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Northumbrian books
The Ghost It Was by Richard Hull
I've never read anything by Richard Hull before, so when the Crime Readers' Club offered a review copy I was keen to see what I thought - I'm always on the look-out for new writers to satisfy my completist needs. A nice long list makes me very happy!
As well as a long list (fourteen books) Richard Hull supplies, in A Ghost It Was, something else that makes me happy in a writer of mysteries - humour. In his case it's not quite that slightly febrile humour that characterises Innes or Crispin but something a little more down-to-earth: his policemen are more stolid, reliable types than Sir John Appleby, for instance, even when undercover (and we won't even mention Gervase Fen!). Nonetheless, you do feel that the author's tongue is firmly lodged in his cheek at times, as each new character displays a series of unloveable traits in trying to manipulate circumstances to his own ends.
Funnily enough, I'd just been reading a book with a rather similar starting point by Gladys Mitchell, The Longer Bodies. Each begins with a rich relation who hasn't yet named an heir, and various family members trying to ingratiate themselves in order to inherit all. Mitchell's horrible Great Aunt Puddequet (what a fantastic name!) sets an athletics challenge to her nephews; here James Warrenton, who has a strictly dilettante-ish interest in spiritualism, buys a haunted house and proceeds to amuse himself by watching his family members jump through metaphorical hoops to please him. Among them is Gregory Spring-Benson, whom we meet at first trying to persuade an newspaper editor to employ him as a reporter apparently in the belief that it won't involve any actual work. He certainly doesn't intend to do any, and is staggeringly rude to absolutely everyone; his pretence that he believes in ghosts gets him into the house as a potential heir, since it amuses Warrenton to annoy the rest of the family. And then there's the pompous Arthur, who sets up an elaborate - and really rather perverse - trick to prove that there's no ghost. They really are a nasty bunch.
It's an unusual example of the genre in other ways - the police arrive late to the events, which is not so very odd (there's an Appleby one where he doesn't appear until near the end, if I remember correctly), but the denouement happens, as it were, off-stage. No showdown in the library here, although there is the required explanation of the mechanism of the murder.
Apparently Hull continued to eschew the straightforward in his novels, tending more towards the sort of "psychological" novel that became more common later. I'm intrigued to see where his experimentation took him, though I must admit that I don't often enjoy mysteries with unreliable narrators. We shall see....
Posted by GeraniumCat at 18:10 No comments:
Labels: Golden Age, murder, mystery
Illustration - Margaret Tempest
I was book-obsessed from the start, and some of my earliest treasures were the Little Grey Rabbit books by Alison Uttley, illustrated by Margaret Tempest. I adored the characters within these pages and the beautiful watercolours which depicted their daily tasks and amusements. They are probably largely responsible for the pleasure I take in middlebrow literature, where the mundane is of equal, if not more importance, than events on the world-scale.
Both Uttley and her illustrator understood this. The foreword to all the Little Grey Rabbit books is as follows:
Of course you must understand that Grey Rabbit's home had no electric light or gas, and even the candles were made from pith of rushes dipped in wax from the wild bees' nests, which Squirrel found. Water there was plenty, but it did not come from a tap. It flowed from a spring outside, which rose up from the ground and went to a brook. Grey Rabbit cooked on a fire, but it was a wood fire, there was no coal in that part of the country. Tea did not come from India, but from a little herb known well to country people, who once dried it and used it in their cottage homes. Bread was baked from wheat ears, ground fine, and Hare and Grey Rabbit gleaned in the cornfields to get the wheat.
The doormats were plaited rushes, like country-made mats, and the cushions were stuffed with wool gathered from the hedges where sheep pushed through the thorns. As for the looking glass, Grey Rabbit found the glass, dropped from a lady's handbag, and Mole made a frame for it. Usually the animals gazed at themselves in the still pools as so many country children have done. The country ways of Grey Rabbit were the country ways known to the author.
(The Foreword to the Little Grey Rabbit books by Alison Uttley)
The pictures are actually quite simple, but you feel as though there is lots of detail. Here, for example, is the lace border that Little Grey Rabbit made for Mrs Hedgehog, with its bees and flowers, and you can see the lace-making pillow with its bobbins on Grey Rabbit's lap.
Margaret Tempest was born in Ipswich in 1892 and lived until she was 90. She was trained at Ipswich Art School and Westminster School of Art, graduating just as WW1 began. After the war she and a group of friends founded The Chelsea Illustrators - women artists sharing a studio to work, teach and sell art - the studio ran successfully until 1939.
During the twenties she began work on the Alison Uttley books, a partnership that lasted 40 years although artist and author didn't like each other (but Uttley does seem to have been extremely difficult - amazing that she could write such enchanting books, but I think she was probably happier while she was writing than the rest of the time). She wrote and illustrated her own books too, like the ABC below, and designed cards for Medici (78 in all) - the postcards are particularly fine, as the whole story has to be told in a single image.
Medici postcard
The illustration below, probably from Little Grey Rabbit and the Weasels, has a lovely William Morris sort of background. Apparently the distinctive coloured border that surrounds the LGR illustrations was Tempest's idea, and it is wonderfully effective, framing the miniature world of the animals - there's always a sense of being close to the ground.
The borders made the dustjackets equally distinctive too, and even modern editions retain a strong sense of the originals. Here's the 1986 version of Little Grey Rabbit Makes Lace:
It lacks the lace-making detail that I liked so much and the lacy border, replacing them with the coloured border of the text illustrations which is the most easily recognised feature, along with the grey dress, blue pinny and crisp white collar and cuffs that Grey Rabbit (nearly) always wears. Even later illustrators of the series kept to these conventions. I particularly like this one, where her grey dress is kilted up, showing her delicious white petticoat below - she's actually hanging her pinny on the washing line.
I can see the beginnings of all lots of my own character traits when I look at these little books, which are ideally sized for small hands. The original editions had endpapers showing the little house in the woods with washing gaily dancing in the breeze. I suppose many of the things I learnt to prize are deeply unfashionable these days - homemaking, pretty clothes, care for small creatures, country lore - but the books are still in print, though whether they please small children or nostalgic grandparents I don't know.
Margaret Tempest married her cousin Sir Grimwood Mears, a former Chief Justice in Allahabad, in 1951. They lived in Ipswich at 3 St Edmund's Road, where there is a blue plaque in her memory. She was an enthusiastic sailor and became Commodore of the Pin Mill Sailing Club.
A website about Margaret Tempest lists her books and shows some of her other illustrations, but she will always be best remembered, I think, for Little Grey Rabbit and her friends.
Posted by GeraniumCat at 10:01 6 comments:
Labels: 1920s, book covers, childhood reading, children's books, illustration
The Ice King by Helen Slavin
I haven't been reading many new books recently - since the advent of ebooks there is so much being reissued from my favourite period (roughly 1930-70) that I can barely keep up. There is a small and select band of authors who get bought automatically, though: Ben Aaronovitch, Jodi Taylor, Alan Bradley and Jasper Fforde get pre-ordered, and Nicola Slade and Linda Gillard are close behind. Pretty much anyone else will languish on the to-be-read list, sometimes picked up from the library, but it may be years and a growing sense that I really ought to read a particular work before I get round to it. I've said before that I'm very resistant to the books absolutely everyone is talking about, unless it's an author I already know I like. So making it onto my radar is quite difficult. But I do get newsletters from some publishers (usually the ones with long reissue lists) and I do actually read them. I also, of course, read blogs, but I'm aware that everyone else's taste is necessarily as idiosyncratic as mine, so although they may rave about a book, that doesn't mean that I'll like it. I'll probably wait for a consensus by several people whose views I really trust before forking out some of my limited book budget.
Which is a long-winded way of saying that someone new got through the barbed wire fence and the pack of guard dogs and the attack squirrel and shinned up to my tower window (yes, I do have a very small tower...). And that author is Helen Slavin, who has written a novella, The Ice King, that I'm eager to talk about.
First off, isn't that a seductive cover? I'd certainly have picked it up in a bookshop. That eye is full of promise - is it a threat? or what? there's both danger and candour in that gaze. And what happens to the main characters is like that too.
The story is in three parts and focuses on three different people. The first we meet is Hettie Way, the Gamekeeper. That capital initial is important. The extent of her role isn't divulged here, but we know that she protects Pike Lake and the wood around it, and her link with the land and what lives in the lake is important. It's not entirely clear whether she's protecting it, or protecting everyone else from it. She's certainly trying to protect her 9-year-old daughter, Vanessa, who is drawn to the lake despite being told that she should stay away, and must not, ever, go into the water. Being drawn to something is a guarantee that orders will be disobeyed, and Vanessa does, in a spirit of scientific curiosity, go into the water.
Part 2 takes up the story of Lachlan Laidlaw who, in the early years of the twentieth century, is in love with a girl who's a bad lot. She wants him to take her to the Goose Fair (echoes of Lud-in-the-Mist and Stardust, two of my favourite books). It doesn't go well, but Lachlan has a brush with a fortune teller.
Part 3 takes up the story of the grown-up Vanessa, now a scientist on an expedition to the northern wastes of Norway with her supervisor and a bunch of exceedingly unlovely male scientists. Echoes of all sorts of things here, since a research station is pretty much just that - claustrophobic and vulnerable to weather and communications failures and all that those entail. And bears. Vanessa discovers a body in the ice and things don't go well from there.
How the lives and stories of the three people we've met entwine to make an atmospheric and scary whole is the stuff of folklore and legend and our most atavistic fears. The Ice King has some genuinely heart-in-the-mouth moments and leaves unanswered lots of intriguing questions, which is fine as it's the prequel to further books about the Way family. I found myself impatient to know more about the Lake and woods and how the magic within them works: what it costs its Gamekeepers, how it's inherited, whether it can co-exist with Vanessa's science? This is exactly the sort of book I like, the kind you find yourself thinking about after you've finished. And the kind where magic is woven into the natural environment and isn't something to be learnt by going to wizard school or reading a grimoire or whatever - not that I can't enjoy some of that too, but this feels like the Real Thing.
**Edited later to say I have no idea why the formatting changed in the last para! How infuriating!
All for Love by Jane Aiken Hodge
