The government has published new rates for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) that will start on 6th April 2018. So what does it mean for your small business?
First, you need to make sure you increase pay in April next year or risk facing legal action from underpaid and—let's face it—irate staff. And second, you'll need to adjust your 2018 budget.
So what are the SSP & SMP rates?
Statutory Sick Pay will increase from £89.35 per week to £92.05.
Statutory Maternity Pay (and the other family rates like Statutory Paternity Pay) will increase from £140.98 per week to £145.18.
Not a lot, right? Nothing to worry about. Well, not quite.
If your employee takes a full entitlement of sick leave or maternity leave, those numbers add up. And when you have a small business, every penny counts.
SSP will jump by 3%, which means over the full 28-week entitlement you'll fork out an extra £75.60.
Meanwhile, with a 2.9% rise, SMP leaps a little lower. But over the course of the full 39 weeks' maternity leave, you'll shell out another £138.58.
Then why announce the rate rises now?
Some of you will be able to cast your minds back to 2015, which was when the SSP and SMP last saw rate increases (impressive work if you remember, by the way).
The reason they've stayed the same for so long is that statutory rates tend to increase every April in line with the consumer price index (CPI), and the 0.1% CPI fall in the year to September 2015 meant there were no rate increases in April 2016.
But in the year to September 2016, CPI has increased by 1% causing the rate increases for 2018.
Start planning a revised budget for 2018, and make sure you don't forget to increase statutory rates on your payroll on 6th April 2018.
Plus, we've made payroll less stressful with the launch of payroll exceptions reports in BrightHR, so you'll never have to face payroll deadline panic again.
Find out how BrightHR can help you with your payroll process today.
Need to know more about the statutory rate rises? Call our brilliant BrightAdvice team today on 0844 892 3928.


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All posts tagged "black comedians"
You Go Boy! Martin Lawrence is Engaged
As fans await Bad Boys 3, Martin Lawrence is making headlines for a reason other than the action-packed Blockbuster. The Big Momma's House actor...
By #teamEBONYApril 3, 2017
How White People Who Hate the Word 'Racist' Are A Danger to Black Lives
On February 4th, the night before the Super Bowl between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots, comedian and...
By Shantell E. JamisonMarch 30, 2017
Black Listed
Tracy Morgan Improving
10 days after a deadly car crash, Tracy Morgan's condition is improving. Tracy Morgan's condition has been upgraded from critical...
Jay Pharaoh on SNL's Diversity Problem
Saturday Night Live is a storied franchise that has found ways to cultivate stars until they're ready to be released...
By #teamEBONYOctober 4, 2013
10 Great Comedy Pairings We'd Like to See on TV [PHOTOS]
Ask any funny person just how hard it is to get yuks on stage as a solo act, and they'll...
By #teamEBONYJanuary 9, 2013
[INTERVIEW]D.L. Hughley Wants You to 'Shut Up' and Read
D.L. Hughley's comedy has long since been rich with his insight about politics and global affairs, a fact that led to...
By Jamilah LemieuxAugust 13, 2012
[INTERVIEW] Cedric The Entertainer Talks "The Soul Man"
From Harlem's iconic "Showtime at the Apollo" stage, BET's "ComicView", to major comedy tour after television show, Cedric The Entertainer...
By Geneva S. ThomasJune 20, 2012

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


With thousands of directors about to descend on Chicago, we give our annual look at the performers and clinicians who will make the week memorable.
Although some purists prefer to conduct only original band works, pieces derived from folk songs can give students an opportunity to play music with interesting ideas but easy rhythms and ranges.
Many students are deeply interested in music but do not want to pursue a career as a teacher. Here are some techniques to show students the myriad music careers outside the classroom.
Directors sometimes complain about distant administrators who do not support the music program. Here is a quick primer of organizations and publications that influence administrators and may affect how they view your program.


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Gas Scam
Jordan government rocked by legal challenges over secret gas deal with Israel
New details of controversial agreement has brought pressure on Amman, with politicians and activists looking to tear it up
The SSCV Thialf crane vessel pictured on 31 January 2019 following work on the Leviathan natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea (AFP)
Mohammad Ersan
Published date: 17 July 2019 13:36 UTC | Last update: 1 year 6 months ago
A raft of legal challenges filed across Jordan has placed the kingdom's latest controversial gas deal with Israel in jeopardy, and placed greater strain and uncertainty on the government of Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz.
After an earlier deal sparked protests, Jordan secretly signed another agreement in 2016 to purchase even more of its neighbour's natural gas, however this latter deal is now causing uproar after details of it emerged.
According to the agreement, US-based Noble Energy and Israel's Delek Group were to supply $10bn worth of gas from the massive offshore Leviathan field to Jordan's state-owned National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) over 15 years.
But earlier this month, Jordanian MP Saleh Armouti, who obtained a copy of the agreement and shared it with the media, said the public had been misled by the government over the deal, and that despite its insistence that the agreement cannot be cancelled, there are several ways out for Amman.
Armouti's insistence that the deal contains legal loopholes has mobilised activists in the "National Campaign to Overturn the Gas Deal with the Zionist Entity" protest group, a coalition of professional unions, opposition parties and lawyers that has been pursuing the issue since 2016.
The Egypt-Israel gas deal: What's the chance it will go up in smoke?
In courts in the cities of Irbid, Madaba, Amman, Zarqa and Karak, around 220 lawsuits were filed by lawyers on behalf of Jordanians free of charge, in an attempt to put an end to Jordan's purchase of Israeli gas. Lawsuits began to be filed on Sunday and are set to continue up to Thursday.
According to Hisham Bustani, the campaign's coordinator, in the lawsuits the group is asking the government four things:
First, a halt to any legal and business dealings related to the deal, including work such as the laying of pipes.
Second, cancellation of all land acquisitions undertaken for the project and for land already seized to be handed back to its original owners.
Third, the government adheres to popular calls for the deal to be scrapped, and does so without paying the $1.5bn cancellation fee the government says it will face.
Fourth, the suit calls for holding those behind the agreement accountable.
Bustani called the agreement "absurd" and "politically, strategically and morally disastrous".
"It supports the Zionists and their terror from our side and it dilutes our country's sovereignty and independence at the same time," he said.
Leaked details
As revealed by the Israeli press in 2016, the agreement stipulates that Jordan will purchase gas that comes from Leviathan, Israel's largest offshore gas field.
The overall cost for Jordan stands at $10bn, with Israel receiving $8bn of that for supplying 300 million cubic metres of gas daily for a period of 15 years.
The deal would have been particularly valuable to Delek and Noble which has yet to produce any gas from Leviathan since it was discovered in 2010.
Companies typically require agreements to be made in advance of producing gas from fields because they are so expensive to develop, so the Jordan deal would have made further deals on the field more likely.
Since Israel discovered gas off its coast a little over a decade ago, Tamar is the only field to have produced gas for commercial consumption. It currently supplies nearly all of Israel's gas. Its only non-domestic customers are Jordan's state-owned Arab Potash Company and its affiliate Jordan Bromine.
Jordanian protesters hold slogans reading, "no to normalisation with the Zionist enemy", "gas, enemy, occupation" during a protest in Amman in 2016 (AFP)
Previously, it had been reported that the most recent deal was inked by Jordan's NEPCO, with US firm Noble Energy acting as its guarantor.
However, the leaked agreement document, which has been seen by Middle East Eye, revealed that the Jordanian and US governments are also acting as guarantors.
This has led to fears that not only is Amman committed to paying the deal's costs, but also if it is unable to then Washington will suspend its aid payments to Jordan in the event of any default.
'It supports the Zionists and their terror from our side and it dilutes our country's sovereignty and independence at the same time'
- Hisham Boustani, campaign coordinator
The document also shows that were Jordan to discover its own reserves of gas, Amman would still be unable to lower the percentage it acquires by more than 20 percent.
One detail that the MP said the public had been misled on was that the deal was not only signed with Nobel Energy and Delek, rather with NBL, a consortium of four companies that the two are members of. Armouti questioned who was behind the other two members of NBL.
In terms of payment, Jordan must pay $1.5bn in the first five years, with another $800m due after 10.
If Jordan wishes to cancel the deal after 10 years, it must pay a $400m penalty.
The Jordanian government has not commented following Armouti's latest revelations. It did not respond for MEE's requests for comment.
Armouti has threatened to table a no confidence motion against the government unless it tears up the deal.
'Politically terrorised'
Jordan, which is struggling under a moribund economy, turned to Israeli gas in an attempt to wean itself off dependence on supply from Egypt.
In 2011, repeated attacks on the pipeline between Egypt and Jordan disrupted the country's supply.
In the face of faltering gas supplies, Jordan was forced to turn to expensive fuel oil for its power needs, resulting in a 30 percent hike in its budget deficit.
Overall the pipeline attacks cost Jordan $5bn, with $3bn of that being charged to consumers with an extra expense on the public's energy bills.
Palestinian gas: The Black Box
Speaking to Middle East Eye, Armouti said the Jordanian government has been "politically terrorised" by the 2016 agreement, and was pressured into signing it by the US Embassy in Amman.
There are ways out without having to pay the penalty, however, Armouti said.
"Among the legal loopholes is the fact that the agreement was never presented to parliament for approval. This is a violation of paragraph 2 of article 33 of the Jordanian constitution, which states that all international agreements and treaties which have a financial burden on the treasury and affect the rights of Jordanians are considered invalid if not approved," Armouti said.
"The agreement can also be cancelled because the gas pipeline has not been finalised due to the rejection of the professional unions and landowners where the pipeline is supposed to pass through. Various legal cases are pending on this level."
According to the MP, the conditions of the deal state that if NEPCO can prove it has financial problems, it can be liquidated in accordance to Jordanian company law, thereby nixing the agreement.
Following a stormy session in parliament in March, the government agreed to refer the gas deal to the constitutional court to decide its legality. However the government is yet to do so.
This is not the first gas deal Jordan has inked with Israel.
'Among the legal loopholes is the fact that the agreement was never presented to parliament for approval'
- MP Saleh Armouti
In 2014, Jordan's Arab Potash company signed an agreement, also with Noble Energy and Delek Group, to import $500m worth of Israeli gas over 15 years.
The gas, which came from Israel's offshore Tamar field, began flowing into Jordan in March 2017.
A second deal to purchase gas from Tamar was signed last year for $200m.
Despite the gas agreements' existence becoming public knowledge, the actual cost that Jordan is paying for a single unit of gas purchased from Israel continues to be a state secret.
Some believe that Jordan is actually paying over world market price for gas coming from Israel.
Cyprus backtracks on claim that 'pirate state' Turkey stole gas data
'Black day': Hundreds rally in Jordan over 'treasonous' gas deal with Israel
Egypt's natural gas companies ordered to pay $1.76bn to Israel
Inside Jordan
Amman hit by protests over secret Jordan-Israel gas deal
After 20 years of rule, Jordan's King Abdullah stands on shaky ground
Notorious Jordanian corruption case involving king's uncle takes new turn


