text:
Tattoo shop owner pleads guilty to attacking rival
Published: 16:25 EDT, 5 June 2014 | Updated: 16:25 EDT, 5 June 2014
COQUILLE, Ore. (AP) — The owner of a tattoo shop in Coos County has pleaded guilty to accusations he tried to gun down a competitor.
Business at Bay Area Ink was dropping off, so owner Dave Wonnacott plotted in July to kill the owner of the rival Flying Chicken Tattoo shop in North Bend, prosecutors said.
But Brian Graham survived the attack outside his shop. He told police a man he knew as David Pierce came at him, wearing rubber gloves, pointing a handgun and telling him, "You're in the wrong town."
The gun jammed, the two struggled and the attacker fled, the police report said.
Police later found that Pierce was Wonnacott, who had moved to the coastal town after serving time in Nevada on an assault charge.
After he was arrested, Wonnacott plotted in jail to do harm to Graham to keep him from testifying, prosecutors said.
Wonnacott was sentenced Tuesday to more than 11 years in prison on charges that included attempted murder and conspiring to tamper with a witness, The World newspaper (http://bit.ly/TiBbjJ) reported.
Prosecutor Mark Monson said the plea deal came together after a forensic examination of a GPS device Wonnacott had used. Even when turned off, Monson said, the device remained in contact with a satellite.
Wonnacott had said he was in Reno, Nevada, at the time of the attack.
The tracking evidence demolished the alibi by showing he had driven from Nevada to North Bend, arrived at the Flying Chicken Tattoo shop at the time of the attack, and then driven back to Reno, Monson said.
Information from: The World, http://www.theworldlink.com
Hayden Panettiere's daughter, Kaya has been living with ex-Wladimir Klitschko in the Ukraine for one year


text:
Define your multi-stage continuous deployment (CD) pipeline
Azure Pipelines | Azure DevOps Server 2019 | TFS 2018 | TFS 2017 | TFS 2015
In Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS) 2018 and previous versions, build and release pipelines are called definitions, service connections are called service endpoints, stages are called environments, and jobs are called phases.
Azure Pipelines and Team Foundation Server (TFS) provide a highly configurable and manageable pipeline for releases to multiple stages such as development, staging, QA, and production stages; including requiring approvals at specific stages.
In this tutorial, you learn about:
Configuring triggers within the release pipeline
Extending a release pipeline by adding stages
Configuring the stages as a multi-stage release pipeline
Adding approvals to your release pipeline
Creating a release and monitoring the deployment to each stage
A release pipeline that contains at least one stage. If you don't already have one, you can create it by working through any of the following quickstarts and tutorials:
Deploy to an Azure Web App
Azure DevOps Project
Deploy to IIS web server on Windows
Two separate targets where you will deploy the app. These could be virtual machines, web servers, on-premises physical deployment groups, or other types of deployment target. In this example, we are using Azure App Services website instances. If you decide to do the same, you will have to choose names that are unique, but it's a good idea to include "QA" in the name of one, and "Production" in the name of the other so that you can easily identify them. Use the Azure portal to create a new web app.
Configure the triggers in your release pipeline
In this section, you will check that the triggers you need for continuous deployment are configured in your release pipeline.
In Azure Pipelines, open the Releases tab. Select your release pipeline and, in the right pane, choose Edit.
Choose the Continuous deployment trigger icon in the Artifacts section to open the trigger panel. Make sure this is enabled so that a new release is created after every new successful build is completed.
For more information, see Release triggers.
Choose the Pre-deployment conditions icon in the Stages section to open the conditions panel. Make sure that the trigger for deployment to this stage is set to After release. This means that a deployment will be initiated automatically when a new release is created from this release pipeline.
Notice that you can also define artifact filters that determine a condition for the release to proceed, and set up a schedule for deployments. You can use features to, for example, specify a branch from which the build artifacts must have been created, or a specific time of day when you know the app will not be heavily used. For more information, see Stage triggers.
Extend a release pipeline by adding stages
In this section, you will add a new stage to the release pipeline. The two stages will deploy your app to the "QA" and the "Production" targets (in our example, two Azure App Services websites). This is a typical scenario where you deploy initially to a test or staging server, and then to a live or production server. Each stage represents one deployment target, though that target could be a physical or virtual server, a groups of servers, or any other legitimate physical or virtual deployment target.
In the Pipeline tab of your release pipeline, select the existing stage and rename it to Production.
Open the + Add drop-down list and choose Clone stage (the clone option is available only when an existing stage is selected).
Typically, you want to use the same deployment methods with a test and a production stage so that you can be sure the deployed apps will behave in exactly the same way. Therefore, cloning an existing stage is a good way to ensure you have the same settings for both. Then you just need to change the deployment targets (the websites where each copy of the app will be deployed).
The clone of the stage appears after the existing stage in the pipeline, and has the name Copy of Production. Select this stage and, in the Stages panel, change the name to QA.
To reorganize the stages in the pipeline, choose the Pre-deployment conditions icon for the QA stage and set the trigger to After release. The pipeline diagram changes to show that the deployment to the two stages will now execute in parallel.
Choose the Pre-deployment conditions icon for the Production stage and set the trigger to After stage, then select QA in the Stages drop-down list. The pipeline diagram changes to show that the deployment to the two stages will now execute in the required order.
Notice that you can specify deployment to start when a deployment to the previous stage is partially successful. Usually, this means the deployment tasks were set to continue the deployment even if a specific non-critical task failed (the default is that all tasks must succeed). You're most likely to set this option if you create a pipeline containing fork and join deployments that deploy to different stages in parallel.
Open the Tasks drop-down list and choose the QA stage. Recall that this stage is a clone of the original Production stage in the release pipeline. Therefore, currently, it will deploy the app to the same target as the Production stage.
Depending on the tasks that you are using, change the settings so that this stage deploys to your "QA" target. In our example, using Azure App Services websites, we just need to select the Deploy Azure App Service task and select the "QA" website instead of the "Production" website.
If you are using a different type of task to deploy your app, the way you change the target for the deployment may differ. For example, if you are using deployment groups, you may be able to select a different deployment group, or a different set of tags within the same deployment group.
NOTE: Some settings for the tasks may have been automatically defined as stage variables when you created a release pipeline from a template. These settings cannot be modified in the task settings; instead you must select the parent stage item in order to edit these settings.
Add approvals within a release pipeline
The release pipeline you have modified deploys to test and then to production. If the deployment to test fails, the trigger on the production stage does not fire, and so it is not deployed to production. However, it is typically the case that you want the deployment to pause after successful deployment to the test website so that you can verify the app is working correctly before you deploy to production. In this section, you will add an approval step to the release pipeline to achieve this.
Back in the Pipeline tab of the release pipeline, choose the Pre-deployment conditions icon in the Stages section to open the conditions panel. Scroll down to the Pre-deployment approvers section and enable pre-deployment approvers.
In the Approvers section, choose your user(s) from the list. You can type part of a name to search for matches. Also make sure you clear (untick) the checkbox User requesting a release... so that you can approve your own releases.
You can add as many approvers as you need, both individual users and organization groups. It's also possible to set up post-deployment approvals by choosing the icon at the right side of the stage item in the pipeline diagram. For more information, see Approvals and gates overview.
Save the modified release pipeline.
Create a release
Now that you have completed the modifications to the release pipeline, it's time to start the deployment. To do this, you create a release from the release pipeline. A release may be created automatically; for example, the continuous deployment trigger is set in the release pipeline. This means that modifying the source code will start a new build and, from that, a new release. However, in this section you will create a new release manually.
Open the Release drop-down list and choose Create release.
Enter a description for the release, check that the correct artifacts are selected, and then choose Create.
After a few moments, a banner appears indicating that the new release was created. Choose the link (the name of the release).
The release summary page opens showing details of the release. In the Stages section, you will see the deployment status for the "QA" stage change to "Succeeded" and, at that point, an icon appears indicating that the release is now waiting for approval.
Other views, such as the list of releases, also display an icon that indicates approval is pending. The icon shows a pop-up containing the stage name and more details when you point to it. This makes it easy for an administrator to see which releases are awaiting approval, as well as the overall progress of all releases.
Choose the icon or link to open the approval dialog. Enter a brief note about the approval, and choose Approve.
Notice that you can defer a deployment to a specific day and time; for example, a time when you expect the app to be only lightly loaded. You can also reassign the approval to another user. Release administrators can open any approval and over-ride it to accept or reject that deployment.
Monitor and track deployments
In this section, you will see how you can monitor and track deployments - in this example to two Azure App Services websites - from the release you created in the previous section.
In the release summary, hover over a stage and choose the Logs link that appears.
While the deployment is taking place, the logs page shows the live log from the agent. After the deployment is complete, links to the logs for each task step are displayed in the right pane.
Select any of the pipeline steps to show just the log file contents for that step. This makes it easier to trace and debug individual parts of the overall deployment. Alternatively, download the individual log files, or a zip of all the log files, from the icons and links in the page.
If you are having problems with a deployment, you can get more information from the log files by running the release in debug mode.
Use approvals and gates to control your deployment

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Join us for the opening of our major costume exhibition. Reserve now.
The exhibition will feature some of the finest and most interesting pieces from the Museum's extensive costume collection. Some of the highlights will include garments belonging to local luminaries such as Ganna Walska of Lotusland; Huguette Clark, owner of Bellosguardo; and community activist Pearl Chase.
For more information about the Council, click here.


