text:
SUNY College at New Paltz
SUNY New Paltz Masters in Fine Art (MFA) Thesis Collection
The lapse: MFA Thesis - Metals
UrciuoliMFA_Thesis.pdf
Urciuoli, Francesca
Research Subject Categories::HUMANITIES and RELIGION::Aesthetic subjects::Art
Art metal-work Exhibitions
My body of work is concerned with the idea of the psychological defense mechanisms by which our memories, and the objects which evoke those memories, are the foundation of our self-protection. This concept is translated by the dis-functionality suggested by certain features—for example, the holes and rust in the material used— the lapse that interrupts the uniformity. More specifically, each piece talks about the failure of our memories. Everyone has memories related to specific moments of life that they might wish to forget. However, they simultaneously provide shelter, so we must accept and deal with them. One way is to wear them. My goal is to embrace that moment of failure, and the consequent instinct of the mind defending itself against it; to reform this 'compensation' into a quality of beauty in the object. When 'the armor of the object' (whatever that may be) fails, it reveals the vulnerable and fragile human skin beneath. Then, memories become our armor. My project aims to highlight the agency of each object through an emphasis of their materials and the metaphoric adaptation of adornments. In doing so, the vulnerability inherent in the elemental composition of my objects becomes apparent. Silicone and iron filings are proposed as the skin and skeleton of an undefinable body. Made from an unconventional fabric that works and acts as a second skin, the material metaphorically becomes a shapeable witness of time. It stands against and endures the unpredictable circumstances of daily life. Its cracks and holes give life to the material by suggesting the object has lived a life, and endured the hard passage of time—toward decay or repair. How do we consider a hole, a stretch mark, a gap or a cut? They are relics of action, something that has occurred, a document, a trace. The holes are like proof that the garment has endured time, and act as evidence of something that has been overused. These holes are the witnesses of our experiences, standing for a lapse in functionality and our perception of beauty.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Repositionable sheets stick to more surfaces longer than other easel pads. Sticks securely, removes cleanly and resists marker bleed-through.
Sticks securely, removes cleanly and resists marker bleed-through.


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text:
Helms opens up to students about past, present, future
Hannah Gay|December 15, 2011|367 Views
Students buzzed with excitement in the pews of McCain Chapel on Nov. 22, quoting The Office and recounting scenes from The Hangover as they waited. When a smiling Helms finally walked onto the stage, his joviality did not betray his nervousness.
"A lot of my high school anxieties and insecurities and fears are bubbling up now that I'm here," said Helms in a WCAT interview with junior Henry Quillian. "I come back here and all the sudden I'm just that nerd I was in high school again!"
The cheering died down as attendees quieted in anticipation, only to start cheering again when Helms' tested the microphone with "go Wildcats."
Interviewed talk-show style by Theater Arts Director Eric Brannen, Helms spent the majority of the assembly speaking about the development of his acting career. He started with his time acting with the Westminster Players, jokingly saying, "wow, that was torture" when an old VHS tape of one of his performances was played.
Helms played lead roles in both eleventh and twelfth grade. According to Brannen, Helms had an unmatched knack for humor, particularly for roles involving "deranged, neurotic" characters. He radiated energy whenever he performed, and he loved to be in front of an audience. Brannen also said that Helms was a fairly quiet person in high school.
Brannen filled in information about Helms' life with his own memories. He told of one time when the players were working on a play called Cotton Patch Gospel, which required a banjo player. No one knew how to play the banjo, so Helms bought a banjo over Christmas break and learned how to play it in two weeks.
Helms also expounded on his time after graduating. He joked about studying geology for a year at Oberlin College before switching to film. Helms began his acting and comedy career doing stand-up comedy in New York and became a member of "The Upright Citizens Brigade" before coming to the attention of Comedy Central. It was more than ten years before Helms landed his role on The Office. That role then initated a run of success that would culminate, at least for the time being, in the film, The Hangover. Instead of taking a break after filming The Hangover, Helms took the money that he had made and produced a smaller film with an indie-feel: Cedar Rapids.
Alumni who had been in plays with Helms while in high school were invited to a luncheon with him afterward, and the Westminster Players were able to meet with him and take pictures. Brannen describes the current Westminster Players as "the next generation" of Helms' theatrical family.
At the gathering with fellow alums, Helms waited in the chorale room until every last person who wanted an autograph or picture got one, despite Brannen's offers to turn people away.
Students were not the only ones anticipating the return of actor and comedian Ed Helms to Westminster; close to 1,000 parents and alumni had purchased tickets weeks before to hear from Helms later that night. Brannen's conversation with Helms was largely the same, with a few changes to the clips shown of Helms performing on The Daily Show and The Office. Few students anticipated how amiable and "downright normal" Helms would be. Others, who expected Helms to be as hilarious as he is on camera, were disappointed by his lack of comedy during the assembly.
"I think that the people who were underwhelmed expected Andy from The Office or Stu from The Hangover. He wasn't being either of them. He was being Ed Helms," said freshman Sarah Zoellick. "He was up there to talk to us, not to be a comedian."
In the end, even those who wished Helms had been funnier thought he was very amusing. Everybody was too excited about having such a famous person on campus to care. Moving forward in his career, the Westminster graduate has multiple films due to be released soon, including a part in The Lorax, a 3-D animated film based on Dr. Seuss' children's book about environmental stewardship. Helms also has a role in Jeff Who Lives At Home, due to be released in March. And of course, he will also continue starring in The Office, in which he recently assumed Steve Carell's old role as the hapless office boss.
Hannah Gay, Head Editor
Hannah has been with the Bi-Line since freshman year as a writer and a news section editor. She plays Varsity and club soccer with Concorde Fire, and does...


text:
Q: Get the currently logged in user How can I get the currently logged in user in SharePoint, I tried:
      SPUser user = null;

        using (SPSite site = new SPSite(@"siteName"))
        {

            using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
            {

                user = web.CurrentUser;
            }
        }

  //and

  SPContext.Current.Web.CurrentUser

  //and

   public SPUser GetUserWithElevated()
    {
        SPUser user = null;

        SPSecurity.CodeToRunElevated elevatedSubmit = new
        SPSecurity.CodeToRunElevated(delegate
        {

             user = SPContext.Current.Web.CurrentUser;
        });
        SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(elevatedSubmit);

        return user;
    }

  //this is my Httpmodule:

   public void Init(HttpApplication context)
    {
        context.PreRequestHandlerExecute += new
   EventHandler(context_PreRequestHandlerExecute);
    }

    void context_PreRequestHandlerExecute(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Page page = HttpContext.Current.CurrentHandler as Page;
        if (page != null)
        {
            // register handler for PreInit event
            page.PreInit += new EventHandler(page_PreInit);
        }
    }

    void page_PreInit(object sender, EventArgs e)
    { //user interception goes here}

I always get the system account, any solution?

A: So you mentioned a HttpModule in one of your comments.  SPContext.Current.Web.User will work in a SharePoint-deployed HttpModule as long as your module doesn't inspect the SPContext before PreRequestHandlerExecute...i.e. it won't be there in BeginRequest for example.
Assuming you're using integrated authentication the currently logged in user will also be in the HttpContext:
HttpContext context = (sender as HttpApplication).Context;
string userName = context.User.Identity.Name;

I've found that getting it from the HttpApplication (sender argument of event handler) is more universally reliable than HttpContext.Current.User.Identity.Name

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Lazar Upholstery Furniture at LifeStyles.
Transitional styles in modern designs. Lazar collections include sofas, sectionals, chairs, beds, sleepers and more in your choice of upholstery options. Collections feature unique and shapely designs that are sure to become the centerpiece to any room. Made in North Carolina. Authorized Lazar retailer. Visit our Quad Cities Davenport Iowa showroom or shop our online catalog of Lazar furniture collections.
Why consider buying Lazar furniture?
Lazar pays attention to the details when it comes to quality. Made in the USA. All of their frames feature kiln-dried hardwood which provides strength and resistance to wear. High carbon steel springs are used for long-lasting comfort and support with no-sag. Cushions feature luxurious Dacron wrapped high density foam cores that have a proven record of durability. Designs can be used in both high traffic commercial settings or in private homes for years to come.
Where do I see Lazar fabric or leather colors in person?
Shop our showroom here in Iowa where we have large hanging upholstery sample books with an assortment of fabric options. For customers unable to make it into our store of if you live out of state contact us toll-free at 888-717-9940 as fabric cuttings may be available on a limited basis.
How long does it take to receive my Lazar furniture once I order?
This furniture is made to order in the USA. When an order is placed it is made just for you in your own selected upholstery options. Typically this furniture is delivered within 6-8 weeks from the time your order is placed.
What is the warranty on Lazar furniture collections?
Lazar offers a lifetime warranty on frame and spring construction. Three year warranty on foam. One year limited warranty on manufacturing defects. Your Lazar furniture purchase at LifeStyles Furniture includes the full manufacturer warranties as we are an authorized retailer for this manufacturer.
Lazar Industries was founded in 1983 by Barry and Rochelle Lazar. The company was originally based in South Central Los Angeles and filled a furniture niche for local retailers and interior designers. After several high profile commercial clients became interested in the modern designs of Lazar and featured them throughout their businesses, word got out about these innovative modern designs and their business took off. An additional factory was added in North Carolina in the late 1990's to help accomodate the growing residential and commercial markets that we're emerging for their furniture products. Today Lazar continues to create functional contemporary furniture designs with an emphasis on quality.


