Put on our adult claymation Gumby costume for a funny TV character costume who's popularity spanned from the 50s to the 90s! This licensed costume includes a green, poly foam jumpsuit that Velcros in the back for closure. The sleeves feature slits for your hands and the legs are open on the bottom for easy movement. Gumby's head is full of foam to maintain its shape. The interior consists of a hood that covers the top portion of your head to support Gumby's head. Gumby's eyes are covered with mesh to provide realistic appearance and unrestricted vision.


Steampunk Batman meets A Fistful of Dollars (and later, the Borg).
Despite Fantasy-Faction originally being a British website, I am pretty sure that everyone knows Americans romanticize the Wild West: the freewheeling setting, the gunslinger vigilante who stands up to the bad guys when the government can't. It might as well be the bedrock of American foreign policy.
Despite my American nationality, it's never been my thing. Give me a choice between Spaghetti Westerns and the Japanese Chanbara genre they influenced, I'll take sake over bourbon any day. Offer me the Western for free, however, and my Chinese heritage takes over. That's how I got ahold of the audiobook for Dean Wilson's Coilhunter Trilogy.
It's a steampunk Wild West setting in a secondary world, where an Iron Empire has conquered East, South, and West, but leaving the North for rugged individualists. Saloons, houses of ill-repute, steampunk-vehicles, and Native Peoples help flesh out the setting. Gold and silver are next to worthless unless it can somehow shade you from the sun or collect water, while iron is the only precious metal. Iron coils are used as currency.
Which is how the main character, Nox, gets his nickname: The Coilhunter. Once an engineer, the murder of his family and mutilation of his body transformed him into a bounty hunter out for justice. While I had planned to relate him to Deadpool in my original tagline, I decided Batman was more a more fitting comparison. Where he once made children's toys, he now makes steampunk gadgets, not only to help him breathe, but also to hunt down criminals—all from out of his own version of the Bat Cave.
Something of a superhero with his tools, quick trigger finger, and accuracy, he has become the best bounty hunter in the North. He is more-or-less a loner, too afraid to form meaningful relationships because of his past losses. All he is missing is a Bruce Wayne alter ego. His invincible persona kept me from connecting deeply with him, but his underlying compassion helps to ameliorate that.
Book one, Coilhunter, starts as a regular job, which not only introduces us to a colorful rogues' gallery of wanted criminals, but also gives him a clue as to the identity of his family's murderer. In book two, Rustkiller, he rescues two children and confronts a steampunk version of Star Trek's Borg. And in book three, Dustrunner, he is framed for massacring a native tribe. In each story, he forms tentative alliances and meets a possible love interest, a potential new family, and a promising family pet.
The pace is as breakneck as that summary: each chapter goes by fast, ending with cliffhangers that segue smoothly into the next. Action continues nearly non-stop, with gunfight after gunfight. Where The Coilhunter Chronicles shines is the omniscient narrator. You could almost hear Clint Eastwood's voice. Wilson does a brilliant job of playing with words to come up with maxims about how tough life is in the Wild North, while personifying the sun, the land, etc., as dangers.
I rate book one an 8.5, book two a 8.5, and book three and 8.25, with the entire series being an 8.5.
NOTE: From speaking with the author, his other series, The Great Iron War, takes place in the same world.
J. C. Kang J. C. Kang's unhealthy obsession with fantasy and sci-fi began at an early age when his brother introduced him to The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, Star Trek and Star Wars. As an adult, he combines his geek roots with his professional experiences as a Chinese Medicine doctor, martial arts instructor, and technical writer to pen epic fantasy stories. He's recently gotten into audiobooks to listen to while burning off his middle-aged mid-section. You can follow him on Twitter @JCKang804.


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Bazaar Productions
Bazaar Productions Returns to the Berkshires with The TEAM's Particularly in the Heartland
Particularly in the Heartland Press Release
A Boundry-busting Devised Work About Our Divided America
Opens August 8 at The Foundry
WEST STOCKBRIDGE—Now the resident theater company at The Foundry, Bazaar Productions is delighted to announce its 2019 interpretation of Particularly in the Heartland, an interactive theater piece originally created and devised by the Brooklyn-based company, The TEAM. The show opens August 8 in conjunction with a kick-off celebration and fundraising event.
Set in Kansas in 2004, Particularly in the Heartland is an excavation of American identity, exploring themes of idealism, cynicism, and hope. Directed by Bazaar Productions co-artistic director Sara Katzoff, and featuring a dynamic ensemble of emerging performers and designers, Particularly in the Heartland runs through August 18.
"At its core, this show explores the soul of our identity as Americans," said Katzoff. "It's about losing sight of our country, and trying to fall back in love with it. America is a complex tapestry of ideals built on systems of profound racial, social, and economic injustice. This project is about reconciling patriotism and disillusionment. Plus, it's wildly entertaining!"
Integrating visceral and physical storytelling with original text, Particularly in the Heartland spotlights a trio of siblings living on a Kansas farm. Orphaned after their parents' disappearance by tornado—or was it an alien invasion? Or possibly the Rapture?—the Springer children are left to raise themselves. They are soon joined by three outsiders: Dorothy, a New Yorker fallen from an airplane; Tracey Jo, a pregnant teen claiming to be an alien; and the ghost of 1968 presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy. Out of the chaos emerges a new kind of American family.
Known for producing boundary-smashing new work since 2005, Bazaar Productions plans to relaunch a full season of multi-disciplinary programming in 2020. Their Berkshire Fringe Festival was the backbone of their programming from 2005 to 2016.
"We could not be more excited to return to the Berkshires," said Peter Wise, co-artistic director for Bazaar Productions. "We needed to press pause on our activities for a few years to focus on personal projects. That time has been fruitful and we're happy to bring this work and many new collaborators to the Berkshires and to have the opportunity to work in this amazing new venue in West Stockbridge."
Amy Brentano, owner of The Foundry—a new performing and visual arts space—is also a member of Bazaar Productions.
"I'm thrilled to have created a space that Bazaar can call home. My vision for The Foundry is to offer a versatile and generative space for creatives who may lack access. We want to create work that no one else is making in the Berkshires, and we plan to present year-round," said Brentano. "Partnering with Bazaar is a dream come true. I can't wait to share Particularly in the Heartland with our community."
Tickets to the opening night performance on August 8 will include a kick-off celebration. Patrons will enjoy locally-crafted fare and open bar while bidding on a silent auction in The Foundry's gallery space. After the performance, attendees are invited to stay for a dance party. Separate tickets for the dance party will be also be sold. All proceeds from the evening will support Bazaar Production's upcoming season and programming. Purchase tickets and find additional info at bazaarproductions.org.
Particularly in the Heartland was originally created and devised in 2004 by the award-winning ensemble, The TEAM (Theater of the Emerging American Moment), and is produced in collaboration with The Foundry and the Boston University Professional Training Initiative.
ABOUT BAZAAR PRODUCTIONS, INC.
Bazaar Productions, Inc. is a performing arts incubator now in residence at The Foundry artspace in West Stockbridge, MA. Our mission is to radicalize the cultural landscape of the Berkshires by commissioning, developing, and presenting original and groundbreaking new works of theater, dance, and multimedia performance by the most vital and revolutionary contemporary voices. Learn more at bazaarproductions.org.
Particularly in the Heartland
Created and Devised by The TEAM, Directed by Sara Katzoff
August 8-18 at The Foundry, 2 Harris Street, West Stockbridge, MA 01266
Tickets: bazaarproductions.org or call (413) 418-4113
Thursday, August 8 - Kick-off Celebration!
Doors at 6pm – Wine + Beer + Silent Auction
Performance at 7pm
Dance Party at 9pm
Friday, August 9 at 8pm
Saturday, August 10 at 2pm & 8pm
Sunday, August 11 at 5pm
Monday, August 12 at 8pm
Wednesday, August 14 at 8pm
Thursday, August 15 at 8pm
Friday, August 16 at 8pm
Saturday, August 17 at 8pm
The Berkshire Fringe
Email List. Sign Up!
©2020 Bazaar Productions, Inc • ticket policies • info [at] bazaarproductions.org

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Exclusive Video Premiere: Bearfoot "Luminate" (2019)
Ahead of the offical release next week we are pleased today to be premiering the new film clip for "Luminate", the recent single from Sunny Coast's resident roots band Bearfoot.
Released in November, "Luminate" is dedicated to the time the band spent at the eponymous music festival in New Zealand back in early 2017, and describes their scenic and leporine route to the festival. Both the journey and the festival are represented in this new film clip, with the band incorporating footage from their festival performance and form around the site into the clip.
According to the group's vocalist Asher Chapman, the ska-tinged track is a reflection of the events surrounding the band's first trip to New Zealand, elements of which can be seen within the clip:
"We had all piled into this van, driving from Christchurch to Takaka Hill, but due to an earthquake prior, the standard route to the festival (which would only be about 5 or 6 hours) was cut off, meaning that we had to take the longer inland route. Having left the airport at around 4pm that afternoon, due to that detour (where we saw amazing scenery) it was getting close to 1am when we saw the turn off for Takaka Hill. We're all tired, slightly delirious, and have no idea where we are; we're in this van climbing up this windy road, which turns from smooth bitumen to loose gravel, then all of a sudden, this rabbit appears out of nowhere, turns and looks at us, and instead of hopping off the road, it races up it, so we follow it and the next thing we see is the signs for the festival."
With the single, and now the video, Bearfoot are continuing to tease their long-awaited debut album, which is due to be released sometime later this year. It's a fun mash-up of roots, reggae, dub and ska, and if the video is anything to go by, the lads from Bearfoot sure know how to put on a decent show too.
"Luminate" is available now. If you're in or around the Sunshine Coast, you can catch the band at Solbar in Maroochydore on March 8th, for their final single launch. Tickets can be purchased HERE.
You can also keep up to date with the band via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Header Image: Rob Sharkey


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WRD Architects assisted Dientes, a nonprofit dental clinic, to expand its Santa Cruz facility by 2,400 square feet. The newly established Helen Webster Children's Dental Center accommodates the needs of young patients with a seven-chair pediatric wing that includes kid-friendly waiting room areas and tooth brushing stations for teaching oral hygiene.
WRD Architects maximized clinical efficiencies by studying and incorporating staff workflow into the space plan. The naturally lit OSHPD-3 facility has a centrally located panoramic X-ray space and a sterilization room to serve both the adult and pediatric wings. As a result of this project, Dientes is now able to accommodate 8,800 additional visits a year — 40 percent more than the clinic's original capacity.


