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Innovating Through a Crisis
How Logitech adapted its culture to meet surging demand.
#Kirsty Russell, Logitech
By Kirsty Russell, Logitech
While the pandemic brought many industries—such as travel and tourism—to a virtual standstill, the broad shift to remote working created accelerated demand and relevance for our products. We faced the same crises as every other organization, including ensuring the health and safety of our people, but we found ourselves dealing with an unusual challenge: How to keep our culture of innovation humming?
Because of the sharp increase in demand for our products across all our businesses, we doubled our traditional hiring rate. Almost half our people have joined Logitech since mid-2019. Many of them joined remotely and have spent the last two years largely working from home via Zoom. We had to focus our innovation muscles on our culture, as well, to create new paths for keeping teams engaged, innovating and productive while the world worked from home.
That required new communication strategies that were a departure from how we operated before the pandemic. We traditionally have not had an email culture. We prefer to get out there to talk and listen. Bracken Darrell, our CEO, and most of the leadership team historically traveled between our sites in the U.S., Europe and Asia, holding regular, regional, all-company meetings, "ask anything" sessions, or simply walking the halls and shaking hands. We had established roadshows at the start of each fiscal year where leadership would meet with teams across the globe to not only discuss the year's plan but also to gain their input on the priorities and what the culture needed to thrive.
While we could no longer meet in person, we maintained our approach to prioritize communication throughout the pandemic. We continued to hold regular, all-company meetings, site and region huddles online, and we launched new sections on our Intranet to help promote a compassionate workplace as we all dealt with new stresses from the pandemic and working at home, and Bracken shared his personal thoughts every Monday via a recorded video message on a variety of topics, with a variety of guests, that underpinned our mission and values. He also established an anonymous online CEO comment box, and addressed inquiries in many of his weekly videos. While you cannot replicate visiting offices, no comment-box topic was off-limits, and it became a conduit for sharing candid comments and concerns. That in turn helped strengthen our culture of trust and transparency.
That transparency included acknowledging the fact that we don't have all the answers and owning any missteps, with a commitment to learning from them. We ask new hires after their first 90 days to share their "newcomer's advantage" on things that we could do better. This empowers everyone to speak up and speak out, and we act on many of the insights they share. Even as we have taken public stances on sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), we have been open about the fact that, as we try to drive change in the world, we might get things wrong, but we will learn and continue to take steps forward.
At Logitech, we make sure everybody understands that we see mistakes as opportunities to learn. For example, we have a number of "seeds" or early-stage innovation projects. Some make it to market, others we shut down after taking insights from them. But if we do shut them down, everybody on the team gets a bonus and moves to another part of the business. This removes the fear and uncertainty of trying something new and taking a chance. Over time, this establishes a foundation of trust, which reduces the stress of uncertainty and allows for open minds and communication.
At the same time that our teams were adjusting to working remotely, the company's business was accelerating. It was a perfect storm of stress, and early on, it was clear that our people were having a hard time disconnecting from work while at home. We knew this instinctively and saw it in our bi-annual survey. To provide a break from the week-long, back-to-back video meetings, we initiated Meeting-free Fridays. We also launched LogiThanks Mondays, a company-wide day off once a month. Over time, we have evolved this to LogiThanks Weekends, where once a quarter we give everyone a Friday and the following Monday off, a paid break in addition to their standard PTO. We have continued this into 2022, as we emerge from the pandemic and continue to navigate the challenges of hybrid work.
We have also added more support services for wellness, fitness and mental health for our people and their families. We have tried to emphasize that "it's OK not to be OK" and that there is no stigma attached to needing to take a break to focus on yourself. But more than just providing these services, we also stressed that there was value in investing in yourself, taking the time to care for one's health but also one's passions. We provided time and resources to follow individual passions — whether it was volunteer time off, speak up and speak out days for activism, or support of employee resource groups. We believe these initiatives and others helped build personal resilience, which in turn helped strengthen our organizational resilience.
Not everything worked well during the pandemic. We quickly saw the challenges with our onboarding, as we had historically relied too much on in-office processes. We learned a lot talking to our remote employees, who were experts in remote workarounds to the inequities based on an in-person operations mindset. For example, remote employees spent more time than we realized searching for "who" to contact on a number of HR or IT-related issues. We moved from relying on "local" points of contact within our offices to 24x7 online hubs and better documentation across support services. Also, despite the fact that we are a video collaboration company and thought we were ahead of the curve, we didn't provide training on how to effectively run video meetings—especially when they are non-stop, back-to-back—or how to best manage remote teams.
We continue to learn how to build greater resiliency that will minimize the impacts of inevitable disruptions and crises. But in the last two years, we certainly learned people are resilient.
We've yet to broadly solve the exhaustion of constantly being on meetings across multiple times zones that the pandemic accelerated. We have some great insights on creative storyboarding and asynchronous meetings from pockets across the organization. For example, our Design team recorded Zoom and Mural creative brainstorming sessions and shared them with team members who could no longer travel nor participate virtually due to time-zone constraints. In a follow-the-sun model, they in turn met during their day and provided feedback and ideas. All voices were heard and design iteration continued.
The pandemic reinforced our sense of purpose, as the world needed our products to better connect. There was a time that we could not donate enough. We could not give enough of our webcams, mice and keyboard products to hospitals and schools to help them provide medical treatment, to teach, and to learn. On top of what the company did, our people found products in their closets and on their desks to share with others.
In the early days, this sense of purpose led our design and engineering teams to work together on pressing issues to support front-line workers, such as redesigning DIY face shields or working with others in their community on 3D printing respirator parts. This freedom to address new problems with totally new constraints led to team connection, new ways of collaborating across the company and ultimately product innovation. More than 60 new product introductions followed over a two-year period.
We continue to learn how to build greater resiliency that will minimize the impacts of inevitable disruptions and crises. But in the last two years, we certainly learned people are resilient. We were also reminded that establishing a strong culture of transparency, communication and trust is a crucial foundation during both good and challenging times.
Kirsty Russell is Head of People and Culture at Logitech.
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Rotorua, in the heart of the North Island of New Zealand, is best known for its areas of spectacular geothermal activity.
But there's a lot more than geysers and boiling mud pools to see and do around the Rotorua area.
Alternating scenes of unworldly geothermal activity interleaved with unspoiled native bush make a bizarre but beautiful contrast in Rotorua, the center of New Zealand's geothermal activity.
When you enter Rotorua, you immediately sense you're entering a part of the planet entirely unlike any other. The smells, sights, and sounds of its geothermal activity all combine to convince you of Rotorua's uniqueness.
But, alongside the 'surface of the moon' landscapes you'll find unspoiled native bush and forest, gorgeous waterfalls, sweeping vistas, and native Maori culture; all interwoven in a rich tourist tapestry to make Rotorua a 'must visit' part of your travels in New Zealand.
Rotorua is located less than three hours drive southeast of Auckland. Most people are either coming from (or subsequently going to) Auckland.
You can get to Rotorua by rental car, scheduled inter-city bus service, by air, or as part of a tour - either a formal tour of NZ or a short mini-tour taking you only to Rotorua. Train service used to run from Auckland to Rotorua, but that was discontinued a few years ago and alas is not expected to be revived any time soon.
If you're driving yourself, we recommend your journey between Auckland and Rotorua include a detour to the Waitomo Caves. These caves have glow-worms that form a blue/green carpet of lights on the tops of the caves. After visiting some of the regular caves, you journey through the glow-worm populated caves on a boat (there's a river running through them) in silence and darkness, interrupted only by the glow-worms above. An amazing sight.
If traveling between Rotorua and the southern parts of NZ's North Island, you could easily do the journey all the way to/from Wellington and Rotorua in a day, but if time allows you should include time in Hawkes Bay on the east coast as well.