Of loves there, than gone.
When do we get used to this?
To be their last kiss?
There is a delicious irony in the fact that Justice Antonin Scalia, the most influential member of the Supreme Court who, singlehandedly, maneuvered the selection of George W. Bush to be President of the United States in 2000, and built a rabid cult following by crusading against a women's right to choose and in favor of the right to carry guns, will, in death, become the most important factor in the election of Hillary Clinton as the first female President of the United States, a staunch advocate for strict gun controls.
Scalia's death, 30 years after being appointed to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan, couldn't come at a better time for both President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Overnight, all other issues have been swept aside; the focus is now exactly where Hillary has always wanted it to be—on the Supreme Court and who can be entrusted to appoint the most qualified & reasonable justices. Nothing anyone else may have said or done, on the Right or Left, could catapult this issue into the forefront of the 2016 Presidential campaign the way Scalia's death has done.
What lies ahead, as the New York Times phrased it, is "a titanic confirmation struggle, fueled by ideological interest groups," and it's one which extremists on either fringe will lose. Barack Obama and both Bill & Hillary Clinton, all well-educated lawyers and students of the Supreme Court, know this intuitively. It's why Bill Clinton's nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the U.S. Supreme Court was such a masterstroke. She was a jurist with impeccable credentials, and was approved by a 96-3 Senate vote in 1993, less than one year after Clinton was elected.
Ignore the brainless brayings of Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio that "the American people should have a voice," as a rationale for delaying a confirmation vote of a new nominee until 2017. The last time the full, national voice of the American people was heard was in 2012 when Barack Obama handily won re-election. Votes for U.S. Senators, or Members of Congress, are regional votes, and regardless of how they are spun, or what an endless array of polls may predict, they never represent the voice of "the American people." Only Presidential elections do that.
"Poppy" Bush certainly knew that, when, on the cusp of the 1992 Presidential election, he nominated Clarence Thomas to fill a vacancy created by the declining health and retirement of the first African American Justice Thurgood Marshall. Thomas, one of the most poorly qualified nominees and worst justices in the Court's history, was confirmed by a Judiciary Committee chaired by Joe Biden, and a Senate controlled by Democrats, 52-48.
A legal scholar and constitutional law professor like Obama has too high a regard for the Supreme Court's place in American history to leave the post vacant, and he has an abundance of highly qualified choices. The leading contender is Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the D.C. Circuit, confirmed by the U.S. Senate just three years ago, by a 97-0 vote—including the votes of Senators Mitch McConnell, Charles Grassley AND…Ted Cruz.
The added political benefit of a Srinivasan nomination—both for Obama and for Hillary Clinton—is that he would be the first nominee of Southeast Asian ancestry and the child of Indian immigrants. Rabid Right Wing attacka on "Sri" would drive people of color further away from the GOP. Plus, Judge Srinivasan's history of clerking for Reagan appointed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and his impeccable legal credentials, would guarantee that his opponents would be isolated on the Far Right fringe.
In the Democratic primary campaign for President, Scalia's death doubles-down on the issue of "electability." If Obama cannot get a nominee through the Senate before Election Day, 2016, will Democrats want to take the chance that Bernie Sanders could win a national election? Notwithstanding the fact that Hillary Clinton already has half of the 750 Democratic Super Delegates locked up, it's increasingly unlikely Bernie will be the choice– especially when future Supreme Court rulings on a woman's right to choose—and the increased visibility of the three superb female Justices Ginsberg, Sotomayor, and Kagan—will underscore why the Presidency of Hillary Clinton is a watershed opportunity in American history which simply cannot be ignored.
And, we have Antonin Scalia to thank for it.
Replaying or Rejecting 1968: Will Divided Democrats Let Nixon, Racism and Roger Ailes Win Again in 2016?
The most pertinent historical analogy for the Election of 2016 that is nearly spot on is the election of 1968. Many of us, as Anti-Vietnam War college students & activists, were deeply involved in either Gene McCarthy's or Bobby Kennedy's Presidential campaigns against the Democratic establishment. Just as Hillary Clinton is vilified by many of Bernie Sander's backers, we despised Hubert Humphrey, because he was tied to LBJ's policies of pursuing the War in Vietnam. Many of us die-hards on the Left downplayed HHH's impeccable Civil Rights Record and his courage in the U.S. Senate fighting the Dixiecrats. We were blinded by the righteousness of our cause, and no Vice-President of LBJ's could carry our banner.
In June, 1968, RFK was assassinated after winning the California Primary. Eugene McCarthy's candidacy fizzled and George McGovern (yes, the same one) became the RFK stand in. The Democratic establishment was best personified by the Chicago Police's gestapo tactics against anti-war demonstrators on the streets of Chicago, and Mayor Richard Daley shouting down liberal Senator Abe Ribicoff from the floor of the Democratic National Convention. They crushed what was left of our spirits and overwhelmed us politically. Many of my colleagues on the Left, just left politics to go lick their wounds.
Rather than mourn, I plunged headlong into the US Senate Campaign of Paul O'Dwyer in NY against incumbent GOP Senator Jacob Javits. O'Dwyer was a leader of the anti-war movement, a Democratic Socialist long before Bernie Sanders held office, a great civil rights lawyer, my political mentor before Mario Cuomo, and a superb human being. Many of my fellow Kennedy/McCarthy supporters, still angry from defeat, vowed to sit out the election, even if it meant electing Richard Nixon. Humphrey then, like Hillary now, became an irrational object of hatred, despite a 100% Congressional rating from the Americans for Democratic Action, the leading Progressive group of that time.
O'Dwyer struggled for weeks over whether or not to endorse Humphrey. One week before the election he finally did, in the interest of defeating Nixon, Roger Ailes (who masterminded Nixon's campaign) and their dangerous friends. I followed O'Dwyer's leadership, and spent hours arguing with friends about the necessity to stop being petulant, swallow our wounded pride and support Humphrey because the U.S. Supreme Court was at stake, as well as progress on Civil Rights. The Nixon/Ailes "Southern Strategy" and the powerful racist Third Party candidacy of George Wallace had placed all of the social justice gains of the 1960's at risk. Although too young to vote for President in 1968 (the voting age was then 21), I campaigned vigorously for Hubert H. Humphrey on the strength of his Civil Rights Record, and the future of the Supreme Court. Devastatingly, many fervent anti-War activists who were old enough to vote stayed home, helping Nixon win the presidency by a mere 500,000 votes. Nixon went on the destroy the U.S. Supreme Court by appointing the likes of William Rehnquist as a justice, despite Rehnquist's record as a Republican political operative in Arizona of actively preventing Blacks from voting. Nixon also stepped up bombing in Vietnam (and Cambodia), dismantled civil rights protections, and repeatedly violated the Constitution during Watergate.
The lessons of 1968 should not be lost on us in 2016. The real danger from an increasingly irresponsible breach between Bernie's and Hillary's backers is the fact that if either stay home—or support a Third Party candidacy of someone like, say, Michael Bloomberg–the Supreme Court will be lost for generations, as well as any lingering hope of advancing human rights, or mitigating the already damaging consequences of Climate Change upon our children. The effect of such catastrophic catcalling and bitterness against each could cause irreparable harm to the country, giving us a newer, far more dangerous version of Richard Nixon, and a much more powerful and insidious Roger Ailes, now in control of Fox News, determined to turn back 60 years of progress on civil rights keeping power in the hands of wealthy, white-male, Right Wingers, and leaving the rest of us behind.
Super-Civil Disobedience for Super Bowl City: Will Wealthy SF & San Jose Stop Sweeping the Homeless Under Their Super Highways?
NBC's local news affiliate in San Francisco ran an important story (http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Super-Bowl-City-Displacing-Homeless-in-San-Francisco-366929711.html) about SF's Mayor Ed Lee sweeping the homeless under the "Super Bowl City's" superhighway overpasses to get them out of sight.
As a protege of Saul Alinsky's, I have a modest tactical suggestion for SF's homeless advocates to implement: On Superbowl Sunday morning, February 7, I suggest organizing a massive "Tent-In" of homeless humans from San Jose AND San Francisco across Interstate Highways 101 and 280, effectively blocking the major access roads to the Super Bowl. Occuring on the day of the "Big Game," will guarantee massive, global media coverage and put the inhumane treatment of the homeless by San Francisco and San Jose front and center as the biggest story of the day.
There will be arrests, but you can make the point that even local jails–terrible as they are–offer better housing, food and social services than the wealthy cities of SF and San Jose have given their homeless human beings, many of whom are veterans, have mental/emotional issues, are drug addicted, or are living with HIV/AIDS. Homeless advocates need to seize this Super-sized, rare global media opportunity and rivet the nation's attention on the Game of Life, which many Americans–particularly the homeless–are losing.
Flint, Michigan, and it's lead-poisoning tragedy, only made it into the national consciousness because the national media put it there. The same thing needs to be done with the shameful way the wealthiest country in the world treats it's least fortunate folks. This weekend, at the peak of all of the Super Bowl hype in the Bay Area, homeless advocates have a unique opportunity to redefine the "Big Game" this way: Housing and Life-Saving Human Services for All Human Beings.
If these super-wealthy cities can pay for the frolic and amusement of a mere game, in a culture being amused to death, surely two of the richest cities in America can afford to provide decent shelter and services for human beings who just happen to be without a home. Homelessness is the SuperBowl of all social issues; cities that tackle it head on are the real world champions.


Welcome to Microchip's getting started page. Wherever you may be in your decision making process, we will do our best to help you find your way and provide you the freedom to innovate. We know it can be quite overwhelming, so we're here to make it easier to navigate the key components of our site and jumpstart your design.
We are happy to assist you in getting started.


Was looking forward to heading into Toronto this morning, but I must have got flustered or something on my way out, because I kept on leaving stuff behind: my briefcase, my notebook, my books, etc, and I kept on having to go back inside the house.
Finally, I get into my car, put my keys in the ignition, and I realize that I've left something else behind. Grumbling, I storm out, head to my front door, and feel my right-front pocket instinctively for my house keys.
Then it hits me: my house keys are on the same ring as my car keys.
I've left the car keys in the ignition.
I've just locked my car.
They come along just a few minutes later to find me standing red-faced beside my automobile. They're able to get past the locks in alarmingly quick time. So, while I was heading back inside to get my stuff, I thought I'd share my experience here.
The previous blog entry was brought to you by the Canadian Urban Transit Association. You could have avoided this if you had just taken a bus.


