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peter mcdonald artist
McDonald was born in Tokyo, Japan and studied at St. Martins School of Art.
2009 Top Honor, Valley Watercolor Society Annual Show, Affiliations: He lives and works in London and Tokyo.Peter McDonald paints multi-coloured visions of our world, inhabited by interpretations of characters we encounter every-day, except in McDonald's world they have giant balloon heads. people want to control the water.
For me each painting is an adventure, a journey of
Annual Juried Exhibition (Creative Arts Center, Burbank, CA) 2009 Frode Dan Award, National Watercolor Society Show Browse and watch Peter McDonald movies for Free on STARZPLAY [3], John Moores 25 Contemporary Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, John Moores 25 at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_McDonald_(artist)&oldid=930838760, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2015, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 2008 Peter McDonald, Gallery Side 2, Tokyo, 2007 Peter McDonald, Kate MacGarry, London, 2006 Group show, Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan, 2006 Group show, Galleri Charlotte Lund, Stockholm, Sweden, 2006 Peter McDonald, Gallery Side 2, Tokyo, 2005 Peter McDonald, Kate MacGarry, London, 2003 Peter McDonald, Keith Talent Gallery, London, 2002 Peter McDonald, Gallery Side 2, Tokyo, Japan, This page was last edited on 15 December 2019, at 08:21. Find the latest shows, biography, and artworks for sale by Peter McDonald Germany. impressionist, and master watercolorists, Tom Fong and Fealing Lin. intricate line work, has been in countless shows and winning many awards. and texture I uncover themes and ideas.
2013 PSA 88Th. 2011 First Place, Thousand Oaks Art Association Show 2014 Abstract (Sexton-Cater Gallery, North Hollywood, CA)
me everything I know about watercolor." The first art first class he took on a mere whim to relieve stress launched him on a. journey guided by such mentors as Dr. Alex Vilumsons, the late award winning abstract- 2018 Unity Project, Cove Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA. Valley Watercolor Society. Available for sale from Dio Horia, Peter McDonald, Sun (2018), Acrylic Gouache on canvas, 50 × 70 × 2 cm His work is in collections in the U.S., England, Australia and British-born vocalist, from north-east England. 2014 No Boundaries (San Fernando Valley Arts Center) first class after coming to the U.S. from England. 2018 PSA. Books at abebooks.com for this artist Show all, Subscribe to our monthly artist-info.com Newsletteron our Newsletter Subscription page. Painting original Isles of Scilly seascapes and abstracts Peter Macdonald Smith is an artist who lives on St Mary's and has a studio gallery at Porthloo. "I knew immediately my life was about to change," the abstract artist recalled that
I rarely start with with a subject in mind.
2018 Special Honor, Top Honor, Special Honor, Top Honor Valley Watercolor Society
2014 No Boundaries (San Fernando Valley Arts Center) and, (I Don't Wanna Do No) Limbo (as McDonald) Search Artist-Portfolios, Network Visualization Examples The balloon heads are translucent and create sumptuous colour mixes when they interact with … final step is always my line work.
2009 Frode Dan Award, National Watercolor Society Show Peter McDonald never set out to be an artist but today his unique style, defined by intricate line work, has been in countless shows and winning many awards. 77 likes. path....Tom gave me the courage to take risks and have fun with art while Fealing taught The Artist. Today you find 190669 artists, and 7801 curators in 218862 exhibitions in 12480 venues (resulting in 729509 network edges) from 1880 to present, in 1526 cities in 163 countries, plus 283 professional and private artwork offers. 2018 PSA. Solo Exhibitions: Resources. On answering an advert, and passing a subsequent audition, he became the vocalist of Bullfrog (4) in 1971, whom he left to join the Spiders From Mars in 1975.
[citation needed] He lives and works in London and Tokyo. Annual Exhibition, White's Gallery, Montrose, CA. These often change during the process. people want to control the water. Peter McDonald is a Melbourne based 2D Animator, Illustrator and Designer. first class after coming to the U.S. from England. 2018 VWS, Annual Exhibition, SFACC, Tarzana, CA 2009 NWS Members Exhibition, (NWS Gallery, San Pedro, CA) 2015 Yoko Cohen Award (PSA) Interested in discovering more of this artist's networks?
PSA's Yoko Cohen Award. Peter McDonald.
2014 Abstract (Sexton-Cater Gallery, North Hollywood, CA) A copy of this inquiry will be send to your email address.
Artist Statement: Peter McDonald (born 1973) is a Japanese/English artist who won the 2008 John Moores Painting Prize. [citation needed] His father, originally from north London, migrated to Japan in the 50s. The painting was chosen from 3,222 entries,[2] shortlisted to 40 works which were judged by Sacha Craddock, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Paul Morrison and Graham Crowley. 2010 Emerging Artist Series (Coffee Gallery, Altadena, CA) Polly Apfelbaum (1955); Chiho Aoshima (1974); Hernan Bas (1978); Sarah Cain (1979); Ernesto Caivano (1972); Tony Feher (1956 - 2016); Torben Giehler (1973); Henriette Grahnert (1977); Mark Grotjahn (1968); Trenton Doyle-Hancock (1974); Uwe Henneken (1974); Jim Hodges (1957); Byron Kim (1961); Peter McDonald (1973); Kelly McLane (1968); Elizabeth Peyton (1965); Brett Cody Rogers (1977); Mindy Shapero (1974); Jessica Stockholder (1959); Andro Wekua (1977); Fun With Shapes Patilla, Peter and McDonald, Brigitte, Influential Exhibitions in the 20th and 21st Century, Search exhibition places by country and city. British-born vocalist, from north-east England. As I pour color and play with shapes Professor Peter McDonald (born 1962 in Belfast) is a poet, university lecturer and writer of literary criticism.He holds the post of Christopher Tower Student and Tutor in Poetry in the English Language at Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford (and where the term "Student" is used for what elsewhere would be termed a "Fellow"). 2009 NWS Watercolor Showcase (San Francisco State University, CA), Awards & Honors: Germany. Peter McDonald. Peter McDonald never set out to be an artist but today his unique style, defined by intricate line work, has been in countless shows and winning many awards.
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peter mcdonald artist 2020


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Pisa's city guide
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Pisa Essential: Miracles Square
Romanic Churches in Pisa
Stefano Berti
Walking around in Pisa by night
Giovanna Villa
Sweetness After Dinner
It's the city of the Leaning Tower, must-see for anyone visiting Tuscany.
Academic city, with a population of about 90,000 inhabitants, Pisa is situated on the Arno river, which flows just few kilometers away.
According to a legend, Pisa was founded by some mythical Trojan refugees from the homonymous Greek city of Pisa, a time in the valley of the river Alpheus, in the Peloponnese.
Pisa claims a historical past of the Maritime Republic, along with Genoa, Venice and Amalfi. The Republic of Pisa reached its maximum splendor between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries: its ships controlled most of the western and central Mediterranean Sea.
The maritime past of the city is reflected urbanistically in the narrow and cramped streets that characterize the riverside, usually a peculiarity of seaside towns, that used its urban structure as a defense.
Not to be missed is the famous Piazza del Duomo, known as Piazza dei Miracoli (Miracles Square) UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the square stands the famous Leaning Tower, bell tower of the twelfth century, 56 meters high. Ten years after the beginning of its construction it acquired its characteristic tilt, which today makes it one of the most famous Italian monuments in the world.
The uniqueness and beauty of Pisa, however, go beyond the famous Miracles Square: going from the Arno riverbanks through the streets of Borgo Largo and Borgo Stretto to Piazza dei Cavalieri is particularly fascinating.
Gourmets can taste delicious traditional foods such as the "cecina", while nightlife lovers can immerse themselves in the crowd of college students between the squares and riversides.
Especially at night riversides are in fact an important social gathering place: every evening are crowded with people: someone who sips a beer, someone else who eat ice cream and those who do a simple walk with friends.
Pisa is a city on a human scale: walking in the center is the norm, facilitated by limited distances and vehicular traffic almost absent, which makes the experience very relaxing and enjoyable.
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GETTING AROUND IN Pisa
Pisa's historic centre is almost entirely enclosed by 12th-century fortifications. The city is laid out on a roughly square plan, with each side measuring around one and a half kilometres. The river Arno divides the city into two parts which are known to locals as Tramontana, to the north, and Mezzogiorno, to the south.
Pisa Centrale station is a major railway junction located on the southern edge of the city centre.
Approximately one and a half kilometres to the south is "Galileo Galilei International Airport", linked to the central station by bus.
The historic centre can easily be reached from the airport and the central station by bus (LAM Rossa) or by taxi. Frequent buses connect the centre to the various town districts, particularly to the eastern outskirts where the new modern hospital of Cisanello is located (LAM Blu).
The tourist area of the Piazza dei Miracoli, with the world-famous Leaning Tower, is located at the north-west corner of the historic centre. Just a few hundred metres further north is the Via Pietrasantina Park & Ride site, where all tourist coaches are required to stop.
While there are excellent accommodation options throughout the city centre and on the outskirts, the majority of the hotels and other accommodation facilities (residence, guesthouse, bed & breakfast) are concentrated in the central station and leaning tower areas.