All for Love was originally published as Savannah Purchase in 1971 and seems to have been out of print for a little while. I'm very glad that Agora Books have brought it back, and kindly allowed me a copy via Netgalley, because it was a real romp of a read - I stayed up late and then finished it in one blissful gulp this morning, as part of my mini Aikenfest.
Juliet and Josephine are cousins so alike that they've often, in childhood, swapped roles. They've been apart for some years, though both have moved to Savannah from France, where both had been involved in the French-English war that saw Napoleon exiled to St Helena. As their story begins their circumstances are very different - Juliet has just lost her father and is living in miserable poverty, while Josephine has married a wealthy landowner, Hyde Purchis. (This is in fact the third book in a Purchis family saga but since, I think, it introduces Juliet and Josephine as new characters, can perfectly well be read as a standalone.)
Josephine, we learn, was rescued by her husband from an unspecified-but-dire situation in France where they conducted a mariage de convenance. Thus she has little compunction about persuading her cousin to take her place while she sets off on a wild scheme to rescue her hero Napoleon. Juliet reluctantly allows herself to be drawn into this plot on condition that she will be able to return to France to start a new life. Once in the Purchis household, of course, she faces a series of challenges, since however alike the cousins look, it is impossible to predict all eventualities. Josephine's wayward habits and extravagance contrast with Juliet's quiet and caring manners, though at times she manages a bravura performance as her selfish cousin. How it all plays out I leave the reader to discover (you know I don't like plot summaries!)
Having just read and reviewed Maulever Hall, a typically English Regency bit of gothic fun, I enjoyed the shift to Southern Gothic in All for Love. It's a sort of Georgette Heyer-meets-Anya Seton kind of book. Some years ago I re-read Dragonwyck, which I had remembered from my teens as a dark and brooding sort of affair, and on re-acquaintance was struck by how much the hot southern sun kept intruding to lighten the atmosphere. It's the same here - to my surprise I almost wanted more histrionics. Perhaps you can't do Southern Gothic without vampires? But that notwithstanding, I enjoyed All for Love very much, and boy, but I'm loving some of the Agora reprints - through them I've discovered such writers George Bellairs and Richard Hull, filled some Allingham gaps, and have a feast of Jane Aiken Hodge's books still to come. In fact, I have a feeling that their list is going to keep me pretty busy for the next 12 months or so, and use up most of my book budget. Thank goodness for the Crime Classics Review Club!
Labels: 1970s, historical
I have a terrible tendency to muddle up the Aiken sisters: Joan Aiken (she of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase fame) and Jane Aiken Hodge. I guess I was reading both in my late teens and early twenties, they both wrote some regencies, their writing styles are not dissimilar, and while Joan wrote some Austen sequels, Jane wrote a biographies of Austen and Georgette Heyer... so when I thought last week that the book I was enjoying was by the Other One, I didn't feel I was entirely to blame for my confusion.
I started the week with The Embroidered Sunset, by Joan Aiken. Lucy, born in England but brought up by her uncle in the US after her father ran off leaves school to discover that her expensive education has apparently used up all her money so that her planned career as a concert pianist looks unlikely. However there's a chance that a famous pianist who is dying of cancer might train her, if she can earn enough to pay for lessons so she decides to work her passage to England as a ship's stewardess. Her loathsome uncle agrees to her plan as she can also check up on his elderly sister, who may or may not have died - if she has, he wants to stop paying her an annuity, and besides, he has an idea that her pictures just may be valuable. While most enjoyable, this turned out to be quite a dark little novel, and I'm still not at all sure what I make of the end. Lots of gothic overtones, deserted houses and rain though - you can never have too much of them, right?
What I did know, however, was that Aiken's writing was pleasing and was holding my attention, and I felt that I could do with more of it. So I turned to another of her books, only to discover that it was in fact by Jane. It was on my Kindle because Agora Books have been reprinting quite a number of authors I like - Michael Innes amongst them - and I'd spotted it on one of their emails. Well, I'd spotted the Aiken bit, at any rate...
Maulever Hall has a lot of Georgette Heyer about it - resourceful heroine, in the case suffering from amnesia after a carriage accident, eccentric aristocrats, cross-country chases (so much more fun in a coach and four!), murdered heirs, dangerous suitors... what more could one ask? Marianne has no idea why she is fleeing in terror on a dark night with a child she doesn't think is hers. And where is she going? She's not even sure what her name or status is. Does she have a guilty secret? She manages to be at once both capable and gullible, and I thought this quite convincing - the one thing that is clear from what she can/can't remember is that she's country-bred, and has no experience of the ways of the city or the ton. And she has only her own feelings to tell her who and what can be trusted, and her memory of fear and pursuit. There's plenty of rain in this one too.
Which did I prefer? Well, actually, I was very happy with both, and as the nights here grow longer, am going to immerse myself in the gothic worlds of both Aiken sisters. Next up, Castle Barebane, by Joan - now there's a promising title!
Labels: 1960s, 1970s, gothic, Regency
A Night of Errors by Michael Innes
Michael Innes' A Night of Errors was first published in 1947 and is the eleventh in the series which features his detective, John Appleby. As so often in this series, it's a country house setting, this time full of triplets, arson and madness. Innes' plots are always convoluted and baroque in construction, but Appleby - as ever - seems to sort out the solution while not appearing to do anything much except think.
Michael Innes books are a bit of an acquired taste: his writing is full of literary jokes and flamboyant verbiage (never use one word when five or six will do instead) and there's a tendency for the action to happen off-stage. And to be absolutely truthful, this wasn't one of his very best, so I wouldn't recommend starting with it. If you haven't read Innes, go for one his absolute classics, like Hamlet, Revenge! and then, if you love that I'd recommend reading Appleby's End before A Night of Errors - the cheerful insanity of the former will prepare you for the outright lunacy of the latter. By the time you've worked your way through all three there's a good chance you've fallen for Innes' style and will want to read all the rest. On the other hand, if you've already made the acquaintance of Edmund Crispin's Gervase Fen, and are a fan, you'll probably be quite comfortable with Appleby.
My thanks to Netgalley and the Crime Classics Review Club for a copy of this book (and my apologies to the latter for having a whole pile of reviews to catch up on!).
Labels: 1940s, crime, Golden Age, mystery
I went with a friend to see Isabelle Coixet's The Bookshop on Tuesday. Two people have asked me what I thought of it. So I'm hauling myself out of exile to report.
Looks idyllic, doesn't it? So easy to identify with a lead character who wants to open a bookshop. Don't we all?
It's a very quiet, low-key film which leaves a lingering sense of sadness. It's based on a novel of the same name by Penelope Fitzgerald, which I read a couple of years ago, and it leaves quite a bit out, choosing to place greater focus on an ultimately doomed love affair. You know it must be doomed by the agonising silences.
Florence Green, widowed for 16 years, arrives in a Suffolk village having found a derelict house that she thinks she can turn into a shop (what's she been doing up until then? we never learn, though we are told that she and her husband met in a bookshop). She moves into the house, which has been empty for some time. But there's a problem: the local lady of the manor, Mrs Gamart, wants the house too, to turn it into an art centre; after all, she says, there are other empty properties in the village equally suitable. Florence doesn't hesitate - she marches off to her solicitor and tells him to hurry up and finalise details. If I sound a bit unsympathetic, I'm not really: Mrs Gamart is horrible, I'd have reacted the same way. But looking back, I do find myself wondering why Florence is quite so recalcitrant. If she'd for a moment considered compromise, the subsequent events may not have occurred. But she forges on, with help from the local sea-scouts, and a precocious child called Christine who helps out for 12/6d a week, and with whom she forms a touching relationship. Even though Christine doesn't like to read they find a rapport through their shared work. Her only other real ally is Edmund Brundish (Bill Nighy), a recluse who buys books from her.
So far, so good. There's a lot to admire - the substitution of Co. Down for the Suffolk village works well and offers opportunity for lots of windswept shots of Emily Mortimer sitting on the beach. There are some excellent performances, and Mortimer and Nighy manage a kind of chemistry-despite-themselves which is very tenderly observed. As I've said, there is much from the book which is left out, and from a directorial point of view that's a good thing (it's why short stories make the best adaptations). Sadly though, much of that detail is what makes it such a fine and subtle book, and its loss makes it just a "nice" film.
Driving home after the film we shared our quibbles: immaculate period cars (it's set in 1959) - not a speck of rust in sight. William Morris wallpaper - how could Florence possibly afford it? Despite the film's opening, in which Florence is acquiring a frock for Mrs Gamart's party and ends up looking completely different from everyone else --
all the costumes look as new as the cars. No-one has frayed cuffs, the handmade knitwear is all straight off the needles and Florence's wardrobe is both extensive and stylish. In fact, for a woman who's supposed to be middle-aged and insignificant-looking, Mortimer is altogether too charismatic. Actually, Co. Down is a bit lush for the Suffolk coast, though the late summer trees are made to look faintly oppressive, full of restless movement in the ever-present wind. And whatever happened to the ghost?
To sum up, then - The Bookshop is worth a trip to the cinema, but don't think that, having seen it, you needn't read the book. You'd be doing yourself, and Fitzgerald, a disservice.
Labels: 1950s, film
Phaea
The original Geranium Cat
Margaret Tarrant I was book-obsessed from the start, and some of my earliest treasures were the Little Grey Rabbit books by Alison Uttle...
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This July UCL will host the UCL-UWA-HMGU Collaborative Research Network (CRN) annual meeting. This international collaboration brings together researchers from these areas and encourages an open exchange of ideas and the eventual development of cross-institutional relationships.
This is the second meeting that has been held since the founding of the CRN which has been set-up to establish a partnership between these institutions through the development of joint research projects.
This year's meeting will address regenerative medicine, inflammation and cancer research within the three collaborating universities; UCL, University of Western Australia (UWA) and Helmholtz Zentrum Munich (HMGU).
UCL Business PLC (UCLB) is a leading technology transfer company that supports and commercialises research and innovations arising from UCL, one of the UK's top research-led universities. UCLB has a successful track record and a strong reputation for identifying and protecting promising new technologies and innovations from UCL academics. It invests directly in development projects to maximise the potential of the research and manages the commercialisation process of technologies from laboratory to market. UCLB supports UCL's Grand Challenges of increasing UCL's positive impact on and contribution to Global Health, Sustainable Cities, Intercultural Interaction and Human Wellbeing.


