An interesting letter in Kent on Sunday this week. Apparently the future is rosy for Cliftonville but I'm sure others may have a different opinion on the subject?
Which Cliftonville is David Mairs describing as I dont recognise my one near Margate in his article?
Another report on Friday from the NCH about children in care, this time about educational acheivement. 54% of those in care (there are around 61,000 children in care) were entered for a single GCSE. Those in care find it hard to get into good schools despite government guidance prioritising children in care. In 2004, 6% of children in care acheived 5 or more GCSEs A*-C compared to 53% of children overall.
The DfES says that by 2006, children in care should be acheiving results which are at least 60% as good as other children. That would mean in practice 31.8% of those in care acheiving 5 good GCSEs. Only 1% of those in care make it to University.
My experience of foster caring has highlighted for me the problem of finding a place in a Thanet Secondary school for non KCC child in care; a refusal by KCC ED to take them in or meet some critical educational needs. The problem even with KCC youngsters is getting youngsters in care into school each day.
I regret to say that NCH, Barnardo's and NSPCC closed excellent residential set-ups in the 80s and 90s and now spend most of their time and budget on ADVERTISING (see comments in recent years by charity commisioners). The NCH unit at Westwood was charging fees in excess of £600 per week to place a foster child there (more expensive than Eton) and NCH is a children's charity!


The border crisis that President Donald Trump used to justify declaring a national emergency was never real, but a different crisis at the border is now starting to escalate as immigration officials hold hundreds of parents and children in makeshift facilities, including a parking lot.
During a press conference in El Paso, Texas, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan argued Wednesday that a surge of incoming Central American migrants has pushed the U.S. immigration system to a "breaking point" and that all available resources should be devoted to manage it.
But Democrats and advocates contend that the Trump administration's response is exacerbating the problems.
Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), a freshman lawmaker who represents El Paso, fumed Thursday over the border situation — which she also described as a crisis — during an interview after leaving the House floor.
The president's frequent claims that unprecedented numbers of undocumented migrants are streaming into the country remain untrue. (Twice as many came during the 1990s and early 2000s.) And President Trump's caricature of border-crossers as violent criminals is still belied by study after study showing that immigrants in general, and undocumented immigrants in particular, commit fewer crimes than the native-born.
But with border arrests at a ten-year high, Border Patrol's resources are getting stretched. Meanwhile, the changed composition of the border-crossers — Central American families rather than Mexican males — creates unfamiliar new problems.
Border Patrol anticipates that it will apprehend more than 55,000 family members in March, by far the highest monthly total since such record-keeping began in fiscal year 2012. The warmer spring and summer months ahead will likely bring even higher numbers.
The adult men from Mexico who a decade ago constituted most border migrants were able to be returned more swiftly, often simply by walking them across the border. While they were detained, the men required comparatively little in the way of social or medical services.
Furthermore, a 2008 federal law and related bilateral agreement allowed the U.S. to repatriate Mexican unaccompanied minors rapidly. The law, called the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, does not similarly authorize quick deportation for children from Central America.
By contrast, the greater volume of children among the new Central American migrants imposes on immigration agencies a need for more psychologists, nutritionists, educators and a host of others. Border officials contend that with the rise in families and children, more migrants have health issues than in the past.
Federal court orders in recent years have limited to 20 days the time children can be kept in detention, which means border agents often must release families into the interior. Such releases speed up processing, but demoralize agents and may encourage more migration, McAleenan argued.
Another option — splitting them apart — caused a broad uproar last summer and remains the subject of ongoing litigation.
The current migratory flow is also different because of the greater proportion of asylum applications at the border in recent years. Central American families arriving at the border frequently seek such refuge, which puts them into an immigration process that can take years to resolve.
The Trump administration argues that the asylum claims largely lack merit, but immigration court statistics don't back that up. Roughly 25 percent of defensive asylum applications were approved by an immigration judge in fiscal year 2017, with 41 percent denied and 34 percent resolved in another manner, such as a withdrawn application.
Still, immigration hard-liners contend that lax asylum laws have been a magnet for Central Americans.
Mark Krikorian, director of the restrictionist Center for Immigration Studies, compared the current influx at the border to Europe's migratory surge in 2015.
"We are seeing an Angela Merkel-style disaster on the border caused by loopholes in our laws that the Democrats refuse to even consider changing," he said.
Democrats and advocates argue that the Trump administration's response has exacerbated problems at the border.
Administration officials have known for months — arguably years — that more migrant families could trek to the United States, yet they appear to have been caught flat-footed.
During McAleenan's press conference in El Paso Wednesday, reporters observed hundreds of parents and children held in a parking lot converted into a makeshift detention center.
Escobar said DHS hasn't taken adequate steps to deal with a long-term trend of more family and child arrivals. Border Patrol often uses small concrete cells that were better suited to the earlier populations of single men, many of whom would be sent back to Mexico in a day's time, she said.
"They've been acting and responding in the same way over the last five years despite the change in the migration pattern," she said.
The spending package approved by Congress in February included $192 million to construct a large processing center for migrant families in El Paso. The facility will house multiple agencies that deal with families in one building, but will take six months to a year to become functional, according to Escobar.
In the meantime, the Texas Democrat argues that if Trump truly deems immigration a national emergency, he should work harder to house and care for incoming migrants, perhaps with Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers or Red Cross assistance.
Under a January 2017 Trump executive order, federal immigration officials remain tasked with arresting and detaining as many migrants as possible, without a system of prioritization. Advocates contend the enforcement push has sapped resources that could be used to address the care and custody of newly arrived migrant families.
The Trump administration has experimented with several hard-line and legally questionable tactics to discourage migrants from trekking to the border — all without any discernible success.
Under its "zero tolerance" strategy, the Trump administration sought to prosecute all suspect border crossers for illegal entry. Children couldn't travel with their parents to criminal detention facilities, so they were reclassified as "unaccompanied" and transferred to the custody of the Health and Human Services Department. Thousands of families were split apart from April until June, only to see Trump reverse the policy and a federal judge order families reunited.
The administration also has sought to keep asylum-seeking migrants in Mexico for longer periods of time.
Using a practice known as "metering," border officials have forced families to wait in Mexico, only accepting a certain number of asylum applicants at ports of entry each day.
A September report by the DHS inspector general's office found evidence that forcing migrants to wait at ports actually encouraged more people to cross illegally. The report cited a Border Patrol supervisor and accounts of several migrants who said they attempted to enter illegally after being turned away at a port.
Still, the Trump administration has moved forward with a separate policy to keep asylum seekers in Mexico for extended periods of time.
The administration's "remain in Mexico" policy — announced in late December and now implemented in several areas along the border — forces certain non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico during the duration of an asylum case.
At the same time, the administration has moved slowly to disperse funding to address root causes of migration in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
POLITICO reported this week that hundreds of millions in aid dollars remain stalled at the White House budget office as aides wonder how seriously to take Trump's threats to cut the funding.


By the end of the year, we may finally solve one of the biggest mysteries in the gaming world: Why do red and blue Spartans hate each other so, so very much?
At Microsoft's recent Spring Showcase 2012, we learned that 343 Industries has some grand plans for Halo 4, the sci-fi first-person shooter due out this holiday season for the Xbox 360. What are these plans? Heck if we know. The studio, who's taking over franchise-development duties from Bungie, only teased us press guys with a few tiny morsels, never revealing much. But if you keep your eyes open, if you listen carefully, and if you talk to the right people, you might be able to glean a few juicy bits…like we did below.
Read on to see what we've discovered about Master Chief's next adventure, and watch 343's brand-new video documentary at the end of the second page to see if you can mine some more info from the elusive developers. Also check out our other news and previews from the Xbox 360 Spring Showcase.
In the brief demo that we saw, the words "Headshot kill!" or "Melee kill!" will flash on the screen when you've killed someone in the corresponding way.
Word is Halo 4 will run at a resolution of 1280×720, up a tad from Reach's 1152×720. But if you're hoping for Call of Duty's silky smooth 60-frames-per-second speed, you're out of luck. Halo 4 will remain at the series-standard 30 frames per second.
"You have the ability to choose from a wide arsenal of weapons and abilities that can be a part of your character's individual loadout," says Holmes. Right now, no one outside of 343 knows how much more ambitious this will be compared to what Reach offered.
We're hearing that power weapons may not respawn in at set intervals, adding some unpredictability as to when rocket launchers, Spartan Lasers, and WMDs may reappear on the battlefield. The point of this is to make sure experienced players won't dominate matches by running timed circuits to grab all the best goodies.


