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Tag Archives: pedestrian-friendliness
While Detroiters are keeping close eyes on what is happening with Woodward and the Peoplemover 2.0, another privately-funded construction project is taking place less than a mile away.
Remember when we were talking about turning I-375 into a walkable, bikeable surface street? Even as recently as this summer, this was the plan, with a study examining the benefits of each of six proposals to reconfigure the road due in September.
Unfortunately, this utopian scheme seemed to be forgotten when in September no study results were revealed and instead Dan Gilbert shared his vision for building a wider exit ramp at Lafayette. This basically makes a big funnel from the burbs into Rock Ventures' Greektown Casino parking garage and other downtown destinations.
Scheduled to be finished in December, the project enlarges the single-lane exit ramp at Lafayette into a three-lane — as wide as the highway itself. As a spokesperson for Rock Ventures told Crain's, "There are more and more people coming downtown. If we can make it easier and a more pleasant experience to access points of interest, it's a win-win."
It might have been the day after, or it might have even been the day before I heard about the ramp-widening that I saw crews tearing into the embankment. Apparently, this immediacy is one of the wonders of privately-funded road projects. (Just being glad that some zillionaire didn't appear with funds for the ruinous proposed I-94 expansion out of their own pocket). With a new $1.25 million investment in the highway, removing much of it is doubtful to happen anytime soon. As catering to pedestrians and cyclists is probably not central to the economic success of the casino and surrounding businesses, it's not difficult to imagine how this highway amendment took priority over previous plans. At least there is the promise of landscaping to look forward to next spring.
Facilitating swifter beelines to "points of interest" is not a strategy that serves the people who are already downtown or in neighboring areas, aside from mollifying admittedly knotty traffic flows. Detroit isn't just a handful of "destinations" in a barren wasteland, as the New York Times staff has infamously reported every time they drive around and see something that isn't Slow's.
Treating the city like every mile matters — the destinations and the spaces in between — will benefit both pedestrians and the highway-travelling commuters and destination-goers alike. The broader ramp at Lafayette may make short-term sense, but taking a broader perspective seems an obvious choice, especially for someone who is banking their future on Detroit's future.
construction, downtown, highways, pedestrian-friendliness
Where the pedestrians aren't
Curbed Detroit has an image gallery up today ostensibly providing a photo tour of the future arenaland. The gallery is less the expected catalog of what is there and more an investigation of where the pedestrians aren't. This could be easily turned into a children's book about failed urban planning.
"You'll notice there are not many pedestrians," Curbed writes. "Not here," it continues calmly under the following image, flipping what should be the next heavy page of a teething-resistant board book, "or here." With its soothing repetition (except for the dozen or so photos where the author seemingly tire of typing that caption — come on, Curbed, copy and paste) and eventual surprise discovery, it has all the charms of a minimalist Where's Waldo after Waldo moves to the burbs.
Photo by Michelle and Chris Gerard for Curbed Detroit.
And good job, Curbed, for not counting the guy riding a bicycle the wrong way on Park at Henry as a pedestrian. Way to teach those kids what a vehicle is!
While the set of images seems intentionally skewed to tell the story that pedestrians don't travel here, this is a great 'before' to 2017's hopefully walkable 'after.' I usually see a number of people out when walking in this area. Perhaps they have been deterred by the rude truck drivers and other construction personnel with less fearsome vehicles who have nearly run me over in car, on bike, and on foot in their ill-mannered haste to carry out Ilitch's bidding. The M1 employees have not been kind, either.
Today there was much activity in the area as movie crews took over the streets, erecting barricades. This meant another tough day for pedestrians scolded for trying to follow their usual routes and told to take sometimes lengthy detours. As I looked at the crews milling around, a security officer approached me, asking me to leave. "But I'm outside the barrier," I replied. "They don't care, they just want you to leave," he told me. Last week, Motor City Muckraker reported that "[p]olice and security forced fans off a public street and sidewalk because they "were too close" to the groundbreaking" taking place at the future arena. While pedestrian traffic was low before, there may be good reasons it will remain that way for a while.
Keep out of the "Tiger Clubhouse"!
Cass Park, development, pedestrian-friendliness, safety, walkability
Where the sidewalk doesn't end
Surprisingly good sidewalk news from the 7.2 and beyond:
No crosswalks have materialized on the recently bi-directional Second Avenue in Midtown, but crews are replacing disturbed sections of sidewalk.
One worker, looking zen as all get out as he smoothed the new patch with a cement-leveling tool, said, "We just fix what DTE breaks!" No response regarding the absence of crosswalks has been received following an email dated July 14 to the office of Jereen Rice, Midtown Detroit Inc.'s "Greenway & Non-Motorized Planner/Engineer." Meanwhile, pedestrians still cannot get to the Bronx and back without undue risk.
M-1 rail is breaking ground next week, which means it will be construction season on Woodward until 2016. While pedestrians know that this usually entails a wild goose chase of detours, M-1 rail planners are promising to keep sidewalks open, as Craig Fahle noted while skimming through publicity documents. "You're going to make sure sidewalks are maintained; everything's ADA compliant throughout the entire construction project. That's not always the case in a project like this," he said in an interview with chief operating officer Paul Childs.
As the grand plan for the future Ilitch sports arena was announced this week, it brought some unexpected positive news for current Detroit pedestrians. Cass Park will still be a park, and a nicer one at that. As Curbed reported, "Most of the immediate construction in places like Cass Park Plaza will be in the form of new infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, etc) and landscaping to lure outside developers." As Chris Ilitch told Crain's, fixing streetlights and landscaping will "free the city up to spend its resources on other priorities." How generous. Then, in a bizarre choice of words to describe a place where people actually live, Ilitch said, "This is an investor's playground." At least sidewalks are usually a priority near playgrounds.
Elsehere, sidewalks have bifurcated and grown lanes. In a "behavioral science experiment," crews from a new National Geographic TV show have painted lanes on a Washington, D.C. sidewalk, splitting pedestrians into phone-using and non-phone-using groups.
Photo by Cliff Owen for the Associated Press
It went about as successfully as would be expected for a TV crew masquerading as behavioral scientists. Pedestrians either ignored it or posted pictures of it on social media. Can't wait until this episode airs.
construction, development, pedestrian-friendliness, sidewalks
Going on tour
D:hive, a downtown welcome center assisting visitors and residents in finding what they're looking for in Detroit, offers walking tours a couple times a week now through their new Detroit Experience Factory venture. I'd been meaning to go on one for years, so with a sunny day off and the sudden remembrance that these tours exist, off I went. Our guide this Saturday was Shawn, a funny, hyperbolic guy who noted that he was "in the zone" today as we set off, underscoring that with the claim that if he doesn't know the answer to a question, he is happy to lie so well that you'll never know it was a lie. It was oddly reassuring. Among other skills, it became clear that Shawn was very adept at walking backwards, seemingly necessary for pedestrian tour guides.
We hardly spoke during the tour, save to ask an occasional question, mostly letting Shawn soak our brains in trivia. There was a group of three German tourists, a pair of guys who didn't say much but smiled often, a man and a woman who seemed to have come by themselves, and me. The loners turned out to be really great, a PhD candidate from London doing field work on the prevalence of guided tours for her dissertation on the revitalization and rebranding of downtown and Midtown, and a cool Midtown resident who drives for Uber and is studying up to become a tour guide himself. Shawn said that size of group was normal for a Saturday tour, though sometimes as many as 25 or so will attend.
Diversity of summery footwear.
We made it 353 feet down Woodward before Dan Gilbert's name came up. Wondering how that narrative was going to play out, I was relieved when our guide mentioned that "though the long-term consequence of Dan Gilbert is debatable, in the meantime we welcome him," offering out-of-towners a balanced view without the excessive cheerleading I'd suspect a place like d:hive of fostering. We spent a lot of time standing at pedestrian crossings, stillness being the only way to get enough earshot to convey information.
With a sandbox so grand, Quicken security detail probably has a dedicated cat division.
In Campus Martius, we sat for a while on benches, learning about its blacktop-infused demise and reinstatement as a public park in 2001, when it received a 20 million dollar overhaul for Detroit's 300th birthday. As workers excavated the park, they stumbled upon Detroit's official point of origin buried under the asphalt, which today was again half-covered by a sandwich board advertising the Fountain Bistro's menu. I couldn't help but admire how snazzy downtown's parks were looking. Campus Martius, with its simulated beach and lavish fountains, almost (but never really) made up for the lack of adequate parks elsewhere in the city.
Shawn was darting effortlessly between past and present histories, gesticulating at things with a small segment of plastic straw he was carrying. I'd forgotten how much of history is shaped by military forces and felt a twinge of disappointment, though all battle lore was tempered with good humor, like poking fun Augustus Woodward's thing for Roman culture.
Outside the Yamasaki building at one Woodward, where we stopped to do some distance-looking in the direction of the Spirit of Detroit sculpture across the street, Shawn informed us that we were next to another Dan Gilbert property — "You can tell by the piped-in music and the eyes in the sky!" The Renaissance Center sat blinking dumbly from the comfort of its own zip code, apparently the tallest building between New York and Chicago. Nearby, "the fist," Shawn sighed, "is misunderstood." I'm still nonplussed by it, but doubt that ongoing misunderstanding is attributable to Shawn.
At some point I noticed that one woman was periodically jotting things in a nice green notebook. "Good idea," I said to her in the quiet of the Guardian building, which Shawn told us is due to noise-cancelling horsehair behind the sneaky painted canvas. Instead I took notes on my phone, which resulted in minimally coherent jibberish like "snuggles across point of origin" and "puppies in music" and "40 years of disinfectant." Everybody else kind of looked at me like, 'why is she constantly texting and not even looking at the pretty buildings what a waste,' or however German idiom would shape that notion.
Who knew that the Guardian building, with its individually-dyed bricks and marble from a defunct mine in Africa that was specially re-opened for the project, was completed in just seven months? "There's a McDonald's in my neighborhood that's taken almost a year to build," Shawn added glibly for perspective. As we crossed Michigan, Shawn indicated with his plastic straw some brightly colored chairs on the sidewalk. "More of that placemaking stuff."
By the time we got around to Capitol Park, the Germans had reverted to German and were talking about Chicago. There was a lovely diversity of pigeons that, like all signs of nature, went unmentioned. As we walked up Griswold, Shawn said, "That one's a Dan Gilbert acquisition" about a million times, evidently the current heaviest layer of history on many of these old buildings. Just when I thought there couldn't possibly be more and that he should probably take a break and have some water, he said, "Also coming up here on the left is another one."
Outside the Albert, which is really "exciting" because it was built without subsidies — commanding a high enough rental rate to justify kicking out all those seniors.
Stevens T. Mason may have been the youngest governor ever, but that youthful invincibility doesn't make his effigy's head impervious to a spattering of bird poop.
Crossing Woodward to veer into Grand Circus Park, almost unrecognizable with its new furniture, I was the only participant who stopped to take a picture of the smushed pigeon in the crosswalk. "Euuuu," said the Germans, sidestepping. About an hour and a half into the tour, loitering at the corner of Witherell and Woodward, we were discovered by another sandaled participant. "I'm a travel writer," he said, delightedly squinting at us. "Who does these tours?" He was in town for the day writing about the M-1 rail project for a New Jersey publication targeted toward transit professionals. I hope that learning that the building housing Cheli's Chili was once a women-only goods exchange, hosting a sort of black market, can aid in his report.
Hey, remember that time when the Broderick Tower apartments sold out in 48 hours? Shawn does.
Grand Circus Park, the spitting image of Birmingham.
"The upside of forty years of disinvestment is having one of the largest collections of pre-Depression buildings in the country," Shawn told us as we passed the Kahn-designed Detroit Athletic Club. "Where other cities bulldozed them and got their glass towers, ours got left alone and the modern stuff got built in the suburbs." We jaywalked — not recommended by Shawn — across John R to get a better view of one of his favorite abandoned buildings, the interior of which had been deemed worthless after a lifetime of jeweller's harsh chemicals, until just this week when its sale was announced.
"I hope you've learned something new," Shawn concluded sweetly as we lingered over a curb cut on Woodward at the end of our little 1.6 mile loop, "and if nothing else hopefully you've seen that the rumors of our demise are exaggerated." All in all, with Shawn's help I picked up a lot of downtown trivia that, as a Detroiter who cares about anything, I probably ought to know.
It was a slow but entertaining tour. Its limited scope was kind of advantageous, giving visitors ideas for further explorations, like the riverfront that we talked about but, not crossing Jefferson, missed. Detroit Experience Factory holds that tour on Mondays, so why not build a little suspense?
The low price of foot soreness from extended loafing was negligible next to the benefit of this free tour. Thanks, Shawn! In keeping with my belief in holding onto a touristic curiosity and not taking things for granted, I'd like to do the tour again in winter and see how the focus changes.
Do you facilitate a walking tour in Detroit? Have any tour recommendations I should check out? Is there one for pre-1700 geography and geology? Please comment and let me know!
development, downtown, parks, pedestrian-friendliness, tours
A second look both ways
A cardinal rule of walking in cities that everyone learns when they're knee-high and first able to comprehend quantifiers such as 'both' is, "Look both ways." In Detroit, it's long been the case that one-way designations have been perceived only as an emphatic and occasionally policeable suggestion. Looking both ways is automatic, but with recent road construction in Midtown, it's a great time, as rambler Michaela would put it, for a reminder from your local mom: Look both ways before crossing the street!
Like the sign says, Second is going through some ups and downs.
This particular street is Second Avenue. Last week, road crews were out making good on an old plan to restore Second to something like its historic proportions, and as Curbed contends, "ending its reign as the neighborhood's most illogical thoroughfare," at least since Third underwent its conversion last year, I guess.
The gesture, with planning provided by Midtown Detroit, Inc., was well-received, with media making a big deal about the "cushy" buffered bike lanes, but it seems that certain populations have been left out of the plan. You can mumbo-jumbo your way through all the 'complete streets' buzzwords you want, but without facilities for all road and sidewalk users these streets are incomplete.
After a week of bidirectionality and new bike lanes, things weren't looking any better for pedestrians. No crosswalks have been installed; not a single line demarcating a street crossing has been laid. Pedestrians can cross safely at Selden and at Forest, but in the intervening "walkable" blocks no provision has been offered. Thinking that the oversight must be temporary, I waited, then asked questions. As of Tuesday, everyone who knows anything about sidewalks in the Department of Public Works or at Midtown Detroit, Inc., was on vacation.
At least there's no parking in the crosswalk.
Deviating slightly from my usual commute, I walked north on Second and asked other pedestrians as we crossed paths how they were doing and what they thought of the new paint job. (Not including people wearing earbuds, which may have skewed results). They were all fine, thanks, but the exchange got uglier as the subject turned impersonal. I'm not a fan of the change, but I was anticipating that at least someone would like it. No one did. "Let me tell you, I hate it, man. It's a thoroughfare. It used to be a neighborhood, and now it's a thoroughfare. And it sucks," ranted one woman impassionedly. "I don't like it," said the next man who passed. "I liked it better when it was one way. Now there's a lot more traffic. I'm used to looking both ways, but… I'm still getting used to it." He looked down Second and concluded, "I like the bike lanes, though!"
This pedestrian made it across safely, but will you?
This is hardly about which format is better — it's about disregard for pedestrians, no matter what the roadway itself holds. Nobody really knows whether the purported benefits of two-way streets actually pan out. Two-wayification is a traffic calming strategy intended to reducing vehicle speed, miles travelled, and pollution emitted, while hopefully increasing pedestrian safety and walkability. Studies have shown evidence for both outcomes — safer for pedestrians, not safer for pedestrians, and so forth — so like many cities following the trend, Detroit is another willing to pay a good deal of money to do an experiment on which it isn't even collecting data.
In my experience, none of the planner's promises have materialized following the Third Street conversion. Crossing has been at best a nuisance. Avoiding speeding cars coming from both sides, poorly timed so as to require waiting longer to find a suitable gap, has been an issue both as a pedestrian and a cyclist. Even if the change had caused traffic speeds to drop, slower traffic often equates to more fumes and road noise — not the types of amenities Midtown aims to offer its residents and guests. After recently establishing that the dominant scent of the Midtown Loop is exhaust, creating more smelly "walkable" areas is an odd priority. Leaving Second alone and putting bike lanes on Cass, the adjacent more heavily-travelled existing two-way, could have been a consideration, though it's a tight fit as it is.
This transition could be done well, making life better for both pedestrians and cyclists — it just hasn't been yet. Perhaps it wasn't a slip of the tongue when the Free Press quoted DPW director Ron Brundidge saying, "Whenever we have an opportunity to promote more non-motorized transportation use, whether it's bicycle paths or making it more pedestrian friendly, we definitely want to employ that as part of the principles of design" (emphasis mine). This isn't an either-or proposition. It's a rare opportunity where everybody can easily be safer and happier.
Like city employees and Midtown Inc. planners, I'm going on vacation. Perhaps when I return from walking around where there is no concrete to bicker over lining with crosswalks (North Country Trail!), the city will yield great surprises. Could it be a fleet of yield signs for crosswalks, like at Hancock and Cass (where I always resist the zealous impulse to walk though the intersection just for fun)? Maybe DTE's gas line dig sites at Canfield will lay foundations for a pedestrian bridge or lead to a subterranean crossing, like the vestiges of one further north on Second. Just kidding; a concrete hole in the ground probably doesn't count as a greenway.
The Detroit Area Rambling Network is all about making the most of pedestrian opportunities in the city — we already live in some permutation of a walkable city, so let's use it. Some lines on the ground probably aren't going to save my life, but crosswalks at least promote awareness that hey, people actually walk around here. It's a sad day when an area like Midtown becomes less safely walkable, even if within the context of greater progress.
midtown, pedestrian-friendliness, planning, safety, sidewalks, traffic, walkability
Empire Detroit
Walking through Corktown on a typical route southbound to the riverfront, the road is transformed into a slushy single lane that is the real estate of honking, unsympathetic taxis. Their tires kick up clods of grey sludge as they speed back to their headquarters. The conditions aren't ideal — outside of densely residential or commercial areas, sidewalks are nonexistent, snowed into oblivion. Pedestrians are left to fend for themselves, dodging crumbling snowbanks and the vast ponds of murky snowmelt radiating from the curbs. Sharing the streets with impatient drivers, I navigate these gingerly and keep moving.
