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Facebook's Future
In this episode of Motley Fool Money, host Chris Hill and analysts Ron Gross, Emily Flippen, and Jason Moser discuss some recent business news. Disney (NYSE: DIS) gears up for the launch of Disney+. Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) and TripAdvisor (NASDAQ: TRIP) get crushed in light of their complete lack of a competitive edge over Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) subsidiary Google. Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) might just be turning itself around. Gap (NYSE: GPS) is now looking for new leadership. Plus, updates from Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU), Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH), Zillow (NASDAQ: ZG) (NASDAQ: Z), Uber (NYSE: UBER), and more; and some stocks the analysts are watching this week.
In a bonus segment, Chris Hill interviews best-selling author David Kirkpatrick about Facebook's (NASDAQ: FB) uncomfortable intersection with politics, what it is doing and should be doing to fix its image problem, and where the company might go from here.
To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center. To get started investing, check out our quick-start guide to investing in stocks. A full transcript follows the video.
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This video was recorded on Nov. 8, 2019.
Chris Hill: We'll begin with The Walt Disney Company, although let's face it, as we close out the decade for the 2010s, this really has been the Bob Iger company. Fourth quarter profits for Disney came in higher than expected. This comes just a few days, Jason, before the much anticipated Disney+ video streaming service launches. I have to believe that unless you're a direct competitor, there is a lot to like in this report.
Jason Moser: There is a lot to like. Remember, it wasn't all that long ago we were talking about Disney's reliance on ESPN, and how that was a bit of a risk given the change in the media space and competition out there. I think going through this release, going through this call, to me, they've put any of those concerns to rest at this point. And when you look at the amount of content that they're going to be bringing into your living room over the course of the next decade, the amount of content that Disney is going to control is astounding.
Ron Gross: My living room, too?
Moser: Your living room, too. I defy you to tell me this isn't a great value, Ron. And you're our value guy.
Gross: Yeah, I am.
Moser: The numbers itself, we talk often about how Disney makes its money so many different ways. This quarter was no exception. The studio segment, operating profit was up 79% thanks to strong performance from Lion King, Toy Story 4, much to Mac's chagrin. I know he wasn't a big fan of Toy Story 4. Also Aladdin. Parks, operating profit up 17%. But like you said, this really is all about the rollout of Disney+, how they're going to integrate that. They've got a deal with Verizon that's going to open them up to 20 million households as well. If you're a Verizon FiOS subscriber, you'll get a year of that Disney+ on the house. There are a lot of reasons to be excited. Hulu was a big point of the call. Go back a couple of quarters, you didn't hear Hulu all that often. Now, they're mentioning Hulu more than they're mentioning ESPN. You see the direction they're going.
Emily Flippen: Yeah, but here's the thing. They're not making a ton of money off of Disney+, at least not yet. And there's so much expectation baked into Disney's stock price, where it is today, about the success of Disney+. Now, do I think Disney+ is going to succeed? Yes, of course. And it's really going to be precipitated on how much they're able to increase that price as time goes on, and how sticky those customers end up being. So, it's great. They're running out with Disney+ now. The whole intention is to get as many people into that service as they can initially, and then slowly raise the price over time to the point where it is then a huge driver of profit for them. It's not there yet.
Gross: So are you, Emily Flippen, saying Disney is overvalued here?
Flippen: [laughs] I am not saying it's overvalued! I am simply saying that there are expectations there. And the expectation is that they do have some pricing power with Disney+.
Moser: I think she's spot on there. Chris, we had talked a lot leading up to this, probably the biggest risk is the execution risk, right? I mean, they roll this platform out, and if the infrastructure doesn't work, if this BAMTech acquisition doesn't prove to be as prescient as we thought it would be, I mean, that's going to be a big problem. But they have definitely tested this thing ad nauseum to try to make sure there's not going to be any hiccups. And to me, that really does remain the biggest risk, but it does sound like they're addressing it.
Hill: It is worth remembering, to your point, that we are just a few weeks away from 2020, and the original launch for this streaming service was over a year and a half ago.
Moser: That is true. That is true. But, you know, all good things do take some time. And to that point, they really led up to the very last minute here in just getting on the Amazon Fire platform. And that matters, because, I mean, Amazon Fire is one of the leading streaming services out there.
Hill: Speaking of video streaming, real quick, Jason, Roku, that stock has had a great year. It had a bad week. Down 17%. Third quarter losses really overshadowed the revenue growth.
Moser: Yeah, I mean, when you look at the actual streaming platform space, we're talking about Amazon Fire, Roku is the other big player in that space. And so I think the market was reacting to a little bit of a pullback on EBITDA guidance for the quarter. Understandable, but Roku is making a lot of investments, and they are pivoting away from being the device maker and seller and more to becoming the platform. That page out of the book of Bezos, right? Make more money from us using the device as opposed to buying the device. They are executing. There's a big market out there, particularly internationally, when you look at that ad-supported video-on-demand market. It's just going to take some time. I think the stock price, it looks a little bit more attractive today, perhaps, than it did at the beginning of the week, and that's alright.
Hill: Shares of Zillow up more than 10% on Friday after the company's loss in the third quarter was smaller than expected. Emily, management says Zillow Offers, which is their home-flipping business, is going to generate $1 billion in revenue. Are you buying?
Flippen: I have not been a huge fan of Zillow's business model transition. That's not to say that I don't think the real estate industry is ripe for disruption. I think there is. But there are a lot of players that are ahead of Zillow. Zillow's Offers business, which is part of their home segment, is really what the entire company is revolving around at this point. They buy homes on the market, fix them up if needed, then resell them for a profit. The problem is, there is no profit yet. It's important to note that while there was significant revenue growth -- 117% year over year, largely driven by this home segment -- that raise of guidance for, I think, $1.25 billion in revenue from the home segment, that's gross. What they're doing is, they're recognizing gross revenue. That's where they're recognizing the entire selling price of that home as their own revenue, and then taking out the cost of selling it, before they get to the profit. It does make that number look a little artificially big. But, you get a better idea about the really low margins that exist on this business.
Gross: As was my question -- any guidance on margins, have they offered?
Flippen: They're not profitable yet, but they are saying that they want to be profitable in the home segment without including ancillary revenues. It's expected to be within the next couple of years. It's not quite sure. It's such a growing industry that they really don't know. But the idea is, "Look, we don't have to do your mortgage to be profitable on that transaction. We want to be profitable on the home itself." They definitely seem like they're one step closer to that goal today than they were yesterday, at least for investors. I'm not sure if I'm really sold. There are, like I said, so many businesses in this space. But I do think it's an interesting business. It's just, admittedly, a much, much lower margin one than the one they were in before.
Hill: It sounds like there are a lot of "ifs" in there.
Moser: There are a lot of ifs. I mean, we were talking about Wayfair last week, I think it was, about, hey, when are they going to be profitable? Zillow is another company. They've just strung this story out for so long. I just want to know when they're going to be profitable.
Gross: I'm not buying it.
Hill: From housing to video games. Activision Blizzard's third quarter results were fueled by strong sales of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. Take-Two Interactive's second quarter revenue came in 74% higher than a year ago. You tell me, Ron, what stood out to you?
Gross: There's similar stories here with better-than-expected results, but weak guidance for the coming holiday quarter, which was a little troubling to me. The other main difference here is, Take-Two actually posted really impressive growth in revenue and earnings, while Activision, which is in the middle of what they're calling a transition year, had declining revenues and earnings. So, a pretty big difference there. Both companies dealing with this tough competition from online free-to-play games à la Fortnite and games like that, Apex Legends. So it is a tough environment for these guys right now. I don't like to see that guidance for the coming quarter.
Hill: Any chance they're sandbagging just a little bit going into the holiday quarter? They would not be the first companies to do that.
Gross: Yeah, I think it's appropriate to be conservative here. If you want to go as far as sandbagging, sure. I think some appropriate conservatism makes sense.
Hill: Match Group posted solid growth in the third quarter, thanks in part to Tinder, but guidance for the fourth quarter was lower than Wall Street was hoping for, and shares of Match Group sold off more than 10% Wednesday morning. Although, Emily, the stock really recovered most of those losses later in the week.
Flippen: Which, it really should have. That immediate sell-off was a little bit ridiculous, because if you actually look at their reports, virtually all of their numbers were up. I mean, the most important ones, which is engagement on their platforms, really exceptional results. I mean, Tinder, obviously being Match Group's most well-known and popular platform. They're saying that people are on average using their app more than five times a week. That number's gone up over the years. They're aggressively expanding into new markets like Japan and India, where they're seeing lots of success with OK Cupid. So there's lots of areas for them to continue to grow. They had an impressive 38% year over year growth rate in average subscribers. That's on top of a 9% year over year increase in average revenue per subscriber. So, lots of great numbers here. A little bit light on guidance, but not nearly justifying a 10% sell-off.
Hill: Boy, there's nothing like the energy of youth, is there? The idea of using a dating app five times a week just sounds exhausting.
Flippen: It's funny, if you go through the call, you'll notice that management commented on the fact that among young users, more than 50% say they feel lonely. They see that as an opportunity. I saw it as a little bit depressing.
Moser: Kind of makes you wonder why IAC wants to spin this thing off, right? IAC has a big stake in Match, and I'll tell you what, they have proven time and time again to be so resilient. I mean, I think, you look at that competitive space, the way that Etsy stood up to Amazon, I think Match stood up to Facebook the same way. Really, it's a compelling business.
Hill: The Gap is looking for a new CEO. Art Peck is stepping down after four years and a half in the corner office. During that time, Gap's stock has gone from $42 to Friday's price of lower than $17 a share. Ron, they've got an interim CEO, but the main job is open if you're looking for one.
Gross: Son of the former founder is back in on an interim basis. I'm actually surprised it took this long for Peck to leave. I thought maybe when they announced the spin-off of Old Navy, they would take that opportunity to put new folks in place. But better late than never. I think this certainly makes sense. The problem is, is that Gap continues to deteriorate. And the bigger problem is that Old Navy's not doing that well, with comp sales down 4% this quarter. That spin-off doesn't look as attractive as maybe it did a few months ago or a few quarters ago. So far, we haven't heard anything related to the fact that that spin-off is going to be put on hold. Right now, I think it's plowing ahead. However, they've got to get the merchandising right there. They've got to get merchandising right in all their stores, whether it's Banana Republic or Gap, Gap being pretty much the worst of them, with comp sales down 7%. They had to lower guidance. This is not going well. It's time for some significant changes at the top. I'm glad to see they're making them.
Hill: Do they also have inventory problems as well? I think of The Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, I think of them as, maybe not the most fashionable brands, but certainly reliable.
Gross: If you go into any of those stores, you'll typically see 40% off the whole store. That's an indication that they have inventory problems and they need to be promotional to clear it out.
Hill: Last thing before we move on. 2019 is going to be a record year in terms of CEOs leaving. Is it just harder to be a public company CEO in the age of social media, among other things?
Gross: I think investors have less patience, and it gets harder for CEOs to take the longer view. There's more pressure. Activist investors have stepped in in a number of these cases and said there has to be a change at the top, so companies are following through there. So, I do think it's more difficult. In the old days, you could probably stick around for 10 or 20 years with a board that's entrenched and not really putting too much pressure on you.
Hill: Shows like ours probably don't help.
Rough week for travel stocks. Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), the parent company of Priceline, TripAdvisor and Expedia all issuing third quarter reports. All three stocks falling this week. Though, to be fair, Jason, Booking Holdings down around 8%. You look at Expedia, TripAdvisor, those things down to the tune of 30%.
Moser: Six little letters, guys. Six little letters did it all. G-O-O-G-L-E. Man, I tell you, Google is really causing these travel companies to take a step back and try to figure out how to deal with their dominance in search, because that is how so much of that traffic gets to where they want to go. TripAdvisor, I mean, they're just waving the white flag. That's the point of the $3.50 special dividend. That's the point of the share repurchases, reassessing the business. I think the best thing they can do at this point is shop that business around, sell it, and do right by shareholders in some capacity.
Expedia, bigger business. They've already made that leap into being an OTA. Still difficult for them to combat Google and their dominance in search.
Booking.com is the winner of the three. Certainly, the biggest network. And I think we've seen time and time again, they continue to invest in the service, in the app, in the website, making sure that people go back to booking.com or its properties, as opposed to going to Google and searching for stuff. So they're a little bit more resilient on that front.
But, yeah, I mean, when you look at it as a whole, it's a very competitive space. It's a huge market opportunity. But you're seeing very clearly Google and booking.com are turning into really the best ways to play it.
Flippen: Yeah. And it's not just Google, either. When you look at these businesses, a lot of their sales, the higher-margin sales are actually hotels and vacations, these sorts of things. And more and more hotels are trying to get people to book on their own website. So there's just less incentive for customers, people like you or I, to actually go and use one of their platforms to book vs. using Google or using just their own platforms.
Hill: Jason, I know that TripAdvisor is a smaller company than it used to be, but it's still $4.5 billion. Who do you think is going to buy TripAdvisor at this price? Or, do you think that maybe an Alphabet looks at them and thinks, "Well, if they get a little bit smaller, maybe we'll put down some money"?
Moser: I mean, given the content, booking.com and Facebook are always companies that seem like they could be good fits. But they've introduced this joint venture partnership with trip.com in China to grow the presence out there. I think that could be a company under the radar, probably off lot of people's radars there, they could think, "Hey we roll this thing in for cheap and get a lot of free content and then build out this additional side of the business that focuses more on the side of the world."
Hill: Should investors be worried that all this is happening in a time when the economy in the United States is doing relatively well?
Moser: Oh, absolutely! Yeah. I mean, you would hope these businesses, particularly these businesses that are profitable and make so much cash, you'd want to see them performing well. But the market's telling us something.
Hill: Uber lost $1 billion in the third quarter. Shares down more than 10% this week, Emily.
Flippen: Yeah, there's a lot wrong with the Uber story. Honestly, you can get that anywhere. There's so many problems -- Really! Google search Uber and you'll see the problems that are associated with this company. [laughs] I mean, not only are there just fundamental ways that the company, in terms of their margin profile and how they make money, but there's lawsuits now against how they pay their drivers, there are questionable legal practices. Lots of concerns here. And honestly, like I said, you can get that anywhere. So I'm going to give you the bull case for Uber, because I feel like there's so much pessimism out there that people forget just how ubiquitous Uber truly is. While I'm not saying to buy it, all of those are very legitimate concerns, nonetheless burning $1 billion last quarter, I think Uber actually has a decent amount of pricing power that's going largely unrecognized by the market right now. That's not just associated with the Uber name and saying that you'll "grab an Uber," but it actually goes down to the fact that this is essentially an oligopoly, at least in the United States. As we see with most oligopolies, it comes down to some sort of price fixing, and it's going to result in higher prices for people who use ride-shares. We've already seen Uber stop rider incentives. They're increasing the prices. What's your alternative? We've all become so entrenched in the ride-sharing culture that we'll pay the higher prices. I think it's just a matter of time for Uber before they work out the profitability picture. But I don't think they're just down and out like people may have you think.
Gross: My question is, do higher prices accrue to the driver, which is a major problem, of drivers being underpaid? Or, does it actually flow through to the company and result in increased profitability?
Flippen: What you'll notice is that Uber, different to the way that Zillow reports, they report net. Their revenue is reported after they pay their drivers. And it does, in some places, accrue to the driver. Naturally, Uber is trying to prevent that as much as possible. But, we'll see. Over this quarter, their revenues were up 30%. Obviously, some of that is coming down to their own revenues, which is reported in that.
Hill: Shares of Papa John's up 8% this week on a surprising third quarter report. Ron, for the first time in a while for Papa John's, I mean surprising in a good way.
Gross: Perhaps a turnaround has begun here. Certainly, the stock price this year would indicate it, up 55% this year. Comparable sales in North America turned positive for the first time in nearly two years. Up 1%, not huge, but still up. International comp sales up 1.6%. Adjusted earnings up 10%. Looking pretty good here. New CEO, Rob Lynch, made several top-level changes. Five executives, including a new CFO, will be coming on board. They put in a very impressive guy named Max Wetzel as chief commercial and marketing officer. You've got my buddies over at Starboard Value with a $200 million investment, now have the chairman role as well as the director role on the board there. They're looking at the menu, the recipe, they're baking that garlic sauce into the crust now, which I'm not a fan of, but more power to all those who are. This could be an interesting one for the next few years.
Moser: Is that Max Wetzel of Wetzel's Pretzels?
Gross: I don't think it is. He's formerly from PPG.
Moser: I just want to go on record here, I mean, I think I said midway through the year here, right when Shaq came on board, I was calling the bottom there. I said it's nothing but blues skies for Papa John's, I'm liking what I'm seeing.
Hill: Never bet against Shaquille O'Neal.
