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erica.blog
Travel, fitness, mindfulness, tech
Birth Junkies
Jersioca
Veggie/GF Guide for Rio
My Weekend In Movies (Snowstorm Edition)
March 12, 2013 /
Recently, the weather has started warming up, and the air is slowly, but surely, losing its bite. You can tell Daylight Savings Time has begun as people crawl out of their homes to make weekend escapes down to the Shore, the park, or the city for just a few hours.
Nonetheless, the house was once again coated in snow early last week. I curled up on the couch with some classics to stay warm, and positive. Little can drive you as mad as a never-ending winter.
1. The Men
I just finished Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me. As I was reading the book, I hopped on Netflix to take a gander at Brando's first film, The Men.
It's a touching, and still timely, story about a group of men who've lost the use of their legs during World War II. On the surface, Brando's character Ken is a sullen fellow who's angry about what happened to him. As the film continues, we see that he's an insecure boy who's struggling with his new reality. He's scared by the love of his sweetheart Ellen for fear that she will reject him or that he'll be sentencing her to a lifetime of taking care of him.
In Songs My Mother Taught Me, Brando often cites The Men as an example of how to act in a close up. Because Brando was seated in a wheelchair or laying in a hospital bed for most of the movie, he couldn't rely on body language to get his character's state of mind across. Instead, he had to rely on the subtlety of his facial expressions to convey all of the conflicting emotions that Ken was struggling with.
2. Bus Stop
I've seen most of Marilyn's movies, but I'd never heard of Bus Stop. And I have to admit, it was kind of a weird movie. Monroe played Cherie, a saloon singer chanteuse, really well in this movie, from her slinky Southern drawl to her conflicted body language as she decides what to do with her persistant admirer.
Queue weirdness. Beau, played by Don Murray, is, well, really strange. He's supposed to be a young man who's only ever left his ranch once. For 95% of the movie, he hoots and hollers and yells to anyone within earshot. Once he sets his sights on Cherie, he becomes obsessively determined to marry her. He even lassos her to get her on the bus with him back home.
Of course, in true 1950's fashion, there's a happy ending with everyone getting just what they want.
3. Grand Hotel
The film from which the classic line "I want to be alone" comes.1 While Greta Garbo and John Barrymore are the two main stars of this movie, Joan Crawford is really the one who stands out the most. Her character, Flaemmchen, is a hotel stenographer with a kind heart and strong wit.
The film itself is framed beautifully with Doctor Otternschlag's line about how "People come, people go. Nothing ever happens." However, at the end of the movie, we see one departed life replaced by the birth of another. Two guests leaving the hotel as two check in. Dr. Otternschlag is right–at the Grand Hotel, life goes on, and you are easily replaced by the next guest.
4. His Girl Friday
Rosalind Russell is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses. She's enviably witty in His Girl Friday and says just what she thinks. She's ambitious, talented, and tough as she deals with the insanity known as journalism.
His Girl Friday is a quick moving film, and it must have been difficult to keep up such an intense pace for so long. Each line is delivered like it's a punchline, and the characters can hardly keep up with each other. It's a rollercoaster, and a funny one at that.
Note: Or, "I want to be let alone," as Garbo corrected.
Photo from Grand Hotel from Wikimedia Commons.
By Erica Varlese 0 Comments
2018 Reading
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For the shots shown below, I used a Cokin ND 8 filter together with a graduated ND 4 filter and set the speed of the shutter to 2 seconds. Given that one of my tripod legs is a dodgy (and I'll have to invest in a new and better tripod soon), I was limited to how I could set up the shot on it to some extent.
The photographs of the field aren't of particular interest: I just took them to compare the end results. I actually prefer the non-filtered version but it would have been impossible to get a decent image (including the detail of the ruin's walls) without the filters.


The tax reform bill that passed just before Christmas 2017, and which goes into effect immediately, has some significant changes that may impact potential homebuyers.
The most significant part of the legislation pertains to state and local property taxes. Previously, the homeowner could deduct the full amount of property and state income tax they paid. Now, they can only deduct up to $10,000.
Homeowners who exceed the cap may choose between sales, property, or income taxes where applicable. This new restriction is unlikely to affect middle and lower income homeowners. Congress is assuming that those in the upper tax brackets are not likely to view this as a deterrent, considering the overall bill tends to favor the wealthy. That, of course, remains to be seen.
The mortgage interest deduction has been cut in half. For any new mortgage dated December 14, 2017 and after, the mortgage debt used to purchase or improve the home as an itemized deduction has dropped from $1 million dollars to $750.000. The new law does not affect homeowners with an existing mortgage prior to this date.
There's good news for millennials. While the House of Representatives pushed to eliminate student and graduate student loan interest deductions, the Senate won the day leaving both intact.
There's no change to the personal exemption; it remains at $4,150. The standard deduction doubles from $6,500 to $12,000 for singles and from $13,000 to $24,000 for married couples filing jointly. For families with children, the tax credit per child has doubled from $1,000 to $2,000. And, Congress introduced a $500 family tax credit for non-child dependents—that is, children that parents may be supporting that would not qualify for the child tax credit.
It is important to note that all of the new provisions listed above are set to expire in 2025.


We had different speakers from different countries. They presented their experiences with the devices they use. During the day we learned a lot of the numerous topics like CoolSculpting, miraDry, Cellfina, Ulthera, Lumenis M22, Lumenis ResurFX, IntraLyse and Exilis Elite.
Also we would like to thank all visitors for your participation. With a few impressions from the event we say goodbye from Bern and hope for the next year again on a strong attendance.


Has Drudge Report Joined Fake News?
Can anyone explain why Drudge has been publishing news to discourage the nation?
To me it looks the same as the Demonrat practice of suppressing conservative turnout at elections by publishing falsified poles.
Dr. Eowyn has recently been plugging the alternative news aggregator, Wharfinger.com, as a better resource than Drudge. And considering headlines like the ones highlighted above, I must agree with her.
I would love to hear from Dr. Eowyn and our readers what has happened to Drudge. As I tried to search out the subject on Google it seemed there was a stunning silence on the subject.
Dr. Eowyn, thank you in advance for weighing in on the subject.
Am I seeing things correctly, or am I just whining because I don't like bad news? Looking forward to what others have to say on this.
Did you ever wonder how each new batch of conservative representatives we have been sending to Congress ends up neutered, powerless, voiceless?
I thank God for sending a Donald Trump to get in there and rip the curtains wide open on the dirty racket that is Washington, DC. May the Lord hear our prayers, and rescue us from this evil cabal, before we repeat the horrors of the French Revolution.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel, Hillary promised that, barring any national security risk, if elected president she would open to the public the government's files on the mysterious Area 51 in the Nevadan desert. There have been persistent rumors that Area 51, a U.S. Air Force facility the existence of which has only recently be acknowledged by the government, is the site of an UFO crash in the mid-1950s.
Although Drudge Report does not credit the source of the Hillary pic, Matt Drudge is not known to post photocopied pictures. Thus, we can assume that the photo of Hillary has not been altered.
Take a good look at her eyeballs. Note the strange color (chartreuse!) of her irises, and shape of her pupils.
Her eyes look like those of a lizard . . . or of a fictional dragon named Smaug, as envisioned in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Note Smaug's oddly-shaped pupils.
Our eyes are windows into our souls.
Or, as FOTM reader Steven Broiles observes, possessed.
Clinton voter fraud at Iowa Caucus?
The first chance they got they commit voter fraud.
Anything to which Drudge Report links, automatically takes on a sheen of credibility.
The video is a segment from CSPAN's live coverage of the Democratic caucus of Polk County's precinct #43, held in Roosevelt High School, Des Moines, on February 1, 2016.
In the caucus, votes were tallied by a primitive method of hand counting the raised hands of the people in the room. Bernie Sanders supporters are pointing to the video, claiming it showed there was Clinton voter fraud in Precinct #43 because of the discrepancy between the results of the first and second hand-counts.
In other words, they lost 3 people but Clinton's vote went up by 22, making her the winner of Precinct #43's caucus.
The video begins with a woman in a red "Bernie" t-shirt doing a second hand count of Sanders supporters. At the 0:43 mark, she announces the result: 223!
At the 1:20 mark, a heavy-set woman with short brown hair in a blue t-shirt says the count for Hillary is 232. At the 1:40 mark, she says that some people had already left the caucus — "some people walked out the door" — which would account for why the total of the second hand count (456) was 3 fewer than the first hand count (459).
Gentsch asked the people in the room if they wanted a recount. A majority raised their hands for "No".
Some of them went for Sanders in the second hand-count, increasing his votes by 9, from the first hand-count's 215 to 224.
Others went for Hillary in the second hand-count, increasing her votes by 22, from the first hand-count's 210 to 232.
The discrepancy of 3 between the total number of votes at the first and second hand-counts can be explained by "some people walked out the door".
I know this is terribly important to Bernie Sanders supporters, and far be it for me to actually defend Hillary Clinton, but I do care about the Truth.
From the CSPAN video, I'm not convinced there was voter fraud at Precinct #43. Besides, the people at that precinct overwhelmingly consented to the results of the second hand-count by rejecting a recount. If they don't care, why should we?
As for reports that 6 precincts used coin tosses to decide Hillary as the winner, The Atlantic points out that coin flips were used where there was a tie, and that Bernie Sanders had won a sizable share of coin tosses as well, according to information provided by the state Democratic Party.
This caption could be attached to any picture of Michelle.
Is it legal to say that?
I first noticed these extraordinary pics of Obama on Drudge earlier today. The pics are wire service photos of Obama campaigning over the weekend. By this afternoon, Drudge had added a reference to Rush Limbaugh also noticing the pics.
Trust what your instincts tell you.
Look at those eyes. Eyes of pure evil. Eyes of madness.
I and others noticed his evil eyes back in the 2008 campaign [see HERE], but now they're much much worse.
I agree with Rush: They are demonic, unholy.
Obama's mask — the sociopathic narcissist's "charming social mask" — is slipping and what's emerging ain't pretty.
Looks like those reports of Obama being gripped by paranoia, depression, and schizophrenia are right, as are the reports of top Democrats considering invoking Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to remove Obama….


