2016’s truly wretched animated adaptation of Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke. I should know better, right? Apparently not, because I just finished watch Justice League Dark.
You’d have to be living under the proverbial rock to have still not heard of The Justice League. Even though the live action movie will soon be out, the comic goes way back. This review isn’t the place to talk about the history, but the idea of bringing together Earth’s greatest heroes in one team isn’t restricted to DC comics – Marvel’s Avengers does the same thing. So what is Justice League Dark? Cue exposition!
The concept here is rooted in DC’s Vertigo Comics line – going back to its genesis in the 1980s, Vertigo Comics took a mature approach to comic books, and turned a number of its more little-known, supernatural and strange characters into cult favourites. A little later, some other characters were folded into the mix. Justice League Dark then, takes the characters John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, The Demon, Black Orchid, and Swamp Thing, along with Batman, and throws them together to combat a supernatural menace from the medieval times.
The result is certainly nowhere near as bad as The Killing Joke – in fact, it’s a decent attempt. Unfortunately it suffers from many of the same problems that animated features based on comic book properties have, which I’ll list here. First and foremost, the animation is bog-standard these days. 2D animation used to be great. They were crafted with real care at a point in the distant past, but for decades the animation has resembled the choppy movement of bad stop motion, and I find that really distracting. So much of today’s animation just looks cheap and generic, like watching a really long flipbook – the jumps between frames are so blatant and noticeable I find it very hard to sit through. Justice League Dark suffers from bad artwork too. The designs on some of the characters are just flat out awful, and many of the characters suffer from inconsistency (Superman, who appears very early, sometimes looks a bit like Tom Cruise, then sometimes nothing like him. Now, I don’t know if he was meant to look like Cruise, but the characters should at least look the same every time they appear in the same scene, right?) as though different artists worked on the same character. The anatomy is sometimes REALLY bad – arms look way too long and oddly disjointed, upper torsos are sometimes monstrously gigantic – I mean Rob Liefeld monstrous, just like this:
On character design, I’ve seen worse, and I actually like Batman’s costume here, but Zatanna’s is awful. While I wouldn’t call it offensive (some people might), I’m kind of tired of female costumes looking skimpy and revealing just cuz. Throughout the movie, Zatanna wears a white strapless thing that only just covers her big, obvious tits.
Yeah, yeah, women wear bikinis in real life, I get it … but these days it feels cheap, and believe me, I’m no SJW. Other characters are lazily designed too – Swamp Thing looks mostly crap, and the Big Bad of the piece looks painfully like the live action Skeletor from Masters of the Universe, back in the 80s. Visually, the whole thing approaches lame, and never rises above.
In terms of story, again, it’s okay. A serviceable story, written by comics veteran J.M Dematteis (who wrote one of the few comic books I’ve ever truly loved, Moonshadow) and Ernie Albacker, finds the team drawn together by inexplicable murders where regular people hallucinate other people as demonic beings who need to be killed. It’s a decent setup, and the story is as cinematic as a PG-13 horror movie can aspire to, but this is main trouble with the story. Plenty of Vertigo and pre-Vertigo books were genuinely set in the horror genre. The early days of Hellblazer (which introduced John Constantine), especially those by Jamie Delano and my old chum Richard Piers Rayner very successfully brought a Ramsey Campbell vibe into comics. And I could simply not even bother mentioning Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, but his run was a brilliant piece of horror writing early in its run. For me, why do horror, if the goal is to soften the blows? Justice League Dark simply dips a toe in the horror genre, to the point where you wonder why bother using these characters at all? Moving past the introduction, the hour twenty running time is propped up by some exposition and a fight scene between the League and Felix Faust that goes on WAY too long, considering the payoff to that scene.
As well as all that, the voice acting was annoying too. Nicholas Turturro does a horrendous job with Deadman’s voice, coming off, incredibly, more like John Lovitz’s SNL character The Pathological Liar, and Matt Ryan, who actually played Constantine in the short-lived TV series sounds more like an American’s bad imitation of a Scouse accent than a real one. Jason O Mara’s Batman is good, and the rest of the voice acting is decent, with a surprisingly strong cast that includes Rosario Dawson and Jerry O’Connell – though I do wonder why not use voice talent who are NOT named stars? It’s not as if people are going to watch this based on who is doing the voices.
Once the thing had finished, I was left with the feeling that it was ho-hum. Nothing about it inspired me to write an invective filled Killing Joke-type review, just the sense that nobody was really trying to do anything that required much work. It doesn’t at any time try to pull off a Vertigo-like storyline, just a mostly weak, TV friendly cartoon that’s more like the early seasons of the Batman animated series from the early to mid 90s. With its sprinkling of mild swear words, I wonder who it was intended for, children who don’t really read comics anymore, or the dwindling adult audience. Like Howard Lovecraft, it seems like it was designed by people who never really knew who their target audience should have been from the start.
AdaptationAnimated. SupernaturalBatmanDC ComicsJohn ConstantineJustice LeagueJustice League DarkMatt RyanSwamp Thing
Graphic Fiction Review: HOWARD LOVECRAFT AND THE THREE KINGDOMS – unique and mostly enjoyable take on the works of HP Lovecraft
Movie Review: CAPTAIN FANTASTIC – Viggo Mortenson’s beautifully nuanced performance isn’t the only great thing about this heartwarming family drama
4 thoughts on “Movie Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK – latest animated feature from DC goes as dark as it can, but the end result is mostly dim.”
There is good animated stuff out there, but Justice League Dark isn’t it. I found the movie very average and thought the Killing Joke was better. Have to agree with the poor voice acting. I was surprised to learn that Constantine’s actor is British because his accent didn’t sound right.
ANDREW HOPE
Interesting that you thought The Killing Joke was better. I am a huge fan of the graphic novel, and I thought the utterly incomprehensible decision to add a half hour, completely unrelated prologue was maybe one of the biggest blunders I’ve ever seen. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I haven’t read the graphic novel so I wasn’t affect by the alterations. To be fair the story was too short to make into a movie. You can’t sell a DVD with only 30 minutes of content so they had to add some extra stuff. At least the prologue gave Batgirl more to do that just be a victim. Her going off the edge with that gangster also mirrored Batman getting pushed too far by Joker.
I’m been a comic book fan for decades, but even if you’re not, I highly recommend the book to you.
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Meet Attitude's HOT 100 winner, Aussie bobsledder Simon Dunn
It was the shock result that no one saw coming, but Australian bobsledder Simon Dunn has shot straight to the top spot on this year's Attitude HOT 100. The openly gay athlete is a brand new entry this year, usurping two-time champ Tom Daley at the top of poll - which is decided by your lovely selves and this year had the most votes ever. Check out the full top ten here. Simon made headlines around the world last year after joining the Australian bobsleigh team – making him the world’s first openly gay man to do so. Speaking to Attitude recently, the former Sydney Convicts rugby union player rugby admitted he was ready to find a man, settle down and start a family, but that he’ll only be getting married when it’s legal to do so in his home country of Australia. The newly-appointed world’s hottest man also stripped off for our Attitude Naked Issue earlier this year – something that undoubtedly helps explain his meteoric rise to the top of the HOT 100 elite – check out exclusive pics from his shoot here. Reacting to his victory, Simon said: “It’s flattering enough to have been voted on to the HOT 100 at all but to think I have been voted number one and beat guys like Tom Daley and Liam Payne is beyond me! I’m absolutely convinced my mother had all her friends vote for me – thanks mum! “I just want to say thanks to everyone who voted for me for their ongoing support and I hope that my win can help spread the word about equality in sport. If I can make one young gay teen see that sexuality shouldn’t be a factor in sport then that’s a win in itself” Simon currently resides in Calgary, Canada, but the 27-year-old flew over to London to be at our exclusive HOT 100 launch party last night (July 20), where it seems he made the most of his new-found admirers... You'd think that being crowned the world's hottest man would be enough to put a smile on his face, but Simon revealed that meeting glamour gal Katie Price at the bash was the icing on the cake - and he confessed she's the only women who could tempt him into the bedroom. https://twitter.com/bobsleighsimon/status/623394591933353984 "Meeting Katie was just as exciting as winning the HOT 100!" he told us the morning after the night before from his bed at the Andaz Hotel in London. "Back home she's famous for being totally outrageous and whipping out her big fake boobs! And that's why I love her! In fact she's probably the only woman I could imagine sleeping with cos I bet she'd be wild in the bedroom! "It was amazing to see her walking into the room cos everyone went crazy! I also met her husband Kieran too who is totally gorgeous, he has such an amazing body. You know what, if I had to choose I wouldn't know which one I'd fancy more!" His profile might be bigger in the States and Australia, but Simon spent the night charming the stars and lusty revellers, who demanded selfies (and his number) in equal measure. "I had a great time at the party. I met some great people and people I have read about were asking to go on a date. Unfortunately, I have to go back to Calgary to continue training. So I won't be able to take anyone up on their offer." But Simon didn't leave the UK without enjoying a holiday romance. The hunk was spotted leaving the party on the arm of a very dashing boybander, after being spotted having a cheeky kiss at the party! You can read more about Simon and find out the full HOT 100 results in the new issue of Attitude - available to download now, to your mobile, iPad or tablet device NOW at pocketmags.com/attitude or order via post at newsstand.co.uk/attitude. You’ll be able to pick up a copy in shops from this Wednesday (July 22). More stories: Tom Daley: ‘I always knew I was attracted to guys’ Man arrested after allegedly beating teenage boyfriend to death
Simon Dunn
'You' star James Scully says Forty Quinn is not straight
Fyre Festival icon Andy King the new face of Evian water
'Great British Bake Off' host Sandi Toksvig quits show after three series
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Oundjian ends his RSNO tenure with Mahler 9
By Simon Thompson, 04 June 2018
Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is a work about farewell, so it makes an appropriate work for Peter Oundjian to conduct as his final appearance as the RSNO’s Music Director. His performances of big symphonies have been, for me, the highlights of his time in Scotland. I’ve often been critical of him, but Mahler has been a strength of his. I wasn’t switched on his 2014 take on no. 8, but his performances of no. 2 and no. 3 really convinced me, as did his assaults on Bruckner and Shostakovich, both of which were very successful.
Peter Oundjian
© Sian Richards
In many ways, though, this performance summed up his time perfectly, both in its strengths and its weaknesses. The high point was the mighty first movement, which unfolded like a majestic sine wave, progressing from elation to devastation and back, between the violins’ sunlit D major and the stormy D minor that, eventually, overwhelmed the music, producing a moment of catastrophe that put me in mind of a horror film. When he’s at his best, Oundjian’s sense of musical architecture is really impressive, and he gave the impression of having thought this music through from the bottom up.
After that, though, doubts began to nag. It seems odd to criticise a piece of music for being too tight and too together, but that’s how the second movement sounded to me. Mahler’s final take on the Ländler needs to smack of impending danger and threat. He marks it to be played clumsy and coarse, after all, and I did like the way Oundjian’s fast tempo made the strings sound even more galumphing than normal. There was never any hint of imminent entropy, though; no sense that we were a hair’s breadth away from falling apart. After just a few moments I knew that everything was going to be OK, and that drained much of the excitement from the piece.
Conversely, the Rondo-Burleske wasn’t tight enough. The players were buried in their scores and there wasn’t enough of a sense of bite or the defiant energy that Mahler calls for. Instead, sections were cloudy around the outside and bled into one another, when what you need is pinprick accuracy. This movement needs to sound as though it has the energy and precision of a sports car, but I never felt that it was secure enough to properly grit its teeth.
The string sound for the finale was an engulfing wash, as it should be, and Oundjian shaped it all comfortably enough. But when should this music ever sound comfortable? He seemed to be leading the orchestra on a super-accurate run through the notes, but the energy and the passion seemed held at a distance, as though we were watching it through a glass screen. And the incredible final pages, where Mahler tremblingly gives himself up to death, proceeded in a manner that was dangerously close to banality.
The orchestral playing was great throughout. Principal brass solos were (as always) superb, and the strings sounding like a multi-layered crack team of experts, shading everything with beautiful precision that I know doesn’t happen by accident. For me, that speaks of Oundjian’s skill as an orchestra-builder, surely one of his key strengths, and it’s a shame that this didn’t come out more frequently in the heat of performance over the last six years. So as his time in Scotland comes to an end both he and the orchestra are bound to look back with fairly mixed feelings: with gratitude for his sense of direction but, surely, also a reflection on some missed opportunities.
One thing we can be pretty sure of is that their future looks promising. Thomas Søndergård takes over as the Music Director in September and, as I’ve said before, I’m a big fan. Next season looks to be the start of something exciting.
“the mighty first movement, which unfolded like a majestic sine wave”
Reviewed at Usher Hall, Edinburgh on 1 June 2018
Mahler, Symphony no. 9 in D major
Peter Oundjian, Conductor
2018-Jun-01, Usher Hall: Oundjian Conducts Mahler Ninehttps://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/usher-hall/oundjian-conducts-mahler-nine/01-june-2018/19-302018-06-012018-06-01Usher HallEdinburghScotlandUnited KingdomEH1 2EA55.9471572627242-3.20496082305908https://bachtrack.com/files/44162-rsno-logo.jpg
Christian Reif makes impressive RSNO debut
David Smythe, 15th December
Nicola Benedetti and the RSNO in a dramatic performance of Sibelius, with popular Shostakovich and Mussorgsky, an impressive RSNO debut for conductor Christian Reif.
"Last" works from Mozart and Tchaikovsky in Edinburgh
Simon Thompson, 23rd November
Thomas Søndergård and Steven Osborne make a well matched team in music ranging from Mozart to the fin-de-siècle.
A warm reunion: RSNO and Neeme Järvi spread French delight
David Smythe, 3rd November
RSNO is reunited with Neeme Järvi, joined by Catriona Morison in a crowd-pleasing programme of Delibes, Bizet and Saint-Saëns.
RSNO season opens with Vienna’s Golden Age
David Smythe, 4th October
RSNO Season opens in Dundee on Vienna’s Golden Age, Søndergård conducting a boisterous Don Juan, Karen Cargill singing Berg Seven Early Songs and a sparkling Mahler Symphony no 1.
Royal Scottish National OrchestraPeter OundjianSymphony no. 9 in D majorGustav Mahler
A way to celebrate the human spirit: Marina Mahler on the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition
“Connecting to the emotional core”: Jamie Barton on Mahler's Rückert Lieder
One of the players: Karina Canellakis on her journey to the podium
More by Simon Thompson
Beethoven in Edinburgh: alternative drama for election night!
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Simon lives and works in Edinburgh, and teaches History and Modern Studies at a local high school when he is not writing about music. Born an Irishman, he is an enthusiastic adopted Scot, and has lived in the capital for fifteen years since university days, making the most of its many avenues for classical music. He spends his spare time enthusing about music, theatre, art and literature to anyone who will listen, including his long-suffering students, who have no choice.
To add a comment, please sign in or register2018Bachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.png2018-06-04UTC11:04:06+00:002018-06-04Peter Oundjian’s final concert as RSNO’s Music Director sums up his time with the orchestra perfectly. Oundjian ends his RSNO tenure with Mahler 9en_GBtruehttps://bachtrack.com/review-mahler-oundjian-royal-scottish-national-orchestra-usher-hall-edinburgh-june-2018Bachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.pngSimon Thompsonhttps://bachtrack.com/22/270/list-published/24865https://bachtrack.com/22/270/list-published/24865https://bachtrack.com/files/68966-simon-thompson.jpgSimon lives and works in Edinburgh, and teaches History and Modern Studies at a local high school when he is not writing about music. Born an Irishman, he is an enthusiastic adopted Scot, and has lived in the capital for fifteen years since university days, making the most of its many avenues for classical music. He spends his spare time enthusing about music, theatre, art and literature to anyone who will listen, including his long-suffering students, who have no choice.https://bachtrack.com/files/84314-peter-oundjian-high-res-1---credit-sian-richards.jpg510340Peter OundjianSian Richards3
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Guddiga KMG ee ka baaraan-degidda Sharciga doorashooyinka oo kulan u socda
Xarunta Dowladda Hoose Ee Baladweyne Oo La Xirey
Wasiir Arrimaha dibadda Turkiga “Weerarkkii Soomaaliya ka dhacay wuxuu mar kale muujinayaa wajiga foosha xun ee argagixisada”
Ra’iisal Wasaare Kheyre oo hakiyay heshiis ay gashay Wasaarradda Maaliyada Xukuumadda Soomaaliya
Wasiirka Maaliyadda & Guddoomiye Filish Oo Heshiis Kala Saxiixday
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U.S. Africa Command to Conduct Change of Command July 26
U.S. Africa Command will conduct a change of command ceremony Friday, July 26 at 10 a.m. at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany.
In an August, 2018 file photo, Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, tours the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning, Ga. MARKEITH HORACE/U.S. ARMY
By U.S. Africa Command
STUTTGART, Germany – U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) will conduct a change of command ceremony Friday, July 26 at 10 a.m. at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany.
U.S. Army Gen. Stephen J. Townsend will assume command from retiring U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser. The acting U.S. Secretary of Defense is scheduled to preside over the ceremony.
Townsend will be the fifth AFRICOM commander since the command was established in 2008.
Waldhauser will relinquish command and subsequently retire after a distinguished 43-year career serving in uniform. A native of South St. Paul, Minn., Waldhauser graduated from Bemidji State University, Minn., and commissioned in 1976. A career infantry officer, he has commanded at multiple levels, to include tours as the Battalion Landing Team Commander, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment; Commander, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Command); Commanding General, Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory; Commanding General, 1st Marine Division; Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force; and Commanding General, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command.
Townsend previously served as the commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command since March 2, 2018. Raised in an Army family, he commissioned as an infantry officer upon graduating from North Georgia College in 1982. Townsend has led and commanded troops at every echelon from platoon to corps and combined joint task force, to include leading all U.S. and multi-national forces fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria as the Commander, Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve.
U.S. Africa Command is one of six U.S. Department of Defense geographic combatant commands. The command is responsible for all U.S. military operations, exercises, security cooperation, and conducts crisis response on the African continent in order to advance U.S. interests and promote regional security, stability, and prosperity.
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Homestead Latest News | Deficient Bridges | Bangor Metro | Machias Police Chief | Today's Paper
I can be a cranky landowner, but I’d rather keep my land open to respectful hunters
Julia Bayly | BDN
Moose sightings like this are why Rusty Metal Farm's land-management plan prioritizes wildlife habitat.
By Julia Bayly, BDN Staff • October 7, 2019 1:54 am
I’ve lived in northern Maine for close to 40 years, and I am still amazed by the land-use laws that stipulate property is open to the public for things like hunting, snowmobiling or off-road ATV riding, unless otherwise posted.
The 170 acres that make up Rusty Metal Farm have, for decades, been managed to promote wildlife habitat. Which is why the farm’s woodlands, pastures, wetlands and the pond support healthy populations of Maine critters from the tiniest to the grandest. And I don’t hunt any of them.
Frogs, salamanders, snakes and toads happily hop or slither around the pond and over my driveway. The pond is home to a family of beavers, migrating geese and some world-class leeches in its depths. Rabbits, grouse and even a fisher or two make their homes in the scrubby brush under trees while the trees themselves are thriving communities of nesting birds like ravens, woodpeckers, owls, blue jays and chickadees. Larger mammals like foxes, coyotes, bears, deer and moose amble from pasture to woodland throughout the year.
It’s very much like living in my own wildlife park. But one where I remain enclosed inside and the animals have the run of the outdoors.
And I certainly don’t want to keep it all to myself by fencing in the entire farm and barricading myself and the animals within. I like sharing the trails on the farm with hikers, skiers, snowshoers and fellow wildlife watchers.
I also hate the idea of posting my land with “no trespassing” signs. I love this farm, and I want to protect my resources, but those signs just selfishly scream, “mine, mine, mine … don’t touch!”
And that’s where conflict comes in when those of us who don’t hunt land and who don’t allow mechanized vehicles on our field roads or trails come face to face with people who presume that sort of access.
In my position as a landowner who doesn’t hunt, I’ve experienced the best and worst from that other perspective.
Over the years, I have had partridge hunters stop their vehicles in the middle of the road in front of my house when they spot a bird crossing in front of them. They have leaped from their still-running vehicles and followed those birds toward my house and ended up very near my sled dog kennel, several times shooting toward my house.
I’ve had a pack of very friendly — albeit slobbery — bear-tracking hounds end up in my sled dog yard and following me on my trails when I was on training runs with my dogs. The people hunting with those dogs saw no reason they could not shoot bears on my land, even on posted land, if the dogs had treed a bear on it.
As one hunter told me as he collected his dogs from my yard, “Dogs can’t read no trespassing signs.”
I have found spent shotgun shells on my trails uncomfortably close to my house and had to argue with people when first politely requesting they not shoot near my driveway.
Then there were the times snowmobilers ended up on my clearly marked “dog sledding only” trails on private land because “we just wanted to see where this trail went.”
Yes, all that makes me a cranky landowner.
But then something wonderful happens that mitigates all of that and makes me realize the vast majority of people not fortunate enough to live where I do actually appreciate the land and those of us who share it.
Two weeks ago during the great Rusty Metal Farm garage sale, a pickup truck pulled in and out tumbled four guys dressed head to toe in camouflage. They had seen the garage sale sign as they were out scouting moose for the opening day of hunting that Monday.
In fact, they were happy to report they had seen two large bull moose at the very bottom of my driveway that morning. They had watched the two bulls saunter off into a field and fade into the woods. These hunters could hardly wait, they said, for Monday morning when they would return to call the moose out and fill their tag.
The looks on their faces when I explained to them their plans were going to take place on my land and that I had better get out and post it “no hunting” quickly, were priceless. I honestly thought they were going to cry.
But here’s the thing. Not only did they not cry, but there was zero argument on their part. If I did not allow hunting, that was the reality and they’d go scout a new location. It was that reaction, more than anything, that led me to tell them, not only had I been joking about posting the farm, but that I do allow hunting on a case-by-case basis with permission.
Suddenly, I had four new best friends.
They explained to me exactly where they planned to set up that Monday, and I, in turn, requested they drive as little as possible on my fields, try not tear up my field roads and don’t leave a mess. Oh, and I added as a joke, “bring me a couple of moose steaks.”
We parted in good humor, handshakes all around.
Two days later, bright and early Monday morning I heard two gunshots followed by the sound of a crew dealing with the fallen moose. That, I figured, was the end of any interaction with the quartet of hunters.
I was wrong, because three days later they were back and handed me a package of the nicest looking moose steaks you have ever seen. True to their word, they had not driven on my fields, had not left a mess and were now fulfilling the final request.
They also thanked me for the access more than I think I’ve ever been thanked for anything. My willingness to share Rusty Metal Farm, they said, made their trip. Not only did they get a moose, but they got it early enough to allow them time to explore northern Maine for several days and even help a young, first-time hunter call in his first moose.
So, yeah, while I am a cranky landowner from time to time, I’d much rather be that landowner who shares and makes people as happy as those four hunters.
But I can only do that when all of us respect my land and all private land. Seems like a pretty clear win-win to me.
Related: How to field dress a moose
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SW Barbur Blvd is an embarrassment
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on June 27th, 2013 at 12:07 pm
A Pedalpalooza ride came face-to-face
with the dangerous and outdated Barbur Blvd.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)
(NOTE: The headline of this story was originally, “When it comes to bicycling, SW Barbur Blvd is an embarrassment.” But after realizing that it’s just terrible and dangerous for everyone, I removed the bicycling part. — Jonathan)
Let’s be honest: SW Barbur Blvd, which is perfectly positioned to be the cycling conduit between southwest and downtown Portland, is a relic of traffic engineering. Its design is about five decades out-of-date and by lacking basic safe facilities for people on bicycles, it does not live up to the standards Portland prides itself on.
We’ve written about projects, plans, and tragedies on SW Barbur Blvd for years and have ridden on it several times. But Tuesday night, during the You Need A Better Barbur Pedalpalooza ride (and following two weeks in Copenhagen and the Netherlands where bicycles are a respected part of the traffic mix), it really hit me: Barbur is an embarrassment.
Tuesday’s ride was a collaboration between the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Friends of Barbur. The description for the ride was: “Barbur Boulevard should be the best route to and from SW Portland. Right now, it’s scary. Learn how we can fix it.” Despite the dangers, a dozen or so people showed up. The BTA’s Carl Larson was in a super-bright, neon jacket. “I don’t usually wear bright yellow,” he said, “but then I rode on Barbur and realized you really do need extra visibility out there.”
BTA advocate Carl Larson, dressed for the occasion. (He’s holding up a rendering by Owen Walz of what a road diet on Barbur Blvd would look like.)
The people on the ride were a mix. One guy was a daily Barbur commuter who wanted to share his perspectives and gripes. One woman I met lives just a block or so away from SW Barbur yet had never ridden it before (it seemed too scary to ride alone so she drives instead). Super citizen activist Roger Averbeck was also with us. He has fought from within the system to make Barbur better for years. He’s got a list of small victories to show for it; but you can sense his growing frustration at the lack of real change.
Roger Averbeck
One of — if not the — main reason change is slow in coming to Barbur is because it’s a state highway (99W). As such, it’s managed by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), an agency with a much more auto-centric way of doing business than the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT). As Barbur begins just south of downtown Portland across I-405, we noticed some recent improvements such as sharrows and a new buffered bike lane. Those changes were done by PBOT because the close-in sections of Barbur are under their jurisdiction. But even the PBOT-managed sections aren’t anything to write home about. (A new buffered bike lane just south of Sheridan completely lacks bicycle symbols. The bike lane itself is just the standard, 5-6 foot stripe of paint and you ride just a few feet from people driving 40-50 miles per hour.)
Not exactly the type of conditions that will get us to 25% bicycle mode share.
At a stop on SW Hamilton, Averbeck warned, “We are now entering ODOT country.”
When bike lanes are this narrow, we’re almost better off without one.
Beyond an agency culture that seems reluctant to move past the auto-dominated status-quo, ODOT has no good reason to not bolster bike facilities on Barbur. (Amazingly, one of ODOT’s responses to the road diet suggestion was that they might need Barbur in case it’s needed as an alternate to I-5.) As Averbeck pointed out on Tuesday, Barbur is classified as a “district highway” in the Oregon Highway Plan. That plan says the objective of a district highway is to (among other things), “provide for moderate to low-speed operation in urban and urbanizing areas for traffic flow and for pedestrian and bicycle movements.”
If you’ve ever ridden on Barbur, you know it doesn’t live up to those objectives.
One of the worst stretches is south of Hamilton, when Barbur curves into a wooded area dotted with apartment buildings as it heads toward SW Capitol Highway. To take the photos below, I stood at the exact same spot I visited the night Angela Burke was hit and killed by a speeding drunk driver back in 2010.
The ride also gave us a chance to ride over the bridges that go across SW Vermont and Newbury streets. A $5 million seismic rehab and repaving project for these bridges are what sparked a grassroots movement for a road diet. The BTA strongly endorses the idea, as do neighborhoods and citizen groups like Friends of Barbur. Even PBOT knows a road diet is needed and feasible at this location. As of today, ODOT has not endorsed the idea. Instead of the attractive and comfortable design envisioned by community advocates, they’ve offered feeble solutions like a slightly wider sidewalk and a flashing “Bikes on Bridge” sign.
The bike lane ends before the bridge, which means you get to take the lane with people driving at speeds of 40-50 mph. It’s much less stressful in a large group.
ODOT’s idea of a bicycle facility.
Barbur could be a bicycle corridor with massive amounts of people riding on it to connect to downtown. The possible fixes are not rocket science: Re-allocate roadway space to make bicycling more comfortable; add design features that will encourage safer driving behaviors; increase speed enforcement via red-light cameras and speed reader boards; do more placemaking and encourage development that will add human life to the streetscape; and so on. Any solution that moves forward must put the bicycle facility on equal footing with the auto facility (or future transit facility) or we will never realize this road’s true potential and we will continue to put the health and safety of our community at risk.
Your move ODOT.
— Get involved with the effort to make Barbur Blvd better for bicycling. Like the Friends of Barbur Facebook page, get inspired by their vision for Barbur and stay tuned to the Front Page for developments.
Front Page, Infrastructure, Rides/Events
odot, SW Barbur Blvd
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Anne Hawley June 27, 2013 at 12:18 pm
In reply to your tweet, Jonathan: No, “embarrassment” is absolutely not too strong a term here. Nothing in this world could get me to ride Barbur under any circumstances. When I had a car, I was scared to drive on it too. It’s a horrible street.
Indy June 27, 2013 at 12:30 pm
I usually avoid it and take Beaverton Hillsdale Highway into town. It’s totally out of my way, but at least I can get up to almost par-speed with auto traffic. I’ve had cars very pissed off I wasn’t going 40 mph down that hill either, as there isn’t even a bike lane on that.
Spiffy June 27, 2013 at 2:56 pm
do you mean down the hill from Woodrow Wilson school down to Barbur? it’s a 25 mph zone… people are riding my ass when I’m DRIVING it… they must be in a hurry to go 50 in the 35 zone on Barbur, because that’s what they do once they get a chance to go around somebody impeding them by going the speed limit…
ME 2 June 27, 2013 at 12:31 pm
Embarassment is the right word here. I’ve been bike commuting as my main mode of transportation for nearly 20 years in Victoria, BC, Washington, DC, and PDX. I fall smack dab in the middle of the “fearless male rider” demographic and even I avoid Barbur Blvd out of fear for my safety on those occasions I need to ride from my downtown job to my in laws house in Burlingame.
Jake June 27, 2013 at 12:31 pm
Before I moved, Barbur was the only real reasonable way back to my house (the other way would be Vista), but you feel the entire time like you’re going to get run down. You can turn up towards Hillsdale, but then have to climb a steeper hill, the right side is plant overgrowth into the bike lane, and the line separating the bike lane from the vehicle lane is fading, which isn’t exactly comforting. You can take Terwilliger past OHSU, but that is less direct and still requires that you climb. So you end up probably committing to Barbur. In wintertime with the poor light this is asking for something to happen.
It’s just not clear to me how people in SW beyond the hills are supposed to get from downtown to e.g. Beaverton while feeling safe. There are five vehicle lanes, and they are never, ever, ever anywhere near capacity (only mention it because I think future capacity is ODOT’s mantra of choice on why they can’t add reasonable bike facilities to Barbur).
Nate June 27, 2013 at 1:37 pm
I work part-time on SW Macadam and live in the Cedar Hills area of Beaverton. I actually climb neighborhood stairs that start just around the corner from the Zupans on Macadam to get up to Custer Way, then take a right onto SW Brier, left on SW Miles, and take Barbur down to Multnomah. If I’m feeling saucy, I’ll catch the right to Bertha and take that to Beaverton-Hillsdale.
There’s no best way, or even good way to get home from there, but that’s what I have to work with, unless I want to ride all the way up to and thru downtown to take Kingston up to the Zoo and onto the bike path that follows Hwy 26.
Duncan Idaho-Stop June 27, 2013 at 12:35 pm
I used to ride Barbur a couple times a week during the summer to get out to Wilsonville. It could certainly be better, but it’s not all that scary. For one thing, it’s rare for someone on a bike to be rear-ended by a car driver — the real danger is someone turning across you. And Barbur has huge stretches with no intersections or driveways, which makes for smooth sailing.
As for the bridge abutments, if you have a rear-view mirror it is easy to time your exit from the bike lane so that any drivers coming up have plenty of notice to change lanes. A mirror also reduces your stress a great deal when you get to the trickier parts of Barbur/99W where there are cars trying to turn through the bike lane.
Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see improvements. But let’s not scare people about what is actually a reasonably safe route for experienced riders.
gutterbunnybikes June 27, 2013 at 1:25 pm
The problem with what you are saying is that this is a stretch of road that isn’t too bad for “Experienced” riders.
I just have to ask then with all the tens of thousands of people (ie potential riders) that live on or near Barber how many are “experienced”? And would potential riders become experienced unless they had a place to ride? Loading up the car rack and driving somewhere else doesn’t count -it should never be that difficult for anyone to ride.
I got mirrors and I’ve ridden bikes for nearly 30 years (mind you much of that in Detriot Michigan in the 80’s where it’s almost all highway speed roads no lanes) almost exclusively as an urban cyclist, and I wouldn’t ride on Barber unless I absolutely had to. Barber makes Foster, Powell, or Sandy look like the Springwater in compairison.
Though I usually only comment on East side stuff and often speak out against the “all roads lead to Downtown” model for improvements , even I who seldom even drive my car on Barber – would say this should perhaps the top priority for bike infrastructure in the metro region. If only because there are so few available route options in that part of town with as much exposure to residental properties.
Carl June 27, 2013 at 5:01 pm
Duncan Idaho-Stop June 27, 2013 at 5:30 pm
That’s exactly why I said “experienced”. A street with 45 MPH traffic and disappearing bike lanes is never going to be a street for beginners. And let’s be realistic: Barbur will not soon be downgraded into a bike boulevard. You’d love it, I’d love it, but it’s not going to happen.
The only point I wanted to make is, if you are experienced (and alert, not wearing headphones, etc.), it is not a “scary” street. Needs improvement. Not scary.
davemess June 28, 2013 at 6:30 pm
What’s really interesting is that the first year I lived here (3 years ago), I rode Barbur a lot. I had lived in Ohio, Colorado, and Seattle and Barbur didn’t feel that bad to me (I am very experienced, and I’ll admit that the street was not great for everyone. But even my not that experience wife would ride it now and then to get to work). But after moving to the east side, and very rarely riding Barbur the last two years, now I go back and I get what people are saying.
COMPARED TO THE REST OF PORTLAND, Barbur is an embarrassment. Compared to most other parts of the country it’s actually pretty good. It’s all about perspective.
That said, with the very low auto traffic, there is absolutely no reason that the road should stay the way it is. (To play devil’s advocate though, People who move into the SW have to know they are going to deal with some hills. Kind of trade off)
Paul Souders June 27, 2013 at 12:37 pm
It’s beyond embarrassing, and not just for bicycles. It stinks for cars too, and it’s a waste of money for *everyone*
In a car, whatever speed you can gain between Terwilliger and Hamilton you lose at those intersections. Faster to take the freeway even at rush hour. But that doesn’t stop most drivers from going 50mph+ on that stretch of road. Hurry up and wait!
Even if there were no need to slim the road for bikes, four-plus lanes is a dangerous and pointless waste of money and space.
Chris I June 27, 2013 at 12:40 pm
Only one northbound vehicle lane is needed in the vicinity of the two bridges. This is such a simple change, and it’s so frustrating to see no action on it…
As far as “future transit projects” for the corridor, I don’t believe that any road space will need to be allocated. The SW Corridor project will either be Bus Rapid Transit, or light rail. If BRT is chosen, the busses will not need priority lanes in this stretch, because the traffic levels don’t require two lanes. If light rail is chosen, the best option will be to tunnel just south of downtown and add a subway stop for OHSU, bypassing this section entirely.
wayne h June 27, 2013 at 12:57 pm
Every time I survive my commute from SW Durham Road to my office on NW Yeon via SW Barbut and Naito Parkway (reverse going home via SW 5th to Barbur) I get down and kiss the ground for survivng another day. Thank you for focusing on this terrible stretch of commute that could be so much more than it is today. Your srticle hit all of the high points.
dave June 27, 2013 at 1:00 pm
I commuted on Barbur for years from SE PDX out to Tualatin. It wasn’t great, but it was hardly the worst part of that commute. The bridges suck, but traffic is usually pretty light in that area, and it’s easy to avoid by taking Terwilliger.
Which is not to say it’s a good facility. I just can think of half a dozen other things I’d fix first.
bean June 27, 2013 at 1:00 pm
I have been riding Barbur 3 or 4 days a week morning and evening for 7 years. The bike lane seems pretty generous to me. Maybe I have grown numb to the traffic, but I often am able to beat cars from Terwilliger to Hamilton in the evening as they sit through multiple lights at Hamilton.
How many other other people take SW Naito to Barbur and vice versa? They just put in a brand new stretch of road over the new max/streetcar tracks. It does not appear to have ANY shoulder whatsoever, forget about a bike lane. This is by far WORSE than anything currently on Barbur. Heading North on Naito off of Barbur at rush hour in the evenings is a complete nightmare.
Elliott June 29, 2013 at 10:23 am
I completely agree with you. I’ve been riding that road for years, it’s actually the road i started bike commuting on. In my opinion it’s a great with four big problem areas, the intersection of capitol hwy, the two bridges and the multnomah blvd off ramp. That said, those are all easy to negotiate. Honestly, i miss that ride now that i live in NE.
Not an embarrassment, a model road. It works well for cars and bikes.
q`Tzal June 27, 2013 at 1:04 pm
I don’t know… if something critical shuts down I-5 and traffic is routed on to Barbur it might be very friendly for bikes. Odds are auto traffic would slow to less than 10mph during all daylight hours.
Joseph E June 27, 2013 at 1:37 pm
Turn the right-hand lanes into wide, buffered (with paint) bike lanes on each side). If there is really an “emergency” (need to evacuate the city?), police can direct car drivers to use the bike lanes, just like they reversed the opposite direction of some freeways before Hurrican Rita in Houston. Painted bike lanes are just pain, after all.
q`Tzal June 29, 2013 at 10:54 am
Granted the painted lines would be sacrificed but my contention is that automotive traffic would be SO SLOW as to allow bikes to do California style lane splitting with only the dangers of a door prize.
Barbur as a backup for the full throughput of I-5 is joke and ODOT has to know this on some level. Any attempt to use it as such would be a disaster approaching whatever would have hypothetically immobilized I-5.
After Barbur gets maxed out all the side streets would get overflow and they’d max out; this includes every comfortable and relatively safe bike route.
My point being that attempting to use Barbur as a backup would make all the other bike options less safe counter-intuitively making the Barbur Blvd parking lot the safest bike route even without a separated bike lane.
ITG June 27, 2013 at 1:05 pm
You didn’t even get to the worst part in your ride- just try heading south/west of SW 25th. Killer storm drain grating, 2 foot potholes, bike lanes that disappear on and off every other block. Not to mention cars coming into and out of blind driveways and frustrated drivers failing to yield on left turns. My S/O put her face into the side of a van three weeks ago thanks to that and the doctors were still picking rocks out of her eye and face last week.
Surprisingly, it gets better once you hit Washington County. The lanes are much wider, there are fewer abrupt changes in lane designations, and someone seems to have considered the need for setbacks and brush removal. The entire SW Portland area is a trainwreck, but Barbur is especially bad.
Craig Harlow June 27, 2013 at 1:16 pm
Here’s to hoping our governor’s new transportation adviser will help foster a better audience at ODOT–for Barbur, as well as for this city’s other ODOT-managed surface street embarrassments.
David McEachern June 27, 2013 at 1:20 pm
I rode Barbur 5 days a week for almost a year and a half. I never really felt like it was that bad, honestly. The bridges were easier to handle going into town than leaving because coming down the hill affords one to keep up a pretty good pace. There is no doubt that it could be improved, but this is what lots of people in this town face everyday, on multiple roads, who don’t have the luxury of living in the central areas of PDX. My biggest concerns were always right hooks, but I never really felt like I was going to get rundown from behind. As I said, there certainly can be improvements but I’m not a fan of the constant attitude that it is instant death to ride the road, a sentiment that I have heard many times from many different sources. That being said, where Barbur intersects Naito coming into town is a huge mess for cyclists and was probably the one area where I always felt some anxiety.
Adam June 27, 2013 at 10:07 pm
It wasn’t that bad really? So I guess I can go ahead and let my ten year old ride it by herself then! Since it’s “not that bad, really”.
When people realize bike facilities need to be for everyone, not just the spandex brigade, we’ll all be better off.
Jersey barriers or a guardrail between bikes and traffic might get me to ride Barbur regularly. Otherwise, forget it.
was carless June 30, 2013 at 6:28 pm
Jersey barriers + 2-way cycle track on one side of the road? All the way to Tigard? Has anyone even thought of this idea before?
Thats basically what they did in South Waterfront, although they only used a curb.
Personally, I have never ridden Barbur, although I probably would if I lived in SW. Cars approaching from behind you at speed with no shoulders can be really stressful, although you can learn to ignore it after some time. But it really isn’t a very safe situation, as I see many auto drivers who drive with their right wheels over the white line.
Chris Smith June 27, 2013 at 2:05 pm
The “manage Barbur as an alternative for I-5” modality was made very clear during the City’s Barbur Concept Plan process. Even the signal timing is designed for the situation where I-5 is failing due to an incident.
Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) June 27, 2013 at 2:07 pm
Wow. That really makes me ill. Someone needs to stand up and change that. I mean, seriously, is this a normal/reasonable thing? They have an entire freeway a few yards away. This is a street for people and for urban mobility. It should not be constrained by some 1950s mentality that says it’s needed in case the freeway fails. Am I crazy?
You’re definitely not crazy. The opportunity for a policy change is in the SW Corridor process. I know Kiel is tracking that. We need to be ready to organize as a community to affect that outcome. I’ll be asking questions about it during a Planning and Sustainability Commission briefing on SW Corridor on July 9.
Katy June 28, 2013 at 10:56 am
One thing to keep in mind is how often (not everyday or anything, but about once every year or two) someone shuts down the freeway because they misjudged the Terwilliger curves and suddenly a whole day is needed to clear out the wreckage. Or even when there’s a freeway accident that doesn’t completely shut it down, especially during the rush hours, Barbur becomes the only high access alternative to a 1-2 hour commute. But as someone stated already, Barbur then becomes very friendly for cyclists because the back-up doesn’t allow for cars to go over 20 mph at any given time. Perhaps the original worry of having a long term alternative to the freeway was before they started doing the erosion upgrades, where it was a real worry that a portion of the freeway would suddenly be blocked by the falling hillside, or fall itself into Johns Landing. Anyway, agreed that this piece of policy needs an update, and as the wife of a daily Barbur commuter (I joke that he should ride with a sign on his back that says ‘father of three young children’) I am all in favor of any improvements to the cycling infrastructure in our part of town.
Mobility in SW Portland is very poor – almost everyone uses SOV’s because walking and cycling is unsafe, this article is a great example.
If more people walked, bikes, and rode transit, then the freeway getting jammed up wouldn’t be as big of a problem for mobility in the corridor, as many more people could use alternative means to get around.
Related: Trimet is planning their SW Corridor Project to build light rail or bus rapid transit from downtown to Tigard or Tualatin/points south. This will be able to move 10s of 1000s of people in the corridor without using the freeway.
Now we need a walking + bike friendly street to compliment the mobility enhancements!
Luckily, the final Barbur Concept Plan hit the nail on the head when it comes to fixing the Barbur Bridges. It essentially says: fix them now. Don’t wait. http://btaoregon.org/2013/04/barbur-concept-plan-goes-before-city-council/
Chris Sanderson June 27, 2013 at 2:43 pm
I rarely, if ever, bike to SW to do work. In fact, I don’t pursue any work in that part of Portland.
Ah yes, Portland zenophobia at it’s finest. Always the key to any livability issue we all face.
Carl June 29, 2013 at 12:08 pm
Chris’ statement might make more sense if you knew that he’s a contractor who hauls all his tools and materials by bike. I imagine he avoids SW because of roads like Barbur, not the people.
Peter W June 27, 2013 at 3:08 pm
Did you notice how the southbound bikes-on-roadway sign is tiny compared to the Hwy 10 offramp sign? Even while riding, I don’t notice the bikes-on-roadway sign until the last minute and I suspect that drivers may miss it as well (it is just after the giant Hwy 10 offramp sign).
Photo from google streetview:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3vc9MesxkTud1oydlRLY0tLaTQ/edit?usp=sharing
(Sidenote: that streetview shot was apparently taken during maintenance, when half of Barbur’s lanes were closed — and I don’t see any huge traffic backup.)
Folks might try calling ODOT:
ODOT Region 1 Policy & Development Manager – Rian Windsheimer – (503) 731-8456, rian.windsheimer@odot.state.or.us.
See also: ODOT’s Region 1 org chart. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3vc9MesxkTubmRNTU1IZGFBUmc/
Steph Routh, Oregon Walks June 27, 2013 at 3:49 pm
Agreed that the SW Corridor process is a critical opportunity to provide change in the future; in addition, we need to fund improvements that can be felt now. Huge thanks to Roger Averbeck and other thoughtful, passionate advocates for their work to build a better Barbur.
dwainedibbly June 27, 2013 at 5:47 pm
Didn’t the governor just appoint a new transportation director, or something? Maybe that will change attitudes at ODOT. (I can always dream, right?)
It would be fine for Barbur to be the utterly shitty facility for bikes that it is, if there were other feasible alternatives for cyclists to take.
So please, ODOT, go ahead. Tell us our glittering alternatives as cyclists! Oh, ODOT, you simply MUST refer us to the myriad of quiet, connected bike boulevard streets that run tranquilly alongside Barbur!
Oh? What’s that you’re saying, ODOT?
There aren’t any?
Well. Shit.
AndyC of Linnton June 28, 2013 at 9:48 am
I thought ODOT was poised to move to a less “freeway-centric” mode of thinking in their planning. You have at LEAST 2 organizations clamoring for change, and the existing roadway is terrible for all users. So, this seems like an easy transition to a better facility.
Or was that just more talk, ODOT?
We need roadways like this to be improved, and quickly, if we are going to not have the city clogged with tons of traffic all of the time.
Marianne Fitzgerald June 28, 2013 at 10:27 am
Roger and I are also working with ODOT to make improvements to Barbur between SW 60 and 64th (see http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION1/pages/OR99W_ramps/index.aspx). They made some tweaks to add a 3-foot shoulder and wayfinding to help bikes get through this area (the graphic on the website today needs to be updated with the tweaks they’ve recently agreed to). The bridge was built in 1985 without bike lanes and full sidewalks, and they claim there is no room today just like they do about the 1934 bridges. I’m arguing that they need to think about how to accommodate bicycle and pedestrian safety first on every construction project along facilities with inadequate infrastructure, like Barbur, Powell and 82nd. ODOT could have been creative on this project to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians, but they waited until the last minute to do so and now claim there’s no time. So much for ODOT priorities–it’s still motor vehicles. Next time, lets get started with all modes in mind.
GlowBoy June 28, 2013 at 12:29 pm
Just rode Barbur last night. I don’t find it quite as horrible as some suggest (at least the bike lanes are fairly wide – uh, where they exist) but I definitely agree that it is an embarrassment. As an enthused/confident I will ride it downhill (home from work) on clear days, but never in the wintertime when visibility is impaired. In the winter I take a much different (and unfortunately much hillier) route through the West Hills just to avoid Barbur.
I certainly would never allow my child to ride it. A few years ago a Portland police officer – a young guy who very much looked the strong/fearless part – told me he used to bike to work but stopped because his route was Barbur and he found it too dangerous.
Would a full road diet make it safe for kids? Probably still not, but it would make it safe for a large number of potential bike commuters that live in or ride through the hills of SW Portland and the suburbs in that direction.
All that said, while I would strongly advocate for a major road diet, I don’t agree with the characterizations of ODOT’s current plan as “feeble.” Sure, it’s far short of what we want to see, but it does fix the absolutely worst problem with Barbur – those bridges – and absolutely will make the difference for me in terms of using Barbur more often.
Nick June 29, 2013 at 6:14 pm
Speed is key here. Barbur is fearsome w/ 50-mph cars. Terwilliger much less intimidating, mostly because of the slower speeds and continuous bike lanes.
Charlie July 12, 2013 at 9:50 am
Here in Massachusetts, we have a ton of roads that MassDOT considers to have adequate bicycle accommodation that look at lot like that, except much worse! Here the roads have shoulders that vary between 8′ and 0′ that are neither designed nor marked as bike lanes. They’ll taper down to nothing at intersections just for the heck of it, sometimes because they add a right turn only lane but often just because that’s how they’ve always striped shoulders in MA. I would LOVE to have nice wide bike lanes. Cycle tracks are a pipe dream. I consistently striped bike lane, even at 5′, would be better than what we have now.
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Bird's Banter
A potpourri of ramblings, stories, musings and opinions.
Posted on February 22, 2016 by autull
I was once an inspector for AAA. My job was to inspect and rate hotels, restaurants, campgrounds and attractions for this iconic American institution.
I truly enjoyed working for AAA. The work took me places I never dreamed I would see, and explore, when I was a child growing up in the Deep South. About the farthest we would venture from home, back in the fifties and sixties, was the Gulf of Mexico. Our destinations tended to be either Pensacola, Florida or Gulf Shores, Alabama.
There was the one occasion, though, that we made our way west. Across Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas we crept and crawled in our Plymouth Belvedere, tail fins and all. It certainly felt like creeping and crawling to an active five-year-old. But we did stop in San Antonio to visit the Alamo. This was a grand treat to one who’s imagination was filled with thoughts of Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett. And yes! I was gifted with an authentic replica coonskin cap which I wore proudly for many weeks to follow.
But back to the sugary white sands of Lower Alabama and the panhandle of Florida.
Whenever we were lucky enough to go on one of these short trips, usually one or two nights, we would never make plans or secure motel reservations. We piled into the car and headed south. When we reached our destination we would slowly cruise by the little ‘mom and pop’ motor courts and look for a decent enough looking place with a swimming pool. A pool was a requirement. When one returned to the room form the salty waters of the Gulf, there had to be a fresh water oasis we could enjoy before bathing and eating dinner.
How did one know if the establishment were decent?
On one such excursion we were all craning our necks at the places that dotted the shores of this paradise as we made our way past them. My father slowed down considerably as we approached one neatly-manicured inn. He almost came to a complete stop, pointed at an emblem that hung from the motel’s flashing neon sign, and asked, “Do you see that?” My eyes now fixated on the three large A’s and the word APPROVED. “You can trust that place. It’s triple A approved.” And from that day to this, I, for the most part, continue to agree with daddy.
Triple A approved. That is how I found myself in Gills Rock, Wisconsin. Gills Rock is located in Door County. Counties are important to we Southerners and I was taken by the close knit community that is Door County. There were no hotel or fast food chains here, except in Sturgeon Bay, which serves as the southern gateway to the county. It also serves as the county seat of this peninsula.
The Door County Maritime Museum was located in Sturgeon Bay. I had to visit the museum for possible inclusion in the AAA TourBook. The most notable feature, in the opinion of this nautical novice, is the Edmund Fitzgerald exhibit. The ship had a number of layovers in Sturgeon Bay during the winter months. Two of those who perished, when the Fitzgerald sank, were Sturgeon Bay natives.
Now Gills Rock, an unincorporated community, is situated at the northern point of the peninsula and has long been a commercial fishing outpost. Scuba divers also enjoy exploring shipwrecks at Death’s Door, the narrow straight which connects Green Bay to Lake Michigan. I had no desire to scuba dive at Death’s Door but I was intrigued by the opportunity to do some charter fishing for salmon.
My room had a television but no cable. Its reception relied on ‘rabbit ears’ which protruded from the top of the nineteen inch, faux wood box. There was no phone in the room but there was a phone booth outside in the parking lot of the motel, The Shoreline Resort.
The owners of Shoreline also operated a restaurant and bar which was downstairs from my second floor room and observation deck. It was quite good. The chefs and servers were students from a culinary institute. They were both eager and adept. It was great to have such a place mere footsteps from my front door.
I spent a portion of each evening at the bar where one could also get food service.
One night, after a long day of inspections, typing reports, and following my daily walk, I ambled down to the bar. I pulled up a stool, situated myself, and greeted the fellow patrons on each side of me.
The gentleman on my right, already well-lubed, inquired in a voice that was a tad more loud than what one would consider a normal tone, “So where are you from?” I indicated that I hailed from the home of country music, Nashville. “So, are you enjoying Wisconsin?” “You betcha!” I replied in my best impression of the phrase I picked up from the movie ‘Fargo’, which had been released a couple of years earlier. He roared with laughter and repeated the phrase.
Mary, both barmaid and co-proprietor of Shoreline, with her husband Jim, smiled as she poured my Leinenkugel from the tap. I recognized the jazz tune, be-bopping from the Bose speakers in the corners of the room, as one of Charlie Parker’s. Julie placed a ‘Leiney’ coaster in front of me and then the foamy mug of brew on top of it.
Mary was approaching middle age. Her dark brown hair was bobbed and her eyes were almost the color of her hair. Her smile was warm and unpretentious. She was a beauty. She exuded a humble, yet confident, air.
“Is that Charlie Parker?” I asked her. “Yes,” she answered, and her expression indicated that she was pleased, but not overly surprised at my possible recognition of Bird’s work. “I just got this a few days ago and I really like it,”she then handed me the mini-box in which the discs were packaged. ‘Yardbird Suite: The Complete Charlie Parker.’ “I’ve got that too!” I confessed.
And off she went, to the dining room, with a tray which supported four cocktails, vodka tonics.
At about that time, Peter, one of the student servers, was making a beeline to the rectangular beer chest to grab some bottled beverages. “Nice work,” I chimed in as I nodded at the tattoo on his right forearm. It was a coyote which was howling at a bright yellow moon and stars, set against an indigo sky.
“Thanks! How about you? Any ink?” I rolled up my right t-shirt sleeve and revealed an interlocking AU, which is the logo my beloved Auburn Tigers. “Nice colors! How long have you had that?” Pater continued. “About a year,” I answered.
The Squirrel Nut Zippers then replaced Charlie Parker’s set and, seemingly, bounced out of the speaker system. I knew who they were only because Peter had shared that with me three days prior.
My food arrived. Baked salmon with parmesan herb crust, and fresh out of Green Bay. I smiled as the aroma titillated my olfactory senses. The fish was complemented by garlic mashed potatoes and a glass of Bogle Petite Syrah.
When the delicious meal had been consumed I asked Mary if I could get a Makers on the rocks to take back to my room. “Absolutely!” she cheerily replied.
I paid, tipped generously, took my bourbon, and headed upstairs to my room.
Now sitting on the back deck of my simple but contemporary style room in Gills Rock, Wisconsin, I could see the point where Green Bay meets Lake Michigan. A flock of Canadian geese, in formation, honked their way across the now dusky sky. I dipped the tip my Dominican cigar into the glass which was one-third filled with Makers Mark.
The words to Neil Young’s ‘Helpless’ came to mind and I began to softly sing them as tears filled my eyes.
“Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
Yellow moon on the rise,
Big birds flying across the sky,
Throwing shadows on our eyes.
Leave us
Helpless, helpless, helpless
Baby can you hear me now?
The chains are locked
and tied across the door,
Baby, sing with me somehow.”
How I wished that this were possible, but she was fourteen hours away and nestled with our children in the lush green hills of northern Tennessee. In a cabin on a tobacco farm which was replete with livestock, we now made our home. It really wasn’t “our” home as we had rented it from a farmer who had been cajoled, by his wife, into purchasing a large, white, two-story home in a nearby subdivision. It was a bedroom community of Nashville which was a mere twenty-five minute drive from this haven in Sumner County.
My thoughts then turned to the mournful lyrics of Hank Williams’ ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.’
“Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is winding low
I’m so lonesome I could cry
I’ve never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind the clouds
To hide its face and cry
Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves began to die?
Like me, he lost the will to live
The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I’m so lonesome I could cry.”
The tears began to trickle and then pour down my cheeks. I missed her. I missed them. I longed for our home in Tennessee.
I ground out the remainder of my Dominican stogie, wiped my eyes, and went back inside my quaint, but newly refurbished room at this AAA Approved lodging.
I was now completing week four of a five week stint here in an idyllic getaway for many who flee the suburbs and bustle of Chicago and Milwaukee. Weeks one and two had found me in Green Bay. It was there where I ate fish on Friday. “How’s the perch?” queried one elderly female patron. “Fine,” I replied, although it was a bit dry and not so flavorful.
Green Bay was great. I visited Lambeau Field, drank German beer, and dutifully performed the task that had brought me here.
The Packers were my favorite pro football team when I began to follow sports back in the early sixties. I liked the Packers because they won. Their quarterback, Bart Starr, was from Montgomery, AL near where I was born and raised. Starr played Sidney Lanier High School and, later, the University of Alabama.
Some of the other standouts, on those Packer teams, coached by the great Vince Lombardi, were Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg and Max McGee.
On my first Saturday night in Green Bay I wound up at the Iron Horse Saloon. But first, Friday night’s proceedings.
I spent the previous night at the Grizzly Rose Saloon. It was enjoyable enough but was too ‘Urban Cowboy/Line Dancing’ and not a classic honky tonk, which I strongly prefer.
I was observing the evening’s said proceedings, at the Rose, when I glanced up from my seat at the massive surround style, polished wood bar, and in through the door strolled a gentleman by himself and scouring the cavernous facility for a spot on which to land. There was an open stool next to me and I knew, somehow, he would make his way to it. He did. We exchanged informalities and began to chat.
I don’t remember his name, I carried it and his phone number in my wallet for months, but I can almost see him now. He was a slight fellow with a scraggly mustache and dark brown hair. He wore a faded yellow Peterbilt cap, worn jeans and work boots. He had just come in off the road having ridden shotgun with a friend of his who was an over-the-road truck driver. Their trip had taken them across the country and back.
As our conversation progressed, it came to light that he had been through Memphis on their return trip to Green Bay. I mentioned that I had also travelled through Memphis but had never stopped there. I was also about to take a territory of my own and it would encompass Memphis, as well as the western portions of Tennessee, Kentucky, and southern Missouri. The entire state of Arkansas would also be included in the territory.
We spoke of Elvis, Sun Records and the Mississippi River before our conversation turned to country music. Now we’re getting somewhere. Our tastes were very similar. We shared a passion for traditional country music and neither of us were keen to the’Boot Scoot Boogi’ and the like. For us it was Haggard and Jones, moans and groans, and not the slick-sliced, overproduced pap that Nashville continues to churn out to this day.
We then began to formulate an idea of the type of honky tonk we’d like to open. BEER was the name we came up with for our place. Just one word… BEER. It would also have a banner strung across the intimate room which would read ‘No Line Dancing’. BEER would harbor the world’s finest country jukebox. Hell, we were open-minded sorts. The carefully chosen house band would be allowed to perform both kinds of music, country AND western. Who doesn’t like Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers and Riders in the Sky?
True to her name, only beer would be served. Tap, bottle or can! If you wanted whiskey, I would keep my private stash in the office or you could leave it in your car and get a snort or two between sets. No wine! Beer damnit!
Dreams huh? And those that are formed and fueled by alcohol and a mutual love of twin fiddles and a steel guitar. It was a good Friday night to commiserate with a newly made friend about the sad state of country music. Nothing has changed to this day. The decline continues. RIP Hank Williams. We miss you, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty and Waylon Jennings. Who’s gonna fill your shoes?
“I feel tears wellin’ up cold and deep inside like my heart’s sprung a big break. And the stab of loneliness, sharp and painful that I may never shake. You might say I was takin’ it hard when she wrote me off with a call, but don’t you wager that’ll hide the sorrow when I might break right down and bawl.”
The house band, at the aforementioned Iron Horse Saloon, opened with one of my favorite old Jones tunes on what was a rather pleasant Saturday night in the land of the Packers. Well slap the dog and spit in the fire! We got ourselves some COUNTRY music! And off we went! Yep, the race is ON!
I was so happy to have found some ‘real’ country music in a setting to my liking, nothing against the Grizzly Rose, that I was pickled tink. Well, maybe that’s how the beer would describe my elation. One set led to another and then to another break. I became so engrossed in the music that I had almost failed completely to absorb my surroundings. I downed my last swallow of Bud, climbed off barstool mountain, and took in the scenery. Bikers! That was it, about thirty or forty bikers and ME!
I had never before, but have several times since, found myself in the company of so many leather and bandana clad Americans. I was, initially, taken aback but soon found that there was no need for alarm. It’s all good. Yes, it was.
The Iron Horse, duh! think about the name for a minute, was not a place where a bunch of weekend warriors happened to show up one Saturday night. It was a bar for bikers. Owned and operated by bikers. Well, me and my new found Harley hound friends had a big old time. There were no brows furrowed with suspicion or furtive glances. Just slaps on the back and the occasional bursts of laughter.
As midnight rang in Sunday, I turned it over to the rice-burnerless regular patrons of Green Bay’s finest bastion of country music.
There were no such establishments in Door County but there was a restaurant and lounge in Egg Harbor, just a few short miles from Gills Rock, which had come recommended by a couple of the locals.
But before plowing into an evening with a more upscale crowd in Egg Harbor, WI, something needs to be said about one of the neighboring communities more interesting features. It’s Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant & Butik in Sister Bay, WI.
Al Johnson’s is famous for its ‘goats on the roof’. Yes, there are real live goats who graze on the restaurant and butik’s sod roof. Lucky for me, when I passed through Sister Bay, that it was August because the goats are NOT on the roof in winter.
I have seen a good many odd or quirky sights growing up in Lower Alabama, but never anything like goats on the roof. I have chased goats. I have eaten goat meat, mostly in the form of an Indian curry, but I had never, before or since, observed goats grazing on a rooftop.
I didn’t eat or shop at Al Johnson’s either. Maybe I should have. Surely they don’t… NO!
Back to the eatery in Egg Harbor. I do not recall its name and I do not remember what I ate there, but I do recall its jukebox. This jukebox was, absolutely, loaded with tunes of Nashville’s finest!
After I secured my position at the bar, in the lounge of the restaurant, I ambled over to this jukebox to select the tuneage for my time there. The bartender asked if I needed any change. I replied in the negative, whipped out an Abe Lincoln and fed him to the music machine. George Jones, John Anderson, Willie Nelson and more were chosen to serenade me and anyone else who might wander in here over the course of the next couple of hours.
There was a father and son sitting a few stools down from me, and after about six or eight songs, the eldest questioned aloud, to no one in particular, “My god! Who played all this sad stuff?” I immediately fessed up in the affirmative.
I love my ballads. Or as Jones himself would describe them, “Slow, slobbing tear jerkers.”
We struck up a conversation and the father wound up inviting me to go out on his boat with him and family the following day. I don’t know if that was just bar talk but I did appreciate the invite. I politely declined as I had other plans on the docket. I was going salmon fishing.
Yes, that salmon fishing that piqued my interest developed into a reality. My reservation was set and it was off to Lake Michigan, on that beautiful Saturday afternoon, in quest of fishes.
As I would come to understand, there is not a lot of “fishing” that goes on in trying to land salmon. Back in Lower Alabama we used to actually cast with a rod and reel or just plunked a cane pole into whatever body of water we found ourselves.
When one salmon fishes, by charter at least, the host or guide takes care of everything and mounts the rod and reel on the back of his boat. The fishing, for his guests, consists on watching the rod and line of one’s setup. If you get a hit then the rod will bend and the bobber will plunge underwater.
There were four of us on this excursion into the Great Lake; the host, a young married couple and moi. The wife of the married folks caught the first salmon. It was a decent sized fish. There were not a great many hits that afternoon but eventually I got a good one and began to grapple with my salmon. These guys put up a pretty good fight. I hooked him, released the lock on the rod and the salmon took off. I would reel a bit and then let him run some more. I finally got him into the boat, after about a four or five minute struggle, and our captain netted him.
This was great fun. But those two fish were the only ones we kept. There were a handful of misses and a couple of false alarms. My salmon weighed about fifteen pounds. I was proud. Pictures were taken by the couple who remembered their camera. I had left mine behind in my room.
Now, it was getting late, sunset was fast approaching and oh captain, our captain, moved to crank the boat. It didn’t start. After several more failed attempts at cranking, he realized, as did we, that our vessel was not crankable. And the diagnosis? A dead battery. So here we are, a good ways out on Lake Michigan, with our salmon all dressed up with no place to go.
Ahab called the coast guard, to come jump us off, and the wait began.
Darkness descended upon us, as did hunger. It was only thirty or forty minutes before the Coast Guard arrived but it seemed like an eternity. Then there was the business of getting us going. That didn’t happen. We were towed back to safety in the harbor at Gills Rock. It was now around 9 PM. I let the couple have my salmon, as they planned to cook them, and proceeded to make haste to the inn for some sustenance.
There was a restaurant, nearby, that I had intended to evaluate that Saturday night. I called them and they said they would be open until 10 o’clock. I made it over there a few minutes before the kitchen closed and was fed. I didn’t opt for salmon. I had enough of that for the day. Something for land lovers was more to my liking.
All’s well that ends well.
Then it was a stop by a convenience store for beverages and back to my room and the nineteen inch telly with the protruding rabbit ears. I could only pick up one channel clearly enough to be watched. So there it was… me, Dennis Quaid, Jessica Lange and John Goodman all enmeshed in ‘Everybody’s All-American’. The thinly-veiled story of the great Billy Cannon, his time with the LSU Tigers, and the entirety of his life.
Hold that Tiger!
“Well I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that it did not hurt…” Not true, but it makes a good segway.
What does one occupy himself with on a Sunday in Door County Wisconsin? I had my fill of fishing. I had been to the Maritime Museum. So, it’s off to Sturgeon Bay for a couple of hours at the cinema and then, maybe, a small sack of cheese curds.
You might ask, “Just what is a cheese curd?” Well, as you may know, Wisconsinites are fond of their cheese, as am I. Packer fans are affectionately known as ‘cheeseheads’. You’ve seen them in those silly cheese wedge hats they wear to Green Bay games.
But the curd!
From our dear old Wikipedia:
“Cheese curds in cuisine, or cooking, are the solid parts of soured milk either eaten alone or used in various regional dishes, mostly in eastern Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States. They are sometimes referred to as ‘squeaky cheese’.
Cheese curds start off with fresh milk. The milk is pasteurized, much like in the process of creating cheese. During this process, rennet is added to clot the milk. After the milk has been pasteurized, the result is a mixture of whey and the early stages of the curd. This mixture is then cooked. Next, it is pressed to release the whey from the curd, thus creating the final product of cheese curd.
Their flavor is mild, but can differ in taste depending on the process in which it was made. It has about the same firmness as cheese, but with a springy or rubbery texture. Fresh curds squeak against the teeth when bitten into, a defining characteristic due to air trapped inside the porous material. This “squeak” has been described by the New York Times as sounding like “balloons trying to neck”. After 12 hours, even under refrigeration, cheese curds lose much of their “fresh” characteristic, particularly the “squeak”. Keeping them at room temperature can preserve the squeakiness.
The curds have a mild flavor and are sometimes somewhat salty. Most varieties, as in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Vermont, or New York State, are naturally uncolored. The American variety is usually yellow or orange, like most American Cheddar cheese, but it does not require the artificial coloring.
Fresh cheese curds are often eaten as a snack, finger food or an appetizer. They may be served alone, dressed with an additional flavor, or with another food, such as a small smoked sausage or piece of cured pork, with the elements skewered together on a toothpick. Examples of flavorings applied to fresh curds include jalapeño chili peppers, garlic, various herbs, or spice blends such as Cajun seasoning, with garlic and dill on cheddar curds being a popular combination.”
There you have it, folks! All you ever wanted to know about cheese curds… and MORE!
Well… all good things must come to an end. I did may fifth and final week in Wisconsin and it was back to 1025 Brinkley Branch Rd. in the beautiful hills of northern Tennessee.
I made one final stop at a house of cheese and then it was down the eastern coastline of Wisconsin to Manitowoc. I spent the night there at a Super 8 Motel. I would traverse the remainder of the drive on Sunday, all told about twelve hours.
I couldn’t wait to see Miss LeCroy, Luke, Leah and Misie (our Bichon Frise)!
Wisconsin was great! But, “There’s no place like home.”
Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant and Butik Auburn Tigers Conway Twitty Davy Crockett George Jones Gills Rock Green Bay Gulf Shores Hank Williams I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry Jim Bowie Jim Taylor Johnny Cash Lake Michigan Lambeau Field Makers Mark Max McGee Merle Haggard Neil Young Paul Hornung Pensacola San Antonio Shoreline Resort Sturgeon Bay Tennessee The Alamo Vince Lombardi Waylon Jennings Wisconsin
The Land of Enchantment
SEC Wrapz Up
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Bob4AU on Ramblin’ 8/9/16
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Home : : Social : Magic of Roald Dahl cheers hopsital kids
Magic of Roald Dahl cheers hopsital kids
Sir Quentin Blake and Felicity Dahl unveil stunning stained glass project
Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity teamed up with Sir Quentin Blake, the world-famous children’s illustrator, and Felicity Dahl to bring the magic of Roald Dahl’s most iconic characters permanently to the hospital for patients, visitors and staff to enjoy. Sir Quentin has donated his instantly-recognisable designs to the hospital to be created in a stained-glass window installation – the first-time his work has ever been produced in stained-glass. The original illustration was unveiled at a special event attended by Felicity Dahl and close friend, actress Joanna Lumley and other guests.
Captions:
1 Joanna Lumley, Doug Wright, Felicity Dahl, Sarah-Jane Marsh
2 Rob Nagra, Paul Faulkner
3 Steve Hewlett, Felicity Dahl
4 Helen Green, Elizabeth Griffiths, Louise McCathie
5 Elisa Howe, Linda Marston-Weston
6 Michael Kuo, Jonnie Turpie, Owen Dutton
7 Karmjit Singh, Kam Reehal, Mandy Dhaliwal, Jas Singh
8 John Desmond, Lynn Brookes, David Willetts
To bring the world-first display to life, Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity needs to raise £234,000. The installation will be housed in Waterfall House, the new home of the world-class Children’s Cancer Centre and the UK’s first Rare Diseases Centre for children.
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Racing Park Mtein real-life images and opening date revealed
Featured, Motor Sports
You perhaps already know of the all-new kart racing track currently being built in Lebanon, and just in case you don’t, check out our previous post about the subject. The track is called Racing Park Mtein, and as the name suggests, it is located in Mtein village, 36 kilometers from Beirut.
We have previously shown you the final track layout, but today, we bring real-life images of the as yet unfinished racetrack and a release date, which according to the track’s official Facebook page will be in June 2014 (a more accurate date to be announced later), so that’s just two months from now.
We hope you’re as excited as we are!
Karting track LebanonLebanonNew Karting track LebanonRacing Park MteinRPMRPM Lebanon
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Just your average petrolhead and adrenaline junkie
Joseph Hindy and his first test of the season
TG rally Skills announces 2011 drivers.
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How and What I Watched in 2017 Mar 3, 2018 film & 52filmsbywomen & quantified self & lists Each year I watch a lot of films and to keep track of them can be a challenge, so the primary way that I log and remember films is through the What I’m Tracking in 2016 Mar 9, 2016 exist & fitbit & health & letterboxd & lifesum & quantified self & technology & withings Time for an update on what parts of myself get quantified and recorded this year. Last year I went through what I was tracking, so this year it’s Currently Tracking Jul 19, 2015 cortado & quantified self & reporter & software & your flowing data & zenobase Morning writing on 750words.com Apps for tracking my health It’s the beginning of summer and a good time to reflect a bit on what I’m recording Quantifying Yourself Feb 3, 2013 conferences & podcamp & podcamphfx & qs & quantified self Tracking what you do is a bit narcissistic when you do it, but in narcissism there is also some honesty. There is a level of courage in sharing
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Stability in Central Asia
via Open Dialogue
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion”
The project by Institute for War & Peace Reporting
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PARTNER MATERIALS
Main Article Arabic Language Courses in Tajikistan: A Silent Ban or Absence of Demand?
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Arabic Language Courses in Tajikistan: A Silent Ban or Absence of Demand?
Officials in Dushanbe deny any restrictions on the Arabic language study, but those willing to study it, cannot find the suitable courses.
Mehrangez Tursunzoda, Tajik journalist, searched for Arabic courses for her 12-year-old younger brother. However, according to her, there are no offers for Arabic study in city’s training centers.
Mehrangez Tursunzoda. Personal photo
“My brother fluently speaks Tajik, Russian and English. He is interested in Arabic language and we decided to enroll him in Arabic courses. Unfortunately, we did not find a single training center where this language was taught,” Tursunzoda says.
According to Mehrangez Tursunzoda, on the popular resource for free advertisements, Somon.tj, there are announcements from a number of teachers who teach Arabic. However, she has concerns about enrolling her underage brother there.
“There have been cases of brainwashing (recruiting) of teenagers during individual Arabic studies,” Tursunzoda says.
Malika Rustamova, Tajik student, has also been unsuccessfully searching for such courses for several months now.
“I went to almost all the educational institutions in Dushanbe, but everywhere they say they do not have such courses. Some [of the centers’ representatives] say that there is no demand for Arabic, while others speak of a ban from the authorities,” Rustamova said.
The head of one of the private language training centers anonymously said that government officials did not allow holding Arabic courses. He says that today this language is considered “dangerous”.
Malika Rustamova. Personal photo
“I tried to include Arabic to the curriculum many times, as there are many people willing to study it. I am a teacher of Arabic myself, and hundreds of people come to me to study this language,” says the source of CABAR.asia.
He is surprised at some officials’ claims that learners of the Arabic language can become extremists.
“That is, by studying Chinese, we will become Buddhists, and studying English – Christians. Is that so? Where is the logic?” the head of the training center asks.
Journalist Mehrangez Tursunzoda also considers this ban wrong.
“Arabic is one of the UN languages, and it is wrong to prohibit studying this language. On the contrary, this language should be taught openly for the public, so that those wishing to study can learn it freely and safely,” Mehrangez Tursunzoda believes.
Ministry of Education Refutes Rumors
Shohin Saidov, Deputy Head of the State Agency on Supervision in the Sphere of Education, denied the ban on Arabic language studies.
“We have never been asked to open Arabic language courses. All these talks about the fact that the Agency on Supervision in the Sphere of Education does not allow opening Arabic language courses are just rumors,” the official said.
The State Agency insists that Arabic is not taught because citizens prefer short-term courses of English, German, French, Chinese, Japanese and Russian.
Saidov stressed that there are no official instructions to ban the teaching of the Arabic language in Tajikistan.
Tojiddin Asomuddinzoda, Head of the Islamic University of Tajikistan, also states that there is no demand for learning Arabic language now. He links this fact with the crisis in the Arab countries.
Tojiddin Asomuddinzoda. Photo: CABAR.asia
“There was a time when the profession of the expert in Asian and Islamic studies was one of the most respected. Then, the countries of the Arab world were among the safest and most favorable countries for travel and work,” said Tojiddin Asomuddinzoda.
Today, according to him, people prefer to study Chinese, English and Russian. The Head of the University believes that over the past decade, a number of Arab countries, including Libya, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, are experiencing severe crisis.
“Reasonable people will not go to these countries to seek a job or establish a business, they will not even think about it. This becomes the reason that the youths’ attention to these countries is declining,” Asomuddinzoda said.
Tojiddin Asomuddinzoda says they wanted to open Arabic courses at the University, but there was no demand for them.
“If there is no demand, we cannot open training courses. For example, when there is just one or two applicants, we cannot create a functional group and pay salaries to teachers from an economic perspective,” Asomuddinzoda explained.
The National Library of Tajikistan has Saudi Arabia corner where free Arabic courses are taught. Photo from the National Library page on Facebook
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia corner works in the National Library of Tajikistan, where everyone can learn Arabic without fees. According to the visitors of the corner, many young people attend these courses; this fact indicates the interest of young people in studying Arabic.
According to the State Agency on Supervision in the Sphere of Education, there are more than 258 language training centers in the country. Of these, 158 are located in Dushanbe, 39 in the Sughd region, 32 in the Regions of Republican Subordination, 25 in the Khatlon region and 4 in GBAO.
Arabic Has Nothing to Do with This
Abdumalik Kadirov. Photo: ozodi.org
Some experts believe that the actual ban on Arabic language courses continues the policy of religious restrictions in Tajikistan. Analyst Abdumalik Kadirov says that the current policy of religious restrictions does not mean that authorities are hostile to Islam.
“Same people who do not allow studying Arabic, if accident happens with their loved ones, will arrange a funeral, definitely visit mullah and read the Yasin Surah for the deceased. That means that they are not against Islam. However, they see political opponents and competitors in the clergy, who can influence a large number of people. If the clergy speaks Arabic, they will be able to benefit from the knowledge of Islam and gain recognition among the people,” Kadyrov noted.
According to Abdumalik Kadirov, people who are able to lead the masses and can inspire people with their ideas are dangerous for any authoritarian system.
Umed Jaihoni. Photo from Facebook profile
“If there is no political competition, even a representative of the same religion may be the opponent. Perhaps, in Tajikistan, the policy of religious restrictions is intensifying in order to reduce the influence of religious authorities,” he added.
Philologist Umed Jaihoni does not believe that studying Arabic can pose a threat to Tajikistan, although he admits that some people who study this language can become extremists.
“However, this is not an excuse to ban Arabic language courses throughout the country,” Jaihoni said.
Jaihoni also suggested that there is a possibility that the “actual” ban is based on the vested interests of those who are trying to monopolize such activities, amid growing labor migration to Arab countries.
“Officials’ assumptions that everyone who studies Arabic becomes radicalized or that anyone who studies Farsi becomes Shiite, show the very low awareness of these leaders. These responsible executives pose the greatest threat to Tajikistan, to its national and state security,” he concluded.
This publication was produced under IWPR project «Forging links and raising voices to combat radicalization in Central Asia».
Arabic language study
“Внуки спрашивают, где папа”: Видео-репортаж о семьях таджикских граждан, уехавших в Ирак
IWPR в Таджикистане провело диалоговые встречи по религии в четырёх районных центрах
Как живут ягнобцы? Репортаж из труднодоступной местности Таджикистана
Author’s other articles:
IWPR провел мастер-класс по инструментам освещения вопросов религий.
The Methods of Countering Extremism on the Internet Discussed in Dushanbe
“Grandchildren Ask Where Their Dad Is”. Video Report on the Families of Tajik Citizens Who Left for Iraq
Dushanbe Interfaith Festival “Tajikistan – Our Home”
VIDEO: How to protect yourself from unwanted psychological influence?
Open dialogue is a project by Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) www.iwpr.net
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Building a hospital ward in Madagascar
A BeMORE group donated £18,500 to Doctors for Madagascar
This BeMORE group’s £18,500 donation contributed two-thirds of the costs of a new hospital ward building in Hopitaly Zoara, Fotadrevo, Madagascar. That meant a fully-equipped new room with 20 hospital beds for men, women and children in a severely deprived area, where there was previously extremely limited access to healthcare.
Hopitaly Zoara is the only surgical hospital in a vast area of southern Madagascar, and patients come from miles around, often on foot, to be treated. Being able to provide better and more permanent facilities has hugely improved treatment and care, and has allowed the hospital for the first time to accommodate international specialists for longer periods.
More personally, we really had fun working with the BeMORE group. They were thoughtful, asked challenging questions and engaged with the complexities of the project - but also brought a huge amount of enthusiasm and motivation. Thank you!
Hannah Watson, Trustee, Doctors for Madagascar UK
It's easy to take our normality for granted. Those in Australia affected by the devastating wildfires are facing a… https://t.co/bJRPE95sQ6
Latest tweet from @BeMORE_charity
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Category Archives: Deals
January 19, 2020 Community, Deals, Entertainment, Food and Restaurants, Highly Recommended, New and Happenings, Outdoor Fun, Puerto Vallarta History No comments
Puerto Vallarta #1 rated Food Tours
I have been coming to PV for almost 20 years now. While I know many business owners and a few locals who work in the service industry, I still do not know a whole lot about how the locals live.
By taking one of the many food tours offered by Vallarta Food Tours, in just 3-4 hours you learn so much, you will be in the know, like the locals! Taste local food, meet local people and visit hidden gems and places off the beaten touristy path. Taste food from street vendors who have been in business over 40 and 50 years!
Vallarta Food Tour’s mission is to help visitors and residents alike enjoy the best that Vallarta has to offer by highlighting off-the-beaten-path, “non-touristy” food and drinks along with a local insight of its treasures. Our love of Puerto Vallarta and Mexican culture inspired us to create the city’s finest culinary tour. We sampled the perfect mole, sipped on succulent tuba water and tasted fresh coconut from arguably the best coconut vendor in the country.
I took the Original Downtown Tour last month. $52 for adults. (For a couple dollars extra you even get a couple beers along the way!) You get 8 tastings of amazing regional cuisine, and that’s enough (more than enough!) to serve as a satisfying lunch. And you get a 3-4 hour cultural tour and walk of the city by an awesome tour guide who explains the food but also many local interesting tidbits of information and traditions.
There is a Bikes and Bites Tour. ($55). On a comfortable bike, cover 4.5 miles on this culinary tour, tasting regional dishes influenced by Aztec, Mayan, Toltec, Spanish and French cuisine. This tour is designed for moderate fitness levels. Prior cycling experience is required and all guests must be 18 or older.
Did someone say drinks?? Take the evening Mex-ology tour! Drink And Eat Your Way Through Downtown Vallarta. Tacos and Tequila are at the top of everyone’s list when they come to PV. This tour gives you both in one fun and food-filled evening. ($79).
This 4-hour guided tour is perfect for dinner and will introduce you to the best indigenous spirits and regional cocktails in Vallarta.
You will sample Tequila, Mezcal, Racilla, and local craft beer mixed into a regional cocktail by a master Mexican Mixologist. To keep you on your feet you will enjoy a few tacos along the way, including a one-of-a-kind seafood stuffed Jalapeño taco, carne asada taco, and more.
Vallarta Food Tours say, “Our goal is to ensure that all of our tour participants have a fantastic time and leave with a real confidence to continue their exploration of our beautiful city. We recommend taking our food tours at the start of your stay so you can take on the city armed with knowledge and insight of what makes Puerto Vallarta so beautiful, so vibrant and so special. We are proud to share our culinary discoveries with you. Let us take you on a 3-hour adventure, introduce you to the best of the best and help open up a bright and delicious new world just waiting to be explored!” –
We give them 5 PINK CROWNS!
Trip Advisor agrees as well!
Stop by the website and book a tour! and read the many many great reviews!
The Puerto Vallarta city tour takes place in the heart of Vallarta, giving participants insight into the city’s true soul. Besides the Puerto Vallarta Tours offered, Vallarta Food Tours offers Private Group Food Tours and Gift Certificates.
February 2, 2018 Deals, Entertainment, Gay Bars and Clubs, New and Happenings, Puerto Vallarta Information
What a Drag Benefit Feb 18th
Annual BANDERAS BAY SHELTER-Fundraiser. A home for victims of domestic violence. For more information: www.compassionforthefamilymx.org
One of the funniest shows of the year! Hosted by New York’s HEDDA LETTUCE!
More info and tickets thru the Facebook page!
November 16, 2017 Deals, Entertainment, Gay Vallarta, Hotels, New and Happenings
Casa Cupula LGBT Resort Celebrates Anniversary
Puerto Vallarta’s Luxury LGBT Boutique Hotel Celebrates 15thAnniversary!
Casa Cupula, Puerto Vallarta’s legendary boutique resort hotel, is set to celebrate its 15th birthday with a three-month celebration of the property’s history, present, and future, culminating in a grand Mexican-style quinceañera celebration.
Casa Cupula gained notoriety in 2002 when it became Mexico’s first high-end LGBTQ property. In the years since the then-five-bedroom guesthouse and oasis for gay travelers has grown into an 18-room full resort complex and an integral part of elevating the reputation of Puerto Vallarta as Mexico’s gay vacation mecca.
“I don’t think anyone would have imagined how the LGBT community has gained so much acceptance over the last 15 years,” said Casa Cupula founder Don Pickens, who still owns and manages the property. “Back then, Puerto Vallarta’s reputation as a leading LGBT destination was not as well-known. Today it is celebrated by the city and is a major driver of Puerto Vallarta’s tourism-based economy.”
“We have been part of a great movement to modernize the image of Puerto Vallarta by showcasing the contemporary and luxurious offerings found in our Romantic Zone, Puerto Vallarta’s ‘gayborhood,’” Pickens added. “Today, Vallarta is proud to be one of the most important international gay destinations, and Casa Cupula is still rated among the top hotels of any kind in Vallarta.
During the property’s 15-year run, it has continuously updated its offering, adding rooms and suites of various sizes, as well as three pools; a Jacuzzi and sauna; full concierge services that refer guests to hand-selected LGBTQ-friendly activities; Pump Gym & Spa; and Taste Restaurant, one of the top dining venues in Puerto Vallarta.
Any 15-year-old deserves a great present and Casa Cupula is no exception. This year the new “Frida Suite,” will honor iconic early 20th century Mexican LGBT artist Frida Kahlo. Designed to reflect Kahlo’s love for Mexican traditions and culture, the suite’s debut will be part of the extended quinceañeracelebration of Casa Cupula’s birthday.
A quinceañera is one of the most important Mexican celebrations, presenting a birthday girl or boy to society at the age of 15. Casa Cupula’s grand celebration of its own 15 years will include multiple events throughout the season, starting with a quinceañera party on Nov. 24. A drag queen contest at the event will see a brand ambassador crowned to represent Casa Cupula for the season.
This will be followed by a banquet on Dec. 2 to celebrate the boutique property’s leading role in Puerto Vallarta’s thriving LGBT community, inviting both local leaders and Casa Cupula alumni to celebrate together. The festivities will culminate with a major event in January. Cynthia Lee Fontaine, undisputed Miss Congeniality of hit reality TV show “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” has been selected by the team at legendary Puerto Vallarta boutique hotel Casa Cupula to headline the property’s highly anticipated quinceañera — or 15 anniversary —celebration, to take place January 19, 2018. Tickets start at 300 pesos (approximately US$16) per person (visit www.casacupula.com/cucu).
READ MORE HERE ABOUT CYNTHIA
Casa Cupula invites past and new guests to join in on the celebration, enjoying a fourth night free on stays from Nov. 27 to Dec.19. For more information and to book, please visit www.casacupula.com.
June 18, 2017 Beaches, Deals, Food and Restaurants
Si Senor on the Beach in Puerto Vallarta
We love this place! Great food, great prices, great location!
Stop by for breakfast, lunch, dinner or cocktails and snacks. Try any of the savory Mexican dishes and you’ll taste how authentic food is supposed to be. The staff only uses the freshest ingredients to bring out the flavors of the many regions of Mexico. The menu features guacamole made to order table side, classic Oaxacan mole negro, and Pacific coast ceviche and seafood cocktails.
You can enjoy your meal on the beach at a dining table or relax in a chaise lounge chair. There are big umbrellas for your comfort. You can also be seated in the more formal dining room next to the beach.
Their History….
When the opportunity came to take over the restaurant space at Hotel Emperador, we took it. In a vacation destination city like Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, it is all about location.
Si Señor Beach is the third Puerto Vallarta restaurant in the family owned chain and opened in October 2012. There is easy access from streets Rodolfo Gómez and Amapas and it is just one block south of the new Los Muertos Pier on Los Muertos Beach. Our views are simply awesome.
We took the time to craft a menu that gives you a full scope of what we are all about and use only the freshest ingredients to create truly authentic Mexican food. The cuisine we offer is both classic and updated preparations of the regional dishes of Mexico. Classic moles, braised and slow roasted meats in traditional marinades, tangy ceviche, fresh guacamole, creamy flan, are all examples of the colorful flavors of Mexico that we serve.
The same passion for quality is echoed throughout every element of our restaurant. The staff is courteous, attentive to your needs and will make sure your dining experience is the best. We have Mexican fare in a contemporary, casual atmosphere, which includes a variety of seating options and it’s the perfect place to start your vacation day, have a business lunch or a romantic dinner. Our house is your house, so come join the family for a meal.
FACEBOOK PAGE has some great videos and photos!
SiSenorBeach.com
April 27, 2017 Art, Deals, Food and Restaurants, Highly Recommended, New and Happenings
Di Vino Dante Three Specials!
Di Vino Dante—the wine and tapas bar that focuses on fine Mexican and Latin American wines and mediterranean cuisine—has recently announced seasonal specials that include a delicious and attractive culinary offering at reduced prices.
Located on the famous Basilio Badillo street (#269)in Puerto Vallarta’s Romantic Zone, the venue features an artistic ambiance that is perfect for casual dining.
(Adjacent to the famous Galleria Dante. The Largest Fine Art Gallery in Puerto Vallarta, representing 50 artists. Of these artists 90% of them are Mexican. Many Different styles and techniques are represented. From emerging artist to well established museum quality work. )
Every Wednesday, Di Vino Dante offers a tapas plate and a glass of wine for only $170 MXN.
This special doesn’t apply with other promotions and is valid only paying in cash.
Pizza and Wine
Every Thursday, buy a bottle of wine and get a free pizza Caprese or De La Casa. This special doesn’t apply with other promotions and is valid only paying in cash.
Happy Hour! 2 x 1 special on Mojitos and Margaritas.
Daily from 2:00pm – 6:00pm (except on Sundays).
TripAdvisor member’s describe the venue as “the perfect place to taste creative and delicious cuisine” and as “an unforgettable experience”.
Di Vino Dante is located at 269 A Basilio Badillo street (second floor) in colonia Emiliano Zapata. For more information about specials or reservations, please call (322) 223 3734.
February 27, 2017 Art, Deals, Food and Restaurants, Gay Vallarta, New and Happenings, Retail and Shopping
Puerto Vallarta Best gallery and Wine bar
We have been fans of Galleria Dante for years now. And we absolutely love the new addition, Di Vino Dante, which opened in 2013.
Galleria Dante and Di Vino Dante, even though two separate businesses, are both located in an old hacienda style villa at Basilio Badillo #269.
After meeting in Puerto Vallarta in 1986, Claire and Joe Guarniere, inspired by Dante and Beatrice and their mutual love of Italy, began their family business in 1988 with an Italian restaurant called “Pizza Joe” and a small classical art gallery.
In 1995, their passion for art outweighed the long hours in the restaurant business so they opened “Galleria Dante”, which is now the largest and most eclectic fine art gallery in Puerto Vallarta, exhibiting the works of more than 50 artists –from emerging to well established museum artists (both painters and sculptors). Of these artists 90% are Mexican-born. The countless pieces are arranged in the European “salon” style throughout the massive gallery’s eight rooms, including a beautiful open-air courtyard, which is my favorite part!
In 2013, Gena, born and raised in the family businesses, opened Di Vino Dante, a wine and Tapas bar overlooking the gallery’s sculpture garden which also offers larger plates. The restaurant also rotates art from the gallery, offering the opportunity for diners to purchase art while enjoying a fine glass of wine or cocktail. . During her second year at University “UBC” in Vancouver, British Columbia, she took “Wine Science”, to complete her Science credit. It changed her life. Growing up in an Italian family, surrounded by art and after numerous summers in Italy, she had never developed a taste for wine. With her interest peaked, and a new found love of wine, she took more wine classes, in what free time she had in completing her Fine Art degree. After studying wine theory and tasting hundreds of bottles of wine, she dreamed of how to work in the business.
Both business continue to evolve and grow, the gallery always in search of new artists, the wine bar offering new menu items and an extensive wine cellar. Later this season, Di Vino Dante will be opening the rooftop garden, which will also be available for special events and private parties.
Galleria Dante and Di Vino Dante are located at Basilio Badillo #269 in the Old Town / Romantic Zone of Puerto Vallarta. New artwork comes in on a regular basis, and the restaurant offers weekly specials, so even if you have visited Galleria Dante in the past, it is always worth another visit.
February 11, 2017 Beaches, Deals, Food and Restaurants, New and Happenings, Special Events
Valentines in Romantica Zone Puerto Vallarta
February 14 – Friendship Day (Día de Amistad – Valentine’s Day); in Mexico, is not just for lovers, but friendship, as well, and is celebrated on February 14. Special menus in most the local restaurants and live music to dance in different latino ambience night clubs. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND to reserve in advance if you don’t want to wait for hours for a table and get into a fight with your fiancee :-).
One of our favorite restaurants is right on the beach! SI Senor on the Beach.
What a wonderful way to spend the evening, dining on the beach! Their wonderful chef’s whip up fantastic and fresh creations every day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. WE LOVE IT HERE!
Amapas 114C
Puerto Vallarta 48390
Everything about Puerto Vallarta lends itself to romance: The blue water and green mountains, the cobblestone streets and traditional architecture, the brilliant colors and music. So planning a romantic Valentine’s Day in Vallarta is amazingly simple.
January 19, 2017 Deals, Food and Restaurants, New and Happenings
Quick and Tasty Food at New Food Park
The Puerto Vallarta’s Romantic Zone has a new culinary attraction on Ignacio L. Vallarta street, a few steps away from the Lázaro Cárdenas Park: Los Guapos Food Park.
This recently inaugurated, open-air venue offers the city a new experience as it features an interesting array of fast food stalls in repurposed shipping containers. Los Guapos Food Park also features a terrace and a dining area on the ground floor where guests can enjoy their favorite dishes and the ambiance of the place.
Music, food, cocktails and a setting featuring an industrial exterior design and pop culture elements, make from this park a must-visit attraction in the area.
The following are the culinary options available at the food park:
Mozzarella Pizza
Featuring some classic pizzas such as the Margherita, Hawaiian, Pepperoni and Veggie specialties, as well as other signature recipes such as one called Bahía—featuring salmon, cream cheese, red onions and pesto—and another one named Muy Guapa—featuring artichoke, serrano ham, black olives, fresh basil and mushroom.
A wide variety of burger recipes to pamper everyone’s palate!
Tacos o Pacos
Enjoy Mexico’s most representative dish: Al Pastor, asada, adobada and chicken tacos available!
Featuring the essential beverages for a Saturday night. Whether you enjoy a soft drink or a tequila cocktail, a glass of draft beer or a vodka drink; Los Guapos Food Park has you covered.
For more information about Los Guapos Food Park, please visit its Facebook Page.
January 7, 2017 Art, Deals, New and Happenings, Retail and Shopping, Things to Do
Fantastic Oaxaca Painted Mexican Animals
The Alebrijes are brightly colored Oaxacan Mexican Folk Art sculptures of fantastical creatures. They seem to strike a universal chord with our shared human experience. Colorful and whimsical. The first alebrijes, along with use of the term, originated with Pedro Linares. In the 1930s. Over the past 20 years this style has evolved dramatically from colorful and whimsical folk art into fine contemporary art. It is sought out worldwide by very passionate collectors who can’t seem to get enough.
JULIA FUENTES, From San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca. Daughter of renowned artisans Epifanio Fuentes and Laurencia Santiago. Julia Fuentes began painting at her parent’s workshop in 1989 when she was only 13 years old. A few years later she began her art education at the School of Fine Arts where she graduated as Art Instructor in 1989. Julia and her husband Juan J. Melchor started their own workshop in 2001.
Julia’s paintings are characterized by colorful geometric shapes on copal wood figures that her husband carves which she decorates with traditional spikes combined with Zapotec details, in a fusion of the past and the present thus adding a new level of depth to Mexican folk art.
Brothers Armando and Moises Jimenez are the grandsons of the master woodcarver Manuel Jimenez, of Arrazola, Oaxaca. Manuel Jimenez is generally acknowledged as the father of Oaxacan woodcarving, who turned the small farming village on the slopes of Monte Alban into a boom town. Armando and Moises work with their wives, Antonia Carrillo and Oralia Cardenas, and their children. They carry on the tradition of sensitively observed naturalistic carving and colorful but restrained painting mastered by their grandfather.
The story of Manuel Jiménez is now part of Oaxacan folklore. He struggled out of poverty to become one of the world’s most reknown woodcarvers. His early work focused on animals and people and he continues making realistic animals. Occasionally, he will add a twist or contortion to their forms.
Isaac and Rosario Fabian are two of the better known popular artists. Using wood from the copal tree, figures are carved, sanded, and painted by hand. They usually use marble eyes in their works.
The carving of a piece, which is done while the wood is still wet, can last anywhere from hours to a month, depending on the size and fineness of the piece. Often the copal wood that is used will influence what is made, both because of the shapes the branches can take and because male and female trees differ in hardness and shape. Carving is done with non-mechanical hand tools such as machetes, chisels and knives. The basic shape of the creature is usually hacked using a machete, then a series of smaller knives used as the final shape is achieved. Certain details such as ears, tails and wings are usually made from pieces separate from the one for the main body.
After the carving, the figure is then left to dry for up to ten months, depending on its overall size and thickness. Semi tropical wood such as copal is susceptible to insect infestations, and for this reason drying pieces are often soaked in gasoline and sometimes baked to ensure that all insect eggs have been destroyed. As the figure dries, it is also susceptible to cracking. The cracks are filled with small pieces of copal wood and a sawdust resin mixture before painting. The painting is generally done in two layers, with a solid undercoat and a multicolored designed superimposed.
THE BEST place in Puerto Vallarta to see all of this and much more is Peyote People and Galeria Colectika . Traveling around Mexico buying for Peyote People and Colectika, owner Kevin Simpson has had the unique opportunity to visit recluse villages, participate in ancient rituals and have befriended a number of different artists and their families. You will find a great assortment of art at all price ranges!
Peyote People Juarez 222 Col. Centro
Galeria Colectika corner of Calle Guadalupe Sanchez and Calle Allende
December 24, 2016 Beyond Vallarta, Deals, Entertainment, Food and Restaurants, Nuevo Vallarta, Special Events, Things to Do
Dinner in the Sky PUERTO VALLARTA 2017
Top Chefs Helm Dinner in the Sky Experience at Casa Velas in Puerto Vallarta, Feb 2017
Gourmet Dinner w/ Wine Pairing Held 150 Feet in the Air
One of the world’s exhilarating dining experiences, Dinner in the Sky comes to Casa Velas in Puerto Vallarta from January 28 – February 28, 2017. Groups of 22 adventurous guests will be lifted nearly 150 feet in the air by a crane, taking in breathtaking views of the property’s on-site golf course and beautifully polished grounds, Banderas Bay and Sierra Madre Mountains. Guests at Dinner in the Sky can mingle with fellow diners during a one-hour experience consisting of a three course gourmet dinner menu designed by top chefs, including Mikel Alonso and Bruno Oteiza, disciples of Spanish superstar Juan Arzak and owners of Biko in Mexico City, regularly among the top 50 restaurants in the world on the San Pellegrino list. A complimentary cocktail hour precedes the dinner. When staying three nights at Casa Velas or its sister properties in Vallarta-Nayarit, guests enjoy special discounted rates for the experience.
A celebration of gastronomic innovation and excitement, Puerto Vallarta’s Dinner in the Sky costs $50 USD a seat when staying at Casa Velas or the nearby AAA Five Diamond Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit and $80 USD when staying at Velas Vallarta. An exciting happening in the Puerto Vallarta area, outside guests can enjoy the dinner for $242 USD on site or $170 pre-order, pending availability. Guests can reserve their space for two dinners Wednesday through Friday (beginning at 6 p.m. and again at 8 p.m.); Saturday and Sunday features three dinners (beginning at 5, 7 and 9 p.m.). A vegetarian menu is also available on request.
For more information please call 1-888-407-4869 or visit www.hotelcasavelas.com.
November 17, 2016 Deals, Entertainment, Music, New and Happenings, Special Events, Things to Do
Puerto Vallarta Gay Mens Chorus Dec. 15
Celebrate the holidays as PVGMC presents HALLELUJAH!
The Puerto Vallarta Gay Men’s Chorus (PVGMC), directed by Alfonso López, presents its annual holiday musical celebration at 8 PM on December 15 and 16 and at 4 PM and 8 PM on December 17 at Act II Stages
The PVGMC develops and shares the vocal skills of gay men from Mexico, the United States, Canada and around the world. They perform choral music that entertains, enlightens and unifies the audience, as well as its members, while building bridges of greater understanding, acceptance and love between communities, cultures, families, and friends. They are warmly embraced by the local Mexican and Ex-Pat communities, as well as tourists of both cultures.
This time of year brings back recollection of some of the most memorable times spent with family and friends. Buy your ticket today online at http://actiientertainment.com/PVGMC-Holiday-Concert.php or at the Act II Stages box office at Insurgentes 300 in the Romantic Zone (up the stairs on Basilio Badillo), telephone 322-222-1512. Celebrate the most magical season of the year with the PVGMC, and you might want to brush up on some of your favorites so that you can sing along!
March 17, 2016 Deals, Gay Marriage, Gay Vallarta, New and Happenings, Weddings
Gay Marriage LEGAL in Puerto Vallarta NOW
Jalisco has now became the fourth Mexican state to legalize same-sex marriage, following Chihuahua, Coahuila and Quintana Roo; the capital, Mexico City, also recognizes same-sex marriages.
For the fourth consecutive year, Puerto Vallarta will be hosting the annual LGBTTIQ pride festival this year, scheduled to take place May 16 to 30, under the motto, “We are one family.” The Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board will join local civil associations, private companies and Puerto Vallarta’s local and international lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, intersex, and queer community in this , which aims to honor and promote the culture and respect for sexual diversity.
The Costa Sur Resort & Spa in P.V., a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, marked the news of the legalization by offering free wedding packages. Couples who make a booking of 10 rooms or more for a minimum of two nights will receive a complimentary wedding banquet, centerpieces and four hours of open bar. On the night of the wedding, the couple’s room will be decorated, and the couple will be treated to complimentary chocolate-dipped strawberries and sparkling white wine. Prices for the package start at $135 per person, per night, all-inclusive, based on double occupancy.
“Puerto Vallarta has over 22,000 hotel rooms with more than half of those in 5- and 4-star hotels, including the Pacific Coast’s first [AAA] 5 Diamond property, the Hotel Mousai,” a spokesperson said. “The destination’s downtown, where Puerto Vallarta’s ‘gayborhood,’ the Zona Romantica, is located, is home to over 70 businesses targeting the LGBT consumer. The past six months has seen the zone increase its infrastructure with the opening of three new hotels — Casa Kimberly, Garlands Del Rio and Almar Resort Luxury All Suites & Spa — which are all LGBT-friendly.”
For a full list of hotels, resorts and activities in Mexico that are LGBT-friendly, visit the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association at www.iglta.org.
CALL AND BOOK WITH DAVE @ DONAVAN TRAVEL! 1-800-942-1280
January 21, 2016 Art, Deals, Food and Restaurants, New and Happenings, Retail and Shopping, Spa Services, Special Events
Puerto Vallarta Romantic Valentines Get Away
February 14 – Friendship Day (Día de Amistad – Valentine’s Day); in Mexico, not just love, but friendship, as well, is celebrated on February 14.
For great gifts for your special someone visit Xocodiva Artisan Chocolates in the Romantic Zone for sinfully delicious handmade treats, Jabonarte on Lazaro Cardenas for seductive massage and bath oils or Diamonds International for jewelry on the Puerto Vallarta Malecon.
Couple’s massages and spa treatments are another great way to enjoy Valentine’s Day in Puerto Vallarta with your sweetheart. Ohtli Spa at CasaMagna Marriott is certain to spark the romance.
Most of the restaurants in Puerto Vallarta will be offering special dinners for two for Valentine’s Day and some of the more famously romantic spots include: The River Café, Trio, Le Kliff, Porto Bello, Café des Artistes, No Way Jose, Barcelona Tapas, Michel, and The Swedes. You need to reserve in advance if you don’t want to wait for ages!
And of course, no romantic evening in Puerto Vallarta is complete without a stroll along the Malecon watching the sunset and the fireworks lighting up the sky over Banderas Bay.
The beautiful heart artwork in the photo is just one of the amazing Retablo’s Crafted by the world-famous Peruvian artists the Jiménez Quispe family. For them, the making of retablo art is a family tradition. The third and fourth generations of this family, with are world-renowned artists with pieces in dozens of museums including the Smithsonian, Folk Art Museums in Sante Fe and San Francisco and many others. This family is originally from Ayacucho, high in the mountains. Both Colecktika and Peyote People carry these and other amazing pieces of affordable art!
November 13, 2015 Deals, New and Happenings, Outdoor Fun, Puerto Vallarta Information, Things to Do, Travel Tips and Useful Information
Puerto Vallarta Free Trip Contest
The start of winter in Puerto Vallarta is cause for celebration as December marks the beginning of the whale watching season, traditional pilgrimages in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe, free daily guided Artwalks in historic downtown, culinary treats all around town, the International Pro Am golf tournament, the release of baby sea turtles, perfect weather with temperatures in the low 80’s and a calendar full of holiday festivities and free activities.
The Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board is inviting everyone to join in the celebration with the launch of a mega “12 DAYS OF WINTER” (#12DaysOfWinter) promotion and participate for a chance to win daily prizes during the first 12 days of December, including artworks, bottles of tequila and raicilla and trip getaways, with the top prize being a 12-day all-expense paid vacation for two in Puerto Vallarta.
To participate register at visitpuertovallarta.com/12daysofwinter and tell the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board what you would do on a 12-day all-expense paid holiday for two in the destination. All registrants will have a chance to win one of 12 prizes. Drawings will take place every day from December 1st to 12th. Following are the details of the prizes that will be awarded:
Winners of the getaway prizes to be awarded between December 5th through 12th will also receive a choice of 2 activities in Puerto Vallarta courtesy of Vallarta Adventures and Dolphin Discovery.
November 11, 2015 Currency, Deals, Entertainment, Food and Restaurants, Gay Bars and Clubs, Gay Vallarta, Highly Recommended, New and Happenings, Puerto Vallarta Information, Things to Do
Puerto Vallarta Things to Do!
16 REASONS WHY NOW IS THE BEST TIME
TO VISIT PUERTO VALLARTA
As the Peso lowers, bargain hunters
will find great deals in Paradise
With the Mexican Peso at an all-time low, with average exchange rate between $15-$17 pesos to the US dollar, Americans and Canadians looking for last minute deals to Puerto Vallarta will find that this is a travelers market.Puerto Vallarta is one of Mexico’s top tourism destination. Known for its 100-year-old historic center, the heart of the destination, it is alive with authentic culture, art, nightlife and a range of award-winning traditional and international restaurants.
Beyond the downtown area, Puerto Vallarta makes for a vacation full of activities that all can enjoy. From strolling along Puerto Vallarta’s lively Malecón (beach boardwalk) while relishing in free outdoor live entertainment like the nightly Papantla flying dancers, to riding zip lines across tree tops or swimming with dolphins and sea lions, taking a cooking class at one of the traditional restaurants or enjoying a guided tour of the local art galleries, visitors of all ages can share memorable moments during their fun-filled visit.
FOLLOWING ARE 16 BARGAINS TO ENJOY NOW
Dinner at Top Restaurants – Puerto Vallarta is home to over 300 restaurants ranging from internationally renowned establishments to mom-and-pap eateries offering dishes that go back generations. Dinner for two, including a three-course meal and a bottle of fine wine, at top iconic restaurants like La Palapa, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton favorite beach-front eatery, where they brought all their celebrity friends to party, El Arrayan, famous for its exquisite traditional Mexican cuisine, or Barcelona Tapas, with its grand view of the Bay of Banderas and the city’s Downtown area, will cost less than $120 USD.
Artisan Tequilas – Many ranches and haciendas around Puerto Vallarta offer half day and full day activities including horseback riding, hiking, quad bike excursions and a tour of the tequila plantation and distillery; including tasting of top artisan tequilas and the local raicilla, a spirit of pre-Hispanic origin made from the agave root. Top quality tequila and raicilla will set one back around $20 USD www.haciendadonaengracia.com / www.haciendaeldivisadero.com
VIP Beach Clubs – Enjoy the beach with plenty of pampering and luxury offered by one of Puerto Vallarta’s beach clubs. Mantamar Beach club has day passes for as low as $350 pesos ($20 USD), with $250 pesos (nearly $15 USD) counted as credit towards food and drinks.
Learn Spanish – Puerto Vallarta is a college town, home to international universities and private schools. A two-week Spanish immersion class at one of the many language centers located in Puerto Vallarta, which also offers the opportunity to learn about Mexican culture and traditions, costs as little as $150 USD a week. www.spanishexperiencecenter.com
Artworks for Collectors – From the many sculptures that line its Malecon (beach boardwalk) to the fine art galleries that house national and international works Puerto Vallarta is known for embracing the arts. Visitors can explore the town’s numerous arts offerings on the guided ArtWalk tour which operates daily from October to May, making stops at 15 local galleries in the historic downtown area. The ArtWalk is free and most galleries; like Galeria Colectika have not adjusted the prices on art pieces; providing visitors a great opportunity to acquire amazing works of art for a steal.
San Sebastian del Oeste – A 90-minute drive east of Puerto Vallarta sends visitors back in time to a 17th century silver mining village nestled in the Sierra Madre Mountains. This sleeping town of 600 inhabitants is a colonial gem, filled with historic sites and great places to eat. Stoll around town at leisure or take guided tour. A round-trip taxi ride from Puerto Vallarta and back costs around USD $90.
Your Own Private Beach – For travelers wishing to explore the natural oasis and warm Pacific Ocean waters in a secluded setting, Puerto Vallarta offers a variety of ways to enjoy their pristine secluded beaches. Take a round-trip water taxi ride out of Los Muertos Beach to secluded coves or isolated beaches like Colomitos, Las Animas, Boca de Tomatlan, Majahuitas, Quimixto, Playa El Caballo and many others. $20 USD per person.
Charter a Private Boat. Spend the day at sea, snorkeling, fishing, swimming, island hopping or just sun bathing on your own private boat. Prices start at $866 for 8 hours www.pvmikesfishing.com/fishing-boat-rental-rates
Viva Tequila Tour – Enjoy a Tequila tour and a live performance of traditional colorful Mexican folklore for about $60 USD a person. www.viviatequila.mx
Boutique Hotels – Puerto Vallarta’s Downtown and Zona Romantica area is one of the most charming and authentic locations along Mexico’s Pacific Coast, teaming with enchanting boutique hotels, each with its own charm, unique personality and history; offering the warm and friendly personalized service Puerto Vallarta is reputed for. Rates are as low as $40 USD per night. www.visitpuertovallarta.com
Mex-Ology: Tequila, Tacos and Mexican Cocktails Tour – Enjoy authentic Puerto Vallarta culture and dining on a unique taco tour with Vallarta Food Tours. Also a fun way to see the Downtown area and a great start to a night of festivities. www.puertovallartafoodtours.com
Become a Taco Expert – There are a couple of signs visitors must look out for before buying a taco. 1. Is the location popular? If you see a line of locals waiting to eat at the establishment that’s generally a good sign. 2. When buying tacos from a local street vendor make sure the food is served in plates covered with a plastic for hygiene. 3. There should always be at least two people working the stand, one to serve food and the other to handle payments. Try Ceviches el Güero or Tacos el Cunado where a taco costs less than $1 USD.
Brunch at Canopy River – Take a ride to the middle of the Sierra Madre and enjoy a hearty Sunday Brunch amidst the varied and lush tropical flora and fauna of the rainforest surrounding Puerto Vallarta for less than $20 USD per person. www.canopytourspuertovallarta.com
Walk the Malecon – The Malecon is Puerto Vallarta’s heart and where everyone, both locals and tourists, gather for morning jogs, open air yoga classes and daytime or sunset strolls. It also has features some of the most delicious traditional street food, from tacos to corn on the cob with mayonnaise and chili, each for less than $1 USD.
Colorful Local Celebrations – Visiting Puerto Vallarta during any of its local festivals or celebrations that take place monthly, presents a culturally rewarding experience and a chance to see the city through the cultural traditions of its people. From the Day of the Dead to the Gourmet Festival, most celebrations have activities that are free of charge. www.visitpuertovallarta.com
Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board has been working with all its trade partners to offer exclusive discounts when booking is made on their site: www.visitpuertovallarta.com. Visitors can find discounts on activities and stays for as high as 50% off.
Additional information on Puerto Vallarta is available at www.visitpuertovallarta.com
see also BestGayPuertoVallartra.com
October 17, 2015 Deals, Gay Bars and Clubs, Gay Vallarta, New and Happenings, Special Events
White Party Puerto Vallarta LATIN FEVER
BACK AND BIGGER THAN EVER!
Latin Fever 2015 / White Party Puerto Vallarta
WillGorges.com
October 16, 2015 Deals, Highly Recommended, Hotels, New and Happenings, Weddings
Costa Sur Resort & Spa Gay Wedding Deal
PLOOKING FOR A DESTINATION WEDDING?
COSTA SUR RESORT & SPA WILL PAY FOR IT!
Puerto Vallarta’s Popular Wedding Resort Splurges on Guests with Free Wedding with Booking
Costa Sur Resort & Spa has launched its “All Inclusive Free Wedding Package” giving away most elements of a wedding with a 10 room booking.
Located in Mexico’s Pacific Coast destination of Puerto Vallarta, is one of the destination’s most popular wedding resorts, already hosting hundreds of weddings year-round, including over 200 LGBT ceremonies.
The property has a full in-house wedding staff and able to provide not only a secluded beach-front wedding but all the amenities needed for a world-class wedding.
The hotel’s wedding package promotion is based on a 10 room booking for a minimum of 2 nights; Costa Sur will give the happy couple a complimentary wedding banquet, Costa Sur Resort & Spa special table setting with round tables and Tiffany chairs and 4 hours of open bar, including a sparkling wine toast.
In addition, the couple will also receive 2 Nights All Inclusive complimentary accommodations, Upgrade to suite and a full wedding coordinator for any additional needs.
On the night of the wedding, the couple’s room will be decorated with the resort’s signature romantic setting rich with chocolate dipped strawberries and sparkling white wine.
Puerto Vallarta has the sun, the beach, and the beautiful blue ocean year round. It’s the perfect mix with plenty of romantic beachfront backdrops, as well as a very fun, charming local Mexican village, just 10 minutes from the resort.
For reservations please visit www.costasurpuertovallarta.com
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Prevalence and diversity of Salmonella enterica in water, fish and lettuce in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Oumar Traoré1,2,3,
Outi Nyholm3,
Anja Siitonen3,
Isidore Juste O Bonkoungou2,
Alfred S Traoré1,
Nicolas Barro1 &
Kaisa Haukka3,4
BMC Microbiology volume 15, Article number: 151 (2015) Cite this article
This study investigated the prevalence, serotypes and antimicrobial sensitivity patterns of Salmonella enterica in environment in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. A total of 476 samples, consisting of 36 samples of tap water, 51 samples of well water, 87 samples of channel water, 44 samples of reservoir water, 238 samples of fish, and 20 samples of lettuce were examined using standard bacteriological procedures for Salmonella.
Salmonella were isolated from 98 samples. Salmonella were rare in drinking water, since they were not found at all from the tap water, and only in 2 % of well water. Salmonella were more common in the water of reservoir of Tanghin (15 %), reservoir of Yamtenga (20 %), and in the water channels in the city (from 20 to 31 %). Salmonella were commonly isolated from the fish (24 %) caught from the reservoir of Tanghin and from the lettuce (50 %) irrigated with water from Tanghin. The Salmonella isolates were found to represent 50 different serotypes. The 11 most common serotypes were Salmonella Bredeney and S. Colindale (both 8.2 %), S. Muenster (6.1 %), S. Korlebu (5.1 %), S. Eastbourne and S. Poona (both 4.1 %), and S. Agona, S. Derby, S. Drac, S. Senftenberg, S. Waycross (each 3.1 %), accounting for 51.3 % of all the isolates. In general, the Salmonella strains were sensitive to the antimicrobials tested, but two strains were resistant to streptomycin and many more intermediate to streptomycin or sulphonamide.
This study highlights the common prevalence of Salmonella and the high diversity of Salmonella serotypes in aquatic environment in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Therefore, various human activities linked to water and consumption of water-related products, such as fish and lettuce, can lead to human Salmonella infections.
Microbiologically contaminated water is a potential source of human enteric infections and indicates poor maintenance of hygiene-related infrastructure and problems in implementation of control measures especially in developing countries. Discharge of inadequately treated sewage, run-off storm water and leakage of animal waste into the environment can lead to deterioration of quality of water sources. Salmonella has been found to survive in tropical fresh waters, such as rivers, streams and wells in Sierra Leone, for several days [1]. Salmonella carried by fish and other aquaculture products as well as by fresh produce irrigated with dirty water has been indicated as a vehicle for a growing number of enteric disease outbreaks [2–6]. Use of feces-contaminated water to irrigate the produce has been reported to lead contaminating of soil and vegetables with Salmonella for an extended period of time [7, 8].
Salmonella enterica remains an important cause of diarrhoeal illness in humans and Salmonella infections are a major health concern that continue to have a serious economic impact worldwide [9, 10]. Furthermore, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa, non-typhoidal Salmonella is among the leading causes of bacterial bloodstream infections in adults and children [11–13]. Yet, the common sources of Salmonella infections in Africa are poorly known.
In our previous study in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, 9 % of the children suffering from diarrhea were found to be infected by Salmonella [14]. In order to find out the potentially important sources for the Salmonella infections, we examined the frequency and diversity of Salmonella in beef, mutton and poultry carcasses [15, 16] as well as in the feces of cattle, poultry, swine and hedgehogs [17]. In the present study we expand our studies on the potential Salmonella sources to include water, fish and irrigated lettuce.
In Ouagadougou, channels built to drain runoff rain water are used as a human biological waste deposit by people living close to them. Even a major hospital disposes much of its waste into a channel running nearby, casting serious doubt on the hygienic quality of the water. Elsewhere in Africa similar open storm drainage channels have been found to expose people to infections by Salmonella and other pathogens [18]. The channels in Ouagadougou run into reservoirs, which are nowadays used for fishing activities, irrigation of vegetables, washing clothes and cars. Furthermore, the reservoirs remain a contingency source of drinking water during dry season being intermittently part of municipal infrastructure. In this study, we examined water samples from two reservoirs, two channels as well as from wells and treated tap water system for possible Salmonella contamination. Furthermore, we examined fish caught from one of the reservoirs and lettuce irrigated with its water. Specifically, the aims of this study were (1) to determine the prevalence of Salmonella, (2) to assess Salmonella serotypes and antimicrobial resistance profiles of the obtained isolates and (3) to compare the serotypes to those previously obtained from the local children, animals and retail meat.