Where Vermont bends into Porter, it's quiet as usual outside Ponyride. On the other end of the block, at the intersection of Rosa Parks, a pair of utility trucks is out, servicing who knows what. The two contractors, chatting, look at me suspiciously. I issue a generic Detroit greeting involving such pleasantries as hellos and how-you-doings. They kind of nod in return. Distracted by an incomprehensible sticker on the b-pillar of the leading truck, I consider taking a picture, but deem it weird and pointless. Looking back at the guys looking back at me, I carry on toward the river.
The riverfront has changed significantly in the past year. Since we last rambled there, the trees, except for a few lonely willow specimens, have been cut down, and red emergency phones have been installed in their place. All of this is behind a chainlink fence dotted with "private property no trespassing" signs. It's progress everywhere, except for the remaining accessible narrow nub at the end of Rosa Parks where people still fish as long as the river isn't frozen.
By the afternoon, the media's caught wind of a new expansion in Dan Gilbert's empire, the Detroit billionaire darling lauded with catalyzing the most profound revitalization the city has seen in decades. His focus has been building a two square mile piece of the downtown business district into a workable, liveable, and, incredibly, walkable destination. But Crain's calls Gilbert's new Corktown warehouse, the building I had unknowingly ambled past hours before, "about as anti-Gilbert as it gets."
The building at Rosa Parks and Porter was purchased in November from the owner of Boulevard & Trumbull Towing. The real estate office facilitating the deal said that they supposed Gilbert's new acquisition would be used for "warehousing for the owner's personal belongings." Deadline Detroit posits that "we can only assume a Gilbert-owned industrial warehouse will be used to store all the small buildings he doesn't want anymore."
So what will he really do with this odd purchase? If only Curbed were correct in their glib suggestion on the motivation behind Gilbert's strange new land use. "An indoor beach, perhaps?" they wonder. "There are two cryptic clues: The seller's lawyer told Crain's that the warehouse would be a great place to "run something that required a lot of electricity," while CoStar added that "some kind of communication center" will be installed."
Screen capture from WXYZ.
Does this mean a communication center like the infamous state-of-the-art one currently housed downtown in the Chase building? It's unlikely that there's any plan to relocate the center to this decentralized spot, but it's impossible to imagine a Gilbert building without its fair share of cameras.
According to WXYZ, as of October Gilbert had installed 300 cameras in his downtown stomping grounds. Let's just say it's doubtful the plan has ended there. Some downtown residents claim that the cameras now number as many as 600. With these cameras "[o]perators can zoom right in on individuals. All of the images are recorded," ostensibly helping police identify suspects.
We can hope that the subjects of surveillance will be limited to criminals, but will they? What of the homeless, the rambling, the otherwise quirky individuals who don't fit the whims of Gilbert and his 7,600 young professionals spiking demand in the downtown housing market? The evictions of longtime residents are taking place on camera. As one Detroit writer said of Gilbert, "He also just sent a notice to one of my ex-girlfriends, explaining he has purchased the apartment building she's lived in for the last 16 years and his future plans don't include her." If not welcome to live their lives within the walls of their own homes downtown, how welcome will they be to visit their old streets?
Basically, these improvements downtown just mean that Fernando Palazuelo has to deal with more bodies snatched from high-surveillance areas getting dumped at his new house on E. Grand Boulevard, further dividing a city whose edges are already sagging under the weight of heavy segregation. Crimes will continue to be pushed to outlying areas where "nobody" lives, places actually inhabited by plenty of people who are not Gilbert's new 1%.
No one can argue against the local benefits of increased security downtown, and Gilbert's surveillance plan has made for neighborly partnerships with General Motors, the Ilitches, and Compuware, not to mention Detroit, Wayne County, and Wayne State police, which itself has a small empire of cameras. Detroit Police Chief James Craig optimistically said, "I'm hopeful that sometime in the very near future that the Detroit Police Department can replicate and even expand beyond the technology being used in Rock's Ventures," adding that it was very nice to be "invited in" to use the system during special events.
It seems that what Dan Gilbert wants, Dan Gilbert will get, with city officials paying gentle lip service to his empire, dubbed Opportunity Detroit. As previous mayor Dave Bing told the New York Times last year about his relationship with Gilbert, "My job is to knock down as many barriers as possible and get out of the way," expediting permits while longtime Detroiters are left to abide by bureaucracy's schedule.
Rambling downtown last weekend, the cameras' presence was palpable even through the veil of oncoming snowstorm. As a Detroiter who, like most, does not reside downtown, it's been luxurious having my activities go uncharted by an omniscient eye, or at least only as much I let big data peek in. No more. Welcome to Corktown, cameras! Empire Detroit surveillance is now coming to a neighborhood near you.
borders, cameras, Corktown, downtown, pedestrian-friendliness, real estate, riverfront, security, surveillance, weather, winter
It's the shortest day of the year; the longest, darkest night. The winter solstice is traditionally a time of turning inward to reflect on the cycles of nature. It's an auspicious opportunity to take old familiar paths, pondering changes in the self and its environment. There have been many such changes.
Last year, the warmth of good intent cut through the cold. Someone was tending a fire in a barrel in Redmond Plaza, a welcoming flame inviting anyone who walked through to linger and warm themselves. Today the park is empty, but not on account of the cold or precipitation. It was fenced off months ago, the shiny metal barrier enforcing its vacancy for no discernible reason. The park's visibility and the absence of any construction make its inaccessibility infuriating. On a few rare occasions the gates have been unlocked and people will amble beyond them, but it's unclear why they open these times and not others.
Snowy day with the concrete seal and an empty chair.
The weekend community barbeques that have been happening here for years are still scheduled to occur. A few folks gather around the perimeter, maybe in anticipation of this, sitting on the two chairs at the corner and perching on the concrete ledge. One of the only people I see often at the park these days is the guy who dances wildly in the crosswalk on Second, wearing headphones. He's often preoccupied, but sometimes he notices me and militantly barks a greeting.
This is his corner.
The lot belongs to the city recreation department, but it's slated for redevelopment by Midtown, Inc. in the coming year. Next door we'll get a new restaurant, but what good will come for the people who previously spent time in the park? I doubt I'll be getting catcalled much anymore while travelling through that intersection, but who will be there to wish me a good morning with such exuberance? Neither is the domain of the hipster or young professional, the kind of "Detroit by Detroiters" for whom this development is taking place.
It's also one of my favorite corners for pigeons in the city, probably as many as at Rosa Parks Transit Center, but with fewer comings and goings, disruptions. They're used to the presence of humans, seem to have a symbiosis with the people who hang out here. They're not afraid of anything. If I stand there for a moment, sometimes they'll all flutter down at once, landing close and inspecting my boots, maybe mistaking them for one of their own kind.
When, like Third last year, Second gets its makeover into a two-way street with fancy bike lanes, where will the pigeons go? Nobody really cares about pigeons (though you can usually find a good spread of birdseed nearby at Third and Alexandrine), but a place too busy for birds impacts foot traffic, too. Will we have to contend with cars coming fast from both directions? For all its increased bikeability, the revisions to Third fail when considering the lack of safe crosswalks for pedestrians.
Change is afoot.
What will this intersection look like in a year? In ten? What will it look like then in our memories?
A week later, volunteers are setting up for the community barbeque, positioned in a line along the sidewalk. As others dither over whether to put the fruit next to the desserts, one man tending some coals tells me that they tried to get permission to continue using the park, but were turned down. "I don't know why they don't want us in there," he says sadly. "We're just out here having some fun, feeding people, doing God's work."
birds, development, midtown, parks, pedestrian-friendliness, sidewalks, winter
Ghosts: remembering
Note: This is the second installment in a series about public awareness of pedestrian fatalities in Detroit, once one of the most dangerous cities for walking. Read part one of "Ghosts". Seriously, we'll come across something heartwarming soon, even with lower attendance at a very chilly Noel Night, its signature whimsical handheld neon letters clamoring on the DIA steps spelling out "not for sale," and it won't be another Heidelberg house catching fire.
The dearth of memorials in Detroit for pedestrians killed by vehicles warrants a look at what other cities are doing with this conundrum. Death in this manner is tragic, and an added offense is the idea that a person will recede from their formerly vibrant life without a public trace. When something of profound collective gravity happens in a certain location, it should not pass unnoticed. As other cities show, history's natural erasure can be easily shifted.
Although ghost bikes originated in San Francisco, and Los Angeles infamously suffers ill repute as a treacherous and unlikely place for walkers, it's the half of the country with less clement weather that's more active in memorializing the dead. The ghost bike appeared in St. Louis, Missouri as a symbolic tribute a year after the San Francisco art project began. New York has a number of activist groups for pedestrian and cyclist safety putting their mark on the territory. Advocacy groups Right of Way, TIME'S UP!, and Citystreets have been doing stencil markers at pedestrian fatality sites since 1996. A more recent development is the Streets Memorials project, which aims to honor each pedestrian with an often personalized plaque.
Image from Barbara Ross on flickr
Right of Way traces the beginning of the stencil project to December 1996 and has memorialized over 270 lives to date, in addition to their analysis of traffic statistics and active organization of demonstrations to keep local roads safer. Citystreets and Right of Way were allegedly once the same entity, but split due to cyclists' objection to the stencil project as focusing too much on pedestrian issues. Citystreets founder Harris Silver credits his group with the first of such pedestrian stencils after the death of Alice Wang in 1997, months after Right of Way began stencilling. Silver doesn't describe how he heard of Wang's death, but says that it touched him — it could have been him, or a friend, anybody. He says he then worked with an advertising art director at a prestigious firm to create the simple outline stencil darkly dubbed "Flatso" now used, it seems, by all three groups. TIME'S UP! shares the same medium with a more vocal and inflammatory stance, declaring that "Cars and trucks not only destroy our environment, but they can destroy each of us instantly!" Each group's status seems to have fluctuated between periods of dormancy interspersed with their usual activity. The apparent lack of communication means that one group or another is working to establish memorials, but how they avoid overlap is unclear.
The stencils are abstractly human-shaped, and look as though they are dancing in place on the asphalt. According to Right of Way, which offers a fairly comprehensive FAQ on stencilling, they last several months, unless placed in parks, where they vanish overnight. They're colorful and surprisingly cheerful, the dotted line reminiscent of children's toys or craft projects, maybe even sprinkles on a cake. While death needn't be somber (and one suspects many of these cyclists and pedestrians would have chosen against something drab), the memorials lack a sense of finality. Doesn't it look like she might just be stretching after a nap?
Image from Barbara Ross on flickr.
A more recent development in pedestrian memorials in New York are the Street Memorials plaques installed on fences and posts near the scene of a pedestrian's death. This group, founded about seven years ago by members of TIME'S UP!, Transportation Alternatives, and the anonymous art collective Visual Resistance, seems to benefit from better funding than previous efforts, and credits the ghost bike movement as their inspiration. A member of Visual Resistance said that while installing ghost bikes around the city, they had a "large response from people saying that they wish we could do for pedestrians what we do for cyclists who are killed." Echoing a sentiment expressed by many others involved in the memorials, she said, "It's oftentimes the same issues, where pedestrians are killed by cars and the drivers are usually not held responsible," a polite phrasing of the belief guiding the instructive headline "How to get away with murder" on TIME'S UP!'s site.
This project has significant advantages over the stencils — a more concise deployment, perhaps within greater legal favor than what is tantamount to graffiti. It also looks more dignified, a seemingly undeniable tribute to the pedestrians who died. It's something enduring that will not be run over thousands of times a day, with the possible irony of being hit again and again by the very car that killed the person.
Photo from Mode Shift
Detroit certainly isn't without memorials. As pictured in a recent article connecting Detroit's streetlight woes, by now a national joke, to the summer's high-profile pedestrian deaths on Gratiot, Dreadlock Mike has a memorial wheelchair. The collections of flowers and stuffed animals, crosses and hearts, that spring up worldwide in reaction to personal tragedies from shootings to car crashes are visible here, too. These memorials are potent, curated by family and friends, those who best knew the wishes of the deceased person.
They don't, however, draw attention to the fact that a person died at a particular place while walking, the most simple, basic human activity that unites just about all of us. They don't tell the full story. As long as something persists unknown, there is little chance of improvement. As another Visual Resistance member said, "I'd like to see the need for this really dwindle to nothing, but that's not going to happen until there are changes on the streets."
Watch for the third post in this series in the coming weeks as we consider these changes and measures we can take in the meantime.
activism, art, memorials, New York, pedestrian-friendliness, safety, walkability
SAFEWALK your way around campus
Addressing Wayne State after the death last week of a law student whose body was found near the Packard Plant after being transported there from campus, university president M. Roy Wilson said:
Most people feel very safe walking around our campus. However, even if you do not feel threatened, you should still exercise caution, and consider taking advantage of our Safe Walk program, particularly if you are alone after dark. Call 313-577-2222, and officers will either monitor you on camera until you reach your car or your campus destination, or escort you personally.
Who knew? As it turns out, this useful and undoubtedly well-intended program has existed for eight years, the "most underutilized service" offered by the Wayne State police, according to Lieutenant Scott, who monitors crime statistics and sends out the monthly CAMPUSWATCH email.
The program is simple: call the Wayne State police, let them know where you are and where you're going. Depending on location and availibility, either a cadet will come to escort you on foot, or, if no cadets are available, a uniformed officer in a marked car will come drive very slowly behind you until you arrive safely at your destination. "Official policy is, we're supposed to watch you walk," Lieutenant Scott explained, and usually they do. "Unofficial policy is, hop in the car and we'll take you where you need to go." With some places on campus "it can take some time, you know, to watch you walk." That's why, he said, driving is easier. "It frees us up faster, but it's basically whatever you want."
If nobody knows about the program, who uses it? Since the reminder after the law student's death last week, pedestrians have requested about seventy SAFEWALKs. To how this compares to averages for the program, Scott responded that they don't really keep track of numbers for it, or a breakdown of student versus faculty use. "People need us, we're there for them. That's what we really care about," he said candidly. Being there for people is more challenging than it sounds. One of the most frustrating reasons for low awareness is that the police just can't get the word out. "We used to talk to each incoming freshman class during orientation, but in the past few years they won't let us. Some upper-level administrator decided that students didn't have time." The priorities set for students are questionable if time can't be made for a quick presentation on campus safety at a university like Wayne State.
Retracing our steps to the means of monitoring pedestrians, the omnipresent cameras mentioned in Wilson's statement may not be as creepy as they sound. The use of cameras isn't actually very common, and depends on where you are and where you're going — and in how much of a hurry you are to get there, another officer added wryly. "In some cases, we can follow with PTZ — pan-tilt-zoom — cameras, but we don't say we can watch you walk on camera if we can't see you all the way there, if there is any kind of obstruction." Due to incomplete visual coverage of campus, most service is rendered in person.
If officers can watch students and faculty walk around campus, can they not also watch those who might be preying on them? Sometimes, but not always, Scott said, sidestepping the matter of the camera feed's helpfulness in preventing crime or identifying criminals. Whatever their use, the department is vying for more cameras, and perhaps more usefully, more awareness in the university community.
It would be nice to see this program publicized, even just with some information posted on the Wayne State police department site. It would be better yet to have it expanded to something a little less onerous, less stigmatized, less wholly motivated by grim fear. Calling to get a walking buddy on campus is a fine idea, but less so if the buddy pads along behind you on four wheels, weighing a few tons and taking up the entire sidewalk. A volunteer-based campus walking network could help students meet and relate to one another, all while taking a fresh air study break. That, or give criminals an easier way to nab five iPhones at once.
campus, commuting, crime, pedestrian-friendliness, safety, walkability
What makes one thing more beautiful than another? Sometimes beauty can be measured, like the symmetrical arrangement of facial features; other times, it remains wholly elusive. What makes this landscape lovelier than that? What makes one street more appealing than the next? It's a simple matter to characterize a neighborhood's well-being by population flow, crime statistics, health trends. As Frank Hebbert of OpenPlans says, "But it's harder to establish the softer feeling: Is this a place I like? Would I prefer the street on the left to the street on the right? That's not a metric, but a gut feeling about comparing places."
This last quandary is what the people at OpenPlans have set out to quantify and solve. For Valentine's Day, they launched the Beautiful Streets project, which asks visitors to choose the more appealing scene out of the two options presented on the page. The site is populated by images of Philadelphia from Google Street View.
Not everything in Philadelphia is beautiful, and this is what works so well about this project — its unabashed realism, albeit through a fisheye lens. Fortunately, there is a 'skip' button for each pair. While sometimes one image seems almost objectively fairer than the other, it is more often than not hard to tell which streetscape would better lend itself to a good stroll. Ask yourself: what are my priorities? Trees, shrubs, sidewalks, density and attractiveness of buildings? What about the instances when these fine things are in competition? It's challenging, too, to base a judgement solely on the content of the image, without yielding to the enticements of good composition or blue skies, the distortion of lenses and the fleeting smudges of cars. It's tricky enough deciphering where the sidewalk leads in the umbrage of trees, and whether it would be nice to walk in their shade, or peering past the bridge to see whether the shops are worth visiting without having to assign a superlative to either potentiality.
Whether Beautiful Streets will become the data goldmine the planners intend is a dubious unknown, but meanwhile it's fun to flip through the images, taking a gander at the views of human nature on display. Read more about Beautiful Streets at the Atlantic, or help make the Beautiful Streets project more meaningful with your input!
maps, nature, pedestrian-friendliness, planning, walkability