If you're on a short tour of New Zealand, you might choose to fly between Rotorua (airport code ROT) and Queenstown, saving you several days of travel time between the two top tourism spots in the country. Both Qantas and Air New Zealand operate several flights a day between these tourist Meccas; generally the flights include a quick stop en route.
On a clear day, the flight shows you the beauty of New Zealand from the air, and you'll be able to see all across the country from the Tasman Sea on the west to the Pacific Ocean on the east. Be sure to ask for a window seat, and try to select a 737 jet service (ie with Qantas) that will fly over the sometimes turbulent weather en route rather than a smaller regional plane (more likely with Air NZ) that would have to fly through it.
Rotorua offers a wide range of accommodation styles, ranging from back-packer hostels to deluxe fishing lodges.
If you're staying just for a night or two, then perhaps one of the centrally located hotels would be a convenient choice. The Lake Plaza Hotel is Rotorua's largest hotel, centrally located, and of good quality, especially in their recently renovated rooms. The hotel also has an excellent buffet breakfast, and often has discounted rates available directly from its website.
Another good central hotel is Novotel's Royal Lakeside Resort, and if you have a car, the Regal Geyserland Hotel up at Whakarewarewa can offer stunning views over the adjacent geothermal areas if you request and obtain a room on that side (rather than the less appealing road side) of the hotel.
If you'd like to treat yourself to an exclusive lodge a bit out of town, then Solitaire Lodge would be your best choice. Not quite so luxurious - and not nearly so expensive - is the still lovely Lake Tarawera Lodge.
Rotorua has a vast number of motels to choose from, most of which being close to the center of the small central shopping area.
Wherever you choose to stay, and whether it be hotel or motel, you should ensure it offers natural hot water spa pools direct from a geothermal bore.
These spa pools are very common in Rotorua, and give you a personal and private opportunity to soak in the mineral rich waters fresh from the depths of the earth.
Some people believe the waters have curative powers; others impute the same values to some of the boiling mud, using it for body or facial mud packs. Whether or not any of this this is true is subject to debate, but for sure you'll definitely find a mineral spa experience a memorable and distinctive part of your Rotorua stay.
For best enjoyment, select a hotel or motel with private spa pools rather than one with a larger communal pool. Most properties offer these private pool facilities free to their guests.
We recommend three nights as the minimum time to stay in Rotorua. The first night would be the day you arrive into Rotorua, probably latish in the day after traveling from somewhere else.
The second night gives you a full day to sightsee around the region, and the third night gives you a second full day of sightseeing, prior to departing the next morning and traveling on to your next NZ destination.
If you're staying for three or more weeks, you could consider adding another night to your time in Rotorua. And if you're on a short 7 - 10 day tour, you could cut back to only two nights.
Rotorua is bursting with many different things to see and do. The problem is not finding things to do, but choosing which things to do from the vast range of different activities available.
The Whakarewarewa area, close to the city center, has long been the best known place to visit and see both some Maori culture and some geothermal activity.
Several years ago the complex split into two separate parts. The top area, including most of the geothermal park and the Arts and Crafts Center, is now known as Te Puia. As well as these two major attractions, there is also a Kiwi house in which you can see one or two of NZ's national birds.
Guided tours run hourly at no extra charge and can make your experience more interesting. Allow a couple of hours to visit Te Puia, and perhaps ten minutes for the roundtrip drive from downtown.
The other part of the original Whakarewarewa is the Maori village down the bottom of the hill. This retains the original name, and gives you an experience more focused on the lives of the local Maoris and how they live in the geothermal area and use the steam and heat.
Some/most of the guides are very personable and make your experience much more enjoyable. A guided tour is included in the admission fee.
You can also see across to some of the most distinctive parts of what is know known as Te Puia, immediately adjacent.
Allow 90 minutes to tour around Whakarewarewa, and perhaps ten minutes for the roundtrip drive from downtown.
In 1886 a massive eruption of a nearby volcano (Mt Tarawera) and the ash and mud which followed obliterated much of the nearby surroundings, including the small settlement then known as Te Wairoa.
Today it is possible to tour around the partially excavated ruins of what can be considered New Zealand's equivalent to Pompeii, at the place now simply referred to as the Buried Village.
You first have a chance to walk through a well presented museum, then you can tour around the open air remains of the former village. But don't then turn around and walk back. Instead, continue down along the lovely trout stream, and take the path down to the base of an impressive 100' waterfall and enjoy the walk back up the other side. This is a lovely bush walk and gives a very different added dimension to the location.
Allow an hour to an hour and a half at the Buried Village, and half an hour for the lovely drive to/from the center of the city. Perhaps extend your time a bit further with a stop at the Blue and Green Lakes en route - there is a viewing point between these two lakes where you can observe the blue color of one lake and the green color of the other lake.
You might also choose to drive a few miles further to Lake Tarawera, where there are some lovely picnic stops to look out over the lake and to the remains of Mt Tarawera itself (a lot of the mountain disappeared in the 1886 eruption, which was many times greater than the Mt St Helens eruption in the US in the early 1980s).
Allow 60 - 90 minutes at the Buried Village, and 45 minutes roundtrip traveling time to and from.
Eighteen miles south of Rotorua is the Wai-O-Tapu geothermal area. Billing itself as NZ's most colorful geothermal area, this site does indeed have several pools of intensely colored water, plus a wide variety of other sights, including a large geyser that erupts every day at 10.15am, large silica terraces, and lovely walks alternating between bush and geothermal sights.
Note that the Lady Knox geyser is actually situated a short distance away from the rest of the area. You probably will choose to drive back to the geyser site after buying your tickets at the main entrance facility.
If time allows, take the longest of the three walk options. Plan on two hours for this, and possibly more if you're not in a hurry and want to savor every sight along the way, plus about 45 minutes travel time roundtrip between Wai-O-Tapu and downtown Rotorua.
This should be high on the list of places you visit.
Depending on who tells the story, there are anywhere between about 18 and 22 different breeds of sheep in New Zealand. Some are bred for wool, others for meat; some for high country, some for warmer areas.
At The Agrodome you'll see just about every type of sheep there is (19 different breeds), plus the amazing sheep dogs that are tasked with controlling the sheep. An entertaining show tells you about this vital part of NZ's agricultural economy, and you even see a sheep completely shorn of its fleece.
Audience members have a chance to milk a cow and feed lambs on stage.
There are typically three performances each day. Allow 60 - 75 minutes for your visit, plus half an hour to get there and back from town.
Most of the larger hotels offer Maori hangi feasts and concerts in their hotels. Don't waste your time and money attending one of these very artificial events. Instead, you absolutely must include an evening visit to the Tamaki Maori Village as part of your Rotorua experience.
This is an evening tour. You'll be collected from your accommodation at about 7pm and returned back at about 10.30pm. You're driven out to their village, about 15 - 20 minutes out of Rotorua, where a traditional welcoming ceremony greets you. You then walk through the village - an atmospheric recreation of a Maori village prior to the arrival of European settlers, nestled in among the trees of the forest. Local Maoris demonstrate traditional crafts as you walk through.
Next you're invited in to their meeting house where a concert is presented. And then the part of the evening you've probably been waiting for - a Maori hangi feast. A hangi is prepared by placing food in an earthen oven with white hot stones at the bottom providing heat, and damp mats over the layers of food providing steam and temperature control. A range of meats and vegetables are offered, buffet style, and you're welcome to eat as much as you like. Lovely desserts complete the meal.
After some free time in the village, a closing farewell ceremony ends the experience and you're driven back to your accommodation. All in all, a marvelous and complete Maori experience.
Rotorua is full of geothermal areas. As you drive around the city, you'll see wisps of steam coming out of drains by the side of the road, from people's back-yards, and just about everywhere else. Kuirau Park is a lovely nature preserve close to the city center which has pockets of geothermal activity all the way through. Further out of the city are places such as Hell's Gate (with some communal mud baths) and Waimangu, both of which are worth a visit if you have extra time.
The historic (but modernized) Polynesian Spa offers a range of health and beauty treatments using the geothermal muds and waters from the area. It has been rated one of the top ten spas in the world, two years in a row (2004 and 2005) by Conde Nast Traveller magazine.
Rotorua is a fisherman's delight, with 15 fishable lakes in the immediate vicinity.
Many other activities and sights can be found around the Rotorua area. A luge ride down the slope of a hill, flightseeing, water sports, fine dining, and bizarre things such as the Zorb are all there to tempt you.
See this website - the official Rotorua Tourism website - for more information about Rotorua.