Cadets from the University of North Georgia outperformed the nation's other senior military colleges in key measurements at the U.S. Army's annual Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) this summer.
LDAC is the capstone training and assessment exercise for the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and is required of all cadets who will be commissioning into the U.S. Army upon graduation from college. This year's LDAC, held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., evaluated nearly 6,000 cadets from ROTC programs around the country. The 67 UNG cadets who participated this year excelled in the course.
Upon completion of the course, cadets are given a rating of "excellent," "satisfactory" or "non-satisfactory" based on overall performance. UNG had a higher percentage of cadets receiving an excellent rating (26.9 percent) than any of the nation's other five senior military colleges. The percentage marks a 50 percent increase over summer 2012.
"The UNG Corps of Cadets has a long-standing national reputation for excellence, and I am proud of today's cadets for upholding that strong tradition," said UNG President Bonita C. Jacobs. "Their outstanding performance at LDAC is a testament to their dedication and exceptional training."
COL Todd Wilson, UNG's active-duty professor of military science, is also pleased with the results in an area that is a key indicator in how well a cadet may perform as a U.S. Army officer.
"I couldn't be more pleased with the hard work from our men and women in the corps and their initiative and desire to excel," Wilson said. "These overall ratings on cadet performance at LDAC are a quality indicator that the U.S. Army really pays attention to. The University of North Georgia has a history of commissioning the highest caliber of officers, and I am convinced we are on the right track to sustain this university's tradition of military excellence."
In a second assessment area – the percentage of cadets who placed in the top 5 percent of their units at LDAC – UNG cadets also performed well above their senior military college peers with 14.9 percent. The UNG cadets who finished in the top 5 percent of their units were: John Rafanelli, Bryce Thompson, Laura Simpson, Brent Anderson, Jessie Betts, Thaddeus Black, Bryan Moros, Henry Olliff, Jared Gregory, and David Bonham.
Bonham also was presented the Warrior Ethos Award for the 9th regiment during the LDAC graduation ceremony. The award is presented to the cadet in each regiment who best demonstrates the values espoused in the U.S. Army's Warrior Ethos – I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade.
Wilson attributes cadet success to a focus on fundamentals by the Department of Military Science and the Corps of Cadets. Two semesters before the LDAC training began, Wilson began seeing results from a renewed focus on fundamentals including factors such as academic quality and physical fitness.
"Organizations succeed when they have highly-skilled individuals in their ranks who foster trust and teamwork. These three factors — trust, teamwork and competency — are interdependent, and having educated leaders and personnel is a precondition to success for any organization, military or civilian," Wilson said.
Later this fall, U.S. Army Cadet Command will release the National Order of Merit List (OML) which ranks all of the nation's Army ROTC cadets on factors such as LDAC performance, academics, physical training and leadership attributes. OML ranking determines the branch assignment, or specialization area, cadets are given when commissioning as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army.
This year's Corps of Cadets at UNG numbers more than 800 students, making it the largest in the university's history.
The six federally-designated senior military colleges are the University of North Georgia, the Citadel, Norwich University, Texas A&M University, Virginia Military Institute, and Virginia Tech.


Yesterday, I got a "Get Out of Jail Suburbs Free" card. I ditched the family and roamed around the West Village with some friends. We looked in some stores and gazed in the windows of some stately brownstone apartments in the section of the city where the streets curve and have names instead of numbers. We sighed and wistfully said, "when we win the lottery…"
I made my friends walk for ages, because I wanted to check out the Spotted Pig that was so lovingly described in the New Yorker. But we were hungry and tired and couldn't walk another block, so we settled for the White Horse tavern instead. The White Horse is a dive, but you gotta love the place just because that's where Dylan Thomas drank himself to death.
Wendy just sent me a link to a fabulous blog, Scouting New York, which has tons of pictures of hidden corners of the city as found by a movie location scout. It's eye candy to amuse me in the grey burbs. Check out the abandoned castle on 5 Beekman.
I miss NY too. Maybe we should take S to the borough of her birth (Brooklyn) this weekend when we're on LI. Will be fun to see how 5th Ave in the Slope transformed from sketchy to trendy.


text:
Q: Predicting an inequality, given $f''(x)<0$ in $[a,b].$ We are given that a function $f(x)$ is twice differentiable in $[a,b]$ and $f''(x)<0$.
Let $c=(a+b)/2.$ The question: Is $f(c)$ is greater than or less than $$\frac{f(a)+f(b)}{2}?$$
Now I realized that there is some $c$ in $[a,b]$ for which $f(c)=\frac{f(a)+f(b)}{2}$ by intermediate value theorem.
After this I thought that since $f''(x)<0$ so $f'(x)$ is decreasing in $[a,b]$. Now I took two cases:

*

*If $f(x)$ is increasing ie. $f'(x)>0$ so this means that the rate of increase lessens as we move towards $b$ from $a$ so the difference in values of $f(c)-f(a)>f(b)-f(c)$ which gives $2f(c)>f(a)+f(b)$.

*If $f(x)$ is decreasing ie. $f'(x)<0$ so this means that the rate of decrease lessens as we move towards $b$ from $a$ so the difference in values of $f(a)-f(c)>f(c)-f(b)$ which gives $2f(c)<f(a)+f(b)$.
Now I am confused as both yield opposite results. Any help would be appreciated.

A: The sign of $f'$ does not matter, only that – as you correctly observed – $f'$ is decreasing. Formally this can be  shown by repeated application of the mean-value theorem:
$$
 f(c)-f(a) = (c-a) f'(d_1) \quad \text{ for some $d_1$ between $a$ and $c$ } \\
 f(b)-f(c) = (b-c) f'(d_2) \quad \text{ for some $d_2$ between $c$ and $b$ }
$$
and therefore
$$
 f(a)+f(b) - 2f(c) = \frac{a+b}{2} (f'(d_2)-f'(d_1)) \\
=  \frac{a+b}{2}  (d_2-d_1) f''(e) \quad \text{ for some $e$ between $d_1$ and $d_2$ }
$$
and that is negative, i.e. $f(c) > \frac 12 (f(a) + f(b))$.
More generally, a twice differentiable function is (strictly) concave exactly if $f''$ is (strictly) negative.

A: Define the function $g( x)=f(x)-l(x)$ where $l(x)$ is the straight line segment connecting the points $(a,f(a))$ and $(b,f(b))$
Note that $g''( x)=f''(x)>0$ and $g(a)=g(b)=0$
From the second derivative sign of $g(x) $ we realize that $g(x)$ is concave down on $[a,b]$ so $g(\frac {a+b}{2})>0$
That implies $$f(\frac {a+b}{2})>\frac {f(a)+f(b)}{2}$$

A: $f$ is concave on $[a,b]$ so the line segment $\vec {PQ}$ where $P=(a,f(a)),\ Q=(b,f(b))$ lies below the graph of $f$. Also, $f$ achieves it minimum $m$ and maximum $M$ on $[a,b]$ But now, since $m\le \frac{f(b)+f(a)}{2}\le M$, the result follows by the intermediate value theorem.

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This recipe for Chili Casserole, by Kristin Hansen, is from Hansens in the Kitchen, one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. We help families or individuals create heirloom cookbook treasures.
Brown meat in cooking oil with onion. Add chili. In casserole dish, put a layer of chips then chili then cheese. Finish with another layer of chips. Bake at 350º for 20 minutes.


While some Congressional members point fingers over the Healthcare.gov debacle, another group of Congressional representatives are doing something undeniably significant: Amid reports that the U.S. drone program is killing significant numbers of civilians, a committee led by Ref. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) gathered Tuesday for an independent briefing with drone strike survivors in order to hear their stories. It's the first time government representatives have heard from those affected by the drone program, which is now accused of human rights violations.
According to Zubair, who is twelve, the sounds of drones are nearly constant overhead, only vanishing completely on rainy days, to the point that he can tell the difference between them and other aircraft. This time though the unmanned craft sounded different, making more of a "dhuum dhuum" noise, Zubair said, opposed to the low thrum that the drone's propeller normally casts over their village.
Among the most striking evidence that the attack was carried out by a US drone, Qadri said, was the "phenomenal accuracy" of the strike. "It physically hits her," he said, referring to Momina Bibi. "She's literally hit flush and is blown to smithereens."
"It's quite awful obviously ... but in this sort of a situation where the body is destroyed, clearly she's been targeted," Qadri added. "They meant to kill this person."
On the way back from a consultation about Zubair's leg (which would need rods as a result of the strike) the children's father, Rafiq, heard about a lawyer, Shazar Akbar, who would bring their case to the U.S. State Department as part of a larger case he was building. Though Akbar got the Rehman family to America, his own visa was denied by the State Department — something that, he said, is only happening in the U.S., and something that only started following his work advocating for drone victims as director of the Foundation for Fundamental Rights. Without him, he's afraid that the survivors won't tell their stories.
"It's a great opportunity but they are scared," Akbar said. "There's a huge trust deficit. They don't trust the U.S.," he said.
However, despire their fear, the Rehmans made it.
"I could never have imagined that I would be coming to America or I'd want to come to America," Rafiq said. "I didn't know how people were. But then Robert had come and they were listening to our story and then Shahzad, our lawyer, had told us that there are more people like Robert who would love to hear the truth and know the truth."
The family also features in a Robert Greenwald documentary that aims to highlight the drone program and will be shown at the briefing. Called "Unmanned: America's Drone Wars," the documentary is decidedly anti-drone, but illustrates critical points Greenwald believes the government hasn't caught on to.
Grayson says he's looking forward to the opportunity to hear from the survivors, and Greenwald hopes the effort will lead to an investigation of the program.


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text:
import cocotb
from cocotb.triggers import Timer
from cocotb.result import TestFailure
import random
import math
import numpy as np

TICK = 1

def integer_variance(integers):
    raw_style = int(np.sum(integers**2)>>7) - int((np.sum(integers)>>7)**2)
    return raw_style

@cocotb.test()
def variance_basic_test(dut):
    integers = np.random.randint(0, (2**14)-1, 128)

    # reset
    dut.reset = 0;
    dut.data_in = 0;
    dut.clk = 0
    yield Timer(TICK)
    dut.clk = 1
    yield Timer(TICK)
    dut.reset = 1;

    # feed in 100 integers
    for i in range(128):
        dut.data_in = int(integers[i])
        dut.clk = 0
        yield Timer(TICK)
        dut.clk = 1
        yield Timer(TICK)

    for i in range(7):
        dut.clk = 0
        yield Timer(TICK)
        dut.clk = 1
        yield Timer(TICK)

    integer_var = integer_variance(integers)

    # np_var = int(np.mean(integers**2)) - int(np.mean(integers)**2)
    # print("first integer was", hex(integers[0]))
    # print("integer sum was", hex(np.sum(integers)))
    # print("integer square sum was", hex(np.sum(integers**2)))
    # print("mean was", hex(int(np.mean(integers))))
    # print("mean of squares was", hex(int(np.mean(integers**2))))
    # print("integer variance was", integer_var, " (hex: %s)" % hex(integer_var))
    # print("numpy variance was", np_var)
    # print("variance needs", np.log(integer_variance(integers))/np.log(2), "bits")

    if int(dut.data_out) != integer_var:
        raise TestFailure("variance output was wrong; got %i, expected %i" % (int(dut.data_out), integer_variance(integers)))

