text:
Development of Phonetic Categories of Stop Consonants in Spanish-English Bilingual Children
Clin Arch Commun Disord. 2017;2(1):60-68
Clin Arch Commun DisordJournal ArchiveClin Arch Commun Disord. 2017;2(1)
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Publication date (electronic) : 2017 April 30
doi : https://doi.org/10.21849/cacd.2017.00066
Andrea M. Muru, Sue Ann S. Lee
Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, USA
Correspondence: Sue Ann S. Lee, Depatment of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 3601 4th Street, Stop 6073, Lubbock, TX, 79430, USA, Tel: +1-806-743-5660 (ext 225), Fax: +1-806-743-5670, E-mail: sueann.lee@ttuhsc.edu
Received 2017 March 06; Revised 2017 April 26; Accepted 2017 April 28.
The present study examined stops produced by Spanish-English bilingual (SEB) children in order to determine whether the bilingual children possess distinct phonetic categories across their two languages at 5 to 6 and 10 years of age.
Voice-Onset-Time (VOT) of English and Spanish stops were measured acoustically. VOT values of each place of articulation were compared across languages in each age group separately.
It was found that 5- to 6-year-old SEB children only made significant distinctions between English and Spanish for voiceless stop consonants; however, 10-year-old SEB children demonstrated distinctive categories between the two languages for both voiced and voiceless stops.
The findings suggest that similar to previous studies, distinctive phonetic category is only partially developed at age 5 to 6 but it is developed fully by age 10. While developing, a transfer effect existed in the SEB children's stop production.
Keywords: Stop consonents; Spanish-English bilingnals; Children; Voice-Onset-Time
The U.S. Census Bureau [1] indicated that Spanish ranks as the #1 non-English language spoken in the United States. Over 37 million Spanish speakers including 6 million Spanish-speaking children reside in the United States, a number that has more than doubled over the last 30 years. In spite of the significant number of Spanish-English bilingual children, literature on the developmental norms of these children is limited and has revealed a paucity of information on developmental patterns. Investigating the typical development of Spanish-English bilingual children is necessary in order to establish typical developmental patterns and milestones.
Differences in onset of second language (L2) exposure divide bilingual speakers into simultaneous and sequential speakers. Researchers [2–4] proposed arbitrary age cutoffs point for categorizing these two categories. Generally speaking, simultaneous bilingual speakers are those who have been exposed to the L2 within the first few years of life and continue to acquire the L2 along with L1. Sequential bilingual speakers differ from simultaneous bilinguals in that significant progress or almost complete acquisition of the L1 has been made before exposure to the L2.
The purpose of this study was to provide the development characteristics of phonetic categories of stop consonants in sequential Spanish-English bilingual children. Development of phonetic category refers to the phonetic refinement process by which bilingual children come to distinguish phonetic details of shared phonemes in each language during development [5]. Spanish and English present an interesting opportunity for evaluating age of acquisition of phonetic systems in bilingual children because voiced and voiceless stop consonants at three places of articulation such as /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/ and /g/ are found in both languages but voiced and voiceless stop at each place are produced with different voice-onset-time values. Thus, investigation of the voicing contrast of stop consonants between the two languages allows us to evaluate whether Spanish-English bilingual speakers establish distinct phonetic categories between languages.
Research into language acquisition in bilingual children has generally focused on whether these children develop one or two linguistic systems. The one-system model, known as the Unitary Language System (ULS), was originally hypothesized by Volterra and Taeschner [6] and the two-system model, also known as the Dual Language Hypothesis, was posited by Genesee [7]. Under a one-system model, during early language development, bilingual children would take received input from both languages and combine the information into a single language system. As the language acquisition process continues, bilingual children develop more advanced linguistic skills, and undergo a differentiation process. It is during this process that these children distinguish between languages and achieve bilingual status. The Dual Language System (DLS) hypothesis stands as an alternative to the ULS hypothesis. The DLS hypothesis posits that children establish two separate linguistic systems from the beginning of the language acquisition process. Under this model, children receive dual language input and separate this information into two distinct language systems. These children may not undergo a period in which their linguistic systems are merged.
Stop consonants of English and Spanish
Before discussing previous bilingual studies, it is important to review the stop consonants of Spanish and English. Both English and Spanish stops are composed of voiced and voiceless at three places of articulation: labial, coronal and velar. English and Spanish stops, however, differ in their acoustic characteristics. Voice-Onset-Time (VOT) is commonly used to characterize stops across languages. Lisker and Abramson [8] defined VOT as "the duration of the time interval by which the onset of periodic pulsing either precedes or follows release" (p. 387). Lisker and Abramson established three cross-linguistic voicing contrasts: lead voicing, short lag and long lag. Lead voicing (or voicing lead) refers to instances in which voicing begins before the release of the stop. Short lag refers to voicing that begins just after the release of the stop. Long lag refers to voice onset lags that begin after the stop release and are considerably longer than short lag. By assigning a zero value to the point at which the stop is released, lead voicing is assigned a negative value while voicing after the stop release are assigned positive values.
Acoustic analysis of stop productions indicates that the phonetic basis for the voiced and voiceless distinction is not the same in English and Spanish. Spanish voiced stop consonants are characterized by the onset of voicing prior to the release of the stop (mean VOT=−113 milliseconds), whereas the onset of voicing for English voiced stop consonants begins shortly after the release of the stop burst (mean VOT=9 milliseconds). Voicing for Spanish voiceless stops, like English voiced stops, begins shortly after the release of the stop burst (mean VOT=14 milliseconds) while voicing in English voiceless stops begins an average of 60–80 milliseconds (mean VOT=70 milliseconds) after release of the stop burst [8].
Phonetic development of stop consonants in monolingual children
Macken and Barton [9] investigated the acquisition of the voicing contrast in four monolingual English-speaking children aged 1; 6 for eight months. They found that the presence of the English voicing contrast was found in three of the four participants by approximately age 1; 9 and by at least age 2; 6 in the fourth participant. Macken and Barton [10] also investigated the acquisition of the voicing contrast in three monolingual Spanish-speaking children aged 1; 7 and four monolingual Spanish speaking children aged 3; 10. Although the monolingual Spanish speaking children differentiated between voiced and voiceless stops, they primarily did so using spirantization rather than a VOT distinction. At age 3; 10, study participants were unable to consistently differentiate voiced and voiceless stop consonants using lead voicing and short lag VOT categories.
Phonetic category development in bilingual children
Research done on the development of phonetic category formation in bilingual children has provided some interesting evidence in support of theories claiming that bilingual children have two separate phonetic systems that interact with each other. Within this body of research, particularly VOT development is of particular interest to this study. As Kehoe, Lleo and Rakow [11] note, VOT is particularly susceptible to interaction between two languages in bilingual speakers.
Deuchar and Clark [12] utilized the voicing feature distinction between English and Spanish to examine the acquisition and interaction of phonetic systems in a simultaneous bilingual child at 1; 7, 1; 11, and 2; 3 ages. The data reflected the lack of a voicing system in both English and Spanish at age 1; 11, the establishment of a clear voicing system in English at age 2; 3 but only the beginnings of a similar system in Spanish. The Spanish data did not reflect a Spanish-adult speaker voicing contrast but rather progression towards an English-adult speaker voicing contrast. In terms of across English and Spanish languages, voiceless stops were significantly different from each other whereas voiced stops were not until this age. The authors argued that there was not a single and unified English and Spanish system in the child and the greater differences of the lag between English stops pairs lead to the earlier acquisition of the pairs.
Kehoe, Lleo and Rakow [11] examined VOT in four German-Spanish bilingual children aged 2; 0 to 3; 0. Like English and Spanish, German and Spanish are similar in that they both have the voiced (/b, d, g/) and voiceless stop consonants (/p, t, k/) but differ in their expression of voicing contrasts. German stops like English are produced with short and long lag whereas Spanish stops are produced with lead voicing and short lag. The authors found that two children failed to acquire the German voicing distinction, thus producing voiceless stops using short lag. However, the other two bilingual children were able to acquire the German voicing distinction by age 2; 3–2; 6. On the other hand, results from the data collected in Spanish were more uniform in that none of the bilingual children consistently produced voiced stops with lead voicing. In terms of across languages, only two children made a distinction between German and Spanish voiceless stops.
The results of Kehoe et al's [11] study seem to be consistent with the study conducted by Deuchar and Clark [12]. Voicing systems with an opposition between short and long lag, such as those found within English and German, appear to be acquired earlier than voicing systems with an opposition between lead voicing and short lag, as is found within Spanish.
Recently, Fabiano-Smith and Bunta's [13] study investigated the VOT of voiceless bilabial and velar stop consonants in Spanish and English by comparing the productions of Spanish-English bilingual children to that of Spanish and English monolinguals. Results indicated that VOT values produced by Spanish-English bilingual children differed from their monolingual counterparts in English but not in Spanish, suggesting cross-language influence within the bilingual children. Although there was a statistically significant difference between the VOT values produced by English and Spanish monolinguals, no significant differences were found between the VOT values for the Spanish and English stops produced by Spanish-English bilingual children, which indicated no language-based differentiations. The findings of the study contradicted previous studies in that they reported that voicing distinction between English and Spanish voiceless stops were emergent at an early age, but this study did not find the same results. Previous studies examined simultaneous bilingual children, while this study included both simultaneous and sequential bilingual children. Thus, the homogeneity of participants may affect the findings.