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Iraqi FM interested in Russian companies rebuilding power plants in Iraq
Iraqi Foreign Minister expressed interest in Russian companies rebuilding power plants in Iraq, but said nothing concrete of the Russian bid to tap the country's giant West Qurna oil field.
Hoyshan Zebari said after meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that an intergovernmental commission was to meet soon to discuss specifics of Russian companies' activities in Iraq, including prospects of Russian oil giant JSC Lukoil's exploring the West Qurna.
Lavrov said that Lukoil hopes to tap West Qurna as part of a consortium with ConocoPhillips. The U.S. oil giant holds a 20-percent stake in Lukoil, and analysts have said it could help the Russian company return to developing the oil field.
"The Iraqi market is open for competition of companies from all countries, and we have no special attitude for or against Russian companies," Zebari told reporters after the talks.
Russia, which developed close ties with Iraq under Saddam Hussein's regime and strongly opposed the U.S.-led war, has remained largely aloof from the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.
Lukoil's 1997 contract to drill at the West Qurna field, which has an estimated reserve capacity of 4 billion barrels, has been hamstrung under the new authorities in Iraq.
The Iraqi parliament is expected to pass a new law that will review previous oil contracts and open the way to a wave of tenders to tap Iraq's enormous oil wealth.
Zebari said the Iraqi government encourages participation of Russian companies in rebuilding and maintaining Russian-built power plants in Iraq.
Lavrov said Russian companies were concerned about instability in Iraq, and that Moscow expected the Iraqi authorities to help provide security.
"I'm convinced that the Iraqi government's efforts to advance the national reconciliation and improve the security situation would help create more favorable conditions for broad trade and economic cooperation," Lavrov said.


Establishing professional relationships with prospective clients and business partners (main priority), as well as maintain productive relationship with existing customers.
Provide customers expert technical support and answer queries related to our products.
Have 2 years minimum experience with CRM databases e.g. Salesforce.
To be fluent speaking and professional written standard in German.
To be very good written and spoken English (native or fluent).
To have knowledge of MetaTrader 4 & 5 platforms or other trading platforms.
To have knowledge and interest in trading, FX and CFD markets and derivative products.
To demonstrate professionalism and enthusiasm towards clients.
Have confidence and possess solid negotiation and communication skills.
To be willing to travel on request.
Additional language skills (native or fluent only).
To be organised and able to handle high workload.
Be able to keep high working standards throughout.


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After completing his tour in Japan with American Hi-Fi, Butch Walker will return to the states to play a string of shows with the band Low Millions. The tour will kick off on May 8th in Raleigh, NC and conclude later that month in Nashville, TN.
After completing his tour in Japan with American Hi-Fi, Butch Walker will return to the states to play a string of shows with the band Low Millions. The tour will kick off on May 8th in Raleigh, NC and conclude later that month in Nashville, TN. (See Dates below) Low Millions are currently promoting their debut album "Ex-Girlfriends", which features the hit single "Eleanor" and the new single "Mocking Bird." You can read Alternative Addiction's review of this impressive album here. Butch Walker is promoting his latest release, "Letters", which features the singles "Mixtape" and "Don't Move". After Walker finishes this tour, he'll be flying back to Japan for a short period of time to produce an album for the Japanese band Puffy Amiyumi, then he'll be on his way back to the US for a full summer tour with Avril Lavigne and Gavin DeGraw. Butch Walker / Low Millions Tour Dates: 8-May Lincoln Theater Raleigh, NC 9-May Black Cat Washington DC 10-May Webster Theater Hartford, CT 12-May Northern Lights Albany, NY 13-May Surf Club Asbury park, NJ 14-May Iron Horse North Hampton, NY 15-May Club Ritual Levittown, NY 17-May Axis Boston, MA 17-May Maxwells Hoboken, NJ 19-May TLA Philadelphia, PA 20-May Metron (tent) Harrisburg, PA 22-May Magic Bag Detroit, MI 23-May Mill Creek Blues Appleton, WI 24-May Metro Chicago 26-May Exit in Nashville, TN


Any DVD Clone is a powerful and easy-to-use DVD movie decrypter and copier software tool for cloning any non-protected or copy-protected DVD movies to DVD or computer hard drive, copying any DVD9 movie to DVD9 disc, or shrinking any double-layer DVD9 movie to a DVD5 disc with all protections (Region code, CSS, RC, RCE, APS, UOPs, Sony ARccOS) removed automatically!Remove new Sony ARccOS protection, decrypt and copy ARccOS protected DVDs smoothly.
...... It's an easy use DVD decrypter as well as a fast DVD decrypter for Vista and XP. No special skill or knowledge is needed to copy protected DVD movies.
With Any DVD Clone, you can copy DVD movie to DVD/computer with 1:1 ratio and super high DVD copy speed, shrink DVD9 to DVD5 with great quality, copy protected DVD to DVD folder or ISO file, and preview DVD movie when DVD copying. It is the best DVD decrypter for both Windows XP and Vista, and the best choice to make backup copies of any non-protected and copy-protected movie DVDs.
Qweas is providing links to Any DVD Clone 1.31 as a courtesy, and makes no representations regarding Any DVD Clone or any other applications or any information related thereto.
Any questions, complaints or claims regarding this application Any DVD Clone 1.31 must be directed to the appropriate software vendor.
You may click the publisher link of Any DVD Clone on the top of this page to get more details about the vendor.


Google AdWords may look very complicated and time-consuming to many, but in fact anyone can set up good advertising with a few basic tips. After reading this you will have a good understanding of how to get started with AdWords so that your ads and keywords are optimised to reach your potential customers.
AdWords lets you write ads and enter keywords that you bid a chosen amount of money on in an automated auction. When a potential customer enters a search term in Google, relevant ads appear at the top of the page and are "auctioned". The more you bid, the higher the likeliness that your ad will appear above and not a competitor's. The strongest ad messages should include some important keywords and a call-to-action, and are linked to the relevant webpage.
Your ads should be of high quality. Quality means i.e. that your potential customers should be able to be directed straight to the right product or service page. High-quality ads are rewarded by Google with a higher rank, but they also cost less. To get started with AdWords, look at how your web shop is structured and try mimicking this when adding campaigns and ad groups. The campaigns are in fact your product ranges or services, and ad groups are the sub-categories beneath. As an example, take a furniture shop. The three campaigns could be called: Wardrobes, Beds and Sofas and the ad group for Sofas could be i.e. leather sofas. Keeping a clear structure will make it easy for you to manage your ads.
Keywords are the basics of your ad campaigns. By writing keywords with the customer in mind you increase the chance of your ad appearing in Google. Think about what your customer would search for if they wanted to find your products or services. What would YOU type into Google? AdWords offers a tool to find potential keywords to add to your list. It will also tell you if your bid is too low to appear on the first page, and you can play with the amounts to see what works best. Also, Google Trends gives you a good idea of what search terms are hot right now. Less keywords might be more in this case, so make sure that your keywords are strong and well-themed within the right campaign. You will want to add the most popular ones, but there is no lower or upper limit.
There are two ways to add keywords in Google AdWords. The first is Broad Match which means whenever someone types in leather sofa, any combination of these two words may appear. For example, black leather sofa might also trigger your ad appearing. The second is Negative Match which means you can enter keywords that shouldn't make your ad appear. This is a good idea if your leather sofa's are made of fake leather, you might want to add the word fake to the Negative Match words to avoid the "wrong" customer to click on your ad. If the person is not looking for real leather, they will probably not be interested in your product and these clicks will just mean extra costs for you.
To be able to write high-quality ads you should start off by making a list of all relevant keywords for each ad group. Skip the too generic words like 'furniture' and make sure you are not using the same keywords in ad groups situated in the same campaign. Also make sure that your keywords describe the product in other ways than i.e. just 'cheap' or too specific like 'high-quality black stitched leather sofas'.
AdWords makes it possible for you to add more than one ad to each ad group without having to pay for all of them. Google will only display one of them at a time so that you can see which ones work the best and delete the ones that aren't getting you customers. Try writing 3-4 different ads within an ad group and then check how many clicks each ad gets. The best ads include a headline that focuses on the product with a description that tells the viewer the benefits of buying it from you, and a call-to-action. Last but not least, make sure that the page URL is clean and short, and link your ad to the relevant webpage.
CTR stands for Clickthrough Rate and shows you how many people click on your ad after seeing it. The Average Position is the position your ad will normally appear on in the Google ranking. If the position is more than 11, you are probably not appearing on the first page and you should either change your ad or bid more on it. You can also see the CPC which is Cost Per Click for each ad, and the Cost Per Converted Click if someone has bought your product after clicking on your ad.
There is obviously a whole range of insight you will be able to get through Google Adwords. I encourage you to look into the different tools and settings and to play around with it. The key is to keep coming back to your AdWords account to check up on your ads' progress and to delete keywords that are not delivering. By following the steps above you should now be able to set up a good base for your website. Download the complete E-book here.
Please feel free to comment below and follow for more "How-to" blog posts.


