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Sixty years of the UK charts
Sixty years ago on Wednesday, the first singles chart was published in Britain – turning pop music into a competitive sport. Bob Stanley on how fans, scams and yodelling Aussies changed the landscape
Bob Stanley
Tue 13 Nov 2012 13.48 EST First published on Tue 13 Nov 2012 13.48 EST
First girl group to score 19 top 10 hits … Girls Aloud Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian
For Britain, the modern pop era began in 1952. Not only were the first 7in singles released that year, but the first ever copy of the New Musical Express was published. And on 14 November 1952, exactly 60 years ago today, NME ran the first singles chart. All three creations would become cornerstones of the pop world until their simultaneous decline in the 1990s, as the digital era got into its stride.
But the singles chart – or the "hit parade" as it was called in the 50s, borrowing US terminology – has had a special appeal for the British sensibility. It has meant competition, excitement in league table form, pop music as a sport. It has pitted Frankie Laine against Guy Mitchell, Blur against Oasis, Brits against Yanks, Decca against EMI; it has been fuel for a nation obsessed with train numbers and cricket statistics. The charts dictated what you heard on the radio, what you saw on TV, how high your heroes' stock had risen. For more than four decades, they were a national fixture in Britain, like the FA Cup and Christmas.
Looking back at the very first chart is an insight into a lost world; the early 50s are truly the dark age of pop, invisible and obscure. Al Martino's Here in My Heart is often mentioned as being Britain's first No 1, but I don't ever remember hearing it played on the radio in its entirety. Elsewhere on that first chart are a mix of genres (country, ballads, instrumentals, film themes, exotic novelties, poster-boy pop) that have recurred in the following six decades. For today's One Direction, there's Johnnie Ray; for Gangnam Style see Sugarbush by Doris Day and Frankie Laine.
All of them were available on shellac 78s; only Mario Lanza's Because You're Mine was available as a 7in 45rpm (EMI had issued it as one of their first records in the new format a few weeks earlier). It's also notable how dominated by the US the charts were, with only Vera Lynn, Max Bygraves and band leader Ray Martin from Britain. Given the standard Anglo-American rock era narrative, it's easy to forget what a musical backwater Britain was before rock'n'roll.
A fair percentage of people in Britain will know what was No 1 the day they were born. I gave up asking friends from other countries a while ago, as they never knew the answer: Britain's obsession with the charts has never been echoed abroad. In the 60s and 70s, the French had to rely on a monthly chart in teen magazine Salut les Copains, which excluded anything that wasn't French. In fact, in most of Europe, the British charts had more credibility than the local ones, hence the number of European album sleeves emblazoned with a garish union flag sticker proclaiming: "Top hit in England!"
America only ever printed their Hot 100 chart in Billboard, a trade magazine too dry to appeal to even the swottiest pop fan. There was also no national pop chart TV show in the US, or possibly anywhere outside Britain, making Top of the Pops' place in history almost unique. The only other examples of a national chart show have also tended to be British: the short-lived Disc a Dawn in Wales, and ITV's long-running The Chart Show.
So it's part of our heritage, and a badge of honour for the likes of Martino, Gerry & the Pacemakers (first act to score No 1s with their first three singles) and Girls Aloud (first girl group to score 19 top 10 hits) to have a place in UK chart history. Yet there is little doubt that the singles chart – like the FA Cup – has lost some of its prestige in recent years. When did this process begin?
Though it was compounded by the loss of Top of the Pops, I would suggest the chart's significance started to shrink around 1994, when singles began to debut at their peak position and fall off the chart completely just three or four weeks later. Between 1952 and the mid-1990s, pop fans and DJs had kept a keen eye on highest new entries, biggest climbers and bizarre drops. Entering the chart at No 1 was an extraordinarily rare feat, the province of superstars like Elvis, the Beatles, Slade, the Jam and Adam & the Ants. By the late 90s, it was the norm, whether you were the Spice Girls or Wamdue Project. When the UK's No 1 single became more a triumph of marketing than popular consensus, the public began to feel disenfranchised. When Westlife came within an ace of equalling Elvis and the Beatles' record tally of No 1s (17 each, if you don't count reissues), even Louis Walsh must have thought it a little rum.
Robbie Williams - Candy on MUZU.TV
This has been corrected in the age of the download, which once again allows records to build in popularity, meaning singles can sit around for months on end. Martin Talbot of the Official Charts Company is used to people complaining that the charts aren't as important as they used to be. "As far as the artists are concerned, they 100% are. Robbie [Williams] is No 1 this week – I know it meant a lot to him. And it has meant everything to new acts like Rita Ora or Cover Drive. It's the only way they can match themselves against their peers in this multi-channel era."
There's no doubt singles sales have been reinvigorated in the digital era, with downloads helping to sell more new releases as well as back catalogue material: unlikely oldies such as Showaddywaddy's Under the Moon of Love have become million-sellers thanks to download oomph. We are also beyond the awkward industry strategies of the 90s and noughties, when singles were played on the radio weeks before they were in the shops, a major reason why they charted so high in the first week: "on air, on sale" is a policy championed by Universal that means records are available to download as soon as they air on radio. It combats piracy while adding immediacy – and relevance – to the charts.
To the artists and the industry, at least, the UK singles chart is still No 1. A major reason for its continued authority is that it is entirely sales-based. As an eight-year-old, I bought a copy of a Wings single and expected it to climb one place in the following week's chart; it didn't, it dropped, and I was rather upset. My logic may have been awry, but I still understood that the record at No 1 sold more copies than the record at No 2. America, on the other hand, has always used a complex and potentially corruptible mix of sales, radio play and jukebox plays; when the more accurate and sales-orientated Nielsen Soundscan chart was introduced by Billboard in 1991, alternative and country records suddenly leapt up the charts at the expense of middle-of-the-road pop hits like Paula Abdul's The Promise of a New Day and Roxette's Fading Like a Flower.
For this reason, the Official Charts Company is hesitant to introduce streaming to the singles chart. Talbot currently thinks it's unnecessary: "It would be a much bigger decision in the UK than other countries because our chart has always been totally transparent. Nobody questions it. Anything that makes the mechanism more opaque needs thorough consideration."
They may have diminished from their TotP heyday, but the British charts still have cache and credibility, here and abroad. Radio 2's Pick of the Pops has devoted two shows to playing the biggest-selling single from each year since 1952; last night, there was a parliamentary reception for acts who have scored million-sellers; and this Friday, BBC4 screens a 90-minute tribute called Pop Charts Britannia. Meanwhile, the Official Charts Company website is getting ever more hits, which suggests younger pop fans aren't mourning TotP the way people over 30 are: they've just found a different way of divining and devouring chart statistics. We are still, it seems, a nation of trainspotters.
Listen to the first-ever singles chart on spotify
Reading on mobile? Listen to this playlist on Spotify
Welcome to the charts: The first NME Hit Parade, 14 November 1952
1. Al Martino Here in My Heart
2. Jo Stafford You Belong to Me
3. Nat King Cole Somewhere Along the Way
4. Bing Crosby The Isle of Innisfree
5. Guy Mitchell Feet Up
6. Rosemary Clooney Half As Much
7. Frankie Laine High Noon
7= Vera Lynn Forget Me Not
8. Doris Day & Frankie Laine Sugarbush
8= Ray Martin Blue Tango
9. Vera Lynn Homing Waltz
10. Vera Lynn Auf Wiedersehn
10= Mario Lanza Because You're Mine
Music down the decades: November's top singles
1. Lovesick Blues Frank Ifield
2. Let's Dance Chris Montez
3. Telstar The Tornados
4. Swiss Maid Del Shannon
5. The Loco-Motion Little Eva
Yodelling Aussie Frank Ifield had the second of his four largely forgotten No 1s, although Let's Dance and The Loco-Motion are still played at all good fairgrounds. Telstar, named after the communications satellite and featuring space-age noises, had previously been No 1, while Del Shannon's track was much chirpier than his biggest hit, Runaway. Within months, this innocently enjoyable top 5 would sound antique: the Beatles revolution was imminent.
1. Clair Gilbert O'Sullivan
2. Mouldy Old Dough Lieutenant Pigeon
3. Donna 10CC
4. Elected Alice Cooper
5. Loop Di Love Shag
It's hard to imagine Clair – in which a man sings of his fondness for the girl he babysits – being released now, let alone reaching No 1. Lieutenant Pigeon's teary, beery kneesup and Alice Cooper's snarky political comment were pretty representative of British and US mindsets in 1972. The other two are from Jonathan King's UK label: 10CC's doo-wop pastiche (their first hit) and Loop Di Love, King's growly cover of a Greek holiday hit.
1. I Don't Wanna Dance Eddy Grant
2. Heartbreaker Dionne Warwick
3. Mad World Tears for Fears
4. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me Culture Club
5. Sexual Healing Marvin Gaye
Eddy Grant's previous No 1 had come 14 years earlier, with the Equals' Baby Come Back. Below I Don't Wanna Dance were a clutch of records that haven't been off the radio in 30 years: the Bee Gees-penned Heartbreaker; Tears for Fears' Mad World, which Gary Jules would take to No 1 two decades later. Culture Club's soft reggae had been No 1, while Marvin Gaye scored his last major hit.
1. End of the Road Boyz II Men
2. Would I Lie to You Charles & Eddie
3. People Everyday Arrested Development
4. Boss Drum The Shamen
5. Run to You Rage
Boyz II Men's snail-paced, whale-sized ballad had been No 1 for three weeks (it managed 13 in the US) but would be evicted by Charles & Eddie's sweet 70s soul tribute a week later. Arrested Development gave conscious rap its biggest UK hit; the rave nation was represented by the Shamen and Rage, who gave an old Bryan Adams hit the full siren and airhorn treatment.
1. Heaven DJ Sammy
2. Dilemma Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland
3. Die Another Day Madonna
4. Ketchup Song Las Ketchup
5. Like I Love You Justin Timberlake
Do Bryan Adams records get recycled into floorfillers every 10 years? DJ Sammy's Eurodance cover of his power ballad Heaven knocked Nelly and Kelly's Grammy-winning Dilemma off the top. They were tailed by Las Ketchup's daffy, post-summer holiday hit, Madonna's forgettable Bond theme and the debut hit for solo Justin Timberlake, a Neptunes-produced modern pop classic.
1. Robbie Williams Candy
2. Labrinth feat. Emeli Sandé Beneath Your Beautiful
3. The Wanted I Found You
4. Adele Skyfall
5. Swedish House Mafia/Martin Don't You Worry Child
This week's top 5 is a pretty good cross-section of 2012 as a whole. Robbie Williams' seventh No 1 – his first in eight years – is helped by the recent irksome craze for adapting nursery rhymes, Ring a Ring o' Roses in this case. Labrinth and Emeli Sandé represent the "new earnest"; the Wanted revive the joys of falsetto boyband pop; Adele turns in the best Bond theme since, ooh, Licence to Kill; and Swedish House Mafia once again wring out the 90s Europop rag.
• This article was amended on 14 November 2012. In the original, Clair was described as a song in which a man sings about his desire to marry the girl he babysits. This has been corrected. It was further amended on 15 November 2012 because it said "Eddy Grant's previous No 1 had come 14 years earlier, as a singer on the Equals' Baby Come Back"; Grant wrote that song and was the band's lead guitarist, but the lead singer was Derv Gordon.