In terms of older bilingual children, Khattab [14] compared the VOT values produced by three Arabic-English bilingual children to those of three monolingual English and three monolingual Arabic children aged at 5, 7, and 10. Arabic VOT patterns are similar to those of Spanish in that the voiced stops /b,d,g/ fall within the lead voicing range and the voiceless stops /p,t,k/ fall within the short lag range. Results indicated that the three English-Arabic bilingual children did acquire separate VOT patterns for English and Arabic; however, the VOT patterns were not always consistent with those of monolingual speakers. The lead voicing pattern in Arabic seemed to be primarily affected as voiced Arabic stops tended to fall within the short lag range. Khattab found an interesting developmental pattern. The 5-year-old English-Arabic bilingual child produced voiced Arabic stops (/b, d, g/) with short lag rather than using the adult VOT pattern (i.e., lead voicing). While the 10-year-old child still had not acquired the lead voicing feature, the 7-year-old child primarily used lead voicing when producing voiced stops in Arabic. Since only one child was included in each age group, such a pattern may not reflect stop production in English-Arabic bilingual children. Thus, further studies with a larger number of bilingual children at various ages are warranted in order to identify more precise developmental patterns of stop production in bilingual children.
In fact, Lee and Iverson [15] conducted a larger scale study examining phonetic categories of Korean and English stops in Korean-English bilingual children. This study included 30 Korean-English bilingual (KEB), 30 Korean monolingual, and 30 English monolingual children at two different ages (5 and 10 years of age). Examining Korean and English stops was of interest in that, unlike English, Korean stops show a three-way contrast. The three-way contrast for Korean stop productions is categorized into "lenis", "aspirated", and "fortis". Lee and Iverson note that in addition to VOT, other cues such as the vowel onset f0, are available to Korean speakers when making distinctions between Korean stops. The complexity of the Korean system may present additional difficulties for bilingual children acquiring phonetic categories. Lee and Iverson found that 5-year-old KEB children only made distinctions between different categories (i.e., voiced-lenis, voiced-aspirated and voiceless-fortis). However, 10-year-old KEB children showed within category distinctions which indicated that they had developed fully separate phonetic categories across languages.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the development pattern of phonetic stop category in Spanish-English bilingual children. The methodology of the current study differed from the previous studies in several ways. First, the current study examined older aged Spanish-English bilingual children at two different age ranges (5 to 6 and 10 years of age). Previous studies examining phonetic category in Spanish-English bilingual children were conducted with young children (e.g., younger than 4-year-olds). The results of the current study will provide a developmental model of bilingual children's speech. Second, unlike the previous studies, which employed a small number of bilingual children, the current study employed a larger number of bilingual children. Each age group included 15 or 17 bilingual children and more to consolidate findings. The results of the current study will provide more convincing evidence on phonetic category formation in bilingual children. Third, while the previous studies mainly compared bilingual children with their monolingual counterparts, the current evaluation focused on comparing the English and Spanish stop system among bilingual children. Such evaluation would allow us to understand whether the Spanish-English bilingual children possess one or two separate phonetic systems between languages. Finally, homogeneity of bilingual children in the previous studies was not well established. Both simultaneous and sequential bilingual children were included. Evaluating a more homogenous group may consolidate group characteristics of bilingual children.
A total of 32 Spanish-English bilingual children participated in this study. Fifteen children were 10 years of age (M=10; 6) and the other 17 Kindergarten children were 5 to 6 years of age (M=5; 10). None of the participating children had a history of speech and hearing impairment based on reports from parents or teachers. The bilingual children were either born in the United States or had moved to the U.S. at an early age. All of the children were sequential bilingual children in that they had first learned Spanish and began learning English upon entering English preschool or kindergarten settings. The 10-year-old children had been exposed to both English and Spanish for 5–7 years (M=6; 3) whereas the 5- to 6-year-old children had 2–3 years of exposure (M=2; 5). At the time of this study, they communicated primarily in English with siblings and peers at school and Spanish with parents and grandparents at home.
Six English and six Spanish words were selected to elicit target stop consonants in the word initial position. In order to control variations, target words were selected in which the stop consonants occur in a similar vocalic environment (i.e., low vowels) for both languages. See Table 1 for a list of the target words in English and Spanish.
Target words used to elicit stop consonants in English and Spanish
Bilingual data were collected at schools and kindergartens in a quiet room. Target words were recorded using a digital flash recorder (Marantz Model PMD670) which was connected to a stand-mounted omni-directional dynamic microphone (Electro-Voice 635 A/B) positioned on a table. The participants' speech was recorded at a sampling rate of 22 kHz. While being recorded, subjects sat at a table with a microphone positioned approximately 4 to 6 inches away from them.
Data collection and selection procedure
Spanish and English target words were elicited using picture naming tasks. English and Spanish data were collected from a fluent English-Spanish bilingual investigator. During English elicitations, all conversations were conducted in English only, and during Spanish elicitations all conversations were conducted in Spanish. The order of elicitation of the English or Spanish language was randomized. Picture cards were randomly presented to each child. Then, the participant was asked to repeat the word three times with 2 second pause between productions. Although most children were familiar with the target words, when words were unknown the researcher utilized the delayed imitation technique by embedding the target word in a sentence and then asking the child to name the object or person in the picture. The delayed imitation technique is a common strategy used to elicit target words that are unknown to a child when administering phonology and articulation tests and conducting research [16–18]. For example, the investigator produced the target word (e.g., Tarzan) in a sentence and then asked the child for the target word: "This is Tarzan. He is a famous movie character. Who is this?"
Recordings collected from the participants were analyzed utilizing Multi Speech Software by Kay Elemetrics. Using both waveforms and wide-band spectrograms, VOT values for each target stop consonant were measured (a) from the beginning of the stop release and (b) to the onset of voicing in the vowel. VOT values of three tokens of each stop were averaged in each children.
The current study adopted nonparametric statistics, that is, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test because data showed substantial variability in stop productions by SEB children. Using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, the following English and Spanish stop pairs were compared at three places of articulation separately: English voiced vs. Spanish voiced, English voiced vs. Spanish voiceless, English voiceless vs. Spanish voiced and English voiceless vs. Spanish voiceless. In order to counteract the problem of multiple comparisons and reduce the occurrence of type 1 error the Bonferroni correction was used. The alpha level was adjusted by dividing the level of significance (i.e., .05) by the number of comparisons in order to arrive at an adjusted alpha level of 0.0125 (.05/4).
The first research question investigated whether or not SEB children established distinct phonetic categories between languages. The second research question investigated whether or not distinct phonetic categories are established at 5 to 6 years old and at 10 years old. Tables 2 and 3 show means and standard deviations (SD) of VOT values for English and Spanish voiced and voiceless stops at three places of articulation; bilabial, alveolar and velar at age 5 to 6 years and 10 years, respectively. Within subject comparisons were made using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to determine the differences in VOT at each places of articulation between Spanish and English productions at 5 to 6 years of age and 10 years of age.
Means and Standard Deviations for English and Spanish VOT at 5 to 6 years of age
Means and Standard Deviations for English and Spanish VOT at 10 years of age
VOT values for 5- to 6-year-old bilingual children in English and Spanish
Figure 1A shows the mean and standard deviation of the VOT values for English and Spanish stops at the bilabial place of articulation. The 5- to 6-year-old SEB children produced both English and Spanish /b/ with negative VOT values. Differences were seen between languages in the production of /p/. English /p/ was produced with a long-lag VOT whereas Spanish /p/ was produced with a short-lag VOT. Voiced stops were produced with greater variability than voiceless stops.
Means and standard deviations of English and Spanish VOT Values produced by 5- to 6-year-old SEB children.
The means and standard deviations for English and Spanish stops at the alveolar place of articulation are shown in Figure 1B. The VOT value for English /d/ was positive but remained close to zero whereas Spanish /d/ was a negative value. Similar to bilabial place, English /t/ was produced with a long-lag and Spanish /t/ was produced with a short-lag.
Figure 1C also shows the mean and standard deviation of the VOT values for velar place of articulation. Unlike the bilabial and alveolar places, SEB children produced all stops with positive VOT values. English /g/ and Spanish /g/ and /k/ were produced with a short-lag VOT whereas English /k/ was produced with a long-lag VOT. Upon comparison, SEB children produced Spanish /g/ with the smallest VOT value.
Results from the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test indicated that English /b/ and Spanish /b/ were not significantly different (z =.21, p =.831). Also, English /b/ and Spanish /p/ were also not significantly different either (z =−1.77, p =.076). However, Spanish /b/ was significantly different from English /p/ (z = −3.57, p =.000) and English /p/ and Spanish /p/ were significantly different (z =−3.47, p =.001). In terms of the alveolar place of articulation, results indicated that English /d/ and Spanish /d/ pairs and English /d/ and Spanish /t/ pairs were not significantly different (z =−.54, p =.586 for English /d/ vs. Spanish /d/; z =−1.82, p =.068 for English /d/ vs. Spanish /t/). However, English /t/ and Spanish /d/ were significantly different (z =−3.62, p =.000) as were English /t/ and Spanish /t/ (z = −3.24, p =.001). Results from the velar place of articulation indicated that English /g/ and Spanish /g/ were not significantly different (z =−2.15, p =.031); nor were Spanish /k/ and English /g/ (z =−.26, p =.795). English /k/ and Spanish /g/ were significantly different (z =−3.62, p =.000) as were Spanish /k/ and English /k/ (z =−3.43, p =.001).
