text:
Priekule è un comune della Lettonia appartenente alla regione storica della Curlandia di 6.611 abitanti (dati 2009).

Località
Il comune è stato istituito nel 2009 ed è formato dalle seguenti località:
Bunka
Virga
Gramzda
Kalēti
Priekule (territorio rurale)
Priekule (città)

Note

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

 *

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Michael Coard Writes
Join ATAC
Join Avenging The Ancestors Coalition (ATAC) as we virtually celebrate the tenth anniversary of the 12/15/10 grand opening of the Slavery Memorial/President's House.
The Slavery Memorial/President's House at Sixth & Market is the site where George Washington enslaved nine Black men, women, and children at America's first "White House."
Tues., 12/15/20, 12:00 Noon
Zoom ID 758 2881 6407
Michael Coard YouTube Channel & Instagram Page
(For more info, call ATAC at 215-552-8751)
Avenging The Ancestors Coalition
Avenging The Ancestors Coalition (ATAC) is a broad-based organization of African American historians, attorneys, concerned citizens, elected officials, religious leaders, media personalities, community activists, and registered voters. Based in Philadelphia, its influence is international. ATAC was founded in 2002 to compel the National Park Service (NPS) and Independence National Historical Park (INHP) to finally agree to the creation of a prominent Slavery Memorial to conspicuously permeate the President's House project. The purpose of the Slavery Memorial is to honor primarily the nine African descendants enslaved by President George Washington at the President's House, which is also known as America's first "White House" and which was located at the current site of the new Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia at Sixth and Market Streets. Those nine were among the 316 Black men, women, and children enslaved by Washington at his Mt. Vernon, Virginia plantation.
Blacks who celebrate July 4th are ignorant or traitors or both.
Read Michael Coard's July 4, 2021 Article in the Philadelphia Tribune:
November 3rd Coalition:
Voting plus boycotting and activism equals revolution.
Read Michael Coard's October 19, 2020 Article in the Philadelphia Tribune:
What Have We Accomplished?
ATAC won the battle for the historic President's House Slavery Memorial to honor our courageous ancestors who were enslaved by President George Washington at America's first "White House," which was in Philadelphia at the current site of the new Liberty Bell Center at 6th and Market.
ATAC is winning the ongoing and reactivated battle to get Dr. Edward Robinson's African-centered 'Infusion' educational project permanently and pervasively infused into the Philadelphia school district's official curriculum.
Through its "NOT Over Our Dead Bodies!" Committee, ATAC is leading the battle to end the desecration of The Bethel Burying Ground. This is the cemetery containing the remains of at least 5,000 Black men, women, and children from the 1800s that are defiled under a trash dump and a city playground in South Philadelphia.
ATAC is assisting "Heeding Cheyney's Call" in the battle to save Cheyney University- the oldest Black institution of higher learning in America- from decades-long racial discrimination by the Commonwealth of PA.
And most immediately, ATAC is battling, through its "F(ilm) The Police!" Committee, to criminalize, punish, and ultimately end police brutality
As we avenge the ancestors, we also support the living. ATAC is ready, willing, and able to form any committee to assist you with any battle that's important to you for the protection of our ancestors, our people, and our community- but you must be willing to lead that committee!
What Have We Accomplished Regarding The Slavery Memorial/President's House?
ATAC spearheaded a letter-writing campaign, garnering over 15,000 signatures.
ATAC held large and vocal demonstrations annually, usually on July 3, from 2002-2007, in connection with the Slavery Memorial/President's House project.
In October 2003, ATAC helped secure $1.5 million from Mayor John Street of Philadelphia toward funding the Slavery Memorial/President's House project.
ATAC provided substantial documentation to U.S. House Appropriations Committee member Congressman Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania who was instrumental in securing an amendment to the Interior Department's 2003 budget requiring the National Park Service to develop plans for the Slavery Memorial/President's House site, including an "appropriate commemoration" of the nine enslaved African descendants there.
In August 2005, primarily through the efforts of Congressman Fattah along with the assistance of Congressman Robert Brady of Pennsylvania, $3.6 million in federal funding was made available for the site and the commemoration.
2017 ATAC Rally
Portions of the 2017 annual Avenging The Ancestors Coalition's (ATAC) Fourth of July rally at Independence Mall dedicated to telling the truth about US history, slavery and the "founding fathers".
Membership Agreement of Avenging the Ancestors Coalition
2017 | ATAC | Avenging The Ancestors Coalition