Happy Sunday! Improved health is definitely worth some gratitude. I'm thankful for all of your research on health-related matters. I thought I was pretty up-to-date and then you give me another tidbit to transform my thinking. I'm thankful to call you friend. I decided to Tweet my gratitude for Bolten's challenge. So far I've done a combination of platforms, but I think I'll concentrate on Twitter for the next 26 days or so.
Awesome! Thanks for your participation in my November gratitude challenge, Carol! I'm delighted tohear that you are doubly thankful. That is the beauty of expressing gratitude - always leads us to be thankful for more.


BSH is a popular learning community that provides high-quality, educational, and entertaining podcasts, courses and other media to help empower and inspire people worldwide to live their best lives. They have 120,000+ students in all 195 countries.
BSH's existing website provided a clean, professional, and simple look. However, Jonathan wants to increase user engagement, improve credibility, and create a better online presence. He asked for a strategic redesign of UI and improve the user experience to enhance the overall efficiency of the site. The challenge was to retain the current website structure while implementing a more modern, energetic and polished look to have a better conversion.
We worked closely with Jonathan's team and create the perfect UI and UX for BSH. We've added new pages and sections like email capture to the banner and a compelling webinar countdown sidebar widget to generate prospective students. We created a new "Start Here" page to guide visitors on how to start. We also create an interactive products page for students so they can easily select which products best suit their challenges.
BSH's website redesign has improved site performance and conversion. Everyone involved in the redesign wanted it to be a real showcase of what BSH is all about, which is to help people's lives through learning. And that's exactly what we achieved.
Our new site for BSH is fully responsive, offering an innovative user experience no matter what device you are using a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop.
BSH has a wide collection of educational media products and podcasts. Our goal is to make it easy for users to navigate content. Therefore, we implemented a masonry layout for Products page to easily sort them based in their category.
Jonathan wanted the viewer to remain engaged as they navigated the site. So we lay out contents and pages systematically to entice visitors to keep reading.


A simple Logic Circuit to stop a machine from producing after reaching Stacker Limit.
Connect stacker to a Machine, and wire it up.
Turn the Logic Screws to these settings.
Turn the Logic Chips on, and then use the Dail on the Stacker for the amount of Items it should produce, Then operate the machine as normaly, select the item you want to make, hit Activate.
Then when the Number you set on the Stacker dail is reached, the Machine will deactivate.


Also referred to as unrestricted funds, discretionary funds give the STW Developments Foundation the greatest flexibility in responding to present and future charitable needs of the region. Donors contributing to or creation a discretionary fund rely on the expertise of the STW Development Foundation Board and staff to identify and evaluate the most effective use for the fund.
A field-0f-interest fund allow the donor to invest in a specific area he or she cares about within the STW Development Foundation's eligible activities. With this option the donor relies on staff's knowledge and experience to identify organizations capable of making the greatest impact in the specific area that motivates you most.
A donor advised fund gives donors the privilege of suggesting the eligible organizations or communities to receive grants. While the decision remains with the STW Development Foundation, it listens closely to its donors and does its best to honor their recommendations that are consistent with the STW Development Foundation's charitable objectives.
A designated fund allows donors to name specific charities as the recipient of the distributions generated by the fund. Designated funds allow donors to support specific charities while the Foundation makes sure the grant remains relevant over time and responsive to changing circumstances.
Contributions to this fund are made to support the operation of the STW Development Foundation and its activities. The principal income and this fund may be used to defray current operating expenses at the discretion of the Board of Directors. Income from this fund in excess of current administrative needs of the STW Development Foundation may be use to augment the income from the discretionary fund.
A community fund is a permanent charitable endowment that specifically supports non-profit, government, and other public agencies with a particular defined area. Local citizens knowledgeable about the area serve as the grantmaking advisors. Grants focus on building the assets and resources that already exist in the community to increase economic development opportunities, enhance the quality of life, and promote civic betterment. Each Community Fund Advisory Board is encouraged to review and recommend local discretionary grants to the STW Development Foundation who retains the authority to award and administer any grants made.
A non-profit organization that may have received a bequest, charitable remainder trust, or a previously established endowment may establish an agency endowment fund within the STW Development Foundation. The Foundation provides professional management of the endowment relieving the organization from the administrative burden and allowing the non-profit to focus on its mission. Donors may add to these funds at any time and in any amount. An agency endowment fund carries a $10,000 minimum.
Acorn funds - as the name implies - are funds that start small and grow as dollars are "planted" within it. A donor who wants to establish a fund with a limited (minimum of $200) initial contribution can create an acorn fund. Acorn funds allow donors to invest in the future in installments. Grants can be made from acorn funds after they reach the $5,000 minimum and are converted to an endowment fund.
Under certain circumstances the STW Development Foundation will accept and manage non-endowed, temporary flow-through funds designated for a specific charitable purpose that benefit the region and are consistent with the mission of the Foundation. Flow-through funds are good if you want to make a contribution to a worthwhile project or service in your community; either alone or with others, and if you want the full amount of your gift to be available now. You create or add to a non-permanent pass-through fund, the principal amount and any earnings of which are disbursed for the specified purpose. The tax advantage to the flow-through donor is that he or she gets an immediate tax deduction when the gift is made.


Following are currency exchange calculator and the details of exchange rates between U.S. Dollar (USD) and South African Rand (ZAR).
Here is the USD to ZAR Chart. Select a time frame for the chart; 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, year to day, 1 Year and all available time which varies from 7 to 13 years according to the currency. You can also, download the chart as a png or jpeg image or as a pdf file or directly print the chart by clicking on the corresponding button in the top right of the chart.


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About Porchfest
Buy the Poster
Attending Porchfest
2021 Line-Up
Art!
WE'RE GEARING UP FOR
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2022.
It's the off season here at Porchest HQ so things are pretty quiet. But they'll heat back up in the spring and when the time is right we'll let you know what's what.
One change you can start thinking about and preparing for now: Effective 2022, we'll no longer offer potluck band assignments. All hosts and bands will make their own connections in advance, then register together. We'll make the time slot assignments and manage the master schedule as normal to ensure everything works.
Why the change? First, it reflects our long term ambitions to increasingly delegate everything but the most crucial logistics to the grassroots level. Porchfest should never, by definition, be a top-down, centrally controlled event. A couple hundred folks doing one thing is far better than a few folks doing a couple hundred things.
It's practical, too. We've found that hosts and bands that haven't made their own arrangements are far more likely to cancel, often at the last minute. We simply lack the resources to respond and reorganize at that frequency. But fear not. In 2021, almost 70% of our performers arranged their own porch by choice so we know it works. Make friends with the locals. It's fun.
If you're a potential host, be thinking about who you'd like to play your porch and line 'em up. If you're a performer, check in with any Oakhurst neighbors you know and see what you can put together. Or if you don't know anyone, use social media to find friends of friends of friends. It's a thing. Check it out.
Until next steps, stay well. Get in touch if you need to reach us.
EMAIL PORCHFEST HQ
© 2021, Oakhurst Porchfest.
Porchfest is a grassroots community music festival where front porches become stages, yards become venues, and radical generosity and good will rule the day.


Open access study Cultural hitchhiking and competition between patrilineal kin groups explain the post-Neolithic Y-chromosome bottleneck, by Zeng, Aw, and Feldman, Nature Communications (2018).
In human populations, changes in genetic variation are driven not only by genetic processes, but can also arise from cultural or social changes. An abrupt population bottleneck specific to human males has been inferred across several Old World (Africa, Europe, Asia) populations 5000–7000 BP. Here, bringing together anthropological theory, recent population genomic studies and mathematical models, we propose a sociocultural hypothesis, involving the formation of patrilineal kin groups and intergroup competition among these groups. Our analysis shows that this sociocultural hypothesis can explain the inference of a population bottleneck. We also show that our hypothesis is consistent with current findings from the archaeogenetics of Old World Eurasia, and is important for conceptions of cultural and social evolution in prehistory.
Our hypothesis explains the bottleneck as a consequence of intergroup competition between patrilineal kin groups, which caused cultural hitchhiking between Y-chromosomes and cultural groups and reduction in Y-chromosomal diversity. Competition between demes can dramatically reduce genetic diversity within a population1, especially if the population is structured such that variation is greater between demes than within demes. Culturally transmitted kinship ideals and norms can cause homophilous sorting and limit interdemic gene flow, creating homogeneous demes that differ strongly from one another. Patrilineal corporate kin groups, with coresiding male group members descending from a common male ancestor, would produce such an effect on Y-chromosomes only, as patrilineal corporate kin groups generally coexist with female exogamy40, which would homogenize the mitochondrial gene pools of different groups41,42.
With intergroup competition between patrilineal corporate kin groups, two mechanisms would operate to reduce Y-chromosomal diversity. First, patrilineal corporate kin groups produce high levels of Y-chromosomal homogeneity within each social group due to common descent, as well as high levels of between-group variation. Second, the presence of such groups results in violent intergroup competition preferentially taking place between members of male descent groups, instead of between unrelated individuals. Casualties from intergroup competition then tend to cluster among related males, and group extinction is effectively the extinction of lineages.
There is evidence that other analogous situations involving gene-culture hitchhiking in culturally-defined social groups may have affected genetic diversity. Central Asian pastoralists, who are organized into patriclans, have high levels of intergroup competition and demonstrate ethnolinguistic and population-genetic turnover down into the historical period59. They also have a markedly lower diversity in Y-chromosomal lineages than nearby agriculturalists42,60. In fact, Central Asians are the only population whose male effective population size has not recovered from the post-Neolithic bottleneck; it remains disproportionately reduced, compared to female estimates using mtDNA4. Central Asians are also the only population to have star-shaped expansions of Y-chromosomes within the historical period, which may be due to competitive processes that led to the disproportionate political success of certain patrilineal clans60.
You only have to imagine this process happening in many successive waves of expansion (external as well as internal to each culture) since the first Neolithic expansions in the steppe in the late-6th millennium BC, even before the formation of the Khvalynsk-Sredni Stog cultural-historical community, to understand what happened in the next thousands of years with evolving patrilineal clans and their distinct cultures.
The whole paper is an interesting read. It's great to see sociology and genetics finally catch up and interact to develop more complex anthropological hypotheses.
Also, they use YFull estimates, which vindicates my use of them in the Indo-European demic diffusion model (2017). On the other hand, their use of these estimates right now in 2018 for R1a-M417 and R1b-M269 – when we know of a R1a-Z93 case much older than YFull's estimated 5,000 YBP for this subclade, and possibly for R1b-L23, too, is the biggest pitfall in their temporal assessment, although the bottlenecks seen in Chalcolithic expansions seem to have indeed began during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the steppe.
So, say goodbye (if you haven't already) to dat fantasy 'steppe people' of mixed R1a/R1b descent cooperating with the same mixed steppe language, all represented by the Yamnaya™ ancestral component, and say hello to distinct, competing ethnolinguistic steppe groups during the Neolithic.