In Gilbert, Arizona, an income tax is imposed on a certain percentage of the income of all individuals and businesses. Usually, income from all sources can be taxed. The federal government has the power to impose an income tax thanks to the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, enacted in 1916 after the Supreme Court had, on more than one occasion, found a federal income tax to be unconstitutional. Of course, before and after the creation of the federal income tax, states, including Arizona were free to impose income taxes of their own.
The federal income tax must be paid by everybody in the U.S. However, you must only pay the state income tax of the state you live in. You should talk with a financial adviser or tax attorney in Gilbert, Arizona if you are not clear about what your state and federal tax liability.
This should not be confused with a tax credit, which is a reduction of a person's tax bill. A tax credit almost always results in a lower tax burden than a tax deduction of the same amount.
Many common expenses in Gilbert can be deducted from your taxable income. They include mortgage interest, charitable donations (if property documented, of course), the cost of tax advice, union dues, and many others.
How Can A Gilbert, Arizona Tax Attorney Help?
Income tax law can get fairly complex in Gilbert, Arizona. If you have any questions about your income tax liability, you should not hesitate to speak with a tax attorney sooner, rather than later.


Price current S$0.355 (2 Apr 2014).
Contracts involve an AHTS and PSV.
Nam Cheong, has secured sale contracts with a total value worth US$43.1 million for one unit of Anchor Handling Towing Supply Vessel (AHTS) and one unit of Platform Supply Vessel (PSV).
The AHTS was sold to an emerging player in the oil and gas sector, a subsidiary of a new customer, Kayfour Development Corporation Sdn Bhd, which will be operating the vessel via its subsidiary, Multi Marine Venture Sdn Bhd. Sale of the PSV was made to a repeat customer in West Africa, E.A. Temile and Sons Development Company of Nigeria Limited, an established engineering and construction company.
Revenue from the contracts will be recognised over the relevant contractual period in accordance with the Group's revenue recognition policy. The contracts are expected to contribute positively to the earnings of the Group for the financial year ending 31 December 2014.
With the contracts, Nam Cheong's order book stands at approximately RM1.4 billion.


"Hero" is a single released by Enrique Iglesias from his second English album Escape and was written for his good friend Simon Baxendale, by Iglesias, Paul Barry and Mark Taylor. Enrique first released the song to radio in early September 2001 to a positive critical and commercial reception. After the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the song was one of the few songs chosen by radio DJs in New York to be remixed with audio from police, firefighters, civilians at Ground Zero and politicians commenting on the attacks. He was asked to sing the song live at the benefit concert America: A Tribute to Heroes ten days after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Iglesias broadcast his performance from a warehouse in New York alongside Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and Sheryl Crow. The location of the warehouse was kept secret in case of further attacks. It was Iglesias' first televised performance of the song. He had performed the song earlier at that year's Miss Venezuela but due to the terrorist attacks the show was not aired on television. Hero has sold 8 million copies worldwide, becoming Enrique's best selling single. It was also covered by Glee in" The Spanish Teacher" episode.


Back from my Polar bear photo tour in Hudson Bay, Canada. It was quite a successful trip even though the weather was 'mild' by sub Arctic standard and the bears were not able to find sea ice to hunt seals even in mid November. Came across sows with cubs, sub adult and full grown males with reasonably healthy looking weight, this time of the year.
In past years, they would have been able to start heading out to the bay and try and replenish their weight by actively hunting seals. I came across the BBC2 film crew filming and broadcasting the Arctic Live series on the tundra.
Now back to my daily routine of photo processing and blog writing until the next wildlife photo tour. You can follow my travels on Facebook and Twitter.
Nikon recently announced the latest version of their 70-200mm f/2.8E FL VD ER lens in October. The 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is one of my favorite focal length and a staple for many photographers in wildlife photography shoots.
My sources informed me Canon is also planning to replace their current EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens. It was announced over seven years ago and in light of the recent Nikon's recent release of their latest generation short to medium zoom lens, they may have to 'speed up' the replacement cycle by a bit to meet the demands of professional photographers.
The new lens will be slightly lighter due to advanced optics and comes with the latest coatings and a new Image Stabilization system, with the addition of IS Mode 3. It will be priced higher than the current model and of course, with any future plans, the delivery timetable can change due to unexpected events.
You can see my equipment bag and works on MichaelDanielHo.com. Keep checking back for the latest information.
Canon EOS-6D Mark II Camera Coming Q2 2017?


text:
by Pastor David Fuerstenau
Gems from the Old Testament, Series
GEMS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT
There was an old Lay's commercial that challenged, "Bet you can't eat just one." The implied message was that their potato chips were so good that eating just one was impossible. You had to have more.
Apart from potato chips, David understood the wisdom that one is not enough. We remember how the young shepherd-king responded to the boastful challenge of Goliath: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26) And then, refusing all conventional weaponry, he "chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook." (verse 40) With these and sling in hand, he advanced on Goliath for a battle to the death.
One wonders why David
chose five stones.
Obviously, for some reason he considered that one was not enough. But why? Could it have been that David was not sure of his aim and therefore armed himself with a clip of stones for his single-shot weapon? Not likely, since David had perfected his aim against lion and bear, and probably figured he'd have one shot only before Goliath was upon him. Was it because his ammunition was weak, not being of the hollow-point variety which could have done maximum damage? No, David was confident in the knock-out energy of his one loaded stone bullet, and in the power of God, for he had told Saul,
"The Lord . . . will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." (verse 37) Why then five stones?
Consider this possibility: David took five stones because he knew Goliath had friends—huge friends. 2 Samuel 21 reports how David's men later killed four giant Philistine warriors. One was possibly a brother of Goliath. The other three might have been relatives. Perhaps this was why David took five stones, in readiness to face the other four giants if they had attacked him after Goliath's ignominious death.
Are we likewise prepared, always carrying five stones in our spiritual ammo pouch? St. Paul, writing centuries later and with the terminology of the weaponry of his day, instructed the Ephesians to suit up with the whole armor of God, including the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the combat boots of the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6: 13-17). David carried a sling and five stones. St. Paul urged each Christian warrior to be spiritually armored up with multiple weapons of defense and offense.
Why? Because one is not enough.
David faced one Philistine that day, but was prepared to face more. David's greater Son, our Lord Jesus Himself, used multiple slashes with the sword of the Spirit to beat back the repeated temptations of Satan and other enemy attacks. Despite being heel-bruised, the Lord gave mortal wounds to Satan, sin, and death with His redeeming death on the cross and justifying resurrection from the grave.
Thus Luther, in his great Reformation hymn (TLH 262) could write of the devil that "one little word can fell him." But he, too, knew that this world's prince is not alone; relatives he has, "devils all the world should fill." Multiple stones are needed. St. Paul explained the necessity, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6: 12)
Are you prepared for the fight against these Goliaths? It starts by having the "Valiant One, whom God Himself elected," fighting for us. "Jesus Christ it is . . . He holds the field forever," delivering us from the hand of all our enemies. Second, be fully armored for all situations. In terms of the weaponry of our day, suit up with at least five smooth stones: combat boots and full body armor, a combat knife and lethal sidearm. And don't forget the assault rifle of the Spirit—the Word of God. In our deadly spiritual fight against our Goliaths, one stone is not enough!
David Fuerstenau is pastor of Holy Truth Lutheran Church in Ketchikan, Alaska.
https://lutheranspokesman.org/files/2017/10/201710dfuerstenau.mp3


In a very crowded field of late-summer contenders, one film stood alone on Friday. The Expendables 2, sequel to 2010's paean to 1980s action, took in $10.5 million on Friday – twice as much as The Bourne Legacy in second place. Playing in 3,316 locations, the sequel is expected to earn about $30 million by Sunday: a bit less than The Expendables saw on this same weekend two years ago. Two other new releases did well enough to make it into Friday's top five: ParaNorman, the stop-motion animated feature from the creators of Coraline, earned an estimated $4.5 million from 3,429 runs while Sparkle, the musical drama co-starring the late Whitney Houston, realized $4.6 million from a more-modest 2,244 locations. Both films are expected to fall in the $13 million range after their first three days. Outside of the top five, The Odd Life of Timothy Green earned an estimated $3.4 million while The Dark Knight Rises crossed the $400 million mark in domestic ticket sales. We'll have complete details tomorrow.


