text:
The Weekend Report | DVD & Blu-Ray | Critics Roundup | Box Office Hell | Estimates | Friday Estimates
By Gary Dretzka Dretzka@moviecitynews.com
Posted Thursday, March 17th, 2011 - 2 Comments »
Digital Nation: Going Medieval for Real in 'Black Death'
Finally, from England comes a movie that can be enjoyed by history buffs and zombie aficionados, alike. Christopher Smith and Dario Poloni's "Black Death" recalls a time when the dead – or very near dead, anyway – haunted villages, cities and thoroughfares from China to Great Britain, awaiting their turn to be thrown into a pit and set ablaze in a futile attempt to keep the dreaded bubonic plague from spreading.
Even the most inventive of today's horror-meisters would be hard-pressed to imagine a monster or madman so evil it could unflinchingly wipe out an estimated 75 million people in Europe, alone, and return centuries later to try and finish the job. In the mid-1300s, doctors and other learned men had yet to establish a connection between rodents, lice and the transference of disease, so they turned to all the usual suspects.
The clergy promoted the theory that devastation was caused either by a wrathful God or vindictive Satan, intent on tormenting humans. The inexactitude of this diagnosis allowed priests to promote both the curative powers of prayer and necessity to burn heretics at the stake, especially women accused of being witches. "Black Death" isn't as concerned with solving ancient medical mysteries, however, as it is depicting the horror.
"The Church couldn't decide who to blame – God or the devil – but, anticipating chaos, assumed the responsibility of taking control of society," said Smith, whose previous directing credits include the thrillers, "Triangle," "Severance" and "Creep." "King Edward III was powerless against the Black Death and there was no science for the people to fall back on, so the priests simply encouraged them to come back to the Church. That same ignorance was demonstrated during the AIDS epidemic when several prominent evangelists trivialized it by ascribing the disease to God's wrath at the gay lifestyle."
In Poloni's screenplay, a bishop hires the devout knight Ulric (Sean Bean) to lead a band of mercenaries on a mission to determine how a small collection of reed-dwellers is able to avoid the ravages of the plague. The cleric had decided that the village either didn't exist or resident witches were in league with the devil to convert fearful Christians. A young monk, Osmund (Eddie Redmayne), has a better hold on the real reason the residents have avoided the disease, but, because he refuses to be seduced by the pagan goddesses, he also must be neutralized.
As if depictions of human suffering in the movie weren't sufficiently horrifying, the violence and punishment inflicted on the combatants in the disputed village are, well, downright medieval.
"Thanks to Quentin Taratino's reference to medieval torture in 'Pulp Fiction,' people associate the period with twisted behavior," Smith argues. "They're fascinated with the hangings, beheadings, torture and extreme violence. If the story we told wasn't compelling historically, though, we ran the risk of looking like a sequel to 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail.' We needed to make the mayhem look realistic."
Smith and Poloni invested a considerable amount of time into researching the period, but finally came to the conclusion, "too much knowledge can stifle the imagination."
In fact, Smith's research suggests that "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" is the movie that's come closest to getting the look of medieval life right. If anything, "Black Death" takes its authenticity from looking "dirtier" than previous period adventures.
Smith admits to inserting the occasional homage to a favorite director, or two, at key points in the narrative. He refers to a scene in which a procession of flagellants takes to a river, rather than risk the hazards of the beaten path, as his "Aguirre moment," after Werner Herzog's "Aguirre: The Wrath of God."
The scene in which the mercenaries are imprisoned in a cage submerged in a water-filled pit clearly harkens to a similar holding cell in "The Deer Hunter," a movie Smith considers "brilliant."
"Black Death" was released last summer in Great Britain on the same night as the opening game of the World Cup, a strategy that nearly doomed the movie.
"The distributor thought the kids who love horror would go see it," said Smith, with a chuckle. "What they didn't know is that everyone in England is a soccer fan during the World Cup. The movie did brilliantly in DVD, though.
"I'm glad people here will have the opportunity to watch it on the big screen."
Folks sitting in the first few rows might consider wearing aprons, lest the splashes of blood and body parts soil their clothes.
2 Responses to "Digital Nation: Going Medieval for Real in 'Black Death'"
Mr. Wu says:
"Thanks to Quentin Taratino's reference to medieval torture in 'Pulp Fiction,' people associate the period with twisted behavior."
Good lord. Is this another person, like Mr. Tarantino's 'Inglorious Basterds', who believes that history occurred only in the cinema or on your television set?
This is a fascinating subject and I will assuredly see this film. However, I think I will mostly be reminded of Barbara Tuchman's excellent chapter on the Black Death in her 'A Distant Mirror' before I think of Zed's final deserved pliers-and-blowtorch demise. If you dig depictions of human suffering, degredation and horrific death, why watch a reenactment of it when you can read about the real thing?
Gary Dretzka says:
No, I think he was referring to the first thing that comes to mind for many Americans, certainly not all, when the word 'medieval' pops up on their radar screens. In our discussion, I asked if the period and various plagues were a large part of any Brit student's education — compared to the chapter devoted to them in American textbooks — and he assured me that it was. However, since a good portion of "Black Death" was intended to be a horror adventure, he decided to add some relish.
When you say, "If you dig depictions of human suffering, degredation and horrific death, why watch a reenactment of it when you can read about the real thing?," it makes me guess that you're old enough to remember a world in which authors were better able to describe horrific events than Hollywood special-effects experts. I would argue that at least one generation of film-goers wouldn't trade two hours in a movie theater — watching CGI and special makeup effects — for the imagination-tickling experience of reading a work of non-fiction … sadly.
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A new exhibition of paintings by Daniel Richter at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac exemplifies the way in which German painting has become dominant in Europe.
One often gets the feeling, nowadays, that painting is struggling to survive as a valid avant-garde art form. The Turner Prize, with its increasing enthusiasm for non-art or near-art, offers a case in point. Major British contemporary painters tend either to be safely dead, as is the case with Bacon and Freud or else – hello, Hockers old chap, lovely to see you, glad you take the trouble to make an occasional visit! – Equally safely settled overseas, untroubled by our local art politics. This is clearly not the case in Germany.
Richter was born in 1962, the year that Yves Klein died (and the Ecole de Paris started to lose its till then unchallenged pre-eminence). It was also the year when Pop Art really established itself in America. He studied in Hamburg in the 1990s, when Germany once again became unified, rather than being divided into two countries, and was originally an abstractionist. He then became, from 2002 onwards, a figurative painter, working on an ambitious scale. His declared influences are James Ensor and Edvard Munch – a Symbolist, and the pioneer of a proto-Expressionism closely allied to Symbolism.
The handout for the show at Ropac also suggests some quasi-scientific influences: 'The representation of artificial light, flashlight, thermal image or X-ray picture evokes an atmosphere of artificiality and nervosity. The theme of total surveillance seems to be an important motif in Richter's oeuvre – the association with infra-red and thermal imaging cameras is unavoidable, revealing a paranoid view.' This quasi-technological aspect of the images confirms their contemporaneity. We didn't see the world like this previously. It has technology that has taught us, very recently, to do that.
I wonder if this is really a safe conclusion?
This solo show by Richter comes close on the heels of various museum shows noting the impact made by World War I on the development of the artists of the Modern Movement, and on art in Germany in particular. Examples are the current Magic Realism show at Tate Modern, which runs until July 2019, and also the Aftermath exhibition at Tate Britain, which closes on September 24th.
In both of these, you will find the same anxiety, the same sense of agitated depression, that pervade the Richter works now on view at Ropac.
What he adds to these mixed shows, is something very much of our own epoch: a sense of liberated wildness. The compositions of these big paintings are often fragmented. On the part of a scene slides into or overlaps another, giving a sense of immediacy and spontaneity. Without being overtly pornographic, they seem sexually charged. The figures writhe and grapple. If the protagonists are liberated, they are also, paradoxically, in the grip of what seems to be an overwhelming sense of collective anxiety.
If you are looking for art that feels as if it offers a real mirror to the times we live in, look no further than this. Richter's images cast the stolid moralistic commentaries of much of the post-YBA art now being made in Britain entirely into the shade.


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Q: How to display 2 display groups in the same div in a zend form? How can I display more than 1 display group WITHIN a div?
I simply need to show a visual separation - but within the same div.
Is there a way to show more than 1 display group within a div?
for example: to achieve the following in zend forms:

       <fieldset id="fieldset-homeAddressSettings" tag="fieldset" style="">
         <legend> Home address </legend>

        </fieldset>

     <fieldset id="fieldset-officeAddressSettings" tag="fieldset" style="">
         <legend> Office address </legend>

     </fieldset>

How can I achieve this in Zend forms?
I have searched and searched and i have not found anything useful so far.

A: The 'openOnly' and 'closeOnly' boolean options for the 'HtmlTag' decorator do exactly what you need to do. What openOnly means, as you can figure out, is that it only generates an opening tag (i.e. ) without the closing tag, and vice-versa for the closeOnly attribute (i.e.

