Most area schools marked off three calamity days this past week. Following two days of sub-zero temperatures and record wind chills on Wednesday and Thursday, the area received four inches of snow overnight Thursday leaving behind a winter wonderland and dangerous roads Friday morning.
Ohio schools have five calamity days and many saw numbers 6 and 7 this week.
So far, Delphos City School students don't need to make up the missed time as they have plenty of hours toward the state-mandated number. Students in grades K-6 are required to have 910 hours of instruction with Franklin and Landeck students marking 988 hours; and students in grades 7-12 need 1,001, with Jefferson middle- and high-schoolers at 1,012.
"We are following the state rules," Delphos City Schools Interim Superintendent Faith Cummins said Friday.
While Delphos City Schools won't utilize makeup days for students but staff will participate in professional development, including curriculum mapping, on Feb. 18 and April 22. Their contract require them to make up days after five missed days.
St. John's students took home a pair of Blizzard Bags or were given online assignments on Tuesday. The Ohio Department of Education offers three Blizzard Bag days in addition to the five calamity days.
High school students also have preassigned work in case school is canceled.
Students have two weeks to turn in their Blizzard Bag work.
"We hope they are doing the assignments on the missed days but we know they are kids," Lee said.
Ottoville staff and students will have to give up Presidents' Day and one day of Easter Break. Superintendent Scott Mangas is ready for some better weather.
"I am tired of this winter and as far as I'm concerned we don't need any more snow or freezing temperatures," Mangas added.
Calamity days are not given up lightly.
Putnam County superintendents all have MARCS radios and also stay in close contact in the mornings when delay and cancellation decisions need to be made.


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So Sue Me
By Matthew McGarry
One hundred dollar bill Benjamin Franklin portrait looks behind brown craft ripped paper
How savvy people, just like you, use trusts to safeguard assets against potential lawsuits & creditors
If you're like most people, you've probably not given much thought to concepts like estate planning, establishing trusts, or asset management. Don't worry, though; you're not alone. Recent studies have shown that nearly half of all Americans have not done any type of future financial planning such as preparing legal documents such as wills, healthcare powers of attorney, living trusts, and financial powers of attorney. Tools such as trusts are not only effective ways to plan for how your assets are managed and distributed after you're gone, but also helpful tools to keep the wealth that you've worked so hard to acquire.
Admittedly, the idea of establishing a trust can be a bit daunting. Luckily, there are experts—a few of whom you'll hear from here—who can guide you along the right path, and hopefully, help you better understand why having a plan is so important.
Will or Trust?
For purposes of our discussion, we'd like you to meet Bob. Bob is a Tennessean in his mid-thirties who is married to Jennifer. Together, the couple has two young children. Bob works outside of the home, while Jennifer is a stay-at-home mom. Bob has had a pretty good run career wise, and as a result, he and his family have been able to afford a nice home, a couple of cars, a cabin in the mountains, a decent-size sailboat, and a membership in the local pool and tennis club. Between his IRA and stock holdings, he has been able to—so far—set aside a mid-five-figure fund for college tuitions and retirement.
Bob's been talking about estate planning for quite some time, but has put it off thinking it's not going to be a need for years to come. Now, with two young kids, he feels it's time to put pen to paper and properly prepare for both his present and their future. "Without a will or trust, without the proper plans in place, the assets that you'd hoped would pass quickly and easily to your heirs may pass neither quickly nor easily," says Sonny Schow, an attorney with Woolf McClane. "I have seen far too many instances where young parents did not make plans. Those who are left behind, sometimes young children, are faced not only with a gut-wrenching loss, but an uncertain financial future, as well."
In Bob's case, if he were to pass on while his children were young, a trust would save them from lengthy—and costly—court proceedings. "With a trust, there is no need for court involvement and the assets can be transferred expeditiously," says Stephen Gillman of Pryor, Priest, and Harber. "Since there is no such benefit with a will, a will can leave the fate of the minors in the hands of the court."
Bob opts for a will rather than a trust, as it seems the simpler option. After all, trusts take more time and money to create. And yet what Bob doesn't know is that of the two, trusts offer benefits that a will simply does not.
"Trusts are important for a multitude of reasons," says Carolyn Levy Gilliam, attorney at McDonald, Levy, and Taylor, "as they can protect an individual's assets and reduce attorney's fees after their death." Gilliam says that some of the most important times to consider a trust are when a beneficiary is a minor, is disabled or on Medicaid, or struggles with issues rendering them unable to make responsible resource decisions. The trust enables a person to gift without concern of it being mismanaged or causing a beneficiary to no longer qualify for health insurance and Medicaid services, says Gilliam.
In most instances, wherever there is a will, there is probate, the process by which the courts decide how assets are to be distributed. "Here in Tennessee," says Gillman, "we can take advantage of what's called 'simplified probate' where the regular, lengthier probate can be eliminated. This comes into play if the property…is $50,000 or less. Otherwise, probate proceedings can cost up to 10 percent of an estate, and probating a will can take, in some instances, not just months but years."
Gilliam references an additional benefit: "If an individual owns land in more than one state, it becomes much more cost efficient to have a trust versus a Last Will and Testament, as it prevents the need to open probate in more than one state."
It's important to note that the probate process is a public one. All information about a deceased person's assets, liabilities, and beneficiaries, are public. So if you avoid probate, you keep your family matters private.
How a Trust Works
As Bob learns more, he establishes a trust. At its most basic level, a trust is simply an agreement between a trustor and a trustee. In the example of Bob, he becomes the trustor. His trustee is a third party who Bob "entrusts" to hold his assets on behalf of his beneficiaries.