HOLTS Jewellery Antique & Vintage Jewellery – Tagged "Necklace"
This stunning conversion necklace is made using an original Victorian brooch. Featuring crescent moons set with Pearls to the centre and four small Old Cut Diamonds that sparkle just like the stars. With further Pearls set to the fluted ends.
Made in 15ct Gold with a new 9ct Gold chain attached.
The converted brooch measures 4cm in length. We have added our own 9ct gold trace chain which is adjustable and can be worn at either 16 inches or 18 inches, there is a secure hallmarked bolt ring clasp.
Pendant circa 1900 with a modern vintage style chain.
This stunning conversion necklace is made using an original Victorian brooch. Featuring Pearl set Swallows, the Victorians used Swallows to symbolise wanting a loved one to return home safely and Pearls to represent purity and innocence. The two birds are facing inwards with a small dangling Pearl set below their beaks. There is a Gold ball to one end of the pendant, it doesn't appear that there was ever one to the other side.
Made in 9ct Gold with a new 9ct Gold chain attached.
The converted brooch measures 4.6cm in length. We have added our own 9ct gold trace chain which is adjustable and can be worn at either 17 inches or 19 inches, there is a secure hallmarked bolt ring clasp.


text:
Iván Duque, född 1 augusti 1976 i Bogotá, Colombia, är Colombias president sedan den 7 augusti 2018. Han representerar det konservativa partiet Centro Democrático. Tidigare presidenten Alvaro Uribe har varit hans mentor.

Referenser

Colombias presidenter
Män
Födda 1976
Levande personer
Colombianska politiker under 2000-talet
Personer från Bogotá
Alumner från American University
Alumner från Georgetown University
Alumner från Harvard University

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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This appliance features overflow protection and a child safety lock to prevent any nasty leaks, and stop young children from being able to open the washing machine door or change the program mid-cycle. Additional features of this washing machine includes cold fill, delayed start, variable temperature and spin, pause facilities and adjustable feet.


text:
Minnesota Good Age
The premier resource for active Minnesotans age 50 and older
MN History
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House Call
Real Aging
A new, award-winning Minnesota-based program known as Juniper is putting seniors back at the helm of their own health and well-being.
Julie Kendrick
Updated: October 9, 2019 - 11:01 am
Juniper offers a range of classes to help people manage their health, get fit and prevent falls, including this Stay Active and Independent for Life (SAIL) class in Minnesota.
We're living in treacherous times. A slip becomes a fall, a fall becomes a broken hip and suddenly everything has taken a serious turn for the worse.
Here in the land of 10,000 sidewalks that can remain dangerously icy through April, it can be easy to feel as if you're at the mercy of raging elements and a faltering body.
But the folks at Juniper have a different idea: You really can live well, even with health challenges brought on by aging.
Juniper, a new program from the Arden Hills-based nonprofit organization Innovations for Aging, takes its name from the long-living, hardy evergreen that's known for its interconnected structure. Just like the iconic plant, Juniper is becoming known for helping foster long-lasting resilience and stabilizing connections.
Juniper, in partnership with Area Agencies on Aging, acts as a hub for community organizations, health-care organizations and instructors to offer wellness classes statewide.
The goal?
Help people take an active role in improving their health and quality of life through fitness and fall-prevention classes as well as small-group classes on preventing and/or living well with diabetes, chronic pain and other conditions.
Since 2016, 16,000 Minnesotans have participated in one of Juniper's evidence-based classes, which are verified as effective by researchers in clinical studies.
In Juniper's case, the classes offered have been proven to promote self-management of chronic health conditions, to prevent falls and to foster individual well-being.
Slo-mo for staying power
One of the most popular Juniper classes in Minneapolis is the tai ji quan balance-training sessions.
Inside a sunny community room at East Side Neighborhood Services in Northeast Minneapolis, Carmel San Juan leads a group of through a series of tai ji quan exercises. Looking in on the activity, it's like watching people who are moving through water, or seeing a film run in extreme slow motion.
With soft, fluid movements, the class members, all over age 60, follow San Juan through a series of motions with names like "Part the Wild Horse's Mane" and "With Hands Like Clouds." The tai ji quan forms are interspersed with what San Juan refers to as "mini therapeutic movements." They're the kind of motions we all take for granted, until, often suddenly, we can't do them — things like getting up from a chair alone, balancing on one foot or moving an arm high across the body to reach something overhead.
While the exercises look dreamlike and beautiful, they're so much more. According to a 2018 study, supported in part by the National Institute on Aging and published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a randomized clinical trial showed that among older adults with a high risk of falling, a 24-week therapeutically developed tai ji quan balance-training class resulted in a significant reduction in the incidence of falls.
There's increasing evidence, the study said, that such intervention programs are popular in senior communities and represent "a promising approach to low-cost and easily implementable fall-prevention programs."
Across Minnesota
The results of that study are being borne out locally, said Julie Roles, communications director at the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging (MAAA) and vice president of engagement at Innovations for Aging, the nonprofit subsidiary that operates the Juniper program in partnership with community organizations. (East Side Neighborhood Services, where San Juan's class is held, is one of Juniper's partners.)
In fact, the Juniper program recently received recognition from the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) with an Aging Innovations Award, the highest honor presented by n4a to member agencies.
For Roles, one of the most important things about Juniper's organizational structure is that it reaches across the state.
"We roll out classes to people in smaller cities and rural communities, not just the metro area," she said. "The idea of learning and creating action plans alongside one's neighbors often leads to friendships being formed among class members."
That's important, Roles said, because there's significant evidence to show that an ongoing support system is crucial to making health changes.
"We're learning more all the time about how much strong social connections are a determinant of health," Roles said.
Falls: A $50 billion problem
Falls are not only scary and painful, but they're also often accompanied by significant personal and financial costs. They occur with alarming frequency among those 65 years or older, with approximately 28% reporting a fall each year. An estimated 38% of those falls result in injuries leading to emergency department visits, hospital admissions or death.
Among Medicare beneficiaries, the average cost for treatment following a fall is more than $9,000. Astonishingly, the average hospital cost for a fall injury is over $30,000.
In 2015, the total medical costs for falls among people age 65 or older in the U.S. was more than $50 billion.
With 20% of the U.S. population soon to be age 65 or older, it's more important than ever to find ways to help people prevent falls or to recover more quickly after a fall.
Juniper is stepping into this fraught situation with a real-world, workable solution. Rachel Von Ruden is a program developer for Juniper.
She believes the tai ji quan classes are so popular because they seem accessible and not too intense.
"It's a way for people to take charge of their health," she said. "And I think that's good for everyone."
San Juan said her students have told her the exercises have helped them develop "muscle memory" that can come to the rescue when they get off balance in daily life.
"We're helping people recognize what the edge of stability is as we move from stability to instability and then back again," she said.
Shirley Porter, 72, has been living with the repercussions from a fall. She entered San Juan's class while leaning on a walker, and she kept it nearby during the class. Still, she joined along with all the exercises, first leaning forward in a chair, then getting her balance to pull back, then doing the same exercise while standing and tipping her pelvis forward, then back in place.
"My main goal is to get off the walker," Porter said. "This is my second session of the tai chi quan classes, and I came back because I do feel a difference. I know my balance is better."
A participant in one of the Matter of Balance classes offered this testimonial on the Juniper website: "I learned how to integrate strengthening and flexibility into my everyday life. Now I flex my ankles as I stand in line at the bank and incorporate strengthening activities in things I do throughout my day."
At East Side Neighborhood Services in Minneapolis, an instructor leads a group through a series of tai ji quan exercises — which can be performed seated or standing — as part of Juniper, a statewide program for seniors. Photos courtesy of Juniper
What happens in class
Each session includes warm-up exercises, teacher-led movements and cool-down exercises. The slow, percussive movements are intended to engage the mind and build the body. Over the course of each 12-week class, the movements and routines progressively build upon one another, which dynamically enhances strength, balance and flexibility.
The exercises, San Juan said, build awareness of what it feels like to be off balance, and then strengthen the muscles that allow for a recovery of balance.
There are other benefits, too.
"One of my students has struggled with asthma, but she told me the class really helped with her breathing," San Juan said. "She was able to get off one of her asthma medications, and she credited that to the work we're doing in class."
Participants don't even need to be able to stand, San Juan said.
"You can do the whole class seated if that works better for where you are today," San Juan said. "It's really for everyone."
Some students mistakenly believe there is a religious or cultural element to the movements.
But San Juan assures them: "It's purely exercise."
What's ahead
Roles said Juniper already has a contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota to help some of their members take classes for free. She hopes more area health insurance providers will consider adding Juniper to their list of member benefits.
"Our long-term goal is to work collaboratively to get the right information to people who could really benefit from it," she said.
Roles understands: Taking that first step to walk through the door of a classroom can be challenging. But, in the end, it's worth it: "About 70 percent of our health outcomes are based on our behaviors," she said. "We have people who come into tai ji quan class using a cane, and they are able to stop using it after taking the classes. That allows people to regain their independence, which is so important."
Roles is clearly committed to doing whatever she can to help people connect with each other, build their confidence and live a full life, despite the health challenges they face. She also is aware of the many, often negative, misconceptions about aging, and she's determined to fight them.
"Ageism is alive and well, and negative perceptions are all around us," she said. "We allow those stereotypes to become negative self-perceptions, and that has a significant impact on our physical and mental health."
In the end, it's simple: There are ways to live better and stay fit.
"There are evidence-based programs out there, and we know they work," she said. "If we can get more people to access them, it's good for all of us."
What's Juniper?
Juniper is a statewide program designed to create a culture of health in which prevention and wellness are the norm. Health insurance providers, such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, are adding Juniper to their list of member benefits for seniors. Learn more at 855-215-2174, [email protected] and yourjuniper.org. Class topic areas include:
Diabetes Prevention Program
Living Well with Chronic Conditions
Living Well with Chronic Pain
Living Well with Diabetes
Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program
Stay Active and Independent for Life (SAIL)
PREVENT FALLS
A Matter of Balance
Stepping On
Tai Ji Quan: Moving
What's tai ji quan?
Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance is a research-based balance-training regimen designed for older adults at risk of falling and people with balance disorders.
Fuzhong Li, a senior scientist at Oregon Research Institute, developed the program, which represents a significant shift from tai ji quan's historical use as a martial art or recreational activity to a method for addressing common — but potentially debilitating — functional deficits.
So far, agencies in Minnesota, Washington, Florida, Maryland and New Hampshire have adopted the regimen for older adults.
Julie Kendrick is a contributing writer for many local and national publications. She lives in Minneapolis. Follow her on Twitter @KendrickWorks.
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© Minnesota Premier Publications