text:
Dodge Ridge Ski Resort
Just over an hour's drive east of Murphys is Dodge Ridge, a family run ski resort with a big heart tucked into Stanislaus National Forest. It may not be the largest resort out there, but its 67 runs and 12 lifts on 852 acres are enough to keep the skiers coming back year after year.
Originally opened by the Purdy family over 61 years ago, Dodge Ridge has stayed a family-run resort and, though it changed hands 36 years ago, the second family to own and manage it — the Helm family — has kept up the tradition, keeping it a family affair through and through. The Helm family is keen on keeping things as eco-friendly as they can and offers several ways to ski green.
Its proximity to Murphys makes it ideal for a day-trip, yet they also offer campgrounds and four dining options — the cafeteria-style Creekside Cafe, the North Fork Bistro located in their new Family Lodg, the Boulder Bar located inside the Creekside Cafe and Local's Cafe plunked down in a cozy slopeside spot at the bottom of Chair 7.
Get a ski fix, then come on back to Murphys to warm the bones, take in a late dinner and relive the day over a glass of Calaveras wine.
WHAT: Dodge Ridge Ski Resort
WHERE: 1 Dodge Ridge Rd., Pinecrest, CA


' We declare the variables.
AccurateTimeElapsed Returns the number of milliseconds passed since the last time it was called.
AddSearchDirectory Adds a directory where the engine should by default search for files without complete paths.
AddToLog Draws a string of text to the specified debug output text file.
AllowMultithreading Enables the engine to work with multithreading applications.
Clear Clears the back buffer.
ClearDepthBuffer Clears only the depth buffer.
ClearSearchDirectories Removes all of the specified search directories.
CreateViewport Creates a new viewport that can be rendered to.
DisplayFPS Enables/disables displaying the frames per second counter.
EnableProfiler Enables/disables the default TV3D profiler.
EnableSmoothTime Enables certain time keeping functions to operate more accurately.
GetAngleSystem Returns the angle system currently in use.
GetVideoMode Get the values of the video mode currently used by the engine.
GetViewport Return the current Viewport object.
SetDebugFile Set where to find the debug file on your system.
SetDebugMode Set the debug file/options so it can log any errors found during init.
SetSearchDirectory Sets the new default path/directory in which the engine will look files at first.


text:
Q: POST request using Mechanize to pull GUID from .aspx website there is a website called https://www.guidgenerator.com/online-guid-generator.aspx which generates a global unique identifier.  I'm trying to use perl's Mechanize to post to the site to pull that guid.  I realize that this is based on javascript but was wondering if I could issue the proper post to pull the number.  I trace it from my browser and I've got the headers all in the request but the returned html doesn't contain the guid.
This is from a successful run:
<textarea name="txtResults" rows="2" cols="20" id="txtResults" style="font-family:Courier New,Courier,monospace;font-size:Larger;font-weight:bold;height:152px;width:421px;">qk5DF22bhkm4C2AwZ5OcZw==</textarea>
and this is from my script:
<textarea name="txtResults" rows="2" cols="20" id="txtResults" style="font-family:Courier New,Courier,monospace;font-size:Larger;font-weight:bold;height:152px;width:421px;"></textarea>
This is the form within the page:

In my script I dump out the form and the input fields required with the following:
my @forms = $mech->forms;
foreach my $form (@forms) {
  my @inputfields = $form->param;
  print Dumper \@inputfields;
}

resulting in
$VAR1 = [
          '__EVENTTARGET',
          '__EVENTARGUMENT',
          '__LASTFOCUS',
          '__VIEWSTATE',
          '__VIEWSTATEGENERATOR',
          '__EVENTVALIDATION',
          'txtCount',
          'chkUppercase',
          'chkBrackets',
          'chkHypens',
          'chkBase64',
          'chkRFC7515',
          'chkURL',
          'LocalTimestampValue',
          'btnGenerate',
          'txtResults'
        ];

and this is the post
my $mainpage = "https://www.guidgenerator.com/online-guid-generator.aspx";
$mech->post( "$mainpage",
     fields      => {
       'txtCount' => "1",
       'chkBase64' => "on",
       'LocalTimestampValue' => "Date%28%29.getTime%28%29",
       'btnGenerate' => "Generate+some+GUIDs%21",
       'txtResults' => "",
       '__EVENTTARGET' => 'on',
       '__EVENTARGUMENT', => 'on',
       '__LASTFOCUS', => 'on',
       '__VIEWSTATEGENERATOR' => "247C709F",
       '__VIEWSTATE' => 'on',
       '__EVENTVALIDATION' => 'on',
       'chkUppercase' => 'off',
       'chkBrackets' => 'off',
       'chkHypens' => 'off',
       'chkRFC7515' => 'off',
       'chkURL' => 'off',
     },
);

When I do the trace on the website I get the headers but there is another tab called Payload.  That contains most of the fields listed above.  I try to input these fields into the POST but not sure if I should be doing this differently or it doesn't matter because its javascript?

I know this is a lot of information.  I'm not even sure that perl's mechanize can pull this information.  Any help would be appreciated.  Please let me know any other data you want me to post here.

A: You can use Mech's built-in stuff to do this. There is no need to submit any extra fields or headers.
use strict;
use warnings;
use feature 'say';

use WWW::Mechanize;

my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new;
$mech->get('https://www.guidgenerator.com/online-guid-generator.aspx');
$mech->field( txtCount => 10 );
$mech->click;

say $mech->value('txtResults');

This will output something like:
$ perl mech.pl
211b3cad1665483ca303360bdbda0c61
ecc3348d83cb4bb5bdcb11c6148c5ae1
0a3f2fe5748946a1888a4a5bde8ef2e6
acb26deb9fda4411aa64638cdd1ec5f1
2afe609c355b4a10b6a0ae8c74d3aef1
30fd89ab170147cfb24f131346a203e3
2301d258e1d045aa8f0682f2ea14464c
f064507ca3e14a4eb860b0a30ba096ed
9a42b15d5c79420c921dcc07c306459b
5bea2e345f75453caaf795681963866a

The crux here was that you cannot use $mech->submit as that wouldn't submit the value of the submit button. That's a bit annoying. So instead, you have to use $mech->click, which pretends the default form's default submit button was clicked, hence submitting that value as well. That's just how buttons work on forms, and in this case the backend checks the value to see which one was clicked.
You can then use $mech->value to get the field value out. You'd probably want to split it to process it further.
The JavaScript in this page is actually completely irrelevant to the functionality. All it does is save and restore the settings you've chosen in a cookie, so that when you come back the same checkboxes will be ticked. That's nice, but nowadays probably better done with local storage on the frontend side. However you don't have to deal with the JS at all to crawl this page. The main functionality is backend side.

You might also be interested in $mech->dump_forms, which is a nice debugging aid that prints out all the forms with fields and values. Another good debugging aid when working with Mech (or any LWP based class) is LWP::ConsoleLogger::Everywhere. That's what I used to compare my program's request with my browser's one to find the missing button form field.
Disclaimer: I am a maintainer of WWW::Mechanize and I wrote LWP::ConsoleLogger::Everywhere.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
FITTER. BETTER. HAPPIER.
Victor Tangermann
healthheart-disease
Researchers Transplant Lab-Grown Heart Muscle Cells Into Patient
This first-of-its-kind procedure could replace heart transplants.
by Kristin Houser / January 28 2020
On Monday, researchers from Japan's Osaka University announced the successful completion of a first-of-its-kind heart transplant.
Rather than replacing their patient's entire heart with a new organ, these researchers placed degradable sheets containing heart muscle cells onto the heart's damaged areas — and if the procedure has the desired effect, it could eventually eliminate the need for some entire heart transplants.
To create the heart muscle cells, the team started with induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. These are stem cells that researchers create by taking an adult's cells — often from their skin or blood — and reprogramming them back into their embryonic-like pluripotent state.
At that point, researchers can coax the iPS cells into becoming whatever kind of cell they'd like. In the case of this Japanese study, the researchers created heart muscle cells from the iPS cells before placing them on small sheets.
The patient who received the transplant suffers from ischemic cardiomyopathy, a condition in which a person's heart has trouble pumping because its muscles don't receive enough blood.
In severe cases, the condition can require a heart transplant, but the team from Osaka University hopes that the muscle cells on the sheet will secrete a protein that helps regenerate blood vessels, thereby improving the patient's heart function.
The researchers plan to monitor the patient for the next year, and they hope to conduct the same procedure on nine other people suffering from the same condition within the next three years.
If all goes well, the procedure could become a much-needed alternative to heart transplants — not only is sourcing iPS cells far easier than finding a suitable donor heart, but a recipient's immune system is more likely to tolerate the cells than a new organ.
"I hope that (the transplant) will become a medical technology that will save as many people as possible, as I've seen many lives that I couldn't save," researcher Yoshiki Sawa said at a news conference, according to The Japan Times.
READ MORE: Osaka University transplants iPS cell-based heart cells in world's first clinical trial [The Japan Times]
More on lab-grown heart cells: See Lab-Grown Human Heart Tissue Beat Like a Real Heart
Daily Coronavirus Deaths Top Heart Disease and Cancer Combined
Santa Impersonator Exposes Throngs of Children to COVID
There's a Mysterious New Disease Outbreak in India
New Research: Yes, Mask Mandates Help Fight COVID-19 Spread
More Americans Died of COVID-19 Thursday Than Any Day Since May


Havana, November 14 (RHC)-- Puerto Rican independence fighter Oscar López Rivera received Cuba's Order of Solidarity, granted by the Cuban Council of State to renowned personalities from around the world.
López Rivera, who served nearly 36 years of unjust imprisonment in the United States, was presented with the order during a ceremony held Tuesday at the José Martí Memorial in Havana's Revolution Square.
The Puerto Rican independentista is here on an official visit, invited by the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP).
On this, his first visit ever to Cuba, López Rivera has already toured places of interest, including Old Havana, and has met with representatives of Cuban institutions, grassroots and social organizations.


