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ROYAL NOVA SCOTIA INTERNATIONAL TATTOO CAST
Each year NABBSS has performed with a stellar cast of leading international performers from across the globe.
Details of those groups NABBSS performed with in 2018 can be found below
The Scots College Pipes & Drums
From Australia, the boys of The Scots College in Sydney all learn to play either the bagpipes or the drums, and have been representing the school in this award-winning band at home and abroad for over 100 years!
Cores da Bahia
Cores da Bahia are a Brazilian circus troupe, and provides all the thrill of the circus in the Tattoo itself! Their exotic rhythms, movements and colourful costumes create a visual feast for the eyes, and you simply won't believe the amazing acrobatics and stunts they'll perform!
Stadacona Band of the Royal Canadian Navy
The Stadacona Band of the Royal Canadian Navy has been the Tattoo's pit band from the very beginning. When they're not appearing in the Tattoo, they represent the Royal Canadian Navy at ceremonies and concerts in Halifax and around the world.
National Band of the Naval Reserve
The National Band of the Naval Reserve is made up of musicians from various Naval Reserve Units in Quebec City, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg and Calgary. They tour extensively during the summer and can perform virtually all musical formats!
The Royal Canadian Artillery Band
As Canada's first professional military band, the Royal Canadian Artillery Band can trace its roots back to The 'B' Battery Band of the RCA, which was formed in Québec City in 1879. Currently based in Edmonton, the Band performs around the world.
5 Canadian Division Brass and Reed Band
Reserve army musicians from Atlantic Canada make up the 5 Canadian Division Brass and Reed Band and perform throughout the show.
Halifax Regional Police Contingent
Halifax Regional Police Officers will join the Tattoo with their Colour Party and with members in the Women in Service scene and watch out for Steeler and his friend Const. Phil MacDonald from the K9 Unit in the pre-show!
Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency Contingent
Members of Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency will appear in the show with their Colour Party and its members will support the Women in Service scene!
Canadian Cadets
Youth ages 12 to 18 who are members of the Royal Canadian Sea, Army and Air Cadets will perform in the Tattoo as part of the band and the Massed Pipes & Drums!
Massed Pipes & Drums
This year, the Massed Pipes & Drums will return and be bigger & better than ever!
Nova Scotia Youth Pipes & Drums
For the very first time, youth pipers and drummers who study with the tutors of the Tattoo Foundation's Youth Pipes & Drums Initiative will appear in the show. Students receive free lessons with the goal of feeding them into the Massed Pipes & Drums.
Tattoo Highland Dance Team
It's not a Tattoo without Highland Dancers! Dancers audition from all over for the chance to join the team, and they appear throughout the show with the Massed Pipes & Drums and will feature in their own scene!
Tattoo Choir
The Tattoo Choir is one of the backbones of the show, lending their rich voices throughout the show.
Tattoo Children's Chorus
The Tattoo Children's Chorus is made up of talented youngsters drawn from Halifax who perform throughout the show.
Megan Hamilton, Flamenco
Just call her La Azulita (The Blue), because Megan Hamilton is one of Atlantic Canada's most famed flamenco dancers. She's performed with orchestras and symphonies across the country, and is well-known for her grace, crisp and clean footwork, and her stunning stage presence.
Harry Knight, Flamenco Guitar
This ten-year-old phenom has been playing the guitar since he was only four! Harry Knight has the kind of career people dream of: he's performed around western Canada – including a stint at the Calgary Stampede Grandstand Show – and in Mexico, Spain and England.
Langley Ukulele Ensemble
Hailing from the Ukulele Capital of Canada – Langley, British Columbia – these teens will have you dancing in your seats! They perform annually in Hawaii and have plans to tour Australia and Europe in the future.
Titans Gymnasts
Tumbling is the name of the game for the youngsters representing Titans Gymnastics and Trampoline Club out of Dartmouth, all of whom are here to impress you as they soar through the air!
Brenna Conrad, Soloist
Brenna Conrad hails from Truro and has lent her beautiful soprano to the show since she was a teenager!
Marcel d'Entremont, Soloist
Marcel d'Entremont is a classically trained tenor from Merigomish who has studied music at Acadia University and the University of Toronto.
Cindi Cain, Soloist
We're thrilled to welcome Cindi Cain as she makes her Tattoo debut!
Heather Rankin, Soloist
Cape Breton's sweetheart Heather Rankin makes her Tattoo debut this year performing with the Tattoo Highland Dance Team. In her storied career, she's won Juno Awards, East Coast Music Awards, and toured the world.
Grace MacMaster, Fiddle
Grace MacMaster is a vibrant fiddle player presently based in Halifax who focuses on the Cape Breton fiddling style.
Tattoo Extras
This year, the Tattoo Extras can be spotted in our Act I Finale, which honours the end of the First World War, the Battle of the Atlantic scene, and in our Women in Service scene.
Tattoo Volunteers
At our core, the Tattoo is driven by the arduous work of countless volunteers who help in all areas of the production. Whether they're on the floor or behind the scenes, the Tattoo is grateful to everyone who has helped make our 40th show a spectacular!
Fanfare Trumpets
The Fanfare Trumpeters play short bursts of music and wear costumes reminiscent of the Tudor era!
German Air Force Band Münster
Münster is the cultural centre of the Westphalia region in western Germany, so it's no surprise that the German Air Force Band Münster pulls from a large musical catalogue that includes traditional marching, classical, contemporary, brass, pop and jazz tunes!
Team Airtime
How extreme is Team Airtime? This German team blends extreme stunts with precision and choreography to create a one-of-a-kind show you won't find anywhere else. Just don't try this at home!
Jordanian Armed Forces Royal Guard Silent Drill Team
Formed in 1977, the Jordanian Armed Forces Royal Guard Silent Drill Team has performed across the globe, and their main duties include greeting King Abdullah, training units for the Flag Parade, offering silent drill training for Jordanian and Arab military units, and providing security. They wear the official uniform of the Royal Badia Forces and carry rifles that date back to 1917.
Circassian Guards
The Circassian Guards have served the Kingdom of Jordan since the monarchy's founding in 1921, and although their role is largely ceremonial these days, they undergo eight months of training for self-defence, security, protocol and military techniques. The Guards carry two swords: the "shashka" and the "qama", and a chest guard of 16 rifle cartridges
Simba Zambezi
The Simba Zambezi Acrobats from Nairobi, Kenya, specialize in energetic gymnastic stunts: limbo dancing with fire, hoop jumping, human pyramids and skipping!
Nalmes State Dancers
The Nalmes State Dancers are Circassian dancers that have been performing since 1936. Their folk dances are based on elegance, strength, freedom and the spirit of Circassians, who were displaced from their home on the North Sea in the 19th century. In 2014, they performed at the Sochi Winter Olympics cultural program.
The Combined Singapore Police Force Band
The Combined Singapore Police Force Band is one of the oldest bands in Singapore, formed in 1925, aims to promote the Singapore Police through music. They've appeared all over the world: Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Japan, and now Halifax!
2d Marine Division Band
Based in North Carolina, the 2d Marine Division Band, or "The Division's Own", has been performing since the Second World War, when the band formed for the first time in Wellington, New Zealand. Since then, the band has provided musical support for all major commands, and its members have provided wartime assistance in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
North American Brass Band Summer School
Its us! Each year musicians come from all over the world to be a part of the North American Brass Band Summer School, now in its fifth year with the Tattoo. Receive expert lessons from some of the world's best brass band performers and appear in the show alongside the incredible cast outlined above yourself. Registration for 2018 is now full and closed - but call back regularly! Registration for NABBSS 2019 will be available soon...
In 2017, in addition to the NABBSS Band, the show featured performers from Australia, Canada, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States of America.
For RNSIT 2017, perennial favourites the Tattoo Highland Dancers and Massed Pipes & Drums returned, as well as the Fanfare Trumpets and Canadian Cadets musicians. The ever-popular Royal Canadian Mounted Police Ceremonial Troop also featured, while the Canadian Armed Forces were well represented by the Stadacona Band of the Royal Canadian Navy, National Band of the Naval Reserve, 5 Canadian Division Band and the Royal Canadian Navy Enhanced Boarding Party.
The Tattoo also featured appearances from the Halifax Regional Police as well as Halifax Fire and Emergency. The Tattoo Choir is another staple in the production and the RNSIT were delighted to have them back for their 35th consecutive year with the show.
Representing Western Canada, the 2017 Tattoo featured two groups from Calgary this summer. The Calgary Stetson Show Band is an award-winning marching music ensemble, while the Calgary Fiddlers are an impressive group of youngsters that have performed for Royalty, Prime Ministers and Presidents.
Joining the 2017 cast for the first time was Bradisha from Atlantic Cirque, highly skilled in aerial silks, contortion, cerceau and trapeze. Titans Gymnasts also featured, joining the Tattoo on behalf of Titans Gymnastics and Trampoline Club, one of the largest gymnastics clubs in Eastern Canada. The Acadian Dancers, La Baie en Joie also returned to perform in this year's show for the first time in many years.
The Kalutskih Brothers from Moscow, Russia are incredible acrobats and Guinness World Record holders who showcased their tremendous precision and power on the Scotiabank Centre floor in their first appearance at the Tattoo.
Leading gymnastic comedians D'Holmikers also joined the 2017 cast with their comedic "Horror Show" routine. These Swiss gymnasts are also award-winning performers, recently recognised by the renowned International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo.
The Western Europe contingent also included the famed IMPS Motorcycle Display Team, a team of talented youngsters from London, England. The IMPS start learning their trade young – some are just five years old – and they wowed the Scotiabank Centre audience for the first time in over a decade with the slick tricks that have made them world-famous.
The German Army Band Gebirgsmusikkorps Garmisch-Partenkirchen (try saying that fast three times!) from Bavaria has travelled around the world at least 50 times in their 61-year history. They appeared at the Tattoo both with their full marching band routine, and their unique alphorn quartet! On the subject of unusual instruments, and also from Germany, the Groove Onkles Stomp-style "trash percussionists" performed unique musical routines, using large garbage and recycling bins as instruments!
From the USA, the Tattoo were excited to host the United States Navy Fleet Forces Band, the "Finest of the Fleet", who regularly perform throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Ohio River Valley and Central & South America. And finally, from Australia, came the Scotch College Pipe Band. This Swanbourne, Melbourne-based band has been an icon of their school for 70 years, and this summer joined the much-loved RNSIT Massed Pipes & Drums.
It was a quite incredible global cast for the Canada 150 2017 Tattoo, and NABBSS was once again incredibly proud to be part of the line-up, with our own global membership that in 2017 was drawn from across Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Norway.
A promotional video preview for the 2017 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo can be found below, together with a (very) high speed of the full 2016 RNSIT (screened in just 1 minute!) Additional videos and images can be found at our social media feeds on both Facebook and Twitter.
RNSIT 2016
The 2016 Tattoo featured groups from Canada, Germany, Kenya, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United States of America. An introductory video featuring some of these groups can be found below.
Videos of individual featured RNSIT 2015 performing groups
Canada - RCMP National Ceremonial Troop
Estonia - Club Piruett
France - Paris Police Gymnastic Display
Germany - Heeresmusikkorps Ulm
Germany - Gym-Wheel Team Taunusstein
Norway - His Majesty The Kings Guard
The Sultanate of Oman - Pipes & Drums of the Royal Army of Oman
Sweden - Hemvärnets Musikkår Eslöv
Home Guard Band
United States of America - Middlesex County Volunteers Fife & Drums
Media Launch Promo
Additional videos of the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo can be found at the Tattoo YouTube channel here For a flavour of the full Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo and massed band scenes, videos of the 2015 & 2014 RNSIT Act One Finale plus the official RNSIT promotional video are included below