Hill: David Kirkpatrick has spent his career covering technology. In 2010, he wrote The New York Times best-seller The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World. Earlier this week, I caught up with David to discuss the latest headlines involving Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Let me start with the political ads. As I'm sure you've seen, Jack Dorsey coming out recently and saying, "We're not doing this anymore. It's just not worth it to us." Mark Zuckerberg on the one hand said, "Yeah, political ads are going to make up less than 0.5% of our revenue in 2020, but we're still doing it." And I guess my first question is, do you think he's going to change his mind?
David Kirkpatrick: I actually doubt that he's going to change his mind. I have my reasons for that. I think if he was going to do it, he would have done it already, because he's been under such extraordinary pressure from so many corners, and he's doubling down, really. He's not yielding at all.
Hill: Why do you think that is?
Kirkpatrick: Well, I have a cynical explanation. He says it's because he believes in freedom of speech. But, as many commentators have pointed out, there's a difference between freedom of speech and, as we say, freedom of reach. When you're advertising on Facebook, you're essentially buying reach. It isn't the same as having the right to speak when you're having the right to promote what you say. I think, in the opinion of pretty much everyone that I can see, except for a number of Republican Party supporters and commentators -- and that's an important distinction -- people are pressuring Zuckerberg to change this policy. But it is significant, it is widely believed that if he were to change his policy, it would be a negative for Donald Trump's political campaign, for the President's reelection, and probably for conservatives generally. So, here's my cynical theory, unfortunately. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid the evidence suggests that it's probably true: Facebook doesn't want to offend the ruling power. If they were to change their policy now, it would be perceived by the White House in particular -- and we know you don't want to get on the wrong side of that guy -- as a fundamentally hostile act. And, at a time when even many Republicans -- notably John Hawley and others, Senator from Missouri -- and some of the people in some federal regulatory agencies are making noises about increased regulation of social media, Facebook, internet giants, I think the calculation is, if you get the White House mad at you right now, you are in business jeopardy, at least in jeopardy for much harsher regulatory treatment, possibly break-up. And I'm afraid that that is probably the way they're thinking.
Hill: I want to come back to the regulatory stuff in a moment. But let me ask you about Sheryl Sandberg. She's been credited with a lot of Facebook's commercial success. In your book, you wrote about her ability to really get Facebook focused on its ad business. To what extent, if any, do you think Sheryl Sandberg deserves blame for the current state of Facebook?
Kirkpatrick: Well, it's a very tough question. Who's really responsible for any one thing inside that black box is hard to say. I mean, she is in charge of ads. So, presumably... but, then again, Mark is ultimately in charge of everything. And Cheryl works for Mark. So I think we can reasonably assume that whatever Cheryl does is what Mark wants Cheryl to do. And Cheryl is enormously effective. I mean, we've got to remember, she essentially built the best business that anybody's ever built for per dollar of revenue in terms of the profits per dollar revenue. You've never seen a more profitable scale business machine than Facebook. Sheryl Sandberg built that entirely from whole cloth. She is a master businessperson. Mark's very grateful to her for that. Really, a lot of his wealth is attributable to that. But I honestly think the buck stops at Mark Zuckerberg on every matter at Facebook, literally and figuratively.
Hill: One business initiative of Facebook's that's got a lot of attention this year is Libra, the cryptocurrency. I think it's fair to say that Libra has hit some snags with Visa and MasterCard, among others, saying they're not going to be part of this initiative. What is the state of Libra right now? If I was at a sports book in Vegas, should I be betting on Libra to even happen?
Kirkpatrick: No. I would be very surprised if Libra happens at all in any near term. Maybe a redesigned, much different, less ambitious version could come about over some very lengthy period of time. Mark Zuckerberg has said he's not going to launch it anywhere in the world unless he gets the blessing of U.S. regulators, which really surprised me when he said that. Up to that point, he had made it sound like he wouldn't launch it here or in Europe unless he got the support of regulators in those geographies. Some of us were assuming he would launch it in a place like Vietnam or some other relatively remote country, where it might be a better received, and might be more needed -- I actually think Libra is a good idea, by the way, in many ways. Not so much because it's a cryptocurrency. I think that's the mechanism. But, in order to have a global transaction tool that can increase financial inclusion, and particularly serve the remittances market globally, that is a really desperately needy marketplace. Many, many immigrants -- and there's hundreds of millions of them -- are sending money around all the time, and they pay ridiculous, usurious fees. And I do believe Facebook wants to help that. That's one of the things about Libra that I really like. But I think they've managed and launched it very clumsily.
Going back to, quickly, the issue of Sheryl Sandberg, my understanding is that she opposed the announcement of Libra at the time it was announced, believing that Facebook's reputation was not good enough to embark on a fundamentally new initiative of this scale and controversial nature. But, she did not prevail. Mark and David Marcus instead prevailed. They wanted to do it regardless. There's a point in Sheryl Sandberg's favor, probably because she was right. It shouldn't have been done now, because it's getting universal opprobrium from the people that have to approve it. If it's really true that they're not going to launch it until they get U.S. regulatory approval, they're not going to launch it, because that ain't coming anytime soon.
Hill: We've talked a little bit about the scrutiny that Facebook is getting from the federal government. The same can be said of Amazon and Alphabet. Meanwhile, you've got Microsoft and Apple, the two biggest public companies. They appear to be in less danger than the other three in terms of onerous regulations, breakups, etc. When you look at the big tech companies in the United States, who do you think is in the greatest amount of danger in terms of being forced to break up? Is there one that you think is the most likely to pre-emptively, if not break itself up, at least spin off a major part?
Kirkpatrick: Well, Amazon is a company that wouldn't mind breaking itself up, is my own impression and belief. I think Amazon's AWS could be separated from the rest of the company relatively cleanly. There are those who believe, who are relatively well-informed, that that's what the company actually even intends to do at some point. It's been said that AWS might be worth as much as $500 billion on its own. That may be an exaggeration, because we don't know all the numbers there, but it's a hugely successful business in the center of the global economy, and more and more critical parts of companies and governments are depending on it. And it's a very fast-growing business. So, there's an easily separable part of a major tech platform. I think it could happen.
Who's most vulnerable to having imposed on them? Facebook. I mean, I personally oppose breakup as a tool. I don't think it's really rational. I think it's too punitive in its feeling and I don't really think it would solve the problems. It's not because I think, as they say at Facebook, they're going to be stronger if they can all stick together and use all the same software. If they really cared about that, which is their argument, that they're more powerful at combating misinformation, etc., when they have all their networks under one roof and they can collectively row the same boat -- if they really cared about that, they could be helping Twitter, too. They could be using the tools that they've developed for the entire industry, and making them, basically, public, to some substantial degree. I'm surprised, frankly, that Facebook has not volunteered to do that, because their public reputation is so negative, they need better PR, and that would be a great move. In any case, there certainly is an impulse -- and Elizabeth Warren talks about it, and even Donald Trump has made noises like he wouldn't totally oppose it... again, I think he does everything for political reasons, for his own personal benefit, the President. So, he might decide he wanted to hurt these people. That's when it might happen. I don't think it would happen, probably, under most other circumstances. And I don't think it would happen to Google. And I don't think it would happen to Apple.
Hill: It's funny, because you think back 20 years ago, when Microsoft, from a market cap standpoint, was a much smaller company than it is today, they were squarely in the crosshairs of the government. And even some of the words that are being used today to describe Mark Zuckerberg -- words like ruthless, stubborn -- they were being used 20 years ago to describe Bill Gates.
Kirkpatrick: Oh, yeah! I was there. I definitely was covering tech at the time, so I remember that.
Hill: Think about Gates now -- he's honored and revered for his philanthropic work. He's one of the most respected corporate leaders in the world. 25, 30 years, hence, do you think that's what the future holds in store for Mark Zuckerberg? At some point, he just hands the reins off to someone else, and he goes to start his foundation?
Kirkpatrick: There's not a whole lot of likelihood that he is going to hand the reins to somebody else in the near term. He just is too passionately joined at the hip with his creation, and it's too important to him to let somebody else do that. It's unilaterally his own decision. Nobody's going to make him leave. I really don't think he would want to leave in any near term. Do I think he could resuscitate his reputation by giving away a large percentage of his $75 billion in wealth intelligently? Yes, I think he could. I think, you can do penance for a lot of sins with enlightened philanthropy. But the thing that's more amazing to me about Gates and Microsoft is that the company itself is now perceived as the most responsible, conscientious, law-abiding, non-harmful of the tech giants. Nobody would even suggest breaking up Microsoft now, and their market cap is bigger than the others most days. So, yeah, I mean, I think that's amazing. Gates got out at a good time. He's so brilliant in terms of understanding social issues, and he's such a scientist in the way he studies things. He's really known what to focus in on. I don't know if Zuckerberg would do it that way. Frankly, I think Zuckerberg should spend his time remediating the problems and the harms at Facebook before he goes out and starts curing the problems of the world. Remedies are generally short, and if he started doing some very high-profile stuff in some very important areas, he would be applauded for it.
Hill: Last question, and then I'll let you go. I know it's a busy time for you. What should we be watching with Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg in the next 12 months? What are you going to be focusing on to give you an indication of what the following three to five years are going to mean, either for the direction of the business or for Mark Zuckerberg's reputation?
Kirkpatrick: I think, the issue you started with, of political ads, the whole issue of political disinformation, which I discussed, the whole role that Facebook plays in what many would say is damaging democracy -- and not just in the United States, this is in pretty much every democratic country in the world, or formerly democratic countries. If you look at the rise of autocracy around the world, in Turkey, Hungary, Brazil, Philippines, to some extent India, Poland, Brexit, Trump in the United States, and some of the people that he's surrounded himself with, Facebook has played a big role in a lot of that, and the bad sides of some of that. The key thing I'm always looking at the company for is to see, what are they going to do to try to reduce the harm that they're causing to global democracy? I worry about it. I worry about it tremendously. I don't think they worry about it enough, although I do think they worry about it a lot more than they used to. I think they would like to come up with the answer that would allow them to get us to stop worrying about it, so that we would be impressed with them. The problem is, they don't want to sacrifice a lot of revenues in the process, and profits. Nothing much that they've done to remediate some of their social harms has really been salient in affecting their business results. I think the thing that would most impress me and everybody is if they took gestures for social benefit that actually were not to their commercial benefit. I don't rule out the possibility that it might happen. Luckily, with Zuckerberg as unilateral power-wielder, it could. He could wake up one morning and decide to do that. I think Wall Street pressures him very hard not to do that. You guys are the investing guys, and I'm sure your listeners and readers probably would prefer he not do that, also, to be honest. It's kind of a conundrum and I don't think the world has a clear path forward for these companies to be both profitable and not causing social harm.
Hill: It's always good talking to you, David! Thanks for making the time!
Kirkpatrick: Well, thank you!
Hill: David Kirkpatrick is also the founder of Techonomy Media. You can read more from him and his team by going to techonomy.com. You can also learn about the Techonomy 2019 conference that's happening later this month in Half Moon Bay, California.
Hill: Alright, let's get to the stocks on our radar. Ron Gross, you're up first. What are you looking at this week?
Gross: I'm looking at Boston Omaha, BOMN. Just a radar stock for me here, not a recommendation. Financial holding company with operations in advertising and insurance, sometimes compared to an early stage Berkshire Hathaway. Been public for only a couple of years. Market cap of $500 million, little bit over. Small-cap stock, for sure. Run by two guys who are co-president, co-chairman, co-CEO. It's a billboard company. 52% of the company's assets are billboards. They have 2,900 billboard structures, and they also have an insurance business that primarily writes surety policies. Reasonable valuation at only 1.6X book value.
Hill: Steve, question about Boston Omaha?
Steve Broido: Where does this name come from? How are Boston and Omaha connected in any way?
Gross: One of the CEOs lives in Boston, and the other one's in Omaha.
Hill: Jason Moser, what are you looking at?
Moser: Yeah, well, you know it probably as the PDF company. I am taking a look here at Adobe, ticker ADBE. Actually looking at it for my augmented reality service here. They have a new product called Adobe Arrow, which is allowing designers to design and share augmented reality experiences. So a neat part of the business that's starting to grow out. But you've already got this really well-established subscription business that, I mean, it's brought us to a $140 billion market cap at this point. Subscription revenue is the overwhelming driver for the business, and those subscriptions go anywhere from one month to 36 months and everywhere in between. So, just, I like the trend toward digital media. And the stock, while it's at 35X free cash flow today, it's a company that deserves that premium, I think.
Hill: Steve, question about Adobe?
Broido: We use a ton of Adobe products. I'm recording on Adobe Audition right now. Do you think there's any way that they will unwind the subscription thing? A lot of producers and media folks don't like having to pay a monthly fee.
Moser: Understanding that's the case, I have a hard time seeing that they would actually do that because it really does help drive a lot of money for them to continue to invest in that business and provide us with better tools to produce this awesome content that we're bringing to our members and listeners every week.
Hill: Emily Flippen, what are you looking at?
Flippen: Well, I'm looking at the largest shopping day in the entire world, and no, Black Friday has not come early. This is Singles Day on Monday, 11/11. Singles Day in China launches. One company I think is poised to benefit well from that is Baozun, ticker BZUN. Often called the Shopify of China, although that's not a one-to-one comparison, Baozun helps manage the e-commerce presences for international and domestic brands in China.
Hill: Steve, question about Baozun?
Broido: Do you think we'll see a big spike in this stock once this trade war stuff gets resolved?
Flippen: I think it's possible, although Baozun has admittedly relatively limited influence with the trade war. It'll be interesting to see, though, if the Chinese economy slowdown affects Singles Day at all.
Hill: What do you want to add to your watch list, Steve?
Broido: Well, I own Adobe, and I think I would add more because I just love that.
Hill: Alright, Ron Gross, Jason Moser, Emily Flippen, thanks for being here! That'll do it for this week's show! Our engineer is Steve Broido. Our producer is Mac Greer. I'm Chris Hill. Thanks for listening! We'll see you next week!
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Chris Hill owns shares of Amazon and Walt Disney. Emily Flippen owns shares of Baozun and Shopify. Jason Moser owns shares of Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Booking Holdings, Etsy, Mastercard, Shopify, TripAdvisor, Twitter, Visa, and Walt Disney. Ron Gross owns shares of Activision Blizzard, Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), Facebook, Mastercard, Microsoft, Verizon Communications, and Walt Disney. Steve Broido owns shares of Activision Blizzard, Adobe Systems, Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Mastercard, Match Group, Microsoft, Shopify, Twitter, Visa, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Activision Blizzard, Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Baozun, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), Booking Holdings, Boston Omaha, Etsy, Facebook, Mastercard, Match Group, Microsoft, Roku, Shopify, Take-Two Interactive, TripAdvisor, Twitter, Visa, Walt Disney, Wayfair, Zillow Group (A shares), and Zillow Group (C shares). The Motley Fool recommends Adobe Systems, The New York Times, Uber Technologies, and Verizon Communications and recommends the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple, short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple, long January 2021 $200 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short January 2021 $200 puts on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), long January 2021 $60 calls on Walt Disney, long January 2021 $85 calls on Microsoft, short January 2020 $220 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and short January 2020 $130 calls on Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
$GPS 17.9000 ▼1.38% $DIS 143.8000 ▲0.17% $GOOG 1 484.9900 ▲0.04% $ATVI 60.2800 ▼1.86% $EXPE 109.8100 ▼0.33% $BKNG 2 000.2400 ▲0.49% $PZZA 66.1400 ▲2.54% $TTWO 130.9977 ▲0.47% $FB 220.5000 ▼0.32% $TRIP 30.2600 ▼0.74% $GOOGL 1 484.1700 ▲0.13% $Z 48.0900 ▼0.12% $ZG 47.8846 ▲0.03% $MTCH 89.2000 ▼0.61%
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Gap's troubles persist but at least the Old Navy spinoff isn't happening, analysts say
Bloomberg Canceling the Old Navy separation is a positive, according to analysts Gap Inc.'s decision to call off the Old Navy spinoff resolves one issue for the troubled retailer, but there are ...
Gap's Troubles Aren't Over, but Scrapping Its Old Navy Spinoff Is a Step Forward
On Jan. 16, Gap (NYSE: GPS) announced its decision to cancel the spinoff plans for its Old Navy brand. Investors seem pleased with the news as the stock has enjoyed small gains in the days followin...
Gap Made a Smart Decision in Calling Off Its Old Navy Spinoff
Gap (NYSE: GPS) has called off its plans to spin off its Old Navy brand from the parent company and its iconic namesake brand. That makes sense, given that the separation was always of questionable...
Earnings Season Roundup
In this episode of Motley Fool Money , analysts Emily Flippen, Ron Gross, and Jason Moser hit on some of this week's biggest business news. Gap (NYSE: GPS) cancels its Old Navy spin-off. Target (NYS...
Company News for Jan 20, 2020
Shares of The Gap, Inc. GPS dropped 0.4% after the company announced that it has cancelled plans to spin off its Old Navy brandShares of iMedia Brands, Inc. IMBI jumped 42.2% after the comp...
JPMorgan Chase, FedEx, Alphabet: Stocks That Defined the Week
The holiday stretch was kind to Lululemon. The sportswear company said shoppers responded well to its merchandise, especially men's apparel, during a critical shopping period in November and Decemb...
Finding Europe's Way In The World
Finding Europe's Way In The World Authored by Sigmar Gabriel and Michael Huther via Project Syndicate, For historical reasons, Europe has long resided in the strategic shadow of the U...
y 11 Z 1 64


