text:
International Animated Film Festival ANIMATOR
Academy Award ® Qualifying
14 Years Running
Audience Attendance
Masztalarska 8
Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival
International Animated Film Festival ANIMATOR is the one of the three festivals in Poland (and the only animated film festival) to receive Oscar® qualifying status from the American Film Academy. This means that a short film that wins the Festival's Grand Prix, the Golden Pegasus, is on a fast track to being considered for an Oscar® nomination in the Best Animated Short Film category and can compete for this prestigious award.
ANIMATOR helps authors win international recognition. It attracts attention of film industry professionals from all over the world. For the last 13 years the Festival has won the hearts of international audiences, critics and artists. It has honoured the greatest ones and helped debutantes to earn a name for themselves. Animator is regularly visited by recognized authors, directors, animators (Maciek Szczerbowski, Michaela Pavlátová, Theodore Ushev, Quay Brothers, Emily Hubley, Eric Goldberg, Tim Allen, David Silverman, Signe Baumane, Mike Johnson), producers (Julie Roy, NFBC, David Sproxton, Aardman Animations, Ron Diamond, Acme Filmworks, Heather Henson) and representatives of fellow animation festivals (Annecy IAFF, Ottawa IAF, Animafest Zagreb). The Festival's guests are always happy to share their experience, reveal some tricks of the trade, teach workshops and actively contribute to the event's prestige. Animator also stands for meetings, discussions, interactions and a great deal of music. Its relationship with animation is particularly cherished here. In addition to the main prizes, the International Jury awards the Special Prize for Best Music Film or Best Film Music.
Animator 2021 will be taking place from 9 to 15 July. Entries can be submitted free of charge until 15 March 2021. The prize pool is 146,000.00 PLN (over 34,000.00 EUR)
International Short Film Competition:
Grand Prix: Golden Pegasus (45,000.00 PLN, approx. 10,000.00 EUR),
2nd Prize: Silver Pegasus (15,000.00 PLN, approx. 3,300.00 EUR),
3rd Prize: Bronze Pegasus (10,000.00 PLN, approx. 2,200.00 EUR),
Best Music Film or Best Film Music Award (5,000.00 PLN, approx. 1,100.00 EUR),
Best Student Film Award (1,000.00 PLN, approx. 200.00 EUR);
The winner of the Golden Pegasus is on a fast track to being considered for an Oscar® nomination in the Best Animated Short Film category and can compete for this prestigious award.
International Feature Film Competition:
Best Feature Film Award (35,000.00 PLN, approx. 7,700.00 EUR)
ANIMATOR.PL Polish Animated Film Competition:
Golden Animusz - GRAND PRIX of the ANIMATOR.PL competition (15,000.00 PLN, approx. 3,300.00 EUR),
2nd Prize: Silver Animusz (10,000.00 PLN, approx. 2,200.00 EUR),
3rd Prize: Bronze Animusz (5,000.00 PLN, approx. 1,100.00 EUR)
International Animated Series Competition:
Best Animated Series Award (5,000.00 PLN, approx. 1,100.00 EUR)
Regulations are available on ANIMATOR Festival's website:
PL: https://animator-festival.com/news/animator-2021-nabor-filmow-i-seriali-do-konkursow-miedzynarodowego-i-polskiego/
ENG: https://animator-festival.com/en/news/animator-2021-nabor-filmow-i-seriali-do-konkursow-miedzynarodowego-i-polskiego/
REGULATIONS of the 14th International Animated Short Film Competition ANIMATOR \ 2021 in Poznań, Poland
1. The International Animated Film Festival and Competition ANIMATOR is held on July 9-15, 2021 in Poznań, Poland. The festival will have a hybrid character - screenings or festival events will (as far as possible) take place both in the cinema venue and online.
2. The Animated Film Festival and Competition ANIMATOR 2021 is organized by Estrada Poznańska, located at ul. Masztalarska 8 in Poznań (61-767), entered into the Register of Cultural Institutions under no. RIK VII, NIP (Tax Identification No.): 7770002010, REGON (Business Statistical No.): 000279730. The Festival's main sponsor is the City of Poznań. The Animated Short Film Competition ANIMATOR 2021, organized by Estrada Poznańska, is further referred to as the Competition.
3. For more information about the Festival, please visit the Festival's website: www.animator-festival.com .
ARTICLE 2. SHORT FILM COMPETITION STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
1. Art schools, film schools, production companies, film institutions, independent artists and other entitled entities may submit short films to the Competition. The entity submitting a film to the Short Film Competition is further referred to as the Entrant. In order to participate in the Short Film Competition, the Entrants are required to complete a film entry form through FilmFreeway submission platform. In the event the form is incomplete, the Entrant will have 7 days from being notified by the Organizer on this issue to complete the missing data.
2. Short animated films created in any animation technique, up to 30 minutes, completed after December 31, 2018 may be submitted to the Short Film Competition.
3. Films entered into any previous Animator Competition may not be submitted again.
4. Animated series, trailers and commercials may not be submitted to the Short Film Competition.
5. Following the decisions of Selection Board, Festival Artistic Director nominates submitted films for competition screening. Artistic Director has also the right to select films to the Competition outside the Selection Board. In this case, Artistic Director invites the producer or creator to submit a film to the Competition. If the said invitation is accepted, and all formalities are met by the producer or creator, the film is qualified to enter the Competition.
ARTICLE 3. SHORT FILM COMPETITION SELECTION
1. The selection of competition films is restricted to films submitted on time and on the terms defined by these Regulations.
2. For a film to be accepted for selection it is obligatory to complete online film entry/submission form on ANIMATOR Festival profile at FilmFreeway submission platform, upload a Full HD (1920x1080) digital video file (MP4, MOV – file size: up to 1 GB) and also including uploading min. 3 film stills of good quality (min. 300 dpi), brief film synopsis (max. 1,000 characters), biographical notes (min. 500 characters, max. 1000 characters), the director's photo (min. 300 dpi) and digitalised dialogue list in English.
The Organizer reserves the right to reject a film for the Competition due to its unsatisfactory technical quality.
In the event the Entrant fails to meet the deadline or the entry form is not duly completed, the Organizer is not obliged to admit the film for selection.
3. The Festival does not charge any fees for film submission.
4. The deadline for filing entry forms and materials for competition selection is March 15, 2021.
5. The Entrant bears full responsibility for the submitted film. The Entrant warrants that the film is original and free of any legal defects and it does not infringe any third-party rights, in particular that the Entrant holds any ownership, personal and economic rights to the film and its individual components. In the event it emerges that the Entrant did not hold the aforementioned rights, he/she will be obliged to remedy the Organizer for any damage resulting therefrom and to satisfy any third-party claims for the violation of their rights, in particular copyrights. In the event a third party takes legal action against the Organizer for the violation of any rights to the film, in particular copyrights or personal rights, the Entrant will cover the costs of court representation, court fees and he/she will pay any damages awarded or costs of amicable settlement.
6. In the event the film is not accepted to the Short Film Competition, the Entrant grants the Organizer the right (licence) to screen the film twice (in the cinema venue and online) during the Festival as part of a special section of non-competitive films (Animator without selection) preceding the Festival. The non-competitive screenings will be held from 6-8 July 2021 in the cinema venue and online (max. 2 film screenings as part of the event). Online screenings will take place through a special, appropriately secured, online cinema platform. The license is free, non-exclusive and unlimited territorially. The films will be presented with English subtitles. Viewers of non-competitive screenings will choose one film to be admitted to the Short Film Competition. The Organizer will announce the list of films selected for non-competitive screenings not later than 10 days before the Festival.
ARTICLE 4. SHORT FILM COMPETITION
1. The Entrant will be given notice on the film's admission to the Competition by e-mail at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the Festival. The Organizer will contact only those Entrants whose films have been qualified to participate in the competition screenings. Festival Selection Board is not obliged to justify their selection decisions. A shortlist of films will be compiled and published on the website www.animator-festival.com not later than on June 1, 2021.
2. After receiving information about the film's admission to the Competition, the Entrant is obliged to send a competition film copy within 7 days, but not later than by May 21, 2021 to the address: competition@animator-festival.com (in the case of digital copies) or to the address of the ANIMATOR Festival Office:
Estrada Poznańska
Ul. Masztalarska 8
PL 61-767 Poznań
Failure to send the film festival copy within the above deadline will result in rejection of the film from the Competition.
3. The following data storage media are accepted for the competition screenings:
- DCP + high-quality digital video file
- high-quality digital video file
Full HD 1920x1080 (or higher)
MP4, MOV (H.264)
- ATTENTION: please send separate SRT file with English subtitles for dialogue films
4. Competition screenings will take place at the cinema venue and online - on a special, secured, remote festival streaming platform equipped with a geoblock (for Poland territory) and appropriate DRM protection.
5. The festival copy should be send on the same medium as the submitted one, in an ideal technical condition. Preview copies must be subtitled in English. Festival copies should be sent without burned-in subtitles 'clean version' – matching English subtitles for festival screening copies should be sent as SRT file (for MP4 or MOV digital video file) or as a subtitle supplement (for DCP copy). Entrants from outside Poland are required to provide the Organizer with a list of English subtitles needed to prepare Polish subtitles for the film.
6. The author is obliged to hold copyrights to the music used in the film.
ARTICLE 5. AWARDS
1. The International Short Film Competition Jury appointed by the Organizer will award the following prizes:
a/ GRAND PRIX / Golden Pegasus / PLN 45 000 gross - for film director
2nd Award / Silver Pegasus / PLN 15 000 gross - for film director
3rd Award / Bronze Pegasus / PLN 10 000 gross - for film director
b / SPECIAL AWARDS
- Award for Music Film/Music / PLN 5 000 gross - for film director, if the International Jury determines that it is an award for a music film; or for film score composer, if the International Jury determines that it is an award for the film music; or PLN 2 500 gross – for film director and PLN 2 500 gross – for film score composer
- Award for Student Film /PLN 1 000 gross - for film director
2. Within the Short Film Competition the Festival Artistic Director will award Wojciech Juszczak Award for Special Artistic Merit - for film director and the Audience Award for film director of the best short film.
3. The jury may, in special cases, award prize to a person other than the film director. The jury's decisions are final and indisputable. Jury members are not required to justify their decisions.
4. Individual prizes not included in the Regulations, funded by private persons, institutions and organisations, may be awarded after an agreement with the Organizer and in accordance with the verdict of the International Competition Jury. The Organizer reserves the right to change the number and amount of festival prizes.
5. The award is, in principle, paid in Polish zlotys (PLN). The awarded prize will be subject to tax deductions, in line with the provisions of international agreements on avoidance of double taxation to which Poland is a party. The prize will be paid after the appropriate deductions. The prize can be converted to USD or EUR, where the winner's bank does not accept money in Polish currency.