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Maria Berardi's poems have appeared online, in print, in university literary journals, meditation magazines, and at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, in collaboration with fabric artist Bonnie Ferrill Roman. Her first book, Cassandra Gifts, was published in 2013 by Turkey Buzzard Press, and she is currently at work on her second, Pagan. She lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Her process is one of listening for transmissions and trying to catch them on paper before they dissipate: the glimpse, the complicated knowledge.
Lorraine Caputo is a documentary poet, translator, and travel writer. Her works appear in over three hundred journals on six continents, and twenty collections of poetry–including On Galápagos Shores (dancing girl press, 2019) and Caribbean Interludes (Origami Poems Project, 2022). She also authors travel narratives, articles, and guidebooks. Her writing has been honored by the Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada (2011) and nominated for the Best of the Net. Caputo has done literary readings from Alaska to the Patagonia. She journeys through Latin America, listening to the voices of the pueblos and Earth.
Jan Darrow grew up in the rural Midwest and is a graduate of the University of Michigan. She loves ghost stories and finds abandoned places utterly beautiful. Her collections of poetry and flash fiction are available on Amazon.
Brian Dickson, when not teaching at the Community College of Denver, avoids driving as much as possible, to traipse around the Front Range region by foot, bike, bus or train. Past publications include two chapbooks, In a Heart's Rut (High Five Press), Maybe This Is How Tides Work (Finishing Line Press), and one book, All Points Radiant (Cherry Grove Editions) and various journals.
Bruce Louis Dodson is an American living in Borlänge, Sweden, where he writes fiction and poetry. His work has appeared in Foreign and Far Away: Writers Abroad Anthology, Narrative, Pirene's Fountain, Tic Toc Anthology (Kind of a Hurricane Press), Litro Magazine, Vine Leaves, Cordite Poetry Review, Buffalo Almanac, mgversion2>datura, So It Goes (Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library), Smoky Blue Literature and Arts, Maintenant vols 13, 14, 15, Permafrost, Poetry Pacific, Canary, Vallum, Bangalore Review, Workers Write, NGY Review, and Whitefish Review, Infection House, Pandemic Magazine, Pure Slush, Local Gems–Beat Generation Poems.
Thomas Elson's stories appear, or are forthcoming, in numerous venues, including Ellipsis, Better Than Starbucks, Bull, Cabinet of Heed, Flash Frontier, Ginosko, Short Édition, Litro, Journal of Expressive Writing, Dead Mule School, Selkie, New Ulster, Lampeter, and Adelaide. He divides his time between Northern California and Western Kansas.
Mark Fleckenstein graduated from University of North Carolina in Charlotte (B.A. in English), Vermont College of Fine Arts (MFA in writing), and after finishing his MFA, settled in Massachusetts. Then marriage, two amazing daughters, divorce, four addresses, and three cats later, after not trying to publish for several decades, he published his first full-length collection of poetry: Making Up the World (Editions Dedicaces, 2018), followed by God Box (Clare Songbirds Publishing House, 2019), and A Name for Everything (Cervena Barva Press, 2020), Lowercase God (Unsolicited Press, 2022), and three chapbooks, The Memory of Stars, (Sticks Press, 1995), I Was I, Drowning Knee Deep, an online chapbook, (Sticks Press, 2007), and Memoir as Conversation (Unsolicited Press, 2019).
Laurie Freitag is a self-taught digital photographer making pictures with her iPhone, based in Los Angeles, California. Her early years, spent in the Bronx, Coney Island, and Far Rockaway, influence her work, with themes of family, childhood, memory, and home. For more info: go to www.lauriefreitag.com. Or check out her Instagram page: @lauriefreitagphotography
Ena Gilih was born in Zagreb in 1993. She has been living in Osijek since birth, where in 2012 she finished gymnasium. In 2013 she enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Osijek. During her studies, she participated in various public art projects and exhibitions. She spent two semesters at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk (Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Gdańsku). In 2019, she completed the University graduate study "Art Culture" module Painting at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek. The diploma thesis, entitled "Corpus Anima," was realized under the mentorship of Assoc. Dr. Art. Ines Matijević Cakić (Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek) and Prof. Dr. Art. Piotr Józefowicz (Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk). Gilih has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Croatia and abroad. In 2021, she became a member of Croatian Society of Fine Artists Osijek.
Jane Ellen Glasser's poetry has appeared in numerous national journals, such as Hudson Review, Southern Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Georgia Review. In the past, she reviewed poetry books for the Virginian-Pilot, edited poetry for the Ghent Quarterly and Lady Jane's Miscellany, and co-founded the nonprofit arts organization and journal New Virginia Review. She won the Tampa Review Prize for Poetry 2005 for her collection Light Persists, and The Long Life won the Poetica Publishing Company Chapbook Contest in 2011. Her most recent collections, In the Shadow of Paradise (2017) and Jane Ellen Glasser: Selected Poems (2019) are available from FutureCycle Press and Amazon. To preview her work and access her books, visit the website www.janeellenglasser.com
Howie Good is the author of Failed Haiku, a poetry collection that is the co-winner of the 2021 Grey Book Press Chapbook Contest and scheduled for publication in summer 2022.
Amelia Gorman is a recent transplant to Eureka, California. She enjoys exploring the redwoods and coasts with her dogs and foster dogs. Some of her recent poetry has appeared in Penumbric, Vastarien, and The Deadlands, and her first chapbook, Field Guide to Invasive Species of Minnesota, is available from Interstellar Flight Press. Her fiction appears in the Nightscript series, Nox Pareidolia from Nightscape Press, and She Walks in Shadows from Innsmouth Free Press.
Aimée Keeble earned her Master of Letters in creative writing from the University of Glasgow and is represented by Ayla Zuraw-Friedland at the Frances Goldin Agency. Aimée lives in North Carolina with her dog Cowboy and is working on her first novel. She is the grandniece of Beat writer and poet Alexander Trocchi. Her previously published work is here: www.aimeekeeble.com.
Edward Lee is an artist and writer from Ireland. His paintings and photography have been exhibited widely, while his poetry, short stories, nonfiction have been published in magazines in Ireland, England, and America, including The Stinging Fly, Skylight 47, Acumen and Smiths Knoll. He is currently working on two photography collections: Lying Down with the Dead and There Is a Beauty in Broken Things. He also makes musical noise under the names Ayahuasca Collective, Orson Carroll, Lego Figures Fighting, and Pale Blond Boy. His blog/website can be found at https://edwardmlee.wordpress.com.
Paul Lojeski was born and raised in Lakewood, Ohio. His poetry has appeared online and in print. He lives in Port Jefferson, NY.
Steven Mayoff was born and raised in Montreal and moved to Prince Edward Island, Canada, in 2001. His fiction and poetry have appeared in literary journals across Canada, the U.S. and abroad. His books include the story collection Fatted Calf Blues (Turnstone Press, 2009), the novel Our Lady of Steerage (Bunim & Bannigan, 2015), the poetry chapbook Leonard's Flat (Grey Borders Books, 2018), and the poetry collection Swinging Between Water and Stone (Guernica Editions, 2019).
Juan Pablo Mobili was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and adopted by New York later. His poems have appeared in The American Journal of Poetry, Mason Street Review, Thimble Magazine, New Feathers Anthology, The Red Wheelbarrow Review, and The Worcester Review, among others. His work has received an honorable mention from the International Human Rights Art Festival, as well as Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net nominations. In addition to this, he published a chapbook of poems in collaboration with Madalasa Mobili, Three Unknown Poets, published by Seranam Press.
Cameron Morse is senior reviews editor at Harbor Review and the author of eight collections of poetry. His first collection, Fall Risk, won Glass Lyre Press's 2018 Best Book Award. His latest is The Thing Is (Briar Creek Press, 2021). He holds an MFA from the University of Kansas City–Missouri and lives in Independence, Missouri, with his wife Lili and (soon, three) children. For more information, check out his Facebook page or website.
Lisa Panepinto is author of where i come from the fish have souls (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019) and On This Borrowed Bike (Three Rooms Press, 2014). Her writing has appeared in newspapers, journals, and anthologies, including the Glassblock, Maintenant, Pittsburgh City Paper, Visiting Bob, and Yes Poetry.
Niles Reddick is author of a novel, Drifting Too Far from the Shore, two short story collections, Reading the Coffee Grounds and Road Kill Art and Other Oddities, and a novella, Lead Me Home. His work has been featured in twenty-one anthologies in over four hundred and fifty publications, including The Saturday Evening Post, PIF, BlazeVox, New Reader Magazine, Forth Magazine, Citron Review, and The Boston Literary Magazine. Learn more at his website: http://nilesreddick.com/
Johnny Redway is a writer and former English/creative writing teacher, a co-creator and judge of the Denver Writing Project's Colorado Young Writers Contest, and a member of the Mile High Writers' Workshop. He is also the father and agent to a budding rap star. An excerpt from his debut novel, The Cost of Living, and other pieces of both fiction and nonfiction can be found at www.johnnyredway.com.
Cliff Saunders is the author of several poetry chapbooks, including Mapping the Asphalt Meadows(Slipstream Publications) and This Candescent World (Runaway Spoon Press). His poem "Penikese Island Triptych" has just been published in the anthology From the Farther Shore: Cape Cod & the Islands Through Poetry (Bass River Press). Other recent appearances include The Midwest Quarterly, Nine Mile Magazine, Monterey Poetry Review, Blue Unicorn, and Progenitor Art & Literary Journal.
Lesley Sieger-Walls holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Currently, she lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where she teaches college writing classes and conducts walking tours for the Missouri Historical Society. A Kansas native, her poetic focus is typically rooted in the landscapes of the Great Plains and the Midwest. Her poetry has been published in Written Tales Magazine and RockPaperPoem.
Melanie Walker is a writer born and raised in Boston. She received her MFA in fiction from the University of South Carolina, where she now teaches.
Marilyn Wegner lives in San Diego, California. She enjoys the act of creating and considers herself an intuitive mixed media artist. She likes to let her art build on itself and take her to unexpected places.
Christopher Woods is a writer and photographer who lives in Chappell Hill, Texas. His photographs can be seen in his galleries on his website https://christopherwoods.zenfolio.com/f861509283 or on Instagram.
Cynthia Yatchman is a Seattle-based artist and art instructor. A former ceramicist, she received her B.F.A. in painting (UW). She switched from 3D to 2D and has remained there ever since. She works primarily on paintings, prints, and collages. Her art is housed in numerous public and private collections. She has exhibited on both coasts, extensively in the Northwest, including shows at Seattle University, SPU, Shoreline Community College, the Tacoma and Seattle Convention Centers and the Pacific Science Center. She is an affiliate member of Gallery 110, a member of the Seattle Print Art Association and COCA.


