Sydney, Australia – June 18, 2008 – InterSystems today announced that InterSystems TrakCare™, a Web-based healthcare information system developed in Australia, has been awarded the prestigious Frost & Sullivan 2008 Australia Healthcare IT Customer Service Leadership Award.
The Frost & Sullivan Award for Australia Healthcare IT Customer Service Leadership is conferred to a company that has demonstrated excellence in customer service leadership within its industry. According to Frost & Sullivan, InterSystems TrakCare has shown responsiveness to customer needs and has continually focused on long – and short-term customer profitability goals. In addition, TrakCare has demonstrated flexibility in tailoring its product offerings.
InterSystems has a track record of supporting successful healthcare IT implementations around the world. Recent Asia Pacific TrakCare roll-outs and current implementations include the Victorian Department of Human Services and The South West Alliance of Rural Health in Australia; Wakefield Health Limited, St George's Hospital and Mercy Hospital in New Zealand; and Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Public Company Limited in Thailand.
InterSystems TrakCare is an advanced Web-based healthcare information system that rapidly delivers patient-centric data and Electronic Patient Record (EPR) benefits. In addition to providing a complete enterprise-wide clinical and administrative solution, TrakCare seamlessly integrates with information from legacy systems and multi-vendor solutions.
With its "FastTrak to EPR" methodology, TrakCare enables breakthrough improvements in care, quality, and efficiency. The innovative FastTrak to EPR approach is a unique combination of information architecture, advanced database and integration technologies from InterSystems, and an implementation methodology that dramatically cuts the time, cost, and risk typically involved in delivering an Electronic Patient Record.
Central to the FastTrak to EPR concept is that customers should enjoy the benefits of an Electronic Patient Record early in a healthcare information implementation cycle, and not as the final potential outcome of a massive "rip and replace" project that may take years to complete and runs the risk of being pared down or eventually abandoned.
InterSystems Corporation is a global software product company with headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and offices in 22 countries. InterSystems provides innovative products that enable fast development, deployment, and integration of enterprise-class applications. InterSystems CACHÉ® is a high performance object database that makes applications faster and more scalable. InterSystems Ensemble® is a rapid integration platform that enriches applications with new functionality, and makes them connectable. InterSystems HealthShare™ is a platform that leverages existing healthcare applications to rapidly create regional or national electronic health records. InterSystems TrakCare™ is an advanced patient-centric healthcare information system that is installed in leading hospitals in 25 countries. For more information, visit InterSystems.com.


My Wix website ...the plans. These mandatory fields have to be 2 drop down lists and 1 additional text field. 2. Create 12 plan pages for paid plans. At the moment there is only 1 page by default. Wix does not support multiple pages. All plans need to be able to be connected to the booking services. 3. Create 2 different pages for booking services.


The objective of the new World Animal Protection US experiment called 'Your Turn' is to raise awareness about the poor conditions farm animals are held in and encourage people to help farm animals live cage-free lives and consider animal welfare when purchasing meat.
"Factory farming is the largest form of animal cruelty in the world. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with Serviceplan to develop this experiment to raise awareness of the suffering that billions of animals experience every day in the United States. This project will assist us in furthering our goal to end factory farming. Industrial farms are the single largest cause of global warming and the conditions in which animals are raised leads to the routine use of antibiotics for animals and the rise of superbugs. Higher welfare farming is better for animals, people and the planet," continued Soltanpanah.
He is joining Plan.Net's management team to further develop the agency group's digital creation activities in Hamburg.


text:
Blatter offers hope to Asia
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has looked to console teams in Asia given their poor showing at this year's World Cup.
30 Jun 2006 16:57 GMT
"Did someone say junket?"
Of the five Asian teams that came to Germany, only AFC newcomers Australia made it through to the last 16 before being defeated by Italy.
2002 semifinalist South Korea was overhauled by France in the final group game while Iran, Japan and Saudi Arabia all finished bottom of their respective groups.
Blatter said that he felt Asian teams would struggle to replicate their performances of 2002 with the tournament being held in Europe, but still saw a bright future.
"Asia could well have had at least one representative in the round of 16. South Korea nearly made it," he told the FIFA World Cup website.
"It's not a good thing for Asian football and I find it a shame, but I consider it to be an accident.
"Football continues to develop in Asia and the arrival of Australia can only boost the level of development."
Australia qualified through the Oceania region, but will now compete as an Asian nation after successfully joining the confederation.
SOURCE: AFP
Do airlines and airports treat African passengers differently?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Viterbo University Student Engagement invites students to participate in Welcome Weeks activities during the first two weeks of the fall semester at Viterbo. A variety of activities are hosted by on-campus departments and student organizations to help welcome students and staff (back) to campus. Activities provide students a great opportunity to try something new, meet people from different areas of campus, and enjoy free time away from classes. Highlights include, the Welcome Back Bash, Labor Day Activities, Vic's Picnic, and so much more! Click on a date below to view activities for that day or scroll the page to see the entire two-week schedule! Welcome Back!
Enjoy your First Day of Classes!
6 p.m. La Crosse Ghost Tour - Meet in Student Union at 5:45 p.m.
7:30 p.m. La Crosse Ghost Tour - Meet in Student Union at 7:15 p.m.
9 p.m. La Crosse Ghost Tour - Meet in Student Union at 8:45 p.m.
Group will leave at 5 p.m.
Saturday, September 2nd - Downtown La Crosse Day!
Meet in the Hawk's Nest by 9:30 a.m.


A few blocks from our hotel, Nelson Mandela strides confidently across the Museon plaza. Instantly recognizable even from a distance, he cuts a larger-than-life profile. Perhaps that is the sculptor's intent. Long before and long after he received the Nobel Peace Prize, Mandela towered over the international scene. Those who walked with him grew taller themselves. As the human face of the anti-apartheid movement, his moral and political credibility called others to become larger and better versions of themselves. Less well known than his struggle against apartheid was Mandela's focused commitment to destroy South Africa's chemical weapons and to ensure that chemical and biological weapons would not become available in other countries. Gone from us not yet a year, Mandela's ability to lift human expectations endures.
Serendipitously, this photo captures another Nobel Laureate as well. The round brick building in the background is home to the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Unlike Mandela who now rests from his labors, the OPCW does not. Today's queue of dignitaries and office workers moving through OPCW security is testimony to the activity within its walls.
As those of us participating in the OPCW conference wait our turn, there is time for reflection. Since the OPCW won the Peace Prize a year ago, its mission to eradicate chemical weapons has made great strides. Only six countries (Egypt, Israel, South Sudan, Angola, Myanmar, and North Korea) still stand outside the boundaries of the international chemical weapons convention. On a drearier note, the challenge to prevent the use of these weapons by rogue elements looms larger, especially with the rise of ISIL in the very region where chemical weapons were unleashed as recently as last year.
With these goals of eradication and prevention in mind, OPCW's original mandate was more recently expanded to include public outreach and education about chemical weapons. It's not far-fetched to imagine that an energized global populace might be a powerful means of pressuring remaining states to sign the convention. It might also be a means of making the use of chemical weapons unacceptable in the eyes of non-state actors who care not at all for formal international treaties or entreaties.
That, of course, is the purpose of this OPCW conference called "Education and Peace." Officials from the nearby city of Ieper/Ypres, Belgium (which suffered the first use of chemical weapons a century ago), give powerful voice to the promise and the possibilities. Educators from Algeria, museum staff from Iran, chemical engineers from Costa Rica, government officials from Argentina, and Nobel Peace Center staff from Norway all convene to explore a new and vigorous approach to education. Who is the audience? What are the messages and the media to be employed? Which human faces today will galvanize popular sentiment and make the inhumanity of chemical weapons emotionally tangible, even as Mandela became the human face renouncing apartheid's inhumanity?
The OPCW's specific intent is to use the visibility of its Nobel Peace Prize and the 100th anniversary of the first use of chemical weapons as opportunities to permanently free the globe from chemical weapons. With the OPCW Director General giving a Laureate address at the March 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Forum, the Forum's attendees will be participants in the ongoing discussion of these questions. Nelson Mandela, walking just down the street with his eyes fixed on the future, would approve.
Former Executive Director Maureen Reed writes from The Hague, where she was participating this week in the OPCW's conference on Education and Peace.


On 3 January 2017, Great Lives aired on BBC Radio 4, with presenter Matthew Parris being joined by Suzannah and priest-poet Malcolm Guite, to discuss Suzannah's choice for a Great Life – C.S. Lewis. The programme received a very positive critical response, and was featured in the BBC Radio 4 Pick of the Week programme on 8 January 2017.
The programme is available as a podcast for download from iTunes.
Here they are in the studio, looking like lost members of the Fellowship (of the Ring – Lewis was a great friend of Tolkien, and the midwife of The Lord of the Rings. Listen to find out more.).


The following areas listed below are accepting interns for Summer 2016.
Application Support and Development – using a broad tool base of Java, C, C#, C++, .Net, WebSphere, scripting technologies, Oracle, and DB2 to support our manufacturing and dealer business, which includes eCommerce solutions.
Big Data, Enterprise Data Warehouse Support and Development – using IBM's DataStage product to extract, transform, and load information using DB2, Teradata, SAP Business Objects and Oracle technologies.
IT Project Management – work with the IT Controls and Project Management teams to track and manage IT development and support work.
IT Security – test and manage information security controls, manage security system updates, software installations, user management, malware, and threat intelligence.
Mobile application support and development – to provide and support internal and external user's mobile applications.
Network Administration – manage a wireless environment, use Cisco network routing tools, Unix administration tools, enterprise DMZ applications and architecture, and scripting languages.
SAP Analyst – work with internal teams to configure and support SAP technology to support Caterpillar's supply chain and manufacturing functions.


text:
Paracymoriza multispinea is een vlinder uit de familie van de grasmotten (Crambidae), uit de onderfamilie van de Acentropinae. De wetenschappelijke naam van deze soort is voor het eerst gepubliceerd in 2003 door Ping You, Shu-Xia Wang en Hou-Hun Li.