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News & Media 〉News Releases
November Brings Prime Camping for First-Timers and Experienced Pros Alike
ent--article_ _media__contact">Media Contact: Stephanie Salinas, 512-389-8756, stephanie.salinas@tpwd.texas.gov or Rob McCorkle, 830-866-3533, robert.mccorkle@tpwd.texas.gov
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AUSTIN – As November approaches, it brings with it cool, crisp evenings, changing trees, and fall outdoor recreation. It's also the perfect month to camp under the stars, spending time and making memories with friends and family.
For camping, there's no better setting than Texas state parks, which offer prime spots for crackling campfires, dark skies for stargazing and a variety of guided and self-guided activities throughout the month. There are a variety of ways to stay overnight in Texas state parks, including comfortable cabins, screened shelters, RV areas and campsites for pitching tents. Reservations fill up quickly during this popular camping month, and visitors are encouraged to book their next overnight trip in advance.
First-time campers or anyone wanting to brush up on their outdoor skills can sign up for one of the Texas Outdoor Family workshops offered at a number of state parks for one and two nights. For only $65, park rangers and expert volunteers guide families of up to six on how to set up a campfire, pitch a tent and cook outdoors. What's more, all camping equipment—tent, lantern, cooking stove and dishes—is supplied, with the exception of food and sleeping bags.
"The fall season provides some of the most family-friendly camping experiences that Texas state parks have to offer," says Robert Owen, Texas Outdoor Family program coordinator. "Unfortunately, it seems that nowadays kids are more likely to play video games than ride a bike or play outside. We aim to change that and are proud to offer the first step to helping families get outdoors and reconnect with nature by enjoying their state parks."
Since it began six years ago, the Texas Outdoor Family program has been teaching families how to camp efficiently and safely, learn new outdoors skills such as kayaking, fishing and geocaching, nature hikes, opportunities for wildlife watching and how to follow established Leave No Trace practices. More than 3,500 families have participated in the educational state park campouts throughout the state since the program's inception.
All program participants can look forward to new equipment, including durable REI tents and cots. The program is also gradually moving their entire fleet of stoves to propane from white gas, making outdoor cooking basics easier than ever.
This year's remaining Texas Outdoor Family workshops in November and early December will be held in a number of Texas state parks this year, including Brazos Bend State Park, and Cedar Hill State Park's bilingual workshop on Nov. 8. If camping in a converted screened shelter with air conditioning seems more appealing, there will be a special cabin camping workshop at Choke Canyon State Park Nov.14-16.
Texas state parks also offer a variety of other camping-related activities. Visitors can learn to cook over a campfire at Ray Roberts Lake State Park (Isle Du Bois Unit) from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Nov. 15. At Government Canyon State Natural Area, visitors can learn camping basics from 2 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 15.
For a complete listing of upcoming Texas Outdoor Family workshops and information about Texas State Parks camping options, and tips on camping safety and etiquette, visit: www.texasstateparks.org/camping/.
Visitors can book Texas Outdoor Family workshops and other camping reservations by calling the Customer Service Center in Austin at (512) 389-8900 or by using the online reservation system: http://texas.reserveworld.com/. The shortest call center wait times are during afternoon hours Wednesday through Friday, and customer service representatives are available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. For same-day reservations please contact the park directly.
Watch the video news report about family camping workshops in Texas State Parks: http://youtu.be/-P4k8sHhmAE

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Leptacis bismarckensis är en stekelart som beskrevs av Peter Neerup Buhl 1997. Leptacis bismarckensis ingår i släktet Leptacis och familjen gallmyggesteklar. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

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Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has written to his Caricom colleagues, warning that plans are afoot to sow seeds of discord among Caricom member states, on the situation in Venezuela.
In the letter, the Prime Minister urged CARICOM to stand resolutely and unequivocally behind their Declaration of May 29th 2017.
The letter was written ahead of Monday's meeting of the OAS in Mexico.
Dr. Gonsalves declared that only Heads of State and Government of CARICOM possess the authority to amend or rescind authoritative decision of the Heads.
He said any usurpation of this authority would render CARICOM a laughing stock and make its Heads' decisions subject to a wholly unacceptable ambassadorial reconstruction.
During the recent meeting of the OAS in Washington DC, CARICOM countries took a united position and defeated attempts by a minority of OAS member states to pass a Resolution condemning Venezuela.
Dr. Gonsalves, in his letter to his colleagues, added that "St Vincent and the Grenadines sees no need to change the declaration, since the circumstances in Venezuela are precisely the same today as they were on May 29, 2017.
He said Venezuelans should be allowed to resolve their intense political conflicts or challenges by themselves, without unwarranted meddling.


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DIA's Yebin Reveals How She Went From Singing Only One Part In Their Songs To Entire Choruses
Even though she was the lead vocalist, she had to prove herself- here's how!
As the lead vocalist of the group, Yebin now sings the chorus for most of DIA's songs, but she recently revealed that it had not always been the case!
Yebin | @yeb1n_100/Instagram
Yebin recently sat down for an interview with KPOP IDOL OLYMPIC, where she talked about many things, including how she joined DIA, and also her time on the survival show, The Unit!
| MBK Entertainment
Among the topics discussed, Yebin talked about her debut with the group and shared how, at the time, she sang only one line in the whole song, despite being the lead vocalist.
I had one part in our debut song. I sing one line in the verse and I have no other parts.
—Yebin
She opened up about the embarrassment she felt about having only one part to sing, and revealed that it was ultimately encouragement and support from her parents that helped her get over her shame!
I was so embarrassed at myself. I try to take care of my emotions because of my parents. When I was having a hard time, they said, 'Think of when you used to wish you could just become a trainee. If you're unhappy because you don't have many parts in a song, you're not going to be happy no matter what you do in the future.'
I realized that I worked so hard for this, and my dream came true, so I shouldn't be shaken by something so small.
While her beginning wasn't exactly what she hoped for, Yebin's patience eventually bore fruit, and she got her chance to shine as a singer when DIA made their comeback with the song "On The Road"!
Also, while we were preparing for a song called "On The Road", the composer Lee Gi Yong Bae said to us, before the parts were decided, 'Go around and sing it once. I want Yebin to sing the chorus.'
I used to sing one line of the verse. He was suddenly telling me to sing the chorus all of a sudden.
I realized my hard work had come to shine. Since then, I've been singing the chorus for DIA's songs.
Yebin truly proved herself as a vocalist, and proved herself once more as recently made her solo debut with the single "Yes I Know".
Listen to her song here!


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TROY, Mich., Jan. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) today announced a planned expansion of its OEM suspension portfolio under its high-quality Euclid brand to include more than 1,450 parts covering multiple applications.
"Our warehouses now stock a wide selection of high-quality suspensions from a trusted brand that are designed and engineered for multiple applications," said Tyler Bernens, senior product manager, Suspension for Meritor.
The parts are backed by Meritor's standard, nationwide one-year parts warranty. Meritor has added cross-references, attributes, part images and visual search to www.MeritorPartsXpress.com. More information is available in the aftermarket suspensions section of Literature on Demand.


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Katawa Shoujo (japonsky かたわ少女, Katawa Šódžo) je vizuální román s prvky eroge od studia Four Leaf Studios. Vypráví příběh chlapce jménem Hisao, u kterého je objevena vrozená srdeční vada. Je přeložen na novou střední školu, kde potká několik spolužaček s různými tělesnými postiženími a začne s nimi vztah. Hra vznikla podle návrhu japonského dódžinši umělce Raita, který byl od roku 2007 rozvíjen skupinou nadšenců z imageboardu 4chan. Titul byl vydán 4. ledna 2012 zdarma. Šíří se oficiálně pomocí P2P sítí. Oficiální web je v češtině, hra samotná zatím lokalizaci nenabízí.

Postavy

Hisao Nakai
Hisao se dostal na několik měsíců do nemocnice poté, co utrpěl infarkt a byla u něj diagnostikována srdeční arytmie. Musí přejít na novou střední školu Yamaku, kde je pod zdravotním dohledem. Je zařazen do třídy 3-3 a ačkoli ze začátku má problém se se svou situací smířit, brzy si najde nové přátele.

Emi Ibarazaki
I přesto, že má obě nohy amputované pod koleny, je Emi jedna z nejveselejších a nejlehkovážnějších dívek nejen ve škole, ale možná i na celém světě. Emi nepropadla zoufalství ani po nehodě, která ji stála obě její nohy, a spíše než jako překážku vidí své postižení jako dar, který jí umožnil vyniknout v běžeckém týmu.

Hanako Ikezawa
Jako dítě utrpěla Hanako traumatickou zkušenost, která zanechala její život v troskách. Její otec zemřel při nešťastném požáru jejich domu a tento požár také Hanako navždy zohyzdil. Hanako je teď velice odtažitá a straní se ostatních lidí až do té míry, že začíná panikařit při jakékoli známce sociálního kontaktu. Její jedinou kamarádkou, které opravdu důvěřuje, je Lilly, která Hanako ochraňuje od té doby, co se navzájem poznaly.