Vibrant yellows are great for bringing energy and joy into a room. We have a gift that offers just that, with a splash of the unexpected. Your recipient will receive a lively bouquet bursting with yellow and pink Roses and a spark of Chrysanthemum. Say Get Well Soon, send your best wishes, or brighten your home with Bursts of Sunshine.


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Orchid Island Capital (ORC) | Monthly Dividend Safety Analysis
Shopify Stock Is up Over 40% This Year. How Much Higher Can It Go?
My "Unpatriotic" Investing Plan
Dividend Aristocrats In Focus: The J.M. Smucker Company
Updated on July 19th, 2022 by Bob Ciura
Investors are likely familiar with the standard Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs. Most REITs own physical real estate, lease the properties to tenants, and derive rental income which is used to pay dividends.
But there is a different set of REITs that investors may not be as familiar with: mortgage REITs. These REITs do not own physical properties, but rather buy mortgage securities.
Mortgage REITs typically have much higher dividend yields than standard REITs, but this does not necessarily make them better investments.
For example, Orchid Island Capital (ORC) is a mortgage REIT, with an extremely high dividend yield of 18.2%. Orchid Island pays dividends each month, which gives it the compelling combination of a a high yield with monthly dividend payments. It is one of the 50 monthly dividend stocks.
You can download our full Excel spreadsheet of all monthly dividend stocks (along with metrics that matter like dividend yield and payout ratio) by clicking on the link below:
Orchid Island has an exceptionally high dividend yield and is one of the highest-yielding stocks that we cover.
However, the outlook for mortgage REITs is challenged, and Orchid Island's dividend yield may still not be sustainable even after multiple dividend cuts in the past several years.
This article will discuss why income investors should not be lured by Orchid Island's extremely high dividend yield.
Whereas traditional REITs own a portfolio of properties, mortgage REITs are purely financial entities. Orchid Island is an externally-managed, specialty finance company. Orchid Island invests in residential mortgage-backed securities, either pass-through or structured agency RMBSs.
Source: Investor Presentation
An RMBS is a debt instrument that collects cash flows, based on residential loans such as mortgages, home-equity loans, and subprime mortgages. Mortgage-backed securities are an investment product representing a basket of pooled loans.
As investors saw first-hand during the 2008 financial crisis, mortgage-backed securities can be highly volatile and risky. That said, mortgage REITs were among the biggest winners as interest rates were falling during the aftermath of the Great Recession.
Growth Prospects
Mortgage REITs make money by borrowing at short-term rates, lending at long-term rates, and pocketing the difference, or the spread between the two.
When the spread between short-term rates and long-term rates compresses, profitability erodes. This is why mortgage REITs can be dangerous if short-term interest rates are about to increase.
Interest rates are increasing, and likely will continue to rise in the coming year. Because of this, the stock price for ORC has fallen 36% year to date.
Orchid Island has not been able to produce meaningful growth in the past several years. The company has experienced extreme earnings volatility over the past several years, with a net loss in 2013 and 2018, along with multiple years in which the trust barely generated a profit.
Orchid Island's inability to perform well with interest rates at zero makes it unlikely that the trust can regain its footing as interest rates started to rise.
On April 28th, 2022 Orchid Island Capital reported Q1 results. The company reported a Q1 net loss of $148.7 million. Net interest income increased to $39.2 million from $24.9 million year-over-year. Total expenses stood at $4.7 million. Moreover, net realized and unrealized losses stood at $183.2 million on RMBS and derivative instruments, including net interest expense on interest rate swaps.
Meanwhile, Q1 total return stood at (19.5%) while book value per common share stood at $3.34. The company also reported net portfolio loss of $144.03 million compared to $25.88 million net portfolio loss in the year-ago period. Finally, Orchid Island Capital had $0.155 per common share of total dividends declared and paid in Q1
Dividend Analysis
Orchid Island's eroding fundamentals have caused a significant drop in its dividend payments to shareholders in the past several years.
Orchid Island currently pays a monthly dividend of $0.045 per share, which is 30% lower than the same monthly payout level from one year ago. It also decreased its dividend earlier this year. Thus, the company has had two dividend cuts this year. Orchid Island's dividend payout still remains below the $0.08 per share monthly dividend it was paying in early 2020.
Looking back further, Orchid Island's monthly dividend payout reached a high of $0.18 per share in 2014, but has been reduced multiple times since then.
On an annualized basis, the trust has a current dividend payout of $0.54 per share. Based on its recent closing price, the stock offers an 18.2% dividend yield. This is a huge dividend yield, considering the average dividend yield of the S&P 500 Index is currently 1.6%.
However, there are too many red flags for Orchid Island to be considered an attractive investment, including the trust's multiple dividend cuts over the past few years and inconsistent profitability in that time.
In addition, Orchid Island has issued shares at a high pace in recent years. While the trust reduced its shares outstanding 7.4% in 2018, Orchid Island's share count has skyrocketed since 2013. This comes at a steep cost to shareholders, in the form of heavy dilution.
With a volatile dividend history, Orchid Island is not an appealing choice for investors looking for steady dividend payouts from year to year.
Orchid Island stock appears to be the definition of a yield trap. While the stock's consistently high yield may lure income investors, total annualized returns in the past 5 years have been negative 8.5%, even when including dividend payments.
The stock has badly lagged the S&P 500 Index, and we believe this underperformance is likely to continue.
Sky-high dividend yields can be deceiving. Orchid Island's 18.2% dividend yield is enticing, but this stock has all the makings of a yield trap.
The trust has a sizable amount of debt on the balance sheet, and is issuing shares at an alarming pace. The outlook for mortgage REITs has improved in recent years due to low-interest rates, but this is now changing as the FED will be increasing the interest rates. However, Orchid Island's performance remained poor during the low-interest rates environment. The trust's most recent quarter showed improvement in net interest income, but a decline in per-share book value.
Orchid Island has cut its dividend several times in the past few years due to poor fundamental performance. Investors should tread very carefully with mortgage REITs like Orchid Island. As a result, income investors would be better served buying higher-quality dividend stocks, with more sustainable payouts.
If you are interested in finding more high-quality dividend growth stocks suitable for long-term investment, the following Sure Dividend databases will be useful:
The major domestic stock market indices are another solid resource for finding investment ideas. Sure Dividend compiles the following stock market databases and updates them monthly:
Thanks for reading this article. Please send any feedback, corrections, or questions to support@suredividend.com.
Tags: AnalysisCapitalDividendIslandmonthlyORCOrchidSafety
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Palmyrene is a Unicode block containing characters for the historical Palmyrene alphabet used to write the local Palmyrene dialect of Aramaic.

History
The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Palmyrene block:

References

Unicode blocks
Palmyra

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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THE TALBOT INN
High Street - Watt Place
Talbot pre1927
Closed Talbot Building
Pictured January 2020
The Talbot Inn was first listed in the directories of 1784. Despite retaining it's name, the original pub actually closed in 1927. The current Talbot public house is a combination of a new building and the original pub's carriage house and stables.
The Talbot possibly took it's name from the now extinct breed of hunting dog, although it's also possible it is related to the Earl of Shrewsbury family name. The Earls of Shrewsbury had owned land and maintained a small hunting lodge locally in Alton for hundreds of years. In 1812 the family moved into the lodge permanently and began converting it, after many years (and two Earls) it became the grand Alton Towers.
In 1911 the Palace Cinema opened next to the Talbot (on the land what is now the pub's car park) it stayed open for forty years closing in 1954, the building was demolished in 1962.
A team from the Talbot came second in 1981's Cheadle Festival Pram Race; contestants raced from the Wheatsheaf to the finish line at the Osborne Bingo Hall (formally the town hall) the winner was Carl Penaluna, £80 was raised.
Between 1988 and 2011, the pub was owned by five different breweries; John Smith's, Wards Brewery, Vaux Breweries, Pubmaster and in 2011 Punch Taverns.
Long term licensees John and Hilary Bailey left the pub in December 2011, retiring from the trade. It could be said John was born into the trade, as he was born in the pub his parent's ran and was presented to regulars while only 20 minutes old!
The Talbot was featured on a BBC website feature about Staffordshire's oldest pubs, as did the Royal Oak:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/image_galleries/oldest_pubs_gallery.shtml?9
After having some temporary managers, the pub abruptly closed in January 2017 and was put up for sale shortly after.
Proprietors:
Joseph England (The Universal British Directory 1791, 1793)
John Swinson (Parson and Bradshaw - Staffordshire Directory 1818, Pigot & Co.'s National Directory 1828-29 and White's Directory of Staffordshire 1834)
George Tipper [1834-1860] (Victorian Cheadle 1841-1881)
Emma Tipper (1868 Post Office Directory) [until 1871]
Edwin Tipper [1872-1876] (Victorian Cheadle 1841-1881)
Edwin James (Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire 1880 and 1884) [until 1888]
Ann James [from March 1888] (Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire 1892)
Frank Tipper (Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire 1896, Cheadle Herald 1898)
William Henry Baker (Cheadle Herald 1898, 1901 Census, Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire 1900 and 1904)
Peter Emmett (c.1910 Information and Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire 1912, 1921, 1924, 1932 and 1940)[until 1955]
Mr and Mrs. Ken Garnett (Cheadle Post and Times 1979)
John Bailey [from 1988]
Marti Grice (The Sentinel 2013)


