ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate systematically the therapeutic efficacy of short-term high-dose statins administration before surgery in Asian population with acute coronary syndrome(ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI) on reducing the incidence of major adverse cardiac events(MACE). Methods: Published randomized controlled trials(RCTs) were retrieved from PubMed, EMBase and Cochrane Library. Two reviewers independently screened studies according to the exclusion and inclusion criteria and data were extracted. Then,quality evaluation was made by using Cochrane manual 5.1.0. Meta analysis was performed by using Rev Man 5.3 software. Results: A total of 7 RCTs were included,involving 1381 statin-nave Asian patients. Of the 1381 patients,689 patients were given high-dose statins before PCI (the observation group),and 692 patients were given normal or low-dose statins or no drugs before PCI (the control group).The results of meta analysis showed that the incidence of MACE in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group,with statistical significance (P<0.01),and that high dosage of statins before PCI had impact on the incidence of percutaneous myocardial infarction (PMI) in perioperative patients.The incidence of PMI in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group,also with statistical significance (P<0.01).Conclusion:In Asian patients with acute coronary syndrome, high-dose statins administered before PCI could significantly reduce the incidence of MACE and PMI within 30 days after surgery.
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CAO AiLin,QIAN Jiao,WANG Zhuo,. Efficacy of high-dose statins administration before surgery on the reduction of cardiovascular events: a meta analysis[J]. Pharmaceutical Care and Research / yao xue fu wu yu yan jiu. 2018; 18(4): 282-287.
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2. Cardiovascular Branch of Chinese Medical Association, Editorial Committee of Chinese Journal of Cardiology. Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndromes(2016)[J]. Chin J Cardiol,2017,45(5):359-376. In Chinese.
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19. LUO Jun, LI Jiang, SHEN XiangQian,et al. The effects and mechanisms of high loading dose rosuvastatin therapy before percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute coronary syndrome[J]. Int J Cardiol,2013,167(5):2350-2353.
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28. ZHANG Ming, LI Xuan, CHEN Hong, et al. Safety of high-dose atorvastatin in Chinese patients:a meta-analysis[J].Chin J Intervent Cardiol, 2016,24(2):88-95.In Chinese with English abstract.


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News and Events »
Soundings Blog »
Becoming the Napa Valley of Oysters
Caroline Lamb and Danielle Herman
Communications Specialists for the NC Coastal Federation
Almost 200 local and state government officials, engineers, developers, business leaders, shellfish growers, scientists and more recently gathered to learn how North Carolina can tap into its coastal resources to boost the state's economy.
The Sound Economic Development: Creating a Rising Tide for the North Carolina Coast summit, hosted by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, was held on March 22 and 23 at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. The Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP) was one of the sponsors of the event.
Michael Regan, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, welcomed the crowd and confirmed Governor Roy Cooper's and the state's endorsement of efforts to restore oysters and bolster North Carolina's shellfish aquaculture industry. He emphasized the need for partnerships between elected officials, conservation and business communities, and all levels of government to build the shellfish industry.
Secretary Regan recognized the RTI study comissioned by APNEP, which demonstrated that coastal habitat enhancement programs managed by the Division of Marine Fisheries provide $4 in benefits for every $1 invested in the coastal region. "Natural resource protection and economic prosperity are not mutually exclusive," Regan said.
Sen. Bill Cook (R-Beaufort) encouraged North Carolina's ability to eventually outpace Virginia in the oyster industry. Chris Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, spoke about the importance of developing regional economic strategies focused on the resources and assets of the region.
The federation introduced the Strategic Plan for Creating a Robust Coastal Economy with Coastal Restoration, which will help guide economic growth on the North Carolina coast for the next five years. This plan was created by a diverse team of stakeholders including APNEP.
Panelists on the first day focused on the benefits of expanding North Carolina's shellfish aquaculture industry and potential to do so with its 12,000 miles of estuarine shoreline. Attendees learned about what the state is already doing and what gaps still exist. Summit panelists generally agreed that a group should be convened to create a comprehensive state shellfish aquaculture plan, address issues with leasing in public trust waters issues, and develop industry-specific training.
Neighbors from Virginia spoke about their success in shellfish aquaculture, but also the current challenges the industry faces. A strong research foundation through the universities and state government support helped establish their industry after the wild fishery dropped in the 1990s. Marketing efforts and the development of an infertile triploid oyster that could be sold in the summer also helped the industry take off.
One way to expand the shellfish aquaculture industry in North Carolina, said Todd Miller, executive director of the federation, is to bring in more federal funding.
"The federal farm bill is the largest source of conservation dollars in the U.S., and we're woefully behind in competing for those funds," he said. "We've never put our heads together and figured out how to compete more effectively." Miller showed that North Carolina is ranked 49 out of the 50 states in landing these conservation dollars, even though the state has the eighth largest farm economy in the nation. Miller said it is vital to bring these issues to the attention of elected officials and gain support to better compete for federal funding.
Kris Noble, assistant county manager of Hyde County, said that the county is dependent on clean water for agriculture, commercial fishing and tourism, and has been competitive for federal money in part due to the help of the federation.
Day two of the summit largely focused on the connection between smart stormwater management and coastal water quality restoration.
Dr. Bill Crowell, director of APNEP, led a panel about the link between water quality and coastal tourism. He said our estuaries, particularly the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, are ideal assets for boosting the North Carolina economy.
"The Albemarle-Pamlico estuary is an estuary of national significance. It was designated in 1987 because it was not fully degraded and there was still hope, unlike many other estuaries around the nation," Crowell said. "People still come here because of these resources."
An economic valuation study conducted by RTI International for the APNEP region estimates benefits of more than $3.7 billion from tourism and recreational activities such as fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and visits to national seashores and state parks.
Jane Harrison of North Carolina Sea Grant emphasized how people's access to natural resources encourages efforts to preserve them. This helps spur the development of infrastructure that can support tourism, which will benefit rural counties' economies. She outlined these concepts as part of a new "blue economy: a sustainable ocean and coastal economy, which emerges when economic activity is in balance with long-term ocean capacity."
Remediation, restoration and revitalization are all part of the process to economic development using natural assets. Mary Penny Kelley, Senior Advisor for Policy & Innovation with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, spoke about the importance of identifying coastal resources and restoration projects as a type of infrastructure, which are more likely to receive funding and support.
A resounding conclusion from the summit was that a variety of groups must work together to enhance the state's economy through coastal restoration.
Here are other key conclusions from the summit:
North Carolina has a team of passionate and dedicated people working to advance this initiative including the State of North Carolina, universities, environmental organizations, and private sector businesses;
Securing end to end comprehensive support will be important to advance these efforts;
Regional economic development strategies are critical;
Oyster aquaculture is a proven economic driver in need of support;
North Carolina has all the assets in place to lead in this arena.
Using momentum from the summit and building upon the work outlined in the Oyster Restoration and Protection Plan for North Carolina: A Blueprint for Action 2015-2020, North Carolina should take these next steps to move forward:
Develop and implement a shellfish mariculture strategic plan;
Use existing coastal assets to build proactive regional plans for increasing economic development opportunities based on habitat restoration and aquaculture industries. These regional and coastwide plans need to start at the city or county level and include an implementation strategy;
Leverage state, regional and local resources such as Department of Commerce, Travel and Tourism, B-Link and others to market and promote these opportunities and products that come from these growing industries (such as aquaculture oysters);
Build coastal resource projects as part of our coastal infrastructure — oysters, living shorelines and stormwater mitigation are all part of the infrastructure in coastal communities that are needed to keep a healthy and productive coast.
Become more competitive on the federal level in bringing more federal conservation dollars to North Carolina in proportion with our resources and in-state investments;
Develop and provide workforce training opportunities in the trades needed to promote and grow coastal environmental trades, including an education pipeline that grows and retains expertise in the state.
Engage with other leaders, stakeholders and communities to raise awareness about these opportunities.
To learn more about highlights and presentations from the March 22-23 summit, visit the federation's website at nccoast.org or check out the #SEDS17 hashtag on Twitter.
Power to the People: Part I
Invasive Whatchamacallits?
Partners Work Together to Protect North Carolina's Underwater Meadows
Shad in the Classroom Reaches Students (and Fish) from Stream to Sound
Going with the Ebb and Flow: Researchers Seek a Sustainable Future for Coastal Plain Waterways
Living Storm Protections: Part II
Living Storm Protections: Part I
Stewards of the Southern Watersheds
APNEP Announces New Interactive Map of Past and Present Projects
Community Knowledge Informs Coastal Resilience Efforts in NC DCM's RENA Process
APNEP's 5-Year Program Evaluation Highlights Past and Present Partnerships
Managing North Carolina's Coastal Fisheries
North Carolina: First in Dam Removal Part II
North Carolina: First in Dam Removal Part I
Working Together is Success
From Dust Came Soil Conservation
Taking Nature's Pulse
Teaching Teachers to ExPLORE NC
Protecting North Carolina's Coastal Habitats with Jimmy Johnson
Cypress Trees as Sentinels of the Sounds
Sound Science Guiding Conservation of the Albemarle-Pamlico Region

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The motto at The Dufrocq School is the "pursuit of learning begins here" where an academically challenging and enhanced curriculum nurtures a genuine love for learning and develops the creative and intellectual abilities of our students. The rigorous course offering cultivates minds, develops character and prepares students for life. The academic magnet curriculum accentuates student strengths and accommodates special interests and learning styles of the accelerated student.
Students are challenged through hands-on experiences, investigations, and research. The classroom atmosphere focuses on respect and appreciation for each child and motivates students to deepen their understandings. Students are encouraged to learn through inquiry, exploration, research, and the creation of products as a result of learning critical thinking and problem solving skills.
The Dufrocq School is also a MicroSociety® community, a mini-society created within the school reflecting components of a real society. Students create their own businesses	and establish functional governmental agencies. These may include a bank, a court system, craft shops, a nail spa, a governing-body and more.