    # one more clock
    dut.clk = 0
    yield Timer(TICK)
    dut.clk = 1
    yield Timer(TICK)
    integer_var = integer_variance(np.append(integers[1:], integers[-1]))
    if int(dut.data_out) != integer_var:
        raise TestFailure("variance output was wrong; got %i, expected %i" % (int(dut.data_out), integer_variance(integers)))

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Alessandro Faorlin brings extensive experience as a Lean Champion, coaching executives, and teams to successfully transform their organizations through process improvements. For over 10 years, he has implemented countless Lean Transformation projects, providing expert counsel to executives in production, logistics, manufacturing and healthcare sectors.
Concurrent to his Account Relationship Leader role with auxiell, a consultancy based in Italy, Alessandro's partnership with ValueSelling Associates allows him to deliver the ValueSelling Framework® as a pragmatic approach to drive effective sales results. ValueSelling's methodology complements his clear objective to help clients strategically enhance performance and become a beacon of light in any industry. He is certified to facilitate ValueSelling in English and Italian.
Alessandro began his professional career in the technical field at the age of 20, while simultaneously starting his first company. Subsequently, he held various management roles for Irsap-Rhoss, a worldwide leader in the heating and air conditioning sector, operating in design, manufacturing, and installation of environmental solutions, including chillers, heat pumps, air handling units and radiant heating.
He is a member of several organizations including CUOA Master in Lean Management, INFOR-ELEA Lean Academy, and Lean Experience Factory, and holds Project Management certification at ISIPM. In his free time, he soars in the world of flying: dynamic model aircraft, microlight flight and parachuting.
Download Alessandro's biography in Italian or English.


and more, look no further than our editing of designer baby boy clothes. Must-have for every Baby Dior newborn. Designers Baby Newborn Gifts @ Panache Baby Designers children's clothes for girls, boys and babies. The Panache Kids is a fashion store in Hertfordshire and we exclusively offer designer clothes, shoes and presents for babies and kids. Orders from outside the UK will be shipped via DPD or DHL to Europe, DHL to USA & Canada and Royal Mail International Signed Delivery or DHL to anywhere in the world.
Buy baby clothing at Etsy, the place to show off your creative potential by purchasing and marketing hand-made and vintage items. The latest titles this weekend contain some you've probably never even hear before, like Rosamund Pike's Atoms and a figure of a young woman called Jupiter. Do you think all baby' nicknames have been taken?
These are some sweetly inspiring llollipop kids clothes. Sometimes it'?s back to the past. When the re-emergence of classic apparel design, among them a vinyl.
The search for sophisticated children's apparel is as simple as searching the designer area in the large malls.
These are the latest enchanting Dior Baby dress changes that have taken place in our atelier. Best children's designer clothing inspirations. In such a small amount of space of time, baby clothes go through so much. This is where our dress changes come in. Designers children's clothing offers the best and chicest clothes for them.
Dior, your baby designer clothes for every time of year, every occasion and every age. This are the latest changes to the Dior baby clothes in our children's apparel inspirations and creative design salon. To say nothing of the added note of tiny fashions branded on the zipper. There are also designer baby clothes with this big babygrow.
Must-have for every Baby Dior newborn.
What are the best baby products for use?


11/9/2016 – News Coverage: Follow the links below to see the television coverage for The Miracle League Field Groundbreaking.
10/31/2016 – Press Release: Groundbreaking for Miracle League Field at Wolcott Park The new field will provide central Mississippi's first fully accessible baseball field specifically designed for individuals with developmental and physical disabilities.
10/12/2015 – The City of Ridgeland approved and signed a Letter of Understanding on October 6, 2015 that will allow the Miracle League of Central Mississippi to construct a Miracle League Field at Hite Wolcott Park. The plan is to renovate a current baseball field that is in a quad with three other conventional fields. The goal is to open the field in 2017.
10/21/2015 – Joseph Voynik, Founder, was chosen as the 2015 recipient of the Mississippi Outstanding Youth Philanthropist of the Year Award for his work toward bringing a Miracle League field to our area. He was presented the award at the National Philanthropy Day Awards luncheon on October 21, 2015.


Dimitri Speck specializes in pattern recognition and trading systems development. He is the founder of Seasonax, the company which created the Seasonax app for the Bloomberg and Thomson-Reuters systems. He also publishes the website www.SeasonalCharts.com , which features selected seasonal charts for interested investors free of charge. In his book The Gold Cartel (published by Palgrave Macmillan), Dimitri provides a unique perspective on the history of gold price manipulation, government intervention in markets and the vast credit excesses of recent decades. His ground-breaking work on intraday patterns in gold prices was inter alia used by financial supervisors to gather evidence on the manipulation of the now defunct gold and silver fix in London. His Stay-C commodities trading strategy won several awards in Europe; it was the best-performing quantitative commodities fund ever listed on a German exchange.
You can find an introduction to the Seasonax app and in-depth information on what it can do here. Furthermore, here is a complementary page on the web-based Seasonax app, which costs less and offers slightly different functionality (note: subscriptions through Acting Man qualify for special discounts – for both the Bloomberg/Reuters and the web-based versions of the app. Details are available on request – simply write a note to info@acting-man.com with the header Seasonax!).
I always thought Ag and Au rose together.


text:
Boris Mikhailov
Boris Mikhailov was born in Ukraine in 1938. His challenging and provocative photographs document human casualties in post-communist Eastern Europe after the demise of the Soviet Union. Since the mid-1960s, Boris Mikhailov has explored photography's full range of possibilities and produced an uncompromising yet ironically humorous portrait of his close surroundings. His tireless investigations into photographic techniques and stylistic means, as well as his frequent alternation between conceptual and documentary work have contributed to make Mikhailov one of the most influential photographers living today. Mikhailov represented Ukraine in the 57th Venice Biennale (2017). Other recent solo exhibitions include: Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (2019); Before Sleep/After Drinking, C/O Berlin Foundation, Berlin (2019); Fotomuseum, Antwerp (2016); Kunstverein Wolfenbüttel (2016); MADRE, Naples (2015); Camera Italian Centre for Photography, Turin (2015); Sprengel Museum, Hannover (2013); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2011); and Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2010). A selection of his work was recently featured in the group shows: 'Another Kind of Life: Photography on the Margins', Barbican Centre, London (2018); 5th Odessa biennale (2017); 'The Human Condition Session II', Moscow Museum of Modern Art (2016).
Mikhailov was the recipient of the 2016 Goslar Kaiserring Prize; the 2012 Spectrum International Prize for Photography; the Citibank 2001 Photography Prize; and the 2000 Hasselblad Foundation International Award, among others. His work is included in important public collections, including: Hamburger Bahnof, Berlin; ICA, Boston; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tate Modern, London; Tel Aviv Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; MoMA, New York.
© Boris Mikhailov
May 11, 2021 — Nicola Scavalli
Tags: Boris Mikhailov
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The Archbishop of Wales is urging churches to ring their bells for peace during a nationwide day of commemorative events marking the centenary of the Armistice, the end of the First World War.
November 11 will mark the day 100 years ago when the guns fell silent and the unique series of events will involve organisations and communities the length and breadth of the UK and in many countries abroad.
The Government is asking churches to join in a national bell ringing at 12.30pm on November 11. There will also be a second opportunity to ring church bells at 7.05pm as part of an event organised by the Battle's Over project.
The Archbishop, John Davies, pictured here at the WW1 memorial to the South Wales Borderers regiment at Brecon Cathedral, says, "There is unlikely to be a family in Wales that was not affected at the time, whether directly or indirectly, by the horror of the First World War in which killing, on a scale never before experienced, happened. One hundred years on, the pain, shock and sense of loss and of sheer waste felt by that generation remains tangible.
"The collective memory of that brutal conflict should continue to move us profoundly, reminding us of sacrifices made, and, all too often of the frequent futility of the conflict. Sadly, it was not, as some had expected, the war to end all wars; and conflicts still shatter the lives of people across the globe today.
You can also follow, share and engage with the Cymru'n Cofio Wales Remembers 1914-1918 programme on Twitter at @CymrunCofio / @WalesRemembers and on Facebook at Cymru'n Cofio Wales Remembers 1914-1918.
Later on November 11 bells from more than 1,000 churches and cathedrals will be ringing out at 7.05pm as part of a day of events called Battle's O'er- A Nation's Tribute, organised by the Pageant-master Bruno Peek.
The commemorations will begin at 6am with 1,000 individual pipers across the UK and countries around the world performing the traditional Scottish lament played at the end of battle — Battle's O'er.
In the evening, 1,000 buglers will sound the Last Post at WW1 Beacons of Light locations across the nation and UK overseas territories.
It is believed that 1,400 bell ringers lost their lives during WW1. They included five from one church in South Wales. Today's bell ringers at St Illtud's Church, Llantwit Major, will be remembering them, along with 30 others from the small coastal town who were killed, as they join in the ringing for peace on November 11.
The ringers killed were the young bell captain, Bruce Davies, 29, his brother Max, 24, blacksmith David Legge, hay-cutter William Thomas, 28, and Daniel Rees, 35, a farmer who died in the influenza epidemic that followed the war.
While their names were all included in the town's Roll of Honour, for some reason they were not included in the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers' Roll of Honour. However, their role as bell ringers came to light in May this year when a box containing the minutes of the meetings of the Llantwit Society of Bell Ringers from 1908-25 was handed over to David Bounds when he took over as Ringing Master for Llantwit Major and St Athan. Following further research with the town's historical society, Dave and his wife Hilary are now applying to the Central Council to include the five men from Llantwit Major in their revised Roll of Honour.
"It is a great shame that the role of these men as bell ringers has been hidden for so long," says Dave, who has been a bell ringer at St Illtud for 52 years and was Master and Chairman of Llandaff and Monmouth Association of Church Bell Ringers for five years.
Today there are 17 bell ringers in the parish, including seven new members, recruited as part of a national campaign, Ringing Remembers, to keep the skill alive in memory of those killed.
They will be ringing continuously at three times at St Illtud on November 11. From 9.15-9.45am they will ring half-muffled before the morning service. At 12.30pm they will join in the national bell ringing and at 7.05pm following the lighting of the town's beacon, they will take part in the "ringing out for peace".
One of the churches which will be joining in the bell ringing at 12.30pm and lighting a beacon is St Giles' Parish Church in Wrexham which houses the Regimental Chapel of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Nearly 10,000 Fusiliers lost their lives in the War and they are being commemorated in a display of 10,000 poppies knitted by members of the congregation and also the Wrexham community. The church's iconic tower is also the site of one of the 1000 beacons of light being lit across the UK at 7pm.
Other events at the church, which has a unique ring of 10 bells, include an exhibition highlighting the role of local people in the war and an Act of Commemoration at 6pm on November 11.
A small village church is hosting a stirring silhouette installation to commemorate its 40 World War One casualties.
The five striking silhouettes, made of Perspex, have been installed at St Mary Magdalene's Church in Cwmbach as part of the There But Not There campaign.
At the outbreak of World War One, Cwmbach was a small mining and farming village outside Aberdare. The war memorial in St Mary Magdalene's Church lists the names of 40 men who were killed in action during that conflict, devastating that community.
The Archdeacon of Margam, Christopher Smith said, "Those people have never been forgotten, and alongside those who lost their lives in World War 2 and the Falklands Conflict, they will be remembered on 11 November 2018. The formal act of Remembrance will begin at 10.45am but before that, the morning worship at 9.30am will be on the theme of remembrance and peace.
After the Act of Remembrance an exhibition of war time memorabilia will be on display in the hall while refreshments, including a trench cake, made to an original recipe, will be served.
A Remembrance video produced by St Mary's Church in Whitchurch, Cardiff, contains remarkable footage of some of those buried in the churchyard – including Charles Ward, the last person to be awarded the VC by Queen Victoria. It will be projected nightly onto the outside of the church walls in the lead up to Remembrance Sunday.
Rector of Whitchurch, the Revd John Davis said, "We are inviting people to come and view the display in the porch, listing all of those we discovered in our churchyard who died in conflicts past.
The largest collection of wooden First World War crosses in West Wales has gone on display in St Katherine's Church, Milford Haven.
They have been rescued from a damp corner of the church by the vicar, Fr Harri Williams, who decided they should have pride of place in the newly-refurbished Memorial Chapel.
Each one bears the name of a soldier, sailor or airman who died. "It's particularly poignant for me because many of them were so young," Fr Harri said.
"We have boys in our youth group who are 17, and to think that 100 years ago many of them would have been expected to fight is quite frightening.
"This is the largest collection of original First World War crosses we have in west Wales and yet most people in Milford Haven know nothing about it, which is a great sadness to me.
The crosses will be displayed alongside a book produced this year by the Royal British Legion and Milford Haven School, which gives details of those who died.
"People can go in the chapel, look at the name on the cross, open the book and their story comes to life," said Father Harri.
"It's a very poignant reminder of their sacrifice but also a tremendous tool for teaching the next generation about the sacrifice of war and what it meant.
A service of dedication for the chapel will take place on Friday, November 9, at 7pm.
Funding for the work has come from the Royal British Legion, Pembrokeshire County Council via the Welsh Church Act Fund, Mission to Seafarers through the Trafalgar Institute, Milford Haven Town Council, the Friends of the church and parishioners.