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Shin Hanga Gallery
Home › Orig Japanese Woodblock Print Mori Yoshitoshi sosaku hanga Pencil Sign Double Faces 1975
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Orig Japanese Woodblock Print Mori Yoshitoshi sosaku hanga Pencil Sign Double Faces 1975
This is a very beautiful and special original Japanese woodblock print "Double Faces" PENCIL SIGNED by the famous Showa modern woodblock print master Mori Yoshitoshi (1898-1992) made in 1975 IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. This is an original woodblock print about 44 years old. This woodblock print is one of the core collections of a large number of gorgeous, different-styled Japanese woodblock print and Asian art collections in my family, which we are gradually selling. Yoshitoshi Mori was born in Tokyo and had an academic art training at the Kawabata School of Fine Arts. After graduating from the art school, Mori became a textile designer and dyer of kimono fabrics. When Mori made his first print, he was nearly sixty years old. His style is modern and typically Sosaku Hanga. Another artist who used the technique, kappazuri that Mori used was Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996), also a member of the sosaku hanga movement. Yoshitoshi Mori had an incredible energy in his late years. From the late 50s until the end of his life he exhibited regularly in Japan and abroad in numerous arts shows. In 1984, Yoshitoshi was awarded an honorary doctorate by Maryland University. The prints by Mori Yoshitoshi are in major museums like the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and certainly a few more. Prints by Mori Yoshitoshi are rather rare and expensive. The print size is 13 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches. The colors, which are vivid and vibrant, are in layers. All four borders are intact. The artist's PENCIL SIGNATURE, his chop mark, and the date this print was made ('75) are at the lower right corner of the print. This original woodblock print is not attached to any backing paper or cardboard and strong ink bleeding can be seen through the back of the original Japanese mulberry paper. This ORIGINAL woodblock print is IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. Please examine the photos. If there are any questions, please ask before bidding. It is hard to find such a beautiful original Japanese woodblock print signed by the famous Showa Shin Hanga woodblock print master Mori Yoshitoshi in the public nowadays. This woodblock print is definitely an incredible piece for collecting. Any credit card, visa, master card, bank and post office money order, cashier check and personal check are accepted. Personal checks will take about ten days to clear. Texas residents need to pay 8.25% tax. Shipping is $16 dollars anywhere in US via USPS priority mail with insurance and tracking. International shipping charges are US$25 through airmail WITHOUT insurance, buyers will have to assume all the risks during the mailing. We do combined shipping. If more than one item is purchased at the same time, the highest shipping cost will be charged. THIS IS AN ORIGINAL JAPANESE WOODBLOCK PRINT PENCIL SIGNED BY THE FAMOUS SHOWA SHIN HANGA WOODBLOCK PRINT MASTER NORI YOSHITOSHI MADE IN 1975. IT IS NOT A RE-CUT, REPRODUCTION, OR LITHO PRINT.
A EXTRA LARGE Japanese Woodblock Print Seien Shima July after Bath WATERMARK
A Extra Large Orig Japanese Woodblock Print Pencil Sign Limit# Maeda Morikazu Meiji Village Koizumi Yakumo summer house
A Extra Large Original Japanese Woodblock Print Okuyama Jihachiro Boats
A Extra Large Original Japanese Woodblock Print Okuyama Jihachiro Miyazaki Shrine
The Shin-Hanga Gallery gets its first humble independent beginnings here at www.shinhangagallery.com View our high definition catalog of unique artworks. Read about the collection. Share timeless prints from one of the...
address: P.O. Box 203962, Austin, TX 78720 USA email: info@shinhangagallery.com
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Anpec's training program is based on satisfied all our employees on their training requirements, and achieve a Win-Win situation between one's long-term career planning and the company's growth.
ANPEC devote to provide employees with diverse career development possibilities. Not only through training course, we also encourage job rotation to train employees for wider experience to be the winner of our internal promotion policy.


