text:
Brewster McCloud
By Vikram Murthi | December 8, 2021
Vikram Murthi on Brewster McCloud
"Man's insatiable mind goaded on by a handicapped body will undoubtedly invent subtleties and refinements for his present clumsy progress through the air. But he will never obtain that mastery of the air which is the result of the development of millions of years acting on the self-contained mechanism of a living body."—The Lecturer (René Auberjonois)
Near the end of Brewster McCloud, after much anticipation, the title character finally debuts his wings. His first-ever lover has blown the whistle on his homicidal activities, his guardian angel has abandoned him, and the cops have finally cornered him in the Houston Astrodome. Now, Brewster is ready to fly. A reserved, enigmatic young man (played by an owlish Bud Cort), Brewster has one ambition:to soar through the air like a bird and to leave behind all earthly complications. His ornithological obsession evolves into avian envy, and he spends his days building his wings and preparing his mind and body for flight. He has no destination in mind other than "away." There is no scientific or sociological impulse fueling his desire. Brewster merely wants to do the impossible: to transcend his anatomical limitations, to rewrite humankind's physical capabilities.
Brewster's artificial appendages don't resemble those of any bird in nature. Instead, they look like an angel's wings, the enormous, white kind that arc vertically and symbolize purity. Brewster wears them on his back, like a harness; the remex (wing) and rectrix (tail) feathers are constructed out of large, translucent material and are held together by a metal pulley system. They look like a contraption, something a mad scientist would make in his spare time. His wings enable both thrust and lift but Brewster can only fly by arduously flapping his arms, hence his rigorous daily chin-up routine. No matter how much they imitate avian limbs, they are nevertheless subject to human folly. Biology can play no role in Brewster's journey. Only his strength and his will can propel him to the sky.
Alas, when Brewster finally takes off and ascends to the upper echelons of the Astrodome, much to the surprise and consternation of the cops below, it's a short-lived triumph. Merry Clayton's "White Feather Wings" soundtracks his flight, imbuing it with a borderline-religious majesty, but the song cuts off as soon as Brewster starts to tire and panic. His dream ultimately outpaces his body, and he falls from the sky and lands in a heap. It's tempting to impose the Icarus story onto Brewster McCloud, the wings representing his hubris and false invincibility, and his crash being his inevitable comeuppance. But Brewster doesn't suffer Icarus's fate because of his pride. Icarus could have escaped the Labyrinth if he listened to Daedalus and followed his path. Even if Brewster had heeded the advice of Louise (Sally Kellerman), his fairy Godmother, and abstained from sex, there was no possible way for him to escape the Astrodome because, well, he can't actually fly. Brewster's wings were the result of a reckless, futile attempt to achieve immortality by crafting a beautiful moment. He succeeded, briefly, and like all beautiful moments, it ended, predictably and abruptly.
Robert Altman was already 45 years old when Brewster McCloud and its more successful companion M*A*S*H were released. He was 32 when he made his first feature, The Delinquents, and it took him another ten years to make his second. He spent most of the late-'50s and '60s prolifically directing serial television dramas. Despite frequently getting fired for general insubordination, he was always in demand because he worked fast and cheap. Altman's greatest creative successes and failures occurred in the second half of his life, which is simply another way of saying that he's no stranger to persistence. He constantly bet on himself, and while his career can be totaled into wins and losses, he would likely reject such a binaristic conception of success because for him process always trumped results. Altman's films imbue you with an intoxicating feeling of creation; more than those of any of his peers, his features are records of their production. For Altman, the point of directing, as much as it can be inferred or understood, was to engage fully in the act of making, of the inherent spontaneity that comes with collaboration, and hope for something magnificent to emerge.
Brewster's focused ambition to fly almost begs to be likened to Altman's filmmaking style, especially when viewed under an anti-authoritarian umbrella. For all of M*A*S*H's sly nose-thumbing and confrontational, chaotic tone and era-appropriate cynicism, Brewster McCloud feels remarkably countercultural by comparison. From the very first moment—René Auberjonois saying, in voiceover, "I forgot the opening line" over the MGM lion, in place of his trademark roar—Altman's film places the viewer into a dense thicket of self-reflexivity, cinematic allusions to everything from Fellini to The Wizard of Oz, and a heady mix of high- and low-brow humor. It often feels like an issue of Mad magazine come to life, overwhelming the senses with gonzo stimuli, so that it's unclear where the satire, or the easy laugh, comes from. Brewster McCloud's comedy might be best encapsulated by the tension between the voiceover of Auberjonois's lecturer character, whose refined academic language frequently interrupts the action by knowingly comparing the characters' behavior to those of a bird, and his slowly fracturing appearance as he devolves into a bird-like creature himself, complete with squawks and perched posture, over the course of the film. Altman collapses the false dichotomy between the intellectual and the stoner by separating commentary and absurdism via sound and image, respectively. At the same time, he draws a subtle contrast between the film's frame and its subject. Auberjonois morphs into a grotesque shell of his former self, "growing" feathered wings until he's barely human. Meanwhile, Brewster longs to transcend his humanity by manufacturing those same wings, unable to perceive how his expert mimicry will eventually collide with biological limitations.
However, another joke comes to mind that might best describe Brewster McCloud's worldview: a close-up sight gag of splotchy white bird shit over a Houston Chronicle headline that reads "Agnew: Society Should Discard Some U.S. People." Altman's left-leaning politics frequently filters into his work, but it strongly defines Brewster McCloud, which is explicitly anti-racist, anti-establishment, and borderline anarchic. The Houston in Brewster McCloud teems with casual monsters who proudly display their noxious selves without any fear of reprisal. Over the opening credits, we see Daphne Heap (Margaret Hamilton) castigate her all-Black orchestra for playing the National Anthem off-key despite being off-key herself; we later learn she comes from a wealthy family and is "well-respected." Vicious landlord and Brewster's employer Abraham Wright (Stacy Keach) spends his days browbeating his elderly tenants, ranting about the invasion of Communists and Black people to his neighborhoods, and sexually harassing anyone he can grab from his wheelchair. Officer Breen (Bert Remsen), an undercover narcotics agent, verbally and physically abuses his wife and son at the zoo, in between spewing racial epithets, and attempts to plant drugs on Brewster's person in order to steal his camera. All these people are eventually found strangled and covered in bird shit, victims of Brewster's moral judgment and cosmic affinity with the avian kingdom. Altman makes no qualms about where our sympathies should lie.
Altman's contempt stretches beyond bigots to the entire law-enforcement community and capitalist enterprises. Brewster willfully steals from local businesses and illegally lives in a fallout shelter within the Astrodome, evading capture from a lone portly security guard by blending into the background, akin to Waldo (née Wally) of children's book series fame, a sartorial twin of McCloud. The cops assigned to the case are bumbling or arrogant, prone to internecine fighting and stymied by bureaucratic red tape. When a wealthy benefactor brings in "San Francisco super cop" Frank Shaft (Michael Murphy, a regular Altman player), whose turtlenecks and piercing blue color contacts specifically recall Lt. Frank Bullitt from Bullitt, he turns out to be a bust, doing nothing more than exuding cool and disregarding chain of command. After losing Brewster during a car chase and sustaining grievous injuries in the process, he commits suicide rather than suffer the indignity of receiving assistance. Every authority figure, from serve-and-protectors to local celebrities, are either ineffectual or craven, and all are prone to corruption. Brewster McCloud's goofy sensibility never obscures our culture's ugly sins; instead, it shines a spotlight on them and takes its offenders to task sans any moral sermonizing. Altman provides a foundational basis for Brewster's desire to escape Earth's surface. Who wouldn't want to rid themselves of the casual cruelty too often considered a fair price for living in a society?
It's eternally endearing that Altman, a middle-aged World War II veteran, found kinship with hippies and radicals during a period of profound social upheaval and generational strife. In Brewster McCloud, he openly sides with the youth—not just Brewster, but also Hope (Jennifer Salt), an eager young girl who brings Brewster groceries from a health food store, and Suzanne (Shelley Duvall), an Astrodome tour guide who takes a liking to Brewster. Both are sexually free-spirited young women; Hope openly masturbates to the sight of an oblivious Brewster doing pull-ups and Suzanne enthusiastically wishes to deflower Brewster whenever he desires. Meanwhile, Louise watches over him, helping him with his war against bigots and protecting him from punishment. Altman treats us to a close-up of her bare back, which features fallen-wing scars, providing a literal dimension to her angelic behavior as well as a living, breathing model for Brewster's own flying dream.
Yet, these people are subject to human flaws and shortcomings. Brewster's moral crusade still results in multiple murders, no matter how justified their deaths may be. Suzanne betrays Brewster after he admits his responsibility for the killings, rats him out to the authorities, and falls into the arms of her ex-boyfriend, a young political operator who turned his back on art at the behest of his rich father. Even Louise is subject to jealousy and suspicion. She forbids Brewster from quenching his carnal desires because she claims it will his destroy his will to fly, as sex is the most comparable experience to flight that humans can access. Yet, this rule reveals her own over-protectiveness. Louise operates like a surrogate mother to Brewster but constantly blurs the line with him by parading around nude and bathing him until he falls asleep. Like many smothering parents, she wants him to need her and balks at the notion that Brewster make friends of his own or, worse, another woman could fulfill her role. Brewster's wings are not solely a means to escape a prejudicial, oppressive society, but also to leave behind mundane human emotions, like heartbreak and duplicity. After all, these feelings, like the people who evince them, seem so small when viewed from above.
Brewster's wings accumulate mythos through their absence, with Altman primarily depicting them through McCloud's research and physical training. We see him photograph birds at the zoo and study scientific literature and perform endless chin-ups; it's not until almost 40 minutes into Brewster McCloud that we learn he's even building wings. Altman provides us a glimpse of the object in its early stages, first as a bare mechanism and then in its feathered state, its plumage taking the form of several strips of semi-translucent white material that resembles an enormous fan one would use to cool a king. In one sense, it's a design marvel, an impressive combination of Biblical iconography and can-do human engineering. It looks both real and unreal, something that resembles nature but with too many man-made properties for it to be natural. Much like a long-lost Wright brother, Brewster is an autodidact desperate to solve "the flying problem." Unlike Wilbur and Orville, however, he considers wings, rather than aircraft, the only way to really fly.
His commitment to physical thrust, heedless of the somatic consequences inherent in such a decision, contributes to Brewster McCloud's essential tragedy. Brewster's wings are the product of hopeless optimism, a belief that ingenuity can overcome a mortal being's fundamental insignificance. He futilely attempted to reject a flawed social structure by escaping it instead of combatting it, subtly intuiting such action might be impossible. Altman's point is clear: we are constantly subject to casual injustices and banal evil. People in power can be fucked with, but they are rarely ousted.
Altman closes Brewster McCloud by breaking the fourth wall and introducing the entire cast as a circus troupe that has entered the Astrodome. An announcer with a megaphone reads off the cast list and everyone receives a close-up while dressed in an outlandish archetypal circus costume. When the film finally reaches Bud Cort's name, Altman's camera finds him still in character lying unconscious on the floor. It's a tossed-off, poignant image that captures so much about artmaking, how one can reach such great heights and never hear an audience's acclaim. As much as Altman infuses Brewster the film and Brewster the character with an ineffable giddy sense of possibility—his wings being a symbol of creativity as a middle finger to naysayers and the very idea of impossibility—he also acknowledges a crushing inevitability. Rebellion only gets you so far.
PART OF SYMPOSIUM
Take Seven: Object Lessons
Nashville By Leah Churner | June 14, 2010
Robert Altman By Nick Pinkerton | June 9, 2006


