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Apr. 19, 2018 11:58AM EST
Bolshoi Dancers Denied Visas to Perform at YAGP Gala in NYC
Olga Smirnova. Photo by Quinn Wharton.
Several weeks ago, Youth America Grand Prix announced that the lineup for tonight's Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow gala at Lincoln Center's Koch Theater would include Bolshoi Ballet principal Olga Smirnova and first soloist Jacopo Tissi. But an article in Page Six published last night states that Smirnova and Tissi were denied visas to enter the US.
YAGP organizers "believe the Department of Homeland Security's decision may be motivated by the myriad tensions between the superpowers," says the piece, noting that "Smirnova is so revered in Moscow that her treatment could create a Russian backlash." The Mariinsky Ballet's Kimin Kim did receive a visa and was allowed to perform as scheduled.
May. 18, 2017 02:59PM EST
Lincoln Center's All-Star "Jewels" Casting Announced
Olga Smirnova and Semyon Chudin in "Diamonds." Photo by E. Fetisova, Courtesy Bolshoi Ballet
In November, Lincoln Center announced that three of the world's biggest companies—New York City Ballet, Paris Opéra Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet—would present a collaborative performance of George Balanchine's Jewels July 20–23 in honor of the ballet's 50th anniversary. Each company will take an act, with the Paris Opéra performing "Emeralds" and NYCB and the Bolshoi alternating performances of "Rubies" and "Diamonds." Yesterday, Lincoln Center finally announced what we've all been waiting for: the all-star cast list. (As well as rising stars–Alena Kovaleva and Jacopo Tissi, two young Bolshoi corps members, are slated to dance the leads in "Diamonds" for one performance.) Check out the list below this trailer!
Laura Cappelle
Jan. 29, 2016 04:09PM EST
In the Studio with Olga Smirnova: After a Yearlong Injury, the Rising Bolshoi Star Makes a Triumphant Return
Smirnova and Igor Tsvirko rehearse A Hero of Our Time. Photo by Quinn Wharton for Pointe.
Olga Smirnova's first three seasons at the Bolshoi Ballet were a whirlwind of debuts and creations, but it all came to a halt in 2014, when a foot injury took the Vaganova-trained prodigy out of action for nearly a year. During her break, Smirnova adopted a new approach to taking care of her body throughout the day, using Pilates and various floor exercises. When she returned to the stage last summer, in Yuri Possokhov's new full-length ballet A Hero of Our Time, it was with a newfound maturity. "Maybe I needed this break to reflect after such an intense period," she says. "I think I grew up more than in the previous three years."
A Hero of Our Time puts a modern twist on a popular 19th-century Russian novel by Mikhail Lermontov and its hero, Pechorin, who encounters a series of women. Pointe went backstage with Smirnova as she worked with Possokhov and theater director Kirill Serebrennikov on the role of Bela. With the help of her coach, Marina Kondratieva, she used her expressive lines and port de bras to lend depth to the character, a proud Circassian princess.
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Rehearsing A Hero of Our Time at the Bolshoi Theatre.
The Bolshoi's Olga Smirnova Totes Treasures In Her Dance Bag From Around the World
Kyle Froman for Pointe
Bolshoi Ballet leading soloist Olga Smirnova has performed the world over, and nowhere is it more apparent than inside her dance bag. First, there's the huge bag itself, a souvenir from the annual Dance Open Festival in St. Petersburg. And she picked up her red T-shirt when Jean-Christophe Maillot came from Monte Carlo to create The Taming of the Shrew on the Bolshoi. "Wherever I go, I take my foam roller and a mat to sit on for when I warm up," says Smirnova. For the company's New York performances of Swan Lake last summer, she made sure to bring her swan-themed mat to match.
But her most prized possession? Her Japanese muscle spray. "In case you pull something," she says. "It warms your muscles." Smirnova stocks up on six or seven bottles every time she tours to Japan, sometimes even fulfilling requests from dancer friends back home. "No ballerina can live without it."
The Standouts
Olga Smirnova
Expectations can be a heavy burden to bear for a young dancer on the fast track to stardom. Few have justified the hype like the Bolshoi Ballet's 21-year-old Olga Smirnova. The Vaganova-trained first soloist had an international coming out party to remember in London this summer. Her performances in La Bayadère and Swan Lake were the talk of critics and audiences alike, and stepping out on the Covent Garden stage in Balanchine's "Diamonds," Smirnova announced herself as a ballerina of rare natural talent. Tall and expansive, she exudes the old-fashioned, slightly reticent glamour of a balletic Greta Garbo. She made the role her own, combining an aura of regal mystery with instinctive musicality and épaulement. Partnered by the seemingly awed Semyon Chudin, she danced the pas de deux and the faster third and fourth movements with a purity beyond her years. Russian ballet has found itself a new queen. —Laura Cappelle
Karina González
Karina González has always been a powerhouse in contemporary work. But in Houston Ballet's La Bayadère last season, she proved her mettle in ballet blanc. Her performance brought home why we go to these vintage ballets over and over: to see what a particular dancer can do with a classic role. As Nikiya, González exemplified all that is light and fragile, with a port de bras that was at once fluid and precise. The delicacy of her dancing served as a counterpoint to La Bayadère's excesses. It pulled this old warhorse out of the past, making the ballet's storytelling feel fresh once again. Artistic director Stanton Welch must have thought so too, because he promoted her to principal on opening night. —Nancy Wozny
James Whiteside
It took a while for New York to get to know James Whiteside. The American Ballet Theatre principal, who joined the company as a soloist in September 2012, spent much of last season giving polished but cautiously polite performances.
Then he was cast as Don Quixote matador Espada during ABT's Metropolitan Opera House season.
Maybe Whiteside was finally able to shrug off his Met stage nerves. Maybe he had just settled into his ABT groove. Whatever the reason, Espada marked the first time Whiteside registered on the New York ballet world's Richter scale. Though choreographically slight, the part has the potential to be deliciously hammy, and Whiteside made the most of every hair-tossing, cape-twirling moment, finishing each assemblé with an imperious thrust of his chin. Forget polite: Gleefully, unabashedly flamboyant, Whiteside transformed what is sometimes a ho-hum secondary role into a work of high camp. (Fans of his pop-music alter ego, JbDubs, might not have been surprised.) —Margaret Fuhrer
Jon Bond
Jon Bond first made waves at Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in 2007 with a muscular, undulating street-based style. His roots in competition dance and work in music videos gave his movements a pop-culture sheen. Yet after six years working with Cedar Lake's rotating roster of world-class choreographers, Bond has matured beautifully. An underlying grace now weaves itself into his physical ferocity. When he took the stage at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival this summer in the opening beats of Crystal Pite's Grace Engine, his clipped shuffle felt watchful, weighted—above all, controlled. At times, his solos seemed modest and tense; elsewhere, his reactions were explosive. Yet his movement was specific throughout: He's become lighter on his feet, and utterly mesmerizing. —Rachel F. Elson
The Cast of Soirée Musicale
New York City Ballet is known for giving even its greenest talents big opportunities—and for a young NYCB dancer, getting a featured role in a gala performance is equivalent to being anointed a future star. This year, the company's spring gala marked the arrival of the whole cast of Christopher Wheeldon's Soirée Musicale. Nearly all of the work's 10 featured dancers were either new to the company (Indiana Woodward, Peter Walker, Harrison Ball) or newly promoted (Lauren Lovette, Chase Finlay, Taylor Stanley, Brittany Pollack); all of them were very young. But they gave the kinds of full, well-considered performances usually associated with seasoned veterans. Leading the remarkable ensemble were Lovette and Finlay, who closed the ballet with a new pas de deux, tailored to them by Wheeldon. It was a grown-up duet—glamorous, poignant, achingly romantic—and we watched the two of them become adults onstage. —Margaret Fuhrer
Jermel Johnson
Audiences have long adored Jermel Johnson for his power and precision in Pennsylvania Ballet's more virtuosic repertoire. But who knew that just below the surface was a sophisticated elegance waiting to come out in more subtle roles? As Phlegmatic in Balanchine's The Four Temperaments Johnson magnetized not with his terrific jumps, but with the silken unfurling of his limbs, the fleetness of his développés and the refined architectures of his full form. He commanded the stage with a quality that hovered between neutral and ravishingly sensual. Mr. B would have approved. Johnson's swift rise at Pennsylvania Ballet from apprentice (2004) to principal (2012) has been thrilling to witness, and this new maturity has deepened his already compelling artistry. —Lisa Kraus
Evgenia Obraztsova
Bolshoi Ballet principal Evgenia Obraztsova has been a muse for French choreographer Pierre Lacotte since she created his reconstruction of Ondine at the Mariinsky Ballet in 2006. Their creative relationship reached a new milestone with his version of La Sylphide, which Obraztsova, a born Sylph, first performed with Moscow's Stanislavsky Ballet in 2011. Last summer, she was invited to repeat it in the mecca of French ballet: the Paris Opéra. The result was an exquisite, career-defining performance by a rare artist. Obraztsova's command of the intricate French style was effortless; she breezed through Lacotte's ornate footwork and balances with gossamer grace, and imbued this quintessentially French ballet with a distinctly Russian perfume. She was a Romantic dream with a twist: Unlike Bournonville's Sylphide, this creature of the woods is more femme fatale than ingénue, and like James, the Paris audience was bewitched at first sight. —Laura Cappelle
Sarah Cecilia Griffin
Sarah Cecilia Griffin is that rarest of creatures: a true balletic chameleon. She has both impressive classical technique and also the ability to completely let it go. In choreographer Amy Seiwert's SKETCH 3: Expectations showcase this July, Griffin performed pieces by Val Caniparoli, Marc Brew and Seiwert—seamlessly falling to the floor, crawling and climbing, and rising into the arms of ever-changing partners. Yet when the choreography drew from the classical canon, the 27-year-old revealed impeccably honed attitudes, grands jetés and pirouettes. On pointe or in jazz shoes, she brought emotional intensity that was true to the work, as well as a special something that drew your eye over and over, without her trying to get your attention. Her transitions from one extreme to the other appeared effortless, and the effect was simply thrilling. —Claudia Bauer
Sarasota Ballet
In the wrong hands, Sir Frederick Ashton's Les Patineurs can easily devolve into an old-fashioned cliché. There are the matching bonnets, the postcard-pretty set, the dancers pretending to ice skate, the choreographed "falls." But when Sarasota Ballet performed this 1930s one-act at Ballet Across America, there wasn't a speck of dust on it. Under the direction of "Sir Fred" devotee Iain Webb, the dancers of this small Florida troupe have become exquisite interpreters of Ashton's works. In Les Patineurs, they giddily lit up the stage, bringing distinct personalities to each scene without ever becoming saccharine. All of the choreography's gliding, spinning and grinning felt completely natural—and as exciting as if it had been choreographed yesterday. —Jennifer Stahl
Irina Dvorovenko
Glamour and humor are an invincible combination. When American Ballet Theatre principal Irina Dvorovenko glided out of the wings as the diva ballerina Vera Baronova in the Encores! revival of On Your Toes, balletomanes in the audience did a double take. The swan queen extraordinaire had transformed into a slinky vamp with a libido to equal her ego. On Your Toes marked Balanchine's first full Broadway show back in the 1930s; in its famous "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" climax, the hoofer and the ballerina-turned-stripper literally dance for their lives. Dvorovenko didn't merely triumph in Balanchine's homage to burlesque; she brought a wicked sense of fun to her fishnets. And she handled the show's risqué dialogue with a deadpan delivery that theater veterans would envy. A Broadway star had been born. —Hanna Rubin


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Music critics describe Ivan Donchev as "refined" (Qobuz Magazine), "full with temperament" (Darmstadter Echo), "gifted with impeccable technique and remarkable ability to excite" (Il Cittadino). The legendary pianist Aldo Ciccolini defined him as "an artist gifted with extraordinary musical and instrumental skills".
