DH and I were getting — not anxious — but a little thoughtful. When we saw Laurel and Ang three weeks ago, Ang told us that framing on the laneway house would begin the following week, that is two weeks ago. Yet, although there was clearly action at the site, there was no framing.
So we talked about it and wondered about it and finally contacted Laurel to ask why. It turned out that the city wanted them to install a clean out function for the plumbing and it had to be completed and inspected before they could proceed. That was done before they met with us on Thursday evening for our regular meeting. So all was well, and there would be framing beginning toute suite.
Things we have to think about: electrical plan, where we will put the TV, plumbing features in the bathroom (is it still a bathroom if there's no bathtub, just a shower?), the predominant colours in the live roof (our roof is being grown just for us).
I've been watching decorating shows for many years now (remember when Debbie Travis did The Painted House?) and I realize now that they have been leading me down the garden path. You don't think about the floor and walls first, then the appliances and the fixtures. In a bathroom the fixtures have to come first — so the plumber can install the necessaries. The windows and doors have to be ordered before the foundation is poured so they will be ready when the framing is finished. The cabinets are not something you fit into a finished kitchen — you build the room around them.
Things we will have to think about soon: the built-in vacuum and the security system, the appliances. Also the lights we will be installing.
We will be driving out to Port Moody tomorrow to check out a back-lit mirror for the bathroom.
This part of the framing is setting the plates — the horizontal boards that the studs will be connected to — very accurately and securely on the top of the foundation. See how the plates are a different colour? That means they are pressure treated to resist moisture.
It will be a little while until we see the shape of the home but everyone is quite confident that the project will proceed according to the schedule.
Find out more about the framework of a home here.
Posted in Housing, Laneway House and tagged Lane Home, Lane house, Laneway House, living roof. Bookmark the permalink.
The small house movement is creating solutions to one problem of large cities — odd, skinny lots, sometimes between two existing buildings.
This article from Dwell features five such buildings, from all around the world. Check it out, with the built-ins and niches that make skinny houses feel more like homes.
Posted in Cities, Decorating, Housing, Laneway House, Small House and tagged Decor, Lane house, Laneway House, Small House, Small Style, tiny apartment. Bookmark the permalink.
The water supply is going into the house on the right side plus the weeping tile has been installed with pipes running into it from where the water will drain from the roof with rain chains.
The infill process has begun with the gravel around the base of the foundation.
I'm back on the Home Discovery Show this Sunday!
Be sure to listen! The Lady will be visiting with Ian and Steve on the Home Discovery Show on CKNW.
By the way, tomorrow's show will repeat on the Corus Radio Network across Canada next Saturday.
And there's no excuse not to listen! Get the app, or download the podcast.
Posted in Laneway House, The Home Discovery Show and tagged Lane Home, Lane house, Laneway House, The Home Discovery Show. Bookmark the permalink.
Now that we are in our little rental space, we are truly getting used to living with limited storage space.
We are regarding our rented storage unit, not as the repository of our precious, precious belongings, but rather another place we have to clear out. That is an onerous task, but one that will bring us more happiness in the long run.
Heck, it will make us happier in the short run, too.
When we first considered moving from 1100+ square feet to 500 square feet, I just assumed that we would always have to have a rented storage unit.
For our stuff. For our Christmas decorations, extra dishes, linens.
Even after we moved to the rental suite, I wanted to use the storage unit as an extra closet. I kept a few towels and sheets, and packed up the rest, planning that when the small amount of linen and dishes in the rental suite broke or wore out, we would replace them with items from the storage. Planning that gradually the storage space would be emptied as we used up things.
Then, after putting one of our two sets of sheets on the bed, DH put his foot through the bottom sheet.
The idea of going up to our storage space and shifting a ton of boxes to find the right box with the extra linen in it was ridiculous. I also knew that the "extra set" of sheets in that box wasn't complete, either. Stupidly, I had put away an incomplete set of sheets because …… never mind. And so now I have a top sheet and two pillowcases and all I need is a bottom sheet. Turns out that Walmart sells single sheets by themselves, and I'll pick one up. But the point is I will not be going in to that barrage of boxes, that cataract of cardboard, that mountainous morass of stuff just to get a single sheet.
Just like I won't go in there to get a single wine glass when one breaks. Or one towel. Or one saucepan (OK, likely won't wear out or break, so why do I need those extras?).
And as far as Christmas decorations go, we will need more outdoor lights. But for the rest, we will keep just a few of the most precious, and give the rest away. We won't need five big plastic tubs of Xmas cheer, one will do, and we can probably find a corner of the laneway (maybe under the stairs) to store it.
Everything "extra" will go, given away, donated, tossed.
These monsters have to be fed!
If we hadn't started living this way, we would never have appreciated how nice it is to live with less stuff. Now we love it, and will continue to do so.
Posted in Housing, Laneway House, Minimalism, Small House and tagged Lane Home, Lane house, Laneway House. Bookmark the permalink.


A second innovation will allow "electronic absentee voting" within voters' home precincts. In other words, Russia is set to introduce its first online voting system. The system will be tested in a Moscow neighborhood that will elect a single member to the capital's city council in September. The details of how the experiment will work are not yet known; the State Duma's proposal on Internet voting does not include logistical specifics. The Central Election Commission's reference materials on the matter simply reference "absentee voting, blockchain technology." When Dmitry Vyatkin, one of the bill's co-sponsors, attempted to describe how exactly blockchains would be involved in the system, his explanation was entirely disconnected from the actual functions of that technology. A discussion of this new type of voting is planned for an upcoming public forum in Moscow.


From the earliest explorers of the Americas to today's headlines, American History from ABC-CLIO investigates the people, events and themes of the nation's evolution.
The American History website is a remarkable tool that will give learning U.S. history new appeal to young adults. Students will enjoy using it and it will give teachers the opportunity to teach U.S. history in a new and exciting format.
Available in both academic and school versions, American History moves student researchers beyond the simple memorizing of names and dates toward a deeper understanding of America's fascinating, complex story including its earliest origins, westward expansion, social movements, internal conflicts, and defining moments.
Integrating American politics, science, culture, philosophy, and economics, this authoritative database explores the ongoing development of the United States. Aligned with major textbooks and research-driven best practices, American History offers a uniquely complete American history library collection and also serves as a dependable online resource for research-ready reference, projects and exam preparation.
Created in collaboration with scholars, educators, and librarians, American History provides students with citation information at their fingertips and a highly visual and engaging interface.


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History of the Salon / Various
History of the Salon / Various: History of the Salon
Artist: History of the Salon / Various
Title: History of the Salon
Label: First Hand
Although the word salon derives from a room in a domestic dwelling (In 1836, Robert Schumann referred to Salonmusik (a term he incidentally coined) as a 'combination of sentiment and piano passage'), it also came to refer to private gatherings of composers and well-to-do members of society congregated in order to appreciate musical performances of a shorter and more varied nature, as distinct from those of longer chamber works. By the 1830s, the musical salon emerged as a vehicle for virtuoso performers who encapsulated the romantic ideals of enhanced emotional subjectivity and greater artistic individuality, with the piano at the center of it all. The charming, off-the-cuff pieces that so delighted audiences up until relatively recently seem to have faded away with the last performers of the romantic tradition. This album serves to illuminate the brilliant music that many of these underrated yet highly talented 19th century composers gave us. '... played with a purity, profundity and sense of dramatic architecture that truly stops you in your tracks. Really, bravo.' (Gramophone, 'Editor's Choice' - VILSMAYR Partitas [FHR38])

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Today, the French terms entremets, patisseries and desserts are used interchangeably. With regard to a meal, it is the sweet course at the end of the menu. A few basic ingredients can produce an infinite variety of entremets. Their preparation requires precision, skill and thorough knowledge of the ingredients.
© akg-images - Etching of a window-shopper in front of the renowned Marie-Antoine Carême patisserie in Paris, anonymous, 1835
Entremets, pastry or dessert?
In everyday French, an entremets is a warm, cold or frozen dish, served at the end of the meal after the cheese. It has become usual to refer to entremets as desserts.
In the 12th century however, the entremets referred to the entertainment or musical interludes between courses. Over the following centuries, the entremets became a sweet or savoury dish served at the table between the roasts and the dessert. Nowadays an infinite variety of warm, cold and frozen entremets exists, in countless forms such as soufflés, puddings, fritters, creams, choux buns, ice creams and sorbets to name but a few.
Pastries are a type of entremets. They comprise sweet products where pastry is used as a base (tart), or as a case (pie) and which are baked in an oven.
In medieval times, pastries referred to all cakes and pâtés. Pastry chefs made tarts, flans and meat pâté and also sold eggs.
In the Middle Ages, a biscuit was a simple pancake made from wheat flour. As it kept for a long time, it was ideal food for sailors and soldiers. From the 17th century, biscuits became more refined and, from the latter half of the 19th century, they became an industrially manufactured product.
The preparation of entremets requires precision and skill
In addition to the basic ingredients of eggs, butter, oil or margarine, flour or starch, cream, milk and sugar, depending on the recipe, entremets may contain various other elements such as gelling agents, baking powder, yeast, fruit, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and chocolate. To create the perfect entremets, it is essential that all the ingredients are measured very precisely, that they are as fresh as possible and that the utensils used are spotlessly clean.