VOT values for 10-year-old bilingual children in English and Spanish
Figure 2A shows the mean and standard deviations of the VOT values for English and Spanish stops at the bilabial place of articulation. Ten-year-old SEB children produced English /b/ with a positive VOT value but Spanish /b/ with a negative VOT value. English and Spanish /p/ were both produced with positive VOT values. Differences were seen between languages in the production of /b/ and /p/. English /b/ was produced with short lag VOT whereas Spanish /b/ was produced with lead voicing VOT. English /p/ was produced with long lag VOT and Spanish /p/ was produced with short lag VOT. Greater variability was seen with bilabial voiceless stops than voiceless stops. The mean and standard deviation for English and Spanish stops at the alveolar place of articulation is shown in Figure 2B. VOT values were also similar to those at the bilabial place of articulation. English /d/ and Spanish /t/ were both produced with short lag VOT. Spanish /d/ was produced with lead voicing VOT and English /t/ with long lag. Greater variance was seen between alveolar voiced and voiceless stops than bilabial voiced and voiceless stops. Comparisons at the alveolar place of articulation indicated greater variance between voiceless stops than voiced stops. Figure 2C shows the mean and standard deviation of the VOT values for the velar place of articulation. VOT values were similar to the bilabial and alveolar places, SEB children produced English /g/, English /k/ and Spanish /g/ with positive VOT. The VOT value for Spanish /g/ was a negative value, but was close to zero. English /g/ and Spanish /k/ were produced with short lag VOT, while English /k/ was produced with long lag. Results also indicated greater variability between voiceless and voiced velar stops. SEB children produced Spanish /g/ with the smallest VOT value.
Means and standard deviations of English and Spanish VOT Values produced by 10-year-old SEB children.
The Wilcoxon signed-ranks test for SEB children at 10 years indicated that English /b/ and Spanish /b/ were significantly different (z =−2.61, p =.009), as were English /p/ and Spanish /b/ (z =−3.40, p =.001), and English /p/ and Spanish /p/ (z = −3.40, p =.001). Spanish /p/ was not significantly different from English /b/ (z =.05, p =.955). Comparisons made at the alveolar place of articulation indicated that English /d/ and Spanish /d/ differed significantly (z =−2.95, p =.003), as did English /t/ and Spanish /d/ (z =−3.40, p =.001), and English / t/ and Spanish /t/ (z =−3.40, p =.001). However, English /d/ and Spanish /t/ were not significantly different (z =−1.53, p =.125). Finally, results from the velar place of articulation indicated that English /k/ and Spanish /g/ were significantly different (z =−3.40, p =.011) as were English /k/ and Spanish /k/ (z =−3.40, p =.011). English /g/ did not differ significantly from Spanish /g/ (z =−1.98, p =.047) when Bonferroni correction was applied. There no significant difference between English /g/ and Spanish /k/ (z =−1.25, p =.211) either.
To summarize our results, paired comparisons between VOT values of stop productions in 5- to 6-year-old SEB children showed significant differences for Spanish and English voiceless stops only, but not for voiced stops at three places of articulation. Results of paired comparisons between VOT values of stop productions in 10-year-old SEB children showed significant differences not only for Spanish and English voiceless stops but also for voiced stops at the bilabial and alveolar place of articulation. One exception was that no significant difference was found between English voiced and Spanish voiced for velar place of articulation.
The main findings of the current study showed that 5- to 6-year-old SEB children only made significant distinctions between English and Spanish for voiceless stop consonants; however, 10-year-old SEB children demonstrated distinctive categories between the two languages for both voiced and voiceless stops. Evaluation of these findings were used to: 1) determine whether or not SEB children establish distinct phonetic categories between languages and 2) if SEB children do establish distinct phonetic categories between languages, whether these distinctions are present at 5- to 6 years old and at 10 years old.
In the current study, significant differences between English and Spanish voiced and voiceless stops in 10-year-old bilinguals showed that separate phonetic categories were established between languages. The results of the current study were consistent with Khattab [14] and Lee and Iverson [15]. Khattab showed that fully distinctive phonetic categories were established at 7 years old in Arabic-English bilingual children. Lee and Iverson also reported distinctive phonetic category formation at 10 years old in Korean-English bilingual children. These results indicated that bilingual children at 7 years of age or older were able to distinguish phonetic categories across their two language systems regardless of language backgrounds.
Unlike the 10-year-old SEB children, 5- to 6-year-old bilinguals only demonstrated distinction between English and Spanish voiceless stops. These results indicated only partial phonetic category distinction between languages. Five-year-old Arabic-English bilingual children in Khattab [14] also showed only partial phonetic category formation. However, these findings were different from Lee and Iverson [15] in that KEB children did not manifest phonetic category formation in Korean bilingual children at age 5. The different results may be attributed to the fact that Korean stops are more complicated than English and Spanish. Korean stops include the three-way distinction, lenis, fortis, and aspirated while English stops have a two-way distinction, voiced and voiceless. Data from these studies indicated that bilingual children at 5 years of age were only able to make partial phonetic category distinctions between languages.
One may ask why the SEB children did not show any distinction between English voiced and Spanish voiceless stops. Based on Lisker and Abramson's [8] classification, both Spanish voiceless and English voiced stops typically fall into the same VOT category (i.e., short-lag VOT) and are found to be non-significant when they are compared in terms of VOT. Thus, we may not expect to find significant difference between these two stops.
The current study provided useful information to further our understanding of the developmental patterns of phonetic categories across languages. Recall that Fabiano-Smith and Bunta [13] found no significant differences between English and Spanish VOT values at 3 years of age. A qualitative analysis of mean VOT values also shows similarities between Spanish and English, particularly for bilabial voiceless stops. These results suggested that at 3 years of age SEB children may not establish distinctive phonetic categories.
Unlike bilingual children at 3 years of age, the 5- to 6-year-old children in the current study showed an emerging pattern for phonetic categories. Distinctive phonetic categories for voiceless Spanish and English stops appeared in SEB children at 5 to 6 years of age. On the other hand, SEB children at 10 years of age demonstrated fully distinctive phonetic categories. While 5- to 6-year-old SEB children showed distinctions between voiceless stops but failed to do so for voiced stops, 10-year-old SEB children showed distinction between languages for both voiceless and voiced stops. Thus, these findings indicate that acquisition of phonetic categories in bilingual children is a gradual process.
It should be noted that while Fabiano-Smith and Bunta [13] did not find VOT differences between English voiceless and Spanish voiceless stops in their 3-year-old Spanish-English bilingual children, Deuchar and Clark [12] and Kehoe et al. [11] found that a few bilingual children were able to distinguish voiceless stops across languages at an early age. Thus, it may be premature to claim that 2–3-year-old Spanish-English bilingual children possess one or two phonetic systems in their respective languages based on the currently available data. Further studies are warranted to examine with young SEB children.
The 5- to 6-year-old SEB children in the current study appeared to be producing the English voiced bilabial stop with Spanish-like VOT patterns (i.e., lead voicing). This pattern may be explained by a transfer effect described by Paradis and Genesee [19]. They hypothesized that sounds or sound patterns found in one language will transfer to the other language system. For example, English voiced stops, which are typically produced with short lag VOT, may be produced with voicing lead because of influence from Spanish voiced stops. Fabiano-Smith and Goldstein [17] investigated between-language interactions affecting phonological acquisition in SEB children. They found that 25% of bilingual children demonstrated instances of transference between Spanish and English. This was seen in the production of English aspirated stops (voiceless stops) without aspiration, a characteristic commonly seen in Spanish [8].
Flege [20] cited data from Port and Mitleb [21] as support for postulating that the process of category formation in the L1 sound system can be applied to the L2. Flege [22] incorporated this idea into the first of his four postulates. Port and Mitleb [21] found that the phonetic characteristics of bilingual children's L1 influenced stop productions in English such that they were produced with Arabic characteristics. Evidence from VOT productions by 5-year-old SEB children supported Flege [22]. In the current study, 5-year-old SEB children produced English bilabial voiced stops with Spanish phonetic characteristics (i.e., lead voicing VOT).
Recall that previous studies [11,12] reported that Spanish voiced stops produced by SEB children fell in the short lag VOT category, which suggested that SEB children might need more time to fully realize adult-like Spanish voiced stops. For example, Deuchar and Clark [12] found that at 2; 3 the SEB child had established the English voicing system but their Spanish voicing system was comparable to that of English. Kehoe et al. [11] looked at German and Spanish VOT patterns in bilingual children between 2; 0 and 3; 0. Bilingual productions within this study were similar to that of Deuchar and Clark [12] in that the bilingual children also appeared to be producing Spanish stops with German-like VOT patterns. Unlike younger Spanish-speaking bilingual children, Spanish-speaking bilingual children at 5 to 6 years of age in the current study demonstrated stop production with voicing lead VOT and all Spanish voiced stops were produced with voicing lead VOT at 10 years of age. However, not all Spanish-English bilingual children in the current study produced Spanish stops with lead voicing. Ten out of 17 (59%) 5- to 6-year-old Spanish-English bilingual children produced lead voicing whereas 11 out of 15 (73%) 10-year-old bilingual children produced lead voicing for at least one of the stops. Since little information is available on VOT values in monolingual Spanish-speaking children at various ages, it is not certain whether bilingual children in this study showed similar or different characteristics to monolingual Spanish-speaking children. Further studies are warranted to compare Spanish VOT with monolingual Spanish children.