Ivan Donchev was born in Burgas (Bulgaria) on 11 August 1981. He began his musical training at the age of five and went on to attend the "Pancho Vladigerov" National Music School as a student of Julia Nenova. Three years later he gave his first public recital. In 1993 – at the age of twelve – he made his concerto debut with Burgas Philharmonic Orchestra performing Haydn's Piano Concerto in D. Two weeks later he won the First prize with the Special Distinction at the "Svetoslav Obretenov" National Competiton. In 1996 he became a finalist at the "EMCY Piano Competition" in Dublin. In 1997 he has been awarded the "Saint Nicholas" scholarship by the city of Burgas.
Ivan Donchev first came to the attention of the international public at the age of 16, after winning three prizes at the 2nd "Carl Filtsch International Piano Competition" in Romania, including the Grand Prize "Chopin" offered by the Chopin Society in Darmstadt and a Special Distinction for his own composition. The same year he won the 1st prize at the 2nd Piano Competition for German and Austrian Music in Burgas and made his debut at the Gasteig concert hall in Munich.
Since then Ivan Donchev has played concerts in leading concert halls throughout Europe, Asia and America. His list of credits include recitals in New York's Merkin Hall, Moscow's Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Seoul's Geumnarae Art Hall, Vienna's Boesendorfer Saall, London's Holst Hall, Milan's Sala Verdi, Rome's Teatro Palladium and Filarmonica Romana, Sofia's National Music Academy's Concert Hall. He regularly performs at prestigious Festivals, such us Montpellier Festival de Radio France, Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, Krakow Royal Piano Festival, La folle journée, Apollonia Music Festival, Osimo Piano Hours.
Ivan has performed with New York Festival Orchestra, Rossini Symphony Orhcestra, Zagreb Soloists, Roma Tre Symphony Orchestra, Kronstadt Philharmoniker, Filarmonica Marchigiana, Bari Symphony Orchestra, Magna Grecia Symphony Orchestra, Florence Chamber Orchestra, Burgas Philharmonic, Pleven Philharmonic, Oradea Philharmonic, Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra, Bryansk Symphony Orhcestra, Jeonju Symphony Orchestra, Mussorgsky Youth Symphony Orchestra, Nis Symphony Orhcestra.
He plays with many well known conductors such as Geum No-sang, Daniel Schweizer, Anton Shaburov, Hideaki Hirai, Amaury Du Closel, Michel Brousseau, Ivan Kozhuharov, David Crescenzi, Yordan Dafov, Stefano Trasimeni, Piero Romano, Grigor Palikarov, Giuseppe Lanzetta, Ilku Lee, Luigi Di Fronzo, Sunay Muratov, Svilen Simeonov and many others.
In Italy, where he is based since 2000, Donchev has distinguished himself as a top prize winner of several international competitions: "Città di Monopoli – Gran Prize Ecomusic" 2000; "Premio Seiler", 2001; "Sergio Fiorentino Piano Competition", 2004 , "Giuseppe Terracciano International Piano Competition", 2005 and "Società Umanitaria Music Competition" in Milan – 2008.
He has received the "Sorrento Classica" prize from the hands of his mentor Aldo Ciccolini and in 2011 they have performed a memorable piano duo concert at the Fenetrange Music Festival in France.
Very active in chamber music, he has obtained his master degree at "Santa Cecilia" Conservatory of Music in Rome and holds BM degrees both in classical and jazz piano.
His repertoire covers many of the most relevant piano works, ranging from Bach to contemporary composers. He is hold in high esteem for his interpretations of Liszt and Beethoven.
Donchev has recorded the world premiere of Vito Palumbo's Quadro Sinfonico Concertante (dedicated to him by the author) and all Tchaykovsky's piano concertos. In 2011 he has released the complete recording of Liszt's "Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses" for Sheva Collection. The recording of Beethoven's piano & violin sonatas with Ivo Stankov for Gega new was 5 stars awarded by the British magazine "Musical Opinion". In 2017 he releases his fourth album"Live in Montpellier."
In 2018 he signed with MUSO to release in exclusivity the first complete recording of Bacewicz violin and piano sonatas with French violinist Annabelle Berthomé-Reynolds, in collaboration with the Penderecki European Music Centre in Poland.
His records include broadcasts for RAI 3, Radio France, Radio Classica, BG National Radio and TV.
Currently Donchev is working on the complete set of 32 Beethoven sonatas to be performed and recorded within 2022 in 10 concerts at the Velletri's Auditorium in Italy.
19/20 season also sees Ivan's recording of the complete Années de pèlerinage by Liszt on a historic 1879 Erard piano for Diapason Records.
Ivan acts as a jury member in international piano competitions such as "Victor Merzhanov Piano Competition" in Bulgaria, "St. Petersburg Piano Competition" in Hong Kong and Russia, "Andrea Baldi Competition" in Italy and many others.
Ivan Donchev is regularly invited to give masterclasses worldwide – at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Brooklyn College in New York, Witgift School in London, Pancho Vladigerov National School in Burgas. He holds annual courses for advanced young pianists at the Clivis Music Academy in Rome and many of his students have received awards in piano competitions.
Ivan currently lives in Rome. He is passionate about literature, cinema and martial arts. He has achieved the black belt (1st dan) in Karate.
Since 2019 he is an Artistic director of the Festival "Burgas Music Evenings".
PRESS KIT →
"Elegant approach to the best music of the twentieth century"
MASSIMO LO IACONO • IL ROMA
"Spectacular proof of transcendental pianism ".
UMBERTO GAMBERINI • ALBATROS MAGAZINE
" Ivan Donchev is a magnificent pianist. He has a strong virtuoso technique, impeccable taste and a real sense of style in his broad and varied repertoire.
His performances are exciting, full of life and very moving ".
WILLIAM GRANT NABORÈ
"An excellent CD.."
JAMES PALMER - MUSICAL OPINION • INGHILTERRA
"Technical brilliance and energy..fingers full of character"
DARMSTADTER ECHO • GERMANIA
"Not only an exceptional talent but also a mature musical personality..."
RHEIN-ZEINTUNG • GERMANIA
" One of the best pianists of the moment ".
JOSÈ LEPORE
"Ivan Donchev is gifted with extraordinary musical and instrumental skills".
"Refined and concentrated, with a fine sound palette"
QOBUZ MAGAZINE • FRANCIA
"Excellent technical quality and sensitivity"
LA GAZZETTA DEL SUD
" A superb young virtuoso ".
