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After Mrs Rochester: A play about Jean Rhys
The Woodley Theatre Company (Reading, England) is presenting an amateur production of Polly Teale's play After Mrs Rochester, which is based on the life of jean Rhys. The play will be performed at Oakwood Centre in Headley Lane from Tuesday, June 16 to Saturday, June 20 at 7.45pm. Details can be found at www.woodleytheatre.org.
It is not that we expect any of you to rush to Reading next weekend, especially for an amateur production (unless you are already in the neighborhood)—only that the announcement of the amateur theatricals reminded me of the play, which I saw in its original production by Shared Experience in London with Diana Quick excellent in the role of Jean Rhys.
The play takes place in an Bertha Mason/Antoinette Cosway's attic room as Jean, battling with depression and alcoholism, reminisces on her past. Characters from her book, particularly from Wide Sargasso Sea enter the space as the play interweaves key events in Jean's life from the West Indies and Europe, with those from Jane Eyre. Also in the attic is Bertha Mason, acting as Jean's alter ego. She is on stage throughout the play gaining a stronger presence as Jean's own madness starts to emerge.
The original production at Shared Experience, which was directed by the dramatist herself, drew high praise from both audience and critics. It won the Time Out award for Best West End Production. The Evening Standard called it "Breathtaking…a rare feat of theatrical imagining." The Times wrote that After Mrs Rochester "tells Jean's compelling story and reveals how her obsession with Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre became the catalyst for one of the works of genius of the 20th century." The Mail on Sunday called it "an outstanding production flawlessly performed."
Diana Quick, we should note, had already established her Dominican credentials when she played the role of the mother in Channel Four's adaptation of Phyllis Allfrey's The Orchid House, which was filmed entirely in Dominica.
For more on the Shared Experience production go to http://www.sharedexperience.org.uk/past2.asp?levtwo=1&ord=3
The text of After Mrs Rochester is available from Nick Hern Books Ltd, The Glasshouse , 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP Tel. 44 (0)20 8749 4953, Fax 44 (0)20 8735 0250, E-mail: orders@nickhernbooks.demon.co.uk or www.nickhernbooks.co.uk
Posted in Literature, TheaterTagged After Mrs Rochester, Jean Rhys, Polly Teale, Wide Sargasso SeaBy lisaparavisini1 Comment
One thought on "After Mrs Rochester: A play about Jean Rhys"
http://arduino.org says:
Deliberative changes towards the spine induce slight misalignment in the
vertebrae, and like a result the discs can sustain trauma from
compression, and from nicks and tears. I can comprehend what many others go through,
next to my personal mother who has the same challenges as I do myself, and for myself, I never realized
what this pain can do to one.
← Harry Belafonte presents humanitarian award to Wyclef Jean
In defense of V. S. Naipaul →


The Russian Federal Customs Service intends to open new offices in three countries, first deputy head of the Federal Customs Service, Ruslan Davydov said.
Davydov made the remarks at a press conference on Jan. 24, AzerNews reported citing Trend.
"We have offices of the Federal Customs Service in 20 countries and intend to open offices in three more countries," he added. "In particular, we show interest in the Netherlands, which is a big transit point for Europe and China."
The two other offices will be opened in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, the Federal Customs Service said.


On Tuesday, November 13, at 2 pm, you're invited to join preservation specialist Denis Semprebon for an up-close look at the exterior restoration currently underway at the Mary Baker Eddy Historic House in Amesbury, Massachusetts.
Denis Semprebon is the owner of Beacon Hill Restoration. He taught historic preservation for 20 years at the North Bennet Street School in Boston.
The house is located at 277 Main Street. The program will last about 90 minutes. There is no charge for this event and reservations are not required.
For those unable to attend the program, please enjoy this video of the restoration – and stay tuned for updates as the project progresses!
And we have good news to share!
we met the $50,000 challenge grant for the restoration of the windows at this house.
A very special thank you to everyone who contributed!


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Does Office Décor Affect Your Well-Being?
Work-related stress is an important factor in your well-being. It is not a secret that working long hours in a non-friendly environment might have a negative effect on your health and even cause depression. Bad management practices, lack of support and physical work environment are among the reasons causing work-related stress.
Excessive amounts of work-related stress can mess with your productivity, mood and emotional health. The way you deal with your stress is a key element. You can either be successful and keep it under control, or let the stress overwhelm you and dictate you what to do.
Many people fear they might lose their jobs. The downhill economic situation contributes to the widespread fear of 'layoffs' and 'budget cuts.' As a result the levels of uncertainty, fear, and stress have significantly increased since 2008. It is important to learn new ways of coping with stress to increase your productivity and confidence at work.
The better you know how to manage your stress, the more positive outcome you'll get out of it. Keep in mind that your negative mood affects your colleagues as well. Seeing the bright side of things is an art, but if you learn how to have a positive eye on things, you will notice that your work situation isn't that bad after all.
The things around you have a direct impact on your emotional state. Get rid of that old poster on the wall that irritates you every day at work. Bring some colorful orchids to work and enjoy their beauty every time you feel stressed. There should be some positive décor element that would put a smile on your face; be it the picture of your child or a favorite pet.
Redecorating and changing your office space can have a direct impact on your mood. The office setup and furniture can lower or boost your productivity. In some cases you cannot change the existing ventilation system or the table arrangement. Even though studies have shown that multiple computer screens boost productivity, in some cases your employer simply cannot afford it. Nonetheless, there are some easy ways to improve your office environment by changing simple things.
Some employers don't invest enough money in office décor and furniture. However, it doesn't mean that you cannot improve your work conditions. To the contrary, you can replace your chair and feel the difference.
If you spend long hours at the office and suffer from increased back pains, you need to consider changing your chair. If your employer doesn't want to pay money for your new ergonomic chair, you should still buy it yourself. After all, the decreased back pain and proper posture would make you feel better and more confident.
People have different preferences regarding the lighting. Some prefer working in a well-lit room, while others feel more productive in a room with little lighting. If you feel that the lighting in your office is too scarce for you, you can buy a desk lamp that will provide enough light.
Happy Hour Drinks with your colleagues and potluck Fridays would turn you into a team and improve your overall success rate. Everyone would agree that it is more comfortable to work in an office where people are friendly rather than hostile and silent.
Any office should have its own culture and you can become a pioneer by introducing some new office rituals. You can organize a small office Birthday party with a cake and some afternoon tea or organize a small gathering to greet a new member of the team. These simple things can make a big difference in your office. After all, new hires should feel comfortable at work, while other employees should feel valued.
Your office décor and setup can improve your productivity and decrease your stress. The wrong office layout can encourage depression and bad mood. By introducing a few simple solutions you can improve your efficiency and wellbeing.
This article was written by Kate for Acrylicize, an interior designer and consultancy agency.


An influential book of preschool prototypes for Singapore.
On the heels of Caterpillar's Cove, we continued our research into the possibilities of the purpose-built preschool—again with Lien Foundation as client. CEO Lee Poh Wah challenged us to produce a book with 10 architectural examples, each in a typical under-utilized space in Singapore. These would be illustrated with schematic plans, sections, and renderings to evoke the potentials of new schools on sites such as highway buffers, college campuses, carpark roofs, drainage canals, and the like.
Following a famous Reggio Emilia mantra, we imagined these sites as teachers in themselves. A school in a canal became one where water and its role in urban life becomes a vehicle to engage science, ecology, art, and literature. Another, on a farm, looks at organic growth as a central metaphor—at the same time, schools rooted in housing estates were designed to work as a change agent in their communities.
The book gained wide media coverage, and was distributed freely to an audience of people involved in early education. Several of the proposals, such as those at the car park roof and in National Parks' public spaces, have subsequently been built. The project was a finalist for the Webby Award in 2015.


Far from worrying about the predicted 'apocalypse' of the UK walking out on Europe, France should embrace the idea of a Brexit as a unique opportunity, French essayist Edouard Tétreau argues.
The incapacity of the EU to confront the recent series of crises, whether it's the Greek financial crisis or more important ones like the euro, terrorism and migrants, simply highlights this fact.
A Brexit would also be great news for France and its foreign diplomacy. It won't change the solid and remarkable military commitments between France and the UK laid out in the Lancaster House Treaties.
In a few months the City of London will lose the essence of its raison d'être – to be the financial hub of Europe.
Not only is it the "tech" capital of Europe, but Paris has for a long time been home to an exceptional talent pool in the industries of finance and consulting, as the heads of many of the world's leading companies will testify.


