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Formula for Dollar General Growth
Mike Troy
Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos leads an army of more than 120,000 employees tasked with executing the company's strategy of serving others at a network of stores that will surpass 14,000 locations in 2017.
It's not easy being Dollar General. Its core customers tend to be on fixed incomes or low wage earners. Their real incomes haven't risen in more than a decade even as expenses for such things as health care and rental housing have risen steadily. Meanwhile, recent years have seen the federal government reduce nutrition assistance funding from a peak of about $76 billion in 2013 to $66.6 billion last year.
Dollar General serves a customer that even in favorable economic conditions tends to be under duress, which is why more than 80 percent of the approximately 11,000 items found in its stores sell for less than $5. Attempting to grow sales by selling more stuff to people of limited means is a challenging proposition made even more so several years of flat to declining prices in the food and consumables category, which accounts for three fourths of Dollar General's sales. Then there is the issue of competition. Walmart has been on a two-year roll of reporting traffic increases to its stores as cash-strapped shoppers benefitting from low gas prices have been willing to drive a bit further to shop at their local Walmart. Catering to the same lower income shopper are Aldi and Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, which merged two years ago.
No wonder then that 2016 was a challenging year for Dollar General and the company has offered a restrained view of the current year performance due to some self-imposed expense pressures. Sales last year increased 7.9 percent to nearly $22 billion and net income rose 7.4 percent to $1.25 billion but those figures were aided by the inclusion of a 53rd week in the fiscal year and driven almost entirely by the addition of 900 stores. A meager same store increase of 0.9 percent helped the company keep alive its streak of 27 consecutive years of comp store growth. The repurchase of nearly $1 billion worth of stock contributed 20 cents a share to full year earnings of $4.43 cents, a 12.2 percent increase from prior year earnings per share of $3.95.
During the current year, a forecast of four percent to six percent sales growth will be driven largely by the addition of selling space with Dollar General continuing to raise the bar on what is possible with new store openings. The company plans to add an astonishing 1,000 units but put the upper limit of same store sales growth at two percent. Earnings per share may actually decline from last year's $4.43 based on the $4.25 to $4.50 range of possibilities the company envisions.
One of the key reasons Dollar General the potential for a profit decline exists this year involves a $70 million investment in store manager training and compensation that will create an earnings per share headwind of 16 cents.
"Being an old operator as I am, the store manager is the key linchpin to everything that happens at retail; always has been and at least probably in my lifetime as a retailer always will be," Vasos said during the company's fourth quarter earnings call in March.
The store manager role is especially critical at Dollar General given that store managers perform a wider range of operational tasks than their peers at larger retail operations due to the structure of the Dollar General store operations team. The typical Dollar General is staffed by a store manager, one or more assistant store managers and three or more sales associates.
The DG decade at-a-glance:
Same store sales have deteriorated as Dollar General store openings have accelerated.
Dollar General places a great reliance on the small army of managers who operate its network of more than 14,000 locations, which is why increased pay and training is expected to yield better customer experience scores, increase sales, reduce inventory shrinkage and further reduce turnover, which the company says is already at a four-year low. The pay hike comes as Dollar General is in the midst of its most aggressive hiring effort in the company's 78 year history with 10,000 new position to be filled this year. Dollar General needs higher caliber employees because of the direction the company appears to be taking with merchandising, introducing new complexities to store operations as it looks to become a bigger play in fresh categories and traditional drug store categories.
"Based on the lessons learned from the conversions of our recently-acquired Walmart Express locations to our Dollar General Plus format that include fresh meat and produce, we're remodeling about 300 traditional stores to include 34 cooler doors, an increase of about 160% from the existing cooler footprint in these locations," according to Vasos. "This allows for a much greater perishable assortment which helps drive trips and basket size. Additionally, across about one-third of these locations, we're testing an assortment of fresh produce."
In Dollar General's oldest stores the company is also adding more refrigerated space which requires adherence to cold chain compliance procedures vastly different than replenishing dry grocery or household chemicals.
"We have a focus on stores that have fewer than 10 cooler doors which in relative terms are expected to drive the highest returns. By the end of 2017, we anticipate that across our store base we will have an average of 17 cooler doors, up from 10 in 2012," Vasos said.
Another key merchandising initiative relates to expansion of the health and beauty area. Much of Vasos' career was spent in the chain drug industry and several members of the retailer's board have extensive drug store experience so the move seems overdue.
Dollar General's value message is communicated extensively to shoppers throughout stores.
"Health and beauty represents large and growing department at Dollar General. These products remain a significant opportunity for us to increase our share of wallet with our customers as we have only about half of the share with our customers in these areas as compared to other consumables like paper and cleaning," according to Vasos.
Unbridled Expansion
Dollar General plans to open 1,000 stores this year, which is simply astonishing in the broader context of the retail industry. Store closings are at record levels due in large part to department stores and specialty retailers rationalizing their operations but other successful retailers are still moderating their physical aspirations to allocate greater resources to bolster technology and supply chain capabilities to better serve consumers' desires for a seamless physical and digital experience.
The addition of refrigerated space to many stores has made fresh food an increasingly important part of the Dollar General value proposition.
Dollar General has enjoyed some digital success, most notably with digital coupons that were launched about three years ago. The company said its digital coupon enrollment increased by 200 percent last year and that the average transaction that involves digital coupons runs twice the company average. The company also offers a subsrcription service branded as DG AutoDeliver.
Despite such digital initiatives, Dollar General is all about stores. The 1,000 new stores it plans to open this year are on top of 900 last year. In addition, Dollar General is expanding with acquisitions. It bought 42 former Walmart Express small format stores last year and more recently the Federal Trade Commission approved Sycamore Partners' application to sell to Dollar General 323 former Family Dollar stores it acquired from Dollar Tree two years ago as a condition of Dollar Tree's acquisition of Family Dollar. Between openings and the acquisitions, Dollar General's store count will swell by roughly 1,300 units this year. That makes the company an extreme outlier in the retail industry, but its physical obsession is rooted in some solid fundamentals. It costs Dollar General only about $250,000 to open a store. This year, about 45 percent of capital spending expected to range from $650 million to $700 million will go toward new stores, relocations and remodeling activity. The company's average store does about $1.6 million in annual volume and generates sales per square foot of about $226.
"We continue to be pleased with the return on investment and performance of our real estate program, as our new stores overall are yielding returns of approximately 20%, according to Vasos.
Why wouldn't Dollar General open more stores? The company's value proposition embodied by the slogan, "Save time. Save money. Every day!" has at its heart proximity to the customer along with low prices. Historically that has meant targeting smaller more rural communities, which is why roughly 70 percent of the company's stores are located in towns with fewer than 20,000 people. While expansion opportunities continue to exist in those areas, Dollar General is more aggressively probing urban areas with a smaller format store that measures less than 6,000-sq.-ft. compared to the standard store size of 7,400-sq.-ft.
"Given our success over the last two years with the results of our smaller box that is less than 6,000 square feet used in certain metro and rural locations, we anticipate opening an additional 160 locations this year, bringing the total smaller box store count to about 250 by the end of 2017," Vasos said.
Supply Chain Expansion
The rapid expansion of Dollar General's store network is made possible by equally aggressive investments to add supply chain capacity. The company opened a new distribution in San Antonio last year and then in January its 14th distribution center came online in Janesville, Wis., strategically located 100 miles northwest of Chicago. By this fall, Dollar General's 15th distribution facility is set to open about an hour south of Atlanta in the town of Jackson.
Every day low prices are key to Dollar General's success, but true to its name an offering of single price point items are key to the assortment.
Both facilities illustrate how the company is optimizing its supply chain infrastructure to shorten the distance trucks travel to more efficiently replenish stores and potentially support greater growth in urban areas. For example, at the end of last year Dollar General operated 481 stores in Illinois and 133 in Wisconsin, but relatively few of those units were located in Chicago or nearby Milwaukee, both of which are easily serviceable from the new Janesville facility. The same is true of the new facility coming online this fall near Atlanta. Dollar General's 758 stores in Georgia are currently served by distribution centers in the contiguous states of Florida, South Carolina and Alabama, so the new facility will make it easier to support Atlanta area growth.
Dollar General is also adding capacity to support its expansion in underpenetrated markets in the Northeast. After the Jackson facility opens the retailer's next big supply chain project is in the town of Amsterdam in upstate New York. Dollar General ended last year with 358 locations in New York, which isn't a lot considering the state has nearly 20 million residents. Expected to open in 2018, the new facility will support existing New York stores and presumably a bunch more as well as expansion in nearby Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, where Dollar General operated 84 stores at the end of last year. The Amsterdam facility will relieve pressure on a distribution center in the eastern Pennsylvania town of Bethel that opened in 2014.
Striking black endcaps loaded with value priced impulse items serve as a gateway to expanded beauty departments.
Dollar General has not announced any additional supply chain projects, however it is apparent that additional capacity will eventually be needed in the Western U.S. if Dollar General hopes to realize penetration rates closer to what it enjoys in some of its more mature Southeastern markets. For example, Dollar General serves the nearly 4.9 million resident of Alabama with 688 stores. By comparison, there are only 185 stores in California supported by a 600,000-sq.-ft. distribution center — Dollar General's smallest — which opened in 2012 when the company entered the state. If Dollar General were to apply an Alabama-like penetration rate to California the state would have 5,500 stores.
As unlikely as that seems it also seemed unlikely that Dollar General would be in its current position a decade ago. The company mustered a profit of $138 million on sales of $9.2 billion the year before Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. acquired the company for $22 a share deal in a deal valued at $6.9 billion.
Private equity was good for Dollar General as the new owners brought in new management, did away with outdated practices such as packing away unsold seasonal inventory to resell the following year. KKR also hit the reset button on store growth, closing 400 stores and establishing new site selection processes that would fuel the company's subsequent expansion.
Vasos joined Dollar General as chief merchandising officer shortly after the company was acquired by KKR. He had spent the prior seven years with Longs Drug Stores, an operator of larger format stores along the West Coast and prior to that held leadership roles at Phar-Mor, a deep discount drug store concept and Eckerd Corp, a drug chain that was sold to CVS and Canada's Jean Coutu Group. Dollar General went public again in the fall of 2009, Vasos was named COO in November 2013 and by the following month KKR had sold its stake in the company.
Elevated to the role of CEO about two years ago, Vasos leads a company whose growth is rooted in the longstanding mission of "serving others" that is one of the key variables in the company growth formula. Visitors to the company's home office are reminded of this mission in the Hall of Values adjacent to reception area and employees are reminded of the mission also in a code of conduct they sign annually.
"Serving Others means providing our customers convenience, quality, and great prices, our employees respect and opportunity, our shareholders a superior return and our communities a better life. As CEO, I pledge to uphold both the letter and the spirit of our code. As a fellow team member, I expect you to do the same," Vasos explains in the code.
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By Neil Pond	Movie Reviews
Plucky Penguins win your heart in Disneynature docudrama
Narrated by Ed Helms
Directed by Alastair Fothergill & Jeff Wilson
Raising a family is a full-time job; being a couple is a commitment; parenting can be a very challenging gig.
Just imagine doing it in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet, surrounded by predators who want to eat you—and your kids—and having to restart the process every year.
That's the situation for Steve, the little Adélie penguin in Disneynature's Penguins. Adélie penguins, named for the wife of 19th century French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, live along the coastline of Antarctica, their only natural habitat.
We meet Steve in the opening scene, waddling along over snow and ice on his annual migratory trek to his birthing grounds. We learn that this is Steve's first solo trek, without his parents, and that he—along with millions of other male penguins—is on a single-minded mission to mate.
The guys will build nests out of rocks and pebbles, find gals and start families.
Disneynature, a documentary branch of the Disney empire, has been making theatrical nature and "wildlife" films for 10 years. Maybe you've seen Earth, Oceans, African Cats, Chimpanzee, Bears, Monkey Kingdom or Born in China. Both educational and inspiring, they're the latest addition to the Oscar-winning Disney lineage of true-life animal movies, which extends back to the 1940s.
Penguins is a nature documentary, yes, but the filmmakers give it a snappy, immensely entertaining, with-it spin, from classic rock music and clever editing to the narration of Ed Helms, who also provides the voice (and thoughts) of Steve. The actor from TV's The Office and the Hangover movies brings just the right undeterred-underdog vibe to the part, channeling the plucky, pint-size penguin's unflagging determination and drive to succeed—and survive.
As movies go, it clocks in at a crisp 76 minutes; some other flicks would only be warming up by the time this one's wrapping up. But it's a poignant tale, filled with tension, comedy, fun, suspense and romance. I particularly loved the part where Steve finally finds a mate, Acdeline, and they swoon and coo together—to the fulsome swells of REO Speedwagon's "an't Fight This Feeling Anymore."
There are other tunes by the Average White Band, Patti LaBelle and Whitesnake. Steve may be living on the ice-cold end of the Earth, but his playlist is blastin' pretty hot.
Soon Adeline has two eggs, then two baby chicks, and Steve is a first-time father. He's got to be on the lookout for danger just about everywhere—from the air, where predatory birds called skuas are always on the hunt for the smallest, weakest and youngest chicks; and in the water, where leopard seals and killer whales would love to snarf up some penguin appetizers.
You learn a lot in Penguins. About how Adélie penguin "couples" can pick each other out from hundreds of thousands of other penguin pairs—even after they separate at the end of the mating season, to spend the winter swimming free in the wide, open water. How they build nests, and how pebbles and rocks are real commodities. About the hurricane-force katabatic winds that can sweep across the ice, burying the penguins in snow. About the millions of forms of life that return to the Southern Ocean when it comes alive anew every year in the summer thaw.
The photography is spectacular, and some insets during the end credits hint at the extraordinary filmmaking efforts involved—a combination of underwater, aerial and "conventional" techniques, but all done in the most inaccessible place in the world, five million square miles of ice where it's full sunlight for six months, then full darkness, and where temperatures can drop to 122 below zero. I'd gladly watch a full movie about the making of this movie.
Penguins is timed to coincide with Earth Day, Monday, April, 22, and a portion of every ticket purchased during opening week will go toward the Wildlife Conservation Network to help protect penguins across the southern hemisphere—like Steve and Adeline.
As the movie tells us, Steve's new role as a father is one he's been "preparing for his entire life." Penguins reminds us of the grand cycle of life not just for Steve, but for nature in general—the mystery of animal instincts, the majesty of their domains and their marvelous, miraculous adaptability.
And as Earth Day approaches, it reminds of the awesomeness of our precious planet, teeming with life, spinning with seasonal spawn and carrying on the constant business of renewal, reawakening and rebuilding.
"If all goes well," Steve says, he and Adeline "will see each other again next spring." Hey Steve, we're all pulling for you two!
In theaters April 17, 2019