text:
Valery Gergiev, Conductor
Salzburg Festival 2012 - Opening Concert
Mymy - YouTube - 3:23
The Opening Concert of the Salzburg Festival has traditionally been a highly regarded event. The vibrant heart of the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, under the Russian conduct...
Serenade (Songs and Dances of Death)-Sergei Semishkur
Alexander Raskatov's adaptation of the 'Songs and Dances of Death' for tenor and orchestra. Sergei Semishkur (Tenor) Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Valery Gergiev Salzburger Festspiele 2012
????? ??????? 2012 ?????????? ????? split2
??????? - ??????? ??????? ? ??????? ??????? ????? ??????? -- ??????? ??????? ??????? -- ??????? ?????? ????? -- ?????? ??? ???????? -- ?????? ???????? ???????? -- ?????? ????? ?????? ???????? -- ?...
Lullaby ( Songs and Dances of Death)-Sergei Semishkur
The Field Marshal (Songs and Dances of Death)-Sergei Semishkur
LEONIDAS KAVAKOS & MANCHESTER Orch. G.NOSEDA cond. BEETHOVEN Concerto Op.61 I...
jorgeliebermannjx - YouTube - 14:58
Gianandrea Noseda (born 1964 in Milan) is an Italian conductor. He studied piano, composition and conducting in Milan. He furthered his conducting studies with Donato Renzetti, Myung-Whun Chung and...
MAHLER Symphony Nº10 (Adagio) LONDON PhO VALERY GERGIEV cond. II / II LIVE
Paris Salle Pleyel
MAHLER Symphony Nº10 (Adagio) LONDON PhO VALERY GERGIEV cond. I / II LIVE
Sergei Semishkur - Arioso di Vladimir Igorevic
dal Principe Igor di Aleksandr Porfir'evic Borodin - Orchestra del Teatro Mariinsky di San Pietroburgo diretta da Valery Gergiev al Teatro Massimo di Palermo 13.11.2011
YEFIM BRONFMAN PLAYS IN TOKYO RACHMANINOFF Concerto Nº3 Op.30 FINALE 2004 LIVE
The San Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Valery Gergiev.
YEFIM BRONFMAN PLAYS IN TOKYO RACHMANINOFF Concerto Nº3 II / III LIVE 2004
Valery Gergiev conducts the San Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
YEFIM BRONFMAN PLAYS RACHMANINOFF Concerto Nº3 IN TOKYO (2004) LIVE I / III
San Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Valery Gergiev..
Itamar Zorman Valery Gergiev Mozart Adagio
itamarzorman - YouTube - 10:45
Itamar Zorman, Tchiakovsky competition winner, performs Mozart Adagio from violin concerto n. 3 in the Gala concert in Saint-Petersburg with the Marimsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev, July...
Tchaikovsky Romeo & Juliet Overture, London Symphony Orchestra, Valery Gergie...
sdsymphony - YouTube - 11:17
Tchaikovsky Romeo & Juliet Overture, London Symphony Orchestra, Valery Gergiev Proms 2007 1/2
2009-10 Season Announcement Webcast
newyorkphilharmonic - YouTube - 1:23:13
The 2009-10 Season Announcement. Webcast Timeline 00:55 Press Conference begins; Paul B. Guenther introduction 05:00 Alan Gilbert comes onstage and remains for entire conference 08:22 Zarin Mehta ...
The Russian Stravinsky flipCam Video #6: Valery Gergiev on Igor Stravinsky
newyorkphilharmonic - YouTube - 2:01
Valery Gergiev discusses Igor Stravinsky as a child of St. Petersburg and also a child of Mariinsky, where his father, Fyodor Stravinsky, was a famous soloist. Visit http://nyphil.org/stra... fo...
The Russian Stravinsky flipCam Video #5: Valery Gergiev on the World of Strav...
Hours after the delayed arrival of the Mariinsky Theatre Chorus — due to volcanic ash — Maestro Valery Gergiev discusses the musical forces of Stravinsky's music, the Chorus's enormous power, and t...
15 November at the Concert hall of the Mariinsky Theatre
romanovsky - YouTube - 9:59
Henri Dutilleux. Symphony No 2 Le double Igor Stravinsky. Jeu de cartes. Ballet in three hands Sergei Rakhmaninov. Piano Concerto No 3 in D Minor Soloist: Alexander Romanovsky Maurice Ravel....
Hvorostovsky Ja vas lyublyu Queen of Spades Tchaikovsky
steven - YouTube - 6:16
Prince Yeletsky's Act 2 aria from The Queen of Spades. Gala concert at the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg, 2003.
Valery Gergiev talks about the YouTube Symphony Orchestra
zach - YouTube - 0:51
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Poland Reappoints American Jewish Committee's Andrew Baker to Key OSCE Post on Antisemitism
For the 14th consecutive year, Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC's Director of International Jewish Affairs, will serve as Personal Representative on Combating Antisemitism for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Baker's appointment was announced by Zbigniew Rau, Poland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, who assumed the post of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office this month.
AJC Urges Bosnia-Herzegovina to Maintain Legal Ban on Holocaust, Genocide Denial
American Jewish Committee (AJC) today expressed deep concern about the efforts of some political factions in Bosnia-Herzegovina to remove the country's legal ban on denial of the Holocaust and other genocides.
Did German History End with the Holocaust?
At the conclusion of the Holocaust and World War II, the German Federal Republic adopted the slogan "Never Again," the obligation to fight antisemitism in all its forms, as well as the commitment to fight for and defend the existence of the Jewish state. What does the rise of antisemitism and extremism mean for the Jewish community in Germany? Join American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Tablet Magazine as they answer this question and more.
Is France Being Torn Apart?
Over the last 20 years, France has seen not only rising antisemitism, Islamism, and challenges of integrating significant parts of its Muslim population, but also growing political polarization. Join American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Tablet Magazine for an in-depth conversation exploring nuances of French society and the challenges that it faces in a changing world.
AJC's Transatlantic Friends of Israel Opens Austrian Chapter
After the launch of the Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) inter-parliamentary group in the EU Parliament in July 2019, the first national chapter opened on October 13 in the Austrian parliament, under the leadership of Chair MP Martin Engelberg and the support of lawmakers from the Greens, the Social-Democrats and NEOS, the liberal party.
(-) Content (25)
(-) Letters (1)
(-) Videos (52)


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Q: Looking for a solution to check if the image size matches my requirements in python I have a list of dimensions like (120x600 & 160x600 & 300x250 & 300x600 & 728x90) and im trying to check if images in a folder has the right dimensions or not.
I tried the code below but i couldnt find how to setup a list with dimensions like i mentioned above.
import os
from PIL import Image
folder_images = "c:/photos"
size_images = {} # Use curly braces instead for they're faster
comp_img = [(120,600) ,(160,600) ,(300,250) ,(300,600), (728,90)]
for dirpath, _, filenames in os.walk(folder_images):
    for path_image in filenames:
        image = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(dirpath, path_image))
        with Image.open(image) as img:
            img_dim = img.size
            if img_dim in comp_img:
                size_images[path_image] = {'Img width': img_dim[0], 'Img heigth': img_dim[1]}

                if (img_dim[0], img_dim[1]) in comp_img:
                    print(size_images)
                    print("correct")
                else:
                    print("wrong")

A: You can simply make a list of sets of correct dimension:
correct_dimension = [(120,600), (160,600), (300,250), (300,600), (728,90)]

and then see if the image dimension is in this list:
if (width,height) in correct_dimension:
    print("correct")
else:
    print("wrong")

A: Try this :
import os
from PIL import Image
folder_images = "c:/photos"
size_images = {} # Use curly braces instead for they're faster
comp_img = [(120,600) ,(160,600) ,(300,250) ,(300,600), (728,90)]
for dirpath, _, filenames in os.walk(folder_images):
    for path_image in filenames:
        image = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(dirpath, path_image))
        with Image.open(image) as img:
            img_dim = img.size
            if img_dim in comp_img:
                size_images[path_image] = {'Img width': img_dim[0], 'Img heigth': img_dim[1]}

Put all possible  'right' dimensions in a list. Check if the dimension tuple is in the pre-defined list, if present then assert the image file path to the dictionary as key and their width and height inside another dict as values.
It should give output like :
size_images = {'path/to/img': {'Img width': 120, 'Img heigth': 600}}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This is the new owner's class for Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff machines only.
Group A includes machines with the Sensor System (presser foot lifts automatically). Group B includes machines with a manual presser foot lift lever.
Part One teaches the basic features of the machine.
Part Two delves further into the features of your machine, exploring a few sewing techniques and settings to give your projects that professional look.
Instruction fee: FREE instruction when you purchase your machine from Bonny's Sewing and Fabric. Viking and Pfaff owners who did not purchase the machine from Bonny's must pay the instruction fee — call the store for current pricing.