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Cryptocurrency: Govt, RBI must exercise utmost caution
Charan Singh — November 30, 2021 comments off
The RBI and the finance ministry should take lessons from the gradual opening of capital accounts and weather the pressure to legalise cryptocurrency.
Everyone seems to be discussing cryptocurrency these days. The Reserve Bank of India has expressed concerns about legalising cryptocurrencies in the country, while the government seems to be willing to discuss their introduction with stringent regulation. The problem with cryptocurrencies is that they are highly volatile, unregulated and could be used for nefarious activities. This article is an attempt to approach the issue from the perspective of an economist.
If we go strictly by the definition of currency, cryptocurrency does not fit the bill. It is neither a unit of account nor a store of value. Money is a store of value because it is the most liquid asset and is accepted in transactions everywhere within the jurisdiction of a country. In contrast, can cryptocurrency be used in everyday transactions? Is it easily available and does it enjoy universal acceptability? Can a currency on which national authorities have no control be provided legal backing?
READ I Cryptocurrency race: Cautious India may miss the bus
The age of commodity money
A study of the evolution of money will tell us commodity money preceded the introduction of paper currency. In the case of commodity money, the value assigned to the currency is equivalent to the value of the commodity. Gold is a good example of commodity money. The value of gold is equivalent to the worth of the gold coin. In some civilizations, silver was also used as commodity money. Paper currencies, which came into existence later, were legal tender.
It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the legal tender is respected. The governments also need to ensure that the legal tender is not easily replicable. When Muhammad bin Tughlaq introduced leather currency in the 13th century, it did not succeed because it could be minted by anyone and fake currency started to circulate.
Tughlaq tried alternate currencies made of brass and copper, and every household in the country became a mint and started producing copper and brass currency. Tughlaq had to withdraw his orders within eight days. But, the repercussions of the attempts lasted many decades. Tughlaq lost parts of his empire because of his misadventures.
In monetary policy, it is imperative that money supply is regulated and supervised. To cover the cost of minting, regulating and supervising the monetary system, a substantial amount of seigniorage income is provided. In broader terms, money supply is not only currency and coinage (generating seigniorage), but also banking credit. Cryptocurrency does not meet this requirement. Cryptocurrencies are minted outside the legal system of the country and the jurisdiction of central banks.
The quantity of money supply has economic implications. Money can be invested, and real rate of interest and inflation are associated with the money supply in the economy. Cryptocurrency, unregulated and unaccounted, cannot be factored in investment decisions or inflationary expectations.
READ I Cryptocurrency rush: Bitcoin rally forcing the sceptics to rethink
Cryptocurrency and gold
The logic that gold is a universal currency and cryptocurrency can also be treated similarly is misplaced. Gold is commodity money. As explained earlier, the value of gold in a gold coin is known. Market determined price is based on cost of mining, supply and demand. The production process of gold is transparent and the value of gold has generally been stable.
Cryptocurrency lacks these characteristics. It is an unseen commodity/ currency and there is no value assigned to cryptocurrency in terms of its content. As the value of cryptocurrency is volatile, its holding can cause wild fluctuations in the balance sheet of the central bank, unlike its holdings in gold.
Cryptocurrency is not very popular in advanced countries but it has picked up in developing countries and emerging markets, where it is seen more as an asset class. There is a lack of investible assets in developing countries, which probably contributes to the popularity of cryptocurrency. It is difficult to make a currency popular without the backing of trade, country or value of commodity. For example, SDR, IMF's currency, could not become popular or universally accepted despite various efforts in the last 50 years.
Another example of this is the euro, which, despite the efforts by European Central Bank in the last two decades, is still struggling for acceptability. The euro has also not been able to replace the dollar or UK's pound sterling. China, with its booming economy and large share in global trade, is attempting to make Renminbi globally acceptable, but not been able to displace gold or the dollar.
READ I Gujarat ban on non-vegetarian food vending illogical, harmful
Caution always paid for India
Introduction of a new instrument or currency also has associated risks. In India, there have been instances that point to the need for caution. The RBI delayed the introduction of complex financial derivatives because of the risks involved. The US authorities experimented with it under their light-touch regulation and the move led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the meltdown of global financial markets. Another illustration in the Indian market is the foreign exchange exposure of the private sector that was tightly regulated by the RBI.
In October 2008, the RBI relaxed the foreign exchange exposure norms for private firms. The consequences were severe. The firms did not understand the risk and their responsibility associated with it. Foreign exchange risks are difficult to measure and complex. The foreign exchange markets were hit severely in 2009 and the firms approached the RBI seeking accommodation for the exposure and associated losses.
India's conservative approach to regulation paid rich dividends in the issue of capital account convertibility (CAC). This is a relevant example in the context of cryptocurrency. There was immense pressure on India from multilateral agencies to adopt CAC after the financial sector reforms were introduced in the early 1990s. The RBI held its ground that the Indian markets are still not ready for global competition. The multilateral agencies argued that CAC is helpful in integrating domestic market with global markets.
The Indian authorities argued that the domestic financial system was not prepared to receive the type of resources that CAC provides. Consequently, two committees led by former RBI Deputy Governor SS Tarapore were set up. They presented the conditions necessary for the successful implementation of CAC in India.
Two decades later in 2012, multilateral agencies realized that prudential norms and a robust financial system are needed for the successful implementation of CAC. The global pressure on emerging markets to accept cryptocurrency must been seen in similar light. It needs to be evaluated as India did in the case of CAC. India carefully opened up capital accounts, taking small steps at a time.
The responsibility of the government and the regulator is to ensure the financial wellbeing of citizens. The financial health of citizens can be impacted if the financial instruments are risky. In a continent-size economy like India, with various levels of financial literacy and different capacities to absorb risk, introduction of any new instrument has to be very cautiously examined.
The evaluation of cryptocurrency is fraught with difficulty as it is not regulated by any government or sector-specific regulator. It is minted by digital mechanisms and whenever there is a breach in the firewall, there is a possibility of heavy losses to the investors. In an emerging economy, financial resources are scarce.
It takes decades of hard work by the government and the regulator to create a robust ecosystem and investor-friendly environment. Therefore, to retain confidence in the regulatory framework and financial markets, it is necessary for the investors to be adequately educated on the risks associated with the instruments available in the market.
The regulator should ensure that prickly instruments that have the potential to hurt the investor and the investment climate are tightly regulated and isolated from plain vanilla instruments. This regulatory approach towards cryptocurrency is of utmost importance, especially in the post-Covid recovery phase of the economy.
cryptocurrency dollar Finance Ministry gold RBI