Zend_Form PHP code:
$form = new Zend_Form();

// Form stuff here

$form->addDisplayGroup(
    array(
        'homeAddressLine1',
        'homeAddressLine2',
        'homeCity',
        // etc
    ),
    'homeAddress',
    array(
        'legend' => 'Home Address'
        'disableDefaultDecorators' => true,
        'decorators' => array(
            'FormElements',
            'FieldSet',
            array('HtmlTag', array('tag' => 'div', 'class' => 'addresses', 'openOnly' => true))
        )
    )
);

$form->addDisplayGroup(
    array(
        'workAddressLine1',
        'workAddressLine2',
        'workCity',
        // etc
    ),
    'workAddress',
    array(
        'legend' => 'Work Address'
        'disableDefaultDecorators' => true,
        'decorators' => array(
            'FormElements',
            'FieldSet',
            array('HtmlTag', array('tag' => 'div', 'closeOnly' => true))
        )
    )
);

Generated HTML:
<form >

        <fieldset id="fieldset-homeAddress">
            <legend>Home Address</legend>

        </fieldset>
        <fieldset id="fieldset-workAddress">
            <legend>Work Address</legend>

        </fieldset>

</form>

A: I worked this one out with JavaScript - it has convinced me that while zend form is good for somethings, its not always the best option. sometimes its just more pain than its worth.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Heaven Solutions participated at I..ASI in Trail on 10th April 2016. I…ASI in Trail, was the FIRST TRAIL RUNNING COMPETITION OF MOLDOVA extra Carpathian.
I..AŞI in Trail took place outdoors, the route was carried out on the trails and forest roads in the forest of southern Bârnova-Repedea Iaşi.
The area where the competition took place, is definitely one to remember, so the aim of the competition was to acquaint the public its importance. The area was declared a site of Community importance by Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development and covers an area of 12 216 hectares. The contest had two types of races: cross of 6 km and semi-marathon of 21 km.
Heaven Solutions was the main sponsor of the Cross and we participated with 7 people from our team which represented with pride our company. At the end of the competition, the organizers, "Ia Si Urca" and "Mai Bine" Association, rewarded us for our commitment with a diploma and a wonderful cup.


Thanx in advance!!! Oh, and a poor man likes to buy used gear, I have about $1000 to spend.
If you have $1000.00 to spend, save up another $200.00 and pick up an RME FireFace UC. You can give me a pat on the back later.
Assuming you have a PCIe 1x slot.
With those requests, I would go with this.
A USB interface is NOT what he wants. And I wouldn't pat you on the back for that suggestion anyway.
Unless I'm WAY off, a Fireface is not a USB interface, but a Firewire interface -- hence the name "Fireface."
Your way off. The UC interface that was recomended is USB.
Pardon me. Let me myself as well. I was lazy and only read half the post. No pat on the back for me. Anyway, I would still recommend looking into RME products if you're in the 1k range.
I don't think you could go wrong with either one.
To the op: There are lot of great interfaces, just make sure you do a lot of research...of course by posting here your obviously doing that.
Thx for all the replys. Unbeknownst to me GS doesnt tell you when people reply to your posts. Maybe I need to change my settings.
Anyway, I Still have the delta 66 and whenever the static comes I restart the computer, which is pretty lame. I took out the other pci video card that I was using for dual monitors and that helped a lot.
If you do not clean out the computer, how do you expect adding more **** to the pile to help?
Re-installing to the same computer (with previous versions of Windows) did not clear out the computer unless you performed as reformat of the hard drive. I can't tell you about Win7/32.
Re-installing Windows is usually not the problem solver, as the retained information on the drive duplicates the problem for you when you re-install.
If the problem occurred when you installed a new video card, and remains though the card is gone, then there are remnants of the card drivers or control application in your computer; or something has happened to the computer while installing or uninstalling the card; or something has happened to your sound card or some other part of the situation.
Solve the problem before you add to it.
Personal opinion from past experience: I would never use a MOTU product with a PC.
Ya I reinstalled windows 7 and put the 64 bit but that didn't help, so I reinstalled windows 7 32bit since my liquid mix doesn't work on 64bit. That didn't work neither. I am positive it was the video card because that was when it started.
Needless to say I plan on getting a new sound card I just can't decide which one. I really don't want to get an all in one sound card because I won't need all of the extra stuff. All I need to do is get spdf in and out. Any suggestions?
I have a tc electronic triple c compressor that I use for adc conversion, and m audio dsm2's for monitoring and they have spdfs in. So all I would need is get digital in and out with the least amount of lag. I have a USB keyboard that i can't use because the delay is so horrible. Any suggestions thx!!!


I represent a not for profit Rotary Club that raises and then distributes funds to numerous charities in the New York City area. We were convinced by a former member to set up a Constant Contact account some time ago, but we have never really needed it. I contacted CC by phone recently in an attempt to cancel the account, but I was informed that because we prepaid our fee a year in advance (in an attempt to save some money) we cannot cancel the account and get a pro-rated refund. This represents several hundred dollars, which could be put to better use then paying for an unused e-mail account. I consider this a rather heavy handed way of doing business and I will be submitting this disturbing practice to Rotary International, in an attempt to keep other Rotary Clubs across the country from falling into this trap and hopefully suggest they consider using one of your competitors instead.
I completely understand the frustration. I've gone ahead and opened this post for voting, thank you for this feedback.
Heavy handed practices just like their other business, Hostgator. Trying to cancel my account but they make it very difficult.
Used Constant Contact for work and for our 40th reunion email campaigns and when I discontinued monthly email service because it was no longer needed I was told I would have access to my account information (contact lists and email campaigns) for 60 days after deactivating. This was a LIE! Not only did they deactivate my account prior to the "paid up to" date, they cut off all access to my information. If I want my contact list and campaigns, they want another $20. Essentially holding my info for ransom. I don't appreciated lies and under-handedness towards non-profits and will be discontinuing my use moving forward. I will also be cancelling my accounts used for work and encouraging others to do so. Constant Contact has become too greedy and selfish!


CREATE INDEX is used to create indexes on a table.
An index used to find data quickly, and not have to travel all over the table sequentially in search any particular row.
If a column is a table index, searching for a value in that column, go directly to the corresponding row. The search so much more optimal resources and faster time.
If that were not lookup column index, then we would have to go sequentially the table in search of some data. It is therefore important to create an index for each type of search you want to do in the table.
Update a table with indexes takes more time because you must also update the indexes, so it should only be put indexes on columns that look often.
UNIQUE indexes can be created, ie, indices that do not allow duplicate values.
The column is part of this index allows duplicate values ??in your column.
The column that is NOT part of this index allows duplicate values ??in your column, because it is a unique key.


Netflix, along with the directors of 13 Reasons Why, has confirmed that there will be a second season of the show. The show hit big back in march and april. Many people have stated that season two won't be as good, or how will season two be? Because of the book, and that there was not a second part after Hannah Baker committed suicide, but it is confirmed that there will be a season two.
Netflix has given some insight on what we may expect from season two. We may see other perspectives of Hannah's story. Jessica's story will continue on as she tries to return to a normal healthy lifestyle. Hannah will not be the narrator and there are no more tapes. They show how we can do better at treating others and what things we can do differently to prevent what happened in season one. Bryce will get what's coming for him.
A Rolling Stone article online confirms that the show will not be released until 2018. The show will start from the point of the aftermath of Hannah's suicide and will show the characters and their journey to recovery.
I have so many questions that are unanswered such as what happens to the tapes? Will we see the court case? What happens to most of the people on the tapes? Do Alex or Clay die? No one knows for sure but we will see when the second season comes out which I cannot wait for.


text:
UO professor elected as new Liszt Society vice president
Congratulate
Alexandre Dossin
A University of Oregon faculty member has recently adopted an important role on the national stage. Alexandre Dossin, associate professor of piano performance and piano literature at the UO School of Music and Dance, has been named vice president of the prestigious American Liszt Society.
The American Liszt Society is the most important organization in the US dedicated to the music and life of the great 19th century Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.
Dossin first joined the American Liszt Society in 2005, and in 2008 he was named to the organization's board of directors. More recently, Dossin has served as president of the organization's Oregon chapter, and in 2012 he was artistic director for the society's national festival, hosted by the UO.
"I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to help shape the future of the American Liszt Society, an organization with the laudable goal of bringing to life the work of one the world's most important composers," Dossin said.
Dossin earned his master of fine arts from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1996 and completed his doctorate in 2001 at the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the UO faculty in 2006. Dossin has previously served on the faculties of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire.
An accomplished performance pianist, Dossin won both first prize and a special prize in the 2003 Martha Argerich International Piano Competition in Buenos Aires and has placed in numerous additional international piano competitions. Dossin is an active recording artist, and his discography includes more than 15 albums and Schirmer Performance Editions, several of which are dedicated to Liszt's piano music.
Recently, Dossin has undertaken the "In Beall with Brahms" series, an ambitious concert cycle featuring the complete chamber works with piano by Johannes Brahms, performed with strings musicians in installments throughout the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years in Beall Concert Hall on the UO campus.
Excellence, Workplace
Bio student first at UO to win Gates Cambridge Scholarship
UO will put $4 million into boosting doctoral enrollment
UO lands four scholars for obesity prevention cluster
President Schill to discuss access and education
Margaret Hallock retires after more than 30 years at UO
All Excellence

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home / TRAVEL / Special Interest / Adventure / Blazing Paddles
Blazing Paddles
by Brian Wilson
Blazing Paddles quantity
SKU: 9781780276021 Categories: Adventure, Adventure holidays, Canoeing, Canoeing & kayaking, Kayaking, Special Interest, SPORTS & RECREATION, TRAVEL, Uncategorised Tags: adventure, blazing, brian wilson, classic, kayak, kayaking, paddles, Scotland, travel, Water
Alone in his kayak, Brian Wilson sets off from the Solway Firth on a 2000-mile odyssey around Scotland's extraordinarily varied coastline of cliffscapes, unspoiled shorelines, treacherous sea passages and beautiful Hebridean islands. Adventure is there aplenty as he battles with whirlpools, heavy seas and hypothermia and survives a close encounter with a killer whale.
During the voyage, which finishes on the East Lothian coast at Seacliff, he meets a colourful cast of characters, including the larger-than-life famous shark hunter, Tex Geddes, Dr Stan the cave-dweller and even streaks naked in front of the Princess of Wales. Sometimes harrowing, frequently philosophical, and often hilarious, Blazing Paddles is also a perceptive commentary on the environmental issues which threaten the Scottish coastline and its unique and fragile wildlife.
Brian Wilson spent eighteen years as Labour MP for Cunninghame North and served in five UK Ministerial capacities. On leaving politics in 2005, he became a Non-Executive Director of Celtic plc. He lives on the Isle of Lewis.
Scottish Life and Society Volume 2
An interest in rural life and culture has long been a feature of ethnology in Scotland. This multi-author volume explores a variety of topics on the broad theme of farming and the land. The 43 chapters are divided into ten thematic sections: the...
Lordship and Power in the North of Scotland
This book is the first modern account devoted to the major Scottish noble family the Gordons of Huntly. It examines the family's changing relations with the Crown, the Scottish government, their noble contemporaries and the Highland clans...


