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13 Songs Plus
by Austin and Elliott
© Copyright - Chris Elliott / Austin and Elliott (794465819023)
Cabin-grown original songs with catchy melodies and thought-provoking lyrics, delivered by bracing harmonies and lone acoustic guitar. It's love gone wrong and death done right.
Genre: Folk: Modern Folk
1. Dance on the Killing Floor
2. When I Go
4. Too Tired
5. Everything Looks Like a Hammer
6. Flycatcher
7. Liza Jane
8. Rocking the Cradle
9. Truth That Hurts
10. Blackwater Dam
11. Snow Globe
12. All God's Children
13. The Evil Genius Lost His Touch
14. Caroline
15. Still Waters
16. Starlet with a Needle
17. Wish It Would Rain
18. Hearts of Stone in a City of Glass
19. Hard Not to Fall in Love
20. One More TIme
21. How Far Time Flies
Austin and Elliott tap into traditional folk with a modern outsider's sensibility. With thought-provoking, often irreverent lyrics, Chris Elliott's songs reach for both scathing irony and genuine beauty. Adding Lisa Austin's blended harmonies, this tension is dramatic: two voices telling tales of love gone wrong and death done right.
Based in Western Massachusetts, Austin and Elliott is comprised of singer/songwriters Chris Elliott (vocals and guitar) and Lisa Austin (vocals, bass, guitar, percussion, and 6-string banjo.) After years of performing on their own as solo artists, they began collaborating in 2003, with Lisa adding harmony vocals to Chris's songs. Since then, they've steadily deepened their musical partnership, incorporating new instrumentation and honing their twin vocal attack.
Their second record, the 5-cut "Truth That Hurts," is their first full-band effort, produced by Lorne Entress (Lori McKenna, Catie Curtis, Mark Erelli) and featuring guitarist Duke Levine (Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jonatha Brooke, Ellis Paul) and bassist Paul Kochanski (Resophonics). Dealing with themes of love gained and lost, the CD's original compositions are rich with memorable melodies, cutting lyrics, and striking harmonies.
Also available is their debut CD "13 Songs Plus", which is packed with 21 songs performed in stark, powerful fashion. Greg Grant of the Online Folk Festival has this to say: "Just two voices and an acoustic guitar, but the songs are impressive, particularly the mythic folk ballad "Blackwater Dam," which has a timeless quality difficult to achieve."
Influences? Think duos like Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Richard and Linda Thompson, Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, Johnny Cash and June Carter, Richard and Mimi Farina, the Handsome Family and Timbuk 3. The more you listen, you'll hear: Natalie Merchant, Bob Dylan, the Decemberists, REM, Robyn Hitchcock, Randy Newman, the Pogues, Pixies, James McMurtry, Todd Snider, Grace Slick, and more. Experienced live, each song has a distinctive feel: tender or cynical, soothing or raucous, doomy or bright.
Born and raised in Binghamton, NY, Chris Elliott, since moving to Boston in 1994 to escape food service jobs and go to grad school, has become a fixture of the underground acoustic scene in New England. He starting writing funny songs in his teens, and when he got a beat-up Ovation guitar while at Bard College, the satirical edge of his writing turned more poignant. Going on to an MFA from Emerson College, he has developed a vivid, literary writing style that ranges from darkly serious to deadly funny. He made an early splash in Boston in 1996 with the tune "Nothing Too Major," which appeared on the compilation "Show Up, Sign Up and Play" alongside tracks by Mary Gauthier and Jess Klein. That same year his unusual handmade acoustic guitar was won in the WUMB 91.9 FM/Borders Books and Music Songwriter Competition. The guitar was crafted by luthier Alan Carruth, and its deep, powerful tone accommodates Chris' distinctive style, which alternates soft fingerpicking with vigorous, sometimes dissonant, strumming. According to Club Passim's Matt Smith, "his songs run the gamut from bitingly ironic to honestly beautiful." Or in the words of Marilyn Ray Beyer of 91.9FM WUMB: "Laugh now, think later... A poet in a songwriter suit." He was a finalist in the 2009 Rose Garden Songwriting Competition.
A native of Western Massachusetts, Lisa Austin began playing live in earnest after moving to Boulder, Colorado in 1998. With a voice that recalls Natalie Merchant, she was a Lillith Fair semi-finalist for an opening spot at the 1999 Colorado Lillith Fair, and since then she has played and sung in many venues throughout Boulder and Massachusetts. While Chris takes a more cerebral approach to music making, Lisa is the more intuitive, creating original harmony lines by ear and unearthing the emotional core of songs. In addition to singing, she plays guitar, 6-string banjo, bass and percussion, adding energy to the live show. Her songwriting is dark and traditional-folk inspired, filled with rural imagery, reflecting her love of and reverence for the natural world. She often sings from unique points of view, such as a fisherman drowning at sea or a westward journeying pioneer who discovers his family dead on Christmas Day. In addition to music-making, Lisa is involved with animal rights and spay/neuter advocacy.
"Lisa Austin and Chris Elliott couldn't be more suited for one another musically and their new 5-song sampler quantifies that statement. Both possess excellent singing voices and when they're combined, there's few duos that can touch them. On Truth That Hurts, Austin and Elliott have also made a bold move to enlist producer Lorne Entress to oversee the production while hiring guitarist Duke Levine and bassist Paul Kochanski to beef up the instrumentation. The result is an engaging five songs lush with musicality and poetic prose. The song "Liza Jane" could easily be nominated as "Song of the Year" at the next Boston Music Awards show with its superb lyrics and mesmerizing musical accompaniment."
Doug's Top 5 June 2007 - Metronome Magazine
Review of Truth That Hurts
"This five-song EP from Massachusetts-based singer/songwriter duo hits all the right chords with beautifully crafted tales of introspection and woe. Nicely harmonized vocals, reminiscent of Aimee Mann, compliment immaculately produced instrumentals. Featuring accomplished local musicians such as Duke Levine, these five songs come fully realized and are sure to please."
- Northeast Performer
"The first time I heard Austin and Elliott's song, "Hard Not to Fall in Love," off of their EP, Truth That Hurts, I knew I had come across something spectacular. It's a brilliant song, written by Chris Elliott, and delivered emotionally by Elliott and Lisa Austin. In a world where love songs can often be cliché or too gooey, Austin and Elliott went creatively beyond that and created a perfect love song.
In this performance, the finger-picked guitar riff by Elliott is quite impressive and fills the role of most of the instrumentalism. There is some subtle slide guitar work during the bridge of the song, performed by the producer of this tune, Lorne Entress. The only other ingredients are the great vocals of Austin and Elliott. Elliott sings most of the tune, but Austin sings along on the bridge and in the hooks.
This intimate approach isn't the only reason this tune works. The lyrics are a great. My favorite verse is, "It's hard not to watch the water shine. Everybody stares at the things that make them blind. And you're so bright from afar. Not to fall in love with you is hard. It's hard."
The song appears to be about a couple trying not to fall in love, because their geographical departure from one another is eminent. Elliott sings, "It's hard not to hold on and believe, as fortune on the rail carries you away from me. Letting go is the hardest part." Austin and Elliott again sing together, "And not to fall in love with you is hard. It's hard."
Austin and Elliott's, "Hard Not to Fall in Love," off their CD, Truth That Hurts, is a fantastic love song. If you're a fan of well-crafted, folky songs with great lyrics and an intimate delivery, this song will be your absolute favorite."
- Listeners' Generation.com MP3 review of "Hard Not to Fall in Love" (Apr 14, 2008)
"Just two voices and an acoustic guitar, but the songs are impressive, particularly the mythic folk ballad "Blackwater Dam," which has a timeless quality difficult to achieve."
Greg Grant - Online Folk Festival
Review of 13 Songs Plus
"Here we get great value with no less than 21 tracks on the album from Boston-based duo Austin & Elliott. Lisa and Chris perform widely on the circuit, giving audiences a chance to hear their original work, and this album will extend this pleasure to a much wider audience.
There are no lush strings or complicated arrangements on offer here. These are songwriters with a love of words expressing emotions - personal or otherwise - to the pure accompaniment of guitar.
"When I Go" is a case in point. It has a spare accompaniment, but even that could be superfluous when the listener gives attention to the harmony of these voices and the strong lyrics. The magic continues on tracks like "O Death," with its haunting theme and delivery. It could be a rendition of a song written centuries ago. The guitar takes off at a stronger pace on "Caroline," an old-style story-song that is well worth a close listen.
Tracks with titles like "Still Water," "Truth That Hurts" and "Started with a Needle" give you an idea of the beautiful, laidback style of this wonderful duo, but show how to tackle all sorts of subjects with quiet determination and thoughtful lyrics. This is a fine collection of original material well written and thoughtfully performed."
- Rambles.net
"Not too long after packing 21 songs onto their first CD, 13 Songs Plus, it is no wonder that Chris Elliott and Lisa Austin cover four of those on this five-song EP. Why do it? For one thing, the previous CD, while hardly lo-fi, was very basic—two voices and guitar. From a folk standpoint it worked beautifully, but Chris Elliott's songwriting occasionally broke out of the folk mold, keying more on pop hooks and melody. The duo must have wondered what they could do with those more mainstream tunes. When producer Lorne Entress showed interest, the opportunity to record in a band setting was too good to pass up. Entress gathered Austin and Elliott plus himself, bassist Paul Kochanski and guitarist Duke Levine and headed into Thomas Eaton Recording and Busterland Recording to lay down a handful of tracks, thus Truth That Hurts.
That the title track was chosen as EP title is no surprise. There is something very fifties in the writing—the light shuffling 6/8 rhythm and the updated and less R&B Mickey & Sylvia approach, maybe—which is very pleasant to the ear. And while the bare-bones version is nice, this one, enhanced by both the percussion and production, is taken well out of the folk and into the pop genre.
The new arrangement of Too Tired borrows from mid-sixties Brit rockers, having a Gerry & the Pacemakers twelve string hook which is unmistakable. The solid beat drives everything to its logical conclusion. And the end? It's straight out of early Liverpool.
A step toward Americana follows, Liza Jane adding mandola and a bit of dobro to the mix. It works, but the real magic here is the song itself. A strange view of some sort of unrequited love (which the man accepts wholly), it sings of a family-not-a-family while the melody and tempo belie the dysfunction which must surely exist. I mean, it's a tragic head-nodder, if that makes sense.
The total surprise here is the one track not borrowed from 13 Songs Plus—What a Woman Knows". Call it folk with attitude or acoustic metal, it has a Black Sabbath "Iron Man" chord progression beneath Lisa Austin's spot-on vocals. Austin and Elliott unplugged? Maybe. But it sure grows on you.
Everyone has a song which reflects him- or herself and Hard Not To Fall In Love is a classic example. A beautiful ballad, one cannot listen to it without thinking that Austin and Elliott are singing it from the heart and for each other, even though that may be far from the truth. Such is the magic of music, though, and this one plucks heart- as well as guitar strings.
Like 13 Songs Plus, Truth That Hurts shows great promise. It shows that Austin & Elliott are no one-genre musicians. It shows heart. It shows progress. One of the things some people love most about music is watching musicians morph into better musicians on an ongoing basis. This could be the beginning of a long ride. It will be fun watching (and listening)."
A review written for the Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange
by Frank Gutch Jr
Frank Gutch Jr - Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange (Apr 26, 2010)