text:
Ballade! var en norsk kabaré- och musikgrupp bestående av Lillebjørn Nilsen, Åse Kleveland, Birgitte Grimstad och Lars Klevstrand, aktiva från 1978 till 1980. Gruppen är mest känd för låtarna "Hei Knut" och "Du kan godt få sitte innte mæ, Leif", The Beatles-låtarna "Hey Jude" och "Got to Get You into My Life" skrivna av John Lennon och Paul McCartney med norsk text av Lillebjørn Nilsen.

Ballade! tilldelades Spellemannprisen 1980 för albumet Ekstranummer! i klassen "Viser".

Diskografi
Album
1978 – Ballade!!! på turné
1980 – Ekstranummer!
2005 – Ballade!s samlede (samlingsalbum)

Referenser

Norska musikgrupper
Norska visgrupper


text:
Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (LJU)
The Ljubljana airport, the largest airport in Slovenia, is located 26 km from Ljubljana city center and is well connected by taxi, bus, and shuttle. There are frequent buses from the airport to the Ljubljana main train station. The main bus station and main train station are located next to one another.
(Click on the + below to expand the details.)
By Taxi: Taxis are available outside the terminal. Cost of the trip from the airport to the city center is approximately EUR 45 and takes around 35 minutes.
By Bus: Frequent buses provide a 30-45-minute transfer between the airport bus stop located outside of the arrivals area of the airport to the Ljubljana city center Air Terminal (actually just a bus shelter). Tickets can be purchased on the bus. See www.ap-ljubljana.si. There is also train transportation to Kranj, expect 15-minute travel time. Timetables can be checked at www.lju-airport.si.
By Train: There is no train service directly from the airport but there are frequent buses running between the airport and the Ljubljana main train station. Check their website for time schedules: www.slo-zeleznice.si.
By Shuttle: MNJ Transfer runs a private door-to-door shuttle. Check the website for times and prices.
Bus: The main bus hub is located in Ljubljana. The network of bus stations and stops makes travelling by bus effective; it is possible to reach almost any part of the country within a couple of hours.
Taxis: Taxis can easily be found outside airports and train stations. It is good practice to ask for an approximate fare before the ride and pay-meter start. Keep in mind that the cost may vary depending on traffic in the city. You can check the meter to see if the tip-"extra" is being included in the fare.
Rental Car: If you decide to rent a car, we suggest arranging this from the U.S. – it's cheaper. Be sure to find out the exact address of the location to pick up your rental car, (preferably at your arrival airport). It's best to make these arrangements in advance. Cars are also available locally, check www.lju-airport.si
Slovenia Train Information
There are regular train connections within all major Slovene towns and one can find several trains a day departing for Munich, Vienna, Venice, Budapest and Zagreb.
Go to Travel Planning Slovenia


Strawberry Mango Sorbet is on repeat in our house lately as a simple summer treat.
Plus, it's totally delicious and features a collagen boost! I don't know about you but when the dog days of summer roll around, my desire to cook goes right out the window. I end up making lots of grilled meats, cold salads, and refreshing treats like this Strawberry Mango Sorbet or my Kombucha Slushie.
Technically speaking, sorbet is usually made from water with fruit juice and sugar or other ingredients. It's then blended and churned and then frozen to give a smooth consistency. It's usually quite high in sugar. I've cut way down on sweetener in this recipe and only used a couple teaspoons of raw local honey.
Y'all, that sounds positively wonderful, but I ain't got time for that! My Strawberry Mango Sorbet is kind of like a sherbet which contains fruit and cream. It finishes to an ice cream / sherbet texture but to make it dairy-free, I swapped in full-fat coconut milk.
The texture comes out smooth and cold without any churning or fancy machines. Truly stupid-easy.
What Ingredients Are In This Strawberry Mango Sorbet?
It's really quite simple to make this recipe.
All I do is blend frozen strawberries and mango in the food processor (this is the one I have) with a few other ingredients. You could really use just about any other kind of frozen fruit that you like. I think blueberries with strawberries would be absolute perfection. If you don't have a food processor you can probably use a blender but you'll need to keep the blades moving so the motor doesn't burn up.
To add a bit of creaminess, I include some full-fat coconut milk. This also helps get the food processor blade moving so you end up with a smooth texture. Truthfully, I like mine with a few small chunks in mine.
For a touch of sweetness, I used a couple teaspoons of raw, local honey. Feel free to make it without honey so there's truly no added sugar. I find it a bit tart without honey – which I quite like – but your taste buds might be different. You could also use maple syrup instead of honey. I added the juice of half a lemon for freshness and to brighten up the flavors.
And finally, I added a super-special boost in the form of Vital Proteins Strawberry Lemon Beauty Collagen!
I'm a huge fan of Vital Proteins – I've featured their collagen and gelatin supplements several times on the blog in the past – and I love finding creative ways to add their collagen to recipes. Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body, after all!
organic strawberry, and organic lemon.
I really like collagen peptides because they mix in well to hot and cold liquids alike. When I saw that it came in a refreshing strawberry lemon flavor, my mind skipped thinking "summery lemonade" and then to sorbet. After a little experimenting, I came up with the winning combination.
Of course, if you only have plain collagen peptides on hand, those will work, too. Or, feel free to leave them out. It'll still be delicious!
Strawberry Mango Sorbet is a simple, sweet-tart, dairy-free dessert that'll cool you off on the hottest summer day. Get the recipe right now!
Load the frozen strawberries and mango into a food processor. Add 3 tablespoons of coconut milk, the lemon juice, honey, and Vital Proteins Strawberry Lemonade Beauty Collagen.
Let the food processor run for 15-20 seconds. If the mixture seems too stiff, add another 1-2 tablespoons coconut milk (I got an ice cream texture with a little over 1/4 cup coconut milk. If you add too much, you'll end up with a smoothie, though!). Scrape down the sides and process for another 15-20 seconds or until smooth.
Serve immediately or freeze, covered, for up to 2 weeks. If frozen, you'll have to defrost it first until it's soft enough to eat.
Feel free to use plain Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides if you'd like. Or omit altogether.
Omit the honey for a more tart sorbet.
Did you love this Strawberry Mango Sorbet? If so, leave a rating and comment below. I'd love to hear from you!
Pin this Strawberry Mango Sorbet recipe for later!
Vital Proteins is a sponsor of Stupid Easy Paleo. All content, opinions, and words are my own, and I only ever share products I believe in 100%.


Kaspersky Lab has introduced a new solution for Android device users – Battery Life. This free application is designed to save a mobile user from that dreaded unpleasant situation – when their phone battery starts getting low at the most inopportune moment.
According to a survey, 9 out of 10 people feel panicked when their phone battery is getting low. This is not surprising, given that people feel more distressed when they are without these mobile companions, than when they are without their real partners.
In many cases, having an uncharged smartphone is not only an unpleasant experience, it might also be unsafe – for example, it might be risky to be without mobile communication in an emergency, or if a user is in an unfamiliar environment. Battery Life is designed to solve this problem once and for all.
The Kaspersky Lab solution analyzes all applications on the user's device and identifies those that are consuming the most energy. This is especially important, considering that 96% of apps on Android devices run in the background, even if the user has not launched them. Battery Life can stop these "battery gluttons" with one touch, thereby extending the device's battery life. Battery Life will also show the user an urgent message if any application starts using more energy than usual.
Another useful feature of Battery Life is its ability to calculate the time remaining before a smartphone's battery is completely low. This information gives users the opportunity to urgently find a way of charging their phone, so that they are not left without mobile communication when they might need it most. Similarly, during charging, Battery Life calculates the time left until the battery is full.
'Our approach to protecting users includes reducing digital risks to a minimum on all fronts, not just in the field of cyberthreats. Battery Life helps people stay connected. However, it is also important to remember about Internet security whenever you are online. And, it is especially important to consider the protection of your privacy from prying eyes, and the protection of your device from loss or theft. For all of these concerns, we have also prepared solutions', reminds Elena Kharchenko, Head of Consumer Product Management at Kaspersky Lab.
Kaspersky Battery Life takes only 15 Mb and runs on the Android 4.1 – 6.0.1 platform in a limited number of languages. To download the application, click on the link.


