text:
Website Design by Tori Lawrence
AJS Perspectives
Site/Sound Festival Essays
Somatics Toolkit
Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices
Contact Quarterly
Movement Research
thINKingDANCE.net
vist my blog or The Dance Apocalypse blog
CAIRO/BEIRUT
I missed my flight to Beirut from Cairo. I sat in traffic for 2 hours in a taxi and arrived at the airport 15 mins before my flight was supposed to depart. I sat in the Egypt Air office crying and exhausted. The woman behind the counter gave me a seat on a flight the next morning at no charge and pointed me towards a hotel. I dragged my suitcase through the faux security hotel entrance and asked for the cheapest room. I swam in a pool with fussy Europeans and ate a terrible Italian dinner. This hotel located us in nowhere/anywhere-but-Egypt. I slept fitfully to the incessant stream of muzak in the courtyard. Then woke up at 6 am and dragged my suitcase back to the airport.
Missing my evening flight was a blessing because in the morning light I was able to see everything. We flew over dusty, monochromatic Cairo, the Nile, farm land, deserts, and then for 45 minutes, just blue Mediterranean. Suddenly we swung past the Beirut skyline; perched on the sea, nestled in mountains, truly stunning.
When I landed, Sharif Sehnaoui, one of the festival organizers, wasn't there to pick me up. I borrowed a kind stranger's phone to call him (because my phone company lied when they said I'd have service in Lebanon) and he told me that the road to the airport had been closed off because of a protest. I sat in the airport giddy to be there and content to wait for him forever. I had been in contact with Sharif for over a year about the possibility of me coming to Beirut to perform at Irtijal, International free improvised music festival in Lebanon. Once invited, I had a difficult time finding funding. Three weeks before my departure I found out that I had been awarded an Emergency Grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Sharif had given up on me and had unprogrammed me from the festival. He had to stop the presses, add me to the program and find additional housing for me at the last minute.
I had always wanted to go to Lebanon. When I was six years old, my parents took me to Brazil. In the airport, the gate across from ours had a flight destined for Lebanon. I was just learning how to sound out words and I asked my mom: "What's Le-ba-non?" and she said: "Oh honey, you don't want to go there, it's dangerous." and I pleaded: "Yes I do, mommy, I really want to go to Lebanon!"
When Sharif and Raed Yassin (my collaborator) finally arrived they drove me to Stephane Rives' apartment, where I would be staying.
In the car, I gave them a brief synopsis of my stay in Cairo, which is what I'll give you here:
There are no direct flights between the U.S. and Lebanon these days so I took the opportunity to stop over in Cairo for a few days. I stayed with two acquaintances (who I now call friends) in different areas: Leilani Fletcher who lives in a suburb of Cairo called Maadi and Rania Khalil who lives in downtown Cairo. I met Leilani at a party in West Philly a year ago. We talked for an hour about yoga, bodywork and nutrition. I saw on facebook that she had moved to Egypt, and I asked her if I could stay with her for a few days and she said yes. Leilani is a recent convert to Islam who moved to Egypt from the U.S. in order to live in a country where there are expressions of spirituality in public life.
Rania and I overlapped for one year at Hampshire College. We've run into each other a few times since then at performances and peace demonstrations. She also said I could stay with her. She's a fabulous dance-theater artist, here's her website. She's been living in Cairo for over a year, spending time with her Egyptian-born mother, who has recently returned to her country of origin to retire. Rania is secular, and is in the minority of women in living Egypt who do not cover their heads. This was the first time that I had visited a place where religion plays such a central and visible role in daily life (though the country is technically secular, women are not required to cover). I learned that the omnipresence of head covering is relatively new in Egypt. Rania showed me pictures of her grandmother and a group of women from decades ago, none of whom wore the hijab. I also observed the contradiction that many women pair the gratuitous head scarf with tight tops or high heels. Leilani, who is new to Egypt is genuinely earnest in her attempt to be modest in all ways. It was fascinating to be in the company of these two women living in Cairo with vastly different relationships to Egypt.
Here are a few details in no particular order that I will flesh out in future drafts of this writing:
Cairo is a city built for 5 million, inhabited by 22 million.
The air in Cairo smells like burning cement
Cars honk instead of using turn signals.
People ride three at a time on one scooter.
On my first night I fell asleep to the the sound of cars honking, a cat screaming as she got fucked and a dog barking. It sounded like possibly the dog was raping the cat.
Most women wear the hijab in real life, but no one does on t.v.
Arabic music is everywhere, in shops, restaurants, taxis, people's homes. Western music is conspicuously and gratifyingly absent.
Everyone negotiates the price of a taxi ride before getting in.
You're expected to tip for the saddest tasks-- someone carries your bag 10 ft, someone hands you a wad of toilet paper in the bathroom.
People sit in the dirt on the side of the road, resigned, as if they planned to remain there forever.
In the city of the dead, squatters live in an ancient cemetery.
In Al Azar park, Leilani and I noticed that we were sitting 3 ft apart from one another while all the Egyptian friends sat close, touching one another.
Male friends walk arm and arm.
Leilani took me to Khan el khalili, a shopping area that was heavily guarded due to a recent suicide bombing that had killed a couple of tourists 3 weeks prior. We walked through metal detectors to get in, but the soldiers were obviously profiling because they barely looked at us. The checkpoints were a deterrent for many local shoppers and the market place had lost some of its vibrancy.
Koshery is a delicious bowl of rice, beans, onions and tomatoes that costs less than a dollar.
Juice vendors sell fresh squeezed orange juice practically everywhere.
Rania showed me the view from her roof-- in one direction a crumbling ancient castle next to a brand new brick building. In the other direction, a roof filled with garbage and another filled with chickens.
Rania and I went to a souk to shop for dinner. There were meat counters, produce vendors and the floor was covered in blood.
The traffic is merciless and deadly. I walked behind the savvy locals like a duckling to avoid the unstoppable cars.
Leilani and I took a disastrous felucca ride. There was no wind to move the sail boat, so they attached a motorboat to propel the sailboat. Then the motor got caught in a fisherman's net. We sat mid-Nile on a smoggy evening while the sailors and fishermen fought and untangled themselves. The felucca ride is supposed to be the ultimate reprieve from the stress of Cairo.
I didn't see the pyramids.
Living in Cairo is hard. It's dusty, crowded, loud and the infrastructure is crumbling, but people have time for one another. It's not an imposition to ask for favors. Egyptians are deeply connected to their friends and families. When friends run into each other in the street, they stop to chat. No one just says "hey" and keeps walking.
After I got settled at Stephane's place in Beirut, he took me to the palace. Sharif lives in a palace. The musicians joked that they had me staying at Stephane's because they didn't want the palace to inflate my ego.
I didn't want to stay at the palace anyway.
A Sri Lankan housekeeper fed us lunch: greens with fried onions little sausages, a lentil hummus, delicious! Then Stephane took me and Sabu Toyozumi, a percussionist from Japan, on a two hour walking tour of the city. Stephane is French but has been living in Beirut for two years. He showed us Christian and Muslim areas, though you're not supposed to define them as such, he said. We saw ancient greek and/or Roman ruins sitting alongside brand new high rises. Bullet holes pock mark the prewar buildings, including the building across from Stephane's that I spent a lot of time staring at from his balcony. Remnants of the war are everywhere, but so is development. The entire downtown has been rebuilt post-civil war, funded by the family of Hariri, the Prime Minister who was assassinated in 2005. Although the architecture is eerily identical to the pre-war buildings, there is a sterility to the downtown area. It is heavily guarded by a military presence and is sparsely populated.
Sabu and I spoke in stilted English. He told me that he had played with the originator of Butoh dance, Kazuo Ohno. I told him that I had taken classes with Kazuo's son, Yoshito. We discovered that we both know Toshi Makihara, a percussionist based in Philly. Sabu was one of Toshi's first percussion teacher's over 30 years ago.
When I saw Sabu play a few nights later, I saw some similarities between him and Toshi. Both of them have a strong sense of physicality and space when they play, as if during the moments when their bodies are not touching their instruments, they are still creating sound in the air.
On our walk, Sabu wasn't paying attention when Stephane pointed to a beautiful old building and told us that it is a Hezbollah controlled building. It was just outside that building where Sabu asked me if I was from Israel. "No!" I said emphatically, mortified, "No, I'm from New York!"
Where did he get that idea from? I've never even been to Israel.
I do come from a family of secular, atheist Jews with a strong history of social service and activism. I've participated in a lot of Palestinian rights activism and although my family has never agreed with my anti-zionist stance, they've always been respectful of my point of view.
But never mind all that. I didn't want to talk about my Jewishness while I was in Lebanon because I felt like my Americanness was enough of an obstacle. (The U.S. gives billions of dollars of military aid to Israel, thereby funding their occupation of Palestine and their military incursions into neighboring Arab countries, such as Lebanon. Additionally, there are over 200,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon which is a direct result of the U.S. supported occupation of Palestine). Plus my mom made me promise I wouldn't talk about being Jewish.
I survived the walk with Stephane and Sabu. In the evening we went to a restaurant and ate hummus and meat. I sat across the table from Rhodri Davies, a harpist who had just arrived that evening from New Castle. We realized that we had met seven years ago in Mhere, France, a small mountain town that has more cows than people. There was an experimental music festival there called Fruits de Mhere. I was accompanying my boyfriend at the time, Bhob Rainey. Rhodri's friend Matt Davis was also there with a short lived girlfriend, Simon Lia. She's the author of the graphic novel "fluffy" about a man with a son who is a bunny. Every day at lunch she would sit across from me and scream "Nicole, stop playing footsie with me!"
Another highlight of that trip was the day after my birthday. The day I turned 25 I didn't tell anyone. The following day, a British saxophone player, John Butcher, found out from Bhob and insisted we celebrate. He orchestrated a "happy birthday" chorus of drunk, experimental musicians singing backwards. Some of them sang the melody backwards, others sang the words backwards, others attempted to sing the letters backwards. It was the most beautiful cacophony.
The next morning, Stephane invited me to drive outside of the city with his unreasonably handsome friend Bashir Saade. They planned on recording their saxophone/ney duo in the quiet of the Saade country home in a small town in the mountains called Amchit (I think). Their project is some hybrid of traditional Arabic music with experimental music. While they recorded upstairs I made a short dance video in the garden.
On the drive back we looked at billboards for the upcoming parliamentary elections. It was very difficult for me to understand the difference between the various parties. Of course, all the Lebanese I met understand American electoral politics better than I do.
Bashir is writing his his PhD dissertation about Hezbollah. We talked about the differences between violent and nonviolent resistance. He said that in some circumstances, nonviolent resistance is completely ineffective. Although I wear a peace dove tattoo on my arm, I can't speculate how I would behave if I were in a position where my land and water supply were being threatened. Although I come from a family of peaceniks, they contradict themselves with an enormous pride of my great uncle Paul, who my mother was named after. Paul fought and died as a volunteer soldier on the side of the communists in the Spanish Civil war.
Bashir said that the U.S. has had the luxury of the civil rights movement and an exploration of identity politics because the basic infrastructure is sound, that there would never be a famine in the U.S. I wish I had pointed out in that conversation that during hurricane Katrina Americans were dying of thirst. The government completely turned it's back on those Louisianians.
I defended the U.S. for all our domestic achievements, such as racial integration, women's and gay rights, while the Lebanese are still arguing over whether Christians should be able to marry Muslims (it's illegal). I also lamented that we do have extreme poverty in the U.S. There are areas of Detroit, Baltimore, New Orleans and Philadelphia that are completely bombed out, like war zones. Bashir argued: "So a man in the U.S. is hungry and doesn't have the money for a sandwich, sure, but the overall wealth of the U.S. is at the expense of the rest of the world." True, point taken. Here is Bashir's blog.
That night some more musicians arrived and we went back to the same restaurant for dinner. I sat next to Joe Mcphee an American free-jazz musician who has much to say about improvisation. I speculated that musicians might tend to tour more frequently than dancers because they have widely released audio recordings that expose their work to more foreign presenters. I think that video documentation is an inadequate representation of dance in performance. Joe pointed out that audio recordings also lack the presence and vulnerability of live performance, particularly of improvised performance, which is all about the relationship between the performers (and the audience). I thought about this when watching Joe perform two nights later. I noticed that he chose to sit out a lot and listen, and that when he did play, it was a direct response to the other players. I could see this through his body language and physical presence, which is invisible on an audio recording.
Joe's trio with Sabu and Daunik Lazro was a memorable visual experience. Joe decided half way through that the piece was finished, but Sabu continued. Daunik played with Sabu awhile longer, but he seemed half-hearted. Joe stood center stage with his cap on, dark shades, holding his sax at his chest, like he was praying. Then, he walked behind an oblivious Sabu who was waving huge sheets of paper in the air, creating a warbly, windy sound. Then Joe left the stage. Finally Sabu ended.
I collaborated with a bass player, Raed Yassin, who I had worked with in the U.S. in 2007 as a part of the Tabadol Project. We had not seen each other since. Raed prepares his bass with various objects such as singing bowls, electric toothbrushes and paper. When listening to a solo recording of Raed, you can hear such a dense layering of sound and textures, it seems as if you're listening to a quintet. We performed a 30 minute dance/music duo which was freely improvised, meaning we came to the stage without any predetermined plan, other than to listen to each other and compose a piece spontaneously. It was extraordinarily challenging to dance solo to such densely layered accompaniment. I tried many different strategies to meet his intensity, such as stillness, repetition and juxtaposition. I'm still learning to temper my desire to show all of my skills, to simply give the piece what it needs. The practice of improvisation is process oriented and challenges in performance are an essential part of developing the craft. Performances that stir up questions like these are the most memorable for me. An excerpt of our performance can be found here.
Raed is a multifaceted artist. Here is a great video he did about falafel.
I spoke with one audience member who observed that improvisational performance requires different criteria for viewing than composed works; improvisation is about "the meeting" onstage and the audience is a witness to the conversation and building of rapport.
Sharif's mother said to me, "Your dancing is like how I dance when I'm feeling a little crazy".
During an intermission after my performance, I went next door to a restaurant to get some take-out food. Four audience members seated at a table promptly "kidnapped" me and insisted that they buy me dinner. I said no several times, but they were very persistent. One man pointed his fingers to my head like a gun and said smiling, "This is how we do it in Lebanon, you are being kidnapped for dinner". I had dinner with these new friends and they expressed enormous appreciation for my performance, particularly because there is very little contemporary dance in Lebanon.
I asked them to really kidnap me and keep me in Lebanon forever. They said they would, but they didn't.
The next day Stephane and I walked to the palace. It was warm and I was wearing a skirt. Suddenly self conscious of my unshaven legs, I asked him if women shave in Lebanon and wondered if I should wear leggings. He said, yes all women here are obsessed with body hair removal, people will stare, but that I should wear the skirt anyway. Then we talked about gender equality, freedom and how we're all suffering from the prescribed roles of our genders. We had one of those rare, blessed moments that I've had only a few times with a man where we looked at each other and I didn't see a man, I saw a person with an nongendered soul.
Then a sudden mood swing. I was so saddened that I live in a country where I'm not from, envious of the people who live where their ancestors lived. I don't even know the name of the regions in Russia where my father's parents and my mother's grandparents came from. I felt adrift.
I did yoga in the back yard of the palace. There was a Banian tree, which appears to be many trees, but is only one with interlocking roots and branches. There were 3 chickens wandering around as I did my practice by the back of the house. Sharif's grandmother opened a window and peered out at me with a scrunched up face.
"I'm with the festival."
"It's beautiful out here."
"It's not bad". She shrugged and closed the window.
Back in Sharif's wing of the palace, I checked my email and wrote out directions to Rania's house in phonetic Arabic, for the taxi driver, since I planned to pass through Cairo for one day on my way back home. Mazen Kerbaj, another festival organizer pointed to my piece of paper and said, "If you use this to direct the taxi driver, you'll end up buried underneath the pyramids."
Mazen, in addition to being an incredible musician and a wise ass, is also a visual artist. He was featured in Time Out Beirut that month as one of the 40 to watch, much to the chagrin of many the local folks I met, who complained about how small and insular their community is, and how phony these magazine features can be. Regardless, Mazen is worthy of the press. Here is Mazen's blog
Sharif's brother, who is running for Parliament, wandered in. He was clean shaven, wearing a suit and he stood in the middle of the room scanning us sprawled out on the couches. He nodded, "hello, hello" paused, and then exited. Sharif said he does this once every other month, just ambles in, looks around and then leaves.
Another performance-- the highlight was the french poet Patrick Dubost, who recited poetry over recordings of his own voice layered many times, reciting the same poems. Some of the recordings also had a soundscore. Although I don't speak french, the phrasing and musicality of his text was riveting.
I had dinner at the kidnapping restaurant with Alessandra Rombola and Ingar Zach, an Italian/Norwegian couple based in Madrid. She plays flutes and amplified tiles that she slides rocks over. He plays percussion, which includes lots of bowing of singing bowls on top of a snare drum. Their trio with Rhodri the night before was phenomenal; a richly textured continuous soundscape. Though they all played continuously, somehow the details of all of their individual sounds were extremely differentiated and nuanced.
There was a dance party at the palace that night after the show. Raed and Mazen taught Ingar dabke, Arabic folk dance. Sharif's mother gave me a brief oriental dance tutorial and I got to see her dance like she does when she's feeling a little crazy.
On my way home from Beirut, I passed through Cairo for one day. I took a taxi to a cafe near Rania's house. As I waited for her I wrote and stared at the horrible, gray roast-beef sandwich I had ordered. She arrived an hour later from a visit at her mother's house and had a tupperware container of home cooked chicken and rice. It was delicious. We ate her mother's food surreptitiously with our fingers in the restaurant while it rained outside for the first time in a over a year, washing all the soot and dust away.
PACHINKO ZEN/
*Part I: "In Transit"
After 20 hours of travel, I stood transfixed in the Shinjuku train station. A man asked me in English if I needed help and I said no. I must have looked a mess standing there in the center of the station, people streaming around me, suitcases and bags strewn at my feet, circles under my eyes, slack jawed, mesmerized, as if in the midst of a petit mal seizure, by three women in pink bunny costumes dancing in a video ad on the side of a building. I must have looked awful, but I was actually very very happy.
We went to an area of Shinjuku called Goldengai. Dozens of bars that only fit 5 people at a time. We wandered into one that already had 5 people inside. The bartender encouraged us to come in anyway. It was festive in that little room. Every bar in Goldengai has a theme. The decor in this bar was eclectic: African masks on the wall and photos of the eccentric owner everywhere, performing ballet and musical theater.
Each train has it's own departure song. Late at night the cheerful tunes cause anxiety. We took 4 different trains home. As it got later each transfer was more intense. We were catching each of these last trains before closing. People ran through the stations, packed like sardines into the last cars. Many were drunk, falling asleep, falling down.
Morning time, miso soup for breakfast. Later, mochi with green tea for snacks. Hold the bowl close to your face. Here's how you use the chopsticks. 5 of us in a tiny apartment. Shelving piled high to the ceiling. Pack it in. Make it fit.
*Part II: "Urban Oracles"
We got a private room and took turns. As I sang she checked the menu for her next song, not listening to me. Occasionally we watched each other, but mostly we sang for ourselves, songs from our childhoods. When the waiter brought our tea, I stopped, suddenly self conscious. This was different from U.S. Karaoke, which is like performance. This Karaoke was a solitary affair.
*Part III: "Noisy Machines"
Sushi-go-round - $1.00 per plate!
Business men read manga on the train.
Yellow dust day - don't hang your clothes to dry.
5 o'clock song - time to go home.
Everything talks - the escalator, the bathtub.
The toilets make fake flushing sounds.
On t.v. - a show about daikon radishes.
Many people wear masks.
It's yesterday in America.
Flashing lights everywhere.
A second hand store called "hard-off"
"bottled water" in a can
Vending machines sell cans of hot corn soup.
Eyeglass cleaning stations.
White gloved people pushers on the morning trains.
The bathroom slippers are too small for me.
kewpie doll
belly warmer
extremely fine tipped pens
There are no garbage cans anywhere, but everything is clean. Where do people put the garbage?
Men sit in smoky halls, pay to move tiny balls around in noisy machines and if they do a good job they win prizes like a rice cooker or shampoo.
*Part IV: "Sudden Chance"
Kazuo Ohno's Butoh studio is outside of Yokohama. We walked up steep hills and stairs to reach the space. From the top we saw the twinkling lights of the city. Houses were packed very close to one another, but there were still trees and gardens flourishing in the crevices.
Yoshito Ohno, Kazuo's son, began by asking us to walk slowly. Then he lectured on the importance of every moment and how it is a gift to be alive. He made postural adjustments with little fans. Then he gave us artificial roses and discussed the similarity between us and the rose. He touched the crown of my head and said this is the head of the rose and my feet, the roots. He told us to run with the roses, to disappear and become the rose. Then he cut a sheet of paper with a box cutter and asked us to cut the space. We walked while threading needles. Everyday life is our teacher. Dancing and sewing are no different.
Ohno gave us sheets of gauze and said the diaphanous fabric teaches us about delicacy. When we get old we won't be able to dance unless we learn this lesson of delicacy. When he thought we were careless he told us to dance for all the children in the world who cannot sleep.
Dance for all the children in the world who cannot sleep.
Ohno lectured on the history of Butoh. Tatsumi Hijikata didn't eat for 2 weeks before one of his dances so that he would be as emaciated as the Japanese farmers were during WWII. Hijikata went to a cemetery to discover what death smells like. Butoh is sometimes referred to as the dance of death. Ohno said it is also the dance of babies.
*Part V: "The point of the wave is to leave without going anywhere"
I rode a train through the foggy Konagawa mountains. I went to Odawara to see the ocean. The main street of Odawara was lined with colorful translucent balls, strung from building to building. Hyper-cheerful folk music played from speakers. There were massive concrete dumbbells lining the beach to protect the highway and city from typhoons. The sand was black and there were flying fish. The day was cold and overcast but the water was warm.
There's a book of photos of Kazuo Ohno at his studio; haunting pictures of him dancing in women's attire, and then pictures of him aging. The final photos are of him bedridden with his family dancing around him. The last image is of Ohno, mouth agape, hardly conscious, hardly breathing with an infant lying face up on top of him, smiling.
Magic Bicycle
I recently bought my 4th bicycle in 5 years: a Green, 1968 Raleigh. The guy at the bike shop told me that it was designed to get drunk British men home safely in the rain on cobblestone streets. It was the smoothest ride, the sweetest bike.
My first two bikes in Boston were stolen. My third bike I left out in the snow all winter and it rusted. I left it outside a woman's house who I had been dating and when she ended it I didn't feel like going back to retrieve my bike for a long time. Now I've had that bike outside of my house for two months rusted, unlocked, trying to get it stolen, to no avail.
My 4th bike, the Raleigh, was stolen last week but I got it back.
I came out of my house last Sunday and found a note on the seat, wrapped in a zip lock bag. It read: "Dear neightbor, we're not sure how you came to have our bike, but we want it back. Please remove your lock." No name, no number. This person had locked my bike.
Two locks on the bike, mine and theirs. A stalemate.
I found out from the bikeshop that they had bought the bike in New Hampshire, that it wasn't stolen in Somerville. So I left a note in a zip lock bag saying, "You are mistaken, there are many bikes of this make. I purchased this bike from Ace Wheel Works and you can call them at 617... to verify that. I don't have a car and I use the bike to commute to work. Please remove your lock immediately."
The bike shop guy told me to clean the bike, find the serial # and to call the police and ask them to cut the lock. It rained for three days and I couldn't stand to sit in the rain searching the surfaces of my bike for a serial #. My hoodlum neighbors became very interested in the saga. I steered clear of them because I overheard them talking about raping a girl while I was leaving the note on my bike.
I suspected these boys, 16 yrs old. They looked like bike thieves. They probably saw the peace flag on my door and thought, this woman would give away her bike to a previous owner if she thought it had been stolen.
I cried about this bike. How cruel to steal something and keep it within reach, but unattainable!
No response to my note for four days. Then I came home on Wed night and the bike was lying against a bush outside of the hoodlum's house. My note was gone. Both locks remained locked to the shaft of the bike. The street sign that it had been attached to was intact. What happened? Someone must have hoisted the bike above the 12 foot pole and wriggled both locks arounod the sign. But who? Why? No note, nothing.
The front tire was flat, but otherwise the bike was in fine shape. I left a thank you note on the pole with $20 inside and the next morning the note was gone.
I am sitting by my father's bed. He wears shorts, a threadbare t-shirt that reads "fifty is nifty' and slippers that dangle precariously off his feet. He lies facing me, pushes himself up with extreme determination, as if he could walk himself out of the hospital.
"Dad, you can't get up. The doctor will kill us if we let you fall again." Maybe he could get up. Maybe he just wants to look out the window, watch the other "inmates" in the courtyard. Maybe he wants to turn off the radio. It's hissing in the corner, filled with sand from years of being dragged to the beach, sand choking Chopin to death. He's not allowed to walk around because the hospital's liable. Parkinson's makes him fall ahead of himself. His muscles contract into constant forward flexion, but his mind falls far behind.
"Did Robert visit you yesterday?"
"I dunno." He rubs the metal bedpost obsessively with his fingers, brushes imaginary crumbs off the sheets.
"How are you feeling dad?"
"So so. You see, Nikki I… I'm healthy. It's just this Parkinson's affects my mind…" He holds his hand in the air. "…my motor skills. It's chemical, not me."
"Daddy, what do you want to do when you get out of the hospital?"
"I want to go to London."
"London?"
'Um…" His eyes glaze over. Where is he? Fighting for language.
"Why London daddy?"
There is a glint in his eyes, a spark. He sees through these dusty white walls, beyond the East river, beyond Roosevelt Island, Queens, Long Island where he spent high school, beyond the Atlantic. "The Theater," smiling, his eyes are wet. He is in London.
"Maybe we'll go together. Maybe this summer we'll go." I look out the window. Across the courtyard there are a thousand windows. A thousand rooms like this one, looking out at a thousand windows. "Remember when we went to Brazil?"
"Yes, I was at a convention. It was very boring."
"I remember everything. The water was green and placid, so shallow I could walk out to the sand bar myself. The streets were so narrow and the cars were parked all lopsided, half in the gutter, half on the curb. My babysitter took me to her dorm when you and mom were out to dinner. The room was cramped, packed full of girls. One sat on her bed with curlers in her hair, holding a plastic doll. I thought 'she's all grown up. Why does she need a doll?' I didn't realize how young they were."
"You were six." He sniffles, rubs his nose with his knuckle.
"Daddy, what was Chile like before Pinochet?"
He eyes light up with startling clarity. "I was in Santiago in 1970. Neruda and Allende were still alive."
"What was it like? What did the people say?"
"It was free, Socialist State. They were happy."
"And where did you go? What did you see?"
"I remember I was on a bus and I looked out the window. I saw three men sweeping the curb with old brooms."
"What?" I hand him a tissue. He squints, brows furrow, as he blows his nose.
"I thought, why three men? Why sweep outside?" The tissue falls from his hand. "And it was then that I realized what magic Realism is."