De soort komt voor in China (Guizhou).

multispinea

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Detroit won't be getting an Alamo Drafthouse movie theater after all
By Lee DeVito on Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 10:03 am
Ricardo Garza, Shutterstock
The Alamo Drafthouse theater in Austin, Texas.
Bummer — it looks like Detroit won't be getting a trendy Alamo Drafthouse movie theater.
The deal reportedly fell through after developer Detroit Rising Development could not secure 300 parking spots, according to Crain's Detroit Business — causing one Twitter user to quip: "This is like Detroit Mad Libs."
Announced in 2018, the $13 million project would have brought a nine-screen theater to a Detroit Water and Sewerage Department-owned site on Stimson Street west of Woodward Avenue in Midtown. But Alamo Drafthouse officially terminated the plan in December, Crain's reports.
Founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, Alamo Drafthouse theaters have become known as kind of a hipster movie chain, showing indie art house flicks alongside Hollywood blockbusters, with craft beer and a full food menu delivered right to the seats.
It's a shame because Detroit, which was once known for having dozens of ornate theaters in its heyday, has become a movie theater desert in recent years. Now, people can only catch first-run mainstream films at the Bel Air 10 on Eight Mile, or go to Cinema Detroit or the Detroit Film Theatre in Midtown for art house flicks.
Rapper Big Sean has reportedly partnered with the chain Emagine to bring a new theater to Detroit, but new details on that project have yet to be announced.
Stay on top of Detroit news and views. Sign up for our weekly issue newsletter delivered each Wednesday.
Alamo Drafthouse,
movie theaters,
Lee DeVito
Leyland "Lee" DeVito grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, where he read Metro Times religiously due to teenaged-induced boredom. He became a contributing writer for Metro Times in 2009, and Editor in Chief in 2016. In addition to writing, he also supplies occasional illustrations. His writing has been published...
Read More about Lee DeVito


MONDO COLORADO - "JUST KIDDING"
Using these tools, I was kidding around with my favorite Logo. See the results below. No thumbnails this time - dive right in! Happy viewing.
First posted 11/2/97, last updated 9/15/09. Copyright © 1997-2009 Jiri Matejicek.


text:
Indian Defence Forum
Home Forums > Politics | Economics | Social Affairs > International Politics >
Welcome to IDF- Indian Defence Forum , register for free to join this friendly community of defence enthusiastic from around the world. Make your opinion heard and appreciated.
During visit to Middle East, U.S. Air Force officials talk up light attack aircraft
Discussion in 'International Politics' started by Manmohan Yadav, Nov 11, 2017.
Manmohan Yadav Brigadier STAR MEMBER
DUBAI — The U.S. Air Force hasn't determined whether it will continue its experiments with light attack aircraft, but that didn't stop the service's number-two general from touting the potential benefits in a speech to Middle Eastern and other international air chiefs.
"If non-contested missions continue for some time, and I think that they will, be they COIN [counter insurgency] or other areas, manned light ISR and attack capabilities will be able to fill a void in areas that the fifth gen and UAS don't provide the best value," said Gen. Stephen Wilson, the Air Force's vice chief of staff, in a speech at the Dubai International Air Chiefs conference." These light platforms might be able to bring the benefits of lower cost, flexible beddowns, and shorter training times."
"In turn, it may allow us to build deeper relationships and interoperability across domains and nations," he added.
The Air Force is testing inexpensive, off-the-shelf light attack planes ahead of a potential procurement, which officials have said would help it more cheaply meet mission requirements in the Middle East and also give it more planes with which to train pilots. The service may know as early as December whether it will take several aircraft to the Middle East for a combat demonstration next year, Wilson said.
Click here for full coverage of the Dubai Air Chiefs Conference and Dubai Airshow.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein — an early proponent of the experiment — has repeatedly stated his hope that, should the United States move forward with a light attack plane buy, international partners in the region also consider buying the chosen aircraft.
Lt. Gen. Jeff Harrigian, who heads U.S. Air Force Central Command (AFCENT), told Defense News on Saturday morning that while he hadn't fielded any questions about the light attack experiment from Middle Eastern air chiefs that morning, countries in the region have expressed interest in what the U.S. Air Force is doing.
"They'd like to understand our perspective on it, the capabilities we believe we would need. And then actually for us, the interoperability we would have with them would be incredibly important to our ability to operate together," he said.
In terms of what he wants to evaluate as the operational commander in the region, Harrigian said he's looking for persistence, the ability to deliver precision weapons and connectivity to other U.S. air assets and ground troops.
"Those are going to be the keys to success for that platform," he said.
In August, four aircraft participated in a series of tests at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., that will help the U.S. Air Force determine whether to push forward with a combat demo in the Middle East in 2018. Those planes were: the A-29 made by Sierra Nevada Corp. and Embraer; the AT-802 Longsword from L3 Technologies and Air Tractor; the Scorpion jet and the AT-6 Wolverine, both from Textron.
AFCENT has already begun thinking about how to execute the experiment and which location would be best to test out the contenders, Harrigian said, although no decision has been reached.
Exactly how the Air Force would fund the combat demo remains an open question. The House and Senate armed service committees have agreed to authorize $400 million for light attack aircraft in fiscal year 2018, but that bill still needs to be passed by Congress. Even if it is passed, however, that legislation would not trigger actual funding — only the appropriations committees can dole out money to the government.
Manmohan Yadav, Nov 11, 2017
India Pakistan Talks: Whys and Why Nots of a never ending talk talk.
BlueOval, Jul 19, 2010, in forum: International Relations
BlueOval
What is the most powerful force in the modern Middle East? (Hint: It's not change)
Himanshu Pandey, Oct 28, 2011, in forum: International Politics
Himanshu Pandey
India, Middle East To See Surge In Aircraft, Challenges, Report Says
Himanshu Pandey, Dec 12, 2011, in forum: Indian Air Force
Periscope of U.S. submarine emerges next to UK aircraft carrier in Middle East waters
layman, Oct 5, 2013, in forum: The Americas
Chinese officials warned US bomber during 'routine' East China Sea flyover
lca-fan, Mar 27, 2017, in forum: China & Asia Pacific
RMLOVER
Indian Defence


LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 99 Cents Only Stores LLC (the "Company") today announced the early tender results for its previously announced exchange offer and consent solicitation (the "Exchange Offer") to Eligible Holders (as defined below) of its outstanding 11% Senior Notes due 2019 (the "Existing Notes"), pursuant to the terms of the Company's Amended and Restated Offering Memorandum and Consent Solicitation Statement dated November 22, 2017 (the "Amended Offering Memorandum").
According to information provided to the Company by D.F. King & Co., Inc., the exchange agent and information agent for the Exchange Offer ("D.F. King"), as of the date hereof, the Company had received tenders from holders of at least $242,228,000 in aggregate principal amount of Existing Notes, representing approximately 96.89% of the total outstanding principal amount of Existing Notes.
Accordingly, the Company has received sufficient tenders to meet the minimum tender condition requiring at least 95% in aggregate principal amount of the Existing Notes to have been validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to the Expiration Date (as defined below) in (a) the Exchange Offer in exchange for the Company's newly issued 13% Cash/PIK Notes (the "New Secured Notes") and (b) the simultaneous exchange of Existing Notes held by affiliates of the Company's controlling equity holders for shares of new paid-in-kind Series A-1 participating preferred stock of Number Holdings, Inc., the direct parent of the Company, with an aggregate liquidation preference of $1,000.00 per share (the "New Preferred Stock").
The rights to (a) withdraw tenders of Existing Notes and related consents and (b) receive an early tender premium have expired. Accordingly, Existing Notes tendered for exchange may not be validly withdrawn and consents may not be revoked, unless required by applicable law or the Company determines in the future in its sole discretion to permit withdrawal and revocation rights.
As previously announced, the Exchange Offer will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on December 7, 2017, unless extended or earlier terminated by the Company (the "Expiration Date").
Documents relating to the Exchange Offer will only be distributed to Eligible Holders of the Existing Notes who properly complete and return a letter of eligibility confirming that they are within the category of Eligible Holders for this private Exchange Offer. Eligible Holders of the Existing Notes who desire a copy of the letter of eligibility should contact D.F. King at (877) 297-1747 (U.S. toll-free) or (212) 269-5550 (collect) or access the letter of eligibility at dfking.com/99cents.
The Exchange Offer is being made, and the New Secured Notes and the New Preferred Stock are being offered and issued, only (a) in the United States to holders of Existing Notes who are "qualified institutional buyers" (as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or "accredited investors" (as defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the Securities Act) in a private transaction exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and (b) outside the United States to holders of Existing Notes who are persons other than "U.S. persons" (as defined in Rule 902 under the Securities Act) in reliance upon Regulation S under the Securities Act (the foregoing holders of Existing Notes collectively, "Eligible Holders").
Eligible Holders are urged to carefully read the Offering Documents before making any decision with respect to the Exchange Offer. None of the Company, Number Holdings, Inc., the dealer manager, the information agent or the exchange agent makes any recommendation as to whether Eligible Holders should tender or refrain from tendering their Existing Notes. Eligible Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender Existing Notes and, if so, the principal amount of Existing Notes to tender.
The New Secured Notes and the New Preferred Stock have not been registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the New Secured Notes or the New Preferred Stock, nor shall there be any sale of the New Secured Notes or New Preferred Stock, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
The Company has included statements in this report that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. As a general matter, forward-looking statements are those focused on future or anticipated events or trends, expectations and beliefs including, among other things, the Company's expectations with respect to the amend and extend transaction described herein. Such statements are intended to be identified by using words such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "will," "project," "plan" and similar expressions in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. Any forward-looking statements are and will be based upon the Company's then-current expectations, estimates and assumptions regarding future events and are applicable only as of the dates of such statements. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those projected in this release for reasons, among others, including (i) whether the conditions to the Exchange Offer that have not yet been satisfied are hereafter satisfied, (ii) general market conditions and (iii) those reasons discussed in the Amended Offering Memorandum and the reports and other documents the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, those reasons discussed in the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections contained in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 27, 2017. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.