text:
Hilarious Gift for a Mystery Lover
I was out of town for a while and returned home to find these greeting cards in the mailbox—a gift from my agent, who knows I love mysteries.
The paper is good stock, the print very nice, and the interiors blank. I'm guessing they were ordered from this shop on etsy. Either way, very funny.
Thanks, Yfat.
Tagged: mystery fiction
It's Fourth of July, and a great excuse to highlight the three books we've written associated with American History. Ready? Grab your red, white and blue-striped cupcake and Budweiser and let's jump in, shall we?
Now out in paperback!
Signing Their Lives Away: The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence. This is the grand-daddy of them all. First published back in 2009, the book features short mini-biographies on the 56 men who signed that famous document in August 1776. Oh, you thought it was signed in July 1776? This is why you need the book!
Also out in paperback!
Signing Their Rights Away: The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the U.S. Constitution. The follow-up to the bestseller. We knew we had to write this one as soon as we heard someone remark, "I didn't know the Constitution had signers!" Well, it did. Thirty-nine of them, in fact, and the story of that hot, torturous summer is at least as good as the story behind the summer of '76.
A delightful little hardcover!
Stuff Every American Should Know. Here's a slim, tiny book suitable for gift-giving or stocking-stuffing that touches upon a small assortment of factoids about American history. People love to give this book to kids, but we happen to think grown-ups enjoy it too. Learn about flags, patriotic songs, and Geronimo. Yes, Geronimo.
Photo sent in by an alert fan browsing at a B&N in Charlotte, NC.
One last thing: the editor behind this trio has since left the publisher to go his own way, but I'll never forget the day we met for lunch and he opined that these books are awesome because, at the very least, "they're books people have an excuse to talk about once a year, and you can't say that about many books."
Over the years, those words have proved prescient. People love talking about the signers this time of year. Here's just a sampling of this year's crop of news articles referencing our book:
A lovely story in The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, Mass.: A quick-and-dirty interview I did with a reporter.
Cool piece in The Wilmington Star, NC.: Didn't know they had done a story until our publisher sent the link.
Nice interview I did with Radio America: I was on the road when they called but we managed to speak. The sound file is embedded below…
Another groovy podcast: This one comes with a longer article on the vote for Independence at a separate page.
Great Tampa Bay Times article on a relative of Signer Elbridge Gerry, the father of gerrymandering: This piece first ran in 2014 but they re-published it in light of the recent Supreme Court decision.
Delightful piece in the Omaha World-Herald that recommends our book to help celebrate the holiday.: Just don't get BBQ sauce on the pages.
So there you go. A great assortment of stories and coverage that brings a smile to our faces and proves our editor right once again!
Icepop image by Nick Torontali via Unsplash.
Tagged: fourth of july, july 4th, signing their lives away, signing their rights away
Happy Declatution of America Day!
The long Fourth of July Weekend feels like a good time to run this essay, which Denise and I wrote for Newsday back in 2012.
The problem with American history is that Americans keep making more of it. Citizens can't really be expected to know it all, right?
At least, grown-ups can't.
It seems clear that Americans expect young people to know the fine points of U.S. history and civics, or else no one would get so up in arms when yet another embarrassing study reveals how few American youngsters know, say, the number of stripes on the U.S. flag. And Americans righteously sneer when Miss USA candidates fail to identify the vice president of the United States.
So, our list is growing: Kids and beauty-pageant contestants should have a good grasp of American history and civics.
And public officials, right? Certainly those who would deign to represent We the People in Congress should know some elementary points regarding American government.
Which is why elected officials, would-be officeholders on both sides of the aisle, and even the media who cover them, who confuse the words of the Declaration of Independence for the U.S. Constitution ought to be ashamed of themselves. (When this happens, we like to say that the person has made a "Declatution" error.)
But Americans tend to go easy on the rest of the populace who aren't children, politicians, bombasts or beauty-pageant contestants. After all, one might argue, in a nation of immigrants, who or what decides what citizens should know about being American?
Well, in no small part, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, does. Each year, the hundreds of thousands of people -- 694,193 in 2011 alone -- who are sworn in as new Americans are required to take a citizenship test. To prepare, they feverishly cram down 100 factoids. Of those 100, applicants will be asked 10 in an oral exam. To pass, citizen-applicants must answer six correctly.
The questions are challenging. We dare say most "natural born Citizens" -- who, according to Article II, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution are eligible for the presidency -- wouldn't be able to answer most of them without a refresher course. The questions include: What's the "rule of law"? Name one of the authors of The Federalist Papers. Name two Cabinet-level positions. (Answers: Everyone must obey the law; James Madison, Alexander Hamilton or John Jay; anything from the secretary of Agriculture to the secretary of Labor or the attorney general.)
The resulting irony of the great American citizenship test is that new Americans are often better educated about certain aspects of American-ness than those of us who came by our citizenship the easy way.
Does that matter? Some people would describe such questions as trivia -- good for board games but not really critical for day-to-day participation in American life. And doesn't lobbing trivia at each other kind of, um, trivialize the greatness of the American experience?
Yes and no.
When we do book signings these days, the most enthusiastic visitors to our table are not adults but kids who gleefully announce that they've read our "grown-up" books on the founders and they're excited to know a thing or two about William Floyd or Button Gwinnett or John Morton or Stephen Hopkins, all of whom are largely forgotten signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The parents of these children stand proudly and awkwardly by as we and their progeny talk about how cool it is that the real birthday of United States is July 2, not July 4. How cool is it that George Washington was "president" of the Constitutional Convention, which wrote the framework for our government, and then went on to become the "real" president? The passion of those kids delights us, just as the parting shots of their parents sadden us: "He/she puts me to shame."
We hear you, mom and dad. Once you were that little kid. You dug citizenship, you dug America, but somewhere along the line, it became not so compelling. You, like so many of us, decided that it wasn't important to know the little stuff, anyway. It was more important to get the gist, the broad strokes. When politicians argue about the Constitution, no one expects you to follow them word for word, letter by letter, article by article, right? Isn't it enough to just "sort of" know what they mean and, by extension, to trust that they do?
We beg to differ. As the elections in November near, a lot of insufferable people are going to be telling you what it means to be an American. Don't take their word for it. Arm yourself. It always helps to get out, learn what you can, think for yourself and thus be more properly prepared to peg a blowhard when you hear one.
And in a lot of ways that starts with the geeky stuff. Like, why do we have an Electoral College? And what are the salient differences between our founding documents?
Yes, we know: History is complex, and those deckle-edged books in libraries look so long and tedious. And yes, it takes time to grasp the often complex underlying themes of American history, and to parse the multitude of different interpretations -- but it's always OK to start with the fun stuff. As kids and thousands of new Americans would tell you, what appears to be trivia isn't always trivial. Sometimes, it can be a gateway to deeper learning. It pays to take some time to get to know your nation a little better, from the Charters of Freedom to the Purple Mountains Majesty.
So if we may, some suggestions:
Commit to that lifelong learning this Independence Day. Make it fun. When you're slapping burgers on the grill or hoisting a brew, you can be quizzing your brother-in-law on the origins of our bicameral legislature. If you need help finding appropriate materials, let your librarian, local bookseller or your kids guide you. Our great national summer holidays can be a jumping-off point, too: What are the origins of Memorial Day? The Fourth? Labor Day? When do we celebrate Constitution Day? (Yes, people do.)
If nothing else, a commitment to learning about American history will serve you in good stead this election season.
The next time you hear a politician quote from the hallowed Declatution -- "We the people, who hold these truths to be self-evident, as we form a more perfect union to establish life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness . . . " -- instead of thinking to yourself, "Yeah, I sort of get what you mean," you'll think, "Nice try, buddy -- you sort of won't get my vote until you work harder."
Flag and bicycle photo by @frankiefoto via Unsplash; modified via Book Brush.
Tagged: stuff every american should know, signing their lives away, signing their rights away, fourth of july, july 4th
Science Matters
The World's Most Mysterious Manuscript
I thought I'd revisit this post I did back in 2011, because the video is hilarious and makes me smile. Little did I know when I wrote it that I'd write a book with Gordon Rugg a few years later, entitled Blind Spot, which touched upon some of the issues inherent in his Voynich work.
One of many bizarre pages from the Voynich manuscript.
A few years ago, when I was living in Europe, I wrote an article for Wired magazine about a scientist named Gordon Rugg who put forth a novel explanation for what many people call the world's most mysterious manuscript. The Voynich Manuscript, discovered in Italy in 1912, is a bizarre tome written in an unusual alphabet, language or code that no one — not even the world's best cryptographers — has been able to decode.
Rugg thinks the book is not written in a code at all, but is instead a colossal hoax. His peer-reviewed journal article described a possible reason and mechanism for this. The Voynich MS was back in the news recently because of some Carbon-14 tests which dated the vellum, or paper, to the early half of the 15th Century (between 1404-1438).
Journalist/iconoclast/Village Voice founder John Wilcock corresponded recently with Rugg to see what he thinks of the new data, since it directly contradicts one of Rugg's pet theories that the book may be the work of Elizabethan con man Edward Kelley.
Wilcock's post, which went up a few days ago, hints that hoax theory is not yet dead. Nat Geo ran a video recently about the mysterious book. This clip is from an earlier TV documentary that was delightfully melodramatic.
By the way, there are nearly 200 more Voynich videos on YouTube, more than you'd ever want to watch. I don't need to learn more, frankly. It's clear to me that the book is the work of extraterrestrials.
This post first appeared on my old blog on April 8, 2011. I'm moving it here in an effort to rescue my old content.
Tagged: Voynich Manuscript, Gordon Rugg, Blind Spot
The World of Publishing
Let's Hear it For Imagination!
The secret ingredient in these desserts? Imagination.
I have lot of friends in the publishing business. Lots. And I meet a lot of people in that world as well. Years ago, when my children's book first came out, I was talking to a woman who said she worked for a publisher of textbooks. She told me that her company had a policy of not using the word "imagination" in their textbooks because they feared that books using that word will not be bought in some U.S. school districts.
She explained that the word was too closely associated in some people's minds with the word magic, which, if you recall the debates about the Harry Potter books back when they were first published, is a literary hot potato for many people.
You could say that I'm fascinated by magic in all its forms—as make-believe performance, as real-life pagan ritual, as literary device. I was a huge magic geek as a kid. I still have the wand and tote bag of tricks that I trot out every time the unsuspecting child of a neighbor has a birthday party. Several of the blogs I follow these days are written by modern-day witches. And one of my long-time pet projects is a series of fantasy novels featuring rich magic systems.
That said, I actually get the objection-to-magic thing, I really do. I don't like that people feel that way, but I can live with their objection if they can live with mine. But banning your child from ever reading, hearing, or seeing the word IMAGINATION—the Old French origin of the world means "to picture to oneself"—seems crazy to me. I'd argue you need more imagination to ban the word IMAGINATION for all the harm it will do your kid. The most successful adults I know did not grow up in an imagination-free zone.
I wonder if my acquaintance's employer was the only company to enact such a policy. Since I first heard this anecdote back in 2011, I haven't been able to confirm what I was told, nor have I ever been able to find a news article from a reputable source confirming this person's assertion. It's entirely possible my acquaintance was full of it, but then again, this is not the sort of policy a textbook publisher would voluntarily release to the news media.
Just in case the policy is true, here are couple of copies of the word. Please feel free to copy and paste into your favorite textbook of choice. Give a few to some wonderful kids, and to some boring adults who need it badly while you're at it.
IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION.
There. Now don't you feel better?
Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your collection of free ebooks, go here. Thanks!
Tagged: publishing, Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci, children's books, witchcraft, magic, Harry Potter
Happy Flag Day! Meet the Flag Guy®!
June 14th is Flag Day in the United States, the day Americans celebrate the day in 1777 when Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the nation's official flag. Educators use to day to teach kids (and adults) about flag history, etiquette, and display.
Because of kind of books we write, my wife and I have met a lot of people over the years who are immersed in some facet of U.S. history. Al Cavalari is the proprietor of The Flag Guys®, a company in upstate New York that makes and sells a vast quantity of flags. Today I'm sharing 2010 interview with him.
Thanks for visiting, Al. Can you tell us how and why you became a vendor of American flags?
