text:
Q: Inductive proof of $\,9 \mathrel| 4^n+6n-1\,$ for all $\,n\in\Bbb N$ Prove that for all $n\in\mathbb N$, $9 \mathrel| (4^n+6n-1)$.
I have shown the base case if $n=0$ (which is a natural number for my course).
I'm now trying to prove that $9k=4^n+6n-1$.
I substituted $n+1$ for $n$, and have $4^{(n+1)}+6(n+1)-1$, which equals $4*4^n+6n+5$.
I'm stuck. Is that not the right way to go? I don't know how to get from the "$+5$" to "$-1$" so I can substitute $9k$ to the right side of the equation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

A: hint
$$4^{n+1}+6(n+1)-1=4\cdot4^n+6n+5=4(4^n+6n-1)-18n+9=$$
$$=4(4^n+6n-1)-9(2n-1)$$
first part is divisible to 9 by assumption and second part have 9 as factor

A: It's really simple this is how I'd approach it:
$4^{n+1}+6(n+1)-1=4(4^n+6n-1)-18n+9=4(4^n+6n-1)-9(2n-1)$
and since you've already proved that $4^n+6n-1=9k$ then you will have: $4(4^n+6n-1)-9(2n-1)=9k*4-9(2n-1)$
$=9(4k-(2n-1))$ and since $k$ and $2n-1$ are both integers then you can let $k'=4k-(2n-1)$ .
Now you'll have that $4^{n+1}+6(n+1)-1=9kk'$ which is a multiple of 9. So you can conclude for all natural numbers $n$ that $4^n+6n-1$ is divisible by $9$.

A: Below we prove a more general result, because it requires little extra work yet yields great rewards, revealing structure that allows us to see the Binomial Theorem as the essence of the matter.
$\!\!\begin{align}\rm{\bf Theorem}\ \ \  \ \forall n\in\Bbb N\!:\ d\mid f(n) = a^n\! + bn + c  &\rm \iff d\mid \color{blue}{(a\!-\!1)^2},\, \color{brown}{a\!+\!b\!-\!1},\, \color{darkorange}{1\!+\!c}\\ &\rm \iff d\mid f(0),\,f(1),\,f(2)\end{align}$
Proof $\ (\Leftarrow)\ $ By induction on $\rm\,n.\,$ The base case $\rm\,n=0\,$ claims that $\rm\, d\mid f(0)= \color{darkorange}{1\!+\!c},\,$ which is true by hypothesis. $ $ Next, assume that $\rm\,\color{#c00}{d\mid f(n)}\,$ as our inductive hypothesis.
Note $\rm\ \ \color{#0a0}{d\mid  f(n\!+\!1)-f(n)}\, =\, a^n(a-1) + b\, =\,  \color{blue}{(a^n\!-\!1)(a\!-\!1)}\, +\, \color{brown}{a\!+\!b\!-\!1}\ $ by hypotheses.
Thus $\rm\ \ \color{#0a0}{d\mid  f(n\!+\!1)-f(n)}\ $ and $\rm\ \color{#c00}{d\mid f(n)}\ $ so $\rm\ d\,$ divides their sum $\rm\,f(n\!+\!1).$
$(\Rightarrow)\,\ \ \rm\, f(0)= \color{darkorange}{1\!+\!c},\,$ $\rm\  f(1)\!-\!f(0) = \color{brown}{a\!+\!b\!-\!1},\ $ $\rm f(2)\!-\!f(1)-(f(1)\!-\!f(0)) = (\color{blue}{a\!-\!1})^2\ \ $ QED

Specializing $\rm\ a,b,c,d = 4,6,-1,9\,$ yields the original problem:
$\rm\qquad\qquad\ 9\mid \color{blue}{(4\!-\!1)^2},\, \color{brown}{4\!+\!6\!-\!1},\,\color{darkorange}{1\!-\!1}\ \ \Rightarrow\ \ 9\mid f(n) = \color{blue}4^n\! + \color{brown}6n  \color{darkorange}{-1},\ \ for\ all\,\ n\in\Bbb N$
The relationship with the Binomial Theorem ($\rm\color{#0a0}{BT}$) becomes obvious if we rewrite the theorem in arithmetical (equational) language, by replacing divisibility relations by equivalent congruences. Rearranging $\rm\ f(n) = a^n\! + b\,n + c\equiv 0\pmod d\, $ we have
$$\begin{eqnarray}\rm mod\ d\!:\ a^n \equiv \color{darkorange}{-c}+n(\color{brown}{-b}) &\equiv&\rm \color{darkorange}1 + n(\color{brown}{a\!-\!1})\quad by\ \ \color{brown}{{-}b\equiv a\!-\!1},\ \ \color{darkorange}{c\equiv -1}\\
 \rm but\ \ \ \ a^n\equiv\, (1+a\!-\!1)^n&\rm\overset{\color{#0a0}{BT}}\equiv&\rm 1 + n(a\!-\!1) + \color{blue}{(a\!-\!1)^2}(\cdots)\ \ and\ \ \color{blue}{(a\!-\!1)^2}\equiv 0 \end{eqnarray}$$
Thus the result my be discovered by binomial expansion, then truncating higher powers of $\rm\,a\!-\!1.\,$ Hence the induction in the above proof is essentially a special case of the type of induction that is used to prove the first two terms of the  Binomial Theorem. Indeed, one could rewrite the above proof to make this relationship more explicit. I leave that as an instructive exercise for the reader.
See also here for the slight generalization $\rm\, f(n) =  e \,a^n+\cdots\,$ vs. $\,a^n+\cdots$

Generally as explained here, we deduce that $\rm\,f_n = f(n)\,$ satisfies a monic order $3$ recurrence $\,\rm (S-1)^2(S-a)\,f_n = 0\ $ so $\rm\ f_{n+3} = c_2\, f_{n+2} + c_1\, f_{n+1} + c_0\, f_n\,$ for $\rm \,c_i\in\Bbb Z,\,$ so a simple induction shows $\rm\,f_0,f_1,f_2\equiv 0\iff f_n\equiv 0\,\ \forall n\in \Bbb N,\,$ so the above proof may be viewed as a special case of the uniqueness theorem for recurrences. Thus $\ \rm d\mid f_0,f_1,f_2,\,\ldots\!\iff d\mid f_0,f_1,f_2,\,$ so $\,\rm \gcd(f_0,f_1,f_2,\ldots) = \gcd(f_0,f_1,f_2)$
Those who know a little ring theory may find it useful to view the universal essence of the matter as nothing but the Binomial Theorem in the ring of dual numbers $\rm\,R[x]/x^2.\,$ This ring proves handy when algebraically studying (higher) derivations, tangent/jet spaces, etc.

A: HINT:
Let  $\displaystyle f(n)=4^n+6n-1$
So, $\displaystyle f(m+1)-f(m)=4^m(4-1)+6=3(4^m-1)+9$
Using Why $a^n - b^n$ is divisible by $a-b$? $4^m-1$ is divisible by $4-1=3$
So, $\displaystyle f(m+1)-f(m)$ is divisible by $9$
$\displaystyle\implies  f(m+1)$ will be  divisible by $9$ if $\displaystyle f(m)$ is
Now, establish the base case i.e., for $n=1$

As to the origin of the problem,
for $n\in\mathbb N$,  $\displaystyle4^n=(1+3)^n=\sum_{0\le r\le n}\binom nr3^r=1+3n+\sum_{2\le r\le n}\binom nr3^r$
Observe that the last part is divisible by $3^2=9$ as Proof that a Combination is an integer
So, $\displaystyle4^n=1+3n+9k$(where $k$ is an integer $\ge0$ )
or in congruence form  $\displaystyle4^n\equiv1+3n\pmod9\  \ \ \ (1)$
This can be  derived using induction as follows
If $\displaystyle4^m=1+3\cdot\underbrace m+9\cdot\underbrace  u$ (where $u$ is an integer),
$\displaystyle\implies4^{m+1}=4\cdot4^m=(1+3)(1+3m+9u)=1+3\underbrace{(m+1)}+9\underbrace{(u+3u+m)} $
Now $\displaystyle6n-1$ actually compensates the constant and the coefficient of $n$ in $(1)$
More generally, we can prove $\displaystyle(1+a)^n\equiv1+na\pmod{a^2}$
In that case, the compensator will be $\displaystyle(a^2-a)n-1\pmod{a^2}$


text:
Il dingo (Canis lupus dingo; al plurale dinghi o invariato) è un mammifero della famiglia dei canidi, introdotto dall'uomo in Australia. Presumibilmente la sua origine è asiatica. I primi resti fossili in Australia datano al 3500 a.C. e si ritiene di conseguenza che il dingo vi si sia stabilito in epoca precedente arrivando via mare insieme all'uomo. La morfologia del dingo non è cambiata nel corso di questi millenni, a riprova della mancanza di un allevamento selettivo da parte dell'uomo.

Il dingo è strettamente imparentato con il cosiddetto cane canoro della Nuova Guinea: il loro lignaggio, originario dell'arcipelago malese, si staccò dalla linea che evolvette poi nel cane domestico. Studi genetici hanno evidenziato che i dinghi dell'Australia settentrionale si staccarono dalla linea evolutiva del dingo del sud-est asiatico e del cane canoro nel 6000 a.C. e che queste due linee si divisero circa 500 anni dopo. L'ipotesi dello studio è che si siano verificate due massicce migrazioni di dinghi al tempo in cui la Piattaforma di Sahul che collega Australia e Guinea era facilmente attraversabile grazie al basso livello del mare.

Oltre che in Australia il dingo è presente anche in Thailandia, nel sud-est della Cina, nel Laos, in Malaysia, in Indonesia, in Vietnam, in Cambogia, nel Sumatra, nel Borneo, nelle Filippine, in Nuova Guinea e nel nord dell'India.

Evoluzione e tassonomia

Il dingo è considerato un cane rinselvatichito perché discende da antenati domestici. Il dingo è specie commensale degli aborigeni australiani. Dingo e uomo vivono insieme in stretta associazione ma non dipendono l'uno dall'altro per la sopravvivenza. Entrambi cacciano e riposano insieme. Il dingo è a suo agio in presenza dell'uomo ma può vivere indipendentemente da lui.

Come gli altri cani rinselvatichiti o abbandonati, taluni dinghi sono stati socializzati e poi adottati da famiglie umane, ma la specie non è mai stata oggetto di un allevamento selettivo da parte dell'uomo ed il suo inquadramento quale animale domestico è poco chiaro.

