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PSYCH: Corbin Bernsen and Kristen Nelson Interview re Season 7 (2013)
Posted byTiffany Vogt February 27, 2013 September 5, 2014 Posted inPsych (USA Network), Tiffany Vogt (author)Tags:Chief Vick, Corbin Bernsen, Henry Spencer, Interview, Kristen Nelson, Psych (USA Network), Scoop, Season 7, Television, USA Network
Kristen Nelson and Corbin Bernsen (photo credit: Jennifer Schadel)
At the end of the sixth season of PSYCH, the fate of Shawn Spencer's father Henry was left in doubt as he had just been shot in chest. For all his psychic-wiles, the harsh reality of a violent crime so close to home and to someone he loves will be a pivot point in the fake psychic detective's life. So with that dire circumstance still left hanging and the future uncertain, during a press set visit for PSYCH's 100th episode co-stars Corbin Bernsen and Kristen Nelson shared some speculations about what's next in the PSYCH world for Henry and Chief Vick.
Corbin, how has it been appearing in appearing in the first 96 episodes of PSYCH? Were you upset to not make it through the final 100th episode?
CORBIN: That's all I can confirm: 96 episodes. An incredible ride. Really blessed. I added it up the other day, stick that with L.A. LAW and it's getting near 300 hours of television, and if I were to survive this year, I would actually cross that threshold. But I'm not holding my breath. Or maybe I am. For eternity. (Laughs) There's a possibility that Henry survives, but nobody really knows, do they? You assume that I live. But have you explored the possibilities? Ghost? Flashbacks?
Would you like to see flashbacks take place with Shawn when he was in high school or another period of time?
CORBIN: That would be a horrible wig. This sounds really crazy and really technical, I really hated the wig. I mean, I personally just didn't like it. It made me angry, but I guess that was good for Henry. But every day I would put it on, I thought they'd actually made me look older. In a weird way, blonde guys should not have hair, as they get older. There's a couple that do and I think they look pretty silly. But I don't know if I want to go back. I would like to go forward. That's what I think would be fun. Where Shawn comes and visits my grave on the 20-year anniversary of my death. You still don't know, do you? You think what's going to happen, but you don't.
What's it feel like to be involved in one of the biggest cliffhangers on TV?
CORBIN: It my JR-moment. Its kind of goofy because in those days — I mean, really, think about my predicament, even sitting here, it's about how much fun do we all want to have? And it's really hard. In the JR days, it's like, you do it, and there's no social networking. There's none of this. You can literally just drop off the map and, other than the assumption like they're not going to kill Larry Hagman, but you still don't really know. You can't even sit with other people and formulate the plots. But it's fun. I mean when you have a pretty long career, and there are those cliffhanger moments, it's great to have one of them in your kind of in your library. So, I don't know if that means I'm really old though. That's the problem, I can't quit, because it's like, "What's next?"
Could you talk about what it was like reading that final script, if you didn't know ahead of time that Corbin's character was going to be shot?
KIRSTEN: It wasn't even our final script of the season. It was like we still had three after that. And I remember — we get the scripts, what two weeks ahead or something like that, if we're lucky — but oddly enough, my husband had read it first. And he was just kind of scrolling through it, which is rare but he was scrolling through it and he's like, "Holy shit!" And I was like, "What? What? What? I want to see." I was like, "What?" And he's like, "Don't even bother looking for yourself, just read the end." So I did not know that was coming.
CORBIN: But I was forewarned that it was coming.
KIRSTEN: It's like, "Come on!" We still had the like three episodes more to do after that. So we shot it. We knew that was done, but then there was like this hanging umbrella over those last three episodes. Did didn't they take [Henry's] house down?
CORBIN: I still don't know.
KIRSTEN: They took your house down too.
CORBIN: They took my house down.
KIRSTEN: So it was like they shot him and then they said, "We need this space, so we're going to take your house down."
CORBIN: And then you're like, "This is a cruel business." It's fun and it's a blast, but it can be really cruel. 'Cause there it is, when the ratings are down, you're done. I remember when I got done with L.A. LAW, I was with ICM, a big agency, and the day the show was canceled I got kicked downstairs to like a junior agent. Seriously, and that lasted about two weeks and then I was out of the agency. And then the other version of that is, when I was nominated for an Emmy, for L.A. LAW, and Bruce Willis was nominated, and they come with you, that camera, and they put it right up to your face, like getting that stupid reaction and you're sitting there and the camera's right there: from L.A. LAW, Corbin Bernsen; and Bruce Willis from [blank], and the winner is Bruce Willis! That camera goes like this, it goes "shoop." It moves quicker than you can possibly imagine.
KIRSTEN: They don't even move the cameras anymore. Now they want to see what your reaction is.
CORBIN: No, at that time they moved and I thought, "Wow, that's what it's really about." So when I saw this script and I'm like, "Oh, you can tell me this." I mean, what else are you going to tell me halfway through the season, "Oh by the way, you're not coming back. We're going to kill you off, so please do really well for the next six episodes. Yeah, give it your all man."
KIRSTEN: We'll see how well you do.
CORBIN: This is the home stretch for Henry.
KIRSTEN: Yeah, I guess since we did have those three episodes you had to do really well on those last three 'cause they still hadn't written the end.
CORBIN: And I still don't know. I mean to me, the way I look at it is, I still got a bullet in me and it's infected so anything could happen at any moment.
KIRSTEN: So we'd shot [Corbin's scenes] out of order. So things happen. Things happen. 'Cause I was still Interim Chief Vick, for the longest time. They brought me on interim because Shawn got the guy fired. But I got the script and I think Maggie said it was one I had quit. So I was coming in and I quit because they're not giving me the job. And that's when Shawn comes to the rescue. I got hired full time, but as we're reading the script, I didn't know that one either. It's not as bad as getting shot, but [my character] was quitting and I was like, "What do I do?" I thought things were going well. The makeup, hair and makeup trailer, they had found it first and they weren't talking to me for a while and were like, "Have you read it? The script yet?" And I was like, "No, why what's going on?" So when they reveal these things, sometimes they tell us what's coming up ahead down the wire, or sometimes they just throw us episode right into the episode.
How does it feel to get to this 100th episode, compared to L.A. LAW?
CORBIN: I can say this, when you do something like L.A. LAW you think, "It'll never be that good again." It's like the first girl and you think, "It'll never be like this again." But as you progress through your life, and you go, "Wow, I'm in another thing that's running [this long], and I like these people like I did before." I'm not going to say it's better, but it's amazing that you can still achieve this. I imagine if you lose a spouse, you would think, "I can never love again." And people do find love. And it's amazing, life's ability to sort of recycle itself. But to get to [PSYCH's 100th], I would say the first one, I probably took a little bit more for granted. That was a massive whirlwind; I mean L.A. LAW was like it. And that's like being on MODERN FAMILY right now. What am I even saying? It was bigger than that! But getting to this today is really it's deeper. It's more of a blessing. You realize, "Wow, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you." You really do don't take so much for granted and I am extremely fortunate to have been in two casts where everybody really genuinely likes everybody.
KIRSTEN: Well I think that that's different from what I've heard from other shows — that we still like each other.
CORBIN: Really like each other. I mean, really like each other!
KIRSTEN: It's another little family.
CORBIN: And we don't really have — there's no ego — if anybody has room for ego, it would be James — and Dule, to some degree — but he doesn't. He's the captain of the ship and he'll row with the rest of us.
KIRSTEN: I think that's kind of evident from how the set goes, how the crew goes, how the last person on the back of the call sheet goes. It really kind of trickles down from how Number One goes. And there's a leading from behind that its just kind of everybody sits around. There's a relaxed idea on this set, that everybody has the same goal.
CORBIN: We're protective of the crew in that way. I mean the crew is a honest to god family. It really is, and it's really unique. I know it's unique [to get to 100 episodes]. So let's get to 200.
KIRSTEN: I think I was surprised too when they said, "No, it's coming up." I was like, "Huh? Really?" Because I've never been on a show this long. And I don't want to say I've taken it for granted at all, but at the same time, a little surreal in the sense of, "Really? This is happening?" It's just another day at work isn't it, and I'm not thinking of it as a big benchmark. So few shows see that mark. So few of them.
CORBIN: As an observer outside, can't you see the fun that we have. It's so evident in the product, right? Other shows are great, not to diss people who are egos in shows, but you don't get that sense. It's not just the humor; it's the rhythm of it. It's like a family that's working, like a machine that works really nice and it's pleasant. It's fun too . . .. I'm the luckiest guy in show business, I'm 57 years old, and I've had a great run. I've done a lot of stuff. I've done another hit show. I'm on another one now. We get paid very nicely by USA Network. We get treated extremely well. There's a relationship between network and, and so all of it is really good and I love my cast.
How much has shooting in Vancouver helped build that family relationship?
KIRSTEN: I think that's played a pretty big part in it.
CORBIN: Isolationism.
KIRSTEN: Isolationism, exactly. Of you're kind of sequestered, at least in the beginning, you're in a city where we all shoot and we're in another country and we've all been forced into this situation. So to make the best of it, you form family. You form friendships, you form alliances in order to get through this, and you become very close with the people who are in the same boat.
CORBIN: Yeah, you don't have a lot of other outside friendships and all that business distractions stuff.
KIRSTEN: There's not a lot of distractions. You don't have your family saying, "Come home and cook dinner," because unfortunately they're in another city. So it gave us that time to bond early on and to kind of make those relationships stick that are still around. So those first two years, until the boys did the Today Show in New York, I remember going home for hiatus and there were billboards all over the place. And we're like, "Oh. Like this show?" They just started airing them on Global, so our crew can't see the show unless they have cable or satellite. It doesn't air up here [Vancouver]. Nobody really knows about it in the sense that they do in the U.S. sometimes, and that kind of keeps it nice and small and intimate because, especially for the boys, they walk around, they do whatever they want, they are anonymous, a lot of the time. And it kind of helps — maybe that's why it snuck up on us that we've been doing this for 100 episodes. It's still very intimate, and it's a nice place to call a second home. Back between Season One and Two, Tim [Omundson] had us over at his house and it was between seasons and it was, "Hey let's get the families together, let's have a barbeque" and the six of us and our spouses or significant others were there and we were all sitting on the back porch and the kids were playing and we just sitting back with a beer and there was just a pause in the conversation and Corbin's like, "You don't realize what we have. And this friendship, or this beginning of a new relationship and new event that we're all jumping off into right now. You guys don't realize it." But [Corbin] knew even back then. That there was something just a little like, "Why do we all not mind each other's company?" It was kind of a nice warm place to start off with and again with leading from behind, James, Dule — they're our Number One and Number Two on the call sheets.
What is it like for you guys to go from the intimateness here in Vancouver to something like San Diego Comic-Con?
CORBIN: Beatles, Shay Stadium, as opposed to rehearsing at Capital Records studio.
KIRSTEN: It was intense. I think what I took away from my first Comic-Con was seeing the size of that room. I had just convinced myself that nobody was there to see us. That they've just been sitting there all day and they all just keep their seats warm. But the enormity of it, seeing the fans and having that sense of more of a real touch, it was more of a tangible, which I enjoyed and I don't think anybody would want to trade that at the same time because we're up here, we can be anonymous. There you felt that energy from that room coming back towards us. It was fantastic. But it was mind blowing at the same time.
CORBIN: I get a little wigged out by massive amounts of adoration. I mean I so much prefer coming here and doing this with a group of friends. I do, but I never feel quite really comfortable. I see it as a meter to say, "Wow, we're really successful." But maybe it's growing up in the business and around it, my defenses always up about it a little bit. About, "Just be careful man, don't buy any of this shit. Don't 'cause it's just the easiest thing to get sucked into." I enjoy what we do right here more than any part of it. I mean that's my thing and 'cause I know that's real.
What's your wish list of guest stars that have yet to be attained for PSYCH?
KIRSTEN: Gosh, I'm always surprised every time we get people who we even remotely even think about that would be on the stratosphere.
CORBIN: I'd like to have Val Kilmer. No, who'd be really funny on the show if you could really have somebody's way out of it and somebody like who really has the humor is Robert Downy Jr. Somebody that's the kind of guy who would really embrace what we do.
KIRSTEN: David Bowie was bounced around for so long and, since we can get these musicians, it would be lovely to have that kind of opportunity. To meet some of these iconic people, but that's what has been a joy is when they do announce to us. I know James and Dule are very active in that they can be involved in the casting process. It's lovely for them, but for the rest of us, it's a surprise, the "Oh my god, did you see who we got?" I would love David Bowie. I would love Hugh Laurie. I would love — gosh it's all the Brits. Can like Dane Judy Dench come and just show us her funny side?
What do you think will be Chief Vick's reaction when it gets out that Shawn has been faking being a psychic?
KIRSTEN: I kind of go with the plausible-deniability angle with her: "Don't tell me, then I don't have to know." But I will not be surprised. The chief will not be surprised when it does come out. Having known him for so long, and then having his dad; obviously I knew the kid when he was growing up. But I don't think it's going to come as a surprise. I might have to do damage control, in the sense of: What did I sign off on? That crimes were solved by not a member of the department and by someone who was not really hired for certain skills that we hired him for. But that's just paperwork, that's just bureaucratic paperwork. In the end, it will just be another, "Okay. Huh? Moving on."
CORBIN: And then you kind of have to ask yourself: What is a psychic? 'Cause I think Henry will start to think he is psychic. But in these terms, really he those little PSYCH Shawn-visions. Look at the shit he puts together. So does that not take some sort of higher brainpower? It's not just inductive reasoning. He's not just doing Sherlock Holmes to Dule's Watson. He's really putting stuff together. He's putting pieces together and then you have to ask yourself, is that not what psychism is? PSYCH-ism
To see what the final fate of Henry Spencer is and if Chief Vick is any closer to unmasking Shawn as a fake psychic, be sure to tune in for the 7th season premiere of PSYCH on Wednesday, February 27th at 10:00 p.m. on USA Network.
http://www.thetvaddict.com/2013/02/27/psych-scoop-from-the-set-corbin-bernsen-and-kristen-nelson-tease-henry%E2%80%99s-ultimate-fate-and-dream-casting-future-guest-stars/
PSYCH: Dule Hill Interview re New Love Interest in Season 7 (2013)
SUPERNATURAL: Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki photos at WB Mondo (2013)