The Supreme Court have upheld a judgement regarding a former mayor who diverted public funds to a paramilitary group, reported Elespectador on Thursday.
Matias Oliveros del Villar, formerly Mayor of El Banco, a municipality in the northern department of Magdalena attempted to divert $320,000 dollars of public money to now demobilized paramilitary group AUC.
The criminal activities of the former mayor came to light after an agreement signed with the Ministry of Environment in 2005, which saw the municipality receive $680,000 dollars, intended to cover the liabilities of public service workers.
According to Elespectador, it was the suspicious division of these funds which led to Villar's arrest.
The mayor was sentenced to eight years and three months in prison.


text:
Nathan Bransford's blog: Required reading for writers
Nathan Bransford is a literary agent with the San Francisco office of Curtis Brown, Ltd. If you're a writer and don't already subscribe to his blog, I strongly suggest you do! You won't believe how much you can learn about what agents do, what they like/dislike, and what's going on in the publishing world today. Check him out!
Click his link under "Resources for Writers."
How to attract good luck -- I'm open!
Last Sunday morning I was floating in the pool reading How to Attract Good Luck, a book written by A.H.Z. Carr and published in 1952. God knows where I picked up this little gem, but I know I bought it second hand; it still has the $2.00 sticker on the cover. I want to share some simple principles from Chapter 2, "How Zest Exposes Us to Luck."
According to the author, in order to attract good luck, we must first be exposed to it. Carr states that most of the time a lucky episode occurs when somebody says something important to us, and that a high proportion of luck comes to us through strangers. "Between ourselves and those who cross our path," Carr says, "chance throws out an invisible thread of awareness, a 'luck-line.' It is not too much to say that any new acquaintance to whom we throw out a luck-line represents a possible gain in our future luck and happiness."
Carr goes on: "To say that to expose ourselves to luck, then, means in essence to come into healthy human relationships with more people." This means the more luck-lines you throw out, the more luck you're likely to find.
The author contends that "unexpected friendliness" is the secret of much of the luck of life and offers this verse from Edwin Arlington Robinson:
"There came along a man who looked at him
With such an unexpected friendliness
And talked with him in such a common way
That life grew marvelously different."
Unexpected friendliness. Are you leaving yourself open to it?
I often say that writing is a lonely endeavor; the overwhelming majority of us are soloists. But think of the luck that could happen if instead of writing at home, we move to a café or other public place.
Unexpected friendliness. Are you offering it to others? That's the key, if you ask me. You're really, really lucky when you've been able to make someone else's life "marvelously different."
Punctuation and quotation marks: Inside or out?
Here are a few simple rules about where to place punctuation in sentences with quotation marks. If you're a writer, this is something you really should know. And if you're not a writer, this is good for you to know as well because there are a lot of writing snobs out there who think a command of punctuation is directly correlated to one's IQ. I'm not kidding.
Commas and periods always go INSIDE closing quotation marks. Always, always, always!
(Well, maybe not always. British usage calls for the period outside the closing quotation. But if you're an American writer, commas and periods always go inside.)
Incorrect: "Altoids", I said, "are the heroin of breath mints".
Correct: "Tic-Tacs," I continued, "are nothing but a gateway mint."
Colons and semicolons always go OUTSIDE closing quotation marks.
Question marks and exclamation points go OUTSIDE the closing quotation mark unless they are part of what's quoted.
Correct: My mother is the only person who steps off the plane in Las Vegas and asks, "What time does Jeopardy come on here?"
Correct: Do you agree with the saying, "All's fair in love and war"?
In the second example, the entire sentence is a question and the quoted material does not pose a question. That's why the question mark is outside the quotation mark.
Now here's a tricky one. When you have a question outside quoted material and inside quoted material, use only one question mark and place it INSIDE the quotation mark.
Correct: Did your mother just ask, "What time does Jeopardy come on?"
God loves everyone, even the apolitical
Last Sunday night one of my dear friends hosted a gathering at her house. A political gathering. Representatives from Barack Obama's campaign were there to answer questions and, of course, promote his run for presidency.
I should say that I have long sworn off Tupperware, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, and every other type of home party where attendees are expected to do anything but... party. But I hadn't seen my friend in a while and I really wanted to give her a hug, and so I went.
The Obama folks were nice enough, and the short video they played really was inspiring. Afterward they asked everyone in the group to share their reasons for coming out and offering their support. I panicked a bit, wondering what the hell I'd come up with. When my turn came, I simply told the truth: "I know nothing about politics. I'm only half kidding when I say Tony Blair was a lot funnier when he was in Monty Python."
To their credit, there was no collective gasp of horror, and a few well-meaning folks tried to ease me into a discussion. But I just sat there wishing we could talk about something interesting, like Brad and Angelina's newborn twins.
It's amazing how unapologetic I am for my lack of political convictions. Yes, I do vote, and I realize how lucky I am that my life is going so well that I don't feel compelled to get involved. But not everybody has to be a political activist, though I sure am glad some people have that calling. Just as I'm glad that some people are called to be nurses or garbage men—where would we be without them? But as noble as they are, those professions aren't for everybody.
It's not that I totally don't give a shit; I do. Maybe for me, politics is like religion. Just as I have my own way of connecting with God, or the Universe, or whatever the hell you want to call it, I have my own way of trying to make the world a better place. Really, I do care.
And I also care about Brad and Angelina's twins. But, oy! Those names!
My first experience with rejection
This is a short excerpt from my book, Bastard Husband: A Love Story. I've been querying agents (with varying degrees of effort) for close to a year now and have racked up a lot of rejections. Fortunately, I learned a bit about rejection early on...
I grew up in Albany, New York, where I lived for the first forty-three years of my life. I'm the oldest of five kids spaced over a fourteen-year period, which means I was in ninth grade when my little sister was born. My mother and the girl who sat next to me in French class were pregnant at the same time. Yuk.
I was a shy and quiet child, a bookworm with big dreams. At age eight, I wrote a letter to whomever I thought was in charge of the TV show Bonanza suggesting they write in a part for a younger sister, to be played by me, of course. I offered some possible storylines and assured them that although I had never actually been on a horse, I was certainly willing to learn. In response, I received a colored glossy photo signed by all the Cartwright men, but alas, no offer of an acting contract.
A year later, I sent Johnny Carson a few of my favorite jokes, fantasizing about how the audience would roar when he opened his monologue with, "How did Captain Hook die? … He wiped himself with the wrong hand!" Fancying myself as quite mature for my age, and to address Johnny's older, late-night demographic, I also included what I thought was a solid demonstration of my ability to write adult humor: "What's pink and squishy and lies at the bottom of the ocean? Moby's Dick!"
Those were my first experiences with rejection, which even back then I regarded not as a reflection of my own shortcomings, but the result of someone else's lack of insight.
I still think that way about the agents who've said, "No thanks, not for me"!


Gloomy consumer data follows job losses and market turmoil.
The US economy has fallen into recession after a series of financial crises sparked by the subprime mortgage crisis, tight credit conditions and global economic turmoil.
However, US stocks on Tuesday rose in midmorning trading despite the poor data, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 51.37, or 0.61 per cent, to 8,535.30 points.
In other poor economic news, prices of single-family homes in October posted a record fall of 18 per cent from last year, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices reported.
S&P said its index of house prices in 10 major metropolitan areas dropped 2.1 per cent in October from September, another record slump.
US sales after the Christmas holidays at major shops have also been poor, with sales falling 1.8 per cent in the week ending December 27 compared with the previous year, when sales fell 1.5 percent, the ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales index reported.
Analysts say the latest poor data reflects a further deterioration of economic conditions in the US and warn that the coming year is not expected to provide any financial relief.
"The overall economic outlook remains quite dismal for the first half of 2009, and only a modest recovery is expected in the second half," Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Centre, said.


Chrome Straight TRV x 15mm is rated 3.5 out of 5 by 10.
Rated 2 out of 5 by PetefromLichfield from Poor design Top cap worked loose and keeps falling off and it's impossible to see the numbers unless you get on your hands and knees to see them.
Rated 3 out of 5 by MisterBodjett from cheap plastic fails Bought one of these for a chrome towel rail. A false economy, after a couple of years the plastic fingers holding the TRV onto the radiator valve under the locking ring became brittle and failed. I would have been better off buying something a bit more expensive but more reliable as I still now have to get a replacement and go through the hassle of draining and replacing.
Rated 4 out of 5 by Firee from Value TRV Good value and goes well with chrome towel rail. Agree with previous comments regarding the visibility of the numbers on the setting dial, these could be clearer. I have given middle marks performance and reliability as I have only just purchased and installed.
Rated 1 out of 5 by JUGG from VERY FLIMSY I read on reviews that the numbers were hard to see but this is ridiculous! Even close up it's hard to see. Also it feels very flimsy and could easily shatter if accidentally hit with a solid object. I had to buy one just to find out. Would definitely the extra £15 for something better when this breaks. OK, it costs £11 but is it worth it overall?
Rated 5 out of 5 by Rizo from so far so good So far so good. Pretty much the same comments as previous purchasers. the settings are hard to read since it's grey writing on chrome.