Ecologia

Habitat
Il dingo si può rinvenire nelle foreste, nelle pianure, nelle aree montuose e in quelle rurali dell'Australia occidentale e orientale, ma anche nelle aree desertiche dell'Australia centrale; a seconda della zona in cui vivono vengono denominati dingo alpini, dingo di Capo York, dingo del deserto, dingo del nord e dingo tropicali. Nelle regioni asiatiche è facile incontrarlo nelle vicinanze dei villaggi dove gli è più facile procurarsi il cibo.

Dieta

Sono animali carnivori e le loro prede sono principalmente uccelli e rettili, ma non disdegnano anche piccoli canguri, pecore e animali come i conigli introdotti dai coloni europei. In genere cacciano la preda da soli, ma nel caso di grandi prede, come per esempio i canguri, possono cacciare in gruppo. Quando fanno ciò, possono abbattere anche grosse prede come i canguri rossi e grigi adulti.

Nei paesi asiatici, invece, dove vivono nelle vicinanze dei villaggi, i dinghi si nutrono soprattutto degli avanzi dell'uomo (v. cani pariah) e spesso cacciano anche lucertole e topi.

Nemici

I nemici naturali del dingo sono l'uomo, il coccodrillo, l'aquila ed altri canidi; spesso i dinghi vengono uccisi da altri dinghi appartenenti ad altri gruppi, durante le dispute territoriali. I piccoli sono spesso preda di grandi uccelli rapaci. Il dingo viene apprezzato dagli australiani perché si ritiene che aiuti a mantenere controllate le popolazioni di piccoli marsupiali e soprattutto quella dei conigli, che rappresentano una vera e propria calamità.

Sono però anche il nemico principale per gli allevatori che spendono migliaia di dollari per costruire recinti di protezione per le pecore; comunque il dingo preferisce prede naturali e caccia pecore e capre solo in condizioni di scarsa disponibilità di cibo, tanto che esse rappresentano solo il 4% della loro dieta. In Australia, il dingo è protetto solo nei parchi e nelle riserve naturali; in genere non è considerato un animale a rischio di estinzione. Nei confronti dell'uomo non viene considerato particolarmente pericoloso anche se sono noti diversi casi di aggressione a bambini. Un caso di rapimento ed uccisione di una bambina di soli due mesi, avvenuto nel 1980 presso l'Uluṟu, diventò un famoso caso di grave errore giudiziario.

Il vero problema è quello dell'ibridazione con il cane domestico ed in questo senso la protezione è attuata solo allo scopo di mantenere la razza più pura possibile. Una popolazione di dinghi molto pura vive nell'Isola di Fraser, al largo della costa orientale dell'Australia, e per questo motivo nell'isola non è consentito l'accesso ai cani. In Asia il dingo è apprezzato anche come carne e viene regolarmente venduto e consumato. Il dingo può vivere fino a 10 anni in natura ed oltre 13 in cattività.

Comportamento
Il dingo si chiama anche cane muto, perché non abbaia, ma ulula.
Esiste dimorfismo sessuale in questa specie, con il maschio adulto che può raggiungere una lunghezza di quasi un metro e un peso di quasi 20 kg; la femmina può invece essere lunga fino a 88 cm e avere un peso di quasi 10 kg. Il dingo asiatico ha dimensioni minori rispetto a quello australiano, a causa anche di una dieta più povera. Il dingo è un animale molto veloce: 40 km/h.

Il colore del pelo è arancione chiaro, con macchie bianche sul petto; non è difficile però rinvenire individui più scuri o addirittura neri. Esiste una certa socialità nei dinghi, anche se molto spesso, soprattutto i maschi giovani, tendono a fare vita solitaria. In genere esistono gruppi stabili di 3-12 individui, nei quali esiste una coppia dominante; il maschio e la femmina dominante tendono a restare insieme e ad accoppiarsi per tutta la vita. Gli altri membri del gruppo hanno il compito di curare i piccoli della coppia dominante. Dunque il sistema riproduttivo in questi canidi è di tipo monogamo e di solito producono una cucciolata all'anno. La stagione riproduttiva dipende dalla latitudine e dalle condizioni stagionali: in Australia avviene tra marzo e aprile, nelle regioni asiatiche tra agosto e settembre. Il periodo di gestazione è di 63 giorni e una cucciolata può arrivare fino a 10 piccoli, in media sono 5 o 6. Esistono cure parentali da parte soprattutto della madre che, dopo averli allattati, continua a nutrire i suoi piccoli con il cibo rigurgitato. La completa indipendenza avviene intorno ai 3-4 mesi di età, anche se restano con la madre per un certo periodo. Raggiungono la maturità sessuale dopo 22 mesi.

Note

Bibliografia
 Corbett L (1995), The Dingo in Australia and Asia, J B Books, ISBN 9781876622305.
 Fleming P [et al.] (2001), Managing the impacts of dingoes and other wild dogs, Bureau of Rural Sciences, Canberra, ISBN 978-0642704948.
 Jackson S (2003), 12–Dingo, in Australian Mammals: Biology and Captive Management, CSIRO Publishing, pp. 381–407, ISBN 978-0643066359.
 Pierotti R [e] Fogg B (2017), The First Domestication: How Wolves and Humans Coevolved, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-22616-4.
 Purcell B (2010), Dingo, CSIRO Publishing, ISBN 9780643096936.
 Rose D (1992), Dingo Makes Us Human: Life and Land in an Australian Aboriginal Culture, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-39269-3.
 Smith B [a cura di] (2015), The Dingo Debate: Origins, Behaviour and Conservation, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, ISBN 9781486300303.

Voci correlate
 Cani aborigeni e primitivi

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

dingo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The Beginning of an Undying Story
Monday, January 3, 2022 1:04 pm
The First Shot by Nkrumah Bankong-Obi
By Nkrumah Bankong-Obi
Fifty-four years after, the story of the beginning of The Nigeria Civil War comes to print in a book form.
It deserved to be told first and foremost. First things, first. That is the logic. No, there are times when logic is humbled and turned against the flow of sequence, while we swim against the tide, oftentimes to horrorful endings. This has been the story of The Nigeria-Biafra War(1967-1970). Perhaps every living soul in this country has heard about the war. The libraries in some institutions overseas are saturated with accounts of the prime events that shape the destiny of this country. But, extremely little is known about the war's cradle and the areas where it's cannonball was ignited, hence the disjoint in the telling process and the enduring poor national healing.
No one is to blame for this, yet we must all be blamed. There is a reason to hold all of us to account. The absence of a sound teaching about this conflict has yielded space to all sorts of misinformation. We fear to talk about the past because it's wraith stares us in the face. We dread to look at our failures. So, as a nation, we yield ground to individuals and groups, some unpatriotic to tell this story as they deem reasonable enough. And in the process, such people don't just preserve memory but steer undying emotions. They say history isn't taught is schools anymore. True? So, where are we groping to? A blood-soaked ditch?
Sometime ago I had the privilege, not by design anyway, to be in the midst of some retired top Generals working for the government in some consultancy roles. Someone introduced me as the author of a forthcoming book on The Nigerian Civil War. Instantly, the brass hats took me up for writing that "GAKEM was not recognised as the first point of the start of the civil war". They reminded me that every military officer receives education about that area as it relates to the war at the Staff College or at the Nigerian Defence Academy. After taking in a lot of verbal pumelling, I asked them what the proportion of NDA students and alumni is, in ratio to that of the general populace. I requested of them, proof that the cadets know where the area is, and what tactically informed the choice of Gakem as the plinth of the war, afterall, Gakem is so far from Enugu, the seat of Biafran government than most towns in Ogoja Province. Our conversation on that score was deadlocked. But I had registered my feeling. The officers promised to look out for my book.
From the perspective of Ogoja Province, the war is under-reported because a conflict of that magnitude was sui generis in Nigeria. We hadn't seen artillery weapons, such bandolier of ammo and military trucks, ferrets and Saladins and thousands of troops being moved about, from North to South. There may have been the Tiv riots, the Western Nigeria election crises in 1964. But none came close to the mustering of military might around Makurdi, preparatory to strike southwards in the middle of the 1960s.
The absence of European and American media on the scene eclipsed and cast a blanket on the reportage of the war from the Ogoja frontier. True, the war was heaviest in the Eastern mainland. But every thing done in the East began in small measures in Ogoja area. Need we also say that? Take for example, the massacres, shall we say small genocides? The bludgeoning and coercion of young men and women to join the military forces and the confiscation of property belonging to individuals and communities. We won't talk about the first civil and martial deaths,not the land that is still undemined, not the people still carrying shrapnel wounds, not the deformities resulting from medically depressed births and the cases of PTSD that became rampant after the war swept through Ogoja.
I have been to the hill where the then Lieutenant Gado Nasco released the first artillery power whose moss codes effectively announced the Nigeria Civil War or the Nigeria-Biafra War. When you visit Ushara Hill, you'd observe that the most vital aspects of Nigerian history are decorated on pates of wastelands. No effort to change and show that we ever learn. The trenches in Gakem and elsewhere are filling up, slowly, the custodians of the story, from the perspective of the civil witnesses are dying out. Soon, we will be left with only hagiographic accounts of military denizens and the follow up by some ersatz patriots to keep serving narrow interests..
Finding the disjoint in The Nigerian Civil War reprehensible therefore, it became a pertinent assignment for me to try and document this story. One thing I learnt from this enterprise is the urgency of history. In 2013, Chief Boniface Iyala,the traditional ruler of Ushara who spoke to me was only a 'young pensioner'. But when I called to check on him two years later, he was gone. Chief Iyala was the eldest person around and custodian of knowledge about the war in Gakemland. He was 20years when the war broke out. There are a couple of others who are taking turns to be in commune with the ancestors. So, I guess my desire to hear from them and share this lemonade wasn't just an exercise in oral history but a fulfilling self-empowerment by a contribution to national rebirth through memory.
The dire lack of attention to memory has stunk us so badly. Nigeria is in the shape it it is because of the absence of deliberate investment in history as a pathway to social reformation. When we forget the past, we just carve craters for imminent downfall. We have seen how the gun-hugging mentality of the war has continued to thrive among us. From the Maistasine riots, the multiple religious crises, the June 12 riots, the Odi and Zaki Biam crises, the OPC conflict, Militancy in the Niger-Delta, the Sharia Riots, the Boko Haram carnage in the Northeast and now, Banditry and Kidnapping all over the country, have exposed our failure to shine the light through history, thus, we have emboldened darkness to come at us with so much rage.
The book, The First Shot Ogoja Province and the Untold Story of The Nigeria/Biafra War begins in Ogoja. But it's actually a Nigerian story. It is sliced into seven chapters, beginning with the precolonial history of Ogoja. By the second to sixth chapter, it's wholly Nigerian. I recall the unquantifiable contribution that Ogoja elite of that the time made towards the unity of this country. Efforts of I. I. Morphy, SE Imoke, Okoi Arikpo, Emmanuel Ndoma-Egba, GG Ally, Lekam Okoi, have not been acknowledged or is simply lost in the historical mist. The last chapter is an advisory to communities that suffered effects of the war and how they can engage in self-help projects in the absence of the government attention. The are an appendix, a postscript and an exclusive interview. Interviews run through the entire book. Sometimes of these sessions were given by voices we will never hear but who hold some of the most vital information. If I may ask for instance, who has heard the voice of the man who was Col. Ojukwu's Adjutant in 5th Battalion, Kano or ADC? Who knows how Army Headquarters in Lagos got connected on secure lines to Makurdi before General Mohammed Shuwa was ordered to begin the 'police action' that degenerated to a shooting war?. I'm not a journalist who plies his trade in glitter and glamour. I prefer the drugery of the streets because it affects alot more of the ordinary folk. Anyone who finds this book should at least read The Postscript. It's the kernel of my message to the Nigerian State.
In The First Shot…, I have not made any attempt at analysing the war. I leave that to historiographers. I fully take on this task in the sequel, War Without End? This will come later. Let's embrace our past, know the story and make amends as it is important to do so.
Let's begin from the beginning, get The First Shot…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: How to retrive assigned smarty template in prestashop? Ok, so I have some smarty variables assigned on the checkout page in my shop. Problem is that when I want to use them -for example
{$address_collection.firstname}