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The Mid-America Union Votes to Support the Ordination of Women
Bonnie Dwyer
Members of the Mid-America Union Conference Executive Committee voted March 8 to ordain women in ministry. It is the first union in the North American Division to take such a step.
The vote came at a regularly scheduled meeting of the committee; however the action taken was not originally on the agenda, according to President Thomas Lemon.
In November 2011, the committee had voted to support the decision made by the North American Division Executive Committee to allow ordained/commissioned ministers to become conference presidents, an action known by the policy it addressed E-60. On March 8, Lemon was reporting to the committee what had taken place at the Division over the past two months in which the vote on the E-60 policy was rescinded, because the Division received legal advice that the action was contrary to General Conference Policy. And, given that the Division has no separate constituency, it did not have the authority to vote such an action.
However, union conferences do have constituencies, thus they are able to vote on an action for their territory.
In an interview with Spectrum, Lemon said, during his report, "one of the lay people on the [Mid-America Executive] Committee commented that this issue will never be solved until we ordain women." And with that a simple motion was drafted and voted unanimously: "It is voted to support the ordination of women in the Mid-America Union."
All the members of the Executive Committee (except one traveling conference president) were present for the voice vote. Lemon said that he has never heard such a loud "Aye" vote.
After the meeting Lemon notified North American Division President Dan Jackson and all the other union conference presidents of the Mid-America vote.
While Mid-America does not presently have a female candidate waiting to be ordained, Lemon says that when the time comes they will be ready.
The Mid-America Union Conference released the following statement:
In a continuing effort to support the role of women in ministry, the Mid-America Union Executive Committee in its regularly scheduled mid-winter meeting took the following action: "It is voted to support the ordination of women in the Mid-America Union."
"Nobody planned for this," said Thomas L. Lemon, president of the union. "Without any expectation, the subject of ordaining women came up. In the ensuing discussion a consensus formed that gender should not disqualify any future candidate recommended by local conferences for ordination. The committee also recognized the authority of the world church and the need for harmony across the various administrative levels of the Seventh-day Adventist faith community."
According to Elder Lemon, this policy will be implemented in the following way.
"One of our six local conferences may at some point vote the recommendation of a woman for ordination. The Mid-America Union Executive Committee will then evaluate the candidate on her own merits, without prejudice regarding gender, when deciding for or against ordination."


Linking as always to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday blog. She writes this week about a movement by a number of art museums in the U.S. to share images in their digital collections with the public free of charge and copy right licensing. Be sure to check it out!
It is an extremely nice feeling to start from a gathering of materials that attracted you and wind up with a finished project. I mentioned in my last post that I rarely purchase fabric these days as I have a stash to draw upon. There must be something truly unique about some fabric, or even buttons, or ribbons — anything that I might use in my art – before I will buy it.
Last fall I started a small grouping of purchases from trips I had made to the Manhattan garment district, upstate NY and Sedona AZ during 2018. I had no plan initially for them, but something about them created a feeling that resonated with me. This year, in my stitching group with Karen Ruane, that pile started beckoning to me to let them join in my play.
As time progressed, a plan for a bag developed and I began stitching in earnest.
This week I finished my bag. Here are two views of it.
I plan to use my new bag in my studio for other special items that I have brought back from trips. In that way, it will serve a number of purposes, both reminding me of places I visited, and reminding me of that sense of satisfaction from following through from an idea to a final product. In that way, I suspect it will continue to encourage me to follow through in 2019 with other ideas and projects that speak to me, whatever they may be.
Linking as always to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday….
and a time to every purpose under heaven..
I have been watching old episodes of Life Below Zero on Netflix this winter. One of the lessons that becomes clear as I watch is that when you are living a subsistence living near the Arctic Circle, absolutely nothing is wasted. It is a great lesson as figures suggest that the human population creates 2.12 billion tons of waste every year. That is a lot of stuff!
I resolved a while back to focus on using the stash of fabrics that I have accumulated over the years in my projects whenever possible. I still will purchase a special fabric here and there, but mainly I try to use my stash. My latest quilt for Quilts Beyond Borders is a perfect example of this.
However, that was not the end of my Waste Not, Want Not story. To create the quilt, one had to slice off areas at the top and bottom as the quilt was assembled in angular strips. As I created my rectangular quilt, I created a little pile of odd shapes. I put them aside for a few days and then took them all out. There were enough scraps to be able to create a 15″ x 18″ quilt for one of my grandchild's dolls!
Now not only will someone somewhere in the world with no home benefit from my stash, but I have created joy for a child and avoided adding a small bit to that 2.12 billion figure.
I will leave you with one more statistic from that website on waste – it is suggested that 99% of things we buy are trashed within 6 months. Yuk! Hopefully, we all can do better than that!
My grandchildren are reading the Harry Potter series. (More accurately their parents are reading it to them each evening.) I had read the series when it was published years ago but decided I had better brush up on the characters so I could discuss them with our seven year old. I really am enjoying the escape from current events that the books now offer. The above quote jumped out at me as I was reading and I had to share it. I think it rang true for me for my life overall.
Having finished True Power last week, I have refocused on my adventures with Karen Ruane. I have been following along with her and my compatriots in the Stitch Along class for six months now – that hardly seems possible as time flies in the class. I have continued to play with adorning vintage children's dresses and now have begun what will be a cloth book of embroidery ideas for future projects. I simply love that we are free to do as we wish when we follow Karen. If an idea she is exploring resonates with us, we can try it; if not, then we can focus on what has caught our eye.
My cloth book is just beginning but I have put together the 'front' side of what will be one page in the book. It allowed me to play with some exquisite lace I picked up several years ago in the garment district of New York and to explore the rich effect created making suffolk puffs with silk.
Since I love the community of stitchers that play along with Karen, I have just joined another of her groups – Ledgers – A Record of Stitch. Here the focus will be upon creating a paper ledger of color studies and design options drawn from items that have caught our eye – whether photos, embroideries, really anything that we wish.
For my first ledger page, I chose an embroidery that I received from a group of women who stitch in their villages in Afghanistan. The color choices really appealed to me.
I am now working on a page where I am using those colors and expanding from my chosen 'resource' to create my own designs. It is fun to stitch on paper for a change! As you can see, I am just beginning my stitching process.
Linking with NineMarie's Off the Wall Friday blog for more inspirational ideas.
As I look at the photos and art quilts that fill the walls of my studio, a good number of them are of nature — rock formations in Scotland, an Aspen tree, cypress along the Pacific Coast, the Atlantic Ocean off the west of Ireland. I find my inspiration in nature, retreat to nature to re-center myself in life, and to keep in perspective how minute my presence is in the universe. When I cannot be present in nature, these images help ground me. Today I was happy to add a new image to my wall, True Power. The title comes from a favorite quote that Tom Crum used in our many workshops, True Power is energy flowing freely towards a vision. Glaciers embody 'true power' to me as they move purposely on their way.
I wrote last week about how what is now titled True Power came about. In the past week, a path to completion became clearer and clearer. Handstitching the water against a backing of batting flowed into appropriate stitching for the shoreline, mountains, and sky. It was a simple matter to frame the piece in an open frame once trimmed. You can see the detail work in the photo below that contributes to the overall desired effect when viewed on a wall.
I am excited about this piece and looking forward to playing more with this genre, along with my many hand stitching projects and some digital images I am currently getting printed. I think 2019 will be a fun year!
Linking as usual to Nine Maries Off the Wall Friday blog.
What do I need to Learn Here?
As many of you are aware, I have been exploring the art of hand stitching with Karen Ruane for a number of years…what began as an interest in learning hand embroidery has grown to an exploration of expression using stitch on both fabric and paper.
The start of my current project was innocent enough. I was interested in creating a small art quilt from a glacier photo taken on a trip to Alaska last summer. Initially I thought I would follow my typical process of drafting a sketch from a photo, fusing various fabrics to muslin to create a base and then free motion quilting to complete the art quilt. It has been a bit since I had followed that model but it had always satisfied me before.
An interesting thing though happened as I began to work on a muslin base trying out various fabrics. Nothing satisfied me. The more I searched for fabrics, the less pleased I was. I finally realized that some paper I had collected to use in projects with Karen was pretty close to what I wanted. It was time to let go of the traditional and come from discovery!
In the above photo, I found that a matte frame really helped give me a sense of direction. The central portions in the scene are all layers of paper while the sky and water are fabric.
I wisely did not permanently attach anything to my muslin base. The more I looked at the scene I realized that while it was a fair representation perhaps of the photo I had chosen as a base, it wasn't what had stood out for me as I remembered our trip. We saw many glaciers in varying light and, as you would expect, varying colors of both ice and water. The glaciers as a whole left us humbled by the power and raw strength of nature that created and moved them. I realized that I needed to create an art work that captured what spoke to my heart as I had gazed at all of them rather than concern myself with reproducing a specific photo.
Once I accepted that reality, I really began to make progress with my piece. I changed some of both the fabric and paper layers and added some dabs of paint.
From there I quickly began experimenting with stitch on the glaciers. I found that a combination of seed stitch and french knot offered the effect I wanted.
This piece is very much still in progress. I currently am playing with stitch for the water. In my earlier stitching stages, I worked without a batting layer as I didn't feel it was needed and I had given myself permission to create without being bound by the current day definitions of an 'art quilt'. As I played with possibilities for the water on test pieces, I concluded that I will now add a batting layer to the piece as I like the textural effect the batting lends to the hand stitching for the water.
Over the coming weeks, I will be stitching in the water and then exploring how to interpret the mountains and sky. Promise an update soon!
As always, linking to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.
A number of years ago I created a portfolio for myself using a pattern from Bernina. It was intended as an exercise in using their circle tool. A local Bernina store offered a class using the pattern so I had plenty of help on my first try.
I still am using that portfolio and about two years ago decided to make versions for my daughter and son-in-law. They loved their portfolios and continue to use them. This fall I got way more ambitious and decided to make a series of portfolios as Christmas gifts.
I took the basic idea of the original portfolio but decided to give myself more leeway in the design process. Rather than focusing upon circles, I took the basic form of a long rectangle and used assorted materials from my stash along with decorative stitching and some ribbons to create the outer portion of each portfolio. This decision really allowed me to have some fun with both novelty fabrics and vintage Japanese cottons I had collected over the years.
To line the insides of each portfolio, I simply chose a coordinating fabric. Using some double sided midweight fusible stabilizer to join the outer and inner sides of the portfolio and some bias binding to edge the rectangular shape, my gift portfolios were near completion. All that was left was to fold the rectangle to create the pouch and the cover sections, stitch the sides of the pouch section, and add a velcro fastener.
Wishing you a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year!
Wishes for a joyful holiday season!