Even in basic preparations, pastry chefs must be particularly skilled in working with sugar and chocolate. Generally, sugar is used in the form of granulated white sugar or icing sugar. However, some recipes use sugar syrup which may be more or less concentrated. The sugar is sometimes used at very high temperatures of up to 180°C. Nougat, sweets or toffees, for example, each require the sugar to be at a specific temperature. Sugar is used at a temperature of 120°C to 126°C to make nougat. From 145°C, the hardened and brittle syrup can be shaped in a sweet mould and is thus used to make hard sweets or lollipops.
Different cocoa products, such as cocoa powder or couverture chocolate, can be used to make chocolate entremets. Couverture must contain at least 31% cocoa butter. When moulding, couverture is tempered to give chocolate a smooth sheen, hardness when broken and its characteristic creaminess. Tempering consists in crystallising cocoa butter in the most stable form possible, by heating and cooling the chocolate through a sequence of specific temperatures.
Moulds to add shape
Moulds give shape to the ingredients placed in them. Frozen entremets appeared in European cuisine in the 18th century in an array of unusual shapes, such as asparagus, a duck, an ear of corn or a peacock. Biscuit and cake moulds also come in different shapes and sizes and often take the name of the entremets they produce, such as a madeleine tin, a gugelhupf tin and a loaf tin. Moulds are made from different materials, depending on their intended use. Those used for cooking may be made from clay, metal or silicone, while wooden moulds are used to give shape to food before it is cooked.
PAULI, Philip, 2008. Technologie culinaire. Winterthur : Pauli Fachbuchverlag AG
HORDE Tristan, 2004. Dictionnaire des mots de la table. Bordeaux : Édition Sud Ouest
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The Type BWVC is a preformed DPC cavitray that vertically connects two levels within the same masonry skin without adversely interrupting bonding or coursing.
Its presence prevents horizontal damp transference. It is extensively used in bay window construction where the level of the roof intersection and that of the support lintel spannng the bay is not shared and seperating courses exist between them.
Type BWVC units are handed and available to suit brickwork / block work coursings. Units are introduced at each end of the lintel and provide permanent DPC connection upwardly to the cavitray at roof intersection level.
To prevent wet external skin masonry at the side of a bay window from conveying dampness inwardly via the unprotected couses separating the higher (Bay Roof) tray arrestment level from the lower (Bay Support) lintel level.


12 Women Share: "The SWEETEST Thing He's Ever Said To Me!"
You know those moments in a relationship when you just have nothing to top what your partner just said? Moments that take your breath away and leave you feeling speechless! These happen more than we realize - simply because we are not paying attention and only looking out for the obvious compliments! If you really listen to your guy, though, you will find that he is showering his love on you in more ways than first meet the eye! Here are 12 girls' confessions about the sweetest compliment their guys have ever paid them! 1. "The first time he saw me with his nephews, he just couldn't stop smiling. Later he told me, "You'd be such a good mum!" 2. "I beat him at his favourite game one day. When I say favourite, I mean he basically lived for it. I thought he might be a bit upset, but then he just looked at me in awe and said, "WOW!"" 3. "I met this guy at my friend's birthday party. We stepped out for a breather and just got talking. An hour later, I asked him if he wanted to head back in, and he said, "In a bit? I'm just so happy to be sitting here and talking to you." 4. It was his first business trip after we got married. He called me the morning after he reached, and he sounded a bit off. When I asked him what had happened, he reluctantly told me, "Not waking up to your smile really ruins my day." 5. We had gone grocery-shopping (no makeup and stuff) and we bumped into an old friend of mine. We used to be very competitive with each other back in school, and I was a bit upset about it. When I told him, he looked genuinely confused and said, "But you look just as pretty without makeup!" 6. One night, I had this horrible backache, so I was lying flat on my back, away from him. He said "Please get better soon. I need my cuddle-pillow back." 7. It was an office plus-one event, and I told him that we needed to be very careful about PDA. And he said, "But you feel so good, how can I NOT hug you?" 8. We were lying in bed and talking. I, as usual, went on and on, and he just lay there, listening. After a I was like "Whaaat? Say something, at least!" His reply: "Sometimes, I get completely lost in what you're saying because I can't stop looking into your eyes." 9. We had been together for 4 years. College was getting over, and we were going back home to different cities. It was a mutual breakup, even with all the tears and stuff. But I won't ever forget the last thing he told me though. "No matter what, just never change." 10. It wasn't something he said. He took a cue from my favourite movie and made it SO MUCH better! He texted me to come to my balcony one day. When I looked down, it was written on the pavement in candles: "To me, you're perfect!" 11. The time he said "You look just like your mum." My mum is basically the best-looking woman in the world - you guys have to see her to get WHAT a compliment that is! 12. We hadn't ever discussed having a family or even getting married! And trust me, he's a really good-looking guy, okay. But one day, I was laughing uncontrollably at something, and he said, "I hope our babies look just like you, especially those chubby cheeks!" GIFs: Tumblr MUST-READ: Aww! "The First Time He Told Me He Loved Me…" MUST-READ: #FirstKiss: 15 Women Confess Their True Feelings!


The Australian Government has acted on concerns raised by farmers about supply chain transparency during the consultation phase of the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper.
Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, said the white paper would commit $11.4 million to establish an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Commissioner dedicated to agriculture as well as supporting capability at the ACCC concerned with agriculture supply chain issues.
"Many stakeholders were concerned with the lack of transparency in supply chains and the anti competitive distortions that can result—all too often to the detriment of our farmers," Minister Joyce said.
"The new Commissioner, combined with the new dedicated agricultural-focus of the ACCC, will give the ACCC additional agricultural skills and knowledge to address the concerns of farmers.
"These new resources will enable ACCC staff to attend the saleyards or visit farmers to see the market in action and gather necessary evidence.
"On top of these measures the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper will deliver $13.8 million to arm farmers with knowledge and materials on alternative business models like cooperatives and collective bargaining.
"Knowledge is power. A strong supply chain advocate, proactive ACCC investigations and information on alternative business structures will go a long way to reducing farmers' vulnerability to the market power that can be wielded by large processors or retail chains.
"These measures, combined with work this government already has in train through our forthcoming response to the Competition Policy Review; the current review of the Horticulture Code of Conduct; and the establishment of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, show we are serious about ensuring our farmers get a fair deal for their efforts.
"I am proud to deliver measures that go to one of the core themes we heard throughout the 18 month consultation that attracted 1000 submissions and involved face–to–face meetings with 1100 people."
The White Paper is available at agwhitepaper.agriculture.gov.au.


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Theater|One Show Spins Its Last, As Another Takes Shape
One Show Spins Its Last, As Another Takes Shape
By PATRICK HEALY APRIL 15, 2011
History is being made on Broadway this weekend: The $70 million museum piece that is Julie Taymor's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," the most expensive musical of all time, is on display in its final performances through Sunday afternoon, then disassembled out of existence.
Gone, when the show resumes performances on May 12 after a three-week overhaul, will be the Geek Chorus of narrators who were stand-ins for the show's creators: Bono and the Edge of U2, the playwright Glen Berger and Ms. Taymor, whom the producers ousted as director last month over creative conflicts.
Gone will be Ms. Taymor's vision of the spider villainess Arachne, now a central role inspired by Greek mythology. The part will be reduced to a guardian angel character during the hiatus, according to members of the cast and the production.
With Julie Taymor out as director, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" will have a bigger role for the Green Goblin, above, battling with Spider-Man. Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
Gone, too, will be some of Ms. Taymor's head-spinning numbers, like "Deeply Furious," in which Arachne and her spider ladies-in-waiting become all-powerful by slipping shoes onto their many legs. Gone will be the Act I death of another villain, the Green Goblin, who will become an even bigger character when performances resume, reflecting the wishes of focus groups that "Spider-Man" producers convened this winter. And gone will be the Act II climax, a confrontation between Arachne and Peter Parker.
For some members of the "Spider-Man" cast and crew, the weeks since Ms. Taymor's firing on March 9 have been a painful limbo: eight performances a week of a show marked for extinction. Once again, "Spider-Man" is without historical precedent: no other Broadway show has run for months without opening and then shut down temporarily to excise much of the original director's concept.
"I'm greatly saddened that the world won't get to see Julie's vision after the end of this week," said Gideon Glick, who played one of the geeks, Jimmy-6 (with qualities inspired by Bono), who will leave the production after Sunday. "She aspired to show the world that comic books were part of a larger mythos that's been around since even before the Greeks. She elevated the story of 'Spider-Man' to a cosmic level."
Julie Taymor with Bono. Credit Joan Marcus
In a statement, Ms. Taymor's spokesman said: "Julie feels that the early reviews that published before the show was ready to open sadly do not reflect the show that is closing this weekend. Most critics, in fact, will have never seen this latest version before they see one that greatly changes major threads of the story, choreography and songs."
As some actors have prepared to depart, others have been rehearsing the new script written by Mr. Berger and his new collaborator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, a playwright and comic-book author. But even some of those who are staying said they were still struggling over the loss of Ms. Taymor. T. V. Carpio, who will remain in the cast as Arachne, described Ms. Taymor in a statement as "at the heart of this project."
"Julie takes risks and that is what makes her amazing," Ms. Carpio wrote. Regarding Ms. Taymor's ideas for "Spider-Man," she added, "I'm sure you can always find flaws in things, but the fact is she took that risk and she should be commended for it."
The Arachne character, which will have a reduced role in the new production. Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
The reconfigured creative team — the theater and circus director Philip William McKinley (Broadway's "Boy From Oz"), Mr. Aguirre-Sacasa and Mr. Berger — also declined to be interviewed through a spokesman for the production.