Give the rescue team something to focus on with the bright, flashing strobe of the ACR® Hemilight™ 3 Survivor Light. It automatically turns on when it comes in contact with water, and you can manually turn it off with the flick of a switch.
Use the webbing of your PFD or flight suit to attach the light and keep it within easy reach. The compact design won't get in the way of your work.
The light can be turned on manually and has a non-replaceable Lithium Manganese Dioxide battery.


text:
Mostly cloudy skies. Low 1F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..
Mostly cloudy skies. Low 1F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
Study: Wolf viewing down sharply in Denali National Park
Tim Mowry / tmowry@newsminer.com
Nov 27, 2013 Updated Jun 12, 2019
FAIRBANKS—Fewer visitors are seeing wolves in Denali National Park and Preserve, and the National Park Service is looking for the reason.
Researchers for the National Park Service estimate that only about 8,000 — or 4 percent — of the approximately 200,000 visitors who traveled the park road in shuttle buses this past summer saw wolves. That compares to viewing percentages of 12 percent in 2012, 21 percent in 2011 and 44 percent in 2010.
There is only one road — the 92-mile Denali Park Road — that leads into the 6-million acre park, and tourists must ride buses to get beyond mile 15. It's after this marker where most wolf sightings occur.
The decline in wolf viewing opportunities coincides with a decline in the park's overall wolf population. The 2013 spring count of 55 wolves is the second-lowest documented since counts began in 1986, according to researchers. The only lower count was 53 wolves in the spring of 1987, park biologist Steve Arthur said. The 2012 spring count was 66 wolves.
Biologists don't know why the park's overall wolf population has declined in recent years but said a decline in viewing opportunities is more tied to the fact that no wolf packs denned near Denali Park Road the road the past two years than the decline in the overall population.
"This summer we didn't have any packs that denned close to the road, so there wasn't a lot of wolf activity near the road until the end of August and early September when one of the packs brought their pups down close to the road," Arthur said. "Typically when a pack dens close tot he road we have a lot more sightings."
A study is under way to look at the factors that influence wolf viewing opportunities along the park road, he said.
"Wolf abundance is one of those and probably a fairly important one, but there are other factors, such as where are the wolves in proximity to the road," Arthur said.
Biologists gather data on wolf packs in the park by radio tracking and have documented a decrease in the number of wolves that den and roam in close proximity to Denali Park Road in the eastern half of the park where tour buses travel, as well as a decline in the overall number of wolves in the park, according to a Park Service news release.
While the park's wolf population fluctuates from year to year and remains viable, the Park Service is concerned with the decline in wolf viewing opportunities in the park "because wolf viewing is a very popular activity in the park," Arthur said.
"We're certainly concerned in the reduction of viewing opportunities and would like to understand more about what factors influence that activity," he said.
Researchers conducted a random sample of 80 bus trips into the park over the summer and found that wolves were only seen on three of those trips, according to the Park Service.
Permanent buffer zone
News of the decline in wolf viewing opportunities in Denali prompted quick action from wolf advocates who for years have been petitioning unsuccessfully for a protective, no-kill buffer zone around the northeast corner of the park to prevent the trapping and hunting of wolves that stray outside park boundaries.
A group of a dozen individuals representing various organizations and interests wrote a letter to Gov. Sean Parnell and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell asking that the state and federal governments negotiate an easement exchange or purchase "to secure a permanent wildlife conservation buffer" to protect wolves that venture outside park boundaries along the Stampede Trail near Healy. Until that happens, the group requested the state to "demonstrate good faith" and issue a temporary emergency closure.
"The only way to really restore and sustain wolf viewing opportunities in the park is to have this buffer," said Rick Steiner, who authored the letter to Parnell and Jewell. "Without the buffer east of the park, I think it's very unlikely the wolf populations in the park and viewing opportunities would recover significantly enough to be able to market wolf tourism in the park."
The idea of an easement or a land exchange is a new tack taken by wolf advocates in what has been a decades-long battle over the protection of wolves that live in the park but sometimes wander outside park boundaries onto state land and are killed by a handful of trappers and hunters in the community of Healy, which sits on the northeast boundary of the park. The wolves that roam that area of the park are the ones most often seen by park tourists on buses.
Wolf advocates in 2000 successfully petitioned the Alaska Board of Game to establish an approximately 120 square-mile buffer zone that prohibited trapping or hunting wolves along the Stampede Trail that runs east of Healy. The buffer zone remained in place for 10 years until the game board reversed its decision in 2010 and legalized trapping and hunting on state lands adjacent to the park, despite proposals from the public and National Park Service to expand it.
Ever since, wolf advocates have been petitioning the state, unsuccessfully, to close that area to wolf trapping and hunting. In fact, the state game board in 2010 went so far as to issue a six-year moratorium on any proposals dealing with a Denali buffer zone. Repeated requests by wolf advocates to Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell to issue an emergency hunting and trapping closure were also rebuked.
"What we need is a permanent buffer solution there, and the best way to do it we can see is do an easement exchange," said Steiner, a retired marine biologist from Anchorage who adopted the Denali Park wolf cause after friend Gordon Haber, who spent 40 years studying wolves in the park and fighting for their protection, was killed in a plane crash in 2009.
The reason no pack denned near the road the past two summers is because the last breeding female in the Grant Creek Pack, which had been denning close to the road in previous years, was trapped and killed in what was the former buffer zone in the spring of 2012, causing the 15-member pack to fracture and abandon its traditional den site, said Steiner. As a result, wolf viewing opportunities dropped by 50 percent that year, he said, citing Park Service statistics.
"It's indisputable that trapping along the northeast boundary is contributing to a decline in wolf-viewing opportunities," Steiner said.
What happens to a wolf pack when certain wolves are removed from the pack is one of the things the Park Service is studying, Arthur said.
"It's possible when particular individuals are removed, such as the alpha male or female, that can cause disruption in the pack and influence movements," he said, before adding "It's basically a theory at this point."
Novel proposal
In his letter, Steiner proposed that the state transfer a "wildlife conservation easement" to the federal government in exchange for an equal-valued easement on federal land.
One possibility would be for the federal government to convey an easement on the portion of the Tokositna River that runs on the south side of the park along the boundary of Denali State Park. That could open up recreational opportunities to Alaskans and tourists, especially if the state develops an entrance to the park south of the Alaska Range. Steiner also mentioned lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management and Department of Defense as possibilities.
"The novel part of our proposal is we're asking the feds to give equal value in exchange," Steiner said.
He cited the Falls Creek Land Exchange in Glacier Bay National Park in 2006 in which the park transferred lands to the state for a hydroelectric project near Gustavus in exchange for state lands along the Chilkoot Trail to the Park Service.
"There is precedent for this," Steiner said.
Another option is for the state to purchase an easement from the federal government, as was done following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
"Hundreds of thousands of acres of coastline were protected that way using Exxon restoration funds," Steiner said.
Steiner said he has been "quietly seeding the idea" in meetings with state and federal officials and that here is interest.
A spokesperson for Parnell said the governor had yet to see the letter.
"We need time to review the proposal before commenting on specifics," said Sharon Leighow, Parnell's spokeswoman.
A message left by the News-Miner for Pat Pourchot, head of the Department of Interior in Alaska, regarding the possibility of a land easement exchange or straight-up purchase, was not returned.
Longtime Healy resident and Denali Park wolf advocate Barbara Brease was one of the dozen people who signed the letter sent to Parnell and Jewell.
"The economics of this whole thing are so perfectly clear," said Brease, who in the past has submitted proposals to the Board of Game to establish a buffer zone. "Denali Park wolves are worth far more alive than dead. In the end it would be far more lucrative for the state to protect the resource than to give it away to one or two trappers."
Brease works in the visitor center at the park during the summer and says tourists are disappointed when they find out their chance of seeing a wolf are not good.
"Every day people come in and they want to see wolves," she said. "When they hear about the decline in viewing opportunities and why it happened, it's a huge disappointment."
Contact staff writer Tim Mowry at 459-7587. Follow him on Twitter: @FDNMoutdoors.
Denali wolf buffer zone letter
Wolf-protection advocates have sent a letter to Gov. Sean Parnell and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell regarding the reduced number of wolves i…
Proposed Denali wolf buffer zone
Wolf-protection advocates are again asking for creation of a buffer zone to protect wolves that live in Denali National Park and Preserve but …
Wolf hunting and trapping along Stampede Trail closed by emergency order