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peter darbyshire
Books by Peter Darbyshire
Books by Peter Roman
← Mapping the cities of the mind
A touch of DeLillo →
I answer 12 or 20 questions
Posted by Peter Darbyshire (Roman)
I just did an interview with rob mclennan for his great 12 or 20 Questions series. Here's a sample:
6 – Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
It depends on the book. With Please, I was trying to write about the experiences of my generation — I should have subtitled it "Generation Temp." But I also wound up writing a bit of a historical book in a sense, in that the characters are often longing for something from the past — a lost love, that suburban neighbourhood, the decision they failed to make — and they inhabit the ruins of the past. They live in their own memories, and in social memories, with suburbs and churches and OJ Simpson car chases and such.
The Warhol Gang is a little more sci-fi in nature, in that like all good science fiction its project is extrapolation. I took a bunch of trends I was starting to see emerging — neuromarketing, holograms, the viral video— and tried to normalize them. That is, I tried to imagine a society where they were the cultural norm. In some ways, I think I failed, because society has already become stranger than I imagined — anime news videos depicting Charlie Sheen rants? Twitter-fuelled revolutions in the Middle East? But we live in an age where the future is happening faster than we can keep up.
In my new book, I'm exploring the idea of the post-future. The characters inhabit a world where they've given up trying to keep pace with the future and turn to the past for meaning instead, searching for artifacts and memories that will save them. But that doesn't stop the future from happening to them. I'm not sure how to discuss it conceptually, because we're all still struggling to grasp the violent change we're going through right now, and I think we're largely unsuccessful at it.
About Peter Darbyshire (Roman)
View all posts by Peter Darbyshire (Roman) »
Posted on March 5, 2011, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.	Leave a comment.
Has the World Ended Yet?
The angels descend from Heaven but don't do anything. A hit man takes orders from a talking sex doll. A man sells miracles on Craigslist. Travelling deity salesman cause problems in a quiet neighbourhood. Read these exciting tales and more in Has the World Ended Yet?
The Apocalypse Ark
In the third Cross book, the immortal angel killer Cross faces his most dangerous enemy yet: Noah. For ages Noah has sailed the seas, seeking out all of God's mistakes and imprisoning them on his ark. Noah is not humanity's saviour but is instead God's jailer. But he has grown increasingly mad over the centuries, and now he is determined to end the world by raising the mysterious Sunken City. Only one person can stop him: Cross.
The Dead Hamlets
The second book in the Cross series. Can Cross stop a mysterious spirit from murdering the subjects of the faerie queen before it claims his own daughter? Or will he become trapped in a ghost story he cannot escape?
The Mona Lisa Sacrifice
The first book in the Cross series, featuring the enigmatic character of Cross, the man who woke up in Christ's body after Christ left the earth to wherever it was he went. Written under the alias Peter Roman. Because, you know, Christ, Romans….
New Story! 99 cents!
The star of Please returns in this blackly comic take on post-9/11 life. Featuring a sex club, a bankruptcy cubicle farm and a gun that definitely goes off. Check out my Stories page to buy.
Please chronicles the life of a young man who drifts through a hallucinatory urban world filled with celebrity wannabes, addictive relationships and jobs that demand he become someone else.
The Warhol Gang
The Warhol Gang is a black comedy for anyone who's ever been trapped in an endless mall or fantasized about taking revenge on everyone in the office.
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News Transavia to launch new Rotterdam services
Posted on	 16th September 2008 by Skyscanner
Transavia to launch new Rotterdam services
Transavia will be launching new cheap flights to Rotterdam from London Luton Airport next month.
The carrier is to introduce new twice daily services between the two cities from October 27th, increasing its anticipated passenger volumes to over 130,000 out of the London hub.
Natalie Raper, marketing director at London Luton Airport, said: "We are delighted to announce the arrival of Transavia to our portfolio of carriers.
"Low fare flying continues to make business and leisure travel an increasingly viable option for millions of Europeans and the arrival of this new service to Rotterdam demonstrates the confidence our Airline partners and customers have in us."
Tansavia recently announced that it will be using the Amadeus strategic booking distribution system to improve its brand visibility in key regions outside of its domestic market.
The carrier is hopeful that the new distribution system will help support its expansion to new destinations including Spain, Portugal and Italy.


If you've read any of my articles on handguns, you know I'm a Glock guy. My first experience with the iconic 1911 came from Rock Island Armory and it's not chambered in the original .45ACP. I own an FNX Tactical and wasn't interested in another .45 caliber handgun. I wanted something a little different. And Rock Island Armory had a pretty cool option that I handled at SHOT show 2018. The TCM TAC Ultra FS HC Combo. I know that's a mouthful so I'll refer to the handgun as the TCM TAC Ultra from now on.
Weight: Unloaded 3.0 lbs / Loaded 3.62 lbs.
This pistol is chambered in the Armscor original .22 TCM. This hot little round exits the barrel with an angry vengeance. 2000 feet per second followed by a healthy dose of a fireball. It was a blast to shoot (no pun intended). The night shooting really showed the Hollywood style flame exiting the 5″ barrel. With very little recoil, the .22 TCM cartridge was easy to manage. As one would expect from a 3-pound handgun. Additionally, this flat shooting high-velocity round continued to maintain practical accuracy out to 100 yards.
The bonus is the TCM TAC ULtra's versatility. In a minute or so, you can swap the .22 TCM barrel and recoil spring for the included 9mm parts. And voila! Your second pistol awaits. Also packing 17 rounds in the same steel magazine as the .22 TCM. In 9mm configuration, the pistol behaved as expected. Manageable recoil coupled with excellent accuracy at typical pistol distances. The TCM TAC Ultra performed flawlessly in both calibers throughout testing.
It's hard to go wrong with an MSRP of only $940. Essentially, you get two 1911 pistols for the price of one. I loved my time testing the TCM TAC Ultra but had a difficult time finding a holster that would fit its full rail profile. BladeTec was a huge let down after receiving a holster that didn't fit. Their customer service was unwilling to take back a brand new holster because I was 2 days over the 30-day return policy. Despite originally informing them of the issue the same day I received it. Live and learn. When I find a good holster, I may consider adding this pistol to my collection.