Qimarox offers a wide range of palletisers that all have one thing in common: the unique way in which layers are formed. For the first time, the great flexibility of robotic palletisers has been combined with the high capacity of layer palletisers. Qimarox pattern-formation conveyors have even been patented.
Whatever the palletiser module, the secret of all Qimarox's palletisers lies in their pattern-formation sliders. The supplied products are pushed together with the pattern-formation slider until a row or layer has been formed of the correct pattern.
This pattern-formation slider can be positioned entirely steplessly and with an accuracy of almost 100%. This means that any spacing means that any spacing between the products can be set to a millimetre.
With this pattern-formation slider it is even possible to turn products a quarter of a turn. The pattern-formation slider then chooses position such that one side of the product touches the slider, after which the other side makes a smooth turn of 90° because of the moving belt.
Qimarox palletisers are easy to use. Operators can modify existing patterns and even enter completely new patterns using a touchscreen.
This only takes a few minutes thanks to the user-friendly software. What's more, the patented pattern-formation system makes it possible to create practically any pattern.
The palletisers of Qimarox can be equipped with pattern-formation conveyors that are available in several different versions. The basic version of every machine is the side infeed model. The products are supplied by means of a feed belt that is placed on left or right side of the formation location. The pattern-formation slider then slides the products from the conveyor to the side to the correct position on the formation location.
Sometimes it is desirable to supply products via two feed belts, for example, if a single palletiser is supplying two production lines or when operating at high capacities. For these situations, Qimarox developed a pattern-formation conveyor that is suitable for dual infeed.


We're all a little guilty of neglecting our sketchbooks more than usual during the warmer months, but just because it's bikini season doesn't mean you can't keep that creative energy flowing! We're challenging all of you dreamers out there to pick up your pencils and illustrate your ultimate vacation. Whether you're enjoying it right now, you've already been there, or it's still a distant daydream — dive right in, doodle your heart out, and show us what "vacation-mode" means to you! Download our PDF template and submit your drawing for a chance to win a $25 Visa gift card for your next adventure!
As a permanent home for spontaneous art, Doodlers Anonymous is a modern art blog featuring a vast archive of creative inspiration, hand-drawn interviews by contemporary artists, doodle challenges and prompts, giveaways, and a catalog of art-based goods.
Thailand has always been my dream destination and always will be. It has so many vibrant colours that shows in their culture and nature. It has so much beauty in and out.
A beautiful view to the horizon in San Andrés Islas, Colombia.
A room with a view: no stress, no obligations, a good book or two, a pot of tea. Preferably it's raining outside, so that I don't have to get out of bed and feel doubly snug under the covers.
In my daydream summer, I would be a beatnik wandering through the landscape without purpose, drinking some nice cocktails, and carrying a backpack full of exotic fruits to attract rare creature. What an adventure it would be!
One of my dream vacation place to go in Asia.
Aoshima Island famous with name Cat Island because a lots of cart live in there. Cats are friendly and not scare to people.
Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre at Sabah, Malaysia. Tourists can watch the orang utan up close in their natural habitat.
I was born and raised in Manhattan. Tar beach and reading would be my ideal vacation.
Swinging in nature, with the sun, the sea, the sky.
My Dream Vacation is a trip to the Moon. Created with Procreate on an iPad Pro.
My dream vacation is space vacation!
This piece was drawn from the shores of Naples, Italy, at dawn as the sun crept over Mt. Vesuvius.
My dream holiday would be to go to a magical land and see lots of animals.
Not everyone who wanders is lost. . .
It has long been my dream to visit the serenely beautiful country of Iceland. This is the Breiðavík beach with some puffins.


