text:
Stay tuned to our new posts and updates! Click to join us on WhatsApp & Telegram Channel
The L&C-Silhouette Basket
A hand-picked basket of cherries from the world of most talked about books and popular posts on creative literature, reviews and interviews, movies and music, critiques and retrospectives ...
to enjoy, ponder, wonder & relish!
Subscribe to the L&C-Silhouette Newsletter
Learning & Creativity
Just Imagine...!
Write For Us Advertise With Us Blue Pencil Support
Letter to Myself During the Days of Corona
Morning Meanderings
Poetry Month Special Edition
Autism Awareness Poems Special Edition
New Year 2016 Literature Special
The Indomitable SHE
Art and Verses: Rhythm Divine Collaborates with Woman Scream 2016
Chitrangada
Tales of Lord Jagannath
Writer's Scratchpad
Literature DIY
Travel Photographs
Ghost Stories by Children from Sharjah
Creativity in Kitchen
Valentine's Special
Children's Day Special
Diwali Special
Durga Puja Special
Support LnC-Silhouette. Great reading for everyone, supported by readers. SUPPORT
About Movies
Mohini: Bollywood, Beyond The Gloss And Glitter
January 28, 2014 | By Antara Nanda Mondal
"The greatest strength of the book is that the denouement goes beyond the pessimism, the grim reality and the sordid drama to offer more than a dash of hope."
"It is not unbridled manipulation, naked ambition or overpowering obsession that can bring happiness."
"Lights! Camera! Action!"…we all know these three words flag off the juggernaut of filmmaking. What we see later on the screen is what has been captured on camera, edited, processed, mixed, passed through the censors and finally shown on the wide theatre screen.
What goes on behind those scenes hardly ever reaches the audience. Just as the film industry is a massive continuing celebration of creative talent and innovation, it also hides within its folds a grim underbelly of politics, back stabbing, crude opportunism and the never ending game of one-upmanship.
Mohini, the saga of a wannabe starlet who makes it big in the film industry, goes behind those dark curtains and peers into the inner lives of these stars, wannabe actors, pocket-heavy producers, maverick directors, the "Mr Fix-it" star-makers, and the influential star companions. Ramendra Kumar, an award winning author with 23 books to his credit, talks to L&C about 'Mohini', his first novel for the adult reader.
L&C: You have a remarkable repertoire of writing for children – both fiction and non-fiction. What encouraged you to venture into writing fiction for the adult reader?
Ramendra: My tryst with creativity began with satire, fiction and poetry. When my kids were growing up I shifted tracks and started writing for children. However, I continued dabbling in other forms of creativity. Hence, though this is my first novel for adults I have always been reaching out to the adult reader through bonsai versions.
L&C: The film industry spins stories in each movie that comes out of its studios. And the industry itself has served as a backdrop for many a story, Dirty Picture being a recent example. What made you choose Bollywood as the context for your novel?
Ramendra: I have always been hugely fascinated by Bollywood – both its on screen as well as off screen avatars. My parents too were film buffs and our conversations often veered to the art and craft of film making as well as the happenings beyond the celluloid. I loved watching movies, reading about films and collecting trivia. I regularly participated in Movie Quizzes and in my college days, at one point of time, my team was the best in Hyderabad.
Thus it was quite natural that whenever I would decide to write a novel for adults it would be on films and filmstars.
Ramendra Kumar
L&C: You admit that you have been always a film buff. The character of Mohini or for that matter most of the leading characters have faint shades of well known film personalities. Were the resemblances a deliberate part of your story telling or did they creep in as you wove the characters?
Ramendra: None of the main characters is based on actual personalities. Any resemblance is coincidental, as the disclaimer goes.
However, a few of the minor characters do bear a resemblance to actual persons. For e.g, Kaka Kundan has distinct shades of Rajesh Khanna and Didi is based loosely on Rekha's amma. This is a deliberate strategy on my part to make the narrative more realistic and also arouse greater interest. It is almost as if I'm asking my reader to join me in a guessing game.
L&C: Just as there have been stories about the murky and sordid side of the film industry, certain films and stories have also thrown light upon the positive aspects. For example, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi reveals the generous side of actors who are known to the audience as villains and misers. Guru Dutt's Kaagaz Ke Phool looks at how love struggles to emerge above the transitory nature of fame and success in the film industry.
Your novel insists on looking at the grim underbelly of the film industry where exploitation and self interest rule above all. Any particular reason for choosing to look only at the darker side?
Ramendra: I wanted to paint a realistic picture of Bollywood, beyond the gloss and glitter. Also, I wanted to take a comprehensive look at Bollywood in all its nuances and not confine the narrative in any kind of a straitjacket.
And I don't quite agree that I have looked only at the darker side. I feel the greatest strength of the book is that the denouement goes beyond the pessimism, the grim reality and the sordid drama to offer more than a dash of hope. It is not unbridled manipulation, naked ambition or overpowering obsession that can bring happiness. Joy and contentment can come from a simple, yet all powerful four letter word called Love.
L&C: Some episodes in the book are heavily inspired from actual incidents, such as the episode involving the award for the best supporting actress for Shabnam. Comment.
"The episode of the best supporting actors was based on the actual incident involving Vyjayanthimala in Devdas"
(Vyjayanthimala had refused to accept the 1957 Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actress as she thought her role of Chandramukhi was not a supporting one, it was a parallel role to Paro, played by Suchitra Sen).
Ramendra: Yes, the episode of the best supporting actors was based on the actual incident involving Vyjayanthimala in Devdas. Similarly Mohini's Kajri act is 'inspired' by Zeenat Aman's successful attempt at convincing Raj Kapoor that she is the best choice for Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram.
L&C: Unlike your short stories, Mohini the novel is heavily dialogue dependent. In fact, the details of the story unspool through dialogues. Did you plan this narrative structure at the outset or did it slowly take shape as the plot unravelled?
Ramendra: I did not plan this type of narrative structure. I think this kind of a story line demanded this type of structure and it happened on its own.
L&C: Did you write the novel with a clear objective of turning it into a film script at a later date?
Ramendra: Not really. In fact I wrote it as a possible story for a TV serial.
L&C: In an era of sequels, are we looking at the possibility of Mohini 2?
Ramendra: Quite a few of my readers have been asking for a sequel. But I am not quite sure. Let's see…. Que Sera Sera …..
Author: Ramendra Kumar
Publisher: Bluejay Books Pvt. Ltd.
Prices: Rs. 50 (Amazon), Rs. 55 (Flipkart) Rs. 79 (Infibeam)
More to read on Learning and Creativity:
Read the book's review: Mohini: The Implosion Of The Brightest Star.
Read Ramendra Kumar's Review of Guru Dutt's classic film: Pyaasa: Pristine Poetry On Celluloid
Read Ramendra Kumar's posts published in Learning and Creativity.
Antara Nanda Mondal ( 67 Posts)
Editor in Chief, Learning and Creativity; Consulting Editor, Silhouette Magazine. A former business journalist, Antara writes extensively on the changing trends of music, direction and filmmaking in cinema. Her articles aim to provide well-researched information on the legends of cinema for the movie and music enthusiast. She is also the Founder-Editor of Blue Pencil, a New Delhi-based publishing house. She edited and published Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman, the biography of SD Burman written by HQ Chowdhury. She has co-authored a chapter on Hemant Kumar's Bengali music in the acclaimed book The Unforgettable Music of Hemant Kumar, written by Manek Premchand. Her articles have also been published in Dearcinema.com and Du-kool.com. Antara is Editor-Creative Director of Wisitech InfoSolutions Pvt. Ltd.
All Posts of Antara Nanda Mondal
Hope you enjoyed reading...
... we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading and supporting our creative, informative and analytical posts than ever before. And yes, we are firmly set on the path we chose when we started... our twin magazines Learning and Creativity and Silhouette Magazine (LnC-Silhouette) will be accessible to all, across the world.
We are editorially independent, not funded, supported or influenced by investors or agencies. We try to keep our content easily readable in an undisturbed interface, not swamped by advertisements and pop-ups. Our mission is to provide a platform you can call your own creative outlet and everyone from renowned authors and critics to budding bloggers, artists, teen writers and kids love to build their own space here and share with the world.
When readers like you contribute, big or small, it goes directly into funding our initiative. Your support helps us to keep striving towards making our content better. And yes, we need to build on this year after year. Support LnC-Silhouette with a little amount - and it only takes a minute. Thank you
Support LnC-Silhouette
Mohini: The Implosion Of The Brightest Star
Stories of Resilience: The Indomitable Girls Who Rebuilt Their Broken Lives
Miracles Do Happen: Against All Odds Book Review
Friends Forever Chapter 27
Got a poem, story, musing or painting you would like to share with the world? Send your creative writings and expressions to editor@learningandcreativity.com
Learning and Creativity publishes articles, stories, poems, reviews, and other literary works, artworks, photographs and other publishable material contributed by writers, artists and photographers as a friendly gesture. The opinions shared by the writers, artists and photographers are their personal opinion and does not reflect the opinion of Learning and Creativity- emagazine. Images used in the posts (not including those from Learning and Creativity's own photo archives) have been procured from the contributors themselves, public forums, social networking sites, publicity releases, free photo sites such as Pixabay, Pexels, Morguefile, etc and Wikimedia Creative Commons. Please inform us if any of the images used here are copyrighted, we will pull those images down.
Archives Select Month January 2022 (2) December 2021 (9) November 2021 (5) October 2021 (4) September 2021 (9) August 2021 (8) July 2021 (7) June 2021 (3) May 2021 (2) April 2021 (4) March 2021 (6) February 2021 (4) January 2021 (4) December 2020 (8) November 2020 (7) October 2020 (8) September 2020 (9) August 2020 (12) July 2020 (9) June 2020 (6) May 2020 (13) April 2020 (14) March 2020 (5) February 2020 (18) January 2020 (20) December 2019 (19) November 2019 (10) October 2019 (10) September 2019 (24) August 2019 (16) July 2019 (19) June 2019 (28) May 2019 (14) April 2019 (9) March 2019 (6) February 2019 (8) January 2019 (2) December 2018 (6) November 2018 (6) October 2018 (5) September 2018 (5) August 2018 (5) July 2018 (3) June 2018 (4) May 2018 (5) April 2018 (7) March 2018 (13) February 2018 (7) January 2018 (7) December 2017 (4) November 2017 (7) October 2017 (7) September 2017 (6) August 2017 (9) July 2017 (7) June 2017 (5) May 2017 (10) April 2017 (19) March 2017 (10) February 2017 (6) January 2017 (7) December 2016 (1) November 2016 (6) October 2016 (7) September 2016 (7) August 2016 (8) July 2016 (2) June 2016 (5) May 2016 (6) April 2016 (9) March 2016 (28) February 2016 (14) January 2016 (15) December 2015 (2) November 2015 (8) October 2015 (11) September 2015 (12) August 2015 (18) July 2015 (33) June 2015 (21) May 2015 (23) April 2015 (38) March 2015 (11) February 2015 (9) January 2015 (9) December 2014 (15) November 2014 (9) October 2014 (20) September 2014 (8) August 2014 (15) July 2014 (20) June 2014 (36) May 2014 (29) April 2014 (33) March 2014 (42) February 2014 (40) January 2014 (53) December 2013 (82) November 2013 (89) October 2013 (92) September 2013 (74) August 2013 (202)
Antara Nanda Mondal (67 Posts)
Dr. Madhumita Bhattacharjee Nayyar on A Purrfect Story
Noddie and Goldie😊 I am so glad they found two little hearts so full of love. The obsession with 'angrezi' names is there as is with a fair skin. ...
Lavanya Nukavarapu on A Purrfect Story
A simple yet heartwarming story.
Santosh on The Happy New Year Gift
Thanks so much ❤
R Jayachandran on The Happy New Year Gift
I could feel my hunger vanish as you fed those little pups. I felt the warmness hug the old woman as you wrapped your shawl around her. I felt the ven...
Santosh on Thousand Islands of New York – Where Glamour Embraces Penury
Loved it , travelled with the author !
Latest in L&C
A Purrfect Story
Morning Meanderings Season 2
The Happy New Year Gift
A Place in the Stars
Salads, Samosas and Sprouts
Thousand Islands of New York – Where Glamour Embraces Penury
Latest in Silhouette Magazine
Jyotiprasad, Joymoti, Indramalati and Beyond: History of Assamese Cinema: Parthajit Baruah's New Book
Indian Cinema Retrospectives
Umad Ghumad Kar Aayi Re Ghata - Euphoric Celebration of Rains
The Song Story
'Aesthetic Potentials of Sound are Rarely Explored' - Budhaditya Chattopadhyay on the Use of Sound in Cinema
Indian Film Personalities
Film Memorabilia Transitions from a Collector's Passion to an Investor's Eye
Desi Web Heads, Spider-Man India is Finally Here!
Curtain Raisers
Today's Motivation
Learning quotes on growing up and helping others.
Learning & Creativity-Silhouette Magazine on Facebook
Learning & Creativity-Silhouette Magazine Magazine
101 Years of Indian Cinema
Creative Photographs
Send Us Your Creations
Women's Day Special
Children's Day Special
Our Sister Ventures
Home | News & Events | Send Us Your Creations | About | Sponsors/Advertising | Disclaimer | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Sitemap | Terms & Conditions
Copyright © Learning & Creativity 2022. All Rights Reserved
Copyright © Learning & Creativity 2022.