Visitors to the city can leave their cars, free of charge, in one of the park & ride sites and easily reach the historical centre on foot or by shuttle buses C and E. Those who have neither the time nor the desire to walk around can use the many paid car parks near the Restricted Traffic Area (ZTL). The ZTL is accessed through electronic barriers fitted with cameras: all cars passing through are identified and those who fail to provide the necessary authorisation are automatically fined (further information). People with special needs can obtain a temporary permit to access the ZTL by car by diallng 800 086540.
The compact size of the city, the concentration of the places of interest in the historic centre and the vast pedestrian areas, make Pisa ideal for sightseeing on foot. The bicycle is an excellent alternative, long used by locals and by the many university students. The success of bike rentals in recent years attests to its growing appeal with tourists as well.
Boat trips (available from May to October) offer visitors the opportunity to admire Pisa from an unusual and interesting viewpoint. There are three main routes: the Lungarni Tour, following the stretch of river that crosses the historical centre, the Lungarni and Nature Tour, that extends westwards to San Rossore Park, and the Lungarni, Nature and River Mouth Tour, which includes the mouth of the river Arno.
City Sightseeing (open-top double-decker bus service operating from April to October) offers a tour of the historical centre running from the riversides and the Piazza dei Miracoli, and a route that reaches as far as San Rossore Park.
Another opportunity to see the city centre is provided by the fun train departing from the Piazza Arcivescovado, just a few steps from the Leaning Tower (for bookings call (+39) 050 533755). Also worth a try are the traditional horse-drawn carriages with driver based in the Piazza dei Miracoli.
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Supreme Court Very Willing to Throw Out Ballots
Three Supreme Court justices have demonstrated that they are perfectly willing to throw out absentee ballots. The court ruled in favor of reinstating a witness signature requirement for South Carolina voters and going forward, the state will be able to disregard ballots that don't have them. Even worse, three Supreme Court justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch — were ready to rule that ballots without witness signatures could be thrown out retroactively.
The idea that the court would be okay with throwing out ballots that were received before this ruling was handed down is insane. It's just as insane as forcing absentee voters, some of whom are going to be COVID positive, to get a witness to agree that the voter is who they claim to be. Right-wingers simply don't care about voting rights and expanding voter access because they know it doesn't help them. If this election is close and the Trump campaign contests the results, it's quite possible the Supreme Court will decide the election and we cannot leave it in their hands.
The David Pakman Show is a news and political talk program, known for its controversial interviews with political and religious extremists, liberal and conservative politicians, and other guests.
Missed an episode? Check out TDPS on FSTV VOD anytime or visit the show page for the latest clips.
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2020 Clarence Thomas David Pakman Democracy On The Brink Donald Trump Election FSTV Election Coverage Jaime Harrison Joe Biden Lindsey Graham Neil Gorsuch Samuel Alito South Carolina Supreme Court The David Pakman Show
Would You Patent the Sun? Polio Vaccine Inventor Jonas Salk's Son Urges More Access to COVD Vaccine


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Marty's Contamac Years
At the end of March 2020, Marty Dalsing, Contamac's US President retired with his wife, Deanna. We look back on Marty's Contamac Years.
How did it all start?
I was already in the contact lens industry as a private FDA regulatory consultant when my personal career was propelled to the next level. By coincidence, back in 2000, I approached Rob and John McGregor at Contamac with a regulatory and commercial strategy plan to enter the United States marketplace. It was the first time we met, through a mutual business colleague Mr John Neale. I didn't know at the time, but Contamac was already developing the strategy to enter into the US marketplace, they were just missing a couple of pieces… and the rest is history as they say.
Still to this day, I hold the original 'key' to the doors of Contamac US, Inc. in Grand Junction Colorado, which was strategically formed in 2001 to serve the North American contact lens market. The challenge of entering the USA as the 7th supplier to the speciality lens materials industry was never questioned. However, in the beginning, several industry professionals asked me a rather profound question of "why another supplier?"
That's how and where it all started!
My primary role within the company was to help position the company as a global player. Ensuring the business is discussed in the same breath as multinationals, and foremost to develop lasting business partnerships and relationships with all within the industry.
How much has the company evolved while you've worked here?
In 2000, only a handful of industry professionals in the US had ever heard of Contamac.
Fast forward to 2020; Contamac is recognized as the world's largest manufacturer of speciality contact lens materials.
Now, 5X more employees work at Contamac and the current facilities are not only purpose-built, but the footprint has also increased 10X.
Thousands of industry professionals, including several key opinion leaders visit the Contamac UK manufacturing facilities annually.
What are some of the most interesting projects you've been a part of?
Obtaining FDA approval for Contamac nine times was very interesting. One of those projects was Optimum, Contamac's signature material in the specialty lens industry.
The project taking the position as the most interesting was Nutrifill. The endeavour into the contact lens solutions business has proven to be very successful and can only be attributed to the team effort required of the project. The Nutrifill project afforded me the opportunity to work alongside industry veterans who only know how to win.
What have been some of your Contamac highlights?
Happily working 20 years for one company can, and should, generate several highlights in a person's career. I will name a few that come to mind, but there are so many:
Being a part of positioning Contamac with the status it is recognized with today
To be involved in the conceptualization and formation of Contamac Solutions in the USA is a very memorable and successful highlight of my career at Contamac
Becoming top sponsor at GSLS
Launching the Optimum family of GP materials
Having a great US team!
Entertaining and dining with customers & colleagues within the industry
Becoming a 'true' Man United life-time fan!
Holding a company board meeting in a Colorado Rocky Mtn. wilderness at 12,000 feet.
What will you miss the most?
Closing the bars with Rob McGregor
The Contamac family
Having a UK night out ending at the local curry house
My customers and the comradery developed
What are your retirement plans?
It's common (in the USA) to hear retiree's (husband and wife) setting off to travel and explore America in some type of a motorhome with Jeep in tow. My wife, Deanna, and I aspire to do just that, part-time. In fact, we've recently acquired the motorhome & Jeep and are now becoming familiar will all 'that' brings to life and mapping our first adventure… hopefully close to home! We're both extremely excited to start our next chapter in life, whilst we're still healthy.
Not sounding funny, but our main plans are to really focus on the best things that could happen to us in retirement, and that's what we're doing!
Closing words from Marty:
Above all, I really want to thank everybody within the industry that's supported and believed in me over the years, and I am extremely grateful that I and my wife Deanna had the opportunity to bring Contamac into the USA.
With the support of the Contamac family, contact lens manufacturers and eye care professionals in the industry, the USA endeavour was a great success. To be part of this growth will forever be one of my greatest accomplishments. Through much hard work and years of tenacity, the US market has become an important wheel in Contamac' business. I personally owe my success, and the USA success, to the steady support of the McGregor family and everyone within Contamac who has supported them and the USA business. Working together, deep friendships have been formed and there were no hurdles we as a company couldn't overcome. The memories will never be forgotten, and on my retirement, I will truly miss all that is a part of the Contamac family.
Cheers ~ Marty
We are sincerely thankful for all Marty has done for Contamac throughout the years. His passion and dedication is admirable and truly appreciated. Contamac wishes Marty and Deanna all the very best in their retirement.
Reflecting on Michele Cornely's Years at Contamac
Contamac's Founder, John McGregor, Retires


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Venezuela blackout leaves commuters scrambling, silences president
By Brian Ellsworth and Patricia Velez
Reuters June 27, 2014
A woman tries to walk out of a building during a blackout in Caracas
A woman tries to walk out of a building during a blackout in Caracas June 27, 2014. A blackout cut power to much of Venezuela on Friday, snarling traffic in the capital Caracas and other major cities as authorities scrambled to restore electricity after the outage, which twice interrupted a presidential broadcast. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins (VENEZUELA - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY)
CARACAS (Reuters) - A blackout cut power to much of Venezuela on Friday, snarling traffic in the capital Caracas and other major cities as authorities scrambled to restore electricity after the outage, which twice interrupted a presidential broadcast.
Pedestrians streamed into the streets of Caracas as the blackout shuttered the underground metro trains and left frustrated drivers honking in the chaos without stoplights.
Government ministers in the late afternoon said they expected power would be restored shortly. It was the second nationwide major electricity outage in less than a year.
"How am I going to get to my house? By the grace of God," said Pedro Mayora, 58, an accountant who was waiting outside the Metro to see how he would reach his home on the poor west end of the city.
Workers stood in groups outside evacuated buildings, some complaining of difficulty in communicating over congested cellular phone lines.
An outage at a power station in the center of the country led to other generation centers going offline, halting service in that region and in the Andes region in the west, Electricity Minister Jesse Chacon told state television.
The problems extended to Maracaibo, Venezuela's second city, and the industrial center of Valencia.
The OPEC nation has suffered an increasing number of power outages in recent years, which critics have attributed to low electricity tariffs and limited state investment following the 2007 nationalization of the power sector.
Television screens froze for several seconds as Maduro was speaking during a broadcast of the awards ceremony for a national journalism prize. The words "It looks like the power went out" were audible in the background.
"Traffic normally flows fine, but with the power out it's complete chaos," said Carlos Pena, 58, a fuel station worker.
A representative of state oil company PDVSA said there were no reports of the oil industry being affected.
President Nicolas Maduro in December blamed a similar power outage on opposition saboteurs who attacked a transmission line with a firearm.