text:
GORE IN THE STORE
INTERVIEWS FILM BLU-RAY DVD & BOOK REVIEWS
INCARNATION ***
Directed by Filip Kovacevic. Starring Stojan Djordjevic, Dacha Vidosavljevic, Stan Zendor, Dejan Cicmilovic, Tihomir Stanic. Serbia 2016 82 minutes Certificate: 15
Released on DVD by Matchbox Films on May 21st 2018
Belgrade-born writer / director Filip Kovacevic makes an assured feature debut with this taut, fast-paced thriller reviving the perennial thriller theme of the amnesiac frantically attempting to piece together the disparate puzzle-pieces that led to his current life-threatening predicament. Here, the inevitable echoes of MEMENTO are welded together with a central gimmick inspired by the ever-influential GROUNDHOG DAY and the paranoid one-man-peril set-ups of nifty city-based genre films like PHONE BOOTH.
The charismatic Stojan Djordjevic has to carry most of the movie by himself and spends most of it fleeing from assailants through an unnamed city. He wakes up in the middle of the city square with no memory of how he got there or even his own name. All he knows is that four armed, suited men in white plastic masks want him dead – and succeed in fulfilling this ambition on a recurring basis. Every time he dies at their hands, he wakes up to a reset version of the same situation – but with the bonus that he retains the knowledge of his previous pre-death investigations.
Djordjevic hurls through the city streets, in and out of hospitals and mysterious buildings while the faceless assassins are never far away as cryptic numerical clues combine with narratively significant secondary characters to unravel the mystery. The familiar loss of identity theme is eclipsed by the film's highly charged exploitation of key 21st century fears -notably the scenes in which crowds of screaming city folk flee in terror from strangers indiscriminately shooting at them. The location shooting is particularly impressive given the film's modest budgetary roots, adding real production value. .
This slick, gripping picture sustains significant tension from the get-go though, perhaps inevitably, after such a gangbusters build-up, the ultimate reveal is a little underwhelming. Still, all credit to Kovacevic for his technical skill and keeping us involved in a story that may have suited a shorter format (a la THE TWILIGHT ZONE) even better.
Steven West
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text:
Lisa Helps – Victoria Mayor
Latest thoughts and ideas from Mayor Lisa
2018 PLATFORM
Economic Development and Prosperity
On Business and City Business
August 25, 2014 December 24, 2018 Lisa Helps
A number of people in the business community have asked me to spell out both my values and my intentions for business and the economy, should I be elected Mayor of Victoria.
Three foundational convictions
The following three statements summarize my beliefs and convictions, based on my local experiences with small business start-ups at Community Micro Lending, and as a councilor over three years:
Successful enterprise is critical to overall city success and it is the defining condition of a prosperous downtown. As your mayor I will demonstrate an understanding of business fundamentals including risk, timing, and responsiveness. I will work to meet your needs and opportunities with "Yes, City Hall can help make that happen." Attitude is key, and this kind of responsiveness is essential.
A positive climate for new business creation is integral to keeping the city dynamic, making it a magnet for talent and investment, and creating job opportunities and high employment. This is a dire necessity as 50% of Victorians earn $27,000 or less per year.
Business health and local wealth generation are key components of Victoria's social well-being, physical beauty and rich cultural life.
A sleeves-rolled-up approach
I have carefully studied the City's decision-making culture over the years. I am convinced that there is a lot more room for a sleeves-rolled-up approach, where process doesn't serve as an excuse for inaction. In Victoria, it's not only business that is frustrated with City Hall's lack of responsiveness and jungle of red tape, community groups are equally frustrated and these are often small organizations run largely by volunteers. The following is what I will accomplish in terms of making City Hall dynamic, inviting and truly 'open for business' in my first term as mayor:
Downtown: We will create a thriving, prosperous and attractive downtown. How? By creating a "Downtown Prosperity Project" with a budget, four year-timeline and clear deliverables. By investing in downtown public spaces. By working in strong partnership with the Downtown Victoria Business Association, downtown property owners and downtown residents. The most successful projects I have led are ones that have been collaborative. It is only in working together that we will succeed.
Downtown residential: City living will become a priority. The CRD estimates that City of Victoria (whole city) population increased by only 300 persons between 2012 and 2013, and that this meagre growth level will continue for more than the next decade. The absence of a 'home-grown' downtown residential population increases challenge and risk for our businesses and for the entire property sector. We need downtown to be red hot. We need a dramatic and rapid expansion in the downtown and shoulder residential population to provide local, in-built support for all of our downtown businesses. I propose to modify the bonus density program, make it more straightforward and create exemptions. We're looking for beautifully scaled and detailed developments, not density caps. Historically, Victoria has acted as if it had all the time in the world. Suburban competition—retail and service—shows how foolish that attitude has been. My view is: if you snooze, you lose. The above program needs to happen now, now, now.
Local economy: Let's free up some resources to create an Economic Development Office at City Hall. Appoint a mayor's Economic Development Cabinet to provide ongoing advice to the Economic Development Office (detailed blog post to come). Staff the office with the people who understand both the city's processes and the private sector. Set clear timelines and deliverables. And measure our success.
City projects: Let's create a stronger culture of project management at City Hall. We spend large amounts of public money on capital projects like the Johnson Street Bridge. And coming in the next four years are sewage treatment, a new firehall and a refurbished Bay Street Bridge. As the capital City of British Columbia, I'd like to change the city's reputation as a place that can't tie its own shoelaces. In February we hired a new City Manager who is already beginning to take strides in the right direction. I would like to work alongside him and to make the City a model of excellence in project management.
Development: Approvals/licensing/permitting processes will be simplified and sped-up. The new business message from the City will be "How can we help you get to yes?" Implement predictable approvals processes that happen in the minimum amount of time possible by managing the city like a system where there are no silos. Everyone is working together towards the aim of effective, efficient, quality service.
Partnerships: We have the opportunity to make the city a champion of partnerships. New pocket parks, green spaces and public art, a new public library and crystal pool. In the 21st century, collaboration is key. I don't even want to think of these things as taxpayer burdens, they are business opportunities offering room for collaboration between the City, its people, and enterprise. This doesn't mean we can't have a publicly owned and operated library or swimming pool. It just means that the path we take to get there is not simply to raise taxes and build. Cities across North America are engaged in a Metropolitan Revolution. I know Victoria can be on the leading edge.
Fees: Review all current fees to business: are they fair and necessary, or just a cash grab? If they don't pass the test, dump 'em.
Comparative cities: Have the City's Economic Development Office look to what other enterprising cities have done to foster and support sustainable economic development, create prosperity and get a handle on property tax increases. West Vancouver and other cities that have successfully frozen property taxes. That's right: zero. This doesn't mean cutting and slashing at City Hall. It means working more collaboratively, adaptively and responsively. The research is clear – organizations that have adaptive, responsive and collaborative work environments use their resources more prudently, generate more revenue, more creatively and are also great places to work. This is my goal for City Hall.
I pledge to spend my first six months in office setting City Hall up to do all these things. And I pledge to make City Hall into a place that is dynamic and that works hard and works for everyone.
And, finally, if you've got innovative ideas that you want to share, my ears are open. E-mail me or call me at 250-661-2708.
Building Better Bridges – Why I Voted Against the Johnson Street Bridge Project
July 28, 2014 December 24, 2018 Lisa Helps
The Johnson Street Bridge replacement project is the talk of the town these days. This past weekend at the Phillips Backyard Weekender people were sipping great local beer and fretting over the potential cost increase of the project. Others said that at a weekend cocktail party, guests had grave concerns about who will pay if the price goes up – and that they're watching my leadership on the issue closely.
In late March 2014, the City received a change order from PCL (the contractor building the bridge) for $7.9 million and a request to extend the project schedule by five and a half months. In response, Jason Johnson, the newly hired City Manager, engaged engineer Jonathan Huggett to review the project. Huggett's report was made public last week. The report revealed three key problems with management of the project to date.
1. No one had been put in charge of the project. As Huggett notes, "During my review I asked everyone involved a simple question: 'Who is in charge of the project?' Nobody could provide me with an answer."
2. There is no official project schedule. A schedule had been submitted by PCL to the City on April 6 2013. But it is still unclear to Huggett whether all parties (MMM the City's engineer, PCL and the City) agreed to this schedule.
3. The collaborative process that had been established in the contract to review issues as they arose had broken down.
Confronting Reality
These three facts leave Council and the public in a difficult situation. A recent Times Colonist editorial noted, "Fortin's fixed-price fixation notwithstanding, Huggett has doubts that the project can be completed at the contract price." At Council last week (watch here) Council and the public learned more about why it is unlikely that the project can be completed on budget.
Director of Engineering and Public Works told Council that, "We do still have a large part [of the contingency] which is unallocated; I think it is going quite well."
Immediately after he spoke, Huggett stepped in. "It's worth talking about the contingency," he said. "It's a concern to me. The problem that occurred [when the contract was awarded] is that some of the very key components were no more than a concept in somebody's eye. There were elements of the project that were reduced to a 10% design. The problem comes that you have a bunch of components at 10% design with a contingency [budget] of less than 5% [of the total project budget.]"
Huggett's conclusion? "Frankly, from what I know, the contingency is very small and is likely already used up. I promised you I wouldn't come in here and try and sugar coat it."
I voted against awarding the contract to PCL in late 2012. My reason was simple. The design wasn't far enough along to award the contract with only a 4% contingency budget. Now, it's time to move beyond looking backwards and to do the best we can to get the project under control. Here's how:
Get a revised project budget as soon as possible. After learning last Thursday that the contingency is likely used up, I said that if that's the case, Council needs to know what the potential cost increases are, as unpopular as that may be, so we can start planning. Huggett committed to getting Council a revised project budget by early September.
Finalize and confirm a project schedule that all parties agree to. Huggett promised this within the coming weeks.
Create a risk registry specific to the project (not a generic risk registry that has been used to date) and ensure that risk mitigation strategies are in place.
Have someone in charge of the project and fix relationships among PCL, MMM and the City. With Huggett at the helm and the collaborative spirit of our City Manager guiding the process, this is well in hand.
Council's job is to go forward with eyes wide open. We need to hold Huggett to the commitments he made last Thursday. We need to be realistic about the cost of the project. And, most importantly, we need to keep the public – those paying for this new bridge – informed.
Mental Health and Addictions
Moms Like Us
May 11, 2014 December 24, 2018 Lisa Helps
A month and a half ago, I had a call from a group of moms who all have adult children who live with mental illnesses. I met with them at City Hall rather than at my regular coffee shop location because they wanted privacy and confidence. They had come to ask for my help to bring an Accredited Clubhouse to Victoria like the Pathways Clubhouse in Richmond that they'd visited recently.
Despite everything I have on my plate right now, I said yes. I said yes because I was moved by their stories and by their passion. But I was most moved when one of them said, "We're not only doing this for our children. We're also doing this for people living on the street, people who are poor, people who face all sorts of barriers, people who don't have moms like us." "Moms Like Us!" I said, "that's a great name for your group." And so it is.
Mother's Day Post from Moms Like Us
What does it mean to be a mother? It is Mother's Day this weekend and at the same time many of our local birds are nesting. There is a mother robin with her nest in a trellis outside our window. She sits for hours in the rain, wind, cold and heat to keep her eggs warm. I help her by chasing away the crows and squirrels that threaten her babies. As I watch throughout the day I am struck by the incredible responsibility that comes with motherhood. Mothers are hard wired to love, nurture, soothe, protect and defend their babies. A young mother, like the robin, has no idea what her special challenges will be.
Mothers of children with mental health issues can be faced with some unique challenges.
It is heart wrenching to watching a child sit alone in their room depressed while their siblings and other children join community sports teams or take music lessons. It feels helpless to find out your adolescent is so consumed with anxiety that going to school becomes impossible without a drink or a toke while other teenagers are taking part in all the school and social activities they can. It is hard to accept the reality that your young adult cannot cope with finding a job, applying for post secondary or making travel plans while their peers are building careers and long term relationships.
These challenges alone can be daunting but even more demanding is the difficult task navigating the mental health system to find the support for our children with brain illnesses. Sadly, even in this, the twenty-first century with all the access to information you could want, the stigma of mental illness is alive and well.
We know the sorrow of watching our child be judged by those who don't understand or by professionals without compassion. We have dealt with the disappointment of researching services, that when our name is finally first on the wait list, they fail to deliver. We have wept upon hearing the horrifying details of an incident our child was involved in and knowing our child has been traumatized once again. We have contained our anger when yet another person suggests as mothers we are too involved with our adult children.
And through all this we ride the roller coaster of hope and despair… and never let go. We hang on at every turn because if we let go who will step up for our children? Mothers' love is unconditional.
So as mothers we reach out to others who know what it is like to have a child with a mental health issue. Mothers who have compassion for each other as well as the passion to fight for the respect, dignity and skills their children need to be contributing members of their community.
Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, but especially to moms like us.
To connect with Moms Like Us and for more information on our May 21st Clubhouse event, please email momslikeus2014@gmail.com.
Downtown and Urban Fabric
Downtown Victoria – Our Harbour, Our Heart
March 2, 2014 December 24, 2018 Lisa Helps
At an early February Planning and Land Use Committee meeting, Councillor Pam Madoff arrived with a stack of reports of past harbour visioning exercises that was many inches high. She said they'd been sitting on her bookshelf since they'd been written, some dating back to at least the 1980s. She lamented that after countless hours of public input and high public expectation, nothing happened. She'd brought the reports for show and tell, because at that Planning and Land Use Committee meeting, council was considering a Project Charter for Inner Harbour Revitalization Opportunities. The Project Charter lays out a public participation plan for gathering input with regard to three strategic sites on the Inner Harbour.
Yes, another harbour visioning exercise. But the circumstances are different this time. This past week, the City of Victoria, the Province and Ralmax, operator of Point Hope Maritime, announced a three-way land deal. The City swapped City-owned lands on Harbour Road currently leased by Ralmax to the Province in exchange for five strategic pieces of land. Four of these are on the inner harbour, including land at Ship Point. The Province will in turn sell the Harbour Road lands to Ralmax at market value. The Province has committed to reinvesting the proceeds of the land sale in Victoria.
A Times Colonist opinion piece called this land swap a 'good deal'. It's more than that. With the Inner Harbour Revitalization Opportunities Project approved by Council on February 13th, there's a huge opportunity right now for the City to take proactive, collaborative leadership on our Harbour's future. It's time to make something happen.
The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) provides a detailed summary of the rich history of Victoria's habour that's well worth a read to understand the historical context for current decision making. There are two key elements of this history that must bear on the harbour's future. First, the harbour lands, like the rest of the City of Victoria, are the unceded territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. For thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the harbour waters and lands were their traditional hunting and fishing grounds. Any plans for the harbour must include a rich future for the Songhees and Esquimalt peoples. Second, public participation in the future of the harbour is key.
Opportunity, Focus and Leadership
The Official Community Plan policy goal of a working harbour was significantly furthered last week. The land sale to Ralmax, and the protection of those lands by covenant for marine industrial use sets the stage for the expansion of the shipyard and well-paying marine-industry jobs well into the future.
It's now time for Council and the public to turn our minds to the jewel that is the City's inner harbour, what I hear referred to often as "the heart of Victoria." Past harbour visioning exercises have included the harbour as whole. This spring, between March and June, City staff and Council will be engaging the public as to vision and ideas for the future of three key sites pictured below: 1. the provincially-owned Belleville Ferry Terminal Lands 2. the now fully City-owned Ship Point lands and 3. the provincially-owned Lower Wharf Street lands.
At the beginning of the process, at an Ideas Forum, the City will share information with regard to development potential at Ship Point lands and what it's actually possible to do with that site. A Victoria Opera House or water front art gallery, or other ideas put forward in the past aren't possible there. A recent, and interesting, geotechnical report reveals that anything built on the large lot closest to the ocean has the potential to sink into the water at any kind of seismic event. But the report also revealed the development potential of the smaller lot closer to Wharf Street. The point is that the City will seek public input based on the reality of what is possible. This will help ensure that the public's vision can be turned into a plan that can actually happen.
The City only owns the Ship Point Lands. Nonetheless each of the sites is an important public place in the City's downtown. So there's both an opportunity and a necessity for the City to play a collaborative leadership role by a.) bringing the many harbour-involved players together to develop a vision and a plan for each site b.) prioritizing which site to start with, and c.) taking action.
Here's what I would do once the City has received public input on these three key sites in the heart of our downtown. While it might make the most sense to start taking action with the City-owned Ship Point lands, I'd start with the Belleville Ferry Terminal and the public realm surrounding it.
It seems to me that there's energy and opportunity gathering at the Belleville Terminal Lands. With the winding up of the Provincial Capital Commission, responsibility for the Belleville Terminal was recently transferred to the Ministry of Transportation; we've got a fresh set of eyes on this location, which has been a bone of contention and sight for sore eyes in Victoria for decades. With this past week's land swap, the Province committed to reinvesting the proceeds it makes from the sale of the Harbour Road lands in Victoria. What better place to reinvest some of the proceeds than in the Belleville Ferry Terminal, a key international gateway to the Province's capital city. With Canada's 150th birthday celebration on the horizon in 2017, revitalization of the Belleville Terminal would potentially be a good fit for any federal grant funding released for that occasion. And, with the potential for long-term leases and the possibility of jointly operating a new facility perhaps the Coho and Clipper owners might be willing to invest.
Focusing first on what could be called the terminal precinct, doesn't mean the City ignores the rest of the harbour. The Harbour Pathway Plan is well underway and sections of the pathway will soon be under construction. The City will continue to help create a vibrant summer festival venue at Ships Point. Conversations could continue to move the other two sites from plan into action. And, with the passion around our downtown these days and the stars aligned around the Belleville Terminal, focusing on the terminal precinct is a real opportunity to make something happen this time.
Downtown Victoria – Breakfast with Robert Jawl
February 23, 2014 December 24, 2018 Lisa Helps