Salmonella enterica was isolated from 98 (20,6 %) of the total of 476 samples examined (Table 1). From all of the drinking water samples (taps and wells) only one isolate was obtained. Instead, in the channel, reservoir and fish samples Salmonella was common, 15-31 % of the samples were positive (Table 1). In the lettuce samples the frequency was the highest, since half of them were positive.
Table 1 Prevalence of Salmonella and different serotypes detected
The obtained 98 Salmonella enterica isolates represented 50 different serotypes, all the sample types containing a variety of serotypes (Table 1). The most frequent serotypes were Salmonella Colindale and S. Bredeney (8 isolates each) (Table 2). Salmonella Colindale was isolated from lettuce as well as from the reservoirs and channels, whereas another common serotype in lettuce, S. Korlebu, was not detected in the water samples. S. Bredeney was common in fish but was also detected in water and lettuce samples (Table 2). S. Bredeney, S. Give, S. Colindale, S. Eastbourne, S. Schwarzengrund, S. Poona and S. Llandoff were isolated from fish and water samples, but only S. Colindale and S. Schwarzengrund were isolated from both fish and the reservoir of Tanghin where they were caught from. No common serotypes were found from the two different reservoirs. Only two serotypes, S. Colindale and S. Senftenberg were common to the two different channels.
Table 2 Diversity of Salmonella serotypes
Almost all of the isolates were sensitive to the 12 antimicrobials tested. Only two isolates, S. Wagadugu and S. Adabraka isolated from the water of the reservoir of Yamtenga, were resistant to streptomycin. However, 27 of all the 98 isolates showed decreased sensitivity (i.e. were intermediate) to streptomycin and 5 to sulphonamide.
Our investigation on prevalence of Salmonella enterica in water from taps, wells, channels and reservoirs, fish, and lettuce grown in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, indicated that Salmonella contamination is rare in drinking water but common in the samples from the other sources (15-50 % prevalence). In a previous study in Lagos, Nigeria, Salmonella were isolated from 18,5 % of drinking water samples [19]. Serotyping of the Salmonella isolated in our study revealed the great diversity of serotypes in these sources: we identified 50 different serotypes among the 98 isolates. Recently, in Burkina Faso, 383 Salmonella strains were isolated from animal faeces (cattle, poultry, swine and hedgehogs), representing 81 different serotypes [17]. Of those, Agona, Bredeney, Brive, Carmel, Chester, Colindale, Derby, Drac, Eastbourne, Fresno, Galiema, Kokomlemle, Korlebu, Muenster, Nima, Nottingham, Poona, Rissen, Schwarzenground, Senftenberg, Typhimurium and Virchow were isolated also in our study indicating a possible transfer between animals, their faeces, water, fish and irrigated vegetables. The previously most commonly reported serotypes in Africa (Cameroon, Mali, Marocco, Senegal and Tunisia), Enteritidis and Anatum [20], were not isolated in our study. Serotypes Muenster (the second most common serotype isolated from fish), Cubana, Kentucky, Montevideo, Poona, Fresno, Virchow and Typhimurium detected in our study, were also isolated in stool specimens from children under 5 years old suffering from acute diarrhea in Ouagadougou and in rural Burkina Faso [14, 21].
Salmonella were isolated from 23 % of the surface water samples (channels and reservoirs). This frequency is lower than in the survey conducted in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where Salmonella were isolated in 49.4 % of the surface water samples [22]. We isolated 22 different serotypes from surface water, showing more diversity in Salmonella than reported elsewhere [23–26]. No same serotypes were found from the two reservoirs studied, which may be due to their different external factors. The reservoir of Tanghin located in the city is influenced by people and the reservoir of Yamtenga in the rural area is less frequented by people but more by animals. In any case, the presence of Salmonella in the surface waters reveals the health risk posed by the use of this water for irrigation. It has been indicated that the potential hazards may be associated with poor hygienic standard of waters influenced by human sewage, livestock farming, or industry [27]. S. Poona, the only Salmonella serotype we isolated from well water, was also isolated from children under 5 years suffering from acute diarrhoea in Ouagadougou and in rural Burkina Faso [14, 21].
Among the fish samples examined, 57 (24 %) were positive to Salmonella with high diversity of serotypes, 34 different ones were detected. In Kenya, along the Lake Victoria Beaches, almost 17 % of Tilapia samples were positive for Salmonella with four different serotypes [28]. In Indonesia, about 10 % of fresh fish were reported to be contaminated by Salmonella [5]. The high prevalence of Salmonella in fish in Ouagadougou is not surprising since they were caught from water of poor hygienic quality. S. Schwarzengrund and Colindale were the serotypes found in both the fish and the reservoir of Tanghin. Although as many as 34 different Salmonella serotypes were detected in the fish from Tanghin, only four serotypes were detected in its water, presumably because the salmonellas are more sparsely distributed in the water environment and thus in water samples. S. Typhimurium, an important clinical serotype, was isolated only from one fish sample (0,4 %) in our study, thus, being much rarer than in the study of fish along the Lake Victoria Beaches, where it was more isolated (8 %) [28]. In another study, conducted in Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, Kenya, S. Typhimurium was isolated from 6 % of fish harvested [29]. We did not find any S. Typhi, perhaps because the enrichment technique used is not optimal to this serotype [30].
Our results revealed that 50 % of the analysed lettuce samples were positive for Salmonella with four different serotypes (S. Bredeney, S. Colindale, S. Gerland and S. Korlebu).
S. Colindale was found in lettuce, reservoir water of Tanghin and the channels. This suggested that the lettuce has been contaminated by irrigating water. On the other hand, S. Korlebu and S. Gerland found in lettuce samples were not detected in the water sources, but S. Korlebu has instead been identified in cattle faeces in Ouagadougou [17].Bacteria in lettuce might also come from another origin e.g. manure used as a fertilizer. Salmonella has been demonstrated to contaminate vegetables (carrots, radish, lettuce and parsley) in field experiments following treatment with contaminated manure compost or irrigation water [7, 31]. In Finland, iceberg lettuce contaminated with S. Reading and Newport caused a nationwide outbreak, according to a traceback investigation [32]. S. Colindale which was common in our lettuce samples was also described as the most common serotype in Gambia of non-typhoidal Salmonella in cases of enteric infection under the age of 5 years [10].
Reassuringly, our results showed that the great majority of environmental Salmonella strains are susceptible to the antimicrobials tested. Two strains, S. Wagadugu and S. Adabraka, both isolated from the reservoir water of Yamtenga were resistant to streptomycin. Domestic animals treated by antibiotics might transfer resistant Salmonella from their faeces to this reservoir leading to antimicrobial resistance. No resistant Salmonella were detected in fish reflecting the fact that antimicrobial agents are not used in fish farming in Burkina Faso. On the contrary, 52 (14 %) of the Salmonella isolates from animal faeces in Ouagadougou were resistant to one or more tested antimicrobials [17]. In Nigeria, emerging multidrug-resistant Salmonella serotypes were commonly found from water sources [19].
Our study highlights the common presence of Salmonella in samples from different aquatic environments and indicates potential sources of human Salmonella infections. We detected a high diversity of serotypes among the strains, which were, however, mainly fully sensitive for the common antimicrobials. But nearly 30 % of the isolates were intermediate, which gives rise to concern. These results indicate a need for microbiological quality monitoring of the fish production and water, which is used in various human activities eg. in irrigation of fresh vegetables.
The first sampling period was from October 2008 to February 2009 (corresponding to the dry season) in different parts of Ouagadougou and Yamtenga out of the town. The samples included 36 water samples from 4 taps (9 samples from each tap), 51 samples from 3 wells (17 samples from each well), 11 samples from a channel (Channel A), water of which flows directly to the reservoir of Tanghin, 21 samples from a channel, which runs past a hospital (Channel B) and close to the reservoir of Tanghin (during the rainy season the waters of Channel B and the reservoir overflow to each other), 9 samples from the reservoir of Tanghin and 10 samples from the reservoir of Yamtenga, which is not influenced by channel water. Water from wells and taps were collected as the users did, by lifting with a bucket from the well or taking directly from the tap. Water samples from the reservoir and the channel were taken with a disinfected ladle fixed to a long stick [33]. The samples were transported to the laboratory on ice and analyzed within two hours after collection.
The second sampling period was from March to August 2010 in Ouagadougou. The period from March to May is part of dry season, and the period from June to August part of rainy season. The samples included 25 water samples from the reservoir of Tanghin, 41 from Channel A, 14 from Channel B and 238 fish (tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus) from the reservoir of Tanghin. The fish were an average length of 12 cm, purchased alive from local fishermen and processed in the laboratory within four hours after collection. The outer surface of the killed fish was disinfected by wiping with 70 % ethyl alcohol for two minutes, followed by three washings with sterile water. The intestine was removed aseptically by using a scalpel and ground with a sterile mortar and pestle [33]. Lettuce grown in one garden using irrigation water from the reservoir of Tanghin was also sampled. Ten samples consisting of inner leaves of lettuce were placed in sterile plastic bags, kept in an icebox and processed in a laboratory the same day.
Microbiological analyses
Broth enrichment technique was used to enhance detection of Salmonella strains 1 g of each crushed fish intestine was added to 9 ml of buffered peptone water (BPW, Liofilchem, Italy) and 25 g of lettuce was weighed and added to 225 ml of BPW, stomached and incubated at 37 °C for 18–20 h. From drinking water samples (taps and wells), one litre was filtered through the membrane with 0,45 μm pore size and the membrane was transferred into 90 ml of buffered peptone water (BPW). Reservoir and channel waters were so turbid that 10 ml of water sample was directly added to 90 ml of BPW and incubated at 37 °C overnight. Next day, 0.1 ml from each BPW broth was added to 10 ml of Rappaport-Vassiliadis broth (Oxoid, England) and incubated at 42 °C for 24 h. A loop-full of enriched broth was streaked onto the XLD agar (Oxoid, Basingstoke, England) and incubated at 37 °C for 24 h. Identity of the colonies with black centre was confirmed biochemically using urea, indole, ONPG, Kligler Hajna (Liofilchem, Italy), lysine decarboxylase, citrate and mannitol tests. API 20E strips (BioMérieux, Marcy l’Etoile, France) were used for further confirmation.
The isolates were conserved in heart infusion broth with 15 % of glycerol in the freezer and sent to the Bacteriology Unit the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in Finland for serotyping according to the Kaufmann-White scheme [34]. All isolates were also tested for susceptibility to 12 different antimicrobial agents using the disk diffusion method on Mueller Hinton II agar (Oxoid, England) following the EUCAST guidelines (http://www.eucast.org). E. coli ATCC 25922 was used as a control. The antimicrobial disks (Oxoid) used were nalidixic acid (30 μg), ciprofloxacin (5 μg), ampicillin (10 μg), cefotaxime (5 μg), imipenem (10 μg), tetracycline (30 μg), gentamicin (10 μg), chloramphenicol (30 μg), streptomycin (10 μg), sulphonamide (300 μg), mecillinam (10 μg) and trimethoprim (5 μg).
Wright R. The survival patterns of selected faecal bacteria in tropical fresh waters. Epidemiol Infect. 1989;103:603–11.
Lynch MF, Tauxe RV, Hedberg CW. The growing burden of foodborne outbreaks due to contaminated fresh produce: risks and opportunities. Epidemiol Infect. 2009;137:307–15.
Amagliani G, Brandi G, Schiavano GF. Incidence and role of Salmonella in seafood safety. Food Res Int. 2012;45:780–8.
Jacobsen CS, Bech TB. Soil survival of Salmonella and transfer to freshwater and fresh produce. Food Res Int. 2012;45:557–66.
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Olgunoglu IA: Salmonella in Fish and Fishery Products, Salmonella - A Dangerous Foodborne Pathogen. Dr. Barakat S M Mahmoud (Ed.), 2012. ISBN: 978-953-307-782-6, InTech, Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/salmonella-a-dangerous-foodborne-pathogen/salmonella-in-fish-and-fishery-products.
Islam M, Morgan J, Doyle MP, Phatak SC, Millner P, Jang X. Fate of Salomella enterica serovar Typhimurium on carrots and radishes grown in fields treated with contaminated manure composts or irrigation water. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2004;70:2497–502.
Ongeng D, Muyanja C, Geeraerd AH, Springael D, Ryckeboer J. Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in manure and manure-amended soil under tropical climatic conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa. J Appl Microbiol. 2011;110:1007–22.
Majowicz SE, Musto J, Scallan E, Angulo FJ, Kirk M, O’Brien SJ, et al. The Global Burden of Nontyphoidal Salmonella Gastroenteritis. Clin Infect Dis. 2010;50:882–9.
Dione MM, Ikumapayi UN, Saha D, Mohammed NI, Geerts S, Leven N, et al. Clonal differences between non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) recovered from children and animals living in close contact in the Gambia. PloS Negl Trop Dis. 2011;5:1148.
Reddy EA, Shaw AV, Crump JA. Community-acquired bloodstream infections in Africa: a systemic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect Dis. 2010;10:417–32.
Dione MM, Ikumapayi N, Saha D, Mohammed NI, Adegbola RA, Geerts S, et al. Antimirobial Resistance and virulence genes of non-typhoidal Salmonella isolates in the Gambia and Senegal. J Infect Dev Ctries. 2011;5:765–75.
Feasy NA, Dougan G, Kingsley RA, Heyderman RS, Gordon M. Invasive non-typhoidal salmonella disease: an emerging and neglected tropical disease in Africa. Lancet. 2012;379:2489–99.
Bonkoungou IJO, Haukka K, Österblad M, Hakanen A, Traoré AS, Barro N, et al. Bacterial and viral etiology of childhood diarrhea in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. BMC Pediatr. 2013;13.
Kagambèga A, Haukka K, Siitonen A, Traoré AS, Barro N. Prevalence of Salmonella enterica and the hygienic indicator Escherichia coli in raw meat at markets in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. J Food Protect. 2011;74:1547–51.
Kagambèga A, Barro N, Traoré AS, Siitonen A, Haukka K. Characterization of Salmonella enterica and detection of the virulence genes specific to diarrheagenic Escherichia coli from poultry carcasses in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Foodborne pathog dis. 2012;9:1–5.
Kagambèga A, Lienemann T, Aulu L, Traoré AS, Barro N, Siitonen A, et al. Prevalence and characterization of Salmonella enterica from the feces of cattle, poultry, swine and hedgehogs in Burkina Faso and their comparison to human Salmonella isolates. BMC Microbiol. 2013;13:253.
Katukiza AY, Ronteltap M, van der Steen P, Foppen JWA, Lens PNL. Quantification of microbial risks to human health caused by waterborne viruses and bacteria in an urban slum. J Appl Microbiol. 2013;116:447–63.
Akinyemi KO, Iwalokun BA, Foli F, Oshodi K, Coker AO. Prevalence of multiple drug resistance and screening of enterotoxin (stn) gene in Salmonella enterica serovars from water sources in Lagos, Nigeria. Public Health. 2011;125:65–71.
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Dembélé R, Konaté A, Bonkoungou IJO, Kagambèga A, Konaté K, Bagré TS, et al. Serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella isolated from children under five years of age with diarrhea in rural Burkina Faso. Afr J Microbiol Res. 2014;8:3157–63.
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Martinez-Urtaza J, Saco M, de Novoa J, Perez-Pineiro P, Peiteado J, Lozano-Leon A, et al. Influence of environmental factors and human activity on the presence of Salmonella serovars in a marine environment. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2004;70:2089–97.
Haley BJ, Cole DJ, Lipp EK. Distribution, diversity, and seasonality of waterborne Salmonellae in a rural watershed. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2009;75:1248–55.
Gorski L, Parker CT, Liang A, Cooley MB, Jay-Russell MT, Gordus AG, et al. Prevalence, distribution, and diversity of Salmonella enterica in a major produce region of California. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011;77:2734–48.
Martinez-Urtaza J, Liebana E. Use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to characterize the genetic diversity and clonal persistence of Salmonella senftenberg in mussel processing facilities. Int J Food Microbiol. 2005;105:153–63.
Awuor WS, Miruka OD, Eliud WN. Characterisation of Salmonella Isolated from Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) along Lake Victoria Beaches in Western Kenya. Inter J Biol Med Sciences. 2011;1:51–6.
Onyango MD, Wandili S, Kakai R, Waindi ED. Isolation of Salmonella and Shigella from fish harvested from the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, Kenya. J Infect Dev Ctries. 2009;3:99–104.
Hammack TS, Jacobson AP, Andrews WH. The effect of preenrichment and selective enrichment media on recovery of Salmonella Typhi from the tropical fruit mamey. J AOAC Int. 2008;91:83–91.
Islam M, Morgan J, Doyle MP, Phatak SC, Millner P, Jang X. Persistence of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium on lettuce and parsley and in soils on which they were grown in fields treated with contaminated water. Foodborne Pathog Dis. 2004;1:27–35.
Lienemann T, Niskanen T, Guedes S, Siitonen A, Kuusi M, Rimhanen-Finne R. Iceberg lettuce as suggested source of a nationwide outbreak caused by two Salmonella serotypes, Newport and Reading, in Finland in 2008. J Food Prot. 2011;6:1035–40.
Traoré O, Martikainen O, Siitonen A, Traoré AS, Barro N, Haukka K. Occurrence of Vibrio cholerae in fish and water from a reservoir and a neighbouring channel in Ouagadougou/ Burkina Faso. J Infect Dev Ctries. 2014;8:1334–8.
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This study was funded by the Academy of Finland grant 122600 to collaboration between the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and CRSBAN/University of Ouagadougou and by the International Foundation for Science (IFS) grant to OT. The authors thank personnel of the Bacteriology Unit at THL for the technical advice and practical help.
Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire d’Epidémiologie et de Surveillance des bactéries et virus transmis par les aliments, CRSBAN/Département de Biochimie-Microbiologie, UFR SVT-Université de Ouagadougou, 03 B.P. 7021, Ouagadougou, 03, Burkina Faso
Oumar Traoré
, Alfred S Traoré
& Nicolas Barro
Laboratoire National de Santé Publique, 09 B.P. 24, Ouagadougou, 09, Burkina Faso
& Isidore Juste O Bonkoungou
Bacteriology Unit, Department of Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), P.O. Box 30, FI-00271, Helsinki, Finland
, Outi Nyholm
, Anja Siitonen
& Kaisa Haukka
Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 56, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
Kaisa Haukka
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Correspondence to Oumar Traoré.
None of the authors have any competing financial or other interests that could influence or bias the contents of this paper.
OT carried out the sampling and strains isolation, serotyping and their antibiotics susceptibility and drafted the manuscript, IJOB, AST and NB supervised the sampling and strains isolation, ON, AS and KH supervised the strains serotyping and antibiotics susceptibility and participated in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Traoré, O., Nyholm, O., Siitonen, A. et al. Prevalence and diversity of Salmonella enterica in water, fish and lettuce in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. BMC Microbiol 15, 151 (2015) doi:10.1186/s12866-015-0484-7
Received: 29 January 2015
Serotypes
Ecological and evolutionary microbiology
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Injured dog taken in by island rescue is looking for help and a home
■ STAFF REPORT
A local rescuer is looking for help with a new dog who has had a very rough time. Blanche Vedette, co-owner of The Loose Caboose and founder of the nonprofit rescue effort Tank’s Legacy, recently traveled to Hernando County to pick up the little black-and-white terrier mix who didn’t have a prayer at the time. Here is Nora’s story, in Blanche’s own words:
“Nora is a very sweet little girl that came from Hernando County. The animal control officer had emailed rescue groups asking for help with her and another puppy. The other pup had mange and was pulled by another rescue. That left little Nora. We knew her leg was broken, but I was fairly confident that Lemon Bay Animal Hospital could fix her. I did wait until the next day to see if another rescue would come forward, but no one did. When I got the final plea from animal control, I said yes.
“Nora was supposedly hit by a car, but she didn’t have road rash or any other injuries that are typical after a run-in with a car. When she saw the vet at Lemon Bay, they said it was more consistent with her suffering trauma, like being kicked really hard. Her injuries were beyond what they could help, so we contacted another vet and forwarded her x-rays. He got her in for surgery the next morning.
“Nora now has a plate and screws in her leg to fix her fractured radius and ulna. The vet also said that her injury was older than we had been told. Nora’s leg had been broken for about a week before she was taken to the shelter. I can only imagine the pain and fear she suffered.
“I am very fortunate that they take payment plans from rescues. I have until June 1 to pay off the remaining $1,300 for her surgery.
“This is going to be a very long and difficult recovery for her. Her leg is very swollen, because she had been so long without care. The tissue was trying to heal, and Dr Kirsch didn’t want to damage the healing that was going on. Her prognosis is very good, but we have to strictly limit her activity so no further injuries occur. We would love to have some toys and chews for her while she is recovering and would also appreciate any puppy pads or puppy food for her. Good nutrition is very important when they are growing and developing, but especially critical after surgery.
“Nora is believed to be a retriever/Boston terrier mix. We’re not really sure what she is, but we do know that she is cute. She knows ‘sit’ and ‘off.’ Nora is about eight months old and 40 pounds, and she is about as big as she’s going to get. She is scheduled for spaying on May 31 and will be ready for a forever home after that. If you know of anyone looking for a wonderful little girl, please tell them about Nora.”
You can reach Blanche at (941) 421-2805.
Blanche Vedette
co-owner of The Loose Caboose
Tank's Legacy
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A defence of the Christian religion from the several objections of modern ...
Por Thomas Stackhouse
over, that these Caves and hollow Rocks, were oftentimes made use of for Retreat and Shelter j and mentions whole Bands of Thieves and Robbers, who sometimes, for whole Months, took up their abode there, and, from thence made their Excursions and Depredations.
Mountains indeed, in our cold Coun- How the tries, afford no manner of Food or Suste- Demomnance; but, in those warm and fruitful' ilveihl^ Climates, the Case was otherwise. The Baptist, we find, liv'd in the Wilderness, on Locuss and wild Honey; and Jojephus, in his own Life, tells us, that, when he was Young, he went into the Wilderness, to be instructed by one, who lived there upon what grew of itself, wild, and uncultivated: and therefore we have less Reason to wonder, that we find these Demoniacks in such melancholy Places, as were suited to their Complexions, and where they might find both Shelter from their Purluers, and Food to sustain their Lives.
The Gadarens indeed seem not to be a The-G*-' People of much Humanity: The Re- ^aT'ni quest, which they make our Lord, * To Q"^m! depart out of their Coasts, after so signal a Mercy extended to two of their Country-men, gives us but a bad Notion of their Civility and Gratitude; but still it
J Matth. viii. 34.
must be acknowledg'd, that they had! taken some Care of these wretched Creatures. They had often (as the Story tells us) bound them with Fetters and Chains, but the Fetters and Chains (whatever they were) were not of strength enough for Men in their outrageous Condition; and therefore they got loose from their Keepers, and retreated to the Tombs and Mountains j where, when they were pursu'd, they probably hid themselves, and so eluded all the Diligence and Humanity of such, as endeavour'd to retake them. While they were alive however, there were still hopes of laying hold on them again, and perhaps of recovering them to xheir Senses j and this is a sufficient Reason why the Gadarens might not think fit to dispatch them. A D0. In what relates then to the Case of the seiiption Demoniacksy and their Circumstances, ofG.nto.-. there seems to be no Incongruity in the sacred Story : and to clear, in like manner, our Saviour's Character from any Imputation, that may arise from the Destruction of the Swine, it may not be improper to observe, * that Gadara was a City on the other side "Jordan, near the Lake Gennesareth, one of those Cities called Decafolis, and situate in that
Allotment, Allotment, which was made to the Tribe of ManaJ/eh. Pompey indeed join'd it at first to the Province of Syria, but Augustus afterward gave it to Herod, tho' upon his Death, he annex'd it to Syria again j by which means it was inhabited partly by Jews, and partly by Syrians, who were Heathens. Now it is a Thing very well known, that the Heathens us'd Swine, not only for Food, but for Sacrifices likewise; and 'tis not improbable, that the Jews of that Country might be tempted to feed Swine, from the Profit they made, by selling them to their Heathen Neighbours. This was against a Prohibition of their Law, 'tis true, but Laws we know, are not always obferv'd, and perhaps least of all at Gadara, which, being in the Extremity of the Jewish Territories, and under the Jurisdiction of Heathens, left the Jews without any restraint upon them, but that of Conscience, which is too frequently violated for the fake of Gain.
* Dr. Fearce, P. 2. p. z6.
To bring the Matter then into a nar- why oar rower Compais; the Swine, which were Sa/i.ou(ir destroy'd in consequence of the Permiffi- TMgthcfr on, which our Saviour gave the evil DcstmctiSpirits to enter into them, belong'd ei- s"^1*10 ther to the Jews, or to the Gentiles of Gadara: If they belong'd to the Jews, it cannot be denied, but that they were just
ly punish'd, for breaking their own Laws and Constitutions. In i yq/ephus, we find, an Edict of the Emperor Augujlus, requiring the Roman Governours, in every Country where the yews resided, to suffer them to live according to such of their own National Laws, as were in force in Hyrcanus'j time; and from hence one may gather, that all Laws made in Hy re anus's time were look'd upon by the jews, as binding; otherwise, when they sollicited the Emperor for this Edict in their Favour, they would have scarcely fix'd upon this Period for their Standard : And if the Laws in Hyrcanus's time were binding, then was the keeping of Swine a plain Violation of their Constitution, and justly punishable by our Saviour; because it was a receiv'd Maxim among the Jews, that any Person, invested with the Character of a Prophet, or acting by the Spirit of God, might, without the Assistance of a Magistrate, put the Laws in Execution against Offenders. What Phineas did to Zimri, and Elijah to the Priests of Baal, was by them look'd upon as Precedents in this Case; and therefore we, who acknowledge our Jesus to have been more than a Prophet, can never be at a Loss to account for his exercising
I Antiq. Jud. L. i (J. c. 6.
tising an Authority among thcjewsywhidx (according to their own Confession) was allowable^ ven in the lowest of thuOrder.
But if the Heathens of Gadara were the Owners of the Swine, z 'tis very supposable, that they were guilty of some great Sin, which occasion'd the Lois of them; and the Conjecture is not amiss, that it was inflicted in order to cure them of their Idolatrous Worship of Dæmons, and to induce them to embrace the Gospel, by an Argument peculiarly adapted to them. For, when they saw our Saviour's Power over such a Multitude of Devils, exemplified in their possession of the Swine, (had they made a right Application of the Miracle) they cou'd not but perceive the Truth of the Gospel, and the Madness of their own worshipping fitch impure Spirits, as were both cast out of Men at Jeius's Command, and could not enter into the Swine without his Permission.
Nay, even in this Case too, supposing 'Jesus to have been a Prophet, and,' in Consequence hereof, to have acted by Commission from God, he could not be guilty of any Injustice in this Action; because, upon this Supposition, the Act will come to be consider'd, not as P hitf
t Bjj. Smallbreh's Vind. p. je^.
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Geekly News Round-Up!
By Marius • April 30, 2018 • 0 Comments
Get the most important news of the geek sphere from the last week! Momoa talks Aquaman, a new trailer for Venom, our thoughts on Infinty War and more!
Jason Momoa Talks Aquaman
Jason Momoa, DC Films' Aquaman, was a guest at the Cinemacon, where new movies are going to get announced or promoted to a lot of American theatre owners. They showed Aquaman footage, which is supposed to have been amazing, but they also talked to the actors.
In an interview with MTV's Mike Horowitz Momoa was asked about the difference shooting Justice League und Aquaman.
"Justice League was like college. I'm not really sure what Aquaman was, it's just all on my shoulders. I had a great time. I think in Justice League, you had five other characters around you suffering equally the same, so it was kind of fun to endure that. And then, you know, it got me ready to do my solo movie which was challenging and tough and hard and super satisfying."
As the only DC film this year, obviously Aquaman has my full attention. I really liked Momoa in the role and think James Wan (Saw, the Conjuring, Insidious) is a genius director who will be interesting to make the first live action Aquaman film a reality.
Superman Lives Rare Test Footage
Tim Burton's Superman Lives movie is now a legend of never completed Hollywood projects. If you are curious about that subject I HIGHLY recommend the Jon Schnepp directed documentary "The Death of Superman Lives", which features interviews with almost everybody involved and a LOT of behind the scenes making of footage.
A lil piece of that you can check out above now, which sees a few of the different ideas for the Superman suits of the Burton Superman film.
As weird as this movie seems now, I kinda would have loved to have seen their take on it, which would have focussed way more on Superman's alien side than anything ever before or after.
Henry Cavill Talks Superman
Henry Cavill has been Superman since 2013's Man of Steel and is currently my absolute favorite movie superhero.
During his interviews at Cinemacon, Cavill talked a little bit about his future as Superman to Collider.
"I’m having a lot of conversations, behind-the-scenes, with certain people and we will hopefully be having conversations with other people who are also behind-the-scenes to make things start happening. It is very much in my desire to do a Man of Steel 2, a direct sequel to Man of Steel, and there is a whole bunch of Superman story that I want to tell. There is a whole style of Superman’s character that I’m very keen to tell and I’m looking forward to the opportunity."
I cannot wait for more of Henry's Superman and am kinda flabberghasted that there is still nothing officially happening with Superman (or Batman or Green Lantern Corps for that matter), while DC is already making deals to do a Blackhawks film with Steven Spielberg... which I doubt any DC fan actually asked for... but Cavill's undying excitement for Superman makes me very hopeful for the future.
Venom Trailer
The first full length trailer for Venom has been released last week at Cinemacon as well. Check it out above.
I really enjoy Tom Hardy in the role as Eddie Brock, but am still very bummed to see NO Spider-Man connection at all... at least so far.
The CGI looks good, I love the design for Venom and the shizophrenic relationship between Eddie and the symbiote, but I am still missing the Spider-Man influence. No web shooting? No wall crawling, or white spider symbol on his chest and back?
All that will hopefully still change until the movie releases later this year.
The movie spectacle of the year has arrived last week and we at Archonia LOVED it. There is almost no way to properly review this film without talking spoilers, which I won't get into here. I just want to say that we thought it was one of the most emotional and fun superhero movies of all time, easily among the best movies of the genre, but also probably only a movie for already established fans of the 10 year old franchise.
Thanos is easily the best CGI character ever on screen and one of the best movie villains of all time. So yea... must see, people.
Avengers Assemle!
Aquaman,DC Films,DC Comics,Batman,thanos,Marvel Comics,Avengers Infinity War,Iron Man,Captain America,Marvel,Venom,Tom Hardy,Spider-Man
About Marius
Germany Website
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And what are we to make of the comment that this mark is not ‘part of the actual content’? Consider what kind of graphics we’re talking about here — for example, the letter ‘A’ beside a column on a page, which tells the reader to read that first, and the column marked ‘B’ second. Usually, though, these kind of metamarks are what we call the ‘paratext’ (a term which also includes features like headers, page numbers, rubrics, etc), and are included in the original creation of the document. And yet not relevant as ‘content’? Possibly this paratext-metamark is not the main preoccupation of those responsible for the TEI documentation. The main page gives a link to a section of the ‘Primary Sources’ page, which offers this clarification:
By metamark we mean marks such as numbers, arrows, crosses, or other symbols introduced by the writer into a document expressly for the purpose of indicating how the text is to be read. Such marks thus constitute a kind of markup of the document, rather than forming part of the text.
So metamarks are the original markup, and like markup, are meant to be ‘unseen’ by readers. Appreciated with respect to how they orders the content, but otherwise ignored.
Still, this description seems problematic. How are metamarks separate from any other kinds of marginalia? For all of us working on the Blake Marginalia project, why don’t we treat all of Blake’s writings in his books — like his habit of scrawling ‘Wrong!’ alongside the Lavater aphorisms — as metamarks? Any marginal signs, by coexisting with the content, alters the reader’s perception of the original work. And according to the documentation, the metamark is special for indicating a ‘deliberate alteration of the writing itself, such as “move this passage over there”’. Clearly, this is an element for which examples are more useful than description.
The first example given: scribal markings from a 15th century manuscript, in which the scribe mistakenly missed out a line when writing a paragraph. Writing it in the margin instead, the small + found here and interlineally in the text indicate that the new line is to be placed there. Logical. But clearly this element, with its ambiguous interpretation, has a broad range of use. Searching further through the reams of TEI documentation available online, I found instances of <metamark> being similarly used to describe the sequence of newspaper clippings in a notebook, editorial markings like ‘stet’, the cancellation of material, and the variant readings of manuscript lines. And judging by the argument threads in the forums, a lot of other users seem equally confused about whether they’re applying the element correctly.
The Blake Marginalia
So we come to the Blake Marginalia project and its team, who so far have found at least 2 examples of what we think count as <metamark>, and which do and do not conform to the basic description. Here’s one:
And the other:
Like in the first TEI example, the <metamark> is a small + found both in the typographical line and next to a marginal annotation. As with that first example, the reader is meant to associate this marginal note with that line — by inserting it into that space? For the first example, the reader would then be supposed to read:
Who are the saints of humanity? Those whom perpetual habits of goodness and of grandeur have made nearly unconscious that what they do is good or grand — this is heavenly heroes with infantine simplicity.
Maybe not entirely unreasonable, but it doesn’t quite seem to scan. The application of this function to the second example is even more absurd –- “would to God that everyone would consider this” is clearly a comment separate from the original aphorism, not meant to form part of it. So possibly the mark is merely meant to draw our attention to the marginal comment, and its relevance to that place in the text? If so, it’s hard to see this as constituting a ‘deliberate alteration of the writing itself’. The + might just be another piece of marginalia, another type of ‘highlight’, a symbol used to draw our attention to the relationship between the underlined section of the aphorism and the marginal note, which is already apparent through their physical proximity. As a signal to the reader, the + mark is unnecessary, superfluous. And yet Blake, very frequently in this book, draws similar crosses next to other marginal notes, which appear to us completely different to the one on page 118. For example:
So really, all that differentiates this symbol from the other two examples, is that there are two separate symbols there: one in the margin, one in the text. It’s only our awareness with paratextual features like editorial ‘insert here’ marks, that lead us to suppose that this is an important distinction. So, two questions for the Marginalia group — should they be specially marked at all? And if so, do we use <metamark>?
by harper1387
Sisyphus and Consistency
Throwing Out and Linking In
Pingback: The Problem of Metamarks | Uncategorized | Aggregated blogs on Romantic Studies - please click through to read full posts.
Pingback: My week as editor for Digital Humanities Now – Digital Praxis Seminar Fall 2016
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www.coachdeck.com
CoachDeck
Parents and Children (606)
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Working with Players (438)
Coaches’ tool kit
Posted on December 27, 2010 by coachdeck
By Tom Turner
In 2005, US Soccer released “Best Practices for Coaching Soccer in the United States”. One of the key messages from that player development blueprint was that the youth soccer environment needed to become much more player-centered and far less coach-driven. Central to that notion was the desire to move coaching away from the traditional Anglo-German approach of stopping and starting training games whenever breakdowns occurred.
As an alternative, coaches were encouraged to find less intrusive opportunities to provide information to players. Those methods, the Coach’s Tool Kit, are outlined below.
1. Coach the Individual within the Flow of the Game.
Individual players can be given information while the game is moving.
Information should not be given when the player is in possession of the ball.
Information should not be given to a player who is about to come into possession or who is about to be involved in the game.
The volume of information should not escalate into a running prescription.
The best information will help players understand how to recognize and perhaps deal with standard game situations.
2. Coach the Group within the Flow of the Game.
Group coaching should seek to address strategic objectives, such as how to attack and defend as a team.
Group coaching may also address the overall rhythm of attacking play and the success or failure to defend relative to the cues coming from the game.
Essentially, group coaching should seek to address the positioning and organization (balance) of one or more lines.
Group coaching can be achieved by working through designated players who are responsible for standard game situations. For example, the goalkeeper can help organize his/her defenders when there is a goal kick at the other end of the field.
3. Coach during Natural Stoppages.
Information can be exchanged between coach and player(s) when the ball is not active.
Natural stoppages include balls out of bounds, injuries, goals, fouls, and the end of time periods.
The length of any coach-player exchanges during a natural stoppage should be proportional to the duration of the time-out.
4. Use Conditions to promote learning.
Conditions are rules of play that can shape learning and performance.
The use of conditions offers one of the most effective modern teaching tools.
Once the conditions are explained and understood by the players, there is no need to actually “coach” during the allotted playing time.
Conditions can reward good play by assigning bonus points when, for example, there is a successful pass to a teammate. Conditions can penalize noncompliance, for example, by awarding indirect free kicks, when players fail to take more than one touch.
There is a danger that using unrealistic conditions, such as “Do X (5 passes) before Y (score a goal)” hinder tactical development. The use of conditions must be balanced by periods of free play.
Scoring schemes should always value goals more highly than extra points.
The objective of the game is to score goals, not, for example, to keep possession.
5. Use the Freeze Method.
Freezing play should be the last option in the coaches’ arsenal.
The use of the freeze method is most relevant when the players are positionally organized and likely to face the same game situation again.
The freeze method is least relevant for technical mistakes.
In the communication during a freeze, it is more important that the players to begin to understand the tactical cues (player-centered approach of a situation that the absolute solutions (coach-centered approach).
Contrary to common practice, it is not necessary for the game to be restarted with a successful performance. It is more important for the coach to relay the necessary information and restart the game as fast as possible.
Freezes should include information on the “cues” (words) the coach might use to help the players read similar game situations later on.
Tom Turner is a U.S. Soccer National Staff Coach, Region II Boys ODP Coach, Ohio North State Director of Coaching. He can be reached at coaching@oysan.org.
Individual players can be given information while the game is moving.
Information should not be given when the player is in possession of the ball.
Information should not be given to a player who is about to come into possession or who is about to be involved in the game.
The volume of information should not escalate into a running prescription.
The best information will help players understand how to recognize and perhaps deal with standard game situations.
Group coaching should seek to address strategic objectives, such as how to attack and defend as a team.
Group coaching may also address the overall rhythm of attacking play and the success or failure to defend relative to the cues coming from the game.
Essentially, group coaching should seek to address the positioning and organization (balance) of one or more lines.
Group coaching can be achieved by working through designated players who are responsible for standard game situations. For example, the goalkeeper can help organize his/her defenders when there is a goal kick at the other end of the field.
Information can be exchanged between coach and player(s) when the ball is not active.
Natural stoppages include balls out of bounds, injuries, goals, fouls, and the end of time periods.
The length of any coach-player exchanges during a natural stoppage should be proportional to the duration of the time-out.
Conditions are rules of play that can shape learning and performance.
The use of conditions offers one of the most effective modern teaching tools.
Once the conditions are explained and understood by the players, there is no need to actually “coach” during the allotted playing time.
Conditions can reward good play by assigning bonus points when, for example, there is a successful pass to a teammate.
Conditions can penalize noncompliance, for example, by awarding indirect free kicks, when players fail to take more than one touch.
There is a danger that using unrealistic conditions, such as “Do X (5 passes) before Y (score a goal)” hinder tactical development. The use of conditions must be balanced by periods of free play.
Scoring schemes should always value goals more highly than extra points.
Freezing play should be the last option in the coaches’ arsenal.
The use of the freeze method is most relevant when the players are positionally organized and likely to face the same game situation again.
The freeze method is least relevant for technical mistakes.
In the communication during a freeze, it is more important that the players to begin to understand the tactical cues (player-centered approach of a situation that the absolute solutions (coach-centered approach).
Contrary to common practice, it is not necessary for the game to be restarted with a successful performance. It is more important for the coach to relay the necessary information and restart the game as fast as possible.
Freezes should include information on the “cues” (words) the coach might use to help the players read similar game situations later on.
Filed under: Working with Players | Leave a comment »
Best practices for motivation
This is the second in a series of articles on motivation and youth. The information is based on actual surveys of youth athletes as well as the sports psychology studies. In our first article, we discussed the technique of motivating youth by comparing them to peers.
By Dean Herbert
Some ways to Optimize Motivation
Rephrase your comments to enhance motivational environments. The key is to focus on and get your athletes to focus on the process of competing (or practice for that matter). By focusing on the right things – in the process of performing – you will optimize the opportunity for successful and desired results.
What do process oriented comments that look like?
In practices isolate skills and techniques without making comparisons:
Joanne, could you demonstrate this drill for us. (To someone who has the right technique.)
Before competition stick to tactics and efforts:
During competition do not instruct on form (that is for practice) instead stick to simple, brief, direct competition related statements.
Stick to it.
Stay tough.
Keep working.
One at a time.
After competition, be specific and stick to the individual:
Your game went well for the first half. We’ll work in finishing stronger.
That last play you made was fantastic.
You had a tremendous at-bat against a very good pitcher
You were competitive through the toughest part of the game.
If the performance is truly sub-par the first step is to ask questions (Seek first to understand):
Tell me about your game.
How do you see that last half of your game going?
What happened after you (made an error, missed the shot, etc) ?
Where did you lose your focus?
The key is for parents and coaches to make comments that keep the athlete focused on the immediate process (the “now”) and not the outcome. And comments that keep an athlete owning their own performance and effort, not someone else’s.
The only way you will be most effective in establishing a motivational atmosphere is to know what motivates your athletes. You will not reach everyone with one approach. However, we also know that coaches and parents will demotivate most youth athletes with comparison-type comments. So, stick to what is controllable and decreases emphasis on peer comparison.
Dean Hebert M.Ed. MGCP is a certified mental games coach specializing in youth athletes and youth coaches. He has authored several books and hundreds of articles. He works with individuals, teams and coaches in all sports as well as performs guest speaking engagements on mental toughness. His website is www.mindsetforperformance.com.
Filed under: Communication, Parents and Children, Working with Players | Leave a comment »
How many swings per day?
By Dan Gazaway, Owner & Founder of The Pitching Academy
If you are a looking to become a good baseball player, there is no secret that it will take some hard work at some point. And while hitting drills are immensely valuable, there has always been some discussion about how many swings one needs to take daily or how much time one needs to spend to become good. I remember growing up having my coach tell me that I needed 200 swings a day if I wanted to make it anywhere as a ball player. This thinking is flawed. Hitting drills are important ONLY if the hitter has the capacity to focus on the drills at hand. Let me explain.
Baseball is a game of focus. Every motion you make as a baseball player gets stored in your mental memory bank that your body uses to form habits and movements. If you mess around playing catch before a game, your muscles wont react consistently during the game. If you dink around during hitting drills and swing your bat wildly at the ball on the tee, or forget to pay attention to your form, your muscles will be programmed to swing out of control or inconsistently in a game. Therefore, if you want consistent performances, you have to have consistent movements in practice.
Having worked with all ages of youth baseball I have seen 10 year olds focus better than 15 year olds and everything in between. Some players naturally mature at different rates and at different ages. You must take this into account as a coach when you are working with your athletes on hitting drills, especially those that are stationary and without a lot of action. Pay close attention to your hitters and how much focus they are applying to the drill itself. Once you begin to see a focus breakdown, interrupt the drill, help refocus the athlete and let him start again. Simple breaks in the routine will help many athletes become more productive during hitting drills and will ultimately help their muscle memory become more consistent.
Dan Gazaway is Owner and Founder of The Pitching Academy. He has instructed over 2,000 pitchers in the last seven years and received a Bachelor’s Degree as a Health Education Specialist at Utah State University. He is a motivational speaker for topics ranging from attitude, goal-setting and leadership and be contacted at contact@thepitchingacademy.net.
Filed under: Working with Players | Tagged: baseball, Hitting, The Pitching Academy | Leave a comment »
Fears of a football dad
I have three sons who played football, and the last one just took off his pads for the final time. I am relieved. I have lived in fear of serious injury since the day they began playing the sport. But then I started doing research on some of the other sports my kids still play. Maybe I’m not out of the worrying woods just yet.
As a football dad, I’d cringe every time I’d watch an NFL game and see a violent, helmet-to-helmet collision. Sometimes the players wouldn’t get up. Some would be carried off the field, immobilized on a stretcher. Occasionally I’d read in the sports page about a college or high school player who was tragically paralyzed during a game – a young athlete with everything going for him whose life now was going to be substantially different than he’d hoped and imagined. And then I’d think about what could, heaven forbid, happen this afternoon at my sons’ football practices.
So this year, in his Senior year, my final, football-playing son earned a starting spot at corner. It was great for him, but still I fretted. “Just let him get through this season,” I thought. Before the first game, he sustained a broken finger that cost him the first three contests of the year. That was devastating to him, but nothing of the life-changing variety. When he got his cast off, he had to earn his starting position all over again. He also plays baseball – the sport he intends to pursue in college – and we wondered if maybe it wasn’t a sign that he should just call it a career and focus on his spring sport.
But he hung in there, the team and he had a great season, and they made it to the city semi-finals. If they won, they would play for the city championship on an NFL field. My son had a great game, including an interception with the score tied in the third quarter that caused the packed stadium to go berserk. He also made some hard tackles. There was definitely some helmet contact. Yet each time he got up.
We lost that game by a field goal which meant the season, his career, and my life as a football dad came to an end. On the field after the game, all the Seniors had tears in their eyes. I hurt deeply for my boy who knew he’d never play another game. But I have to admit, I also felt like someone who had just barely made it across eight lanes of a busy freeway. I was glad I didn’t have to go back over it again.
Yes, football is a dangerous sport. According to a study done by SAFE KIDS USA, the highest percentage of players injured (28%) are hurt in football. But baseball (25%) is not that far behind, followed by 22% of soccer players, (my daughter’s main sport), 18% in basketball and 15% in softball. Another son of mine sustained two concussions during his Pop Warner career, but my youngest boy once took a bad hop to the chin on the baseball field and got a freak concussion as well.
The study reports that more than 3.5 million children ages 14 and under receive medical treatment for sports injuries each year. And the rate and severity of injury increases with the player’s age. Most organized sports-related injuries (62 percent) occur during practices rather than games. Despite this fact, the study contends, a third of parents often don’t take the same safety precautions during their child’s practices as they would for a game.
Chillingly, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research Twentieth Annual Report: From 1982-2002, the total numbers of direct and indirect fatalities among high school athletes were:
o Baseball — 17
o Basketball — 88
o Cheerleading — 21
o Cross Country — 14
o Football — 22
o Soccer — 31
o Track & Field — 47
o Wrestling — 16
You’ll notice that football only ranks fourth on this list. So does this mean that kids are in peril playing sports? I don’t think so. In fact, statistics show that more kids are in danger from inactivity, in the form of childhood obesity and its related health effects. We all know sports are, by and large, healthy and valuable activities that teach life-lessons while building strong bodies.
I have a friend whose son and mine played on a travel baseball team together when they were 13 and 14. He would tell me how his boy would beg him to let him play football, but he held firm in not allowing it. He felt his son had a great future in baseball and, so far, he’s right. Last year, the kid was a high school All-American and is now on scholarship at one of the best DI college programs in the county. Had he played football, would he have sustained an injury that would have cut short his baseball career? We’ll never know. But the price is that this young man will never watch NFL or college football games with the same understanding, insight and appreciation as those who actually played the game. Unless he makes it to the Major Leagues, he’ll never know what it is like to be under the lights on Friday night hearing the roar of a capacity crowd after making a great play for his team. It is a decision I’m sure the father doesn’t regret one bit. I don’t know about the son.
So yes, I dodged the cars and finally made it across the freeway last weekend. But the reality is, when we have kids, we’re never really off that freeway. We’ll always worry and, if it’s not about football, it will be about something else. Imagine families whose children are in the military. Worry about getting through a high school football season? Try getting through a deployment. All we can do is make the decisions we feel are best for our kids, hope things turn out the way we want, and help them rebound if and when they don’t.
I remember a commercial that aired several years ago for a popular mini-van. At the end we see a mom drop off her son at football practice covered from head to toe in bubble wrap. He was so constricted, he could barely move. And I guess that is an analogy for the way we raise our children. We want desperately for them to be safe, but we also know we have to take risks to enjoy life. So we live every day trying to find the middle ground between caring too much, and not caring at all.
Filed under: Parents and Children | 2 Comments »
Soccer injuries and their prevention
Another great article from our partners at StopSportsInjuries.org
Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world and the fastest growing team sport in the United States. Although soccer provides an enjoyable form of aerobic exercise and helps develop balance, agility, coordination, and a sense of teamwork, soccer players must be aware of the risks for injury. Injury prevention, early detection, and treatment can keep kids and adults on the field long-term.
WHAT ARE SOME COMMON SOCCER INJURIES AND THEIR SYMPTOMS?
Injuries to the lower extremities are the most common in soccer. These injuries may be traumatic, such as a kick to the leg or a twist to the knee, or result from overuse of a muscle, tendon, or bone.
Lower Extremity Injuries
Sprains and strains are the most common lower extremity injuries. The severity of these injuries varies. Cartilage tears and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) sprains in the knee are some of the more common injuries that may require surgery. Other injuries include fractures and contusions from direct blows to the body.
Overuse Lower Extremity Injuries
Shin splints (soreness in the calf), patellar tendinitis (pain in the knee), and Achilles tendinitis (pain in the back of the ankle) are some of the more common soccer overuse conditions. Soccer players are also prone to groin pulls and thigh and calf muscle strains.
Stress fractures occur when the bone becomes weak from overuse. It is often difficult to distinguish stress fractures from soft tissue injury. If pain develops in any part of your lower extremity and does not clearly improve after a few days of rest, a physician should be consulted to determine whether a stress fracture is present.
Upper Extremity Injuries
Injuries to the upper extremities usually occur from falling on an outstretched arm or from player-to-player contact. These conditions include wrist sprains, wrist fractures, and shoulder dislocations.
Head, Neck, and Face Injuries
Injuries to the head, neck, and face include cuts and bruises, fractures, neck sprains, and concussions. A concussion is any alteration in an athlete’s mental state due to head trauma and should always be evaluated by a physician. Not all those who experience a concussion lose consciousness.
HOW ARE SOCCER INJURIES TREATED?
Participation should be stopped immediately until any injury is evaluated and treated properly. Most injuries are minor and can be treated by a short period of rest, ice, and elevation. If a trained health care professional such as a sports medicine physician or athletic trainer is available to evaluate an injury, often a decision can be made to allow an athlete to continue playing immediately. The athlete should return to play only when clearance is granted by a health care professional.
Overuse injuries can be treated with a short period of rest, which means that the athlete can continue to perform or practice some activities with modifications. In many cases, pushing through pain can be harmful, especially for stress fractures, knee ligament injuries, and any injury to the head or neck. Contact your doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment of any injury that does not improve after a few days of rest. You should return to play only when clearance is granted by a health care professional.
HOW CAN SOCCER INJURIES BE PREVENTED?
* Have a pre-season physical examination and follow your doctor’s recommendations
* Use well-fitting cleats and shin guards — there is some evidence that molded and multi-studded cleats are safer than screw-in cleats
* Be aware of poor field conditions that can increase injury rates
* Use properly sized synthetic balls — leather balls that can become waterlogged and heavy are more dangerous, especially when heading
* Watch out for mobile goals that can fall on players and request fixed goals whenever possible
* Hydrate adequately — waiting until you are thirsty is often too late to hydrate properly
* Pay attention to environmental recommendations, especially in relation to excessively hot and humid weather, to help avoid heat illness
* Maintain proper fitness — injury rates are higher in athletes who have not adequately prepared physically.
* After a period of inactivity, progress gradually back to full-contact soccer through activities such as aerobic conditioning, strength training, and agility training.
* Avoid overuse injuries — more is not always better! Many sports medicine specialists believe that it is beneficial to take at least one season off each year. Try to avoid the pressure that is now exerted on many young athletes to over-train. Listen to your body and decrease training time and intensity if pain or discomfort develops. This will reduce the risk of injury and help avoid “burn-out”
* Speak with a sports medicine professional or athletic trainer if you have any concerns about injuries or prevention strategies
The following expert consultants contributed to the tip sheet:
Rob Burger, MD
Kenneth Fine, MD
Filed under: Parents and Children | 1 Comment »
Is there a right and wrong type of stretching before sports?
There is a growing contingent of thought in the athletic training world that believe that the “old fashioned” method of stretching before athletic competition, now known as “static stretching,” is not only not effective, but can actually be harmful to athletes about to participate in sports. Our partner, Stop Sports Injuries.org has published an explanation in their blog, here.
Another, more in-depth explanation about the differences between “static stretching,” and “dynamic stretching,” can be found in this article from the New York Times.
Filed under: Parents and Children, Working with Players | Leave a comment »
A disease called winning – 2 examples
Posted on December 9, 2010 by coachdeck
Contributed by Dennis Hillyard, FLMSL Head Coach
During the nineties I was the Soccer Development Director to Milton Keynes a large city twenty miles north of London. At the time I was running a Saturday morning coaching academy for 7yr – 10yr children.
One of the lads was not particularly gifted as a player but he loved his soccer, always full of enthusiasm, the first to arrive and the last to leave after assisting me to collect in the equipment etc. One Sunday I stopped to watch a junior game. It was a particularly cold day with a constant light drizzle of freezing rain and I noticed the lad in question sitting huddled up on the substitutes bench looking blue with the cold.
There was about ten minutes remaining when I asked the coach the score to which he replied that his team were winning 9 – 0. I then asked him if he intended giving the lad in question a run out? “No chance, we need all the goals we can get to win the league and he is useless”. Sometime later I met his mother who advised me that the lad had given up football but that he had become very withdrawn and that his school world was also suffering.
Later I learned that the team had won the league and that the coach had been voted “Coach Of The Year‟ !!!!! The other example was a lad who was at the same academy. This was an eight year old who was extremely small for his age but he possessed so much ability in that he could shoot and dribble with either foot, had great awareness and communication skills that in my mind he had all the potential to go on to play at a much higher level.
After a year his father advised me that the lad was leaving the academy to join a U11 team in a local league. I attempted to advise him against the move as he would be playing with and against lads two years older than him and physically, much, much bigger but to no avail. Later I observed him playing where he was easily the best player on view but at the same time he was literally being „kicked off the pitch by the older opponents.
Once again I learned later that the lad was no longer playing anymore.
What a terrible indictment but just two of many examples of the harm being done to our younger generation of players simply in order to fulfill the self inflated ego‟s of coaches and parents who, although in the minority, still manage to cause the majority of damage.
Filed under: Parents and Children | Leave a comment »
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International Magician Brian Role` offers the following:
CLOSE UP MAGIC – Intimate one-to-one magic to use as a strolling solution or table-to-table solution. Ideal for restaurants, corporate events, dinners, conferences, weddings and/or as a strolling attraction during fairs and exhibitions. Learn more about Brian’s amazing close up magic.
PARLOUR MAGIC SHOWS – For special occasions and private events in smaller venues or private residences where space may be an issue for a stage show but a show would be preferred to close-up-magic or an addition prior to or after a session of close-up-magic. Click here to learn more.
STAGE SHOWS – For clients who have venues with a stage or events that have a stage and wish to offer a live show to a sitting or standing audience. Suitable venues such as theatres, hotels, resorts, cruise ships, public events, corporate events, exhibitions, theme parks and other occasions where such a show is desirable. More information can be found here.
an up close magic performance, or Close up magic, is ideal for an intimate magical experience at close quarters. It is a great form of entertainment during social gatherings such as staff parties, weddings or private home events. Brian can walk around guests and interact with. However if guests are sitting at their tables he may visit them at their table and provide table to table magic for dining style events. The magic includes utilising small objects that may vanish, appear, float or transform under the spectator’s noses. Items include those that may be borrowed, such as rings, bank notes, coins and other small objects. Brian also combines perfect skill in card magic, sleight of hand with mind reading effects, guaranteeing to capture the interest, engage and entertain any type of audience.
Watch Brian in the video below while he engages people with close up magic in the streets of Valletta. The clip below is a clip from a special feature for a popular TV program in Malta.
Brian offers magic for weddings and events. This is an exclusive product for certain events. You may learn more at Brian’s Wedding Magician website here: www.weddingmagician.info
Brian Role` is an expert at parlour magic, a special branch of performance magic ideal for small groups. He offers this performance as a stand alone show or as part of a variety program. This kind of show utilises effects and items usually more visually engaging for gatherings and small groups of people in smaller spaces. Brian’s shows are various and are a combination of visual effects, mind reading and other amazing acts that live audiences truly appreciate. He is capable of offering different shows depending on the age group and/or group type.
The type of shows he can offer differ from shows ideal for hens and bachelor parties to shows for family gatherings. Brian can adapt shows for adults and shows that are exclusively ideal for children.
Brian holds an award for his Parlour Magic, winner of the I.B.M. Ring 202’s Parlour Magic competition in 2002. During the competition, he competed with an original visual act. Brian still incorporates a small part of that act into many of Brian’s parlour shows. You can watch a version of it from a small clip of a live TV performance here: Brian Role Floating Rose
Brian provides great stage shows with or without big illusions.
His stage shows have been produced for:
Variety Show Productions such as Brian & Lola’s show at Es Foguero in Mallorca and The Little Big Show in Malta
Cruise Ships such as the Palmer’s Magic show on the Spanish cruise ship, the Grand Voyager.
Corporate Events, such as the special illusion act presented for Betson, Demjao Group of Companies and others
Mini Stage Acts such as that performed on the Norweigien cruise ships, Colorline Magic and Colorline Fantasy.
Full Scale Theatrical Show such as those produced by Brian & Lola and all at the Manoel Theatre
Choose between a:
8 min act for variety show productions and television recordings.
15 min stage act ideal for corporate events and special appearances.
30 min version ideal for hotels and resorts also adaptable to any sort of performance .
45 min version ideal for theatrical productions, theme parks and cruise ships.
Brian Role`
the International Magician from Malta
Brian is an international professional magician from Malta based in Europe and who regularly performs on a regular basis. His performances are mainly in Malta and in most of Europe. He has and continues to have performances in parts of South America, in the Middle East and in Asia. With an impressive CV of nearly 20 years of experience, in professional production shows for hotels, resorts, theme parks, theatres, corporate events both on land as well as on cruise ships, you are sure to obtain a top quality service whatever option you may wish to chose for your event and / or venue. As an international magician, Brian can travel anywhere in the world, in order to bring you his show or close up magic performance.
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Scandal: Shado has returned and Quinton needs her to keep silent
The gorgeous and charming Shado has returned and Quinton couldn't help but get nervous. Although he helped save Mary, his name would be ruined if people knew he had anything to do with The Credential. That's why he made an indecent proposal.
Quinton helped save Mary's life when she was ready to give up and become some rich man's toy, but he was still involved with a shady place - The Credential.
Although he was actually a hero, the rest of the world won't see it that way - they'd judge him for visiting The Credential in the first place.
Despite his feelings for Shado, Quinton couldn't let Mary ruin her own life, but now she's returned and what he feels for her has to once again take the backseat.
Shado only surfaced in his life again because she plans to take Solo down and the men who visit The Credential and misuse the young women there.
Because he can't afford to have his good name tainted, Quinton has decided to do something unethical - very much unlike him.
He paid Shado an unknown amount of money to leave his, Mary's and Lindiwe's names out of her story.
READ ALSO: Boity makes fans envious with pictures of her time on luxury yacht
The question is - will she stay mum on what happened? And what about the romance that was blossoming between these two?
Briefly.co.za noticed that Nambitha Ben-Mazwi, the actress behind Shado, is very excited about her return to Scandal!.
South Africa TV Shows NewsMzansi Latest News
Monada Cut application status
What you should know about eFiling register
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Bernstein Moments
Britten Sinfonia will perform Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge in London and Saffron Walden in honour of the composer’s centenary. We asked the orchestra’s staff to share memorable Bernstein moments from their lives…
One of my all-time favourite recordings is Bernstein conducting Weiner Philharmonic in Brahms’ Symphony No. 1. I first came across this recording when I was in my late teens – my then-boyfriend had it on cassette tape (showing my age) and we used to listen to it at full volume in his car on the way home from our Saturday music school. We played it so much the tape became stretched in places. It’s such a vigorous and energetic performance and I love that you can hear Bernstein humming along on parts of the recording. I’ve now upgraded to a CD and it’s still a staple on the playlist when I’m driving home late at night from Britten Sinfonia concerts.
Claire Bowdler, Marketing Director
Me as Action, c.2007 (bottom left)
James Calver, Concerts Director
Discovering, after 5 years of marriage, that my husband was born to be on the stage, when he played Action in West Side Story over the bank holiday weekend.
Hannah Bates, Orchestra Personnel Manager
Teaching my community choir the beautiful harmonies in Make Our Garden Grow from Candide.
Hazel Terry, Concerts and Tours Manager
I remember learning to play (and sing) America from West Side Story in a school music lesson, probably in year 8 or 9 – I remember spending ages deciding what sound to use on my keyboard. My school had those old Yamaha keyboards that had the ‘DJ mode’ so, of course, hilarity ensued… We definitely watched clips of the film too, but I didn’t actually see the whole thing until more recently when I was studying for my degree. I can still remember most of the words to America.
Milly March, Marketing Assistant
The great man so in harmony with the orchestra, that he could brilliantly conduct the Vienna Philharmonic with just a few smiles, winks and nods!
Nick Brealey, Development Director
When I think of my “Bernstein Moments”, I’m instantly nostalgic for my schooldays when I first came across his music. Two moments in particular stand out: firstly, rehearsing Chichester Psalms for our end of term concert, and being completely stunned by the knock-out vibrancy and colour of the music, and not least the little treble soloist who took everything in his stride; secondly, being taken as a school group to see West Side Story at the Palace Theatre in Manchester and being completely wowed by the energy of it; we must have seriously irritated the minibus driver all the way home with our caterwauling of Tonight, tonight! and our medley persisted well into the night until one member of our dorm, during a particularly moving rendition of Maria, accidentally jumped on a drawing pin and the House Mistress had to be summoned to administer plasters and Lights Out…..
Nikola White, Artistic Planning Director
Here I am performing in the band for a production of West Side Story at university (bottom left).
Megan DeGaris, Creative Learning Co-ordinator
My Bernstein moment is from a few years ago when I was asked to play the harp part at school for the Candide overture. So far, so good, but as I arrived at the first rehearsal it became quite clear that it was the wind band arrangement. I seem to remember that the two bars where the harp could be heard went quite well, after which I think I blacked out.
Stephen Wilkinson, Development Assistant
My favourite Bernstein moment was in my third year at the University of Nottingham, where I managed to convince the University Sinfonia to perform Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Although there were many challenges to the work, including getting strings to play in syncopation, adapting to the unique harmonies and generally recruiting enough horns, the final performance was a showstopper. The highlight for me has to be the enthusiastic shout of “Mambo!”, which we even did as an encore!
Alex Rickells, Concerts Assistant
Join in the conversation and let us know what your favourite Bernstein moment is on Facebook and Twitter.
Britten Sinfonia is performing Chichester Psalms with The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge at London’s Barbican on 2 December 2017 and at Saffron Hall on 16 February 2018.
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Is insecticide treated mosquito nets against 1st precept?
As part of my charity action I was going to donate to Against Malaria Foundation. But after reading that 100% of the money is going to buy long-lasting insecticidal nets for the prevention of malaria, I am not so sure if that conflicts with my buddhist practice.
For those who don't know, insecticidal nets are mosquitoes nets that are sprayed with insecticide, which is said to be twice as effective as unsprayed nets.
Against Malaria Foundation website:
https://www.againstmalaria.com/
Wikipedia on Against Malaria Foundation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_Malaria_Foundation
The Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) is a United Kingdom-based charity that provides long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) to populations at high risk of malaria, primarily in Africa. As of July 2016, the foundation has raised $86.6 million and distributed or committed to fund 19.3 million LLINs since its founding in 2004.
Wikipedia on insecticide-treated nets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_net#Insecticide_treated_nets
Mosquito nets treated with insecticides—known as insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) or bednets—were developed in the 1980s for malaria prevention. ITNs are estimated to be twice as effective as untreated nets, and offer greater than 70% protection compared with no net. These nets are dip-treated using a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide such as deltamethrin or permethrin which will double the protection over a non-treated net by killing and repelling mosquitoes.
five-precepts dana eight-precepts correct-interpretation
dhammahddhammahd
Yes, it is against the first precept since it kills. What you can do is, instead of giving money, buy normal nets and mosquito repellent lotion and donate.
Sankha KulathantilleSankha Kulathantille
Yes - and if you cant do that or dont want to put that effort - you have a ton of other causes to donate to - there is no shortage in stuff you can donate to – breath Mar 22 '18 at 1:23
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged five-precepts dana eight-precepts correct-interpretation or ask your own question.
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Breaking of five precept
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NextKelly Goto
War Furniture
Jason Weems on the influence of husband and wife design team Charles and Ray Eames, and the place of their work in postwar California culture.
Boom California on May 30, 2012
by Jason Weems
Charles and Ray Eames Design for the Wounded Body
The influence of husband and wife design team Charles and Ray Eames is ubiquitous in American culture and encompasses an array of expressive forms from architecture, interior design and furniture to the graphic arts, cinema, photography and educational exhibitions. Most well known, the Eameses’ chairs with their smooth surfaces and biomorphic contours have become signature forms of postwar California culture and icons of modern design.
Photograph of Eames Splint in Use, circa 1943. (Source: Donald Albrecht, World War Two and The American Dream, 1995, P. 60) Image Courtesy Of The Library Of Congress.
Surprisingly, the roots for these objects lay not in the sleek and optimistic postwar aesthetic that shaped the corporate office, airport, or suburban home, but rather in the carnage and injury of World War Two. Although Charles Eames had first experimented with molded plywood construction under the tutelage of Eero Saarinen at the Cranbrook Academy in Michigan during the late Thirties, it was in wartime Los Angeles that the design duo embarked upon their first large-scale fabrication in that medium. 1 Their product was not furniture but leg splints. In 1942 the United States Navy commissioned the Eameses to produce lightweight plywood traction splints for use on warships. The splints needed to be strong and durable enough to hold up under stress, yet also sufficiently light and nimble to facilitate easy navigation of confined shipboard spaces. Most important, they needed to provide a stable armature for the wounded human body—whose integrity and function had been compromised by laceration, fracture, burn, and other physical traumas. Like their later furniture, the Eameses married their technological innovations in compound molding to their organic and functionalist design aesthetic in order to craft a splint whose support surfaces conformed to the natural shape and composition of the human body. By war’s end, over 150,000 leg splints had been produced.
Treated too often as a footnote in the narrative of their contribution to modern design, the splint in fact played a seminal role in shaping the Eameses’ design philosophy. 2 The splint project required the designers not only to focus on the human figure in a conventional way, but also to reframe their consideration of it in terms of damage and dysfunction. If modern design had heretofore treated the human body as an idealized abstraction, these conventions appeared suddenly inadequate in face of the raw corporeality of rendered flesh, shattered bones, and ruptured psyches. Rethinking the body as a once complete form now broken and compromised—a task that included Charles’s use of his own body in modeling and testing the splint—pushed the Eameses into a new mindset. If healthy bodies were culturally inoffensive, wounded and disabled physiques (then and still today) invoked feelings of pain, fear, anxiety, pity, distrust, and even humiliation and shame. The etiology of broken bodies, in other words, was as much cultural and psychological as it was physical.
Charles and Ray Eames (Evans Products Company, Molded Plywood Division, Manufacturer). Leg Splint. 1942. Plywood, 3 7/8″ × 42″ × 7 7/8″ Image Courtesy Of San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art
Designing for these circumstances required the Eameses to bolster their usual attention to functionality and aesthetics with a new consideration: empathy. The Eames splint became a model of new ways of conceiving orthopedic devices, not only because of its innovation in materials and artistry, but also for the way that its anthropomorphized contours made it feel and look like an organic extension of the limb to which it attached. Just as the physical act of pulling traction returned the disfigured limb to normal form, the splint’s visual and tactile naturalism provided a psychological armature that stabilized the spirit. Unlike other splints that made little effort to deflect the artificiality of their materials and structure, and thereby mediate the divide between natural body and industrial prosthetic, the Eames design pursued the possibility of a more organic and empathetic interconnection of subject and armature. Cutting a new path through the technophilism of wartime research, their splint positioned the body—and more importantly, the subject—as the proper focus in the Man-Machine amalgam.
When the Eameses returned to peacetime projects at war’s end, they continued their concern for the needs of both mind and body. Though they did not pursue further design work with splints and prosthetics, their postwar furniture retained the substance of wartime lessons. Designed for normative (and idealized) bodies and standard spaces, the Eames chairs and lounges nonetheless retained an ethos of empathy. The Eames chair, for example, became a paragon of effective design precisely because of its deep adaptability to needs of the weary body. Its celebrated visual aesthetic, though rarely discussed in these terms, is perhaps best understood to be an outgrowth of this compassionate functionality.
Charles And Ray Eames Lounge Chair And Ottoman, Introduced In 1956. Photograph By Casey Marshall.
While there are limits to the correlations to be drawn between the desecration of wartime injury and the weariness of middle class bodies, the Eameses’ practices also have important implications for more contemporary understandings of disability design. In privileging the integrity of the body as their foremost criterion, they inverted a tendency in disability engineering to think primarily to the conditions of the technology rather than those of the human form and psyche. Likewise, their application of lessons learned from devising leg splints to designing furniture challenged the hierarchies, distances, and divergences that American culture usually asserts between normative and differently constituted bodies.
1. The literature on Charles and Ray Eames is too extensive to list here. The most thorough scholarly discussion on the topic is: Patricia Kirkham, Charles and Ray Eames: Designers of the Twentieth Century (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998). For more focused consideration of the Eames chair, see the recent anthology: Martin Eidelberg, Patricia Kirkham, et al., The Eames Lounge Chair: An Icon of Modern Design (New York: Merrill Press, 2006).
2. One account that does consider the splint’s production history in detail is the comprehensive Eames chronology: John Neuhart, Marilyn Neuhart and Ray Eames, Eames Design: The Work of the Office of Charles and Ray Eames (New York: Henry Abrams, 1989), 27–35 passim. I also discuss the culture of wartime research in Los Angeles and its impact on the Eameses’ design philosophy in my forthcoming essay: Jason Weems, “Vision at California Scale: Charles and Ray Eames, Systems Thinking, and the Diminishing Status of the Human Body After World War Two” in Where Minds and Matters Meet: Technology in California and the West, ed. Volker Janssen (Berkeley: Huntington Library/University of California Press, forthcoming).
Tagged in: Art, Culture
modern office desk May 30, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Furniture designed especially for the wounded body.Its an amazing topic to go through……I think it will be very much helpfull for our soldiers.
Kelly Goto
Constructing the Edge
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This Orphaned Kitten Wasn’t Going To Survive. Luckily, A Hero Intervened.
By J. Swanson
The world isn’t kind to orphaned kittens. Not only do they need their mother’s milk to survive, thousands are killed each year in overcrowded shelters struggling to provide space, food, or funding. The issue becomes especially dire during kitten season, when shelters are overwhelmed with an unmanageable influx of strays. Many of them, sadly, are fast-tracked for euthanasia.
Photo: Instagram/ fosterkittensvegas
This appeared to be the fate of Mochi, a scruffy orange-and-white kitten who found himself all alone in a Las Vegas animal shelter. Unless somebody intervened, the scruffy little kitten, Mochi, would be killed by the end of the day.
Fortunately, Hearts Alive Village Las Vegas got wind of this unjust scenario and plucked Mochi off the kill-list just in the nick of time. Back at the center, a volunteer foster mom immediately offered to take Mochi home.
“I saw his sad little face all alone and so scared and decided I would take him,” Lika told Love Meow, recalling how the tiny kitten was covered in dirt and poop, and suffering from an eye infection.
Lika quickly took Mochi back to her house, where she administered a bath, eye drops, and some medication, which seemed to briefly revive the kitten. The danger was far from over, however. The very next day, Mochi was struck with severe gastrointestinal issues and began rapidly dropping weight.
“Motherless neonatal kittens have the highest risk for developing infections and have a significantly less chance of survival because they lack the nutrients from their mom,” Lika explained. “Trying to pin point the issue in such a tiny kitten is critical.”
Regardless, Lika — who doesn’t take her role as a foster mom lightly — was determined to help her furry young charge recover. “As a foster mom you give everything you have to fight for them,” she said.
She placed little Mochi on two medications, bottle-fed him around the clock, and made sure the little kitten felt supported with plenty of cuddles. A day later, the little kitten appeared more energetic and displayed a new appetite.
“I was confident we would beat this,” Lika told Love Meow. “He’s back! He beat it,” she cheered. “Once he felt better his true personality came out and he was the happiest, fluffiest little boy.”
Nowadays, Mochi is playful, fluffy furball who loves belly rubs, playtime, and is growing with remarkable speed. “Fostering a critical care kitten can be very hard and emotionally draining but the rewards are by far greater,” she admits. “Seeing him thrive is my pride and joy.”
Check out Mochi’s incredible transformation in the video below!
J. Swanson is a writer, traveler, and animal-enthusiast based in Seattle, an appropriately pet-crazed city where dog or cat ownership even outweighs the number of kids. When the weather permits, she likes to get outside and explore the rest of the Pacific Northwest, always with a coffee in hand.
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Cisco Blogs / Networking / Cisco Installs Healthy Wireless Network in UK Hospital
August 11, 2016 1 Comment
Cisco Installs Healthy Wireless Network in UK Hospital
Byron Magrane
With life and death situations occurring nearly every hour, working in a hospital can be an extremely difficult business. How about working in a hospital with out-of-date WiFi infrastructure that routinely broke down once or twice a month? That’s almost impossible.
This was the situation that was facing the United Kingdom’s Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH) before it turned to Cisco for help in updating their network. Not only was the constant network outages a big-time productivity hindrance, but also the lack of an adequate network was costing the hospital money and shots at the best doctors. Who wants to work in a high-stress environment where something most folks take for granted—a strong wireless network—breaks down at least twice a month?
Using Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and 6500 Series switches along with Cisco Aironet 700 and 1600 Series access points, MKUH was able to redesign and deploy an entirely new network. And with Cisco Identity Service Engine making sure that devices are safe and able to securely connect to the network, the hospital had the security that that they needed. For instance, physicians have their own rights for accessing data. This is in stark contrast to patients and visitors who are allowed to roam the web but not peruse any sensitive material.
And the best part, those days when the wireless network went down? They’re a thing of the past. Doctors and hospital staff are utilizing the new network and are connecting better than ever through voice, video, conferencing and instant messaging.
“Now we don’t get any outages and at 10Gbps, people can instantly get the data and apps they need to work efficiently,” Craig York, Associate Director of IT said. “[With a] good, stable network connection you can plug in a new Cisco access point anywhere and everything works straight away.”
For MKUH, the new network is medicine that everyone can enjoy.
To view the full case study, please click here.
Tags: Cisco 1600 Series access point Cisco Aironet 700 access point Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series switch Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switch
Dr. Jose A. Wong - Perez says:
… A long time (42 years) ago, while doing my Master, I worked four years in hospitals as a part-time job. I remember, no computers, no MRI, no Internet, was a tough time, in fact. Now, it is so natural and normal, the access to appropriate technology, available everywhere and anywhere, as needed.
Is good to see Cisco solutions in the healthcare environment, make the difficult tasks much easier.
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Keywords: Trafficking in human beings
DG HOME - DG for Migration and Home Affairs
The Commission's Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs is responsible for EU policy on migration and home affairs.
Frontex - European Border and Coast Guard Agency
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex (from French: Frontières extérieures for "external borders"), is an agency of the European Union headquartered...
Western Balkans Quarterly Report
The Western Balkans Quarterly is focused on quarterly developments as reflected by the seven key indicators of irregular migration: (1) detections of illegal border-crossing...
European Union ; Schengen ; Western Balkans
Dataset ID: WB-Q
Western Balkans Annual Risk Analysis
The WB-ARA (Western Balkans Annual Risk Analysis) is structured around the following elements: (1) a description of the general context in which border controls at common...
Dataset ID: WB-ARA
Eastern Partnership Risk Analysis Network Quarterly Report (EaP-RAN)
The Eastern Partnership (EaP) Quarterly statistical overview is focused on quarterly developments for the seven key indicators of irregular migration: (1) detections of illegal...
European Union ; Schengen
Dataset ID: EaP-Q
Eastern European Borders Annual Risk Analysis (EB-RAN)
EB-RAN (Eastern European Borders Risk Analysis Network) statistical data from Belarus; Moldova and Ukraine are available from 2010. The core of the overview are EB-RAN and...
Dataset ID: EB-RAN
Frontex Risk Analysis Network (FRAN) Quarterly Report
Statistical analysis of quarterly changes of eight irregular-migration indicators and one asylum indicator; provided by MS border-control authorities. Indicators: Detections...
Dataset ID: FRAN-Q
FRA’s regular overviews of migration-related fundamental rights concerns
In view of the increased numbers of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants entering the EU, FRA publishes monthly reports highlighting key developments about the fundamental...
Dataset ID: overviews
Frontex Annual Risk Analysis Report
The Frontex Risk Analysis Report concentrates on the current scope of Frontex operational activities, which focuses on irregular migration at the external borders of the EU and...
Dataset ID: ARA
SIS II - Second generation Schengen Information System
Operational management of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) which entered into operation on 09 April 2013 replacing SIS1. SIS II, the largest...
eu-LISA
Dataset ID: SISII
Yearbook on Illegal Migration; Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe.
Published since 2000 with the latest issue available for 2013. It includes a survey and analysis of border management and border apprehension data from 22 States obtained via a...
ICMPD
European Union ; Eastern Europe ; Europe
IOM Global (Victim-Centred) Human Trafficking Database
As of 2000, IOM records primary data on victims of trafficking (VoT) under IOM assistance, largely in countries of origin. Additional qualitative analyses include routes and...
Dataset ID: CTM
UNODC Trafficking in persons data
Detected victims and their profiles, by citizenship, by forms of exploitaiton and sex; people convicted by sex or citizenship; people prosecuted by sex; people suspected,...
ILO Global estimate of forced labour
Data include statistics on trafficking (only trafficking for labour purposes, not including trafficking for the removal of organs, forced marriage, forced adoption…). ILO mainly...
GRETA-based scorecards
The index is based on the reports of the monitoring body of the Council of Europe Convention against Human Trafficking. GRETA stands for the Group of Experts on Action against...
Dataset ID: GRETA
IOM - International Organization for Migration
Established in 1951, IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental...
With 189 member countries, staff from more than 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working...
UNODC - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime. Established in 1997 through a merger between...
OHCHR - United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner
As the principal United Nations office mandated to promote and protect human rights for all, OHCHR leads global human rights efforts speaks out objectively in the face of human...
ICMPD - International Centre for Migration Policy Development
ICMPD is an international organisation with 15 Member States (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, The former Yugoslav Republic of...
Migrant smuggling (22)
Irregular migration (17)
External dimension (13)
Asylum and refugees (10)
Internal EU mobility (1)
ICMPD (2)
ILO (2)
DG HOME (1)
eu-LISA (1)
Trafficking in huma... (25)
Asylum (11)
Facilitation of ill... (6)
Refused entry (6)
Border management (4)
Document fraud (4)
Schengen (4)
Western Balkans (2)
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Anticipation… is making me wait. →
What does Bret Bielema’s contract tell us about Butts-Mehre?
About what we’ve always known, I’m afraid.
The basics are these:
The first-year Arkansas coach will make $2.95 million annually, with on-field and academic incentives totaling up to an additional $700,000 each year. Bielema’s contract runs through Dec. 31, 2018.
According to a USA Today database updated July 1, 2013, Bielema would be the 12th-highest paid head coach in college football, according to terms of his contract, and fourth-highest paid coach in the Southeastern Conference.
Notice that “fourth-highest paid” mark? One of those other three ain’t Mark Richt.
Richt will make a guaranteed $2,811,340 a year under his new deal, which is just about what he was making previously. His deal runs through the 2016 season as previously announced.
So Arkansas’ new head coach is making more than the most senior head coach in college football’s toughest conference. And making it for a longer period.
Now, you can congratulate Greg McGarity for his shrewd fiscal management (and no doubt both he and his superiors are pleased) and you can assume that Richt is indeed content enough with his current gig to leave money on the table… but what if things change, as indeed they will some day? What if Richt entertains a serious, higher-dollar offer from another school? And for those of you who would cheer such a possibility, what makes you think that a school that pays its head coach less than Arkansas pays its man is going to be willing to step up financially and pay your dream choice the kind of bucks it will take to lure him to Athens?
Buck up. Maybe they can entice him with stories about the growth of the fabled reserve fund.
UPDATE: Marc Weiszer reminds me that I missed the last raise for Richt. His $3.2 million base is higher than Bielema’s. So at least Butts-Mehre is keeping up with Arkansas.
101 responses to “What does Bret Bielema’s contract tell us about Butts-Mehre?”
joyridingdawg
For CMR….it is not about the money. I believe he is the only Coach in College Football who does not give a hoot about the money. He has endorsements that pay a great deal yearly.
If that’s the case, they sure wasted a lot of money on lawyers drafting his last contract, which is loaded with incentives.
Mr. Sanchez
While I tend to agree that Richt likes Athens, and as you say, he’s knowingly leaving money on the table (be it for assistants, facilities improvements, an indoor practice facility, among other items), but it does worry me a bit. I think he and his family like Athens, and that he’s not chasing the dollars, but Texas is going to be looking for a coach this offseason. And with his age, and past success, Mark Richt has got to look very, very attractive to the Longhorns. Say they call his agent up, and say they’re willing to give him a 10 yr contract, $5m per + incentives for winning conference and national titles. If that happens, then what? Does UGA match the offer? Does Richt leave if they don’t? I’d honestly rather not find out, and my heart says he’d still turn them down even if UGA didn’t want to come close to that level of commitment. But he’d have to be one of the names Texas likes most, and with their ability and willingness to pay combined with Georgia’s lack of willingness to pay in spite of the ability, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I thought it was possible.
Honestly, I think they’d offer MR more money to stay, but I can’t see B-M paying him $5 million/year. No offense to Richt – I’m not sure they’d pay that to anybody, including Saban.
Same here Senator, and therein lies the fear. I don’t see Texas having any problem paying that kind of money to a coach. Richt is still young enough (53), that if he wanted to he could spend another decade, if not two (if he lasted as long as Bowden, he’d have over 25 years left in him) on the sidelines. I also think Texas is arrogant enough to have anyone on their list they like, be it Saban or Meyer or even some NFL head coaches, so I can’t see their administration thinking Richt would be unobtainable to them. Age, style, success, he’d have to be near the top of the Longhorn list wouldn’t he (unless he/his agent made it clear he wouldn’t consider any other jobs but the one he’s got)? And if they come in willing to use the full force of their checkbook, someone willing to nearly double your salary is very hard to turn down, even for those not motivated by money. And if B-M wouldn’t match an offer, that puts him in a very awkward and unenviable position to make a decision.
It’s not just the checkbook Sanchez. Texas is one of those programs that backs its football program 100%. Georgia doesn’t. Bama is the only program really like that in the SEC, IMHO (some might say USCe under SOS). Being given the keys to a program with no internally-created limitations–that’s attractive to someone like CMR.
So, is there anything at all a fanbase can do in a situation like this? Can some big boasters point to the revenue we take in then the (relative) lack of spending compared to Alabama and say “we need to be doing this” and get results?
Or is this like being a fan of a pro team with a stingy owner?
Alums can lobby to get a football friendly Prez, and maybe we have now. Too soon to tell. But this “some things are more important than winning” is in our DNA it seems. Just read this blog–you’ll see it here all the time. But when the team doesn’t win–look out!
CMR is not in the UT profile. Perceived to be too similar to Mack. Think Bill Cowher type personality. They want someone to shake things up around here. They need it. (Remember, Boom had the job but couldn’t wait once “Mama” called him home.)
Which as you know is standard when you are recruiting a great Coach. Now go have a drink.
The money in the SEC for football will dictate UGA spends more when Richt retires. It will have to.
Because the market will demand it. Richt isn’t demanding it now, so why move the number up? When GM goes coach-hunting he’ll have to open it up.
They’ve never done that before. What makes this time around any different?
I tend to agree with Castleberry. Bobo will be McGarity’s ace in the hole if he doesn’t like what the market demands.
Because times change. The last time UGA went coach hunting was 2000, no? They know what everyone else makes, and more importantly, so do the fans. Perhaps I’m being naive to how cheap McGarity is, but I expect the next coach to make at least what Richt makes, and if he’s a proven head coach, more.
It’s not McGarity per se. It’s the culture at B-M. And McGarity is not exactly what I’d call a change agent.
If Bobo is the new hire, I guarantee you he makes less than Richt. And McGarity will know that before he goes shopping.
allthegoodnameswereused
I’ll never understand the statement people make something that includes statements like “‘with all the resources UGA has” blah, blah. We are a middle of the pack team as far as expenditures. Heck Arkansas BEFORE this new hire was spending more money on Football than us. We’ll spend a little more if we go with someone other than Bobo sure but we will still be middle of the pack, I don’t see that changing.
Georgia is middle of the pack in expenditures because they want to be, not because they have to be. If we quit focus on being a highly profitable non-profit entity for some reason, that means we spend some of these revenues we’re sitting on. Those are the resources Georgia has. To compare with Arkansas, Georgia has a significantly better instate recruiting to pull from. Which means better talent, and you also have to spend less to get that talent since they aren’t traveling as far to get to you and you don’t travel as far to get to them. Our facilities are good, not great as extravagance like Oregon and Tennessee’s stuff keep getting built, but we’re not far behind them in facilities, and as said, if we’re willing to spend more of the revenues coming in, we can build our own palace like those guys have. Fan support is strong, facilities strong, recruiting base as good as it gets, and we’ve got plenty of money to improve anywhere we want to improve. Expenditures schmenditures, Georgia is by no means middle of the pack in terms of resources.
Which makes some of the lack of spending all the more maddening. It’s not like the AA has stockholders waiting on dividend checks.
That said, I think it might be a mistake to assume because they’re generally cheap, they’d be cheap to the point of really hurting the program. McGarrity paid Grantham Kirby Smart money (and a multi-year deal). The problem, and it may not be a big one, is I don’t seem them as willing to hire top notch “extra” staff like Kevin Steele at Bama, or break records on an assistant like UT with Kiffin in ’09, or Chad Morris’s deal at Auburn with a Lake.
“Georgia is middle of the pack in expenditures because they want to be, not because they have to be” Well, that’s kind of my point, If we don’t spend it we don’t have it. Take Arkansas again, They take in less but spend more. Heck even if we just spent the same percentage we would be ahead of the game. The commitment isn’t there. That’s my point. What gives you any reason to believe that your second sentence would ever come true? I’m not talking about wishful thinking I mean hard evidence, it’s to the contrary. Before I go any further let me say I think UGA is a great ‘destination’ program with great resources including recruiting, the fan base you mention, etc. I highly disagree that’s it’s as good as a lot of folks seem to think it is as far as resources and in state talent is a resource . You’re looking at recruiting thru your red and black glasses. When I grew up in NW GA some 30 years ago most folks were UGA fans but even then you had a ton of BAMA, UT, AUBURN fans, etc. A lot of players loved UGA but would love to play for a living legend in the Bear. Kind of sounds like today with Saban. Twenty – twenty five years ago Georgia was a top 5 state for producing college players even then. Now it’s more like 4th I believe but with the population explosion you have a ton of people here now who didn’t grow up singing Glory Glory to old Georgia and worse they brought their allegiances to whatever team with them. Again I think GA has a great situation with it’s in state recruiting base and it IS an advantage. I just don’t think it’s quite the advantage some seem to believe it is.
He doesn’t care about the money, but I’ll bet he doesn’t want to be treated like a chump either. And he is.
I do not think he feels that way. He is an admired and righteous MAN.
Not sure what the hell this means, but I agree with the first part. Richt isn’t tied to his salary like some coaches. That won’t be the case after he retires, though. The next coach will need at least $3 as that’s what the market will demand.
“Not sure what the hell this means”
Neither does Jen who is glad all over that her husband, Brunt, was not hired by Georgia but if he were (such as if and when Mark stops being righteous about taking lowball pay) she would only have to change a gang sign, not a wardrobe
Beautiful day for college football! WPS Razorbacks! 3-0! Love my Game Day outfit from @shopsavoirfaire 😉 http://t.co/7JEcFw5JDQ—
Jen Bielema (@jenbielema) September 14, 2013
Not gonna lie. I’m a fan. Props to Bert.
“UPDATE: Marc Weiszer reminds me that I missed the last raise for Richt. His $3.2 million base is higher than Bielema’s.”
Jen tells husband to stop playing Marco Polo and ask for pay raise 😦
LOL. Thread over. You win.
Wow. I’d expect an outfit like that on a 25 year old recent grad, not the head coach’s wife.
You and Tim Fletcher
“1. Tim Fletcher@FletcherShow14 Sep
@jenbielema @shopsavoirfaire no distractions please. Tough schedule awaits your hubby. Start wearing sweats around the house
2. Jen Bielema@jenbielema14 Sep
@FletcherShow I do every day”
Only problem: It’s a smokin’ hot skin-tight sweat ensemble outfit
She might not be that much older than 25…
She’s ancient, “the 43-year-old is married to one hot 27 year old! Let’s meet Jen Hielsberg or Mrs. Bielema”
http://fabwags.com/jen-hielsberg-bielema-arkansas-coach-bret-bielemas-hot-wife/.
TennesseeDawg
She’s only with him for his rock hard abs and oozing sex appeal
And he’s only with her because…
She’s exceptionally good at “Throwing’ the A” around?
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/09/sec-coachs-wife-invents-team-gang-sign/
I’m thinking Greg has Coach Bobo in his back pocket if Richt splits. Anyone thinking we’ll snag their dream candidate from another school is delusional.
Whenever Richt moves on, Georgia will have the pick of the litter of assistant coaches and will have most head coaches getting their agents on the phone. Saban and Meyer won’t, but soooo many coaches will.
Glen Mason ring a bell? I don’t see a track record for coach hiring at Georgia that would give me your confidence.
You can thank Richt for what will happen when the job opens up. He’s changed the game for Georgia. The state putting out some of the best talent in the country is also a big plus.
“It’s a great job, Mr. Coaching Candidate. In fact, it’s so great that you should be willing to take a few less bucks to coach here than at most other places.”
The job just sells itself. 😉
I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing. The scenario in the post was Richt leaving because another school backed up the truck to get him. That means we’re not willing to match an offer to keep one of the top coaches in the country. If that happened why would we pay to pay enough to steal away a TOP coach from somewhere else? We’d be talking about an unproven assistant.
Yep, it’s a different program than the Glen Mason era. Maybe coach feels like he is being treated fairly and doesn’t have the desire or ego to demand that he be in the top 3 in compensation in the SEC. Once you reach a certain threshold, most of the compensation decisions are made because of ego. WTF did Bob Nardelli need a $65MM severance package from the Home Depot for? For one reason only, he’s an egotistical prick. My guess is that CMR is not the guy that’s going to march into McGarity’s office and demand to be the 2nd or 3rd highest paid coach in the SEC come heck or high water.
I’ve been a fan long enough to remember several head-coaching hires, but I don’t recall B-M ever seriously considering an accomplished, major-college head coach for the opening.
Have they ever hired a coach with big-time success?
Not for football, but they have in other sports, like Ron Polk and Jim Harrick, who’d both had long and highly successful careers at other major conference programs.
CCRider
Second place I have seen this Bobo is HC in waiting crap! Lalalalalalala….fingers in the ears….lalalalalalalala…..I can’t hear you.
You can’t handle the truth! 😉
Bobo would be like Kramer for unlimited coffee “I’ll take it!!…”
I have a feeling CMR will finish his current contract and retire to spend more time on missions/family.
I agree with this, actually. I think he retires in 4-5 years.
“Richt is still young enough (53), [good enough, smart enough and doggone it, people like him] that if he wanted to he could spend another decade, if not two (if he lasted as long as Bowden, he’d have over 25 years left in him) on the sidelines.” (h/t Mr. Sanchez, some window up above)
I have a feeling CMR will out-Bowden Bowden and it will all happen at Georgia which if Mr. Sanchez is right would put CMR somewhere in the neighborhood of Year 1 of the Eighth Five-Year Plan when he hangs it up. That has all the potential of being a bummer for Bobo who would then be almost as old as Norm Chow is now
If CMR wanted more money he would have it.
Bielema’s contract tells us Arkansas is more desperate than we are.
Plenty of time to count the beans when the season is over. GATA!
Mark Richt was born in Omaha.
He also spent a long time in Boca, and played at Miami. How much did that help when Miami was looking? Nebraska ain’t a concern, even if it’s a great program at a rougher than desired time right now. Texas definitely should be though with all they have financially, in recruiting base, facilities, etc.
That, and you people talking about Bobo as Head Coach are giving me nightmares. He’s grown on me a bit as an OC, but there’s just so, so much about the idea of him as HC in Athens that I really, really don’t want that to ever happen.
He’s grown on me a bit as an OC,
Seeing as he was the best OC in the country last year, I should hope so.
Great stats =/= “best OC in the country. He had a good year, after some suspect ones. And that was with good luck at OL, and once a decade talents at skill positions.
It was a joke.
If Richt has an exceptional year this year, ie winning an SEC championship, he will get a raise. If he doesn’t, he probably won’t.
I’d be surprised if he left UGA for another job not just because I don’t think it’s in his nature but also because I don’t think he’s that hot a commodity, at least not at the handful of school that could afford to make a game changing salary offer. Who exactly do we fear is going to ride in and offer him 4M a year right now? It’s not impossible, but as I said, I’d be surprised.
How many coaches are out there to whom you’d approve of UGA paying $4 million/year?
may I suggest starting with these 5: the vest, kiffin, charlie weiss, lou holtz, ron zook.
Nicely played, sir.
You forgot George O’Leary. His resume is impressive.
Not a lot. I was responding to your point that Richt might get stolen away from UGA. I just don’t see it. What school would pay him 4M right now? There are only 4 schools in the country currently paying their coach 4M a year: Bama, OU, Texas and Ohio State. Is Texas going to make a run at Mark Richt? I suppose it’s possible, but I’d be surprised.
Say you’re Texas, with the belief that you can get any, and I mean any, coach in the country. Who do you have higher on your list? Saban, maybe Meyer, and then who? Omitting NFL names like Shanahan or Belichek or Gruden or Tomlin, etc, who else would have a better resume for Texas to lust after than Richt?
If I’m Texas I want the guy who is going to have the best resume over the next 10 years, not the last 10. That’s pretty much why they’re getting rid of Mack. Phil Fulmer has a hell of a resume and it’s not doing him any good. I think they’ll go hard after a coach like David Shaw, or maybe even Kevin Sumlin.
Plenty of jobs comparable to Texas have opened up over the last few years, and Richt has never been a hot name for any of them. It seems like this burgeoning meme of “Texas wants Richt” is based on the similarities between Richt and Brown, but I’m not so sure that’s really in Richt’s favor in the eyes of Texas fans.
Put it this way, if the dominoes fell in such a way that Richt did leave for some job, and Mack Brown was available, would you want him at UGA?
Sumlin.
I don’t think he’d take it (if he can have a successful year post-JFF he’s gone to the NFL), but the Aggies heads would assplode if he took an interview.
In alphabetical order:
Richt
mdcgtp
Senator, I think you are way way off base here. I don’t think what Arkansas pays Bielma is of any significant relevance to UGA, McGarity, Richt, nor most UGA fans/observers. There are a few ways to think about Richt’s compensation. You have clearly chosen to discuss it on a relative basis. Given the transparency into college football coaching contracts, we know what the market pays for a head coach. Similarly, baseball players when they reach free agency know what other players at their position and value make. As a rule of thumb, each win over a replacement player or WAR as it is abbreviated is worth about $6M in the free agent market. Hold that thought for a moment as I love to the next way to think about his compensation.
Another way to think about his compensation is what incentives does it create for him? All things being equal, getting paid $3.2M is a lot of money for no promise of results, with a long term contract with a huge buyout, without even a HINT of a non-compete clause in the contract. Not many industries operate that way. Were I an AD, I would have a HUGELY incentive laden contract for both the head coach and entire coaching staff. While many of the revenues that support the AD are a recurring and growing, I have to believe there is a difference between them when you win the SEC and MNC and you don’t. Donations flow, licensing revenue increase, and other ancillary revenue streams become more valuable. Let the coaching staff share in that success.
We know pretty clearly what Richt’s WAR is. He is in fact on a percentage basis by far the winningest coach in the history of our program, and he is arguably doing it in the most difficult era in the conference. Dooley had engineered a permanent SEC schedule that included vandy, ole miss, and kentucky, and somehow missed bama, lsu and UT annually. now he also played SC and clemson, which were quasi SEC games. that said, i tend to think Richt is coaching in a more difficult era and doing a better job at it. that said, vince dooley was probably not a replacement level I.e., average) coach…donnan was. so I think one can make the case for some type of compensation based upon the 2-3 wins richt has averaged above Donnan (or base it on percentage to account for more games – one of which is the SEC title that Donnan never came with sniffing distance of).
But here is the thing, there are two ways to get WAR, you can pay for it (which is a loser’s game) or you can grow it. As an aside, between Uggla, BJ, and Justin upton, the Braves are paying $45M for essentially a sum total of 3 WAR from all three players. On the other hand, Simmons is worth 6 WAR and he is making nothing. Just because the market pays $6M/WAR does not mean you have to pay that. Similarly, the college coaching market is skewed. Purdue is paying Darrell Hazell $2.5M per year off his kent state success. think about that. let it sink in. If there was ever a case to NEVER pay up for a coach, that was it. the point being there are a LOT of guys who are smart and capable who come without a huge price tag. Chip kelly was coaching in NH before he became Oregon’s OC. Gary Patterson was Francione’s DC before he was elevated at TCU. heck, think about what texas is paying stacy searels and what we are paying his replacement will friend.
great organizations don’t base their compensation off the market. they pay someone what they think they are worth.
Were I an AD, I would have a HUGELY incentive laden contract for both the head coach and entire coaching staff.
That’s great. Just realize that you wouldn’t get a front line coach with an offer like that, because there are plenty of schools that would undercut you by offering higher base salaries.
there are plenty of coaches at different tiers of football that would kill for a UGA job. Perhaps you have heard of an industry called the hedge fund industry. Participants regularly work for modest base salaries to share in the investment profits they generate. While there is a heard mentality to asset allocators chasing performance and buying name brand funds, the most astute one are looking to capture alpha by allocating to managers before their management fees afford a private jet lifestyle. The same principle applies here. Hire guys who you think are exceptionally talented would kill for the opportunity to be a part of the UGA football program. there are countless number of stories like this in coaching as well. go read David Halberstam’s book on Belichick to see what he was willing to do to have a crack at being an NFL coach.
the thought that the only way to get a front line coach is to pay up for him is laughable.
Can you give me any recent examples of A-list coaches who took jobs at major college programs for less pay?
who is an “a list” coach? ultimately, unless you are hiring a proven winner in the heart of his prime, there are no A list coaches. Jimmy Johnson was not an A list coach when Miami hired him from Oklahoma State. Jimmy Johnson was A list when Dallas hired him. Not so much the second time around with the Dolphins. Saban was not an A list coach when LSU hired him the first time. spurrier was not an a list hire. There are very very few instances of A list coaches being “available”.
lets look at the last 20 years in college football. Saban is the only coach who was an A list hire at the time of his hire.
1993 bowden
1994 osborne
1996 spurrier
1997 carr/osborne
1998 fulmer
2000 stoopes
2001 coker (but lets credit butch davis)
2002 tressel
2003 saban/carroll
2004 carroll
2006 meyer
2009 saban
2010 chizik
so what about the other “high profile” proven guys?
Who else? Rich Rod at Michigan. How did that work out for them? How many times did someone pay up for Rick Neuhesial? How did Gary Barnett work out for Colorado?
Urban Meyer was a high profile hire and perhaps UF had to “pay up” to outbid Notre Dame at the time, but recall what he said made the difference in his decision. He solicited Herbstreit’s advice, who told him the UF and ND jobs were not close to equal and that he should take the UF job. Again, who is going to stay at Utah when UF comes with an offer.
Oh by the way, you think Bob Bolsby had to offer Jim Harbaugh a lot of money to the tiny catholic powerhouse University of San Diego (not San Diego State mind you!) to come to stanford. Obviously for every Harbaugh, there are 10 instances of Derek Dooley (maybe more).
Its not about the MONEY. It is NEVER ABOUT the money. It’s always about good process. the sports world is littered with sob stories of teams built on free agents to buy titles. it rarely works. the exact same principle applies here.
As an aside, between Uggla, BJ, and Justin upton, the Braves are paying $45M for essentially a sum total of 3 WAR from all three players. On the other hand, Simmons is worth 6 WAR and he is making nothing.
This analogy is worthless. Simmons is making nothing because he’s not eligible for free agency.
Senator, are you that small minded that you don’t get the distinction between growing talent and outbidding others for “proven” talent in hopes that it continues to produce.
As an AD, you can pay up for someone else’s head coach OR you can “grow your own” by hiring an assistant coach from the existing staff or another program. In all but a limited number of cases, will you have to “pay up” for the person.
I don’t know about small-mindedness, but I don’t think a program as established as Georgia’s is should be looking at hiring another school’s assistant coach. The kind of talent McGarity will be evaluating will either be established and expensive or more of a gamble and less pricey. I suspect Bobo’s gonna look mighty attractive when the day is done.
thats the thing…virtually every coach is a gamble. Its just that history proves that some are expensive gambles and others are not. Again, its about capturing a guy during the ascendant portion of his career. In some senses, I actually think we are doing that with Richt 2.0. Long term, UGA football may be better off for the mistakes that Richt made leading the program from 2006-2010. Certainly, one could argue the price was expensive in terms of disappointing on field results, but if we have successfully changed the culture of the program, that will serve us well to compete for national titles for years to come. 2012 and 2013 are NOT the only windows for this program.
That of course hinges on Bobo still being an assistant here when that time comes…
If we finish the season averaging over 500 ypg, some good offers might come his way.
God forbid anyone hire a HS coach as an assistant. Gee they may end up as an OC or even a HC one day. And some idiot will pay them large amounts of money. Wasted.
i think it says more about arkansas than it does uga.
they really do see themselves as one of the top 4 teams in the sec.
the rest of the world sees something different, but bielema is happy to take their money for the next few years until they figure it out.
uga paying mark richt on a scale that falls just after saban, les miles and spurrier makes sense to me.
that $400,000 raise is also the right call but it should be happening every year, not once in 5 years.
You plant a seed and yet you can’t even get a link….Will this Dawgbone black balling ever end? Eh Tu Senator?
http://www.sportsandgrits.com/2013/09/mark-richt-is-texas-top-target-to.html
Texas is coming and they are bringing JR Ewing Cadillacs full of money with them. I can’t wait to see the Richt-O-Philes faces when the beloved takes the money and runs.
As for all the other points….forces outside of your own control can sometimes dictate how your business model proceeds in the market place. We will have to pay more and that is just the way it is. Richt has the contract he has because he has earned it…just like it is.
Who would I want to see us pay $4 mill plus a year? Again with the no link love for you.
http://www.sportsandgrits.com/2013/09/mark-richt-will-replace-mack-brown-at.html
CC, my man, I wasn’t blackballing you. I read your posts and thought you were gracious at the end to Richt. But I think you’re going to be sadly, sadly disappointed if he leaves by whom B-M gets to replace him. That’s why I didn’t link your stuff.
BTW, I like Strong as much as you do, but there’s no way his academic/behavioral standards fly at UGA. He won’t be coming.
The most honorable, just, and upright Senator,
I appreciate your anti-blackballing position. A couple of years ago I came up with a descriptive term for the nervous nellies who fear a coaching search. Allow me to make a few points…if I may:
1. This ain’t 2001 anymore. There is Head Coach Inflation at play. The pay scale has changed and I am sure that G Mac knows the Dawgs will have to belly up to keep up.
2. A promotion of Mike Bobo to HC would cause Syrian level riots in the streets from Savannah to Augusta and on up to North Georgie.
3. A guy like Hudspeth, or Taggert from small schools or a coordinator like Chad Morris will be impossible to pawn off on the fan base. The Richt-O-Philes will be in full on Jihad over Texas taking Richt and they will demand an eye for an eye and a HC for a HC.
4. A certain douchebag University President who cared more about some non-sense called “a-ca-dem-ics” than the real reason colleges exist, Football, is gone now. Let me remind you that there was a meeting after the Boise St. and Sakerlina back to back losses in which the direction of the program was questioned by certain top brass.
However, not to discredit your point all together…..even I, The Overlord of all that which is evil in Dawgnation, the HNIC (head nay sayer in charge), the coldest of Cold Blooded Sausage Makers….have a small hint of fear….in the back of my mind…..dwelling within the deepest darkest recess of what used to be my soul….a fear know as– UGA HC Kirby Smart!
Smart doesn’t make sense to me for two reasons: one, he’s burned bridges at B-M with his now you see me/now you don’t act on the DC job offer, and, two, if you’re gonna hire Smart, isn’t it just easier (and cheaper) to hire Bobo?
I don’t think a Bobo hire is going to offend nearly as many people as you think/hope, either.
Hmmmmm….then it would appear that my evil work here is far from done…..and we are far from ascending to elite status as a program. You know sometimes I blame myself….it’s true. I sit looking around at the cave walls of Hell and say…”Am I just not evil enough? Is that why the Disney Dawgs never seem to truly lose ground?” Of course then I remember that I hate self loathing and I start concentrating of hating things again…..then I feel better.
It is because you are not evil enough. Receive Love – Give Love. Say it with me now.
Rugbydawg 79
I hope we have CMR for a long time-we are Lucky to have him
in my Opinion CMB will be a great HC-It is this Dogs wish that when the time comes we hire Bobo—silky smooth transition
the last offensive coordinator we hired has worked out pretty well….
“Eh Tu”?
Hello. “Et tu”. I’d forgive it as sarcasm? or a keyboard error but T is left handed and H is right handed.
“Id est quod id est”
Texas will not hire a Mack clone. They will get a Stoops/Sooner slayer. It is ALL they care about. 60 – 13 burns deeply.
63 – 21 and 55 – 17 for those who like to be precise about such things.
Mark Richt ain’t leaving Georgia. Large family support system surrounds him here. If you can’t wrap that up… you just can’t. That 40 grand an acre dirt in Oconee County may get ya 8000 now. Doesn’t matter what everyone else bid it up to. The ESPN money largesse will dry up the same way but UGa will not suffer like uT will. Hell uT is on life support now. Neither will Apple in spite of Samsung. LSU is up next. Linebacker play will be key. But, as usual, it’s been a fun read. Go Dawgs!
McGarity has programmed you well. He would be proud of your use of his “we can’t end up like Tennessee!” theme.
PROGRAMED WELL. What does that mean? Cannot be programed …does not compute….will rogers will rogers …danger…danger.
I don’t see Texas going after Richt. I see only one coach that excites their boosters and fans enough to kick their donations up past aTm’s and that is Nick Saban. 5mil will be where negotiations start for Saban.
Bama is paying him $5.5 million right now. So if Texas offers him $5 million the answer is no. FYI Bama will never be outbid for Saban,
Saban plus J R=match made in heaven, or where CC calls home.
Richt is a lifer. He’ll be on the UGA sidelines until at least 2025 and likely longer than that.
Georgia is a top 5 job and while we are lucky to have Richt, it goes both ways.
You are correct Hobnail…Did you talk to CMR this morning too?
americusdawg
It’s getting late in the evening so I figured that I’d pose a possible scenario that is likely to occur at or by the end of this season … What happens if/when both the Texas & USC top jobs open up at approximately the same time frame? Two current/former (take your pick) top programs with wads of cash to throw at their new saviors? If so, I expect the domino effect will be quite interesting.
Jake (@jakebjohnson)
USC will take Kliff Kingsbury. He has the “look” they are searching for.
f i were CMR i would leave and let Charlie Strong come in.
Tyler Dawgden
1) Too many Dawg fans have misplaced faith that those in charge on campus rank success in athletics as solely a function of wins.
2)Too many Dawg fans have an over inflated sense of who would come to Georgia for a number less than all but about 5 programs.
3) Jimmy Sexton will reset what that number is come December 2013 or so.
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← The denial is always worse than the cover up.
Name that caption, gag me edition →
We’re gonna need a bigger Process.
Jeez, four games into the season, and I’m already typing one of those existentialist posts about Georgia football that I loathe. Not a good look, Dawgs.
I’m sure there is a temptation on the part of some who thought a coaching change was unnecessary to point to yesterday’s crushing loss as a certain form of vindication. Since I was a Richt agnostic by last season, while I can understand the sentiment, I can’t say I share it.
And I’m not gonna even touch this one:
Four games into the season and I'm seeing some fans ready to fire Kirby Smart
— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) September 25, 2016
The problem with jumping to conclusions after four games is that you’re relying on a small sample size to justify a big picture argument. Even so, I do think there are certain takes that are justified early on.
This team has some serious structural flaws in personnel. Georgia doesn’t appear to have an offensive tackle. It certainly doesn’t have a reliable place kicker. (Auburn got a school record six field goals in its win yesterday; it’s legitimate to question whether Georgia will exceed six field goals for the entirety of the 2016 season.) It’s starting a true freshman quarterback who’s never played in a pro-style offense before this spring. The defensive line is both green and thin. Some of these issues will likely be addressed through more experience, but some don’t stand a chance of being fixed this year.
Jacob Eason isn’t the only rookie in red and black. I don’t know if you heard what Greg McElroy said during the broadcast, but it really stuck with me. Basically, he noted that he came out of a similar high school shotgun passing attack as Eason did, but whereas he got to learn the ropes on Alabama’s scout team for a season, Eason is getting his baptism by fire in live SEC play. That’s understandably rough. The same thing, relatively speaking, can be said about his head coach. Smart may be a Saban clone — at least that’s what we’re hoping — but he doesn’t have Saban’s history. Saban was a head coach at three other college programs and on the NFL level before taking the Alabama job. By the time he got there, he’d had plenty of time to learn what did and didn’t work running a program. Georgia, on the other hand, is OJT for Smart. Once again, we’re seeing that working for a great head coach and being a great head coach aren’t the same thing.
The team hasn’t bought into Smart’s vision for the program. Small sample size arguments can cut both ways and, like it or not, it’s noteworthy that in four games, Georgia hasn’t shown up to play in half of them. Yes, it’s true that Mark Richt had his share of humiliating losses. So that’s nothing new… except that Richt had a few years under his belt before we started seeing those. You want an even nastier comparison? Kirby Smart’s fourth game was a 31-point loss to a conference opponent that for a while was on pace to be an epic disaster for the program. Richt’s fourth game led to Munson’s Hobnail Boot call. Sure, it’s not like Georgia didn’t lose a few more games that year after the Tennessee win, but it was clear that the team had bonded with the coaching staff in a way that made them believe. The mindset of this year’s squad is nowhere in the same vicinity of the 2001 team. The question yet to be determined is when the players will buy in. (Using “if” in that last sentence is too depressing for me to consider.)
At the time of the events leading to Richt’s dismissal and Smart’s hiring, you will recall that my misgivings centered around the athletic administration’s inept track record in hiring/firing. If the stories we heard at the time were true — the fig leaf of hiring a search firm to cover a decision that McGarity had already reached and the panic that hit several big boosters from the news that Smart, one of “our guys”, was speaking with South Carolina about becoming the head coach being just a couple of those — I think my concerns were certainly valid.
I mention this not because I’m seeking my own form of vindication here, but because if Kirby Smart does have a vision in the sense of a concrete plan on how to take the Georgia program to the next level, he’d best realize he’s on his own on implementing it and bringing it to fruition. The people he answers to don’t have a clue. (I’m betting McGarity has begun honing his “remember what Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa was like” marketing pitch to the fan base and Mark Bradley for next offseason. That should work like a charm.)
I assumed Smart went into this season trying to have his cake and eat it, too, by transitioning the program into his model while remaining competitive enough to be a factor in the divisional race. There’s a very good chance a week from now that approach will have been blown to shreds. Tennessee may or may not be as good a team as Ole Miss, but that won’t matter in the slightest if Georgia doesn’t show up for the game next Saturday.
If that is what happens, that’s when things really start getting interesting around Athens. Kirby may know where he wants to go with Georgia football, but that doesn’t mean he knows the best way to get there, or maybe even any way to get there. Regardless, I expect him to try and stand by his convictions in that regard. Where this all goes in 2016 if his team never buys in to it, for whatever reason, could get pretty ugly. For a lot of reasons, I hope things never reach that point. But I can’t say I’m not a little uneasy this morning in that regard. Piling up bad efforts in a very short time can do that to a person.
UPDATE: I see from some of the comments in response to this post that I’ve created some confusion with regard to the terms “buy in” and “show up”.
Let me just say there’s more than one context for those terms. Sure, both can be taken in a purely psychological sense. But I was also thinking of that post of mine from several years ago about how Georgia’s biggest problem on defense in Martinez’ last year or so was the lack of trust the players had in the coaching staff’s approach to mechanics and game planning, which in turn led the staff to lack trust in the players’ ability to play.
There’s a similarity in my mind between that and Georgia’s 2016 secondary. Smart and Pruitt both come from the Saban coaching tree, but their approaches are different. Pruitt played a lot of zone and dropped the linebackers into coverage a lot to help protect a secondary that had its share of shortcomings on the talent/experience side. Smart is all in with what worked at ‘Bama: much more man coverage and pattern matching. That’s a big change and his defensive backs, based on what we saw yesterday, aren’t even close to being on the same page. Are they buying into what Smart’s preaching? I can’t read their minds. But it was obvious yesterday that they might as well have been invisible on most of Kelly’s touchdown throws, because they offered zero resistance in coverage. In my mind, that meets a definition of not showing up.
I’ll leave it for you to describe the team’s mentality for the Nicholls game.
My apologies for not being clearer with my meanings.
198 responses to “We’re gonna need a bigger Process.”
SouthGaDawg
I went to the UGA/Ole Miss game in 2012 (37-10 and it wasn’t even that close). How did Ole Miss get to where they are now and how did UGA get to where it is now? I was shocked at how UGA was so physically overmatched. Wow…
Because Ole Miss pays their players.
And we don’t have any, paid or otherwise, it would appear.
Dawgs1
Did I see Maurice Smith on a milk carton? Where was he the last 2 games? Witness Protection?
I know our players are getting used to a new staff, new signs, new process, etc., but our secondary looked like they had never covered a receiver before. It looked like they were new to the game of football.
GATA 72
#7 Carter makes Ray Drew look like LT in his NFL prime
How long can we go in this thread before Richt is mentioned (aside from that one)
T-Minus 3…2..
Great post Senator and right on the money. I also wanted B-M to hire an experienced HC with a proven track record of winning. But instead we have Kirby Smart as our HC whether we like it or not. We have no real alternative except to get behind him. He’s going to make mistakes, some we can see and others we can’t see. It is painfully obvious that this team hasn’t bought in to what Smart is selling–yet. Let’s hope they do. Nothing is worse in football than a team foundering on the rocks like a rudderless ship. Things could get really ugly if they don’t.
Saban coached at 10 or more stops as an assistant, including 2x in the pros before he landed as HC for Michigan.
Everybody has that first time shot.
Michigan State when Sparty sucked and was the Wolverines’ whipping boys
Yes. There is that.
He beat a number 3 Michigan abd number 10 Florida his last year as Michigan’s whipping boy. He finished in top 10 and moved to Louisiana.
Absolutely – my point was that Sparty had to go the career assistant route at the time Little Nicky was hired
Ahhhh….fair enough. But the career assistant blossomed. Not as an NFL coach. Are you thinking Smart moves on ….after 3 or 4 years then.
I don’t know. I guess my point is that we weren’t in the situation that Sparty was when they hired Saban. Other than Saban, Corch, Jimbo, Big Game Bob and D’Antonio, we could have had any college head coach we wanted.
I hope Kirby is wildly successful and retires as the winningest coach in Georgia history by wins, winning percentage, and championships.
I whaaaa
Other than Saban, Corch, Jimbo, Big Game Bob and D’Antonio, we could have had any college head coach we wanted.
Name a few.
Herman, possibly Shaw, Strong (although his star has fallen), Petrino(!), among others …
Don’t forget Jason Fuentes who went to VT.
And Bronco Mendenhall who went to Virginia. Even South Carolina hired a HC with prior HCing experience even if Boom’s past experience is questionable at best LOL. I think Jim Mclewain will prove that he’s done more with less in his first two years than Kirby once he makes it thru 2 years and JM inherited a mess at Florida.
All the talk was that Herman pulled his name out at USCe when Richt was relieved of his duties in Athens. If we had conducted a search, names would have lined up for the opportunity to coach at UGA. Everyone says it’s a top 5 or 10 job. Why wasn’t a national search conducted? If Kirby got through that, we would have known we got the best guy.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I want Kirby to be wildly successful because I don’t want to get into the “Hire, Struggle, Fire” cycle we’ve seen elsewhere or that we went through between 1989 and 2001.
Don’t forget that Clay Helton was the interim coach at USC. My point is that virtually every major P5 football power that’s hired a new HC over the past few years hired someone with prior HC experience whether it was at an FCS or FBS school with UGA being a notable exception.
Kirby speaks often on “imposing your will” on an opponent with physical, relentless, tough, knock-you-back play.