Kaiser Permanente Hawai'i announces they have donated $10,000 each to the Salvation Army Hawai'i and Red Cross Hawai'i to support local disaster relief services for Hawai'i Island residents affected by the Kīlauea volcanic eruption.
The lava flow that began Thursday, May 3, 2018, forced the evacuation of 1,800 residents living in lower Puna. Red Cross Hawai'i is providing food, toiletries, blankets, health and mental health services at shelters in Pāhoa and Kea'au for more than 200 displaced residents. The Salvation Army Hawai'i is coordinating donations of food, clothing and water, delivering supplies and providing additional disaster relief services.
Kaiser Permanente Hawai'i is also encouraging employees to donate to Salvation Army Hawai'i or Red Cross Hawai'i to support recovery efforts on Hawai'i Island.


Mounting is made easy with the Can-Fan¬ Collars. Made with galvanize sheet steel collar and the interior has a 5 mm neoprene seal to make a tight fit. These fast clamps a designed for noise reduction and sealing. Two screws are used to secure the fit.


text:
Q: Way to create Collections and retrieve data in a mongoDB running on Container I have a MongoDB image running on a container in my application.
I would like to create collections and documents on this DB and suddenly retrieve data to test a custom repository doing CRUD operations.
I'm new to JUnit tests and containers, so I really don't know how could I do this.
I've seen on the web that some people uses docker-compose file but I've created the MongoDBContainer directly with a Java class like the example below:
public class MongoDbContainer extends GenericContainer<MongoDbContainer> {

    public static final int MONGODB_PORT = 27018;
    public static final String DEFAULT_IMAGE_AND_TAG = "mongo:4.2";

    /**
     * Creates a new {@link MongoDbContainer} with the {@value DEFAULT_IMAGE_AND_TAG} image.
     * @deprecated use {@link MongoDbContainer(DockerImageName)} instead
     */
    @Deprecated
    public MongoDbContainer() {
        this(DEFAULT_IMAGE_AND_TAG);
    }

    /**
     * Creates a new {@link MongoDbContainer} with the given {@code 'image'}.
     *
     * @param image the image (e.g. {@value DEFAULT_IMAGE_AND_TAG}) to use
     * @deprecated use {@link MongoDbContainer(DockerImageName)} instead
     */
    public MongoDbContainer( String image) {
        this(DockerImageName.parse(image));
    }

    /**
     * Creates a new {@link MongoDbContainer} with the specified image.
     */
    public MongoDbContainer(final DockerImageName dockerImageName) {
        super(dockerImageName);
        addExposedPort(MONGODB_PORT);
    }

    /**
     * Returns the actual public port of the internal MongoDB port ({@value MONGODB_PORT}).
     *
     * @return the public port of this container
     * @see #getMappedPort(int)
     */
    public Integer getPort() {
        return getMappedPort(MONGODB_PORT);
    }

}

Then I use this class to create a new object in a test class like this below:
    @Testcontainers
    @SpringBootTest
    public class MongoDbContainerTest {

        @Container
        static MongoDbContainer container = new MongoDbContainer(DockerImageName.parse("mongo:4.2"));

        @Test
        public void Container_Should_Be_Up() {
           assertNotNull(container);
           assertNotNull(container.getExposedPorts());
        }
}

I don't know if this is the correct way to run a docker container in test but I would like to know how to connect to this Database with Java code.
Thank you to anyone answering.

A: That's a possible (and recommended) way to create a MongoDB database with Testconainers.
You can even get rid of your custom MongoDbContainer class, as Testcontainers comes with a dedicated Mongo module:
<dependency>
  <groupId>org.testcontainers</groupId>
  <artifactId>mongodb</artifactId>
  <scope>test</scope>
</dependency>

There are multiple ways on how to override the connection string for your test, and @DynamicPropertySource is one of the most convenient:
@Testcontainers
@SpringBootTest
class CustomerRepositoryTest {

  @Container
  static MongoDBContainer mongoDBContainer = new MongoDBContainer("mongo:4.4.2");

  @DynamicPropertySource
  static void setProperties(DynamicPropertyRegistry registry) {
    registry.add("spring.data.mongodb.uri", mongoDBContainer::getReplicaSetUrl);
  }

}

For more detailed information, see this MongoDB Testcontainers Setup for @DataMongoTest article.


text:
For Sale in Philadelphia
Transformed Tudor in Merion Station asks $1.5M
By Melissa Romero Sep 20, 2017, 2:30pm EDT
This Tudor from the 1920s has undergone an impressive renovation.
Courtesy of Paul Lipowicz, Keller Williams Luxury Homes
After undergoing an extensive interior renovation, this expansive Tudor in Merion Station has hit the market to the tune of $1,495,000.
Located at 412 Academy Drive, the Tudor dates back to 1923 and sits on a half acre of land. It clocks in at an impressive 5,372 square feet. It features four bedrooms and four and a half baths.
Much of the original details and the exterior remain intact, starting with the gorgeous staircase in the foyer with metal railings. Those black and white marble floors have been there from the beginning, too.
But the current owners spent the past few years altering the home's floor plan, swapping out kitchen cabinetry and renovating the home's bathrooms.
Some other house perks: The master suite has its own private deck and a finished basement. There's also a two-car garage, not that you'd necessarily need it, since the home is located between two stops along SEPTA Regional Rail.
412 Academy Circle, Merion Station [Paul Lipowicz, Keller Williams Luxury Homes]
Philly's 13 tallest buildings by 2020, mapped Philly's skyline is going to look radically different in three years. Here's a preview of what the cityscape will look like.
Where to Find the Best Views of Philly Philly has a great skyline that looks downright stunning from sunrise to sunset. Here are 11 spots around the city where you can catch a great view of the city, from a hill top in Fairmount Park to a stunning pier along the Delaware River waterfront.