I had the pleasure of attending the Urban Development Institute's Under 40 breakfast event on Friday morning. Our host and guest speaker was Robert Jawl of Jawl Properties. Jawl Properties built the highly acclaimed Atrium Building at Blanshard and Yates. And, they've got two more leading-edge projects in the works. First is a LEED Platinum office development at Douglas and Pandora – directly across from City Hall. Second, in conjunction with Concert Properties, the redevelopment of the six-acre site behind the Legislature, which, in Robert's words will "broaden the civic sphere around the legislature. Though the land will be privately owned, it will read as public space."
It was as Robert began speaking, eloquent as usual, about Jawl Properties' core development principles and his vision for Downtown Victoria, that the idea for this series came to me. My departure point is similar to Robert's. I'm not at all convinced by the story that I hear far too often – that Downtown Victoria is dying. Yes, the downtown vacancy rate is 7%. But Robert assures this is not indicative of a downtown crisis and warned that, "Downtown is dead," could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Let's not fulfill that prophecy! Instead, let's see Downtown Victoria as going through a process of reinvention and renewal in which everyone – residents, businesses, developers and the City – must participate. And let's look a little closer at Jawl Properties core principles, because there's some simple wisdom to be gleaned from these principles with regard to how we seize this opportunity and re-create downtown Victoria together.
Principle Number One: Developers should have positive, collaborative working relationships with the communities in which they build. It's important that the community see new buildings as enhancements to the community and that residents feel as if they've played a key role in creating these enhancements. As Robert notes, "because (as local developers) we're members of our community there are far more important criteria to be met than whether something is a 'good (financial) deal' or not. In the long-term, projects that are embraced as community enhancements also create long-term economic return." Too often it feels as if the process of development is adversarial and a zero-sum game: if developers win the public loses; if the public wins, developers lose. With the Jawl's and other developers sensitive to the needs and the desires of community residents, this doesn't have to be the case. Lesson number one for building Downtown Victoria: collaboration is key.
Principle Number Two: Orientation to quality. Jawl Properties is motivated to build quality buildings because they retain ownership of the buildings they build for the long term. They care – over a 50 year time period – about how their buildings perform. Lesson number two for building Downtown Victoria: build a quality public and private realm that will continue to sing 50 years into the future; long-term vision matters.
Principle Number Three: Local partnerships and relationships are the lifeblood of business. Jawl Properties doesn't refer to the people who lease their buildings as 'tenants'. "They are our clients," says Robert, "and we work for them." Part of being able to deliver quality customer service to their clients, is that Jawl Properties is also a local business. "In any environment where you have local knowledge, where you know the difference between this block and that block, your business performs better." Lesson number three for building Downtown Victoria: focus on local.
With collaboration as key, long-term vision, and a focus on local, what does the future hold? Downtown Victoria will continue to be the commercial centre for the region with a focus on high-quality office space, local retail, more downtown residents from a diversity of backgrounds, and a growing tech sector. Buildings themselves will be high-quality amenities that enhance both the public and private realm. People will walk, bike and bus as much as they drive to the City's core. Victoria will capitalize on what Robert calls its "lifestyle proposition" that allows us to "attract and retain top talent from anywhere." The City needs to be proactive in this regard to succeed.
Finally, Downtown Victoria will continue to develop this new identity that's emerging as a great place to live, a place of vibrant and beautiful public spaces, a site of innovation and creativity, and an epicentre of locally focused business that attracts local and tourists alike. "We're not a mini-Vancouver," Robert says. "we're not a copy-cat of Portland, and we're not a retirement community for Alberta and Ontario. We've got our own identity and our own swagger!"
Staying Focused, Or How We Get Things Done
February 9, 2014 December 24, 2018 Lisa Helps
This past Thursday, at its Governance and Priorities Committee, Council met to review the City's strategic priorities for the remainder of the 2013-2015 budget cycle. But it was also an opportunity for councilors to bring forward projects they'd been working on, that didn't fit easily into our regular meeting business. Marianne Alto put forward a motion which required Council to make a really hard decision. Late Thursday night, as I was reflecting on the decision we'd made that day, it struck me what it takes for a governing body to set a goal and remain focused on that goal until it is achieved.
I don't think we made a good decision last Thursday. Thankfully, the decision isn't final until it's ratified at our formal Council meeting this Thursday February 13th. So I'm taking this opportunity to lay out my thoughts about making a commitment to a goal, comprehensive decision making, and long-term thinking with the hopes that readers, including some of my Council colleagues, might consider this approach.
Here's the story. (You can also watch the whole thing unfold for yourself here where the meeting is video archived.) Marianne Alto has been working with members of the Vic High Alumni Association who want to undertake a $5 million capital project to refurbish the Vic High track, bleachers, and field. Alto put forward a motion asking for the City to endorse the project in principle, to allocate staff and Council time to work with the school and the alumni association to explore and pursue other partnerships and to make a matching contribution of up to $250,000 in 2015.
In the hour-long debate that ensued, city staff noted that a significant amount of staff time that would be involved, even just in negotiating a "joint-use agreement" to ensure that the refurbished facility would be open to the public. In addition, the City's Director of Finance stressed that there was not $250,000 available in the 2015 capital budget and the money would have to come from somewhere. The Director of Finance also warned that even if the City endorsed the project in principle without providing any matching funds, we'd be in a bit of an awkward position when it came to writing letters of support for provincial and federal funding for the Vic High Alumni track refurbishment project.
Here's the kicker. Last fall Council voted to keep Crystal Pool as a publicly owned and operated facility. This means that in order to refurbish or rebuild Crystal Pool, the City will need to apply for provincial and/or federal infrastructure funding should it become available. This means that the City would be in direct competition with Vic High if federal and/or provincial infrastructure grants for refurbishing or building recreation facilities become available.
After being amended at least four times and watered down to ensure that little staff time was spent on this endeavour, the motion – including a $250,000 matching contribution at some point in the future and support in principle for the project – passed 7 to 2. I voted against it as did Councillor Gudgeon. Most of the people who voted last fall to keep Crystal Pool publicly owned and operated (Fortin, Alto, Isitt, Madoff, Thornton-Joe) voted in favour of the Vic High project.
Here's my thinking. This was a difficult decision. We want to honour the tireless work of the Vic High Alumni Association volunteers who are undertaking the capital fundraising campaign. And we'd love to have a newly refurbished track facility in Fernwood. I'd certainly like this, I live (literally!) two doors away from the site.
But we passed a motion last fall and made a commitment to the public to keep Crystal Pool publicly owned and operated. I didn't even support that motion and have clearly articulated a creative hybrid vision for the future of Crystal Pool. But we made a commitment and we have to keep our focus as a Council on the goal of refurbishing or rebuilding a publicly owned and operated swimming pool. With limited infrastructure monies available from senior levels of government, we can't approve projects that directly compete with each other. We can't make decisions in silos. In order to get things done we need to be comprehensive in our decision making and keep the big-picture, long-term vision in mind.
Civil Society and a Strong Social Fabric
Shape Your Future Victoria
Last fall, Victoria West residents of McCaskill Street and surrounds gathered to cut the ribbon on the beautiful mural depicted here. This group of neighbours came together and turned a bramble-covered, graffiti-laden concrete wall into a thing of beauty. How did they do it? Meeting neighbours they didn't know, food, drink, conversation, collaboration. And a Shape Your Future Victoria grant! Do you want to bring your neighbours together and do a project in your neighbourhood? The 2014 Shape Your Future Grant Application Deadline is March 31st 2014.
So I did some research, wrote a report and made a motion. And voila! Council passed it unanimously. The Parks Recreation and Culture Department created the new grant guidelines and application form, the residents of McCaskill street and surrounds applied for and got the first every Shape Your Future Victoria grant. For a very small sum of money, on the City's part, and a many hours of labouring love, Victoria got great new public art. And in the process, neighbours got to know each other.
Sewage Treatment: CRD Residents Deserve a Better Plan
January 26, 2014 December 24, 2018 Lisa Helps
Two weeks ago, I was invited by Andrew Weaver to be part of a three-person panel at a Public Forum on Sewage Treatment. In front of a standing room only crowd at the Oak Bay Rec Centre, it was clear to me how much passion and anxiety there is about sewage treatment in the CRD. It was also clear, in the question and answer period, how sewage treatment seems to have becoming a polarizing issue for people who, for the most part, agree that we need to treat our sewage. The question that remains, and the divisive question, is how best do we do this?
Andrew asked me to discuss what local councils and elected officials can do to ensure that CRD residents get the best plan possible. Here's what I said.
1. Listen to Residents
I hear on a regular basis, "The public is apathetic. Voter turnout is low. People don't really seem to be paying attention or care about municipal issues, etc." But then, when a wide, and growing, sector of the public steps up and says, "Hold on CRD officials, we're not convinced this is the best sewage treatment plan for the region," when volunteers take the time and effort to propose an alternate plan (The R.I.T.E. Plan), when hundreds of people come to open houses, pack land use committee and council meetings, ask questions and speak up, they're treated like a nuisance. There's a sense that some CRD Directors and staff wish that these people would sit down, shut up, and just let the CRD get on with its plan.
This is not an authentic way to engage the public. It does not welcome public participation or take public input into consideration in order to create the best possible sewage treatment plan, for the long term. And this is the goal – the best plan for the long term. As elected officials we have a responsibility to listen to what our residents are saying and to consider their input in our decision-making processes. It is the public who is paying for this project.
2. Extend the Timeline
I'm proud of my Victoria Council colleague and CRD Director Marianne Alto, who is putting forward a motion to ask the CRD board to ask the province to extend the timeline of the project to 2020. Extending the timeline will allow the CRD to bring the project up to date by considering again a distributed, tertiary sewage treatment system that incorporates technology dismissed five years ago as too expensive.
As Andrew Weaver points out, the deadline is somewhat arbitrary. The CRD is currently required by the Province to treat its sewage by 2016. The Federal regulations set a deadline of 2020. Weaver said at the forum that the CRD will need to ask the Province to extend the deadline to at least 2018 because that's when the proposed project is set to become operational. So why not ask for an extension to 2020 to align with the Federal requirements. Furthermore, and thankfully, Esquimalt Council has not approved the necessary zoning that the CRD would require to build the proposed plant. And no contract has been awarded for the construction of the plant.
Residents and elected officials need to make the case that more time will result in a better plan, because the proposed plan is not good enough; I'll say why in a moment. Alto's motion will be debated at the February 12th CRD Board meeting which begins at 1:30pm in the CRD's sixth floor board room (625 Fisgard St). Here's a list of CRD Directors and their contact information. Whether you're for or against extending the timeline, please take the time to write to CRD Directors and share your thoughts. When elected officials receive hundreds of emails from the public, we take note.
3. Move Beyond Sustainability and Design for Abundance
In The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability, Designing for Abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart make the case that sustainability is no longer a good enough aspiration. The authors ask us to, "Think about attempting to fall in love less wastefully. Or what about an efficient child or an efficient childhood? Terrible, right? Children, and childhood, can be – and we prefer them to be – full of richness, diverse enjoyments, fruitfulness, digressions, wanderings, imagination and creativity. Who would want a simply 'sustainable' marriage? Humans can certainly aspire to more than that. In all of life, people can think big."
Looking at sewage treatment through this lens is important both politically and economically. Politically, designing for abundance – which I'll discuss in a moment – has the potential to bring key organizations on board for a better plan. The David Suzuki Foundation and the Georgia Strait Alliance have been key and vocal supporters of the CRD's proposed plan and they are also champions of sustainability. But what if these organizations and others could begin to embrace the idea that sustainability – what McDonough and Braungart call "doing less bad" rather than "more good" – is no longer good enough. And what if they could begin to advocate for a plan that does even better than the sustainable treatment of sewage.
Part of 'thinking big' about sewage treatment is to look at sewage as a source of nutrients and income rather than as a liability and cost. Here's where the economics come in, and the 'upcycling' of waste into money.
Without going into too many details, here's one way (and there are more) that the CRD could recover nutrients and earn revenue, by treating our sewage. Everyone who grows food knows that phosphate is one of the key ingredients in soil health. What may be less well known is that there is a huge demand on the world market for slow-release phosphate. According to McDonough and Braungart – and as illustrated in this diagram from The Upcycle – nutrient-recovery from sewage is one way to meet this demand.
There is a technology (developed in Vancouver!) available for recovering phosphate from sewage. And, this technology is already part of the CRD's plan. But because the plan proposes only secondary treatment, which captures the sludge but releases the majority of the 'waste water' back into the ocean rather than treating it, there is a huge loss of potential revenue through phosphate recovery. At the Clover Point and McCaulay Point Pump stations combined, 264 tonnes of phosphorous go back into the ocean each year, and will continue to do so with the CRD's proposed sewage treatment plan. That is a lot of potential revenue being flushed out to sea.
So, finally, how do we begin to design for abundance? We begin with a clear statement of intention that will guide a project from conception to implementation. If we look at what proponents of the current CRD plan are saying we might guess that the statement of intention around the project from the outset went something like this:
"We have to treat our sewage because upper levels of government told us to do it and it's the right thing to do for the environment and we need to do it in a way that will cost taxpayers as little money as possible in the short term."
Compare that against this: "Let's design and build a sewage treatment / nutrient recovery system that generates revenue and an abundance of useable energy and water for the short, medium and long term."
If not now, then when? We are building this key piece of infrastructure for the long term, for the next generations. We need to get it right. Our children and their children deserve it.
Climate Change and Sustainability
City of Victoria Stormwater Utility – A Primer
October 27, 2013 December 24, 2018 Lisa Helps
In 2014 the City of Victoria will be rolling out its new Stormwater Utility. Modeled in part on a similar utility in Kitchener-Waterloo, the utility will remove the portion of money that comes to the City from residents and businesses from the property tax bill (about $4.5 million per year). Instead, people will receive a utility bill based primarily on the percentage of non-permeable surfaces on a property. The good news? This is a user-pay system, you pay for what you use. And, it's possible to get up to a 40% credit on your stormwater bill by implementing rainwater cachement solutions on your property. The bad news? It's all a little bit complicated to understand! This blog post is meant to provide some resources to help.
A few weeks ago, City staff updated Council on the roll out of the proposed Stormwater Utility. This powerpoint presentation contains a great deal of detail, including a list of solutions that property owners can implement to get a rebate on their bill. This CBC interview I did with Jo-Ann Roberts on All Points West explains in a bit more detail how the utility will work. And this Times Colonist article has a helpful infographic that details what people can expect based on the class of property they own.
To be clear, and to clear up some more confusion around the issue, the Stormwater Utility isn't a new tax. The City will charge $4.5 million less in property taxes in 2014; this is the amount that the City currently spends on the storm water system. Instead the City will charge residents, businesses and institutions for the portion of the storm water system they actually use. It's more fair that way. Right now, large institutions, like the provincial government for example don't pay any property taxes or any grants in lieu of taxes but there is still stormwater runoff that comes from their properties. Currently, everyone who pays property taxes is subsidizing this.
Finally, the Stormwater Utility is something that makes the City of Victoria a leader in Canada. It's innovative because it encourages people, at the level of their own properities, to take responsibility and leadership for creating solutions – like rain barrels, cisterns, raingardens, bioswales – that are good for the planet and good for the City's stormwater system.
In the twentieth century we put lots of pipes in the ground to deal with the City's stormwater runoff. In the 21st century we are implementing smaller-scale solutions. In the long-term, this will produce a savings for the City and taxpayers. If property owners, from single-family dwellers to large developers embrace the rainwater management techniques outlined in this powerpoint presentation, in the long-run we will have more above-ground infrastructure which is less expensive to build and maintain, mimics what the earth already does, and can also be really beautiful (check on the raingarden at Fisherman's Wharf Park) and enhance public and private spaces.
Stay tuned at the City's stormwater site for more information including information sessions.
The Future of Crystal Pool
An article in today's Times Colonist outlines Councillor Ben Isitt's vision for Crystal Pool. Tonight he's bringing his vision to Council in a motion calling on city council to affirm the "public ownership and operation" of any Crystal Pool replacement. His touchstone is a motion made by the previous council in October 2011 that "supports retention of a public pool and fitness centre in Victoria."
Here's my take. I support the retention of a public pool and fitness centre in Victoria. And, to be perfectly clear, I support this facility being operated by the City and staffed by our terrific, competent and very capable workers. I've spent hours at Crystal Pool over the years. The most fun I've had is with a now ten-year-old. We'd be jumping and playing with those wonderful big mats and then all of a sudden she'd be interested in joining the seniors in their aquafit class so we'd join in, just like that and be welcomed by the instructor!
What is really really important to me as the City goes out to the public in the new year to do a comprehensive public engagement process with regard to Crystal Pool is that we keep our options (and our ears) open with regard to ownership of the facility should we decide to rebuild not to refurbish.
As noted in the video in my last blog post, the City has three key underfunded projects to tend to over the next five years: Firehall Number 1, the Crystal Pool and the Bay Street bridge. In addition to applying to upper levels of governments for grants, we've got to be creative and think outside the box and about new possibilities and options for funding these projects.
In the 1980s when times were tough, the Province partnered with a developer to build new office buildings. The developer retained ownership of the buildings and leased them back to the province which then operated the buildings/used them publicly, for government purposes. And, a key part of the deal was that if the developer was ever going to sell the buildings, the Province had the right of first refusal.
I'm not saying this is the way to go with Crystal Pool. I am saying that City Council needs to be open to a number of options with regard to ownership of the pool should we determine that building a new pool is necessary. And, as we go out to the public to do public engagement with regard to the pool this winter, we need to be open to the creative, innovative ideas that come to us through the public engagement process. As I see it, passing Councillor Isitt's motion tonight closes down, rather than opens up possibilities for having a public pool in the City of Victoria.
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Reconciliation Grant: The Real Numbers and the Rationale
Part 3. Missing Middle Housing, Design Guidelines, and the Protection of Neighbourhood Character
New Year's Message: Co-Existence Key to Healthy Democracy, Community in 2022
Part 2. Missing Middle Housing, Tenant Protections, and How Missing Middle Upzoning Alone Won't Solve the Affordability Crisis
Part 1. The Racist and Exclusionary History of Single Family Zoning
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DAMSEL — ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK LP (Dec. 14th, 2018) ♣ The critically acclaimed soundtrack is now available on 180~gram black vinyl w/ gatefold jacket & a fold~out poster of Butterscotch, the miniature horse!
06. Will We Meet Again?