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text:
class VideosController < ApplicationController
  before_action :set_video, except: [:index, :new]
  before_action :authenticate_user!, except: [:show, :index]
  before_action :set_ip, only: [:create, :update]
  before_action :check_author, only: [:edit, :create, :update, :destroy]

  # GET /videos
  def index
    if params[:format] == "json"
      if params[:query]
        @videos = Video.ransack({title_or_content_or_meeting_description_cont: params[:query]}).result(distinct: true)
          .published.offset(params[:offset]).limit(params[:limit])
        @videos_count = Video.ransack({title_or_content_or_meeting_description_cont: params[:query]}).result(distinct: true)
          .published.count
      else
        @videos = Video.published.offset(params[:offset]).limit(params[:limit])
        @videos_count = Video.published.count
      end
    else
      if user_signed_in? and current_user.admin?
        @q = Video.search(params[:q])
        @videos = @q.result(:distinct => true).page(params[:page])
      else
        @q = Video.published.search(params[:q])
        @videos = @q.result(:distinct => true).page(params[:page])
      end
    end
    videos = @videos.clone.to_a
    @main_video = videos.shift
    @sub_videos = videos

    meta_legislators = Legislator.order_by_videos_created.limit(3)
    meta_keywords_list = meta_legislators.map { | l | "#{l.name}影片" }
    legislator_names = meta_legislators.map { | l | l.name }.join('、')
    if @main_video
      set_meta_tags({
        title: "最新立委影片",
        description: "最新影片由立委#{@main_video.legislators.first.name}出場。#{@main_video.title}",
        keywords: ["最新影片"] + meta_keywords_list,
        og: {
          type: 'article',
          description: "本期最新回報紀錄為#{legislator_names}",
          title: "最新立委影片調查報告",
          image: @main_video.image
        }
      })
    else
      set_meta_tags({
        title: "最新立委影片",
        description: "尚無影片。",
        keywords: ["最新影片"] + meta_keywords_list,
        og: {
          type: 'article',
          description: "本期最新回報紀錄為#{legislator_names}",
          title: "最新立委影片調查報告"
        }
      })
    end
    respond_to do |format|
      format.html
      format.json { render :json => {
          status: "success",
          videos: JSON.parse(
            @videos.to_json({include: {
              legislators: {
                include: { party: {except: [:created_at, :updated_at]} },
                except: [:description, :now_party_id, :created_at, :updated_at] },
              ad_session: { except: [:created_at, :updated_at] },
              ad: { except: [:created_at, :updated_at] },
              committee: { except: [:created_at, :updated_at] }
            }, except: [:user_id, :user_ip, :published]})
          ),
          count: @videos_count
        },
        callback: params[:callback]
      }
    end
  end

  # GET /videos/1
  def show
    unless @video.published
      if user_signed_in? and current_user.admin?
      else
        not_found
      end
    end

    set_meta_tags({
      title: [@video.legislators.first.name, @video.title],
      description: @video.title,
      keywords: [@video.legislators.first.name, "#{@video.legislators.first.name}影片調查"],
      og: {
        type: 'video.tv_show',
        description: @video.title,
        title: "#{@video.legislators.first.name} - #{@video.title}",
        image: @video.image
      },
      video: {
        director: Setting.url.fb,
        release_date: @video.created_at.strftime('%FT%T%:z'),
      },
      article: {
        author: Setting.url.fb,
        publisher: Setting.url.fb,
        published_time: @video.created_at.strftime('%FT%T%:z'),
        modified_time: @video.updated_at.strftime('%FT%T%:z')
      },
      twitter: {
        image: @video.image
      }
    })
    respond_to do |format|
      format.html
      format.json { render :json => {
        status: "success",
        video: JSON.parse(@video.to_json({
        include: {
          legislators: {
            include: { party: {except: [:created_at, :updated_at]} },
            except: [:description, :now_party_id, :created_at, :updated_at] },
          ad_session: { except: [:created_at, :updated_at] },
          ad: { except: [:created_at, :updated_at] },
          committee: { except: [:created_at, :updated_at] }
            }, except: [:user_id, :user_ip, :published]}
          ))
        }, callback: params[:callback]
      }
    end
  end

  # GET /videos/new
  def new
    @video = Video.new
    set_meta_tags({
      title: "回報立委影片片段紀錄",
      og: {
        title: "回報立委影片片段紀錄"
      }
    })
  end

  # GET /videos/1/edit
  def edit
    unless @video.published
      if user_signed_in? and current_user.admin?
      else
        not_found
      end
    end
  end

  # POST /videos
  def create
    if @video.save
        redirect_to @video, notice: '影片建立成功'
    else
      render :new
    end
  end

  # PATCH/PUT /videos/1
  def update
    if @video.update(video_params)
      redirect_to @video, notice: '影片更新成功'
    else
      render :edit
    end
  end

  # DELETE /videos/1
  def destroy
    @video.destroy
    redirect_to videos_url, notice: '影片已刪除'
  end

  private
    # Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
    def set_video
      @video = params[:id] ? Video.includes(legislators: :elections).find(params[:id]) : Video.new(video_params)
    end

    # Never trust parameters from the scary internet, only allow the white list through.
    def video_params
      if user_signed_in? and current_user.admin?
        if @video.blank? or @video.new_record?
          params.require(:video).permit(:title, :content, {:legislator_ids => []}, {:keyword_ids => []},
            :user_id, :ivod_url, :committee_id, :meeting_description, :date, :youtube_url, :source_url,
            :source_name, :published, :time_start, :time_end, :target, :video_type)
        else
          params.require(:video).permit(:title, :content, {:legislator_ids => []}, {:keyword_ids => []},
            :ivod_url, :committee_id, :meeting_description, :date, :youtube_url, :source_url,
            :source_name, :published, :time_start, :time_end, :target, :video_type)
        end
      else
        params.require(:video).permit(:title, :content, {:legislator_ids => []}, {:keyword_ids => []},
          :user_id, :ivod_url, :committee_id, :meeting_description, :date, :youtube_url, :source_url,
          :source_name, :time_start, :time_end, :target, :video_type)
      end
    end

    def set_ip
      if not current_user.admin? or @video.new_record?
        if request.env['HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP']
          @video.user_ip = request.env['HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP']
        else
          @video.user_ip = request.env['REMOTE_ADDR']
        end
      end
    end

    def check_author
      unless current_user == @video.user or current_user.admin?
        redirect_to video_path(@video)
      end
    end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Sega Has Some Good News for All the Yakuza Enthusiasts!
Post author By Vinayak Sharma
Yakuza: Like a Dragon was first expected to be released on November 13. But now, Sega confirmed that their upcoming action video game will hit the western markets on November 10.
The world of anime got me super into Japan. There was just something about the land of the rising sun that made you obsessed with it.
In my quest to soak everything the Japanese had to offer, I stumbled upon Yakuza games. Believe me, it is one of the finest mafia games you'll ever play.
It captures the spirit of Japanese mafia life accurately. Also, this is not something that I'm saying. Real Japanese gangsters played Yakuza. Even they were left astonished to see the storyline brimming with realistic elements.
Yakuza: Like A Dragon | Source: Steam
On top of this, Yakuza is an open-world game. While controlling a character, you can explore Japan. For the weeb in you, it would be a blessing!
Even if you are not a weeb and couldn't care less about Japan, Yakuza is a game that you definitely shouldn't turn a blind eye to. The game has something for everyone!
READ: A New Yakuza Game to be unveiled at TGS 2020?
Previously it was said that Yakuza: Like A Dragon will be rolled out on November 13. Now Sega has confirmed that the game will be rolled out three days earlier on November 10 sharing its release with Xbox Series X/S.
Going forward, this isn't the only good news. Despite offering amazing graphics and performance, Yakuza 7 will not be backbreaking for your system to run.
Most modern systems, without a shadow of a doubt, can run the game.
Its system requirements are:
Minimum Specs Recommended Specs
OS Windows 10 Windows 10
Processor Intel Core i5-3470 | AMD FX-8350 Intel Core i7-6700 | AMD Ryzen 5 1400
Memory 8GB RAM 8GB RAM
Graphics Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 | AMD Radeon HD 7870 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 | AMD Radeon RX 580
Storage 40GB 60GB
Sega will release Yakuza: Like A Dragon for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Furthermore, it was added that PS5 will receive the game too but on March 2, 2021.
Thus, all users who will own the digital copy of Yakuza 7 on their PS4 console can install the same on PS5 when it's version is available next year on PlayStation Network.
Get Yakuza: Like a Dragon on:
Get Yakuza: Like a Dragon On Microsoft Store
Get Yakuza: Like a Dragon On Playstation Store
Get Yakuza: Like a Dragon On Steam
About Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is an upcoming Sega developed game. Usually, the Yakuza franchise created games with beat 'em up combat style but now with the arrival of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, things will change. The eighth arrival of the Yakuza series will house role-playing gameplay.
In the series, gamers usually play as Kazuma Kiryu but now instead of him, the plot of Yakuza 7 will revolve around a new protagonist named Ichiban Kasuga. Also, instead of Tokyo inspired Kamurocho, the game will be set in Yokohama district.
The storyline of the Yakuza: Like a Dragon is about revenge where Kasuga is betrayed by his bosses after spending 18 years in prison for their wrongdoings. Thus, play as Kasuga in this open-world game to ensure that in the end, it is justice that prevails!
Categories Categories: News,	Yakuza: Like A Dragon
Tags SEGA, Yakuza, Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon
Vinayak Sharma
Deciding not to contemplate upon the crumbling state of mankind, I prefer to bask in the glorious misadventures of Michael J. Scott, while cheering my beloved football club Man UTD.
Also, did I mention my love for Pink Floyd?
More from Vinayak→
A New Yakuza Game to be unveiled at TGS 2020?
You May Have Missed out on These Five Great Games on Steam This Month!
Watch Dogs Legion's Wide-Ranging System Requirements!
Assassin's Creed Valhalla – Release Date, System Requirements
Wasteland 3's Latest Patch Addresses Numerous Game Issues
DOOM Eternal's DLC will be a Standalone Title!
Microsoft's Flight Simulator Upcoming Update Revealed by Asobo Studios
Xbox Game Pass for PC to See a Twofold Increase in Price
God of War – What are the consequences of killing a god?
God of War: Odin's Motive Behind Mimir's Imprisonment ǀ Lore Explained


