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Bedell Guitars and Guster Team Up to #StopIllegalLogging
By Acoustic Nation 2015-07-08T12:38:22Z Feature
Gusterreleased their new album Evermotion on January 13, its highest charting album on the Billboard 200 in the band's 23 year career, and is currently on a North American and European tour. As part of REVERB's ongoing environmental efforts in partnership with the band, each tour stop will have a fan engagement Eco Village. Bedell Guitars is proud to be a sponsor and help raise awareness for the Lacey Act.
By signing a postcard pledging your support to the Lacey Act and/or taking a photo in the photobooth and posting to social media using #StopIllegalLogging, concert goers will have the opportunity to win one of the Bedell Earthsong Orchestra guitars that Adam Gardner and the band will be playing on tour. "The Bedell Earthsong is a beautiful guitar built of sustainably harvested American woods. From the salvaged Sitka spruce top to the individually cut Western bigleaf maple trees we've been able to created an amazing sounding guitar that can be built for generations," said Sami Mulhern, Artist and External Relations for Bedell Guitars.
REVERB has had a decade-long history of creating awareness and action around a variety of environmental concerns but the legal harvesting of woods is one that is particularly close to REVERB co-founder and guitarist for Guster, Adam Gardner. REVERB's No More Blood Wood Campaign is bringing together artists to speak out in support of the Lacey Act, including Gardner's testimony to Congress to keep the law strong. They recently produced a video in partnership with the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) where artists like Jason Mraz, Michael Franti, Maroon 5, Linkin Park and more speak out on the legality of wood.
Adam took some time out of his busy tour schedule to talk with Bedell Guitars.
Bedell: First of all – congrats on the release of Evermotion. You launched it by a number of surprise "pop-up" shows in the streets of Boston on what the Mayor deemed "Guster Day." You recorded Evermotion in Oregon last year – how does it feel to have it out there now?
Adam Gardner: Thanks! We've been excited to have people finally hear this album. We finished way ahead of schedule so we weren't lined up with a label or release plan…we finished recording it almost a year ago. Having the new songs in the set have added a lot more colors to the palette live and new songs help a lot toward keeping the live thing fresh and fun for us.
Bedell: Is there a stand out song for you?
AG: Right now I'm really enjoying playing "Long Night." We've been opening the show with that, which is a little unusual, as it's a fairly mellow song, but it sucks people in and then gets larger and larger as the song progresses.
Bedell: You started the non-profit organization, REVERB, with your wife. What inspired starting REVERB?
AG: It was born out of me complaining to my wife (who has been working in the environmental realm as long as I've been in music) about what a mess the touring music world is with all of the plastic trash, fuel guzzling busses and trucks, etc. Guster felt badly about the negative impact we were having on the environment and a lot of the bands we were touring with felt the same way. In 2004, my wife and I started REVERB to make it easier for bands to tour more sustainably and engage their fans to take action.
Bedell: Why do you think so many artists sign on and want to be a part of the program?
AG: Most bands want to be more responsible with their touring; they just don't have the people or knowledge to do it. Everyone out on the road already has more than they can handle on their plates just putting on a show every night. We make it turn-key for bands by placing our staff on their tours just like a guitar tech or sound guy—difference is the REVERB staff's only job is to make sure the tour is green. They'll handle all of the efforts backstage with waste management, composting, biodiesel fueling for the busses and trucks, local farm food for catering, etc. Our staff also set up the fan engagement program that takes place in the mobile REVERB Eco-Village with local and national environmental groups, technologies, eco-friendly product sampling, and opportunities to take action that adds up to real measurable change.
Bedell: Part of the shows is an Eco-Village that sets up at each show and talks about specific issues. They have ranged from GMO labeling to water issues and for the Guster tour – the importance of legal wood. Why do you think knowing where your wood comes from is so important?
AG: The issue of legal and sustainable wood is very near and dear, as it directly affects the very instruments through which we express our music. How ironic would it be to do all of these environmental things join the road only to have the guitar you're playing on stage be made from wood stolen out of a World Heritage site by slave labor? This is blood diamonds all over again and it's important for consumers— not just musicians — to be aware that they may be supporting organized criminals when they purchase wood products. That's anything from furniture to flooring to kids toys.