I get an undefined index notice. I am certainly doing something wrong, but what?

A: on your screenshot $address_collection is array of objects, so to access  to array element you need to use key, like $address_collection[124] and this element will contains address object,
where to get first name:
{$address_collection[124]->firstname}

A: If in smarty you want to access the array then you have to mention key of the array then you can use the values.If in your tpl file you want to print the array which you assigned then you have to write like
{var_dump($address_collection)}

Where $address_collection is the variable which from which you assigned values.
Now for access the values in your tpl file you have to mention key like:
{$address_collection['key_name']}

I hope it would help you.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Michael Nutley 27 September 2021
Categories B2B, B2C, Content, Research, Social Media, Strategy & Operations
New Research Reveals Content Marketers' Biggest Battle
A crucial step in the journey to content marketing maturity involves converting senior management enthusiasm into an in-depth understanding of the benefits of a strategic approach, and what is required to establish one.
For many marketers, the biggest problem in adopting new channels and technologies is getting company leadership onside. With content marketing, that battle has been won. The problem is turning management approval and enthusiasm into concrete support.
This is a key finding of a new report from London Research in association with social media and content planning software specialist ContentCal.
The research, based on a survey of more than 1,500 marketers, found that less than a quarter (23%) of companies have "a clear content marketing strategy aligned to business objectives, with full company leadership buy-in". This is despite Hubspot finding in 2020 that 70% of marketers were investing in content marketing, and 40% saying it was a very important part of their strategy.
Without the key pillars of a clear strategy and full leadership backing, content marketers find themselves on a treadmill. They're constantly creating content to meet short-term imperatives and don't have the resource to allow them to stand back and work out what's important, rather than just urgent.
As Jake Smith, Head of Branded Content at Sift, pointed out during the research: "It's very hard to take a step back and be as strategic as you'd want to be. The day job really can get in the way of being able to be strategic, even in a business that truly believes in content."
Follow the Leaders
The Content Marketing Maturity Report 2022 examines the behaviours of those content marketers who do have a strategy and management buy-in – the 'leaders' – to find out what they do differently, and what the rest of the content marketing community can learn from them.
The key findings are that leaders are significantly more likely than mainstream companies to:
create overall KPIs based on the strategy of the business, and to ladder down from these to individual channel metrics;
share content marketing reporting and analytics on a regular basis across the organisation;
allocate budget to all the main areas of content marketing;
have a dedicated content marketing team;
involve employees across the business in their content marketing activities, and have an employee advocacy programme in place; and
use technology effectively to support their content marketing activities.
However, the research also discovered that content marketing leaders don't all behave alike. Company size and business area – particularly whether their company is in B2B or B2C – have a significant impact on content marketers' decisions.
For example, the choice of which channels to use is much more driven by business area than by content marketing maturity. Company blogs, case studies, webinars and white papers are more commonly used in B2B content marketing than in B2C.
Similarly, content for internal communications, posting via employees' personal profiles, and use of buyer personas are very much the realm of B2B content marketers. User-generated content, social customer care, community management and influencer marketing are more popular in B2C marketing.
Different Sizes, Different Challenges
The effect of a company's size is more apparent in the challenges it faces around content marketing. Lack of resources is the biggest problem for all sizes of organisation, but the smaller the company, the more likely it is to have problems with creating engaging content and with strategic planning.
Meanwhile, bigger organisations are likely to struggle with measurement and attribution, too much emphasis on quantity of content, and lack of understanding of customer/stakeholder requirements than smaller companies do. So, while enterprises are more likely to be content marketing leaders, it also appears SMEs have advantages of their own.
Straight from the Top
Meaningful management support has another benefit beyond proper resourcing. Particularly in B2B companies, or those that market complex products, the content team will require expert help in creating high-quality content.
Several interviewees for this research described their difficulty getting this sort of help when it takes experts away from their day jobs, and doesn't help them meet their own targets. It's much easier to establish a culture of collective responsibility for content generation – and create better targeted, better performing content as a result – when the impetus comes from the top.
Download the London Research/ContentCal Content Marketing Maturity Report 2022 to learn more.
How Content Plagiarism Affects SEO and How to Avoid it
Vaibhav Kakkar 25 January 2023
Michael Nutley Writer and editor
Michael is a business journalist and consultant specialising in interactive media and marketing. He joined New Media Age, the UK's leading news publication covering business use of the internet, as editor in 2000, and was its editor-in-chief between 2007 and 2011. He is a media commentator and a regular speaker at interactive business conferences.


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-v2.4.0 - ADDED EASY/MEDIUM/HARD ROBOTS !


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It?
Flight Visualizer, track Un-filtered flights in real time, 100% free!
Title How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It?
Author(s) Charles Matthews, Phoebe Ayers and Ben Yates
Publisher: No Starch Press; 1 edition (September 29, 2008)
Licenses: GFDL and CC-BY-SA
eBook PDF, ePub, Mobi (Kindle), etc.
In this book, you'll learn the skills required to use and contribute to the world's largest reference work-like what constitutes good writing and research and how to work with images and templates.
With insight, anecdotes, and tips from three Wikipedia veterans, you'll learn how to:
Find information and evaluate the quality and reliability of articles
Contribute to existing articles by copyediting, writing new material, and fact-checking
Add new articles that conform to Wikipedia's guidelines and best practices-so that your hard work won't be deleted
Communicate with other Wikipedians through Talk pages, discussion forums, direct messaging, and more
Understand Wikipedia's policies and procedures and how they're created and enforced
Resolve content disputes and deal with vandals and other malicious editors
Phoebe Ayers (user:phoebe) is a science and engineering reference librarian at the University of California, Davis. She has been involved with Wikipedia since 2003 and is an organizer of the Wikimania conferences.
Charles Matthews is a Wikipedian in the U.K.
Ben Yates was a Wikipedian from Michigan; he was the illustrator of the book.
Miscellaneous and Uncategorized Books
Internet and Web Society
How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It? (Charles Matthews, et al)
The Mirrow Site (1)
Book Homepage (Licensing, Contacts, etc.)
How and Why Wikipedia Works: An Interview with Angela Beesley, Elisabeth Bauer, and Kizu Naoko
Wikipedia: How it Works and How it Can Work for You?
Wikipedia: The Missing Manual (John Broughton)


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In Memory – Mike Shook, geothermal reservoir engineer – by Ted Clutter
Saskatchewan geothermal projects kicks of winter drilling and testing program
Consortia sponsors position of Ass. Professor Geothermal Science & Engineering, TU Delft, Netherlands
Group of Stichting DAP consortium at TU Delft, 29 Nov. 2018 (source: TU Delft)
Alexander Richter 17 Dec 2018
A consortium of seven partners, managed by Stichting DAP, has announced that it will sponsor the position of Assistant/ Associate Professor in Geothermal Science & Engineering, a five-year tenure position at the TU Delft in the Netherlands.
During the Geothermal Get-Together on 29 November 2018, it was announced that research on Geothermal Science and Engineering at TU Delft got another boost. A consortium of seven partners signed a certificate for sponsoring an Assistant/Associate Professor. The sponsorship is managed by Stichting DAP and the partners finance a 5-year tenure track position at assistant or associate professor level; after this time the university will take over the funding.
Dr. Phil Vardon thanked the sponsors stressing the importance of their support "This support in combination with the significant funding we have received from NWO to realise a geothermal well, possibly on our own campus, puts us in a strong position for long-term research. This will give a boost to the team and help in carrying out the research programme related to geothermal energy. We looking forward to an exciting and productive period in the coming years."
The event also included the ceremony of the first Award for the best MSc thesis on a geothermal topic. This Award is made possible by the generous donation of funds from university alumni, through Koninklijk Nederlands Geologisch Mijnbouwkundig Genootschap and the University Fund Delft (UfD) and comprises EUR 1,500. This years' award was split in two awarded to:
Sanni Shetty for a thesis entitled 'Numerical strategy for uncertainty quantification in low enthalpy geothermal projects'
Twan Goense for a thesis entitled 'Physical characterization of the Lower Carboniferous limestone as a potential geothermal reservoir'.
Prof. David Bruhn, chairman of the selection committee, presented the award and congratulated all nominees for their excellent work.
Source: TU Delft
engineering Geothermal Netherlands professor science sponsorship Stichting DAP TU Delft
Geothermal exploration training course by GDC for geologists from Uganda and Tanzania
Iceland and UNESCO establish Int'l Center for Capacity Development, incl. geothermal
Leapfrog Geothermal Fundamentals Courses – Stanford Geothermal Workshop & WGC2020
University of Dar es Salaam staff begin geothermal training with GDC, Kenya
Leapfrog Geothermal Advanced Course, in conjunction with WGC 2020, April 24-25, 2020
2020 Geothermal Design Challenge, DOE & INL – registration opening 6 January 2020
Changes and new Director at Iceland Geothermal Training Program going into 2020
Oil & gas firm pledges $390k to clean energy program at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland


Beaches shot at golden hour. Stunning mountain tableaus. Cityscapes captured on high. Stunning travel photography is some of the most liked, commented, and shared imagery on Instagram. But do all these incredible images actually inspire our travel decisions? When brands allow their offerings to be experienced through the lenses of popular Instagram influencers, does it work? Let's examine.
More than 270 million Instagram images have been tagged with the hashtag #travel. And there's plenty more: take hashtags like #travelblogger (18 million+), #travelgram (64 million+), and #traveling (43 million+). According to the digital influencer marketing agency Visual Amplifiers (Vamp), close to one million users search for travel-related hashtags every single week—so these posts aren't going unnoticed.
According to Vamp, filling our feeds with inspiring travel images fills up our bucket lists too. They say 96% of Instagram users involved in its travel community are there because the content encourages them to fantasize about visiting new places. While regular travelers are publishing many of those images, the most viewed photos with the highest engagement tend to come from influencers: users with credibility in a certain industry, a large reach, and a passionate fanbase. Travel companies leverage influencers to help promote their products by inviting influencers to experience their brand and letting them showcase that experience to their fans.
While digital influencers typically use more than one social channel, there's no question of which platform they spend most of their time on. A 2017 study by the influencer marketing technology agency, Zine, showed that social media influencers vastly preferred using Instagram for their brand collaborations to any other channel. In fact, the image-sharing platform was favored by 78% of those polled, compared with blogs (16%) and YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest (a combined 7%). But are all these influencers really making an impact on travel in the real world?
Vamp's study says that today's American travelers are 54% more likely to look to Instagram for trip inspiration than a magazine. Instagram's Places tab helps users pinpoint a specific location to seek out popular restaurants or local hidden gems. For those that haven't yet decided on their next destination, hashtags like #traveltheworld, #wanderlust, and #wheretonext can help. And you can always look to your favorite follows and see where their adventures have taken them.
Still, Luxury Retreats collaborates with some the most popular Instagrammers in travel. That is thanks in large part to statistics like this one: Photos showing faces get 38% more likes than those without, according to insights shared by social media software company, Sprout Social. When Luxury Retreats, with its portfolio of more than 4,000 Instagram-worthy homes, publishes an image of an influencer at one of its villas, engagement increases.
Infinity pools with never ending views. Sun-kissed snowscapes. Bare feet hanging off a cliff's edge. These are the dreamy visuals we wake up to every morning and scroll through each night on our Instagram feeds. And if the new generation of influencers have anything to say about it, we'll be living those travel fantasies ourselves soon enough.


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Melania Stunned The Crowd When She Stepped Out Wearing An Incredible Dress
As the most reliable and balanced news aggregation service in the world, RWN offers the following information published by: Daily Caller
Melania Trump turned heads in a gorgeous black belted dress at the Elysee Palace in Paris Saturday when she met with Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, greets U.S. first lady Melania Trump at the Elysee Palace on the eve of the commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day, 100 years after the end of the First World War, in Paris, France, November 10, 2018. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
US First Lady Melania Trump (L) arrives at the Elysee Palace in Paris on November 10, 2018 for a meeting with French President's wife Brigitte Macron, on the sidelines of commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the 11 November 1918 armistice, ending World War I. (Photo credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)
The first lady showed off her incredible fashion sense once more in the the long sleeve dress that hit just above her knees as she posed for pictures with Macron, who opted for a navy blue top and skirt combo with gold buttons.
US President Donald Trump (2L) stretches his hand out to shake hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (2R) next to US First Lady Melania Trump (L) and French President's wife Brigitte Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris on November 10, 2018 following bilateral talks on the sidelines of commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the 11 November 1918 armistice, ending World War I. (Photo credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (2R) bid farewell to US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump as they leave the Elysee Palace in Paris on November 10, 2018 following bilateral talks on the sidelines of commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the 11 November 1918 armistice, ending World War I. (Photo credit should read LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)
Trump completed the chic look with her hair pulled back into an updo, and wore black gloves and black snakeskin high heels.
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (2R) bid farewell to US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump as they leave the Elysee Palace in Paris on November 10, 2018 following bilateral talks on the sidelines of commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the 11 November 1918 armistice, ending World War I. (Photo credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)
Judging by the photos, the rain didn't put a damper on the visit, as the first ladies greeted each other with a kiss on each cheek.
Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Macron, greets U.S. first lady Melania Trump at the Elysee Palace on the eve of the commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day, 100 years after the end of the First World War, in Paris, France, November 10, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
US First Lady Melania Trump (L) arrives for a meeting with French President's wife Brigitte Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris on November 10, 2018, on the sidelines of commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the 11 November 1918 armistice, ending World War I. (Photo credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)
The first lady and President Donald Trump met with the French leaders on the eve of the commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day, which marks 100 years after the end of the World War I.
Smoke billows from the exhaust of the US president's official state car ,also known as 'The Beast', as French President Emmanuel Macron (2R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (R) bid farewell to US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump at the Elysee Palace in Paris on November 10, 2018 following bilateral talks on the sidelines of commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the 11 November 1918 armistice, ending World War I. (Photo credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump (2L) poses with French President Emmanuel Macron (2R) next to US First Lady Melania Trump (L) and French President's wife Brigitte Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris on November 10, 2018 following bilateral talks on the sidelines of commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the 11 November 1918 armistice, ending World War I. (Photo credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)
BREAKING: Corrupt Broward County Vote Recount Delayed Due To Huge New Problem
Delusional Chuck Schumer Thinks He Knows Real Reason Republicans LOST Votes


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The Hult Prize is an annual, year-long competition that crowd-sources ideas from university level students after challenging them to solve a pressing social issue around topics such as food security, water access, energy, and education. It was founded by a group of Hult International Business School MBAs and is funded by Bertil Hult, the latter of whom, along with his family – founders of EF Education First – donates US$1 million in seed capital to help the winning team launch a social enterprise.

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton selects the challenge topic and announces the winner each September; he mentioned it in a 2012 Time article about "the top 5 ideas that are changing the world for the better". The Hult Prize has been referred to as the "Nobel Prize for students" by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

History
A lecture given by One Laptop Per Child chief operating officer Charles Kane sparked the idea for a business case competition focused on solving global problems via social entrepreneurship. In March 2010, MBA students Ahmad Ashkar, Tamara Sam, Carolin Bachmann, Jose Escobar and Nabil Chaachou launched the Hult Global Case Challenge, later renamed the Hult Prize. Students from over ninety business schools competed at three Hult campuses in Dubai, London and Boston simultaneously.

In 2011, the competition expanded into five regional rounds at Hult campuses around the globe (Shanghai, Dubai, London, Boston and San Francisco) with the winning team from each region continuing to the Global Finals in New York City. President Bill Clinton first announced the Hult Prize Winner (still called the Hult Global Case Challenge at the time) in 2011, and has done so in each subsequent year. In 2012, the competition expanded to include three tracks - energy, housing and education - and the Global Final was held at the New York Public Library. By 2013, the Prize attracted more than 10,000 MBA and undergraduate applicants.

Many major business schools run internal competitions to pre-qualify teams, which they then send into the competition. In 2018, more than 250,000 students from over 100 countries participated in the Hult Prize, competing for a total of $5m in prize money. As of 2017, the Hult Prize is at 1,000 universities around the world.

In 2021, the Hult Prize was suspended due to an investigation into sexual misconduct at a "summer camp-style event" it operates, the investigation was conducted by Kirkland & Ellis resulting in the replacement of the entire Hult Prize senior leadership team, including its Founder and CEO Ahmad Ashkar and staff member, Nelly Andrade.

Organization

Leadership
Members of the current leadership team are; Lori Van Dam (CEO), Carla Osnaya (Director of Human Resources), Hamdi Ben Elmi (Senior Director of Programs), Camila Gonzalez Paciello (Director of Operations & Events)

Global Presence

Hult Prize operates in different continents.

Boston

Global Headquarters for the Hult Prize Foundation

North-America Regional Manager: Michael Boyle.

Mexico City

Regional Headquarters for Latin America & Caribbean.

Mumbai

Regional Headquarters for Central & South Asia.

Central & South Asia Regional Manager: Supriya Jangre

Taipei

Regional Headquarters for Asia Pacific.

Asia Pacific Regional Manager: Belen Marin Vysokolan

Lisbon

Regional Headquarters for Europe.

Europe Regional Manager: Ghada Ferchichi

Nairobi

Regional Headquarters for Sub Saharan Africa.

Africa Regional Manager: Cliff Nyakundi

Tunis

Regional Headquarters for Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

MENA Regional Manager: Yana Dabaghie

Programs
Since its launch in 2010, The Hult Prize has launched several programs. The original competition is now the Hult Prize Flagship Competition, with other programs being the Hult Prize Regionals, Hult Prize on Campus, the Hult Prize Accelerator and the Hult Prize Summit. The flagship event continues to be the Annual Global Summit and Awards Gala hosted at the United Nations with its US$1,000,000 award for social entrepreneurship.

Competitions

2010: Early childhood education

The inaugural Hult Prize was held as The Global Case Challenge and participants sought ways to support and scale the impact of One Laptop Per Child's mission in developing, producing and distributing affordable laptops, particularly for developing countries.

2011: Global water crisis
In 2011, the Hult competition focused on the topic of clean water. Participants were challenged to provide and improve clean water and sanitation ways for the more than 2.5 billion people worldwide, that don't have access to it. The competition was held in partnership with Matt Damon and Water.org. The prize was awarded to a team from Cambridge University, led by Akanksha Hazari, with their proposal turning into the social enterprise m. Paani, working on digital ways to provide safe water, education, healthcare, energy, nutrition and mobility to rural Indian communities.

2012: Housing, education and energy
In 2012, the Hult competition revolved around global energy poverty, seeking to support the many people worldwide, that still live without electricity. The challenge was focused on removing the use of kerosene lamps in Africa by 2018. The winner was a group from New York University Abu Dhabi, consisting of international students. The group was priced for their solution to supply solar lighting. To apply the student's ideas, NGO SolarAid was awarded with a part of the prize money.