text:
Hoek, Kees van
440 THE COMMONWEAL September 4, 1929 tire Walter Newton of Minnesota; and who is Mr. Newton? At present, he is one of Mr. Hoover's "secretaries," and also one of the managers of the...
...Together with Destr6e and Emile Verhaeren, Tootop came to London, where he stayed from I885 to 1889 . The painter of contrasts--which he remained all his life--he found in the great metropolis ample stimulus for his versatility...
...True to the land of his birth, he was "mysticus...
...It was in London that Toorop met Cardinal Manning, whose social ideas made a tremendous impression on the young idealist...
...Holland never cared greatly for her own great men, even when their names were pronounced with veneration throughout the civilized world...
...Painting became impossible and he had to work with pencil and chalk...
...In Holland things stood no better than anywhere else...
...These hands rival Dfirer's...
...It is painted on small pieces of paper, afterward pasted together...
...In 1889 Toorop returned to Holland, where, although he traveled widely, he lived for the rest of his life...
...The last decade of his life was a martyrdom...
...What we have seen so far is politics...
...Hundreds of touching incidents could be related of this period: how in a crowded tram car everyone lifted his hat when the great artist was wheeled across the road...
...His eastern predisposition admired the sumptuosity of Catholicism, and the northern blood in his veins made him appreciate the cooler blend which is so peculiar to the Catholicism of our hemisphere...
...JAN TOOROP By KEES VAN HOEK HEN Jan Toorop died in March, 1928 ' the whole Dutch nation mourned the loss of one of its greatest sons...
...His wife had preceded them in their London years...
...The talent nearly suffocated in the cold mathematical atmosphere of Delft blossomed into ripe promise...
...Love was the base of his philosophy...
...or the determined Bishop Callier...
...Could Jules Destr6e have imagined in those Borlnage days that in later years he himself would be a minister of state and his equally hot-blooded Dutch friend, the painter of royalty...
...From out a visionary rainbow Christ's face lights up...
...It is amusing to follow the mockeries of history...
...As a boy of fifteen he was sent to Holland to study for a post in the Dutch East Indian civil service...
...Raymakers, the distinguished provincial of the learned Dutch Jesuits...
...Nobody would have thought, when the young heathen rascal Toorop went abroad with the pious Derkinderen, that the former and not the latter would emerge as the great inspirer of a new religious art...
...Berlage, the greatest of modern Dutch architects, paid a fitting tribute to the rising fame of the painter by inviting him to decorate his famous Exchange at Amsterdam...
...What Van Gogh planned, shortly before his untimely death, his friend Toorop has been able to give the world: images of the great saints, but images for which the sturdy fishermen of the North Sea or the leaders of thought and action in our times, from Manning to Mussolini, stood model...
...Foreign visitors may find in this temple of Holland's economic activities, biblical scenes on the grey ceramic walls--Christ and the Samaritan woman, for instance--painted there by an artist who was moving toward Catholicism...
...He resided alternately in the Hague and Amsterdam, or in bungalows near the coast, at Katwijk or Domburg, where the fishermen with their straight-cut faces and powerful features were his ideal models...
...He remained true, his whole life through, to his high ideals of faith and hope, and of love as the only power behind all things...
...But the student of Delft's technical university was far more thrilled by the artistic genius of old Delft masters like Vermeer than by the modern genius of Delft's renowned engineers...
...Hoover's "secretaries," and also one of the managers of the machine in the House of Representatives, where he is supposed to be the President's courier...
...Vincent van Gogh at the end of his life wrote to his brother: "If I had power to continue I would like to paint portraits of saints from nature...
...And today, when overdeveloped individuality has resulted in countless divisions between classes and cliques, political parties and groups, religious creeds and sects, nothing proves more strongly the super-national eminence which Toorop attained than the committee which is preparing the erection of his statue...
...They would have looked like examples from past ages, though in fact they would have been men of our own day, but with a far more spiritual relationship to primitive ideals...
...Who can help admiring his great portraits--the serene Dr...
...WiUebrandt's further elucidations...
...In unbalanced youth it had attached him to the Red flag...
...Willebrandt to make the speech...
...For the first time he tasted the social doctrines of the Catholic Church and the impression of England's Cardinal remained with him all his life, as can be seen from the many Manning faces incorporated in his later creations...
...He was paralyzed in both feet...
...or the incomparably charming queen mother, the country's darling old lady...
...She charged him, not with urging, but with editing...
...And there was the serenity of a whole life in the unexpected reply: "I work so wonderfully well, thanks to my pains...
...Here he found his first contact with the general public...
...During his last illness he produced his swan song, The Prayer...
...It was long after the benediction when the verger had to tell a sobbing man in a far-away corner that he was presently going to close and lock the doors...
...September 4, 1929 THE COMMONWEAL 44I It was, however, not until 19o 5 that Toorop was converted to the Faith...
...Always there was a place for what his busy hand turned out, but nothing surpasses the famous Stations of the Cross in the parish church of Oosterbeek, perhaps the most discussed modern work in Holland, in which Toorop revealed the infinite treasures still hidden in the possibilities of religious art...
...His elegy said truly: "In art the greatest, in love superior...
...The death of a great painter ought to be felt as a bereavement in a country more famous even for its schools of painting than for any of its other manifold glories...
...But the great ray of grace came on that day when he strolled into a church and the sight of a packed audience stirred him to remain...
...or of the little, unknown girl who walked beside his invalid chair and assured the grey master, "I know who you are and we pray every night for your sick leg...
...Toorop had to struggle many years, not for the recognition of his art so far as the artistic world was concerned, but certainly for an understanding by the general public...
...These were the hands of Toorop, the great laborer who glorified labor through his genius, and who was at the same time only the humble worker in God's vineyard...
...He married, in London, the beautiful Irish Miss Hall...
...After a wasted year he went to Amsterdam to study under Professor Allebe at the National Academy of Arts...
...440 THE COMMONWEAL September 4, 1929 tire Walter Newton of Minnesota...
...He saw men as the bearers or symbols of deep inner realities...
...and his denial is that of a man who, charged with forging a check, should indignantly say, "Why, to say that I robbed a hen-roost is wholly false...
...The taste of the people advanced slowly, but its development was timely enough to put fine opportunities at the artist's disposal...
...With his friend, Jules Destr~e, he helped the strikers in the Borinage and was later arrested for having demonstrated in Parliament before the reading of the Speech from the Throne...
...Toorop (who died nine months after her husband, in January) was herself Anglican, but together they used to go to the Farm Street church, or listen to the liturgical singing at the Oratory...
...He says he did not "urge" Mrs...
...To Him the painter with the tormented face and the weary eyes lifts his hands, holding a little rosary cross, praying for mercy in his final hour, soon to strike now...
...soulless, crafty, without heart or mind...
...Willebrandt named no names when she told how her protest was overridden in "two telegrams" from "the National Committee...
...How can you work so wonderfully with all those pains tormenting you...
...Powerful as Michelangelo in the conception of his apostolic figures, Toorop ranks with Botticelli in the fragrant tenderness of his child studies...
...The son of a Scandinavian father and a Javanese mother, Toorop was born in 1858 at Poeworedjo on Jav~, the main island of Holland's colonial empire...
...He was a Socialist...
...But Toorop was the first artist who found himself at the end of his life already universally recognized as a national figure...
...a friend asked...
...After their Amsterdam years, the two boys went together to Belgium, where Toorop lived in the little village of Machelen...
...The bishop of Haarlem offered him, shortly after his conversion, the decoration of the Aloysius chapel in his new cathedral of Saint Bavo...
...Toorop was under thirty and his heart was the dominating impulse in all his actions...
...But on Sunday afternoons he was the guest of aristocratic art protectors, and Trio Fleuri, the three white-clad ladies in the sunny garden, could not have been surpassed by any court painter ~ la mode...
...He was a close friend of the deeply religious Derklnderen, who later on as Allebe's successor became one of the lights of his art...
...Asked for the secret of one of his great masterpieces, The Last Supper (now in the Municipal Museum at Amsterdam) he used to point to those sturdy natives of his fishing village and answer, "Did not the Lord say that He would make from mere fishers, fishers of men...
...or the hard-toiling Monsignor Ariens, that social pioneer burdened under the troubles of thousands...
...The highest aristocracy are united with the Communist intelligentsia, conservative Cabinet ministers with the leaders of the Socialist party, the Catholic episcopate with the heads of other denominations, to honor his genius...
...Burke's so-called "denial" is no denial...
...In the same way, the publicity was directed by Henry J. Allen, now Senator from Kansas, who, though not a bigoted man, gave considerable attention to arousing prejudice of certain peculiar kinds against Governor Smith...
...It was in the days when a Dutch statesman had wittily remarked: "He who is under thirty and not a Socialist has no heart, but he who is over thirty and still a Socialist has no head...
...In portrait painting, nobody had quite the same power of assimilating the character of a sitter...
...not Republican politics, but any kind of politics...
...Hence his conversion to Catholicism opened the way to the greatest heights of his genius: his art and his character...
...in ardent faith and sublime devotion they are the very essence of art's majesty...
...Manning's personality had made the soil of his soul fertile ; the reading of Thomas Kempis caused unlimited self-reflection...
...Many orders followed...
...Catholics, the clergy first, with no sense of taste, had wasted money and energy sponsoring those awful fabrications which, turned out by wholesale, still "adorn" most of our sanctuaries...
...During the week he took the dirty beggars from London Bridge to his studio or painted his Before the House of Refuge, in which all the misery of a great town is told...
...In the next article I shall discuss Mrs...
...Finally, the speech was examined by James Francis Burke, a Catholic, and received his O.K...
Vol. 10 • September 1929 • No. 18