More than 245,000 people have seen "Spider-Man" since Nov. 28, when the first of about 140 previews so far took place — the most ever for a Broadway show. Its lead producers, Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris, kept delaying opening night in hopes that Ms. Taymor (and now her successors) could make improvements. Theater critics roundly thrashed the show in reviews in early February; the producers have said they hope the overhaul will yield a better production that will win praise from critics who come to review it just before June 14, the latest opening-night date.
Through the months "Spider-Man" has remained one of the top-grossing shows on Broadway, earning more than $25 million so far, persisting as an object of fascination for fans of Spider-Man, U2, Ms. Taymor and problem-plagued entertainment. Yet the musical's typical weekly gross of $1.3 million is barely enough to cover the unusually high running costs of this technically ambitious show.
When the revamped "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" resumes performances on May 12, a major missing element will be the Geek Chorus of narrators, played here, from left, by Jonathan Schwartz, Gideon Glick, T. V. Carpio and Mat Devine. Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
Positive reviews from critics and improved word of mouth among theatergoers will be essential to increasing grosses by a few hundred thousand dollars a week, which will give the show a better chance of someday paying back its investors.
Members of the current production, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they had signed nondisclosure agreements at the producers' request, said that the goal of the new creative team was to strip away some of the musical's darker elements to make it more family-friendly. While audiences now regularly include children accompanied by grown-ups, the new team wants parents to know that the show will be a pleasurable, thrilling experience for young audiences, rather than the more serious, adult-minded fare that Ms. Taymor had in mind.
The producers also reportedly believe that a successful Broadway reception for "Spider-Man" is critical to mounting future, profitable versions of the show in cities like Las Vegas and London.
Backstage at "Spider-Man" recently, the show's lead actor, Reeve Carney, and Julie Taymor, who was ousted by the producers last month over creative conflicts. Credit Marcus Yam for The New York Times
Still, the musical's weekly grosses indicate that there has been an audience for Ms. Taymor's original vision, said Daniel Ezralow, the "Spider-Man" dance and aerial choreographer and a longtime Taymor collaborator who was replaced after she was. He said in an interview that he was still rooting for the show, and noted — with a touch of bewilderment — that the producers told him they were pleased with his contributions even as they chose a new choreographer, Chase Brock.
"The musical is doing great, and I hope that it does much better — I really wish the best for the show," Mr. Ezralow said. "I did hear from everybody that they loved my work, the producers included. But typically with a changeover of government, you also get a new secretary of state," he said, referring to the addition of Mr. Brock after Mr. McKinley was hired to direct.
In recent weeks actors and producers who have worked with Ms. Taymor on other projects have begun mounting a defense of her work on "Spider-Man." Mr. Glick echoed them in an interview, recalling that he initially scoffed when his mother alerted him to auditions for "Spider-Man." But when he heard that the director would be Ms. Taymor, whose film work ("Across the Universe," "Frida") he admired, Mr. Glick said he decided to try out for the musical.
"I have always been excited by Julie's visceral style," said Mr. Glick, who appeared on Broadway in the original cast of the Tony Award-winning musical "Spring Awakening" and Off Broadway in the critically praised play "Speech & Debate." "Sometimes style can alienate audiences from the material. But Julie is a rare artist whose distinct images are imbued with emotion, evoking awe and tears."
While seats at the final performances through Sunday had been selling briskly, it was unclear if Ms. Taymor would be sitting in one, friends of hers said this week. She, Mr. Cohl and Mr. Harris still have not signed a final agreement spelling out her creative rights over the show going forward, despite weeks of negotiations. Bad blood remains between Ms. Taymor, as the former director, and the producers and Bono and the Edge, who helped push her out after nine years of working together.
Ms. Taymor has taken the view that this "Spider-Man" is not what some are calling "the director's cut": she was not, after all, given the chance to make all the improvements to the show she wanted, her friends say.
A version of this article appears in print on April 16, 2011, on Page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: One Show Spins Its Last, As Another Takes Shape. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
The Web of 'Spider-Man' FEB. 7, 2011
'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' FEB. 7, 2011
THEATER REVIEW | 'SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK'
'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' at Foxwoods Theater - Review FEB. 7, 2011
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (Musical)


text:
Cleitamia cyclops är en tvåvingeart som beskrevs av Malloch 1939. Cleitamia cyclops ingår i släktet Cleitamia och familjen bredmunsflugor. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Bredmunsflugor
cyclops

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
The Amun Chamber
The Amun Chamber by Daniel Leston
Kindle e-Book, 2nd ed.
In August of 1956, Lionel DeCaylus, an amateur archaeologist/drifter/dreamer/scoundrel, died under mysterious circumstances in Cairo, Egypt. His legacy was that of a family embittered by his desertion of them and an apparently unfulfilled obsession to find the tomb of Alexander the Great.
More than fifty years later, Professor David Manning, successful author, scholar and classical archaeologist, finds himself at professional loose ends as he embarks on a lecture tour that focuses on the tomb of Phillip II of Macedonia, father to Alexander. His career is at a standstill; his excavation near Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, has been shut down indefinitely by government authorities wrangling over private property rights, and while he has had great success with a best-selling work of historical fiction and his publisher is clamoring for another magnum opus, he has hit a towering writer's block! His one hope for bursting through that block lays in a cache of letters, written by Lionel DeCaylus to his great-aunt, Edith Whitely, emeritus professor of ancient studies at the University of Thessalonika. Edith had apparently been a close confidante of DeCaylus back in the old days, and possibly the only person the increasingly paranoid DeCaylus trusted. The wild tales included in the letters concerning his search for the treasures of Alexander seemed to provide the plotline grist to David's novel-writing mill.
It seemed to David almost karmic when, during his Cornell University lecture, he was challenged by none other than a lovely young doctoral student who turned out to be none other than Lionel DeCaylus' grand-daughter, Elizabeth. She agrees to help provide him further background on her ne'er-do-well grandfather once he convinces her of the authenticity of the letters written to his great-aunt, and together the two of them explore the nearly-abandoned DeCaylus family home on Cape Cod. They discover a small trunk in the attic that has apparently gone undisturbed an un-opened since its arrival more than a half-century earlier. The shipping bill is still attached, postmarked Alexandria, Egypt, and dated August 11, 1956—the day Lionel was killed! Within the trunk is a beautifully molded golden disk—the sunburst symbol of Macedonian kings. David is thunderstruck—could Lionel actually have discovered the resting place of Alexander? Was his obsession actually realized before he died?
From this point on David and Elizabeth form a partnership to follow the winding trail left by the enigmatic Lionel DeCaylus—to perhaps re-discover the secrets he might have unearthed in his search for Alexander's final resting place. Alexander had been interred in a magnificent sarcophagus for nearly four hundred years under the rule of the Ptolemy's and then the Romans, but then the body disappeared to history, although he remained the revered last true son of Amun-Ra, the supreme god of the ancient Egyptians.
The quest for Lionel DeCaylus begins with a visit to Edith Whitely at Salonika and more background information on the strange peripatetic life of the long-dead archaeologist. Edith urges David and Elizabeth on to Cairo and the aid of her old friend and colleague, Dr. Lewis Gobeir, retired Director of Antiquities at the Cairo Museum. They soon find themselves mired in the sordid and dangerous world of antiquities thieves and smugglers, but their dogged investigations lead them back in time to an excavation at Tell El Amarna that likely set Lionel on the trail of Alexander's tomb—and unfortunately his death, not by accident as originally believed, but by murder. Their hunt for Lionel leads David and Elizabeth to Alexandria, and from there to Mersa Mutruh, a port town on the Mediterranean, and ultimately to the Siwah Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is in this desolate land that all the deadly forces arrayed to find the sarcophagus of Alexander clash and David and Elizabeth must battle for their very lives.
Daniel Leston has created an exciting and engaging archaeological thriller, filled it with sympathetic protagonists and thoroughly evil villains. Vivid descriptions of exotic locations add to the enjoyment of reading the novel. Unfortunately, the limitations of e-books are often annoyingly apparent as shoddy editing leads to too many typographical and grammatical errors, including the egregious mis-spelling of Heinrich Schliemann's name!
Three trowels for this enjoyable leisure-time read.
Previous ReviewThe Tenth Chamber by Glenn Cooper


Separation anxiety in toddlers is completely normal, but that doesn't make it easy to handle. Maybe we'd like being able to spend 24/7 with out toddlers, but life isn't like that; and if they would take our comings and goings with a happy, sunny face everything would be much more peaceful. Instead, he acts as if you are planning major abandonment every time you step out to get your nails done or have lunch with a friend. And that daycare you vetted so carefully, making sure it was the perfect safe haven for your little son or daughter? The way the child acts, it's as if you're dropping him off at a 18th-century poorhouse.
It doesn't feel normal, it doesn't feel right, but separation anxiety in toddlers is no more than a phase that almost all toddlers go through. Some have it more severe than others; some have it in spurts, but it's a regular part of growing up. Your toddler is learning to deal with the fact that you're not a permanent fixture in his life, with a body separate and independent from his body, and when you leave he's not absolutely entirely sure yet that you'll always come back.
Your child's separation anxiety won't last forever. Every child has their own timeline, but the worst of separation anxiety should be over before your child turns three. Think of it as growing pains as your child adjusts to a confusing, sometimes scary world.
It's not your fault your toddler is acting up, but there are things you can do to make it better—and there are some mistakes you could make to make the problem much worse. Here are some important do's and don'ts when dealing with separation anxiety in toddlers.