• Mr. Liu has advising in many public infrastructure construction, real estate M&A an industrial park construction projects. His clients includes, without limitation, Hube No.5 Construction Co., Ltd, Xiyuan Real Estate, Wuhan Jiangxia Road&Bridge Engineering Corporation, Second Engineering Company of China Railway 11 Bureau Group Corporation, China Construction Eighth Engineering Division. Corp. LTD, Shanghe Group Construction Co., Ltd and Xiqi Group Construction Co., Ltd. He has represented in hundreds of civil cases in real estate, construction, etc, and has extensive experience and legal knowledge in both litigation and non-litigation affair.


The more specific you are with your compliments and acknowledgments, the better. You say that not many people are interested in your passions. Take a class in something like cooking, metalsmithing, jewelry making, pottery, or other applied or studio art. Then do what nerds do best, and research.
Work on a political campaign or cause that speaks to you. Palamedes set out and returned with a shipload of grain.
He offered no solutions or alternatives. Make a giant reading and watching list. You mustered up the courage to swipe right on Tinder. For Homer the true Helen was in Troy.
The Trojan army returned to the city, except for Hector, who remained outside the walls because he was tricked by Athena. During the next days, however, the Trojans drove the Achaeans back to their camp and were stopped at the Achaean wall by Poseidon. This will serve you well when you meet someone who is single and who has the qualities you like.
It is okay to make a mistake, to not know exactly what to do. Violet is thrown into an identity crisis. You pull away when he gets too close. Our community is the leader in social networking. When you have questions in class, do you go to office hours and reach out to professors and teaching assistants for help?
People outside your dating age range. We are the equestrian match and equestrian cupid, for cowboy cowgirl dating! Obviously, both parties need to be single in order to start dating, so there tends to be a question behind the question. Coming from a broken home, I too had fears of marriage, but Aesha gave me a piece of advice that showed me that God wants to use me to break that curse in my family lineage. Something where you may know a couple of people, but is outside where your current social group already hangs out.
Enraged, Apollo afflicted the Achaean army with plague. The Achaeans controlled only the entrance to the Dardanelles, and Troy and her allies controlled the shortest point at Abydos and Sestus and communicated with allies in Europe. You are where you are supposed to be, you are learning what you are supposed to learn. They quarreled bitterly over it, and none of the other gods would venture an opinion favoring one, for fear of earning the enmity of the other two. They raided the Trojan allies and spent time farming the Thracian peninsula.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that getting a man to fall in love really can be achieved following a few simple steps. The steps to make any man fall in love. To think making a man fall in love could be reduced to a simple set of instructions! Calchas said that Helenus knew the prophecies concerning the fall of Troy, azelion online dating so Odysseus waylaid Helenus.
At some point in the war Achilles and Ajax were playing a board game petteia. And we know how to get what we need on our own. Don't know how we ever got to know anyone without it.


It's time to link up your favorite things! This week I am so happy to see spring on it's way! It is lighter outside later and we have a pop up of snowdrops in the garden. Next week should be the crocuses. My favorite time of year when everything starts to bloom. Especially the Magnolia tree!


To calculate the volume of a prism, you first need to know its height and the area of its base (top or bottom, it doesn't matter—they're parallel and congruent).
Now, take a look at the formula in action.
for the length of line CD, which, again, is the height of the prism.
Next, because angles EAD and EDA are given 45-degree angles, angle AED must be 90 degrees; thus, triangle AED is another 45°-45°-90° triangle.


text:
The Boatman's Daughter: An Evening with Andy Davidson
Presented by Sturgis Library at Sturgis Library, Barnstable MA
Award-nominated author, Andy Davidson, will speak on how he discovered the idea for his latest novel and how writers everywhere can use a similar method to craft their own stories!
Andy Davidson's second novel, The Boatman's Daughter, has been hailed by Paul Tremblay as a "lush nightmare," inviting comparisons to Flannery O'Connor, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Cormac McCarthy, Jesmyn Ward, and Daniel Woodrell. However, once upon a time, Davidson's "captivating horror fable" (Kirkus) was little more than a cheap pot-boiler based in the author's love of EC Comics and a long-forgotten drive-in horror flick shot in his home state of Arkansas. Join the author
Andy Davidson's second novel, The Boatman's Daughter, has been hailed by Paul Tremblay as a "lush nightmare," inviting comparisons to Flannery O'Connor, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Cormac McCarthy, Jesmyn Ward, and Daniel Woodrell. However, once upon a time, Davidson's "captivating horror fable" (Kirkus) was little more than a cheap pot-boiler based in the author's love of EC Comics and a long-forgotten drive-in horror flick shot in his home state of Arkansas. Join the author as he ferries you through the novel's origins, answering (honestly) that age-old question writers so love to hate: "Where do you get your ideas?"
Free to the public. Registration is appreciated. Call 508-362-6636, email sturgisreference@comcast.net or or online at: https://www.sturgislibrary.org/event2/an-evening-with-andy-davidson/
Email: sturgisreference@comcast.net
Feb 19, 2020 at 06:00 pm - 07:30 pm (Wed)
Sturgis Library
3090 Main Street, Barnstable, MA 02630
MORE FROM Sturgis Library
The Write Thing
Presented by Sturgis Library at Sturgis Library
Feb 4 - Feb 25, 2020
Valentine Creation Celebration
Sturgis Library Open Mic Night
CONNECT WITH Sturgis Library
Feb, 19, 2020 at 06:00 pm - 07:30 pm (Wed)


If you are searching for Sainsbury/s then your entire hunt should finish at Sainsbury/s . It's not very far in any respect that it is located in Sainsbury's Local 34 High Street Headcorn Ashford TN27 9NE . Only view below the working timetable of Sainsbury/s cataloged below . If you are delayed then don't be hopeless that you possibly can communicate with these guys at (01622) 892072 . For all other important information , it is possible to check out Sainsbury/s's online site which is : www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/st... .


Just letting you know that we've found a technical issue last week with reviews where some were incorrectly taken down. We're working on fixing the issue, so sit tight!
This was in response to the spate of reports of reviews being taken down last week in what appeared like a reincarnation of the review spam algo from hell.
Barry Schwartz noted that he felt that Google was confirming a bug. A bug implies to me an error in underlying code that causes an error. These take downs looked so much like the previous level of take downs with the review algo last fall, that I think assuming it was a bug would be making too many assumptions. Note that Jade said "we've found a technical issue". That could be anything from the janitor tripping over the cord to an engineer turning a switch that cut a new review algo loose again. A more likely explanation in my book is that Google was "upgrading" the algo and it was more severe than had been predicted.
Regardless it does appear that many of the reviews that were taken down will hopefully coming back similar to those returned at the end of January. Remember though that not all of them returned.


Please write a sentence explaining your artwork if the title does not describe it.
All images must include: Title, Size, Medium, Price, year completed.
All information should be in the word file format.
Registration fee may be through Pay pal (using any credit card)Click here >> or via cheque to the address above.
This entry was posted in Call for submissions and tagged 2017, call for submissions, Erasing Borders Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora, Indo American Arts Council, New York City, Vijay Kumar on August 1, 2016 by achang.
Erasing Borders is a richly provocative exhibition by artists of the Indian diaspora who confront issues of sexuality, terror, disease, the environment, racial and sectarian politics in painting, prints, installations, video, and sculpture. With great technical mastery and diversity of theme and style, these works combine traditional Indian aesthetics with Western elements, and speak to the powerful experience of personal and cultural dislocation in the global village. In its eighth year, Erasing Borders is curated by Vijay Kumar and produced by the Indo-American Arts Council. Free and open to the public.
This entry was posted in Announcement, Exhibitions and tagged 2014, AAAC, Alka Mukerji, Amin Rehman, Antonio Puri, Anujan Ezhikode, Arun Prem, Avani Patel, Bivas Chaudhuri, Bushra Chaudry, Chandrika Marla, Delna Dastur, Diaspora, Erasing Borders, Erasing Borders Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora, exhibition, Indian Art, Indo American Arts Council, Mansoora Hassan, Md Tokon, Mumtaz Hussain, Mustafa Faruki, Nandini Chirimar, Niamul Bari, Nipun Manda, Parul Mehra, Pinku Roy-Bari, Rahul Mehra, Reet Das, Reeta Gidwani Karmakar, Renuka Khanna, Sangeeta Reddy, Shanthi Chandrasekar, Smrita Jain, Sunil Garg, Tara Sabharwal, Tarik Currimbhoy on July 16, 2014 by achang.
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Ct.
This entry was posted in Exhibitions and tagged exhibition, Indo American Arts Council on September 26, 2011 by achang.