If you have been following us over the last few months you will know we have reported about a brand new decentralised exchange which launched recently called Switcheo. Switche is part of what can only be described as a rise of the NEP5 tokens, Switcheo allows users to trade NEP5 tokens easily and securely without needing to create an account or store funds on a centralised exchange. Switcheo has already surged in price since their ICO and investors may be about to see healthier returns after they have recently announced their plans for 'Switcheo Exchange v2.0'.
Switcheo had a working TestNet of their current exchange before and during their ICO, which made Switcheo a very attractive acquisition for investors. Switcheo then launched the MainNet version of their exchange on 31st March 2018. Fast forward just over a month and Switcheo have just announced they will be launching Switcheo Exchange v2.0.
The Switcheo Exchange v2.0 TestNet will be live on Tuesday 8th, May 2018. The MainNet will then be launched the following week so by mid May 2018 users are going to benefit from a new and improved version of the Switcheo Exchange.
What will be different in Switcheo Exchange v2.0?
New and Improved Transaction Window – This will allow users to see a full breakdown of orders/trades. Including; time and date details, ability to see all trading pairs (rather than just the current pair). As well as a toggle option between trades to show all trades, open trades, completed trades and cancelled trades.
Immediate Trade Confirmations – Currently it takes around 30-60 seconds to confirm a trade. With the new version Switch have made some improvements, now "all trades will be executed and confirmed immediately as long as you have sufficient tokes in your contract balance".
Public Bot API – Together with the new smart contract, Switcheo have reworked their backend API's to allow external parties to to build transactions and have them broadcasted. This should significantly improve trading volume I the long term.
Deposit Flow – Users will be able to choose an amount of tokens they wish to deposit into their contract balance, these tokens can then be used for instantaneous trading.
Switcheo is by far one of the most exciting projects of 2018 and it may well be that this announcement comes at the perfect time given that the NEX ICO is due to be announced some time in May. NEX will be the main competition to Switcheo but given that Switcheo has made their move first they are now developing on their current platform.