This recipe for Green Tea Fortune Cookies was sent to me by my awesome friend, fellow Cantabrigian and foodie, Becky V. Featured in the Huffington Post, this recipe came complete with commentary from Joanne Chang, who just so happens to be my baking goddess-idol, so how could I go wrong? Actually, things could have gone very wrong because the recipe calls for matcha green-tea powder, which I didn't have and had no time to get. But, seeing as necessity is indeed the mother of invention, I took some Chinese green tea I had in my pantry, got out my handy-dandy mortar and pestle and ground it to a to a semi-fine powder, (leaving some flakes for texture). Presto - sort of matcha green tea powder. I can't say for sure that my pedestrian stand-in rivaled the finely milled Japanese tea (because I haven't had it), and it's definitely not the lovely green hue of matcha, but all things considered, the recipe was both flavorful and fun to make and that seems like the perfect combination to honor the Chinese New Year. Enjoy!
Celebrated from January 22-28, 2012 is the Year of the Water Dragon. Now referred to as the Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year dates back to the 20th century and is the most important holiday celebration in China. At one time, the celebration was tied to the lunar-solar Chinese calendar during which time heavenly deities and ancestors were celebrated. In 1912, the Chinese adopted the western calendar and began observing January 1st as the New Year but kept the traditional customs of the Chinese New Year/Spring Festival as time to renew family ties. Of course food plays an important roll in the celebration. Fortune cookies were first introduced in San Francisco in the late 1800, and many other foods represent wishes for health and prosperity. For example, spring rolls are equated with wealth, fish signifies abundance, tangerines and oranges signify luck and wealth and sticky rice cakes offer up wishes for a sweet, rich life. I just love that.
** A note about these cookies. The original recipe called for 2 tbsp. of batter, spread to 6-inch rounds. I found these to be too big and too thick, so I've adapted the amount to create a smaller thinner cookie. Also, be sure to let the edges of the cookie bake up to a fairly golden color, otherwise they'll be too chewy and the fortunes will stick to the dough.
Preheat the oven to 325° and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat. Have a coffee mug and standard-size muffin tin handy. Spoon two 1-tablespoon-size mounds of batter onto the baking sheet, 6 inches apart. Using an offset spatula, spread the batter to make two 4-inch rounds.
Sounds fantastic ! And I love cooking with matcha tea !!! Thanks Sarah, Gong Xi Fa Cai ! Take care.
I have some great recipes for matcha tea rolled cake and cake. Will e-mail you. Take care.
oh wow, how did I miss these ?? Looks great !!
Thanks, Karen - maybe I'll make 'em for the ffbrunch?!