The winner is obliged to send back, via Post Office and in electronic form, within 14 days of its receipt, a completed & signed declaration form received from the Organizer, to the following address: ANIMATOR Festival Office, Estrada Poznańska, Masztalarska 8, PL 61-767 Poznań, Poland and e-mail address: competition@animator-festival.com . The declaration must present information on the currency in which the prize is to be paid: USD, EUR or PLN. The prize will be converted into the currency stated in the declaration at the average exchange rate of NBP applicable on the date of the verdict. If the winner's bank does not accept money in the currency specified in the declaration, the winner will pay any bank fees and commission. The prize will be paid into bank account within 2 months from the date the Organizer receives a correctly completed declaration referred to above.
6. The Festival Organizer wishes to have the right to non-exclusive distribution of award-winning short films in the form of a DVD release entitled "Animator 2021 - AWARDED FILMS".
Any fees will be agreed during discussion following the Festival. In the event the expectations relating to the licence fee are be higher than the financial possibilities of the Organizer, the film rights will not be purchased. However, if the parties reach a settlement, they will conclude an agreement on the transfer of copyrights, the form of which will be sent to the film's producers by the Organizer following the Competition. Acquisition of rights to distribute the film depends on the will of the Organizer, and this provision in no way constitutes legal basis for the winner to make any claims against the Organizer, in particular financial claims or claims for the conclusion of a distribution agreement.
ARTICLE 6. SHIPMENT, INSURANCE AND RETURN OF FILMS
1. The Entrant covers transport costs of competition films (festival competition copies) and any other shipment costs. The Entrant is responsible for all customs costs outside Poland. The Entrant is obliged to observe customs regulations related to film transport. A pro-forma invoice amounting to max. EUR 5 should be attached to all non-EU film shipments. Packages should be provided with the following sentence "For cultural purposes only - no commercial value".
2. DCP drives (HDD/SSD), constituting competition copies, will be returned at the Organizer's expense within 2 weeks from the closing date of the Festival to the Entrant's address. Any changes in the return address must be notified to the Organizer not later than one week before the commencement of the Festival. The Organizer is not responsible for any damages resulting from giving a wrong address. The Festival is obliged to return the competition copy in a condition not worse than due to a standard use.
3. The Festival Organizer takes out insurance for the DCP competition film copies (HDD/SSD drives) against any damage, theft or third-party liability during the time they are in the Organizer's possession. The Festival Organizer is responsible for the security of competition film copies from the moment of receiving them from a transport company until their re-submission to the transport company. The Organizer's responsibility for damage or loss of competition copies is limited to the cost of making a new copy at the applicable laboratory rates in Poland (a standard copy).
4. Damage of the competition copy must be reported to the Festival Office in writing within one month from the date of its return and before the next screening at another Festival. Failure to report damage within the period specified in the preceding sentence results in excluding the responsibility of the Organizer for the competition copy.
1. The Entrant, by joining the Competition, consents to his/her personal data being processed as referred to in paragraph 2 below. Personal data in the Competition are controlled by the Organizer, i.e. by Estrada Poznańska, located at ul. Masztalarska 8 in Poznań (61-767), entered into the Register of Cultural Institutions under no. RIK VII, NIP (Tax Identification No.): 7770002010, REGON (Business Statistical No.): 000279730.
2. The processing includes data listed on the entry form. In the form, the Entrant provides, in addition to his/her data, information on the film's director, author, music producer and distributor. The Entrant represents that he/she obtained the consent of the above persons to provide the said data, and informed them of the purpose for which the data is to be used and who the data controller is. The processing of personal data includes the following:
name and surname/business name,
e-mail address,
telephone number.
3. The Organizer may process personal data in order to qualify the film for the Competition, screen the film, identify the winners and award prizes and to transmit information about the next editions of the Competition and other activities undertaken in the framework of the Animator Festival. This information is not of commercial nature.
4. Providing personal data is voluntary, and the Entrant is entitled to inspect his/her data and correct them.
ARTICLE 8. SCREENINGS
1. By entering the Festival, the Entrant grants a royalty-free, non-exclusive, territorially unrestricted license to the Organizer to use the film by public screening (at the cinema venue and online) in the framework of the Competition. Online screenings will take place on a special, secured, remote festival streaming platform equipped with a geoblock and appropriate DRM protection. Competition films may be shown not more than four (4) times at the cinema and four (4) times online during the Festival. The Entrant undertakes not to withdraw the film from the Festival following competition selection. All competition films will be available on a special, secured, digital video library of competition films as part of the Animator 2021 Festival. Access to the digital video library will be available only to accredited festival guests in the period 6-17.07.2021.
2. The Entrant grants a non-exclusive, royalty-free, time and territory unlimited license to the Organizer to use promotional materials (film description, film stills, biographical notes about the creators, etc.) delivered for Festival publications (printed material, Festival website, social media, press releases, etc.) and for the Festival promotion in media. The Organizer reserves the right to use the promotional material both during and after the Festival, whereas the Entrant represents that he/she holds all rights to these promotional materials. In the event any party makes claims against the Organizer related to the said promotional materials, the Entrant is required to indemnify the Organizer from any liability in this regard.
3. The Entrant grants a non-exclusive, royalty-free, time and territory unlimited license to the Organizer to use excerpts from the film freely selected by the Organizer (trailers or up to 20 sec. excerpt) in all promotional activities related to the Festival, i.e. printed material, Festival website, social media, press releases, Internet, media (radio, television, cinema, etc.).
4. Producers of awarded films grant their non-exclusive, royalty-free, time and territory unlimited license to the Organizer to arrange 10 (ten) screenings of films (at the cinema venue and/or online) as part of domestic and international tour of "Animator 2021" presenting the Competition winners following the Festival. Additional screenings require a written consent of the producer.
5. Additional screenings and TV presentations of awarded films will be held under separate agreements.
6. In any case, where these Regulations refer to the granting of a film license it is provided in the following fields of use:
- the right to public performance, broadcasting, screening, display of the film (in theatres, community centres, etc.)
ARTICLE 9. GUESTS
As a rule, the Organizer covers the costs of accommodations during the Festival for selected filmmakers of shortlisted films, eminent artists, press representatives, distributors, producers, and other guests dealing with film animation. The physical presence / participation of festival guests in 2021 will depend on the current epidemic situation. The Organizer will provide accreditation for the directors (or one film crew member) of competition films and creators of the films selected for non-competitive screenings.
ARTICLE 10. FINAL REMARKS
1. Submitting a film for the Festival is tantamount to accepting these Regulations.
2. The Festival Organizer is not responsible for violation of any third-party rights due to the use of submitted films, unless such violation is attributable to the Organizer.
3. The Organizer decides on all issues not covered by these Regulations.
4. In the event of any doubt, Polish version of the Regulations is the binding version.
5. Any disputes arising in connection with these Regulations will be governed by Polish law and the dispute will be settled by courts in Poznań.
6. The Organizer has the right to change these Regulations.
REGULATIONS of the International Animated Feature Film Competition ANIMATOR \ 2021 in Poznań, Poland
2. The Animated Film Festival and Competition ANIMATOR 2021 is organized by Estrada Poznańska, located at ul. Masztalarska 8 in Poznań (61-767), entered into the Register of Cultural Institutions under no. RIK VII, NIP (Tax Identification No.): 7770002010, REGON (Business Statistical No.): 000279730. The Festival's main sponsor is the City of Poznań. The Animated Feature Film Competition ANIMATOR 2021, organized by Estrada Poznańska, is further referred to as the Competition.
ARTICLE 2. FEATURE FILM COMPETITION STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
1. Film distributors, production companies, film institutions, independent artists and other entitled entities may submit feature films to the Competition. The entity submitting a film to the Animated Feature Film Competition is further referred to as the Entrant. In order to participate in the Animated Feature Film Competition, the Entrants are required to complete a film entry form through FilmFreeway submission platform. In the event the form is incomplete, the Entrant will have 7 days from being notified by the Organizer on this issue to complete the missing data.
2. Feature animated films created in any animation technique, over 40 minutes, completed after December 31, 2018 may be submitted to the Feature Film Competition.
4. Following the decisions of Selection Board, Festival Artistic Director nominates submitted films for competition screening. Artistic Director has also the right to select films to the Competition outside the Selection Board. In this case, Artistic Director invites the producer or creator to submit a film to the Competition. If the said invitation is accepted, and all formalities are met by the producer, distributor or creator, the film is qualified to enter the Competition.
ARTICLE 3. FEATURE FILM COMPETITION SELECTION
ARTICLE 4. FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
2. After receiving information about the film's admission to the Competition, the Entrant is obliged to send a competition film copy within 7 days, but not later than by May 21, 2021 to the address: office@animator-festival.com (in the case of digital copies) or to the address of the ANIMATOR Festival Office:
1. The International Feature Film Competition Jury appointed by the Organizer will award the prize for feature film of PLN 35 000 gross (divided between film director, producer and distributor) – PLN 17 500 gross for film director, PLN 12 500 gross for film producer and PLN 5 000 gross for film distributor.
2. Within the Feature Film Competition the Audience Award for film director of the best feature film will be awarded.
The winner is obliged to send back, via Post Office and in electronic form, within 14 days of its receipt, a completed & signed declaration form received from the Organizer, to the following address: ANIMATOR Festival Office, Estrada Poznańska, Masztalarska 8, PL 61-767 Poznań, Poland and e-mail address: office@animator-festival.com . The declaration must present information on the currency in which the prize is to be paid: USD, EUR or PLN. The prize will be converted into the currency stated in the declaration at the average exchange rate of NBP applicable on the date of the verdict. If the winner's bank does not accept money in the currency specified in the declaration, the winner will pay any bank fees and commission. The prize will be paid into bank account within 2 months from the date the Organizer receives a correctly completed declaration referred to above.