Bob chooses his best friend, Ted. The goal of the trust is to lay out how to transfer Bob's assets to Ted, who then agrees to accept, manage, and protect them, administer them according to Bob's instructions, and distribute the income and principal to his children.
Ted isn't an attorney or a CPA, and he doesn't need to be. A trustee is simply a party that is expected to act with reasonable care in administering the trust. "The role of the trustee can be as simple as writing an annual check to a beneficiary, or as complex as determining the needs of a beneficiary with a disability while managing multiple real properties for the benefit of said beneficiary," Gilliam says. "The most important thing for an individual creating a trust to remember is that selection of the trustee is a key component of establishment."
So Ted's job is to manage Bob's assets and oversee their distribution to his children, in accordance with the terms set forth by Bob in the trust agreement. In essence, the trustee need only be a reliable, reasonable person who the trustor, well, trusts.
"One will want to select a trustee that has good business acumen," Gilliam says, "and is able to make decisions that are in the best interest of the beneficiary.
The trustee could be a family member or a friend, but it could also be an institution such as a bank or trust company. "An individual trustee may not be somebody who is as sophisticated in handling investments as an institutional trustee," says Jackson Kramer of Kramer Rayson, who adds that while you may lose a little of the personal touch, in some cases that outside management can be advantageous. "The larger the trust is, the more money that's involved, the more different types of investments that are involved, it generally is better suited for an institutional type trustee."
These institutions can also provide continuity that an individual, perhaps, cannot. And sometimes it can be more efficient for trust assets to be managed by an objective entity, rather than a relative or friend where relationships and emotions can sometimes complicate matters.
That's not to say there aren't possible challenges. "Often times an institutional trustee has a minimum size or a minimum fee requirement to handle a trust like that so you need to make sure the trust is of a size where it makes sense to pay that fee," Kramer says. "You don't want to diminish the trust assets by paying fees that are more than what the trust can generate." So if your trust is a modest one, a friend or family member might be your go-to.
Funded or Unfunded
Trusts can be set up at any point in a person's life. A funded trust is one into which the trustor has placed assets during their lifetime. The more valuable an asset, the more it would cost to probate. When Bob establishes his trust, these are some of the assets he might choose to place in it: his home and any real estate holdings, stocks and bond, precious metals, works of art, antiques, and collections of value such as art or coins.
An unfunded trust consists of the trust agreement, but no funding. "One of the things that you need to be mindful of is…that you transfer your assets because if you don't you're still going to have to probate the assets that are not apart of that," Kramer says.
If Bob were to pass away with an unfunded trust, the best-case scenario is that he had something called a "pour-over will" directing that any assets in the estate be placed into the trust. As long as no one challenges the estate, a probate judge will allow assets to be transferred to the trust and things should proceed normally from there.
However, if there is no will, getting assets into the trust can be very difficult, if not impossible. "When a trust remains unfunded at death," explains Schow, "assets and property will not be distributed following the trust guidelines. Instead, the assets will be subject to probate, which it's always best to avoid due to time and cost."
Another unfunded trust downside? Any assets held outside the trust may not be passed to the intended beneficiaries since they do not fall under the control of the trust. The short of it is this: it's important to properly fund a trust once established.
Trusts aren't just about what happens to your property when you pass on. Trusts can also be advantageous while you're still here, too. The living trust, also known as an "inter-vivos" trust, is a legal agreement in which all of your assets are placed in trust for your use and benefit during your lifetime.
When Bob establishes a living trust, and places all of his assets within it, he can choose to establish a revocable living trust or an irrevocable one. As the term implies, a revocable living trust can be changed or terminated by the trustee during their lifetime, and as odd as it sounds, Bob can actually name himself as the trustee. He maintains complete control of his assets. He and Jennifer can sell their home and buy another, cash out and purchase stock, buy and sell cars, and more. Everything technically remains as part of his estate, though, so they are still subject to estate taxes. Bob can name Ted as his successor trustee, so if Bob passes with the trust still in existence, Ted automatically becomes the trustee.
While Bob didn't choose an irrevocable living trust, it's a good option for many. This type of trust is one that cannot be changed or amended once established. An irrevocable living trust can be advantageous, especially
when it comes to tax planning. "Tax laws, and with them, the amount of tax paid on the settlement of your estate, can change," says attorney Philip Bryce of Bryce Law Offices.
Each administration takes a different stance on estate tax. Bryce points out that under current law, up to $11.7 million is exempt from being taxed. "Should a new administration decide to lower that exemption to $3.5 million, which is a very real possibility," says Bryce, "that change would bring about a tax loss of several million dollars. My recommendation to anyone who might be affected is to establish an irrevocable living trust before year's end in order to prepare for such an eventuality."
Asset Protection Trusts
Living trusts can be a great way for high net worth individuals to protect their assets during their lifetimes, especially if they establish an asset protection trust. These trusts are irrevocable, which again, means that once an asset goes into this type of trust, it cannot be changed.
A domestic asset-protection trust (DAPT) is one in which the trustor is also named the beneficiary, which grants that individual access to the trust funds. In the case of Bob, Bob would be named the beneficiary of his own trust. The trust can include a wide variety of assets such as cash, securities, limited liability companies, business assets such as inventory and equipment, real estate, and recreational assets such as aircraft and boats.
"If properly structured, a DAPT could protect Bob's assets from a creditor in the event that one should try to satisfy some judgment against him," Bryce says, adding that there are other benefits including state income tax savings when the trust originates in a no-income-tax state, such as Tennessee.
There are also Tennessee Investment Services Trusts (TIST), a little-known asset protection option that came with the passage of the Tennessee Investment Services Act in 2007. "Very few people take advantage of a TIST, which is unfortunate since it can, in certain instances, be a real life saver," Bryce says. "Say, for instance that you, or a family member, are involved in a car accident where a party is injured, and that party takes you to court seeking monetary reparations. As long as the trust has been established properly and all of the conditions met, the funds you've put into your TIST cannot be touched."