Lilly Satou
Lilly je nevidomá od narození, ale je velmi starostlivá, zodpovědná a přátelská – přesný protějšek Hanako, své nejlepší kamarádky, se kterou sdílí nejen téměř mateřský vztah, ale i spoustu volného času stráveného společně pitím čaje. Ve škole je pilnou studentkou, jejíž sebedůvěra jí pomáhá v roli předsedkyně třídy 3-2.

Rin Tezuka
Jelikož má místo rukou jen pahýly kvůli vrozené vadě a následné operaci, používá Rin své nohy a občas ústa ke všemu, včetně malování. Rin ve škole nosí chlapeckou uniformu, protože kvůli jejímu postižení je pro ni obtížné nosit sukni. Rinina tvořivost se vyrovná jen jejímu smyslu pro filozofično: Rin se nestydí občas ztratit v myšlenkách a dát průchod abstraktním ideám o člověku, vesmíru a ostatních věcech.

Shizune Hakamichi
Shizune je od narození hluchá a komunikuje pomocí znakové řeči. Se svou neústupností a silnou vůlí je Shizune vůdcovský typ. Je předsedkyní studentské rady a předsedkyní třídy 3-3. Její nejlepší kamadádkou je Misha, která pro Shizune překládá konverzaci do znakové řeči.

Shiina "Misha" Mikado
Misha je Shiznunina tlumočnice a členka studentské rady. Misha je vždy veselá, má vlasy přebarvené narůžovo a snaží se Hisaa dostat do studentské rady.

Externí odkazy

 Oficiální webové stránky
 Katawa Shoujo na České databázi her

Vizuální romány
Videohry z roku 2012
Díla pod licencí Creative Commons


These fresh blue swim shoes are perfect for rocky beaches or super-sensitive tootsies. The elasticised ankle strap will ensure they stay in place, while the grip sole adds an extra-practical touch. Made with a nylon upper and a rubber sole, this piece is available in Navy and in sizes 22 to 32.