•	Join in on the cry party. You may feel as if sharing your toddler's tears and agitation, at least in a small measure, is empathetic, but it actually makes him feel much worse: if mommy is worried about leaving too, this must be a really major disaster!
•	Scold unnecessarily. Your toddler isnt' trying to be manipulative; he is simply expressing his feelings. Give him freedom to do that, setting boundaries if necessary.
•	Resort to subterfuge. Sneaking away seems like the easy way out, but it's hardest on your toddler, both today after he realizes you are gone and in the future. You're teaching your child he can't trust, and that's a scary thing to teach.
•	Let your toddler know exactly when you are going, where you are going (if appropriate) and when you will be back. Knowledge is power, and by giving him this basic information you are letting him feel a little more in control in his world.
•	Plan for transition times by having a babysitter come a little earlier than you plan to leave; or going to daycare early so that you have fifteen minutes you can 'be there' for your toddler as he adjusts.
•	Say goodbye when you leave, and encourage him to say goodbye and wave to you.
•	Keep your attitude happy, upbeat and positive, even if your toddler is screaming and kicking a fit.
Remember, he's growing up each day; it won't be long before separation anxiety in toddlers will be a thing of the past for the two of you. The day may even come (can you believe it?) that you miss the days he noticed when you left. So cherish him now, spend all the time together you can, and put on a brave face when you have to deal with separation troubles.


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17 Apr 2018 by cyberfizh	in Apologetics, Church, Cyberculture, Ethics, Faith, Fiction, Life, Spirituality, Theology and tagged c.s. lewis, church history, dragon age, dragons, dungeons and dragons, england, Ethics, Faith, hic sunt dracones, j.r.r. tolkien, map making, maps, mere christianity, narnia, patron saint, role playing games, rpg, saint george, scouts, Spirituality, the chronicles of narnia, the lion the witch and the wardrobe, the lord of the rings	| Leave a comment
C.S. Lewis, famous for 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe', stated in one of his non-fictional works, 'Mere Christianity',
'The moment you wake up, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in listening to that other voice, that point of view, letting that other stronger, quieter life come flowing in.'
In other words, our path toward being fully human involves a recognition each day that we are not the centre of the universe. The trouble is we live in a culture that tells us that we are and that we should always get what we want. We are all consumers now relating to everything in terms of consumption – not just shopping, but education, health care, and religion. But being a consumer is not the height of what it means to be human.
I am reminded of this on Saint George's Day – 23rd April – the day dedicated to the patron saint of England. We probably know the story about the knightly George and the dragon. But what do we know about the real George?
All we know is that George, or Georgios, was born around 270 BCE, probably in Cappadocia (now Eastern Turkey), not England. At the age of 17 he entered the service of the Emperor Diocletian as a Roman soldier.
Diocletian was for most of his reign tolerant of religious minorities, but around the turn of the century public opinion blamed the refusal of Christians to participate in pagan sacrifices for a series of unfavourable events and omens, and the Emperor ordered all Christians to conform to the Roman sacrificial system or else lose their positions. Those opposed to Christianity pressed for punishment, and an Oracle from Apollo at Didyma was widely interpreted as calling for the suppression of Christians. So on 24th February 303 BCE Diocletian's 'Edict against the Christians' was published. A spate of persecutions followed, and many Christians died including George the Roman soldier and Christian martyr.
The Roman historian Eusebius, writing twenty years later, spoke of a soldier who was executed on 23rd April 303 BCE for this act. George was identified with Eusebius's soldier, which is why Saint George is remembered on 23rd April to this day.
There are numerous theories of why Saint George is depicted with a dragon in Christian iconography. One theory suggests that the Roman soldier, George, refused to kneel before an image of a dragon or a serpent – possibly on a Roman Standard – and that this is where the story of 'Saint George and the Dragon' originates.
But even stories possess truth and allow us to explore the truth within ourselves. C.S. Lewis knew this, exploring the truth of his Christian faith through 'The Chronicles of Narnia' as much as he did through any of his theological writings or radio broadcasts. Lewis's friend J.R.R.Tolkien held to a similar principle in his writings that revolved around his famous trilogy 'The Lord of the Rings'.
Role playing games such as 'Dungeons and Dragons' and digital versions such as 'Dragon Age' have built upon these stories and developed them for our own age. All of them in some ways look back to earlier stories such as 'Saint George and the Dragon'. And in that story George had to face a question. Was he the centre of his own universe or was their something more worth defending? A dragon that needed defeating? The real George faced the dragon by refusing to renounce his Christian faith.
George would probably have remained a saint principally revered in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Asia had it not been for the Crusades. The crusaders journeys introduced them to the icons of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and they were impressed by the depictions of the courageous soldier-saint slaying a dragon and rescuing a damsel in distress.
They simply did not understand how the symbolism of iconography works, and that George's dragon stood for evil, or perhaps Diocletian, and the beautiful princess for Christianity, or the Blessed Virgin Mary, or for the Church itself. Not knowing how to interpret what they saw, they produced their own interpretations.
Sadly, this expressed itself in the crusades with acts of violence under the guise of 'knightly valour' and today Saint George is hijacked by extreme English nationalistic tendencies in some quarters. If only they knew who the real George, or Giorgios, was.
But if we can strip away the layers of legend we are still left with a little pinch of truth. George, the Christian who stood up to something terrifying and was able to do so not because he thought he was at the centre of the universe but because he knew he was not. Realising we are not the centre of the universe is a good thing as the history of map making can illustrate to us.
500 years ago people believed the Earth was flat. We know this from the history of making maps. Anyone who has been a scout knows not only that Saint George is their patron saint but something about map reading and map making.
If you go to an archive and look at any maps from 500 years ago you will see that maps of Europe were fine, but the further away from Europe they got, the less accurate they became. In uncharted places a Latin phrase can often be found:
'Hic Sunt Dracones' or 'Here be dragons.'
So in the history of map making, dragons represented the fear of the unknown. As we know it took explorers to go into the unknown and to face these fears. That is why we have accurate maps today. To me, Saint George's Day is about facing fear – facing the dragon. For the real Saint George it mean't facing the fear of being persecuted for what he believed in as a Christian.
What might facing the dragon look like in our own age?
'Hic Sunt Dracones.'
We will all encounter these words, and not just on historical maps. Remembering the real Saint George may help us face those words wherever we may encounter them. I remember a hymn I used to sing at school, 'When a Knight won his Spurs', which in one of the verses says the following:
"Let faith be my shield and let joy be my steed
'gainst the dragons of anger, the ogres of greed;
and let me set free, with the sword of my youth,
from the castle of darkness the power of the truth."
Living these words where 'there be dragons' lies the path to true chivalry.
14 Aug 2017 by cyberfizh	in Church, Faith, Life, Spirituality and tagged Christianity, creation, Faith, iona, iona abbey, nature, scotland	| Leave a comment
Iona is a place of invitation
Iona invites you to be at one
with creation
both land and sea
both animal and human
18 Jul 2016 by cyberfizh	in Ethics, Life and tagged Baton Rouge, Cyberculture, Faith, Good Samaritan, Ieshia Evans, Jonathan Bachman, Neighbours, Parables, Prejudice, Racial Issues, social media, Theology	| Leave a comment
It all began on Facebook.
In Minnesota, USA, a young African-American woman was describing through live video feed how her boyfriend had been shot and killed by a white American police officer who had stopped them initially for a faulty break light on their car.
It escalated into the murder of five police officers in Dallas by a sniper during ensuing peaceful protests.
In less than a week it was captured in what some describe as an 'iconic' photograph by Jonathan Bachman going viral on social media, depicting the contrast between the lightly clothed Ieshia Evans and heavily armoured police in Baton Rouge.
At the heart of these related events a timeless question emerges:
Social media is nothing more than a mirror on human nature. For all our advancements in communications technology it seems we still have a deep and sometimes dangerous fear of those different from ourselves. We have an unparalleled freedom to communicate which also provides a platform to amplify our fears of all that is 'other'.
This question was once posed to Jesus who responded with what is called the 'Parable of the Good Samaritan'. Jesus did not invent parables but he did use them to great effect. A parable is literally something "cast alongside" something else. Jesus' parables were usually "cast alongside" a situation in order to illustrate a truth.
The phrase, 'Good Samaritan', is still used and generally understood to mean someone who goes out of their way to help someone. That being said, the parable of the Good Samaritan can be misunderstood. It may be reduced to a story of showing kindness or we may think of the volunteer organisation, 'The Samaritans'. But in Jesus' day Samaritans were hated and feared.
Who were the original Samaritans?
Samaritans were related to Jews but due to historic events were racially different to some degree and accepted only the first five books of the Bible – the Torah. They once built a temple on Mount Gerizim to rival that of Jerusalem. But about 200 years before Jesus was born, a Jewish reformer destroyed it. Then around 6 BCE Samaritan activists scattered human bones in the temple in Jerusalem, desecrating it. There was open hostility. Most Jews practised a kind of apartheid to avoid Samaria ‑ a convention Jesus broke (John 4:1-42). So let's revisit this story to discern what Jesus really said about who is our neighbour.
What does it mean to live a good life?
In essence that is the question that is asked of Jesus which we are told in Luke's gospel (Luke 10:25-37) prompted him to reply with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Loving God and neighbour is the verbatim reply of the questioner based upon Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18 but it is clear it is an unthinking response. This is underlined by his next question, "And who is my neighbour?" At which point Jesus tells the parable.