Dafo Brand AB in Sweden has decided to separate its vehicle fire detection and suppression operations from its core fire safety equipment business. Dafo Vehicle Fire Protection AB will be in operation from July 1, 2018.
"The purpose of this change is to more closely focus on the long-term continuous development of the vehicle operation in the light of global growth and customer requirements," says Business Unit Manager Johan Balstad.
Dafo Vehicle Fire Protection AB supplies fire detection and suppression systems for buses and coaches, mining and construction equipment, forestry and waste handling equipment as well as material and cargo handling.


Archives & Research Collections (ARC) was established in 2008. Its purpose is to serve research, teaching, and learning at Carleton University.
ARC actively pursues, acquires, and makes available (regardless of format) archival collections from individuals, associations, and organizations. ARC also provides ongoing practicum education opportunities for students.
Please visit the Archives & Research Collections website for more information about ARC and its services.


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Amazon is Fighting Back on "Excessive" Returns
Home / Shopping / Amazon is Fighting Back on "Excessive" Returns
Amazon is Fighting Back on "Excessive" Returns2018-07-192018-07-27/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/digital-consumer-logo2x.pngDigital Consumerhttps://digitalconsumer.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/amazon-returns.jpg200px200px
Certainly, processing returns is a normal part of eCommerce, and return rates online can be as high as 25 to 40% of overall sales. Amazon, ever the industry-changer, may have had an impact on other companies implementing their own easy returns policies based on their own no-questions-asked policy.
Despite having a generous return policy, Amazon maintains a 5.5% average return rate—much lower than that industry standard. This may be due to Amazon's balance of categories—they're very strong in items that are purchased with high frequency and repetition (electronics accessories or kitchen accessories, for example) but less commonly returned and other categories that are returned frequently, like Women's Clothing, where Amazon isn't quite as much of a dominant force.
Returns were a bit higher at the beginning of the year, perhaps due to the lasting effects of the holiday season, but tapered down to average by February. Still, even with a low return rate, the cost of processing returns, particularly covering return shipping, may be eating more of a hole in Amazon's profit margin than the eCommerce company cares to give up. In 2017, Amazon reported $21 billion in shipping expenses, a number that's growing at a faster pace year-over-year than its reported net sales.
Returns Are Getting Easier, Still Relatively Infrequent
According to a survey by NPR/Maris, 91% of shoppers never or rarely bother with a return. Reasons why this is the case vary, but often the hassle of repackaging an order and mailing it back is more effort than shoppers want to undertake.
This has become such a problem that there are now services popping up that will return items for you in exchange for a small fee.
A Minority of Shoppers Are Trying to Game the System
A fraction of shoppers, however, are taking advantage of easy return policies like Amazon. For example, one couple managed to steal $1.2 million from Amazon by employing a network of fake online identities. Others abuse the policy when they order a product for a company that pays for reviews. Once they have left the required review or buy a product on sale and return it when it's full price, keeping the difference.
To combat this kind of return fraud, Amazon is banning certain people from the site using a mysterious algorithm based on past purchase and return activity.
Our data shows that 7–8% of individuals who made a return in Q1 did so 4 or more times. It's likely this group contains the serial returns that Amazon is targeting with bans.
Should you worry? Not unless you return a high number of products. Most people who returned something to Amazon only returned once in the quarter.
The question is: is the best strategy to deal with fraudulent returns? Will Amazon see backlash from loyal customers who have no ill intent behind their returns? (It's already happening.)
What about people who buy many items (shoes, for example) with the intention to try them all and return what doesn't work? Right now, the algorithm Amazon uses to identify high returns behavior hasn't been able to discern between fraud and genuine returns, so time will tell whether customers stand for this or not.
The Brazilian eCommerce Market Part 1: Walmart's Decision to ExitShopping
The Brazilian eCommerce Market Part 2: State of a Crowded FieldShopping