text:
Diamondbacks Game Days
Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Houston Astros 9: Houston, have we a problem?
Pack it in, folks. The season is over. According to Twitter, anyway.
By Jim McLennan@AZSnakepit Aug 17, 2017, 12:59am EDT
Share All sharing options for: Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Houston Astros 9: Houston, have we a problem?
Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 66-54. Pace: 89-73. Change on 2016: +16.
Apparently, a lot of people have forgotten that this a very, very good Astros team. As in, the best record in the American League. And it's not even close, since they entered play five games better than any other AL side. Even splitting the four games between here and Houston - and we actually still can do that, if we win tomorrow - would actually be pretty damn impressive. There are reasons they are currently on pace to become the first AL side since the 2009 Yankees, to win 100 games. Yet I literally saw someone on Twitter proclaim the death of the Diamondbacks season during the game tonight. Really?
Indeed, at one point in the eighth inning, this looked like it was going to be one of the more impressive comebacks. For back-to-back home-runs by designated hitter Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez, had suddenly pulled the D-backs to within one run, and the Astros were suddenly scrambling to see if there were any better relievers around there. However, turns out they needn't have bothered. For Torey Lovullo's somewhat-odd attempt to squeeze a third frame out of T.J. McFarland failed miserably, as he failed to retire any of the three batters faced; David Hernandez and Andrew Chafin allowed them all to score, plus one of their own.
It does appear McFarland has become our designated long reliever. Going back to the game where he came in after the untimely departure of Robbie Ray, he has made seven appearances. All but one have involved at least five outs. However, the results have been... not brilliant. Including tonight's outing, his line over that time is:
McFarland: 14 IP, 21 H, 15 R, 13 ER, 5 BB, 5 SO, ERA = 8.36
This is mop-up relief. There's a place for that, as when he pitched 2.1 innings while the Cubs feasted at Wrigley. But after the offense has given you a gift and got you back to within one run? I'd rather have seen someone higher up the bullpen totem. Plenty of misfortune to go around tonight though.
Taijuan Walker will wear the L, allowing nine hits and two walks over five innings, with three strikeouts. It's the second outing in a row with an underwhelming K:BB, though Houston's bats did seem to find holes, and Arizona's pitchers weren't helped by the defense. The Astros' scored two unearned with two outs in the fourth, after Brandon Drury's error allowed the lead-off man to reach base, and Chris Iannetta also allowed a pair of wild pitches. That gives us 59 on the season: three behind the Padres for the NL lead, and only ten down on the tally for all of last year. Iannetta and Jeff Mathis may be framing gods, but blocking is not apparently in their skill-set.
Walker: "I really don't think it was a struggle to find anything....just one of those games where anything they hit, they found the hole." pic.twitter.com/u8ZlsNOiSQ
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) August 17, 2017
The D-backs were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, continuing a streak whose length now appears to be closing in on a Westeros winter. That hit came in the second inning, when Brandon Drury doubled home Iannetta, after the latter had worked one of the three walks he drew tonight. Iannetta may be only batting .228, but between the walks and the dongs - that was #11 here - his OPS is north of .800, which is likely among the top 10 for catchers. But there were also 13 more strikeouts for Arizona, to add onto the 17 last night. It was the 20th time this year we've K'd more than a dozen times - though our record in those is probably better than you'd think, at 8-12.
There was a brief surge of optimism in the top of the eighth inning. Jake Lamb singled with one out, and that was followed by Goldschmidt's 29th home-run of the year, a no-doubter somewhere around the train tracks in left-field. Martinez went the other way to get his 8th homer in 24 games for us. But Descalso flied out, and the brief glimmer of hope was ruthlessly stomped out, by the McFarland, Hernandez and Chafin trilogy of suck. Martinez had two hits, but with the Rockies' win, the D-backs drop back into the second wild-card spot. The Brewers won; the Cardinals got walked off in Boston. I forget, which of those two are we supposed to be worried about today?
Click here for details, at Fangraphs.com
A League of Their OWn: Chris Iannetta, +12.7%
Swept Away: Taijuan Walker, -30.4%
Present in the Gameday Thread were: AzDbackfanInDc, BigSmarty, Cumulus Choir, DORRITO, DeadManG, Diamondhacks, Gilbertsportsfan, GuruB, Imstillhungry95, Jackwriter, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, Makakilo, MrMrrbi, Oldenschoole, Oscar Goldman, PaulGoldsmith, SenSurround, Xerostomia, coldblueAZ, hotclaws, kilnborn, onedotfive and smartplays. Nothing got more than one rec, so it's appropriate that there is no comment of the game for this one. 3/10, would not watch again.
Tomorrow, we see the Astros for the last time until the World Series - hey, we can all dream, can't we? It's another weird day game time, starting at 11:10 am Arizona time. Set those alarms, people. Patrick Corbin will start, as the D-backs try to get that previously-mentioned impressive split.
Game #120: August 16, Diamondbacks 5, Astros 9
Diamondbacks 5, Astros 9: Houston, have we a problem?
Diamondbacks 5, Astros 9