This approach can be successfully implemented if you have invested years in recruiting this kind of size and depth into the roster and have developed them with a consistent strength-and-conditioning program.
This program has done none of this, opting instead for smaller, faster athletes who have bounced between several strength-and-conditioning programs. In our league, this is why we are starting over.
Similar to the final five games of last season, we have to adjust our coaching strategy this season to leverage the strengths we have.
In our case, it is a more mobile offensive line, with tough blocking backs and tight ends and a receiving corps with quickness and moves. Playing a speed game, with more sweeps, traps, and counters instead of trying to straight drive-block opponents 30 pounds larger and stronger than us may lead to some success. Running shorter routes with more protection may lead to some success if our line has difficulty handling a straight bull or speed rush one-on one.
Defensively, we cannot feature as our base defense a one-on-one man coverage scheme against larger, stronger receivers if we do not have the size and depth to generate a consistent pass rush.
Finally, this program has long shown that players’ coaches cannot generate the consistent motivation and focus needed to perform at a championship level. At the end of the season, drop the first-name-basis and build into the newcomers the respect and discipline needed to perform at this level.
Your third point is the one that troubles me the most. As I watched that debacle unfold yesterday, any delusions I had that the 4th and 10 touchdown against Mizzou was Kirby’s “hobnail boot” disappeared quickly. That whole game was so discombobulated, with 12 defenders on the field called at least twice, players stating the defense was playing “different coverages”, the lack of fire in the players, dropped passes, missed blocks, etc. that I just felt this isn’t Kirby Smart’s team yet. Will it be? I sure hope so, or else this will be a long painful journey.
As for Eason, I think most of us accepted he would have a game or two (maybe more if he is under siege like that all season) in which he would look like a true freshman. I had anticipated this game as a loss partly for that reason. The Ole Miss defense can play and put pressure on a QB and he had not faced that yet. I think he overall stood in there and took his lumps. I didn’t see too much panic or frustration even when his receivers let him down with dropped touchdown passes. He will grow from this.
Senator, I won’t blame you if you decide to not watch this game a second time and report on further review. I already deleted it from my DVR.
As for Eason, he still looks worlds better than Stafford did as a freshman (until the light bulb went on at halftime of the Auburn game for Staff).
I mean, even after Stafford got the hang of it and beat 3 ranked teams in a row (Auburn, Tech, Virginia), he still finished the year with 7 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. And don’t forget the losses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
So, yeah, it could be a lot worse (and still might be–UGA lost to UT and Florida that year as well).
Let the man play, and FFS quit trying to mold him into a pure Pro-Style QB as a freshman and let him operate out of the shotgun more…
I think Chaney and Kirby is trying to fast tract Eason. Unfortunately with a weak OL failure is inevitable. They also tried to balance run and pass which further worsened the games result. I think the team is better served this season to have more pass like the Mizz game and at least have a better chance of winning.
You know, the third point is where I’m at, too. From my perspective, CKS has been dawgrading these players and the program from the moment he set foot on campus. He was also subtly criticizing CMR often, although he never mentioned his name, with comments like “turn a battleship around”.
It’s a poor carpenter who blames his tools. But beyond that, it’s really bad leadership. He’s been defensive and paranoid since he got here, and I don’t think this team is behind him because he’s always bitching about what they’re not.
+100….far different to “lay out your vision for the team” and call out the current players and former staff for everything they’re not
“Yes. Tools matter. Good tools won’t bring you to your optimum peak performance on your own, but bad tools will guarantee you’ll never get there. Bad tools typically take longer to work with, and typically teach bad habits to get around their deficiencies.
Da Vinci with a mop and a bucket of mud may be a better painter than you, but he would never beat Da Vinci with quality tools.”
Gurkha Dawg
I like your term ” Richt agnostic”. That’s where I was last year also. I didn’t really like the KS hire mainly because I like an offense guy as HC. In the game today you have to score points in bunches to keep up with teams like Ole Miss no matter how good your defense is. Bama has a great defense but you saw what OM did to them. I wish KS the best but don’t feel real good right now. If we can recruit like Bama we’ll be fine, but that remains to be seen. Also, Saban may have had a poor first year at Bama but IIRC he went into the SECCG ranked #1 his second year. If Smart can do that, I don’t care what happens this year.
You are 100% right about Saban’s first year at Alabama. Plus, he already had a BCS championship under his belt, so everyone knew he could be a winner.
Im tired of hearing there’s no talent.
http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Football/CollegeTeamTalentComposite
I’m not saying that.
But if you insist, perhaps you can tell me who should be starting at left and right offensive tackle. I’m all ears.
Ham and Blankenship?
I kid.
That comment was the only fun I got out of the entire game this week.
You didn’t say that. Everyone else has.
The problem is your number 3.
There is a talent problem, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. And unfortunately, the deficit lies primarily along the line of scrimmage. You’re welcome to point to recruiting rankings all you’d like, but then I’ll just remind you of such 5-star duds as John Theus. Not all 4- and 5-star recruits are really good enough to compete in the SEC. And we’re learning the hard way what that really means.
Thankfully, we’ve finally got an OL coach who knows what the hell he’s doing. But we’re all going to have to be patient while he rebuilds the OL from scratch, trusting that he can tell the difference between a 4-star who looked great at his private school with no competition, and a 4-star who actually has what it takes to block an SEC-caliber DE.
People for some reason think that the recruiting services actually do a thorough evaluation of High School prospects and are actually qualified to do so. Look people, the ratings come after the offers. Part of the reason our recruits are rated as highly as they are is because they were offered by Georgia. The spread of “non-committable” offers has led to even more screwed up rankings.
The recruiting services do not specialize in evaluating recruits; they specialize in getting grown men to pay for information about children.
And yet, recruiting rankings correlate with college success and the pro draft. Curious.
The top programs, to whom they give the best rankings, are also able to recruit the best players. I’m not saying that the information that comes from the recruiting services in worthless. I’m saying that it is only useful in the aggregate. The rating for an individual recruit, though, is almost meaningless.
While I concede that the margin of error increases with smaller sample size, it’s also true that the aggregate is made up of individuals.
Basically, UGA is a team with SEC talent. Yes, there are holes. But this team is talented enough to wax FCS teams and compete with good SEC teams.
Five stars doesn’t mean that a player is what you need. If you think that offensive line is talented then I’ve got some great beachfront property in Valdosta to sell you. Hell our starting tackle is an FCS transfer and most of the rest are either just bad or playing out of position.
As I said in a comment yesterday. Our OL consists of an FCS Left Tackle (i.e. he should be a career backup in the SEC), 3 Guards, and a 3rd string Nose Tackle. Will Friend was a quality coach but a shite recruiter. Rob Sale apparently screwed up any good that Friend had previously done. Sam Pittman has a hell of a job ahead of him.
Also, some freshman need to step up. We need to get Sims and Galliard off of the field. The TEs can help the Tackles on the outside. The Guards are allowing people to come in unblocked as they are not releasing from combo blocks.
SAtownDawg
No, we need to move Galliard to center and get Kubanlow off the field…hard to run up the middle when our center is blown up on a regular basis
Kublanow was the Left Guard for the 2014 team. You know, the one that set the record for most points scored by a UGA offense. He played great. The key is that he was playing LEFT GUARD and not Center. Playing Center is not the same as playing Guard but with snapping duties. Kublanow was great at taking on a 3 technique, helping on a combo for a 1 technique, and pulling as a lead blocker. All things that a Left Guard does. He is not equipped for handling a 1 technique solo. If you read my comment from yesterday, part of our OL problem is that we lack a natural center. If we had one, we could kick Wynn back out to LT, move Catalina to RT, move Kublanow back to LG, and move Pyke back to RG. At that point, our OL problem would only be that we do not have natural Tackles. That is a problem we can fix with TE help. Right now, the only person playing their natural position is Wynn.
We have lots of talent. We have perhaps the most talented freshman QB ever. We have great running backs, plural. We have great TEs, very good LBs, some really good DLs, and a decent – sometimes very good -secondary. The OL has some pieces but as a group, it’s a weak link. We may have some big recruits on the OL, but if there’s anything more dangerous than a freshman QB, it’s a freshman OL. So when Sam and Kirby say they are playing the best, they probably are. We also have glaring deficiencies at receiver. And the kicking game is a mess. I saw a bit recently showing that having to kick a field goal is essentially a failure, but that failure is eclipsed by having to kick one and not being able to do it successfully.
So yeah, we have talent, but it’s not spread out particularly well, yet. If we’re honest, we knew that coming in. A 3-1 record puts us on pace for the 8-4 or maybe 9-3 record most of us predicted before the season began. We lost to a team that has been prolific against really good defenses even in losses and it happened at their house. It’s too early for us as fans to wet the bed. Some things will get better as the season develops, I hope, and others I think we’re going to have to wait a year or two. Let’s see what happens next week.
AMEN, when you stop a team on the 8 etc., and they get 3 it feels like a wash or a win, but when you fail and then miss the FG inside 30, it is a shot to the nuts.
Those of you writing that 4 and 5 stars don’t mean anything….rofl. This team has talent deficiencies in certain areas, but the recruiting services are more often right than they are wrong.
We grouse about CMR not recruiting enough talent then we move the goalposts by saying the universally accepted measure of talent isn’t actually a good measure after all.
EVERY team has deficiencies. The OL has its issues, but it’s not as bad as it’s being made out to be. Coach Pruitt had this same personnel group at secondary ROCKING – with half the game-ready players and when the whole squad was a bunch of freshmen.
Under Richt, everybody said we had a lousy OL coach when the OL didn’t perform. Under Smart, we have a genius OL coach, he just doesn’t have the players. Gotcha.
A better QB situation and a now-healthy 3-4 juggernauts at RB offsets the loss of Theus and Mitchell, in my opinion.
Who exactly tested the secondary last season though? Final ranking was nice, but I recall Vandy nearly hitting 300 yds passing, and Dobbs shredding the secondary. Beyond Dobbs it wasn’t exactly a murder’s row of passers.
Great post. We now see what 5 years of administrative foot dragging and a coach on the hot seat did to recruiting.
Or a coach who seemingly didn’t place emphasis on recruiting on the OL. Don’t give me the fans hurting recruiting straw man argument. Plenty of top ten classes in the last five years. Just perhaps misevaluation of needs at best or negligence at worst.
This is it…KS wants to play a way that doesn’t suit the talent at hand, it would seem. I guess we’ll see where that gets us: 1. KS changes, for this year at least; 2. the team changes; 3. nothing changes, and we go 5-7 or something.
Baitstand
Is it too early, or too late, to start the “could’ve had Tom Herman” meme??
Hey BR549….that started yesterday!
If you don’t catchem the first time we will re bate you…we sell worms, crickets and minnows!
budlite
For all of the “cupboard half full, half bare folks”, I’d like to paraphrase Bear Bryant’s definition of a good coach. “He’s somebody that can take his’n and beat yor’n and then turn around and take yor’n and beat his’n”.
I fear that our new coach’s world view has been shaped by his Alabama experience to the point that he hasn’t learned to win without an overwhelming talent edge. It is hard to imagine UGA gaining that talent edge while Saban is still alive. I hope I’m wrong, on both counts.
DawgsFan1
Anybody else watch TA&M v ARK last night? ‘Hogs played a smash mouth, “impose my will on you” kind of offense against a defense stocked with a number of Sunday players soon enough and it got them beat (my english is terrible there). Kinda like our game yesterday. It has taken four years for Sumlin to get where he is with these Aggies. I suspect it will take Smart that long as well.
(Sigh.)
“For us, it was all about playing the Georgia way, the Georgia brand of football. Which is physical, relentless, tough, knock you back. I think we did that.” — Kirby Smart, Dawgs247, 9/5/16
For some reason, I can’t quit that quote.
I look forward to the game that he can say it again.
G-Day?
You should put up his quote today where he calls out players by name.
Did he actually do that??
“Because I’ve seen them do it,” Smart said when asked why he has confident his UGA can turn the page and respond against Tennessee. “I’ve seen Jayson Stanley make that catch. I’ve seen Isaiah McKenzie make that catch. I’ve seen Malkom Parrish make those plays. He made one against a 6’5″ guy against North Carolina. I’ve seen them do it. We’ve just got to do it when we need to do it. We didn’t do it today. Like I said, it’s not all on them. We’ve got to do a better job as coaches to help them. At the end of the day, the thing snowballed and we didn’t have anybody step up and make a play. Lorenzo Carter, go make a play — go make a tackle for a loss right there. Go make a play on the perimeter out there, Malkom, and it possibly changes the game. We didn’t do that.”
http://georgia.247sports.com/Bolt/Rowe-These-things-take-time-47761434
He just broke the Golden Rule of coaches, never call out the players especially by name unless it is to praise them. He very well may lose the team especially the seniors and juniors.
It is to me like he is praising them. Hes saying that he’s seen what they CAN do and he knows they can do anything they set their minds to.
*sounds to me
I think Carter for instance needs to be called out. Maybe not in the press though.
sectionzalum
i think that may be a source of our problem. kirby is a manball, pro-style evangelist, and our qb is not yet ready to be effective under center. big cognitive dissonance from january to today for college kids to absorb. physical-physical-physical sermon, pass block-passblock- pass block in games. our most effective offensive player thus far is 5’8, 165.
Bingo.
and it elevates my appreciation of theus.
I’ve been impressed with Smart’s grasp of meaningful upstream factors that contribute to success, such as offensive line recruiting and accountability. I’m equally troubled by the recent vacuous refrains of “effort,” “compete,” “wanting it,” and “hustle.” Those are inputs in the formula of winning on the same level as “playing well” – which is to say, they’re much closer to the result than to root cause. I am not encouraged that Smart has not given much time at his podium to talking about where effort comes from while giving so much time to the need for effort. He’d better have some good ideas on where motivation to play hard comes from other than experiencing success on the field and/or getting yelled at.
Do we have any sports psychologists on retainer? For consultation with Kirbs, not for meeting with players.
Just Chuck (The Other One)
Not a sports psychologist but:
We assume football players are competitive. At a place with Alabama’s depth, you are reminded every day that, if you don’t play your best, there is someone as talented as you just waiting to take your place. If a program doesn’t have that kind of depth. . . Well, I think you may have what we’ve got. I suspect the guys played often hard for Mark Richt because they loved and respected him. I have no idea what the players think about Kirby. Maybe you have some thoughts.
Great post. I feel like Smart needs to show his players that he can make the changes necessary to be competitive this week. Otherwise he is going to lose them.
I am most disappointed in the lack of offensive creativity. Have we thrown a screen pass? Why don’t we use the toss sweep more? Still missing the tight ends. I know we have had a lot of drops. But I am 100 % sure Bobo and Richt, even Lilly could have done more with this talent.
You do realize that, with the exception of bubble and smoke screens, screen passes rely on Offensive Linemen blocking in open space, right? They have a hard time blocking a guy 18 inches away who was standing still.
Why not throw to the TEs? The tight ends have having to stay in help the Tackles against the pass rush. Eash can’t throw a pass to a TE while laying on back with a concussion.
I don’t think you, along with a lot of people on this board, understand how bad of OL is. The lines from the 2009 and 2010 teams were much better than this, and they were less than mediocre.
Good post, Senator. As disappointing as yesterday’s result and effort were, I’m not ready to conclude that the players haven’t bought into the process. While the 4 game sample size is sufficient to show the glaring personnel issues (kicker, tacker, receiver), in my view it is not large enough to gauge whether the team is buying into Kirby. I find myself thinking back to the aftermath of the Carolina game, when the consensus was that the team had bought into the process by showing a resilience and toughness that we hadn’t seen in recent years. Only 7 days ago, we commented on how the team kept their composure and pulled out a win on the road. And maybe Ole Miss is just that good.
That said, I have no clue at all which team shows up this Saturday. I have a feeling that we’re going to see our fair share of both the teams we saw in Oxford and at the Dome before the season is over.
I just keep reminding myself that I said over the off-season to expect bumps in the road with a rookie HC and freshman QB. I just didn’t expect us to look this clueless. We have talent (and holes, obviously). But a good coach should be able to figure out some way to use the talent at hand. That was Kirby’s reason for hiring Chaney and Pittman. But the offense shows very little creativity and our WR play has been abysmal.
Defense, Kirby’s forte, has been disappointing as well.
The comebacks earlier in the season gave me hope, but yesterday makes me wonder if those were a fluke. The Tennessee game will tell us a lot, and I’m really afraid of what it’s going to tell us.
I’ll go further to offer a caution of my own on the talk of effort, speaking as someone who has studied psychology at the doctoral level. The most dangerous thing he could do to undermine morale (and subsequently, effort and buy-in) is to accuse those who are trying their best of not trying their best. I’d be willing to bet there’s a fair amount of that going on. The culture will change in response to intense pressure, but while you hope it compresses into something stronger, it could just crumble instead.
Excellent – he’s been doing that publicly with his comments since January about the roster. I think he has crushed the offensive line’s confidence in particular.
I’ve been concerned a about that as well. He seems to have gone far over the line of calling out a player to encourage greatness (i.e. see what Yoculan did with that freshman class that went on to win 4 straight NCs!) into just knee jerk negative as a “on the other hand” they can get better line. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him simply compliment a guy without the other “he could get better” shtick. maybe he did it about Chubb’s rehab, but then he even the week before the game acted like he didn’t know if he’d play despite everyone else knowing he most certainly had a great camp and was fine. There is Dooley esque gloom about how good the opponent is as a general commentary vs, how bad we are individually.
tmflibrarian
Having someone who is a fine example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect make this hire was always going to have some issues with it, especially when that decision was made in a panic by some big money boys over hiring rumors somewhere else.
We shouldn’t be surprised that McGarity, who worked for a successful AD but hasn’t been able to translate that level of success to his own AD career, would think an assistant from a successful program like Kirby would do fine, and Georgia didn’t deserve or need a new coach with head coaching experience. (Though he was going to pay him like one.)
But it just breaks my heart for the players. We’ve lived a couple blocks from Butts-Mehre for nearly 20 years, and there isn’t energy around here like in a normal football season. Some of that is the rotten September schedule, perhaps. But after watching the second half of UT-UF, with UT knowing they can essentially cinch the East next week, I’m definitely worried that things are going to get worse, and we won’t have a coach with the experience to keep it from happening.
I’m sure the kids love taking a bus every day to and from practice. Something to consider when considering attitude and “buying in”… man I hate that term.
The problem as I see it… and it’s the only thing I see… is what happens when the ball is snapped. On offense we clearly have a lack of talent on the line and at receiver. But for the life of me I can’t figure out how professionals making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year can’t see what is and is not working. Toss the damn ball. On defense we can either sit back and cover or be aggressive and blitz. We clearly have chosen the former. And it doesn’t take a “rocket scientist”… love that term… to see which works and which doesn’t.
If Kirby wants to be successful like Saban then he needs to copy Saban and get in the face of his two coordinators during the game and tell them to change what isn’t working.
I put the over/under in Cola at 23 and Lexington is gonna be a barn burner. This weekend will be ugly.
Fortunately for me I have other hobbies that aren’t as painful as watching the Dawgs. Hobbies like cutting myself, drinking lye or shoving knitting needles into my eyeballs.
Post of the day!
I see my Tennessee fan neighbor has his flag back up, this one satin I think. He also has the “Next are the _______!” With the coming opponent in the blank. He has “Puppies” currenty.
When we left this morning I mention he wasn’t suppose to have that sign in the yard.
“I rather not go through that again…. concentrate on the house please.” Was all the support she offered.
A David Wiggins plan. L’Atessa de vita! Indeed.
They stock sheetrock on Wednesday. Cabinets are ready. Exterior is finished. Preliminary grading done…..topsoil and double ground mulch stockpiled. Won’t be long.
LOL, careful, they are everywhere now. Don’t think any of us will be able to escape them until Sgt Carter gets slapped back into reality. What a horrifying half that was after they were booed loudly leaving the field just 30 minutes earlier. I think they drugged the Gatorade in the FU dressing room. Looked like a different team that came back out.
Mac I chuckled at your earlier post when you sugggested i consider making a move to a new neighborhood. 😉
Firing Kirby Smart would be the stupidest possible move we could make. Kirby is what he is: probably not a very good coach, but it’s only 4 games, so who knows? All that matters are (1) pretending everything is fine so that Kirby can continue recruiting like gangbusters and (2) firing Greg McGarity so that he has zero influence over hiring Kirby’s replacement.
I remember well the hiring of an Assistant Coach as HC in Athens back in 1964 and a similar outcry from what spawned today’s Instant Gratification Fan Generation. Just as it was then, Dooley inherited what Griffith left him and managed a 7-3-1 season. The next was a 6-4 effort marked by the thrilling upset of Bama on the flea-flicker but marred by back to back 2 loss stretches (FSU, UK & UF, AU) before vengence upon the nats.
The History lesson is intended to introduce a little reality into what is not much more than a bunch of whining over team issues all knew existed back in August.While the Bear’s homily is quaint, such as is the game today he too would struggle matching up with today’s superior distribution of talent.
Four games in, I believe it’s obvious that the first Year HC has not yet captured all 105 players into functioning as a Team. This Saturday we shall all discover whether that 2×4 strike in Oxford brings more of them around to the Process.
Didn’t we go up north and win a big game in year 2? CKS has a chance to repeat that but in South Bend this time.
That with year one. And Notre Dame lost to Duke yesterday.
Dooley’s first year was 1964. We beat Michigan in 1965.
Dooley inherited a smoldering dumpster fire from Johnny Griffith. The program was an absolute disaster from the end of the Little Round Man’s era.
I disagree that we didn’t show up yesterday. We showed up. We are just lacking in a lot of areas and for now, we just aren’t very good. I’ve seen posted here more than once that we are and still will be feeling the affects of the disaster that was the 2013 recruiting class. Why do people think this transition is going to happen without us getting our noses bloodied a few times? Did yall honestly think that game yesterday was goi g to look like anything other than what it looked like? If so, why? Ole Miss gave Alabama all they could,handle. What made any of our fans think that four games into a season with new coaches who have a new approach, a freshman qb, and a bad offensive line, we were going be able to give ole miss a game? They nearly beat Alabama. Go ahead and get ready for a few more games like this. It ain’t got a thing to do with players not buying in. They can buy in til the cows come home and it won’t make up for a talent disparity. I think it will be two more seasons before we start to really see things take shape. My phone blew up all day yesterday and I was just shocked at how shocked people were. A buddy of mine even said he thought the players are mad because Richt was fired and are taking it out on the new coaches. Come in off the ledge folks.
Good post Mike
BarneyDawg
Agree, good post
Well said Mike
Blutarsky – Your key phrase is this… “small sample size…”
It’s waaaaaaay too early to push the panic button! We knew going into the season the OL would be an issue. They’re undersized, Kublanow IMO has never been able to live up to either of his two predecessors, Wynn is not big enough to play Guard, Gaillard is a converted DT, Catalina is transfer from… well you know and lastly Pyke was playing Guard last year and was a 3 star in HS. Additionally, we all knew the WR corp was weak on depth and their lack of consistency is proving what we feared. The QB situation is playing out exactly how we anticipated, both good and bad. On the defensive side of the ball, in fall camp everyone was worried about the front 7 and our inability to get pressure on QBs, so that’s also playing out as feared. The true bright spot has been our ILB play. The DB situation is worse; however, than we anticipated and Briscoe is proving to be the new Prince Miller of this bunch. If the guy behind him is worse, then we’re in really, really bad shape!
The real story here is a lesson in Red & Black coke bottle glasses. Our fan base drank the talent Kool Aid, when in reality there’s a significant separation between our players and the upper tier SEC programs.
Blutarsky, for some reason you’ve either forgotten Kirby’s vision for the future or are ignoring it. It’s quite simple: Get bigger, faster, stronger, deeper and more talented. It will take 3 recruiting classes to get the type of high caliber players Kirby’s use to coaching. Making a silk pillow out of a sow’s ear is impossible, so everyone’s going to have to alter their 2016 expectations in line with REALITY!
DB, for some reason, you’ve misunderstood what I posted. I’m in no panic over Smart. I think he knows what he wants and how to get there.
But I am a little uneasy over the possibility that things don’t head in a positive direction this season, not because of Smart per se, but because there will be unrest in the fan base, and B-M isn’t doing fan unrest too well these days.
You’re looking through some funky colored glasses of your own, though, if you can pretend that the Nicholls and Ole Miss results are merely the consequence of a talent gap.
Nicholls is certainly not the result of a talent gap. That was straight coaching combined with all the flaws everyone has noted.
BTW, I posted a very similar concern to your #3 this morning on BI. Your #3 with what appears to be a lack of player confidence can breed a cancer that’s worth keeping an eye on.
FWIW, I don’t think you’re pushing the panic button. You’ve written a thoughtful analysis of what you believe are root causes of this teams problems, along with your usual spy novel tangents. It makes for entertaining reading.
If things don’t improve, there have to be some people who are chewing their fingernails to a nub about the impact on the increased minimum giving levels and the ticket price increases. That with a downright awful home schedule is a perfect storm. It may require a withdrawal from the AA’s 401k.
As I said back in December, I’ll wait until 2018 to form any lasting conclusions about Kirby’s ability to coach winning football. I gave Richt more than a dozen years. I’m willing to give Kirby more than a few weeks.
Until then, the rational among us will be patient and enjoy whatever few highs we’re given on what is going to be a roller-coaster of a couple years.
I get that the “well look at Saban’s first year at Bama” excuse can come across as a bit of a cop out, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely invalid either. I mean, I doubt if anyone was under the impression that their players were totally bought in while they were watching them lose to U-La-La. I concede the point that Saban had a history backing him up that Kirby doesn’t have, but I’m not getting too concerned just yet. For me it’s always been that this was going to be a rebuilding year, and I’ll judge Kirby on 2017 & 2018 results.
This is gonna sound weird, but I think in some ways, the UNC victory has impaired our growth. The win was not as impressive as it looked – we got a LOT of breaks in that game that even just 2 or 3 of them going the other way would have changed the result of the game. I told my buddies afterwards that we weren’t as good as everyone thought – if we played that UNC team 10 times, I think both would win roughly half, that’s the level of team we are right now. Whatever your expectations are for UNC, that’s what your expectations should be for us right now. Of course most of them thought I was crazy, they were caught in the euphoria of the media praise, the top 10 ranking, etc. And I think the players thought that too. Instead of realizing how far they still had to go, I think that game and all the love right after it made them feel as if they had already arrived.
I know you never want to sacrifice wins, but I would be happy if the rest of the season was focused on getting the young guys built up and experienced. We have a ton of talent but it’s young talent. Let them make their mistakes this year so we can have a kick-ass 2017 & 2018. And yeah, that’ll mean some less than desirable results this year, but our future is still very bright, in my eyes.
It sure feels like 1990 doesn’t it?
Will McGarity give me a rebate on the Hartman Fund contribution and season ticket check it sent to see UGA do its best to win every game in 2016?
The “let’s sacrifice to make 2019 better ” stuff is easy to say when one isn’t spending any money to see them play.
Well said Gaskill. It also assumes that 2018 or 2019 will be “the year”, which is anything but a given. I think Kirby or any new, unproven HC for that matter has a 3 year window to show significant progress in terms of making it to or winning a conference championship, winning 11 games or making it to the CFP. Otherwise, the fan base and athletic department are very likely to make a change because the expectation level is so high now-a-days. That leash becomes even shorter if a HC essentially decides to take program used to winning 10 games a season and throw in the towel to settle for a 5-6 win rebuilding season. This team has talent issues, but not to the point where they can’t win 8 games unless the team completely quits on the coaching staff.
I’m with Charles in being inherently suspicious of psychological explanations of why a team is not doing well at a physical game. Frankly, I don’t know precisely what it means for Kirby’s players to “buy into” his approach to the game. They presumably want to win. So unless he’s tormenting them physically or psychologically and they’d rather lose than support him, why would they not cooperate? There’s nothing about his game-planning that seems radically different from what Georgia was doing last year, but maybe I’m missing something.
He’s been telling everybody who will listen how badly his players suck since he got here. You don’t think that has an effect?
Some professionalism would go a long way. 1. Do the easy stuff (fundamentals) really really well. 2. Practice the hard stuff while still doing the easy stuff perfectly. 3. Do the hard stuff only when necessary and don’t let it affect the easy stuff. 4. Success is making the hard stuff look like the easy stuff.
The mental side of things was my passion as I went through grad school. Inner game of tennis type stuff was where I lived. I imagine Kirby to be the micro manage to a fault type. For example, when someone asks you to stand up, you just flash the action in your head, and you’re standing up. You did not look at your legs and identify each muscle that needed to contract and extend, you didn’t reach your hands out to try to balance. Single thought drove many actions and it all works smoothly. The team needs to work on details, but they can’t play the details. Perhaps some “get out of their own way” would help em out.
Eh. A 7-5 season this year, which looks very possible right now, would be a somewhat worrying sign, but ultimately there’s not much difference between 9-3 and 7-5. If there’s no step forward next season, that’s when major concern should start to kick in.
I beg to differ … There’s a lot of difference between 9-3 and 7-5.
Besides the fact you’ll be happier on two more Saturdays, there’s really not.
Better record means higher rankings, better publicity, and likely better bowl game. It would also mean we beat a couple of rivals during the regular season. If the record doesn’t matter, why keep score?
I don’t particularly give a shit about being ranked 18th vs. unranked or publicity. As for rivals, as I said, you get to be happier on two extra Saturdays. That’s nice, but in the end, Kirby Smart is not going to be any better off if he goes 9-3, especially considering how ugly that 9-3 will look based on the first third of the season, if he doesn’t show substantial improvement next year.
So you think recruiting and overall direction of the program would be exactly the same at 7-5 as it would be at 9-3.
Losing to Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, and tech or USCe –> no thanks
Yes, he will be better off at 9-3 than 7-5. To say there’s no difference makes absolutely no sense.
After his first year, yes, I absolutely think 7-5 is the same as 9-3 when it comes to recruiting. The overall direction of the program is up to Smart, and an ugly 9-3 or an ugly 7-5 is not going to make a lick of difference. Either they improve in year 2 and contend with a 10-2 type of season or they don’t and the hot seat talk begins. That’s when you’ll see problems in recruiting.
You have a different impression than what I got from it. You see a team that hasn’t bought in. I see a team with glaring deficiencies that simply can’t be covered up against a team like the one we played yesterday. Our offensive line is garbage. We have few good receivers. We’re asking a true freshman QB to save us on offense but he can’t do it if 15% of his passes are dropped. And the defense can’t recover five turnovers every game.
I don’t think it has anything to do with “buying in.” They just don’t have the players.
Strange how we got worse at virtually every position right around the same time Miami got better. No accounting for college kids, I suppose.
Miami is Greatness….v. Fla Atlantic, Fla A&M & ApSt. Richts done an outstanding job in only 3 games. Turnaround job I’d say.
Receiving talent is a problem, but I’m not as sure about the offensive line. It’s not great by any means, but blown assignments seem to be an issue as often as being physically beaten. If they were to cut down on mental mistakes, they wouldn’t look quite so bad.
This would be a theory except we can point to position groups with almost the exact same personnel as last year that are underperforming relative to last year.
As someone mentioned above, if talent is the problem, then what happened against Nicholls State? If talent is the problem, why did it take five turnovers and 4th quarter heroics to defeat Mizzou, with whom we are at least equal to in talent?
This years team has more talent than last year by a long ways Las t two years with no QB and no healthy RB’s won 10 games. This staff not getting it done first 4 games.
Nobody should think we had no chance against Ole Miss because of the talent difference. That’s BS. There was a far greater talent difference between UGA and Nicholls State than between UGA and Ole Miss. Nicholls certainly was competitive against us. The team was not ready and played like shit. That’s on the coaches.
No offense, Ghurka, but I think you are wrong. I think our talent level over the last 4 years has degenerated to a bottom tier SEC level at best. outside of a brand new QB, a couple of stud backs, and the odd DL player, we are not at the level of the teams we wish to compete against.
But ya gotta start somewhere, and here we are. 2 to 3 years for sure before it gets better.
David Pinson
Amen. There is one common feature of every great team at UGA (and elsewhere). Very high quality players man the line between the skill players and the opponents. When was the last time you could say of a Georgia team that our offensive and defensive lines (including linebackers) are superior to quality opponents and can and do dominate the rest.
And yet the recruiting services have ranked our signing classes in the top ten each year. It’s interesting how those guys can be so right about Alabama and Ole Miss and so wrong about UGA.
What’s really going on with the fans is their wishes and wants does not jibe with reality. Those that are very upset about yesterday’s result are refusing to accept what had always been a possibility at the back of their minds since the beginning of Smart career with Georgia. I think the best scenario for Smart is to win enough to go and limp into SECCG(by default) just like FU last season with expectation to get whip again by the West Conf. champ.
Count me in with those that think the explanation is as simple as “we don’t have the horses” this year. I really don’t think it’s as complicated as the players not “buying into the process”. Kirby just doesn’t have the RIGHT players for what he wants to do. UGA is no better than a decent Div 2 squad as we stand currently. We are staring down the barrel of an 8 – 4 season at best I’m thinking. Maybe 9 wins if we can squeak past AU. Consider the following:
Kirby has been saying all spring that the kicking game scared him to death.
Kirby has been saying all spring the secondary was not as good as their numbers from last year had advertised.
We all know the risks of starting a true freshman at the QB position.
The O line is a mess thanks to lackluster recruiting by Richt & Co. Kirby can only do so much this this bunch when the talent ceiling is so low in this group. I don’t think any of us expected it to be this bad but could CMR done any better if he were here this year? I’m inclined to say not.
A 4-star D-lineman by the name of Ledbetter is still riding the bench. Who would have thought UGA would have had to deal with his addiction?? So a young and think D line is made even thinner by this.
I’m not saying that Kirby has no fault here. Obviously the dropped passes are a coaching issue. Did these kids forget how to catch balls out of high school? Of course not. This is a coaching problem. The special teams miscues (sans field goals) are also a coaching issue. This is the most maddening part since UGA has a ST coach now which we have been screaming at CMR to hire one for years.
The fans calling for Kirby’s head have no idea what they are talking about. I’m betting they are young 20 something year olds who have nothing better to do that call into Finebaum and tweet all day long.
I think we just all need to adjust our expectations this year. Kirby isn’t a miracle worker. The players at some of the skill positions just aren’t that good. It’s a simple as that…
UGA is no better than a decent Div 2 squad as we stand currently.
I don’t think Bigger realized how damning to Smart that comment is. Smart gets paid a lot of money to produce an SEC team that is a lot better than a Division 2 team.
I do not want to fire him; that would be the worst thing UGA could do. However, if there was any truth to the statement that Smart took a team that was better than beat 7 Power 5 teams and reduced it to the level of a decent Division 2 team he should be fired immediately.
I was overzealous with that Div 2 remark. Obviously, UGA is better than the average Div 2 team…
…But by how much? Hanging on to beat Nicholls seems to make me think not much.
Doubling down on your condemnation of Smart? If he has taken a team that was better than 7 Power 5 teams last year and coached it down to being not much better than a Division 2 team, then he still should be fired immediately.
I disagree with your assessment that we are not much better than a Division 2 team. Your benchmark was Nicholls State, which is a Division 1 team (albeit in the FCS subdivision of Division 1.) Any FCS team ought to be better than a Division 2 team. After all, Division 2 teams can give no more than 36 football scholarships. You really can’t, with a straight face, say we are not much better than Shorter College, or Valdosta State or West Georgia.
I’m curious what the score would have been had Valdosta St. played Ole Miss last Saturday instead of UGA. It’s conjecture of course but the butt whipping I’d guess would be about the same. When a Power 5 teams pulls its starter against another Power 5 team in the 3rd quarter that is a pretty piss poor team they are playing.
My point is that I do believe last year’s team is better than this year’s team. It’s still early in the season but 4 games in, I don’t think you can say with a straight face we will win 10 games this year like we did last year.
“but he doesn’t have Saban’s history”
…or his players, or the experience coaching real-world players… Coaching Saban’s players, it should be patently obvious, is more like coaching pro players than coaching college players.
Christ in a red corvette, folks we had to throw the fucking football 55 times to beat Missouri cause we could not run the damn ball against MISSOURI!!! What exactly did you expect to happen in Oxford?
Kirby, I hope to ever-loving God almighty, may turn out to be the greatest coach in Georgia history, I just hope I am sentient when it happens.
“I think the best scenario for Smart is to win enough to go and limp into SECCG(by default) just like FU last season with expectation to get whip again by the West Conf. champ.”
I don’t know what he is smoking, but I sure am going to need some of it by November.
Eason’s footwork is just terrible.
The worst thing that could have happened yesterday did not happen in Oxford, it happened in Knoxville.
“The people he answers to don’t have a clue. (I’m betting McGarity has begun honing his “remember what Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa was like” marketing pitch to the fan base and Mark Bradley next offseason. That should work like a charm.)”
And neither, if I may, do the fine folks who led the charge to fire Mark Richt.
Bluto this may be your finest hour…I hope you are wrong, but there’s a voice in my head telling me you are not.
UGA85
As I look at the schedule, 8 – 4 is certainly doable. Why did we expect more from a first year coach? I was disappointed yesterday, but we are 3 – 1, with several cream puffs left on the schedule. At this point, to me, I am hoping for one win this season over a good team, like Florida or Auburn. I am fine with UT going to ATL; we clearly don’t need to be there.
Very disappointing outing. Glad they took Chubb out. It seems that the enemy D is keying on Chubb so much that playing all the backs would open things up. I am concerned about his injury. Anyone have any idea how serious Chubb’s injury could be?
Brian Van Gorder
Guys, let me know if I can help. Experienced head coach here with a great defensive mindset and extensive resume.
Yeah, right…your Notre Dame defense is simply awesome.
Actually…see above, I should have said “the defense at Notre Dame formerly belonging to Brian Van Gorder.”
Lol, that was funny
You forgot “and always-innovative choices in facial hair.”
I guess I thought that these new coaches might do some of that “coaching up”. You know take a 5 star kid and turn him into an All SEC player and an NFL draft pick.
It’s hard to find any players on this teams that look better than they did last year.
Saban’s style of coaching does not appeal to everyone.
Kirby Smart wants to be Saban, without all of the advantages.
The offensive line is a liability. I’d like to know what sort of playcalls or scheme would turn them into assets or even significantly less liabilities.
The game reminded me of our high school team. They beat the snot out of other 2As because their skill position talent is top-notch. Ranked Top 10 in the state. They lose to 4As badly because the 4A lines are just bigger and faster.
Nothing you can do when the other team is just better on the line on both sides of the ball. Given a month to prepare for a bowl game, maybe you can scheme around those weaknesses and hope for a couple of breaks.
The wins haven’t been as aesthetic as we would like and the L was ugly. But did anyone here think this team was 4-0 material? I didn’t.
Screen pass and toss sweep. Jet sweep and tunnel screen. Essentially anything where they can block someone much smaller than them.
Stop trying to play smash mouth against opponents that outweigh you by 50 lbs.
At this point my biggest worry is that the offensive tackles are going to get our future star QB killed. At one point in the game I feel Eason was justified to seek out Pike on the bench and kick him in the nuts. I am not joking here. Other than that, I am a little concerned that we should be more fundamentally sound than what I am seeing. Kirby has much work to do.
The results were to be expected. Ole Miss Is much better than any
Team In the East. How good, or bad. will the Dawgs be this year?
That question will be answered this week against the Vols.
The “buying in” comments are confusing as hell to me. Most of these athletes started playing football when they were around 8 years old. That means they have all had 10 years or more to become decent players. These guys just need to go back to the basics and DO their job….block, tackle, catch, throw, kick, etc…
While performing above duties, showing passion and hustle is a must. These are the things coaches can demand from our players. If they do not perform then they sit the bench.
I saw such lackluster efforts out of players yesterday that it made me question their passion for the game of football, much less the Old Piss game.
We have a long row to hoe this year…..
blands
Everyone just be patient. The worst thing that can happen is that these coaches get run out of town and Georgia becomes an unstable program hiring and firing coaching staffs every 2-3 years. Stability is really important.
Our lines stink, we have a true Fr QB, and no kicker. Receivers are shaky.
Our best hope was to catch Ole Miss with a Bama hangover and we got their best game.
We need to do some real recruiting and roster management.
8-4 is somewhat realistic and maybe that will include a victory over Tech and someone else decent.
Perhaps this game will turn out to be a “teachable moment” and hopefully we will be a serious SECC threat in 2018.
And let’s kick Notre Dame’s ass next season.
Will Trane
Why are the fan expectations for this team so high?
Why was this team even ranked 11 in the polls.
This is a very young inexperienced team with a freshman QB starting his second game in the SEC, and on the road. As well as a few others on that team
Granted the play was not there at all times. They did do some good things.
The bad. Well, to me they looked like a team that had been on the road for three of their first four games. They had a short week after getting back from a late night game on Saturday and arriving back in Georgia on Sunday. Not good for a team this young and inexperienced. More so playing a team that had tested FSU and Bama, and on both of those teams put up the points. But the Dawgs are nowhere near a Bama or FSU re experience and players.
Now the defense had a very rough game yesterday. I will let up on the offense a little. No pass rush, but hopefully they get an interior D lineman back this week. Ole Miss pretty much did to them what they did to the Tide and Noles. Kelly racked them up.
The D faired about as good as those two teams did in the first half. Now UF is alleged to have the best and deepest D in the SEC. Can thank the current USC coach for that senior and junior laden roster. But the Vols put up 35 unanswered points on them and could have put 7 more in that second half.
The Dawgs do not have the defensive linemen and offensive linemen they need. It will come. Be patient. The roster was set before Smart and company got there, and for all purposes that was February. In any recruiting classes there will be hits and miss.es
A former TECH grad and now sideline reporter / SEC NOW commentator told Freeze post game that Eason is “not an athletic QB”. I guess he means mobile. In fact one of those other game announcers for SEC, former Bama QB, said many times this week [as did others] that Dobbs at UT will not be able to pass on UF.
My point here. Well, Eason is an athlete. Want to check those throws in the end zone that were dropped. Hell, Kelly can not make those throws. Nor Dobbs when freshmen or now. The kid can flat out throw the damn ball. He can put a freaking dime in mason jar at 25 yards and splash out the JD on the rocks.
Look folks, lighten up. For me they are ahead of the pace. Looked for them to drop these games at the beginning…UNC, Ole Miss, UT, UF, and Auburn.
Before this season is over they will start more O line rotation and player rotation. Give them a break and some time.
If your idea of high expectations includes the team taking an FCS opponent reasonably seriously, I guess you have a point.
Easy folks. It’s early
OrlandoDawg
“I’m a patient man, and willing to take a wait-and-see approach until Saturday.”
–Georgia Fan
Unfortunately that’s a common mindset.
Bet at Ole Miss they were saying fire Freeze if we put up 30 points on Georgia and get beat.
Bet at old Rocky Top they were saying fire Butch Jones [man will have a heart attack on the sidelines like some Dawg folks] if he drops another to UF. Hell some of that 102,000 thought they were on the way and left the game at half time.
Now UT comes in. With an experienced three year starter at QB and TB. UT is a team sitting at high expectations for half a decade. Same with Ole Miss. Same with Arkansas. Same with South Carolina. How many times did the old ball coach beat our butts badly. Want to revisit that Clowney game. And yet not one SEC championships team from those teams. What Spurrier went one time to the Dome at USC before he just simply quit in mid season
Dawgs are a team in heavy transition. Want to check the coaches and players who have revolved off that team the past three years. Not one dab of continuity.
Georgia does not have a quality solid roster yet.
Recommend you folks give the current staff a little break and understanding.
Plus we would like to thank the idiots who set this team up at 11 in the polls.
No doubt the man to man coverage is killing the secondary. UNC missed a couple of wide open receivers that would have lead to TD’s and mizzu, Nichols burned the sec, but what Oke Miss did to them was just man among boys kind of stuff. They just scored at will. Easily could have put 60-75 points on us.
We all knowOle Miss had been cheating every sense freeze got there and he will probably be gone sooner rather than later, and ole miss will be on probation, but boy he sure can cheat!
Am I the only one who was wanting to see more Michel and Herrien in place of Chubb? I think Chubb is the best we have, but he is not getting the looks the others are getting. Not saying that would have made all the difference in the game, but let’s go with the back who is “hot”. Bring Chubb in more in the second half until we can get a more balanced attack. When he is in there, the defense is teeing off on this terrible O Line. He is going to get hurt because they are not able to give him ANY space. It’s maddening to watch.
You are not the only one. It seemed our running game was more effective without Chubb in the game.
His long run was a toss sweep….which we promptly abandoned. Boy, that crappy OL sure calls some stupid plays!
Somebody explain how Pruitt gets a top 5 secondary out of this crew last uear and Kirby doesn’t.
Thought I did that. Scheme change.
Let me point out a point that addresses most of the discussion. The defensive backfield this year contains the same players that were back there last year. Now I know that Ole Miss is a special case because they air it out. How does this back field go from being one of the best against the pass to being a hot mess when the only thing that changed was the coaches. Pruitt, love him or hate him knew how to coach the whole defense to adjust for it’s weaknesses. Kirby has them playing like Bama and that is exposing the things that Pruitt had to deal with. Kirby is willing to put his player in a position to fail just because it’s the Alabama way. We are screwed. The players are getting a weekly dose of negative reinforcement from getting beaten and I’m not sure if Kirby GAS. We may in the next few years become the Alabama of the East but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
You did. I looked for it and couldn’t find it. My question is rhetorical, really. It doesn’t appear that Kirby believes he can get that that kind of production out of this secondary due to the lack of a pass rush. It doesn’t appear he had tried, either.
Sorry, 69, that was for Blutarsky. You asked what I have been wondering. I’ll hang up and listen now.
Let’s also no forget the Mel Tucker affect. I told you he was a complete flop here in Chicago for the Bears and people couldn’t run him off fast enough. Same story at other NFL teams before he was the DB coach for one year at Bama. He could turn out to be a great DC or he could turn out to be a real bust. For our sake, I hope it’s the latter and not the former.
I really think the biggest issues right now are at OL and DL. If either line was better at least you might be able to hang with a really good team, but having both sides dominated consistently almost assures you of taking the L. It seems basic to break it down that way, but it has been that way for a while. The years UGA has had decent play on both lines it has won a majority of the games. This year is looking pretty bleak unless these guys can gel and start dominating the opponent to an extent. I have seen none of that this year with the exception of Trent Thompson in the Nicholls game. I think the UNC game was a bit of a misleading game. They suck defending the run.
Please take down the “quote of the day”.
Not the feature….just that particular quote.
Mad Hatter gone at LSU….
How long till some dope here want to hire him?
Mr Herman call for Mr Herman!!!
Jt (the other one)
I am hearing that many simply aren’t buying in…so you get our players showing up and going through the motions or half stepping. This wouldn’t shock me and would explain why we seem like we are sleepwalking in all or parts of our game…
As others have said coaching is harder when you do not have the Alabama benefits. You have to inspire them and they don’t seem inspired. I saw a quote from Kirby that said Eason needed to take better control of the huddle. He is a freshman they need to support him not lay blame at his feet. The team lacked chemistry this week. They had it the first game and against Mizzou but it was gone yesterday. His job as coach is to bring them together as a team. They are stronger when they work together. It is too soon to call for anybody’s head. LSU is stupid to fire now. Kirby needs to start building up his team not by saying things that are untrue but praising.their strenghts and scheming to use those strenghths. We are who we are and we need to be behind our team and our coach.
junkyardawg41
I really have to look at some of the things we are doing and wonder about the buy in and whether we are doing the square peg in the round hole. I had a couple of thoughts and take aways from yesterday. Most have pointed out the defensive struggles and what it reminds me of most is the Grantham years. We all love Pruitt’s players talking about being able to go out and make plays. Yes Pruitt was protecting the defensive backfield but the last two years our defense was in the top 15 (including 7 last year). I am not sure how you lose a few players and drop to 59th nationally without a confusing playbook/technique.
With the offense, several people talk about Chubb and his lack of production. I have seen a loss of a step versus last year but I have also seen what I will call coach focus versus player focus. Chubb had excellent vision and would go out and find the daylight. If you look at how he runs, he follows the play exactly. If the hole is not there, he hits it anyway. Same with Michel. I think we are seeing the effects of run the ball here and be consistent. I don’t think that is where Chubb’s strength lies. Personally, I think that is a CKS thing.
Also, I have to wonder about all the focus being placed on blocking and if it is bleeding over into the receivers focus on catching the ball. I understand CKS’s comments about catching the ball is the easiest thing a receiver can do… but if you aren’t practicing it enough, it ceases to be the easiest thing.
Kaaya leads No. 25 Miami over Appalachian State 45-10
Brad Kaaya threw for 368 yards and three scores, Mark Walton ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns and No. 25 Miami rolled to a 45-10 win Saturday over Appalachian State in front of a record crowd
The Old Jeffster
No one should be shocked at defeat at Oxford and no one should be shocked at a number of other “L’s” along the way this season. I wish Smart could have worked the freshman into his QB rotation a little more gradually but he had no better choice. Clearly the win in Atlanta raised everyone’s expectations a tad too high on this group. They whys of how it seems so fouled up will come out in time; the good ole-fashioned eyeball test says we don’t have the caliber of players to adapt to a new system and win big in the SEC. But I’m far from writing off the season after one loss.
Trey (@cpadawg)
We knew going into the year that lacked experience and/or depth at QB, WR, DL, and OL. Four games in, it is readily apparent that the Rhode Island transfer is not Anthony Munoz in disguise, and that the OL is just five guards thrown out there indiscriminately because it wouldn’t matter if thought were given as to where they should play. We have eight guards, and the last I checked only two should play at a time. We have zero offensive tackles. The WR’s, despite their promise, are undersized, lack any consistency catching the ball, and aren’t good blockers. The DL is like Trenton Thompson and a few body doubles. Our DBs are asked to cover for an eternity because the front is not generating any pass rush. Aside from that, the team is just chock full of All-SEC performers.
There is no amount of coaching that will turn a guard into a tackle. Either you can play in space or not. None of our guys can. They also can’t push anyone around, so playing tight formations to avoid a speed rush is also a failure. How do you formulate any sort of offensive identity when your OL can’t play in space or in tight formations? What plays would you like for them to call? What identity do you want them to have? So far this year, they’ve had more success slinging it around a little bit. If you don’t think that is Kirby trying to adapt to what he has on his roster, then I’m not sure you really are being honest with yourselves.
The problem is that UGA can’t be a power running team. The OL can’t do it. They can’t pass block either, but we try to get them help with a RB or TE on the edge rushers. That typically gives Eason enough time to throw it, but the WRs aren’t holding up their end of the bargain. If you can’t run it like you want to, and you can’t pass it because the WRs won’t catch it, and you can’t kick it because your kickers are basket cases, then what do you have left? A 7-5 team… maybe. Unless this team turns into something it hasn’t shown it is capable of to this point, it is going to be the rebuilding year that UGA was destined to have under Richt anyway (similar to 2006, 2010). Next year will be better, and 2018 should be even better. If things haven’t changed by then, it may be time to revisit the topic. Otherwise, enjoy the wifi.
Installing his players and his system aside, this team looks as poorly disciplined and coached as I’ve seen. Then he throws the players under the bus and promises more effort next week. Lmao. I didn’t see effort being much of an issue this week. I saw bad penalties and guys acting like they’d won the game after finally making a play while we were down 3-4 touchdowns.
At some point he’s gonna have to stop pointing fingers and talking about the process and actually show it.
Looks like we got Coach Mus-smart
First tee Hazeltine….Arnie’s red, white and blue wing tips as tee markers….can’t get any better than that!
Long live The King!!
Yesterday was going to happen whether the coach was Smart, Saban, Richt, Bryant, or Lombardi. Maybe not against Ole Miss, but it was absolutely going to happen.
Kirby’s biggest challenge is cleaning out ten years’ worth of Richt’s chronic tolerance of half-ass.
Kirby’s second biggest challenge at UGA is recruiting. The 2013 class had 33 players. There are 8 left. THREE ARE STARTERS. Three senior starters from a signing class of 33. A grad transfer from Virginia started at QB last year and a grad transfer from RHODE FREAKING ISLAND starts at LT this year. This DL has to be in the bottom half of the SEC. The OL, LB, DB, and WR are in the bottom third. At best. How Lorenzo Carter was a five star is beyond me. Outside of QB, RB, and TE, Kirby has exactly d**k. Give him time.
Okay, Pruitt had exactly the same dick in the secondary (actually, worse dick since we added Maurice Smith this year) and he coached far better results from the secondary. Four of the five dicks on the o-line last year are back. We had a 1,100 yard rusher and another runner who averaged 150 yards per game before his injury. The new LT’s problem is pass blocking, not run blocking. Think the same dicks this year will produce a 1,000 yard rusher?
Stan, even if we trotted out 11 dicks from a Class A high school to play against Nicholls State and Ole Miss good coaching would result in those 11 knowing what coverage to run, even if they are overmatched. By contrast, we could have suited up the Denver Broncos defense against Ole Miss but if our coaches cannot get them all running the same coverages then that talent can be exploited.
12 men on the field, missed assignments, stupid penalties and lack of focus are coaching issues, not talent issues.
Pruitt had a pass rush last year in Floyd and Jenkins. A pass rush makes a secondary much better.
Georgia also played practically nobody who could throw the ball effectively. They’ve faced three better passing teams in their first four games this year than they saw all last season, with the possible exception of Alabama.
Pingback: Kirby Smart and the vision thing | Get The Picture
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SEC returning starter numbers
Georgia, at 13, is middle of the conference pack (note that the author defines returning starter as someone who started at least seven games in 2017). Eight return on offense; five on defense. What’s interesting is the complete flip from a year ago at two positions: four returning starters on the offensive line and zero linebackers. Makes you wonder who will be carrying the heavier load early on this season.
The two most interesting tidbits? Alabama has to replace its top six defensive backs and must do so with a new defensive coordinator/position coach. No problem for the Sabanator, right? And Dan Mullen left his successor in pretty good shape, experience-wise, as Mississippi State returns nine starters on offense and eight on defense.
Filed under Georgia Football, SEC Football
38 responses to “SEC returning starter numbers”
I’d be really surprised if at least one of those returning OL starters aren’t replaced next year. I’d say that both Cleveland and Baker, perhaps even Galliard, are going to have to fight to stay in the line up. Thomas is the only certain returner on the OL.
Who do you see supplanting Cleveland and Gaillard?
Guard – Sayler, Hill, Johnson, Shaffer, Wilson are all potential starters at guard for Baker or Cleveland. Kindley may be hungry to get his job back too. If Mays is a day one starter at right tackle like Thomas, that gives them flexibity to move Wilson inside and put Cleveland as the back up to Mays.
As far as center you have both Hill and Erickson on campus already and it’s my understanding that Hill can play center too. Galliard is more secure no doubt but it’s not impossible. Ben did it and David probably could have if Ben wasn’t there when he arrived.
Salyer is an immense talent, but he’s not an early enrollee and he needs to lose some weight (not unusual).
I agree that Wilson is something of a wild card. Reports are that the light came on for him mid-season and he was absolutely dominant on the scout team. If Mays is as good as some hint, then, yeah, I could see Wilson working at LG.
My understanding is that Ericson is being groomed for the center position, but probably isn’t physically ready yet.
Overall, it’s probably best to keep in mind that Andrew Thomas is the exception, not the rule, when it comes to true freshmen offensive linemen starting in the SEC.
No doubt, but our interior guys need to stop getting thrown around. Those cut ups we saw of the final game are embarrassing.
It’s a wonder we did anything on offense.
Baker is too small. Cleveland is too slow. Galliard was the unsung hero of the team but he’s still a not so highly recruited DL prospect. It would take a special talent to unseat him, but a guy can hope.
I’m probably just overly impatient about finally having a legit OL. Without Sony and Nick if the OL doesn’t improve considerably, we’ll probably notice. However, reality being what it is, we may still be a year away in that regard.
Getting that close with an undersized LT playing out of position, a too thin LG, a DL reject at center, a huge but not so quick or nimble RG and a true freshman RT really makes me shake my head. If we had any sort of a competent OL, we’d still be celebrating.
Raekwon and Payne are good, but it shouldn’t look like grizzly bears playing with Raggedy Anne dolls.
Galliard was a pretty high prized DT recruit FWIW. I agree with you on the rest of the OL though. 1 year away from a nasty, experienced bunch of large human beings. Bama-esque so to speak.
Rivals had him as a 3 Star. 247 had him higher.
According to Rivals, Gailliard claimed offers from Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Florida, FSU, LSU, Miami, UNC, NC State, Notre Dame and South Carolina.
That’s not exactly being considered lightly regarded.
You have to take some of those offers with grain of salt. His finalists were us, Miami and Louisville.
A solid 2014 recruit. He’d be in the back of the classes we’re signing up now, if he’d be there at all.
FYI Rivals is the CNN of recruiting sites. The gold standard is 247 composite, and Galliard was a consensus top 150 player in the nation according to 247. From what I remember, the only knock on him was he had to much baby weight for his frame.
I get what you are saying about 247 versus Rivals in total. But 247 has a glaring weakness, to me, they rate according to NFL potential and not how the athlete might be in college, or when they will be fully developed to that HS ranking. Big difference, with UGA take Wilson versus Thomas, or Fromm versus Eason for instance. I hope our guys do well and achieve their dreams if the NFL is what they want, but rating some one because of their frame and raw potential 3 years down the road is misleading to me as a college fan.
Our offensive line was a finalist for the Joe Moore given to the best offensive line in the country. That means the committee that votes on this award considered them top 7 in the country.
Your comment that “if we had any sort of competent offensive line…” is incredibly ill-informed at best.
We were good at tackle. My problem was with the interior line in the last game. Did you see Payne and Davis beat them to the punch, run around them and throw them around like rag dolls? I did. I don’t give a fuck what they were rated. They got their asses kicked.
The whole line save Wynn got their asses kicked at auburn.
Son, you’ve lost your mind. Nobody is replacing Cleveland unless Pittman decides to move him to Tackle. He’s cemented in the lineup as a starter.
I do think Baker is vulnerable at LG and believe Salyer will make a strong push to start 3 or 4 games into the season depending on how Baker is holding up. I also think Gaillard will have a lot of competition from Fogerty and potentially Ericsson. Hill is an interesting case. Is he a Guard or future Center? He’d make a heck of a Center, given his girth.
We’ll see. Too damn slow.
Granthams replacement
Kindley could replace Baker, but if Galilard is replaced (without an injury or discipline issue) the OL will be the best ever at UGA.
^This. If the OL improves from 2017 to 2018 as much as it did from 2016 to 2017 it will be the best OL in the nation and we’ll all be dancing in the streets in January, 2019.
Kentucky is bringing a lot back.
Well sure, but they are also bringing Mark Stoops back.
LOL. He better hire a staffer to yell “Look out their WR is uncovered!”. That UF game was the biggest FU I’ve seen in many years.
That was a consistent problem the Cats had all season. If they ever get that fixed……
When I see pics or our OL…hungry is the first word that comes to mind.
Remember 5-6 years ago we had the heaviest OL in college or pros, and results were mixed. Hopefully better conditioning and coaching can make big guys good players.
Meh, I take those returning starter counts with a grain of salt. “Starter” has a pretty ambiguous definition. I can already rattle off a pretty good D lineup for the Dawgs: Baker, Reed, LaCounte, McGhee, Walker, Patrick, Rice/McBride, Grant, Marshall, Ledbetter, Rochester, Clark. That’s a lineup with a lot of experience. Same goes for the O: Thomas,
Oops. Hit the ‘post’ button too soon. The O: Thomas, Baker, Gaillard, Cleveland/Kindley, Wilson/Mays, Nauta/Harris/Woerner, Godwin, Hardman, ?WR?, Swift, ?FB?, Fromm.
That lineup might have 2 openings – a WR and a FB. Overall, we’ve got experienced veterans returning at all but a few positions on the team, and a ton of incoming talent. Not a bad situation at all.
Darin Smith
No doubt G-Day will give us all the answers.
NO doubt we will see who the starting QB will be. So there is that.
Not worried about who we’ve got returning. We have some pretty good players filling the gaps. Missouri bringing back 9 on their offense is a little worrying, but SoD running the show should slow it down some.
I think it was a few years ago when Vandy was bringing back the most career starts, and they finished something like 2-10 or 3-9.
When I think of career starts, the first thing that comes to mind is “lies, damn lies, and statistics.”
Alabama lost 6 (too lazy to look it up) upperclassmen that would have played significant minutes this year to early entry to the draft … they’re still consensus #1 in the way too early rankings.
In other words, give me blue chip talent stacked across the board, and I’ll tell you where to stick those career starts. Hopefully, we’re close that kind of reloading.
Damn close, EE. Our offensive line could be the deepest unit in the country over the next few years.
Not having Roquan will cost us three points per game statistically. Think the offense will be about the same with the loss of Sony and Nick offset by the experience in the offensive line. Caveat on offense is once again Chaney’s play calling.
I guessed 31-17 offense and defense statistics last year.
Gonna say 36-18 this year.
So, which is it — three points, or one point? 😉
Ha… think we ended up around 15 actual so that’s what I used… not my preseason guess. Do playoffs count toward totals or should they.
Or should overtimes count in stats. Hard to believe that both our playoff games were ot. Really haven’t thought too much about that. Got to be a stat that lasts a long time.
Chopdawg
With all those OT games, hope we’re not too worn out for Austin Peay.
It’s hard to know exactly how to view this. Experience is always a good thing, but since the SECE was ‘so far down’ this year, the teams with good recruiting classes the last couple of years may not be overly concerned with some of the returning starters.
For the sake of the discussion, we’ll assume the returning starters are an improvement on last season. The other ‘monkey wrench’ is the teams with new coaches. UF brings back 10 starters on offense but they’ll be learning new things under Mullen. MO brings back 9 on an offense that was pretty good (I would have to dig deeper to know if the 2 leaving were impact players).
I have little respect for Vandy or UK, regardless of how many they bring back. Pruitt is a brand new HC in his first year on a team that was bad in 2017. I don’t expect much from UT. SC was solid. The defensive-minded HC is settled in and they return 7 on O and 5 on D. SC and MO may be in the best position to challenge if the ball bounces for them.
In a year where the East was ‘bad’ it’s surprising that there is this quantity of turnovers. You would hope that if you have a bad team it’s due to having young inexperienced players. Now we are expecting a large turnover, not just of players but coaches as well, in a division that struggled. I guess we can expect the East, as a whole, to continue to struggle. With the rotating of players we achieved in 2017 and the incoming talent, our ‘drop off’ will not be as bad as the rest of the East.
I fully expect to play in the SECC game.
The other thing is while Georgia lost some starters many of the backups returning were damn near as good as the starters and got plenty of playing time because of the blowout wins. The Dawgs are going to be just fine. We’ll really miss Roquan though–a once in a generation type player.
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“But other than that I came here to be a quarterback.”
The SEC requires that all players be made available to the media after the conference championship game, which meant that the media got its first crack at Justin Fields this season. That, in turn, meant the media got to touch the third rail of Georgia football — Fields’ future plans.
He handed it diplomatically, which I would think wasn’t the easiest thing to do, considering his team had just lost a heartbreaker and that he was a key part of a play that was certainly a factor in the loss.
Seth Emerson ($$) explores the question thoughtfully here. My impression of Fields is that he is an immense physical talent, something that was clearly on display in the UMass game, but that he is going through a transition of learning how to play in a pro-style offense. What Seth does a good job of bringing out is that such a transition was a feature for Fields in picking Georgia in the first place.
“I feel like we probably added a few plays, a few formations for me. But other than that I came here to be a quarterback,” Fields said. “We run a pro-style offense. If I want to play at the next level, this is the type of offense they run. So I kind of knew that before I was coming here.”
I assume the coaches have been straight with him throughout the learning process. I also assume that it’s obvious to everyone concerned that Fromm has good command of Georgia’s offense already and, post-LSU fretting by the fan base/media aside, won’t be supplanted by another quarterback whose grasp of the offense isn’t as strong, skill set notwithstanding. Fields himself sounds like he knows that.
“Jake, he’s a great quarterback,” Fields said. “He’s probably the smartest quarterback that I’ve been around in my whole life. You’ve got to give it to him. I’m just going to continue to learn from him to get better.”
If Fields were to decide to jump ship after the bowl game, he’d have to sit out a season. I would also expect that Kirby would have a list of schools, starting with other SEC programs, from where Fields would be blocked from transferring. So unless he wants to go Juco for a year, that makes starting in 2019 anywhere else an iffy proposition anyway. Seth notes that the ideal scenario for all concerned would be for Fromm’s improvement to continue such that going pro after next season would be the logical course of action for him. But who the hell knows as we sit here if that’s how things play out? I doubt even Fromm knows for sure.
Fields knows he’s at a program that’s invested in his future as a starter. The question is whether Georgia’s timetable for that matches his own.
69 responses to ““But other than that I came here to be a quarterback.””
When the kid is ready, he’ll be unstoppable.
Right now I see too much Shockley: overthinking and trying too hard with limited reps.
That said, when 11 is on, he’s probably the best we’ve seen.
Nobody and I mean nobody has performed out of an empty set vs. Alabama. Jake did tho.
Dawg Vegas
I agree with all of this. What Fields said made sense, and I hope it holds
Ease your way in learning it from one of the best or get thrown in there to sink or swim?
That’s the choice.
Should have redshited. CKS / CJC botched Fields this year, IMO.
If a redshirt wasn’t ever in the plan, should have given him “live bullets” in the second half of blowout games and not let him hand it off to Prather Hudson into the line over and over and over.
In this day and age I think that’s probably Fields’ call to make.
If he wants to preserve 2 years, CKS would let him. CKS isn’t going to make him.
JG Shellnutt
If you redshit, I would recommend a colonoscopy
Got Cowdog
You’re overreacting JG. It was probably the chicken wings.
etdf
Thank you both for a laugh this morning.
LOL! My Kingdom for an edit on WordPress
No edit! Otherwise when are we going to see good snark like that?
Good news is he can still redshirt.
or redshit
Those wings are still and option, yes.
Redshitting would be even more likely if the wings weren’t actually still (i.e., dead). Not sure how to interpret also being “option.” Be that as it may, good times on the typo front!
Go Dawgs!
Justin Fields will not be spending five years in Athens. That’s simply not in his plan. It’s possible that he’d stick around for his one year in charge after Fromm exhausts his eligibility like DJ Shockley did. But four years in Athens is the max that a player of Fields’ caliber is going to be prepared to spend. After that, it’s time to go get paid, and good on him for it. I suspect Kirby knows that.
I’ll add that if Fromm isn’t good enough to jump to the pros after 3 years as the starter than he never will, and that if after 2 years on campus Fields can’t beat out a not draftable Fromm then he isn’t going pro either.
In the NFL, it’s better to get pay and stay rather than be one and done.
Keep learning the offense and stay healthy.
Bat City Dawg
I hope he turns out to be as great as the UMass flash and the practice observations have made him out to be. There are no sure things though in regards to making it to the league. There is plenty of precedent for a recruit of his caliber to be both a huge success across both levels, as well as to not make it. We all certainly hope the former is true.
What did playing JF1 (and using him the way we did) accomplish for the team and him this season?
Provide evidence that he isn’t ready, would be my guess
We won’t know until next year.
Tony Barnfart
I get the “Knowshon Moreno” mistake, but at the Quarterback position I have a hard time believing that a kid could go from not-ready to early entry after a redshirt sophomore year. Because that’s the argument. Keep in mind also how impossible that would be if he couldn’t unseat Fromm.
Because if he can’t unseat Fromm (a 4yr guy), but is somehow himself convinced he’s no more than a 4 yr player, then he’s still only looking at 1 yr to play. So whether that’s a true Sr year or a redshirt Jr year is irrelevant. Hindsight is 20-20 but in a perfect scenario, it would have been nice to figure out how ready he was within the 4 game redshirt window. Then everybody would have more options and much less awkward pressure.
Is Jake going to be willing to surrender the sort of playing time Fields will need next year to grow as a player? Alabama managed it this year. Tua sat the equivalent of 3 games over the regular season.
It really just comes down to how willing the players are to get better in practice and share the limelight. And most of them aren’t.
AlphaDawg
Looking at the schedule next year I can see several games that should be well in hand by the mid 3rd or 4th qtr, use a similar rotation as Bama did this year with Tua and Hurts.
Not rocket science. Fields is backup again next season. If he only plays in 4 games it’s a redshirt year and he loses no eligibility. If Jake goes pro Fields is the starter in ‘20 with 3 seasons of eligibility. If Jake stays, Fields is the starter in ‘21 with 2 seasons of eligibility.
Also, Fields had solid grades in HS and early enrolled, so he should be able to grad transfer after 3 years.
Highly doubt he’d redshirt. One way or another, he’s not spending five years in Athens.
why ? what has Justin Fields shown us IN COLLEGE that makes him so special ? At some point, his Rivals ranking becomes irrelevant. I saw a kid this year that needs a ton of work. So either the coaches who had Fromm ready as a Freshmen suddenly forgot how to coach or this entire situation is approaching the delusional.
Or he’s only been playing QB for 3 years and needs more time to develop. Not sure about you, but I saw a kid with all the tools that has put the ball on the money when he makes his decision. He clearly just needs more time as he opts to tuck it and run too often. He’s not spending 5 years in Athens, sorry that you think that’s delusional.
Michael L. Murphy
Fields obviously believes that his maturation is enhanced by being around Fromm
Last Iblooked Jake was projected as the #2 pick in the 2020 draft behind Tua, after last Saturday, I wonder if that is flipped.
Regardless, I think most likely scenario is Jake leaves after next season and Fields adopts the keys to a Bentley for his junior season.
I actually think the QB management was pretty solid given we had no back up plan if Fields got hurt. I was not a fan of giving him snaps in the SEC championship game
Whoever asked him those questions ought to be embarrassed. Georgia just lost a heartbreaker. I get that access to him has been unavailable until that point, but delving into (creating?) that narrative is low rent.
Kudos to Fields for handling it like a veteran. He’s clearly a sharp kid.
“..Fields for handling it like a veteran. He’s clearly a sharp kid.”
You got it all wrong. Fields is “a natural” with “amazing instincts”.
Fromm is a “gym rat” and “another coach on the field”
I thought coaches couldn’t block kids from transferring anywhere with the new rules. Or is that just for grad transfers?
202dawg
Pretty sure it’s the latter.
ATL Dawg
My problem is with the way they used Fields. Against the bad teams, it was mostly mop up duty late in the game, handing off, and killing the clock. That did nothing for his development. Against the good teams, they randomly threw him out there for one play here and there, just to have him run the ball without any intention of letting him throw it. That hurt them against LSU when the offense had absolutely no rhythm and they abandoned the non-Fields running game.
All of this severely bit them in the ass on the fake punt against Bama when he was put in a really difficult situation and was nowhere close to being prepared to handle it.
The coaching staff handled his in-game development horribly this year and they deserve even more criticism than they’re getting.
This is a very fair point. Good work. It’s a question worth asking the staff…
exactly. it isn’t really his fault he has no idea what to do when he is thrown in there randomly at this point. with the backup qb we have retained the Richt era’s penchant for simply handing it off and hoping guys magically get better.
if we didn’t trust fields at 28-7 in first half against GA Tech.. then we didn’t trust him enough to scare the field against Bama, no matter the situation
Dawgwalker07
I don’t think the Tech game was a lack of confidence in Fields, I think it was a tune up for the next week and the staff wanted to make sure the first team was firing on all cylinders before facing Bama.
dawgfan
I imagine the staff would say they see practice every day and they know what Fields can and can’t do at this point.
IF they said that, my response would be this…
If practice is just as (or more) important than the games, then why make a concentrated effort in games to play as many young guys as you can, as often as you can, at every other position? And why constantly talk about how important it is to get those young guys lots of quality playing experience for the purposes of developing them and building team depth?
Quality game experience matters tremendously. They say it all the time.
It’s common sense. If he was ready or it was warranted they would play him more. You’re right, Kirby doesn’t hold anybody back.
Totally agree.. one play here and there does nothing to develop him. He runs on the field, blood pressure up and adrenaline pumping, then has to perform his reads? That’s a tough proposition. Give him an opportunity to run a series.. 3 and out or 12 plays but would rather him play 1 series than 5 single plays. That’s the only way the game is going to slow down for him, at least that seems logical to me.
Scenario: Barring injuries, Fromm has a solid junior year, but decides to stick around for one more. Fields makes the tough decision to redshirt during his 3rd year and takes over the reigns 2021 with two years of eligibility. At that point Georgia should have two additional solid back ups with a year in the system under their belts in Rhys Plumlee and perhaps the kid from Hawaii, and with the new redshirt rule Fields could still be made available to play in the SECCG and the playoff if Georgia makes it in during his redshirt season.
IF Fromm is a projected top 5 pick, I say he’s gone. Right now he is.
I’ll add to that, “…and we win it all”, then I say he’s gone. Fromm seems like a “finish the drill” kind of guy to me.
All that rah rah stuff is great, till they show you the MONEY…and it will be a lot of MONEY.
That would make things a lot easier.
If we win it all next year, maybe he goes. If not, he comes back for his senior year and another shot. I don’t see him being driven so much by money.
If you’re a top 5 pick and you DONT go, you’re driven by insanity. And your parents are too.
down island way
Looking back at our players that have trusted “the process” (possible juniors to the next level) and have stayed at UGA for their senior years may have started to filter down to the eyes and ears of our younger student athletes to the point of learning and growing has more value than $$$$ or playing time (transfer)…..only time will show that to be true or not, tis an exciting time to be a DAWG….HOW SWEET IT IS!
diving duck
It’s still hard for me to believe he chose Georgia. It’s not 2008 anymore. The NFL has successfully accommodated spread quarterbacks. He could win a Heisman in 2020 if him and Haselwood both go to Oklahoma. Whether he transfers or not the recruits that followed him here accelerated the program’s timeline exponentially.
And having him here kept him from Auburn, Florida, LSU or some other rival, so there’s that…
I thought he was going to Penn State?
Maybe Lil’ Jimmy Franklin was of that belief, but …..HOW COULD HE EVER BEAT OUT EX-VANDY COMMIT TRACE McSORLEY!!!l!lll!
I think both QBs have handled a media created “controversy” very nicely.
I agree that Fields was mishandled all year – make me believe “the plan is no plan” that CKS mentioned.
Leading into the LSU game Fromm was feeling the heat from Fields and it showed up big time in Jake’s performance against the Bayou Bengals. The staff knew it too and did what they needed to calm Jake and his performance since LSU has been lights out. Some of the throws he’s making are NFL quality. Fromm is not going to give up his starting role any time soon as long as he plays like he is and we’re winning.
Of all the things I worry about related to Georgia football, this is pretty far down the list.
I get what you’re saying, but for me it’s probably near the top of my Dawg football worry list, simply because the program really appears to be humming along nicely.
“If he leaves, he leaves.”
Hope everyone makes it work the best they can for themselves and the team.
In my view the time this gets hard is when Jake is deciding whether to go pro or not after next year. I don’t see him being taken high like Stafford and so I don’t know why he’d feel any pressure to go. But a decision to stay would really put pressure on Fields if he doesn’t want to redshirt.
Check around at the “mocks” that are out there for 2020….I’m not sure you opinion carries much weight as to what the eggspurts think.
Could it be that Fields is just not that good? We need a quality QB signee to enroll early to push him.
I think he really is that good, when it comes to the potential he has. It could be that he, his Dad, and his coach knew he needed the polish and skill development he would never get being rushed onto the field in other programs. None of them seem dumb enough to think he was going to just step in and unseat Jake Fromm and felt he could learn the pro style skills he was lacking.
If you take him at his word in that statement he was aware all along he would play very little in year one, and probably year 2 as well. No way to project where he, or Fromm will be at the end of next year. If Fromm stays for his Senior year, it could get very interesting.
Now if Fields is discontented, and made the interview story up, he will bolt in early January. I think he stays for one more year at least.
Turning Fields into a pro-style statuesque QB is an utter waste of talent, just as it was with Shockley. It would be an epic travesty if we try to do that.
Fields’s skill set is nothing like Tom Brady, or Drew Brees, or Jake Fromm. You’ve got to get this kid in an offense that allows him to use his mobility.
I’d love it if he remained at UGA, but only if we adjust the offense to better use his talent when he’s in the game. if we aren’t going to adjust for Fields, than this QB situation has the potential to be a source of team acrimony that will be bubbling all the time and boil over if/when Jake has a bad game or Chaney calls plays that waste Fields’s talent.
You either adopt the offense to accommodate Fields, or you let Fields walk and look for a Fromm prototype. You’re not going to turn Fields into ‘Fromm with legs’.
I agree, and I don’t think it takes major changes. Just tweak the offense to have more true RPOs with Fields and give him the option to run or pass. Once he does that and burns some teams, then the play action really starts to open up for him.
I will never understand Fields coming to UGA ! Did he really think he would become the #1 QB? with fromm there? The kid will leave .
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance is set in 1403 Bohemia
It has a promising story and great characters
However it is let down by bugs and glitches aplenty
Action role-playing game Kingdom Come: Deliveranceforsakes some of the usual tropes of the genre such as magic spells and dragons in favour of historical accuracy. Set in 1403 Bohemia, Kingdom Come: Deliverance features Sigsimund, the King of Hungary and Croatia, who kidnaps the rightful ruler of the country King Wenceslaus IV and plunges the country into civil war. You’re Henry, the son of a blacksmith who manages to stave off death after a raid on mining village Skalitz — your home — leaves your friends and family slaughtered. Soon after, you find yourself joining the resistance to avenge your parents and put Wenceslaus back on the throne.
But before you get into any of that, you’ll need to know how to manage yourself. From eating when you’re hungry to following the laws of the land, and even going to bed, everything in Kingdom Come: Deliverance is based on a set of intricate gameplay systems that serve its realistic nature. Each of these are rather deep such as pickpocketing that allows you a few moments to rifling through the purse of your target before escaping with your loot. Spend more time rummaging through their wares and there’s a greater chance of getting something worthwhile but it also increases the chance of detection. Combat is equally nuanced if not more so, sporting an assortment of moves such as stabs, slashes, parries in eight different directions. Archery is dependent on a host of other factors such as trajectory, arrow type, and even the vambraces you wear to hoist projectiles onto a bow.
However, barring combat, most of the elements aren’t explained as well as they should be. The tutorials themselves are simple greyed out overlays with reams of text akin to how simple smartphone apps handle tutorials. They’re clunky in their implementation and far from dynamic. Throw in the wonkiness of others like lock picking and you have a set of things that, while accurate, aren’t exactly fun to do.
All of this results in an overwhelming sense of clunkiness in handling yourself in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Some elements, such as combat, get better with practise thanks to weapon variety. Others like speech craft aren’t as fortunate. You can get through the game without lifting a sword, but given its nature — where your speech skills are pitted against those you’re talking to and you aren’t made aware of your chances of success — it ends up being more random than you’d like. It doesn’t help matters that Kingdom Come: Deliverance doesn’t explain fail states like being poisoned well enough, leaving you wondering what you ate to cause your death. At times it feels that the adherence to realism is at odds with progressing through its meaty, nuanced story.
Coupling these gameplay mechanics are bugs aplenty. From quests that outright glitch themselves midway, refusing to activate key points unless we reloaded our save file, to cut-scenes that have your character merging into others, there’s more than a fair share of jank. This makes Kingdom Come: Deliverance feel like a game that seems in alpha instead of a version 1.1 release that it is right now after a 23GB day one patch. An inconsistent frame rate that sees it dip perceptibly indoors while remaining stable outdoors doesn’t help matters either. Plus, there are loading screens aplenty and arbitrary – you could be opening the game map or simply talking to a merchant or a trader and you’ll be met with a loading screen.
Nonetheless, Kingdom Come: Deliverance looks good on the PS4 Pro. Thanks to a welcome amount of detail in its environments from sprawling castles to small villages and everything in between, as well as slick voice acting and witty dialogue, the game is not a total mess. Thrown in combat that grows on you and an interesting plot with some remarkable characters such as the unscrupulous miller Pashek as well as the seemingly spoiled lord Hans Capon and you have an RPG that has you glued to your screen if you can tolerate all of its technical concerns and gameplay issues.
For a game of this magnitude you’d think you could save as often as you needed to alleviate some potential concerns but Kingdom Come: Deliverance won’t let you do that. Instead, it relies on you to buy saviour schnapps, an in-game item that lets you save as and when you choose. If you aren’t able to buy saviour schnapps, you’re subject to the game’s own auto-save system which doesn’t inspire much confidence, more so when a glitched quest line set back our progress by a fair bit. One could argue that the Warhorse Studios could fix most of these with updates and the game has already seen a hefty one, but things are still rough. Sure, open-world games are far from perfect in this regard and there have been other offenders like the super-popular Skyrim, but Kingdom Come: Deliverance feels like it needed more time in development.
At the moment, we’d recommend waiting this one out until it gets a few more updates. Underneath a myriad of technical muddles lies a serviceable RPG, although right now, it’s nowhere close to what it could be.
Welcome depth
Combat gets better
Unpolished gameplay systems
Inconsistent frame rate
Doesn’t explain itself well enough
Rating (out of 10): 5
Gadgets 360 played an early retail copy of Kingdom Come: Deliverance on the PS4 Pro. The game is available on the PS4 at Rs. 3,999, on Xbox One at Rs. 3,990, and on the PC at Rs. 1,179.
Categories: Gaming
Tags: come, Deliverance, Kingdom, Review
Razer Electra V2, Electra V2 USB Gaming Headphones Launched in India: Price, Specifications E-Sports Officially Arrives in Japan, Home of Game Giants
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Customer Success Expert Samantha Loveland Joins the BrightTALK Board of Advisors
By Taylor Freitas.
In Life at BrightTALK, Uncategorized
Customer Success Expert Samantha Loveland Joins the BrightTALK Board of Advisors2014-01-302014-01-30https://business.brighttalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.svgBrightTALK Businesshttps://business.brighttalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.svg200px200px
BrightTALK is pleased to announce the appointment of Samantha Loveland, VP of Customer Engagement at Yammer, to its Board of Advisors.
Loveland brings a wealth of experience in shaping customer success programs and building rapidly scaling companies to BrightTALK. After seven years at Deloitte, she moved to salesforce.com and worked on the development of customer success for large enterprises like Cisco. Then she did it again at Yammer, which was acquired by Microsoft, where she is now leading customer engagement worldwide.
“We couldn’t be more excited to work with Sam in building a world-class customer success organization at BrightTALK,” said BrightTALK CEO Paul Heald. “Sam has an undeniable track record of success and will be working closely with our team to take our customer success organization to the next level. Her experiences in rapidly growing businesses will also be invaluable as we continue to expand.”
“I am delighted to be joining the BrightTALK advisory board and am looking forward to working with the team to develop a world class customer engagement organization,” said Loveland. “Helping marketers deliver revenue growth is an exciting proposition that really can move businesses forward and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
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The BAM Review
You are here: Home / The BAM Review / Church Planting and Business / Business and Church Planting: Made for Each Other!
Business and Church Planting: Made for Each Other!
September 18, 2015 /in Church Planting and Business, Latest /by Guest Author
by João Mordomo
In recent years, many people have begun to more fully appreciate the huge power and potential of business as mission as both a means to enter into contexts where missionaries are unwelcome, and a mechanism to catalyze church planting among unreached peoples. In fact, while other models often work in other contexts, BAM is distinctly qualified to open doors where the Gospel and church planting often are most needed. I won’t say “uniquely” qualified because I don’t want to get an influx of emails calling me a BAM extremist, but I will admit I lean in that direction!
Yet while the power of BAM to catalyze church planting becomes increasingly apparent to us, this relationship is not a new one. Luke, in apparently hyperbolic fashion, wrote in Acts 19:10 that in a period of two years, “all the residents of Asia (roughly today’s Turkey) heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” What was he thinking? Surely a medical doctor and historian would never resort to such embellishment of the truth!
Paul took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. – Acts 19:9-10, NIV
Everyone? In a huge geographic territory? In just two years! Well… yes. Pretty much. Apparently, Paul’s “Tyrannus Training Institute” (Acts 19:9) was neither a residential program, nor purely theological in nature. Rather he seems to have been discipling and training people who came and were equipped and then went out into the highways and byways of Asia, sometimes as “missionaries” entering into unfamiliar regions, sometimes as “lay people” returning home to their place of origin, but always on mission. It seems that so many people came and went, so many teams were equipped and sent, enough “so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord.”
We may infer that it likely was not literally everyone, but rather large groups of people in all the major cities of Asia, and probably a smattering of others scattered throughout. We also may infer that the so that in verse 10 is not a throwaway phrase, but rather deliberately used to express purpose. It was Paul’s purpose to train and send out people who would evangelize and plant multiplying churches! When we grasp the power of planting multiplying churches, it’s not difficult to imagine the scenario that Luke describes.
We may – very safely – further conclude that the people Paul was sending out were not all “religious professionals”. To the contrary, they could not have been such. There was neither time nor inclination on Paul’s part, nor would such “shoddily” trained religious professionals have been well received. (“You studied where?! The Tyrannasaurus what? Never heard of it. Part-time? Seriously? In a modular format? Is that even accredited?!”)
No, Paul’s was not a “conventional” missionary model. He’d already demonstrated in Corinth, in Acts 18:1-4, both his belief in the importance and power of professions in ministry, and his conviction that while God doesn’t call all His children to full-time ministry, He does call them all to minister full-time, leveraging their professions as a context for ministry. This is especially true with business.
Spoiler alert: I’m about to hijack Acts 18:1-4 from all the tentmakers out there! Or, maybe we can share?!
In Acts 18:1-4, we note that Paul was, by training, a tentmaker. Actually, he was a leather worker who often made tents. He united forces with Aquila and Priscilla and worked both professionally, making tents, whilst also ‘reasoning’ – which we understand to mean evangelizing – in the synagogue. But have you ever stopped to wonder things like, “Who did the marketing?” They had to have clients to buy their tents. How did the clients find out about them? Who paid the bills? They had to buy their leather from someone. In other words, Paul and Aquila and Priscilla were both a ministry team and a work team, i.e. a small business. In fact, these same dynamics could certainly have been the case in all of Paul’s apostolic church-planting teams. While Paul was the technical specialist (working with leather), it’s likely that Barnabas and Silas and Timothy and others of his teammates were not technically skilled in leather work. So we ask, “What did they do while Paul was crafting tents?” Barnabas was an encourager. Maybe he was the team’s salesperson, encouraging people to buy their tents? Timothy was a pastoral sort, so perhaps he handled customer relations?
My point is this: business and church planting were made for each other! Properly configured, church planting teams and business startup teams can be one and the same.
Read Part 2 on why business and church planting are made for each other today.
Dr. João Mordomo is co-founder and president of CCI-Brasil, a global church planting movement among unreached peoples. João serves variously as owner, managing director and board member of several BAM companies, and serves in several BAM leadership roles including at COMIBAM, BAM Global and Lausanne.
Tags: biblical teaching, church planting, tentmaking
https://businessasmission.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/hands-clasped-front.jpg 677 1024 Guest Author https://businessasmission.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/BAM-logo-for-website-2-1.png Guest Author2015-09-18 13:02:032015-09-21 21:40:05Business and Church Planting: Made for Each Other!
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Watch Snob on James Bond Watches
© OMEGA
Watch Snob on James Bond Movie Watches and the Latest Omega 007 Limited Edition
Watch Snob
The upcoming James Bond Film, entitled “No Time To Die” (the jokes, as an American friend of mine likes to say, write themselves) will be the 25th time the fictional super-spy has been inflicted upon an apparently insatiable and obviously insensate public. We have had Bond as a scowling womanizer (Sean Connery), Bond as suave womanizer (Roger Moore), Bond as an unconvincing womanizer (Timothy Dalton), Bond as a slightly less unconvincing womanizer (Pierce Brosnan) and finally, Bond as a bluntly sociopathic womanizer, in Daniel Craig’s version.
RELATED: Watch Snob Last Week: Sleek Swatches and Rolex vs. Omega
Craig’s James Bond seems to derive as much sensual pleasure, if not more, from extinguishing life as he does from going through the motions of engendering it. I am old enough to have seen all the Bond films — yes, all 25 of them — in the theatre and I will say, I felt with Craig, that we had come full circle, as his version of Bond as well as Connery’s, were the only ones you could plausibly imagine actually killing anyone. All the others seemed incapable of doing genuine harm to anything more threatening than a scolding squirrel, but that is a complaint for another day.
Throughout all this, Bond has worn a watch. Generally speaking, there have been only two types of watches in James Bond films. There have been watches which act as test-beds for technology developed by the redoubtable Q (a buzz-saw bezel Rolex, a Seiko which prints messages on tape, which seems insecure, and so on). And there have been, more to the point for watch enthusiasts, Bond’s “on-duty” watches. These have generally been either Rolex watches, Seiko watches or Omega watches — Omega began its partnership with the Bond films starting with Pierce Brosnan’s “Goldeneye,” in 1995.
The partnership has continued with Craig and will likely continue with whomever plays the next 007. This means that for nearly a quarter-century, Omega has been the watch of choice of the cinematic James Bond. And that means, of course, that for many now in their mid-to-late 30s, Omega is the only watch that they have ever seen on Bond.
Predictably, Omega has released a limited edition Seamaster to mark the latest Bond film early enough to tease eager fans. Equally predictably, it has been met with howls of outrage from some quarters of the self-styled enthusiast community. Probably the only thing more worn out than the Bond franchise is complaining about Omega limited editions; the company keeps making the watches because people keep buying them.
The newest James Bond Limited Edition is (of course) a Seamaster. It has brownish-colored luminous material, Her Majesty’s Broad Arrow insignia on the dial and an anodised aluminum bezel which Omega boasts will show signs of age. (This is how far the vintage madness has come — accumulating damage is now seen as a selling point.)
The usual objections have been raised. The world, for example, does not need another limited edition. The world needs many things, but mechanical watches are not one of them, and neither is James Bond (except perhaps insofar as fictional heroes help non-fictional drudges get through the day, which is on the whole may not be a bad thing).
“It’s a cynical cash-grab,” you say? Of course it is a cash-grab — Omega is a luxury purveyor and all luxury is a cash-grab. It may also be other things, and I am not sufficiently a mind-reader to speak to the degree of cynicism in the minds of Omega and Swatch Group senior management. But I will say, it amuses me no end to hear people complain about a business behaving like a business.
Finally, there are those who complain that things like the pre-aged lume, the fatuous boasting that the bezel will accumulate scratches over the course of time and the use of the Broad Arrow (a symbol, in case you have spent the last twenty years, horologically speaking, hiding under a rock, of something being procured for the Armed Forces) are completely inappropriate in a watch meant to connect to Bond, who in his most recent incarnation is a man devoted to brutal expediency. This might be the most hilarious objection of all. Bond, let it be said, is a fictional character. Therefore, expectations of a limited edition which would be worn by an actual spy are not given.
For all that, Craig’s James Bond seems in some ways more authentic than his predecessors, he remains an imaginary being. Complaining that the latest Bond limited edition is somehow inauthentic is like complaining that a My Little Pony (even Snobs have nieces) watch is unfaithful to reality.
As usual, we find that the only conclusion it is reasonable to draw, when all is said and done, is that the brand and its “enthusiasts” deserve each other. If you want a watch authentic to real covert operations, go spend forty dollars on a G-Shock.
Send the Watch Snob your questions at editorial@askmen.com or ask a question on Instagram with the #watchsnob hashtag.
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Holy sheet! Amazon's #1 best-selling bed sheets are back in stock — starting at $25
Adrianna Barrionuevo
Yahoo Lifestyle November 20, 2019
Yahoo Lifestyle is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability is subject to change.
These sheets have more than 62,000 rave reviews
Amazon’s best-selling bed sheet set is so popular, it perpetually sells out. But right now, the top-rated Mellanni Brushed Microfiber 1800 Bed Sheet Set is back in stock — at least for now. And, the set is on sale for just $21 for queen (was $25).
With nearly 63,000 reviews and a 4.4-star average rating, it’s easy to see why the 4-piece set is flying off the shelves. Everyone from college students to hot sleepers rave about the sheets’ incredible softness, breathability, super- low price and more.
Here’s everything you need to know about the wildly-popular Mellanni Brushed Microfiber 1800 Bed Sheet Set.
They’re affordable
“These sheets are an excellent value!” raves one reviewer. “At under $30 for a king, the price can’t be beat!”
Depending on the size, the set ranges from $25 to $32 and is available in 39 different colors and patterns, including paisley and quatrefoil. The 4-piece set includes a flat and fitted sheet along with two pillowcases. But just because the sheets are affordable doesn’t mean they’re cheaply made.
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Ten minutes later, I’d peed, washed my face, brushed my hair, brushed my teeth, and put on a bra. And, for good measure, I’d put on some socks and a long-sleeved over-shirt, too.
I didn’t care that it was over 80 degrees outside!
I wanted to send a clear message to any man who thought it was okay to strip and get into bed with me!
It wasn’t okay!
When I got downstairs, there were three men at my table.
Claude was leering at Alcide like a fanboy as I shuffled toward the coffee maker.
Meanwhile, Alcide was trying to look contrite and Dermot was glaring at the Were.
I shook my head as I saw that there was less than a swallow of beverage in the coffee pot.
Meanwhile, the three men each had a full cup in front of them.
Selfish bastards! All of them!
As I took the steps to make more coffee, I “heard” Alcide wondering if I was going to make food, too.
The day before, I would have done just that—without a moment’s pause. I would have thought about manners and Gran, and I would have already been pulling ingredients from the refrigerator. Of course, I would have been trying to stay out of Alcide’s head too.
But—for better or worse—I wasn’t the same person as I had been the day before.
And—just to clarify—I felt I was “better.”
So—no! I didn’t want to pour the others refills before I got myself a cup of my coffee in my house! And—no! I didn’t want to prepare food for three Supernatural men who didn’t actually seem to have my best interests in mind—now that I was looking at the situation with opened eyes.
But what did I do?
I opened the refrigerator and took out ingredients for sandwiches. I wasn’t about to cook for them, but it would beg too many questions if I did nothing.
“Sookie, I’m more certain than I was before that we need to get you out of here!” Dermot said. “Before the sun sets. You must know now that the vampire is wrong for you—that he’ll hurt you.”
I picked up the coffee pot as soon as the coffee maker beeped to indicate that it was done, and then I went around the table pouring refills for the “menfolk”—as Gran would have called them. However, I no longer believed that she would hold me to my manners with the people at the table if she were alive and knew about the situation. But I was sure glad I’d become an expert at them anyway. They were something to fall back on—something to prevent me from going off on the “menfolk.”
“I think Eric was just stressed out last night,” I said. “His bond with Pam got interrupted, and he got scared—because he initially thought she was dead. And then—when I told him I wanted our bond to be broken too so that I could tell his feelings from my feelings . . . .” I paused for a moment as I finally took a drink of nice, fresh coffee. “Well—he got mad. And then I got mad. I really think we can talk it out though. You know—cooler heads and all,” I smiled.
“He plans to punish you tonight,” Alcide said through gritted teeth. “Do you have any idea what that could entail?”
“Well—that’ll be Eric’s test then,” I sighed, having decided on my strategy while I was in the bathroom.
“Test?” Claude asked.
I nodded. “If Eric has calmed down and is ready to be reasonable, then I’ll know that he regrets last night. If he does . . . .” I paused and sniffled as the onion I was slicing made me cry.
It was a good prop.
“If he does punish me,” I continued, “then I’ll know—really know—that I can’t be with him.”
“But Northman already made you quit your job!” Alcide reminded insistently. “Surely you don’t need any more proof of how he wants to control you!”
It seemed that Eric was right. Supe gossip really did travel fast!
“I did quit—but just for now,” I said cautiously. “And just to pacify Eric till he calms down. And—anyway—I’ve been thinking about taking some online classes. And I have money now.” I shook my head as I spread some mustard on bread slices. If anyone preferred mayo, they could just deal with it. “I’ve worked almost nonstop since I was sixteen, and a little time off would be a good thing.”
“You wouldn’t have to work if you were with me,” Alcide said.
Dermot practically growled. “Or me.”
Alcide looked at the fairy with new eyes—jealous and disgusted eyes.
Well—at least Alcide and I agreed on the disgusting part.
“What the fuck?” the Were asked Dermot. “You’re her uncle or something!”
“Fairies don’t have the same rules as humans do,” I said calmly, as I put some sliced ham on the bread. I turned to look at Dermot. His eyes—so intense—seemed to be looking into me, and the only thing I could think about was how much he looked like Jason.
And how the feeling that he elicited in me reminded me of Uncle Bartlett—even though I didn’t think that Dermot would use force.
Still—the situation was more than enough to freak me out!
“No, fairies don’t follow the same rules,” Dermot agreed.
“But I have my own rules,” I said decisively. “While I appreciate the offers of protection and whatnot, I need to resolve the Eric thing before I do anything else. Please understand that,” I entreated.
“But what if the vamp hurts you tonight?” Alcide asked with concern that matched the look in Dermot’s eyes. Meanwhile, for a split second, Claude looked downright pleased at the prospect of Eric hurting me.
“Then Eric will have failed the test,” I said, turning back to my sandwich-building task. “Anyway, he can’t hurt me too much—right? I have the king’s protection.”
“The king could very well decide to take you—to take you away from Northman. Away from here,” Dermot observed.
“That’s why Eric and I got pledged,” I said as I added tomato slices and lettuce to the sandwiches. “Listen—Eric’s really not as bad as he seemed last night,” I added confidently before finishing the sandwiches. After taking them and some plates to the table, I once again refilled the coffee cups like the good hostess I was.
But—in my head—I was already counting down to the time when I wouldn’t have to play hostess at all.
One thing was for sure. Now that I was paying close attention, I could see things I hadn’t before.
Claude’s malice.
Dermot’s infatuation.
Alcide’s selfishness.
Still—I tried to smile and engage in casual conversation as I ate with them.
In other words, I pretended to tolerate them.
Just like they pretended to care about who I really was and what would really make me happy—even as they tried to dictate it.
After he ate, Alcide left—hoping that Eric would “punish” me enough for me to finally “grow up.”
“So—are we going to have to stay away again tonight?” Claude asked a bit abruptly—not that that was abnormal behavior for him.
“That would probably be best,” I said.
“You shouldn’t stay here,” Dermot frowned. “You should let us take you away and protect you from the vampire,” he tried again.
Talk about a broken record.
“But Eric would find me because of our bond,” I reasoned.
“You should let your witches break it,” Claude said offhandedly.
“Yes—you should,” Dermot agreed. “It’s unnatural for a fairy and a vampire to have such a connection.”
“Maybe,” I allowed, holding in my true feelings, which amounted to a whole lot of anger and disappointment in that moment.
I’d been so keen to have a family that cared for me that I’d ignored the obvious.
The proof was on the faces of the fairies in my home.
They sure as hell didn’t care about me like a family ought to!
I wanted to un-invite them from my home so badly that my mouth opened to do it several times. But I didn’t. I had to be patient.
VICTOR POV
Patient. I simply needed to be patient for a little while longer, and Sookie Stackhouse would be mine.
Of course, I’d already been patient.
I’d patiently endured Felipe’s foolish notions that Eric Northman could be spared, given his potential value as an asset.
I’d patiently waited for Northman to do something irrevocably stupid so that I could take his head and his so-called “pledged.”
Yes. I’d been patient.
Saint-like!
And—as I’d been patient—I’d observed Eric Northman. Like a hawk.
The Viking had proven to be “odd” for a vampire—especially for one as old as he was.
He showed care for his child and his minions.
Actually showed it!
And he cared for his “human” enough to risk his hide for her.
Just as one example—he’d risked the king’s displeasure with the pledging stunt.
And he’d also been willing to face down fairies for her.
Meanwhile, Sookie Stackhouse had seemed like a cold fish when it came to him.
Good for me. Bad for Northman.
But now the telepath had finally pushed him too far. I’d known that I’d simply needed to be patient for that to happen, too.
All the questioning looks she’d given to him—even during the brief time I’d been around them—had spoken volumes.
But even a vampire as pitifully in love as Eric Northman had his breaking point. And that had come when Sookie Stackhouse had decided to look into bond- breaking.
Of course, I’d doubted the claim that such a thing existed, but—after I’d received Jock’s very interesting report—I’d had a New Orleans vampire loyal to me find and glamour Octavia Fant, who was Amelia Broadway’s mentor.
Yes—glamouring witches could be tricky since it was possible that they might remember it, but—given the situation—I’d decided that the pros outweighed the cons. And Ms. Fant had sung like a canary.
The witches hadn’t been lying. There was a way to break bonds!
At first, upon hearing that Northman intended to punish Sookie Stackhouse, I’d determined that killing him during the punishment phase would be best.
After all, Miss Stackhouse would see me as her savior if I did.
But—then—Northman had presented me with an even better opportunity to kill him.
During the hunt of Sandra Pelt—a hunt where accidents might very well happen.
I closed my eyes and let my mind wander as I contemplated how I would punish a defiant pet.
I imagined Sookie Stackhouse on her knees—naked before the Fangtasia crowd. I imagined her whipped again and again—her flesh peeling away and her blood rising to the surface of her body. I imagined Northman allowing all vampires present to feed upon her—to fuck her.
Pussy, ass, mouth—I pictured them all being filled.
With me being the one to take her ass.
But then I shook my head. No—if I hoped to gain Sookie’s affection and trust later on—I would have to refrain from participating in her punishment. I would have to pretend as if I were troubled by whatever penalty Northman exacted upon her. Perhaps, I could even find a way to “stop” him at a certain point.
And, then, later I would kill him.
Yes—Sookie would “owe” me. She’d be desperate for the protection of the only one who’d shown her any compassion as the Viking had punished her.
And it would ultimately be good that Sookie was punished. She’d be stripped of some of her more “troubling” qualities: her propensity to defy, her desire to question, and her inclination to make her own decisions.
Indeed—in the end—Eric’s punishment would help me with the telepath.
But his death would help me more.
THALIA POV
Eric Northman wasn’t as bad as most “rulers” I knew.
And—make no mistake about it—even though he was “just a sheriff,” he was a ruler. Eric inspired loyalty because of his strength. Only idiots like Compton and the current bartender at Fangtasia took what they found in Area 5 for granted.
I would have told Eric to watch out for Compton—if the “Southern Gent” weren’t so transparently shifty.
I would have told Eric to watch out for Jock—if the bartender knew anything about subtlety when it came to his “spying.”
However, the Viking wouldn’t have deserved his well-earned reputation (or my loyalty) if either of those two “tools” had fooled him for a moment.
Granted—I knew that I could take Eric out in a one-on-one fight. I was stronger, faster, older.
But it would be an enjoyable fight because I was pretty sure that he was slightly craftier than I was.
Slightly.
“Yes,” I said to myself with a fangy grin. “The Viking and I would have an amazing fight!”
Just to savor such a fight, I was almost tempted to challenge him. But I knew I’d be hard-pressed to find another ruler of equal merit—especially one whom I could also tolerate. When I’d opted to settle in the Americas years before, it had taken me a long time to research and decide upon which territory I wanted to live in. And I didn’t want to have to start that process all over again!
After the Great Revelation—when Eric decided that a portion of every vampire’s “duty” to him would be spending time at Fangtasia—I’d almost had second thoughts about staying in Area 5.
The truth was that being around fangbangers who revered me was annoying, but it wasn’t without some benefits. For example, I was able to take out my annoyance on them. Many of the ones who’d joined my “fan club” enjoyed the rougher aspects of sex and didn’t mind a more “rigorous” feeding. And all of them were easily influenced.
I’d kill anyone who found out, but I’d created my own anonymous “username” and had recently joined the social networking site that was devoted to my “followers.” As “thalias_favorite_bite,” I’d suggested things that “I” did to make “Thalia” want me: certain soaps to use, certain foods to avoid, certain habits to give up, etc.
I figured that, in addition to having better meal choices, I was also “helping” the humans who had given up smoking and fast food for me.
“I’m a regular humanitarian,” I said dryly to myself, somewhat disappointed that no one was there to enjoy the joke with me.
Despite my personal policy of staying out of political shit—especially when it hit the proverbial fan—I’d noticed more than my fair share of “propelled fecal events” during the previous years. Many of them had involved Sookie Stackhouse.
I was an old vampire—older than the Viking.
I had smelled Sookie Stackhouse’s uniqueness the first time I’d encountered her.
Part fairy.
I could have told Northman that nugget of information, but—truly—for vampires as old as we, “mystery” was a greater gift.
I’d been “serving my time” at Fangtasia the first time Sookie had walked into it. Bill Compton, the clueless fool, had been incorrect (unsurprisingly) when he’d proclaimed that Eric Northman was the oldest thing in Fangtasia that night, but—in Bill’s defense—I was good at hiding how strong and formidable I truly was.
Perhaps that was my vampire gift—since I didn’t seem to have inherited any others from my maker.
But stealth and subterfuge were enough; after all, they had helped me to survive for a very long time. Thus, it wasn’t remarkable that I’d recognized those two impulses in Northman when he’d asked me to be his second the night before.
I’d opted to tolerate the “job”—as long as I didn’t have to do it for very long.
I didn’t think I would.
My first piece of evidence? Sookie.
My second? Pam.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know why Northman’s previous lieutenant was currently MIA.
Though rocket scientists could actually be quite tasty.
I’d made a point of trying several astronauts, just to see if there was a difference between their “pre-space” blood flavor and their “post-space” blood flavor.
Thanks to the limited food choices in space (especially early in the program), there had been! Indeed, Neil Armstrong still ranked right up there as one of my favorite bed companions.
I’d preferred his blood “post-space.” It had seemed “purer” somehow.
Probably because of all of the gelatinous food he’d been forced to eat.
That thought aside, when Eric had “ordered” it the night before, I’d guessed immediately that he didn’t actually want me to be his second. I’d also known that his supposed attack against Sookie Stackhouse had been staged.
Yes—I’d witnessed Eric and Sookie together the first night they’d interacted. And I’d witnessed them on subsequent nights.
In my time, I’d seen real love. And I’d seen attempts at it.
What Eric and Sookie had was not an attempt; it was real.
Not that the two didn’t try to deny that.
Amusingly, they had been stuck in the “we’re just attempting it” mode for years. But that didn’t make their love any less real.
Thus, I knew that there was no way that Eric would publically—and cruelly—attack Sookie unless it was as some kind of ruse. Just as there was no way that Pam would disobey her maker—no matter how much she liked her dying human lover.
Whom I figured was dead by now—though soon to be rising.
At exactly 9:00 P.M., I parked the sedan Eric had loaned me—since I didn’t keep my own vehicle—in front of Sookie Stackhouse’s home. It was a quaint farmhouse, and most humans in the area would have considered it “old.” I scoffed. Humans, especially those in the United States, had very little conception of the word “old.”
As I got out of the car, I inhaled deeply.
Fairies—a full-blooded male and a half-blooded male from the scent of them—had been at the home recently, though they were not there presently. I knew that the fairies lived with Sookie, so I was not surprised by the lingering scents.
As a rule, I had nothing to do with fairies. They were more trouble than they were worth—especially since the meal garnered from one of them could hardly be remembered.
My memories of my one and only meal from fairies were hazy at best—but I did recall that I drained three of the “candy-smelling” creatures.
After that, I’d been lucky to get out of the sun in time not to meet my true death when I “missed” the orb’s impending arrival.
I’d been too drunk to recall that anything—even sunlight—could be a danger to me.
It had taken me weeks to heal from my burn wounds!
Fairies!
So. Not. Worth. The. Trouble!
And—clearly—even part-fairies attracted their fair share of dilemmas. I didn’t need to ask the Viking to confirm that either.
In addition to the fairies, I also picked up the scents of several Weres, two of whom were nearby in the woods—Sookie’s “guards” no doubt.
The only scent that surprised me was the smell of brimstone. Demons had been there recently; in fact, they’d likely left only ten or so minutes before.
Before I could knock on the door, a nervous-looking Sookie Stackhouse opened it. She was dressed in the first garment I’d ever seen her in: a white dress with red flowers.
Wholesome. Enticing.
“Ready?” I asked her.
She nodded and locked her door before following me to the car.
We’d been driving for a few miles when she spoke up for the first time.
“Thalia, you need to know what to expect tonight.”
The tone of her voice made my fangs click down.
Trouble indeed.
But not necessarily unwelcome.
A/N: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! The next one will go back four hours and get us caught up on what Sookie was up to and on her meeting with the demons.
Please leave me a comment if you are inspired to do so and have the time.
Many thanks to Seph & Kleannhouse!
28 thoughts on “Chapter 18: Manners”
Pingback: Story Update: Chapter 18 of Not Without Action – California Kat
Tree says:
I really like the new look to your page! The latest chapter is just making me pine away for more story. More. Story. Please 🙂 (it’s your own fault for spinning such a good tale, lol) I am glad to see she has figured out Claude, Dermot (ew, right?!) and Alcide’s intentions now. I always disliked how this went down in the books. And I adore Thalia. She is such a badass. Looking forward to the next chapter!
E. B. Rhome says:
Love the new theme. Can’t wait for the propelled fecal event to begin!
I like stories that jump back and forth in time.
I do not see the red letters. Perhaps the person who sees that, have not updated their computer.
Back to the story at hand. It is assumed that before he occupied the state of Louisiana, Felipe de Castro had to do his homework and know in advance the strong (and weak) points of his enemies in the conflict. Also, Victor also must be informed of this (rumors in the community Supe run faster than wildfire). How can he be believing that Eric Northman would hurt the woman he loves? Delusional and selective blindness in favor of his own goals, is my answer.
I have always been intrigued by Thalia. Victor is a fool. Even if Dermott wasn’t be coming more like a funny uncle, he looks too much like Jason. Never trusted Claude and Alcide is a disappointment. I’m glad Sookie is on to them. I look forward to those four hours.
Reading on iPhone and site looks great. So glad Sookie is finally seeing things as they are and not as she wanted them to be! Totally enjoyed Thalia’s pov and was glad I wasn’t drinking when she thought about the propelled fecal events! LMAO Looking forward to seeing Victor get his smug attitude royally adjusted. He’s as delusional as Bill usually is. Can’t wait for more.
I really enjoyed Thalia’s POV…she’s such an awesome character!
Can’t stand Victor…hope that Thalia gets to “play” with him.
Victor’s POV was enlightening..he makes what wlll be a fatal mistake when he assumes Eric will treat Sookie the way he would in his place. Thalia is a fun character, hardcore kickass lady and takes crap from no one. Dermott’s confused/deluded idea that there could ever be anything beween him and Sookie is sad. I liked his character in the books until this “weirdness” came up. And the fact that he looks like Jason’s twin (remember him passing as Jason in the book where he was introduced?) just raises the creep factor. I’m glad you are dealing with this stuff so we can put it behind Eric and Sookie in your story….speaking of which..there is no NEXT button here..will be anxiously waiting for the alert that chapter 19 has been posted.
Kittyinaz says:
Trouble indeed!! But we will see what all comes from their plan…
I loved how you gave Thalia a point of view, loved her. Can’t wait to see what she and Mr. C. got up to.
sarabor says:
Love your new look. I can’t wait to see Sookie kick her so called family out. Thank you for a great chapter!
I like the new page setup. No red.
Very clear and easy to read.
Great chapter and interesting points of view.
It is amazing that in spite of how “superior” these supernatural men are (lol) they just project their bias onto what they think that Sookie or Eric will do in any situation. If Victor thinks that Eric will mistreat Sookie and allow other vamps to feed and fuck her as a punishment he is crazy. Does he not know anything about a bonded pair? Also I would think he would take the time to find out how Sookie really acts. If he thinks any kind of punishment would make Sookie a mindless twit then he just needs to put the stake in his own chest. Alcide is a fool…..Jumping from one womans bed into Sookie’s. Did he forget that Sookie is a telepath? Dermot and Claude should know how the human world works now that they have spent so much time in it. Maybe Dermot is too much like Jason and only thinking with the head of his dick. Claude Well he does have some beef about Claudine being killed. Maybe he should take it up wilt Niall who has been fighting Breandon and the water clan for many long years. I think Niall was never very committed to taking out Breandon. Lochlan and Nieve were just bad news all around. Niall should have quashed the civil war long before Claudine was killed.
Sookie must have bit her tongue a few times. They wanted FOOD ! Alcide is so pig headed. Dermott is creepy. Claude, I never trusted him. Why did Sookie have them living with her again?
And to go on about her quitting her job.
Thalia, glad she’s the one to pick Sookie up. I can’t wait to see how this goes down.
Like the new look.
msbuffy says:
Excellent! Very much enjoyed Thalia’s POV.
Juicy says:
Love Thalia – Can’t wait to read what her part will be in this ruse.
Glad Sookie is keeping tabs on Alcides thoughts. Always thought it was foolish of her to respect peoples “privacy” after so many had double crossed her.
Thank you for updating!
Love the new look! Always good to freshen up the house with new curtains, lamps, pillows, etc!
Ah….chess pieces are moving into place. Seemed like one of the side effects of the CD was to remove any “blinders” that Sookie had in the past so she’s seeing situations and people with greater clarity. Good! It’s gonna be needed…..
We have do go snake hunting now…..
Victor is an ass and i so love Thalia. KY
mindyb781 says:
It is so fun to see Sookie involved in this game and waking up to the reality around here. I’m so glad she sees people’s true intentions now. This chapter was fun with multiple POVs.
bbrock525 says:
I like the website. Thalia is right trouble. Great chapter as always. Can’t wait for more.
glamouredbyyou says:
I hate these three scumbags. Love Thalias POV.. Great chapter and congrats to your new outfit. 😉
gwynwyvar says:
Reading on an iPhone and everything looks fine 🙂 very cute new theme. Love the envelope patter around the review section 😄
Ok, from the beginning. I feel bad for and relieved for Sookie. Bad that her newly found family isn’t a source of love and support it should be. Relieved that she can finally see it.
I’ll say it again, I hope Claude has a painful end.
Dermott, I don’t know. Maybe he’ll wake up?
Alcide. *snort* he could get lost chasing a squirrel maybe….
Victor. I hope he has something very pointy in his immediate future.
Thalia – rocks. Love her version of improving humanity lol.
Love the new theme!
Thalia’s a hoot – creating her own ID to get her meals to eat better! ROFL
Glad that Sookie is now monitoring those around her and really seeing her kin fir what they are.
Another great chapter, as per usual. ‘ Propelled fecal events’ will have me chuckling all day!
Thalia ‘the humanitarian’ is just such a great character and I am so glad she is an ally of the Viking.
Sookie is fortunate to have in Eric a man who truly values her since the rest of the entitled jerks see her as nothing more than an object to be owned.
Good to know that Sookie is now able to see the truth behind the facades and I do love a story in which the Viking and his love plot and scheme together in order to take down their enemies. The couple that slays together, stays together, don’tchaknow? 😉
I love the new site and there are no problems with the displayed text for me.
Looking forward to finding out what happens next.
suzymeinen says:
I absolutely loved hearing from Thalia!
Sylver Moon says:
Gotta say that as always you do tell a good story. I just read this story from start to finish today in one fowl (foul?) swoop. I saw the update in my reader and just HAD to read it! I can’t wait to see how the meeting goes or how well the plan goes..let alone the wish!
Thanks for another excellent chapter, especially Thalia’s POV. I love it!
switbo says:
Loved the Thalia POV. I absolutely adore her character and you always write her as such a hoot. “Humanitarian”. Lol
What an idiot Victor is. How anyone who knew anything about Eric would think he would abuse his bonded is beyond me. And sharing her around? Even if he didn’t love her, I would think that the wildly possessive streak all vampires have would make it obvious that sharing her wouldn’t happen.
Finally, I was cracking up at Sookie’s interior monologue at the beginning.
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San Rafael Airport – Safety Zone Threatened
December 3, 2012Larry Chapman0 Comments
Filed UnderCalifornia Airports
San Rafael Airport MarinSoccer Complex Hearing Postponed Following Allegation of Mayor’s Conflict of Interest – Monday’s public hearing for the San Rafael Airport’s proposed soccer complex was rescheduled so Mayor Gary Phillips, who has a lease with the airport, could obtain written approval from a state agency that will allow him to participate in the decision.
The planned public hearing on the San Rafael Airport‘s proposed soccer facility has been postponed following an allegation that Mayor Gary Phillips should recuse himself from the meeting due to a conflict of interest.
Phillips, who has a lease with the airport for a private hangar, requested written direction from the Fair Political Practices Commission, a state agency that strives to enforce objectivity in policy decisions, to confirm that he may lawfully participate in the decision.
“The city has been processing the soccer facility application for more than five years and it is obviously a significant local land use decision,” City Attorney Rob Epstein said in a statement. “Under the circumstances, I think it is appropriate for the mayor to seek a pre-decision ruling, and for the city to delay the hearing on the matter until that ruling is obtained.”
According to the FPPC, a public official must recuse himself from any decision where he has a financial interest in the outcome. San Rafael resident Barry Taranto first brought up the potential conflict of interest during the open public comment during a City Council meeting last month.
The decision to postpone the hearing was made by Assistant City Manager Jim Schutz and Epstein, who reviewed the allegations of conflict and determined that there is no disqualifying conflict.
“This opinion is shared by the mayor’s private counsel, Vigo G. “Chip” Nielsen, a well-known expert on political law,” Shutz said in a release.