A back, neck and shoulder massage is primarily done to relieve the tension and stress around the neck and shoulder area. The importance of the neck and shoulder region lies in the fact that the neck is a flexible structure that connects the brain to the rest of the body.
Calm your mind, body, and spirit with a massage at your requested intensity. This massage will alleviate stiffness and fatigue as well as improve circulation. Swedish Massage is general whole body massage using oils on the skin to facilitate treatment. This is the basis of all Western forms of massage treatment.
Reflexology is a focused pressure technique, usually directed at the feet or hands. It is based on the premise that there are zones and reflexes on different parts of the body which correspond to and are relative to all parts, glands, and organs. When the reflexes are stimulated, the body's natural electrical energy works along the nervous system to clear any blockages in the corresponding zones.
This massage uses slow strokes and deep pressure to work on tight areas to release specific muscle tension and restore flexibility. Deep-Tissue Massage is generally slower than Swedish, this technique goes deeper into the muscle and connective tissue to release chronic tension which might have developed from injury or overuse.
Luxurious and relaxing massage combined with deep heat therapy. Polished Basalt Lava Stones are heated and incorporated into the massage. Out Hot Stone Massage is a form of bodywork that involves the application of heated or cooled stones (thermo-therapy) to the body during deep tissue massage.
We offer Lymphatic massages. They are an advanced form of massage that aims to stimulate the lymphatic system to remove congestion and stagnation from within the body, and so help it return to a healthy condition. MLD therapy utilizes gentle massage strokes that remove blockages and promotes proper lymph flow.