text:
Hemingway in Pamplona
May 31, 2017 Ernest Hemingwaydixonl2014
The play Pamplona opens with Stacy Keach in a room in Pamplona, Italy. It is after Hemingway's 60th birthday party and he gets a call from a well-meaning friend who tells him that he ignored his wife, Mary while he flirted with others. He slams the phone down and uses a few expletives.
This one-man play is a long soliloquy given in a mediocre room in Pamplona. Hemingway has been using it as a space to write for over 30 years. It is plain and somewhat sparse with a bed, a Persian rug, a Victrola for his music and a writing desk with his typewriter.
Keach delivers an 80-minute nonstop journey back through the years of Hemingway's life. He relives major and minor events and the stage designer uniquely puts huge pictures on the walls to reflect his thoughts. For example, if he is talking about his time spent with F. Scott Fitzgerald or his first wife, Hadley, their black and white photographs are displayed on the walls of the room.
Throughout the play, he is frustrated because he has writer's block. He has a deadline with Life Magazine on a memorable matador and cannot seem to come up with the right words. He has already taken a large cash advancement, so he is feeling the pressure of producing a finished product.
As he moves through his life in a non-sequential order, he admits that he cannot turn out work like he did years before he received the Nobel Prize. War injuries, car wrecks, and plane crashes have taken their toll on his health along with his four marriages and years of drinking.
Pamplona has a humorous tone and there is laughter after almost every other line though many of the things he endured are not laughable. He shows how his major works were borne out of real events but how he added fiction to each piece.
He lost friends after writing, A Sun Also Rises. His acquaintances from those Paris days saw themselves in his characters. He felt that this was not entirely true and talked about reality versus what he wrote. He actually read the Dear John letter written by the nurse which inspired A Farewell to Arms.
In The Old Man and the Sea, he gave the main character the name of Santiago. Yet he got the idea from observing a fisherman with gnarled hands by another name. And, he admits that For Whom the Bell Tolls was spun from his relationship with his third wife, Martha Gellhorn.
He laments over his wives and he admits that he does not understand women. But then, he did not understand his insensitive mother. Towards the end of the play, he goes back to his humble beginnings in Oak Park.
Hemingway shares some of the difficult things like his grandfather's attempted suicide and his father's actual suicide both using the same gun. He shares his mother's unforgettable betrayal when she used to dress him up as a little girl and tell the neighbors that he and his sister were twin girls.
Stacy Keach does a fine job of pulling off the essence of Ernest Hemingway. It lines up with everything that I had read by and about him. Mary Hemingway's book, How it Was, also filled in many of the small details of his life and the play Pamplona got it right.
This look into the remarkable life of Papa proved that the entire globe was his indeed his oyster. He wrote what he saw, lived and experienced and he took his readers along for the wonderful ride!
Lynn M. May 31, 2017
Emily's Crown
May 27, 2017 Emily Dickinsondixonl2014
A Quiet Passion is a thought-provoking film that sheds light on portions of Emily Dickinson's life. The movie opens at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts where Emily is already going against the grain. Her headmistress reminds her that "She is alone in her rebellion."
Her family comes to take her home to Amherst. The rest of the film is set in the house with her austere father, Edward, her brother Austin and her loving sister Vinny. All of them are daily affected by Emily's headstrong ways.
Emily, her mother, is secluded and rarely seen. It is unclear why she is so glum and unhappy. However, when Austin brings home his intended, Susan, the mother comes downstairs which surprises the others.
The low lighting and slow action of the film seem to imply that there is a general tone of depression. Perhaps, the outbreak of the Civil War contributes to the feelings of heaviness. Young Austin wants to join the armed forces, but his father forbids it and makes him stay behind and work as his law partner.
Emily resents her position as a woman of the 1800's because of her limited mobility and she tells Austin that he should spend one day as a woman. She finds solace in her writing and gets permission from her father to write in the wee hours of the morning while the world is sleeping.
A few of her poems are published during her lifetime and she stitches her poems together into small booklets. Some are recited in the background while key events of her life unfold. For example, when she is holding Austin and Susan's newborn son, she recites "I'm Nobody! Who Are You? (260)"
Vinny, her amiable sister, dutifully remains by her side; even when Emily is behaving badly. They are sparing partners and Vinny tells her when she is out of line or being unnecessarily harsh to others. Her father also corrects her on a number of occasions. He probably understood her private frustrations as a woman with an inquisitive mind in the 19th century.
Emily equated all partings to a form of death. She grieved when friends moved away or got married and had a hard time letting go and saying goodbye. After her father passes, she goes into her room for about three days without eating. She finally emerges wearing the famous white dress though others are still wearing black to show that they are in mourning. This is the beginning of her reclusive lifestyle and the white linen dress becomes her daily attire.
When others visit her, she speaks to them from upstairs and out of view. She had said that she did not feel as attractive as Austin or Vinny, and this may have contributed to her eventual hibernation. But, the mother also isolated herself and as the saying goes, "The apple does not fall too far from the tree."
The movie spends an inordinate amount of time on Emily's struggle with Bright's disease. Some of the scenes are highly disturbing as she has convulsions and epileptic seizures before succumbing to death at the age of 55. Austin, Susan and Vinny surround her and the movie closes with her funeral procession while she can be heard reciting the poem, "I Could Not Stop for Death So He Kindly Stopped for Me (479)."
The movie is worth seeing for those scholars who like all things Emily; however, she had to have had more good days. She could have been shown working in her garden or cooking some of her favorite dishes. It is said that she was a great cook. Or she could have been seen lowering her famous basket of gingerbread down to the neighborhood children.
The writer-director, Terence Davies, did in-depth research which was revealed through the credits but surely there were sunnier days in the life of this renowned American poet. Yet, her life still intrigues many and she undoubtedly meant it when she wrote "And I choose, just a crown."
The Olive Branch!
May 20, 2017 Gifted (a movie)dixonl2014
I recently saw the movie Gifted which I chose after careful consideration. I wanted to see a reflective film that I would remember and later ponder. I was not disappointed. It was about a six and half-year old mathematical genius named Mary (McKenna Grace).
When the movie opens, she is attending school for the first time after being home-schooled by her Uncle Frank (Chris Evans). He is raising her after her mathematical whiz mom took her own life. She left Mary in her brother's care and he wants to make sure that Mary doesn't follow down the same unbalanced path.
In spite of her exceptional math talents, he wants her to have good social skills and live as normal a life as possible. When, she starts going to a public school, problems ensue because she is lacking in the people department. She provokes the principal, breaks an older bully's nose while protecting a class mate and generally causes an uproar in her second grade class.
In the midst of the upheaval, her estranged but wealthy grandmother steps in and wants custody of Mary. She has never shown an interest in her before, but she has her own private agenda. She wants Mary to help her solve a mathematical equation that would give her a long-desired fame. She also went to school to be a mathematician, but had to put her career on hold to raise her family.
The movie takes a lot of twists and turns as the court battle plays out between the uncle and the hard-hearted grandmother (Lindsey Duncan). Roberta (Octavia Spencer), his landlord, is supportive and acts as a surrogate to young Mary on a daily basis.
This sensitive movie shows the uncle fighting for Mary's chance to have as normal a life as possible. He is haunted by his sister's suicide and remembers her lack of personal happiness. He wants to make sure that the same thing doesn't happen to his niece even if she does eventually attend a gifted school.
For a while, he plays along with the court's rulings and lets Mary live with a foster family. But he finds out that all is not well and that the grandmother is still privately working her plan to exploit Mary's gift.
He finally reveals a long withheld bargaining chip and plays it like a winning chess piece. It makes the affluent grandmother back down and give him full custody of Mary. See Gifted and discover what illusive olive branch he extends to save Mary's life!
Characters Choose!
May 13, 2017 Uncategorizeddixonl2014
"Character is who and what you are in your essence, after much that is transient and superficial is stripped away. It includes your inner and outer life but is best revealed in the many things you do -especially those little things that you do without much thinking." (The Healing Power of Stories by Daniel Taylor)
When I think of character, I think of Shakespeare's plays where he lets his characters reveal themselves through their private thoughts and outward actions. They inevitably show themselves and do as Taylor says, act without thinking. It shows what is truly in their hearts.
When we, as writers, create characters we show them making decisions which may sometimes be quick or even rash in nature. From their actions we may deem what type of persons we are dealing with in a variety of situations and under different circumstances.
We ask ourselves a host of questions about a character. Are they honest? Are they sincere? Or are they deceitful or underhanded? Are they trustworthy? Do they make sound decisions? Or do they flip-flop and appear to be wishy-washy? Is this person a gossip that carries tales? Or does this character protect others' private information like sacred scrolls? Would we feel safe in this character's company? Is this a person that we would trust in life-threatening scenarios?
I am currently reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and war has just broken out in France in 1940. Young Isabella has to quickly decide if she can trust a young convict named Gaetan whom she met on the road. All of the people are walking and in motion and she has to be a quick judge of character to see if this is a man she can trust. He subtlety reminds her that if he wanted to do her harm, he had every opportunity to do so. He offers her food and shows that he is concerned about her safety and she decides to trust him during this time of great peril.
Characters mirror real life and the decisions that they make speak volumes. There is an old saying that says, "Who you are speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying." More simply put, "Actions do speak louder than words."
The Thought!
May 6, 2017 Uncategorizeddixonl2014
The true thought behind something makes it either a blessing or a weight like an albatross around the neck. This thought came to mind the other day when I lost or misplaced an expensive estate ring. I bought it at Macy's but the saleswoman told me that it was considered to be an estate ring upon purchase a few years back.
After losing it, I had to work through the process of letting it go. I wondered whether the original owner would even want me to wear it. Perhaps I was sporting something that was not indicative of well-wishes.
However, I enjoyed its beauty for a few years; but in all honesty, it had been slipping off my finger quite frequently in the past few weeks. Like anything else, it was subtly saying that it was time to let it go.
With a little more wisdom, I could quietly release it and ponder the spiritual lesson being taught in this situation. I thought about the whole notion of gift giving and realized that if something is given to us in a begrudged fashion or in a sense of indebtedness, it probably will not fare well for long. Eventually, it may become a source of remorse.
Yet, a child can give us something as simple as a picture of a flower on a post-it note and that picture can light up the home like a candle. That is because it was given from the heart and in a spirit of love. The thought behind a gift can make all the difference in bringing on tears of sorrow or smiles of joy!
Lynn M. May 6, 2017