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Kent Looking Forward To First Pre-Season Test
Summer signing Frankie Kent ready for first pre-season friendly.
Joe Dent / theposh.com
Frankie Kent in training
@theposhofficial
Summer signing looks ahead to tonight's opening pre-season game against Scottish opposition
Peterborough United face their first pre-season test on Saturday evening as Darren Ferguson's men come up against Scottish Premier League side St. Mirren in a friendly fixture at the club's La Manga training base in Spain.
One of eight summer signings, Frankie Kent, is looking forward to the first of a number of friendly fixtures over the next few weeks, but knows the weather conditions will play a part with temperatures nudging 30 degrees.
"It will be tough because you have to take into account the weather, but we have trained well out here for the last few days and we are looking forward to it. I am sure it will be a blow, but it will be good to get 45 minutes under our belt.
"I have really enjoyed it so far. The lads have made me feel welcome and the banter has been flying, mainly in my direction for my accent, but not a lot I can do about that! It has been good getting to know the lads out here and everyone is getting on well.
"The training has been tough, but you expect that in pre-season. We have had a little bit of down-time, I think there was eight of us watching Love Island in the room earlier in the week. I think we all know who is going to win it," Kent said.
The central defender joined Posh from Sky Bet League Two side Colchester United in the summer for an undisclosed fee and will be part of a new-look defence for the upcoming campaign with goalkeeper Christy Pym, full-backs Niall Mason, Frazer Blake-Tracy and Dan Butler joining fellow centre half Mark Beevers all moving to the Weston Homes Stadium.
The game against St. Mirren kicks off at 7pm local time (6pm in the UK) and you can follow updates on the club's social media channels.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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function f(x::Float64, y::Float64)
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#
# Now we define it over more general arguments
#
function f(x::Number, y::Number)
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# Note: the first declaration creates the function declaration, adding creates methods
methods(f)
methods(+)
methods(println)