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PACMan to Help Sort Hubble Proposals
By Susanna Kohler on 10 April 2017 Features
Many astronomers want to use the Hubble Space Telescope to observe their science targets — but oversubscription means that only some of their proposals will be selected for HST time. [NASA]
Every year, astronomers submit over a thousand proposals requesting time on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Currently, humans must sort through each of these proposals by hand before sending them off for review. Could this burden be shifted to computers?
A Problem of Volume
Astronomer Molly Peeples gathered stats on the HST submissions sent in last week for the upcoming HST Cycle 25 (the deadline was Friday night), relative to previous years. This year's proposal round broke the record, with over 1200 proposals submitted in total for Cycle 25. [Molly Peeples]
Each proposal cycle for HST time attracts on the order of 1100 proposals — accounting for far more HST time than is available. The proposals are therefore carefully reviewed by around 150 international members of the astronomy community during a six-month process to select those with the highest scientific merit.
Ideally, each proposal will be read by reviewers that have scientific expertise relevant to the proposal topic: if a proposal requests HST time to study star formation, for instance, then the reviewers assigned to it should have research expertise in star formation.
How does this matching of proposals to reviewers occur? The current method relies on self-reported categorization of the submitted proposals. This is unreliable, however; proposals are often mis-categorized by submitters due to misunderstanding or ambiguous cases.
As a result, the Science Policies Group at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — which oversees the review of HST proposals — must go through each of the proposals by hand and re-categorize them. The proposals are then matched to reviewers with self-declared expertise in the same category.
With the number of HST proposals on the rise — and the expectation that the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will elicit even more proposals for time than Hubble — scientists at STScI and NASA are now asking: could the human hours necessary for this task be spared? Could a computer program conceivably do this matching instead?
Comparison of PACMan's categorization to the manual sorting for HST Cycle 24 proposals. Green: proposals similarly categorized by both. Yellow: proposals whose manual classifications are within the top 60% of sorted PACMan classifications. Red: proposals categorized differently by each. [Strolger et al. 2017]
Introducing PACMan
Led by Louis-Gregory Strolger (STScI), a team of scientists has developed PACMan: the Proposal Auto-Categorizer and Manager. PACMan is what's known as a Naive Bayesian classifier; it's essentially a spam-filtering routine that uses word probabilities to sort proposals into multiple scientific categories and identify people to serve on review panels in those same scientific areas.
PACMan works by looking at the words in a proposal and comparing them to those in a training set of proposals — in this case, the previous year's HST proposals, sorted by humans. By using the training set, PACMan "learns" how to accurately classify proposals.
PACMan then looks up each reviewer on the Astrophysical Data System (ADS) and compiles the abstracts from the reviewer's past 10 years' worth of scientific publications. This text is then evaluated in a similar way to the text of the proposals, determining each reviewer's suitability to evaluate a proposal.
How Did It Do?
Comparison of PACMan sorting to manual sorting, specifically for the HST Cycle 24 proposals that were recategorized by the Science Policies Group (SPG) from what the submitter (PI) selected. Of these swaps, 48% would have been predicted by PACMan. [Strolger et al. 2017]
Strolger and collaborators show that with a training set of one previous cycle's proposals, PACMan correctly categorizes the next cycle's proposals roughly 87% of the time. By increasing the size of the training set to include more past cycles, PACMan's accuracy can be improved up to 95% (though the algorithm will have to be retrained any time the proposal categories change).
PACMan's results were also consistent for reviewers: it found that nearly all of the reviewers (92%) asked to serve in the last cycle were appropriate reviewers for the subject area based on their ADS publication record.
There are still some hiccups in automating this process — for instance, finding the reviewers on ADS can require human intervention due to names not being unique. As the scientific community moves toward persistent and distinguishable identifiers (like ORCIDs), however, this problem will be mitigated.
Strolger and collaborators believe that PACMan demonstrates a promising means of increasing the efficiency and impartiality of the HST proposal sorting process. This tool will likely be used to assist or replace humans in this process in future HST and JWST cycles.
Louis-Gregory Strolger et al 2017 AJ 153 181. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa6112
Hubble machine learning software
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30 September 2022 Features 0 Software Updates: The Latest from the Astropy Project
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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British myths and legends - Travel Article
Category: Travel Articles
Whether they're true, just good stories or somewhere in between, we all love a juicy myth or legend, from Robin Hood, to Wookey Hole. Here are some of Britain's best and the places to experience them.
Robin Hood, Nottingham
We all know this one. Or do we? The outlaw hero and expert archer who robs the rich to feed the poor is about as English as tea and crumpets. But surprisingly little is known about the man himself. So don your suit of green, assemble some merry men and head to Nottingham to see if you can discover this elusive chap yourself. You might find him at the Major Oak, the ancient tree in Sherwood Forest rumoured to be his hideout.
Tintagel, Cornwall
Head to the wild and unspoiled cliffs of Tintagel to discover the mythical birthplace of King Arthur. It was medieval historian Geoffrey of Monmouth who first proposed the theory that Arthur was born here and that the wizard Merlin lived in a cave nearby. Ruined Tintagel Castle, set on the blustery cliff top, is a wonderfully romantic setting from which to explore the legend.
Glastonbury, Somerset
Glastonbury is knee-deep in supernatural associations. It stands at the junction of ley lines, the supposed mystical motorways of spiritual energy and is said to be the final resting place of King Arthur. Many believe a young Jesus Christ visited the site and that the town's Chalice Well is the hiding place of the Holy Grail. A visit from Jesus is not as far fetched as it sounds - Joseph of Arimathea, a relation of Mary, owned a mine in the area.
Rosslyn Chapel, Roslin, Scotland
This medieval church outside Edinburgh has long-standing links to the Knights Templar and Freemasonry. Carvings, rich in symbolism, sprout from every surface in an astonishing 'essay in stone' and many believe the Chapel is the repository for the Holy Grail – as speculated in The Da Vinci Code. Whatever you believe, Rosslyn's forest of carvings is inspiring, mystifying and truly unique.
The Loch Ness Monster, Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands
Few things shout Scotland! louder than the mythical monster that skulks in Loch Ness, Britain's longest body of fresh water. Sightings of Nessie have declined over recent years and despite high-profile submarine searches and much-disputed photographs, the beast seems quite content to maintain its low profile. Don't be disheartened if you don't catch a glimpse of Nessie, though. The loch itself is beautiful enough and the Highlands have sufficient mystery and magic for anyone.
Jack the Ripper, East London
The serial killer known as Jack the Ripper was scarily real and the fact that 5 London prostitutes were brutally murdered in 1888 is beyond dispute. More mysterious is the identity of the killer with suspects ranging from artist Walter Sickert to author Lewis Carroll. Tour the fog-cloaked streets of East London to review the evidence for yourself. While Whitechapel retains something of the night, by day it has a great mix of hip boutiques, designer bars and, on Brick Lane, curry houses as far as the eye can see.
Wookey Hole Witch, Wookey Hole Caves near Wells
Deep within the dank, underground caves of wookey hole lived the fearsome Wookey Hole Witch. Long ago, the villagers of Wookey implored the Abbot of Glastonbury to send a protector against this malevolent hag. Enter Father Bernard, Benedictine monk and crack exorcist. Bernard scooped up some water, quickly blessed it and threw it over the witch turning her to stone. You can still see the witch's petrified form deep in these extraordinary caves.
Stonehenge, Salisbury
Stonehenge is the most famous megalithic (literally meaning 'big stone') monument in the world. Dating back an amazing 50,000 years, it's drawn visitors for literally millennia. A place of ritual sacrifice and sun worship or a massive calendar? Nobody really knows its purpose, but no one who has ever been there will deny, it is truly awe inspiring.
Cerne Abbas Giant, Cerne Abbas near Dorchester
A gigantic figure etched in a chalk hillside guards the village of Cerne Abbas near Dorchester. Naked apart from a huge club he's certainly an arresting sight. But his true meaning and even his age are in dispute. Is he an ancient fertility symbol, a cheeky 17th-century joke or something else entirely? The only time he's been clothed is during World War II when he was disguised to prevent the enemy from using him as an aerial landmark.
St Michael's Mount, Cornwall
St Michael's Mount at Penzance is a small tidal island just off the coast of Cornwall. Legend has it the Mount was the work of Cornish giant Cormoran who built a fortified home from where he could terrorise the locals living in the coastal village of Marazion. But one night, local lad Jack crept over to the island and dug a hole disguising it with straw. When Jack woke him, Cormoran blundered into the hole never to escape. Walk up St Michael's Mount, see Jack's hole and put your head against the nearby rock. It is said you can still hear the giant's heart beating.
Source: Visit Britain - reproduced with permission.
You can read more about British Culture and Traditions here.
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Two Six Labs originated in 2005 as Secure Command Government Solutions, a small cyber R&D firm founded by Dr. Anup Ghosh, former DARPA Program Manager and Senior Scientist. In 2009, Dr. Ghosh founded Invincea, a venture backed cybersecurity company with the mission to bring next generation endpoint security solutions to market.
Secure Command Government Solutions was acquired by Invincea and renamed Invincea Labs, tasked to operate as their elite research and development wing; pioneers in machine learning for endpoint security.
We continued to work extensively with the DoD and other government research agencies including DARPA on challenging R&D projects, pushing both innovation and discovery.
In early 2017, Invincea proper was acquired by Sophos (LSE:SOPH), a global leader in network and endpoint security. Prior to the acquisition, Invincea Labs was spun off as a separate and independent company to continue supporting our customers.
Renamed Two Six Labs, today we continue to solve the U.S. military and national security community's toughest R&D challenges. Our growing team of experts includes specialists in data science, cybersecurity, vulnerability research, distributed computing, and mobile & embedded systems; many holding Masters and PhD degrees.
We're problem solvers by trade and patriots by choice.