In conclusion, the current study found that SEB children established partially distinctive phonetic categories between languages at age 5 to 6 but fully distinctive phonetic categories by age 10. Further investigations into the VOT patterns of SEB children found cross-language influences between English and Spanish phonetic systems. The current study examined only Spanish and English stops produced by Spanish-English bilingual children without comparison to monolingual English or Spanish children. Further research is warranted to examine whether stops produced by Spanish-English bilingual children are similar or different from these monolingual children in order to fully understand stop production of Spanish-English bilingual children.
This article is based on a master's thesis completed at Texas Tech Univiersity Health Sciences Center in 2015 by the first author under the direction of the second author. The authors express their appreciation to the children and parents who participated in this research.
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10. Macken M, Barton D. The acquisition of voicing contrast in Spanish: A phonological study of word-initial stop consonants. J Child Lang 1980;7:433–458.
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Article information Continued
© 2017 The Korean Association of Speech-Language Pathologists
(open-access) :
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Voiced
Voiceless
Bilabial Bark Park Banco "bank" Papel "paper"
Alveolar Dark Tarzan Dar "gift" Taza "cup"
Velar Garden Car Gato "cat" Cabra "goat"
Bilabial −13.10 51.81 69.15 28.69 −6.00 36.84 16.64 15.02
Alveolar 2.70 34.41 67.96 26.49 −12.98 47.91 26.15 26.18
Velar 39.08 23.18 97.42 27.08 14.32 32.25 47.52 31.89
Bilabial 18.43 31.28 80.94 28.44 −10.05 33.84 16.09 9.17
Alveolar 20.32 37.23 79.79 27.76 −19.29 35.44 18.83 6.80
Velar 23.63 49.04 110.73 24.80 −4.55 34.25 24.42 20.64


Echipa AVmall incearca sa mentina acuratetea informatiilor din acesta prezentare. Cu toate acestea, in anumite cazuri, pot aparea mici inadvertente pentru a caror semnalare va suntem recunoscatori. Ne poti contacta oricand pentru a clarifica eventuale nelamuriri. Nu uita sa mentionezi in corespondenta ta numele exact al produsul. Fotografia produsului Amplificator Integrat Xindak MS-8 push/pull are caracter informativ si poate sa difere de produsul real sau sa contina accesorii neincluse in pachetul standard al produsului. Specificatiile tehnice pot contine erori de operare si pot fi schimbate fara instiintare prealabila de catre producator, neconstituind obligativitate contractuala.
MS-8 uses EL34 as the power amplifier tube, 12AX7 served as the preamplifier, composed of 6SN7 long-tail phase inversion drive circuit. Using ALPS motor potentiometer to control volume, high-quality relay switch the input signal, transformer way to balance input. Power supply choosing the EI broadband sound output transformer, with low magnetic leakage, high reliable.
The left and right channels using the independent rectifier and filter circuit to supply power. Power amplifier stage using the fixed grid load. Tube socket using the high quality Teflon CMC gold-plated tube socket. MS-8 with high quality sound, clear and transparent, delicate and mellow, also warm and sweet. It could promote the Bookshelf Speakers and floor speakers, for the study roon and a roon of 20 square meters to use.
Nu sunt recenzii pentru Amplificator Integrat Xindak MS-8 push/pull. Fii primul care scrie una!


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text:
The banquet of legends
Wine is a matter of taste and era. Numerous famous men and women have been and still are passionate wine-lovers, keen advocates of the sensations and impressions awakened by tasting.
The buffet of the five senses
Since birth, we have discovered the world using our five senses. Sight. Hearing. Smell. Taste. Touch. What could be more natural, instinctive or familiar?
The trend wall
During the 20th century, the world changed and with it the image of wine: an object of desire, it has now become a 'trendy' product.
The gallery of civilisations
By turns food, medicine, sacred object, precious ingredient, and source of wealth or torment, over the course of five centuries of culture, wine has established itself as a fundamental element in the history of societies and human relationships.
Wine, a trade and commerce product since its creation, has crossed the oceans. It accompanied the crews of this era, gave merchants their wealth, and thus helped to create links between people on different continents.
Wine over water
Beginning in the highlands of the Caucasus, vines and wines invaded the ancient Mediterranean world then spread across the whole of Western Europe, before crossing oceans and conquering the planet.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
By Donald Munro
Welcome to the fourth volume of "The Quarantine Chronicles," a compendium of items related to our extended relationship with the coronavirus. In this edition, I offer some of my pandemic picks in terms of books, original cast albums and streaming. Plus: I highlight Michele Sani of Gallery 25, whose virtual exhibition is one of my Top 20 cultural picks of the year; and check in with Miguel Molinar, another of my Top 20 picks. And scroll down to the end for a pandemic haircut.
Jump to more 'Chronicles' below
Donald's notebook: Picks for reading, listening and streaming
AND: Shelter Diaries: Michele Sani has faith in God, education and Gallery 25
AND: What He's Listening to: For Broadway-loving Miguel Molinar, this 'Love' is many splendored
AND: Donald's hair finally got chopped. Now it's getting long again.
Don't miss the first three volumes of 'The Chronicles'
PART 1: IN THICK WITH VINCENT: THIS FRESNO STATE STUDENT IS ON THE GOGH
PART 2: WE CAN BE THANKFUL FOR BROADWAY, CELLISTS, ART POSTCARDS, MEG CLARK AND FORGETTING THE MUTE BUTTON
PART 3: IN PRAISE OF 'BAND'S VISIT,' HANFORD ACTORS GET SPOOKY, AND MY PANDEMIC HAIR AGREES TO A SIT-DOWN INTERVIEW
As always, to start things off, I have a personal report to offer:
DONALD'S NOTEBOOK
From 'Chernobyl' to 'Kim's Convenience,' I offer pandemic picks
One of my favorite things to do is devour year-end "best books" list written by top critics. It always makes me so aware of just how much there is to read out there and how I'd better not waste any time! Rather than talk about books from 2020, however, I'm going to take a cue from the New Yorker, which asked some of its writers about the books — either new or old — they'd recommend. Here's my list:
'Midnight in Chernobyl,' by Adam Higginbotham
In Pripyat, the company city that served the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the populace was low-key in the first hours after the fire and explosion that ended up changing the world. Higginbotham relates the story of an electrical assembly man who "spurned the beach that morning in favor of the roof of his apartment building, where he lay down on a rubber mat to sunbathe. He stayed up there for a while, and noticed that he began to tan right away." His skin gave off a burning smell. At one point he came down for a break and seemed oddly excited and good humored, as if he'd been drinking. Who knew deadly doses of radiation could give you a buzz?
Higginbotham's book — the basis for the HBO series, which I have not yet seen — is both a thriller, unfolding in crisp, pounding chapters of chronological detail, and an elegy, for the workers who died on the scene and soon after, and also for the millions across Ukraine and Europe who have grappled with the radioactive aftereffects. It's also a sort of swan song, too, for the Soviet Union itself, which was already heading into the era of glasnost under Mikhail Gorbachev, but whose decline and fall was no doubt accelerated by the Chernobyl disaster. I was riveted.
Why did the Chernobyl accident occur? Mostly because of design issues. The Soviets cut corners on safety and were so obsessed with meeting production quotas for energy that the fail-safe systems and redundancies that would have protected against disaster weren't given much importance. (They would also have been much more expensive, which was, of course, a factor.) While the Soviet government tried to shift the blame to operator error, over the years it became generally known that it was the plant itself that caused the accident. Still, it is remarkable through Higginbotham's reporting to learn of the dedication and sacrifice of the men who worked at the plant, almost all of whom ended up dying agonizing deaths. In a moment of crisis, they came forward, bathing themselves in radiation as they tried to contain the damage.
The overall impact was huge. Not only did Chernobyl help kill nuclear power, it exacerbated the decline of a superpower. The effects still remain today. The area around the plant is weirdly peaceful, like a refuge, but the eerie quality can't be forgotten. A huge swath of Europe was impacted; Higginbotham notes that "three decades after the accident, half of the wild boar shot by hunters in the forests of the Czech Republic were still too radioactive for human consumption."
Still, the Earth is resilient. I'm not so sure about the humans on it who are playing with fire in so many ways.
'All the King's Men,' by Robert Penn Warren
We all have books on our Forever List: a title that is acclaimed and, by many accounts, revelatory, but one that you've never gotten around to reading. Given my pandemic schedule, I decided now was the time. This a pit bull of a book, one that locks its jaws on you and doesn't give up. I'd heard for so many years it described as the quintessential American political novel, and I went in expecting something with a "Primary Colors" feeling of gamesmanship — the briskness of the modern campaign, the smell of constituent barbecues and chartered bus exhaust and Hampton Inns by the freeway. Instead, "All the King's Men" is far more gothic in its sensibilities. It is dark, mystical, secretive. Warren's prose burns with a hot, deliberate, beautiful intensity.
The King is Willie Stark, an elected governor of an unnamed Southern state in the years before World War II. The man, our narrator, is Jack Burden, a former political journalist who is there for Stark's rise and is the fixer behind the scenes.