Funny you should ask. I bet most people can not name the exact day, time and place they got into their line of work. I can. It was January 25, 1981 on Rt 207 in New Windsor, NY. That is the day that 52 Americans arrived on American soil for the first time after 444 days in Iranian captivity. Little old New Windsor, NY, was pleased and honored to have the bragging rights of being the first town in the US of A to welcome home these fellow citizens who had been taken hostage when our embassy was taken over.
I happened to be home for two weeks on a visit from Germany, where I had lived for four years after college. I worked there as a waiter, construction worker, and a nurse's aid. My father is a lawyer and after the Bicentennial in 1976 he thought it would be fun to be a flag dealer. So he became one for fun and kept a small supply of flags that he sold out of his law office. The hostages were to land at Stewart Air Base due to its proximity to West Point, where they would stay for some R and R. The President lands here also when he visits West Point.
New Windsor, NY, 1981.
As you can see from the photo, it was a great day for flag waving. I stood out on the street and sold stick flags. That was my start. After I returned to the US for good a couple years later, I continued to dabble in flag sales as a way to make side money. The more I worked at it, the more business I got. The more business I got, the more time it demanded. You know the drill. I still have some customers from back then.
Which flags are popular for Flag Day these days? Is it is the 50-star flag, or are there other ones that are popular with Americans?
The most popular category is of course 50-star flags of all types. Below that, I bet it is a toss up between military and historic flags with maybe historic flags having the edge. Historic flags are a real niche for The Flag Guys. The Gadsden flag has really taken off the last couple of years due to its popularity among the Tea Party folks. Many people even call it "The Tea Party Flag" because they are unaware of its existence as a Revolutionary War flag from 1775.
It was through my flag business that I became an ardent history buff. Early on, I became interested in The War Between The States from my customers who are reenactors. From there, I got deeper and deeper into all American history to the extent that I am working on a quest to visit the birthplace, home, and grave of every US President and Signer. I can't get enough, especially of our founding period, and intend one day to live in Philadelphia, where I go now quite a bit.
Do some Americans need to be reminded it is Flag Day?
Yes. When I was growing up, this holiday was not on our radar all that much. I have noticed more of an awareness of this day over the last 5 years or so. Locally, a town clerk has made it a cause and the paper editorializes about it. I like the notion that it is a day all about honoring and respecting our flag. The Elks have always been very involved in Flag Day. They do wonderful programs around it.
It's believed Hopkinson chose six-pointed starts because they figured prominently in his family coat of arms.
Because of my New Jersey background, I'm biased in favor of the flag designed by Declaration Signer and New Jerseyan Francis Hopkinson. Can you tell us briefly how you came to sell this flag? Is it a popular seller?
The credit goes to Earl Williams, a fellow member of the North American Vexillological Association, an organization made up of flag scholars and enthusiasts. My connection to Earl and the story of my producing The Hopkinson Flag really began with our mutual involvement with NAVA. I tell the story of Earl and the Hopkinson flag here. Back in the early nineties, he contacted us with the suggestion that we produce this flag. Like most people, I had never heard of Francis Hopkinson. Earl had done a great deal of research about him and his involvement with the creation of our flag. Over many months, Earl gradually made me see that the story is compelling and that a version of what could have been Hopkinson's flag deserved to be offered. Early on in my business, I took suggestions for new and interesting flags seriously and still do. Many of the historical flags I offer have come from requests. So I took a chance and produced a batch. It is a popular flag, though I would not say it is a widespread seller. It does have a devoted following, including a Hopkinson descendant.
How can Americans learn more about how to display and care for their flag?
The flag questions we get come in two categories. One is flag etiquette. I really appreciate it when people care enough to want to do right by Old Glory. Every professional flag dealer I know provides that kind of information. I have an extensive flag etiquette page that deals with all kinds of flag questions that folks ask me. The other category I always get questions about is what I call "tech support." How do I install this? Or how do I attach a flag to a pole? That kind of thing. For those issues, I recommend you check out my "how to page."
By the way, just so you know, I'll be flying my Hopkinson flag today. Thanks for joining us.
Thank you a million for asking me. I've enjoyed it!
Tagged: signing their lives away, signing their rights away, francis hopkinson, flag day
Behind the Art of Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci
Part of the fun of our children's book is looking for all the Fibonacci objects—bunny rabbits, pinecones, sunflowers, spirals—hidden in the artwork. Leave it to two guys from New Jersey to bring this Medieval master to life! I thought I would share the interview I had with illustrator John O'Brien back in 2010 about his sketches.
John: This is the first spread in the book. Fibonacci sits on a hill looking out over a Tuscan landscape. It's a simple scene, but it's a good example of embedding a spiral into the art before kids actually know that Fibonacci's numbers can form spirals. At the beginning, they probably aren't going to notice it. But later, when they go back through the book, they will!
Joe: You have to look closely, but it's a tiny ram or goat that's gotten loose and two farmers are chasing it across a field. The ram's tracks form a spiral. And of course, the ram has spiral-shaped horns...
John: Spirals are hidden everywhere in this book. Sometimes they're obvious, sometimes not. If you look at the tree in this spread, you can actually see the light pencil outline of a spiral. And then I arranged the birds according to that spiral.
Joe: In the finished book, you only see the birds, not what's organizing them.
John: Well sure! Sometimes, I only do things to things for myself, to have a little fun with it!
Joe: Okay, let me set this one up. This is the medieval center center of Pisa, where Fibonacci lived as a boy. He's just run away from school, and he runs out into the streets. If you look closely, you can see him in bottom right.
John: In any book, sooner or later, you have to pull back and show people the setting, give them a sense of the environment where the characters live. And if you look closely, you'll see that the buildings are arranged in a spiral shape, too.
Joe: I must have looked at this a million times and never noticed that! Okay, later Fibonacci sets sail with his father for Northern Africa. I love that you hid numbers in the water beneath the ship.
John: That was a good way to fit in the Hindu-Arabic numerals that he learns about when he's in Algeria. And you'll see that the architecture is different now. Minarets and domes. And in the marketplace I tried to put things people would have sold there. The city was famous for candles, so one of the vendors is selling candles.
Joe: We're going to jump ahead to later in the book when Fibonacci draws a series of squares in the sand. This is the first time we explicitly show how the number pattern forms a spiral.
John: I basically did two scenes, a close-up on the left, and another from higher up when he draws the spiral. Once a kid sees that spiral, they can probably go back through the book and find all of the others hidden in the book. By the way: that's a starfish on the left. It has five arms, which is a Fibonacci number!
John O'Brien
Joe: So now we come to the rabbits. A lot of people have tried to show this progression from one pair to zillions of pairs, but no one has ever drawn it this way.
John: [Laughs.] Yes, I thought it would be fun to put the rabbits inside what is basically a cut-out of a nautilus shell, which is a spiral. On the left is the first month, only 1 pair of rabbits. Then in the second month, 2 pairs. And so on.
Joe: You really only show seven months, though, John.
John: Well, sure! Otherwise I'd have to make the rabbits smaller. After a while, it's just too many rabbits!
Tagged: John O'Brien, Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci, Fibonacci Sequence
Interview: Meet Illustrator John O'Brien
When I talk to kids about my children's picture book, Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci. I like the questions kids come up with. What's your favorite color? Do you have pets? What's your favorite food? But there's one question kids always ask that deserves a more thoughtful answer. That question is: Did you draw the pictures in Blockhead? The answer, as most grown-ups have no doubt figured out, is absolutely not! The credit for the beautiful illustrations goes to a gentleman from New Jersey named John O'Brien.
I'm frankly in awe of John's professional career. On one hand, he draws cartoons and covers for one of the world's most distinguished magazines, The New Yorker. On the other hand, he has authored and illustrated many popular children's books, including Did Dinosaurs Eat Pizza?, The Beach Patrol, and This Is Baseball.
At the same time, he has managed to build a life for himself that allows him to indulge in his lifelong passions. For example, at least once a week he plays with a band in downtown Philadelphia.
Though he lives in New Jersey not far from Philadelphia, he spends three months each year in Miami, Florida, and his summer months at the New Jersey Shore, where he is a lieutenant lifeguard. His love of the sea greatly inspired the beach scenes in Blockhead. Thanks to John's illustrations, numerous librarians nominated our book for their "Mock Caldecott" awards.
John and I have only met once, at a New York signing. But we later got to hang out at one of the classic old New York pubs. I asked him to tell us about himself. Our August 2011 interview follows.
John, did you major in Illustration?
Absolutely! My school was called the Philadelphia College of Art back then but today it's the University of the Arts. It was an artsy, fun environment with a lot of colorful teachers who taught illustration. I remember guys like Ben Eisenstadt and Al Gold, who were older gentlemen who took us under their wings. For a 19- or 20-year-old, it was an experience to hang out with these men. Ben was a collector of old illustrations, and I used to love going over his house to see what kind of images he'd picked up at flea markets over the weekend. Al was a WWII artist who drew images of things he'd witnessed during the war.
How did you become an artist? Did you like to draw and paint as a child?
Oh yes. I was probably drawing when I should have been studying. I'd have to say that half the notes I took in school were drawings.
How is the transition from New Yorker cartoons and covers to illustrating children's books?
My style is the same for both, but the books call for a more sophisticated technique. Sometimes the illustrations for children lead me to a cartoon that I later use in The New Yorker. If I do a book on Mother Goose, inevitably that leads to a couple of cartoons using Mother Goose clichés. I'm sure that Fibonacci will come out sooner or later.
Your children's books cover so many different topics, dinosaurs, musicians, and lifeguards. Are these all interests of yours?
Not all, but a lot of them are. I've been a lifeguard at the Jersey Shore since I was 16 years old. The book I did about beach safety, The Beach Patrol, was very close to what we do every summer. And I play the banjo and concertina, a little bass and piano, most Thursday nights at an Irish club in Philadelphia. I also play a little Dixieland and that inspired my book on musicians.
Can you tell us how you work from sketches to finished ink work? Do you draw and paint by hand or on a computer?
Computer? No! I'm a little old-fashioned. I like playing with paper and ink and watercolors. I'm a 19th century or 20th century guy, I guess. I don't even have a computer and I only got email last year. The work all starts with a series of pencil sketches that I do in actual size. When the sketches are approved, I draw on Strathmore Bristol Board 500 series paper, which is good for watercolors. I go over the drawings with waterproof ink. When that's dry, I erase the pencil. Next, I apply Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus watercolors, mixing the paints with a medicine dropper. That's it. I apply layers of watercolors until I get the effect I want.
Did you enjoy working on our Fibonacci book?
The sketches are the fun part. I enjoyed playing with ideas and trying to fit in as many Fibonacci objects as possible. Once the sketches are approved, then you start the busywork. It's like building a house from that point on. Laying it down, brick by brick, you know?
Reviewers have praised your illustrations for Blockhead: The Life Of Fibonacci, especially how you incorporated spirals and other Fibonacci objects into your scenes. Since Medieval artists often added symbolic objects to their artwork, did this inspire you?
Well, it's a medieval subject, but I was really inspired by the art of master engravers of the 18th and 19th centuries. I still enjoy looking at their beautiful line work. The Fibonacci book just seemed to call for an element of fine art. I tried to insert as many spirals as possible because it's important for the story. There's a spiral on the first page, before kids even learn that Fibonacci numbers can form a spiral. But later, when they learn how the numbers are related to spirals, they will enjoy going back and finding them.
You are a man of many talents. When do you have the time to do your artwork?
Work takes a lot of time, and like most artists, I'm happy when I have the work. I think the main thing I've learned is that art is like music or exercise. I run four miles a day to keep in shape for the shore. It's harder to do in your fifties than in your twenties, but you have to do it.
It's the same with music: I pick up the banjo and play when I should be working, just to stay in shape musically. Art's the same way. I always carry a sketchbook with me and I'm always jotting down cartoon ideas. I'd say nine out of ten ideas don't work out. Every idea sounds great after two beers.
Also, to make more time, I get up earlier these days than I used to. I get more work done between 6 a.m. and noon than most people do in a single day. I love the early morning hours. No one's calling you on the phone, and you can work without interruptions. Illustration isn't a 9-to-5 thing. You have to find the time, and when you do, it's worth it.
I used to live down in Key West, which is Hemingway's old town. People used to wonder how he could hang out in the bars all day. They figured he wasn't writing. But they didn't know that he was up writing when they were still asleep. That's the secret. Get up early. Then play.
Tagged: Fibonacci Sequence, Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci, John O'Brien, illustration, artists