The Slimline Galaxy SG1 is the latest design from Slimline and encompasses all the expertise which has made Slimline a household name in the slimming world.
Slimline Slimming Machines electrically stimulate and firm your muscles. It is a simple, safe and painless alternative to surgery or drugs, while providing quick results, including reduction of cellulite, and improvement in body and skin tone.
Slimline slimming machines can be used for pain control, sportsman's injuries, fibrositis, poor circulation and cellulite reduction."
Slimline Slimming Machines electrically stimulate and firm your muscles. It is a simple, safe and painless alternative to surgery or drugs, while providing quick results, including reduction of cellulite, and improvement in body and skin tone. During the exercise, a computer-controlled electrical message is transmitted to stimulate the selected muscle groups. When the electrical signal is applied directly to the muscle, the muscle will contract until the signal is removed, creating large energy demand on your muscles. This causes the surrounding fat to be burned for energy. The more powerful the strength of the signal, the harder the contraction will be. This is known as an involuntary muscle action, as it happens without the brain asking the muscle to contract.
"I purchased a Slimline 10 pad slimming machine about 5 years ago for personal use. Just thought you should know that this machine is the best investment I've made in my life! This machine not only helps with fat reduction but it also helps improve the visibility of cellulite and firming of my skin! No need for slimming clinics when it is so easy to do this in the privacy of your home whatever time suits you. "
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If you would like to know more about any of our Slimline products, would like to order or have machines that need servicing or spares please do not hesitate to contact us.
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Dieting and weight loss can leave your body weak and damaged if you not not get enough natural exercise. The sliming machine can increase heart rate, body temperature, and metabolism which promotes energy and fat absorption from the body. The sliming machine tightens the deep and surface muscles to provide body sculpting without surgery.
Calories are burned with the consistent use of the muscles, therefore the more the sliming machine is used, the more calories and fat is burned away. A computer controlled electronic slimming machine helps stimulate the body's natural fat burning and toning processes to give you a lean and firm body. Fat is broken up and the body is strengthened and firmed.
Slimline Machines are not just for slimming, they can also help athletes, as they can increase muscle hypertrophy, strength, and endurance. There are many muscles that are not stimulated even through vigorous sports and exercise. Athletes can use these machines for their regular training to fully exhaust their muscles and maximise growth.
Electronic muscle stimulation can be beneficial to all muscles that are easily exhausted during normal exercise, like the stomach, abdominals, thighs, buttocks, and arms. It may also improve strength in conjunction with weight training, and relieve side effects such as intense muscle spasms and fluid retention that athletes experience during workouts. After normal exercise, muscles lose their elasticity and become scarred. Electronic muscle stimulation helps prevent this kind of damage from occurring while accelerating the repair of muscle fibers.
Slimline machines can also help the physically challenged and those who need physiotherapy for injuries and muscle rebuilding. This therapy can play a major role in the recovery of several injuries, and used in many physiotherapy clinics to help recover the usage of muscles. Slimline Slimming Machines are a healthy and easy alternative to usual exercises.


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'Milk drunk' ring bearer falls asleep on the job at parent's wedding
Maxen River Pierce fell asleep while making it down the aisle in a funny video.
By JOI-MARIE MCKENZIE
'Milk drunk' ring bearer falls asleep on the job at parents' wedding
David and Roselee Pierce's 9-month-old son, Maxen River, served as their ring bearer at their Oct. 21 nuptials. Riding down the aisle in a remote-controlled toy car, baby Maxen hilariously fell asleep at the wheel.
Fipps Filming
— -- One ring bearer couldn't keep his eyes open on the big day -- even if it was his parent's wedding.
Nine-month-old Maxen River Pierce served as the ring bearer at David and Roselee Pierce's Oct. 21 nuptials at Champagne Manor in Monroe, Louisiana.
David Pierce
David and Roselee Piece wed at Champagne Manor in Monroe, N.C., Oct. 21, 2017.
David Pierce, 35, told ABC News that it was his now-wife's idea to have their son do the honors.
And because he's still a baby, they decided he'd ride down the aisle in a remote-controlled toy car. There was even a sign on the front of the car that read: "Daddy, here comes mommy!"
92-year-old grandma shines as flower girl in granddaughter's wedding
Teacher invites 20 of her students to serve as flower girls, ring bearers in her wedding
"I'm standing at the altar so I got the best view of it," the Charlotte, North Carolina, groom gushed. "It was just hilarious. I mean, he was taking a nap and it was time to ride down the aisle."
Maxen River Pierce, 9-months-old, fell asleep while being driven down the aisle at his parent's Oct. 21, 2017 wedding.
The Pierces welcomed 240 guests at their French-themed wedding that featured a live performance of The Platters' Monroe Powell singing "Only You."
Their wedding theme was a nod to the fact that David Pierce proposed to his bride on May 2, 2016, while vacationing in Paris "with the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the background," he added.
Maxen River Pierce, 9 months, fell asleep while being driven down the aisle at his parent's Oct. 21, 2017 wedding.
Asked how his son did as the ring bearer? David Pierce had nothing but high marks.
"He's quite the character. He has quite the personality. He's just hilarious. He's just a superstar on a daily basis. He was built for fame," the new father said.


Company profiles are of great value for greater exposure opportunities. Having current and credible information within your company profile will enable communicators and potential customers to contact you or the company directly.
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**If you are a representative for more than one company, we recommend that you create a company profile for each company or segment of the company you represent.
What is the difference between my member profile and a company profile?