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Bronx Carnegie Library: Woodstock Branch
CLIENT: New York Public Library
ARCHITECT: McKim, Mead & White
STYLE: Renaissance Revival
Carnegie Library New York Public Library
Entrance façade of the Woodstock Branch Library, 2010
Block: 2657, Lot: 30
Lot Area: approximately 9,250 sq. ft. (50' x 185')
Building Area: approximately 21,750 sq. ft. (50' x 145')
Year built: 1913-1914
Architect(s): McKim, Mead & White
Builder(s): E.E. Paul Company
Designation: New York City Individual Landmark since 2009
Architectural Classification: Renaissance Revival
Foundation: Brick with limestone cladding
Walls: Brick with limestone cladding
Other: Limestone parapet, band courses and other decorative detail
The Woodstock Branch of the New York Public Library stands three stories tall on a long rectangular lot whose palazzo-style front faces East 160th Street between Forest and Twinton Avenues in the Morrisianna area of the Bronx.
The Woodstock Branch of the New York Public Library is clearly recognizable as a Carnegie Library as it shares many characteristics with other branches. As the seventh (out of nine) Carnegie branch library to be constructed in the Bronx, it is nearly identical to McKim, Mead & White's West 40th Street Branch, built in 1913, and a simplified version of their design for the library at Tompkins Square, constructed in 1904.
Its offset entrance and elevated first floor allowed for spacious reading rooms with south-facing windows that were carefully placed in order to maximize natural light for reading.
The library officially opened on February 17, 1914. The site cost $14,000. The cost of erecting the building, including all related construction equipment, was $116,760. The entire cost of the project was $130,760.
The Woodstock Branch library was designated an individual New York City landmark on April 14, 2009.
Narrative Description:
Construction and Layout:
The Woodstock Branch of the New York Public Library is organized into a tripartite scheme and is rectangular in plan. It is of masonry construction with limestone cladding that once shared party walls with the adjacent buildings. Currently, the library is freestanding as the adjacent buildings have been demolished.
Clad entirely in rusticated Indiana limestone, the principal facade is three bays wide with an offset entrance within a rusticated stone base. Large round-arched window openings characterize the first and second floors with smaller rectangular windows on the third floor. The entire principal façade projects slightly from the masonry wall. A thin border of ashlar, creates the effect of framing the principal façade.
The left bay on the first floor contains the library's main entrance. The original wood-paneled door was replaced in 1966 with an aluminum door with a glass transom. At this time, the fanlights in all the arched-openings were also filled in. The remaining arched bays on the first floor contain pairs of divided-light double-hung windows with engaged balustrades in the spandrel panel and a fanlight above. All three arches on the first floors are topped with limestone voussoirs.
Round-arched windows with thin pilaster-like mullions sit atop a molded limestone watertable on the second floor. Each is surmounted by an intricately-carved tympanum with a bas relief carving at the center and each is accented by a limestone voussoir. The westernmost tympanum depicts an anchor surrounded by laurels inscribed with Anchora Spei ("Anchor of Hope") that is set within a concave roundel with rosettes. The middle tympaneum depicts an open book surrounded by acanthus scrolls. The easternmost, also set within a concave roundel with rosettes, depicts an anchor clasped by two hands below the Christian symbol Chi-Rho, meaning "good", and inscribed with the Latin Concordia ("Peace"). Four limestone pilasters extend from the watertable of the second story to the bas-relief frieze below the cornice.
Windows of the third floor are rectangular six-over-four double-hung sash, separated by similar "pilaster-like mullions that sit on simple limestone sills that are flush with the façade. A continuous lintel reads as an architrave supporting the bas-relief frieze embellished with fleur-de-lys and acanthus leaf motifs. An inscribed molded panel at the center of the frieze reads: "NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY". The library is capped by a denticulated cornice and a parapet framed by limestone coping.
The interior of the library was designed to be open and spacious with high plaster ceilings and large windows that provided considerable light for reading. Each of the rooms had simple plaster cornices and simple wooden window moldings. The first floor contains a large open circulation and reading room with the librarian's station at its center.
The second floor contains the library's offices that border the second reading room. Like the first floor, the reading room is very spacious with high plaster ceilings and molded cornices.
The interior was renovated between 1966 and 1968, significantly altering the original plan and circulation in addition to replacing all of the original mechanical systems. The library retains some of its historic features including some portions of the plaster ceiling, some of the original plaster columns and a fireplace in the second floor reading room.