Bryce admits, though, that establishing an asset protection trust is rare. "People don't generally think of trusts as beneficial in one's lifetime. Nor do they think of them as a means to protect one's assets," he says. "Truth is, they do both."
Time and Money Well Spent
Bryce hits the nail on the head when he says that trusts, though not the go-to option for many, can be beneficial for individuals, especially while they are still here. They aren't just things to think about for when you're gone.
"Everybody's situation is unique and everybody faces different facts and different considerations and has different things they want to accomplish," Kramer says. "It's not a one size fits all kind of thing. What you're going to have to do is sit down, look at your situation, and decide what is the best vehicle to help you accomplish your goals."
So how do you start doing that? While there are online companies that tout a quick and inexpensive trust establishment process, our experts warn against these. "Don't do this online," says Gillman. "There are a number of important questions that need to be asked when establishing a trust, probably the most important of which is this: Do you need a trust?"
Some people could really benefit from having one. Others, that's just not the case. However, because trusts are extremely nuanced documents, your best bet is to do your homework and consult with an expert. Hopefully, our experts here have given you some concepts to think about.
"Do your research, learn what you can, and make an informed decision," Gillman says. "The time you spend will be time well spent."
Matthew McGarry 27 posts 0 comments
Matt cut his writing teeth at NY ad agencies selling colas, credit cards, frozen confections and more for companies like Sealtest, Coke, and American Express. Over the course of the past few decades, he has made the switch from selling to storytelling, and can spend his days doing the two things he loves most; learning and writing. When not writing, Matt keeps pretty busy simply trying to keep up with his four daughters, three cats, two dogs, and a guinea pig named "Rosie." Luckily, his wife is there to help keep him sane.
The Living Labatory
When Life Gives you Market Volatility….
Real Estate Identity Theft
Fighting Fraud

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Central Texans as a whole share a generous spirit and a thoughtful long term view of what is good for our community.
We all have worked in this community for many years, as have so many others, to ensure that women's health care services are available and affordable. We can attest that Proposition 1 is an unprecedented opportunity to affordably expand and improve health care services for women, children, the elderly, and the uninsured AND to improve access to specialty services and health care in general for all of us.
As Austin grows, our community WILL, by necessity, continue to provide health care services to its uninsured and underserved population. The Proposition 1 election on November 6 will determine whether we do so in a smart, less costly manner; or whether we will continue to rely on inefficient and increasingly expensive emergency rooms that are already overcrowded.
The long-term health of our community is too important for it to be the responsibility of only a few. We are fortunate that we have large institutions such as Central Health, the University of Texas, The University of Texas System, and Seton Healthcare Family with the vision and substantial resources to help address the opportunities and challenges we face. But we must all do our part. The welfare of our community is our responsibility – all of us. Under Proposition 1, our part of that shared responsibility would cost the average homeowner just $9 per month. We enthusiastically embrace this very reasonable investment that will do so much to help expand primary, specialty and mental health care for all of our citizens.
Proposition 1 will ensure that the public interest will drive our health services delivery and funding – our public institution, Central Health, will maintain the controlling interest in how these services will be deployed and funded. Private interests like Seton (and, hopefully soon, St. David's, as well as other private providers in our community) will bring their resources to the table as part of this effort. In exchange, they will share in the new local and federal dollars this collaboration will bring to our region to expand the quality and capacity of our health care delivery system.
We urge you to join with us and other citizens of Travis County who are thinking of the long term "common good" for our region. Years from now, we will look back, reflect on this wise and relatively small investment, and marvel at the long-term benefits it created for our region.


The longer story here is that YouTube recently changed how it handles live streams to improve things for the general user. But it makes things more annoying and difficult for continual, 24/7 live streams like ours. Now if the stream goes offline at all -- as it did this morning when we had a brief power outage at 2:45am -- when it comes back, it gets a new URL, and has all the likes/dislikes and view counts reset.
Harvey naps in the cheese.
However, YouTube does provide two different ways to configure a stream, and we are hoping that if we use the other way, it will no longer have these issues. We're running a test of that right now. The bad news is -- if the test is successful and the other way works, we probably will have to announce another URL change when we switch to that other way. The good news is, it should hopefully be the very last one ever!
Prisma AI interpretation of the previous photo.
In the meantime, the URL at the beginning of this post should work, and if you ever wonder if it's changed, you can always come to this website, and use the 'Live Stream' menu option (though yes, the embedded version there was wrong for a while this morning -- so sorry!).


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Nacelle raises $50 million in series B funding
Nacelle has raised $50 million in Series B funding, announced in a feature article by TechCrunch. This most recent round was funded by Tiger Global, and comes on the heels of Nacelle's Series A funding six months prior. With this funding, we will invest in accelerating our go-to-market, as well as expanding customer success, partner relations, and product development.
"Brands are turning to headless commerce to accelerate their pace of innovation and create unique and compelling online shopping experiences." says Brian Andersen, CEO and Founder of Nacelle. "Yet we've seen even the most creative combination of content and commerce get bogged down with slow-loading storefronts, long development cycles, and spaghetti code implementations. Smart commerce leaders are getting ahead of the headless wave by focusing on performance, developer productivity, and simplifying the adoption of best-of-breed, modern technology." Gartner predicts that 50% of new commerce capabilities will be incorporated as API-centric SaaS services by 2023, a massive shift in the commerce platform landscape.