text:
Home / Society / Light motorbikes to remain dominant until 2030 and onwards
Light motorbikes to remain dominant until 2030 and onwards
Light motorbikes and scooters will continue to be the key means of transport for Vietnamese people until 2030.
Dreadful lack of management
The research on the role of motorbikes in Vietnam at present and in the future conducted by Vu Anh Tuan from the Vietnamese-German Transportation Research Centre (Vietnamese-German University), shows that motorbikes currently occupy the most significant position in transportation in Vietnam. Moreover, until 2030 and onward, motorbikes will still be commonly used in spite of people's increasing income.
The research was conducted in the context of the lack of professionalism in motorbike management in Vietnam's cities and provinces. A series of solutions, including restricting or ban motorbikes from certain streets and certain hours, have been proposed, however, people raise concerns about their feasibility and actual effects.
In fact, motorbikes are still the most popular option given the underdeveloped road infrastructure, low personal incomes, and limited public transport services in cities and provinces (excluding Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City), which can barely meet 1 per cent of local peoples' travelling demand.
Even in the two big cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, in spite of having the most developed road systems in the country and having public transport systems which can fulfil 8 to 10 per cent of local people's travelling demand, road density per total area and the quantity of buses per million inhabitants are much lower than in other Asian cities.
Notably, in Hanoi, there is an average of 50 meters of road per 1 hectare of land area, and there are 300 buses for each million inhabitants, while in other Asian countries, these figures are 100-150 meters per hectare and 1,000-1,500 buses per million inhabitants.
In addition, if the construction and expansion of the road network, metro system, and bus fleets stays at the current speed, public transport will not be able to meet locals' demand in the next 20 years.
Speedy and flexible
The reason why motorbikes are so commonly chosen by Vietnamese people is that they are cheap, speedy, and flexible.
A household survey included in the research shows that motorbikes are the most-owned vehicle in all households in all income brackets. There is an average of 2-4 motorbikes in a household.
It is noted that as personal incomes increase, private car ownership rates also increase, however, motorbike ownership is not likely to decrease. For individuals, motorbikes are the main choice to move around. Even in the high-income group, although 52 per cent use private cars, more than 40 per cent still use motorbikes.
The research also showed the results of interviews with local inhabitants about the motorbike ban policy and lessons drawn from China.
The results show that motorbikes will still be chosen by the majority of people until 2030 and motorbikes are not likely to disappear anytime soon.
In big cities, even though the whole railway systems have been rebuilt and bus networks have been expanded according to the planning, 70 per cent of the inhabitants still select motorbikes. In small- and medium-sized cities, even with the bus systems significantly improved, roughly 90 per cent of the people will use motorbikes.
Only about 30 per cent of respondents said that the motorbike ban policy "will come into effect" in 2030.
However, motorbikes also bring high safety risks, thus, the research also proposes solutions to create a proper motor-riding environment or the issuance of regulations applied to motorbikes for safer traffic flows.
Some of the regulations which were proposed to be applied widely include making it compulsory for children under 6 to wear helmets, the issuance of driving licenses for adolescents between the ages of 16 and 18 (for 50cc-bikes and electronic bikes), adding long-distance trips to the bike-riding test, the issuance of a motorbike safety handbook, building bike lanes, requiring motorbikes to install ABS (Anti-lock Braking Systems) and AHO (Automatic Headlight On), and conducting annual bike-technical check-ups.
flexible household management motorbikes Speedy Vietnam 2018-10-13
Tags flexible household management motorbikes Speedy Vietnam
Previous Fitch revises Vingroup's outlook to negative
Next Around 11,000 Vietnamese women have breast cancer annually
Western food for Vietnamese palates
Phung's last journey to hit Ha Noi screens
Animals released into wild in Quang Ninh
Egypt court sentences 183 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death
IPU committee adopts draft resolution on using int'l law in dispute settlement
West Africa Ebola outbreak could infect 20,000 people, WHO says
Vietnam's female football team rise one step in FIFA rankings
Coal ash creates huge pressure