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What Did She Think?
Deja Vu - Dance Review
What: Deja Vu
Where: The Meeting Room, Artshouse
When: 16 - 25 September
Devised and Performed by: Andi Snelling
Directed by: Danielle Cresp
Costume by: Victoria Haslam
Sound by: Caleb Garfinkel
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDI SNELLING
Deja Vu is the latest new work by creative team Andi Snelling and Danielle Cresp. Their first foray into collaboration was the hit show #DearDiary although this is their first non-text based production. Deja Vu is a natural progression for both these artists. Both Snelling and Cresp come from a dance background and Cresp has been teaching Snelling a form of physical theatre called Action Theatre.
Action Theatre is a combination of mime and dance (which is clearly evident in the show) and was supposedly created by American performer Ruth Zaporah. It is one of those 'new' acting methods that Americans love to hybridize and then patent as some new approach to performance so they can take a place in history - and make money from unsuspecting performers. This probably sounds a bit cynical and I am sure the great mime artists and dancers of previous centuries are not turning in their graves whenever Zaporah claims invention. To get back on track, though, Cresp is an 'authorised' teacher of Action Theatre and Deja Vu embodies the practices and teachings of this method.
Snelling is an amazing physical performer and her strength, flexibility, control and agility shine through in this performance. Unfortunately, it is not enough to hold the work together.
I worry about the current trend of people making shows based on some vague (and often quite small) idea and this is one of those shows. The idea came from a bike accident Snelling had and the sense of deja vu she purportedly had an hour earlier. This comes through in the opening sequence and whilst it was not anything I haven't seen before, Snelling's emergence on stage was well crafted with strong visual imagery and creative potential. This opening sequence was intriguing and even, dare I say, exciting?
Unfortunately this fell away all too quickly. Part of the problem is that there is no coherence to the piece, but more importantly the direction and sound design were appalling. After that initial sequence which held such promise, the rest of the performance was like attending an end of year dance school concert. Each piece of music was discreet with long pauses in between so that Snelling could reset and move into a new style and commentary. The breaks were overlong and every time they happened the audience was able to disconnect with the work. I actually began to wonder if I would know when the show was over the pauses was so long. Thank goodness they book ended the performance with a reprise of the opening sequence so it was obvious.
Add that to a lack of coherent journey and Deja Vu just became a time filler. In fact, about half way through this is what I started thinking. Most of this show felt as though it was created to get it up to the 45 minutes considered acceptable for a stand alone work.
There may be a case to be made that the work did not require a journey or narrative as such, but with so many gaps and so much of Snelling's time spent on stage just being her standing and looking at the audience or waiting for a sound cue it doesn't even meet the standards of being visceral or phenomenological, and it didn't have enough attitude to be Expressionist.
There were good moments and, in part, it was possible to see the influence of Forced Entertainment. In particular this was event in the chalkboard scene. At the end of this scene the final words left on the board were 'been seen'. I know that referred to the idea of deja vu, but for me it represented the whole show. I have seen all of it before elsewhere. Even the marionette scene - which was really very good - is something which has it's roots in #DearDiary.
Snelling is an amazing performer, and I have remarked on her skills before in the review I did of The Insomnia Project, but she needs to work with a collaborator of more depth and skill to get the most out of her talents and projects. Whilst I can't reccommend this show, I will say keep an eye out for Snelling because we will be seeing a lot more of her in the future.
Posted by Samsara at 6:59 pm No comments:
She Dances - Circus Review
What: She Dances
Where: The Meatmarket - The Rabbit Hole
When: 15-18 September
Devised and Performed by: Dawn Pascoe
PHOTO COURTESY OF ENCORE PR
Melbourne is a city which absolutely thrives on circus arts. The home of companies such as Circus Oz and The Women's Circus just to name two of over 30 local troupes and the home of NICA, it takes a brave and accomplished artist to bring a new circus act to our audiences. Dawn Pascoe (Artistic Director of Perth company Natural Wings) is just such a soul and when I say she brings it, I mean she brings it!
Pascoe has brought her solo show She Dances to the Melbourne Fringe Festival this year. In the show she combines lyrical dance, clowning, diabolo, and aerial trapeze and the precision and mastery of all of those skills is evident in every moment she is on stage (or in the audience, as it turns out...). The extensions in her body lines demonstrate a rigorous classical dance training background, the muscle contours across her body show her strength, and the agility of her face is up with the best of Le Coq or Commedia artistes.
Circus artists have a tradition of avoiding narrative, but Pascoe faces it head on and perfectly matches the ideas in She Dances with her performance skills. There are a couple of different 'stories' on the internet about this show (it has been performed elsewhere) - one about a bridesmaid, another about finding your passion. You don't need to know any of them to enjoy the story. It is essentially the metaphor of the lifecycle of the butterfly. The feminist in me chose to interpret the piece as a release from the constraints of cultural expectations, but really any interpretation of metamorphosis will apply to this show.
We meet the clown first as Pascoe creeps onto the stage guiltily carrying a chocolate cake, looking suspiciously as though she has come home very, very late (or early) from a hard core night of partying. Her character is flawed and loveable, especially when she shares some cake in the audience. Pascoe journeys through a tale of tension between grace and imperfection, a struggle we can all relate to.
Perhaps the weakest part of the show is the diabolo routine - not through any lack of skill, but it really is one of the least dazzling of the juggling apparatus so the energy of the show falls at this point. There was also a little too much exploration of the trapeze before she engaged with it for me. This is a staple technique for dancers with props but we are probably past the point in history when that exploration is exciting in itself. I kind of just wanted her to jump on and start doing stuff.
When Pascoe did begin the trapeze work it was hilarious and challenging. I am by no means a circus aficionado, but she did some things I have never seen before and I love a show which gives me that.
She Dances is sweet, and fun with an important fable running through. The audience laughed - at times uproarously - and we were all spell bound by the beauty and fluidity of Pascoes shapes, lines, and grace. Fringe can be a hit and miss affair, but She Dances is definitely an experience which will make you smile.
Edmund. The Beginning. - Theatre Review
What: Edmund. The Beginning
When: 10 – 22 November
Where: Arts House, Rehearsal Room
Written and Performed by: Brian Lipsom
Directed by: Peter Evans and Susie Dee
Costumes by: Brian Lipsom and Mel Page
Stage Management by: Hayley Fox
No-one can deny for a single moment that Brian Lipsom is not one of the most accomplished actors in Australia at the moment, and in his show Edmund. The Beginning we discover that he is a phenomenal wordsmith (or witsmith), with formidable performance making skills as well. Edmund. The Beginning is being performed at Arts House in the Rehearsal Room. Be warned, the show has a strict lockout. No latecomers!
Edmund. The Beginning is one of the densest works I have come across and yet it does not collapse under its own weight which is a phenomenal achievement. This piece of theatre is not for the lay audient. To have any means of entering it you really need to have a background in English literature and English theatre history. Without these, the layers and nuances and depths and complexities of Lipsom's witticisms will be impenetrable. I feel I have a good foundation in these areas but I would not for a single moment assume I grasped anywhere near everything included and referenced.
In many ways, this is Lipsom's intentions. When Lipsom finally begins speaking (which is not the beginning of the performance and does not contain the beginnings of the witticisms which have already commenced through his costume and entrance and demeanour) we think he is himself, but it is revealed that he has taken on the persona of Daniel Brand. Who Daniel Brand is, and how he fits into the construct of this work is revealed over time – yet never completely.
Brand/Lipsom talks about Thomas Hardy's last novel Jude the Obscure and in reference to the book, anoints himself 'Daniel the Obscurer'. He explains the pun on the word obscurer and its multiple levels of meaning and as the performance unfolds it becomes clear that Lipsom's intention is to be clearly unclear for all definitions throughout.
It is also revealed (ambiguously) that the structure is essentially a great witticism as well. Towards the end Lipsom talks about the show being an horary, but throughout – in his costume, in the episodes and how they are put together – he is evidently playing with the word orary (and possibly oratory). He also plays with the idea of the word mobile and oh so many others, it is hard to keep up.
The content of the work is superbly suited for Lipsom, with his classical English theatrical training shown at its best both in terms of content and also his personal performance strengths. I love hearing classical English actors orate. Nobody trains the actors voice the way the English do and it is always a pleasure to hear a master of his craft in this field perform.
Unfortunately, the utter anglo-centricity of Edmund. The Beginning is the very thing that makes it impenetrable and ultimately meaningless for me. It has no meaning or context within Australian society today.
Woven into the threads of the work is Lipsom's own story of being a young boy swept away by Pinter, and his removal to Australia later in life. He draws linkages between Shakespeare's younger brother Edmund, Pinter's son Daniel, and Sylvia Plath's daughter Frieda (also an ex-pat now living in Australia) and himself.
I didn't understand the corollaries, nor the purpose for them. If I had to guess I would say it is depression, or 'gloom' to which Lipsom refers at the end. Certainly I always find Thomas Hardy's writing impenetrable because of its gloominess. Pinter became estranged from his son and Plath committed suicide so there is a definite linkage of gloom there. Also, Plath's legacy of confessional poetry influences the work heavily – another link.
My problem is it was just too hard. I could congratulate myself and say I am better than everyone else because I 'got' much of it, but the truth is I don't understand art that is not accessible or doesn't appear to want to affect people. I like the idea that this piece is for the highly skilled and specialised because sometimes we all need brain food, but I also need to be left questioning or examining something to really appreciate what I have seen.
Lipsom states in the work that in 'his' opinion art should be unexpected and inevitable. For me the inevitability is missing – unless his whole point is that we all die... which is not unexpected. I guess after sitting through it and working my brain at maximum, I just felt like I was left without anything in return.
Apart from very elaborate costuming and some somewhat ungainly props, Lipsom avoided technical theatrical elements. If it wasn't for the costumery I would have called this Poor Theatre. The natural light entering the room (and a bit of overhead lighting as the sun went down) were all that was necessary, and his mobile phone created the sound source for playback moments (one of his non-verbal witticisms at work).
My favourite moment was when the sun was just dipping below the horizon and we sat in darkness and quiet in the room with Lipsom speaking in a gentle, hypnotic tone. There was a grace and restfulness about this moment which was absolutely essential in the maelstrom of the detailed and complex performance.
Every actor in Melbourne should see Edmund. The Beginning and every English literature scholar as well. It is a brilliant piece of theatre. I would not recommend it for the general public though. Not because they are too dumb to get it. More because it is a highly specialised piece and it could be detrimental to the lay person's relationship with live theatre if they get lost right from the beginning (a very real possibility) – something none of us want to occur.
Posted by Samsara at 1:56 am No comments:
The Insomnia Project - Theatre Review
What: The Insomnia Project
When: July 29 – August 9
Where: La Mama Courthouse
Written, composed and directed by: Natasha Moszenin
Performed by: Anne Gasko, Jai Luke, Claire Nicholls, Fiona Scarlett, and Andi Snelling
Lighting by: Kate Kelly
Stage management by: Sarah Walker
Normally, whenever I see that a show has been written and directed by the same person I can't help a little groan from escaping because in my experience it is almost impossible for a writer to step outside the work far enough to make the show a full experience for the audience. The Insomnia Project, currently showing at La Mama Courthouse, is the exception the to rule. Moszenin not only wrote and directed it, but she is also the composer and it is her understanding of musical composition which brings the sophistication and detail into her directing that is often lacking.
The Insomnia Project is a study of sleeplessness – the phenomenon, the experiences, the distress and frustration, and the treatments. Anyone who has ever experienced insomnia will find themselves inside this difficult condition almost immediately. The true genius of the show is its ability to viscerally replicate the sensations in the audience – which is also what makes the show something of a living nightmare and a belly laugh for those who have been there themselves.