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Ben-Ami Kadish, NJ retiree accused of spying for Israel, is dead
By NJJN Staff July 17, 2012, 12:00 am Edit
Ben-Ami Kadish, a former U.S. Army mechanical engineer who was 85 when he pleaded guilty to passing classified documents to the Israelis several decades ago, has died, according to a death notice provided by Mount Sinai Memorial Chapels in East Brunswick.
No date nor cause of death was given.
Kadish, who was born in Connecticut but raised in what was then Palestine, pleaded guilty in 2009 in federal court in Manhattan to one of the four conspiracy charges he originally faced. He avoided prison but was fined $50,000 over charges that he shared classified documents from the Picatinny Arsenal in Dover with an Israeli government agent in the early 1980s.
"I'm sorry I made a mistake," Kadish told the judge before sentencing. "It was a misjudgment. I thought I was helping the state of Israel without harming the United States."
Kadish fought in World War II with both the Americans and British and later served with the Hagana in Israel. He and his wife Doris were residents of the Ponds adult community in Monroe Township. He is survived by his wife, two sons, and one grandchild.
At the Ponds, Ben-Ami and his wife started the Yiddish Club, a discussion group, and a bridge club. He was an associate member of Hadassah and belonged to Congregation Beit Shalom of Concordia.


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Biochemistry News
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Increased competition for pollen may lead to plant extinctions
Increased competition for pollen may…
The decline of birds, bees and other pollinators in the world's most diverse ecosystems may be putting plants in those areas at risk, according to new research. The finding raises concern that more may have to be done to protect Earth's most biologically rich areas, scientists say in an article appearing in the Jan. 17 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The analysis shows that ecosystems with the largest number of different species, including the jungles of South America and Southeast Asia and the rich shrubland of South Africa, have bigger deficits in pollination compared to the less-diverse ecosystems of North America, Europe and Australia.
"The global pattern we observed suggests that plants in species-rich regions exhibit a greater reduction in fruit production due to insufficient pollination than plant species in regions of lower biodiversity," said Susan Mazer, a co-author of the article and a biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She and her colleagues believe such biodiversity "hotspots" are characterized by stronger competition among plant species for pollinators, such that many plant species simply don't receive enough pollen to achieve maximum fruit and seed production.
"Many plants rely on insects and other pollen vectors to reproduce," said Jana Vamosi, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Calgary and co-author of the paper. "We've found that in areas where there is a lot of competition between individuals and between species, many plants aren't getting enough pollen to successfully reproduce. If plants can't survive, neither can animals. These biodiversity hotspots are important because they are where we most often find new sources of drugs and other important substances. They are also the areas where habitat is being destroyed the fastest."
The study analyzes 482 field experiments on 241 flowering plant species conducted since 1981. The research took several years to complete; all continents except Antarctica are represented.
The analysis, which was sponsored by the researchers affiliated with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the UC-Santa Barbara, and was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), "can tell us things about ecological processes hat individual studies can't," Mazer said, noting that the synthesis could not have been done 25 years ago because few careful field studies of this type had been conducted. "Our detection of global patterns required the simultaneous analysis of many studies conducted independently by plant ecologists all over the world," she said.
Mazer cautioned that it is not yet possible to determine whether low pollenation observed in species-rich areas is a new phenomenon or a long-standing one. It may be a recent problem due to habitat fragmentation or destruction, she said, or it may be long term. Plant species in ecologically complex areas may be continually faced with new competitors, and therefore cannot evolve as rapidly as their environment changes. If that is true, she said, pollen limitation may be a chronic problem for species in biodiversity hotspots–a challenge they have coped with for millions of years.
"The pattern raises the alarm, however, that these species face two challenges that increase the risk of extinction: habitat destruction, which is occurring at alarming rates in the tropics, and reduced pollinator activity," said Mazer.
Category: Plant Sciences NewsBy Bio News January 19, 2006 Leave a comment
Author: Bio News
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Q: Need some advise on Silverlight template/style reuse strategy I'm an absolute Silverlight noob that is confused by the help file. Here is what I want:
I would like to use Expression Blend for the creation of mockups using Sketchflow. I want to create a set of controls that have my companies' look & feel applied to them and be able to easily reuse then across projects, preferably by simply dragging and dropping them onto a canvas. In addition, it would be great if a control, screen or even an entire project can switch skin/theme, for example one theme for intranet and one theme for internet.
With so many ways in Blend to reuse things, I am wondering what the best strategy is for my situation? Should I create style or templates? User controls or custom controls? How do I easily share controls and themes across projects?
I ask for a lot but I'm finding this stuff to not be as straightforward as I expected.