text:
To mark Yorkshire Day this year, we'd like to share this gem from our Archive: a Castleford Secondary School Concert programme from December 1912.
The programme cover for Castleford Secondary School Concert, 10 & 11 December 1912
Page 1 of the concert programme, detailing episodes 1 and 2 of
Page 2 of the programme, detailing the cast of Episode 3: the Anglo-Saxon Period
Page 3 of the programme, including details of Robin Hood, Richard II and the Wars of the Roses
Page 4 of "Castleford through the Ages", detailing the cast of Episode 8
Page 5 of the programme, featuring H.S. Moore as Thomas (a Hanoverian villager)
Page 6, the last page, including a mention of Miss Alice Gostick, Moore's art teacher
The concert's theme in this particular year was "Castleford through the Ages" and the performers were arranged in a series of episodes, each representing a different period in Castleford's history.
The cover image was jointly designed by Albert Wainright (1898 - 1943) a close school friend of Moore's who later became a renowned painter.
You can find H.S. Moore (Henry Spencer Moore) himself on page 5, where he is listed as "Thomas" a Hanoverian villager in Episode IX "The Jacobite Rebellion of '45". Also mentioned in the programme end notes is Miss Alice Gostick, Moore's art teacher and friend.
Emma Stower
Find out about the Henry Moore Archive


text:
est un jeu vidéo de combat, développé par HAL Laboratory et édité par Nintendo pour la Nintendo 64. Il est sorti au Japon le , en Amérique du Nord le  et en Europe le . Super Smash Bros. est le premier jeu de la série éponyme et est suivi par Super Smash Bros. Melee sur GameCube en 2001, Super Smash Bros. Brawl sur Wii en 2008, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / for Wii U en 2014 et Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sur Nintendo Switch en 2018. Super Smash Bros. est ressorti sur Console virtuelle au Japon le , en Europe le , et en Amérique du Nord le .

Le titre est un  réunissant plusieurs franchises de Nintendo, comme Mario, The Legend of Zelda et Kirby. Super Smash Bros. a reçu principalement des critiques positives de la part de la presse spécialisée. Il a rencontré un fort succès commercial, se vendant à plus de 5,5 millions d'exemplaires, dont  aux États-Unis et  au Japon.

Système de jeu

Super Smash Bros. consiste en l'affrontement de nombreux personnages de Nintendo comme Mario, Link ou Pikachu sur divers terrains, le but étant de sortir l'un (ou les) adversaire(s) du ring. La série Super Smash Bros. présente une spécificité importante par rapport à la plupart des jeux de combat : à chaque fois qu'un personnage reçoit des dégâts, ce n'est pas une « jauge de vie » qui diminue, mais un pourcentage de dégâts qui augmente. Ce pourcentage peut dépasser 100 %, et peut même aller jusqu'à 999 %. Plus le pourcentage de dégâts est haut, plus il est facile d'éjecter le personnage hors du stade. Lorsqu'un personnage est éjecté, il peut tenter de revenir sur le terrain grâce à ses trois sauts : certains personnages peuvent sauter plus haut que d'autres. Certains peuvent même voler (temporairement), comme Kirby. De plus, il est plus facile d'éjecter un personnage léger qu'un personnage lourd.

Les commandes de Super Smash Bros. sont très simples par rapport aux jeux de combat traditionnels. Alors que ces derniers demandent au joueur de mémoriser des combinaisons de boutons souvent spécifiques aux personnages (comme dans Street Fighter et Tekken), Super Smash Bros. fait intervenir les mêmes commandes pour tous les personnages, chaque mouvement ne demandant que l'appui d'un bouton avec le stick dans une direction donnée. Les personnages ne sont pas constamment en face de leur adversaire, et peuvent se déplacer librement. Enfin, une grande variété de mouvements est disponible : il est par exemple possible d'attraper puis de jeter les autres personnages.

Durant les combats, des objets extraits de jeux Nintendo tombent sur le terrain. Ces objets peuvent servir à infliger des dommages aux adversaires (c'est le cas de l'épée laser) ou à se restaurer (c'est le cas de la maxi-tomate). Les terrains sont également inspirés de l'univers Nintendo ; bien que ceux-ci soient en trois dimensions, les joueurs peuvent seulement circuler dans un plan en deux dimensions. Neuf terrains au total, huit déjà disponible de base avec un seul pouvant être débloqué au cours de la progression du joueur dans le jeu.

Mode solo

Le mode solo est constitué de quatre sous-modes. Dans le premier, appelé mode Classique dans les suites du titre, le joueur affronte une série de personnages qu'il tente de vaincre avec un nombre limité de vies. S'il perd toutes ses vies, il peut continuer à condition de perdre une partie de ses points. Cinq niveaux de difficulté sont disponibles. De plus, des mini-jeux parsèment la série de personnages à battre, comme le Board the Platforms ou le Break the Targets.

Ces deux mini-jeux sont aussi deux autres sous-modes du mode solo. Le Board the Platforms demande au joueur d'activer dix plates-formes le plus rapidement possible, tandis que le Break the Targets lui demande de détruire dix cibles, toujours le plus vite possible. Si le joueur sort de la carte, il perd.

La dernière partie du mode solo est un mode d'entraînement, le Training Mode. Ici, le joueur choisit un personnage, un adversaire et un stage. Au cours de la partie, il peut alors influencer l'action du jeu, par exemple en la ralentissant ou en faisant apparaître un objet particulier.

Mode multijoueur

Jusqu'à quatre joueurs peuvent jouer simultanément dans le mode multijoueur, dont les règles sont déterminées par les joueurs. Il est par exemple possible de faire des matchs limités dans le temps, où le gagnant est désigné à la fin, ou des matchs où chaque personnage a un nombre de vies limité, le dernier survivant étant le vainqueur.

Personnages

Sur la jaquette et la notice du jeu, les personnages sont dessinés dans un style de bande dessinée ; ils sont dépeints comme des poupées venues à la vie pour se battre. Cette manière d'introduire les personnages n'a plus été utilisée dans les suites du titre, celles-ci optant pour un style plus sérieux : les personnages y sont représentés par leurs modèles dans le jeu plutôt que par des dessins à la main et les poupées sont devenues des « trophées ».

Le jeu propose un total de douze personnages jouables, chacun d'entre eux étant tiré d'une franchise à succès de Nintendo. Chaque personnage est associé à un symbole qui apparaît sous sa barre de dommages au cours des combats ; ce symbole représente la série de laquelle il est tiré. Ainsi, le symbole de Link est une Triforce alors que celui de Pikachu est une Poké Ball. De la même façon, chaque personnage possède des mouvements et des armes issus de ses jeux d'origine, comme Samus et ses armes à feu ou Link et son boomerang. Huit personnages sont jouables dès le début du jeu : Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox et Pikachu. Quatre personnages supplémentaires peuvent être débloqués : Luigi, Captain Falcon, Ness et Rondoudou.

Il y a trois personnages non-jouables dans Super Smash Bros. (sans compter l'équipe de polygones constituée des autres personnages à l'apparence modifiée) : Créa-Main (マスターハンド?), le boss final du mode solo, et deux autres boss pouvant aussi être rencontrés dans le mode solo : Donkey Kong Géant et Métal Mario.

Développement
Super Smash Bros. est développé durant l'année 1998 par HAL Laboratory, studio de développement appartenant à Nintendo. Masahiro Sakurai est intéressé par la création d'un jeu de combat pour quatre joueurs. En manque d'idées, ses premiers essais sont basés sur des personnages simplistes et quelconques. Il présente son projet à Satoru Iwata, qui l'aide à continuer ; cependant, Sakurai sait que les jeux de combat ne se vendaient pas bien : il se doit donc de concevoir un jeu suffisamment original. Sa première idée fut d'inclure des personnages célèbres de Nintendo et de les faire combattre. Pensant ne pas pouvoir obtenir la permission, Sakurai crée un prototype du jeu sans l'accord des développeurs et ne les en informe qu'après que le jeu fut bien avancé. Pour son prototype, il a utilisé les personnages de Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus et Fox. L'idée a par la suite été approuvée.

Super Smash Bros. bénéficie d'un petit budget et de peu de promotion, et est prévu à la base pour ne sortir qu'au Japon ; mais devant son immense succès, Nintendo prend la décision de le diffuser dans d'autres pays.

Bande son
La bande son de Super Smash Bros. est issue des jeux à succès de Nintendo. Tandis que beaucoup de musiques ont été réarrangées pour le jeu, certains morceaux sont directement extraits de leur jeu d'origine. La musique de Super Smash Bros. a été composée par Hirokazu Ando, qui travaillera également sur Super Smash Bros. Melee. La bande son complète du jeu est sortie en 2000 au Japon sous le label Teichiku Records.

Le doublage de la plupart des personnages est seulement fait d'enregistrement provenant de divers jeux, par exemple le doublage de Mario est basé sur les enregistrements de sa voix dans Super Mario 64, Link quant à lui réutilise des enregistrements de sa voix provenant du jeu The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Ce recyclage d'enregistrement a été réutilisé une dernière fois dans la suite Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Équipe de développement
 Programmeur principal : Yoshiki Suzuki
 Réalisation : Masahiro Sakurai
 Lead Artist : Tsuyoshi Wakayama
 Lead Designer : Masahiro Sakurai
 Musique : Hirokazu Ando
 Production : Hiroaki Suga, Satoru Iwata, Kenji Miki, Shigeru Miyamoto
 Producteur exécutif : Hiroshi Yamauchi

Accueil

Super Smash Bros. a reçu des critiques généralement positives ; les reproches qu'on lui a adressés portaient souvent sur le mode solo. L'ancien directeur éditorial de GameSpot, Jeff Gerstmann, a noté que , mais a loué la partie multijoueur du jeu, affirmant que son principe était « extrêmement simple à apprendre ». Il a aussi apprécié la musique du jeu, la qualifiant d'. Peer Schneider, d'IGN, ajoute que le mode multijoueur est pour lui  alors que Dale Weir de GameCritics.com décrit Super Smash Bros. comme . Brad Penniment du site web AllGame a fait valoir que le jeu avait été conçu pour les combats en multijoueur, félicitant la simplicité des commandes et l'aspect « fun » du jeu.