ATANAS KURTEV
"Great excitement and success"
"Impeccable technique and great ability to excite"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Melanotaenia patoti
Weber 1907
Patoti's Rainbowfish
Melanotaenia patoti males are greenish brown on the top of the head, nape and anterior back; lower half of head silvery white; 4-5 alternating greenish-brown and orange-red stripes on upper half of the sides, darker stripes covering about one-half of each horizontal scale row with slightly narrower reddish stripes between, stripe pattern most conspicuous on rear half of body; lower half of body silvery white with hint of pale orange stripes between horizontal scale rows; dorsal fins greyish with narrow white outer margin on second dorsal; anal fin white to orange basally, grading to greyish on outer half; caudal fin semitranslucent grey; pelvic fins greyish brown; pectoral fins translucent. Freshly collected live fish photographed in an aquarium with similar pattern except overall pale bluish with orange-red stripes on side between each horizontal scale row.
Melanotaenia patoti was named patoti in recognition of its first collector W.F. Tissot van Patot who visited the Aru Islands in 1907.
Melanotaenia patoti is currently known only from the vicinity of the type locality on Trangan Island, the southernmost large island in the main Aru Group. The type specimens were collected from a small creek close to the coast. Recent specimens were collected by G.R. Allen and M.V. Erdmann in January 2013 from within 5 km of the type locality. The habitat consisted of a creek adjacent to a foot-bridge crossing, about 0.25 km from a small village. The stream was slow flowing with a soft, muddy bottom with abundant aquatic vegetation and leaf and log litter. There was also considerable trash in the creek, owing to its proximity to the village. Nevertheless, M. patoti was relatively abundant, as was another rainbowfish, M. senckenbergianus. Values for pH, conductivity, and temperature of 8.0, 98 µS, and 28.1°C respectively were recorded.
Allen G.R., R.K. Hadiaty, P.J. Unmack and M.V. Erdmann (2015) Rainbowfishes (Melanotaenia: Melanotaeniidae) of the Aru Islands, Indonesia with descriptions of five new species and redescription of M. patoti Weber and M. senckenbergianus Weber. aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 21(2): 66-108.
Weber M. (1907) Eine zoogeographische Prophezeiung. Zoologischer Anzeiger 32(14): 401-404.


Every person with a social media account has probably seen the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, even joined the Twitter campaign calling for the return of over two hundred girls kidnapped by Nigerian terrorists. Yet these girls are just a fragment of the people whose lives have been torn apart by violence in Nigeria. Thousands of people have died in the conflict, with over three thousand dying this year alone. Villages are being emptied of their residents and burned to the ground. Schoolchildren are afraid to go to school, fearing that the terrorists will target them next.
The crisis in Nigeria is horrifying to any person with a moral compass. People rightly raise their voices in outrage, calling for a peaceful resolution to the violence perpetrated by those with no respect for human life. Yet every time I see the hashtag, #BringBackOurGirls, I am reminded not only of the kidnapped Nigerian girls, but also of the many human rights abuses all over the world, even those within our own nation. I am also reminded of the millions of lives lost through abortion, and the baby girls who are lost forever. I am reminded of China's one-child policy, which has resulted in gender selection and forced abortions. Where are the hashtags for these girls? Where is the international outcry? Why isn't the First Lady calling for an end to this violence? I am waiting on the answer.


This is a bit of an interesting online journal, comprised of refereed and freely available course notes for various (mostly advanced undergraduate) courses.
Including information about the 14th Annual Legacy of R.L. Moore Conference in Washington DC during June 2-4, 2011.


I own Sweet Marketing Group and LegalDirect.com. I attended Clark University, the FW Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and Suffolk University Law School.
Growing up in Silicon Valley, I have entrepreneurship in my blood.


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Muscovy duck facts
33 Muscovy Duck Facts: Red-Faced Musky Duck-Goose
Muscovy ducks are hefty birds. Males are around 10 - 15 pounds (4.5-6.8 kg) and females are 6 - 8 pounds (2.7-3.6 kg). Domesticated breeds can get even larger than that. The heaviest male Muscovy duck reached 18 pounds; that's just a little lighter than my schnauzer dog
The strange, warty-faced Muscovy Duck causes confusion for some bird watchers, as it's very distinctive and quite commonly seen, yet does not appear in some field guides. Truly wild individuals are restricted to south Texas and points south, but domesticated versions occur in parks and farms across much of North America. Wild Muscovy Ducks are glossy black with bold white wing patches and are.
Muscovy Duck Muscovy Ducks are a wild tropical duck species native to Mexico as well as Central and South Americas. They were domesticated by the natives in these areas a long time ago. The ducks later established themselves in various parts of North America including the United States
Muscovy facts Muscovy Ducks usually live for 7-8 years; however they can live up to 20 years or more if they have access to good nutrition and don't fall victim to an accident or predation. The males can be very aggressive towards other birds. They are often observed in fights, using their claws, wings and beaks
Muscovy Duck Overview and History The wild Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata sylvestris) is actually a native of Mexico, Central America, and Southern America. It is also called a Greater Wood Duck or Forest Duck. Before the arrival of Columbus, a domesticated variety of Muscovy was bred and farmed by the area's indigenous people
Muscovy Duck Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of
antly black and white, with the back feathers being iridescent and glossy in males, while the females are more drab
Muscovy Duck Diet Ducks are omnivore, this means that the Muscovy d uck diet is consisted of meat and plants. The Muscovy duck for the most part, will eat plants, insects, and small water-dwelling animals, particularly crustaceans. In fact, a good amount of their food is going to come from the water
The muscovy duck is part of the Anatidae bird family, a large and diverse grouping of ducks, geese and swans. Another common name is the mule duck. If you ever find a lost or wandering duck (or any American bird) you should contact the Fish and Wildlife Service. They may be quiet but they still have a special quack
Muscovy ducks are no doubt one of the largest ducks you can find. A fully grown Muscovy drake can weigh up to a whopping 15-pounds, which is over twice the size of most domesticated ducks. Muscovy hens naturally weigh a bit less, but they're still not too small, weighing around 7 to 8-pounds
The Muscovy duck is one of the only duck breeds that did not originate from the Mallard duck breed. There are also four-color variations that are recognized by the American Poultry Association. The domestic variety of the Muscovy duck is very large with the males reaching up to 15 pounds and the females anywhere in the region of up to 7.9 pounds
Meet The Muscovy Duck. Muscovy ducks are a beautiful species of waterfowl. Muscovy are considered to be personable, intelligent and interesting, and as such are a popular subject among bird watchers. They are great fliers who like to perch in trees or off ground, and it is not uncommon to find them on top of a house or a balcony railing
Description of the Muscovy Duck These ducks are relatively large creatures, and the biggest males weigh up to 15 lbs. or more. They measure between 26 and 33 in. long, and their wingspan is nearly 5 ft. across. Most Muscovy ducks have black feathers, often with large white blotches, and iridescent green wings The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) is a large duck native to the Americas.Small wild and feral breeding populations have established themselves in the United States, particularly in Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, the Big Island of Hawaii, as well as in many other parts of North America, including southern Canada.Feral Muscovy ducks are found in New Zealand, Australia, and in parts of Europe A: A mule duck is a sterile hybrid cross between a Muscovy and a Pekin.Because these two breeds have been genetically isolated for 50 million years, when you breed the two, you get some interesting results
In the wild, Muscovy ducks typically make their homes in forested wetland areas and fly to forage for their insect-and-vegetation diets in the shallower swampy areas. In urban areas, Muscovies often seek out wet areas such as ponds located in neighborhood parks to make their homes Muscovy Duck Interesting Facts What type of animal is a Muscovy duck? Muscovy Ducks are the largest of all the ducks in the world. Some believe they are more related to geese than ducks. It has a distinctive red bill and also has a caruncle. They are very social and spend daytime grazing, and dawns and dusks are spent dabbling in the water The Muscovy Duck, or the Red Faced Duck as it's sometimes known, has the scientific name Cairina moschata. There are different types of these birds, including domesticated and feral ones, each type varies slightly in appearance. On average they are larger than a Mallard and smaller than a Canada Goose. They like to dabble for food in shallow. Muscovy duck is a type of wild duck that have unique appearance. They have a red head shape and just on the top of their heads are covered with thin fur. In the South American region, these ducks are often consumed by both meat and eggs Muscovy ducks are polygamous birds. They are a cavity-nesting species and place their nest in a large hollow tree or suitable nest box 10-60 feet above the ground, lining the nest sparsely with soft down feathers. Males have little to do with hatchling care or nesting duties, and females incubate the eggs for 34-36 days
Muscovy Duck - Facts, Habitat, Diet, Behavior, As Pets, Photo
All ducks are not created equal! When it comes to taste, nutritional values and low fat content, our Muscovy duck not only outshines the competition, it also compares very favorably to most other meats. Would you have thought that Muscovy duck is leaner than turkey? And did you know that chicken has twice the fat content of Guinea fowl
Muscovy Duck Family by Photomatt28 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. In terms of conservation status, the number of Muscovy Ducks is declining. This is such a very interesting nest with the eggs in a kind of raised area in a corner. Incubation is approximately 30 days
Muscovies have similar bodies to most ducks, however, they are very distinctive looking. They have red faces with a raised, fleshy area called a caruncle, particularly the males (called drakes). Muscovy duck colors include: Black & White Mottled (called pied
Some people will tell you that Muscovy ducks are hard to hatch. Actually, we have hatched them for years and have had very good results. The best incubator, however, is a Muscovy duck hen. She will lay anywhere from 8-15 eggs and set. (Sometimes more.) Many times, she will hatch every egg
an adult muscovy drake (male) One of the most known characteristics of Muscovy ducks is their large red, warty caruncles on their head. They appear when the duck reaches maturity around 5-6 months of age. The male Muscovy has a larger mass of them while the female only has a red mask around her eyes
The Muscovy Duck has a large range, estimated globally at 14,000,000 square kilometers. Native to the Americas and also found in Puerto Rico, this bird prefers subtropical or tropical forest and inland wetland ecosystems
The Muscovy Duck can be crossed with mallards to create a hybrid known as Mulard, but to be honest, the Muscovy aren't very keen on breeding with Mallard-types. Additionally, the offspring is a mule duck because Muscovy are a different species of waterfowl. This outcross, Mulard, are mostly raised for their meat and they grow fast like mallard.