Saturday May 26th, 4:15 in the morning, Elouan, aka the elder of Jump's little Masters, and Arthur, his best running partner, are out of bed. We were at Elouan's house the previous night and they came back with us (*) to spend the night here.
A few slices of bread and jam and off they went to the mountain top! It was still dark outside. We could see tiny spots of lights moving in the mountain. It was the Maxi-Race week-end in Annecy. Both Elouan and Arthur would have liked to take part in either of the two longest events: Ultra 116km (72M) D+ 7360m (24000ft) or Maxi-race 87km (54M) D+ 6000m (19000ft) but runners must be 18 and Elouan and Arthur are only respectively 16 and 15… So they decided to encourage runners especially the few of them they know. And the champion, François d'Haene, of course. They eventually met François d'Haene who, in spite of the fact that he was leading the race, stopped and chatted a little moment with Elouan and Arthur, while another of the many spectators took the photograph. Elouan and Arthur spent the whole morning running up and down along the route of the race, encouraging runners by sounding a big bell, and eventually arrived here for lunch some time after 12:30. In the middle of the afternoon they went home on their bikes 35km (21M).
François d'Haene is currently training for the Western States Endurance Run he will run in June.
(*) With their mountain bikes on the bike-rack of our car.
This entry was posted in Le Maître de Frimousse and tagged Annecy, Arthur, Elouan, endurance, François d'Haene, Maxi-race, running, trail, Western States on 28 May 2018 by Le Maitre de Frimousse.
What a great story ! Great job by your young friends !
They were tired – Arthur was exausted – but very very happy.
You're right! "Glad they had fun" is the essential.