As a rule, the Organizer covers the costs of accommodations during the Festival for selected filmmakers of shortlisted films, eminent artists, press representatives, distributors, producers, and other guests dealing with film animation. The physical presence / participation of festival guests in 2021 will depend on the current epidemic situation. The Organizer will provide accreditation for the directors (or one film crew member) of competition films.
REGULATIONS of the International Animated Series Competition ANIMATOR \ 2021 in Poznań, Poland
2. The Animated Film Festival and Competition ANIMATOR 2021 is organized by Estrada Poznańska, located at ul. Masztalarska 8 in Poznań (61-767), entered into the Register of Cultural Institutions under no. RIK VII, NIP (Tax Identification No.): 7770002010, REGON (Business Statistical No.): 000279730. The Festival's main sponsor is the City of Poznań. The Animated Series Competition ANIMATOR 2021, organized by Estrada Poznańska, is further referred to as the Competition.
ARTICLE 2. ANIMATED SERIES COMPETITION STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
1. Film distributors, production companies, film institutions, independent artists and other entitled entities may submit feature films to the Competition. The entity submitting a film to the Animated Series Competition is further referred to as the Entrant. In order to participate in the Animated Series Competition, the Entrants are required to complete a film entry form through FilmFreeway submission platform. In the event the form is incomplete, the Entrant will have 7 days from being notified by the Organizer on this issue to complete the missing data.
2. Single episodes of TV and web animated series created in any animation technique, completed after December 31, 2018 may be submitted to the Animated Series Competition.
3. To the Animated Series Competition only one episode per TV or web animated series may be submitted.
4. Following the decisions of Selection Board, Festival Artistic Director nominates submitted animated series episode for competition screening. Artistic Director has also the right to select animated series episode to the Competition outside the Selection Board. In this case, Artistic Director invites the producer or creator to submit animated series episode to the Competition. If the said invitation is accepted, and all formalities are met by the producer, distributor or creator, the animated series episode is qualified to enter the Competition.
ARTICLE 3. ANIMATED SERIES COMPETITION SELECTION
1. The selection of competition animated series is restricted to series episodes submitted on time and on the terms defined by these Regulations.
2. For animated series episode to be accepted for selection it is obligatory to complete online entry/submission form on ANIMATOR Festival profile at FilmFreeway submission platform, upload a Full HD (1920x1080) digital video file (MP4, MOV – file size: up to 1 GB) and also including uploading min. 3 film stills of good quality (min. 300 dpi), brief animated series synopsis (max. 1,000 characters), the animated series episode director's biographical notes (min. 500 characters, max. 1000 characters), the director's photo (min. 300 dpi) and digitalised dialogue list in English.
3. The Festival does not charge any fees for animated series submission.
4. The deadline for filing entry forms and materials for animated series competition selection is March 15, 2021.
5. The Entrant bears full responsibility for the submitted animated series episode. The Entrant warrants that the series episode is original and free of any legal defects and it does not infringe any third-party rights, in particular that the Entrant holds any ownership, personal and economic rights to the series episode and its individual components. In the event it emerges that the Entrant did not hold the aforementioned rights, he/she will be obliged to remedy the Organizer for any damage resulting therefrom and to satisfy any third-party claims for the violation of their rights, in particular copyrights. In the event a third party takes legal action against the Organizer for the violation of any rights to the animated series, in particular copyrights or personal rights, the Entrant will cover the costs of court representation, court fees and he/she will pay any damages awarded or costs of amicable settlement.
ARTICLE 4. ANIMATED SERIES COMPETITION
1. The Entrant will be given notice on the animated series episodes admission to the Competition by e-mail at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the Festival. The Organizer will contact only those Entrants whose animated series have been qualified to participate in the competition screenings. Festival Selection Board is not obliged to justify their selection decisions. A shortlist of competition animated series episodes will be published on the website www.animator-festival.com not later than on June 1, 2021.
2. After receiving information about the animated series admission to the Competition, the Entrant is obliged to send a competition series episode copy within 7 days, but not later than by May 21, 2021 to the address: office@animator-festival.com (in the case of digital copies) or to the address of the ANIMATOR Festival Office:
Failure to send the competition series episode copy within the above deadline will result in rejection of the animated series from the Competition.
- ATTENTION: please send separate SRT file with English subtitles for the animated series episode
5. The festival copy should be send on the same medium as the submitted one, in an ideal technical condition. Preview copies must be subtitled in English. Festival copies should be sent without burned-in subtitles 'clean version' – matching English subtitles for festival screening copies should be sent as SRT file (for MP4 or MOV digital video file) or as a subtitle supplement (for DCP copy). Entrants from outside Poland are required to provide the Organizer with a list of English subtitles needed to prepare Polish subtitles for the animated series episode.
6. The author is obliged to hold copyrights to the music used in the series episode.
1. The International Animated Series Competition Jury appointed by the Organizer will award the prize for best animated series of PLN 5 000 gross for the animated series episode director.
2. The jury may, in special cases, award prize to a person other than the series episode director. The jury's decisions are final and indisputable. Jury members are not required to justify their decisions.
1. The Entrant covers transport costs of competition series episodes (festival competition copies) and any other shipment costs. The Entrant is responsible for all customs costs outside Poland. The Entrant is obliged to observe customs regulations related to series episodes transport. A pro-forma invoice amounting to max. EUR 5 should be attached to all non-EU film shipments. Packages should be provided with the following sentence "For cultural purposes only - no commercial value".
3. The Organizer may process personal data in order to qualify the animated series for the Competition, screen the series episode, identify the winners and award prizes and to transmit information about the next editions of the Competition and other activities undertaken in the framework of the Animator Festival. This information is not of commercial nature.
1. By entering the Festival, the Entrant grants a royalty-free, non-exclusive, territorially unrestricted license to the Organizer to use the animated series episode by public screening (at the cinema venue and online) in the framework of the Competition. Online screenings will take place on a special, secured, remote festival streaming platform equipped with a geoblock and appropriate DRM protection. Competition series episodes may be shown not more than four (4) times at the cinema and four (4) times online during the Festival. The Entrant undertakes not to withdraw the animated series episode from the Festival following competition selection. All competition series episodes will be available on a special, secured, digital video library of competition films as part of the Animator 2021 Festival. Access to the digital video library will be available only to accredited festival guests in the period 6-17.07.2021.
2. The Entrant grants a non-exclusive, royalty-free, time and territory unlimited license to the Organizer to use promotional materials (series description, film stills, biographical notes about the creators, etc.) delivered for Festival publications (printed material, Festival website, social media, press releases, etc.) and for the Festival promotion in media. The Organizer reserves the right to use the promotional material both during and after the Festival, whereas the Entrant represents that he/she holds all rights to these promotional materials. In the event any party makes claims against the Organizer related to the said promotional materials, the Entrant is required to indemnify the Organizer from any liability in this regard.
3. The Entrant grants a non-exclusive, royalty-free, time and territory unlimited license to the Organizer to use excerpts from the series episodes freely selected by the Organizer (trailers or up to 20 sec. excerpt) in all promotional activities related to the Festival, i.e. printed material, Festival website, social media, press releases, Internet, media (radio, television, cinema, etc.).
4. Producers of awarded series episodes grant their non-exclusive, royalty-free, time and territory unlimited license to the Organizer to arrange 10 (ten) screenings of films (at the cinema venue and/or online) as part of domestic and international tour of "Animator 2021" presenting the Competition winners following the Festival. Additional screenings require a written consent of the producer.
6. In any case, where these Regulations refer to the granting of a series episode license it is provided in the following fields of use:
Regular Deadline
Notification Date
International Animated Short Film Competition
- duration: up to 30 minutes; - completion date: after 31 December 2018; - animation technique: all techniques are welcome - who can apply: arts schools, film schools, production companies, film institutions, individuals or other parties holding the necessary rights; - Main Prize: Golden Pegasus (45,000.00 PLN, approx. 10,000.00 EUR), 2nd Prize: Silver Pegasus (15,000.00 PLN, approx. 3,300.00 EUR), 3rd Prize: Bronze Pegasus (10,000.00 PLN, approx. 2,200.00 EUR), Best Music Film or Best Film Music Award (5,000.00 PLN, approx. 1,100.00 EUR), Best Student Film Award (1,000.00 PLN, approx. 200.00 EUR); The winner of the Golden Pegasus is on a fast track to being considered for an Oscar® nomination in the Best Animated Short Film category and can compete for this prestigious award.
Standard: Free
International Animated Feature Film Competition
- duration: above 40 minutes; - completion date: after 31 December 2018; - animation technique: all techniques are welcome - who can apply: film distributors, production companies, film institutions, individuals or other parties holding the necessary rights; - Best Feature Film Award (35,000.00 PLN, approx. 7,700.00 EUR);
Polish Animated Short Film Competition ANIMATOR.PL
- films made in Poland or made by Polish artists abroad, co-produced by Polish producers; - duration: up to 30 minutes; - completion date: after 31 December 2019; - animation technique: all techniques are welcome - who can apply: arts schools, film schools, production companies, film institutions, individuals or other parties holding the necessary rights; - Golden Animusz - GRAND PRIX of the ANIMATOR.PL competition (15,000.00 PLN, approx. 3,300.00 EUR), 2nd Prize: Silver Animusz (10,000.00 PLN, approx. 2,200.00 EUR), 3rd Prize: Bronze Animusz (5,000.00 PLN, approx. 1,100.00 EUR)
International Animated Series Competition
A new competition category presenting the global landscape of the latest animated stories told in episodes. The competition is a response to the growing popularity of the festival's ANIMATED SERIES section introduced in 2017. Single episodes of Polish and international animated series - both for children and adults - will compete for the special prize in this category. - single episodes of TV and online series; - completion date: after 31 December 2018; - animation technique: all techniques are welcome - who can apply: film distributors, production companies, film institutions, individuals or other parties holding the necessary rights; - Best Animated Series Award (5,000.00 PLN, approx. 1,100.00 EUR)