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Thanksgiving has come and gone. The leaves are turning vibrant colours and pumpkins are in abundance!
Carving pumpkins is the norm of course, but I'd rather paint them! It's less mess that way.
I decided to paint the first pumpkin with hot pink paint on an angle but feel free to do any design you'd like. I used masking tape so that I'd have a clean line so be sure if you want a funky design to use that and press down firmly. Think of it as painter's tape when paining your home…same principle.
After letting that dry for about an hour I (with a little help from my two year old) painted two coats of pink paint. I allowed a bit over an hour of drying time between coats.
I also decided to do a glittery polka dotted pumpkin and to achieve that look, I dipped my small circle sponge in gold paint and dotted the paint randomly on the pumpkin.
And there you have it! Beautifully painted pumpkins!
Gold, Glitter, Paper, and a Unicorn.


Technology has made things easier for us. Now you do not need to work poorly with long coding hours just to discover the blunders in the process for a considerable length of time. Presently, it has turned out to be anything but difficult to plan a website. Not just that, but even mobile applications are currently simple to make. There are plenty of platforms where mobile app developers can contribute to develop a mobile applications. But it is not possible for everyone to have access to softwares like IBM bluemix, Xcode, etc. Nor everyone has the basic understanding of the coding and programming language that goes behind making a successful mobile application.
But, you need not worry if you are one of those who is afraid of codes and technical languages. It is very much possible to implement your Photoshop skills in making mobile applications.
Because, now with the minimal Photoshop skills, you can create your iPhone app. It is possible to create an intuitive mobile app with the use of Photoshop, excluding all those coding efforts.
Over here we shall learn about making an iPhone application with the use of Photoshop to design an app and convert the same into an executable code.
Here is how it is possible.
For designing high-resolution retina screen, it is essential to work with the gridlines. When using an app on smartphones with high resolution, the 2-pixel lines tend to appear as a single point on the screen.
Henceforth it is utmost important to set up the grid guidelines in the photoshop and that too, by splitting it into two pixels.
You can do this by following these interactive options.
Over here, we have taken the gridlines of 20 Px with the two subdivisions. That is, each gridline must be sectioned to two pixels precisely.
This is to ensure that each object inside the design must be locked to the 2px grids.
The shapes tool must also be set to 'snap to pixels'.
It is not a difficult task to get your hands to the Teehan & Lax's iPhone 4 with the GUI PSD retina display elements. Because over this phone the each and every pixel elements tends to become thick by 2 to 3 pixels.
The effects over here are inflated so as to appear visible while you still work on the design prototype. You must also know how these buttons appear on the iPhone and how they displayed distinctively on the computer screen in Photoshop.
Once you are done with the above-mentioned steps, and also, once you have downloaded the LiveView for the UI preview, follow these steps to get the live view of your application interface instantly.
2. Move window to unutilized part on screen.
3. Now Open and run LiveView.
5. Open iView from iPhone.
6. Connect it to the computer.
This is it. Your app is ready. It shall give you the outline of how an application will appear on the mobile device.
Apple has predefined some protocols for designing an App to be put up on Store. These set of protocols are very essential to follow for any designer.
After all the above mentioned steps, when you are done with designing part and also with the guideline conformation party, the design must be exported.
It is possible to export the iPhone app design in the form of code to make it operational.
There are plenty of sub-steps when it comes to developing an iPhone app in Photoshop, but rest assured, it is possible to make an app on Photoshop by following the above-mentioned steps carefully.
It is preferable to test the exported code with iPhone 4S than any other model. It is because the testing on 4S is because is a relatively friendlier and easy due to fewer security protocols. It shall let you preview the custom designed app pretty quickly.
Author Bio: Shahid Abbasi is a big time tech geek working with among the best ios app development companies, Peerbits. He has a proven efficiency over designing mobile apps for the enhanced UI/UX for websites and mobile apps.


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Q: DC block using microstrip line While implementing an RF amplifier circuit, I came across the fact that micro-strip RF chokes are better for narrowband applications and easy to realize than physical inductor.
My question is whether it is possible to implement DC blocks using micro-strip line. If it is possible what are the formulae/relations I can use to implement DC blocks using micro-strip lines?
Thank you!

A: There are microstrip capacitor designs which, obviously, block DC (Unless it is arcing, but then you have a different problem).
Reference:
Agilent Microstrip capacitor

A: Generally no, the capacitance you get from small gaps in microstrip lines is too small to be useful as a DC block.
If combined with a (relatively) large frequency selective structure like a coupler, then you can get DC isolation from input to output.
For a narrowband DC block, use a small cheap ceramic capacitor. For a wideband DC block, use an expensive large capacitor specified for the job, as cheap large capacitors tend to have high a frequency resonance that kills their performance.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Patrick Blanc (Parijs, 3 juni 1953) is een Franse botanicus, werkzaam bij het Centre national de la recherche scientifique. Hij is vooral bekend voor zijn verticale tuinen, waarvan hij als een van de pioniers wordt beschouwd. Enkele van zijn bekende werken zijn te vinden bij het CaixaForum te Madrid, het Musée du quai Branly te Parijs en de One Central Park wolkenkrabber te Sydney.

Afbeeldingen

Frans botanicus


A light golden classic subverted with new world hops, for a devastating explosion of flavour. Kalashnikov bursts of caramel, incendiary tropical fruit and an all-out riot of grapefruit, pineapple and lychee precede a slightly bitter finish.
Get your Paws on these other BrewDog Beers.
Hit us up with your tasting notes!
This has to be one of the best IPA's you can buy at a supermarket. The first craft beer I tried and I keep drinking it. I cannot drink 'normal' lager now, or this fake IPA they serve in most pubs as they don't compare to this. they taste like soap.
no body poor flavour with horrid after taste lacks everything.