A contemporary vase decorated at the neck with a frieze of hand cut patterns. The modern motif offers a modern take on traditional cut glass. The angular shape of this mouthblown vase is designed to draw stems of flowers and foliage together. Would make an ideal gift. Presented in photographic packaging.


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LA ZOUINA, VOLUBILIA GRIS (Rosé - Morocco)
LA ZOUINA, VOLUBILIA GRIS (Rosé - Morocco) - is backordered and will ship as soon as it is back in stock.
La Zouina Volubilia Gris (or Rosé) is made from a blend of Caladoc, Mourvèdre and Marselan, this rosé is stylistically quite southern French in character and has the delicate, pale colouring you would expect from Provence. Fresh and crisp peachy aromas with some bright red fruit flavours and a subtle touch of floral and minerality on the palate.
Vin Gris are made using red grapes, allowing only few hours of maceration on the skins, followed by a very light press to extract just the right amount of colour, structure and tannins.
DOMAINE DE LA ZOUINA, Meknès Organic in conversion
Morocco remains one of the cradles of the last wild wines, and a Kingdom where the first wines were made around the 6th century BC during the setting of the Phoenician and Greek civilisations. Winemaking continued through the Roman era. The art of enology was lost here in the 7th century due to Islamic bans on alcohol, but French colonisation in the 19th and early 20th centuries heralded the return of both winemaking and social drinking.
By the 1950s, Morocco was one of the largest wine exporting countries in the world, but after the country gained independence in 1956, many vineyards were abandoned or grubbed up. In the 1990s, King Hassan II appealed to French investors and wine experts to return the industry to its former glory.
Today Morocco has a diversity of styles and has recovered thousands of acres of forgotten wine lands. Most wine is produced on the sunny plateau around Meknes. Sheltered by the Atlas Mountains and open to the cooling influence of the Atlantic, these regions are perfect for the growth of red Rhône and Spanish varieties, and it produces a fine wine that can easily rival the best rosés, known as Vin Gris - an extremely light style of Rosé.
In 2001, during a golfing holiday, Gérard Gribelin (Château de Fieuzal) and Philippe Gervoson (Château Larrivet-Haut-Brion) discovered and purchased the beautiful 115-ha vineyards and oliveraie of Domaine de la Zouina (beautiful in Arabic), nestled between the foothills of the Rif and the Middle Atlas Mountain.
Convinced of the immense potential of the terroir and climate, they translated their passion and wine-making savour-faire from Pessac-Leognan to Morocco, installed a brand new winery and replanted the vineyards (all within the Guerrouane appellation)
Today, the winery is run by Gribelin's son Christophe, helped by winemaker Philippe Lespy. They apply their Bordeaux know-how and can enjoy the freedom of winemaking and experimenting in Morocco.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Home » News » The Outliers: Parents who want to send children to school
The Outliers: Parents who want to send children to school
– Sukanya Nandy and Dipta Joshi
While a recent survey by LocalCircles — a community based social network — suggests most parents do not want to send their children to school amid rising coronavirus cases, there's another side to the coin — parents who believe reopening of schools, even if partially, would help the child, both in terms of education and mental health.
Dr Sudhakar Rao
Dr Sudhakar Rao, director of branding at the ICFAI Group says the reach of online education till now is only 24 to 29 percent of the total student population. Factoring in errors in the survey if any, one can peg it at 50 percent maximum. He adds, "We all joined the bandwagon to display how "adaptive" we are, adopted all the tech-tools to prove how "cool" we are. The fact remains that not more than 30 percent of students in the country are within the ambit of online learning.
Education/learning is an iterative process. You need a teacher, a peer group, a discussion, some interaction for learning from others, by question, by debate, etc. I am not even touching the subject of camaraderie, bonding et al. The discipline of learning is affected. I am calling it "learning-ethic" which is severely compromised on account of the pandemic. The other dimension is that all the students cannot learn in a unidirectional way, quality of teaching also matters online."
Mumbai-based Archana Chawla, whose son is studying in a CBSE affiliated school believes, "Despite the school's best efforts to make the online classes relevant and useful for the students, as a parent I am hoping my son can attend school in-person before his grade 12 board exams. I believe a classroom-setting facilitates much better fine-tuning between the teachers and helps to reassure students before important summative exams such as the boards. For those aspiring to get into good colleges, clear further entrance exams, the board exam results are important benchmarks that cannot be ignored. These exams are always stressful for students, so one can only imagine the stress they are under in the absence of regular classes. Thus, while continuing the 'online only' system may work for younger students, regular classes are a real value addition for older children.
Recommended: How and when should class 10 and 12 board exams 2021 be held?
As a doctor and a parent, I believe despite the restrictions being lifted across sectors, we will still need to live with precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for a long time. Thus no matter how soon or late schools reopen, they will need to adhere to strict social distancing protocols."
Another Mumbai-based parent Sherlyn Patil says, "I honestly see a great deal of efforts put in by the teachers to conduct these online classes. However, due to technical glitches, delayed transmissions of voice, internet coverage issues, the lectures conducted never felt complete and satisfying…. in this scenario it's difficult to understand if both parties — teachers and students — feel up to to the mark."
Shariqa Anjum from Bangalore, whose daughter is preparing for her class 12 board exams, says, "As much as the child understands and knows everything about the curriculum, there's something called comfort level and confidence – facing the real classroom, being comfortable with the teacher and writing down with a pen and a paper. I think they need to be comfortable with that idea of boards before actually sitting for it. Studying is only half the work done, the other half comes from the belief that you can put down whatever you know. And for that, my daughter needs to attend the class and hear it from her teachers, face-to-face.
Probably, they could break up the students in small batches and call them weekly. One or two sessions, alternatively for different batches would be a better approach for the teachers and students. The online classes will wind up by November and then it is important for a child to know when the revisions are going on, submitting the practical work, actually seeing the lab and understanding, knowing how the programme works – even if it is not conducted as an examination, it's a part of the examination that shouldn't be missed."
Jayashree Jatania from Mumbai, whose son has joined junior college this year says, "I really want my son to attend college because I believe online teaching can only be a stop-gap arrangement and cannot replace traditional classroom experience. With the need to conduct online classes, many schools have prioritised having tech-savvy teachers, rather than more experienced teachers to take these classes. I also believe that educational institutions are not just about completing the syllabus and hand out degrees; they offer an environment for children to gain social experience through daily interactions with peers and teachers and to develop their soft skills in the process.
Having said that, I am well aware of just how difficult and dangerous the situation can be when schools open. Given the large numbers of students, many colleges may not even manage following all the social distancing guidelines. This can be especially dangerous for a medically compromised person like me. So while I am not sure of what would be the best solution, I am hoping the education experts amongst the authorities come up with better ideas."
Dr Sudhakar Rao points out how the mental health of children is affected by the prolonged closure of schools. "The statistics for anxiety, temper tantrum and hyperactivity in children has increased multi-fold in the last six months. And there has been a surge in emotional distress in children due to lack of socialisation, staying at confined areas and not moving out. If we are not reopening schools, we are inviting another set of problem where kids would need psychological intervention," he says.
Dr Sudhakar Rao adds, "As parents we tend to over protect. The parental urge to protect the child is fine, but we seem to be not realising that we are depriving one generation a great deal of their right to learn. This is applicable to all those children who are being currently contacted online. Parents also are also deciding on their behalf as if there's no need to go to school for years together; as if the virus is getting obliterated from the face of the earth the moment vaccine is approved for production.
Some self-styled psychologists, including early stage educators who are exhibiting a sudden urge to discover and "fix" parental responsibility in "teaching" their own kids seems to be at the wrong end, in my view. If that were the case, we wouldn't have established so many schools; home schooling would have been the norm. If learning at home was so much doable imagine we wouldn't have had to establish so many schools and colleges. What is okay by exception cannot become the norm."
"Schools have been opened in various countries around the world. Response has been mixed to good. Although the ecosystem conditions are not exactly similar, we can definitely pick up lessons from the way it is panning out there in the US, UK and other countries. Government should not think it knows all. In the US, they are going with a choice based option. Those who want to attend a physical school are going while others are continuing to learn remotely. Many parents are also sending their wards to school," concludes Dr Sudhakar Rao.
Read: Karnataka: Private schools request reopening; writes to education minister
Also read: 80% parents say Indian public schools failed to provide education during lockdown: Survey
Also read: School reopening guidelines: Education ministry issues SOPs
Posted in National, News


Inspired by Lance Armstrong's amazing and courageous fight against cancer, we've created wristbands to raise awareness and support for the PS3 Ronald A. Gill, Jr Memorial Scholarship Foundation.
the sale of this wristband go to the PS3 Ronald A. Gill, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Foundation.
Wristbands are 100% synthetic silicone and are very high quality and brightly colored light blue. They are debossed with the words: ''PS3 Ronnie Gill Jr.'' on one side, and "Forever In Our Hearts" on the other.


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Q: Servlet 3.0 or Glassfish issue? Web-app ignores asyncSupported for filter when in annotation I added a filter to my web-app (which already supports asynchronous operations), and forgot to insert the proper annotation on the filter to to preserve asynchronous support. Easy problem to solve. I put the following the annotation in the filter class, which ends up looking like this:
@WebFilter(asyncSupported=true)
public class MainFilter implements Filter
{

   ...