text:
Boccanegra on the Air
Yesterday, I heard a good bit of a Liceu (Barcelona) production of Simon Boccanegra over the intertubes, via Catalunya Musica; the conducting and most of the singing were okay, not great, with the exception of soprano Krassimira Stoyanova. In what I heard of her, she had what it takes. This did not include Amelia's entrance aria, a tough five minutes for any soprano. I would like to hear her at SF some day.
This Sunday, January 4, you can catch this fall's SFO Boccanegra on KDFC at 8 p.m. The singing ranged from good to outstanding, and Runnicles was ON, so it's highly recommended.
Posted by Lisa Hirsch at December 31, 2008 No comments:
Reactions to the Record II
Stanford University's Music Department is putting on a second Reactions to the Record Symposium. It's in just a couple of weeks, January 14 to 17, 2009.
I didn't get email or a mailing about this, despite having attended the 2007 symposium (groan). I am not sure whether I can go - it's opposite the Saariaho and Andriessen premieres at LAPO (groan). But I had a wonderful time at the 2007 symposium, and if you're interested at all in old performance styles or old records and what we can learn from them, I urge you to attend.
Posted by Lisa Hirsch at December 29, 2008 11 comments:
Labels: ReactionsToTheRecord, Recordings
Women in Electronic Music
A hat-tip to Roger Bourland, who posted this about a week ago:
Posted by Lisa Hirsch at December 27, 2008 3 comments:
La Boheme, Acts I and II. Toscanini/Peerce, Albanese, McKnight, Valentino. My traditional Christmas Eve music. The good transfer of my favorite Boheme (Gigli/Albanese, need I say more? The conductor is also splendid, among the best, but I can never remember his name.) is at work along with the Beecham, and I couldn't find the bad transfer of G/A, so it was back to the Toscanini. Peerce is servicable and correct, never quite inspired and not in a vocal class with Gigli or Bjoerling, the Marcello and Musetta are not better than okay, but Albanese is as touching as with Gigli, and the occasion - the 50th anniversary of the opera's premier, also under Toscanini - and greatness of the conducting make it worth a spin. For Italian-opera doubters, I suggest following along with the score sometime. I'd rather conduct an act of any Wagner opera than take this on, with its myriad orchestral details, metrical complexity, extended syncopations, and constantly shifting tempos. It's the most-performed opera in the repertory because it's a great, great masterpiece.
O Holy Night, a raft of YouTube performances on Tuesday. My favorites turned out to be the elegant and slightly understated Florez and Bjoering, singing magnificently in Swedish. Fleming is very good but I couldn't watch her because of the smirking. Also notable is Thill, singing in about 1932, and of course, Caruso. Yes, I do like my tenors.
Schmidt, Second Symphony, Jarvi/CSO, Chandos. Whew.
Labels: Playlists
Schoenberg, Gurrelieder; Leibowitz/Lewis, Semser, Tangemann, Riley, Gruber, Gesell; Preiser. From 1953. I've only heard one CD, more later.
Charpentier, The Judgement of Solomon; Christie/Les Arts Florissants; Virgin Classics
Tan Dun, Internet Symphony, Eroica. God, what crap. ANAblog has the clip.
Carter, String Quartet No. 1. Arditti String Quartet, Etcetera
New to the Blogroll
Combining two interests of mine, Medicine and Opera, written by nephrologist Dr. Neil Kurtzman. Needless to say, this Eva Turner partisan is with him on the correct pronunciation of her greatest role.
Labels: Eva Turner, Turandot
Your Local Food Bank
I just got email from Michelle Obama suggesting that I do what I have already done: donate to my local food bank. So I'm passing along her suggestion.
This is a tough year for far too many people, given the state of the economy, layoffs all over, foreclosures, and so on. Food banks have been hit from all sides, with fewer people in a position to donate and more needing their services.
Mrs. Obama's email provided a useful link, to Feed America (formerly America's Second Harvest). Click the link Find a Foodbank to locate your community's food bank. In my neck of the woods, it's the Alameda County Community Foodbank. In yours?
Labels: politics, poverty
If You Were Gilbert Kaplan...
....what would your monomania be? What piece of music would you study, to the exclusion of all others, and, if you had the bucks, as he does, donate or buy your way into conducting with major orchestras?
Post here in the comments, or on your own blog; if the latter, post a link here!
[If you're behind on this, read Dan Wakin's story in the Times and the blog posting that gave rise to the fuss. Me, I'll have some thoughts on the matter and the larger questions it involves in a day or so, I hope.]
Labels: conductors, egomania
Sibelius, Kullervo; Spano; Gunn, Hellekant/Atlanta Symphony, Telarc. Yes, I have two different Kullervos. Kullervi? How do you make a plural in Finnish, anyway? An excellent recording of this early Sibelius symphonic work, a retelling of the story of the antihero Kullervo.
Evans, Sad Pig Dance, Kicking Mule. Out of print, and I am so glad I picked up a copy before it disappeared. Dave Evans is a stupendous guitarist and songwriter, and this is apparently his only recording. (No, he's not the other Dave Evans who is out there.)
Rimsky-Korsakov, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitzeh and the Maiden Fevronia. A 1950s Soviet recording, now available on Preiser. I got 20 minutes into it and took it off, because the soprano who sings Fevronia has one of those squeezed Slavic voices that always sounds faintly out of tune - and the role isn't written in her best register, either. The music is charming, so some day I will gird my loins and listen to the whole thing.
Dir Ha Tan, Traditional Songs from the Vann Region [of Brittany], Arion. When you order from Berkshire Record Outlet, you win some, you lose some. Mostly I win, but this one was so deadly dull that I took it off after five tracks.
Now Just Wait a Minute
Anthony Tommasini has a feature in today's Times about prompting and the tenor Peter Seiffert's use of an earpiece to which his own prompters sends prompts electronically. Overall, the article makes a mountain out of a molehill, but Tommasini does a lousy job of supporting his crashing final conclusion:
The basic issue with this performance of "Tristan und Isolde" was pretty elementary: Mr. Seiffert, it seemed, did not know the role well enough to sing it. Neither an old-fashioned prompter nor a newfangled earpiece can compensate for that."
Tommasini musters essentially no evidence in support of this conclusion, expressed in the closing sentences of the story. He writes endlessly about the role of assistant conductors (he must surely know that they're responsible for quite a lot of musical preparation with soloists, as well as sitting in the prompter's box), about the earpiece, about prompting at other theaters, and about what a solo vocal recital would be like if the singer had a prompter. He says that Seiffert looked at the prompter's box a lot anyway and said this in his review of Tristan as well. Nowhere does he say that Seiffert got lost or sang incorrect phrases or trampled the soprano or...well, he offers no direct evidence that Seiffert was insufficiently prepared, only the indirect evidence of the tenor's reliance on his own prompter and the earpiece.
Tommasini also underemphasizes or doesn't even address some of the circumstances of this Tristan revival.
He doesn't say how much rehearsal time was allotted; this was the fourth go-round of the production since 1999, and Met revivals don't always get a lot of stage time.
The cast was largely new, as well, which presumably complicated the rehearsal period.
Seiffert has been ill or on the verge of it since the start of the run. Goodness knows, I get foggy-headed when I have a cold. I have never had to sing a Wagnerian role in that condition, for which I'm thankful. I can't guarantee I'd sing every note correctly.
Lastly, how available was conductor Daniel Barenboim during the rehearsal period? As the Times has reported, he must have spent some time in Boston over the last few weeks rehearsing and performing Elliott Carter's Interventions.
All of these issues would affect how well any singer performed in a given revival. Tommasini does not make the case that Seiffer does not know the role well enough to sing it.
Labels: critics, opera, Tommasini
Chicago Opera Vanguard
Composer Eric Reda added me to his mailing list some time ago, and I've been getting all sorts of great mailings about goings-on in the Chicago area. The latest made me want to *buy a plane ticket: Chicago Opera Vanguard's 2009 season. They're producing two operas, and what a pair:
Ricky Ian Gordon's Orpheus and Eurydice, January 29 to February 8, 2009
Mark Anthony Turnage's Greek, May 28 to June 7
If you're within hailing distance of Chicago, gosh, go!
* I've been discussing a trip to Chicago with friends, for dinner at Alinea and a CSO concert. The Boulez trio of programs is droolworthy! But those programs don't coincide with COV's season, alas.
Labels: 20th c. music, COV, opera
San Francisco Opera, 2009 Broadcasts
Received today and notable for what's missing: The Bonesetter's Daughter and Idomeneo. I wonder why. You can hear these on KDFC.
Sunday, January 4 at 8 p.m. – Verdi's Simon Boccanegra [Fall 2008]
Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky stars in the title role of Verdi's gripping drama. Barbara Frittoli makes her Company debut as the Doge's daughter and is joined by Ukrainian bass Vitalij Kowaljow as Jacopo Fiesco and tenor Marcus Haddock as Gabriele Adorno. Donald Runnicles, conductor; David Edwards, director.
Sunday, February 1 at 8 p.m. – Korngold's Die Tote Stadt [Fall 2008]
Torsten Kerl makes his San Francisco Opera debut as Paul, a man unable to come to terms with his wife's death. Emily Magee, also making her Company debut, appears as the object of Paul's obsession and former Adler Fellow Lucas Meachem returns to the Company in the combined roles of Fritz and Frank. Donald Runnicles, conductor; Meisje Hummel, director.
Sunday, March 1 at 8 p.m. – Listener's Choice
Listeners will be asked to write in and vote for their favorite opera from the prior broadcast season (January–December 2008). The opera receiving the most votes will be rebroadcast on March 1.
Sunday, April 5 at 8 p.m. – Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov [Fall 2008]
In this Russian masterpiece, a ruler is haunted by a horrible act he committed years earlier. Samuel Ramey, recipient of the 2003 San Francisco Opera Medal, returns in the title role. He is joined by returning artists Vitalij Kowaljow as Pimen, Vsevolod Grivnov as Grigory and Vladimir Ognovenko as Varlaam. Vassily Sinaisky, conductor; Julia Pevzner, director.
Sunday, May 3 at 8 p.m. – Puccini's La Bohème [Fall 2008]
This heartwarming story of starving artists falling in and out of love in 19th-century Paris is a seamless mix of romantic passion and poignant tragedy. Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu (Mimì) returns in one of her signature roles and Piotr Beczala sings the role of Rodolfo. Quinn Kelsey is Marcello and Norah Amsellem is Musetta. Nicola Luisotti, conductor; Harry Silverstein, director.
More on Rosenberg
Alex Ross points to Russell Platt's September article on Rosenberg's plight. Note the phrase "widely shared." And today Platt has kindly posted Rosenberg's complaint, which I will attempt to read over the weekend or next week.
(Personal to Alex: Nice posting title.)
Labels: critics, Don Rosenberg
H&G, CG
Intermezzo saw Hansel und Gretel at Covent Garden. This line nails the opera:
Some people think Hänsel und Gretel is just a cute children's opera; for Sir Colin it's a gateway drug to Tristan und Isolde.
Labels: CG, opera
Here's the Times story on Don Rosenberg's lawsuit agains the Plain Dealer and Cleveland Orchestra. I especially love the part where the orchestra's mouthpiecelawyer puts his foot in his mouth:
"It's a funny grievance coming from a lifetime reporter, that the people that he writes about have an obligation to stay silent," said Robert Duvin, a lawyer for the orchestra. "We don't have the same platform, so what we have to do is write letters or have meetings. You guys get to publish every day, and bring the hammer down as often as you want to on anybody you want to."
Mr. Duvin said he could not address the specifics of Mr. Rosenberg's lawsuit. But assuming it were true that orchestra officials had urged his dismissal, he said, "So what?"
"I consider what he wrote to be the equivalent of urging the removal of the music director of the Cleveland Orchestra," Mr. Duvin said. "There are many people who considered his relentless negative assessment, when contrasted with worldwide praise, to be personal, petty and vindictive."
The lawyer said it was natural for orchestra management to react strongly to such an assessment from its hometown paper. "He doesn't like what happened," Mr. Duvin said. "That's too bad. We didn't like it either, for years."
Carter in the Times
I wish the Times had run a happy birthday editorial yesterday, but whatever; here's their coverage:
Dan Wakin's story/interview, with photos taken at Carnegie Hall and at Carter's apartment.
Anthony Tommasini's concert review; he liked Interventions.
Labels: 20th c. music, Elliott Carter
More on the YouTube Symphony
Okay, the long Elliott Carter posting might not get posted today. But here are pointers to YouTube Symphony discussion elsewhere:
Jonathan Bellman at Dial M for Musicology
Elaine Fine at Musical Assumptions
Robert Levine at Abu Bratsche
Amanda Ameer at Life's a Pitch
Drew McManus at Adaptistration
The boys or girls at Detritus Review
Labels: MTT, YouTube Symphony
Pulling Up a Lawn Chair
I'm the last blogger in the world to discuss the situation of Don Rosenberg, longtime music critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who was reassigned to an "arts & music" beat, and away from covering the Cleveland Orchestra, after, it seems, being too critical of Franz Welser-Most, music director of the Cleveland. Lots of critics here and in Europe agreed with Rosenberg about FW-M's interpretive skills, and were astounded by the recent extension of his contract.
Well, Rosenberg is now suing the Plain Dealer (for age discrimination) and the orchestra (for defamation and interference with his career). Age discrimination? He knows better than me, but I'm doubtful that was the proximate cause of his reassignment.
(Via Opera Chic!)
I received a press release from Boosey & Hawkes last week about Steve Reich's papers, which are going to live in Switzerland:
The Paul Sacher Foundation has entered into an agreement with the American composer Steve Reich (b. 1936) to take over his musical archive. The working papers of this internationally renowned artist will shortly be made accessible to scholars at the Foundation's premises in Basel.
The Steve Reich Collection at the Paul Sacher Foundation covers the composer's entire oeuvre, from his dodecaphonic early works to his very latest creations, such as Daniel Variations (2006) and Double Sextet (2007). In addition to letters, sound recordings, manuscripts from various stages in the creative process, and other documents, special importance attaches to his many audio and program files, which capture various working layers in the music of a composer to whom computers, synthesizers, and samplers have long been standard compositional tools.
The Paul Sacher Foundation holds a remarkable collection of composer archives, including those of Bartok, Berio, Sorabji, Webern, Varese, Ligeti, Birtwhistle, Kurtag, Ferneyhough....is your jaw on the floor yet? Read the whole list, which includes some prominent performers as well as composers, here.
I feel the slightest bit sad about Reich's papers going overseas, as I also feel a bit sad to see Elliott Carter's name on the list. They are New York composers and American composers, and I can't help but wish that there were a place for their papers in the U.S., at the Morgan or NYPL, or the Smithsonian, or the Library of Congress. Very likely there isn't the money to fund the acquisition - I assume the Sacher pays, rather than simply accepting donations. I am grateful that the papers will be preserved in a proper archive, and kept together for study, of course, especially given the possible alternatives.
Posted by Lisa Hirsch at December 11, 2008 1 comment:
Labels: 20th c. music, Elliott Carter, Steve Reich
Foreign Accents
The NY Times sometimes makes copy-editing decisions that I consider to be on the odd side. An opera review within the last year or so referred to David Daniels, likely the world's greatest countertenor, as "a countertenor." Contrast this with Samuel Ramey's wedding announcement, which referred to "Samuel Ramey, the bass, married [new wife's name], a soprano." That is as it should be, and Daniels is best referred to as "David Daniels, the countertenor."
Reading Anthony Tommasini's review of the Met production of a particular Massenet opera, I was astonished to find an accent aigue on "Meditation" and umlauts in the correct places in the soprano and baritone characters' names.
Out of sheer laziness, this blog eschews accents and diacriticals, and, in most circumstances, so does the Times. Look up Janacek in their archive, for example: no diacriticals. So what gives with Tommasini's review? Did he submit his copy with the diacriticals hand-inserted? Or did the Times upgrade its content-management or publishing system? Inquiring minds want to know!