# it is important to define methods that clear up any ambiguity
g(x::Float64, y) = x + y
g(x, y::Float64) = x - y
g(x::Float64, y::Float64) = x*y

# Parametric functions allow us to define over many types without the catchall
sametype{T}(x::T, y::T) = true
sametype(x,y) = false

sametype("hello", 2)

# Vararg functions can also be parameterized
function bar(a, b, x::Vararg{Any, 2})
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bar(1,2,3,4)

# Functors are functions that are specified by type and not name
type polynomial{R}
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p = polynomial([1,2,3,4,5,100,10000])
p(10)
p(1)
p(101)

# empty functions can be used to separate interfaces and definitions
function emptyfunction
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Tell us a little about your background, and how you came to found Gearbox Express with your partners.
I've always been involved in gearing, first with the Falk Corporation, which was acquired by Rexnord, and then with Hansen Transmissions North America before joining Broadwind Energy to work in their gearing and bearing platform. I met my partners along the way, and we've worked together closely on developing a business plan for Gearbox Express, which will launch the first of May. Brian Halverson is our COO, and his specialty is in enclosed gearing systems. Brian Hastings is our CFO, and his background is in the field of power transmission, working for companies such as Brad Foote Gear Works and Timken Bearings. So we all have a lot of experience with gears and gearboxes, and networks in place that we can rely on, so we're ready to get started marketing ourselves in the wind energy and industrial markets.
You've already generated a lot of buzz out there. Why are people talking about you even before you open your doors?
To be candid, there are other companies doing many things that have opened shops to service gearboxes as a side business, but we are the only company that is totally dedicated to rebuilding them. We're not trying to be everything to everyone. Gearbox repair is our central focus because it's what we know—it's our core competency. We don't repair generators or do uptower work, so we're not competing with any of the third-party ISPs, and that allows us to work on any gearbox, not just those we have under contract. We also have a relationship with most of the gearbox OEMs, which is really helpful because they are our supply chain. When we rebuild a particular gearbox, we're using the OEM's gears and related components.
Describe your facility, and the work you'll be doing.
We are located west of Milwaukee in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. Our building is 43,000 square feet, it's clean and climate controlled, and all of our technicians are at the top end of the scale because we're building our reputation on quality and reliability. We are also working with several state technical schools to develop training programs to insure a steady supply of employees in the future, and once they're hired they'll undergo internal training encompassing such things as mechanical skills, computer literacy, measurement accuracy, and process control and improvement.
As for our target markets, although the balance may shift over time we're expecting our primary focus to be on wind with a significant amount of industrial gearbox repair work, as well. We have built up an exchange inventory of the most popular wind turbine gearboxes, as well as mainshafts and bearings, and each remanufactured gearbox is fully load tested before it leaves our facility. And we didn't just ask for someone to come in and build us a test stand. We went out and found top experts in areas such as foundations, controls, and data acquisition, and when we're done it will be the largest and most sophisticated dynamic load test stand in North America.
The gearboxes we work on will be returned to the client with a standard three-year warranty right out of the box, and you'll be able to extend that to five years by agreeing to conduct annual condition monitoring and to take biannual oil samples. So you can see that we've really thought things through and done our due diligence, which includes membership in organizations such as the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). I was recently a panelist at AWEA's 4th Annual Wind Energy Operations & Maintenance Summit in Dallas, in fact, and we're planning to do more outreach of that nature in the future. So with our combined drive, energy, and expertise, I feel that we are poised to become an important resource for our clients in both the wind energy and general industrial sectors.
MORE INFORMATION: E-mail info@gearboxexpress.com or go online to www.gearboxexpress.com.


The Italian referendum on constitutional reform saw voters reject the proposals in front of them, in a fairly decisive manner. As such, Italian PM Renzi will tender his resignation today and this became part of the issue, with some voters using this vote as a means to express their dis-satisfaction with the current administration. So whilst the result was expected, the extent of the loss (No around 59%, Yes 41%) was not, hence the fall in the euro during early Asia trading. EURUSD made a new low for the year at 1.0506 before recovering quickly to just below 1.06 at the European open. Equities look set to open lower as well, but only modestly so. Naturally, this is not of the same scale as the Brexit referendum in the UK or the Trump victory in the US, but there are other implications. The first is for the banking sector, which is fairly crippled in Italy and political instability will not help. If another government cannot be formed, then snap elections remains a possibility. The rejection of reforms, even if imperfect, also sends a message regarding the political tone in Europe ahead of further elections in France and Germany next year.
Elsewhere, the NZ PM resigned, but not because of a referendum, but largely because he's had enough after 8 years. The kiwi was down by nearly 1%, as the announcement came as a surprise, but the currency was also weakening on a risk aversion move in the wake of the Italian referendum result. Talking of referendums, the Supreme Court in the UK hears on the case of the legality of the UK vote, although the outcome won't be known until the new year.


text:
After Howdy Modi, We Simply Can't Wait for Kem Cho Trump
Illustration: Aishwarya Nayak
By Sagar S Sep. 23, 2019
"Howdy Modi" is historic for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that it's introduced the world to the hottest bromance of our generation. Not since Jai and Veeru have we seen an on-screen friendship so likely to make the entire nation stand up and take notice.
Two nations, India and the US, got together over the weekend to celebrate the biggest Indian spectacle since Slumdog Millionaire made it to the Oscars. The event, "Howdy Modi", held in Houston, Texas, attracted crowds that are usually reserved for cricket matches, Himesh Reshammiya shows, and accidents on the highways back home. Several videos surfaced of the crowd celebrating like they were watching Kapil Sharma live at the IIFA awards, any time Prime Minister Narendra Modi or US President Trump opened their mouths. It was the kind of event that makes an Ambani wedding look like a low-key gathering between close friends.
"Howdy Modi" is historic for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that it's introduced the world to the hottest bromance of our generation. Not since Jai and Veeru have we seen an on-screen friendship so likely to make the entire nation stand up and take notice. It's said that Modi and Trump have done more for male bonding in one weekend than Sex and the City has done for women over six seasons.
Apart from taking laps of the venue like they were practicing for a marathon, the world leaders bonded over their shared interests. The first included, of course, making subtle shows of strength against Pakistan. When Trump announced that he would work to protect Indian-Americans from global terrorism, PM Modi stood up and clapped. Our PM then said, "The countries responsible for both 9/11 and 26/11 will pay", while Trump indicated that it would be fun if Modi was to build a wall in India too.
"Howdy Modi" is historic for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that it's introduced the world to the hottest bromance of our generation.
Sergio Flores/Getty Images
In the build up to the speeches, the audience was treated to a 90-minute event featuring dancers, singers, and homages to Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. Our PM then went into the event like a true wingman, praising Trump for being "warm, friendly, accessible, energetic and full of wit" and saying India has a true friend in the White House. Trump, meanwhile, celebrated this dosti by also reinforcing that India has never had a better friend in the White House than Donald Trump.
The US President, as we all know, has been universally acknowledged — by himself — as the man with the best words, so obviously his speech was great. But our PM showed the world that he might have a few good words in him as well. His 45-minute speech was punctuated by constant cheering and standing ovations at every interval, especially when he addressed the abrogation of Article 370. The Paul Simon of the duo also recited two lines of a poem, and managed over the course of his appearance, to convince almost everyone in attendance that they loved Donald Trump just as much as they loved him.
To prove how committed he was to making Trump look good, our PM also shared some of his words with the US president. Modi replaced his own name with Trump's in the "Abki Baar Modi Sarkar" slogan to apparently campaign for the US president in 2020. That's the true power of this bromance. It's a constant give and take. Reports indicate that the friendship is now going so strong, Trump plans to visit India soon. The US President hinted it himself, when he announced in typical bro fashion that he might have to come watch an NBA match with Modi in India someday. Yuge, if true.
Modi replaced his own name with Trump's in the "Abki Baar Modi Sarkar" slogan to apparently campaign for the US president in 2020. That's the true power of this bromance.
But no bromance is completely free of drama. Protestors gathered outside the venue while the two world leaders addressed the crowd. They were heard raising slogans against our PM for the Kashmir blackout, which has been on for over a month now, and against Trump for his general bigotry against people of colour and misogyny.
Not to worry though, the protestors were appropriately ridiculed by the IT cells of various parties back home. If the online warriors had been there in person, they'd probably walk outside the venue handing out tubes of Burnol themselves. Alas, they probably weren't invited.
Inside, Trump and Modi locked hands and took victory laps around the venue like they were having a fun Sunday afternoon chill at Dadar station. It's clear that while Trump has to bid goodbye to PM Modi for now, there seems to be a lot to look forward to in this budding bromance. Let's hope it comes in the form of a "Kem Cho Trump?" event in Gujarat sometime soon. That would be fun.
Sagar S
Sagar has lived in Mumbai for most of his life. You can often find him complaining about potholes and local trains when he isn't out having a mediocre time.