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Wreckage from TWA Flight 800 to be destroyed years after explosion
TWA Flight 800 wreckage to be destroyed years after …
TodayWreckage from TWA Flight 800, which exploded in 1996 shortly after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy airport, will be decommissioned and destroyed, the NTSB announced.
Wreckage of TWA Flight 800 to be destroyed 25 years after …
Wreckage from TWA Flight 800 explosion to be destroyed In 1996, TWA Flight 800 exploded after takeoff, killing 230 people. Its wreckage has been used for training for nearly two decades.
The wreckage of TWA Flight 800 is set to be destroyed — nearly 25 years after the doomed aircraft crashed off the coast of Long Island, killing all 230 people on board. For the last two decad…
The National Transportation Safety Board said it will destroy the remaining wreckage of TWA Flight 800 after nearly 20 years as a training tool. TWA Flight 800 grabbed the world's attention when …
Wreckage from TWA Flight 800 explosion to be destroyed …
Transcript for Wreckage from TWA Flight 800 explosion to be destroyed Eyewitnesses report seeing explosions in the air. One witness described the scene has a big fire ball with pieces coming office.
Wreckage of TWA Flight 800 will be DESTROYED 25 years …
The wreckage of TWA Flight 800 from New York to Paris is due to be destroyed 25 years after the doomed plane exploded mid-air and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean killing all 230 people on board.
Wreckage from TWA Flight 800 to be destroyed years after …
Wreckage from TWA Flight 800 to be destroyed years after explosion Comfort yourself with these 6 hearty soups Attacks against people of Asian descent are on the rise in NYC.
All 230 folks on board the Paris-bound flight have been killed. The Boeing 747 was destroyed, and the wreckage fell into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off. All 230 folks on board the Paris-bound flight have been killed. The Boeing 747 was destroyed, and the wreckage fell into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off
(CNN)The reconstructed wreckage of Trans World Airlines Flight 800, which exploded minutes after taking off from New York's John F.
All 230 people on board the Paris-bound flight were killed. The Boeing 747 was destroyed, and the wreckage fell into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the. All 230 people on board the Paris-bound flight were killed. The Boeing 747 was destroyed, and the wreckage fell into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the
Author adminPosted on February 27, 2021 Tags Accident, Trans World Airlines, TWA Flight 800
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CSH and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) recognized outstanding achievement in supportive housing design, delivery and advancement across the Hoosier State at the finale of the Indiana Supportive Housing Institute. Four individuals were recognized for going above and beyond to ensure quality supportive housing is available to the most vulnerable in Indiana. Honorees receiving the Design & Delivery, Management Leadership and Development awards are all alumni of the Supportive Housing Institute. Supportive housing champion Ray Lay has been a long time advocate using his voice to share his experiences in supportive housing to advance it across the state.
The finale celebration also represented the culmination of months of training for seven supportive housing development teams who will now be on their way to creating their supportive housing projects refined during the Institute process.
Recognizing the efforts of an agency, individual or public employee who has demonstrated leadership in the design and delivery of services in supportive housing. Awarded to Lia Hicks with Adult & Child Health for going above and beyond to ensure high quality services are provided to tenants in supportive housing.
Recognizing the efforts of an agency, individual or public employee who has demonstrated leadership in the design and delivery of property management in supportive housing. Awarded to Award was given to Stacy Carlisle with Valenti Real Estate for going above and beyond to ensure high quality property management is provided to tenants in supportive housing.
To be eligible for the Service Design & Management Awards, the individual or agency must be an alumnus of the Indiana Supportive Housing Institute and successfully partnered on at least one supportive housing program that embraces a housing first approach.
Recognizing a developer that has demonstrated his or her commitment to furthering the mission of ending homelessness through supportive housing in Indiana. award was given to Sheryl Sharpe on behalf of Chuck Heintzelman with Milestone Ventures for embracing the principles of housing first and exemplify the spirit of working collaboratively with service providers and other non-profit partners to provide high quality housing.
To be eligible, the developer must be an alumnus of the Indiana Supportive Housing Institute and must have successfully completed at least one supportive housing development in Indiana.
Recognizing the efforts of an agency, elected official or public employee who has demonstrated leadership in facilitating supportive housing projects and programs in the State of Indiana. Awarde to Ray Lay for demonstrating leadership, action and a commitment that has affected change in the supportive housing field.
Lead: Herman & Kittle Properties, Inc.


Your swimming pool, hot tub, or spa requires permits and inspections in order to ensure that it is safe for your enjoyment. We encourage you to review our compliance guidelines for swimming pools before applying for a permit.
Your swimming pool will require building permit and an electrical permit. Please gather the construction documentation specified below and submit a Building Permit Application, and an owner/contractor affidavit. After the building permit is filed,have your licensed electrician submit an electrical permit application. For Electrical Permits check with your local provider.


Aron Canet hit the front late on the incredible final lap of the Dutch TT Grand Prix at Assen to take Moto3 victory.
Aron Canet survived all the barging and pushing to hit the front entering the final corner and hold on to the line and win a frantic Dutch Moto3 Grand Prix.
The Estrella Galicia rider had worked hard to catch the initial lead group of six, bringing a train of riders along with him to the front after losing touch avoiding the early turn 16 fallers.
Once back in contention the Honda man worked hard in the group of eleven to move to the front of the pack and worked out the best place to brake in the final corner to stay ahead, pulling out a perfectly executed pass on the final corner to push Fenati to second over the line.
The Spaniards second win of the year moves him to second in the championship behind Mir, now two points ahead of the Italian.
Fenati also had work to do at the beginning of the race, he qualified down in 15th and immediately took to moving through the pack, up to seventh at the end of lap one, before regularly hitting the front to show his intention to pick up a podium finish.
The Marinelli Rivacold Snipers rider piked up his first Assen rostrum in second.
John McPhee made up an incredible sixteen places to join the leaders, also briefly leading the race before crossing the line an excellent third for the British Talent Team, completing the all Honda podium.
Pole-sitter Jorge Martin had looked strong at the front before he caught the side of Gabriel Rodrigo, sending him wide and to the back of the lead group. The Gresini rider gathered himself and worked his way back to fourth, his first win still eluding him as the record of no pole man winning in Assen in the Moto3 class remains true.
Jules Danilo took the chequered flag in fifth after avoiding trouble on the second Marinelli Rivacold Snipers entry, while Marcos Ramirez, who also flirted with the lead in the closing stages, took sixth for Platinum Bay Real Estate and was the best of the KTM riders after making up a huge seventeen places on his grid position.
Rodrigo survived his clash with Martin to take seventh for RBA, just holding off Tatsuki Suzuki who finished eighth for SIC58 Squadra Corse.
Championship leader Joan Mir was raced out of contention after starting the final lap in first place, ninth for Leopard, cutting his title lead down to 30 points.
Nicolo Bulega, who had been off the lead group for the entire race, found himself up in tenth at the line for Sky Racing VR46 after local rider Bo Bendsneyder crashed over the line and was later removed from the position after a strong race at the front.
Philipp Oettl also benefited from the late drama at the front moving into eleventh for Sudmetall Schedl GP, he was nearly a second ahead of twelfth place man Juanfran Guevara on the second RBA entry.
The remaining points on offer went to Darryn Binder (Platinum Bay Real Estate) in 13th, Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) in 14th and top rookie Ayumu Sasaki (SIC Racing Team) in 15th.
Adam Norrodin joined Bendsneyder joined Bendsneyder in crashing out of contention on the final lap, Raul Fernandez left the race on the penultimate run around the circuit.
Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio both fell on lap two at turn 16 in separate incidents, with wild-card Ryan Van De Lagemaat exiting on the same lap.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta lasted just one lap longer, Manuel Pagliani suffered a huge highside with fifteen laps remaining, while Tony Arbolino retired to the pits shortly after.
Niccolo Antonelli missed the race after crashing on Saturday, where he sustained further injury, picking up a dislocated shoulder and back pain.


Your choice of A Levels itself will be a huge determining factor to how easily you manage. During these two years, you will see your strengths more explicitly than ever before as well as your weaknesses. By choosing subjects that you love, rather than ones you think you should choose you'll drastically reduce your chance of failure. For example, I always knew that no matter what I would choose English Literature for A Level. Despite the hell that this subject has put me through, it is still a firm favourite of mine. My biggest regret is that I didn't choose my other subjects with the same passion. Selecting a subject you're already not the biggest fan of, is the sure way of ruining your own studies because the chance of you liking it over the next two years is little to none.
The first term of studying A Levels (September - December) is arguably the trickiest in that it may shock you. I found that for me, personally, the GCSE to A Level jump was more of an issue of workload rather than difficulty. The amount of work you're expected to do and retain information from is intense, particularly coming off one of the longest summer breaks you'll have had to this point. Having said this, I would argue that the hardest term in both years is the second. It is easy to start the year with a high level of organisation, motivation and energy, however, it is immensely difficult to keep that work ethic consistent after Christmas. Be prepared to give yourself that kick to ensure you stay on the right path, the second term of your second year will be a killer.
One of the trickiest parts of these two years is the balance between your social life, your school life and any extra activities you may do. Although this won't be what you want to hear, I'll say it anyway - prioritise school! I juggled a part time job (12 hours/week), 7 or so hours of volunteering per week and sixth form. The balance is possible but it may be at the sacrifice of your grades. I always wonder if I hadn't tried to do all three in the second year, would the outcomes be any different. But, the truth is I gained valuable experience that I wouldn't change for the world. You have to decide for yourself whether going out every weekend is something you desperately have to do, or can it be more of an occasional treat. You will see people who go out every weekend and still get AAA at the end, but be realistic about your own abilities and be willing to sacrifice the social life every now and again.
When in class, ensure that you write down everything. Don't bother fooling yourself into believing that you'll remember, you won't. Make sure the way in which you are note-taking is clear and that you'd understand it regardless of your attendance to that class, e.g. would a classmate asking you for your notes to catch up on understand? If the answer is no, change it. Every subject requires a slightly different form of note-taking, you'll quickly recognise which technique works best so my biggest advice for organisation would be not to go in with preconceived notions. If you go in with an idea of how you'll organise your work, you'll end up buying 50 folders trying to change the system in October half term.
It is not a sin to enjoy the pleasures of life once in a while. Organise something with your friends when you feel the stress is getting too intense. Any sort of break from A Levels will be a holiday for your mental health. School is important but place your mental health at the foremost of all your actions. Don't let yourself break for the sake of grades.
There is no easy way to say that the next two years of your life will be a struggle. I'd go as far as saying that they were the worst two years of my life. But just remember, that it will pass. This time isn't forever so give it your all so you leave with fewer regrets.
If you've read this far and you still have any concerns give me a shout in the comments and I'd be more than happy to answer any questions regarding the new A Level syllabus, University Applications, University Entrance Exams or even applying for part time work.