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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By Clellan Coe | January 6, 2021
Flickr/chiotsrun
Back before Covid, when running a foot race was a typical weekend activity in Spain for thousands of amateur athletes, and when the dozens of T-shirts that came with the dozens of races piled up unused in closets, people complained. Why another T-shirt? Why not socks, a pair of gloves, or a bottle of wine? And if it's got to be a T-shirt, why polyester? No using an old polyester T-shirt to clean windows. Oh, for the good old days when you got a cotton T-shirt!
I periodically took my extra race T-shirts to the charity drop for old clothes. Down the hatch went a record of the races I'd run, complete with place and year. It was too much to save and even too much to remember, with almost 300 races under my belt. No need to dwell on past races when another was just ahead.
But I saved the red shirts for canning tomatoes. This August I put up 50 quarts of tomatoes and tomato sauce, compulsively listening day after day to Ian and Silvia sing about the coming winter, untamable rodeo boys, and the cold in Canada. Whenever a sloppy stir of the pot sent a splash of juice onto my T-shirt and I looked down, the Canadian landscape in the song of that moment morphed into a Spanish one, such as the lake and woods and the surrounding stubby, just-harvested chick pea fields near Santa Marina del Rey, a village in dry dusty León. I ran that race four Augusts in a row, taking home a yellow, a green, a white, and a red T-shirt and a garland of garlic.
Or the eight kilometers on the Nalón river path for a race called Ruta de los Museos. It started at the Museum of Mining and Industry in the town of El Entrego and finished at the nearby Pozo Sotón, a mine that closed in 2014 and is now the Mining Experiences and Memory Center. Both museums are in the municipality San Martín del Rey Aurelio, a once-busy coal-mining center in las cuencas, the mining area of deep valleys in the center of Asturias. At the height of the mining boom, 16,000 coal miners worked in 50 mines in las cuencas. After the early '60s, however, the sector was in trouble, functioning with subsidies, and starting in the '90s the mines were closed down, a few at a time. Now only one remains, the historic San Nicolás mine, the first Asturian mine to be licensed, in 1876. There, in 1962, the firing of seven miners after they demanded better pay and conditions led to nationwide strikes. Fourteen miners died there in the 1995 mining disaster, one of Asturias's worst. At the time, 2,000 miners worked in the mine, which back then operated around the clock. About 200 miners work there now. Despite hard-won government concessions after long and violent strikes, no new industry has replaced mining to provide steady, well-paid jobs in the region, and three-quarters of the population decrease in Asturias comes from people leaving the mining valleys to look elsewhere for work. Spain continues to import coal. The Nalón river, once black, is crystal clear.
Just over the border between Asturias and the province of Galicia, I ran the Vía Verde Do Eo race one June and took home a red T-shirt. The race began at the entrance to a tunnel on the vía verde, green track, where the train transporting limonite from the mines at A Pontenova to the sea at Ribadeo once ran, following the Eo river. Now it's a walking trail. We were running in the opposite direction, along 10 gently rising kilometers beside the river up to A Pontenova, where the five chimneys of the disused limonite blast furnaces were preserved at the edge of the town. A museum displayed artifacts and photos from the illustrious past, when mining had made the area prosperous. It didn't look prosperous anymore. The mines were shut down in 1964, and the railroad dismantled soon after. Nothing was left of the train but the graded path and a few casetas, the buildings where the coal to power the trains was stored. Of the 34 kilometers to the sea, only 12 have been incorporated in the vía verde, but what I saw of those was beautiful.
What a mixed bag. When exactly were the good old days? Back in the time before you knew what was really worth complaining about. Like the time before Covid-19. The good old days could however be ahead; all it takes is something worse that follows. Even Covid days might become the good old days. Especially if somebody writes a song. Still, I wish I had a new polyester T-shirt to gripe about, just so I could hold my tongue.


In Shana's post "Conversation is our Most Powerful Teaching Tool" she mentions an article by researcher John Goodland. He states that only 1% of instructional time is given to conversation…insert wide eyed emoji…what?!
That statistic has really stuck with me. I'm not sure if it was more than a subconscious thought until the power of conversation became very clear to me.
In a nutshell, I am a content coordinator who works to support (6th-12th grade ELAR) teachers as they hone their craft. Since I began working in this position, I've been trying to figure out what exactly teachers need to be and feel successful.
First example: In a 12th grade academic/on level classroom the students began their class period reading for 10 minutes in a book of their choice. Once the timer went off, the students were asked to talk to a partner (or two) about their book. The teacher specifically asked the students to "sell it". Sell their book to their partner(s). The teacher roamed around the room while the students were talking and then let two volunteer share their "pitch" to the whole group. It was very clear that the teacher knew what their students were reading, IF they were reading, and how the felt about their books.
Third example: In an 11th grade AP class the students began their class period by reading for 15 minutes. While they were reading the teacher met with every student in the class. Her questions were simple; she asked, "what's the title of your book?" and "what page are you on?" The teacher was able to meet with 26 students in 15 minutes. She was able to see who is meeting their reading goal, who is abandoning books, and who isn't reading.
This isn't anything new, and it's been talked about before in multiple posts on Three Teachers Talk, but what was a game changer for me was seeing it in action. I was able to create a concrete model that I could then replicate. I learned three different strategies or approaches to talking with students/letting them talk to each other by watching someone else in action. Talk about self-embedded professional learning! I mean, can it get any better than that?!
I'd love to hear from you! How do you get and promote your students to talk? Are you able to visit other teachers classrooms on your team/campus? If so, do you feel like it's beneficial?


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The First Flight
Created by Albert Bruce Joy
Material: metal - bronze
Description: The sculpture is listed in the catalogue with the following verse: 'What does little birdie say / In her nest at peep of day? / Let me fly, says little birdie, / Let me fly away' (Tennyson).
Exhibited at The Autumn Exhibition, at the Rooms of the Society, New Street (Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham), 1883
On sale at The Autumn Exhibition, at the Rooms of the Society, New Street (Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham), 1883
Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham. The Autumn Exhibition at the Rooms of the Society, New Street, 1883
p. 26 (55A)
'The First Flight', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/object.php?id=msib4_1202478256, accessed 18 Jan 2021]


Note: The practice texts and transcripts of teachings are reserved for members who have received the teachings of the association Shenten Dargye Ling.
Zhang Zhung Nyengyud vol II, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2011 (forthcoming), transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Zhang Zhung Nyengyud vol I, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2010, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Yangtse Longchen vol III, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2009, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Yangtse Longchen vol II, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2009, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Yangtse Longchen vol I, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2008, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Yetri Thasel: Mogyud, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Pauenhof, Germany, 2009, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Yetri Thasel vol II, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Pauenhof, Germany, 2008, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Yetri Thasel vol I, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Pauenhof, Germany, 2007, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Gyalwa Chagtri, chapter V, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2011, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Gyalwa Chagtri, chapter IV, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2009, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Gyalwa Chagtri, chapter III, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2008, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Gyalwa Chagtri, chapter II, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2007, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Teachings on Correcting Faults (excerpt from Magyud), Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2005, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen chapters. 1-4, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Germany, 2011, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche,and Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche, Shenten, 2005, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Namkha Trüldzö vol IV, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2007, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Namkha Trüldzö vol III, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2006, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Namkha Trüldzö vol II, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2005, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Namkha Trüldzö vol I, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Vimoutiers, 2004, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Dringpo Sorzhag; vol III, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Vimoutiers, 2004, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Dringpo Sorzhag, vol II, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Vimoutiers, 2003, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Dringpo Sorzhag, vol I, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Blanc, 2002, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Tri Yeshe Lama, Excerpt from Rigdzin Dupa, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Blanc, 2001, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Nyamgyud, vol II, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Blanc, 2001, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Nyamgyud, vol I, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Blanc, 2001, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Nyamgyud, Chyaru; vol II, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Blanc, 2001, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Gyalwa Chagtri, vol I, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Blanc, 2001, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Without Actions, Without Traces, from Zhang Zhung Nyengyud [rDzogs pa chen po zhang zhung snyan rgyud las bya bral zhugs so], Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, France, 1999, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Kusum Rangshar, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Paris, 1999, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Nyamzhag Gompa'i Laglen, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Paris, 1999, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Ngöndro Teachings, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, France, 2005, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
The Four Wheels of Bön, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2005, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Bonkhor Tsigzhi (The Four Wheels of Bön), Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2010 (not yet released), transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Bönchyod Gurim (Chagtri chapter I), Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2006, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
The Nine Ways of Bön vol I, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2006, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
The Nine Ways of Bön vol II, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2007, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.
Virtuous and Negative Actions, Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Shenten, 2006, transcribed and edited by Carol and Dmitry Ermakovi.


As of Wednesday I will have officially been a member of the House of Representatives for one week. Recently I was asked, "How do you learn HOW to be a Representative?" That is a great question, and I am willing to share my experiences I move forward through my first year as an elected official.
I think it is important to say first, that I think bringing some kind of life experience or expertise to the job is vital. I have been told that the best way to serve is to focus on no more than three things, and become an expert in those things. I can see already the wisdom in this advice because right out of the chute – ideas, bills, legislation, executive orders move at the speed of light. I am reading as much as I can while I am also trying to get caught up on all of the changes that occurred in education as a result of lame duck. It is VERY helpful to me that I am pretty current about education law in Michigan, and therefore have less to learn in this area when considering policy.
Second, I think that the last several years of teaching public policy at the University of Michigan-Flint, has helped me to understand as well as possible the legislative process. However there is so much more to it than this. There is a legislative process, there is a logistical process, there is a political process, there is a rules process, literally for everything that you do. Nothing happens that doesn't first have to be simultaneously viewed through all of these lenses, and also the lens of what is right for the district, state and party. The House of Representatives has a well-supported system to get you on board. Everything from completing W-2s, to learning about the state of the state, to learning how to disagree without being disagreeable. It is all like drinking from a fire hose – and so far we freshman seem to be keeping up and learning to be friends and build relationships in the process.
Then there are the events. Only a legislator for less than a week, I have already submitted several bill proposals, co-sponsored some orphan bills, and attended so many events. Be it a visit to Flint from Governor Whitmer, or bringing a Tribute to read at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor, events are when I get to meet my constituents and they get to meet me. No longer in campaign mode – I am now their Representative. It is my humble honor to meet them and serve them.
What I am finding I love most about my new life as a Representative of the 48th District is becoming a member and participating in really intelligent conversation and dialogue regarding what challenges are currently affecting our state and Genesee County. I have been pleasantly surprised at the expertise of my government colleagues and most appreciative of the support shown by my Genesee County colleagues in the House. I love thinking out loud and being challenged by others – all doing our best to make the best decisions for our citizens. In the end, I believe this is the best way to achieve good policy.
I look forward to what will come in the following years as I serve my community in this way. Please know that if you have any questions, concerns or praise that you would like to share with me, my door is open. I can be reached at sherylkennedy@house.mi.gov.
Post written on January 13, 2019.