Les reproches faits au jeu ont par exemple porté sur son système de score, difficile à suivre. De plus, le mode solo a été critiqué en raison de son niveau de difficulté mal ajusté et de son manque de fonctionnalités ; Dan Whitehead d'Eurogamer le qualifie de  et note le jeu 7/10. En 2007, une vidéo du site ScrewAttack sur GameTrailers classe le jeu dans la liste des dix meilleurs jeux de la franchise Mario de tous les temps. Schneider a dit à propos de Super Smash Bros. que c'était . Un autre rédacteur d'IGN, Matt Casamassina, a déclaré que Super Smash Bros. était un jeu multijoueur incroyablement addictif mais a regretté le manque de difficulté du mode solo. Le soft a par ailleurs reçu la mention « Editors' choice » de la part d'IGN.

Super Smash Bros. a bénéficié d'un important succès commercial, et a rapidement reçu le label Choix des Joueurs. En 2008, 1,97 million d'exemplaires avaient été vendus au Japon et 2,93 millions aux États-Unis.

Postérité

Super Smash Bros. est le premier épisode de la série  Sa suite, Super Smash Bros. Melee, est sortie deux ans plus tard sur GameCube, après avoir été présentée par Nintendo à l'E3 2001 sous la forme d'une démo jouable. La prochaine apparition majeure de cette suite adviendra en  au Nintendo Space World, à nouveau via une démo jouable, mise à jour depuis la précédente. Nintendo a d'ailleurs organisé un tournoi pour les fans, dans lequel ils pouvaient gagner une GameCube et Super Smash Bros. Melee. À la conférence pré-E3 de Nintendo en 2005, Nintendo a annoncé la suite de , Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Le président de Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, n'a demandé à Masahiro Sakurai d'être le réalisateur du jeu qu'après la conférence. Le titre conserve certaines des caractéristiques du  de ses prédécesseurs, tout en renfermant de multiples nouveautés, tels qu'un mode solo plus important et un mode de jeu en ligne via la Connexion Wi-Fi Nintendo. Il propose au joueur quatre systèmes de contrôles différents, qui exploitent les différentes manettes utilisables sur Wii. Tout comme ,  fait référence à des jeux sortis après son prédécesseur ; par exemple, l'apparence de Link est tirée de The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess et un chiot de Nintendogs apparaît en tant que Trophée Aide (un nouvel objet qui fait appel à des personnages qui participent brièvement au combat). Certains stages issus de Melee ont été inclus dans Brawl, à la manière des stages du premier opus inclus dans Melee. Enfin, Brawl est le premier jeu de la franchise à intégrer des personnages ne provenant pas de l'univers Nintendo, à savoir Solid Snake de Konami et Sonic de Sega.

Super Smash Bros. est ressorti sur la Console virtuelle, plate-forme de téléchargement de la Wii, le  au Japon, le  en Europe et le  en Amérique du Nord. Son prix est de  Wii Points, soit le coût classique d'un jeu Nintendo 64 sur Console virtuelle.

À l'E3 2011, Masahiro Sakurai annonce le développement du nouvel opus de la série en deux versions correspondantes à la Wii U et la 3DS. Une première bande-annonce est révélée lors de l'E3 2013. La stratégie est de proposer une expérience individuelle sur plusieurs supports. Les joueurs 3DS ne pourront pas collaborer avec les joueurs Wii U en raison des différences de contenus proposés entre les versions, bien que la customisation de personnages soit cross-plateforme. La version 3DS est commercialisée en septembre 2014 tandis que la version Wii U sort en . Annonçant dans un premier temps qu'aucun contenu additionnel n'est prévu, plusieurs personnages et stages sont finalement ajoutés entre 2015 et 2016 parmi lesquels Cloud de la série Final Fantasy ou Bayonetta du jeu éponyme. Le , Masahiro Sakurai annonce l'arrêt définitif du développement de contenu additionnel.

Lors du Nintendo Direct du , la firme nippone a annoncé avec un trailer inséré en fin de présentation le retour du titre Super Smash Bros. sur Nintendo Switch courant 2018. Le jeu mettra en scène les inklings, personnages issus de la série Splatoon. Parmi les rumeurs à propos du roster complet, le Youtubeur AbdallahSmash026 annonce en regardant attentivement le trailer de Super Smash Bros. une vingtaine de personnages : Mario, Peach, Luigi, Wario, Bowser, Yoshi, Pit (Kid Icarus), Lucas ou Falco, Ness, Roy, Donkey Kong, Link (de l'épisode Breath of the Wild), Pikachu, Olimar ou Kirby, Fox, Zelda ou Captain Falcon, Marth, Sheik et Samus. Mais lors de la conférence E3 2018, il fut confirmé que non seulement tous les anciens personnages (dont les DLC du précédent opus) feront leurs retours, mais que de nouveaux personnages apparaîtrons. Ceux déjà annoncé sont Daisy, les Inklings, et Ridley (l'un des méchant iconique de la série Metroid, que de nombreux fans demandaient). Le jeu, appelé Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, est sorti le . À l'instar du précédent opus, le contenu du jeu est alimenté par une première série de contenus téléchargeables entre  et  incluant personnages, stages et musiques supplémentaires. En , un second set de contenus est annoncé. Il sera déployé progressivement jusqu'à , date de l'arrêt du développement de contenu additionnel.

Notes et références

Annexes

Articles connexes
 Super Smash Bros. (série)
 Super Smash Bros. Melee
 Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / for Wii U
 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Lien externe
  Super Smash Bros. sur Nintendo-Europe

Super Smash Bros.
Jeu vidéo de combat
Jeu vidéo sorti en 1999
Jeu Nintendo 64
Jeu sur la console virtuelle de la Wii
Jeu vidéo développé au Japon
Jeu HAL Laboratory
Jeu Nintendo


Cancer ascendant, horoscope consultation, understand importance of Kark ascendant or lagna, astrologer for minute analysis of horoscope, Birth chart analysis, Vedic astrology for analysis and solutions of problems.
First of all check out the number present in your Ist house of lagna kundli, if it is Number 4 then you are the person having Cancer ascendant/kark lagna. Now it is good to know about the important points related to this zodiac. By knowing some important qualities and the loopholes it is possible to live life successfully.
Horoscope reveals many important things about life and by use of this we can make our life fruitful. Astrologer is able to provide you regarding the best lucky stone, best ritual or puja, best offerings to live a successful life. We can also prepare our mind for the future happenings. So it is always good to consult astrologer time to time.
If you are cancer ascendant then you must know that the master of cancer or kark is Moon which is a very cool and fickle planet. It belong to water zodiac. These people like to live in dream and very fond of luxury life, travelling, eating different types of food etc. Imagination power of kark lagna persons are also very good. There mind changes very frequently and so seems unstable in reality. Emotions are also a very close part of your personality and they suffers much due to emotional feelings.
If the Moon is good in horoscope then no doubt person gets success from travelling and relationships but in case of negative or afflicted Moon mental problems, internal diseases, temper arises and person lives in tension, anxiety, depression etc.
Near the water area Cancer ascendant people get success also if the Jupiter is supportive then also the person get very luxurious life style and also person become spiritual.
In case if Rahu or ketu sits with Moon then grahan yoga disturb the life.
The problem with Moon also give arise too digestion problem, cough and cold, psychology problems etc. There personality also changes time to time like as Moon. So it is not possible to predict them easily.
1. Try to control your emotions always, don't take any decision in hurry and in emotions, it may affect negatively.
2. Do perform shiv puja daily to over come from any ill effects of planets.
3. While making relationships do not trust easily on anyone otherwise you may suffer.
4. Chandra yantra or Pearl may give you benefit but do consult before using them.
If you are interested in proper astrology Consultancy to about favourable gems stones, favourable yantra, best puja and daan for you then do consult astrologer now.
Click here to know the ASTROLOGY CONSULTING PROCESS.


The ocean sciences community now has literacy principles for all of North America, including the nation's freshwater coast. Great Lakes Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts for Great Lakes Learning has been developed as a means of comparing the oceanic attributes of the lakes with the well-established Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts, so that educators and scientists would think of the Great Lakes in parallel with the oceans. With the support of COSEE California, COSEE Great Lakes and GLEAMS members facilitated the drafting and review process; this included the addition of an eighth principle focusing on the environmental history of the lakes and their role in the development of the North Coast�s culture, economy and regional identity.
The Great Lakes Literacy Principles were introduced in Gatlinburg at the NMEA Conference. A brochure similar to the Ocean Literacy K-12 brochure has been produced. A website (greatlakesliteracy.net) is being developed so that instructional materials, as well as links to Great Lakes and ocean information, will be readily available to the Great Lakes audience. Educators in the Great Lakes have begun using the framework to encourage more Great Lakes content in curricula and to focus state agency efforts toward education that is recognized for relevance to Great Lakes science.
Download the full-color brochure [1.6 Mb] or a list of the Principles and Concepts.


Spent the day out at Denton. Wandered around the main square and had lunch at Cartwrights Ranch House on the main square. Great burgers and excellent Jalepenos wrapped in chicken and bacon. Then looked in a bunch of shops and a couple of Antique Malls. Sooooooooooo much stuff and all sooooooo cheap!
Ashley found a Scooby Doo and Brenton decided on a Sponge Bob Square Pants version of the Game of Life. Mummy won the first game.
Keira-Lee found a Purple Fiesta Ware Jug and a Pillsbury Doughboy Cookie Jar!
Daddy just got a cup of lemonade spilt over him at lunch!
Finished the day of with an ice cream. Great ice cream!
Spent the day in McKinney just North of Dallas. Great day. Started with Brunch at a little cafe. Keira-Lee ordered Toasted Ham and Cheese on French Toast. It came sprinkled with icing sugar and had strawberry jam on the side. Was not very nice! Looked in a bunch of Antique Shops and found a few pieces we might get once we find a house. Only purchase was a set of graduated jugs. Would recommend a visit to McKinney!
Went to our first High School Football Game. Still don't understand the rules but I am sure I will get used to it. Towards the end of the first quarter Brenton asked when the "Real Football" (aka AFL) was starting. Very funny! Ashley liked the sparkly clothes of the Marching Girls! Supported the Rockwall Yellow Jackets for the night.
We asked for a large vehicle to get all our bags to the Apartment. 18 Checked in Bags and ten or so carry on. They gave is a Ford Expedition. Everything got in and we could have put more bags as well. After our keys were stoled from a trolley in Walmart Avis replaced the Expedition with another monster truck. This time a GMC Yukon! Next day we went to Avis and asked to drop to a standard SUV as we didn't want to drive Monster Trucks around Dallas roads.
A long flight across from Perth to Sydney and then Sydney to Dallas. Kids were perfect the whole way. Used points to upgrade us all to Business Class. Was well worth it and that's what points are for! Ashley was a little sick for the last few hours before we arrived in Dallas. Cleared Immigration and Customs without any delay. Welcome to Dallas and head on through!!!!!
Easiest part of the process today. Answered a few questions and visa was approved. Now just to wait for passports to be sent back. Could depart as early as next Tuesday night!!!!! So much to do and so little time!!!!!
Now that is a truck!!!!!!