Muscovy Duck. The next most common type of duck meat comes from Muscovy ducks. This meat has a unique taste that many people describe as meaty and flavorful. Unlike the more popular Pekin, the Muscovy duck does not descend from mallards. Nutritional Facts Muscovy Duck - Facts, Habitat, Diet, Behavior, As Pets, Photos. Muscovy Ducks are a wild tropical duck species native to Mexico as well as Central and South Americas. They were domesticated by the natives in these areas a long time ago. The ducks later established themselves in various parts of North America including the United States Muscovy Duck. Muscovy ducks have been introduced into urban and suburban areas in Florida where they often occur in high densities. These birds were illegally released primarily by private individuals for ornamental purposes or as pets. Muscovy ducks can be extremely prolific and local populations can increase dramatically in a short time
The Muscovy is a very unique breed of duck. In fact, it's not even a true duck - it's simply called a duck. The Muscovy is to the duck world what the donkey is to the equine world. In other words, it's a different species, although quite closely related. Crossing What Are Muscovy Ducks? Muscovy ducks are an interesting breed of duck. They are the only domesticated duck that is not derived from the Mallard, so they do have some different characteristics from other common breeds of duck. Despite being one of the first duck breeds, they didn't find their way over to the United States until the 20th century
The Muscovy duck is not related to the mallard. In fact, the domestic Muscovy is likely a crossbreed between three different exotic ducks species. So, while there are homologous genes, they aren't reliable Muscovy Ducks can be found all over the world as domesticated waterfowl, and we're ready to talk about what these birds are really good at. There are many great reasons for keeping Muscovy Ducks on the homestead, or as small backyard pets — although these reasons do not include maximizing on meat and egg production Keep on reading to learn 60 facts about Ducks. Domestic breeds of ducks, with the exception of Muscovy ducks, are all derived from the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) kind. Fact 11: One of the most striking breeds of domesticated duck is the Pekin duck.. The Muscovy duck penis completes six to 10 full twists over its 20cm length. Like a selection of sex toys from a vending machine in a strange alien bar, writes Prof Prum, duck penises. Learn Muscovy duck facts for kids. Feral Muscovy ducks can breed near urban and suburban lakes and on farms, nesting in tree cavities or on the ground, under shrubs in yards, on apartment balconies, or under roof overhangs. Some feral populations, such as that in Florida, have a reputation of becoming nuisance pests on occasion. At night they often sleep at water, if there is a water source.
Interesting Muscovy Duck Facts Beauty of Bird
Very true what seashoreduck says, much better to catch it now since the way the wing is laying it looks like it could be the beginning of angle wing not just normal drooping. usually after wrapping maybe 3-5 days unwrap it doesn't take long to fix. if it is still sticking out some wrap again and wait another 3 days Ducks have been domesticated as pets and farm animals for more than 500 years, and all domestic ducks are descended from either the mallard or the Muscovy duck. Mallards, especially, are easy to crossbreed with other types of ducks, and mallards often hybridize with all types of ducks at local ponds Muscovy Duck Characteristics. Muscovy ducks are a large breed of waterfowl. With their bright red face mask, they stand out from other domesticated ducks almost immediately. The red, rather warty-looking growths are called caruncles — you've seen these before on the necks of turkeys, if the term seems totally unfamiliar Muscovy ducks are fun, but I certainly wouldnt want one on my shoulder. There is also the issue of diapers! Penny Leigh Sebring from Fort Collins on April 21, 2019: Sounds like a fantastic bird! I mean, I'll stick with my Meyer's Parrot for the time being, but if I had the space to raise ducks (and apparently ducky diapers) I think it sounds.
Muscovy Duck: Eggs, Facts, Care Guide and More
The Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) - also known as Musky Duck or Barbary Duck - is a large, hardy perching duck that has been attracting a lot of attention in recent years - particularly in North America, where it has been expanding its range in the last decade.. In their natural range of South America, they are often referred to as Musco ducks as they eat many mosquitoes Muscovy ducks are unique and strangely beautiful waterfowl that are native to the wooded swamps and marshes of South and central America and Mexico. I hope to share facts and dispel some of the myths surrounding the mysterious Muscovy Duck. Muscovy ducks will steal your heart if you ever get to know them Muscovy duck has a unique taste: it is lean, meaty, tender and flavorful. A 4 lb. Muscovy has the highest yield of any duck available and 50 percent more breast meat than other ducks. Muscovy breast meat is 99 percent lean and the skin of our duck has 50% less fat than the Moulard or Pekin varieties Muscovy in Raleigh, North Carolina, by e_monk (Creative Commons). A final rule published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2010 brought the number of species protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to 1,007, an increase of 175. Among the birds added was Muscovy Duck, the handsome bird pictured above C. moschata. Binomial name. Cairina moschata. ( Linnaeus, 1758) The Muscovy duck ( Cairina moschata) is a duck from Mexico. Its common name muscovy duck comes from commerce with Russia. It is related to Aix, a species of shelduck
Muscovy Duck - Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia
Muscovy ducks may not be native to Florida but they have become a common sight in neighborhoods throughout the state. In fact, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates that there are tens of thousands of Muscovy ducks in Florida
The Muscovy is a native South American duck and appears to be the only domestic duck breed which is not a descendant of the Mallard. Muscovy drakes lack the curly tail feathers characteristic of drakes of all other breeds. The Muscovy belongs to a separate species to other domestic ducks and geese (Cairina moschata)
Muscovy ducks, also the originator of the bulk of modern domesticated duck breeds, cannot have cresting bred into them - they are the only known breed that cannot be crossed with a crested duck to create this unusual genetic deformity. Crested Duck Facts
Other articles where Muscovy duck is discussed: anseriform: Importance to humans: The muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) was domesticated in Colombia and Peru before the arrival of the conquistadores. The greylag goose (Anser anser) has been domesticated for at least 4,000 years; Egyptian frescoes of that age already show changes in shape from the natural form, and eigh
Muscovy ducks don't like to be over handled by humans, and are less prone to illnesses as compared to other ducks. The average lifespan of Muscovy ducks is seven years. Muscovy ducks are tropical birds and can adapt to extremely cold conditions very easily. Muscovy ducks do not swim much, like the other ducks
Pekin Duck (or Long Island Duck) Pekin duck is the most popular duck to eat. Pekin duck meat is known for its mild, satisfying flavor that easily adapts to a number of cuisines. It has lighter flesh and milder flavor than either Moulard or Muscovy duck, and is considered perfect for whole roasting Surprisingly, Muscovy ducks are the only domestic ducks that are not derived from Mallard stock. The wild Muscovy has a distinct color palette of black and white. Domesticated Muscovy have many different colors. The males can grow to be quite large, weighing 10-15 lbs. Most of the females are 5-7 pounds but can reach up to 9 and sometimes 10 lbs Uses: Winner: A tie. Chickens and Muscovys both have unique and common uses. Obviously both are edible, and both provide good meat and eggs. Chickens provide more eggs, the muscovy's provide bigger richer eggs. Both can be used to scorch the earth clearing garden areas, and both work great in chicken tractors Muscovy ducks have a unique appearance. According to Raising Ducks, Muscovies come in many different colors. While the wild Muscovy is all black with a white patch on the wing, domesticated Muscovies are available in the colors of all white, magpie, blue, chocolate, buff, lilac, and more
The Spruce. Duck Trivia Facts . All types of ducks are part of the bird family Anatidae, which also includes swans and geese. There are between 140 and 175 birds in the Anatidae family, though not all of them are considered ducks.; There are species of ducks found on every continent except Antarctica. Some duck species, such as the mallard, are found in multiple places throughout the world. Pekin ducks always come as the most recommended breed for a backyard duck.. They are great for many reasons. First, at 10 pounds per bird they're considered pretty large in size that they're too heavy to fly, so you can allow them to free-range in your yard without having to worry about them trying to fly south for the winter The true wild Muscovy duck is blackish in color with large white wing patches. And all the domesticated Muscovy ducks originated from these wild ducks. Length of these wild Muscovy ducks can vary from 26 to 33 inches (66 to 84 cm), wingspan can vary from 54 to 60 inches (137 to 152 cm), and on average weight is about 1.1 to 4.1 kg Muscovy duck: Beautiful Pictures & Interesting Facts Children Book About Muscovy duck Paperback - January 31, 2019 by Renee Wood (Author) 2.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating. See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions. Price New from Used from Paperback, January 31, 2019 Please retry $9.99 . $9.99 �
Muscovy duck has black feathers on a large part of its body, the most common variety has greenish reflections. Its beak is broad with red flesh, long body, bulging breast and almost horizontal carving. It presents a very marked sexual dimorphism and the weight of the females corresponds to 55% of the male's weight Fun Facts. Domesticated Muscovy ducks as also referred to as Barbary ducks. Muscovy ducks have webbed feet that are clawed on the ends to help them move on land easier. Their feathers are waterproof and help keep them insulated when they are in the water. Muscovy ducks make excellent pets because they have a peaceful temperament Muscovy Ducks (Cairina moschata) are easy to identify with their warty red head markings.They are larger than many other common ducks like mallards, with male Muscovies reaching up to 15 pounds. Their coloration is generally made up of black and white feathers, though the patterns vary widely and no two Muscovy ducks are likely to look the same once they reach maturity
The Muscovy duck is another domestic species that is often encountered in the wild. Domestic-type ducks are most commonly met with at town park lakes but you could see them in wilder places too. A third, less frequent group of oddballs are the hybrids. Ducks are not always that choosy about their partners and it is quite common for two. regarding regulation of Muscovy ducks, here's how it reads today at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: - Muscovy Ducks: You do not need a federal permit to raise and sell captive-reared muscovy ducks. Artificial insemination has been developed in ducks due to the desire to produce mule ducks. If left to mate naturally, the fertility is only 20-30%. Artificial insemination brings the fertility up to 80%. Whereas a Pekin takes 28 days to hatch and a Muscovy takes 35 days, a mule or hinny takes 32 days to hatch
Domestic Muscovy Duck - In-Depth Guide (with Pictures
Lisa Levinson, the wild animals campaigner for In Defense of Animals, said Muscovy duck droppings are a small price to pay when considering all the benefits the animals bring to a community
Muscovy ducks are omnivorous, feeding on worms, insects, fish and reptiles. They also forage for larvae and pupae usually found under rocks, aquatic animals, snails and crabs. They also eat a variety of plant material, including weed, leaves, stems, seeds and roots, obtained by grazing or dabbling in shallow water
Muscovy ducks are invasive in the area and they are something we should be concerned about, Gunnels said. Muscovy ducks breed easily and quickly. Gunnels said one of the biggest concerns for.