In the parable a man travels on the Jerusalem to Jericho road. Jerusalem is 3,000 feet above sea level. Jericho is 1,000 feet below sea level. This is a steep road. Its geography provides ideal hideouts for robbers. Part of the route is nicknamed 'Ascent of Blood' and was familiar to Jesus' audience. Unsurprisingly the traveller falls among robbers. But they didn't just rob him. They stripped him, beat him, and left him half dead.
What is going to happen next?
I once knew a person who coined a phrase, 'PLU', meaning 'People Like Us'. In essence the first two people to find the victim are 'People Like Us': respectable, God-fearing people, who obey the law and practise common-sense. In the context of the story the religious law forbade Jesus' contemporaries to touch a body that to them probably appeared to be dead. Worse, it may even have been a trap on this notorious road, similar today to people stopping to assist an individual in distress and then being mugged by the rest of a gang in hiding. Therefore both PLU's in the story pass the victim by.
Will anyone do what is needed?
The idea of a Samaritan being a good neighbour to a Jew would stun those listening to Jesus. This is the punch line. The one who stops and helps is a Samaritan – neighbours are not by default those who are PLU's but those who dare risk compassion. The question, "Who is my neighbour?" is answered by Jesus that it just might be:
"The last person you would want living next door to you."
The one to love is the one we are not loving. From Samaria to Baton Rouge: if Jesus were to tell us this story today, who would be the Samaritan for us?
The world still longs for an answer in more than just words. Like the victim in the parable lying on the road, needing more than a prayer. There is only one answer and always has been – from our neighbourhoods to our 'Global Village':
Be the neighbour you long to meet.
Or as Jesus said at the end of his story, "Go and do likewise."
The Somme in Time
1 Jul 2016 by cyberfizh	in Ethics, Life and tagged Battle of the Somme, Doctor Who, Faith, Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, Theology, Time Lord, Time Machine, Woodbine Willie	| Leave a comment
I wonder if you have a favourite Doctor Who?
Mine is John Pertwee, with his yellow vintage car, 'Bessie'. It is amazing to think that this famous Time Lord has been on our television sets for over 50 years.
We only have to double that number to 100 to bring us to the date being remembered today – 1st July 1916. In the United Kingdom and beyond, this date is being remembered in services and silence as the beginning of the Battle of the Somme.
The British Army suffered huge losses – 19,240 on the first day alone. The tragedy of the Somme marked something of a 'sea change' in the British nation's attitude to 'The Great War' or World War One. Arguably the war that continues to define our modern age. One reason being the enormous, industrial scale, of killing that took place.
I have already quoted some numbers and they can be hard to comprehend. But the soldiers who died in World War One on the British and Commonwealth side alone was brought home to me in the poppies seen around the Tower of London in 2014. A vast field of red ceramic flowers, 888,246 poppies, each representing a life. I saw it with my youngest son and together with the crowds of visitors we found it humbling, moving, breath-taking.
Trying to take in the scale of this may feel like like trying to comprehend time itself. For some years I was a chaplain for a local branch of the Royal British Legion. What helped me comprehend some of the significance of Remembrance Sundays and other events were personal stories amid the vast statistics of destruction.
One of them was Rev. Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy – nicknamed 'Woodbine Willie' – a name fondly given to him by the soldiers. Armed only with a packet of cigarettes and his faith, he dwelt among them. I am not promoting smoking but the cigarettes helped relieve their battle stress, was a rare comfort along with his listening ear, and Woodbine Willie helped the soldiers cope with unimaginable horrors each day.
I believe it was for them something of a 'communion'. A special word for Christians. But a word that simply means, 'common unity' or 'deep fellowship'. Woodbine Willie shared that fellowship in the trenches, and made God known through what he shared. Eventually Woodbine Willie was awarded the Military Cross with this citation:
"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He showed the greatest courage and disregard for his own safety in attending to the wounded under heavy fire. He searched shell holes for our own and enemy wounded, assisting them to the dressing station, and his cheerfulness and endurance had a splendid effect upon all ranks in the front line trenches, which he constantly visited."
One story – amid a vast field of memories. One that reminds me we can make a difference in what may feel like a sea of chaos and sacrifice. There are so many stories that could be shared, but there is not enough time. Silence is probably best, even if it is only for 2 minutes. But 2 minutes can feel like a lot, just as 100 years can feel like very little. Time is relative.
We are not Time Lords. We cannot change history. But we can learn from it. That is the message I once shared at a Remembrance Sunday service where there were many young people and families present. Remembering these events is not about glorifying them but trying to avoid the terrible mistake of repeating them. That is why we should never forget the sacrifices made.
We have no time machine to make things right, but we can share what Woodbine Willie shared in the trenches – faith.
Faith in a better world that can come through the chaos of war.
Faith in one another that our only hope is in working together.
Faith that good can finally overcome evil, even if that involves terrible sacrifice.
Faith in God – the Lord of Time.
We cannot change the past 100 years, but we can learn from it and faithfully shape the future. 'Tomorrow' is a precious gift that the words of the Kohima Epitaph remind us, has been entrusted to us by those who gave their 'today'.
Thanks to them the future is ours. Time is in our hands. In that sense we can be 'Time Lords'. So let me just say this: "Travel well."
11 Jun 2016 by cyberfizh	in Faith, Spirituality and tagged 300, Cyberculture, Faith, internet, mustard seeds, social media, spartans, testimony, Theology	| Leave a comment
Is it right to share your faith?
No, I don't think it is.
Not if that faith involves bitterness, judgmentalism, fear, or any other dysfunctional behaviour. Why share that? But, if faith involves openness, humility, forgiveness, justice, love – isn't it wrong not to share that? So the real questions are:
"What is my faith?"
"Is it a faith worth sharing?"
At a neighbouring church the congregation were once asked to provide their own answer to these questions in 300 words. 300 words is not very long. It is the time you might spend waiting for a bus, or ordering a coffee, or reading a blog! It is a window of opportunity to share with another.
Can you encapsulate your faith in 300 words?
Not quoting one of the historic Christian creeds, but your 'creed'?
If you can't say what you believe in 300 words, can you say anything?
This last question may seem facile but statistics indicate that our attention spans are shortening in the digital age, it has even been said that an average attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish.
So, if you are still reading this then please consider the following:
300 words is a small number amid the sea of words that surround us every day. But some may recall that 300 Spartans made a huge difference to the battle of Thermopylae, a story retold in literature and popular films ever since. Or think of it like this, 300 words can be like the mustard seeds Jesus once talked about (Mark 4:26-34), in what are often described as the 'parables of growth' for the Kingdom of God. Small seeds, and yet, who knows what growth may come?
Will 300 words change the world?
Do seeds?
"Yes" is the answer – in the sense that each can bring life. So, take heart – for you only have to pay attention now to my 300 words that I will share. Admittedly they come from a Christian perspective because that is who I am, but instead of over-analysing what I say, as you read my words, perhaps think about what yours might be – whatever your faith or none. Why? Because it seems we do not have time to attend to much more. 300 words might not be much to look at, but then neither are mustard seeds, are they?
My 300 Words
I am a Christian because I believe there is more to life than what we can own.
There is more to people than a chance group of cells.
We have a soul that seeks fulfilment.
We look for fulfilment in all sorts of ways. But ultimately it comes when we realise that it does not depend upon us becoming bigger, by acquiring more stuff, power, or fame. It depends upon us becoming smaller and seeing ourselves as part of a bigger picture, like a piece in a jigsaw, or a thread in a tapestry.
If God exists, as I believe, I think that is how God sees us. And when I listen to the words of Jesus in the Bible, or think about what he did, that confirms what I feel.
Becoming a bigger person can happen when we learn to give things up.
To let go.
It is in giving that strangely enough, we receive and grow. Sacrifice sometimes makes us stronger, not weaker. Strong enough to face all our fears, even the fear of death.
Death comes in many forms.
There is physical death. But I believe in emotional, relational, social, communal, psychological, even spiritual death. And I believe Jesus can save us from all these 'deaths'.
Why do I believe this?
Because he already has, in some ways, for me.
And that is enough for me to believe he will do more.
Being a Christian is not about reading books, or being impossibly good, or listening to boring sermons. It's about being alive. And recognising that this life in all its forms comes from God whose generosity is bigger than death in all its forms.
We are not here to be endless consuming machines.
We are here to be alive and to share life with others generously…
The Age of 'Global-Gnosis'
27 May 2016 by cyberfizh	in Apologetics, Evangelism and tagged anglicanism, Apologetics, Cyberculture, Faith, gnosticism, internet, mike wadhera, richard hooker, social media, Theology	| Leave a comment
"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." (Edmund Burke 1729-1797)
I have always loved history. I was fortunate enough to be inspired by a very good history teacher at school and perhaps that is where the spark of interest began. In many ways I am struck by how the history of early Christianity is being mirrored in our own technologically driven world today.
Take Gnosticism for example. Perhaps the best way to describe Gnosticism would be as a 'religious philosophy' that could integrate into various religious traditions and did so in Christianity in the first centuries of its existence. The essential tenets of Gnosticism could be summed up briefly as follows; the material world is under the control of evil. A 'divine spark' is trapped within human beings and that alone is capable of being rescued. This rescuing, or salvation, comes through a secret knowledge, 'gnosis', which is part information but also part experiential. 'Gnosis' is not only truth propositions but also self-knowledge.