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An Officer and a Spy
by Robert Harris
Upon its resolution in 1906, the Dreyfus Affair was a huge scandal that divided France and had long-reaching ramifications that eventually set the stage for World War I. In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus was arrested for treason. Dreyfus was a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent who was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly having communicated French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris. He was sent to the penal colony at Devil's Island in French Guiana, where he spent almost five years.
Author Robert Harris has deftly taken this infamous international incident and recreated the events behind it for his latest novel, AN OFFICER AND A SPY. The primary character in this historical retelling is Colonel Georges Picquart, a young officer who received a hefty promotion prior to being tasked with leading the Statistical Section --- the unit that exposed Alfred Dreyfus.
"...a thrilling read from start to finish. It deals with historic events in such a suspenseful way that you will forget you are reading about an actual situation that impacted the balance of power in Europe at the turn of the last century."
Picquart quickly finds out that not all is as it seems, and he actually may be involved with unjustly imprisoning an innocent man. He was stunned by the anti-Semitic rants that took place at the Dreyfus trial, and begins to see that the atmosphere in both France and Germany is turning sour and those of Jewish descent may be targets for this newfound political discord.
Picquart and his unit are paralyzed by suspicion, and they recognize there may be other traitors in their midsts. However, to traverse the political landscape in order to bring about justice will not be an easy task as there are far-reaching levels of authority involved in seeing that Dreyfus take the fall for allegedly treasonous actions.
After further investigation, Picquart begins to focus on another gentlemen by the name of Esterhazy, who he feels is actually the one responsible for treason against France. If Esterhazy, another military man, is the actual traitor, then Picquart will need solid evidence to bring to his superiors to prove this.
It is here where the novel takes an unexpected twist as our protagonist has the tables turned on him. His inquiries into Esterhazy have put him in the dangerous position of potentially exposing some high-ranking French officials. His own unit turns against him, and he finds himself packed off to a cell at Devil's Island --- the same one occupied previously by Dreyfus.
AN OFFICER AND A SPY becomes a novel of retribution and revenge as Picquart must not only clear his own name but also continue to work with influential individuals --- like writer Emile Zola --- to free Dreyfus.
Robert Harris indicates in the afterword that he got the idea for writing about the Dreyfus Affair during a lunch with director Roman Polanski --- ironically, it was Polanski who directed the film adaptation of Harris's bestseller THE GHOST, called The Ghost Writer. The end result, AN OFFICER AND A SPY, is a thrilling read from start to finish. It deals with historic events in such a suspenseful way that you will forget you are reading about an actual situation that impacted the balance of power in Europe at the turn of the last century.
Reviewed by Ray Palen on January 30, 2014
Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller, Suspense, Thriller
Publisher: Vintage


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Elon Musk: Bitcoin Has 'Quite Brilliant' Structure, Paper Money is Going Away
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Bitcoin is "a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper," during an interview on the advisory services firm ARK Invest's podcast.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that digital currency is "a better way to transfer value," while Bitcoin has a "quite brilliant" structure
1498 Total shares
Technology entrepreneur and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Bitcoin's (BTC) structure is "quite brilliant" and that digital currency is "a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper." Musk made his remarks during an interview on advisory services firm ARK Invest's podcast on Feb. 19.
In response to a question about whether Bitcoin becomes the only native cryptocurrency of the Internet, Musk said that "the Bitcoin structure was quite brilliant," and that he thinks that "one of the downsides of crypto is that computationally it is quite energy intensive. So there have to be some kind of constraints on the creation of crypto. But it's very energy intensive to create the incremental Bitcoin at this point."
On this note, Musk stressed that "it would not be a good use of Tesla resources to get involved in crypto. We're just really trying to accelerate the advance of sustainable energy."
Musk continued saying that cryptocurrency "bypasses currency controls [...] paper money is going away, and crypto is a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper, that's for sure."
Last February, Musk tweeted that he only owned 0.25 BTC. He noted in the same tweet that apart from the 0.25 BTC a friend had given to him "many years ago", he "literally own[s] zero cryptocurrency."
Previously, major industry players also argued that Bitcoin occupies a unique place as a store of value or "digital gold." Mike Novogratz, a former Goldman Sachs partner and founder of crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital, said that "Bitcoin is going to be digital gold, a place where you have sovereign money, it's not U.S. money, it's not Chinese money, it's sovereign. Sovereignty costs a lot, it should."
Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey — who is well known for his conviction that Bitcoin will become the "native currency of the Internet" — said earlier this month that "[Bitcoin] feels it's the one that wants to be currency the most, versus others that are doing more general purpose things or distributed computing [...] I think [the altcoin space] has generated some really amazing ideas, but I'm focused on currency and the transactional aspect."
Behind Ripple's Regulation Call: 'Do Not Paint Us With a Broad Brush'
Chinese Authorities Confiscate Nearly 7,000 Crypto Mining Machines
SBI, GMO Reportedly Sign Deal with Operator of World's Largest Bitcoin Mining Site
Chinese Blockchain-Based Mobile Payment Revolution: How Is the Biggest CO2 Polluter Becoming Leading World Solar Panels Producer
Binance CEO Suggests Crypto Exchanges Are Safer Than Keeping One's Keys


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GNU: Egypt and Greece's meeting in Cairo defies the will of Libyans
The spokesman for the Government of National Unity (GNU) Mohammed Hammouda said the rejection toward the Libya-Turkey memoranda of understanding (MoUs) by Egypt and Greece was a defiance to the will of Libyans to have peace.
Egypt, Greece reject Libya-Turkey MoUs
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and visiting Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias rejected in a joint press conference in Cairo on Sunday the maritime and energy memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed by Libya and Turkey, as
France: MoU between Turkey and Libya is incompatible with international law
Saturday, October 8, 2022 - 19:31
The French Foreign Ministry has claimed that the memorandum of understanding signed between Turkey and Libya on the gas and energy agreement is incompatible with the international Law of the Sea.
Architect of Libyan-Turkish maritime MoU estimates a value of $30 trillion of gas in Libyan area
The former Chief of Staff of the Turkish Naval Forces, Admiral Cihat Yaci says there are worth 30 trillion dollars of natural gas north of the Libyan maritime jurisdiction, adding that the area targeted in the MoU recently signe
Dbeibah's agreement with Turkey is void, Aqila Saleh says
Wednesday, October 5, 2022 - 23:25
The Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Aqila Saleh, has sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, in which he stressed the invalidity of any memorandums of understanding conclude
Libya's GNU rejects interference in MoU signed with Turkey
The Government of National Unity (GNU) rejected discussions and interference in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) it had signed with Turkey on Monday, stressing that the MoU is in the interest of the Libyan people.
Libyan Presidential Council asks for consultation before signing agreements
Tuesday, October 4, 2022 - 23:37
The Presidential Council (PC) said in a statement commenting on the signings of MoUs between the Government of National Unity and Turkey in gas and energy fields that signing such agreements requires consultations with the PC fi
Turkey says EU objection to MoUs with Libya "of no importance"
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that statements made by Greece and the European Union (EU) on Turkey's new hydrocarbons agreement with Libya have "no importance or value."


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Q: how do i change android soft keyboard's default language? I have made android app. my client ask me that change default language at soft keyboard case by case. one case, keyboard should be English keyboard, another, Korean keyboard.
how can i do?
thx.

A: Android should provide there keyboard with a broadcast receiver which accepts some kind of intents to change its language. so users can use intent to access keyboard language.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Pixel Perfect Psychotherapy
Talks and Trainings
Games and Gamers 101
An introduction for mental health providers in utilizing games in and out of session for therapeutic outcomes.
Video Games as a Cultural Competence
An introduction to games as a form of clinical cultural competence and why it matters to the people we work with.
I'm available for workshops, presentations, and keynotes. If you're interested in my existing trainings or want to discuss new ideas, let me know! I look forward to hearing from you.
© 2023 by Maria Hope, Ph.D. Proudly created by Wix.com


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Cordray Won't Say If He's Running For Governor, Yet
The Statehouse News Bureau | By Andy Chow
Published September 4, 2017 at 11:21 PM EDT
Richard Cordray appeared at a Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati, fueling speculation that he'll run for governor next year.
There was a lot of hype built around Rich Cordray's visit to Cincinnati to speak to labor groups. But that hype fizzled when it was clear that the former Ohio Attorney General had no intentions of announcing a run for governor.
Richard Cordray wanted everyone at the AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic to know how important his Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is to the country. And that's about all he wanted them to know.
Because of Cordray's position as CFPB director, he's barred from making political comments and he's definitely not allowed to talk about any potential run for office. So when he was asked several questions regarding a possible jump into the Democratic field. He had the same answer: "I can't really speak to that today so I have nothing to say about that."
Several factors could be playing into Cordray's decision. For one thing, he's fighting President Donald Trump to keep the CFPB going but the first Democratic gubernatorial debate is later this month.
ElectionsJoe SchiavoniBetty SuttonConnie PillichNan WhaleyRichard CordrayJerry Springer2018 Ohio Governors race
Contact Andy at achow@statehousenews.org.
See stories by Andy Chow
Former Congressman Speaking Out, But Won't Say If He'll Run For Governor
A well-known Democrat who's often mentioned as a possible candidate for governor was in Ohio this weekend, campaigning for a national constitutional…
It's A Crowded Race For Ohio Governor Already
During the past week, two more candidates officially launched their campaigns for governor in 2018. Two Republican candidates have launched their…
Justice Says He Won't Be In Next Year's Governor's Race Because His Preferred Candidate Will Be In
The only Democrat holding statewide office in Ohio says he won't follow through on the run for governor he was considering – because he says his favored…
Talk Show Host Jerry Springer Is Thinking About A Run For Ohio Governor Next Year
A nationally syndicated tabloid talk show host whose roots are in Ohio could be entering the race for Governor next year. Jerry Springer has talked about…


It's quite common in our society to view Christianity far too lightly. We don't often count the cost of truly following Jesus. He is often presented as little more than a footnote to a cheap religion. In this text, Pastor Todd expounds on Jesus' explanation of what true conversion looks like. Jesus leaves no room to misunderstand. We pray this sermon is greatly challenging to you.