}

However, after redeploying, asynchronous operations remained unsupported, giving me this error:

Request is within the scope of a filter or servlet that does not
  support asynchronous operations

I was able to rectify the problem by removing the annotation, and placing its equivalent in web.xml:

<filter>
    <filter-name>MainFilter</filter-name>
    <filter-class>com.MyWebApp.Filters.MainFilter</filter-class>
    <async-supported>true</async-supported>
</filter>

What I'm confused about is the fact that the container seems to respect the asyncSupported annotation in servlet files, but does not for filters. Is there a specific reason why, or is this a GlassFish 3.0 bug?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Lena Toksanbaeva has recently discovered the joys of travel. Her romance with travel started with her first family vacation to London. What began with 'I'm terrified of flying', ended up with 'I can't wait to catch the next flight to my favourite destination'. With Thailand, Spain and France already ticked off her holiday list, Lena's journey has just begun.
Wonder what is so special about her? Well, believe me or faint, Lena Toksanbaeva is not a teenager, a gap year student or a middle aged woman, but a 79 year-old pensioner from Kazakhstan who until recently, had never stepped out of her village until last year when her granddaughter insisted her on a family trip to London!
Today, Lena is an internet sensation and an inspiration to many who have limited themselves with their growing age.
Frankly, these are not excuses but genuine concerns that every senior citizen faces; it could be something as simple as 'where to go' to the more complex one of 'health problems'.
Keeping these issues in mind, I have complied a checklist that will help and motivate all such enthusiastic souls to leave the comforts of their home and look at the wonders of world.
After all age is just a number, right?
First thing first, zero in on the place, you would like to visit. You might be tempted to try the most adventurous places but if it is your first solo trip or with your spouse, I would suggest be a little conservative: countries like Europe, United States, and England etc. are senior-citizen friendly and, they also offer some attractive discounts and offers to them.
Use Internet, talk to your friends, read travel books, or hire travel agent and try to squeeze in as much as information as you can. Maintain a journal, if need be.
Make sure you book your airline, hotel and activities weeks in advance. Early booking would ensure best fares and a variety to choose from.
Keep extra copies and print outs of important documents ready e.g. passport, health insurance, photo ids, tickets, reservations details, booking confirmation.
Because you will be away from your home for a long time (2 weeks or more), make sure you have anti-theft insurance in place. Find someone to look after your pets and water your garden while you are away. If you could arrange for some house-sitters, nothing like it.
Re-confirm your bookings, a week before travelling.
Begin with compete health check-up. A very essential step, more so, if you have an existing ailment.
Inform your doctor about impending vacation. Discuss possible diet, medications, and pen down any emergency contact numbers.
Check if you can have some vaccinations to avoid potential illness. Also, few countries have mandates regarding vaccinations, you will get that information on countries website or google. So, get these before leaving!
Do not forget to visit your dentist & optometrist.
Another important step is to have a robust travel insurance plan in place. Rather than comparing hundreds online, I would suggest visiting a travel insurance broker, who will help you, get the right one for you.
Read the documents thoroughly and take a cognizance of which illness is covered under the policy.
On a safer side, carry a signed doctor's note for any medical prescription you might need when you travel.
It is also wise to carry your own medicines along with the doctor's prescription in a container tray, preferably with separate compartments marked for each day.
Any seasoned traveller, young or old will advise you to travel light. Carry jackets, t-shirts of dark colours, an extra pair of spectacles, comfortable trousers, and sneakers.
Suitcases with wheels are easy to manoeuvre.
A pillow would ensure better rest in long flights.
Keep all the documents, medicines in the handbags and the extra copies of documents in the main suitcase, just to be on the safer side.
A reusable collapsible water bottle is a good investment. Keeps you hydrated all the time plus it is easy to carry.
While hopping from one activity to another, make sure you take ample rest.
Carry a handbag with water bottle and little snack like banana for instant energy.
Always carry a visiting card of the hotel you are staying in your handbag/wallet. In case, you lose your way, you always have an option of calling up the hotel.
If possible avoid late night outs, shady pubs or dark alleys for security reasons.
Always dress conservatively and comfortably no matter which country you are in. A loose t-shirt, khaki trousers with a cap/hat is acceptable wear worldwide.


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How Crowds Run When Bulls Charge
The running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, helped researchers study what happens when lots of people suddenly wish to move quickly.
The running of the bulls during the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain.
Media credits
imagestockdesign/Shutterstock
Tuesday, December 7, 2021 - 17:15
(Inside Science) -- People walking alone walk relatively quickly. A crowd walks slowly. But how does a crowd move when there is, say, a massive bull charging at them? To answer this, scientists analyzed the movement of a crowd of runners during the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, in 2019.
The San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain, hosts the world's best-known running with bulls event. Every morning for a week each year, festival officials send six bulls charging down a set of narrow, blocked-off streets toward waiting crowds of people.
In 2019, pedestrian dynamics researcher Daniel Parisi, from the Technological Institute of Buenos Aires, attended the festival -- though he was not running himself. Instead, Parisi was gathering data from a set of cameras roughly four or five stories above the route.
Pedestrian dynamics is the science of studying how crowds move and is useful for anyone designing or planning spaces like buildings or streets. Stadium exits that allow people to file out quickly without forming a human traffic jam may do so thanks to insights from pedestrian dynamics.
But there's a gap in scientists' knowledge. While scientists have a lot of data from crowds moving at walking speeds, when it comes to crowds running, there's much less out there. It's hard to predict when something will create a stampede of people in the real world. A running crowd can be dangerous if people start to trip each other.
"In a laboratory, this kind of experiment with real danger is not ethical. But this festival is almost like laboratory conditions," said Parisi. The street is easy to monitor, the runs happen several times and in the same place, and the stimulus -- the sudden appearance of a charging bull -- is a consistent motivational force. "So this is not experimental, but it's quasi-experimental because it's repeated in the same conditions over and over."
By taking the videos and using software to tag and track the position of each runner, Parisi and his colleagues were able to explore whether scientists can use real-world events like this to look for insights. And in doing so, they made two discoveries.
Firstly, Parisi and his team found that while the crowd could be at times fast or dense, there was a combination of speed and density that never occurred due to runners tripping each other and falling. "It's intuitive," said Parisi. "With restricted personal space, you can't run very fast."
Their second result, however, was unexpected. While it's traditionally assumed that loose crowds move fast and dense crowds slow, Parisi found that as the bulls first approached the runners, for a short amount of time, the crowd became both denser and faster. "This is surprising and never was observed before," said Parisi. He notes that this may be somewhat unique to the event's particular circumstances -- people starting relatively spaced out and stationary, only to be sent scrambling in extreme ways to avoid the bulls. The runners also know to expect the bulls, even if they don't know precisely when they'll show up.
The researchers' paper, published this week in the journal PNAS, shows that by using the right technology, pedestrian dynamics researchers can indeed look to this kind of festival or extreme event for insight about crowds and their behavior, though more work needs to be done.
"I think that the methodology holds some promise," said Rachel Berney, an urban design scholar at the University of Washington. She said she'd view the research as exploratory -- it's good to review any finding with other methods before relying on it -- but that this type of research could provide insight for urban designers.
Carlo Ratti, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sensible City Laboratory, said in an email to Inside Science that he thought conducting the study at the running of the bulls was interesting and that, "the paper shows how the Big Data revolution is helping researchers document and describe previously unexplored environments, throwing light on problems which were not quantifiable just a few years ago."
As for Parisi himself, he was content to observe the runners without experiencing the event first-hand. "Maybe if I were 20 years younger, but not now," he said. The festival has many other less risky activities he enjoyed instead.
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James Gaines
James Gaines (@the_jmgaines) is a freelance science journalist in Seattle, Washington. His work has appeared in outlets such as Nature, LiveScience, GOOD, Upworthy, and Atlas Obscura. He once had an alligator snapping turtle as a pet for about two hours.
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"Even we don't understand what happened," added the French World Cup winner.
Tottenham Hotspur's Lucas Moura scores his side's third goal.
PAUL POGBA SAID Manchester United's players were in "shock" after a 3-0 defeat to Spurs dealt a heavy blow to their Premier League title ambitions.
After a troubled build-up to the season, United have lost two of their first three matches of a campaign for the first time since 1992-93.
That season, Alex Ferguson's men went on to clinch the title but there are few signs that under-fire manager Jose Mourinho can win United's first league title since 2013 following Monday's defeat at Old Trafford.
"Even we don't understand what happened," added the French World Cup winner. "We started the game really well, we conceded two goals in the second half.
"The first goal was a real blow, we didn't understand why, because we had the game in hand. One goal, two… we kept pushing, we had chances, and we conceded the third.
United desperately need to return to winning ways at Burnley on Sunday to ease the pressure heading into the international break.
Last season's runners-up are already six points behind a clutch of teams including Spurs and Liverpool but Pogba is keeping calm and focused.
Pogba's teammate Luke Shaw also believes the players can turn things around.
"You always see a lot of things in the media that go on about what our dressing room is like," the 23-year-old told MUTV.
Email "Pogba says Man United players in 'shock' after Spurs humbling".
Feedback on "Pogba says Man United players in 'shock' after Spurs humbling".


text:
Q: spring cloud feign @Requestparam name containing symbols [] i try to create query
@FeignClient(name = "geohelper", url = "http://geohelper.info/api/v1")
public interface GeohelperAPI {

@GetMapping(path = "/regions", consumes = "application/json")
GeohelperResponse getRegion(@RequestParam(name = "apiKey") String apiKey,
                            @RequestParam(name = "locale[lang]") String localeRu,
                            @RequestParam(name = "filter[name]") String region);
}

and name of my requestparams contains symbols [ and ].
Created request looks like
apiKey=somekeysymbols&locale%5Blang%5D=%7Blocale%5Blang%5D%7D&filter%5Bname%5D=%7Bfilter%5Bname%5D%7D
in values there {locale[lang]}  and {filter[name]} instead "rightValueStrings"
is this a bug? how can I escape this [] ?