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Фридрих Вильгельм Майер (; ,  — , ) — немецкий .

В 1845—1846 гг. дирижировал в Лейпциге симфоническими концертами музыкального общества «Эвтерпа», далее работал во Фрайбурге, в 1848 г. перешёл в Кёнигштадтский театр в Берлине, затем дирижировал в Трире и Штеттине. С 1854 г. в Мюнхенской придворной опере, первоначально как второй дирижёр при генеральмузикдиректоре Франце Лахнере, с обязанностью дирижировать французским, итальянским и второстепенным немецким репертуаром. С 1869 г. королевский капельмейстер. В 1882 г. вышел на пенсию.

Профессор Мюнхенской консерватории. В 1875—1880 гг. у Майера учился музыкальной теории, гармонии и контрапункту юный Рихард Штраус, в дальнейшем посвятивший ему несколько произведений. Среди других учеников Майера — Хуго Райхенбергер.

Литература
 Warfield, Scott. Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer (1818—1893): Some Biographical Notes on Strauss' Composition Teacher. // Richard-Strauss-Blätter. — Bd. 37 [new series] (June 1997). — S. 54-74.

Академические музыканты Германии

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Today is Orpheus' gotcha anniversary. It's so crazy that it's already been a year we have had so many firsts together and Jamie and I could never imagine life without him. He weasled his way right into our hearts the moment we held him in our arms for the first time and no matter how much stuff he touches that isn't his or rubbish he steals out of the bin we would never trade him for anything.
Looking forward to many more gotcha anniversaries in the future.
Happy gotcha day anniversary. Orpheus is so handsome and cute. Sphynx bring so much joy to your life!
Congratulations! Orpheus always looks so dapper!
Handsome little dude. You must be so joyous!
@Anansi Happy 1st Gotcha Anniversary !
So easy to se hoe he stole your hearts! Absolutely precious pics!
Lol their customs makes us forgive all their mischief we wouldn't have it any other way !
Hugs and wishes for many many more precious anniversaries!
Awww happy 1st year Gotcha Day!


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The Commodores win their trademark infringement case
On behalf of Crockett & Crockett posted in trademark on Monday, February 26, 2018.
Nothing lasts forever, as the band The Commodores has found out. They had some huge hits in the 1970's and 1980's. However, the band has since fallen apart and now various members have begun suing each other over the rights to their name.
The case that was recently settled, decades after the band's heyday, involves Thomas McClary. He was one of the original members of the group, though he hasn't been with The Commodores since 1984.
The band originally had six people in it, and they agreed in 1978 that anyone who opted to leave the group could no longer use the name. They doubled down on this in 1982, when Lionel Richie decided to quit. They didn't care if artists wanted to join other bands or do solo work, but the name "The Commodores" had to stay exclusively with those who were still in the group.
At this point, most members of the group are gone, with just William King and Walter Orange remaining. McClary has been doing solo work. To protect themselves further, Orange and King started a company called Commodores Entertainment Corporation, which now holds the rights to the trademarked name.
However, McClary was doing marketing for his solo project, and he used the name. The company sued him for trademark infringement and false advertisement. He appealed, but the case seems pretty straightforward. A judge determined that he chose to leave and so he gave up his rights, just as Richie and the other members did.
Cases like this can grow emotional when multiple people have a connection to a certain brand or artistic creation, but it's very important to know what legal rights everyone holds and how intellectual property is owned.
Source: IP Watchdog, "The Commodores Trademark Lawsuit and its Effect on IP in Entertainment," Amanda G. Ciccatelli, accessed Feb. 22, 2018
Tags: Trademark
Related Posts: Tariffs hope to protect against intellectual property theft, What should you do before you name your business?, Dr. Dre loses trademark infringement claim against Dr. Drai, Desilu Studios sues over trademark use


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»King's Resort Announces 2019 WSOP Europe Schedule
King's Casino Rozvadov, the largest land-based poker room in Europe, announced the schedule for the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE). The tournament takes place between October 13 and November 4 and includes 10 events which award a WSOP gold bracelet.
Two events loom large on the schedule. One is the €10,350 WSOP Europe Main Event, which starts on October 25 and boasts a €5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.
The €550 Colossus No-Limit Hold'em event launches on October 28 and features a €1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. The Colossus event attracts the largest entry field in the tournament, because of the low buy-in.
The WSOP Europe Main Event and the WSOP Colossus event are the equivalent of the World Series of Poker events in Las Vegas which receive the most buzz each year. (Though the US-based WSOP replaced Colossus this year.)
WSOP Europe High Roller Events
The schedule includes two high roller events, which draws the biggest names in European poker. The €25,500 Platinum High Roller begins on October 20 and features a guarnteed prize pool of €1,000,000.
The €100,000 Diamond High Roller starts three days later on October 23 and has a €5 million guaranteed prize pool. Both include far fewer players, so they're considered prestige events.
Smaller WSOP Europe Poker Events
WSOP Europe includes six other events, which have entry fees ranging between €350 and €2,200. The six events comprise the earlier stages of the tournamment and launch between October 13 and October 21.
Three Pot-Limit Omaha events (one mixed with No-Limit Hold'em) happen in the early part of the schedule, when smaller events happen. The schedule includes a €350 No-Limit Hold'em event to start the tournament. It also includes a €1350 Mini-Main Event on October 17 and 18, which naturally is a No-Limit Hold'em event. It WSOP Europe Mini Main Event boasts a prize pool of €550,000.
Finally, the €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Bounty event starts on October 17. The prize pool sits at €200,000, like most of the smaller events.
King's Casino Rozvadov Profile
This is the third year in a row King's Caisno Rozvadov hosts the World Series of Poker: Europe. Casino owner Leon Tsoukernik and WSOP tournament officials now are calling King's Casino the permanent home of the WSOP Europe.
King's Casino is located halfway between Prague and Munich on the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. It is perfectly situated to draw German poker players. Over the last few years, the Rozvadov casino became a hotbed of European poker. The flamboyant and colorful Leon Tsoukernik is now a top poker ambassador, as he plays in big events and cash games.
Leon Tsoukernik on WSOP Europe
When asked about the partnership, King's Casino owner Leon Tsoukernik said, "WSOP Europe has clearly become a can't miss series for poker players and we're delighted to once again serve as hosts."
"We are relentless in providing incredible hospitality and will continue to roll out the red carpet for poker players worldwide who come visit."
Gregory Chochon on King's Resort
WSOP Director Gregory Chochon spared nothing in his praise of King's Casino. Speaking on behalf of the World Series of Poker, Chochon said, "We are eager to return to King's Resort in October for the 11th edition of WSOP Europe."
"King's Resort has become the centre of the poker world in Europe and they are once again bolstering this series with €14 million plus in guarantees to ensure players find plenty of value and opportunity."