Texas Hold'em poker tournament. $50 entry for 50,000 starting stack.
Registration from 12.30 pm until 1 pm. Late entries allowed until the end of the first break (about 2pm).
Late entries get a 45,000 starting stack.
10% of the prize-pool goes to authorized charitable purposes; the rest is paid out in cash. Players must be members of a Clubs NZ affiliated club or be signed in by an OWMC member.


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Home UFC News Sonnen: Conor McGregor Is The "Greatest Fighter To Have Ever Done It"
Sonnen: Conor McGregor Is The "Greatest Fighter To Have Ever Done It"
Jason Sutcliffe
Conor McGregor made history Saturday night and Chael Sonnen believes it makes him the greatest fighter of all-time.
Saturday night at UFC 205 McGregor became the first fighter to hold belts in multiple divisions simultaneously. However, it was more than just winning two belts, but how he did it. He made it look easy, dropping Alvarez on numerous occasions before closing the show. Sonnen spoke on ESPN and made his case for McGregor being the greatest fighter of all-time.
"I think Conor needs to be recognized as the greatest fighter to have ever done it. This is the first time in UFC history that someone has held a world championship in two different divisions simultaneously," Sonnen said. "Literally, history was just made… Conor does exactly what he said he'd do. It reminds me of the Babe. He used to used to walk out to the mound and he'd say where he'd put the ball, and nobody else had the courage to actually try to do it. Conor McGregor said I will put you away in less than two rounds. For the third straight-time he has called his own shot. He put Alvarez away in less than 10 minutes."
Going into the fight the general consensus was that McGregor was going to have trouble dealing with the Wrestling of Alvarez and that wasn't the case at all. Sonnen was most impressed with McGregor's ability to create distance, keep it there and completely stifle the wrestling of Alvarez.
"I'm absolutely blown away," Sonnen said. ""Conor was never in danger of being out wrestled and taken to the ground, which could also tire him out, which we saw with Nate Diaz. This was one of Eddie's big arguments as to why he was going to beat Conor, and I personally believed it. On paper, it made a lot of sense. The problem was Conor kept his distance, Eddie couldn't get in where he needed. Every time he tried to, Conor would kick him right in the stomach, regain that distance again and keep him at the end of those shots like we've seen him do so well. Coach, that is the real story of this fight, is that Eddie could never get started."
It is unclear what's next for McGregor, and with two divisions full of contenders and even welterweight champ Tyron Woodley open to a fight with McGregor for the welterweight title, the options are endless.
READ MORE: Conor McGregor teases role as coach on 'The Ultimate Fighter' in his UFC comeback: 'I like it'