Celtic manager Ronny Deila believes there are reasons to be "more proud" of Scottish football.
Deila compared the Scottish game with its English counterpart and says many games down south leave him "bored".
With the English Premier League having signed a lucrative new broadcasting deal, Deila urged Scottish football to do more to improve and promote itself.
"We need to do everything right to make sure we get the product as good as possible," said the Norwegian.
The £5.1bn television deal in England vastly overshadows the broadcasting contract in Scotland - the money paid to televise two Premier League games from 2016 will be more than Scottish football earns for an entire season - and Deila admitted that makes it more difficult for Celtic to compete on the European stage with English clubs.
But he believes Scottish football can still thrive if enough investment is made in facilities and coaching, citing the example of his homeland.
"The product in Norway has been getting better and better," he explained. "They have built up the product and it's quite good money, the TV deal in Norway, for a small country.
"We will get that in Scotland as well if we just build up our product. It's important to work with [player] development, teams that want to attack and create things, to make good performances for fans.
"Also, TV and the media need to build it up, because Scottish football has so much interest.
"The budget [in England] is something we have no chance to compete with, but we can be better at others things that don't cost [so much] money, like developing players and people, and making good teams.
"If we're going to do that, we need surroundings that can make people develop, better pitches, better training, better facilities. That's what will make Scottish football better.
"The interest in [Scottish football] is phenomenal, it's something special when you go to Celtic games. I've been many times in England and I'm bored, compared to what's happening here.
"A game against Rangers as well is special, they don't have that. I've been at [Manchester] United v Liverpool, Tottenham v Arsenal, it's not near to the atmosphere that there was in that game."
Meanwhile, the Celtic manager has urged on-loan striker John Guidetti to stop worrying about his lack of goals and focus on his work ethic.
And Deila remains "hopeful" the Swede, who has not scored since November, will make his move from Manchester City permanent.
"Why should he be frustrated? It's not about goals, it's about winning and doing a job for the team," Deila said of the 22-year-old.
"He does that perfectly well and the goals will come as a consequence of that. He has to think about why he doesn't score goals and how he scores goals, instead of, 'I have to score goals'.
"[Guidetti signing] could happen, but he doesn't want to think about it and we will wait to think about it as well.
"I think he will realise that we will make him a better player and that this environment is very good for young players who want to get better."