Bedell: On tour you play our Earthsong Orchestra, which is sustainably sourced. Why did that guitar speak to you?
AG: I love what Bedell is doing with their practices and transparency about where the wood is coming from. But none of that would matter of they guitars didn't sound good. The Earthsong not only sounds good, it sounds GREAT! I love the orchestra for it's power in the mid-range and the way it feels in my arms. Sounds romantic, doesn't it?
Bedell: If people want to get involved they can volunteer at a show. Can you tell us some more about that?
AG: REVERB volunteers are a huge part of making what we do possible. We vet and train over 3,500 volunteers a year to come out to shows and engage fans to take action. The peer-to-peer interaction is a powerful and natural way for fans to get involved. The fact that say, Dave Matthews Band fans are talking to their peer fans about how they can make a difference tightens the community and adds this really cool element to the concert experience.
Bedell: What's the one thing you think people could do to be more aware and make a positive impact on the environment?
AG: There's no silver bullet. The most important thing is to start somewhere—anywhere. Choose something you think is doable and start there. Maybe it's using a reusable water bottle and not buying disposable water bottles. Maybe it's making sure you turn off all the lights when leaving a room. Maybe it's not leaving the faucet running when brushing your teeth. Simple little things. Once you start thinking about your impact and looking through the lens of sustainability, other things start clicking in your brain and you start to take bigger steps…how much fuel and money would I save if I insulated my home? Why doesn't my work place recycle? Where does my kid's school lunch come from?
Want to help? Volunteers are needed at each stop to help educate concert goers on why knowing where your wood comes from is important. Spots are limited but those selected will also receive a ticket to the show. For more info click here.
REVERB:
Deeply rooted within the music and environmental communities, REVERB is a 501 (c) (3) environmental organization dedicated to educating and engaging musicians and their fans to take action toward a more sustainable future. Founded in 2004 by environmentalist Lauren Sullivan and her musician husband, Guster guitarist/vocalist Adam Gardner, REVERB has greened more than 150 major tours including Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, fun., Linkin Park and Jason Mraz. www.reverb.org
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A downloadable Excel file that will enable you to modify a Tile Grid Waffle Chart Map of the United States. All you need to do is update the data in the DATA tab and watch the chart update automatically. You also receive a similar file that uses Excel's Data Validation tool so that you can add multiple data values and use the drop-down menu to choose between them. Watch the step-by-step video of how to create this data visualization here.


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Displaying items by tag: Globular Cluster
Messier 4 (2019)
Messier 4 is a globular cluster located in the constellation of Scorpius. M4 is one of the nearer globular clusters at a distance of 7,200 light years. It was one of the first globular clusters to be resolved as a collection of stars by Charles Messier who added it to his catalog in 1764. A relative small globular cluster as it only contains 20,000+ plus stars. It may have had more stars in its past, but it's orbit takes it through the Milky Way's disk where it could loose stars due to gravitational interactions.
Published in Globular Clusters
Globular cluster M92, less well known than the more famous M13, despite being one of the brightest globular clusters in the northern hemisphere. It is also estimated to b one of the oldest globular clusters at an estimated 14.2 billion years old.
Messier 13, the Great Globular cluster located in the constellation of Hercules. It is one of the brightest and best know globular clusters in the northern hemisphere. The cluster has a diameter of around 145 light years and contains about 300,000 stars.
Messier 3
Messier 3 is one of the largest, brightest globular cluster in the night sky. It contains an estimated 500,000 stars. Located in the constellation of Canes Venatici at a distance of 33,900 light years away from Earth. The cluster contains more than 274 variables stars, with most of them being the RR Lyrae type of variable.
M15 is a globular cluster located in the constellation of Pegasus. It consists of an estimated 100,000 stars and has a very dense central core having undergoing a core collapse where stars migrate towards the center. It's age is estimated at 12 billion years and is located 33,600 light years away.