Critics call the power problems a symptom of 15 years of socialist policies that have left the country without a steady supply of energy despite having the world's largest oil reserves.
Late socialist leader Hugo Chavez in 2007 nationalized the country's power sector as part of a broad wave of state takeovers.
Maduro this year weathered three months of often violent opposition demonstrations demanding his resignation that were in part motivated by complaints over shoddy public services. He said the protests were a U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow him.
(Reporting by Caracas newsroom; Editing by James Dalgleish and Mohammad Zargham)
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The Gruesome Crimes Of Hans Schmidt, The Only Catholic Priest Ever Executed In US History
By Nickolaus Hines | Edited By John Kuroski
Hans Schmidt illegally married, impregnated, and then brutally murdered and dismembered his mistress. For that crime, he was eventually executed via electrocution, and to this day is the only Catholic priest ever executed in the United States. Turns out, the murder he was caught for was only the tip of the iceberg.
A portrait of Hans Schmidt, the only Catholic priest to ever be executed in the United States, circa 1910.
Long before The Boston Globe shined a spotlight on an endemic pattern of child molestation in the Catholic Church, the wrongdoings of the clergy often went unnoticed or unpunished.
Except for Hans Schmidt. In the early 1900s, he became the first, and only, priest to be executed in the United States.
His acts were bloody, his list of crimes was long, and his entire tale was laid out for the public by a press eager to show that even trusted religious leaders are capable of being monsters.
The Illegal, Self-Performed Marriage That Led To Murder
Hans Schmidt was an unusual child. He was born in the German town of Aschaffenburg in 1881 and had an eerie childhood habit of spending his afternoon watching the cows and pigs be processed through the local slaughterhouse.
He was also entranced by Roman Catholic rituals and played priest with a homemade altar. These two childhood passions would eventually converge in an unsettling way.
Louisville's St. John's Parish today.
A 25-year-old Schmidt was ordained in Germany in 1904. He spent the next four years serving in Germany, but disputes with his higher-ups led to a relocation. It was only the start of his pattern of confrontation and relocation.
In 1908, he was transferred to St. John's Parish in Louisville, Kentucky. Schmidt bumped heads with Catholic leaders in Louisville, and he was forced to relocate to St. Boniface Church on the east side of Midtown Manhattan.
But he wasn't the only recent addition to St. Boniface at the time: a young Austrian housekeeper named Anna Aumuller had recently been hired to keep shop.
Hans Schmidt, left, and Anna Aumuller, right.
Schmidt and Aumuller then began having an affair. However, Schmidt's pattern of relocation continued on and he was moved to St. Joseph's Church in West Harlem. One possible reason for the transfer is that the church found out about the affair, and looked to keep the news from getting out. But distance couldn't stop the two lovers.
On February 26, 1913, hans Schmidt married Anna Aumuller in a secret ceremony that he performed himself. Of course, Catholic priests are banned from getting married, let alone have sexual affairs.
The Gruesome Murder Of Anna Aumuller
The location of the apartment where Anna Aumuller was murdered at in northern Manhattan.
Hans Schmidt and Anna Aumuller's secret came to a gruesome end in 1913, when Schmidt was 31 and Aumuller was 21. Aumuller told Schmidt that she was pregnant, and he knew that his days as a priest would be over if word got out that an allegedly celibate Catholic priest had married and impregnated a woman.
On September 2, Schmidt slashed Aumuller's throat with a 12-inch butcher's knife in an uptown Manhattan apartment he had rented for her. He then sawed off her head with a hack saw, and then sawed her body in half. He wrapped each section in a newspaper from August 31, put her lower body in one of her pillowcases that had a monogrammed "A" on it, and attached a large piece of gray-green schist to each of the body parts.
Then, Hans Schmidt took the pieces of Anna Aumuller and dumped them in the Hudson River. He counted on the schist he had gathered in Manhattan to sink the body to the bottom.
Three days later, two kids on the New Jersey side of the Hudson came across the upper torso of a woman. Three miles downriver in Weehawken, New Jersey, the lower section of Aumuller's body was found, still wrapped in the pillowcase with the schist tied to it.
Even though the body was found in New Jersey, the evidence was given to the New York Police Department. Schist, the type of rock most available to Schmidt in Manhattan, is extremely rare in New Jersey.
An autopsy of the body parts told the police they were investigating the murder of a woman under 30, around 5-foot-4-inches tall and between 120 and 130 pounds. The autopsy also revealed that the woman had prematurely given birth shortly before she was murdered.
The NYPD turned to their best piece of evidence (aside from the body): the monogrammed pillowcase. It was a distinctive enough monogram for the police to trace it to a specific company, and the company kept detailed business records. The records for the "A" pillowcase led to Aumuller's apartment.
The landlord told the officers that Mr. Hans Schmidt had rented the apartment for a female relative two weeks prior. He then led the officers into the apartment, which was still a bloody murder scene.
The walls and floor were splattered with blood stains, despite a scrubbing brush and six bars of soap by the sink. Schmidt had found better luck cleaning the blood off of the butcher's knife and handsaw, and had hidden them inside of a trunk. In another trunk, letters addressed to Aumuller mentioned Schmidt and his employment at St. Joseph's. The trunk also had handkerchiefs with the same embroidered "A" as the pillowcase.
A story from the Tribune on September 15, 1913, about the murder of Anna Aumuller by Hans Schmidt.
Lead detective Inspector Faurot and his partner went to St. Joseph's to question Schmidt about the blood-stained apartment rented in his name. Within minutes, he confessed to the marriage and murder of Aumuller, claiming "I loved her. Sacrifices should be consummated in blood."
The Trial Of Hans Schmidt And Ensuing Media Circus
The New York Times headline from the day after Hans Schmidt confessed to murder.
Han Schmidt's trial began on December 7, 1913. His guilt wasn't in question, so Schmidt's lawyers claimed he was overwhelmed with "blood lust," and he was too insane to know right from wrong. For 23 days, Schmidt and his lawyers clung to the insanity plea.
This case was everything that the sensationalist New York newspapers of the day wanted. Yellow journalism was in full swing, and the media set up their circus tent around the courthouse, reporting every juicy detail.
Inside the courthouse, Schmidt got his way. The plea worked. Two members of the jury fell for his insanity claim and the trial ended in a hung jury, 10-2.
The electric chair at Sing Sing prison, nicknamed "Old Sparky."
The jurors weren't as forgiving the second time around, and judge Vernon Davis strongly advised against letting the second trial end like the first:
"If you are satisfied that the defendant purchased the knife and saw with which he cut up the body, thinking of using them as he did, and if you are satisfied that in the middle of the night he went to the flat, took off his coat and cut her throat, and then cut up her body, what conclusion do you come to?" Davis asked the jury. "Use your common sense… your experience with men. Bear in mind, it isn't every form of mental unsoundness that excuses a crime."
The jury convicted Schmidt of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death by electric chair. Schmidt was electrocuted to death on February 18, 1916, just over one year before the U.S. entered World War I against Germany, in New York's notorious Sing Sing prison.
To this day, Schmidt is the only priest to ever be executed in the United States.
Other Crimes Hans Schmidt Likely Committed
Ernest Arthur Muret, right, the dentist who was a co-conspirator with Hans Schmidt on insurance fraud.
Relentless media attention pulled details of Schmidt's troubling history out of the woodwork as reporters looked for new angles to cover. Indeed, a trail of previously unsolved crimes seemed to follow Schmidt everywhere he went, yet public trust in Church leaders had kept him from facing any real consequences.
For one, investigators found a second apartment belonging to Schmidt. Inside, he had a printing press that churned out $10 bills — which had similar purchasing power to $240 in today's money. Along with counterfeit money, Schmidt was working on a plan to partner with a Manhattan dentist to commit a string of murders and make off with the life insurance claims.
In Louisville, the body of a nine-year-old girl was found in the basement of St. John's Parish, Schmidt's first place of employment in the United States. The girl had gone missing when Schmidt was in Louisville, but a local janitor had been charged with the crime. Her body was found dismembered in a way that was eerily similar to how Aumuller's body was dismembered.
Even further back in Schmidt's history, German police traced evidence of a murdered girl in Schmidt's hometown of Aschaffenburg back to him. The Germans never had a chance to question Schmidt before he was executed in the United States, and the case went cold.
Hans Schmidt is the only Catholic priest to ever receive the highest punishment in the United States. Whether that means he is a singular dark spot on the history of the Church or that the country puts too much trust in Church leaders remains up for debate.
Nickolaus Hines
Nickolaus Hines is a freelance writer in New York City. He graduated from Auburn University, and his recent bylines can be found at Men's Journal, Inverse, and Grape Collective.
In Spain, A Criminal Ring Of Nuns And Doctors Stole Hundreds Of Thousands Of Babies
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Ram Trucks Rethinking Plan to Move Pickup Production from Mexico to US After Trade Deal
Fiat-Chrysler planned to bring HD pickup production back to Michigan. The new trade agreement has it reconsidering.
By Eric BrandtOctober 29, 2018
Sick of Ram Trucks' third-place status in the American market, new Fiat-Chrysler CEO Mike Manley wants to make some moves—literal ones. In his first interview on the job, Manley told Reuters that he's rethinking the company's stated plans to end pickup production in Mexico and consolidate in Michigan in light of the new USMCA trade agreement and buyers' ever-growing appetite for trucks.