Since launching in 2019, Nacelle has become the headless commerce platform of choice for composing best-of-breed solutions. We empower commerce business and technology leaders to compose headless solutions quickly with low risk, by providing a single unified GraphQL API layer that accelerates both access to backend systems and shopping experiences. By providing performant, out-of-the-box integrations with popular commerce platforms, storefronts, CMS, PIMs, and more, frontend developers can focus on creating experiences that differentiate their brand in today's experience economy.
Brands can begin their journey to composable commerce with their existing tech stack while abstracting the complexity of the API layer. Built for scale, the Nacelle platform is a purpose-built event driven system that enables connected systems to receive real time updates to changes in state from all upstream services.
In a short time, Nacelle has become the de facto standard for Shopify Plus merchants going headless that want to continue to take advantage of Shopify's functionality and ecosystem. Dozens of leading D2C brands on Shopify Plus have chosen Nacelle to go headless and accelerate time to value, including clean-beauty giant ILIA Beauty that saw a 20% increase in developer deployments after go-live, enabling new experiences for customers.
Barefoot Dreams saw a 64% increase in conversion rate and doubled sales after leveraging the Nacelle platform with Shopify Plus, and reimagining their frontend with Zehner, a leading eCommerce agency and Nacelle partner. Other notable eCommerce brands that have seen success with Nacelle include Enso Rings, and Something Navy.
With this funding we are excited to further expand our solution to merchants of varying ecosystems, tech stacks, and business needs.
"Nacelle is poised to meet the demand it's getting from customers on a wide variety of platforms and to continue to set the bar for the composable future." says Steve Kramer, board member and former EVP of Hybris. "Even the most innovative Heads of Commerce and CTOs don't want to walk away from their tech-stack entirely. Nacelle provides a low-risk path to headless commerce adoption while enabling speed, scale, and flexibility."
Our team sends sincere thanks and appreciation to you—our customers, investors, advisors, and partners—for your ongoing encouragement and support. Thank you for joining us on this incredible journey!
Improve developer velocity with headless commerce
How to determine if your brand is ready for headless commerce
The components of a successful headless PWA


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Framingham Selectmen to get update from Beacon Hill
Dan McDonald/Daily News staff
Selectmen will receive an update tonight regarding several bills which, if passed by the Legislature, will affect next year's budget.
State Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, state Rep. Tom Sannicandro, D-Ashland, and state Rep. Pam Richardson, D-Framingham, will meet with selectmen in the Memorial Building's Blumer Room tonight, said Selectmen Chairman Jason Smith.
Smith said he hoped proposals like closing the telecom loophole tax and a meals and hotels tax increase with a local option would be discussed.
There is a placeholder on this April's annual Town Meeting warrant for a possible meals and room tax increase in case a measure is passed allowing communities to do so.
The town's fiscal 2010 budget assumes that the telecom tax loophole, which would allow cities and towns to tax telephone poles and wires over public ways, will be closed.
Such measures could bolster revenue for the town at a time when Framingham sorely needs funding.
Town Meeting, which has the final say on the town's fiscal 2010 budget, begins April 30.
In other business, selectmen will also discuss the continuation of a door-to-door transportation service for disabled people, called The Ride.
It begin under the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, it has continued under the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority.
"I want it to continue in the same form," said Selectmen Vice-Chairwoman Ginger Esty.
(Dan McDonald can be reached at 508-626-4416 or dmcdonal@cnc.com.)


""Between four million and six million Canadians will use cannabis recreationally next year, says Health Canada, drawing on estimates from both government and private sources.
The Canadian marijuana market is expected to grow fast and based on our model, it is still well under-penetrated, leaving room for significant growth and potential new entrants (assuming their facilities can be financed). We have forecast the peak Canadian marijuana market size to be over $2.5-billion in 2020, assuming full legalization down the road (over $1.1-billion in 2020 without full legalization) - some of these sales are being cannibalized to the black market via dispensaries.
Cannabis seedlings at the Tilray medical marijuana grow-op.
Details of each segment within this industry are provided in this report, as we have constructed a detailed marijuana model to look at the Canadian opportunity. Our marijuana model assumes that the Canadian market would follow a similar growth trajectory and market penetration trend as has occurred in Colorado and Oregon. We have done a price sensitivity analysis of four different marijuana prices, looking at the total Canadian market size. Even if investors assume that our estimates are too high and assume our numbers are 50% lower than modelled estimates, the market potential is significant.
Cannabis Wheaton Income Corp. has entered into an engagement letter with Mackie Research Capital Corp. to act as lead agent and sole bookrunner to sell by way of a private placement, on a best-efforts basis, special warrants and convertible debenture units (as described below), for gross proceeds of up to $50-million.
"Mackie Research has made a very strong show of support for Cannabis Wheaton and the company's innovative platform. We are excited to proceed with the offering in accordance with our original timeline and look forward to working with our streaming partners to advance our collective goals," said Chuck Rifici.
Subject to a number of customary closing conditions (including the company completing the special warrant offering), the company is pleased to announce that a Canadian institutional investor is expected to subscribe for up to $25-million aggregate principal amount of convertible debenture units, with an option to increase its subscription by an additional $3.75-million.
Each special warrant will be offered at a price of $1 per special warrant for gross proceeds of up to $25-million ($28.75-million inclusive of the overallotment option). Each special warrant will be automatically exercised (without any further action by the holder or payment of any further consideration and subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments) into one unit (as described below) of the company on the date that is the earlier of: (i) the date that is three business days following the date on which the company obtains a receipt from the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities for a (final) short form prospectus qualifying the distribution of the units issuable upon exercise of the special warrants and (ii) the date that is four months and one day after the closing date. Each unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the company and one common share purchase warrant of the company.