text:
Preview: 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL
Road test: 2012 Infiniti G37 IPL convertible
Preview: 2013 Subaru Legacy
by Rod Cleaver	 | August 2, 2012
2013 Mercedes-Benz GL
Rod Cleaver, for National Post
Santa Fe, New Mexico — The all-new Mercedes-Benz seven-passenger 2013 GL-Class SUV has grown substantially. The American-made GL is longer (23 millimetres), wider (153 mm) and taller (11 mm) than the outgoing model.
The exterior treatment is reminiscent of the previous model's with the most noticeable change being the more muscular side stampings and flared wheel arches at the rear. LEDs have been incorporated into the vehicle's exterior lights. Up front, active bi-xenon lamps are included. Much of the GL's styling appears derived from the recently redesigned mid-sized M-Class.
The latest GL offers more power under the hood as well. The entry-level GL 350 comes equipped with the latest 3.0-litre Bluetec diesel engine, which produces 240 horsepower and 455 pound-feet of torque (an increase of 40 hp and 50 lb-ft of torque). The GL 450 and GL 550 models sport a new 4.7L twin-turbocharged gasoline engine. Its power output varies according to the engine tuning — 362 hp/406 lb-ft and 429 hp/516 lb-ft, respectively. All engines are mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission that sees duty on the smaller ML-Class.
Mercedes says that fuel consumption on European models has dropped by 20% on average across the model range. Credit the addition of direct injection on the gasoline engines, an engine stop/start function (not yet available in Canada), improved aerodynamics and the inclusion of electro-mechanical steering. Another reason is surely the reduction in weight by as much as 90 kilograms on the base GL 350.
The new GL 350 and GL 450 come standard with 4Matic all-wheel drive, electronic stability control (ESP), Collision Prevention Assist (which warns the driver if he or she is about to rear-end another vehicle), Adaptive Brake Assist (which boosts brake pressure when a collision is imminent), Crosswind Assist, Pre-Safe (which prepares the vehicle for a collision) and Parktronic with Active Park Assist. This automatically finds a spot large enough for the GL, then helps the driver park it. There's also a rear-view camera, adaptive high-beam assist and Attention Assist, which warns the driver if he or she begins to nod off. The top-line GL 550 adds active suspension damping as well as Passive Blind Spot and Lane Keep Assist (all optional on the GL 350/GL 450). Other noteworthy options include adaptive cruise control, Active Blind Spot Assist and Active Lane Keeping Assist. The last option actively steers the GL back into its lane should the driver wander.
Inside, the layout is another carryover from the M-Class introduced last year. A seven-inch display sits atop the centre stack, which houses the buttons and controls for audio/ entertainment and vehicle system functions. Mercedes includes the latest version of its multi-function COMAND control system on the GL. The rotating wheel controls most of the vehicle's dynamic settings. An optional hard drive-based navigation system (standard on the GL 550) is also controlled through this interface.
Everyone on board is treated to first-class accommodations. Well, perhaps the third-row seats should be branded "premium economy," because it's still a squeeze to get back there and legroom is limited. Visually, Mercedes has not skimped on the interior layout and design of the GL. One might even assume that the premium Benz SUV comes with tailored leather seating. Interestingly, the 350 and 450 models are fitted with a faux leather material called Artico and a two-zone climate control system. Thankfully, full leather seating is standard on the GL 550, as is a better three-zone climate control system — a bonus for those third-row riders.
Naturally, given the exterior dimensions, there is ample interior space. With all three rows of seating in place, the rear cargo area provides 10.4 cubic feet of storage. Lowering the powered third-row seats provides 24 cu. ft. of flat-floored cargo room. The second-row seats can be tumbled forward for more room and a total storage capacity of 1,280 cu. ft. (These figures reflect storage to the top of the seats, not to the roof.)
The GL remains a plush, upscale people hauler. Interior noise is virtually non-existent on both the diesel and gas-powered models. Straight-line acceleration is markedly improved over the previous generation with the zero-to-100- kilometres-an-hour mark being set at 8.8 seconds for the GL 350, 6.8 seconds for the GL 450 and a mind-boggling 5.6 seconds for the GL 550. Braking remains acceptable for a vehicle of this size and weight. Handling has been improved with a reduction in body roll.
The balance of comfort and performance was better than expected. The GL 550 with active suspension damping did feel noticeably sportier in overall handling.
Off-road capabilities have also been improved, especially given the standard air suspension's ability to provide 250 millimetres of ground clearance when needed. However, target buyers are more likely to be jumping mall curbs rather than rock crawling.
Previous buyers of the GL have appreciated its seven-passenger seating, the diesel engine availability and its highway cruising road manners. Buyers of the new model should not be disappointed with any of its improvements nor its continued ability to demonstrate just how much car payment they are able to shoulder.
The GL 350 starts at $73,700, the GL 450 at $75,900 and the GL 550 at $95,900.
rod_c2@yahoo.com
Internal Combustion Vehicles
Mercedes-Benz International Inc.
Rod Cleaver
Mercedes-Maybach's Ultimate Luxury concept is a high-riding sedan
Mercedes expanding Maybach lineup with ultra-luxurious SUV
SUV Review: 2016 Mercedes-Benz GL350 BlueTec
First Drive: 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLS
Trucks and SUV sales continue to set the pace
Cdn Int'l Auto Show
'Maybach' badge could expand to other Mercedes-Benz models

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Supporter are responsible for IRC related questions. They will answer questions in the IRC section in the board and in the IRC Channel. They have the right to kick or timeban a user from #metin2.com if its necessary If you disagree with a Ban or Kick taken by a Supporter you can contact that specific Supporter by sending him/her a forum PM or an e-mail.
This page was last modified on 9 August 2009, at 19:35.


As children grow, there are certain milestones parents look forward to, such as crawling, walking and speaking. By their first birthday, most children know a word or two; at 18 months, their vocabulary should consist of five to 20 words and include simple two-word sentences. But these are rough guidelines. Every child progresses at a different pace.
Approximately one out of every four children experiences a speech delay, and most eventually catch up without any sort of intervention.
Still, it's best to bring up any concerns with your child's doctor. If there is a language disorder or developmental problem, early treatment is key to preventing learning problems down the road.
What Are the Reasons for a Speech Delay?
Oral anatomy (problems with the tongue or soft palate).
Dysarthria (a disorder involving the muscles that control speech).
Neurological disorders such as autism, cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy.
If your child's doctor cannot rule out a speech delay, a speech-language pathologist should be consulted for a full evaluation. This involves a series of tests that will be used to assess your child's receptive language and expressive language skills, sound development, speech clarity and oral-motor skills. Speech therapy may be recommended to help your child develop the skills necessary for effective communication.
Both heredity and environment play a role in speech development. As a parent, there are steps you can take to assist your child with speech development. Communicate often (talk and sing), encourage verbal interaction whenever possible and read to your child starting at a young age.
Call Great Lakes ENT Specialists at (231) 489-8151 for more information or to schedule an appointment.
Copyright 2019 Great Lakes ENT Specialists.