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Across the Middle Kingdom
< Day 12 >
July 22 23 24 25
2 August 1998 - Yangtze River / Fengdu
We awaoke to an unexpected and unwelcome sight: steady rain and occasional lightning. In view of my continued sore throat and raw sinuses, I reluctantly confined myself to the ship. Kat, who persists in being healthy, went ashore to see what our assistant cruise director described as "probably the oldest tourist trap in the world" (2,000 years and still counting). Basically, Kat Nirvana. So my morning was spent reading, while Kat's was spent shopping.
I did not shop-- there was nothing to buy, except for a skull for a young friend and a handful of pocket knives for various others.
The afternoon was given to napping, and for dinner we dressed up to sit at the Captain's Table. Well, the Chief Engineer's Table, actually, since the Captain couldn't get away from the bridge. The Chief Engineer gave a very loud toast in Chinese, leading Kat and I to observe that 30 years in the engine room will have an effect no matter what sort of hearing protection you use. We were also given very nice picture books of the Three Gorges.
We also found out how Fengdu got its reputation as the "Ghost City." Apparently, a couple of millenia ago, two government officials were fleeing some purge or other, and they settled in Fengdu. While there, they became monks. As it turns out, saying their two names together quickly sounds a lot like the Chinese word for "hell." So, Fengdu became known as Hell on Earth, which is the destination for souls after death. The locals, apparently knowing a good hook when they heard one, started creating religious and spiritual attractions so that people would come visit. Over the centuries, they've built massive gardens, statues of demons eating babies, little physical tests (like balancing on a roucnded stone) of one's spiritual worth and purity, and so on. Add to that merchandising of religious tokens and various other "I went to Fengdu and survived" trinkets, and you've got yourself a tourist industry.
I have no idea if this story is true, but it sure sounds plausible, doesn't it?
Just as dinner ended, one of the Jersey Wives stopped by the table to say that she hadn't realized that Kat was the girl on honeymoon with a sick husband. Apparently, the story had gained rather wide circulation. The fact that I'd brought the illness aboard wasn't so widely known. (Speaking of which, I'm mostly convinced that I had-- still have, actually-- the flu.)
The evening was "Fun and Games Night," including the game 'Dragons Seizing Pearls,' the object of which is to pick up marbles with plastic chopsticks and transfer them from one bowl to another. I did fairly well at it, actually, but our team still lost. We also went a couple of rounds of Uno with Eddie, Brandon, and Curtis, and then we played Mahjong with Crandall and Brandon. I'd never played before, and wow, was it confusing. But fun!


RICHMOND, Va. (May 15, 2008) – The presidents of the College of William and Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University today announced a signature collaboration to address one of the most difficult issues facing U.S. communities today – health policy.
The VCU-William and Mary Health Policy and Law initiative will bring together faculty and students from a variety of disciplines from the two institutions to conduct research, provide public service and offer joint degree programs that focus on solving topical problems in health policy, law and bioethics.
"This is a new form of inter-institutional collaboration in Virginia," said VCU President Eugene P. Trani. "As public institutions of higher education, we are pooling the resources of two major universities to leverage our strengths in public policy, health and law to help solve a major problem."
Faculty and students from VCU's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, the VCU School of Medicine and the William & Mary Law School will work together in the initiative, the ultimate goal of which is to establish a Center for Health Policy and Law.
"Our two institutions recognized that the most meaningful way to address health care issues was to bring together our expertise in law, health and public policy," said William and Mary Interim President, W. Taylor Reveley, III. "In particular, we want to increase the understanding of the role that the law plays in the complex process of health policy development."
The Health Policy and Law Initiative will be directed by Larry I. Palmer, who spent 27 years at Cornell University, where he served as law professor, vice president and vice provost. Palmer most recently was the endowed chair in policy development on urban health issues at the University of Louisville. He has joint appointments as professor of law at William and Mary and professor in VCU's Wilder School and Department of Social and Behavioral Health in the VCU School of Medicine.
"The initiative will act as both catalyst and facilitator, serving as a vehicle for multiple activities surrounding health policy and law," Palmer said.
The initiative's first service-learning project is a Veterans Disability Clinic, a pilot program set to launch in January 2009, that will involve William and Mary law students helping veterans with disability claims and other legal matters, while students from the VCU Department of Psychology will provide counseling, assessments and referrals to community agencies and medical providers.
Palmer said the veterans' clinic is just one example of the kind of programs that will emanate from the initiative. He said the initiative also will act as a strategic partner for other centers at the universities, such as VCU's Centers for Health Disparities and Rehabilitation Science and Engineering, and William and Mary's Schroeder Center for Healthcare Policy.
"As someone who has been involved in public policy on national and local levels, this is the kind of resourcefulness and responsiveness we need and expect from our public universities," said L. Douglas Wilder, Richmond mayor and former governor of Virginia. "We anticipate that this initiative will produce creative and doable solutions to some of the most difficult health care and law problems we face, especially in urban areas."
The initiative will be housed at the Theater Row Building in downtown Richmond close to VCU's medical campus and at the Law School at William and Mary.


Tent canvas fabric is an iconic and extremely versatile textile. As far as canvas goes, it can be seen in various projects and products. Canvas also comes in many styles and treatments. Treated canvas is common, and it is typically coated with different finishes to reinforce durability. Sunforger tent canvas fabric is your fabric of choice when working on a variety of projects.
Tent canvas fabric is dipped in a non-toxic chemical that refines and strengthens the properties of a variety of canvas styles. Sunforger canvas is styled like army duck canvas. Army duck's cotton fibers are drawn out into longer strands before being twisted into yarns to be weaved and created as a canvas textile. This makes the fabric very tough while still being easy to work with. Sunforger canvas goes through the finishing process to give it some extra special qualities that will enhance its use over time. It can also leave the canvas slightly waxy as well, which holds well against water and other elements. Not only is Sunforger canvas strong and water repellent, it is also mildew resistant, and in some cases, flame retardant. With that many positive advantages to this fabric, its uses can go anywhere your imagination DIY will take you!
Tent canvas has many uses. It can be found as an essential fabric for any project requiring water protection and heavy use. Tent canvas is known to withstand damage against different types of outdoor elements, which is why it's used for patio furniture upholstery or fabric awnings. Because Sunforger canvas is water repellent and sometimes flame retardant, it can withstand high temperatures. Tent canvas fabric can be utilized to create outdoor shelters such as tipis (teepees), tents, yurts, and campers. Due to the reliable nature of Sunforger tent canvas, whatever the weather, it can hold itself against extreme climates.
Sunforger canvas can also be used for various nautical supplies. Its water repellent properties make this canvas great for boat covers, boat awnings, or even seat covers for your watercraft. Since the canvas goes through a non-toxic treatment that leaves a waxy coating on the canvas itself, it can repel water and hold itself against harsher sea faring conditions.
Tote bags for your basic needs like shopping. At Canvas Etc, we have pre-made canvas bags of different varieties, but making your own bag from canvas is an easy project to do!
Reusable lunch bags from Sunforger canvas can withstand the most complex elements and be a true statement for your everyday lunch! Also, it is an eco-friendly and a sustainable way to reduce your carbon footprint.
Outdoor cushions or covers for your patio furniture can be made with Sunforger canvas to eliminate the need to bring your furniture inside. This fabric can withstand extreme temperatures, so you can rest easy knowing your furniture is protected.
Wall tapestries are a newer trend within the DIY community, and Sunforger canvas can surely be used to hang from any surface. It can be painted or sewn through easily, and can tie a room together beautifully.
Working from home, or need to up your office decor game? Sunforger canvas can be adhered to a frame and used to make a bulletin board for all of your important documents! Its durability and flexibility can stand against other fabrics when being stretched and still remain workable through time.
You can safely bet that whatever the project, Sunforger treated canvas will be up for the task.
This canvas has been utilized in the manufacturing community for quite some time. It is a go-to fabric for all things that require the durability and flexibility to stand against the elements and time. It is water repellent and can come in flame retardant varieties. Whether it's needed for a nautical cover for your vessel or a fabric for your tent, tent canvas is appropriate. At Canvas Etc., we proudly carry Sunforger canvas for our commercial and crafting customers. Whatever the necessity for your current or future projects, we can help you find the optimal fabric.


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Q: Visual HG and Visual Studio 2010 performance I have been using Mercurial/tortoise HG and Visual HG as my DSCS with visual studio 2010. Of late i been experiencing noticeable delay while saving files in my VS solution (there 4 projects and each of those have about ~70 files each)
i am suspecting the delay could possibly be because of the Visual HG taking longer to readjust its icon upon saving a file. Does anyone here know any tricks/ tips to improve the performance?
(uninstalling Visual HG and going cmd prompt isnt one of those tips btw :))