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Michael Eisenstadt is the David Kahn and Douglas Kahn Fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program. He served for 26 in the U.S. Army Reserve, doing stints at U.S. Central Command headquarters and in the region, before retiring in 2010. Prior to joining the Institute in 1989, Eisenstadt worked as a military analyst with the U.S. government.
The U.S. designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) is the latest manifestation of the U.S. policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran. Tehran has always emphasized reciprocity, responding "in kind" to perceived challenges. It has employed that logic in this case as well, "designating" U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) "and all its affiliates" as a terrorist organization in response to the U.S. move. Beyond "designating" the U.S. military, however, Tehran may try to respond in ways that more tangibly affect U.S. interests.
Yet, there may be individuals in the IRGC who favor hitting back at the United States. Some hardliners understand that President Donald Trump is looking for a reason to pull the United States out of the region and believe that he is all bluff on confronting Iran militarily. They may argue that Tehran should sponsor an attack on U.S. troops along the lines of the Marine Barracks Bombing in Beirut, Lebanon (1983) or Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia (1996), to give the United States the final shove it needs to leave the region. As Washington applies "maximum pressure," it should keep this in mind, and constantly tend to and monitor its deterrent posture in the region to influence Tehran's calculus and avert such an eventuality.


James Buckley, Jr. - Who Was Ernest Shackleton?
One of the greatest adventures of all time comes to life in this biography of the great English/Irish explorer, Ernest Shackleton. Today a model of leadership, in his day, he carved new paths in the southern oceans.


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• Ing. A. Rossi s/s 4-effect, 5-stage, forced circulation vacuum evaporator system, model Q750 + Flash Chamber, c/w pre-concentrator, Masseli UR-20 in-line digital refractometer, digital level transmitters, Allen Bradley PLC control system w/ PanelView 900 touchscreen HMI, motor electrical switchgear, cooling tower, etc.
- FBF Italia s/s 3-piston volumetric high pressure pump, model FBF 015/P, 7,000 liters per hour, 60 bar pressure, 16.5 kw.
- cooling tower, s/s sterilizer tank, etc.
- Gorman-Rupp self-priming centrifugal pumps, etc.
• Pfaudler 14-pocket rotary piston filler, model RP-814 R.H.
• assorted Waukesha s/s P.D. pumps (180U2, 130, 079), Tri-Clover s/s centrifugal pumps, Lightnin' s/s mixers, etc.
• assorted, Burt roll-through labellers, Burt case packers, can conveyors, etc.
• Cleaver Brooks 600 h.p. natural gas-fired packaged steam boiler, 200S PSI., 25 million BTU/HR, model CB648-600, c/w Fireye flame monitor, etc.
• Cleaver Brooks 300 h.p. natural gas-fired packaged steam boiler, 200S PSI., 12.5 million BTU/HR, model CB266-300, c/w Fireye flame monitor, etc.
• (2) can cooling lines c/w spray coolers & can conveyors, etc.
• (2) Toyota & Nissan propane forklift trucks, 5,000 lbs. cap.
• Jungheinrich electric stacker lift truck, model HCB-10-63, 1000 kg. cap.
• assorted maintenance machine shop, lab, office & auxiliary plant equipment, etc.
• canning parts machines, etc.


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Birch is an attractive hardwood that is popular for cabinets due to its strength, hardness and price, which is less than maple. The color ranges from warm white to creamy yellow and even some warm red tones. It looks beautiful when left in a natural color, but it also takes stains well.
Birch costs less than its more popular hardwood relative, maple, yet it performs just as well and looks great in lighter stains. So if your design choices lean to paint colors or light to medium stains, it is a good choice that can give you a quality kitchen that's easier on your budget. It doesn't always take dark stains as well, however, and it can be prone to variations in coloring that can look irregular. When correctly stained, it will provide a beautiful maple appearance that may well fool your neighbors into thinking you installed top line maple cabinets.
Because it's so versatile, birch is used in traditional, transitional and contemporary designs. Use birch cabinets to create a clean contemporary look that's warm and natural. The light color works well with dark counters and backsplashes for contrast. Red birch from the heart of the tree especially brings a warmth to the kitchen, and is nicely complimented with the gray-green colors found in many granite in counters. Birch fits the trend to warm, comfortable – yet contemporary – looks in lighter colors. To bring out that look, you can complement it with natural flooring. Hardware, too, will pull the look together. (Think of hardware as jewelry accessories for your kitchen.) Patinated bronze, brushed nickel and even blackened steel adds character to the look. Birch can pretty much achieve any look, and that it leaves plenty of room for your imagination!
Birch ranks high on the hardness scale (yes, in the lumber industry there is a scale for this), which is why you also see it used in butcher blocks, tool handles, and specialty furniture. Birch is commonly grown in the Northeast and Canada, making it plentiful and accessible. Our Marsh Kitchen & Bath designers are full of great ideas to help you achieve the look you want, and make the most of your budget. Contact the location nearest you for a free consultation.