In the ancient world Gnosticism was so pervasive that it led to the early Christian bishops drawing up our present canon of scripture in the Bible, excluding texts for example, from the more recently discovered Nag-Hammadi library, such as the Gospel of Thomas. They also formulated the Christian creeds, such as the Nicaean Creed, which are repeated every week in churches around the world to this day. It is hard to generalise but Christian Gnosticism led to certain moral abuses and had more in common with pagan mystery religions than the historical Jesus. For these and other reasons the response of the early Christians to Gnosticism was reasoned information, which it can be argued, still pervades traditional Christian liturgical worship and theology.
But we have a problem. The human experience of God requires more than reason. This is not to downplay reason, indeed within Anglican theology it is said to form part of a 'three legged stool' which consists of 'Scripture – Tradition – Reason', classically defined by the 16th century English theologian Richard Hooker. Later the Age of Reason was an eighteenth-century movement which was a reaction to the mystical religion of the Middle Ages and affirmed the scientific disciplines of the Enlightenment. But those who study history will know that historical trends often go back and forth like a pendulum. The Age of Reason and the Enlightenment provided many great things and personal liberties but faith is more than a set of rational propositions about God.
In part I believe we can frame these historic movements as 'successors' of the early Christians to define Christianity into a set of propositions that could be contained within an institutional faith that could sit easily with the governance framework of the Roman Empire under the Emperor Constantine and his successors. But reasoned argument about God cannot satisfy the human thirst and experience for the numinous of God. Putting it simply, creeds and the formal liturgies they are placed within cannot guarantee a spiritual encounter of the divine, they can only define what is believed, or more negatively, who is 'in' and who is 'out'. But this is nothing more than 'club membership' and fails to meet the needs of the majority, something that cannot be ignored in this country as the inherited 'Christendom' model of Christianity continues to unravel and decline.
New statistics confirm the continuing spiral of decline of church attendance or even acknowledgement of membership to the traditional Christian denominations of the United Kingdom. People are voting with their feet and do not want to be considered as even nominally 'in'. This is a sea change. Or perhaps it can be said that Gnosticism never really went away? It's attraction remains within the Christian Church even though those who may profess something of it in their understanding of God may never have heard of the word. The debate will continue and not only within theological circles about the human desire for 'experiential' knowledge. For example, in a recent article 'The Information Age is over; welcome to the Experience Age', commenting on the changing use of social media, Mike Wadhera has written:
"Facebook is an Information Age native. Along with other social networks of its generation, Facebook was built on a principle of the desktop era — accumulation. Accumulation manifests in a digital profile where my identity is the sum of all the information I've saved — text, photos, videos, web pages….. In the Information Age we represented ourselves with this digital profile. But mobile has changed how we view digital identity. With a connected camera televising our life in-the-moment, accumulated information takes a back seat to continual self-expression. The "virtual self" is becoming less evident. I may be the result of everything I've done, but I'm not the accumulation of it. Snapchat is native to this new reality. Many people think Snapchat is all about secrecy, but the real innovation of Snapchat's ephemeral messages isn't that they self-destruct. It's that they force us to break the accumulation habit we brought over from desktop computing. The result is that the profile is no longer the centre of the social universe. In the Experience Age you are not a profile. You are simply you."
Wadhera argues that we are moving from an Age of Information to an Age of Experience, I would dare to take this further and say an Age of 'Global-Gnosis'. This is a time of mass information as never before but the irony is that something more is craved, and that 'something' is experiential knowledge. I believe we can see this in many ways, from the changing trends in holidays to cater for 'extreme or adventurous' experiences to the growth in popularity of meditation practices such as mindfulness, which seek to place us directly in the present moment or the 'now'.
In 21st century Britain the continuing rejection by the general population, not only via church attendance but membership of traditional Christianity, underlines that people do not want church liturgies to inform them about God but to provide them with an experience of God. And it is more complex than merely suggesting that Charismatic or Catholic liturgical practices fulfil this experiential need. Information, which may include modern translations in worship, are not enough. The human soul in the 21st century still hungers for the numinous that liturgies coming from the era of rationalism cannot seem to fulfil as people continue to vote with their feet and walk away.
A new apologetics is required. One comfortable in the digital age of 'Global-Gnosis'. Traditional orthodox engagement may not be enough to meet this new millennium of creativity and dialogue that is typified in the memes of social media. As the gulf widens between the Christian Church and the social-milieu within which church communities find themselves, there is a growing need for boldness in creativity and inculturation of the Christian Gospel as there once was in the early centuries of the Church and its missionary movements, such as Celtic Christianity within these isles.
Such an engagement may possess risks but may also provide an impetus to help discover a different dimension of the creative Spirit of God for the new millennium. Otherwise the alternative currently developing for the traditional Christian churches in the United Kingdom is to sadly acknowledge that they may inevitably become 'history'.
20 May 2016 by cyberfizh	in Ethics, Life and tagged bullying, counselling, cyberbullying, Cyberculture, Faith, pastoral care, Theology	| Leave a comment
Bullying seems to have been around for a long time. It was Thomas Hughes who immortalised one of the most famous school bullies in the form of 'Flashman' in "Tom Brown's School Days" published in 1857. Flashman ironically became the focus of a series of novels in the late 1960's and following underlining that there may well be an 'attract' 'repel' syndrome to bullies also. Some of us may believe that bullying is almost a right of passage that we have to persevere with and get through, others may live in the shadow of bullying to this day. Wherever we are, we will all have a view and an experience of bullying.
However, in the age of the world wide web bullying has taken on a new form in the guise of 'cyberbullying'. The playground now covers the globe and affects people of every generation as the website www.bullying.co.uk reveals. In the United Kingdom the children's charity, the NSPCC have revealed statistics that in 2015 they provided almost 26,000 counselling sessions related to bullying or cyberbullying. It provides acute distress to victims and their families alike. Cyberbullying also adds the new dimension of 'global display' to a very old problem. The Christian Broadcasting Network has said this about cyberbullying:
"Still more Christian parents, quoting Jesus, tell their children to "turn the other cheek" (Matthew 5:39) when bullied. What's remarkable is that when Jesus was slapped on the face by the guard of the High Priest, He did not turn his face so the guard could slap him again. Instead Jesus responded, "If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?" (John 18:19-23) Jesus not only defended himself with words, He confronted the bully and demanded an answer for his unjust treatment.
Since Jesus does not contradict himself, we are given a valuable lesson into what he really meant. He wants his followers to not return an insult for an insult. Jesus, explained C.S. Lewis, does not want his followers to be neither motivated nor consumed by revenge when something wrong like bullying is done to them. But, and this is a key insight into a faith-based response to adolescent bullying, self-defense is not the same as revenge. This fundamental truth is at the heart of Lewis' essay, "Why I Am Not a Pacifist." A child can defend himself while at the same time not abuse or demean another person."
Jesus often stood in favour of the defenceless and the outcast and in our global playground of cyberbullies and cybervictims it is important to start with that fact. In the midst of the chaos of World War Two the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." There is more we can do as Christians than say to ourselves or our children to 'turn the other cheek'. Love sometimes has to be expressed in assertive, but not aggressive, ways.
The response to cyberbullying will require our own individual judgment. Fortunately for parents and other careers of children the internet does provide a partial solution to this online problem in the form of Childnet International, a charitable organisation specialising in resources for children and their carers to help tackle cyberbullying so that no individual has to deal with this phenomenon on their own.
Without wishing to condone any behaviour it also has to be remembered that to some degree cyberbullies are victims too and that their freedom from such behaviour is part of the solution to an ailment that has afflicted humanity for a long time. Can we overcome this digital 'Goliath' together? Like David in the original Bible story, we would do well to remember that belief in God provided David's incentive for self-belief, (which is often the first casualty in any form of bullying), and therein perhaps lies part of the answer for people of faith in confronting the spectral giant of cyberbullying. (1 Samuel 17)
Cyberbullying will prevail for as long as we have the internet. Like so many other things that humans have invented the technology is not in itself the problem, instead it points toward something much deeper within the human soul and helps to provide a means to express it with potentially devastating effects. If you or someone you know are a victim of cyberbullying then below is a short film on taking some practical steps in not letting it define or defeat you:
Virtual Dementia Tour
16 May 2016 by cyberfizh	in Ethics, Life and tagged Cyberculture, dementia, Faith, mental health care, Theology, virtual dementia tour	| Leave a comment
"You can't really understand a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes."
This Cherokee proverb came true for me this week when I was invited to participate in something called the Virtual Dementia Tour by a local residential care home manager. Designed by P K Beville in 2001 the tour bus is designed to help you experience what it is like to be a sufferer of dementia. It is based upon years of research and the tour literally puts you in their shoes.
More effective than participating in a two hour lecture , this seven minute 'virtual reality' tour bombards the senses and leaves you with a unique and valuable experience that will make a lasting impression upon you. Your hearing, vision, sense of touch, and even the very soles in your shoes are all impaired. You cannot perform basic tasks. I used to picture dementia as an experience perhaps like being in a fog – I now know it is more like being in a whirlwind for many sufferers. I was moved.
Deliberately given instructions in a terse and impersonal manner by an unnamed 'tour guide' the tour also helps you to understand how sufferers can feel treated and in that sense helps you to empathise with the often frightening situation they are placed in through their condition.
Affecting more than three quarters of a million people in the UK alone and expected to rise to two million by 2050, dementia is the 'D' word that has replaced the formerly unspeakable 'C' word of cancer in many ways in our society. As used to be the case with cancer sufferers a BBC news programme only today has reported that over two thirds of dementia sufferers feel as though their life is over when they are diagnosed. Shame, embarrassment, and fear still surround this disease for sufferers and relatives alike. And that stigma will continue wherever there is resistance by the majority in walking in the shoes of the marginalised.