There is just something special about markets.
Maybe it's the old fashioned-ness of them – markets have been around for centuries. The hustle and bustle. The community feel. The freshness of the food. The unique clothing and accessories. The smiles and laughter a great market brings out in people.
There are many things that I miss about my time living in London, like the awesome London pubs, (but not the weather), but one of the things I miss the most is its markets.
London really knows how to do markets well and there are numerous variations – from food to crafts to antiques to clothing, and everything in between. The Christmas Markets in London are also definitely worth a visit if you are there in the Christmas season.
With so many to choose from, you could visit a different market every week for a year and still not have seen them all. I certainly didn't visit every market in London, but I did manage to visit a lot of them during my seven years living in this incredible city.
I was lucky enough to work around the corner from this incredible food market and was a frequent lunch time visitor on Fridays. There has been a market operating here for 1000 years – yes, that is meant to be three zeros – one thousand years! I can't even fathom that.
Borough Market is the go to place for gourmet food: Local and European cheeses, meat, poultry, game, fresh breads, cakes and pastries, ice-cream, spices, preserves, condiments, fresh juices, seafood, flowers, fruits and vegetables.
Everything is of the best quality, a lot of it is organic and it is all extremely tasty. If you can't find a specialty food product anywhere else in London, chances are you will find it here.
Permanent shops in the market zone such as Neal's Yard Dairy (best cheese in London), Monmouth Coffee (best coffee in London), Tapas Brindisa (best tapas in London) and Applebee's Fishmongers (best garlic prawn wraps ANYWHERE) are also well worth a visit. Make sure you don't eat before you go because there are a lot of food stalls selling hot dishes as well as numerous taste tests.
If it is a sunny day, sit in the grounds of the beautiful Southwark Cathedral with your goodies for a picnic lunch.
Camden Market was my go to market for cheap shoes, clothes, candles and home-wares. Made up of four different interconnecting markets, it is pure mayhem and is the most popular market in London. It is pretty much always busy and I kinda like the craziness. It wouldn't be Camden without it.
I love the labyrinthine, dark, cobblestoned passageways that make you feel as if you are in Morocco, the food hawkers screaming and shoving samples of lemon chicken at you, the outdoor stalls that are airy and light and the voluminous warehouses crammed with treasures. There are so many different sides to Camden.
Make sure you check out the crazy Cyber Dog where it is all pulsing lights, trance music, glow-in-the-dark neon clothing and even a couple of dancers on platforms. When it gets to the point when you can't take any more of the craziness, grab a drink and sit by the lock, watching canal boats wait their turn to pass through to the other side.
Another late discovery of mine, this is a fantastic market to check out for a delicious lunch in the East End, best enjoyed on a sunny day in the nearby London Fields. Locals converge on the market to shop for organic meat, fruit, vegetables and seafood which is sold at reasonable prices.
I love the Cockney Barrow Boys, shouting out their wares in rhyming slang. Barrow Boys were once an East End mainstay, street vendors hawking their goods out of barrows on the street and at markets. There isn't a lot left these days but there are a couple at Broadway Market.
If you are feeling adventurous, try a Cockney treat – jellied eels – or pie and mash with eel liquor at F. Cooke's Pie and Mash shop which has been an East End fixture since 1910. Broadway Market is a slice of living history in the East End.
I only made it to this colourful market months before I left London and I wish I had known about it sooner. It may be small but it is vibrant and full of life. The barrow boys call of 'everythin a fiver' rings out loud and the street is alive with colour. The fragrant smell of flowers scents the air.
It is absolutely the best place that I came across in London to get cheap and good quality flowers and plants and if you are there in the afternoon, there is a good chance that everything will be heavily discounted before the stalls close for the day.
Another reason to visit is the delicious cafes and restaurants in the area. The Lily Vanilli Bakery in a courtyard off Columbia Road has some pretty incredible cakes. You should definitely go there.
One of the first markets I ever visited. Old Spitalfields is a covered market known for its cutting edge fashion. There has been a market here since the 17th Century for fruit, vegetables and meat but the focus now is less on edibles and more on wearables.
Located in a beautiful brick Victorian building, there are permanent shops as well as stalls, and the market is a popular destination throughout the week. Thursday to Sunday offers something different each day such as antiques, music, art and vintage. Grab lunch at one of the food stalls or nearby pubs.
Make sure to explore the nearby neighborhood of Shoreditch too, there are lots of things to see and do there.
This was my local market when I lived on a houseboat in Richmond, my favourite year of life in London. Small but sweet, I always found the stall holders to be especially helpful and friendly at this Artisan food and craft market. It was never crazy busy so you could browse the stalls at your leisure. Cute arts and crafts, fresh produce and baked goods were the mainstays. I would browse the craft stalls then grab a bite to eat and take it down to eat on a grassy spot by the Thames. Very idyllic.
A food market in the city that only operates on Thursdays and Fridays for the office lunch crowd, I had to pull a sickie from work to be able to visit. After seeing the Mexican food truck, Luardo's, on a London edition of the US street food show 'Eat Street', I just had to go there.
It is hard to find good Mexican food in London but after waiting in line for half an hour and taking my first bite of my chicken burrito, I had found it.
Great cakes and brownies can be had for dessert at one of the many bakery stalls and if you aren't into burritos there are so many other amazing food stalls.
This iconic London market is the bee's knees for antiques, quirky collectables and cheap fashion. Along with Camden market, this was my go to market for cute summer dresses. I also nabbed some great boots, a couple of blazers, art prints and colourful necklaces here over my many visits.
Portobello Market is held on a cobbled street lined with colourful shop fronts in Notting Hill. The market is actually a few different markets including a Second hand market, Fashion Market, Antiques and Bric-A-Brac Market, Fruit and Vegetable Market and New Goods Market.
There are also shops selling unique and vintage fashion, gifts and antiques. This market is always busy but I find it so cheerful and fun. It is firmly placed on my list of favourites.
Located in the leafy suburb of Greenwich, this covered market, which is part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage site, is the place to go for delicious food from around the world (my fav was the churros filled with hot caramel sauce, I still dream about them), cheap art prints and home wares, antiques, collectables, kitchenware and pretty much everything else you can think of.
Compared to some of the other markets on this list, Greenwich Market is reasonably small but the variety of products on offer is very diverse.
After visiting the market you can explore the excellent National Maritime Museum and the beautiful rooms of the Old Royal Naval College, straddle the famous Greenwich Meridian line at the Royal Observatory and hop aboard the last surviving tea clipper ship, the Cutty Sark. Greenwich is a fantastic destination for a great day out and the vibrant market is the focal point.
Eclectic and interesting, the convivial Sunday Up Market is located in an Old Brewery off Brick Lane. It definitely has an East London hipster feel to it, and is full of an array of handmade and arty products, from fashion to accessories to jewellery.
A lot of the stall holders are up and coming designers, so if you are in the market for a one of a kind necklace or unique fashion that you won't see anyone else wearing, then this is the market for you.
The Food Hall offers diverse dishes from around the world and it is where I tried Tibetan momos for the first time. If you manage to resist the siren song of the momos and all the other delicious treats, have a curry on Brick Lane where part of the fun is getting as cheap a deal as you can from the guys yelling out ridiculously low prices outside each restaurant.
I wouldn't go for any less than 30% off the meal and two free drinks per person.
So there you have it, my absolute favourite markets in London.
In my opinion, visiting a London market is right up as a London must do, along with visiting the world class Museums, having a pint in a traditional pub, visiting Richmond, attending a show in the West End and relaxing in one of the Royal Parks.
A visit to London isn't truly complete until you visit one of its iconic markets.
my followers loved it. Keep up the great work!
Love London's many markets, Old Spitalfields Market and Portobello Road Market are some of our favorites.
I love all the tasters there too!
Even though I regularly visit London I've only visited a few of these. I really must visit some more from your list soon. Thinks for the heads up!
One of my favourite things about travelling is discovering new markets and I can honestly say that London has some of the worlds best! Camden is my personal favourite as it literally has something for everyone and I love the setting by the lock and in the old stables. I'm pretty disappointed I never made it to Borough Market, yet another reason to stop by London again someday.
London is one of my favorite cities, but I've not been to any markets there. Next time, I'll definitely visit one or two.
Thanks for this list of markets in London! I've only been to half of these so much more exploring to do!
There is so much to love about London, but certainly one of the things I loved most on our most recent visit was its many markets. I generally feel like markets in the west can't hold a candle to Asian markets, but London's markets are definitely right up there with the best of them. Of the ones you mentioned, we only made it to Borough (where we had the BEST roast pork sandwich of all time… I still dream about it and think it is one of the best things we ate while in Europe!), but we also took a trip down to Brixton Market too, which we also really enjoyed. Such a different vibe and scene there, but one thing I also love about London is how diverse it is!
The markets are fantastic in London, I loved markets in Europe in general. I haven't been to any Asian Markets (as I haven't been to Asia yet), but I could imagine they would be quite different to European markets.
I love how markets show the heartbeat of a culture. All the local artists, produce, bakers, etc! You can easily see what is important to any particular area by visiting their markets. I'd love to visit some of London's markets someday.
Pretty hard to choose one!! But Im gonna have to when I visit London next time 😀 great post!
Thats good to know!! Can't wait for my next time in London…hopefully soon!! 🙂 thank you for the tips!
I love exploring markets and these pictures make me want to dive right in! I've pinned them for later travel planning!
Thanks Tamara, glad you liked them.
I'm originally from London but I've only been to Camden and Portobello…both of which I love. I hope to be in London next year so I'll have to save this list and try our some new ones!
Not to steal Katie's comment but I LOVE markets, too! These all look fantastic! I've got to (finally) get to London one of these days and check some of these out!
Great list and thanks for the tips! I only went to Camden Market when I was in London but I'm dying to revisit- mostly for the markets!