El estuche para CD de nailon clásico tiene espacio para 224 CD en páginas ProSleeve patentadas. Los innovadores bolsillos Fast-File permiten acceder de inmediato a 16 favoritos adicionales.
Los innovadores bolsillos Fast-File le permiten guardar rápidamente y acceder de inmediato a 16 CD favoritos adicionales o que se están reproduciendo.
This product is PERFECT for storing/organizing large quantities of DVDs and CDs. Saves a LOT of space!
The ease of flipping through the pages is offset by the difficulty of rearranging pages. It is a slow process to remove all of the pages to insert a page or shuffle the order of pages. It is not any easier to move 8 cds from one page to another. Overall though this is a great product.
Excellent. No other disc storage company or line of product comes close to Case Logic.
This product was exactly what I was looking for! I had previously bought large cd storage cases from case logic and I needed 2 new ones to match my exhisting cases. Even though the style has changed they look great among my older cases. I use the cases to store cd books on the front of each page and the cd on the back. I am very pleased with their look and the material they are made of!GREAT PRODUCT!Hope these cases will continue to be sold. I will definately be purchasing more when I run out of space in my new ones!
great for organization - great for saving space.
I have used this 208 capacity wallet for several years and absolutely love it. I have been able to take my entire country music collection with me everywhere I go because of how compact and portable this wallet makes it. My country collection has recently outgrown this wallet and I have acquired the 320 cd wallet because I know I can trust the durability of these products. Now I plan on using this 208 wallet for all my other music types. Imagine all the space I'll be gaining back on my shelves for nick nacks. I highly recommend these wallets.
This product is great! It has helped me organized my CDs and throw out all the cracked useless CD cases. My CDs used to take up 6 drawers, now they all fit in here.


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Subject Reference (1)
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Bērziņš, Boriss
Benezit Dictionary of Artists
Latvian, 20th century, male.
Born 7 October 1930, in Riga, Latvia; died 11 February 2002, in Riga.
Painter, graphicist, draughtsman, and academician. Landscape, genre, still-life, human figure, and abstract subjects.
Boriss Bērziņš's artistic training began in childhood when the electrician's son was exposed to Russian Orthodox icons. He copied reproductions of famous paintings and took lessons from watercolourist Jānis Skučs. He studied at Riga's Janis Rozentāls Art High School ...
Blumbergs, Ilmārs
Latvian, 20th–21st century, male.
Born 6 September 1943, in Riga, Reichskommissariat Ostland (now Latvia).
Painter, scenographer, poster designer, graphicist, and book illustrator. Literary, allegorical and historical subjects; abstractions and symbolic representations; installations, performance, and soundworks.
Ilmārs Blumbergs spent his childhood in Siberian exile, then studied in the Department of Stage Design at Riga's Secondary School of Applied Arts ...
Doesburg, Theo van
Allan Doig
(b Utrecht, Aug 30, 1883; d Davos, Switzerland, March 7, 1931).
Dutch painter, architect, designer and writer. He was officially registered as the son of Wilhelm Küpper and Henrietta Catharina Margadant, but he was so convinced that his mother's second husband, Theodorus Doesburg, was his father that he took his name. Little is known of his early life, but he began painting naturalistic subjects c. 1899. In 1903 he began his military service, and around the same time he met his first wife, Agnita Feis, a Theosophist and poet. Between about 1908 and 1910, much influenced by the work of Honoré Daumier, he produced caricatures, some of which were later published in his first book De maskers af! (1916). Also during this period he painted some Impressionist-inspired landscapes and portraits in the manner of George Hendrik Breitner. Between 1914 and 1915 the influence of Kandinsky became clear in such drawings as Streetmusic I and Streetmusic II (The Hague, Rijksdienst Beeld. Kst) and other abstract works....
Endell, August
Gisela Moeller
(b Berlin, April 12, 1871; d Berlin, April 13, 1925).
German architect, designer, writer and teacher. After moving to Munich in 1892, he abandoned his plan to become a teacher, deciding on a career as a freelance scholar. He then studied aesthetics, psychology and philosophy, being particularly influenced by the lectures of the psychologist Theodor Lipps. He also studied German literature, art and music. In 1895 he intended to write a doctorate on the theme of 'The Construction of Feeling'. In spring 1896 he met Hermann Obrist, who persuaded him to abandon his proposed academic career and become a self-taught artist. As well as book illustrations and decorative pieces for the art magazines Pan and Dekorative Kunst, he produced decorative designs for wall reliefs, carpets, textiles, coverings, window glass and lamps. In 1897 he designed his first furniture for his cousin, the historian Kurt Breysig. His first architectural work, the Elvira photographic studio in Munich (1896–7; destr. 1944), decorated on its street façade by a gigantic, writhing dragon, was a quintessential work of ...
Lakner, László
Éva Bajkay
(b Budapest, April 15, 1936).
Hungarian painter, conceptual artist and teacher. By 1956 he was familiar with most modernist tendencies. In 1960 he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, having already taken part in exhibitions as an undergraduate. Lakner's unique Hungarian mixture of Surrealism and naturalism was primarily influenced by the Hungarian painter Tibor Csernus (b 1927). Lakner's first works were precisely executed naturalistic life studies and still-lifes, imbued with a magical quality (e.g. Scraps of Metal, 1960; Budapest, priv. col.). In other works repetition and density are used to create special effects. From 1962 the influence of Pop art is apparent in his works representing everyday objects, which lacked emotional or personal meaning (e.g. Microscopes, 1960; Budapest, N.G.). Dark tones and metallic shadows characterize his use of colour. Robert Rauschenberg's art was influential after Lakner saw it at the Venice Biennale of 1964. He was also influenced by montage, in particular John Heartfield's Dada and Neo-Dada works. He drew upon his knowledge of art history for such montages as ...
Logina, Zenta
Latvian, 20th century, female.
Born 23 August 1908, in Riga, Russian Empire (now Latvia); died 21 December 1983, in Riga, Latvian SSR (now Latvia).
Painter, sculptor, tapestry designer. Still-life, portrait, celestial, and abstract subjects, assemblages.
Zenta Logina survived decades of material adversity, official hostility, and professional obscurity to produce one of Latvian art's most stylistically diverse, technically inventive, and intellectually ambitious bodies of work. Like many Latvian artists of her generation, Logina spent World War I as a refugee in the Russian interior, returning to a newly independent nation consciously fashioning its modern cultural identity. In ...
Term applied to the invention and the effective pursuit of artistic strategies that seek not just close but essential connections to the powerful forces of social Modernity. The responses of modernists to modernity range from triumphal celebration to agonized condemnation and differ in mode from direct picturing of the impacts of modernization to extreme renovations of purely artistic assumptions and practice. Such strategies—pursued by artists working individually or, often, in groups, as well as by critics, historians and theorists—occur in all of the arts, although in distinctive forms and across varying historical trajectories. They have been strongest in painting, design and the Modern Movement in architecture, highly significant in literature and in music, but quite muted in the crafts. They have echoes in aspects of commercial and popular culture. Despite being intermittent in their occurrence and unsystematic in nature, these strategies have been most effective in Europe and its colonies from the mid-19th century and in the USA from the early 20th, moving from the margins to the centre of visual cultures, from reactive radicality to institutionalized normality....
Mondrian [Mondriaan], Piet (er Cornelis)
H. Henkels
(b Amersfoort, March 7, 1872; d New York, Feb 1, 1944).
Dutch painter, theorist, and draughtsman. His work marks the transition at the start of the 20th century from the Hague school and Symbolism to Neo-Impressionism and Cubism. His key position within the international avant-garde is determined by works produced after 1920. He set out his theory in the periodical of Stijl, De, in a series of articles that were summarized in a separate booklet published in Paris in 1920 under the title Le Néo-plasticisme (see Neo-plasticism) by Léonce Rosenberg. The essence of Mondrian's ideas is that painting, composed of the most fundamental aspects of line and colour, must set an example to the other arts for achieving a society in which art as such has no place but belongs instead to the total realization of 'beauty'. The representation of the universal, dynamic pulse of life, also expressed in modern jazz and the metropolis, was Mondrian's point of departure. Even in his lifetime he was regarded as the founder of the most ...
Mrkusich, Milan
Kyla Mackenzie
(b Dargaville, April 5, 1925).
New Zealand painter. Self-taught, Mrkusich pioneered abstract modernism in New Zealand in the 1940s, a period when there was little acceptance of abstract art there. He co-founded the Auckland design firm Brenner Associates in 1949. His interest in European and American modernism, and the Bauhaus school, informed both his early painting and architectural designs of the 1940s and 1950s, which in turn, influenced each other. His early works on paper explored spatial concerns using line, geometric and organic forms, and colour. Mrkusich's approach to colour was generally informed by Kandinsky's writing on the emotive and metaphysical power of colour and its receding and advancing qualities. The orchestration of irregular coloured squares and rectangles in Buildings (1955; Wellington, Mus. NZ, Te Papa Tongarewa) echoes Piet (er Cornelis) Mondrian's Boogie Woogie paintings of the 1940s.
Mrkusich painted full-time from 1958, and from c. 1960 he began to paint with a gestural spontaneity reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism. In these paintings irregular networks of brushwork form loose grids. In other works, amorphous colour fields are overlaid by, or adjacent to, finely drawn straight lines, circles, and squares. Geometric shapes appear in the ...
Strzemiński, Władysław
Ewa Mikina
(b Minsk, Belorussia, Nov 21, 1893; d Łódź, Dec 26, 1952).
Polish painter, theoretician, typographer and draughtsman. On completion of his engineering studies at the Moscow Military Academy, he was drafted into the Tsarist army in 1914; seriously wounded, he subsequently began his artistic studies in the post-Revolutionary academies in Moscow, Vkhutemas and Inkhuk. In 1920–22 he was associated with Unovis, and during this period he was influenced by Suprematism, whose principles would in later years form the basis of his polemics. In 1921 he married the sculptor Katarzyna Kobro, and at the beginning of 1922 they both moved to Poland. He published his first articles on the Russian avant-garde in the Kraków periodical Zwrotnica in 1922. Strzemiński organized the Wystawa Nowej Sztuki ('Exhibition of new art') in Wilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania) in 1923, which acted as a manifesto of Polish Constructivism; he exhibited Suprematist architectural projects, Cubist paintings and Synthetic Compositions as well as Suprematist abstract works constructed from simple forms in contrasting colours. With Strzemiński's help, in ...