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MR&MRS FOX
Witty, mischievous and unexpected, this triple-storey restaurant brings great steak, fine seafood and a soufflé to die for to Quarry Bay.
Text by Mandy Li
Mr& Mrs Fox is nothing if not eye-catching. Located in one of the tallest buildings on the Quarry Bay block, the 12,000 sq ft restaurant sprawls across the bottom three levels of Swire's 28-storey Taikoo Place Apartments. The ground floor features a wine and snack bar (Mrs Fox) with a keg room and alfresco seating extending towards the pavement. On the first floor is a European-style, wooden dining hall (Mr Fox) where cheese and dessert carts roam, while the second floor houses a private dining room (the Den) hidden behind a secret door disguised as a bookcase. The entire space channels a mischievous, fox-like vibe that is sure to enchant customers.
Willem van Emden, general manager of Swire Restaurants, says the project's long lead time meant they had time to get the details right. "We had the privilege to start the project 18 months ago, while most other restaurants in Hong Kong have to finish everything in a few months," he said.
But it's not just for the design savvy. The menu is equally intriguing. Helming the kitchen is Joey Sergentakis, former chef de cuisine at Café Gray Deluxe (also part of the Swire group), who was entrusted with the project a year ago.
"My cooking has always been ingredient-centric – once I nail down the perfect produce, I can do whatever I want," Sergentakis says. Taking pride of place on his menu is the dry-aged 100 per cent Black Angus beef from Rangers Valley, Australia.
"It's one of the best steaks in the world," Sergentakis says. "It has great marbling rarely found in Black Angus. The farm rears them so lovingly that it can only produce a limited quantity. We are the only restaurant to be able to get hold of this beef in Hong Kong. It's definitely the item to go for if you are a first-timer here."
Once you've tried the beef, other dishes at Mr Fox include raw oysters, charcuterie, meat and seafood dishes and sides for the steaks. At Mrs Fox, the food is similar, but instead of main courses it offers more combos and small plates such as burgers, Reubens, salad and soup.
"We are here to serve the community, the [serviced apartment] residents and the 40,000 professionals working at Taikoo Place. We want them to enjoy the experience, come back and tell their friends to come – this is how we define success," van Emden says.
Shellfish Platter
We ordered the largest of the three sizes available and received a tower of seafood, mostly from sustainable sources, including oysters, mussels, lobsters, crab legs and spot prawns. We particularly enjoyed the oyster for its agreeable brininess and the natural sweetness of the crab legs. The only let-down was the lobster, which had an unwelcome bitterness coming through towards the end. However, that little flaw didn't spoil our mood and we couldn't wait to try other dishes.
Charcuterie Platter
The neatly arranged cured hams were a heartwarming sight. The line-up included Parma ham, chorizo, dry sausage and capicola, but our favourite was the speck, which was moist with a robust yet light flavour and just the right amount of fat. A special addition was foie gras terrine – flavoursome and substantial in texture, although perhaps a bit salty. Sergentakis inherited the terrine-making skill from his mentor, Daniel Boulud, and plans to make more when the facilities are ready.
BBQ Duck Consommé & Poached Foie Gras
Sergentakis likes to absorb new ways of cooking on his extensive travels and he has put this knowledge to good use in this consommé. He gives the soup an Asian touch with shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, ginger and lemongrass, and briefly poaches the foie gras in a Chinese master stock so the liver tastes complex while retaining a melt-in-the-mouth texture. We found the soup pleasingly herby, and we couldn't get enough of the foie gras.
Rangers Valley Bone-in Striploin
We had been looking forward to the steak all night and it lived up to expectations. As meaty and tender as it gets, the bone bestows a strong, gamey flavour to the meat during the 28-day dry ageing process, giving it a rustic, masculine taste. It carried a pleasing grilled aroma, but we'd prefer more intensive charring for a crispier crust and more contrast in texture to the juicy meat. We tried all the sauces provided, but returned to the naked version.
72% Araguani Chocolate Soufflé, Passion Fruit
Our meal ended on a high with an exceptional soufflé. Worth every second of the 20-minute wait, it arrived at the table perfectly risen and golden. We dug through the fox face decoration right to the bottom of the ramekin and from the first spoonful experienced a surge of sophisticated chocolate flavour in the mouth. The thick passionfruit juice on the side is sweet and tart, a dollop added zing to the dessert and took it to the next level. We'd come back just for this.
Mr & Mrs Fox
23 Tong Chong Street, Quarry Bay
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Against the Shadow | Forum | Midnight & RPGs | Games and Stories | Clarion Quietus (Moderator: Doomed Hero) | Topic: Quietus Clarion (IC)
Author Topic: Quietus Clarion (IC) (Read 323453 times)
Doomed Hero
Quietus Clarion (IC)
The Constant Drone
Arbor of the Witch Queen, Caradul, Erathor, Arc of Obares, Dusk
The slab of stone was old. One of the oldest things still in the world. Older even than herself, and she could feel her age like a mountain on her shoulders. She still tried to tell herself that it was never meant to be this way. She still held onto some piece of her youthful defiance, but the stone made such affirmations hollow.
She wasn't the first monarch to stand against the Shadow. Merely the last. It was strange to think back to the time when she was the skeptic and he the zealot. She had chided him every time he had taken the Low Road all the way to her arbor with another stack of stones. She teased him that paper was lighter and that messengers were faster, and that the Old Ways could have him here and back again before dinner, but his answers were always the same.
"Tha' journey is as important as tha' destination, lass. Ye don' get it because ye' cannae see it yet. You're na old enough. I always know how things 'r gonna end up, but I love t'be surprised by how I get there."
She would reply with scoffing laughter about how she was older than him by nearly double, and he would point one of those hard, thick fingers at her and say "Aye, but ah remember more. Gettin' old ain't always a matter o' time passin'."
And he'd hand her another stack of stones to add to the stacks he'd already given her. Thin, rectangular slabs with his perfectly chiseled writings across the faces, and short descriptions of events scratched into the sides. The instructions were simple. Don't read them until the events come to pass. he'd always told her that knowing the future was more of a curse than a blessing, but knowing the present and the past was the greatest gift a leader could have. She'd only not heeded his warning once. It led to some of the most difficult trials of her life, and, embarrassingly, a thorough chiding on the very next slab.
He was thousands of years dead now, and yet somehow he was still there with her every time she realized it was time to flip over another of his stones. He was still her confidante, her teacher, her most trusted advisor, and her best friend. Perhaps now her only friend. It was so hard to trust anymore, and so hard to relate to anyone, even her own people. The Whisper made the voices of the living so faint by comparison. Sometimes she had to have the spirits of the trees relay to her what had just been said by her own councilors while they were in the same room as she was. The worst part was that they had begun to notice. With every passing decade she was a little farther away from the here and now. Lost farther and farther in the past, or the future, or gazing through the eyes of some Avatar trying desperately to save a few more lives. The council had begun acting on it's own. Doubting her. Scared that she had finally become something less than mortal.
Not that mortal had ever really described her. She had tried to keep her mortal sensibilities through it all, but even the lives of her own people seemed so small now. The Lesser Fae were flickering candles. Humans mere sparks, flashing for a moment and then gone forever. He had told her they would come, and what they would do. She could not believe it at first. The idea that such reckless children could be so terrifyingly good at murder and destruction was laughable. he, of course, had been proven right. The worst part about it all was that she could have crushed them. Could have destroyed them all, utterly, and with such ferocity that they would have fled, never again to return. But she did not. She had let them come. Let them settle. Let them bring metal and war and all their disgusting notions of entitlement. Let them become so entrenched that it would take an act of the gods to rout them. She let them kill her people. She let them teach her people horrors they had never known. Through them, her people were changed.
Which was the point of it all. To prepare. She could not tell anyone. She had to simply let it happen. She had learned then that he was right. To know the future was a curse. To understand full well that the pain her people suffered at the hands of the humans was necessary.
Because it taught them what they needed to learn to survive what would come next.
That Act of God she had laughed about before. It came.
"What tha Humans will do is as nothin' t' what will come after. Th' Other Fae are in tha north, an' they won' make it through like we will. They won' run, and they won' listen. The Shadow will take them an' change them an' they'll wash down on us like a wave tha' never ends. "
Once he had been proven right, like he always was, once she had watched over and over as the stones guided her away from disaster after disaster, he was long dead. It didn't matter though. He knew that would happen, and she always asked him the same question anyway. She could hear that conversation every time she picked up one of these silly pieces of rock. "What do we do next?"
"It's gonna be tha Humans, lass. It's like gambling. Y' bet on the best odds. The Godswar ain't done. The Shadow's fell, but there's things that fell with 'im. Energies. Remnants. Echos of what's been lost, and it wants t' find it's way back home. It's gonna grab on t' th' moments when life sparks, and ride it out. See if they can make that kid grow up t' someone that can make a difference. An' if it don' work that time it's gonna try again. That's why th' Human's 'r important. They have lots o' kids."
"You really expect me just to sit back and wait for the humans to do everything for us?"
"Hells no! We try t' find 'em. Teach 'em. Get 'em t' understand. It's about preparin', an' survivin' long enough t' see the results."
"It hardly seems like enough."
"It will be fer you an' yours. The elves make it out o' this a lot better off than tha dwarves do."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you have t' teach yer people to hang on t' tha things that're important to 'em. It'll get 'em through. Mine, I gotta go an' set up ways t' destroy everything they love just t' make sure tha' they survive at all. Remember when we talked about tha Treaty? That's what it's about. My folk're gonna need help."
"How will I know when? The stones?"
"Oh... you'll know..."
He loved his cryptic answers. She shook her head as she stared at the latest stone. The Avatar had been dispatched to the Watch House of Kurgan. Another die cast. More lives thrown callously into the gears of the machine trying to destroy the world, hoping to slow them down long enough for a miracle to happen.
It's all gonna happen a lot faster now, lass. The stone read. Yer gonna have t' pay attention. They'll come t' you. All you gotta do is send 'em back an' clear the ruins. It's gonna git ugly while ya wait. The enemy's at the gates an' they're buildin' a monster t' chew down th' trees. The Dead City's 'bout ready t' march, an' there's a cauldron o' sickness in th' north that's gettin' ready t' boil over. Hold tight. Stand firm. Build boats.
"Build boats?" she sighed. Sometimes she wanted to figure out a way to bring him back just so she could strangle him with his own beard.
She looked out over the vastness of the forest. her eyes flicked through not only her own perceptions, but also those of her disciples scattered across the land. The black scar on the western horizon was faint today, but she could still feel the heat of the fires through the link with Leifan. It reminded her she needed to take a more personal hand in the Druid's search for a way of restoring the rainfall. To the north, the sky was pale. Tessara was watching the cancerous fortress north of Autilar. They wyverns were circling. Something had agitated them. A mere thought sent a message to Gweihir to dispatch two wings of sky knights to Silverthorn. The eagles did not like the cold, but they could endure it for a time, and the riders could keep them from fighting with the owls as long as they were all well fed. Rhiann was in a cave somewhere in the midlands. Human voices echoed from nearby, but nothing she could make out. It was cold. Bayal was whittling. Eirinn was holding her hand. For the moment, all was well.
Back in the arbor, the Queen smiled. At least one of her people was taking the time to relax and enjoy life. Here, she did not have the luxury. She, who had lived so long, never really seemed to have enough time, and now, apparently, there would be even less to spare. She set the stone down and closed her eyes, opening herself fully to the Whisper. It was like a song with a thousand choruses, all overlapping, but singing the same note. It was a song of warning. Different words about different events, but all with the same meaning. Death comes. A long, quiet hymn to remind her that this was the end of days and that unless she found that miracle she had sought for so long, she would be the last one alive to hear Aryth's death knell.
The last gasp of a dying world.
The Quietus Clarion.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2011, 12:54:38 PM by Doomed Hero » Logged
Jack Chick, Abdul Alhazred, and Aleister Crowley walk into a bar...
Re: Quietus Clarion (IC)
Baden's Bluff, Arc of Zimra, Fall
Gorse stood at the southern gates to Baden's Bluff staring down the road like he'd like to be able to kill it, creatively, just for existing. His quarry had managed to escape. He was not pleased. The Fallen Court had once again proven themselves more resourceful than he had expected. He could not follow. He was needed in the city, and he had a long day ahead of him torturing the few people he could find who might be able to tell him how Fallen Prophet had managed to escape.
Gorse would have sighed, but he no longer did things like that. The High Priest had made such things unnecessary. He looked to his latest apprentice, the one who had both shown promise and managed not to irritate him to the point where he needed to have his face twisted off.
"Go" he said, in a voice like the rasp of stone on bone.
His apprentice only nodded and began to walk.
Volstagg, Road of Ruin, Arc of Zimra, Fall
As far as orcish garrisons went, Volstag was one of the nicest. It had to do with it's location primarily. It sat directly in the middle of the main supply route. It was strategically important and was treated as such by General Grial. There were two garrisons nearby, but neither of them were as accommodating or as efficient. A lot of that had to do with Skarren, the hobgoblin quartermaster. He had a gift for organization, or perhaps an uncharacteristic ability to force some semblance of it out of the constantly changing violent chaos that typically embodied such places. Most hobgoblins slowly went mad or spoke out of turn and were killed by the larger, stronger and more volatile orcs. Skarren thrived here, and had the scars to prove it.
"You're the ssecond legate to come through here lately, and the ssecond one to demean yoursself to talking with uss gruntsss." the big, ugly hobgoblin said. "Usually the fortresss getss bypasssed, unlesss a horsse diess or a wagon breakss. The commander ssaid you actually assked for me. I'm flattered and all, but it doess make me curiousss how I got noticssed by the Order. Or do you jusst need sssome ssuppliess, and I'm misstaking my own importancsse again?"
Coyote777
Spell Energy / Taint +0/-0
Riddar swung himself off his horse, armored boots making a grating crunch as the full weight of his massive frame crashed against the ground. His joints creaked and pain momentarily shot through his right leg. He gritted his teeth to hide a grimace.
By the Shadow, even just ten years past, such a ride would have been nothing... He adjusted the reins of his steed, not favoring the hobgoblin with even a glance.
"We all are guilty of mistakes. When we are lucky, we live long enough to learn from them. As I think you may be able to see, my good steed Coal here is still very much alive. But he and I are neither as young as we used to be, and he's in need of grooming and a full feedbag, and I will do with a bowl of whatever sort of stew your cook has managed to invent, and a cup of ale to wash it down."
With that he turned towards the hobgoblin, his gray-whiskered and wrinkled face set like granite and his pale blue eyes cold.
"But for all this, I'm sure you have some lackey that can see to it with no degree of difficulty. As for my other business, it should prove simple enough. A quartermaster may know even better than a watchman or a commander what transpires within a fortress or on the road it sits. You and I will have a chat, and I will know of any travelers that came through here in past days. Of particular interest is this second legate you mentioned..."
The hobgoblin didn't grimace or even blink at the insinuation that his life might depend on this interaction. He just nodded and waved over a squad of orcish recruits. "Don't know if you really want the sstew. I think it'ss Cream of Dorn today. We'll find yyou ssomething more ssuitable to a human tongue. You lot! Food for Ssir Knight, and a ssstein of the commanderss ale. I find out your lipss crosssed a drop of it, I'll break your limbss and give you to the cook. You! Take thiss mount to the houndmasster. Get him off his asss and ensssure it has full care."