There were times that Warren's writing is so gorgeously thick and titillating that it made just stop and gawk. Sometimes it's a bit of pure description: Describing a hungover Stark attempting to rouse himself the next morning, Warren writes: "There was some kind of a sound inside, like an oboe blatting once deep inside a barrel of feathers." Other times he purposefully lards up his word count in an excess of verbiage. (At one point he describes a character leaning far back in her chair: "sinking back like somebody who has fallen into deep water and clutches for a rope and seizes it and hangs on for a moment and loses the grip and tries again and doesn't make it and knows it's no use to try again.") But there is method in his exuberance. The earnestness of his metaphors rescues and elevates them.
I can't believe I waited this long to read this book.
'Exhalation,' by Ted Chiang
One thing I know I will take away from the pandemic is that I became a Ted Chiang groupie. I read two collections of his short stories — this one and "Arrival (Stories of Your Life)" — in the past two months and have been gobsmacked by Chiang's fierce imagination, controlled writing style, scientific prowess (or at least the ability to make us think he has it) and ability to capture the tone and setting of a piece in just a few pages. This work has a sci-fi bent, but it isn't all tales of the future. (In fact, one of his most powerful stories comes during the time of the Tower of Babel from the Bible. Another of it is set in the Victorian Era.) Some of it seems as if it could happen tomorrow in our own world.
Mostly, Chiang revels in the thorny issues that any kind of "progress" — or accepted societal norms — can invoke. One of my favorite stories is titled "The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling." It posits a near-future world in which all our memories can be recorded and instantly accessed. It sounds, on the surface, a great leap forward. Just what towns did we visit on that Midwest trip we took five years ago? It's all searchable.
But what happens when we realize we've been remembering things wrong? What will it do to grandpa's fond stories of the past when he realizes he's been embellishing them all these years? How about the effect on couples when arguments can be fact-checked?
The narrator tells of one of his earliest memories — playing on the living room rug, pushing toy cars around, while his grandmother worked at her sewing machine. She turned and smiled warmly. No photo or footage exists. He has long cherished that memory. It's how his grandmother lives on for him, really. What if he could go back and discovered that her smile was perfunctory, that she was preoccupied? How would people be able to assign emotional weight to certain memories? How could one be truly nostalgic?
By the way: The story titled "Arrival" is, indeed, the basis of the popular 2015 film. Needless to say, it is so much deeper and brilliant than the original film that I almost gasped.
ORIGINAL CAST ALBUMS
I've listened to a lot, that's for sure. (Thanks, Apple Music.) I'm just going to give you my Top 3 discoveries from recent months:
'Catch Me If You Can'
Aaron Tveit and Norbert Leo Butz are great in this snappy adaptation of the movie, but my greatest esteem is reserved for Kerry Butler's aeronautically stunning performance of "Fly, Fly Away." She's always been one of my Broadway favorites, and with this song, she soars.
'Moulin Rouge'
Once again, Aaron Tveit makes magic. (Notice a theme here?) The new Broadway musical is so fun to listen to while I write that sometimes I just want to stop and dance. My favorite song: Tveit scooping into the lyrics of "Shut Up and Raise Your Glass." Music becomes motion.
'Sunshine on Leith'
I've had this album by The Proclaimers forever, back from so many years ago when "500 Miles" captured the popular imagination. This cast recording reimagines the songs in lush, golden arrangements. (The thick Scottish brogues are still there. Come to think about it, this album is how I first learned there was such a thing as a Scottish separatist movement.) The title song is achingly beautiful, and the arrangement of "500 Miles" differs from the original enough to make it seem fresh and new.
• Hurrah! A new season of "The Expanse" on Amazon Prime! Now if I can just keep my protomolecule plot lines straight.
• "Kim's Convenience" on Netflix. This gentle-giant Canadian sitcom is a gem. I looked up yeobo. It's Korean for "honey," as in a term of endearment. That's how I feel about this series.
• "Home" on Apple TV. It's like a gape-at-the-beautiful-houses TV show meets a non-profit environmental organization's glossy annual report. Each episode highlights not only a specific dwelling but a story of ambition, fortitude, connection to the land and most likely a very high heating bill. (Except for the India house, which is mostly outside.)
THE SHELTER DIARIES
Michele Sani with her granddaughters, Vita and Lilah, who live in Colorado. Sani teaches them art on Zoom.
Michele Sani, painter and thinker, has faith in God, education and Gallery 25
It's time for another installment of The Shelter Diaries, in which we check in with various Fresno-area arts folks (and former ones, too) and ask how they're sheltering-and-placing.
Teacher and administrator. Painter and narrator. Michele Sani, the voice of Gallery 25's virtual exhibition, "In the Cloud," bridges different worlds. She does it with a decidedly artistic — and spiritual — flair.
Sani, the assistant head of school for academics at San Joaquin Memorial High School, infuses her art with her Catholic faith. In her painting "Caritas," one of the highlights of the exhibition, you can make out the head and arms of the crucified Christ, complete with crown of thorns, visible under a scattering of shattered red glass. It is somber and plaintive. Yet there is a sense of a spiritual journey here. You can sense the exuberance with which she is traversing that road.
I put "In the Cloud" on my list of Top 20 cultural events of the year, and decided that Sani was a good artist to get to know.
Q: Back in the first days of the pandemic, was there a place in your home where you felt most comfortable — somewhere you could nest and feel safe? Describe it for me.
A: Because I work in a high school, and my husband works in a hospital, the beginning of the pandemic was less about nesting and more about feeling safe in our professional environments. We would "escape" to our cabin at Shaver Lake, and marvel at the folks gathering together, without masks, at The Hungry Hut, The Trading Post, and our other favorite places there.
Q: I'm intrigued that for many years you were a full-time English teacher with a robust artistic occupation on the side. How do you think the two complemented each other?
A: Literature, in all its forms, informs my art. As an English teacher, I am immersed in literature; as a teacher of written an oral rhetoric, I am forced to examine the economy of my own expression – written, spoken, and painted. My profession and my art have a perfectly symbiotic relationship. The challenge was always in making time to paint. All my nights, weekends, holidays, plane, train and car trips, family home and hotel stays were occupied with correcting essays. Bodies of work – paintings and multi-media – would be completed under the pressure to fulfill a commitment to a show at Gallery 25. This occurred about every four years.
'I'm So Cool,' a self-portrait by Michele Sani.
Q: "In the Cloud" is a virtual exhibition. It's set up a little differently from most online exhibitions: The gallery chose to make it as a video, which you narrate. Why?
A: Gallery 25 chose to have a narrated video to preserve our tradition of interaction with the viewing community. As a brick and mortar space, we hosted beautiful receptions in which guests could ask questions of the artists while enjoying wine and snacks. We hosted classes and lectures. Our mission has always been to educate and inspire, and who is really educated and inspired by a Power Point presentation? The narration and music encourage the viewer to slow down, hear and see, and think, as if she were conversing with one of the artists, wine in hand.
Q: Gallery 25 is so important to Fresno, yet it's facing many challenges. The gallery closed its physical location (in the M Street Arts Complex) during the pandemic, but it wants to reopen. Why do you worry about its survival?
A: I worry about the survival of Gallery 25 because we have not been able to recruit young artists into our cooperative. As a cooperative gallery, each member has to be a handyman, docent, institutional officer, orator, historian, and diplomat. That's on top of being an outstanding fine artist. Oh, and we pay dues. It's harder than one might think to get such a commitment from a young artist in this tech driven world of immediate sensory gratification and fleeting allegiances. It takes true grit. Our members, in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, represent an endangered species: artists who sacrifice personal time and resources to maintain a legacy of fine art creation, education, and inspiration. Gallery 25 must survive in some form. You can testify to its significance.
Q: Let's talk more about you and the creative process. How has your faith influenced your art?
A: My Catholic faith is the core of both the content and form of my art. There is nothing more worthy of representation than the history of western civilization as it is influenced by the fall and salvation of humanity. The intellectual tradition – the marriage of faith and reason – and the emotional conflict born of the violence of Christ's Passion demands a balance of rhetorical precision and gut punch visuals that evade sentimentality. The Gospel message calls us to love God as He loves us, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is a tall order, especially in this virus infected, politically fraught, racially tense and economically polarized society. I hope my work reflects the words of my modern literary hero, Flannery O'Connor: "…you have to make your vision apparent by shock — to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures."
Michele Sani's 'Caritas' is part of the Gallery 25 virtual exhibition.
Q: At first glance, "Caritas" feels quite abstract, but then the figurative elements start to jump out at the viewer: the face of Jesus, the crown of thorns, the raised arms. Tell me about the title and what the piece means to you.
A: "Caritas" was the piece I contributed to our February 2020 show, "Love Is…" For many years, our February shows have embraced themes of love and eroticism. The term "caritas" literally means Christian love for mankind – charity. Christ's passion is the ultimate act of caritas. Considering my limitations – space and time – the piece has that rhetorical and visual brevity that can either confuse or cut to the quick. Working in my freezing garage, late nights, with a previously used canvas forced me to choose the head and arms of the crucified Christ to fill the visual space. I was actually pleased with the details, especially the crown of thorns, and was hesitant to add the shattered red glass. But, the glass was necessary; it symbolizes the often painful journey to salvation – admitting our sins – and, of course, the blood of the Lamb.
Q: Some people have had a relaxing, or even boring, pandemic. Others, like you, have been stressed out. What are some of the challenges of being in a leadership position at San Joaquin Memorial?