Here's the current landscape of Ram pickup production: Right now, all production of the new "DT" generation of the Ram 1500 takes place in Sterling Heights, Michigan, while the older heavy-duty Ram trucks are built in Saltillo, Mexico. Last year, facing the prospect of a 25 percent tariff on Mexican-built trucks being brought into the States, then-CEO Sergio Marchionne suggested Ram would move all HD truck production back to Michigan; the company confirmed the plans in January and said the Saltillo plant would be reworked to make other commercial vehicles.
That would put all Ram Trucks production into just two plants: the Sterling Heights facility and the Warren Truck Assembly plant, which is currently being updated to build both the upcoming Jeep Wagoneer and the next generation of Ram's heavy-duty trucks. But now that a new tentative trade agreement has been reached between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, it looks like there won't be a blanket tariff on Mexican-produced Rams. So instead of ending truck production south of the border, Manly wants to take advantage of the capacity offered by a third plant to build even more of them for a hungry domestic market.
"With a combination of Warren [Michigan] and Mexico building what we call the classic truck, we have enough production to increase output next year if it's required," Manley told Reuters. "In my opinion it will be required. We are gaining share. Obviously I am looking for that to continue, but it's an incredibly competitive segment."
It's a question of volume. If the demand continues to grow, then this plan would be a win all around—as long as the two Michigan plants are humming along at capacity. If not, it will be fair to ask if Ram overextended itself in a quest for market share. In any case, it's unlikely that we'll see the production of the new Ram 1500 start up in Mexico as well, since FCA just poured $1.49 billion into retooling Sterling Heights Assembly to build it there.
Fiat-Chrysler really wants to be the second-largest truck seller in the U.S., and it knows full well that passing Ford is a massive challenge. "We need to get ourselves in second [place]," Manley told Reuters. "Frankly, I don't care which of the two I take share from."
Canada Joins US and Mexico on New USMCA Trade Deal, Ford Praises Government Leaders
Canada has agreed, at the last minute, to the terms of a revised NAFTA plan to ensure continued trade amongst the auto industry.
The 2019 Ram 1500 First Drive Review: A 21st Century Pickup Truck—With the Tech to Prove It
An excellent ride, oodles of tech, and a gigantic 12-inch touchscreen make this the full-size truck to beat.
Ram on Track to be America's Second Favorite Truck
This could be the first year that Ram passes Chevy.
2019 Ram 1500 Limited Review: FCA's Plush Pickup Truck Lays a Smackdown on Ford and Chevy
Is the all-new Ram a pickup truck or a 2.5-ton limousine? Well, can't it be both?
2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Crew Cab 4×4 Review: One Fancy, Capable Beast
Lean, mean, and tricked out with tech.


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Eric Kunze Fansite
Broadway actor/bari-tenor
Forever Plaid, February 2020
News flash! Eric shows his talent for humor in the fun and lively, "Forever Plaid" at Grace Arts Live in Lake Havasu City. Show dates are February 7-9, 14-16 and 21-22. Contact the theater for tickets:
Monday thru Friday: 3-6PM & up to one hour before showtimes
2146 McCulloch Blvd.
(928) 505-ARTS (2787)
"Before and After, Songs That Shaped our Lives", Cabaret with Eric Kunze and Gina Feliccia
Moonlight Stage Productions presents:
Two of the first local artists to go to Broadway after starting their careers on The Moonlight stage, Eric Kunze and Gina Feliccia starred in such Broadway shows as Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, and Damn Yankees. They're coming home to share the songs that shaped their lives in this personal evening of song and storytelling.
Moonlight Theater, January 17th and 18th. Saturday is sold out. Buy Friday tickets here.
THE BODYGUARD, The Musical
(From Maggi)
Eric is slated to play Frank Farmer in THE BODYGUARD, scheduled as follows:
Riverside Theatre, Vero Beach, Florida - April 14 - May 3, 2020
Tickets are available at: https://my.riversidetheatre.com/overview/48
The show will then move on to:
Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, May 12 - July 12, 2020
Tickets are available at https://www.walnutstreettheatre.org/seas…/show/the-bodyguard
I am planning to be in Philly a number of times and would like to offer the option of a fanclub dinner before the performance, as in the past. I would like to propose Saturday, May 23rd as a tentative date. If you are interested, or if another weekend would be better please let me know and I will try to arrange it. E-mail me at maggiwun@yahoo.com.
Looking forward to seeing some of you again soon!
PS: If any of you are familiar with The Bodyguard musical, you will know that this is a non-singing role! A first for Eric, as far as I know!
From the Walnut Street site:
Based on the WARNER BROS. Film Screenplay by LAWRENCE KASDAN · Book by Alexander Dinelaris
The award-winning romantic thriller that produced the best-selling soundtrack of all time comes to the stage! When a former Secret Service agent turned bodyguard is hired to protect a superstar singer, each expects to be the one in charge; what they don't expect is to fall in love. The Bodyguard features smash hits including, "I'm Every Woman," "So Emotional," "Run to You," "One Moment in Time," "Saving All My Love," "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," and one of the greatest songs of all time—"I Will Always Love You."
"NEXT TO NORMAL Packs a Punch!" Review by Pam Harbaugh/ Brevard Culture
"As Diana, Judy McLane has a flawless voice which hits every song's power and urgency...But it is Eric Kunze and Isabella Stansbury who win our hearts here from the get-go. They turn in winning portrayals of Dan, the father, and Natalie, the daughter. They not only sing beautifully, but they also dig into the souls of their characters and serve up the big emotion often missing from the show's first act."
Get your tickets before they sell out!
https://www.riversidetheatre.com/1819-next-to-normal
Labels: Brevard Culture, Isabella Stansbury, Judy McLane, Next to Normal, Pam Harbaugh, Riverside Theatre, Vero Beach
Mamma Mia at Music Circus in Sacramento August 7 - 12
Broadway at Music Circus presents MAMMA MIA, directed by Nick Corley, starring Michelle Dawson as Donna Sheridan and Eric Kunze as Sam Carmichael.
Review: MAMMA MIA at the Walnut Street Theatre to July 22nd
We had a great turnout for our fanclub meeting in Philly. It was fun seeing the show together and visiting with Eric there and afterward at the stage door. My review of the show follows:
"There are different reasons people love to go to the theater. It can be thought provoking, inspiring, sobering. Most of all, especially in today's times, what we need is lighthearted entertainment, taking us from the problems of our daily lives and putting a smile on our face. Walnut Street's production of Mamma Mia fills the bill perfectly. I've seen the show four times and am still happy and engaged each time. The nature of most of ABBA's songs exude energy and joy. They've been on the radio for so many years but after seeing this show I hear the songs completely differently, in the context of the story that was created around their music. In fact, I can't get them off my mind as they pop up in my mind at random moments, weeks later.
Casting of each character was perfect. Greek taverna owner Donna, (Ann Brummel) as Sophie's mother, has a voice perfectly suited to their music. Her powerhouse song,
"The Winner Takes it All" brings down the house every night. Laura Giknis as daughter Sophie,exhibits youthful enthusiasm and innocence as she mails letters to her three potential fathers, inviting them to her wedding without her mother's knowledge. When the fathers arrive, they are worlds apart from one another in looks and personality. Christopher Sutton is Bill Austin, a macho Aussie world traveler and author and confirmed bachelor with a terrific Australian accent. He fooled me. When I asked him later I found out he actually is from Michigan, not too far from were I live. Jonas Cohen is Harry Bright, a former head-banger rock guitarist turned banker in a three piece suit, who has a secret not revealed until the end of the show. They are the comic relief while Sam Carmichael, (portrayed by an extremely handsome Eric Kunze) is an architect who is still in love with Donna. The way Eric dramatically interprets "Knowing Me, Knowing You" made me hear the song in a whole new light. It was one of the emotional scenes in an otherwise fun, whimsical show, the other being when Sophie and her mother sing the very moving "Slipping Through My Fingers." Twice I attended with friends who had a grown daughters and both women couldn't contain their tears. In fact, I was sitting close enough to see real tears on the face of Laura Giknis.
Hilarity ensues as Sophie tries to keep her secret as to why these men are here from Donna and none of them realize they are Sophie's potentially real father. There were so many scenes that elicited uproarious laughter from the audience, a highlight being a snorkel and flipper dance routine that had people applauding long before it was over. A close second is between Charis Leos (Rosie) and Christopher Sutton (Bill), as she attempts to and is successful in seducing him before the wedding in "Take a Chance on Me". Once again, uproarious laughter from the audience. Finally, Lyn Philistine as the Tanya is amazing as the sexy cougar who has been married and divorce three time and has clearly had extensive plastic surgery. Meeting her after the show, she was unrecognizable young and looked completely different. She is married to Christopher Sutton (Bill) and they often do shows together.
Kudos to the entire cast, including the chorus who sing throughout, the excellent dancers, the directing and production team as well as the musicians, who perfectly recreate the music we have grown to love. Taking a line from the show, 'Thank you for the music!' "
Get tickets for Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, here.
MAMMA MIA at Broadway at Music Circus, August 7th-12th
Great news for Broadway at Music Circus (Sacramento) season tickets holders!