Research continues and there is even a mobile app called 'Sea Hero Quest' to assist in continuing studies in understanding dementia and how to counteract the disease. My own personal recommendation would be that the Virtual Dementia Tour Bus not only be made available to residential care workers and others in the caring professions, but in other community organisations and secondary schools. There is such a prevailing stigma about being a dementia sufferer, that I think all generations could benefit from walking in the shoes of the afflicted, even if only for seven minutes.
Finally, as a Christian I think I have learned a valuable spiritual insight that applies more generally to everyone who may come across my path: If I am not prepared to walk in the shoes of others how can I help them walk with God?
Digital Reformation 2.0
11 May 2016 by cyberfizh	in Church, Ministry, Mission and tagged Apologetics, carey nieuwhof, church history, Cyberculture, Faith, internet, printing press, reformation, Theology	| Leave a comment
What will the Church of the future look like? In the face of continuous change this question is becoming evermore prominent to those churches that do not wish to have their backs to the future. In an insightful article by Carey Nieuwhof in 'ChristianWeek', Carey writes of a 'seismic shift' taking place today that is parallel to the conversion of the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity in the fourth century, or the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century.
The latter had a direct influence on the Reformation of the Christian Church in Europe which it is commonly agreed, began on 31st October 1517 when the German monk and theologian, Martin Luther, nailed his 95 theses to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg. The theses were a response to the then practice of selling 'indulgences' to absolve sins. Luther propounded two central beliefs in his theses: that the Bible is central to Christian religious authority and that human beings may reach salvation by their faith alone and not by their deeds. It is arguable that Luther would easily have disappeared into history and the Reformation never have begun without the invention of printing to quickly disseminate his ideas.
Although the original Reformation is now consigned to history the Christian Church could be on the cusp of a 'digital' Reformation 2.0. This is not due to any malpractices within the Church but simply because of the revolutionary development of information technology since the arrival of the internet. Carey does not himself make this claim but some of what he says in his article '10 predictions about the future Church and shifting attendance patterns' does imply this. For example Carey's second prediction says this:
"…many individual congregations and some entire denominations won't make it. The difference will be between those who cling to the mission and those who cling to the model. When the car was invented, it quickly took over from the horse and buggy. Horse and buggy manufacturers were relegated to boutique status and many went under, but human transportation actually exploded. Suddenly average people could travel at a level they never could before. The mission is travel. The model is a buggy, or car, or motorcycle, or jet. Look at the changes in the publishing, music and even photography industry in the last few years. See a trend? The mission is reading. It's music. It's photography. The model always shifts….moving from things like 8 tracks, cassettes and CDs to MP3s and now streaming audio and video. Companies that show innovation around the mission (Apple, Samsung) will always beat companies that remain devoted to the method (Kodak). Churches need to stay focused on the mission (leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus) and be exceptionally innovative in our model."
Anyone who is familiar with the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible will know how much the model of the apostles' faith had to change in order to engage with the missionary journey they were led to undertake through God's Holy Spirit. If they never had changed the model, the journey would never have begun and Christianity would probably have disappeared as a sect of Judaism within the first few centuries, if not decades, of the death of Jesus.
Today, as the internet matures and becomes part of our 'normal' experience it is becoming increasingly evident that a seismic shift is happening within our human cultures, particularly in relation to communication.
What are the implications for the Christian 'kerygma', or proclamation of the Gospel?
What are the models that need to change, or be 'reformed', within the Christian Church in order for the kerygma to resonate with today's generation?
Dare the Christian Church change or reform them for a generation that have been taught within our education systems to expect to interact with the information they are provided?
Dare we not?
What does it mean to be human.com? Bladerunner Replicated
28 Apr 2016 by cyberfizh	in Faith, Spirituality and tagged bladerunner, Cyberculture, Faith, mindfulness, popular culture, Spirituality, stuffocation, Theology	| Leave a comment
'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' was a huge summer blockbuster in 1982. I remember seeing it at a packed cinema and yet the world portrayed in it seems to now be of the last century. More disturbing is another film released that year which I remember watching at a virtually empty cinema, that was deemed a box office failure at the time, but whose haunting themes and message only seem to resonate more closely with this new millennium. It is now described as prophetic and a cult classic.
'Bladerunner' presents a dystopian nightmare of a not too distant future whose complex themes question our human identity. Paul Sammon in 'Future Noir: The Making of Bladerunner' (1996), sums this up well when he says:
"Lurking under the film's pop visuals and trendy special effects is a subtle, dizzying tangle of deeply felt moral, philosophical, and sociological concerns. Take the film's title a "Blade Runner" could also be interpreted as someone who scampers along the thin edge of life. Or witness the multiple examples of narrative mirroring (or doubling) throughout. Deckard kills two replicants, two replicants save his life. Deckard finds a reason to live; Batty wants to live. Religious parallels are also rampant: Tyrell is literally the replicant's God, and Batty, Tyrell's prodigal son, symbolically pierces his hand with a nail, suggesting crucifixion. Even the film's horizontal/vertical design scheme makes a statement; Blade Runner's privileged few live in luxurious towers, literally high above the disenfranchised masses below. All the musings are swept aside, however, by the three, key, simple yet profound questions which constitute the core of the film: Who am I? Why am I here? What does it mean to be human?"
These questions resonate even more clearly in our age of the global community. We can invent the persona of whoever we want to be, dispose of that identity, and invent another one in a matter of minutes online. We are constantly bombarded with information and an endless horizon of possibilities and yet there are suggestions that we are 'communicating' less in relation to social interactions, the irony being that we may feel less connected to other human beings within this digital communications oasis. And a Kierkergaardian existential despair may develop leaving us residing at 'What does it mean to be human.com?'
Human beings are social animals. However badly we may do it sometimes, we are designed to relate, it is within our DNA. The received Christian view is that we are not complete as human beings within ourselves. The wholeness we seek cannot be filled by technology, drugs, sex, or the ever increasing acquisition of material goods, "Stuffocation", as James Wallman aptly puts it in his book of the same name. Instead we may have to begin by letting go of that which we seek to grasp. Or to quote the spiritual realisation that the replicant character, Roy Batty, comes to at the end of 'Bladerunner', "All these moments will be lost in time…like tears in rain."
The Bible makes it clear that immortality is not the goal of human existence, instead 'eternal life' is, which we can experience in this life. At the heart of eternal life is a relationship and most relationships require what is commonly termed 'give and take', perhaps even sacrifice. (John 17:3) The digital age presents us with endless promises of acquisition and yet the human soul seems to become enlarged when we face that which we are prepared to lose. (Matthew 16:25). This spiritual practice is not only common to Christianity but to Buddhism and there are numerous instances where a dialogue has developed on this subject. I think it is no coincidence that there has been a continuing rise of interest within medical, secular, as well as religious circles, in the practice of mindfulness in recent years. Although there may be different conclusions on why this has happened, its popular ascendancy within only a matter of a decade cannot be ignored.
Whatever our religious beliefs or philosophical viewpoints, it seems to be true that the human spirit often grows through a healthy form of materialistic detachment, challenge, even adversity, and not consumerist acquisition. The former gives birth to self-realisation and fulfilment while the latter may feed upon our status anxiety and fear. And what we can discern is that the predictions of 'Bladerunner' will always be replicated if we persist in ignoring a very ancient yet modern truth, whatever value system we may profess:
The future is only dark if we have no faith in the dawn…


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Home Departments Foodservice Profile
Foodservice Profile: Micro-Management
Skuna Bay salmon topped with micro parsely at Leonora restaraunt in Vail, CO (Photo Courtesy of the Sebastian)
Posted By: John Lehndorff May 1, 2016
Expanding selection of microgreens give chefs fresh flavor and plating tools.
Microgreens and edible flowers are far from a "new" produce item. The baby seedlings and blooms have been consumed in one form or another since humans first farmed. They did not become a "thing" until upscale California restaurants started using them in the 1980s.
To the outside world, the itty bitty herbs and greens that are tweezed onto dinner plates as "vegetable confetti" seemed a little precious. However, chefs understood these brightly colored, subtly flavored, fresh produce items augmented the arsenal of ingredients at their disposal. And that was before anyone looked seriously into microgreens' nutritional resume.
Now the category is a related array of crops including "petites" (which are bigger microgreens), shoots (or tendrils), micro vegetables and edible flowers. Some are delivered to retail and foodservice ready to use and others arrive ready to be "harvested" as needed.
Microgreens are not sprouts. The latter are germinated in water in low light long enough to grow roots, a stem and pale leaves — a process that has made sprouts susceptible to health safety issues in the past. Microgreens are planted in a sterile-growing, medium soil in sun (or under lights) until they have their first set of leaves.
A culinary trend, microgreens and their relatives are likely to influence diners' produce shopping habits in the future. In a recent National Restaurant Association (NRA) survey, 51 percent of chefs predicted micro vegetables/microgreens will be a "hot trend" at eateries in 2016. Fully 63 percent of the chefs also indicated that uncommon herbs (such as lovage and chervil) would make an impact.
Since they are ready-to-eat and cooking optional, tiny greens are finding a home in foodservice atop hot, artisan Neapolitan pizzas, on grilled fish tacos, and a range of dishes from tomato soup (topped with micro basil) to a roasted walnut tart (with micro chocolate mint).
Small Beginnings In Southern California
When David Sasuga opened Fresh Origins 21 years ago, few people knew what "microgreens" were except some chefs. "When we started out we had maybe five varieties, and now we have more than 100," says Sasuga, owner of the San Marcos, CA-based company, one of the largest suppliers of microgreens and edible flowers in North America. The tiny crops require a lot of infrastructure in the company's nearly 1 million-square-foot facility.