How to Build a Henan Crusher Brand?
Henan is an important production base of China crusher, and a gathering place for large crusher manufacturers in China, which represents the highest level in the country with the largest exchange with foreign advanced crusher. The trade volume of Henan manufacturer is also the most in the export of China. Henan crusher can dominate exports, on the one hand, should donate to the unremitting efforts of enterprises on the sales development; on the other hand, Henan nameplate has a very good effect in developing countries. However, in recent years, Henan brand is not as popular as before, So we should adapt multi-pronged approaches to build a good brand of Henan.
Equipment with good quality standard, which is the most basic, as well as the most fundamental factor of customer acceptance; Words and deeds have to be good, sales of equipment is to market themselves; Improved after-sales service, which is the key factors to establish long-term cooperative relations between our customers and us, and long-term customer relationship can strengthen their trust in our business, as well as conducive to the formation of our overall reputation; To feedback customer, reasonable feedback given to customers can make them better appreciate our warm, and make other unknown customers want to cooperate with us.
Henan Hongxing mining machine ry Co., Ltd. has determined to do a good stone crusher brand of Henan, so it is necessary to start from the above aspects. Hongxing has been the famous leading gravel and sand making equipment in China for many years, so Hongxing has the ability and the desire to be better in producing better crushing machine , grinding machine, ore-dressing machine and other mining machine.


flooded with light, spacious ... and with plenty of surprises!
During a break you can discover the historical monastery library with its bibliophile treasures from the 17th and 18th centuries that fill the antique wall cabinets. The spirit of past generations of Benedictine nuns that can be felt here brings to mind the significance of education, scholarship and discipline.
One very special feature in the Hildegard Hall at the Kloster Holzen seminar hotel: a seminar room designed with clear simplicity in mind and surmounted with a filigree ornate stucco ceiling – and one which is accented with several gilded statues of saints. This is a room which brings together modern and traditional, secular and ecclesiastical, business and art and thus provides impetus for dialogue.
We are happy to provide seating arrangements according to your special wishes here at the Kloster Holzen seminar hotel.
Some work processes "thrive" when performed in the open air, for example, creative meetings or meetings in small groups in a more private atmosphere. Or host your meeting under apple trees or in one of the monastery courtyards. We would be delighted to organise your "open air meetings" within the grounds of the seminar hotel.
Of course, we will gladly support you in the planning and organisation of your event – whether a conference, product presentation or seminar – at the Kloster Holzen. We look forward to you getting in touch.


text:
Who is Jill Scott? England Lioness wins I'm a Celebrity
Seren Morris and Lowenna Waters
The retired footballer has been popular among campmates and viewers alike (ITV)
Former England footballer Jill Scott has been crowned the winner of I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
During Sunday night's show (November 27), the former England footballer, 35, beat Matt Hancock and Owen Warner to be crowned the queen of the jungle for 2022.
Speaking to hosts Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly after receiving the news, Scott said: "I just can't believe it. Honestly, I think I'm going to owe my grandma a lot of money for the 12 million votes she's done.
"We were one big team, I don't think there should be one winner, we couldn't have got through it without all of us."
Matt Hancock, 44, the former health secretary, came third and was the first to leave the jungle, followed by Hollyoaks actor Owen Warner, 23, who came second.
But for those unfamiliar with the football star, who is Jill Scott?
Who is Jill Scott?
Scott, 35, was born in Sunderland on February 2, 1987.
She made her England debut in 2006 and played for Sunderland, Everton, and Manchester City.
A year after her debut, she played in the 2007 World Cup in China and scored in England's 6-1 win over Argentina.
England Lionesses 2022 UEFA Women's Euro Victory Celebration For Fans in Trafalgar Square
(PA)
Scott won 161 international caps and scored 27 goals for her country. She is one of a few Lionesses to have won more than 150 caps for England.
England Football described Scott as "an infectious character off the pitch and a player for the big occasion on it," as well as an "influential midfielder [who] steps up to the plate whenever her country needs her most".
Scott retired from football after winning the Women's Euro 2022 in July.
In September, she told the Guardian that she'd like to coach at the Sunderland football academy and said she admires Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp.
In 2020, Scott announced that she was engaged to Shelly Unitt, the sister of former Lioness Rachel Unitt.
What did she say about appearing on I'm a Celebrity?
Scott revealed she was nervous about what Ant and Dec would make of her footballing allegiance, as she said: "I haven't met Ant and Dec before - but they are Newcastle fans and I am Sunderland.
"I don't know if it will go down too well."
Scott describes herself as a hard worker and said she hoped to help her fellow campmates out if they are struggling, according to an ITV press release. However, she admitted the idea of some particular trials made her nervous.
I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! 2022 Contestants
(ES Composite)
Matt Hancock (ITV)
Jill Scott MBE (ITV)
Boy George (ITV)
Mike Tindall MBE (ITV)
Seann Walsh (ITV)
Mike Tindall MBE,, Owen Warner, Olivia Attwood, Charlene White, Boy George, Chantelle Douglas, Sue Cleaver, Chris Moyles, Babatunde Aléshé and Jill Scott MBE (ITV)
Olivia Attwood (ITV)
She said: "I am intrigued as to how I will react in the trials. I don't like rats or snakes and if I had to be underground that would be scary.
"That is literally like being buried alive."
However, Scott has done very well in the challenges, recently winning all available stars while suspended in the air in a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-inspired flying car.
She was the last woman left in the camp following the elimination of Charlene White, Scarlette Douglas, and Sue Cleaver.
Scott then went head-to-head with Owen Warner, Matt Hancock, Seann Walsh, and Mike Tindall, before winning the crown.
Harper Beckham looks so grown up in edgy ripped jeans Victoria Beckham would never wear
Hello!·2-min read
M&S just dropped an almost identical lookalike of Princess Kate's red floral dress
'The cost of living crisis left me living on bread and water'
Alex Jones is a dream in two-piece blazer suit in the boldest colour
What fashion's front row reveals about the pricey links between labels and the A-list
Holocaust survivor Ruth Posner on wartime horrors, hiding and hope
If two members of the Gestapo hadn't momentarily turned their backs for a cigarette break in 1939, Ruth Posner probably would not be speaking with me today. Born in Warsaw in 1930 to secular Jewish parents, Ruth began her extraordinary life under an increasing veil of antisemitism. Now, the Holocaust survivor sits in her study, a room lined with posters and clippings from her acting days, as well as a towering bookshelf – a nod to her lifelong trade in storytelling. Actress, dancer and Holocaust
Will Kirk reveals close friend joining The Repair Shop as new expert - find out more
Will Kirk and The Repair Shop cast have welcomed a brand new member to the team – paper conservator, Angelina Bakalarou, and it looks like she's already settled into life on the hit BBC show. Showing support for his new co-star, on Wednesday Will – who has worked on The Repair Shop since 2017 – shared a number of behind-the-scenes photos from the Weald & Downland Living Museum, and it looks like the cast is having the best time. WATCH: The Repair Shop's Will Kirk shares new video of baby daughte
Michelle Keegan is a sunkissed goddess in chic bralette and tropical skirt
Michelle Keegan, 35, was amongst the A-listers and royals lucky enough to attend the grand opening of the world's most luxury hotel - Atlantis The Royal in Dubai. The former Coronation Street actress and her husband Mark Wright joined the likes of Rochelle Humes, Lady Amelia Spencer and the Kardashians at the star-studded event, which saw Beyoncé give her first live performance in four years. Sharing a glimpse at the lavish sun-drenched week in paradise, Michelle posted a video for her 6.3 milli
Who are the Loose Women?
The Loose Women presenters are responsible for one of the nation's best loved shows. Meet the panellists including Katie Piper, Frankie Bridge, Stacey Solomon, Linda Robson and more.
How M3GAN became Hollywood's first TikTok blockbuster
Until the trailer dropped for M3GAN, few predicted that this campy-looking horror-comedy about a murderous robotic doll would storm the January box office to become easily the biggest multiplex hit of 2023 so far. But there was one element teased that helped it catch on like wildfire: a TikTok-inspired dance routine with the title character twirling in a corridor, and doing an aerial cartwheel, before embarking on her now iconic rampage.
Jenna Bush Hager celebrates the 'happiest week' with joyful update
Jenna Bush Hager is having a great start to the year, and was in a happy mood at the end of the week. MORE: NCIS confirms return of well-loved character - and fans are excited The Today star took to Instagram to share a joyful update with her social media followers, posting a selection of pictures from the last seven days, alongside the caption: "Happiest week". Photos included a picture of Jenna and Hoda Kotb in the Today studios smiling backstage, and one of the star's youngest child, Hal, thr
Zara and Mike Tindall discuss baby number four in new chat
Zara and Mike Tindall sat down together for Magic Millions and Mike Tindall's Mike Drop podcast, and talk turned to expanding their family of five. Princess Anne's son-in-law Mike has ruled out the likelihood of Zara having baby number four, choosing not to add to their three children, Mia, Lena and Lucas. WATCH: Mike Tindall makes impromptu comment about another baby "You know there's going to be no more children coming down the line," Mike said during the candid chat which saw the royal discus
Prince William and Princess Kate send rare personal message following sad death
The Prince and Princess of Wales have posted an emotional message following the sad passing of Clare Drakeford, the wife of Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford. Clare passed away suddenly on Saturday, and political and public figures have been reaching out to the Welsh politician to offer their condolences. In their moving tribute, William and Kate penned: "Sending our thoughts and prayers to Mark Drakeford and his family." They signed off with their initials: "W & C." WATCH: Mark Drakeford wat
Want to watch Gerard Butler crash-land a plane and battle crazed guerrillas?
All hail Gerard Butler's latest shovel-brained frolic: Plane by name and extremely plain by nature. No teasing postmodern flavours of pastiche, self-referentiality or archness here, oh no. Instead, the gruff Scottish action star has returned with the most unapologetically basic hour and three quarters of entertainment in recent history – the cinematic equivalent of chicken in a basket.
Are you ready for the big interior trends of 2023 and beyond? Only one way to find out…
Forecasting agency WGSN predicts the future of homes. Consider this your design crystal ball!
Yahoo Life UK
The best mattress toppers for a blissful night's sleep
Our top-rated designs to keep you comfortable all night long.
David and Victoria Beckham have installed an outside toilet at their £6m estate
David and Victoria Beckham have reportedly had an outside toilet installed at their £6 million country estate to save garden party guests getting tired from walking back to their mansion to use the facilities.
Death in Paradise star Tahj Miles opens up about his future on the show
Death in Paradise fans are loving series 12 of the BBC show so far. To mark the release of episode four this week, HELLO! caught up with actor Tahj Miles who plays Marlon Pryce on the beloved show. The actor, who joined as a young officer in 2020, opens up about his time on Death in Paradise and where he sees his character heading in the future as Marlon gets ready to undergo his sergeant exams for the Saint Marie police force. Tahj spoke to HELLO! about whether he could see himself being in the
John Legend says showers with Chrissy Teigen help keep his skin healthy
'All of Me' hitmaker John Legend says one of his secrets to good skin is his regular showers with wife Chrissy Teigen.
Steven Spielberg argues The Dark Knight would 'definitely' be nominated for Best Picture today
Steven Spielberg has asserted The Dark Knight should have been nominated for Best Picture. While speaking to Deadline for an interview published on Tuesday, The Fablemans director reacted to 2023's Best Picture Oscar nominations. Steven praised the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for including Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water in the 10-nominee category of Best Picture, noting the expansion of nominations from five to 10 from 2009 onwards. "I'm really encouraged by that,
Duchess of York feels 'deeply grateful' for Princess Eugenie's pregnancy
Sarah, Duchess of York has welcomed Princess Eugenie's announcement that she's expecting her second child.
My lifelong habit of buying flowers
I've always loved a vase full of fresh blooms, now more than ever, writes Allan Jenkins
Priyanka Chopra just got 'The Rachel' haircut, complete with honey blonde highlights
Priyanka Chopra Jonas just debuted iconic layered 'The Rachel' haircut from Friends, revealing her natural extension-free hair with 00s streak highlights.
Prince Edward and Countess Wessex's secret home you know nothing about
Prince Edward and his wife the Countess of Wessex reside at a £30million mansion, Bagshot Park in Surrey. The 120-room residence is a sight to behold with a striking exterior, endless grounds and breathtaking interiors, but did you know the royal couple have another property on site? The government website for Surrey Heath explains that "there are several lodges around the boundary of the estate," listing them and their functions. WATCH: Prince Edward makes rare appearance from inside grand home
Bring your birthday cake to work – it's a crumb of comfort
Work is changing fast, but one sure way to hold on to the old ways is to offer round a slice of cake and a cup of tea, says Eva Wiseman