As the angry looking recruits growled and began to do as they were told, Skarren began to walk back to the supply yard. "Legate'ss name wass Illussstrian. One of the Sspeakers, I think. Csertainly talked enough for it. Hiss horsse went lame, sso he hung around here for a while then hitched a ride ssouth with a Gnome teamsster named Wendle."
« Last Edit: May 13, 2011, 11:18:23 AM by Doomed Hero » Logged
Riddar adjusted the straps of Razor's scabbard, hung across his back, and shook himself once to settle the plates of his fur-lined armor about his shoulders. With stiff, loping strides he kept a measured pace with the quartermaster.
"A Speaker... Tell me: Was he content preaching to your rabble, or was he more...inquisitive?"
"Hmm." The big hobgoblin says with a shrug as he looks at a detail stacking crates in his yard. "He did assk a lot of questionss, but mosst of them sseemed rhetorical. Truth be told, I wass happy to ssend him off with the Gnome. My job'ss hard enough without half my brainss devoted to anssswering pointless questionss. That'ss alwayss been the way of the Order though. Everything hass to be a big ssecret. Never really undersstood all that mysself. I prefer jusst ssaying what I need and why, and hurting people until I get it. Have to sstart with clarity of purposse firsst though, otherwisse you jusst make a messs."
Homp
Insurgent Spy
Volstagg was a far cry from what Kael was accustomed to. Military outposts such as this one lacked the diversity and color of the city and were much simpler to navigate than the winding corridors of Baden's bluff, not that Kael was complaining. With it's central positioning along one of the more prominent supply routes, Volstagg was an excellent candidate to supply information that may aid his search.
The quartermaster would deal with anyone who brought anything in or out... he thought to himself as he passed through the front gate. Having been pointed towards a particularly scarred hobgoblin, Kael approached, stopping short of him and the large man he spoke with.
Silently he stood waiting until he would have the quartermaster's attention.
Kael Combat Data
"It appears our Brother Speaker is not the only one with a gift for the rhetorical. But it seems at least that you and I share certain sentiments."
Riddar turned back towards the keeps' gate, staring through narrow eyes to the road beyond.
"South, you say...? I will need that bowl of stew and cup of ale soon. Make doubly sure that Coal is well-fed and given a grooming. We will not stay past the hour and tax your poor brains any further. ... Hah, although it appears you are quite popular this afternoon, quartermaster."
"I'm alwayss popular. It happenss when you're asss pretty asss I am."
The big hobgoblin turned toward the newcomer, giving him the once over. He paused for a moment, his keen mind moving as his oversized slitted eyes narrowed. "Not often you ssee a human sstanding around in the middle of Vorssstuk without a worry or care, essspecially one without any kind of identification or demandss. You're not here for ssuppliess. Who you looking for?"
"I was told that you're the quartermaster for this garrison..." Kael said casually as he reached his hand into his pocket.
"And I'm looking for information on anyone who's come through here recently who may have seemed unfamiliar."
As he spoke, Kael drew a symbol of the dark lord from his pocket, presenting it to the hobgoblin like an identifier.
The hobgoblin looked down at the symbol in the newcomer's hand, and reached out to take a closer look at it. As soon as he made contact with it he stiffened and pulled his hand a moment later with a hiss of pain. Shaking his hand a bit his eyes widened. "Well *&% me running..."
"You're about three minutesss late to the party. Ssomething tellss me you and Ssir Knight here sshould talk. Ow."
As the hobgoblin spoke, Kael's eyes drifted from the scarred creature in front of him to the large man with whom the quartermaster had been conversing.
"Very well, but I would still like to see any logs you keep of everyone that has stopped at this garrison to deliver or pick up supplies in the past month."
Placing they symbol back in his pocket, Kael turned to face the legate. It was easy to see that this particular servant of the shadow was for no part lacking in experience or resolve. Regardless, the motives and opinions of the order were of no real concern to Kael either way.
"So... What brings you through Volstagg?" he inquired with an uninterested tone, and the hint of a smirk.
Road of Ruin, Redwind, North of Swift Water, Arc of Obares, Afternoon
Father Astegar Cormann was in a foul mood. The townsfolk the pair had spoken to had dropped hints that the cheerful Legate who had come through the day before had performed a beautiful harvest ceremony, even going so far as to attend the funeral of the sacrifice and bless her passage to Izrador. Father Cormann had never done any such thing. It hadn't seemed strange before now, but the thing about revelations is that once revealed, it is impossible to go back. The people seemed to be beginning to grasp that Astegar was a sick, old wretch of a man, and Astegar seemed to know that if he wanted to maintain his station he was going to have to do much, much more for the wretched people of Redwind.
"Illustrian. His name was Illustrian. Damned fool made a mockery out of everything I've built here. The people were complacent. Dulled. Productive. They had even worked a lottery out among themselves to feed the needs of my mirror. They came willingly. Do you have any idea how rare that is? I did not have to send out guards to collect a sacrifice. I did not have to resort to any of the usual methods. They came to me. Next month I would stake my office that there will be resistance. Within three I'll have to resort to unsavory methods just to do my duty. It's all his fault isn't it? I knew he was fishy. I knew it! What did he do?"
Kael was amazed at how anyone who was as seemingly ill-equipped as Father Cormann could stay in power for as long as he had..
This is the legate charged with keeping order in Redwind?
Kael shot a quick, but unconcerning glance towards his new traveling partner before returning his attention to the old man standing before them.
"and who was this Illustrian with? Did he say where he was going?
"I was not troubled with the details of his traveling companions. N'er-do-wells and blasphemers, no doubt. Two of my acolytes met with them. Boy!" The sallow-faced priest barked. "Was it you who met with Legate Illustrian?"
"I am Tim, Father, and no. It was Hans." a lanky child in his early teens said with a small bow.
"Bah. Names. You're all Boy to me. Where is he?"
"Here, Father Cormann." An older youth said coming out of the cloister, handing the other boy a broom and shooing him out of the disgusting Legate's presance. "How can I serve?"
"Illustrian! What kinds of brigands did he travel with?"
"A gnome. Slightly older. Balding and fat. Two humans as well. One tired looking. Sandy hair. Otherwise unremarkable. The other was a wall of a man. As big and thick as an Orc. The humans went on ahead to Swift Water when Illustrian asked the gnome to delay his journey to accommodate the harvest dedication."
"Rode on ahead,you say?" Astegar said with a squinting sneer. "Suspicious. Very suspicious. What kind of men would leave a town just before an important religious observance? Truly blasphemers, no doubt."
"To swiftwater? Does anything else important lie between here and there?"
Kael found himself pausing for a moment, wondering if there was any useful information left that the old man could possibly offer them. His gaze stay locked on the old man as if Kael were trying to stare directly through him, but his change in tone, from inquisitive to passive and empty made it clear that he was no longer speaking to the defeated priest, but to the legate standing beside him.
"Satisfied?" he said in a soft voice, knowing in his mind that regardless of the answer, their next move was already set.
"Oh, don't leave just yet!" Astegar said with a wide eyed grin that split the sores at the corners of his eyes. "My humble church is blessed to have been the closest mirror to a nexus of heathen magics recently found and drained by the Maleficarum himself. The Ormelac arrived yesterday. The ceremony will be tonight during the Hour of God. We are hoping that this will be pleasing enough to God that our mirror will become fully blooded. Imagine, a Blood Mirror in little Redwind!" The old priest chuckled proudly.
"The sacrifice is very... worthy." he continued with a leer. "Sir Knight, you may, of course, partake of her if you wish."
The Fleshcrafter's Manor, outside Swiftwater, Arc of Obares, night, rising fog
Rash'Gar had felt it before. Like icy water sliding just beneath his skin. He had enough time to send out a fearful impulse to Xein through their bond, and then he was an observer in his own body. It didn't matter that most of his earliest memories were of this happening, over and over again, with varying degrees of painful success. Every time the master's servant pushed itself into his mind it was a shock that left him whimpering in the tiny recess of himself that was still self aware.
He watched as his body rushed from the kennel, leaping over the sleeping bodies of his parents. He heard his own howl, fierce and full of alarm. The guards turned as words not his own ripped themselves past his lips.
"Out of the way you damn fools!"
"Nothing passes, beast." The guard said quickly with competent concern "The
master is in audien-"
And then he was dead. Rash'Gar nearly missed how it happened, even from inside, but he still tasted the blood in his mouth. The other guard yelled in alarm and whipped his spear down, but the thing in Rash'Gar's skin was far too fast. The spearhead was snapped off and slammed through the front of the other guard's visor with strength and speed that Rash'Gar could only dream of one day possessing.
"Idiots." his lips growled as his body rushed through the door and up the elaborate staircase.
On all fours, muscles tearing under the unnatural strain the creature possessing his body was putting them under, Rash'Gar felt himself half run, half crash through the heavy oaken doors to the master's study.
"Skinner! I lost her!" his lips snarled with a familiarity he himself would never dream of using. "Cara's free..."
Xein felt the fear rip into him, knocking him out of his dreamless sleep. Rash'Gar was in trouble.
The bond felt dampened, and another presence was there. Something powerful, intelligent and darkly blessed. Skindancer. The master's Astirax. Xein was supposed to respect it but mostly he hated it for what it could do to Rash'Gar. He knew the master's whole plan hinged on what Xein had helped Dancer learn to do, but it still made him feel disgusted. He would pray forgiveness later. For now he needed to find out what was wrong. Through the subdued bond Xein picked out the flashes of insight he needed. Despite Skindancer's presence he still felt out the direction.
The manorhouse. Rash'Gar was in the manorhouse.
Luiniel Blades
Avatar of the Witch Queen
"Inch towards daylight"
Springing to his feat Xein began to run. He knew the grounds well and maneuvered his way to the Manor through the quickest path. He bounded into the manor past the bodies of two unfortunate guardsman who'd been torn to shreds.
Izrador damn you Skindancer, if you've caused him any harm! Xein hated astiraxes, he didn't trust them. He hated Skindancer more for what it did to Rash'Gar, he thought that the demon sometimes took Rash'Gar's body simply for fun. He could do nothing about it however, it was the Masters Astirax, all he could do was obey. He knew he was close as he followed the bond
Xein slowed as he neared the Masters study. Breathing heavily he entered through the already open doors, consequences be damned he would not be dismissed easily in this.
Currently reading: Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series; The Hero of Ages.
The Fleshcrafter's Study, Inside the Manor, Arc of Obares, night
Lord Skinner's manorhouse was old. Pre-war. No architect still alive had the skill to design such a place. No carpenters could ever build it. It was a place unconcerned with the realities of the present. It was made entirely of wood with windows galore. No thought to the possibility of a pack of Fell sneaking past the outer walls. All the windows were glass, some stained and glowing with color from the light within, some clear as finest crystal. A treasure unheard of today.
When the pair got close enough to see the grandure of the place through the rising fog they could not help but stare for a moment. The patterning and filigree made every surface dance as the shadows shifted making the house seem much like a living thing, it's skin faintly rippling as it slept.
The guards were efficiently professional, asking the right questions and keeping them under a two person guard while a third fetched the Keeper of the House.
He was a tall, spindly Dornishman in a coat of very old fashion. Long tails behind, a white bow in front, and pristine white gloves that drew the eye to his extraordinarily long, dexterous fingers. He introduced himself as Hans and brought them through a massive entryhall, up one side of an impressive set of curving staircases to a sitting room lined with ancient cabinetry of richly stained cherrywood. Everywhere they looked was a masterfully made peice of scrimshaw ranging from tiny carved teeth to a monstrous glass-topped table who's base was carved from a great skeletal hand, etched with spirals and stained nearly black, that could only have come from an ancient dragon.
The portraits that hung between the cabinets were of the unsettling kind that seemed to be looking at the observer, so detailed were the eyes and the soft leather upholstered chairs they sat in were high-backed, warm, and far more comfortable than they had expected. The soft padding was so fine that it gently conformed to their bodies when they sat, it's consistency more like gel than cotton.
When the master of the house came for them they were surprised to see that he himself was remarkably unelaborate. He wore a dimly made evening jacket over a plain white shirt with the collar of a priest. Save for his polished shoes and belt he was unadorned. Even his dark-horned rosary was made of ivory rather than metal. The only striking thing about him was his face.
The man was perfect. His eyes crystal clear without a hint of line or bag, his brow unfurrowed, his chin strong, his jaw square. His cheekbones gave his face just the right amount of shape without hollowing it and his mouth, set in a slight smile, was kind. His skin carried neither scar nor blemish and his light brown hair was immaculate with only a hint of beginning to recede, adding a bit of age and gravity to an otherwise youthful appearance.
He had introduced himself with a firm handshake and brought them into his study. At first the pair was concerned at the number of books so openly displayed, but they quickly realized that every last one of them was a copy of the Book of Shadows.
Lord Skinner had listened to their tale with quiet interest, sipping from his bone-carved goblet, nodding and asking for an occasional point of clarity. When the finished he nodded and stood to look out the window toward the glow of the town of Swift Water, only barely visible through the fog.
"...and you say this prophet is, or was, here? Traveling with a member of the clergy? Illustrian, was it? I am afraid no one fitting that description has presented themselves to me," Lord Skinner said with thoughtful articulation, "and while I do have servants in the town to watch for things of intrest, an Erenlander traveling with a gnomish wagoner is fairly common. It is this priest you speak of which is the odd element. No entourage or guard, alone with these commoners? Quite out of the ordinary for a priest. Are you certain this Illustrian has not gone Pale?"
Riddar shifted in his seat, his bones creaking as the plates of his mail ground together. One articulated edge of his cuisse ripping one soft tear in the padded leather chair. He paid it no mind.
"There is quite precious little to be certain of. I am no Inquisitor. My charge is not to judge, only to catch. From other reports, this Illustrian attends to the common's needs. When the common's needs are met, they are far more docile. More...willing and ardent to win the Shadow's favor. Were this more so, perhaps my order would not be so...necessary. If this Illustrian is found to be in the Shadow's favor, that is so. If not, that will also be so.
The old soldier leaned back in the chair, face relaxing but eyes still fixed on the manor lord.
"Forgive me however for boring you with such philosophizing. But as I said, questions of intent are far less important than useful information. There may have been two others of note. One sandy-haired and rundown. The other a man the size and shape of an orc. Also, it is entirely likely the Father stopped to preach and sermonize to the commons. Perhaps your diligent servants noted any of this...?
Hans, Lord Skinner's manservant, was somehow standing quietly by the opposite door to the study. Neither Riddar or Kael had noticed the door open or close despite it being directly across the room from them, so it was impossible to tell how long the tall man had been there.
Lord Skinner seemed unperturbed by his servant's stealthy entrance and stopped his reply mid breath to raise an eyebrow and ask "Yes, Hans. What is it."
"Forgive the intrusion, Lord." Hans said with a slight bow. "One Father Illustrian is awaiting an audience."
Lord Skinner turned back towards his guests with a wry smile. "Hmm. How fortuitous. Show him in."
Kael tried his best to hide his surprise at the servants entrance. He was shocked to be caught off guard by such unassuming man, but quickly dismissed his presence as he spoke. Despite his upbringing, the more recent nature of his work had made Kael inpatient at times to the etiquette and lull of these social interactions and he frequently found his mind drifting to desires to keep moving. The lord however seemed someone of importance and it would be in Kael's best interest to act courteously.
Once Hans had said his piece however, Kael's mind snapped back into focus. "Now we might be getting somewhere." he thought to himself, knowing that Illustrians presence signified a definitive step closer to finding the prophet. Content now knowing that the time spent stopping here would not have been a waste, Kael allowed himself to relax back into his chair while his gaze fixed upon the door the priest would soon enter.
For the first time since leaving Baden's Bluff, Kael felt a thin smile growing across his face. "It would seem we showed up just in time."