A: The challenge of leadership at San Joaquin Memorial High School lies in the ability to gain the trust of my peers so that they are open to my academic vision. Being open to my academic vision, for some teachers, means re-evaluating how they've operated for anywhere between 1 and 30 years, and considering the value of changing their philosophies and practices. About 20 years ago, a student told me that he was considering a career in education, but he couldn't decide if he should go into teaching or administration. I was quick to say, "Teachers are teachers and administrators are administrators. Figure out who you are so you can do the greatest good."
I loved teaching and I was good at it. I was often advised to apply for an administrative position at San Joaquin Memorial High School, but I resisted because I believed my statement to that young man; I felt more like a teacher than an administrator. I knew that I would work more with adults than kids as an administrator, and I was stubborn in my notion that the greater good could be served by teaching generations of students how to think critically and communicate effectively rather than manage a faculty.
My first year as an administrator was immediately affected by the COVID pandemic. My plans for professional development went from incorporating the true Catholic intellectual tradition across the curriculum, to creating protocol for distance learning. I've had to master technology; I want to play with paint and broken glass. I want to teach John Donne's Holy Sonnets. I want to hold Socratic seminars. I want to know the kids. The face in that "I'm So Cool" self-portrait represents the confident teacher I used to be.
Q: What are three words you'd use to describe yourself?
A: Sensitive; intuitive; loyal.
Q: What person in the entire world would you be most excited to find out had just rang your doorbell to say hi?
A: OMG – really???? OK, if we're talking about people who are alive, Madeleine Albright. I hope she would go beyond "hi" and come in for a great meal, wine, and a looooooooong conversation. She should spend the night and resume answering my million questions over perfect coffee and pastry in the morning.
Q: I know you have no extra time, but if you could develop a skill, start a new hobby, learn something new or improve yourself in some other way during quarantine, what would you accomplish?
A: I am trying to improve my Italian. The awesome Italian teacher at SJM says my spoken language is perfect, but I'm her boss.
WHAT HE'S LISTENING TO
A musical 'Love' for Miguel Molinar
The listener: Miguel Molinar, standout local actor who most recently impressed audiences as Sancho Panza in Good Company Players' "Man of La Mancha" and Shine! Theatre's "Songs for a New World."
Cast album he's hooked on right now: "Here Lies Love" by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. This album won a drama desk award for best music in 2013.
What the show is about: The show is about the First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos and her historic rise into power. This musical follows the journey leading up to her exile of the Philippines.
Have you been in the show? Or gotten to see it? I was fortunate enough to see this show at the Seattle Repertory Theater in 2017. My very talented friend from college, Geena Quintos, was in the cast so I made a special trip to see her. The theater was set up like a club with moving stages and platforms all around the space, making the audience a part of the show.
Favorite songs: A lot of these songs, as the kids say these days, slap hard. The beats are infectious. The song Opposite Attraction is so good. It's a great pop/disco duet. The title song Here Lies Love has a beautiful melody. Imelda Marcos was quoted saying she wanted the phrase "Here Lies Love" on her tombstone so it was a beautiful tribute to open the show. When my friend told me that I would be standing for the whole show I was nervous but all of the songs made it so easy to forget I was standing or even watching a musical.
How this album makes him feel:This album makes me really hopeful for the future of musical theatre. More opportunities are being created for actors in the Asian community. I enjoy this genre of disco style musical, especially with fierce belting. Ruthie Ann Miles and How To Get Away With Murder's, Conrad Ricamora are a few to name who give wonderful performances on this cast album. Having done more research I found that Imelda loved going to discos and even had a disco ball installed in her New York townhouse so it was a cool way to tell her story.
If we could sneak a peek at your Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music playlist, what would be the top-played song these days?
Tamela Mann's "God Provides" from her One Way album. It's a powerful message with an amazing vocal performance. For me it's a very tranquil song, as dramatic as it is, in this crazy zeitgeist we are living in.
Think about all the musical-theater titles out there. Which of the "worlds" that they create would you most like to live in?
I really struggle with this question because I don't think that musical has been created yet. I'd have to combine the world or worlds of Rocky Horror Picture Show with a mix of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Tell us what these pandemic times have been like for you. How do you get your theater/performing fix?
Well my family and I have been trying to quarantine as best as possible. Listening to science. There are lots of concerts and taped musicals that have been streaming on different platforms so that's been awesome to watch. I appreciated the Fool's Collaborative virtual reading they did for George Floyd.
My main outlet for performing since the pandemic has been taking Professor Hannah York's advanced voice class at Fresno city college. I've grown so much in the short period I've been taking her classes. She offers a lot of in class/online workshopping and performing. I'm very grateful I've had the opportunity to experience and observe her teachings. I feel like I'm back in NYC studying when I'm in her class.
DONALD'S NOTEBOOK, PART 2
Hair today, hair tomorrow
Remember, back in late July, when I interviewed my massive, curly-ish mop of out-of-control pandemic hair? It just kept growing. I didn't end up getting it cut until October during one of the dips in the coronavirus crisis. And it felt so good. Here I am with Mikhaila Thomas of Preen salon doing the honors in a 32-second time-lapse video. However, my hair is having the last laugh. I don't even want to show you what it looks like today.
The Munro Review has no paywall but is financially supported by readers who believe in its non-profit mission of bringing professional arts journalism to the central San Joaquin Valley. You can help by signing up for a monthly recurring paid membership or make a one-time donation of as little as $3. All memberships and donations are tax-deductible.
all the king's men, gallery 25, here lies love, kim's convenience, michelle sani, midnight in chernobyl, miguel molinar, mikhaila thomas, quarantine chronicles, sunshine on leith, the expanse, theatercat
Donald Munro
Covering the arts online in the central San Joaquin Valley and beyond. Lover of theater, classical music, visual arts, the literary arts and all creative endeavors. Former Fresno Bee arts critic and columnist. Graduate of Columbia University and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Excited to be exploring the new world of arts journalism.
donaldfresnoarts@gmail.com


text:
Quinn Trails
April 7, 2010 | Tom Jensen
Raleigh, N.C. – Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's approval rating was 25% before he narrowly edged Dan Hynes to win nomination for a full term in February, and two months later his approval rating is still that same 25%. Because of that Republican nominee Bill Brady is the early general election favorite.
Brady leads Quinn 43-33. He has 80% of Republicans behind him, while only 53% of Democrats are planning to vote for Quinn. Part of that is because there are many more undecided Democrats (28%) than Republicans (13%). But Brady also has 19% of Democrats planning to vote for him while only 7% of Republicans support Quinn.
Additionally Brady has a 39-31 advantage with independents. Brady is mostly unknown to voters in the state at this point, with 55% saying they have no opinion of him. Among those who do have one, 25% view him favorably and 20% see him unfavorably.
There's virtually nothing positive that can be derived from Quinn's poll numbers. Democrats only approve of him by the smallest of margins, 37/36. African Americans disapprove of him by a 24/37 spread, although they still plan to vote for him 51-17. Only 23% of independents and 10% of Republicans think he's doing a good job.
"It's very unusual for someone with Pat Quinn's approval numbers to get reelected," said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. "Maybe voters won't like what they see once they become more familiar with Bill Brady but for now Republicans are strongly favored to win this race."
PPP released numbers showing Mark Kirk leading Alexi Giannoulias yesterday, and will have new ones looking at a variety of Illinois issues tomorrow.
PPP surveyed 591 Illinois voters from April 1st to 5th. The survey's margin of error is +/-4.0%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.
Complete results are attached and can be found at www.publicpolicypolling.com.
If you would like an interview regarding this release, please contact Dean Debnam at (888) 621-6988 or 919-880-4888.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Pat
Quinn's job performance? If you approve,
press 1. If you disapprove, press 2. If you're
not sure, press 3.
Approve …………………………………………………. 25%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 53%
Not Sure…………………………………………………. 22%
Q2 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Bill Brady? If favorable, press 1. If
unfavorable, press 2. If you're not sure, press
Favorable……………………………………………….. 25%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 20%
Q3 The candidates for Governor are Republican
Bill Brady and Democrat Pat Quinn. If the
election was today, who would you vote for? If
Bill Brady, press 1. If Pat Quinn, press 2. If
you're undecided, press 3.
Brady …………………………………………………….. 43%
Quinn …………………………………………………….. 33%
Undecided………………………………………………. 24%
Q4 Who did you vote for President last year? If
John McCain, press 1. If Barack Obama,
press 2. If someone else or you don't
remember, press 3.
McCain…………………………………………………… 39%
Obama…………………………………………………… 54%
Someone Else/Don't Remember………………… 7%
Q5 If you are a liberal, press 1. If a moderate,
press 2. If a conservative, press 3.
Liberal ……………………………………………………. 20%
Moderate………………………………………………… 44%
Conservative…………………………………………… 36%
Q6 If you are a woman, press 1, if a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 55%
Man……………………………………………………….. 45%
Q7 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If you are a
Republican, press 2. If you are an independent
or identify with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 42%
Republican……………………………………………… 30%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 28%
Q8 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 8%
White …………………………………………………….. 72%
African American …………………………………….. 15%
Other……………………………………………………… 5%
Q9 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1 now. If
you are 30 to 45, press 2. If you are 46 to 65,
press 3. If older, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 7%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 25%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 23%
A Reflection on Debbie Stabenow's career
How Our Polls Did in 2022
2022 is looking a lot like...2020


Charles Crawford c/o 1974 was a team leader in an elite unit known as "BLACKHORSE".
Tracy Owens - Returning from 8 month deployment.
Going down a mountain using the fast route..(Submitted by Charles Crawford c/o 1974).