Despite this opinion, Nielsen notified city staff that he intends to request that the FPPC provide a written ruling to confirm that Phillips may participate in the decision.
The planned recreational building, which was first proposed in 2004, was approved by the Planning Commission in early June. The complex will house indoor soccer fields and courts with spectator seating, offices, food and beverage service and meetings rooms. There will also be two outdoor soccer fields with parking and exterior lighting.
The City Council meeting was scheduled for Aug. 6. City officials did not give a new date for the meeting.
CalPilots Editor’s Note: Please note the location of this proposed facility on the lower right side picture. This is not a safe location to build this facility and the City Council should know that. Further, the Caltrans Division of Aeronautics (DoA) sent a letter advising against the location based upon safety concerns (see attached at the bottom).
CalPilots Response
To: The San Rafael City Council
Subject: Airport Sports Development
The California Pilots Association (CALPILOTS) mission is to promote and preserve the State’s airports. We actively promote safety at all levels of aviation activity including safety related to land use planning.
We are stunned that the application for the San Rafael Airport Recreational Facility, catering to scores of children in open playing fields or in a building unreinforced against major impact, located extremely close (160 feet – 350 feet) to the San Rafael Airport runway, is being given serious consideration by the City of San Rafael.
The letter sent to Mr. Kraig Tamborini of the Planning Division from Mr. Ron Bolyard of the California Division of Aeronautics (March 9, 2012) strongly recommended prohibiting this project on the San Rafael Airport, in the proposed location. We fully support this prohibition based on the California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook (CALUPH) recognizing the number of incidents which occur in zones 2 and 5 (for all airports into which zones this development falls) and the duty of a governing body to give extra protection to children and for the following reasons:
1. Examination of the plans for the project shows the location only barely meets and sometimes even violates the very minimum of standards considered safe for a project which would normally not include this vulnerable group of our population.
2. Historically, the record of many of the “incidents” located in safety zones 2 and 5 (CALUPH), would have been of greater magnitude had the hazards of the proposed structure, parking lot, vehicles and light standards been located similar to those proposed by the applicant for the San Rafael Airport Recreational Facility. These “incidents” were not included in the calculations used in the California Airport Landing Use Planning Handbook. If they had been, the 27% of all aircraft “accidents”, a considerable percentage in itself, which do occur in these sensitive zones, would have been much higher!
3. The present San Rafael Airport runway is restricted by urban areas, rising high terrain, and a narrow short runway. Operations are compromised by downwind departures (encouraged by the operator and the city), the airport’s lack of some safety features for the runway, a taxiway, a clear area at the north-east end of the runway, etc. All these factors increase the value of the safety factor of open space provided by the area on which this project would sit. San Rafael Airport Recreational Facility
4. The proposed project would increase the risk for an accident because of wind disturbance from the proposed large structure, convective currents from the parking lot, glare from windshields of vehicles, the obstructions of the building and the light standards, headlights from moving vehicles and the outdoor lighting increasing confusion at night, even the multiple vehicles and people moving in extremely close proximity to the runway necessarily lead to distraction and greater challenges to pilots, increasing the chance for error in judgment and control.
5. The FAA and NTSB records, easily accessible by your planners, list scores of tragic aircraft accidents which have occurred directly in zones 2 and 5 of airports similar to the San Rafael Airport. To place children in these zones of proven risk, as proposed by this project, is unthinkable.
Despite the seductive appeal of the merits of the project, we encourage you to reject it as a violation of your duty to protect children from this documented risk.
Carol Ford
Vice-President – California Pilots Association
http://www.airnav.com/airport/CA35
Tagged WithSan Rafael Airport
Jolie lucas
“Remember When” Fly-In to Be held at KFCH September 29-2018
CalPilots Opposes Building Expansion in the Ukiah Airport Runway Protection Zone.
CalPilots Submits Comments About Landfill Impacts to Stockton Airport
Please Review! – Your Comments in Support of FAA Draft Policy Requested
Copyright © 2020 California Pilots Association
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Western Michigan vs Wisconsin live stream: Watch Cotton Bowl online
Josh Sanchez | Jan 2, 2017 1:00 am
ESPN kicks off its busy Monday in Arlington, Texas, with the No. 12 Western Michigan Broncos facing off against the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers in the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium.
Western Michigan was a fan favorite throughout the season, as one of the Group of Five contenders proving to be a real contender. The Broncos finished off the regular season undefeated, 13-0, and will be looking to keep their perfect record intact with their toughest test to date.
Wisconsin , meanwhile, rallied after a slow start to October to put together a six-game winning streak that earned the Badgers a spot in the Big Ten Championship. Unfortunately, Wisconsin fell to Penn State which ultimately cost the team a spot in the College Football Playoff.
The Badgers will be looking to make a statement on Monday afternoon and to bring some positive momentum for the Big Ten after what has been a disappointing bowl season.
Bowl game gifts 2016: Complete list of bowl gift packages
How can you tune in to Monday afternoon’s bowl game? Here is all of the information you will need to tune in from the opening kickoff.
Date: Monday, Jan. 2
Start Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Location: Arlington, Texas
Venue: AT&T Stadium
TV Info: ESPN
Announcers: Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard, Allison Williams
Radio: Brad Sham, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich
Live Stream: Stream 1
Photo Credit: Twitter
FootballBowl Games,Cotton Bowl,Western Michigan football,Wisconsin football
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Deliverology
Digital Governance
Editor’s Word
Executive Brief
EyeCues
From Apolitical
Stratford’s solution to IT systems management
The economic downturn and subsequent loss of tax revenues are forcing municipalities around the world to make some hard choices. In Ontario, the City of Stratford expects IT to contribute its share of efficiencies even as its responsibilities are expanding and its budgets are shrinking.
For Ron Roy, manager of Information Technology Services for the city, that means finding ways to streamline the management of distributed systems. As with any local government, Stratford’s 230 workstations and 25 servers are spread across the city and are accessed by hundreds of full-time and part-time users. Remote access and remote control are critical to proactively monitoring, updating and securing these systems. The thinking is that preventative maintenance ensures performance and availability at a much better price point than running around putting out fires.
However, an efficient IT management strategy is only as successful as the tools administrators and technicians use to maintain systems. Stratford deployed six best-of-breed management solutions that provided adequate remote capabilities and created IT efficiencies. Unfortunately, management functions were spread across multiple tools, meaning that operations were not centralized or integrated. According to Roy, technicians often had to log in and out of several management tools to resolve a single help desk request, adding complexity to the IT environment and slowing remediation times.
“Juggling back and forth between management tools is not an efficient service delivery model,” Roy said. “We were getting the job done, but it was taking us too long and we weren’t assured of consistency between the solutions. The pressure to reduce costs was mounting, so we had to get more efficient.”
Single management framework
Recognizing that the city’s ad hoc management tools were not creating the efficiencies the department needed, Roy deployed a remote and automated IT systems management solution from Kaseya that consolidated all management functions in a single Web-based platform. Now, Stratford’s administrators are able to remotely monitor, maintain, backup and secure the city’s more than 250 systems on a single pane of glass regardless of the physical location, type or platform of the managed machine. The new technology allows administrators to view, take control of and make changes to any system logged into the network, even machines behind departmental firewalls.
Roy said, “IT operations are much more efficient and integrated, allowing us to accomplish more over the course of the day. I feel confident that we can support any business system that the municipality throws at us without affecting our budget or existing capabilities.”
Once the solution was operational, Roy was able to see how automation, built directly into the IT automation framework, made systems management more efficient. Regular maintenance such as issuing a patch, defragging a hard drive or running a security scan can be applied to groups of machines at the push of a button, eliminating much of the repetition normally associated with managing large groups of machines.
More efficient and less expensive
The efficiencies provided by the new solution enable Stratford to continue providing high-quality IT services to distributed users without affecting the budget. Systems continue to be managed in the same manner as before, but operations are more efficient, enabling the IT department to “do more with less.”
Before consolidating management functions, Roy would have had to make a choice in the face of growing workloads: ask his staff to work longer hours, hire an additional network technician at a $52,000 salary level or drop service levels. He now has the option of choosing none of the above by streamlining regular maintenance through powerful remote capabilities, a central knowledge base and automation.
Operational expenses were not the only savings. According to Roy, the ability to replace the city’s previous six management tools saves the city $6,500 per year in licensing, support and maintenance. Most important, however, the savings come at no expense to service levels, something that politicians, users and taxpayers all appreciate.
Steve Ridout is Kaseya’ country manager for Canada, responsible for new business generation, services and operations.
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Oprah Winfrey packaging together old clips for brand-new OWN series
Oprah Winfrey July 30, 2011
Vargas2040
Oprah Winfrey has now officially found a way to make 25 years of her own talk-show clips feel new again.
Speaking on Friday at the annual Television Critics Association event, Winfrey proclaimed that she would be using some of her archived footage from her landmark daytime show for a new OWN program entitled “Own Your Life” — meaning that most of the footage she plans on unearthing will be of the inspirational variety. (Sorry, people who wanted to see funny interviews or her giving away cars a hundred times.)
While in theory this idea sounds like a smart one, there is one question that we have to inevitably ask on the subject — are people really going to want to sit down and watch footage they may have already seen once before? The biggest struggle for OWN has been finding a way to convince viewers to visit the channel on a regular basis, and not bringing anything necessarily new to the table may not be the proper manner in which to do that.
Can you see “Own Your Life” being a succes — or, like many of Oprah’s other projects on the network so far, do you think that this will ultimately end up being a little bit underwhelming?
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Details for: Stories of the middle space :
Stories of the middle space : reading the ethics of postmodern realisms / Deborah C. Bowen.
By: Bowen, Deborah C.
Material type: TextSeries: JSTOR eBooks.Publisher: Montreal ; Ithaca [NY] : McGill-Queen's University Press, ©2010Description: 1 online resource (ix, 282 pages) : illustrations.Content type: text Media type: computer Carrier type: online resourceISBN: 9780773591035; 0773591036.Other title: Reading the ethics of postmodern realisms.Subject(s): Ethics in literature | Christian ethics in literature | Realism in literature | Postmodernism (Literature) | Postmodernism (Literature) -- Canada | Morale dans la littérature | Morale chrétienne dans la littérature | Réalisme dans la littérature | Postmodernisme (Littérature) | Postmodernisme (Littérature) -- CanadaAdditional physical formats: Print version:: Stories of the middle space.DDC classification: C813/.5409353 Online resources: Click here to view this ebook.
True stories and the oppressions of history -- Magic realism, social protest and the irrepressibility of language -- Parodic myth and sacred story -- Writing with photographs: art, lies, and realist developments -- The genres of the middle space.
Action note: digitized 2011 committed to preserveReview: "Postmodernism's critics often accuse the movement of being dangerously amoral because of its apparent wariness of concepts such as truth, ethics, and justice. Stories of the Middle Space explores the possibility of "postmodernism-with-a-conscience" and examines a variety of British and Canadian postmodern fiction to show how twentieth-century critical theory can be brought into fruitful dialogue with a faith-based perspective. Highlighting the wide variety of ethical concerns considered by writers such as Timothy Findley, Thomas King, Carol Shields, Julian Barnes, A.S. Byatt, and Salman Rushdie, Deborah Bowen makes the case for a new category of "postmodern realism" and shows how contemporary stories about "the real" and "the good" are constructed. Applying theoretical insights from Emmanuel Levinas and Mikhail Bakhtin, Bowen investigates categories of postmodern realism such as magic realism, parody, and metafiction while laying the groundwork for Christian readings of a medium that is often perceived as largely irreligious. An illuminating study of well-known contemporary writers, Stories of the Middle Space is a critically nuanced and methodologically innovative work that reads the postmodern from a faith-based perspectives to create new literary insights."--Jacket.
Electronic Book UT Tyler Online
Online PR9192.5 .B69 2010 (Browse shelf) https://ezproxy.uttyler.edu/login?url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/j.ctt1q6073 Available ocn818658349
"Postmodernism's critics often accuse the movement of being dangerously amoral because of its apparent wariness of concepts such as truth, ethics, and justice. Stories of the Middle Space explores the possibility of "postmodernism-with-a-conscience" and examines a variety of British and Canadian postmodern fiction to show how twentieth-century critical theory can be brought into fruitful dialogue with a faith-based perspective. Highlighting the wide variety of ethical concerns considered by writers such as Timothy Findley, Thomas King, Carol Shields, Julian Barnes, A.S. Byatt, and Salman Rushdie, Deborah Bowen makes the case for a new category of "postmodern realism" and shows how contemporary stories about "the real" and "the good" are constructed. Applying theoretical insights from Emmanuel Levinas and Mikhail Bakhtin, Bowen investigates categories of postmodern realism such as magic realism, parody, and metafiction while laying the groundwork for Christian readings of a medium that is often perceived as largely irreligious. An illuminating study of well-known contemporary writers, Stories of the Middle Space is a critically nuanced and methodologically innovative work that reads the postmodern from a faith-based perspectives to create new literary insights."--Jacket.
Print version record.
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Electronic reproduction. [S.l.] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2011. MiAaHDL
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. MiAaHDL
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Reviews provided by Syndetics
CHOICE Review
Covering recent British and Canadian works that are often the subjects of plot summaries or formulaic readings, Bowen's thoughtful book is more rigorous in looking at the British side, but broader in scope on the Canadian side. In reading Canadian Joy Kogawa's Obasan (1981) as Christian as well as multicultural, Bowen (English, Redeemer Univ. College, Canada) points out that "traditional Japanese codes of behavior" dovetail with Christian ones. The author sees even nonreligious writers such as Jeanette Winterson as proffering positive values, though she upbraids Winterson for not allowing Puritans the same generosity she wishes Puritans to allow others. Discussing photography in literature, Bowen distinguishes between prize-winning novelist Michael Ondaatje, who allows instability in his deployment of images, and memoirist and current Canadian Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff, who does not allow such instability. Bowen's exposition of the Christian "middle space," though certainly pluralistic, seems to posit it as invariably culturally recuperative--which is hardly obvious. Nonetheless, this nuanced, reflective work will benefit even those who do not share Bowen's interpretive assumptions. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. N. Birns The New School
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Home » News » National » Staying or going, a Tamil family becomes the face of Australia’s border policies in deportation dispute
Staying or going, a Tamil family becomes the face of Australia’s border policies in deportation dispute
Uncertain future: Tharunicaa and Kopika await their fate.
THE plight of boat people being allowed to stay in Australia is being tested after a Tamil family from Biloela was granted a mid-air temporary reprieve from deportation.
Mother Priya and her husband Nadesalingam and their two Australian-born children were removed from a plane taking them from Melbourne to Sri Lanka on August 30.
A last-minute court injunction forced their flight to land in Darwin before they were eventually moved to Christmas Island where, at time of publication, they await deportation.
Brisbane Dominican Father Pancras Jordan, who works closely with the Tamil Catholic community, said he was at the King George Square rally supporting the family last Sunday.
Australians rally for family
He said many Tamils and Sri Lankans joined the rally, which was uncommon.
Fr Jordan said many of the Tamils in Brisbane were refugees and usually would not take part in rallies or demonstrations because they do not want to be seen in public and photographed.
The plight of this Tamil family was a point of solidarity across the community.
Fr Jordan said rallies across the country showed the compassion of Australia.
“This family has been very much loved by the people of Biloela, and now it seems this family is loved by all Australians all over the place now,” Fr Jordan said.
He said Australia was a Christian country with mostly Christian political leaders, but the government was behaving in an unchristian way.
“I as a Christian find it extremely difficult to understand how these people can be treated with terrible injustice and without any compassion,” he said.
“It is not the Gospel way.”
Fr Jordan said the family was exhausted from constantly moving place to place, especially the two young children.
While the family’s future remained unclear, their case was described as a test of “what Christian leadership looks like” by outspoken Labor Senator Kristina Kenneally, who demanded the prime minister intervene.
“It is compassion. It is welcome. It is the story of the Good Samaritan,” Senator Kenneally said.
“And the people of Biloela have been showing that by their advocacy and their fierce determination to return this family of four home to that community.”
Deported: Nades and Priya with Tharunicaa and Kopika.
In Biloela, there’s deep support for Priya and Nades who settled in the central Queensland town in 2014, after separately arriving in Australia by boat in 2012 and 2013, following Sri Lanka’s civil war.
Nades worked at the meatworks, Priya was known for making her homemade curries, and their daughters were both born in Queensland.
Their new life in Biloela was shattered in 2016 after an early morning raid by Australian Border Force officials.
The family was seized from their home and placed in a Melbourne detention centre.
Biloela residents rallied to lobby for their return.
A #BringThemHometoBiloela campaign gaining strong national support failed to sway Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton, who this week, urged the family to “accept they are not refugees”, and refused to use his ministerial powers to save them.
Family do not meet refugee status
Feeling wide media pressure, Mr Dutton penned a letter published in The Courier-Mail explaining his stance.
He said the mother and father arrived illegally by boat in 2012 and 2013, respectively, and were told they did not fit the United Nations definition of refugees.
“They were told that they would never settle permanently in Australia, just like many others who arrived by boat,” he wrote.
“They never accepted that decision.
“They have gone on to appeal to the Federal Magistrates Court, the Federal Court and the High Court, costing the Australian taxpayers millions of dollars.
“They have explained their circumstance to every decision maker and Judge and every one of them has rejected their claim for protection.
“That is that they are not refugees.”
Mr Dutton wrote he had not had one death at sea on his watch as minister and wanted to maintain that.
“We won’t take a moral lecture when the reality is we have a compassionate approach that is helping thousands each year, but where somebody has been told consistently all the way through to the High Court that they are not refugees, then those people have to return back to their country of origin,” he wrote.
Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said he spoke directly to Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the need for Mr Dutton to intervene.
“This would not undermine Australia’s borders,” Mr Albanese said.
“It would simply be the very reason why there is ministerial discretion in the Act, to show compassion, to show that there are specific needs for this family.”
Call for ministerial discretion
Fr Jordan said a great worry in the refugee community was – if these things could happen to one family, they could happen to many more.
He said many people have already been deported to Sri Lanka.
Urging people to forget the politics and the bureaucracy, Fr Jordan urged people to just look at the humanity.
“By allowing these four human beings (to stay in Australia) we are not going to lose anything, rather we’re going to gain,” he said.
“Australians are beautiful people and we are generous people, compassionate people,” he said.
Fr Jordan said Mr Dutton had the power to allow the family to stay.
“The only thing is they need to have the heart and they need to listen to what people want,” he said.
“The community where this family lived, Biloela, what they want.”
Peter Kurti, from the Centre for Independent Studies, told Sky that discretionary action to allow the family to stay “sends a signal”.
He said people overseas would be watching the outcome and, if the family received special treatment, it would signal a weakening border.
Others have argued last year Mr Dutton used his ministerial discretion to keep two Au pairs from being deported even though their case was significantly weaker than the Tamil family’s.
Mr Morrison said they could apply to return as migrants after they returned to Sri Lanka.
asylum seeker Biloela deportation refugee Tamil family 2019-09-04
Previous: Assistant Principal Religious Education – Good Counsel College, Cairns
Next: Archbishop Peter Loy Chong sees islanders move to higher ground, visits Brisbane to raise awareness
Meet the Rwandan Catholic saving taxpayers millions by giving refuges and migrants a dream
‘It’s mental torture’: Biloela Tamil family stuck in agonising wait about their future
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Minn. young adults accompany, pray for bishops on ad limina visit to Rome January 18, 2020
Vatican City, Jan 18, 2020 / 04:35 pm (CNA).- Young adults from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are accompanying their bishops on their ad limina visit to Rome this week, joining them at “the threshold of the apostles.” The 25 young Catholics are in Rome Jan. 10-18, visiting the city as Archbishop Bernard […]
Miami archbishop promotes refugee resettlement January 18, 2020
Miami, Fla., Jan 18, 2020 / 06:01 am (CNA).- The Archbishop of Miami has emphasized the importance of welcoming refugees, and decried the decision of Texas Governor Greg Abbott not to participate in the federal refugee resettlement program. “Often mentored by church volunteers and given resettlement support, refugees and their family quickly integrate into American […]
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You may be wondering what a fight song has to do with career coaching. In 1994, I was a manager at AT&T American Transtech, and I was inspired when Jacksonville landed the NFL team. I wrote the lyrics and created the melody for the song long before we had a team and cheerleaders. I love making up songs, and I decided the team needed a high-energy, spirit-pumping Jacksonville Jaguars Fight Song ©. You see, we all are multi-talented, and we need to use all of our talents and abilities whatever our career.
On my song, The Jacksonville University Wind Ensemble provided the instrumental, and the song contains (1) vocalists (2) instrumentals (3) vocalists (again) (4) cheer vocalists (5) cheer instrumentals and (6) a Jaguars “tag.” The vocalists can be played any place Jaguars gather! Frankly, the song will knock the socks off football fans and then come back for the rest of them!
I hope you enjoy it now that the Jacksonville Jaguars are “the pride of the NFL” and will be in the playoffs.
Listen to a sample below!
https://careerchoicesunlimited.com/wp-content/uploads/01-Jaguars-Fight-Song-Sample.mp3
Lyrics and Music by Marilyn W. Feldstein
We are the Jacksonville Jaguars
You see us everywhere you go
And when you think of Florida Sunshine
You will always know
And we’re the pride of the NFL
When we’re soaring on to the highest heights
You will know us, oh so well
You see us fighting all the way
And when you have that football spirit
You will always say
A million touchdowns we will score
When it’s time to cheer
Just yell it clear
With a Jacksonville Jaguar Roar!
Cheer ©
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Helen Davison: "election has put Greens on the map"
The 2015 Elections saw Carlisle & Eden Green Party for the first time standing candidates in every City Council seat across the Carlisle constituency, as well as General Election candidates in both Carlisle and Penrith & The Border constituencies.
Carlisle's Green surge
Carlisle General Election candidate Helen Davison polled a respectable 1,125 votes - an almost two-fold increase from May 2010, coming fourth ahead of the Liberal Democrats and independent candidate Alfred Okam respectively.
This increase in the General Election vote reflected the continuing Green surge across the country, with more than one million people voting Green, four times higher than in any previous General Election. Helen Davison thanked Green voters:
"I want to thank the one million voters, Carlisle and beyond who despite our first-past-the-post system, voted with the courage of their convictions for a more compassionate and caring society that looks to the future, rather than just short-term self-interest.
"I am heartened to know you are all out there. We have a lot to do after this election but let's keep up the fight. It has just got massively greater, but all the more reason for us to keep going.
"This election has put the Greens on the map. We're offering politics of hope not fear - for the future and the common good."
Deposit saved in Penrith & The Border
The Green Party stood in Penrith & The Border for the first time since 1992 and candidate Bryan Burrow polled 2,313 votes. Bryan was encouraged by gaining enough of the vote share to retain the deposit:
"We've improved in every seat, saving over one hundred deposits and coming third in over a dozen seats. The Party had never come second place in a General Election til now, with us polling second in several seats.
"We need to really push for proportional representation so we can have a democracy that actually reflects the views of the people its supposed to represent."
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St Aidans ward candidate Leah Cameron thanked Local Elections voters:
"Thank you everyone who voted for us, your support means we can go on and do even better in the next local elections. With the Conservatives back in power there is even more to fight for.
"It is up to all of us push environmental issues to the front of the political agenda. Just because we did not win any local council seats does not mean that we cannot have a voice in Carlisle. Just because we did not vote for their parties does not mean that they do not represent us - we have to make them represent all of their constituents, we have to make our voice heard."
General Election Agent John Reardon thanked candidates and supporters:
"A huge thank you to all our candidates, especially Helen, Bryan and Leah. We've demanded a lot of them and they have done us proud.
"Members and supporters have taken on all sorts of jobs, gaining valuable campaign experience. It's thanks to this effective team that we've fielded a record number of local candidates and got the excellent media coverage needed to get our message out loudly and clearly."
Neil Boothman, Local Elections Agent added:
"Even if we didn't get the result we hoped for, support for the Green Party here has grown, indicated by our increased vote. Our ongoing aim to get a Green councillor elected hasn't changed and we're within striking distance of that."
For full details of our General and Local Election results, please refer to our Elections page.
North West Regional News
A Green New Deal for the North West
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Department of Modern Dance and Ballet
Title Space games
Alternative Title LeBarron
Creator LeBarron, Linda Banks, 1946-
Contributor University of Utah. Department of Modern Dance, degree granting institution
Publisher Digitized and published by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah
Temporal Coverage 1978
Spatial Coverage Utah; Salt Lake City (Utah)
Subject Modern dance--United States; Dance--Study and teaching
Keywords University of Utah; thesis; Department of Modern Dance; Department of Ballet and Modern Dance; dance performance
Description A modern dance intended to fuse the elements of dance and film into a total compositional structure. This was done by filming abstract dance phrases and the spatial boundaries of a studio space, and editing them into a thematic whole.
Rights Copyright © 1978 University of Utah. This material may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0. For other uses, please contact Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, (801) 585-3073.
Scanning Technician Jessica Breiman
Metadata Cataloger Jessica Breiman
Conversion Specifications Digitized from UMatic tape to MOV file master then converted to MP4 streaming format by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah
ARK ark:/87278/s6tq7hp1
Setname uum_dwdb
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6tq7hp1
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General news Sports College basketball Basketball College sports Men's basketball Men's sports Criminal investigations Crime Law and order Violent crime Sexual assault Men's college basketball Assault and battery
Michigan Big Ten
Attorney slams Engler for attending game amid Nassar probe
By ED WHITE - Mar. 20, 2019 04:38 PM EDT
FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2018, file photo, Larry Nassar listens as Melissa Alexander Vigogne gives her victim statement in Eaton County Circuit Court in Charlotte, Mich. Fifty-one women are suing the U.S. Olympic Committee, its board members and a number of former high-ranking officials for failing to prevent their abuse at the hands of imprisoned sports doctor Larry Nassar. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, March 12, 2019, in federal court in Denver, details abuse dating to the late 1990s. (Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal via AP, File)
DETROIT (AP) — John Engler's front-row interest in Michigan State University basketball has led to a war of words over the former school president's availability to speak to investigators about the Larry Nassar scandal .
Things have become so nasty that Engler's attorney has advised him not to cooperate if state Assistant Attorney General Christina Grossi remains on the case.
The attorney general's office wants to talk to Engler about campus changes after the sexual-assault scandal involving Nassar, a sports doctor, an interview that could take less than an hour. Engler was interim president for about a year until Jan. 17.
Grossi said Engler was scheduled to be interviewed March 28 in Washington, where he works, because he didn't plan to be in Michigan earlier. But she suddenly scratched that date this week. Grossi was upset to learn that the former Michigan governor was in a courtside seat at a MSU basketball game on March 9.
She suggested Engler could have carved out time to meet in Michigan long before March 28.
"Your client's brazen disregard for this investigation and his willingness to lie about his whereabouts is not only appalling but does a terrible disservice to the university," Grossi told attorney Seth Waxman in an email Tuesday.
"As an alumna of Michigan State, I'm embarrassed that our university's former president can make time to attend basketball games but not to sit to discuss the largest sexual assault scandal in the history of higher education," Grossi wrote.
In response, Waxman said he never indicated that Engler was unwilling to travel to Michigan. The lawyer said he was unavailable during the week of March 4, not Engler.
Waxman told Grossi that he's advising Engler to decline to speak to investigators unless she is dropped from the Nassar investigation. He accused her of "unfounded attacks" and said her "biases and prejudices" are unethical.
"The fact that the underlying conduct involved unspeakable harms," Waxman said of Nassar's assaults, "does not give the attorney general's office and its agents the right to attack, manipulate and deceive innocent people, including Mr. Engler."
Separately, Attorney General Dana Nessel asked the head of MSU's governing board to demand that Engler cooperate, under terms of his contract. She also wants the university to release more than 6,000 documents related to Nassar.
Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwhiteap
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Live cheating at worlds?
By IG88E, May 6, 2017 in X-Wing
thecactusman17 3,168
1 minute ago, ScummyRebel said:
Oh, I agree he wasn't punished enough.
What I am getting at is you cannot enter any other claims of him cheating as reason to punish him beyond his single infraction. Disqualified, fine. Perma-banned? No.
I didn't say he should be perma-banned. I said he should be disqualified and ejected from Worlds as of the moment his infraction took place, and that game treated as an immediate concession. After that, determine the appropriate top cut and continue - with that player no longer participating in X-Wing or any other games he was registered for.
Hawkstrike and ViscerothSWG reacted to this
Tam Palso 232
3 hours ago, Rexler Brath said:
The above is justifying his illegal move as a brain disorder. Do you have any sheds of evidence to backup your garbage? Nope.
I really do not understand the white knights here. Its clear he cheated and its clear to almost everyone his intention. You white knights make humanity look bad. Being ablw to justify this act of cheating. I have zero interest in ever playing a person who would defend this act. Please do us all a favor and exit the x-wing community. Law is probably a better hobby for you.
As you wish. Hopefully I will find a less poisonous and more welcoming community in another game.
Edited May 7, 2017 by Tam Palso
Calibri Garamond reacted to this
SabineKey 6,236
1 hour ago, Cailais said:
It's not that simple though, its entirely plausible that the player 'cheated' without being fully cognisant of what he was doing at that specific point in time.
If you watch the video carefully you can see he picks up the dial, and looks at it - he makes no attempt to alter the dial at that point. Essentially he is reverting to the 'planning phase', out of sync with the actual game state.
At this point he realises he has made a mistake, possibly at a sub conscious level and his brain wouldn't be able to accept that error (its a common enough reaction). Parker is therefore thinking "there is no way I would have selected that move!". He then justifies to himself moving the dial (recalling that he still 'thinks' he is in the planning phase from his subconscious perspective).
What's interesting here, is that Parker isn't cheating to "win" per se, he's in an internal monologue attempting to rectify an error in his world view of what 'should' be happening. In essence at the subconscious level his brain (probably having rehearsed the same move many times before) denies what it actually happening and attempts to restore the situation to what should be 'correctly' happening.
If you were to interrupt Parker at that precise moment , pointing out he was cheating, he'd be flummoxed by the suggestion because he doesn't 'see' the big picture of the game &, the competition -just that specific moment in time.
Yes it is cheating: but we shouldn't necessarily lambast Parker in the assumption that he was doing so in order to 'win' and that his moral compass is off. If the above holds true (or could be true) then Parkers dial modification may not have been done through pre determined malicious intent (i.e before the game: "I'm going to alter my dials to win").
Of course you might doubt this view, but its worth noting that our brains belief systems are stupendously strong, and cause us to make catastrophic errors in judgement (normally when under pressure). Pilots for example have literally flown aircraft into the sides of mountains because of it. It's one of the reasons we make simple mistakes in game play, it just so happens that in this instance Parker, probably under significant stress and pressure (Worlds, LiveStream etc) followed that decision tree to a critical failure point. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if he can barely recollect doing so.
While I can see where you are coming from, I still ascribe a certain amount of maliciousness due to the fact that he went through with it. Maybe he did subconsciously adjust the dial. But he should remember what was originally there, the thing that caused him that stress and panic. That makes his completion of the altered maneuver a conscious choice.
Arttemis reacted to this
BobbyM 284
I agree that "other people have said Parker Guidary cheats" is not information that can be proven and should be ignored. However, the camera clearly catches him changing his dial in one of the biggest X-Wing tournaments, ever. There is visual proof. Guidary should have been punished appropriately for cheating for that game.
iamfanboy, Arttemis, ScummyRebel and 1 other reacted to this
Arttemis 821
He picked up his dial without informing his opponent. That's the first rule broken. Then he changes his dial to a different maneuver with a massively different outcome in his favor. That's supposed to be an action that is not tolerated.
It's cheating. His mental state is irrelevant; if he did it subconsciously, the punishment should be no different. He still broke two rules. He should be disqualified.
Is there any further update on the person who was cheated? That's the worst part of this story.
Edited May 7, 2017 by Arttemis
Turbo Toker, Hawkstrike, Kharnete and 3 others reacted to this
CDR Stele 498
7 hours ago, IG88E said:
No my intention was I don't want this thread to be closed by admins due to such memes or spamming. This thread should stay open so pmease think about it. It is clear who has cheated, it is not neccessary to post giant memes with his name
Ah, well that's fair enough. Maybe a BIT of an overreaction on my part.
IG88E reacted to this
Jeff Wilder 5,026
28 minutes ago, Arttemis said:
He didn't do it subconsciously. He's clearly attempting to shield the dial and change his maneuver surreptitiously. That's proof of state of mind (intent) in a court of law, never mind a gaming organization.
There's no proof of premeditation, but if this were a homicide, with the same level of proof, he'd be convicted. And, again, that's in a court of law, where the standard of proof is very, very tough to meet. (And while there's no proof of premeditation, that's not the only way to show malice -- the other way is to show that the actor had no regard whatsoever for the consequences to others of his behavior.)
(And before anybody say anything stupid: no, I'm not comparing this cheater to homicide. I'm simply using homicide to illustrate how state of mind bears on, and is determined in, breaking laws or rules, because everybody has seen Law & Order.)
FFG was notified in time to get this one right. They chose not to take it seriously until the internet exploded when they screwed up the first ruling ... and then they still borked it spectacularly. The blowback on them is going to smart for a while.
(BTW, one of the representatives of the Bay Area scene, Audrey, ended up 65th, barely out of the cut. She's got a pretty good grievance, too.)
Dr Zoidberg, FatPob, Arttemis and 2 others reacted to this
clanofwolves 3,963
The TOs should have seen this coming a thousand miles away, I mean, he was CHEATING right when the game began.
Schu81, BlodVargarna, CRCL and 1 other reacted to this
Darth Meanie 13,887
The thing that makes me very sad about this (besides, of course, cheating being a disgrace), is that this incident is a ugly reflection of what is driving game design for XWM. Despite the "fly casual" mantra of many players, they are many others who have stated on these boards that the game is all about winning. Ships need to be balanced so you can win. Cards need to be fixed so you can win. People netlist so they can win. The meta exists because that's how you win.
And FFG caters to this. Waves are designed not for adding to the playability of the Star Wars mythos, but rather to adjust the parameters of the meta when one plays to win. The ultimate victor gets to leave his or her footprint in the game's design--reinforcing that this game is for winners, not for players.
Djaskim609, rym and BlodVargarna reacted to this
BlodVargarna 4,041
1 hour ago, Stay On The Leader said:
but we've no evidence it's anything other than 1
Not true, apparently he's been at it on the regional and local level.
1 hour ago, BobbyM said:
I agree that "other people have said Parker Guidary cheats" is not information that can be proven and should be ignored.
Nope. If people directly saw him cheating that's evidence. The weight or persuasiveness of that evidence may be up for debate but eye-witness accounts is evidence.
The problem with cheating is the breach of the social contract. That's what's egregious, and what I personally hate about cheating and cheaters.
If you are cheating, what's the d@mn point of playing a game? Its pathetic.
This dude should get a straight up ban from formal events for a year minimum.
Personally, I would never play any game with him, let alone XWM, fortunately I won't likely ever be in a situation where that may happen.
BobbyM reacted to this
Mattman7306 966
2 hours ago, Shockwave said:
Other than the fact that people have posted knowing him from his local and that he's a known cheat.
Gonna need a source for this
1 hour ago, Rexler Brath said:
Please do us all a favor and exit the x-wing community.
@ this entire ***** thread
Stoneface reacted to this
1 minute ago, Mattman7306 said:
Either an earlier post in this very thread or in the other thread.
Mattman7306, BlodVargarna and VanderLegion reacted to this
AceWing 428
3 hours ago, Cailais said:
This is exactly why intent doesn't matter. You can't know what goes on in someone's head and you know what? It doesn't matter. Maybe you're right and it wasn't malicious (I don't believe that for a second). The fact of the matter is that he gained unfair advantage and should have been disqualified. All you armchair psychologists are trying to blur a line that doesn't even matter.
There have been threads pointing out how exploitable this game is right now because of poor enforcement and when it's right in front of your face and undeniable, you still make excuses for it. Unbelievable.
Arttemis, VanderLegion, BobbyM and 2 others reacted to this
CRCL 1,040
Haha! Cheating while live on the twitch stream? The guy's either an idiot, or he has balls like grapefruits; possibly both.
Seems like FFG dropped the ball on this one. He should have been immediately disqualified.
What happens if this guy wins worlds?
Edited May 7, 2017 by CRCL
LordBlades, BobbyM, Turbo Toker and 1 other reacted to this
Arschbombe 992
4 minutes ago, CRCL said:
Scum's ascension will be complete.
BlodVargarna, RejjeN, Marinealver and 1 other reacted to this
Stoneface 3,694
Don't you think it's about time to put an end to this and the other threads harping on THE EVENT?
If I was a new player or someone thinking about becoming a new player, I'd have second thoughts after reading some of these ranrs.
He changed a dial during activation which is against the rules, AKA "cheating". Did he do it intentionally or maliciously? I don't know because I wasn't in his head when it happened and nobody else was either. Only he knows the why.
Most here don't agree with FFGs handling of the situation. Get over it because there's nothing you can do about.
Posting his picture and name and making the upgrade card was uncalled for and set a new low for behavior here.
Vykk Draygo, Garian Dagarkin, Lobokai and 1 other reacted to this
Richard_Thomas_ 326
Has he actually turned up today to play? Balls of steel if so!
droz69 232
If he did show up, I can only wonder if he has a mindset similar to paragoombaslayer. lol
RejjeN and Turbo Toker reacted to this
Fozzyman 47
Why is this so difficult? There is no real arguemwnt that he didn't cheat. In any other situation cheating results in a disqualification. Disqualify Parker from this tournement.Give Mike a 100 point win and go on with the tournament.
Seamus013 18
Watch the clip again folks, he picks the dial up, changes it when it is behind the list info, checking to see how far he needs to turn it, puts it back, then with his thumb, and on the game mat no less, he actually turned the dial, the same number of flips he used when it was behind his list info, this was intended and malicious. At an event of this magnitude, and given the fact that there is indisputable video evidence, dude should be banned from further FFG tournaments. His entire score should have been wiped from the records and new pairings done immediately.... This is not being part of Lynch Mob, this is giving a rats arse about the rules during tournament, which he obviously does not...
Arttemis, BobbyM and Wazat reacted to this
26 minutes ago, Stoneface said:
Hi Stoneface
Pont 1: No, because board games should be a fun experience, and cheating should never, ever be tolerated. I want to be concerned with my maneuvers, not worry if my opponent is cheating.
Point 2: This is the highest level event for X-Wing and one of the most publicized board game events, everyone needs to play by the rules.
Point 3: We don't care why. He was caught on camera that he did. So if I take your miniatures at the end of a game and claim I got "confused" but did not return them to you then it is OK? The point here is that there was an action: a maneuver was changed on purpose for advantage but there was no reaction.
Point 4: Yes, there is something we can do about it. I have already personally made one meme (not the upgrade card one, that was genius ) and I will continue to shame this Parker Guidary dude for ruining at least one person's tournament experience. Understand, I am doing this not because I want to, but because FFG dropped the ball and said it was OK to cheat at world level gaming events. I say NO it is NOT!
IG88E, T70 Driver, Seamus013 and 5 others reacted to this
TGO 84
If all of the anti-intentional draw people can get FFG to go back on that then I am sure all of the people who want to see this guy banned can get FFG to escalate the punishment.
StevenO reacted to this
T70 Driver 1,242
5 hours ago, SEApocalypse said:
I recently have a lot of issues with loose dials. Last tourney I had at least 5 cases when the revealed dial did not match what I set it too, though I always notice when this happens as you feel the movement on the fingers. Sounds odd in this case even if the dial was lose.
Though I can imagine that I am not the only one with that issue, a few other players on the same tourney had the same issues. Might be time to order some high quality third-party dials.
If you're having loose dial problems, go to Lowe's or Home Depot and pick up some 5/16th nylon washers and use them as spacers between the dials. They will make the dials nice and tight and resistant to unintended movement.
BobbyM, SEApocalypse, Seamus013 and 1 other reacted to this
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Senate Takes Aim At Illegal Gun Possession Repeat Offenders In Chicago
G. Halek
Categories: General, News, Politics
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS — Chicago has experienced an unprecedented run of homicides. This isn’t anything new to anyone who’s followed the ongoing struggle of legislators to address how to clamp down on gang-related violence in the Windy City. However, as law-abiding gun owners, we know it’s not citizens wrecking this havoc — it’s criminals who shouldn’t have guns in the first place.
Chicago has experimented with a number of strategies to address this. Everything from banning gun ranges within city limits (overturned), restricting lawful gun owners from carrying (overturned), and trying to make large swaths of the city “gun free zones” (ineffective).
Now, legislators are taking a different approach: targeting the criminals themselves.
According to NPR Illinois, the Illinois Senate is now considering measures which would increase sentencing for prior convicted felons found in possession of firearms.
via NPR Illinois
“I’ve got to go home like all of you have to go home — to this carnage,” Sen. Kwame Raoul, a Democrat from Chicago, said during debate. “If this saves one life, just one life, I think it’s worth it.”
The bill passed through the Illinois Senate in a 35 to 9 vote. Several senators abstained. If the measure goes on to become law, it will increase the sentencing from 3 to 6 years for those caught in possession of an illegal firearm. However, for those who just happen to be caught with a gun, the judge will be given room to adjust sentencing. This should help those who are otherwise following the law and just happen to get caught in a bad situation.
A good example would be for, say, a woman who has a restraining order and gets a gun to protect herself. Unfortunately, the concealed carry process in Illinois is a bit of a long one. If she got pulled over and officers found a gun on her, she would be allowed to explain to the judge why she felt the need to have it on her.
The motive behind this bill appears to be targeting repeat offenders who are often undeterred by a brief stint in prison.
Opponents to the legislation say that locking up more offenders isn’t the answer.
“Locking up more people is not the solution to gun violence,” says Democratic Senator Jackie Collins, of Chicago. “What is needed is economic development, police reform, and stopping the flow of illegal guns in communities ravaged by deep concentrations of poverty and hopelessness.”
That’s kind of a classic response. As much as ‘economic development’, ‘police reform’ and ‘stopping the flow of illegal guns’ are great ideas on paper, there’s almost no feasible way to legislate those items without a great expenditure of taxpayer dollars that may or may never be fully realized.
While I agree that locking up more people isn’t necessarily a solution to the ongoing problem of gang-related violence in Chicago, the solution isn’t putting more pressure on law-abiding gun owners. As for police reform, the police already receive an extremely high level of training on how to deal with the community. Issues do arise with bad cops and bad administrations — true in almost any era police have existed — but how much more training is really going to address the issue of communities who train up a culture of ‘don’t talk to police’ even if they’re the victims of those violent crimes?
The true efficacy of this bill will be known only several years after it’s implemented. In the meantime, as in Chicago and outside of it, if you’re legally allowed to possess a gun and carry it, you should. It’s your life that matters the most.
GH is a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and has served as a defense contractor in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. His daily concealed carry handgun is a Glock 26 in a Lenwood Holsters Specter IWB or his Sig Sauer SP2022 in a Dara Holsters Appendix IWB holster.
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The Unstoppable Growth Of Mobile Gaming
Gaming apps on smartphones and tablets are huge business
ApplicationsDigitalMobile
Charlie Sammonds
When people talk about the gaming industry the conversation usually begins with console gaming’s big titles. Famous franchises like Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, FIFA, Mario, Grand Theft Auto, Need For Speed, etc., have ludicrously high production value, extensive marketing campaigns, dedicated fan bases, and years of online video content dedicated to them. Console gaming has the ability to tell interesting stories, provide gamers with an escape from reality, build brands that last decades, and become important parts of the cultural conversation.
Crucially, though, it is not gaming’s biggest market. In fact, it isn’t even close. Despite the immense popularity of the likes of Xbox and PlayStation, it’s mobile gaming that dominates the market, with titles like Clash of Clans and Candy Crush Saga played by far more people than Call of Duty. Downloads for the latter hit 500 million in 2012, and mobile gaming is even more ubiquitous than many realize. Offer someone a newspaper or a game of Mario on their morning commute and the vast majority will apparently choose the latter.
And the numbers will make for surprising reading to anyone that assumes console gaming is still dominant. According to gaming market intelligence company Newzoo, the global games business rose to $108.9 billion in 2017, with mobile devices pulling in the lion’s share of that revenue. At 42%, mobile’s share tops that of PC (23%) and even console (31%), with smartphones alone bringing in 32%. When forecasting what the situation will look like in 2020, Newzoo estimates that mobile will make up over half of a $128.5 billion market, with smartphone and tablet gaming bringing in a whopping $64.9 billion.
Perhaps even more surprising is the percentage of app revenue made from games. In 2017, Newzoo estimate that 82% of app revenue came from games, representing some $46.1 billion. Fast forward to 2020 and the overall percentage will be slightly smaller (at 76%), but it’s still a dominant section of an incredibly sizeable pie. The growth in smartphone usage worldwide is at least part of the reason for mobile gaming’s projected growth, with 2.32 billion current users growing to 2.87 billion by 2020, and as connectivity improves in less developed parts of the world the potential audience for gaming apps is vast.
One of the main reasons for mobile’s continued and seemingly unstoppable growth is its explosion in China. According to Newzoo, APAC territories accounted for some $51.2 billion of the global gaming market in 2017, or 47% of the worldwide total. When combined with the Middle East and Africa, these regions are seeing speedy growth when compared to the more steady markets of North America and Europe.
Another potential reason for the seemingly unstoppable rise of mobile gaming is developments in augmented reality (AR) technology. The overwhelming success of Niantic’s Pokémon Go in 2016 brought the nascent technology to the attention of mainstream consumers, crucially requiring nothing more than a smartphone to run. Snapchat’s use of AR extends back to its introduction of filters in 2015, but Pokémon Go’s focus on location-based gaming gave users a taste of what overlaying a digital world onto the real one might look like going forward. Appetite for AR gaming has been whetted, and there are countless companies receiving significant funding to produce the next Pokémon Go – if they can harness even a fraction of the buzz around Niantic’s global success, AR will drive the mobile gaming industry to even greater heights.
And, so, there are very few signs that mobile gaming will see anything except a continued upward trajectory and flood of revenue. As smartphone users get more comfortable with in-app purchases, and game manufacturers employ more clever techniques to encourage gamers to part with cash, the incredible popularity will be even better reflected in revenue. The games may not be as sophisticated, and the revenue models may border on the manipulative at times, but mobile gaming is huge business, the scale of which threatens to leave console gaming trailing behind.
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Amazon aims high with its cashierless tech system
AWS ML training courses to be made free to access
Weekend update: New York startups, Generation Z, Google News and content marketing
South Korean medical group to offer crypto payment platform
Orange and MTN partner to unlock digital finance innovation in Africa
The Business Case For Smart Manufacturing
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Elton John and Partner are Broadway producers again
Elton John and partner David Furnish are the newest producers of the play Next Fall, with the Off-Broadway production making its opening on Broadway in the Helen Hayes Theatre on March 11th. Next Fall deals with gay relationships, and all of the ups and downs occurring along the way.
Receiving good reviews during an engagement off-Broadway in 2009, the play has a distinct disadvantage in that it has no star actor, director or playwright to help draw audience members. The industry is hoping that the star power of Elton John will make up for this.
This is the couple’s first foray into non-musical production – they have previously collaborated on Broadway for Billy Elliot: The Musical. John was Tony-nominated for best original score and Furnish served as executive producer.
Filed under: Broadway, Producing | Production, Theater News, Ticket Sales | Tagged: Billy Elliot the Musical, David Furnish, Elton John, Helen Hayes Next Fall, Helen Hayes Theatre, Next Fall, Next Fall Elton John | Leave a comment »
Sunday Night Sondheim: Passion: Act 1, Scene 1
Posted on December 27, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
Tony Award Winning Musical PASSION by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine filmed at Broadway’s Plymouth Theatre, starring Jere Shea and Marin Mazzie (orchestrations by Jonathon Tunick).
Listen to more tracks from Sondheim’s Passion here.
Filed under: Broadway, Stephen Sondheim, Sunday Night Sondheim, Tony Awards, Video, YouTube | Tagged: James Lapine, Jere Shea, Jonathon Tunick, Marin Mazzie, Passion the Musical, Plymouth Theatre, Stephen Sondheim, Sunday Night Sondheim, Tony Award | Leave a comment »
Spider-Man the Musical – a sticky web of financial woes
Posted on November 8, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
A web of financial woes
He can shoot webs, swing between buildings, and punch through brick walls, but Spider-Man’s fundraising powers are another story. Six years, tens of millions of dollars, and music by U2 have yet to bring the superhero to Broadway, where a planned musical is still short as much as $24 million of its projected $52 million budget. According to the Los Angeles Times, the production would easily be the most expensive in history and would feature pyrotechnics, giant sets, and a Spider-Man who swings directly over the audience. "The visuals and the music are amazing, and that’s what will matter," Bono told the Times.
Filed under: Broadway, Fundraising, Human Interest, Producing | Production, Theater Gossip, Theater News | Tagged: Bono, Broadway, Broadway Opening, Spider-Man, Spider-Man the Musical, U2 | Leave a comment »
See “A Steady Rain” on Broadway with Chicago Dramatists
Posted on October 30, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
More than 100 generous donors and friends will be joining Chicago Dramatists on Broadway for Resident Playwright Keith Huff’s A STEADY RAIN, starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman – and you can be one of them.
Although tickets for the show are virtually sold out (except for premium tickets at $375 per ticket) you’ll be able to attend the play AND a pre-show party for just $250.
The production exports a playwright (Keith Huff), whom Chicago Dramatists has nurtured for many years, to Broadway and shines a spotlight on Chicago and the other talented playwrights and plays developed here. This upcoming benefit will go towards helping other upcoming playwrights being honed through the Dramatists’ programs.
Here’s the info:
The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 W. 45th Street
8:00 pm Curtain
Pre show Cocktail Party, PS 450, 5:15 – 7:15 pm
Limited Tickets Available at $250. A very limited number of prime seats are available at $500 each
For more information, contact Cynthia Frahm at cfrahm@chicagodramatists.org or 312.633.0630 ext: 3#
Development Director Cynthia Frahm with A Steady Rain star Daniel Craig
Read the rave reviews of A STEADY RAIN in Time Magazine, Variety, and USA Today
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1927540,00.html
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941264.html?categoryid=33&cs=1
http://www.usatoday.com/life/theater/reviews/2009-09-29-steady-rain-jackman-craig_N.htm
Filed under: Broadway, Chicago Dramatists, Fund-Raiser, Fundraising, Theater News | Tagged: A Steady Rain, A Steady Rain Broadway, Chicago Dramatists, Cynthia Frahm, Daniel Craig, Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Hugh Jackman, Keith Huff | 1 Comment »
Finding Billy Elliot – what an exciting and beautiful video.
Posted on October 8, 2009 by Scotty Zacher
Can’t wait to see it!!
Filed under: Broadway, Broadway in Chicago, Musical, National Tours, Upcoming Shows, Video, YouTube | Tagged: Billy Elliot, Billy Elliot auditions, Billy Elliot Chicago, Billy Elliot Chicago tickets, Billy Elliot the Musical, Broadway in Chicago, Elton John, try-outs for Billy Elliot | Leave a comment »
Updates: Steppenwolf’s “Superior Donuts” on Broadway
Tracy Letts’ most recent play, Superior Donuts, just opened on Broadway with the same Steppenwolf cast. After receiving moderate to warm reviews here in Chicago, the NYC reviews so far appear mixed.
The NY Post gives Superior Donuts a very positive review – 3.5 stars:
After Superior Donuts, Tracy Letts‘ follow-up to August: Osage County, premiered in Chicago last year, the play was deemed entertaining but minor.
Either this Steppenwolf production has been drastically reworked on its way to New York, or we live in a cynical world where a show as tender and honest, as beautifully written, acted and directed as this one can be blithely dismissed.
While the New York Times produces a review that is so-so:
Mr. Letts has mothballed his angst and tossed the deadly weapons in the back drawer. Superior Donuts, a gentle comedy that unfolds like an extended episode of a 1970s sitcom, is a warm bath of a play that will leave Broadway audiences with satisfied smiles rather than rattled nerves.
Superior Donuts may be familiar and unchallenging, but it’s also comfortable — and no, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Below, Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones interviews playwright Tracy Letts (“August: Osage County“) and lead actor Michael McKean (“Laverne and Shirley“, “Saturday Night Live“, “This is Spinal Tap“) about Superior Donuts, Letts’ new play premiered at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater. Letts’ 2007 play August: Osage County won the Pultizer Prize and Tony Award in 2008.
Filed under: Broadway, Chicago Tribune, Dramatic-Comedy, New York Times, Pulitzer Prize, Steppenwolf, Theater Interviews, Theater News, Tony Awards, Tracy Letts, Video, YouTube | Tagged: Ana Kuzmanic, August: Osage County, Charles Isherwood, Charles LaPointe, Christopher Akerlind, Cliff Chamberlain, Donna Roehn Ward, Edward Sobel, James Schuette, James Vincent Meredith, Jane Alderman, Jean Doumanian, Jeffrey Richards, Jeremy Scott, Jerry Frankel, Jon Michael Hill, Kate buddeke, Michael Bodeen, Michael Garvey, Michael McKean, Music Box Theater, New York Post, New York Times, Patrick Daly, Pulitzer Prize, Rick Sordelet, Rob Milburn, Robert Maffia, Scott Blaustein, Steppenwolf Theatre, Superior Donuts, susan Jean Steiger, Tina Landau, Tony Awards, Tracy Letts, Yasen Peyankov | Leave a comment »
Think Fast: Cheyenne Jackson, Red Orchid Theatre, Barbara Gaines, and Superior Donuts
Good news for Old Town’s A Red Orchid Theatre: tickets for their current production Mistakes Were Made (our review here), by Craig Wright, have been selling like hot cakes – so much so that they’ve added an extra Wednesday night performance for all of October. Be sure to check it out before it closes on October 31st. Mistakes Were Made stars Michael Shannon, and is directed by Dexter Bullard. (h/t Chris Jones)
Check out the interview with Chicago Shakes artistic director (and founder) Barbara Gaines regarding her direction of the company’s current production, Richard III. Well worth the read.
The Daily Beast has posted a rave review of Tracy Letts’ Superior Donuts, which played last year to positive reviews at Steppenwolf. An excerpt:
Letts and his cast can breathe deeply today. While a far less ambitious play than August, with its three-story set and sprawling cast, Superior Donuts is no less successful for what it aims to be: a tender, funny, and often tragic valentine to Letts’ Chicago in a time of intense cultural change. Fans of August won’t find that play’s heavy, gut-wrenching revelations here, but Donuts was always intended to be a smaller, lighter effort, as delightful and sweet as a doughnut itself. The play, which Letts began writing even before August, earned positive reviews when it first opened in Chicago with the same cast in July 2008, and after a year of Letts’ tweaks and rewrites, it may be even better….
Read the entire review here.
Per Perez Hilton:
Tina Fey’s brilliant comedy, 30 Rock, may be getting the one thing it’s severely lacking – a hot piece of eye candy!
Rumors are circulating that Broadway hottie, openly gay and successful actor Cheyenne Jackson, will allegedly be joining the cast in a semi or possibly a completely permanent capacity.
For those of you who don’t live and die by the goings on of the Great White Way, Cheyenne has been in productions like Xanadu and All Shook Up!.
Filed under: A Red Orchid, Broadway, Chicago Shakespeare, Chris Jones, Extensions-Remounts, Navy Pier, Steppenwolf, Theater Gossip, Theater News, Think Fast, Ticket Sales, Tracy Letts, William Shakespeare | Tagged: A Red Orchid Theatre, All Shook Up!, August: Osage County, Barbara Gaines, Cheyenne Jackson, Chris Jones, Craig Wright, Dexter Bullard, Navy Pier, Perez Hilton, Steppenwolf Theatre, Superior Donuts, The Daily Beast, Tina Fey, Tracy Letts, Xanadu | Leave a comment »
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Stars give OHL talent a Texas-sized welcome on draft day
Adam Mascherin Curtis Douglas Flint Firebirds Kitchener Rangers NHL Draft Riley Damiani ty dellandrea Windsor Spitfires
For four OHL forwards, draft day had a special twist in Dallas this past month as Ty Dellandrea (Flint Firebirds), Adam Mascherin (Kitchener Rangers), Curtis Douglas (Windsor Spitfires) and Riley Damiani (Kitchener Rangers) got a Texas-sized welcome from the host Stars and their fans.
Dallas went back to the OHL well this summer, making it eight straight years of selecting OHL talent at the NHL Draft with past picks that include such names as Jason Robertson (2nd round, 2017), Radek Faksa (1st round, 2012) and Brett Ritchie (2nd round, 2011).
Dellandrea got things started for the Stars at 13th overall as franchise cornerstones Mike Modano and current captain Jamie Benn approached the podium to make the announcement.
After a battle with celiac disease, a healthy Ty Dellandrea is ready to make an impact for the @DallasStars. https://t.co/5XRFI30V7S
— NHL (@NHL) July 12, 2018
“It was unbelievable,” Dellandrea said, recalling the moment. “Two guys that you look up to in the hockey world for years [and] to be able to have your name called by Jamie is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Amazing.”
A player who will be remembered as the first Flint Firebirds first round draft pick to suit up for the club, Dellandrea’s game has steadily matured under head coach Ryan Oulahen. The Port Perry, Ont. native increased his offensive production from 24 points (13-11–24) as a 16-year-old to 59 (27-32–59) as a sophomore this past season.
The Firebirds opened up considerable ice time for Dellandrea in late November when veteran and fellow Stars prospect Nicholas Caamano along with overage centreman Ryan Moore were dealt to the eventual OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs. The 18-year-old says he benefitted from the expanded role.
“Taking on that responsibility as people left, you just have to step it up for yourself and I tried to take that responsibility and roll with it. I think that added responsibility helped me and let me be a bigger contributor to the team.”
While Stars superfans were out getting their custom-made Dellandrea jerseys, general manager Jim Nill and his staff kept busy with the selections of Swedish forwards Albin Eriksson and Oskar Back in the second and third rounds before stepping up to take another well-known OHL commodity.
The story I did on Adam Mascherin during last month’s development camp: https://t.co/rXlUTfSx4E
— Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) July 14, 2018
While it’s become increasingly rare to see CHL players drafted twice, Adam Mascherin joined the ranks of OHL names in Nick Boynton, Michael Rupp, Tim Brent and Mike Zigomanis when the Stars took him in the fourth round with the 100th overall pick.
A high-scoring star just four points shy of 300 on his OHL career, Mascherin has put up 35 goals or more in each of the past three seasons and is likely to make his way to the AHL this fall. Originally a second round pick of the Florida Panthers in 2016, Mascherin wasn’t interested in signing with the club (as per Panthers GM Dale Tallon) and the Stars took advantage, drafting and promptly signing the stocky winger to a three-year entry level deal.
“I didn’t even hear my name because the home crowd cheered, so I didn’t hear who picked me on the TV,” Mascherin told NHL.com’s Mark Stepneski of his experience as he watched on a TV at the American Airlines Center. “My agent called me and said, ‘You are going to a great spot.’ I said, ‘What spot?” Then he said it was Dallas and I said, ‘Oh, that makes sense.’ I was really excited. It was funny.”
Just six picks later, Dallas went the OHL route once again with the selection of 6-foot-8, 250Ib. forward Curtis Douglas of the Windsor Spitfires. The 18-year-old had a productive second half following a mid-season trade to the Spits that saw OHL scoring champion Aaron Luchuk go the other way to Barrie.
Douglas’ Texas-sized frame came with a permanent grin on draft day.
“I couldn’t be happier, I don’t think you’ve seen me without a smile on my face so far and it couldn’t be more exciting for me,” he beamed.
Fourth round pick @curtisdouglas17 stands at 6’9″ and had a hunch that his name was going to be called by the Dallas Stars. #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/9wljIEBEp6
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) June 23, 2018
Douglas, who put up 46 points (22-24–46) this past season, has continued to grow into his big frame, a process he admits has come with its challenges.
“I was 190-pounds before I started my minor midget year, I was an absolute rake,” he joked. “Now I’m at 250 and I’m feeling really good about my weight, I’ve been really focusing on nutrition and on my leg strength and growing into my body. It’s really something I’ve had to struggle with and it’s been hard work. If I can utilize that I think it can go a long way towards me helping the Dallas Stars organization.”
The Stars returned to Kitchener in the fifth round, selecting speedy Rangers forward Riley Damiani at 137th overall. Damiani put up 37 points (19-18–37) during the regular season before helping the Rangers reach Game 7 of the Western Conference Final with 12 points (5-7–12) in 19 playoff matchups.
The 5-foot-10, 165Ib. forward expressed his gratitude to coach Jay McKee for helping him take big strides as a sophomore.
“He gave me every opportunity, a chance to really show what I had and my defensive ability is one of my strengths for sure. Being able to play against top guys gave me a taste of what it’s going to be like at the next level. Playing against NHL-calibre players and draft picks was amazing and it really furthered my development, especially in the playoffs.”
Loss of words. pic.twitter.com/jIvQVyyP6w
— Riley Damiani (@rileydamiani) June 23, 2018
Dallas rounded out the proceedings with the selection of a pair of WHL names in Red Deer Rebels defenceman Dawson Barteaux and Kamloops Blazers forward Jermaine Loewen, the first Jamaican-born player to ever be drafted by an NHL team.
In total, Dallas’ six CHL selections were second-most only to the Toronto Maple Leafs who had seven.
While the NHL Draft is a special day for any player, hearing your name called by the host team followed by the roar of the hometown crowd is an experience few will ever have. Regardless of where their hockey careers take them, these four OHLers will always have that memory.
CHL on Sportsnet Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game
CHL on Sportsnet: 2020 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game
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Craft Techniques
Ikat, or ikkat, is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric.
In ikat the resist is formed by binding individual yarns or bundles of yarns with a tight wrapping applied in the desired pattern. The yarns are then dyed. The bindings may then be altered to create a new pattern and the yarns dyed again with another colour. This process may be repeated multiple times to produce elaborate, multicolored patterns. When the dyeing is finished all the bindings are removed and the yarns are woven into cloth. In other resist-dyeing techniques such as tie-dye and batik the resist is applied to the woven cloth, whereas in ikat the resist is applied to the yarns before they are woven into cloth. Because the surface design is created in the yarns rather than on the finished cloth, in ikat both fabric faces are patterned.
A characteristic of ikat textiles is an apparent “blurriness” to the design. The blurriness is a result of the extreme difficulty the weaver has lining up the dyed yarns so that the pattern comes out perfectly in the finished cloth. The blurriness can be reduced by using finer yarns or by the skill of the craftsperson. Ikats with little blurriness, multiple colours and complicated patterns are more difficult to create and therefore often more expensive. However, the blurriness that is so characteristic of ikat is often prized by textile collectors.
Ikat dyed silk warp, undyed cotton weft from Uzbekistan, Smithsonian Collections.
CC-BY-NC Some rights reserved by Music for the Eyes Rugs / flickr
CC-BY-SA 2.0 Some Rights Reserved by Design FOlly / flickr
CC-BY-2.0 Some Rights Reerved by Debra Roby / flickr
Ikat robes, Toronto Textile Museum. CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0 Some Rights Reserved by Maia C / flickr
Indonesian ikat. Honolulu Museum of Art.
Patola, early 19th century (detail): Western India, Gujarat, Patan Textile; Ceremonial/Ritual Furnishing, Resist-dyed silk warp and weft double ikat, plain weave, metallic-wrapped supplementary weft. Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Ikat Robe. Jewish Children with their Teacher in Samarkand. Early color photograph from Russia, created by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii as part of his work to document the Russian Empire from 1909 to 1915.
Ikat robe. CC-BY-NC-SA Some rights reserved by Maia C / flickr
Detail from a Sumba hinggi. Ikat weave, dyed in natural colors showing a geko. CC-BY-SA 3.0 Some Rights Reserved by Chris Hazzard
Tropenmuseum, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ikat is produced in many traditional textile centres around the world, from India to Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Japan (where it is called "kasuri"), Africa and Latin America. Double ikats—in which both the warp and weft yarns are tied and dyed before being woven into a single textile—are relatively rare because of the intensive skilled labour required to produce them. They are produced in Okinawa islands of Japan, the village of Tenganan in Indonesia, and the villages of Puttapaka and Bhoodan Pochampally in Telangana in India. In fact, many other parts of India have their indigenous Ikat weaving techniques. Orissa’s Sambalpuri Ikat is quite different from the sharp Ikat patterns, woven in Patan of Gujarat. The latter, known as Patan Patola, is one of the rarest forms of double Ikat, which takes a lot of time and effort in dyeing and weaving. A different form of Patola ikat is made in Rajkot, Gujarat. Telia Rumal made in Andhra, Pasapalli from Odisha and Puttapaka from Telangana are other Indian Ikats.
In weft ikat it is the weaving or weft yarn that carries the dyed patterns. Therefore, the pattern only appears as the weaving proceeds. Weft ikats are much slower to weave than warp ikat because the weft yarns must be carefully adjusted after each passing of the shuttle to maintain the clarity of the design.In warp ikat it is only the warp yarns that are dyed using the ikat technique. The weft yarns are dyed a solid colour. The ikat pattern is clearly visible in the warp yarns wound onto the loom even before the weft is woven in. Warp ikat is, amongst others, produced in Indonesia; more specifically in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Sumatra by respectively the Dayaks, Torajans and Bataks.
Double Ikat is a technique in which both warp and the weft are resist-dyed prior to weaving. Obviously it is the most difficult to make and the most expensive. Double ikat is only produced in three countries: India, Japan and Indonesia. The double ikat made in Patan, Gujarat in India is the most complicated. Called "patola," it is made using fine silk yarns and many colours. It may be patterned with a small motif that is repeated many times across the length of a six-meter sari. Sometimes the Patan double ikat is pictorial with no repeats across its length. That is, each small design element in each colour was individually tied in the warp and weft yarns. It's an extraordinary achievement in the textile arts. These much sought after textiles were traded by the Dutch East Indies company for exclusive spice trading rights with the sultanates of Indonesia. The double ikat woven in the small Bali Aga village, Tenganan in east Bali in Indonesia reflects the influence of these prized textiles. Some of the Tenganan double ikat motifs are taken directly from the patola tradition. In India double ikat is also woven in Puttapaka, Nalgonda District and is called Puttapaka Saree.[ In Japan, double ikat is woven in the Okinawa islands where it is called tate-yoko gasuri.
Pasapalli Ikat is a one of the gorgeous Ikkat saree and Pasapalli ikat saree made in Odisha. The word Pasapalli comes from 'Pasa' which means a board game with four clear parts (much like Ludo). Each pasapalli ikat saree or material - which is actually made with the same technique as the famed Sambalpuri Ikat - has some or the other form of this chequered design
Ikat created by dyeing the warp are simpler to make than either weft ikat or double ikat. First the yarns--cotton, silk, wool or other fibres—are wound onto a frame. Then they are tied into bundles. The bundles may be covered with wax, as in batik. (However, in making batik, the craftsperson applies the resist to the finished cloth rather than to the yarns to be woven.) The warp yarns are then wrapped tightly with thread or some other dye-resistant material to prevent unwanted dye permeation. The procedure is repeated, depending on the number of colours required to complete the design. Multiple coloration is common, requiring multiple rounds of tying and dyeing. The newly dyed and thoroughly washed bundles are wound onto the loom to produce the warp (longitudinal yarns). Warp threads are adjusted for the desired alignment for precise motifs.
Some ikat traditions, such as Central Asia's, embrace a blurred aesthetic in the design. Other traditions favour a more precise and more difficult to achieve refinement in the placement of the ikat yarns. South American and Indonesian ikat are known for a high degree of warp alignment. Weavers must adjust the warp repeatedly to maintain pattern alignment.
Patterns result from a combination of the warp dye and the weft thread colour. Some warp ikat traditions are designed with vertical-axis symmetry or have a "mirror-image" running along their long centre line. That is, whatever pattern or design is woven on the right is duplicated on the left in reverse order about a central warp thread group. Patterns can be created in the vertical, horizontal or diagonal.
Weft ikat
Nevertheless, highly skilled artisans can produce precise weft ikat. Japanese weavers produce very accurate indigo and white weft ikat with small scale motifs in cotton. Weavers in Odisha, India have replicated fine Urdu script in weft ikat. In Thailand, weavers make very fine silk sarongs depicting birds and complex geometrical designs in seven colour weft ikat.Weft ikat uses resist-dyeing for the weft yarns. The movement of the weft yarns in the weaving process means precisely delineated patterns are more difficult to weave. The weft yarn must be adjusted after each passing of the shuttle to preserve the pattern.
In some precise weft ikat traditions (Gujarat, India), two artisans weave the cloth: one passes the shuttle and the other adjusts the way the yarn lies in the shed.
As the weft is commonly a continuous strand, aberrations or variation in coloration are cumulative. Some weft ikat traditions incorporate this affect into their aesthetic. Patterns become transformed by the weaving process into irregular and erratic designs. Guatemalan ikat is well-noted for its beautiful "blurs."
Double ikat
Double Ikat is created by resist-dyeing both the warp and weft prior to weaving.
This form of weaving requires the most skill for precise patterns to be woven and is considered the premiere form of ikat. The amount of labour and skill required also make it the most expensive, and many poor quality cloths flood the tourist markets. Indian and Indonesian examples typify highly precise double ikat. Especially prized are the double ikats woven in silk known in India as patola (singular: patolu). These are from Gujarat (Cambay). During the colonial era, Dutch merchants used patola as prestigious trade cloths during the peak of the spice trade.[13]
In Indonesia double ikat is only woven in the Bali Aga village of Tenganan. These cloths have high spiritual significance. In Tenganan they are still worn for specific ceremonies. Outside Tenganan, geringsing are treasured as they are purported to have magical powers.
The double ikat of Japan is woven in the Okinawa islands and is called tate-yoko gasuri.
Pochampally Sari, a variety from a small village in Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh, India is known for silk saris woven in the double Ikat.[citation needed]
The Puttapaka Saree is made in Puttapaka village, Samsthan Narayanpuram mandal in Nalgonda district, India. It is known for its unique style of silk saris. The symmetric design is over 200 years old. The Ikat is warp-based. The Puttapaka Saree is a double ikat.
Before the weaving is done, a manual winding of yarn, called Asu, needs to be performed. This process takes up to 5 hours per sari and is usually done by the womenfolk, who suffer physical strain through constantly moving their hands back and forth over 9000 times for each sari. In 1999, a young weaver C Mallesham developed a machine which automated Asu, thus developing a technological solution for a decades-old unsolved problem.[15]
Meaning & Symbols
Ikat is an Indonesian language word, which depending on context, can be the nouns: cord, thread, knot and the finished ikat fabric as well as the verbs "to tie" or "to bind". It has a direct etymological relation to Javanese language of the same word. Thus, the name of the finished ikat woven fabric originates from the tali (threads, ropes) being ikat (tied, bound, knotted) before they are being put in celupan (dyed by way of dipping), then berjalin (woven, intertwined) resulting in a berjalin ikat- reduced to ikat.
The introduction of the term ikat into European language is attributed to Rouffaer. Ikat is now a generic English loanword used to describe the process and the cloth itself regardless of where the fabric was produced or how it is patterned.
In Indonesian the plural of ikat remains ikat. However, in English a suffix plural 's' is commonly added, as in ikats. This is true in other some other languages. All are correct.
As textiles do not last well through history, scholars have so far been unable to determine where the technique of ikat originated. Nevertheless, some parts of Asia demonstrates strong ikat traditions which suggest its possible origin; they are Maritime Southeast Asia, Indian subcontinent and Central Asia.[10] However, it probably developed in several different locations independently, since ikat was known to be produced in several pre-Columbian Central and South American cultures.
The term "ikat" has Indonesian origin, and it was introduced into European textile vocabulary back in early 20th century, when the Dutch scholars begin to study the rich textile traditions of East Indies archipelago (today Indonesia).
Uyghurs call it atlas (in IPA [ɛtlɛs]) and use it only for woman's clothing. The historical record indicates that there were 27 types of atlas during Qing occupation. Now there are only four types of Uyghur atlas remaining: Qara-atlas (Darayi, black ikat used for older women's clothing), Khoja'e-atlas (yellow, blue, purple ikat used for married women), Qizil-atlas (red ikat used for girls) and Yarkant-atlas (Khan-atlas). Yarkant-atlas has more diverse styles; during Yarkant Khanate (16th century), there ten different styles of Yarkant-atlas.
Ikat is a weaving style common to many world cultures. It is probably one of the oldest forms of textile decoration. However, it is most prevalent in Indonesia, India and Japan. In Central and South America, ikat is still common in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico.
In the 19th century, the Silk Road desert oases of Bukhara, Samarkand, Hotan and Kashgar (in what is now Uzbekistan and Xinjiang in Central Asia) were famous for their fine silk Uzbek/Uyghur ikat.
India, Japan, Indonesia and many other Southeast Asian nations including Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines and Thailand have weaving cultures with long histories of ikat production.
Double ikat weaving is still found in India, Japan and Indonesia. In Indonesia, it is still woven in Bali, Java, Kalimantan or Borneo and Sumatra.
Oshima ikat is a uniquely Japanese ikat. In Oshima, the warp and weft threads are both used as warp to weave stiff fabric, upon which the thread for the ikat weaving is spot-dyed. Then the mats are unravelled and the dyed thread is woven into oshima cloth.
The Oshima process is duplicated in Java and Bali, and is reserved for ruling royalty, notably Klungkung and Ubud: most especially the dodot cloth semi-cummerbund of Javanese court attire.
The Cambodian ikat is a weft ikat woven of silk on a multi-shaft loom with an uneven twill weave, which results in the weft threads showing more prominently on the front of the fabric than the back.
By the 19th century, Cambodian ikat was considered among the finest textiles of the world. When the King of Thailand came to the US in 1856, he brought as a gift for President Franklin Pierce fine Cambodian ikat cloth.[18] The most intricately patterned of the Cambodian fabrics are the sampot hol—skirts worn by the women—and the pidans—wall hangings used to decorate the pagoda or the home for special ceremonies.
Unfortunately, Cambodian culture suffered massive disruption and destruction during the mid-20th century Indochina wars but most especially during the Khmer Rouge regime. Most weavers were killed and the whole art of Cambodian ikat was in danger of disappearing.
Kikuo Morimoto is a prominent pioneer in re-introducing ikat to Cambodia. In 1995, he moved from Japan and located one or two old lady weavers and Khmer Rouge survivors who knew the art and have taught it to a new generation.
In Thailand, the local weft ikat type of woven cloth is known as Matmi (also spelled 'Mudmee' or 'Mudmi').[19] Traditional Mudmi cloth was woven for daily use among the nobility. Other uses included ceremonial costumes. Warp ikat in cotton is also produced by the Karen and Lawa tribal peoples in northern Thailand.
This type of cloth is the favourite silk item woven by ethnic Khmer people living in southern Isaan, mainly in Surin, Sisaket and Buriram.
The Mexican rebozos can be made from silk, wool or cotton and are frequently ikat dyed. These shawls are seen as a part of the Mexican national identity and most women own at least one.Ikat patterns are common among the Andes peoples, and native people of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. The Mapuche shawl or poncho of the Huaso cowboys of Chile is perhaps the item best known in the West. Wool and cabuya fibre are the most commonly used.
Latin American ikat (Jaspe, as it is known to Maya weavers) textiles are commonly woven on a back-strap loom. Pre-dyed warp threads are a common item in traditional markets- saving the weaver much mess, expense, time and labour. A Latin American innovation which may also be employed elsewhere is to employ a round stick around which warp threads are wrapped in groups, thus allowing more precise control of the desired design. The "corte" is the typical wrap skirt used worn by Guatemalan women.
“Weaving a Puttapaka tradition – The Hindu”. hindu.com. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
“Other parts of India have their indigenous Ikat weaving techniques”.
Bali by Michael Möbius, Annette Ster
Balinese Textiles; Brigitta Hauser-Schaublin, Marie-Louise Nabhollz-kartaschoff, Urs Ramseyer. British Museum Press. ISBN 0-7141-2505-9 p.117
“APonline – History and Culture-Arts and Crafts – Ikat”. aponline.gov.in. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
Tomito J & N. Kasuri. Japanese Ikat Weaving, The Techniques of Kasuri, . Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-9043-9, 1982 p.7
^ “About Pasapalli Ikat”.
^ Umesh Charan Patnaik, Aswini Kumar Mishra, 1997. Handloom industry in action. 1997. pp38. G. K. Ghosh, Shukla Ghosh, 2000. Ikat textiles of India. 2000
^ “Dress Codes: Revealing the Jewish Wardrobe”
^ a b Ruth Barnes. “Ikat”. Love to Know.
^ Abdukerim Raxman, Reweydulla Hemdulla, Sherip Xushtar, Uyghur Örp-Adetliri, Urumqi, 1996
^ Guy, John. Indian Textiles in the East. London, Thames & Hudson, 2009, pp. 10, 24.
^ Balinese Textiles; Brigitta Hauser-Schaublin, Marie-Louise Nabhollz-kartaschoff, Urs Ramseyer. British Museum Press. ISBN 0-7141-2505-9
^ “Textiles”. indiaheritage.org. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
^ Asu machine to aid weavers of tie and dye sarees
^ [Mattiebelle Gittinger and H. Leedom Lefforts,Textiles and the Thai Experience in South-East Asia, Washington, DC 1992, PP38–39]
^ Gill Green,”The Cambodia Weaving Tradition: Little Known Weaving and Loom Artifacts,”Arts of Asia, vold.27, no. 5, Hong Kong, 199, pp. 86–87
^ Gettinger, op.cit., pp 149. 167
^ Silk at Ban Sawai
^ Chusak Sukaranandana – Woven cloth, an exquisite handicraft of Thai-Lao-Khmer ethnic groups in Thailand
“South American Ikat”. South America. Waddington. Retrieved 3 May 2010. [dead link]
“Batik, Wayang, Keris: Jadi Warisan Budaya Dunia“. Indonesian. Antara News Indonesia. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Ikat, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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Ikat Tutorial
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Cows, carnage, and festival creatures
In the week Gove shocked the sentient nation by extending his megalomaniac tweaks to the Literature curriculum by a purge of international classics ~ to be fair he didn't actually demand burning of all copies of To Kill a Mocking Bird and Steinbeck's Mice & Men though he might as well have from the fury evoked (including mine) ~ Lynn Gardner gave me respite from despair at our 'spoilers for sadness' culture in a delicate demurral to Alan Bennett's view of the playwright's craft. With hindsight, the National Treasure said, he should have been kinder to the audience. The Queen Mum of theatre commentary, with due respect, shifts from agreement at the joy of 'floating out of the theatre on a cloud of pleasure' to a more vigorous view:
I also want to come out of the theatre on occasion feeling riled, angry, fired up for action or as if my heart is breaking... Yes I love being charmed and delighted in the theatre, but I don't want to be killed with kindness by artists, I want to be provoked by them and made to look at the world differently. I want to be taken outside my comfort zone. If that sometimes means they are going to risk boring me, offending me or even being cruel to me, then I'm not going to complain. Great art is seldom easy or kind. I so agree. As Banksy said, art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. Lynn's piece used a picture of King Lear but I'm using Guernica.
Coincidentally ~ this is not one of my contorted segueways ~ Nevertheless Pub Theatre is currently preparing for our next production War Zones: six 10-minute dramas which will be performed at the Cornerhouse for Frome Festival in July, 4th-13th. We've got two great actors so Rosie & I are getting quite excited about that one. There's a line-up on the Festival website of other wordy events, ranging from Moomins for adults to Teatime Treats for children, including talks, performances, a book quiz, and poetry workshops from me and Rose Flint whose inspiring poem Elements of Healing you may have seen featured in the RUH in Bath.
Rose lives on the outskirts of Frome on a dairy farm which I rarely visit, having a psychosomatic allergy to free-ranging bovine creatures (also equine, ovine, porcine and canine... anything bigger than a cat, basically.) But this farm having recently won BBC4's Food & Farming Award for 'outstanding contribution with cutting-edge thinking and creative ideas' ~ and Rose having provided strawberry-pink Wellington boots to replace my Edina-ish high-heels ~ I ventured forth. The big thing about Lordswood Farm is that all the cows are fed on grass not grain, and even though these ones were (safely) ensconced in the dairy yard they still had plenty of grass to nosh on. So here's a happy image to conclude.
Labels: Lordswood Farm, Moomins, Nevertheless, playwriting, Rose Flint, War Zones, Words at Frome Festival
Curious: eager to know ~ arousing interest ~ made with skill & subtlety
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Mark Haddon's best-selling novel, has an 'unreliable narrator' now as famous as Catcher in the Rye's Holden Caulfield. Fifteen-year-old Christopher Boone is autistic: his thought processes are by turns simplistic, logical and amazingly complex. All of this made the story sensational to read but an enormous challenge to transfer to stage, as writer Simon Stevens did for the National Theatre. The show won seven Olivier awards last year ~ including Best Actor for Luke Treadaway ~ and is now released as an Encore Live screening. And it came to the Merlin in Frome! An inspired choice and a complete sell-out, with several first-time audience members enticed by the chance to see a big London success in a local venue at local prices. There was a buzz of excitement throughout and applause at the end was as fervent as if the actors were there with us.
Certainly a superb show ~ imaginatively directed, cleverly filmed, brilliantly acted, and immensely moving.... though for me personally, live theatre will always have the edge on pre-recorded, and there's something about close-up shots that rarely comes up to the total immersion of watching whole-stage interaction. Which is why Luke's performance was so remarkable: touchingly credible and totally engrossing. Christopher's autism is a part but not the heart of the story, as director Marianne Elliott understands, finding a hero's journey and a metaphor for life too as he stumbles through messy human frailties while longing for splendid solitude in the stars.
Political shuffling has been in the air this week. Having enjoyed a year with the youngest, tallest, Mayor in the country at the helm, Frome town council has now moved into the stewardship of Sustainable superhero Peter Macfadyen, author of Flatpack Democracy, who admirably maintained his casual attire for the official portrait, though he did change his orange slacks. Here he is eschewing formality of background too, with his lovely Lady Mayoress Annabelle.
Still on theme of recycling: did you know you can weave on a loom using yarn made from plastic, videotape, rubber inner tubes, paper, wire, and plants? Just one of the things I learned from a fascinating exhibition of yarns at Frome Museum until July 19th. You can try little bits of weaving for yourself, too ~ I did. Great fun.
I'll end this post with an image from Stourhead, a place so redolent of English culture that even renovation work is screened with literary quotations (One of the most picturesque scenes in the world ~ Horace Walpole in 1762, and many visitors since) and with a quote from Mark Haddon which feels particularly apt for me at the moment: “You can’t drive yourself as a writer unless you have this mix of overwhelming arrogance and toxic anxiety.”
Labels: Frome Museum, Mark Haddon, Mayor of Frome, Merlin, National Theatre, Stourhead, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, yarn exhibition
Summer's lease...
Summer's Lease was the theme, loosely, for Monday night's poetry cafe at Frome's Garden Cafe, which would have been held outside but for the aptness of the quote hath all too short a date weather-wise ~ and with such a fabulous lineup of poets it definitely felt like the evening was too short as well. Daisy Behagg used bike as well as rail to ensure arrival this time, and opened the night with an exquisite and profoundly personal set: tender, delicate and full of mysterious lightness and colour. Her Templar pamphlet Cockpit Syndrome is due out soon, you can pre-order here.
Dawn Gorman, doyenne of Bradford-on-Avon's popular Words & Ears performance nights, showed why her poems were selected by Toadily Press for publication in Mend and Hone, and then nine very varied voices stepped up to our virtual mic. From debut poet Jim Henderson bashfully sharing his first tongue kiss to the incomparable Muriel Lavender performing hirsute to celebrate her trophy as World Champion Lady Beard, all delighted us in different ways: some reflective and some very funny (thanks John Christopher Wood for the bird calls...) So thanks to all who came ~ we'll do it all again in July so put Monday 7th in your diaries now! This will be our Festival special, with Hilda Sheehan our guest and the title Festival Poet Laureate up for grabs.
Labels: Daisy Behagg, Frome Festival, Frome Poetry Cafe, Hilda Sheehan, Muriel Lavender, Words and Ears
Frankly, a miscellany
Booking is now open for Frome Festival in July and Annabelle & I have been walking Rodden Meadow at one step to 5 million years in preparation for our Time Walk - the story of the earth in a thousand paces, struggling to unknot the scientific complexities of the last 6.5 billion years. Solar Physicist Keith Barnham has no such difficulty: in The Burning Answer, "a user's guide to the solar revolution" he explains history, here-&-now and future options in a guaranteed-readable form.
Here's Keith at his Hunting Raven book signing on Saturday with poet Claire Crowther and Oliver Dowding, organic farmer and enthusiastic purchaser. And while we're on the subject of earth ~ survival of, and best way to live on ~ Flatpack Democracy, the story of Frome council's successful bid for independence, is still creating a stir with a Guardian feature last week.
Moving from prose to poetry, Rosie and I were guests at Words from the Rising Sun, a friendly venue in Bath with an intimate atmosphere. A fun night, thanks Sadie - and Kevin Boylan on the tin can guitar. And moving on again to drama, Nevertheless Productions was featured on the Frome FM writing spot Write On with David Lassman, on Sunday.
This year is the fourth anniversary of Frome's unique Pub Theatre which, inspired by Rosie's vision of bringing professional productions to the town at an affordable price in an accessible venue, has been thriving at The Cornerhouse ever since. During those four years we've brought in 14 productions, all using professional companies, so it feels good to pause and celebrate before our next project: War Zones, commissioned for Frome Festival and showing on July 8th and 9th ~ you can book now... we do sell out you know!
Speaking of drama, I must do a quick plug for Lane's List: invaluable for anyone writing for stage as local playwright David Lane trawls the lucky bag of current dramatic opportunities.
And since this post is already a mishmash of themes and genres, I'll end on a musical note: the marvellous Fat Stanley at the Olive Tree on Saturday night. Here's wishing you happy writing in the sunshine, and lots of dancing too.
Labels: Fat Stanley, Flatpack Democracy, Frome Festival, Frome FM, Keith Barnham, Lane's List, The Burning Answer, Words from the Rising Sun
I'd never read, or even seen, The Godfather but Paccamora on Catherine Hill was an ideal venue to learn more about that complex political world, over an amazing supper created by Loredana Waters for her 'Literary Reading' event on Friday. Jamie Thomas-King, famed for his role in The Tudors (a series "light on dates and heavy on sex, glamour and lovely table settings" according to The Guardian review) read two dramatic scenes as we nibbled authentic Sicilian cuisine in cushioned candlelight. Originally formed to support the poor through solidarity, the Mafia is now synonymous not only with racketeering but with Sicily itself, and Lore was anxious we should know that only 2% of the five million in her homeland have any such links... which I make 10,000...
Tales of sex and violence take me neatly to Bedminster on Saturday for the Show of Strength theatrical walk Why Don't We Do It In The Road? Writer Sheila Hannon researched the quirky, and often gory, history of these streets to introduce us to authentic characters like Alfred Daw Collard the poet-butcher who penned ditties in his slaughterhouse. Less jolly was the history of The Bull pub which doubled as Magistrates Court and was known locally as The Bull and Butchery. Mrs Gardner, matron of the Victorian jail in North Street, tells of the last public hanging in Bristol when the prison governor fainted as seven men wrestled an 18-year-old servant girl to the scaffold, despite the 3500-signature petition to the Home Office to save her.
After gruesome tales of grave robbers & body snatchers we moved on to more modern times with Lucky Eric, who introduced us to traditional features like a drain cover made by Thomas Crapper, ending the tour with the 1983 Brinks Mat Warehouse Robbery which unexpectedly has a local connection too: stolen gold was smelted down in a North Street house and laundered through the local Barclays, where apparently no suspicions were aroused by the deposit and withdrawal of a few hundred million pounds in a few weeks. All stirring stuff, lucidly animated by actors Kim Hicks & Chris Yapp and much enjoyed by those who braved the gales to follow them.
Another image to end this posting, from the blossom-filled lanes around Frome which make me think of Brendan Kennelly's fabulous (longer) poem Begin:
Every beginning is a promise
born in the light and dying in the dark
determination and exaltation of springtime
flowering the way to work...
Though we live in a world that dreams of ending,
that always seems about to give in,
something that will not acknowledge conclusion
insists that we forever begin.
Labels: Begin, Lane's List, Paccamora, Show of Strength, Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
In the week I was away, Half Moon Bay turned into a blossom festival: yellow mustard massing high as an elephant’s eye and floral pageantry everywhere. The lanes are loud with birdsong as lizards bask on the cliffs & seals bask on the rocks along the shore. I had just two days for all those 'last time' moments: suppers with Mo & Anja, walks along the beach and over the headland, a final Classique cappuccino with the (fiendish) crosswords in San Francisco Sunday Chronicle, before heading back home.
The sky in London was the colour of tarnished pewter and as my train reached Frome the steady rain turned into a monsoon so I arrived at my house drenched to the skin from gutter spray of passing cars... but then there was a rainbow, so that's all right.
Time now to unpack, and look back: despite having to abort my plan to restart running, overall this was a fantastic trip ~ plenty of walking and also quite a lot of writing.
And now I'm home there's much to look forward to: reconnecting with friends & family, and great local events like Frome Poetry Cafe on Monday May 19th, when the very talented Daisy Behagg will be reading some of her award-winning poems. Garden Cafe, 7.30 ~ do come.
Labels: Daisy Behagg, Frome Poetry Cafe, Half Moon Bay
Trekking time
I didn’t expect to spend last week in the Sierra Nevada, hiking through forests spattered with snow and wandering the beaches of Lake Tahoe in 20-degree sunshine... but that’s what happened.
Mo’s friend Gary has a condo up here and a three hour drive brought us into a land of snowcapped mountains and dense forests and this shimmering lake, 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, filled with enough water to spill over the whole of California to a one-foot depth. It's a "young" lake, glacially carved about ten million years ago, but long known to the Washoe Indians who came here to fish, hunt, and spiritually commune with these crystal-clear waters. Then in 1844 it was 'discovered' by a senator named John C Frémont and within a decade became a tourist mecca, serviced by railroad and steamboat even before the roads were cut through, and by the 1960s the forests were riddled with condos and burger bars.
But the beauty of the lake is transcendent, and with a shoreline of 72 miles even that urban assault hasn't ruined it all: we walked for miles along fabulous trails through scented forests of incense cedar and Jefferson pines with cones as big as sheep skulls, seeing jays and woodpeckers, golden-mantled ground squirrels and masses of other wildlife - not actually any bears, though this is bear country. The Steller jays are ubiquitous, and came each morning to the condo balcony demanding breakfast. The beaches are lovely too ~ we found Tahoe City by far the nicest resort: if you ever go there, head for Dockside 700 for a great meal as you watch at dusk while the lake melts from indigo to silver and the white-crusted mountains flush under the setting sun.
Labels: Dockside 700, Lake Tahoe
Curious: eager to know ~ arousing interest ~ made...
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Takes place in the mortuary within the Town Hall during ‘Dance of the Dead. Number 6 discovers that the body {who I believe to have been Number 34} has been found {in all probability by the crew of M.S. Polotska} in a drawer in the mortuary. The wallet in the dead man’s trouser pocket to be amended, and the body itself to be amended. As Number 2 puts it, it’s a case of waste not want not. Well Number 6 makes the best of his opportunities he can’t blame Number 2 for doing likewise. We can understand how the wallet will be amended, but what about the body? Well two methods could be used, either plastic surgery, or the face could be so disfigured that the dead body would be only recognisable because of the wallet in the dead man’s pocket. But then there would be no mole, and the hair colouring would be wrong, but no doubt something could be done about that. And it was of course long before DNA fingerprinting. But then as Number 2 and Number 6 leave the mortuary to go back to the Ball, they close the door on the poor old cat, leaving it trapped in the mortuary!
What made Number 2 go looking for Number 6? Well no doubt he was missed by her at the Ball, and knowing what an inquisitive fellow Number 6 is…..he wouldn’t be able to resist poking his nose about the Town Hall. If the Ball had been held in the Recreation Hall, this opportunity could not have been afforded to Number 6. And curiously it was that the only door open to him, was the one which led him to the mortuary. All the other doors being locked against him. Number 6 adopted a disguise, borrowing the white coat of Number 116. I’ve sometimes wondered what a doctor’s white coat was doing hanging up in a hallway of the Town Hall. Perhaps he was late for the Ball, wearing his costume under his white coat, thus saving him having to change! And of course the spectacles which Number 6 found in the breast pocket of the white coat, they were McGoohan’s own, had to be. Otherwise Number 6 might not have been able to see his way about wearing them. Or else the lenses were plain glass, as they sometimes were when John Drake adopted a disguise wearing spectacles.
Hopefully the cat was not left trapped in that room for too long!
The Prisoner Compared to Itself!
Wheels Within The Wheel!
Storm In A Teacup!
Cue Thunder!
The Illusion of Escape! b
The Prisoner Comment
The Village Cemetery
Living In Harmony
Sabotage!
The Illusion of Escape!
The Missing Link!
The Village!
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
What Are Facts Behind Town Hall?
A Gypsy’s Tale!
Observers Report
Oh Dear!!!!!
It’s Not Right, Its All Wrong And You Know It!
Names Are Not Used Here!
All That power!
The Irony Of It!
Doubles!
The Prisoner How Was It?
That Could Have Gone Better!
Harmony Back-lot Film Footage
CITIZEN 6
A Question of Time…So That Was It!
They Do Not Like Failure Here!
Shouldn’t You Be Doing That In The Hospital?
A Change of Mind
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Investigative Group
Michael Avenatti’s Wife Swore In Court That He’s ‘Emotionally Abusive’
REUTERS/Mike Blake
Peter Hasson & Joe Simonson Contributor
Michael Avenatti, the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels, threatened and emotionally abused his wife after they separated, she declared under oath in court filings The Daily Caller News Foundation reviewed.
In a sworn court declaration TheDCNF reviewed, Lisa Storie-Avenatti asked a California court to grant her exclusive use of their marital home after she said her husband threatened and emotionally abused her. Both parties now dispute this account, as they finalize their divorce.
Despite these recent denials, Storie-Avenatti alleged her husband threatened to call the police and get them both arrested, which would cause her to lose custody of their son and put him into the hands of the state’s child protective services.
Two days before that incident, Avenatti had called the police to demand entry into the home the couple used to share, court documents show. Avenatti called the police during that incident but challenged other details in Storie-Avenatti’s story, he confirmed to TheDCNF.
When asked for comment on Thursday, Storie-Avenatti denied Avenatti was ever abusive in an email to TheDCNF, apparently contradicting her sworn statement. Avenatti, labeled as “Baby” in her contacts, was copied on the email.
In court documents, however, Avenatti’s wife described him as emotionally abusive and lacking control over his anger — sharply contrasting the image of himself he has presented to the public while representing Daniels in her legal battles against President Donald Trump.
Despite the allegations she made in court, in her emailed statement, Storie-Avenatti described her husband as a “good man” to TheDCNF and portrayed her own allegations as having “no basis in reality.”
[Source: Twitter/Michael Avenatti]
One of Avenatti’s strategies for winning over the public — and more importantly, the media — has been “positioning himself as a feminist ally” in his legal battles against Trump, Vanity Fair noted in a May 17 article.
As he has entered the media spotlight, Avenatti has become a resistance hero of sorts. On Wednesday, West Hollywood Mayor John Duran proclaimed May 23 as “Stormy Daniels Day” in a ceremony Avenatti attended.
“Even when skepticism of straight, white alpha males is at an all-time high, women in America — and many men, too — have found themselves completely beguiled by Avenatti,” Vanity Fair raved.
Exactly five months before that Vanity Fair profile on his skincare routine and pricey outfits, Avenatti angrily berated and threatened his estranged wife outside the house they used to share, eventually calling the police on her, according to court documents.
On Dec. 17, 2017, Storie-Avenatti had offered for Avenatti to spend the day with their son, accompanied by a nanny, she recounted under oath in a Jan 3, 2018, declaration. (She had long been their son’s primary caregiver, as Avenatti was routinely absent and unreliable even before they separated, his mother told the court.)
Avenatti “took umbrage” at the stipulation and showed up outside the house in a fury that same day, she said in the declaration. Avenatti told TheDCNF on Thursday he had “to retrieve some of my belongings.” (The couple separated on Oct. 30, 2017, around which point Avenatti moved into a nearby luxury apartment, court documents show.)
Storie-Avenatti sent their young son upstairs with the nanny and confronted Avenatti outside the front door — at which point he “immediately started yelling at me to let him into the house and started to videotape me with his phone,” she recounted.
Avenatti “also threatened me that he would be staying at the house every night in the coming week,” she said.
During the dispute, Avenatti had brought with him his teenage daughter from his first marriage, who tried to hide as her father publicly berated his latest estranged wife, Storie-Avenatti recounted in her sworn declaration.
“I told [him] to stop making a scene and that he was scaring [his daughter], who was hiding behind a pillar,” she said. Avenatti retorted that he brought the girl as a “witness,” Storie-Avenatti told the court.
He “continued to yell at me and at some point must have called the police, who arrived. I heard [him] tell the police he wanted access to the house,” she said. “The police declined [his] request and later told me that this was going to be a nasty divorce.”
Avenatti challenged that description of the event in an email to TheDCNF on Thursday.
“The police arrived and informed me that I was correct that I should have access but stated they could not grant me access but if I wanted to force access, I could because I had every right to the home. I declined to do that because I did not want to escalate the situation,” he explained. “The police told me I was being more than reasonable and was the ‘calm’ one. The police declined to make a report despite my request that they do so.”
He also disputed he yelled or caused his daughter to hide behind a pillar — as Storie-Avenatti recounted in her sworn declaration. “I did not yell at her, and my daughter never ‘hid’ behind anything,” he said.
Two days after that incident, Storie-Avenatti met with Avenatti in a public place to discuss a Christmas “visitation schedule,” she told the court. It was at that meeting Avenatti allegedly threatened to make them both lose custody of their son.
“During our short meeting, [Avenatti] threatened he will ‘burn’ all of our money on our divorce case and that he will call the ‘cops’ again, causing us both to be arrested, which will, in turn, cause [our son] to be placed into protective custody,” Storie-Avenatti stated. (Avenatti called that anecdote “completely untrue.”)
That threat, her lawyers told the court, was further proof Avenatti “is angry and vindictive, and has no regard for emotional harm caused to his son, his daughter or to Lisa.” (RELATED: Avenatti’s Company Discriminated Against A Pregnant Woman And Then Refused To Pay Her Settlement, Court Docs Show)
Avenatti “is emotionally abusive, and it is harmful to [our son] and me for [Avenatti] to be staying with us in the same house; and he has his own residence where he has been staying since before October 2017,” she told the court.
[Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti leaves federal court in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., April 26, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson]
“I have never neglected nor abused any of my children,” Avenatti said in a Jan 8. declaration five days later. His wife had kicked him out of the house and changed the locks, Avenatti claimed.
He denied his wife’s sworn version of events, in an email to TheDCNF on Thursday.
“I never subjected my wife or any other woman to any threats or emotional abuse, and any claim to the contrary is bogus,” he wrote. “My first wife of 13 years can confirm this. I have never been arrested or charged with anything, and I have no history of any domestic abuse. I have never had any incident where the police were called for alleged domestic abuse or anything I have done. Ever.”
He added: “There are a host of things I could disclose relating to Lisa, her habits and the circumstances around her filing, but I will decline to do so at this time, as she is the mother to my son and I do not think it is appropriate to malign her.”
Storie-Avenatti issued a similar statement on Thursday, saying she and Avenatti are “presently finalizing a divorce, and we ask for privacy for our sake and that of our son. ”
“To be clear, there was never any abuse, alleged or otherwise, in our relationship. I never feared for my safety or that of my son. Period. Michael has in the past been a loving and caring husband and is a loving and caring father. I never called the police because I was never threatened with harm. I never sought to have him excluded from our home because I felt threatened or feared for my safety or that of my son,” she said.
“Further, he has paid all child support and spousal support. He is a good man. It appears you are trying to harm him and our family by publishing a defamatory story that has no basis in reality.”
TheDCNF asked Storie-Avenatti to clarify the apparent discrepancy between her sworn statement and her emailed statement, but she did not reply by press time.
On Saturday, Storie-Avenatti expressed her frustration with the divorce proceedings to Fox News.
“I need to be divorced; and if [Michael Avenatti] continues to paint the narrative, he can ignore our case!” she told Fox in a text message.
While her statement to TheDCNF suggests their upcoming split is on amicable terms, Storie-Avenatti made it clear to Fox it has been a difficult process.
“Everyone reports we are divorced. That does not help my goal to get a divorce,” she said. “Can you imagine divorcing him?”
Storie-Avenatti’s sudden reversal is the second time Avenatti has been accused of wrongdoing — only to have his accuser apparently retract their statement after TheDCNF reached out to Avenatti.
Dillanos Coffee CEO David Morris on May 8 accused Avenatti of owing him $160,000. Dillanos was a vendor for Avenatti’s coffee chain, Tully’s Coffee, but was forced to cut Avenatti off after never receiving payment, Morris said.
When TheDCNF reached out to Avenatti on May 10, he denied Morris’s accusation. Less than three hours later, Morris announced he had reached an agreement with Avenatti and deleted his accusation from social media. A spokesperson for the company told TheDCNF on May 10 that the company had reached an agreement with Avenatti personally.
Avenatti previously threatened to sue TheDCNF for reporting on serious allegations in his background, although he has yet to challenge a single fact in TheDCNF’s reporting. Journalists at several other outlets have since said Avenatti threatened or intimidated them for reporting on him.
After that threat, TheDCNF uncovered further ethically questionable behavior in Avenatti’s past. Avenatti’s company, a Washington court found, fired a woman for being pregnant.
Despite the court ordering Avenatti’s company to pay a $120,000 settlement, the woman has yet to receive any money.
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Tags : donald trump michael avenatti stormy daniels
Peter Hasson & Joe Simonson
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Mira Sorvino Rips “Predators” Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, R. Kelly At Women’s March LA
L.A County Sheriff Trying To Contact Asia Argento’s Alleged Victim
By Patrick Hipes
Patrick Hipes
Executive Managing Editor
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Frank Franklin II/Shutterstock
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it is “attempting to reach out” to Asia Argento’s alleged victim who the New York Times reported Sunday was sexually assaulted by the Italian actor-director in L.A. in 2013 when he was 17.
Jimmy Bennett, an actor-musician, was named in the NYT report, which said Argento arranged a deal to pay him $380,000 for the incident that occurred in a room at the Ritz Carlton in Marina del Ray. Bennett was 17 at the time, and Argento was 37.
“(LASD) is aware of the media reports naming Asia Argento as being involved in an alleged 2013 incident in an area policed by our Marina Del Rey Station,” the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement today. “To date, the LASD has not located any police report alleging criminal activity within our jurisdiction in relation to this incident.”
Harvey Weinstein's Attorney Reacts To Asia Argento Allegations
It added: “After becoming aware of the allegations, the LASD’s Special Victims Bureau is attempting to reach out to the reported victim and/or his representatives in an effort to appropriately document any potential criminal allegations.”
In California, the age of consent is 18.
Argento has been a vocal advocate for the #MeToo movement since coming forward in Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker exposé in October with allegations that she was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. According to encrypted documents obtained by NYT, the settlement of Bennett’s intent to sue came in the months after she accused Weinstein publicly.
There has been no comment by Argento or her legal team since Sunday. Bennett’s lawyer Gordon Sattro released this statement to the media earlier today:
“At this time, our client, Jimmy Bennett, does not wish to comment on the documents or the events discussed in the New York Times article yesterday evening. While we realize that the news cycle demands an immediate response, many times, people need more than a few minutes or hours to respond. We are asking that you give our client some time and space. Jimmy is going to take the next 24 hours, or longer, to prepare his response. We ask that you respect our client’s privacy during this time.”
Will Packer And Debmar-Mercury's 'Central Ave' Sets Weekly Run On Fox Stations
Davis Guggenheim And Jonathan King Launch Concordia Studio With Laurene Powell Jobs
Netflix's 'The Crown' Has A Place For Prince Harry And Meghan..If They're Interested
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Do, In Fact, Pay Undocumented Immigrants Taxes
Federal judge prevents Trump administration from opening up protected waters to offshore drilling
Pete Buttigieg Is Having A Moment
A Spin Cycle Worthy Of A Wash Machine
You know the whir your wash machine makes on its spin cycle? That’s what Trump is busy doing after the release of Attorney General William Barr’s summary of Special Counsel Mueller’s report.
Which is odd, because rather than releasing Mueller’s summary of his own report, Barr wrote and released his own summary.
I wonder why that is?
The Mueller Summary Must Be Damming
Presumably because Mueller’s summary contains information that Barr’s boss, Donald Trump, would rather the public not find out about.
Thus, take Barr’s summary with a huge grain of salt. He was, after all, hand picked by Trump to reach exactly the conclusion he reached, which is the vague “no collusion” statement.
Because Barr’s Tiptoes Around Some Obvious Facts
Even so, Barr’s summary is a little weird. For example, here’s what he has to say about Russian interference in the 2016 election:
“The Special Counsel’s investigation determined that there were two main Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. The first involved attempts by a Russian organization, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), to conduct disinformation and social media operations in the United States designed to sow social discord….The second element involved the Russian government’s efforts to conduct computer hacking operations designed to gather and disseminate information to influence the election.”
C’mon, Barr, no one’s ever honestly suspected that Trump or his staff was directly involved with either the IRA disinformation campaign or the Russian hacking operations.
And Barr’s statement doesn’t address the myriad of contacts from Trump world, such as: Manafort’s highly placed Russian friends, the Trump Tower meeting with Don Jr., George Papadopoulos’ Russian outreach, and the Moscow real estate deal that fell apart.
It’s difficult to believe Mueller didn’t address any of these items. So why doesn’t Barr mention them?
Mueller Punted
Mueller kicked the can down the road regarding whether Trump obstructed justice: “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
But of course, Trump took to Twitter to proclaim he had been exonerated.
Which is untrue, but his followers are unlikely to read the Barr summary. They’ll rely on the propaganda from Fox News and Breitbart, and swear by Barr’s conclusion rather than Mueller’s.
Already, I’m seeing everyday people on social media posting memes that we should be outraged that this so-called witch hunt was made up by Democrats and the media, and how dumb we are to have been mad at Trump.
As well, Barr makes no mention of the counterintelligence investigation that is concurrent with the criminal investigation into Trump.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to openly obstruct justice on a regular basis as he has been doing for months.
That Sound You Hear Is A Big Backfire
I believe orchestrating this foregone conclusion with Barr’s assistance will actually backfire, and indeed there are already signs that it is since the chairmen of the House Judiciary, Intelligence, and Oversight Committees almost instantly issued a joint statement that reads in part:
“After reading the Attorney General’s four-page summary of the Special Counsel’s findings, we reiterate our call for the release of the Special Counsel’s full and complete report and all underlying documents. We also call for Attorney General Barr to come forward to testify before the House Judiciary Committee without delay. Far from the ‘total exoneration’ claimed by the President, the Mueller report expressly does not exonerate the President. Instead, it ‘sets out evidence on both sides of the question’ of obstruction—including the evidence that President Trump attempted to obstruct justice.
In other words, many of us are now even more eager to see Mueller’s report than we would have been without the obvious sleight of hand.
No doubt this is going to get ugly. But the most important thing to remember is that all of the American people deserve to get the full Mueller report, so we can make up our own minds.
Mar 28, 2019 Lynn Hauka
On day of student protests, strikers around the world demand action on climate changePete Buttigieg Is Having A Moment
Four Years that Saved the Judiciary for Conservatives
The NFL and the Internal Conflict of Mandatory Patriotism
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Lynn Hauka
9 months ago In the Spotlight, Trending Issues, Uncategorized45
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Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
(director: Edwin L. Marin; screenwriters: from the book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens/Hugo Butler; cinematographer: Sidney Wagner; editor: George Boemler; music: Franz Waxman; cast: Reginald Owen (Ebenezer Scrooge), Gene Lockhart (Bob Cratchit), Kathleen Lockhart (Mrs. Cratchit), Leo G. Carroll (Jacob Marley), Terry Kilburn (Tiny Tim), Barry Mackay (Fred), Lynne Carver (Bess), Lionel Braham (Ghost of Christmas Present), Anne Rutherford (Ghost of Christmas Past), D’Arcy Corrigan (Ghost of Christmas Future), Ronald Sinclair (Young Scrooge), June Lockhart (Cratchit’s Daughter); Runtime: 70; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz; MGM; 1938)
“Edwin L. Marin robustly directs the Charles Dickens classic.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Lionel Barrymore was originally set to play Scrooge, but couldn’t take the part he played on radio because he was crippled by arthritis. Upon Barrymore’s suggestion the coveted Scrooge role went to 51-year-old character actor Reginald Owen, who had the best role of his career and makes the most of it. This version is one of the best, almost as good as the 1951 Alastair Sim’s version–considered by many the definitive one. Edwin L. Marin robustly directs the Charles Dickens classic, adding a few nice cinematic touches such as The Ghost of Christmas Past played by a beautiful young woman (Ann Rutherford) instead of a middle-aged man and having a most jolly and energized Fred (Barry Mackay)–Scrooges’ penniless nephew about to marry his sweet Bess, who takes pleasure in sliding on the street ice as do the children.
The pic tells of the greedy Scrooge learning some serious life lessons about lightening up and showing some soul after he says “humbug” to his nephew’s Merry Christmas gestures and fires his loyal clerk Bob Cratchit (Gene Lockhart) on Christmas Eve because he mistakenly knocked his topper off with a snowball. Cratchit decides not to spoil the holiday spirit and doesn’t tell his large family about the misfortune. On Christmas Day they feast on goose, and Crachit’s crippled son Tiny Tim is all smiles as he digs into mom’s pudding. Meanwhile the lonely wealthy miser is visited on Christmas Eve by the spirit of his former partner Jacob Marley (Leo G. Carroll), who is in chains because he learned too late about being kind to others. Marley died seven years ago, and now returns only to warn Scrooge to change his mean-spirited ways or else he too will be in chains in the afterlife. He also tells Scrooge that spirits will come at one, two, and three o’clock to refresh his memory about the spirit of Christmas. The frightened Scrooge learns about the joy of giving from the three ghosts, as he revisits his more promising childhood days, his present dark days and takes a gander at how bleak his future will be if he doesn’t shape up.
This standard Dickensian fare is done in a spirited fashion and makes for good holiday viewing. June Lockhart, daughter of Gene, makes her film debut as one of Cratchit’s merry children.
REVIEWED ON 12/24/2004 GRADE: B + https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/
SHEBA, BABY
CORRUPTED, THE
Copyright 2019 - Dennis Schwartz Reviews
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Photograph by Coletivo Mambembe
Petition for “Report Abuse” Button on Twitter After Rape Threats
By TechFruit Staff and curated from TechFruit on July 27, 2013 0 Comments
Twitter has come under fire for not currently offering a “report abuse” button on the service, after women’s rights campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez received death threats through the service for her campaign to have women represented on British banknotes.
Twitter has said that they take abuse seriously and will suspend accounts found to be breaking their rules, but these rules are not well known or easy to find for users. Twitter UK’s general manager Tony Wang also said that the company were testing easier ways to report abuse on the service.
Twitter needs to take responsibility 4 the illegal actions of its users. It's not good enough to have such a time-consuming report function
— CarolineCriado-Perez (@CCriadoPerez) July 27, 2013
We encourage users to report an account for violation of the Twitter rules by using one of our report form: https://t.co/mTEKNxddYz
— Tony Wang (@TonyW) July 27, 2013
Also, we're testing ways to simplify reporting, e.g. within a Tweet by using the "Report Tweet" button in our iPhone app and on mobile web.
We will suspend accounts that, once reported to us, are found to be in breach of our rules.
Facebook already offers quick ways to help people report abuse such as hate speech, or inappropriate photographs, but up until now Twitter users had to find the Twitter help section and fill out a form. For a company that is built around instant sharing, it should not be that difficult to complain about harassment.
Criado-Perez reportedly received a number of rape and death threats and other abuse messages through Twitter after her campaign was successful in getting Jane Austen to replace Charles Darwin on the newly designed £10 banknote. She reported the abuse to the police who are investigating the matter, but when someone is receiving more than 50 abusive tweets per hour, Twitter should make it easier to report people and not just block them, as they could well sign up instantly with a new account.
An online petition calling on Twitter to add a “report abuse” button was started in response to the issues faced by Criado-Perez, and has received wide support garnering more than 12,000 signatures at the time of publication.
TechFruit
TechFruit is a UK-focused blog with news and analysis covering the latest technology, gadgets, science, and start-ups.
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Streets (x)
Grinnell College. Special Collections and Archives (x)
Sheppard Field (Tex.) (x)
Jimmy Ley to Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Ley - September 3, 1942
Jimmy wishes that his short vacation from mechanical school would line up with Betty’s wedding so he could attend.
Jimmy Ley to Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Ley - August 24, 1942
Jimmy has started an Airplane Structures class and he describes a Glenn L. Martin bomber plane.
Jimmy Ley to Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Ley - October 1, 1942
Jimmy received a letter from Ruth with pictures of Davy. He responds to news about Betty’s wedding tea and sends a bill for Betty and Ed to buy a wedding gift.
Jimmy Ley to Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Ley - October 12, 1942
Jimmy ends the carburetion phase. He hopes to graduate around Thanksgiving time. He mentions his father’s scrap business back at home and tells about a parade they put on in the camp.
Jimmy goes on sick call for athlete’s foot. He writes that last week all of the instructors received promotions, most to sergeants, which greatly improved morale for them.
This letter is missing.
Jimmy tells about his new schedule. He discourages his parents from visiting since he hopes he’ll be able to get a furlough when classes end.
Jimmy responds to news from home about Betty’s wedding and a local fire.
Jimmy describes an obstacle course and a hike with gas masks and other gear for training.
Jimmy reports that he only has twenty days of school left. Jimmy mentions a forthcoming gas ration.
United States. Army Air Forces (22) + -
Military education (11) + -
United States. Army Air Forces. Sheppard Field (1) + -
Jimmy Ley Collection (22) + -
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Drinks with films
Celebrating cinema with cocktails!
Tag Archives: Himesh Patel
Music: On the Stage and On the Screen
Posted on August 1, 2019 by Jill
Summer in Telluride means music festivals. From Bluegrass to Blues and Brews, from RIDE to Jazz Festival — our little town is invaded by music fans. This summer, music lovers with a taste for nostalgia can also get their music fix on the big screen. Rocketman, with it’s amazing musical and acting tour de force — Taron Egerton channeling Elton John — seems to have started a rock music biopic craze. It’s still playing in some theaters. Perhaps it was actually Bohemian Rhapsody, directed by the same director as Rocketman, Dexter Fletcher, that started this music film craze. This summer there are many films featuring musicians or their music in biopics, documentaries and romantic comedies.
There’s a great documentary that celebrates the music that came out of LA’s Laurel Canyon, Echo in the Canyon and a look back at David Crosby’s career; the story of how he survived four decades having dealt with addiction, prison and heartbreak called Remember My Name. August brings Blinded by the Light, a coming-of-age film set in India. It’s inspired by the true tale of a Muslim teenager who finds himself through the music of Bruce Springsteen. There’s even a trailer for a behind-the-scenes look at the K-Pop band BTS on tour (Bring The Soul).
Yesterday has a simple premise: what if there was a world-wide power outage and when the lights came up, only one man remembered The Beatles and their music? Director Danny Boyle spins this charming tale of struggling singer-songwriter Jack Malick and what he does with this gift. Jack is played with warmth and a great deal of befuddlement by Himesh Patel, the British actor and writer best-known for his role on the EastEnders films. When his unexpected good fortune makes him a superstar, he must learn to navigate fame, a greedy manager (a brittle Kate McKinnon) and receiving advice from Ed Sheeran.
There’s a joy in watching people “discover” The Beatles songs and the snippets of the songs are played with great gusto. It’s interesting to think about how these songs were received back when they were hits and if modern audiences would be as enamored of them. Jack’s close friends are shown supporting him even in his failing sets at the local pub and his parents have the realistic hope that his songwriting and performing career will end. When his career takes off, it’s sweet to see their whole-hearted support.
The key relationship with his biggest supporter and first manager, played with sweetness by Lily James, is where the film loses it’s footing. Instead of weak excuses to keep them apart, a stronger storyline would’ve let Jack tire of his small-town love or stray into temptation’s path…but this sweet fairly tale, story by Richard Curtis of Love Actually fame, doesn’t dig deep. It’s nice that the action moves at a good pace, but there’s not enough time spent on conflict or introspection.
If you’re a Beatle’s fan or a British Rom Com fan, you’ll find this a fun diverting film. Himesh Patel transitions from a woebegone lad playing for a few friends in a chips shop to an International superstar without sacrificing his innate niceness. The relationships ring true, the songs are performed with real heart and there are some laughs along the way.