A woman wearing Google Glass was recently asked to remove the computer—infamous for publicized recordings taken by its entitled owners—before having brunch at a popular East Village restaurant called Feast. In retaliation, the diner and her 3,000 plus Google+ followers have extracted a search engine optimized pound of flesh.
In the year or so since Feast opened, the restaurant earned high four-star ratings on both Yelp and OpenTable. But the neighborhood blog EV Grieve says the numbers dropped after Feast asked a walk-in customer named Katy Kasmai to remove the discomforting front-of-face apparatus late last month.
A few months previously, [Feast] had another diner wearing a pair and the restaurant received several comments about privacy from other guests. Restaurant staff asked the person to remove them, and he quickly consented.
So when the other diner came in wearing Google Glass, management asked her to take them off before dining. She refused, and left the restaurant.
Suddenly, last week, 13 one-star reviews showed up on the restaurant's Google profile, which, wouldn't ya know it, is the most prominent result when customers search for Feast on Google.
Kasmai is both the founder of Glass NYC (a local community of Explorers™) and the CEO of Xocracy, a startup designed to facilitate "direct democracy" by voting on social and political issues "in real time." After being asked to remove her device, she put all that activist juju towards decimating the score of a seasonal American restaurant.
And then all 13 remaining Google+ users went to town!
"When the first thing that comes up when you search Feast in Google is a 3.1, it can really hurt a restaurant like us. Then you have 13 people, which is about half the total reviews, who have never been to our restaurant let alone live in NYC, leave you one-star reviews … it's malicious and technically a violation of Google's own terms for leaving reviews," the Feast manager said. "Again I can understand her leaving the one-star based on her experience, but 12 others with no experience on who we are or what we do is unfair."
"I don't like to frequent establishments that [sic] i have to have a constant feeling of anxiousness..."
That, my dear Android, is exactly the point.
To contact the author of this post, please email nitasha@gawker.com.