text:
Tag: phoenix
"Out of the Ash" by William Everson (poem)
December 15, 2022 Victoria Emily Jones1 Comment
Phoenix, from the Aberdeen Bestiary (Aberdeen University Library MS 24, fol. 56r), England, ca. 1200
Solstice of the dark, the absolute
Zero of the year. Praise God
Who comes for us again, our lives
Pulled to their fisted knot,
Cinched tight with cold, drawn
To the heart's constriction; our faces
Seamed like clinkers in the grate,
Hands like tongs—Praise God
That Christ, phoenix immortal,
Springs up again from solstice ash,
Drives his equatorial ray
Into our cloud, emblazons
Our stiff brow, fries
Our chill tears. Come Christ,
Most gentle and throat-pulsing Bird!
O come, sweet Child! Be gladness
In our church! Waken with anthems
Our bare rafters! O phoenix
Forever! Virgin-wombed
And burning in the dark,
Be born! Be born!
From The Veritable Years: Poems 1949–1966 by William Everson (Brother Antoninus). Copyright © 1998 by Jude Everson and the William Everson Literary Estate. Used with the permission of Black Sparrow Books, an imprint of David R. Godine, Publisher, Inc., godine.com.
William Everson (1912–1994) was an American poet who gained fame in the San Francisco literary renaissance of the 1950s, being classified as part of the Beat movement. Deeply influenced by the poetry of Robinson Jeffers, he wrote about the California landscape, nonviolence, the biblical narrative, and erotic love. He was married twice before converting to Catholicism in 1948, and in 1951 he entered the Dominican Order as Brother Antoninus. However, to pursue a romantic relationship with the woman who would become his third wife, he renounced his monastic vows in 1969, returning to secular life but maintaining his Christian faith and his poetic vocation. He also wrote literary criticism, taught at university, and founded a small press. His collected poems are published in three volumes.
"Christ's Bloody Sweat" by Robert Southwell
April 3, 2022 Victoria Emily JonesLeave a comment
Edgar G. Boevé (American, 1929–2019), Phoenix, Death, ca. 1980. Oil and acrylic on tea chest paper. Photo: Victoria Emily Jones, at the Center Art Gallery, Calvin University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2015.
Fat soil, full spring, sweet olive, grape of bliss,
That yields, that streams, that pours, that doth distill;
Untilled, undrawn, unstamped, untouched of press,
Dear fruit, clear brooks, fair oil, sweet wine at will!
Thus Christ prevents, unforced, in shedding blood,
The whips, the thorns, the nails, the spear, and rood.
He pelican's, he phoenix', fate doth prove,
Whom flames consume, whom streams enforce to die:
How burneth blood, how bleedeth burning love?
Can one in flame and stream both bathe and fry?
How could he join a phoenix' fiery pains,
In fainting pelican's still bleeding veins?
Elias once, to prove God's sovereign power,
By prayer procured a fire of wondrous force
That blood and wood and water did devour,
Yea stones and dust beyond all nature's course:
Such fire is love, that, fed with gory blood,
Doth burn no less than in the driest wood.
O sacred fire! come, show thy force on me,
That sacrifice to Christ I may return:
If withered wood for fuel fittest be,
If stones and dust, if flesh and blood will burn,
I withered am, and stony to all good,
A sack of dust, a mass of flesh and blood.
Note: I modernized the spellings of this poem for readability, but there is a beauty to the early modern English; see the original here.
Robert Southwell (ca. 1561–1595) was an English Catholic priest and poet living during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Educated at Jesuit colleges in France and Italy, he returned to his native England as a missionary in 1586. But he suffered persecution under the country's Protestant regime, and had to conduct his ministry in concealment. In his early thirties he was caught celebrating the Mass and was subsequently imprisoned, tortured, and hanged for treason. None of his English poems was published in his lifetime, but many of them circulated as manuscripts. He probably wrote this one sometime during his three years in the Tower of London, awaiting execution.
"Christ's Bloody Sweat" opens with a reflection on Christ's agony in the garden of Gethsemane the night before the Crucifixion, when "in his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground" (Luke 22:44). This bloody sweat may be a figure of speech Luke uses to convey the intensity of the moment, or it may be an actual condition called hematidrosis, in which capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to exude blood—something that can occur in rare cases when a person is under extreme physical or emotional stress.
In the first stanza of the poem, "Southwell introduces various fluids that represent the creative effusions of Christ's love, with an extravagant reiteration of images that emphasises the extravagance of that love," writes the Rev. Patrick Comerford in his commentary on the poem.
Southwell describes Christ as rich, fertile soil that yields sweet fruit; a spring of living water; an olive from which consecrated oil is distilled (for the anointing of the newly baptized and newly ordained); and a grape that yields fine wine. It may help you to read each phrase vertically down the first four lines: "Fat soil that yields, untilled, dear fruit"; "full spring that streams, undrawn, clear brooks"; "sweet olive that pours, unstamped, fair oil"; "grape of bliss that doth distill, untouched of press, sweet wine at will!"
"Prevent" in this context means to go before. In other words, even before Jesus is captured by the Roman soldiers, tortured, and led to Calvary to be crucified, he sheds his blood in Gethsemane. Without any physical forces acting upon him. "Rood" is an archaic word for the cross.
Stanza 2 references two birds of lore that were popular symbols of Christ: the pelican and the phoenix.
The pelican was said (by Epiphanius, Augustine, and other church fathers) to revive or feed her young with her own blood; she would peck at her breast until she died so that her little ones might have life. The phoenix is a fantastical bird from classical mythology that burns itself to ashes on a funeral pyre ignited by the sun but then rises up out of those ashes, renewed.
Southwell ponders how Christ can be both pelican and phoenix. Did he bleed to death (losing streams of blood), or did he die by burning? The image in line 10 is quite gruesome: Christ simultaneously is "bathe[d]" in blood and fries in flames. The fire is, of course, metaphoric. But it becomes here, along with the blood, an emblem of divine love. A love that bleeds and burns, and that is all-consuming.
The fire and blood imagery continues in stanza 3, where Southwell refers to the famous contest on Mount Carmel between Elijah (a prophet of Yahweh) and the prophets of Baal (see 1 Kings 18).
To prove the supremacy of the God of Israel over Baal, Elijah issues a challenge. He and Baal's prophets would each prepare a bull for sacrifice and lay it on a stone altar but light no fire. They would then pray each to their own god and see which god answers by sending fire from heaven to consume their sacrifice. The prophets of Baal accept the challenge, but no fire comes to light their altar, despite their most fervent entreaties. Elijah, to increase the stakes, even soaks his bull and the wood it lies on in water, three times over—and still fire comes from above, devouring, as Southwell writes, "blood and wood and water . . . [and] stones and dust beyond all nature's course."
God's love is like that fire, Southwell says. The implication, I think, is that on the cross, the love of the Son (who gives himself as a sacrifice) and the love of the Father (who accepts the sacrifice) meet. (I know there are varying interpretations of the nature of the atonement and the role of the Father in the Crucifixion, but I'm simply trying to interpret Southwell here.)
In the poem's final stanza, Southwell considers how he ought to respond to divine love as expressed in Christ's passion.
He calls on God to accept, in return, his sacrifice—of praise and thanksgiving and obedience (Heb. 13:15–16; Ps. 50:23) and of his very self (Rom. 12:1–2). He probably had his martyrdom in mind. He acknowledges that he is but a withered, soggy, stony-hearted "sack of dust" but prays that God would make him fit to receive and broadcast the fire of love from on high.
Lent, Day 7
February 23, 2021 February 23, 2021 Victoria Emily Jones8 Comments
Today's two featured artists draw on the mythology of the phoenix, a fantastical bird that dies in flames but then is born again out of its own ashes. (An alternate legend, not as popular, says the phoenix dies and decomposes but then rises out of its rot.) In Christianity the phoenix became a symbol of resurrection—Jesus's, and our own. The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians from the late first century CE is the first Christian writing to make this connection. And the phoenix points to not only the reconstitution of our bodies after death but also the spiritual regeneration we undergo in this life. Out of the ashes of our sin, the death of the old self, the new self rises with Christ.
Apart from (but not opposed to) this theological framework, the phoenix can be seen as a symbol of resilience through trials, of withstanding the forces of destruction, and it seems that's the sense that life coach and creative Yolonda Coles Jones [previously] is after in her song. The chorus is a mantra that anyone, regardless of faith tradition, can make their own: "Rise from the ashes."
LOOK: Nathan Florence (American, 1972–), Winging Phoenix, 2010. Oil on printed cotton, 20 × 20 in.
LISTEN: "Phoenix Bird" by Yolonda Coles Jones, 2019
Amazed at what I'm able to do
Lookin' back on all I've been through
Survived unimaginable things, yeah
Phoenix bird claps her wings
Rise from the ashes (×4)
Spread your wings and fly
Phoenix bird, rise
Note to reader: I'm not able to sustain daily posts for the duration of Lent (I'm a one-woman show here!), so there won't be a "Lent, Day 8," etc., but I will continue to provide regular content throughout the season. In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying the Lent Playlist I put together.
New resource: The Visual Commentary on Scripture
February 18, 2019 April 21, 2022 Victoria Emily Jones9 Comments
I'm super-excited to share with you all a major new project I've contributed to, which is the Visual Commentary on Scripture (VCS), a free online publication that provides theological commentary on the Bible through the skillful selection of works of art. Launched November 6, 2018, at a reception at the Tate Modern, the VCS is directed by Professor Ben Quash of King's College London and is funded in large part by Roberta and Howard Ahmanson.
As Quash explains in the introductory video, the VCS aims to demonstrate how visual art itself can serve as biblical commentary, and when placed in conversation with other "visual commentaries" on the same text, the meaning of said text potentially becomes all the more clear. This practice of compiling diverse theological perspectives on a biblical text for their dialogical potential has ancient roots. The Jewish Talmud, for example, gathers together the viewpoints of different rabbis, not because they all necessarily agree but often because they constructively disagree—and there's value in that conversation. The equivalent in the Christian tradition is the Catenae.
Translating this tradition into a modern, visual format, the VCS comprises virtual "mini-exhibitions" of three works of art per biblical passage, along with a short textual commentary on each artwork and one comparative commentary. (Currently about one hundred passages have gone live, and the goal is to cover the entire Bible.) The commentaries are written for nonspecialists but are grounded in detailed theological and art-historical research. Care is taken to secure the highest-quality images, which you can zoom in on.
Art historian Matthew Milliner calls the VCS "the Biblia pauperum of our time," referring to the relatively accessible block-printed picture Bibles of the Middle Ages:
Let's face it: new commentaries, and the academic library subscriptions necessary to come with them, are expensive. Add to that the fact that attention spans are famously declining, and increasingly privilege (for better or for worse) the visual. Perhaps these factors make the Visual Commentary on Scripture, which is actually . . . wait for it . . . free, the biblia pauperum (Bible for the poor) of the twenty-first century. Every minister should be talking about this homiletical goldmine.
YES. I would love to see pastors and seminary students using the VCS as a resource for their biblical and theological studies and sermon preparation.
(Related posts: "John the Baptist at the National Gallery, London"; "Two unlikely characters sharing the same space")
The exhibitions are arranged by biblical text for easy searching—and there are so many fantastic ones. I especially enjoy the ones that include a contemporary art selection. For example, Ayla Lepine ingeniously chose Patricia Cronin's Shrine for Girls from the 2015 Venice Biennale to converse with Esther 8, in which Esther pleads for the deliverance of her people. Ursula Weekes curated an eclectic trio of portraits—of Florentine noblewoman Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni, German Reformer Katharina von Bora (Martin Luther's wife), and former US First Lady Michelle Obama—to interact with the famous "wife of noble character" passage from Proverbs 31. And Pablo Perez d'Ors places Michael Landy's kinetic sculpture Doubting Thomas, made of found objects and inviting viewer participation, side by side with Old Master paintings to probe the significance of that famous resurrection encounter.
"Physical sight can be a pathway to spiritual insight," Quash says, affirming the eighth-century monk John of Damascus, who wrote that "just as [through] words perceived by the senses we hear with bodily ears, and understand what is spiritual, so through bodily vision we arrive at spiritual contemplation" (In Defense of Icons 3.12).
I curated the "Bodily Resurrection" exhibition for the VCS, which takes as its basis 1 Corinthians 15:35–58. After reading the passage many times, including in the context of the whole epistle, and meditating on it, I wanted to investigate how the church has interpreted it over the centuries, so I read Caroline Walker Bynum's excellent book The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200–1336, which quotes from and summarizes a wealth of patristic and medieval writings on the topic. That led me to Tertullian's On the Resurrection of the Flesh, an extensive treatise from the early second century. They were both fascinating reads.
In addition to the Pauline metaphor of the seed, Bynum writes,
the resurrection of the body is also described by theologians as the flowering of a dry tree after winter, the donning of new clothes, the rebuilding of a temple, the hatching of an egg, the smelting out of ore from clay, the reforging of a statue that has been melted down, the growth of the fetus from a drop of semen, the return of the phoenix from its own ashes, the reassembling of broken potsherds, the vomiting up of bits of shipwrecked bodies by fishes that have consumed them . . . (6)