In a spartan flat in Belarus, a country that America calls Europe's last dictatorship, seven bright young actors and actresses are risking their jobs, their health and their freedom to rehearse a new play.
Called Belivud, it hints at what it is like to live in Belarus under the authoritarian, Soviet-style leadership of President Alek-sander Lukashenko.
The main character, a young Belarussian man, is tormented by "voices". His despair drives him out of his mind and, in a disturbing finale, he dies.
It is a fitting and depressing metaphor for modern-day Belarus, which feels like a cross between George Or-well's 1984 and the Soviet Union of around 1950.
Mr Lukashenko, a former prison guard and collective-farm boss, has ruled this former Soviet republic since 1994 as if Stalinism had never gone out of fashion. He is up for "re-election" on 19 March and few expect him to lose what his opponents say is a rigged contest of spectacularly unfair proportions. Ominously, he warns that he will use force to disperse public protests, which he fears, perhaps rightly, could be a prelude to a Ukraine-style velvet revolution.
His critics claim that freedom of speech in Belarus has been crushed, that people who disagree with a man who likes to be known as Batka [Father] are thrown into jail, and that citizens who show signs of subversion are sacked or lose their university places.
Mr Lukashenko counters that he has delivered stability, that the economy is on the up and that, thanks to him, Belarus has avoided the anarchy that has beset many other former Soviet republics.
State television portrays Belarus as a mini-idyll where pensions are paid on time, where wages are rising, and where order prevails. The streets of Minsk, the capital, are spotlessly clean and devoid of the beggars, stray dogs and prostitutes who occupy neighbouring Russia's streets.
Advertising is scarce, police, uniformed and non-uniformed, seem to be on every street corner and people act and address one another with a civility that expired in Russia when the USSR collapsed.
But if art really does imitate life and the underground theatre scene in Belarus is a microcosm of society, then the signs are less encouraging. Belarus appears to have turned into a country that time and the outside world have forgotten. The Free Theatre Company, which is patronised and part-financed by the playwright Tom Stoppard and the former Czech president Vaclav Havel, officially doesn't exist.
It has no premises, cannot afford to pay salaries, and performs to small, hand-picked audiences in flats and nightclubs whose location is disclosed to ticket-holders the day before a performance. Most of its actors have official day jobs in state theatre, though many have found themselves blackballed.
Meanwhile, state theatre churns out an inoffensive classical repertoire that has changed little since Soviet times and whose relevance to modern-day Belarus can only be guessed at.
very different. Khalezin, who has been jailed in the past for taking part in anti-government protests, has penned a play called Jeans Generation that is perhaps his most daring.
The production is openly anti-Lukashenko because, if Belarus ever does have a velvet revolution, it will probably be called the denim or jeans revolution. Denim because when a protester, Nikita Sasim, was beaten up last year for bran-dishing first a national Belarussian flag, and then a youth group flag, he took off his denim shirt and made an improvised denim flag.
ture and the jeans shirt became the symbol of freedom and resistance. Many young people who oppose the government now attach denim ribbons to their bags as a sign of solidarity.
"Jeans have become a symbol of freedom," Khalezin told The Independent. "You'll never see Lukashenko in jeans. He only ever dons a dark suit or an ice-hockey outfit."
Watching Khalezin perform Jeans Generation, declaiming a long counter-culture ode that is a semi-autobiographical account of a freedom fighter, is to see what he believes are the beginnings of an irreversible anti-Lukashenko backlash.
a DJ spins a succession of hip records whose heavy bass lines give the project aglamorous Trainspotting-like feel. Mr Khalezin, a former journalist who says all three of the newspapers he worked for have been shut by the government, says many Belarussians have had enough of living in a climate of fear but are too afraid to say so.
"At first, it was interesting to observe a small monster [Lukashenko], then it was funny, and now people have simply had enough. They are sick of it."
One person for whom the demise of the Lukashenko regime cannot come too soon enough is Svetlana Zavadskaya, 33. Her husband, Dmitri, was a cutting-edge television cameraman who used to be the President's personal cameraman. He is one of what Belarussians call "the disappeared". Their bodies have never been found, the government death squad that murdered them has never been tried, and their funerals have never been held.
Dmitri Zavadsky, 28 at the time, disappeared on 7 July 2000 after giving an interview to a newspaper in which he accused government ministers of selling arms to Chechen rebels fighting against Russia, Belarus' most important ally.
The story was embarrassing and threatened to disrupt relations withMoscow which props up Mr Lukashenko with a steady flow of cheapoilandgas.
"He [Dmitri] was critical of the authorities and the regime and of Lukashenko," said Svetlana, her voice cracking with emotion. "They tortured him, broke his spine and killed him."
"For me and my family, regime change is important so we can find out exactly what happened and have the guilty punished."
The man she accuses of ordering her husband's murder, Viktor Sheiman, heads Mr Lukashenko's reelection campaign, while the man she believes who pulled the trigger is Dmitri Pavlichenko, who still works for the police and recently beat up one of Mr Lukashenko's rivals. The Council of Europe has called for both men to be charged and they have been banned from visiting the EU or the US.
Mr Lukashenko, who is accused of order ing a cover-up, does not even pretend to care about the disappearances. Last week, he mockingly told a congress of loyalists how Ms Zavadskaya recently held a meeting with the US President, George Bush. He claimed he couldn't even remember her dead husband's name.
In an interview with The Independent, Aleksander Milinkevich, the main rival to Mr Lukashenko, said he would call on people to take to the streets of Minsk, the capital, on 19 March. Anxious to stress that he wished to avoid bloodshed, he said that, if independent exit polls showed he had won more than 50 per cent of the vote, he and his supporters would move to take power with the help of the security forces, some of whom he thinks are ready to switch sides.
He frets that what he calls "the zombification" of the population by state media will work against him. "Some of the slaves don't want to be free. A portion of society will always vote for Lukashenko because they need a vojd [dictator]."


1405	Excellent	R.CAC	Intermedia	INTELLEGUARD CLEVER EYES	MYRGORODSKA OLENA & KOVALENKO M.S.
3853	Not rated	Puppy	OLIMPIA GALOPUJACA FUFLA	BAHMATSKAYA E.A.
3857	Excellent	Junior	PRIDEBASS MESSENGER FOR HEART	KHUDOLEEVA E.
3868	Very good	Intermedia	INTELLEGUARD CLEVER EYES	MYRGORODSKA OLENA & KOVALENKO M.S.
3871	Excellent	R.CAC	Open	IKARUS MORAVIA BRAY	KHUDOLEEVA E.
3875	Excellent	Champion	COLUMBO MOY LASKOVIY I NEZHNIY ZVER'	GRIBUN I.I. & GRIBUN I.N.
3877	Excellent	Champion	RIDZHIN BRILL	BELSKAYA N.A.
3881	Excellent	Champion	ZIPPER DOS SETE MOINHOS	GOLUBEVA I.
3885	Very good	Open	PRIDEBASS AMI BOVARIA	KHUDOLEEVA E. & VOYTENKO E.
3888	Excellent	R.CAC	Working	DOMINICA MOY LASKOVIY I NEZHNIY ZVER'	KOVAL N.M.


Last week I urged you, dear reader, to reach out and high-five someone. Thank you for sharing your awesome feats and moments of high-fiveability. With all that feedback, I've decided to make a weekly high-five report, checking in with photos, videos and my recommendations for finding high-fiveability in your life. These weekly posts are a bit of an experiment, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes. I will share tips for trying new sports, offer links to worthwhile blogs and websites that are being awesome, provide travel ideas, give weather tips and anything else I find high-fiveable. I also encourage suggestions. This is a chance to promote your little corner of the high-fiving world. You can either comment below or go to the "Contact" page above and shoot me an email directly. I love getting emails about this blog, but not spam, so obviously you need to take away the parenthesis in the email address.
Here's a video of athletes doing some of the most high-fiveable feats on the planet. My palms went wet and itchy just watching this. Aptly, this video posted on YouTube by the band Hadouken, is called "People are Awesome". Indeed!
Thanks for that fun video, Kim. I'm amazed at what the human body can do, and we keep pushing the boundaries farther and farther. Sometimes I wish I'd gotten obsessed with dancing or skiing when I was much younger… who knows what might have happened? I was convinced early by the women in my family that because I had asthma I should avoid excessive exertion. Yet, since I was 15, the only asthma attacks I've had were induced by chemicals or my husband frying hot peppers in our kitchen. As you know, I've since done plenty of distance running, skiing, high altitude hiking, swing dancing, and more. Never say never.