If you don't have a macOS Server installation and have multiple macs to upgrade, it can be a bandwidth-sucking chore. Instead, there's a way to download a full install of the latest version of High Sierra and make install media using the Terminal -- AppleInsider shows you how.
AppleInsider testing has shown significant improvement in eGPU implementation in Apple's new macOS 10.13.4 beta, boasting a dynamic clamshell mode working as expected regardless of monitor configuration, and a new menu on the desktop allowing users to disconnect from a connected enclosure without necessitating a logout.


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'Mission Extreme' release postponed
Habibullah Siddique
16 May, 2020, 12:25 pm
Last modified: 16 May, 2020, 12:55 pm
'Bangabandhu' biopic team meets PM
Arifin Shuvoo's 'Mission Extreme' to release on Eid-ul-Fitr
Actor Arifin Shuvoo and Nusraat Faria infected with Covid-19
'I did not give up': Shuvoo flaunts six pack abs
Mashrafee wants Arifin Shuvoo to play him in a biopic
The shooting of the two-part movie ended earlier this year.
After the success of 'Dhaka Attack,' Arifin Shuvoo will again play a cop on the silver screen. Photo: Collected
The global epidemic coronavirus has the world in shambles. Its prevalence in Bangladesh is increasing everyday . Considering the situation, the release of the movie "Mission Extreme" has been postponed from its initial Eid release.
The cop action-thriller is helmed by director duo Faisal Ahmed and Sunny Sarwar.
The official announcement came from Sunny Sanwar, one of the directors, producers and screenplay writers of the movie. In the announcement he said Mission Extreme would not be released until the coronavirus crisis is resolved.
Sanwar also said, "The situation is a big shock for the entertainment world. It's like a tsunami that has swept away our small industry. But we have to move forward with patience," adding that they wanted to premiere the movie to a large audience. "It would have been better if the film could be released during Eid. Now that it is not possible. I will release the first part of the movie later at a convenient time. The second part will be released afterwards," the director stated.
He added, "We wanted to release Mission Extreme in several countries. I was thinking of releasing it to relax the situation. However, it is clear that the time is not coming any time soon."
The central characters in the film are played by Arifin Shuvoo, Jannatul Ferdous Oishee, Sadia Nabila and Taskin Rahman. The shooting of the two-part movie ended earlier this year.
Mission Extreme also stars Sumit Sengupta, Shatabdi Wadud, Majnoon Mizan, Iresh Jaker, Manoj Pramanik, Aref Syed, Sudipta Deep, Rashed Mamun Apu, Ehsanul Rahman, Dipu Imam, among others.
The movie was inspired by real life expeditions of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
Mission Extreme is co-produced by Mime Multimedia and Dhaka Detective Club.
Mission Extreme / Arifin Shuvoo
Box office: Liam Neeson's 'The Marksman' ends 'Wonder Woman 1984' reign
BTV to premiere Air Force documentary 'Nater Guru'
Documentary film 'Qasida of Dhaka' to be screened in 19th Dhaka Int'l Film Festival
Amazon faces backlash from Indian ruling party lawmakers over web series 'Tandav'
Selena Gomez: Big Tech 'cashing in from evil'
Police stationed outside Saif Ali Khan's home amid 'Tandav' row


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New! Entered: 2016-02-26 Really like how Newt was sweetly awkward here, eventually complimeting Crackle as he did and clearly knowing what she'd infer from him saying such things about her hair. Very socially savy, our Newt, but not without his awkward moments. Love Crackle reaction! All in all, a story that made me smile.
New! Entered: 2015-12-31 Wow, Crackle's becoming a grown azz-ed lady!! LOL! If I were Newt, I wouldn't know how to respond either!! He will always be the "oldest" though!
New! Entered: 2015-12-31 That awkward moment between teenage friends... haha! I guess, I was as suprised as Newt to see that Crackle noticed the tension that suddenly arose between them and took advantage of it. Looking forward to how this development will continue.


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Visionary Post-Modern Choreographer Susan Rethorst in Philadelphia; World Premiere This Month at Bryn Mawr College
PHILADELPHIA — The Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series presents the Philadelphia premiere of Behold Bold Sam Dog and the world premiere of 208 East Broadway Part 5, part of Susan Rethorst: Inquiring Mind/Choreographic Mind, an exploration into the artistic process of acclaimed New York choreographer and dancer Susan Rethorst, a recent Philadelphia transplant. Rethorst's work has been called "meticulously made, sensually satisfying and thrumming with possibilities" by The New York Times. Performances take place February 22–24, 2013.
On Saturday, February 23, Danspace Project's Judy Hussie-Taylor will curate a day of dance focusing on Rethorst's career in Bryn Mawr's Goodhart Hall. Rethorst's choreographic approach includes ideas such as "collaboration with circumstance" influenced, in part, by John Cage's explorations of chance and circumstance and the teachings of choreographer Judith Dunn. Cage will be represented through the performative lecture "How to Get Started," a structured improvisation conceived by Cage in which he addressed the "creative process, and improvisation, a subject about which he had long been deeply ambivalent," according to Slought Foundation's director Aaron Levy. "This amounted to an experiment having to do with thinking in public before a live audience."
In considering Rethorst's thinking around choreographic and poetic minds (her recent book A Choreographic Mind was named "Best of 2012" by the New Yorker magazine) Hussie-Taylor has invited four artists to think in public before a live audience for a unique iteration of Cage's piece. Presenting will be two "choreographic minds", Elizabeth Streb and Douglas Dunn, and two "poetic minds" Anne Waldman andClaudia La Rocco, frequent contributor to The New York Times who will each engage with Cage's instructions. How To Get Started is a permanent installation created and presented in collaboration with the Slought Foundation in partnership with the John Cage Trust. Rethorst's dance/film installations can be viewed from 4 pm - 7 pm between performances of 208 East Broadway and Behold Bold Sam Dog.
Bryn Mawr's Campus is located at 101 N. Merion Ave. General admission for performances is $20, $18 for seniors, $10 for students with ID and Dance Pass holders, and $5 for children under 12. Day pass for events on Saturday, February 23 is $45 and includes dinner. Tickets and information: brynmawr.edu/arts/series.html or 610-526-5210.
RESIDENCY EVENTS SCHEDULE & INFORMATION
Tuesday February 19, 2:15 – 3:45 p.m.
Master Class in Composition with Vicky Shick
Location: Bryn Mawr College, Pembroke Dance Studio.
Reservations requested: reservations [at] brynmawr [dot] edu or 610-526-5210
Wednesday, February 20, TBA
Open Rehearsal for 208 East Broadway, Part 5
Location: Bryn Mawr College, McPherson Auditorium in Goodhart Hall
Thursday, February 21, 4:00 pm – 5:30 p.m.
Master Class in Technique with Jodi Melnick
Location: Bryn Mawr College, Pembroke Dance Studio
Friday, February 22, 8 p.m.
Behold Bold Sam Dog
Location: Bryn Mawr College, Hepburn Teaching Theater in Goodhart Hall
Saturday, February 23 (more info: http://rethorst.brynmawr.edu/)
Day of Dance at Bryn Mawr College in Goodhart Hall
12:30p.m – 2:00p.m., How to Get Started
with Elizabeth Streb and Claudia La Rocco in Hepburn Teaching Theater
3:00 p.m., 208 East Broadway Part 5 (premiere) in McPherson Auditorium
4:00 – 7:00p.m., dance/film installations
with Susan Rethorst in McPherson Auditorium
2:00 – 3:00p.m. and 4:00 – 8:00p.m. Exhibition, Glass lobby
5:00 – 6:30p.m. How to Get Started
with Anne Waldman and Douglas Dunn in Hepburn Teaching Theater
5:45 – 7:45 Dinner in Common Room
8:00p.m. Behold Bold Sam Dog inHepburn Teaching Theater
9:00p.m. Philly Performance Club
Led by Claudia La Rocco, frequent contributor to the New York Times, in Common Room
Sunday, February 24, 3 p.m
208 East Broadway Part 5
March TBA
Wreckings/Coda with selected area dance companies
ABOUT SUSAN RETHORST
Rethorst began her study of modern dance at an early age under Erika Thimey, a contemporary of Mary Wigman. She then studied with Judith Dunn at Bennington College, laying the groundwork for her artistic sensibility. Rethorst has been creating dances out of New York City since 1975 and teaching choreography while creating work throughout Europe, Scandinavia, and the U.S. since 1995. She has lectured at Dartington College in the U.K., Arizona State University, New York University, and the Amsterdam School of the Arts.
Rethorst was among the first to receive a New York Dance and Performance Award ('Bessie') for Outstanding Achievement in 1985. In further recognition of her choreographic achievements, she has been the recipient of many grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (1979-1989, 1992-1995), as well as support from the Creative Artist's Public Service Program (1979), the New York State Council on the Arts (1979-1983), the Foundation for Contemporary Performance (1988 and 2003), the New York Foundation for the Arts (1989,1993), the Ernie Pagnano Memorial Fund (1991), the Joyce Mertz Gilmore Foundation (1992), and a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1999). In 2008, Rethorst received her second Bessie for 208 East Broadway: Suitcase Dreams and in 2010 she received the prestigious Alpert Award.
In 2005, Rethorst started a summer program devoted to the study of choreography in Pennsylvania co-sponsored by Wilson College: Studio Upson in Pennsylvania (SUPA). A mid-career retrospective of her work, Susan Rethorst: Retro(intro)spective, was presented at Danspace in 2011, and her book A Choreographic Mind: Autobodygraphical Writings was published by the Theater Academy of Helsinki in April of 2012.
This presentation of Susan Rethorst: Inquiring Mind/Choreographic Mind is part of Susan Rethorst/ Moving in Philadelphia 2013-2014, which will continue through a second collaboration with Philadelphia's Group Motion and Philadelphia Dance Projects. Support for these projects has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through Dance Advance.
Since 1984 the Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series has presented great artists and performances to audiences in the Philadelphia area, creating an environment in which the value of the arts is recognized and celebrated. Talks and workshops provided free to the public help develop arts awareness and literacy. The Series works to lower barriers to arts access through its partnership with Art-Reach, a nonprofit dedicated to improving arts accessibility for people of all ages and circumstances, and through its low ticket prices. Partnering in recent seasons with such organizations as the Baryshnikov Arts Center, the Bryn Mawr Film Institute and the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, the Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series has presented performances and enriching events by such luminaries and visionaries as Meredith Monk, John Waters, Il Fondamento, the Khmer Arts Ensemble of Cambodia and Urban Bush Women.
The Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series gratefully acknowledges support from The Miriam Schultz Grunfeld '69 Fund, established by Carl Grunfeld, M.D., friends, and family members in memory of Miriam Schultz Grunfeld '69. Since 1996, the Grunfeld Fund has enriched student life by supporting art history, the arts and literature.
The Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series gratefully acknowledges support for its 2013-14 season from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
Office for the Arts
Goodhart Hall
101 North Merion Ave,
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010-2899
Susan Rethorst: World Premiere of "208 East Broadway, Part 5" This Month (press release) 284.77 KB
Susan Rethorst 1.02 MB
"208 East Broadway" Photo by Julieta Cervantes 1.43 MB
2001-Jodi Melnick "Behold Bold Sam Dog" Photo by Tom Brazil 1.56 MB
2001-Vicky Shick and Jodi Melnick "Behold Bold Sam Dog" Photo by Tom Brazil 1.47 MB
Jodi Melnick and Vicky Shick. Photo by Julieta Cervantes 1.01 MB
Canary Promotion | 215-690-4065
Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series
2/20/2014 Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series Presents "Bach and Beyond" from Accomplished Violinist Jennifer Koh
1/20/2014 Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series Presents Regional Premiere of Liz Gerring's Critically Acclaimed Choreographic Work "glacier"
12/4/2013 Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series Presents Performing Artist John Kelly in One Night Only Performance of "The Escape Artist" This January
8/19/2013 Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series Welcomes Global Artists as New Season Opens in November
2/27/2013 Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series Closes 2012-2013 Season with Tour-De-Force Performance by Sheetal Gandhi on March 22
2/4/2013 Visionary Post-Modern Choreographer Susan Rethorst in Philadelphia; World Premiere This Month at Bryn Mawr College
12/3/2012 Visionary Post-Modern Choreographer Susan Rethorst in Philadelphia; Residency at Bryn Mawr College Opens Process to Public in 2013
10/2/2012 Internationally Celebrated Clarinetist David Krakauer Challenges the Expectations of Classical and Klezmer with Beyond Crossover at Bryn Mawr College
8/7/2012 New Season at Bryn Mawr College Opens with Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble in New Mark Morris Work, Plus Return of Bread and Puppet Theater