text:
Tag / Sly Stone
July 26, 2018 July 26, 2018 by sweensryche
The Top 10 Bands of the 1970s
Best Of, Music, Top 10
1970s, Best Of, Black Sabbath, Fleetwood Mac, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Music, Parliament/Funkadelic, Pink Floyd, Queen, Sly and the Family Stone, Sly Stone, Steely Dan, Television, The JB's, Top 10
It's been a while since I randomly ranked something. So why not list my ten favorite bands of the decade when the rock group was supposedly king? In eighth grade I would've told you that the '70s was the only decade a music fan needed. Zeppelin and Floyd were my world. I've gotten less stupid since then, but as you can see here, 13-year-old me is still in there somewhere.
To be clear: solo artists are not eligible. But bands that were crucial to a solo artist's body of work – e.g. The Heartbreakers, Crazy Horse – are in the running. Why? Because this is the only sliver of the universe that I can control. My cyber-roof, my rules. To the list machine!
10. Television
The sound of a single bird chirping can be pleasant. But combine it with other feathered friends, and it's an entirely different experience – a psychologically restorative level of ambient noise. Such is the guitar interplay of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd. On the two albums that Television released before breaking up in 1978 – the jaw-dropping, all-time-great debut Marquee Moon and its merely fantastic follow-up Adventure – the duo plays like a pair of skylarks, instinctually aware of one another as their riffage soars heavenward. These CBGB regulars did more for punk artists drawn to artful forms of rebellion than any other '70s band. Two albums were all they needed.
9. Sly and the Family Stone
If Sylvester Stewart could've somehow just retired in 1970, he could've spent the rest of his life teaching seminars on how to use effusive, unbridled positivity as a weapon. Instead, he spent the decade dimming the lights, retreating to his home studio/heroin den, refusing to sing a simple song. But before fading into obscurity, he gave us the two finest Sly and the Family Stone albums. The murky, conflicted There's a Riot Goin On walked through the valley of personal and political corruption. And Fresh came out the other side, doing justice to its title with pristinely funky treatises on thankfulness and peace of mind. In the '60s, Sly and the Family Stone took us higher. In the '70s, they helped us cope.
8. Black Sabbath
"What is this that stands before me?" sings Ozzy Osbourne on "Black Sabbath," the opening song on his band's 1970 debut. I'd imagine a lot of listeners felt the same way. Because Black Sabbath was a true original, frighteningly ahead of its time. Like many English bands of this era, the Birmingham quartet was drawn to the intoxicating pentatonics of American blues music. But they were never content to just rip it off. Black Sabbath, and the three equally masterful albums that followed it, favored slower tempos and lower registers, letting each minor chord marinate in its own midnight. In the process, they invented heavy music as we know it. Tony Iommi made it okay for guitarists to value atmosphere more than muscle. And Osbourne showed how the right vocal inflection could make even the hokiest weed pun sound utterly, believably haunting. What stood before us was a revolution.
7. Fleetwood Mac
When I was a young man, the soft, multi-platinum sheen of peak Fleetwood Mac did nothing for me. It just felt harmless and inconsequential to someone who'd never had real adult feelings. But in my thirties, I heard "Over My Head," seemingly for the first time. That song was the key to a treasure chest of unparalleled grown-person songwriting, made even more profound by the hard-won wisdom in Stevie Nicks's voice. The band's trio of '70s classics – Fleetwood Mac, Rumours and Tusk – are full of nuanced, conflicted, reassuringly human observations about love and aging. Qualities that don't really come into focus until you reach a certain age, and start needing that reminder to keep thinking about tomorrow.
6. Led Zeppelin
Critics were famously dismissive of Led Zeppelin in its heyday. To an extent, the band deserved it, having gotten famous by passing off American blues songs as their own, while not exactly caring about lyrics. But starting in 1970, Zeppelin stopped coasting on these hyper-masculine thrust-fests. The traditional folk and country of Led Zeppelin III, Tolkien-inspired proto-metal of Led Zeppelin and kaleidoscopic cloudburst of Houses of the Holy make for one of the most stunning growth spurts in rock history. The swagger of the world's biggest rock band is still there, but it has evolved from male confidence to artistic confidence. Instead of giving us every inch of their love, these guys were exploring every corner of their imaginations.
5. Parliament/Funkadelic
Like a Kleenex is a tissue, like a Xerox is a photocopy, Parliament is funk. The music George Clinton's group released in the 1970s could be experienced on a variety of levels, each of them incredibly rewarding. 1) As the greatest bass-driven, shout-along party music ever recorded, 2) As compositional big band achievements that deserve professorial study alongside Duke Ellington, 3) As an audacious social statement that upended the perception of black culture as an alien presence in America. When Parliament/Funkadelic emerged from its mothership, it was The Day the Earth Got Down. They expanded the possibilities of funk music, inventing new ways to utilize synthesizers and guitar solos, giving a whole new attitude to the art of spoken word. "Most of all you need funk," they advised, with a sense of joy and purpose that's healthier than the air we breathe.
4. Steely Dan
In the beginning, Steely Dan flirted with the idea of sounding pretty. Its 1972 debut had two lead singers – the honey-throated David Palmer and the feistily froggy Donald Fagen. The songs were good enough to work with Palmer's lite-FM falsetto croon, but luckily, Fagen and his guitarist/songwriting partner Walter Becker had left him in the dust by '73. Because then they proceeded to geek the fuck out on one fantastic, ridiculously polished record after another. The more money that rolled in, the more Steely Dan became a studio creation, with Fagen and Becker directing top session players to satisfy their every obsession. Their style was always leaping around, from jazz and blues to bossa nova and country, but it always carried that same expensive sheen, and that same knack for insidiously catchy chord progressions. When paired with Fagen's biting, imperfect voice, singing about cast-offs and criminals and pathetic old men, every fussed-over note gains something that no other classic rock band ever gave us – a sense of humor that's dry as Ritz.
3. Queen
Lots of bands made rock operas in the 1970s. Only Queen did operatic rock. Because only they had a frontman who could pull it off. Freddie Mercury had the god-given stuff – golden pipes, compositional brilliance, preternatural charm. But he also had that opera singer quality, a technically perfect vocalist that is able to convey how heartbreakingly imperfect life can be, through intonation alone. Like most folks my age, I first heard "Bohemian Rhapsody" on the Wayne's World soundtrack, alongside the likes of Cinderella and the BulletBoys. It was like seeing a unicorn at the zoo. I had no idea what the song was about, but at the end, when Mercury sang "Nothing really matters," I got a lump in my throat. I'd never heard such a fatalistic phrase delivered with such warmth. Queen could deliver scorching proto-metal songs about ogres and toweringly theatrical pop epochs, with equally hair-raising results. Because Freddie Mercury somehow made it all magical, and real.
When bands become huge, that success tends to dictate what happens next. Radiohead hid behind electronics; Pearl Jam stopped making videos; U2 explored the depths of its own butt, etc. Pink Floyd was immune to such childishness. Its colossal 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, was already the band's eighth LP. Its very public fallout with founding visionary Syd Barrett was five years in the rearview. Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason had already seen it all. So they had no problem taking years between each ensuing masterpiece, making sure that every synth exuded that specific ethereal warmth; that every guitar solo swayed just enough to hypnotize us; that every bitter observation on war, the record industry, lost friendships and absent fathers was balanced out by just the right amount of British wit. As a result, even 40-plus years of zombified classic rock radio programmers have not been able to kill them. To this day, moments like Wright's opening synth suite on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," Gilmour's solo on "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)," and Waters' vocal work on "The Trial" make me drop everything and pay attention. Because even with millions in the bank and the world at their fingertips, Pink Floyd didn't have their pudding until they ate their meat.