2013: The Global Food Crisis
Due to the fact that nearly one billion people worldwide are still suffering from hunger, the Hult Prize 2013 focused on the Global Food Crisis. The 2013 topic was personally chosen by Bill Clinton. The prize went to Aspire Food from McGill University for the idea of processing edible insects to produce a sustainable source of protein. This way providing slum communities with an easier and better access to essential nutrients.

2014: Solving Non-Communicable Disease in the Urban Slum
The 2014 Hult Prize concentrated on Healthcare: Non-Communicable Disease in the Urban Slums. The students were challenged to build sustainable and scalable social enterprises to fight again non-communicable disease in slums. The prize was awarded to a group of five alumni from Indian School of Business (ISB). The winning team, Nano Health, suggested the education and employment of health workers, who would run screening camps, help to diagnose diseases and support citizens in lifestyle changes. The health workers were equipped with "Doc-in-a-Box" – a diagnostic tool for basic health indicators. Nano Health is supported by various industrial partners, including GVK Biosciences, who supported with the project with their tool HEART (Health Emphasized Analytical and Reporting Tool).

2015: Early Childhood Education
In 2015, the prize challenged teams to find solutions for the early childhood education gap (0–6 years old kids). The winning team was IMPCT from the IMBA Program at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. The team developed PlayCare, a micro-equity platform, where everyone can invest in sustainable education businesses under a profit-sharing-model. The education businesses, like care centers in urban slums, supports also with educational efforts and increasing enrollment. The team also named Ann Louie Li their Founding Ambassador, who pioneered  the social media movement 'Creating an #IMPCT'.

2016: Crowded urban spaces
The 2016 Hult Prize challenge for teams participating was to present the idea for a business that would double the income of 1 million people in the developing world by 2022. The prize was awarded to a team from Earlham College whose business idea, Magic Bus Ticketing, focused on improving the public transportation system in Kenya.

Judges at the 2016 competition were: Mohammed Ashour, CEO of Aspire Food Group, the late Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Chairman & CEO of OgilvyOne, Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day, Premal Shah, President and co-founder of Kiva and Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

2017: Refugees – Reawakening Human Potential
In 2017, the Hult competition centered the motion of humanity, and the ensuing massive demographic shifts, which pressure social, political, and physical infrastructures. The Competition was won by Roshni Rides from Rutgers University.

2018: Transform – Harnessing the Power of Energy
In 2018, the prize challenged student teams, from 121 countries to find and evolve energy innovations to enhance million of lives. The Hult Prize assumes, that it is necessary for the world to find more disruption that taps into energy innovations. The competition was won by team SunRice from University College London.

2019: Global Youth Unemployment
In 2019, a team of Mexican entrepreneurs from the Tec de Monterrey won the Hult Prize with a project/start-up named Rutopía. The contest focused on global youth unemployment and attracted more than 250,000 participants from around the world.

2020: Climate Change
In 2020, participants had to come up with a customer-centric business model that had a net positive environmental impact with every transaction made. Due to the pandemic, the accelerator was moved online and the $1M prize was split among 10 teams +1 jolly.

2021: Food for Good
2021 Hult Prize challenged students to rethink our broken food systems by transforming food into a vehicle for change. Each of seven teams were selected as 2021 Hult Prize Winners.

2022: Getting the World Back to Work
2022 Hult Prize challenged the students to rethink how the can get the world back to work. In this year EcoBana from St. Paul's University in Limuru, Kenya won the Hult prize.

Partnerships
In 2010, the competition focused on education in partnership with One Laptop Per Child. The 2011 event partnered with water.org to focus on the provision of clean water.