ally comes from a juvenile animal, but may be simply a #menu nam
Muscovy Duck: Amazing Photos and Fun Facts about Muscovy Duck 26. by Emma Ruggles. Paperback $ 9.99. Ship This Item — Qualifies for Free Shipping Buy Online, Pick up in Store Check Availability at Nearby Stores. Sign in to Purchase Instantly. Choose Expedited Shipping at checkout for delivery by Monday, June 14
Muscovy Ducks: Facts, Care Guide and Behavio
Nutrition Facts. Muscovy Duck Breast. Serving Size: 16 oz. Amount Per Serving Calories 800 Cals from Fat 504: Water: n/a g: Total Fat: 56.00 g: Saturated Fat 20.00 g: Polyunsaturated Fat 8.00 g: Monounsaturated Fat 24.00 g: Trans Fat n/a g.
Farm Fresh - Muscovy Duck Egg. Serving Size : 106 g. 200 Cal. 2 % 1g Carbs. 62 % 13g Fat. 36 % 17g Protein. Log Food. Daily Goals. How does this food fit into your daily goals? Calorie Goal 1,800 cal. 200 / 2,000 cal left. Fitness Goals : Heart Healthy. Fat 54g. 13 / 67g left. Sodium 2,183g. 117 / 2,300g left. Cholesterol-319g. 619 / 300g left.
Buy Muscovy Ducks and ducklings online from Metzer Farms †we have live Muscovy Ducks and baby ducks for sale online. The Muscovy ducks are excellent foragers, eating larger amounts of grass than other types of domestic ducks and they do a great job of hatching and raising their young
Part 2 of the Getting your ducks in a row series is a quick overview of some of the most common duck breeds. These breeds are kept as backyard duck for pets, show, eggs and or meat. There are also some that are recognized by the American Standards of Perfection and some that will not be. This is important if you are going to be breeding ducks to sell or for poultry shows
Muscovy Duck Facts | Anatomy, Diet, Habitat, Behavior. The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) makes a popular domesticated bird but is known rather poorly in the wild lowland habitats. They are typically found in the Central and South America including Mexico. It is one of the rare ducks that have wattles on their beaks
Most birders know the Muscovy only from having seen the dumpy domesticated version. Wild Muscovies, native to the American tropics, are wary, fast-flying birds of wooded rivers and swamps. Most Muscovies seen in North America are of the barnyard variety, but small numbers of wild birds from northeastern Mexico may appear on the Rio Grande in southern Texas. These big ducks nest in cavities in.
The first clue that a Muscovy duck may be in a mood to sit on eggs (a.k.a. a broody duck) is that she'll make a nest. Many other domesticated duck breeds have had the motherly instinct bred out of their mentalities, promoting a higher rate of egg production. My runner ducks, for example, would lay eggs on the go in the morning.
Muscovy Duck: The Most Unique Ducks You Can Ow
The Muscovy duck penis completes six to 10 full twists over its 20-centimeter (7.8-inch) length. Like a selection of sex toys from a vending machine in a strange alien bar, writes Prum.
For backyard farms, the right male-to-female ratio of ducks to have depends on the breed of the duck. For larger breeds like Muscovy and Pekin, you should keep a 1 male to no more than 5 females. Smaller breeds like the Indian Runner, Khaki Campbell, and Mallard ducks can be successful with a larger ratio, around 1 male to every 10 female ducks.
For example, male ducks of Mallard-derived breeds (basically, all the domestic duck breeds except the Muscovy) have curly sex feathers, or drake feathers, on their tail. I've seen many people asking on forums whether their Muscovy is a male or female and being told to wait until the sex feathers come or don't come in
(a) Control of muscovy ducks. Anywhere in the contiguous United States except in Hidalgo, Starr, and Zapata Counties in Texas, and in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories and possessions, landowners and Federal, State, Tribal, and local wildlife management agencies, and their tenants, employees, or agents may, without a Federal permit, remove or destroy muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata. Facts. The Muscovy duck has powerful claws that help them climb trees and roost on branches. The female Pekin duck will lay an average of 200 eggs per year is she is prevented from nesting and hatching the eggs. There are famous Pekin ducks. The AFLAC Insurance mascot is a Pekin duck and Donald Duck is modeled after one as well Wild Muscovy ducks live between 8 to 12 years, while those in captivity live about 20 years. Alamsyah Kundam / EyeEm / Getty Images. The lifespan of a duck depends upon a number of factors, such. The male ducks on the other hand, will be with the other male ducks. The eggs will hatch within 28 days normally, except for the Muscovy duck which takes about 35 days to hatch. The mother duck will keep her brood of ducklings together to protect them from predators. Ducklings are able to fly within 5-8 weeks. Their feathers develop really fast Muscovy duck information and facts - Perhaps not all of you are familiar with the moscovey duck or scientifically known as the cairina moschata which is one of the native bird species of Mexico, South America as well as Central America. Generally though, especially if you are into cooking and only knows the culinary terms, this kind of.