1. The JB's
The year just happened to be 1970 when James Brown introduced his brand new band, after the previous one had left him high and dry over a pay dispute. "The JB's" included original Famous Flames member Bobby Byrd and a bunch of unknowns, including a young bass player named William "Bootsy" Collins. With stunning immediacy, they introduced a whole new style to the mainstream – a gritty, spacious, heavily syncopated sound retroactively known as "deep funk." On songs like "Super Bad," "Soul Power" and "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine," there were no need for catchy choruses. The groove was the hook. For the first time, Brown was playing with musicians that were as raw and fiery as he was. As the decade wore on, and Bootsy left to join Parliament/Funkadelic, ringers like trombonist Fred Wesley and saxophonist Maceo Parker returned to the fold. And the JB's continued to churn out the world's nastiest rhythms and riffs, in the process building the foundation of the yet-to-be-invented genre destined to replace rock and roll in the hearts of young America. Rap would not exist without the 1970 single "Funky Drummer," where Clyde Stubblefield played the kind of groove that samples were made for – simple, insinuating, poetic. Like the entirety of The JB's catalog, it's not impressive in a technical, look-what-I-can-do kind of way. These guys were some of the best players around, but they valued the feel of the music more than the intricacy of their solos. By ceding the spotlight to James, they shone brightest of all.
December 27, 2013 December 29, 2013 by sweensryche
The Top 20 Songs of 2013
Best Of, Music, Songs
2013, A$AP Rocky, Action Bronson, Best Of, Bill Callahan, Brenda Lee, Chance The Rapper, Danny Brown, Disclosure, Drake, Finatticz, James Blake, James Brown, Janelle Monae, Jim James, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, M.I.A., Music, Numbers On The Boards, Pee Wee Herman, Pharrell Williams, Pistol Annies, Prince, Pusha T, Rhye, Robin Thicke, Sly Stone, Songs, Thundercat
Hello readers of words and listeners of sounds! Here are my 20 favorite tracks from the year that was. The common thread running through them all is that I thought they were good. Enjoy! (full playlist at the bottom)
20. Prince – "Da Bourgeoisie"
On top of making us feel grateful for new Prince music, "Da Bourgeoisie" almost makes us believe that Sly Stone has finally made that triumphant comeback. On the juiciest riff of the year, the purple one teaches us that funk guitar is like a campfire – if you really want it to burn, you've gotta let it breathe.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/01-da-bourgeoisie-1.mp3
19. Danny Brown – "Dip"
Here's a song about an MDMA bender, that sounds like an MDMA bender. A jittery, propulsive beat built on a distorted memory of Freak Nasty's 1996 hit "Da Dip" sets the stage for the most addictive thing of all – Danny Brown's tweaked-out yammer.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/1-13-dip-1.mp3
18. Jim James – "A New Life"
On this sweet, triumphant ballad, Jim James doesn't just sing the line "There's more stardust when you're near." He pronounces the "t" in "stardust" with NPR-ready elocution. He believes in this stuff, and I'm right there with him.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/a-new-life.mp3
17. Action Bronson & Party Supplies – "Pepe Lopez"
Pee Wee Herman will forever win the award for "Best 'Tequila' Appropriation." But on this song, Action Bronson comes damn close.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/03-pepe-lopez.mp3
16. Thundercat – "Oh Sheit It's X"
2013 was a heck of a year for ecstasy songs apparently. This vivid, psychedelic synth-funk jam from bass virtuoso Thundercat is the blissed-out counterpoint to Danny Brown's hyperactive horror story.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/07-oh-sheit-its-x-explicit-1.mp3
15. A$AP Rocky (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T.) – "1 Train"
Crew songs in rap are like double albums in rock – they're usually bloated and unfocused, but the ones that work are all-time classics. And this is an example of the latter – with so many creatively peaking emcees one-upping each other over a haunting, string-laced beat, you never want "1 Train" to stop rolling.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/09-1train-feat-kendrick-lamar-joey-bada-yelawolf-danny-brown-action-bronson-big-k-r-i-t.mp3
14. Robin Thicke (feat. Pharrell and T.I.) – "Blurred Lines"
Lifting its groove wholesale from Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up," this juggernaut of a summer jam possessed just the right mix of sunny songcraft and dumb-ass confidence. Even though I heard it around 156,000 times this year, its "you know you want it" refrain always rang true.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/blurred-lines.mp3
13. Pistol Annies – "I Hope You're The End Of My Story"
For anybody who's ever been touched by a story like this.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/12-i-hope-youre-the-end-of-my-story.mp3
12. James Blake – "Retrograde"
"Ignore everybody else/We're alone now." On a record full of bald romantic overtures, the chorus from "Retrograde" shimmers the brightest – as does its lilting melody, Blake's catchiest yet.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/05-retrograde.mp3
11. Finatticz – "Don't Drop That (Thun Thun)"
And now for our next entry of Now That's What I Call Songs About MDMA!: This insanely catchy slice of stripped-down ratchet, which tells us not to drop said drug while educating us on yet another slang term for it. With that chorus blasting, any other high would just seem redundant.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/dont-drop-that-thun-thun.mp3
10. Kanye West – "Black Skinhead"
Seven notes, synth toms, hyperventilation, and the truth.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/02-black-skinhead.mp3
9. Chance The Rapper – "Cocoa Butter Kisses"
When Chance talks about putting Visine in his eyes because his grandma wouldn't hug him otherwise, this self-deprecating, nicotine-stained gospel singalong becomes the stuff of great storytelling.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/03-cocoa-butter-kisses-f-vic-mensa-twista.mp3
8. Janelle Monae – "Dance Apocalyptic"
If Janelle Monae was on the Titanic, that sad-sack string quartet would've been jettisoned right quick, in favor some absurdly, deliriously addictive R&B.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/09-dance-apocalyptic.mp3
7. Rhye – "Open"
When delivered in the right way, few things are sexier than a plea. With "Open," Rhye takes the opposite tact of, say, James Brown, but its languorous, whispered appeals feel just as deliciously desperate.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/01-open.mp3
6. Pusha T – "Numbers On The Boards"
Push growls with the grizzled confidence of a junkyard dog, over a filthy-hot beat that sounds like a trash compacter on the fritz – giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "raw talent."
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/02-numbers-on-the-boards.mp3
5. Disclosure – "When A Fire Starts To Burn"
Take a snippet of molten-hot ranting from a guy who calls himself "The Hip Hop Preacher," add a no-nonsense drum n' bass groove, and you've got an eternal flame of a club jam.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/02-when-a-fire-starts-to-burn.mp3
4. M.I.A. – "Come Walk With Me"
M.I.A. wrote the catchiest chorus of the year, and then pulverized it with an electronic air raid.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/1-05-come-walk-with-me.mp3
3. Drake – "Hold On, We're Going Home"
The 1988 Marvin Gaye last call ballad that never was.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/08-hold-on-were-going-home.mp3
2. Kanye West – "Bound 2"
You'd think the last noise on Yeezus would be some kind of bloodcurdling scream. But it's actually the reassuring coo of Brenda Lee's voice, on a song that anchors a tempestuous album in the same way love anchors a man.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/10-bound-2.mp3
1. Bill Callahan – "Small Plane"
Human flight is quite a feat, but Bill Callahan finds something else even more miraculous on this profound ode to love's triumph over turbulence.
https://sweensryche.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/03-small-plane.mp3
Da Bourgeoisie
Pepe Lopez
Oh Sheit It's X [Explicit]
1Train (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T.)
I Hope You're the End of My Story
Don't Drop That (Thun Thun)
Black Skinhead
Cocoa Butter Kisses f. Vic Mensa & Twista
Dance Apocalyptic
Numbers On The Boards
When A Fire Starts To Burn
Hold On, We're Going Home
Bound 2
Small Plane