Natasha is one of our most skilled and accomplished composers with an extraordinary amount of experience in theatrical arenas as well as scoring films and musical composition. She is classically trained, but has a rich history in contemporary music and theatrical composition.
The Insomnia Project loosely follows four people surviving an endless night of insomnia. The funniest story line is played by Nicholls, who is spending the night at her parent's house. She can't sleep, but also can't do anything because everyone else in the house is asleep so she can't make noise.
Snelling demonstrates an amazing understanding of her physical body in space as she replicates a zombie, and those scarey late night shadows, clinging to floors and walls in her torturous everlasting night. Scarlett has an amazing vocal texture, and her classically trained voice haunts the early hours of the morning with its hypnotic texture.
The show is a series of songs, but I wouldn't call it a musical. It is more music theatre than musical theatre.
Moszenin has a love of jazz, and that freestyle form litters the construction of the show in an intriguing and unpredictable manner. Kelly manages to mimic this in her lighting design, teasing us with suggestions that things will happen but then revealing the truth cleverly.
The Insomnia Project is musically intriguing, and whilst the cast do suffer from some pitchiness which, I suspect, prevented Moszenin from giving the vocals the creativity that was possible, the big reveal of the night was Moszenin's talent for directing. What she demonstrated was not just a flair for dramatic construction, but also an understanding of the body in the space, and sound in the space.
When you watch The Insomnia Project you are seeing a complete and unrelenting study which engages all of the senses. It has humour, pathos, despair, and frustration – everything you want in a good night of theatre.
Apart from engaging this range of emotions, Moszenin engages all of our senses. To do this she uses light, movement, zones, music, sounds, text…probably the only sense not engages is smell.
On a more serious note, this show is not just a study for the sake of it. There is commentary as the various characters search for escape.
Some try alcohol, some try repetitive tasks, some try forcing themselves to sleep. Eventually the topic of medically assisted sleep is touched on.
Moszenin goes through four popular products used to assist sleep including side effects and cautions. Whilst this could get mired in tedium and repetition, Moszenin uses musical techniques of repetition, progression and call and response to lift it out of the banal and make the messages clear and also just a little bit of fun without being inappropriate or trivialising the issues.
The Insomnia Project is a truly unique work and one of the really outstanding shows this year. Moszenin is a theatrical genius and I suspect we shall she her working on main stages in the very near future.
Longevity - Theatre Review
What: Longevity
Where: The Owl and Cat Theatre
When: 30 August - 2 September
Written and Directed by: Thomas Ian Doyle
Performed by: Brayden Lewtas, Fiona Scarlett, and Bee Townsend
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OWL AND CAT THEATRE
Thomas Ian Doyle is not only the writer of the brand new play Longevity, but he is also the Artistic Director of the Owl and Cat Theatre. Some may assume this gives his work privileged access, but the continued quality and originality of Doyle's writing speaks for itself in taking pride of place in this venue which only produces world premiers. His new play, currently being performed, is another outstanding example of his ability to focus in on the integral interactions of human beings with a laser beam of honesty and curiousity, with lots of intriguing twists and turns.
I haven't seen a lot of Doyle's work, but what he has a reputation for taking risks, breaking moulds, and having the audience step out of the box. His 2014 show Plastic Tree was performed over 12 days, and last year the show Bordello was a masterful success, putting the audience in the role of voyeur as they journeyed around the venue at will, discovering the fraught world of love, sex, and commerce.
Longevity is surprisingly conventional in its structure and presentation, but it packs a wallop you won't see coming. It is, essentially, a play about love - chasing love, falling in love, and living in love. This may sound banal, but there is nothing banal in what Doyle has created. Three people tied up in tangles, all talking about being honest with each other, and none of them managing to do so.
The most insightful moment in the play is when Juliet (Scarlett) tells Jess (Lewtas) 'Love isn't a photo in your pocket'. What she is talking about is love being a changing, morphing experience. It can't be held in one place, or one shape, or one moment, that sexuality and relationships are fluid and morphous. If only she would listen to her own words...
The actors are wonderful, which is demonstrated by Doyle's sparse staging. There is no set and only minimal props. There are no chairs for them to sit on, or tables for them to place things on or lean against. It is just the actors standing with each other, reacting to each other, and telling this story about fascinating relationships.
This leanness of direction is the perfect compliment to Doyle's leanness of writing. There is no excess fat in this script. It is fragmentary and yet full at the same time. The only bit of augmentation is an ongoing video tape of a foetus evolving from mitosis through the development of the head, the heart, and the limbs. This biological process mirrors the development of the relationships of the story and is a simple, yet most effective compliment to what is happening in the world on the stage.
Doyle is truly a masterful and inventive theatre maker who knows his craft and is developing a unique and impressive portfolio. Cancel everything you have on tonight and go and see Longevity before it closes.
Posted by Samsara at 10:26 pm No comments:
Bordello - Theatre Review
What: Bordello
When: Oct 13 – 17
Created by: Gabrielle Savrone and Thomas Ian Doyle
Bordello is dark and dirty and sexy and funny. This style of performance making is a new direction for Theatre owners Savronne and Doyle, and I have to say that it is a stunningly clever interpretation of the building and its possibilities.
The Owl and Cat is a repurposed shop front terrace style building, the kind found all over the older suburbs of Melbourne. In its usual configuration the ground floor is the theatre and the bar, level two is the green room, dressing room and office, and to be honest, I didn't even realise there was a third floor garret.
For the next few days, though, The Owl and Cat is a smoky bordello oozing sex and seething with intrigue, unrequited love, and sex triangles…or maybe they are sex hectagons? Played with a nuanced melodrama, and performed as structured improvisation over the course of an hour, the audience is permitted to roam at will around the venue to create their own experience of the story.
Unfortunately there is no program, so I can't tell you who the actors are, but the characters they portray are clearly defined and progress through the evening with clearly defined objectives. The performances are not all at the same level, but this degree of unstructured performance would challenge even the best in the craft.
The energy of the show is driven by the three 'working' girls; Trisha, Frankie, and Cherry. Trisha is a whirlwind of energy (and a swindler), Frankie is a tortured soul looking for love, and Cherry is very funny and witty but also very damaged and afraid of love. They are managed by the imperious madam Yvonne, who is in the middle of a divorce from David who has been seeing Frankie. Harry is madly in love with Cherry, and Matthew just wants his money's worth.
This is not a 'build your own adventure' event. It is more like 'choose your own order of scenes' experience. You can wander anywhere, anytime across all three levels and see what is going on and watch the story unfold. You can choose to follow a particular character, or (as I did) flit from room to room and scene to scene to construct a mosaic of images and extracts which form the full picture. Either way, you will get the complete story.
This is the genius of the construction of Bordello. The actors are carefully clear in constantly telling us who they are talking about and who has just walked in the room which is important because they move and we move, so it is easy to get confused.
The temptation is to follow the action and the loudest voices but I found myself enjoying the moments when actors were alone. The audience are handed masques to wear throughout the performance, and this is a parallel to the idea that we all wear masks in public.
When the actors were alone though, I felt as though they were removing their masks and I could get a glimpse at the real depths of pain and despair and loss and confusion they were experiencing. This was a moment of intimacy between me and them which I would never be able to experience in a normal theatrical setting.
As I walked through the performance, I found myself imagining I was a camera and I was constructing my own movie from an existing set of elements: The divorce papers being signed; the illicit kiss between Trisha and Frankie; Matthew taking a shower (yes there is nudity); Harry nervously pacing as he prepares to propose… The material is all there for the taking, all we have to do is gather it all in our own unique ways.
Savronne and Doyle have created an extremely clever and funny and sexy piece of immersive theatre which is incredibly well suited to this transitional season of hot weather and the old, worn ambience of the venue. We sweat under the masks just as you would in a South American whore house.
One word of warning – wear safe, comfortable shoes. There are three levels and it is all stairs. You will go up and down the staircases a number of times, so ditch the heels and go for trainers instead. Also, if you have contact lenses wear them instead of your glasses because the masques can be tricky otherwise.
Bordello will be one of the most intriguing nights of theatre you experience this year with an innovation and energy that is unique and exciting. Hurry up and book though. It is only on until Saturday and the house is strictly limited to 20 people per show.
The Last Brunch - Theatre Review
What: The Last Brunch
Where: The Studio - Gasworks Arts Park
Written and Directed by: Ben Dowthwaite
Performed by: Mathew Arter, Elizabeth Brennan, Jay haggett, Aidan Niarros, Ben Paine, Patrick Shields, and Jeff Wortman.
Set by; Robert Nightingale
Costumes by: Caillan Souter
MATHEW ARTER, PARTICK SHIELDS, AIDON NIARROS
Stage 6 are a new Victorian theatre company established by Dowthwaite and Arter from a working relationship begun during their studies at Deakin University. The Last Brunch is their second venture, (following Deux Ex Machina which is being restage as part of Melbourne Fringe Festival this year), and continues Dowthwaite's curiosity about the mythos and ritual surrounding religion. The show is currently on at Gasworks in their Studio space.
Dowthwaite has directed this play as well has having written it. I usually rail at this combination because I feel playwrights have difficulty seeing their work with an outside eye. In this case, I think it is a really good idea. Dowthwaite does not have the craft of writing developed enough to be able to hand over his ideas to another person yet.
The ideas in The Last Brunch are intriguing and strong, but it is the direction and collaboration with the actors which give the story it's life and nuance. There aren't really any rules on how many times 'The Chosen One' can be said before the audience are turned into homicidal maniacs, but if we consider our reactions nowadays to 'stop the boats' you may get a sense of where that line might be, and I think a world record is broken with the use of 'um' and 'er'...
The play deals with important concepts, questioning religion and cults. It asks whether there is a difference, if and why one might be better than the other, how seemingly normal people can become involved, and how contradictions between tenet and reality can be explained. There is much visual humour, with aesthetic nods to da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' as well as a not so subtle stabs at sects such as Scientology. Questions are asked about sanity, madness, gullibility, coercion and corruption: Heavy concepts, yet delivered (for the most part) in a lighthearted and funny evening of jabs, jibes, and jests.
The real heart of The Last Brunch lies in the wonderful ensemble work of the actors. Everyone holds their own in this group of seven, with each character (named after peripheral characters in the Christ story) well developed by the performers. This group of seven, in a smallish acting space, manage to achieve a synergy where every member of the troupe have created characters of great detail and individuality, and none of them drop out for even a single moment.
I am reluctant to pick anyone out because they are all so good but Haggett (Judas) is a craic from start to finish, Arter (Andrew) keeps the energy high and has comic timing to die for, and Brennan (Mary) is mesmerising. It is her amazing gift which allows the one truly horrific moment of story telling to blaze and makes what is generally a light hearted romp tear deep into the soul with a reality almost too painful to experience. This is also the moment Dowthwaite's directing shines as he takes this revelation as far as it can be sustained before it rips the show apart, then brings us all back to calmer waters. Who would have thought a Hamletesque ending would be considered calmer waters?
Niarros as doubting Thomas is beautifully crafted and Shields (James) is a star in the making. He needs to develop vocally, but here is an actor to watch as he develops his craft. Paine (Peter) does a fine job of controlling the action. Wortman (Simon) probably had the hardest job of all and did a mighty job with a character who probably shouldn't even be in the play. There is little context, need, or script for this character and making him stand out visually as Souter has done just makes this so much more obvious.
The Last Brunch is a fun night of theatre. It lacks the depth of writing to take it where it needs to go, but the actors are fun to watch and the directing is really strong.
Samsara's Dramas - from my pen to your ear
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Aquest gràfic cronològic del Big Bang mostra el seguit de successos segons el que proposa la teoria del Big Bang, des del començament del temps fins al final de l'Edat Negre Primordial (i el començament de la reionització).