Labels: copy-editing
Carter 100!
Best wishes to Elliott Carter, dean of American composers, on this auspicious day, and may he have a good number more happy, healthy, years of composing masterworks.
Playlist: why, the Pacifica Quartet's new disk of 1 and 5, of course. I'll get my account of this past weekend's festivities posted some time today.
Elliott Carter on Charlie Rose?!
Just hours in advance of his 100th birthday, Elliott Carter appears on Charlie Rose tonight, along with James Levine and Daniel Barenboim, in what must be some kind of first. Or maybe two kinds of firsts.
Sublime -> Ridiculous
I'm on the mailing list of KDFC, the nation's most embarrassing excuse for a classical radio station. In reality, they're an easy-listening station, and I hear from friends that they've recently devolved from playing single movements of multimovement works to playing excerpts from movements of multimovement works. But...they make a lot of money! So they can laugh all the way to the bank.
In any event, a day or so ago, I received email with a link to their favorite recordings of the past year. Not the best, mind you; their favorites. Because it would be a problem if they recommended anything dissonant or anything written before 1710 or anything with a singer in it.
At least they've posted their list at ArkivMusic, so if their listeners buy directly, the money goes to a good classical music source. And if they navigate from that page, they might find Arkiv's much more interesting recommendations. If the list were at Amazon, you never know what a listener might buy instead: luggage, a stand mixer, a personal lubricant. Or a book!
The KDFC list contains about what you'd expect: some guitar music, a little Lang Lang, the required Vivaldi Four Seasons, other violin light classics played by a second-tier violinist, some Tchaikowsky, an Einaudi disk. Nothing too challenging - say, the Brahms piano quintet - or atonal - say, the Carter quartets.
There are a couple of surprises in there. Since they like Hilary Hahn's Sibelius violin concerto, they have to mention the devil himself Schoenberg. And the Anne-Sophie Mutter disk comes with a Gubaidulina work.
Labels: ArkivMusic, KDFC
Messiaen 100
By an entertaining and timely coincidence, it's also the 52nd birthday of future convicted felon Rod Blagojevich.
Playlist for a centenary:
Vingt Regards, Yvonne Loriod
Harawi, Rachel Yakar & Yvonne Loriod
Turangalila-symphonie, Nagao/Berlin Philharmonic
Des Canyon aux Etoiles, Chung
All except Des Canyon aux Etoiles are from the Warner Classics Messiaen Edition. I have strewn the CDs all over place, and don't have the Quatour pour la fin du temps with me.
Labels: 20th c. music, Messiaen
Six, No, Five of Nine
Anna Netrebko has withdrawn from the last of her six scheduled San Francisco Opera appearances as Violetta in La Traviata. That's the July 1 performance. Ailyn Perez, a 2005 Merola Fellow, replaces Netrebko; Elizabeth Futral performs on June 29, July 2, and July 5.
Me, I'm just wondering when Trebs will withdraw from performances one through five. Remember, you read it here first.
Labels: Divas, Netrebko, SFO
More Carter!
While Bay Area symphonies merrily ignore Elliott Carter's very big round number birthday, East Coast audiences have had plenty to listen to. First, the magnificent tribute at Tanglewood, where the students played forty-seven (47!) Carter pieces in a huge multiconcert tribute this past summer. Read Matthew Guerrieri's Magna Carter series for a marvelous account of the festivities.
The New York Philharmonic will have a Day of Carter on Saturday, Dec. 13; the day includes a talk with the composer and the world premiere of a new work, Poems of Louise Zukovfky, for soprano (Lucy Shelton) and clarinet (Stanley Drucker, in his valedictory season at the NYPO). It's at the tiny Kaplan Penthouse space, which seats many fewer people than the Yerba Buena Center's Forum space. If you don't have tickets...
Possibly best of all, the Boston Symphony plays Carnegie Hall on the composer's birthday, under adopted New Yorker James Levine. The program features the local premier of yet another new Carter work, Interventions for solo piano and orchestra and includes the work that convinced Carter he wanted to be a composer, Le Sacre du printemps, which I presume needs no introduction. See the BSO web site for more Carter goodies.
Future Elective Office?
I plan to run for Governor of Illinois. Hey, I don't live there! But I also won't be mixed up in the kind of shenanigans that have Rod Blagojevich heading for the slammer.
The Underappreciated Critic
Joshua Kosman, fellow blogger and classical music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, comes in for a lot of stick from his readers, as do all critics. Goodness knows, I disagree with him often enough (he was wrong wrong wrong about Die tote Stadt and The Bonesetter's Daughter, for example, just going back a couple of months, and apparently he was immune to the luminous beauty of the last Runnicles Tristan).
One criticism I've heard is that he's burned out, and this I really do not get. His reviews are consistently enthusiastic, perceptive, and often very funny, regardless of whether he loved or hated the music and performances. I read a Kosman review, I wish I'd been there.
Take, for example, his review of this past weekend's Elliott Carter Centenary Celebration concerts, which I'd consider a model: there's enthusiasm for the performers and respect for the composer and what he inspires, even as Joshua ruefully admits that the music itself leaves him in "a state of bewildered incomprehension." (I, a Carter fan, must admit that if you've been grappling with the music for a couple of decades and still don't get it, you probably won't.)
I wish critics' jobs gave them more opportunities to write about music beyond concert reviews. Joshua's extremely good at this, at taking a moment of music and explicating its meanings. See, for example, his remarks on Mahler in the comments section of this Detritus Review posting. Or the series of postings he calls This Magic Moment on his own blog. Give us more!!
Labels: critics, Joshua Kosman
More Modernist Music
If you weren't at the Carterfest - or if you were and you're in the mood for another concert of music with spine - the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players have this on their agenda for tonight, December 8, 2008, 8 p.m., Yerba Buena Gardens Forum:
Francesconi, A fuoco
Saariaho, Sept Papillons
Zhou Long, Wild Grass
Boulez, Le Marteau sans maitre
If I could sleep in tomorrow, I'd go, but I need a night off after this past, very wonderful, weekend.
Labels: 20th c. music
If you're an opera company, and you know in advance that the star tenor in your current Donizetti production is canceling because of illness, you could email your patrons about this.
I, for one, would have simply donated back my ticket to Elisir. I only bought it to see Ramon Vargas, who hadn't sung in San Francisco in a few years and who is a perfectly lovely singer. Oh, okay, the half-price ticket offer helped too.
As all the reviewers said, the singing was very good all around, with special honors to Alessandro Corbelli as Dulcamara (the Belcore huffed his way through the fioriture, yeesh, but has a good voice), and production was adorable, though I dispute the plausibility of the girl in overalls considering that it's 1915 or so. That ice cream truck made me want to pick up a pint on the way home. Too bad about Bruno Campanella's sleepy conducting.
As it turns out, my original impulse ("nothing could drag me into the house for another Elisir") turned out to be right, because I left at half-time, making a lone standee very happy when I gave him my 10th-row ticket.
Cartermania
Over at listen101, Steve Hicken is running a fine series of postings leading up to Elliott Carter's 100th birthday on December 11. Each posting discusses a work of Carter's that has been particularly important to Steve and his development as a composer. Start here.
And at Soho the Dog, Matthew Guerrieri has posted a link to his Boston Globe interview with Carter and material that didn't make it into the Globe.
My unasked question for Carter: what did the Harvard campus look like in the 1920s that brought up the worry that building dormitories would ruin it? And get that story about Carter's visit to the White House and his little exchange with Leontyne Price.
I will have something to say, I hope, at the end of the Carter Centenary Celebration here in San Francisco.
YouTube Symphony
I found out about the YouTube Symphony on Monday via the NY Times story; a press release about it dropped into my mail box a couple of hours later. If you missed the story (or Joshua Kosman's Chron story, or Janos Gereben's SFCV Music News item), here's how it works:
1. The composer Tan Dun has written a new work, his Symphony No. 1, "Eroica." (Yes, you're reading that correctly. More below.)
2. The parts are available as PDFs. You can find them on the YouTube Symphony site.
3. There is video of Tan conducting.
4. You download the part you'd like to play; you practice and then record a video of yourself playing the part. You're supposed to watch the conductor video so that you're keeping the proper tempos.
5. You submit the video to YouTube.
6. From these videos, a panel of experts will select the best and create a mashup to post on YouTube.
7. You can also submit a video of yourself playing a solo work for your instrument. You can find suggested works here (link to follow).
8. A panel of experts will select finalists. (London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and other leading orchestras around the world will narrow the field of entries down to the semifinalists.)
9. The "YouTube comunity" will then decide who will be part of an orchestra that will perform at Carnegie Hall next year, with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting. Google/YouTube will pay the winners' ways to New York City. The concert is part of a three-day workshop with Thomas.
It's a novel way to get to Carnegie Hall. I am not a big fan of Tan Dun's, based on the mess that was The First Emperor, but was curious about the new piece, especially since he had the nerve to call it "Eroica." So I downloaded and examined the first flute part. It's not especially difficult; even my decades-out-of-practice flute chops are sufficient to play it. And, yes, it incorporates themes from Beethoven's huge, genre-changing Symphony No. 3, subtitled "Eroica." With a couple of weeks' practice...well, as I contemplated the logistics of creating and submitting the video, it dawned on me that I'd better look at the contest rules. Sure enough, if you work for one of the Competition Entities or its parent or subsidiary company, you are ineligible to enter. So I'm out as a possible participant. Whew! I don't have to get the Hindemith flute sonata, which I learned in the 10th grade, back in shape after all.
A couple of bloggers have already written about this thing:
Matthew Guerrieri is amused.
Amanda Ameer at Life's a Pitch says "it's not a bad thing" and tells you why.
Greg Sandow thinks it's typical of the way bottom-up initiatives can change classical music. "This exists only because a couple of people at Google thought of it!" He calls it "auditioning for orchestra projects on line;" I note that this is one particular project. He also says "pitched it to the rest of the company." Really? I heard about this in the New York Times.
Let me point out a couple of things in response to Greg:
Anybody could have thought up and executed the YouTube video mashup, with any piece they chose - or wrote.
Tan Dun, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Carnegie Hall are involved only because of Google's enormous influence and, you know, money. The commission cost something (and from his position as an orchestral consultant, Greg can come closer to guessing how much than I can), bringing a couple of hundred people to New York City will cost something, renting Carnegie costs something, presumably MTT is getting a fee, etc., etc.
Of course, Tan Dun and MTT's prestige was involved in getting the musical institutions involved. It's a long, long list, which I've taken from the press release and will put at the end of this posting.
Every institution involved expects to get something out of it, at a minimum, publicity.
Looking a bit beyond these issues, I'm extremely curious about who will enter. Talented amateurs, yes. Kids, yes. Anyone wanting to have a good time - yes, because you can enter playing any damn instrument you choose, whether it's part of the official scoring or not. (I really like that aspect of the project!)
But what about aspiring pros? Are we going to get conservatory students entering? Freelancers? What would happen if you're a violinist, you win a spot in the Carnegie Hall program, and you find yourself auditioning for the BSO next year? Will your resume say "Member of the YouTube Symphony Carnegie Hall concert"?
And who will gain what from this venture? Well, there will be a lot of publicity for MTT and Tan Dun, for that long list of orchestras that's involved, for Carnegie Hall, and, of course, for Google and YouTube. Very likely a lot of curious people who are not classical music enthusiasts will be pulled in by the spectacle. I happen to like the spectacular aspects of classical music, in the form of gigantic messy works, especially stage works (Mahler's 8th, Wagner's Ring, Bantock's Omar Khayyam, to name a few), and in the form of crazy virtuoso performers. Really, the only thing missing from this piece seems to be Lang Lang. Maybe there's a piano part? On the other hand, will this apparent one-shot deal get people away from their computers and into the concert hall?
I would think not - so I'm going to suggest that the long list of participating musical organizations throw in a whole bunch of tickets to their concerts, and give 'em away at random to the entrants.
Selected list of program partners as of December 1, 2008, from the press release:
Amsterdam Music School
Arnhem Music School
Bangalore Music Association
Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam
Conservatorio Real
Credia
The Hague Music School
Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Imma Shara
Liceu Barcelona
Moscow Conservatory
National Music Conservatory
Orchesta de Galicia
Orchestra Filarmonica
Orchestre de Paris
Orquesta Nacional
Petersburg Conservatory
Prague Philharmonica
Rotterdam Philharmonic
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra
William Joseph International Academy
Labels: YouTube Symphony
Tickets Still Available for Carter Centenary Celebration!
Email today from San Francisco Performances indicates that you can still buy tickets to the Elliott Carter Centenary Celebration. It's this weekend at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, south of Market in San Francisco.
C'mon, folks: he's only going to turn 100 once. And you're not going to have too many opportunities to hear the Pacifica Quartet play all five string quartets (to date) and the great Ursula Oppens play all of the piano music (to date) on one weekend.
Personal to David Schiff: Wait a decade or so before issuing the third edition of your excellent book. Bet you thought you wouldn't need one, back in 1998 when the second edition was published.
Apparently I need a plane ticket to London, and soon. Hat tip to Alex for the tipoff.
Labels: art, London
If You Missed the Mahler...
...or even if you didn't, tune in to KDFC at 8 p.m. tonight to hear the SFS broadcast.
BSO Musical Offerings
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has decided to offer performances from both its archives and studio recordings as downloads on its web site. The initial batch of performances includes the 12-CD set From the Broadcast Archives:1943-2000 and a recent Mozart disk by the BSO Chamber Players. Prices range from $8.99 to $12.99. You can find the download page here.
About that price differential: what you pay depends on the format you choose. The recordings are available as 320 kbps MP3 and as HD Surround with PC Lossless encoding.
I haven't bought any of these and so can't report on either the sound or musical quality. I stopped looking at the site when I realized I'd have to click every album to find out what's on it, because the recordings index page doesn't display the track listings. Sure, it wouldn't take that long to go through the 15 or so albums now available, but this is an avoidable (and easily correctable!) design error. I've emailed the BSO about this because I'm not the only crank out here, and they will want to maximize sales while minimizing user frustration.
In addition to the recordings, I want to point out another fine feature of the BSO web site: the BSO Classical Companion, where you can find information about classical music. To my relief, it's not focussed on the 18th and 19th century warhorses, but primarily on music of our time and the recent past.
I listened to a chunk of the Elliott Carter Centenary episode, which features both talk and performances. I wasn't paying attention when the works and performers were introduced, but the first piece seems to be the Double Concerto, and isn't that Oliver Knussen conducting? There are also episodes about Berlioz & Messiaen (what a pairing!), John Harbison, William Bolcom, and Henri Dutilleux. Highly, highly recommended.
Labels: BSO
Tickets Still Available for Carter Centenary Celeb...