Muscovy Duck Breed - Everything You Need to Kno
Mule Duck. A mule duck is a sterile, hybrid duck. It is created from a cross between a male Muscovy (aka Barbary) duck, and a female from another duck breed. Because the Muscovy duck is actually a different species,Cairina moschatvs Anas platyrynchos, from all other ducks, the offspring is sterile and can't breed other offspring Raising Muscovy ducks is similar to raising free range chickens on your property. One main difference is a nest will be needed instead of a coop. You can build a nest for your ducks from wood and a variety of other material you have available. An old wire spool used by construction companies can be used as a nest with a little DIY ingenuity. Here are some fun facts about these birds: These ducks do not swim as much as other ducks. The domesticated Muscovy duck is the sole domestic duck species that has not been bred from the mallard stock. They are often raised for their meat, which is used for various culinary purposes Muscovy Duck Category: Ducks . Facts about Muscovy Ducks. Muscovy ducks are tropical birds and adapt well to cooler types of weather, flourishing in a climate as cold as 10 degree Fahrenheit (-12 cel). The Muscovy ducks are capable of surviving even colder environment. The Muscovy Duck breed hails from Mexico and South and Central America However, as wonderful as the Muscovy duck is, this isn't the breed to get if you are after an egg-laying machine. You may want to consider a Khaki Campbell or an Indian Runner as they lay far more per year. Muscovy Ducks as Meat Birds. This is where Muscovy ducks excel, the meat is dark and very lean
Muscovy Duck Contro
Muscovy ducks can adapt rather easily to cold as they are tropical birds. They might not love being handled so much by humans, but they are less prone to illness. The average life-span of a Muscovy is 8-12 years, although there are of domesticated Muscovies living longer than 12 years Only two species of wild duck—the mallard and the Muscovy Duck—have been domesticated by humans. The vast majority of domestic duck breeds descend from mallards and were developed by. Examples of Perching ducks are the Wood Ducks, Muscovy Ducks and Mandarin Ducks. Another breed is the Stiff-tailed duck. Examples are the Ruddy Duck and the Masked Duck. Ducks that come under the Pochards breed are the Canvasbacks, Ringnecks,Redheads and Lesser Scaups. They swim underwater with their wings closed and their legs sticking. Muscovy Duck: Large, usually domesticated duck; wild birds are dark with white wing patch that is visible in flight; domesticated birds occur in any mix of white and black. Crested head; bare face, may be black or red or a combination, has large wart-like knob at the base of the bill
Muscovy Duck - Description, Habitat, Image, Diet, and
Long-Tailed Duck Fun Facts What do long-tailed ducks look like? Regardless of the plumage coloration, the short and pointed dark wings are evident in both male and female ducks. Long-tailed ducks undergo a seasonal molting process, during which the body plumage shifts between different colorations Muscovy ducks are the only domestic ducks that are not derived from Mallard stock. The original (Wild Type) coloration is black and white, but the domestication has produced many more colors: White, black, chocolate, and blue. Their feet have sharp claws that are built to grasp, so that they can perch on branches Although Muscovy ducks are native to the mean streets of Mexico and South America, populations of the long clawed, wide-footed bird are now also common in Australia and New Zealand
Muscovy ducks nest in tree holes and hollows, as well as on the ground in areas with dense ground cover. The nest bowl is composed of debris and dead vegetation and is lined with the breast feathers of the female, which incubates the eggs and raises the young alone. Feral birds can breed year-round Pekin Ducks: Muscovy: Learn More Here. Learn More Here. Home Heritage Breeds Ducks Sales Keeping Chickens Contact. Wild Muscovy ducks have an average life span of 8 to 12 years. When domesticated and living in captivity, that life span can extend to 20 years. Availability. Muscovy ducklings are for sale a short time from late July to the end of September. They are shipped as a straight run but can be sorted by sex for an additional charge The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) is a large duck native to Mexico, Central, and South America. Small wild and feral breeding populations have established themselves in the United States, particularly in Florida and the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas as well as in many other parts of North America, including southern Canada
Enlarge Breed Club Secretary Ducks come under the brief of: · The Domestic Waterfowl Club of Great Britain · The British Waterfowl Association Image n/a History n/a Characteristics This is the only breed of domestic duck that is not decended from the mallard, being technically almost a goose. They are also strange in [ Muscovy ducks produce tasty dark meat that is leaner because their oil glands are underdeveloped. They are poor egg producers whose eggs take 35 days to hatch as opposed to 28 days but are very good brooders and mothers and so do not require an incubator. They can be crossed with Pekin for a very good meat-producing duck but their progeny will. Muscovy ducks Cairina moschata turn out to be very interesting in the area of 'Spring relationships' (mallards and other ducks too, for that matter). A quick piece of research about them unearthed one unbeatable nugget of anatidaean anatomy: male muscovy ducks have spiralled penises which can become erect to 20 cm in one third of a second. When a Mulard is bred from a Muscovy drake and Pekin duck, it is called Mulard or Moulard. When a Mulard is bred from a Pekin drake and a Muscovy duck, it is called a Hinny. Hinnies are usually smaller in size. Mulards are sterile since they result from crossbreeding with mallards. They are usually reared for their meat and for foie gras Muscovy Duck: Very large dabbling duck. The pure wild form is dark brown to black overall. The male has glossy emerald wings with a white patch on upper- and underwing; the head and crown feathers form a crest; and small red caruncles are found above and below the eye. The wild female is much smaller; the wings have a slight greenish gloss with a white patch similar to the male; the face lacks.
French White Muscovy Ducks on average, live 4 to 8 years and can live up to 12 years, depending on the breed. A French White Muscovy Duck is a Precocial (meaning) Born or hatched with the eyes open, a covering of hair or down, capable of a high degree of independent activity from birth and able to leave the nest just a few hours after hatching Considered the finest duck there is. A muscovy duck is a large duck that is native to Mexico and Central and South America. They are also found in Texas and Florida, in a feral population. This duck is all dark except for having white wings. The male weighs about 3kg and the female weighs 1/3 kg. All domestic ducks are descended from either the Mallard or the Muscovy duck. The most common and recognised species of duck is the Mallard or Wild duck. It is a dabbling duck that lives in the Americas, Europe, Asia, North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. The male Mallard has a glossy green head, grey wings and. Muscovy ducks are non-migratory animals and can be very prolific. Overpopulation of Muscovy ducks are common in areas where there is an abundance of food. Muscovy ducks can become overwhelming in areas throughout Florida. Many people are concerned about health risks associated with duck feces and harmful bacteria. Contamination from high. Muscovy ducks are typically black or white and have large red or pink wattles around the beak. 15. Silver Appleyard Duck. View this post on Instagram. A post shared by Puddles and Muffin (@ducks_puddlesandmuffin) This British domestic duck breed is bred for meat and egg production. It was originally developed in Suffolk in the 1930s and brought.
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Sean C. Harewood's imagination brings together his daughter with his nieces and nephews in this adventure novel that contains an amalgamation of frightful, humorous, fantastic, and fun emotions and elements. This engaging fantasy tale develops around young adults with great responsibility in the future of their world, where together they encounter adventure, danger, love, and lots of laughter as they care for one another.
As a young man, Sean C. Harewood was making waves in the banking industry. Then he had a brain tumor in 1999, and again in 2001. He was knocked down, but not knocked out. He was beaten and battered, but he was still able to cry whenever he saw the sick children at St. Jude's Hospital. He had a college degree and was about to get his master's degree when cancer struck. He fights every day to have another one so he can continue to speak about his friends and family. Kids need to keep reading. He believes that too much Facebook and Instagram are causing good books to go unnoticed.


If you've already spent some time in Thailand's bustling capital city, Bangkok, then you may be looking for a relaxing atmosphere in which to spend a few days or more, unwinding. With many beach resorts and picture perfect islands to choose from you may have trouble deciding, but Koh Samui is definitely one that we'd recommend.
This island in the Gulf of Thailand is renowned for its idyllic beaches and for its mountainous rainforest interior. With its luxurious spas it attracts visitors from around the world but also has a vibrant nightlife scene and cheap places to stay that draw the backpacking crowd. If you're wondering how to travel from Bangkok to Koh Samui, read on for our guide.
Koh Samui is over 700 kilometers from Bangkok, so easily the quickest way to get here is by airplane, but flights from Bangkok to Koh Samui can be expensive meaning that flying will not be for everyone. Putting the cost aside for a moment, Koh Samui does have its own airport, situated in the north east of the island, which was originally built by Bangkok Airways as a private airport solely for their use, giving this airline a monopoly on direct flights between the two destinations. If you want to fly direct, Bangkok Airways is the only airline available but the good news is they have frequent flights, departing almost hourly.
With so many daily flights offered by Bangkok Airways it's usually pretty easy to find a seat on a plane, though this won't always be the case around Thai holiday periods. Airfares can vary substantially depending on when you book your ticket; it's always advisable to book as far in advance as you can for the best deals as you're likely to have to pay as much as double if you try to buy a ticket on the day of departure. Either way, flights with Bangkok Airways are considered to be expensive by Thai standards.
There are a couple of other options for flights between Bangkok and Koh Samui. You could actually fly to Surat Thani Airport or Chumphon Airport. Both are on the mainland and so both of these options will also require you to take a ferry across to the island. Ferry connections are good though, and with low cost air carriers providing flights to both airports, you could save yourself a significant amount of money traveling this way.
Once you arrive at Koh Samui Airport (if you're catching a direct flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui) there's plenty of ground transportation to get you on your way to a hotel or resort. Minibuses and private minibuses are a good option, but there are not usually many taxis available at the airport.
An even cheaper option than the low cast airlines is to take the train and ferry from Bangkok to Koh Samui. The biggest disadvantage to traveling by train and ferry is the time that it takes, though you could argue that if you travel on a sleeper train overnight, you're not actually losing much time out of your vacation. From Bangkok's Hua Lamphong Train Station you can catch a train in the evening, travel overnight, then wake up the next morning as you arrive at Surat Thani station. At Surat Thani you'll get off the train and board a special shuttle bus which will take you to the coast and the Don Sak Pier.
Once you've arrived at Don Sak Pier your trip from Bangkok to Koh Samui becomes even more interesting and exciting! You have the option to take a conventional ferry if you want to sit back and enjoy the journey. It takes around 90 minutes by conventional ferry, or you can take the faster option and travel by high-speed catamaran. This takes just 45 minutes to get to Koh Samui so if you're eager to hit the beaches and the bars this would be the best option. You could also look at ferries from Ban Don Pier which are operated by Seatran Ferries whereas those from Don Sak Pier are operated by Raja Ferry.
Combined train and boat tickets can be bought from Hua Lamphong Train Station in Bangkok so you don't have to buy separate tickets for each leg of the journey, or you can buy in advance online. However you choose to buy your tickets you really should buy them before your day of travel as these trains do get fully booked.
One final option for traveling from Bangkok to Koh Samui involves a bus and ferry ride. With this option you'll take a bus from Bangkok to Chumphon (stopping for a little in Hua Hin). At Chumphon you then get on the high speed catamaran which travels via the islands of Ko Nang Yuan, Ko Tao and Ko Pha Ngan. Going this route is scenic as you'll get to see more islands along the way but it does take time – the entire journey is around 11 hours of which half of this will be on the boat.
So there are three different options for travel from Bangkok to Koh Samui. Which one you choose is going to depend firstly on your budget, then on how quickly you'd like to get to the island. Flights are great, but they are expensive if you're traveling on a budget, but we'll leave that decision up to you.


The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the country's first electronic surveillance satellite, EMISAT, from Sriharikota in coastal Andhra Pradesh on Monday morning.
As many as 28 small satellites of international customers were also put in space as secondary riders.
This is the third such mission and carries an ISRO test on Automatic Identification System (AIS) related to tracking ships on sea.
AMSAT or the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, India, has sent a payload called the Automatic Packet Repeating System.