Eric will be reprising his role there as Sam in MAMMA MIA, August 7-12. The sad news is that this show is sold out. However, tickets may be released from time to time as group tickets are turned in. Beware that tickets are offered by scalpers at up to $2000. These are not offered from the theater. If you want to try for tickets, click on the following link: https://www.broadwaysacramento.com/production/mamma-mia-2018/
An Evening With Eric Kunze at the Rubicon Theatre
Eric will be performing his cabaret show, An Evening With Eric Kunze, at the Rubicon Theatre (Ventura, CA), February 24th and 25th. This intimate theater is the perfect setting to enjoy Eric's stories and songs from some of his favorite shows. I'm sure these tickets will sell fast and I'm predicting will sell out, so if you want to go, don't delay! Tickets available here.
Next Up: BROADWAY AT GOOD THEATER, Portland, Maine - November 28-December 3
(This event is sold out.)
THE LITTLE MERMAID - ONLY THREE MORE CITIES!
Eric's five month run in THE LITTLE MERMAID will be concluding in November. If you are near, don't miss his performance as Prince Eric:
Auditorium Theater, Rochester, NY - October 24-29
https://tinyurl.com/ksqe8gf
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Appleton, WI - October 31 - November 5
https://tinyurl.com/m74388b
Creighton Orpheum Theater, Omaha, NE - November 7-12
https://tinyurl.com/mhop4ap
Eric is currently performing in SONG AND DANCE OF BROADWAY, part of the World Musical Concert Series in Tokyo, Japan with several other Broadway stars. The show is a combination of solos, ensemble harmonies and dance choreographed by Mark Stuart.
Contact DGRW, Inc. Talent
Agency, New York
info@dgrwinc.com
Enter your email here if you want to be first to hear of Eric's appearance schedule
Appearance Calendar
Eric's scheduled performance calendar
"My Collection"
$17.99, including shipping and a free autographed photo of Eric (website orders only)
Buy Eric's CD
"My Collection" is a passionate interpretation of songs from Eric's Broadway career and national tours, from his lead roles in "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Miss Saigon", "Evita", "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", "Les Miserables" and more.
CDs ordered here from this website only will also include a personally autographed photo of Eric. (Click on link below to order.) It is also available on iTunes, CDBaby and Amazon.
Hear clips of the songs here.
International Shipping Included
Eric's Bio
Eric has had the pleasure of starring on Broadway in leading roles for the better part of his professional career. Mr. Kunze recently starred as "The Man" in the national touring company of Whistle Down the Wind for which he won an IRNE award for best actor in a musical and starred as the title character in the national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar (with Carl Anderson).
Recent orchestral appearances include national and international performances with "Let the People Sing- the Dream Concert", "Music of the Night" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. , as well as appearing as a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Hartford Symphony and the Cincinnati Pops.
Eric made his Broadway debut as Marius in Les Miserables (opposite Lea Salonga) and went on to star as Chris in Miss Saigon and then as Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees (with Jerry Lewis).
Off-Broadway: Leopard's Leap, directed by Michael Rupert. He received rave reviews for the title role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Muny, Reagle, KC Starlight, Sacramento Music Circus and San Diego CLO earning a San Diego Critics Circle Nomination and IRNE Award). Other Regional (selected): Che in Evita (LA Ovation Nomination), West Side Story (Tony), Into the Woods (the Prince), the title role in Pippin (LA Robbie Award), South Pacific (Lt. Cable) and the title role in the Who's Tommy in Los Angeles.
Eric's Resume
DAMN YANKEES Joe Hardy Marquis Theatre
MISS SAIGON Chris Broadway Theatre
LES MISERABLES Marius Imperial Theatre
DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID Prince Eric
WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND The Man
First National Tour
(IRNE Award Best Actor Musical)
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR Jesus
'03 & '04 National Tour
PIPPIN Pippin 1998 National Tour
MISS SAIGON Chris
THE FANTASTICKS Matt International Company
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE Frederic International Company
FUN HOME Bruce Bechdel, Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, Manila, Philippines 2016-17
NEXT TO NORMAL (Dan) Riverside Theatre, Vero Beach, FL 2019
MAMMA MIA (Sam) Riverside Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Sacramento Music Circus, 2018
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME Captain Phoebus
Sacramento Music Circus, La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts 2016
THE LITTLE MERMAID Prince Eric
Sacramento, Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas, La Mirada, Austin, New Orleans, San Antonio, Minneapolis 2014-16
SOUTH PACIFIC, Lt. Joe Cable, Sacramento Musical Theater 2014
GREASE, Vince Fontaine, Teen Angel, Walnut Street Theatre, 2013, Riverside Theater (Vero Beach)
DAMN YANKEES, Joe Hardy, MUNY 2010
GODSPELL, Jesus, MUNY 2009
EVITA Che Sacramento Music Circus
EVITA Che Civic Light Opera/Redondo Beach
MISS SAIGON Chris MUNY
WEST SIDE STORY Tony Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera/
Sacramento Music Circus
DAMN YANKEES Joe Hardy Sacramento Music Circus
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR Jesus MUNY / Sacramento Music Circus /
CHESS Freddy Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera
JOSEPH...DREAMCOAT Joseph MUNY/K.C.
INTO THE WOODS Wolf/Prince Sacramento Music Circus
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S... Demetrius Bravo Stage Co.
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS Master Richard Moonlight
CONCERT APPEARANCES
SONG AND DANCE OF BROADWAY, Tokyo, Japan 2017
33rd ANNIVERSARY GALA, BOSTON POPS, Carnegie Hall 2016
Soloist: "DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING - THE DREAM CONCERT" 2014-16, Washington DC, Baltimore, Ottawa, Mazatlan, Salt Lake City, Hartford, Denver, Pittsburg, Oklahoma City, Plano, Milwaukee, Utah Symphonies
Soloist: MUSIC OF THE NIGHT, Detroit Symphony, 2010, Cincinnati Pops, 2009, Vancouver Symphony 2009
Soloist: THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER 2008/2009 Kennedy Center, Washington DC Winter Playhouse
TOWNIES Guest Star
Uta Hagen, Alan Savage
Voice Tony McDowell,
Harry Garland,
Bruce Kolb
American Ballet Theater:
Buzz Miller, Thommie Walsh,
Mary Rotella, Susan Stroman
U.S.I.U.: Drew Tombrello
Andrew Barnicle
U.C. Irvine: Robert Cohen
Ballet, Jazz, Tap - U.S.I.U.:
Javier Velasco, Jack Tygett
U.C. Irvine: Donale McKayle,
El Gabriel, Bernard Johnson
Eric Kunze in Depth
Eric Answers Your Questions
Raves and Comments from Fans
Read messages sent from fans
Eric's Reviews
Mamma Mia, Riverside Theatre, Vero Beach
"Sam is the most seriously drawn of the trio of possible fathers. He is played by Eric Kunze, who has that experienced, stage ease and meticulous perfection which comes from a lot of professional experience. Indeed, he has performed major roles on Broadway including Marius in Les Miserables and Chris in Miss Saigon. He and Brummel deliver a sensational "S.O.S." when it's clear they still love each other."
Eric Kunze, a veteran Broadway actor like Salonga, is, easily, the real star of the musical. He plays the role by the book--one that any cult follower of the graphic novel would readily and happily approve. Kunze switches gears without any hitch: one time caring, controlling and temperamental the next, pathetic and piteous in the end.
Broadway veteran Eric Kunze nails the difficult role of Bruce with charm, ambiguity and just the right amount of menace and pomposity as he grapples with his obsession with outward order and his own secret longings.
Eric Kunze possesses a ringing tenor that was ideal for the powerful and stirring "I'm Martin Guerre," and together with Paz, conveyed a passionate rendering of "Last Night of the World" from "Miss Saigon."
Eric Kunze - I only need five words to describe his performance and vocals, Perfect Broadway Leading Man…PERIOD!
Kunze has a resplendent tenor voice that would have schools of mermaids swimming toward him! The belt is full and rich, while the vibrato is smooth as silk...Kunze wraps his golden voice around both songs like sparkling gift-wrapped presents to give to the audience. He delivers a magical, fascinating performance.
Eric Kunze, known to Music Circus audiences for his roles as Che, Jesus and Joseph (and a good-looking hunk who probably will play 30-somethings for three decades) is perfectly cast as the GI Chris. His impressive vocal chops never cease to amaze. The combination of dead-on pitch, powerfully resonant yet sweet tone, and surprisingly nuanced and natural acting confirm why he made it to Broadway so early in his career, and why the Music Circus should hire him every chance they get.
"Before and After, Songs That Shaped our Lives", C...


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Guatemalan Festivals & Celebrations
Guatemalan Festivals
Guatemalans have a special talent for public festivities.
These celebrations are characterized by extravagant pageantry balanced with sincere expressions of faith, commemoration, and joy.
Many local and regional festivals, and even national holidays, are rooted in religious traditions—both Maya and Catholic.
Cofradias
In most towns, elected groups known as cofradias are responsible for the care of religious icons and the staging of holiday celebrations.
Some of these groups trace their origins to 16th-century Franciscan missionaries, a heritage that informs even the most raucous holiday events.
Some of our favorite events include:
The Carnival holiday is celebrated in February, in the week leading up to Lent.
Guatemalan Carnival is much tamer and more family-friendly than the Carnivals held in Brazil.