Each warrant will (subject to acceleration and customary anti-dilution adjustments) entitle the holder thereof to purchase one common share, at any time on or prior to the date that is 24 months following the closing date, at an exercise price of $1.50 per common share. The company has agreed to use its commercially reasonable efforts to obtain the qualifying prospectus on or before the date that is 90 days following closing of the offering, provided, however, that there is no assurance that a qualifying prospectus will be filed or that a receipt therefor will be issued by the securities commissions prior to the expiry of the statutory four month hold period. If a receipt for qualifying prospectus is not obtained before the qualification deadline, each holder shall be entitled to receive, without payment of additional consideration, 1.10 units per special warrant.
Each convertible debenture unit will be offered at a price of $1,000 for gross proceeds of up to $25-million ($28.75-million inclusive of the overallotment option). Each convertible debenture unit will consist of $1,000 principal amount of 6 per cent senior unsecured convertible debentures (CD) and 500 common share purchase warrants of the company. Each CD warrant (subject to acceleration and customary anti-dilution adjustments) will be exercisable to acquire one common share at an exercise price of $1.50 per share for a period of 24 months following the closing date. Subject to the company filing a qualifying prospectus (as described above), the convertible debentures, the CD warrants and the common shares will be subject to the statutory four-month hold period. The convertible debentures will bear interest from the closing date at 6 per cent per annum, calculated semi-annually in arrears on June 30 and Dec. 31 of each year. The first interest payment will be made on June 30, 2018, and will consist of interest accrued from, and including, the closing date to June 30, 2018. The convertible debentures will mature on the date that is 24 months from the closing date. The convertible debentures will be convertible into common shares at the option of the holder at any time prior to the close of business on the last business day immediately preceding the maturity date at a conversion price of $1 per common share, subject to adjustment in certain events. Holders converting their convertible debentures will receive accrued and unpaid interest thereon for the period from, and including, the date of the latest interest payment date to, but excluding, the date of conversion.
Beginning on the date that is four months and one day following the closing date, the company may force the conversion of the principal amount of the then-outstanding convertible debentures at the conversion price on not less than 30 days notice should the daily volume-weighted average trading price of the company's common shares be greater than $2 for any 10 consecutive trading days on the TSX Venture Exchange, or such other exchange as the common shares may then be trading. In addition, upon the occurrence of the trigger event, the company may also accelerate the expiry date of the warrants and CD warrants on not less than 30 days notice.
Subject to a number of customary closing conditions, including TSX-V approval, negotiation of definitive closing documents, reconfirmation of pricing, due diligence and the absence of a material adverse change, the offering is expected to be completed on or about June 21, 2017.
Stock still halted. I hear further news coming. I am guessing a financing??


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Rare Roman Wooden Figure Unearthed in England During Construction of New Rail Line
Coming Home to Liberace: Julie Ault's Collection Returns
By Matthew Shen Goodman
Matthew Shen Goodman
More Stories by Matthew Shen Goodman
Turning one's private art collection into a public exhibition is an uncommon feat, usually the province of the hyperwealthy collector or the feted dealer (see, for example, the upcoming Ileana Sonnabend show at New York's Museum of Modern Art). "Macho Man, Tell It To My Heart" is the rare exception–an exhibition of works selected from (or closely connected to) the collection of Julie Ault: artist, curator, writer and founding member of New York artists' collaborative Group Material (1976-1999).
Now taking over both of Artists Space's locations (Greene Street and Walker Street) after appearing at the Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Basel, Switzerland, and Culturgest in Lisbon, Portugal, the show was put together by a group of curators including Ault, Martin Beck and Danh Vo. The exhibition features more than 40 artists, including Sadie Benning, Edward S. Curtis, Thomas Eggerer, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Jenny Holzer, Roni Horn, Sister Corita Kent, Andres Serrano, Nancy Spero, Carrie Mae Weems and Martin Wong. With its accompanying catalogue, full of photographs of the works in their domestic contexts in Ault's homes in New York and Joshua Tree and annotations detailing, among personal narrations and technical notes, Ault's many artistic collaborations, the show provides both insight into the transition of the collection from a private entity to a public exhibition and a history of political, communally minded art-making in downtown New York of the '80s and '90s.
Ault spoke with A.i.A. at Artists Space's Greene Street loft about Liberace, homecoming and her discomfort with the term "archive."
MATTHEW SHEN GOODMAN I wasn't expecting the show to start off with Liberace.
JULIE AULT In every venue that we've done the exhibition, the Liberace video is at the onset. It replaces a formal introduction to the show. Artists Space put up a written introduction here, but the curatorial team didn't actually write anything. We didn't contextualize it that way.
SHEN GOODMAN What's the documentary of, exactly?
AULT It's called The World of Liberace. He shows pianos, cars, furnishings–not so much artworks but things he liked and things he used in his performance and practice. I got it at the Liberace museum.
SHEN GOODMAN This is a homecoming of sorts for the works in the show, right?
AULT This is the last exhibition. We hadn't originally thought of the show going to New York. When [Artists Space executive director] Stefan Kalmár saw the show in Basel he was so immediately enthused that he wanted us to come over and show here. Not all of the work comes from New York, but a fair amount does. It all has to come home anyway, so it can come home in a public context.
SHEN GOODMAN Do the constellations of works you've arranged here correspond to how they're hung or placed in your own home?
AULT Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. We want to respond to the space we're in, to the architecture of the place and the viewing narratives set up by the different venues. Basel had a totally different building, some natural light, but almost '70s style. Lisbon had very formal, classic galleries. We also gave a lot of thought to the works' provenance, pairing them based on their histories and so on. I think the principle at the beginning was no work would be hung alone–everything's about exchanges and pairings and collaborations. That's the core of the collection and the exhibition.