References

Further reading

Competitions
Social entrepreneurship
Competitions in the United States


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March 22, 2014 andrewcferguson
Invidious Comparisons, Next Levels, and Turning It Down From Eleven
Invidious Comparisons, Next Levels, and Turning It Down From Eleven:
Bombay Bicycle Club, Rae Morris, Flyte at Glasgow 02 Academy, 3rd March versus Kid Canaveral, Randolph's Leap, Death Cats at the Cool Cat Club, Beat Generator Live! Dundee, 8th March.
Two gigs in a single week – am I mad? Have I taken this Festival Dad thing way too far, and forgotten that parental responsibilities extend beyond providing the educational opportunities offered by rock and roll events?
Fear not, gentle reader. The memory of the sleep deprivation brought on by driving back from Glasgow after the 02 gig, with a full day's work the next day, is enough to persuade me this won't be a regular occurrence. It actually felt like I had a hangover, when I hadn't had a drop to drink. And, if you're under the age of 35, trust me – middle-aged hangovers are worse than when you're a youngster. They just are.
At least the second gig had the sense to be on a Saturday night, so a decent lie in was possible the next day. And as I lay there on a lazy(ish) Sunday morning, I got to thinking about the two gigs. Obviously, with one being at the Glasgow 02, featuring one of the indie bands of the moment, Bombay Bicycle Club (BBC), and the other being in a sweaty Dundee joint a fraction of the size with far less well known bands, comparisons would seem invidious.
But are they? What was each experience, as an experience of a rock and roll, er, experience, like? Were there any advantages the smaller gig held over the bigger one?
Well. Part of the answer depends where you're coming from, of course. Daughter and Heiress had been listening to BBC for a couple of years; had most, if not all, of their albums; and placed them only just below another of her Clubs, Two Door Cinema, in her personal musical pantheon. Whereas yours truly had undergone a crash course lasting, oh, a week or so, and, frankly, hadn't totally felt the love yet.
Whereas, in the case of the Dundee gig, both of us had had roughly the same exposure to the two main bands, Randolph's Leap and Kid Canaveral, having been to a previous gig with them at the same venue about a year ago, and listened a few times to one of the former's CDs, bought at the self same event.
But let's start at the beginning in both cases. Being the opening act is, frankly, a thankless task (and yes, I've been there, boy, have I been there): the audience is either taking on ballast at the bar, waiting to meet people, or simply physically not there; the sound guy is still twiddling with things; in culinary terms, you're not even the starter, you're an amuse bouche in a distracted restaurant at the table next to the toilets. Plus side, of course, is that you might well still be playing in front of a far bigger audience than you could muster for yourself, so pucker up and play.
DeathCats!!!, the openers at Dundee, were a three piece from Glasgow who made pretty good use of the opportunity. There was a pleasing punk edge to the rock that came blasting out from the get go; the lead singer/guitarist had some charisma, even if his inter-song announcements were a bit hard to follow; and they did what all opening acts are meant to do: got up, did their thing, then got off fast.
Post gig reports suggest that said lead singer had been, er, experimenting extensively with lager before coming on, which would explain the incoherence between songs. Didn't appear to affect the songs themselves, though, which were pretty decently crafted for their type. There was something missing, though, and it was probably just the extra musical subtlety more instrumentation would add: even another guitar, or better still a bit of keyboard? I know a mean harmonica player for hire.
Opening the batting in Glasgow were a band called Flyte, a guitars/drums/bass/synth combo from, er, somewhere in England, whose single, We Are the Rain, recently got the nod in the Guardian as 'whimsical and melodic.' Online info is scanty (if looking for them in Facebook, type in 'Flyteband,' otherwise you get some American bozos doing a cover of I Kissed a Girl) but their lead singer reminded me of none other than the youngest of the three Galloway boys I used to play football with as a teenager, key difference being he didn't storm off stage in a strop because someone had booted the ball too hard at him when he was in goal.
Anyway, that's probably not important right now. Flyte were young, charming, and possessed of that synthy, chimey sound that is currently quite hot courtesy of Metronomy, as the Guardian pointed out. They even threw in more major chords per song than is usual with an indie band, particularly on said single (for the musically uninitiated: major chords = upbeat, poppy, songs; preponderance of minor chords even in the chorus = indie/gothic/dark etc).
Whatever his goalkeeping abilities might be, the lead singer did well to win over what might have been a surly or even just indifferent Glasgow crowd, given his accent. Telling them he and the guys would be hanging out at the back of the gig after their set did, I'm sure, help boost the band's following. In a venue the size of the 02, it seemed an old-fashioned kind of touch.
What was not to like? Very little – and I could certainly see them in a year or so stealing up on the rails past the likes of Metronomy to scoop all sorts of awards for that kind of synthy, chimey, indie pop thing. And yet there was something just not quite right. They seemed … well, just a bit underpowered really, like a 1.4 model when really you're looking for the 1.8 GTi. The guitars, especially, just didn't seem to be coming at you the way DeathCats!!! did in Dundee. I mean, when DeathCats!!! were playing, you could feel the music through the soles of your shoes – generally a sign that things are turned up, if not to eleven, at least to an appropriate level for the playing of rock and roll.
Whereas Flyte seemed, well, like I say, the family saloon rather than the sports version. Now, it might be they wanted it that way: or that the sound guy was still twiddling with levels – certainly, at one point, the lead singer was asking for the bass to be turned up. A more cynical explanation might be that the main act(s) weren't so keen on the newbies getting to turn it up to eleven. Who knows? Inter-band relationships on tour are, I very much suspect, multi-layered, complex organisms, depending on such delicate issues as relative fame, how close the support act might be in musical style, level of drug-induced paranoia amongst key personnel, etc, etc.
Not that I'm suggesting any of that here. All I am saying is that no such volume level problems appeared to affect the second support act in Glasgow. Rae Morris is beautiful, and also a beautiful singer. Backed by a good band, what was missing here wasn't a lack of decent amplification – being BBC's former backing singer clearly has its advantages – but that the songs were, to be honest, not that memorable. She sounded like an excellent voice in search of a songwriter. Still probably one to watch, though.
Back in Dundee, the relationship between Randolph's Leap, the second band on, and Kid Canaveral, the closing act, was less defined than support and main attraction, although Adam Ross did ask KC's permission to do an encore, of which more later (the response being a cheery F*ck Off! followed by Aye, go on then). This was more by way of a professional courtesy, though, to avoid eating into KC's time.
Leap are basically built around the words and – by extension – personality of Ross, who describes himself in one song as 'at best endearingly shambolic,' but although the set had its shambolic moments (Adam, man, what are you doing changing capo mid song?) I defy anyone not to like Randolph's Leap. I mean, mid-song-capo-change-fluffing moments aside, they are musically a force to be reckoned with, and the lyrics are funny, self-deprecating, but at the same time sharply observed. Of course, I am biased towards bands with decent words behind the noise being a writer and all, but if you haven't done so already, check them out.
Onstage, one got the impression that Leap are – at the very least literally – too big for a venue like this: with two guitars, bass, drums, keyboard, violin, and two-person brass section, they were struggling for room, especially when, at the end of their well-received set, they exited into what appeared to be some kind of broom cupboard while the audience shouted for more. Thanks goodness the crowd were so keen: it looked like the Black Hole of Calcutta in there, and if the response had been lukewarm, we could have had a health and safety incident on our hands.
I wish I could tip Leap for the top, but their brand of brass and electric augmented, lyrically quirky folk is probably too damn quirky to catch the ear of the A & R men. But then, I guess, nobody could have predicted the success of Mumford and Sons. Or, closer to home, the Proclaimers.
I don't have much to say about Kid Canaveral, except that they were excellent again. They're a solid indie rock band, who should be progressing to the next level. In the meantime, as an experience, seeing a band of their quality in a small venue was a fine one, and you even got to buy merch from the lead guitarist before they came on – something you wouldn't get from a headline band at the next level, you can be sure. My only cavil was the levels between lead and rhythm guitar – Kate, you need to get your lead singer sorted there! – but it was consistently strong stuff.
And so to the final act in Glasgow. What is it with Club in indie band names at the moment? Bombay Bicycle Club. Two Door Cinema Club. Tokyo Police Club. Indian Cavalry Club. Okay, so the last of these is an Indian restaurant. Actually, Bombay Bicycle Club, as well as being a band, manage to purvey pakoras and tikka masala on Edinburgh's Brougham Street, but you get the gist.
BBC were clearly the main attraction at the 02, and they didn't disappoint. From the opening bars of Overdone to the final encore, Carry Me, the band were in fine form. Particular favourites were Shuffle and Always Like This.
I promised Daughter and Heiress I wouldn't make the comparison with the Foals gig I reviewed recently, and such a comparison really would be invidious, given that Foals produced The Best Rock Gig Ever. However, BBC were really, really good, and the advantage of the bigger venue – apart from the obvious one of better acoustics and sound system – was the potential for extra elements like the intriguing animations projected onto a backcloth behind the band, as well as the conventional light show.
So. As an experience, which one? Both. The Dundee gig had the advantage of you being up close and personal with the bands, and if Beat Generator! Live isn't exactly a Las Vegas lounge bar, look what playing Vegas did to Elvis. I kind of like the idea you can buy the t shirt off the lead guitarist.
On the other hand, there is something to be said for Bombay Bicycle Club appearing in a mystical swirl of dry ice, and disappearing off the same way, rather than into a broom cupboard; that too is what rock and roll is all about. And either of them is preferable to the next level but one up, the stadium rock show.
Final thoughts? My ideal line up between the two would be Randolph's Leap, Kid Canaveral, and Bombay Bicycle Club, at the 02. But only if the sound guy was under strict instructions to turn it up to eleven for all of them.
3rd march gig
8th march gig
bombay bicycle club 02 glasgow review
DeathCats!!! Beat generator Live review
kid canaveral
randolph's leap
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text:
Plays for Adults
Plays for Children
Plays for Children OLD
Since 2002 I have written plays for children and teenagers. These plays have now been performed by English-speaking and International schools in 42 countries. The plays are in downloadable format and can be viewed and purchased by schools or youth organisations on the following websites:
Playstage Junior – www.schoolplaysandpantos.com
Playstage YA – www.playstageya.com
For Younger Children
The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny
A charming reworking of two of Beatrix Potter's stories which do, in fact, belong together. Mrs Rabbit sends her children off to play with the reminder that they must not go into Mr McGregor's garden because their father was caught by Mr McGregor and made into a rabbit pie! But naughty Peter is bored and wants an adventure so he disobeys his mother. But he is chased by Mr McGregor, loses his coat and shoes and finally gets home feeling cold, wet and sick. The next day he asks his friend Benjamin to go back to the garden to help him retrieve his clothes. Buy Now
A delightful version of the story where a poor shoemaker and his wife have their fortunes transformed by some elves who come in to the workshop late at night and make beautiful shoes, in return for warmth and food. A band of carol singers punctuate the action with traditional carols and wassails. Buy Now
A delightful Russian folk tale which Prokofiev used as a basis for his musical suite of Peter and the Wolf. Peter lives in the forest with his grandfather and he has been expressly forbidden to leave the walled garden and go out into the forest where there are fierce wolves. But naughty Peter sits on the wall and talks to his friend the bird and forgets that he has left the garden gate open. The family duck waddles out and gets eaten by the wolf, who then threatens to eat the family cat and Peter's friend the bird. So Peter hatches a plan to catch the wolf … Buy Now
A reworking of the famous tale (or is it tail?). A fun play involving mice, rabbits, squirrels, a hedgehog, delinquent rats, spiders, cats and a dog. Town Mouse goes to visit his cousin in the country and finds rural life not at all to his taste! Not only does he not sleep very well because of the noise the nocturnal animals make but then he has to get up at the crack of dawn and go nut gathering. And there's nothing to do. So he persuades his country cousin to come and stay with him in the town but Country Mouse finds it far too dangerous. They have to steal their food; they get terrorised by rats and, to cap it all, he gets chewing gum stuck in his tail when they go to the cinema. Both mice decide, in the end, that they prefer their own lives. Buy Now
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
This is a poetic but very effective version of the traditional story using large sections of Robert Browning's original poem with song and dance. The town of Hamelin is overrun with rats and the townspeople complain to the Mayor. Suddenly, a mysterious stranger appears and says that he can get rid of the rats for them but demands a large sum of money to do so. The Mayor and the Council agree and are astonished when the stranger plays upon his pipe and all the hypnotised rats follow him to the river and drown. But then the Mayor tries to cheat the Piper out of his money and the stranger exacts a terrible price. He plays his pipe once more and all the children, except one, are led away in a trance, never to return. Buy Now