When your creatinine level elevates to certain degree, your doctor may suggest you dialysis. At what creatinine level is dialysis required? After reading this article, you will get the answer.
Creatinine is not an index to measure whether you need dialysis or not.
The higher your creatinine level, the worse your kidney condition, the more possibility for you to start dialysis. But with the same high creatinine level, some patients may not have any discomforts, so they can put off dialysis. While for some other patients, they feel so bad that they have to start dialysis soon. That is because different people have different tolerance to the accumulated waste products in body.
-Severe uremia associated symptoms appear, such as pleurisy, pericarditis, uremia encephalopathy, etc.
-GFR ranges from 5 to 15. If uremia associated symptoms can not be relieved with conservative treatment, hemodialysis can be started.
If you want to avoid dialysis, you can try Toxin-Removing Treatment.
Due to various reasons, not all kidney patients want to start dialysis. Here we suggest you Toxin-Removing Treatment. It takes advantage of Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy, Medicated Bath, Foot Bath, Navel Therapy and so on to discharge toxins from body. It can also dilate blood vessels to lower high blood pressure. Besides, it can improve blood circulation and increase blood flow into damaged kidneys to improve renal ischemia and anoxia. With good circulation, active ingredients of medicine can also be transported into nidus to speed up kidney recovery. After about one week's treatment, your urine will become smelly and cloudy due to the existence of waste products. After about half month's treatment, your high creatinine level, high BUN and high uric acid level will decrease. After about one month's treatment, your renal function will increase. And then you can keep dialysis away.
At what creatinine level is dialysis required? Now you have a clear mind. If you would like to know more information on kidney failure treatment, please leave a message below or contact online doctor.