These windows are about leaving our human desire for autonomy and moving back to the Father, as in the parable of the Prodigal Son. This difficult process of change has been rendered here with simple forms and by means of a horizontal progression. At the left is the side of life, at the right the side of death – this is the way in which we customarily portray the course of life in our culture. However, the process is reversed here. We move from death at the right to life at the left.
In the window to the far right a dark U-form can be seen, facing towards death. A small glowing red spot – perhaps the conscience – depicts the need for change. Transformation starts with a U-sign full of injuries reaching towards the side of birth. Vehement lines (temptations) are in its way.
In the second window from the right the speedily progressing U-sign is already much lighter, even though there are still vertical transverse lines attacking the process of change. A narrow white-golden 'impulse' from above gives the strength to go on.
In the third window from the right we see the finally reached pre-taste of the full divine light. A golden-yellow ray breaks free from the beam of light at the top and reaches the figure that is hurrying along to the left.
Only in the most left window a further change of direction takes place. Upon arriving at the side of birth and especially rebirth the U-form stretches up in white, cleansed from all signs of decay. Communication with God is restored.
This vertical sign points moreover to the resurrection from the dead as well as to the deathless future of the Christian. I find this sign so important, because it is this foretold last supernatural act of God that prevents many from believing the Bible. As long as the dead remain dead, this very powerful experience-atheism unfortunately cannot be contained.
Four small messages – only aesthetic messages?
Johannes Schreiter: Windows in the baptismal chapel of the St. Nikolai Church in Kiel, height 1,10 m., 2002.
Johannes Schreiter was born in Buchholz, Germany, in 1930. From 1949 - 1957 he studied in Münster, Mainz and Berlin. From 1960 - 1963 he worked at the Staatliche Kunsthochschule Bremen. From 1963 - 1987 he was professor at the Staatlichen Hochschule für bildende Künste in Frankfurt am Main, from 1971 - 1974 as its director. Since then glass painting has been the centre of his art. The architecture, the concrete space and its function, always form the point of departure for his work. He made windows (among others) for St. Marien/Lübeck, the Heiliggeistkirche Heidelberg, the Melanchthonkirche Mannheim, St. Nikolai/Lüneburg, the Marktkirche Goslar, the Dom of Frankfurt/Main and for churches in other countries in Europe, the US, Japan, Australia and New-Zealand. Also his expositions, publications and positions as guest lecturer in Germany and elsewhere deserve mentioning. A grave illness forced him to give up his chair in 1987. At the moment he lives in Langen (Hessen).
* Johannes Schreiter: Glasbilder. Verlag Das Beispiel, Darmstadt 1988.
* Birgit Schwarz: Johannes Schreiter. Das glasbildnerische Werk von 1959 bis 1980. Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, 1987 (ook: Heidelberg, Univ., Diss.).
* Holger Brülls en Gunther Sehring: Johannes Schreiter. Glasbilder, Zeichnungen, Collagen 1995-2011, Kunstverlag Josef Fink – Lindenberg, 2011.


I invite you to explore the many facets of the Paul J. Gutman Library, which combines a beautiful physical space with an extensive virtual presence represented by our website, the gateway to our multitude of online resources and services.
The library building is a great place for quiet study, group work, or computer access, at one of our 80 Windows or Macintosh workstations. The entire library is wireless enabled, and you can also make use of our scanners and black and white or color printers and photocopiers. Feel free to consult print books and journals to support your academic work, or select a novel or audio book from our popular collection. Be sure to request an item on interlibrary loan, if you don't find what you need.
Staff are available in the library to answer your questions. Reference librarians can provide guidance in how best to use our online and print resources. We welcome your questions in person via our general email address, or through contact with specific staff members.
Off-campus access to our electronic databases and journals is easily available by connecting to resources through the library's website and entering your Philadelphia U. login information.
We are always seeking ways to improve library services. Please contact me with your questions or suggestions.


O'Hare International Airport in Chicago was the busiest airport in the U.S. last year, surpassing Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for the first time in four years.
On this edition of "Political Rewind," the Public Service Commission is about to make a momentous decision that will hit Georgia Power customers in the pocketbook and influence the future of nuclear power across the country. Will the PSC uphold Georgia Power's plan to continue construction of the troubled Plant Vogtle? Will the commission approve a power company proposal to increase the surcharge customers are already paying for building the nuclear plant? Plus, we'll look at the fallout from the blackout at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.


text:
Mid-Year Meeting Info
Registration Form (pdf)
Back to ACLEA.org
ACLEA's 55th Mid-Year Meeting
CLE Rising: Better, Stronger, Inspired
Beus Center for Law and Society, Arizona State University • Phoenix, Arizona – U.S.A. • January 25 – 27, 2019
We invite you to join ACLEA in January at the Beus Center for Law and Society, at Arizona State University
Beus Center for Law and Society,
111 E Taylor St.. Phoenix, AZ 85004-4467
Our host hotel is the Sheraton Grand Phoenix. ACLEA has secured a special room rate of $199/night plus state and local taxes (currently 8.6%) for single/double available until January 4, 2019 or until the room block is exhausted, whichever comes first.
Sheraton Grand Phoenix
340 North 3rd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States
Phone: + 1 (602) 262-2500
>> Online Reservations — Sold out
Alternative Hotels:
Hampton Inn and Suites Phoenix Downtown
77 E Polk St. | Phoenix, Arizona, 85004
Phone: + 1 (800) 445-8667, give the group code (ACL) or the name of the group (ACLEA Meeting)
Release/Cut-Off Date: Friday December 28, 2018
Room Rate: $219, room rate includes full buffet breakfast, wireless internet, and access to our fitness center
>> Online Reservations
Visit our website at www.phoenixdowntown.hamptonbyhilton.com and enter the Group Code (ACL).
The Westin Phoenix Downtown
333 N Central Ave | Phoenix, AZ 85004
Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix Downtown
15 East Monroe Street| Phoenix, AZ 85004
Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel
100 North 1st Street | Phoenix, AZ 85004
The closest airport to the Sheraton Grand Phoenix is
the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
located 5 miles (8km) from the hotel.
Airport Transportation Options
– Round trip (estimated fares)
Super Shuttle: Shared Ride $13
Taxi: $22
Light Rail: $2
Uber: $14
Top 10 Phoenix Attractions
The panoramic view from the "hump" of this iconic landmark, named for its resemblance to a kneeling camel, is worth scaling its two tricky trails, Echo Canyon and Cholla.
The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) tunes you into thousands of instrument sounds with a headset that syncs seamlessly as you move through its galleries.
Papago Park
Just minutes from downtown is iconic Papago Park, home to red rock buttes looped with trails, a scenic view from hikeable Hole-in-the-Rock, and the desert botanical garden and the Phoenix Zoo.
Heard Museum
Through art and cultural objects, the museum's ongoing exhibits tell the stories of native people of the Southwest, from early history to powerful memories of boarding schools.
The creative beat of the city's urban heart is in Roosevelt Row, home to galleries, mural-splashed business walls and a monthly art walk.This arts district is a prominent stop for visitors and the downtown community along the First Friday self-guided art tour.
South Mountain Park and Preserve
Boasting 50 miles of trails through 16,000 acres of the Sonoran Desert, this municipal park is perfectly suited for outdoor adventure just minutes from the city.
The Southwest's largest fine art museum features a collection of contemporary work and global masterpieces.
Heritage Square Dining
Like the 19th-century homes nearby, the restaurants in downtown's Heritage Square are making history: Both Pizzeria Bianco (heralded as the best pizza in the nation) and Nobuo at Teeter House (sophisticated Japanese offered tapas-style) are James Beard Award winners.
Southwestern arts and hip eateries line the streets of Old Town, a popular destination for Greater Phoenix shopping and nightlife.
Tours of Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home, give insight on how the masterful architect was inspired by the desert surroundings. Visitors walk through rooms, gardens, walkways and Wright's entertainment pavilion on the grounds while learning about his organic architecture.
>> See what else you can do in Phoenix
content from visitphoenix.com
Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA)
1000 Westgate Drive, Ste. 252, St. Paul, MN 55114 USA
1+ (651) 366-6082 • Fax: 1+ (651) 290-2266
@acleaworldwide


Shaanxi Northwest New Technology Industry Co Ltd operates in the Chemical preparations sector. In addition to historical fundamental analyses, the complete report available to purchase compares Shaanxi Northwest New Technology Industry Co Ltd with three other chemical manufacturers in Asia: Raigam Wayamba Salterns PLC of Sri Lanka (2018 sales of 791.51 million Sri Lanka Rupees [US$4.53 million] ), Chemanex PLC of Sri Lanka (723.58 million Sri Lanka Rupees [US$4.14 million] of which 90% was Chemicals), and Tech-Vina JSC which is based in Vietnam (90.86 billion Dong [US$3.92 million] ).
Sales Analysis. Shaanxi Northwest New Technology Industry Co Ltd reported sales of 37.66 million Chinese Renmimbi (US$5.61 million) for the year ending December of 2018. This represents an increase of 5.3% versus 2017, when the company's sales were 35.75 million Chinese Renmimbi.