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St. Patrick's Day Is Also A Day To Celebrate Liber Pater
Tomorrow we celebrate the day of drunkenness and debauchery! It is a time to drink and be merry. It is a day that has more pagan ancient origins. It is the day the Romans paid tribute to Liber Pater the god of wine and fertility. The Festival Of Liberalia, is the festival of Liber Pater and his consort Libera. The Romans celebrated Liberalia with sacrifices, processions, ribald and gauche songs, and masks which were hung on trees. How odd that the Oppressive Catholic authority of the time would create a day of drinking and merriment on this very day. (I say that with sarcasm because this was their thing. The church always found ways to warp pagan holidays into more Christian like versions in order to persuade the more staunch pagans in the communities to give in to the church's way of life. After all it was Roman custom to incorporate older pagan traditions into Roman society. So why wouldn't the Roman Catholic Church continue this crafty maneuver. )
This feast celebrates the maturation of young boys to manhood. Roman boys, usually at age 14, would remove the bulla praetexta, a hollow charm of gold or leather, which parents placed about the necks of children to ward off evil spirits. At the Liberalia ceremony the young men might place the bulla on an altar (with a lock of hair or the stubble of his first shave placed inside) and dedicate it to the Lares, who were gods of the household and family. Mothers often retrieved the discarded bulla praetexta and kept it out of superstition. If the son ever achieved a public triumph, the mother could display the bulla to ward off any evil that might be wished upon the son by envious people. The young men discarded the toga praetexta, which was probably derived from Etruscan dress and was decorated with a broad purple border and worn with the bulla, by boys and girls. The boys donned the clothing of adulthood, the pure white toga virilis, or "man's gown". The garment identified him as a citizen of Rome, making him an eligible voter.
The celebration on March 17 was meant to honor Liber Pater, an ancient god of fertility and wine (like Bacchus, the Roman version of the Greek god, Dionysus). Liber Pater is also a vegetation god, responsible for protecting seed. Liber, again like Dionysius, had female priests although Liber's priests were older women. Wearing wreaths of ivy, the priestesses made special cakes, or libia, of oil and honey which passing devotees would have them sacrifice on their behalf. Over time this feast evolved and included the goddess Libera, Liber Pater's consort, and the feast divided so that Liber governed the male seed and Libera the female. This ancient Italian ceremony was a "country" or rustic ceremony. The processional featured a large phallus which the devotees carried throughout the countryside to bring the blessing of fertility to the land and the people. The procession and the phallus were meant also to protect the crops from evil. At the end of the procession, a virtuous and respected matron placed a wreath upon the phallus.
Saint Patrick's Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, "the Day of the Festival of Patrick") is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland. The day generally involves public parades and festivals, céilithe, and wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians also attend church services and the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day. St. Patrick's Day falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast--on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage. With this little window of opportunity you can see how the festival became associated with a near frantic fast paced consumption of drink and food and merriment. Also the original color associated with the day was blue but morphed to green over time and the custom of wearing and displaying green ribbon and shamrocks caused the holiday to grew more quickly. It is not an official holiday in America but with a large portion of Irish descendants the day is celebrate with the fervor of an official Nationalized holiday.
Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.
In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianize the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish church.
Labels: Pagan Holidays
'American Horror Story' Season 3 News
Apparently the third season will be about witches and titled 'AHS: Coven' which kind of explain the Voodoo and Salem mock posters about the new season that have been going around the net. The revelation came tonight during a panel in Beverly Hills that closed out the PaleyFest 2013 festival. Of the forthcoming season, co-creator and exec producer Ryan Murphy said, "It's a really cool story we've been talking about for a couple of years, and this seemed the year to do it." He also disclosed that AHS will be shooting in multiple locations for Season 3 when it resumes production this summer, including New Orleans, after having been anchored to the soundstage during its first two seasons. According to Deadline.
Murphy also hinted he may be getting over his aversion to producing a vampire show, and that along those lines he's had preliminary conversations with FX Networks chief John Landgraf about "a companion piece" to American Horror Story that could conceivably be vampire-based. So yeah another vamp show coming out hopefully. I love True Blood and The Vampire Diaries but honestly how many more seasons can those two shows produce before the waning appeal finally lies dead. So please please please see that this happens (my prayers to the ungodly powers that be!) Now check out a few of those spooky promo cards I mentioned.
Labels: tv news photos
Tom Wadlow And Tommy Draper Journey Into The Wasteland
"Wasteland" is a zombie apocalypse film written by Tommy Draper and directed by Tom Wadlow. The film is currently seeking crowd funding for extra special effects and post-production marketing costs with the film actually being in the final stages of completion. It stars Shameer Seepersand, Jessica Messenger, Rachel Benson, Edward Nudd, Mike Rhodes, Carl Cropley, Carl Bryan and follows Scott Miller, a man carving his life out of a world torn apart by an 'infection' that has almost totally wiped out the human race. His days are spent finding water, food and avoiding the dangers that lurk outside while he waits for the return of Beth, the love of his life.
"Wasteland" is the story of a man's journey as he fights to survive, to find hope, to find purpose within this new violent world. Will he find the answers he seeks as all hope seems lost and life is less than fleeting? The film is being produced by Tommy Draper Screenwriter and Triskelle Pictures in collaboration with Light Films Ltd. They hope to have the film ready for the Cannes Film Festival in May. Check out the trailer below and then check out the film's Kickstarter Page.
Check Out Trailer For Sci-fi Horror "Pounce"
"Pounce" is a horror/thriller film about a group of conspiracy theorists that are secretly watching a Top Secret military base in the desolate Welsh mountains. They are looking for experimental and highly classified test aircraft to report about in a magazine, when they suddenly discover a Top Secret and highly lethal creature (secretly discovered in the 1920′s) which the military and Government are testing who's fur has the ability to turn invisible in moon light. The film follows their plight as they are hunted both by the creature (which the Army has nick named "The Silverhide" and the military who will stop at nothing to keep their classified specimen a secret.
Directed by Keith R. Robinson and starring Kelly Wines, Lucy Jane Clarvis, Phil Stone, Jordan Murphy, John Hoye, Sean Hayes, and Matt Brewer. Check out the trailer below and see what you think.
New Trailer Released For "The Human Race"
A new trailer has been released for the action gore sci-fi thriller "The Human Race". The film is directed by Paul Hough who also wrote the script for this Indie flick. It stars Paul McCarthy-Boyington, Eddie McGee, Trista Robinson, Richard Gale, Domiziano Arcangeli and follows 80 people ripped out of their daily lives and all re-appear in an undisclosed location. They are from all walks of life: young and old, athletic and disabled, white-collared and homeless. Forced into this sinister "race" as the rules boom into their heads, in their own voice and language, laying out what will become a horrific race of terror. Check out the trailer below.
Psychotic Saturdays! Six Flicks Of Classic Insanity
Today since it is Psychotic Saturdays! and it has been a few weeks since I created such a post to celebrate this day of personal madness away from the 9 to 5 time of social insanity I make this post in celebration of classic psychotica. These six films are true cult crazies of truly demented derelicts of humanity. The most sinister of sinful madmen to ever be created in cinematic glory. From the mad scientist to the simple maniac the cult of personalities in these films are true examples of the psychotic. These fabulous flicks are true classics from the start of b-movie madness and should be great to entertainment for the old soul fighting for his (or her) sanity as well as great for introducing the beginnings of genre dementia to those young impressionable minds just tasting their first bitter sweet flavor of insanity.
1 Maniac (1934)
"Maniac" tells the story of ex Vaudeville star Don Maxwell who seeks refuge from the law in the laboratory of Dr. Meirschultz where he becomes the mad scientist's assistant. The film is one of the earliest ventures into exploitation horror blends and dares to play upon subject matter deemed socially unacceptable for the time. A true and wondrous start to b-movie madness indeed. How else are we to learn the errors of our ways if not through the well portrayed melodrama's where insanity and slaughter go hand in hand. The film stars Phyllis Diller, Horace B. Carpenter, Harry Cording, William Woods and was directed by Dwain Esper.
Dr. Meirschultz, a mad scientist attempting to bring the dead back to life. When Don kills Meirschultz, he attempts to hide his crime by "becoming" the doctor, taking over his work and copying his appearance and manner. In the process, he slowly goes insane.The "doctor" treats a mental patient, Buckley, but accidentally injects him with adrenaline, which causes him to go into violent fits. Buckley's wife discovers the body of the real doctor, and blackmails Don into turning her husband into a zombie. The ersatz doctor turns the tables on her by manipulating her into fighting with his estranged wife, a former showgirl. When the cat-breeding neighbor Goof sees what's going on, he calls the police, who stop the fight and, following the sound of Satan the cat, find the body of the real doctor hidden behind a brick wall.
2. Monstrosity (1964)
Monstrosity is another of those b-movies that deal with scientific genius which results in pure madness and insanity all for the benefit of mankind's leap forward through discovery. It also deals with the social conflict that pits the young and beautiful against the old and wealthy. The film is total cult mania as an extremely rich woman seeks to find a new younger body to call her own in order to maintain her wealth and not see it squandered by a younger more flightier generation. Directed by Alfred Taylor and starring Frank Gerstle, Marjorie Eaton, Judy Bamber this story is about Mrs. March and her attempt to live forever by funding the scientific and insane research of Dr. Frank who believes with obvious results that he can transfer the human brain to a new body of choosing. This film is also known as The Atomic Brain.
3. Bowery At Midnight (1942)
Bowery At Midnight isn't a film about a mad scientist at all instead it is a film about a plain madman who happens to be a devious criminal master mind. Bela Lugosi stars in this cult classic as a sinister criminal who by day is a professor at the local university and by night manipulates his fellow criminal elite to steal wealth before offing them to protect his twisted plan. This be movie gem was directed by Wallace the movie also stars John Archer, Wanda McKay, Dave O'Brien and Tom Neal.
Kindly soup kitchen operator and professor of criminology Bela Lugosi uses his soup kitchen as a front for a criminal gang who commit a series of daring robberies and murders. When things get out of hand, Lugosi kills his henchmen, who wind up as zombies in the cellar of the soup kitchen.
4. Tormented (1960)
Tormented is a 60's flick that deals neither with the madman nor mad scientist, instead it is a film about a man driven to madness by his wicked deeds. The film directed by Bert I. Gordon has a swinging jazz pianist trying to enjoy some time before his wedding nuptials to his new young bride on a nice quite island community. Unfortunately for him his little piece on the side comes over to coerce him into not marrying the woman and threatens him. It doesn't end well for her and as revenge her spirit comes back and torments the jazz pianist. The movie uses classic ghost effect tricks of the time to play up a supernatural element but the majority of the film relies simply on the jazz pianist's self guilt and descent into madness for his wicked actions. This gem stars Richard Carlson, Susan Gordon, Lugene Sanders, Joe Turkel and Juli Reding.
5. One Body Too Many (1944)
Long before there was Clue there was One Body Too Many. The film deals the madness that comes from greed. A desire to obtain all that an insane and selfish mind tells one that belongs to them. In this classic noir horror comedy a young potential heir plots to take out all of the competition at the reading of old man Rutherford's will upon his death. The film was directed by Frank McDonald and stars Jack Haley, Jean Parker, Bela Lugosi, Lyle Talbot and Douglas Fowley. The film is one of the early successes that blended elements of horror, noir and comedy although some of the humor is very much dated and irrelevant today. Still this is a timeless cult classic with a set up and story theme that has been re-imagined time and time again.
Insurance salesman Albert Tuttle arrives at the Cyrus J. Rutherford estate to sell the millionaire some life insurance. Rutherford is already dead and his heirs have gathered at the mansion to hear the reading of the will. Rutherford's will won't be read until he is properly entombed and the heirs are forced to stay on the premises or be denied their inheritance. Tuttle soon finds himself mixed up in shenanigans involving Rutherford's niece, secret passages, a missing body and murder.
6. The Sadist (1963)
The Sadist is pretty much a very early version of Kalifornia in that the set up within the plot are similar. A psychotic killer and his crazy girlfriend leave a body count on the rush to stay ahead of the law that are quick on their trail. Unfortunately for some friends who are on their way to a Dodger's game in L.A. their paths cross and the psycho sets out to terrorize the men. The film plays on that fear of urban legends where road trips go wrong and open highways where psychopaths roam free. Directed by James Landis and starring Arch Hall, Jr. ,Richard Alden, Marilyn Manning, Don Russell and Helen Hovey.
Three high school teachers, Ed, Doris, and Carl, are driving through rural Southern California on their way to a Dodgers game in Los Angeles. The group's Chevrolet Belair has some trouble and they are forced to pull off to a gas station/junkyard on the side of the road. Charlie Tibbs, a rather large man wielding a Colt .45, and his girlfriend Judy show up in the station owner's home absent the owners themselves. Cultures and lives clash as Charlie and Judy have spent the past several days heading west from Arizona, leaving a trail of corpses behind them. Law enforcement is on the hunt for them now intending on stealing the men's car.
Horror Anthology "Sinister Visions" Cover Art Released
Horror anthology "Sinister Visions" from Apotheosis Film is making its way out on the world as we speak – cinematic showings are planned during the summer in the UK, Italy and Spain and a DVD release for the North American market is planned for early autumn. The cover art has just been revealed. Are you ready for a terror attack combining both succubi, women possessed by demons, serial killers in electric chairs, aggressive zombies, vengeful crazy women, men with very deep emotional scars and of course a fair amount of amputation and gore? SINISTER VISIONS consists of five grueling horror stories to make your bones freeze.
SUCCUBUS is about a beautiful young blonde, Emma, studying to become an archeologist. On an excavation trip to Syria she finds something in the sand that is about to change her life completely. She hurries home hoping to be able to escape it, but she is about to get wiser.
MY UNDEAD GIRLFRIEND is a twisted story with a lot of morbid, dark humor, telling the story of the day Keith woke up next to his girlfriend who had out of the blue turned into a flesh eating undead and tonight he is about to meet her parents for the first time! This day is going to be a bit out of the ordinary!
MOTHER KNOWS BEST is the story about Carl, a somewhat shy man preparing for a date with his childhood sweetheart, Rebecca. Carl's mother has quite a few objections about the date and she is not too shy to express them, though.
In A WOMAN SCORNED we meet Gail tied to a bed by Holly. Gail have had the nerve to start a relationship with Richard, who unfortunately is Holly's former husband – and Gail does not approve at all!
Finally, GENITAL GENOCIDE presents us to serial killer Charles Albert Harris who, sitting on death row waiting for the switch to be turned on, takes us through his crimes while the audience of the court room listens. Harris wants a last reaction out of the audience that consists of many relatives of his audience – and a reaction he gets.
"Sinister Visions" is a collaboration between filmmakers from USA, UK, Sweden and Denmark and features works from skilled writers such as Garry Charles, Stefan Bommelin, Henric Brandt, Rasmus Tirzitis, Cody Cather, Doug Gehl and Lars Egholm Fischmann while the directing has been in the capable hands of Henric Brandt, Doug Gehl and Kim Sønderholm. There is a trailer coming soon.
Starring: Kim Sønderholm, David C. Hayes, Michael Harrelson, Debbie Overbey, Rob Douglas, Rick Dyer, Daren Palacio, Bart Overbey, Brian Weir, Liana Hubbard, Tori Montgomery, Pamela Ricardo, Peg Thon, Kat Herlo, Miriam Yeager, Nadia Bond, Lars Bjarke, Ralf Beck, Pontus Olgrim, Camilla Löjdström, Andreas Rylander, Stefan Jonasson, Babs Brinklund, Mehrnaz Bagheri Beiknejad, Mette Løvendahl, Toke Lars Bjarke, Nadine and many, many others.
First "Evil Dead" 2013 Clip
Check out this quick but thrilling 30 second clip from "Evil Dead" 2013. The film will hit theatres April 5th and is one that most definitely intend to check out. It has been one of my most anticipated remakes and releases for this coming year. Check out the "Mirror" clip below.
One Sheet Released For American Remake Of "Las Afueras de la Ciudad"
The Chilean horror film "Las Afueras de la Ciudad" is getting an American make over. The first one sheet for "Hidden In The Woods" has been released. The film is currently in pre-production thanks to Blanc/Biehn Productions. The cast thus far is set as William Forsythe, Krzysztof "The Polish Experiment" Soszynski, Michael Biehn, Jeannine Kaspar, Electra Avelan, Mark Burnham, Jennifer Blanc, Richard Gunn and Nick W. Nicholson. Patricio Valledares is set to begin directing the film in June.
Hidden in the Woods tells the story of two sisters who have been raised in isolation, subjected to the torment of their abusive, drug dealing father. When they finally decide to report him to the police, he kills the two officers and is put in jail. But things go from bad to worse when the girls must answer to their Uncle Costello, a psychotic drug kingpin, who shows up looking for his missing merchandise which is hidden in the woods.
Teaser Trailer Released For "The Campground"
A teaser trailer has surfaced for the Indie flick "The Campground". The modern slasher film is a return to classic slasher horror films and will be directed by Roman Jossart from his own screenplay. The film is in the very early stages of pre-production. I am posting this article is support of the project because one-I love Indie horror and two-I love slasher flicks. There is always room for more super psychotic homicidal supernatural serial killers! Jossart states the film as the : re-launching of a franchise that has long been away!" on the movie's Facebook Page.
The Serial slasher "Charlie Varsin" lurks within small town Rising Sun, Indiana.
A few friends decide to go down to a campground to celebrate a birthday party but the mood soon changes when people start missing and turning up dead. The film is an original telling of a masked serial killer named Charlie Varsin you'll be sitting on the edge of your seat just dying to see what's around the next corner. Take a look at the teaser trailer below and check out the Facebook Page to keep up with this project. I have to say that the setting for this film is a plus…
Red Band Trailer For "American Ecstasy"
Check out the red band trailer for the shock exploitation flick "American Ecstasy". The film is described by the director as an anthology of Americana nightmares with "tales of resilient women snared in a single terrifying, hallucinatory nightmare, fates left gasping in the gloved hands of a mad everyman, this is the movie that will prove, once and for all, that the most monstrous of highway predators is America itself."
They come from the middle of nowhere. They flee fine families and broken homes in search of experience and dreams. They travel the same interstates and back roads as we do. Trigger the same bells entering 24-hour convenience stores. Veer off at the same rest stops headed for places like the Adirondacks, Woodstock, Myrtle Beach and Tampa. And then they vanish. In the wake they leave trails run cold, memories of fresh faces and promising smiles later recalled by strange passersby.
These young women are now heroines of the American Ecstasy, the new feature-length chiller from celebrated photographer and filmmaker Jonathan Leder. An anthology film exploring tales of resilient women snared in a single terrifying, hallucinatory nightmare, fates left gasping in the gloved hands of a mad everyman, this is the movie that will prove, once and for all, that the most monstrous of highway predators is America itself. Starring Britany Nola (November 2012 Playboy Playmate), Amy Hood, Lindsay Roan, among other rising female actors.
Clip Released For "My Amityville Horror"
"My Amityville Horror" is a documentary about that infamous home of horrors that spawned a good number of movies and is probably one of the most famous paranormal events in American history. This however is the first time that Daniel Lutz is speaking about the ordeal his family endured in their short 28 day stay in the two story home on Ocean Avenue on Long Island. March 15th, 'My Amityville Horror' opens in select theaters and will be available to watch on Cable VOD, SundanceNOW and other digital outlets like iTunes, Amazon Streaming, PS3 Playstation Unlimited, XBOX Zune, Google PLAY and YouTube.
Clip And Trailer For "Psychometry"
Check out this five minute clip for the South Korean sci-fi thriller "Psychometry". The film comes from Kwon Ho-young. Luckily there are a couple of channels on my line up that offer Asian horror and sci-fi films with subtitles so my fingers are crossed that this will appear one day on my box. I have grown fond of Asian horror story telling.
Touch it and you can see the past!
A little girl is kidnapped and murdered in the jurisdiction of gangbuster detective Yang Chun-dong (Kim Kang-woo), 3 years on the job.
During the case, he realizes the crime scene is the same as the mysterious wall paper he saw once on the street and starts tracking down Joon (Kim Beom) who drew it.
Just then, he is arrested but Chun-dong realizes that Joon had the 'psycho-metry' ability to see the past by touching someone or something with his right hand. He'd lived his life alone blaming himself for his ability but had been drawing clues to crimes with it. However, he becomes a suspect for the murder case.
Chun-dong uses Joon's power to track down the real criminal as he believes Joon is the only witness to the case.