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From the Archives: D&D 3E Review
Category: Cussin' In Tongues
Created on Friday, 30 March 2018 Written by Steve
After mostly ignoring an edition and a half, curiosity got the better of me and I picked up a copy of the 5th edition Player's Handbook. The fact that a store I visited had it on sale for 20% probably helped. I wasn't $50 curious, but apparently I was $40 curious. My plan is to read and review it starting next week (the review helps me justify spending time reading a game I'll probably never play). I'm not sure how many posts I'll take, but I learned last time around that it probably needed to be multi-part. To give you an idea of what you're in for, here's my 4500+ word review of 3rd Edition.
My feelings about Dungeons & Dragons are complicated. It's the first RPG I ever played; it's the one I've played the longest, and there are a lot of good memories associated with it. At the same time, D&D is sort of the lowest common denominator among games. Partially because of its structure and system, the game has always attracted the worst kinds of gamers. The majority of D&D players might as well play computer "role-playing games," where you just kill things and take their stuff. It would save a lot of dice rolling. Add to this the fact that for the past 10 or 15 years, TSR has done a lousy job of supporting the game. Either they've simply repackaged old material with a new name, or they've added increasingly incompatible rules, with the Player's Option series being perhaps the worst offender. There have been a few gems, but they've rarely been worth digging through the tons of shit to find.
For the most part, I felt I had outgrown the D&D game. In fact, I have been relatively D&D-free since sometime in the mid-90s. When 2nd Edition was released, I counted down the days to each new core rulebook. For 3rd Edition, I didn't really care. In fact, I wasn't even planning on picking it up. But once the book actually came out and I heard people talking about it, I had to check it out. I guess it's kind of like hearing that someone's remodeling the house you grew up in. It doesn't really affect your life, but you're curious to see what they've done with the place.
Since I'm writing this review, you've probably already guessed that eventually I caved and picked up the D&D3 Player's Handbook. If this were just any old game review, I'd probably be content to give a quick overview and maybe note a few of the best and worst parts of the system. But for something like D&D, it seems more appropriate to go ahead and break everything down section by section. We'll start with the basics.
On the surface, there aren't a lot of changes. You've got Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and the often-neglected Charisma (which is now actually an important trait for some characters). This time, they didn't even switch the order. Looking a bit more closely, though, there are some significant changes. For starters, Exceptional Strength is gone. That's a good thing--after all, the rule never really made sense anyway, especially since 18 has never been the maximum Strength possible. Instead, ability scores have no maximum. In fact, it is now possible to increase ability scores without resorting to magic. At every fourth level, a character can add a point to one of his scores. The idea that, for instance, swinging a seven-pound battle axe day in and day out can actually build muscle mass seems fairly logical, but this is the first time D&D has acknowledged the fact. Rolling ability scores is one of the old familiar systems, with the nice touch of actually defining a "hopeless" character. In earlier editions, there was a line to the effect of "If the scores are so low that the character is hopeless, re-roll," but without an actual definition, you had to deal with people who thought a character was "hopeless" if any score was less than 15. As for actually using the scores, the D&D3 team went back to basics. Instead of each score having five or six modifiers and percentages associated with it, each score has a single modifier, which is used for pretty much anything that relates to that skill (just like the old Basic Set). A lot of the old modifiers, percentages, maximum spell numbers, and such show up in another part of the rules, but generally in a much simpler form. The ability score tables themselves all seem to top out at different numbers for some reason, but that's pretty easy to get over.
Like the abilities, the races are the same as always. The half-orc from 1st Edition makes a triumphant return, but that's the only thing "new" compared to the basic 2nd Edition rules. The real shocker in this section is that all the races are pretty well balanced. Even humans have special abilities that make them attractive as characters! In fact, the "weakest" race in terms of special perks is probably the half-orc. But let's face it, if you're playing a half-orc, you're probably not going for cool special powers beyond brute strength anyway. Here's the breakdown:
The long-neglected humans now have their own special abilities. Previous editions have always given lip service to human versatility and such, but this is the first time the rules have backed up such talk. Humans get a bonus Feat (which we'll get to later) at first level and extra points with which to buy skill points at first and every other level. This doesn't look all that impressive at first, but it actually puts humans up there as one of the more desirable races.
Dwarves haven't really changed that much. All the "knows a lot about rocks" abilities have been clumped into one ability called "Stonecunning," which should save some room on the character sheet. Also, all that crap about dwarves exploding when they use magic items (which was apparently added to make sure nobody thought elves and dwarves were equally balanced) has been dropped. Finally, the concept of infravision has been changed to the much easier to play (and more logical) Darkvision. Dwarves don't see heat signatures like the Predator anymore. Instead, they can just see really well in the dark.
Elves have been relieved of their godlike status. Their abilities are not all that different, but they've been subdued to make the race less unbalanced in relation to everyone else. They're now completely immune to Sleep spells, but virtual immunity to Charm has been reduced to just a +2 Save modifier. As with dwarves, infravision has been shafted for simple low light vision (the dwarves are actually better at something other than playing with rocks for a change). The weapon bonuses of old have been replaced by simple weapon proficiency, regardless of the elf's class. The elven ability to find secret doors is still there, but is no longer double everyone else's chance. Elves still don't have to sleep, but at least they need to rest now. Elven surprise, as well as the abilities to travel through time and create matter from void, have been eliminated.
Gnomes are now a little more defined than "something between a dwarf and a halfling." The inventor/technician angle from Dragonlance has been played up, but overall gnomes still lack a strong racial personality. New abilities include the ability of gnomes with a 10 or higher intelligence to cast certain cantrips, and bonuses to Alchemy-related rolls. The gnomish affinity for illusion magic and most of the other standard abilities remain.
Half-elves haven't changed all that much. They've still got some of the abilities of elves. The only real difference is that half-elves now have the same magical immunities and resistances as elves, instead of a watered-down version.
They're big and mean. Other than Darkvision and sheer physical strength, they don't have a lot going for them.
The Hobbit aspect of the halfling race has been downplayed in favor or something a little closer to (but not as annoying as) the kender. Most of their racial abilities relate to their small size and agility. Taking them out of the burrows did a lot to relieve the racial split personality halflings suffered from in earlier editions. Now, instead of being a bunch of lazy farmers who happen to be master thieves, they're more like little, agile humans.
Classes have, in my opinion, always been D&D's downfall. They worked fine in the old days when nobody really knew what they were doing and characters were just ways to kill monsters anyway, but as "adventure gaming" became "role playing," they quickly lost their charm. They forced a cookie-cutter set of skills on the player, with few allowances for character concept. Nonweapon proficiencies and book upon book of kits helped a bit, but there still wasn't a lot of variety from one fighter to the next. Thankfully, 3rd Edition uses classes more like most games use archetypes. You still have to pick a class, but there's a lot more room to make a character instead of just a game piece.
Before we get into the individual classes, there are a few things I should mention. First off, a character can be of any class you like, regardless of race or ability scores. Want to play a dwarven wizard? That's cool. How about a half-orc paladin? That's fine, too. Can your halfling be a fighter even though his Strength is just a 3? Why not? Some races are better suited for certain classes, and characters with low scores in important abilities probably won't have a lot of success, but anything is possible.
Alignment restrictions still exist, but some have been altered slightly. On the subject of alignment, many of the pitfalls of changing alignment to one not class approved have been eliminated. Only those abilities granted by a deity (such as a cleric spells) or which don't make sense within the context of the new alignment (such as a barbarian's rage ability if he becomes lawful) are lost. Other class abilities are unchanged. In other words, a bard won't forget how to sing just because he changes alignment. If a character switches to an alignment that is not allowed for one of his prior classes, he can no longer gain levels in that class.
Weapon and armor restrictions have been for the most part eliminated. Instead of using weapon proficiencies to learn how to use specific weapons from a list of "approved class weapons," all characters of a given class know how to a specific set of weapons. For example, wizards can use clubs, daggers, heavy or light crossbows, and quarterstaves, while fighters can us "all simple and martial weapons" (the weapons on these two lists represent most common weapons). Likewise, each class is proficient in using a certain types of armors or shields. Fighters can use pretty much anything, while wizards are unfamiliar with everything. Characters can learn to use other kinds of weapons and armor by learning various Feats (see below). Some class abilities, such as spellcasting, are hampered (though rarely outright forbidden) when the character is wearing certain types of armor. The lame "wizard spells don't work through metal" (and apparently certain types of leather as well) of the old days are thereby eliminated.
Finally, everybody uses the same XP table for level advancement. In 2nd Edition, wizards needed twice as many XPs as thieves to go from first to second level. Now, everybody needs the same number (1,000 XP). For you slow kids out there, this means the classes have to be balanced for the game to work, since level advancement isn't weighted according to a characters class abilities.
Now we can move on to the class list. Again, most entries are familiar: bard, cleric, druid, fighter, paladin, ranger, rogue, and wizard from 2nd Edition are still around, though specialist wizards and specialty priests have been rolled into their parent classes. Barbarians and monks from 1st Edition have also made it back onto the list. Finally, there's a new class, the sorcerer. Since giving a detailed description of the changes for each class would take hours, I'll just give you the good and bad highlights of each:
Barbarian:
Good: Combat Monster!
Bad: Not good for much else.
Bards:
Good: Instead of being a half-assed mage, a bard's spells work more like magical songs; "thief skills" now optional.
Bad: Focus is still on music-based entertainers. The rules as written don't make as much sense for traveling storytellers and poets.
Cleric:
Good: Domain abilities and spells (all priests are now effectively specialty priests); stupid "blunt weapon" rule dropped; ability to trade other prepared spells for cure spells.
Bad: Game still focuses on the cleric as a walking first aid kit.
Druids:
Good: Starts play with an animal companion; alignment restrictions loosened.
Bad: Pretty much the only classwho still has armor/weapon restrictions.
Good: Fighters get lots of extrafeats, which means they are actually pretty well-balanced with rangers/paladins.
Bad: Nothing. It's hard to fuck up such a simple class.
Monks:
Good: Flying fists of DEATH!
Bad: Still doesn't make much sense in a primarily Western European-based game.
Paladins:
Good: Religious aspect downplayed; paladins are more concerned with good and law than the agenda of a particular god.
Bad: Absolutely no fun at parties.
Rangers:
Good: Alignment restrictions eliminated. You can now play a ranger who's an evil trophy hunter.
Bad: I'm still not sure exactly why rangers can cast spells or what hanging out in the woods has to do with fighting with two weapons.
Rogues:
Good: "Thief skills" completely customizable--your con man doesn't know how to pick locks just because he's a rogue; cool new class abilities.
Bad: Actually, I can't think of anything. The one major problem with the class (all rogues having the same thief skills) has been removed.
Sorcerer:
Good: Doesn't have to memorize spells; more spells than wizards.
Bad: Limited spell selection.
Good: Casting spells in armor; Spell Mastery; bonus spells for high Intelligence.
Bad: The whole memorizing spells thing is better rationalized now, but is still pretty weak.
Multi-Classed Characters:
Okay, this will require some explanation. First off, the old concept of "dual-classed characters" is gone. Humans are treated just like everybody else. Any character of any race can take on any combination of classes. For example, you can now have a dwarf/fighter/wizard/ranger/cleric/ sorcerer. While this sounds like a power gamer's wet dream, the way multi-classes are handled keeps such combinations from being too powerful. Furthermore, a good GM will require that characters only multi-class into new classes that make sense.
Nobody starts out as a multi-classed character. Instead, any time a character gains a level, he may choose to add a class. Thereafter, each time he earns enough experience points for a new level, he can choose to raise his level in any class (and since everyone uses the same XP chart, this works) or add a new class. The only exceptions are for monks and paladins--once you add a new class, you can no longer advance in either of these--and classes whose alignment restrictions you no longer meet. In addition to the level for each class, the character has an overall character level. For example, if you have a 3rd level monk/3rd level wizard, he's a 6th level character.
In general, multi-classing involves a lot less math. Since chance to hit, saving throws, and such are now represented as bonuses to a die roll (rather than numbers you need to beat), you simply add the bonus for the class whose level you've just increased. Some things (such as when you gain a new feat) are determined by the overall character level. All that averaging of numbers and numerical analysis required to decide which class has the best Save vs. Poison are gone
Skills (formerly known as non-weapon proficiencies) have changed quite a bit. First off, instead of gaining a new skill every x number of levels, you now learn and increase skills using skill points, which are based on your class, race, intelligence bonus, and level. Each class has a list of class skills he can learn at the rate of 1 skill point per rank. Skills not on the list cost double (and a few are restricted to certain classes). When a character wants to use a skill, he rolls a d20 and adds his ability bonus for the appropriate ability, his rank in the skill, and any modifiers for the situation at hand. If the total is higher than the Difficulty Class set by the DM, he succeeds. If a character isn't in a hurry, he can Take 10, which means you skip the roll, assuming you got a 10. Furthermore, if the character has plenty of time and is trying to perform a skill that can be attempted over and over until it succeeds, he can Take 20, which essentially means that you assume that with enough tries you will eventually roll a 20. Essentially, you keep trying until you get it right. The skill list is fairly similar to the nonweapon proficiency lists of old, except that the old "thief skills," such as hide and open locks, are now on the list, along with a few other new skills. Some specific skills from the old list are now rolled up into generic skills like Craft and Knowledge. Even though all skills use a common mechanic, nearly every skill listed has it's own "sub-system" of modifiers, difficulty numbers, etc. Luckily, it seems like a GM with a solid grasp of the system should be able to ignore these, simply setting his own modifiers and difficulty numbers based on the situation. Rules lawyers may disagree.
In the old non-weapon proficiency list, there were always a few skills that didn't seem to fit. Blind Fighting, for example, just didn't seem like it was quite the same kind of thing as Gemcutting. Then things like the Fighter's Handbook came along, adding all sorts of special fighting styles that were not non-weapon proficiencies, but seemed like they should fit in the same area of rules as Blind Fighting. Feats help to get rid of this problem. Essentially, a feat is trait that gives a character a special ability that isn't exactly a skill. Most characters get a feat at first level and every 3 levels thereafter. Feats include things like the aforementioned Blind Fighting ability, alertness, proficiency with armor and weapons not on your class list, and the ability to craft magical items and alter the effects, casting conditions, and other characteristics of spells. In addition to finding a place for those not-quite-skills, feats can give spellcasters a lot more flexibility and (since they get many bonus feats) are the great equalizers that give fighters the extra 'oomph' they've needed for quite some time.
Description Whereas previous editions of D&D have had a paragraph to the effect of "you may want to name this pile of numbers and maybe even give him a personality," 3rd Edition actually has an entire chapter on the subject. It covers alignment, religion (a series of really dull and formulaic descriptions of the Greyhawk gods--"Buba is the god of dogs. His title is "Dogboy." He really likes dogs. His Domains are Dog, Bone, and Digging. His favored weapon is a rolled-up newspaper. He is worshipped by dogs." ), as well as things like physical description and personality. It even has a section on changing around your character and racial abilities to better match your character concept. Pretty cutting-edge stuff for a D&D rulebook. Perhaps the best line of the whole book is found in this chapter: "Race and alignment are good places to start when thinking about your character's personality, but they are bad places to stop." The alignment system, like it or not, is pretty much a permanent fixture in the D&D game. The 3rd Edition rules do a good job of rationalizing this relic by pointing out that fantasy worlds include lots of things that do revolve around good, evil, law, and chaos. The rules also finally admit that neutrality does pretty much mean you just don't give a damn, which was probably a big step for some of the long-time TSR guys. Finally, alignments are presented more as a roleplaying tool than part of the rules. All the level loss and math associated with changing alignment in the old system is gone. The worst that will happen now is the loss of class abilities.
The Equipment section of the 3rd Edition PHB is filled with illustrations and descriptions, which is good for those of us who haven't extensively studied ancient weaponry and armor. Several new and unusual bits of equipment (such as the Orcish Double-Axe) have been added, and there is generally quite a bit of information on nearly everything. This section is probably a good place to mention how Armor Class works in 3rd Edition. Instead of each type of armor having a rating, it now has a bonus. This bonus is added to your base AC (10 for an unarmored human) along with Dexterity and other bonuses to determine a character's AC. In a change from earlier editions, a higher AC number means more protection. The biggest problem I have with this section (and several later parts of the book as well) is that fact that it constantly mentions the buying and selling of magical items and spells. One of the biggest downfalls of most D&D campaigns is that magic becomes so commonplace that it's seen as just another tool, with little or no sense of wonder attached to it. Buying and selling magic only increases the problem.
Now we get to the part of the book that the typical D&D player sees as most important. Since I'm sure the combat system has been thoroughly explored elsewhere, I'll be brief:
Attack rolls work pretty much like skill rolls, but with different modifiers. Your DC number is your opponent's AC. If your roll is higher than their AC, you hit them.
Initiative is rolled for the entire battle, not each individual round.
Actions have been tightened up considerably, which should eliminate confusion about timing of things like movement and spellcasting
Tricky situations like flanking, firing into combat, attacks of opportunity, and concealment are much clearer than in previous editions.
There are now only three types of saving throws: Fortitude, Reflex, and Will. Saving throws work like skill and attack rolls--you roll a d20 and add all appropriate modifiers against a difficulty number. Instead of having a saving throw number based on class and level, you have a modifier to the d20 roll.
Despite the alluring title, this has always been the most boring section of any D&D rulebook. It covers things like movement, encumbrance, visibility, and all that other stuff you'd just as soon ignore. There isn't much new here. Encumbrance has been simplified, which is good. The exciting thing about this chapter is the final section, entitled "other rewards" which essentially reminds the player that there's more to life than treasure and experience points. It notes how characters may be rewarded with land, titles, reputation, and followers. That last one brought to my attention the fact that the extensive followers tables for each class have disappeared. Now, instead of a bunch of people just showing up the day you reach 10th level, you have to earn your allies in-story through roleplaying.
This chapter covers magic, both divine (priestly) and arcane (wizardly). Third Edition magic is considerably more flexible than ever before. Priests and mages can now leave spell slots open when preparing their spells. Later in the day, they can take a few minutes to fill an empty slot. It doesn't help much when the party is suddenly attacked, but there are cases where this ability should prove useful. A new addition to the magic rule is the concept of counterspelling, which makes the Spellcraft skill actually useful. If you identify someone casting a spell with Spellcraft, and you have the same spell memorized, you can cast your spell to counter your opponent's. Magic resistance and the like are also covered in this chapter. Spell Resistance (the artist formerly known as magic resistance), spell preparation, the schools of magic, spellbooks and magical writing (which actually makes some kind of sense for a change), learning new spells, and the general parameters of a spell description (which are considerably clearer thanks the uses of standard descriptors) are also covered.
The final section of the book is the obligatory Big List of Spells. The organization is a bit different from previous editions, though. All spells, regardless of level and class, are listed in alphabetical order. This makes sense, as many spells are usable by different classes (and often are of different spell levels for different classes). Before the list, there's a summary of which spells are available to each class, along with a one-sentence summary of the spell, usually including basic mechanics. If you need to know how much damage magic missile causes, it's easier to look here than skim the description. The spell themselves have changed to fit the new mechanics, but all the old standbys are there. Many have new (and generally much better-sounding) names.
I almost hate to admit it, but I'm very impressed with Third Edition so far. This is the first time in history that D&D has actually been up-to-date. Second Edition was a great improvement over the original rules, but it was still a generation or so behind everything else on the market. Third Edition isn't really innovative, as all the cool design ideas found here have been used elsewhere, but it combines these ideas with the old system (and countless house rules that people have been using with the old D&D system for years) into a nice, cohesive whole. 5/6 Yum Yums
Continuity:
My biggest concern about 3rd Edition at first was that it was so different from previous editions that many long-time players would be put off. Second Edition could be played without reading the rulebook if you knew 1st Ed. This was not the case with the new edition. Luckily, the designers have managed to keep the "feel" of D&D alive in the new rules system. It's a different set of rules, but it's the same game you loved in high school. 6/6 Yum Yums
Role-Playability:
Previous editions of D&D have been very guilty of catering to the "kill monsters and take their stuff" paradigm. Because of this presentation, many potential roleplayers who never got past D&D have no doubt left the hobby. Third Edition goes a long way to overcome the shortcoming of previous editions in this area, and will hopefully make a few people realize that D&D doesn't have to be the tabletop version of Quake. There's still some of the old dungeon crawl mentality there, but you have to give the designers (mainly Tweet, I'm guessing) credit for trying. 4/6 Yum Yums
This is where I have to criticize the design team. All previous editions of D&D have featured cover art that evoked a sense of magic and adventure. Paintings by Larry Elmore, Jeff Easley, and (believe it or not) even Erol Otus helped draw people in. The new cover design looks like the damn Necronomicon--it even has what looks like a lock on it! It evokes a sense of secrecy and complexity that's unlikely to attract new players. I can't imagine that a potential player would look at this book and say "that looks like fun." The interior art is decent, but the colors are monotone and drab--again, the sense of wonder that pulls people in is lacking. The layout is good, but the "college rule parchment" look really needs to go. 2/6 Yum Yums
Next week: 5th Edition.
The Death Cookie.