Dr. Nadia Mishael is a licensed clinical psychologist and a licensed clinical social worker. She has been in private practice since 1998. She earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California and a Doctorate in Psychology from Ryokan College. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work where she teaches on campus as well as online in the Virtual Academic Center. She has also provided field training and clinical supervision for USC MSW students.
Dr. Mishael serves as a volunteer clinical supervisor at The Maple Counseling Center. She was the first Program Coordinator of the Student Peer Counseling Program at Beverly Hills High School offered through The Maple Counseling Center.
Dr. Mishael has extensive post-doctoral training in the areas of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, neuroscience, health psychology, post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans, and working with military families. In addition, she has considerable experience working with adolescents, and providing therapy to address social-emotional, familial and school-related issues. Dr. Mishael is also certified and an Approved Consultant with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
Therapy can help you gain insight, self-awareness, and empowerment in taking a new direction and approach in achieving your goals. A therapy session can feel like a deep conversation, in which you are able to talk fully about what matters to you. I will work with you to help you better understand any issues and patterns of behavior that are holding you back, and help you gain personal strength to overcome obstacles which have prevented you from being more fulfilled.
Therapy sessions are generally 45 or 60 minutes in length. Sessions can be longer when necessary, for example, in working with couples and families.
The length of therapy depends on the individual circumstances of each case.
I can set up a free phone consultation when you call. After the consultation, you can decide whether to set up a first appointment in the office, or I can refer you to another professional if you need a different type of specialty.
I work Monday through Friday. My schedule is flexible and I have evening appointments available.
I will discuss fees with you when you call for a consultation and will make every effort to help you be able to afford therapy.
I am a Medicare provider and also accept a few other insurance companies.
If you have any additional questions that are not covered here, feel free to call me, send an email, or fill out the form on my Contact page.
You can also contact Dr. Nadia Mishael by email.


What is the real value of money? Is it OK to have some money? Should we want more money? And if we had more, what would we do with it? Join us in worship as we work through a proper theology of money, drawing upon John Wesley's ideas on making, saving, and giving money. "Can You?" begins on Sunday, October 14 at 8:45 and 11:00 am in the Sanctuary and 11:11 am in the Worship Center.


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Axonopus grandifolius är en gräsart som beskrevs av Stephen Andrew Renvoize. Axonopus grandifolius ingår i släktet Axonopus och familjen gräs. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Gräs
grandifolius

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Review - Joe and the Lightning Pony by Victoria Eveleigh
SUMMARY OF STORY:
Book 2 in the Joe series which began with Joe and the Hidden Horseshoe. Joe is now happily settled in his countryside home with a dog and pony of his own. He has grown up a lot since first moving there and even gets on a lot better with his younger sister Emily, as both of them join the local pony club and Emily gets a pony of her own. Joe discovers that Lightning is excellent at mounted games and he determines to get into the Pony Club team for the Prince Phillip Cup. The only downside to his happiness is that he knows he will soon outgrow Lightning. But he consoles himself with the knowledge that when Emily outgrows her own pony she will move on to Lightning and so the mare will stay in the family - enabling him to get a larger pony on which to fulfill his riding ambitions. But then a tragedy changes all their plans and it looks like Joe may have to choose between keeping his beloved Lightning and pursuing his ambitions…
As readers of the blog and website may recall, I reviewed the first of this series a little while ago and although I thought the book was very good and well-written, I never really warmed to the character of Joe. Because his 'spoilt brat' attitude did improve towards the end of Book 1 I was interested to see if I found him more likeable in this second instalment. The answer is a resounding yes! Joe has grown up a lot and learnt to take responsibility for his life and its problems instead of blaming those around him. He has become pro-active in overcoming problems instead of just moaning about them, which makes him more like the pony book heroes and heroines of my youth. I also like the fact that he and sister Emily have begun to get on well together and there is a nice little dynamic going on between them as they practice gymkhana games together. However although the author has made Joe more likeable in this book it is not as if a magic wand has been waved and he has assumed a completely new identity. At the beginning of the book he is still not perfect and traces of the old Joe show through - as with his jealousy of Emily when she gets her own pony and makes great strides with her riding and he is no longer the 'horsy expert' of the family. This makes his eventual improvement much more realistic. His imperfections make him a real rounded character but are no longer overwhelming the plot.
The character of Emily is also much more rounded out and given more prominence in this instalment. Indeed her story sometimes takes centre stage. I feel this is a good thing as it will help those little girl readers who prefer identifying with a female than male character. Sadly for me, Mum, whom I felt could have been developed as a very interesting character (and someone for us adult readers to identify with) is not used as much in this book. Her sub-plot with the horse sanctuary also seems a bit under-used and undeveloped. I'm hoping we see more of her in the last book in the trilogy.
So much for the characters, but what about the book itself? This story is just as well-written and interesting as the first instalment. Once again Victoria Eveleigh has provided a detailed and realistic backdrop to the story, this time that of mounted games and the Prince Phillip Cup. Strangely, there are not many pony stories which actually concentrate on this particular disclipline and it was very interesting to read about the training, such as learning to vault, and the various tactics for the different games, as well as the actual procedure for getting to the finals of the Cup. As with book 1, this is authentic and comes from real knowledge of the subject.
Some readers had complained that book 1 in the series was a little slow, and felt more of a set-up to the series proper. This book however is a lot more fast paced with more excitement and a lot more tension and trauma. The action really gets going! It also has a lot more traditional pony story horse content with Pony Club, riding practice and the like taking prominence.
I still feel like Joe leads something of a charmed life, as his central dilemma is solved fairly easily. But perhaps we can put this down to the (possibly) magic horseshoe! As I read through the book I was at first a little disappointed that the magic horseshoe sub-plot seemed to have disappeared but there is a very neat little twist at the end which brings the horseshoe right back into focus. It will be interesting to see how Joe's most ambitious horseshoe wish is fulfilled in the last book of the trilogy!
In summary, in Joe and the Lightning Pony the author has taken a good start to the series and developed it further into a page turning and highly readable second instalment. Any concerns that I'd had in book 1 about the character of Joe and the lack of tension have been swept aside in this book. It has everything needed for a great traditional pony story and will keep readers of all ages entertained.
I'm also making this my latest website 'star read' - see home page of website.
Read more, make comments or vote on the book on the chat forum review section
Posted by Claire at 14:46 No comments:
Review - The Black Loch by Patricia Leitch
SUMMARY OF STORY: (some spoilers)
Kay and her cousins Sara and Edgar travel to the highlands of Scotland to stay with their Uncle Vincent at the ancestral family home of Deersmalen. Their fathers, both brothers to Uncle Vincent, had quarrelled with him years before and rarely visit. In fact it is the first time Kay has been there. Once there they meet the imposing black bearded Uncle Vincent, the enigmatic ghillie Fergus and his mysterious large grey dogs, and their cousins Jamie and Shona and Caroline. Everyone there is struck by how like Uncle Vinent Kay looks and she is puzzled as to how much fuss they make over her black hair. Kay soon falls in love with the place and quickly becomes friends with Shona and Jamie, as the trio ride about the moors on their Highland ponies. The more studious Sara gets on well with older cousin Caroline. But Edgar is not interested in countryside pursuits and feels completely left out of things.
When a mysterious camping trip to a nearby loch is arranged in which only Kay is invited, Edgar persuades his Aunt Sadie to let him come too, much to everyone else's consternation. The secretive nature of the trip is revealed when a huge and beautiful horse appears from the depths of a loch. Kay is told that the family have been guardians of the horse for centuries and she is the latest in the line of guardians, due to her black hair. Kay is overwhelmed by the horse's magical presence but the more prosaic Edgar thinks the horse should not be hidden away where no-one can see him but given to a zoo or to scientists to study. This makes him even less popular with the others. Edgar's lonliness and isolation increase, culminating in a disastrous meeting at a birthday party when, in a bid to get some attention, he tells an unscrupulous big game hunter about the existence of the horse. When Kay finds out that the horse is in danger, it is up to her and Jamie to save him.
On the surface this is a fairly simplistic fantasy/holiday adventure story. It is very readable and quite gripping but the plot is fairly basic: children going off to stay in a new and exciting place for the holidays, the heroine discovering a beautiful fantastical 'water horse' who is then placed in danger by unscrupulous villains who want to make money out of the creature. The characters are not created with a huge amount of depth or introspection either. So why do I consider this a classic fantasy story?
For me what raises it from the ranks of an ordinary story are both the sense of atmosphere the author evokes and the hidden depths and themes the story contains.
The most obvious message in the book is the importance of keeping wild animals free and untamed as opposed to exploiting them for human entertainment, money or even scientific knowledge. The Water Horse may be a magical being, but it is also a wild creature. Although it allows Kay to touch it, there is never any sense that it can be tamed. It is clear that this is not a normal domestic horse and cannot be treated as such. Kay realises that its beauty and power are in its wildness and freedom and the fact it stands apart from civilization:
"It was a being from a lost age, proud, powerful and alien to the petty confusion of our living." (page 70)
But there are those who cannot see something wild and free without wanting to capture it and bend it to their will, like Buffy the hunter. Or probe its secrets with scientific eyes, like Edgar. It is clear that Edgar doesn't feel the magic of the horse at all, referring to it banally as "an absolute whopper" and enthusing about how much a zoo or scientist would pay for it. This contrast in attitude reminds me of Dolphin Summer by Monica Edwards in which a wild dolphin forms a bond with a girl who only wants to appreciate its beauty and wildness, whilst others want to shove it in a marine theme park and make money out of it. You can almost feel the exasperation of Leitch and Edwards, at the way greed (for either money or knowledge) blinds people to beauty and magic.
Yet the water horse is not just symbolic of wild animals threatened by the greed and banality of humanity, it is also a symbol for Scotland itself, the real Scotland of tradition, mystery and wildness, as opposed to the tourist ideal of the place which bedecks a million tins of shortbread. Once again the desire to exploit for money – in this case for tourism - threatens the true nature of the place.
It is obvious that the author loves the Highlands and she perfectly recreates the atmosphere of the place, it's uniqueness, the sense of mystery and magic which envelops it. There is a just ever so slightly magical air running through the story which begins when Kay glimpses one of the Grey Ones, only to be told she is seeing things. Fergus's piping of the seals heightens this magic and of course the culmination is the unforgettable first glimpse of the water horse. The mystery element also grips the reader as we ask ourselves: what is the significance of the mysterious dogs, why is Kay's hair colour so important, what caused the brothers to quarrel?
The atmosphere is heightened by Letich's writing, which is lyrical and mesmerising in places. This is one of the best written of all her books: only in A Dream of Fair Horse and some of the 'Jinny' series, is this quality of writing bettered.
But at the same time, the book avoids the fate of many fantasies which become so airy-fairy and divorced from reality that we cannot really believe in them. Scotland may be beautiful and mysterious but it is a real place and in this story there is a strong rooting in reality, with squabbling children and the mundane day-to-day arrangements of life, such as the preparations for the birthday party, contrasting with the more magical side of the story. Patricia Leitch also gives us a glimpse of the sometimes unpleasant, non-magical side of Scotland with the driving rain and the mud and cold that Kay experiences on her trek to the loch. In this, and in many other ways Leitch goes out of her way to contrast real Scotland with the tourist ideal. She pours gentle scorn on the touristy attitude of the character of Angela, who decks out the halls in tartan, ties ribbons on the stag's heads and makes everyone wear kilts. The dichotomy of the Scotsman who has encouraged this attitude for the sake of tourist money but at heart is saddened by it, is represented by the contrasting attitudes of Jamie and his father. Jamie is shocked that kilts will be warn by 'Sassenachs' at the party, but Uncle Vincent is more circumspect: he placidly dons his full regalia and plays the pipes, knowing that keeping the tourists happy will enable him to keep his ancestral home.
This contrast between these two types of Scotland is seen best in the party in which these disparate worlds collide. This is in turn best summed up by one of the stand-out moments in the book, when Buffy, doing party tricks to please the crowd, lassoes Jamie. There is a battle of wills between the pair which also represents the battle between the real Scotland with its legends and traditions and those who would like to turn the place and everything in it into a sort of theme park to amuse the masses. A similar contrast appears in the Patricia Leitch 'Jinny' story, The Magic Pony, in which Leitch argues against the modern world which would force the gypsy woman Keziah to die in a hospital when her culture dictates she should die in her own home. It is clear that Patricia Leitch feels strongly about such matters and hopes her readers will feel the same.
Although there is little in the way of character introspection, this is not to say that the characters are dull and two-dimensional. In fact the author shows great insight into human behaviour in the way the character of Edgar is handled. Although he betrays the family secret of the water horse, he is not portrayed as an out and out villain. In fact we even feel somewhat sorry for him. He is completely unsuited to the lifestyle of Deersmalen and is completely isolated from the other children. It soon becomes clear that the children's failure to include Edgar in their adventures or show any sympathy for him sets off a chain of events which leads to the water horse being put in danger. The children are made to realise that is their actions as much as Edgar's which have caused the situation.
"You made Edgar betray the water horse, the voice of my conscience accused. If you had been nicer to him this might never have happened." (page 143)
Is this a horse story? Some say no, but I don't agree. It may not contain the traditional elements of a pony story such as gymkhanas, schooling and the like but for me this is a classic horse rescue plot. The horse in question may be unique and magical but it needs rescuing as surely as any unwanted nag bound for the knackers, or valuable racehorse threatened by thieves. And how can anyone say a book which has at its heart and soul such an amazing horse, not be a horse story? Whatever the Water Horse may be in terms of symbol and metaphor, it is still a horse. Not your normal everyday horse, to be sure, but – unlike the completely alien carnivorous water horses in Maggie Steivater's The Scorpio Races for example – this creature is all equine. Its behaviour is completely horse-like, whinnying, blowing air through nostrils in greeting, and even bucking off Kay when it becomes irritated, just like any other self-respecting horse! Although magical, this is not one of those sparkly unicorns or glittery flying horses which populate may a children's pony story today: just as Leitch bases her fantasy scenario in reality so too her fantastical being is also a real horse. In many ways the story is very much like the classic American wild horse plot in which a lone character battles to keep a stallion wild and free whilst others attempt to capture and tame him.
In summary this is a story that can be read on many levels: as a cracking fantasy adventure, a unique horse story, a celebration of the beauty of wild animals and a plea to let them live free - or even as a study of Scottish culture. This I think gives the book a wide-reaching and lasting appeal and makes it a classic.
I would award the book 5 horseshoes (EXCELLENT)
Read more, add comments or vote on this book at the ponymadbooklovers chat forum review section
Posted by Claire at 11:54 1 comment:
Review - Joe and the Lightning Pony by Victoria Ev...