A classic of southern cuisine, shrimp and grits only requires the best shrimp and the finest grits to be a tasty addition to your menus. The shrimp are flash frozen on board the boat after being caught. A true Southern favorite, stone-ground grits contain the nutritious heart of the grain, which is slowly ground on granite mill stones for the finest quality product.


I needed to upload a number of photo's from Lightroom to an FTP server. What I didn't want to do was export to file and then upload using a standalone FTP client. Why make more work than is required?
It seems strange that there is no FTP export plugin as a standard part of Lightroom 2. There is FTP capability from the Web module but this is not what I was after.
You don't have to use Photoshop, Photomatix or any other specialist application to get that HDR (High Dynamic Range), surreal look. It's really not that difficult to achieve good result using Lightroom.
Now not all images are suitable for this type of post processing. But given the right subject and careful execution the results can be surprisingly good.
I recently had some issues with Lightroom 2.3 running extremely slow. When rendering full size images I could almost go and get a cup of tea (and drink it) while I waited.
While I don't have the latest and greatest PC my 3.2Gig P4 with 2Gig of RAM still performs well (most of the time). All my other imaging applications were running fine, including GIMP and Autopano Pro.
I started searching through forums looking for an answer. But nothing I tried worked. What could be the problem?
Since upgrading to Lightroom 2 from Lightroom 1.4 I have noticed an issue with Keywords not being exported as part of the EXIF data. The problem, so I found out is that the keywords have the Include On Export keyword tag option disabled.
After a little bit of research I found a few options to resolve the issue. What I ended up doing was downloading installing and running the AdjustKeywordOptions.lua script from Adobe. I haven't had the problem since.
If like me you were unfortunate enough to have installed the latest version 1.4 of Lightroom you may have noticed a few strange things happening. Of particular note is an issue with the timestamps in EXIF data all being the same for a batch of photos and being set to 12:00am.
The problem is easily rectified by uninstalling 1.4 and re-installing version 1.3.1.
I've written a number or short articles on the benefits of Lightroom and how it can improve my your work flow. Previously I have concentrated on how Lightroom integrates with the Gallery 2 image gallery.
As a Pixelpost user you can also benefit from Lightroom. There is now a great little plugin that allows you to export straight from Lightroom to your Pixelpost Photoblog.
Lightroom Export Plugin is extremely easily installed into Lightroom and allows you to export files directly to Pixelpost.
As a keen photographer I am always looking for ways to improve my work flow so that I can spend more time taking photos and less time in front of the computer processing and uploading to my online gallery.
You may recall the article I wrote a little while ago regarding the benefits of Lightroom EXIF Data and automatically naming images, adding descriptions and keywords. To build on these benefits there is a great third party export plugin now available for Gallery 2.
Lightroom-to-Gallery is extremely easily installed into Lightroom and allows you to export files directly to your Gallery 2 album (I assume that it uses the Gallery Remote protocol).
The installation of the plugin is as simple as copying a folder to the root directory of Lightroom.
As your image collection grows and you run out of storage space you will be sure to have a requirement to move all or part of your collection. I have just gone through the process of installing a 1 Tera-byte internal RAID5 array to cater for my growing collection. By the time I fill this the price of storage should be suitably affordable to allow another upgrade in capacity.
What I found the quickest and easiest way to move my collection was to use Windows Explorer and make a copy of my collection on the new RAID drive (best to make sure you have a copy while you get things working again). I then started up Lightroom 1.1, as it could no longer find my images all the folders turned red. With a right click on the folder it was as simple as selecting Locate Missing Folder and browsing to the new physical location.
When it comes to streamlining your workflow there are lots of little things that you can do to help your overall process. The EXIF data contained in your image files if used wisely can certainly be a great little time saver.
Gallery 2, like a lot of other image galleries can read your EXIF/IPTC data and put it to good use. This will make the process of uploading multiple images much quicker and easier by automatically applying: Titles, Descriptions and Keywords to your images without the need for any intervention afterwards. This is done from the Library module within Adobe Lightroom.