A: There are some good introductory articles to blend written by a collegue of mine http://www.codeproject.com/script/Articles/MemberArticles.aspx?amid=7003572
Alternatively if you are looking for training assistance, you can give my company a call  www.imeta.co.uk

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Andy Husbands
For over 20 years, Andy Husbands has been making an impact on Boston's culinary scene. Many foodies know him for his success with Tremont 647 and Sister Sorel, two mainstays in the South End before the South End was a restaurant hot spot. Chef Husbands' leadership in Boston's restaurant scene over two decades earned him the Massachusetts Restaurant Association's Chef of the Year 2014 award.
Obsessed with all things grilling and smoking, Chef Husbands is chef/partner of his latest passion project: Boston's BBQ restaurant, The Smoke Shop (opened in Spring 2016, Kendall Square). When he's not in the restaurant, he indulges his food obsession with his regular segment "Farm to Fork" on WBUR Radio Boston, competes with the BBQ team he co-founded with Pit Master Chris Hart, iQUE (winners of the Jack Daniels World BBQ Championship and over 35 KCBS Grand Championships), authors cookbooks (The Fearless Chef, Wicked Good Barbecue, Wicked Good Burgers, Grill to Perfection, and a new project in the works), and advocates tirelessly for area charities, most notably Share our Strength and Rodman Celebration. Chef Husbands lends his expertise as a Massachusetts Restaurant Association board member, a honorary chair of Share Our Strength's annual Taste of the Nation, and restaurant chair of the Rodman Celebration.
August 30, 2017 /by Jamie Christo
https://bcae.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/bcae-logo.png 0 0 Jamie Christo https://bcae.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/bcae-logo.png Jamie Christo2017-08-30 11:18:312017-10-23 14:39:49Andy Husbands
Amanda Poggenburg Chris Cuddy


For those with a criminal record or trying to adjust to life after prison, poor literacy is a burden that can make rehabilitation that much harder.
A Tasmanian adult literacy program helps former prisoners and offenders get back on their feet.
Most of the offenders who arrive at Community Corrections Centre in Hobart to get help with their literacy aren't there voluntarily. Some are there because a court has ordered them to attend or because their probation officer has recommended it or simply because it will help to keep them out of jail.
Norman is one of three literacy coordinators in the state's LINC network who work with justice system clients at Risdon Prison and Community Corrections in the North/NW and South.
Literacy skills are generally measured by a person's ability to use and understand the information they need to function in everyday life. Without good literacy skills, life is much harder.
'There's often a link between poor literacy and poor decisions', says Norman Alexander.
Avoiding situations where reading or writing are required can mean people aren't able to access resources and programs such as vocational re-training, personal development programs like anger management or drug rehabilitation. Without access to these support services and assistance, they are more likely to end up in trouble with the law.
But getting reluctant learners to admit to a problem they find shameful and embarrassing can be difficult, especially given so many were unsuccessful at or hated school. Norman keeps the initial assessment meeting as informal as possible.
Once assessed, Norman matches each person with a tutor for 20 weekly sessions. Individual tutoring rather than a group or classroom approach ensures tutors can focus on helping reluctant learners overcome barriers and make progress.
Many learners continue with their tutoring after their court order has expired or when attendance is no longer mandated. The goal is to help them make the transition from individual tutoring to group literacy classes and beyond.
Currently seven learners are attending pre-certificate and certificate level classes at TasTAFE, and two are in university preparation programs.
Since he started one on one with a literacy tutor, Don's become a conservation volunteer and has joined group classes at TasTAFE. He's started breeding finches as a hobby. Don uses his new found literacy skills to write notes to himself to inspire him to comply with his treatment program and overcome 'dark days' and is hoping to do a Certificate 2 or 3 in Horticulture.
For the first time in many years Don feels that he has something to look forward to, and something to lose.


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Q: How to group mutliple modules into a single namespace? I have a python3.5 project which I decided to make a one class per module. I decided to do so because i found out my files were very long and I it was hard to me to understand whats going on.
After I made the change I feel like I am repeating myself in each import file:
from school.student import Student
from school.classroom import ClassRoom
from school.teacher import Teacher

Is there any way pass that repeat? I would like that my imports will be more like:
from school import Student, ClassRoom, Teacher

A: Use an __init__ module to accomplish this. The contents of an __init__ module are evaluated when the parent module/package is imported. Like this:
# __init__.py
from school.student import Student
from school.classroom import ClassRoom
from school.teacher import Teacher

This brings Student, ClassRoom and Teacher into the school namespace. Now you can import using the school module as you like.
Caution: it is really easy to pollute your namespace this way. It's probably better to import explicitly in each module the way you started, or to use the approach in this answer and use your classes employing explicit module references (e.g., school.Teacher() instead of Teacher()).
If you feel school.Teacher() is too long, you can shorten things up a bit this way:
import school as sch
teacher = sch.Teacher()

etc etc.
However, on the other hand, if those classes are objects that should be available at the package level, importing them into the package namespace is probably the correct thing to do. Only you can make that determination.

A: I supposed school is a package, if not you need to create a package and put all your modules into the package then create a __init__.py file where you basically glue everything together. You need to use a relative import in your __init__.py file.
You package must now look like this:
school/
__init__.py
student.py
classroom.py
teacher.py

Then you __init__.py must look like this:
from .student import Students
from .classroom import ClassRoom
from .teacher import Teacher

Next only call your class using package name like this:
import school
t = school.Teacher()

A: Yes, you can. Just put all the classes in module school.py. That's what Python modules are for. What you just showed us is the Java way(probably) of maintaining namespace through packages. If you still want to go that way then just make a moule all.py and write,
# all.py
from school.student import Student
from school.classroom import ClassRoom
from school.teacher import Teacher

and in you main file, write from school.all import Student, ClassRoom, Teacher
But you can see that's redundant and ugly.


The Mediterranean is an important sea route accounting for approximately 30% of the world sea traffic and thus a strategic region for counter-proliferation policies. As a major seaway between Asia, the Middle-East and Europe, this geographic area has become a strategic road for proliferators, making use of regional instability and the emergence of non-state actors engaged in terrorism.
In this regard, France and Germany proposed at the High Level Political Meeting in 2013, to gather all Mediterranean stakeholders, whether they were PSI endorsees or not, to develop a PSI initiative specially focused on Mediterranean challenges. The main objectives of this initiative are to discuss the proliferation risks specific to this region, to strengthen cooperation between all concerned actors and to improve our collective capacity to prevent proliferation.
The PSI Mediterranean Initiative is designed as a flexible cooperation at the regional level. It does not aim to duplicate any international mechanism. Events are periodically organized on a voluntary basis in order to encourage a smooth flow of exchange of information among the participants. Germany and France hosted the two first events in 2015.
The first seminar held in Frankfurt on June 15th and 16th 2015 was designed to help participants identify the main features of proliferation in the Mediterranean region, assess regional challenges in counter-proliferation and strengthen the dialogue on proliferation issues amongst PSI and non-PSI states of the region. Over the course of the two day meeting, participants agreed that the Mediterranean Sea has become more volatile for proliferation due to regional instability and the emergence of non-state actors engaged in terrorism and smuggling.
Based on real case scenarios, the table top exercise in Paris on October 15th and 16th 2015 allowed participants to put in practice concrete methods and tools and emphasized the challenge of addressing proliferation threats on very tight deadlines while taking into account the time and space constraints posed by shipping routes. Discussions in plenary and group sessions enabled the attending States to develop their respective knowledge of the political, legal and operational capacities of regional States in combating the shipment of illicit cargo.
Italy hosted the third event in Rome on November 29th and 30th 2016. This table-top exercise aimed at assessing the responsiveness at the top level of the participating countries in two fictional scenarios of smuggling of weapons of mass destruction materials, while taking into account other aspects such as of migration management and norms protecting the environment. The underlying operational concept, common for both scenarios, was how, when and where the interdiction of the non-cooperative ship should occur, in compliance with the norms and practices of international law and in a context of international cooperation among like-minded countries endorsing the PSI Statement of Interdiction Principles.
In continuity with the 2016 Rome event, Italy organized the first live exercise - MED SEA WOLF - in the framework of the PSI Mediterranean Initiative, taking place in the bay of Catania (Sicily) on September 19th and 20th 2018. The exercise at sea started with a maritime interdiction to carry out a boarding operation on a vessel suspected to transport weapons of mass destruction related materials. The vessel was diverted to the Port of Catania and handed-over to law enforcement authorities, who conducted a detailed check of the suspected vessel documentation, cargo and crew. A specific table-top exercise covered activities at land regarding the off-load operation of the cargo and the judiciary follow-up of the traffickers. MED SEA WOLF demonstrated in practice how inter-agency cooperation is strongly needed to tackle each phase of the process to interdict vessels, seize and dispose illegal cargo and hold traffickers accountable.
Considering the complex security environment of the region, the PSI Mediterranean Initiative has so far played a critical role in sharing expertise and best practices with events aimed at building robust capacities among partners for combating illegal trafficking of items of proliferation concern and conducting interdiction operations under a cooperative framework.


srael and Hamas have mounted psychological warfare on each others' civilian populations. Hamas says it is firing threatening text messages at Israeli mobile phones and jamming radio stations while Israel is bombarding Palestinians with menacing phone calls and leaflets.
"The messages say that the Palestinian resistance missiles will reach you wherever you are and your government won't be able to protect you," said Abu Mujaheid, spokesman for the Palestinian Resistance Committees.
Hamas says it can send up to 70,000 text messages but so far there have been reports of just dozens.
"[Israel is] sending text messages and interrupting Palestinian radio and trying to scare Palestinians with their messages so we are running a counter campaign by sending text messages to Israelis," Mujaheid said.