In an Exclusive interview with Pinkvilla South, Shriya Bhupal amid all the wedding preparations, shares with us about her wedding outfits and much more.
Shriya Bhupal recently got engaged to Anindith Reddy, who is the grandson of Apollo hospitals Chairman and founder Prathap C. Reddy. The couple got engaged in Hyderabad in April and now, the grand wedding is all set to take place on July 6.
In an Exclusive interview with Pinkvilla South, Shriya Bhupal amid all the wedding preparations, shares with us about her wedding outfits, choosing designer Elie Saab for one of the wedding affairs and much more.
Elie Saab has been my dream from when I studied at parson the new school of design and a part of the aesthetic of my brand Shriya Som is majorly influenced by Elie Saab. So that was an obvious choice to choose him as one of the designers I would wear!
You being a designer, what were your inputs given for the Elie Saab outfit?
As a designer keeping the fit, finish and the entire quality of the garment is what I look for and mainly that the garment fits my personality as well as I how I feel in it. I would never change the design of the particular designer I chose to wear since I would like them to stay true to there own aesthetic.
Can you shed light on your bridal look in terms of makeup, accessories?
Are you wearing any of your designed outfit for any of the wedding affairs? If yes, plz tell us about the outfit.
Yes, I am wearing a yellow lehenga from my label for the 4th brunch which is an "Indian Renaissance" theme at home. Inspiration of the flowers come from Daisy 's, sunflowers, daffodils. So tonnes of bright happy yellows, offwhite and whites, highlighted with delicate French knots and Swarovski crystals. Keeping my SS18 theme in mind with the yellows as well as incorporating a bit of a fun ruffle into it!
Anything traditional that you will be wearing it on your wedding day given by your mom?
I'll be wearing antique Gadwal Jewelry that's an heirloom from my dad's side of the family, as well as a Gadwal sari.
Pre-wedding ceremonies were of course grand, what should we expect from the wedding? Are we seeing your close Bollywood and Tollywood friends?
Yes, I have invited a few close Bollywood and Tollywood friends of mine.
Lastly, how has your life influenced after Anindith came into your life? Just a few days for the wedding how do you feel? All jitters?
Why did her engagement with Akhil akkenini broke up ? What was the reason ?


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Does anyone realise…the lunatics actually are in charge of the asylum?
In 1959 Isabel Menzies-Lyth – psychoanalyst and organisational consultant, published a study of a teaching hospital in London. The study, initiated by senior staff at the hospital, was expected to underpin institutional change given concerns that the system was under significant strain. Essentially, senior nurses were worried about their capacity to provide adequate practical support for trainee nurses whilst at the same time maintaining patient care. Something was wrong: Sickness rates amongst staff were worryingly high as was the drop out rate from training.
Menzies -Lyth spent time in the hospital, talking to people and carefully noticing the issues, diagnosing the problems. What she describes in her seminal paper is an odd, brittle culture where nurses were more automatic than compassionate, efficient rather than kind; a culture within which the nurses were given a diverse range of tasks which meant that they had little contact with any one patient. A culture which allowed them to refer to patients not by their names but by their symptoms ("the liver in bed 10").
Despite the fact that the nurses presumably had different skills and interests, it was not supposed to matter in this place who you nursed or what their symptoms were. Brisk professionalism was prized as was a way of working characterised by detachment and routine. Complex, challenging issues and decisions were avoided by ritual and rendered silly through grim tradition. There was nothing special about anyone.
One assumes, from reading the paper that there was little humanity in the way that the nurses approached their tasks. They do not appear to work with humility or in a way that allows them to be known by their patients as individuals. One imagines that gentleness and humour were killed by this strangely dispassionate culture, that clever minds had to be put away. The paper describes a place full of people but with obstacles to all the lively, kind and happy stuff that should happen between them.
Why did they work like this? Were they monsters? Psychopaths? Power crazed harridans? We already know they weren't as just asking the question illuminates how ridiculous those angry assumptions are: These nurses would have been normal, nice people; people driven by vocation and by wanting to look after others, by wanting to do something that matters. By reminding us that this dour, uninspiring, vaguely embattled culture would have emerged for very good reasons, Menzies Lyth introduces us to an important discourse: She directs our gaze away from condemning the practices themselves and towards the urgent task that the nurses were faced with and for which these practices presented a solution.
All human beings act badly when we're anxious or afraid and we act even worse when we have no reason or space to reflect on the fact that we are anxious or afraid. Instead we pretend we know things, we avoid people or cling to people, drink too much or take drugs or drive too fast or shout too loud. Menzies-Lyth reminds us about the nature of the task for these nurses; the anxiety inherent in caring jobs – the anxiety (or, to be more specific, the fear, shame, incompetence, envy….) that every one of us feels in all our interpersonal encounters. She spells out the things that make nursing particularly difficult: the bloody, messy, disgusting bodies, the frustrated, suffering patients who act badly themselves. Then she goes further and helps us to see how awful this would be – to hate the people you are supposed to care for, to face illness that can't be cured, to be uncertain that you can make a difference, to be an expert who sometimes doesn't know and can't really help. She helps us to understand the envy an exhausted nurse would feel towards the patient lying prone, being served and the dreadful dilemma faced by all of us paid to care for people who irritate us, harass us, bore us, overwhelm us, love us…how to manage the relentless tumult of emotions that we are faced with when we look after humans? How to manage our guilt and our shame at feeling all the "unprofessional" things we're not supposed to feel and can't possible voice?
Menzies-Lyth concluded that the curious culture at the hospital emerged as a way of helping to manage the tension and distress associated with the job. The nurses had unconsciously 'requested' that the hospital sanction various practices which worked to help them manage their own anxiety. Intimacy and individuality were avoided meaning that loss (when people died or worsened) could also be avoided. Relationships, humour, gentleness and kindness would have been eradicated through the singular efforts that this organisation made to avoid disgust and fear and the pain associated with not always knowing or being able to make people well. Strange 'cliques' within the nursing team would have allowed the nurses to discharge their anger and blame their colleagues rather than confront their own limitations.
The practices, or "social defences" would have emerged subtly and insidiously, masquerading as 'good practice', or 'professional conduct'. They were practices which would have felt normal, clear and dutiful when in fact they worked to 'rescue' the nurses while undermining the very purpose of the organisation. The workers themselves collectively, subconsciously agreed to sacrifice their capacity to care humanely for humans who were suffering in order to manage the intrusive, disturbing stuff in their own minds.
Menzies-Lyth and her colleagues introduced a discourse that situates organisations as part of a dynamic process. She shows us that, far from being benign practitioners, all of us who work in caring professions are thrown fully into a daily, complex interpersonal reality. She helps to position our bad practice as threat responses and reminds us that none are immune. The impact of the work (of caring for humans) is inevitable….how could it be otherwise for social beings designed to be sensitive in relation to others?
This is a discourse which helps us to understand that the work that we do caring for others makes us mad. It renders good, diligent, caring people capable of creating stupid services that work badly and fail the people who use them. This is a discourse which makes sense of rigid, meaningless targets and dehumanising language, of bureaucracy and neglect and our sheer inability to remember that our 'patients' are, quite literally, people we can know.
And I think we need it more than ever as you just have to listen to the news to know how lost we are….In August last year SkyNews reported that investigations into abuse in mental health services have nearly doubled in three years. Reports peppered the news towards the end of 2017 about a crisis in mental health service provision: not enough staff (The Independent, 30th Sept 2017); long waits for treatment (The Guardian, 7th July 2017); leading charities urging the Government to address a crisis given that so many people in need are 'locked out of services' (The Independent, 4th November 2017); services for people who self harm or are wanting to kill themselves are under "unprecedented pressure" (BBC news, 27th July 2017).
People continue to be excluded from, made worse, stigmatised, blamed and hurt by services. The service user movement on social media is vociferous and raging – justifiably angry at our crass, dumb attempts to create services which alleviate distress and mental anguish. Outraged at the fact that we sometimes – often – make things worse through an inability to create services which are, at their core, simply humane.
The point of the discourse introduced by Menzies-Lyth and her colleagues is that this is all of us…not just the 'bad' ones. There are no 'bad' ones…there are just ones who haven't noticed what has happened to them. The 'bad' ones are simply services which have made no provision for helping the staff, leaders who are too caught up in their own anxiety to create space for noticing or to model a helpful approach. More worryingly (and less hopefully) they are services which are ill served by political agendas that ramp up the anxiety and make it harder, or even impossible, to notice. The 'bad' ones are simply those who lack the space to think, or refuse the space to think because they are too afraid, too threatened to be inexpert.
Last year a friend and colleague undertook training in dealing with complaints in her NHS Trust. They worked through a real life, anonymised example which centred around rude, dismissive conduct from a staff member over the phone. My friend had the complainant in her mind – a relative with a recently admitted, highly distressed son. This was a woman who, presumably, in the midst of being terrified and desperate, asked the responsible NHS Trust to notice that they had acted badly. Notice, perhaps, a social defence which had emerged…a way of working which allowed the worker to put the phone down a little quicker, discharge a little irritation.
The group worked through the example, worked through the process and discussed the outcome which would be – and had been in real life – disciplinary proceedings. My friend expressed surprise…wasn't this behaviour the result of someone stressed, someone managing anger or annoyance? Someone who was maybe overworked or under pressure? Maybe, just before the call, this staff member had been yelled at or attacked or had cut someone down, been the first on the scene, witnessed something terrible that they would never really forget.
The tutors, according to my friend, had no answer. There was no narrative about why this staff member had behaved the way they had. Only that they shouldn't. My friend was confused – how would disciplinary proceedings (in the absence of anything more exploratory about why this behaviour occurred) help? If there were good reasons for this poor behaviour, then how would sanctions help? Would this not add to the stress, blame, shame?
Menzies Lyth would no doubt argue that this complaints process emerged as another social defence: An organisationally sanctioned process which works (crudely) to manage the institutional anxiety at the expense of a more restorative process which ultimately would serve the people who use the services much better but which would require more of the organisation.
Talking about the stress that we experience as workers who strive to make lives better for some of the most distressed/distressing, frightened and frightening people in our society is, I think, considered bad form. We are supposed to be unrelentingly compassionate, unproblematically kind and giving. But caring for people who are scared and damaged is scary and damaging. It can't (and shouldn't) be any other way. It is what we signed up for. But we need institutions that help us manage this properly so that we can stay thoughtful and kind in the midst of the struggle and the feelings of overwhelming incompetence.
We need this discourse because a lot of the (subtle, normal) stuff we do is very bad indeed. We need this discourse to help us examine the governance and accountability structures around organisations that are tasked with alleviating human suffering. We need a discourse which asks: 'what are we doing"? and "why"?….a discourse which makes it okay for us to notice that we, as workers, are struggling.
Menzies Lyth, I (1959) The Functioning of Social Systems as a Defence Against Anxiety Human Relations (13) pp 95-121
May	Uncategorized	1 Comment March 17, 2018 April 22, 2018 8 Minutes
The PTM framework: Where do we go from here?
So, the Power Threat Meaning (PTM) framework has burst into my mental health/psychology focussed world. It is rather glorious – outraged, strutting, purposeful: An ideology founded in the certainty (which I share) that something is terribly wrong.
I love the explicit references to power and I love the way it dissolves the boundaries between 'those who are ill' and 'those who are well'. I love the fact that sitting in a large, naturally lit lecture hall in Euston, I was allowed a glimpse of insight into my own fracturing many years ago. I love that I had a moment to think about how the assumed truth, the familiarity and normality embedded into the expectations around me at that time obscured their oppressiveness. For the first time I entertained the thought that maybe it wasn't solely my idiocy, my youth and my fault that, for one awful year, my mind became my enemy.
The PTM framework is inclusive and bold and impressive and – despite accusations to the contrary – is, in my view, infused with humility. And this is good. It is right that something so ambitious and righteous is also cautious; the authors know that this is just the beginning, they know it needs testing and critiquing and that it will take many people working together to move it forward, to make it work. Like a road map the PTM framework offers us a whole lot of routes but not necessarily the destination. We're going to have to work out where it takes us and what on earth that looks like.
So, my worry is that we could take a wrong turn. The PTM framework makes it perilously easy to divide the world into those wedded to diagnosis (traditional, unthinking, oppressive) and those who are anti diagnosis (radical, critical, enlightened, empowering). Or – the other split – those who use diagnostic categories (evidence based, rigorous, scientific) and those are opposed to them (dangerous, emotional, polemical). There is the danger of alienation, division and of little or no progress being made to actually help those who don't have a voice. There is, I fear, the danger that the the PTM framework could be used to further entrench individuals who should be focussed on creating safe cultures and harmonising care.
I know what I'm talking about…I have been that person. I have been infuriated by the attitudes of my colleagues and I've been the one bitching to others (who share similar views to mine) about the ignorance and callousness around me. I've viewed the practices around me through a lens of righteous indignation believing that I understand, I know better. I have believed that I'm on the side of compassion whilst my dim witted colleagues are, clearly, the man. I've been the person who is speechless with outrage at the decisions made by others. Incandescent and inarticulate with fury….I have been comfortable in my indignation doing nothing positive to bring this shit together.
I'm not stupid. But I have been stupid. Plenty of times.
And the PTM framework is far from stupid but I worry that it may be used in a dumb way to justify opposing views and adversarial positions doing nothing to further debate and put a little compassion out there into the universe.
Which brings me to what I think might be a massive opportunity sat right there in its pages….
The PTM framework, rightly in my opinion, positions the behaviour normally associated with a psychiatric classification as understandable threat based responses. It goes further and argues that these behaviours constitute responses to threat which stem from restricted access to conventional or approved forms of power.
So what if we use the PTM framework to understand the more toxic forms of control and abusive power that organisations and workers use as responses to threat (or social defences)? What if the ideological power that infuses coercive care is also understood as organisationally sanctioned responses to fear? How would it be if we understood all those problematic, unthinking, often damaging practices as understandable reactions to aversive emotional events associated with…yes I know how this sounds…with disempowerment, with shame and with anxiety.
I am arguing that workers and, more importantly, organisations are traumatised. I am arguing that these professionals and institutions respond coercively because they often don't know what to do, don't know how to help. I'm arguing that they are frightened by what they see and hear and read. They are angry at those who have hurt the people in front of them and ashamed by the impossibility of the task, by their inability to take away the pain.
While we fail to acknowledge our own (as workers) emotional responses to the work, we will continue to oppress, to denigrate, blame and even abuse those who confront us with our inadequacies or make us feel afraid. Whatever words we use, whatever frameworks we have will be weaponised. And while we fail to acknowledge our own emotional responses to the work it will remain easy to accuse our colleagues of stupidity, to fail to understand their struggle and to work supportively, restoratively to create compassionate, therapeutic cultures.
How would it be if we used the PTM framework to look at ourselves first? To notice our own threat responses and the practices which have emerged as a consequence. How about we work collaboratively with service users to examine what we do and find out which practices failed to serve the primary task of alleviating their distress. How about we then ask ourselves why?
May	Uncategorized	1 Comment January 24, 2018 March 28, 2018 4 Minutes