The most noteworthy examples are held in the southwest region of Retalhuleu and in the Caribbean Coast city of Livingston.
Semana Santa (Holy Week)
The most famous celebration in all of Guatemala is Semana Santa—the weeklong observance of Christian Holy Week.
The festivities in Antigua are arguably the most impressive in Latin America.
Brightly colored carpets of sawdust and flower petals—alfombras—pave the city streets and church floors.
Palm Sunday and Good Friday
While processions are held each day, the largest take place on Palm Sunday and Good Friday.
Easter falls on the first Sunday following the full moon, on or after the March 21st equinox; Semana Santa can take place anywhere between late March to mid-April.
Most of the better hotels in Antigua require a four-night minimum during the Holy Week events. Many sell out months in advance.
Jueves de Ascencion (Ascension Day)
Each year on May 9th, the Ascension Day is celebrated at Lake Chicabal, a highland crater lake sacred to the Mam Maya.
This Guatemalan celebration includes traditional music, flowers and prayers by the lakeshore.
The deepest respect is to be shown to the participants. Photos and video are strictly prohibited.
Fiesta de Santiago (Antigua Fair)
Town fairs are a longstanding tradition in Guatemala, with most held on the day of town's patron saint.
Antigua holds its fair—the festival of Santiago (Saint James)—on July 25th.
This Guatemalan festival is marked by processions, concerts, folkloric dancing, and carnival rides.
La Fiesta Nacional Indigena de Guatemala (National Folkloric Festival)
On July 27th, Coban holds its annual Rabin Ajau festival.
At this Guatemalan festival, indigenous groups gather from around the country to perform traditional dances and ancestral music.
The festival's centerpiece is a pageant, in which Maya women compete for the title of Queen.
Contestants are primarily judged on their commitment to Maya values and traditions.
Fiesta de la Virgen de la Asunción (Day of Our Lady of Assumption)
August 15th is the day of the Virgin of the Assumption, patron saint of Guatemala City.
During this celebration, parades, fairs, and parties are held throughout the country.
The largest of these happenings are in Guatemala City.
In the Atitlan town of Sololá, the cofradia—a group of Roman Catholic laymen—of the Lady of Assumption passes through the streets, carrying her effigy to the church on their shoulders.
Dia de la Independencia (Independence Day)
September 15th commemorates Guatemala's peaceful independence from Spain in 1821.
In the weeks leading up to Guatemalan independence day, buildings and buses are decorated in nationalistic blue and white.
During this time, the country also holds numerous military parades. The day itself is celebrated with dances, fiestas, regional fairs, and fireworks.
Independence day is one of the largest festivals held in Quetzaltenango.
Dia de Los Santos (All Saints Day)
On November 1st, All Saints Day is celebrated throughout Guatemala.
This is a happy time when families gather to pay respects to deceased relatives by visiting and adorning family graves.
These Guatemalan festivals are marked by the flying of kites, in a symbolic effort to communicate with the dead.
Tradition takes on legendary proportions in the small highland town of Santiago Sacatepéquez.
Here, friends band together in the town cemetery, constructing and attempting to fly huge kites, some measuring upwards of 45 feet in diameter.
Similar festivities also take place in the town of Sumpango, near Antigua.
In the mountain town of Todos Santos Cuchumatan, the celebration includes marimba music, folkloric dances, and a relay horse race known as the Skatch Koyl.
Fiesta de Santo Tomas (Chichicastenango Fair)
The town fair of Chichicastenango extends from December 14th to the 21st.
During this celebration, young men test their strength and bravery by climbing a pole known as the Palo volador. Upon reaching the top, they spin back to earth on ropes.
Nativity scenes, handmade Christmas ornaments, and processions known as posadas add to the festival atmosphere.
Vispera de Año Nuevo (New Year's Eve)
New Year's Eve is celebrated with vigor throughout Guatemala.
People wear new clothes in the hope of receiving prosperity and good fortune.
Parties last all night, dances erupt spontaneously, and music fills the air. Fireworks are essential and applied liberally.
One of the zaniest traditions involve the toritos, men wearing cages of ametralladora de cohete (bottle rockets/firecrackers), charging the crowds while dancing and setting off their ordinance.
In Antigua, crowds gather under the clock at Calle del Arco for the midnight countdown.
LANDED provides personalized, custom travel within Central America, South America, and the Antarctic. We arrange private charters, accommodations, and tours to each of these locations and throughout Guatemala. Experience the trip of a lifetime. Speak with one of our expert travel planners today at 801.582.2100.
"Throw your dreams into space like a kite and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country."


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Advantage Bavaria
Digital Bavaria
Bavaria: automotive centre of the past, present and future. Andreas Flocken developed the first electric car in Coburg in 1888, Rudolph Diesel invented his compression ignition engine in Augsburg in 1893, and in 1951, Walter Linderer patented the airbag in Munich. Today, the cutting-edge trends in the automotive sector are electromobility, networked vehicles and autonomous cars.
Bavaria-based OEMs are among the most innovative automotive manufacturers in the world in the fields of electromobility, networked vehicles and autonomous driving. Four of the ten companies and institutions with the most patent applications in 2021 come from automotive industries in Bavaria. Pilot projects such as the partnership between MAN and DB Schenker and the consortium involving Audi, Ducati, Ericsson and Qualcomm and other players are a clear demonstration of the leading role of Bavarian businesses internationally. One landmark project is the motorway digital test bed between Nuremberg and Munich. The combination of modern road infrastructure and the latest communication technology makes the motorway digital test bed a unique opportunity for practical trials for the automotive industry, suppliers, telecommunications companies and research facilities alike.
To promote the integration of the electromobility concepts developed into everyday life, the Bavarian government has its own regional funding programme to drive forward the development of a state-wide charging infrastructure. With the Bavarian Charging Infrastructure Support Programme, an instrument was created in 2017 to support the development of publicly accessible charging infrastructure in Bavaria in addition to the corresponding federal programme. All details on the new funding programme this year can be found on the website of Bayern Innovativ (in German language).
The target is to install 7000 publicly accessible charging stations in Bavaria by the year 2020. BMW, Allego, Porsche and Siemens were among those involved in "Fast Charge", a project with an ultra-fast charging station in Jettingen-Scheppach, Bavaria.
Philipp Gleißner
Deputy Head of Investor Services (acting)
businesses in Bavaria along the entire value chain
In addition to electromobility, Bavaria is focusing especially on hydrogen as the energy carrier of the future, thus making a pioneering contribution to the mobility revolution. With its own strategy for hydrogen, the "Hydrogen Alliance" and Hydrogen Technology User Center in Pfeffenhausen Bavaria wants to become the world's leading expert in H2 technology through promoting companies, mobility research or test and application facilities.
Current projects and developments are, of course, bolstered by the fact that Bavaria is home to the headquarters of world-famous premium manufacturers such as Audi, BMW and MAN, and branches of around 1100 other leading businesses from all sections of the value chain. These include suppliers such as Bosch, Brose, The Dräxlmaier Group, Rexroth, Schaeffler and Webasto. Together, they generate 32.24 percent of turnover in Bavaria's industrial sector.
Automotive industry figures
employees in the automotive sector
Engineering Graduates
companies in the automotive industry
% of companies and institutions with the most patent applications in 2021 in the automotive industry come from Bavaria
Well-known representatives
The global players of the automotive sector
Leading research institutes and university research groups across Bavaria are exploring what the future of mobility looks like. The Fraunhofer Institutes IIS(for integrated circuits) and IGVC (for casting, composite and processing technology) but also the iwb user centre in Garching and Augsburg are exemplary for outstanding Bavarian research. The research work by experts and students from universities and universities of applied sciences on advanced future technologies is the ideal breeding ground for innovation in Bavaria. Engineers, designers, software development and IT specialists work together to develop solutions for the future.
The student research group WARR at the Technical University of Munich is a typical example of Bavaria's great success in this area. Four times already, the Bavarian student team has seen off 120 other competitors from around the world to win the prestigious international SpaceX Hyperloop Competition.
There are at least 15 universities and colleges of applied sciences with engineering faculties in Bavaria. Bavaria offers an excellent dual training system alongside purely academic options. One element of this system is integrated degree programmes. Students in Landshut can specialise in automotive computer science, students at Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts in automotive engineering and management, and students at Hochschule Ingolstadt in automated driving. There are also traditional dual vocational training programmes, on which businesses and chambers of commerce work together to ensure high-quality training with a strong focus on practice. Apart from this talent factory and source of innovation, Bavarian companies also benefit from another research partnership and start-up platform that is unique in Germany: the Zentrum Digitalisierung.Bayern (ZD.B). The ZD.B drives forward cooperation between industry, science, professional associations and public programmes and has dedicated one of its thematic platforms to networked platforms.
Bavaria is not just a pioneer in networked vehicles. The region also promotes strong interdisciplinary links between stakeholders from industry, politics and research. The M.A.I. Carbon network, for example, is facilitating Bavaria's development as a European centre of fibre-reinforced plastics. Technology companies and businesses from the mobility sector are pooling their expertise in the Mobility Digital Hub. The Bavaria-wide Automotive Cluster provides a strong basis for excellent networking with 730 players from pioneering research and industry. The main objective? To drive forward innovation in Bavaria.