"Microgreens are such a fast crop. Most grow in five to seven days. The challenge is to prevent them from becoming 'leggy' with long flavorless stems," says Sasuga. Microgreens must be packaged and shipped quickly with environmental controls from farm to restaurant.
"Much of the growth in the category has come from upscale restaurant chains that are more casual," he says. Fresh Origins microgreens and flowers are served at The Capital Grille, Roy's, Nobu, and at Darden restaurants such as Seasons 52.
The Right Microgreen For the Right Job
Rosa Provoste, executive chef at Leonora in The Sebastian hotel in Vail, CO, has mixed microgreens emotions. "Microgreens and edible flowers are expensive and easy to ruin. They are very sensitive to changes in temperature, light and humidity, but I love them for the flavor and color they add to a dish," she says.
"I only like certain ones. Not every micro green goes with everything. I use micro cilantro in ceviches and tacos. I don't use them in the Spanish dishes, because they are too strong," she says. Leonora's Skuna Bay salmon comes with lentil ragout, Spanish Blue Cheese, Cipollini onions and micro parsley.
Leonora's tapas range from steamed mussels with speck, fennel and tomato-saffron broth to a potato omelet with caramelized onions and saffron aioli. "I take micro radish and toss it with chopped parsley and sprinkle it on all the tapas when they go out," she says.
Provoste also uses micro thyme on chicken and mushroom dishes and her fall-apart braised short ribs are complemented by chipotle salsa, pickled red onions and micro cilantro.
Irvine, CA-based Urban Produce started shipping certified organic produce in 2015 from its facility built around a patented high-density vertical growing unit inside a warehouse, according to Danielle Horton, director of marketing and food safety. Grown indoors in a 5,600-square-foot, 25-feet-tall space, plants move from seeding in the "substrate" through a serpentine conveyor belt, various light tunnels, and watering stations until harvesting and shipping.
"I take micro radish and toss it with chopped parsley and sprinkle it on all the tapas."
— Rosa Provoste, Leonora
Each micro green from arugula to sunflower is grown separately and then added to various mixes such as Urban Produce's organic Hot Mama Blend, Wasabi-Bok Choy Blend (popular with sushi bars), and Kale-fornia Blend used at juice bars, which also order harvested wheatgrass packed in clamshells. "One clamshell equals about 1 ounce of wheatgrass juice," says Horton. Urban Produce varieties are distributed to supermarkets in California, Arizona and Nevada, and to foodservice operations. "Most of the restaurants are white tablecloth places, but some blends go to large foodservice caterers," she says. Horton noted Indian restaurants like using micro sorrel and bars muddling cilantro microgreens in beverages like the "Man Mosa," a blend of beer and orange juice with a cilantro garnish.
"We can work with a chef to create a blend grown for them and put their name on the label," she says.
Little Greens, Big Nutritional Impact
Microgreens' growing reputation as a nutritional powerhouse have made some varieties a common ingredient in demand at health-focused cafes and juice bars, along with retailers such as Whole Foods Market.
Ceviche Mixto at Leonora
(Photo Courtesy of the Sebastian)
A USDA Agricultural Research Service report published in 2014 noted that among 25 varieties of microgreens tested, "red cabbage, cilantro, garnet amaranth, and green daikon radish had the highest concentrations of vitamin C, carotenoids, vitamin K, and vitamin E, respectively. In general, microgreens contained considerably higher levels of vitamins and carotenoids — about five times greater than their mature plant counterparts — an indication that microgreens may be worth the trouble of delivering them fresh during their short lives."
However, as the USDA report noted, the growing, harvesting, shipping and storage of microgreens can have a considerable effect on their nutrient content.
While sprouts are naturally the main event at Rochester, MA-based Jonathan's Sprouts, shoots are emerging fast. "The No. 1 seller is pea shoots, followed by sunflower shoots," says Liz Reilley, vice president of sales and marketing.
An advantage to pea shoots is they are one of the most hardy and least perishable microgreen, and they can last two weeks or more with refrigeration. "Shoots are really popular, because you can cook with them and won't wilt. One chef recently cooked with wilted pea shoots instead of spinach as a bed underneath broiled halibut," says Reilley.
'Nothing Is Just a Garnish'
At Chicago's award-winning Blackbird restaurant, microgreens and edible flowers are often used, but never indiscriminately. "It's common to see microgreens just kind of thrown on the plate. Here, if it doesn't have a purpose, then it doesn't go on the plate. Nothing is just a garnish. When we use microgreens we don't mess with them and add a lot of seasonings," says Blackbird chef Ryan Pfeiffer.
The eatery's foie gras dish avoids the almost inevitable sweet fruit or sauce accompaniment. "We use microgreens like anise hyssop, lemon balm and others to suggest sweetness. It's a cleaner, less heavy approach," he says. Edible flowers also play a strong role on Blackbird's menu. "We use a lot of actually edible flowers like chive blossoms. They add depth to the flavor. We grow a lot of our own, use local farms, and order through distributors," says Pfeiffer.
Camilo Peñalosa, vice president for business development at Miami-based Infinite Herbs, differentiates between types of edible flowers. "Most are not eaten and are primarily used as a garnish. Other ones, like lavender blossoms, are put on tables at weddings because they smell nice," he says.
Photo Courtesy of Brazen Open Kitchen + Bar
Most of the microgreens and edible flowers served at the signature The Med restaurant overlooking the Pacific coast at the La Valencia hotel in La Jolla, CA, are sourced from Fresh Origins, says executive chef James Montejano. "We mix varieties and use some on almost every dish at the restaurant. I serve grilled fish in dashi broth with micro cilantro and petite fines herbs for omelets," he says. Among his favorites are micro mustard dijon, micro celery, micro fennel, micro ice plant, micro hearts on fire and micro sorrel.
Defining the Micro, the Petite & the Baby
In the produce and foodservice industries, there is general agreement on what defines microgreens, shoots, tendrils, petites and micro vegetables, but the terms lack any legal definition. "The terms 'baby greens' and 'microgreens' are marketing terms used to describe their respective categories," according to a 2014 report by the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida. Down the line, these definitions may need to become more uniform for the category to grow. Looking to the future, Peñalosa of Infinite Herbs expects the heavy packaging for herbs and microgreens to become more "green" and effective at keeping them in prime condition longer.
"It would also be good if the microgreens came in small sampler packs of individual microgreens, not pre-mixed," he says. At Urban Produce, the goal is not to build a larger facility in Irvine, CA, to supply microgreens. "The goal is to take our technology across the country to help provide access to fresh produce," says Danielle Horton, director of marketing at Urban Produce. Their system works well in factories, a resource in plentiful supply, she says. While microgreens won't replace their full sized siblings, opportunities are abound. "Even though the market for microgreens has grown it's still a small, obscure category," says Sasuga of Fresh Origins, indicating lots of potential. Microgreens may be obscure now, but consider the kale's makeover. "Ten years ago, kale was mostly a garnish," says Horton. "Now it's a superfood."
Microgirl To The Rescue
By John Lehndorff
On the opposite end of the volume scale is MicroGirl Organics in Dubuque, IA, owned and operated by its employee, Laura Klavitter.
"It started with a conversation with a chef in town about farming. I come from a community gardening background. He said that if I could grow microgreens he would buy them," says Klavitter.
A whole lot of research later, she was raising organic microgreens under lights in her basement in downtown Dubuque.
"Microgreens are cool, because it's one week from planting to harvest. It's easy to try new ones. To me there's nothing better than when a chef geeks-out over my microgreens and finds ways to use them," she says.
Klavitter plants about a dozen varieties at a time including kales, pea tendrils, arugula and basil. The plants in their sterile growing medium are delivered to the restaurant and cut as needed.
"The low risk, low cost of entry is very appealing, especially for women who want to start a small business," she says.
The chef who supported MicroGirl's launch was Kevin Scharpf, owner of Brazen Open Kitchen + Bar down the street from Klavitter's "farm" in Dubuque. Scharpf was recently named as one of FSR magazine's "40 Rising Stars under 40."
"This arrangement allows me to support a local business, and I'm not paying for shipping from three states away," says Scharpf. He quickly spread the word to other chefs.
Scharpf uses micro basil on coffee-braised beef short ribs with cauliflower "grit" and roasted carrots, and micro Thai basil with seafood. "Micro radishes have a nice stem that stands up to heat," he says.
"I'm also a big fans of shoots, especially popcorn shoots. They have a pale yellow color. The stem is a little bit sweet and the leaves have just a hint of bitter."
TOPICS:edible flowersmicrogreens
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Q: Android Wear: How to integrate in existing "older App" (minSDK 2.3) I works in an App that uses min sdk 2.3 and with the old structure (Eclipse style) without Gradle and with ActionBar Sherlock and 3 project dependencies.
Any tutorial or link to migrate that? because next, we need to add a Wear module .
Thanks

A: the minimum SDK of wear is 20 (android 4.4) so you can't do it without changing the minimum SDK!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


First time offered for sale in over 85 years. These inner city properties do not become available too often. The Shorts Place building is two levels and has potential to become a warehouse style residence (STCA). Excellent corner location (730m2 approx, one title). Currently medium and short term commercial tenants plus residential. Current annual and passing income approx. $102,940pa. Future redevelopment opportunity. Located in the prospective Central Geelong Food Precinct. Inspection by appointment only.