The EEA's updated assessment on the EU's progress on renewable energy and energy efficiency targets completes this year's 'Trends and Projections in Europe: 2018: Tracking progress towards Europe's climate and energy targets' package. The report is based on the most recent reported and approximated data from EU Member States on greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy uptake and energy consumption. Complementing the report are updated climate and energy country factsheets. The first part of the 'Trends and Projections' report, which includes an assessment of progress towards the EU's climate targets, was published in October.
Preliminary EEA data for 2017 show that 20 Member States were on track to reach their individual targets on renewable energy by 2020 – a decline from 2016, when 25 countries were on track. In many countries, the slowing of progress is due to increases in total energy consumption, which caused the share of renewables in energy consumption to fall.
Notes: * The energy efficiency targets for 2020 and 2030 are defined as absolute targets, set at 20 % and 32.5 % below the level in primary and final energy consumption projected for 2020 and 2030 in the European Commission's 2007 Energy Baseline Scenario. In this figure, the target is expressed as a relative change compared with 2005 levels of primary energy consumption in the EU to show the required reduction in primary energy consumption over time. The year 2005 was chosen because it is used as a base year for GHG emissions (in the EU ETS and under the Effort Sharing Decision (ESD)) and renewable energy targets; this base year is not set in the energy efficiency legislation. It also corresponds to a peak in energy consumption in the EU.
The 'with existing measures' (WEM) scenario reflects existing and adopted policies and measures, whereas the 'with additional measures' (WAM) scenario considers the additional effects of planned measures reported by Member States.
This is a very important, and disturbing, assessment . Let us hope it operates as a serious wake up call to complacent governments. They need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.