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
<?php

namespace common\models\_base;

use Yii;

/**
 * This is the model class for table "camera".
 *
 * @property integer $id
 * @property integer $recorder_id
 * @property string $name
 * @property string $streaming_url
 * @property string $channel
 * @property string $params
 * @property string $created_time
 * @property string $updated_time
 * @property integer $status
 * @property integer $thumb_version
 * @property integer $quality
 * @property string $activation_time
 */
class CameraBase extends \yii\db\ActiveRecord
{
    /**
     * @inheritdoc
     */
    public static function tableName()
    {
        return 'camera';
    }

    /**
     * @inheritdoc
     */
    public function rules()
    {
        return [
            [['recorder_id', 'status', 'thumb_version', 'quality'], 'integer'],
            [['created_time', 'updated_time', 'activation_time'], 'safe'],
            [['name', 'streaming_url', 'channel', 'params'], 'string', 'max' => 255],
        ];
    }

    /**
     * @inheritdoc
     */
    public function attributeLabels()
    {
        return [
            'id' => 'ID',
            'recorder_id' => 'Recorder ID',
            'name' => 'Name',
            'streaming_url' => 'Streaming Url',
            'channel' => 'Channel',
            'params' => 'Params',
            'created_time' => 'Created Time',
            'updated_time' => 'Updated Time',
            'status' => 'Status',
            'thumb_version' => 'Thumb Version',
            'quality' => 'Quality',
            'activation_time' => 'Activation Time',
        ];
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: How to distinguish a JS-submit from using the back button (onbeforeunload)? I am going crazy with the onbeforeunload and form.submit(). You are my last hope for a brilliant idea...
What I have is a form. If the user clicks the back button, this causes a lot of trouble, so window.onbeforeunload shows a warning. Of couse submitting the form shall be allowed, therefore form.onsubmit sets a global variable to tell the onbeforeunload-function to shut up. So far allright.
Sometimes the form must be submitted automatically via JS. And I do not have access to the functions that call the form.submit() - or more exactly - users will create some simple code that may include a form.submit().
The point is that form.submit() does, by specification, not trigger the form's onsubmit event. Therefore trying to send a form via form.submit() regularly tells me to consider closing the page.
So back to my hope: Does anyone have a brilliant idea how to solve this vicious circle?
Thanks a lot
BurninLeo

A: var form = document.getElementById('the-form'),
     sub = form.submit;

form.submit = function(){
    alert('caught submit');
    sub.apply(form);
}

form.submit();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


position, move the stalk towards you.
symbol is opposite mark 2.
or switch on the ignition.
position of the ring 2.
tween sweeps by turning ring 2.
be adjusted by turning ring 2.
range by limiting engine performance.
take pressure off the accelerator pedal.
adapt your driving style accordingly.
nently by pressing and holding switch 2.


S-7006F is a battery plate compatible with SONY NP-F970/770 series DV batteries, and SWIT S-8972, S-8970, S-8770 DV batteries. The structure and power pins ensure a stable and reliable connection.
S-7006F battery plate can be installed on SWIT 7-inch on-camera monitor S-1073F by 4 screws conveniently, with a 2-pin DC plug for the monitor board.


text:
Fintech Startup PayGlocal Raises $4.9M From Sequoia Capital India
The startup said it will use the funds to scale its cross border merchant payments solution and expand the team.
Photo Credit : Shutterstock,
Payment solutions startup PayGlocal on Thursday said it has raised $4.9 million in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital, along with investors such as BeeNext, Jitendra Gupta, and Amrish Rau.
Founded in 2021 by ex-Visa executives Prachi Dharani, Rohit Sukhija, and Yogesh Lokhande, PayGlocal enables merchants to accept and collect payments from customers residing outside India in the currency of their choice and using their own credit and debit cards.
"Indian merchants are facing challenges in accepting payments from an exponentially growing global consumer base as the current payment solutions aren't exactly designed to process their payments made via cards issued abroad," said Prachi in a press release.
"We knew that we had a huge opportunity to unlock cross-border growth for nearly every business owner out there if we could address this problem. So, we put together our years of experience working in the Indian financial ecosystem to develop PayGlocal," she added.
The startup has partnered with private and public sector banks to accept international payments. It said it aims to increase its team size by at least 50 percent by March 2022.
Currently, PayGlocal accepts payments in over 100 currencies.
"Moving money across borders is still broken, especially if one of the endpoints is an emerging market such as India. We believe that Prachi, Rohit, and Yogesh are a great team attempting this problem given their past experience in payment processing," said Ashish Agrawal, Managing Director at Sequoia India.
India is among the largest global market for inward remittance flow at around $83 billion, a report from PwC said, followed by China and Mexico. Since 2016, India's cross-border remittances have been growing at a CAGR of 8 percent, driven mainly by an increase in demand for Indian goods and services, international travel and a large workforce in foreign countries.
Fintechs have been creating innovative products to enable easier and safer cross-border payments. Open Financial Tech, a blockchain-based cross-border payment system was recently selected as part of the second cohort of the RBI's regulatory sandbox.
Payment solutions startup PayGlocal sequoia capital india jitendra gupta Amrish Rau


They're not always ''dragged off by the police.'' That was the point.
#demonstrations go beyond that.  That's why they get dragged off by police.
They're not always "dragged off by the police."  That was the point.
Mr. Schumer.  Excuse me, Ms. Doe.  Who told you that, the police?
Ms. Doe.  The police, yes."
the police chief that they take no action until he arrived.
the barricade to leave and reschedule appointments."
a child whose right to life can only be abrogated by God."


If there is something we all want and are in constant search for, it's younger skin. I know I am personally a sitting pigeon for any cream, serum or oil that promises to make my skin glow or look younger. This is something easy to see from my bathroom cabinets that are stocked with anti-aging and radiance boosting creams, most at least half full because I get what I refer to as "skincare ADD" and buy another every couple weeks. My latest obsession for skincare are peptides for skin that looks plump and wrinkle free!
For those following the latest trends in anti-aging, you have certainly heard of the all miraculous peptide creams that are available. Everything you read right now is all about peptides and how they help to boost collagen and create younger looking skin. You may ask yourself, "What are peptides?" and "How do they help my skin look younger?
The answer is simple, peptides are active molecules found within your skin that help to decrease fine lines, wrinkles, and help boost your skin's natural healing process. Our skin is made up of mostly collagen, long strands of amino acids that are interconnected; like a beautiful diamond necklace! As our skin gets older, these collagen links start to break down and our skin loses the ability to replace them. This is the reason we start seeing wrinkles and fine lines; because we loose our natural collagen and regenerative processes. By using topical peptide creams, our skin is given the opportunity to repair these broken collagen links and regenerate our skin's natural youth.
Currently, there are between 30-40 different types of peptides for skin being used in anti-aging creams and serums. You can find peptide creams anywhere from your department store to your local pharmacy. They are truly everywhere and at every price range. These are your go to creams and serums for everything anti-aging! So don't miss out on this truly beautiful trend and find the perfect peptide cream for your skin.
YSL Youth Liberator Nutri Cream: This is a peptide-enriched night treatment that helps to plump your skin, boost radiance and diminish wrinkles. Packed with peptides, it helps to create more youthful skin so that you wake up looking rested and truly youthful. Can be used by all skin types, however it does have a rich texture, so you may want to keep that in mind in case you have oily skin.
Neova Crème de la Copper: This is such an amazing cream, packed with copper peptides for skin. It helps to diminish wrinkles and create more youthful skin. I love how lightweight this cream is and how it truly absorbs into your skin, leaving it soft and oil free.
Peter Thomas Roth Un-wrinkle Fast Acting Serum: If there is one line that is truly all about anti aging, it's the PTR line. This serum is amazing and packed with peptides for skin that is youthful and smooth! It refreshes your skin, instantly absorbs and truly gives you an instant lift for immediate results!
Peptides are certainly a must if you are trying to create a youthful appearance. Play around with creams and serums and find your perfect match!
This entry was posted in Skincare and tagged anti wrinkle creams, peptides for skin, skincare on April 21, 2016 by Noli.