"Approachable" software. I think this means easy to use, maybe?
Gathering the right data. Yep, if one wants to understand terrorist attacks one does not need too much data about hamburger sales in downtown Louisville.
Make everything simple. Homer Simpson would be proud.
Useful for math and statistics majors.


Provides XWiki authentication by trusting HTTP Headers and getting information about new users from those same headers.
getLogoutUrl(location): if a logout URL is configured, provide it during a logout triggered from XWiki as the redirection page, so that the logout is propagated to the SSO provider. A placeholder __REDIRECT__ in the url is replace by the location provided to this method.
#-# Name of the header field used to check for the authentication of a user.
#-# in the debugging log. But not real usage of this header value is done by the authenticator.
#-# The default is to use the REMOTE_USER header.
#-# Name of the header field holding the UserID of the authenticated user.
#-# cleaned by replacing dots (.) by equal signs (=), and replacing at signs (@) by underscores (_).
#-# For example [email protected] will became john=doe_example=com.
#-# Name of a header field containing a shared secret value.
#-# While not mandatory, this field is hardly recommended to properly authenticate that headers has not be forged.
#-# If not set, a warning will remind you in the log, since this is really a risky situation.
#-# The shared secred that should match the content of the shared secret header field.
#-# Name of a header field holding the list of group the user is a member of.
#-# If not configure, no group synchronization is provided.
#-# A separator used to split the list of groups into group names. This parameter should be expressed as regular expression.
#-# Default to the pipe character.
#-# in the configured URL.
#-# Default to null, so logout is not propagated, which prevent logout to work from XWiki.


Marriage is a serious thing and it should be done with careful thinking and planning. Of course it should be based on strong foundation of love and affection and not just liking the person. For me couples should walk the path of friendship, courtship and strong engagement before entering the serious involvement of all which is marriage. Consultation with the elders can also be helpful and good factors in deciding to plan and prepare the wedding proper. To hold a strong bond of serious love and relationship couples are engaged first before being married and the excitement of choosing engagement rings follow. It's an exciting part of any relationship and it's an indication and proof that both are really serious enough to marry and love each other forever.
There are different kinds of engagement rings around the globe and it differs on the kind of people who are getting engaged. For people like us who are the average kind of couples simple but elegant rings would be enough as long as it will also last long to serve as a symbol of love for each other. Well for the rich and famous they chose diamonds most of the time as they say 'diamonds are forever' and if it signifies love I surmise they want their love to stay forever also.
I've found the best site for various classic and elegant styles of diamonds of which diamond solitaires remains the popular choice of many couples. For those who want simple and elegant rings this is the best choice. More often being simple is more beautiful and this diamond solitaire will stay as beautiful and simple forever. Just like the love the couples have for each other.


Falkirk Golf Club is a centre of excellence for Junior Golf from first swings through developing young golfers to the National Elite Squad level. With a thriving membership aged from 5 to 18 the club works on skills development through a comprehensive progression system and has a very active social side where young people make lifelong friendships and develop life skills through the rules and etiquette of golf. Allan Bryson, Junior Convener.
The club has a five stage progression system to help youngsters develop their games from the very first steps on the course through to competition levels with the adult members.
Competition and coaching feature strongly in the Junior Section development approach with regular competitions, Order of Merits and regular professional coaching.
The club is fortunate to have one of the best UK golf professionals, Stewart Craig, who takes a keen interest in the Juniors and works closely with the high performers to get them ready to play in County and National Competitions.