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iReach Archive
Custom Computer Specialists Named to CRN's 2018 Solution Provider 500 List for the Tenth Straight Year!
Custom Computer Specialists announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Custom Computer Specialists to its 2018 Solution Provider 500 list for the tenth year in a row.
(PRWEB) June 08, 2018
Custom Computer Specialists announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Custom Computer Specialists to its 2018 Solution Provider 500 list for the tenth straight year. The Solution Provider 500 is CRN's annual ranking of the largest technology integrators, solution providers and IT consultants in North America by revenue.
The Solution Provider 500 is CRN's predominant channel partner award list, serving as the industry standard for recognition of the most successful solution provider companies in the channel since 1995. The complete list will be published on CRN.com, making it readily available to vendors seeking out top solution providers to partner with.
CRN has also released its 2018 Solution Provider 500: Newcomers list, recognizing 26 companies making their debut in the Solution Provider 500 ranking this year.
In addition to placing on CRN's 2018 Solution Provider 500 List, Custom was also named to CRN's 2018 TechElite 150 list and Managed Service Provider 500 list in the Elite 150 category.
"We are honored to once again rank among the elite companies on CRN's 2018 Solution Provider 500 list and I am especially proud that we have achieved this for ten straight years," said Gregory Galdi, President and founder of Custom. "This recognition is due in no small part to the hard work put forth by our employees and our clients as they continually trust us as a leader in technology."
"CRN's Solution Provider 500 list spotlights the North American IT channel partner organizations that have earned the highest revenue over the past year, providing a valuable resource to vendors looking for top solution providers to partner with," said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. "The companies on this year's list represent an incredible, combined revenue of $320 billion, a sum that attests to their success in staying ahead of rapidly changing market demands. We extend our sincerest congratulations to each of these top-performing solution providers and look forward to their future pursuits and successes."
The complete 2018 Solution Provider 500 list will be available online at http://www.crn.com/sp500 and a sample from the list will be featured in the June issue of CRN Magazine.
Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook
About Custom Computer Specialists
Founded in 1979, Custom Computer Specialists is a leading technology solution provider to public and private sector clients throughout the Northeast. Custom's unique combination of privately-owned flexibility and extensive IT capability empowers it to create client-centric solutions that deliver expected results.
The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. http://www.thechannelco.com
Kim Sparks
ksparks(at)thechannelco.com
MaryAnn Benzola
CUSTOM COMPUTER SPECIALISTS, INC.


The average pay for a Technician Nuclear Medicine is $67,086 a year and $32 an hour in Idaho, United States. The average salary range for a Technician Nuclear Medicine is between $47,842 and $82,921. This compensation analysis is based on salary survey data collected directly from employers and anonymous employees in Idaho, United States.


We have a picnic table. When we moved into our home here in East Georgia, my in-laws purchased it for us, my husband stained it while our boys were running around him. Its not painted turquoise. And its in the backyard.
Now, before you hate, hear me out.
Hospitality is part of my heart. Not just having people over to eat good food, but more to get to know their hearts, shower them with grace, and help them to feel welcome and loved.
I've always had a heart for hospitality because that is what I was shown from others while growing up and in college. Whether we had a feast or just nuts and water sitting on a barstool in the kitchen…hospitality was a sense of belonging.
So, when I went through a period of my adult life when I felt like I didn't belong at all, I craved to be able to show hospitality to others, to give to others what I was missing. And it has stuck with. And I'm glad.
Kristin Schell, who wrote the Turquoise Table, is a blogger and a cook, and a wife and a mom, and a Texan. This book reads like her blog posts, with cute pictures, good recipes, and winsome conversation style writing. She tells the story of how the Turquoise Table phenomenon came to be and the relationships that have been formed over the table in her own yard.
If you are looking for a pretty book with a good message, and an easy read, then pick this up. The hospitality conversation has so many facets to it. This is just one. And don't feel bad if you don't have a Turquoise Table. Don't feel bad if you don't have a front yard (she tells of some stories in the book of how people have taken the idea and made it to fit their lifestyle). Don't feel bad if you never sit out in your front yard.
One of my greatest desires is to sit down to meaningful conversation with good food. And I can do this on our back deck, at a coffee shop, or at our newly chalk-painted table.
Kristin's heart is hospitality. Show welcomeness to everyone – no matter where you do it. And if you need a cute Turquoise Table, go get one!