The 11th World Computer-Bridge Championship recently took place from October 4-9 in Shanghai, China along with the World Championships. Bridge Baron reached the finals, losing to WBridge5 of France. More details about the competition can be found here.
This week's deal is modified from a deal that took place in a round robin match between Bridge Baron and Sharkbridge. The auction was not quite elegant, particularly since 3NT is cold and 5♦ appears to have no play, but Sharkbridge found a nice line of play.
The opening lead was the ♠3, taken perforce in dummy with the ace. The percentage play of a diamond to the ace brought down the king from West, thereby crossing the first hurdle. Plan the rest of the play.


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Q: XCode 4 "add build setting condition" not enabled I am trying to include Layar Player in the iPhone application I am developing in XCode 4. One of the steps of section "1.3.1.2 Universal build configuration" asks to click on "Add Build Setting Condition".
But that option is not enabled (it is shown in grey). Only the "Add User-defined Setting" is enabled. How can I make this option to be enabled or what could be wrong?

A: To enable the Add Build Setting Condition menu item in Xcode 4, you must select a specific build configuration for a build setting. Click the disclosure triangle next to the build setting to see the build configurations, which should be Debug and Release. When you move the cursor over a build configuration or select the configuration, a small + button should appear next the name of the build configuration. Click the + button to add a conditional build setting.


Enter to Win a Yeti Hopper Two Cooler!
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Right now you have the chance to win the Yeti A-Day Giveaway! You could be one of 61 lucky winners to take home a Yeti Hopper Two Cooler.


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Jeju's Maro set for SeattlePerforming arts team head to US thanks to fan's fundraiser
Matt Collison | editor@jejuweekly.com
▲ Korean Performing Arts Development, Maro. Photo courtesy Korean Performing Arts Development
A troupe of traditional performers from Jeju is set to appear on stage in Seattle thanks to a devoted fan's bid to bring them there.
Korean Performing Arts Development, Maro is heading to venues in the US city in June to perform a string of shows.
The seven-strong team of traditional dancers and percussionists will enact Leodo: a Paradise - a boundary-crossing folktale of an idyllic island mythologized by Jeju people.
The trans-pacific trip is thanks to Korean-born, Seattle resident Min Moon who says she is "making art personal" by bringing the theatre troupe to her hometown.
Grieving the loss of her father from cancer, Min said she found solace in watching Maro perform Leodo and felt an urge to share her healing experience.
She said: "Maro's performance of Leodo: The Paradise was a moving experience that really touched me in a profound way. I was unfamiliar with the local culture and spirit of Jeju, but I was deeply mesmerized by the way it was portrayed through a fascinating blend of genres with contemporary and traditional elements.
▲ Photo courtesy Korean Performing Arts Development
"For the past three years, I have been grappling with grief and struggling to find ways to deal with my father's passing from cancer. Maro's performance felt like a communion between the protagonist lost at sea and myself. It was extremely personal, cathartic, and healing.
"It expressed what was too deep to find for words, and I saw a reflection of universal experiences that I could relate to. I didn't feel so alone in my struggle anymore, and I wanted to share this with those that I loved."
She continued: "It took a lot of soul-searching before I realized that I had a story to share that would inspire, provide hope, and spread a sense of goodness. When you share your narrative in an honest and authentic way, you're performing a kind of activism that connects people to each other.
"Maro's performance told my story beautifully – that there's beauty to be found within sadness and despair, and no one is ever alone in their suffering."
Determined to reach her goal, Min launched an internet crowdfunding campaign through Kickstarter and quickly attracted more than $20,000 in donations from more than 200 supporters.
She said: "When the target was reached, I was overwhelmed with so much gratitude that I fell incredibly ill and became a limp noodle for about a week. It was as if my body finally allowed itself to let go and unwind from the weeks of restless evenings and hamster-wheel thinking. I don't think I'll fully recover from this until the completion of the event."
She added: "My family and friends have been my wings. However, I was most surprised by the number of acquaintances and strangers who excitedly and enthusiastically endorsed and supported my vision."
Hundreds of spectators at the Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony orchestra will see Maro perform on June 17.
The troupe will also put on shows at an elementary school where Min's father worked and at the city's Korean Culture Festival.
It is not the first time the Jeju troupe have travelled far overseas -they perform hundreds of shows annually at home and abroad and have mesmerised audiences at shows as far flung as Guadeloupe and Scotland.
For the past three years, they've been performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - the largest arts festival in the world - with their show listed as one of ten unmissable acts in 2013. The same year they received an invitation to perform at the Sydney Chinese New Year Festival.
The Seattle shows will be the second time Min has presented Maro to US audiences. In 2015 she presented a sold-out performance of Leodo: The Paradise to a multi-ethnic crowd in New York City.
Maro was one of seven performing arts groups selected as part of the 2014-2015 Open Stage series by the Korean Cultural Service New York where Min was working at the time.
She said: "As a Korean-American born in Korea and raised in the states, this was a dream job that allowed me to merge these two cultures together and take an active part in promoting Korean culture through exciting and diverse mediums in New York City."
A spokesperson for Maro said: "We are so grateful that Ms Moon started this project because of her desire and passion to heal other people as she was healed by Maro's performance.
"We hope that we can deliver authentic Korean feelings and draw the empathy of the audience beyond language and culture.
"People in America who are interested in Korean culture might have heard of K-pop, kimchi, taekwondo and bibimbap but these are only small part of Korean culture. So we anticipate that our performance which contains Korean authentic feelings will touch their heart deeply."
Matt Collison의 다른기사 보기