Drinks with Films Review: Two pints of British lager (out of five)
Posted in Art House Films, Documentary Film, Uncategorized | Tagged Danny Boyle, Himesh Patel, Lily James, Richard Curtis, Taron Egerton | Leave a reply
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Adult Authors
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Author Submission
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Michele Carlo
“Fish Out Of Agua: My life on neither side of the (subway) tracks”
Michele Carlo is a native New Yorker, redheaded Nuyorican and an author/performer who has told stories across the U.S., including the Sound Bites series (ME), RISK! live shows and podcast, and the MOTH’s Mainstage (NYC), on NPR with Latino USA, and the PBS TV series “Stories from the Stage.” She is the author of the NYC-set memoir Fish Out Of Agua: My life on neither side of the (subway) tracks and also hosts a podcast of the same name showcasing women, POC, LGBTQ and differing ability artists on internet radio station Radio Free Brooklyn. www.michelecarlo.com
About "Fish Out Of Agua: My life on neither side of the (subway) tracks"
Michele Carlo, a redheaded, freckle-faced Puerto Rican raised in an Italian/Irish section of The Bronx, grew up as an outlier. Too “white” for some of her proud Spanish-speaking relatives and a mystery to her schoolmates, Michele braved a search for identity that was a long, rough-and-tumble ride. By turns heartbreaking and humorous, and with a unique and alluring voice, Michele’s story is an homage to a long-gone New York City…and an iconically American, unforgettable portrait of growing up.
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Content marketing best practice: three examples
By Assaf Henkin May 7th 2013 12:09
The end of last year saw Forbes comment that “brand marketers who develop focused content plans with clear objectives in 2013 will reap the rewards that content marketing can deliver for many years to come”.
Certainly 2013 has so far seen a variety of how-to guides explaining the key considerations for successful content marketing campaigns.
However, the reality of mounting a content marketing strategy is often different to the theory.
We’ve worked with a number of companies on their content marketing activities and can see the real value they bring to the business. Audiences have become harder to reach and less receptive to traditional advertising.
This is where content marketing plays such a pivotal role in providing benefit-driven, informative, educational or practical content to connect with consumers. Whether your content strategy includes owned or earned content, or content created by media partners, one of the golden rules is to ensure that enhanced activation tactics are used to maximise your reach and efforts. After all, great content is only valuable if people can easily access it.
So who are the content marketing winners and losers? I’ve put together a selection of some examples and my thoughts on whether they work for the respective brands involved.
Colgate provides an online Oral and Dental Health Resource centre with videos, interactive guides, and over 400 articles.
The Colgate site is an informative guide to dental care along with helpful tips on keeping your teeth healthy. As a result, the site is educational whilst also offering a portal linking back to the purchase of its own products.
Where can it go next?
Expanding the reach of the content, perhaps on mobile through QR codes printed onto packaging, would provide consumers with access to information at the point of making a purchasing decision.
Some of the content has originated from Colgate, but the site is not afraid to lean on relevant sources of information from other sites.
As long as Colgate continues to promote dental health through the use of tips in this informative manner, its content platform will cement Colgate’s reputation as a market leader and the go-to site for advice on oral health.
Secret deodorant
Secret is a Procter and Gamble (P&G) deodorant brand, which launched a highly successful campaign focused around anti-bullying under the tagline ‘mean stinks’
Secret is aimed at teenage girls and the campaign was based on research that one of the issues often facing this demographic is bullying. Mobile adverts for Secret incorporated related content from social media sites to support the brand’s anti-bullying message.
A dedicated mean stinks site was developed that curated positive messages from Twitter and Instagram supporting teen girls who are dealing with bullying.
The campaign also made innovative use of Facebook and created a ‘Good Graffiti’ app that allowed fans to pass along positive messages to friends. The page also included a referral page for counselling centres, a shop selling anti-bullying slogan t-shirts and links to Facebook commerce sales for Secret and other P&G products.
The campaign has already expanded to include publicity tie-ins in the form of Glee star Amber Riley.
Brands can often fall foul when associating themselves with campaigns as consumers can be quite cynical. However, the anti-bullying message and the support that Secret is giving to this subject would be hard to criticise.
Extending the campaign to a celebrity ambassador can go wrong, particularly if that celebrity acts in a way that would conflict with their ambassadorial role, so Secret would be well advised to ensure that the content remains king.
As part of a campaign to promote the VW Beetle, Volkswagen invested in a music series on Channel 4 called Abbey Road Studios: In Session with Volkswagen Beetle.
With the Beatles being one of the most famous bands to have recorded at Abbey Road Studios and the fact that the original Beetle graced the cover of the bands ‘Abbey Road’ album, the association is understandable.
Social media activity was also included as part of the integrated campaign. This included activity on Spotify where users were asked to add tracks to a VW Beetle iconic tracks playlist for the chance to win a ticket to a session with Paul Weller. It was supported through advertising on both Facebook and Spotify. Short-form video content was also hosted online.
Rather than just sponsoring a music show, VW became the creators of the content and ensured they amplified their association through all the channels available to them. The only issue I can see would be the choice of artists they have on the show.
People have varied tastes and a certain act might not fit the demographic of a typical VW Beetle purchaser. Having insights into which music acts are trending for the given target audience could have helped in the selection process.
If Volkswagen wanted to extend the campaign online, they could create a music site featuring interviews and videos of artists from the suggestions participants to the Spotify competition made. Adverts featuring the VW Beetle could also have a peel-back mechanism similar to that employed by Secret, which could lead to the music site.
It’s also worth pointing out that I omitted the inclusion of the Red Bull Stratos jump because it has already been extensively covered in the media as it is considered to be one of the best examples of content marketing.
From looking at the examples above, there are clearly lessons to be learnt such as finding a common theme that appeals to your target audience in terms of their interests. And the golden rule? Make sure that when you have created great content, it is easily shareable.
Have you seen any great examples of content marketing? Feel free to share them in the comments.
Blog Content marketing Content
Blog PPC
Tips to enhance B2B digital strategies
When it comes to the B2B realm, the word “digital” is still considered a bit taboo. A good majority of B2B companies have yet to totally integrate digital strategies into their overarching marketing efforts.
Don’t get me wrong—some in the B2B sector really get it, such as Dell, American Express, GE, among others.
But why is it that so many B2B executives feel that digital marketing won’t help them take their business to new levels?
Blog Content marketing
Fact. Creating more content gets results
As a content marketing agency, we are always telling people what a vital role content plays in driving all elements of your digital marketing, be it social media, email marketing, SEO etc.
The good thing is that most people get this now. We seem to have moved past the educational phase with more and more companies publishing fresh content on their websites on a regular basis.
What we wanted to demonstrate, however, was the significant impact that an increase in content output (that is still high quality and original) can have on some of the key digital marketing metrics, such as website traffic, search engine rankings and social media reach.
May 13th 2013 16:26
Blog Conversion Rate Optimisation
Data from 1,000+ marketers identifies the #1 enemy of marketing integration
Econsultancy’s report on marketing integration won’t be published until Integrated Marketing Week in June, but we wanted to preview some of the top line findings from our survey of over 1,000 marketers and agency pros.
In this post, we look at the building blocks of integration and its number one enemy, human nature (and what to do about it.)
Briefing Ecommerce
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Is there an English equivalent to this Japanese proverb?
My boss asked me if his translation of a Japanese proverb was accurate the other day. Unfortunately, I don't have the Japanese written down with me, but I can describe it. His translation was "better dumplings than flowers". In Japanese, apparently the meaning of the proverb is 'someone who values items with practical use over aesthetic qualities'. Is there an English proverb equivalent?
phrase-request translation proverbs
RachelmortRachelmort
The Japanese is 花より団子 ("hana yori dango"). – snailcar♦ Mar 6 '13 at 9:43
Is the saying someone who values items [...] or is it is more valuable to be practical [...] a more accurate translation? – horatio Mar 6 '13 at 22:20
@snailboat Isn't that "Boys over flowers."? – Soulz May 30 '13 at 23:10
@Soulz No, "Boys over Flowers" (花より男子) is the title of a manga series, which is a pun on the proverb. (It replaces 団 with 男.) – snailcar♦ May 30 '13 at 23:34
Is the contex of this question about food? Something that is really edible as opposed to something that looks good but is less edible? See my answer below. – Tom Au Jun 5 '13 at 20:49
A very common English term in this general area is:
style over substance (and something may be described as all style and no substance).
...where oxforddictionaries defines substance as:
the subject matter of a text, speech, or work of art, especially as contrasted with the form or style in which it is presented:
the movie is a triumph of style over substance
That expression applies to things people might or might not value, rather than describing a person who favours one attribute over the other. I can't think of a "proverb" alluding to either preference, but if you're much more interested in substance/functionality rather than style/form, you're a:
pragmatist - person oriented toward the success or failure of a particular line of action, thought, etc.;
And for closely related "sayings" which are very common...
actions speak louder than words - what someone does is more important than what someone says.
fine words butter no parsnips - nothing is achieved by empty words or flattery.
FumbleFingers Reinstate MonicaFumbleFingers Reinstate Monica
"style over substance " is the opposite of what the OP asked. It is the viewpoint that the proverb might remonstrate against; not what it proposes. – Brian Hitchcock May 3 '15 at 10:52
@Brian: True, but I did say that one's in the general area (it just happens to be "180° out" :). In both this and several other answers here the poster explicitly admits he doesn't know of any specific "saying" with the exact sense requested. And I have included pragmatist for a straight noun - plus a couple of idiomatic usages also in the same general area with similar meanings to the target expression, rather than being diametrically opposite. – FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica May 4 '15 at 17:44
"Style over substance" means the complete opposite to what OP is looking for as Brian says. – Kentaro Apr 23 '19 at 1:45
@KentaroTomono: Indeed. But it's still an idiomatic usage "in this general area", in that it deals with the same explicit contrast between "appearance" and "functionality". And I have provided two examples favouring pragmatism over aesthetics, in actions speak louder than words and fine words butter no parsnips. – FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica Apr 24 '19 at 12:14
@Sam: I don't think I've ever heard anyone use "style over substance" in a context where it might be implicitly understood that "style" is actually better than "substance". So far as I'm concerned, it's always pejorative (never even neutral, let alone favourable towards choices made on the basis of appearance rather than functionality) – FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica May 19 '19 at 14:06
I can't think of an actual proverb, but you can certainly describe the essence idiomatically. I would personally use the following construction.
I would rather have a <Practical Thing> than a <Pretty Thing> any day.
Where I live, we don't eat dumplings, so we need a different example of a practical thing.
Here are a couple ideas:
She would rather have chocolates than flowers any day.
He was the kind of person that would take an oil change over a car wash any day.
XantixXantix
Chocolates are a comfort food, and thus inappropriate here. And a car wash can be very practical. – user6951 May 3 '15 at 15:36
In America, mothers used to warn their sons that in choosing a mate, "Cooking lasts, kissing doesn't." The parallel with the Japanese proverb is not perfect, but pretty strong.
Put another way, flowers are pretty to look at, but dumplings are something that you can actually eat.
A mother who would choose "cooking" over "kissing" for her son, would also choose "dumplings" over "flowers."
Tom AuTom Au
So far, you're the only one to directly address the question, rather than going off in the opposite direction, or making up descriptions about chocolates or oil changes which are not statements in favor of the pragmatic. – Brian Hitchcock May 3 '15 at 11:01
Since you are thinking about aesthetic, all show and no go
equipped with good looks but lacking action or energy. (Used to describe someone or something that looks good but does not perform as promised.) That shiny car of Jim's is all show and no go. He's mighty handsome, but I hear he's all show and no go.
EnglishLearnerEnglishLearner
See my comment under FumbleFingers' answer. – Brian Hitchcock May 3 '15 at 10:54
As @Brian has pointed out, this has the opposite meaning – user6951 May 3 '15 at 15:22
I'm not aware of an English-language proverb that refers to “someone who values items with practical use over aesthetic qualities”. There are numerous colorful phrases for referring to people of an opposite nature; for a list, see the Synonyms section of wiktionary's “all hat and no cattle” entry. (The “all sizzle and no steak” item may be a reaction to a marketing adage, “Sell the sizzle, not the steak”.) The meanings of most forms like “All X and no Y” can be reversed by saying “All X, and Y too”, which means one has significant style, with some substance underlying it, or by saying “Not just Y, but X too”, which means one has not merely substance but also style.
Some quotations or sayings that laud practicality vs aesthetics include
• “Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work” – Mark Twain
• “It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.” – Oscar Wilde
• “All that glitters is not gold” – adapted from Chaucer and Shakespeare
• “Don't quarrel with bread and butter” – trad.
James Waldby - jwpat7James Waldby - jwpat7
I don’t know of any English proverb which captures the sense you describe. But Charles Dickens wrote a novel on this opposition, Hard Times, and the name of one of its characters has become something of a symbol of the narrowly pragmatic attitude.
MR. GRADGRIND walked homeward from the school, in a state of considerable satisfaction. It was his school, and he intended it to be a model. He intended every child in it to be a model - just as the young Gradgrinds were all models.
There were five young Gradgrinds, and they were models every one. They had been lectured at, from their tenderest years; coursed, like little hares. Almost as soon as they could run alone, they had been made to run to the lecture-room. The first object with which they had an association, or of which they had a remembrance, was a large black board with a dry Ogre chalking ghastly white figures on it.
Not that they knew, by name or nature, anything about an Ogre. Fact forbid! I only use the word to express a monster in a lecturing castle, with Heaven knows how many heads manipulated into one, taking childhood captive, and dragging it into gloomy statistical dens by the hair.
No little Gradgrind had ever seen a face in the moon; it was up in the moon before it could speak distinctly. No little Gradgrind had ever learnt the silly jingle, Twinkle, twinkle, little star; how I wonder what you are! No little Gradgrind had ever known wonder on the subject, each little Gradgrind having at five years old dissected the Great Bear like a Professor Owen, and driven Charles's Wain like a locomotive engine-driver. No little Gradgrind had ever associated a cow in a field with that famous cow with the crumpled horn who tossed the dog who worried the cat who killed the rat who ate the malt, or with that yet more famous cow who swallowed Tom Thumb: it had never heard of those celebrities, and had only been introduced to a cow as a graminivorous ruminating quadruped with several stomachs.
One who holds rigidly to the “better dumplings than flowers” philosophy is a Gradgrind.
StoneyB on hiatusStoneyB on hiatus
This tale is a parable against (excessive) pragmatism, not a proverb in favor of pragmatism. – Brian Hitchcock May 3 '15 at 10:56
Most people never heard of Gradgrind, which sort of ruins it as popular saying. – user6951 May 3 '15 at 15:21
@BrianHitchcock OP asked for something describing "'someone who values items with practical use over aesthetic qualities" – StoneyB on hiatus May 3 '15 at 18:03
@pazzo Alas, I'm showing my age. Most educated people of my generation would know Gradgrind. – StoneyB on hiatus May 3 '15 at 18:04
I'm sure it has to be something besides your generation. I've not heard it used by folks of any generation. Most dictionaries (including my tabletop M-W Collegiate) don't include the word; this is also seen by the lack of dictionary returns from a search on OneLook. Other explanations are as feasable: such as your being a Dickens fan, attuned to words from Dickens, or maybe it's regional. – user6951 May 3 '15 at 18:13
There's an English phrase "form follows function".
This phrase describes the idea that how something works is more important than how it looks, which is pretty close to what you're describing.
Here's an article describing the concept in more detail.
By the way, some people follow the opposite approach: "form over function". With this idea, the aesthetics of something are more important than how they actually work - "if it's beautiful and easy to use, we'll get people to use it and we can figure out the problems with it later."
Eric SEric S
The meaning of "form follows function" isn't really as you describe. In an engineering context, it means that the form (shape) of a piece of engineering is likely to be dictated by the requirements of its functionality. For example, aeroplanes are shaped the way they are because that is the optimum shape for an object which needs to be able to fly while reducing drag as much as possible. – Steve Melnikoff Mar 6 '13 at 17:12
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged phrase-request translation proverbs or ask your own question.
Is there a proverb that means “to solve two problems at once”?
Is there any similar idiom/proverb to Japanese proverb -Gesu no kanguri
The English equivalent of the proverb “They sowed 'if', but it didn't grow”
an English proverb meaning “the good suffer with the bad”
Is there proverb about war and mother?
Proverb on hot weather
Meaning of the Japanese “Kanteishi” in English
A crow is never whiter for washing itself often
The current equivalent for the proverb: “No fish-seller cries stinking fish”
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The Borgias – Lucrezia’s Wedding Review
June 6, 2011 by Al
‘Lucrezia is deeply disappointed to discover her real mother has been banned from her wedding to Giovanni Sforza, whom she’s never met. Meanwhile, Della Rovere goes to Florence to broker a deal with the powerful Medici family and meets with their adviser Machiavelli. At the wedding reception, the bride’s brothers Juan and Cesare create serious breaches of etiquette, with the latter causing a scene by dancing and flirting with an influential baron’s wife.‘
This episode follows on nicely from the tragic and violent climax to ‘The Moor‘ with Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) sick and grieving over the death of her friend. And it doesn’t get much better from there for poor Lucrezia. This episode once again hammers home exactly how little power women had in those days; they were just cattle to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. This treatment is very much in evidence in this episode with the Borgia women being ordered around and married off to suit the political whims of the Pope.
Yet at the same time Jeremy Irons does a fantastic job of showing how completely confused Rodrigo Borgia is by the women in his life. His bumbling excuses when telling the mother of his children (Vanozza played by Joanne Whalley) that she can’t attend her daughter’s wedding is completely at odds with the scheming ruler that we see when he is when dealing with cardinals and kings. And the far too innocent to be true Giulia Farnese (played wonderfully as always by Lotte Verbeek) has Rodrigo wrapped around her little finger, working towards her own goals.
I really love how this series is now allowing the tension to build up slowly, and doesn’t feel the need to shove a sex scene in every few minutes to break up the tension like The Tudors or Spartacus. While that does work to some extent on those shows the characters and the stakes that they are playing for here are more than enough to make me gasp just from somebody walking into the room. The scene at the wedding after-party was a perfect example of how to make an audience squirm while saying very little, the unspoken consequences are everything.
Unfortunately, the amount of stuff going on in each episode sometimes leaves the subplots feeling a little sparse. In this episode Cesare (François Arnaud) has sent a spy to observe what Cardinal Della Rovere (Colm Feore) is up to in Florence after the botched assassination attempt, but we only catch a glimpse of what’s going on before things are brought to an abrupt end. While we did catch a brief glimpse of characters like Savonarola and Machiavelli, this whole subplot felt a little out-of-place in the episode, especially compared to the wonderful tension and drama of the main story.
Overall, I loved this episode and I’m really looking forward to seeing the events that I know are coming play out, particularly the inevitable confrontation between Cesare and Giovanni Sforza over Lucrezia.
What I Liked – The tension in the wedding scenes.
What I Didn’t Like – The subplot involving Cesare’s spy following around Cardinal Della Rovere. Not enough of David Bamber.
Rating – 4 out of 5 (Really Enjoyable)
TV Reviews borgiascardinal della roverecesare borgiacolm feoredavid oakesfrancois arnaudgiulia farneseholliday graingerjeremy ironsjoanne whalleylotte verbeeklucrezia borgiarodrigo borgiaruta gedmintastv reviews Leave a comment
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Home Personal Financy Masters winner Phil Mickelson forfeits $1m over insider trading scheme
Masters winner Phil Mickelson forfeits $1m over insider trading scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued professional golfer Phil Mickelson, saying he profited from an insider trading scheme
The five-time major winner Phil Mickelson has agreed to forfeit nearly $1m that the Securities and Exchange Commission said was unfairly earned on a tip from an insider trading scheme conducted by a former corporate director and a professional gambler.
The SEC announced criminal charges on Thursday against a gambler named William Walters and the former director of Dean Foods, Thomas Davis, alleging that the pair used inside information about the company to make millions of dollars in illicit stock trades between 2008 and 2012.
In 2012, the SEC says, Walters called Mickelson, who owed him money, and urged him to trade Dean Foods stock. The SEC says the golfer did so the next day and made a profit of $931,000.
Simply put, Mickelson made money that wasnt his to make, Andrew Ceresney, head of the SECs Enforcement Division, said at a Manhattan news conference.
Mickelson was not charged criminally in the case. Mickelsons management group issued a statementon Thursday saying that he felt vindicated that the SEC hadnt been charged with violating securities law.
At the same time, however, Phil has no desire to benefit from any transaction that the SEC sees as questionable, it said. Accordingly, he has entered into an agreement with the SEC under which he will return all the money he made on that 2012 investment, it said.
Davis has already pleaded guilty in the case and is cooperating with the investigation, the US attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara announced on Thursday at a news conference in New York. Walters was arrested by the FBI in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
From 2008 through 2012, the SEC said, Davis passed Walters highly confidential information on Dean Foods, including sneak previews of at least six of the companys quarterly earnings announcements and advance notice of the spin-off of its profitable subsidiary, WhiteWave Foods Co.
In 2013, Davis also gave Walters inside information that Davis had gotten from a group of investors who confidentially shared their plans to buy stock in Darden Restaurants Inc., the SEC said. Based on the tips, Walters reaped illegal trading profits and avoided losses of at least $40m, according to the regulators.
The SEC said that on 8 August 2012, Mickelson sold all the Dean Foods shares he had purchased on 30 and 31 July, netting him a profit of around $931,000.
Mickelson was not in the field of the Byron Nelson Classic in Irving, Texas, where play began on Thursday morning.
In their statement, Mickelsons management representatives said he wasnt losing any endorsement deals over the episode.
Phil understands and deeply respects the high professional and ethical standards that the companies he represents expect of their employees, associates and of Phil himself. He subscribes to the same values and regrets any appearance that, on this occasion, he fell short. He takes full responsibility for the decisions and associations that led him to becoming part of this investigation, it said.
In May 2014, Mickelson confirmed that FBI agents investigating insider trading questioned him as he finished playing a round at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.
Mickelson wouldnt discuss details about his relationship with Walters, a multimillionaire who owns several golf courses and auto dealerships. He wouldnt talk about stock tips he received, but reiterated that he did nothing wrong.
And thats why Ive been fully cooperating with the FBI agents, and Im happy to do in the future, too, until this gets resolved, he said two years ago.
Mickelson, 45, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. He has won 42 tour events, including five majors three Masters, one PGA Championship and one British Open.
Mickelson has long had a reputation for being a gambler, though he has said he scaled back his habit after his son, Evan, was born in 2003. The most publicized payoff was when Mickelson and friends won $560,000 on a preseason bet (28-1 odds) that the Baltimore Ravens would win the 2001 Super Bowl.
He has a history of playing money games during the practice rounds. He occasionally gets a group of players and caddies together for dinner and small wagering during the NBA and NHL playoffs, and prominent fights.
A spokesman for Dean Foods, based in Dallas, said Thursday that Davis resigned from the companys board of directors last year and is no longer affiliated with the company. Dean Foods said it is cooperating with the government investigation.
Read more: www.theguardian.com
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An unusual coding sequence from a Drosophila clock gene is conserved in vertebrates
Hee Sup Shin, Thaddeus A. Bargiello, Brian T. Clark, F. Rob Jackson, Michael W. Young
The per locus has a fundamental involvement in the expression of biological rhythms in Drosophila. Mutations at this locus can shorten, lengthen or eliminate a variety of rhythmic activities that range from circadian behaviours, exemplified by eclosion and locomotor activities1,2, to short-period behaviour such as the 55-s rhythm of courtship song3. DNA from the per locus has been cloned4-7, and we have used P-element-mediated DNA transformation to establish that a 7.1-kilobase (kb) HindIII fragment contains a functional copy of the gene. This transforming DNA contains a single transcription unit which gives rise to a 4.5-kb poly(A)+ RNA 5. Here we report the results of a search for sequences homologous to the per locus DNA in the genomic DNA of several species of vertebrates. An unusual, tandemly repeated sequence forming a portion of the 4.5-kb per transcript is homologous to DNA in chicken, mouse and man. Cloned DNAs from the mouse and Drosophila are related by long, uninterrupted tandem repetitions of the sequence ACNGGN. At the per locus, these tandem repeats are predicted to code for poly(Thr-Gly) tracts up to 48 amino acids long. These repeated sequences are also transcribed in the mouse. Several long tracts of poIy(Thr-Gly) appear to be encoded by DNA cloned from the mouse.
https://doi.org/10.1038/317445a0
threonyl-glycine
Tandem Repeat Sequences
Shin, H. S., Bargiello, T. A., Clark, B. T., Jackson, F. R., & Young, M. W. (1985). An unusual coding sequence from a Drosophila clock gene is conserved in vertebrates. Nature, 317(6036), 445-448. https://doi.org/10.1038/317445a0
An unusual coding sequence from a Drosophila clock gene is conserved in vertebrates. / Shin, Hee Sup; Bargiello, Thaddeus A.; Clark, Brian T.; Jackson, F. Rob; Young, Michael W.
In: Nature, Vol. 317, No. 6036, 1985, p. 445-448.
Shin, HS, Bargiello, TA, Clark, BT, Jackson, FR & Young, MW 1985, 'An unusual coding sequence from a Drosophila clock gene is conserved in vertebrates', Nature, vol. 317, no. 6036, pp. 445-448. https://doi.org/10.1038/317445a0
Shin HS, Bargiello TA, Clark BT, Jackson FR, Young MW. An unusual coding sequence from a Drosophila clock gene is conserved in vertebrates. Nature. 1985;317(6036):445-448. https://doi.org/10.1038/317445a0
Shin, Hee Sup ; Bargiello, Thaddeus A. ; Clark, Brian T. ; Jackson, F. Rob ; Young, Michael W. / An unusual coding sequence from a Drosophila clock gene is conserved in vertebrates. In: Nature. 1985 ; Vol. 317, No. 6036. pp. 445-448.
@article{cc4deb113a4e4879b9bac93492e84837,
title = "An unusual coding sequence from a Drosophila clock gene is conserved in vertebrates",
abstract = "The per locus has a fundamental involvement in the expression of biological rhythms in Drosophila. Mutations at this locus can shorten, lengthen or eliminate a variety of rhythmic activities that range from circadian behaviours, exemplified by eclosion and locomotor activities1,2, to short-period behaviour such as the 55-s rhythm of courtship song3. DNA from the per locus has been cloned4-7, and we have used P-element-mediated DNA transformation to establish that a 7.1-kilobase (kb) HindIII fragment contains a functional copy of the gene. This transforming DNA contains a single transcription unit which gives rise to a 4.5-kb poly(A)+ RNA 5. Here we report the results of a search for sequences homologous to the per locus DNA in the genomic DNA of several species of vertebrates. An unusual, tandemly repeated sequence forming a portion of the 4.5-kb per transcript is homologous to DNA in chicken, mouse and man. Cloned DNAs from the mouse and Drosophila are related by long, uninterrupted tandem repetitions of the sequence ACNGGN. At the per locus, these tandem repeats are predicted to code for poly(Thr-Gly) tracts up to 48 amino acids long. These repeated sequences are also transcribed in the mouse. Several long tracts of poIy(Thr-Gly) appear to be encoded by DNA cloned from the mouse.",
author = "Shin, {Hee Sup} and Bargiello, {Thaddeus A.} and Clark, {Brian T.} and Jackson, {F. Rob} and Young, {Michael W.}",
doi = "10.1038/317445a0",
journal = "Nature",
T1 - An unusual coding sequence from a Drosophila clock gene is conserved in vertebrates
AU - Shin, Hee Sup
AU - Bargiello, Thaddeus A.
AU - Clark, Brian T.
AU - Jackson, F. Rob
AU - Young, Michael W.
N2 - The per locus has a fundamental involvement in the expression of biological rhythms in Drosophila. Mutations at this locus can shorten, lengthen or eliminate a variety of rhythmic activities that range from circadian behaviours, exemplified by eclosion and locomotor activities1,2, to short-period behaviour such as the 55-s rhythm of courtship song3. DNA from the per locus has been cloned4-7, and we have used P-element-mediated DNA transformation to establish that a 7.1-kilobase (kb) HindIII fragment contains a functional copy of the gene. This transforming DNA contains a single transcription unit which gives rise to a 4.5-kb poly(A)+ RNA 5. Here we report the results of a search for sequences homologous to the per locus DNA in the genomic DNA of several species of vertebrates. An unusual, tandemly repeated sequence forming a portion of the 4.5-kb per transcript is homologous to DNA in chicken, mouse and man. Cloned DNAs from the mouse and Drosophila are related by long, uninterrupted tandem repetitions of the sequence ACNGGN. At the per locus, these tandem repeats are predicted to code for poly(Thr-Gly) tracts up to 48 amino acids long. These repeated sequences are also transcribed in the mouse. Several long tracts of poIy(Thr-Gly) appear to be encoded by DNA cloned from the mouse.
AB - The per locus has a fundamental involvement in the expression of biological rhythms in Drosophila. Mutations at this locus can shorten, lengthen or eliminate a variety of rhythmic activities that range from circadian behaviours, exemplified by eclosion and locomotor activities1,2, to short-period behaviour such as the 55-s rhythm of courtship song3. DNA from the per locus has been cloned4-7, and we have used P-element-mediated DNA transformation to establish that a 7.1-kilobase (kb) HindIII fragment contains a functional copy of the gene. This transforming DNA contains a single transcription unit which gives rise to a 4.5-kb poly(A)+ RNA 5. Here we report the results of a search for sequences homologous to the per locus DNA in the genomic DNA of several species of vertebrates. An unusual, tandemly repeated sequence forming a portion of the 4.5-kb per transcript is homologous to DNA in chicken, mouse and man. Cloned DNAs from the mouse and Drosophila are related by long, uninterrupted tandem repetitions of the sequence ACNGGN. At the per locus, these tandem repeats are predicted to code for poly(Thr-Gly) tracts up to 48 amino acids long. These repeated sequences are also transcribed in the mouse. Several long tracts of poIy(Thr-Gly) appear to be encoded by DNA cloned from the mouse.
U2 - 10.1038/317445a0
DO - 10.1038/317445a0
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
10.1038/317445a0
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Identification and characterization of uptake systems for cystine and cysteine in cultured astrocytes and neurons: Evidence for methylmercury-targeted disruption of astrocyte transport
Gouri Shanker, Michael Aschner
Maintenance of appropriate intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels is crucial for cellular defense against oxidative damage. A suggested mechanism of methylmercury (MeHg) neurotoxicity implicates the involvement of oxygen radical formation and a decrease in cellular levels of GSH. Astrocytes play an important role in providing GSH precursors to neurons, and as will be discussed in this review, altered GSH homeostasis likely leads to impairment of astrocytic handling of glutamate, and neuronal energy metabolism. The review summarizes recent observations on transport systems for cysteine and cystine, precursors of GSH, in primary cultures of astrocytes and neurons, and their sensitivity to MeHg treatment.
Journal of Neuroscience Research
https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.10066
Methylmercury
Shanker, G., & Aschner, M. (2001). Identification and characterization of uptake systems for cystine and cysteine in cultured astrocytes and neurons: Evidence for methylmercury-targeted disruption of astrocyte transport. Journal of Neuroscience Research, 66(5), 998-1002. https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.10066
Identification and characterization of uptake systems for cystine and cysteine in cultured astrocytes and neurons : Evidence for methylmercury-targeted disruption of astrocyte transport. / Shanker, Gouri; Aschner, Michael.
In: Journal of Neuroscience Research, Vol. 66, No. 5, 01.12.2001, p. 998-1002.
Shanker, G & Aschner, M 2001, 'Identification and characterization of uptake systems for cystine and cysteine in cultured astrocytes and neurons: Evidence for methylmercury-targeted disruption of astrocyte transport', Journal of Neuroscience Research, vol. 66, no. 5, pp. 998-1002. https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.10066
Shanker G, Aschner M. Identification and characterization of uptake systems for cystine and cysteine in cultured astrocytes and neurons: Evidence for methylmercury-targeted disruption of astrocyte transport. Journal of Neuroscience Research. 2001 Dec 1;66(5):998-1002. https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.10066
Shanker, Gouri ; Aschner, Michael. / Identification and characterization of uptake systems for cystine and cysteine in cultured astrocytes and neurons : Evidence for methylmercury-targeted disruption of astrocyte transport. In: Journal of Neuroscience Research. 2001 ; Vol. 66, No. 5. pp. 998-1002.
@article{fd1be3f9e81d45adbe4f64c2d75ae2dc,
title = "Identification and characterization of uptake systems for cystine and cysteine in cultured astrocytes and neurons: Evidence for methylmercury-targeted disruption of astrocyte transport",
abstract = "Maintenance of appropriate intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels is crucial for cellular defense against oxidative damage. A suggested mechanism of methylmercury (MeHg) neurotoxicity implicates the involvement of oxygen radical formation and a decrease in cellular levels of GSH. Astrocytes play an important role in providing GSH precursors to neurons, and as will be discussed in this review, altered GSH homeostasis likely leads to impairment of astrocytic handling of glutamate, and neuronal energy metabolism. The review summarizes recent observations on transport systems for cysteine and cystine, precursors of GSH, in primary cultures of astrocytes and neurons, and their sensitivity to MeHg treatment.",
keywords = "Astrocytes, Cysteine, Cystine, Methylmercury, Neurons",
author = "Gouri Shanker and Michael Aschner",
doi = "10.1002/jnr.10066",
pages = "998--1002",
journal = "Journal of Neuroscience Research",
T1 - Identification and characterization of uptake systems for cystine and cysteine in cultured astrocytes and neurons
T2 - Evidence for methylmercury-targeted disruption of astrocyte transport
AU - Shanker, Gouri
N2 - Maintenance of appropriate intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels is crucial for cellular defense against oxidative damage. A suggested mechanism of methylmercury (MeHg) neurotoxicity implicates the involvement of oxygen radical formation and a decrease in cellular levels of GSH. Astrocytes play an important role in providing GSH precursors to neurons, and as will be discussed in this review, altered GSH homeostasis likely leads to impairment of astrocytic handling of glutamate, and neuronal energy metabolism. The review summarizes recent observations on transport systems for cysteine and cystine, precursors of GSH, in primary cultures of astrocytes and neurons, and their sensitivity to MeHg treatment.
AB - Maintenance of appropriate intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels is crucial for cellular defense against oxidative damage. A suggested mechanism of methylmercury (MeHg) neurotoxicity implicates the involvement of oxygen radical formation and a decrease in cellular levels of GSH. Astrocytes play an important role in providing GSH precursors to neurons, and as will be discussed in this review, altered GSH homeostasis likely leads to impairment of astrocytic handling of glutamate, and neuronal energy metabolism. The review summarizes recent observations on transport systems for cysteine and cystine, precursors of GSH, in primary cultures of astrocytes and neurons, and their sensitivity to MeHg treatment.
KW - Astrocytes
KW - Cysteine
KW - Cystine
KW - Methylmercury
KW - Neurons
U2 - 10.1002/jnr.10066
DO - 10.1002/jnr.10066
JO - Journal of Neuroscience Research
JF - Journal of Neuroscience Research
10.1002/jnr.10066
|
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| 0.540763
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What would Hilly think? Let's ask his son
Page Six Magazine, which is FREE every Sunday in the New York Post (even though you pay $1 for the paper), has a feature this week titled "New kids on the Bowery." As the sub-head says, it's "a look at the next generation of gentrifiers descending on what was once Manhattan's seediest strip." The Post highlights eight of the new people and places taking over the Bowery, and gets Dana Kristal, son of CBGB founder Hilly Kristal, who died last August, to say whether he thinks his father would approve of the new venture/person.
Oh, none of the content from the magazine is ever online, oddly enough. And I don't have a scanner...so just a few highlights:
Designer Rogan Gregory, who's opening a shop at the old Bouwerie Lane Theatre space this spring. Would Hilly approve? "It's an insult to have upper-crust stores next to shelters," Dana told the Post. So. No.
Extra Place, the incoming pedestrian mall in the old alley behind CBGB. Would Hilly approve? "My father was planning to take CBGB to Vegas before he died," Dana said. "He'd braced himself for this kind of change."
The new rock-type bar Bowery Electric. Would Hilly approve? Yes! "A place like this improves the area. These musicians can rebel against the rich people."
That socialite guy who calls himself Izzy Gold, aka Francesco Civetta. (The Post describes him an "artist-DJ-designer" who has become "one of the 'new' Bowery's most vocal self-appointed representatives.")
Dana? "People with money are making all these changes without asking for a consensus from the majority."
Daniel Boulud's new upscale burger joint coming to 299 Bowery. Would Hilly approve? "Opening up a fancy restaurant right where hungry people live is callous," Dana said. "But one more won't make a difference."
The Morrison Hotel Gallery. Would Hilly approve? "Artists can still be pretentious, but a gallery is more authentic to the vibe of the neighborhood," Dana said.
If you want the rest, get your FREE copy of Page Six Magazine today in the New York Post for only $1!
I missed the news that Nicole Richie and that guy she's with from some band bought a "simple" 1,000-square-foot pied-à-terre at 199 Bowery (NoLita Place) for $1 million.
P.S.S. (for no reason, CBGB)
[Top photo: Ting-Li Wang/The New York Times; bottom photo: Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times]
Posted by Grieve at 5:58 PM
Labels: Bowery Electric, CBGB, Hilly Kristal, the Bowery
A Post headline that will actually scare you: "1 I...
The ransacking of Pelham One Two Three
There won't be anyone left to enjoy those safe, cl...
And this little piggy wants to turn three landmark...
EV Grieve Etc.: New group to fight gentrification ...
A penthouse for all seasons
EV Grieve: Figure of the day
"Everything old is new again"
Picky, picky
This one is dedicated to the nights of New York Ci...
EV Etc.: $801,000 for a basement
"Honoring a great New Yorker" (aka This week's sig...
NYC in all its black-and-white glory, yesterday an...
Life before...and after the luxury high rises on t...
Questions of the day (in which I don't have answer...
Madison Street, 5:48 p.m., April 23
Scenes from a walk
Hate to see what they'd say about a place they did...
Oh, don't let that heavy breathing bother you -- t...
St. Mark's and First Avenue, 1993
"...a very conspicuous display of the wealthy suck...
Lazy Sunday afternoon
Graffiti and groceries
"One definitely gets the impression time stands st...
Updated: con·de·scend·ing [kon-duh-sen-ding]
East Seventh Street between A and First Avenue, 7:...
Because nothing classes up a corner better than an...
Today is Record Store Day
EV Etc.: Page Six on the John Varvatos protest
EV Grieve goes to the movies (not often, though): ...
Last night: "I am on the side of New York City fuc...
"I did warn him about the ghosts of the dead rocke...
"I'd like to see a city in which everybody can hav...
Any more friendly and I would have thought that I ...
Unless it's a live-action American Apparel ad
Watching this makes me feel even more hungover
Third Avenue near 12th Street, 7:41 a.m., April 13...
Spring has sprung on Avenue C
He would have loved the 37 bank branches that popp...
Miracle on Pearl Street
"How many rich jerks that want to be in Sex and th...
"We want to show our opposition to right-wing Repu...
EV etc.: 40 years and 196 cultural works
What's new at 315 Bowery?
Tompkins Square Park, 7:42 a.m., April 6
Forgotten NY's tour of the East Village
Just steps from Avenue Sea
East Ninth Street between A and First Avenue, 7:45...
Coming soon....something else we don't want or nee...
EV etc.: Bowery Electric opens, and the owners at ...
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Board of Directors -Staff
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Ready to work: Springfield groups combating exclusion with pool of trained minority workers
With about $4 billion in transportation and other projects planned for Springfield in the coming years, groups in Springfield are already working to ensure a fair share of the jobs generated go to minorities.
The Faith Coalition for the Common Good and Bridging the Gap, both based in Springfield, are helping women and people of color get the training necessary to be ready when the expected construction boom happens. They’re also pushing the City of Springfield to increase the ratio of minorities hired, in an effort to reverse a historical absence of women and people of color in the city’s workforce.
The Federal Railroad Administration announced in December 2012 that it supported a proposal to shift Springfield’s Third Street rail corridor to the existing 10th Street rail corridor. The project is estimated to cost $315 million in 2010 dollars before inflation, although funding for the project has not been secured yet.
It’s unclear how many jobs will be created by the rail consolidation because the railroads could use their own current employees for at least part of the work. That’s exactly what the two Springfield groups are hoping to avoid. Instead, they want as many jobs as possible to go to women and people of color from Springfield.
Fred Jackson, coordinator of the 100 Ready Workers program for the Faith Coalition, says the group has already helped about 275 people obtain training to work as pipefitters, heavy equipment operators and other laborers. Once the project is complete, Jackson says proposed facilities along the rail corridor will need maintenance workers, and businesses that may spring up nearby will need employees.
“We’re working to make sure people from around here get those jobs,” Jackson said.
The 100 Ready Workers program was originally conceived by Gamaliel, a nationwide network of faith-based groups which work to solve social issues. The Faith Coalition is part of Gamaliel’s network and adapted the program for Springfield. It involves first identifying people who are looking for work, then connecting them with training programs like the workforce development courses at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield. The Faith Coalition is also working with trade unions to identify upcoming job opportunities and training.
Another Springfield group, Bridging the Gap, is doing similar work. Led by Springfield community organizer Larry Beckom, Bridging the Gap is especially focused on increasing the number of women and people of color working for the City of Springfield. [See “Looking for jobs,” Aug. 29, 2013, by Patrick Yeagle.]
Shelly Heideman, executive director of the Faith Coalition, says the group’s work on jobs started with the Rail Community Benefits Agreement that laid out expectations for jobs, safety, economic development and other aspects of the rail project. It has been signed by Springfield Mayor Michael Houston, the Sangamon County Board, Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.
Heideman says the 100 Ready Workers program is about more than simply ensuring proportionate employment of minorities. It’s about addressing a need for work in the community. Heideman says the Faith Coalition surveyed people in its program and found that the majority were between the ages of 30 and 45, with a significant number of people also in the 55 and older category. That may indicate a poor job environment, as younger people are typically less likely to be employed than those age ranges.
“I think that gives a really clear picture of the unemployed and the underemployed,” Heideman said. “When you talk one-on-one with people and hear what their story is, it’s just amazing. There has got to be something happening here. People are tired of going from low-wage part-time job to part-time job. They’re looking for a real career.”
In addition to the rail consolidation project, the Faith Coalition anticipates job opportunities arising from highway construction projects, sidewalk repair, sewer work and other projects in the Springfield area.
“The workforce needs to reflect the community,” Heideman said. “We need to look at the issues of poverty and racism, and the way to get people out of poverty is to give them a job. Systemic racism is kind of the overarching theme that has kept people in poverty, so this is a way to address that, as well. It’s kind of a spider web; it’s all connected.”
Faith Coalition for the Common Good
2208 E. Kansas
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●JPEE Subscription
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Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 2014, 2, 304-311
Published Online April 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/jpee
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jpee.2014.24042
How to cite this paper: Zhang, T., Liu, Z.T., Hao, H.L. and Chang, L.C. (2014) Application Research of Intake-Air Cooling
Technologies in Gas-Steam Combined Cycle Power Plants in China. Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 2, 304-311.
Application Research of Intake-Air Cooling
Technologies in Gas-Steam Combined
Cycle Power Plants in China
Tao Zhang, Zhitan Liu, Hongliang Hao, Lianchen Chang
GUODIAN Science and Technology Research Institute, Nanjing, China
Email: powerzhangtao@126.com
Received February 2014
The generated power and efficiency of gas-steam combined cycle (GSCC) power plants depend on
the temperature of the inlet air greatly. Based on the analysis of basic theory of inlet air cooling
technologies, the application of evaporative cooling system and the absorption cooling system in
GSCC power plants are discussed in this paper. Moreover, in China with high temperature and hu-
midity, applied research and simulation analysis of the above two different cooling systems are
conducted separately, the research results of which can provide certain reference for optimal de-
sign and economic operation of inlet air cooling system for GSCC power enterprises in China.
Intake-Air Cooling; Combined Cycle; Application Research
As a kind of clean energy, gas-powered plants have many advantages such as high energy conversion efficiency,
less pollutants, start-stop fast, flexible operation, etc. In recent years, with the large-scale development and uti-
lization of natural gas resources and the national “west to east gas pipeline project” in China, GSCC power
plants have played an increasingly important role in electric power industry. By the end of 2013, there are nearly
160 gas power generation companies and 600 sets of gas turbine with the installed capacity of 43 million kilo-
watt, east China power grid gas-electric accounts for 56.6% and southern grid accounts for 23.7%.
The gas turbine is a kind of constant volume equipment, output and efficiency of which is highly affected by
the environmental conditions. When the inlet air temperature rises, the temperature ratio and equivalent flow of
air and reduced speed of gas turbine will decrease, which will result in performance of the gas turbine degenera-
tion.
According to related literature, depending on the type of the gas turbine, the electric output will decrease by a
percentage between 6% and more than 10% for every 10˚C of intake-air temperature increase. At the same time,
the specific heat consumption increase by a percentage between 1.5% and more than 4%. However, generally
the high temperature period is the moment when the power grid needs gas turbines taking part in peak regulation
T. Zhang et al.
increase output, as shown in Figure 1.
The characteristic that gas turbine power plant performance is affected by the environment temperature has
aroused widespread attention. If it were possible to obtain a constant low inlet air temperature, a constant high
power output could be generated from a gas turbine. Now inlet cooling technologies has been applied in practice.
As is known, in east and south of China where a large number of gas turbines are used for generation, mean-
while the annual average temperature in these regions is higher than others, This paper, through studying on the
inlet air cooling technologies applied in GSCC power plants, provides certain reference for optimal design and
economic operation of inlet air cooling system in China.
2. The influences of Air Temperature on Gas Turbine Performance
2.1. Analysis of the Influence of the Temperature on Gas Turbine Performance
Atmospheric temperature has great influences on power and efficiency of simple cycle and combined cycle of
gas-powered plant. At present, the number of importing heavy-duty gas turbines is increasing year by year,
therefore it is very significant and valuable to study on the effects of temperature on large GSCC power perfor-
mance. Taking GE PG9371FB, Mitsubishi M701F4, Siemens SGT5-4000F (4) which are the most advanced
heavy-duty gas turbine model in China for instance, some aspects of the mentioned issues are being discussed, l,
as shown in Figures 2 and 3.
As we can see from the Figure 2, the output of these three kinds of gas turbine units reduce greatly as the
temperature rises. Taking GE PG9371FB as a example, for gas turbine simple cycle, the load at 28˚C is ap-
proximately about 30 MW lower than ISO design condition (15˚C), similarly, for gas-steam combined cycle, the
load at 28˚C decrease about 40 MW.
The Figure 3 shows that temperature has a greater influence on efficiency of those three kinds of model's
combined cycle. The influence on GE unit is most prominent. When the temperature is 28˚C, its efficiency is
Figure 1. Relation curve between power load and gas turbine
load.
-2 0246810 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
Load(P)/MW
Temperature(T)/℃
GE CC
Mit s ubis hi CC
Siemens CC
GE SC
Mitsubishi SC
Siemens SC
Figure 2. P-T curves of GSCC units at full power load.
-2 0246810 12 14 1618 20 22 24 26 28 30
Efficiency(E)/%
Temerature(T)/℃
Figure 3. E-T curves of GSCC units at full power load.
57.3%, which is 1% lower than the ISO design condition. From the above analysis, we can get a conclusion that
temperature has a very significant influence on the performance of gas turbine units.
2.2. Theoretical Analysis of Effecting of the Temperature on Performance of Gas Turbine
If the inlet air temperature rises, efficiency and output of the gas turbine will reduce. Conversely, they will in-
crease when the temperature drops. For simple cycle gas turbine, the main reasons are as following:
1) When the temperature of the air increases, the air density and, consequently, the air mass flow decreases.
The reduced air mass flow directly causes the gas turbine to produce less power output. The ideal gas state equa-
tion,
ρρ
are respectively air pressure, air temperature and air density, and
are respectively air pressure, air temperature and air density after the inlet air temperature changes. Usually, the
air pressure basically remains unchanged. When the inlet air temperature declines, air density will rise obviously
and the air volume of gas turbine will increase, so the power output will also increase accordingly.
2) By the Thermodynamics, the lower the temperature of gas is, the lower the speed of its molecular move-
ment is. So the smaller compression work is needed to achieve the same pressure. The equations are as follows:
1( 1)
W CT
= −
GTT Cp
WW WCT
τπ π
=−=−− −
ππ
λτ
=−=− =−
where, WGT is power output of the ideal cycle, WT is expansion power, WC is consumption work of compressor,
Cp is air specific heat at constant pressure, T1 is atmospheric temperature,
is pressure ratio, and
is tem-
perature ratio.
(1) /m
κκ
is adiabatic index,
is coefficient of useful work.
Because the gas turbine output power is the difference between gas turbine expansion power and compressor
consumption work from the above equations, the higher intake-air temperature results in an increase of the spe-
cific compressor work and, therefore, in a further reduction of the power output [1].
3. Fogging Evaporation System and Application
Gas turbine cooling technologies can be divided into two categories: evaporative cooling and refrigeration cool-
ing. The former is mainly divided into media type evaporative cooling and the fogging cooling based on the
structure of the cooler; the latter is divided into compression refrigeration cooling, absorption refrigeration
cooling, and cold storage cooling according to the ways to obtain energy source. This paper focuses on the anal-
ysis of fogging evaporative cooling and absorption cooling system which are the typical two kinds of inlet air
cooling technologies.
3.1. Theoretical Analysis
Fogging evaporative cooling is a common method for gas turbine inlet air cooling, a typical fogging cooling
system is as shown in Figure 4(a). And the corresponding cooling process is presented in Figure 4(b). It is as-
sumed that, 1) GTCC inlet fogging is adiabatic humidifying process; 2) The capacity (or number of high-pres-
sure pumps) of inlet fogging system is designed large enough; 3) the fogdrop diameter is small enough and heat
exchange efficiency of fogging approximates 100%. Thus, GTCC inlet air temperature can be cooled to wet
bulb temperature by fogging. Inlet air cooling process through evaporative media coolers is similar to the inlet
fogging process, except that compressor inlet air cannot reach saturated state.
3.2. Analysis of Cases
In the 1980s, the fogging cooling system of gas turbine was firstly adopted. Direct inlet fogging is a method of
cooling where demineralized water is converted into a fog by means of special atomizing nozzles operating at
138 bar 2000 psi. Details pertaining to the thermodynamics and practical aspects of fogging have been described
in Meher-Homji. The fog provides cooling when it evaporates in the air inlet duct of the gas turbine. This tech-
nique allows close to 100% effectiveness in terms of attaining 100% relative humidity at the gas turbine inlet
and thereby gives the lowest temperature possible the wet bulb temperature without refrigeration. Direct high
pressure inlet fogging can also be used to create a compressor inter cooling effect by allowing excess fog into
the compressor, thus boosting the power output considerably. At present, the comparatively advanced fogging
cooling system has combined inlet air cooling technologies and wet compression technology together [1].
M. e Lucia [2] made four cooling schemes for Gas turbine LM6000 cogeneration units: A) double stage ab-
sorption system; B) single stage absorption refrigeration; C) evaporative cooling; D) evaporative cooling com-
bined with absorption cooling. Single stage and two-stage absorption refrigeration’s power is 3300 kW. Which
is sufficient to enable to cool the intake air down from 25˚C (60% relative humidity) to 10˚C. In this paper, the
cooling systems were used in north (Region 1, north latitude 45.08' and there is about 3500 hours which the
(a) Schematic of fogging evaporation cooling
(b) The process of fogging cooling
Figure 4. Schematic of fogging cooling system.
temperature is higher 15˚C throughout a year) and south (north latitude 38.13' and there is about 5300 hours )It-
aly. The changers of performance of combined cycle gas turbine are shown as Table 1.
At the same time, we have conducted an experiment through applying the fogging cooling system in a GCSS
power plant with gas turbine GE 9171E which is Located in east China. The changes of temperature of inlet air
and performance of gas turbine are shown in Figures 5 and 6.
Using of fogging evaporation cooling system, the ambient temperature was dropped from 33.8˚C to 27.0˚C,
and as a result, the average of output of gas turbine combined cycle was increased from 95.5 MW to 99.5 MW.
The power output of combined cycle was improved by 5% approximately.
4. Absorption Cooling System and Applications
The absorption refrigeration cooling system and the cooling process are presented in Figure 7, where the system
is mainly composed of a GSCC power unit, twin sets of single-effect hot-water driven water/LiBr absorption
chillers, and air coolers.
In the system, the hot flue gas from the gas turbine exhaust is used to generate the steam in a heat recovery
steam generator (HRSG). The steam which is from HRSG or steam turbine is usually used in a double-effect li-
thium-bromide absorption chiller to produce the chilled water. A compact heat exchanger should be designed for
installation at the compressor inlet duct. The chilled water from the absorption chiller flows through the heat
exchanger and cools the inlet air.
Inlet air cooling process is shown in Figu re 7(b), where the inlet air temperature is cooled from the ambient
temperature ta to t1. The point B refers to the apparatus dew point of air coolers and its relative humidity is gen-
erally assumed as 0.95. The point D is dew point of the ambient. When the chilled water temperature tcs < tD,
condensed water separates out from humid air and the air coolers operates under wet conditions.
Mohanty [3] studied this system for a 100 MW gas turbine in Bankok. The increase in the power output was
Table 1. The changes of output and fuel consumption.
Relative to no-cooling
system (%)
Region1 Region 2
Output increasing Fuel increasing Output increasing Fuel increasing
Plan 1 5.4 4.9 9 8.2
Plan 2 5.2 4.9 8.7 8.2
Figure 5. Temperature-Time curves of GSCC units with inlet air
cooling.
Figure 6. Output-Time curves of GSCC units units with inlet air
1-comperssor; 2-combustor; 3-turbine; 4-HRSG; 5-steamturbine;
6-condenser; 7-absorption chiller; 8-air cooler
(a) Schematic of GSCC plant with absorption chiller
(b) Cooling process of chiller
Figure 7. Schematic of GSCC plant with absorption chiller.
11%. Also, this system has been analyzed in detail by Bies [4]. Toshiba Corporation has installed a hybrid inlet
air cooling system for a 5.42 MW gas turbine. This system includes an absorption chiller and a thermal energy
storage system. It cools the inlet air to the gas turbine from 38˚C to 15˚C. The capacity of the storage system is
35% of the total system capacity. M. Ameri [5] studied the intake air-cooling system that uses a steam absorp-
tion chiller in the Chabahar power plant. By using this technique the output power can increase by 11.3%. The
economical studied have shown the internal rate of return would be 23.4%. The payback period was estimated to
be around 4.2 years.
Shenzhen Jin Gang gas turbine power plant is the earliest power plant which use absorption chiller cooling [6].
The type of gas turbine is GE 6B, and the steam which is extracted from HRSG is used in a double-effect li-
thium-bromide absorption chiller to produce the chilled water. The transformation results show that with the
cooling system, excellent effects have been achieved. When the inlet air temperature is 31˚C and humidity is
75%, the intake air temperature is dropped by 14˚C, gas turbine power is increased by 3.94 MW (advanced 13.5%
nearly), steam turbine power is increased by 1.3 MW (advanced 10.6% nearly), therefore, GSCC power increase
5.24MW (advanced 12.68%) and efficiency is increased by 3.2%.
A GSCC power plant with the gas turbine 9E of Guangzhou city adopt lithium bromide absorption chiller
cooling. In the cooling system, COP (performance coefficient of chiller) is 1.41, the outlet temperature of
steam is 90˚C, heat source of refrigerating is from low pressure steam of HRSG, and the inlet temperature is de-
signed to be cooled to 22.1˚C. Based on the above basic parameters, the method of simulation analysis is con-
ducted to analyze the performance of GSCC power plant.
From Fi gures 8 and 9, we can know that the output of gas turbine combined cycle increases from 147.28 MW
to 158.19 MW and the efficiency increases from 33.92% to 34.53% after taking absorption chiller cooling sys-
tem. However，the output of steam turbine reduces from 75.41 MW to 74.65 MW and its efficiency reduces
from 30.27% to 29.39%, the reason of decline is that some low pressure steam is been drawn from HRSG. Fur-
thermore, the whole power output of combined cycle increases from 222.42 MW to 232.84 MW, but the effi-
ciency of combined cycle decreases slightly, which is consistent with the simulation result of GSCC power plant
with the inlet air cooling system by the Greek scholar E. kakarsa [7].
Based on the effect of the temperature on the performance of GSCC power plants, the paper shows the necessity
of inlet air cooling technologies. The main conclusions are as follows:
Total efficiency
Temperature/℃
Output power/MW
Efficiency/%
Figure 8. The influence of inlet air temperature on the gas turbine
combined cycle.
Figure 9. The influence of inlet air cooling on the gas turbine
1) Adopting inlet air cooling technologies, the output and efficiency of gas turbine combined cycle units can
be improved generally.
2) The surrounding temperature is significant to choose which kind of the cooling technologies. Fogging
evaporative cooling technology can reduce the inlet air temperature effectively, and it is suitable for gas turbine
power plant which needs a lower cooling requirements.
3) Absorption chiller cooling technology has advantages of wide range of adjustments and cooling degrees,
which is suitable for various kinds of gas turbine power plants. Simulation results show that using steam as
cooling medium may affect the efficiency of combined cycle, so we should take comprehensive consideration
before adopting the technology, and select the appropriate temperature drop ranges.
[1] Jiao, S.J. (2007) The Gas Turbine and Gas-Steam Combined Cycle Unit. China Power Press, Beijing.
[2] Sigler, J. and Erickson, D. (2001) Gas Turbine Inlet Air Cooling Using Absorption Refrigeration: A Comparison Based
on a Combined Cycle Process. Proceedings of ASME TURBO EXPO, ASME, New Orleans.
[3] Mohanty, B. and Paloso, J. (1995) Enhancing Gas Turbine Performance by Intake Air Cooling Using an Absorption
Chiller. Heat Recovery Systems and CHP, 15, 41-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0890-4332(95)90036-5
[4] Bies, D., Johantgen, U. and Scharfe, J. (1999) Optimised Cooling of the Compressor Intake Air: A New Way for the
Improvement of Power and Efficiency in Gas Turbine Plants. Proceedings of the International Gas Turbine Congress,
Kobe.
[5] Ameri, M. and Hejazi, S. H. (2004) The Study of Capacity Enhancement of the Chabahar Gas Turbine Installation Us-
ing an Absorption Chiller. Applied Thermal Engineering, 24, 59-68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1359-4311(03)00239-4
[6] Hu, D. (2009) Reduce the Effect of Inlet Temperature on Output Capacity of Gas Turbine. Industrial Technology, No.
[7] Kakaras, E., Doukelis, A. and Karellas, S. (2002) Compressor Intake Air Cooling in Gas Turbine Plants. Proceedings
of ECOS, ECOS, Berlin, 845-851.
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ReviewsDVD Review
Scott Tobias
Filed to:DVD
An operatic fusion of romance and history, Luchino Visconti’s 1954 drama Senso was the first Italian film shot in three-strip Technicolor, and the images’ texture—vibrantly colorful, yet soft and almost smudgy—complements the movie’s delirious passions. It isn’t enough to call its story about an Italian countess and an Austrian lieutenant in 19th-century Venice a star-crossed love affair, because that misses its scope. Senso is about love’s power to degrade, compromise, and humiliate those who submit themselves to it, no matter how strong their connections to family, country, or principle. Visconti doesn’t do enough to show how a bond that magnetic and destructive could form—the uniquely international problem of shooting scenes in multiple languages likely didn’t help—but his lush style carries the emotions across. The title of Visconti’s first feature, Obsession, could just as easily apply here.
Not accidentally, Senso opens at an opera house in 1866 Venice, just as the Austrian occupation is starting to fall apart. By virtue of her wealth and privilege, Countess Alida Valli doesn’t need to be engaged in the struggle, but she’s vociferous in her support of the underground movement to win Italy back for its people. When she sees her rebel cousin challenge Austrian lieutenant Farley Granger to a duel, Valli defies her dullard of a husband by getting in the middle of it, but it’s her impression of the occupier that lingers. After an all-night walk through the streets of Venice—a city rendered so beautifully that no words seem necessary—Valli and Granger commence an affair, meeting (or sometimes not) for afternoon trysts at a secret locale.
Throughout Senso, there’s some question of Granger’s commitment to Valli—whether he’s true to his professions of love or wants to use her money to buy himself out of service—but no question of Valli’s commitment to him, which throws their relationship into terrible imbalance. Valli’s passion looks indistinguishable from madness, yet Visconti makes the audience connect to it deeply and understand how she could forsake her dignity in return for so very little. Senso belongs to a great tradition of period pieces—like William Wyler’s The Heiress before it, or Martin Scorsese’s The Age Of Innocence decades later—that deal with female self-sacrifice in exquisitely agonizing detail, but feel swooningly romantic all the same.
Key features: The immense special-features package digs into Senso’s troubled production history, which ended in scathing reviews and a butchered American cut that didn’t see theaters until 1968. The liner notes are divided between a fine critical essay by filmmaker Mark Rappaport and a long except from Granger’s memoir, Include Me Out. Other highlights include the English-language cut (called The Wanton Countess, a title fit for a bodice-ripping romance novel), two new making-of documentaries, an insightful Peter Cowie visual essay, and a 1966 BBC special that explores Visconti’s meticulous directing style.
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Limited Run This film expires December 21, 2018
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DIRECTED by: Tyler Rubenfeld
A former child actor reconnects with his twin brother to discuss a role they once shared–as the lead in a schlocky, shot-on-video cannibal film, “Innards.”
As a rabid fan of '80s SOV movies, Rubenfeld taps into that wonderful niche while still delivering a compelling contemporary story. If only we could get our hands on a full version of Innards within Innards...
Film Pulse editor Adam Patterson
Five Questions with Director Tyler Rubenfeld
What was a unique challenge you faced in making this film?
The only real difficulties came from shooting the VHS scenes. I knew going in that there was a thin line between making footage look convincingly “old” and calling attention to yourself by trying to make something look old. The last thing I wanted was to take viewers out of the film by, say, shooting digital and slapping on an old-timey filter. I knew that shooting on VHS would, a.) look antiquated in a way that hasn’t been exploited too much in contemporary film, and b.) make it a proper ode to shot-on-video (SOV) horror—which gives “Innards,” the film inside “Innards,” a real cultural specificity. But there’s no real way to rent those types of cameras, even in New York, so I just bit the bullet and bought a $300 old news camera from eBay and hoped for the best. It worked! But, you know, the thing weighed a metric ton, had to be plugged in all the time, and we couldn’t play the footage back as we were shooting (as the VCR we brought to set ended up eating tapes.) But hey, it all worked out in the end. And now I have this big-ass VHS camera in my room that I don’t want to throw out, so if anyone wants to use it…
Where did the inspiration for this film come from?
This is part of a larger proposed feature about a mosaic of characters dealing with various types of alienation over the course of one night. The child actor character was a late addition to the script; I knew something was missing, and then my buddy Frank (Mosley) came to town to shoot his (amazing) short film, “Parthenon.” And I vaguely wanted to make something about a former child actor; I’m pretty fascinated by them, they’re often such tragic figures who exist, in the public eye, as walking punchlines. Anyway, hanging out with Frank after his shoot, tossing over this child actor character, and being in a rough spot with this feature script—and then everything kinda clicked.
Who are your top influences?
In terms of big director names, I especially draw from Reichardt, Lynch, Ming-Liang, Weerasethakul, Akerman, Costa, and some good ol’ P.T. Anderson. In general, though, it’s films that take risks and have beating hearts at their center. That said, I also want to keep beating the drum for “Loren Cass,” by Chris Fuller. It’s such a masterpiece of mood, and it pulls off some really challenging stuff I haven’t seen in films before (for one thing, it has the best scene ever shot during a Leftover Crack concert–worth checking out on YouTube!)
What do you hope people take away from this film?
Uh…I guess I want people to get out of it what they get out of it? Maybe it’s a cop out answer, but I do think the film speaks for itself. I don’t want to dictate or influence how people are supposed to react to it.
What’s your personal takeaway from this production?
The big-ass VHS camera in my room.
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A Sailor Boy with Dewey/Chapter 7
From Wikisource
< A Sailor Boy with Dewey
←Chapter 6
A Sailor Boy with Dewey by Ralph Bonehill
Chapter 8→
1498831A Sailor Boy with Dewey — Chapter 7Ralph Bonehill
THE WRECK ON THE SHORE.
Tom Dawson's discovery filled us with amazement and satisfaction: amazement because all of us had thought that the schooner lay at the bottom of the China Sea and satisfaction for the reason that all thought we might now have a chance to obtain such of our belongings as still remained on board of the vessel.
"You are sure it is the Dart?" I queried, as the first mate took another long look.
"Sure, my lad; I know that craft among a thousand," was the answer.
"It's great news," put in Matt Gory. "Oi haven't much om board, but phat Oi have Oi want, especially that ould dudeen of mine which same Oi have smoked these fifteen years." Since landing he had bewailed the loss of his pipe a dozen times.
"If the Dart is up to the north of here, the party that went that way must have discovered her too," I said, as Tom Dawson descended the tree.
"That's likely, lad. Still, now we have located her, there is no use in staying here. We want our things, and I reckon the boat will furnish us with all we will need to eat until we get back to civilized parts again."
"We don't want to lose a minit," burst out Gory. "If we do, thim haythins livin' in these parts will be afther claimin' the wreck, an' thin they won't lit us touch a thing."
"Can they do that?" I asked of the first mate.
"They can if they have the power," was Dawson's answer. "In this part of our globe, might is right in nine cases out of ten. We'll hurry all we can, and move directly for the wreck instead of going down to the old camp."
Apparently this was good advice, but in the end it proved to be just the opposite. We found that getting down the hill was more difficult than getting up, and once I took a tumble that landed me directly in the midst of a clump of nasty thorns. Matt Gory came after me, and both of us were stuck and scratched in more places than I care to mention.
"Oi'm stabbed!" he moaned. "Hilp me out av here! Ouch, be the powers, did anywan iver see such a hole as this fer darnin' nadles, now?"
The first mate helped us both, and after that we proceeded with more caution. Halfway down the hill we came upon a beautiful spring of water which was almost as cold as ice, and here drank our fill.
I must confess that I was very anxious to get back to the Dart, for, as will be remembered, I had left my money belt with its precious contents behind. This belt I had secreted in a hollow between my state-room and that next to it, and I felt it would be safe so long as the elements did not utterly destroy the ship. Besides the belt with my gold, silver, and the Manila draft, I had left behind a large packet of business papers of great value to our house. If these were lost, I felt our firm would have more trouble than ever in the Philippines.
"It's queer the Dart didn't sink in the middle of the sea," I observed, as we hurried on through the forest skirting the shore. "How do you account for it?"
"Well, we had a light cargo, for one thing, and it was packed pretty tightly forward. Maybe some the boxes got jammed in the hole that was stove in her," answered Tom Dawson, and later on, this proved to be correct.
The sun was beating down fiercely and the moment we left the shade of the trees we felt its full force. But we had now but a short distance further to go, so we did not slacken our pace.
"Stop!" cried Tom Dawson suddenly, and held me back, while he motioned to Matt Gory to halt.
"What's up?" I whispered.
"A dozen natives are in possession of the Dart. I can see them running all over her!"
"That's too bad, so it is!" groaned the Irish sailor. "To think sech a noble vessel should become the prize av sech haythins!"
"Will she really be their prize?" I asked.
For reply the first mate shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what the law is down here," he ventured.
"Perhaps you can buy them off for a trifle."
"Not much! There was a time when natives like these could be bought off for a string of beads, a roll of calico or a six-inch looking glass, but that time is past. They know the value of gold and silver, even if paper money is beyond them."
"What do you propose to do?"
"Oh, we'll go ahead and claim the ship. But I want to give you a bit of advice. Don't be rash, or it may cost you your life."
"Thrue fer you," put in Gory. "Them nagers aint to be thrusted, as I said before. Go slow, and be on your guard."
"I will be cautious," I answered, and as the memory of the circle of heads on the beach flashed across my mind I shuddered. Certainly these people, even if they did live but a few miles from the Spanish settlements, were far from civilized.
Looking to it that my pistol was ready for use, I followed Dawson out on the wide stretch of beach which separated us from the ill-fated vessel which we had left but a few days before. The Dart lay high out of the water, and a brief glance showed that she had lost none of her masts and but little of her rigging. "I'll wager that five hundred dollars will put her into as good a condition as ever," remarked Tom Dawson, and Matt Gory agreed with him.
As the first mate had said, there were a number of natives on the craft's deck, and now we noted another batch of the negroes on the shore.
"They are a hard looking-crowd," I whispered, as I gazed at them. They were all men, tall, slim, and wearing little but shirts and loincloths and head-coverings made of Manila straw. The crowd on the beach was chattering away at a lively rate, in a language none of us could understand, although I soon became convinced that it was not Spanish.
We had covered half the distance to the Dart, when one of the natives discovered us and pointed us out to his companions. At once the whole party ran forward and surrounded us, asking a dozen questions at once.
"Don't understand you," shouted Tom Dawson. "Don't you speak United States?"
"Don't you speak English?" I added.
The crowd stared at us and all shook their heads. It is doubtful if any of them had ever heard the English tongue before, for the majority of foreigners in the Philippines take up Spanish as the language of commerce when dealing with the natives.
"Here's a rum go!" whispered Dawson. Then a happy idea struck him and he pointed at Gory, me and himself, and then at the Dart.
Instead of nodding to show that they understood, the natives scowled at us. Then, while the others continued to surround us, one ran off to summon those on the ship's deck. Soon he returned with a fellow who was several inches taller than his companions and who showed by his bearing that he was some sort of a chief.
Again Dawson went through the pantomime previously described, and again the crowd scowled, the chief harder than any of his followers. At once, a light burst in upon me.
"I'll tell you what they are mad about," I explained to my companions. "They think we want to take possession of the Dart."
"Well, that's jest wot we do want," growled the first mate.
"Let us try to push our way to the ship," I went on, and endeavored to break away from the Tagals, for such the natives were.
What followed surprised me beyond measure. The chief rushed up, put out his foot, gave me a shove, and hurled me flat on the sand. Before I could arise he had motioned to another native, and this fellow promptly came and sat on my back, thus holding me down!
I might have stood such treatment, rather than risk bloodshed, but the attack was more than Matt Gory could stand. His hot Irish blood boiled instantly, and raising his club he hit the fellow on top of me a blow that all but knocked him senseless.
"Yez will sit on him, will yez?" he cried. "Take that, an' look out that yez don't git another that's worse, bedad!" and he stepped back and stood at bay.
A fierce, blood-curdling yell went up, and almost a score of war clubs and spears were brandished in the air.
"Now you've put your foot into it!" ejaculated Tom Dawson. "Come, let us retreat, before it is too late!"
By pure good luck, we tore ourselves free from the natives who sought to hold us back. Dawson was already running for the forest. Gory now followed, and I came behind. With another yell, twice as loud as before, the Tagals came after us, launching several spears as they did so.
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Introducing Loskey: How Lori Cunningham Empowers Women via Her Sustainable, Fairtrade Clothing Brand
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Let the Music Play: Word from the Crowd on the First Two Days at Roskilde Festival 2019
Camilla Trodyb 06/07/2019 MUSIC
Every year more than a 100,000 people from all over the world travel to the same destination; Roskilde Festival. Here they spend a week of listening to great music, partying, meeting new and old friends and having fun (a lot of fun). The rest of the world is on standby for a bit and it all comes together as one under the “big orange roof “- sun or rain – Roskilde Festival stands strong every year.
Roskilde Festival is a lot of things. First of all, it’s a music festival with everything from old school hip-hop over rock and experimental to African music. There is something for everyone and this year you can experience Tears For Fears, Cardi B and Christine and the Queens all in one day and go from Swedish pop star Robyn to the Danish heavy metal band Bæst on the same evening.
People have different favourites, must and don’t sees – and that’s the beauty of it. So, what are some of the guests looking forward to this year? What is their favourite concert ever? And what makes a great Roskilde Festival concert seen with professional eyes? I talked to some of the guests about the music, and of course fashion tips for a rainy Roskilde Festival, and I also talked music journalist, Martin Gronemann, who has been reviewing concerts at Roskilde for Danish music magazine Soundvenue for six years now.
Marie Louise (pictured below)
How many years have you been to Roskilde Festival?
“I think this is my 11th year in a row – I haven’t been camping out every year but I still go.”
What is your favourite memory from the festival?
“Oh wauu… I don’t know – I feel like all the memories from each year just kind of turn into one combined memory of everything, so it could be from the first years I spend here camping out when I was a teenager and then as years go on and you get more experienced with the festival you enjoy it in a different way but for me it’s always kind of like a small holiday where you can eat a bunch of different food – good and shitty – and enjoy all the nice music as well and experience artist you wouldn’t be able to experience elsewhere – see them first-hand before they go big.”
“…experience artists you wouldn’t be able to experience elsewhere…”
Which artist are you looking forward to the most this year?
“I can only pick one?! Today (Thursday) I am looking forward to seeing Robert Plant and I haven’t seen Noel Gallagher before so I am excited for that as well – There is so much good music playing this year. I am also excited to see Robyn playing at the Orange stage… I could go on.”
Which is your best concert ever at Roskilde Festival?
“I think… I can’t remember the year, because Arctic Monkeys played here quite a few times now, but there was the one year where they were playing a song called ‘Thunderstorm’ and the weather was basically turning into a thunderstorm right when they were playing that song – I remember that pretty vividly but there have been so many great concerts.”
What is your best fashion tip for Roskilde Festival?
“Be practical and keep an eye out for the weather forecast, and be practical rather than fashionable. You can still be fabulous.”
Declan (pictured above)
“This is my first year and I am really enjoying it so far, and I am looking forward to some of the bigger names on the program but the smaller names I have seen so far have been really good.”
What is your first impression of the festival?
“I love it – It kind of reminds me of being in Nottingham somehow – the Sherwood Forest with all the trees and green areas.”
What is the favourite thing you’ve done this year so far?
“It was nice to see Bob Dylan – he is not really my cup of tea but it’s nice seeing a big name like that.”
“It would be from my local area – Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr – I am very excited to seeing them and what they do with a bigger crowd.”
“Don’t bring your expensive gear out; you are going to ruin it.”
Are you expecting to come back next year?
“Depending on the line-up – but definitely.”
Isuru (pictured above)
“This is my first year being here all the days. I came here three years ago on a day ticket.”
“Three years ago it would be the moment that I saw how many people reacted to Kendrick Lamar and the way he had the crowd going – when he moved his arms for everyone to do the wave – all of the 80,000 people there did it at the same time – that was a great moment.”
“I don’t think the line-up is that great this year in terms of massive headliners who are current, but that actually helps me to get into a different kind of phase where I can explore smaller artists that I kind of know, or don’t know, so I was not looking forward to a specific artist but seeing and finding new artists – such as Jon Hopkins, which I was really looking forward to when I found out, but I also love old school hip-hop so I am looking forward to Wu Tang Clan and Robyn but more so looking forward to the smaller acts, and getting to know them so when I come back in three years they will on Orange stage.”
“…when he moved his arms for everyone to do the wave – all of the 80,000 people there did it at the same time – that was a great moment”
What is your best concert ever at Roskilde Festival?
“Kendrick Lamar and Disclosure – when Disclosure played everyone was dancing – with Kendrick Lamar only the hardcore fans know all the songs, but Disclosure is a dancing party and Disclosure just peaked that day and the vibe was very good.”
If you should recommend an artist playing this year – who would it be?
“From what I’ve seen I think the performance by Christine and the Queens was amazing – her as an artist was brilliant. If you see Cardi B she is a good performer, but Christine and the Queens she is trying to get herself out there and everything about it was pure hearted, and it also took me back to Michael Jackson because all of the dancing and everything had a little bit of him in it so I think emotionally I was attached to that.”
“Roskilde Festival is kind of weird in terms of style – I have been to other festivals where people don’t care and wear whatever, then I have been to other festivals were you dress up – you are there to dress up. Roskilde is in the middle where it’s trendy but also comfortable – everyone is wearing a raincoat but a trendy one. So, bring your raincoat, boots, hoodie and sunglasses.”
Martin (pictured above)
How many years have you been reviewing concerts at Roskilde Festival?
“I have been a music reviewer for seven years now and this is my sixth year at Roskilde.”
How does a festival show differ from a venue concert?
“A festival is per se more a condensation of things, like for instance the headliner acts, they are supposed to more or less play a greatest hit show; a conventional venue show, they can basically play whatever they want and dig deeper into to the catalogue, but a festival show is more condensed into a hit parade.”
Is the crowd different at a festival show?
“Yes, the crowd is different because as everyone probably knows, a festival poster contains many different artists and different genres, so you can not necessarily expect as an artist that the audience know your music, compared to a venue where they deliberately buy a ticket to go see that artist.”
“when the audience and artist melt together nothing can basically go wrong.”
What makes a good festival concert?
“A good festival show – this might be a bit of a cliché, but a good festival concert is more or less about engagement – engagement from the audience and engagement from the artist – when the audience and artist melt together nothing can basically go wrong.”
You’ve reviewed a lot of shows at Roskilde Festival – do you have a favourite?
“I have to say that the only time that I have given a concert six out of six stars was back in 2014 and it was when Jack White played. He closed the Orange Stage on Sunday night. That was a spectacular show – great performance from start to finish.”
If you should recommend one or two shows this year which would they be?
“The first one would be Weyes Blood, who are playing at the Pavilion stage Friday evening, and Vampire Weekend same evening at the Orange stage.”
So there it is, Vampire Weekend, Noel Gallagher, Christine and the Queens – the chances to hear an artist that you love or will fall in love with at Roskilde Festival are endless. I heard my now favourite band through 20 years, Placebo, for the first time back in 1999 at the festival and every year I get that rush of amazement when I discover a new band or catch myself singing (screaming) the lyrics to a well-known song. And in the end, it all boils down to the love for music.
Photos: Velua Frost
Arctic MonkeysBæstBob DylanCardi BChristine and The QueensDisclosureJack WhiteJohnny MarrJon HopkinsKendrick LamarMartin GronemannMichael JacksonNoel GallagherPlaceboRobert PlantRobynRoskilde FestivalSoundvenueTears For FearsVampire WeekendWeyes BloodWu-Tang Clan
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Camilla Trodyb
Fashion/Music/Culture Writer
Copenhagen based music fanatic and secret fashion addict. Always in charge of the playlist (seriously, don't touch it), in love with people with a story to tell, smiles, band t-shirts and vinyl.
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© 2019 FMS Magazine LTD
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Cesario, Downers Grove North take away win from Maine West
By Bill Esbrook
Updated 11/2/2019 12:03 AM
A big night on defense from Downers Grove North senior David Cesario led the Trojans to a Class 7A football playoff upset over Maine West.
Cesario had 3 interceptions as No. 27 seed Downers Grove North stunned the sixth-seeded Warriors 35-14 in Des Plaines.
Maine West scored first in the contest, then the Trojans reeled off 35 unanswered points before a late Warriors touchdown accounted for the final score.
"It was awesome to see David do that tonight," said Trojans quarterback Drew Cassens. "Last year he was primarily a JV guy, but seeing all the work he put in this off-season -- and then coming out in our first playoff game with 3 picks -- just made it so much better for us."
"David with 3 interceptions, that's unbelievable," said Trojans coach Joe Horeni. "He plays a lot of offense for us too and he did a fantastic job."
The Warriors turned the ball over five times in the game as they also lost two fumbles.
"Turnovers were huge," said Maine West coach Jason Kradman. "Our guys have been good for us all year but we just didn't play well tonight."
Maine West scored first, in the second quarter, when running back Zack Norman fumbled at the Trojans' 1-yard line but alertly fell on the ball in the end zone for a TD.
Downers North tied the game on a 92-yard tackle-breaking kickoff return for a touchdown by Jon Werthman. Then Cesario had two of his interceptions in the latter stages of the second period, and the Trojans took advantage.
Downers North running back Joshua Lumpkin scored on a 41-yard run right up the middle to give the visitors a 14-7 lead.
The Trojans took that lead into halftime, stopping Maine West on fourth down from the Downers North 5-yard line on the last play of the first half as Werthman broke up a pass headed for the end zone.
"At halftime we talked about the way the field was (sloppy due to snow and rain), and how that played to our strength of running the ball effectively," Horeni said.
Downers Grove North grabbed a 21-7 lead after three quarters when Cassens capped a long drive with a 1-yard TD plunge.
Then led by strong offensive line play, Downers North put the game away with two fourth-quarter scores.
First Cassens hit Ryan Schindler on a 12-yard play-action touchdown pass, then Werthman scored again on a 20-yard run.
Isaiah Siem-Davis had a touchdown for Maine West in the waning moments on an 8-yard run.
Maine West receiver Jaden Dolphin paced the Warriors on offense with 5 catches for 55 yards. Teammate David Jackson had 4 receptions for 29 yards.
Cassens rushed 23 times for 90 yards for Downers North. Lumpkin had 122 yards rushing on 21 carries.
"This was a great team win," said Trojans lineman Eric Goergen. "We all worked together, we played hard up front and played with heart all around. Great game by the defense, and on offense we knew we could run the ball. (Maine West) hadn't played a run-heavy team all year, and we planned well for this."
"Our kids did a phenomenal job taking the football away tonight," Horeni added. "I'm proud of them continuing to work hard and trying to get better every week."
Downers Grove North High School
Des Plaines Newsletter
An unusual year for DuPage County with no teams in state finals
PODCAST: Tailgating with Dave and Kevin
Willowbrook's already made history. Now, the Warriors aim to make even more
Kentgen throws for 6 touchdowns in Maine West victory
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Activist Alert 10-1-2015
Activist Alert by EW StaffPosted on 10/01/2015
• Lane County’s new Performance Auditor Shanda Miller will be available to talk about her work in a series of public meetings that will include at least one county commissioner. The next will be at 3 pm and again at 6 pm Thursday, Oct. 1, at the Siuslaw Public Library in Florence. Future meetings will be at 5:30 pm Monday, Oct. 19, at the Brewstation in Cottage Grove; 7 pm Tuesday, Oct. 20, at South Eugene High School cafeteria; and noon Thursday, Nov. 19, at Springfield City Club. The auditor assists the commissioners in improving the performance, accountability and transparency of county government.
• The Community Alliance for Public Education (CAPE) is hosting “Life After High-Stakes Standardized Testing,” 7 pm Thursday, Oct. 1, at Eugene Friends Church, 3498 W. 18th Avenue. Speakers are Rachel Eells, a Seattle teacher, and Sarita Amaya, an administrator from Beaverton.
• Arguments for and against the Eugene Library Levy Measure 20-235 will be the program at City Club of Eugene at noon Friday, Oct. 2, at the Downtown Athletic Club, 999 Willamette Street. Arguing for the measure will be Rep. Val Hoyle, talking about the importance of Eugene’s library system. Arguing against the measure will be former city councilor Bonny Bettman McCornack, blaming library fund shortages on mismanagement of city funds and lack of accountability by the mayor and council. $5 for non-members. Police profiling will be the program for the following week, Oct. 9.
• A lecture on “Climate Change, Analytical Psychology and ‘What the World Hangs On’” will be from 7 to 9 pm Friday, Oct. 2, at the Downtown Baker Center, 975 High Street. Speaker is Jenny Gordon, Ph.D., founding member of the Eugene Friends of Jung and licensed psychologist and Jungian analyst. Free for students and EFJ members, $15 for others. A workshop follows Saturday, Oct. 3. See eugenefriendsofjung.org for details and registration.
• The annual Great Willamette Clean Up begins 8 am Saturday, Oct. 3, at various sites along 200 miles of the Willamette from Portland to Oakridge. Sponsored by Willamette Riverkeeper and more than two dozen businesses and agencies. A volunteer thank-you party and free lunch will follow around noon. Register or learn about sites in Lane County by visiting willametteriverkeeper.org or email Emmons@willametteriverkeeper.org.
• A Harvest Festival for Human Rights will be from noon to 2 pm Saturday, Oct. 3, at 1175 G Street outside the First Baptist Church in Springfield. The free event features a hot meal, children’s activities and a produce giveaway. Information tables will showcase resources available for low-income people. Volunteers and produce donations are needed. The event is organized by the Springfield Shelter Rights Alliance, a program of CALC. For more information call 485-1755.
• Local high school students are organizing the Willamette Valley Student Union to advocate for students, citing “ongoing issues of injustice and inequity in Lane County schools.” An organizing meeting is planned at 2 pm Sunday, Oct. 3, at The Boreal, 450 W. 3rd Ave. next to REI in Eugene. Call (458) 215-0060 for more information.
• “Diversity in Higher Education: Dangers of a Colorblind Policy” is the topic of a free lecture at 7 pm Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the Knight Law Center, Room 175. Speakers are Gary Orfield and Patricia Gandara, co-directors of the Civil Rights Project/Proyect Derechos Civilies at UCLA. The event is part of the Wayne Morse Center’s 1015-17 theme of “The Future of Public Education.”
Activist Alert
Activist Alert 9 months ago
• Cyclists, conservation groups, students and Springfield area locals will join in a town hall discussion on forest management — and the BLM’s Pedal Power timber … Continue reading →
Activist Alert 12 months ago
• Over the past three months, after launching in the UK, Extinction Rebellion has established groups in more than 35 countries and 32 U.S. cities, … Continue reading →
Activist Alert 1 year ago
• On Dec. 10, Citizens concerned about the recent dire climate change reports plan a creative display to demonstrate the rapid rise of carbon dioxide … Continue reading →
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Project acronym DISPATCH Neuro-Sense
Project Distributed Signal Processing Algorithms for Chronic Neuro-Sensor Networks
Researcher (PI) Alexander BERTRAND
Host Institution (HI) KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
Summary The possibility to chronically monitor the brain 24/7 in daily-life activities would revolutionize human-machine interactions and health care, e.g., in the context of neuroprostheses, neurological disorders, and brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Such chronic systems must satisfy challenging energy and miniaturization constraints, leading to modular designs in which multiple networked miniature neuro-sensor modules form a ‘neuro-sensor network’ (NSN). However, current multi-channel neural signal processing (NSP) algorithms were designed for traditional neuro-sensor arrays with central access to all channels. These algorithms are not suited for NSNs, as they require unrealistic bandwidth budgets to centralize the data, yet a joint neural data analysis across NSN modules is crucial. The central idea of this project is to remove this algorithm bottleneck by designing novel scalable, distributed NSP algorithms to let the modules of an NSN jointly process the recorded neural data through in-network data fusion and with a minimal exchange of data. To guarantee impact, we mainly focus on establishing a new non-invasive NSN concept based on electroencephalography (EEG). By combining multiple ‘smart’ mini-EEG modules into an ‘EEG sensor network’ (EEG-Net), we compensate for the lack of spatial information captured by current stand-alone mini-EEG devices, without compromising in ‘wearability’. Equipping such EEG-Nets with distributed NSP algorithms will allow to process high-density EEG data at viable energy levels, which is a game changer towards high-performance chronic EEG for, e.g., epilepsy monitoring, neuroprostheses, and BCI. We will validate these claims in an EEG-Net prototype in the above 3 use cases, benefiting from ongoing collaborations with the KUL university hospital. In addition, to demonstrate the general applicability of our novel NSP algorithms, we will validate them in other emerging NSN types as well, such as modular or untethered neural probes.
The possibility to chronically monitor the brain 24/7 in daily-life activities would revolutionize human-machine interactions and health care, e.g., in the context of neuroprostheses, neurological disorders, and brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Such chronic systems must satisfy challenging energy and miniaturization constraints, leading to modular designs in which multiple networked miniature neuro-sensor modules form a ‘neuro-sensor network’ (NSN). However, current multi-channel neural signal processing (NSP) algorithms were designed for traditional neuro-sensor arrays with central access to all channels. These algorithms are not suited for NSNs, as they require unrealistic bandwidth budgets to centralize the data, yet a joint neural data analysis across NSN modules is crucial. The central idea of this project is to remove this algorithm bottleneck by designing novel scalable, distributed NSP algorithms to let the modules of an NSN jointly process the recorded neural data through in-network data fusion and with a minimal exchange of data. To guarantee impact, we mainly focus on establishing a new non-invasive NSN concept based on electroencephalography (EEG). By combining multiple ‘smart’ mini-EEG modules into an ‘EEG sensor network’ (EEG-Net), we compensate for the lack of spatial information captured by current stand-alone mini-EEG devices, without compromising in ‘wearability’. Equipping such EEG-Nets with distributed NSP algorithms will allow to process high-density EEG data at viable energy levels, which is a game changer towards high-performance chronic EEG for, e.g., epilepsy monitoring, neuroprostheses, and BCI. We will validate these claims in an EEG-Net prototype in the above 3 use cases, benefiting from ongoing collaborations with the KUL university hospital. In addition, to demonstrate the general applicability of our novel NSP algorithms, we will validate them in other emerging NSN types as well, such as modular or untethered neural probes.
Project acronym DOiCV
Project Discrete Optimization in Computer Vision: Theory and Practice
Researcher (PI) Vladimir Kolmogorov
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYAUSTRIA
Summary This proposal aims at developing new inference algorithms for graphical models with discrete variables, with a focus on the MAP estimation task. MAP estimation algorithms such as graph cuts have transformed computer vision in the last decade; they are now routinely used and are also utilized in commercial systems. Topics of this project fall into 3 categories. Theoretically-oriented: Graph cut techniques come from combinatorial optimization. They can minimize a certain class of functions, namely submodular functions with unary and pairwise terms. Larger classes of functions can be minimized in polynomial time. A complete characterization of such classes has been established. They include k-submodular functions for an integer k _ 1. I investigate whether such tools from discrete optimization can lead to more efficient inference algorithms for practical problems. I have already found an important application of k-submodular functions for minimizing Potts energy functions that are frequently used in computer vision. The concept of submodularity also recently appeared in the context of the task of computing marginals in graphical models, here discrete optimization tools could be used. Practically-oriented: Modern techniques such as graph cuts and tree-reweighted message passing give excellent results for some graphical models such as with the Potts energies. However, they fail for more complicated models. I aim to develop new tools for tackling such hard energies. This will include exploring tighter convex relaxations of the problem. Applications, sequence tagging problems: Recently, we developed new algorithms for inference in pattern-based Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) on a chain. This model can naturally be applied to sequence tagging problems; it generalizes the popular CRF model by giving it more flexibility. I will investigate (i) applications to specific tasks, such as the protein secondary structure prediction, and (ii) ways to extend the model.
This proposal aims at developing new inference algorithms for graphical models with discrete variables, with a focus on the MAP estimation task. MAP estimation algorithms such as graph cuts have transformed computer vision in the last decade; they are now routinely used and are also utilized in commercial systems. Topics of this project fall into 3 categories. Theoretically-oriented: Graph cut techniques come from combinatorial optimization. They can minimize a certain class of functions, namely submodular functions with unary and pairwise terms. Larger classes of functions can be minimized in polynomial time. A complete characterization of such classes has been established. They include k-submodular functions for an integer k _ 1. I investigate whether such tools from discrete optimization can lead to more efficient inference algorithms for practical problems. I have already found an important application of k-submodular functions for minimizing Potts energy functions that are frequently used in computer vision. The concept of submodularity also recently appeared in the context of the task of computing marginals in graphical models, here discrete optimization tools could be used. Practically-oriented: Modern techniques such as graph cuts and tree-reweighted message passing give excellent results for some graphical models such as with the Potts energies. However, they fail for more complicated models. I aim to develop new tools for tackling such hard energies. This will include exploring tighter convex relaxations of the problem. Applications, sequence tagging problems: Recently, we developed new algorithms for inference in pattern-based Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) on a chain. This model can naturally be applied to sequence tagging problems; it generalizes the popular CRF model by giving it more flexibility. I will investigate (i) applications to specific tasks, such as the protein secondary structure prediction, and (ii) ways to extend the model.
Project acronym DYMO
Project Dynamic dialogue modelling
Researcher (PI) Milica GASIC
Host Institution (HI) HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITAET DUESSELDORF
Summary With the prevalence of information technology in our daily lives, our ability to interact with machines in increasingly simplified and more human-like ways has become paramount. Information is becoming ever more abundant but our access to it is limited not least by technological restraints. Spoken dialogue systems address this issue by providing an intelligent speech interface that facilitates swift, human-like acquisition of information. The advantages of speech interfaces are already evident from the rise of personal assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant, Cortana or Amazon Alexa. In these systems, however, the user is limited to a simple query, and the systems attempt to provide an answer within one or two turns of dialogue. To date, significant parts of these systems are rule-based and do not readily scale to changes in the domain of operation. Furthermore, rule-based systems can be brittle when speech recognition errors occur. The vision of this project is to develop novel dialogue models that provide natural human-computer interaction beyond simple information-seeking dialogues and that continuously evolve as they are being used by exploiting both dialogue and non-dialogue data. Building such robust and intelligent spoken dialogue systems poses serious challenges in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The project will tackle four bottleneck areas that require fundamental research: automated knowledge acquisition, optimisation of complex behaviour, realistic user models and sentiment awareness. Taken together, the proposed solutions have the potential to transform the way we access information in areas as diverse as e-commerce, government, healthcare and education.
With the prevalence of information technology in our daily lives, our ability to interact with machines in increasingly simplified and more human-like ways has become paramount. Information is becoming ever more abundant but our access to it is limited not least by technological restraints. Spoken dialogue systems address this issue by providing an intelligent speech interface that facilitates swift, human-like acquisition of information. The advantages of speech interfaces are already evident from the rise of personal assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant, Cortana or Amazon Alexa. In these systems, however, the user is limited to a simple query, and the systems attempt to provide an answer within one or two turns of dialogue. To date, significant parts of these systems are rule-based and do not readily scale to changes in the domain of operation. Furthermore, rule-based systems can be brittle when speech recognition errors occur. The vision of this project is to develop novel dialogue models that provide natural human-computer interaction beyond simple information-seeking dialogues and that continuously evolve as they are being used by exploiting both dialogue and non-dialogue data. Building such robust and intelligent spoken dialogue systems poses serious challenges in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The project will tackle four bottleneck areas that require fundamental research: automated knowledge acquisition, optimisation of complex behaviour, realistic user models and sentiment awareness. Taken together, the proposed solutions have the potential to transform the way we access information in areas as diverse as e-commerce, government, healthcare and education.
Project acronym EAR
Project Audio-based Mobile Health Diagnostics
Researcher (PI) Cecilia MASCOLO
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Summary Mobile health is becoming the holy grail for affordable medical diagnostics. It has the potential of associating human behaviour with medical symptoms automatically and at early disease stage; it also offers cheap deployment, reaching populations generally not able to afford diagnosis and delivering a level of monitoring so fine which will likely improve diagnostic theory itself. The advancements of technology offer new ranges of sensing and computation capability with the potential of further improving the reach of mobile health. Audio sensing through microphones of mobile devices has recently being recognized as a powerful and yet underutilized source of medical information: sounds from the human body (e.g., sighs, breathing sounds and voice) are indicators of disease or disease onsets. The current pilots, while generally medically grounded, are potentially ad-hoc from the perspective of key areas of computer science; specifically, in their approaches to computational models and how the system resource demands are optimized to fit within the limits of the mobile devices, as well as in terms of robustness needed for tracking people in their daily lives. Audio sensing also comes with challenges which threaten its use in clinical context: its power hungry nature and the fact that audio data is very sensitive and the collection of this sort of data for analytics violates obvious ethical rules. This work proposes models to link sounds to disease diagnosis and to deal with the inherent issues raised by in-the-wild sensing: noise and privacy concerns. We exploit these audio models in wearable systems maximizing the use of local hardware resources with power optimization and accuracy in both near real time and sparse audio sampling. Privacy will arise as a by-product taking away the need of cloud analytics. Moreover, the framework will embed the ability to quantify the diagnostic uncertainty and consider patient context as confounding factors via additional sensors.
Mobile health is becoming the holy grail for affordable medical diagnostics. It has the potential of associating human behaviour with medical symptoms automatically and at early disease stage; it also offers cheap deployment, reaching populations generally not able to afford diagnosis and delivering a level of monitoring so fine which will likely improve diagnostic theory itself. The advancements of technology offer new ranges of sensing and computation capability with the potential of further improving the reach of mobile health. Audio sensing through microphones of mobile devices has recently being recognized as a powerful and yet underutilized source of medical information: sounds from the human body (e.g., sighs, breathing sounds and voice) are indicators of disease or disease onsets. The current pilots, while generally medically grounded, are potentially ad-hoc from the perspective of key areas of computer science; specifically, in their approaches to computational models and how the system resource demands are optimized to fit within the limits of the mobile devices, as well as in terms of robustness needed for tracking people in their daily lives. Audio sensing also comes with challenges which threaten its use in clinical context: its power hungry nature and the fact that audio data is very sensitive and the collection of this sort of data for analytics violates obvious ethical rules. This work proposes models to link sounds to disease diagnosis and to deal with the inherent issues raised by in-the-wild sensing: noise and privacy concerns. We exploit these audio models in wearable systems maximizing the use of local hardware resources with power optimization and accuracy in both near real time and sparse audio sampling. Privacy will arise as a by-product taking away the need of cloud analytics. Moreover, the framework will embed the ability to quantify the diagnostic uncertainty and consider patient context as confounding factors via additional sensors.
Project acronym EARTH@LTERNATIVES
Project Sustainability, efficiency, equity and resilience of land and water use for global food and energy security: synergies and fundamental trade-offs
Researcher (PI) Arjen Hoekstra
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT TWENTE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH2, ERC-2018-ADG
Summary Humanity faces major challenges: stay below local and global ecological thresholds; increase natural resources use efficiency; share resources fairly; and increase societal resilience. Most research focusses on one or two of these challenges at a time; there is a major scientific gap in understanding synergies and inevitable trade-offs between the development principles of environmental sustainability, equitability, efficiency and resilience. This project aims to analyse synergies and trade-offs between environmental sustainability, resource efficiency, social equity and social-ecological resilience in the context of land and water use for food and energy supply. We consider production, consumption and trade patterns globally, at high spatial resolution, analyse past developments, and develop alternative future pathways, based on coherent sets of assumptions regarding demographic and economic developments, technological innovation, changes in local diets and energy mixes, and climate change. The project team will pioneer in integrating methods and computational tools from the fields of Environmental Footprint Assessment, Life Cycle Assessment and Input-Output Analysis, applied at unrivalled high level of granularity. Coherent perspectives on handling uncertainty and risk from cultural theory will be used in a unique approach to develop alternative futures. Finally, an original framework will be developed to analyse synergies and traded-offs between competing development principles. The project will revolutionize our understanding of different pathways to food and energy security given limited land and water resources, and particularly how each pathway will make trade-offs between environmental sustainability, fair sharing, efficient resources use and resiliency. This knowledge is key in understanding how to achieve UN’s Sustainable Development Goals with limited land and water resources and reveal synergies and trade-offs embedded in specific strategies.
Humanity faces major challenges: stay below local and global ecological thresholds; increase natural resources use efficiency; share resources fairly; and increase societal resilience. Most research focusses on one or two of these challenges at a time; there is a major scientific gap in understanding synergies and inevitable trade-offs between the development principles of environmental sustainability, equitability, efficiency and resilience. This project aims to analyse synergies and trade-offs between environmental sustainability, resource efficiency, social equity and social-ecological resilience in the context of land and water use for food and energy supply. We consider production, consumption and trade patterns globally, at high spatial resolution, analyse past developments, and develop alternative future pathways, based on coherent sets of assumptions regarding demographic and economic developments, technological innovation, changes in local diets and energy mixes, and climate change. The project team will pioneer in integrating methods and computational tools from the fields of Environmental Footprint Assessment, Life Cycle Assessment and Input-Output Analysis, applied at unrivalled high level of granularity. Coherent perspectives on handling uncertainty and risk from cultural theory will be used in a unique approach to develop alternative futures. Finally, an original framework will be developed to analyse synergies and traded-offs between competing development principles. The project will revolutionize our understanding of different pathways to food and energy security given limited land and water resources, and particularly how each pathway will make trade-offs between environmental sustainability, fair sharing, efficient resources use and resiliency. This knowledge is key in understanding how to achieve UN’s Sustainable Development Goals with limited land and water resources and reveal synergies and trade-offs embedded in specific strategies.
Project Practical Imaging and Inversion of Transient Light Transport
Researcher (PI) Matthias HULLIN
Host Institution (HI) RHEINISCHE FRIEDRICH-WILHELMS-UNIVERSITAT BONN
Summary The automated analysis of visual data is a key enabler for industrial and consumer technologies and of immense economic and social importance. Its main challenge is in the inherent ambiguity of images due to the very mechanism of image capture: light reaching a pixel on different paths or at different times is mixed irreversibly. Consequently, even after decades of extensive research, problems like deblurring or descattering, geometry/material estimation or motion tracking are still largely unsolved and will remain so in the foreseeable future. Transient imaging (TI) tackles this problem by recording ultrafast optical echoes that unmix light contributions by the total pathlength. So far, TI used to require high-end measurement setups. By introducing computational TI (CTI), we paved the way for a lightweight capture of transient data using consumer hardware. We showed the potential of CTI in scenarios like robust range measurement, descattering and imaging of objects outside the line of sight – tasks that had been considered difficult to impossible so far. The ECHO project is rooted in computer graphics and computational imaging. In it, we will overcome the practical limitations that are hampering a large-scale deployment of TI: the time required for data capture and to reconstruct the desired information, both in the order of seconds to minutes, a lack of dedicated image priors and of quality guarantees for the reconstruction, the limited accuracy and performance of forward models and the lack of ground-truth data and benchmark methods. Over the course of ECHO, we will pioneer advanced capture setups and strategies, signal formation models, priors and numerical methods, for the first time enabling real-time reconstruction and analysis of transient light transport in complex and dynamic scenes. The methodology developed in this far-reaching project will turn TI from a research technology into a family of practical tools that will immediately benefit many applications.
The automated analysis of visual data is a key enabler for industrial and consumer technologies and of immense economic and social importance. Its main challenge is in the inherent ambiguity of images due to the very mechanism of image capture: light reaching a pixel on different paths or at different times is mixed irreversibly. Consequently, even after decades of extensive research, problems like deblurring or descattering, geometry/material estimation or motion tracking are still largely unsolved and will remain so in the foreseeable future. Transient imaging (TI) tackles this problem by recording ultrafast optical echoes that unmix light contributions by the total pathlength. So far, TI used to require high-end measurement setups. By introducing computational TI (CTI), we paved the way for a lightweight capture of transient data using consumer hardware. We showed the potential of CTI in scenarios like robust range measurement, descattering and imaging of objects outside the line of sight – tasks that had been considered difficult to impossible so far. The ECHO project is rooted in computer graphics and computational imaging. In it, we will overcome the practical limitations that are hampering a large-scale deployment of TI: the time required for data capture and to reconstruct the desired information, both in the order of seconds to minutes, a lack of dedicated image priors and of quality guarantees for the reconstruction, the limited accuracy and performance of forward models and the lack of ground-truth data and benchmark methods. Over the course of ECHO, we will pioneer advanced capture setups and strategies, signal formation models, priors and numerical methods, for the first time enabling real-time reconstruction and analysis of transient light transport in complex and dynamic scenes. The methodology developed in this far-reaching project will turn TI from a research technology into a family of practical tools that will immediately benefit many applications.
Project acronym Egalitarianism
Project Egalitarianism: Forms, Processes, Comparisons
Researcher (PI) Bruce Kapferer
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITETET I BERGEN
Summary The projects concerned with the heterogeneity of egalitarian structures, processes and value. This heterogeneity is approached through a) a library-based global comparative study and through b) field ethnographic studies, also comparatively oriented, in sites of egalitarian/inegalitarian crisis within Europe and elsewhere. The library and field studies are to be closely integrated, each influencing the development and directions of the other. The decentering inherent in the orientation heterogeneity involves an emphasis on the forms and practices of egalitarianism as cultural phenomena emergent within and having their complexities of effect through the socio-cultural dimensions of their realities. The key proposition of the project is that it is egalitarian practices and processes as cultural values that is of considerable importance for understanding their force, contradictions, limitations. Thus in this approach dualism that is widely conceived as being politically and philosophically problematic in egalitarianism as a whole is approached as a cultural phenomenon potentially specific to Euro-American forms. The emphasis on the heterogeneity of egalitarianism combined with the development of a comparative method appropriate to the heterogeneity of egalitarian processes, constitutes the distinction and the several contributions of the project to a fuller understanding of egalitarian processes, their constraints, limitations and potential. The method to be developed is to be open both to the varieties in the conceptions and imagination of egalitarian processes and the various historical, socio-political, and geo-ecological circumstances under which egalitarian practices emerge. Through the comparison perennial questions – the role of the state, religion, forms of economic distribution, the matter of scale – concerning forms and structures with egalitarian effect will be exposed to further consideration.
The projects concerned with the heterogeneity of egalitarian structures, processes and value. This heterogeneity is approached through a) a library-based global comparative study and through b) field ethnographic studies, also comparatively oriented, in sites of egalitarian/inegalitarian crisis within Europe and elsewhere. The library and field studies are to be closely integrated, each influencing the development and directions of the other. The decentering inherent in the orientation heterogeneity involves an emphasis on the forms and practices of egalitarianism as cultural phenomena emergent within and having their complexities of effect through the socio-cultural dimensions of their realities. The key proposition of the project is that it is egalitarian practices and processes as cultural values that is of considerable importance for understanding their force, contradictions, limitations. Thus in this approach dualism that is widely conceived as being politically and philosophically problematic in egalitarianism as a whole is approached as a cultural phenomenon potentially specific to Euro-American forms. The emphasis on the heterogeneity of egalitarianism combined with the development of a comparative method appropriate to the heterogeneity of egalitarian processes, constitutes the distinction and the several contributions of the project to a fuller understanding of egalitarian processes, their constraints, limitations and potential. The method to be developed is to be open both to the varieties in the conceptions and imagination of egalitarian processes and the various historical, socio-political, and geo-ecological circumstances under which egalitarian practices emerge. Through the comparison perennial questions – the role of the state, religion, forms of economic distribution, the matter of scale – concerning forms and structures with egalitarian effect will be exposed to further consideration.
Project acronym EMERGING SUBJECTS
Project Emerging Subjects of the New Economy: Tracing Economic Growth in Mongolia
Researcher (PI) Rebecca Anna Empson Mannerfelt
Summary This project examines how predicted economic growth is experienced by people in Mongolia with the advent of large-scale mining operations. Our project will generate new insight into two areas of concern for economic anthropology and beyond. First we will examine the way that the economy is unfolding in a distinct way in East Asia through different kinds of predictive narratives that come to have an effect on the way people act. Second we will explore how individual subjects also shape the economy in their everyday relations through various forms of exchange and the accumulation of wealth. This dual focus provides the basis for a nuanced and powerful critique of our understanding of the way in which economic realities are shaped through predictive narratives as well as formed, from the ground-up, by local actors who carve out new forms of subjectivity through such actions. Indeed it is our suggestion that these new subjects of the growing economy are distinctly different from the post-socialist selves described in previous literature on the region. Instead they are powerful and hopeful subjects who demand a different kind of engagement and entitlement. The form such engagement takes and the kind of economic realities produced out of such forms is the focus of our study.
This project examines how predicted economic growth is experienced by people in Mongolia with the advent of large-scale mining operations. Our project will generate new insight into two areas of concern for economic anthropology and beyond. First we will examine the way that the economy is unfolding in a distinct way in East Asia through different kinds of predictive narratives that come to have an effect on the way people act. Second we will explore how individual subjects also shape the economy in their everyday relations through various forms of exchange and the accumulation of wealth. This dual focus provides the basis for a nuanced and powerful critique of our understanding of the way in which economic realities are shaped through predictive narratives as well as formed, from the ground-up, by local actors who carve out new forms of subjectivity through such actions. Indeed it is our suggestion that these new subjects of the growing economy are distinctly different from the post-socialist selves described in previous literature on the region. Instead they are powerful and hopeful subjects who demand a different kind of engagement and entitlement. The form such engagement takes and the kind of economic realities produced out of such forms is the focus of our study.
Project acronym ENGAGES
Project Next generation algorithms for grabbing and exploiting symmetry
Researcher (PI) Pascal Schweitzer
Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET KAISERSLAUTERN
Summary Symmetry is a phenomenon that appears in many different contexts. Algorithmic symmetry detection and exploitation is the concept of finding intrinsic symmetries of a given object and then using these symmetries to our advantage. Application areas of algorithmic symmetry detection and exploitation range from convolutional neural networks in machine learning to computer graphics, chemical data bases and beyond. In contrast to this widespread use, our understanding of the theoretical foundation (namely the graph isomorphism problem) is incomplete and current algorithmic symmetry tools are inadequate for big data applications. Hence, EngageS addresses these key challenges in the field using a systematic approach to the theory and practice of symmetry detection. It thereby also fixes the existing lack of interplay between theory and practice, which is part of the problem. EngageS' main aims are to tackle the classical and descriptive complexity of the graph isomorphism problem and to design the next generation of symmetry detection algorithms. As key ideas to resolve the complexity, EngageS offers three new approaches on how to prove lower bounds and a new method to settle the descriptive complexity. EngageS will also develop practical symmetry detection algorithms for big data, exploiting parallelism and memory hierarchies of modern machines, and will introduce the concept of and a road map to exploiting absence of symmetry. Overall EngageS will establish a comprehensive software library that will serve as a platform for integrated research on the algorithmic treatment of symmetry. In summary, EngageS will develop fast, efficient and accessible symmetry detection tools that will be used to solve complex algorithmic problems in a range of fields including combinatorial algorithms, generation problems, and canonization.
Symmetry is a phenomenon that appears in many different contexts. Algorithmic symmetry detection and exploitation is the concept of finding intrinsic symmetries of a given object and then using these symmetries to our advantage. Application areas of algorithmic symmetry detection and exploitation range from convolutional neural networks in machine learning to computer graphics, chemical data bases and beyond. In contrast to this widespread use, our understanding of the theoretical foundation (namely the graph isomorphism problem) is incomplete and current algorithmic symmetry tools are inadequate for big data applications. Hence, EngageS addresses these key challenges in the field using a systematic approach to the theory and practice of symmetry detection. It thereby also fixes the existing lack of interplay between theory and practice, which is part of the problem. EngageS' main aims are to tackle the classical and descriptive complexity of the graph isomorphism problem and to design the next generation of symmetry detection algorithms. As key ideas to resolve the complexity, EngageS offers three new approaches on how to prove lower bounds and a new method to settle the descriptive complexity. EngageS will also develop practical symmetry detection algorithms for big data, exploiting parallelism and memory hierarchies of modern machines, and will introduce the concept of and a road map to exploiting absence of symmetry. Overall EngageS will establish a comprehensive software library that will serve as a platform for integrated research on the algorithmic treatment of symmetry. In summary, EngageS will develop fast, efficient and accessible symmetry detection tools that will be used to solve complex algorithmic problems in a range of fields including combinatorial algorithms, generation problems, and canonization.
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Project acronym 19TH-CENTURY_EUCLID
Project Nineteenth-Century Euclid: Geometry and the Literary Imagination from Wordsworth to Wells
Researcher (PI) Alice Jenkins
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2007-StG
Summary This radically interdisciplinary project aims to bring a substantially new field of research – literature and mathematics studies – to prominence as a tool for investigating the culture of nineteenth-century Britain. It will result in three kinds of outcome: a monograph, two interdisciplinary and international colloquia, and a collection of essays. The project focuses on Euclidean geometry as a key element of nineteenth-century literary and scientific culture, showing that it was part of the shared knowledge flowing through elite and popular Romantic and Victorian writing, and figuring notably in the work of very many of the century’s best-known writers. Despite its traditional cultural prestige and educational centrality, geometry has been almost wholly neglected by literary history. This project shows how literature and mathematics studies can draw a new map of nineteenth-century British culture, revitalising our understanding of the Romantic and Victorian imagination through its writing about geometry.
This radically interdisciplinary project aims to bring a substantially new field of research – literature and mathematics studies – to prominence as a tool for investigating the culture of nineteenth-century Britain. It will result in three kinds of outcome: a monograph, two interdisciplinary and international colloquia, and a collection of essays. The project focuses on Euclidean geometry as a key element of nineteenth-century literary and scientific culture, showing that it was part of the shared knowledge flowing through elite and popular Romantic and Victorian writing, and figuring notably in the work of very many of the century’s best-known writers. Despite its traditional cultural prestige and educational centrality, geometry has been almost wholly neglected by literary history. This project shows how literature and mathematics studies can draw a new map of nineteenth-century British culture, revitalising our understanding of the Romantic and Victorian imagination through its writing about geometry.
Project acronym AMOPROX
Project Quantifying Aerobic Methane Oxidation in the Ocean: Calibration and palaeo application of a novel proxy
Researcher (PI) Helen Marie Talbot
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE10, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary Methane, a key greenhouse gas, is cycled by microorganisms via two pathways, aerobically and anaerobically. Research on the marine methane cycle has mainly concentrated on anaerobic processes. Recent biomarker work has provided compelling evidence that aerobic methane oxidation (AMO) can play a more significant role in cycling methane emitted from sediments than previously considered. AMO, however, is not well studied requiring novel proxies that can be applied to the sedimentary record. A group of complex lipids biosynthesised by aerobic methanotrophs known as aminobacteriohopanepolyols represent an ideal target for developing such poxies. Recently BHPs have been identified in a wide range of modern and recent environments including a continuous record from the Congo deep sea fan spanning the last 1.2 million years. In this integrated study, the regulation and expression of BHP will be investigated and calibrated against environmental variables including temperature, pH, salinity and, most importantly, methane concentrations. The work program has three complementary strands. (1) Pure culture and sedimentary microcosm experiments providing an approximation to natural conditions. (2) Calibration of BHP signatures in natural marine settings (e.g. cold seeps, mud volcanoes, pockmarks) against measured methane gradients. (3) Application of this novel approach to the marine sedimentary record to approximate methane fluxes in the past, explore the age and bathymetric limits of this novel molecular proxy, and identify and potentially 14C date palaeo-pockmarks structures. Crucial to the success is also the refinement of the analytical protocols to improve both accuracy and sensitivity, using a more sensitive analytical instrument (triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer).
Methane, a key greenhouse gas, is cycled by microorganisms via two pathways, aerobically and anaerobically. Research on the marine methane cycle has mainly concentrated on anaerobic processes. Recent biomarker work has provided compelling evidence that aerobic methane oxidation (AMO) can play a more significant role in cycling methane emitted from sediments than previously considered. AMO, however, is not well studied requiring novel proxies that can be applied to the sedimentary record. A group of complex lipids biosynthesised by aerobic methanotrophs known as aminobacteriohopanepolyols represent an ideal target for developing such poxies. Recently BHPs have been identified in a wide range of modern and recent environments including a continuous record from the Congo deep sea fan spanning the last 1.2 million years. In this integrated study, the regulation and expression of BHP will be investigated and calibrated against environmental variables including temperature, pH, salinity and, most importantly, methane concentrations. The work program has three complementary strands. (1) Pure culture and sedimentary microcosm experiments providing an approximation to natural conditions. (2) Calibration of BHP signatures in natural marine settings (e.g. cold seeps, mud volcanoes, pockmarks) against measured methane gradients. (3) Application of this novel approach to the marine sedimentary record to approximate methane fluxes in the past, explore the age and bathymetric limits of this novel molecular proxy, and identify and potentially 14C date palaeo-pockmarks structures. Crucial to the success is also the refinement of the analytical protocols to improve both accuracy and sensitivity, using a more sensitive analytical instrument (triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer).
Project acronym CODEMAP
Project COmplex Deep-sea Environments: Mapping habitat heterogeneity As Proxy for biodiversity
Researcher (PI) Veerle Ann Ida Huvenne
Host Institution (HI) NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL
Summary Human impact on the deep ocean is rapidly increasing, with largely unknown consequences. Effective management and conservation, based on an ecosystem approach, is hampered by our poor understanding of the deep-sea environment. Measuring biodiversity, the main indicator of ecosystem status and functioning, is a major challenge in deep water: traditional sampling schemes are expensive and time-consuming, and their limited coverage makes it difficult to relate the results to regional patterns. Complex deep-sea environments are especially problematic. Ecosystem hotspots such as canyons or coral reefs contain true 3D morphology that cannot be surveyed with conventional techniques. CODEMAP will quantify habitat heterogeneity in complex deep-sea terrains, and will evaluate its potential as a proxy for benthic biodiversity at a variety of scales. Habitat heterogeneity has been suggested as a major driver for deep-sea biodiversity, but is rarely quantified in a spatial context in the marine realm. To achieve its goal, CODEMAP will combine the fields of marine geology, ecology, remote sensing and underwater vehicle technology to establish an integrated, statistically robust and fully 3D methodology to map complex deep-sea habitats. Statistical techniques will be developed to extrapolate quantitative habitat information from fine-scale surveys to broad-scale maps. The optimal parameters to measure habitat heterogeneity will be defined, and their potential as biodiversity indicators tested through correlation with traditional approaches. The project focuses on submarine canyons, but the techniques will also be transferred to other environments. CODEMAP is expected to have a strong impact on the fundamental understanding of the deep sea and on ecosystem-based deep-sea management.