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Q: GCP Instance Group auto-scaling works unexpectedly I have an auto-scaling instance group on GCP with 1 to 15 instances. The scale-out rule is CPU load more than 50%. No scale-in controls enabled. But I have all 15 instances running constantly. Monitoring shows that for the past 12 hours 5 instances had more than 80% CPU load (up to 300% (what?)) and 10 instances less than 5% CPU load. Why these 10 instances are running if they are not in use? I expect a maximum of a few spare instances while others are fully loaded. But not 2x more spare instances. Why it works so? How to make it work as expected?
The group auto-scaling options are as follows:
autoscaler:
  autoscalingPolicy:
    coolDownPeriodSec: 180
    cpuUtilization:
      utilizationTarget: 0.5
    maxNumReplicas: 15
    minNumReplicas: 1
    mode: ON
    scaleInControl:
      maxScaledInReplicas:
        fixed: 1
      timeWindowSec: 60
  creationTimestamp: '2020-12-04T01:46:57.815-08:00'
  id: '***'
  kind: compute#autoscaler
  name: ***
  recommendedSize: 10
  selfLink: https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/***/zones/europe-west4-a/autoscalers/***
  status: ACTIVE
  target: https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/***/zones/europe-west4-a/instanceGroupManagers/***
  zone: https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/***/zones/europe-west4-a

A: It's important how do you distribute work between your instances.
Autoscaler provisions enough instances to meet the target average utilization of your instances. If your group has some instances highly utilized and some idle, it might by issue with the logic that distributes work between instances. Horizontal scaling work well assuming newly created instances are able to take part of work from the highly utilized instances.
Some things to check:

*

*Do you use load-balancer ? Are the target VMs healthy according to healthcheck ?

*Does your application have uniform load, or some nodes (e.g. leaders) are doing additional work.

A: The feature called Predictive Auto Scaling PAS which may be the reason about the MIG scaling up with the CPU metric, still I'm not sure that your cluster has this enabled or not. PAS learn that daily (or at a specific day of the week) at this time there is a peak of load and it reacted accordingly (even if today is unusual and the peak didn't happen). PAS decide to scale up by a predictive algorithm.
If you run the following command for your MIG "your-mig" in order to verify and certify that the MIG will be scaling from the raw metric
gcloud alpha compute instance-groups managed update-autoscaling GROUP \
--cpu-utilization-predictive-method none


text:
SUNY Cortland pauses in-person instruction after outbreak of COVID-19
Alex Findijs
The State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland has become the third SUNY school to pause in-person instruction due to outbreaks of COVID-19. The Cortland outbreak follows the shutdown of the SUNY Oneonta campus on September 3 and a two-week halt to in-person classes at SUNY Oswego, announced on September 18.
Since September 26, 101 students have tested positive at Cortland. The school has seen a total of 235 cumulative cases out of 6,800 students since the start of the semester. Cortland will reportedly halt in-person instruction for two weeks.
State University of New York at Cortland (Credit: SUNY Cortland)
While SUNY administrators were quick to blame student gatherings for the outbreaks at Oneonta and Oswego, Cortland officials have been unable to pinpoint a source of the outbreak. On Monday, SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras admitted that "there's no clear issue arising from off-campus activity."
The fact that Cortland students were not gathering in unsafe conditions and were not violating guidelines—as SUNY has accused students of doing at other campuses—is confirmation of the analysis by the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) that there is no safe way to reopen schools for face-to-face instruction.
To date, more than 2,282 SUNY students statewide have contracted the virus. The consequences of this growing number of cases could be dire. The long-term health complications of even mild cases of COVID-19 are still unclear, but the CDC has reported cases of myocarditis, the inflammation and damage of the heart muscle, in young people. The most severe effects are still more common in older patients with existing health problems, but research from the Mayo Clinic has recorded "lasting damage to the heart muscle, even in people who experienced only mild COVID-19 symptoms."
Regarding COVID-19's effects on the brain, the Mayo Clinic has also noted that young people can also suffer from "strokes, seizures and Guillain-Barré syndrome—a condition that causes temporary paralysis." In fact, it is suspected that a 19-year-old Appalachian State University student, Chad Dorrill, died last week as a result of COVID-19 triggering an undetected case of Guillain-Barré syndrome. COVID-19 may also increase the risk of a person developing Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's.
The risk is not just to SUNY students. Following the outbreak in Oneonta, 228 people became infected in Otsego county, where the school is located. Similarly, in Oswego county, 241 people contracted the virus after SUNY Oswego reopened for the semester. This threat of transmission to and from campuses and the surrounding communities could affect almost everyone in New York, as 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of a SUNY school.
The responsibility for these infections lies with the Democratic Party-run state government and the SUNY Board of Trustees, which has deep ties to the Democrats. The opening of college campuses is also being used as the justification for opening K-12 schools, which is part of the drive to fully reopen the economy by Governor Andrew Cuomo and his Democratic colleagues and Republican counterparts across the country.
Desperate to avoid all responsibility and blame, the SUNY system has taken to attacking students as "irresponsible" and blaming all cases on them. SUNY Cortland President Erik Bitterbaum has already stated that several students have been punished for violating guidelines, but did not provide details.
Bitterbaum warned that students accused of violating guidelines will "face immediate academic and housing suspension and possible dismissal, loss of athletic eligibility, and ineligibility for admission at every other SUNY college." This is in line with SUNY's new standardized punishments, which range from full-year suspension to expulsion and even criminal prosecution.
Additionally, SUNY Chancellor Malatras appointed the Commissioner of SUNY University Police, Frank Lawrence, to work with Cortland University police on safety protocol enforcement. The mobilization of police units and collaboration of universities with local police forces is a concerning development. In Oswego, SUNY and local police coordinated to conduct patrols and door-to-door inspections of student neighborhoods and homes. Cortland may be seeking to implement similar repressive measures that will ultimately be aimed at suppressing protests and strikes in the area.
The outbreak at Cortland is another consequence of the drive to reopen schools and the economy. More students and community members will become sick throughout the country as the semester continues into winter. The WSWS urges students and workers who want to fight against the reckless reopening of schools and victimization of students and workers to join the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee.
International Youth and Students for Social EqualityEducationThe coronavirus pandemicNew YorkUnited StatesNorth America