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Grand Christmas Quiz 2016
December 22, 2016 December 23, 2016 / backwatersman	/ 9 Comments
Another year, another quiz. I know you can't wait to get started, so I won't waste too much time on the preliminaries. Two points are available for each answer, except where otherwise noted. Answers to be revealed on 2nd January (probably). First prize, as usual : a year's subscription to the New Crimson Rambler.
This year I have broadened the scope a little, to include some questions about football, and, in a few cases, I have provided clues.
Q1 What do the following cricketers have in common?
a) A.C.D. Ingleby-McKenzie (Hampshire)
b) Dudley Owen-Thomas (Surrey)
c) Paul Franks (Nottinghamshire)
Q2 Who was the last Oxford Blue to appear in the top division of the Football League? (2 points for the player ; 1 if you don't know the name, but can name the decade in which he first appeared.)
(The last that I know of – points will be awarded for any plausible later answer.)
Q3 This lady was the Mother of which future England cricket Captain?
Clue : her great-granddaughter is a well-known writer and art critic, and this is not her first appearance in this quiz.
Q4 The following is a description of a well-known cricketing personality's debut as an entertainer :
"He basically trotted out a stream of lewd jokes and foul language. Some people found it funny, but there were plenty who didn't." Friends described it as "One of the major disasters of his life" and were "relieved and grateful" when it was over.
But whose?
a) Fred Trueman's stand-up comedy routine in a club in Stockton-on-Tees
b) Colin Milburn's turn as a DJ in the Turner Suite at Wantage Road
c) Lionel Tennyson, addressing the Mothers' Union
Q5 The case of "the Lustful Turk" was a notorious breach of promise action, featuring the Mother of which cricketing personality as the plaintiff?
Clue : he was later supposedly blackballed by the MCC for having described her as "a kind of genteel courtesan".
Q6 The following is an excerpt from the autobiography of which Warwickshire cricketer?
"Marijuana later crept into my life as an alternative to alcohol, which was starting to lose its appeal. Drinking alcohol on top of taking ecstasy allowed me to drink twice as much. Smoking marijuana was actually my attempt to rehabilitate myself."
Clue : it is neither M.J.K. nor A.C. Smith.
Q7 Which English cricketer shared his name with a play by William Shakespeare? (2 points for the individual I am thinking of, but bonus points may be awarded for ingenious alternatives.)
Q8 The man in the hat was, for many years, Chief Scorer at Wantage Road, despite labouring under which handicap?
a) He gradually lost his sight, and had to have the play described to him
b) He was hopeless at maths, and always added the scores up wrongly
c) He was French
Q9 The urchin second from the left in the back row grew up to captain England at cricket, but who was he?
Q10 Which writer described which cricket tournament as being "widely and justifiably viewed as a civilisational nadir"?
a) Virginia Woolf, writing about the "Bodyline" tour
b) Clive James, about Kerry Packer's WSC
c) Mihir S. Sharma, about the IPL
Q11 The Casuals XI of 1914 included two players of particular note :
a) (Front row, extreme left) captained Manchester City and England at football, won a Wimbledon doubles title, made a century at Lord's, and once beat Charlie Chaplin at table-tennis using a butter knife.
b) (Back row, centre, in blazer) set a batting record that still stands, had a brand of whisky named after him, and was once accused of "Bolshevism" by Lord Harris for leading all of his side out at Lord's from the same entrance. (He is shown here in close-up in a cartoon by Tom Webber.)
But who were they? (2 points each)
Q12 Alfred Stockwin, Northamptonshire's groundsman at both the Racecourse and Wantage Road, once had occasion to pull a drayman down from his cart and give him "a good hiding". But what had the man done to provoke this?
a) Watered the beer intended for the Pavilion
b) Suggested that Northants were not worthy of first-class status
c) Ridden his cart across the square
Q13 Three members of "the Establishment" on their way to see the Home Secretary. But who were they and what were they going to discuss? (1 point for each answer)
Q14 According to E.H.D. Sewell, the following were the nicknames of some then-prominent cricketers – but can you attach the right name to the right nickname? (1 point each)
Balmy ……………………………………… J.A. Bush (Gloucestershire)
Jungly ……………………………………….K.J. Key (Surrey)
Nutty ………………………………………. H.A. Gilbert (Worcestershire)
Fatty ……………………………………….. Father J.G. Grieg (Hampshire)
Frizzy ………………………………………. F. Martin (Kent)
Q15 Two cricketers, whose names will be forever linked – but who are they? (1 point for the player on the right, 2 points for the other.)
Q16 True or false : the German writer W.G. Sebald was named after W.G. Grace, as a secret gesture of support for the Allied cause?
Q17 Which of the following has not, at some time, been the nickname of one of Market Harborough's football teams?
a) The Huntsmen
b) The Cheesecakers
c) The Corsetmen
Q18 Who is the author of the hymn (no. 307 in "Hymns Ancient and Modern", rev. ed.), whose first verse is as follows?
God, whose farm is all creation
take the gratitude we give;
take the finest of our harvest,
crops we grow that men may live.
Q19 The nine sons and three daughters of William Kingston, Headmaster of Abingdon House School :
How many of the nine sons represented Northamptonshire at cricket?
a) Three
b) Five
c) Eight
Q20 A fine player for Northamptonshire, a flat-mate of Colin Milburn, and a familiar figure at Wantage Road, who sadly died this year. Who was he?
Happy quizzing, and a Merry Christmas to all my readers!
The Belated Eight : a Festive Quiz
January 2, 2016 / backwatersman	/ 3 Comments
Apologies to any readers disappointed by my failure to produce the traditional* Christmas quiz. We are, though, still in the Christmas period, so here are eight Yuletide brain-ticklers for you. All answers to the usual address by Twelfth Night please (any answers received after 6th December will be discounted and will, additionally, bring you a year's bad luck).
Q 1. Herbert Sutcliffe raised a few eyebrows at the Yorkshire v Oxford match at the Parks in 1930 when he (with Wilfred Rhodes in the passenger seat) drove up in a brand new …
a) Cadillac?
b) Rolls-Royce?
c) Studebaker?
Q 2. Why did Umpire Syd Buller (centre) need a police escort when he left the field at Queen's Park, Chesterfield in 1965?
a) He had allowed Fred Trueman to pepper Derbyshire's Edwin Smith with bouncers, breaking his arm.
b) He had no-balled Derbyshire fast bowler Harold Rhodes for throwing.
c) It was rumoured that he had ordered the beer tent to be shut down, because he thought it was making too much noise.
Q 3. Who wrote –
"My locks have become a bit of a trademark over the years, especially as I grew them fashionably longer at about the time that I got back into the England side. The fact is, I like my hair long, and although it has excited one or two bitter criticisms from traditionalists, it has certainly never adversely affected my cricket."?
a) Bob Willis
b) Denis Compton
c) Ryan Sidebottom
Q 4. The author of one of earliest "diaries of a season", with the original caption. He shares his initials with a Fylde Rugby Union player and a French film actress – but who is he?
"Batsman … waits his turn to face the West Indian bowlers after he had sent down a few short-pitched deliveries at them. The anticipation makes it worth putting up with the difficulty of smoking a fag through the visor."
Q 5. In 1833 a Nottinghamshire newspaper had this to say about the women cricketers of which Leicestershire village?
"Last week at [S…..] feast, the women so far forgot themselves as to enter a game of cricket, and by their deportment as well as frequent applications to the tankard, they rendered themselves objects such as no husband, brother, parent or lover could contemplate with any degree of satisfaction."
a) Syston
b) Sileby
c) Saddington
Q 6. Which well-known cricket writer wrote of himself as follows?
"In my own reports of cricket matches, I tried for naturalism. Flippancy was never far absent, because cricketers, especially bowlers, need flippancy to live and avoid going a little queer. I was doomed to affront those to whom cricket is a quasi-religion … some of the Colonels were very angry, and wrote complaining about "inane asides and abominations " and demanding the immediate return of Sir Pelham Warner and his articles."
a) Mike Selvey
b) R. C. Robertson-Glasgow
c) Alan Gibson
Q 7. Umpire Frank Chester signalling a leg-bye. During a Surrey-Sussex match in the 1930s a firmly struck straight drive from Freddie Brown from the bowling of John Langridge knocked what part of Chester clean off, so that it smashed first bounce into the sightscreen?
a) His trilby?
b) His right arm?
c) His left leg?
Q 8. In his book "Lancashire Hot-Pot", an account of the 1946 season by the Hon. T.C.F. Prittie, the serial prison-of-war camp escapee and "former cricket correspondent of the Manchester Guardian" described the only first-class match to have been played in a particular Leicestershire village. He reports that play was frequently held up by cars being driven across the outfield to reach the refreshments tent, that "it was when the Leicester second innings began that some evil spirit took hold of a crowd which, up till then, behaved as one might expect cricket-lovers to do" and having related numerous incidents of bad sportsmanship from the crowd, concluded "Cricket must not … be allowed to become the cockshy of the bucks and bumpkins whose spiritual homes are the prize-ring and the greyhound track."
But which village was this?
a) Barwell
b) Burton Overy
c) Burrough on the Hill.
*An "invented tradition", of course. I invented it only last year.


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package pl.java.scalatech.language_feature.dsl_builder;

import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
import lombok.Builder;
import lombok.Data;
import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;

@Data
@AllArgsConstructor
@NoArgsConstructor
@Builder
public class Cheese {
    private String name;

}


VLC creator VideoLAN has announced on Twitter that its popular media app player will no longer support download from Huawei device's on the Google Play Store.
@HuaweiMobile phones are now blacklisted and cannot get VLC on the Play Store. Their ridiculous policy of killing all background apps (except their own) breaks VLC audio background playback (of course).
The putative reason for this has to do with Huawei's EMUI Android skin that aggressively kills off non-Huawei backgrounds.
This, of course will result in the user getting a less ideal experience when using the app for background playback.
Another obvious reason why VideoLAN has decided to block Huawei devices from downloading their video player is because of the negative reviews that it will be receiving from Huawei users as a result of the break in background play.
The ban on Huawei devices from downloading VLC media player from the Google Play Store affects all Huawei device and just some specified model.
Huawei users can however, still down VLC APK direct from VideoLAN website.
Huawei has been facing alot of heat from the US and the Australian government over national security concerns.
The Chinese firm faces risks of being banned from these countries as the US government is even calling for Canada to join it kicking the Chinese telecommunications company.
Another obvious reason why VideoLAN has decided to block Huawei devices.


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LATER JESUS EXPLAINED THE PARABLE of the wheat and the weeds and told them two other parables:
"He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed, the sons of the kingdom; the weeds, the sons of the wicked one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. But the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered up and burnt with fire, so will it be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all scandals and those who work iniquity, and cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
THE TREASURE AND THE PEARL
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; a man who finds it hides it, and in his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he finds a single pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it."
THE NET
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea and gathering in fish of every kind. When it was filled, they hauled it out, and sitting down on the beach, they gathered the good fish into vessels, but threw away the bad. So will it be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the just, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth."
Then Jesus said:
"Have you understood all these things?"
When they replied that they did, He concluded:
"So then, every Scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth from his storeroom things new and old."
Meditation: The Kingdom of God on earth, the Church, is compared by Christ to a net. Just as the net contains both good and bad fish, the Church on earth contains good and bad members. Mere membership in Christ's Church is no assurance of holiness and eternal salvation. Even though I am in the Church, I could lose my soul.
Information from The Life of Christ "Our Lord's Life with Lesson in His Own Words for Our Life Today" The Catholic Press, Inc. 1959. 77-78. © 1954 edited by Reverend John P. O'Connell, MASTD and Jex Martin, following mainly A Chronological Harmony of the Gospels by Stephen J Hartdegen OFM NIHIL OBSTAT John A McMahon; IMPRIMATUR Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago August 1, 1953. Print. Drawing by Albert H Winkler.
Across The Lake – Next Page
Teaching in Parables – Previous Page
Our Lord's Early Ministry in Galilee – Start of Section