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Why Groovy Pop() function is removing the first element from list? I'm new to Groovy. I was trying Pop function, which should remove last element from the list acc to documentation. But it pops the first element in my case instead of last. Can any one tell me if that's a bug or am I missing something here?
This is the list i'm using:
def primes = [25,3,5,7,11,13];
Here is the output screenshot:

A: https://docs.groovy-lang.org/latest/html/groovy-jdk/java/util/List.html#pop()
Removes the initial item from the List.
def list = ["a", false, 2]
assert list.pop() == 'a'
assert list == [false, 2]

This is similar to pop on a Stack where the first item in the list represents the top of the stack. Note: The behavior of this method changed in Groovy 2.5 to align with Java. If you need the old behavior use 'removeLast'.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


From legendary barbecue to famous blues, soak up the best of Bluff City with Moon Memphis.
With Moon Memphis's practical tips and local know-how, you can experience the best of the city.
Hitting the road? Try Moon Blue Ridge Parkway Road Trip or Moon Nashville to New Orleans Road Trip. Exploring more of the Volunteer State? Check out Moon Tennessee.


text:
Plant 17:25, 09-Jun-2019
Plants & Nations: Syria
By Ding Qian
["china"]
Syria has been related to shootings, mortar attacks, aerial strikes, and refugees since 2011. The civil war of the country escalated to one of the bloodiest and complicated conflicts in the world today. Cities were destroyed, lives shattered. Syria has one of the most ancient civilizations on earth, but now all six of the country's Unesco World Heritage sites have been damaged.
But let's not forget the beauty of Syria, a country of fertile plains and high mountains. Located in the heart of the Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Turkey and Lebanon, the country is considered a crossroads between various vegetation zones. The flora shows impacts from Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Here in this article, we introduce three plants that have a close relationship with the country.
The Damask rose is famous for its fine fragrance. /VCG Photo
The Damask rose is one of the oldest flowers in history. The flower, which is famous for its fine fragrance, has been exported to Europe since the time of the crusades. It is cultivated all year around and especially used to produce essential oils and flavoring ingredients such as rose water.
The Damask rose is used to produce essential oils and rose water. /VCG Photo
The plant is a deciduous shrub which can grow to about 2.2 meters high. The stems are armed with prickles, its leaves are pinnate. The roses grow in groups and are usually pink or red.
The Damask rose /VCG Photo
The charming rose has captivated many people's hearts. Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani once wrote, "I come to you ... from the tales of the Damascene rose, that depicts the history of all fragrance." Shakespeare is also a fan of the flower, referenced it in his famous play "Twelfth Night."
The on-going war in Syria has also affected the production of the 30-petalled flower, which got its name from the country's capital, Damascus.
Jasmine /VCG Photo
Although the government of Syria hasn't named any flower as the country's national flower, the public considers jasmine, a lovely flower widely cultivated, as the national flower of the country. Damascus is also named the "City of Jasmine."
There are approximately 200 species of jasmine. Some are deciduous, some are evergreen. They are white or yellow, with four to nine petals. The plant is native to tropical and subtropical areas of Eurasia and Oceania.
The flower has a strong fragrance and is planted abundantly in Syria. It plays an important role in the country's economy. Jasmine oils are extracted to make perfumes and cosmetics. Flowers and seeds are used in many aspects.
Pistachio trees /VCG Photo
Pistachio plays a vital role in Syria. The country is considered an ancestral home of the pistachio tree and ranked fourth globally in pistachio production in 2010, before the civil war. Therefore, the plant is also referred to as the "Golden Tree" in Syria.
Pistachio seeds are a popular snack worldwide. /VCG Photo
Pistachio is a member of the cashew family. It's a small tree originating from the Middle East and Central Asia. Its seed is a popular food worldwide.
It is a desert plant so it needs plenty of sunlight and well-drained soil to grow. The tree can live up to 300 years old and takes about seven to ten years to produce.
Pistachio is a desert plant. /VCG Photo
Syria's primary pistachio reservoir is a small town named Murak. It contributed nearly 60 percent of total pistachio production in Syria before the war and is known as the "City of Red Gold."
About 'Plants & Nations'
"Plants & Nations" is a series of articles and pictures about common plants in the world. It serves as a guide to beautiful plants from different countries.
(Cover image via VCG)