There are also pieces that aren't necessarily from either of my homes. The collection proper, meaning things still in my possession, is the source, but it's been extended to include works I don't own. We even borrowed back some pieces that I've given away over the years.
SHEN GOODMAN More homecoming.
AULT I don't like to use the word "reunion," but it is a reuniting. Not only with works but also artists that I've had strong dialogues or relationships with over time. For example, Wolfgang Tillmans is someone I've had a strong dialogue with. I've written about his work, and I actually have a beautiful small photograph he gave me, but we wanted something else and invited Wolfgang to think about it. You'll see it at the Walker Street space, it's a beautiful print of a photograph that he took on a road trip with Martin Beck and me to Las Vegas.
Another work that wasn't in my collection was Gold Field by Roni Horn. We really wanted a strong sculpture of Roni's; she's someone I've had a good dialogue with over the years. She said that when she made this piece she was just starting out as an artist–it's from 1982–and she wanted to show it at Artists Space. When she proposed it to them, they turned it down, which makes this another kind of homecoming. You can't actually see this piece anywhere now without stanchions surrounding it, which isn't the way it's supposed to be shown, so she lent us her own version. She said, You can use it as long as someone's watching.
SHEN GOODMAN Looking at your preface in the catalogue, it seems like you resisted using the word "archive." I was wondering your thoughts on that, as, while this all feels a lot more personable and alive than how many might view an archive, there is a lot of material from a very specific period in New York that shares a very political lineage from that time, which seems to call for some sort of archive.
AULT Collection and archive are terms that I wanted to avoid. I'd much rather use "collected by" to keep everything active. So that it's not something finite. Of course, I'm very invested in archiving and I think that the archiving of art history and cultural history is something we can widen. The show is invested in those things, but I didn't want to have to use the terminology. I was a bit resistant, but now I think I'm a little easier going about how it might be perceived.
As far as the history, when you really look at the checklist, there's a lot from New York and artists who died during the AIDS crisis and soon thereafter, a lot of overlapping and intertwining of social histories and landscapes of the mid '80s to the early'90s. But there's also so much more; I don't want to see that era dominate. I'm hoping it doesn't become a melancholy lens to see the show through.
Julia Ault


Since 2002, the closest thing boxing has had to a true champion is the owner of the Ring magazine belt in any given division. As of Thursday, that is no longer true. The Ring announced changes to its championship policy that, flatly, killed any claim the magazine can make to being custodians of an authentic championship lineage.
For those unfamiliar with the previous policy, the only way one could become the champion of a division was to beat the existing champion, or, in the event of a vacancy (for instance, if the champion retires or otherwise relinquishes his belt), for The Ring's #1 contender to face off with the #2 contender; occasionally, a #1 vs. #3 contender would be accepted.
The new policy vastly expands the eligible contenders who can win a vacant belt. Under some scenarios, a #2 could face a #5 contender. The reasoning for this change is that there were too many vacancies. And it's not as if that's not a valid problem; our own Scott Kraus analyzed the nature of that problem here, and came up with a proposal that the new Ring policy largely mirrors. What is terrible about The Ring's solution to that problem, though, is that it is a solution to one peripheral problem that fundamentally hollows out the very purpose of Ring belts. Here's how.
2. One thing that is important about a lineal championship is to tie the current champions to those who came before; the heritage of the championship is part of its appeal. It is highly unlikely that anyone will now consider a belt acquired when a vacancy was filled by a box-off between #2 and #5 to be the "lineal" belt. If anyone does consider that lineal, they shouldn't. To anyone who has an interest in tracing championship lineage, Ring's new policy creates a void.
3. Far from a motivation for "the best to fight the best," this new policy is, if anything, likely to incentivize the opposite. I don't know what percentage of fighters care about the Ring belt; some of them do, like Andre Ward, who, upon winning the Ring super middleweight championship, displayed that belt as his post-fight press conference above all others. But now, if a fighter does care about acquiring the belt, the #1 fighter can come up with an excuse why a dangerous #2 fighter won't face him and hope that Ring sanctions him against someone far weaker. In the minds of the Ring editors, perhaps a top-rated boxer's chance of being passed up for a chance at the Ring belt will light a fire under him to face the top man. Best of luck on that.
5. Ring shouldn't have champions just to have them, and in so pursuing that goal, Ring's editors have whittled away one of the few mechanisms whereby boxers can be persuaded to chase them. It would be great if Ring's vacancies were filled organically. This way? Opposite of great. This has already done massive damage to the belts' status, and that status is conveyed by boxing writers and fans who have adhered to the Ring belt as the gold standard. Look at the comments section on Ring's announcement of its policy change; that policy, with just a couple exceptions, is getting ripped to pieces. ESPN's Dan Rafael abandoned the belts in light of this new policy change. The operator of the biggest boxing blog, Bad Left Hook's Scott Christ, has revoked his endorsement of them. I also have decided to break my own ties with the Ring belt. I resigned from the Ratings Panel Thursday, and will shortly redo this site to remove the bar to the left. And I suspect this is only the beginning of the backlash. If the Ring belt has no power with the fans or media, what motive is there for boxers to attain that status symbol? What public pressure, however limited it was before, will any of us exert on fighters to convince them the Ring belt is THE belt? The answer, in both cases, is none.