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The authors also cite a study in which neuroscientists found that "reasoning areas in the brain virtually shut down" when people are presented with dissonant information, and emotion circuits of the brain light up when consonance is restored. We do not rest easy until the dissonance is resolved.
In my experience, this is a statement and a belief that causes a LOT of dissonance.
Obviously there have been contradictions in teachings (feel free to list some if you like, for the sake of the debate). Here is a common one:  Brigham Young taught that Adam was God the Father. Spencer W. Kimball taught, "We denounce that theory and hope that everyone will be cautioned against this and other kinds of false doctrine." So which of these leaders is leading us astray? If you believe that a prophet cannot teach false doctrine, one of them is definitely leading us astray.
Resolving dissonance is not always bad. In fact, it often leads to pro-social action.  In the case of religious belief, it has spurred me to examine my beliefs and assumptions, discard what I deem to be error, and strengthen my commitment to what I believe is truth.
One final thought: Following a prophet requires a lot of faith, prayer, guidance of the Spirit, and (dare I say) use of one's mind. May we all have the courage to use our intellect as well as our our feelings, for they are equally vital.
 Woodruff, W. (1890). Excerpts from three addresses by President Wilford Woodruff regarding the manifesto. Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church.
 Young, B. (1852). Adam, our father and our God. Journal of Discourses 1, 46-53.
It's an important subject and I have forwarded it on to many others but it won't ever make it in the Manuals.
"It is the Lord who is directing this Church. You don't need to worry very much about Gordon Hinckley. The Lord is directing this work, and He won't let me or anyone else lead it astray. I am convinced of that. My only desire, and I hope your only desire, is to do that which the Lord would have us do" (fireside in Crawley, England, 26 Aug. 1995).
Remember whose church this is. It carries the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who stands as its head. His is the power to remove any who is found remiss in his duty or who is teaching that which is not in harmony with His divine will.
I say for each and all that we have no personal agenda. We have only the Lord's agenda. There are those who criticize when we issue a statement of counsel or warning. Please know that our pleadings are not motivated by any selfish desire. Please know that our warnings are not without substance and reason. Please know that the decisions to speak out on various matters are not reached without deliberation, discussion, and prayer. Please know that our only ambition is to help each of you with your problems, your struggles, your families, your lives. …(in Conference Report, Oct. 1992, pp. 79–80; or Ensign, Nov. 1992, pp. 59–60).
I say to Israel, the Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty.
I remember years ago when I was a bishop I had President Grant talk to our ward. After the meeting, I drove him home. … When we got to his home I got out of the car and went up on the porch with him. Standing by me, he put his arm over my shoulder and said: 'My boy, you always keep your eye on the President of the Church, and if he ever tells you to do anything, and it is wrong, and you do it, the Lord will bless you for it.' Then with a twinkle in his eye, he said, 'But you don't need to worry. The Lord will never let his mouthpiece lead the people astray' (in Conference Report, Oct. 1960, p. 78).
Adam, my conclusion is much like yours – that God will never allow the prophets to teach us anything that will cause us to "go astray" from our ultimate objective – that they won't teach anything that will alter our course and lead us away from the Celestial Kingdom (Him).
I find no dissonance in adding "nor prophets, nor apostles" as a subset of "nor any other creature".
The need for congruence is applicable to more than its application to the current or past Prophet or any of the Brethren. From my experience it is applied weekly to bishops and stake presidents. I have experienced it firsthand as a bishop and seen it on a ward level more times than I can count. Your post gives insight to questions I have had over the years as I have been interested in the process of how one becomes "discomfirmed" toward leaving the Church. Something many of us have had to or currently deal with.
I resolve the dissonance in the same way Adam, prophets are human and subject to human limitations, but they will never be allowed do something that would endanger our salvation.
If prophets and apostles are no more protected by God from teaching false doctrine than normal Joe Blow folks, then why call them prophets and apostles? Shouldn't prophets and apostles at the very least be expected to abide by a higher standard? It seems that Mormons have, in order to protect themselves from having to reject their leaders, have lowered the bar considerably for their leaders, so much so that outsiders ask: If Mormon insider can't trust their own leaders, why should we non-Mormon outsiders?
That is the trouble we so often run into, assuming that leadership=superiority. That is not God's way. But thinking that way still keeps you in rather good company. Read Exodus 3 and 4, when God called Moses. It is obvious Moses realized he was no better than other men and that a leader ought to be more. Christ himself must not have seemed drastically better than other men, or He would not have been so cavalierly crucified. Joseph, Enos, Enoch, John the Baptist, Peter . . . I don't think there is an example in any scripture or history of the Church where a prophet was called because he was better than other men. In fact, it seems to be quite the opposite.
No, he also didn't say "WE were wrong and the Lord actually wanted all humans to be treated equally.", but that is what he should have said. His comment feels to me like Bill Clinton being deposed.
The approach of saying prophets won't lead us away from the love of God is that sometimes false doctrines actually do that. For example, lots of very nice and good-hearted Mormons perpetuated ideas that were extremely harmful to the self-esteem and testimonies of black church members because of the false teachings of prophets and apostles. That dissonance is difficult to reconcile.
I've thought over this concept recently, and even wrote a post on it this morning.
I appreciate your intellectual honesty and your desire to discuss difficult topics, Adam; of course, I have come to expect nothing less from you. Indeed, contradictions between prophets is a difficult issue to resolve – in fact, I am not sure how it can be done in a satisfying manner. Not to make things worse, but what about all the ex-LDS who left the church due to contradictions like the ones presented? Weren't they 'lead astray'?
Clay – "For example, lots of very nice and good-hearted Mormons perpetuated ideas that were extremely harmful to the self-esteem and testimonies of black church members because of the false teachings of prophets and apostles. That dissonance is difficult to reconcile." I agree that it's difficult to reconcile, but I'm not sure which side I fall out on: 1) anyone who believed/perpetuated prejudice was someone who was already a pretty flawed terrible person and this just revealed their true character which would have come out other ways anyway OR 2) prejudice is a cultural disease that is passed on from one generation to another until the madness stops; it is very harmful, but takes generations of enlightenment to dissipate, and as such, those who suffer from this affliction (thereby afflicting others) are like sufferers of a mental disease, in part not responsible for their actions.
My answer: We should never trust them without question.
We should do what we think the Lord wants us to do, through our own personal revelation and connection to Him. We can decide to follow a prophet/leader. We can decide they are wrong and not follow them. That same Brigham Young also made statements to this effect, that he did not want people to follow him without question simply because of his title and office.
Too many members can quote the BY "follow the prophet" statement. Not enough can quote the many other "don't believe me unless you think I am right, cause I could be wrong" statements.
I am amazed that people who couldn't treat African slaves as equals still wrote, "All men are created equal." They must have been arrogant, power-hungry hypocrites – no better than any of the other rabble with whom they associated.
Otoh, perhaps if I consider the big picture of their vision and what they created with that vision, I can cut them some slack for their humanity and their blind spots and still grant that they were great – but deeply flawed.
Personally, I believe that prophets and leaders are very able to lead us astray, in the various ways we might understand that phrase. I think it's obvious that on an issue to issue basis there are many examples of low quality and or wrong teachings coming from the highest levels of Church leaderships. In the end though, the responsibility will always fall back on the individual member since no matter what we believe about the prophet and other Church leaders we have a responsibility to listen to their words and to ponder, and to pray etc. So, no matter what our leaders teach or how they teach it, their words do not form some kind of absolute, their words are not alpha and omega. Their words form one aspect of a larger spiritual dialogue that the individual listener is responsible for. It's the responsibility of the individual that we should be focused on.
His is the power to remove any who is found remiss in his duty or who is teaching that which is not in harmony with His divine will.
Obviously that prophet must first be remiss or be teaching falsehoods for the Lord to decide to removed him. ie the removal comes after the fact.
Maybe its the 'leading astray' comment that we need to take another look at, maybe its about a lot more than just making a mistake on doctrine or about one mistaken decision. After all its the enemies of the church who keep going back to brigham youngs adam god theory to define all of mormonism.
I have posted here before today so many of you already know I am not a LDS member; although I disagree with LDS doctrine, I admire the faith of individual LDS members and I believe all faith to be God-given.
This thread has raised an issue with me, however. In fact, all my recent experience interacting with LDS members in various environments (besides being very rewarding for me) has made me question the LDS claim of being set apart from other Churches – or it's identity as a restored church. Here are a few examples of what I am trying to communicate.
After spending last semester attending an Institute class, I learned that the LDS church embraces many of the teachings and writings rejected by the early Catholic Church during the G.A. I believe my Institute teacher was trying to make the point that other legitimate ideas were floating around the Early Church and were subjected to suppression by the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, I think it also presents a problem – one of the supporting ideas presented by LDS leadership for the existence of the Great Apostasy is that the Catholic Church took on too many pagan ideas and doctrines, rather than remaining pure. So how can LDS leadership make this claim on one hand, and then appear to turn around and add legitimacy to pagan ideas like Origen's doctrine of Pre-Existence, which were carefully rooted out and condemned by the Catholic Church for being too pagan?
In the same spirit, how can a LDS member claim that their church is restored, with a living prophet AND claim that he can make mistakes like any other man; especially, since the Bible states that a prophet should be considered to be false if his prophecy turns out to be wrong. Although I admire the willingness to question established doctrine and ideas, I am not sure it is possible to hold both ideas to be true. What do you all think?
Coming from a Catholic point of view, I can accept many of the criticisms that other churches have about my Church (and I think some of them are legitimate); however, I have yet to see any church be able to improve the faults that they point out so well in my church without either trading them for other problems or simply disregarding logic to make their new doctrine work (example – the new doctrine of Sola Scriptura developed by Luther to usurp the authority of the Catholic Church leads to the problem of private interpretation of the scriptures and relies on the illogical premise that scripture defines scripture).
Hopefully, I am making sense here – I guess the bottom line for me is that in order for me to reject the old and embrace the new, there needs to be a clear improvement and I fail to see a clear improvement of the Catholic Church within Protestantism or any later church movement. Finally, I apologize if I am leading this thread off topic.
This is a good word. Sometimes we need to use it not only in word, but in practice. Somethings just don't have a neat, or tidy explanation, and when we encounter inscrutable issues what do we do with them? If an issue is really inscrutable then we will never have an adequate explanation or understanding-so we need to learn how to deal with it in some other way than to endless study and seek to explain it. There are many things we can not do physically, flying is an example. Not matter how long or hard you flap your arms you will never be able to soar with the eagles.
As intelligent beings we have learned to fly, but we still can't soar in the company of eagles (F16 and eagles don't mix).
To my point: I've thought a lot about Adam/God, blacks and the priesthood, prophets and infallibility. I've learned to live with the inscrutable nature of these topics by spending my time to learn to "fly" in areas that are doable, really count–acquiring a testimony of the Book of Mormon (in spite of some inscrutable aspects of church history), seeking diligently to acquire the companionship of the Holy Ghost (in spite of the trials and difficulties associated with this endeavor), pleading for a remission of my sins.
When one receives a testimony from the Holy Ghost regarding the Book of Mormon, has on going manifestations of the companionship of the Holy Ghost, receives a remission of sins (being born again ,the mighty change) the inscrutable things lose there appeal and instead there grows a hungry to bring others to Christ, to help the poor and needy, the sick and afflicted, and to see the face of Christ.
I suggest we don't spend our time applying our best efforts to things that matter least, while letting those things that matter most go undone. I hope all of us will seek diligently to fulfill our baptism covenant and acquire the gift of the Holy Ghost and then seek after the gifts of the Spirit, so we won't be deceived (D&C 46:8).
Hunkering down with the inscrutable is a sure sign of one who is being deceived by the adversary.
To make sure I'm not misunderstood, I didn't say we should ignore the inscrutable, I believe we need to be familiar with these things, but not intimate.
Thanks everyone for the comments so far, as well as for the compliments.
God will never allow the prophets to teach us anything… that will alter our course and lead us away from the Celestial Kingdom (Him).
My thoughts exactly, Ray. In fact, I may have subconsciously plagiarized this idea from you, lol.
Shouldn't prophets and apostles at the very least be expected to abide by a higher standard?
I'm not sure, but fwiw I do believe they live by a higher standard than most of us. Well, me anyway I am sure! I also agree with SilverRain's response to this in #7.
lots of very nice and good-hearted Mormons perpetuated ideas that were extremely harmful to the self-esteem and testimonies of black church members because of the false teachings of prophets and apostles. That dissonance is difficult to reconcile.
This is perhaps why I like Ray's view. Many of the ideas taught may have been harmful, but they will not be eternally so.
…what about all the ex-LDS who left the church due to contradictions like the ones presented? Weren't they 'lead astray'?
Good question–I somewhat expected this discussion to bring up questions like yours. I think this is answered well by Ray's comment above (#3).
I think your #1 choice there is all too easy for us. I think Ray (yet again!) explained this well in his comment #13. We all have flaws, sometimes really fat ugly flaws, but I don't believe that necessarily makes the whole person "terrible." At the same time, while prejudice may be conceptualized as a "cultural disease," I don't think that means we are not responsible.
no matter what our leaders teach or how they teach it, their words do not form some kind of absolute, their words are not alpha and omega. Their words form one aspect of a larger spiritual dialogue that the individual listener is responsible for.
I like this Annon. There is so much out there to learn and read, and any individual statement or teaching is not necessarily the end-all of doctrine.
can you expand on your comment about pro-social action? If you can't do a generous deed for a deceased individual, i.e. BRM, to discharge the negative dissonance one might get from his quote, is the pro-social action then to discharge it by creating the "spiral of benevolence"?
Thanks again Ron, I appreciate your comments and discussion. You offer a great perspective.
I think it also presents a problem – one of the supporting ideas presented by LDS leadership for the existence of the Great Apostasy is that the Catholic Church took on too many pagan ideas and doctrines, rather than remaining pure.
how can a LDS member claim that their church is restored, with a living prophet AND claim that he can make mistakes like any other man especially, since the Bible states that a prophet should be considered to be false if his prophecy turns out to be wrong…. I am not sure it is possible to hold both ideas to be true.
This is a good question I think, one that I have heard numerous times. I don't believe that a prophet needs to be free from error. If they were, they would be perfect, right? That doesn't make sense either, because there was only one perfect person, as most of us believe I think. So, applying the standard to biblical prophets, how can one claim that any prophetic writing is true in any scripture, when the prophets were not perfect, and have taught conflicting teachings? I see your point Ron (specifically with not being possible to hold both ideas to be true) but I don't think the alternative works either, without discrediting all revelation beyond the subjective personal.