text:
Q: Разница между typing.Any и ellipsis В чём разница между typing.Any и ...? Эквивалентны ли они в данном случае?
import typing

def foo(x: ...):
    pass

def bar(x: typing.Any):
    pass

foo(42) # No warning in PyCharm
bar(42) # No warning in PyCharm

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Дональд Арвид «Дон» Нельсон (; родился 15 мая 1940 года в Маскигоне, Мичиган, США) — американский профессиональный баскетболист и тренер. Нельсон занимает второе место по количеству побед в регулярном сезоне среди всех тренеров в истории НБА - 1335 (он удерживал рекорд по количеству побед почти 12 лет). Он тренировал «Милуоки Бакс», «Нью-Йорк Никс», «Даллас Маверикс» и «Голден Стэйт Уорриорз». Он был назван одним из 10 лучших тренеров в истории НБА. Член Зала славы баскетбола с 2012 года.

Ранние годы
Сын Арвида и Агнес Нельсон, Дон Нельсон рос вместе со своей семьей и двумя сестрами на сельской ферме своего деда в штате Иллинойс недалеко от Шеррарда, штат Иллинойс. Он учился играть в баскетбол на птичьем дворе, где велосипедное колесо без спиц прибивали к сараю, чтобы сделать корзину. Нельсон учился в однокомнатной школе с шестью классами и семью учениками. Когда его семья потеряла ферму, Нельсоны переехали в близлежащий Рок-Айленд, штат Иллинойс, где Дон учился в средней школе. Его отец Арвид работал в Рок-Айлендском арсенале.

Нельсон учился в средней школе Рок-Айленда в Рок-Айленде, один из «Четырех городов». Окончив школу в 1958 году, Нельсон совместно с командой «Рокс», под руководством тренера Боба Райли, достиг результата 47-7. Он набрал 39 очков и 20 подборов в игре против средней школы Молин и 30 очков и 29 подборов против средней школы Оттавы, занимавшей первое место в рейтинге. В младшем возрасте Нельсон набирал в среднем 12,6 очков. В старшем возрасте Нельсон набирал в среднем по 20,2 очков и в 1957–58 годах помог команде Рок Айленд добиться результата 22–4.

Карьера в колледже (1959-1962)
Будучи второкурсником ростом 6 футов 6 дюймов под руководством тренера Шуермана в Университете Айовы, Нельсон в среднем делал дабл-дабл из 15,8 очков и 10,0 подборов, и в 1959-1960 годах Айова окончила с результатом 14-10. В 1960-1961 годах Нельсон набирал в среднем 23,8 очка и 10,6 подборов, а Айовский университет занял второе место в конференции Big Ten с результатом 18-6.

Нельсон набирал в среднем 21,1 очко (1522) и 10,9 подборов (784) за 72 игры в составе Айовского университета.

Спортивная карьера
Как игрок выступал на позициях лёгкого форварда и тяжёлого форварда за команды «Чикаго Зефирс» (ныне «Вашингтон Уизардс»), «Лос-Анджелес Лейкерс» и «Бостон Селтикс», в составе последнего пять раз становился чемпионом НБА. Тренировал клубы «Милуоки Бакс», «Голден Стэйт Уорриорз», «Нью-Йорк Никс» и «Даллас Маверикс», а также национальную мужскую сборную США на чемпионате мира 1994 года, где американцы выиграли золотые медали.

В 1996 году Нельсон был включён в символический список из 10 величайших тренеров НБА. Три раза, в 1983, 1985 и 1992 годах, он был удостоен приза лучшему тренеру года в НБА. 7 апреля 2010 года Нельсон установил рекорд по количеству побед в НБА, одержанных клубами под его руководством — 1333, опередив Ленни Уилкенса. После этого выиграл ещё два матча в НБА. В марте 2022 года рекорд Нельсона превзошёл многолетний тренер «Сан-Антонио Спёрс» Грегг Попович (1336 побед).

7 сентября 2012 года Нельсон был введён в Зал славы баскетбола.

Статистика

Статистика в НБА

Примечания

Ссылки
 Профиль на сайте Зала славы баскетбола

Баскетболисты США
Игроки «Айова Хокайс» (баскетбол)
Игроки «Чикаго Зефирс»
Игроки «Лос-Анджелес Лейкерс»
Игроки «Бостон Селтикс»
Баскетбольные тренеры США
Тренеры «Милуоки Бакс»
Тренеры «Голден Стэйт Уорриорз»
Тренеры «Нью-Йорк Никс»
Тренеры «Даллас Маверикс»
Баскетболисты НБА с неиспользуемыми номерами
Члены Зала славы баскетбола


Wherever heavy duty connectors are required to support shear loads between two structures yet have the ability to be withdrawn to permit the structures to move, EARLE Lock Bar Operators have proved their value time and time again. This weatherproof, self-contained operator requires minimal maintenance and provides repeatable, trouble-free service.
Standard units are available in strokes up to 28 inches and may be adapted to accommodate even longer strokes. The operators are assembled from standard parts, stocked by Steward, and are readily available for new installations as well as replacement purposes.
Linear movement is achieved through an Acme lead screw and a driven, captive nut. Both members are packed with lubricant and totally enclosed, well protected and not exposed to contamination of foreign materials in the environment.
Repeated, accurate travel is controlled by enclosed, protected limit switches that are tripped by the lock bar. The units are completely shop assembled, adjusted and tested so that field installation time is minimized. A safety interlock is provided to prevent accidental starting of the motor while the unit is being operated with the emergency hand drive.
The lock bar operator includes a motor and brake, reduction gearing and limit switches in one weatherproof, self-contained assembly.
Gearing consists of double reduction generated helical gears of heat treated alloy steel. Anti-friction bearings are used throughout. The unit is provided with a removable hand crank for manual operation and a removable protective cover for the shaft end. The reduction gears and ACME thread produce a lock bar travel speed of approximately 1.5″ per second.
A superior quality high starting torque, induction type "D" flange motor is used. This, 1675 RPM, 3 phase, 60 hertz, 208 – 240/480 volt, NEMA design D, frame B145TDZ, TENV Motor has a 15-minute duty rating and is equipped with a 3 ft.-lb. marine duty brake with manual release and safety interlock switch. It is a totally enclosed, non-ventilated, ball bearing motor designed especially for outdoor applications subject to adverse weather conditions.
Travel by the lock bar in each direction is governed by a two pole, snap-action limit switch. These provide two normally open and two normally closed contacts for each length of travel. A safety interlock switch is included, which when properly wired into the motor controller circuits, interrupts power to the lock bar motor. This prevents accidental operation of the lock bar and possible injury to personnel when the hand crank is used.
All parts of the operator are designed in accordance with ASSHTO Standard Specifications for movable Highway Bridges and AREMA Specifications for Movable Railway Bridges 1989.
The EG-2B and its predecessor the EG-2 have been in service on bridges and other applications for over 50 years. These units are still perfect for shorter stroke and smaller envelope applications. Current production units have the benefit of many refinements to the originals but still maintaining the original mounting dimensions and envelopes. All EG-2B have 1.5 hp. motors with 3 ft. lb. brakes. The units are rated for 8800 lbs. of push or pull thrust at 50% of the stall torque of the motor.
The EARLE EG-3 Lock Bar Operator is intended for use in applications that will frequently be subjected to heavier loads and more rigorous duty cycles. Very wide bascule leafs, those carrying six or more lanes of traffic, as well as installations in which the guides and receivers are widely separated and 5 x 8 in., 6 x 9 in. or where even larger lock bars are required, are typical examples for use of EG-3 units.
Additional strength and rugged support for the reaction forces, caused by the passage of vehicular traffic, has been built into the forward guide that is incorporated into the steel casting which encloses the lock bar stem/lock bar pin connection and adjustable limit switches. A wide, high strength bronze guide bushing located in the bar guide cover ensures more than adequate capacity for support of the live loads. The installed EG-3 operator is a stiffer and more rugged assembly because of the greater number of larger diameter mounting bolts located in the vicinity of its forward guide. This operator can be supplied for strokes up to 28 inches.
Generally the drive motor specifications are similar to the motors used for EG-2B operators. We can also furnish 3 or 5 HP motors on EG-3 units.
Like the EG-2B, the EG-3 can be mounted in any position, including upside down. The gear housing can be rotated 90 for reduced height installations.
The Earle EG-4 and EG-4XL are trunnion-mounted linear actuators utilizing the same rugged system as the other EG operators. The 1-7/8 inch diameter (2-1/4 in diameter on the XL) is driven by the same 2 inch diameter acme screw drive system used on the EG-2B and EG-3. The EG-4XL has a larger diameter bar for longer strokes. The rod and threaded stem are machined from one piece of high strength steel bar stock. Two pole, snap action, lever type limit switches acting on the rod inside the stem guide housing are provided to control the stroke of the rod. The housings and rods are built to order so strokes from 15 inches to 25 inches can be accommodated easily. Shorter strokes are accomodated by simply adjusting the limit switches. The stem housing is fabricated steel incorporating a bronze rod guide and fully machined 1-1/2 inch diameter trunnions. The rod guide is lubricated using a provided button-head fitting. The standard rod end is 1-1/2 inch diameter male thread. However, spherical rod ends, clevis connections, or other options are available. The EG-4 and EG-4XL, like all EG operators, can be mounted in any position, including upside down. In addition, the drive assembly can be mounted 180 degrees from the position shown. Steward can also design and fabricate special trunnion supports with spherical bearings, as shown in the photo above.
For service as span locks on bridges, the EG-4 and EG-4XL are compatible with Earle Cushionloks guides and receivers. An additional rear guide is used to control the bar completely isolate the operator from the reactions of lock bar.
The EG-4 and EG-4XL are available in three thrust capacities. The thrust rating is the same for push and pull.