Aquesta és una escala logarítmica que mostra  segon en comptes de segon. Per exemple, un microsegon és . Convertir -30 seguint una escala de segon es calcula  segons = un mil·lisegon. Un pas de 10 unitats en la escala és deu vegades més llarg que el pas previ.

Referències

Gràfica cronològica

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Wesley Eric Weston, Jr. (born March 3, 1981 in Houston, Texas), better known by his stage name Lil' Flip, is an American rapper known for his freestyle ability, and for becoming one of the first Houston rap artists to become mainstream and nationally known. Lil' Flip was given the title of "Freestyle King" by the late DJ Screw. He is also a member of the Screwed Up Click.
He was featured in Pepsi's Yahoo! "Houston Mic Pass" with Chamillionaire, Trae, Chingo Bling, Bun B, Short Dawg, H.A.W.K, Magno and Mike D. In 2006 he featured on Playalitical's Code Green album on the single "Its Been One". He also recently was featured on Underground Chicano rapper Mr. Capone-E's track "Drop Top Chevy" which also features fellow band label member Mr. Criminal.


Gints Zilbalodis (1994) is a Latvian filmmaker and animator. He studied at JRRMV in Riga. His animated short films have been noted for their uniquely cinematic visual style. Gints has worked as a freelance commercial director in Latvia.


text:
Q: Adding new columns on hundreds excel file with path reference into one pandas dataframe I have probably hundreds or thousands small excel file with bracket into one pandas dataframe
Before I merge them, I need to give flag for which category they come from
Here's my table of reference df
    Dataframe_name      Path                                 Sheet
45  finance_auditing    Finance - Accounting/TopSites-Fin... Aggregated_Data_for_Time_Period
46  finance_lending     Finance - Banking/TopSites-...          Aggregated_Data_for_Time_Period

What I did Dataframe_name name column is filled manually, but what I expected is using refference table
finance_auditing  = pd.read_excel('Finance - Accounting/TopSites-Fin... ','Aggregated_Data_for_Time_Period')
finance_lending   = pd.read_excel('Finance - Banking/TopSites-... ','Aggregated_Data_for_Time_Period')
finance_auditing['Dataframe_name'] = 'finance_auditing'
finance_lending['Dataframe_name'] = 'finance_lending'
dF_all = pd.concat([pd.read_excel(path, sheet_name=sheet)
           for path, sheet in zip(df.Path, df.Sheet)])

The problem is I have hundreds of of file to read and need to append them all

A: This would be fairly simply, you can assign the flag dynamically for each iteration:
pd.concat([pd.read_excel(path, sheet_name=sheet).assign(df_name=name)
                             for name, path, sheet in df.to_numpy()])

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
/**
 * Apache Kafka consumer & producer example programs
 * using the Kafka driver from librdkafka
 * (https://github.com/edenhill/librdkafka)
 */

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <cstdio>
#include <csignal>
#include <cstring>

#ifndef _MSC_VER
#include <sys/time.h>
#endif

#ifdef _MSC_VER
#include "../win32/wingetopt.h"
#include <atltime.h>
#elif _AIX
#include <unistd.h>
#else
#include <getopt.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#endif

/*
 * Typically include path in a real application would be
 * #include <librdkafka/rdkafkacpp.h>
 */
#include "rdkafkacpp.h"

static bool run = true;
static bool exit_eof = false;
static int eof_cnt = 0;
static int partition_cnt = 0;
static int verbosity = 1;
static long msg_cnt = 0;
static int64_t msg_bytes = 0;
static void sigterm (int sig) {
  run = false;
}

/**
 * @brief format a string timestamp from the current time
 */
static void print_time () {
#ifndef _MSC_VER
        struct timeval tv;
        char buf[64];
        gettimeofday(&tv, NULL);
        strftime(buf, sizeof(buf) - 1, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S", localtime(&tv.tv_sec));
        fprintf(stderr, "%s.%03d: ", buf, (int)(tv.tv_usec / 1000));
#else
        std::wcerr << CTime::GetCurrentTime().Format(_T("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")).GetString()
                << ": ";
#endif
}
class ExampleEventCb : public RdKafka::EventCb {
 public:
  void event_cb (RdKafka::Event &event) {

    print_time();

    switch (event.type())
    {
      case RdKafka::Event::EVENT_ERROR:
        std::cerr << "ERROR (" << RdKafka::err2str(event.err()) << "): " <<
            event.str() << std::endl;
        if (event.err() == RdKafka::ERR__ALL_BROKERS_DOWN)
          run = false;
        break;

      case RdKafka::Event::EVENT_STATS:
        std::cerr << "\"STATS\": " << event.str() << std::endl;
        break;

      case RdKafka::Event::EVENT_LOG:
        fprintf(stderr, "LOG-%i-%s: %s\n",
                event.severity(), event.fac().c_str(), event.str().c_str());
        break;

      case RdKafka::Event::EVENT_THROTTLE:
	std::cerr << "THROTTLED: " << event.throttle_time() << "ms by " <<
	  event.broker_name() << " id " << (int)event.broker_id() << std::endl;
	break;

      default:
        std::cerr << "EVENT " << event.type() <<
            " (" << RdKafka::err2str(event.err()) << "): " <<
            event.str() << std::endl;
        break;
    }
  }
};

class ExampleRebalanceCb : public RdKafka::RebalanceCb {
private:
  static void part_list_print (const std::vector<RdKafka::TopicPartition*>&partitions){
    for (unsigned int i = 0 ; i < partitions.size() ; i++)
      std::cerr << partitions[i]->topic() <<
	"[" << partitions[i]->partition() << "], ";
    std::cerr << "\n";
  }