Nicely said. I think most of us do this to some extent. Also, getting into who has more faults, or whatever, does not help ecumenical discussion, I think. Frankly I am not fond of institute teachers and others who seek to build up my faith via trying to prove that others were wrong. While it may have been necessary in the early days to set the LDS movement apart, I don't think it is as important now. I think we have plenty of other things to build our faith… —As an aside, while I don't believe "logic" is the ultimate answer to everything (as human reason often fails us, or me at least!), it is important. Sometimes things don't make sense to me (e.g. the issue of gay marriage and the church) but that is when I guess I put logic down and just live on the goodness and faith that I have experienced. However, I try to only do that after LONG thought and study and prayer.
I suggest we don't spend our time applying our best efforts to things that matter least, while letting those things that matter most go undone…. Hunkering down with the inscrutable is a sure sign of one who is being deceived by the adversary.
Jared, I appreciate your thoughts, sincerely. I completely agree, that we should not let the things that matter most go undone. Also, I am not sure what you mean by "hunkering down" other than possibly "more thinking about something than I Jared think is right." It's a pretty subjective idea, imo. I agree though, if one is letting the bigger things go in life in favor of an obsession about the authenticity book of Abraham, or even an active member with a "gospel hobby" about Cain and Bigfoot, they may very well be deceived.
Ron, I think the most fundamental issue of divergence in what you seem to believe and what we believe is the idea of prophetic infallibility. You seem to imply that all prophets throughout history never spoke incorrectly, but in order to make that work for Biblical prophets requires the exact same stretch and re-interpretation that bothers you about Mormonism.
There are numerous examples of prophecies in the Bible that, when read strictly in context of the actual passages, seem to be about that time but that were not accomplished then – and still remain unfulfilled. How do Christians reconcile this issue? They simply designate those prophecies as being relative to a later date, often the Second Coming or Millennium – or chalk up the lack of fulfillment to a lack of faith among the people. You might say, "But they are prophecies of that future time" – but, again, when read and parsed solely for what they appear to say, that conclusion is not obvious. In fact, the opposite conclusion (that they were meant to apply to the time in which they were given) often is the obviously logical conclusion.
Jonah's experience is a fascinating example of this – where prophecy "failed" specifically because the people repented, even though there was no "if you don't repent" qualifier in the prophecy. Technically, Jonah's prophecy was wrong, but he was chastised for getting upset about that failure.
In summary, almost everyone tends to read and interpret "revelation" and "prophecy" in whatever way strengthens his or her own perspective – and that is as true of those who cite "failed" Mormon prophecy as those who cite that same prophecy from a faithful Mormon view as either contingent on faith or still to happen in the future.
Gosh Ray, you did it again. 😉 You explain my thoughts better than I can!
I think we have plenty of other things to build our faith. As an aside, while I don't believe "logic" is the ultimate answer to everything (as human reason often fails us, or me at least), it is important. Sometimes things don't make sense to me (e.g. the issue of gay marriage and the church) but that is when I guess I put logic down and just live on the goodness and faith that I have experienced.
If anyone hasn't figured it out yet, I am one of the voices in Adam's head.
Ray, I wish. I would really be a lot smarter if that were the case more often!
Greg, I could be wrong, but perhaps you have made decisions in your life based on or involving too much intellect, which have turned out bad. That would create dissonance, and you would have little choice but to go on making intellectually based yet bad decisions, or turn to faith, the blinder the better, to make decisions, which may have turned out to have good results. Hence, your distrust of intellect, and trust in faith. For me, I have acted on faith before and it has turned out bad, and I have acted based on intellect and that has turned out bad as well. What I have learned from it all is decisions turn out the best for me when I base them on intellect and faith, i.e. study and prayer, etc.
I find it interesting that the 'never be led astray' comment was added as a footnote in the 1981 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. I don't recall this new information ever being put to a vote of the membership of the church as I believe would be required.
That aside, there are plenty of examples in the scriptures of apostasy where the path was tred by the leaders or dictated by the membership or both. Think of it… Christ was personally among the Nephites, performed miracles and baptized them with fire and the Holy Ghost, yet only four generations later, they were out of the way. Are we so enamored with ourselves to think it can't happen here?
In the end, no leader or general authority has any bearing on our conversion and sanctification. It is up to each one of us to seek and understand what is expected of us to gain entry to His kindgom (example found in 3 Nephi 27:19-21). We must each work out our salvation for ourselves. Relying on the arm of flesh, be it our own or that of a prophet, living or dead, will not move us one whit toward the kingdom of God.
What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation continually.
Brother Joseph W. Young remarked this morning that he wished the people to receive the word of the Lord through his servants, be dictated by them, and have no will of their own. I would express it in this wise: God has placed within us a will, and we should be satisfied to have it controlled by the will of the Almighty. Let the human will be indomitable for right. It has been the custom of parents to break the will until it is weakened, and the noble, Godlike powers of the child are reduced to a comparative state of imbecility and cowardice. Let that heaven-born property of human agents be properly tempered and wisely directed, instead of pursuing the opposite course, and it will conquer in the cause of right. Break not the spirit of any person, but guide it to feel that it is its greatest delight and highest ambition to be controlled by the revelations of Jesus Christ; then the will of man becomes Godlike in overcoming the evil that is sown in the flesh, until God shall reign within us to will and do his good pleasure.
Let all persons be fervent in prayer, until they know the things of God for themselves and become certain that they are walking in the path that leads to everlasting life; then will envy, the child of ignorance, vanish, and there will be no disposition in any man to place himself above another; for such a feeling meets no countenance in the order of heaven. Jesus Christ never wanted to be different from his father: they were and are one. If a people are led by the revelations of Jesus Christ, and they are cognizant of the fact through their faithfulness, there is no fear but they will be one in Christ Jesus, and see eye to eye.
I don't see the leaders of our church as anything more than old men who have been tapped by God for a high leadership role. Old men are still men and mistakes are made. One of the things that defines an inspired leader is the humility required to admit when a mistake has happened and to try to correct it. The real bottom line is that we are responsible for our own salvation, not the church. It's up to us to make sure (via the spirit) we are being correctly led and if we are not being correctly led, we should not sustain the leader. It is unreasonable to hang the validity of the restored gospel on the actions of the church or its leaders. However I do hold the church responsible for what its leaders do in its name… Is it our leaders that make the restored gospel true? It is dangerous to fuse your testimony of the restored gospel to the earthly entity that is the church. These are two vastly different concepts.
Many members of the church have been taught (some since birth) that the brethren are infallible. They don't know any other way. So when there is a discrepancy such as "the church will lose its authority if this happens…" and "this" later happens or when the president of the church pronounces fraudulent documents authentic, they can't really handle it. Their world comes crashing down. I don't think they've been "led astray" however they are treated that way which only serves to push them farther out. They are just going through a rough patch and need support. John Dehlin put together a screencast on this and it's the best explanation I've ever seen or heard on the subject. If it can be dug up, it would be well worth the viewing.
Thanks for your comment – I am interested in John Dehlin – if you ever find a link let me know.
I have another thought I've been pondering – if God allowed His Church to fail during the Great Apostasy and then restored through Joseph Smith during the 19th century – what is going to stop Him from allowing it to happen again? And how are we going to know if the LDS Church loses its authority?
Ron, I think that is a good question. I suspect this is one of the parts where our religion can look a little self-confirming (as many religious beliefs are), i.e. we have been taught that this is the last dispensation, hence there will be no more apostasy. I realize though that that is probably not a good answer for you. Obviously God could allow it to happen again, if it was his will. I don't have a good answer for you. What do you think? What does anyone else here think?
Aaron, I do think that prophets, apostles, the Pope, the Dalai Lama, etc. etc. all have increased accountability and responsibility. Perhaps how much of an increased standard, and what that increased standard looks like is the question.
Adam, how should your leaders be held accountable to this increased responsibility and expectations? How bad can the false doctrine of an inspired leader get before he is objectively disqualified from being a true prophet or apostle? Some Mormons seem to believe there are no limits.
Ron asked: And how are we going to know if the LDS Church loses its authority?
2. verse 8-9: 'built upon His gospel' I would submit that we must clearly understand the gospel as the Lord defines it in the scriptures. In this chapter and also in D&C 33:11-12 and D&C 39:6 we find where the Lord defines His gospel. If the church preaches a broader or different definition of the gospel that what is found in the scriptures, I would suggest that is cause for alarm.
3. verse 10-11: 'show forth the works of the Father' and not 'the works of man' For Christ to recognize the church as his, it should demonstrate the healings and miracles as we read in 3rd Nephi 26:14-15. The condition of the church should not be meaaured by the buildings or temples erected, or the tithing paid, or the temple sessions completed. The verity of the church is not determined by the tons of food shipped to disaster areas. These are the works of man.
How do you think we measure up?
Aaron, probably the same standard that can be applied reasonably to Biblical prophets. If some of their actions still allowed them to be considered prophets (think Samson and Moses) and some of their teachings are allowed to be considered products of their less enlightened cultures (think Paul and nearly the entire OT), I'm not sure exactly where the line should be drawn.
I just know that many people now hold modern prophets to a standard that essentially would eliminate all former prophets from consideration – especially since we only have a very limited, subjective, carefully-constructed, airbrushed snapshot of those former prophets. Too often, people forget that basic fact.
Aaron #33 – Interesting. How do you think they should be held accountable?
I think a lot of it has to do with having all the church look to you as an example. That is what I think regarding higher expectations, e.g. if I saw an R-rated movie, who cares? But if my Stake President saw one, I'm sure there would be rumbling in the stake.
I especially like your second question, and it seems to hit on what Ron was saying in #30. I'm sure adultery would be a decent way low cut-off point, and I only point that out because wasn't an apostle exed some time back for it?
My point is that the pope, Gandhi, Obama, Richard Dawkins, Moses, and prophets have flaws, they are human, just as we all are. The difference between prophets and members in the LDS faith is prophets have been given the responsibility to guide all the members, and so on down the line. Also, I personally believe that those in callings have an added "mantle" as it is said, that gives them more authority, or teaching or leading ability. I had it as a missionary. Obviously that is a subjective, personal experience for me, but I felt it. And I felt it leave after I came home.
Actually I think only the Prophet can't lead us astray but everyone else can. Let's face facts I'm sure there are many who you could tell "Go north two blocks and turn left and you are there." And they are lead astray, because they don't speak your language, they don't know where north is and they don't know left from right.
Well I guess if we knew everything we wouldn't be here. You know that's why I don't believe in gravity. Can't see it. Don't know how it works. Must be a lie.
This is the only possible logical conclusion, I think.
Here is the interesting thing, the people you say are arguing with you agree with this statement. They are, thus, getting stuck on your wording or your examples, not your underlying concept.
The idea that a president of the Church could teaching something that is not true and be corrected by revelation later is hardwired into the DNA of the LDS church. I think people completely accept this if it's worded correctly to them and if you use examples they can agree with you on. Thus your statement above, that "won't lead astray" must not mean "infallibility" is obvious to most or all members.
Related issue: wasn't the very concept of "the prophet won't lead you astray" a result of the Church's identity crisis over discontinuing polygamy?
This would seem to go along with the idea that "don't lead astray" is limited in scope to salvation.
The idea that a president of the Church could teaching something that is not true and be corrected by revelation later is hardwired into the DNA of the LDS church.
Perhaps for many, but I have talked with a lot (surprisingly) of members who believe not being infallible = only minor human faults, like a temper, or getting annoyed, or biting one's nails.
The Adam-God example was just that. I welcome better examples to make the point, if anyone has them. Among the people I have talked with (all active members) there is a general consensus that Brigham Young really did believe it, and teach it that way, and that he was mistaken. Apparently, as you point out, many others in the church are not so sure about it. So yeah, if you have better examples, I am very interested.
I totally agree with this. Everyone should be allowed to make their own interpretations. The difficult part for me is when views of a prophet are dichotomous, i.e. he's either always right, or what's the point. Both of those views are harmful (in my view) because they either force someone to accept a lot of junk (once again, in my view), perform strenuous mental gymnastics to explain everything, or lead someone out of the church (and they hence sometimes have to nearly abandon everything that was good about it).
As for McConkie, I wish more people actually believed him when he said that, because so many people still use his pre-78 stuff in talking about the priesthood ban, or justifying it, when he basically said he was wrong… and for example, Elder Holland more recently said that the "less valiant in the pre-existence" stuff should not be taught, because it is wrong. However, this again creates too much dissonance for members, so perhaps they ignore it, or deal with it some other way.
I appreciate your input. Point is, I think prophets do teach things that are false occasionally. They do err in greater ways than just personality flaws. That view, while I think it is accurate, is also too difficult for many to take. It is not as hard for me and many people I know here and elsewhere, because it's not an all-or-nothing idea.
You are probably right about this. It's a big church. I live in Utah in a really strong ward so I don't see false views like this as much. Even my ward in California and Texas didn't have views this bad that I was aware of.
But then again, my wards in Michigan.. well, it wouldn't shock me much to hear something like this.
But let's realize that this goes against the teachings of the church. Thus a person that believes this needs to be corrected. You are doing a good job of correcting it.
I agree with you that finding good examples is hard. The problem is that people have various ways of thinking of things so it's hard to find an example all can agree with.
AdamF, I don't want to start a discussion on homosexuality, but because of your stance on gay marriage, you are going to get "then what's the point" a lot.
It's really hard to have a sane conversation on this subject. I was looking over all the coverage we've done on the subject here on Mormon Matters and how utterly deficient it's been. I feel like the only time I have had a sane conversation on it was with a long telephone call with John Dehlin, bless his heart for really trying to understand others.
I just had a related conversation with my wife this morning, actually. I was talking about the idea that revelation isn't "completely certain" because of how difficult it is to be sure you aren't making assumptions that aren't true. There is always some interpretation that must go on.
I used the example of Native Americans not being solely from the Lamanites. I pointed out that many Mormons through that was a revelation, but science has basically disproven it, but that it wasn't that big a deal to me because long before science disproved it — decades before — every Mormon scholar in the book had gone on record of not believing that and had pointed out that there is no source for that little "revelation" and it's probably just us making assumptions.
I disagree that a prophet could never lead the church astray on mere principle. This churches has been lost many times by that same arrogant belief.