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A farewell to Harper (2)
Downtown Harper, most of Cape Palmas and the port, picture made 12 years ago from a plane belonging to either Elysian Air or the UN
I visited Harper about half a dozen times between the start of the century and now. My friend and partner-in-excellent-reporting Martin Waalboer did as well and he has produced a highly evocative video that captures Harper's rise and fall. It's here, on his website and the production is entitled A Dream Called Harper.
A Dream Called Harper captures the grandeur that was so very clearly envisaged by the 19th Century town founders, and which was the deliberate target of the armed gangs that washed over this town three times. In 1990, Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia looted Harper. In 1993-4 another armed gang, George Boley's cruelly misnamed Liberian Peace Council burnt it and then in 2003, Ivorian-backed rebels of the Movement for Democracy in Liberia did some more looting and vandalising and killing and raping. A UN team visited the town in and found desolation and desperation. Even today, Harper does not feel half as lively as Pleebo, a thriving and bustling market town just 24 kilometres down the road.
From the extreme damage that was inflicted on this town, one can easily imagine, as a lot of townspeople do, that this vandalism was driven by pure hatred. How else can you explain the extensive looting and burning sprees of these homes? The rich classes in Harper and elsewhere are living in wealth and their privileged position must be materially destroyed.
It still remains surreal to try and understand what happened here and not be totally taken aback by the extreme intensity of the violence that was rained on Harper – and indeed all Liberians towns and cities. This is how one member of Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission described her feelings, when I spoke with her during the TRC hearing in Harper City Hall in the first decade of this century: 'I don't think we're bad people. I believe we are good people but something has gone very wrong.' Those empty ghost-like concrete carcasses that are scattered around old Harper Town offer eloquent testimonies of that sentiment. Part of the TRC's work was to offer an explanation for the causes of Liberia's descent into hell, which they did admirably. Their report is here.
Maryland Avenue with the old cinema rising above some old homes
How do you recover from this? The shortest and possibly most honest answer is: you don't. But most will anyway because they must. Like Victor, a young lad barely out of his teens, one of the former child soldiers I spoke with. He did not want to discuss what he remembered of his own part in the war but was very keen to talk about his school plans. In the capital Monrovia, many miles away, a group of youngsters with similar pasts just told me the truth in the most succinct way possible: 'We spoil.' Liberian shorthand for: we destroyed and made a mess. They also told me that the leaders who enticed, cajoled, recruited, forced, lured or deceived them into participating had all lied to them.
Those on the receiving end also had to cope. Like our dear friend Melita Gardner, whose incredible life story merits a novel all its own. (Here is a short piece, in Dutch.) From being a highly active member of her church and community to becoming a widow and having to bring up a large family all by herself to getting caught up in the war and having to reunite her entire family in a refugee facility in Côte d'Ivoire to organising emergency aid to the victims of the fighting to becoming a Development Officer in Harper City Hall to…is there anything she hasn't done? Harper residents told me that if there is one person who should have a monument in their honour, it should be her.
But even Melita had to make the move out of Harper, and into the United States, still the place of reference for so many Liberians. Few if any of the old inhabitants remain and those who arrive have little time for the storied streets and homes and houses. Or what's left of them.
Part 3 shortly
Tags:A Dream Called Harper, Charles Taylor, George Boley, Harper, Harper City Hall, Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, LPC, Martin Waalboer, Melita Gardner, MODEL, NPFL, Pleebo
Posted in Liberia | Comments Off on A farewell to Harper (2)
A farewell to Harper (in four parts)
Photo credit: Martin Waalboer
Downtown Harper, Liberia. This was the place where I stayed on my very first visit, more than 20 years ago. Then, as now, it's called "Neufville House," after the proprietor, DK Neufville. I met him in person during another visit but like many Harper burghers he now resides in the capital, Monrovia.
Back then, the house was already falling apart, because when war came to Harper in 1990 people had to flee and could no longer maintain their homes. The city's inhabitants had just started moving back in when I first got here. Sure, the floors were creaking at Neufville House, of course there was no electricity, water came from the well in the front yard but everyone in the house was very welcoming and accommodating. Besides, I could already see many other homes that were in a far more advanced state of decay than my friendly guesthouse.
I will readily confess: the minute I set eyes on it, Harper fascinated me. How it could be that this small town in a remote southeastern corner of Liberia could be home to such a collection of magnificent and stately homes…
Who built this?
Harper sits next to Cape Palmas, a long finger of rock, high above the slow, mesmerising surf of the Atlantic Ocean. Here, Africa's coast turns northeast and becomes a sweeping arc across neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire and into Ghana. An old lighthouse, no longer in use, marks the end of the rock.
Cape Palmas was settled by the Maryland Colonization Society (you read that right) in the 1830s. The region was named Maryland County, after the American southern state and its capital was named after a US Senator, Robert Goodloe Harper. Harper was a leading figure of a larger operation, the American Colonization Society (you read that right too), which established Liberia in 1822. Maryland joined Liberia in 1857 and its patrician class became a key force in the True Whig Party, which dominated Liberia for 133 years. Who built this? This ruling class did. They were free from the American slavery they had left behind, they were getting rich and they wanted to show off.
In downtown Harper
Not much is left of the old grandeur but you can certainly still see that this was intended to be an elegant and pretty place, built by the leading families in city and country: the Andersons, the Neufvilles, the Gardners, the Gibsons and most of all the Tubmans, including Harper's most illustrious son, William Vacaranat Shadrach Tubman, who became Liberia's 19th and longest-serving president. He ran the country as a benign autocrat from 1944 until his death in 1971. There was a direct line from him, through his parents and grandparents, to the slavery days in the United States: his grandparents' passage to Liberia was paid for by their former owner, Emily Tubman, whose surname they adopted. His father had served in the Liberian army and his mother came directly from the state of Georgia, USA.
And yet, these "Americo-Liberians" (we'll leave the complexities surrounding these and other terminologies to one side for the time being) went on to recreate these familiar southern states on African soil, including the stately homes, a dress code worthy of the upper classes – and people who would now serve them: the indigenous populations of Liberia. And even when it is eminently true that the story is a lot more multilayered and complex than presented here, the principle of the thing means that you can readily see that this was never going to end well.
William VS Tubman himself collected a fairly typical crop of Liberian professions: soldier, preacher, lawyer, politician. If there is one thing Liberians are extremely good at – and I do mean extremely good – it is eloquence. Look no further than three of these four professions to understand why this is a country where people are practically born with the gift of the gab.
President Tubman set about developing his country and his home town, Harper. The homes got even more grandiose than before. City roads were paved, electricity arrived, hospitals were built, decent schools opened, a city hall appeared, as did a museum and public library. 'We had everything here,' one resident would recall. And numerous were the older men and women who volunteered the word "Paradise" when asked to describe their town in the days before the wars. But it was outside appearance; Liberians call Tubman's long reign "Growth Without Development"…
Tags:African Colonization Society, Cape Palmas, Emily Tubman, Georgia, Harper, Maryland Colonization Society, Robert Goodloe Harper, United States, William VS Tubman
Posted in Liberia | 1 Comment »
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Lambretta Clutch Crown Wheel Rear Spocket 47 tooth for 4 5 and 6 plate – Scooter Fix!
This Lambretta rear clutch crown wheel sprocket can work with 4, 5 or 6 plate internal type clutch conversions, and has 47 teeth. Designed by Mark Broadhurst and MB.
These are made in the UK to a very high standard and have a hardened center, designed to be used with the more reliable Li Sx type clutch needle bearings rather than the GP style brass bush.


Human behavior is fascinating at the beginning of each new year. Examples abound at every local gym and fitness facility. For the "regulars," January is a nightmare of crowded parking lots, long waits to use equipment and blindingly colorful new workout clothes. By mid-February most resolutions are long-forgotten, and all is back to normal. To be fair, there are always a few success stories - the people who make New Year's resolutions and take the necessary steps to ensure long-term success. But they seem to be the exceptions.
Unfortunately, many employers take the same New Year's Resolution (NYR) approach to preventing workplace sexual misconduct. Each year, thousands of harassment prevention training sessions are conducted for employers of every size and industry, by in-house HR staff, attorneys and HR consultants. There are also countless employers who decide against this training, often believing it's best to "let sleeping dogs lie" and "not give employees any ideas." However, with the current epidemic of sexual harassment and sexual assault complaints, these attitudes are, at best, misguided. I expect to hear from many of these employers in the coming months - either to schedule harassment prevention training or request that we investigate complaints of alleged sexual misconduct.
As discussed in my previous article, "Sunlight and Sexual Harassment," employers are now facing a beast the likes of which have seldom been seen before. For that reason, in my opinion, employers who have taken the NYR approach to harassment prevention are extremely vulnerable. Most often, they resolve to address the issue, rush to do something they've unrealistically convinced themselves will fix any existing problems and prevent future issues, and then do little or nothing to reinforce the lessons or eliminate inappropriate behaviors. This approach results in little more than a false sense of security for the employer.
Let's be honest. Until now the primary objective for most harassment prevention training has been to help defend against future claims, charges and lawsuits. The worst part? Employees know it's a rouse and treat it accordingly. I've lost count of how many times I've conducted harassment prevention training and had employees, managers and even senior management and owners act inappropriately and treat it like a joke. (That is, if senior management and ownership - often the people most at risk and with the most to lose in the event of a sexual misconduct claim - take time to attend the training.) I've also lost count of the employees who have thanked me for the training - and in the same breath told me it wouldn't stop the inappropriate behaviors they witness and experience daily.
- Company president introducing me to the employees, "Sexual harassment is a topic we take very seriously, so I want everyone to pay close attention to this training. Unfortunately, I have an appointment for an oil change, so I won't be able to stay."
- Senior manager to several employees, "I'm glad we're doing sexual harassment training - now I'll know how to do it right!"
- Supervisor's contribution to a group discussion on how repeatedly asking a coworker for a date may be sexual harassment, "They may say no the first, second and even third time I ask them for a date, but once they meet . Mr. Johnson (holding his hands up in front of him approximately 18 inches apart), they're glad I didn't give up."
The time has come for a significant paradigm shift. Soon, the faces and names recognized around the world - the rich and famous who stand accused of sexual misconduct - will be replaced in the headlines by politicians, employers and others famous only in their local communities.
It's true that nothing can undo past transgressions. So, going forward employers must abandon old views and actions and take the steps necessary to prevent harassment from occurring in the workplace. Employees and managers will take harassment prevention seriously only when senior management sets the tone. Begin with implementing and consistently enforcing strong anti-harassment policies and stressing the importance of reporting harassing behavior. Then, take every allegation seriously, ensuring complaints are fully and properly investigated in a timely manner by a well-trained, unbiased party.
Inappropriate, harassing behavior should not be tolerated from anyone, including employees, regardless of their position. While it may be difficult to discipline - or even terminate - your highest producing salesperson, most experienced manager, or a member of the executive management team, their value to the organization will pale in comparison to the liability created by their harassing behaviors. Think about the damage done by Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Mario Batali, and many more who were once considered "too valuable" to hold accountable for their actions.
Forget about online, video-based and other cookie-cutter training. To be effective, harassment prevention training should be conducted live by an engaging, experienced and knowledgeable presenter. The materials should be interactive, encourage participation, and customized to the company and audience. Once the training is completed, the lessons should be reinforced regularly to keep the information relevant and fresh in everyone's mind.
Developing and implementing a comprehensive harassment prevention program is an investment in the safety of your employees and success of the company. A small investment when compared to the costs of defending a single harassment suit (conservatively estimated at $75,000 to $150,000, not including settlement costs), low employee morale and high turnover, and the potential for a negative social media campaign that could destroy the company - or at least its reputation.