public:
  void rebalance_cb (RdKafka::KafkaConsumer *consumer,
		     RdKafka::ErrorCode err,
                     std::vector<RdKafka::TopicPartition*> &partitions) {
    std::cerr << "RebalanceCb: " << RdKafka::err2str(err) << ": ";

    part_list_print(partitions);

    if (err == RdKafka::ERR__ASSIGN_PARTITIONS) {
      consumer->assign(partitions);
      partition_cnt = (int)partitions.size();
    } else {
      consumer->unassign();
      partition_cnt = 0;
    }
    eof_cnt = 0;
  }
};

void msg_consume(RdKafka::Message* message, void* opaque) {
  switch (message->err()) {
    case RdKafka::ERR__TIMED_OUT:
      break;

    case RdKafka::ERR_NO_ERROR:
      /* Real message */
      msg_cnt++;
      msg_bytes += message->len();
      if (verbosity >= 3)
        std::cerr << "Read msg at offset " << message->offset() << std::endl;
      RdKafka::MessageTimestamp ts;
      ts = message->timestamp();
      if (verbosity >= 2 &&
	  ts.type != RdKafka::MessageTimestamp::MSG_TIMESTAMP_NOT_AVAILABLE) {
	std::string tsname = "?";
	if (ts.type == RdKafka::MessageTimestamp::MSG_TIMESTAMP_CREATE_TIME)
	  tsname = "create time";
        else if (ts.type == RdKafka::MessageTimestamp::MSG_TIMESTAMP_LOG_APPEND_TIME)
          tsname = "log append time";
        std::cout << "Timestamp: " << tsname << " " << ts.timestamp << std::endl;
      }
      if (verbosity >= 2 && message->key()) {
        std::cout << "Key: " << *message->key() << std::endl;
      }
      if (verbosity >= 1) {
        printf("%.*s\n",
               static_cast<int>(message->len()),
               static_cast<const char *>(message->payload()));
      }
      break;

    case RdKafka::ERR__PARTITION_EOF:
      /* Last message */
      if (exit_eof && ++eof_cnt == partition_cnt) {
        std::cerr << "%% EOF reached for all " << partition_cnt <<
            " partition(s)" << std::endl;
        run = false;
      }
      break;

    case RdKafka::ERR__UNKNOWN_TOPIC:
    case RdKafka::ERR__UNKNOWN_PARTITION:
      std::cerr << "Consume failed: " << message->errstr() << std::endl;
      run = false;
      break;

    default:
      /* Errors */
      std::cerr << "Consume failed: " << message->errstr() << std::endl;
      run = false;
  }
}

class ExampleConsumeCb : public RdKafka::ConsumeCb {
 public:
  void consume_cb (RdKafka::Message &msg, void *opaque) {
    msg_consume(&msg, opaque);
  }
};

int main (int argc, char **argv) {
  std::string brokers = "localhost";
  std::string errstr;
  std::string topic_str;
  std::string mode;
  std::string debug;
  std::vector<std::string> topics;
  bool do_conf_dump = false;
  int opt;
  int use_ccb = 0;

  /*
   * Create configuration objects
   */
  RdKafka::Conf *conf = RdKafka::Conf::create(RdKafka::Conf::CONF_GLOBAL);
  RdKafka::Conf *tconf = RdKafka::Conf::create(RdKafka::Conf::CONF_TOPIC);

  ExampleRebalanceCb ex_rebalance_cb;
  conf->set("rebalance_cb", &ex_rebalance_cb, errstr);

  while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "g:b:z:qd:eX:AM:f:qv")) != -1) {
    switch (opt) {
    case 'g':
      if (conf->set("group.id",  optarg, errstr) != RdKafka::Conf::CONF_OK) {
        std::cerr << errstr << std::endl;
        exit(1);
      }
      break;
    case 'b':
      brokers = optarg;
      break;
    case 'z':
      if (conf->set("compression.codec", optarg, errstr) !=
	  RdKafka::Conf::CONF_OK) {
	std::cerr << errstr << std::endl;
	exit(1);
      }
      break;
    case 'e':
      exit_eof = true;
      break;
    case 'd':
      debug = optarg;
      break;
    case 'M':
      if (conf->set("statistics.interval.ms", optarg, errstr) !=
          RdKafka::Conf::CONF_OK) {
        std::cerr << errstr << std::endl;
        exit(1);
      }
      break;
    case 'X':
      {
	char *name, *val;

	if (!strcmp(optarg, "dump")) {
	  do_conf_dump = true;
	  continue;
	}

	name = optarg;
	if (!(val = strchr(name, '='))) {
          std::cerr << "%% Expected -X property=value, not " <<
              name << std::endl;
	  exit(1);
	}

	*val = '\0';
	val++;

	/* Try "topic." prefixed properties on topic
	 * conf first, and then fall through to global if
	 * it didnt match a topic configuration property. */
        RdKafka::Conf::ConfResult res = RdKafka::Conf::CONF_UNKNOWN;
	if (!strncmp(name, "topic.", strlen("topic.")))
          res = tconf->set(name+strlen("topic."), val, errstr);
        if (res == RdKafka::Conf::CONF_UNKNOWN)
	  res = conf->set(name, val, errstr);

	if (res != RdKafka::Conf::CONF_OK) {
          std::cerr << errstr << std::endl;
	  exit(1);
	}
      }
      break;

      case 'f':
        if (!strcmp(optarg, "ccb"))
          use_ccb = 1;
        else {
          std::cerr << "Unknown option: " << optarg << std::endl;
          exit(1);
        }
        break;

      case 'q':
        verbosity--;
        break;

      case 'v':
        verbosity++;
        break;

    default:
      goto usage;
    }
  }

  for (; optind < argc ; optind++)
    topics.push_back(std::string(argv[optind]));

  if (topics.empty() || optind != argc) {
  usage:
    fprintf(stderr,
            "Usage: %s -g <group-id> [options] topic1 topic2..\n"
            "\n"
            "librdkafka version %s (0x%08x)\n"
            "\n"
            " Options:\n"
            "  -g <group-id>   Consumer group id\n"
            "  -b <brokers>    Broker address (localhost:9092)\n"
            "  -z <codec>      Enable compression:\n"
            "                  none|gzip|snappy\n"
            "  -e              Exit consumer when last message\n"
            "                  in partition has been received.\n"
            "  -d [facs..]     Enable debugging contexts:\n"
            "                  %s\n"
            "  -M <intervalms> Enable statistics\n"
            "  -X <prop=name>  Set arbitrary librdkafka "
            "configuration property\n"
            "                  Properties prefixed with \"topic.\" "
            "will be set on topic object.\n"
            "                  Use '-X list' to see the full list\n"
            "                  of supported properties.\n"
            "  -f <flag>       Set option:\n"
            "                     ccb - use consume_callback\n"
            "  -q              Quiet / Decrease verbosity\n"
            "  -v              Increase verbosity\n"
            "\n"
            "\n",
	    argv[0],
	    RdKafka::version_str().c_str(), RdKafka::version(),
	    RdKafka::get_debug_contexts().c_str());
	exit(1);
  }

  /*
   * Set configuration properties
   */
  conf->set("metadata.broker.list", brokers, errstr);

  if (!debug.empty()) {
    if (conf->set("debug", debug, errstr) != RdKafka::Conf::CONF_OK) {
      std::cerr << errstr << std::endl;
      exit(1);
    }
  }

  ExampleConsumeCb ex_consume_cb;

  if(use_ccb) {
    conf->set("consume_cb", &ex_consume_cb, errstr);
  }

  ExampleEventCb ex_event_cb;
  conf->set("event_cb", &ex_event_cb, errstr);

  if (do_conf_dump) {
    int pass;

    for (pass = 0 ; pass < 2 ; pass++) {
      std::list<std::string> *dump;
      if (pass == 0) {
        dump = conf->dump();
        std::cout << "# Global config" << std::endl;
      } else {
        dump = tconf->dump();
        std::cout << "# Topic config" << std::endl;
      }

      for (std::list<std::string>::iterator it = dump->begin();
           it != dump->end(); ) {
        std::cout << *it << " = ";
        it++;
        std::cout << *it << std::endl;
        it++;
      }
      std::cout << std::endl;
    }
    exit(0);
  }

  conf->set("default_topic_conf", tconf, errstr);
  delete tconf;

  signal(SIGINT, sigterm);
  signal(SIGTERM, sigterm);

  /*
   * Consumer mode
   */

  /*
   * Create consumer using accumulated global configuration.
   */
  RdKafka::KafkaConsumer *consumer = RdKafka::KafkaConsumer::create(conf, errstr);
  if (!consumer) {
    std::cerr << "Failed to create consumer: " << errstr << std::endl;
    exit(1);
  }

  delete conf;

  std::cout << "% Created consumer " << consumer->name() << std::endl;

  /*
   * Subscribe to topics
   */
  RdKafka::ErrorCode err = consumer->subscribe(topics);
  if (err) {
    std::cerr << "Failed to subscribe to " << topics.size() << " topics: "
              << RdKafka::err2str(err) << std::endl;
    exit(1);
  }

  /*
   * Consume messages
   */
  while (run) {
    RdKafka::Message *msg = consumer->consume(1000);
    if (!use_ccb) {
      msg_consume(msg, NULL);
    }
    delete msg;
  }