The College's celebrated craft beer festival, Project Brew, will take place at St. Catharines Market Square on Friday, April 12 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and the theme is Hawaiian Bruau. Fourth semester students in NC's Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program will serve up 20 refreshing brews to kick off the spring season.
Niagara College students will get a taste of the growing diversity on campus at a new food and arts celebration. Called 'WorldDISH,' the event – presented by NC Student Administrative Council (NCSAC), Centre for Student Engagement and Leadership (CSEL) and the International Division – will give students an opportunity to celebrate and enjoy their diverse cultural backgrounds through food and the arts. It will be held on Wednesday, March 27 at the Welland Campus (The Core).
As Niagara College welcomes collegiate athletes from across Canada as part of the CCAA Women's Volleyball National Championship this week, NC's Athletics and Recreation department will host a Sport Symposium for students. Two panel discussions featuring a host of big names in sports will be held at The Core in the Welland campus from 9 a.m. to noon. The first match of the championship games will follow at 1 p.m.
How is it we spend more time each day taking care of our teeth than our minds? We brush and floss but what daily activity do we do to maintain our psychological health? Our presenter will share strategies on how to practice emotional hygiene as well as build on your understanding of effective self-care and coping strategies.
Niagara College is preparing to welcome a record number of employers to its campuses as part of its largest-ever three-day career fair. Hosted by the college's Student Services division, the event will bring exhibitors from companies in the Niagara region and across Canada to the Niagara-on-he-Lake and Welland Campuses who are recruiting for full-, part-time, co-op and seasonal positions. Students and alumni have the opportunity to explore opportunities, hand out resumes, network and meet with potential employers from a variety of industries.
Mental health awareness will be served up at Niagara College on January 30. The NC Let's Talk volleyball matches will be held in support of Bell Let's Talk Day on Jan. 30 to honour and promote the nationwide awareness campaign around mental health and fighting stigma. The NC Knights volleyball programs will face off against the Mohawk Mountaineers, with the women's match beginning at 6 p.m. and men's at 8 p.m. The games are free for students and $5 for public admission. All ages are welcome.
Niagara College is helping students suit up to make a positive impression on potential employers. Dress to Impress, a free business clothing and accessories giveaway for students, will be held at the College's Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus on January 29 and at the Welland Campus on January 30.
BANN session for this week has been postponed due to unpredictable weather called for Wednesday. New date will be posted when it's dertermined.
With classes wrapping up and students preparing to take their final exams, early December can be a tense time at post-secondary institutions across Canada. But Niagara College is hoping to help students cope with the stress be encouraging healthy study habits through a unique event on Dec. 4 and 6. In addition to free coffee, tea and "brain food" snacks, the evening will also see a visit from Niagara-based non-profit dog therapy program Therapy Tails , a meditation room, and free hand massages from students in the College's Esthetician program. Students who participate will also be able to enter a draw for a tablet.
A group of Niagara College Broadcasting – Radio, Television and Film students are ready to pull an all-nighter to help others through this year's Rock Around the Clock 24-hour radiothon. The live broadcast on College radio station CRNC The Heat will begin on November 29 at noon and will continue until November 30 at noon. Stationed at the Welland Campus (in the Simcoe foyer, near International), students will be collecting cash donations for the NC Student Administrative Council's Nourishing Minds program, which provides grocery gift cards to students in need, as well as food donations for a food bank in Welland.
On Saturday, November 17, the College will swing open its doors to the public for its Fall Open House, to take place at both its Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake campuses between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The Open House offers the public a rare inside look at the College's programs, facilities and services, and provides prospective students with information and opportunities to speak to faculty, staff and students to help guide their journey to postsecondary education.
Niagara College has more than 1,100 new reasons to celebrate this fall. Each one represents a student who has been successful in their academic journey at the College, and will cross the stage to receive a degree, diploma or certificate on Friday, October 26 at the College's Fall Convocation ceremonies.
He's appeared in blockbuster movies, hit television shows and on numerous theatre stages, but on Friday, September 28, actor John Tench's lead role will be at the head of the class at Niagara College. Tench will be a special guest speaker for students in their final year of the College's Acting for Film and Television program as part of their Up Close and Personal course. Professor Barbara Mantini noted that guests from the professional acting industry are invited to speak to classes to enhance the applied learning experience for students in the program. Visits give students the opportunity to research the guests, and develop questions to ask them about their acting process and their approach the work.
More than 3,700 students and their guests will converge on Niagara College's Welland Campus June 19-22, to celebrate their accomplishments as Niagara College graduates at Spring Convocation. The class of 2018 will add their names to the College's growing list of alumni, now over 80,000 strong.
Brewmaster students from Niagara College are set to serve up their visions of peace and love in a glass at Project Brew April 20. Project Brew BruStock will be held on Friday, April 20 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the St. Catharines Market Square. Eighteen one-of-a-kind beers crafted by students in their final term of the College's Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program will be on tap at the evening event. Brews will be accompanied by live music, food vendors and games.
"You, your business and your customers are evolving. WELCOME TO THE BUSINESS OF AGEING." How & where will you and your business fit in the evolution of this bigger market picture? What are the possibilities - business products, human services, education, work and community? How do you better market to segments of older adult populations, upward to age 105?
Students in Niagara College's Motive Power Technician and Motive Power Techniques programs are surging ahead of their competition in a rapidly evolving automotive industry, thanks to new technology and facilities available through NC's Green Automotive Technology Lab.
Shop, sample, and socialize for a good cause at Spring to the Market , a hands-on marketplace with a twist!
Learn what your signature says about your personality: Niagara College presents free speaker event April 11 featuring handwriting analyst Jamie Mason Cohen. He has analyzed the handwriting of Terry Fox, Oprah, Kate Middleton, Beyonce, Donald Trump, Tom Brady, Roger Federer, Meghan Markle, Ryan Gosling, and many more … you could be next!
Montefiore is president and executive producer at New Metric Media, where he recently produced the the CraveTV hit original comedy LETTERKENNY as well as the half-hour CraveTV comedy WHAT WOULD SAL DO? and the six-episode, one-hour City/FX Canada limited series BAD BLOOD. He also recently produced the Whistler Film Fest and Toronto Film Festival Film Circuit Audience Choice winning feature film, Cas & Dylan, starring Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss and Emmy/Golden Globe nominee Tatiana Maslany, and directed by Jason Priestley.
A Mental Health Matchup basketball game will be held in honour of Bell Let's Talk Day on January 31 – a nation-wide initiative to help promote awareness about mental health. As the NC Knights face off against the Sheridan Bruins, student-athletes and the crowd cheering them on will be tackling a bigger opponent: mental health stigma.
The All About Options Employment and Education Expo is returning to Niagara College Jan. 24-25. Students and visitors at both the Niagara-on-the-Lake and Welland Campuses will have an opportunity to meet prospective employers, and explore opportunities in full, part-time and seasonal employment.
Staff members from the Niagara College's Career Services department are rolling up their sleeves to help students put their best professional image forward. The College's second annual Dress for Success clothing giveaway for students will be held January 17 and 18, at the Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake campuses, respectively. Students will have an opportunity to pick up donated professional clothing free of charge, and learn more about how to present themselves well for interviews and the workplace.
Niagara College will welcome over 1,700 students as Winter Orientation kicks off the Winter semester this Friday, Jan. 12. Introducing January-start students to college life, Orientation will kick off at the at the College's Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake Campuses at 9 a.m.
Ontario colleges Amazing 50 mobile tour rolls into Welland Campus. Niagara College invites students, faculty, alumni, retirees and the community to join a special celebration to mark its 50th anniversary on October 4.
Experience Habitat Niagara's unique wood signing event that will take place on Monday, January 11 at 4 p.m. at Niagara College. This ceremony is a Habitat tradition that allows Niagara College student builders and Habitat Niagara to gather and write messages of welcome to the Palma family, who have been selected to call this year's Niagara College Student Build house their new home.
Five Niagara College students will soon see a film they created premiere on the big screen. Inspiring Potential, an autism awareness documentary they created for Autism Ontario - Niagara Region Chapter, will be featured for a one-time screening at Landmark Cinema in St. Catharines on Oct. 31. The 30-minute documentary aims to help viewers understand autism spectrum disorders (ASD) by explaining it through the personal stories of five local families.


State Rep. Malinda White said the pay she will accrue during the next special session will be donated, and she thinks other representatives should do it too.
As you probably know by now, the legislature failed to make any movement during their second special session that ended at midnight Monday with a filibuster to block the revote of a bill to keep half of the sales tax penny for six more years, which expires on June 30.
Governor Edwards expressed his frustration, as well as saying he will call another special session to try and get things right.
Legislators are paid a per diem for each special session. This ultimately costs tax payers between $50,000 and $60,000 per day.
"By failing again to pass a solution to fund the budget, the legislature in Baton Rouge has abandoned the people of our state. It makes me sick. Our failure should not cost taxpayers more. That's why I won't take my pay for the next legislative session," White said in a press release.
Under the rules, it's not possible to just refuse the check, so White will ultimately donate the money she would have made during the session, which comes out to about $1,500 for 10 days.
She said that if all legislators went without pay for the session, "We'd fix this thing like that," she said with a snap of her fingers.