The Wollongong Police are organising an event to involve the community in issuing and fixing anti theft number plate screws vehicles.
This is one of our strategies to reduce steal from motor vehicle offences.
The event will be held on Thursday the 28th of November, 2013 in the southern car park at Thirroul Beach between the hours of 10am and 12 midday.


Charleston is a historic city bursting with energy and charm, and nowhere is it more evident than in the neighborhoods of the Upper Peninsula. Residents are close to jobs, shops, restaurants, historic sites and all kinds of entertainment. There's plenty of community pride on display in each neighborhood, as residents work together to promote their heritage and enjoy modern community amenities. Notable neighborhoods in the Upper Peninsula include Hampton Park Terrace, Wagener Terrace, Westside, East Central, East Side and North Central.
Upper Peninsula real estate is as diverse as the home buyers who seek it out. From historic homes on well-established streets to modern townhomes and condos, the homes for sale in Upper Peninsula are not going to disappoint home buyers. In fact, Upper Peninsula real estate is some of the most sought after property in all of Charleston, so home buyers should not put off their search for too long.
Hampton Park Terrace is characterized by rows of lovely turn of the century homes, charming cottages and more. It's close to The Citadel, Johnson Hagood Memorial Stadium and the 60-acre Hampton Park. Because the neighborhood wasn't built until around 1900, the homes here are distinctly different from other Charleston neighborhoods, and most of the original properties remain, making the entire neighborhood a historic district. Residents of Hampton Park Terrace really know how to embrace the past and create a bright future.
Upscale and more modern when compared to other Charleston neighborhoods, Wagener Terrace has plenty of homes built around 1920 to 1955. With its quiet charm yet with major roads like Highway 78 and I-26 running through it, Wagener Terrace is proof that residents don't have to live across a bridge to reside in an ideal neighborhood with top amenities. Residents of Wagener Terrace are close to shops, schools, gorgeous parks and more.
Packed with sparkling creeks, lovely green spaces and charming homes, the neighborhood of Westside is gaining a reputation as a top place to live, work and play. Brittlebank Park, Stoney Field and Harmon Field are ideal for spending time outdoors. It's walking distance to the shops and restaurants of Upper King Street, and there's a thriving commercial district in Westside as well. Residents will really enjoy living in this walkable, family-friendly neighborhood.
Residents who love being part of the transformation efforts in East Central and East Side feel right at home as revitalization and renovation are elevating this neighborhood into one of the nicest around. Residential and commercial development in East Central and East Side are introducing all kinds of new condos, townhomes and apartments into mixed use space with new office complexes, restaurants and shops. It's never too late to look at East Central or East Side real estate.
North Central is the hot spot for mid-century homes, and the appeal of this fine neighborhood can't be overstated. Residents have access to the thriving eastern Charleston neighborhoods, and are just a short distance from downtown via I-26. As one of the top neighborhoods in the Upper Peninsula, North Central has just about everything that residents might want or need.
It's plain to see that Charleston's Upper Peninsula real estate is second to none, and home buyers will greatly enjoy living life in this lowcountry paradise. With all the urban benefits plus the beauty and charm of this historic city, the homes for sale in Upper Peninsula won't last long on the market.


Here's where you can come to make your pocket money go a little further…. The Ashwood Gifts Treasure Trove is a veritable cave of wonders: a rich assortment of premium, carefully selected pocket money toys including 3D puzzles, hand-carved wooden toys, eye-catching lenticular posters, joke toys and much, much more. We take care to always stock a varied collection of gift items that are in line with pocket money budgets, so that even those fledgling finances can afford to pick up a fun little treat!