Home Tags Posts tagged with "Flamenco"
After so many previews, here are the final pictures of the flamenca dress. Enjoy!
As I didn't know if I was going to be able to take good quality pictures during the Andalusian party, we decided to go to the park before and have a little impromptue photoshoot. And just so you can see my accessorizes (blue of course), here is a picture from the party with my friends Mari Paz and Pilar (who brought from Sevilla the beautiful flower and earrings. Thank you Pilar!).
I hope you enjoyed the flamenca dress series and if you have any question, feel free to ask, I'd be delighted to answer (or try to…)!
Let's follow yesterday's post and continue on the flamenca dress.
We have set the the sleeves in the body and attached them to the lining, what we need to do now is make the skirt, join it to the dress, sew the zipper on and we are ready to hit the street.
I chose not to line the skirt flounces (contrary to the sleeve ones) because the outside is not going to show and it takes too much fabric (I might never wear this dress again for all I know).
1-Sew together all the circles of the same colour so you obtain one big flounce.
2-Stitch a row of basting along the inner curve of the flounce and clip (like for the sleeve).
3-Here is a drawing (very bad!) I made to explain how to place the flounces on the skirt. You see that the first flounce is sewn right side up and the following ones wrong side up with the flounce facing upward (that way, the seam allowance is hidden nder the flounce when folded).
4-Repeat step 7 of the previous post to sew the back the dress (remember to sew each flounce separately).
5-Baste the zipper and sew it to the dress. Attach the lining to the zipper and hem it where the bodice meets the skirt.
6-Hem the skirt and the flounces as you choose (decorative binding, turn in hem…).
I wish you all a nice week and I leave you with this picture (the "real" post is coming in a few days, I promise).
I am getting ready right now for the Andalusian party tonight so I thought it would be appropriate to make a new post about the flamenca dress.
If you remember, I already made the dress body and the lining. Which leaves me the sleeves and the skirt: these are the parts that are more time-consuming.
Today I'll start with the sleeve and tomorrow the skirt part will follow.
For the sleeves, I decided to line the flounces with self-fabric as the outside is going to show quite a bit.
1-Take the sleeve flounces and place them right sides together.
2-Remember to press flat (if the curve isn't round, notch more closely but be careful not to cut into your row of stitches).
3-Add as many flounces as you want (I have two, one blue, one white).
4-Sew the flounces together at inner curve.
6-Pin the flounces to the sleeve right sides together (for example: blue against blue). Remember to clip the curve of the flounces so it's easier to pin.
7-Stitch the flounces separately, press the seam allowances open, finish the edges as you prefer (zigzag, serger, bias binding…).
There you go for the moment! I hope it was useful and I will post the skirt explanation tomorrow and the final pictures during the following days.
Now excuse me, I have to finish my make up for the party… Bye!
I hope you are ready for some flamenco today as this will be the first part of a long challenge for me. Do I need to remind you that I decided to make myself a flamenco dress? If you need a little trip on memory lane, you can find my inspiration in the last post.
This project will be done during my week-ends so here is what I did on Saturday: pattern making!
(First, I would suggest you to use a fitted dress pattern with princess seams and possibly with sleeves that fits you perfectly. If you feel really confident in your pattern making skills, then why not draw the whole dress, but that's a lot more difficult. Personally, I am using Butterick 6582, a fitted dress pattern with darts that I tested before and that fits great. See the modifications in the following list).
1- back dress (cut 2). Modifications from the original pattern: I lowered the neckline and redrew the armhole to allow space for the sleeve to be sewn in.
2- front dress (cut 1 on fold). Modifications from the original pattern: I raised the neckline and eliminate the gathers on the shoulder. This means the front also had to be reshaped slightly in order to avoid the neckline to gap from excess of fabric. The armhole was redrawn as well.
3- sleeve (cut 2). I used a Burda sleeve as a model and cut it above the elbow. It is a very basic sleeve pattern I often use. Be careful, it has to be quite fitted!
4- top sleeve ruffle (cut 2). Now the fun part: please take your calculator out and be ready to scratch your head.
I measured the width of the sleeve (mine: 31 cm) and divided by 3.14 to know the diameter of the inside circle of the ruffle (9.87 cm). Then you decide what length you want your ruffle to be, measure the distance from the circle you just made and draw the outside circle (mine's 12 cm long).
6- skirt (cut 1 on fold). The skirt pattern is a half-circle, so you only need to draw 1/4 and place it on fold. I measured the dress bottom (where you will join the dress and the skirt parts) and obtained 49 cm (front + back – seam allowances). I need to multiply that amount by 4 to obtain the circumference of the inner circle to draw: 49 x 4 = 196 cm.
And then to find the radius: (196 / 3.14) / 2 = 31.21 cm.
(98 + 160 + 216) / 63 = 7.52 ——- 8 ruffles.
If, like me, you are planning on using contrasting fabric, then prepare yourself for more mathematics.
1rst ruffle is blue: 98 / 63 = 1.55 ——- 2 ruffles.
2nd and 3rd ruffles are white: (160 + 216) / 63 = 5.96 ——- 6 ruffles.
Next week end, I will be cutting all my pieces and hopefully start on the bodice. I hope that was useful and that it made sense. If you have an question, feel free to ask. Have a nice week.
I have just realised that February is coming very soon and that means that the Sevillan Party I will be attending as well. And I don't have a dress! Or a pattern for that matter!
But the crisis is avoided: I have the fabric.
This week-end, while searching the internet for inspiration, I found Claudia's blog Entre cirios y volantes and I went crazy looking at all the amazing pictures she posted. Her blog is dedicated to the Flamenco world and particularly about fashion shows, advices, inspiration, makeup and traditions.
I sure found what I was looking for!
I thought I would show you my favourite looks and then explain how I am going to make the dress.
Voy a enseñaros mis estilos favoritos y luego explicar como voy a hacer el traje.
As I said on the fabric post, the main fabric will be the blue one. I think it will look better with my fair skin.
I will base the bodice and skirt-just-above-the-knee on the Butterick 6582 pattern I have used to make my last dress, the burgundy velvet one as the fit was spot on. I just have to make some alterations to account for above-the-elbow sleeves. There wille be two ruffles on the sleeves, the top one in blue and the bottom one in white.
The skirt/underskirt will be white and there will be three ruffles attached to it (the first one in blue, the other two in white). I just hope I have enough fabric: 3 meters in 1,5m width in each colour (what the girl in the shop recommended).
Now I have to find time during the week-ends to accomplish this challenge and I have until the end of February. I want to document the pattern-making and sewing process so I will be able to share my progress with you. And if you have any knowledge or questions on Flamenco dresses, please let me know.