Bavaria is also a key centre for global industrial partnerships: the BMW Group opened a second Autonomous Driving Campus in Munich in 2018. Together with international experts from FCA, Intel and Mobileye, BMW is working on the implementation of highly and fully automated vehicles.Furthermore, at the IBM Watson IoT Center in Munich the BMW Group and IBM are currently conducting a joint project on the i8 hybrid sports car to research intelligent driver assistance systems with the aim of creating a personalised user experience.
Accelerators, incubators and sector-specific ventures for mobility start-ups have, of course, also developed in recent years alongside traditional networks. In Bavaria, there is close collaboration between start-ups and renowned research institutions and leadings OEMs, for Bavarian start-ups are particularly strong in the B2B sector. OEM initiatives such as that launched by MAN or Next47 by Siemens, as well as BMW's Startup Garage provide helpful access to a network of top engineers and managers. And suppliers have also set up their own cooperation options, for example REHAU with UNLIMITED X or Schaeffler with its Venture Forum.This exclusive access to the who's who of the automotive sector is invaluable. For example, Argo AI, which Audi invests in, has its European headquarters and fifth Engineering Center in Bavaria and the augmented and virtual reality start-up RE'FLEKT is developing a communication technology that enables industrial companies to use step-by-step instructions, e.g. for repair work. The company's customers already include Audi, BMW, Bosch, Hyperloop, Hyundai, Porsche and Thyssen Krupp.
Besides numerous other start-ups, Sono Motors has also attracted attention with a trend-setting innovation. The Munich start-up was founded in 2016 with the idea of creating a vehicle that runs completely oil-free. The "Sion", an electric vehicle, was developed under this premise with barely visible solar cells already integrated into its surface and it is so convincing that Sono Motors is already cooperating with Bosch and Continental, among others, and collected EUR 53 million for further development through a crowdfunding campaign at the beginning of 2020. Read more about successful automotive startups like Lilium, ParkHere, Ionity here.
Last but not least, another reason Bavaria is the ideal start-up location is its great range of collaboration spaces in each field. These include the Volkswagen Data:Lab and the Digital Mobility Hub, the latter launched in Munich as part of the nationwide Digital Hub Initiative.
This cross-sector exchange of information and experience through extensive networks, and close geographical proximity to major OEMs, innovative start-ups and excellent research, make Bavaria a leading automotive industry centre.
This is also reflected in the decision by the International Motor Show (IAA), which will be held in the Bavarian capital from 2021. Germany's leading innovation hub with its mix of industries and outstanding partners provides the ideal framework for the motor show's reorganisation: in addition to the main exhibition on the exhibition grounds, there will also be events in Munich city centre, such as air taxi shows, environmental forums and concerts.
Are you interested in Bavaria as a business location for your company in the automotive industry? We are happy to support you with the entire establishment process: from planning to the search for a location, formalities and visa issues. Even once you have established yourself in Bavaria, we will put you in touch with networks, associations and clusters. Start-ups can also benefit from our specially tailored "Ois Easy" start-up package. Simply get in contact with us – the team at Invest in Bavaria is looking forward to hearing from you.
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Last MINUSTAH Contingent Returns to Peru
After 13 years as part of the stabilization mission in Haiti, a contingent of 160 Peruvian service members returns home.
Gonzalo Silva Infante/Diálogo June 02, 2017 International Relations 0 Comment
By Gonzalo Silva Infante/Diálogo
On February 5, 2004, an uprising broke out in the city of Gonaïves, Haiti. This set off a crisis that led the UN Security Council to establish the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH, per its French acronym) on June 1, 2004. MINUSTAH's mission was to help the transitional government establish a safe and stable environment, but as the years passed, new needs arose. It is in this context that Peru, a founding member of the United Nations in 1945, was one of the nations called upon to support the mission. "Peru offered the UN a certain number of personnel and materials. Based on that, when the subject of Haiti came up, the UN told Peru that it needed the support of companies of troops," recalled Peruvian Navy Captain Guillermo Tuesta, commander of the Peacekeeping Operations Unit for the Armed Forces Joint Command. "Historically, Peru has a tradition of pacifism. Through its foreign and defense policies, Peru promotes neighborliness and participates as a member of the United Nations in the promotion of world peace," explained Peruvian Air Force Major General (R) Rafael Ordóñez, deputy minister of Defense Policy. URUPERBAT combined forces During the 13 years in Haiti, Peru contributed 26 contingents and a total of 6,239 service members. From 2004 to 2015, the battalion was made up exclusively of Peruvian service members, but in February 2015, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Peruvian and Uruguayan armed forces, the Uruguayan-Peruvian Battalion (URUPERBAT) was established. "Even though we are in the same region, our cultures and customs are different. Our disciplinary regime is different," Capt. Tuesta said, recognizing that URUPERBAT represented a huge challenge. The differences, however, were more than overcome. That was confirmed by Peruvian Army Infantry Major José Ñavincopa, commander of the contingent of the group that just returned home. "During the mission, we were able to see things eye to eye. The proof of that is that we have been awarded the Medal of Military Merit by the Uruguayan Army," he said. "This has been a positive experience because despite having the same Latin American culture, our doctrines are different, and in our joint work they are able to be unified, which is positive for our organization. Any joint participation with other countries favors integration, cooperation, and mutual understanding," Deputy Minister Ordóñez added. Female presence Women's participation in MINUSTAH began with the 14th contingent in 2011. "The role of women in the Peruvian Armed Forces is seen as important. When women first joined the Peruvian Armed Forces in the year 2000, the value of their participation was recognized, not only in fields of professional, political or economic activity but also in the military field," Deputy Minister Ordóñez explained. "The closer involvement of female personnel is much more accepted than the soldier with his weapon because it gives a different face to the contingent," said Capt. Tuesta, emphasizing the advantages of having a female presence in peacekeeping missions. In the final group of 160 Peruvian service members to return home, 11 were women. There have been 134 in total since they began participating in the mission. Mission accomplished In February, the Security Council met to evaluate the mission. The council reached the conclusion that there had been many improvements and, therefore, they had entered a new stage. "That's why the decision was made to begin the withdrawal of the military part," Capt. Tuesta pointed out, taking stock of the work that was done. "A man who is trained for warfare and for the defense of his homeland is in a faraway place, defending not only his nation's territory but [also] defending world peace." "It's an amazing personal experience. Professionally, it gives you much more maturity, you become more humane, you work on real military operations," said Maj. Ñavincopa. "For me, it has been an amazing experience to have commanded troops from three armed forces and to have represented my country once more in peacekeeping missions. People arrive with a different outlook. The maturity that happens, personally and professionally, is noticeable." Deputy Minister Ordóñez summarized the Peruvians' work in Haiti. "Satisfaction for a job well done. That phrase holds many meanings for each of the men and women who will be carrying out the mission, because their duty encompasses arduous training, study, and commitment, leaving their families, knowing that they are going to face challenges and risks, knowing that they [have to] keep up their morale, that discipline is the basis of efficiency. And recognizing that means carrying out our duty the way we planned to carry it out. That's why I saw very proud faces at the ceremony," he concluded.
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A Car for Vegans
iNK Author, Peggy Thomas, has been fascinated with agriculture as an essential part of men who were not known for farming. These include George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Now she has directed her attention to the great industrialist Henry Ford. In Full of Beans: Henry Ford Grows a Car, we meet Henry Ford as an inventive child searching for shrink-less wool, a motorized tractor, and a plant that could provide raw materials for industrial use in car manufacturing.
In this light-hearted narrative, delightfully illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, with floating cars and tipping his hats, Henry Ford is revealed as a man convinced that some plant or other could be farmed and transformed into material that could become raw materials for industry. He invested in building a laboratory surrounded by fields and found Robert Boyer, a chemist who recognized Ford's vision for vegetables. Voila! The soybean-- full of oil and protein, with the possibility that it could be cooked up into something useful for his automobile plants.
What could that be? I'm not going to be a spoiler and tell you the story-- read Full of Beans to be charmed, read it to discover how men of vision imagine what others can't see, read it to see how life interrupts the inventive process and that ultimately, it prevails.
The format of this books contains an entertaining story but the back matter enhances the story with information about Henry Ford as and inventor/ innovator and his impact on the agriculture of soybeans, turning it into the second most-grown group. There are hands-on activities in the back-matter so you can eat a cracker made from soy bean flour and create your own plastic from soy-bean oil.
I LOVE books like Full of Beans, because it is so interdisciplinary. Peggy Thomas has written a piece of literature for children that includes a narrative story about an amusing and eccentric character, a slice of history, and hands-on activities by examining an aspect of an man you probably never knew had his roots as a farmer.
Please plant Full of Beans: Henry Ford Grows a Card in your home or classroom library.
The True Joy of Bird Watching
Ever glimpse a flash of brilliant red fly by your window? It sure got my attention. Its name is cardinal, which means "brilliant red" and it's brightness is a measure of its superior health, as read by the much less red female. She's looking for the reddest, i.e. strongest, mate for her chicks. None of the dazzling birds in iNK author, Sneed B. Collard III's latest book of natural wonders Birds of Every Color, lose their intensity. The sparkling photographs, taken by Sneed and his son, Braden, that jump off every page have been carefully curated to amaze and stun the reader.