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Posted by joseph on February 1, 2014
Here I am going to skip an entire decade, the 1970's. I can imagine there may be a lot of people who would like to skip the 1970's but maybe for other reasons.
Throughout most of that ten year period I was living in Britain where I met my lovely wife to be. I also spent a day with George Harrison and became friendly with Arthur Brown. Yes, the Arthur Brown of the Crazy World and Fire.
(Don't you hate name droppers? Okay, I'll stop now.)
For a number of reasons I eventually became tired of pop music and lay down my guitar to learn how to compose 'serious contemporary concert music'.
So, let's skip all that.
You never know where saying "yes" to something will get you. We have now leap-frogged to the mid 1980's and I am living in Boise, Idaho. A local theatre director asked me to be musical director and conductor for a production of Sweeney Todd. "Sweeney who?" I replied.
(Actually I knew who the dude was I just didn't know it was a piece of musical theater since I hated musicals and did everything I could do to avoid them.)
She finally wore me down. I agreed and ended up having a pretty good time. The end of this little tale is that the artistic director of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival attended and apparently impressed with my efforts, hired me to score the next season of plays. It turned into a six year gig.
Guess what one of the plays that first year was? If you're you thinking Othello you'd be right.
Unfortunately none of the Othello music got saved but since it's high time to share some music with you, I'll post some excerpts from other shows.
First, here is an overture for a production of Macbeth. This show was set in some contemporary South or Central American country with Macbeth portrayed as a military dictator. Obviously a revolution has to take place and the ancient indian culture provides the supernatural magic.
http://weisnewski.com/SweetWillowBlog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/01-Macbeth-blog.mp3
Next is part of an overture to Troillus and Cressida. This show had glam-rock spandex clad Trojans fighting the denim clad biker-gang Greeks.
http://weisnewski.com/SweetWillowBlog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/02-Troillus-blog.mp3
Last is music for a crazy chase scene from strange, cartoon-like, Arabic-Commedia dell'arte version of The Comedy of Errors. Very goofy but fun.
http://weisnewski.com/SweetWillowBlog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/03-Errorblog.mp3
In the next post we will finally arrive at the beginning of Sweet Willow.
The music on this page was never intended to last longer than the run of the production. It was all quickly recorded under the guns of deadlines back in the stone-age of audio tape, some of it of medium to low quality. Unfortunately some degradation had occurred prior to transferral to a digital format.
We are now arriving at the beginning of Sweet Willow although at this point the show had no name.
It is 1991 and it is the last year I worked with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.
The season was a disaster.
The Artistic Director had either been fired or quit (can't remember which) and no one was running the festival. Somehow the plays got rehearsed and up but it still feels like a miracle that anything got staged that year. One of the shows got shut down due to full frontal male nudity.
Can you imagine full frontal male nudity on an outdoor stage in Boise, Idaho?
The production in question was Wedekind's Spring Awakening. I thought it was a good show and was pleased with the music I had composed for it but local church groups and a young Republican firebrand Attorney General made sure we awakened nowhere no-how. Like I said the season was a disaster.
I was now living in Seattle and commuting to Boise for the festival. The night before I was due to return home I couldn't sleep.
A sound kept running through my head.
It was the sound of the baritone saxophone. I was hearing some of those great old R&B horn lines playing and replaying in my mind's ear over and over and over and…you get the idea. The next logical step for me was to think, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool to write something that used a baritone sax?"
What could it be? What could it be?
A song? No.
A play? Well, I've never written a play but heck, why let that stop you? Okay, a play but what should it be? Shakespeare? Hmmm, maybe.
I began to mentally audition Shakespearean plays that might have musical possibilities. Romeo and Juliet had already been turned into West Side Story, The Comedy of Errors was The Boys from Syracuse, The Taming of the Shrew was Kiss Me Kate. There's actually quite a list of them. I was sure that the musical genre I wanted to explore was in the blues/jazz, R&B camp.
You know…, baritone saxophone.
http://weisnewski.com/SweetWillowBlog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/105-Funk-Sax-Baritone_G.wav
What could translate to a gritty, urban blues powered story?
'Ding', the bell rang, the light bulb went on and Othello jumped into the ring. Yes, he literally jumped into the ring because I knew instantly that he had to be a boxer.
Posted by joseph on February 15, 2014
All right, some of the pieces for this puzzle had fallen into place. I knew that the show was to be based on Othello, I knew when in time it would take place, I knew the musical genre and I knew the type of world I wanted to portray.
I was pretty excited about this.
I have a good friend in LA who works in film and TV and I wanted to share this news with him. To my great surprise he said, "Come down to LA and we'll put a screenplay together."
I couldn't believe my good fortune. It was still 1991, I'd only just thought of the project a month previously and here someone, a someone who's a friend and who also happens to be a little bit connected, is interested enough to take the time to help write a screenplay with me. What good fortune.
My fantasy wheels began to spin over-time. I became 'concerned' that some big shot celebrity that I didn't care for would want to be in this great movie. Ha!
How would I negotiate a contract that would leave me with some control? Another big Ha!
What would I wear when I went up to receive my Oscar? Ha, ha, ha, ho, ho ho!
As yet there was no script, no songs nor any music beginning to percolate.
What did I have? Hmm…,I had a hazy idea of a something based on Othello and the sound of the baritone sax and I wasn't even too sure about the bari anymore.
The trip did not go well.
My friend ended up being too busy to focus on my project (still no name for it) and I was pretty clueless as to how to get started. (Where were the Screenplay for Dummies books back then?)
A week went by.
My wife and I had very little money in those days. I was still trying to land on my feet employment-wise due to our recent move to Seattle. Fortunately I could stay with my sister in L.A. and not rack up hotel bills…BUT…,
…somehow in the general confusion, I lost my return trip air ticket. This is unusual for me as I'm not an airhead when it comes to keeping track of expensive items.
Enough is enough. I know when to throw in the towel. There were too many bad omens.
Did I try to stick it out? You bet. I even went as far as applying for a job as one of those keyboard-demo dudes who used to stand out in front of the mall music stores trying to catch people's eyes as they walk by in order to entice them into the shop to purchase an electronic keyboard that they will never play. I got the job but couldn't make myself take it.
Sometimes you just have to know when to retreat and regroup.
My friend generously gave me the money to buy a return ticket. I'm still grateful.
There was one positive thing that occurred however. It was the composition of This Magic Night, a song that will later appear in Act 1, scene 3. As yet there's no demo of it that I care to share.
There will be music from the show in the next post.
After the L.A. debacle it took me a while to get back on track.
How did I lose that ticket? Damn!
For awhile I didn't get a chance to think about Sweet Willow (it still did not have a name yet) due to a commission I received from a local performance group called The Rainier Chamber Winds. I re-scored an older work of mine for them that was originally composed to simulate a game of Russian Roulette. The piece consists of five movements. At the end of each, someone has to 'pull the trigger' on the 'gun'. The triggered gun can be almost anything. Examples: several inflated lunch bags and one with flour in it, a series of balloons and one filled with water, etc. You get the idea. (maybe)
The piece ends when the 'gun' goes off irrespective of whether all the movements have been heard. It was composed for a five day festival in the UK. What was fun about the idea is that the performers and the audiences would never know if they would get to play or hear the work in its entirety. We thought it would encourage listeners to return for repeat performances.
Where is this going? I'll tell you. The Chamber Winds wanted to perform it without the chance element but still wanted to keep the 'loaded gun' idea. It was going to be performed for a series of children's concerts. An actor was hired to dress like a clown, silently play with a large inflated balloon during each of the five movements then at the very end, he breaks the balloon. The performances went well but kids cried every time the balloon went bang.
What does this have to do with Sweet Willow? I'm getting there, be patient.
I became friendly with the actor who performed as the mime. His name is Paul Prappas. He turned out to also be a gifted playwright and musician. Somehow I managed to convince him that working on this show was a good idea. He took the leap of faith and we began working like the two mad men we are. Paul wrote the first book, all five or six or seven (at some point I lost count) versions of it.
A theatre connection of mine put us in contact with a New York producer. We began to get positive feedback on our efforts.
Alas, that connection fell through when some bozo pal of the New York producer told him our show was no good.
Hmm, he seemed to like it fine prior to asking his pal.
Well, amid the weeping and the gnashing of teeth we bravely set out to storm every port. Now the story becomes all too familiar to anyone who has ever tried to publish a book, get a play produced or do anything that requires cold calls. We begin to collect rejection notices, lots of them.
Still, like our immensely talented but underdog boxer Odelle Brown in this next musical excerpt, we soldiered on.
Ringside: the opening number of Sweet Willow.
http://weisnewski.com/SweetWillowBlog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Ringside.mp3
Many thanks here to the voice over talents of Adrian D. Cameron and Mathew Houot .


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Bring Eastern Bloc Architecture Home With These Paper Building Blocks
With Blokoshka, Polish design studio Zupagrafika recreates the monolithic concrete estates of post-war Eastern Europe–in miniature.
By Meg Miller 1 minute Read
Soviet-era design is still alive and well in the popular imagination–evidenced by the multitude of projects devoted to it, from museum exhibitions and countless photo essays to postcards of decaying buildings. Now, you can create your own with Blokoshka, a collection of papercraft models that recreate the concrete estates of former Eastern Bloc countries.
Created by the Polish design studio Zupagrafika–the designers behind the Brutal London models Co.Design wrote about last year–the new collection includes four models that represent the post-war housing complexes of Moscow, East Berlin, Warsaw and Prague. The pre-folded, pre-cut paper models–which fit inside each other like nesting dolls–draw inspiration from the prefabricated construction systems that were used to quickly build entire districts in these cities after the the destruction of WWII. These "housing factories," as they were called, had a heyday that stretched from the 1950s to the 1980s, when they became "tangible reflections of the pre-war modernist ideas of open urban spaces, minimalist design and social egalitarianism," the designers say.
As the Blokoshka models show, these concrete estates looked strikingly similar across all former Eastern Bloc countries. Monolithic industrial apartment complexes were replicated to fill up "sleeping districts" in the Moscow suburbs. In Berlin, the Communist tower blocks are called plattenbau, and they rise high over the city's otherwise flat urban landscape. Similarly, Warsaw estates were built atop the ruins of the city's old ghetto, and the sprawling "panelák" blocks in Prague were constructed to make up for the post-war housing shortage.
These days, the buildings remain a towering, highly visible reminder of the Communist era–some lay in decay, while others are being renovated into stylish family homes. And now, thanks to Zupagraphika, miniature versions made from recycled cardboard can also be constructed in your living room.
Buy the set of four for €10 (around $11) on Zupagraphika's website.
Meg Miller is an associate editor at Co.Design covering art, technology, and design.