The Sultan of Bhagdad had a nasty habit of marrying young women and then chopping their heads off after a few days, when he found them boring! However, his last bride, Sheherazade, famously saved her own life by telling her husband a magical story every night for one thousand and one nights until he promised never to behead another wife. (The best bit is that he dropped dead himself a few years later – serve him right! However, we digress…) In this play, Queen Sheherazade visits the Bhagdad marketplace and tells two of her famous stories to the assembled people. Buy Now
The Princess Frog
The King has three sons and he decides it is time they all got married. So he devises a plan whereby they all shoot arrows from the palace and they must marry the girls who find the arrows. The two eldest sons cheat and the youngest, most honourable son, finds, to his dismay, that a frog lady has found his arrow. The King sets all the girls some tasks, to see if they will make suitable princesses, with some hilarious consequences. It looks as though they could be stuck with a frog princess until all is revealed about the spell she is under. The play is a glorious, witty romp through a lovely traditional tale (there are talking animals, skeletons and a witch) with lots of songs thrown in for good measure! Buy Now
A humorous and lively version of the famous classic by Robert Louis Stevenson. There are lots of pirates, lots of action and even some talking goats! Buy Now
John Groombridge and his brothers are called together for the reading of their late uncle's will. Peter is left the house and estate, Matthew is left the flour mill and John is left the cat! But this cat is a marvel! Not only does he talk but he is very ,very clever and the reason that the late Joshua Groombridge was so rich. And he is full of plans to make his new master rich too. First, Puss sets about supplying meat to a King whose daughter is a militant vegetarian and has banned bacon sandwiches from the Palace! Then he contrives to get his master into the Palace masquerading as a Marquis. To cap it all, he then tricks an Ogre out of his house and estate, so that his master can be truly wealthy and marry the vegetarian Princess. What a cat! There are wild cats, disco dancing farmhands – even an OFSTED inspection! (Office For Safety in Trickery, Evil and Devliment). Buy Now
Noah and the Ark
This is an imaginative and gently humorous version of the Bible story of Noah. It starts with Noah and his family visiting the big city to sell their wool and discovering that everyone in the city is wicked and deceitful. Then people start making strange statements about a coming flood – but they don't realise that they are uttering these prophecies. Back at home Noah ponders on these strange events when one of his sheep appears with a letter! The letter turns out to be from God, instructing Noah to build an Ark and fill it with animals, so that they can all be saved from the coming apocalypse. Well, Noah and his sons set about building the Ark and then he has to go and speak to the animals, which proves a little difficult until God intervenes! Eventually the Ark is filled and the rains come – for forty days and forty nights – until it is all over. The sun comes out once again and the flood waters recede. Life begins once more. Buy Now
The wizard, Prospero, who was once Duke of Milan, has been marooned on a strange island with his daughter ever since his wicked brother seized his throne. During this exile, Prospero has developed his magic powers and, with the help of a spirit named Ariel, whom Prospero rescued, he is able to perform many wonders. Through his magic powers, he learns that his wicked brother, the King of Naples and his son and other noblemen, will be travelling near the island on a sea voyage. Prospero conjures up a mighty storm and Ariel transports the shipwrecked men to various parts of the island. Prospero means to take revenge but he also hopes that his daughter will fall in love with the Prince of Naples. What follows is a magical fantasy with, ultimately, a happy ending. Buy Now
Greek Myths 1
Three delightful short plays in one package. Pandora's Box; The Story of Persephone and King Midas' Wish. First there is the tragic story of Pandora's Box, where a curious woman opens a box left in her husband's care by the gods and unleashes all the evils of the world. Second there is the rather spooky Story of Persephone, where the daughter of the goddess of the Earth is kidnapped by the Lord of the Underworld, Hades. This became the story by which the Ancient Greeks explained the light of summer and the dark of winter. Finally, there is the salutary tale of King Midas, who was granted a wish by the god, Dionysus, that everything he touched would turn to gold. Unfortunately, this meant he could neither eat nor drink – and there were other dire consequences too. Buy Now
A group of clueless tradesmen gather in a woodland copse to rehearse a play that they hope to perform for the Duke on the occasion of his marriage. But first they have to decide who plays what part … not as easy as you would imagine because Bottom, a weaver by trade, wants to play all of them! They are watched by the mischievous sprite, Puck, who serves Lord Oberon, the King of the Fairies. Oberon has recently had a quarrel with his Queen, Titania, and wants to play a trick on her. When Puck tells him about the stupid tradesmen rehearsing in the woods, Oberon has an idea. He decides to cast a spell so that Titania will fall in love with the first creature she sees – and that is going to be a rather bossy weaver called Bottom who, thanks to more of Oberon's trickery, is now sporting an asses' head instead of his own! What transpires is, of course, very silly, and this charming section of the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is just perfect for youth performance. Buy Now
The Golden Goose
Almost like a pantomime, with a magic tree sprite, a hungry troll, a golden goose (who dances but does not lay golden eggs), and a princess who can't smile. Be prepared for some awful jokes but lots of laughs. The King is desperate to get his daughter to laugh – even a smile would do. But, despite the efforts of various people, she remains resolutely glum. So the King promises her hand in marriage to anyone who can make the Princess laugh. Cue a young woodcutter who, as a reward for not cutting down a Tree Sprite's home, is given a Golden Goose, who talks and dances. So, the woodcutter decides to take her to the Palace. His quest is not entirely successful, at first. Although he makes the Princess laugh, the King is not happy at the thought of his daughter marrying a woodcutter so he sets a challenge – that he must eat and drink all the food in the kingdom. The Tree Sprite comes to the rescue by producing a ravenously hungry Troll. The rest is chaos, with an ultimately happy ending. Buy Now
Ring a Ring a Roses
A compilation of Victorian, or earlier, street games and rhymes. An excellent exhibition piece which could be done in costume, with traditional toys as props as part of a Victorian social history programme.The number of performers is totally flexible. Who remembers the old playground games such as "Here we go Looby Loo" and "Oranges and Lemons"? Well, here is the perfect opportunity to teach today's children how to play these harmless but, sometimes, fiendishly clever games. An excellent way to get children moving and into the spirit of the Victorian era. Buy Now
The Jungle Story
NOT the cuddly Disney version of The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling but an adaptation of Kipling's own play "The Jungle Story". The Playstage version is a serious but not savage retelling of the boy Mowgli's life in the jungle with the animals and his return to the world of men. Buy Now
Who Invented Christmas?
The Sedgewick family are spending a typical 2012 family Christmas – Mum is reading her Kindle, Dad is watching television with his headphones on, Mark is playing on his X box with his headphones on, Gemma is listening to her IPod with headphones on and Holly is on her laptop. No-one is speaking to anyone else. Enter Mitchell Templeton – documentary presenter – who is about to make the family experience Christmases past, in an effort to revive that long-forgotten Christmas spirit! The family do a quick gallop through ancient winter festivals, Tudor, Victorian and WWII, meeting Mesopotamian and Persian kings, Greeks, Romans, Viking and Saxon gods, Henry VIII, Queen Victoria and various Victorian entrepreneurs, plus Mrs Mopp from the Ministry of Food. Excellent to reinforce the school history curriculum! Buy Now
A very funny version of this story. The Prince and his parents are searching for a bride but there are problems. One princess turns into a mouse at night and another princess is a shopaholic airhead! So what's to be done? Well, the Palace Fairy has to sort things out, so she embarks on a tour of the country to find a suitable girl, which proves to be rather difficult. Eventually she finds one but the Queen insists that the girl undergoes a "princess" trial by placing a pea under several mattresses. Anyone who is truly a princess will find the pea uncomfortable and be unable to sleep. Buy Now
Readings of childhood reminiscences during WW2 plus several short – and sometimes humorous – sketches about children's experiences during the War, written by Year 6 children. A very good curriculum aid. The readings are taken from books, letters and wartime radio announcements of the period. Number of performers is totally flexible. Buy Now
One of our most dramatic plays, with the potential to be visually stunning (lots of glittery Snow Spirits and, of course, The Queen herself). There is also a magical garden scene with talking flowers and, later, there is a reindeer who guides Gerda on her quest. The music is also wonderful. Gerda and her brother, Kay, live with their grandmother. Kay is very good at doing puzzles. The Snow Queen hears of Kay's talents and she entices him away to her palace in the north where she makes him assemble all the pieces of a magic mirror that was smashed into hundreds of pieces. Gerda goes on a long journey to rescue her brother, encountering a witch, a magic garden, a band of robbers and a brave reindeer along the way. Buy Now
Dick Whittington and his Cat
Poor lad Dick, from the countryside, goes to London to seek fame and fortune. But he is accompanied by his very clever talking cat. Dick is employed by Mr Fitzwarren, a rich merchant, and falls in love with his daughter, Alice. Dick goes to sea to make his fortune which, with the help of his clever cat, he certainly does and all ends happily ever after. Buy Now
We all know the story. The King doesn't invite the Black Fairy to the christening of his daughter, the Princess Aurora, so the Black Fairy gets cross and makes a spell decreeing that the princess will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die when she is sixteen. Then the plot deviates a bit from the original story … Princess Aurora is a bit of a swot who likes crafts, reading and hates parties. The Black Fairy sends her minions in (a pair of Goths called Crabby Patty and Sarky Sam) to pose as normal teenagers and trick her into pricking her finger. The Princess and all her family and friends sleep for a hundred years. Unfortunately, the Prince who is supposed to save her is a fairly typical teenager – never gets out of bed before midday, spends his time playing computer games and downloading music on to his Ipod. So it is left to his dog and a handsome Woodcutter's son to sort things out. Sigh! Things never go to plan, do they? Buy Now
The Story of the Nutcracker
This is the story behind the ballet, put into words. This play can be a visual feast of costumes and scenery – especially when they visit the Land of Sweets! The Palace is overrun with mice and the King has called in Herr Drosselmeyer, a magician, to get rid of the vermin. When he casts a spell on the mice, the Mouse King, in revenge, turns Drosselmeyer's nephew into a Nutcracker Doll. The only way the spell can be broken is if a girl loves the doll. Drosslemeyer takes the doll to Clara, his friend's daughter, knowing that she has a kind heart. Together, Clara and the Nutcracker Doll have several adventures before the, ultimately, happy ending. Buy Now
'Twas The Night Before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…WRONG! Edwin Mouse and his family have been summoned by Mrs Santa's ECPAT (Emergency Christmas Preparations Action Team). The Biggins family are in bed with flu and someone has to prepare Christmas for them. The dog and cat, some of the toys, ECPAT elves, and even the Narrator, have to busy themselves making a secret Christmas for the bedridden family. They decorate, cook and wrap presents and, along the way, they sing a few songs and learn about some Christmas traditions. A very sweet play that will have the audience smiling in no time! Buy Now
Three kings arrive in a Russian village on their way to Bethlehem. Babushka gives them food and shelter and they try and persuade her to go with them to see the Holy Child. Babushka says she is too busy. After the kings leave, Babushka has a dream about the Baby Jesus and realises that she must follow the kings. She sets off on her journey but she loses sight of the star. She is helped by fish in the river and animals in the forest, who show her the way. She meets some happy villagers who are celebrating the birth of some of their own babies. They try and persuade her to stay but she is determined to carry on. However, when she finally reaches Bethlehem, she is too late, and the Holy Family have gone. An angel explains that, from that moment on, Babushka will only find Jesus by loving all the children of the world. Buy Now
Magda The Straw Bearer
It is an old Polish custom that the straw from the church nativity manger is given to the villagers to bring them God's blessings in the next year. Magda is chosen to be straw bearer. It is a simple job but the night does not go as planned. This charming play about counting one's blessings contains two translations of beautiful Polish carols. Magda is given a big bundle of straw to deliver around the village. On the way she meets many people in need or who have problems and she is over generous with the straw, hoping to give them extra blessings. She finds a stray dog, who helps many of the people in need. At the end of the evening, Magda finds that she has run out of straw and there is none for her own family. When their house burns down, accidentally, she feels that it is all her fault for giving all the straw away to others. But, as friends and neighbours rally round with food, clothing and support, the Pastor reminds Magda that she actually has plenty of blessings in the shape of the care that the villagers express towards her family. Buy Now
The Dame chats with the audience; there's a comic cow; the Giant's wife has had enough of her slob of a husband and it all turns out well in the end! We have made this story very easy to stage. There's a beanstalk but no-one climbs it or chops it down! Songs are sung by a group of townspeople but they can be eliminated altogether if you don't have enough children and it won't affect the script at all. A thoroughly enjoyable and traditional panto. Buy Now
What Makes Christmas Merry