Will the case be solved?
New Trailer Released For "Gingerclown 3D"
Check out the latest trailer for horror comedy "Gingerclown" 3D featuring Tim Curry as Gingerclown.
1983: A group of high school students are having a great time near Hollywood Hills at the weekend when they bump into the Loser from their school, Sam, who's just on his way home. Sam would do anything in order to get Jenny's attention, one of prettiest girls in school. Unfortunately she's also the girlfriend of the school's bully, Biff, the quarterback of the football team.
Biff and his buddies are keen to take Sam to the old abandoned amusement park to make him prove his courage as part of their initiation ceremony. They involve Jenny in their cruel game as the grand prize of the competition. Sam accepts the challenge, but the girl wouldn't let him go in by himself; she follows him into the amusement park and a night they'll never forget.
Because in the old park, hidden in the darkness, are frightening and somewhat eccentric monsters who love to torture innocent human beings while intensively annoying each other.
French Trailer For "Under The Bed"
Check out the International trailer for Steven C. Miller's "Under The Bed". The film stars Jonny Weston, Gattlin Griffith, Peter Holden, Musetta Vander, and Kelcie Stranahan. The film is expected to hit this summer after being picked up by XLrator Media who gained U.S. distribution for the flick as well as rights to "American Mary". Miller stated that "UNDER THE BED is a loving tribute to all the horror classics I grew up with, from Steven Spielberg's Poltergeist to Joe Dante's Gremlins and The Howling to John Carpenter's The Thing".
Every child knows about the monster under the bed—Neal Hausman's mistake was trying to fight it. Neal (Jonny Weston) has returned from a two-year exile following his tragic attempt to defeat the monster, only to find his father ticking ever closer to a breakdown, a new stepmother who fears him, and his little brother, Paul (Gattlin Griffith), terrorized by the same monster. While Neal and Paul work together to try to fight the nocturnal menace, their parents are taking desperate measures to get the family back to normal. With no support from their parents, the brothers have nothing to rely on but each other and courage beyond belief.
Flesh Eaters Unleashed In "State Of Emergency"
The bio-hazard zombie flick "State Of Emergency" hits on the atmosphere of such classic chilling tales of the zombie apocalypse in this ominous trailer. The film directed by Turner Clay will be released on VOD, DVD April 16th and stars Jay Hayden (A Warrior's Heart), Tori White (Silent Night) and Andy Stahl (The Blind Side). The film comes from Image Entertainment and features the more ravenous flesh eaters that have come to epitomize what zombies shall be. It also offers a different catalyst to the apocalypse as opposed to the standard mysterious virus conjured in some lab of sinister origin, a bit like the Chiller movie "Remains" and the classic "Return Of The Living Dead" did with the atomic explosion , chemical spill as the cause for zombies. A complete nod to the classic 50's b-movies indeed. I have been watching a lot of them lately and they all had such high and horrible hopes for atomic energy as well as scientific advancement.
After an explosion unleashes the contents of a military bio-weapons plant, the unsuspecting populace is transformed into a roaming army of flesh-eating zombies. Trapped in the quarantine zone, Jim finds himself cut off, confused and fighting for his own survival. Contacted by a small band of others unaffected by the toxins, Jim sets out to reach their besieged warehouse. Becoming the survival group's de-facto leader, he struggles to keep order as they hunker down, fortify their stronghold and arm themselves against the attacking mutants. Fragmentary radio reports from outside hint at a last-ditch government rescue plan.
But can the survivors hold out until help arrives… or will they succumb to the living hell of an undead apocalypse? Will anybody survive?
My Review Of Slasher Short "Limbless"
Recently I watched a short film from Germany titled "Limbless". The film comes from young Indie director Daniel Konze and focuses on the in your face splatter gore genre. It is a pretty low budget and completely Independent short film with a lot of great aspects that show why Germany is one of the leaders in gore cinema. The story follows two young hunters out in the backwoods for a weekend of hunting and camping. They inadvertently cross the path of a homicidal maniac who seeks only the pleasures that come from hunting humans.
For me the short was very entertaining and tells a graphic classic story of psychopath meets victim. There are a couple of flaws visible in regard to the special effects, notably the camera grabbing things that it should not be showing when dealing with the gory aspects of the movie. That aside I have to say that the cinematography on this little film is very well done and shows true character as far as the directors love and desire to make movies. Splatter gore is not a genre for all but for those who love the gory bloody messy side of cinema then "Limbless" does deliver. And speaking of the blood I thought the consistency of the red stuff used in this film was quite believable. I upon asking the director was told that it was not animal blood but the crew's own home-made recipe.
"Limbless" is a short but gruesome little story that maintains consistency in it's plot and could beg for a feature adaptation primarily where the killer is concerned. With him I longed to know more, see more and gag more. This was the first film by Konze that I have viewed but since then I have also seen the promo for some off his other works and hope to see more from this German Indie company. You can check the guys out at their website and Facebook Page.
"The Pyramid" Unleashes It's Horrors
"The Pyramid" is an anthology from Empire Video and Alex Visani. The series is set up in four segments with a wrap around and offer some of the finest genre story telling from today's rising Italian stars. The stories are connected by one object; a bizarre little pyramid. Over the centuries the pyramid has been the catalyst for wide-spread death and destruction and, after being lost for years, it has accidentally been reawakened to once again bring forth madness and mayhem. Showcasing directors Alex Visani - Antonio Zannone - Luca Alessandro - Roberto Albanesi -Simone Chiesa "The Pyramid" is expected to be released sometime later this month (March 2013).
The first episode Ritual which is the opening of the entire movie. An unfortunate guy found the pyramid (we see, during a short intro the story of its creation by demons) and slowly becomes possessed by the infernal object. It's a story of possession and struggle with evil forces with gore and also ironic moments. Raffaele Ottolenghi (who writes the episode with Alex Visani) and I were inspired by Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Evil Dead 2 and there are some influences from Tales From The Crypt the serial.
After the conclusion of Ritual there's a girl who came in to the possession of the pyramid and this is the beginning of Dream Door, the second story. In this case the influence was Notte Profonda (Deep Night) directed by Fabio Salerno, Wes Craven's Nightmare On Elm Street and a bit of Hellraiser, of course. During the episode we will see the difficult relationship between a young girl and his boyfriend, who's a comic artist, and the terrible effects of the pyramid on them. This is the most introspective segments with a strange and elucidative dreaming atmosphere.
Then is the turn of Pestilence in which we'll see the contagious effects of the pyramid, which now has gained great powers. It will spread an horrible sort of pestilence, in the vein of the masterpiece Prince of Darkness from the master John Carpenter. This is the most aggressive and full-packed action episode.
Then there's Apocalyspe that will show us the ultimate effect of the previous pestilence. The world is near to the end, the human race is almost extinct but there's a little hope still alive. A couple of post-nuclear knights that will fight to find and destroy the evil pyramid. Of course this epsiode is gory homage to post-atomic b-movies of the eighties.
The ambitious project is born from the collaboration of five young independent Italian directors: Alex Visani, Antonio Zannone, Luca Alessandro and the duo Roberto Albanesi & Simone Chiesa. Each one of them will give birth to an episode of terror generated by the pyramid.
THE PYRAMID gather the strength and passion of this group of artists and represent the Italian independent scene in fact each one of the segments will be filmed in different parts of Italy to prove that horror is alive and kicking and take its wrath along all the country.
"Pieces Of Talent" Now VOD On Vimeo
The horror thriller "Pieces Of Talent" is now available to watch on demand over at Vimeo. The film is directed by Joe Stauffer and comes from Shutter Blade Media. It stars Kristi Ray, David Long, Nate Panning, Barbara Weetman, Jon Stafford, Taylor Kowalski, Shaun O'Rourke and tells the story of Charlotte, a disillusioned aspiring actress who works a night job as a cocktail waitress in order to make ends meet. Charlotte catches a break when seemingly chance circumstances put her in contact with a local filmmaker, David Long. David and Charlotte form a quick friendship that leads to Charlotte landing the starring role in David's newest project. David quickly becomes obsessed with Charlotte and begins building his bloody masterpiece by killing members of the community. He films each encounter with the ultimate goal of filming Charlotte as his final installment. David is a happily obsessed individual willing to do whatever it takes to make "true art". He utilizes his charm and skills to make something dark and deranged seem utterly beautiful and loving.
Trailer Released For "Legend Of The Hillbilly Butcher"
A trailer has been released for Joaquin Montalvan's "Legend Of The Hillbilly Butcher". The film is produced by SledgeHammer Films and stars Paul E. Respass, Theresa Holly, Chris Shumway, Stephen Feinberg. On a side note I can't find anything about this film's portrayal of hill folk offensive because quite frankly being from the south I talk this way and by god if it would be permitted socially I sure the fuck would write this way as well. I think imma gonna like dis un!
In a lonely backwoods shack, Carl Henry Jessup spends his time drinkin' and thinkin' bout dem good ole days with only his half sister Rae Lynn and his friend Billy Wayne to keep him company.
He lives an isolated existence - that is, until folks start tresspassin' on his property, and Carl gets off his ass and becomes the Hillbilly Butcher.
"Cyclical Effect" Has It's Release Date
Faux Pas Films "Cyclical Effect" has been given it's release date. The Michael Wade Johnson directed horror/dramedy will be released on April 1st and stars Dustin Risley, Russ Croley, Michelle Tomlinson, Shannon Sylvia, Melantha Blackthorne and Bianca Barnett. You can get your copy at the film's website.
Ian goes through a downward spiral as he loses control of everything solid in his life. He must reinvent himself but can he find a perfect match on a dating website and get to where he needs to be before the costumed killer preys on him?
Astronaut: The Last Push Has Finished Production
Check out the trailer for the psychological sci-fi drama "Astronaut: The Last Push". The film has just finished production and follows an astronauts journey through space as he makes his way to Europa. The film stars Khary Payton,Lance Henriksen in this emotional character study.
When a tragic accident cuts the mission to explore life on Europa short, the multi year journey home to Earth is riddled with obstacles, solitude and a life changing decision facing the survivors.
"Lord Of Tears" Makes Goal And Gets Accepted At San Diego Comic Fest
Wow coming off of a great Kickstarter campaign which reached it's total funding needs within 10 days "Lord Of Tears" has been accepted into San Diego Comic Fest and continues to gain interest in the horror community. Lawrie Brewster who directed the film from a screenplay written by Sarah Daly is now offering fans an opportunity to pre-order a DVD copy now as the film may not be available through traditional means until next year. Also check out the new trailer and some kick ass stills of the infamous Owlman featured in the psychological horror story steeped in superstition and mythology.
"Lord Of Tears" hits San Diego Comic Fest in October at the Town And Country Resort & Convention Center from the 4-6th. Now would be a good time to jump over to the Kickstarter page to show some love and put your name on the list who will own the film way before the mass public. A film that has the royal Highness Sultan Saeed Al Darmaki of Abu Dabi attached to it as one of the films executive producers. Now check out that trailer and some awesome stills of the notorious creature that haunts our protagonist in "Lord Of Tears".
New Clip From "Maniac"
"Maniac" finally will be available on June 21st for all of us who have been dying for the film to finally be released. Now we have a new clip from the cult classic remake starring Elijah Wood and Nora Arnezeder.
Just when the streets seemed safe, a serial killer with a fetish for scalps is back and on the hunt.
Frank is the withdrawn owner of a mannequin store, but his life changes when young artist Anna appears asking for his help with her new exhibition. As their friendship develops and Frank's obsession escalates, it becomes clear that she has unleashed a long-repressed compulsion to stalk and kill.
Details On Horror Anthology "Tales From Hell"
"Tales From Hell" is a horror anthology from Silver Shadows Productions' Kelly Michael Stewart. Bringing together directors Ryan M. Andrews, Navin Ramaswaran, Gabriel Carrer, Chad Archibald the stories are told in the classic format of such genre cults as Night Gallery and Tales From The Crypt being presented in an almost television inspired setting. There will be four original shorts hosted by Robert Nolan as different characters for each of the segments. Check out the concept trailer below.
My Review Of "Bludgeon" 2013
"Bludgeon" comes from Indie director Shawn Burkett and tells the story of a rash of murders that end suddenly in 1992. Then twenty years later more deaths rock the small community just as before. The story is inspired by true events. At least the murders that occurred originally are actual events, I am not sure if the second set of murders are actual events or creative licensing of the story. Either way the story is disturbing to say the least. Burkett's story is a somewhat dark, cold view into the nightmarish tale and stars Haley Madison, Erin R. Ryan, Scott Gillespie, Jadie Goodpasture, Liz Wazenegger, Missy Stout, Corey Thrush, Ashley Rice.
First I have to say that the movie is truly surprising as I went in expecting one type of story but was quickly given a different tale all together. The story begins with a very classic montage of dark silent scenes of of young women falling meeting a fatal end as eerie folk music plays out. It sets the atmosphere and somber aspects of what is happening on screen perfectly and right away I am eager to see this film. The start is very reminiscent of 70's grindhouse or classic gore flicks that I enjoyed growing up. However this is not your classic gore induced slasher fest happening. The film gracefully transforms into an arthouse indie character driven melodrama as the tale picks up twenty years later. The switch almost causes a revolt in my mind about the loss of the gore teasing slasher beginning but soon I found myself focusing once more on the story that unfolds in "Bludgeon". It becomes more of an emotional story that builds on an abstract sense of chilling dark atmosphere.
I did enjoy the the contrast of of stories as the original gore inspired tale begins showing the brutal events that are obviously the true events that took place in the small town against the more cinema verite influenced story that unfolds in the larger portion of the movie. Both where shot beautifully and create a very sinister atmosphere of suspense. I did feel the film was lacking somewhat in actual story material which provides the arch between the two very different story lines of past and present. It was enough to make me feel conflicted about the overall movie but not enough to make me not enjoy the film or its off-beat aspects. There is not a whole lot of gore in the film but there is a lot of emotion played out here and I have to say that this is one of the first times I have ever felt more sympathetic to the psychopath than I should have for a homicidal maniac.
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text:
California's new energy mandate will save money but at cost
Code change would require solar panels on all new homes
Updated: 8:44 PM PDT May 7, 2018
Mike Luery
WEBVTT >> REALLY AFFORDABLE -- MIKE: PEJINESH WONDIMU IS EXCITED ABOUT SOLAR PANELS ON TOP OF HER NEW ROOF AND JUST HOW LITTLE SHE'S PAYING FOR ELECTRICITY. >> MAYBE $20 A MONTH. LESS THAN $20. MIKE: LESS THAN $20 A MONTH? >> YES LESS THAN $20. ,MIKE: SOLAR PANELS LIKE THESE COULD BECOME COMMONPLACE UNDER A PLAN TO BE VOTED ON THIS WEDNESDAY BY THE CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSIO IF APPROVED IT WOULD REQUIRE , SOLAR PANELS ON ALL NEW HOMES UNDER CONSTRUCTION STARTING IN SAVING CONSUMERS AN ESTIMATED JANUARY 2020, $80 A MONTH ON HEATING, COOLING AND LIGHTING BILLS. BUT THE NEW RULES WOULD ALSO MAKE NEW HOUSING MORE EXPENSIVE. >> YOU'RE LOOKING AT ABOUT $10,000 OF UPFRONT COSTS. MIKE: THE NEW BUILDING CODES COULD COME AT A TIME WHEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS HARD TO FIND. IS THERE ANY CONCERN FROM THE ENERGY COMMISSION THAT THIS COULD MAKE HOUSING LESS AFFORDABLE IN THE SHORT TERM? >> YES, WE DO LOOK AT THAT. MIKE: THE ENERGY COMMISSION INSISTS THE LONG TERM SAVINGS WILL OFFSET THE UPFRONT COSTS IN ABOUT TEN YEARS TIME. BUT FOR HABITAT FOR HUMANITY T -- HABITAT FOR HUMANITY THE , NON-PROFIT GROUP THAT HELPED BUILD PEJINESH WONDIMU'S NEW HOME IN SOUTH SACRAMENTO THE , INCREASED COSTS ARE PROBLEMATIC. >> WE BUILD ABOUT 8-10 HOMES A YEAR HERE AT HABITAT FOR HUMANITY. SO I GUESS IF YOU MULTIPLY THAT BY HOW MANY HOMES WE'RE LOOKING AT ABOUT $80 TO $$100,000 MORE A YEAR IN DONATIONS THAT WE NEED TO RAISE. MIKE: AND THE UP FRONT COSTS ARE AFFECTING BUILDERS TOO. >> $10,000 DOES MEAN A WHOLE LOT AND WE'RE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THAT. WHICH IS WHY WE'RE GLAD THE CEC HAS GIVEN US THE ABILITY TO USE THE SOLAR LEASE PROGRAMS. MIKE: UNDER THA PLAN, NEW HOMEBUYERS CAN CHOOSE TO LEASE THE SOLAR PANELS FOR ABO A BIG SAVINGS COMPARED TO THE $1000, $10,000 DOLLAR PURCHASE
California is poised to become the first state in the nation to require solar panels on all new homes. Homeowners are likely to see big savings on their energy bills, but they will also see a big dent in their pocketbooks. Solar panels are appealing to new homeowners like Pejinesh Wondimu, of Sacramento. Wondimu said she's excited about the solar panels on her new roof and just how little she's paying for electricity. She said her bill is "maybe $20 a month."The California Energy Commission will vote on a plan Wednesday that would make solar panels commonplace. If approved, it would require solar panels to be installed on all new homes under construction starting Jan. 1, 2020.The California Energy Commission estimates it would save consumers $80 a month on heating, cooling and lighting bills. But, the new rules would also make housing more expensive."You're looking at about $10,000 of upfront costs," Commission manager Christopher Meyer said. The new building codes would come at a time when affordable housing is hard to find in the Golden State. Meyer said the commission looks at housing prices when discussing changes to the building codes. He said the upfront cost will increase, "but over the 30 years for residential (mortgage), you're basically saving twice that."Meyer said homebuyers will see a return on their investment in about 10 years and "it depends on the energy use of the individual, but it's a fairly quick breakeven point."For Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit group that helped build Wondimu's new Sacramento home, the increased costs are problematic. "As a nonprofit builder who finances all the construction ourselves through private donations, it is, of course, a concern to add any more costs to those," said Laine Himmelmann, development director for Habitat for Humanity in Sacramento. "We build about eight to 10 homes a year here at Habitat for Humanity," Himmelmann said. "If you multiply that by how many homes, we're looking at about $80,000 to $100,000 more a year in donations that we need to raise." The upfront costs are affecting builders too. "We would prefer that the standards be held out another three to six years," said Bob Raymer, senior engineer for the California Building Industry Association. Raymer also said "$10,000 does mean a whole lot and we're very concerned about that, which is why we're glad the CEC has given us the ability to use the solar lease programs." Under those programs, new homebuyers can choose to lease the solar panels for about $1,000, a big savings compared to the $10,000 purchase price. The California Legislature is not involved in the rule change. The rule is now before the California Energy Commission and will ultimately be decided on by the California Building Industry Council later this year.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —
California is poised to become the first state in the nation to require solar panels on all new homes.
Homeowners are likely to see big savings on their energy bills, but they will also see a big dent in their pocketbooks.
Solar panels are appealing to new homeowners like Pejinesh Wondimu, of Sacramento. Wondimu said she's excited about the solar panels on her new roof and just how little she's paying for electricity.
She said her bill is "maybe $20 a month."
The California Energy Commission will vote on a plan Wednesday that would make solar panels commonplace. If approved, it would require solar panels to be installed on all new homes under construction starting Jan. 1, 2020.
The California Energy Commission estimates it would save consumers $80 a month on heating, cooling and lighting bills. But, the new rules would also make housing more expensive.
"You're looking at about $10,000 of upfront costs," Commission manager Christopher Meyer said.
The new building codes would come at a time when affordable housing is hard to find in the Golden State.
Meyer said the commission looks at housing prices when discussing changes to the building codes. He said the upfront cost will increase, "but over the 30 years for residential (mortgage), you're basically saving twice that."
Meyer said homebuyers will see a return on their investment in about 10 years and "it depends on the energy use of the individual, but it's a fairly quick breakeven point."
For Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit group that helped build Wondimu's new Sacramento home, the increased costs are problematic.
"As a nonprofit builder who finances all the construction ourselves through private donations, it is, of course, a concern to add any more costs to those," said Laine Himmelmann, development director for Habitat for Humanity in Sacramento.
"We build about eight to 10 homes a year here at Habitat for Humanity," Himmelmann said. "If you multiply that by how many homes, we're looking at about $80,000 to $100,000 more a year in donations that we need to raise."
The upfront costs are affecting builders too.
"We would prefer that the standards be held out another three to six years," said Bob Raymer, senior engineer for the California Building Industry Association.
Raymer also said "$10,000 does mean a whole lot and we're very concerned about that, which is why we're glad the CEC has given us the ability to use the solar lease programs."
Under those programs, new homebuyers can choose to lease the solar panels for about $1,000, a big savings compared to the $10,000 purchase price.
The California Legislature is not involved in the rule change.
The rule is now before the California Energy Commission and will ultimately be decided on by the California Building Industry Council later this year.