Information about a script file.
Definition at line 31 of file ScriptFile.h.
Definition at line 4 of file ScriptFile.cpp.
Definition at line 9 of file ScriptFile.cpp.
Definition at line 14 of file ScriptFile.cpp.
Definition at line 19 of file ScriptFile.cpp.
Definition at line 31 of file ScriptFile.cpp.
Definition at line 36 of file ScriptFile.cpp.
Referenced by ScriptFile(), scriptLessThan(), CREUtils::scriptNode(), CREMapPanel::setItem(), and CREMapInformationManager::storeCache().
Remove hooks linked to a map.
true if this script has no more hooks, false else.
Definition at line 41 of file ScriptFile.cpp.
Definition at line 50 of file ScriptFile.h.
Referenced by addHook(), forMap(), hooks(), removeMap(), and ~ScriptFile().
Definition at line 49 of file ScriptFile.h.
Referenced by path(), and ScriptFile().


text:
Q: Python Selenium - Website Behaves Differently When Ran Headless I have run the following code below twice. Once with the headless argument and once without. I checked the screenshots and the website seems to behave differently when ran headless. The main difference is that the second bar of search criteria does not exist. I have attached the screenshots below. How can I deal with this?
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
import time

url = 'https://www.glassdoor.com/Job/jobs.htm?suggestCount=0&suggestChosen=false&clickSource=searchBtn&typedKeyword=&locT=C&locId=1147401&jobType=&context=Jobs&sc.keyword=what&dropdown=0'

chromeoption = Options()
chromeoption.add_argument('--headless')
chromeoption.add_argument('--window-size=1300,700')
browser = webdriver.Chrome(options=chromeoption)

browser.get(url)
time.sleep(5)

browser.save_screenshot(file_location)

A:  chromeoption.add_argument("user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/87.0.4280.88 Safari/537.36")
 browser = webdriver.Chrome(options=chromeoption )

Try adding user-agent, when running headess user agent wil be send as headless chrome which allows website to know you are running headless. FOr this reason website may behave differently


Plenty, according to the U.S. Department of Education (USED). Many were surprised…even amazed to learn by way of the USED Guidance on Use of IDEA funds provided by the ARRA that local educational agencies (LEAs, aka school districts) would need to receive a "Meets Requirements" rating from the state (based on the LEA's performance on the State Performance Plan) in order to take advantage of IDEA's provision allowing a reduction in its local level of expenditures on special education by up to 50% of any increase received from one fiscal year to the next.
Given the extraordinary circumstances brought about by the one-time IDEA supplemental appropriation that Congress provided in the ARRA, these LEA ratings suddenly became a BIG DEAL. The IDEA provision, intended to provide LEAs with some level of relief if/when Congress increases annual appropriations for IDEA, was based on the assumption that increases would be both gradual and sustained. Since the provision assumed a sustained increase, IDEA also allows the new, lower level of local expenditures to become the LEA's new "maintenance of effort" — the amount of local funds the LEA must expend from one year to the next to be in compliance with the law and steer clear of "supplanting" issues. No one ever imagined the circumstances brought about by the IDEA ARRA funds — a giant increase with nothing to indicate that the increase in federal annual appropriations in coming years will be anything close to the amount provided by ARRA.
"Foul" cried some … "who knew" sobbed others. Well, the language requiring states to prohibit LEAs from reducing their local expenditures when increases occur had been hiding right in plain sight all the time. It's in IDEA's Section 616, Monitoring, Technical Assistance, and Enforcement. Nobody had paid this little bit of statutory language much attention since increases in federal IDEA appropriations have been small, few and far between since the law's enactment back in 1975. Now, here comes the ARRA and its big surprise — a supplemental appropriation for IDEA, all to be counted as FY09 funds, that is equal to the amount provided in FY09 for most LEAs. Now we're talking serious money … and the LEAs suddenly have a lot riding on those RATINGS.
That's our story and we're stickin' with it, said USED. In an addendum to its April 1, 2009 guidance, on April 13th USED modified its explanation of its original intrepretation regarding use of IDEA's local level of expenditures provision (now known as the infamous D-7) maintaining its original interpretation.
"Yippee" cried the advocates … "About time" exclaimed gleeful parents. At least some of the more than 14,000 LEAs in the nation will need to spend all of their ARRA funds on improving services for IDEA-eligible students (while also maintaining the level of their local funding for special education)! Given the dismal outcomes of students with disabilities in the U.S., it seems only fair that LEAs found to be out of compliance with IDEA should be required to use the ARRA windfall funds to do better — by adding the new funds to their current level of expenditures.
The bottom line. Wait a minute. Turns out, the ratings given to LEAs are based on compliance data … stuff like the validity, reliability and timeliness of the data submitted by the LEA; evidence of uncorrected noncompliance in the past; and any audit findings. While there are several important performance indicators in the State Performance Plan — such as graduation and dropout rate, proficiency in reading and math on state assessments, instruction in the least restrictive environment — how an LEA is doing on these performance indicators doesn't count in the determination of the rating. (Take, for example, the performance of students with disabilities in Nevada's Clark County School District, 5th largest district in the nation.) And, states are not required to report the LEA ratings to the public, making it hard to obtain this important piece of information.
IDEA Money Watch is busy obtaining the LEA ratings for every state in the nation. So far we have LEA ratings for 18 states available from our homepage under Blog Bytes. What we are finding is that most states rate most LEAs as "Meets Requirements" — making them eligible to take advantage of IDEA's provision to reduce local expenditures by up to 50% of the increase they receive in federal IDEA funds. We'll keep posting the rating until we have every state. Check back if your state isn't listed yet.
Postnote: IDEA Money Watch wishes to thank the Center for Law and Education for its assistance in obtaining the LEA ratings from states that do not make the ratings publicly available.
This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 12:18 pm	and is filed under Balance Sheet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


text:
Washtenaw County Commissioner Sue Shink wins 14th District State Senate race
By David Fair
Published November 9, 2022 at 11:31 AM EST
washtenaw.org
David Fair: This is 89 one WEMU, and we're running through a post-election morning providing all the results we have to this point. Some final results on the national level may not be available until tonight, or perhaps even later. Locally, we're still awaiting some ballots to be counted from the City of Ann Arbor. Those were anticipated some 45 minutes ago, but it has taken a little longer than expected. We will follow along and pass it along. But it does appear that the 14th District State Senate seat was won by the current chair of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners. Sue Shink joins us on the WEMU news line after a long election night. And thank you for either staying awake or getting up early to talk.
Sue Shink: Good morning.
David Fair: There is a possibility that when you are sworn into office in 2023, the Democrats could be in control of the executive branch and the legislative branch. What would that mean to you as a incoming state lawmaker?
Sue Shink: To me, it would mean an increased ability to get work done for the people of Michigan, and that's a really exciting possibility.
David Fair: Well, we have often heard the complaints from Democrats that, when Republicans are in control, that they have not worked in bipartisan manner. Would you seek to work in a bipartisan manner?
Sue Shink: Absolutely. And, you know, the campaign is over. But I can say my record here in Washtenaw County, where I've been leading a Democratic board, we have absolutely worked with Republicans, and I will continue to do that. If you look at some of our successes, including our parks, land preservation, and getting broadband to everybody within two years. Those are all bipartisan efforts.
David Fair: The 14th District is one of those that now extends beyond the borders of Washtenaw County, covering not only northern Ann Arbor, Chelsea and Dexter and the western portion of the county townships. It further stretches to cover much of Jackson County. I know you spent time campaigning there leading up to the election. What did you learn about your new constituency?
Sue Shink: They're great. I've met so many wonderful people who care about the community and are working hard to make it better. And I'm just excited to work with the people of Jackson. It's a great place. And there's pretty much no place I can go now where I don't know somebody, which I love.
David Fair: Our post-election coverage and conversation with 14th District State Senate winner Sue Shink continues on 89 one WEMU. So now, as you begin to wrap up your work with the County Board of Commissioners and look forward to putting together your office and setting priorities for the agenda in 2023 in Lansing, what are your immediate priorities?
Sue Shink: There's a lot, right? So, we're going to have the Democratic Senate caucus working together to lower drug prices and cut the retirement tax and work to keep our water clean and build our economy and provide opportunities for people to reskill into better jobs. So, those are some of the things we'll be working on. And then, of course, I am going to work very hard to represent my constituents and have a strong constituent services aspect to my office. And so, if people have issues at the state level once I'm sworn in, we'll do everything we can to be helpful.
David Fair: It is said that the existential crisis facing the planet, our state, and our community is the climate crisis. I'm sure you were pleased that it appears Ann Arbor voters have passed the Community Climate Action Plan, and that 20-year, one-mill tax will be invested in Ann Arbor and making it carbon neutral and more energy sustainable. How do you plan to take what is happening here in Washtenaw County--in the city of Ann Arbor--and carry that to Lansing and try and enact similar change?
Sue Shink: Yeah, we have learned a lot from our action--our climate action planning--at the county level. And one of the things that we've learned is that some of our residents who are struggling with their bills, if we can support them with resources to weatherize their homes, it actually will cut carbon consumption by quite a bit and make life a bit easier for them. It'll lower their energy bills and make their homes more comfortable and healthier. And so, that's just one example of the really practical steps that we can take to fight climate change and make life better for people.
David Fair: And in doing so, you kind of have to consider the fact that there are wage disparities. There are social inequities. There are racial inequities. And how do you include that as part of the planning, not only on environmental issues, but in legislative matters throughout?
Sue Shink: So, in Washtenaw County, we have implemented a process where all of our proposals have a racial equity analysis, and I don't think that's done at the state. I'd like to see that started there, because it really brings up a lot of issues, not just about race but about income disparities, as you're saying, to make sure that our policies are helping and not hurting people because this is a diverse state. We want it to be as great as possible for everybody.
David Fair: Well, congratulations on your win. Thank you for talking with us this morning. And there will be plenty of occasion for conversations moving forward.
Sue Shink: Thank you so much. I hope you have a great day. I think it's an exciting day for Michigan, and I'm thrilled. So, thank you so much.
David Fair: [00:05:45] That is Democrat Sue Shink. She'll make the move from the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners to the state Senate representing the 14th district. I'm David Fair, and this is 89 one WEMU.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
Election Cycle 2022 sue shinkMichigan State Senate2022 electionsnovember ballotwashtenaw countyWashtenaw County Board of CommissionersMichigan LegislatureMichigan 14th Senate DistrictJackson County
Contact David: dfair@emich.edu
See stories by David Fair
2022 Live Election Results
Live, updated results for Governor, House, Senate and Ballot Initiatives
Felicia Brabec celebrates win in newly-drawn 33rd House district
Democratic state House Representative Felicia Brabec defeated Republican challenger Robert Borer III for a two-year term in the new 33rd state House district. She spoke with WEMU's David Fair about her victory and her thoughts on how this week's elections will impact American democracy.
Whitmer poised to claim victory and a 2nd term
Rick Pluta
Governor Gretchen Whitmer appears to have won her bid for a second term, fending off a challenge from Republican Tudor Dixon.Rick Pluta has more.