The event, organized under the motto "Building cohesion for a shared prosperity in the Danube Region", will address a wide range of topics from connectivity and regional mobility to economy (for fostering clusters development, transport, tourism and ICT). The first day of the Forum will focus on cohesion building: increasing economic convergence, regional connectivity and mobility, while the second day will be dedicated to ensuring better synergies, results and sustainability for macro-regional strategies.
Emphasis will be placed on the possibilities of creating synergies between macro-regional strategies and EU programmes and policies, as well as on the DTP's role in the region. Furthermore, best practices for embedment of objectives pertaining to macro-regional strategies within the mainstream operational programmes will feature on the agenda, along with discussions over the Revision of the EUSDR Action Plan and future opportunities of cooperation among key EUSDR stakeholders.
The 8th Annual Forum will continue the tradition of bringing a balanced number of high-level officials and independent civil society experts from both EU and non-EU countries that will share their current developments which could have an impact on the Danube region. In order to properly reflect the positions of all relevant actors of EUSDR during the 8th Annual Forum sessions, the RO Presidency is launching this call for experts.
a Curriculum vitae in Europass format, including the contact details (maximum 3 pages) and a color photo (jpg/jpeg).
All documents should be submitted in the English language, Word format (e.g. doc, docx) by 15th of April 2019.
The Romanian Presidency of EUSDR is looking forward to receive your recommendations for 1-2 experts from each EUSDR country. Travel costs for the selected guests, speakers and moderators can be reimbursed upon request, up to 600 Euros/per person. Accommodation costs (four stars hotels) will be covered up to a maximum of 2 nights, based on prior booking requests of the applicants.
For registration to the 8th EUSDR Annual Forum, all participants, inclusing experts and moderators are requested to use this link.


Welcome to the Material Handling Logistics Buyers' Guide. Locate key material handling and logistic suppliers and products by selecting a category or typing in a keyword. If you have questions about your listings or advertising opportunities, please contact Jacquie Niemiec or 216-931-9585.


The scenery around Viñales is simply stunning. The limestone karst landscape (yes, I had to google this) is characterised by flat fields punctuated by dramatic rocky hills. This landscape, coupled with green tobacco fields dotted with palm trees, makes for postcard-perfect scenery at every turn.
You can explore the local area by hiring a vintage car, on horseback, or on foot. We opted to rent bikes and to spend the day cycling around. The roads are mercifully flat, quiet and safe (if very pothole-laden).
Cuba is world famous for its cigars, and there's nowhere better to see tobacco farming in action than in the Viñales area. Guided tours can be arranged in the town, though we simply cycled until we came across a farmer rolling cigars on his farm. He was happy to show us the process and even let us take a turn. And the resulting cigars made great souvenirs to bring home (well, maybe not the ones we rolled).
Casa particulares are the best way to experience Cuba. Throughout our time in this country, we experienced nothing but warm and friendly hosts, clean and comfy rooms, and amazing hospitality. And our favourite casa of all was in Viñales.
There is no need to book in advance, we simply arrived by bus to find a throng of hosts offering rooms. We opted to go with Mabel, a friendly woman who took us to her casa and made us feel right at home. That night, we enjoyed an incredible home-cooked meal, then sat on the huge porch in rocking chairs, watching the rain thundering down.
Though the above-ground scenery is impressive, the cave system snaking below is also well worth exploring. Underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves are a feature of the limestone karst landscape (thanks, Google!).
There are many caves to choose from, so either ask your host or simply choose wherever takes your fancy. We cycled until we saw a signpost, then parked our bikes and paid the small entrance fee to one of the caves. We walked on our own through the underground tunnels, and were greeted at the other side by performers who entertained us with dancing, music and fire juggling.
Food is my favourite part of most trips, and Viñales is no exception! The food is incredibly fresh and vegetarian friendly (Cuba is surprisingly suitable for veggie travel).
We sampled a few restaurants in the town, but by far our favourite meal was at our casa particular. For just US$10, our host, Mabel, provided us with a huge array of dishes. Highlights included bean soup, fried yucca, and cheese with relish. The only thing we didn't like was how quickly we got full!
Click here for more awesome things to see and do in Cuba!