text:
Databases like MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MongoDB and CouchDB
MySQL is one of the most widely-used open-source relational database management systems (RDBMS), that has been around for a long time. It is an advanced, fast, reliable, scalable, and easy-to-use RDBMS intended for mission-critical,
20 mysqladmin Commands for MYSQL/MariaDB Database Administration
mysqladmin is a command-line database administration utility that comes with MySQL/MariaDB server, which is used by Database Administrators to perform some basic MySQL tasks such as setting the root password, changing the root password,
Adminer – A Full-Featured MySQL Database Management Tool
Formerly phpMinAdmin, Adminer is a front-end database management tool written in PHP. Unlike phpMyAdmin, it only comprises a single PHP file that can be downloaded on the target server on which Adminer is to
MySQL Backup and Restore Commands for Database Administration
This article shows you several practical examples on how to perform various backup operations of MySQL/MariaDB databases using the mysqldump command and also we will see how to restore them with the help of
How to Setup MySQL Replication in RHEL, Rocky and AlmaLinux
Data replication is the process of copying your data across multiple servers to improve data availability and enhance the reliability and performance of an application. In MySQL replication, data is copied from a database
How to Install MySQL 8.0 on RHEL/CentOS 8/7 and Fedora 35
MySQL is an open-source free relational database management system (RDBMS) released under GNU (General Public License). It is used to run multiple databases on any single server by providing multi-user access to each created
How to Install SQLite and SQLite Browser in Ubuntu
SQLite is a lightweight, small and self-contained RDBMS in a C library. Popular databases like MySql, PostgreSQL, etc. works in the client-server model and they have a dedicated process running and controlling all the
How to Install CouchDB on Debian 10
CouchDB is a high-performance opensource NoSQL solution where data is stored in JSON-based document format as key/value pairs, lists, or maps. It provides a RESTFUL API that enables users to easily manage database documents
How to Install Apache CouchDB in Ubuntu 20.04
Implemented in Erlang, Apache CouchDB, simply referred to as CouchDB, is an open-source NoSQL database that focuses on data storage in JSON format. CouchDB is a perfect choice for operation teams and businesses looking
How To Create a New User and Grant Permissions in MySQL
MySQL is a popular and widely used database management system that stores and organizes data and allows users to retrieve it. It comes with a vast array of options that grant users certain permissions
vlock – A Smart Way to Lock User Virtual Console or Terminal in Linux
How to Find Out List of All Open Ports in Linux
15 Useful "ifconfig" Commands to Configure Network Interface in Linux
How to Set Time, Timezone and Synchronize System Clock Using timedatectl Command
10 tr Command Examples in Linux
Understanding Different Classifications of Shell Commands and Their Usage in Linux
How to Monitor Linux Server Security with Osquery
How to Install Zabbix Agent and Add Windows Host to Zabbix Monitoring – Part 4
ngrep – A Network Packet Analyzer for Linux
How to Create a Centralized Log Server with Rsyslog in CentOS/RHEL 7
Sysmon – A Graphical System Activity Monitor for Linux
How to Find and Sort Files Based on Modification Date and Time in Linux
How to Find and Remove Duplicate/Unwanted Files in Linux Using 'FSlint' Tool
6 Best CCleaner Alternatives for Ubuntu
10 Best Clipboard Managers for Linux
5 Most Frequently Used Open Source Shells for Linux


We start with a role, victim perpetrator, friend foe, and then we choose a theme: insecurity, creativity, jealousy, anger, etc. Then we choose the number of people we want to participate in this episode of our life. The Colour Turquoise restores our ability to live in the moment, without getting caught in the programmes we have imprinted on our Etheric template levels. At a certain point of development we want to explore the different levels and layers of consciousness seeing energy rise and fall, spontaneously, just being, experiencing energy.


text:
Q: CPU Usage always > 100% for an application that has 100 threads and each thread reads log files in real-time using Apache Tailer I have an application that reads log files in real-time. At any point it reads ~100 files. In my code there are 100 threads dedicated to each file to tail-listen the logs. I have deployed the application on a Unix Server with 4 cores, and I observe that the CPU usage is always > 100%. How should I reduce the CPU usage?

A: I ran into something similar with a number of languages. Let me start by asking, what kind of parse algo are you using?
I bet your not using GREP.. Switch whatever algorithm whether it's string.find, apache.string.utils, etc. To GREP and report back your findings.
I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
cheers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
877-202-0205 support@chemchart.com @chemchart
Chemical Search Chemical Identity Labbot Expert
About Chemchart Contact Us
Browse Chemicals Chemical Lists Molecule Sketcher API
Polycyclic organic compounds, Six-membered rings, aksci.com
‹ All Categories
‹ All Polycyclic organic compounds
‹ All Six-membered rings
‹ All aksci.com
Cyclic compounds (2)
Heterocyclic compounds (2)
Antipsychotics (1)
Atypical antipsychotics (1)
Dopamine antagonists (1)
Drugs acting on the nervous system (1)
Heterocyclic compounds (4 or more rings) (1)
Heterocyclic compounds (bridged-ring) (1)
Mood stabilizers (1)
Organic peroxides (1)
Piperazines (1)
Psychoactive drugs (1)
Psychoanaleptics (1)
Trioxanes (1)
Oakwood Chemical (1)
TCI Chemicals (1)
1,5-DIMETHYLNAPHTHALENE (571-61-9)
2,3,5-Trimethylnaphthalene (2245-38-7)
Biphenyl (92-52-4, 68409-73-4)
diphenyl · diphenyl, 14C-labeled
Biphenyl (or diphenyl or phenylbenzene or 1,1′-biphenyl or lemonene) is an organic compound that forms colorless crystals. Particularly in older literature, compounds containing the functional group consisting of biphenyl less one hydrogen (the site at which it is attached) may use the prefixes xenyl or diphenylyl. It has a distinctively pleasant smell.
FLUORENE (2299-68-5, 86-73-7)
9H-fluorene
Fluorene , or 9H-fluorene, is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. It forms white crystals that exhibit a characteristic, aromatic odor similar to that of naphthalene. It is combustible.
1,1,1,2-TETRABROMOETHANE (25167-20-8, 79-27-6, 630-16-0)
1-NITRONAPHTHALENE (86-57-7, 27254-36-0)
5-METHYLCHRYSENE (3697-24-3)
Benzene, chlorodinitro- (602-02-8, 25567-67-3)
1,2,3-Trifluoro-4-nitrobenzene (771-69-7)
CHRYSENE (65996-93-2, 50-32-8, 218-01-9)
Chrysene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) with the molecular formula C 18H 12 that consists of four fused benzene rings. It is a natural constituent of coal tar, from which it was first isolated and characterized. It is also found in creosote at levels of 0.5-6 mg/kg.
4,4'-Dimethoxybibenzyl (1657-55-2)
1,2-DICHLORO-1,1-DIFLUOROETHANE (1649-08-7, 25915-78-0)
1,2-DCDFE
ACENAPHTHENE (83-32-9)
Acenaphthene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) consisting of naphthalene with an ethylene bridge connecting positions 1 and 8. It is a colourless solid. Coal tar consists of about 0.3% of this compound.
1-Phenyltridecane (123-02-4, 68648-87-3, 129813-59-8, 29463-64-7)
A 215 · A-215 · alkylate-215
ANTHRACENE (120-12-7, 54261-80-2, 90640-80-5)
anthracene, sodium salt, ion (1-)
Anthracene is a solid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) of formula C14H10, consisting of three fused benzene rings. It is a component of coal tar. Anthracene is used in the production of the red dye alizarin and other dyes.
1-Fluoro-2-nitrobenzene (1493-27-2)
o-fluoronitrobenzene · p-fluoronitrobenzene · 2-fluoronitrobenzene
4,4'-Benzylidenedianisole (7500-76-7)
4,4'-dimethoxytriphenylmethyl · 4,4'-dimethoxytrityl cation
1,6-Dihydroxynaphthalene (575-44-0)
naphthalene-1,6-diol
Polycyclic organic compounds
Six-membered rings
aksci.com
Chemical Search
Chemical Identity
Labbot Experts
About Chemchart
Browse Chemicals
Molecule Sketcher
A , Inc. Platform
About Us - Partners


text:
//
//  AddItemTableView.m
//  iCodebook
//
//  Created by Yijie Li on 7/4/15.
//  Copyright (c) 2015 Yijie Li. All rights reserved.
//