text:
'No secret' to long life, says 100-year-old Thomas
According to St Vincent's most recent centenarian, the "secret" to longevity isn't such a secret after all – all you need to do is eat well and have the desire to live long!
Mandeville Joseph Thomas, more affectionately known to relatives and friends alike as Uncle Mandy, celebrated 100 years of life last Friday, August 29, and SEARCHLIGHT was present to toast {{more}}him on this milestone achievement.
When asked about his secret to long life, he replied: "There is no secret. I like to live, so I do. I eat, I drink… I'm quite independent!"
Thomas, who was born to East Indian immigrant parents, grew up on the Argyle Estate and had eight siblings. He began working in the agricultural sector at an early age because his parents died, and he and his siblings had to fend for themselves.
"We had nobody to help us, so we had to work and maintain ourselves," he recalled.
After spending several years working in Trinidad, he migrated to High Wycombe, England, to work at an engineering company. After 19 years living there, he returned to St Vincent.
Thomas said that although the opportunities to make money are greater in England, he prefers life in St Vincent at this stage of his life because he is "old and helpless" and much prefers the heat to the cold.
"England is a lovely place but [for] one thing, it's very cold!" he chuckled.
Throughout his life, Thomas said that he worked diligently to become financially stable so that he could build a good life for his wife Mildred Thomas (nee Durrant) and their children.
Although he has been a widower for the past decade, Thomas did not seem to be a lonely man. With six children, 15 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and a plethora of friends, Thomas said that even though just he and his son Felix Thomas live in the house, he always has company.
"Relatives does come here every week," he boasted, with a huge grin on his face. "The place never empty."
Thomas, who lives in Calder, said that neighbours and friends also stop by frequently.
"I know how to talk to people; I never [turn] them away," he explained. "They come, they sit down, they talk, they go their way."
On a typical day, the centenarian said that he rises early in the morning, helps his son in the kitchen at meal times, takes a few naps in between, entertains any guests, and watches cricket on the television if it is showing.
A jovial man, Thomas became most animated when talking about his love of cricket and his love of all foods. When asked what his favourite food and drink were, he replied: "Everything I put in my mouth!"
Thomas mentioned a wide variety of foods that he enjoys eating, including breadfruit, rice and peas, chicken, ground provision and callaloo. And his beverage of choice? A hot cup of Milo (fortified drinking chocolate).
Although he is not as strong as he used to be, Thomas said that he still helps out in the kitchen when he can, and makes himself cups of "black water tea". Physically, he remains in good health – his only ailments being poor eyesight and hearing, and mild rheumatism.
"Other than that, I have no pain at all!" he said proudly.
At his birthday celebration last Friday, several relatives and well-wishers turned up to congratulate him on this uncommon feat – including Susan Dougan, the Governor General's Deputy and Frederick Stephenson, Minister of National Mobilisation, Social Development, the Family, Persons with Disabilities and Youth.
Also present were Cenio Lewis (SVG High Commissioner in London) and Dr Arnold Thomas, who are both relatives of the centenarian.
Lewis pointed out that Thomas' life story and experiences should be recorded so that they could be passed on to future generations.
"It's an experience that our young people need to know about," he insisted.
"We are happy to see him to 100 and we wish to see many more!"


Las Vegas, NV. December 21, 2006. Cornerstone Commercial Mortgage arranged a $22,250,000 loan to refinance and consolidate two separate loans for CW Capital Fund One, LLC. The project involves 195 proposed residential condominium units at Lake Las Vegas just outside Las Vegas, NV. The borrower needed to restructure the original land development loan for a longer period of time due to a slow down in the market. The two original lenders did not want to extend their loans; therefore the borrower needed a new lender to take out the original lenders. The project involves a national home builder who has optioned to purchase the finished lots once completed which is expected to happen in the next 2 years.
Cornerstone Commercial Mortgage acts as mortgage consultants specializing in arranging commercial real estate financing for clients throughout Nevada and California. Cornerstone Commercial Mortgage manages every detail of the loan process from start to finish and assists clients in all aspect of financing from consulting on the feasibility of a real estate development project to obtaining the right construction or permanent loan.


Chance Encounter on the Tiber was the pilot for an urban revitalization plan combined with a musical performance composed expressly for outdoor public space. The project turned the walkway along the Tiber River in the center of Rome into a vibrant social open space by focusing on two simple means: movable seating and musical performance.
The musical composition Chance Encounter is a project of Creative Capital.


With the team running six cars this weekend there was little time for rest on the Friday during testing and more so when the team arrived on the Saturday morning greeted with very damp conditions and dark skies. There was no way of predicting if it was going to rain or not so the order of the day was to run wets during qualifying and the first race, but the ever changing British weather resulted in tyres been changed from wets to slicks then slicks to wets and again slicks back to wets all within minutes before the race, eventfully all the cars lined up for the first race of the day just on time. Due to some cars having to start on the pit line after having changed tyres on the parade lap Morris in the PMC Midlands 968 CS who qualified fourth place was alone on row two Richard Ellis who qualified in fifteenth place was on row three and had also decided to take a gamble and stay on slick tyres.
Eventually the green flag was waved and all the cars got underway closely followed by the cars released form the pit lane. Bradshaw soon eased away Leaving Morris battling McCullagh for second place. Morris was stronger and soon opened a gap on McCullagh but the gap between himself and leader Bradshaw was far too great to close taking the chequered flag in a well-deserved second place. Chris Dyer who qualified in ninth place in the Redline Porsche 911 World Porsche Cayman S made up four places finishing fifth after a long battle with Class Two winner Livesey. Next over the line was David Botterill who made up two places from twelvth to finish in tenth place. Richard Ellis' gamble to run on slicks unfortunately did'nt pay off as he struggled in the damp conditions unable to get any heat or grip into the Pirelli tyres eventually coming home in seventh place. In Class two Andrew Toon qualified in thirteenth place in the PMC Midlands 968 CS. Toon had also decided to gamble on slicks, one, two, three laps went by with the team ready to make a quick pit stop to change the tyres from slicks to wets but Toon decided to hang on and battle it out coming home in fifth place. Hugo Holmes in the Freeman Jewellers, CS Signs 968 CS battled hard in the damp conditions a determined fight saw Holmes make up two places taking sixteenth place fourth in class.
The rain had eased off during the afternoon and it was a dry track for race two despite the looming dark clouds above. Sumpter and Bradshaw made a good start from the front row and we're soon in a head-to-head battle going into the first corner closely followed by Morris. Bradshaw began to put a gap between himself and the chasing pack behind him, but by lap three his 996 was starting to plume smoke from behind and Bradshaw was battling with no power-steering. Slater who was battling hard with his team mate Sumpter made a dramatic exit from the race after a brake failure into Tower corner coming off the circuit and into an adjacent field.
By this time the officials started to display the warning flag to Bradshaw who pitted and retired at the end of lap eight, this left Morris battling with Sumpter for first place. Richard Ellis now in third had caught team mate Morris and was pushing hard to take second place off Morris But Ellis pushed too hard resulting in an engine issue forcing him pull off making him one of the seven DNF's. Morris battled all the way to the end with Sumpter taking second place.
It was a bit of a raffle on what tyres to go for, we kept changing our mind but in the end went to wets and I was thinking 'please rain' and it did. They were going off at the end as we couldn't change the suspension setting at the front, but I am happy with second. The start of race two was a bit cramped because Tom pushed Mark off and he went wide so I came up on the inside of him and as I came round to the S's Mark reappeared. I don't know how he got there so I had to avoid the S's and take the escape road so I did that and knew mark had the pace so I left him to chase Tom down and he pushed him hard and then Tom's power assisted belt went and caused him to stop. Adrian Slater disappeared into the field about 100 miles an hour in front of me, then cars started to drop oil all over the place but we managed to hold on.
David Botterill who had also been racing in the Northern Sports Car Championship during the day put in a thrilling battle to force his way through the field and up to the rear bumper of team mate Chris Dyer's Cayman. Botterill won the battle eventually getting ahead of Dyer crossing the line in fifth place with Dyer in sixth place. In Class two Andy Toon started race two third on the grid and put in a commanding battle dominating the class two field taking first place. Hugo Holmes took fourth place again earning valuable points for the team championship.
Fantastic Day for me winning and taking a second in the Northern Sports car Championship, In the Porsche Club Championship I had to start from the pit lane after changing to wets but the car felt good. In the second race the going was dry and the car handled well and I was delighted to finish in fifth place, I could have done better but I was right up behind Paul Livesley and I didn't see the oil on the track and I did a bit of rally cross across the grass and four and five cars past me but I fought my way back to take fifth.
A great weekend. I was a bit disappointed with the first race maybe the tyre choice but I just stayed out there and just hung in for some points. The second race, that's how I wanted to do it. Go out there and keep in the thick of it from the start and hunt down. I qualified third on the grid so I knew I would have to work hard to get past the cars in front of me, it was a long hard race but the car went well and it was a great win.
Qualifying went well and we put the slicks on for the first race but it then started to rain heavy so I decided to stay out on them but I was unable to get any heat or grip into them. In the second race I started to have some good battles and was up to third but for whatever reason I broke the engine so hopefully we can get it fixed without too much expense.
It was a bit of a weird qualifier what with the weather and stuff so in the race we decided to go for full wets after seeing the dark clouds coming over and we got a good head start. The traction control on the car was excellent you could actually drive it and we ended up 5th in class, it's a good car to drive and handles well so I'm really pleased with that. Race two I got a good start and moved up a few place and I ended up in a battle with David but he was on new tyres and I was on old ones so he managed to get better of me but I'm happy with the results and I'm looking forward to Silverstone.
It's been a good day me. Chris and i discussed the set ups before the race and we reset some of the settings on my car and it really paid off because in the first race we ended up been in the wet so we put everything back to soft setting and it went well and i managed to get a fourth place. Then we went back to the dry settings for race two but I think I got the tyre pressures wrong so they were a little too soft and when we came in they were on around twenty six instead of thirty so I felt a little bit of movement when racing but I'm pleased with two fourths, onwards and upwards I say.