text:
A Translator's Perspective of the Subtitling Industry Over the Past 15 Years
Translation Boulevard
It would be an overwhelming topic to discuss what the subtitling industry looks like now compared to 15 years ago. However, reading a story about a subtitler who has been working in the industry for over 15 years may not be as daunting of a task. Think of it as a journey where much like translating subtitles for a movie, you may experience a wide range of emotions. You could go from laughing one moment to crying the next. Of course, I cannot give you a full picture of what has been going in the subtitling industry, but I hope to give you a glimpse. Hopefully, it will provide some useful information to those translators and translation companies who want to jump into this industry.
In this article, I will briefly share my personal journey with subtitling and talk about the changes I witnessed over the years and what you should know if you want to come into this industry.
My personal journey with subtitling
I went to Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California (USC) from 2002-2003. Around that time, a post-production company from Hollywood sent an email to the USC career office to recruit translators. I contacted them to take the test, and It turned out the project manager was Chinese and majored in English literature. She really liked my translation and commented that it stood out because I did not just translate word for word like she saw in many other test translations. I always tried to convey the meaning of the phrase within proper Chinese context and in a way that was natural to our language. This is a crucial skill in subtitle translation as a sentence, or several related sentences are often broken down into many different subtitles. Plus, the structure of an English sentence is often backward compared to Chinese. This project manager ended up leaving this company and joining another post-production company in Hollywood. She introduced me to many people and companies who worked in the Hollywood post-production circle. I was able to work on many TV and film projects from 2004-2006 because of these connections. Some of these projects were high profile, such as Fearless directed by Ronny Yu, starring Jet Li. I created all the subtitles for this movie. This story will connect one of my observations in the development of subtitle technology and the emergence of a cloud-based subtitle platform.
Copyright and confidentiality leads to the cloud-based platform
The movie Fearless was released in 2006, and I was working on it back and forth, making many revisions and edits for several months. It was common for me to work after hours, and one day the director of Fearless, Ronny Yu, wanted to meet with me to take a look at the subtitles before he released the final version. He had a tight schedule in the US, and the production company I worked for did not have any other employees available aside from me. When we met, I showed him all the subtitles I made. He was very happy with them but told me he would be in big trouble if I leaked the footage. What he said was true, I had reels of footage in DVD format. Whenever the post-production company made any edits, they would send me an updated copy. Of course, I kept everything confidential as a professional translator should. But you can see this type of transfer is very different from how we would do it now because it's mainly cloud-based. Many streaming companies are transferring their footage and movies on cloud-based platforms, which has enhanced the confidentiality of their high profile footage and videos. However, cloud-based subtitling platforms will never replace the original way of doing things, partly because not every client can afford to build their own cloud-based subtitling platform. In many subtitling projects, the files are transferred via online sharing tools, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and other third party transferring sites or software. The recent advances in technology have made it easier to keep confidentiality in some ways. However, it is still up to the individual translator to abide by the laws and follow the ethical codes to ensure the client's material is kept safe.
The evolution of technology
The software I used for working on films such as Fearless and other movies costs about ten thousand dollars for one translator's license. It was costly. I remember the first time a Chinese woman introduced me to this software. She told me that this software was used widely among post-production companies in Hollywood and many TV stations in the US. She said if I could master the program, I would be able to get many jobs. It was certainly true. Having connections to many post-production companies, along with access to this software, allowed me to get many jobs. I did many HBO shows such as Everybody Loves Raymond and many other famous shows through a long term client.
In 2006, I decided to move to the East coast and leave Los Angeles. I went to say goodbye to my long time client, and the project manager told me if I could get this translator's version of the software, I could still work for them remotely. But it was a hard decision for me as it cost more than ten-thousand dollars. I eventually got the software, and it paid for itself in the first year.
I was not aware of other free subtitling software available at that time, but it did become more available later on. A lot of free software has the same functions as this software, and the cloud technology that came down the road dealt the final blow to this software company. Eventually, the company that owned this software went bankrupt, and another company purchased the software. It is still used in the industry, but it does not hold the special status that it once did.
I jokingly call this "the democratization of subtitling technology." This process of democratization forced some companies out of the market. It brought a new combination of free subtitling software, subscription-based subtitling software, and cloud-based subtitling platforms which are often free for translators who work for companies that have an online subtitling platform.
Technology can change, and subtitling software and companies can go out of business. But experienced subtitlers are still in demand. Experiencing the changes in the industry, as well as software, are still great assets for subtitlers or their companies.
The golden age before the 2008 economic crash and the rebound of subtitle industry
I would say the period before the economic crash in 2008 was one of the golden ages for subtitlers and the subtitling industry. I remember I was working on creating a phonetic version of Chinese scripts for a high profile Chinese movie, and the company paid several thousand dollars for it. It was well above my expectation, but they were very generous. But in 2008, there was a crash in this industry when the economic crash occurred. Even one of my long term clients, a famous subtitling and post-production company, went bankrupt. Many friends lost their jobs, and it was heartbreaking to see old friends suffer during that crisis. As a translator and subtitler, it was much easier to adjust and survive. This crash lasted for quite a while, and the rebound of the subtitling industry only happened when the top streaming companies such as Netflix and Amazon, as well as many others, jumped in and started to localize their movies and shows on their cloud-based subtitling platforms. I was fortunate enough to participate in some of these when they first began doing it. My experience in subtitling paid off well.
While many big subtitling companies tried to pay their translators fairly, in general, the price did not increase over the years, and it became even lower when compared to the prices for subtitling in the entertainment industry before 2008. It is true, especially for the entertainment sector of business.
Business subtitling vs. movie subtitling
Subtitling for the entertainment industry is one huge part of the business, but it includes other areas. Another essential area is business subtitling. When the per-minute price for subtitling in the entertainment industry is not high, many businesses are willing to pay much higher rates for their marketing videos. Because of this, there is an excellent market for business subtitling. If you want to come into the subtitling industry, you can never underestimate this aspect. I have worked on many business subtitling videos as well as projects for the entertainment sector.
What should you know if you want to come into this industry? Whether a subtitling company (competitive, technology, and business) or an individual subtitler, you need good software knowledge, you need to be or have good translators, and the experiences in subtitling or/ and management of its process will also be helpful.
Because of my extensive experience with subtitling, I have transferred this knowledge to my company Translation Boulevard to serve many clients with their subtitling needs. Please follow our blogs on Translation Boulevard's website. We will be sharing more experience about subtitling and software and the different processes of this service. I hope this helps anyone interested in working in the subtitling industry.
Sean Song
Sean Song graduated from the Communication University of China with a bachelor's degree in Journalism, London School of Economics with an MSc in Globalization and Communication, and the University of Southern California with an MA in Global Communication. He began his career as a journalist for an Asian Newspaper and media company but later became a translator. He is the founder of Translation Boulevard. Email: [email protected];