DESCRIPTION: Office building located at the east end of Belleville. Close to hospital. Various square footage available. Ideal for doctors, dentist, organizations or Call Centres. Call our office 613-966-3883 or email jenniferpinnacle@hotmail.com for more information.
VACANCY: Nice size smaller office with new Flooring, paint, second floor, lots of parking. close to Hospital.


text:
Photo Feature – Ulm Cathedral
John Buhler
Many Canadian tourists who have visited Germany may not be familiar with the town of Ulm. It happens to be the birthplace of Albert Einstein. Its most outstanding architectural feature is its legendary Gothic cathedral.
Ulm Cathedral faces onto a large central square located in the heart of the town. The cathedral is an imposing structure, at once massive and yet ornately detailed. The west tower of the cathedral is 161 metres (about 530 feet) tall, making it the tallest church steeple in the world.
Built in the Gothic style, Ulm Cathedral features flying buttresses, stained glass depictions of Bible stories and saints, peaked Gothic arches, and honeycomb-like exterior stonework carved in ornate detail. These architectural elements help to fragment the incoming light, remove the distinction between the exterior and interior of the building, and create a sense of bringing the outside into the interior space.
Construction on the Ulmer Münster began in 1377. The stones, carved and placed by human hands, are a testament to the many generations of workers who laboured to build the cathedral knowing that they would not live to see its completion. Almost five hundred years after the cathedral's foundation was set in place, sandstone for the steeple's facade was quarried in Alsace to pay France's war reparations to Germany after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. Although built according to the plans of the early architects, the steeple was not finished until 1890 when its stone pinnacle was lifted into place. Given the cathedral's centuries long construction, one is reminded of Ken Follett's book entitled Pillars of the Earth, with a character named Tom Builder who did not live to see the completion of the Medieval church that he helped to create. The cathedrals of the Middle Ages reflect something greater than the span of a person's life, indeed greater than the span of many generations.
Of course, the sight of this historic and massive cathedral leaves a lasting impression on tourists. The Ulmer Münster, however, allows visitors to have the extraordinary opportunity to travel up inside its acclaimed steeple. I paid the three Euros charge in order to climb a series of stairways to a height of 143 metres (around 470 feet) within the steeple, view the Gothic-style gargoyles up close through the open frame of the tower, and have a bird's-eye-view of the city, the Danube, and the countryside beyond.
Along the way, the cathedral's staircases, some circular and some straight, led along stonework that was open like lace-work. Moving higher and higher up the tower's 768 steps, portals in the masonry offered views of smaller and smaller versions of the city of Ulm. An assortment of grey stone guardians on the facade marked my passage up the tower. Saints stood reverently, and hooded monks jutted from the tower corners. Lions clung to the sandstone and snarled at the city below, while winged dragons were ready to spring from their perches overlooking the red rooftops of Ulm.
As I continued to climb, the sky became black and a strong wind suddenly began to push between the pillars, through the Gothic arches, and around the finials. As if reflecting the mood of the menacing gargoyles clinging to the face of the tower, rain began to lash at me and the few other travelers making the same climb. The steps, worn smooth by countless visitors before us, were now slick from the sudden deluge. Thrashed as we were by the wind and the rain, it soon became difficult to maintain balance as we continued upward. Sometimes it is unfortunate that Gothic architecture brings the outside into the interior space, as I described previously.
The storm seemed to be at its worst when I found myself surrounded by a ring of blackened stone arches that formed a spider's web overhead, and running upwards through its centre was another length of narrow staircase. Still struggling against the wind, the rain, and the slippery steps beneath my feet, I reached the top of the staircase that opened onto a small platform, similar to the crow's nest on a ship.
And then, as suddenly as the storm began, it stopped. The wind no longer blasted us, and the rain no longer pelted us. There were a few blue patches of sky, but it was still too cloudy to see the distant Schwabian mountains. I stayed in the tower for a short while and enjoyed the view of the town far below us, the not-so-blue Danube, and the green of the German countryside.
Later, from the city square in front of the cathedral, I noticed that the figures on the tower above no longer appeared to be the distinct and detailed creatures that had marked my progression up the steeple. But I had the good fortune to see them up close, in what felt like an authentic medieval experience.
Reference – Follett, K. (1989). Pillars of the Earth. 1st ed. William Morrow and Company.
Music Review – Daydream Cathedral
Samantha Stevens
International News Desk – At Home: Let There Be Light – Around the World: Hand That Rocks the Cradle
The Voice Fiction Feature – Poetry by…
Bill Pollett
John has his BGS from AU and started writing for the voice while he was taking it in 2003.


Scrum poker, or planning poker, is a popular estimation technique used by Agile teams. In Scrum poker, team members get together with a deck of cards to estimate efforts required to fulfill a project's tasks.
The RubyGarage team often uses Scrum poker to estimate tasks for our projects. That's why we decided to look for ways to make the planning poker process even more productive and easier for all our team members. That's how we came up with Scrummer ‒ an app tailored for Scrum teams. Read on to find out the exciting details.
Scrummer is an iOS application developed and designed by RubyGarage and UGEM for development teams that conduct Scrum poker sessions. Scrummer replaces a regular deck of cards for planning poker, so you don't have to look for a deck or print handmade cards. The cards are always at hand inside your iPhone.
Scrummer lets you play planning poker as you always do. Simply download the app, get together with the team and pick a card on your screen for each task that's being estimated.
With Scrummer, you no longer need to purchase cards with dull designs or labor over designing your own deck of cards. As icing on the cake, the app saves paper (rejoice eco-friendly users!) and money otherwise spent on decks of cards for each team member.
Fibonacci sequence. Scrummer's card set features a Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…). The Fibonacci sequence is a common choice for Scrum poker cards, since it effectively reflects a team's uncertainty while estimating tasks (the bigger the number the less certain the team members).
Customization. The default card back features the RubyGarage logo. We allow users to customize the back of the cards by uploading their own company's logo or any other image for an affordable $0.99.
Scrum poker manual. The target audience of the Scrummer app is development teams that are familiar with planning poker. Nevertheless, Scrummer features a short informative manual with Scrum poker rules, tips, and best practices. Thus, the necessary information is always at hand and newcomers to your team won't have any trouble learning what Scrum poker is!
Collaboration. We've enabled easy access to a form where you can leave your contact information and start collaborating with us. The RubyGarage team welcomes exchanging views and cooperating with like-minded people. If you know how to make the app even better or would like to suggest a new idea, feel free to drop us a line!
In terms of the popular marketing strategy, planning poker apps aren't a blue ocean. During our research, we found plenty of applications that served the same purpose ‒ getting rid of paper cards for the sake of comfort (the app is always up your sleeve) and cutting costs. We decided to go off the beaten track. Instead of creating another app with a basic design, we opted for an app with a lively interface and an engaging user experience.
Scrummer features a character named… well… Scrummer ‒ a funny octopus inspired by Octocat, the GitHub mascot. Just like the four-legged Octocat that represents a developer's ability to handle multiple tasks, Scrummer is a smart creature keen on coding. Besides Scrummer, the UGEM team came up with other undersea inhabitants like leisurely swimming fish, restless crabs, cheerful starfish, and even shell cellphones and laptops.
Animations juice up regular static images. Artem Zadereschenko ‒ a UGEM motion designer ‒ examined the movements of undersea creatures to create realistic floating characters and objects. Moreover, Artem conveyed the temper of each creature by making fish moving slowly, for instance, while crabs are fidgety.
The main character, Scrummer, is always busy making apps. For example, the card for 40 story points shows Scrummer working on and switching among three laptops that revolve in front of him; this scene indicates a complex task that requires much effort.
Most similar apps offer regular cards with no images or illustrations: they tend to be formal and dull. In Scrummer, each card has a unique mini plot that represents the estimate. These plots not only are functional, but lighten the mood and create a relaxed atmosphere inside the team as well.
As we mentioned before, the cards are based on the Fibonacci sequence. In our app, the numbers are as follows: 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, and 100. In addition to numbers, we also included an extra X card. As a rule, extra cards in Scrum poker have either a cup of coffee on them (which means a break), an infinity sign (which means that a task can't be adequately assessed), or a question mark (showing uncertainty).
We introduced an extra card (the X card) and placed an animated image of a pirate on it. This image is neutral, so the X card may be used in any situation ‒ whether your team is tired and needs a break or a task is hard to estimate and needs to be broken down into smaller tasks. This design solution provides flexibility for teams; most similar products have strictly determined card values.
The card for 100 story points measures the task for seasoned salts. Bombs all around signal danger and challenge.
Today's mobile app users are used to smooth transitions between screens and animated micro-interactions. Scrummer is all about motion, whether you're switching between screens or simply viewing a card.
To make these animated cards and transitions possible, the UGEM design team and the RubyGarage iOS development team employed a few useful libraries.
For animated cards, we used Lottie ‒ a fresh new iOS, Android, and React Native library that renders Adobe After Effects vector animations. With Lottie, we were able to create animations in AE, convert them to JSON files, and render them on an iOS mobile device. Lottie helped us spice up our native iOS app with tilting and twirling octopus, jellyfish, and other cute creatures.
Cover for opening manual and estimation screens.
We hope Scrummer will improve your project management process and bring you much joy! Stay tuned for more case studies and articles on our blog, and check our projects on Behance and Dribbble!