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Tag Archives: Traffic Congestion
TMF at Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to Increase 4.2% on August 1
LONG BEACH, Calif., June 30, 2020—The West Coast MTO Agreement (WCMTOA) today announced that on August 1, 2020, the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will increase by 4.2 percent. The adjustment matches the combined 4.2 percent increase in longshore wage and assessment rates that take effect in early July.
Beginning August 1, the TMF will be $33.47 per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) or $66.94 for all other sizes of container. The TMF is charged on non-exempt containers. Containers exempt from the TMF include empty containers; import cargo or export cargo that transits the Alameda Corridor in a container and is subject to a fee imposed by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority; and transshipment cargo. Empty chassis and bobtail trucks are also exempt.
The OffPeak program provides regularly scheduled night or Saturday shifts to handle trucks delivering and picking up containers at the 12 container terminals in the two adjacent ports. PierPass launched the OffPeak program in 2005 to reduce severe cargo-related congestion and air pollution on local streets and highways around the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. Nearly half of all port truck trips now take place during the off-peak shifts. The container terminal operators mitigate truck traffic at their gates with appointment systems that spread truck trips out over the hours of operation.
The TMF helps offset the cost of operating extended gate hours. Labor costs are the largest single component of extended gate costs.
According to an analysis by maritime industry consultants SC Analytics, the net costs incurred by the terminals to operate the off-peak shifts in 2019 totaled $262 million. During that year, the terminals received $223 million from the TMF, offsetting about 85 percent of the OffPeak program's costs.
Posted in News	| Tagged Air Quality, cargo, Logistics, Noteworthy, notify, PierPass, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Shipping, Traffic Congestion, Trucking, WCMTOA
FMC Clears PierPass to Start Revised OffPeak Program on Nov. 19
LONG BEACH, Calif., Nov 15, 2018—The Federal Maritime Commission has cleared PierPass to launch its revised OffPeak program of extended gate hours at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach beginning Monday, Nov. 19.
The revised OffPeak program, informally called PierPass 2.0, replaces the original OffPeak congestion-pricing model with a system using appointments to mitigate traffic. It uses a reduced Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) across all hours of terminal operation to help offset the cost of operating extended gates.
Cargo owners moving containers into and out of the ports by truck gate and who aren't already registered with PierPass can do so at https://www.pierpass-tmf.org/.
As previously announced, the current TMF of $72.09 per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) will be reduced to $31.52 per TEU or $63.04 for all other size containers. The TMF will be charged during all shifts on all days.
PierPass set up the OffPeak program in 2005 to relieve severe congestion in and around the ports. It established new night and Saturday shifts during which trucks can move cargo containers to and from the terminals. The new changes to the OffPeak program are being made in response to requests from port users, who seek increased flexibility and a reduction in the bunching up of trucks that often occurs before the start of the nighttime OffPeak shifts.
More information about the revised OffPeak program is available at http://wcmtoa.org/offpeak-2-0-information/. PierPass is the agent of the West Coast MTO Agreement (WCMTOA), a discussion agreement filed with the FMC. WCMTOA's members are the 12 marine terminal operators at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Posted in News	| Tagged Federal Maritime Commission, Noteworthy, notify, PierPass, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Shipping, Traffic Congestion, Trucking, WCMTOA
OffPeak 2.0 Begins Next Monday, Nov. 19
In one week, there will be significant changes to the OffPeak program.
When: Monday, Nov. 19, 2018 subject to the conclusion of applicable Federal Maritime Commission procedures.
The Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) rate will be: $31.52 per 20-foot container, and $63.04 for all other sizes of containers.
The TMF will be applicable on all shifts, all days.
Registration: If not already registered in PierPass, register to pay the TMF at www.pierpass-tmf.org.
Payments: Pay the TMF at the same place payments are currently paid, at www.pierpass-tmf.org.
Exempt from the TMF will be:
Empty containers
Rail intermodal containers
Transshipped containers (cargo that arrives at the Port of Los Angeles or Long Beach on one vessel and leaves
a second vessel without entering U.S. commerce)
Domestic cargo
Appointments are required for all import containers.
Appointments are to be made with the terminal using their own terminal appointment system
See http://wcmtoa.org/appointment-systems/.
Common business rules:
As per WCMTOA Marine Terminal Schedule No. 1 and to include (1) two hour appointment windows and (2) the last appointment times of the day will be 3:30 p.m. on the first shift and 1:30 a.m. on the second shift.
FAQs: www.pierpass.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/QA-on-New-OffPeak-Program_10-11-18.pdf.
MTO contacts: www.wcmtoa.org/terminals/contacts/.
Posted in News	| Tagged Logistics, Noteworthy, notify, PierPass, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Shipping, Traffic Congestion, Trucking, WCMTOA
PierPass to Adopt Appointment System and Flat Fee for OffPeak Program
LONG BEACH, Calif., April 16, 2018—PierPass will overhaul the model used by its OffPeak program for truck traffic mitigation at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, replacing the current congestion pricing model with an appointment-based system that uses a single flat fee on both daytime and nighttime container moves.
The members of the West Coast MTO Agreement (WCMTOA)—the 12 marine terminal operators at the two adjacent ports—reached the decision after an 18-month process of consultation with industry stakeholders, and an analysis and survey by industry consultants.
Port users have expressed a desire for changes to increase flexibility and reduce the bunching up of trucks that often occurs before the start of the nighttime OffPeak shifts. Subject to regulatory approval, the revised OffPeak program is expected to begin in August.
"The industry has been demanding 'PierPass 2.0,' and we are responding," said PierPass President John Cushing. "The original OffPeak program was an innovative and highly effective solution to the challenges we faced in 2005. But it was fairly inflexible, whereas an appointment-based model is scalable and can evolve to meet changing industry needs, technology and practices."
Under the current program, OffPeak charges a Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) on weekday daytime cargo moves to incentivize cargo owners to use OffPeak shifts on nights and Saturdays. The revised OffPeak program will replace this two-tier fee structure with a single flat TMF during both shifts, and use appointments to spread traffic across the two shifts.
Applying the TMF to both day and night cargo will allow a reduction of more than 55 percent in the TMF while still providing funding to operate extended gates. The current TMF of $72.09 per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) will be replaced by a new flat fee of $31.52 per TEU; the rate for all other container sizes will be a flat fee of $63.04.
"The Port of Long Beach is pleased with the progress PierPass has made in working with industry stakeholders to improve night gate operations in our terminals," said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero. "As ships are getting bigger and volumes increase, efficient gate management is critical to our ability to move cargo in a reliable, predictable and expedient manner."
"I'm pleased and encouraged that PierPass members are taking a significant step forward to improve efficiencies at the San Pedro Bay port complex," said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. "We, as well as the trucking community and all of our stakeholders, look forward to increased cargo velocity and customer responsiveness at Port facilities."
The process of reviewing OffPeak alternatives has included a series of meetings beginning with an October 2016 workshop where WCMTOA met with more than 70 leaders representing importers, exporters, trucking companies, logistics providers, elected officials, government representatives, port authorities and other supply chain stakeholders. After a series of subsequent stakeholder meetings to delve into potential alternative models, PierPass retained industry consultants to conduct a detailed analysis. The consultants' findings were presented and discussed at a follow-up industry workshop on March 8, 2018. WCMTOA members then worked through the remaining issues to arrive at the final plan for the revised OffPeak program.
"The California Trucking Association appreciates the proposal put forth by PierPass regarding its re-structuring of the TMF," said Alex Cherin, Executive Director of the CTA Intermodal Conference. "This is the culmination of many collaborative discussions between the marine terminal operators and trucking communities over the last few years, and we look forward to supporting these efforts."
"The HTA has worked hard with our marine terminal colleagues to create a more efficient and environmentally sustainable port complex," said Weston LaBar, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association. "This new direction for PierPass is another example of cross-industry collaboration and is a giant step in the right direction. It shows that the San Pedro Bay Port Complex will continue to be the preferred gateway for moving America's cargo."
A Q&A about the revised OffPeak program is available at http://wcmtoa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/WCMTOA-QA-on-New-OffPeak-Program_4-16-18.pdf. The West Coast MTO Agreement is a discussion agreement filed with the FMC. For more information and to track continuing developments, please go to http://www.pierpass.org/about/extended-gates-review-process/.
Posted in News	| Tagged Noteworthy, notify, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Shipping, Traffic Congestion, Trucking, WCMTOA
West Coast Cargo Stakeholders Review PierPass Extended Gate Alternatives
SAN PEDRO, Calif., March 12, 2018 – More than 60 supply chain leaders gathered on March 8 to review the findings of an analysis of options for extended gate hours at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The Tioga Group Inc. and World Class Logistics (WCL) Consulting Inc. presented the results of their evaluation of two potential alternatives to the current model used under the OffPeak program managed by PierPass. Since 2005, the OffPeak program has mitigated traffic congestion caused by port truck operations by enabling and encouraging the pickup and delivery of containers on weeknights or Saturdays.
The two alternatives the study considered were appointments to control traffic flow, combined with a flat fee on both daytime and nighttime cargo moves; and port-wide peel-off, in which trucks would operate like taxis in an airport queue, each truck picking up the next container in the stack, providing minimal turn times.
Among the findings of the Tioga/WCL study were:
Appointment systems are a more effective way to manage truck flow and terminal workload
The current incentive fee on Peak (daytime) containers moves could be replaced with a flat fee on both days and nights to function better with appointment systems and eliminate issues related to the shift change
While a port-wide peel-off system received little support from truckers and cargo owners, integrating a conventional peel-off option along with an appointment system would give terminals an additional tool to reduce turn times and accelerate the velocity of freight
The March 8 Tioga/WCL presentation is available at http://wcmtoa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/PierPass_Ext_Gates_Analysis_March2018.pdf.
The members of the West Coast MTO Agreement (WMCTOA) – the 12 marine terminal operators at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports – will now review the recommendations and feedback from the March 8 meeting participants and determine how to proceed. A decision is expected to be announced within several weeks.
WCMTOA's agent PierPass launched the OffPeak program in 2005 to reduce severe cargo-related congestion on local streets and highways around the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. Using a congestion pricing model, PierPass charges a Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) on weekday daytime cargo moves to incentivize cargo owners to use the OffPeak shifts on nights and Saturdays. Proceeds from the TMF help offset increased labor and other costs associated with operating the OffPeak shifts.
More than 40 million truck trips have been diverted out of weekday daytime traffic in the Los Angeles area since the program began, dramatically decreasing congestion on the region's streets and highways and contributing to the clean air initiatives of the ports and the State of California.
While the OffPeak program has been very successful in meeting its goal, port users have expressed a desire for changes – which some have called "PierPass 2.0" – to increase flexibility and to address the bunching up of trucks that often occurs before the start of the OffPeak shifts.
The process of reviewing OffPeak alternatives has included a series of meetings beginning with an Oct. 2016 workshop where WCMTOA met with more than 70 leaders representing importers, exporters, trucking companies, logistics providers, elected officials, government representatives, port authorities and other supply chain stakeholders. Subsequent meetings to address the issues surrounding the alternative models were held with the 40 supply chain stakeholders who together comprise the PierPass Advisory Committee (PPAC) and the Extended Gates Subcommittee (EGS). The Tioga study was one of the outcomes of this process.
The West Coast MTO Agreement is filed with the Federal Maritime Commission. For more information and to track continuing developments, please go to www.pierpass.org.
Posted in News	| Tagged Air Quality, Logistics, Noteworthy, notify, PierPass, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Shipping, Traffic Congestion, Trucking
PierPass Retains Tioga Group to Evaluate Extended Gate Options
LONG BEACH, Calif., Nov. 6, 2017—PierPass has retained the consulting firm The Tioga Group Inc. and its partner World Class Logistics (WCL) Consulting Inc. to evaluate alternative models for providing the traffic mitigation benefits of extended gates at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which are offered through the OffPeak program.
Tioga will analyze the traffic, commercial and operational impacts of two potential alternatives to the current model used by OffPeak, which mitigates traffic congestion caused by port truck operations through encouraging the pickup and delivery of containers on weeknights or Saturdays.