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Pershing leads WWI victory parade, Sept. 10, 1919
By Andrew Glass
On this day in 1919, nearly a year after World War I ended, Gen. John J. Pershing led a victory parade down New York City's Fifth Avenue. Vast crowds cheered as 25,000 U.S. soldiers who had served in the American Expeditionary Force's 1st Division on the Western Front marched from 107th Street to Washington Square in Greenwich Village, wearing trench helmets and full combat gear.
"New York lived yesterday probably the last chapter in its history of great military spectacles growing out of the war," The New York Times reported. The loudest cheers were for Pershing, who, according to the Times, "was kept at almost continual salute by the tributes volleyed at him from both sides of the avenue."
By the time an armistice was declared on Nov. 11, 1918, more than 2 million American soldiers had served on the battlefields of Western Europe. Roughly 50,000 of them were killed in action.
In September 1919, Congress authorized President Woodrow Wilson to promote Pershing, the commander of the expeditionary force, to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States. He remains the sole person to be promoted in his own lifetime to the highest rank in the U.S. Army.
Congress also authorized Pershing to create his own insignia. He chose to wear four gold stars for the rest of his career, which meant he outranked subsequent Army chiefs of staff, who wore four silver stars, and even the five-star General of the Army insignias worn during World War II by George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur and Dwight Eisenhower.
Pershing led a similar victory parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington on Sept. 17. On Sept. 19, he addressed a joint session of the Congress. He died in 1948 at age 87.
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES; WWW.HISTORY.COM
World War I,
Dwight Eisenhower,
This Day In Politics,
John Pershing,


text:
Mirabell Palace and Gardens
Eagle's Nest atop Kehlstein Mountain
Lake Achensee Scenic Cruise
Gondola Cableway up Nordketten Mountain
Glockenspiel Clock Tower in the Marienplatz
Home » Find a Trip Media » Austria & Germany Featuring Oberammergau
Austria & Germany Featuring Oberammergau
featuring the renowned Oberammergau Passion Play
Departs: July 15th, 2020 Tour Dates & Pricing
Experience the timeless culture of the Bavarian and Austrian Alps and the renowned Oberammergau Passion Play. Begin the tour in Salzburg with a city tour and a dinner concert featuring the sounds of Mozart. Witness the Tyrolean Alps from the Achensee Steam Cog Railway and on a Lake Achensee cruise. Tour the famous ski resort of Innsbruck and the impressive Tratzberg Castle. The inspiration to Disney's Magic Kingdom Castle is ours to explore at Neuschwanstein Castle. Next, arrive in the German village of Oberammergau for an extraordinary performance of its once-a-decade Passion Play. Travel to Munich, the capital of Bavaria, for a relaxing city tour and a joyful Farewell Dinner at Hofbräuhaus, a famous beer hall, before we return home.
Hosted By: Kevin Carter
WTOV TV
View all WTOV Tours
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Day 1 : Fly to Munich
Day 2 : Salzburg
Upon arrival we enjoy a guided walking tour of this marvelous city. Located along the Salzach River, Salzburg is known for its Renaissance and Baroque architecture, being the birthplace of Mozart, and one of the filming locations for The Sound of Music. Stroll through the Mirabell Gardens, across the Markartsteg pedestrian bridge into Old Town and past Mozart's birthplace.
Tonight we get to know our fellow traveling companions at a Holiday Vacations Welcome Dinner in the city.
Day 3 : Alpine Beauty
Take a short train ride into the city's salt mine and learn about its 500-year history.
Next we visit The Eagle's Nest teahouse atop Kehlstein Mountain, witnessing Obersalzberg's alpine beauty and learning about its role in World War II.
This evening we return to Salzburg for a private dinner at St. Peter's Stiftskeller accompanied by a string quartet performing selections by Mozart.
B,D.
Day 4 : Tyrolean Alps
Board the Achensee Steam Cog Railway and travel from Jenbach to Seespitz with views of Tyrolean mountains, meadows, and forests.
The adventure continues on a breathtakingly beautiful cruise of Lake Achensee, the largest lake in the Tyrolean Alps.
Next we tour Tratzberg Castle with a knowledgeable guide. Discover how this Renaissance-era stronghold demonstrates Gothic, Habsburg, and Fugger influences in its exquisite parlor, courtyard, King's Room, and more.
Day 5 : Innsbruck
Our guided walking tour of the city includes the Imperial Palace, Court Church, and the Goldenes Dachl ("Golden Roof"), a 15th century stone balcony covered in gilded copper tiles.
Afterwards, take a gondola cableway up Nordketten mountain to visit Karwendel Nature Park, Austria's largest protected area.
Day 6 : Neuschwanstein Castle
Today we explore the inspiration for Disney's Magic Kingdom Castle and one of the most recognized castles in the world, the fairytale-like Neuschwanstein Castle. Commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the mid-19th century, its gothic architecture and richly decorated rooms were influenced by the operas of composer Richard Wagner.
We arrive in Garmisch-Partenkirchen nestled in the Bavarian Alps near Oberammergau for a two-night stay.
Day 7 : The Oberammergau Passion Play
We experience the Oberammergau Passion Play today. In the 17th century, the people of Oberammergau made a holy covenant to portray the life and death of Jesus every 10 years if a plague would spare their community. Now a worldwide phenomenon, we feel the passion in our hearts as the incredible story unfolds before us featuring an impressive orchestra, choir, live animals, and more than 100 actors with speaking roles.
Day 8 : Munich
We see some of Munich's famous landmarks on a walking tour including the Glockenspiel animated clock in the Marienplatz, the town square. We'll also see Munich's oldest church Saint Peter, the open-air market Viktualienmarkt, the Bavarian State Chancellery, and more.
Tonight we gather for a joyful Holiday Vacations Farewell Dinner at the Hofbrauhaus, one of Germany's most famous beer halls.
Day 9 : Return Home
All airfare
All fuel surcharges, government fees, airport & departure taxes (minimum value of $460 per person)
Holiday Vacations Tour Director
Experienced European guides
Motorcoach and professional driver
$100 travel voucher for a future Holiday Vacations tour
2 nights at the Imlauer Hotel Salzburg
2 nights at the Hotel Grauer Bar Innsbruck
2 nights in the Garmisch area
1 night at the Hotel Regent Munich
Salzburg guided walking tour
Berchtesgaden salt mine tour
The Eagle's Nest teahouse on Kehlstein Mountain
Achensee Cog Railway
Lake Achensee cruise
Tratzberg Castle tour
Innsbruck guided walking tour
Hungerburg gondola cableway to Karwendel Nature Park
Neuschwanstein Castle tour
The Oberammergau Passion Play
Munich guided walking tour
Daily European breakfasts
Mozart-themed dinner at the Saint Peter's Stiftkeller in Salzburg
Holiday Vacations Farewell Dinner at the Hofbräuhaus in Munich
July 15th, 2020 - July 23rd, 2020
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WTOV TV Pickup Locations:
Triadelphia, WV - Econolodge: Wheeling-East
Weirton, WV - Holiday Inn
Pittsburgh, PA - Pittsburgh International Airport
Host Biography
Kevin Carter
Kevin is a 30 year broadcast veteran. He began his career in Columbus, Ohio, as an on-air television meteorologist. His career took him to Presque Isle, Maine, before returning to Ohio. Kevin has been Chief Meteorologist for NEWS9 since 1991.
Thanks to all of the snow days during elementary school, Kevin became interested in weather at an early age. He earned a Master of Science degree in Atmospheric Sciences from Ohio State University. In 1988, Kevin was certified by the American Meteorological Society with its Television Seal of Approval and in 2007 was upgraded to the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist level by the AMS.
Kevin and his wife Kathy enjoy visiting family and friends in various parts of the country in their spare time. They also love attending sporting events, taking walks and bike rides, and are avid movie fans.
Kevin previously hosted several Holiday Vacations tours. Join Kevin and WTOV9 viewers on this fabulous trip of a lifetime.