Taking over the spot that was once known for Ol' West BBQ on Route 31 in Clinton, NJ is Harper's Table Restaurant and Bar.
We have a hunch they'll be around for a long time to come.
While we have not even visited Harper's Table yet – we already know that they're a winner.
From the constantly full parking lot, to the fairly priced menu, and the overwhelmingly positive reviews, it's clear that they hit the spot.
Also, it appears they've cleaned up the place quite a bit. The layout is the same, but "renewed" with re-purposed materials from Hunterdon County, NJ barns! How cool is that?
"Harper's Table is a family business that was borne of the idea of bringing a community together through food, drink and friendly service. We offer simple, quality American cuisine along with a full bar in the quaint setting of Annandale, NJ.
We hope to be back with a review in due time – if so we'll update this entry with a link!
Why is fast food still popular in NJ?


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Voters Increasingly Likely to Prioritize a Person of Color as Biden's VP Pick
Heightened importance comes amid demonstrations for the popular Black Lives Matter movement
Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks Tuesday via videoconference at the funeral service for George Floyd in Houston. A new poll shows voters increasingly say it's important that the presumptive Democratic nominee pick a person of color as his running mate. (David J. Phillip-Pool/Getty Images)
June 10, 2020 at 12:01 am ET
29% of voters said it was important for Biden to pick a person of color as his running mate, up 7 points from April, a change driven by whites and liberals.
61% view Black Lives Matter favorably, compared to 37% in August 2017.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is facing more pressure to pick a woman of color as his vice presidential running mate as racial issues rise to the forefront amid nationwide demonstrations for the increasingly popular Black Lives Matter movement.
A new Morning Consult/Politico poll found 29 percent of registered voters said it was very or somewhat important for Biden to pick a person of color as his vice presidential nominee, up 7 percentage points from an April survey, while the share who said it was not important fell 5 points to 48 percent. Both polls surveyed roughly 2,000 registered voters each, with 2-point margins of error.
The shift was not driven by black voters, as roughly 2 in 5 already prioritized putting a person of color on the ticket. Rather, white voters have become more likely to say it's important for Biden to pick someone who isn't white — with that number rising 7 points to 26 percent since the April 10-12 poll.
Biden has already pledged to choose a woman to join his ticket, and has faced calls to pick a black running mate. The list of potential choices is said to include Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), as well as Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and her fellow Georgia Democrat, Stacey Abrams.
The protests sparked by the alleged murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer last month have increased that pressure. Aimee Allison, founder and president of She the People, a group that advocates for women of color in politics, said the moment begs for a black woman's leadership.
"Joe Biden needs to inspire historic turnout among communities of color to win in November and needs a police accountability and racial justice champion on the ticket," she said in an email. "It is clear that a Black woman on the ticket is not only strategic for the campaign, but is the missing link in guiding the country through this crisis."
Related: Biden Leads Trump by 8 Points, a 2020 High, as Floyd Protests Continue
All four potential vice presidential candidates hold the characteristics that the broader electorate is most likely to prioritize: legislative or executive experience. But Demings, a former police chief, and Harris, a former state attorney general, also have experience in law enforcement — a quality which, at 49 percent, black voters are 11 points more likely to describe as important in Biden's prospective No. 2 than the overall population.
Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington, D.C., has also sparked recent interest. A supporter of former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's brief presidential campaign, Bowser caught national attention when she pushed back on President Donald Trump's militarization of her city's streets during protests, ordered D.C.'s public works department to paint "Black Lives Matter" in bright yellow letters on a stretch of road leading up to the White House and renamed that part of the street "Black Lives Matter Plaza."
While her views on policing have raised alarms among some black activists protesting in the nation's capital, Bowser's signaled embrace of the "Black Lives Matter" movement taps into its growing popularity.
Compared with a Morning Consult/Politico poll conducted in August 2017 following a deadly clash between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va., the share of voters who view the movement favorably has increased 24 points, to 61 percent, while the share with unfavorable views has dropped 18 points to 30 percent. The most recent poll found that Black Lives Matter is more popular among voters than either Trump — whose net favorability is 18 points underwater — or Biden, whose net favorability is even, with 46 percent each viewing him favorably or unfavorably.
The rise in positive perceptions of Black Lives Matter was driven by double-digit upticks among Democrats, Republicans and independents. And while most white voters had unfavorable views of Black Lives Matter after Charlottesville, a majority now views the movement favorably.


« Swords of Spring Super Sale!
Thank you for the update on book 5! I finished your outcaste series not too long ago and wanted to wait for the finale of William Wilde to get into it! They are fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed them! On another note Will Wights books are amazing!
So glad you like William Wilde. The hardest part of writing the series is stopping Rukh and Jessira from taking over the story. They're bosses and tough to corral. I really love Will's Cradle series. It's so fun, and part of me wants to give a story like that a go. The other part wants to write the sequel to the Castes and the OutCastes. Which one do you think I should do?
Hey Davis a big fan of both your series! though i admit i need to finish the last book for William wilde then i may reread the Castes book. That is a hard question you asked! see i want more Castes and the outcastes BUT i love the Cradle series as well like you heck when a new book comes out i go threw it so fast. I would love to see your hand at Xianxia books. Either way i am sure it will be amazing and hopefully on Audio like your other works so far.
I'll always try to make sure everything I do makes it into audio. Xianxia or Castes? Maybe I should embrace the power of 'and' by doing both.
Hey if your willing to let this greedy readier have both then i would say do it embrace the power!
However if you decide to only do one i have been thinking maybe start with a Xianxia and then Castes? both would be better though lol.
Either way thank you so much for making everything into Audio as someone who only listens to books i can say i and i am sure others are deeply thankful.
seems though i missed release of at least one book gonna have to fix that! keep up the great work!
Greedy readers are sometimes the best readers! As for doing both, I might got that route just to see if I can. It'd be hard as hell, but might also be fun.


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Published On: Sat, Jul 18th, 2015
Dispatch Blogs / Hometown News / Television | By Adam Lee
Keeping Up with Television in the Digital Age
When most of us were growing up, keeping up with our favorite television shows meant making time to sit down in front of the set. We had to either schedule our lives around those shows or hope that our VCR actually recorded the show we wanted at the time we wanted (ask your parents, kids).
We had to carefully plan out our television viewing habits too, because back then, the only way to watch two different shows that aired at the same time was to buy a second TV set, put it in another room and then run back and forth between the two at air time and hope you didn't miss too much.
Thank heavens those days are over. Today, thanks to the internet, satellites and millennium technology, you can find whatever show you want to watch and watch it whenever is most convenient for your schedule.
source: W. Trusz, J. Dombrowicki
It's no wonder, with all of the media currently available that Americans are watching more TV than ever.
For example, there are at least a dozen different streaming media services out there that allow people to watch currently airing seasons of their favorite shows without requiring them to have a cable subscription. Sure you usually have to wait until the next day, but what do you care? You have the freedom to watch whenever you want!
A lot of individual channels have also gotten in on the act, offering their specific programming via channel specific streaming services.
You can find just about any show somewhere online, either through the show's own website, the website for the network that airs it or…other (less legitimate and honest which we are absolutely not advocating at all) means.
There is also the option to DVR. Kids, the DVR you take for granted is like a digital version of the VCR your parents grew up with. DVRing is great because most of the newer models allow you to record at least a couple of shows at once. DVRs are great for keeping you up to date on the shows that might not make it on to streaming media right away (or at all, though this is getting rarer).
Finally, if you do still subscribe to cable–and we know that there are a few romantic purists out there who do–the OnDemand services offered by cable companies and satellite networks is great. These services are especially great for premium channel subscribers who might not want to make DVR room for movies or other cable-specific programming.
The primary issue with having all of these different services available is cost. Subscribing to every single service out there gets expensive. This is why it's best to take some time and do some research before signing up for every streaming media, subscription or cable service you can find. Figure out who carries what and then plan your budget accordingly.
For example, let's say you live in Pittsburgh. A Direct TV Pittsburgh package starts at about $50. This gives you access to a bunch of programming via their OnDemand library and sets you up with DVR. To supplement these, we'd recommend choosing two streaming services: one that gives you access to currently airing shows and one that allows you to binge watch entire seasons (or movies) all at once. If you still have a show or two missing from your services, consider buying that show outright. The amount you spend for a season of your favorite show will be much less than you'd spend on an annual subscription to the only streaming service that offers it.
So what shows are going to be most worth your interest this fall?
Here are a few of our favorites:
The Muppets. Yes. The Muppets are coming back to prime time, this time with their own version of a reality show. Think Modern Family but with Kermit and the gang. It looks like it is going to be amazing.
Supergirl. Superman's younger cousin has found her way to earth and decides to start helping people. Hijinks, as they tend to do on these kinds of shows, inevitably ensue. This iteration of Supergirl also features Calista Flockhart, so count us in!
Scream Queens. We weren't so sure about a horror show that takes place in a sorority house, even after we found out that Ryan Murphy was at it's helm. After watching the trailers, though, we have to say it looks pretty great. Plus is has Jamie Lee Curtis! Who doesn't love Jamie Lee Curtis?
And of course, this is in addition to Big Bang Theory, Gotham, Bones, Sleepy Hollow, and the rest of the returning greats. What about you, viewers? Which shows are you most looking forward to this fall and how will you choose to keep up with them?
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Netflix down 130K subscribers, lost $594 million as they overspend for programming
Adam Lee - Adam Lee is a financial writer who has insightful knowledge in dealing with different financial issues. He tries to help people to get out of difficult financial situations by contributing financial write ups to websites and blogs such as Moneyforlunch.com and Moneynewsnow.com
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Constable Bell, the investigating officer, said the incident occurred between 12.45am and 1.15am on Sunday, February 8, outside a nightclub at Bank Place.
A man in his 20s was taken to hospital with a head injury and a 27-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing GBH. He was later bailed pending further enquiries.