Tioga, based in Philadelphia, has extensive experience analyzing operational issues for North American freight transportation, producing reports including the Cargo Handling Cooperative Program's "Improving Marine Container Terminal Productivity," the National Cooperative Freight Research Program's "Truck Drayage Productivity Guide," and numerous planning studies for individual West Coast ports. WCL has deep experience working with cargo owners, ports, railroads and other goods movement groups.
The two alternatives under consideration are appointments to control traffic flow combined with a flat fee on both daytime and nighttime cargo moves; and port-wide peel-off, in which trucks would operate like taxis in an airport queue, each truck picking up the next container in the stack. Hybrid models may also be considered.
PierPass launched the OffPeak program in 2005 to reduce severe cargo-related congestion on local streets and highways around the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. Using a congestion pricing model, PierPass charges a Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) on weekday daytime cargo moves to incentivize cargo owners to use the OffPeak shifts on nights and Saturdays. The TMF also helps pay for the labor and other costs of operating the OffPeak shifts. PierPass manages the OffPeak Program as the agent of the West Coast MTO Agreement (WCMTOA), comprised of the 12 marine terminal operators (MTOs) at the two adjacent ports. More than 40 million truck trips have been diverted out of weekday daytime traffic in the Los Angeles area since the program began in 2005, dramatically decreasing congestion on the region's streets and highways.
Hiring Tioga is an important step in the process through which the WCMTOA members are working with other industry stakeholders to review alternative methods to provide the benefits of extended gates. An alternative model must continue to spread truck traffic across the terminals' daytime and nighttime shifts of operation, while continuing to fund the operation of extended gates.
The process has included a series of meetings that began at a workshop where WCMTOA met with more than 70 leaders representing importers, exporters, trucking companies, logistics providers, elected officials, government representatives, port authorities and other supply chain stakeholders. Subsequent meetings to address the issues surrounding the alternative models were held with the 40 supply chain stakeholders who together comprise the PierPass Advisory Committee (PPAC) and the Extended Gates Subcommittee (EGS).
Participants have highlighted a range of operational and commercial issues for consideration. In early May, participants recommended hiring a consulting firm to conduct a detailed analysis of the two remaining options. An RFP was issued to four consulting firms recommended by the working groups. Members of the PPAC and EGS participated in the scoring process to assist WCMTOA with its final selection of Tioga. Recommendations and a final report are expected during the first quarter of 2018.
Posted in News	| Tagged Logistics, Noteworthy, notify, PierPass, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Shipping, Traffic Congestion, Trucking
PierPass Briefs Washington Regulators and Shipper Associations
Dear Users of OffPeak Gates,
PierPass Inc. issued the following press release this morning:
LONG BEACH, Calif., November 23, 2015—PierPass Inc. and marine terminal operator leaders conducted a series of meetings in Washington, DC last week with the Federal Maritime Commission chairman, commissioners and staff. The meetings reviewed how conditions at the marine terminals in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have rebounded strongly since the congestion crisis a year ago.
The 13 container terminals continue to provide extensive availability of service to cargo owners moving their containers through the two adjacent ports. The terminals provided an average of 82 hours per week of truck gates in August, 84 hours per week in September, and 82 hours per week in October.
These hours of service include daytime gates Monday through Friday; four to five OffPeak gates on nights and Saturdays; flex gates, where terminals hire extra labor to open before the start of a regular shift or remain open during contractually-mandated meal breaks; and ad-hoc gates, where terminals open up for an extra night or weekend to accommodate customer needs.
Improved Cargo Velocity
The time it takes for terminals to retrieve and load import containers onto trucks or receive export containers from trucks is down sharply from its peak a year ago. Cargo is moving through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach at velocities not seen since the first half of 2014, before the congestion experienced during the second half of 2014.
For trucks picking up or dropping off containers at port terminals, in-terminal turn time in October averaged 48.3 minutes on OffPeak shifts, the lowest it has been since August 2014. Daytime in-terminal turn time in October averaged 46.3 minutes, the second-lowest it has been since June 2014. That is a significant drop from late 2014 through early 2015, when daytime and OffPeak turn times exceeded 60 minutes in some months.
Washington Delegation Reviews OffPeak Costs with FMC
The delegation from PierPass and terminal operators also used the meetings with the FMC as an opportunity to review the finances of PierPass Inc. and the OffPeak program. PierPass recently published an in-depth review of the methodology it uses to calculate the cost for the terminals to operate the OffPeak gates. The review is available at http://wcmtoa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/PierPass-Financial-Overview_10-21-2015.pdf. The document also reviews the methodology used to audit PierPass Inc.
Meetings with Shippers Associations
While in Washington, the delegation provided similar updates to trade associations representing cargo owners, including the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Waterfront Coalition.
"These shipper meetings continue the extensive and ongoing outreach that the marine terminal operators and PierPass conduct with industry partners," said PierPass Inc. President John Cushing.
Among other activities, the terminal operators and PierPass participate in the Supply Chain Optimization initiative of the two ports, working with cargo owners, trucking companies, various associations and the ports to share information and initiate programs.
About PierPass
PierPass is a not-for-profit company created by marine terminal operators at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach to address multi-terminal issues such as congestion, air quality and security. To learn what it takes for a truck to drop off or pick up a container at a marine terminal, please see http://youtu.be/P9IJN1yIIJ4. For additional information, please see www.pierpass.org.
Posted in News	| Tagged Air Quality, Federal Maritime Commission, Logistics, notify, PierPass, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Shipping, Traffic Congestion, Trucking
One Year After Congestion Crisis, Peak Season Cargo Moves Smoothly
PierPass September News and Updates
One year ago, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were entering a period of severe congestion. As we reach the height of this year's peak season, cargo is flowing much more smoothly through the 13 member container terminals of PierPass.
There is no line of ships stacked up in the harbor waiting to dock. Container dwell time (the time an import container waits to be picked up) is down to about three days from five to six last fall. In-terminal truck turn times for single transactions, while up slightly in August, remain well below the peak of 61 minutes in November 2014.
Terminal yards have enough open yard space to operate normally; one large terminal operator puts the "utilization" rate – the percentage of yard space occupied by container stacks – at a normal 70%, down from more than 95% last winter.
The worst of the congestion was over by late February, when cargo throughput snapped back sharply after the labor deal was reached on February 20. While conditions often tighten up during the peak season as retailers prepare for the holidays, 2015 has seen no seasonal increase in congestion.
This isn't to say all issues have been resolved. While chassis availability has improved since the leasing companies formed a "pool of pools" in March, chassis shortages remain an ongoing concern. PierPass and its member container terminals, along with other stakeholders at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach Supply Chain Optimization meeting recently identified chassis, and in particular lengthy street dwell times, as the issue that could bring the ports back into a state of congestion.
With larger ships arriving and cargo volumes once again approaching their 2006 peak, the goods movement industry needs to continue innovating new methods to move cargo more quickly. The terminals, among other steps, are increasingly moving toward appointment systems to spread out truck arrivals, and continue working with stakeholders to increase the use of the "free flow" process to rapidly deliver stacks of containers to a single owner or trucking company.
PierPass Monthly Transaction Data
Each month we provide a summary of the latest transaction data from marine terminal operators (MTOs) at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. Below please find data from the month of August 2015.
Average in-terminal turn time:
49.2 minutes day shift
51.4 minutes night shift
For comparison, the average in-terminal turn time in July 2015 was 48.1 minutes for the day shift and 49.2 minutes for the night shift.
In-terminal turn time is the average amount of time a truck is inside a terminal to complete a transaction. Truck activity information is derived from RFID data, and excludes lunch hour, breaks and trouble tickets. Turn time at individual terminals will vary depending on time of day and other factors. For more information about turn times and how we measure them, please see our Q&A at http://goo.gl/PiOjBp.
Average daily moves per truck for frequent callers* in August:
5 or moves per day: 8%
4 moves per day: 14%
1 move per day: 17%
*The ports define frequent callers as trucks making one or more moves per weekday. Average moves per day by frequent callers tells us how many moves a truck can make if it is working every day. In August, 22% of frequent callers made four or more moves per day.
Gate moves during Peak and OffPeak/exempt shifts in August:
Total Peak gate moves: 381,694 (56%)
Total OffPeak/Exempt gate moves: 302,979 (44%)
The number of unique trucks calling on the ports in August was 12,395.
A gate move occurs when a container enters or leaves a marine terminal via the truck gates. Peak shifts are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. OffPeak shifts are Monday through Friday, 6:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday night and Sunday shifts, which are not regularly scheduled, are considered "exempt."
Terminals were closed for the OffPeak shift on August 6 for an ILWU Stop Work meeting.
To learn what it takes for a truck to drop off or pick up a container at a marine terminal, please see http://youtu.be/P9IJN1yIIJ4.
Posted in Monthly Newsletters	| Tagged notify, PierPass, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Shipping, Traffic Congestion, transportation, Trucking
PierPass Names Kevin Recker as Chief Financial Officer
LONG BEACH, Calif., August 10, 2015 – PierPass Inc. today named Kevin Recker as its Chief Financial Officer. In the position, Recker is responsible for financial management and accounting for PierPass, including oversight of the OffPeak program, which manages the night and Saturday truck gates at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach.
Recker comes to PierPass after serving as Director of Accounting at International Transportation Service Inc. (ITS), which operates marine container terminals at the Ports of Long Beach and Tacoma. He has also served in senior accounting and audit positions at the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce, Panasonic Disc Services Corp., and with public accounting firms. Recker earned his Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Long Beach, in Business Administration and Accountancy, and is a Certified Public Accountant.
"Kevin's career in both public and private accounting and his experience in the maritime industry bring the necessary skills to hit the track running as PierPass's new CFO," said PierPass President John Cushing.
Recker will replace Tom Stephenson, who is retiring after more than 10 years in the position.
"I would like to express my gratitude to Tom Stephenson, who was instrumental in getting the PierPass accounting and finance program off the ground and in guiding the program through a decade of efficient and effective operations," Cushing said.
Posted in News	| Tagged notify, PierPass, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Shipping, Traffic Congestion, Trucking
Majority of Terminals Operating Truck Gates Through Lunch & Shift Changes, as GGS Adds Saturday Shift
As you may know, congestion at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has increased over the past several months amid disruptions in the supply of chassis and other factors. The marine terminal operators, while not owning chassis themselves, have been working with other key parties including chassis leasing companies to help mitigate the problems. The chassis disruptions have been compounded by ocean carrier alliances that are dispersing cargo among more terminals, the arrival of larger ships, a shortage of rail cars and locomotives, and the struggles of trucking companies to retain drivers.
In the meantime, the terminals continue providing additional labor to ensure sufficient capacity at the truck gates. The majority of the 13 international container terminals at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports are keeping truck gates open during lunch hours and shift changes. As the accompanying schedule of relief and flex gates shows, 77% of the terminals are hiring additional labor to keep terminal gates open during the day shift's contractually-mandated lunch hour from noon to 1:00 p.m., while 85% are keeping gates open during the OffPeak shift's 10 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. dinner hour.
Terminals are also opening gates early in the morning (flex gates) and keeping them open between shifts. Ten of the 13 terminals (77%) are running truck gates between the end of the day shift at 5:00 p.m. and the start of the OffPeak shift at 6:00 p.m., while eight (61%) are opening an hour before the 8 a.m. start of the day shift.
In addition, terminals continue to adjust OffPeak shift availability to meet demand. Beginning on Saturday Oct. 25, Global Gateway South (GGS) terminal at the Port of Los Angeles will begin offering an OffPeak shift during the daytime on Saturdays, bringing the total number of terminals operating Saturdays to eight. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights each have 12 terminals open to trucks, while all terminals are currently open Tuesday nights.
While we anticipate congestion will ease somewhat as the peak season passes, we expect it will take several months for the chassis situation to significantly improve. Although the current delays aren't due to availability of truck gates, the terminals are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to adjust gate hours as needed.
John Cushing
President, PierPass Inc.
Posted in News, OffPeak Schedules	| Tagged Logistics, notify, PierPass, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Shipping, Traffic Congestion, Trucking