Human impact on the deep ocean is rapidly increasing, with largely unknown consequences. Effective management and conservation, based on an ecosystem approach, is hampered by our poor understanding of the deep-sea environment. Measuring biodiversity, the main indicator of ecosystem status and functioning, is a major challenge in deep water: traditional sampling schemes are expensive and time-consuming, and their limited coverage makes it difficult to relate the results to regional patterns. Complex deep-sea environments are especially problematic. Ecosystem hotspots such as canyons or coral reefs contain true 3D morphology that cannot be surveyed with conventional techniques. CODEMAP will quantify habitat heterogeneity in complex deep-sea terrains, and will evaluate its potential as a proxy for benthic biodiversity at a variety of scales. Habitat heterogeneity has been suggested as a major driver for deep-sea biodiversity, but is rarely quantified in a spatial context in the marine realm. To achieve its goal, CODEMAP will combine the fields of marine geology, ecology, remote sensing and underwater vehicle technology to establish an integrated, statistically robust and fully 3D methodology to map complex deep-sea habitats. Statistical techniques will be developed to extrapolate quantitative habitat information from fine-scale surveys to broad-scale maps. The optimal parameters to measure habitat heterogeneity will be defined, and their potential as biodiversity indicators tested through correlation with traditional approaches. The project focuses on submarine canyons, but the techniques will also be transferred to other environments. CODEMAP is expected to have a strong impact on the fundamental understanding of the deep sea and on ecosystem-based deep-sea management.
Project acronym COMITAC
Project An integrated geoscientific study of the thermodynamics and composition of the Earth's core-mantle interface
Researcher (PI) James Wookey
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE10, ERC-2009-StG
Summary The core-mantle interface is the central cog in the Earth's titanic heat engine. As the boundary between the two major convecting parts of the Earth system (the solid silicate mantle and the liquid iron outer core) the properties of this region have a profound influence on the thermochemical and dynamic evolution of the entire planet, including tectonic phenomena at the surface. Evidence from seismology shows that D" (the lowermost few hundred kilometres of the mantle) is strongly heterogeneous in temperature, chemistry, structure and dynamics; this may dominate the long term evolution of the Earth's magnetic field and the morphology of mantle convection and chemical stratification, for example. Mapping and characterising this heterogeneity requires a detailed knowledge of the properties of the constituents and dynamics of D"; this is achievable by resolving its seismic anisotropy. The observation of anisotropy in the shallow lithosphere was an important piece of evidence for the theory of plate tectonics; now such a breakthrough is possible for the analogous deep boundary. We are at a critical juncture where developments in modelling strain in the mantle, petrofabrics and seismic wave propagation can be combined to produce a new generation of integrated models of D", embodying more complete information than any currently available. I propose a groundbreaking project to build such multidisciplinary models and to produce the first complete image of lowermost mantle anisotropy using the best available global, high resolution seismic dataset. The comparison of the models with these data is the key to making a fundamental improvement in our understanding of the thermodynamics and composition of the core-mantle interface, and illuminating its role in the wider Earth system.
The core-mantle interface is the central cog in the Earth's titanic heat engine. As the boundary between the two major convecting parts of the Earth system (the solid silicate mantle and the liquid iron outer core) the properties of this region have a profound influence on the thermochemical and dynamic evolution of the entire planet, including tectonic phenomena at the surface. Evidence from seismology shows that D" (the lowermost few hundred kilometres of the mantle) is strongly heterogeneous in temperature, chemistry, structure and dynamics; this may dominate the long term evolution of the Earth's magnetic field and the morphology of mantle convection and chemical stratification, for example. Mapping and characterising this heterogeneity requires a detailed knowledge of the properties of the constituents and dynamics of D"; this is achievable by resolving its seismic anisotropy. The observation of anisotropy in the shallow lithosphere was an important piece of evidence for the theory of plate tectonics; now such a breakthrough is possible for the analogous deep boundary. We are at a critical juncture where developments in modelling strain in the mantle, petrofabrics and seismic wave propagation can be combined to produce a new generation of integrated models of D", embodying more complete information than any currently available. I propose a groundbreaking project to build such multidisciplinary models and to produce the first complete image of lowermost mantle anisotropy using the best available global, high resolution seismic dataset. The comparison of the models with these data is the key to making a fundamental improvement in our understanding of the thermodynamics and composition of the core-mantle interface, and illuminating its role in the wider Earth system.
Project acronym EARLYPOWERONTOLOGIES
Project Causal Structuralist Ontologies in Antiquity: Powers as the basic building block of the worlds of the ancients
Researcher (PI) Anna Marmodoro
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2010-StG_20091209
Summary The project aims to bring about a paradigm shift in our understanding of how the ancients conceived of the universe and its contents over a period of 9 centuries, 600 BC to 300 AD. The driving research hypothesis is that the sole elementary building blocks of nearly all ancient ontologies are powers, from which all there is in the universe is built. Powers are relational properties which are directed towards an end (e.g. the power to heat); thus a world of powers is structured in a web of causal relations. What is revolutionary about such a world is that there is only structure in it; hence, causal structuralist ontologies underlie object-metaphysics or process-metaphysics, and worlds of being and becoming, supplying structures from which objects and processes are derived. Yet such ontologies have never been investigated about ancient thought. The project’s topic is new: ancient causal structuralism; the speciality is novel too, requiring targeted training of a team of post-doc researchers which will be provided by the applicant and collaborators. The innovativeness of the methodology consists in training ancient philosophy researchers to discern and identify formal aspects of ontologies at the very roots of human rationality – discerning how the ancients built everything out of power structures. The paradigm shift will generate new knowledge and understanding about the ancient accounts of the world; provide a heuristic vantage point for redrafting the map of the intellectual influences between ancient thinkers; stimulate fruitful debate; and inspire new insights into ancient thought that are literally unthinkable at present. Cognate disciplines that will be affected by the paradigm shift are such as: history of physics; of mathematics; of theology; ancient anthropology.
The project aims to bring about a paradigm shift in our understanding of how the ancients conceived of the universe and its contents over a period of 9 centuries, 600 BC to 300 AD. The driving research hypothesis is that the sole elementary building blocks of nearly all ancient ontologies are powers, from which all there is in the universe is built. Powers are relational properties which are directed towards an end (e.g. the power to heat); thus a world of powers is structured in a web of causal relations. What is revolutionary about such a world is that there is only structure in it; hence, causal structuralist ontologies underlie object-metaphysics or process-metaphysics, and worlds of being and becoming, supplying structures from which objects and processes are derived. Yet such ontologies have never been investigated about ancient thought. The project’s topic is new: ancient causal structuralism; the speciality is novel too, requiring targeted training of a team of post-doc researchers which will be provided by the applicant and collaborators. The innovativeness of the methodology consists in training ancient philosophy researchers to discern and identify formal aspects of ontologies at the very roots of human rationality – discerning how the ancients built everything out of power structures. The paradigm shift will generate new knowledge and understanding about the ancient accounts of the world; provide a heuristic vantage point for redrafting the map of the intellectual influences between ancient thinkers; stimulate fruitful debate; and inspire new insights into ancient thought that are literally unthinkable at present. Cognate disciplines that will be affected by the paradigm shift are such as: history of physics; of mathematics; of theology; ancient anthropology.
Project acronym EMOTER
Project Emoting the Embodied Mind
Researcher (PI) Giovanna Colombetti
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Summary This project aims to develop a theoretical account of the mind that acknowledges its embodied as well as emotional character, thus cutting across traditional dichotomies such as head/body, reason/passion, intellect/instinct, and nurture/nature. This goal involves bringing together two research fields that have paid relatively little attention to each other the embodied approach in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, and the emerging field of affective science . Both fields have undergone considerable developments in the last years, and both represent thriving interdisciplinary research areas. The proposed framework will detail the various ways in which the embodied and emotional features of the mind relate to one another, including the implications that an embodied-emotional view of the mind will have for our concepts of consciousness, value, and rationality. The project is divided into four interrelated yet distinct self-contained subprojects that will be completed over a period of five years. Subproject 1 will address the question of the nature of emotion experience and its relation to the body through an analysis of accounts of lived experience found in philosophical phenomenology, psychology and neuroscience. Subproject 2 will discuss the possibility to extend emotions beyond the boundary of the organism. Subproject 3 will develop an embodied account of value, from simple to more complex organisms. Subproject 4 will elaborate the implications of an embodied-emotional view of the mind for philosophical conceptions of control, rationality, and normativity. Overall, these themes outline a project which is philosophical in its aims (the development of a theoretical framework, and the philosophical implications of such a framework), and interdisciplinary in its methodology. Part of it will in fact examine and discuss various psychological and neuroscientific studies in detail, and recommend new avenues for empirical research in these disciplines.
This project aims to develop a theoretical account of the mind that acknowledges its embodied as well as emotional character, thus cutting across traditional dichotomies such as head/body, reason/passion, intellect/instinct, and nurture/nature. This goal involves bringing together two research fields that have paid relatively little attention to each other the embodied approach in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, and the emerging field of affective science . Both fields have undergone considerable developments in the last years, and both represent thriving interdisciplinary research areas. The proposed framework will detail the various ways in which the embodied and emotional features of the mind relate to one another, including the implications that an embodied-emotional view of the mind will have for our concepts of consciousness, value, and rationality. The project is divided into four interrelated yet distinct self-contained subprojects that will be completed over a period of five years. Subproject 1 will address the question of the nature of emotion experience and its relation to the body through an analysis of accounts of lived experience found in philosophical phenomenology, psychology and neuroscience. Subproject 2 will discuss the possibility to extend emotions beyond the boundary of the organism. Subproject 3 will develop an embodied account of value, from simple to more complex organisms. Subproject 4 will elaborate the implications of an embodied-emotional view of the mind for philosophical conceptions of control, rationality, and normativity. Overall, these themes outline a project which is philosophical in its aims (the development of a theoretical framework, and the philosophical implications of such a framework), and interdisciplinary in its methodology. Part of it will in fact examine and discuss various psychological and neuroscientific studies in detail, and recommend new avenues for empirical research in these disciplines.
Project acronym HEMSDEV
Project Human Embodied MultiSensory Development: An investigation of the construction of embodied multisensory experience in human infancy and early childhood
Researcher (PI) Andrew John Bremner
Host Institution (HI) GOLDSMITHS' COLLEGE
Summary We perceive our body and peripersonal environment through multiple sensory modalities. The distance receptors (e.g., vision and audition), provide information about stimuli in both personal and extrapersonal space. The direct receptors (e.g., touch and proprioception) provide information about the body and external stimuli impinging on the body. Having multiple modalities bestows advantages by providing complementary and independent sources of information about the environment and consequently makes our responses more efficient. However, integrating the senses across the body also presents computational problems for the human nervous system. For example, in order to locate in the visual field an object perceived through touch we must take account of the current posture of the body. In this application I propose a two-phase programme of research directed at investigating how infants and children develop multisensory representations of their limbs and bodies and stimuli impinging upon their bodies (embodied multisensory development). Phase 1 (years 1-3) will undertake a cross-sectional investigation into the developmental time-course of emerging body representations, utilizing a number of behavioural and physiological measures (EEG). The paradigms and findings of Phase 1 will then be used to inform the design of Phase 2 (years 3-5), which will investigate the causal drivers of developmental change in body representations at a behavioural and brain-systems level using a variety of longitudinal and clinical methods.
We perceive our body and peripersonal environment through multiple sensory modalities. The distance receptors (e.g., vision and audition), provide information about stimuli in both personal and extrapersonal space. The direct receptors (e.g., touch and proprioception) provide information about the body and external stimuli impinging on the body. Having multiple modalities bestows advantages by providing complementary and independent sources of information about the environment and consequently makes our responses more efficient. However, integrating the senses across the body also presents computational problems for the human nervous system. For example, in order to locate in the visual field an object perceived through touch we must take account of the current posture of the body. In this application I propose a two-phase programme of research directed at investigating how infants and children develop multisensory representations of their limbs and bodies and stimuli impinging upon their bodies (embodied multisensory development). Phase 1 (years 1-3) will undertake a cross-sectional investigation into the developmental time-course of emerging body representations, utilizing a number of behavioural and physiological measures (EEG). The paradigms and findings of Phase 1 will then be used to inform the design of Phase 2 (years 3-5), which will investigate the causal drivers of developmental change in body representations at a behavioural and brain-systems level using a variety of longitudinal and clinical methods.
Project acronym HURRICANE
Project Past hurricane activity reconstructed using cave deposits: Have humans increased storm risk?
Researcher (PI) James Baldini
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM
Summary The proposed research would utilise various geochemical proxies (oxygen, carbon, and trace elements) in cave calcite deposits (stalagmites) to develop extraordinarily high-resolution North Atlantic hurricane activity records for the past five hundred years, extending existing historical datasets by hundreds of years. This new stalagmite record would be the first high resolution record to extend beyond 1850, thus permit more statistically robust comparisons of hurricane activity between pre- and post-anthropogenic greenhouse gas climatic states, and help to constrain any natural cyclicities inherent in North Atlantic hurricane activity. Additionally, the three study sites were chosen to test the hypothesis that variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index may influence hurricane track direction. The records will also be used to reconstruct El Nino-Southern Oscillation variability back through time, something that on its own would be an important result. The research would help evaluate the risk of stronger/more frequent future hurricanes associated with global climate change by allowing more rigorous testing of currently conflicting climate models.
The proposed research would utilise various geochemical proxies (oxygen, carbon, and trace elements) in cave calcite deposits (stalagmites) to develop extraordinarily high-resolution North Atlantic hurricane activity records for the past five hundred years, extending existing historical datasets by hundreds of years. This new stalagmite record would be the first high resolution record to extend beyond 1850, thus permit more statistically robust comparisons of hurricane activity between pre- and post-anthropogenic greenhouse gas climatic states, and help to constrain any natural cyclicities inherent in North Atlantic hurricane activity. Additionally, the three study sites were chosen to test the hypothesis that variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index may influence hurricane track direction. The records will also be used to reconstruct El Nino-Southern Oscillation variability back through time, something that on its own would be an important result. The research would help evaluate the risk of stronger/more frequent future hurricanes associated with global climate change by allowing more rigorous testing of currently conflicting climate models.
Project acronym ICE
Project Laboratory and modelling studies of ice nucleation and crystallisation in the Earth's atmosphere
Researcher (PI) Benjamin Murray
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS
Summary The formation of ice particles in the Earth s atmosphere strongly affects the properties of clouds and their impact on climate. However, our basic understanding of ice nucleation and crystallisation is still in its infancy. Despite the importance of ice formation in determining the properties of clouds, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was unable to assess the impact of atmospheric ice formation in their most recent report, because our basic knowledge is insufficient. In this proposal plans are described to establish a laboratory dedicated to improving our fundamental understanding of ice nucleation and crystallisation. It is proposed to develop a series of laboratory experiments designed to quantify atmospherically relevant processes at a fundamental level. In work package 1 the role of glassy solids and ultra-viscous liquids in cloud formation will be investigated; in work package 2 the rate at which various mineral dusts nucleate ice in the immersion mode will be quantified; the phase of ice that deposits onto frozen solution droplets or heterogeneous ice nuclei will be determined in work package 3; and in work package 4 the laboratory data from work packages 1-3 will be used to constrain ice nucleation in numerical clouds models in order to assess radiative forcings. The instrumentation and modelling experience gained in this five year project will provide a lasting legacy and open doors to new research areas in the future. As an international hub of atmospheric and climate science, the University of Leeds is a unique and ideal institute in which to bridge the gap between fundamental studies and the cloud/climate modelling community.
The formation of ice particles in the Earth s atmosphere strongly affects the properties of clouds and their impact on climate. However, our basic understanding of ice nucleation and crystallisation is still in its infancy. Despite the importance of ice formation in determining the properties of clouds, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was unable to assess the impact of atmospheric ice formation in their most recent report, because our basic knowledge is insufficient. In this proposal plans are described to establish a laboratory dedicated to improving our fundamental understanding of ice nucleation and crystallisation. It is proposed to develop a series of laboratory experiments designed to quantify atmospherically relevant processes at a fundamental level. In work package 1 the role of glassy solids and ultra-viscous liquids in cloud formation will be investigated; in work package 2 the rate at which various mineral dusts nucleate ice in the immersion mode will be quantified; the phase of ice that deposits onto frozen solution droplets or heterogeneous ice nuclei will be determined in work package 3; and in work package 4 the laboratory data from work packages 1-3 will be used to constrain ice nucleation in numerical clouds models in order to assess radiative forcings. The instrumentation and modelling experience gained in this five year project will provide a lasting legacy and open doors to new research areas in the future. As an international hub of atmospheric and climate science, the University of Leeds is a unique and ideal institute in which to bridge the gap between fundamental studies and the cloud/climate modelling community.
Project acronym KARSD
Project Ar/Ar and K/Ar geochronology by stepwise dissolution
Researcher (PI) Pieter Vermeesch
Summary Isotopic closure is typically considered to be governed by temperature controlled volume diffusion. However, theoretical considerations as well as experimental evidence suggest that fluid-induced metamorphic recrystallisation may be orders of magnitude more important than thermal diffusion in many if not most field settings. This simple concept may explain the irregular release spectra observed in many stepwise heating experiments. The proposed research will develop a radically new approach to argon geochronology, inspired by a technological breakthrough which occurred in U-Pb geochronology in the mid-1990s. At that time, it was found that the discordance of zircons suffering from common Pb or apparent Pb-loss is greatly reduced by stepwise dissolution in hydrofluoric acid. Acid etching may be equally effective at removing compositionally distinct zones in other minerals as well. In fact, several workers successfully removed excess argon from plagioclase and K-feldspar by partially dissolving them in acid during the 1980s. The proposed research will revisit and extend these earlier experiments. The idea is to subject several aliquots of a well-characterised mineral separate to different degrees of dissolution. Plotting the 40Ar/39Ar ages of these aliquots against their respective degrees of dissolution will yield an age spectrum just like those obtained by stepwise heating experiments. Alternatively, by measuring the Ar content in absolute abundance units and determining the K-content of the acid, an age spectrum can be obtained without the need for neutron irradiation. Thus, the stepwise dissolution technique has the potential to revive conventional K-Ar geochronology and solve the problems of excess argon and non-Arrhenian diffusion behaviour that have plagued the 40Ar/39Ar community for decades.
Isotopic closure is typically considered to be governed by temperature controlled volume diffusion. However, theoretical considerations as well as experimental evidence suggest that fluid-induced metamorphic recrystallisation may be orders of magnitude more important than thermal diffusion in many if not most field settings. This simple concept may explain the irregular release spectra observed in many stepwise heating experiments. The proposed research will develop a radically new approach to argon geochronology, inspired by a technological breakthrough which occurred in U-Pb geochronology in the mid-1990s. At that time, it was found that the discordance of zircons suffering from common Pb or apparent Pb-loss is greatly reduced by stepwise dissolution in hydrofluoric acid. Acid etching may be equally effective at removing compositionally distinct zones in other minerals as well. In fact, several workers successfully removed excess argon from plagioclase and K-feldspar by partially dissolving them in acid during the 1980s. The proposed research will revisit and extend these earlier experiments. The idea is to subject several aliquots of a well-characterised mineral separate to different degrees of dissolution. Plotting the 40Ar/39Ar ages of these aliquots against their respective degrees of dissolution will yield an age spectrum just like those obtained by stepwise heating experiments. Alternatively, by measuring the Ar content in absolute abundance units and determining the K-content of the acid, an age spectrum can be obtained without the need for neutron irradiation. Thus, the stepwise dissolution technique has the potential to revive conventional K-Ar geochronology and solve the problems of excess argon and non-Arrhenian diffusion behaviour that have plagued the 40Ar/39Ar community for decades.
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Project acronym 3DSPIN
Project 3-Dimensional Maps of the Spinning Nucleon
Researcher (PI) Alessandro Bacchetta
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PAVIA
Summary How does the inside of the proton look like? What generates its spin?
3DSPIN will deliver essential information to answer these questions at the frontier of subnuclear physics. At present, we have detailed maps of the distribution of quarks and gluons in the nucleon in 1D (as a function of their momentum in a single direction). We also know that quark spins account for only about 1/3 of the spin of the nucleon. 3DSPIN will lead the way into a new stage of nucleon mapping, explore the distribution of quarks in full 3D momentum space and obtain unprecedented information on orbital angular momentum. Goals 1. extract from experimental data the 3D distribution of quarks (in momentum space), as described by Transverse-Momentum Distributions (TMDs); 2. obtain from TMDs information on quark Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM). Methodology 3DSPIN will implement state-of-the-art fitting procedures to analyze relevant experimental data and extract quark TMDs, similarly to global fits of standard parton distribution functions. Information about quark angular momentum will be obtained through assumptions based on theoretical considerations. The next five years represent an ideal time window to accomplish our goals, thanks to the wealth of expected data from deep-inelastic scattering experiments (COMPASS, Jefferson Lab), hadronic colliders (Fermilab, BNL, LHC), and electron-positron colliders (BELLE, BABAR). The PI has a strong reputation in this field. The group will operate in partnership with the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics and in close interaction with leading experts and experimental collaborations worldwide. Impact Mapping the 3D structure of chemical compounds has revolutionized chemistry. Similarly, mapping the 3D structure of the nucleon will have a deep impact on our understanding of the fundamental constituents of matter. We will open new perspectives on the dynamics of quarks and gluons and sharpen our view of high-energy processes involving nucleons.
How does the inside of the proton look like? What generates its spin?
3DSPIN will deliver essential information to answer these questions at the frontier of subnuclear physics. At present, we have detailed maps of the distribution of quarks and gluons in the nucleon in 1D (as a function of their momentum in a single direction). We also know that quark spins account for only about 1/3 of the spin of the nucleon. 3DSPIN will lead the way into a new stage of nucleon mapping, explore the distribution of quarks in full 3D momentum space and obtain unprecedented information on orbital angular momentum. Goals 1. extract from experimental data the 3D distribution of quarks (in momentum space), as described by Transverse-Momentum Distributions (TMDs); 2. obtain from TMDs information on quark Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM). Methodology 3DSPIN will implement state-of-the-art fitting procedures to analyze relevant experimental data and extract quark TMDs, similarly to global fits of standard parton distribution functions. Information about quark angular momentum will be obtained through assumptions based on theoretical considerations. The next five years represent an ideal time window to accomplish our goals, thanks to the wealth of expected data from deep-inelastic scattering experiments (COMPASS, Jefferson Lab), hadronic colliders (Fermilab, BNL, LHC), and electron-positron colliders (BELLE, BABAR). The PI has a strong reputation in this field. The group will operate in partnership with the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics and in close interaction with leading experts and experimental collaborations worldwide. Impact Mapping the 3D structure of chemical compounds has revolutionized chemistry. Similarly, mapping the 3D structure of the nucleon will have a deep impact on our understanding of the fundamental constituents of matter. We will open new perspectives on the dynamics of quarks and gluons and sharpen our view of high-energy processes involving nucleons.
Project acronym 4DPHOTON
Project Beyond Light Imaging: High-Rate Single-Photon Detection in Four Dimensions
Researcher (PI) Massimiliano FIORINI
Host Institution (HI) ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI FISICA NUCLEARE
Summary Goal of the 4DPHOTON project is the development and construction of a photon imaging detector with unprecedented performance. The proposed device will be capable of detecting fluxes of single-photons up to one billion photons per second, over areas of several square centimetres, and will measure - for each photon - position and time simultaneously with resolutions better than ten microns and few tens of picoseconds, respectively. These figures of merit will open many important applications allowing significant advances in particle physics, life sciences or other emerging fields where excellent timing and position resolutions are simultaneously required. Our goal will be achieved thanks to the use of an application-specific integrated circuit in 65 nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, that will deliver a timing resolution of few tens of picoseconds at the pixel level, over few hundred thousand individually-active pixel channels, allowing very high rates of photons to be detected, and the corresponding information digitized and transferred to a processing unit. As a result of the 4DPHOTON project we will remove the constraints that many light imaging applications have due to the lack of precise single-photon information on four dimensions (4D): the three spatial coordinates and time simultaneously. In particular, we will prove the performance of this detector in the field of particle physics, performing the reconstruction of Cherenkov photon rings with a timing resolution of ten picoseconds. With its excellent granularity, timing resolution, rate capability and compactness, this detector will represent a new paradigm for the realisation of future Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors, capable of achieving high efficiency particle identification in environments with very high particle multiplicities, exploiting time-association of the photon hits.
Goal of the 4DPHOTON project is the development and construction of a photon imaging detector with unprecedented performance. The proposed device will be capable of detecting fluxes of single-photons up to one billion photons per second, over areas of several square centimetres, and will measure - for each photon - position and time simultaneously with resolutions better than ten microns and few tens of picoseconds, respectively. These figures of merit will open many important applications allowing significant advances in particle physics, life sciences or other emerging fields where excellent timing and position resolutions are simultaneously required. Our goal will be achieved thanks to the use of an application-specific integrated circuit in 65 nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, that will deliver a timing resolution of few tens of picoseconds at the pixel level, over few hundred thousand individually-active pixel channels, allowing very high rates of photons to be detected, and the corresponding information digitized and transferred to a processing unit. As a result of the 4DPHOTON project we will remove the constraints that many light imaging applications have due to the lack of precise single-photon information on four dimensions (4D): the three spatial coordinates and time simultaneously. In particular, we will prove the performance of this detector in the field of particle physics, performing the reconstruction of Cherenkov photon rings with a timing resolution of ten picoseconds. With its excellent granularity, timing resolution, rate capability and compactness, this detector will represent a new paradigm for the realisation of future Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors, capable of achieving high efficiency particle identification in environments with very high particle multiplicities, exploiting time-association of the photon hits.
Project acronym ArtEmpire
Project An ARTery of EMPIRE. Conquest, Commerce, Crisis, Culture and the Panamanian Junction (1513-1671)
Researcher (PI) Bethany Aram Worzella
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD PABLO DE OLAVIDE
Summary European incursions onto the narrow isthmian pass that divided and connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans made it a strategic node of the Spanish Empire and a crucial site for early modern globalization. On the front lines of the convergence of four continents, Old Panama offers an unusual opportunity for examining the diverse, often asymmetrical impacts of cultural and commercial contacts. The role of Italian, Portuguese, British, Dutch, and French interests in the area, as well as an influx of African slaves and Asian merchandise, have left a unique material legacy that requires an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to its varied sources. Bones, teeth and artifacts on this artery of Empire offer the possibility of new insights into the cultural and biological impact of early globalization. They also invite an interdisciplinary approach to different groups’ tactics for survival, including possible dietary changes, and the pursuit of profit. Such strategies may have led the diverse peoples inhabiting this junction, from indigenous allies to African and Asian bandits to European corsairs, to develop and to favor local production and Pacific trade networks at the expense of commerce with the metropolis. This project applies historical, archaeological and archaeometric methodologies to evidence of encounters between peoples and goods from Europe, America, Africa and Asia that took place on the Isthmus of Panama during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Forging an interdisciplinary approach to early globalization, it challenges both Euro-centric and Hispano-phobic interpretations of the impact of the conquest of America, traditionally seen as a demographic catastrophe that reached its nadir in the so-called seventeenth-century crisis. Rather than applying quantitative methods to incomplete source material, researchers will adopt a contextualized, inter-disciplinary, qualitative approach to diverse agents involved in cultural and commercial exchange.
European incursions onto the narrow isthmian pass that divided and connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans made it a strategic node of the Spanish Empire and a crucial site for early modern globalization. On the front lines of the convergence of four continents, Old Panama offers an unusual opportunity for examining the diverse, often asymmetrical impacts of cultural and commercial contacts. The role of Italian, Portuguese, British, Dutch, and French interests in the area, as well as an influx of African slaves and Asian merchandise, have left a unique material legacy that requires an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to its varied sources. Bones, teeth and artifacts on this artery of Empire offer the possibility of new insights into the cultural and biological impact of early globalization. They also invite an interdisciplinary approach to different groups’ tactics for survival, including possible dietary changes, and the pursuit of profit. Such strategies may have led the diverse peoples inhabiting this junction, from indigenous allies to African and Asian bandits to European corsairs, to develop and to favor local production and Pacific trade networks at the expense of commerce with the metropolis. This project applies historical, archaeological and archaeometric methodologies to evidence of encounters between peoples and goods from Europe, America, Africa and Asia that took place on the Isthmus of Panama during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Forging an interdisciplinary approach to early globalization, it challenges both Euro-centric and Hispano-phobic interpretations of the impact of the conquest of America, traditionally seen as a demographic catastrophe that reached its nadir in the so-called seventeenth-century crisis. Rather than applying quantitative methods to incomplete source material, researchers will adopt a contextualized, inter-disciplinary, qualitative approach to diverse agents involved in cultural and commercial exchange.
Project acronym AUTAR
Project A Unified Theory of Algorithmic Relaxations
Researcher (PI) Albert Atserias Peri
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA
Summary For a large family of computational problems collectively known as constrained optimization and satisfaction problems (CSPs), four decades of research in algorithms and computational complexity have led to a theory that tries to classify them as algorithmically tractable vs. intractable, i.e. polynomial-time solvable vs. NP-hard. However, there remains an important gap in our knowledge in that many CSPs of interest resist classification by this theory. Some such problems of practical relevance include fundamental partition problems in graph theory, isomorphism problems in combinatorics, and strategy-design problems in mathematical game theory. To tackle this gap in our knowledge, the research of the last decade has been driven either by finding hard instances for algorithms that solve tighter and tighter relaxations of the original problem, or by formulating new hardness-hypotheses that are stronger but admittedly less robust than NP-hardness. The ultimate goal of this project is closing the gap between the partial progress that these approaches represent and the original classification project into tractable vs. intractable problems. Our thesis is that the field has reached a point where, in many cases of interest, the analysis of the current candidate algorithms that appear to solve all instances could suffice to classify the problem one way or the other, without the need for alternative hardness-hypotheses. The novelty in our approach is a program to develop our recent discovery that, in some cases of interest, two methods from different areas match in strength: indistinguishability pebble games from mathematical logic, and hierarchies of convex relaxations from mathematical programming. Thus, we aim at making significant advances in the status of important algorithmic problems by looking for a general theory that unifies and goes beyond the current understanding of its components.
For a large family of computational problems collectively known as constrained optimization and satisfaction problems (CSPs), four decades of research in algorithms and computational complexity have led to a theory that tries to classify them as algorithmically tractable vs. intractable, i.e. polynomial-time solvable vs. NP-hard. However, there remains an important gap in our knowledge in that many CSPs of interest resist classification by this theory. Some such problems of practical relevance include fundamental partition problems in graph theory, isomorphism problems in combinatorics, and strategy-design problems in mathematical game theory. To tackle this gap in our knowledge, the research of the last decade has been driven either by finding hard instances for algorithms that solve tighter and tighter relaxations of the original problem, or by formulating new hardness-hypotheses that are stronger but admittedly less robust than NP-hardness. The ultimate goal of this project is closing the gap between the partial progress that these approaches represent and the original classification project into tractable vs. intractable problems. Our thesis is that the field has reached a point where, in many cases of interest, the analysis of the current candidate algorithms that appear to solve all instances could suffice to classify the problem one way or the other, without the need for alternative hardness-hypotheses. The novelty in our approach is a program to develop our recent discovery that, in some cases of interest, two methods from different areas match in strength: indistinguishability pebble games from mathematical logic, and hierarchies of convex relaxations from mathematical programming. Thus, we aim at making significant advances in the status of important algorithmic problems by looking for a general theory that unifies and goes beyond the current understanding of its components.
Project acronym B Massive
Project Binary massive black hole astrophysics
Researcher (PI) Alberto SESANA
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO-BICOCCA
Summary Massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) are the most extreme, fascinating yet elusive astrophysical objects in the Universe. Establishing observationally their existence will be a milestone for contemporary astronomy, providing a fundamental missing piece in the puzzle of galaxy formation, piercing through the (hydro)dynamical physical processes shaping dense galactic nuclei from parsec scales down to the event horizon, and probing gravity in extreme conditions. We can both see and listen to MBHBs. Remarkably, besides arguably being among the brightest variable objects shining in the Cosmos, MBHBs are also the loudest gravitational wave (GW) sources in the Universe. As such, we shall take advantage of both the type of messengers – photons and gravitons – they are sending to us, which can now be probed by all-sky time-domain surveys and radio pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) respectively. B MASSIVE leverages on a unique comprehensive approach combining theoretical astrophysics, radio and gravitational-wave astronomy and time-domain surveys, with state of the art data analysis techniques to: i) observationally prove the existence of MBHBs, ii) understand and constrain their astrophysics and dynamics, iii) enable and bring closer in time the direct detection of GWs with PTA. As European PTA (EPTA) executive committee member and former I International PTA (IPTA) chair, I am a driving force in the development of pulsar timing science world-wide, and the project will build on the profound knowledge, broad vision and wide collaboration network that established me as a world leader in the field of MBHB and GW astrophysics. B MASSIVE is extremely timely; a pulsar timing data set of unprecedented quality is being assembled by EPTA/IPTA, and Time-Domain astronomy surveys are at their dawn. In the long term, B MASSIVE will be a fundamental milestone establishing European leadership in the cutting-edge field of MBHB astrophysics in the era of LSST, SKA and LISA.
Massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) are the most extreme, fascinating yet elusive astrophysical objects in the Universe. Establishing observationally their existence will be a milestone for contemporary astronomy, providing a fundamental missing piece in the puzzle of galaxy formation, piercing through the (hydro)dynamical physical processes shaping dense galactic nuclei from parsec scales down to the event horizon, and probing gravity in extreme conditions. We can both see and listen to MBHBs. Remarkably, besides arguably being among the brightest variable objects shining in the Cosmos, MBHBs are also the loudest gravitational wave (GW) sources in the Universe. As such, we shall take advantage of both the type of messengers – photons and gravitons – they are sending to us, which can now be probed by all-sky time-domain surveys and radio pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) respectively. B MASSIVE leverages on a unique comprehensive approach combining theoretical astrophysics, radio and gravitational-wave astronomy and time-domain surveys, with state of the art data analysis techniques to: i) observationally prove the existence of MBHBs, ii) understand and constrain their astrophysics and dynamics, iii) enable and bring closer in time the direct detection of GWs with PTA. As European PTA (EPTA) executive committee member and former I International PTA (IPTA) chair, I am a driving force in the development of pulsar timing science world-wide, and the project will build on the profound knowledge, broad vision and wide collaboration network that established me as a world leader in the field of MBHB and GW astrophysics. B MASSIVE is extremely timely; a pulsar timing data set of unprecedented quality is being assembled by EPTA/IPTA, and Time-Domain astronomy surveys are at their dawn. In the long term, B MASSIVE will be a fundamental milestone establishing European leadership in the cutting-edge field of MBHB astrophysics in the era of LSST, SKA and LISA.
Project acronym bECOMiNG
Project spontaneous Evolution and Clonal heterOgeneity in MoNoclonal Gammopathies: from mechanisms of progression to clinical management
Researcher (PI) Niccolo Bolli
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO
Summary As an onco-hematologist with a strong expertise in genomics, I significantly contributed to the understanding of multiple myeloma (MM) heterogeneity and its evolution over time, driven by genotypic and phenotypic features carried by different subpopulations of cells. MM is preceded by prevalent, asymptomatic stages that may evolve with variable frequency, not accurately captured by current clinical prognostic scores. Supported by preliminary data, my hypothesis is that the same heterogeneity is present early on the disease course, and identification of the biological determinants of evolution at this stage will allow better prediction of its evolutionary trajectory, if not its control. In this proposal I will therefore make a sharp change from conventional approaches and move to early stages of MM using unique retrospective sample cohorts and ambitious prospective sampling. To identify clonal MM cells in the elderly before a monoclonal gammopathy can be detected, I will collect bone marrow (BM) from hundreds of hip replacement specimens, and analyze archive peripheral blood samples of thousands of healthy individuals with years of annotated clinical follow-up. This will identify early genomic alterations that are permissive to disease initiation/evolution and may serve as biomarkers for clinical screening. Through innovative, integrated single-cell genotyping and phenotyping of hundreds of asymptomatic MMs, I will functionally dissect heterogeneity and characterize the BM microenvironment to look for determinants of disease progression. Correlation with clinical outcome and mini-invasive serial sampling of circulating cell-free DNA will identify candidate biological markers to better predict evolution. Last, aggressive modelling of candidate early lesions and modifier screens will offer a list of vulnerabilities that could be exploited for rationale therapies. These methodologies will deliver a paradigm for the use of molecularly-driven precision medicine in cancer.
As an onco-hematologist with a strong expertise in genomics, I significantly contributed to the understanding of multiple myeloma (MM) heterogeneity and its evolution over time, driven by genotypic and phenotypic features carried by different subpopulations of cells. MM is preceded by prevalent, asymptomatic stages that may evolve with variable frequency, not accurately captured by current clinical prognostic scores. Supported by preliminary data, my hypothesis is that the same heterogeneity is present early on the disease course, and identification of the biological determinants of evolution at this stage will allow better prediction of its evolutionary trajectory, if not its control. In this proposal I will therefore make a sharp change from conventional approaches and move to early stages of MM using unique retrospective sample cohorts and ambitious prospective sampling. To identify clonal MM cells in the elderly before a monoclonal gammopathy can be detected, I will collect bone marrow (BM) from hundreds of hip replacement specimens, and analyze archive peripheral blood samples of thousands of healthy individuals with years of annotated clinical follow-up. This will identify early genomic alterations that are permissive to disease initiation/evolution and may serve as biomarkers for clinical screening. Through innovative, integrated single-cell genotyping and phenotyping of hundreds of asymptomatic MMs, I will functionally dissect heterogeneity and characterize the BM microenvironment to look for determinants of disease progression. Correlation with clinical outcome and mini-invasive serial sampling of circulating cell-free DNA will identify candidate biological markers to better predict evolution. Last, aggressive modelling of candidate early lesions and modifier screens will offer a list of vulnerabilities that could be exploited for rationale therapies. These methodologies will deliver a paradigm for the use of molecularly-driven precision medicine in cancer.
Project acronym BIODESERT
Project Biological feedbacks and ecosystem resilience under global change: a new perspective on dryland desertification
Researcher (PI) Fernando Tomás Maestre Gil
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD DE ALICANTE
Summary Changes in climate and land use (e.g., increased grazing pressure), are two main global change components that also act as major desertification drivers. Understanding how drylands will respond to these drivers is crucial because they occupy 41% of the terrestrial surface and are home to over 38% of the world’s human population. Land degradation already affects ~250 million people in the developing world, which rely upon the provision of many ecosystem processes (multifunctionality). This proposal aims to develop a better understanding of the functioning and resilience of drylands (i.e. their ability to respond to and recover from disturbances) to major desertification drivers. Its objectives are to: 1) test how changes in climate and grazing pressure determine spatiotemporal patterns in multifunctionality in global drylands, 2) assess how biotic attributes (e.g., biodiversity, cover) modulate ecosystem resilience to climate change and grazing pressure at various spatial scales, 3) test and develop early warning indicators of desertification, and 4) forecast the onset of desertification and its ecological consequences under different climate and grazing scenarios. I will use various biotic communities/attributes, ecosystem services and spatial scales (from local to global), and will combine approaches from several disciplines. Such comprehensive and highly integrated research endeavor is novel and constitutes a ground breaking advance over current research efforts on desertification. This project will provide a mechanistic understanding on the processes driving multifunctionality under different global change scenarios, as well as key insights to forecast future scenarios for the provisioning of ecosystem services in drylands, and to test and develop early warning indicators of desertification. This is of major importance to attain global sustainability and key Millennium Development Goals, such as the eradication of poverty.
Changes in climate and land use (e.g., increased grazing pressure), are two main global change components that also act as major desertification drivers. Understanding how drylands will respond to these drivers is crucial because they occupy 41% of the terrestrial surface and are home to over 38% of the world’s human population. Land degradation already affects ~250 million people in the developing world, which rely upon the provision of many ecosystem processes (multifunctionality). This proposal aims to develop a better understanding of the functioning and resilience of drylands (i.e. their ability to respond to and recover from disturbances) to major desertification drivers. Its objectives are to: 1) test how changes in climate and grazing pressure determine spatiotemporal patterns in multifunctionality in global drylands, 2) assess how biotic attributes (e.g., biodiversity, cover) modulate ecosystem resilience to climate change and grazing pressure at various spatial scales, 3) test and develop early warning indicators of desertification, and 4) forecast the onset of desertification and its ecological consequences under different climate and grazing scenarios. I will use various biotic communities/attributes, ecosystem services and spatial scales (from local to global), and will combine approaches from several disciplines. Such comprehensive and highly integrated research endeavor is novel and constitutes a ground breaking advance over current research efforts on desertification. This project will provide a mechanistic understanding on the processes driving multifunctionality under different global change scenarios, as well as key insights to forecast future scenarios for the provisioning of ecosystem services in drylands, and to test and develop early warning indicators of desertification. This is of major importance to attain global sustainability and key Millennium Development Goals, such as the eradication of poverty.
Project acronym BIOINOHYB
Project Smart Bioinorganic Hybrids for Nanomedicine
Researcher (PI) Cristiana Di Valentin
Summary The use of bioinorganic nanohybrids (nanoscaled systems based on an inorganic and a biological component) has already resulted in several innovative medical breakthroughs for drug delivery, therapeutics, imaging, diagnosis and biocompatibility. However, researchers still know relatively little about the structure, function and mechanism of these nanodevices. Theoretical investigations of bioinorganic interfaces are mostly limited to force-field approaches which cannot grasp the details of the physicochemical mechanisms. The BIOINOHYB project proposes to capitalize on recent massively parallelized codes to investigate bioinorganic nanohybrids by advanced quantum chemical methods. This approach will allow to master the chemical and electronic interplay between the bio and the inorganic components in the first part of the project, and the interaction of the hybrid systems with light in the second part. The ultimate goal is to provide the design principles for novel, unconventional assemblies with unprecedented functionalities and strong impact potential in nanomedicine. More specifically, in this project the traditional metallic nanoparticle will be substituted by emerging semiconducting metal oxide nanostructures with photocatalytic or magnetic properties capable of opening totally new horizons in nanomedicine (e.g. photocatalytic therapy, a new class of contrast agents, magnetically guided drug delivery). Potentially efficient linkers will be screened regarding their ability both to anchor surfaces and to bind biomolecules. Different kinds of biomolecules (from oligopeptides and oligonucleotides to small drugs) will be tethered to the activated surface according to the desired functionality. The key computational challenge, requiring the recourse to more sophisticated methods, will be the investigation of the photo-response to light of the assembled bioinorganic systems, also with specific reference to their labelling with fluorescent markers and contrast agents.
The use of bioinorganic nanohybrids (nanoscaled systems based on an inorganic and a biological component) has already resulted in several innovative medical breakthroughs for drug delivery, therapeutics, imaging, diagnosis and biocompatibility. However, researchers still know relatively little about the structure, function and mechanism of these nanodevices. Theoretical investigations of bioinorganic interfaces are mostly limited to force-field approaches which cannot grasp the details of the physicochemical mechanisms. The BIOINOHYB project proposes to capitalize on recent massively parallelized codes to investigate bioinorganic nanohybrids by advanced quantum chemical methods. This approach will allow to master the chemical and electronic interplay between the bio and the inorganic components in the first part of the project, and the interaction of the hybrid systems with light in the second part. The ultimate goal is to provide the design principles for novel, unconventional assemblies with unprecedented functionalities and strong impact potential in nanomedicine. More specifically, in this project the traditional metallic nanoparticle will be substituted by emerging semiconducting metal oxide nanostructures with photocatalytic or magnetic properties capable of opening totally new horizons in nanomedicine (e.g. photocatalytic therapy, a new class of contrast agents, magnetically guided drug delivery). Potentially efficient linkers will be screened regarding their ability both to anchor surfaces and to bind biomolecules. Different kinds of biomolecules (from oligopeptides and oligonucleotides to small drugs) will be tethered to the activated surface according to the desired functionality. The key computational challenge, requiring the recourse to more sophisticated methods, will be the investigation of the photo-response to light of the assembled bioinorganic systems, also with specific reference to their labelling with fluorescent markers and contrast agents.
Project acronym BrightEyes
Project Multi-Parameter Live-Cell Observation of Biomolecular Processes with Single-Photon Detector Array
Researcher (PI) Giuseppe Vicidomini
Host Institution (HI) FONDAZIONE ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA
Summary Fluorescence single-molecule (SM) detection techniques have the potential to provide insights into the complex functions, structures and interactions of individual, specifically labelled biomolecules. However, current SM techniques work properly only when the biomolecule is observed in controlled environments, e.g., immobilized on a glass surface. Observation of biomolecular processes in living (multi)cellular environments – which is fundamental for sound biological conclusion – always comes with a price, such as invasiveness, limitations in the accessible information and constraints in the spatial and temporal scales. The overall objective of the BrightEyes project is to break the above limitations by creating a novel SM approach compatible with the state-of-the-art biomolecule-labelling protocols, able to track a biomolecule deep inside (multi)cellular environments – with temporal resolution in the microsecond scale, and with hundreds of micrometres tracking range – and simultaneously observe its structural changes, its nano- and micro-environments. Specifically, by exploring a novel single-photon detectors array, the BrightEyes project will implement an optical system, able to continuously (i) track in real-time the biomolecule of interest from which to decode its dynamics and interactions; (ii) measure the nano-environment fluorescence spectroscopy properties, such as lifetime, photon-pair correlation and intensity, from which to extract the biochemical properties of the nano-environment, the structural properties of the biomolecule – via SM-FRET and anti-bunching – and the interactions of the biomolecule with other biomolecular species – via STED-FCS; (iii) visualize the sub-cellular structures within the micro-environment with sub-diffraction spatial resolution – via STED and image scanning microscopy. This unique paradigm will enable unprecedented studies of biomolecular behaviours, interactions and self-organization at near-physiological conditions.
Fluorescence single-molecule (SM) detection techniques have the potential to provide insights into the complex functions, structures and interactions of individual, specifically labelled biomolecules. However, current SM techniques work properly only when the biomolecule is observed in controlled environments, e.g., immobilized on a glass surface. Observation of biomolecular processes in living (multi)cellular environments – which is fundamental for sound biological conclusion – always comes with a price, such as invasiveness, limitations in the accessible information and constraints in the spatial and temporal scales. The overall objective of the BrightEyes project is to break the above limitations by creating a novel SM approach compatible with the state-of-the-art biomolecule-labelling protocols, able to track a biomolecule deep inside (multi)cellular environments – with temporal resolution in the microsecond scale, and with hundreds of micrometres tracking range – and simultaneously observe its structural changes, its nano- and micro-environments. Specifically, by exploring a novel single-photon detectors array, the BrightEyes project will implement an optical system, able to continuously (i) track in real-time the biomolecule of interest from which to decode its dynamics and interactions; (ii) measure the nano-environment fluorescence spectroscopy properties, such as lifetime, photon-pair correlation and intensity, from which to extract the biochemical properties of the nano-environment, the structural properties of the biomolecule – via SM-FRET and anti-bunching – and the interactions of the biomolecule with other biomolecular species – via STED-FCS; (iii) visualize the sub-cellular structures within the micro-environment with sub-diffraction spatial resolution – via STED and image scanning microscopy. This unique paradigm will enable unprecedented studies of biomolecular behaviours, interactions and self-organization at near-physiological conditions.
Project acronym CancerADAPT
Project Targeting the adaptive capacity of prostate cancer through the manipulation of transcriptional and metabolic traits
Researcher (PI) Arkaitz CARRACEDO PEREZ
Host Institution (HI) ASOCIACION CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION COOPERATIVA EN BIOCIENCIAS
Summary The composition and molecular features of tumours vary during the course of the disease, and the selection pressure imposed by the environment is a central component in this process. Evolutionary principles have been exploited to explain the genomic aberrations in cancer. However, the phenotypic changes underlying disease progression remain poorly understood. In the past years, I have contributed to identify and characterise the therapeutic implications underlying metabolic alterations that are intrinsic to primary tumours or metastasis. In CancerADAPT I postulate that cancer cells rely on adaptive transcriptional & metabolic mechanisms [converging on a Metabolic Phenotype] in order to rapidly succeed in their establishment in new microenvironments along disease progression. I aim to predict the molecular cues that govern the adaptive properties in prostate cancer (PCa), one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in men and an important source of cancer-related deaths. I will exploit single cell RNASeq, spatial transcriptomics and multiregional OMICs in order to identify the transcriptional and metabolic diversity within tumours and along disease progression. I will complement experimental strategies with computational analyses that identify and classify the predicted adaptation strategies of PCa cells in response to variations in the tumour microenvironment. Metabolic phenotypes postulated to sustain PCa adaptability will be functionally and mechanistically deconstructed. We will identify therapeutic strategies emanating from these results through in silico methodologies and small molecule high-throughput screening, and evaluate their potential to hamper the adaptability of tumour cells in vitro and in vivo, in two specific aspects: metastasis and therapy response. CancerADAPT will generate fundamental understanding on how cancer cells adapt in our organism, in turn leading to therapeutic strategies that increase the efficacy of current treatments.
The composition and molecular features of tumours vary during the course of the disease, and the selection pressure imposed by the environment is a central component in this process. Evolutionary principles have been exploited to explain the genomic aberrations in cancer. However, the phenotypic changes underlying disease progression remain poorly understood. In the past years, I have contributed to identify and characterise the therapeutic implications underlying metabolic alterations that are intrinsic to primary tumours or metastasis. In CancerADAPT I postulate that cancer cells rely on adaptive transcriptional & metabolic mechanisms [converging on a Metabolic Phenotype] in order to rapidly succeed in their establishment in new microenvironments along disease progression. I aim to predict the molecular cues that govern the adaptive properties in prostate cancer (PCa), one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in men and an important source of cancer-related deaths. I will exploit single cell RNASeq, spatial transcriptomics and multiregional OMICs in order to identify the transcriptional and metabolic diversity within tumours and along disease progression. I will complement experimental strategies with computational analyses that identify and classify the predicted adaptation strategies of PCa cells in response to variations in the tumour microenvironment. Metabolic phenotypes postulated to sustain PCa adaptability will be functionally and mechanistically deconstructed. We will identify therapeutic strategies emanating from these results through in silico methodologies and small molecule high-throughput screening, and evaluate their potential to hamper the adaptability of tumour cells in vitro and in vivo, in two specific aspects: metastasis and therapy response. CancerADAPT will generate fundamental understanding on how cancer cells adapt in our organism, in turn leading to therapeutic strategies that increase the efficacy of current treatments.
Project acronym COMIET
Project Engineering Complex Intestinal Epithelial Tissue Models
Researcher (PI) Elena Martínez Fraiz
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE BIOENGINYERIA DE CATALUNYA
Summary Epithelial barriers protect the body against physical, chemical, and microbial insults. Intestinal epithelium is one of the most actively renewing tissues in the body and a major site of carcinogenesis. Functional in vitro models of intestinal epithelium have been pursued for a long time. They are key elements in basic research, disease modelling, drug discovery, and tissue replacing and have become prime models for adult stem cell research. By taking advantage of the self-organizing properties of intestinal stem cells, intestinal organoids have been recently established, showing cell renewal’s kinetics resembling to the one found in vivo. However, the development of in vitro 3D tissue equivalents accounting for the dimensions, architecture and access to the luminal contents of the in vivo human intestinal tissue together with its self-renewal properties and cell complexity, remains a challenge. The goal of this project is to engineer intestinal epithelial tissue models that mimic physiological characteristics found in in vivo human intestinal tissue, to open up new areas of research on human intestinal diseases. The proposed models will address the in vivo intestinal epithelial cell renewal and migration, the multicell-type differentiation and the epithelial cell interactions with the underlying basement membrane while providing access to the luminal content to go beyond the state-of-the-art organoid models. To do this, we propose to develop an experimental setup that combines microfabrication techniques, tissue engineering components and recent advances in intestinal stem cell research, exploiting stem cell self-organizing characteristics. We anticipate this setup to recapitulate the 3D morphology, the spatio-chemical gradients and the dynamic microenvironment of the living tissue. We expect the new device to prove useful in understanding cell physiology, adult stem cell behaviour, and organ development as well as in modelling human intestinal diseases.
Epithelial barriers protect the body against physical, chemical, and microbial insults. Intestinal epithelium is one of the most actively renewing tissues in the body and a major site of carcinogenesis. Functional in vitro models of intestinal epithelium have been pursued for a long time. They are key elements in basic research, disease modelling, drug discovery, and tissue replacing and have become prime models for adult stem cell research. By taking advantage of the self-organizing properties of intestinal stem cells, intestinal organoids have been recently established, showing cell renewal’s kinetics resembling to the one found in vivo. However, the development of in vitro 3D tissue equivalents accounting for the dimensions, architecture and access to the luminal contents of the in vivo human intestinal tissue together with its self-renewal properties and cell complexity, remains a challenge. The goal of this project is to engineer intestinal epithelial tissue models that mimic physiological characteristics found in in vivo human intestinal tissue, to open up new areas of research on human intestinal diseases. The proposed models will address the in vivo intestinal epithelial cell renewal and migration, the multicell-type differentiation and the epithelial cell interactions with the underlying basement membrane while providing access to the luminal content to go beyond the state-of-the-art organoid models. To do this, we propose to develop an experimental setup that combines microfabrication techniques, tissue engineering components and recent advances in intestinal stem cell research, exploiting stem cell self-organizing characteristics. We anticipate this setup to recapitulate the 3D morphology, the spatio-chemical gradients and the dynamic microenvironment of the living tissue. We expect the new device to prove useful in understanding cell physiology, adult stem cell behaviour, and organ development as well as in modelling human intestinal diseases.
Project acronym CONCERT
Project Description of information transfer across macromolecules by concerted conformational changes
Researcher (PI) Xavier Salvatella Giralt
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE RECERCA BIOMEDICA (IRB BARCELONA)
Summary Signal transduction in biology relies on the transfer of information across biomolecules by concerted conformational changes that cannot currently be characterized experimentally at high resolution. In CONCERT we will develop a method based on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in solution that will provide very detailed descriptions of such changes by using the information about structural heterogeneity contained in a parameter that is exquisitely sensitive to molecular shape called residual dipolar coupling measured in steric alignment. To show how this new method will allow the study of information transfer we will determine conformational ensembles that will report on the intra and inter-domain concerted conformational changes that activate the androgen receptor, a large allosteric multi-domain protein that regulates the male phenotype and is a therapeutic target for castration resistant prostate cancer, the condition suffered by prostate cancer patients that have become refractory to hormone therapy, the first line of treatment for this disease. To complement the structural information obtained by nuclear magnetic resonance and, especially, measure the rate of information transfer across the androgen receptor we will carry out in a collaborative fashion high precision single molecule Förster resonance energy transfer and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy experiments on AR constructs labelled with fluorescent dyes. In summary we will develop a method that will make it possible to describe some of the most fascinating biological phenomena, such as allostery and signal transduction, and will, in the long term, be an instrument for the discovery of drugs to treat castration resistant prostate cancer, a late stage of prostate cancer that is incurable and kills ca. 70.000 European men every year.
Signal transduction in biology relies on the transfer of information across biomolecules by concerted conformational changes that cannot currently be characterized experimentally at high resolution. In CONCERT we will develop a method based on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in solution that will provide very detailed descriptions of such changes by using the information about structural heterogeneity contained in a parameter that is exquisitely sensitive to molecular shape called residual dipolar coupling measured in steric alignment. To show how this new method will allow the study of information transfer we will determine conformational ensembles that will report on the intra and inter-domain concerted conformational changes that activate the androgen receptor, a large allosteric multi-domain protein that regulates the male phenotype and is a therapeutic target for castration resistant prostate cancer, the condition suffered by prostate cancer patients that have become refractory to hormone therapy, the first line of treatment for this disease. To complement the structural information obtained by nuclear magnetic resonance and, especially, measure the rate of information transfer across the androgen receptor we will carry out in a collaborative fashion high precision single molecule Förster resonance energy transfer and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy experiments on AR constructs labelled with fluorescent dyes. In summary we will develop a method that will make it possible to describe some of the most fascinating biological phenomena, such as allostery and signal transduction, and will, in the long term, be an instrument for the discovery of drugs to treat castration resistant prostate cancer, a late stage of prostate cancer that is incurable and kills ca. 70.000 European men every year.
Project acronym CWASI
Project Coping with water scarcity in a globalized world
Researcher (PI) Francesco Laio
Host Institution (HI) POLITECNICO DI TORINO
Summary We intend to set up a new globalized perspective to tackle water and food security in the 21st century. This issue is intrinsically global as the international trade of massive amounts of food makes societies less reliant on locally available water, and entails large-scale transfers of virtual water (defined as the water needed to produce a given amount of a food commodity). The network of virtual water trade connects a large portion of the global population, with 2800 km3 of virtual water moved around the globe in a year. We provide here definitive indications on the effects of the globalization of (virtual) water on the vulnerability to a water crisis of the global water system. More specifically, we formulate the following research hypotheses: 1) The globalization of (virtual) water resources is a short-term solution to malnourishment, famine, and conflicts, but it also has relevant negative implications for human societies. 2) The virtual water dynamics provide the suitable framework in order to quantitatively relate water-crises occurrence to environmental and socio-economic factors. 3) The risk of catastrophic, global-scale, water crises will increase in the next decades. To test these hypotheses, we will capitalize on the tremendous amount of information embedded in nearly 50 years of available food and virtual water trade data. We will adopt an innovative research approach based on the use of: advanced statistical tools for data verification and uncertainty modeling; methods borrowed from the complex network theory, aimed at analyzing the propagation of failures through the network; multivariate nonlinear analyses, to reproduce the dependence of virtual water on time and on external drivers; multi-state stochastic modeling, to study the effect on the global water system of random fluctuations of the external drivers; and scenario analysis, to predict the future probability of occurrence of water crises.
We intend to set up a new globalized perspective to tackle water and food security in the 21st century. This issue is intrinsically global as the international trade of massive amounts of food makes societies less reliant on locally available water, and entails large-scale transfers of virtual water (defined as the water needed to produce a given amount of a food commodity). The network of virtual water trade connects a large portion of the global population, with 2800 km3 of virtual water moved around the globe in a year. We provide here definitive indications on the effects of the globalization of (virtual) water on the vulnerability to a water crisis of the global water system. More specifically, we formulate the following research hypotheses: 1) The globalization of (virtual) water resources is a short-term solution to malnourishment, famine, and conflicts, but it also has relevant negative implications for human societies. 2) The virtual water dynamics provide the suitable framework in order to quantitatively relate water-crises occurrence to environmental and socio-economic factors. 3) The risk of catastrophic, global-scale, water crises will increase in the next decades. To test these hypotheses, we will capitalize on the tremendous amount of information embedded in nearly 50 years of available food and virtual water trade data. We will adopt an innovative research approach based on the use of: advanced statistical tools for data verification and uncertainty modeling; methods borrowed from the complex network theory, aimed at analyzing the propagation of failures through the network; multivariate nonlinear analyses, to reproduce the dependence of virtual water on time and on external drivers; multi-state stochastic modeling, to study the effect on the global water system of random fluctuations of the external drivers; and scenario analysis, to predict the future probability of occurrence of water crises.
Project acronym DECRESIM
Project A Chemical Approach to Molecular Spin Qubits: Decoherence and Organisation of Rare Earth Single Ion Magnets
Researcher (PI) Alejandro Gaita Ariño
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT DE VALENCIA
Summary "Coordination Chemistry and Molecular Magnetism are in an ideal position for the rational design of Single-Molecule Magnets which can be used as molecular spin qubits, the irreducible components of any quantum technology. Indeed, a major advantage of molecular spin qubits over other candidates stems from the power of Chemistry for a tailored and inexpensive synthesis of systems for their experimental study. In particular, the so-called Lanthanoid-based Single-Ion Magnets, which are currently the hottest topic in Molecular Magnetism, have the potential to be chemically designed, tuning both their single-molecule properties and their crystalline environment. This will allow the independent study of the different quantum processes that cause the loss of quantum information, collectively known as decoherence. The study of quantum decoherence processes in the solid state is necessary both to lay the foundations for next-generation quantum technologies and to answer some fundamental questions. The goals of this project are: #1 To unravel the mechanistic details of decoherence in molecular spin qubits based on mononuclear lanthanoid complexes. This study will stablish criteria for the rational design of single spin qubits. #2 To extend this study to the coupling between two or more spin qubits. This will allow us to explore the use of polynuclear lanthanoid complexes to achieve quantum gates or simple algorithms. #3 To extrapolate to infinite systems formed by the complex organization of spin qubits. This exploratory goal will permit us to move beyond zero-dimensional systems, thus facilitating the advance towards complex quantum functions. "
"Coordination Chemistry and Molecular Magnetism are in an ideal position for the rational design of Single-Molecule Magnets which can be used as molecular spin qubits, the irreducible components of any quantum technology. Indeed, a major advantage of molecular spin qubits over other candidates stems from the power of Chemistry for a tailored and inexpensive synthesis of systems for their experimental study. In particular, the so-called Lanthanoid-based Single-Ion Magnets, which are currently the hottest topic in Molecular Magnetism, have the potential to be chemically designed, tuning both their single-molecule properties and their crystalline environment. This will allow the independent study of the different quantum processes that cause the loss of quantum information, collectively known as decoherence. The study of quantum decoherence processes in the solid state is necessary both to lay the foundations for next-generation quantum technologies and to answer some fundamental questions. The goals of this project are: #1 To unravel the mechanistic details of decoherence in molecular spin qubits based on mononuclear lanthanoid complexes. This study will stablish criteria for the rational design of single spin qubits. #2 To extend this study to the coupling between two or more spin qubits. This will allow us to explore the use of polynuclear lanthanoid complexes to achieve quantum gates or simple algorithms. #3 To extrapolate to infinite systems formed by the complex organization of spin qubits. This exploratory goal will permit us to move beyond zero-dimensional systems, thus facilitating the advance towards complex quantum functions. "
Project acronym DIAPASoN
Project Differential Program Semantics
Researcher (PI) Ugo DAL LAGO
Host Institution (HI) ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
Summary Traditionally, program semantics is centered around the notion of program identity, that is to say of program equivalence: a program is identified with its meaning, and programs are considered as equal only if their meanings are the same. This view has been extremely fruitful in the past, allowing for a deep understanding of highly interactive forms of computation as embodied by higher-order or concurrent programs. The byproducts of all this lie everywhere in computer science, from programming language design to verification methodologies. The emphasis on equality — as opposed to differences — is not however in line with the way programs are written and structured in modern complex software systems. Subtasks are delegated to pieces of code which behave as expected only up to a certain probability of error, and only if the environment in which they operate makes this possible deviation irrelevant. These aspects have been almost neglected by the program semantics community until recently, and still have a marginal role. DIAPASON's goal is to study differences between programs as a constitutive and informative concept, rather than by way of relations between them. This will be accomplished by generalizing four major frameworks of program semantics, traditionally used for giving semantics to programs, comparing them, proving properties of them, and controlling their usage of resources: logical relations, bisimulation, game semantics, and linear logic.
Traditionally, program semantics is centered around the notion of program identity, that is to say of program equivalence: a program is identified with its meaning, and programs are considered as equal only if their meanings are the same. This view has been extremely fruitful in the past, allowing for a deep understanding of highly interactive forms of computation as embodied by higher-order or concurrent programs. The byproducts of all this lie everywhere in computer science, from programming language design to verification methodologies. The emphasis on equality — as opposed to differences — is not however in line with the way programs are written and structured in modern complex software systems. Subtasks are delegated to pieces of code which behave as expected only up to a certain probability of error, and only if the environment in which they operate makes this possible deviation irrelevant. These aspects have been almost neglected by the program semantics community until recently, and still have a marginal role. DIAPASON's goal is to study differences between programs as a constitutive and informative concept, rather than by way of relations between them. This will be accomplished by generalizing four major frameworks of program semantics, traditionally used for giving semantics to programs, comparing them, proving properties of them, and controlling their usage of resources: logical relations, bisimulation, game semantics, and linear logic.
Project acronym DROSADAPTATION
Project New approaches to long-standing questions: adaptation in Drosophila
Researcher (PI) Josefa Gonzalez Perez
Host Institution (HI) AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Summary Understanding how organisms adapt to their environments is a long-standing problem in Biology with far-reaching implications: adaptation affects the ability of species to survive in changing environments, host-pathogen interactions, and resistance to pesticides and drugs. Despite recent progress, adaptation is to date a poorly understood process largely due to limitations of current approaches that focus (i) on a priori candidate genes, (ii) on signals of selection at the DNA level without functional validation of the identified candidates, and (iii) on small sets of adaptive mutations that do not represent the variability present in natural populations. As a result, major questions such as what is the relative importance of different types of mutations in adaptation?, and what is the importance of epigenetic changes in adaptive evolution?, remain largely unanswered. To gain a deep understanding of adaptation, we need to systematically identify adaptive mutations across space and time, pinpoint their molecular mechanisms and discover their fitness effects. To this end, Drosophila melanogaster has proven to be an ideal organism. Besides the battery of genetic tools and resources available, D. melanogaster has recently adapted to live in out of Africa environments. We and others have already shown that transposable elements (TEs) have substantially contributed to the adaptation of D. melanogaster to different environmental challenges. Here, we propose to use state-of-the-art techniques, such as Illumina TruSeq sequencing and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, to systematically identify and characterize in detail adaptive TE insertions in D. melanogaster natural populations. Only by moving from gathering anecdotic evidence to applying global approaches, we will be able to start constructing a quantitative and predictive theory of adaptation that will be relevant for other species as well.
Understanding how organisms adapt to their environments is a long-standing problem in Biology with far-reaching implications: adaptation affects the ability of species to survive in changing environments, host-pathogen interactions, and resistance to pesticides and drugs. Despite recent progress, adaptation is to date a poorly understood process largely due to limitations of current approaches that focus (i) on a priori candidate genes, (ii) on signals of selection at the DNA level without functional validation of the identified candidates, and (iii) on small sets of adaptive mutations that do not represent the variability present in natural populations. As a result, major questions such as what is the relative importance of different types of mutations in adaptation?, and what is the importance of epigenetic changes in adaptive evolution?, remain largely unanswered. To gain a deep understanding of adaptation, we need to systematically identify adaptive mutations across space and time, pinpoint their molecular mechanisms and discover their fitness effects. To this end, Drosophila melanogaster has proven to be an ideal organism. Besides the battery of genetic tools and resources available, D. melanogaster has recently adapted to live in out of Africa environments. We and others have already shown that transposable elements (TEs) have substantially contributed to the adaptation of D. melanogaster to different environmental challenges. Here, we propose to use state-of-the-art techniques, such as Illumina TruSeq sequencing and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, to systematically identify and characterize in detail adaptive TE insertions in D. melanogaster natural populations. Only by moving from gathering anecdotic evidence to applying global approaches, we will be able to start constructing a quantitative and predictive theory of adaptation that will be relevant for other species as well.
Project acronym ENFORCE
Project ENgineering FrustratiOn in aRtificial Colloidal icEs:degeneracy, exotic lattices and 3D states
Researcher (PI) pietro TIERNO
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA
Summary Geometric frustration, namely the impossibility of satisfying competing interactions on a lattice, has recently become a topic of considerable interest as it engenders emergent, fundamentally new phenomena and holds the exciting promise of delivering a new class of nanoscale devices based on the motion of magnetic charges. With ENFORCE, I propose to realize two and three dimensional artificial colloidal ices and investigate the fascinating manybody physics of geometric frustration in these mesoscopic structures. I will use these soft matter systems to engineer novel frustrated states through independent control of the single particle positions, lattice topology and collective magnetic coupling. The three project work packages (WPs) will present increasing levels of complexity, challenge and ambition: (i) In WP1, I will demonstrate a way to restore the residual entropy in the square ice, a fundamental longstanding problem in the field. Furthermore, I will miniaturize the square and the honeycomb geometries and investigate the dynamics of thermally excited topological defects and the formation of grain boundaries. (ii) In WP2, I will decimate both lattices and realize mixed coordination geometries, where the similarity between the colloidal and spin ice systems breaks down. I will then develop a novel annealing protocol based on the simultaneous system visualization and magnetic actuation control. (iii) In WP3, I will realize a three dimensional artificial colloidal ice, in which interacting ferromagnetic inclusions will be located in the voids of an inverse opal, and arranged to form the FCC or the pyrochlore lattices. External fields will be used to align, bias and stir these magnetic inclusions while monitoring in situ their orientation and dynamics via laser scanning confocal microscopy. ENFORCE will exploit the accessible time and length scales of the colloidal ice to shed new light on the exciting and interdisciplinary field of geometric frustration.
Geometric frustration, namely the impossibility of satisfying competing interactions on a lattice, has recently become a topic of considerable interest as it engenders emergent, fundamentally new phenomena and holds the exciting promise of delivering a new class of nanoscale devices based on the motion of magnetic charges. With ENFORCE, I propose to realize two and three dimensional artificial colloidal ices and investigate the fascinating manybody physics of geometric frustration in these mesoscopic structures. I will use these soft matter systems to engineer novel frustrated states through independent control of the single particle positions, lattice topology and collective magnetic coupling. The three project work packages (WPs) will present increasing levels of complexity, challenge and ambition: (i) In WP1, I will demonstrate a way to restore the residual entropy in the square ice, a fundamental longstanding problem in the field. Furthermore, I will miniaturize the square and the honeycomb geometries and investigate the dynamics of thermally excited topological defects and the formation of grain boundaries. (ii) In WP2, I will decimate both lattices and realize mixed coordination geometries, where the similarity between the colloidal and spin ice systems breaks down. I will then develop a novel annealing protocol based on the simultaneous system visualization and magnetic actuation control. (iii) In WP3, I will realize a three dimensional artificial colloidal ice, in which interacting ferromagnetic inclusions will be located in the voids of an inverse opal, and arranged to form the FCC or the pyrochlore lattices. External fields will be used to align, bias and stir these magnetic inclusions while monitoring in situ their orientation and dynamics via laser scanning confocal microscopy. ENFORCE will exploit the accessible time and length scales of the colloidal ice to shed new light on the exciting and interdisciplinary field of geometric frustration.
Project acronym ENSURE
Project Exploring the New Science and engineering unveiled by Ultraintense ultrashort Radiation interaction with mattEr
Researcher (PI) Matteo Passoni
Host Institution (HI) POLITECNICO DI MILANO
Summary With the ENSURE project I aim at attaining ground-breaking results in the field of superintense laser-driven ion acceleration, proposing a multidisciplinary research program in which theoretical, numerical and experimental research will be coherently developed in a team integrating in an unprecedented way advanced expertise from materials engineering and nanotechnology, laser-plasma physics, computational science. The aim will be to bring this topic from the realm of fundamental basic science into a subject having realistic engineering applications. The discovery in 2000 of brilliant, multi-MeV, collimated ion sources from targets irradiated by intense laser pulses stimulated great interest worldwide, due to the ultra-compact spatial scale of the accelerator and ion beam properties. The laser-target system provides unique appealing features to fundamental physics which can be studied in a small lab. At the same time, laser-ion beams could have future potential in many technological areas. This is boosting the development of new labs and facilities all over Europe, but to support these efforts, crucial challenges need to be faced to make these applications a reality. The goals of ENSURE are: i) design and production of nanoengineered targets, with properties tailored to achieve optimized ion acceleration regimes. This will be pursued exploiting advanced techniques of material science & nanotechnology ii) design of laser-ion beams for novel, key applications in nuclear and materials engineering iii) realization of engineering-oriented ion acceleration experiments, in advanced facilities iv) synergic development of all the required theoretical support for i,ii,iii). The results of the project can determine a unique impact in the research on laser-driven ion acceleration in Europe, providing new directions to support the attainment, in the next future, of concrete applications of great societal relevance, in medical, energy and materials areas.
With the ENSURE project I aim at attaining ground-breaking results in the field of superintense laser-driven ion acceleration, proposing a multidisciplinary research program in which theoretical, numerical and experimental research will be coherently developed in a team integrating in an unprecedented way advanced expertise from materials engineering and nanotechnology, laser-plasma physics, computational science. The aim will be to bring this topic from the realm of fundamental basic science into a subject having realistic engineering applications. The discovery in 2000 of brilliant, multi-MeV, collimated ion sources from targets irradiated by intense laser pulses stimulated great interest worldwide, due to the ultra-compact spatial scale of the accelerator and ion beam properties. The laser-target system provides unique appealing features to fundamental physics which can be studied in a small lab. At the same time, laser-ion beams could have future potential in many technological areas. This is boosting the development of new labs and facilities all over Europe, but to support these efforts, crucial challenges need to be faced to make these applications a reality. The goals of ENSURE are: i) design and production of nanoengineered targets, with properties tailored to achieve optimized ion acceleration regimes. This will be pursued exploiting advanced techniques of material science & nanotechnology ii) design of laser-ion beams for novel, key applications in nuclear and materials engineering iii) realization of engineering-oriented ion acceleration experiments, in advanced facilities iv) synergic development of all the required theoretical support for i,ii,iii). The results of the project can determine a unique impact in the research on laser-driven ion acceleration in Europe, providing new directions to support the attainment, in the next future, of concrete applications of great societal relevance, in medical, energy and materials areas.
Project acronym EXPLORINGMATTER
Project Exploring Matter with Precision Charm and Beauty Production Measurements in Heavy Nuclei Collisions at LHCb
Researcher (PI) Giulia Manca
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI CAGLIARI
Summary Collisions of ultra relativistic nuclei are a tool to reach huge energy densities and to form a new state of matter called Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), where quarks and gluons can move freely. A number of experiments have studied the possible formation of QGP, but the behaviour of heavy particles such as charm (c) and beauty (b) quarks when they traverse this medium is largely unknown and is the most powerful tool to prove the creation of the QGP and to characterise it. I will perform novel measurements using the LHCb detector at CERN, which covers an unique kinematic region, essential for a full understanding of QGP and nuclear matter in general. LHCb has been optimised to perform c and b quark physics measurements in proton-proton collisions. In EXPLORINGMATTER I propose to extend the LHCb programme to collect for the first time data in heavy ion collisions. Three experimental scenarios are foreseen: (1) Collisions of protons, benchmark to understand the behaviour of the c and b particles in other more complicated environments, as well as providing the final answers to the mechanism of heavy quarkonium production; (2) Collisions of protons with heavy nuclei, where cold nuclear matter effects in high-energy collisions can be studied in detail to understand lead nuclei collisions, where QGP is expected to be formed. (3) Collisions of heavy nuclei, pursued (a) by analysing heavy nuclei interactions through a dedicated setup in which gas will be injected in the LHCb interaction region, reaching energy densities typical of dedicated fixed target experiments; (b) by collecting heavy ion collision data at the LHC. This second setup, which has not been envisaged by LHCb up to now will revolutionise the measurements in this area thanks to the LHCb coverage and precision not achievable by any other experiment. My measurements will furthermore indicate the route to new experiments that could be designed on the basis of these findings.
Collisions of ultra relativistic nuclei are a tool to reach huge energy densities and to form a new state of matter called Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), where quarks and gluons can move freely. A number of experiments have studied the possible formation of QGP, but the behaviour of heavy particles such as charm (c) and beauty (b) quarks when they traverse this medium is largely unknown and is the most powerful tool to prove the creation of the QGP and to characterise it. I will perform novel measurements using the LHCb detector at CERN, which covers an unique kinematic region, essential for a full understanding of QGP and nuclear matter in general. LHCb has been optimised to perform c and b quark physics measurements in proton-proton collisions. In EXPLORINGMATTER I propose to extend the LHCb programme to collect for the first time data in heavy ion collisions. Three experimental scenarios are foreseen: (1) Collisions of protons, benchmark to understand the behaviour of the c and b particles in other more complicated environments, as well as providing the final answers to the mechanism of heavy quarkonium production; (2) Collisions of protons with heavy nuclei, where cold nuclear matter effects in high-energy collisions can be studied in detail to understand lead nuclei collisions, where QGP is expected to be formed. (3) Collisions of heavy nuclei, pursued (a) by analysing heavy nuclei interactions through a dedicated setup in which gas will be injected in the LHCb interaction region, reaching energy densities typical of dedicated fixed target experiments; (b) by collecting heavy ion collision data at the LHC. This second setup, which has not been envisaged by LHCb up to now will revolutionise the measurements in this area thanks to the LHCb coverage and precision not achievable by any other experiment. My measurements will furthermore indicate the route to new experiments that could be designed on the basis of these findings.
Project acronym FACETS
Project Face Aesthetics in Contemporary E-Technological Societies
Researcher (PI) Massimo LEONE
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO
Summary FACETS studies the meaning of the face in contemporary visual cultures. There are two complementary research foci: widespread practices of face exhibition in social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tinder; and minority practices of occultation, including the mask in anti-establishment political activism (e.g., Anonymous) and in anti-surveillance artistic provocation (e.g., Leonardo Selvaggio). Arguably, the meaning of the human face is currently changing on a global scale: through the invention and diffusion of new visual technologies (e.g., digital photography, visual filters, as well as software for automatic face recognition); through the creation and establishment of novel genres of face representation (e.g., the selfie); and through new approaches to face perception, reading, and memorization (e.g., the ‘scrolling’ of faces on Tinder). Cognitions, emotions, and actions that people attach to the interaction with one’s and others’ faces might soon be undergoing dramatic shifts. In FACETS, an interdisciplinary but focused approach combines visual history, semiotics, phenomenology, visual anthropology, but also face perception studies and collection, analysis, and social contextualization of big data, so as to study the cultural and technological causes of these changes and their effects in terms of alterations in self-perception and communicative interaction. In the tension between, on the one hand, political and economic agencies pressing for increasing disclosure, detection, and marketing of the human face (for reasons of security and control, for commercial or bureaucratic purposes) and, on the other hand, the counter-trends of face occultation (writers and artists like Banksy, Ferrante, Sia, or Christopher Sievey / Frank Sidebottom choosing not to reveal their faces), the visual syntax, the semantics, and the pragmatics of the human face are rapidly evolving. FACETS carries on an innovative, cross-disciplinary survey of this phenomenon.
FACETS studies the meaning of the face in contemporary visual cultures. There are two complementary research foci: widespread practices of face exhibition in social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tinder; and minority practices of occultation, including the mask in anti-establishment political activism (e.g., Anonymous) and in anti-surveillance artistic provocation (e.g., Leonardo Selvaggio). Arguably, the meaning of the human face is currently changing on a global scale: through the invention and diffusion of new visual technologies (e.g., digital photography, visual filters, as well as software for automatic face recognition); through the creation and establishment of novel genres of face representation (e.g., the selfie); and through new approaches to face perception, reading, and memorization (e.g., the ‘scrolling’ of faces on Tinder). Cognitions, emotions, and actions that people attach to the interaction with one’s and others’ faces might soon be undergoing dramatic shifts. In FACETS, an interdisciplinary but focused approach combines visual history, semiotics, phenomenology, visual anthropology, but also face perception studies and collection, analysis, and social contextualization of big data, so as to study the cultural and technological causes of these changes and their effects in terms of alterations in self-perception and communicative interaction. In the tension between, on the one hand, political and economic agencies pressing for increasing disclosure, detection, and marketing of the human face (for reasons of security and control, for commercial or bureaucratic purposes) and, on the other hand, the counter-trends of face occultation (writers and artists like Banksy, Ferrante, Sia, or Christopher Sievey / Frank Sidebottom choosing not to reveal their faces), the visual syntax, the semantics, and the pragmatics of the human face are rapidly evolving. FACETS carries on an innovative, cross-disciplinary survey of this phenomenon.
Project acronym Family Justice
Project Justice and the Family: An Analysis of the Normative Significance of Procreation and Parenthood in a Just Society
Researcher (PI) Maria Serena Olsaretti
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRA
Summary This project examines the normative significance of procreation and parenthood for theories of justice. Important questions of justice about the family arise once we acknowledge and keep in view that procreation and parenthood are both integral to the existence of any society (and therefore, a just society), and that they involve substantial benefits and burdens for parents, children, and society at large. Yet existing theories of justice generally neglect these questions by assuming that the principles they formulate are to regulate the main institutions of societies constituted by fully formed adult individuals whose creation and care are taken as given. The project identifies and analyses three main sets of questions about family justice: 1) Does justice require that parents and non-parents share, and share equally, the costs and benefits of having children, and how do different answers to this question bear on our theory of distributive justice? 2) What are the claims of justice that we have as children, how do they relate to those we have as adults, and who bears the correlative duties? 3) Do all contemporaries, regardless of whether they are parents or non-parents, have the same obligations of justice towards future generations, and how, if at all, are the justification and the content of those obligations affected by considerations about what parents owe their children and parents and non-parents owe to each other? Addressing these questions contributes to developing normative-theoretical framework needed to address pressing public policy concerns, and also turns out to be more central to the formulation of a complete and defensible theory of justice than political philosophers have realised to date.
This project examines the normative significance of procreation and parenthood for theories of justice. Important questions of justice about the family arise once we acknowledge and keep in view that procreation and parenthood are both integral to the existence of any society (and therefore, a just society), and that they involve substantial benefits and burdens for parents, children, and society at large. Yet existing theories of justice generally neglect these questions by assuming that the principles they formulate are to regulate the main institutions of societies constituted by fully formed adult individuals whose creation and care are taken as given. The project identifies and analyses three main sets of questions about family justice: 1) Does justice require that parents and non-parents share, and share equally, the costs and benefits of having children, and how do different answers to this question bear on our theory of distributive justice? 2) What are the claims of justice that we have as children, how do they relate to those we have as adults, and who bears the correlative duties? 3) Do all contemporaries, regardless of whether they are parents or non-parents, have the same obligations of justice towards future generations, and how, if at all, are the justification and the content of those obligations affected by considerations about what parents owe their children and parents and non-parents owe to each other? Addressing these questions contributes to developing normative-theoretical framework needed to address pressing public policy concerns, and also turns out to be more central to the formulation of a complete and defensible theory of justice than political philosophers have realised to date.
Project acronym FeMiT
Project Ferrites-by-design for Millimeter-wave and Terahertz Technologies
Researcher (PI) Martí GICH
Summary Robust disruptive materials will be essential for the “wireless everywhere” to become a reality. This is because we need a paradigm shift in mobile communications to meet the challenges of such an ambitious evolution. In particular, some of these emerging technologies will trigger the replacement of the magnetic microwave ferrites in use today. This will namely occur with the forecasted shift to high frequency mm-wave and THz bands and in novel antennas that can simultaneously transmit and receive data on the same frequency. In both cases, operating with state-of-the-art ferrites would require large external magnetic fields incompatible with future needs of smaller, power-efficient devices. To overcome these issues, we target ferrites featuring the so far unmet combinations of low magnetic loss and large values of magnetocrystalline anisotropy, magnetostriction or magnetoelectric coupling. The objective of FeMiT is developing a novel family of orthorhombic ferrites based on ε-Fe2O3, a room-temperature multiferroic with large magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Those properties and unique structural features make it an excellent platform to develop the sought-after functional materials for future compact and energy-efficient wireless devices. In the first part of FeMiT we will explore the limits and diversity of this new family by exploiting rational chemical substitutions, high pressures and strain engineering. Soft chemistry and physical deposition methods will be both considered at this stage. The second part of FeMiT entails a characterization of functional properties and selection of the best candidates to be integrated in composite and epitaxial films suitable for application. The expected outcomes will provide proof-of-concept self-biased or voltage-controlled signal-processing devices with low losses in the mm-wave to THz bands, with high potential impact in the development of future wireless technologies.
Robust disruptive materials will be essential for the “wireless everywhere” to become a reality. This is because we need a paradigm shift in mobile communications to meet the challenges of such an ambitious evolution. In particular, some of these emerging technologies will trigger the replacement of the magnetic microwave ferrites in use today. This will namely occur with the forecasted shift to high frequency mm-wave and THz bands and in novel antennas that can simultaneously transmit and receive data on the same frequency. In both cases, operating with state-of-the-art ferrites would require large external magnetic fields incompatible with future needs of smaller, power-efficient devices. To overcome these issues, we target ferrites featuring the so far unmet combinations of low magnetic loss and large values of magnetocrystalline anisotropy, magnetostriction or magnetoelectric coupling. The objective of FeMiT is developing a novel family of orthorhombic ferrites based on ε-Fe2O3, a room-temperature multiferroic with large magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Those properties and unique structural features make it an excellent platform to develop the sought-after functional materials for future compact and energy-efficient wireless devices. In the first part of FeMiT we will explore the limits and diversity of this new family by exploiting rational chemical substitutions, high pressures and strain engineering. Soft chemistry and physical deposition methods will be both considered at this stage. The second part of FeMiT entails a characterization of functional properties and selection of the best candidates to be integrated in composite and epitaxial films suitable for application. The expected outcomes will provide proof-of-concept self-biased or voltage-controlled signal-processing devices with low losses in the mm-wave to THz bands, with high potential impact in the development of future wireless technologies.
Project acronym FOREMAT
Project Finding a needle in a haystack: efficient identification of high performing organic energy materials
Researcher (PI) Mariano Campoy Quiles
Summary Following promising early breakthroughs, progress in the development of high-performance multicomponent organic energy materials has stalled due to a bottleneck in device optimization. FOREMAT will develop a breakthrough technology to overcome this bottleneck by shifting from fabrication-intense to measurement-intense assessment methods, enabling rapid multi-parameter optimization of novel systems. Our goal is to deliver organic material systems with a step-change in performance, bringing them close to the expected market turn point, including panchromatic organic photovoltaics with ca 15% efficiencies and thermoelectric devices that could revolutionize waste heat recovery by their flexibility, lightweight and high power factor. The development of multicomponent materials promises to dramatically improve the cost, efficiency and stability of organic energy devices. For example, they allow to engineer broad-band absorption in photovoltaics matched to the sun’s spectrum, or to create composites that conduct electricity like metals while thermally insulate like cotton yielding thermoelectric devices beyond the state-of-the-art. Despite these advantages, the long time required to evaluate promising organic multinaries currently limits their development. We will circumvent this problem by developing a high-throughput technology that will allow evaluation times up to two orders of magnitude faster saving, at the same time, around 90% of material. To meet these ambitious goals, we will advance novel fabrication tools and create samples bearing a high density of information arising from 2-dimensional gradual variations in relevant parameters that will be sequentially tested with increasing resolution in order to determine optimum values with high precision. This quantitative step will enable a disruptive qualitative change as in depth multidimensional studies will lead to design rationales for multicomponent systems with step-change performance in energy applications.
Following promising early breakthroughs, progress in the development of high-performance multicomponent organic energy materials has stalled due to a bottleneck in device optimization. FOREMAT will develop a breakthrough technology to overcome this bottleneck by shifting from fabrication-intense to measurement-intense assessment methods, enabling rapid multi-parameter optimization of novel systems. Our goal is to deliver organic material systems with a step-change in performance, bringing them close to the expected market turn point, including panchromatic organic photovoltaics with ca 15% efficiencies and thermoelectric devices that could revolutionize waste heat recovery by their flexibility, lightweight and high power factor. The development of multicomponent materials promises to dramatically improve the cost, efficiency and stability of organic energy devices. For example, they allow to engineer broad-band absorption in photovoltaics matched to the sun’s spectrum, or to create composites that conduct electricity like metals while thermally insulate like cotton yielding thermoelectric devices beyond the state-of-the-art. Despite these advantages, the long time required to evaluate promising organic multinaries currently limits their development. We will circumvent this problem by developing a high-throughput technology that will allow evaluation times up to two orders of magnitude faster saving, at the same time, around 90% of material. To meet these ambitious goals, we will advance novel fabrication tools and create samples bearing a high density of information arising from 2-dimensional gradual variations in relevant parameters that will be sequentially tested with increasing resolution in order to determine optimum values with high precision. This quantitative step will enable a disruptive qualitative change as in depth multidimensional studies will lead to design rationales for multicomponent systems with step-change performance in energy applications.
Project acronym GAPS
Project Spectral gaps in interacting quantum systems
Researcher (PI) David Perez Garcia
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID
Summary Interactions in a many body quantum system are encoded in a Hamiltonian, where the physical intuition that particles can only interact with those which are closeby is formally imposed as a local structure in the Hamiltonian, and homogeneity in space is imposed by a translational invariant structure on a given regular lattice in one, two or three dimensions. The first main aim of this proposal is to characterize the existence of a uniform (with the system size) lower bound on the gap between the two lowest eigenvalues of a given local translational invariant Hamiltonian. There are many reasons which motivate this study, coming from different fields, and hence many potential applications. We will concentrate here on those coming from quantum information theory and from condensed matter physics and mainly, as the second main aim of this proposal, on classifying the different possible quantum phases arising in this type of models.
Interactions in a many body quantum system are encoded in a Hamiltonian, where the physical intuition that particles can only interact with those which are closeby is formally imposed as a local structure in the Hamiltonian, and homogeneity in space is imposed by a translational invariant structure on a given regular lattice in one, two or three dimensions. The first main aim of this proposal is to characterize the existence of a uniform (with the system size) lower bound on the gap between the two lowest eigenvalues of a given local translational invariant Hamiltonian. There are many reasons which motivate this study, coming from different fields, and hence many potential applications. We will concentrate here on those coming from quantum information theory and from condensed matter physics and mainly, as the second main aim of this proposal, on classifying the different possible quantum phases arising in this type of models.
Project acronym GEMS
Project General Embedding Models for Spectroscopy
Researcher (PI) Chiara CAPPELLI
Host Institution (HI) SCUOLA NORMALE SUPERIORE
Summary Recently, there has been a paradigmatic shift in experimental molecular spectroscopy, with new methods focusing on the study of molecules embedded within complex supramolecular/nanostructured aggregates. In the past, molecular spectroscopy has benefitted from the synergistic developments of accurate and cost-effective computational protocols for the simulation of a wide variety of spectroscopies. These methods, however, have been limited to isolated molecules or systems in solution, therefore are inadequate to describe the spectroscopy of complex nanostructured systems. The aim of GEMS is to bridge this gap, and to provide a coherent theoretical description and cost-effective computational tools for the simulation of spectra of molecules interacting with metal nano-particles, metal nanoaggregates and graphene sheets. To this end, I will develop a novel frequency-dependent multilayer Quantum Mechanical (QM)/Molecular Mechanics (MM) embedding approach, general enough to be extendable to spectroscopic signals by using the machinery of quantum chemistry and able to treat any kind of plasmonic external environment by resorting to the same theoretical framework, but introducing its specificities through an accurate modelling and parametrization of the classical portion. The model will be interfaced with widely used computational chemistry software packages, so to maximize its use by the scientific community, and especially by non-specialists. As pilot applications, GEMS will study the Surface-Enhanced Raman (SERS) spectra of systems that have found applications in the biosensor field, SERS of organic molecules in subnanometre junctions, enhanced infrared (IR) spectra of oligopeptides adsorbed on graphene, Graphene Enhanced Raman Scattering (GERS) of organic dyes, and the transmission of stereochemical response from a chiral analyte to an achiral molecule in the vicinity of a plasmon resonance of an achiral metallic nanostructure, as measured by Raman Optical Activity-ROA
Recently, there has been a paradigmatic shift in experimental molecular spectroscopy, with new methods focusing on the study of molecules embedded within complex supramolecular/nanostructured aggregates. In the past, molecular spectroscopy has benefitted from the synergistic developments of accurate and cost-effective computational protocols for the simulation of a wide variety of spectroscopies. These methods, however, have been limited to isolated molecules or systems in solution, therefore are inadequate to describe the spectroscopy of complex nanostructured systems. The aim of GEMS is to bridge this gap, and to provide a coherent theoretical description and cost-effective computational tools for the simulation of spectra of molecules interacting with metal nano-particles, metal nanoaggregates and graphene sheets. To this end, I will develop a novel frequency-dependent multilayer Quantum Mechanical (QM)/Molecular Mechanics (MM) embedding approach, general enough to be extendable to spectroscopic signals by using the machinery of quantum chemistry and able to treat any kind of plasmonic external environment by resorting to the same theoretical framework, but introducing its specificities through an accurate modelling and parametrization of the classical portion. The model will be interfaced with widely used computational chemistry software packages, so to maximize its use by the scientific community, and especially by non-specialists. As pilot applications, GEMS will study the Surface-Enhanced Raman (SERS) spectra of systems that have found applications in the biosensor field, SERS of organic molecules in subnanometre junctions, enhanced infrared (IR) spectra of oligopeptides adsorbed on graphene, Graphene Enhanced Raman Scattering (GERS) of organic dyes, and the transmission of stereochemical response from a chiral analyte to an achiral molecule in the vicinity of a plasmon resonance of an achiral metallic nanostructure, as measured by Raman Optical Activity-ROA
Project acronym GRAMS
Project GRavity from Astrophysical to Microscopic Scales
Researcher (PI) Enrico BARAUSSE
Host Institution (HI) SCUOLA INTERNAZIONALE SUPERIORE DI STUDI AVANZATI DI TRIESTE
Summary General Relativity (GR) describes gravity on a huge range of scales, field strengths and velocities. However, despite its successes, GR has been showing its age. Cosmological data support the existence of a Dark Sector, but may also be interpreted as a breakdown of our understanding of gravity. Also, GR is intrinsically incompatible with quantum field theory, and should be replaced, at high energies, by a (still unknown) quantum theory of gravity. This deadlock may prelude to a paradigm change in our understanding of gravity, possibly triggered by the direct observations of neutron stars and black holes by gravitational-wave interferometers. The recent LIGO/Virgo observations, and in particular the coincident detection of electromagnetic and gravitational signals from neutron-star binaries, have already made a huge impact on our theoretical understanding of gravity, by severely constraining several extensions of GR. GRAMS is a high-risk/high-gain project seeking to push the implications of these observations even further, by exploring whether the existing LIGO/Virgo data, and in particular their absence of non-perturbative deviations from GR, are consistent with gravitational theories built to reproduce the large-scale behaviour of the Universe (i.e. the existence of Dark Energy and/or Dark Matter), while at the same time passing local tests of gravity thanks to non-perturbative screening mechanisms. I will prove that the very fact of screening local scales makes gravitational emission in these theories much more involved than in GR, and also intrinsically unlikely to yield results in agreement with existing (and future) gravitational-wave observations. This would be a huge step forward for our understanding of cosmology, as it would rule out a modified gravity origin for the Dark Sector. Even if this conjecture is incorrect, GRAMS will provide the first numerical-relativity simulations of compact binaries ever in gravitational theories of interest for cosmology.
General Relativity (GR) describes gravity on a huge range of scales, field strengths and velocities. However, despite its successes, GR has been showing its age. Cosmological data support the existence of a Dark Sector, but may also be interpreted as a breakdown of our understanding of gravity. Also, GR is intrinsically incompatible with quantum field theory, and should be replaced, at high energies, by a (still unknown) quantum theory of gravity. This deadlock may prelude to a paradigm change in our understanding of gravity, possibly triggered by the direct observations of neutron stars and black holes by gravitational-wave interferometers. The recent LIGO/Virgo observations, and in particular the coincident detection of electromagnetic and gravitational signals from neutron-star binaries, have already made a huge impact on our theoretical understanding of gravity, by severely constraining several extensions of GR. GRAMS is a high-risk/high-gain project seeking to push the implications of these observations even further, by exploring whether the existing LIGO/Virgo data, and in particular their absence of non-perturbative deviations from GR, are consistent with gravitational theories built to reproduce the large-scale behaviour of the Universe (i.e. the existence of Dark Energy and/or Dark Matter), while at the same time passing local tests of gravity thanks to non-perturbative screening mechanisms. I will prove that the very fact of screening local scales makes gravitational emission in these theories much more involved than in GR, and also intrinsically unlikely to yield results in agreement with existing (and future) gravitational-wave observations. This would be a huge step forward for our understanding of cosmology, as it would rule out a modified gravity origin for the Dark Sector. Even if this conjecture is incorrect, GRAMS will provide the first numerical-relativity simulations of compact binaries ever in gravitational theories of interest for cosmology.
Project acronym GREENLIGHT_REDCAT
Project Towards a Greener Reduction Chemistry by Using Cobalt Coordination Complexes as Catalysts and Light-driven Water Reduction as a Source of Reductive Equivalents
Researcher (PI) Julio Lloret Fillol
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO PRIVADA INSTITUT CATALA D'INVESTIGACIO QUIMICA
Summary The development of alternative greener synthetic methods to transform renewable feedstocks into elaborated chemical structures mediated by solar light is a prerequisite for a future sustainable society. In this regard, this project entails the use of visible light as driving force and water as a source of hydrides for the synthesis of high-value chemicals. The project merges photoredox catalysis with 1st row transition coordination complexes catalysis to open a new avenue for greener selective catalytic reduction processes for organic substrates. The ground-breaking nature of the project is: A) Develop light-driven region- and/or enantioselective catalytic reductions using well-defined cobalt coordination complexes with aminopyridine ligands, initially developed for water reduction. Sterics, electronics and supramolecular interactions (apolar cavities and chiral pockets) will be studied to proper control of the selectivity in the reduction of i) C=E and C=C bonds and ii) in the C-C inter- and intramolecular reductive homo- or heterocouplings. B) Fundamental understanding of the light-driven cobalt catalysed reductions characterizing intermediates that are involved in the reactivity, kinetics and labelling studies as well as performing computational modelling of reaction mechanisms. The basic understanding of operative mechanisms will expedite a new methodology for electrophile-electrophile umpolung couplings. C) Enhance catalytic performance of the light-driven cobalt catalysed reductions by self-assembling of catalyst-photosensitizer into carbon based pi-conjugated materials through noncovalent supramolecular interactions. Likewise, it will allow electrode immobilization for electrocatalysed reductions using water as a source of protons and electrons. As a proof of concept, cobalt catalysts based on aminopyridine ligands have been shown highly active in the light-driven reduction of ketones and aldehydes to alcohols, using water as the source of hydrogen atom.
The development of alternative greener synthetic methods to transform renewable feedstocks into elaborated chemical structures mediated by solar light is a prerequisite for a future sustainable society. In this regard, this project entails the use of visible light as driving force and water as a source of hydrides for the synthesis of high-value chemicals. The project merges photoredox catalysis with 1st row transition coordination complexes catalysis to open a new avenue for greener selective catalytic reduction processes for organic substrates. The ground-breaking nature of the project is: A) Develop light-driven region- and/or enantioselective catalytic reductions using well-defined cobalt coordination complexes with aminopyridine ligands, initially developed for water reduction. Sterics, electronics and supramolecular interactions (apolar cavities and chiral pockets) will be studied to proper control of the selectivity in the reduction of i) C=E and C=C bonds and ii) in the C-C inter- and intramolecular reductive homo- or heterocouplings. B) Fundamental understanding of the light-driven cobalt catalysed reductions characterizing intermediates that are involved in the reactivity, kinetics and labelling studies as well as performing computational modelling of reaction mechanisms. The basic understanding of operative mechanisms will expedite a new methodology for electrophile-electrophile umpolung couplings. C) Enhance catalytic performance of the light-driven cobalt catalysed reductions by self-assembling of catalyst-photosensitizer into carbon based pi-conjugated materials through noncovalent supramolecular interactions. Likewise, it will allow electrode immobilization for electrocatalysed reductions using water as a source of protons and electrons. As a proof of concept, cobalt catalysts based on aminopyridine ligands have been shown highly active in the light-driven reduction of ketones and aldehydes to alcohols, using water as the source of hydrogen atom.
Project acronym HISTROOTS
Project HISTORICAL ROOTS OF CONFLICT AND DEVELOPMENT: FROM PREHISTORY TO THE COLONIZATION EXPERIENCE
Researcher (PI) Marta Reynal Querol
Summary I plan to study the effect of history on conflict and economic development with two historical microscopes. Following the lead of the new institutional economics, part of the literature argues that institutions cause differences in productivity and factor endowments which, in turn, explain economic development. An alternative view assumes that human capital shapes institutional changes and, therefore, institutions are endogenous. In the first part of the project, which is the core of the research proposal, I will try to move one step further in this debate by taking an approach that uses administrative data on the first colonizers of Latin America. The data contain some personal characteristics on each of the settlers from 1492 to 1599 (town of origin in Spain, occupation, education, city of arrival in the Americas, etc). Using within-country analysis, since we have information on the precise destinations of the first “pobladores” (settlers), and the different institutional set-ups during the first years of colonization for different geographical areas in Latin America, I will reexamine the issue of institutions versus human capital in the explanation of economic development and conflict. The institutions in the initial times of colonization were not the same in all the regions of Latin America and, in many cases, represented an evolution of pre-Colombian institutions. The new data allows also the analysis of the interaction between human capital and institutions in the initial times. In addition the migrations and the evolution of institutions during the first century of colonization provide also some guidance for the research on the sources of institutional persistence. In the second part I plan to go further back in time to understand how very old conflicts influence current conflict. I will construct a dataset with the location of old conflicts using archaeological evidence to analyze the dynamics of conflict by regions in the very long run.
I plan to study the effect of history on conflict and economic development with two historical microscopes. Following the lead of the new institutional economics, part of the literature argues that institutions cause differences in productivity and factor endowments which, in turn, explain economic development. An alternative view assumes that human capital shapes institutional changes and, therefore, institutions are endogenous. In the first part of the project, which is the core of the research proposal, I will try to move one step further in this debate by taking an approach that uses administrative data on the first colonizers of Latin America. The data contain some personal characteristics on each of the settlers from 1492 to 1599 (town of origin in Spain, occupation, education, city of arrival in the Americas, etc). Using within-country analysis, since we have information on the precise destinations of the first “pobladores” (settlers), and the different institutional set-ups during the first years of colonization for different geographical areas in Latin America, I will reexamine the issue of institutions versus human capital in the explanation of economic development and conflict. The institutions in the initial times of colonization were not the same in all the regions of Latin America and, in many cases, represented an evolution of pre-Colombian institutions. The new data allows also the analysis of the interaction between human capital and institutions in the initial times. In addition the migrations and the evolution of institutions during the first century of colonization provide also some guidance for the research on the sources of institutional persistence. In the second part I plan to go further back in time to understand how very old conflicts influence current conflict. I will construct a dataset with the location of old conflicts using archaeological evidence to analyze the dynamics of conflict by regions in the very long run.
Project acronym HUMO
Project What is everybody doing? Social prediction, categorization, and monitoring in the Prefrontal Cortex of the Macaque adopting a new human-monkey (H-M) interactive paradigm.
Researcher (PI) Aldo Genovesio
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA
Summary Primates live in a complex social environment, in which they need to maintain track of their past social interactions and learn to formulate prediction on what specific groupmates are likely to do based on their past experiences. I have previously contributed to show that the PF (prefrontal cortex) has a main function in the generation of goals based on the current contexts and events, but its role in social cognition is still little explored. In this context, the frontal Pole cortex (FPC) has been associated to “mentalizing” functions and there is a link between the autism spectrum disorder and its abnormalities. However until recently, no one has been able to record neural activity from FPC, but us. I propose to investigate the role of the monitoring function of FPC in association to the dorsolateral (PFD) and orbitofrontal (OFC) cortex, recording from the entire network up to 256 neurons simultaneously. We have developed the first human-monkeys (H-M) paradigm to test several hypotheses. The task is a non-match-to goal (NMTG) task in which the monkeys are trained to switch from their choice on the previous trial to a different one. In a subset of trials the monkey observe a human partner (either cooperative or uncooperative) performing the task. When the human partner conclude his turn, the monkeys have to switch to a new goal discarding the human’s previous goal. I will explore the role of PFD in social decisions in predicting other agents decisions and distinguishing and categorizing cooperative and uncooperative agents, and the role of OFC in monitoring others’ choices. I expect that PFD will maintain, as it does with past and future goals, separate records for the past choices of different agents while PFO might contribute to solve credit assignment problems also in relationship to other’s behaviors.
Primates live in a complex social environment, in which they need to maintain track of their past social interactions and learn to formulate prediction on what specific groupmates are likely to do based on their past experiences. I have previously contributed to show that the PF (prefrontal cortex) has a main function in the generation of goals based on the current contexts and events, but its role in social cognition is still little explored. In this context, the frontal Pole cortex (FPC) has been associated to “mentalizing” functions and there is a link between the autism spectrum disorder and its abnormalities. However until recently, no one has been able to record neural activity from FPC, but us. I propose to investigate the role of the monitoring function of FPC in association to the dorsolateral (PFD) and orbitofrontal (OFC) cortex, recording from the entire network up to 256 neurons simultaneously. We have developed the first human-monkeys (H-M) paradigm to test several hypotheses. The task is a non-match-to goal (NMTG) task in which the monkeys are trained to switch from their choice on the previous trial to a different one. In a subset of trials the monkey observe a human partner (either cooperative or uncooperative) performing the task. When the human partner conclude his turn, the monkeys have to switch to a new goal discarding the human’s previous goal. I will explore the role of PFD in social decisions in predicting other agents decisions and distinguishing and categorizing cooperative and uncooperative agents, and the role of OFC in monitoring others’ choices. I expect that PFD will maintain, as it does with past and future goals, separate records for the past choices of different agents while PFO might contribute to solve credit assignment problems also in relationship to other’s behaviors.
Project acronym HyMAP
Project Hybrid Materials for Artificial Photosynthesis
Researcher (PI) Víctor Antonio De La Peña O'shea
Host Institution (HI) Fundacion IMDEA Energia
Summary HyMAP aims to develop a new generation of multifunctional hybrid photocatalysts and solar photoreactor which would allow the exploitation of at least the 1 % of the sunlight energy for the CO2 photoreduction using water as electron donor. This will imply a CO2 conversion in the range of 12 to 35 Ton/y•ha, depending on product distribution, which represents at least a 20-fold improvement over the state of the art. To achieve this goal, I propose an interdisciplinary research program through which several breakthroughs at different scales will be achieved: Development of efficient multifunctional organic/inorganic semiconductors and metal-organic frameworks photocatalysts with separated reduction/oxidation active sites. The fact of having independent multiple redox sites combined in a single material would maximize charge separation and transport processes, as well as sunlight harvesting. Characterization and modelling of the structural and opto-electronic properties of the proposed materials. Evaluation of the materials in artificial photosynthesis devices. At this stage, a solar photoreactor that would allow good transmission, uniform light distribution and maximize the energy harvesting in the overall spectra will be developed. HYMAP will provide me with an excellent opportunity to lead a consolidated research group. During my scientific career I have demonstrated creative thinking, autonomy and an excellent capacity to carry out state of the art research in heterogeneous catalysis, characterization, modelling and reactor engineering. I have a meritorious research track reflected by a good number of scientific publications, broad professional expertise, innovative project conception and a consolidate network of international collaboration. This, along with my leadership and management abilities, will assure the successful achievement of the mentioned goals of this project. HyMAP is a revised version of a proposal scored with A (2nd stage) of last ERC-CoG call.
HyMAP aims to develop a new generation of multifunctional hybrid photocatalysts and solar photoreactor which would allow the exploitation of at least the 1 % of the sunlight energy for the CO2 photoreduction using water as electron donor. This will imply a CO2 conversion in the range of 12 to 35 Ton/y•ha, depending on product distribution, which represents at least a 20-fold improvement over the state of the art. To achieve this goal, I propose an interdisciplinary research program through which several breakthroughs at different scales will be achieved: Development of efficient multifunctional organic/inorganic semiconductors and metal-organic frameworks photocatalysts with separated reduction/oxidation active sites. The fact of having independent multiple redox sites combined in a single material would maximize charge separation and transport processes, as well as sunlight harvesting. Characterization and modelling of the structural and opto-electronic properties of the proposed materials. Evaluation of the materials in artificial photosynthesis devices. At this stage, a solar photoreactor that would allow good transmission, uniform light distribution and maximize the energy harvesting in the overall spectra will be developed. HYMAP will provide me with an excellent opportunity to lead a consolidated research group. During my scientific career I have demonstrated creative thinking, autonomy and an excellent capacity to carry out state of the art research in heterogeneous catalysis, characterization, modelling and reactor engineering. I have a meritorious research track reflected by a good number of scientific publications, broad professional expertise, innovative project conception and a consolidate network of international collaboration. This, along with my leadership and management abilities, will assure the successful achievement of the mentioned goals of this project. HyMAP is a revised version of a proposal scored with A (2nd stage) of last ERC-CoG call.
Project acronym ImmunoStem
Project Dissecting and Overcoming Innate Immune Barriers for Therapeutically Efficient Hematopoietic Stem Cell Gene Engineering
Researcher (PI) Anna Christina Kajaste-Rudnitski
Host Institution (HI) OSPEDALE SAN RAFFAELE SRL
Summary The low gene manipulation efficiency of human hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) remains a major hurdle for sustainable and broad clinical application of innovative therapies for a wide range of disorders. Indeed, high vector doses and prolonged ex vivo culture are still required for clinically relevant levels of gene transfer even with the most established lentiviral vector-based delivery platforms. Current and emerging gene transfer and editing technologies expose HSC to components potentially recognized by host antiviral factors and nucleic acid sensors that likely restrict their genetic engineering and contribute to broad individual variability in clinical outcomes observed in recent gene therapy trials. Nevertheless, specific effectors are yet to be identified in HSC. We have recently identified an antiviral factor that potently blocks gene transfer in HSC and have discovered small molecules that efficiently counteract it. This is the first example of how manipulating a single host factor can significantly impact gene transfer efficiencies in HSC but likely represents the mere tip of the iceberg of the plethora of innate sensing mechanisms potentially hampering genetic manipulation of this primitive cell compartment. This proposal aims to identify the antiviral factors and innate sensing pathways that prevent efficient modification of HSC and to mitigate their effects using methods developed through a thorough understanding of their mechanisms of action. My approach builds on the innovative concept that understanding the crosstalk between HSC and viral vectors will instruct us on which immune sensors and effectors to avoid and how, with direct implications for all gene engineering technologies. Successful completion of this project will deliver broadly exportable novel paradigms of innate pathogen recognition that will allow ground-breaking progress in the development of cutting-edge cell and gene therapies and to fight infectious and autoimmune diseases.
The low gene manipulation efficiency of human hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) remains a major hurdle for sustainable and broad clinical application of innovative therapies for a wide range of disorders. Indeed, high vector doses and prolonged ex vivo culture are still required for clinically relevant levels of gene transfer even with the most established lentiviral vector-based delivery platforms. Current and emerging gene transfer and editing technologies expose HSC to components potentially recognized by host antiviral factors and nucleic acid sensors that likely restrict their genetic engineering and contribute to broad individual variability in clinical outcomes observed in recent gene therapy trials. Nevertheless, specific effectors are yet to be identified in HSC. We have recently identified an antiviral factor that potently blocks gene transfer in HSC and have discovered small molecules that efficiently counteract it. This is the first example of how manipulating a single host factor can significantly impact gene transfer efficiencies in HSC but likely represents the mere tip of the iceberg of the plethora of innate sensing mechanisms potentially hampering genetic manipulation of this primitive cell compartment. This proposal aims to identify the antiviral factors and innate sensing pathways that prevent efficient modification of HSC and to mitigate their effects using methods developed through a thorough understanding of their mechanisms of action. My approach builds on the innovative concept that understanding the crosstalk between HSC and viral vectors will instruct us on which immune sensors and effectors to avoid and how, with direct implications for all gene engineering technologies. Successful completion of this project will deliver broadly exportable novel paradigms of innate pathogen recognition that will allow ground-breaking progress in the development of cutting-edge cell and gene therapies and to fight infectious and autoimmune diseases.
Project acronym iMPACT
Project innovative Medical Protons Achromatic Calorimeter and Tracker
Researcher (PI) Piero Giubilato
Summary The iMPACT project focuses on the realization of a proton Computed Tomography (pCT) scanner capable of acquiring a target full 3D image with 1s exposure, therefore opening the way to the practical application of proton imaging technique in medical radiotherapy treatments. Such cutting-edge particles scanner combines innovative ideas devised for the future High Energy Physics experiments together with original developments in the microelectronic field to enable charged particles imaging at the GHz scale. In recent years the use of hadrons (1H and 12C ions) for cancer radiation treatment has become an established technique and many facilities are currently operational or under construction worldwide. To fully exploit the therapeutic advantages offered by hadron therapy, precise target (body) imaging for accurate beam delivery is decisive. pCT systems, currently in their R&D phase, provide the ultimate in low dose (< 2 mGy), 3D imaging for hadrons treatment guidance. Key components of a pCT system are the detectors used to track the protons and measure their residual energy. The iMPACT scanner, composed by a proprietary monolithic pixels tracking detector and an innovative achromatic calorimeter, will improve current pCT imaging speed by more than a factor 100, leading to potential recording times of about 1 second for a full 3D target image (compared to present ≈ 10 minutes). The iMPACT detector will also have higher spatial resolution (equal or better than 10 µm) and lower material budget (by a factor 10) respect to state of the art systems, further enhancing 3D imaging accuracy. Not least when considering actual industrial application, production costs will be far lower than existent systems, because all sensors will be designed with commercially available technologies, making it possible to move pCT from the academic research realm to that of viable medical equipment.
The iMPACT project focuses on the realization of a proton Computed Tomography (pCT) scanner capable of acquiring a target full 3D image with 1s exposure, therefore opening the way to the practical application of proton imaging technique in medical radiotherapy treatments. Such cutting-edge particles scanner combines innovative ideas devised for the future High Energy Physics experiments together with original developments in the microelectronic field to enable charged particles imaging at the GHz scale. In recent years the use of hadrons (1H and 12C ions) for cancer radiation treatment has become an established technique and many facilities are currently operational or under construction worldwide. To fully exploit the therapeutic advantages offered by hadron therapy, precise target (body) imaging for accurate beam delivery is decisive. pCT systems, currently in their R&D phase, provide the ultimate in low dose (< 2 mGy), 3D imaging for hadrons treatment guidance. Key components of a pCT system are the detectors used to track the protons and measure their residual energy. The iMPACT scanner, composed by a proprietary monolithic pixels tracking detector and an innovative achromatic calorimeter, will improve current pCT imaging speed by more than a factor 100, leading to potential recording times of about 1 second for a full 3D target image (compared to present ≈ 10 minutes). The iMPACT detector will also have higher spatial resolution (equal or better than 10 µm) and lower material budget (by a factor 10) respect to state of the art systems, further enhancing 3D imaging accuracy. Not least when considering actual industrial application, production costs will be far lower than existent systems, because all sensors will be designed with commercially available technologies, making it possible to move pCT from the academic research realm to that of viable medical equipment.
Project acronym INFANTLEUKEMIA
Project GENOMIC, CELLULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION OFINFANT MLL-AF4+ ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA
Researcher (PI) Pablo Menendez Buján
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE RECERCA CONTRA LA LEUCEMIA JOSEP CARRERAS
Summary Infant cancer is very distinct to adult cancer and it is progressively seen as a developmental disease. An intriguing infant cancer is the t(4;11) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) characterized by the hallmark rearrangement MLL-AF4 (MA4), and associated with dismal prognosis. The 100% concordance in twins and its prenatal onset suggest an extremely rapid disease progression. Many key issues remain elusive: Is MA4 leukemogenic? Which are other relevant oncogenic drivers? Which is the nature of the cell transformed by MA4? Which is the leukemia-initiating cell (LIC)? Does this ALL follow a hierarchical or stochastic cancer model? How to explain therapy resistance and CNS involvement? To what extent do genetics vs epigenetics contribute this ALL? These questions remain a challenge due to: 1) the absence of prospective studies on diagnostic/remission-matched samples, 2) the lack of models which faithfully reproduce the disease and 3) a surprising genomic stability of this ALL. I hypothesize that a Multilayer-Omics to function approach in patient blasts and early human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) is required to fully scrutinize the biology underlying this life-threatening leukemia. I will perform genome-wide studies on the mutational landscape, DNA and H3K79 methylation profiles, and transcriptome on a uniquely available, large cohort of diagnostic/remission-matched samples. Omics data integration will provide unprecedented information about oncogenic drivers which must be analyzed in ground-breaking functional assays using patient blasts and early HSPCs carrying a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated locus/allele-specific t(4;11). Serial xenografts combined with exome-seq in paired diagnostic samples and xenografts will identify the LIC and determine whether variegated genetics may underlie clonal functional heterogeneity. This project will provide a precise understanding and a disease model for MA4+ ALL, offering a platform for new treatment strategies.
Infant cancer is very distinct to adult cancer and it is progressively seen as a developmental disease. An intriguing infant cancer is the t(4;11) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) characterized by the hallmark rearrangement MLL-AF4 (MA4), and associated with dismal prognosis. The 100% concordance in twins and its prenatal onset suggest an extremely rapid disease progression. Many key issues remain elusive: Is MA4 leukemogenic? Which are other relevant oncogenic drivers? Which is the nature of the cell transformed by MA4? Which is the leukemia-initiating cell (LIC)? Does this ALL follow a hierarchical or stochastic cancer model? How to explain therapy resistance and CNS involvement? To what extent do genetics vs epigenetics contribute this ALL? These questions remain a challenge due to: 1) the absence of prospective studies on diagnostic/remission-matched samples, 2) the lack of models which faithfully reproduce the disease and 3) a surprising genomic stability of this ALL. I hypothesize that a Multilayer-Omics to function approach in patient blasts and early human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) is required to fully scrutinize the biology underlying this life-threatening leukemia. I will perform genome-wide studies on the mutational landscape, DNA and H3K79 methylation profiles, and transcriptome on a uniquely available, large cohort of diagnostic/remission-matched samples. Omics data integration will provide unprecedented information about oncogenic drivers which must be analyzed in ground-breaking functional assays using patient blasts and early HSPCs carrying a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated locus/allele-specific t(4;11). Serial xenografts combined with exome-seq in paired diagnostic samples and xenografts will identify the LIC and determine whether variegated genetics may underlie clonal functional heterogeneity. This project will provide a precise understanding and a disease model for MA4+ ALL, offering a platform for new treatment strategies.