The Mathematician's Son - Select Training and Management Consultancy L.L.C.The Mathematician's Son - Select Training and Management Consultancy L.L.C. Select Training and Management Consultancy L.L.C.
"I see but… why don't you pick up the gold coin?" the professor asked.


Bank Room Two This is interior with dim light environment for second room of Bank office.
Bank Room Three This is the interior for the third room of bank office.
Bank Room One This is the interior design of a Bank office room !
Bank-Office Reception Lobby Area This is the interior of a bank or office reception and lobby area.


Pievasciata is a small village of no more than 200 inhabitants, located 12 kilometers from Siena in Chianti country. Home to a fine 12th-century church, the town also hosts a more contemporary attraction, Piero Giadrossi's Parco Sculture del Chianti. At the Chianti Sculpture Park, which is not really a park in the sense of a designed, manicured landscape, the sculptures are spread out and hidden in a forest that is still as wild as it was when Giadrossi bought the land. The exploration of this untamed woodland makes the search for art particularly fascinating.
Volcanic lava, 8 meters long.


text:
require 'pathname'

__LIB__ ||= Pathname.new(__FILE__).join('..', '..', 'lib').expand_path
$:.unshift(__LIB__.to_s) unless $:.include?(__LIB__.to_s)

require 'gosu'
require 'gosu/keyboard'

module Simple
  module KeyboardHelpers
    def left
      super || a
    end

    def right
      super || d
    end

    def direction
      left || right
    end

    def walk
      direction && !shift && !control
    end

    def run
      direction && shift && !control
    end

    def crouch
      alt
    end
  end
end

Gosu::Keyboard.register(Simple::KeyboardHelpers)

module Simple
  class Player
    attr_accessor :state, :direction

    def initialize
      @state, @direction = :standing, :right
    end
  end
end

module Simple
  class GameWindow < Gosu::Window

    def initialize
      super(Gosu::screen_width, Gosu::screen_height, false)

      self.caption = "Gosu::Keyboard Test"

      @font = Gosu::Font.new(self, Gosu::default_font_name, 40)

      @player = Player.new
    end

    def update
      @player.state = :standing

      Gosu::Keyboard.handle_keys(self) do
        down?(escape) { close }
        down?(left)   { @player.direction = :left }
        down?(right)  { @player.direction = :right }
        down?(walk)   { @player.state = :walking }
        down?(run)    { @player.state = :running }
        down?(crouch) { @player.state = :crouching }
      end
    end

    def draw
      @font.draw "Player State: #{@player.state}", 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, Gosu::Color::BLUE
      @font.draw "Player Direction: #{@player.direction}", 0, 30, 0, 1, 1, Gosu::Color::BLUE
      @font.draw "Left, A - Change direction of player to 'left' and state to 'walk'", 0, 90, 0, 1, 1, Gosu::Color::RED
      @font.draw "Right, B - Change direction of player to 'right' and state to 'walk'", 0, 120, 0, 1, 1, Gosu::Color::RED
      @font.draw "Shift - Change state of player to 'running'", 0, 150, 0, 1, 1, Gosu::Color::RED
      @font.draw "Alt - Change state of player to 'crouching'", 0, 180, 0, 1, 1, Gosu::Color::RED
    end

    # Always show the system mouse cursor, for aesthetic reasons..
    def needs_cursor?
      true
    end

  end
end

window = Simple::GameWindow.new
window.show

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


365 days ago I was in the mood for some rust. But as rust isn't that easy to find downtown, I did decide to have a walk to the industrial zone. And finally found some containers and even rust.
365 days later I hope that my week will have a good start.


"Our nonprofit organization hired Rolf to advise us and help design a tool so we could more easily and accurately make changes to an Excel workbook with multiple worksheets, intended for quarter-based reporting and annual summaries. Each worksheet includes both tables with formulas as well as graphs. The workbook is used with multiple clients and requires a high level of customization for each client, although the basic structure of the workbook must remain the same across client.
Throughout our 5 month process of working with Rolf, we found him to be reliable and diligent. He cares about the quality of his work and went above and beyond the scope of our contract to ensure that he was meeting our expectations. Based on our experience, we are happy to recommend Rolf and would be willing to speak with prospective clients if there are additional questions about our experience."


Taking BCAA's, even when not working out, gives a mental energy boost, reduces hunger, and aids in muscle growth. For this reason Vitality has become a stitch in many peoples diet. Each serving of Vitality contains BCAA's, essential Vitamins/Minerals/Electrolytes, and Nitric Oxide to shuttle nutrients into the system.
L-Carnitine Tartrate is one of the best known fat burning amino acids on the market. For this reason many people around the world mix CARNIBURN with their BCCA's. Carniburn contains 2,000mg of fat blasting L-Carnitine Tartrate to help you shed the most stubborn belly fat throughout the day.


text:
Feyzollah Nasseri (Persian: فیض الله ناصری, born 1 May 1955) is a retired Iranian bantamweight weightlifter. He was the youngest member of Iran's weightlifting team in 1976 Summer Olympics, where he finished in tenth place. He placed fourth at the 1978 World Weightlifting Championships.

References

1955 births
Living people
Iranian male weightlifters
Iranian strength athletes
Olympic weightlifters of Iran
Weightlifters at the 1976 Summer Olympics
20th-century Iranian people

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The -20 to 20 Student Number Lines are color coded to make it easy for students to recognize odd and even numbers. Each set of student number lines includes 30 number lines that measure 22" x 1.5" each. They also feature a write-on/wipe-away surface to make it easy for students to use over and over again! Student number lines are the perfect hands-on tool for reinforcing mathematical concepts such as counting identifying number patterns partitioning numbers comparing numbers and building number sense.


Optimizing Mapreduce by Kaled Tannir (English) Paperback Book Free Shipping!
MetiStream, a leader in implementing highly scalable real-time analytic and streaming solutions using innovative open source technologies, announced today that it has become a Spark Certified Systems Integrator and Certified Spark Trainer by Databricks, the company founded by the team that created and continues to drive Apache Spark, the most active open source project in the Big Data ecosystem.
MetiStream realized early on the potential of what Apache Spark could do to simplify Big Data implementations and has aligned its capabilities around Spark through its Spark 30-day Quick Start and Resilient Stream framework which leverages the Spark platform. Spark — with its integrated platform to support both batch and real-time processing — was a natural fit for MetiStream's services offerings and technology frameworks. Investing in Spark allows MetiStream to ultimately share new innovative capabilities, speed deployment and lower cost of Big Data implementations to its end customers.
Beyond these certifications, MetiStream has also invested heavily in increasing community awareness of Spark through the Washington DC Area Apache Spark Interactive Meetup which they founded in May of this year and now has over 500 active members. Last week, MetiStream convened the first Spark Bake-off in DC to recognize some of the best Spark experts in the area.
"We are committed to continuing to grow and cultivate the capabilities and innovation around Spark locally, nationally, and within the Open Source community," MetiStream's CEO, Chiny Driscoll stated. "Databricks has been a great partner to team with and we are excited to work with them to expand the Spark community and most importantly help customers realize all the value that Spark has to offer".
MetiStream offers solutions and expertise in implementing highly scalable real-time analytic and streaming solutions using innovative open source technologies. Located in the Washington DC area, the company is a woman and minority owned Big Data technology solutions provider. MetiStream's mission is to help customers shorten the Time-to-Value issues seen in legacy and batch environments. A differentiator for MetiStream is their focus on implementing Big Data solutions using Open Source based technologies. For more information, visit http://www.metistream.com.


Jacksonville, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for a Florida man charged with murder in the killing of a teenager during an argument over loud music are asking that his retrial be delayed.
A judge in Jacksonville will consider Wednesday the request by Michael Dunn's new attorneys.
Dunn's retrial is set for May 5 on charges that he killed 17-year-old Jordan Davis, of Marietta, Ga., in 2012 at a Jacksonville gas station. The two had argued over loud music coming from the SUV Davis was sitting in. Dunn's attorneys say they need more preparation time.
Dunn was convicted of attempted murder for shooting at Davis' three companions, but the jury deadlocked on the murder charge. Dunn says he opened fire after it looked like Davis threatened him and raised an apparent shotgun. No weapon was found.