I wonder what the future holds. I don't think this makes the Ring belt "the same" as the alphabet gang; even with my criticism of their rankings of late and how champions will be selected going forward, I strongly suspect that Ring's ratings and champions will be more realistic than the WBCs and IBFs of the world, however bastardized they are now becoming. But this does feel like a strong step toward Ring becoming more like a sanctioning outfit. Will they soon request money? Will this open the door to favoritism of Golden Boy-promoted fighters, as GBP owns Ring? Will anyone step forward to fill the void of tracing lineage? (I didn't even touch on what's problematic about their policy on stripping "champions.") Will Ring recognize what a monumental misstep they've made and revoke their policy? These are some of the questions floating around, and I have no answers. All I know is that there's nothing good about this.


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SOCIAL HOUSING. CAN CARALLEU, BARCELONA.
PERIS + TORAL ARQUITECTES
Marta Peris, José Manuel Toral
Photos by:
José Hevia
Typology:
Collective housing
The project is organized in two blocks supported by a base and joined by a wall that creates a unitary image and separates private from public space. A mechanism of slight setbacks is used to nuance the proximity of the buildings, extending the point of greatest tension. The volume is emptied out on the top floor, eliminating the north-facing dwelling, and on the ground floor, to create the entrance porches.
The building houses 36 apartments of 40 m2 for young people, laid out around a central nucleus that houses the service spaces. The bedroom and living room are designed as a flexible, continuous space. The displacement of the nucleus from the centre of gravity of the floor plan frees up space for the entrance, the utility area and the kitchen, while the free-standing bathroom generates a double circulation producing apparently unlimited space where the occupants never have to retrace their steps. The occupation of the nucleus activates the empty space around it: not so much left-over space as one that the inhabitants discover as they move around it, as it empties.
The undifferentiated use of the space is expressed by a single window type in the composition of the façade. To mitigate traffic noise there is an acoustic filter in the form of galleries, whose shadows give the façade greater depth. Shutters project from the windows to cast shadows that move according to the angle of the sun. Four large openings mark out the building's structure as seen from a distance from the Ronda de Dalt beltway.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


A software program for reading and posting articles to newsgroups. Most Web browsers (such as Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer) have the functionality built-in so that all you need to do is configure your computer to read and post news articles (the newsgroup messages). A newsreader is also contained within e-mail programs (such as Outlook Express) and there are a number of highly featured stand-alone programs available.


(1929-2003) Chinese author, born in Vietnam to ethnic Chinese parents, repatriated in the early days of the People's Republic, sometimes called the "father of Chinese sf" for establishing, in his article "Tantan Kehuan Xiaoshuo" ["Discussing the SF Novel"] (1958 Dushu Ribao), the didactic tone of Children's SF that allowed the genre to survive in an authoritarian environment hostile to imaginative fiction. A research fellow at the Beijing Astronomical Observatory, he also wrote many works of nonfiction and science popularization, including an account of Cosmology that became an award-winning school textbook.
Zheng rose to fame with Cong Diqiu dao Huoxing ["From the Earth to Mars"] (1954 Zhongguo Shaonian Bao), a self-explanatory Edisonade deliberately designed to smuggle educational points into an adventure story. Before relations soured between China and the Soviet Union (see Russia), he achieved foreign recognition within the Communist bloc for "Huoxing Jianshezhe" ["Builders of Mars"] (1957 venue unknown), a tale of Colonization of Other Worlds less notable for its setting (see Mars) than for the implication that the Earth has become a single, utopian Marxist state.
During the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, Zheng was exiled to Guangdong Province, where he worked on a farm for several years. Rehabilitated after the death of Mao and the fall of the Gang of Four, he wrote the understandably embittered "Diqiu de Jingxiang" (October 1980 Shanghai Wenxue; trans Sun Liang as "The Mirror Image of Earth" in Science Fiction From China, anth 1989, ed Wu Dingbo and Patrick Murphy), an abortive First Contact story in which Chinese explorers on an uninhabited planet come to realize that the natives have fled in disgust. Holographic film clips of several periods in human history are presented as evidence, although pointedly the most recent is the Cultural Revolution, and the explorers' Spaceship is named the Hundred Flowers, in reference to a famous 1957 speech by Mao Zedong: "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend."
Feixiang Renmazuo ["Forward Sagittarius"] (1979), billed as China's "first SF novel" although there are several earlier claims (see China), depicts Cold War espionage forcing China's first spaceship, "The East", to launch ahead of schedule and far off course (see Fantastic Voyages). The young crew are able to harness a Black Hole as a new Power Source, in order to return safely to Earth. Other stories from Zheng's brief early-1980s flowering often centred on situations Under the Sea. "Haitun zhi Shen" ["God of the Dolphins"] (original date and venue unknown) is an exercise in Uplift in which Chinese scientists invent a machine to translate dolphins' language, only to discover that the creature have a complex sense of Religion. To the likely irritation of atheist Party scrutineers, in a story that purports be an exercise in Linguistics or Biology, Zheng's real purpose is a discussion of the evolutionary value of belief in a higher power.


Embargoed to 0001 Wednesday January 02 File photo dated 14/10/14 of estate agents signs. The number of first-time buyers getting on the property ladder with a mortgage in the last 12 months was at its highest level since 2006, according to estimates from Yorkshire Building Society.
IT DOES bode well that the number of first-time buyers gaining a foothold on the property ladder in the last 12 months was at its highest level since 2006 according to Yorkshire Building Society.
This shows that the Government's Help to Buy scheme, or its many variations, is beginning to make a difference. Yet, while this is welcome, it could be short-term if Ministers are unable to accelerate housebuilding policies to keep up with demand.
The consequence will be even more young people unable to afford a mortgage at a time when Theresa May's government has repeatedly said that this is its number one domestic priority.


text:
The city of Huntsville has big plans to expand its music scene
Posted 5:48 pm, October 10, 2019, by Jordan Dafnis, Updated at 11:05PM, October 10, 2019
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The city of Huntsville began a music audit in April 2018, now they are sharing the next steps.