I realized that I had never really thought about the logistics of the doctrine of the general resurrection, and although, as with other doctrines, the mechanics are not what's important, it was interesting to consider what my resurrected body might look like, and how (and whence) it will be reconstituted once it decomposes, turns to dust. Some of the conjectures I found to be quite amusing—like Gregory of Nyssa's claim that in heaven we will have neither genitals nor intestines, because there will be no procreation or digestion. Or Augustine's suggestion that we will receive back all the bits of ourselves that we ever had, including nail and hair clippings, but the excess will not necessarily go to our fingers and heads but rather will become absorbed into our flesh (so that we don't look freakish).
I spent a lot of time wrestling through the paradox, held consistently by the church throughout the ages, that the resurrection body will be both identical to the one we have now and new. This particular passage from Paul seems to emphasize the new aspect. He contrasts "physical"/"terrestrial" and "spiritual"/"celestial" bodies. What does he mean by the latter?
Choosing only three images to open up this rich theological doctrine was a real challenge, and I cycled through dozens before landing on the ones I did.
At the outset, I was cognizant that the resurrection Paul writes about, which will occur "at the last trumpet," is distinct from the spectacular rising from the graves that occurred on the day Jesus was crucified (Matthew 27:52)—so although there are many fine examples of that latter episode in art, I passed them over for this assignment. I also passed over images of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones, since that narrative is rooted in a different passage (see the VCS exhibition), even though there is an obvious intertextual link between the two.
I was intrigued by the "second Adam" motif present in the Pauline text, and I considered several artworks that follow that vein, including ones depicting the "Harrowing of Hell," or, as it's called in the Orthodox tradition, the Anastasis, in which the resurrected Christ pulls up Adam, Eve, and other Old Testament saints from Sheol. This iconographic type would have made a particularly apt pairing with the passage's triumphant ending: "Death is swallowed up in victory." But strictly speaking, the harrowing has already taken place (according to church tradition, on Holy Saturday), and although it prefigures the future resurrection, I wanted to keep the focus on the yet-to-come event that Paul is talking about. Plus, I figured that the harrowing will almost surely make an appearance in some other VCS commentary.
Anastasis fresco in the parecclesion of Chora Church, Istanbul, Turkey, ca. 1315.
A related image I found, a contemporary one, very unique in its approach and theologically loaded, is a life-size painting by Caleb Stoltzfus that shows the glorious nude Christ, his puncture wounds visible, pulling up a man from the dust. It's titled Resurrection. I love this image, and there's much that could be said about it—but ultimately, I felt that it fit better with the passage preceding mine, in particular 1 Corinthians 15:20: "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." Read the artist's commentary at http://www.calebstoltzfus.com/blog/resurrection.
Caleb Stoltzfus (American), Resurrection, 2016. Oil on linen, 6.5 × 5 ft.
In my image search, I also examined a lot of symbolic bird imagery of the resurrection—that is, phoenixes and peacocks. The phoenix is a mythological bird that dies but then rises up from its own ashes, and the flesh of the peacock was thought to not decay, giving both birds a theological weight since the earliest era of Christian art, where they sometimes stand in for Christ's resurrection and, by extension, our own. Thinking I'd draw this visual tradition into conversation with 1 Corinthians 15, I came close to selecting Hope, a Renaissance painting from Umbria, Italy, from a set of three allegorical paintings on the theological virtues; in it Hope is personified as a woman who squints her eyes toward the sun and catches a wind as she stands beside a phoenix on its pyre—suggesting the Christian hope of life after death. Although hope is implicit in the Corinthians passage, it's not a keyword, so I ultimately decided not to include the Umbrian painting in my selection. Peacocks, however, did make the cut! (See below.)
Italian (Umbrian) painter, Hope, ca. 1500. Tempera and gold on wood, 29 1/8 × 17 7/8 in. (74 × 45.4 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Another shortlisted artwork was the Last Judgment triptych by Jean Bellegambe, a French-speaking Flemish painter of the early sixteenth century. I was particularly drawn in by a detail at the bottom of the central panel, which shows skeletons in the process of acquiring flesh, and an angel reassembling body parts. It is very common in historical works of art for the resurrection of the dead to be subsumed under a larger visual program of the Last Judgment—but Paul doesn't discuss judgment in my given passage, so I decided to move away from that context.
Jean Bellegambe (French/Flemish, ca. 1470–1535/36), Triptych with the Last Judgment (detail), ca. 1525. Oil on oak panels. Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin.
Probably the most unusual thing I discovered in the course of my research was the "regurgitation motif," which shows animals vomiting up human body parts (from the corpses they have eaten) for reassembly on the last day. Several early church fathers mentioned that this would happen in their theologies of the resurrection, but its visual origin is attributed to the posticonoclastic East and the Carolingian-Ottonian West; it continues down into modern times in Greek, Bulgarian, and Russian frescoes. One of the best-known examples (in the West) is from the monumental twelfth-century mosaic at Torcello near Venice.
Last Judgment (detail), 12th century. Mosaic, west wall, Church of Santa Maria Assunta, Torcello, Venice, Italy.
Bynum cites a handful of other examples in her aforementioned book and discusses the motif in depth, contributing to one of her main theses: damnation is swallowing, salvation is regurgitation. An absolutely brilliant argument, drawing heavily on visual theology.
It's likely that Revelation 20:13 ("And the sea gave up the dead which were in it . . .") influenced the creation of this motif. Because Paul himself doesn't mention the mouths of animals giving up their dead, I decided not to go with the extraordinary Torcello mosaic. But I was able to sneak in a reference to that tradition by way of a side detail in one of the paintings I chose. It's almost comical to look on, how literal it is. But it's also thought-provoking. If our dead bodies are eaten and digested by worms or carrion beasts—or, God forbid, we meet our end through the mouth of a wild animal—then what remains of us, if we are divided into parts, mere particles, even? Will we ever be made whole again? If we are both body and soul, as Christianity attests, then isn't our material continuity essential?
Other runners-up that didn't make the cut were Wassily Kandinsky's eschatological paintings—for example, All Saints I and Composition V. I wanted to choose artworks from three different countries and eras, and for the modern period, I just had to go with Stanley Spencer, who is renowned for his many resurrection paintings, localized to his hometown of Cookham in the UK. (I also felt a little out of my depth writing about Kandinsky's radical style and spiritual approach to painting.)
Wassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866–1944), All Saints I [Allerheilgen], 1911. Reverse glass painting, 20 × 24 in. Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany.
Wassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866–1944), Composition V, 1911. Oil on canvas, 6 1/4 × 9 ft. (190 × 275 cm). Private collection.
The inclusion of Spencer also influenced my choice, after some consideration, not to go with the Harrowing panel from Nicholas Mynheer's Wilcote polyptych. (Two twentieth-century British paintings would have presented too limited a range.) It would have fit well with the Corinthians passage, which talks about us being sown in dust and reaped in glory—and its juxtaposition with Adam and Eve's expulsion from paradise, on the opposite wing of the altarpiece, further underscores this theme. I wrote about the altarpiece as a whole a few years ago at Art & Theology.
Nicholas Mynheer (British, 1958–), The Harrowing, extreme right inner panel of a polyptych, 1999. Wilcote Chapel, St. Mary's Church, North Leigh, Oxfordshire, England.
So what did I end up choosing?
A fifth-century Christian sarcophagus from Italy, emphasizing Paul's metaphor of the body as seed that, once buried, will flower forth in life
A thirteenth-century German psalter illumination that shows the dead casting off their grave-clothes and "putting on" immortality
A twentieth-century painting by the British master Sir Stanley Spencer, who set the resurrection in a local churchyard, using his friends and neighbors as subjects
I feel that these three artworks give sufficient variety and engage meaningfully with Paul's text. Hop on over to the Visual Commentary on Scripture for high-resolution viewing and to learn more! I recommend that you start by reading the comparative commentary: https://thevcs.org/bodily-resurrection/last-trump.
And be sure to check in periodically at the VCS website, as new content is added regularly.
Religious art roundup: Ekphrastic poem; artist interview; Biola chapel renovations; public Jesus sculpture; bestiaries
July 5, 2018 July 6, 2018 Victoria Emily JonesLeave a comment
Here are some recently published articles on religious art that I enjoyed, and I hope you do too:
"Shouldering the 'Yoke of Love': The Shared Passion of Simon and Jesus in Stone and Verse" by Victoria Emily Jones, Literary Life: Like Jonathan Stockland, I remember visiting Nicholas Mynheer's home and seeing his Simon and Jesus sculpture and being moved by it. Stockland wrote a poem in response to his encounter, one that fits nicely within the tradition of ekphrastic poetry (poems about a visual work of art). Jump on over to LiteraryLife.org to read my reflection on it, from Sunday. As I was writing this essay, lines like "borders of despair" and "tents of desperation" rang out especially loudly, reminding me of the cross being borne by Latin American immigrants seeking entry into the United States, many of them fleeing violence in their home countries.
Nicholas Mynheer (British, 1958–), Simon and Jesus, 2010. Limestone, 36 cm tall.
"Theology, Arts, and Culture Series: An Interview with Penny Warden" (+ Part 2), Transpositions: The British artist Penny Warden is best known for her fifteen Stations of the Cross paintings at Blackburn Cathedral. In this excellent two-part interview, she answers questions such as: What does "Christian art" mean in today's culture? Is there a place for the didactic in religious art? What contemporary artists are making compelling art of theological relevance? Warden also discusses the challenges and advantages of making permanent art for a worship space, how theology informs her practice, the role of tradition versus innovation, and more.
Penny Warden (British, 1956–), Station 9: Jesus Falls for the Third Time, 2005. Oil on canvas, 6 × 3 ft. Blackburn Cathedral, Lancashire, England.
For more on Warden's Stations set in particular, see http://www.artway.eu/artway.php?id=896&action=show&lang=en.
"Creating Sacred Space through Art and Light: The Vision of the Calvary Chapel Sacred Art Renovation": Aesthetic renovations are underway at Biola University's chapel in Southern California. Not only are significant changes in flooring, walls, seating, and lighting being made, but new permanent art installations have been commissioned by Danish artists Maja Lisa Engelhardt and Peter Brandes: Engelhardt is making an abstract, gilded Resurrection altarpiece for the west wall and a gilded bronze cross for the wooden entry doors, while Brandes is creating thirty-two hand-blown stained glass windows depicting biblical narratives. This is the first time the husband and wife have collaborated this closely on an art project.
The impetus for this revitalization was a concern that the sacred function and experience of the chapel and its interior architectural space had gradually become disassociated as a result of the increased multipurpose demands put upon the space. "The new artwork and proposed renovations seek to restore the chapel's sacredness through creating a greater architectural and artistic balance between the interior space and the worship experience," the Biola news article states. Click on the link to learn more or to contribute to the renovation fund.
"A Model for All Humanity: Mark Wallinger's Ecce Homo" by Nigel Halliday, ArtWay: The marbleized plastic sculpture Ecce Homo by Mark Wallinger is one of my favorite works of contemporary religious art, and Halliday introduces it beautifully. The artist created it in 1999 to top the empty Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square—where the plinths in the three other corners display sculptures of British royals and military commanders. Though the sculpture has since been removed (and shown elsewhere) to allow for the rotation of other new public artworks, Halliday shows how its original location is key to interpreting its meaning, which has to do with worldly power and glory versus spiritual power and glory.
Mark Wallinger (British, 1959–), Ecce Homo, 1999. Polyester resin, life-size. Temporary installation, Trafalgar Square, London.
Meet the animals of the medieval bestiary, a Christian compendium of real and imagined beasts, The Iris: The blog of the J. Paul Getty Trust recently ran a series of features interpreting the symbolism of various animals from medieval bestiaries. ("A bestiary is a collection of stories about animals—including land creatures, fish, birds, and serpents [some real, some fantastical]—whose properties and behaviors were interpreted as symbols for God's divine order.") The phoenix, for example, is a mythical bird who sets himself on fire but on the third day rises again from the ashes of his pyre—a symbol of Christ. Another common symbol of Christ cemented by bestiaries and found in much medieval Crucifixion art is the pelican, who was said to peck at her breast until it bleeds, and then the blood feeds (or, in another variation, revives from the dead) her young. To learn more about this medieval literature genre, visit http://bestiary.ca.
A Pelican Feeding Her Young, from a Franco-Flemish bestiary (Ms. Ludwig XV 4, fol. 75), 13th century. Tempera, pen and ink, and gold leaf on parchment, 23.3 × 16.4 cm (9 3/16 × 6 7/16 in.) (full leaf). J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Masolino da Panicale (Italian, ca. 1383–ca. 1447), Crucifixion, ca. 1424. Tempera on wood. Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome. The pinnacle of this altarpiece shows a "pelican in her piety," a symbol of Christ's self-sacrifice.