Most weekends, George Pakos can be found on the soccer pitch, a whistle in his mouth, a referee's shirt on his back.
He officiates girls' matches, high-school matches, men's over-50 matches. If he's needed to deliver judgment on fouls, he'll take to the pitch, no matter the players, or the weather. He loves the game that much.
Few of the kids and only some of the adults are aware of his footy pedigree.
His story is so unlikely, so incredible, it seems more fiction than fact.
Mr. Pakos, 57, is retired from his job with the City of Victoria, in whose employ he laboured since high school.
These days, he rises before 7 a.m. each morning to catch a World Cup match on television.
He once watched sport's great spectacle from a better seat than a basement couch.
He began playing soccer at age 10 with other neighbourhood boys in the Gorge Soccer Association.
"I took a love to it right away," he said. "Anybody can play the game. That's why they call it the People's Game."
His father, Zenon Pakos, played professional soccer in Poland before the outbreak of the Second World War. He survived the war as a displaced person. He found work as a boilermaker at the Yarrow Shipyards in Victoria, saving enough to send for his wife, Eva, and their son. Their second son, George, was born in the new land, a symbol for the family of a promising future away from the ancient animosities of the old continent.
The patriarch spent 38 years in the shipyards. His son, too, was going to be a dedicated worker, though he indulged a young man's desire to see the world. He travelled through Europe in 1974, taking in a World Cup match in Munich. He figured it would be the closest he'd ever get to soccer's championship.
Back home, his workdays were busy in the city's work yard. The weekends, then as now, were dedicated to soccer.
He was playing midfield for a local amateur team in a muddy exhibition game when spotted by Bob Bearpark, an assistant coach with the national team. He invited the stocky player to a tryout.
Mr. Pakos was a tad old at 29 1/2 to have been discovered, but in those days the national team would take prospects wherever they could find them.
He made the team, only to be cut before the 1984 Olympics.
He vowed to make the squad trying to qualify for the 1986 World Cup.
Those tryouts were held during a week-long camp at the naval base at Esquimalt. Forty players took to the pitch for a chance to wear the red-and-white uniform of Canada.
The coaches could name 22 players.
Mr. Pakos heard 21 names. On the final selection, he heard his own.
Then, he was cut again. That's what happens when you're on the bubble. One day in, next day out.
"I was so mad," he remembers. "I said, 'If they call me back, I'll never go.' "
He was playing midfield for the Victoria Riptides in a game in California when his wife reached him with an urgent message. There had been an injury. He was to report to the national squad immediately.
He flew home to Victoria, caught a red-eye flight to Toronto, where he rejoined the team, which was flying south to Tegucigalpa for the first of a home-and-away World Cup qualifying series against Honduras.
The poor Central American country took the sport seriously. After all, it had engaged neighbouring El Salvador in a dispute remembered as the Soccer War.
"You get protection," Mr. Pakos said. "Police guards at the airport, army in front of the hotel, armed with machine guns. Very safety conscious. Nerve-racking for us."
The stadium was packed with 55,000 frenzied fans. Mr. Pakos sat on the bench. After 30 minutes, a Canadian was hacked down by a Honduran defender. Mr. Pakos was sent in as a striker.
Early in the second half, he broke free from coverage, received a pass from a teammate and drilled a shot from outside the penalty area into the far corner of the net as the goalie sprawled helplessly to his right.
The Pakos goal settled the match, which ended 1-0.
The return engagement was held at St. John's, Nfld. The September weather was chill enough that the visitors wore gloves and tuques. Mr. Pakos opened the scoring when he pounced on a deflection, banging home the ball. At the final whistle, Canada, winning 2-1, had qualified for its first appearance on the World Cup stage.
The emergency fill-in was serenaded by teammates who sang a version of Guantanamera with altered lyrics - "One Georgie Pakos! There's only one Georgie Pakos! One Georgie PAY-kos!"
Only 24 teams qualified for the final tournament in Mexico in 1986, eight fewer than today.
He watched Canada's first two matches from the bench.
The third game was against the Soviet Union. With 21 minutes left, coach Tony Waiters at last let the moonlighting water-meter technician take to the pitch. He did not score - Canada was shut out for the third consecutive match - but took a measure of revenge for what his opponent had done to his ancestral homeland.
"I remember chasing [Igor]Belanov, trying to stick him with a Canadian elbow. I think I got him, too."
He later learned relatives in Warsaw watched the match on a rented colour television.
At the advanced age of 33, he had played in a World Cup, a blue-collar amateur who took an unpaid leave-of-absence from his city job to take on the best soccer players in the world. His international career ended with the satisfaction of knowing his two goals helped put Canada in the final tournament.
He returned home and to an ordinary anonymity broken when his stepdaughter, Kelly Ellard, was charged and convicted in the beating death of Reena Virk.
At his home, Mr. Pakos has as souvenirs the tricolour captain's armband of Michel Platini, as well as the shirt of Bernard Genghini, who like Mr. Pakos, wore No. 13.
In Canada, because Mr. Pakos's athletic feats were performed on grass and not on ice, he is hardly celebrated. In any other country, he'd have been a hero.


text:
package com.amazonaws.services.opsworks.model;

import java.io.Serializable;
import javax.annotation.Generated;

import com.amazonaws.AmazonWebServiceRequest;

/**
 *
 * @see AWS API
 *      Documentation
 */
@Generated("com.amazonaws:aws-java-sdk-code-generator")
public class DescribeUserProfilesRequest extends com.amazonaws.AmazonWebServiceRequest implements Serializable, Cloneable {

    /**
     *

     * An array of IAM or federated user ARNs that identify the users to be described.
     *

     */
    private com.amazonaws.internal.SdkInternalList<String> iamUserArns;

    /**
     *

     * An array of IAM or federated user ARNs that identify the users to be described.
     *

     *
     * @return An array of IAM or federated user ARNs that identify the users to be described.
     */

    public java.util.List<String> getIamUserArns() {
        if (iamUserArns == null) {
            iamUserArns = new com.amazonaws.internal.SdkInternalList<String>();
        }
        return iamUserArns;
    }

    /**
     *

     * An array of IAM or federated user ARNs that identify the users to be described.
     *

     *
     * @param iamUserArns
     *        An array of IAM or federated user ARNs that identify the users to be described.
     */

    public void setIamUserArns(java.util.Collection<String> iamUserArns) {
        if (iamUserArns == null) {
            this.iamUserArns = null;
            return;
        }

        this.iamUserArns = new com.amazonaws.internal.SdkInternalList<String>(iamUserArns);
    }

    /**
     *

     * An array of IAM or federated user ARNs that identify the users to be described.
     *

     *

     * NOTE: This method appends the values to the existing list (if any). Use
     * {@link #setIamUserArns(java.util.Collection)} or {@link #withIamUserArns(java.util.Collection)} if you want to
     * override the existing values.
     *

     *
     * @param iamUserArns
     *        An array of IAM or federated user ARNs that identify the users to be described.
     * @return Returns a reference to this object so that method calls can be chained together.
     */

    public DescribeUserProfilesRequest withIamUserArns(String... iamUserArns) {
        if (this.iamUserArns == null) {
            setIamUserArns(new com.amazonaws.internal.SdkInternalList<String>(iamUserArns.length));
        }
        for (String ele : iamUserArns) {
            this.iamUserArns.add(ele);
        }
        return this;
    }

    /**
     *

     * An array of IAM or federated user ARNs that identify the users to be described.
     *

     *
     * @param iamUserArns
     *        An array of IAM or federated user ARNs that identify the users to be described.
     * @return Returns a reference to this object so that method calls can be chained together.
     */

    public DescribeUserProfilesRequest withIamUserArns(java.util.Collection<String> iamUserArns) {
        setIamUserArns(iamUserArns);
        return this;
    }

    /**
     * Returns a string representation of this object; useful for testing and debugging.
     *
     * @return A string representation of this object.
     *
     * @see java.lang.Object#toString()
     */
    @Override
    public String toString() {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        sb.append("{");
        if (getIamUserArns() != null)
            sb.append("IamUserArns: ").append(getIamUserArns());
        sb.append("}");
        return sb.toString();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean equals(Object obj) {
        if (this == obj)
            return true;
        if (obj == null)
            return false;

        if (obj instanceof DescribeUserProfilesRequest == false)
            return false;
        DescribeUserProfilesRequest other = (DescribeUserProfilesRequest) obj;
        if (other.getIamUserArns() == null ^ this.getIamUserArns() == null)
            return false;
        if (other.getIamUserArns() != null && other.getIamUserArns().equals(this.getIamUserArns()) == false)
            return false;
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public int hashCode() {
        final int prime = 31;
        int hashCode = 1;

        hashCode = prime * hashCode + ((getIamUserArns() == null) ? 0 : getIamUserArns().hashCode());
        return hashCode;
    }

    @Override
    public DescribeUserProfilesRequest clone() {
        return (DescribeUserProfilesRequest) super.clone();
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


PRETORIA, South Africa, Nov 30 2016 (PRESS RELEASE) -- South Africa and Russia will from Monday, 28 November, review their ten-year relationship in nuclear research. The two countries signed a bilateral agreement on joint nuclear research in 2005, which was followed by the signing of a bilateral agreement between the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR).
Senior officials from the two countries will participate in a four-day forum which will be addressed by DST Director-General Phil Mjwara, and the JINR Director-General, Prof Victor Matveev. Discussions will among others focus on Russia's collaboration with the country's Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) and Ithemba Labs.
The JINR is an independent, multinational research agency in Dubna, in Russia. It conducts theoretical and practical research, mainly in the fields of elementary particle physics, nuclear physics and condensed matter physics. The Institute comprises eight laboratories and employs over 6000 people. South Africa enjoys "associate membership" status via the bilateral agreement signed between the Institute and the DST.
Through this cooperation, South Africa's nuclear research community has actively participated in many research activities at the JINR such as neutron applications, computational physics, as well as theoretical physics. In addition, South Africa has benefited significantly in the area of human capital and research capacity development.
Since the beginning of the signed MoU, over R70 million has been invested which allows active participation of SA researchers in joint projects in nuclear physics at the JINR. In addition, a total number of 242 students from various South African universities have participated in the annual student practice.


There's no shortage of tax scams these days, as a quick click through to the IRS's Tax Scam website will demonstrate. It's getting so bad that the IRS again released its list of the "Dirty Dozen" scams for 2019. Leading off the list this year were phishing scams (which rose 60 percent in 2018 according to the IRS), followed by phones scams, identity theft, return preparer fraud and more.
File Early– One of the biggest tactics attackers will leverage if they get your personal information is to attempt to file your taxes for you, and then redirect your return to themselves. The easiest way to avoid this is to file early, so you can prevent them from filing for you.
Is That Really the IRS Calling?– The IRS is probably not going to email you or call you. As a matter of fact, their website specifically states that "The IRS doesn't initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information." And they definitely are not going to offer any sort of gift card for filing early. If you get weird emails or phone calls from the IRS, ignore them or hang up. If you want more information about how the IRS will contact you, check out their guideline here.
Encryption is the Only Way to Go– If you file online, look for encrypted websites. Make sure the website you are visiting has the HTTPS in front of the URL. Typically it will have a green or gray lock showing it's a secure connection. The last thing you want to do is share your extremely private information associated with taxes unless you're on an encrypted site.
It's Me, I Can Prove It– Be sure to secure your authentication. Many common tax applications, such as TurboTax, offer multi-factor authentication. Besides using just a password, they also use something such as a text message or token to verify that it's really you logging on and filing your taxes. If a tax service doesn't offer multi-factor authentication (for example, the IRS's efile option actually does NOT), be sure you use a very strong password. That means 16 characters or more and you should not use that password anywhere else (if you want more on password best practices, click here).
If you follow these basic tips as you prepare to file this year, you should stay safe this tax season.
If you want to read more about past tax scams, check out our post on stolen SSNs.