As part of our 25th anniversary celebration, we decided to interview two kinds of Exposure users: a long-time user who has been with us from the start, and a newer one who recently began using Exposure. This interview is with a photographer who discovered Exposure fairly recently. Tomash Trzebiatowski is a Fujifilm photographer and the editor and creator of FujiLove Magazine. He is also an avid user of Exposure, and has replaced his Lightroom workflow with an Exposure workflow.
Why did you replace your Lightroom workflow with an Exposure workflow?
There were a few main reasons for making this decision. The three most important ones are the wonderful rendering of Fujifilm RAF files, the excellent built-in black and white presets (and I love black and white photography!), and Exposure's speed. I love the fact that I can copy hundreds of images from my memory card so quickly and immediately be able to look at the previews. What I also love about Exposure is the way it "organizes" my image files. There is no need for a huge, main catalogue file. I simply store my images on an external hard drive, I connect it to my desktop or to my laptop (when on the go), launch Exposure, and I am ready to edit immediately.
How significant a factor was product reliability and company reputation in your decision to switch to Exposure? Did knowing that Alien Skin has been creating award-winning editing apps since 1993 play a role in your decision?
I was aware of the existence of Alien Skin Photoshop plugins, but I have to admit that I kind of "rediscovered" Exposure just in the end of 2017. I was so impressed with its standalone version that I immediately started exploring its features. I copied the first batch of my Fujifilm files into it and started working. I was hooked. I immediately felt at home. Everything in Exposure felt intuitive and logical. And, of course, I loved the results I was achieving with my photographs.
How do you use Exposure to handle the organizing steps of your workflow? Has it made it easier for you to cull and organize your images?
Culling and organizing is a breeze. I copy the images, go through them very quickly, mark them with stars, or reject those I want to get rid of. Next, I erase rejected images from my hard drive. And then I start editing! I also love the fact that I don't even have to switch between any panels to accomplish all this.
What are your favorite creative tools in Exposure?
Needless to say, I love the presets. So often they are the starting point for my edits and so often I do not need much more. A few simple adjustments and I am usually very happy with the results.
Are there any features in Exposure that make it uniquely suited for processing Fujifilm RAF files?
What's your advice to other photographers who are considering switching to a Lightroom alternative?
Go ahead and download the free trial. I have the feeling you will really like it. I have been using Lightroom for many years and – don't get me wrong – I still think that it is an excellent application, but personally, using Exposure feels smoother to me. It makes editing even more enjoyable and the entire experience feels more like being in a real darkroom. It is difficult to describe. It is a powerful mixture of excellent software features, user interface, and the way of rendering Fujifilm files. I am looking forward very much to what the future brings and how Exposure will grow with every update.
Thanks to Tomash for taking the time for this interview. To view his work, visit his site. Visit FujiLove to learn more about the Fuji X community.


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Chick-fil-A will finally stop giving to anti-LGBT charities, but only because it's bad for business
via Mike Mozart / Flickr
Chick-fil-A is the third-largest fast food chain in America, behind McDonald's and Starbucks, raking in over $10 billion a year.
But for years, the company has faced boycotts for supporting anti-LGBT charities, including the Salvation Army, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the Paul Anderson Youth Home.
chick-fil-a lgbtq fast food
Taco Bell and Pizza Hut Will Dump Artificial Ingredients
Two of the nation's greasiest fast food chains are going on a diet.
Heather Dockray
Photo via Wikimedia
While Chipotle uses free-range meats and Just Salad uses ... salad, Taco Bell has been a little late in joining the healthy fast food movement. Just recently, however, the chain as well as its sister company, Pizza Hut, announced that they would begin to phase out all artificial ingredients from their menu. Soon, additives and ingredients including trehalose and soy lethicin will be removed to make way for "actual food."
pizza hut taco bell fast food healthy food
Supersizing Literacy? U.K. McDonalds Swapping Happy Meal Toys for Books
Would you like a book with those fries?
Liz Dwyer
If you head to McDonald's in the U.K. you might hear an new question coming from behind the counter: Would you like a book with those fries? That's right, move over cheap toys, pint sized British consumers of McDonald's Happy Meals will now get a book instead. The fast food giant has partnered with publisher Dorling Kindersley and bookseller WH Smith and plans to distribute over 15 million books to kids over the next two years. The move makes McDonald's the largest book distributor in the U.K.
Kids will get a combination of fiction and nonfiction texts, including texts on science and technology topics. And, along with the book that comes with the Happy Meal, kids will get a certificate they exchange for a book at their local WH Smith bookstore.
education books fast food united kingdowm
America Has the Saltiest Fast Food in the World
Pig Love: How the Fast-Food Industry Is Making Pork More Humane
GOOD Books: Factory Foods Exposed
Fat Doesn't Mean Unhealthy: Obesity, Judgment, and Chicken McNuggets
Seventeen-year-old Stacey Irvine's Chicken McNuggets diet has driven her to the hospital. She's also (gasp!) thin.
Amanda Hess
Last week, The Daily Mail profiled Stacey Irvine, a teenage English factory worker who claims to subsist almost exclusively on McDonald's chicken nuggets and fries. According to the Mail, Irvine has suffered from breathing problems, anemia, and inflamed veins due to her diet., and recently was rushed to the hospital after she collapsed. The story—paired with windswept photos of Irvine posing with pieces of breaded chicken, or reclining in a bed of Happy Meal toys—provided fodder for press outlets around the world.
It's also inspired timely commentary from health "experts." Last week, a PR agency pitched me a story pegged to Irvine's collapse. A "weight loss specialist" could be made available to "comment on the dangers of Stacey's addiction" and "speak to the dangers of childhood obesity." The doctor in question has "specialized in the study and treatment of Bariatric Medicine" and has "directed the operation of multiple Weight Loss Centers."
health fast food food and drink


The Abuse is real. The Fear is real. The Lie is that "The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Fear Itself"!! Ask any Child who makes the choice to live on the street. Those children live there because "There is a fear so real that a child believes it is safer to live on the street than at home". I understand that Fear. Anchor House provides the Safety, Love, and Hope they need. Because of this on July 13th I will board a bus to Auburn, NY, to participate in The 41st Annual Anchor House Ride for Runaways. This will be the 10th year that I will take a weeks' vacation and ride 500 miles in 7 days. I request your help in meeting my goal this year to raise $10,000 to Support Anchor House and those that depend on its services.
Anchor House was founded in 1979 to provide emergency housing, food, clothing and hope for runaway and homeless children, ages 10 to 17. The shelter provides for the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth, while seeking to reunite them with their families, strengthen family relationships and help them decide on a constructive course of action. Services are available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The mission of Anchor House has grown since it was founded and now also includes the Anchorage for older teens.
At the same time those dedicated volunteers founded the shelter in 1979, a small group of equally dedicated bicyclists started the "Ride for Runaways" to raise the funds needed to keep the doors of Anchor House open.
Please consider supporting the kids of Anchor House with a donation. Now, more than ever they need us. I will be bicycling for 7 days in the heat, rain, or whatever the weather offers. With other riders I will be climbing mountains and peddling 70 plus miles per day. While it will be a challenging week, it is a very challenging daily existence for the kids of Anchor House.
Wish I could join you this year! Maybe next!
Proudly supporting George once again, in his fundraising efforts for this very worthy cause.


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Brentford vs Manchester City Prediction – Premier League – 12/29
Brentford vs Manchester City prediction on December 29, 2021. Brentford is playing at home in the next round of the English Premier League 2021/22, their goal will be to find the points. However, that goal will be impossible when Brentford has to host Manchester City.
Brentford Overview
Manchester City Overview
Asian Handicap – Brentford vs Manchester City Prediction
Over/Under Bet – Brentford vs Manchester City Prediction
What Brentford is bringing at the moment is no longer showing prosperity like what happened at the beginning of the season. The best result this rookie team can do is to win against moderate opponents at home. And when away or encountering stronger teams, Brentford almost only knows draw and loss. So that was still enough for them to maintain a safe distance from the dangerous group. The Brentford attack has regained the ability to score well before, but along with it, the defense has also lost a lot of certainties.
Manchester City is in the destructive form at the present time of the season and gradually reveals the portrait of the true champion. They have won all of the last 8 rounds in the Premier League 2021/22. Even in all competitions, Manchester City won 10 of the last 11 appearances. Their only defeat was in the match procedural requirements in the Champions League. Manchester City is proving too strong at the moment, they beat almost every opponent on the last journey and most of them are by relatively large gaps.
In the first half of today's match, Man City is being predicted by experts to have 3 or more goals. Because as soon as the opponent was Leicester, Man City also had the first half ended with a score of 4-0.
And up to now, Man City is expected to have 2 more goals away from home and only let the home team get an honorable goal in the final stage of the match. Therefore, experts believe that Man City will be the safest investment choice in both the first and second half in the Asian handicap.
Brentford vs Manchester City prediction:
Manchester City -3/4 (HT)
Manchester City -1 3/4 (FT)
The European odds offered by the house are *15.00-1.19-6.00* corresponding to the home team's win and loss ratio. With the power that can be said to be destructive in the Premier League, Man City will definitely get an overwhelming victory right on the field of Brentford and they are also the safest investment choice in the 1×2 bet.
Choose Manchester City (FT)
Of course, fans can clearly see that Man City is currently the team with the strongest attack in the league with 50 goals – equal to Liverpool after less than 20 rounds. So it's clear that today's match has the potential to produce extremely high Over in both the first and second half. And it should be emphasized that in the last 6 matches of Man City, the experts only recorded a single game of Under.
Choose Over 1-1.5 (HT)
Choose Over 3 (FT)
Brentford: Raya, Janelt, Norgaard, Canos, Onyeka, Henry, Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock, Mbeumo, Toney.
Manchester City: Moraes, I. Gundogan, R. Mahrez, Walker, Dias, Stones, Bruyne, Foden, Zinchenko, Hernandez, Grealish.


There are lots of stars out tonight. They make me feel silly. Like when you and me'd get in the car, go way out into the country, and just lie in some field, listen to the crickets, drink and smoke pot and tickle, and all the rest. Tonight, before we got ready for bed, Mita and me sat on the rocks outside and looked at them. The stars, I mean. They're really cool, out here. I mean, like there's no lights, well, except for the ones around the base. But you can see, it's like a hundred miles across the water, across all the boats — ships, I mean. I still call them boats sometimes, the officers get real p.o.ed. Mita thinks it's funny. Sure not like the city. Or the county. I never seen this much darkness back home.
This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2016 at 11:38 pm	and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.