Whidbey Audubon Society and the Island County Marine Resources Committee sponsor our on-going study of breeding Pigeon Guillemots on Whidbey Island, Washington. We also receive funding from the Northwest Straits Foundation and the Washington Audubon Society. The research project assesses the population and productivity of the approximately 1,000 guillemots that form breeding colonies around the island.
During each breeding season over 60 trained volunteers visit assigned colonies once each week from late June through the end of August. The volunteers sit quietly and monitor the birds for one hour. They take population counts, locate nesting burrows, record the birds' behavior, document adults visiting and carrying food to the burrows and record disturbances.
The summer study also includes more concentrated observation by a paid intern/contractor. The contractor spends five hours per day visiting a single colony and, beginning at dawn, records all behavior of the birds.
The project has continued for several years in order to track the Pigeon Guillemot population, gauge the rate of reproduction and determine their feeding needs. Since this species is near the top of the food chain, its vitality is a good indication of the overall health of Island County's Marine Stewardship Areas, which include the waters around Whidbey Island.
Naturalist and writer, Frances Wood, M.F.A.,http://www.franceswood.net/ initiated the Whidbey Guillemot Survey in 2002 and has been coordinating the project ever since. A chapter in her book Brushed by Feathers: A Year of Birdwatching in the West (Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, CO, 2004) describes her first observations of the Whidbey guillemot colonies and how she fell in love with these playful seabirds, which she continues to study, observe and write about. Frances serves on the Island County Marine Resources Committee and is a former president of the Whidbey Audubon Society.
Prof. Emerita of Microbiology and Immunology and of Genetics at George Washington University Phyllis Kind, Ph. D., joined the group at its inception and is responsible for data archiving and analysis. Phyllis served on the Island County Marine Resources Committee and the Northwest Straits Commission. She is past president of the Whidbey Audubon Society and past board member of the Whidbey-Camano Land trust.
Ann Casey is a retired educator and enthusiastic community scientist and a 2010 Beach Watcher graduate. Since 2010 Ann has served on the Whidbey Audubon Society Board as VP, President. Past President and is currently serving as the Field Trips Chair. Ann is the team leader for the PG survey at Malmo Bluff since 2012 and in 2015 joined the Guillemot Research Group team.
Emily Terao joined the Guillemot Research Group as an intern in 2016, and then stayed on as a member of the coordinating team. A graduate of Earlham College class of 2011, Emily majored in Biology with her main interests being ecology and conservation. She assisted in a research project on Eastern Bluebirds, and led a survey of avian populations in different habitats of rainforest in Peru. Applying her interests in conservation with a passion for food, Emily co-founded Duck Duck Goose Farms http://ddgfarms.com/ with her significant other, where their goal is to farm in harmony with nature. She feels very lucky to live and work on beautiful Whidbey Island, and wants to do her part in supporting the island's wildlife. Emily is also a current board member of the Whidbey Audubon Society.


Fontifier turns handwriting into fonts. There have been services that do this for years, but Fontifier makes it gratifyingly immediate: you print a grid from their site, scrawl your letters onto it, scan it, upload it, and then download a font. The whole process takes about ten minutes.
I also blogged about this yesterday. It's a cool idea.
By the way, this link works better.


Thank you for contacting us with regards to booking a meeting at The British Legal Technology Forum. We will be in touch very soon.
In the mean time we have plenty of Insights that you can download for free.
The legal sector is one that already relies heavily on video conferencing for day to day operations. However, it is not always being used to the best of a platform's abilities. This can be counterintuitive and becomes a waste of time and money.
Yes you read the title correctly. Using video conferencing technology in your law firm will help grow your revenue.
How? Give me 5 minutes of your time to read on and let me explain.


BitMart Exchange is excited to announce it's recent cooperation with AISI, the first blockchain community in China. BitMart has become one of the supernodes and the masternode in North America for AISI.Fund, the first tokenized fund across the world. BitMart and AISI are looking forward to working together to build community consensus across the blockchain industry. In addition, AISI will be one of the first sponsors of the BMX Market. Any qualified projects invested by AISI.Fund in the seed round of ICO will be eligible to list on the BMX Market directly.
BitMart is proud to be one of the supernodes of the first tokenized global fund. BitMart shares the same concept of community sharing as AISI; in addition, BitMart has a strong capital fund, a talented team, and a leading professional technical support team. In accordance, the investment standard of being the supernode of AISI.Fund is 3 million USDT (around 3 million USD). After being a supernode, BitMart has the right to share an additional 31% of the benefits of general partners, plus 1 AISI token to be eligible to join the AISI Group. AISI only offers 10 AISI tokens to all partners around the globe, and they are allocated according to the amount of investment. Taking a lead in becoming the supernode and masternode of AISI.Fund proves that BitMart is one of the most recognized leading exchanges in the blockchain industry.
As the first blockchain community in China, AISI has attracted a lot of attention in the industry for its launching of AISI Token. AISI will now once again lead another new innovative era in the blockchain industry with the debut launch of AISI Ecosystem FOF (AEF) — the first tokenized global fund. The founder of AISI, Xuchu Fang, told BitMart that the mission of AISI.Fund is to run business based on community and to incubate ambitious projects with the concept of community sharing.
As the world's first tokenized fund, AEF has the feature of capital tokenization, allowing the long-term illiquid fund assets to be traded freely after tokenization. Furthermore, the trading records of the tokenized fund assets cannot be changed as they are stored on the blockchain. In addition, the double-private equity maximizes the benefits of investors while tokenization allows investors to trade and earn benefits in a secured way whenever and wherever.
Making headlines of its own, BitMart Exchange recently launched Mission X: The Community Listing Market, in which users can decide which projects they want to be listed on the exchange through investment, thus creating a self-regulated market. Any project can be listed on the BMX market once the total investment reaches 1 million BMX. This innovative program overcomes previous challenges and helps distribute the funds and profits to promising projects. On the first day of Mission X's launch, 9 projects registered and more than 7 million BMX was raised in just half of a day. With the successful launch of Mission X, BitMart has created a new era for cryptocurrency featuring community-driven listing markets.
BitMart Exchange is a premier global digital asset trading platform in the cryptocurrency market with over 450,000 users worldwide and a top 40 ranking on CoinMarketCap. It currently offers crypto-to-crypto trading for coins and utility tokens only. BitMart has a global team with extensive industry experience from all over the world including the United States, Russia, South Korea, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. Since launching in March, BitMart has a total trading volume of over $894,000,000 USD and averages a daily trading volume between $30,000,000 and $40,000,000 USD. BitMart currently offers 60 trading pairs for BTC, ETH, USDT, XLM, EOS, VEN, NEO, OMG, ZRX, IOST, ABT, AE, AISI, BBK, BTM, DPST, EFX, GNT, HYDRO, KAN, MKR, ONT, RHOC, XRR, ZIL, MOBI, and BMX.