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MobME eyes international markets with new products on its 10th anniversary
Mumbai, January 18, 2017: MobME Wireless Solutions, a technology company aiding enterprises in creating customer centric solutions, today announced its next leg of growth in terms of both products and markets. The company made this announcement at an event to mark its 10 year anniversary.
Taking an innovative approach of growth in its next leg, MobME plans a strategic shift into a technology company with market leading analytics and banking product portfolios. The company's existing offerings of Geckolyst and Digital Banking Labs (DBL) are very well accepted in the Indian markets and it now plans to take it to the world with a focus on US, South East Asian and Middle Eastern markets.
To enhance user experience, MobME plans to bring new features like voice analytics, training and chatbots to its existing customer experience analytics solutions. This will empower its clients to analyse customer behaviour and aid in multiple services while developing more personalised experience for the customers. While some of these features would be developed in-house, the company is also open for inorganic expansion to bring other solutions within its bouquet. The company plans to raise INR 100 crore to 130 crore for its international and inorganic expansion.
Similarly, the Company is in various stages of discussions with its BFSI clients to build a suite of conversational banking products, including bots and chat platofrms to enhance the banks relationships with the end customer.
Speaking at the occasion Mr. Sathya Kalyanasundaram, CEO, MobME said, "It is a privilege to work with this extremely talented team who started & built this company over the last several years. The strong foundation built by them is helping us to spawn a true technology enterprise. Moving ahead with a product mindset rather than a service mindset, our underlying philosophy is to build technology IP that can sustain and drive industry leading product development. The core IP that will be developed, is a much larger value driver over the course of the next several layers. It will also allow us additions and modifications ultimately resulting in enhanced experience for enterprise customers"
MobME was founded in 2006 by three enterprising youngsters while pursuing their engineering with an aim to offer Mobile Value Added services, it has now metamorphosed its services into three key verticals namely telecom, customer experience analytics and banking mobility solutions. Innovation is ingrained as part of MobME culture over the years, the Company introduced cutting edge solutions such as Chillr & JetSetPay, amongst others. Today, the teams are constantly reviewing adaptive and disruptive technologies that can be added to existing businesses and can create new businesses that create long term value.
About MobMe:
MobME is a technology company aiding enterprises in creating customer centric solutions. Under the umbrella company offers various product solutions like Geckolyst, Digital Banking Labs and Chillr in addition to its legacy telecom solutions. MobME's prestigious clientele represents various sectors like Banking, Telecom, Retail, Travel & Hospitality. MobME has been consistently featured in 'NASSCOM's Most Innovative Startups' list. The company has also been awarded with various international accolades from Wall street Journal and Lockheed Martin.
Posted by orientpublication at Thursday, January 19, 2017
TALWALKARS' CLASSIQUE INVITATIONAL BODYBUILDING CHAMPIONSHIPS MIXED PAIRS EVENT, A MAJOR ATTRACTION!
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The Biennale in Karachi, KB17, is a visionary platform that focuses on innovation, excellence and criticality through curatorial strategies that will bring art from Pakistan and the rest of the world together for a large public audience. Its discursive interventions aim to cross-pollinate ideas and explore meaning and truth across disciplines and contexts.
Artists are invited to respond to the theme WITNESS. Art as a testament of its time has always held significance, particularly in times when memory is heavily contested. According to Kundera, "The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memories against forgetting". The theme Witness has been chosen for its strong relevance to the politics of representation, erasure and selective documentation.
The main venue of KB17 is the 160-year-old, NJV School building which is located within the historical precincts of one of the most populous cities of the world. This will give easy access to new audiences and also bring into discussion Karachi's history, which has been often overshadowed by tensions of rapid growth.
Since the 1950s, as Karachi grew from a small harbour town to a mega urban centre. It has attracted independent thinkers unburdened by an established canon, it embraced artists who wanted to respond to the personal and the political with greater freedom. Karachi has been home to many influential modernists and contemporary artists; its gallery circuit is unrivalled in the country and is one of the most vibrant in South Asia.
With an architecture of exhibitions, discursive interventions and extensive visitor programs during the KB17, art in Karachi will combine creative energies and spark new ones.


> 1. Hand-written, not the output of a parser generator.
of those requires a hand-written (hand optimized) parser.
> 2. Efficient and without backtracking.
Seems reasonable to me, though the languages has to allow for it.
> 3. Precedences (and possibly associativities) defined in tables.
Tables most easily generated automatically, by a parser generator?
> 4. Output to be a tree structure.
> 5. Parenthesised subexpressions allowed.
> 6. Some operator families are *not* to associate with each other.
> used as an infix operator.


Manager of winless-in-nine Chesterfield Martin Allen still expects to be backed by the powers that be at the Proact.
But after a 'shocking' 3-0 defeat at home to Gateshead, the Spireites boss admitted questions would be asked of him by his bosses.
While Allen offered no defence for the performance, which provoked chants of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' from the Kop, he did refer to his previous success as a manager and insisted he would get it right.
He said the display was up there with the worst he's seen from any of his teams.
"It's a total let down for all our supporters," said Allen. "I feel let down.
"I'm very, very sorry to all our supporters who came to watch that.
"I've said so far this season we've played well, at times we've been unlucky, not got what we deserved - today was the complete opposite of that.
"That was as bad as I've seen a team of mine play. We lacked energy, enthusiasm, pace, power, tenacity.
"We were outrun, outfought, outpaced, outplayed, they were a far better team than us.
"I've been doing this now for over 500 games, I think that today was going to rank up there as the worst I've seen.
Chesterfield were 2-0 down at the break but things got even worse in the second half, when substitute Zavon Hines was red carded for what Allen called a 'diabolical' tackle, seven minutes after coming on.
But Allen made it clear he doesn't believe a change in management will be the answer and highlighted his historical success.
"There's enough managers on this roundabout at this club.
"We'll have to all ask the question, do you want another manager, make it a fourth one in a calendar year? Is that great? That ain't right, that isn't going to work.
"I just have to walk away from here sometimes and bang my head and remind myself it was only a couple of years ago I won this league, put together a team that won this league. It was only a few years before that I put together a team that won Division Two.
"Both divisions I won as a champion.
Allen expects his bosses's questions but also their continued backing.
"There's got to be questions asked, I'd be asking questions.
"But they'd probably be the same questions they asked the last manager and the last manager and the last manager.
"You're going to keep adding them and adding them.
"A lot of the players here now are my players that I've brought in, not all of them, but there's certainly massive need for improvement.
The manager finished his press conference by pondering aloud if the players are fearful of playing in front of their home supporters.
"I suppose there's that temptation to go in there and throw cups of tea, rant and shout and scream and blame, hammer everyone verbally.
"But I have to find out why we look physically in second or third gear and plodded through that game. Why?
"When we trained short on a Thursday, we worked hard on Tuesday, were right on it on Tuesday and Thursday, quiet on Friday, full on Saturday.
"Is there fear? Playing in front of just over 4,000 die hard supporters?
"Even today they hardly had a go.
"They're here every week, they don't even have a go at the players, don't even have a go at me.
"If I had paid my money I'd have thrown my Bovril straight at the manager and the players.
And as for the way forward, Allen says he's got some thinking to do.


Image Title: Kitchen Island Height Richard Taylor Architects Inside Bar Counter Top Plan 3. Post Title: Bar Counter Top. Filename: kitchen-island-height-richard-taylor-architects-inside-bar-counter-top-plan-3.jpg. Image Dimension: 1100 x 600 pixels. Images Format: jpg/jpeg. Publisher/Author: Emanuel Kerluke. Uploaded Date: Tuesday - January 29th. 2019 17:51:06 PM. Category: Architecture. Image Source: freshome.com. Commercial Or Residential Wood Bar Top Photos For Wet With Counter Inspirations 19. Bar Countertop Options Unique Stone Concepts Pertaining To Counter Top Ideas 7. How To Make The Most Of A Bar Height Table For Counter Top Designs 11. 12 Inspired Tricks For Small Kitchen Designs Restaurant Ideas Throughout Bar Counter Top. 25 Stylish Kitchen Bar Counters For Open Layouts DigsDigs With Counter Top Plan 14. Epoxy Countertop DIY Countertops Bar Tops Review Guide In Counter Top Inspirations 2. Bar Countertop Ideas FROMY LOVE DESIGN Kitchen Throughout Counter Top Remodel 6. Bar The Concrete Network Counter Tops Countertops Home Depot With Regard To Top Designs 1. Granite Marble Bar Countertop FROMY LOVE DESIGN Kitchen Intended For Counter Top Decor 13. Pin By Debbie Herzberg Nelson On Desert House In 2019 Live Edge Bar Counter Top Inspirations 15.


The self-adhesive, surface mounted fire and smoke seals are primarily designed for retrofit applications where a fire door is upgraded to comply with modern regulations. Unlike traditional intumescent seals, there is no need for drilling or rebating to save time and the costs of labour. Instead, you simply peel off the backing and stick this around the door frame.
Available in white or brown to match your décor, the surface mounted fire and smoke seal is supplied on a 5-meter roll, which is enough to install around one standard door. With a 30-minute fire rating, the seal works like any other and been tested to British Standard 476-22:1987. The brush prevents smoke from spreading, while the intumescent strip expands when exposed to intense heat in order to block the gap between the door and frame so the flames cannot spread.
Requiring a gap of 3mm, the seal should be stuck against the frame stop. Fire and smoke seals are commonly found installed within offices, rental properties, schools and other buildings open to the public.


text:
Alex Rodriguez shares birthday message for ex-wife Cynthia Scurtis
He called her a "wonderful mother and role model" for their daughters.
ByGMA Teamvia
Here's what will happen to J.Lo and A-Rod's joint businesses
The chart-topping artist and former professional baseball player shared a statement Thursday announcing their breakup and wishing "the best" for one another.
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty Images, FILE
Alex Rodriguez recently shared a loving message for his ex-wife, Cynthia Scurtis.
In honor of Scurtis' birthday on Tuesday, the former professional baseball star posted several photos of himself with Scurtis and their two daughters, Natasha, 17, and Ella, 13, as well as Scurtis' current partner, Angel Nicolas.
Alongside the photos, Rodriguez gushed about Scurtis' impact in his life and how much respect he has for her.
"Today I am celebrating someone very special in my life," he wrote. "Someone who continues to make a difference in my daughters' lives every day and has my eternal respect and admiration. A very happy birthday to you, Cynthia!!"
MORE: Alex Rodriguez launches new concealing blur stick for men with Hims & Hers
Describing Scurtis as "a wonderful mother and role model" to their daughters, he elaborated, "You always put their needs first and have helped shape them into the strong young women they have become."
Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez announce breakup
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Rodriguez and Scurtis were married from 2002 to 2008. In his post, Rodriguez wrote about how grateful he is to coparent with Scurtis.
Alex Rodriguez and wife Cynthia Scurtis arrive at GQ Celebrates 2007 "Men Of The Year" at the Chateau Marmont Hotel, Dec. 5, 2007, in Hollywood, California.
"I've always said that when it comes to co-parenting, I'm extremely lucky because most people only have a 50-50 split of time with their kids. With us, it feels more like 100-100," he wrote.
"Living in close proximity and working together despite busy schedules has allowed both of us to remain integral and active in the development of two young women whose future is limitless," he added. "And I have you to thank in large part for that."


PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – One local county is the first in the nation to try out a new technology that would allow you to make a 911 video call in an emergency.
It's not just the first in the nation, but Fayette County is the first in all of North America to test out this new system, Carbyne.
Carbyne is an app that begins recording the moment you open it.
"The call will come into the 911 center. Immediately the call taker will get the audio and video of the caller's phone," Bernard 'Buster' Brown, Fayette County's 911 Director said. "It's also going to give you the exact location."
A typical 911 call uses cell phone triangulation, which is only about 67 percent reliable, it's why Uber can find you but 911 can't. This new technology uses radio frequency to find location and it can even tell your elevation.
"If somebody is on a second floor, third floor, or in between on a stairwell, we're going to be able to tell exactly where that individual," Brown said.
When asked about privacy, Brown said the only time your phone will be accessed will be during the duration of the phone call.
If you're in a situation where you can't speak, you'll also be able to send messages to the dispatcher. The call taker will be able to send messages back and forth all while the app is still recording.
There are some additional things you need to know.
Carbyne is not like a facetime call. The dispatcher can only see you and you can't see them. The recorded video will become open records like any 911 call is now. Once the call is disconnected, they'll be able to send it to firefighters, police, and EMS to help prepare for whatever the emergency is.
Unfortunately, the app is not live yet. It won't be up and running until late summer or early fall.


text:
Q: css and jquery straight children selector Foe example given

aaa

sss

not straight

ddd

How can select only straight childs for my_div element? Tell please this for css and for jquery also.

A: #my_div > div will target only direct children of #my_div (so not the one with the long id)
This uses the direct child selector that hasn't got IE 6 support
$('#my_div > div') is the jQuery equivalent
The jQuery selector WILL work on IE6

A: Can be done like this:
$('#my_div > *')


text:
Q: Executing Python GIMP scripts on Mac OS I need help to execute a home made python script that use GIMP libraries on Mac OS.
I'm sure the script is ok because it works well on GNU-Linux OS.
What I did:

*

*Installed GIMP with .dmg distribution

*Installed Python 2.7.13

*Copied my python script in ~/Library/Application
Support/GIMP/2.8/plug-ins

*Added execute permission chmod +x myScript.py

*Modified my .bash_profile adding export PYTHONHOME='/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7'
When I try to execute the script from terminal I get:
ImportError: No module named gimpfu

I don't know how to fix this!

A: gimpfu is only available when the script is launched from Gimp. There are two cases:

*

*The script is a regular plugin, it should contains at least a call to register(...) and a call to main(). This identifies it to Gimp and it can be called from the Gimp UI. Note that the best place to keep it in the plug-ins directory in your Gimp profile, and not the Gimp installation directories. Since you are on OSX, I recommend that you keep the Python file in a directory that you can access easily (and that you backup) and add a soft link to it in your Gimp profile.

*The script is just a script to be used in batch mode, it doesn't need to be in the plug-ins directory, it must still be called from Gimp which is done by calling Gimp and passing the script as parameters, with a command line such as:
 gimp -idf --batch-interpreter python-fu-eval -b 'import sys; sys.path=["."]+sys.path;import batch;batch.run("./images")' -b 'pdb.gimp_quit(1)'

Where:

*

*the Python path is extended to include the directory from which the Python file will be loaded: sys.path=["."]+sys.path (here the current directory is used). You can possibly extend the general Python path permanently instead.

*the script is added to Python: import batch (script is assumed to be in ./batch.py)

*the run() method in that file is called with any pertinent parameters

Mind the single and double quotes, some for Python, some for your shell interpreter.
Note that calling the script directly from the command line as you did has some merit, many (but not all...) syntax errors are caught at this point, and you don't have to wait for Gimp to start to find these out.


This beautiful Regency Teapot is part of our exclusive Netherfield Collection – a range of fine bone china crockery, made in England and branded with our Jane Austen silhouette logo and signature. A set to collect and treasure!
A beautiful, fine bone china Regency Teapot – part of our brand new and exclusive Netherfield Collection. Resembling the Delftware that was highly popular in Jane's era these elegant pieces feature a delightful English rose design.
Milk Jug, Sugar Bowl, Tea for One Set, and Teacup, Saucer and Plate sets are also available – see the entire Netherfield Collection here!


Reminiscence therapy is important to a person who has dementia. People with dementia can often recall their distant memories a lot easier than their most recent memories. Talking about their past may be a good way of helping a person to retain their identity. The person may gain a great deal of pleasure in being able to talk about their past. Getting to know the person with dementia will help them maintain their independence and dignity. It will also help to ensure that they are treated as an individual; this is really important to the person with dementia.
The elderly and people with dementia often have difficulty remembering what's recently happened in their lives. This can leave them feeling confused, vulnerable and less confident. Their memories from years ago, however, often remain detailed and intact. Recalling these memories as an activity can be immensely therapeutic, not to mention enjoyable. Reminiscence gives people the opportunity share these rich stories and experiences. It's very sociable and helps them remember that they are still a real person. This can boost their self-esteem and help them make a valuable connection between the past and the present.


Kusi Hornberger is a Senior Project Manager in the Washington, DC office of Dalberg Global Development Advisors. Kusi has 10+ years of project management, investment and strategy experience working with a range of public, private, and non-profit clients.
Prior to joining Dalberg, Kusi was Vice President of Investment Research at Global Partnerships where he oversaw the investment strategy and portfolio including analysis of investment opportunities across Central/South America and East Africa. Kusi also has experience working as a management consultant, spending three years at Bain & Company based out of its Sao Paulo, Brazil office as well as working as an Investment Officer for six years with the International Finance Corporation where he spent three years based out of the Bogota, Colombia office and as an agribusiness consultant with TechnoServe Inc. in East Africa.


text:
SL vs NZ 2nd Test: Third day's play gets delayed due to Rain
Published : Aug 25, 2019, 1:49 pm IST
Updated : Aug 25, 2019, 1:49 pm IST
The tourists were 196 for four at close of play on Saturday, trailing by 48 runs in response to Sri Lanka's 244 in the first innings.
Rain has delayed the start of the third day's play of the second and final Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Colombo on Sunday. (Photo: ICC/Twitter)
Colombo: Rain has delayed the start of the third day's play of the second and final Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Colombo on Sunday.
Tom Latham, on 111, and BJ Watling, on 25, have put on an unbeaten 70-run partnership for the fifth wicket to thwart the Sri Lankan bowling attack that made early inroads in to the Kiwi batting.
Sri Lanka lead the two-match series 1-0.
Tags: sri lanka vs new zealand
Location: Sri Lanka, Western, Colombo
Of captains and their penchant to lead from front
Davis Cup dream fuels Manish Sureshkumar
India vs Australia: Sunday showdown


I hope you are all well this fine Thursday. I have a new share for today, this one using one of my CUT to YOU digital cut files featuring a pretty snapshot of my baby girl from a few years back. She adored this dress up costume so I have a few pics of her in it; many I have already scrapped. So for this page, I wasn't really that focused on the story, I just wanted to make something pretty.
For this page, I've used the Peonies digital cut file, yes, this comes as a custom cut, but for my design idea, I wanted the shape to be really large. That is the beauty of using the digital version of the files, you can manipulate them in lots of different ways to make your project unique. I've taken the file and enlarged it using my Silhouette software as I wanted them to be a real feature of the background of my page.
Next came the backing of the files. For this, I've used the Bohemian Dream collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studios. The pink and purple tones in this collection go perfectly with my photo, so I thought I'd make some pretty pink and purple Peonies! You will see in the close up's that I've also used some Vellum to back the outer edge petals of the files which really adds a softness that I love!
Once the files were backed with the pattern paper, I positioned onto my background page and stitched around the outer edge of my page. Next, I matted my photo and added some more stitching around its edge for added detail. It was then just a matter of pulling out embellishments from the collection that fitted. I kept to this collection only for this page as I wanted to get something completed quickly and knew everything would work together really well.
For more information and loads more cut files, visit www.createdbygwen.com.au where you will find both digital cut files (you download and cut with your electronic cutting machine) and custom cut files which I cut for you at CUT to YOU HQ and ship anywhere in the world! Simply message me for a postage quote.
Also, why not join our Facebook group – CUT to YOU HQ for more inspiration from the design team and lovers of our files. Lots and lots to see here!
We are now on Pinterest – visit us here.