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Venture Island: down to last night
PUBLISHED: June 22, 2008 at 12:00 am | UPDATED: July 29, 2018 at 12:07 pm
After Thursday night, the real work begins.
Thursday is the final public chapter in Venture Island/Chico — the job-creation campaign that's been about a handful of local entrepreneurs hoping to make it big.
At Thursday's Chico Economic Planning Corp.'s annual dinner, the last competition between the three finalists is set.
Starting from a group of 17, the finalists were culled to eight through a series of investor-led panels. At an event earlier this month, the finalists were announced: Steve Culton of Nurse Alert Connector, Crystal Martin of California Academy of Nursing, and Robert Strazzarino of College Scheduler.
They wound up on top after a series of evenings featuring their presentations and questioning.
Venture capitalists and business people drilled the entrepreneurs, zeroing in on problems, weaknesses, discrepancies — and dreams.
Profit revenue, need for the service or product, and an analysis of investor return prompted many of the panels' questions.
After each session, entrepreneurs were invited to trainings where they could strategize how to overcome what the panel pointed out.
In an unusual twist, not only the investors voted on the entrepreneurs, but so did the audience, which often included family members and friends of the entrepreneurs.
At the last session earlier this month, the emcee noted that the audience's participation swayed the vote.
This time, the whole audience — affiliated onlookers, CEPCO dinner guests and the investor panel — gets to vote on the ranking of the final three.
On Thursday, the Venture Island round of competition and winner announcement comes at the end of a series of CEPCO's annual business and community awards and dinner.
The final three will share in a monetary amount still being raised by Golden Capital Network and CEPCO, through the North Valley Community Foundation.
Two local nonprofit organizations, Golden Capital and CEPCO, are partnering for this effort, with funding assistance from a federal economic development grant through Northern Rural Training Employment Consortium.
Information on the dinner and program is available through CEPCO, 895-1202.
Business Editor Laura Urseny can be reached at 896-7756 or lurseny@chicoer.com.