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The Architects (Amendment) Bill, 2018, on Reforms in Practice and Education
In November 2018, the Council of Architecture (COA) released the Architects (Amendment) Bill 2018 (2018 bill) via e-mail. A comparative chart of the bill and the original Architects Act, 1972 was also presented to show the new laws for practice in India.
The COA asked Architects for feedback. But for beginners, it is important to know the Act and why it has been in news. Let us look into the background of the act in correlation with the issues present in the practice.
What is the Architects Act, 1972?
The Architects Act, 1972, also called the Principal Act, was put into force on 1 September, 1972. It is "an act to provide for the registration of architects and for matters connected therewith."
The act necessitated the formation of the COA. The COA enters graduates' names into the Registry of Architects and provides them with the license to practice Architecture. The COA also frames rules and standards of education and practice, with which Architects must comply, all as stipulated by the Principal Act. Every Architect can be verified on the COA's website for evidence of qualifications and license to practice.
This Principal Act set course for the practice to evolve with national standards and professional conduct rules, written by the COA, to ensure ethical and high quality services by Architects
The enactment of laws and their amendments
The Indian Parliament's offices for law making are The House of the People ('Lok Sabha'-LS) and The Council of States ('Rajya Sabha'-RS).
The people directly elect their representatives to the LS, while the Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of different states elect the representatives to the RS. These representatives are the Members of the Parliament (MP) who debate to make the laws.
To enact laws, or to make legislation, a 'bill' has to be introduced in either the LS or the RS. This bill is the draft of the policy proposed, and when voted for becoming a law with agreement between the LS and RS, becomes an Act of the Parliament.
This act can be amended (revised) to widen its scope according to changing times and needs. To amend an act, another bill has to be introduced by a member of the parliament. An act cannot be passed without the consent and sign of the President of India.
Among the public, there are pressure groups, civil society groups, activists, Non-governmental Organizations, etc., who persuade and pressure the Parliament to introduce bills, as and when needs arise.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) first introduced the Architects (Amendment) Bill, 2010 (2010 bill) in the RS, addressing issues within the COA and the profession in India. Until 2017, the bill was never discussed well. A committee of the parliament for Human Resources, which reviews and prepares reports on such bills, never submitted any. Finally, in 2017, the government withdrew the bill to redraft it with revisions.
Any Architect, or a part of the fraternity, as a pressure group can wish to see changes in the Principal Act that could benefit or reform the practice in India. For that to happen, the political party which they have voted for has the power to raise concerns of the profession and amendments needed to the Principal Act, in the Parliament.
To perhaps ease up this process, the COA formed by the Principal Act can help persuade the MHRD to introduce concerns and amendments needed. The 2010 and 2018 bills are examples.
Format of the Principal Act
The Constitution of India, the parent law book of the country. The Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, with other committees monitor standards of laws. The constitution has 'Parts' (chapters), 'Articles' (laws), sub clauses (instructions/rules) and a set of important lists, called 'Schedules'. The constitution has been amended and republished many times.
All acts hence have 'Sections' (laws) with clauses and sub clauses, organized within a few 'Chapters'. Originally, the Principal Act has four Chapters, containing laws within 45 Sections, and a Schedule.
The Architects (Amendment) Bill, 2010
The reason for introduction of the 2010 bill was to reform the election process of the members of the COA.
Elected members of the COA held their posts beyond their tenure, as no election of new members were conducted for long. This resulted from a section 6 provision of the Principal Act which explains election and conditions of work. The section says that an elected or nominated member can hold office for three years or until his successor is elected or nominated. The 2010 bill sought to remove this condition and direct the COA to hold elections before the end of the incumbent's tenure.
The COA performed administrative functions beyond its stipulated powers in the Principal Act, without adhering to the central government's (centre) advice and rules. Hence, the amendment bill sought to establish centre's supremacy over the COA. A commission of three members including a Judge of a High Court can be set up to enquire into the issues.
These amendments, along with several others, of the 2010 bill are proposed in the 2018 bill too. Both bills seek to curb malpractices in the profession. A debate in the RS was seen to bring the 2010 bill into effect. But the bill was withdrawn form the parliament in 2017.
Issues within the practice
Unlicensed practice of Architecture is not new. Amanda Kolson Hurley elaborates the seriousness of using the title 'Architect' and practicing Architecture legally. The safety of public health and welfare is a liability in practice.
In India too, as put forth by Architect Ashok Bij in ArchitectureLive!, the core issues are various forms of illegal practices, alongside malpractices within the COA.
Unregistered directors of firms; unregistered foreign firms partnering with local firms; unregistered individual Architects practicing; and other companies Registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs who include Architecture as part of their services without licenses, are the malpractices witnessed.
As of 2011, 900 Architecture Firms in India are practicing. The government and the Supreme Court had started back then to summon companies to check whether all different services offered by them are licensed by concerned regulating bodies.
What are the important amendments proposed by the 2018 bill?
Some of the important amendments to note are those made to definitions of an Architect and Architectural Services; an Architectural Firm and its types, and related authorities; important functions and powers of the COA to regulate practice in India.
Redefining what Architects and their services are
Section 2 of the Principal Act defines the important terms of 'Architect', 'Council', 'Register', etc.
"'Architect' means a person whose name is for the time being entered in the register." The 2018 bill revises it to say "'Architect' means a person whose name is for the time being entered in the register and duly empowered under the Act to provide Architectural services."
'Architectural Services' defined in the 2018 bill tells the scope and nature of duties. They include preparation of architectural documentation for approval and construction; control of professional services; architectural design; and scrutinizing all documents that regulate construction and development.
This 2018 bill also defines 'Practice of Architecture' in sub- subsection (cd)-the offering, rendering, supplying or providing of Architectural Services, as defined by this bill.
Defining a Firm and other related authorities
The 2018 bill inserts 'Firm of Architects'. A firm is defined as per the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 as follows (Section 4)-
"'Partnership' is the relation between persons who have agreed to share the profits of a business carried on by all or any of them acting for all. Persons who have entered into partnership with one another are called individually, 'partners' and collectively 'a firm', and the name under which their business is carried on is called the 'firm-name'."
The 2018 bill also allows for an Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). The Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, defines LLP (in Section 3) as a body corporate formed by an individual and/or corporate partners. An LLP usually will exist, despite any cases of exit of business, death of a partner, bankruptcy, disinvestment, etc. LLPs have a minimum of 2 partners at any point of time. If for over 6 months, an LLP is running with less than two partners, the individual who has been running the LLP shall take up all liabilities of the company for that time. An LLP and a partnership, by law, are different in nature.
The Indian Constitution calls for formation of Nagar Panchayats, Municipalities and other local self-administration units such as Gram Sabhas, to manifest grassroots democracy. By article 243P of the Constitution, a Municipality is an institution of self-government. Article 243Q further says: An area that is transitioning from a rural to an urban setting is called a transitional area, and it will have a Nagar Panchayat. A small urban area will have a Municipal Council and large urban area will have the Municipal Corporation, also called as a Municipality.
These panchayats and municipalities create governance at the state and municipal (urban and district/village) levels. And each level has Building Bye-Laws. The 2018 bill defines 'Planning/Development Authorities'. Examples are the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), etc., which frame the bye-laws.
In Section 2, the 2018 bill defines 'Professional Examination', to be conducted by the COA to grant License of practice for all graduates of Architecture. The need to take up licensure examination after a bachelor's degree is brought up here.
Granting of qualifications by educational institutions
Institutions and universities granting degrees, as recognized by the original Principal Act under section 14, are in 'The Schedule'. The 2018 bill now calls for two schedules, with the existing becoming the First Schedule. If any educational institution that is not in First Schedule grants qualification, it must consult with centre for recognition. The centre must consult with the COA to decide on the recognition. Previously granted qualifications by such institutions and universities will become valid only after the date of announcement of the recognition by the centre. The 2018 bill hence will form a Second Schedule with additionally recognized educational institutions.
Only qualifications recognized by these two schedules would be eligible for appearance in the Professional Examination by the COA, as per the amended Section 17. Section 18 empowers the COA to seek information about the course of study in an Institution or University.
Changes in organizational structure of the COA
Originally, the Principal Act stated that two persons must be nominated by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), as per the 1945 resolution by the late Ministry of Education. The AICTE is now an establishment under the All India Council for Technical Education Act, 1987. The 2018 bill calls for the nomination of two Architects in place of two 'persons', by the AICTE.
Prescribed qualifications for entry of name in the COA's Register
Section 25 enlists these qualifications. Under the amendments, to take up the prescribed professional examination, the graduates must undergo a year's professional training (internship) after the bachelor's degree, under a registered architect in practice for a minimum of five years. Originally, the criterion for entry into register is payment of prescribed fee only to the COA after a valid bachelor's degree.
Section 26A-Certificate of Practice
The 2010 bill sought to add a sub section 26A, which necessitates a Certificate of Practice (COP). Only Architects with a COP can provide Architectural Services. And for undergrads to apply for the COP, they had to complete a Master's degree in Architecture, and secondly be employed for a minimum of 2 years by Architects who have held a COP for at least five years. Further the COP had to be renewed annually. This could have made obtaining a license more expensive and cumbersome. The 2018 bill does not necessitate a COP. Only a registration after appearing in the Professional Exam would suffice.
Current acting-President of COA, Mr. Vijay Garg. Image courtesy of WCFA.
Evidence of persons being registered Architects
Section 34 states that after April 1 of every year, the registrar must print copies of the register. This is to make the register available for people to check if an Architect's name is present in the register.
The 2018 bill seeks to direct the registrar to make available electronic or online copies too. However, the 2018 bill doesn't mention that these copies are evidence that a person is a licensed Architect, while the 2010 did.
Regulation of Competitions
2018 bill amends section 35 to state that competitions held for Architects shall be as regulated by the COA. Currently we see competitions by many private and public online competition forums. The relevance of many competitions has been questioned, as they take up time and energy, which could prove costly for entries that don't succeed. If left unregulated, anyone could organize an Architecture competition. Hence, a framework by the COA can evaluate and reduce the number of competitions, while improving the quality of opportunities.
Curbing Architecture malpractices
Any person claiming falsely that he is a registered architect is punishable with a fine. Originally the fine amounted to Rs. 1000 (USD 14). The 2018 bill amounts the fine to Rs. 5,oo,ooo (USD 7010). Any subsequent violation of the Act will amount to Rs. 10,00,000 (USD 14019) or imprisonment up to 5 years or both.
The 2018 bill also extends the title of an Architect and the right of Practice of Architecture only to registered Architects, registered firm of architects or LLP of architects. This provision doesn't apply to practitioners registered as Landscape and Naval Architects. Further the 2018 bill rules that no development or planning authority is allowed to license or designate any person as an Architect.
Rules regarding Education Standards
The powers of the COA to make rules on the course of study, practical training and the educational standards needed for granting qualifications is in Section 42. The 2018 bill adds that COA can make rules on establishment of an institution and eligibility for admission to the architecture course. COA can penalize any non-adherence to standards.
The 2010 bill sought to revise Section 45 to add minimum qualifications and experience for teaching staff, minimum standards for intake, teaching facilities, accommodation, etc., which the Principal Act did not assert originally. Such minimum standards for post graduate courses were also set by the 2010 bill. The manner and method of conducting aptitude tests for admissions were also to be regulated. We see these in the 2018 bill too.
Further the 2010 and 2018 bills, stipulate professional ethics, conduct rules and duties. An Architect's duties in government services and their method of appointment by government agencies were stipulated too.
Perhaps, a very important amendment of this section could be the regulations for promotion of Architectural research.
Reactions to the Architects (Amendment) Bill, 2018
Design Plus Architects (DPA) have published on their website their suggestions to the amendments. Professor Samir Shukla communicated his reactions to Architects In his blog in The Times of India. A student petition in Change.org has gathered a small community which objects the requirement of a year's training after completing the bachelor's degree to appear in the licensure examination.
Samir Shukla guides architects to revert to the COA, asking it to differentiate by law the roles of Architects and Engineers within the practice of Architecture, which would then define exclusive rights to Architects for the Practice of Architecture. DPA agrees to the professional examination, but suggests a different method to conduct it. Their suggestion is like the 2010 bill's idea of undergoing employment after graduation for a period of time and not an internship, for licensure. DPA also finds the scope of Architectural Services quite limiting, leaving some loopholes in the usage of the title of the 'Architect' unaddressed.
Deliberating on these laws and the context surrounding them are crucial for all to predict and express ideas and solutions to these issues.


Attaboy Gio! We need to get things turned around here.
Wow, Gio brought his A game stuff tonight.
Yeah, he is dealing out there.
Uh oh, what's going on with Gio shaking his arm like that? That makes me nervous.
Vintage Nat Gio. Sublime outing against a very tough team.
Half price pizzas for everyone!
Slumpbusting Curly W in the books!


Taking the fashion to the streets, quite literally, this seasons Melbourne Fashion Week street runways showcased some of the country's biggest known brands in some of the cities most uniquely noted laneways. Tatersalls Laneway, Union Place, District 9 & Union Lane played home to the fabulously produced street shows and as guests were treated to a look at the fashion, in the streets it's soon to be owners call home, we were also offered an experience to see the designers work play alongside one of the world's most in-tune arts cities giving us art moments with picturesque street-styled backdrops you can't get anywhere else in the world.
Seasoned brands Levi Strauss & Co, Forever New, Witchery, Peter Jackson and Cue joined forced with emerging brands like A.BCH, Jude, Rbcca Kstr, Kholo, Remuse, Keegan and Beekeeper Parade to showcase their newest seasons works. Street styled looks walked alongside elegantly styled couture in an eclectic mix of fashion that truly represented the city it was showing in. Cross-body bags, boots and a range of sunglasses adorned models as they dressed in the finery and showcased a pastel hued, mixed print range of collections that we will be sure to be seeing and wearing all season long.
If you didn't happen to be part of the magic that was this season's Melbourne Fashion Week Street Rrunways then you missed out on shows that were truly art inspired and unlike anything else on the fashion week calendar but never fret I have you covered with a look at my favourite looks, pieces and moments from the four shows that made up this style of runway this season. Take a look at MFW's website or the individual brands for more.
Photos by Lucas Dawson Photography.
A first look at the uniquely Melbourne Street Rrunways from this years Melbourne Fashion Week.