A play in rhyme especially designed for children aged 6 to 8. The play opens with some Narrators wondering what it is exactly that makes Christmas such a merry time. Is it the food; the sweets; the toys; the decorations; snow; Santa? All the different components of Christmas come on stage and deliver little four line poems. This is an opportunity for some wonderful home-made costumes. At the end of the presentations, Santa comes on and reminds everyone that what really makes Christmas merry are family and friends and the cast end with a little song. Guaranteed to make infant school mothers cry. Buy Now
Charles Dickens' famous story of the conversion, on Christmas Eve, of Ebenezer Scrooge, from a wicked, selfish man into a man who "knew how to keep Christmas". Ebenezer Scrooge has grown miserly and mean throughout the years. One Christmas Eve, on the anniversary of his business partner, Jacob Marley's, death, he is visited by Marley's ghost and told that he must mend his ways or spend eternity in hell. Scrooge is visited that night by three Spirits who show him visions of his past, present and future, in an effort to get him to change. Buy Now
A Strange Toy
This delightful play shows the true meaning of Christmas through the eyes of Barbie, some action figures, Postman Pat and many other well known toys. Great fun for the children and the audience. An adult puts an old nativity set in the toy cupboard. Only the figures of Mary and Joseph and the Baby Jesus make up the set. When the Nativity set characters explain the story of the nativity to the assembled toys, they decide to act it out. Batman, Superman and Action Man decide to be the Three Wise Men bearing gifts (with the help of some accessories borrowed from Barbie), Eeyore, of course, becomes the donkey that carries Mary to Bethlehem, and the Christmas tree angel narrates the story. The other toys become shepherds, innkeepers and other characters. At the end of the play, the toys realise that Christmas is all about peace and love and they should stop squabbling with each other. Buy Now
The Mayor Who Banned Christmas
Mr. Robinson is fed up with the current Mayor of his town – a lazy man who keeps creating unnecessary public holidays like "Take Your Child to the Seaside Day". Mr Robinson points out to the townspeople that all the holidays are making local businesses unproductive and they will all soon be out of jobs if they don't see reason. So the town votes him in as Mayor and it is all a great success – until he gets carried away and decides to ban the Christmas holiday. Mrs Robinson, however, comes to the rescue with a secret plan which, eventually, makes her husband realize the error of his ways! Buy Now
Papa Panov
In this play, adapted from a story by Leo Tolstoy, the central character is Papa Panov is a lonely but kindly old man who wants some company for Christmas, so he is overwhelmed and excited when he gets a visit from an angel to tell him that Jesus will visit him on Christmas Day. He sets about preparing food – but he keeps getting interrupted by various sad people who need shelter, warmth and a meal, which he, of course, provides. At the end of Christmas Day he falls asleep, feeling sad that Jesus didn't come, but the angel tells him in a dream that Jesus did come and that he was in all the people that Papa Panov helped throughout the day. Buy Now
This is a powerful play about the journey of the Three Wise Men and their encounter with King Herod and the Holy Family. Based upon the poem of the same name by T.S.Eliot it contains some wonderfully descriptive lines. A very traditional telling of the nativity story but it brings in some characters that do not usually have a voice, such as Herod's servants, a soothsayer and customers in the inn. The Magi, or Wise Men, see a new star in the sky and believe that it heralds a new age of a god who will be greater than all the gods they have worshipped in the past. Their journey is hard, expressed by the Eliot poem, until at last they come to a tavern, where they enquire about a baby being born. One of Herod's servants takes them to her master. Herod hears what the Magi have to say and then, after they have left, he calls in his soothsayer and priest. They reveal the prophecy about the Messiah and from that point on, Jesus' life is in danger … Buy Now
The Fourth Wise Man
The people of a small village In China have prayed for rain for many years. The wisest man in the village, Li Chan, says that the stars have told him that a great lord will be born in a far off country, so he sends his three daughters to find his friends Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior, so that they might all travel together to find this baby and ask for precious rain. Each daughter will carry with her a precious lotus flower as a gift for the mother of the baby. But they must keep the flowers alive over some very long and hazardous journeys. Daughter No.1. is to travel to Russia, daughter No.2 is to travel to India and daughter No.3. must travel to Arabia. In the end, only one daughter is able to keep her flower alive, which she gives to Mary and, in return, Mary prays for the rain to fall once more in China. Buy Now
The Miracle of the Poinsettia
This is a heart-warming Mexican tale of how kindness and unselfishness causes little miracle plants to grow outside the house of the poorest family in the village of Poco Fe. The play is set during the Christmas celebrations known as Posadas (nine days leading up to Christmas Eve). The Gonzales family are the poorest in the village of Poco Fe and they have been chosen to host the village party on Christmas Eve. Maria Gonzales prays for a miracle and one appears, an Angel, disguised as a carpenter, who takes up residence outside the Gonzales' house for the duration of the Posadas. Miracles begin to happen. Every time the Gonzales family perform a good deed, a beautiful red plant appears outside their house. Soon other villagers want to buy the plants and this enables the family to host the most wonderful Christmas Eve party Poco Fe has ever seen! Buy Now
Creation Stories of the Ancient World
Three delightful short plays featuring gentle creation stories from the ancient Australian Aborigine, Chinese and Inca cultures. These plays are perfect either performed together, as possibly an open day presentation, or performed separately as curriculum support assemblies or classroom exercises. The plays can be used to support the study of Ancient Cultures and also Earth Sciences. The first play, Dreamtime – is an Australian Aborigine story about the transition to the Waking Time, when the Ancestors – representatives of all living things – awoke and began to populate the Earth. The second play, The Suns of Di Jun, is an ancient Chinese story which attempts to explain why the Earth has different time zones. The third play, Father Sun and his Children, is a story from the Inca civilization which explains how human beings were given knowledge to elevate them above other living things. Buy Now
Imagine some rich uncle had left you a cat in his will – while your brothers have been left a house and estate and a business. You'd think you'd been hard done by, wouldn't you? BUT…this particular cat is amaaazing! He is super smart, talks, sings, dances – you name it. He promises his new master that he will make him into a wealthy man and he sets about making that promise come true. There are feral cats, disco dancing, vegetarian protests (? Our plays are nothing if not bizarre!) and even an OFSTED inspection (Office For Safety in Trickery, Evil and Devilment). Laugh? We promise you will. Buy Now
This is a fun story. This King decides that his three sons should get married, so he orders them to shoot arrows from the palace and marry the girls who find their arrows. (A bit of a hazardous way of choosing a bride, in many respects. Good job they didn't have Health and Safety breathing down their necks in medieval times!) Anyway, the two older sons cheat and tell their girlfriends where their arrows are going to land but the youngest, honourable son (there's always one, isn't there? A sweet lad who is the youngest?) shoots his arrow randomly and it is found by woman who has been turned into a frog by an evil magician. Now there's a dilemma! So, youngest son takes the frog-woman home, she reveals the spell she is under, and he goes off to try and break the spell. Meanwhile, the King sets the would-be princesses some tasks, to prove their worthiness. It's a bit like I'm a Celebrity, only with lots of cheating! Buy Now
Welcome to a 21st Century Christmas! The Sedgewick family are spending Christmas Day in silence – each one on their own piece of technology, not engaging with each other at all. Enter a television documentary company (on Christmas Day?! You have to suspend belief please…) who introduce the family to experiences of Christmas long ago, in an attempt to revive some Christmas spirit. The family race through winter festivals from ancient Mesopotamia (Festival of Zagmuk anybody? We celebrate it all the time in London!) up to WW2 at breakneck speed, pausing only to sort out an argument with Odin, a Yule Goat and Winterman and, later, have a quick dance with Henry VIII. It's bonkers but you certainly learn a lot about the origins of Christmas festivities! Buy Now
The King and Queen decide it's time their son was married, so they start interviewing princesses. That proves to be a problem! One princess had a curse put on her as a baby and she turns into a mouse at night (it was a mistake to offer her cheese sandwiches at the interview…), and Princess Eglantine of Beverley Hills is just obsessed with shopping (well, what else would you do when your palace is sandwiched in between Chanel and Louis Vuitton?). It's impossible. Princesses are in short supply, so the Palace Fairy says they'll have to go slumming and search amongst the commoners. So they embark on a national tour to find the right girl. Cue a right collection of nutcases whose special talents range from nettle-eating to bird-scaring. (Miss World this ain't!) Eventually a suitable candidate is found but then she has to pass the Queen's 'Royal test'. Will she be able to feel the dried pea placed underneath the pile of mattresses on her bed? Buy Now
The Princess is so miserable, her father offers her hand in marriage to any man who can make her laugh. So a clutch of gormless nobleman line up to tell awful jokes but her lips do not so much as quiver. However, there is a young and handsome woodcutter (isn't there always?) who was given a singing and dancing Golden Goose by a Tree Sprite, as a reward for not cutting down the Sprite's home. The Woodcutter decides to take the Golden Goose to perform in front of the Princess. However, only the Woodcutter can touch the Goose. If anyone else attempts it, they get stuck. Cue a farcical journey to the Palace where every busybody in the world gets stuck in a long chain to the Goose. The sight of this silly 'people-chain' makes the Princess eventually laugh. The King is not happy that he has to hand his daughter over to a Woodcutter, so he sets some fiendish tasks to try and put the would-be bridegroom off. One of the tasks is to eat all the food in the kingdom! Luckily, the Tree Sprite is able to produce one very, very hungry Troll to help the Woodcutter out. This is a charming and funny play, with a touch of chaos thrown in! Buy Now
Not your usual take on this old fairy story! It starts off traditionally – Princess is born, fairies are invited to the christening to bestow lovely gifts, Black Fairy is left off the guest list and she really throws her teddy out of the pram. So, cue a vengeful appearance of the magical Goth and her minions, Crabby Patty and Sarky Sam, to put a curse on the baby Princess. It is decreed that she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel when she is sixteen and die. The good fairies transmute the death bit into a hundred year sleep (big deal) and then this particular fairy tale goes off at a tangent. For a start, Princess Aurora grows up to be a bit of a swot, who would rather read a book than go to a party (and that includes her own sweet sixteen bash). Crabby Patty and Sarky Sam have to smuggle a spinning wheel into the Palace and persuade the Princess that she really needs to learn the craft in order to get into a prestigious college. So, she pricks her finger and the whole Palace falls asleep. Sadly, the Prince, who is supposed to save her, would rather play computer games and lay on the sofa than seek some real action. Luckily there is a dog and a handsome local peasant lad on hand to organise a rescue. A play that will make all parents of teenagers laugh and groan in equal measure! Buy Now
A traditional pantomime (almost) and we would like to state at the outset that no Beanstalk is harmed in the staging of this show (not climbed up or chopped down – it's quite clever). Jack's mother (the Dame, of course) has run out of money again and the cow (two people in a costume, of course) has to be sold. Jack (a little on the dim side) takes five magic beans for the cow, his mother throws them out of the window in a temper and hey presto – one beanstalk going up to the kingdom of the Giant – which the neighbours say is flouting the planning laws. Jack climbs up, of course, to find that the Giant's wife has had enough. "Don't marry a giant" my mother said, "You'll regret it! You'll always be cooking, sewing, mending and ironing." She was right. It takes me three days, a ladder and a grappling hook just to change the bedsheets!" This is an extremely silly panto which will have the audience in stitches. Buy Now
The Tempest (Modified Shakespeare)
You will find that these modified versions of the text make the plotline clearer for those students new to the works of William Shakespeare and in no way diminish Shakespeare's intentions. These plays are intended for production. Classroom study of Shakespeare plays will require the full text. This version of the play cuts out difficult scenes to stage, like the 'banquet' scene, which makes no difference to the plot. It works very well as a stand-alone performance piece. Buy Now
Midsummer Night's Dream (Modified Shakespeare)
You will find that these modified versions of the text make the plot line clearer for those students new to the works of William Shakespeare and in no way diminish Shakespeare's intentions. These plays are intended for production. Classroom study of Shakespeare plays will require the full text. This version of A Midsummer Night's Dream concentrates purely on the scenes involving the quarrel between the Fairy King and Queen and the subsequent involvement with the workmen actors. It works very well as a stand-alone performance piece. Buy Now
The evergreen story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser, who is visited by the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley and then three more Spirits on Christmas Eve. He is told to mend his ways and cultivate a love for mankind or he will be doomed to walk the Earth forever more as a restless phantom. Guess how it turns out? This a serious treatment of the story – don't expect too many laughs! But it does have the advantage of only running for one hour, which is considerably shorter than many other adaptations of this Charles Dickens story. Buy Now
Magnificent Magna Carta
King John has been running England like his own personal petty cash pot, levying unreasonable taxes on the people and generally making them disgruntled. A fly-on-the wall documentary programme shows how the people took their revenge and stopped the miserly monarch from bleeding them dry. A bit like Brexit but with some genuine results! Buy Now
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