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By Jure Triglav in computer graphics — Sep 5, 2022
Compressing global illumination with neural networks
The following is a story that meanders left and right all the way until the end, but for the busy reader, the link to the demo is at the bottom of the page.
It was 5:33 AM – yeah, super early or something. But I couldn't sleep, since there's this thing we've all mostly forgotten about in the past few years. It's called jet lag.
But SIGGRAPH had just ended the previous day and left an intoxicating buzz of ideas swirling around in there, so being awake while the world was still just booting up, was a great way to give ample room for those thoughts to grow and morph into more concrete shapes.
It was my first time attending the yearly pilgrimage for computer graphics witches and wizards, and among the things that impressed me the most was just how singular the results of extensive digging (also called research and development) by an expert, or a team of experts, can be. And sure this is intuitive for just about any human endeavour, but in computer graphics, this process and steps along the way are also exceptionally visual, almost tangible. If the digging came to a halt at any one of the many incremental interim steps towards say, real-time volumetric clouds or realistic embroidery, the results would be quite inferior. The good people at SIGGRAPH simply rarely stop.
And so on that morning, I was thinking about problems that would require a lot of such digging (you know, for fun), and I was thinking about the limitations of web graphics, about mobile graphics, about global illumination, and about how smooth diffused light sometimes is and how we could possibly approximate that while keeping performance high and... Hey, wait a second! It is smooth! I wonder if we could describe some qualities of diffused light with simple math. Not simple math like that in the rendering equation, which ends up eating computation for breakfast, but simple like y = kx + n and its high-school friends like y = sin(x). And in fact, at that particular moment, I was looking at light from the hotel room's bedside lamp that bounced from a wooden surface back onto the wall and formed this lovely soft sinusoidal shape. If you took the surface of that wall, I bet you could construct some simple function that would describe the colours shown there. So I tried! And yeah, getting that initial shape is not too tricky, playing with the parameters of a polynomial, but then you still need to blur the edges in a very particular way and that's quite a bit more challenging – Argh! We're getting nowhere like this.
Oh. Wait.
I do know of a certain statistical method that's pretty darn good at adjusting and optimising many many parameters.
And so a new entry appeared in my notes:
What if we could train a very small neural network with all the different lighting scenarios for a specific scene, and do inference in real-time to get the desired fragment colour?
I closed my laptop and started to pack my bag. It was time to leave Vancouver behind and fly back home to Ljubljana.
The start of the dig
Now some of you reading this likely have a background in machine learning or computer graphics or both, and regardless of which of these groups you belong to, surely you're thinking this is crazy. And with good reason too! You're thinking light can behave in very complex ways, so there is practically no chance of teaching a small neural network all of that behaviour for even a simple scene. And you're right, of course! But see, being a newbie I didn't know that. I just thought about the smoothness of that diffused light I observed – and started to dig.
As with all good digs, this one also started with a literature search. Turns out neural networks have already been used for global illumination: Thomas and Forbes have shown that using a GAN they can compete with VXGI in terms of quality and performance. So you're telling me it is possible! Unfortunately, that result was for 256 pixels times 256 pixels image and on a massive GPU. Something more performant was needed, something that could run in a browser at 60 fps on a mobile device that's getting fairly long in the tooth - and a 16-layer neural network definitely wasn't it.
Getting something that performs well while keeping the quality high was going to be an issue, though. While that paper showed that it is possible for large networks with tons of parameters to accurately approximate a scene's global illumination, it also showed that smaller networks produced results of very low quality. And so the dream of teaching a network about all the different dynamic aspects of a scene (lights and objects moving and rotating, etc.) while also keeping it nimble was dissipating quickly.
Well... that sucks! Feels like a dead end. But you know what, maybe we should keep digging.
It is now clear that this lunch won't be free, so limiting the buffet options could be a good idea. What if we tried to merely replace a single static baked lightmap with a neural network, without any dynamic component at all? Just so we get our bearings. And how does one even represent images using neural networks? Enter, stage left, Sitzmann et al. and their "Implicit Neural Representations with Periodic Activation Functions" paper from 2020, in which they describe using sine as activation functions resulting in a network that is "ideally suited for representing complex natural signals and their derivatives." Hey, that sounds like exactly what we need!
So I got back to digging, setting up a Colab notebook, adding a custom activation function to a Keras model layer, testing how many sine operations I could squeeze into a fragment shader to help choose the depth and width of the neural network, and got to training. With x and y as inputs, red, green and blue as outputs, and only 4 hidden layers with 32 neurons each, this worked exceptionally well for a single image. So well, in fact, it felt like much more information could be stuffed in there!
So I modelled a scene in Blender with one rotating light, wrote a script to bake the diffused light for a single surface (namely the coloured plane on the left at the back of the box) 360 times, once for each degree of the light's rotation around a single axis, and added an additional input for that rotation, ω, and got to training.
The result can be seen in the video below – The first 10 seconds are the network's behaviour outside of the trained input range (specifically ω goes from -1.0 to 0.0), then 10.0s to 20.0s represents the diffuse light while the light in the scene goes from 0 to 360 degrees (ω from 0.0 to 1.0). And after those 20.0s the network goes back to dreaming about undulating velvety coloured hills and valleys, as the inputs slide out of range again (ω goes beyond 1.0).
In only 52kB of GLSL we were able to represent the diffused light that is the result of a light rotating 360 degrees and its rays bouncing off the various coloured surfaces in the scene.
This means that even though the initial dream of a fully dynamic scene isn't achievable (yet?), there is merit to the idea of neural networks representing diffused light with some dynamic components.
Alright, let's keep digging then.
The scene I modelled consisted of 9 other surfaces, which I then baked in the same way, and trained in the same way to eventually produce 10 individual fragment shaders, one per surface. Since the networks represented diffused light only, we have to combine their output with Three.js's direct lighting (and shadowing) capabilities.
The final result can be seen in the video below:
What you see here is a 748 x 1194 video, meaning that there are 893,112 pixels shown. Each of those pixels is doing inference on a 3,395 parameter network, 60 times per second (and this also runs at 60 fps on an iPhone Xs Max).
The demo also compiles to roughly 600 kB of JS, of which 400 kB are dependencies like Three.js, react-three-fiber and drei. Two hundred kilobytes is not a bad size for 10 neural networks and the required shader code, giving us resolution independent rendering of diffused light for one light rotating around its axis. As a comparison, the baked images used as training data added up to 1.8 GB. Additionally, it's hard to argue with the fact that the result simply looks good.
But argue we will! So, what's the catch? As you can probably already tell, there are quite a few, and I'll list them here just before the links to the demo code and shaders, so we're all on the same page, literally:
Each of these shaders takes a whopping 15 seconds to compile on browsers that use ANGLE as their WebGL backend on Windows. In practice, that means that your browser will freeze for minutes before these shaders are compiled for even a simple scene like the demo. This can be remedied by using the OpenGL backend in both Firefox and Chrome (see this discussion) and is not an issue at all on a Mac (compiles very quickly), but it's a real bummer. Maybe someone could look into that?
The dynamic component's light impact needs to be sampled (e.g. by baking 360 images for a light's rotation, baking 100 images of an object's movement, baking multiple images of changing material properties and so on) and then all of the surfaces in a given scene have to be trained for those conditions. This can be a laborious and computationally intensive process, even though it only happens once at build time.
Depending on what your scene is like, it might have complex diffused light qualities that exceed the capabilities of this small network (and will thus appear blurry). Some of this can be visible as artifacts on the rotating light's stand, as in that case its 5 visible surfaces were all mapped to a single image, resulting in qualities that the network struggled to learn.
First, here's a link to the shader for a single surface, where you can look under the hood, so to speak. It also allows you to get a feel for how the individual parameters affect the final output so feel free to play around (it can be surprising!):
Shadertoy BETA
And for the assembled demo, here's a link to a CodeSandbox, so that you can easily take it apart: https://codesandbox.io/s/exploring-gi-with-nn-lyfq9e.
Given the mentioned constraints it is unlikely that this technique in its current state will be useful beyond a very narrow scope of projects, but I firmly believe that making pixels smart is just beginning to show its potential. The ability to successfully embed a useful neural network in a fragment shader and still have it perform well was quite a surprise for me. Other than baking-type scenarios, one could also imagine, for example, a shader in a path tracing renderer that is trained for a specific dynamic scene to output directions of bounced light towards objects that are likely to have a major contribution toward the final pixel colour, instead of sampling the scene blindly. Or a shader for caustic effects in water, that's trained on fully ray-traced images, with the current phase of the waves above as input. What could you use it for?
Let's get back to digging.
https://twitter.com/JureTriglav/status/1565123047706824704
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I'm a life long Mormon from Utah who has always been very devout. Did the typical baptism, BYU, temple marriage, babies thing. I do feel like in the past I've had very real experiences where God has answered my prayers. However as time has gone on I've started to have more and more questions. I always justified it by saying this way of living works for me so it must be true. Polygamy just never sat right with me and some things I knew about Joseph Smith and church history were always in the back of my mind. Polygamy always made me feel like I wasn't as valuable as a man, and that my primary worth came from my reproductive abilities and being a mother. I'm a mother to a few young children and it's great but it's also not my only ambition in life and I want so much more. Also as I got older and met more diverse and amazing people I thought that surely this can't be the only way to worship God.
My husband was more strict than me with his devotion but as the years have passed he seems more distanced from the church than I am and may even really be agnostic leaning towards atheism. I've been the one getting us to church and to the temple.
I started researching from approved resources by the church and that left me with more questions. I decided there were too many things lingering in the back of my mind and decided to talk to a trusted confidant. They consider themselves a "buffet Mormon". They gave me many sources and I went into the abyss that is church history. I did my best to trace sources and look at things from both sides.
I'm still very much in the midst of grappling with everything but as of this moment I think I no longer really believe, I doubt if Joseph Smith was a prophet and then begin to question what it really means to be a prophet. I really think any church that helps you be a better person and come closer to God is a good one and there is no "one true church".
We're now trying to find a path for our family. We haven't paid any tithing for the past few months and have been semi-active. As for now I think the only way for me to cope with this crushing heart break is to keep being a member. I still think there is so much goodness from clean living and worshipping God. I have no interest in alcohol or coffee. Garments aren't my favorite but I still where them most of the time even though I doubt. I don't know how in the world to navigate this journey though. I read the essay on How to Stay LDS and it had some good insight but I still have so many questions.
My husband no longer wants to pay a full 10% of income since he doesn't think the church is true anymore (I'm a Stay at home mom who only makes a little money here and there). We're very united in finances usually and want to make a joint decision. It terrifies me to no longer have a recommend despite not believing anymore. And I talked to my husband about only paying on surplus and he doesn't want to do that either. I told him if we stay semi-active we should still pay some and he agreed and said maybe we could do a large fast-offering donation and give to charities. How do we navigate the tithing interview though? If we tell the Bishop we're only paying a partial tithe I don't want him to ask why. I don't want to divulge that I no longer have a literal belief in the church. We are introverts and my husband has some anxiety.
Also how in the world do I raise my children? They are still young and the oldest is still a few years from baptism age. I feel like a hypocrite expecting them to obey church standards when I don't believe in the church literally. Also I'm not sure if I want my sons to go on missions if it's not the one true church.
Does anyone have any insight? I really appreciate this forum and have been lurking here.
Last edited by VioletFire on 18 Apr 2018, 14:54, edited 1 time in total.
I am running late for a meeting across town, but wanted to welcome you. I will write more and give some responses to your questions soon.
I also have very little time right now, as my semester ends next week, but I too want to welcome you. I am sure you will get some excellent input.
Hi VF, I don't really have any answers, but I wanted to let you know you are SO not alone. I'm a fellow stay at home mom of little ones with other ambitions and I very much share your concerns about how to raise my kids now that I see things with the church so differently than I used to. I did the same as you, seeking out answers from church-approved sources and ending up with more questions. I wish we could meet up for a playdate! I just joined staylds as well and I'm hoping we can all support each other in this crazy journey!
For what it is worth, tithing as a principle is between you and God - so it is up to you and your husband to mull over/ask for revelation on how to pay tithing to God in your situation. God may accept your "tithing" as going to fast offerings and giving to charities. As representatives of the church, they can ask the question in "Yes/No" format - and you can translate what that means in your situation. You do not need to provide explanations for your translation because it is between you, your husband, and God.
I (and my spouse) am not expected as a parent to be everything/teach everything to my children.
Others have mentioned making sure that if you are in the middle of a faith transition, it is a good idea to expand your social networks so that you are not dependent solely on the church for social needs as well as religious/spiritual needs.
I focus on the basics what I am comfortable with. We have prayer because it is a good habit to be grateful for the things we have. We go to church because there are good lessons there and I am not ready to give it up [but we take more Sundays away from church and "trade up" as best as we can]. I focus on teaching reverence and basically a form of meditation during the Sacrament. What I can't teach about God/the Atonement, my husband can. In any case, it is most important to teach children that there are multiple perspectives out there, and how to handle conflicting views with respect.
Happy to have you here. Reading over your intro, especially your concerns with losing your temple recommend, I hope you know it's not as bad as it sounds. There have been a few good threads here on how to "pass" the temple recommend on your own terms, while still living according to your beliefs. Many on here still hold temple recommends despite taking an "alternative" approach to some of the commandments. All the more power to them.
I do not hold a temple recommend any longer. I still keep all of the commandments required (tithing, LoC, WoW, etc) as much as any True-Blue Mormon. But I cannot honestly answer in the affirmative to those beginning questions. There are too many caveats. For me personally, I feel it would be dishonest (no judgement on anyone here who disagrees). The wonderful news is, since I personally chose not to hold a recommend, I feel absolutely liberated. No one took it away from me. I chose to approach the Church on my own terms, and the Church has nothing to hold over me any longer.
I am a strong believer in the importance of temple attendance as a principle. It's very therapeutic to be able to step away from the stresses of life, and focus on what's important. But a temple can be just about anywhere you make it. Planetariums can be a temple. So can a graveyard, or a park. But I've found that the less control the Church has over my life, the more I am able to live according to my conscience, and the happier I feel.
Thank you so much everyone for your support. It's so nice to know I'm not alone. Going through all this feels very isolating. I think I may still be in a denial stage that this is all happening. My heart and my mind tell me different things, but I know it can't go back to the way it was.
AmyJ thank you. I think my husband and I are definitely going to have to mull over the tithing thing. I need to find a way to feel honest but also avoid awkwardness (if possible). Thanks for your perspective on raising children. It's so hard because I feel like the church sees things from black and white. I think my husband would almost rather be done because it sounds easier to him with kids but I still really want to stay in some capacity and make it work. He's open to that especially since both our families are very much in it. Expanding our network sounds like a great idea. I also appreciate what you said about learning good lessons like reverence from church.
Dande48 I get how those beginning questions would be hard to answer. It seems difficult navigating being true to yourself and not rocking the boat sometimes. I'm glad you found what works for you. I like your perspective of making others places temples- places to meditate and find spirituality. We still have about a year left before our recommends expire and to the end of the year to figure out tithing so I imagine we have a lot of time to mull things over. There's so much to think about.
I found it interesting to go back to the Jewish roots of Tithing and the principles behind it when I was pondering the tithing situation.
The church does see most things from a black and white perspective for a lot of different reasons. This can provide a measure of security and comfort in a black and white world. This can provide a measure of angst, stress, depression, and guilt in a black and white world. Adjusting my understanding of how the church views things in a black and white world when my world view is more prismatic was helpful in re-defining my expectations of the church, and my role within it.
There is one under"Being Authentic With Your Children" that might a good starting point (your mileage may vary).
How do we navigate the tithing interview though?
If it is not important to you to have a TR you could just not go. This leaves your bishop in a situation where he has to make an educated guess as to your tithing status.
I do not pay tithing. DW is a SAHM that does earn some small money through internet transcription. She pays tithing on her income (she actually deducts business expenses like the internet connection from her titheable total [and no we did not have an internet connection before she started]).
For our tithing settlement interview I go into meet with the bishop first with my family waiting outside. I very quickly let the bishop know that I am not currently a full tithe payer but that I support my wife and children in the payment of their tithes. DW knows the situation, the children do not. In order to not confuse or worry the children, I am making my tithing declaration separate from the rest of my family. The bishop may press somewhat but really time is on your side. There is a schedule to keep and a lobby full of people waiting.
In this or other bishops interviews I find it helpful to not divulge too much information - especially any that might make him defensive by attacking or criticizing the church or challenging the bishops authority. I personally had a tragedy in my family that I had felt could not happen to me in part because I was paying a faithful tithe. Discussion of how my personal expectations surrounding tithing were not accurate and how the resulting crumbling of those expectations has made extending trust/faith more difficult for me - has proven to be a fairly safe topic. It is relatable and does not blame the church.
The bishop will likely employ a number of arguments to convince/commit you to pay tithing. Some of these arguments may be fundamentally flawed. One example, my bishop said that tithing is perhaps the only commandment where an individual can be in 100% mathematically perfect compliance. the idea of being "perfect" in some aspect of his relationship with God seemed to be important to him. I did not argue with him or push back at all on his statement. I smile and nod to acknowledge his reasoning and keep any disagreement I may have to myself.
I believe that the concepts embodied in the following statements may prove helpful. I accept that my faith is not strong enough to pay tithing at this time. I am still a work in progress and I could see my faith growing in the future. I thank the bishop for his concern and his invitation to pay tithing. I am not ready to make a commitment at this time but I am working on my faith and will let him know when I am ready.
Lastly, be prepared that the bishop may ask for your husband to surrender his TR because of not paying a full tithe. There should be no problem with you continuing to hold a TR by paying tithing on your "little money here and there".
Again welcome - you are not alone!
Welcome aboard, I'm glad you found us.
First, let's dispel this myth (no offense intended to Amy). There is a (sometimes huge) difference in what people in the church teach and what the church teaches. This is of course complicated by the question of what the heck "the church" is. Is the Q15? The manuals and handbooks? Is it a spiritual entity not related to either of those? I've never figured out what the church teaches because I don't know what the church is, but I know what it's not. Anyway, long story short: It's very easy to conflate what people teach under the guise of doctrine with actual doctrine.
With the above in mind, tithing is one of those things that's mostly opinion. There are people here who don't pay tithing and they don't hold TRs. There are also people here who pay on gross, or pay on net, or lots of iterations between those two (no tithe on FICA, no tithe on tax, whatever) and there are those who pay on what's leftover after bills are paid. Most of these people do hold TRs if they want to. What does the church teach? I think that it's between the individual and God. What do people teach? All kinds of things. There's a guy in my ward who never fails to interject that tithing is on gross whenever the subject comes up - no matter how many times he's been corrected. Here's the TR question: Are you a full tithe payer? It's a yes or no question, just like all the others. If you believe the answer for you is yes, then the answer is yes no matter how much or how little you pay. No explanation required. There are several tithing threads here, the search tool works well.
Likewise there are several good TR threads, the best of which (IMO) are pinned to the top of the History and Doctrine section.
Kids are a toughie. The best advice I can give is that you are the main teacher of your kids, not the church. And, they're a lot more likely to adopt your ideals than the church's because they love you and are around you way, way more. Teach them what you believe. When they're old enough they'll decide for themselves anyway.