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Application of vibrational spectroscopy techniques to non-destructively monitor plant health and development†
Holly J. Butler,ab Martin R. McAinsh,*c Steven Adamsd and Francis L. Martin*a
a Centre for Biophotonics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
E-mail: f.martin@lancaster.ac.uk
b Centre for Global Eco-Innovation, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
c Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
E-mail: m.mcainsh@lancaster.ac.uk
d Plant Impact Plc, Rothamsted, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK
Vibrational spectroscopy is a powerful analytical tool that is yet to be fully developed in plant science. Previously, such tools have been primarily applied to fixed or in vitro biological materials, which do not effectively encapsulate real-time physiological conditions of whole organisms. Coupled with multivariate analysis, this study examines the potential application of ATR-FTIR or Raman spectroscopy to determine spectral alterations indicative of healthy plant growth in leaf samples of Solanum lycopersicum. This was achieved in the absence of destructive effects on leaf tissues locally or on plant health systemically; additionally, autofluorescence was not a confounder. Feature extraction techniques including PCA-LDA were employed to examine variance within spectral datasets. In vivo measurements are able to successfully characterise key constituents of the leaf cuticle and cell wall, whilst qualifying leaf growth. Major alterations in carbohydrate and protein content of leaves were observed, correlating with known processes within leaf development from cell wall expansion to leaf senescence. These findings show that vibrational spectroscopy is an ideal technique for in vivo investigations in plant tissues.
This article is part of the themed collection: Analytical Sciences in the UK
https://doi.org/10.1039/C5AY00377F
Application of vibrational spectroscopy techniques to non-destructively monitor plant health and development
H. J. Butler, M. R. McAinsh, S. Adams and F. L. Martin, Anal. Methods, 2015, 7, 4059 DOI: 10.1039/C5AY00377F
Holly J. Butler
Martin R. McAinsh
Steven Adams
Francis L. Martin


Drain covers made from polyurethane composites could soon replace the old cast iron manhole covers, according to recent news reports. The advantages are fairly obvious the modern manhole covers will be less dense and so easier to handle, they will be essentially worthless to metal thieves and given the state of the art in composite formulations will probably show greater wear resistance. It got me thinking…we entered the plastic age, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, quite some time ago. But, are metals now redundant?
It seemed like an original thought, but as is often the case a quick web search revealed that another blogger over on the polymers group page of the InnovateUK website had beat me to it. The author of the post, whom I believe is as Alan Wood of Victrex plc (although the byline is labelled as Matthew Thornton) suggests that since the Bronze Age of 2500 BCE, metals have been humanity's material of choice for engineering and other applications from swords to ploughshares. One might argue that the natural polymer composite we know generically as wood was for a time a more ubiquitous material, but for technological advances in the modern era metals and alloys have stood firm. Wood, the ironically named author of the blog post suggests that just as metals superseded other materials perhaps as the plastic age reaches true maturity metals will themselves be superseded.
Aside from plastic manhole covers, the concerns about ceramic knives on aircraft slicing through airport security metal detectors, also hints at how even that most common of metal products, the blade could be replaced by composite-type materials, while the advent of conducting polymers on which I first reported for New Scientist and Science back in the very early 1990s, might ultimately make copper wiring and connectors redundant too; there are many other examples.
Wood offers six bullet points as to why polymers might outstrip metals.
These are: far superior corrosion performance (assuming we are not talking biodegradable or photodegradable polymers, of course), toughness low friction, lower density, mass produceability and lack of "finishing/polishing" operations and finally the possibility of amalgamating sub-components (perhaps with the 3D polymer printer allowing almost any object or component to be fabricated). Vehicles and aircraft benefit from easier maintenance and lower fuel consumption, lower cost and many other advantages. Although it is not yet possible to replace engines and other high-temperature components with plastic, that day might come eventually too, especially if power technology emerges that precludes the need for "infernal" combustion. Wood also muses on the fact that the machines for producing polymers and fabricating them into useful components do, by necessity, require metal parts at the moment, but hints that they too might one day be displaced.
David Bradley blogs at http://www.sciencebase.com and tweets @sciencebase, he is author of the popular science book "Deceived Wisdom".
The contentious history of smelting.
The EuPC has published the results of its second European survey on the use of recycled plastics materials in Europe's plastics converting industry.
UK-based additive manufacturing (AM) specialist Metalysis has formed a new partnership with K Home International.


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I've assumed only a rudimentary level of familiarity with the subject matter in writing this lead generation letter for online trademark registration service Trade Mark Direct. Lead generation letter for Trade Mark Direct.
Protect your business name with a UK trade mark.
Before someone else registers
your name and stops you using it.
Dear Mr Sample,
You have recently registered a new company at Companies House and so I'd like
to make sure you're fully clear about a very real threat that could stop
you trading under that name in the future.
By incorporating your company, you have made sure its existence is properly
recognised and also that no-one else can register a company with this exact
same name from now on.
But you have not stopped anyone else from trading under exactly the same version
of your name that you will be using day to day to promote your business.
The difference between company names and trade marks.
Imagine you'd registered a company called 'Chocolate and Smiles Limited', and
that you were planning to sell sweets and confectionery with the name 'Chocolate
and Smiles' on the labels, from shops with 'Chocolate and Smiles' over the
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The fact that you had been able to incorporate your company as 'Chocolate and
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called 'Chocolate and Smiles'.
They couldn't register a company named 'Chocolate and Smiles Limited', but
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and so confuse customers into thinking that they were you, or undermine the
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To be safe from having the names that are important to your business misused
in this way, you must protect them with UK trade marks issued by the Intellectual
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way to protect the names your business uses every day for its products and
A UK trade mark ensures that no-one else can use the same name that you use
for similar products or services.
It also prevents anyone else from being able to trademark your name and then
stop you using it yourself.
Can that happen???
Yes! In our example, Big Bad Confectionery Ltd were able to trade as 'Chocolate
Smiles', even though you were already using that name, because your company
'Chocolate and Smiles Ltd' had not trademarked the name.
But once Big Bad Confectionery Ltd trademarked the name, they could have their
lawyer write to you and demand that you remove the Chocolate Smiles name from
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All they have to do is send you a 'Cease and Desist' letter advising that they
now hold a trade mark on a name that is key to your business, and that you
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Registering your important business name or names as UK trade marks NOW is
the only effective way to protect yourself against this danger.
Register your trade mark today using Trade Mark Direct.
Trade Mark Direct can help you register your names as UK trade marks quickly
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On our website trademarkdirect.co.uk you'll find a search box that let's you
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We take your payment details but do not charge you. Our trade mark experts
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application will be likely to fail, we will tell you immediately. If you then
decide not to proceed, you don't pay a penny… not even for the work we've
(You could try to register your name with the Intellectual Property Office
yourself, but over half of all self-managed applications are unsuccessful and
the IPO does not refund the £170 application fee. Equally, you could ask a
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saving all the money you would have forfeited had you done it yourself or used
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Start by visiting our site at www.trademarkdirect.co.uk and using our FREE
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Filed under Direct Mail and Sales letters, Professional Services Copywriter.


text:
Matthew Herbert's next album takes the form of a book
By FACT, Aug 12 2015
The artist is adopting an unusual approach for his next release.
Matthew Herbert has announced that his next album will take the form of a book called The Music. Herbert is crowdfunding the book, from which he intends readers to be able to construct the end result.
"For my next record, I will write a description of the record rather than make the music itself," Herbert says. "It will be divided into chapters in the same way that an album is separated in to tracks. This is that book."
"Each chapter will describe in precise detail what sounds to use, how they should be organised and occasionally an approximation of what the net result should sound like. Crucially it must be able to be recorded for real given enough time, access and resources. However, I will never make the record. It will always just be a description of the music itself."
Herbert is taking this approach because advances in technology have made it possible to make an album out of any recorded sound, not just instruments.
"I would like this book then to be a kind of manifesto for sound that makes this shift explicit," Herbert says. "In that way there will be no musical instruments or lyrics described in the piece."
The Music isn't the only unusual project Herbert has lent his name to over the years – he's made an album based around the life cycle of a pig and an LP out of a 10-second clip of a bomb exploding. It's not all been experimentation for Herbert however – his most recent album, The Shakes, was his first dance album in over a decade.
You can support the project at Unbound, and find out more in the video below. [via RA]
Tags: Matthew Herbert
Matthew Herbert's Brexit Big Band announces The State Between Us
Matthew Herbert's classic Parts series to get reissued on...


Dangerous because if you like camping and or traveling and camping, this hot 2nd income idea (or 1st) will cause you to LOOSE SLEEP guaranteed! This is real…….
Many people think of traveling as meaning luxury liner voyages, foreign ports, air travel packages, etc.. But do you know that far more people "travel" from place to place CAMPING? Yes, – it may be for a week end or vacation and the destinations and details for the choices and "Parks" and campgrounds are almost endless. ** Key: it takes a lot of people to operate and maintain all these camping places. A LOT of people and they are not volunteers anymore. To be profitable, the camps usually need 100 – 200 "spots (parking spots for motor homes, trailers tents) to be profitable. These camping businesses must hire people to help them run the camp because they simply cannot take care of all that needs to be done daily without HELP.
No body wants to stay in a poorly maintained Campground (bad for referral business) and the owner knows it. A growing number of people who have lost their jobs or not satisfied with their present job situation have, discovered the "Campground" occupation and like it to the extent that they follow the occupation "South" in the winter and keep right on having a dependable income. How do you find these Jobs? Easy answer: Just google "Campground job opportunities" and you will be swamped with the opportunities, locations, companies and all kinds of details. As you should expect, you will have to work out the details that fit your particular wishes, desires, conditions or what ever.
The "Camping" industry is quietly growing all over the country and the opportunities right along with it. Once you start researching it you will soon see what I mean. The industry is enormous and is fueled by the human nature to "just get out there" and motor home manufacturers, camping equipment stores and do you think kids like the sound of "camping"? If a worker is interested in working up in a Camping Co. or finding about how it would be to have his own campground, – what better way to learn the industry. After all: "most things look different on the inside than they appear from the outside"! Agreed?
With this idea, you can take the computer along and leave the house payment, rent payment, utility payment, snow shoveling, commutes, etc. BEHIND!!
Could this industry help You? Wow!
I could take my 2nd-incomz.com too!