Join us for an Innovation Games® Master Class: Game Design for Multidimensional Collaboration, by Luke Hohmann.
Game Design for Multidimensional Collaboration is designed for Innovation Games and Gamestorming facilitators who want to dig into the deeper foundation of game theory needed to extend, redesign, and create new collaborative games.
Game Design for Multidimensional Collaboration teaches the "secret ingredients" of serious, collaborative game design through the hands-on use of the Collaborative Game Design Canvas™ and an associated deck of Collaborative Game Design Cards™ to deconstruct existing games, extend them, and create new games.
After taking this class you will be able to create collaborative, online and in-person games to tackle complex business problems in strategy, competitive positioning, marketing and product development.
Because Conteneo is constantly designing new games, we'll also cover several games that have been created over the past few years to solve business problems that were not addressed in the original games in the book 'Innovation Games: Creating Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative Play'.
Completion of the course gives you 60 Training Credits towards your Innovation Games® Certified Collaboration Architect (CCA) belt!
The one-day class is fast-paced and team-oriented. After instruction in game theory and design strategy, participants will get an opportunity to put the knowledge into practice, first by using the Collaborative Game Design Canvas™ and Collaborative Game Design Cards™ to analyze an existing game, followed by instruction in new in-person games, and the opportunity to work together to adapt or create a new collaborative serious game. Expect to organize into small teams with your classmates, review the content, debate, design – and PLAY.