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Games Inbox: How much will a Switch Pro cost?
Manchester United are reportedly prepared to make a £200 million bid for AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The 18-year-old has been a subject of interest from the Premier League club since the summer, with Louis van Gaal considering a move for the Italy international. Donnarumma is regarded as the best young goalkeeper in the world, and United are poised to make a bid for the teenager. However, the club do not want to break the bank in order to lure the player, and are looking at offers in the region of £200m.
After a season at AC Milan in which Gianluigi Donnarumma was unable to force open a Premier League door, Manchester United are reportedly ready to make a move for the Italian. A number of Manchester United's rivals have been linked with the 18 year old in the past and, while AC Milan are said to want €100m, the Red Devils are ready to hand over a €90m fee. At that price it is hard to see how they would be able to persuade the goalkeeper to leave.
According to the latest reports in the British press, Manchester United have made a substantial offer to AC Milan for their teenage goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma. The offer of €100m has apparently been turned down but suggests that talks are ongoing and that the player is keen to move to Old Trafford.. Read more about gianluigi donnarumma and let us know what you think. 7:36 P.M. EASTERN TIME.
Nick JuddTransfer Writer
With most of Europe's major seasons coming to an end, the rumour mill is in full swing as clubs ponder their moves for the upcoming transfer window. Check out the latest gossip below, and see all the official proposals here.
MAIN STORY : Man Utd and Chelsea in battle for Donnarumma
After Paolo Maldini confirmed that Gianluigi Donnarumma will leave Milan this summer, the Sun newspaper has understood that Manchester United and Chelsea want to buy the 22-year-old striker.
Donnarumma's current contract at Milan expires next month and although he could be sold for nothing, his manager Mino Raiola wants to make a hard deal on wages. Barcelona and Juventus are also said to be interested in him.
2 Connected
In his six years with the Rossoneri's first team, Donnarumma has established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in Europe.
Maldini said that although it was difficult to accept the goalkeeper's decision to leave the team, Donnarumma has often been a leader and captain this season.
Donnarumma has played more than 200 games for the Italian giants – the kind of experience Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is interested in.
Linking the Italian goalkeeper to a move to Old Trafford would only increase the pressure on current Man United number one David De Gea.
The Spaniard had to make way for substitute Dean Henderson at times in the 2020-21 season and failed to score a crucial penalty in Wednesday's Europa League final against Villarreal.
– ESPN FC Daily Stream on ESPN+ (US only)
– ESPN+ Viewer Guide : Bundesliga, Serie A, MLS, FA Cup and others
Gianluigi Donnarumma's confirmed departure from Milan has caught the attention of Manchester United and Chelsea. Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images
PAPER GOSSIP
– Edin Dzeko is in talks to move to Los Angeles Galaxy this summer, according to The Sun, but Jose Mourinho's appointment as manager could be enough to keep the 35-year-old striker at Roma.
– Olivier Giroud's contract at Chelsea FC is coming to an end and Milan are considering acquiring the 34-year-old France international. Giroud could yet spend his final year at Chelsea, but Le10Sport believes the rossoneri will turn down interest from Lens and Fenerbahce.
– Benfica have made a bold bid to buy Gianluigi Buffon, reports Portuguese publication A Bola. The 43-year-old's contract at Juventus expires next month and Benfica are keen to acquire him to get back into the title race after being beaten by Sporting this season. Sevilla and Olympiacos have also shown interest in the World Cup winner and Buffon has admitted that he is looking for a delicious and crazy way to end his career.
– Giorginio Wijnaldum will stay at Barcelona until 2024, according to Fabrizio Romano. According to the Italian journalist, a verbal agreement has been reached and the 30-year-old midfielder is expected to sign in the coming days. Barca are now trying to close the deal and cut the Dutchman's salary to £90,000 a week. Wijnaldum bid an emotional farewell to Liverpool last week by turning down a move to Bayern in favour of a move to Barcelona.
– According to Le10Sport, Paris Saint-Germain are considering 18-year-old Eduardo Kamavinga as a priority player for this summer. Rennes would be asking for 100 million euros, which is too much for the young player to handle for PSG's leaders. However, the French club believe they can negotiate a price and, more importantly, Kamawinga has stated that he is not interested in signing for Bayern, opening the door for the Parisians to make a move in the coming weeks.
– Roma have made Torino striker Andrea Belotti their main target for this summer, reports Calciomercato. The Giallorossi want to strengthen their attacking position this window and value Belotti at €15 million. The 27-year-old's contract expires next summer, allowing Torino to acquire the striker before he leaves on a 12-month deal.
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House Committee to Push for Vote on Warren Casino Bill (Again)
Posted at 6:30 pm on April 28, 2019 by Dan Spencer
The House Natural Resources Committee will vote Wednesday on the House version of presidential wannabe, Massachusetts' Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Indian casino bill.
The vote comes at a time when the Mashpee Wampanoag – the tribe the bill is intended to gift with a casino – is in complete disarray. The Cape Cod Times reports:
Political unrest within the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is near a tipping point.
A movement within the tribe to unseat its two top political officials has set in motion a recall process within the tribal government that could result in their removal from power, according to sources with knowledge of the effort.
Among the points of political contention are allegations of financial mismanagement by Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell and a ballooning debt tied to the tribe's pursuit of the casino:
Two petitions were filed with the tribe's election committee on Wednesday to recall Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell and Vice Chairwoman Jessie Little Doe' Baird, citing, among other things, the more than $500 million in debt owed to the tribe's financial backer, Genting Malaysia …
… The tribe has paid Cromwell more than $1 million since he took office in 2009, the petition says. Since then, the tribe has incurred more than $500 million in debt with 'very little to show for it; no casino, no jobs' and a mortgaged property in Taunton, where the tribe's $1 billion casino-resort would be located.
While the tribe really needs Sen. Warren to pull through, no one is more desperate for Warren's bill to succeed than Genting Malaysia. If the casino doesn't come through, the tribe doesn't have to pay Genting back the half-billion it borrowed.
According to sources, Genting is leaning hard on their chief lobbyist Richard Pombo. Pombo, a former California Congressman, has a long and troubled history with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, according to the Los Angeles Times:
Everybody got something.
The Mashpee Wampanoags, famed for greeting the Pilgrims at Plymouth, will be named a nationally recognized tribe — a designation they sought for 30 years so that they could benefit from federal aid programs.
Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist embroiled in a Washington corruption scandal, and his firm championed the Indians' cause and pocketed tens of thousands of dollars in tribal money.
And Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy), chairman of the influential House Resources Committee, landed a lucrative source of political donations: the small group of Native Americans whose ancestral lands are about as far from his Northern California district as one can get in the United States.
It should be noted that while Pombo took more money from Jack Abramoff than any other Member of Congress, he was never charged with a crime, let alone convicted of anything. And his biggest political sin was really just having all the wrong enemies in the environmental activist community, which viewed him as Public Enemy Number One.
In the end, the House Natural Resources Committee will need to decide if it wants to enrich a Malaysian consortium and its lobbyists and revive Sen. Elizabeth Warren's flagging presidential prospects.
Tags: 2020 elizabeth warren Genting Indian Casino Massachusetts Presidential Campaign
The Dead Tacoma Antifa Used AOC's Motive and Ayanna Pressley's Method in His Fatal Attack
Tipsheet – Breaking Political News & Conservative Analysis
2,500 Truck Drivers Lose Jobs
AOC Draws a Challenger -- a Black, Female, Jamaican, Republican Challenger


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To help ward off Amazon, CPG advertisers are seeking data relationships with retailers
The Amazon Effect
November 20, 2019 by Seb Joseph
Consumer packaged goods companies are trying to prevent grocery from becoming yet another online market dominated by a single player. While these efforts take many forms, many have a common theme: convince retailers to share more data with them.
Amazon doesn't yet dominate the grocery category the way it does some others, but it's fast becoming a destination for the types of food and drink that people typically visit bricks-and-mortar supermarkets for. (Online grocery sales were up 40% year over year in 2018, per eMarketer.) That growth and increased leverage is bad news for CPG companies, and for supermarkets, which struggle to compete in the low-margin e-commerce world. Even Walmart, the world's largest brick-and-mortar retailer, expects to lose more than $1 billion for its e-commerce business this year, per Vox.
Now, CPG companies are increasingly trying to strike mutually beneficial partnerships with retailers that have both parties' interests in mind. While CPG companies can't afford not to work with Amazon, they can keep it at arm's length. As a result, some of the largest CPG companies are now rethinking how they work with their biggest retailers, and viewing them as much as potential marketing platforms as sales channels. The nature of shopper marketing deals between CPG businesses and retailers is changing quickly.
"As the CPG advertisers renegotiate their agreements with retailers, everyone is trying to regain footing in what is a very volatile market," said Peter Sedlarcik, chief data officer at Havas Media Group. "Increasingly, the sharing of data is on the table as a discussion point on how each side can get value out of the relationship."
Whereas cost and margin dominated those negotiations in the past, shopper data is having a larger influence on the outcome now. Demand for so-called "second-party data" in grocery is on the rise. This involves a retailer sharing its first-party data with advertisers to bolster their existing data sets. With this co-mingled data, it's easier for CPG advertisers to target ads to shoppers, and to encourage repeat purchases.
"Driving effectiveness of our online ads is one of our ambitions, thus winning with e-retail media as one of the most rapidly developing media platforms is part of our digital media strategy," said Sebastien Szczepaniak, global head of sales and eBusiness at Nestlé. Despite the intent, not all retailers are yet primed to capitalize on this shift, he said.