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Keyword Black History
A look at the Black revolution in 1970s cinema, from genre films to social realism, from the making of new superstars to the craft of rising auteurs.
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
The story of Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight boxing champion.
Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back
Maurice Hines, a charming, gay African-American entertainer navigates the complications of show business while grieving the loss of his more famous,...
Hidden Colors 5: The Art of Black Warfare
The history of warfare as it relates to global Black society, broken down into 7 chapters that examines the ways the system of racism wages warfare...
Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America
The Movie "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America" uncovers the true identity of the Children of Israel by proving the true ethnicity of Abraham,...
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
A haven for Black intellectuals, artists and revolutionaries—and path of promise toward the American dream—Black colleges and...
The incredibly powerful and timely true story of the all-black Twenty-Fourth United States Infantry Regiment, and the Houston Riot of 1917. The...
Olympic Pride, American Prejudice
In 1936, 18 African American athletes dubbed the "black auxiliary" by Hitler defied Nazi Aryan Supremacy and Jim Crow Racism to win hearts and medals...
August 28: A Day in the Life of a People
Documentary film on events that happened on August 28th in African-American history, shown at the Smithsonian African-American History Museum.
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors...
Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power
Through first person accounts and searing archival footage, this documentary tells the story of the local movement and young Student Nonviolent...
Crownsville Hospital: From Lunacy to Legacy
Crownsville Hospital: From Lunacy to Legacy is a feature-length documentary film highlighting the history of the Crownsville State Mental Hospital in...
For Love & Country
Country music has always been Black music. For Love & Country examines the genre's past through the lens of a new generation of Black artists...
Popularity : 1.4
In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema
This documentary captures the sounds and images of a nearly forgotten era in film history when African American filmmakers and studios created...
#Rucker50
The celebratory explosion of basketball history makers, legend shakers and lawbreakers; juxtaposed against important events in Civil & Human...
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
Documents the race riot of 1921 and the destruction of the African-American community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With testimony by eyewitnesses...
In keeping with the original project, this series seeks to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions...
Amend: The Fight for America
When the United States of America was founded, the ideals of freedom and equality did not apply to all people. These are the stories of the brave...
Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices
Celebrity readers share children's books by Black authors to spark kid-friendly conversations about empathy, equality, self-love and antiracism.
Afrique(s), une autre histoire du XXème siècle
I Was There When House Took Over the World
Nile Rodgers and more on how disco's death gave birth to the most iconic sound in dance.
Hungry For Answers
Caroline Randall Williams, an award-winning writer, cookbook author and restaurateur, travels the United States uncovering the fascinating, essential...
Sorry, I Didn't Know
Jimmy Akingbola hosts a panel show which takes a tour of black history across the globe.


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Cllr Sarah Cheung Johnson
This register of interests was published on Wednesday, 6 June 2018, 12.22 p.m..
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I, Cllr Sarah Cheung Johnson, an elected Member of South Cambridgeshire District Council, give notice that I have set out below under the appropriate headings my interests, which are required to be declared under section 29 of the Localism Act 2011. Within 28 days of becoming aware of any change to the interests specified in this notice, I will provide written notification to the authority's Monitoring Officer of this change.
1. EMPLOYMENT: Are you Employed - Whether Part-Time or Full-Time?
University of Cambridge, Institute for Manufacturing, 17 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge, CB3 0FS
Churchill College, Storeys Way, Cambridge, CB3 0DS
Rod Cantrill, 11 Millington Road, Cambridge, CB3 9HW
Napp Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Milton, Cambridge, CB4 0AB
2. EMPLOYMENT: Are you self-employed, or do you run or are you a partner in a business?
3. EMPLOYMENT: Do you hold any office, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain?
Project Support, Institute for Manufacturing, Cambridge University, Project Support, Babbage Forum, Churchill College, Shadow Office Co-Ordinator
Group Finance Director
4. EMPLOYMENT: Are you a remunerated director of a company?
5. SPONSORSHIP: Has any person, or body, made a payment to you for any expenses incurred by you as a member?
6. SPONSORSHIP: Has any person or body made a payment to you for your election expenses
South Cambs Liberal Democrats
7. SPONSORSHIP: Have you received any payment or financial benefit from a Trade Union
8. CONTRACTS: Do you have any contracts with the Council for goods or services which has not been discharged?
9. CONTRACTS: Does any body, which you hold a beneficial interest, have any contracts with the Council for goods or services which have not been discharged
10. LAND: Do you hold any beneficial interest in land within the District of South Cambridgeshire
Address (sufficient to identify the location)
36 Lofthouse Way, Longstanton, Cambridge, CB24 3FD
11. LICENCE: Do you have a licence to occupy land for a month or longer within the District of South Cambridgeshire
Address (sufficient to identify the location):
12. TENANCY: Do you have a beneficial interest in any body which is the tenant of land where the Council is the landlord?
13. SECURITIES: Do you have a beneficial interest in a class of securities of a body that: (a) has a place of business in the Council's area and (b) that exceeds the nominal value of £25,000 or 1/100 of the total issued shared capital of that body?
14. NON PECUNIARY (OTHER INTERESTS): Please provide details of any other interest you wish to declare, but which are not disclosable pecuniary interests:
Member Liberal Democrats
Executive Member South Cambs Lib Dems
Member Project Management Institute (PMI)
School Advisory Board Member (Governor) Hatton Park Primary CMAT Trust
Member Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales


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2012 BlogPoll: Week 3
Right now it's basically Alabama and everyone else. The rest of the ballot is just trying to find some order to the 30 remaining undefeated teams. Teams like Notre Dame and Standford got big boost thanks to wins over ranked foes. And teams like USC and Michigan State were eliminated for losing.
I don't feel super confident with teams like Northwestern and Iowa State on my ballot right now, but they are undefeated and have decent enough resumes. Probably starting next week there will be fewer than 25 undefeated teams, so the 1-lossers will start to creep back in.
Weisman runs all over UNI
Two things stick out in my mind about Saturday's win over Northern Iowa. First are the injuries to Damon Bullock and Greg Garmon and the ensuing emergence of Mark Weisman. And second, that the offense looked a whole lot more like the Iowa of old than it has the two prior weeks.
The running back situation
The two injuries were awful. In the stand, with no real information, the Bullock injury was scary. Both head coaches came out on the field along with about 5 or 6 from the medical staff. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be as bad as it looked and he doesn't miss much time. At least the bye week is coming up, which will give him an extra week, if it takes that long to recover. Ditto on the Garmon injury...it looked bad, but hopefully he'll be back soon.
Both guys were playing well before their injuries. Bullock had 77 yards on just 13 carries and looked great. He had Iowa's longest run of the year, a burst for 27 yards on Iowa's first drive of the game. Then the injury, then Garmon. Garmon only had 3 carries before he was injured, and also had a nice kickoff return. Then his injury, then Weisman.
Weisman, already had scored a 2-yard TD on Iowa's first drive, but I wasn't exactly confident when he trotted out as the running back. Boy was I wrong. He looked fantastic. He hit the hole hard and hit defenders harder. He broke more tackles than I've seen in a long time. He racked up 113 yards on 24 carries and finished with all 3 of Iowa's touchdowns. He added 33 yards through the air. It was truly an amazing performance by a walk-on fullback.
Four Factor Friday: Northern Iowa
Realistically I could put all four factors as offensive production and that would do it for the post. I'm not worried about Iowa's defense. I'm not worried about special teams. The outcome of this game lies almost solely on the offense. Though, defense or special teams could really help them out with some points. The defense came close twice against Iowa State...one on the 50 yard interception return by Morris, the second on his fumble recovery that he fell on top of instead of trying to scoop and score (which I think he had a change to do, even if it was like 80 yards or so).
Anyway, writing "FIX THE OFFENSE" over and over again isn't going to do, so here are 4 different factors.
Start fast
This applies to both sides of the ball. Last week, the defense gave up a 10-play, 75-yard drive to start that game that quickly put Iowa behind 6. Phil Parker has been making great adjustments at half and the defense has only given up one score in the second half in the first two weeks. But Iowa can't afford to get behind early and allow UNI to build their confidence (which I'm pretty sure they are already thinking they should win this game.
The offense's opening drive was its longest (77 yards) last week, but ended in a field goal. While that is acceptable, the Iowa fans aren't going to sit around happy for very long if the offense doesn't score touchdowns.
Pic for Iowa: Pro Combat Uniform
Here is the first look at the Nike Pro Combat uniforms Iowa will be rocking against Purdue on November 10. My first impression is: not too bad. It looks distinctly Iowa and isn't too flashy. You have to wonder if these don't come out yet if Iowa would have won on Saturday.
Photo via: @SourceMediaBRay (Brian Ray)
Marc Morehouse has a bunch more pictures of the uniforms as well.
Update: Brent Yarina from BTN is saying not so fast... So we'll have to wait and see.
Piling it on
We all get it. The Iowa offense is bad. Really, really bad. It is statistically the worst offense of any team in a BCS conference in terms of yards per play. Only Oregon State is worse in points per play. And any way you slice it, Iowa is sitting in the bottom 10% of all offenses in the country.
And yet, I keep hearing a bunch of excuses.
Execution - Of course, the coaches and players are saying it's all about execution (this is still a Kirk Ferentz coached team after all). And execution is definitely a big part of it.
Iowa had 8 drops on Saturday. That is about 1 in every 5 passes. It wasn't just one player either. Davis, Fiedorowicz, Martin-Manley, Weisman, Shumpert, Bullock, and Hillyer all had a drop. It's a team problem.
Vandenberg has had his share of execution problems too. He's lacked a little touch, made a few bad decisions, and hasn't looked all that comfortable in the pocket (which is in part due to the offensive line's pass protection, or lack thereof).


A gorgeous ivy topiary in a ball form. This is the perfect way to bring the outdoors in this winter season. These topiaries make a short appearance each year from mid November to early January. Get this while you can!
Please Note: If you are ordering roses, the vase and filler can be upgraded, but the number of roses will remain the same.
© 2019 - Santee Floral Designs, Inc.
Hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.