Huntsville leaders hired Sound Diplomacy of London to conduct the audit. After they analyzed the city's current music economy they made tangible recommendations on how they can grow it through building infrastructure, updating zoning, and creating better collaboration opportunities.
As North Alabama continues to grow there is an increased need to attract more employees. The city of Huntsville hopes that creating a more vibrant music scene can help them convince prospective employees to call Huntsville home.
Huntsville Manager of Urban and Long Range Planning, Dennis Madsen said, "It's not just about affordable housing and a good job. A lot of folks want to know when I am not at work or I am not at home there are fun things to do."
Madsen says the city didn't just take on the audit because they "like music" they saw it as an opportunity for economic development. "When you grow an industry that has potential you can support all of the attendant industries that serve it," Madsen said. "If you start getting more concerts that means more revenue for hotels, more revenue for restaurants, that's more revenue for other amenities that might be served when people come into town."
Madsen also said the region has a deep musical heritage and that is something they want to embrace. Many people travel from all over the world to visit the Shoals and tour 'Fame Recording Studios' and 'Muscle Shoals Sound Studio'. The city of Huntsville wants to make the region a place music fans want to linger around in.
Implementing all of the findings will take years but here is what you can expect to see soon.
A volunteer music board
A music officer
More elaborate local music events
THE MUSIC BOARD
Madsen said the first step is to create a music board. He said the volunteer board will be made up of 7-9 community members that are involved in the local music industry.
"Maybe some artists, some folks who manage venues, some folks who program music, maybe produce music, to kind of get them together to serve on something kind of like the arts Huntsville board," said Madsen
The board will help the city facilitate and manage the audit findings to improve the local music scene.
Madsen said city leaders chose to appoint a board because they recognize they are just that, a city government and they recognize there is a lot they don't know about the music field.
The board would give us insight as to who the city should reach out to, when and where they should host festivals and work as a liaison between the city and the music community. "We see it very much as kind of a partnership," said Madsen.
30 to 40 people have already turned in statements of interest, and the city is still welcoming more applicants. To apply, reach out to Dennis Madsen. His email is music@huntsvilleal.gov.
The city legally has to create an ordinance before they can appoint the board. Madsen said they are working on the ordinance right now, and they expect to have it approved within the next month. They plan to have the board established by the end of 2019.
Madsen said the private industry is also taking off on its own. He mentioned Codie Gopher who is the Co-founder and General Manager of Slow Motion Soundz, an independent music company based here in Huntsville.
On October 17 Gopher is hosting a Hip-Hop Tech Conference for the fourth year. According to the event's website, this year's focus is on establishing the possibilities for Hip Hop Tech development, defining the direction of teaching Music Technology in Huntsville public schools, the global influence of hip hop, the future of STREAM, and many more real-time issues.
The city said they are potentially interested in building on events like this to add to the music economy.
MUSIC OFFICER
The city will also appoint a music officer. The position will be a full time paid position. They will be responsible for coordinating all of the efforts and putting them into action. They plan to have the role filled by the end of 2020.
Madsen said the city is considering redoing John Hunt Park. The city is going to add a mountain biking and cross country track, and they are considering music as they make changes.
There are also plans to build a $4 million 8,500 capacity amphitheater in Mid-City.
MORE MUSIC IN SCHOOLS
Madsen said implementing music in schools will likely take "a lot of work and a lot of partnerships" but they already have a head start.
He said people like Mario Maitland with the Maitland Conservatory are already partnering with schools. The conservatory partners with Jemison High School and has created a music technology club.
Madsen said the city hopes to expand on the idea that students can learn about what goes into producing music. "It helps folks understand that while we are frequently exposed to the artist, there is a whole lot that goes into presenting the artist," Madsen said.
From production to graphic design, the city said that high school students would benefit from learning these trades.
He said adding more music curriculum to schools will not just help students pursue a career in the industry, it will also help them appreciate it.
"You're not just creating artistry, you're creating a broader audience for the artist," Madsen said.
Madsen said that many parents have reached out to the city to establish more children's productions.
He says there are already a few opportunities for that around the city in places like Tangled Strings, but he thinks there may be opportunities to add more.
The city has been talking with some other places that have venues that may be willing to support an 'Emerging Artist Night' where artists can perform and gain some exposure.
Anther opportunity mentioned by Madsen was more neighborhood music festivals or neighborhood festivals in general.
"The great thing about neighborhood festivals is it's a great way for emerging artists to kind of get their feet wet," said Madsen.
Creating more opportunities could be a key part of growing the region's music scene.
For more information on the music audit or if you have questions or ideas email music@huntsvilleal.gov.
Filed in: Huntsville
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Privates are the best way to improve at your own pace to focus on your specific dance goals and needs. Contact Desiree to setup your lesson!
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The Pearl is a new mixed media dance concert series, giving choreographers and artists the opportunity to present new work. This quarterly series is designed to bring concert dance to viewers from the most avid to first time theater goers. The Pearl takes a youthful approach—luring New York City audiences by incorporating local talent and a DJ.
Interested in learning and performing with Desiree? Click here to join the next performance cycle, information and updates about GDC.
Desiree was chosen again as a choreographer at the 2016 E-Moves presentation!!! Make sure to read about what Harlem Stage is doing with new talented artists.
Don't sleep! Get your Godsell Dance Collective t-shirt while they're still in stock. Women's and Men's/Unisex styles. For current sizes and stock, email Desiree directly.
Desiree is an SG1 – one-half of a dancing duo for Atlantic recording artist Santigold. Click here to listen to her new album 99 cents!
Make sure to read this article about "Mambo Mambo" which received laudable reviews by the New York Times.