The people with whom I have worked in Africa view everything as gifts from God and pray accordingly. Prayers are offered for rain, for a good harvest, for the birth of a child, for the death of a family member, or any important event.
These services are held under trees or on hillsides and remind me of how Jesus went off to pray in the desert and in the hills around Galilee. As I join in these prayers with my neighbors, I feel a sense of belonging with the people and with their awareness of God's presence in their daily lives.
PRAYER HAS SILENTLY taken me down numerous paths that have led me to God. Theyexistinspacesofquiet, such as a wooded area, a gentle touch, a nearby stream of water, a long reflective walk, the outstretched hands of the poor, or simply sharing with another the wonderment of our God. These ways of praying, as well as other forms and styles of prayer, have embraced my personality over the years and allowed me to touch the essence of God.


text:
Cherington, Red Sox Searching For Bullpen Help
Filed Under:Andrew Miller, Ben Cherington, Boston Red Sox, Matt Thornton, MLB Trade Deadline, Red Sox Bullpen, Ruby De La Rosa, Sports News
Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
BOSTON (CBS) – At the beginning of the season, the Boston Red Sox' bullpen was viewed as a strong-point on the team.
Now, injuries have left Boston shorthanded in their pen and searching for arms to fill the void.
On Monday, manager John Farrell revealed that lefty Andrew Miller will need surgery and is likely done for the season — leaving Craig Breslow the lone lefty in the Boston bullpen.
So, GM Ben Cherington has some work to do. He said Monday he would like to explore all options internally before delving into the trade market — which will get pricey leading up to the July 31 deadline.
Recap: Mariners Best Red Sox, Lester 11-4
"You lose a guy, he has to be replaced somehow. We still think we have some internal options to consider and we might look at those over the course of the next few weeks. We have to have an opened mind," Cherington said from Seattle.
There are options in Pawtucket, but none of them would really give the immediate impact that Boston is looking for. Miller was solid not just against lefties, but also against righties, and Cherington said given Boston's need, he can't get too caught up in matchup pitchers.
"I don't know if its as important that he's left-right, we just need good pitchers," he said.
Some options down on the farm include lefty Ryan Rowland-Smith — a 30-year-old Australian with four years of MLB service under his belt. He's had a solid season in Pawtucket, allowing just 27 hits and five earned runs in 43.2 innings pitched, but is currently on the DL after an emergency appendectomy and won't be available until later this month, according to Cherington.
The Sox have also had discussions about converting starters to relievers in Triple-A, with Ruby De La Rosa and Brandon Workman two of the players discussed, but both are right-handers and neither have big league experience.
"We cant rule it out," Cherington said of converting a started to a reliever. "We have a lot of good arms in Pawtucket and we think some of them can help us up here. We have a lot of good arms up here too, so we'll see where it goes."
Of course there is always the trade market, which could end up costing Boston a pretty penny given their current need. They were rumored to be interested in Matt Thornton and his 17 holds for the Chicago White Sox over the weekend, and that interest should ramp up now that Miller is likely lost for the rest of the way.
Photos: Baseball Shots Of The Week — July 8
"The most efficient way to do it would be to ignore [the market] completely." Cherington said, "but then you run the risk of not having enough guys out there. We have to strike the right balance in the middle."
"I do think it lends to the point that if you can find solutions internally, that's always the better way to go," said Cherington. "We've had guys step up all year when the opportunity presents itself, we just need that to continue."


"Udacity was an experiment in a longer and much broader initiative of the CSU engaging in online materials for our students," said Gerard Hanley, assistant vice chancellor for academic technology services.
What innovation will look like, who will control it and how much it will alter online teaching (which has been a part of CSU offerings for 20 years) remain open questions.
Assembly Bill 46, authored by Richard Pan D-Sacramento, seeks to ensure that the answers to those questions are shaped in part by data about student achievement in online courses.
The bill, which bypassed the Senate Appropriations Committee because it was found to have a low cost, could be voted on in the Senate as early as Wednesday. The legislation would require providers of online courses to share information about course enrollment and completion rates, grades, student demographics and the use of university resources such as libraries with the CSU Academic Senate, the body that represents faculty from the 23 CSU campuses.
Pan said he wrote the bill in response to concern that the faculty group lacked sufficient access to data during the SJSU Plus pilot program. Though the partnership with Udacity has ended, Pan wants to be certain that any companies the CSU works with in the future will be accountable for providing positive outcomes for students.
Cay Horstmann, a professor in the computer science department at SJSU, taught the SJSU Plus introduction to programming course during the summer of 2013. He said using Udacity as a platform for a university course created data collection problems.
Hanley views the bill as an overreaction to shortcomings of the terminated Udacity pilot and an excessive burden on the university system, given that all online courses currently offered are run by CSU faculty. Though private companies such as Blackboard provide crucial elements such as the "learning management systems" used as hubs for online and face-to-face courses alike, they are not as involved as Udacity was in the SJSU Plus courses.
Hanley said individual faculty members who teach online courses already have the data they need, and that CSU focuses on using data to evaluate the quality of its courses.
Gov. Jerry Brown has been a high-profile supporter of expanding online course offerings at California's public universities. The Udacity-SJSU partnership was sparked by a phone call from Brown to Udacity founder and Stanford professor Sebastian Thrun. Evan Westrup, a spokesman for Brown, said he could not comment on AB 46 as the legislation is pending.
H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the California Department of Finance, said the budget Brown signed in June includes $50 million to create a program called the Awards for Innovation in Higher Education. Community colleges and CSU and UC campuses will compete to be awarded for initiatives that increase four-year graduation rates and the number of bachelor's degrees awarded.
"We think it's likely that online education will come into play as part of this $50 million awards program," Palmer said.
Palmer said the Brown administration sees innovation in online education as a potential solution to a broad challenge facing the CSU: raising graduation rates while keeping tuition flat. In 2010, the systemwide six-year graduation rate was 46 percent, according to a report by the CSU Graduation Initiative.
Expanding online courses could reduce bottlenecks that arise when classes are too small to accommodate all the students who need credit from the course, Palmer said. A survey presented to the CSU Board of Trustees in September 2013 found nearly 1,300 bottleneck courses across the system.
Legislation passed last year requires the CSU to gradually make all of its online courses accessible systemwide through a program called CourseMatch. This summer, all CSU students had access to 710 courses taught by faculty all over the state, Hanley said. As more courses become accessible through CourseMatch, a freshman at California State University, Sacramento, may have the option of taking a course taught online by a professor at CSU Los Angeles to fulfill general education requirements.
Lillian Taiz, professor of history at CSU Los Angeles and president of the California Faculty Association, said most professors are not concerned by existing online programs because, unlike MOOCs, they're not designed to serve thousands of people at a time, enabling greater interaction between teachers and students.
Spitzer said she questioned why the legislation requires data collection for only online courses and not face-to-face classes as well, given that CSU faculty teach all of the online courses on offer.
Unlike Horstmann, Spitzer said she had had no trouble accessing data about her students during the pilot project.
Pan said he thinks his legislation is important for all online classes, not only MOOCs, because the online learning format may be less effective for certain groups of students. Collecting demographic data will allow the CSU's faculty group to determine how best to move forward with any online courses, Pan believes, as well as ensure rigor.
Some students take online courses because they assume the courses will be less difficult than courses on campus.
Sophia Anthony, a senior public relations major at Sacramento State, said she and most of her friends had taken several online courses to fulfill general education requirements.
"We do it for the credits, not the education, to be honest," Anthony said.
She also noticed greater cheating in online courses. In many cases, there's nothing to stop students from Googling the answers to online tests. She recalled one exam where someone else had searched for every question on Yahoo Answers.
Anthony's experience raises challenges that legislation may not be able to address. Where existing online courses and laws governing them fail, the market might succeed, said Brian Fleming, a senior analyst at education consulting company Eduventures. Because university systems like the CSU want to increase online offerings while preserving quality, companies in a crowded field have an incentive to deliver.
Fleming said that given the size and national prominence of the CSU system, major changes to its online course policies could make education companies take note.
Taiz believes that any expansion of online courses in the CSU system will increasingly involve private companies that will seek to enhance profitability by making classes larger and less individualized. She supports both the legislation and efforts to expand online education, provided it's done right. Taiz is not concerned that greater regulation will make companies more reluctant to form partnerships with the CSU system.
"There's just so much money to be made here," Taiz said.