In some situations, advertisers are acting as consultants and educating retailers about why their data may be useful to them.
Nestlé is currently testing a similar partnership with French supermarket chain Carrefour. In Spain, the CPG business is using the customer data it owns to target Carrefour's online shoppers with programmatic campaigns. Should the test prove successful, the plan is to strike similar deals across Europe, said Szczepaniak. Tests like this depend on how well the CPG company's products become a part of a person's shopping list. When someone does one grocery shop online they tend to use that same list repeatedly.
"In grocery, people aren't looking for inspiration online. Once they've done one shop they tend to use that same shopping list over and over again," said Patrick Munden, chief growth officer at Wunderman Thompson Commerce U.K.
Procter and Gamble has been pursuing a similar strategy for the last year. Heineken has spent this year bolstering its e-commerce division, particularly in the U.K. where it has hired specialists to grow sales both on the sites of brick-and-mortar retailers like Tesco, as well as pure-play online marketplaces like Amazon and Ocado. Part of the thinking behind these sorts of moves is for CPG advertisers to get to a point in their partnerships with retailers where they can put a pixel on shopping pages featuring their products, and hopefully, also get the conversion data. CPG advertisers often lack rich data as a result of not having a direct relationship with shoppers. The commercial clout the likes of Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Heineken have with retailers, however, gives them some negotiating power around access to data.
"Most of the CPGs that we handle are working more closely with the retailer not only for e-commerce, but because these retailers have developed their own media networks for advertising," Jill Cruz, vp of shopper and e-commerce strategy at Mediacom and Wunderman Thompson New York. "These retail media networks are built on the CPG company's ability to target and reach their shoppers with proprietary first-party data, serve up digital ads both offsite and onsite to reach the shopper when they are planning their in-store trip and also to drive online sales and to measure sales lift with closed-loop reporting."
Retailers would be wise to take a note out of the Amazon playbook in their attempts to sell ads to advertisers. The online behemoth realized quickly that understanding the lifetime value of an online shopper is a growing priority for CPG businesses in a grocery category pegged by low margins. Whether it's introducing new reporting tools or sharpening the number of ad targeting models that are more exact, Amazon is working with agencies and advertisers to make its data more accessible. Advertisers increasingly fuel Amazon's income growth by using more of its data, effectively funding the site's de facto monopoly on retail.
"Many CPG businesses are building a better-together approach of e-commerce and brick and mortar with supermarkets to help these retailers understand the nuances of selling online," said Megan MacDonald, senior advertising account manager at marketing agency Tunuiti.
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When you are ready for your astrology consultation or class the best way to contact me is by using the form below.
I will write back within the next day or two and let you know when I can see you and offer you some timing options.
I usually have a two-week lead-time and sometimes I am simply busy so it varies.
the place you are living in now (town and country).
I will send you a Client information sheet to complete and sign beforehand.
A client consultation is usually booked for one hour but it may overrun a bit. Classes are for two hours each.
I take early bird appointments and start teaching classes from 7:00am thorough the day and finish in the evening 9:00pm.
Not all days are fully busy and it varies depending on my clients and student commitments.
Please let me know the focus for your consultation appointment.
If there is a specific question you want me to analyze or other areas in your life need and in-depth interpretation (often money, romance and health come up) tell me as soon as possible so I can be fully prepared. Most people have a specific reason to approach an astrologer.
If you wish to record the session you may bring a digital recorder or other device. I do not tape but you are most welcome to do so.
You will probably want to take notes as well, so perhaps arrive with your writing materials. If it is an extended session feel free to bring a snack or your lunch.
Please do not bring a "friend" to sit in on the consultation they can wait in the other room. If your sister drove you in her car, she can cool her heels in the waiting room (see, suddenly it has a name).
If you feel the need to have your friends, mother or boyfriends present there are other options. Please do not bring your dog.
A consultation is really about chatting for over an hour so in time we can both get parched. I provide regular tea or coffee and cookies. (By the way my tea is better than my coffee, or so I have heard…) If you wish you may bring your own specialty tea bags. I also have chilled iced water for you.
All consultations are strictly confidential. Even if you and I have mutual friends perhaps in the astrological community, rest assured I respect your privacy.
I have three planets in Scorpio (the sign of privacy and secrets) and I have no problem keeping mum. Afterwards, if I meet you in the street I won't discuss your chart.
You can pay for your consultation or course at the time of the booking via PayPal. On some classes and consultation pages there is a Buy now button on the screen.
If you need something slightly different then I will send you a PayPal invoice beforehand to your PayPal email address which is often different to your main email address.
Your booking is only confirmed when you have paid. I will send you an acknowledgement email. I will only start analyzing your chart after I have received your payment. I learned many years ago about spending hours of my time preparing for clients who become no-shows and, after two weeks of this, you change your approach.
To my mind, professional astrology services are a luxury item. You do not need astrology. No one needs it not like bread and water.
You can get free astrology anywhere online but if you want an experienced practitioner that is something else.
I do give back to the astrological community and pay-it-forward, as I donate one hour of my time every month to those in need. Check out my Giving page for details.


The Finns from Nokia shacked hands with Cambridge University and together they have released a conceptual phone which is available for viewing at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Nokia Morph stands to its name. This model can literally morph intro any form one may imagine. You can squeeze it in your hand, convolute it, twist it, or simply modulate it in any form you want, it won't break, nor damage. Even more it has the capability to clean itself from bacteria, a characteristic that will be implemented to headphones used for cellular.
This product was elaborated for the Design and Elastic Mind Campaign and it is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York until this year's the 12th of May. Also, Nokia Morph is at display at the official website of the Finns.
One frustrating part is that it is not available in markets, so you cannot buy it. We cannot say when or if this model will be released for public but we may hold on to our precious hopes. Even if it will charge the markets, its price will be probably higher than our pockets. People who like futuristic designs and stand strongly to a phone's health are definitely impress by this collaboration.
If available for purchasing, it will incontestably give its users a push in fashion senses. Even it has this futuristic design; it may as well be correlated to any classical aspect of cellphones, thus its physical flexibility gives a high pliability possibility to any user wishes. You could pack it in your pocket, size wouldn't matter, you could stretch it to its limits or even attach it to your belt.
Cambridge scientists have surely put a lot of perspiration in creating this remarkable design. Their achievement can be viewed behind glass at a museum, so hurry up if you want to see it, time passes as the 12th of May approaches.


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Page 3, 5 September 1840 — The adjourned examination of Misters, suspected of the attempt to
The adjourned examination of Misters, suspected of the attempt to
assassinate Mr. Maereeth at Ludlow, has been postponed till Wednesday next ; as Mr. Macreeth had a relapse caused by eating solid food too The adjourned examination of Misters, suspected of the attempt to assassinate Mr. Maereeth at Ludlow, has been postponed till Wednesday next ; as Mr. Macreeth had a relapse caused by eating solid food too
• soon, and was not able to attend before the Magistrates at the time first Sated. Since that time, however, the wounds have been healing more rapidly than was expected ; and Mr. Macreeth is now able to eat solid food with impunity.
A man charged with the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Cook, at Peover, near Knutsford, has been apprehended at Cavan, in Ireland. The cir- cumstances of his apprehension arc very curious. It appears that amongst other articles found in the cottage after the murder, was a piece of paper, upon which was some writing. It purported to be part of a character given by a gentleman resident at Cavan to a servant leaving his employ. The letter was handed over to the Cavan police, and in less than two hours the party in whose favour it was given was taken into custody. The man's name is Bartholomew Murray. He last winter went about Knutsford selling oranges, and had latterly been employed in harvest-work. He was seen at Knutsford the day before the murder, in want of work and 'money. A correspondent at Knuts- ford informs us that the prisoner bad been employed by Mr. Cook as an agricultural labourer for two days, and that he had also worked on the farm adjoining Cook's residence.


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Epoch Rising
Rock band Epoch Rising have been grabbing attention since 2007 with high-energy performances in the capital and around the country. 10, released on 28th August 2009, is the hooky and driving debut single from this Dublin based power trio who are: Seán Ahearne, Harry Prendergast and Laurence Moloney.
A launch night took place in Crawdaddy, Dublin, on the 28th August to mark the single release as well as the accompanying music video release on YouTube. The song will be sold digitally via www.epochrising.com and www.myspace.com/epochrising
The band was formed, way back when, by Seán and Harry who spent some time writing and developing the Epoch Rising sound. The lads also gigged as a two piece before being joined by Laurence in 2007.
Every Epoch Rising gig is a show. Live thematic visuals, from B-Movie, Anime and many other influences accentuate the vigorous performances. Seán is a dangerously dexterous guitarist who also sings and programs the synth and percussive loops used by the band. Harry's exceptional and powerful vocals are complimented by his solid driving rhythm guitar. He also concocts the visual feast for the live shows. Laurence's distinctive and hard-hitting style solidifies the Epoch Rising sound.
Driving rhythms, catchy melodies and soaring vocal harmonies over rock grooves and riffs are the band's trademark, a trademark that is fervently demonstrated in the debut single 10.
This is music for people who like music!
*Photos by Karl Burke - www.karlburke.com
Foo Fighters, Mike Patton, Queens of the Stoneage, The Cult, The Wildhearts
Everything that has a riff a groove or a hook., Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stoneage, The Cult, The Wildhearts