text:
Home Health Study details machinery of immune protection against inflammatory diseases like colitis
Study details machinery of immune protection against inflammatory diseases like colitis
Scientists report a protein made by a gene already associated with a handful of human inflammatory immune diseases plays a pivotal role in protecting the intestinal tract from colitis.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators led the research, which points to possible new strategies for combating colitis. Colitis is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with colon damage, resulting in abdominal pain, bleeding and other symptoms.
The work also expands the link between the Nlrp3 protein and Crohn's disease, said Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, Ph.D., assistant member of the St. Jude Department of Immunology and the paper's senior author. Md. Hasan Zaki, Ph.D., a St. Jude postdoctoral fellow, is first author of the study, which appears in the March 18 online edition of the journal Immunity.
Researchers demonstrated that in a mouse model of colitis, Nlrp3 plays a pivotal role in keeping the intestinal tract intact, thus preventing further damage that occurs if intestinal bacteria leak into the body. Nlrp3 works by anchoring a large, multi-protein complex known as the Nlrp3 inflammasome where the messenger protein interleukin 18 (IL-18) is made. IL-18 belongs to a family of molecules known as cytokines, which shape the body's immune response. In this study, researchers showed IL-18 produced by the Nlrp3 inflammasome helped mice maintain healthy colon by triggering production of more epithelial cells to compensate for those damaged or destroyed by colitis.
"This paper provides the basis for more effective, potentially disease-modifying approaches to treatment," Kanneganti said. She added that in this study, scientists showed the specific pathway activated in the epithelial cells lining the colon for IL-18 production.
Previous studies linked changes in the NLRP3 gene to several auto-inflammatory problems in which a person's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. The gene is part of the body's innate immune response. That is the branch of the immune system programmed to act immediately against infectious diseases and other threats.
"I believe if we target molecules that are part of the innate immune response we can find cures for many diseases, including cancer," Kanneganti said. She and her colleagues focused on Nlrp3 in colitis after reports that patients with Crohn's disease, another disorder characterized by chronic intestinal inflammation, had low levels of the protein.
In a series of experiments, scientists demonstrated that the Nlrp3 inflammasome not only helps protect against chemically induced colitis in mice, but also showed how and where in the body the protection occurred. The researchers demonstrated that in response to colitis, the Nlrp3 inflammasome is activated in the epithelial cells lining the colon, where IL-18 can be produced.
Investigators also established that IL-18 is crucial for protecting the colon from colitis. In fact, researchers reported that injecting IL-18 into mice that lacked the molecule eased colitis symptoms.
The other authors of this study are Kelli Boyd, Peter Vogel and Michael Kastan (all St. Jude) and Mohamed Lamkanfi (Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium).
This research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and ALSAC.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Ranked the No. 1 pediatric cancer hospital by Parents magazine, St. Jude is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children, and has treated children from all 50 states and from around the world. St. Jude has developed research protocols that helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancer from less than 20 percent when the hospital opened to almost 80 percent today. St. Jude is the national coordinating center for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. In addition to pediatric cancer research, St. Jude is also a leader in sickle cell disease research and is a globally prominent research center for influenza.
Founded in 1962 by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world, publishing more research articles than any other pediatric cancer research center in the United States. St. Jude treats more than 5,400 patients each year and is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. St. Jude is financially supported by thousands of individual donors, organizations and corporations without which the hospital's work would not be possible. For more information, go to www.stjude.org.
Link found between gut bacteria, successful joint replacement
Life & Non-humans
Sterile males successfully suppress mosquitoes in China