It's no surprise that this slim, spectacular volume, to be shared and savored by children and adults, can release the inner bird-watcher in the most uninitiated folk, who previously looked at nature -lovers, with their binoculars and over-sized cameras, as strange birds of the human variety.
Did you know that some birds of a color eat food with the same pigments as their feathers? That makes sense. But I'll bet you didn't know that the colors of some other birds are caused by the refractive structure of their feathers and how light passes through them and have no pigment in their feathers what-so-ever. Then there are some nondescript brown birds with feathers containing melanin, the same pigment that colors human skin. And in the strange-but-true department, the Blue-footed Boobies have webbed feet that contain the pigment carotenoid, which makes some squash yellow and carrots orange but gives a blue hue to the skin of their feet.
In bird-world, it's mostly the males that sport the fancy feathers, even if it's just a small dash of color most noticeable to the wandering eye of a female. I have a back-deck in the northeast that overlooks a pond with Canada geese, mallard ducks (love that green head), and a lonely white egret. The same robins revisit every year and have even built a nest in the wreath near my front door and some soft gray doves, once nested in my garage. They got used to our rhythms and were safely ensconced every evening before we closed the garage door for the night. So I'm a lazy bird-watcher, and wait for the birds to come to me. But Sneed and Braden's Bird's of Every Color may just have the power to lead me astray, at least as far as the nearest aviary.
You Can't Make This Up!
Dolphins have long captured our imagination because of their intelligence and their remoteness. They are mammals that live mostly underwater. Laurence Pringle, who knows how to make all forms of nature accessible and fascinating, has turned his attention to Dolphins as his latest offering in his popular Strange and Wonderful series. This book is beautifully and accurately illustrated by Meryl Henderson.
There are many children who go through a dolphin phase much as they glom on to dinosaurs. I had a granddaughter like this. She carried a stuffed dolphin from the Chicago Aquarium everywhere she went for several years, while I fed her dolphin books. There is a lot to marvel at when it comes to these denizens of the sea, whose lives and habitats are now threatened.
There are quite a few different kinds of dolphins--33 species--but we know the bottlenose the best. One of the most distinctive features of this dolphin is its bulging forehead. Called a "melon" [It]"contains fat that helps to focus sounds produced in air tubes and sacs just behind, enabling dolphins to make clicks, chirps, buzzes, whistles, and other sounds. All of these sounds are emitted directly from dolphin heads, not through their mouths." (Wow! I didn't know that!)
Here's another strange and wonderful attribute: "As you read these words, you don't need to think about breathing. It happens automatically. A dolphin, on the other hand, decides when to breathe. But how can it sleep and still keep breathing? The answer: One side of its brain rests while the other stays awake. Half-asleep, the dolphin rises to the surface to breathe." (Hmmmm...how does one think with half a brain?)
Like a bat, a dolphin uses echolocation to find food. And, like wolves, they work together as a team to catch prey. They talk to each other in their own mysterious language. They are playful as they leap above the water, often doing so to communicate to us. (I saw this happen from a boat off the coast of Alaska. They put on quite a show!)
In Dolphins! Strange and Wonderful, Laurence Pringle feeds the appetite for knowledge while sustaining curiosity to know more. If this is the fist book a child reads about dolphins, there's a good chance it will not be the last.
What Does It Take to Create an Artist or Two?
Alberto Giacometti- Walking Man II, 1960 National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Enid Haupt Art ©2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/VAGAat ARTS, NY/ADAG, Paris
Alberto Giacometti was one of the most iconic sculptors of the last century. His brother Diego, one year younger, who loved nature and had a wild spirit, was there by his side. They were sons of a Swiss painter, so they were both introduced to art from birth. Two Brothers, Four Hands: The Artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti, a picture book biography by iNK author Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, lavishly illustrated by Hadley Hooper, shows how these brothers tackled life and art as a team and left the world an extraordinary body of work.
Becoming an artist requires a lot of study and experimentation and, yes, failure. Alberto is influenced in Paris by his surrealist artist friends who believe art should express imagination, not reality. Alberto tries it for a while, as Diego starts doing carpentry. World War II intervenes. A discouraged Alberto goes home to Switzerland while Diego toughs out the war in Paris guarding their studio. Upon Alberto's return to Paris after the war and the arrival of his soon-to-be wife Annette, Alberto starts sculpting something never before seen.
"Alberto's skeletal, lonely figures are survivors. They rise up courageously from these ruins of war. People are moved by the truth in Alberto's sculptures. They express a new spirit in art."
But Alberto does not create these sculptures alone. "Diego fashions thin constructions of wire to support the willowy figures. He builds bases to balance them on their outsized feet......His hand touches every sculpture." Fame and fortune come to Alberto but he dies too soon.
Yet Diego carries on alone: "As if his hands decide for him, he starts making more objects, furniture so magical that one sees sculpture and forgets its function."
Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan have crafted a poetic story as true and lean as a Giacometti sculpture. At the back of the book is a photo of Alberto's famous "Walking Man" with suggestions about how to look at it and what can be seen. What can't be seen in Two Brothers, Four Hands: The Artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti, but can be felt throughout, is the love and devotion between two brothers and the authors' and illustrator's love and respect for their legacy.
The Stain of Our Founding Father's Original Sin
The enslavement of human beings was the major sticking point in the formation of the United States of America after the Revolutionary War that freed the colonies from the tyranny of King George. The economy of the southern colonies depended on it. Virginian, George Washington, our esteemed general and first president, was a slave owner. In the introduction to Carla Killough McClafferty's powerful and insightful book for young adults (actually, any adult no matter how old) Buried Lives: The Enslaved People of George Washington's Mount Vernon, she tells us "At the age of eleven Washington inherited ten human beings, and he would own people his entire life." So the continental congress agreed to omit the contradiction that enslavement of people was counter to the American ideal of individual freedom; thus tabling the conversation for later generations in our country's painful work towards "a more perfect union."
Maybe you'll say to yourself, "Yes, yes, slavery was bad. I need this book like I need another book about the Holocaust." I say, yes, you need to read this book. I needed to read this book. The word "slave" has the pejorative connotation of anonymity. The term "enslaved person or people" used throughout this book brings in humanity. Make no mistake--enslavement means that human beings were victimized and pressed into a lifetime of servitude. Carla McClafferty's meticulous research brings a few of such people to life.
Fifteen-year-old William Lee was purchased by Washington and became his valet or "body servant." He lived by his master's side, attending his every need at home in Mount Vernon and throughout the 8 years of warfare. Many historians believe he is standing dressed in his fine livery behind Washington in the painting by John Trumbull on the cover of this book. Even after Washington died and his will freed all his "chattel," William Lee stayed on at Mount Vernon with a pension.
George and Martha Washington believed that they treated their enslaved people well. They got them medical attention when they were sick. They gave some of the house workers days off to attend theatrical entertainment. They did not break up families if they could help it. Oney Maria Judge, was a "mulatto," (from the word "mule," a sterile hybrid bred from a horse and a donkey) who belonged to Martha Washington as part of her inheritance from her first husband when she was widowed, called her "dower" estate. The inheritance laws stipulated that Martha was not allowed to sell or free her enslaved people. Oney became Martha Washington's "lady's maid" and traveled with her to the various residences in New York and then Philadelphia after Washington became our first president.
In Pennsylvania, there was a law called the "Gradual Abolition Act" which allowed enslaved men and women to apply for freedom after living in the state for six months. Martha Washington was apprised of this law by a friend of her husband so that they could "game" the system by sending an enslaved servant to visit Mount Vernon or another southern state as the six month time limit approached thus resetting the clock back to zero when they returned. Despite being well-dressed and an intimate part of the Washington family, Oney got wind of a plan for her to go to Martha's granddaughter's estate when Martha Washington died. So one night, as the family sat down to dinner, Oney slipped out the door and disappeared into the busy streets of Philadelphia and onto a ship bound for New Hampshire. Martha Washington was hurt; couldn't understand why she had been abandoned by a girl she had sheltered. Despite attempts to catch her and bring her back, Oney Judge established a life and a family as a free woman. Freedom trumped the security of enslavement.
Ultimately, George Washington came to understand the evils of enslavement. And McClafferty tells of the outcomes of some of the lives she so beautifully chronicles in this book. She spent time interviewing some of their descendants, who are proudly reclaiming their family history.
Enslaved people were buried in unmarked graves at Mount Vernon. A new project by archaeologists is underway to reveal the site of each grave shaft. They systematically sift the top soil above the identified graves leaving them undisturbed so each occupant can continue to rest in piece as flowers are placed in recognition of a buried life.
Tears ran down my cheeks as I read of the care and love brought to this space of eternal rest. (Can you believe I'm crying over the work of archaeologists and their volunteers?) The power behind Carla Killough McClafferty's Buried Lives: The Enslaved People of George Washington's Mount Vernon comes from her dispassionate, sensitive, and respectful rendering of a story of people whose names we know as merchandise on a bill of sale.
Vicki Cobb
*Award-winning author of more than 90 nonfiction books for children, mostly in science.
*Former Contributor to the Huffington Post
*Founder/President of iNK Think Tank, Inc.
*Passionate advocate for the joy of learning for every child and teacher.
Disclaimer: All opinions, typos, and grammatical errors are my own, especially small word omissions which I often don't notice in my fervor.
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