text:
Diego Mauro Ortiz López (n. San Carlos, Región de Ñuble, Chile, ) es un futbolista chileno. Actualmente forma parte del club  Naval de Talcahuano, equipo de la Primera División B de Chile.

Clubes

Referencias
 Ficha en SoccerWay.com

Nacidos en San Carlos (Chile)
Futbolistas de Chile
Futbolistas del Club de Deportes Temuco en los años 2010
Futbolistas del Club Deportivo Ñublense en los años 2000
Futbolistas del Club Deportivo Ñublense en los años 2010

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The young woman (pic 1) exiting Ginza Station is about to emerge at the famous Ginza Crossing, the heart of Ginza and probably the most expensive real estate in Tokyo.
In English, Ginza translates to silver mint and was indeed the location for a silver-coin mint built in 1612. At that time the area was vastly different from today with its traditional wooden buildings and narrow streets. Two events impacted significantly on its transformation, namely the enlightenment of the Meiji Restoration period and the great fire of 1872. Decisions to adopt brick and stone as building materials and the widening of Chuo-dori from 15 to 27 metres, thus created Tokyo's first boulevard and provided the foundation for the nation's entrepreneurs to create the Ginza we know today.
Ginza Crossing or, to be more correct, the Ginza 4-chome intersection, is the area's hub. On one corner is the San-ai building (pics 2 and 3), a tubular glass building housing a variety of businesses, as well as prominent advertising signage. Le Café Doutor occupies the first two levels, with the upper level being an excellent vantage point for people watching over coffee. Unfortunately, the best seats are in the smoking area, so I have not had the pleasure of lingering there to enjoy the view.
The WAKO Department Store with its famous Seiko clock atop the building dominates another corner. This is perhaps the most recognised of the Crossing's corners (pics 4 and 5) and WAKO has enjoyed loyal patronage since its inception in 1868.
Diagonally opposite WAKO on the third corner is the Nissan Gallery (pic 6), a somewhat unusual yet interesting space where one can peruse displays of Nissan's latest vehicles. Nissan's head office is also located in Ginza, thus reminding us that the area is a business centre and not just a retail and entertainment hub.
The fourth corner is occupied by the Mitsukoshi Department Store, which I understand is the oldest of Japan's major department stores and the starting point for the Mitsui Group, which operates globally across a range of diverse industries. During my visits to Japan I formed a liking for Mitsukoshi over the other major stores and it is somewhat embarrassing not to have a photograph to round out the four corners. It's on the list for next time.
If one was to include the word Ginza in a word association test, one suspects a frequent response would be "shopping" or similar terms. There is no question that it deserves its place among the world's great shopping and entertainment precincts, as can be appreciated from the brand names at pics 9 to 21. This is not an exhaustive coverage, but suffices to demonstrate the esteem in which Ginza is held among the world's top designers and popular global brands.
One of my favourite photos is pic 7, where two generations under the protective cover of their brollies pass on the sidewalk. Each group seems immersed in their own conversations, though I find it amusing that the older ladies have the more colourful brollies.
In this post I have focused on showing glimpses of the well-known Ginza and without the stores depicted here, there would be no Ginza as we popularly think of it. However, there is more than glitz and glitter to Ginza and in my next post I will share some images taken around the area's quieter streets.
Tags: Armani*, Black Border Images, Cartier*, Chanel*, De Beers building*, Dior*, GAP*, Ginza, Ginza Crossing, John Liddle, johnliddlephotography, Lanvin*, Mikimoto*, Nissan*, Pola building*, San-ai building*, stations*, street shot, Swarovski*, Tokyo, Travel, umbrellas*, Wako Department Store*, Yamaha*, Zara* | Permalink.
Sweet post that leaves me looking forward to Part 2.
I especially like how you managed to capture quite a few shots including smiles and laughter and that jolly musing about the coloured umbrellas.
Shopping and entertainment seem to be a just theme for Ginza, although "quieter streets" are more my kind of thing – so, this post leaves one in sweet anticipation.
Thank you for sharing these enjoyable sneak peeks as always, and take good care, as always.
Yes, Ginza and shopping are certainly synonymous, albeit rather expensive shopping in many places. I hope Part 2 will not disappoint.


Grafton Group plc, the international builders merchanting and DIY Group, has issued its trading update for the year ended 31 December 2018 in advance of the announcement of its Final Results for 2018 on 28 February 2019.
Group revenue for 2018 was £2.95 billion, an increase of 8.7% from £2.72 billion in 2017. Revenue growth in constant currency was 8.4% and average daily like-for-like revenue increased by 4.3%. As expected, the rate of growth moderated in November and December following above trend growth in September and October.
With a good performance over the year, the Group anticipates reporting EBITA for 2018 slightly ahead of the top end of analyst expectations*.
UK daily like-for-like revenue growth for the three months to the end of December last year was an increase of 3.4% and the total revenue growth in that time at 7.7%. In Ireland average daily like-for-like revenue growth for the three months to the end of December 2018 was 9.8% and total revenue was 8.4%.
As part of our overall strategy to improve returns, the Group has said it has disposed of two small non-core UK businesses which contributed revenue of £40.0 million and EBITA of circa £1.4 million in 2018. Online Home Retail Limited completed a successful management buyout (MBO) of www.plumbworld.co.uk, from Grafton Group plc this month.
Chief executive officer of Grafton Group plc, Gavin Slark commented today: "We are pleased with the strong performance over the year, with contributions from both organic growth and the Leyland SDM acquisition. The Group continues to benefit from its exposure to multiple geographies and its diverse customer base. The Group's cash generative businesses, strong balance sheet and low level of net debt support our development strategy for the year ahead."
*Grafton compiled analyst forecasts show consensus EBITA for 2018 of £185.1m with the top end of the range £188.5m.


text:
Willis Earl Beal
Schuba's; Chicago, IL
By Matt Biancardi https://www.tinymixtapes.com//writer/matt+biancardi · October 10, 2013	2013-10-10T09:20:00-04:00
Presence, stage presence, is an unwieldy weapon. Ambling between concrete musical talent and presenting self and work as a spectacle people would be interested in dropping $20 to catch a train and show up at a venue laughably over fire capacity is a needle point some musicians take care to tread. They're admirable musicians. But like Francois 1 or Derrick Rose (when his career's over, they'll be in the same tier of history), some dudes are just fucking born with it. The ease they radiate in snaring a crowd is infuriating and the tandem hatred/admiration only surfaces after you leave the show.
Willis Earl Beal has a backstory constructed meticulously from Americana mythology Kerouac supplicants can only fetishize; joined the army, discharged, bummed around in Albuquerque, left cryptic drawings and CD-Rs around, discovered by tastemakers as a force of both storytelling and American music tradition. After seeing Beal in flesh and Ray-Bans, I think that's all a front. I think he actually pulled himself out of an unfinished Jarmusch script to walk the earth and spread the word of "swagger" from the Delta Blues and the rock & roll of the mid-decades of the 20th century. He has the off-kilter oddball gait and cadence of Tom Waits (his acknowledged hero), the good looks of a young Chuck Berry, and the caterwaul of Lead Belly. He's so goddamn cool he could roll a pack of cigarettes in his sleeve and no one would call him an asshole.
His CD release of Nobody knows. at Schuba's saw him for the first time outfitted with a full, highly capable band. Foregoing his staple Wayfarers for a black Venetian mask, the set saw a seasoned Beal parsing through Louisiana Pentecostal devil shake-downs, 12 Bar Chicago Blues sweats, and the hot-breath confessionals that marked Acousmatic Sorcery. I use the descriptive "seasoned" intently; at a young age, Beal is a showman, and a good one. Schuba's was so full I stood on a wooden bench lining the venue like a kid at an overcrowded 50s dance hall, and I didn't mind. His theatrics and stage positioning changed scene with every song; writhing on the floor, perched on the stool, wobbling on the mic stand. His astoundingly level speaking voice in banter between songs provided a (probably intentional) confusing contrast between the hard-life bluesman he affects and the "outsider artist" he purports. In Beal's own words, "I equate the live experience with watching my uncle sing songs drunk." With the nephew, it's impossible to tell whether he cracked the bottle or drained it.
Since he began garnering attention, questions of authenticity and presentation have swirled around Beal. Frankly, I don't give a shit what percentage is facade and what percentage is pith. My dad's been a blues-bar musician for nearly 40 years, and I grew up in rural Indiana with appreciation and reverence for the sneer and saunter music embodies. I know of way too many acts today who clad their name in neon prints and perform what amounts to an aerobics routine without ever touching an instrument. When Willis was done, he walked off stage-left and into a sweltering Chicago alley.
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"It's the size of one's penis that determines success." - from a spam e-mail