The field of landscape photography can be difficult to master because it involves both creativity and technical skills. In addition, a photographer's development is often non-linear. Some may easily grasp the technical side of photography, while others pick up post-processing more quickly. Some are extremely creative, but have a difficult time with a more technical thought-process. This page provides you with tools to help you improve your photography development in each of these areas.
Note: The path to becoming a skilled landscape photographer is not always direct. Your development will likely alternate back and forth between the four different categories listed below.
When you first get started in landscape photography, at the bare minimum, you need three pieces of equipment: a camera, a normal zoom lens (24-70mm), and a tripod. Many other pieces of equipment are nice to have and you will eventually need more to produce great photographs, but these three items are enough to start developing your skillset as a photographer. Besides a mastery of your equipment, you'll also need to understand the role light, terrain, and weather play in landscape photography. This understanding will dramatically increase your chances of coming away with a stunning image.
Exposure refers to whether or not your image is too dark or too bright. An image with a correct exposure has more of an impact to the viewer. One of the first things you should learn as a photographer is how to go beyond auto-exposure shooting… how to take control of the exposure rather than simply relying on the camera's auto settings. Exposure compensation is an easy way to adjust an incorrect exposure; you should know how to manipulate it up or down to make images lighter or darker. The following are important to know in regards to exposure.
In manual mode, you control everything (shutter speed, aperture, and ISO) rather than relying on the camera's algorithms. If you're not comfortable using manual mode, this should be a first priority in regards to developing your skill set.
Once you're comfortable with manual mode, learn about your camera's metering modes: center metering, evaluative metering, and auto metering… what each does and how it impacts the photo you're shooting for.
Become familiar with using the histogram on the back of your camera to determine the correct exposure for your image. The setting changes you make based on the histogram will determine the look of the next image you shoot.
After you have mastered basic exposure settings and histogram reading, you should have the skills and confidence needed to try bracketing. Bracketing allows you to capture the entire dynamic range of the scene you're trying to shoot.
How to manipulate focus using all focus points, a single focus point, or just the center focus point. It's very important to understand how each focus point method works, what each accomplishes (or doesn't accomplish), and how sensitive each is.
Explore the use of mirror lockup and time release features. Both of these help to prevent camera shake and allow for the sharpest images possible for your camera.
How to put your camera in tracking mode to capture a moving subject (such as a bird flying across the sky) while maintaining a sharp focus.
The principles of hyperfocal distance. Although the concept of hyperfocal distance is easy to understand, implementing it is much more complicated and takes a great deal of practice. We recommend that you read up on this topic and practice applying it.
How to use focus stacking for macro photography and wide-angle shots. Focus stacking is the process of taking multiple images at different focal points and then combining those images later. The Live View feature (if your camera has it), is incredibly useful in achieving a good focus stack image.
As a landscape photographer, you must be able to recognize the variety of light conditions you'll encounter in the field. These range from a very high dynamic range (where you're challenged to capture a photo with a properly exposed foreground and a properly exposed sky) to soft light conditions (such as in a fog where the light is so muted it makes every photo look dull). Knowing that your camera alone cannot capture these images properly, you must be familiar with other photography equipment and techniques (bracketing, GND and ND filters, circular polarizers, diffusers, and reflectors) that allow you to manipulate or control the light effectively.
Start-to-Finish Photoshop Tutorial for photo stacking to create stunning noise free images for night photography.
Workflow Series eBook and Lightroom Tutorial bundle for capturing and processing majestic landscape photos with mountains.
I am going to Yellowstone National Park. What should I shoot?
We never decide to go to a location and then find something to shoot. Instead, we research and find the best location to visit at the time of year that we are making our travel plans. For example, if we plan to travel in autumn, we research the best locations to photograph fall colors during that time. This maximizes our chances of success.
Besides seasonal patterns, we also look for tide times, sunrise and sunset times, terrain, and more to help us select the best possible shooting location. One key thing to remember… nature is not predictable. The best laid plans can be foiled by a drought, flood, or unusual weather pattern. It's best to be flexible and to check the current conditions when you arrive at your location.
At its core, landscape photography is all about determining and developing your workflow. We define workflow in this context simply as the set of steps you follow in order to actualize whatever image you may envision. Not only does a solid workflow include photography skills (technical know-how, compositional strategies, and post-processing ability), but more often than not, it also requires out-of-the box thinking to help you overcome the challenges you may face because of local elements.
While the technical aspects of your workflow will always be limited by available technology, creativity is one aspect of photography that has no limitations. By establishing a strong workflow, you can worry more about being creative and less about the limitations of your technology. New gadgets and software will always come and go, but establishing your own creative process is a lifelong learning experience.
The basic rules of composition are a common, and important, lesson. But it is equally important to know when to break those rules. Your goal as a photographer should be to come away with a photo that produces an impact on its viewers. The rules of composition alone don't guarantee your photographic success.
Composition, color, and mood go hand-in-hand. Color & mood are a vital part of nature and, for landscape photographers, using them is just as important as following the rules of composition.
Even when following the rules of composition, your image may contain distracting or unwanted elements. One of the first things we do when we arrive at a location is to decide what not to photograph along with what we want to photograph.
Perception is what tells you, as a photographer, how others see your images. Understanding how images are analyzed or knowing how the brain categorizes things gives you an advantage in creating an impact with your photographs. To learn more about how the brain works, we recommend some reading on Gestalt principles. These principles explain how the brain breaks a scene down into simple parts. If you're able to do this, you'll be able to create incredibly impactful images.
With perception, you also must be able to clearly define your point of interest. A viewer shouldn't have to ask, "What is this photographer trying to tell me? Is it about the lady bug, the flowers, or the mountain in the background?" The viewer's attention should be clearly drawn to the true point of interest.
You may have polished all of your technical photography skills, but sometimes that's not enough when you're out in the field. With landscape photography, you can't always control your environment. When nature isn't cooperating as you planned, you must be able to think outside the box and come up with some unusual techniques. You must also be prepared for difficult lighting situations. For example, you may expect the golden hours to provide you with brilliant skies and gorgeous colors but when this doesn't happen, you have to deal with the light you're given. It may be flat blue skies… it may be stormy weather. Be prepared to use your creativity to still come away with an impactful photograph.
You also must have artistic techniques available in case a new opportunity presents itself. Try panning your camera to create unusual images. Try a different perspective by shooting from an unusual angle… from on top, below, or even through something. Try shooting through raindrops… or even shooting the raindrops themselves rather than the scene around them. Some other techniques we've used… shooting reflections… capturing just the light itself… showing how water bounces off of a rock… or simply the splash of waves on a beach. These types of artistic techniques can enormously increase your effectiveness as a photographer.
The advent of digital photography and computers has made is possible for everyone to jump on the post-processing band wagon. And why not? Post-processing offers the unlimited potential to make corrections to your photos and also to overcome the limitation of the camera (such as DOF and Dynamic Range). But remember, post-processing is NOT a replacement for learning to shoot. In the long run, having the "fix it later in Photoshop" attitude hurts your creativity and development as a photographer.
How do you intend to organize your photos or keyword your photos, if you chose to do so.
What type of files is best to store images long-term? Will you store them in a compressed format (like JPG) or an uncompressed format (such as TIFF).
How will you store your growing collection of images to ensure you don't lose them?
Remember that all of these issues must be considered for the organization and safe storage of your image collection.
Today most cameras, except maybe some smart phones and low-end point-and-shoot types, have RAW file capabilities. A RAW file is like having a digital negative; it's not yet in a viewable format but it maintains most of the image's original information. In this format, you can manipulate the image file 'after the fact' to create what you think is the best image.
In post-processing, it's important to understand and know how to use a RAW file converter. You must also know the basic adjustments such as exposure, white balance, contrast, saturation, highlights, and shadows. For example, there may not be just one correct white balance for the entire image; you may have to create multiple white balances to properly adjust different parts of the image. But even before that step, you must be able to proficiently identify which white balance works best based upon the final product you're trying to create.
Because working with RAW files allows you to manipulate images in ways you couldn't otherwise do, ensure that you are proficient in both basic and more advanced RAW adjustment tools.
Once you're finished processing your images with a RAW converter, you may still feel that they are not processed exactly as you want them to be. For post- or advanced processing work, we suggest you become familiar with photo processing tools such as Photoshop, GIMP, Photomatix, or any other popular editing tool available on the market. Your processing knowledge base should include, for example, how to make targeted or localized adjustments to specific parts of your images and how to fine-tune settings such as contrast.
We recommend that you become proficient in both of these techniques to ensure you're able to determine which is best (or most optimized) for the look you're trying to achieve.
Once your image file is processed and saved, you also must know how to prepare the file for a printer, magazine cover, social media sharing, or any other distribution type. There are a number of techniques to do this, but we recommend that you create your own workflow(s). Thoroughly know your workflow so that, when a client calls, you can efficiently prepare the file for the appropriate distribution.
We've all been taught that most photos should be processed exactly as they appeared when we shot them. But…this isn't always true. Perfect exposure may require you to process a photo one way, but if you want to create a different mood – such as the feeling of dark stormy clouds moving over the horizon – you may want to process it a different way. Sometimes you may want to focus more on texture, form, or the mere shapes in your image. Converting to black and white rather than color is one way to accomplish this. Don't be afraid to process your photos in a way that authentically expresses your mood or feelings at the time of the shot.
Step 4: Ready to Become a PRO?
Not every photographer wants to go into the business of making money. In fact, there are very few photographers who would like to do so. For lot of photographers, the path to making money is not quite as clear as picking up the camera and shooting photos. If you do want to pursue photography as a business, here are few things to get you started.
There are many photographers who feel ready to 'go pro', but they're stuck in not knowing exactly how to take the plunge. The first step on the path to becoming a professional photographer is to know what options you have in regards to selling your skills and/or products. It's also crucial to know exactly what type of photographer you want to be. DO YOUR RESEARCH… be familiar with the many genres or varieties of photography and have a clear goal of which you plan to pursue. The more defined your goals, the easier it will be to develop a solid business plan.
Thorough planning and preparation will give you a better chance of finding success as a professional photographer.
Although getting the word out in social media or creating a website are both good marketing techniques, they may not be the most effective way to achieve your goals as a professional photographer. You must be able to target the right 'audience' or client base… the ones who will want to purchase your images. People on social media may admire and appreciate your photos, but that doesn't mean they'll want to purchase them. Become familiar with all available marketing options and how to sell your product or services through them. You also must decide how much to charge… what will be provided as a free service versus a paid service (or a combination of the two). As mentioned in the Going Pro section, all of these things (marketing, selling, pricing, targeting the right client base, etc) should be listed in your business plan.
What kind of financial/logistical operations do you want to put into place?
How will clients pay? PayPal? Credit card?
When do you file taxes and how much will you owe?
If you're selling your images from a booth, will you be able to accept credit cards?
How will you automate your ordering and shipping systems to ensure your business runs as efficiently as possible?
Knowing the answers to logistics and financial questions in regards to your business will be extremely helpful as you build your new career.


In his more than 30 years in real estate, Shafiq Ahmed, Matthew Adam Properties' Controller, has acquired solid finance skills. He brings to every task characteristics that are essential for his job.
"I'm a detail person and very organized," Shafiq says. At Matthew Adam Properties, Shafiq works on the finances of properties managed by the company. This includes supervising the preparation of monthly statements and special projects. He is also involved in the annual long-range budget processes. Shafiq has degrees in accounting and physics.


TOOL CRIB can provide Minority Spend/Diversity Spend credits to help customers with initiatives and strategies to support minority business enterprise (MBE) companies and minority communities as a whole.
Many government procurement agreements require the contractor to meet a minority participation goal. Likewise, many major manufacturers within the automotive, aerospace and other large industries have established programs to include participation for minority owned businesses. Often, these requirements are met by "First Tier" supplier to those companies.
THE TOOL CRIB has an alliance with IBC to enable TOOL CRIB customers to capture minority spend credits if they so desire. IBC's unique business offering provides value beyond just MBE participation credits. IBC can provide services to a single site or to national accounts with multiple locations. IBC's unique approach is to form a consortium of participating suppliers who can provide local support and expertise to each facility involved in a program. These suppliers partner with IBC to provide centralized billing, reporting and coordination. This arrangement gives the customer the best of both a single source as well as local specialized support for the plant's operations.
IBC's programs can cover multiple commodity groups within a facility. They have been a multiple award-winning supplier to Honda Motors Corporation for several years. IBC is a minority-owned business certified by the Connecticut division of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). IBC meets NMSDC criteria as a Hispanic and veteran owned company. IBC is the only minority owned organization with a base of distributors covering industrial MRO throughout North America.


The entry discusses how every person has their own recovery program in OA and that OA needs to remain respectfully individual because everyone has individual triggers. A certain food that might jump-start my compulsive eating might be okay for you to eat, just like how a certain food that might harm you is okay for me to eat. Our commonality is not based in a blanket abstention; it is based in our common compulsion and our common solution – the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of OA.
I love all of you! See you at the next meeting!
Honest self-searching is the beginning to a fruitful relationship with our Higher Power. It is imperative that we look at who we were, both in action and in emotion, so that we might bring forth a new awareness, vision, and grace as we re-enter society within our recovery. Every successful business conducts audits and inventories, so why shouldn't we do the same of ourselves?
Humility develops inside our spirit as we review our conduct by completing a rigorously honest inventory. No longer do we find that we were victim to others, life, and circumstance. We clearly see our part in situations. Only by realizing what part we play in our various life dramas are we then able to cast the light of reason and growth upon the dark and gloomy areas of our nature. Though too, sometimes we are brought into truth that early childhood events are no fault of ours and we are relieved of burdens we have carried for years. Suddenly everything that was once distorted and fuzzy becomes clear and comprehendible.
Thanks for reading! See you at the next meeting!
Wow…thank you to Kendra with Voice in Recovery for giving me the chance to write a guest post on gratitude…if you haven't read it yet then please click here.
This quote is clever because of one single word: truly.
In my recovery, I have made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God…but, how many times have I changed my mind?
I've caught myself thinking, "Well, I can control this," or "I want the outcome my way," and especially, "That's not fair." The less I am willing to give control over to my Higher Power the more calamity and stress I will endure.
Food is but a symptom of my real problem – and my problem is a spiritual malady. If ever I am wronged (be it real or in my skewed perception) and not working my OA program I am quick to grab for that sugary item so that I might feel better. However, if truly I work the 3rd step of OA I get to find relief by living in God's will.
Spiritual peace sometimes comes in waves. It can feel like I'm splashing around at the beach as comes roaring a frothy tide, nearly drowning from a tsunami, or sitting by a calm and still lake. The more I actively work Step 3 (all that means is to pray, "God, please help me do your will.") the less waves I will have to endure. I want my serenity to be gentle and consistent. How willing am I to stop playing God and to start living recovery?
Thanks for reading my post! See you at the next meeting!