#import "AddItemTableView.h"

@implementation AddItemTableView

UIImage * backgroundImage;

/*
// Only override drawRect: if you perform custom drawing.
// An empty implementation adversely affects performance during animation.
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
    // Drawing code
}
*/
- (instancetype) init {
    self = [super initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds] style:UITableViewStylePlain];
    if (self) {
        // Set Background
        backgroundImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"TableViewBackground.png"];
        self.backgroundView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:backgroundImage];

        // Set Separator
        [self setSeparatorStyle:UITableViewCellSeparatorStyleNone];

        // Set Mask
        self.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight|UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth;
    }

    return self;
}

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The following is a set of instructions that will help you disable authentication on your File Shares.
By default the system should have UseAuthentication = 1.
Boot a 6.0 image with the smb server.
Configure a share with a username and password (someuser/somepassword).
Using the remote registry editor change the UseAuthentication dword to 0.
Restarting the smb server with the command: "services refresh SMB0:"


text:
Atiku Abubakar: Nigeria's security forces underpaid, overstretched
Supreme Court upholds Governors Ortom, Fintiri's election
Imo minority leader resigns, defects from APGA to APC
Federal government nominates Adebambo Adewopo to lead WIPO
Victor Moses completes Inter Milan medicals
Home Technology Science
Three Nigerians emerge winners of Russia nuclear research...
Widespread mussel die-offs worry scientists
CDC: Vaping-associated lung injuries can be attributed to...
Scientists to harness the sun to break down...
China launches five satellites with one rocket
Five new remote-sensing satellites were sent into planned orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in north China's Shanxi Province on Wednesday.
Single gene therapy could extend lifespans by fighting diseases in old age
A combination of two gene therapies may treat four diseases of old age – kidney failure, heart failure, type 2 diabetes, and even obesity – a new study suggests.
Mercury to pass in front of Sun today
Once in every 13 years, Mercury planet passes in front of the sun. Today (11/11/2019), skywatchers around the world will be able to witness such occurrence.
Genome editing: Biosafety agency trains staff on regulation
The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), in conjunction with the Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS), has started a series of trainings to properly equip Biosafety Regulators on how best to regulate the emerging technology referred to as genome editing.
Scientists criticise study revealing a new birthplace for humanity
A new study claiming that our earliest ancestors come from a specific area in southern Africa and not Eastern Africa as previously thought received strong criticism on Tuesday.
Samsung's 'space selfie' balloon crash-lands on US farm
A device used by Samsung to launch a Cara Delevingne selfie into space has apparently made a dramatic return to Earth. Nancy Mumby-Welke of Gratiot County, Michigan, heard a loud crash outside her farmland home this weekend and discovered a large object in her backyard.
Does staring at a woman's breast elongate a man's life?
Over the years, medical scientists have suggested that women live longer than men with researches showing a survival advantage for females in all reviews. Researches have also been carried out toward unraveling the cause of this riddle.
Pfizer recalls batches of Xalatan eye drops in Nigeria
American pharmaceutical company Pfizer has recalled batches of its Xalatan 0.005%w/v eye drops solution in Nigeria.
First man to conduct spacewalk Alexei Leonov passes on
Alexei Leonov, a Soviet-era cosmonaut who was the first man to conduct a spacewalk in 1965, died in Moscow on Friday aged 85 after a long illness.
Recent winners of the Nobel Chemistry Prize
Here is a list of Nobel Chemistry Prize winners over the past 10 years, including John Goodenough of the US, Britain's Stanley Whittingham and Japan's Akira Yoshino who on Wednesday won for the development of lithium-ion batteries.
100m-year-old dinosaur footprints found in east China
Palaeontologists announced on Tuesday in Beijing they had discovered a group of 100 million-year-old fossils of dinosaur footprints in east China's Zhejiang Province.
Nobel Physics Prize goes to Canadian-American, two Swiss scientists
Canadian-American James Peebles and Swiss scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz on Tuesday won the Nobel Physics Prize for their work in cosmology, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
Trio win medicine Nobel for work on how cells adapt to oxygen
Two Americans and a Briton won the 2019 Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday for discovering a molecular switch that regulates how cells adapt to fluctuating oxygen levels, opening up new approaches to treating heart failure, anaemia and cancer.
Facebook wins dismissal of lawsuit that accused it of deceiving investors over privacy breach...
Facebook and its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday won dismissal of an investor lawsuit accusing them of deceiving investors about the likely impact of a privacy breach on its stock price, though the investors will be have a chance to refile their case.
Study reveals possible arrival of humans with pre-birth evidences – researcher
A researcher, Dr Sola Olorunyomi, says research has revealed the possible arrival of new sets of human beings who have evidence of pre-birth.
Scientists: Moringa oleifera extract may protect against glaucoma
For centuries, Moringa oleifera leaf has been used in traditional medicine for common ailments in many countries of the world. Traditionally, it is used in the treatment of hypertension.
India loses contact with Moon lander
India's space programme suffered a huge setback Saturday after losing contact with an unmanned spacecraft moments before it was due to make a historic soft landing on the Moon.
Astronomers track US spy satellites using Donald Trump's tweet
In a tweet posted a few days ago, the United States (US) president, Donald Trump, included a smartphone picture of Iran's Semnan Launch Site One, a location believed to be the site where a rocket failure took place.
The Supreme Court has on Tuesday upheld the election of governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and his Adamawa State counterpart, Ahmadu Umar Fintiri.
Shortly after the deputy speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Okey Onyekanma, announced his resignation, the minority leader, Ekene Nnodimele, has also resigned.
The Federal Government has nominated Prof. Adebambo Adewopo, a foremost professor of Intellectual Property to lead the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
Police recover decomposing body of kidnapped businessman
The decomposing body of a businessman, Chief Ignatius Odunukwe, who was kidnapped two months ago by a robbery gang who posed as estate developers, has been recovered in a bush in an undisclosed area of Lagos, by policemen attached to the Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos.
Galaxy have yet to make an official announcement but former Manchester United and West Ham forward 'Chicarito' told the newspaper the time was right from him to swap Sevilla for Major League Soccer.
Senator Shehu Sani: My travail is politically motivated
Civil Rights activist and former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, has declared that his current travail in the hands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was politically motivated and out of malice, saying he has not in any way begged the anti graft agency not to make public alleged audio recording between him and his accuser, Alhaji Sani Dauda.
CMD: How privatisation of teaching hospitals will affect Nigerians
The Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, says privatisation of government-owned teaching hospitals will take quality and affordable healthcare out of the reach of many Nigerians.
Chelsea hold Edinson Cavani talks with Paris Saint-Germain
Chelsea have discussed Edinson Cavani's future with Paris Saint-Germain, but they have stopped short of making an official offer for the striker.
EFCC: We didn't conduct in-depth probe into Abdulrasheed Maina's case
An EFCC Operative, Mohammed Goji, on Monday, told the Federal High Court, Abuja, that the commission did not conduct a thorough investigation into the defunct Pension Reformed Task Team (PRTT) headed by Abdulrasheed Maina to unravel members of the team drawn from other ministries, departments or agencies (MDAs) of government.
Sodiq Yusuff vows to land UFC title after fourth consecutive win
Nigeria's Sodiq Yusuff says he hope to follow the footsteps of compatriots Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman to land UFC world title in the nearest future.


text:
Hello es el EP debut del grupo surcoreano Mamamoo. Fue publicado el 18 de junio de 2014 por Rainbow Bridge World y distribuido por  CJ E&M Music. Contiene siete canciones e incluye el sencillo principal «Mr. Ambiguous», que se usó para promocionar el disco. El álbum es una mezcla de estilos musicales entre los que se encuentran R&B, hip hop, y funk. Además, antes de su lanzamiento el grupo realizó colaboraciones con Bumkey, K.Will y Wheesung, y Geeks.

Lista de canciones

Referencias

Álbumes de Mamamoo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Grails Layout, how to do that? I have a grails app named qotd which has a controller named quote. I have written  view file for this controller named as random.gsp file as :

<title>Random Quote</title>

    <q>${content}</q>

${author}

Now i have to write down the Grails Layout for this controller. For example i have to locate my .css and images files etc, how to do that(better if an example is shown)? And where i should place that file?
Thanks in advance.

A: When you create a Grails application with grails create-app qotd, you get a file grails-app/views/layout/main.gsp. Take a look at that file, as it shows you how to include css, js and images. This file is the default Sitemesh layout file. To use it, change your random.gsp to

<meta name='layout' content='main'/>
<title>Random Quote</title>

    <q>${content}</q>

${author}

Then the layout file main.gsp will be wrapped around your content.
To learn more about Sitemesh, take a look at chapter 7 in the Grails documentation


Comfortable Holiday House with magnificent views across Adventure Bay.
Close to parks,restaurants and the beach.
You will love this place for its views, location, ambience and outdoor areas.
Suitable for couples, solo adventurers, business travellers and families.
It has a well equipped kitchen with dishwasher.
Nature lovers will enjoy the many walks on the island and bird and wildlife.
Bruny is a food haven for gourmet foods, including cheese, win, oysters, honey and smoked goods.