text:
@extends('layouts.app')

@section('content')

Hello, to the world of Erasmus+!

                    Login

                    Register

@endsection

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Ingeli
ANEW Ingeli Forest, Kokstad, KZN
10km, 21km & 42km
We were invited by Clinton Armour to visit the Ingeli Forest Lodge to prospect a trail run in October 2012, in what was the infancy of KZN Trail Running. Lauren was pregnant with Ben and we came straight from the MUTTER, another legendary trail event in this southern corner of KZN. It rained for two days as Andrew explored the mountain while Lauren enjoyed the comforts of the Hotel. It was obvious that Ingeli was a great place for a trail run!
The first event took place the following year with a relatively small field and it was only in 2014, when it earned the status as one of RSA's Skymarathon courses, that its true potential as a mountain course was realised.
Inaugural years are always interesting. The long course, pitched at 42km drew only a core crowd of early adopters, who all ended up running an ultra that day when the course dragged on close to 50km. Regardless of these early errors on course, the Ingeli bug had bitten, the word was out. There was a big mountain surrounded by forest and plantation in southern KZN. The Ingeli Mountain actually forms the border between KZN and the Eastern Cape, and at times the course runs along the boundary. The mountain is dominated by grassland and proteas and has offered up great sighting of wild animals, including caracal!
The race continued as part of the Skymarathon Series until 2017 when the Series came to an end, and unfortunately the 2018 event did not take place in any format. The hotel still gets regular calls from fans of the race asking when it may happen again. So when during lockdown, Kevin Burley (Operations Manager of the ANEW Hotels Group) and Clinton Armour (CEO of the ANEW Hotels Group), opened up discussions with us initially around support for the Garden Trail Series and then about the re-introduction of the Ingeli Mountain Marathon, things came together organically. Corona may have taken a lot from us, but it also brings things back together. A partnership that has previously failed over a few minor disagreements is now reignited and ready to bring you an insane day of running in the mountains.
ANEW Resort Ingeli Forest is nestled below the Ingeli Mountain range near Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal offering comfortable accommodation only one hour inland from Port Shepstone and two and a half hours from Durban.
Surrounded by breath-taking indigenous forests, this is the perfect place for you to chill and unwind at your own pace. With 44 spacious country rooms, you'll be spoilt for choice with all rooms featuring the same luxurious and comfortable features & amenities, including a private veranda for you to take in the view.
Ingeli Mountain Marathon, which is the fourth leg of 8 races in the Mountain Marathon Series for 2021, is a challenging mix of forest single track, climbing mountain paths, dirt jeep track and cut grass paths. The route is designed to pass through the most scenic parts of the area including waterfalls, streams and amazing views! Runners are taken to one of the highest parts of the Ingeli Mountain so make sure you have your climbing legs 'on'!
The 21km Mountain Challenge follows the same route as the main event for 12kms before splitting off and returning to the finish at the lodge. The 21km is the mini version of the full challenge, but should not be underestimated. It is still a tough, challenging and scenic route itself!
The 10km forest trail event does not venture onto Ingeli Mountain, but still involve a few steep climbs and descents through the forested area. This route has been designed for those looking for something shorter with walkers being welcome on this forest trail route.
enter ingeli
Copyright © 2022 Moutain Marathon Series | All Rights Reserved


Greatest Hand Painted Bathroom Sinks ZY 0101 China Sink Supplier Factory Direct Price Black | Sacramentoduilawyers hand painted mexican bathroom sinks. hand painted pedestal bathroom sinks. hand painted bathroom sink bowl.


text:
Tag Archives: Ivy Ngeow
What Got Me Through 2020
A year like no other, 2020 negates the traditional "Best of…" year end lists when it comes to movies, books, music and art. Instead I'll leave you with a simple sampling of what spoke to me the most. Whether it was through escapism or reflection, here is what got me through this helluva year…
This Film: Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and THAT CLOSING SCENE!
Completely transportive and oozing art in all the best French ways, I said of Celine Sciamma's searing tale of once-upon-a-time forbidden romance…"Once the tension breaks in the later third of the film, some of the novel magic disappears, but the closing coda is one for the ages, echoing literary allusions from earlier in the film, showcasing the women's resolve even after parting, forging their own ways in their own way and culminating in that scene at the orchestra that is among the best closing scenes of any film in recent memory…"
This Music: Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters, and let me tell ya something, ladies, ladies, ladies…
Has there ever been a more serendipitiously timed release than when Fiona dropped this bomb (leaving shrapnel permanently embedded in me) at the height of the Spring Pandemic Lockdown? Gobsmacked upon its release, I said…"Fetch the Bolt Cutters plays straight through true and true, not a wasted track. It's all at once angry and joyous, polished and raw, soulful and angsty, defiant and willful, dark and tragic and funny and honest and blithe. There are themes of self-care, female empowerment, speaking up, acting out, messing up, surviving, and thriving. Her stories, her songs, her words, they are hers but also ours. She is speaking about our times, not as a passive witness, but as a tortured participant crawling through the muck, learning, growing, and trying to pull some of us out of it with her…if only we would listen…"
This Photograph:
At the height of the civil unrest and heated protests in the summer, Julie Rendleman's photograph of ballerinas Ava Holloway and Kennedy George striking a pose in front of a graffitied Confederate monument in Richmond, VA spoke a thousand words.
This Book: Overboard by Ivy Ngeow
This indie novel came out of nowhere. I met the author on Twitter and I downloaded the book on a lark…and this globe-hopping thriller miraculously checked all my boxes. I swooned…
"Like Christian Petzold's film Phoenix and Michael Ondaatje's novel The English Patient, identity, amnesia, and transforming oneself hang over the proceedings like a pall. Ngeow's spin on the themes, however, are decidedly modern and channeled through technology and interior design. Her characters foolishly build protective walls around themselves with their possessions and hobbies, often unaware of their true selves and how others perceive them through the veils of technology and language. Ngeow's sardonic wit and voice echo back to the best of Graham Greene. And much like Greene's work, Overboard, finds that delicate balance between thrilling entertainment and keenly observant literature inundated with the slippery complexities of human behavior. Overboard is a modern, novel masterpiece. An absolute must-read."
This HBO Limited Series: The Undoing
Oh, man, where do I even start? The first episode seemed like it might be just another Gypsy-style tawdry therapist-with-bad-boundries psychological melodrama, but it quickly pivoted into a murder mystery, legal thriller, and domestic drama all rolled into one. I loved every aspect of it: the strange accents, the Euro-pall hanging over the Manhattan setting, director Suzanne Bier's eyeball piercing cinematography, the emo-acting, the David E. Kelly elitism, all the histrionic twists and turns. It turned into the best thing HBO has done since Sharp Objects and a perfectly entertaining distraction from all the post US election drama.
Special Shout-outs to…
The binge-worthy laughs of Schitt's Creek and The Good Place, two shows my wife and I probaby would've never watched otherwise but happily binge-watched during the pandemic.
Laurie Metcalf – the unsung hero of character-driven comedy. We just discovered the exceptional (and painfully funny) Getting On, and her work on The Conners (which has re-emerged from the ashes like a modern day Norman Lear sitcom) has been exceptional as always.
The recently discovered novels of Ru Freeman (On Sal Mal Lane) and William Gay (The Long Home and Provinces of Night).
The HBO docu-series The Vow…oh the fuckery of Keith Ranier, may he rot in jail forever (and he will).
List Compiled by D. H. Schleicher
2 Comments Posted in Art, Art-house Cinema, Arts and Entertainment, Books, History, Inspiration, Movies, Music, Photography, Politics, Pop Culture, Psychology, Television, The Lists Tagged Ava Holloway, Celine Sciamma, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, Fiona Apple, Getting On, Ivy Ngeow, Julia Rendleman, Keith Raniere, Kennedy George, Laurie Metcalf, On Sal Mal Lane, Overboard, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Provinces of Night, Ru Freeman, Schitt's Creek, The Best of 2020, The Conners, The Good Place, The Long Home, The Vow, William Gay
My Recent Chat with Author Ivy Ngeow on Books, Movies, Writing and Life
The picture above was taken a few years ago by my wife when we made a visit to the American Writers Museum in Chicago. It's kinda perfect…a "writer in words" as she described it…even down to the last detail where the name of Walt Whitman meets the top of my chest (his grave sits within walking distance of where we currently live). It popped in my FB memories on the very day I was responding to an interview request and it seemed perfect again to accompany my response.
The result was a virtual sit-down with Author Ivy Ngeow (whose novel Overboard is fantastic, by the way) at her cleverly titled blog Write Ngeow to discuss books, movies, writing, and life.
Check out the full interview.
Leave a comment Posted in Books, Inspiration, Marketing, Movies, Photography Tagged Blogging, Interview, Ivy Ngeow, Write Ngeow, Writing
The Slippery Complexities of Human Behavior on Display in Ivy Ngeow's Novel Masterpiece Overboard
"A stranger. She is trying to show you a grain of kindness but it turns into a beach of bitterness."
A stranger…tossed overboard from a burning yacht in a raging storm that claims the lives of all onboard…except him.
He wakes up, battered, burned, unrecognizable…an amnesiac…in a Thai hospital…with amazing food.
From the intoxicating smell of homecooked cuisine in a foreign hospital…to the way non-native speakers of a language have their feelings often misinterpreted…it's these types of sharp, evocative details that litter and bloom in Ivy Ngeow's smart, witty, satirical, dark, complex, twisting globe-hopping psychological thriller.
The amnesiac's point of view is boldly done in second person narration, and it's one of the few times I've found this to work well. But it's not just his story, there are other POVs (like a philosophical Polish plumber with a pet Burmese python living in London, and a rich widow caught up in legal disputes) done in third person limited, and all circumnavigate each other in startling ways leading to a shocking denoument.
Apart from the perceptive details, there are sardonic notes on materialism and obsessions with brands. Many of the characters walk through their carefully curated lives like amnesiacs who can only remember their identity by the brands they wear or procure.
Like Christian Petzold's film Phoenix and Michael Ondaatje's novel The English Patient, identity, amnesia, and transforming oneself hang over the proceedings like a pall. Ngeow's spin on the themes, however, are decidedly modern and channeled through technology and interior design. Her characters foolishly build protective walls around themselves with their possessions and hobbies, often unaware of their true selves and how others perceive them through the veils of technology and language. Ngeow's sardonic wit and voice echo back to the best of Graham Greene. And much like Greene's work, Overboard, finds that delicate balance between thrilling entertainment and keenly observant literature inundated with the slippery complexities of human behavior.
Overboard is a modern, novel masterpiece. An absolute must-read.
Review by D. H. Schleicher
4 Comments Posted in Book Reviews, Books, Literature, Psychology Tagged Amnesia, England, Independent Books, Indie Authors, Ivy Ngeow, London, Mystery, Overboard, Psychological Thrillers, Thailand