#ifndef _MSC_VER
  alarm(10);
#endif

  /*
   * Stop consumer
   */
  consumer->close();
  delete consumer;

  std::cerr << "% Consumed " << msg_cnt << " messages ("
            << msg_bytes << " bytes)" << std::endl;

  /*
   * Wait for RdKafka to decommission.
   * This is not strictly needed (with check outq_len() above), but
   * allows RdKafka to clean up all its resources before the application
   * exits so that memory profilers such as valgrind wont complain about
   * memory leaks.
   */
  RdKafka::wait_destroyed(5000);

  return 0;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Commence the out-of-town visitors -- or even just those who've had one too many to drink -- because we have a guest bedroom! This room had been last on my list to finish, and unlike all the others, I had no preconceived visions for it. The (nearly) finished room isn't one I'd necessarily ever imagine designing, but maybe because of that and because it sort of just came together without much effort, it might be one of my favorite rooms in the house (which I admittedly say about every room in the house). It's just so cozy. Read on for more pics.
I love, love, love the mix of patterns in here. I happened upon these polka dot sheets at T.J. Maxx and both the zebra print fabric and Ikea pillow cover were purchased for our bedroom. With all the black and white and the rich wood of the bed, I thought...what the hell, let's throw another animal print on there for variety. And maybe even a furry throw. Both of the animal print pillows were DIYs, and I'm pretty proud of the piping on the leopard ones. In case you're interested, you can find the leopard print fabric here and the zebra print here.
One day, this room will likely house a small human being -- some might call it a nursery -- so I wanted to choose a color that would be versatile enough to keep. I have a serious love for grey paint. It's versatile, covers incredibly well, and can end up feeling so warm and velvety. This grey is Granite Dust by Valspar.
The wall opposite the bed is still awaiting some kind of art, but the little space beside the curtain got this silver animal head, which was in the Christmas decor section...Is it a reindeer? Regardless, it stays around all year.
I reused the framed photographs we had in our old foyer for either side of the bed, and the lamps are from here.
The hardware in this room had been covered with paint, but we stripped it all and brought it back to its former glory.
Man, oh man. I had thought Pete loved our bed, but as soon as this room was completed, he found a new favorite. He loves a made bed and a sunny spot, and this room is flush with it. I couldn't resist snapping a beauty shot or two.
So...who wants to stay over?!
I'm inviting myself over. It looks great!
It IS inviting! Great job. Your furry baby is breaking it in for any small humans that might come it's way as well. Pete's cool like that.
Mandy, your guest room looks SO good! And I think the color would look great in a nursery too :) I really like the Valspar Granite Dust in here and would love to feature this on my paint color blog, Involving Color. Let me know if you're interested!
SUPER room - however, as one who loves cats but is **highly** allergic to them, the one place you need to keep cat-free is a guest bed (or, at least, always remember to tell guests so they know & will bring heavy-duty allergy meds or book a hotel).
Seriously, I can't breath if my face is near cat hair (can't even pet cats unless I scrub my hands IMMEDIATELY following, for fear I'll touch my face) - and it's not something cat owners ever think about.
Another solution would be to have back-up bedding (pillow especially) - a hassle, I know, but it sure beats an emergency room visit in the middle of the night.


text:
Leaders at the Bridge
Faith-Based Fiction
Theological Commentaries
Young Spirituality
Building a Discipling Culture
Much ink and many pages have been devoted to all of the missional issues facing the Western church today. As our culture becomes more post-Christian with each passing day, we are all realizing that what has worked in the past is no longer working, that we are far less effective for the Kingdom than we were even 10 years ago. But we would suggest it isn't because we don't know what the Great Commission states or the imperatives of the Gospel, or that our church services just aren't getting it done.
My Sheep Have Ears
Jesus promised that his sheep would hear and know his voice, but what does his voice sound like?
How does he speak to his people today?
How can the contemporary church embrace prophetic ministry in a way that will both resource discipleship and empower mission?
Prophecy did not die out with the early church and remains a vitally important gift, bearing much fruit in the lives of disciples if well taught, responsibly handled, and ministered with love. There is a great need in the church today for a healthy, holistic and biblical prophetic ministry that will equip God's people to become more radical followers of Jesus and engage more effectively in the world around them.
Family on Mission
When God wanted to act on his promise to save the world, he started with a family and gave them a mission. He spoke to Abram and his household and they became a family on mission.
We see Jesus operating in the same way, gathering an extended-family-like group of disciples around himself before embarking on his mission. Jesus needed a family on mission.
Within the Trinity, the unity of God is expressed in a diversity of persons, which means that at the very heart of God's nature is family on mission. And thus God's preferred mode of operation has always been family on mission. In fact, discipleship doesn't really work apart from the context of a family on mission. Without that texture, discipleship becomes programmatic and mechanical, not really producing people with the character and competency of Jesus.
Covenant and Kingdom
For many, Scripture falls into much the same category as Shakespeare: valued and enjoyed, but seldom understood. It is not, however, out of reach. The ability to identify the main themes of any passage is a skill you can learn, even as you seek to apply its truth to your own life. Covenant and Kingdom: The DNA of the Bible guides you on a Scriptural quest for knowledge and understanding. Stories and verse from the Old and New Testaments are woven together and cross-referenced, until the connections are clear and indisputable, like DNA from the Bible. Although the great Biblical themes of Covenant and Kingdom find their fullest expression in Jesus, Covenant goes all the way back to the beginning, when the only thing required was to maintain the "oneness" that God had created. After the Fall, the way was blocked; yet, God built a bridge, in Covenant, back to us. In Jesus, that Covenant was fulfilled, as on the cross, he offered himself as the ultimate blood sacrifice.
Bigger Gospel
The gospel is not just about your afterlife and Christianity is not a program in sin management. Too often, we've made it just that. Have you wished you could share your Christian faith with others in a natural way without feeling awkward or preachy? Do you long for a faith that touches more than two hours a week? Then you need a Bigger Gospel.
The Forgotten Ways
Alan Hirsch's paradigm-shifting classic remains the definitive statement of the church as dynamic missional movement. The bestselling first edition ignited a conversation about how to harness the power of movements for the future growth of the church. In this major update, Hirsch shares significant insights gained along the way, provides fresh new examples of growing churches, and reflects on the last ten years of the missional movement. The new edition has been thoroughly updated and revised throughout and includes charts, diagrams, an expanded glossary of terms, new appendices, an index, a new foreword by Ed Stetzer, and a new afterword by Jeff Vanderstelt.
Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.
In the classic Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, the most important writer of the 20th century, explores the common ground upon which all of those of Christian faith stand together. Bringing together Lewis' legendary broadcast talks during World War Two from his three previous books The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality, Mere Christianity provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear this powerful apologetic for the Christian faith.
Is there credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God? Former atheist and Chicago Tribune journalist Lee Strobel says yes! In this revised and updated bestseller, The Case for Christ, Strobel cross-examines a dozen experts with doctorates from schools such as Cambridge, Princeton, and Brandeis, asking hard-hitting questions - and building a captivating case for Christ's divinity.
Evidence That Demands A Verdict
The modern apologetics classic that started it all is now completely revised and updated—because the truth of the Bible doesn't change, but its critics do. With the original Evidence That Demands a Verdict, bestselling author Josh McDowell gave Christian readers the answers they needed to defend their faith against the harshest critics and skeptics. Since that time, Evidence has remained a trusted resource for believers young and old. Bringing historical documentation and the best modern scholarship to bear on the trustworthiness of the Bible and its teachings, this extensive volume has encouraged and strengthened millions. Now, with his son Sean McDowell, Josh McDowell has updated and expanded this classic resource for a new generation. This is a book that invites readers to bring their doubts and doesn't shy away from the tough questions.
Pig and Sheep
Just when Little Pig starts thinking he'll never be able to leave the pigsty again, the shepherd comes along and asks what's wrong. Little Pig admits that he made a bad decision and the shepherd takes him back in the flock.
Gods Big Adventure
God's Big Adventure is an easy way to introduce your kids to LifeShapes, Covenant & Kingdom and help your family talk about discipleship and mission at home.
Let's Just Laugh At That For Kids
Let's Just Laugh at That For Kids is a powerful resource for adults who want the best for the young people in their lives. This book includes engaging stories, practical steps, and "laughter weapons" to teach children how to recognize and beat the lies the enemy tries to tell them. This is an interactive journey for adults and children to learn to "take every thought captive," to reinforce truth and hope in their lives. All the lie-defeating weapons of this book are laughter activated because laughing at what the enemy is saying and planning helps us overcome the power of lies (Psalm 2:4).
Let's Just Laugh At That For Kids 2
We all want the best for the young people in our lives. "Let's Just Laugh at That for Kids!" will help you set children up for success by teaching them to replace lies with truth and to take a combative stance against beliefs that try to hold them back. This book invites you into an interactive journey in taking every thought captive with the kids you love.In this second book of laughter–filled pages, we expose twenty more common lies kids often believe, and we continue their training in the use of "laughter weapons" to defuse the power of these lies. We then use Scripture, declarations, and practical wisdom to reinforce the truth.
When in Doubt, Love
info@thebridgeinallegan.com
247 N Main St, Allegan, MI 49010
©2020 by The Bridge in Allegan


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