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The Most Embarrassing Moment while I Speak Chinese by Mervin Abilio Hernandez Ortiz, NPUST
The Most Emabrrassing Moment While I Speak Chinese
National Pingtung University of Science and Technology-Mervin Abilio Hernandez Ortiz
Going to another country is very challenging and it includes being surrounded in a new world which means to learn a new language like to born again. Language is a universal way of communication with people from different parts of the world. Learning a new language sometimes is very funny and interesting when starting to communicate with people.
After learning English, it never comes to my mind to have a great opportunity like the one I have now to come to Taiwan, to the other side of the world to learn mandarin. I say that mandarin most is a very special language, but it is not impossible to learn to speak it.
大家好 (hello everybody), first of all let me say thank you to the ICDF's Scholarship Program for sponsoring me with my scholarship to continue my education. This wonderful opportunity they have gave me to come to Taiwan to study my bachelors degree in Plant Science at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST), and very happy and lucky at the same time to come to the biggest and beautiful university campus in this great country. My name is Mervin Abilio Hernandez Ortiz and I am from the country of Guatemala; which is located in Central America.
I came to Taiwan the 27th of August of 2010 and since that time I have been working hard to learn Chinese as much as I can but this is a very special language that has a full meaning of history and art and I think is the most difficult to learn.
I am a native Spanish speaker and I can truly say that learning English for me was not as hard as learning to speak mandarin.
Learning Chinese has been sometimes funny but sometime not funny for me at all. Everything seems hard when learning this language because it involves things like writing or drawing, memorizing the way to do each character, the different meaning each character has, the way to place them when writing and the correct pronunciation of each word.
But that is not the funny version of my Chinese skills I have learned so far while trying to speak with Taiwanese people. I think it has happened to every foreign student that has studied here in Taiwan.
Since I started to learn mandarin at my Chinese class I have been making a lot of mistakes that have embarrassed me. I mix up words most of the time, accents are not easy, and giving the proper sound is also harder. Also when making coherent sentences is kind of hard to do it, but is also harder to remember special when using verbs to describe an event, or when I have to use words that sounds similar to other words, or change in sound but with a little difference.
In addition, some of the embarrassing things that had happened to me start when I was in my Saturday's mandarin class at the Chinese Learning Center at NPUST. The professor gave us a hand out with vocabulary and some sentences to practice and then to interact in the class with my classmates. There was a sentence that was talking about a girl and to make it more interesting the instructor told us to use our names in the sentences.
It was my turn and the sentence I have to read says: Excuse me. Is Miss Mei-ru Zhang in? I was a little nervous and I start making the sentence saying; excuse me. Is Miss Kamala in? Kamala was one of the boys in the class and I had to change it from小姐(Miss) to 先生 (Mr.) and I did not do it, so I said Miss instead of saying Mr. because I have picked a boy's name and when I start reading the sentence everyone starts laughing at me and I said to me why they are laughing for; and then I realized that I have made a mistake.
Some others embarrassing things have happened to me while trying to speak Chinese is when I am ordering food at restaurants or while buying things at seven eleven. You know that in Chinese to buy or to sell sounds very alike to each other so, when I want to say 我要買 (I want to buy) it sounds like I am saying 我要賣 (I want to sell), and people do not understand me and sometimes they say 沒有 (no). Most of the times I repeat what I want to say at least three times and they understand, and most of the times they do not understand what I am trying to say, but I think that after trying it, I am improving my pronunciation which is good.
It was another good one but also embarrassing to me. It was late at night and I was doing homework and I was feeling a little hungry; I decided to go to seven eleven. I came in and I ask the vendor for hot dogs. He did not understand me because I was not saying the right word for hot dog so, I was saying 狗 (dog) instead of saying (hot dog) 熱狗, and then I asked him in English and I felt so embarrassed because at that moment there where two Taiwanese girls buying and one of them was kind of laughing of what I was saying.
In last, trying to speak a new language is very interesting and also so important because once we know the correct way of speaking it, there is a special feeling and we get more confident. I still have a long way to go and my aim now is to learn more vocabulary, to keep talking in Chinese and to improve my pronunciation skills. Chinese is a special language, is the most difficult to learn, but it is not impossible to achieve it.