This is expected to help amateur radio operators to get improved locational accuracy in their tracking and monitoring.
The third one, the Advanced Retarding Potential Analyser for Ionospheric Studies has been sent up by ISRO's university, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology.
A new PSLV team executed the mission as the previous programme head R. Hutton has moved to headquarters in Bengaluru as the director of the Human Space Flight Centre.
The PSLV's new QL variant took off from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in coastal Andhra Pradesh at 9.27 a.m. along with a total of 29 passengers.
The multi-orbit mission totally lasted three hours and released all 29 spacecraft in nearly the first two hours. Overall, three sets of payloads were let out at three different orbits in space.
About 17 minutes after takeoff, EMISAT was ejected first at an orbit 749 km away from Earth. The small 'cube' satellites, belonging to four countries and together weighing 220 kg, were released after about 40 minutes at a lower orbit of 504 km. To get the lower orbit, the fourth stage of the rocket or PS4 had to be restarted twice.
ISRO has started reusing PS4 as an innovated, low-cost, space-friendly test bed for its own microgravity experiments and those of others. It has been gradually putting additional support systems also on every new PS4; the power generating solar panels are new this time.


The problem of position and orientation estimation for an active vision sensor that moves with respect to the full six degrees of freedom is considered. The proposed approach is based on point features extracted from RGB-D data. This work focuses on efficient point feature extraction algorithms and on methods for the management of a set of features in a single RGB-D data frame. While the fast, RGB-D-based visual odometry system described in this paper builds upon our previous results as to the general architecture, the important novel elements introduced here are aimed at improving the precision and robustness of the motion estimate computed from the matching point features of two RGB-D frames. Moreover, we demonstrate that the visual odometry system can serve as the front-end for a pose-based simultaneous localization and mapping solution. The proposed solutions are tested on publicly available data sets to ensure that the results are scientifically verifiable. The experimental results demonstrate gains due to the improved feature extraction and management mechanisms, whereas the performance of the whole navigation system compares favorably to results known from the literature.
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September 23, 2019	• 0
#Rambo, #AdAstra, and more – Movie Reviews
Table of Reviews
Rambo: Last Blood – Review
Rambo: Last Blood – Budget of < $50 million – 1 hour and 29 minutes
After settlings on his father's horse ranch, John Rambo seems to have everything handled. His niece Gabby and long-time friend Maria help manage the horses and house. John believes Gabby has a future breaking in horses but she is ready to go to college. With a heavy heart, John has decided to let her go. Now that Gabby moving on, John's life mirrors the ranch. On the surface, everything looks great. Underneath lies darkness and pain. John suffers from PTSD and takes medicine to cope. When he is not working on the farm, he is digging tunnels all throughout his property. He creates makeshift living spaces and weapons in the tunnel. While creating a graduation gift for Gabby, John is dismayed by Gabby's news. Her old friend, Gizelle, has found Gabby's father. Gabby wants to go to Mexico to see him and asks him why he abandoned her 10 years ago. John is steadfast against her seeing him. Maria agrees. Maria reveals Gabby's father, Manuel, was abusive to Gabby's mother and Rambo saved her. Gabby apologizes and leaves to hang out with friends. The next day, Maria is panicked stricken. Maria unearthed the truth. Instead of seeing friends, Gabby went to Mexico to meet her father. She has not been seen or called since. Maria wants to call the police. But John knows U.S. police can't cross the border and Mexico's police will not care. John must find her and bring her back. And he will need to become Rambo to do it.
Picking up where the movie series left off, this Rambo has the drive of Bryan Mills, the ingenuity of Kevin McCallister, and the striking blow of Scarlet Witch (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer). Yes, Scarlet Witch. This movie gives fans the bloodlust it craves while paying respect and homage to the original Rambo movies. If you are hoping to leave this movie with a greater sense of the world, a renewed self, or smarter, then you should go to another movie. This is blood, guts, guns, knives, and explosions. It is not for the weak of heart nor the stomach. Newcomers, you don't need to see the first four to understand this movie. Original fans will like this movie but it can never be First Blood (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).
No, thank you. Too dirty – Maria
No, it's not. It's worst – Rambo
Why do I have to know you – Carmen
Nobody writes letters anymore – Gabby
Top of this Post
Ad Astra – Review
Ad Astra – Budget of $80 – 100 million – 2 hours and 4 minutes
In the near future, Major Roy McBride patches a satellite close to the earth. It is hit with a surge of energy that sends Roy hurdling towards Earth. He wakes up in the hospital to learn there was a surge of power that caused catastrophic damage to power grids everywhere. Thousands have died and more were injured. Once at home, Roy is asked to come back for a debriefing. They believe the source of the surge came from Neptune and created by the Lima Project. Roy is perplexed because his father died on the Lima project decades ago. His father, Clifford McBride was the first man to go to Mars and was attempting to be the first to go to Neptune. The Lima Project was created to search for life deeper in space. The government told the world the ship crew became injured and everyone died. However, Clifford turned off the communicator and killed everyone on the ship. The government was worried about future exploration being canceled so they created the lie. They want Roy to travel to Mars in order to create a message for his father that will be sent to the Lima project in Neptune. They hope hearing Roy's voice will make Clifford stop attacking Earth with energy burst. On his travels, Roy reflects on the emptiness and loneliness he feels on Earth. He wonders if he should go to Neptune and stay with Clifford. Maybe in the vast void of space, Roy can finally feel whole.
Visually, this is one of the best movies about outer space in a long time. Also, it correctly predicts what will happen to these planets if humans traveled to them like we do Orlando. It's a sad and painful reality when it hits the screen. It will become all too familiar to you. However, Roy's incessant internal self-loathing monologue becomes a bore. The beauty and majesty of the graphics and weightless rigging are taken away with Roy's constant contempt with people, earth, and physical contact. You will want him to stop talking to enjoy the work the special effect department has done. If you are a fan of First Man or teen angst, this is your movie. Otherwise, wait for FandangoNow (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).
I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars
Are you with us? Like I have a choice – Roy McBride
You and I share a great lost, Roy – Helen
Official Secrets – Review
Official Secrets – Budget Unknown – 1 hour and 52 minutes
Katharine stands in front of a judge, in a crowded courtroom. He asks her one question. How do you plead? A year ago, on Feb. 25, 2004, she worked as a translator at the GCHQ. She listened to recorded conversations in Mandarin and made note of any potential threats to the British government or their allies. While working, she gets a top-secret email. It states that US officials want them to listen in on UN diplomats' private phone calls for incriminating information. The US plans to use this information to blackmail them into changing their vote on the Iraqi War. Katharine can't believe what she is reading. She has been against the war, but using blackmail to force the vote is not something she can stand behind. So, she gets a copy of the document and gives it to a friend. She hopes the friend will investigate her findings. However, her friend gives it to a friend, who in turn gives it to a reporter at the Observer. The email is printed, almost word for word. However, spell check will bring the article's impact to a screeching halt. When the dust settles, Katharine's motives, marriage, and freedom will be questioned.
Based on The Spy Who Tried to Stop the War by Marcia Mitchell and Thomas Mitchell, this story is painfully shocking to watch (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer). With real news events to drive the story forward, you see the pitfalls and triumphs for this tale. This movie calls into question if Katharine is a traitor or a concerned citizen. You may conclude the story snowballed far beyond what she imagined. Even though her story was released, it didn't stop the war. It's easy to write off her whistleblowing as treason. Before you write off what she did, remember it was her actions that called into question if an unpopular war was legal. While it didn't stop the war, it allowed the public to question the war's legitimacy and the leaders' wrongdoings. Kira gave an amazing performance of a woman in legal limbo while she and her husband's lives hung in the balance. With an entire year condensed into 1 hour and 50 minutes, something feels missing in the story. This something was most likely covered in the book.
It's just a job. You will find another job – Yasar Gun
Ours is not to reason why – Andy Dumfries
It was me. I did it. – Katharine Gun
Who changed it? – Martin Bright
You should fish somewhere else – Ben Emmerson
Categories: Ad Astra, Adam Bakri, Adriana Barraza, Óscar Jaenada, brad pitt, Donald Sutherland, Genie Kim, In The Theater, Joaquín Cosío, Keira Knightley, Liv Tyler, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, movie, Official Secrets, Paz Vega, Ralph Fiennes, Rambo: Last Blood, review, Rhys Ifans, Ruth Negga, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, sylvester stallone, Tommy Lee Jones, Yvette Monreal
Tagged as: AdamBakri, AdAstra, AdrianaBarraza, BradPitt, DonaldSutherland, GenieKim, InTheTheater, JoaquínCosío, KeiraKnightley, LivTyler, MatthewGoode, MattSmith, movie, OfficialSecrets, OscarJaenada, PazVega, RalphFiennes, Rambo, review, RhysIfans, RuthNegga, SergioPerisMencheta, SylvesterStallone, TommyLeeJones, YvetteMonreal
#EscapingTheNXIVMCult, #Mystery101, and more – TV Reviews
#SHAFT – Review Repost – In Stores Now


The latest version of the Spinn coffee maker is much smaller (13").
May 2018 Update: You can read my latest post on my personal Spinn saga here.
My wife has given me one rule when it comes to my penchant for buying new kitchen gadgets: If a new one comes in, one must go out.
It didn't take me long to make the calculation and commit when I bought the Spinn Coffee machine a year ago. After all, not only does the machine use a special patented centrifugal brewing system to make crema-like coffee, but it also combines a grinder with a coffee brewer.