Here's a different take on the rain barrel…it looks a little like a pregnant belly but still better looking than a big plain barrel.
'A Drop of Water' is a rain barrel that makes saving water really easy by providing a watering can that is automatically filled when it rains. This way, the user doesn't have to fill the can with our precious tap water, but uses 'free' rainwater instead to water the garden.
Overlooking the odd hipster-y naked people on the website, I really like these Woolly Pocket hanging gardens, which come in all sizes.
I actually have a thing right now for vertical gardens. I recently read an interesting blog where she talks about a vertical vegatable garden installed on the side of a food bank building in LA.
MOSS SUND Architects and Fig Forty have created the fantastic CISTA Rainwater Harvesting System. The harvesting system provides 100 gallons of rainwater storage within an 8-foot vertical planted frame. Below right is the concept featured at the 2009 Interior Design Show in Toronto…..sure beats the typical barrel collection method!
I'm completely smitten with Ramon Middelkoop leather bag that was designed to look like a paper bag. It can be purchased through goodforall …. which unfortunantly is not in Eenglish.
My garden is no where near my hose, so I thought something like this Rain Barrel from Smith and Hawken would be perfect to set down by the garden and also save on water at the same time. Crafted from high-density polypropylene, this barrel catches and keeps 60 gallons of rain water close at hand for watering chores.
This line of furniture from Yothaka is made from pineapple paper, crafted from pineapple leaf fibers.
Oh this is brilliantly simple….
The AQUS System is an innovative water conservation device. The AQUS system capters water from the sink and filters and disinfects it to be reused for toilet flushing. Tucked inside the vanity below the sink, the AQUS reservoir works in conjunction with standard lavatory pipes and holds up to 5.5 gallons of water that is reused from the sink. A single hose connects the reservoir inside the vanity to the toilet, eliminating the unnecessary use of fresh water.
I just saw these great planters over at Apartmenttherapy. They are made from the renewable fibers of the abaca plant.
I love this countertop. They are 100-percent recycled aluminum tiles from Eleek, and they are rather expensive, starting at $95 a square foot. So I'll just post them on here so I can come back from time to time to drool.
The Finnish family business, Lasistudio reclaims glass bottles and jars without crushing them in order to create new objects. Their drinking glasses are made from reclaimed brown beer bottles.
I saw this concept design for power conservation and loved the design of it. Since everyone is talking these days about how you should turn off everything to avoid "phantom" energy use, this would be wonderful if you could purchase it.
This adapter displays useless energy consumption due to standby mode and automatically turns off office equipment that are left on unnecessarily. Each module corresponds to a device and monitors its power supply independently. If a device is in standy mode a layer of light glows, signaling for the user to turn it off. If the user doesn't respond, it will automatically turn it off after three minutes.
Until they come out with this, we'll have to make due with Belkins Conserve Surge Protector. Which actually isn't out till this summer, but least it has a release date, and it's not near as design blog worthy, but it does come with a remote for what that's worth.
I've always thought composting was intriguing…the thought that you can take gross old food and turn it into something useful. This is a wonderful size…and it says it has a carbon filter to quench any odors??
I need to recycle more. Right now I only do my cans (which I get paid for) and I know I should do so much more. I really like the simplicity of this recycle center but spending $169 is going to take cashing in a lot of cans. For those of you that aren't as poor as me…..
I just ordered samples of these to see better how they work. Sounds like a good idea though.
Ecoenvelopes I love free samples….
This clever waste container is accommodates standard grocery bags or 8 gallon liners. Integral handle design makes for easy carrying. Made from reclaimed automobile tire rubber.