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JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS AND THE CHURCH IN GENERAL AS LAICIZED SAVANNAH PRIEST SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MOLESTING TWO 6TH GRADERS AT SAVANNAH CATHOLIC SCHOOL IN 1986, just two of many more in our diocese and in Maryland
If there was ever a priest who should have his ordination annulled, this is he! He should never have been ordained and his file going back to his application to our diocese proves it. There is justice for his victims, many still too embarrassed to come forward. He is the classic definition of a predator pervert. If anyone deserves to go to hell, this pervert does! He was placed on non assigned status in 1988 and laicized much too late after 2002!
This is from the Savannah Morning News newspaper this morning. Thank God South Carolina does not have a statute of limitations for this type of crime. Georgia does. Savannah, as Augusta, is on the boarder of South Carolina. Be forewarned that this article is overly descriptive of this pervert's crimes:
Ex-Catholic priest sentenced to 20 years for sex assault
By Shellie Murdaugh (Savannah Morning News)
Wearing a grey beard and prison stripes to match while clasping his hands together with a ghostly stare, Wayland Brown was wheeled into the Beaufort County courtroom Tuesday for his sentencing.
Brown, 76, a former Savannah Roman Catholic priest and sex offender, had been accused of numerous sex crimes against children. He entered a guilty plea to nine charges, including six counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, second degree and three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, first degree. Judge Robert Hood accepted the pleas and sentenced him to 20 years in prison for the crimes.
"I do not expect the defendant to live through that sentence ... What you saw during today's proceedings is not only someone who violated the trust of children but who violated their faith, as well," 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone said.
The felony indictments, returned Aug. 29, 2017, charged Brown with sexual battery in several locations, including St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Hardeeville, S.C., the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge and the intersection of Stiney and Morgan roads in Hardeeville in the area surrounded by railroad tracks and depot area.
The victims, Allan Ranta and Chris Templeton, were male parishioners in Savannah who were taken into South Carolina where the attacks occurred between 1978 and 1988. Each appeared in court and spoke to the judge as Brown sat in his wheelchair only a few feet away.
Ranta was 9 in August 1978, a fifth grader at St. James Catholic School, when, according to evidence, "The defendant, a Catholic priest took Ranta to the Savannah National Refuge and forced the victim to have anal sex and oral sex. Ranta was also raped at Saint Anthony's Church behind the altar. (Brown) wore his collar during the rapes."
Stone said Templeton was Brown's second victim. After knowing Templeton for about two weeks, Stone said Brown also took Templeton to the Savannah Wildlife Refuge and raped him numerous times.
With tears in his eyes and a pause in his voice, an emotional Templeton recalled the horror of what had happened to him so many years ago. He had grown up in Savannah in a neighborhood across the street from St. James Catholic Church.
For more audio content from SavannahNow:
"I am just glad to be able to hear a guilty plea," Templeton said as he wiped a tear from his face. "I was a happy kid but when I met Mr. Brown, those were pretty much my last memories of my childhood. I lost my soul. I was a 13-year-old kid trying to survive; I was raped over 50 times and have lived with the nightmares."
"There was a lot of pain and suffering I put my family through," he said. "I did not think today would ever come. All I wanted to hear was 'guilty' and so many years, I wanted to die. Today is a good day; it is a day of hope."
Templeton said not everyone agreed with his decision to come forward. He said he felt like there are others who have been abused and are scared to come forward.
"If I can save one person by coming forward," he said. "I was robbed of 30 years of my life. This is a victory today for me and Allan."
Ranta, standing beside Templeton, then spoke about his experiences, saying he had worked very hard to heal from the abuse he experienced.
"When the abuse began for me, I internalized everything and became suicidal," Ranta said. "I would come out of my body in order to escape the pain. I would cut myself among other self-harming behaviors in order to feel. I was unable to look at myself in the mirror and I felt like I had a parasite coursing through my body at all times."
Ranta said that if there are other victims, it is very important for them not to be worried and concerned if they come forward.
"Speaking up and taking assertive action is a form of self-care," Ranta said.
After hearing from Templeton and Ranta, Judge Hood gave Brown an opportunity to speak. Brown, although sitting in a wheelchair, stood up to speak to the judge.
"I want to thank the victims for coming forward, it crystallized my emotions about dealing with the past, from my perspective," Brown said in a low voice. "It takes courage for any adult man to apologize to any other adult man. I don't think the Catholic Church had any knowledge of what was going on." (My comment: Here you see the mind of a sick man who is praising himself for apologizing to his now adult victims who are in the late 40's, early 50's. He has courage to apologize. What narcissism and pathology! What a despicable thing to say in front of two of his victims! But he also says he doesn't "think the church had any knowledge of what was going on." I think he is right here, in terms of the specifics of his abuse and how perverted it was. In fact I doubt the parents of these boys at the time had any clue. Was it clericalism, placing a priest on a pedestal and thinking that because he was a priest he could be trusted with their sons. They even invited this pervert into their homes and some of the abuse occurred in the home unbeknownst to the parents too! This is the recipe for these kinds of crimes--trust, misplaced trust fueled by clericalism (meaning trust just because someone is a priest).
Brown said he could not make up for what he had done, saying he did not think there was to be any closure for this kind of event.
"I've done what I can do, there's nothing more I can do."
Hood, who said he normally did not comment about sentences, took exception to his rule Tuesday.
"These cases are like explosions," he said. "It affects not only those directly involved but also the entire community. It takes a lot of courage for two grown men to tell somebody and go to the authorities. This case reminds me of a Bible verse in the New Testament that says if you harm a child, a millstone should be placed around your neck and then you get thrown into the sea. Children are precious and special."
The Jasper County charges stemmed from a 14-month investigation involving law enforcement agencies in both states, the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office and the Chatham County District Attorney's Office.
"These cases were from the 1970s and 1980s, so going back and finding information and finding evidence" was difficult, said Chatham County District Attorney Meg Heap. "(Solicitor Stone) picked it up, and he went with it. "It's justice, finally, for these victims."
Well I can tell you from personal exposure to Brown that the Church DID know, certainly by 1977, and transferred that abomination to Augusta. I met him in the parish office where he was assigned. The Pastor put in charge of that nightmare did night fishing on a local lake with my husband and another man who owned a pontoon boat for such excursions. The pastor relayed enough of the story (including sexual abuse of his beloved dog!) that there was no doubt what was going on. The poor pastor, after doing everything required of him by his Bishop here and then in Savannah, finally left the priesthood pretty broken.
Brown was finally sent to St. Luke's (yes, THAT St. Luke's!) in Silver Spring MD, FOR "rehabilitation", for a year at Diocesan expense. He was discharged to continue his abusive predation.
Thanks be to God, we only had a baby daughter at the time we knew Wayward Wayland, and not an altar boy son! How it has taken this long to prosecute this sicko criminal (40 years!) is a serious malfeasance involving the earlier Church coverup that should be addressed, and later the unresponsive legal justice system. That creep should never have been allowed to roam free.
He did serve a prison term, maybe 5 to 10 years, can't remember, in Maryland after 2002 when one of his victims from his time in the seminary there (late 1970's) came forward (as an adult). Maryland didn't have statues of limitations either. He would have been prosecuted in Georgia if there were no statutes of limitations. The problem is that you have to have someone who is a victim to come forward and the ones who have come forward did so in the adult years many years after the rapes, etc.
I would suspect there are adult victims now in Augusta (unless they moved) but for whatever reason haven't come forward. Shortly after 2002 I wrote a op ed piece in the Augusta Chronicle, which I think was printed on a Sunday, inviting those who may have been abused by Wayland Brown to come forward. I don't know if anyone did.
I remember when he was sent to St. Luke's and the report that we got was that he was diagnosed as an alcoholic! It was shortly after he returned from there that Bishop Lessard placed him on "non assigned" status.
I know that bishops throughout the country had all kinds of legal machinations not to report priests like Wayland to law enforcement given the relationship of the priest to his bishop. It was flimsy then as now.
We have to keep in mind too, that back in the 60's and 70's parents did not want to place their sons or daughters who were the age of Wayland's victims through a legal hassle or bring scandal to the family or the Church and were content too to keep things hushed. This too is a form of clericalism too, I suspect. Any parent who knew of the abuse could have gone to the law first and then the Church.
60's Survivor said...
Given the way that the diocese frequently flings Brown's name out for public consumption (i.e., "See? We're being open about sexual abuse!") I cannot help but suspect that Mr. Brown is not the only abuser among the diocesan clergy, but simply a "bone" thrown at us to keep us quiet.
No one as notorious as Brown! The diocese may release names of those credibly accused over the past 50 years if it is in their file. We will learn of dead priests accused. I doubt seriously anyone with a past credible accusation is functioning today.
The problem with these public disclosures is when a false accusation is made and is in a file--who today is going to believe the priest is innocent. Everyone, including Justice Kavanaugh, is considered guilty until proven innocent which is practically impossible to do. So perfectly innocent priests will be exposed to shame simply by a false accusation that is in their file.
Justice Kavanaugh was not on trial, so "innocent until proven guilty" does not apply.
He was in a very high profile job interview.
When you are interviewing a potential hire for your parish staff, and there are significant questions raised about his/her past behavior having to do with alleged sexual abuse, are you going to say, "Oh, this person is innocent until proven guilty!" and add him/her to the parish staff?
I didn't think so.
Of course I was speaking euphemistically and about the court of public opinion and Kavanaugh fits that scenario but also a political agenda.
And you would hire for your staff a person with such accusations?
If qualified and then cleared by FBI after smear campaign, in justice, yes!
TJM said...
I think anonymous is not playing with a full deck.
rcg said...
The dilemma for Justice Kavanaugh and any priest is the same: we naturally ask for evidence while understanding it might be difficult to find unless the people making the accusation can endure the additional shame and social mockery to produce it. I personally think this is made worse by the weak responses to the people that are caught red-handed. If the heirarchy, or the local college board, made the appropriate and extremely harsh responses to the people caught in the act then the ones on the edge of giving in to their darker desires might find the strength, in many cases, to resist and do the right thing.
Dan said...
Most job interviews aren't televised, nor do they bring up behavior from high school A.
Which bishop ordained him? Where was he from? Seminary?
Probably the bishop who ordained you and was your classmate
Uh, TJM, if you are referring to Anonymous at 430, no, I am not ordained, nor ever have been, and I was not his classmate. I have never even lived in the state's "other diocese" (as in, the one which is not an archdiocese).
"Most job interviews aren't televised, nor do they bring up behavior from high school A."
Most job interviews are not for a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States, either.
And most job interviews don't bring up behavior from high school (and college) because most of us aren't accused of sexual assault from our high school (and college) days.
Anonymous at 10:01,
Quit the nonsense. The DNC talking point about the "job interview" was created as a pathetic attempt to suggest with regard to the Justice Kavanaugh hearings due process was not necessary, forgetting of course in a job interview, such questions may not be asked.
But I imagine you were perfectly fine with Bill Horndog Clintoon molesting women and against whom a credible charge of rape was made against him, NOT for the time he was in high school or college, but when he was a sitting governor and president. If lefties didn't have double standards they wouldn't have standards at all.
Maybe that's because most of us haven't been nominated for the Supreme Court In the year of our Lord 2018.
A., think about it. Because of politics, this Kavannah issue was broadcast all over the place. Personally, I dont think that was right, due to the "crazies" out there. YOU post here anonymously on a forum which gets MUCH less exposure. So I think you may understand my concerns about the way things were handled.
Also, remember Kavannah has gone through several backround checks and FBI investigations.... no real need for the public airing before an already divided public that is rapidly getting aggressive.


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