The Little Lights Preschool Choir is a program of singing, praise, discovery, Bible teaching, and games that meets on Sunday evenings from 6:00-7:00 pm. The program typically follows the Columbia County School Calendar (does not meet during the summer) and is open to all 4 & 5 year old children. No registration is required. This group meets on the Nursery Hall in Rm# 103.
The ILLUMINATE Graded Children's Choir is a program of worship, praise, drama, and Bible teaching that meets on Sunday evenings from 6:00-7:00 pm. The program typically follows the Columbia County School Calendar and is open to all children in 1st through 6th grades. No registration is required. This group meets in the children's suite (2nd floor).


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Understaffed probation service 'not sustainable'
15 January 2020 | 8:10 am
Sex attacker Joseph McCann released due to probation error
The National Probation Service overseeing some 106,000 high-risk offenders is facing 'unreasonably high' workloads. A new report by HM Inspectorate of Probation has reported 'critical shortages' in the service with six out of 10 probation officers over-worked.
Under the Transforming Rehabilitation programme, the Coalition government in 2013 dismantled 35 probation trusts and in their place created the National Probation Service (NPS) for high risk offenders and 21 community rehabilitation companies.
The watchdog inspected all seven NPS divisions which handles 42% of the total probation workload. The quality of case supervision was found to better than their CRCs equivalents – particularly in relation to the management of risk of harm to the public. Last May the government announced a u-turn deciding to return the supervision of thousands of low and medium-risk offenders to the public sector under the supervision of the NPS.
Workloads were 'high' with six out of 10 of NPS probation officers bearing a workload over the 100% target. 'This reflects an ongoing and, in some areas, critical shortage of probation officers, with over 600 vacancies reported in June 2019 across England and Wales,' wrote the current chief inspector Justin Russell; adding that, once staff were recruited, there was 'a lack of investment' in their training and development which was 'not of a sufficient standard to meet their needs'. Last year the immediate past probation chief inspector called Chris Grayling's part-privatisation of probation 'irredeemably flawed'.
In June 2019, there were 3,319 probation officers in post in the MPS versus a requirement of 3,934 – in other words, there were 615 vacancies. This week's report revealed a striking failure to attract men. The watchdog pointed out that seven out of 10 probation staff were female, whereas 97% of offenders were male. In July 2019, over 60% of probation officers were working in excess of 100% on the NPS workload measurement tool and almost 30% more than 120%. On average, victim liaison officers had 215 cases.
One NPS manager told the watchdog: 'We are the poor relation in the CJS [criminal justice system]. We have unrealistic targets, too high caseloads and insufficient staff.'
Justin Russell told reporters that probation officers were still failing to carry out 'basic domestic violence and child safeguarding checks' on offenders and 'reoccurring problems' with the probation service. He was asked if the failings in the Joseph McCann case were inevitable.
'If you are supervising 105,000 high-risk people then these things happen,' he replied (as reported by the Press Association). 'It was a particularly horrible case which left a very large number of traumatised victims behind. It acts as an example of all the issues we have been talking about in terms of our inspection findings. It's important that probation gets risk management right and actions and checked.'
Ian Lawrence, general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said that the report 'vindicates what Napo has been saying' since the NPS was formed five years ago. 'It is not sustainable in its current form and as such we have seen an increase in serious further offences, staff burn out and members reporting a lack of time to complete meaningful work with clients,' he said.
'Probation is a vital service for protecting the public and rehabilitating clients back into society. Since it's part privatisation introduced by Chris Grayling, it has been brought to its knees. The government must now listen to the Unions and the workforce and restore the service to the award winning status it was before.'
Ian Lawrence, Napo
Private probation companies 'routinely…
Part-privatisation of probation 'irredeemably…
Failed part-privatisation of probation locks…
'Bleak future' for third sector involvement in probation
Grayling's rehabilitation revolution 'set up to fail'


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Q: How to select the last 7 rows in column in Excel 2013? I have googled the answsers. But all i find is "select last row OR column" but not "select last N rows or columns".
How can I select the last 7 rows in a column in Excel 2013?

A: There are many ways to do this. This one uses Offset and Resize.
Sub SelectLast7()

    Dim LastRow As Long
    Dim Last7Rows As Range

    LastRow = Range("A" & Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Row
    Set Last7Rows = Range("A" & LastRow).Offset(-6, 0).Resize(7, 1)
    Last7Rows.Select

End Sub

LastRow is the last row in the column from below. Offset(-6,0) gets the cell 6 offsets above LastRow. Resize(7,1) resizes your target cell by 7 rows and 1 column (basically, you just adjust the row). Select finishes it out.


i had done everything I had on my list for Addis Ababa so it was time to move on to the Seychelles. I checked out of the Hilton at 7 am for my 10 am flight since I had read some reports of long queues at exit passport control. The Hilton shuttle got me back to the airport for only 83 birr added directly to my room bill.
I got to the airport and since I'm only Star Silver (for 7 more segments) I had to use the peon line which was maybe 40 people deep. I got checked in and headed to the peon immigration line which was maybe 60 people deep so I'm glad I had time. I cleared with plenty of time to do some shopping (bought my mom a blue scarf) and had breakfast. The departures area works like this: you clear passport control and you head upstairs. The upstairs area has a few duty free shops, a couple leather and cotton shops, a "self service" bar/restaurant which has a lounge attached to it, a Sheba Miles silver lounge, Sheba Miles gold lounge, a full service restaurant, male and female prayer rooms, and of course bathrooms. While I was getting settled into a bathroom stall I knocked a pitcher of who knows what liquid off the toilet paper holder box and it got all over my pants and bag. I was quite grossed out by it.
Once you pass through their metal detector and xray (this is actually the second time since you had to do that just to enter the airport) there is just seating. When i was there that line went pretty quickly. I think it was just shoes in bin, bags on belt.
I boarded the Boeing 737 by bus and away I went. Once again I had an open middle, but only because I chose a seat at the very back of the plane.
Lunch was served, I had the fish. The movie Epic was shown overhead so I listened to my audiobooks.
Arriving in Seychelles there was indeed someone checking yellow books. A lady in front of me didn't have one. The man asked how long she was in Ethiopia and she said just 30 minutes making a connection and was let through, but I was surprised everyone else seemed to have one. I'm glad I had mine. Then the passport control lady wanted to see my hotel confirmation and proof of onward flight. I handed her my printouts and away I went.
Used the ATM to get some SCRs and hailed a cab. He said 600 rupee or €40. As expensive as that is, that seemed on par with what I had read so off to the Hilton (or should I say heaven) I went!
Addis Ababa was ok. I'll probably go back in 10 years or so. It seems like it is undertaking a huge roads project with the Chinese and knows it needs to upgrade infrastructure first. Ethiopian Air has a decent route map, good in flight service, but the food was only so-so.
The Hilton Northolme has delivered on my expectations and is a room (or villa) actually worth the extra points to me. With only 40 villas the pool is small and the beach is small, but I never had a problem finding a chair at either. The breakfast is good. The wifi works all over the resort (I'm writing this while drinking my Diamond tea service and looking at the ocean. The buffet dinner at Hilltop had plenty of variety and even had cooked to order fish on Friday night. They rotate with a different theme buffet each night.
Good question. It's a multifold yellow document the sIze of a passport book that has proof of yellow fever and other vaccines. Many countries require proof of yellow fever vaccination before entry if they are a yellow fever zone or if the passenger has passed through a yellow fever zone.
Hi Grace – Did you by any chance plan a trip to Anse Major beach or the island of La Digue while in the Seychelles? Does the Hilton still serve Champagne with the breakfast buffet?
Looking forward to any more reports on Seychelles.
@WF, I didn't leave the resort. I wanted a "do nothing" part to this trip and I'm only here 3 days so I just stayed at he Hilton. My flight out isn't until 8 pm so I will head downtown Victoria today. It seemed interesting passing through in the cab.
Yes, they still serve champagne at breakfast, but if you want anything other than orange juice it seems to be an inconvenience.
Them: would you like orange juice?
Them: you don't want orange juice?
Maybe today I'll just take the Oj and let it sit. There is unopened champagne on ice there each day, but I don't see anyone drinking it. I don't like any kind of wine so at Sunday brunch I'm always the oddball when my friends drink mimosas.
If you do not leave the airport, is it necessary to get a yellow fever vaccine if you are just passing through on way to seychelles?
It is not necessary unless you enter Ethiopia. Others have reported Seychelles does not always check. If they do check, then you would say you were there on a connection.