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Excellent Education Lineup Launches ISSA Show
ISSA Show North America 2018 enjoyed a solid start Monday in Dallas, TX, with an impressive slate of seminars, workshops, and special events peppering the schedule during the day.
With an education track list that included health care, green cleaning, residential and commercial cleaning, distribution issues—and much more—attendees were busy from 7:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. with official agenda events, followed by spontaneous networking into the night.
And the selection for the 1,200 industry professionals who signed up for various workshops and classes on Monday was staggering. There were more than 40 events to choose from that were part of the ISSA menu of offerings. One attendee quipped, "I wish I could clone myself."
How did all this come about?
"In the early days of 2018, the entire ISSA team that touches each member segment with education came together to discuss the vision for Dallas," according to Brant Insero director of education, training, and certification for ISSA,
The initial brainstorming culminated in a historic slate of educational opportunities for attendees. "During that time, we determined that we wanted to have an opening 'spotlight speaker,' more sessions than ever before, and a laser focus on topics that are important to each member segment. The overall reach for the ISSA Show continues to grow, and so does education," Insero said.
And the early efforts that kept the ISSA team busy paid off. Seminar and workshop meeting rooms were packed. Discussions were engaging. The take-aways were endless.
Right out of the gate Monday morning, the proven value of ISSA's impact on the industry was commented on during the Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) session. Gary Wolfe, a business services liaison with the West Virginia Association of Rehabilitation Services (WARF), said his organization doesn't use CIMS as much for the valuable competitive edge it provides building service contractors, but instead for quality control purposes. It's working. His nonprofit organization works closely with the state government on contracted work that benefits disabled workers, and he has seen a US$5 million revenue increase in the past six years. He credits CIMS certification as an important component to his organization's success.
One highlight of the day included a standing-room-only inspirational and rousing presentation by David Goggins, a retired Navy SEAL and a Guinness World Record holder for the most pull-ups in 24 hours, among many other accomplishments. His discussion on Complacency Kills kept everyone on the edge of their seat as he helped them see what each could do to overcome obstacles and challenges they face not only in their work, but in their daily lives. From a motivational video on his passion of running to images of his missing toenails because of it, the practical takeaways were endless.
A special State of the Industry Panel included four experts who have experienced the ups and downs of all segments of the cleaning industry. The bottom line as the discussion ended was how to keep planning, never become stagnant with your business or work in the industry, and remain competitive no matter how good things are right now. The "Amazon" effect was mentioned more than once, how those in attendance must keep an eye on trends and happenings in the industry and keep pace with them—or exceed them.
Green cleaning topics were peppered solidly throughout the day, covering the gamut of processes to products and how to use what has become a household word to better the global cleaning industry.
The day ended with not just one, but two big events, with the ISSA Charities Party for a Purpose Topgolf Event at 4:00 p.m., immediately followed by the Team ISSA Welcome Reception, hosted by ARCSI, IEHA, and ISSA Canada.
From marketing and management, to infection control and cleaning for health—and much, much more—the first day of activities tied to ISSA Show North America 2018 was an auspicious prediction of the rest of the week.
ISSA Show exhibit hours are:
Tuesday, October 30: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 31: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 1: 10 00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Click here for the ISSA Today Official Exhibit Directory, which includes the complete ISSA Show North America 2018 education schedule.
If you missed this year's ISSA Show, don't make the same mistake in 2019. Put ISSA Show North America 2019 on your calendar today.


Welcome to the website for Brenda Berkman Artworks. In 2008, after retiring from the New York City Fire Department, Brenda began to make prints, specializing in stone lithography and copperplate etching. Please click on the links above to see more of her art.


"FS Real Time" has been designed to keep Microsoft® Flight Simulators UTC (Zulu/GMT) time and date in sync with the Real World. You can have it maintain either the current Real Time, or an offset (+/-) so you can fly at any variation of time from the Real Time. This program will monitor your aircraft's current UTC offset within Microsoft Flight Simulator and preemptively adjust the game's UTC to the correct (offset adjusted) time, as you cross each Time Zone.
Mktwice Mktwice If your free flight has to be started in your timezone of sure, and the game has setings synced with the system time, it is no way today found programm what will update time in fsx just looking at region flight and world time server, if you're about it. I hope the program like this could be updated only by system time + change this depending where are you fly now.
If yuo fly only at your time zone, so you can autoupdate time just by fsuipc, but if you fly different regions and want to be sure that your time in the flight is correct everywere and everytime, so this stuff is a must have.
nothappy I was very disapointed when i bought this piece of (software?). All it did for me is input the wrong time in to FSX, its an hour behind. When pointed it out to the developer, rather than trying to fix the issue, he chooses to just ignore it.
Guest Is this free? What is the validity of the trial version?
I'm only the developer of FS Real Time, not the developer of the World Time Zones 'Scenery' that comes bundled with FS Real Time. The FS Real Time software by itself does an excellent job of maintaining the time within the flight simulator. The freeware World Time Zone files are maintained by Dennis Thompson who unfortunately hasn't updated those time zones in some time. I'm always looking for talented individuals who are interested in updating and maintaining a more current set of world time zones scenery.