Cataloged by Charles Messier in 1764 in his catalog of comet like objects.
Imaged with the ES127 refractor and Atik314L+ mono ccd camera.
M4 is one of the closer globular clusters to Earth at only 7,200 light years away. Located in the constellation of Scorpius, not far from the red super giant star Antares. It is distinguished by an optical bar of stars running through the central part of the core. A relative small globular as globular clusters go with only ten's of thousands stars, it may have been more massive in its past as it's orbit takes it through the Milky Way disk, where it loses stars due to tidal shock.
Imaged with the ES 127 refractor and the Atik 314l+ ccd camera.
Nicknamed the Intergalactic Wanderer because it was originally thought not to be in orbit around the Milky Way galaxy. The globular cluster is located 300,000 light years the galactic center, which is further away than the Large and Small Magellanic satellite galaxies of the Milky Way galaxy. If not for the extreme distance, it would be one of the larger, brightest globular clusters visible. It is estimated it takes 3 billion years to complete an orbit around our galaxy.
Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
Discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, and added to the Messier catalog by Charles Messier in 1764. It is one of the best know and brightest globular clusters visible in the northern hemisphere.
The cluster contains an estimated 300,000 stars stretching across a diameter of 145 light years. Globular clusters tend to be quite old objects with their stars containing very little of the metal elements.
Omega Centauri
Omega Centauri appears to be a globular cluster located in the skies of the southern hemisphere. It can be barely visible rising just above the horizon from southern locations in the northern hemisphere. This image was imaged from a remote scope located in Australia where rises high in the night sky. It is one of the biggest and brightest of the globulars associated with the Milky Way galaxy. It is thought however, that it might not be an actual globular cluster, its characteristics resemble a disrupted core of a dwarf galaxy that was disrupted by the Milky Way.
Dwarf spherical galaxies are not the most photogenic of galaxies, but sometimes I like to image stuff off the beaten track to see what I can find.
I was able to track down and identify some of the globular clusters that surround this galaxy. One of these, FJJ-VI was originally classified as a globular, but later studies by Hubble point to it being a distant elliptical galaxy. The color is noticeable much more reddish. FJJ-II is listed at 19.7 magnitude in the visual band.
NGC 185 is a satellite of the Andromeda along with its close neighbor dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 147 (not visible in this field of view). Unlike its neighbor, NGC 185 still has star formation and has an active galactic nucleus, and visible molecular clouds in its nucleus.
Distance to NGC 185 is 2 million light years and is located in the constellation of Cassiopeia.
Imaged with the RC10 telescope.
Published in Galaxies

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This is the first time the Realme C1 will be available post its recent price hike.
The Realme C1 will be going on sale later today via Flipkart. The flash sale kicks off at 12:00PM, and it will be the first time the device will be available post its recent price hike.
The Realme C1 was launched in India back in September with a price tag of Rs 6,999. But due to the depreciating value of the Indian Rupee, the smartphone got a price hike of Rs 1,000. This means, the device will be available today for Rs 7,999. Buyers will be able to choose from Navy Blue and Mirror Black colors.
There are a bunch of offers for buyers to take advantage of. These include Rs 100 discount for Mastercard users, if this is the user's first online payment. Axis Bank Buzz credit card users are entitled to Rs 200 discount.
Buyers can also opt for EMI options, which start from as low as Rs 266 per month. As a part of the Jio Realme Bonanza offer, buyers will be entitled to Rs 4,450 worth of benefits, and up to 1.1TB worth of free data. This offer is valid for prepaid users only, and can be availed while recharging via the MyJio app.
As far as specifications are concerned, the Realme C1 sports a 6.2-inch HD+ display with a notch at the top. Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 SoC paired with 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of expandable internal storage.
For photography, the device is equipped with a dual-camera setup at the back. This includes a pair of 13-megapixel primary sensor, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, there's a 5-megapixel AI-enhanced camera up front.
The Realme C1 is backed by a 4,230mAh battery, and it comes with the usual bevy of connectivity options. On the software front, the device runs Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box, with ColorOS 5.1 UI on top.