Project acronym INITIUM
Project an Innovative Negative Ion TIme projection chamber for Underground dark Matter searches
Researcher (PI) Elisabetta BARACCHINI
Host Institution (HI) GRAN SASSO SCIENCE INSTITUTE
Summary INITIUM: an Innovative Negative Ion TIme projection chamber for Underground dark Matter searches. INITIUM goal is to boost the advancement of gaseous Time Projection Chamber detectors in the Dark Matter (DM) searches field, one of the most compelling issues of todays fundamental physics. I believe this approach to be superior because of its active neutron/electron discrimination, directional and fiducialization capability down to low energies and versatility in terms of target material. Thanks to recent advances in Micro Pattern Gas Detectors amplification and improved readout techniques, TPCs are nowadays mature detectors to aim at developing a ton-scale experiment. INITIUM focuses on the development and operation of the first 1 m3 Negative Ion TPC with Gas Electron Multipliers amplification and optical readout with CMOS-based cameras and PMTs for directional DM searches at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). INITIUM will put new significant constraints in a DM WIMP-nucleon scattering parameter space still unexplored to these days, with a remarkable sensitivity down to 10-42-10-43 cm2 for Spin Independent coupling in the 1-10 GeV WIMP mass region. As a by-product, INITIUM will also precisely and simultaneously measure environmental fast and thermal neutron flux at LNGS, supplying crucial information for any present and future experiment in this location. Consequently, I will demonstrate the proof-of-principle and scalability of INITIUM approach towards the development of a ton-scale detector in the context of CYGNUS, an international collaboration (of which I am one of the Spokespersons and PIs) recently gathered together with the aim to establish a Galactic Directional Recoil Observatory, that can test the DM hypothesis beyond the Neutrino Floor and measure the coherent scatter of galactic neutrinos, generating a significant long-term impact on detection techniques for rare events searches.
INITIUM: an Innovative Negative Ion TIme projection chamber for Underground dark Matter searches. INITIUM goal is to boost the advancement of gaseous Time Projection Chamber detectors in the Dark Matter (DM) searches field, one of the most compelling issues of todays fundamental physics. I believe this approach to be superior because of its active neutron/electron discrimination, directional and fiducialization capability down to low energies and versatility in terms of target material. Thanks to recent advances in Micro Pattern Gas Detectors amplification and improved readout techniques, TPCs are nowadays mature detectors to aim at developing a ton-scale experiment. INITIUM focuses on the development and operation of the first 1 m3 Negative Ion TPC with Gas Electron Multipliers amplification and optical readout with CMOS-based cameras and PMTs for directional DM searches at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). INITIUM will put new significant constraints in a DM WIMP-nucleon scattering parameter space still unexplored to these days, with a remarkable sensitivity down to 10-42-10-43 cm2 for Spin Independent coupling in the 1-10 GeV WIMP mass region. As a by-product, INITIUM will also precisely and simultaneously measure environmental fast and thermal neutron flux at LNGS, supplying crucial information for any present and future experiment in this location. Consequently, I will demonstrate the proof-of-principle and scalability of INITIUM approach towards the development of a ton-scale detector in the context of CYGNUS, an international collaboration (of which I am one of the Spokespersons and PIs) recently gathered together with the aim to establish a Galactic Directional Recoil Observatory, that can test the DM hypothesis beyond the Neutrino Floor and measure the coherent scatter of galactic neutrinos, generating a significant long-term impact on detection techniques for rare events searches.
Project acronym InOutBioLight
Project Advanced biohybrid lighting and photovoltaic devices
Researcher (PI) Rubén Darío COSTA
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACION IMDEA MATERIALES
Summary InOutBioLight aims to design multifunctional rubbers with enhanced mechanical, thermal, color-converting, and light-guiding features towards advanced biohybrid lighting and photovoltaic technologies. The latter are placed at the forefront of the EU efforts for low-cost production and efficient consumption of electricity, a critical issue for a sustainable development. In this context, the use of biomolecules as functional components in lighting and photovoltaic devices is still a challenge, as they quickly denature under storage and device operation conditions. This paradigm has changed using an innovative rubber-like material, in which the biofunctionality is long preserved. As a proof-of-concept, color down-converting rubbers based on fluorescent proteins were used to design the first biohybrid white light-emitting diode (bio-HWLED). To develop a new generation of biohybrid devices, InOutBioLight will address the following critical issues, namely i) the nature of the protein-matrix stabilization, ii) how to enhance the thermal/mechanical features, iii) how to design multifunctional rubbers, iv) how to mimic natural patterns for light-guiding, and v) how to expand the technological use of the rubber approach. To achieve these goals, InOutBioLight involves comprehensive spectroscopic, microscopic, and mechanical studies to investigate the protein-matrix interaction using new polymer matrices, additives, and protein-based nanoparticles. In addition, the mechanical, thermal, and light-coupling features will be enhanced using structural biocompounds and reproducing biomorphic patterns. As such, InOutBioLight offers three major advances: i) a thorough scientific basis for the rubber approach, ii) a significant thrust of the emerging bio-HWLEDs, and iii) innovative breakthroughs beyond state-of-the-art biohybrid solar cells.
InOutBioLight aims to design multifunctional rubbers with enhanced mechanical, thermal, color-converting, and light-guiding features towards advanced biohybrid lighting and photovoltaic technologies. The latter are placed at the forefront of the EU efforts for low-cost production and efficient consumption of electricity, a critical issue for a sustainable development. In this context, the use of biomolecules as functional components in lighting and photovoltaic devices is still a challenge, as they quickly denature under storage and device operation conditions. This paradigm has changed using an innovative rubber-like material, in which the biofunctionality is long preserved. As a proof-of-concept, color down-converting rubbers based on fluorescent proteins were used to design the first biohybrid white light-emitting diode (bio-HWLED). To develop a new generation of biohybrid devices, InOutBioLight will address the following critical issues, namely i) the nature of the protein-matrix stabilization, ii) how to enhance the thermal/mechanical features, iii) how to design multifunctional rubbers, iv) how to mimic natural patterns for light-guiding, and v) how to expand the technological use of the rubber approach. To achieve these goals, InOutBioLight involves comprehensive spectroscopic, microscopic, and mechanical studies to investigate the protein-matrix interaction using new polymer matrices, additives, and protein-based nanoparticles. In addition, the mechanical, thermal, and light-coupling features will be enhanced using structural biocompounds and reproducing biomorphic patterns. As such, InOutBioLight offers three major advances: i) a thorough scientific basis for the rubber approach, ii) a significant thrust of the emerging bio-HWLEDs, and iii) innovative breakthroughs beyond state-of-the-art biohybrid solar cells.
Project acronym LArcHer
Project Breaking barriers between Science and Heritage approaches to Levantine Rock Art through Archaeology, Heritage Science and IT
Researcher (PI) Ines DOMINGO SANZ
Summary LArcHer project aims at pioneering a new and more comprehensive way of understanding one of Europe’s most extraordinary bodies of prehistoric art, awarded Unesco World Heritage status in 1998: Levantine rock art (LRA). The ground-breaking nature of the project relies on combining a multidisciplinary (Archaeology, Heritage Science and IT) and multiscale approach (from microanalysis to landscape perspectives) to gain a holistic view of this art. It also aims at closing existing gaps between science and heritage mainstreams, to better understand the values and threats affecting this tradition and bring about a change in the way we understand, care, use and manage this millenary legacy. LArcHer aims are: a) Use cross-disciplinary knowledge and methods to redefine LRA (i.e. new dating techniques to refine chronology, new analytical methods to understand the creative process); b) Use LRA as a proxy to raise new questions of global interest on the evolution of creative thinking and human cognition (i.e. the timing and driving forces behind the birth of anthropocentrism and visual narratives in the history of prehistoric art); c) Develop new research agendas to set off complementary goals between science and heritage and define best practices for open air rock art conservation and management. Spread across Mediterranean Iberia, LRA is the only European body of figurative art dominated by humans engaged in dynamic narratives of hunting, violence, warfare, dances and so forth. These scenes are unique to explore past social dynamics, human behaviour and cultural practices. As such, it is the only body of European rock art with potential to answer some of the new questions raised by LArcHer. Key to LArcHer are the systematic recording and analysis of the art through 3D Digital technologies, management and data storage systems, GIS, physicochemical analysis of pigments and bedrock and comparative analysis with other major bodies of art with equivalent developments.
LArcHer project aims at pioneering a new and more comprehensive way of understanding one of Europe’s most extraordinary bodies of prehistoric art, awarded Unesco World Heritage status in 1998: Levantine rock art (LRA). The ground-breaking nature of the project relies on combining a multidisciplinary (Archaeology, Heritage Science and IT) and multiscale approach (from microanalysis to landscape perspectives) to gain a holistic view of this art. It also aims at closing existing gaps between science and heritage mainstreams, to better understand the values and threats affecting this tradition and bring about a change in the way we understand, care, use and manage this millenary legacy. LArcHer aims are: a) Use cross-disciplinary knowledge and methods to redefine LRA (i.e. new dating techniques to refine chronology, new analytical methods to understand the creative process); b) Use LRA as a proxy to raise new questions of global interest on the evolution of creative thinking and human cognition (i.e. the timing and driving forces behind the birth of anthropocentrism and visual narratives in the history of prehistoric art); c) Develop new research agendas to set off complementary goals between science and heritage and define best practices for open air rock art conservation and management. Spread across Mediterranean Iberia, LRA is the only European body of figurative art dominated by humans engaged in dynamic narratives of hunting, violence, warfare, dances and so forth. These scenes are unique to explore past social dynamics, human behaviour and cultural practices. As such, it is the only body of European rock art with potential to answer some of the new questions raised by LArcHer. Key to LArcHer are the systematic recording and analysis of the art through 3D Digital technologies, management and data storage systems, GIS, physicochemical analysis of pigments and bedrock and comparative analysis with other major bodies of art with equivalent developments.
Project acronym Learn
Project Learning From Failing and Passing Executions At the Speed of Internet
Researcher (PI) Leonardo Mariani
Summary Modern software systems must be extremely flexible and easily adaptable to different user needs and environments. However, this flexibility also introduces relevant quality issues. These problems are so common that is sufficient browsing the Web to find millions of reports about failures observed after updates and incompatibilities caused by the interaction of a newly installed component with the existing components. The impact of problems introduced by end-users can be dramatic because end-users can easily modify applications, like developers do, but end-users have neither the knowledge nor the skill of developers, and they cannot debug and fix the problems that they unintentionally introduce. It is thus necessary to timely develop novel solutions that can increase the reliability of the moderns systems, which can be extended and adapted by end-users, with the capability to automatically address problems that are unknown at development-time. The Learn project aims to produce innovative solutions for the development of systems that can work around the problems introduced by end-users when modifying their applications. The three key elements introduced by Learn to automatically produce a (temporary) fix for the software are: (1) the definition of the InternetLearn infrastructure, which is a network infrastructure that enables communication between every individual instance of a same program running at different end-users’ sites, thus augmenting each application with the capability to access a huge amount of information collected in-the-field from other sites; (2) the definition of analysis techniques that can learn the characteristics of successful and failed runs by monitoring executions in the field from a number of instances running at many end-user sites; and (3) the definition of techniques for the automatic generation and actuation of temporary fixes on an Internet (World) scale.
Modern software systems must be extremely flexible and easily adaptable to different user needs and environments. However, this flexibility also introduces relevant quality issues. These problems are so common that is sufficient browsing the Web to find millions of reports about failures observed after updates and incompatibilities caused by the interaction of a newly installed component with the existing components. The impact of problems introduced by end-users can be dramatic because end-users can easily modify applications, like developers do, but end-users have neither the knowledge nor the skill of developers, and they cannot debug and fix the problems that they unintentionally introduce. It is thus necessary to timely develop novel solutions that can increase the reliability of the moderns systems, which can be extended and adapted by end-users, with the capability to automatically address problems that are unknown at development-time. The Learn project aims to produce innovative solutions for the development of systems that can work around the problems introduced by end-users when modifying their applications. The three key elements introduced by Learn to automatically produce a (temporary) fix for the software are: (1) the definition of the InternetLearn infrastructure, which is a network infrastructure that enables communication between every individual instance of a same program running at different end-users’ sites, thus augmenting each application with the capability to access a huge amount of information collected in-the-field from other sites; (2) the definition of analysis techniques that can learn the characteristics of successful and failed runs by monitoring executions in the field from a number of instances running at many end-user sites; and (3) the definition of techniques for the automatic generation and actuation of temporary fixes on an Internet (World) scale.
Project acronym MAGNESIA
Project The impact of highly magnetic neutron stars in the explosive and transient Universe
Researcher (PI) Nanda Rea
Summary The gravitational wave window is now open. It is then imperative to build quantitative models of neutron stars that use all the available tracers to constrain fundamental physics at the highest densities and magnetic fields. The most magnetic neutron stars, the magnetars, have been recently suggested to be powering a large variety of explosive and transient events. The enormous rotational power at birth, and the magnetic energy they can release via large flares, put the magnetars in the (yet) hand-wavy interpretations of gamma-ray bursts, the early phases of double neutron star mergers, super-luminous supernovae, hypernovae, fast radio bursts, and ultra-luminous X-ray sources. However, despite knowing about 30 magnetars, we are lacking a census of how many we expect within the pulsar population, nor we have robust constraints on their flaring rates. The recent discovery of transient magnetars, of magnetar-like flares from sources with measured low dipolar magnetic fields and from typical radio pulsars, clearly showed that the magnetar census in our Galaxy is largely under-estimated. This hampers our understanding not only of the pulsar and magnetar populations, but also of them as possibly related to many of Universe’s explosive events. MAGNESIA will infer a sound Magnetar Census via an innovative approach that will build the first Pulsar Population Synthesis model able to cope with constraints/limits from multi-band observations, and taking into account 3D magnetic field evolution models and flaring rates for neutron stars. Combining expertise in multi-band observations, numerical modeling, nuclear physics, and computation, MAGNESIA will solve the physics, the observational systematic errors, and the computational challenges that inhibited previous works, to finally constrain the spin period and magnetic field distribution at birth of the neutron star population.
The gravitational wave window is now open. It is then imperative to build quantitative models of neutron stars that use all the available tracers to constrain fundamental physics at the highest densities and magnetic fields. The most magnetic neutron stars, the magnetars, have been recently suggested to be powering a large variety of explosive and transient events. The enormous rotational power at birth, and the magnetic energy they can release via large flares, put the magnetars in the (yet) hand-wavy interpretations of gamma-ray bursts, the early phases of double neutron star mergers, super-luminous supernovae, hypernovae, fast radio bursts, and ultra-luminous X-ray sources. However, despite knowing about 30 magnetars, we are lacking a census of how many we expect within the pulsar population, nor we have robust constraints on their flaring rates. The recent discovery of transient magnetars, of magnetar-like flares from sources with measured low dipolar magnetic fields and from typical radio pulsars, clearly showed that the magnetar census in our Galaxy is largely under-estimated. This hampers our understanding not only of the pulsar and magnetar populations, but also of them as possibly related to many of Universe’s explosive events. MAGNESIA will infer a sound Magnetar Census via an innovative approach that will build the first Pulsar Population Synthesis model able to cope with constraints/limits from multi-band observations, and taking into account 3D magnetic field evolution models and flaring rates for neutron stars. Combining expertise in multi-band observations, numerical modeling, nuclear physics, and computation, MAGNESIA will solve the physics, the observational systematic errors, and the computational challenges that inhibited previous works, to finally constrain the spin period and magnetic field distribution at birth of the neutron star population.
Project acronym MarsFirstWater
Project The physicochemical nature of water on early Mars
Researcher (PI) Alberto Gonzalez Fairen
Summary Concepts of large bodies of glacial ice and liquid standing water, a robust hydrological cycle, and a rich Martian history of climate change are part of the current consensus model for early Mars. However, questions still poorly constrained include: a precise understanding of the inventory of water during the first billion years of Mars history and its early evolution on both global and local scales; whether liquid or solid H2O dominated, for what duration of time and where the water resided; what were the host-rock weathering rates and patterns and the physicochemical parameters defining such interactions; what specific landforms and mineralogies were generated during those periods; and what implications all these processes had on the possible inception of life on Mars. These fundamental questions represent large uncertainties and knowledge gaps. Therefore, a quantitative understanding of the basic characteristics of water on early Mars is very much needed and is the focus of this proposal. This application outlines a plan for my research in the next five years, and explains how I propose to fully characterize the aqueous environments of early Mars through a quantitative and truly interdisciplinary investigation. Spacecraft mission-derived datasets will be consistently used to test hypotheses through paleogeomorphological reconstructions, geochemical modeling, mineralogical studies, and astrobiological investigations. The derived results will produce hard constraints on the physical evolution, chemical alteration and habitability of surface and near-surface aqueous environments on early Mars. The planned investigations will benefit from the combination of working with first-hand data from ongoing Mars missions and with the state-of-the-art laboratory tools at the host institution. The final expected result will be a complete understanding of the physicochemical nature of water on early Mars, also opening new paths for the astrobiological exploration of the planet.
Concepts of large bodies of glacial ice and liquid standing water, a robust hydrological cycle, and a rich Martian history of climate change are part of the current consensus model for early Mars. However, questions still poorly constrained include: a precise understanding of the inventory of water during the first billion years of Mars history and its early evolution on both global and local scales; whether liquid or solid H2O dominated, for what duration of time and where the water resided; what were the host-rock weathering rates and patterns and the physicochemical parameters defining such interactions; what specific landforms and mineralogies were generated during those periods; and what implications all these processes had on the possible inception of life on Mars. These fundamental questions represent large uncertainties and knowledge gaps. Therefore, a quantitative understanding of the basic characteristics of water on early Mars is very much needed and is the focus of this proposal. This application outlines a plan for my research in the next five years, and explains how I propose to fully characterize the aqueous environments of early Mars through a quantitative and truly interdisciplinary investigation. Spacecraft mission-derived datasets will be consistently used to test hypotheses through paleogeomorphological reconstructions, geochemical modeling, mineralogical studies, and astrobiological investigations. The derived results will produce hard constraints on the physical evolution, chemical alteration and habitability of surface and near-surface aqueous environments on early Mars. The planned investigations will benefit from the combination of working with first-hand data from ongoing Mars missions and with the state-of-the-art laboratory tools at the host institution. The final expected result will be a complete understanding of the physicochemical nature of water on early Mars, also opening new paths for the astrobiological exploration of the planet.
Project acronym MATRIX
Project Novel mitochondria-targeted therapies for cancer treatment-induced cardiotoxicity
Researcher (PI) Borja Ibáñez Cabeza
Host Institution (HI) CENTRO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGACIONESCARDIOVASCULARES CARLOS III (F.S.P.)
Summary Cardiac toxicity is one of the most frequent serious side effects of cancer therapy, affecting up to 30% of treated patients. Cancer treatment-induced cardiotoxicity (CTiCT) can result in severe heart failure. The trade-off between cancer and chronic heart failure is an immense personal burden with physical and psychological consequences. Current therapies for CTiCT are suboptimal, featuring poor early detection algorithms and nonspecific heart failure treatments. Based on our recently published results and additional preliminary data presented here, we propose that CTiCT is associated with altered mitochondrial dynamics, triggering a cardiomyocyte metabolic reprogramming. MATRIX represents a holistic approach to tackling mitochondrial dysfunction in CTiCT. Our hypothesis is that reverting metabolic reprogramming by shifting mitochondrial substrate utilization could represent a new paradigm in the treatment of early-stage CTiCT. By refining a novel imaging-based algorithm recently developed in our group, we will achieve very early detection of myocardial damage in patients treated with commonly prescribed cancer therapies, long before clinically used parameters become abnormal. Such early detection, not available currently, is crucial for implementation of early therapies. We also hypothesize that in end-stage CTiCT, mitochondrial dysfunction has passed a no-return point, and the failing heart will only be rescued by a strategy to replenish the myocardium with fresh healthy mitochondria. This will be achieved with a radical new therapeutic option: in-vivo mitochondrial transplantation. The MATRIX project has broad translational potential, including a new therapeutic approach to a clinically relevant condition, the development of technology for early diagnosis, and advances in knowledge of basic disease mechanisms.
Cardiac toxicity is one of the most frequent serious side effects of cancer therapy, affecting up to 30% of treated patients. Cancer treatment-induced cardiotoxicity (CTiCT) can result in severe heart failure. The trade-off between cancer and chronic heart failure is an immense personal burden with physical and psychological consequences. Current therapies for CTiCT are suboptimal, featuring poor early detection algorithms and nonspecific heart failure treatments. Based on our recently published results and additional preliminary data presented here, we propose that CTiCT is associated with altered mitochondrial dynamics, triggering a cardiomyocyte metabolic reprogramming. MATRIX represents a holistic approach to tackling mitochondrial dysfunction in CTiCT. Our hypothesis is that reverting metabolic reprogramming by shifting mitochondrial substrate utilization could represent a new paradigm in the treatment of early-stage CTiCT. By refining a novel imaging-based algorithm recently developed in our group, we will achieve very early detection of myocardial damage in patients treated with commonly prescribed cancer therapies, long before clinically used parameters become abnormal. Such early detection, not available currently, is crucial for implementation of early therapies. We also hypothesize that in end-stage CTiCT, mitochondrial dysfunction has passed a no-return point, and the failing heart will only be rescued by a strategy to replenish the myocardium with fresh healthy mitochondria. This will be achieved with a radical new therapeutic option: in-vivo mitochondrial transplantation. The MATRIX project has broad translational potential, including a new therapeutic approach to a clinically relevant condition, the development of technology for early diagnosis, and advances in knowledge of basic disease mechanisms.
Project acronym METAmorphoses
Project Shapeshifting Metasurfaces for Chemically Selective Augmented Reality
Researcher (PI) Antonio AMBROSIO
Summary I propose to realize the first shapeshifting optical metasurface that changes its functionality on-demand and adapts to changing external conditions. The metasurface may work as a chemically selective lens that allows transmission only of the spectral fingerprint of a specific molecule in the mid-IR wavelength range. The same metasurface can later be turned into an adaptive lens for focusing and detection under the skin. For such ambitious goal, a radically new approach is needed. I will realize shapeshifting metasurfaces made of a polymer containing photo-switchable molecules. The surface of such polymers undergoes a morphology re-organization (surface structuring) when illuminated by an external visible light pattern. The polymer will be structured with visible light and the resulting metasurfaces will work in the mid-IR. I will use state-of-the-art optical nano-imaging techniques to investigate the surface structuring phenomenon at the nanoscale in order to achieve full control of the mechanism. Since the polymer surface can continuously be adjusted with the illuminating visible light, it will be possible to shift from one encoded optical functionality to a completely different one. Once optimized, this completely out-of-the-box approach will be completed by developing a feedback mechanism that allows for self- adjustment of the polymeric metasurface to changing external conditions. This will open endless possibilities in many fields, from medical imaging to security and quality control. The proposed approach is unprecedented but it is perfectly in line with my research activities, resulting in fact from merging different techniques that I master into a new research field. My approach is also inexpensive relative to the usual nano-fabrication techniques and immediately compatible with high-volume production, providing a viable technology platform for lightweight, eyewear technology, that reflects the views of key industrial players in the field.
I propose to realize the first shapeshifting optical metasurface that changes its functionality on-demand and adapts to changing external conditions. The metasurface may work as a chemically selective lens that allows transmission only of the spectral fingerprint of a specific molecule in the mid-IR wavelength range. The same metasurface can later be turned into an adaptive lens for focusing and detection under the skin. For such ambitious goal, a radically new approach is needed. I will realize shapeshifting metasurfaces made of a polymer containing photo-switchable molecules. The surface of such polymers undergoes a morphology re-organization (surface structuring) when illuminated by an external visible light pattern. The polymer will be structured with visible light and the resulting metasurfaces will work in the mid-IR. I will use state-of-the-art optical nano-imaging techniques to investigate the surface structuring phenomenon at the nanoscale in order to achieve full control of the mechanism. Since the polymer surface can continuously be adjusted with the illuminating visible light, it will be possible to shift from one encoded optical functionality to a completely different one. Once optimized, this completely out-of-the-box approach will be completed by developing a feedback mechanism that allows for self- adjustment of the polymeric metasurface to changing external conditions. This will open endless possibilities in many fields, from medical imaging to security and quality control. The proposed approach is unprecedented but it is perfectly in line with my research activities, resulting in fact from merging different techniques that I master into a new research field. My approach is also inexpensive relative to the usual nano-fabrication techniques and immediately compatible with high-volume production, providing a viable technology platform for lightweight, eyewear technology, that reflects the views of key industrial players in the field.
Project acronym MOF-reactors
Project Metal-Organic Frameworks as Chemical Reactors for the Synthesis of Well-Defined Sub-Nanometer Metal Clusters
Researcher (PI) Emilio PARDO
Summary Humankind advancement is connected to the use and development of metal forms. Recent works have unveiled exceptional properties –such as luminescence, biocompatibility, antitumoral activity or a superlative catalytic activity– for small aggregations of metal atoms, so–called sub–nanometer metal clusters (SNMCs). Despite this importance, the gram-scale synthesis of structurally and electronically well–defined SNMCs is still far from being a reality. The present proposal situates at the centre of such weakness and aims at making a breakthrough step-change on the use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as chemical reactors for the in–situ synthesis of stable ligand-free SNMCs with such unique properties. This challenging synthetic strategy, which is assisted by striking published and inedited preliminary results, has solid foundations. Firstly, the design and large-scale preparation of cheap and novel families of highly robust and crystalline MOFs with tailor-made functional channels to be used as chemical reactors. Secondly, the application of solid-state post-synthetic methods to drive the multigram-scale preparation of unique ligand-free homo- and heterometallic SNMCs, which are, in the best-case scenario, very difficult to be obtained and stabilised outside the channels. Last but not least, single-crystal X-Ray diffraction will be used as the definitive tool for the characterisation, at the atomic level, of such ultrasmall species offering unprecedented snapshots about their real structures and formation mechanisms. The ultimate goal will be upscaling this synthetic strategy aiming at the large-scale fabrication of SNMCs and their industrial application will be then evaluated. A successful achievement of all the aforementioned objectives of this ground-breaking project would open new routes for the use of MOFs as chemical reactors to manufacture, at competitive prices, MOF-driven, structurally and electronically well–defined, ligand–free SNMCs in a multigram-scale.
Humankind advancement is connected to the use and development of metal forms. Recent works have unveiled exceptional properties –such as luminescence, biocompatibility, antitumoral activity or a superlative catalytic activity– for small aggregations of metal atoms, so–called sub–nanometer metal clusters (SNMCs). Despite this importance, the gram-scale synthesis of structurally and electronically well–defined SNMCs is still far from being a reality. The present proposal situates at the centre of such weakness and aims at making a breakthrough step-change on the use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as chemical reactors for the in–situ synthesis of stable ligand-free SNMCs with such unique properties. This challenging synthetic strategy, which is assisted by striking published and inedited preliminary results, has solid foundations. Firstly, the design and large-scale preparation of cheap and novel families of highly robust and crystalline MOFs with tailor-made functional channels to be used as chemical reactors. Secondly, the application of solid-state post-synthetic methods to drive the multigram-scale preparation of unique ligand-free homo- and heterometallic SNMCs, which are, in the best-case scenario, very difficult to be obtained and stabilised outside the channels. Last but not least, single-crystal X-Ray diffraction will be used as the definitive tool for the characterisation, at the atomic level, of such ultrasmall species offering unprecedented snapshots about their real structures and formation mechanisms. The ultimate goal will be upscaling this synthetic strategy aiming at the large-scale fabrication of SNMCs and their industrial application will be then evaluated. A successful achievement of all the aforementioned objectives of this ground-breaking project would open new routes for the use of MOFs as chemical reactors to manufacture, at competitive prices, MOF-driven, structurally and electronically well–defined, ligand–free SNMCs in a multigram-scale.
Project acronym MyNano
Project Towards the design of Personalised Polymer-based Combination Nanomedicines for Advanced Stage Breast Cancer Patients
Researcher (PI) Maria Jesus Vicent Docon
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACION DE LA COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION PRINCIPEFELIPE
Summary Research on anticancer therapies has provided little progress towards improved survival rates for patients with metastatic disease. The intrinsic advantages of polymer conjugates can be optimised to rationally design targeted combination therapies, concept I pioneered that allows enhanced therapeutic efficiency. Early clinical trials involving conjugates showed activity in chemotherapy refractory patients and reduced drug-related toxicity. However, there is a growing concern on patient variability regarding tumor patho-physiology that underlie successful therapeutic outcome. Specific biomarkers are required to select those patients most likely to show good clinical response to these therapies. The objective of MyNano is to engineer polymer-based combination therapies designed to treat metastatic breast cancer in a patient personalised manner. Therefore, novel multicomponent polymer conjugates with precise control over size, shape, solution conformation, multifunctionality and bioresponsiveness will be obtained while in parallel their structure activity relationships to underlying proposed mechanisms of action in clinically relevant models will be studied. Polyglutamates obtained by controlled polymerisation and self-assembly strategies will be the carriers. Primary breast cancer patient tissue will be used to generate cell and in vivo models representing different clinical molecular subtypes. MyNano will also investigate new combination strategies using current treatments together with inhibitors of tumor-derived exosome release pathways, phenomenon related to metastasis and resistance mechanisms. The aim is to provide a novel methodological approach that would allow by reiterative design to optimise the design of the next generation nanoconjugates for the treatment of specific metastatic cancer clinical subtypes. MyNano will be a breakthrough as it introduces a paradigm shift in the strategy to design nanomedicines in areas of unmet clinical need.
Research on anticancer therapies has provided little progress towards improved survival rates for patients with metastatic disease. The intrinsic advantages of polymer conjugates can be optimised to rationally design targeted combination therapies, concept I pioneered that allows enhanced therapeutic efficiency. Early clinical trials involving conjugates showed activity in chemotherapy refractory patients and reduced drug-related toxicity. However, there is a growing concern on patient variability regarding tumor patho-physiology that underlie successful therapeutic outcome. Specific biomarkers are required to select those patients most likely to show good clinical response to these therapies. The objective of MyNano is to engineer polymer-based combination therapies designed to treat metastatic breast cancer in a patient personalised manner. Therefore, novel multicomponent polymer conjugates with precise control over size, shape, solution conformation, multifunctionality and bioresponsiveness will be obtained while in parallel their structure activity relationships to underlying proposed mechanisms of action in clinically relevant models will be studied. Polyglutamates obtained by controlled polymerisation and self-assembly strategies will be the carriers. Primary breast cancer patient tissue will be used to generate cell and in vivo models representing different clinical molecular subtypes. MyNano will also investigate new combination strategies using current treatments together with inhibitors of tumor-derived exosome release pathways, phenomenon related to metastasis and resistance mechanisms. The aim is to provide a novel methodological approach that would allow by reiterative design to optimise the design of the next generation nanoconjugates for the treatment of specific metastatic cancer clinical subtypes. MyNano will be a breakthrough as it introduces a paradigm shift in the strategy to design nanomedicines in areas of unmet clinical need.
Project acronym NANOPDICS
Project Optoelectrical Dynamics of Ion channel Activation in Calcium Nanodomains
Researcher (PI) Teresa Giraldez Fernandez
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD DE LA LAGUNA
Summary In neurons, sites of Ca2+ influx and Ca2+ sensors are located within 20-50 nm, in subcellular “Ca2+ nanodomains”. Such tight coupling is crucial for the functional properties of synapses and neuronal excitability. Two key players act together in nanodomains, coupling Ca2+ signal to membrane potential: the voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCC) and the large conductance Ca2+ and voltage-gated K+ channels (BK). BK channels are characterized by synergistic activation by Ca2+ and membrane depolarization, but the complex molecular mechanism underlying channel function is not adequately understood. Information about the pore region, voltage sensing domain or isolated intracellular domains has been obtained separately using electrophysiology, biochemistry and crystallography. Nevertheless, the specialized behavior of this channel must be studied in the whole protein complex at the membrane in order to determine the complete range of structures and movements critical to its in vivo function. Using a combination of genetics, electrophysiology and spectroscopy, our group has measured for the first time the structural rearrangements accompanying whole BK channel activation at the membrane. From this unique position, our first goal is to fully determine the real time structural dynamics underlying the molecular coupling of Ca2+, voltage and activation of BK channels in the membrane environment, its regulation by accessory subunits and channel effectors. BK subcellular localization and role in Ca2+ nanodomains make these channels perfect candidates as reporters of local changes in [Ca2+] restricted to specific nanodomains close to the neuronal membrane. In our laboratory we have created fluorescent variants of the channel that report BK activity induced by Ca2+ binding, or Ca2+ binding and voltage. Our second aim in this proposal is to optimize and deploy this novel optoelectrical reporters to study physiologically relevant Ca2+-induced processes both in cellular and animal mode
In neurons, sites of Ca2+ influx and Ca2+ sensors are located within 20-50 nm, in subcellular “Ca2+ nanodomains”. Such tight coupling is crucial for the functional properties of synapses and neuronal excitability. Two key players act together in nanodomains, coupling Ca2+ signal to membrane potential: the voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCC) and the large conductance Ca2+ and voltage-gated K+ channels (BK). BK channels are characterized by synergistic activation by Ca2+ and membrane depolarization, but the complex molecular mechanism underlying channel function is not adequately understood. Information about the pore region, voltage sensing domain or isolated intracellular domains has been obtained separately using electrophysiology, biochemistry and crystallography. Nevertheless, the specialized behavior of this channel must be studied in the whole protein complex at the membrane in order to determine the complete range of structures and movements critical to its in vivo function. Using a combination of genetics, electrophysiology and spectroscopy, our group has measured for the first time the structural rearrangements accompanying whole BK channel activation at the membrane. From this unique position, our first goal is to fully determine the real time structural dynamics underlying the molecular coupling of Ca2+, voltage and activation of BK channels in the membrane environment, its regulation by accessory subunits and channel effectors. BK subcellular localization and role in Ca2+ nanodomains make these channels perfect candidates as reporters of local changes in [Ca2+] restricted to specific nanodomains close to the neuronal membrane. In our laboratory we have created fluorescent variants of the channel that report BK activity induced by Ca2+ binding, or Ca2+ binding and voltage. Our second aim in this proposal is to optimize and deploy this novel optoelectrical reporters to study physiologically relevant Ca2+-induced processes both in cellular and animal mode
Project acronym NBEB-SSP
Project Nonparametric Bayes and empirical Bayes for species sampling problems: classical questions, new directions and related issues
Researcher (PI) Stefano FAVARO
Summary Consider a population of individuals belonging to different species with unknown proportions. Given an initial (observable) random sample from the population, how do we estimate the number of species in the population, or the probability of discovering a new species in one additional sample, or the number of hitherto unseen species that would be observed in additional unobservable samples? These are archetypal examples of a broad class of statistical problems referred to as species sampling problems (SSP), namely: statistical problems in which the objects of inference are functionals involving the unknown species proportions and/or the species frequency counts induced by observable and unobservable samples from the population. SSPs first appeared in ecology, and their importance has grown considerably in the recent years driven by challenging applications in a wide range of leading scientific disciplines, e.g., biosciences and physical sciences, engineering sciences, machine learning, theoretical computer science and information theory, etc. The objective of this project is the introduction and a thorough investigation of new nonparametric Bayes and empirical Bayes methods for SSPs. The proposed advances will include: i) addressing challenging methodological open problems in classical SSPs under the nonparametric empirical Bayes framework, which is arguably the most developed (currently most implemented by practitioners) framework do deal with classical SSPs; fully exploiting and developing the potential of tools from mathematical analysis, combinatorial probability and Bayesian nonparametric statistics to set forth a coherent modern approach to classical SSPs, and then investigating the interplay between this approach and its empirical counterpart; extending the scope of the above studies to more challenging SSPs, and classes of generalized SSPs, that have emerged recently in the fields of biosciences and physical sciences, machine learning and information theory.
Consider a population of individuals belonging to different species with unknown proportions. Given an initial (observable) random sample from the population, how do we estimate the number of species in the population, or the probability of discovering a new species in one additional sample, or the number of hitherto unseen species that would be observed in additional unobservable samples? These are archetypal examples of a broad class of statistical problems referred to as species sampling problems (SSP), namely: statistical problems in which the objects of inference are functionals involving the unknown species proportions and/or the species frequency counts induced by observable and unobservable samples from the population. SSPs first appeared in ecology, and their importance has grown considerably in the recent years driven by challenging applications in a wide range of leading scientific disciplines, e.g., biosciences and physical sciences, engineering sciences, machine learning, theoretical computer science and information theory, etc. The objective of this project is the introduction and a thorough investigation of new nonparametric Bayes and empirical Bayes methods for SSPs. The proposed advances will include: i) addressing challenging methodological open problems in classical SSPs under the nonparametric empirical Bayes framework, which is arguably the most developed (currently most implemented by practitioners) framework do deal with classical SSPs; fully exploiting and developing the potential of tools from mathematical analysis, combinatorial probability and Bayesian nonparametric statistics to set forth a coherent modern approach to classical SSPs, and then investigating the interplay between this approach and its empirical counterpart; extending the scope of the above studies to more challenging SSPs, and classes of generalized SSPs, that have emerged recently in the fields of biosciences and physical sciences, machine learning and information theory.
Project acronym NEURO-PATTERNS
Project How neuronal activity patterns drive behavior: novel all-optical control and monitoring of brain neuronal networks with high spatiotemporal resolution
Researcher (PI) Tommaso Fellin
Summary When we see an object, hear a sound or smell an odor, precise spatial and temporal patterns of electrical activity are generated within neuronal networks located in specialized brain areas. This electrical representation of the external stimulus mediates perception and sensory experience. However, this process is highly variable, and repetition of the very same sensory experience results in distinct network activity patterns. What does this variability mean for perception? Do distinct activity patterns carry different information about the stimulus? Or rather, does the brain code the same information coming from the outside world in multiple and equivalent ways? Answering these questions and determining how patterns of activity in neuronal populations are used for behavior has not been possible because of the inability to change the activity of neurons with single cell precision over large networks in an intact mammalian brain. In this ambitious proposal we will take a multidisciplinary approach to causally address these questions and decipher the computational principles of brain networks. To achieve this goal we will develop innovative optical technologies for manipulating and monitoring brain circuits with single cell resolution in the intact mouse brain. We will combine these new techniques with novel genetic manipulations and psychophysical behavioral methods that allow precise quantification of animals’ perceptual performance. Using this unique set of tools, we will unravel how the spatial (across neurons) and temporal (across time) aspects of neuronal electrical activity patterns encode information that guides behavior. In achieving our goals we will produce a new technology for stimulating and monitoring neurons in the brains of behaving animals with single-cell specificity that can be adapted to explore cellular dynamics in highly scattering biological media.
When we see an object, hear a sound or smell an odor, precise spatial and temporal patterns of electrical activity are generated within neuronal networks located in specialized brain areas. This electrical representation of the external stimulus mediates perception and sensory experience. However, this process is highly variable, and repetition of the very same sensory experience results in distinct network activity patterns. What does this variability mean for perception? Do distinct activity patterns carry different information about the stimulus? Or rather, does the brain code the same information coming from the outside world in multiple and equivalent ways? Answering these questions and determining how patterns of activity in neuronal populations are used for behavior has not been possible because of the inability to change the activity of neurons with single cell precision over large networks in an intact mammalian brain. In this ambitious proposal we will take a multidisciplinary approach to causally address these questions and decipher the computational principles of brain networks. To achieve this goal we will develop innovative optical technologies for manipulating and monitoring brain circuits with single cell resolution in the intact mouse brain. We will combine these new techniques with novel genetic manipulations and psychophysical behavioral methods that allow precise quantification of animals’ perceptual performance. Using this unique set of tools, we will unravel how the spatial (across neurons) and temporal (across time) aspects of neuronal electrical activity patterns encode information that guides behavior. In achieving our goals we will produce a new technology for stimulating and monitoring neurons in the brains of behaving animals with single-cell specificity that can be adapted to explore cellular dynamics in highly scattering biological media.
Project acronym NICHOID
Project Mechanobiology of nuclear import of transcription factors modeled within a bioengineered stem cell niche.
Researcher (PI) Manuela Teresa Raimondi
Summary Many therapeutic applications of stem cells require accurate control of their differentiation. To this purpose there is a major ongoing effort in the development of advanced culture substrates to be used as “synthetic niches” for the cells, mimicking the native ones. The goal of this project is to use a synthetic niche cell culture model to test my revolutionary hypothesis that in stem cell differentiation, nuclear import of gene-regulating transcription factors is controlled by the stretch of the nuclear pore complexes. If verified, this idea could lead to a breakthrough in biomimetic approaches to engineering stem cell differentiation. I investigate this question specifically in mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), because they are adherent and highly mechano-sensitive to architectural cues of the microenvironment. To verify my hypothesis I will use a combined experimental-computational model of mechanotransduction. I will a) scale-up an existing three-dimensional synthetic niche culture substrate, fabricated by two-photon laser polymerization, b) characterize the effect of tridimensionality on the differentiation fate of MSC cultured in the niches, c) develop a multiphysics/multiscale computational model of nuclear import of transcription factors within differentially-spread cultured cells, and d) integrate the numerical predictions with experimentally-measured import of fluorescently-labelled transcription factors. This project requires the synergic combination of several advanced bioengineering technologies, including micro/nano fabrication and biomimetics. The use of two-photon laser polymerization for controlling the geometry of the synthetic cell niches is very innovative and will highly impact the fields of bioengineering and biomaterial technology. A successful outcome will lead to a deeper understanding of bioengineering methods to direct stem cell fate and have therefore a significant impact in tissue repair technologies and regenerative medicine.
Many therapeutic applications of stem cells require accurate control of their differentiation. To this purpose there is a major ongoing effort in the development of advanced culture substrates to be used as “synthetic niches” for the cells, mimicking the native ones. The goal of this project is to use a synthetic niche cell culture model to test my revolutionary hypothesis that in stem cell differentiation, nuclear import of gene-regulating transcription factors is controlled by the stretch of the nuclear pore complexes. If verified, this idea could lead to a breakthrough in biomimetic approaches to engineering stem cell differentiation. I investigate this question specifically in mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), because they are adherent and highly mechano-sensitive to architectural cues of the microenvironment. To verify my hypothesis I will use a combined experimental-computational model of mechanotransduction. I will a) scale-up an existing three-dimensional synthetic niche culture substrate, fabricated by two-photon laser polymerization, b) characterize the effect of tridimensionality on the differentiation fate of MSC cultured in the niches, c) develop a multiphysics/multiscale computational model of nuclear import of transcription factors within differentially-spread cultured cells, and d) integrate the numerical predictions with experimentally-measured import of fluorescently-labelled transcription factors. This project requires the synergic combination of several advanced bioengineering technologies, including micro/nano fabrication and biomimetics. The use of two-photon laser polymerization for controlling the geometry of the synthetic cell niches is very innovative and will highly impact the fields of bioengineering and biomaterial technology. A successful outcome will lead to a deeper understanding of bioengineering methods to direct stem cell fate and have therefore a significant impact in tissue repair technologies and regenerative medicine.
Project acronym NPTEV-TQP2020
Project Uncovering New Phenomena at the TeV Scale With Top Quarks
Researcher (PI) Lucio Cerrito
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA TOR VERGATA
Summary Our understanding of the subatomic world and of the very fabric of the space-time is encompassed in a theory which is the result of all past experimental observations and theoretical developments: the Standard Model of Particle Physics. Yet cosmological observations and theoretical arguments lead us to conclude that new phenomenology, new particles, forces, or a new space-time structure is waiting to be uncovered. Naturalness of the recently discovered Higgs boson suggests that new phenomena should appear at the tera-electronvolt (TeV) scale, and will be accompanied by modifications to the dynamics of the heaviest elementary particle known: the top quark. The aim of this proposal is to perform five measurements involving top quarks with the data that will be collected by the ATLAS experiment at the upcoming Run II (2015-18) of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC): the top quark mass, the CP violation in B hadron decays from the top, the top-Z boson couplings, the search for the top's Flavour Changing Neutral decays, and the search for heavy resonances decaying to top pairs. While measuring these properties is nothing new, the measurements are performed coherently using novel techniques beyond state-of-the-art to push the boundaries on the sensitivity of the limited Run II data, hence allowing the discovery of new phenomena at the LHC before 2020.
Our understanding of the subatomic world and of the very fabric of the space-time is encompassed in a theory which is the result of all past experimental observations and theoretical developments: the Standard Model of Particle Physics. Yet cosmological observations and theoretical arguments lead us to conclude that new phenomenology, new particles, forces, or a new space-time structure is waiting to be uncovered. Naturalness of the recently discovered Higgs boson suggests that new phenomena should appear at the tera-electronvolt (TeV) scale, and will be accompanied by modifications to the dynamics of the heaviest elementary particle known: the top quark. The aim of this proposal is to perform five measurements involving top quarks with the data that will be collected by the ATLAS experiment at the upcoming Run II (2015-18) of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC): the top quark mass, the CP violation in B hadron decays from the top, the top-Z boson couplings, the search for the top's Flavour Changing Neutral decays, and the search for heavy resonances decaying to top pairs. While measuring these properties is nothing new, the measurements are performed coherently using novel techniques beyond state-of-the-art to push the boundaries on the sensitivity of the limited Run II data, hence allowing the discovery of new phenomena at the LHC before 2020.
Project acronym PAIDEIA
Project PlAsmon InduceD hot Electron extraction with doped semiconductors for Infrared solAr energy
Researcher (PI) Francesco SCOTOGNELLA
Summary Earth is inhabited by an energy hungry human society. The Sun, with a global radiation at the ground level of more than 1 kW/m^2, is our largest source of energy. However, 45% of the total radiation is in the near infrared (NIR) and is not absorbed by most photovoltaic materials. PAIDEIA focuses on two main advantages aiming to enhance the capacity of solar energy conversion: i) plasmon assisted hot carriers extraction from NIR plasmonic materials; ii) linewidth narrowing in plasmonic nanoparticle films that enhances the lifetime of hot carriers and, thus, boosts the efficiency of light driven carrier extraction. Instead of metals, which operate mostly in the visible region, we will make use of doped semiconductor nanocrystals (DSNCs) as hot electron extraction materials possessing a plasmonic response tunable in the range 800 nm – 4000 nm. Three different innovative architectures will be used for improved device performance: i) improved Schottky junctions (DSNC/wide band gap semiconductor nanocomposites); ii) ultrathin devices (DSNCs/2D quantum materials); iii) maximized interface DSNC/semiconductor bulk hetero-Schottky junctions. By combining both concepts in advanced architectures we aim to produce a solar cell device that functions in the NIR with efficiencies of up to 10%. A tandem solar cell that combines the conventional power conversion efficiency, up to ~1100 nm, of a commercial Si solar cell (~20%) with the new PAIDEIA based device is expected to reach a total power conversion efficiency of 30% by extending the width of wavelengths that are converted to the full spectral range delivered by the Sun. PAIDEIA has a deeply fundamental character impacting several areas in the field of nanophysics, nanochemistry and materials processing and, at the same time, having a high impact on the study of solar energy conversion. Finally, PAIDEIA will provide answers to the fundamental questions regarding the physical behaviour of plasmonic/semiconductor interfaces.
Earth is inhabited by an energy hungry human society. The Sun, with a global radiation at the ground level of more than 1 kW/m^2, is our largest source of energy. However, 45% of the total radiation is in the near infrared (NIR) and is not absorbed by most photovoltaic materials. PAIDEIA focuses on two main advantages aiming to enhance the capacity of solar energy conversion: i) plasmon assisted hot carriers extraction from NIR plasmonic materials; ii) linewidth narrowing in plasmonic nanoparticle films that enhances the lifetime of hot carriers and, thus, boosts the efficiency of light driven carrier extraction. Instead of metals, which operate mostly in the visible region, we will make use of doped semiconductor nanocrystals (DSNCs) as hot electron extraction materials possessing a plasmonic response tunable in the range 800 nm – 4000 nm. Three different innovative architectures will be used for improved device performance: i) improved Schottky junctions (DSNC/wide band gap semiconductor nanocomposites); ii) ultrathin devices (DSNCs/2D quantum materials); iii) maximized interface DSNC/semiconductor bulk hetero-Schottky junctions. By combining both concepts in advanced architectures we aim to produce a solar cell device that functions in the NIR with efficiencies of up to 10%. A tandem solar cell that combines the conventional power conversion efficiency, up to ~1100 nm, of a commercial Si solar cell (~20%) with the new PAIDEIA based device is expected to reach a total power conversion efficiency of 30% by extending the width of wavelengths that are converted to the full spectral range delivered by the Sun. PAIDEIA has a deeply fundamental character impacting several areas in the field of nanophysics, nanochemistry and materials processing and, at the same time, having a high impact on the study of solar energy conversion. Finally, PAIDEIA will provide answers to the fundamental questions regarding the physical behaviour of plasmonic/semiconductor interfaces.
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Project acronym 1st-principles-discs
Project A First Principles Approach to Accretion Discs
Researcher (PI) Martin Elias Pessah
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE9, ERC-2012-StG_20111012
Summary Most celestial bodies, from planets, to stars, to black holes; gain mass during their lives by means of an accretion disc. Understanding the physical processes that determine the rate at which matter accretes and energy is radiated in these discs is vital for unraveling the formation, evolution, and fate of almost every type of object in the Universe. Despite the fact that magnetic fields have been known to be crucial in accretion discs since the early 90’s, the majority of astrophysical questions that depend on the details of how disc accretion proceeds are still being addressed using the “standard” accretion disc model (developed in the early 70’s), where magnetic fields do not play an explicit role. This has prevented us from fully exploring the astrophysical consequences and observational signatures of realistic accretion disc models, leading to a profound disconnect between observations (usually interpreted with the standard paradigm) and modern accretion disc theory and numerical simulations (where magnetic turbulence is crucial). The goal of this proposal is to use several complementary approaches in order to finally move beyond the standard paradigm. This program has two main objectives: 1) Develop the theoretical framework to incorporate magnetic fields, and the ensuing turbulence, into self-consistent accretion disc models, and investigate their observational implications. 2) Investigate transport and radiative processes in collision-less disc regions, where non-thermal radiation originates, by employing a kinetic particle description of the plasma. In order to achieve these goals, we will use, and build upon, state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamic and particle-in-cell codes in conjunction with theoretical modeling. This framework will make it possible to address fundamental questions on stellar and planet formation, binary systems with a compact object, and supermassive black hole feedback in a way that has no counterpart within the standard paradigm.
Most celestial bodies, from planets, to stars, to black holes; gain mass during their lives by means of an accretion disc. Understanding the physical processes that determine the rate at which matter accretes and energy is radiated in these discs is vital for unraveling the formation, evolution, and fate of almost every type of object in the Universe. Despite the fact that magnetic fields have been known to be crucial in accretion discs since the early 90’s, the majority of astrophysical questions that depend on the details of how disc accretion proceeds are still being addressed using the “standard” accretion disc model (developed in the early 70’s), where magnetic fields do not play an explicit role. This has prevented us from fully exploring the astrophysical consequences and observational signatures of realistic accretion disc models, leading to a profound disconnect between observations (usually interpreted with the standard paradigm) and modern accretion disc theory and numerical simulations (where magnetic turbulence is crucial). The goal of this proposal is to use several complementary approaches in order to finally move beyond the standard paradigm. This program has two main objectives: 1) Develop the theoretical framework to incorporate magnetic fields, and the ensuing turbulence, into self-consistent accretion disc models, and investigate their observational implications. 2) Investigate transport and radiative processes in collision-less disc regions, where non-thermal radiation originates, by employing a kinetic particle description of the plasma. In order to achieve these goals, we will use, and build upon, state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamic and particle-in-cell codes in conjunction with theoretical modeling. This framework will make it possible to address fundamental questions on stellar and planet formation, binary systems with a compact object, and supermassive black hole feedback in a way that has no counterpart within the standard paradigm.
Project acronym 2-3-AUT
Project Surfaces, 3-manifolds and automorphism groups
Researcher (PI) Nathalie Wahl
Summary The scientific goal of the proposal is to answer central questions related to diffeomorphism groups of manifolds of dimension 2 and 3, and to their deformation invariant analogs, the mapping class groups. While the classification of surfaces has been known for more than a century, their automorphism groups have yet to be fully understood. Even less is known about diffeomorphisms of 3-manifolds despite much interest, and the objects here have only been classified recently, by the breakthrough work of Perelman on the Poincar\'e and geometrization conjectures. In dimension 2, I will focus on the relationship between mapping class groups and topological conformal field theories, with applications to Hochschild homology. In dimension 3, I propose to compute the stable homology of classifying spaces of diffeomorphism groups and mapping class groups, as well as study the homotopy type of the space of diffeomorphisms. I propose moreover to establish homological stability theorems in the wider context of automorphism groups and more general families of groups. The project combines breakthrough methods from homotopy theory with methods from differential and geometric topology. The research team will consist of 3 PhD students, and 4 postdocs, which I will lead.
The scientific goal of the proposal is to answer central questions related to diffeomorphism groups of manifolds of dimension 2 and 3, and to their deformation invariant analogs, the mapping class groups. While the classification of surfaces has been known for more than a century, their automorphism groups have yet to be fully understood. Even less is known about diffeomorphisms of 3-manifolds despite much interest, and the objects here have only been classified recently, by the breakthrough work of Perelman on the Poincar\'e and geometrization conjectures. In dimension 2, I will focus on the relationship between mapping class groups and topological conformal field theories, with applications to Hochschild homology. In dimension 3, I propose to compute the stable homology of classifying spaces of diffeomorphism groups and mapping class groups, as well as study the homotopy type of the space of diffeomorphisms. I propose moreover to establish homological stability theorems in the wider context of automorphism groups and more general families of groups. The project combines breakthrough methods from homotopy theory with methods from differential and geometric topology. The research team will consist of 3 PhD students, and 4 postdocs, which I will lead.
Project acronym aCROBAT
Project Circadian Regulation Of Brown Adipose Thermogenesis
Researcher (PI) Zachary Philip Gerhart-Hines
Summary Obesity and diabetes have reached pandemic proportions and new therapeutic strategies are critically needed. Brown adipose tissue (BAT), a major source of heat production, possesses significant energy-dissipating capacity and therefore represents a promising target to use in combating these diseases. Recently, I discovered a novel link between circadian rhythm and thermogenic stress in the control of the conserved, calorie-burning functions of BAT. Circadian and thermogenic signaling to BAT incorporates blood-borne hormonal and nutrient cues with direct neuronal input. Yet how these responses coordinately shape BAT energy-expending potential through the regulation of cell surface receptors, metabolic enzymes, and transcriptional effectors is still not understood. My primary goal is to investigate this previously unappreciated network of crosstalk that allows mammals to effectively orchestrate daily rhythms in BAT metabolism, while maintaining their ability to adapt to abrupt changes in energy demand. My group will address this question using gain and loss-of-function in vitro and in vivo studies, newly-generated mouse models, customized physiological phenotyping, and cutting-edge advances in next generation RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry. Preliminary, small-scale validations of our methodologies have already yielded a number of novel candidates that may drive key facets of BAT metabolism. Additionally, we will extend our circadian and thermogenic studies into humans to evaluate the translational potential. Our results will advance the fundamental understanding of how daily oscillations in bioenergetic networks establish a framework for the anticipation of and adaptation to environmental challenges. Importantly, we expect that these mechanistic insights will reveal pharmacological targets through which we can unlock evolutionary constraints and harness the energy-expending potential of BAT for the prevention and treatment of obesity and diabetes.
Obesity and diabetes have reached pandemic proportions and new therapeutic strategies are critically needed. Brown adipose tissue (BAT), a major source of heat production, possesses significant energy-dissipating capacity and therefore represents a promising target to use in combating these diseases. Recently, I discovered a novel link between circadian rhythm and thermogenic stress in the control of the conserved, calorie-burning functions of BAT. Circadian and thermogenic signaling to BAT incorporates blood-borne hormonal and nutrient cues with direct neuronal input. Yet how these responses coordinately shape BAT energy-expending potential through the regulation of cell surface receptors, metabolic enzymes, and transcriptional effectors is still not understood. My primary goal is to investigate this previously unappreciated network of crosstalk that allows mammals to effectively orchestrate daily rhythms in BAT metabolism, while maintaining their ability to adapt to abrupt changes in energy demand. My group will address this question using gain and loss-of-function in vitro and in vivo studies, newly-generated mouse models, customized physiological phenotyping, and cutting-edge advances in next generation RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry. Preliminary, small-scale validations of our methodologies have already yielded a number of novel candidates that may drive key facets of BAT metabolism. Additionally, we will extend our circadian and thermogenic studies into humans to evaluate the translational potential. Our results will advance the fundamental understanding of how daily oscillations in bioenergetic networks establish a framework for the anticipation of and adaptation to environmental challenges. Importantly, we expect that these mechanistic insights will reveal pharmacological targets through which we can unlock evolutionary constraints and harness the energy-expending potential of BAT for the prevention and treatment of obesity and diabetes.
Project acronym AgeingStemCellFate
Project The Role of Ectopic Adipocyte Progenitors in Age-related Stem Cell Dysfunction, Systemic Inflammation, and Metabolic Disease
Researcher (PI) Tim Julius Schulz
Host Institution (HI) DEUTSCHES INSTITUT FUER ERNAEHRUNGSFORSCHUNG POTSDAM REHBRUECKE
Summary Ageing is accompanied by ectopic white adipose tissue depositions in skeletal muscle and other anatomical locations, such as brown adipose tissue and the bone marrow. Ectopic fat accrual contributes to organ dysfunction, systemic insulin resistance, and other perturbations that have been implicated in metabolic diseases. This research proposal aims to identify the regulatory cues that control the development of ectopic progenitor cells that give rise to this type of fat. It is hypothesized that an age-related dysfunction of the stem cell niche leads to an imbalance between (1) tissue-specific stem cells and (2) fibroblast-like, primarily adipogenic progenitors that reside within many tissues. Novel methodologies that assess stem/progenitor cell characteristics on the single cell level will be combined with animal models of lineage tracing to determine the developmental origin of these adipogenic progenitors and processes that regulate their function. Notch signalling is a key signalling pathway that relies on direct physical interaction to control stem cell fate. It is proposed that impaired Notch activity contributes to the phenotypical shift of precursor cell distribution in aged tissues. Lastly, the role of the stem cell niche in ectopic adipocyte progenitor formation will be analyzed. External signals originating from the surrounding niche cells regulate the developmental fate of stem cells. Secreted factors and their role in the formation of ectopic adipocyte precursors during senescence will be identified using a combination of biochemical and systems biology approaches. Accomplishment of these studies will help to understand the basic processes of stem cell ageing and identify mechanisms of age-related functional decline in tissue regeneration. By targeting the population of tissue-resident adipogenic progenitor cells, therapeutic strategies could be developed to counteract metabolic complications associated with the ageing process.
Ageing is accompanied by ectopic white adipose tissue depositions in skeletal muscle and other anatomical locations, such as brown adipose tissue and the bone marrow. Ectopic fat accrual contributes to organ dysfunction, systemic insulin resistance, and other perturbations that have been implicated in metabolic diseases. This research proposal aims to identify the regulatory cues that control the development of ectopic progenitor cells that give rise to this type of fat. It is hypothesized that an age-related dysfunction of the stem cell niche leads to an imbalance between (1) tissue-specific stem cells and (2) fibroblast-like, primarily adipogenic progenitors that reside within many tissues. Novel methodologies that assess stem/progenitor cell characteristics on the single cell level will be combined with animal models of lineage tracing to determine the developmental origin of these adipogenic progenitors and processes that regulate their function. Notch signalling is a key signalling pathway that relies on direct physical interaction to control stem cell fate. It is proposed that impaired Notch activity contributes to the phenotypical shift of precursor cell distribution in aged tissues. Lastly, the role of the stem cell niche in ectopic adipocyte progenitor formation will be analyzed. External signals originating from the surrounding niche cells regulate the developmental fate of stem cells. Secreted factors and their role in the formation of ectopic adipocyte precursors during senescence will be identified using a combination of biochemical and systems biology approaches. Accomplishment of these studies will help to understand the basic processes of stem cell ageing and identify mechanisms of age-related functional decline in tissue regeneration. By targeting the population of tissue-resident adipogenic progenitor cells, therapeutic strategies could be developed to counteract metabolic complications associated with the ageing process.
Project acronym AlgTateGro
Project Constructing line bundles on algebraic varieties --around conjectures of Tate and Grothendieck
Researcher (PI) François CHARLES
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE PARIS-SUD
Summary The goal of this project is to investigate two conjectures in arithmetic geometry pertaining to the geometry of projective varieties over finite and number fields. These two conjectures, formulated by Tate and Grothendieck in the 1960s, predict which cohomology classes are chern classes of line bundles. They both form an arithmetic counterpart of a theorem of Lefschetz, proved in the 1940s, which itself is the only known case of the Hodge conjecture. These two long-standing conjectures are one of the aspects of a more general web of questions regarding the topology of algebraic varieties which have been emphasized by Grothendieck and have since had a central role in modern arithmetic geometry. Special cases of these conjectures, appearing for instance in the work of Tate, Deligne, Faltings, Schneider-Lang, Masser-Wüstholz, have all had important consequences. My goal is to investigate different lines of attack towards these conjectures, building on recent work on myself and Jean-Benoît Bost on related problems. The two main directions of the proposal are as follows. Over finite fields, the Tate conjecture is related to finiteness results for certain cohomological objects. I want to understand how to relate these to hidden boundedness properties of algebraic varieties that have appeared in my recent geometric proof of the Tate conjecture for K3 surfaces. The existence and relevance of a theory of Donaldson invariants for moduli spaces of twisted sheaves over finite fields seems to be a promising and novel direction. Over number fields, I want to combine the geometric insight above with algebraization techniques developed by Bost. In a joint project, we want to investigate how these can be used to first understand geometrically major results in transcendence theory and then attack the Grothendieck period conjecture for divisors via a number-theoretic and complex-analytic understanding of universal vector extensions of abelian schemes over curves.
The goal of this project is to investigate two conjectures in arithmetic geometry pertaining to the geometry of projective varieties over finite and number fields. These two conjectures, formulated by Tate and Grothendieck in the 1960s, predict which cohomology classes are chern classes of line bundles. They both form an arithmetic counterpart of a theorem of Lefschetz, proved in the 1940s, which itself is the only known case of the Hodge conjecture. These two long-standing conjectures are one of the aspects of a more general web of questions regarding the topology of algebraic varieties which have been emphasized by Grothendieck and have since had a central role in modern arithmetic geometry. Special cases of these conjectures, appearing for instance in the work of Tate, Deligne, Faltings, Schneider-Lang, Masser-Wüstholz, have all had important consequences. My goal is to investigate different lines of attack towards these conjectures, building on recent work on myself and Jean-Benoît Bost on related problems. The two main directions of the proposal are as follows. Over finite fields, the Tate conjecture is related to finiteness results for certain cohomological objects. I want to understand how to relate these to hidden boundedness properties of algebraic varieties that have appeared in my recent geometric proof of the Tate conjecture for K3 surfaces. The existence and relevance of a theory of Donaldson invariants for moduli spaces of twisted sheaves over finite fields seems to be a promising and novel direction. Over number fields, I want to combine the geometric insight above with algebraization techniques developed by Bost. In a joint project, we want to investigate how these can be used to first understand geometrically major results in transcendence theory and then attack the Grothendieck period conjecture for divisors via a number-theoretic and complex-analytic understanding of universal vector extensions of abelian schemes over curves.
Project acronym AltCheM
Project In vivo functional screens to decipher mechanisms of stochastically- and mutationally-induced chemoresistance in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Researcher (PI) Alexandre PUISSANT
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE
Summary Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), the most common leukemia diagnosed in adults, represents the paradigm of resistance to front-line therapies in hematology. Indeed, AML is so genetically complex that only few targeted therapies are currently tested in this disease and chemotherapy remains the only standard treatment for AML since the past four decades. Despite an initial sustained remission achieved by chemotherapeutic agents, almost all patients relapse with a chemoresistant minimal residual disease (MRD). The goal of my proposal is to characterize the still poorly understood biological mechanisms underlying persistence and emergence of MRD. MRD is the consequence of the re-expansion of leukemia-initiating cells that are intrinsically more resistant to chemotherapy. This cell fraction may be stochastically more prone to survive front-line therapy regardless of their mutational status (the stochastic model), or genetically predetermined to resist by virtue of a collection of chemoprotective mutations (the mutational model). I have already generated in mice, by consecutive rounds of chemotherapy, a stochastic MLL-AF9-driven chemoresistance model that I examined by RNA-sequencing. I will pursue the comprehensive cell autonomous and cell non-autonomous characterization of this chemoresistant AML disease using whole-exome and ChIP-sequencing. To establish a mutationally-induced chemoresistant mouse model, I will conduct an innovative in vivo screen using pooled mutant open reading frame and shRNA libraries in order to predict which combinations of mutations, among those already known in AML, actively promote chemoresistance. Finally, by combining genomic profiling and in vivo shRNA screening experiments, I will decipher the molecular mechanisms and identify the functional effectors of these two modes of resistance. Ultimately, I will then be able to firmly establish the fundamental relevance of the stochastic and/or the mutational model of chemoresistance for MRD genesis.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), the most common leukemia diagnosed in adults, represents the paradigm of resistance to front-line therapies in hematology. Indeed, AML is so genetically complex that only few targeted therapies are currently tested in this disease and chemotherapy remains the only standard treatment for AML since the past four decades. Despite an initial sustained remission achieved by chemotherapeutic agents, almost all patients relapse with a chemoresistant minimal residual disease (MRD). The goal of my proposal is to characterize the still poorly understood biological mechanisms underlying persistence and emergence of MRD. MRD is the consequence of the re-expansion of leukemia-initiating cells that are intrinsically more resistant to chemotherapy. This cell fraction may be stochastically more prone to survive front-line therapy regardless of their mutational status (the stochastic model), or genetically predetermined to resist by virtue of a collection of chemoprotective mutations (the mutational model). I have already generated in mice, by consecutive rounds of chemotherapy, a stochastic MLL-AF9-driven chemoresistance model that I examined by RNA-sequencing. I will pursue the comprehensive cell autonomous and cell non-autonomous characterization of this chemoresistant AML disease using whole-exome and ChIP-sequencing. To establish a mutationally-induced chemoresistant mouse model, I will conduct an innovative in vivo screen using pooled mutant open reading frame and shRNA libraries in order to predict which combinations of mutations, among those already known in AML, actively promote chemoresistance. Finally, by combining genomic profiling and in vivo shRNA screening experiments, I will decipher the molecular mechanisms and identify the functional effectors of these two modes of resistance. Ultimately, I will then be able to firmly establish the fundamental relevance of the stochastic and/or the mutational model of chemoresistance for MRD genesis.
Project acronym ANADEL
Project Analysis of Geometrical Effects on Dispersive Equations
Researcher (PI) Danela Oana IVANOVICI
Summary We are concerned with localization properties of solutions to hyperbolic PDEs, especially problems with a geometric component: how do boundaries and heterogeneous media influence spreading and concentration of solutions. While our first focus is on wave and Schrödinger equations on manifolds with boundary, strong connections exist with phase space localization for (clusters of) eigenfunctions, which are of independent interest. Motivations come from nonlinear dispersive models (in physically relevant settings), properties of eigenfunctions in quantum chaos (related to both physics of optic fiber design as well as number theoretic questions), or harmonic analysis on manifolds. Waves propagation in real life physics occur in media which are neither homogeneous or spatially infinity. The birth of radar/sonar technologies (and the raise of computed tomography) greatly motivated numerous developments in microlocal analysis and the linear theory. Only recently toy nonlinear models have been studied on a curved background, sometimes compact or rough. Understanding how to extend such tools, dealing with wave dispersion or focusing, will allow us to significantly progress in our mathematical understanding of physically relevant models. There, boundaries appear naturally and most earlier developments related to propagation of singularities in this context have limited scope with respect to crucial dispersive effects. Despite great progress over the last decade, driven by the study of quasilinear equations, our knowledge is still very limited. Going beyond this recent activity requires new tools whose development is at the heart of this proposal, including good approximate solutions (parametrices) going over arbitrarily large numbers of caustics, sharp pointwise bounds on Green functions, development of efficient wave packets methods, quantitative refinements of propagation of singularities (with direct applications in control theory), only to name a few important ones.
We are concerned with localization properties of solutions to hyperbolic PDEs, especially problems with a geometric component: how do boundaries and heterogeneous media influence spreading and concentration of solutions. While our first focus is on wave and Schrödinger equations on manifolds with boundary, strong connections exist with phase space localization for (clusters of) eigenfunctions, which are of independent interest. Motivations come from nonlinear dispersive models (in physically relevant settings), properties of eigenfunctions in quantum chaos (related to both physics of optic fiber design as well as number theoretic questions), or harmonic analysis on manifolds. Waves propagation in real life physics occur in media which are neither homogeneous or spatially infinity. The birth of radar/sonar technologies (and the raise of computed tomography) greatly motivated numerous developments in microlocal analysis and the linear theory. Only recently toy nonlinear models have been studied on a curved background, sometimes compact or rough. Understanding how to extend such tools, dealing with wave dispersion or focusing, will allow us to significantly progress in our mathematical understanding of physically relevant models. There, boundaries appear naturally and most earlier developments related to propagation of singularities in this context have limited scope with respect to crucial dispersive effects. Despite great progress over the last decade, driven by the study of quasilinear equations, our knowledge is still very limited. Going beyond this recent activity requires new tools whose development is at the heart of this proposal, including good approximate solutions (parametrices) going over arbitrarily large numbers of caustics, sharp pointwise bounds on Green functions, development of efficient wave packets methods, quantitative refinements of propagation of singularities (with direct applications in control theory), only to name a few important ones.
Project acronym ANALYTIC
Project ANALYTIC PROPERTIES OF INFINITE GROUPS: limits, curvature, and randomness
Researcher (PI) Gulnara Arzhantseva
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT WIEN
Summary The overall goal of this project is to develop new concepts and techniques in geometric and asymptotic group theory for a systematic study of the analytic properties of discrete groups. These are properties depending on the unitary representation theory of the group. The fundamental examples are amenability, discovered by von Neumann in 1929, and property (T), introduced by Kazhdan in 1967. My main objective is to establish the precise relations between groups recently appeared in K-theory and topology such as C*-exact groups and groups coarsely embeddable into a Hilbert space, versus those discovered in ergodic theory and operator algebra, for example, sofic and hyperlinear groups. This is a first ever attempt to confront the analytic behavior of so different nature. I plan to work on crucial open questions: Is every coarsely embeddable group C*-exact? Is every group sofic? Is every hyperlinear group sofic? My motivation is two-fold: - Many outstanding conjectures were recently solved for these groups, e.g. the Novikov conjecture (1965) for coarsely embeddable groups by Yu in 2000 and the Gottschalk surjunctivity conjecture (1973) for sofic groups by Gromov in 1999. However, their group-theoretical structure remains mysterious. - In recent years, geometric group theory has undergone significant changes, mainly due to the growing impact of this theory on other branches of mathematics. However, the interplay between geometric, asymptotic, and analytic group properties has not yet been fully understood. The main innovative contribution of this proposal lies in the interaction between 3 axes: (i) limits of groups, in the space of marked groups or metric ultralimits; (ii) analytic properties of groups with curvature, of lacunary or relatively hyperbolic groups; (iii) random groups, in a topological or statistical meaning. As a result, I will describe the above apparently unrelated classes of groups in a unified way and will detail their algebraic behavior.
The overall goal of this project is to develop new concepts and techniques in geometric and asymptotic group theory for a systematic study of the analytic properties of discrete groups. These are properties depending on the unitary representation theory of the group. The fundamental examples are amenability, discovered by von Neumann in 1929, and property (T), introduced by Kazhdan in 1967. My main objective is to establish the precise relations between groups recently appeared in K-theory and topology such as C*-exact groups and groups coarsely embeddable into a Hilbert space, versus those discovered in ergodic theory and operator algebra, for example, sofic and hyperlinear groups. This is a first ever attempt to confront the analytic behavior of so different nature. I plan to work on crucial open questions: Is every coarsely embeddable group C*-exact? Is every group sofic? Is every hyperlinear group sofic? My motivation is two-fold: - Many outstanding conjectures were recently solved for these groups, e.g. the Novikov conjecture (1965) for coarsely embeddable groups by Yu in 2000 and the Gottschalk surjunctivity conjecture (1973) for sofic groups by Gromov in 1999. However, their group-theoretical structure remains mysterious. - In recent years, geometric group theory has undergone significant changes, mainly due to the growing impact of this theory on other branches of mathematics. However, the interplay between geometric, asymptotic, and analytic group properties has not yet been fully understood. The main innovative contribution of this proposal lies in the interaction between 3 axes: (i) limits of groups, in the space of marked groups or metric ultralimits; (ii) analytic properties of groups with curvature, of lacunary or relatively hyperbolic groups; (iii) random groups, in a topological or statistical meaning. As a result, I will describe the above apparently unrelated classes of groups in a unified way and will detail their algebraic behavior.
Project acronym ANGIOMET
Project Angiogenesis-metabolism crosstalk in vascular homeostasis and disease
Researcher (PI) Michael Potente
Host Institution (HI) MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV
Summary "Blood vessels pervade all tissues in the body to supply nutrients and oxygen. Aberrant vessel growth and function are hallmarks of cancer and cardiovascular diseases and they contribute to disease pathogenesis. Antiangiogenic therapeutics have reached the clinic, but limited efficacy and resistance raise unresolved challenges. The current limitations of angiogenic medicine call for a more integrated understanding of the angiogenic process that focuses not only on the instigators of vessel branching but also on mechanisms that sustain vessel growth. Recent insights into fundamental aspects of cell growth move metabolism into spotlight and establish how proliferating cells reprogram their metabolism to provide energy and building blocks for cell replication. During angiogenesis, endothelial cells (ECs) also convert between growth states: although mostly quiescent in adult tissues, ECs divide and migrate rapidly upon angiogenic stimulation. To allow growth of new vessel branches, ECs therefore need to adjust their metabolism to increase energy production and biosynthetic activity. However, the molecular mechanisms that coordinate EC metabolism with angiogenic signalling are not known to date. In this proposal, we put forth the hypothesis that metabolic regulation is a key component of the endothelial angiogenic machinery that is required to sustain vessel growth. Thus, this proposal aims (I) to define transcriptional circuits that link EC growth with metabolism, (II) to explore the regulation of these transcriptional networks by lysine acetylation, a nutrient-regulated protein modification with key functions in metabolism, and (III) to assess the role of sirtuin deacetylases for sensing endothelial energetics during vascular growth. Understanding the principles of angiogenesis-metabolism crosstalk will not only yield novel insights into the basic mechanisms of vessel formation but will also provide unprecedented opportunities for future drug development."
"Blood vessels pervade all tissues in the body to supply nutrients and oxygen. Aberrant vessel growth and function are hallmarks of cancer and cardiovascular diseases and they contribute to disease pathogenesis. Antiangiogenic therapeutics have reached the clinic, but limited efficacy and resistance raise unresolved challenges. The current limitations of angiogenic medicine call for a more integrated understanding of the angiogenic process that focuses not only on the instigators of vessel branching but also on mechanisms that sustain vessel growth. Recent insights into fundamental aspects of cell growth move metabolism into spotlight and establish how proliferating cells reprogram their metabolism to provide energy and building blocks for cell replication. During angiogenesis, endothelial cells (ECs) also convert between growth states: although mostly quiescent in adult tissues, ECs divide and migrate rapidly upon angiogenic stimulation. To allow growth of new vessel branches, ECs therefore need to adjust their metabolism to increase energy production and biosynthetic activity. However, the molecular mechanisms that coordinate EC metabolism with angiogenic signalling are not known to date. In this proposal, we put forth the hypothesis that metabolic regulation is a key component of the endothelial angiogenic machinery that is required to sustain vessel growth. Thus, this proposal aims (I) to define transcriptional circuits that link EC growth with metabolism, (II) to explore the regulation of these transcriptional networks by lysine acetylation, a nutrient-regulated protein modification with key functions in metabolism, and (III) to assess the role of sirtuin deacetylases for sensing endothelial energetics during vascular growth. Understanding the principles of angiogenesis-metabolism crosstalk will not only yield novel insights into the basic mechanisms of vessel formation but will also provide unprecedented opportunities for future drug development."
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Project acronym 3D-JOINT
Project 3D Bioprinting of JOINT Replacements
Researcher (PI) Johannes Jos Malda
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAIR MEDISCH CENTRUM UTRECHT
Summary The world has a significant medical challenge in repairing injured or diseased joints. Joint degeneration and its related pain is a major socio-economic burden that will increase over the next decade and is currently addressed by implanting a metal prosthesis. For the long term, the ideal solution to joint injury is to successfully regenerate rather than replace the damaged cartilage with synthetic implants. Recent advances in key technologies are now bringing this “holy grail” within reach; regenerative approaches, based on cell therapy, are already clinically available albeit only for smaller focal cartilage defects. One of these key technologies is three-dimensional (3D) bio-printing, which provides a greatly controlled placement and organization of living constructs through the layer-by-layer deposition of materials and cells. These tissue constructs can be applied as tissue models for research and screening. However, the lack of biomechanical properties of these tissue constructs has hampered their application to the regeneration of damaged, degenerated or diseased tissue. Having established a cartilage-focussed research laboratory in the University Medical Center Utrecht, I have addressed this biomechanical limitation of hydrogels through the use of hydrogel composites. Specifically, I have pioneered a 3D bio-printing technology that combines accurately printed small diameter thermoplast filaments with cell invasive hydrogels to form strong fibre-reinforced constructs. This, in combination with bioreactor technology, is the key to the generation of larger, complex tissue constructs with cartilage-like biomechanical resilience. With 3D-JOINT I will use my in-depth bio-printing and bioreactor knowledge and experience to develop a multi-phasic 3D-printed biological replacement of the joint.
The world has a significant medical challenge in repairing injured or diseased joints. Joint degeneration and its related pain is a major socio-economic burden that will increase over the next decade and is currently addressed by implanting a metal prosthesis. For the long term, the ideal solution to joint injury is to successfully regenerate rather than replace the damaged cartilage with synthetic implants. Recent advances in key technologies are now bringing this “holy grail” within reach; regenerative approaches, based on cell therapy, are already clinically available albeit only for smaller focal cartilage defects. One of these key technologies is three-dimensional (3D) bio-printing, which provides a greatly controlled placement and organization of living constructs through the layer-by-layer deposition of materials and cells. These tissue constructs can be applied as tissue models for research and screening. However, the lack of biomechanical properties of these tissue constructs has hampered their application to the regeneration of damaged, degenerated or diseased tissue. Having established a cartilage-focussed research laboratory in the University Medical Center Utrecht, I have addressed this biomechanical limitation of hydrogels through the use of hydrogel composites. Specifically, I have pioneered a 3D bio-printing technology that combines accurately printed small diameter thermoplast filaments with cell invasive hydrogels to form strong fibre-reinforced constructs. This, in combination with bioreactor technology, is the key to the generation of larger, complex tissue constructs with cartilage-like biomechanical resilience. With 3D-JOINT I will use my in-depth bio-printing and bioreactor knowledge and experience to develop a multi-phasic 3D-printed biological replacement of the joint.
Project acronym 3Ps
Project 3Ps Plastic-Antibodies, Plasmonics and Photovoltaic-Cells: on-site screening of cancer biomarkers made possible
Researcher (PI) Maria Goreti Ferreira Sales
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ENGENHARIA DO PORTO
Summary This project presents a new concept for the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of cancer biomarker patterns in point-of-care. The device under development will make use of the selectivity of the plastic antibodies as sensing materials and the interference they will play on the normal operation of a photovoltaic cell. Plastic antibodies will be designed by surface imprinting procedures. Self-assembled monolayer and molecular imprinting techniques will be merged in this process because they allow the self-assembly of nanostructured materials on a “bottom-up” nanofabrication approach. A dye-sensitized solar cell will be used as photovoltaic cell. It includes a liquid interface in the cell circuit, which allows the introduction of the sample (also in liquid phase) without disturbing the normal cell operation. Furthermore, it works well with rather low cost materials and requires mild and easy processing conditions. The cell will be equipped with plasmonic structures to enhance light absorption and cell efficiency. The device under development will be easily operated by any clinician or patient. It will require ambient light and a regular multimeter. Eye detection will be also tried out.
This project presents a new concept for the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of cancer biomarker patterns in point-of-care. The device under development will make use of the selectivity of the plastic antibodies as sensing materials and the interference they will play on the normal operation of a photovoltaic cell. Plastic antibodies will be designed by surface imprinting procedures. Self-assembled monolayer and molecular imprinting techniques will be merged in this process because they allow the self-assembly of nanostructured materials on a “bottom-up” nanofabrication approach. A dye-sensitized solar cell will be used as photovoltaic cell. It includes a liquid interface in the cell circuit, which allows the introduction of the sample (also in liquid phase) without disturbing the normal cell operation. Furthermore, it works well with rather low cost materials and requires mild and easy processing conditions. The cell will be equipped with plasmonic structures to enhance light absorption and cell efficiency. The device under development will be easily operated by any clinician or patient. It will require ambient light and a regular multimeter. Eye detection will be also tried out.
Project acronym AIR-NB
Project Pre-natal exposure to urban AIR pollution and pre- and post-Natal Brain development
Researcher (PI) Jordi Sunyer
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACION PRIVADA INSTITUTO DE SALUD GLOBAL BARCELONA
Summary Air pollution is the main urban-related environmental hazard. It appears to affect brain development, although current evidence is inadequate given the lack of studies during the most vulnerable stages of brain development and the lack of brain anatomical structure and regional connectivity data underlying these effects. Of particular interest is the prenatal period, when brain structures are forming and growing, and when the effect of in utero exposure to environmental factors may cause permanent brain injury. I and others have conducted studies focused on effects during school age which could be less profound. I postulate that: pre-natal exposure to urban air pollution during pregnancy impairs foetal and postnatal brain development, mainly by affecting myelination; these effects are at least partially mediated by translocation of airborne particulate matter to the placenta and by placental dysfunction; and prenatal exposure to air pollution impairs post-natal brain development independently of urban context and post-natal exposure to air pollution. I aim to evaluate the effect of pre-natal exposure to urban air pollution on pre- and post-natal brain structure and function by following 900 pregnant women and their neonates with contrasting levels of pre-natal exposure to air pollutants by: i) establishing a new pregnancy cohort and evaluating brain imaging (pre-natal and neo-natal brain structure, connectivity and function), and post-natal motor and cognitive development; ii) measuring total personal exposure and inhaled dose of air pollutants during specific time-windows of gestation, noise, paternal stress and other stressors, using personal samplers and sensors; iii) detecting nanoparticles in placenta and its vascular function; iv) modelling mathematical causality and mediation, including a replication study in an external cohort. The expected results will create an impulse to implement policy interventions that genuinely protect the health of urban citizens.
Air pollution is the main urban-related environmental hazard. It appears to affect brain development, although current evidence is inadequate given the lack of studies during the most vulnerable stages of brain development and the lack of brain anatomical structure and regional connectivity data underlying these effects. Of particular interest is the prenatal period, when brain structures are forming and growing, and when the effect of in utero exposure to environmental factors may cause permanent brain injury. I and others have conducted studies focused on effects during school age which could be less profound. I postulate that: pre-natal exposure to urban air pollution during pregnancy impairs foetal and postnatal brain development, mainly by affecting myelination; these effects are at least partially mediated by translocation of airborne particulate matter to the placenta and by placental dysfunction; and prenatal exposure to air pollution impairs post-natal brain development independently of urban context and post-natal exposure to air pollution. I aim to evaluate the effect of pre-natal exposure to urban air pollution on pre- and post-natal brain structure and function by following 900 pregnant women and their neonates with contrasting levels of pre-natal exposure to air pollutants by: i) establishing a new pregnancy cohort and evaluating brain imaging (pre-natal and neo-natal brain structure, connectivity and function), and post-natal motor and cognitive development; ii) measuring total personal exposure and inhaled dose of air pollutants during specific time-windows of gestation, noise, paternal stress and other stressors, using personal samplers and sensors; iii) detecting nanoparticles in placenta and its vascular function; iv) modelling mathematical causality and mediation, including a replication study in an external cohort. The expected results will create an impulse to implement policy interventions that genuinely protect the health of urban citizens.
Project acronym ALCOHOLLIFECOURSE
Project Alcohol Consumption across the Life-course: Determinants and Consequences
Researcher (PI) Anne Rebecca Britton
Summary The epidemiology of alcohol use and related health consequences plays a vital role by monitoring populations’ alcohol consumption patterns and problems associated with drinking. Such studies seek to explain mechanisms linking consumption to harm and ultimately to reduce the health burden. Research needs to consider changes in drinking behaviour over the life-course. The current evidence base lacks the consideration of the complexity of lifetime consumption patterns, the predictors of change and subsequent health risks. Aims of the study 1. To describe age-related trajectories of drinking in different settings and to determine the extent to which individual and social contextual factors, including socioeconomic position, social networks and life events influence drinking pattern trajectories. 2. To estimate the impact of drinking trajectories on physical functioning and disease and to disentangle the exposure-outcome associations in terms of a) timing, i.e. health effect of drinking patterns in early, mid and late life; and b) duration, i.e. whether the impact of drinking accumulates over time. 3. To test the bidirectional associations between health and changes in consumption over the life-course in order to estimate the relative importance of these effects and to determine the dominant temporal direction. 4. To explore mechanisms and pathways through which drinking trajectories affect health and functioning in later life and to examine the role played by potential effect modifiers of the association between drinking and poor health. Several large, longitudinal cohort studies from European countries with repeated measures of alcohol consumption will be combined and analysed to address the aims. A new team will be formed consisting of the PI, a Research Associate and two PhD students. Dissemination will be through journals, conferences, and culminating in a one-day workshop for academics, practitioners and policy makers in the alcohol field.
The epidemiology of alcohol use and related health consequences plays a vital role by monitoring populations’ alcohol consumption patterns and problems associated with drinking. Such studies seek to explain mechanisms linking consumption to harm and ultimately to reduce the health burden. Research needs to consider changes in drinking behaviour over the life-course. The current evidence base lacks the consideration of the complexity of lifetime consumption patterns, the predictors of change and subsequent health risks. Aims of the study 1. To describe age-related trajectories of drinking in different settings and to determine the extent to which individual and social contextual factors, including socioeconomic position, social networks and life events influence drinking pattern trajectories. 2. To estimate the impact of drinking trajectories on physical functioning and disease and to disentangle the exposure-outcome associations in terms of a) timing, i.e. health effect of drinking patterns in early, mid and late life; and b) duration, i.e. whether the impact of drinking accumulates over time. 3. To test the bidirectional associations between health and changes in consumption over the life-course in order to estimate the relative importance of these effects and to determine the dominant temporal direction. 4. To explore mechanisms and pathways through which drinking trajectories affect health and functioning in later life and to examine the role played by potential effect modifiers of the association between drinking and poor health. Several large, longitudinal cohort studies from European countries with repeated measures of alcohol consumption will be combined and analysed to address the aims. A new team will be formed consisting of the PI, a Research Associate and two PhD students. Dissemination will be through journals, conferences, and culminating in a one-day workshop for academics, practitioners and policy makers in the alcohol field.
Project acronym AsthmaPhenotypes
Project Understanding asthma phenotypes: going beyond the atopic/non-atopic paradigm
Researcher (PI) Neil Pearce
Host Institution (HI) LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE ROYAL CHARTER
Summary Fifteen years ago it was widely believed that asthma was an allergic/atopic disease caused by allergen exposure in infancy; this produced atopic sensitization and continued exposure resulted in eosinophilic airways inflammation, bronchial hyper-responsiveness and reversible airflow obstruction. It is now clear that this model is at best incomplete. Less than one-half of asthma cases involve allergic (atopic) mechanisms, and most asthma in low-and-middle income countries is non-atopic. Westernization may be contributing to the global increases in asthma prevalence, but this process appears to involve changes in asthma susceptibility rather than increased exposure to “established” asthma risk factors. Understanding why these changes are occurring is essential in order to halt the growing global asthma epidemic.This will require a combination of epidemiological, clinical and basic science studies in a variety of environments. A key task is to reclassify asthma phenotypes. These are important to: (i) better understand the aetiological mechanisms of asthma; (ii) identify new causes; and (iii) identify new therapeutic measures. There are major opportunities to address these issues using new techniques for sample collection from the airways (sputum induction, nasal lavage), new methods of analysis (microbiome, epigenetics), and new bioinformatics methods for integrating data from multiple sources and levels. There is an unprecedented potential to go beyond the old atopic/non-atopic categorization of phenotypes. I will therefore conduct analyses to re-examine and reclassify asthma phenotypes. The key features are the inclusion of: (i) both high and low prevalence centres from both high income countries and low-and-middle income countries; (ii) much more detailed biomarker information than has been used for previous studies of asthma phenotypes; and (iii) new bioinformatics methods for integrating data from multiple sources and levels.
Fifteen years ago it was widely believed that asthma was an allergic/atopic disease caused by allergen exposure in infancy; this produced atopic sensitization and continued exposure resulted in eosinophilic airways inflammation, bronchial hyper-responsiveness and reversible airflow obstruction. It is now clear that this model is at best incomplete. Less than one-half of asthma cases involve allergic (atopic) mechanisms, and most asthma in low-and-middle income countries is non-atopic. Westernization may be contributing to the global increases in asthma prevalence, but this process appears to involve changes in asthma susceptibility rather than increased exposure to “established” asthma risk factors. Understanding why these changes are occurring is essential in order to halt the growing global asthma epidemic.This will require a combination of epidemiological, clinical and basic science studies in a variety of environments. A key task is to reclassify asthma phenotypes. These are important to: (i) better understand the aetiological mechanisms of asthma; (ii) identify new causes; and (iii) identify new therapeutic measures. There are major opportunities to address these issues using new techniques for sample collection from the airways (sputum induction, nasal lavage), new methods of analysis (microbiome, epigenetics), and new bioinformatics methods for integrating data from multiple sources and levels. There is an unprecedented potential to go beyond the old atopic/non-atopic categorization of phenotypes. I will therefore conduct analyses to re-examine and reclassify asthma phenotypes. The key features are the inclusion of: (i) both high and low prevalence centres from both high income countries and low-and-middle income countries; (ii) much more detailed biomarker information than has been used for previous studies of asthma phenotypes; and (iii) new bioinformatics methods for integrating data from multiple sources and levels.
Project acronym AUTOCOMPLEMENT
Project The role of complement in the induction of autoimmunity against post-translationally modified proteins
Researcher (PI) Leendert TROUW
Host Institution (HI) ACADEMISCH ZIEKENHUIS LEIDEN
Summary In many prevalent autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) autoantibodies are used as diagnostic and prognostic tools. Several of these autoantibodies target proteins that have been post-translationally modified (PTM). Examples of such modifications are citrullination and carbamylation. The success of B cell-targeted therapies in many auto-antibody positive diseases suggests that B cell mediated auto-immunity is playing a direct pathogenic role. Despite the wealth of information on the clinical associations of these anti-PTM protein antibodies as biomarkers we have currently no insight into why these antibodies are formed. Immunization studies reveal that PTM proteins can induce antibody responses even in the absence of exogenous adjuvant. The reason why these PTM proteins have ‘autoadjuvant’ properties that lead to a breach of tolerance is currently unknown. In this proposal, I hypothesise that the breach of tolerance towards PTM proteins is mediated by complement factors that bind directly to these PTM. Our preliminary data indeed reveal that several complement factors bind specifically to PTM proteins. Complement could be involved in the autoadjuvant property of PTM proteins as next to killing pathogens complement can also boost adaptive immune responses. I plan to unravel the importance of the complement–PTM protein interaction by answering these questions: 1) What is the physiological function of complement binding to PTM proteins? 2) Is the breach of tolerance towards PTM proteins influenced by complement? 3) Can the adjuvant function of PTM be used to increase vaccine efficacy and/or decrease autoreactivity? With AUTOCOMPLEMENT I will elucidate how PTM-reactive B cells receive ‘autoadjuvant’ signals. This insight will impact on patient care as we can now design strategies to either block unwanted ‘autoadjuvant’ signals to inhibit autoimmunity or to utilize ‘autoadjuvant’ signals to potentiate vaccination.
In many prevalent autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) autoantibodies are used as diagnostic and prognostic tools. Several of these autoantibodies target proteins that have been post-translationally modified (PTM). Examples of such modifications are citrullination and carbamylation. The success of B cell-targeted therapies in many auto-antibody positive diseases suggests that B cell mediated auto-immunity is playing a direct pathogenic role. Despite the wealth of information on the clinical associations of these anti-PTM protein antibodies as biomarkers we have currently no insight into why these antibodies are formed. Immunization studies reveal that PTM proteins can induce antibody responses even in the absence of exogenous adjuvant. The reason why these PTM proteins have ‘autoadjuvant’ properties that lead to a breach of tolerance is currently unknown. In this proposal, I hypothesise that the breach of tolerance towards PTM proteins is mediated by complement factors that bind directly to these PTM. Our preliminary data indeed reveal that several complement factors bind specifically to PTM proteins. Complement could be involved in the autoadjuvant property of PTM proteins as next to killing pathogens complement can also boost adaptive immune responses. I plan to unravel the importance of the complement–PTM protein interaction by answering these questions: 1) What is the physiological function of complement binding to PTM proteins? 2) Is the breach of tolerance towards PTM proteins influenced by complement? 3) Can the adjuvant function of PTM be used to increase vaccine efficacy and/or decrease autoreactivity? With AUTOCOMPLEMENT I will elucidate how PTM-reactive B cells receive ‘autoadjuvant’ signals. This insight will impact on patient care as we can now design strategies to either block unwanted ‘autoadjuvant’ signals to inhibit autoimmunity or to utilize ‘autoadjuvant’ signals to potentiate vaccination.
Project acronym Bio-Phononics
Project Advanced Microfluidics & Diagnostics using Acoustic Holograms – Bio-Phononics
Researcher (PI) Jonathan Cooper
Summary This proposal seeks to develop a novel technique for fluid and particle manipulations, based upon exploiting the mechanical interactions between acoustic waves and phononic. The new platform involves generating surface acoustic waves (SAWs) on piezoelectric chips, but, unlike previous work, the ultrasonic waves are first coupled into a phononic lattice, which is placed in the path of the ultrasonic wave. The phononic lattice comprises a miniaturised array of mechanical elements which modulates the sound in a manner analogous to how light is “patterned” using a hologram. However, whilst in an optical hologram, the pattern is created by exploiting the differences in refractive indices of the elements of the structure, here the ultrasonic field is modulated both by the elastic contrast between the elements in the array, as well as by the dimensions of the array and its surrounding matrix (including the size and pitch of the features within the array). The result of passing the acoustic wave through a phononic crystal is the formation of new and complex ultrasonic landscapes. As part of the proposed work we aim to understand the physics of this technology and to exploit its development in a range of medical devices. We will show that by using phononic crystals it is possible to create highly controllable patterns of acoustic field intensities, which propagate into the fluid, creating pressure differences that result in unique flow patterns to enable a new platform for including biological sample processing, medical diagnostics, drug delivery and blood clotting devices – all on low cost disposable devices. Different frequencies of ultrasound will interact with different phononic structures to give different functions, providing a toolbox of different functions. Just as in electronics, where discrete components are combined to create circuits, so we propose to combine different phononic lattices to create fluidic microcircuits with important new applications.
This proposal seeks to develop a novel technique for fluid and particle manipulations, based upon exploiting the mechanical interactions between acoustic waves and phononic. The new platform involves generating surface acoustic waves (SAWs) on piezoelectric chips, but, unlike previous work, the ultrasonic waves are first coupled into a phononic lattice, which is placed in the path of the ultrasonic wave. The phononic lattice comprises a miniaturised array of mechanical elements which modulates the sound in a manner analogous to how light is “patterned” using a hologram. However, whilst in an optical hologram, the pattern is created by exploiting the differences in refractive indices of the elements of the structure, here the ultrasonic field is modulated both by the elastic contrast between the elements in the array, as well as by the dimensions of the array and its surrounding matrix (including the size and pitch of the features within the array). The result of passing the acoustic wave through a phononic crystal is the formation of new and complex ultrasonic landscapes. As part of the proposed work we aim to understand the physics of this technology and to exploit its development in a range of medical devices. We will show that by using phononic crystals it is possible to create highly controllable patterns of acoustic field intensities, which propagate into the fluid, creating pressure differences that result in unique flow patterns to enable a new platform for including biological sample processing, medical diagnostics, drug delivery and blood clotting devices – all on low cost disposable devices. Different frequencies of ultrasound will interact with different phononic structures to give different functions, providing a toolbox of different functions. Just as in electronics, where discrete components are combined to create circuits, so we propose to combine different phononic lattices to create fluidic microcircuits with important new applications.
Project acronym BIOFINDER
Project New biomarkers for Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s diseases - key tools for early diagnosis and drug development
Researcher (PI) Oskar Hansson
Host Institution (HI) LUNDS UNIVERSITET
Summary Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are common in elderly and the prevalence of these is increasing. AD and PD have distinct pathogenesis, which precede the overt clinical symptoms by 10-15 years, opening a window for early diagnosis and treatment. New disease-modifying therapies are likely to be most efficient if initiated before the patients exhibit overt symptoms, making biomarkers for early diagnosis crucial for future clinical trials. Validated biomarkers would speed up initiation of treatment, avoid unnecessary investigations, and reduce patient insecurity. AIMS: (1) identify and validate accurate and cost-effective blood-based biomarkers for early identification of those at high risk to develop AD and PD, (2) develop algorithms using advanced imaging and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for earlier more accurate diagnoses, and (3) better understand the underlying pathology and early progression of AD and PD, aiming at finding new relevant drug targets. We will assess well-characterized and clinically relevant populations of patients and healthy elderly. We will use population- and clinic-based cohorts and follow them prospectively for 4 year. Participants will undergo neurocognitive evaluation, provide blood and cerebrospinal fluid, and have brain imaging using advanced MRI protocols and a newly developed PET-tracer visualizing brain amyloid. Sample will be analyzed with quantitative mass spectrometry and high sensitivity immunoassays. New biomarkers and brain imaging techniques will aid early diagnosis and facilitate the development of disease-modifying therapies, since treatment can start earlier in the disease process. New methods to quantify relevant drug targets, such as oligomers of β-amyloid and α-synuclein, will be vital when selecting drug candidates for large-scale clinical trials. By improving both diagnosis and therapies the social and economic burden of dementia might be reduced by expanding the period of healthy and active aging
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are common in elderly and the prevalence of these is increasing. AD and PD have distinct pathogenesis, which precede the overt clinical symptoms by 10-15 years, opening a window for early diagnosis and treatment. New disease-modifying therapies are likely to be most efficient if initiated before the patients exhibit overt symptoms, making biomarkers for early diagnosis crucial for future clinical trials. Validated biomarkers would speed up initiation of treatment, avoid unnecessary investigations, and reduce patient insecurity. AIMS: (1) identify and validate accurate and cost-effective blood-based biomarkers for early identification of those at high risk to develop AD and PD, (2) develop algorithms using advanced imaging and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for earlier more accurate diagnoses, and (3) better understand the underlying pathology and early progression of AD and PD, aiming at finding new relevant drug targets. We will assess well-characterized and clinically relevant populations of patients and healthy elderly. We will use population- and clinic-based cohorts and follow them prospectively for 4 year. Participants will undergo neurocognitive evaluation, provide blood and cerebrospinal fluid, and have brain imaging using advanced MRI protocols and a newly developed PET-tracer visualizing brain amyloid. Sample will be analyzed with quantitative mass spectrometry and high sensitivity immunoassays. New biomarkers and brain imaging techniques will aid early diagnosis and facilitate the development of disease-modifying therapies, since treatment can start earlier in the disease process. New methods to quantify relevant drug targets, such as oligomers of β-amyloid and α-synuclein, will be vital when selecting drug candidates for large-scale clinical trials. By improving both diagnosis and therapies the social and economic burden of dementia might be reduced by expanding the period of healthy and active aging
Project acronym BioProbe
Project "VERTICAL MICROFLUIDIC PROBE: A nanoliter ""Swiss army knife"" for chemistry and physics at biological interfaces"
Researcher (PI) Govindkrishna Govind Kaigala
Host Institution (HI) IBM RESEARCH GMBH
Summary Life is fundamentally characterised by order, compartmentalisation and biochemical reactions, which occurs at the right place right time – within, on the surface and between cells. Only a proportion of life processes can be addressed with contemporary approaches like liquid encapsulations (e.g. droplets) or engineering compartments (e.g. scaffolds). I believe these approaches are severely limited. I am convinced that a technique to study, work and locally probe adherent cells & tissues at micrometer distances from cell surfaces in “open space” would represent a major advance for the biology of biointerfaces. I therefore propose a non-contact, scanning technology, which spatially confines nanoliter volumes of chemicals for interacting with cells at the µm-length scale. This technology called the vertical microfluidic probe (vMFP) – that I developed at IBM-Zurich – shapes liquid on surfaces hydrodynamically and is compatible with samples on Petri dishes & microtiter plates. The project is organized in 4 themes: (1) Advancing the vMFP by understanding the interaction of liquid flows with biointerfaces, integrating functional elements (e.g. heaters/electrodes, cell traps) & precision control. (2) Developing a higher resolution method to stain tissue sections for multiple markers & better quality information. (3) Retrieving rare elements such as circulating tumor cells from biologically diverse libraries. (4) Patterning cells for applications in regenerative medicine. Since cells & tissues will no longer be limited by closed systems, the vMFP will enable a completely new range of experiments to be performed in a highly interactive, versatile & precise manner – this approach departs from classical “closed” microfluidics. It is very likely that such a tool by providing multifunctional capabilities akin to the proverbial ‘Swiss army knife’ will be a unique facilitator for investigations of previously unapproachable problems in cell biology & the life science.
Life is fundamentally characterised by order, compartmentalisation and biochemical reactions, which occurs at the right place right time – within, on the surface and between cells. Only a proportion of life processes can be addressed with contemporary approaches like liquid encapsulations (e.g. droplets) or engineering compartments (e.g. scaffolds). I believe these approaches are severely limited. I am convinced that a technique to study, work and locally probe adherent cells & tissues at micrometer distances from cell surfaces in “open space” would represent a major advance for the biology of biointerfaces. I therefore propose a non-contact, scanning technology, which spatially confines nanoliter volumes of chemicals for interacting with cells at the µm-length scale. This technology called the vertical microfluidic probe (vMFP) – that I developed at IBM-Zurich – shapes liquid on surfaces hydrodynamically and is compatible with samples on Petri dishes & microtiter plates. The project is organized in 4 themes: (1) Advancing the vMFP by understanding the interaction of liquid flows with biointerfaces, integrating functional elements (e.g. heaters/electrodes, cell traps) & precision control. (2) Developing a higher resolution method to stain tissue sections for multiple markers & better quality information. (3) Retrieving rare elements such as circulating tumor cells from biologically diverse libraries. (4) Patterning cells for applications in regenerative medicine. Since cells & tissues will no longer be limited by closed systems, the vMFP will enable a completely new range of experiments to be performed in a highly interactive, versatile & precise manner – this approach departs from classical “closed” microfluidics. It is very likely that such a tool by providing multifunctional capabilities akin to the proverbial ‘Swiss army knife’ will be a unique facilitator for investigations of previously unapproachable problems in cell biology & the life science.
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Project acronym 3D-BioMat
Project Deciphering biomineralization mechanisms through 3D explorations of mesoscale crystalline structure in calcareous biomaterials
Researcher (PI) VIRGINIE CHAMARD
Summary The fundamental 3D-BioMat project aims at providing a biomineralization model to explain the formation of microscopic calcareous single-crystals produced by living organisms. Although these crystals present a wide variety of shapes, associated to various organic materials, the observation of a nanoscale granular structure common to almost all calcareous crystallizing organisms, associated to an extended crystalline coherence, underlies a generic biomineralization and assembly process. A key to building realistic scenarios of biomineralization is to reveal the crystalline architecture, at the mesoscale, (i. e., over a few granules), which none of the existing nano-characterization tools is able to provide. 3D-BioMat is based on the recognized PI’s expertise in the field of synchrotron coherent x-ray diffraction microscopy. It will extend the PI’s disruptive pioneering microscopy formalism, towards an innovative high-throughput approach able at giving access to the 3D mesoscale image of the crystalline properties (crystal-line coherence, crystal plane tilts and strains) with the required flexibility, nanoscale resolution, and non-invasiveness. This achievement will be used to timely reveal the generics of the mesoscale crystalline structure through the pioneering explorations of a vast variety of crystalline biominerals produced by the famous Pinctada mar-garitifera oyster shell, and thereby build a realistic biomineralization scenario. The inferred biomineralization pathways, including both physico-chemical pathways and biological controls, will ultimately be validated by comparing the mesoscale structures produced by biomimetic samples with the biogenic ones. Beyond deciphering one of the most intriguing questions of material nanosciences, 3D-BioMat may contribute to new climate models, pave the way for new routes in material synthesis and supply answers to the pearl-culture calcification problems.
The fundamental 3D-BioMat project aims at providing a biomineralization model to explain the formation of microscopic calcareous single-crystals produced by living organisms. Although these crystals present a wide variety of shapes, associated to various organic materials, the observation of a nanoscale granular structure common to almost all calcareous crystallizing organisms, associated to an extended crystalline coherence, underlies a generic biomineralization and assembly process. A key to building realistic scenarios of biomineralization is to reveal the crystalline architecture, at the mesoscale, (i. e., over a few granules), which none of the existing nano-characterization tools is able to provide. 3D-BioMat is based on the recognized PI’s expertise in the field of synchrotron coherent x-ray diffraction microscopy. It will extend the PI’s disruptive pioneering microscopy formalism, towards an innovative high-throughput approach able at giving access to the 3D mesoscale image of the crystalline properties (crystal-line coherence, crystal plane tilts and strains) with the required flexibility, nanoscale resolution, and non-invasiveness. This achievement will be used to timely reveal the generics of the mesoscale crystalline structure through the pioneering explorations of a vast variety of crystalline biominerals produced by the famous Pinctada mar-garitifera oyster shell, and thereby build a realistic biomineralization scenario. The inferred biomineralization pathways, including both physico-chemical pathways and biological controls, will ultimately be validated by comparing the mesoscale structures produced by biomimetic samples with the biogenic ones. Beyond deciphering one of the most intriguing questions of material nanosciences, 3D-BioMat may contribute to new climate models, pave the way for new routes in material synthesis and supply answers to the pearl-culture calcification problems.
Project acronym 3DEpi
Project Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of chromatin states : the role of Polycomb and 3D chromosome architecture
Researcher (PI) Giacomo CAVALLI
Summary Epigenetic inheritance entails transmission of phenotypic traits not encoded in the DNA sequence and, in the most extreme case, Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance (TEI) involves transmission of memory through multiple generations. Very little is known on the mechanisms governing TEI and this is the subject of the present proposal. By transiently enhancing long-range chromatin interactions, we recently established isogenic Drosophila epilines that carry stable alternative epialleles, defined by differential levels of the Polycomb-dependent H3K27me3 mark. Furthermore, we extended our paradigm to natural phenotypes. These are ideal systems to study the role of Polycomb group (PcG) proteins and other components in regulating nuclear organization and epigenetic inheritance of chromatin states. The present project conjugates genetics, epigenomics, imaging and molecular biology to reach three critical aims. Aim 1: Analysis of the molecular mechanisms regulating Polycomb-mediated TEI. We will identify the DNA, protein and RNA components that trigger and maintain transgenerational chromatin inheritance as well as their mechanisms of action. Aim 2: Role of 3D genome organization in the regulation of TEI. We will analyze the developmental dynamics of TEI-inducing long-range chromatin interactions, identify chromatin components mediating 3D chromatin contacts and characterize their function in the TEI process. Aim 3: Identification of a broader role of TEI during development. TEI might reflect a normal role of PcG components in the transmission of parental chromatin onto the next embryonic generation. We will explore this possibility by establishing other TEI paradigms and by relating TEI to the normal PcG function in these systems and in normal development. This research program will unravel the biological significance and the molecular underpinnings of TEI and lead the way towards establishing this area of research into a consolidated scientific discipline.
Epigenetic inheritance entails transmission of phenotypic traits not encoded in the DNA sequence and, in the most extreme case, Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance (TEI) involves transmission of memory through multiple generations. Very little is known on the mechanisms governing TEI and this is the subject of the present proposal. By transiently enhancing long-range chromatin interactions, we recently established isogenic Drosophila epilines that carry stable alternative epialleles, defined by differential levels of the Polycomb-dependent H3K27me3 mark. Furthermore, we extended our paradigm to natural phenotypes. These are ideal systems to study the role of Polycomb group (PcG) proteins and other components in regulating nuclear organization and epigenetic inheritance of chromatin states. The present project conjugates genetics, epigenomics, imaging and molecular biology to reach three critical aims. Aim 1: Analysis of the molecular mechanisms regulating Polycomb-mediated TEI. We will identify the DNA, protein and RNA components that trigger and maintain transgenerational chromatin inheritance as well as their mechanisms of action. Aim 2: Role of 3D genome organization in the regulation of TEI. We will analyze the developmental dynamics of TEI-inducing long-range chromatin interactions, identify chromatin components mediating 3D chromatin contacts and characterize their function in the TEI process. Aim 3: Identification of a broader role of TEI during development. TEI might reflect a normal role of PcG components in the transmission of parental chromatin onto the next embryonic generation. We will explore this possibility by establishing other TEI paradigms and by relating TEI to the normal PcG function in these systems and in normal development. This research program will unravel the biological significance and the molecular underpinnings of TEI and lead the way towards establishing this area of research into a consolidated scientific discipline.
Project acronym 4D-GenEx
Project Spatio-temporal Organization and Expression of the Genome
Researcher (PI) Antoine COULON
Summary This project investigates the two-way relationship between spatio-temporal genome organization and coordinated gene regulation, through an approach at the interface between physics, computer science and biology. In the nucleus, preferred positions are observed from chromosomes to single genes, in relation to normal and pathological cellular states. Evidence indicates a complex spatio-temporal coupling between co-regulated genes: e.g. certain genes cluster spatially when responding to similar factors and transcriptional noise patterns suggest domain-wide mechanisms. Yet, no individual experiment allows probing transcriptional coordination in 4 dimensions (FISH, live locus tracking, Hi-C...). Interpreting such data also critically requires theory (stochastic processes, statistical physics…). A lack of appropriate experimental/analytical approaches is impairing our understanding of the 4D genome. Our proposal combines cutting-edge single-molecule imaging, signal-theory data analysis and physical modeling to study how genes coordinate in space and time in a single nucleus. Our objectives are to understand (a) competition/recycling of shared resources between genes within subnuclear compartments, (b) how enhancers communicate with genes domain-wide, and (c) the role of local conformational dynamics and supercoiling in gene co-regulation. Our organizing hypothesis is that, by acting on their microenvironment, genes shape their co-expression with other genes. Building upon my expertise, we will use dual-color MS2/PP7 RNA labeling to visualize for the first time transcription and motion of pairs of hormone-responsive genes in real time. With our innovative signal analysis tools, we will extract spatio-temporal signatures of underlying processes, which we will investigate with stochastic modeling and validate through experimental perturbations. We expect to uncover how the functional organization of the linear genome relates to its physical properties and dynamics in 4D.
This project investigates the two-way relationship between spatio-temporal genome organization and coordinated gene regulation, through an approach at the interface between physics, computer science and biology. In the nucleus, preferred positions are observed from chromosomes to single genes, in relation to normal and pathological cellular states. Evidence indicates a complex spatio-temporal coupling between co-regulated genes: e.g. certain genes cluster spatially when responding to similar factors and transcriptional noise patterns suggest domain-wide mechanisms. Yet, no individual experiment allows probing transcriptional coordination in 4 dimensions (FISH, live locus tracking, Hi-C...). Interpreting such data also critically requires theory (stochastic processes, statistical physics…). A lack of appropriate experimental/analytical approaches is impairing our understanding of the 4D genome. Our proposal combines cutting-edge single-molecule imaging, signal-theory data analysis and physical modeling to study how genes coordinate in space and time in a single nucleus. Our objectives are to understand (a) competition/recycling of shared resources between genes within subnuclear compartments, (b) how enhancers communicate with genes domain-wide, and (c) the role of local conformational dynamics and supercoiling in gene co-regulation. Our organizing hypothesis is that, by acting on their microenvironment, genes shape their co-expression with other genes. Building upon my expertise, we will use dual-color MS2/PP7 RNA labeling to visualize for the first time transcription and motion of pairs of hormone-responsive genes in real time. With our innovative signal analysis tools, we will extract spatio-temporal signatures of underlying processes, which we will investigate with stochastic modeling and validate through experimental perturbations. We expect to uncover how the functional organization of the linear genome relates to its physical properties and dynamics in 4D.
Project acronym AAA
Project Adaptive Actin Architectures
Researcher (PI) Laurent Blanchoin
Summary Although we have extensive knowledge of many important processes in cell biology, including information on many of the molecules involved and the physical interactions among them, we still do not understand most of the dynamical features that are the essence of living systems. This is particularly true for the actin cytoskeleton, a major component of the internal architecture of eukaryotic cells. In living cells, actin networks constantly assemble and disassemble filaments while maintaining an apparent stable structure, suggesting a perfect balance between the two processes. Such behaviors are called “dynamic steady states”. They confer upon actin networks a high degree of plasticity allowing them to adapt in response to external changes and enable cells to adjust to their environments. Despite their fundamental importance in the regulation of cell physiology, the basic mechanisms that control the coordinated dynamics of co-existing actin networks are poorly understood. In the AAA project, first, we will characterize the parameters that allow the coupling among co-existing actin networks at steady state. In vitro reconstituted systems will be used to control the actin nucleation patterns, the closed volume of the reaction chamber and the physical interaction of the networks. We hope to unravel the mechanism allowing the global coherence of a dynamic actin cytoskeleton. Second, we will use our unique capacity to perform dynamic micropatterning, to add or remove actin nucleation sites in real time, in order to investigate the ability of dynamic networks to adapt to changes and the role of coupled network dynamics in this emergent property. In this part, in vitro experiments will be complemented by the analysis of actin network remodeling in living cells. In the end, our project will provide a comprehensive understanding of how the adaptive response of the cytoskeleton derives from the complex interplay between its biochemical, structural and mechanical properties.
Although we have extensive knowledge of many important processes in cell biology, including information on many of the molecules involved and the physical interactions among them, we still do not understand most of the dynamical features that are the essence of living systems. This is particularly true for the actin cytoskeleton, a major component of the internal architecture of eukaryotic cells. In living cells, actin networks constantly assemble and disassemble filaments while maintaining an apparent stable structure, suggesting a perfect balance between the two processes. Such behaviors are called “dynamic steady states”. They confer upon actin networks a high degree of plasticity allowing them to adapt in response to external changes and enable cells to adjust to their environments. Despite their fundamental importance in the regulation of cell physiology, the basic mechanisms that control the coordinated dynamics of co-existing actin networks are poorly understood. In the AAA project, first, we will characterize the parameters that allow the coupling among co-existing actin networks at steady state. In vitro reconstituted systems will be used to control the actin nucleation patterns, the closed volume of the reaction chamber and the physical interaction of the networks. We hope to unravel the mechanism allowing the global coherence of a dynamic actin cytoskeleton. Second, we will use our unique capacity to perform dynamic micropatterning, to add or remove actin nucleation sites in real time, in order to investigate the ability of dynamic networks to adapt to changes and the role of coupled network dynamics in this emergent property. In this part, in vitro experiments will be complemented by the analysis of actin network remodeling in living cells. In the end, our project will provide a comprehensive understanding of how the adaptive response of the cytoskeleton derives from the complex interplay between its biochemical, structural and mechanical properties.
Project acronym ADEQUATE
Project Advanced optoelectronic Devices with Enhanced QUAntum efficiency at THz frEquencies
Researcher (PI) Carlo Sirtori
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE PARIS DIDEROT - PARIS 7
Summary The aim of this project is the realisation of efficient mid-infrared and THz optoelectronic emitters. This work is motivated by the fact that the spontaneous emission in this frequency range is characterized by an extremely long lifetime when compared to non-radiative processes, giving rise to devices with very low quantum efficiency. To this end we want to develop hybrid light-matter systems, already well known in quantum optics, within optoelectronics devices, that will be driven by electrical injection. With this project we want to extend the field of optoelectronics by introducing some of the concepts of quantum optic, particularly the light-matter strong coupling, into semiconductor devices. More precisely this project aims at the implementation of novel optoelectronic emitters operating in the strong coupling regime between an intersubband excitation of a two-dimensional electron gas and a microcavity photonic mode. The quasiparticles issued from this coupling are called intersubband polaritons. The major difficulties and challenges of this project, do not lay in the observation of these quantum effects, but in their exploitation for a specific function, in particular an efficient electrical to optical conversion. To obtain efficient quantum emitters in the THz frequency range we will follow two different approaches: - In the first case we will try to exploit the additional characteristic time of the system introduced by the light-matter interaction in the strong (or ultra-strong) coupling regime. - The second approach will exploit the fact that, under certain conditions, intersubband polaritons have a bosonic character; as a consequence they can undergo stimulated scattering, giving rise to polaritons lasers as it has been shown for excitonic polaritons.