Survey courses get a bum rap. The kids tend to dread them; they're prerequisites for classes they actually want to take, or they're some sort of required elective. The professors try their best, but it's often difficult to motivate a large lecture hall full of half-asleep students. I tend to resent feeling like a tap-dancing clown.
But you know, the courses actually have the possibility of being really interesting. Even though they're never going to be an in-depth look at any particular subject, they give exactly what they're supposed to provide: an overview of how a subject evolved. The hard part is avoiding the doldrums of the powerpoint/lecture hall passivity. Some professors do a good job at that type of teaching, I have no doubt; but, I need to get kids involved in the subject more tangibly. My strengths as a teacher lie in realm of interaction and engagement.
So as I said a couple of months ago, this semester I'm making a big effort to change the format of the sections I teach. They still get the necessary information, but at least half of the class each period is dedicated to their own compositions that are based in the style of the music we're currently discovering.
Using the ternary form cantus firmus (original chant) you wrote on Monday, first add some sort of written rhythm to your chant (instead of using spatial rhythmic notation). The long notes should be notated with a whole note, medium length notes with a half note, and short notes with a quarter note.
Next, put words to your chant (words do not have to be sacred). Show where each syllable should be sung.
Finally, add a second line (polyphony) to your chant. The notes should match rhythmically, but can move in a different direction than the original. Using the interval of a 4th/5th is safe (it will always sound good, and 'like' Gregorian Chant), but you can do as you choose.
This will create a new Gregorian chant with organum/polyphony.
Friday, we'll talk about Leonin and Perotin and the School of Notre Dame. They'll add triplet-based rhythms to their second line, while still keeping their cantus firmus intact. Next Monday we'll talk about Ars Nova and Machaut, and perhaps create some sort of secular song based on the proper church modes (or else maybe part of a Mass?); they'll be able to perform their pieces on the recorder, or sing/hum the words.
My hope is that before long everyone be completely comfortable with their groups and the class, and will be able to experiment with music without feeling scared.
I believe this style of teaching has been effective so far this semester. Certainly, my classes were a little thrown off at first; they expected a lecture course, but all in all, it's working. And you know, before long, word will get out about how I teach the course and so if any student doesn't think it's for them, they'll simply sign up for a different teacher.
These lesson plans actually take longer to figure out, since I'm not just stuffing facts in my head that I will regurgitate into a lecture and then promptly forget. Applicable activities are not easy to create, but I have to say -- even from a purely selfish point of view, it's completely worth the extra time. I really think the learning curve is much higher than it has been for me in semesters past, and so I feel like I'm actually helping to educate these students. And, that's the idea, right?
Changing routine can be scary, but I think I made the right choice this time.