text:
Panera Bread Franchise
Last Updated On January 2, 2023 by Amit Gupta
Panera Bread has become one of the most popular franchises in the United States and beyond, with over 2,000 locations worldwide. This quick-service bakery-café provides customers with a unique experience that cannot be found anywhere else.
However, before franchising with Panera Bread, there are important details to consider.
This article will provide an overview of how to franchise with Panera Bread and explain the franchise fees, training requirements, restrictions, renewal terms, and return on investment for potential franchisees.
With this information in hand, you'll be able to make an informed decision about whether or not becoming a Panera Bread franchisee is right for you. Let's take a closer look at what it takes to become a Panera Bread franchisee.
About The Panera bread
Panera Bread began life in 1981 as the Saint Louis Bread Company, a small bakery-café located in Kirkwood, Missouri. The first location was founded by Ken Rosenthal and Ron Shaich, two childhood friends with a passion for baking.
The two men had ambitious plans to expand their business.
In 1993, they changed the company's name to Panera Bread and opened more locations throughout St. Louis and other cities in the Midwest.
Over the next decade, the company grew rapidly—expanding nationally, acquiring new companies, and adding menu items such as salads and sandwiches.
In 2001, Panera acquired Au Bon Pain Co., Inc., giving it more than 500 bakeries nationwide. With this acquisition came some of Au Bon Pain's most iconic products, such as the Tomato Basil Bread and the Cinnamon Crunch Bagel.
By 2012, Panera had become the largest bakery-café concept in the United States, with 1,800 locations nationwide. At this point, Ron Shaich stepped down from his role as CEO to become Executive Chairman.
In 2014, Panera announced it was going public and became a publicly traded company on Nasdaq under the symbol PNRA. A year later, they purchased Paradise Bakery & Café, an Arizona-based café chain. This acquisition added nearly 100 more stores to their portfolio.
Today, Panera is a leader in fast-casual dining, with over 2,000 bakery-cafés in 43 states and the District of Columbia.
The company continues to innovate and create new menu items while staying true to its commitment to freshly-baked artisan breads and delicious, wholesome foods. In 2019, Panera also introduced delivery services in partnership with DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats and Postmates, and their delivery service.
Recently they have also begun offering catering services! With all these changes over the years, one thing remains consistent: Panera Bread is committed to making quality food with fresh ingredients for every customer!
The Business Model Of Panera Bread
Panera bread has different logistics related to franchises. They don't allow single-unit franchises. So it's not possible to open just one bakery-café.
If you are interested in opening a Panera Bread franchise, you must develop several units, typically 15 bakery-café in 6 years.
The franchise model of Panera Bread
Investment required $1,117,000 to $3,464,000
Liquidity $3 million
Royalty-fee 5.0%
Advertisement-fees 2.6%
Estimated Outlets 2100
Qualification For The Franchise
Cultural fit for bakery and a passion for fresh bread.
Experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator
Total commitment to the development of the brand
Infrastructure to meet the development schedule
Panera bread provides both baking training and retailing training. Baking Training is a six-week program.
You learn to grade product quality, time management, cleanliness, and efficiency in the training period.
And Retail Training consists of one week of classroom training and six-week hands-on training, and trainees shall be tested for knowledge and standard of procedures.
Panera Bread Comparison
Initial Investment $1,117,000 to $3,464,000 $23,100-$430,900
Franchise-Fee N/A $30,000
Total Outlet 2100 1,100
Annual Revenue $5.797 Billion $1.3 Million
What is the most popular Panera bread sandwich?
Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt
How good is Panera Bread?
Panera bread has a consumer rating of 1.74 stars from 266 reviews.
Does Panera Bread Offer Franchises?
Panera Bread doesn't offer single-unit franchises. Instead, they allow you to buy multi-units, typically their 15-bakery cafes.
How much does a Panera Bread Franchise Cost?
Panera Bread requires a franchise fee of $35,000, with an initial investment range of $942,200 – $1,600,000.
Who is the owner of Panera Bread?
Panera Bread is owned by JAB Holding Company, a privately-held company based in Luxembourg. The company was founded in 2012 and is owned by the Reimann family, one of the wealthiest families in Europe.
Categories Bakery Franchise Post navigation
Papa John's Franchise
Tropical Smoothie café Franchise


Making an honest living is difficult, wherever you may be in the world. I live in Melbourne, Australia and I have a decent job and a lovely family. However, sometimes the weather can get so hot here that it becomes unbearable. Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly fine if you are just coming here for a vacation, staying for a week and taking off. For that purpose, the weather is perfectly fine as it can help you have the vacation of your dreams. But if you have live through it day in and day out, you can get a little crazy. At least if you don't have any air conditioning.
And this is where I am getting at. As I said, I have a pretty good job, but I also have 3 young kids and my wife has to stay home to take care of them. Due to that fact, I was never able to set enough money aside to buy the cooling installation I need so much. My wife kept pestering me to play the scratchies in order to try to get some extra money, but I couldn't be bothered. All I cared about was getting through the month and putting enough money aside so that one day I could send all my kids to college. But after a couple of weeks of insisting, I finally gave in to my wife and started buying scratch cards. Winning Scratch Card Lost.
I should also say that if they weren't so cheap and if I couldn't find them practically anywhere in Melbourne, I probably would have continued to deny her. As I was basically tripping over them on my way home from work, I decided to buy several scratchies every week. For the first few weeks, we didn't manage to win anything, but I didn't feel like throwing it in my wife's face. During one fateful day, my usual route home was closed and I had to go through the Fitzroy area to get back. Even though the area is much more famous for its clubs and pubs and as a fun center for the city, I was able to find some scratchies there.
I got home and we started scratching together. When we got to the final card, we realized we had just won a pretty decent jackpot. From that moment on, I never had to suffer the heat in my own home again. I know it may not seem like much, but an air conditioning unit was really important to me and the scratchies helped me get it. Not only that, but I will put the extra money from the prize aside, to make sure my kids get the education they will need to survive.


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text:
Q: Dealing with xlsm with R I am trying to deal with an official .xlsm file provided officially by a earthquake research center. You can download the file from theXLSM. What I am trying to do is to code R that change specific parts of the xlsm and then re-evaluate the .xlsm and extract part of the excel file.
Using the freshly downloaded .xlsm file, I extract things without changing the file first:
library(XLConnect)
wb <- loadWorkbook("NGAW2_GMPE_Spreadsheets_v5.7_041415_Protected.xlsm",
                   create = TRUE)
setStyleAction(wb,XLC$"STYLE_ACTION.NONE")
library(readxl)
read_excel("NGAW2_GMPE_Spreadsheets_v5.7_041415_Protected.xlsm", range = "E23:G46",col_names=FALSE)

The results are:
    # A tibble: 24 x 3
     X__1  X__2  X__3
    <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
 1 0.0100 0.443 0.812
 2 0.0200 0.456 0.838
 3 0.0300 0.506 0.938
 4 0.0500 0.632 1.19
 5 0.0750 0.798 1.53
 6 0.100  0.902 1.74
 7 0.150  1.01  1.95
 8 0.200  0.978 1.88
 9 0.250  0.893 1.71
10 0.300  0.800 1.55
# ... with 14 more rows

Then I changed some part of the .xlsm and wanted to extract the updated things via the following code.
weight=t(as.matrix(c(1,0,0,0,0)));
writeWorksheet(wb, weight,
               "Main",startRow = 14,
               startCol = 3, header = FALSE)
saveWorkbook(wb)
read_excel("NGAW2_GMPE_Spreadsheets_v5.7_041415_Protected.xlsm", range = "E23:G46",col_names=FALSE)

However, the results didn't change as I expected:
# A tibble: 24 x 3
     X__1  X__2  X__3
    <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
 1 0.0100 0.443 0.812
 2 0.0200 0.456 0.838
 3 0.0300 0.506 0.938
 4 0.0500 0.632 1.19
 5 0.0750 0.798 1.53
 6 0.100  0.902 1.74
 7 0.150  1.01  1.95
 8 0.200  0.978 1.88
 9 0.250  0.893 1.71
10 0.300  0.800 1.55
# ... with 14 more rows