2019 Custom Weekly Sticky Note Pad Features: Desc: Weekly Sticky Note Pad Size: 510 x 310 mm (customized size accepted) Material: Inner pages - 100G printed woodfree paper Back cardboard - 2.5mm grey rigid cardboard Block sticky notes - 100G dyed wood ... SHANGHAI MAX·I PACK&GIFTS CO. LTD.
Insulated Food Cooler Bags Waterproof Lunch Cooler Bag with 2 Separate Compartments Grey Durable soft, reusable lunch box for packing food and ice cold beverages for road trips, picnics, or take to work, school, or construction job. THERMAL INSULATED AND ... Shenzhen D-Jeesian Bags Co., Ltd.
100% compostable cornstarch material bags t-shirt style trash bags 50x60 cm This type of bag will be useful for holding trash which is produced under the best condition and quality in Lianfa Plastics. All the product/material is certified to meet the ... Weifang Lian-Fa Plastics Co., Ltd.
100 Polypropylene Shopping Bags Product Description 1) Item: 100 Polypropylene Shopping Bags,grocery bags reusable,grocery cart shopping bag . 2) Size:Customized. 3) Material: Non woven,woven,cotton,canvas,polyester,nylon or other customized material. 4) ... Shanghai XWPAK Packaging Co.,LTD.
Retro Titanium Six Words Mantra Stainless Steel Tibetan Buddhist Ring For Men Product Description Product Name Retro Titanium Six Words Mantra Stainless Steel Tibetan Buddhist Ring For Men Usage Souvenir, Anniversary, Decoration, Gift, Party Color Gold ... Dongguan Minglu Jewelry Co., Ltd.
Veterinary Ultrasound Machine Cardiac Probe 3D 4D Color Doppler Description ZONCARE-Q7 vet has very excellent performance for veterinary usage. It can select wide variety probes such as Convex Array Probe, Linear Array Probe, Transvaginal Probe, Micro-... Wuhan Zoncare Bio-medical Electronics Co., Ltd.
1, Product Name:Insulated Cooler Tote bags Premium Quality Cooler Bag Set with Long Handles and Zipper Top. Reusable Tote for Cold Food DURABLE – Made from heavy weight 150 GSM non-woven cloth fabric, aluminum covered thermal insulation, and featuring a... Shenzhen D-Jeesian Bags Co., Ltd.
Product Name: Insulated Lunch Bag Cooler Lunch Tote Large Capacity Thermal Lunch Box for Women Men Adults Kids, 10.1 x 8.6 x 5.5 IN [LARGE INSULATED LUNCH BAG]: Thermal lunch bags design a main food compartment (10.1 x 8.6 x 5.5 IN). This large lunch box ... Shenzhen D-Jeesian Bags Co., Ltd.
1, Product Name: 18L 34-Can Insulated Cooler Bag Backpack, Double Decker Lunch Bag Soft-Sided Cooling Bag for Beach,Picnic,Grey PREMIUM MATERIALS: The exterior of the Cooler Bag is constructed out of high-density, water-resistant, dirt-proof 1680D Oxford ... Shenzhen D-Jeesian Bags Co., Ltd.
1, Product Name: Lunch Bag 14L Insulated Cooler Backpack Bag Leakproof Lunch Tote with Adjustable Shoulder Strap Cooler Bag for Picnic ADJUSTABLE & COMFORTABLE COOLER BAG: PuTwo backpack cooler lunch bag features detachable and adjustable shoulder straps ... Shenzhen D-Jeesian Bags Co., Ltd.
1, Product Name: Polyester Multi-function Baby Nappy Backpack Fashion Design Mummy diaper bag with Anti-Water Material for Both Mom & Dad Item Polyester Multi-function Baby Nappy Backpack Fashion Design Mummy diaper bag with Anti-Water Material for Both ... Shenzhen D-Jeesian Bags Co., Ltd.
1, Product Name: Diaper Bag Backpack, Large Multifunction Travel Back Pack Maternity Baby Nappy Changing Bags, Large Capacity Waterproof What you'll get - 1 Diaper Bag with Changing Pad (Backpack Size: 11.8l x 7.8w x 16.5h inches, Volume: 25L, Weight: 1.... Shenzhen D-Jeesian Bags Co., Ltd.
1, Product Name: Military Tactical Backpack Small Assault Pack Army Molle Bug Out Bag Backpacks Camping Hiking Pouch ,Black Attachment points: molle strap system on sides, buckle snap load compression/hangstraps Ideal use: military, tactical Assault gear,... Shenzhen D-Jeesian Bags Co., Ltd.
1, Product Name:Military Tactical Backpack Gym Bag with Shoes Compartment, Lightweight Travel Duffel Bag for Women, Men,Grey Attachment points: molle strap system on sides, buckle snap load compression/hangstraps Ideal use: military, tactical Assault gear... Shenzhen D-Jeesian Bags Co., Ltd.


Established in 1980, Chung Won Institute of Taekwondo is considered by many to be the home of tradition and innovation. We believe martial arts are not just a hobby, but a way of life. The purpose of the martial arts is to enable individuals to achieve their full potential, both mentally and physically. Without the mental aspect, the physical aspect is meaningless. At Master Chung's Taekwondo School, this is the philosophy we maintain.
Grand Master Won Kap Chung began his study of Taekwondo at the age of 10 in Korea. His instructor was Grand Master Sung Ook Choi. When Master Chung began, he was a shy boy of 10. By the time he had left Korea in 1977, he had developed into a National Champion. Shortly after Master Chung settled in Canada, he introduced Taekwondo to New Brunswick and Eastern Quebec.


text:
About Samson Management
Samson Management was founded by Sam and Arnold Goldstein in 1964. Located for almost 50 years in Rego Park, Queens, our main office has grown into a state of the art 18,000 square foot facility. Samson's long history of owning and managing residential, commercial and retail properties has established us as experienced and professional owners. Samson also has a proven track record in the development and construction of new projects as well as the conversion of many buildings to cooperative and condominium ownership.
Samson owns and manages over 5,000 residential apartment units in all five boroughs of New York City, Westchester County, Nassau County and West Palm Beach, Florida. We reinvest in our properties for continued improvements and service enhancements. Our commitment is to quality, continued investment, and providing the highest level of service to those who live in Samson properties.
Over the last 25 years, Samson has converted over 30 residential properties to cooperatives and condominiums in New York City and Westchester County, in such neighborhoods as the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Tribeca, the Financial District, Midtown, Eastchester, Forest Hills and Bayside.
Samson owns and manages over 1.5 million square feet of office and retail properties in New York City, Northern New Jersey, Westchester County, Long Island, Florida and Pennsylvania.
Samson Management Headquarters


text:
Tag: Seb Carrington
Re-review: Summer and Smoke, Duke of York's
The Almeida's Summer and Smoke transfers into the West End at the Duke of York's Theatre to great success. And Patsy Ferran is a star.
"Reaching up to something beyond attainment…"
The Almeida's Summer and Smoke was a huge hit in the spring so it was little surprise to hear a West End transfer was on the cards (especially compared to, say, The Twilight Zone…). And it has transplanted to the Duke of York's in fine shape, Tom Scutt's set losing none of its invitingly curved intimacy as it replicates the bare bricks of the N1 venue.
And Rebecca Frecknall's production has lost none of its charge, mainly through retaining the electric chemistry between its leads – an exceptional Patsy Ferran as Alma and Matthew Needham as John. The complex emotional connection between their characters is the heart of the play and the stark simplicity of the staging reflects that from the outset. Continue reading "Re-review: Summer and Smoke, Duke of York's"
Nominees for The Stage Debut Awards 2018
The Joe Allen Best West End Debut
Mohammad Amiri for The Jungle at the Playhouse Theatre
Ashley Banjo for Dick Whittington at the London Palladium
Bryan Cranston for Network at the National Theatre
Michelle Greenidge for Nine Night at the National Theatre
John McCrea for Everybody's Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre
Kelli O'Hara for The King and I at the London Palladium
Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy for The Jungle at the Playhouse Theatre
Lucie Shorthouse for Everybody's Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre
Aidan Turner for The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Noel Coward Theatre
Adrienne Warren for Tina: The Tina Turner Musical at the Aldwych Theatre Continue reading "Nominees for The Stage Debut Awards 2018"
Posted on March 30, 2018 February 23, 2021
Review: Summer and Smoke, Almeida Theatre
A rarely performed Tennessee Williams emerges as a real gift in the form of Rebecca Frecknall's Summer and Smoke at the Almeida
"I'm more afraid of your soul than you're afraid of my body"
When 'director's theatre' looks and feels like this, it's hard to believe that anyone would take against it. Director Rebecca Frecknall, aided by designer Tom Scutt, throws out the rulebook when it comes to Tennessee Williams, and comes up with something beautiful, something that genuinely feels like Williams for a contemporary age.
It helps that Summer and Smoke is relatively unheralded among his vast canon. And that the Almeida under Rupert Goold is as close as you'll come to a director's theatre. But the key is Frecknall's vision of a world unmoored from the turn-of-the-century Mississippi setting and relocated to somewhere altogether more elemental. Continue reading "Review: Summer and Smoke, Almeida Theatre"
Posted on January 4, 2018 May 28, 2018
Full casting for Almeida's Summer and Smoke
Starting off the new brightly, the full cast of the Almeida's production of Summer and Smoke has been announced.
Joining Patsy Ferran in the revival of Tennessee Williams' play will be:
Seb Carrington (Archie Kramer)
Nancy Crane (Mrs Winemiller/Mrs Bassett)
Eric MacLennan (Papa Gonzales/Vernon)
Forbes Masson (Rev Winemiller/Dr Buchanan)
Matthew Needham (John Buchanan)
Tok Stephen (Roger Doremus/Dusty), and
Anjana Vasan (Rosemary/Rosa Gonzales/Nellie).
Rebecca Frecknall directs, with Tom Scutt on design duties and Lee Curran on the lights . Summer and Smoke opens at the Almeida on 7th March for a month-long run.
Posted on December 17, 2017 June 28, 2021
TV Review: The Crown, Series 2
A quick whip through Series 2 of The Crown
"History is not made by those who did nothing"
Do I still love The Crown? Yes. Do I still find it a little hard to muster enthusiasm about it until I'm watching it. Absolutely. It remains lavish prestige drama that carries little excitement about it and that's perhaps inevitable as it trundles through the decades of the second half of the twentieth century, little dramatic surprise can really be sprung.
Instead, the thrills come from the script of Peter Morgan's fantasia into the emotional life of our monarch, and a production that looks like the multi-millions of dollars that have been spent on it. Oh, and the cream of British acting talent popping in for a scene or two at an astonishingly high rate. Continue reading "TV Review: The Crown, Series 2"