text:
from django.conf.urls import patterns, include, url
from django.views.generic import RedirectView

from .views import View

urlpatterns = patterns('',
    url(r'^$', RedirectView.as_view(url='/home/')),

    url(r'^(?P<slug>\w+)/$', View.as_view(), name='view',),
)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Rose Galloway Green
February 5, 2017 January 14, 2017 rhubarbgreen Region: Middle East
Thoughts on the Israeli economy 4/7
HIGH TECH AND INNOVATIVE SECTORS
The high-tech industry that has come to play such a central role in the progression of the Israeli economy must first be defined. A high-tech business can broadly be defined as one that relies quite heavily on innovation in science and technology. Chorev and Anderson say:
"The characteristics of high-tech include; they invest more heavily in R&D activities than the national average; employ a higher percentage of engineers and scientists among their staff; offer innovative and technologically advanced products; are dynamic in nature and have short product development cycles"
Israel's proficiency in the advanced technology sector has served to establish the nation as being at the forefront of global technological development. The roots for the boom that stimulated advances of the technological sector in Israel can be found in the 1980s, where incipient strategy in economic management saw largely publicly and state-owned enterprises operate around severe trade restrictions and the solidity brought by strong trade unions, representing a corporatist approach. The "dot-com bubble", also known as the information technology bubble, that occurred between 1997 and 2000 represented an exciting upturn for the Israeli economy, which profited greatly thanks to its high-tech culture. However, Israel is vulnerable to changes in the world economy because of its heavily globalised and export-based system. Israel is also potentially vulnerable to sanctions and boycotts, which would dampen the high-tech industry's ability to be a driver for development.
The human capital that Israel possesses, combined with its geographically isolated position in relation to similar markets, means that high-tech ventures are seen as a crucial element of the economy. Illustrating the significance in growth that the high-tech sector has brought to Israel are figures demonstrating an extraordinary rise in industrial production share from 37% in 1965 to 70% in 2006.
The stimulation of the advanced technology industry by the government in its early stages through loans for start-ups and the like is being repaid handsomely by collecting dividends on shares and is subsequently helping to encourage growth in today's market.
In short, Israeli innovation and a high-skilled workforce have put the country at the forefront of technological development. With roots in the 1980s at a time of liberalisation, privatisation, and the encouragement of entrepreneurship, Israel's industrial production share has since nearly doubled. Whilst the industry is economically vulnerable to world events, it is a key use of Israel's human capital and is certainly a driver of Israel's economic development.
Tagged economic drivers, high tech, innovation, israel, r&D
Published by rhubarbgreen
View all posts by rhubarbgreen
I'm a civil servant in the policy profession with a keen interest and background in energy/public policy. I was awarded the BP scholarship and have an MA Energy (1:1) and BA Politics (2:1).
I've worked on government and EU policies on wholesale electricity, the draft legislation behind the price cap, and the Renewable Heat Incentive at Ofgem.
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