text:
現貨二手車
前往零售店
店鋪
Tesla 帳戶
查看更多›
現貨新車
尋找 Tesla
獲得最新資訊
減輕碳排放
登入 Tesla 帳戶 登出
官方網誌
客戶 案例
訂閱 最新資訊
車主分享
訂閱最新資訊
cross-country-rally-day-three.jpg
Cross Country Rally: Day Three
Tesla 團隊 2014年2月1日
At 10pm on Friday night, with temperatures in the middle of South Dakota kissing zero, the Coast to Coast Rally team experienced its first vehicle breakdown.
But it wasn't a Model S. Instead, one of the team's sleeper vans took on a mysterious illness. As it climbed a hill outside the city of Mitchell after a Supercharger stop, the van started to sputter. Even with the foot to the floor, it would only get to 60mph. Soon, it started cutting out completely.
Just a few miles out of Mitchell and well behind the rally convoy, the team members on board were forced to consider a different way to advance along the coast to coast route. Taking to their laptops and phones, they coordinated with Tesla staff in Palo Alto to find flights from Sioux Falls, SD, to Chicago, where they could meet up with the rest of the team as the Model S cars made their way to the Superchargers in Highland Park, IL. By 6am Saturday, they were on the flight. At 9.30am, they were waiting at Tesla's Highland Park service center with hot coffees and breakfast sandwiches.
By that point, the Model S sedans had found themselves in their second snow storm, this time in Wisconsin and Illinois. Unlike in Colorado, however, they were able to negotiate this one in daylight, and on highways that had been recently plowed. Again, the wild conditions were no problem for the cars, which have consistently performed without fault throughout trip, despite two snow storms, a sand storm, icy roads, and minimal times spent at the charging posts in an effort to break a speed record for electric cars traveling across the United States.
By normal standards, most people would have considered the conditions that the Model S cars faced for the rest of Day Three as extreme. Heavy snowfall turned to sleet; morning ice gave way to afternoon slush; fog restricted visibility. In Ohio, the cars sped on in driving rain. In all cases, the Model S prevailed with ease, as did the newly installed Superchargers along the way in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ohio. Since getting through the storms of Colorado, the cars have met all their time goals and have never been short on charge. They have continued to drive across the country for free.
The two cars are now on the final stretch of the trip, headed for the finish line of New York's City Hall. As of late evening Eastern Standard Time, they looked on track for an early Sunday morning arrival. They will bring with them a team of Tesla employees badly in need of dry socks and a warm bed. The cars, on the other hand, just need a hose down.
Cross Country Rally and Supercharger
下一個網誌
Cross Country Rally: Day Two
2014年1月31日 Tesla 團隊
相關網誌
supercharger_milestone.jpg
A Supercharging Milestone
red-model-s-ny-final.jpg.jpg
Behind the Scenes of the Cross Country Rally: Episode Three
100th_supercharger_nj.jpg
100 Supercharger Stations
率先收到 Tesla 的最新資訊、活動詳情及產品更新。
請將此欄位留空
獲得最新資訊 獲得最新資訊 立即訂購
Tesla © 2019 私隱及法律條款 聯絡我們 工作機會 獲得最新資訊 尋找Tesla 登出


I Heart Mac & Cheese, a fast-casual concept specializing in customizable, made-to-order macaroni and cheese bowls, grilled cheese sandwiches and specialty salads, today announced the signing of a 23-store development agreement with franchise group Manor 3. All 23 locations will open in Long Island, New York, significantly expanding the brand's presence across New York state. Nine locations will open within the first three years; three this year, an additional four next year, and two locations will open in 2021.
"This agreement is monumental for the I Heart Mac & Cheese brand and we believe we have found the perfect partners to build our presence in New York, with Manor 3. While our concept is perfect for any aspiring entrepreneur, not requiring restaurant-specific experience, the opportunity to collaborate with seasoned restaurant franchise owners with built-in local connections will let us deliver an exceptional experience to a new base of customers," said Stephen Giordanella, I Heart Mac & Cheese CEO and Chairman.
Manor 3 is led by seasoned restaurant franchise operator Vinny Greco and his partner, Dan Dollard. Greco spent 25 years as the assistant equipment manager with the New York Mets before transitioning his career into the restaurant industry, so that he could spend more time with his family. For the past decade, he has owned and operated two Hurricane Grill and Wings locations in Long Island.
I Heart Mac & Cheese is well-known for custom, build-your-own macaroni and cheese bowls, grilled cheese sandwiches and salads. Guests select a pasta, bread, or salad base along with seven different proteins, vegetables, and cheeses. Gluten-free options are also available. In addition to customized options, the menu contains specialty chef items including Baked Chicken Parmesan, Baked Meatball Parmesan, The Cuban, Pepperoni Pizza, and Lobster & White Truffle Mac, among others. Side dishes include Cheesy Broccoli, Balsamic Tomatoes and Tomato Soup; desserts include Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brownies, Marshmallow Treats and Caramel Cookies.
A unique franchise concept in the restaurant industry with no fryers, grease trap systems or hood systems, I Heart Mac & Cheese requires a low investment and can be opened in a small space, such as a mall kiosk or food court. Shopping malls, sports venues, areas close to colleges and universities, and high-traffic pedestrian areas are also ideal locations. With a home office in South Florida, I Heart Mac & Cheese offers franchise owner training, marketing support and ongoing development opportunities to ensure each location's success.
For more information on I Heart Mac & Cheese visit iheartmacandcheese.com. For more information on franchise opportunities, visit iheartmacandcheese.com/franchise/ or call 561-300-5343.
I Heart Mac & Cheese is a fast-casual concept specializing in customizable, made-to-order macaroni and cheese bowls, grilled cheese sandwiches and salads. The menu combines award-winning recipes resulting in a grown-up approach to this classic childhood dish. The first location opened in 2016 in Fort Lauderdale. South Florida locations include Parkland, Pembroke Pines, Davie, Jupiter, Coral Springs and Boca Raton. Additional corporate locations are slated to open in New York, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. In 2017, the company launched its franchising program nationwide.