A year later, one delay and no coffee maker, I'm left wondering if the money was well spent.
I emailed Spinn CEO Roderick de Rode to see how things are going. I'd become a bit concerned after my initial email to company cofounder and one of the inventors of the Spinn's centrifuge brewing technology, Roland Verbeek (who I interviewed for the Smart Kitchen Show), bounced back.
De Rode responded and, after telling me that Roland had left the company to start a yoga retreat, he assured me that the Spinn is still on track for an early 2018 shipment.
He even offered to refund my money, and I said no, in part because I still want the thing, but also because I believe his assurances. This is in large part because the company has done a good job updating the Spinn community with very detailed breakdowns of the improvements they've been making to the Spinn.
In the last one, sent in October, detailed progress made on the grinder, bean reservoir and how they've been able to shrink the overall size of the machine from a towering 17.5 inches to 13 inches.
But most convincing for me is the progress the company has made on building out a roaster network. Like many connected kitchen startups, the company is hoping to build a recurring revenue stream through consumables, and Spinn's spin on that idea is through auto-replenishment of specialty coffee through a network of independent roasters. de Rode told me that as of this point, the company has signed up an impressive 140 roasters.
Product delays are almost expected nowadays, and anyone who's bought hardware from a startup takes a risk. Some of the things I use when calculating risk before laying down my own hard earned money on a startup's product is the founder team, how unique their idea is (patents help), whether they regularly update the community on progress, and if the company spends time building out a sustainable business model.
For the most part, Spinn looks to check all those boxes, and I'm pretty confident I'll get my new coffee grinder/brewer in early 2018.
And if I don't, who knows. Maybe I can still get a refund and use it to take the wife to a yoga retreat.
Hello, did you receive your Spinn yet and if so, how is it?
No. I updated my Spinn saga here.
Hi Michael any luck on that machine? It's almost early 2019! You'd think they are developing a car or something. I am still waiting myself; Batch 4 for me.
Nope. I wrote an update earlier this month. Since that time, Spinn did raise $3 million through a private family placement, so it at least looks like they have some money and are still working towards mass production.


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How NOT to Be an Arts Advocate
September 1, 2016 / Michelle Kamhi / Art Education, Arts Advocacy / 5 Comments
Richard Kessler, Dean of Mannes College of Music
Google my first and last name with the words "art education" and the first item you will find dubs me "The Joe McCarthy of Art Education."1 Which prompts me to respond at this late date to that scurrilous blog post written in 2010. The author, Richard Kessler, then headed The Center for Arts Education—a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting K-12 arts education in New York City public schools. He is now Dean of the Mannes College of Music, one of America's top music conservatories. And he epitomizes how not to be an arts advocate.
What had provoked Kessler to launch his ad hominem attack was my Wall Street Journal opinion piece "The Political Assault on Art Education." Focusing with "liberal" blinkers on the political questions I raised, he conveniently ignored the work of "art" that had triggered the article: Judi Werthein's Brinco—a piece that consisted of her distributing specially designed and equipped sneakers to Mexicans waiting to cross the U.S. border clandestinely. Not exactly what most people think of as art.
Like all too many arts advocates, Kessler defends virtually anything put forward as "art" (especially if it carries the properly "liberal" message)—regardless of its actual merit as art. In his view, "art" in general is a public good, and as such warrants public support in keeping with social justice. He had therefore objected (in an earlier post entitled "Arts Education and Social Justice") to my account of "The Hijacking of Art Education." In that article, as in the much shorter Wall Street Journal piece, I argued that concerns for political issues such as social justice were eclipsing concerns for art among influential art educators.
Ignoring that crucial matter, Kessler pointed instead to the urgent need to provide "kids in urban centers . . . [with] a well rounded education that includes the arts." As if I would deny it! Lamentably, he had not a word to say about the dubious sorts of "art" advocated by art educators I cited. Nor did he consider whether such work would in fact contribute anything of lasting value to inner-city kids, or anyone else for that matter. One artist/writer/activist I quoted, for example, applauds the widespread "'de-skilling' of artistic craft" that has occurred in the artworld since the 1960s. Further, he praises "conceptual art" for having entirely dispensed with the need for skill and having led, in effect, to "the total disappearance of the art object." Kessler's silence on such points was deafening.
Arrogance Compounded with Ignorance
In fact, Kessler's arrogantly indiscriminate defense of any "art"—however far removed from customary standards—is grounded in ignorance, as evident in a still earlier post, "My Dinner with Merce and its Connection to Cultural Policy." In it, he urged that "great artists" such as avant-garde choreographer Merce Cunningham be federally funded, as generously as possible, freely enabling them "to create, to experiment, to fail, to succeed." Moreover, he lauded John Cage, Cunningham's lifelong partner and collaborator, as among the "great, great composers" Merce had worked with. Such a judgment issuing from the future Dean of the Mannes College of Music is more than a little disconcerting. Considering that Cage's most famous/infamous piece, 4′33″ [video/audio], entirely dispenses with musical tones in favor of ambient noise, it was the deliberate antithesis of music.
In a comment, I argued:
If avant-gardists such as Merce Cunningham and John Cage were indeed national "artistic treasures," they should have been able to attract generous private support. The problem is that their work (unlike that of choreographer Mark Morris, for example) has never been able to appeal to a wider audience than artworld insiders. Forcing the public to foot the bill for their "experiments" is a deplorable idea. By their own admission, such experiments amounted to anti-art (that is why the public has rejected it). For evidence, see the analysis of their work and what they said about it in What Art Is (pages 220-29)—which I co-authored. The relevant pages can be viewed at Google Books: http://www.tinyurl.com/nnvhpm.
Needless to say, it is unlikely that Kessler had the intellectual curiosity to follow that link. Instead he posted this smug rejoinder, regarding Mark Morris:
I think that Mark would laugh pretty hard being presented as a mainstream counterbalance to Merce Cunningham. Apparently, Ms. Kahmi [sic], you've never heard Mark speak and most likely know little about his work.
Au contraire, Mr. Kessler. Here is what I had written five years earlier in "Mark Morris—a Postmodern Traditionalist" (Aristos, December 2005), after hearing Morris speak at Barnard College:
Unlike postmodernist choreographers such as Merce Cunningham, Morris (who speaks of being "smitten by music" at an early age) understands that music–true music–is the essential foundation of dance.
In contrast, I should add here, Cunningham was notorious for choreographing his "dance" pieces without music and only joining them to a musical score (often not very musical) at the time of performance. The result was, in his own words (cited in What Art Is), a "non-relationship."
As I further reported on Morris's talk at Barnard:
Most provocative, given his own early reputation as a rebel, was what he had to say about the avant-garde. Asked for his view of Cunningham's work, for example, he cryptically answered that he "respects and appreciates the fact that he's done it," then paused and pointedly added: "That doesn't necessarily mean I like it."
Thus Morris and Cunningham represent what I referred to as "wholly antithetical views of dance." That fact was made even clearer by Morris's subsequent remarks on the contemporary dance world. As I reported, he said
he rarely attends "downtown" (i.e., avant-garde) dance programs, even those by friends. "I'm not of the Last Wave Generation that says if it lasts all night and you can't understand it, it's great," he declared. . . . Nor is he interested in watching "really crappy, politically motivated work. . . . If it works as propaganda, it doesn't work as art." Most telling was the advice he then offered to his audience, made up largely of students and faculty associated with the [Barnard College] dance program. They would do well, he said emphatically, to read (or re-read) Arlene Croce's controversial 1994 New Yorker article ["Discussing the Undiscussable"] on Bill T. Jones's Still/Here and to "think about it carefully." (Croce had refused to see and review Still/Here, arguing that its use of videotapes of workshops with terminally ill patients was beyond the pale of art and therefore outside her purview as a dance critic.) For those who might not yet have gotten his point about such work, Morris added: "Just 'cause you mean it, doesn't mean it's good."
I concluded: "Artists in every discipline could learn from him." So could arts advocates like Richard Kessler.
As of October 2019, that item has dropped to page 3 of Google's search results. ↩
art education, arts advocacy, avant-garde, Joe McCarthy of art education, John Cage, Mannes College of Music, Mark Morris, Merce Cunningham, politicizing art, Richard Kessler, social justice in education
5 comments on "How NOT to Be an Arts Advocate"
Heather Mac Donald says:
Excellent analysis. Depressing to learn that Mannes, once a guardian of traditional music culture, has decided it needs to endorse po-mo posturing to stay "relevant."
Michelle Kamhi says:
Depressing indeed, Heather. Sadly just one of many such cultural capitulations to "relevance."
Robert Florczak says:
Insightful and necessary piece–as usual!
Diane Viewing says:
It's extremely difficult to respond to fringy people like those you have quoted without resorting to ad hominem attacks, since they have so little substance to address. Insider jokes and attempts to "erase the drawing" simply underline the barrenness of their artistic vision. We desperately need solid technical craftsmanship to support the weight of the metaphysics of art, which is no small task. Please continue to hold the critics/artists feet to the fire.
Diane Viewing
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About 'For Piero's Sake'
Who was Piero, and why was this title chosen? Read here.
The Rehumanization of Public Art
Dismaying Exhibition of De Waal Installations at the Frick
The Art of Critical Spinning
Teaching (New) Media Art
What Semmelweis Taught Me