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My Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Short Fiction Roundup - July 2020
This roundup includes 14 amazing SFF stories I read in July.
Your Name Is Oblivia by Vincent Tirado in Fiyah #15
Tirado's story takes place in a bar called Styx and Stones (love that) where the patrons can order "memory-based drinks", meaning drinks infused with memories of specific experiences and emotions. They can order ten memory-based drinks and pay with regular money, but after that, they have to pay by giving up one of their own memories. The drinks are made, and the memories harvested, by a bartender named Oblivia. Oblivia tries to be a good employee. She tries to follow the strict rules laid down by the bar's owner, Mr. Edgewise, but she has a tendency to slip up, again and again. She also can't remember how long she's worked at the bar, or what, if anything she did before. Even when she's in her own apartment, she feels no real connection to the items there or the place itself. And when Oblivia connects with a customer who calls himself Don who doesn't seem to be looking for the usual kinds of memories, things take a turn. This is a story that hits so many of my sweet spots. I love how it's set in a bar, and how well it captures the bar setting and the social aspects of being a bartender. I also love how it delves into the elusive nature of memories and identity, and how losing memories of our past might impact who we are, how we relate to the world, and how well we can understand ourselves and others. It's a story that will stick with me for a long time.
The Black Menagerie by Endria Isa Richardson in Fiyah #15
An evocative and intricately woven tale of magic and shapeshifting that plays out both in the past and the present, and that skilfully laces together horror, history, and fantasy. It traces the life, and the changeable nature, of a woman called Alta who has lived a longer than life most people do. It's a story of desire and fear, and—more subtly, maybe—about power: in relationships and society. I love stories about shapeshifters, and this one delves deep into that subject. Richardson's prose has a gleaming, lyrical quality that is completely mesmerizing. This is a deep story worth reading and re-reading.
...a row of white windows that overlook the street where Alta stands, having walked this early morning from North Beach to Russian Hill. Her reflection gleams in oiled blacks and white, caught in a larger dormer window inset beneath the gabled roof. The new sun sketches the line of distant rooftops behind; roughly, and then fine. The reflection in the window bleeds, burns in the new light, and twists into something no longer a woman.
The Limits of Magic by Samantha Mills in Apparition Literary Magazine
"There is no magic that can stop a war. There are, of course, numerous ways that magic can start one."
An epic fantasy tale that somehow fits into the size of a short story. It's about love and revenge, lost lovers and children left behind, it's about rebellion against an unjust and oppressive society, and maybe, just maybe, it's also about hope. Mills weaves a devastating and powerful tale of a woman who has lost almost everything in her life, but who is still willing to risk even more in order to set the future right.
The Night Soil Salvagers by Gregory Norman Bossert at TOR.com
But none of this is what the Night Soil Salvagers do. Not as they would have it. What the Night Soil Salvagers do is lessen the burden of the city on the Earth. On a good night—and what night is not good to the Night Soil Salvagers?—one will greet another with, "The city is light tonight." And the other will reply, "Let it be so light that under the moon it rises up."
An utterly strange, utterly beautiful and sublime story by Bossert. I don't even know quite how to describe this tale, except that it is the story of the Salvagers, the city they work in, the music they make, their exploits beneath and above. It's also, more specifically, a tale of the salvager named Parch; Florens, the woman the Salvagers call "our heart"; and the antinode:
The Night Soil Salvagers keep a garden in an open space within the city. They did not create this space, though they have nurtured it; it was always there, inevitable, a rest in the rhythm of the city's beating. Florens called it the antinode.
Gloriously strange and enchanting.
Public Service by Julie Reeser at Daily SF
Reeser's story is a wonderful slice of near-future science fiction that quietly and deliberately subverts a multitude of superhero tropes. Sure, there's a town in trouble, there's a hero that saves the townspeople, and there are bad guys getting caught. But what kind of trouble is it that they all need to be saved from? And how, exactly, is the superhero saving everyone? And, maybe most importantly, who are those "bad guys", really? A gentle but incisive tale.
Burn or The Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super by A.T. Greenblatt in Uncanny Magazine
Watch Sam burn.
Or sort of burn. Well, more like light up, then burn. But only his head.
Sam's trying not to focus on the things he can't control. Like the twenty-four people sitting in front of him, watching him impassively. Or that he's underdressed for his audition. Or that this old community center is impossibly stuffy, with a whiff of sour milk lingering in the air. Or that this might be a terrible idea.
Another excellent and subversive take on all those familiar superhero stories, and one that specifically takes on the idea of what happens when you gather up a group of superheroes in the vein of The Avengers or Justice League. Sam thinks he might have what it takes to be a superhero. He even passes the required "audition" to join the superhero team. But what happens next is nothing like what usually happens in the movies when someone gets elevated to superhero status. There's a gentle and darkly humourous undercurrent to this story, and an unusual vibe of everyday kindness and goodness under difficult circumstances that really appeals to me. A wonderful tale by Greenblatt.
Recognition by Victor LaValle in New York Times Magazine's Decameron Project
LaValle's story fits into our current pandemic world like a sharp knife fits between ribs. It's set in New York during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis there, and it is amazing to read a story like this, with this kind of edge and depth, while we're still in the throes of this pandemic. It captures the devastation and horror of what happened in New York in a subtle yet powerful way, focusing on a seemingly very small, and very human story. Everything here is pitch-perfect, and there comes a moment in the tale when LaValle twists the knife of fiction with expert precision and it's a true goosebump moment for me.
The Wasp-Keeper's Mother by A.C. Buchanan in Kaleidotrope
As she makes it out of the crowded city streets and onto the highway, Kathleen notices her daughter's ghost in the rear-view mirror. She's expected that—it happens most times. What she didn't expect was how young Tamara looks. The girl on the back seat is barely five years old, the seatbelt almost sliding over her head. Kathleen wonders if she should have brought a car seat but Tamara's normally seventeen or so when she appears. There's no way to know in advance.
A ghost story about a mother who feels that she has failed in life: failed her family and especially her children. Buchanan perfectly captures that terrible feeling of being stuck in a life that has not worked out at all like you planned, and still you seemingly can't do anything but continue on as you have before, and you're unable to make things right. It's a devastating tale, full of quiet dread and despair, and it's beautifully written.
Actually Naneen by Malka Older in Slate
A quiet and thoughtful science fiction story about Shristi and her (rather old-fashioned) robot nanny, Naneen. At the time of the story, Naneen is looking after Shristi's children, but long before that, she was Shristi's own nanny. Naneen can't quite measure up to some of the more newfangled nanny-models, like the ones Shristi's friends own, but there are other bonds, and other features, that might be of more importance than up-to-date technology. I love how deftly and perceptively this story explores the bond between humans and machines, and how that bond can affect people, and maybe robots too.
My Brother's Keeper by Casilda Ferrante in Unsung Stories
My brother Elijah is slumped in the chair, his hands curled into fists on the armrest, knuckles inked with black script. One hand says EVIL, the other hand says GOOD. I was beside him when he got those tattooed. He thought of me as the needle hummed. One brother evil, the other good; I don't know which one I am anymore.
A ghost story that is also a story about sibling love, and hate, emotions twined tightly together here. It's set in an afterlife that is not at all what the characters in the story had imagined would happen after death. I love how Ferrante unfolds the tale itself, and the motivations and emotions of its characters, bit by bit, and how, in the end, we end up in a much different place and with a much different resolution, than I was originally expecting. Gorgeously written and devastating.
The Wandering City by Usman T. Malik in Us in Flux
On a cool April morning, moments after the muezzin walks, sleep-drunk, to Mughalpura Mosque and before the discounted holometer at Lahore's Abdus Salam Quantum Center starts beeping, the City flickers at the edge of a Florida wetland, and wanders into Lahore.
Oh, this story is exquisitely wrought, and gleams like a fairytale. It is set in Lahore, Pakistan, where a strange city appears, and strange things take place around the new arrival. Malik describes the premise like this: "A ninth century enchanted city appears at Shalamar Bagh, Lahore. How do Lahoris respond to this apparition?" It's a fantasy tale with its roots in One Thousand and One Nights, and it's thought-provoking and mesmerizing read.
Dégustation by Ashley Deng in Nightmare Magazine
You are a spore, barely more than a twinkle in your many parents' breeding-breathing air. They are your family, among other things, living as a colony in the dim light beneath an abandoned office building. They fill the already-damp air with the encouraging words of hopes and aspirations for you and your siblings. And though you are nothing more than a speck in the air, the sentiment is warm, just as the earthy mulch you settle into that embraces you like a blanket.
A brazenly strange, utterly weird, yet also (somehow) very relatable story about a person who isn't really a human at all, though they live most of their life among us. In reality, they come from a people that pass for humans though they actually grow like mushrooms, and live in communities we never see. There's a deeply unsettling body-horror element here, but what makes it special is how it depicts an alien among us who is trying very hard to work out how to pass for human, how live with and among humans, and who is having some real trouble making it all work. In the end, their true nature asserts itself, and there is some peace to be found in that too. Wondrous and unforgettable.
Carving You Out of Memory by L Chan in Black Telephone Magazine
Black Telephone Magazine is a new publication, featuring "dark literary communications". The first issue is available now and features stories from a range of authors, including this wrenching and powerful piece by Chan. Golems, memories, and a past abusive relationship are at the center of this story, and Chan's beautifully crafted prose cuts deep.
Needles by Kali Napier in The Dark
An abusive father, a mother trying to keep food on the table and the lights on in the home, and a daughter who is trying very hard to keep herself in check--to not make trouble or get into trouble... this story is quiet on the surface, but beneath, there is a depth of pain and anger and determination. Maeve, the daughter, has powers of her own, but they are of little use to her when it comes to protecting herself or her mother from her father's wrath. What Maeve doesn't realize, is that maybe she doesn't see everything that is happening in her house. Excellent, well-crafted suspense and horror wrapped in wonderful prose.
Listen to the audio-version of the roundup.
First published at Curious Fictions. Art is a detail of Erika Hollice's cover art for Apparition Literary Magazine #11 - Redemption.
Labels: at Curious Fictions, short story roundups, speculative fiction