The aim of this project is the realisation of efficient mid-infrared and THz optoelectronic emitters. This work is motivated by the fact that the spontaneous emission in this frequency range is characterized by an extremely long lifetime when compared to non-radiative processes, giving rise to devices with very low quantum efficiency. To this end we want to develop hybrid light-matter systems, already well known in quantum optics, within optoelectronics devices, that will be driven by electrical injection. With this project we want to extend the field of optoelectronics by introducing some of the concepts of quantum optic, particularly the light-matter strong coupling, into semiconductor devices. More precisely this project aims at the implementation of novel optoelectronic emitters operating in the strong coupling regime between an intersubband excitation of a two-dimensional electron gas and a microcavity photonic mode. The quasiparticles issued from this coupling are called intersubband polaritons. The major difficulties and challenges of this project, do not lay in the observation of these quantum effects, but in their exploitation for a specific function, in particular an efficient electrical to optical conversion. To obtain efficient quantum emitters in the THz frequency range we will follow two different approaches: - In the first case we will try to exploit the additional characteristic time of the system introduced by the light-matter interaction in the strong (or ultra-strong) coupling regime. - The second approach will exploit the fact that, under certain conditions, intersubband polaritons have a bosonic character; as a consequence they can undergo stimulated scattering, giving rise to polaritons lasers as it has been shown for excitonic polaritons.
Project acronym AnoPath
Project Genetics of mosquito resistance to pathogens
Researcher (PI) Kenneth Du Souchet Vernick
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUT PASTEUR
Summary Malaria parasite infection in humans has been called “the strongest known force for evolutionary selection in the recent history of the human genome”, and I hypothesize that a similar statement may apply to the mosquito vector, which is the definitive host of the malaria parasite. We previously discovered efficient malaria-resistance mechanisms in natural populations of the African malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae. Aim 1 of the proposed project will implement a novel genetic mapping design to systematically survey the mosquito population for common and rare genetic variants of strong effect against the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. A product of the mapping design will be living mosquito families carrying the resistance loci. Aim 2 will use the segregating families to functionally dissect the underlying molecular mechanisms controlled by the loci, including determination of the pathogen specificity spectra of the host-defense traits. Aim 3 targets arbovirus transmission, where Anopheles mosquitoes transmit human malaria but not arboviruses such as Dengue and Chikungunya, even though the two mosquitoes bite the same people and are exposed to the same pathogens, often in malaria-arbovirus co-infections. We will use deep-sequencing to detect processing of the arbovirus dsRNA intermediates of replication produced by the RNAi pathway of the mosquitoes. The results will reveal important new information about differences in the efficiency and quality of the RNAi response between mosquitoes, which is likely to underlie at least part of the host specificity of arbovirus transmission. The 3 Aims will make significant contributions to understanding malaria and arbovirus transmission, major global public health problems, will aid the development of a next generation of vector surveillance and control tools, and will produce a definitive description of the major genetic factors influencing host-pathogen interactions in mosquito immunity.
Malaria parasite infection in humans has been called “the strongest known force for evolutionary selection in the recent history of the human genome”, and I hypothesize that a similar statement may apply to the mosquito vector, which is the definitive host of the malaria parasite. We previously discovered efficient malaria-resistance mechanisms in natural populations of the African malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae. Aim 1 of the proposed project will implement a novel genetic mapping design to systematically survey the mosquito population for common and rare genetic variants of strong effect against the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. A product of the mapping design will be living mosquito families carrying the resistance loci. Aim 2 will use the segregating families to functionally dissect the underlying molecular mechanisms controlled by the loci, including determination of the pathogen specificity spectra of the host-defense traits. Aim 3 targets arbovirus transmission, where Anopheles mosquitoes transmit human malaria but not arboviruses such as Dengue and Chikungunya, even though the two mosquitoes bite the same people and are exposed to the same pathogens, often in malaria-arbovirus co-infections. We will use deep-sequencing to detect processing of the arbovirus dsRNA intermediates of replication produced by the RNAi pathway of the mosquitoes. The results will reveal important new information about differences in the efficiency and quality of the RNAi response between mosquitoes, which is likely to underlie at least part of the host specificity of arbovirus transmission. The 3 Aims will make significant contributions to understanding malaria and arbovirus transmission, major global public health problems, will aid the development of a next generation of vector surveillance and control tools, and will produce a definitive description of the major genetic factors influencing host-pathogen interactions in mosquito immunity.
Project acronym APPL
Project Anionic PhosPhoLipids in plant receptor kinase signaling
Researcher (PI) Yvon Jaillais
Summary "In plants, receptor kinases form the largest family of plasma membrane (PM) receptors and they are involved in virtually all aspects of the plant life, including development, immunity and reproduction. In animals, key molecules that orchestrate the recruitment of signaling proteins to membranes are anionic phospholipids (e.g. phosphatidylinositol phosphate or PIPs). Besides, recent reports in animal and yeast cells suggest the existence of PM nanodomains that are independent of cholesterol and lipid phase and rely on anionic phospholipids as well as electrostatic protein/lipid interactions. Strikingly, we know very little on the role of anionic phospholipids in plant signaling. However, our preliminary data suggest that BKI1, an inhibitory protein of the steroid receptor kinase BRI1, interacts with various PIPs in vitro and is likely targeted to the PM by electrostatic interactions with these anionic lipids. These results open the possibility that BRI1, but also other receptor kinases, might be regulated by anionic phospholipids in plants. Here, we propose to analyze the function of anionic phospholipids in BRI1 signaling, using the root epidermis as a model system. First, we will ask what are the lipids that control membrane surface charge in this tissue and recruit BR-signaling component to the PM. Second, we will probe the presence of PIP-enriched nanodomains at the plant PM using super-resolution microscopy techniques and investigate the roles of these domains in BRI1 signaling. Finally, we will analyze the function of the BKI1-related plant-specific family of anionic phospholipid effectors in plant development. In summary, using a transversal approach ranging from in vitro studies to in vivo validation and whole organism physiology, this work will unravel the interplay between anionic phospholipids and receptor signaling in plants."
"In plants, receptor kinases form the largest family of plasma membrane (PM) receptors and they are involved in virtually all aspects of the plant life, including development, immunity and reproduction. In animals, key molecules that orchestrate the recruitment of signaling proteins to membranes are anionic phospholipids (e.g. phosphatidylinositol phosphate or PIPs). Besides, recent reports in animal and yeast cells suggest the existence of PM nanodomains that are independent of cholesterol and lipid phase and rely on anionic phospholipids as well as electrostatic protein/lipid interactions. Strikingly, we know very little on the role of anionic phospholipids in plant signaling. However, our preliminary data suggest that BKI1, an inhibitory protein of the steroid receptor kinase BRI1, interacts with various PIPs in vitro and is likely targeted to the PM by electrostatic interactions with these anionic lipids. These results open the possibility that BRI1, but also other receptor kinases, might be regulated by anionic phospholipids in plants. Here, we propose to analyze the function of anionic phospholipids in BRI1 signaling, using the root epidermis as a model system. First, we will ask what are the lipids that control membrane surface charge in this tissue and recruit BR-signaling component to the PM. Second, we will probe the presence of PIP-enriched nanodomains at the plant PM using super-resolution microscopy techniques and investigate the roles of these domains in BRI1 signaling. Finally, we will analyze the function of the BKI1-related plant-specific family of anionic phospholipid effectors in plant development. In summary, using a transversal approach ranging from in vitro studies to in vivo validation and whole organism physiology, this work will unravel the interplay between anionic phospholipids and receptor signaling in plants."
Project acronym ATMOFLEX
Project Turbulent Transport in the Atmosphere: Fluctuations and Extreme Events
Researcher (PI) Jérémie Bec
Summary A major part of the physical and chemical processes occurring in the atmosphere involves the turbulent transport of tiny particles. Current studies and models use a formulation in terms of mean fields, where the strong variations in the dynamical and statistical properties of the particles are neglected and where the underlying fluctuations of the fluid flow velocity are oversimplified. Devising an accurate understanding of the influence of air turbulence and of the extreme fluctuations that it generates in the dispersed phase remains a challenging issue. This project aims at coordinating and integrating theoretical, numerical, experimental, and observational efforts to develop a new statistical understanding of the role of fluctuations in atmospheric transport processes. The proposed work will cover individual as well as collective behaviors and will provide a systematic and unified description of targeted specific processes involving suspended drops or particles: the dispersion of pollutants from a source, the growth by condensation and coagulation of droplets and ice crystals in clouds, the scavenging, settling and re-suspension of aerosols, and the radiative and climatic effects of particles. The proposed approach is based on the use of tools borrowed from statistical physics and field theory, and from the theory of large deviations and of random dynamical systems in order to design new observables that will be simultaneously tractable analytically in simplified models and of relevance for the quantitative handling of such physical mechanisms. One of the outcomes will be to provide a new framework for improving and refining the methods used in meteorology and atmospheric sciences and to answer the long-standing question of the effects of suspended particles onto climate.
A major part of the physical and chemical processes occurring in the atmosphere involves the turbulent transport of tiny particles. Current studies and models use a formulation in terms of mean fields, where the strong variations in the dynamical and statistical properties of the particles are neglected and where the underlying fluctuations of the fluid flow velocity are oversimplified. Devising an accurate understanding of the influence of air turbulence and of the extreme fluctuations that it generates in the dispersed phase remains a challenging issue. This project aims at coordinating and integrating theoretical, numerical, experimental, and observational efforts to develop a new statistical understanding of the role of fluctuations in atmospheric transport processes. The proposed work will cover individual as well as collective behaviors and will provide a systematic and unified description of targeted specific processes involving suspended drops or particles: the dispersion of pollutants from a source, the growth by condensation and coagulation of droplets and ice crystals in clouds, the scavenging, settling and re-suspension of aerosols, and the radiative and climatic effects of particles. The proposed approach is based on the use of tools borrowed from statistical physics and field theory, and from the theory of large deviations and of random dynamical systems in order to design new observables that will be simultaneously tractable analytically in simplified models and of relevance for the quantitative handling of such physical mechanisms. One of the outcomes will be to provide a new framework for improving and refining the methods used in meteorology and atmospheric sciences and to answer the long-standing question of the effects of suspended particles onto climate.
Project acronym BACTIN
Project Shaping the bacterial cell wall: the actin-like cytoskeleton, from single molecules to morphogenesis and antimicrobials
Researcher (PI) Rut CARBALLIDO LOPEZ
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE AGRONOMIQUE
Summary One of the ultimate goals in cell biology is to understand how cells determine their shape. In bacteria, the cell wall and the actin-like (MreB) cytoskeleton are major determinants of cell shape. As a hallmark of microbial life, the external cell wall is the most conspicuous macromolecule expanding in concert with cell growth and one of the most prominent targets for antibiotics. Despite decades of study, the mechanism of cell wall morphogenesis remains poorly understood. In rod-shaped bacteria, actin-like MreB proteins assemble into disconnected membrane-associated structures (patches) that move processively around the cell periphery and are thought to control shape by spatiotemporally organizing macromolecular machineries that effect sidewall elongation. However, the ultrastructure of MreB assemblies and the mechanistic details underlying their morphogenetic function remain to be elucidated. The aim of this project is to combine ground-breaking light microscopy and spectroscopy techniques with cutting-edge genetic, biochemical and systems biology approaches available in the model rod-shaped bacterium Bacillus subtilis to elucidate how MreB and cell wall biosynthetic enzymes collectively act to build a cell. Within this context, new features of MreB assemblies will be determined in vivo and in vitro, and a “toolbox” of approaches to determine the modes of action of antibiotics targeting cell wall processes will be developed. Parameters measured by the different approaches will be used to refine a mathematical model aiming to quantitatively describe the features of bacterial cell wall growth. The long-term goals of BActin are to understand general principles of bacterial cell morphogenesis and to provide mechanistic templates and new reporters for the screening of novel antibiotics.
One of the ultimate goals in cell biology is to understand how cells determine their shape. In bacteria, the cell wall and the actin-like (MreB) cytoskeleton are major determinants of cell shape. As a hallmark of microbial life, the external cell wall is the most conspicuous macromolecule expanding in concert with cell growth and one of the most prominent targets for antibiotics. Despite decades of study, the mechanism of cell wall morphogenesis remains poorly understood. In rod-shaped bacteria, actin-like MreB proteins assemble into disconnected membrane-associated structures (patches) that move processively around the cell periphery and are thought to control shape by spatiotemporally organizing macromolecular machineries that effect sidewall elongation. However, the ultrastructure of MreB assemblies and the mechanistic details underlying their morphogenetic function remain to be elucidated. The aim of this project is to combine ground-breaking light microscopy and spectroscopy techniques with cutting-edge genetic, biochemical and systems biology approaches available in the model rod-shaped bacterium Bacillus subtilis to elucidate how MreB and cell wall biosynthetic enzymes collectively act to build a cell. Within this context, new features of MreB assemblies will be determined in vivo and in vitro, and a “toolbox” of approaches to determine the modes of action of antibiotics targeting cell wall processes will be developed. Parameters measured by the different approaches will be used to refine a mathematical model aiming to quantitatively describe the features of bacterial cell wall growth. The long-term goals of BActin are to understand general principles of bacterial cell morphogenesis and to provide mechanistic templates and new reporters for the screening of novel antibiotics.
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Creating a virtual office for remote teams
www.hiyodesign.com
Locations Brooklyn, Miami, San Juan
Industry Branding and Design
Teams on Flock Marketing, Design
"We believe that everybody has their own personal space in which they are the most creative. And thus we promote remote working and depend on Flock to bring us together."
- Cristi Jayo, Co-Founder
HIYO Design, global creative brand agency, is all about helping brands discover their story and start conversations with the world. The agency was founded by the Jayo sisters with the aim of doing some amazing, creative work without being tied to one place.
Today, HIYO has a global team of designers, writers, UI experts, and many more creative brains working from across locations, including Miami, New York, Puerto Rico, and all the way from France. And to get work done - they all swear by Flock.
Need for a virtual office
HIYO is built on the idea that customizing brand strategy not only takes time, but also a well-connected team of people bursting with ideas and inputs. And for Cristi Jayo, it’s important to amplify creativity by allowing her team to work at their preferred time and location.
For a team that’s working asynchronously, email and phone calls make it impossible to collaborate in real-time, with information being lost in long email threads. So, to stay connected with her entire team, Cristi started experimenting with a number of team collaboration platforms and apps, before finally making the switch to Flock for good.
The team at HIYO previously used Slack and felt that the interface was very ‘techy’, restrictive and they just couldn’t connect with the app. In comparison, Flock’s friendly and intuitive interface made team onboarding and collaboration much easier and a million times faster.
"As a custom design agency, we do a little bit of everything. And Flock gives us the flexibility to do just that. "
HIYO works with clients located across continents in different time zones. That’s why it’s so important that their team of digital nomads is always available to connect with their clients.
“Our clients love us because sometimes we have projects that need a quick turnaround. And we have people on the other side of the world who are awake and ready to work.” - Cristi Jayo, Co-Founder
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“I was able to get things done faster and more efficiently because of Flock.” - Andrés Justiniano
To begin with, Andre connected with the client via Flock’s video conferencing tool. He then shared their conversation as a Flock Note with the team in a channel created for the client. The team then set targets via the Shared To-dos app and Reminders for one another to keep the team updated. They used Flock’ Google Calendar integration to track meetings and shared design files from their Google Drive and Dropbox accounts in the channel for everyone to see.
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Forex News: Turkish Lira Falls To New 2-month Low Against
Turkish Lira Falls To New 2-month Low Against U.S. Dollar
(RTTNews) - The Turkish Lira depreciated against the U.S. dollar in the European session on Wednesday, as U.S. Senate approved a legislation imposing sanctions against Turkey for the purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence systems.
The legislation bans the delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey over the country's purchase of S-400 air missile defense system from Russia.
The Turkish Lira fell to 5.92 against the greenback, a level unseen since October 17. The next possible support for the Lira is seen around the 6.5 level.
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Footballguys Free For All
US Men's National Team
By Premier, July 2, 2014 in Footballguys Free For All
El Floppo 22,262
Footballguy
Location:LES EVil
Interests:[s]karate[/s] karazee
1 hour ago, zoobird said:
Currently at 6% yes, 90% no with 5,000+ votes in.
4% hell yes
encaitar 1,393
Really wish there was a "#### NO!" option.
NewlyRetired 13,813
Of the top 40ish ranked countries in the world, how many teams have their manager make it through the next day still employed after this string of results?
I think less than 10, maybe even less than 5.
I bet 15 or more countries fire the manager last night and not even wait until the day after.
Edited October 16, 2019 by NewlyRetired
Does anyone else hate the term "flu like symptoms" ?
In his interview after the game Pulisic basically said he was fighting a minor cold the last two days and was feeling fine during the game.
I sometimes wish anyone who uses the term flu in any way should actually experience it for just a day and they would never again use that term for a cold.
19 minutes ago, NewlyRetired said:
It was Berhalter covering his ### is all. Pulisic said he was fine and didn't want to come out. Pulisic clearly wasn't happy about being taken out and Gregg realized he was gonna get flak for it. Flu-like symptoms is an easy cop out.
Nodding my head furiously at this. I know it was a "lower" technical brand of soccer but I miss the US teams that played hard and tight defense and then said "catch Landon if you can" a few times a game
@_jameshill
The ball-playing DMs are a classic "too clever by half" move. Ball-playing ability is great, but you need the DM to provide the D. We've also made tiny increases in our ability to build through possession in exchange for a 75% decrease in our danger on the counterattack.
Imo, "flu-like symptoms" means: fever, stomach/gi issues, weakness/aches. Any one or combo of those is enough to debilitate. If CP said a cold, that's none of that.
7 minutes ago, encaitar said:
I got the sense he was trying to give CP an out, but mainly himself for benching CP.
McBokonon 581
YOI!!!
Location:AZ
1 hour ago, NewlyRetired said:
I feel this way about food poisoning. People throw this around like crazy. "I missed work yesterday because I think I might have had food poisoning."
No, if you actually had food poisoning, you'd know it, not think it, and you would have spent at least the entire day hoping for the sweet release of death.
Is it ever going to end?
@tutulismyname
With the loss against Canada, the USMNT Elo ranking dropped below 1700, ranking us #43 in the world. The last time our ranking was below 1700, was in Jan 1999. This is literally the worst our team has been this century
We demand a higher electric light orchestra number, dammit.
CletiusMaximus 7,005
Interests:anti-rabona
2 hours ago, El Floppo said:
I suppose this is so, but we all saw what happened on the telly with our own eyeballs.
Charlie Steiner 1,495
34 minutes ago, El Floppo said:
Gonna take some strange magic for that to happen.
Eephus 16,725
Location:Lower Haight, SF
12 hours ago, El Floppo said:
I'd take Rudy at this point.
Giuliani?
22 hours ago, Steve Tasker said:
Germany Jones references are a dying breed
TripItUp 2,796
Is there any serious talk of getting rid of Berhalter?
8 minutes ago, TripItUp said:
you mean from US Soccer? I don't think we will hear anything one way or another until it happens.
The fans and and media are unusually united that something has to change soon to give a new coach any hope of getting things sorted before the hex.
Looks like JK is finally getting back in the game. Super interesting spot as well
@JuanG_Arango
Being confirmed to me by multiples sources...
@J_klinsmann is going to be announced as new coach of @FEFecuador
Yes, it was reported before that talks fell through, but they were back on track and he would be “announced in the next couple of days”.
His team beat Ecuador in Copa America 100.
Sammy3469 9,355
10 hours ago, TripItUp said:
They wouldn’t do it until after the MLS playoffs and even that list is fairly short. You have a US list of Ramos, Bradley, Vanney, and I guess Vermes. Then there are internationals like Torrent, Almeyda, and maybe Heath. Point being is it’s a fairly short list.
Ned 9,892
20 minutes ago, Sammy3469 said:
Poch might be available soon.
51 minutes ago, Ned said:
Nice. And he's used to making a go of things without any talent.
I kid, good spurs friends...I kid.
Btw...I'm at a point where I'm finding myself dreading opening this thread. What new level of decline and mishap am I going to find?...
1 hour ago, Sammy3469 said:
I thought Berhalter was going to work out well. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but he's had what 15-18 games at the helm and they are awful.
I have a good friend who came up the scouting ranks at KC. He loves Vermes and his attention to detail (any detail). My friend has always thought he'd be an ideal US coach b/c of his control issues/attention to detail; but that he'd never be hired b/c US Soccer wouldn't want to do the things that Vermes would demand they do to "do it right". During this last hiring cycle, I thought I read someplace that Vermes put together quite a detailed proposal for how he'd run US Soccer if given the job. I have no idea if he'd be good for the job.
I've wanted Ramos. I love the way his teams play. I know folks complained/questioned him about some of his selections and at times his tactics/decisions. But, I don't think anyone knows our upcoming players better and besides what coach isn't questioned on some items. I think, Tab, for the most part, relates to the players well and they respect him. I think he'd be the perfect fit.
51 minutes ago, blend said:
This is a big part why they look so bad right now, no? GGG is so detail oriented that guys look robotic and overthinking instead of free flowing/creative.
I think in reference to the 'attention to detail' meant more about the entire program details moreso than the play on the field. I doubt with a guy like Vermes we'd ever have to wonder if someone is calling the dual-nats. I think it was probably in his plan about who would be doing that and how often and probably dictate what would be said to them on the 1st contact and what is said to them on the 9th....
I'm not sure how Vermes would differ with his on-field stuff.
2 hours ago, blend said:
Vermes was very critical of US Soccer after talking to them. You don't need to read between the lines much to believe he thinks the organization is directionless.
Here is a snippet from an interview he did:
SOCCER AMERICA: You recently discussed with U.S. Soccer its openings for a general manager and head coach, and decided instead to extend your contract with SKC until 2023. During those discussions with USSF what did you learn or glean regarding what it intends to do in the future?
PETER VERMES: I wish I could. I don’t know. I don’t have any idea of what those steps are.
SA: So how can a search be conducted if the federation doesn’t seem to know what it is looking for or what it wants to do?
VERMES: Honestly, it’s hard for me to answer that question. I’m really serious. They want a coach and a GM but I don’t know what their plans are beyond that. I really don’t know.
SA: What do you think should be done?
VERMES: I truly want us to take advantage. We can talk about what happened but to me it’s irrelevant at this point. I want to see what the plan is going forward. If our only objective is to qualify for the World Cup, I don’t even know why we’re in this. We should be doing so much more. We need to create a complete system from the grassroots up, and I think the responsibility for the leadership should be U.S. Soccer.
We have to be much more specific about who we are and what our model of play is, what our culture is when you go to the national team. I look at it as a gift. There are moments in life when you’re given a chance to hit the reset button and this is one of those moments.
SA: How does that process start?
VERMES: I don’t know the answer because I’m not there. What I want to hear and you want to hear and we all want to hear is, what is the plan? What are we doing? I would agree that you don’t have to blow the whole thing up and start all over again. But you do have to realize there have been some major failures and you have to evaluate it and come up with a plan. And to come up with a plan you have to have a goal. I want to know what the goal is.
The goal has to be something more than to qualify for the World Cup. There’s different goals. I’m a big believer in that to build a team you need a model of play. In all sports, all teams want to win. Why do some teams win? They have a way to play and they use certain players and build their team in a certain way. There’s a reason they are consistently competitive.
If you don’t have a way to play, I’m gonna tell you the only way you’ll get results is because you were lucky that day everybody was on form. But when you know how to play, results are a byproduct of knowing what you’re doing, what your model of play is. We need to get to place where we have a plan on the field, a plan off the field, a plan for recruiting players, a plan for identifying players.
I just want to hear what the goals are and what’s the plan to reach those goals.
Well, you can't argue that gggg doesn't have a way to play.
9 minutes ago, El Floppo said:
Key word there is “a”
Just now, Sammy3469 said:
Yes. That was a very intentional bit o' word choice
Sometimes it is just best to laugh at the situation I posted this last year but it is making the rounds again today. Listen when watching but with headphones on if in work. I some how feel better after realizing how true this was right down to Pulisic crying...
https://twitter.com/FutureUsmnt/status/1184885201215901696?s=20
5 minutes ago, NewlyRetired said:
"toilet brush"
Moe. 1,804
Good post re: Vermes. From what I understand he is pretty much in charge of every aspect of everything at SKC, and you can tell how unimpressed he was after he met with USSoccer. I doubt he'd take a call from them unless the plan is to let him do whatever he wants.
Edited October 17, 2019 by Moe.
As a Miazga fan,
As a McKennie fan,
6 hours ago, Sammy3469 said:
It is a super short list for sure. It would take some imagination to look outside the box though and US Soccer has far too little of that.
Marsch is a big name who is on record saying that he wants the job, but I honestly see him leaving Red Bull as less likely than Bradley leaving LA.
Some other very long shots might be Wagner and Cherundolo. There are likely to be a cadre of coaches fired this winter, but so many if not all of those would have a long learning curve to get ready for the hex.
It doesn't matter anyway. Gregg will be our head coach until at least next November, even if he loses every game from now until then. It would take a 4 or 5 goal loss to Cuba next month for there to be any possibility of it happening then. There is no way Jay is firing his brother unless there are a million fans with pitchforks outside his office window demanding it.
The issue isn't really GGG being a terrible coach(although he is). The issue is much much deeper than that within USSoccer and I can't see it being fixed anytime soon.
Oh dear god, just when I think we have hit bottom
From the Lalas AMA today on reddit
[–]giraffeman3705
Would you ever consider joining the USSF to try to help stabilize things in ways you've mentioned in the past?
[–]VerifiedAlexiLalas
Yes. Stay tuned
ChiefD 13,721
Ives is reporting that Julian Green, Bacon and Rubin are all being removed from the MLS allocation list which means their freedom of movement into MLS increases significantly should any team want them.
Miles Robinson recent injury is keeping him out of Atlanta's first playoff game against the Revs.
I think Green and Bacon in particular could both thrive in MLS. Could be a pathway back to the USMNT for either of them.
34 minutes ago, encaitar said:
If Bacon was ever healthy, he is an auto upgrade over Zardes at least.
I think Green would be an upgrade over Roldan as well but I could name ten players who would also be upgrades over Roldan so that may not be saying much.
3 hours ago, NewlyRetired said:
more crap for the heap.
De Boer and the Atlanta fan base are up in arms now that it came out that Miles got hurt while running conditioning after the game on the request of Berhalter. Miles is considered one of the most in shape players in the league and De Boer specifically asked Berhalter ahead of time to limit this stuff.
If true, that's shambolic
Here is what De Boer said
https://twitter.com/Justin_FOX5/status/1184866683946786816?s=20
Poke_4_Life 1,424
11 hours ago, NewlyRetired said:
Not really a surprise, but the twitter pitchforks are out in full force in reply to FDB's comments. To be clear the pitchforks are lighting up USSF and GGG.
30 minutes ago, Poke_4_Life said:
I think they have a point to be honest.
If this was a January camp, making MLS players run conditioning makes sense since they are out of season. But having an already in shape player do it when he has a playoff game days away and has been playing 90 minutes every game all year is really dumb imo.
Really really dumb.
That's why I said "if true" earlier...doesn't make any sense at all for a national team coach in a short camp for competitive games at the end of the league season to be doing this. Gggg may not be a great answer for coach, but he doesn't strike me as this oblivious...feel like there's more to the story than ggg making the kid run after the game.
.feel like there's more to the story than ggg making the kid run after the game.
It was not just Robinson. All players who did not play in the game did conditioning after from what I read.
Is that normal when it's the middle of the club season?
nvm, saw the post above. I was trying to figure out how much outrage to feign
Just now, NewlyRetired said:
Sure... But there's stretching the legs out to keep them fresh, and there's "conditioning". As we've all been saying, no point to the latter in this situation. But makes sense to have the no playing players shake out the legs a bit. I'm sure it's something FdB does with his team too.
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Search in titles only Search in Older cases only
Older cases
Would the truth made a difference?
Previous 1 177 227 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 327 377 677 template Next
donttellthejury
Re: Would the truth made a difference?
Q: YOU SAID THE DOG WAS, WHEN YOU WENT THE FIRST TIME, THE DOG WAS RUNNING AROUND. IS THAT RIGHT?
A: RIGHT.
(That would be Sat. Feb. 2nd around 4:20 in the pm.)
Q: WAS THE FAMILY AROUND WHEN THE DOG WAS RUNNING AROUND?
A: I DON'T RECALL. THEY WEREN'T OUTSIDE WHERE I WAS. THEY MAY HAVE BEEN INSIDE THE HOUSE.
Q: MA'AM, AS PART OF YOUR DUTY YOU'VE RECEIVED TRAINING IN THE AREA OF EVIDENCE COLLECTION, IS THAT RIGHT?
Q: AND YOU'VE LEARNED THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO BE CAUTIOUS OF, IS THAT RIGHT?
A: THAT'S TRUE.
Q: AMONG THE TERMS THAT YOU USED IN YOUR DIRECT EXAMINATION INVOLVED CROSS-CONTAMINATION. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? A: CROSS-CONTAMINATION BASICALLY MEANS THAT YOU WOULD TAKE SOMETHING FROM ONE AREA AND TRANSPORT IT TO ANOTHER.
Q: BEFORE COMING TO COURT -- BEFORE I GO THERE -- I'M SORRY.
YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT COLLECTING A CARPET SAMPLE. I THINK IT HAD TO DO WITH THE HALLWAY OR THE BALCONY STAIRCASEWAY WHERE THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF BLOOD, AND YOU TOOK A CONTROL SAMPLE WHEN YOU WERE TALKING TO MR. CLARKE ABOUT CONTROLS. DO YOU RECALL THAT?
(Had to be BLOOD on the carpet hallway or balcony staricaseway from the van Dam house, 'cause Dorie CLAIMS she was never in the Westerfield house, but I think we can prove that to be false, eventually. So what number did this BLOODY CARPET from the crime scene get? Covered up again. But Uncovered, right? Why would SDPD NOT enter into evidence BLOOD from a crime scene? Because they're CORRUPT!! Their own words PROVE how CORRUPT they actually are, if anybody cared to listen.)
Q: ABOUT CARPET?
Q: THE SUBJECT MATTER WAS CONTROL AS I RECOLLECT IT. DO YOU RECALL THAT?
(It's ALL WRONG, isn't it? Just going line by line through Dorie's testimony PROVES she's part of the BLUE Team. A team player as they say.)
Q: ALL RIGHT. WHEN YOU WERE FIRST IN THE ROOM, DANIELLE VAN DAM'S BEDROOM, YOU DID EVERYTHING YOU COULD TO COLLECT WHAT EVIDENCE YOU THOUGHT WAS APPROPRIATE, IS THAT CORRECT?
A: THAT'S CORRECT.
(Except for the BLOOD SOAKED BEAN BAG CHAIR. It's not Pepsi Bottle Rocket Science. It's just POOR execution.)
Q: AND THEN WHEN YOU EXITED THE ROOM, DID YOU DO WHAT YOU COULD TO COMMUNICATE OUT THAT PEOPLE SHOULD NOT COME IN FOR FEAR OF FUTURE CONTAMINATION?
A: THAT WASN'T MY ROLE AT THE TIME.
(Probably Chief Creighton was in charge since Scott Baio was busy.)
Q: DO YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THAT WAS DONE?
A: I DON'T.
(Don't you freaking about the QUALITY of YOUR work? You make me sick!!)
Q: WOULD IT BE CUSTOM AND PRACTICE TO INSURE THAT IN A SCENE SUCH AS THIS OTHERS WOULD NOT FOLLOW YOU IN TO CONTAMINATE BEFORE YOU HAD CONCLUDED YOUR WORK?
A: THAT'S A DIFFICULT QUESTION BECAUSE THIS WAS AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION. AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT DECISIONS THE DETECTIVES OR SERGEANTS HAD MADE AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THE WORK WAS CONCLUDED.
(Once the scene was RESTAGED, there was more than SEVEN items to collect. Seven items collected in how many hours on Feb. 2nd?)
THE COURT: COUNSEL, WE NEED TO TAKE THE MORNING BREAK.
(Yeah, otherwise she may say more things she's going to regret later in life.)
Q: LASTLY, YOU DESCRIBED A TRIP TO THE MOTOR HOME AS IT'S BEEN DESCRIBED ON FEBRUARY 4TH. IS THAT CORRECT?
(Only 6 hours BEFORE a search warrant has been issued and Westerfield's second set of interviews on Feb. 5th)
Q: AND I BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT THERE WERE OTHER INDIVIDUALS PRESENT.
Q: WHO WERE THOSE PEOPLE?
A: DETECTIVE HOWIE, SERGEANT DURAN, FORENSIC SPECIALIST INZUNZA, AND MYSELF.
(What indicated a Detective, Sergeant and Forensic Specialist and Dorie may be needed at the motorhome BEFORE Westerfield fails Redden's test? Was the bleach smell gone by then?)
Q: DID ANYONE ENTER THE MOTOR HOME AT THAT TIME, ANY OF THAT GROUP OF PEOPLE?
(I KNOW Feldman filed legal documents to the contrary.)
Q: SO EARLIER TODAY WHEN I ASKED YOU IF IT WAS THERE, YOU WOULD HAVE FOUND IT, THAT'S BECAUSE YOU WERE ON YOUR HANDS AND KNEES LOOKING, RIGHT?
A: THAT'S RIGHT.
Q: COULD YOU TELL THE CALIBER OF THAT SHELL CASING?
(Evidence from the revamped crime scene at the van Dam house.)
Q: DID YOU DO ANYTHING TO, I DON'T KNOW, TRY AND PRESERVE IT FOR FINGERPRINTS?
A: YES. CERTAINLY. I PACKAGED IT IN A WAY THAT IT WOULD BE PRESERVED FOR FINGERPRINTS.
Q: YOU SAID IT WAS OPENED. DID SOMEBODY SIGN AND OPEN IT?
A: I DON'T KNOW WHAT SOMEONE DID, BUT THERE IS -- THIS IS NOT MY INITIALS.
HB4NOW
The photos below are of the Van Dam backyard and show the sliding glass door reported to have been found open the morning Danielle was reported missing. Detectives say this is likely to be the way a possible kidnapper may have entered the home.
http://www.primenews.com/Archives/vandam.html
Was there disagreement between robbery and homicide on how the perp entered, or were they still trying to find the truth on the 7th? I didn't realize the sliding glass door was found opened the morning Danielle was reported missing.
16 Q. IN FACT, IN THE NEXT MORNING WHEN YOU REALIZED YOUR
17 DAUGHTER WAS MISSING, ONE OF THE REASONS YOU WENT IN THE
18 BACKYARD WAS BECAUSE YOU WERE CONCERNED YOUR DAUGHTER HAD SLEEP
19 WALKED INTO THE BACKYARD, ISN'T THAT TRUE?
20 A. I DON'T RECALL SAYING SHE SLEEP WALKED INTO THE
21 BACKYARD. MAYBE SHE HAD GONE IN THE BACKYARD, BUT IF IT'S IN
22 HERE, TELL ME THE PAGE.
23 Q. NINE -- NINTH LINE UP WHERE IT SAYS "D". IT SAYS
24 "WELL, I FIGURED." I'M JUST TRYING TO GET YOU TO CITE INTO IT.
25 A. I DIDN'T SAY THAT -- OKAY. YES, I SAID THAT.
"They came over to the house, brought Danielle with them, sold us Girl Scout cookies," McNally said Saturday. "The next day, he (Damon van Dam) came running over here, asked us to check our house, because she's known to sleepwalk."
McNally, who hadn't moved into the house yet, said that they didn't find the missing second-grader at that time.
Since then, police have searched his home as well as others. McNally's lawn is crushed where the mass of media have stood on it while the van Dams made brief appearances on their lawn next door to talk with reporters.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2002...export2749.txt
Vinny Gambini: When you look at the bricks from the right angle, they're as thin as this playing card. His whole case is an illusion, a magic trick. It has to be an illusion, 'cause you're innocent. Nobody - I mean nobody - pulls the wool over the eyes of a Gambini, especially this one.
Shamarae
Missing his humor - RIP Boris
Originally posted by Hipcheck View Post
I have no idea who this Wanda is that you talk of. How many different names do you post under? Was Wanda one of them?
Let me introduce myself ol' Hippy one!! I am Wanda NOT Roseann. Contrary to the G's most of the NG's RL names are out here. Patrick, John, Roseann, Greg and now Wanda, to name a few. I don't mind letting everyone know who I am because I believe that most of what is lacking in this case is the TRUTH.
So come on Hipcheck...step up to the plate. I do believe it is narrowing down after one of your last comments, January 6, 2011 - Post #628 - Under the Appeals Thread, " Thank god we had an intelligent jury."~~~ "WE" HUH???? See how easy it is to screw up "testimony" when you aren't telling the truth to begin with? That is why it is called LIES!!! None of you could keep your story straight.
David said , "WE" and everyone jumped on it.
Life's journey is not to arrive safely at the Grave in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways totally worn out shouting Holy #[email protected]%&....what a ride!!
Hipcheck
Originally posted by Shamarae View Post
It is a fact that most people that live in San Diego believe David Westerfield is guilty of kidnapping and murdering Danielle van Dam.
David Westerfield is getting his appeal but he will not win it and he will die in prison like he should.
LOL - That's a pretty generic answer...And I remember during/after the trial, a poll taken that it was pretty much 50/50 as to who thought DW was innocent/guilty.
"It was Dusek who told the story about the Internet."
"During the trial, he said, the lawyers were surfing a Web site where most of the postings were from people convinced of Westerfield's innocence."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...7m12westy.html
Originally posted by hb4now View Post
d-d-d-dee-dee
"On the chat room, the discussion turned to speculation about whether the prosecution had bothered to find out the date of Danielle's last haircut. The consensus in the chat room was that of course they had.
Actually, they hadn't. They'd never thought to do so."
( I wonder what else they failed to notice? Keep reading here, and you're bound to learn something. )
"Woody and I are still convinced it's scratch marks," Dusek told the audience. "What else could it be? But we didn't have proof."
( You probably should have looked under the motor home for screws or any metal that might have protruded down underneath, when he dug himself out. We're here to help, any way we can. )
"He also criticized the media for overhyping the testimony about the van Dams' spouse-swapping and the couple's use of marijuana on the night their daughter vanished."
( I happen to agree with you here. They paid very little attention to the really important STUFF. But then again, the judge only allowed a certain amount of questioning, in regards to the lifestyle. Brenda did admit they were getting a lot of attention from their behavior, and who knows, maybe that's what got James Allen Selby's attention. Where was James on February 1st? These are questions that could have been asked in March, and should have been asked before the search warrant was issued August 20/21, 2002. )
Q: WAS THERE ANYONE IN PARTICULAR YOU REMEMBER DANCING WITH?
A: THERE WAS ONE PERSON THAT I DANCED WITH, YES. BUT I DON'T KNOW WHO HE IS.
Q: WERE YOU ATTRACTED TO THAT FELLOW?
A: NO. BUT HE DANCED GOOD. WE DANCED GOOD TOGETHER.
Q: HOW LONG DID YOU KEEP DANCING WITH HIM?
A: PROBABLY ABOUT TWO, THREE SONGS.
Q: WHAT DID HE LOOK LIKE, DO YOU REMEMBER?
A: HE HAD BLOND HAIR, AND HE HAD A BLOND BEARD THAT CAME DOWN FAR. AND BARBARA SAID HE WOULD BE CUTE IF HE SHAVED HIS FACE.
"Thus far, TPD has released three photos of Selby, the latest of which was taken in March. The new photo shows him with a mustache, unlike the two previous ones.
Police would not say how they got the photos."
http://wc.arizona.edu/papers/96/14/01_1.html
( It looks like that photo was taken in someones house, and in MARCH! )
hhmmmm...interesting Patrick. No wonder BE didn't want to testify and everyone clammed up so quickly after Selby's name hit the airways.
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What can Sue do for you?
Tonight, we celebrate New Year’s Eve
by Sue Horner | Dec 31, 2010 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Champagne on ice? Check. Cupboards stocked with food? Check. Coins in the pocket to signify wealth for the coming year? Check. Twelve grapes to gobble at midnight, also meaning wealth? Check. Bright red or yellow undies to ‘catch’ love or money? Er...
Live your life, part 2
We interrupt the week’s frantic shopping, work and studies to bring you this important public message: Do not wait to live your life until you find the perfect man or woman. If the Sexiest Man Alive (so named by People magazine), Ryan Reynolds, and the Sexiest...
My grandma helps avoid the passive
Maybe it’s the influence of Legal departments, who prefer the blameless “mistakes were made” or “it was decided” to naming names. But corporate writers often have to fight for the active voice — you know, where the subject performs...
E-newsletters a great tool
by Sue Horner | Dec 2, 2010 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
While Facebook and Twitter continue to get all the press, email newsletters just keep building their solid reputation. In fact, they are “the Internet’s best tool for supplementing a website,” according to web usability expert Jakob Nielsen:...
Funny but dubious honour
by Sue Horner | Nov 30, 2010 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Leave it to the British to give an award for Bad Sex in Fiction! The 18th annual (dis)honour, given out last night, went to Rowan Somerville for his novel The Shape of Her. Somerville won over the judges with phrases such as the one describing an act of lovemaking as...
Where are the proofreaders?
Yesterday, a headline in a prominent newspaper boldly proclaimed that the Saudi king was handing over the reigns while he was in the U.S. for treatment. Since a king only has one reign, and he holds it whether he’s in the U.S. or not, I thought at first maybe...
Drop the dictionary; choose words that communicate
The author of one of my textbooks must be a friend of the magniloquent (see below) Conrad Black, or maybe a contributor to the harder levels of FreeRice.com. I say that because the text is sprinkled with so many obscure, unusual, “look how smart I am” kinds of words....
Corporatespeak for axed
Nobody believes a corporate announcement* that an executive has left to “pursue other opportunities,” so why do companies continue to pretend that they don’t fire people? Sometimes the person’s “contract has not been renewed” or he...
Blogs still going strong
Hobbyists, or people who express their personal musings online as a hobby, make up the “backbone” (64%) of the blogging world, according to Technorati’s 2010 State of the blogosphere, which covered 7,200 bloggers. Self-employeds, like me, make up the...
Salary survey shows women lag; indies a bargain
by Sue Horner | Nov 8, 2010 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Two things jumped out at me about the 2009 IABC/Canada online salary survey*: 1. “Nationally speaking, men do appear to make more on average than women.” According to the survey, the mean (essentially the average) yearly salary / median (the middle-most value when the...
Nerd out with words
Sign up for my monthly newsletter, which talks about writing, words, newsletters and other wordnerdery.
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Development Lessons From Killzone 2: An Interview
Gear Inc.
[Vietnam] Game Designer
Gameplay Programmer
Lead Level Designer
Futureplay
by Christian Nutt [Design, Interview]
May 8, 2009 Page 4 of 4
That's actually really interesting. Because to a certain extent, you have expectations when you create technology, both based on the hardware and based on the application of the technology. But to find that when you're asked to exceed some of your expectations, that's what it creates.
AB: Yeah.
HH: We definitely added stuff to our technology base on the back of this project.
AB: So, for instance, I think that you can see here in this scene, featuring now, [indicates screen] is a system... This is actually a real-time reflection. So, that wasn't in Killzone 2. We developed this for this demo as a kind of test. So, you know, we'll use that in future games. We can now do good reflections, so it's really interesting.
But this is the Killzone engine. Is that was the engine is called? Or do you have an internal name for it?
AB: Oh, it's the Killzone engine, yeah.
It's something you would potentially use. It's your studio's tech.
HH: Yes. It's fully proprietary.
You will definitely leverage it for any project that your studio does. I'm assuming that's your goal.
HH: Yeah, a lot of it has come from previous projects. It's evolved, going back a long way.
AB: Another thing that this features that's kind of cool, is you can actually see these different buffers. Let me slow it down a bit -- because you can actually see it run in real time.
The things that I explained before in GameTrailers, the different depth buffers or lighting buffers and etcetera. So, it is kind of this tech demo in a sense that people can have a view about the underlying technologies that we used to make that.
HH: Are you somewhat familiar with what we're doing? We created this deferred rendering engine that allows us to composite this image by layering various special effects, lighting, various material buffers on top of it? Maybe take a step back, Arjan.
AB: Yeah, sorry. [laughs]
HH: You're assuming too much knowledge already. [laughs]
Actually, that sort of leads into my question, right. So, this is going to be on PSN, right?
HH: Yeah, that's right.
So, what do you think about pulling back the curtain for your audience, you know what I mean? Letting them see how these things are. I mean obviously, you know in film, a lot of making of features hit DVDs and whatever, but this is sort of on a different kind of level because, well, A, it's interactive, and B, it's so technical. What do you think about that?
HH: I think it's fantastic that end users get to understands how complex it actually is. It's just one of those quirky terms. It's a "deferred rendering engine". What the hell does it mean? What the hell does it allow you to create?
I think for us to visually present that, and that people toy around it any play with it and sort of experiment with it in their own time at their own pace is very helpful to making them aware of how complex it is. You started with the question, "You spent quite a number of years," and this is a way I think to express the complexities that went into this project.
AB: And we had talks on videos on GameTrailers, etcetera, and they were super highly ranked. And you look at the comments, people were like, "Whoa, we need more of this information!" So, you know, let's give this kind of stuff to them.
And to actually once more show this is real time. This is not fake, this is not a movie that we're playing in slow-mo or whatever, but you can actually see all that kind of stuff in the background.
And it's a unique thing that we developed for the Killzone engine. It's a completely different way how to render your screen, and we kind of explain how we did that. So, I think that's interesting for many people.
And another feature that it has, is there are director commentaries. So, we had our art director, lead technical artist, senior tech coder, and the director from Zoic who helped with this, took over what you're seeing on the screen, etcetera, so.
I think that people will find that pretty fascinating. It's interesting because among most people, even developers, very few proportionally are working on games of this stature. You know what I mean, triple-A, first party, single platform, 190 people at a top of the line team.
HH: It's kind of a developer's dream to get that kind of opportunity to not only make a game of that magnitude but also do it specifically for one platform and not have to sort of find the lowest common denominator.
It really is great. That's also very much the reason why Arjan and myself decided to sell the company to Sony, because we got that opportunity three years ago.
Gear Inc. — Hanoi, Vietnam
Sucker Punch Productions — Bellevue, Washington, United States
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Battlefield Hardline (2015)
Judged by: 10 gamers
Epic Fail Bad Average Epic Legendary
Terrible Poor Fun Amazing Must Play
The city of Miami is becoming a hotspot for drug dealers and illegal trades. Criminal activity is rising day by day, and the police must respond in kind. Officer Nick Mendoza, who has been recently promoted to the job, is a competent officer and one of the hopes to restore the city to its former glory. Working with a new partner, Detective Carl Stoddard, he is assigned to investigate a series of drug deals.
When a drug bust goes horribly wrong, Stoddard is put on hold, and Nick is partnered up with veteran Detective Khai Minh Dao. Together, they start working on cases to follow the drug supply chain from the streets to the source. Throughout their investigations, they find out there’s a new powerful drug hitting the streets, called Hot Shot.
Now, playing as Nick Mendoza, take down the drug lords as the law enforcer. Make use of all the police equipment available, from tasers to handcuffs, to arrest offenders and put an end to their illicit schemes. But as a detective, you will also discover that corruption and power are equally powerful enemies to deal with.
Battlefield Hardline Reviews
Crime Fighting
EA Digital Illusions CE
Year Released:
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kuria_Davis 4 years 7 months ago
Hardline is easy to dismiss as being fare too removed from Battlefield's typical setting.However it packs a fantastic multiplayer mode, a compelling tale of drugs and police corruption also a brilliant single player campaign.Awesome destructible scenery and presentation that be-fits an intense action movie make it a chaotic yet rewarding FPS gaming franchise.
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Bloodborne Has Gone Gold
By Kenneth Shepard
Sony and From Software have announced that Bloodborne has gone gold.
News of this comes from Sony’s ”That Kid Chris” who confirmed the news on his Twitter.
After leaks under the name “Project Beast,” Bloodborne was properly unveiled at Sony’s 2014 E3 press conference. The PlayStation 4 Exclusive is slated for release on March 24th.
For more on Bloodborne, check out our latest preview from PlayStation Experience.
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Silverlands Orphanage Chertsey | Silverlands Manor & Actor’s Orphange
September 14, 2015 January 8, 2020 by Gerald Greenwood
You could say the story of Silverlands Orphanage started nearly two hundred years ago, but for me the beginning was just a few weeks back, round about the start of August. That was when my new neighbour invited me round for a drink.
The evening was heading towards its conclusion and conversation was starting to get a bit thin on the ground. We’d both done the whole life story thing and encouraged by the wine, I’d started on and then exhausted my supply of disastrous relationship anecdotes. It was at the point when I was thinking about calling it a night that she asked me. She’d heard there was an abandoned orphanage up in the woods on the edge of town, and did I know anything about it? I didn’t, and to be honest I was sceptical. Whilst it’s true that technically we do live in a town, to me it has always seemed more like a large village. In the four years since I first moved here I thought I’d pretty much explored most of it, either on foot or by bike, and I’d never come across anything remotely like that.
At school I was always marked out as being a bit of a daydreamer. If somewhere out there any of my school reports still exist, and if you should come across one of them, you’d find it filled with comments about being ‘present in body but not in mind’ and ‘has his head in the clouds’ etc etc. One comment from a crusty old maths teacher I still remember to this day: ‘Lessons are just a minor inconvenience in Gerald’s day’. I was particularly aggrieved by that one, not only because it got me grounded for a month, but because I’d always considered lessons to be more like a major inconvenience.
I haven’t changed much over the years. There’s still a movie of my life continually playing inside my head. Black and white of course, with moody noir lighting, sunshine streaming though venetian blinds showing up the dust in the air, plus the inevitable voice-over. It’s also set in an alternative reality where I am in fact quite good looking.
But getting back to the orphanage, my next move was to ask around one of the local pubs. As I entered The Slaughtered Lamb the rain was lashing down and the sky ripped apart with frequent jabs of lightning. I stepped across the threshold, shaking the rain from my hair, and the pub that two seconds before had been filled with noisy chatter suddenly went silent, everybody stopping dead as if a pause button had been stabbed. The middle-aged guy at the dartboard turned to glare at me, dart still poised in hand. The four old boys playing dominoes round the corner table stopped their game and looked round at me with stony faces, hard as granite. The barmaid, a large no-nonsense woman in her early sixties, stood stock still, her hand still inside the glass that she’d been drying with a cloth
‘Er, good evening,’ I stammered. ‘Mind if I come in?’
Everyone remained frozen stiff for a few more seconds, and then gradually turned back to what they’d been doing. Relieved, I approached the bar and realising that ordering a Manhattan in place like this would probably get me beaten up, I asked for one of whatever the locals drink.
‘A pint of Old Dog’s Scrotum it is then,’ she said in a generic non-specific country accent, filling a none too clean pint pot with several swift tugs on a hand pump. She slammed the glass down on the bar and the brown liquid slopped over the top and on to my hands.
‘Listen,’ I said in a low voice, not quite sure why I was whispering, ‘I’m after some information. About the location of the old orphanage. I-’
There was a loud thump as a dart missed the board completely and stuck in the wall next to it. I could feel the force of 20 hostile glares upon me. Once again, dead silence, only to be broken a few moments later by a sort of blowing noise and a thick wet thwack as a wadge of slimy tabacco landed at my feet.
The barmaid grabbed my arm urgently, pulling me close. ‘Folk round ‘ere,’ she hissed, ‘they don’t like talking about the orphanage. Nobody’s been up there for years. At sunset it’s shadow touches the church and you can feel the evil, even after all this time.’
‘But what happened up there?’ I hissed back. ‘There must be someone who’ll talk to me about it?’
She leaned in conspiratorially, ‘Old Bert Fry, ‘e were the last one to go up there. That were many years since, and he were nowt but a lad.’
‘Well, can I talk to him? Can I see him?’
She laughed, a dry humourless cackle that chilled my bones
‘Oh, you can see him my boy. Over there, in the corner. Oh yes, you can see him. But he can’t see you.’
She gestured with a nod of her head, and I turned round. There, in the corner, seated at a small wooden table, alone and with a beer in hand, was a man. That’s all I could say for sure. He was shrouded in the shadows and all I could make out was the dark indistinct shape of his outline. I stared intently, willing my eyes to adjust. Suddenly there was a huge crash of thunder and a crack of lightning lit up the whole room.
It could have only been for a split second that I saw him, saw his face. But it’s etched in my brain forever, scorched in to my retinas. He was old. How old I couldn’t tell, but his skin was wrinkled like the texture of old brown paper. Beneath the swollen drinker’s nose was a shapeless, empty mouth with a manic toothless grin. But it was the eyes I couldn’t look away from. Oh God, the eyes. Two, dark, black gaping empty sockets, sightless yet seeming to fix right on to my own. I was dimly aware that the barmaid was saying something.
“He were found stumbling along the road. Don’t know what it were that ‘e saw up there; he ain’t never spoken a word since. But whatever it was, it were too much for him to bear. When they found him, he’d pulled out his eyes. Pulled out his own eyes with his own bare hands.’ She gave that laugh again. ‘Oh yes, you can see him. Her laugh seemed to ratchet up several pitches, and then they were all joining in. Crazy, insane laughter that felt like it was reverberating round the inside of my head rather than round the pub, drowning out the scream that took me several seconds to realise was coming from my own throat.
All of this happened exactly as I have described, albeit in my own head.
The reality of today’s world is that things are a lot easier, although easier isn’t necessarily better. We have the Internet and Google Earth, and using these I was surprised to learn that it was true; there is an abandoned orphanage up there in the woods. Moreover, it’s a grade II listed building that was built sometime around the 1820s. There’s surprisingly little history available out there on the net, and what there is seems to all come from a single source that I haven’t been able to trace. Below is the only non-contemporary photograph I could find, dated circa 1914.
Silverlands Orphanage at the time of World War 1
photo copyright [email protected]
Originally, the manor house that became Silverlands orphanage was built for Vice-Admiral the Rt. Hon Sir Frederick Hotham, sometime around 1820. It changed hands several times over the years before becoming the new home for the Actors Orphanage in 1938. The children in the Orphanage wern’t always technically orphans. Often it was the case that their parents were unable to care for them given the demand from their careers in the stage and film industries.
In 1947 the St. Peter’s Training School for Nurses was formed. This opened with three student nurses and ran alongside the buildings used by the Orphanage, before finally in 1958 the Orphanage ceased to exist. The building remained a nursing school up until it closed in the late 1990s.
A few years later in 2001, Silverlands Orphanage was in the news when plans were put in place for it to house the relocated Wolvercote Clinic for convicted paedophiles. The locals weren’t happy and there followed a series of candlelit vigils, the first of which took place on October 26th 2001. BBC News covered the event as 300 protesters remained there in the rain. This was repeated every Friday evening and whilst this was going on, the former orphanage was enjoying a refit to the tune of around £3million.
In response to a Parliamentary Question tabled 4th July, 2002, it was confirmed by Home Office Minister, Hilary Benn, that Silverlands Orphanage would NOT become the new home of the Wolvercote paedophile clinic. It has been empty ever since.
A further bit of research suggested that although it’s currently well guarded by CCTV and motion detectors, with a bit of stealth and creativity it might be possible to get inside and take a look round – if you’re prepared to take the risk of getting kicked out by security.
I’ve previously written about growing up watching cheesy haunted house and horror movies. And as a kid in the ’70s I watched all those documentaries, the ones with the great dane and the hippie who were always hungry. Going in to old buildings never seemed to work out too well for them. So the chances of going on my own into some old abandoned orphanage – an orphanage for God’s sake! – seemed absurdly unlikely.
Nevertheless I was curious, and like the hapless victims in so many horror films, that curiosity got the better of me.
Silverlands Orphanage / Mamiya 645 Pro TL / Ilford FP4 (external shots) & Kodak Tri-X (internal shots) / Developed in Rodinal 1+99 for 60 minutes
I took all these photos of Silverlands Orphanage with my Mamiya 645 Pro TL. Want to see other photos I’ve taken with my Mamiya 645? Here you go….
Or click here for all photos I’ve developed using the stand development technique
This entry was posted in Mamiya 645 Pro TL and tagged chertsey, silverlands orphanage, urban exploration, urbex. Bookmark the permalink.
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Franciscan University of Steubenville
Your Gift Matters
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Dear Friend of Franciscan,
Thank you for caring about Franciscan University!
Annual Giving at Franciscan University has but a single purpose: to bring Christ’s light into the world ever more surely by enabling students to attend Franciscan.
I like to sum up the mission of Franciscan this way: we form young men and women in Christ and seed them into the world. Or rather, Christ Himself seeds them, sowing His Word into their hearts and sending them far and wide, to proclaim His Kingdom through the witness of their lives.
In this broken world, we stand as a sign of contradiction—and also a sign of great hope.
The young men and women who leave here, imbued with the joy of the Holy Spirit and formed in Christ through years of academics and Franciscan life, go forth and make a profound impact in the world.
Very simply, your gifts make that possible.
Do you want leaders in the world? Leaders who are not just leaders but moral leaders? Servant leaders?
Do you wish to have young men and women who are responsible, dedicated, truthful, and loving? Who live their lives for Christ, unashamed and bursting with energy to be His hands and His feet? That is what the good Franciscan friars here work at every day.
Your gifts make that possible.
A gift of any amount is appreciated, large or small. But please don’t think any gift is too small to make a difference: in the words of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”
For us, it is the love with which the gift is given that matters.
Please know we go forward because of the generosity of donors like you. Be assured of our thanks—and the thanks of our students—and know our donor and their intentions are included in the Petitions of the Faithful at Mass (three times a day during school time) and by us personally.
May you be filled with the joy of the Risen Christ!
Benjamin Gessler
Director for Annual Giving
Office of Advancement | 800-783-6447 | Contact
1235 University Boulevard, Steubenville, OH 43952
© Franciscan University of Steubenville
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Croatian college students believe corruption is getting worse, study finds
(Dubravka Petric/PIXSELL)
The consultancy firm Deloitte has conducted a study about the perception of corruption among Croatian college students and the results are daunting.
Economy Katja MiličićNov. 18, 2019, 4:59 p.m.
More than 40 percent of those surveyed believe there is more corruption today than in years past. Confidence in public institutions is low or very low among more than 70 percent of participants in the survey, which was presented on Monday at a conference on corruption awareness organized by Deloitte Croatia and hosted by the Croatian Employers Association.
Students were also asked why corruption occurs and what can be done to curb it.
"There were some very interesting responses and what can be extrapolated from them is that we not only have to change the way we punish corruption, but the attitudes toward corruption in our society. We have to start with ourselves and with the people around us,” said Domagoj Bačić, a senior studying economics in Zagreb who presented the results of the study.
One third of students said they or members of their family had come into direct contact with corruption, meaning they were asked for a bribe or other kind of quid pro quo when seeking a service from an institution, said Vedrana Kašić Jelušić, a Deloitte financial advisory services partner.
Legal insecurity is a major issue in Croatia, says the head of the Croatian Employers Association, Davor Majetić.
"The gray economy is still very big in Croatia. If we calculate that it accounts for 10% to 15% of our economy, that's 40 to 50 billion kuna annually. If we were to collect just the VAT on that amount, it would be 10 billion kuna more in revenue for the budget that could go towards better public sector salaries and lowering taxes," Majetić said.
The conference concluded that modernizing procurement procedures, fostering better cooperation with state auditors and prosecutors, more effective policing, and more efficient courts are tools that can combat corruption.
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Retail sales rose by 2.5% year-on-year in November
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New Languages in Google Translate
Google's machine translation service added new languages: Afrikaans, Belarusian, Icelandic, Irish, Macedonian, Malay, Swahili, Welsh, Yiddish. Some of these languages have a small number of speakers: for example, according to Wikipedia, only 320,000 people speak Icelandic.
Swahili is a language spoken in Eastern Africa, Afrikaans is spoken in South Africa and Namibia, Yiddish has 3 million speakers in the Orthodox Jewish communities, Malay is an official language in Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore. Welsh is spoken in Wales, England and Argentina, Irish is spoken by a small minority of the Irish population, Macedonian has less than 3 million speakers and many enemies, while Belarusian has 9 million speakers.
The number of languages supported by Google Translate is 51, which is impressive, but there are still many popular languages that aren't supported. At least not yet.
{ via John Mueller }
Labels: Google Translate
benregn August 25, 2009 at 3:42 AM
I speek Icelandic nativity, been waiting for this for ages... Love Google!
Still waiting for Latin :-)
Ricky S. August 25, 2009 at 4:07 AM
You must have heard the phrase 'You will find a malayalee even on the moon!', but still Google hasn't rolled out translation for Malayalam (an Indian language which is supposedely the hardest language in Asia!) :(
Malay is very useful addition!
Ata İsmet Özçelik August 25, 2009 at 6:02 AM
Where did you get this map? Turkish is also supported but not shown in the map...
Tahin August 25, 2009 at 6:24 AM
Waiting for Bengali :)
According to Wikipedia-
"With nearly 230 million total speakers, Bengali is one of the most spoken languages (ranking fifth or sixth) in the world."
It's really nice that Google support all these languages, but let's remember we're talking here about statistical machine translation that is good to have a clue what the text is about and that's all. If you really need good translation you need to use services like OneHourTranslation.com that have professional translators, or you risk your reputation. I do not recommend using a translation plug-in in your website if your readers aren't techies.
Varun Mahajan August 25, 2009 at 6:56 AM
Punjabi please
Igor Trajkovski August 25, 2009 at 7:06 AM
Thank you Google.
Macedonia loves you. :)
even when you ruined my translation business :)
ribaro mk August 25, 2009 at 7:23 AM
Google thank you for implement Macedonian language!
Yeah, Bravo Google, Macedonian it is!
Martin August 25, 2009 at 7:37 AM
Thank you Google for implementing Macedonian. We were waiting for this to happen and we're glad :)
There are small glitches like irregular translations, but, we, the community, will give our contribution so that the translation will be better.
Jovan August 25, 2009 at 7:45 AM
Thanks Google,
Thanks from Macedonia.
And yes, as Martin said, we will give our contribution for better translation.
Браво Google што го имплементиравте македонскиот јазик.
преведете си сега за да разберете што сум пишал Ч)
Thanks for the Macedonian :)
Thank you Google!
God bless you all!! :D
Macedonian has less than 3 million speakers and many enemies :D
Benny the Irish polyglot August 25, 2009 at 8:52 AM
This is excellent!! Thanks so much for sharing :) I'm an Irish speaker and I'm sure that this will hugely help promote Irish on the Internet!
Thank you Google for Macedonian language, we've been waiting for ages.
Odisseas - KOMCORP.org August 25, 2009 at 10:12 AM
You can't add the Macedonian language because it doesn't exist any country with the name Macedonia. According to the United Nations the name is: "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" as you can see here: http://www.un.org/en/members/index.shtml
here: http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/macedonia.pdf
And here: http://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspx?crName=The%20former%20Yugoslav%20Republic%20of%20Macedonia
@Odisseas: your logic is completely flawed. There is no country named "Lule Sami", however, 2000 people have Lule Sami as their native language in northern Norway and Sweden. Speakers of Yiddish are spread all over the world, but in Judea they also speak variants of Arabic, Hebrew, etc. There is no one-to-one relation between languages and countries, far from it. Even English is spread over many countries that also have speakers of other languages (Navaho, Irish, Warlpiri, etc.)
What's "Macedonia"? Do you mean "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"?
Read the news, Google. Or ask your brother, Google News. There are problems about this country's naming.
Anonymous @ August 25, 2009 10:27 AM.
You are losing your reputation in Greece and many other countries all over the world with these things you are doing. If you want to impress 2 million people and lose more than 20 millions, well go on and do it... You'll lose...
thank you Google for Macedonian. As you said - has less than 3 million speakers and many enemies. we're used to this hate comments.
Ти Благодарам Google :)
Dusan August 25, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Finally, Google Translate offers Macedonian! :D
Thank you Google, MUCH LOVE FROM MACEDONIA, keep it up people! =)
(Томи)слав Јованоски August 25, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Great! Google can speak Macedonian now...
Haters can do one job... That in what they are the best - to hate...
Sase Antic August 25, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Thank you, Google!
Greetings from Macedonia!
@Odisseas: boo-hoo-hoo...
cut it out allready and grow up!
greetings from macedonia
Thank you, Greetings from Macedonia
Google, let me join my compatriots in thanking you for adding Macedonian to your list. :)
Aleksandar August 25, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Thank you Google for Macedonian language
King Regards!
Thank you Google for the addition of the Macedonian language.
Macedonia for the Macedonians.
Macedonia for the Macedonians so let the Greek racists deal with reality for once in their lives ..
Thanks to Google for adding the Macedonian language to the list...
MAKEDONIJA ZA MAKEDONCITE!
Thank you Google for the Macedonian inclusion.
@ Odisseas greatings from Macedonia.
Dhiraj chaurasia August 25, 2009 at 8:37 PM
I think google need to include Urdu in translation tool also.
DOOGII August 25, 2009 at 8:51 PM
how add mongolian language
Thank you for including the Macedonian language Google! This is very handy.
Thank you Google for implementing this language and respecting the right to the Macedonians to call themselves what they are.
SAMO NAPRED MAKEDONIJA!
MAKEDONIJA, MAKEDONIJA, MAKEDONIJA!!!
Dwayne Bailey August 25, 2009 at 11:54 PM
Nice work Google. I been playing with Afrikaans, seems to have lots of Dutch remnants though and gets a few really odd things wrong.
I've created a patch and reported a bug against Fedora to make sure that libtranslate (a machine translation broker) is aware of these new Google languages.
We use libtranslate for Virtaal the desktop localisation (Computer Aided Translation) software that we develop.
KOCTA August 26, 2009 at 12:15 AM
Bravo Google and thank you for adding the Macedonian language to the list.
Macedonia Timeless!
Igor August 26, 2009 at 1:13 AM
Thank you for adding support for the Macedonian Language.
We've waited so long for this.
Todor Nicholov August 26, 2009 at 1:43 AM
"Macedonian"??? What for?? If anyone wanted to translate them, he had only to choose Bulgarian from the list! LOL
There is not any "Macedonian". Just a bastardised Western Bulgarian Dialect!
Thankyou for incorporating Macedonian in Google translate! It will be a helpful tool!
As for the xenophobic comments. They speak more of you than any action you might take against Macedonian state!
Thank you google for the Macedonian translation,
if only i had it in my day,i wouldnt have had to speak that disgusting jibber jabber that my tutor taught me as a child,i think he called it koine or some such thing.
Alexander of Macedon.
ps Macedonia...Land of Legend Land of Glory..but NEVER greek!
Google, thank you for Slavomacedonian translation
Put your hands away from our country. We are proud Slavomacedonians.
Slavomacedonia for ever.
SAMO NAPRED SLAVOMAKEDONIJA !
SLAVOMAKEDONIJA ZA SLAVOMAKEDONCITE!
DA ZIVEE SLAVOMAKEDONIJA !
DA ZIVEE FYROM !
PROUD SLAV FROM FYROM
I'm proud, i'am Slav, i'am fyromian from Vardarska.
Da zivee Vardarska !
hey even the greeks can speek Macedonian now
Makes posing as one of us just a bit easier.
only thing is that the "slavo" and "fyromian" stuff gives them away
poor little greek babies.....want to be everything but alas will always be nothing.
Thus, our friends Slavs from Vardarska, could tranlsate from their language (Bulgarian)to Greek, since many years, in order to learn about rich Macedonian history (Alexander, Philip, Aristotelis, Olympiada, Thessaloniki).
But now, here's the chance :
We Greeks can learn easily the history of a proud nation, Slavomacedonians ( Goce Delchev Jane Sandanski Nikola Karev Dame Gruev Pitu Guli Dimo Hadgi-Dimov Gjorgi Sugarev Pere Toshev Jordan Piperkata ).
THE ONE HAND: ALEXANDROS AND ARISTOTELIS = GREEKS (MACEDONIANS)
THE OTHER HAND: GOCHE DELCHEV AND JANE SANTANSKI = SLAVS (BULGARO-FYROMIANS).
Is it possible to be in the same substrutum ARISTOTELIS and PERE TOSHEV ?????????????? BAD JOKE MR.GOOGLE!!!!!
Slavica August 26, 2009 at 3:48 AM
Macedonian has less than 3 million speakers and many enemies....
THANK YOU GOOGLE.....YOU DID A GREAT JOB....will help us MACEDONIANS a lot....
What is the language of Albanians in FYROM ? (28% of population)
What is the language of Bulgarians in FYROM ? (12% of population)
A very simple question to Macedonians:
Are you Slavic origin or not ?
a very simple question to greeks:
are you slavic,albanian,turkish origin or not?
when exactly did you greeks get your own country?....wasnt it in 1830 or something,and isnt the official name of your state...the hellenic republic?
who are you really?...most of you dont know what you are .....just that you want to be everything you are not...like Macedonian
Vortex August 26, 2009 at 4:12 AM
Thanks Google, you did the right things.
@Bulgarians Macedonians were acquiring bulgarian passports to ease their taxes on cars and to travel over Europe easier. It's an economic thing and it will go away in a few years. Deal with it.
@Greeks Cheer up, thanks to the translator now you can read easier what's happening over here and see that our government is retarded and "brainwash happy" as much as your government.
Thanks for MACEDONIAN language. It is very useful.
you name macedonian the language created and named macedonian at 1944?
Actually a bulgarian language with many servian insade.
Macedonians had ONLY one language, the Greek language and they spread ONLY Greek language and civilization to all known world.
There is no neighbor country at the area(Hellas, Bulgaria, Servia) recognize any nation called macedonian or ,macedonian language>.
Its just another one Slavic language and you can call it as you like, except Macedonian.
Macedonian language its the Greek Language spoked and still speaking throw centuries by Greeks.
Enough with the distortion of historical truth, google you challenge any civilized person on this planet.
One word says everything.
Macedonian Babes August 26, 2009 at 4:28 AM
We appreciate your move, Google.
Another one move of propaganda which, unfortunately, is being made by an organization who wants to inform people - congradulations, you manage to misinform them!
I hope the money you got worth the blow in your image! Thankfully, there are other search engines..
Aleksandar August 26, 2009 at 5:32 AM
I am Macedonian. No one can tell me who i am.
Thx Google you did the right things!
Even the Hell(Asss) can speek Macedonian now.
In macedonian:
Гугл Ви благодариме за додавањето на македонскиот јазик! Многу практично. Сега и мајка ми ќе употребува Гугл Транслејт :) Браво!
Google, thanks for adding the macedonian language! Very handy! Now even my mom can use Google Translate! :) Thumbs up!
Thanks from Macedonian minority in Greece.
Благодарение на Google,
Благодарение од македонското малцинство во Грција.
Уште еднаш се докажа дека нашиот јазик постои и ќе постои а Гркот нека си го преведи ова сега на гугл,
TNX GOOGLE
Radmila August 26, 2009 at 6:17 AM
Thank you Google for adding Macedonian language!
Благодарам! :)
Google thank you a lot for adding macedonian in language's list . I was waiting this for a long time.It will be really helpfull for my essays and columns. Thank you once again .
And for all greeks and bulgarians:
Our language is very different from yours. We dont have any extra similarities.
Today (figuratively speaking) many people find out that they made a big mistake when they split our country to so-called "good" neighbors.
- „We have "good neighbor relationship"! ( I hate this fraze especially when it's spoken by Athens's Government )“.
Hahaha this is just from our side . We are the good one.You are our enemies ' coz the only thing you do , ectually the only thing you want is our territory, our language, our culture because all these, every peace of MACEDONIA is unique.MACEDONIA is ancies, timeless.
So you want to be good neighbors, leave this country alone or you are afraid of us , 3 million people because you know that we have the right about everything.
However one thing should be clear , we are Macedonians we'll always be no mather what you say or do.
We will never betray the country.
MACEDONIA TIMELESS
МАКЕДОНИЈА ВЕЧНА
There is not any "Macedonian"
Macedonia is Greek.
fyrom is vardarska and is slavs.
A very simple question to slavic peoples: What does the name ALEXANDER mean?
NOT GOOD mr.google not good
Many of us the use google.
Macedonian August 26, 2009 at 6:26 AM
Thank you Google!!!
Thank you so much for Macedonian language!
* matter ( sorry for this mistake)
"...Macedonian has less than 3 million speakers and many enemies..."
nobody hates them, they are the enemy oh the historical truth.
"Macedonian" Language: a fabricated one, mixed Bulgarian and Serbian!!!
From wikipedia...
"The first official Macedonian grammar was developed by Krume Kepeski. One of the most important contributors in the standardisation of the Macedonian literary language was Blaže Koneski. The first document written in the literary standard Macedonian language is the first issue of the Nova Makedonija newspaper in 1944. Makedonska Iskra (Macedonian Spark) was the first Macedonian newspaper to be published in Australia, from 1946 to 1957. A monthly with national distribution, it commenced in Perth and later moved to Melbourne and Sydney."
"In most sources in and out of Bulgaria before the Second World War, the southern Slavonic dialect continuum covering the area of today's Republic of Macedonia and Northern Greece was referred to as group of Bulgarian dialects. The local variants of the name of the language were also balgàrtzki, bùgarski or bugàrski; i.e. Bulgarian.[63] Although Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the independence of the Republic of Macedonia, most of its academics, as well as the general public, regard the language spoken there as a form of Bulgarian.[9] However after years of diplomatic impasse caused by an academic dispute, in 1999 the government in Sofia solved the problem with the Macedonian Language under the euphemistic formula: "the official language of the country (Republic of Macedonia) in accordance with its constitution"."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonian_language
Рики: THANK YOU & BRAVO GOOGLE! YOU ARE THE BEST!
To everybody who wants to learn about the origin of Macedonians living today in Republic of Macedonia, here it is one scientific answer:
https://www.igenea.com/index.php?content=49a&id=40
https://www.igenea.com/index.php?content=49a&id=8
When facts speak, even the gods are silent!!!
As you can clearly see from both links, there are far more Slavs in Greece than in Republic of Macedonia, and there is much more stronger genetic link between Antic Macedonians and Macedonians from Republic of Macedonia (30%), rather than link with Greece of only 5%.
So Greeks, Please f*ck off!
"A very simple question to slavic peoples: What does the name ALEXANDER mean?"
You mean Alexandar? :p
It's is well known, and historicaly proven (only in their minds), that the Alexandar's mother language was the ancient Macedonian language, the one that the people of the Republic speak nowdays!!! :Ppppppp
compare "macedonian" and bulgarian language to find out your big mistake Google Sirs...
José August 26, 2009 at 6:46 AM
Wonderful. If you add Basque, Quechua, Esperanto, as well as Pinyin / Romaji rendering, your system will be perfect!
ahaha "a language with enemies"!!!!
only vardarskians could do that!
thanks God,in greek edition Google is accurate
"Slavomacedonian"!
Thank you Google for adding the dialect of the Former Yugoslav Republic North of Macedonia, a true Bulgarian dialect indeed. You may want to consider Quebecois as well since it is so much different than French...or is it?
332 classical scholars from around the world, sent a letter to the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
"Rather, Macedonia and Macedonian Greeks have been located for at least 2,500 years just where the modern Greek province of Macedonia is. Exactly this same relationship is true for Attica and Athenian Greeks, Argos and Argive Greeks, Corinth and Corinthian Greeks, etc.
We do not understand how the modern inhabitants of ancient Paionia, who speak Slavic – a language introduced into the Balkans about a millennium after the death of Alexander – can claim him as their national hero. Alexander the Great was thoroughly and indisputably Greek. His great-great-great grandfather, Alexander I, competed in the Olympic Games where participation was limited to Greeks."
If you want to read it full it's all here: http://macedonia-evidence.org/obama-letter.html
LIST OF CO-SIGNERS:
NAME TITLE INSTITUTION
Anagnostis P. Agelarakis, Professor of Anthropology, Adelphi University (USA)
Ioannis M. Akamatis, Professor of Classical Archaeology, University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
June W. Allison, Professor Emerita, Department of Greek and Latin, The Ohio State University (USA)
Georgios Anagnostopoulos, Professor of Philosophy, University of California-San Diego (USA)
Mariana Anagnostopoulos, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, California State University, Fresno (USA)
Ronnie Ancona, Professor of Classics, Hunter College and The Graduate Center, CUNY (USA)
John P. Anton, Distinguished Professor of Greek Philosophy and Culture University of South Florida (USA)
Dr. Norman George Ashton, Senior Honorary Research Fellow, The University of Western Australia (Australia)
Lucia Athanassaki, Associate Professor of Classical Philology, University of Crete (Greece)
Effie F. Athanassopoulos, Associate Professor Anthropology and Classics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (USA)
Harry C. Avery, Professor of Classics, University of Pittsburgh (USA)
Dr. Dirk Backendorf. Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz (Germany)
Elizabeth C. Banks, Associate Professor of Classics (ret.), University of Kansas (USA)
Leonidas Bargeliotes, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Athens, President of the Olympic Center for Philosophy and Culture (Greece)
Alice Bencivenni, Ricercatore di Storia Greca, Universita di Bologna (Italy)
David L. Berkey, Assistant Professor of History, California State University, Fresno (USA)
Luigi Beschi, professore emerito di Archeologia Classica, Universita di Firenze (Italy)
Josine H. Blok, professor of Ancient History and Classical Civilization, Utrecht University (The Netherlands)
Alan Boegehold, Emeritus Professor of Classics, Brown University (USA)
Efrosyni Boutsikas, Lecturer of Classical Archaeology, University of Kent (UK)
Ewen Bowie, Emeritus Fellow, Corpus Christi College, Oxford (UK)
Keith Bradley, Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Professor of Classics, Concurrent Professor of History, University of Notre Dame (USA)
Kostas Buraselis, Professor of Ancient History, University of Athens (Greece)
Stanley M. Burstein, Professor Emeritus, California State University, Los Angeles (USA)
Francis Cairns, Professor of Classical Languages, The Florida State University (USA)
John McK. Camp II, Agora Excavations and Professor of Archaeology, ASCSA, Athens (Greece)
David A. Campbell, Emeritus Professor of Classics. University of Victoria, B.C. (Canada)
Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture, University of Cambridge (UK)
Paavo Castren, Professor of Classical Philology Emeritus, University of Helsinki (Finland)
To see the full list of the Scholars, follow the link...
http://macedonia-evidence.org/obama-letter.html#obamacosigners
Why do the programmers of goolge put so much effort to add the "Macedonian" language, since the combination of the Bulgarian and Serbian translations worked just fine? :P
Voya August 26, 2009 at 7:07 AM
Thanks to google for adding the Macedonian language.
Don't listen to the bulgarian and greek racist!
MACEDONIA IS GREECE..... U ARE SLAVS!!!! WAKE UP!!! LEARN HISTORY !!
If falsifications of historical facts are condoned and promoted by Google, what other lies are presentd and promoted as facts: Google Maps and geographies, climate change and weather patterns, environmental conditions, Financial and medical data? ... Way to go Google, eroding credibility is bad for business, simply GOOGLESS.
Macedonian language for FYROMinans? !!! They can use Bulgarians. Same race, same language...
I don't believe that this is right. It isn't exist any language with the name Makedonian. A language with the name Bulgarian exist but no Makedonian. Put out that from the translator!!!
Accusing Greeks and Bulgsarians as racists while at the same time the Slavs of the Former Yugoslav Republic North of Macedonia are scrambling for a race and an ethnicity is an awkward position to be in.
How does Google translate Sashe Velikiot? simply Googless
The funny thing, of course, is that “Macedonians” are Slavs, Bulgarians basically, so they have no connection to Alexander other than their ancestors having relatively recently moved to the real estate he used to rule. And yet they’re holding him up as some sort of font of legitimacy
http://www.hellenesonline.com/go/2009/08/antiquization/
What does Macedonian mean; What does does Alexander mean; What does Phillip mean; from wich language are these names; The Answer will be forever the same! GREEK
So go and Fuck Your Self BulgarMaks from Monkeydonia without Historie, Pride and Glory.
Thanks Google, so everyone can see that Google is an Unhistorical Instrument!
There so called "Macedonian" language is a invention of the Tito regime, former Yugoslavia, that is a fact wether the FYROMskies like it or not!
the term "Macedonian" for their language is misleading as the citizens of FYROM do not hold any geographical nor cultural nor linguistic primacy over the region of Macedonia (FYROM doesnt include any lands of Historic Macedonia! LOL!). These people have NOTHING in association with the ancient/byzantine/medieval Macedonians which were GREEK and the only language they spoke was GREEK.
the so called "Macedonian" language is a BULGRARIAN dialect in which the Yugoslavian regime in the eraly 50s added Serbian letters to de-Bulgarize it.
Google u have messed up big time
since when the vardar-macedonian west Bulagrian slavic dialect is called just "Macedonian"?
wasnt it wlways called "slavomacedonian"?
Dear low selfesteem plagiarist wannabie Macedonians, u can thank google all u want.
fact is ur language is a TITO fabrication and its name will be changed soon along with ur country name
u are the biggest FAKES on the planet.. u are the laughing stock of the balcans and the academic societies around the world
Голема благодарност до Google сега мојот бизнис ќе ми оди полесно. и поздрав до нашиот јужен сосед, напишани сме со нашето вистинско име :)
i could translate the monkeydonian text above just by using Serbian! LOL!
There is no Macedonian dialect...It is a mixture of Slavic and Bulgarian languages..Nothing in common with Alexander the Great, Phillip the Second,and all other major Greek names and symbols that FYROM claims. Really, can anyone explain what Alexander means? Or Phillipos?
Alex-ander comes from alex(=away) and anhr=man and means the one who is away from men.
Phillipus comes from phil- meaning the one who loves and ipos=horse( see hippopotamus from example)
This whole forgery of history and language must stop. It is unaccepted and, in the end, futile
The citizens of FYROM-Skopje are of Bulgarian and Serbian origin and so is their language. Anyone with a little knowledge of languages would agree 100% about that!
Google, you should ask any major and honourable historian in any American University before making so insulting mistakes.
A Bulgarian politician is offering 1000000 euros to the one who finds evidence of the existence of Macedonian state, before 1945. FYROM is a fabricated country with hostile and illusive intentions to every one of its neighbours. You really should correct all that and respect the truth.
shame on Google for supporting these plagiarists of History!
"i could translate the monkeydonian text above just by using Serbian! LOL!"
Indeed!!! How pathetic!!! :)
"Google, you should ask any major and honourable historian in any American University before making so insulting mistakes.
A Bulgarian politician is offering 1000000 euros to the one who finds evidence of the existence of Macedonian state, before 1945. FYROM is a fabricated country with hostile and illusive intentions to every one of its neighbours. You really should correct all that and respect the truth."
332 Classical Scholars from all over the world signed a letter that was sent to the President Barack Obama! In that letter they tell FYROM to stop stealing and manipulating history about Macedonia and Alexander the Great... they know better than some brainwashed wannabe "Macedonians"!
The letter:
http://macedonia-evidence.org/obama-letter.html
The signatures:
History is history nobody has the right to change it or twist it just to become someone!
Can the Greeks claim they are Italians? What would the Italians reaction be if the Greeks claimed that? They would think they are the joke of the year, or better the joke of the millennium... that's what the Fyromians are, a joke!
FYROM History: UNDER CONSTRUCTION...
I like to speak with evidence...
months ago FYROM's nation TV aired a documentary, were the god itself spoke to the "Macedonians". He told them that they were the first race on earth he created (the Macedonoids) and then he created the yellow race (Mongoloids) and the black race the (Negroids). In the video the god says that every human on earth came from them (the Macedonoids).
That is a really and serious brainwash, and i feel sorry about the people of FYROM... it's like they live in another parallel universe!
Guys from all over the world the history you know so far is fake... WE ARE ALL MACEDONOIDS!!! :p
If you don't believe me just check the video from the documentary below, to understand the magnitude of the brain damage...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzNY3Sf7lLg
If Hitler was a maniac about the Aryan race and blood purity, what are they???
I'm from Macedonia and I speak Greek. Why have you added a Bulgarian dialect as "Macedonian"? Please correct this grave mistake or you risk alienating your Greek friends.
The name for the language should be "Macedonian Slavic". There is also a Macedonian Greek dialect and the current monopolization of the name Macedonian is offensive to Greek readers.
goole, you should find another name for the language you have called macedonian. The language spoken in macedonia is Greek. I propose to call it Serbo-albano-boulgarian. You contribute to a confusing initiated by Stalin and Tito in the midst of the Cold War and continues to the present day.
See this:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_R._Stettinius
This is offensive !!!!
Macedonians where always speaking Greek as they are actually Greeks.
I will never use this search engine again an i will delete my gmail acount.
You misinform people trying to change Greece's glorious history....
Google you suck !!!!!!
Alex Chitu August 26, 2009 at 1:58 PM
I think this discussion is already off-topic. This post isn't about history or international affairs, it's about Google Translate, a great service that lets you translate documents in more than 50 languages. If you think that Macedonian is not a distinct language or the name is not accurate, that's your opinion. As long as it's an officially-recognized language, Google has no right to treat the situation subjectively.
Learn to respect other people and use Google Translate to find more about other countries.
Library of Congress??????????????????????????????????????
The Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people....
American people, mr.google
Encarta:
Macedonian Language, official language of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Because there are no clear linguistic divisions that correspond to the geopolitical divisions in the South Slavic language area, there is considerable dispute about how to classify the Macedonian language. Bulgaria denies the existence of a Macedonian language, classifying the spoken language as a southwest Bulgarian dialect and the written language as a “regional norm” of Bulgarian. Until the end of World War II (1939-1945), Serbs called Macedonian a south Serbian dialect. Many scholars in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on the other hand, consider dialects spoken in Bulgaria and Serbia to be part of the Macedonian language. Greeks oppose the use of the name “Macedonia” to refer to the former Yugoslav republic, and they object as well to calling the language of that region “Macedonian.”
Macedonian is the native language of most inhabitants of the republic, and the second language for Albanians and other minority inhabitants. Together with the closely related Bulgarian language, Macedonian forms the eastern group of the South Slavic branch of the Slavic languages. Macedonian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, as do the Russian, Bulgarian, and Serbian languages.
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761574734/Macedonian_Language.html
Macedonian (Mk-Makedonski jazik.ogg македонски јазик (help·info), IPA: [maˈkɛdɔnski ˈjazik]) is the official language of Republic of Macedonia and is a part of the Eastern group of South Slavic languages. Macedonian is closely related to and shares a high degree of mutual intelligibility with the Bulgarian language and to a certain extent with Serbian and Croatian languages.[5]
The Macedonian language is a subject of controversy with Macedonia's neighbouring countries: Greeks challenge the legitimacy of its name, while many Bulgarians deny its separateness from Bulgarian.
So the correct would be Macedonian Slavic. It's wrong that google takes sides!
Let's say you're from Australia, you write a cool software and then you decide to translate the interface in French, Italian, German and Japanese. And then you get a lot of messages from a country named Macedonia: people want an interface in their own language and they even send you the translation. What do you do? Tell them that Macedonian is not a language?
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N93/240/37/IMG/N9324037.pdf?OpenElement
FYROM Mr.google , FYROM Mr.google no MACEDONIA but FYROM
from UNITED NATIONS and no ot Library of American Congress
UNITED NATIONS mr.google
Unacceptable, i know no country with the name Macedonia, only region so how can there be a macedonian language?
official wikipedia article:
The first country to be known by this name was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which before 3 October 1929 was known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was established on 1 December 1918 by the union of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Kingdom of Serbia (to which the Kingdom of Montenegro was annexed on 13 November 1918, and the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris gave international recognition to the union on 13 July 1922[1]). The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers in 1941, and because of the events that followed, was officially abolished in 1943 and 1945.
The second country with this name was the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, proclaimed in 1943 by the Yugoslav Partisans resistance movement in World War II. It was renamed to the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946, when a communist government was established. In 1963, it was renamed again to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). This was the largest Yugoslav state, as Istria and Rijeka were added to the new Yugoslavia after the end of World War II. The constituent eight Socialist Republics and Socialist Autonomous Provinces that made up the country, were: SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Croatia, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Slovenia and SR Serbia (including the autonomous provinces of SAP Vojvodina and SAP Kosovo which were also equal members of the federation). Starting in 1991, the SFRY disintegrated in the Yugoslav Wars which followed the secession of most of the country's constituent entities.
read and learn
Thank you Google for being so stupid by adding Macedonian language.
"I think this discussion is already off-topic. This post isn't about history or international affairs, it's about Google Translate, a great service that lets you translate documents in more than 50 languages. If you think that Macedonian is not a distinct language or the name is not accurate, that's your opinion. As long as it's an officially-recognized language, Google has no right to treat the situation subjectively."
no one said its not a great service.
However since google has an INTERNATIONAL presence, it should RESPECT INTERNATIONAL issues, like the "Macedonia name conflict" between Greece and FYROM which is led by the UN and supported by the US.
According to the UN there is no such name for a country or language.
And yes Greece is NOT THE ONLY COUNTRY that denies the existance the term "Macedonian" for FYROM's slavic language.
Please change it to "Macedonian Slavic", as the current name "Macedonian" IS OFFENSIVE for over 3 million MACEDONIANS(Greeks)
Alex Chitu said on August 26, 2009 2:37 PM PDT:
"Let's say you're from Australia, you write a cool software and then you decide to translate the interface in French, Italian, German and Japanese. And then you get a lot of messages from a country named Macedonia: people want an interface in their own language and they even send you the translation. What do you do? Tell them that Macedonian is not a language?"
Totaly irrelevant Alex
i am sure they can interface with a term like "FYROM slavic" or "Macedonian slavic" until the UN led name conflict is resolved.
or TELL over 3 million Greeks and the world's academics that the a Macedonian language exists and is a Slav language!!!! I am sorry but no INSCRIPTIONS of such a language exists prior to 1945.
Thank you Google now all people from Greece should start using another search engine that respects history
@ Alex Chitu
there is no country called Macedonia. Macedonia is a prefecture of Greece (for the last 3.000 years!!!)
The country in question, is called Fyromacedonia temporarily, until a permanent solution
Screw GOOGLE and its political games & support to the world's greatest history crooks!
Greeks boycott Google!
I wonder if there is even a linguist who agrees that there is such a language (Macedonian).
This is wrong and must be corrected.
I call for a world-wide Hellenic boycott of Google and any other related Google programs etc. until this blatant attempt of anti-Hellenism is reversed with an apology- I urge the 20 million Hellenes worldwide to delete their gmail accounts like I will; stop using Google Android and so on to effectively tell Google where it can go for fanning the flames of extremism and expansionism. Henceforth I am instructing family, friends and others to boycott Google and will never use any of their services again.
Boycott!
So why are you upset all of a sudden? Before this update, Google offered a Macedonian version at http://www.google.com/intl/mk/. There's also a Moldovan interface at http://www.google.com/intl/mo/, even if Romanians think that Moldovan is not a distinct language. It's not Google's job to solve the conflicts between different countries.
Google can offer any versions they want. Our problem is not that FYROMians speak a different, a distinct lanuage or some dialect what so ever. Greece recognizes they have their own language.
Our problem is the NAME of the language, which is misleading.
@Alex Chitu
To clarify things. The google has done a great job and deserve congratulations. We complain about the name of the language, which can not be "Macedonian". I think that it is clear and you have already understand that there is a problem with the name by which you name the language. Change the name of the language and everything is ok
Does Google dare to add "Kurdish" which it is a more real language than the "Macedonian" one and spoken by over 25 million worldwide? i dont think so, cause Turks will woop Google's butt..
Dimitris D August 26, 2009 at 5:28 PM
I am Macedonian, thus Greek, and I can understand the original Macedonian translation (the real Macedonian, Greek) without the false implementation you have right now (the one you call "macedonian" is a Bulgarian dialekt, fused with Serbian elements) - I would expect google to update that.
Change Macedonian to Macedonian Slavic. Case closed.
Oh good lord, people, take a chill pill. Do you have any idea how utterly provincial your bickering is? It's like Tweedledee and Tweedledum bashing each other upside the head. "Alexander the Great was ours! No, ours! No, ours, you history-distorting poo-poo-heads!! No, ours, you uncivilised ignoramuses!!!" Pathetic all around.
Thank you Google for adding MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE! Bulgaria and Greece (the enemies) will die from jealousy!
BOYCOTT GOOGLE!
THERE IS NO MACEDONIAN NATION!
THE HABITANTS OF THIS COUNTRY ARE SLAVS.
THERE IS SCIENTIFICALLY NO MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE!
THEY SPEAK A BULGARIAN DIALECT.
"MACEDONIA" IS A GREEK NAME AND HIS HISTORY BELONGS TO THE GREEK CULTURE!
THIS IS OUR IDENTITY AND THEY CANNOT CHANGE HISTORY WITH THEIR PROPAGANDA.
ENOUGH WITH THIS JOKE!
THE REAL NAME OF THIS COUNTRY IS "VARDARSKA"!
IL N'EXISTE PAS DE NATION MACEDONIENNE!
LES HABITANTS DE CE PAYS SONT SLAVES.
SCIENTIFIQUEMENT LA LANGUE MACEDONIENNE N'EXISTE PAS.
LEUR LANGUAGE EST UN DIALECTE BULGARE.
LE NOM "MACECOINE" EST GREC ET SON HISTOIRE APARTIENT A LA CULTURE GRECQUE.
C'EST NOTRE IDENTITE ET ILS NE PEUVENT PAS CHANGER L'HISTOIRE AVEC LEUR PROPAGANDE.
ASSEZ AVEC CETTE BLAGUE!
LE NOM REEL DE CE PAYS EST "VARDARSKA"!
Kiro Gligorov, the 1st President of F.Y.R.O.M. says:“We are Slavs who came to this area in the sixth century [AD]… we are not descendants of the ancient Macedonians, we have no connection to Alexander the Great and his Macedonia. .“
Kiro Gligorov, le 1er President de l'A.R.Y.M. dit:“ Nous sommes Slaves qui sont venus dans la region au 16eme siecle [Apres J.C.]... nous ne sommes pas descendants des anciens Macedonniens, nous n'avons pas de connection avec Alexandre le Grand et sa Macedoine.."
(Foreign Information Service Daily Report, Eastern Europe, February 26, 1992, p. 35).
SWEET DREAMS MONKEYDONIANS!
GOOGLE, GO LEARN SOME HISTORY!!!
skopje fyrom was also a occupied by the romans...is there any chance that julious ceasar was slav too??
(Or maybe greeks are beyond gods)
As you can clearly see from both links, there are far more Slavs in Greece (20% of 11 mill. population is 2.2 million Slavs) than in Republic of Macedonia (15% of 2.1 mill. is 0.3 mill Slavs), and there is much more stronger genetic link between Antic Macedonians and Macedonians from Republic of Macedonia (30%), rather than link with Greece of only 5%.
Great news FYRoMians!!
I am awaiting for the moment were Google will change it to Northern Macedonian though..
A Slavic dialect, very similar to Bulgarian, if not almost identical.
The name of FYRoM is under negotiations in the UN.
Just letting Google know..
Please do not spread your flawed propaganda of genetic tests that have been proven far from scientificaly stable.
In fact, those 'genetic' tests you are referring to have been totally rebuffed by the serious scientific world, so please, lets celebrate google's diversity in adding new languages, and stop this ridiculous lies your government feeds you from the day you were born.
I call for a world-wide Hellenic suicide! HA HA HA! Die bitches! We will miss you :))))
THANK YOU GOOGLE! THANK YOU GOD! MACEDONIA TIMELESS...
Alex Chitu I appreciate your opinion, truly independent and cosmopolitan spirit! Greetings from Macedonia!
Thank you heaps for adding the Macedonian language. GOOGLE YOU R THE BEST!
For those of you fckrs who will not use the google services, WE WILL USE DOUBLE!
There are lot of MACEDONIANS who are in the USA, Canada, Australia, etc, and who will support Google through everything!
All of you mind your own businesses, you cannot be Greek and Macedonian as well; or tomorrow you will say that you are maybe North Americans as well? Bastards!
It is not Greece/Hellas that suddenly remembered that we have ancient roots.
It is not Greece/Hellas who fabricate identities and languages.
It is not Greece/Hellas who's governments rename every street, every stadium, every name with historical figures of neighboring countries.
It is not Greece/Hellas, who thinks that Bulgaria and FYRoM ARE ENEMIES!
ON THE CONTRARY, SLAVIC FRIENDS, GREECE WANTS PEACE!,
IT IS YOU WHO HATE US, NOT HELLAS!
i REPEAT A COMMENT I READ ON TOP WHICH IS EXACTLY'S GREECES ISSUE:
Google can offer any versions they want. Our problem is not that FYROMians speak a different,
a distinct language or some dialect what so ever.
Greece recognizes they have their own language.
Our problem is the NAME of the language, which is misleading.''
"Anonymous Anonymous said on August 27, 2009 3:21 AM PDT:
YES, IT IS HellAss THAT SUDDENLY AFTER 1990 STARTED WITH CAMPAIGN OF STEALING EVERYTHING THAT IS MACEDONIAN
YES, IT IS HellAss THAT IS NOT RECOGNIZING ANY MINORITIES IN THEIR COUNTRY. THIS FASCIST POLICY OF PURE NATION IS STILL HAPPENING IN 21st CENTURY IN HellAss.
YES, IT IS HellAss THAT STARTED FROM 1990 RENAMING EVERYTHING WITH MACEDONIA (SOLUN (THESSALONIKI) AIRPORT, AND SO ON ..) AND PLACING SCULPTURES WITH ALEXANDER THE GREAT EVERYWHERE
YES, IT IS HellAss THAT IS AFRAID THAT A SMALL COUNTRY LIKE MACEDONIA OF 2 mill. INHABITANTS WILL START A WAR AGAINST 11 mill. IN HellAss
Само напред Македонио! Напред Македонци!
Google can offer any versions they want. Our problem is not that FYROMians speak a different, a distinct language or some dialect what so ever.
Greece recognizes that FYROM have their own language. Greece's problem is the NAME of the language, which is misleading.
"Anonymous said on August 27, 2009 1:37 AM PDT:
THANK YOU GOOGLE! THANK YOU GOD! FYROM TIMELESS..."
unfortunately FYROM has many wannabie "Macedonian" retards like this one full of hatred.
Anonymous said on August 27, 2009 4:12 AM PDT:
YES, IT IS HellAss THAT SUDDENLY AFTER 1990 STARTED WITH CAMPAIGN OF STEALING EVERYTHING THAT IS MACEDONIAN ETS ETS ETS...
Have you been to school? or are you getting your education from all the nationalistic, hate inspiring forums you get your info from..
Every single of your arguments is totally flawed and simply not true.
Classic example of the propaganda FYRoMs current government bombards you with..
Greeks have always been proud Athenians, Proud Spartans, proud MACEDONIANS..
Honestly your lack of knowledge and history is disturbing..
And with what you write, it makes my point even clearer.
The world should finally learn what kind of bastards are Greeks. This is a good example of that. We Macedonians have no basic human rights in the 21th century precisely because of the Greek fascism! Europe should wake up and end this Greek genocide over Macedonians. It all began in 1913 when Macedonian territory was divided between its neighboring states: Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania. Since than Greece claim Macedonian ancient history, name and identity, showing it in front of the whole world as their own, completely denying the existence of the Macedonian people! Mentioning the name of our country (Macedonia) is the biggest fear for every Greek of this planet because they fear that people will get to the truth, which is Macedonia belongs to the Macedonians, and we are the real Macedonians. They want the past to be forgotten and buried as soon as possible! Well, you can not force us to forget who we really are! The fight will be long, the fight will be eternal! Be prepared Macedonians! Fight for yourself! Fight for what is yours!
Macedonia timeless! Amen!
By resolution A/RES/47/225 of 8 April 1993, the General Assembly decided to admit as a Member of the United Nations the State being provisionally referred to for all purposes within the United Nations as "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" pending settlement of the difference that had arisen over its name
FUROM mr.google
Greeks don`t have anything in common with the name “Macedonia“, their name is Greece (or HellAss), so I don`t see any problem for them, unless they want something that is not theirs and belongs to the neighboring country.
Good job Google! Good job indeed!
Greeks don't have anything in common with the word Macedonia????????
Which planet do you live in???????
The Ancient GREEK kingdom of Macedonia rings a bell????
Honestly, your country was renamed Macedonia by Tito in 1944 and you guys think that you own the past????
Greece would accept you as Macedonians, YES!!!, if you want to rid yourselves from your Bulgarian roots which you separated from, that is fine!!!
Just call yourselves SlavMacedonians or Macedonian Slavs, or something like that.. Separate yourselves from the Greek Macedonians and spare the confussion.
Honestly, it is FYRoM that started this whole petty dispute.
Its in the hands of FYRoM TO END IT, by simply accepting who they really are.
Slavs. Simple.
Is it any wonder that Bulgarians also accuse FYRoM for stealing heritage from them as well??
Get your game staighT FYRoM.
Correction: Ancient Macedonian kingdom, not Greek kingdom of Macedonia!It was never a Greek kingdom! If it was Greek, than would be “Kingdom of Greece“ not “Kingdom of Macedonia“. As simple as that. Macedonians conquered Greeks in ancient times, and we hate each other since than. But it is so strange that today Greeks are claiming to be Macedonians, since Macedonians were their biggest enemies in antiquity. Alexander the Great is actually Alexander the Macedonian. I do not know why somebody would say that he is Macedonian, if he was a Greek, it does not make any sense, except maybe if he had dual citizenship or ?!
Thanks Google for adding Macedonian language in Google Translate despite all resistance! We appreciate that very much!
Your system for macedonian translation shucks! I put for translation the macedonian text: "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΝΑΟΝ ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΗ ΠΟΛΙΑΔΙ" and didn't give me anything!
Correction?
Just look at the level of ignorance you have about Greek history and the answer is there for you..
Greece was never Greece you fool..
Greece was made of city states. Athens, Sparta, Macedonia, Thebes, Corinth ets ets ets..
We are not claiming to be Macedonians like you do.
Greeks have always been as much Macedonians as they are Athenians and Spartans and so forth..
Your reasoning is that of a 8 year old child, or of someone who has no absolute clue about ancient history whatsoever..
If alexander was Macedonian and an enemy of Greece,
HOW COME HE USED GREEK NAMES, BUILD GREEK CITIES, SPREAD HELLENISM
THROUGHOUT HIS EMPIRE.
SHOW ME ONE ANCIENT MACEDONIAN INSCRIPTION, JUST ONE!, NOT WRITTEN IN GREEK....
Honestly you guys in FYRoM are in serious need of a history lesson.
Either that, or you are complete fools..
THE HELLENIC LEAGUE.. CHECK THAT OUT ON GOOGLE...(YOUR NEW FRIEND),
AND YOU WILL SEE WITH YOUR OWN EYES..
The League of Corinth, also sometimes referred to as Hellenic League (original name: Hellenes - 'The Greeks') was a federation of Greek states created by Philip II of Macedon during the winter of 338 BC/337 BC after the battle of Chaeronea, to facilitate his use of military forces in his war against Persia. The name 'League of Corinth' was coined by modern historians after the first council of the League in Corinth.
CAN YOU READ OR ARE YOU BLIND?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Corinth
Macedonia was not a city state, it was a kingdom, apart of greek city states.
And how come he conquered every greek city state if he was a greek?
"Macedon" redirects here. For other uses, see Macedon (disambiguation) and Macedonia
Makedonía
800s BC–146 BC →
Location of Macedon
Capital Aigai until about 400 BC when moved by Archelaus to Pella
Language(s) Ancient Macedonian, later Attic/Koine Greek
Religion Ancient Greek religion
Government Monarchy
- 808 - 778 BC Karanus
- 359 - 336 BC Philip II of Macedon
- 336 - 323 BC Alexander the Great
- 221 - 168 BC Philip V of Macedon
Historical era Classical Antiquity
- Karanus establishes the Argead dynasty 800s BC
- Amyntas III unifies Macedon 382 BC
- Conquered by the Roman Republic in the Fourth Macedonian War 146 BC
Currency Greek drachma
Macedonia or Macedon (from Greek: Μακεδονία, Makedonía) was a kingdom in ancient Greece, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula.[1] The homeland of the ancient Macedonians, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east. and of Thessaly to the south. For a brief period, after the conquests of Alexander the Great, it became the most powerful state in the world, with borders including the whole of Greece and as far as India; at that time it inaugurated the Hellenistic period of history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia_(ancient_kingdom)
Wikipedia is written by Greeks. It is not a reliable source.
So just say Slavic Macedonian and we are ok.
Or Northern Macedonian as it will be soon.
Greece is ok with that.
As far as I remember there was harassment about the article of the region of Macedonia, again by the Greeks.
Great argument.. Bravo...
How more stupid can you get...
There was a harassment, when FYRoMIans changed it.
Like they are trying to do now.
Re write history..
But you know what, The history of Greece is written in solid gold my friend, inscribed in every ancient stone from the lands of Macedon up to India...
Digital code you can try to change.. We will correct it again and again and again...
Letters inscribed in eternal stone, will always glance back at you and smile...
Macedonia is Greece...
So just take Slav Macedonian and we are ok..
I mean. we are giving you enough already, just say thank you and go...
Do not be rude!
REMEMBER: You will never be Macedonian! Never! And this country will never change its name, no matter what! You will give up sooner or later, cause we will never give up of our name MACEDONIA!
Slav Macedonia
You go like crazy, and you have that name Tito gave you from 1944.
Imagine the Greeks, who have this implanted in their conciusness 3000 years...
Take SlavMacedonia and we are ok I say..
Do not be a kid.. Do not look the horse in the teeth if it is a gift..
Take Slav and go I said..
As for the stones, nowhere writes that Alexander the Macedonian and the Macedonians were Greeks, they are everywhere represented as conquerors of Greeks and little Greek city states.
LETS PLAY A GAME THEN...
I CHALLENGE YOU FIRST,
AND THEN ITS YOUR TURN.
1: WRITE ME, THE NAME ALEXANDER THE GREAT, AS HE WOULD HAVE WRITTEN IT HIMSELF.
2:TELL ME THE NAME OF THE SISTER OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, WRITTEN AS HE WOULD HAVE WRITTEN IT.
ANSWER THIS 2 AND THEN I WILL ANSWER TO YOU.
IF YOU DO NOT ANSWER, I WONT ANSWER BACK TO YOU EITHER.
TIP: You need Greek characters installed on your PC or go to a History book and check..
Tito did not gave us the name Macedonia. My grandparents are from Florina (Лерин) and Thessaloniki(Солун), born in 19th century and they are Macedonians, not Bulgarians... Tito did not existed then, but yet the people knew that they are Macedonians.
You did not give me a proper answer, but we are getting there..
The Geographical region of Macedonia, ok..
So Slav Macedonian is ok isn't it?
Use the language Alexander would have used please, not the Cyrilic or Latin characters...
I don`t have time for stupid games. Alphabet and language is not the same thing. You can write any language in any alphabet.
1:How would Alexander spell his name?
Spell Thessaloniki in the way Alexander or Phillip of Macedon would have written it.
Ok, so you don't have time for games or cant you bear to see it written?
Do you deliberately avoid to see this:
Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας - Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος
I accept your apology...
No go with Slav Macedonian and we are ok..
ΓΛΥΠ
Ψαν υοθ ρεαδ τηισ? Στθπιδ!
Why is it so bad to accept Slavic origin????
You write Slavic dialect, you speak Slavic dialect..
Slav Macedonian.
Everybody is happy, truth shines..
Oh really? Is there Slav Serbian, Slav Bulgarian, Slav Russian etc... ??? No, just Serbian, Bulgarian, Russian, all are Slavic languages. Therefore, it can not be Slav Macedonian, simply MACEDONIAN.
... and Google knows that! ;))
Translate this:
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/nataiv/post75483177/
„St. Irene, born Slav, lived in the second half of the I century and was the daughter of Licinius, ruler of the city Mageddona in Macedonia.“
Slav in 1st century?!
I would like to use this opportunity to emphases several points:
1. How good is the quality of life in Balkans?
2. Do we have an excellent healthcare system?
3. Are we able to provide for our children good quality education?
4. How big is the level of corruption in our region?
5. How long the region is in transition?
6. Is this the poorest region in EU?
7. How well established are the minorities rights in this region?
8. How many people are smiling when they wake up in the morning?
9. How big is the rate of unemployed people?
10. How big is the pollution etc…
These are the issues which have to consider as a priorities.
I am pleased to say thanks to our regional leaders, bunch of idiots, who are taking care only for their political rating.
At the very end I would like to thank to our neighbors, Greeks and Bulgarians, for the affirmation of our small and beautiful state.
Balkanec
Поздрав Балканец!
A letter has been sent to Google's Mmanagement on the subject logging an official complaint regarding the decision to use the name "Macedonian" for its language translation services.
A technology Company / Business cannot make, nor influence at will international policy contrary to UN Resolutions, especially when it has international reach and operating licences. The official name of the country in question is FYROM, with no specific qualifier for ethnicity nor for language, other than a combination of Slavic, Albanian, Turkish, Roma, and Greek peoples, and a Bulgarian / Serbian dialect and the use of the cyrilic alphabet.
Google has been asked to change the name of the language in question to Slavic - FYROM, and await until the dispute is resolved regarding the name issue between Greece and FYROM as well as Bulgaria and Albania.
What kind of macedonians are you calling Thessaloniki "Solun"? Thessaloniki was the name of the daughtr of the Philip II, after which was named the city. You are a fraud!
And greeks don't try to be macedonians, because macedonians were and are greeks, you are those who are trying to make the macedonians slavs.
Why Alexander if he wasn't greek, expanded the greek language and the greek civilization and not his own? Your language was made centuries after the real macedonians and you just stole a historical name to get some dignity.
Eugene N. Borza, Macedonia Redux, pp253-260
The Macedonian kingdom was absorbed into the roman empire , never to recover its independence.
During medievel and modern times, Macedonia was known as a balkan region inhabited by ethnic greeks,
Albanians, Vlachs, Serbs, Bulgarians, Jews and Turks.
Tito's imprimatur on a macedonian state was an attempt to counter traditional bulgarian influence in the
region of Macedonia.
Modern slavs, both Bulgarians and Macedonians,
cannot establish a link with antiquity, as the slavs entered the Balkans centuries after the demise of the
ancient macedonian kingdom. Only the most radical slavic factions - mostly emigres in the United States,
Canada and Australia - even attempt to establish a connection to antiquity.
On the other hand, the Macedonians are a newly emergent people in search for a past to help legimitize their precarious
present as they attempt to establish their singular identity in a slavic world dominated by serbs and bulgarians.
In order to survive the vicissitudes of Balkan history and politics, the macedonians, who have had no history,
need one. They reside in a territory once part of a famous ancient kingdom which has borne the macedonian name as a
region ever since and was called "Macedonia" for nearly half a century as part of Yugoslavia. And they speak a language
now recognized by most linguists as a south slavic language.
silly FYROMski wrote
"Correction: Ancient Macedonian kingdom, not Greek kingdom of Macedonia!It was never a Greek kingdom! If it was Greek, than would be “Kingdom of Greece“ not “Kingdom of Macedonia“. As simple as that. Macedonians conquered Greeks in ancient times, and we hate each other since than. But it is so strange that today Greeks are claiming to be Macedonians, since Macedonians were their biggest enemies in antiquity. Alexander the Great is actually Alexander the Macedonian. I do not know why somebody would say that he is Macedonian, if he was a Greek, it does not make any sense, except maybe if he had dual citizenship or ?!"
if u cared to open up any hisotry book you would read what the ancient historians, or the Macedonian kings regarded themselves(who knew what they were, way before someone blasted ur brains with crap):
ALEXANDER I, 479BC (Grandfather of Alexander the Great)
"For i Alexander myself am by ancient descent a Greek, and i would not willingly see Hellas change her freedom for slavery."
(HERODOTUS IX, 45, 2[Loeb])
"Tell your king (Xerxes), who sent you, how his Greek viceroy (ALEXANDER I) of Macedonia has received you hospitably."
(HERODOTUS V, 20, 4 [Loeb])
Alexander the Great said to his army -
"when they ask you why you fought you will answer...I was here this day in Gaugamela. For the freedom... and the glory of Greece...Zeus be with us.". Why did he say for "the glory of Greece"?
Alexander the Great : "For As Greeks we should not be slaves to barbarians."
(Callisthenes of Olynthus 1.15.1-4)
if Macedonians hated and conquered the Greeks (like all Greeks did to each other in the past) why did they create the PANHELLENIC LEAGUE? Why spread the Greek culture and LANGUAGE?
If u slavoFYROM clowns bother to read some history u will see that if Macedonians didnt conquer the Greeks in order to unite them, they simply wouldnt be Greeks ;)
Google has anounced the introduction of a new language described as "Macedonian", that is incorect. I'm Macedonian and my language is Greek-Ελληνικά, I take great offense that you are using my name to describe a Cyrilic language constructed in 1944 under Yugoslavia and spoken by the majority of the citizens of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M). The names of the country, ethnicity and language for F.Y.R.O.M are under negotiations led by the UN and fully supported by the U.S, E.U and N.A.T.O.
With respect to the negotiations we believe a name like "F.Y.R Macedonian" would be a fair solution for all sides
I await for your response.
http://macedonian.com.au
@Anonymous on August 27, 2009 10:23 AM PDT:
keep waiting. you will be awaiting for all your life.
Did I mention how pathetic you all are?
WTF do you mean the Macedonian language has many enemies? How can a language have enemies? And why would you even need to mention something like that when posting about new translations? This isn't a political debate, so keep politics out of it.
But if everyone here really wants to argue politics, let me say this. Whether or not Macedonia was or wasn't Slavic before the 6th century is pointless. The fact of the matter is, Slavic peoples migrated to the south, mixed with the native Macedonians, and created a new people. And this new people has the right to call itself whatever it wants and the Greeks have no say in that. They have no right demanding that other cultures change their name because Greece says so. The old Macedonia or Macedon, is gone, it died long ago. So lets stop arguing over history and face the modern day fact that Macedonians do exist, have their own culture, and will continue to exist for many centuries. "Macedonia" as we once knew it, is no longer Greek, but Slavic. The Slavs took over, and the Greeks just have to get use to that. There's 500 million Slavs worldwide and only 12 million Greeks, so if the Greeks really want to start a fight with Macedonia and it's Slav brothers, let them do so, but it will be a battle they will lose.
МАКЕДОНИЈА ЗАСЕКОГАШ! СМРТ НА ГРЦИЈА!
Well it looks like Greece fails and the superpower Google recognizes Macedonian as a language. Aha, too bad for Greece, they're losing the battle, as expected. You can only suppress a people for so long Greece, then those people start to gather allies and fight back!
Fiilp August 29, 2009 at 6:27 AM
Thank you Google for adding Macedonian language support.
Now we, Macedonians, can enjoy your services in our own language even more.
LOVE FROM MACEDONIA !!
free tetovo
♫ Karanfiloff ♫ August 30, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Way to go Way to go Google for te addittion of the Macedonian language
There are a lot of Macedonians using Google and the services that you offer, including me. This is a great benefit for everybody cheers :)
The Committee for the Macedonians in U.S.A.
Published in The Fort Wayne Daily News
-- Macedonians of United States Pass Resolutions Condemning Recent Balkan Treaty --
“As the representative of the Macedonian government, and having the authority to submit to the Macedonian government and the parliament a problem, in the solution of which your government ought to take part, we, the Macedonians of the United States of America, in our demonstrations and meetings, organized by the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization in the United States of America, on the 16th day of August, 1913, adopted and submit to your government the following resolution-protest:
“Whereas, The Balkan-Turkish war was declared and fought in the name of the freedom of Macedonia and the Christians in Turkey of Europe, in which war we, the Macedonians, fought most vigorously and with our help Turkey was defeated;
“Whereas, The end of this Balkan-Turkish war was not the freedom of Macedonia, but most generous division of our country and people between Servia and Greece, and our nation was compelled to submit to the Servian and the Greek governments, a government more tyrannical than the Turkish government; and
“Whereas, The Servian and the Greek governments now kill our fathers and our brothers, despoil the virtue and honor of our sisters, mothers and wives, and molest our children, all of which inhuman acts aim at the entire destruction of our national existence in Macedonia, and
“Whereas, The present unjust division of our country was caused by the European diplomacy, and if the same exists in future there will always be internal revolutions and disturbances which will keep all the Balkan states in readiness for war and might throw all the European powers in disastrous clash;
“Whereas, The peace in the Balkans is only the freedom based on the principle: ‘ Macedonia for the Macedonians.’
“We, the Macedonians in the United States of America , with all the vigor in us, protest against the unjust division of Macedonia and the tyranny of the Servian and Greek governments in Macedonia ;
“We appeal to the European powers to declare the conference in Bucharest , Roumainia, between the representatives of the Balkan states unjust, and to demand autonomy of Macedonia ;
“We declare to all the nations of the world, that if the freedom of Macedonia is not granted soon, we will continue our struggle and fight for the freedom of our country, and we will all die or become free. We cry: ‘Give us freedom or give us death.’”
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