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Category Archives: Deaths
Wilber Pena Benefit
An El Salvadoran landscaper, 21-year-old Wilber Pena, drowned in Sesachacha Pond last Sunday. There will be a benefit on Friday, August 15th, at El Rincon from 5:30 until 9 PM to defray the estimated $10,000 cost to fly Wilber's body home. The price for the dinner at El Rincon is $12, and then as the spirit moves those who attend to donate above that dinner price. Thanks to Marcos Tejada, the owner, for his help.
There is also a fund set up (and slowly growing) at the Methodist Church, PO Box 264, Nantucket 02554; your donation will be tax deductible. Please indicate "For Wilber" on your check to the Methodist Church.
Thanks is also due Maryanne Worth of Nantucket Human Services who navigated the arcane logistics to get Wilber's body back to El Salvador, and to Family and Children's Services working with the two young men who were in the boat with Wilber and survived.
Inquirer and Mirror story
Nantucket Independent story
Mahon About Town Restaurant Review of El Rincon
By Gene Mahon | Also posted in Nantucket, Nantucket People | Comments (0)
John Billings Memorial Service
May 8, 2008 – 3:13 pm
By Gene Mahon | Also posted in Nantucket | Comments (0)
Florence M. 'Marie' Giffin, owner and publisher of The Inquirer and Mirror from 1970-1990, died Monday, April 28, 2008 on Nantucket after a long illness. She was 77. She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Thomas H.C. Giffin of Nantucket; a daughter, Marianne R. Stanton and her husband John; a son, James R. Giffin and his wife Corinne, all of Nantucket. A memorial service will be held Saturday, May 3 at 11 a.m. at the Methodist Church, 2 Centre St. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Nantucket Cottage Hospital, Home Health Care Visiting Nurses, 57 Prospect St., Nantucket, MA 02554. I&M Story.
By Gene Mahon | Comments (0)
Ben Murphy died on Monday, January 14, 2008 at the age of 56. A memorial service will be held today (Friday, January 18th) at 2 pm at the Madaket Admiralty Club. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Marla Lamb Fund.
Albert Brock died on Saturday, January 12, 2008 at the age of 88. The wake will be at the First Congregational Church, Friday (18th) from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. The funeral service will be at the First Congregational Church on Saturday (19th) at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, donations in Mr. Brock's name may be made to the First Congregational Church of Nantucket or the Nantucket Conservation Foundation. More about Al Brock at the Independent and the I&M.
Alan Brown died at the Nantucket Cottage Hospital on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at the age of 82. More about Alan Brown at the Independent.
Florence E. Clifford died on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at the age of 88. Services will be held at the Congregational Church on Wednesday, January 23rd at 10:30 am.
Alan Newhouse died Wednesday, January 2, 2008 at the age of 88. For more on the life of Alan Newhouse: Independent and I&M.
November 2, 2007 – 2:30 pm
Rachel Parrotto Budzynski passed away on the night of Monday, October 29th, after a one year battle with a rare form of cancer. With her were her family and friends at the Nantucket Cottage Hospital. Rachel, wife to Paul and mother to Isabella, was 37. A service will be held at 1:30 p.m. at St. Paul's Church on Saturday, Nov. 3rd.
The island came together for a fundraiser in June to help the family with travel back and forth to Boston, raising over $100,000. The photos of Rachel below were taken at that benefit. She was strong and positive and inspiring and happy and grateful and luminescently beautiful and fully at peace that day.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Family and Children's Services with a reference on the check to Rachel Budzynski. The donations, which are to assist Mrs. Budzynski's husband and daughter with living expenses, may be mailed to Arlene O'Reilly at 43 Miacomet Ave.
More in the Independent by Mary Lancaster.
A Tribute to David Halberstam
This from my oldest and best friend, Larry Hatab, known to many as "Arab".
I was not a close friend of David Halberstam. We met on Nantucket when I was living there in the mid 1970s. Gene and I came to know him through our mutual friends, Frank and Maggie Conroy. David also frequented the Company of the Cauldron, where I worked in its inaugural season in 1976, the year I left Nantucket in the Fall to teach philosophy at Old Dominion University. David's renown as a writer was of course well known, but on Nantucket I think he enjoyed the intimately relaxed attitude, where the spirit of the Island was the common bond among all sorts of people and personalities. With David, you engaged a very interesting person who happened to be a world-famous journalist. And he seemed to take an interest in people on their own terms. I suppose he was taken by the fact that I was a philosopher who happened to be a waiter. We had several discussions about intellectual matters, especially the state of higher education in America. One of the reasons why David was such a great journalist and writer was the quality, depth, and range of his mind, which I got to see up close.
When I left the Island, summer visits were my life-line, and I would often see David out and about, but the best times involved Third World Softball games. For the record, Andy Malcolm and I invented the name, which stood for the utter absence of bravado or a skill requirement for players. Anyone could participate, young and old, male and female, able and unable. One summer, my girlfriend at the time was encouraged to join in even though she had never played softball before. She had a very unusual batting technique: When the pitch came she would move toward the plate and flail away at the ball, basically trying to swat it away from her. I walked over to her and said: 'Remember, this is softball, not dodge-ball. The idea is to hit the ball onto the field, not defend yourself against the pitch." She was cheered on with great enthusiasm.
The Third World spirit was much in evidence when David came to plate against Frank Conroy, a pitcher of legend. Let's just say that David was no Joe Dimaggio, and Frank was barely mobile (he needed a pinch runner when he batted). But this match-up was always elevated by the group into an epic Battle of the Author-Titans, often with arcane literary references shouted out as "pepper" by the crowd. David did not usually fare well against Frank, mostly because he was a sucker for Frank's worst pitch, a moon-shot arc that would just plop down on the plate, almost perpendicular to it. We would yell: "David, don't swing at that shit!" But it was hard for him to resist. Perhaps there was a touch of literary bravado involved, and Frank would always relish his triumph. We called it the Best and the Brightest playing the Worst and the Dullest baseball. And we loved every minute of it.
As time went on, I no longer spent full summers on Nantucket, only an occasional vacation visit. A few times I would run into David and it was always pleasant and interesting. As I said, we were not close friends, and for about 15 years we barely saw each other. Then, as it happened, David was invited by my university to speak at its President's Lecture Series, a prestigious public event in the Virginia region. When I learned of this I wrote David a letter to remind him that I taught at Old Dominion and to suggest that we get together for a drink after the lecture, if possible. I hadn't told anyone that I knew David, and I wasn't sure if the setting or schedule would allow us to meet up, but I was hoping we could. One feature of the Series was a banquet at the President's home just prior to the lecture, with 30 or 40 people from the university and community joining to honor the speaker. There was no cause for anyone to think of inviting me to the banquet.
I arrived at the auditorium about 15 minutes before the lecture was to start. It was already packed and I was looking for a seat. All of a sudden the President and other university officials rushed toward me with frantic looks on their faces. Yikes, what was this about? The President said: "We were trying to get in touch with you! Mr. Halberstam was very upset that you weren't at the banquet. Why didn't you tell us that you two were friends!" I was amazed at this. I was told that David was in a room by himself getting ready and that I should go to see him immediately. When I walked into the room, David gave me a warm hug and we talked a little, just as if we had run into each other in a bar on Nantucket. We agreed that going for a drink afterwards would be great. After the lecture, I moved toward him amidst a crowd of admirers. I told one of the organizers that David and I were planning to meet and that perhaps some others from the university might want to come. He said: "Oh no, that's all right. I'm sure you and David would rather be alone." He assumed that we were close friends. I drove David to his hotel and we spent about 90 minutes together in the bar, having a wonderful conversation about all sorts of things, and Nantucket in particular.
This episode at the lecture was startling to me at first. What had David said at the banquet that got people so embarrassed about my not being there? (One thing related to me was that David made much about our playing softball together on Nantucket.) I came to think of this episode as revealing two things about David: First of all, what a sweet and generous person he was. Secondly, how much he valued Nantucket and the people he knew there. Although we were not close, in an off-Island setting there must have been something quite intimate for him about seeing me and drinking in the spirit of the Island again.
By Gene Mahon | Also posted in Celebrities, Nantucket | Comments (0)
David Halberstam's New York Service
May 30, 2007 – 10:59 am
Jean and Julia Halberstam asked me to pass this along:
There will be a memorial service for David Halberstam in New York City on Tuesday, June 12th, 4 pm, at the Riverside Church, Riverside Drive and 121st Street. Julia and Jean will receive friends across the street in Riverside Park after the service. There will not be a service in Nantucket.
"David loved those days of "Third World Softball." Frank Conroy will be pleased that Billy Taylor will be at the piano, playing as people enter the church. What a full and rich life he had. For the last decade or longer, he would say to all of us – walking friends to a taxi after a dinner party here or leaving a restaurant or just the 2 of us – "aren't we lucky!" So Julia and I have bought a bench on Literary Walk in Central Park saying exactly that. His is a few benches away from George Plimpton's (which says "When there is no wind, row), and Jim Henson's is nearby. Good company."
April 25, 2007 – 9:49 am
Bob Echele passed away this past week in Palm Beach of a brain tumor. Bob was married to Bob Gease by Rev. Jenifer Brooks at the Unitarian Church last fall, and together they underwrote the Alvin Ailey performance at the High School. No memorial service is planned on Nantucket.
A bit more information about Joel Anapol: Joel died at the age of 75 in Palm Beach. He is survived by his wife Irma Anapol, and his children Hillary Anapol, Susan, and Jonathan Anapol. There will be services on Nantucket in June.
April 17, 2007 – 12:00 pm
Word just reached me that longtime Nantucket resident Joel Anapol, husband to Irma Anapol, has passed away. I'll have more in the next issue.
Coming Up on Nantucket
April 9, 2007 – 9:47 am
This Week on Nantucket
Just a few additions to the restaurant information for this weekend: American Seasons will be open for Easter Sunday Dinner from 3 to 7. Faregrounds on Easter Sunday is serving their full menu or buffet. Cambridge Street is open for Dinner from 5 – 10pm on Easter Sunday.
The celebration of Les Saunders' life will be on Tuesday April 10, 4 – 6 P.M. at The Atlantic Cafe. Please bring any pictures you have of Les.
A very slow week coming up on the social scene, although the slew of restaurant openings fills in the void.
Theater Workshop continues its run of two Pinter plays: "A Kind of Alaska" and "The Dumb Waiter". Wednesday through Saturday nights at 8 p.m. until April 14 at the Performance Center of the Methodist Church, 2 Centre St.
Memoirs of a Geisha will be shown as a part of the Books to Film Series presented by the Nantucket Arts Council and the Nantucket Atheneum. Free. Great Hall, Saturday, April 7th, 7:00 pm.
The Artists Association Student Faculty Show Opening Reception takes place next Friday (13th) between 5 and 7:00 pm at the Artists Association Gallery.
Applications are now being accepted for the second annual Canine Couture Fashion Show benefitting the Nantucket MSPCA homeless animal program, to be held August 8th, 2007, at 21 Crooked Lane. Applications are available at the MSPCA, Geronimo's at 119 Pleasant Street, or Nantucket Visitor Services at 25 Federal Street – the deadline is May 15th. Information at 508-825-2287.
You can register now for the 27th annual Big Brothers Big Sisters Iron Teams Relay slated for Sunday, June 3. Deja vu: Tom First and Tom Scott are again presenting sponsors. In the past it was through Nantucket Nectars; now it will be through O Water and Plum TV. Both teams and individuals can participate in various categories of this six leg race that includes beach and road running, a paddle, a swim and a 19 mile bike ride. The race will culminate at the Chicken Box with an after party and awards ceremony. For participation information and registration, see the website. Registration is due by 5/20/07, via mail or fax, or by 6/02/07 in person. You can register in person at the new Big Brothers Big Sisters office located at 2 Sanford Road. Volunteers and sponsors needed. If you would like to be involved, email Kerry Carven, or 508-325-6423.
The Rose & Crown is offering 20% off all food all day long this week for Mahon About Town subscribers. Just mention Mahon About Town.
By Gene Mahon | Also posted in Benefits, Galleries, Restaurants, Theater | Comments (0)


text:
Q: Bayesian statistics -- interpreting the mean and standard deviation of priors I have just started reading about Bayesian statistics and have a question regarding the general interpretations of priors. Let's say I have recorded the reaction times (RT, in ms) every time a single subject pressed the space bar as fast as possible, without paying attention to any stimuli.  I would like to know how long it takes to press a key for this subject.
Before analyzing my data, I am making three assumptions: (1) There is a true (unknown) underlying time $\mu$ that the subject needs to press the space bar, but (2) I allow there to be some noise $\sigma$, but (3) such noise is normally distributed (though positively skewed because of the hard lower bound of 0 associated to time).
In a Bayesian linear model, we need to define (i) the likelihood as $RT\sim Normal(\mu, \sigma$), similarly to a frequentist model; and, additionally (ii) the priors for the two parameters in (i) -- i.e., $\mu$ and $\sigma$. Defining priors is highly subjective, but let's say that we expect the following:
$$\mu \sim Normal(400,10)$$
$$\sigma \sim Normal_{+}(100,10)$$
I read this in the following way:

*

*for the parameter $\mu$, our prior is that RTs have a mean of 400ms and a stdev of 100ms. If I am not wrong, this means that 68% of the data are expected to be between 390ms and 410 ms (and the overall distribution to range, approximately, between 370ms and 430 ms).

*for the parameter $\sigma$, our prior is that the average standard deviation of the data will be 100ms, with a standard deviation of 10ms. I understand this as meaning that, on average, the standard deviation of the data will be 100 ms away from the mean of the data (with a standard deviation of 10).

But if the above is true, I am in fact expecting 68% of the data to range from approximately 300 ms to 500 ms  (since I am assuming a mean of 400, as for the prior of the mean) ±10 ms (since this is the standard deviation of sigma). If this is true, then I am not expecting the distribution of my RTs to be between 370ms and 430 ms (as it was based on the prior for mu). I am in fact expecting it to approximately be between 100 ms and 700 ms.
Is this the right interpretation of this? Also, if this whole reasoning is correct, then why not directly specifying this information (i.e. that we are in fact expecting RTs to range from 100 to 700 ms) in the prior for $\mu$?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Шесть кораблей Королевского флота Великобритании назывались HMS America:

 HMS America (1650) — вооружённый торговый корабль. На службе с 1650 по 1654.
 HMS America (1749) — 44-пушечный линейный корабль 4 ранга. Спущен на воду в 1749 году. В 1756 году переименован в HMS Boston. Продан в 1757 году.
 HMS America (1757) — 60-пушечный линейный корабль. Вступил в строй в 1757 году. В 1771 году сдан на слом.
 HMS America (1777) — 64-пушечный линейный корабль 3 ранга. Спущен в 1777 году. Разобран в 1807.
 HMS America (1794) — 74-пушечный линейный корабль 3 ранга. Бывший французский Amerique. Захвачен в 1794 году. В 1795 году переименован в HMS Impetueux. Разобран в 1813 году.
 HMS America (1810) — 74-пушечный линейный корабль 3 ранга. Спущен на воду в 1810 году. Разобран в 1867 году.

См. также
 USS America
 SS America
 RMS America

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Les Larmes du diable (titre original : ) est un roman policier historique de l'écrivain britannique  publié en 2004. Il est le second roman de la série des aventures de Matthew Shardlake, avocat londonien bossu, dans lequel il rencontre Barak qui deviendra son associé dans les romans suivants.