This section consists of photographs of students and/or events taking place at Bretton.
All images, which have been donated by alumni, are arranged in appropriate year groups.
This introductory page contains a small selection of photographs from the 1950s to 1970s.
1962 – Nicholas Wharton; Peter Walls (rear right); Michael Talbot.


"By the Light of the Fire "
1. Read the seven Questions.
2. Go to the Numbered Map Location for each question.
3. Find the Answers to the questions.
4. Then, you will get free clues to find the hidden treasure!
Write your answers in the boxes below. Also write the clue. The final answer will show up when you have all clues.
5. If you want, print this page and use it as your answer form.
1. At the site of the great statue of Zeus, a great annual event occurred in which all war stopped and people actually have fun. Name the location of the great statue of Zeus and the name of the event. The first letter of both will be your first clue.
2. Babylon was the home of the Hanging Gardens. There are no Babylonian records to describe the gardens, but a famous general/king from Greece conquered the Babylonians and went back to Greece telling of the wonderful gardens he and his men saw. Name the great Greek General/King .
The first letter of his name is your second clue.
3. The only surviving monument in the list of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Usually people think all the pyramids were part of the title "One of the Seven Wonders," but actually only one of the pyramids is the wonder. Name which pyramid is the one listed, and the pharoah it was named after. The first letter of the pyramid's name will be clue 3.
4. The Colossus of Rhodes was a huge sculpture located over the entrance to the Rhodes bay. Strangely it only stood some 56 years after its construction. Tell what event caused it to tumble and be destroyed. The first letter of the event will be your 4th clue.
5. Alexandria's lighthouse is known to be the only one of the "Seven Wonders" that was built for a practical reason: to help prevent shipwrecks. Sadly the old lighthouse stood through several earthquakes, but in 1340, it was decided it could be used for another purpose. What did the lighthouse stones get turned into? The first letter of your answer will give you the 5th clue.
6. The Temple of Artemis was huge, and very popular in its time for tourism, pagan religious ceremonies and even a marketplace. A man would try to become famous by burning the great temple. He succeeded, but on the same night as the burning of the temple, a great general/future king was born. It was said by pagan believers that "the goddess was too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to send help to her threatened temple." The temple now only appears in stones and ruins. Name the man who burned one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World." The first letter of his name will give you your 6th clue.
7. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassu, was built to do something very special for a not-so-famous king from a not-so-important kingdom in present Turkey. Name the king that the Mausoleum was built for. The first letter of his name will be your 7th clue.
Read and Learn more about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Site and Many other Ancient Topics Here.