text:
Watch and Download Movie The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
juni 29, 2015 admin	Geen categorie
The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
Released September, 09 2017
Director : Charlie Bean.
Cast : Dave Franco, Michael Peña, Jackie Chan, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Woods, Fred Armisen, Olivia Munn, Justin Theroux, Abbi Jacobson.
Genre : Action, Animation, Comedy.
Duration : 1 hours 18 minutes
Movie 'The LEGO Ninjago Movie' was released in September 21, 2017 in genre Action. Charlie Bean was directed this movie and starring by Dave Franco. This movie tell story about Six young ninjas are tasked with defending their island home of Ninjago. By night, they're gifted warriors using their skill and awesome fleet of vehicles to fight villains and monsters. By day, they're ordinary teens struggling against their greatest enemy….high school.
Lady Ninja Kasumi
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
Beverly Hills Ninja
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Turtles Forever
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
Ninja: Shadow of a Tear
The Octagon
Battle of Los Angeles
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text:
FDA Gets Sued
New Lawsuit Accuses FDA Of Putting Black Smokers At Risk
Two tobacco control groups have filed suit against the Food and Drug Administration for failing to ban menthol cigarettes. The Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC) are suing the government agency for its role in permitting the sale and consumption of menthol cigarettes.
7 out of 10 Black smokers use menthol cigarettes. The CDC has also cited the flavored cigarettes as prolonging tobacco addiction in Black people. Blacks are the ethnic group most affected by menthol cigarettes, even though they have lower smoking rates than other groups. Black people are also most likely to suffer from smoking-related illnesses than other ethnic groups in the US.
The Problem of Menthol Cigarettes
Who Is Suing the FDA and Why
Why Menthol Cigarettes Are So Deadly
Both the FDA and CDC know that menthol cigarettes are a contributing factor to nicotine addiction and disease in the Black community. Both agencies have found that:
86% of all Black smokers prefer menthol cigarettes
While only:
46% of Hispanic smokers prefer menthol cigarettes
39% of Asian smokers prefer menthol cigarettes
29% of White smokers prefer menthol cigarettes
Apart from that the tobacco industry has a well-documented history of targeting Black communities. Big Tobacco has always aimed advertising for menthol cigarettes to Black people. The reason behind the lawsuit is that the FDA has banned all other flavored tobacco products, including flavored vape products, except for menthol.
The agency stopped short of banning menthol because it believes that flavored, non-combustible tobacco products could help smokers quit. This is also the reason the agency exempted menthol and tobacco flavors from the 2019 flavor ban for vaping products. The agency has stated that it is "dedicated to understanding how flavors influence tobacco use and addiction".
Who Is Behind the Lawsuit?
The two main groups leveling the lawsuit against the FDA are Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC). Those two groups were later joined by the American Medical Association (AMA). All these groups are taking the agency to task for doing nothing about menthol cigarettes despite the strong evidence that:
17,000 premature deaths would have been avoided if the agency banned menthol cigarettes in 2010
2.3 million people who have not started smoking if they had banned menthol cigarettes in 2010
The FDA's own Advisory Committee found, in 2011, that "removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health in the United States". Yet, menthol cigarettes remain on the market in 2020. This reluctance by the FDA continues despite other jurisdictions taking stronger steps to ban menthol.
Brian Eichhorn / Shutterstock
Following recommendations by the World Health Organization, the EU updated its 2016 Tobacco Products Directive to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes. The Union instituted a menthol ban this past spring and they are no longer available to consumers in the Union's 27 member states.
What Will be The Outcome
The FDA is expected to defend its position when the case gets to court. The opposing side will argue that the agency's inaction to institute a menthol ban amounts to discrimination against the 86% of Black smokers who use menthol cigarettes. The plaintiffs also plan to argue that this not only unjustly endangers Black smokers, but it also makes them subject to greater risk of respiratory illnesses, including Covid-19.


text:
ONE Feature | Kai Ting Chuang Brings Home The Belt
Sep 22 Fight
Abandoned as a baby, Chinese phenom Kai Ting Chuang's grandparents became her beacon of hope, adopting her as their own and raising her to become the World Champion she is today. When Chuang was crowned the inaugural ONE Super Series Kickboxing Atomweight World Champion earlier this year, her grandmother and grandfather could not have been more proud of her. With the two most important people in her life 100 percent behind her, Chuang will look to successfully defend her strap against Thai knockout artist Stamp Fairtex at ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES in Bangkok.
Subscribe to ONE Championship on YouTube: http://bit.ly/ONECHAMPIONSHIP
Connect with ONE Championship:
ONE Super App: http://bit.ly/ONESuperApp
Website: https://onefc.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ONEChampionship
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onechampionship
Tagged Bouts, Fights, Kai Ting Chuang, Martial Arts, Mixed Martial Arts, mma, ONE, ONE Championship, ONEFC


text:
Destinations > San Jose
San Jose Snapshot
Summary: Costa Rican capital city; cultural center and a gateway to excellent day trips.
Landscape: City, Mountains
Attractions: Craft & Artisan Markets, Gold Museum, Jade Museum, National Theater
Activities: Live Theater, Shopping
Caters to: Budget Travelers, Culture Aficionados, Day Trippers
The city of San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica and the capital of San Jose province. Its proximity to Juan Santamaria International Airport, the country's largest, makes the city a frequent stopover for visitors and travelers. Perhaps due to this status as a forced destination, San Jose has garnered unfair criticism from those expecting beaches, palm trees and tropical living. In contrast, the mountainous city is lively and animated, with much to offer its visitors.
San Jose is the hub of Costa Rican life; approximately two-thirds of the country's population lives in the greater metropolitan area, which is reportedly the most heavily populated in Central America. The city's busy nature is underscored by its bustling streets, which are filled with honking cars, painted public buses, weaving motorcycles and scooters, huge trucks and very wary pedestrians. Despite the population density, most city residents live in single-family homes, and few buildings are more than three or four stories high.
San Jose's downtown is a surprising mix of wealthy and poor, and expensive shops and boutique hotels often share the pavement with small wares vendors and musicians who serenade passersby for their spare change. Modern touches are everywhere – WiFi (wireless Internet) stickers decorate shop doors, and electronics stores are a dime a dozen – but San Jose retains its traditional charm with adobe-and-wood homes, brick-lined pedestrian streets and grand theaters.
Nestled in a lush valley set alongside Costa Rica's Cordillera Central, or Central Mountain Range, San Jose has the high altitude and moderate climate ideal for agriculture. When the city was established in 1737, most area residents farmed fruits, vegetables and the ever-popular coffee plant, which produces the tastiest beans in mountainous, shady conditions like those of San Jose.
The town began its modern life as "Villanueva de la Boca del Monte del Valle de Abra" (New Village of the Mountain's Mouth in the Open Valley), a mouthful even in those days. Soon, the name was changed to the shorter and more religious San Jose, honoring Joseph, the city's patron saint.
The newly-founded town soon attracted the valley's scattered residents, and San Jose began to grow and develop. By the end of the 18th century, the city had dominated Costa Rica's tobacco and coffee production, and profits lined the pockets of both the city's elite and the government. Military quarters, a beautiful cathedral, developed parks, a mint and other buildings were constructed, visual symbols of the town's growth and success.
In October 1821, after many years of colonial rule, the Spanish withdrew from Central America. Though Costa Rica's largest cities met to sign a constitution, which was based on the 1812 Spanish constitution, the towns remained divided and at odds. A civil war ensued, and on April 5, 1823, San Jose defeated Cartago at the Battle of Ochomongo, and was declared Costa Rica's new capital city.
San Jose's growing prominence and political power bred jealousy and resentment. In an effort to avoid further bloodshed, the city's leaders offered to rotate the national capital between Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia and San Jose, but the olive branch suggestion was insufficient. In March 1835, the other three cities banded together to attack San Jose and overthrow its government in La Guerra de la Liga, or the Battle of the League. Despite its rivals' best efforts, San Jose once again emerged victorious, and has remained Costa Rica's capital ever since.
By the mid-1800s, most of San Jose's political problems were behind it, and the city focused on expanding trade and developing itself as a political, economic and cultural center. The coffee industry continued to produce significant profits and, like many modern-day Costa Ricans, San Jose's new middle class devoted much of their wealth and time to promoting social good. Brick roads replaced muddy paths, tramways were built, kerosene lamps lit the streets, and San Jose developed into a bustling and modern city. In fact, the small Costa Rican capital was the third city in the world to install public electric lighting, and one of the first to develop a public telephone system.
Though much of the city's classic and colonial architecture has been destroyed by earthquakes, San Jose remains proud of its history and struggles. It is a modern and vibrant Central American city, with park-lined streets, historical and cultural museums, and live cultural events that can be enjoyed year-round.
San Jose in Pictures
San Jose Travel Guide
City Layout
Local Neighborhoods
San Jose Weather
73°F (23°C) Clear
Wind: 18.02 miles per hour, ESE
15 day weather forecast >
Experiences in San Jose
Whitewater Rafting on the Pacuare River
Costa Rica To Do List: Irazu Volcano Tour
Day Trip to San Jose's Pueblo Antiguo
San Jose Day Trip: Braulio Carrillo
Spirogyra Butterfly Garden in San Jose