text:
Versión Español
Second Edition (2012)
First Edition (2011)
By Public Demand!! Globo Verde Dominicano Award Extends Registration Deadline and Closing Date for Entries in all Three Film Categories
New York, July 18, 2014
DREFF Volunteer Meetings Held in Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, July 10, 2014
GFDD Attends the 3rd Annual Plasticity Forum
New York, June 24, 2014
GFDD Short Film Wins the 2nd Place Fan Coral Award at the Reef Renaissance Film Festival Awarded
A Thirsty World
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
Keep on Rolling: The Dream of the Automobile
Mother: Caring for 7 Billion
Minds in the Water
Money and Life – A Story about Money That Will Change your Life
Otter 501
Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey
Sacred Science
Uranium Drive In
A Sea Turtle Story
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
The Windmill Farmer
What Would Darwin Think? Man vs. Nature in the Galapagos
Dominican Productions
Cordillera Central Dominicana: Oásis del Caribe
Between Islands: A Lifeline of survival
Reserva de la Biósfera: Jaragua, Bahoruco, Enriquillo
Valle Nuevo: Mother of the Waters
Retrospective Films
Panel / Discussion Session
Friday, September 6th at 10:00 AM Santo Domingo, FUNGLODE
Topic of panel:
Why Save Endangered Species?
Say "cheese" mother earth! - Nature Photography
Friday, September 6th at 4:00 pm Santo Domingo, FUNGLODE
Go Wild with GoPro!
Saturday, September 7th at 4:00 pm Santo Domingo, FUNGLODE
Globo Verde Dominicano Award
Saturday, September 7 at 8 PM Santo Domingo, FUNGLODE
Environmental film: An Effective Tool for Eco Education
Film Selected
See All Films Festival
Original Title: Planète Océan
Film Credits:
Director/Writer: Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Michael Pitiot
Producers: Jean-Yves Robin, Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Nicolas Coppermann
Cinematography: Chris Jordan
Editor: Laurence Buchmann
Film Synopsis:
A brilliant 90-minute documentary filmed by directors Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Michael Pitiot and their team, in partnership with OMEGA and the scientific support of Tara Expeditions, Planet Ocean captures the extraordinary images of our remarkable oceans - the source of all life on our planet. Presented at Earth Summit 2012 in Rio de Janeiro (RIO+20), Brazil in June, Planet Ocean is a collaborative film that aims to explain some of the planet's greatest natural mysteries. It highlights how essential it is that mankind learns to live in harmony with our oceans.
Escuela Plan Reforma
Baní
Centro Cultural Perelló
Galerías PUNTACANA Village
Biography of Director Yann Arthus-Bertrand:
Yann Arthus-Bertrand, of French origin, is a well-known photographer, journalist, reporter and environmentalist. He has always been passionate about the animal world and natural environment. He contributed to several prestigious magazines such as National Geographic and Life. At the first Rio Conference in 1992, he decided to undertake a long-term project called The Earth From the Air, a photographic encyclopedia published in 2000, a portrait of and homage to our Earth. In 2005, he created the GoodPlanet Foundation that seeks to raise awareness of environmental issues among the general public, implement carbon offset programs and combat deforestation, along with local NGOs. He has worked on various projects for the United Nations, such as Of Forests and Men, which he directed in 2011 and was the official documentary for the2011 International Year of the Forest. His most recent documentary is Planet Ocean, which he co-directed with Michael Pitiot for the Rio + 20 Summit.
This year's 5 themes - oceans, biodiversity, green economy, sustainable agriculture and climate change,
will be covered in a selection of 30 films:
What Would Darwin Think?
Man vs. Nature in the Galapagos
Reserva de la Biósfera:
Jaragua, Bahoruco, Enriquillo
Do you want to promote DREFF?
DREFF Year Round Programs
The Eco-Huertos Program seeks to support the creation of organic and sustainable vegetable gardens in schools and communities throughout the Dominican Republic. Through ongoing field activities, the program bolsters the natural sciences curriculum in the schools.
The contest is divided into two categories: short films and public service announcements. With this contest, GFDD and FUNGLODE seek to promote environmental filmmaking as a platform to educate and raise awareness.
The ReCrearte Program aims to raise awareness of the 3Rs of solid waste management: reduce, reuse, recycle. The workshops also emphasize and demonstrate how recycling waste into art can empower individuals and communities alike.
As part of its mission to reach more communities, institutions and individuals around the country, the DR Environmental Film Festival organizes film screenings year-round, providing the opportunity to bring successful film programs to new and remote communities.
Complementing the DREFF's mission, the GFDD has risen to the challenge and, since 2012, has started producing its own short documentary films that highlight and raise awareness about important local environmental issues.
FILMS | PROGRAM | PANELS | NEWS | MULTIMEDIA | PLACES | PHOTOS
© DR Environmental Film Festival - All Rights Reserved


Summer is coming to a close, which means IndepenDANCE's 8th Annual Show "Limitless" is right around the corner! Saturday September 10th, 2pm & 7pm at The Ellen Theater.
We find ourselves, troubleshooting innovative costume ideas that are competing with the ticking clock. For some, this may include backordered leotards, what to do when the pointe shoe dye project fails, how to dance when your goggles are fogging up, and how does one make oneself a tapping coffee cup?
Despite the pre-show panic (which may include something like...THE SHOW IS LESS THAN 2 WEEKS AWAY...AAAAHHHH!!), the excitement that comes with the anticipation of what we have to show is undeniable.
There are roughly 80 Tickets left for the evening show, and still plenty available for the matinee. Don't wait to get your tickets!
I started dancing at age 11 after being inspired by the film Flashdance. I performed my very first improvised solo dance to "What a Feeling" during my grammar school's talent show. I wore a shirt that said Flashdancer, a purple leotard, and pink leg warmers. The following year my mom enrolled me in dance school and I've been dancing ever since.
My favorite choreographers are Pina Bausch who founded Tanztheater Wuppertal, and Jiri Kylian who was artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater. There is something so beautifully unsettling in Miss Bausch's works, especially Bluebeard and Rite of Spring. And Jiri Kylian has created so many masterpieces in which not a movement is out of place. My favorites would have to be his Black and White Ballets and L'enfant et les sortilèges.
I love watching any style of dance that tells a story or has interesting characters and costumes. If the dancers are enjoying themselves and losing themselves in the moment then it's pure magic.
I first joined in 2011. I think I must have seen a poster or heard about it from other dancers. I was terrified at the auditions!
I always love seeing what everyone's been working on all summer and watching it all come together during dress rehearsal. It's such a magical moment. I love that rush when we're all packing into the dressing rooms and everyone is excited and nervous and we feel like one big family.
I'm usually listening to my husband's music, Sergeant Sawtooth, and a mix of dark wave, industrial, gothic, and new wave.
IndepenDANCE is an amazing community that brings dancers together and allows choreographers to share their dreams.
Company and The Turning Point, if only to see snippets from some incredibly iconic dancers. Oh, and then there's Billy Elliot. It always makes me cry at the very end. Always!
How long have you been writing and recording your own music?
I started experimenting with music back in 2001, but it didn't actually become a passion until around 2009. That's when I created my Damsel in the Dollhouse persona and started releasing albums.
How do the choreographic visions and themes for your pieces begin? Do you have many ideas or just one?
Sometimes it's a visual idea and then the music follows to complement the vision, and other times it comes from the music. For my piece this year, the dance was inspired by the song which I had already written with a very specific theme. Each year I usually have 2-3 ideas, but then narrow it down to the one that feels the most achievable and interesting.
arning essentials for cosmetology students.
rehearsals are over until next season.
If you were to describe your piece for IndepenDANCE: Limitless using four adjectives, what would they be?
Join us at the Bozeman Brewing Co. from 2pm-8pm on September 4th for Sunday FUNDay! 50 cents of every pint sold will support IndepenDANCE! Join us to learn more about our upcoming show and to meet the performers!
Thank you to Wild Joe's Coffee House for letting us advertise our window! It's always a fun project. Please go by for a coffee and thank them for their support of IndepenDANCE.
Thanks for coming out and showing your support, we had a great crowd! A BIG THANK YOU to Sweet Pea for awarding us a grant towards our show "LIMITLESS."
We have a list of Bozeman area adult dance classes listed on our website!


You can personalise this hip flask with 3 lines of text and up to 15 characters per line. Line 1 & 2 - Will appear in a fixed UPPERCASE Line 3 - is case sensitive, and will appear as entered. This Hip Flask comes presented in a gift box.
The material of this product is stainless steel.
Steel is the material for an 11th Wedding Anniversary and this Hipflask would make the perfect gift!
Perfect for Father's Day, Birthdays, Christmas.