Résumé
L'action se situe en Angleterre au .
L'année 1540 connait l'un des étés les plus chauds du siècle. Matthew Shardlake, a repris son travail d'avocat et espère que Thomas Cromwell, ministre du roi , qui lui avait confié une mission dans le roman précédent Dissolution ne pense plus à lui, mais son implication dans la défense d'une jeune fille accusée du meurtre de son jeune cousin, le remet en contact avec le pouvoir et Thomas Cromwell, le charge d'une nouvelle mission : retrouver le secret du feu grégeois une substance légendaire qui permettait aux Byzantins de détruire par le feu les navires ennemis à distance.
La formule de sa fabrication et un tonneau en contenant encore auraient été retrouvés dans un ancien monastère près de Londres. Les différentes factions de la cour font tout pour se les approprier.
Mais tous ceux qui ont été en contact avec la formule ou avec le produit sont assassinés...
Tout en poursuivant sa défense de la jeune fille, Matthiew Shadlake découvre petit à petit que rien n'est réellement comme il semble l'être.

Roman britannique paru en 2004
Roman policier britannique
Roman historique britannique
2004 en littérature policière


text:
I Knew I Loved You
By Brittany Gulker
The title of this story is taken from one of my very favorite songs called, "I Knew I Loved You," by Savage Garden, and I thought it would fit this storyline pretty well. If you've never heard it, you can email me for the words or for a .mp3 file of the song.
DISCLAIMER: None of these characters are mine except for Lauren Thomas and Sam Grant, the ones that I made up.
The young girl's laughter faded and her smile slowly vanished. She looked a little disappointed. "You really don't remember me?" Now she looked like she was becoming uncomfortable. After a short pause, she said, "My name is
Lauren Thomas." Dave's face still looked blank. The girl sighed impatiently. "Med school?"
All of a sudden, the name rang a bell. Lauren Thomas was the last girl that Dave had dated in med school. She was from the United States, Michigan, actually. Lauren was a good student and had planned to follow Dave back to
the US, but her plans had abruptly changed when her best friend was shot in the head at one of the many parties that she attended. Dave had been there and had witnessed it, but he tried hard not to think about it. Lauren refused to return to the US with Dave, so he had to go back alone.
Because he hadn't seen her since, just seeing her face again had brought back memories and Dave forced them out of his head.
He broke into a lopsided grin anyway. "Lauren! God, what are you doing here?"
"Uh, I was looking for you, actually," she replied, dodging a nurse who had almost ran into her. She bit her lower lip, expecting a more enhanced welcome, a hug at the least.
"Me?" Dave asked, confused. "What do you want with me? Let's talk in the lounge, okay?" he added quickly before she could respond.
Coming around the desk, Dave took her arm and led her to the ER's lounge. When they arrived, he shut the door and turned to face her, leaning against the wall and folding his arms.
"Look, I know we haven't talked in awhile, and I probably shouldn't be here, but I really needed to see you," Lauren began.
"Needed to see me?" Dave prompted, wondering if this was her way of saying that she wanted her relationship with him to continue.
"Yeah," she said slowly. "I need to talk to you about something serious. I, uh, I know that after med school we both went our separate ways, but if you say no to this, I'll just die!" At this point, Lauren was becoming tense as
she fidgeted with the ring on her thumb and cracked her knuckles anxiously.
Dave grinned at the uneasy expression on her face and at the way she was acting. He had done rectal exams on patients who were calmer than Lauren was and he had no clue why this was so important to her. Did she still love
him?
"Look," he chuckled, "whatever it is, just tell me. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."
Lauren inhaled deeply. "Promise you won't say no?" She grinded her teeth together, waiting for his response.
Dave shrugged. "I guess."
"Dave, please come back to Grenada with me. I need you." Dave stood there in a daze. Back to Grenada? "Please," she pleaded. "Please."
Fade to black as the Opening Credits roll.
Dave walked down the plane's ramp, the intense sun gleaming down on the lush vegetation that surrounded him. He couldn't believe it. Just the previous day, Lauren Thomas had convinced him to come back to Grenada with her.
She had carefully explained to him that the hospital that she worked at was in desperate need of "educated medical professionals." Doctors. Thus, Dave being a doctor, he had readily agreed into coming. Anything to get away from
Miss-Drill-Sergeant-Doctor-Kerry-Weaver.
At least Lauren was happy, Dave thought as he lugged his thirty-pound duffle bag off the ramp.
Getting to Grenada wasn't half bad. The food on the plane sucked, the ride was bumpy as hell, and the pilot was a total bitch, but other than that, it was pretty nice. At any rate, the ride was cheap.
Lauren smiled thankfully at Dave as a crisp breeze blew her brown hair in her face. She gently pushed it away and waved to an approaching group of about five people. One of the men flashed them a lively smile.
"Lauren!" he exclaimed in a mild accent. He glanced at Dave and his smile widened. "Ah, yes, you've found him! Splendid!" He walked over to Dave and shook his hand. Dave put down his bag. "Welcome, Doctor Malucci! We're
very happy to have you here with us."
"Uh, it's Doctor Dave, actually, and I'm, um. I'm glad to be here." He muttered to himself, "I guess."
Lauren nudged Dave in the ribs with her elbow as she heard him. "Dave, this is Doctor Samuel Grant. I've told Doctor Grant all about you."
"Right, hi," Dave said, hesitant of why Lauren would tell Grant something like that. It's not like I'm anything special, he thought. Or not.
"Yes," Grant went on, "I'm sure Doctor Thomas would be happy to show you around our happy little home, eh, Lauren?"
Lauren tossed back her brown hair and nodded. "That's what I was planning on, Sir."
Grant nodded, satisfied. "Well, let the tour begin!" And with a wave of his hand signaling his group to move on, him and the rest of the people walked off.
Dave made a face and Lauren laughed. "What was that for?" Dave inquired, once again picking up his bag. "Our 'happy little home?' He your boss or something?"
"Yep," Lauren said, beginning to walk again. "He's the Corporate Medical Director and Head Trauma Physician of the hospital. I'm basically his own personal slave."
"So why don't I like the guy?" Dave asked.
Lauren turned around to face him but continued to walk only this time, backwards. "I don't know. Instinct?" she guessed.
"Huh? Instinct?"
"Yeah." Lauren turned back around. "You'll find out."
Guiding Dave through one of the hospital's many set of buildings, Lauren was reluctant about continuing the rest of the tour. They had already seen some of the patient's rooms, the inadequately supplied pharmacy, the four Trauma
Rooms, and the two and only Operating Rooms. Surprised at the condition of the hospital itself, Dave absentmindedly trailed behind Lauren. He couldn't seem to concentrate on what she was showing him because he was so hot and
thirsty. The weather had to be at least eighty-five degrees.
Lauren seemed to notice his discomfort. "Hey, let me show you where you'll sleep."
Sleep! Now that was a word that he understood!
Lauren escorted him to a single room with a bed and a small chest of drawers in the back. But the first thing that Dave noticed was a CD-player in the corner. Flashing a grateful grin at Lauren, Dave went over to the CD-player
and inspected it more closely.
"Yes!" he cried. "Laur, you're the best!"
"I remember that you need to be entertained twenty-four hours a day, and I couldn't find a TV anywhere, so I figured the next best thing has to be a CD-player. And I know you carry those damn CD's everywhere you go, so aquí
usted va!" Lauren smiled.
Dave recognized the last part as Spanish for 'here you go.'
"Well." he started as he threw his bag on the floor, his eyes on Lauren the whole time.
Lauren smiled from her place in the doorway. "I should be back in two hours or so. Get some sleep, Grant loves to see new-comers work their asses off their first few days, and you need brownie-points with him. Trust me, I know. So take a nap, alright? Later!" She closed the door to behind her, leaving Dave to alone in the sweltering hot room.
Dave opened his black duffle bag and pulled out one of his CD's. After putting it in the CD player and pushing 'Play,' he plopped down on his bed and listened as the music as it drifted through the air. It was Savage Garden's I Knew I Loved You.
Yep, Dave thought silently. That's pretty much how it is.
Dave twirled his stethoscope around in his hand. He was slightly bored and a little tired. Instead of sleeping when he was told to, he spent the time listening to CD's and talking on his cell phone to his parents and even to Abby Lockheart. Now, he half-listened to Lauren's patient, an elderly woman complain of backaches. Then, Sam Grant appeared in the doorway.
"Well well well," Grant said, gazing at Dave and then at Lauren. "I see you' re working hard!" he said sarcastically. Dave gave him the finger and Grant saw it. "Ah, yes, this hospital is number one to me too."
Lauren tried to hide a giggle for Grant had no clue what someone's middle finger in the air meant. She shot Dave a dirty look anyway.
"Um, excuse us, Doctor Grant, but Doctor Malucci and I have another patient," she said politely.
"Yes," Grant said. "Do carry on."
Lauren shot Dave a look that told him to follow her out of the room before Dave blew up in Grant's face.
"Working hard my ass," Dave muttered when they were out of the room. "Who the hell does that guy think he is?"
"Told you," Lauren said, smiling.
Dave cocked his head, looking at Lauren with a spark of interest in his eyes. "Seems to me, you don't like him."
"No, I like him," Lauren replied. "It's just he can be a...a..."
"A prick?"
Lauren laughed. "You said it, not me."
"So we have another patient?" Dave asked, his professionalism taking over his playful side.
"Uh, yeah. Come on."
Lauren led him to a small exam room and the two walked in. When she saw the man lying on the bed, his knees pulled up to him stomach, she shook her head.
"Sr. Koddo, qué se parece ser el problema?" Lauren asked the man in rapid Spanish.
"You know him?" Dave inquired. Lauren nodded.
"Estómago daños! Estómago!" the man cried, pointing to his stomach and groaning.
"Still know Spanish?" Lauren asked Dave.
Dave didn't bother to answer her question. People sometimes said that he should give up on speaking English and resort to speaking Spanish instead.
"Vomitando o vertigo?" Dave asked the man. The man replied in a crisp Spanish accent that he was dizzy and nauseous. "Okay."
"Aaaaah!" the patient cringed as Dave pressed on his abdomen.
Dave looked quickly at Lauren, who stood on the other side of the patient's bed. "Guarding and rebound tenderness?" he suggested.
Lauren nodded. "So what do you think?"
"Acute appendicitis?" Dave guessed.
"Yep. Let's get him to the OR. But tell him first."
"Sir, estamos sospechando una condición llamada apéndice agudo. Vamos a
tener que funcionar, OK?"
"Sí," the patient nodded, satisfied that he was going to be feeling better soon, even if it did involve an operation.
"We'll see you later then," Dave said in English as he walked out of the door in front of Lauren, not caring if the guy understood what he had said or not. He was too tired to care.