The Colorado Department of Transportation turns its attention to Denver's other interstate now that a wider I-70 through minority neighborhoods is en route.
The Colorado Department of Transportation has broken ground on a $2.2 billion expansion of I-70 that's taken people's homes and businesses while promising to shove more cars and pollution through north Denver. Now state transportation officials are setting their sights on widening I-25 in the short-term while seeking ways to curb highway congestion in the long term.
Governor John Hickenlooper's roads department has plans — but not funding — to add a continuous "auxiliary" lane in each direction along I-25 between Alameda Avenue and 6th Avenue. (Auxiliary lanes are the ones between highway exits and entrances.) They're part of a larger widening project, which is mostly complete, approved in 2007.
The short of it: Decision-makers continue to prioritize driving as the city grows, while sustainable transportation options lag far behind.
There's more. While CDOT readies to widen I-25 in the near future, officials have their sights set on creating "options to improve travel time and reliability in this highly-congested corridor." Specifically, the six-mile stretch between Santa Fe Drive and 20th Street in the heart of the city, according to CDOT's website. Creating better pedestrian and bicyclist crossings over the highway are part of this study, too.
This initiative, dubbed the I-25 Central Planning and Environmental Linkages Study, is in its infancy. The roads department has held just one public meeting so far for what is essentially a 20-year vision. But the I-70 widening through low-income, minority neighborhoods began with a similar process.
So you have to wonder what's in store. Tim Lopez, a rep from the Baker Historic Neighborhood Association, does.
Lopez wants to involve way more people, way earlier, in whatever happens on I-25, he said. Consultants, city and state transportation officials, and neighborhood reps attended the study's first meeting, according to sign-in sheets. CDOT has heeded Lopez's suggestion to reach farther and wider into neighborhoods that will be affected by whatever officials ultimately decide.
The last time CDOT widened I-25, congestion came back after four years, because that's how induced demand works — you make more room for cars, and more cars come. Moving more people in less space via bus lanes, or congestion pricing to ease traffic in the city, would make more sense than attracting more cars with a widening.
A wider I-25 is technically no guarantee. The I-25 Central study is to come up with several options and eventually rule most out, according to Tamara Rollison, a CDOT spokesperson.
Lately these processes have resulted, eventually, with more lanes for cars. On I-70, yes, but also on I-25 south of the city, where Rollison said the option for light rail was nixed early on. After this study, the next step would be an environmental assessment, Rollison said.
haha, you make assumptions about the outcomes of studies worse that CDOT does.
Not a doubt in my mind that they're all familiar with freeways in Phoenix where closer to the busy urban core an auxiliary lane runs between exits. Not having to value-engineer your road construction means when freeways were expanded, all exits have nice long merging and exit lanes. Does it make things safer? Much safer!
That would require tolling presumably and Arizonans don't like that idea believing it to be double taxation. With respect to Denver vehicle registrations keep going up so your idea, at least in the near term, sounds like wishful thinking.
Another reason to vote no on 109 and 110.
The ballot measure would also fund projects like Colfax Avenue bus rapid transit and pedestrian improvements on Federal Boulevard.
These projects are scheduled to be done soon. While Prop 110 may fund the I-25 planning it won't fund the construction.
I would rather pass a local tax for Denver projects such as colfax and federal rather than send billions to CDOT to widen highways and encourage sprawl.
Fair point. In fact Denver did that in November passing ~$450 million bonding for transportation improvements, including $20 million for Colfax BRT, but the money originally designated for Federal was switched to W. Colfax and Morrison Rd by the two DCC reps from the area. Btw, the $20 million for Colfax BRT leaves the city short by $150 million.
Bird in the Hand, my friend, Bird in the Hand.
They cant pay for what they have, people won't give then more revenue….but its build build build!!!! Wtf. This is lunacy.
Want to privatize a lane? Fine. There are many to choose from. Already a full half of the cash we gave you is going to a pointless ditch that will continue to kill and maim adults and children forever. But hey, they are black and brown so it don't matter as long as the white commuters get through .
Don't think the gentrifying areas adjacent to I-70 are reserved for brown and black people. Where are you getting your demographic data?


Ted Howe is a pianist, arranger, bandleader and educator who has taught at Berklee in Boston and played in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's summer pops series. He is also something that, based on the relative scarcity of Elton John covers, would seem to be uncommon among jazz musicians: an Elton John fan.
Howe's commitment to quality on this project is apparent in his choice of sidemen (John Patitucci and Joe LaBarbera) and engineer (Matt Still), and also in his thorough, meticulous, varied piano-trio arrangements for 10 Elton John songs. His two stated goals are to respect John's music and to make it into genuine jazz. He succeeds at both.
It is intriguing to hear Patitucci sing "Border Song" in his dark bass language. Howe's elegant piano makes "Blue Eyes" sound like it has been a staple of the jazz book since Teddy Wilson. The best track is "Your Song." It begins as a moody reflection, then kicks hard into time, then ends in another free meditation on the famous melody.
It is all so much fun? A second volume is in order.


text:
2020 Giro d'Italia
Giro di Hoody: Peter Sagan victory came just in time
The Giro d'Italia needed the win from the superstar, but Peter Sagan even more so.
October 14, 2020 Andrew Hood
VILLAFRANCA TIRRENA, ITALY - OCTOBER 06: Start / Peter Sagan of Slovakia and Team Bora - Hansgrohe / Catania City / during the 103rd Giro d'Italia 2020, Stage 4 a 140km stage from Catania to Villafranca Tirrena / @girodiitalia / #Giro / on October 06, 2020 in Villafranca Tirrena, Italy. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images,)
Become a member to unlock this story and receive other great perks.
Peter Sagan's dramatic solo victory Tuesday at the Giro d'Italia came just in time. With time running out in this Giro, he didn't want to leave without at least one win.
The three-time world champion likes to say, "Why so serious?" and he even has a tattoo that displays the same.
For years, Sagan's been able to walk the tightrope of trying to have fun in the very serious world of professional bike racing. So long as the wins kept coming, Sagan could do pretty much what he wanted. What happens if the well runs dry?
Looking at a possible no-win season, the three-time world champion kept knocking at the door. A string of top-5s and podiums might be enough for mere mortals. A rider of Sagan's caliber eats victories for breakfast. And despite not notching a win since the 2019 Tour de France, Sagan never lost his appetite.
On Tuesday, in trademark panache, Sagan tore the legs off a breakaway group, held off the chasing pack, and rode alone to the finish line.
It was a victory that the battered Giro d'Italia needed. On a day when the immediate future of the race thrown into question, following a wave of COVID-19 positives and the departure of two teams, Sagan the showman delivered and diverted everyone's attention from the bad news.
For years, Sagan promised to race the Giro, but his tried-and-true template simply didn't allow for it. For most of the past decade, Sagan followed a similar pattern of racing the spring classics, the now-defunct Tour of California, and then the Tour de France before the world championships.
That blueprint worked wonderfully, and Sagan emerged as one of the superstars of the peloton.
But there was some unfinished business with the Giro d'Italia. Sagan had checked off most of cycling's milestones, but the Giro remained as a blank spot on his otherwise prolific palmàres.
Sagan's decision to finally commit to the Giro raised eyebrows because it meant he was giving up on a chance to win another Tour of Flanders or (the since canceled) Paris-Roubaix. Sagan lived up to word to race the Giro, with the reworked racing calendar that moved the grand tour to October, putting it in full conflict with the rescheduled northern classics.
That decision looks even wiser now after such races as Amstel Gold Race and Paris-Roubaix have been shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Giro, at least for now, rolls on.
And Sagan's victory came just in the nick of time.
With the Giro facing possible closure at any moment due to Europe's worsening health conditions, Sagan wanted to get his Giro win sooner than later. After a few close calls, Sagan decided to take control of his destiny on a classics-style course laden with short, steep climbs. Rather than risk going to the line in a group that might get reeled in by the chasing pack, Sagan followed a surge from Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and just kept going.
The interrupted 2020 season has been far from ideal for Sagan, who likes to have some racing in his legs before hitting his top targets. Going into the Tour, he was a bit undercooked, with only eight race days in his legs before starting in Nice. Despite six top five finishes, a victory eluded him at the Tour, and he left Paris without the green jersey for the first time in his career.
And perhaps more than anyone else, Sagan needed the 'W'.
At 30, Sagan appears to be hitting a bit of a career crossroads. His jack-of-all-trades profile worked wonderfully for years when he could win the occasional bunch sprint, pounce out of reduced groups, and use his pure power and class in the classics and world championships.
Now, there are sprinters faster than he is, and there are puncheurs who have more punch, and a new generation of young and ambitious classics riders are muscling in for their spot in the buffet, just as Sagan did a decade ago.
With 114 career victories, and almost all of them at the WorldTour level or HC-category, Sagan is clearly in a class of his own. No victory is easy at the WorldTour, and the pack is deeper and better prepared than ever before. Yet with barely 10 days of racing remaining for him in 2020, Sagan was looking at a no-win season.
With Arnaud Démare making easy work in the sprints, Sagan knew his best and perhaps only chance for victory came Tuesday.
Tuesday's success also puts Sagan into the elite club of riders who've won stages in all three grand tours. He also clawed closer in the ciclamino points jersey, but Démare won again Wednesday to widen the gap. Just as he faced off against Sam Bennett at the Tour, Démare is faster than he is in the bunch sprints, meaning Sagan might not win the points jersey in his first and perhaps last Giro.
Many wonder what the future holds for Sagan. There are whispers that he's "bored" with racing, but it's hard to see evidence of that. Maybe he's weary of the racing and the demands of being a pro, but when he's on the bike, it's obvious the passion for racing still burns.
Sagan has one more year left on his contract at Bora-Hansgrohe, and there are some rumors that Sagan might end his racing career in 2021. There is no official word, and according to sources close to him, Sagan has not made any decision one way or another. Bora-Hansgrohe is clearly pivoting toward a more GC-oriented direction, but if Sagan wants to keep racing, the German team would be where he'd likely stay.
Sagan wanted that win Tuesday. Wait, scratch that, he needed that win. Sagan will keep fighting, he always does, but it's obvious the victories are not coming as fast and easy as they used to. So that makes every Sagan win even sweeter.
Bora–Hansgrohe
Peter Sagan turns on the show to salvage a dark day at the Giro d'Italia: 'I won in my style'
Peter Sagan to ride Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 2020
Bora-Hansgrohe confirms Sagan will race Giro, miss northern classics
Andrew Hood