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Equine holidays
Shooting holidays
Holiday prices
PDF Booking Form
Boundary farm is set in 170 acres of quarry-laden fields and woodland in Suffolk, just north of Ipswich on the A1120 (also known as the Tourist Route). All the fields remain as grass with plenty of hedges for cover. Shooting is available all year round with air rifles, plus additional opportunities with FAC air rifles when accompanied by the owner or his agent. You will need suitable insurance available from BASC or a similar organisation. Strictly No Insurance No Shooting.
The accommodation consists of two 16th Century buildings known as Horseman's House and The Harness Rooms. The renovation is to the highest standard and combines the best of modern comfort with the charm of original wooden beams and brickwork.
Horseman's House sits directly above the stables on two levels and offers one double bedroom, plus two twin bedrooms. The bathroom has a bath with shower plus basin and toilet. The kitchen is fully equipped with a full hob and oven, microwave, toaster, kettle, fridge, dishwasher and washing machine.
The living/dining room offers comfortable seating as you relax around and either watch the large Freeview flat Screen TV or admire the views out the window. You also have use of the large seating area in the garden.
The Harness Rooms is a self-contained apartment next to Horseman's House and has a double bedroom. The bathroom has a bath with shower, plus basin and toilet. The kitchen is fully equipped with a full hob and oven, microwave, toaster and kettle.
The living/dining room offers cosy seating and a Freeview flat screen TV and guests have use of a private patio with a seating area and large barbecue.
Both apartments come with an approved gun safe for your rifles. Bedding and towels are provided
You are free to roam over a number of separate fields and woodland, which are home to an abundance of quarry, especially rabbits. Dotted around the property are several horse jumps offering extra cover and sniping positions. You could spend a week here and not need to shoot in the same field twice.
There are a number of extra shooting opportunities offered, depending on season, such as driven shoots, roost shooting, rough shooting, the lamping of rabbits and foxes, and clay pigeon shooting.
These may not always take place on the farm, but on one of our many other permissions. Clay shooting takes place at the nearby High Lodge Shooting Ground. Please talk to us about what is available and the cost at the time of booking.
BUNNY BONUS
It was Valentine's Day. So I decided I wanted a night out with the one I love - my .22LR Sako Finnfire. But where to take her on our "special" evening? Sometimes you have to work for an opportunity, sometimes an opportunity comes out of the blue. And that's what happened when I took a call from a friend who told me all about Boundary Farm.
Despite its name, the fields at Boundary Farm haven't been ploughed. Instead, the land is a mix of hedgerow-bordered grassland and woodland. The land is owned by Darren Rogers, whose wife is a keen horsewoman. A fantastic series of jumps has been constructed to offer some exciting cross-country eventing. That's her passion. But Darren's passion is shooting, and Boundary Farm is very much a haven for anyone wanting to shoot pheasants, foxes, or in my case rabbits. I booked myself in for a day's orientation with Darren and his shooting partner Mark Whiting, after which the three of us would go out for a night's lamping. Rabbits were on the menu, and any foxes we might encounter would be an added bonus.
Darren and Mark are two men who love their land - and their sport - and they took great pains to show me round the fields where the rabbits were most likely to appear. Daytime hunting should be fairly easy to achieve, as there is plenty of cover to use when ambushing or stalking. But I was going shooting at night, and first of all that meant a ride around Darren's land on his 4x4. Apart from being great fun - being carted around Boundary Farm on a John Deere Gator is certainly exciting - the trip served three practical purposes.
First of all, it showed me the lie of the land, second, it gave me a good idea of where rabbits were likely to appear and third, it gave me most important lesson of all, where safe shots could be taken with a good backstop. In the end I needn't have worried, because that night Darren drove me to spots he knew to be safe and Mark pointed out the best shots to take, but for my own confidence and peace of mind I was pleased they'd taken me on the daytime recce. Safety always has to come first.
Another thing that was on my mind was how much quarry we'd come across that night. As it happened, rabbits were in abundance, despite my shooting trip being taken in the middle of February. This says a lot about the health of the land in general and Darren's rabbit population in particular.
Because Boundary Farm has been turned over to shooting and cross-country eventing rather than farming, rabbits are less of a pest for Darren than they are for some landowners. As such, Darren's rabbits are allowed to live in more or less happy co-existence with Darren and his family. This is great news for any shooters planning on paying a visit, because it means there will be plenty of quarry.
"You could sit in that hedgerow and shoot rabbits all day long," Darren told me during our familiarisation trip. He was right, too, because the tour round the fields and woods showed plenty of evidence of the rabbits' presence, such as their numerous burrows, droppings and some tree damage. This is one reason why Darren wants his guests to help keep their number down, without annihilating the whole lot.
Foxes are less well liked by either Darren or Mark. The two men have set up a number of infrared video cameras around the pheasant feeders. These have proved invaluable in telling the pair which feeders to target when going out lamping for foxes or setting up a daytime ambush.
The pair showed me a series of videos they'd recorded depicting various nocturnal visits by some opportunistic foxes. "That's old Bent Tail," Mark told me, while pointing out a fox with a distinctive kink in its brush. "He's dead," he added with a smile. Another fox appeared on a different video. "He's dead as well," Mark was quick to point out. A third video and a third fox? Yep, that one's now dead too. In fact Darren and Mark seem to be so successful at ridding the world of foxes, I wondered if I'd even see a fox that night, let alone take a shot at one. Maybe I'd just stick to rabbits and give the foxes a miss.
I was really looking forward to going lamping for rabbits. But when Darren and Mark heard I'd brought my Sako 75 .222 as well as my .22 rimfire, they advised me to bring it with me that night too, "just in case". My fox shooting career has been pretty unremarkable so far. I was happy to shoot rabbits that night, but wasn't really expecting to get a chance at a fox. Still, I thought it only polite to put the .222 in the vehicle just to humour them.
Night had fallen. Darren and Mark pulled up in the Gator and I climbed aboard. The shooter sits on a bench behind the cab, leaning on a purpose-built wooden shooting platform. Mark has added his own touch in the shape of two high-tech shooting bags. The bags - legs cut from an old pair of jeans, filled with grain and tied at both ends - make the perfect rest for your rifle's forend and butt. It's a simple detail that works well in terms of stability. It also provides protection for your rifle's woodwork. I can appreciate the fact that a rifle is a tool for most pest controllers, and as such a few dings and dents are par for the course. My rifles, on the other hand, are treasured possessions, because I shoot for sport.
Mark flashed the lamp around the first field and revealed what I'd been hoping for - plenty of rabbits, their eyes reflecting in the filtered light. As long as the Gator crawled forward slowly, the rabbits remained remarkably unspooked. Mark then lit up the nearest rabbit. Darren, the driver, had done his bit. Mark, the lamp man, had done his. The next part was up to me, and I didn't let myself down, my first shot dropping the quarry with ease.
Having retrieved my prize, we decided to take a look at the next field, and sure enough there were plenty of rabbits feeding there as well. The closest one wasn't quite lined up properly, so Darren coaxed the Gator closer, until Mark was able to light up the perfect rabbit in front of a perfectly safe backstop. And so rabbit No 2 found its way into my game bag.
It would have been easy to harvest the same field for more rabbits, but with such a huge acreage, and with such a fantastically clear night, we thought we'd take a look further on. And that was the right decision, because Mark spotted something skulking along the hedgerow - and it definitely wasn't a rabbit.
The first thing to do was to ready my .222. Mark gave the field another sweep and found the fox had moved, this time lying belly down in the middle of the field. His lamping technique is excellent. Having spotted the quarry, positively identified it and ensured the shot I was about to take was safe, Mark raised the lamp so it wasn't shining directly at the fox.
There was just enough illumination to see the animal so I could get on aim. "Ready?" he asked me. "Ready," I responded, after which he settled the beam of light back onto the fox. Everything had been set up to give me the best chance of a kill, and that's what I did, nailing a large vixen.
I remembered the video clips of the foxes Darren and Mark had shown me earlier in the day on the laptop. "He's dead," had been Mark's catchphrase. Having nabbed that vixen I thought I could now add my own: "She's dead!"
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I'm Honored. No, Actually, I Can't Afford It.
by Judith H. Dobrzynski
http://www.judithdobrzynski.com/5441/im-honored-no-actually-i-cant-afford-it
When Terry J. Lundgren, the chief executive of Macy's, received Carnegie Hall's Medal of Excellence in April 2008, he beamed with pride. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg presented the award, which goes to a business leader who supports the arts. More than 1,000 guests, including Martha Stewart, Leonard Lauder and Tommy Hilfiger, cheered from their tables in the Waldorf-Astoria's Grand Ballroom. Tony Bennett sang his heart out. And Carnegie Hall raised $4.2 million.
But when it came time to select an honoree for this year's medal, Carnegie Hall's board and management were stumped. They canceled the benefit.
Why? Because an honoree is not chosen just to give a speech and be feted. He or she must be willing to make a big donation, usually from the company's coffers, and — more important — to invite friends and contacts to the gala who will buy $20,000 tables or single tickets for $2,000 to $3,000, bringing new support to the organization.
With banks, brokerage houses, real estate firms, hedge funds and even law firms struggling for survival, Carnegie Hall realized it had nowhere to turn as it contemplated a gala for this year.
"We simply didn't feel that last fall was the right time to be asking companies and business leaders to make large event commitments," said Susan J. Brady, director of development.
The time-honored system of black-tie charity tributes is breaking down, another casualty of the worst economic climate in decades. "This idea of getting on the phone and saying, 'Wouldn't you like to be honored at our gala?' — that's more difficult, more challenging now than in my 30 years of experience at this," said Will Maitland Weiss, executive director of the Arts and Business Council of New York, which encourages companies to support the arts.
With honorees in short supply, the entire fund-raising ecosystem on which many nonprofit institutions depend — especially those reliant on the financial sector — is endangered. Despite the high costs of mounting a benefit, most nonprofit groups — environmental, health, social service, cultural and educational — try them at one time or another. How much a group gleans from a gala varies dramatically: for some, it's a few percentage points of the annual budget; for others, one big party in a hotel ballroom pulls in the bulk of a year's expenses.
The most coveted honorees are men and women who can lean on the people they do business with. "The issue," says Jason H. Wright, a former senior vice president for public affairs at Merrill Lynch who sits on three nonprofit boards, "is 'Do you have a list?' When you're a corporate executive, you've got suppliers from accountants to printers to whatever to ask." When you're a chief executive, other chief executives reciprocate. And when you're an executive from a glamour business — Wall Street once qualified — your appeal goes further, to people who will pay for a chance to meet you.
(On April 27, the Film Society of Lincoln Center honored Tom Hanks; it was no coincidence that tables at up to $50,000 for 10 guests were bought by Sony, Imagine Entertainment and Creative Artists Agency, companies that depend in part on the star.)
IN the past, the call to be a gala honoree was coveted in the business world. It signified arrival, achievement, statesmanship. Some on-the-rise executives even hired public relations experts to find them honors.
But not this annus horribilis. Nonprofit endowments — like everyone's 401(k) — are down 25 to 30 percent, and fund-raisers are scrambling to fill budget gaps. Although it's too early to measure the decline in giving statistically (reports won't be out for a year or two), over all, Mr. Weiss said, "There's no question that this is the worst — worse than 1987, worse than 9/11."
"If you pick up the phone now and call somebody and say, 'We want to honor you this year,' the answer is 'Not now, not this year,' " he added. "They are saying, 'I am not going to give you a list of vendors and telling them I expect them to buy a $25,000 table.' "
Deborah Hays, deputy director for development at ArtsConnection, which provides arts education programs for schools, is one of those who decided not to make a call. ArtsConnection — which had recently honored Kerry K. Killinger, the onetime chief executive of the defunct Washington Mutual bank — dispensed with its traditional spring benefit in favor of small dinner parties.
"People don't seem to want to be high profile and corporations don't want to be high profile," Ms. Hays said.
Just as potential honorees don't want to pressure contacts to buy tables, neither do they want to be embarrassed if their "list" doesn't buy enough tickets.
Across New York — where the spring benefit season is in high gear — development officers, benefit organizers and nonprofit board members told similar stories; some said they had heard that many executives had declined the honors. But most refused to go on the record. "We don't want our honoree to know he was the third or fourth choice," one explained.
Some groups solved the problem by choosing someone from deep in their midst, already committed to the cause. Trouble is, they don't add a new constituency of supporters, and they often lack the requisite cachet.
Whereas, for example, Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City paid tribute to Leslie Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, in 2007, and Brian L. Roberts, the chief of Comcast, the cable TV company, in 2008, this year it honored Edward L. Gardner (pictured, below) on April 28. Mr. Gardner, a trustee for more than 44 years who has raised more than $20 million for the group, heads the Industrial Solvents Corporation.
The "Bigs NYC," as the groups term themselves, declined to comment on Mr. Gardner's glamour quotient. Instead, Michael A. Corriero, the executive director, sent a statement, reading in part: "Without Ed, Big Brothers Big Sisters would be nowhere near the organization it is today."
Instead of canceling a gala, some groups have gone ahead without an honoree. Others, particularly those in culture, can draw from the artistic, rather than the business, community, capitalizing on their glamour. The Martha Graham Dance Company, for example, will honor the musician Phoebe Snow, whose mother danced for the company, and Paul Szilard, the dance impresario, on May 14.
A few groups did manage to recruit honorees from Wall Street. Boys & Girls Clubs nabbed Kenneth Chenault, the chief executive of American Express, for its June 3 gala at the Waldorf, even though the company has scaled back its philanthropy budget for 2009. "This is a cause that resonates with many of our local merchant partners," said Joanna G. Lambert, an American Express spokeswoman. Equally important, Boys & Girls Clubs asked Mr. Chenault last year, before the worst occurred and before everyone adopted a bunker mentality.
Other groups smartly avoided the financial world. Last year, for example, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation was delighted when John M. Angelo, a hedge fund manager, volunteered to be the honoree at its benefit, which raised a $2 million.
This year, the Runyon foundation is honoring Richard T. Clark, the chief executive of the drug maker Merck, at the Rainbow Room on May 27. "When you do an event in New York City, the financial sector is key to success," said Lorraine W. Egan, the group's executive director. "But we were aware that getting someone from the financial sector would be difficult this year, so it was a natural thing for us to look to our other constituency."
Even when an honoree is listed on a gala invitation this year, it may not mean what it once meant. Some executives agreed to be honored but declined to provide a list of contacts, benefit organizers said. Some committed to buying one table, and that's it. At the Runyon foundation, "Merck made a three-year commitment to us to fund a program at a significant level, in lieu of reaching out to its vendors," Ms. Egan said. "We are completely comfortable with that."
THE honoree problem portends less money from benefits, which have already been retooled for the new era. Cost-cutting has forced switches from dinner events to cocktail receptions, from live music to D.J.s, from filet mignon to chicken. "We lowered our entry-level ticket price, from $750 last year to $500 this year," said LaRue Allen, executive director at Martha Graham. "Many of our supporters are like family, and we wanted to make it possible for our supporters to come."
If anything, nonprofit officials expect the honoree problem to worsen. "We're always thinking about next year, and next year will be as hard, if not harder, than this year," Ms. Egan said.
Even forward-planning carries risks, though. Just ask the New York Botanical Garden. Last summer, it chose John A. Thain, then head of Merrill Lynch, to receive its Founders Award at its annual May benefit dinner. Then came Mr. Thain's downfall: he sold Merrill, whose billions of dollars in losses kept worsening, to Bank of America; pressed for a masters-of-the-universe-size bonus even after the injection of taxpayer money; was forced out of his job; and has been subpoenaed to testify about Merrill's bonuses by New York's attorney general. He's become a symbol of Wall Street hubris, with no vendor list, and hardly a draw.
So, along with Mr. Thain and his wife, says a botanical garden spokesman, the benefit this month will also honor Gregory Long, the institution's president.
Read my blog at www.artsjournal.com/realcleararts
Related Topics: Arts & Culture, Philanthropy receive the latest by email: subscribe to judith h. dobrzynski's free mailing list
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"Walking Dead's" Negan Has 'the Greatest Entrance Ever Written,' Says Andrew Lincoln
The season six finale of "The Walking Dead" is less than a week away, and fans are holding their breath as they await Jeffrey Dean Morgan's arrival as Negan. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Andrew Lincoln -- who plays Rick Grimes himself -- promised that Negan's big entrance will live up to expectations.
"I read the script and I went, 'This is the greatest entrance ever written,'" he shared.
"All of the guys were going, 'Aw, man. I wish I had gotten this guy!'" he added. "It's incredible. Although it's also kind of unbearable. Norman [Reedus] and I were like, 'Ugh, all the girls on set are gonna love him.'"
"Walking Dead's" Kirkman Promises "Unexpected," "Shocking" Negan Debut
"We've been talking about this guy for a long time," he explained. "It's probably the most important casting since Rick, really. Everybody needs a hero, but I think they probably need a really good baddie even more. Negan's incredibly charismatic. In this deranged society, there is a kind of logic to the way that he is running the place. He runs a tight ship, I'll tell you that much. I'm actually very impressed. I doff my cap to this man!"
Based on the Image Comics series of the same name and created by Robert Kirkman, "The Walking Dead" airs Sundays at 9 pm EST on AMC.
Tags: the walking dead (tv), amc, jeffrey dean morgan, negan, andrew lincoln
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