When I then opened the .xlsm file, it first pops up something like (please click and see):

After this, in excel the value is changed as expected. I saved the excel file and then I went back to R and run the code:
read_excel("NGAW2_GMPE_Spreadsheets_v5.7_041415_Protected.xlsm", range = "E23:G46",col_names=FALSE)

And finally it is changed:
    # A tibble: 24 x 3
     X__1  X__2  X__3
    <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
 1 0.0100 0.411 0.779
 2 0.0200 0.421 0.798
 3 0.0300 0.447 0.845
 4 0.0500 0.508 0.952
 5 0.0750 0.655 1.23
 6 0.100  0.792 1.50
 7 0.150  0.986 1.93
 8 0.200  0.978 1.92
 9 0.250  0.870 1.72
10 0.300  0.751 1.50
# ... with 14 more rows

Does any one know how to avoid the openExcel -> clickYes -> clickClose -> Save stuff?
Thank you all very much!
An maybe not relevant update:
This problem won't happen in MATLAB though... However, it makes me feel really bad that I have to either write the whole code again in MATLAB or I have to explore some R-MATLAB transition stuff...
Still looking for a better solution...
This is a good reference if you guys are interested:
https://mandymejia.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/three-ways-to-use-matlab-from-r/
outputRange='E23:I43';
filename = 'NGAW2_GMPE_Spreadsheets_v5.7_041415_Protected.xlsm';
sheet = 1;
xlsread(filename,sheet,outputRange)

ans =

    0.0100    0.4111    0.7787    0.2170    0.0010
    0.0200    0.4214    0.7981    0.2225    0.0042
    0.0300    0.4466    0.8449    0.2361    0.0100
    0.0500    0.5082    0.9521    0.2713    0.0315
    0.0750    0.6551    1.2259    0.3500    0.0915
    0.1000    0.7922    1.4991    0.4186    0.1967
    0.1500    0.9858    1.9298    0.5035    0.5506
    0.2000    0.9778    1.9221    0.4974    0.9709
    0.2500    0.8704    1.7183    0.4409    1.3504
    0.3000    0.7510    1.4951    0.3773    1.6779
    0.4000    0.5787    1.1618    0.2883    2.2985
    0.5000    0.4801    0.9721    0.2371    2.9796
    0.7500    0.3263    0.6692    0.1591    4.5566
    1.0000    0.2419    0.5025    0.1164    6.0048
    1.5000    0.1528    0.3202    0.0729    8.5354
    2.0000    0.1094    0.2313    0.0518   10.8676
    3.0000    0.0666    0.1396    0.0318   14.8858
    4.0000    0.0471    0.0979    0.0227   18.7140
    5.0000    0.0351    0.0730    0.0169   21.7952
    7.5000    0.0187    0.0389    0.0090   26.1710
   10.0000    0.0112    0.0233    0.0054   27.8543

M=7;
F=1;
VS30=500;
R=30;
xlswrite(filename,M,sheet,'B24');
xlswrite(filename,R,sheet,'B27');
xlswrite(filename,R,sheet,'B30');
xlswrite(filename,R,sheet,'B33');
xlswrite(filename,999,sheet,'B36');
xlswrite(filename,VS30,sheet,'B39');

xlsread(filename,sheet,outputRange)

ans =

    0.0100    0.1230    0.2293    0.0659    0.0003
    0.0200    0.1252    0.2333    0.0672    0.0012
    0.0300    0.1304    0.2416    0.0704    0.0029
    0.0500    0.1504    0.2780    0.0813    0.0093
    0.0750    0.1904    0.3516    0.1031    0.0266
    0.1000    0.2292    0.4255    0.1234    0.0569
    0.1500    0.2925    0.5520    0.1550    0.1634
    0.2000    0.3194    0.6154    0.1658    0.3172
    0.2500    0.3077    0.6038    0.1568    0.4774
    0.3000    0.2663    0.5270    0.1346    0.5949
    0.4000    0.2126    0.4244    0.1065    0.8444
    0.5000    0.1747    0.3517    0.0868    1.0841
    0.7500    0.1163    0.2371    0.0570    1.6235
    1.0000    0.0840    0.1736    0.0407    2.0864
    1.5000    0.0530    0.1105    0.0254    2.9604
    2.0000    0.0371    0.0779    0.0176    3.6807
    3.0000    0.0225    0.0468    0.0108    5.0209
    4.0000    0.0163    0.0336    0.0079    6.4612
    5.0000    0.0127    0.0263    0.0062    7.9098
    7.5000    0.0085    0.0176    0.0041   11.8785
   10.0000    0.0059    0.0123    0.0029   14.7570

A: This problem won't happen in MATLAB though... However, it makes me feel really bad that I have to either write the whole code again in MATLAB or I have to explore some R-MATLAB transition stuff...
Still looking for a better solution...
This is a good reference if you guys are interested:
https://mandymejia.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/three-ways-to-use-matlab-from-r/
outputRange='E23:I43';
filename = 'NGAW2_GMPE_Spreadsheets_v5.7_041415_Protected.xlsm';
sheet = 1;
xlsread(filename,sheet,outputRange)

ans =

    0.0100    0.4111    0.7787    0.2170    0.0010
    0.0200    0.4214    0.7981    0.2225    0.0042
    0.0300    0.4466    0.8449    0.2361    0.0100
    0.0500    0.5082    0.9521    0.2713    0.0315
    0.0750    0.6551    1.2259    0.3500    0.0915
    0.1000    0.7922    1.4991    0.4186    0.1967
    0.1500    0.9858    1.9298    0.5035    0.5506
    0.2000    0.9778    1.9221    0.4974    0.9709
    0.2500    0.8704    1.7183    0.4409    1.3504
    0.3000    0.7510    1.4951    0.3773    1.6779
    0.4000    0.5787    1.1618    0.2883    2.2985
    0.5000    0.4801    0.9721    0.2371    2.9796
    0.7500    0.3263    0.6692    0.1591    4.5566
    1.0000    0.2419    0.5025    0.1164    6.0048
    1.5000    0.1528    0.3202    0.0729    8.5354
    2.0000    0.1094    0.2313    0.0518   10.8676
    3.0000    0.0666    0.1396    0.0318   14.8858
    4.0000    0.0471    0.0979    0.0227   18.7140
    5.0000    0.0351    0.0730    0.0169   21.7952
    7.5000    0.0187    0.0389    0.0090   26.1710
   10.0000    0.0112    0.0233    0.0054   27.8543

M=7;
F=1;
VS30=500;
R=30;
xlswrite(filename,M,sheet,'B24');
xlswrite(filename,R,sheet,'B27');
xlswrite(filename,R,sheet,'B30');
xlswrite(filename,R,sheet,'B33');
xlswrite(filename,999,sheet,'B36');
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ans =

    0.0100    0.1230    0.2293    0.0659    0.0003
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    0.0300    0.1304    0.2416    0.0704    0.0029
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    0.1500    0.2925    0.5520    0.1550    0.1634
    0.2000    0.3194    0.6154    0.1658    0.3172
    0.2500    0.3077    0.6038    0.1568    0.4774
    0.3000    0.2663    0.5270    0.1346    0.5949
    0.4000    0.2126    0.4244    0.1065    0.8444
    0.5000    0.1747    0.3517    0.0868    1.0841
    0.7500    0.1163    0.2371    0.0570    1.6235
    1.0000    0.0840    0.1736    0.0407    2.0864
    1.5000    0.0530    0.1105    0.0254    2.9604
    2.0000    0.0371    0.0779    0.0176    3.6807
    3.0000    0.0225    0.0468    0.0108    5.0209
    4.0000    0.0163    0.0336    0.0079    6.4612
    5.0000    0.0127    0.0263    0.0062    7.9098
    7.5000    0.0085    0.0176    0.0041   11.8785
   10.0000    0.0059    0.0123    0.0029   14.7570

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Core Plot Selecting (Random) Points Challenge I have made a simple graph using Core Plot in Swift (Thank You Eric!) and have the following result.

Challenge:
What I would like to do is get the coordinates of the tap of the user within the plot area. So if the user Taps on the point 10,20 I should be able to get that retuned. Also if the user taps the point 14,20, 14 is not on the xAxis therefore it should get the nearest value which is 10, and would also return point 10,20. (This should work on both axes and the values returned should be the nearest ones appearing on the axes).

A: Use a plot area delegate and implement one or more of the following delegate methods:
-(void)plotAreaWasSelected:(CPTPlotArea *)plotArea withEvent:(CPTNativeEvent *)event;
-(void)plotAreaTouchDown:(CPTPlotArea *)plotArea withEvent:(CPTNativeEvent *)event;
-(void)plotAreaTouchUp:(CPTPlotArea *)plotArea withEvent:(CPTNativeEvent *)event;

Use the -plotPointForEvent: plot space method to get the data coordinates of the interaction point from the event.