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text:
House of Trannies
Text JF. Pierets Photos Ki Price
'Out with political correctness! Tranny is an endearing and loving term used amongst the drag, lgbt and queer communities to describe anyone who is transvestite, dragqueen, or does not identify with any set gender role.' There you go! House of Trannies is a collection of photographs, exciting tableaux, which explore the most colorful individuals and the families within the East London tranny & drag community. A unique collaboration between acclaimed artist Ted Rogers and celebrity portrait photographer Ki Price.
So no worries about the word Tranny?
Ted Well, this question comes up a lot. I think it depends on how you use the word. It's the same way as when you say 'gay'. When you call me 'gay' in an affirmative way, it's perfectly fine. But if you say 'that's so gay', in a negative way, it's not. It's very easy to turn a word into a negative affirmation. When I started this project, 'tranny' was a very positive word. It's a loving word. For me and my friends it means 'brother', or 'sister', or 'my non-gender descriptive friend'. It's not offensive. And it's also not something to use as a slur against transgender people. If the word 'tranny' would be offending all over the world, then I wouldn't be out to distress anyone. But for me it's still very widely used and there shouldn't be a problem. And it shouldn't be made into a problem either. If the rest of the world is going politically correct than maybe we should just fuck it. Just go against it and have fun.
You call yourself a Tranny.
Ted I call myself a Tranny because it's an 'in between' word. You can also call me a dragqueen, yet I don't quite do what is considered drag. I don't always wear a wig and I leave on my facial hair. So you can call me a lazy dragqueen, or you can call me a tranny. My aim is not to look like a girl. My aim is to express my feminine aspects. I like to show them. Why shouldn't I float around, show a leg or wear lipstick if that makes me feel sexy? Tranny is a word that goes beyond the box.
Isn't it quite an unusual collaboration, the two of you?
Ki Yes and no. As a photographer I come from a documentary news background so I used to do a lot of social issues, a lot of stuff that had to do with drugs. I grew up with bohemian parents in a druggy environment, so it was kind of natural. You photograph what you see, what you know. I'm massively into sub-cultures and I do understand the principle of being looked at differently in life. Ted's an old friend of mine, and a tranny, and we wanted to do a shoot together.
Ted The two of us, it's indeed a weird combination. But it works! We met via mutual friends and since we seem to have quite a few affinities we started to chat, hang out.
Ki, you are working, amongst others, for The Times and Vanity Fair, you won the Canon prize for Best Image of London Fashion Week and your is work featured in Vivienne Westwood's Memoirs. How was it to shoot a project like this?
Ki Well, it's probably the best thing I ever shot. And I felt both greatly privileged and humble to be involved. Initially I'm an outsider, but when I shot Ted in the safe shop with the dog, we knew that the pictures would stand out. We knew that what we were creating was good. We believed in it and we were certain that other people would get involved. And the feedback I got was that they liked working with me, that they felt the love on the set. It wasn't about trannies. It was about catching people's emotions.
Ted It was about home, about a family.
'Family' means the people from Sink The Pink (themed London-based party collective made up of dancers, drag queens, colorful club kids and fashion trannies. Ref.)?
Ted Sink The Pink was my birth. Literally. I got asked to do a job for them as a dancer. Later they asked if I wanted to join the rehearsals and do drag with them. Now I'm doing it all the time. It's such a colorful crowd of people. If you can go to a place where it's encouraged to be loving and to be positive, than that's the place you have to go to, to be yourself and to be free. You don't have to be rich to be part of the East London club scene because you can be rich in creativity or imagination.
Ki So the idea behind the shoot was to celebrate that particular scene. Because of its overall positivism and loving experience.
You both particularly talk about the East London club scene. Is it a fairly new scene?
Ki The club scene always moves in waves. Living in London for so many years, the tranny scene wasn't new to me. It's almost even like it became trendy again. The interesting thing about the East London club scene is that in order to really indulge in it, you have to have courage. It's a bit rawer than other drag groups. It's very sexually liberated and not everybody has the guts to endure the insinuating looks that are thrown upon you. You have to have the imagination to go out and do it.
Ted For me it's more or less a new scene. I'm quite young – I turned 23 just yesterday – and I only moved to London 2 years ago. There's really not much for gay people in the suburbs of the UK. There are maybe some parts, on the outside of London or any mayor cities there, but there is really no gay scene at all. When I first came to London I went to Soho because I was told that it was the gay capital of the UK. I went on my own because I didn't know any gay people nor did I have any gay friends.
How courageous.
Ted Well, courageous or stupid. Anyhow, I didn't always enjoy Soho because I found it a little bit old-fashioned. Not hugely, but a little bit. The first East London club I went to was the Joiners Armes, which is recently shut down. It was the first gay club I've ever been to, where I felt like….happy. People wanted to talk to you, wanted to dance with you and they didn't want to fight with you. That was my experience when it comes to the difference between East and West. Yet if that same group of people would move to the North, than it would be called the North London club scene.
Ki, you said the tranny scene is becoming trendy again. Can you elaborate?
Ki It can become trendy and people can come and watch it, but it will never become mainstream. It'll always have that raw edge to it, and when something becomes conventional, it usually gets boring. I don't think the East London club scene is ever going to become boring. It might have a wave of becoming less trendy, but it's so full of designers, artists, musicians, producers that it's always going to have that new creativity flowing through. I think it has the potential to last forever. And even if it shifts to another part of London, that kind of scene is always going to be there.
Ted Anytime something good happens, it's going to become trendy. Things don't become trendy because they're mediocre. Like I said, I'm fairly new to all this and the way I look at it, it's a response to the overall perception that society has on certain things. I genuinely believe that if there's a powerful force that shows people who are having fun and expressing themselves in an attractive way, that it can change the world. It really has the power to liberate people.
'If you can go to a place where it's encouraged to be loving and to be positive, than that's the place you have to go to, to be yourself and to be free. You don't have to be rich to be part of the East London club scene because you can be rich in creativity or imagination.'
The Joiners Armes recently shut down, like many other gay clubs in London. What's happening?
Ki They're making place for .. new flats. London is rapidly changing and a lot of the gay clubs are closed because of expansion. It's getting quite ugly. When you go to Soho in the future, you're going to stay in a hotel in the middle of Soho. But the hotel where you are going to stay has knocked down all the culture that is around you. Soho is a mix of everything that is vibrant. It seems pointless to stay in a hotel, where you're supposed to be seeing culture, but where nothing is left. Don't you think? What's the point? Where's the thinking and the intelligence?
Ted I have two views on this. One is that it's a natural thing. Areas will always become popularized, money will always take over and they don't care about culture anymore. But two is that it's actually very sad and there should be a preservation of culture. It's not that I'm against money, it just can't be the primary focus. It's really sad that all these clubs are shut down because they need to build new flats. New flats that no-one can afford anyway. My generation, people my age, might as well give up their dream of ever owning property unless you are really, really successful. And I would like to have property but you're supposed to accept that you shall never get a house. It makes me a bit angry that they shut down the places where we feel safe to go. Just because of money. But unfortunately the world is not as liberal as it thinks it is.
Do you have the feeling that by shooting 'House of Trannies', you made a time document?
Ki Definitely. As a photographer, I call myself a social anthropologist and I wanted to take portraits of real people. When you're looking at drag series you often see some incredible stuff but you see quite some flat stuff as well. For me it wasn't obvious to do this because I'm not gay nor was I part of that particular scene. But I knew that we could both make a very stylish shoot, and be realistic in the people we portrayed. Of course we made up a setting, but the people aren't made up. It's who they really are.
Ted And it's not a fantasy world. It's the real world. For me the emphasis had to be on celebrating people. Not about creating an image and using the people as Barbie dolls. That's another thing I like, yet not what we wanted to do with this project.
Ki Ted kept on saying to me that the pictures had to show the love.
Ted For me it's one of the chances to give back to the people who have given me a new life, really. I mean, I was so bored. So bored of life and it was so hard to live in London and then last year I get to do this job for these people and six months along the line I've been everywhere. With these wonderful, colorful people who totally changed my perspective on life. Totally reintegrated my hope, my faith in creativity and fun. People who are not afraid to have and express their emotions and feelings. That's why it was so important that the series was real. Trannies are out worldly creatures, they are next level beings, beyond what you would ever expect. I think it's a privilege for anyone to be able to even become a part of it.
www.artpornblog.com
www.kiprice.com
This article is featured in Et Alors? Magazine 13.
Read the complete issue here.
Virgin Xtravaganzah
As an impersonator of the Virgin Mary, performance artist Virgin Xtravaganzah talks about how Mary actually loves the gay community and that people got it wrong in the books. That God doesn't care whether you're gay or straight; he just…..
Dr.a.g.
About seven months after one of our favorite books came out, its publisher was going out of business. Passionate about its content, respect for the performers and certain about it's power to affect change made Christopher Logan start all over…..
Holestar
Despite being a biological woman, she dresses as a super, fabulous, over the top version of a girl. So yes, she's a drag artist. Yet not a queen or a faux queen; 'there's nothing fake about me!' She prefers to be called a Tranny with a Fanny or Drag…..
Haus of Haunt
The Haus of Haunt is the Pittsburgh based drag troupe around Sharon Needles, a self-described "stupid genius, reviled sweetheart, and PRB princess," rose to prominence on the 4th. season of the reality competition series, Ru Paul's Drag Race…..
House of Hopelezz
If you're lucky you can bump into them when in Amsterdam. Accompanied by a human cluster of flies, they picturesquely attract and they puzzle. With their expression of beatific good humour and their gaily coloured dresses, people are vying for…..
Et Alors? magazine. A global celebration of diversity.
© Text & design by JF. Pierets, 2010-2017


text:
Q: Showing message after redirect I'm trying to show a message after a successful redirect in my project, but can't find a really good way to do so. Right now I have a very simple and not really good solution which looks like this:
// Things happened:
$Alert = dangerMessage("Heyho, I am a message!");
header('refresh: 1.5 ; url = index.php');

My dangerMessage is a simple echo of a predefined Alertbox:
function dangerMessage($text) {
    return "

    ×".$text."
";
}

It simply shows a little box with text inside.
Anyway, like I said this is my "simple" solution right now, it works fine but it's not the best solution. I know that you should be putting a die(); or a exit(); after the header(), but my problem is that when I put them under my header() the page is just blank for 1.5 seconds, redirects, and shows no messagebox.
Is there a way to have a decent/good redirect that also shows my message?

A: An elegant and common approach is to use a flash message. This is basically a one-off session entry which is set in one request and is delivered in the next one, then instantly deleted. Consider the following example.
On the redirecting page, you set the flash message in the session object:
$_SESSION["flash"] = ["type" => "success", "message" => "You are great!"];

On a target page, check if there's a flash message. If so, output and delete it.
if (isset($_SESSION["flash"]))
{
    vprintf("
%s
", $_SESSION["flash"]);
    unset($_SESSION["flash"]);
}

Note: The example assumes you are using PHP sessions already. If not, you must start the session first.

A: I would advise you use a session to display your message. The issue with $_GET is that since you rely on the URL, anyone can constantly manipulate the message being displayed.
Before calling header(), save the success or failed message to a session variable. For example
$_SESSION['success'] = 'Data Saved to Database';
On the index page, check for the session key, echo it and then remove it from the session array.
if(!empty($_SESSION['success'])){
  echo $_SESSION['success'];
 unset($_SESSION['success']);//so you do not have to display it over and over again
}

A: Why not use a JavaScript redirection with a delay ?
<?php echo dangerMessage("Heyho, I am a message!"); ?>

The above code will show your alert message, then redirect the page 1.5 seconds after it's effectively loaded. It uses jQuery, but is easily adaptable for native JS.

A: I like this solution with sessionStorage. This is fully client side, but will work fine when a modern browser is used.
When your text for the next page is ready:

Then redirect. At the top of the script you are redirecting to, obtain the message and do something with it, for example:

PHP header() will not work in this scenario. The header() function must be called before any actual output is sent to the browser. But since the magic happens at the client side, you need to send output to the browser. Therefore, you will need a JavaScript redirect, for example
window.location = "?<?php echo $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']; ?>";

A: One way is to use the power of $_GET, first modify your header() to something like this:
header('refresh: 1.5 ; url = index.php?success'); //or whatever you want to put after ?
exit;

Then in index.php, put something like this:
if(isset($_GET['success'])){
    //display your message here
}
if(isset($_GET['error'])){
    //display your message here
}

This will check the URL for either success or error, then runs the code block inside if detected

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