For decades, the only alternative to bread-and-butter was French Toast. But for no apparent reason, Avocado Toast became a thing (it got so popular, in fact, that it was just officially acknowledged in the Associated Press Stylebook.) But, grab a fresh plate because two new toasts have come to town: Mermaid Toast and Unicorn Toast.
Food stylist and recipe developer, Vibrant & Pure's Adeline Waugh created the out-of-the-box toasts by coloring bread spreads with bright plant-based pigments. Her psychedelic creations, the rainbow Unicorn Toast and its sequel, the green-and-blue hued Mermaid Toast, have quickly become Internet sensations.
There's no doubt that Mermaid Toast and Unicorn Toast are appealing to look at, but are they healthy? Find out, learn how to fit them into your Portion Fix eating plan, and discover how to make them at home!
What Are Mermaid Toast and Unicorn Toast?
"I love to create beautiful images of food using the beauty nature offers in its truest forms," says Waugh. "One day I was coloring some cream cheese with beet juice to make a hot pink color and thought to myself, 'Why not try some other colors?'" She shared her experiment on Instagram last summer, and thus, Unicorn Toast was born.
Fans of the mythical toasts soon started sharing their own versions. (There's even a "troll toast" made with activated charcoal for curmudgeons.) "I think people are naturally drawn to bright colors, but I really had no idea these toasts would be such a hit." Waugh explains.
Waugh's original version of Mermaid Toast and Unicorn Toast uses a whole grain bread topped with an almond-based, dairy-free cream cheese that she dyed with natural plant-based pigments.
To create Mermaid Toast, Waugh uses blue-green algae powders like spirulina. For the Unicorn Toast she uses beet juice to make pink, turmeric root to make yellow/orange, chlorophyll drops to make green, spirulina seaweed powder to make light blue, and freeze dried, crushed blueberries to make purple.
In some versions she's added dragonfruit stars, sprinkles, and even gold leaf flakes.
Is Unicorn Toast Healthy? What About Mermaid Toast?
They're healthier than you might think! Thanks to the fact that they're made from whole food and plant-based ingredients they're definitely healthier than your typical French Toast which is high in saturated fat and sugar and is often prepared using processed white bread.
Is Almond Cream Cheese Healthy?
What about the color? The plant-based colors are not only natural, they contain health-promoting antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, says Haynes. "I love the idea of using whole 'superfoods' instead of food coloring," says Haynes.
However, if you're taking any medications, be mindful of interactions that may occur. (For instance, Nicole Cornelious R.D., L.D. cautions that those with phenylketonuria (PKU), autoimmune diseases, and those taking drugs to suppress the immune system should avoid taking spirulina).
What Is the Healthiest Bread for Mermaid Toast or Unicorn Toast?
"Bread tends to get a bad rap because of myth that it causes weight gain," says Cornelious. Eating the whole bread basket can pack on the calories, but a couple of slices of whole-grain bread can fit into a healthy plan (one slice counts as a yellow on the 21 Day Fix and in other Beachbody Portion Container eating plans).
But some breads are better than others. "To supercharge this meal, use a sprouted grain bread, such as Ezekiel. One slice has up to 4 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein, which helps to increase satiety," says Cornelius. If you're not a fan of Ezekiel, Haynes recommends finding an alternative that doesn't contain preservatives, hydrogenated oils, or added sugar.
To create your toast, Waugh recommends using a light layer of white cream cheese as a base. Then dab one color at a time on top. "See your toast as a canvas," she recommends.
Use a small dish or bowl for each color. To create a color, add 2 tablespoons of almond cream cheese or neufchatel to each dish and then add a small amount of color. Mix the color until it's evenly blended, then add more as needed to intensify the hue. Waugh says there is no exact amount of food pigment needed for each color, it just depends on how rich a color you're looking for.
To apply the color, use a knife or a spoon. To create the marbled look, she apply a dollop of each color then use chopsticks to create the swirls.
Pink: Use beet juice from a can of beets, or blend fresh beets. If you hate beets, use mashed freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries to create a reddish powder.
Yellow/Orange: Turmeric root will create yellow in small amounts and orange in larger amounts. You can find it in the produce section (it looks like ginger root). Place a 1-inch chunk in a juicer or blender.
Green: Chlorophyll is the green pigment found in all green plants. But to get enough to create a bold color, you'll need to either juice some greens or use chlorophyll supplements.
Light Blue: Spirulina is a protein-rich blue-green algae available in powdered form at some drugstores and supermarkets.
Purple: Juice fresh blueberries or use freeze-dried blueberries and crush them into a powder.
What's Next After Mermaid Toast?
Evenly divide cream cheese between five small bowls.
Add ¼ tsp. beet juice to one bowl; mix until well blended. Add more beet juice if needed for color. Set aside.
Add 2 to 3 drops turmeric juice to one bowl; mix until well blended. Add more turmeric juice if needed for color. Set aside.
Add 3 drops chlorophyll to one bowl; mix until well blended. Add up to 3 more drops chlorophyll if needed for color. Set aside.
Add spirulina to one bowl; mix until well blended. Set aside.
Place blueberries in a re-sealable plastic bag. Mash until powdered.
Add mashed blueberries to one bowl; mix until well blended. Set aside.
Place dollops of cream cheese randomly on toast. Spread with a butter knife, in a swirling motion to create a rainbow of color; serve immediately.