Clearing brush and painting vacant buildings south of Eight Mile Road is not how many students expect to spend their last week of summer, but for University of Michigan's first-year law students it has become a biannual tradition.
Since 2015, over 300 University of Michigan law students have volunteered at the Denby Neighborhood Alliance's "Great Community Now" Day of Service in late August.
The Day of Service is part of a multiyear effort to revitalize the Denby neighborhood, a once thriving community that has struggled with vacancy, blight and crime. Denby residents have led the community's revitalization efforts, recruiting over 10,000 volunteers and securing millions in financial support from foundations including The Kresge Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Impact Detroit, and Life Remodeled. As a result, blighted and abandoned properties have been repurposed, boulevards beautified, and a new community park was built. But beyond the physical improvements, Denby's volunteer program has begun to shift outsiders' perspectives on Detroit and its recovery.
What makes Denby's story unique is the community's focus on youth empowerment. Denby High School students are leading the neighborhood's revitalization.
In 2013, Denby High School tasked its senior class with designing a community legacy project. Out of 200 submissions, one proposal rose to the top -- the need for a safe outdoor space that would provide recreational opportunities for everyone. The students decided to renovate Skinner Park, a largely abandoned park adjacent to Denby High School. They worked with Impact Detroit, an organization that provides support services to neighborhood revitalization efforts, to create a plan for building a community green space.
The students' initiative drew the attention of Life Remodeled, a nonprofit that helps Detroit neighborhoods achieve their revitalization goals. In August 2016, Life Remodeled availed the funding, labor, and materials necessary to achieve Denby's vision. In just six days, Skinner Park was transformed into community green space. Volunteers built a performance pavilion with solar panels and a storm water catchment system, a picnic area, playground, putting green, children's climbing steps, flower and produce gardens, as well as basketball, pickleball, and volleyball courts.
The Life Remodeled partnership has ended, but that doesn't mean Denby's revitalization efforts are slowing down.
Denby's future plans include building a botanical garden on the site of a former apartment complex. The community also plans to renovate two abandoned duplexes into energy efficient homes for homeless families. Denby's youth plan to get the work done by drawing on long-standing university rivalries to recruit hundreds more volunteers.
If you're interested in learning more about the Denby Neighborhood Alliance or future volunteer opportunities, contact Sandra Turner-Handy at the Michigan Environmental Council, (313) 926-9811 or sandra@environmentalcouncil.org.


Will there be plastic surgery under your Christmas tree?
How to give the gift of plastic surgery.
Looking for the perfect gift this holiday season? That perfect gift may just be a plastic surgical procedure. Here are a few tips if you are considering this most thoughtful and personal of presents.
Only consider this if your loved one has confided in you that he/she is considering "doing something" or that he/she just wishes that he/she could just "get rid of this ______(fill in the blank)". Remember, it's about him/her, not about you.
Make sure the lucky recipient is a good candidate for surgery. Good candidates for surgery are in good heath (physically and mentally) and are in a socially stable place in their life. If in doubt, shoot me an email and I can probably make an educated guess. Do not, I repeat, do not give the gift of liposuction as a substitute for weight loss. Need convincing that doing so is a bad idea? Check out my blogs on obesity.
Make sure that you can afford the surgery! You wouldn't want to have to back out because of sticker shock. I have a lot of ball park prices posted on my web site. Or feel free to shoot me an email and I can give you a financial idea of how much this could set you back.
Make sure that lucky guy/gal will be able to take enough time off of work and/or household duties to recover. It's misery to try to get back to work too soon. You want your gift to be a positive experience. I have recovery times listed for most procedures on my web site. Or shoot me an email.
Make sure you have nice package to present. You can't wrap up a tummy tuck or eyelid lift, but you can wrap up something they might love to wear or use after all the discomfort and bruising is gone. Maybe something sassy from Hanky Panky for that mommy makeover patient or a pair of beautiful Firefly earrings for that eyelid lift patient. Or for that dude of yours, how about a nice pair of Ethica boxer briefs You can include one of my practice brochures and a procedure brochure. Oh, I can just hear the shrieks of joy now!
And just think, your gift of plastic surgery will last years, even decades. You and your loved one will be enjoying the benefits much longer than a new car or television or laptop. Do the math. It could end up being a great value as well as a great gift!


I've been wanting to go self-hosted for ages now but I never really had the time nor any idea of what to do. I'd done my research but the whole idea of setting it all up on my own was scary. The last thing I wanted was to end up deleting my whole website.
When I handed my blog over to Blogger2WP I was nervous but they were super informative and really friendly answering any questions I had.
I thought it would take a few days but they got the website complete within a few hours and we went live the next day! I now love my blog more than ever. I honestly don't think I would have had the guts to sort out going self-hosted without their help.


Of course, I started with something "big" instead of a small seat cover – that's my nature…just go for broke. The worst thing that could happen would be that it looked terrible and I'd have to scrap it or bite the bullet and get it reupholstered.
Here's what it looked like when I bought it. I got from a lovely husband and wife who were moving the next day to Chicago and so I was in a position to get it at a pretty good price. I'm not the best bargainer but I got this loveseat, 2 wing chairs and a coffee table – for $150. Not too bad.
I originally bought this furniture for home staging purposes and I did use the loveseat the following month in a house that I staged, so it came in handy. But I hated the look of the dark wood and the shiny (cheap) damask patterned fabric. I knew that this loveseat could look great if you lightened up the dark wood and added beautiful linen upholstery. That would cost $$ – maybe $800 or more with fabric…and that was just not in my budget at the time. So, the piece sat in my storage unit after the house was sold.
A few months later, I thought I would just start working on this poor little loveseat, so I brought it back home. I started with just painting the dark wood with Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint and distressing it a bit first to see if that could improve it – and it did.
I kept it in my house for a year or so like that and it came in handy when we had holiday dinners etc as extra seating in the dining room. Two of my kids would sit on it at the end of the table – and my husband and I had two seats at the other end…and then I could fit 10 side chairs around the table – easy seating for 14.
First, I vacuumed the piece and I tried once again to get any soiled bits clean.
I took a spray bottle and wet the surface area of what I was painting first. I did try (on the underside of one of the cushions) a full strength mix at first but I felt that that left too much of a thick chalky finish so I switched to adding about 40% water to my Chalk Paint mix.
You want to scrub the Chalk Paint into the fabric – let it get absorbed. Multiple light coats are better than heavier coats.
After it was dry, I took a medium sanding block and sanded the fabric a bit. It helped to get it smoother. Before putting the second coat on, I sprayed the surface with water again. It goes on smoother this way. You may need to spray while painting as well – I did. It helped to spread the mix on the fabric better and helped even out the coat. I sometimes had to sand again, if there was any pilling of the fabric. You may or may not come across this but I was working with a slightly textured inexpensive fabric that tended to pill even without the Chalk Paint on it.
I had to go over some areas that had a blue coloration on them – they didn't seem to want to go away so easily! But – all in all they were not that noticeable.
I let the painted fabric cure overnight and then I waxed it with Annie Sloan Clear Wax. I buffed it a bit after about a half hour after application. I noticed that the fabric became so much softer – not stiff at all (which it was before waxing). The wax helps to bring it back. Some people who have done this method say their fabric looks like soft leather. Mine didn't really take that soft leather look. It just looks so much better…cleaner and newer than it did before.
Don't be afraid of trying this. It's time consuming (at least on a sofa or love seat!) but on a small chair or seat cover – it won't take you very long at all to do. So, if you have something that's been sitting in your garage or your house and you hate the upholstery – try it. With a small chair you could even do it with one of the sample sizes that cost so little.
My advice – try it! You have nothing to lose…except a little time, a little money and some elbow grease.
This entry was posted in Annie Sloan's chalk paint, Home Staging, interior design, Makeovers, Paint, Tutorials and tagged Annie Sloan Clear Wax, Annie Sloan Cream Chalk Paint, Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint, antiquing furniture, painting and distressing moldings, painting on fabric, transforming a loveseat, using Chalk Paint on upholstery. Bookmark the permalink.
I enjoyed reading about your experience with this piece. I have painted a few pieces, too, just not with chalk paint on the fabric. (I've lacked a piece that I could experiment on). I did use chalk paint on leather, and I tried the Design Master spray on fabric (it is meant for florals). I had a good result with both. I am right now sitting on an inherited French style sofa from the 1950s, and I have really wanted to try this. Now I might.
The fabric looks rather similar to what is on your piece, and this gives me hope that it could actually work! I keep a slipcover on it anyway because it is in my kitchen and things get spilled occasionally, so if it looks bad, I could just put the slip back on.
What a great blogpost you wrote this week. What a gorgeous store in Louisiana. I wish I could be there right now. So glad that I gave you some courage to try chalk paint on your fabric like mine. Give it a try. Let me know how you do!!
What a beautiful transformation! I've painted florals on fabric before, but never thought about painting an entire piece. In my mind, it would remain stiff, especially using chalk paint. I didn't think you could sand or wax it, and get better results!
Enjoyed the blog very much. I have been wanting to paint a chair.