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BID At A Glance
BID Learning Network
Sustainability & Scale
BID in the Media
BID Newsletter
Developing What Works Best
LearningSharingDeveloping What Works Best BID Learning Network
BID's
Category: Monitoring & Evaluation
Using electronic immunization registry data to demonstrate the value of digital systems
A growing number of countries have embraced electronic immunization registries (EIRs) that enable data-driven decision-making. To better shape the value proposition for countries using or considering using EIRs, the BID Initiative has started a new scope of work led by a global BID Analytics team that will use data from the digital systems in Tanzania. The work builds on previous landscaping and stakeholder conversations held in late 2019 and early 2020, to summarize common immunization barriers and the EIR features that help respond to these challenges.
Going beyond denominators: Defining the value of electronic immunization registries to solve for health system barriers
Data can make the invisible visible. More complete, reliable, and real-time information on health trends, coverage rates, and service gaps can help strengthen health systems and better allocate precious resources. This fact has been recognized by a growing number of countries embracing electronic immunization registries (EIRs) to help monitor individual immunization schedules and vaccination histories. But even as countries adopt EIRs and understand their value, there are many questions about how best to implement them, as well as their effectiveness, cost, and impact on health outcomes.
Journal article assesses the costs and savings of introducing electronic immunization registries
As COVID-19 squeezes health systems, clinics and hospitals around the world are finding themselves strained by the global pandemic. Digital and data systems can help countries respond to these evolving health trends and demands. A recent journal article about the BID Initiative, published in the Pan African Medical Journal, assesses the incremental costs of implementing electronic immunization registries (EIRs) in Tanzania and Zambia. Using data from both countries, BID conducted a micro-costing study about the service delivery and logistical costs of EIRs.
BID by the numbers: New data reveals time-savings, more empowered decision-making among health workers
Beatrice Owawa is a Reproductive and Child Health nurse at the Usa River Health Center in Tanzania, one of more than 1,500 health facilities implementing data quality and use interventions across Tanzania and Zambia in partnership with the BID Initiative. As she toggles between dashboards on her tablet, you would never know it, but Beatrice used to depend on pen and paper for documenting her facility's immunization clinics.
New immunization data reveals state of the field and the important role of data in vaccination
Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) released new immunization data from 2017 that reveals global progress toward immunization targets, and where countries and stakeholders are still falling short. Nine in 10 infants were vaccinated last year, or 123 million babies worldwide. But since 2015, the percentage of children around the world who have received the full three-dose course of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3), has leveled out at 85 percent. DTP3 is a key indicator of immunization program performance.
BID analytics: Leveraging data from electronic immunization registries for meaningful insights
The electronic immunization registries (EIRs) introduced under the BID Initiative in Tanzania and Zambia have now been scaled to 1,571 health facilities (1,273 in Tanzania; 298 in Zambia). Every day health workers are registering new children into the EIRs and capturing their birth date, their caregiver's contact information, and the dates they received their last vaccine. More than 467,105 children have been registered into the Tanzania Immunization Registry (TImR) and more than 96,383 children have been registered into the Zambia Electronic Immunization Registry (ZEIR). That's a lot of data that was previously unavailable above the facility level. But what can we learn from this new information?
BID Initiative digs into data at Teach to Reach workshop
Earlier this month, PATH and the BID Initiative participated in the "Teach to Reach: Innovative Methods for Immunization Training" workshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from May 1-3. This three-day hands-on forum provided participants with an opportunity to use a design-thinking approach to tackle issues related to workforce performance within immunization programs. Approximately 100 participants from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan, India, and other global partners attended the workshop. BID participated in a number of sessions, including a well-received demonstration of the Tanzania Immunization Registry (TImR) during the opening night of the workshop.
Planning for compasses, not maps: BID celebrates a culture of learning, applies principles of adaptive management
Beatrice Owawa's fingers dance across the screen of her tablet. She nimbly jumps from one window to the next, as she checks vaccine records and stock levels in the Tanzania Immunization Registry (TImR) at Usa River Health Center in Arusha, where she works as a medical attendant. When Beatrice pulls up a list of young patients who have recently missed their vaccines, she takes down their names and contact information and begins to call their caregivers. It may seem unremarkable, but the task of identifying patients who have fallen through the cracks used to be nearly impossible. Before TImR, Beatrice relied on paper registries to track "defaulters," or patients who had missed a life-saving vaccine.
What are the costs and benefits of implementation?
How much does it cost to implement BID interventions in the test sites in Tanzania and Zambia? What are the capital and recurrent costs of operating BID interventions? What are the resources required to implement interventions in each district? How do the costs of providing immunization services and reporting compare for the current system and after BID interventions are implemented? What are the benefits of the BID interventions that can be quantified in monetary terms? These are some of the key questions policy makers and donors are asking the BID team as we move forward with implementing interventions in facilities in Tanzania and Zambia.
Increased collaboration among partners in Zambia to improve immunization
Optimizing immunisation coverage in Zambia is an important goal, achievable with Ministry of Health leadership and close collaboration among partners. Implementation of appropriate technology could help to increase coverage, but new technology is not a solution in itself. The skill and engagement of users are critical elements for the success of any innovation.
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How To Coexist With Wild Coyotes—From SF's Own 'Coyote Whisperer'
The Corona Heights coyote. | Photo: Sam S./Hoodline
By Alisa Scerrato - Published on February 20, 2017.
San FranciscoCastroCorona HeightsUpper Haight
Last night, the founder of SF Native Tours posted a video on Instagram of two coyotes he and his guests ran into yesterday during a walking tour in Corona Heights Park.
The furry friends we met on our Parks-Pints-Politics tour today. Have you seen coyotes in the city before? We would love to hear where! . . . . . #sf #sanfrancsico #coronaheights #sfnativetours #coyote #coyotes #wildlife #sfrecpark #sfparksandrec #urbanwildlife #sftour #sftours #onlysf #sf_insta @onlyinsf @sfchronicle @abc7newsbayarea @hoodline @sfexaminer @sfparksalliance
A post shared by San Francisco Native Tours (@sfnativetours) on Feb 19, 2017 at 8:51pm PST
Coyotes have been a trending subject as of late—over the past few weeks, readers have been writing in to Hoodline, and posting on sites like Nextdoor and Facebook, about hearing and seeing these wild creatures, wondering what to do in the case of a close encounter.
Stuart Watts of SF Native Tours told Hoodline that he and his fellow tour organizers, all born and raised in the city, have seen coyotes all around San Francisco over the years.
"We seem to run into them regularly on our 'Park-Pints-Politics' tour, when we walk through Buena Vista and Corona Heights," he said. "I've always appreciated sharing our urban space with wildlife, and I'm thrilled to see when we respect their space."
To clarify exactly what respecting their space should look like, we emailed some questions to Janet Kessler, a long-time San Francisco resident who's often referred to as The Coyote Whisperer.
Kessler has been studying coyotes for a decade. It all started in 2007 when she was recovering from a hand injury. She was walking her dog up to Twin Peaks, saw her first coyote, and was stunned by the animal's intelligence, personality, joy, playfulness and curiosity, she said.
Through constant observation, Kessler became absorbed with coyotes' behavior and documents her learnings on her blog coyoteyipps.com—which has caught the attention of local and national news outlets, like the Examiner and the New York Times.
That said, here's a bit of co-existence guidance the Coyote Whisperer offered via email.
Coyotes have been quite loud lately in the Corona Heights/Buena Vista Park area. They've been howling, barking and almost screaming. Why might this be?
A couple of coyotes might sound like there are many more. Nevertheless, coyotes really are involved in their own lives and this is where the howling is directed.
They howl to communicate between themselves, they howl in response to sirens. They howl in distress when they've been chased by a dog.
They do NOT "howl when planning a kill." In fact, coyotes are rather quiet, they are hunters—usually hunting gophers and voles—they are quiet or their prey would run away.
Also, please know that mating season has just passed—coyotes may be communicating more loudly than usual during mating season.
What should people do if they encounter a coyote?
Coyotes are wary of humans—humans are bigger than they are—and will not approach us unless they have been trained to do so through food-conditioning. So please do not feed or befriend a coyote!
Give them the cold shoulder by practicing complete avoidance. Always walk away from a coyote so as not to crowd it or to invite friendship.
Wild animals may be unpredictable, but also we want our urban coyotes to remain wild by giving them the space they need.
Kessler's footage of a local coyote trying to escape a dog.
What's your advice for neighbors with pets or small children?
Please don't allow your dogs to chase or interact with them. Coyotes see dogs as competition for scarce resources and territories, and small dogs and cats may be seen as prey when resources are scarce.
When out walking your dog, always be vigilant. If you see a coyote while you are walking your dog, it's best to leash and walk the other way, and pick up a small dog while you are walking away.
Keep walking away. You want to maintain distance. When a coyote follows you, usually out of curiosity, just keep walking—not running—away.
If you are feeling crowded by the coyote as you walk away from it, you may pick up a small stone and toss it TOWARDS—not AT—the coyote to scare it off, and then keep walking away.
During pupping season, which begins in late March, coyotes are particularly protective and may message dogs to keep them away from certain areas. They message through body stances, facial expressions and, ultimately, they may nip a dog, usually in the haunches, who intrudes on their space. Grab your dog as soon as you can, leash, and WALK away.
Don't let cats roam free, and don't leave pets unattended in your yard, even with a fence. Coyotes can jump a six-foot fence.
If you don't want them visiting your yard, remove all food sources, including dog food, compost, bird-seed and water. See the video "Coyotes As Neighbors" for a review of the coyote behaviors that concern us and our pets and what to do about them.
Small children should always be supervised when out of doors for many reasons: two-legged predators, cars and dogs, among others. Keep children away from all wild animals.
We all need to love and respect the coyotes, but it is their wildness we need to love, and their space we need to respect. It's really not hard to do.
A coyote spotted in Buena Vista Park last summer. | Photo: Tim Dawson/Twitter
If someone reports a coyote to Animal Control, what happens? It is illegal for animal control agents to relocate coyotes, correct?
Our Animal Care & Control supports coexistence. They also abide by the laws of the Fish and Game Department of the State of California, which prohibits relocation of coyotes.
Animal Care and Control takes note of reported sightings. If there was unprovoked aggression on the part of a coyote, ACC would come and assess the situation. ACC occasionally offers presentations on coexistence.
Note that, in my experience, all conflicts can be prevented by following coexistence guidelines—it's up to us to follow those guidelines.
Seems like there have been a lot of coyote sightings in the past 10 years. Are there more coyotes in San Francisco now than a decade ago?
Well, there are more than there were in 2000 when we had none. That's because coyotes were totally exterminated in the last century, and it was decades before they returned in 2002.
The population has grown since that time, but remember that coyotes need about a square mile of territory per coyote. What I've seen is about one family per park. A family consists of a mated pair and then several pups who eventually leave.
San Francisco only has 49 square miles, so as far as I know, we won't be overrun by coyotes. Coyotes are territorial and drive intruder non-family coyotes out of their claimed territories.
Also, once the carrying capacity of the land is filled, coyotes regulate their own numbers: survival rate for pups is only about 20-30 percent for their first year of life. Youngsters disperse from their families between the ages of 1 and 2 years—these will fill unclaimed niches in the city or move south. Dispersed youngster coyotes from San Francisco have been found 60 miles south of here.
Coyotes have amazing family lives. They mate for life and both parents raise the young. They play, have purpose and direction in their lives, and they have obstacles to surmount, including interpersonal relationships to work out within their own families—not so different from our own.
To learn more about co-existing with local coyotes—especially as pupping season nears—check out Kessler's articles 'How to Get Along With Coyotes As Pups Venture Out' and 'Coyotes Raising Kids In San Francisco,' or the video below titled "Citizen Coyote."


Rocking a new London based studio, Allaby is back, with his new single 'Redshift'.
Once again Allaby delivers the perfect balance between influences of lush techno combined with acid psychedelia like no other producer on the Psy Scene today.
'Redshift' has long since been a secret weapon in the Allaby live set over the last few years already and now finally gets a fine tuning and and release just in time for the summer dance floors.


Welcoming Opelle back to College Street for a week long pop up and sample sale.
Founded in Toronto in 2010, Opelle creates genuine leather bags that embody the principles of A New Luxury. By merging handcrafted quality & process with principled utilitarian design, each Opelle handbag is simultaneously authentic, true to form and perfectly functional.
Each Opelle handbag is individually handcrafted in small batches in their Toronto atelier from top-grain natural leathers in classic and seasonal colours.