Egyptian Chronicles: #Tahrir is back with lots of anger everywhere !!
#Tahrir is back with lots of anger everywhere !!
Not less than 100,000 Egyptians are currently in Tahrir square protesting against the court verdicts of Mubarak's trial. The scene from Tahrir square is breathtaking @ 8:22 PM.
There are no partisan signs or flag ,only Egyptian flags with chants against SCAF , Anan , Mubarak and Egyptian judiciary. There are no stages and according to everybody there is something uniting the protesters there and it is anger. The protesters are all background, classes and all political forces. You got liberals, leftists,Islamists including Salafists as well Ultras groups form Ahly and Zamalek sports club not to mention independent Egyptians.
Tahrir square Saturday night "Reuters"
I do not know if there will be a sit in or not but I hope there will be a sit in. There are security checkpoints in Tahrir square. Presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabbahi , Khaled Ali and Abdel Moneim Abu El Fotouh arrived to the square. Sabbahi got a hero reception where he was carried over the protesters shoulders.
Needless to say there are no common set of demands, some suggest a presidential council while others suggest banning Ahmed Shafik from presidential elections and purging prosecution and judiciary.
Hamdeen's reception in Tahrir "Reuters"
Muslim brotherhood presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi held a press conference at Mansour street near the ministry of interior tonight at 7 PM where he gave a lot of promises regarding justice if he is elected as a president !!!!!!
If you think it is only in Cairo , think again because it is 8:35 PM and there are protests all over the country from north and south. There are protests in Alexandria , Suez , Ismailia, Tanta, Mansoura, Sohag, Marsa Matrouh , Monufia, Port Said,Qena, Mahalla, Sharkia and Aswan in matter of hours.
Here is a photo from the city of Damietta in its biggest squares by Mohamed Mansour.
Here is a photo from Al Arish now showing march in the famous 26 July street by my friend Mohamed Sabry. There are women, children, Christians , tribesmen, Salafists and liberal youth in that protest.
Here is a video broadcast by Sabry from Al Arish.
Even Monufia , the stronghold of NDP protested today from RNN.
Here is a photo album for the protest in Bani Sawif.
Here is a photo from Aswan by @Hamasiita who says that the number of protesters has not been seen before in the city.
Numbers are between hundreds and thousands. The biggest protest outside Cairo is by far in Alexandria and the most violent up till now is in Suez as clashes started between the protesters and security forces protecting the governorate HQ.
The Egyptian TV is claiming that people are celebrating the verdict all over the country !! The admin of SCAF FB warns everybody and says that Egypt is above all !! The Pro –Shafik supporters warn from Muslim brotherhood takeover !! To be honest I do not see this Islamist takeover on the contrary tonight reminds me with the 18 days , full square with ideologies or stages or anything.
Muslim Brotherhood, swallow the pride and announce presidential council!
It would be the best for Egypt. It would satisfy a lot of people if Morsi, Sabbahi, Fotouh and others would form it.
The only way they may achieve their goal is to continue to sit in.
Do you have or have link to full speech of Rifaat today, not just the verdict part?
Truly incredible to see Tahrir buzzing once more and its a momentous step forward, however with no clear direction to unite support it might not hold fast.
If clear demands cannot be agreed then perhaps an alternative route towards a civil council (excluding SCAF) is the best possible compromise?
What yqxo suggested sounds like an interesting idea. Sometimes political leaders need to actually act in a visionary manner and be willing to do something bold and effective by taking a longer term view. There would be difficulties and obstacles but it is an option to contemplate and perhaps implement.
At this moment the Egypt situation is the leading headline on Drudge Report. "EGYPT TENSE" it says. They link to this Guardian article.
I am opposed to capital punishment generally. Mubarak must be all the life in prison together with his sons and the members of the government, responsible to the murders of the people of the Arab spring.
Can the Egyptian government request the International Trial Court to handle the Mubarak case?
yes and there is talk of ratifying the Rome Statute to get him into the ICJ in Hague. Interestingly both USA and Israel are only two of the few reamining to not recognise the International Justice court!!
Please see the ICC member states world map.