For those who know him well, you know he loved people and loved sharing the gospel with them. I can't even count the times that he sat on the bench in front of Wal-Mart and witnessed and led people to Jesus as his wife shopped. I clearly remember his leading a waitress at Pizza Hut in Ohio to the Lord while I sat there eating. He's reaping those rewards today! I can still hear him, "Do you know the Lord?" or "Do you know that you are saved?"
Dad would come up at lunch when my husband was home and they would watch Star Trek together, seeing the smile on his face when he saw me and my family at church, hearing him say, "Amen!", the embarrassment of seeing him raise his hand at every business meeting our church held, watching him stand and testify in church of how the Lord saved him and changed him, singing with him at the nursing home, watching him enjoy Olive Garden for the first time, listening to photography lessons on tape in the car, watching him light a grill and run, listening to him talk about the red-headed cockney girl he liked in London during Korean War, watching him work difficult crossword puzzles in pen and complete them!
This is probably boring if you don't know my dad, but if you knew him and loved him I'm sure these are bringing memories to your mind as well. I would love for you to comment and tell me memories you have of him. I can't even begin to list all the different things that made him such a great Dad, but he was that---a GREAT dad and grandfather and will be missed tremendously around here. I know going to church is going to be tough for a while cuz it will be strange not seeing him there with me. But I can't thank the Lord enough for taking him so quickly and peacefully today. One minute he was breathing regularly and the next he shut his lips and didn't breathe again here on earth...wow! And, I know that he would've been touched to know that his whole family was there with him. "Dad, I will miss you these next years here on earth but am looking forward to getting a big hug from you when I reach Heaven's shores one day. Tell Jesus & Mom I love them...."
I only met your dad a few times but through you if seems I knew him for years. At our last Helping Hands I supervised some of our girls "cleaning" his and June's home. While in his bedroom cleaning and straightening I have never seen soooo many books (westerns mostly). Was it 3 bookcases FULL? While I was telling Stephanie today of his passing she also remembered that day too. She remembered that she was wearing a t-shirt that said "Mama said knock you out" on it and your dad read it and thought that was the funniest thing. Before leaving that day he told her that if she didn't behave her mama would knock her out.
He was such a likable and fun person to be around and will truly be missed.
We are praying for you and your family during this time.
"What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see. When I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace. What a day, glorious day that will be."
I didn't know your dad except through you sharing him on Facebook. I loved seeing the photos of him. This was a beautiful note of your memories. May he rest in peace!


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Ron Heston is running for a seat on the Southampton Township Committee. He could provide needed fresh blood to look at the problems facing Southampton. Like all levels of government, Southampton has not been immune to deficit spending.
Last year, the township�s debt was about $13 million, and more borrowing is being pursued. I look down New Road and see for-sale signs, and the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article that listed Southampton housing values dropping while surrounding towns are doing OK. Why is this happening � complacency or the path of least resistance?
Winston Churchill said, �Failure to plan is planning to fail.� Two years ago, Heston worked with Joe Laufer on a long-range plan for Southampton that was formulated after extensive interaction with residents. The plan won two prestigious awards. It was supported by the Planning Board, the Environmental Commission and our neighbors, who worked so hard contributing to the plan. However, Laufer was the only committeeman to support the plan, and the work of many volunteers died without so much as a hearing by the committee. Disrespectful. Dismissive. Sad.
I think Laufer and Heston have proved that they are willing to plan, face vexing problems, deal with the complexities of state and county coordination, and exert the effort needed to achieve those plans.


text:
Life's a Bitch
Ok, let's try this one...does this pic show up?
We Got Out At Just the Right Time- A Boomer Story
I began my career in Jan. of 1983. As luck would have it, I would spend nearly all of my law enforcement years in small town America. I didn't really plan it that way nor did I particularly like it at first- that's just the way it worked out for me. There were a few bumps, I tried to get out once, but as fate would have it- I would spend the better part of 25 years in small town America. They were good years mostly- until the end.
My generation, the boomers, had one foot in the lives of the Greatest Generation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation and the other foot in the lives of Gen Y and the Millennials. When I contrast those three generations, I am struck with awe. Only about 75 years separates those generations and yet they seemingly have very little in common. The Greatest Generation in a way- sold Gen X, Gen Y, and the Millennials out. I'm not sure the new kids have figured that out yet.
You see, old rich people run this place. That's how it has always been. People like Warren Buffet are the new plantation owners. And their job, indeed their self worth, is measured by how much they can exploit others and make even more wealth while pretending simultaneously- that they are great humanitarians.
The Greatest Generation were my teachers, people older than me, who had lived through or been influenced by the Great Depression. Most had very little, so they were frugal. I do not use the word cheap because they understood the cost and value of buying quality merchandise. Quality goods were made in America. We made the best houses, the best cars, the best motorcycles, the best guns, the best can openers. Americans made them. When we saw "Made in Japan" on a product we put it back on the shelf. Back then the government tended to side with the working stiffs and they told the truth about most things I think and if they didn't- our citizens were quick to forgive them because everyone knew they were on our side. The Greatest Generation supported government- not because they were stupid or gullible but because they believed our government was the best there was and it represented our values.
The children of the Greatest Generation were the Boomers. We were taught our work ethic from the Great Generation. We showed up on time, we fought for unions and benefits and got them, and we worked hard. What changed in our lifetimes was government. Government became crooked and unresponsive. With the death of JFK, the Vietnam War ratcheted up, and we found ourselves fighting some war that nobody really cared about. By 1971, Nixon had closed the gold window and forever ruined our currency's gold standard. By 1973, Nixon was caught in a bungled burglary of Democratic Headquarters during the 1972 elections. We were held hostage, watching Watergate proceedings on television like the Watergate burglary was the crime of the century. People lied under oath, Nixon failed to produce a segment of tape, and the whole thing seemed like some shameful charade. Eventually Nixon resigned and went away. The boomers were entering the workforce enmasse' and were starting to work through the ranks.
We had a number of other shocks, mostly economic, and the failed Presidency of Jimmy Carter which ended in 1980. I have always thought Jimmy Carter was just too nice of a man to be President.
The 80's brought about Ronald Reagan and Reaganomics, the best music ever, and a stock market bull which arguably lasted more or less through 2007. That bull market spanned 25 years- the start and the end of my working life- almost to the very month.
At the end of my career, I was hiring the members of Gen Y. They were latch key kids. Kids from broken households- the kind Reagan warned us about. Their education, their knowledge of our history and of our government was poor. They were apathetic. They didn't just distrust government, they avoided the subject altogether. They seemed to care more about computers, video games, and cell phones than actually doing something physically constructive. Like every generation, they were self absorbed and thought they were smarter than those who preceded them. I think that is a thread of commonality that we all share.
I got out of the workforce in 2007 at the ripe old age of 46. I knew the markets were about to crater at that time so I adjusted everything I had- pulled it out of equities and beat the rush into bonds that occurred in 2008. I had just enough dough set aside to make it to age 50- when I would start getting retirement checks.
I was able to do that because I paid attention to history. That's it. I have always relied on history to tell me what to do next.
After the crash of '08, worker salaries and benefits were destroyed. Production and manufacturing jobs were lost to NAFTA, Mexico, and the Pacific Rim. Government has never been worse- our leaders are nothing but pathological liars- following some unwritten historical script that must take place before the fall of our Republic. Wall Street bankers own our government now- they are part of the script. They most certainly will bring about the final collapse.
Indeed, in my short life, I have seen the Greatest Generation and I just don't think they were that great. One day there will be a calamity of such magnitude and duration that it will most certainly spawn a new sense of what is important and what is not. That's how I think these things reset.
Gen X, Gen Y, and the Millennials have inherited a mess. It will not matter who was responsible for it. The only thing that will matter will be whether or not these generations are capable of diagnosing all of the problems that this country has contracted and whether or not they can plot a course for recovery. Unfortunately, they do not have history on their side. I cannot think of one time in history, when a deeply diminished and bankrupt society realized what was happening to them, stopped it, and plotted a course for recovery that didn't involve war.
Our entire culture has changed. I look at the the young kids now days and I can't believe they are still working for the same shitty wages we have always seen without benefits. Wages haven't really moved up in 30 years. Those that do manage to get a leg up are increasingly exploited. My gal has made the leap to restaurant manager only to find herself working 60-70 hour weeks with non stop texts and phone calls during her "non working" hours. All that for a measly 50k and benefits. It all works out to about 18 bucks an hour because if a company wants to avoid paying overtime, they simply make you a manager and get around it.
I often watch her race off to work for another 12 hour day, every day, 5 or 6 days a week. This upcoming week, she has no days off. Work is like a war zone for her and she returns home exhausted. How long can people endure this? I don't know. Left with no other choices, human beings can tolerate a lot of misery.
We had it pretty good. All I had to do was 25 years and out. Just a few eternal days, health and dental insurance,40 hour weeks with overtime and an employer/employee retirement program.
Boomers didn't sign NAFTA or get rid of Glass Steagall. We didn't lever up and exploit every would be homeowner with pick a pay loans that issuers knew would never be repaid and didn't care- because they were going to sell them off anyway while greasing an entire industry to lie about their triple A rating. We didn't steal a few trillion from the treasury either- to keep our hordes of wealth intact.
You see, old rich people run this place. The old, rich people were still in charge 10 years ago. They were in charge of protecting all the wealth they had accumulated, privatizing profits for themselves and socializing losses. They were not ashamed to steal a few trillion from the Treasury in 2008 in order to keep their estates intact- they just had to find the right people to let them get away with it- which they did.
A lot of us, a few of my older boomer friends, we got out at just the right time. I see that all very clearly now.
The Greatest Generation- Tom Brokaw called them that. Surely, it must be true if Tom Brokaw said it. Old, rich people using whatever means they can muster to hang onto their fortunes. People like Warren Buffet, the Koch brothers, Kerkorian. Come to think of it, Brokaw at age 75, is exactly the kind of old, rich guy that runs this place. Why wouldn't you label yourself a member of the Greatest Generation? In the end, it always seems to make sense.