text:
Hélène Menexia Massam (died August 22, 2020) was a statistician known for her research on the Wishart distribution and on graphical models. She was a professor of mathematics and statistics at York University in Canada.

Education and career
Massam earned a bachelor's degree from McGill University in 1971. She stayed on at McGill for graduate studies, earning a master's degree in 1973 and completing her doctorate in 1977. Her dissertation, Mathematical Programming with Cones, concerned numerical analysis and was supervised by Sanjo Zlobec. She joined the York University faculty in 1984, and taught there for 35 years until her death.

Recognition
In 2008, Massam was named a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics "for contributions to Wishart distributions and to graphical models".

References

Year of birth missing
20th-century births
2020 deaths
Canadian statisticians
Women statisticians
Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
McGill University alumni
Academic staff of York University


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You can read our reflections on Week 3 below.
Our starting point, this week, was Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' theory of the five stages of bereavement, first outlined and explored in her seminal study On Death and Dying (1969). Together, we looked at the five emotional responses identified by Kübler-Ross – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance – and reflected on the helpfulness of this as a model for grief. As Dr Andrew Schuman explained to us, there is no pressure or requirement to progress through these emotions in a stipulated order, or over a prescribed time period. Certain emotions may recur, while others may not be experienced at all, depending on the particular circumstances of the bereavement, and on the response of the bereaved individual.
Guilt and regret are two emotional responses which, though powerfully articulated in two of the poems we looked at together this week, seem not to feature in Kübler-Ross' model. Hardy's own sense of remorse – his yearning to right former wrongs – is palpable in his poem 'The Voice', particularly when the text is read in the light of its biographical context. Wordsworth's 'Surprised by Joy' is similarly illuminated by an understanding of the circumstances of its composition. The writer had lost his three-year-old daughter, and the intense guilt that suddenly seizes him, following a fleeting moment of happiness, is no doubt familiar to many who have struggled with feelings of hope and joy in the aftermath of a loved one's death.
Although Kübler-Ross does identify 'denial' as an early response to bereavement, a number of learners commented that shock should be separately acknowledged, reflecting upon their own experiences of numbness and detachment in the aftermath of an unexpected death. Many learners also remarked that fear was an emotion they associated with bereavement, which did not seem to feature among the five stages. Fear was identified as both an immediate and an ongoing response to loss; some learners talked about a fear of coping – or failing to cope – without a lost loved one, while others also described the fear of future losses that had remained with them following a bereavement.
As several of our contributors have observed this week, an individual's response to loss will depend not only that individual's personality, but also on their relationship with the person who has died, and on the particular circumstances of the loss: is the death a sudden shock, or has it been expected for some time? Kübler-Ross' five stages are not like the observable symptoms of a virus, which present in a particular order over a specified time-period. Rather, these are – as Dr Andrew Schuman articulated – responses which many people will, at some point following a bereavement, experience, in no particular order and for no prescribed length of time. Several of our learners, in the first run of Literature and Mental Health, observed that the Kübler-Ross model is comforting precisely because it imposes a general, comprehensible structure on the otherwise unpredictable and overwhelming experience of grief. Perhaps not altogether unlike the patterns of formal poetry, the five stages provide a kind of containment or control of emotional intensity. Notably, doctors and bereavement counsellors often use visual metaphors to talk to their patients about loss. Grief is envisioned as a large black circle, or as a ball balanced on the tip of a pen. The circle will never shrink, and the ball will never get lighter; but new circles of life will grow around the grief, and over time, the pen will be exchanged for a bowl, making the ball easier to carry. Both of these images help us to conceptualise the pain of bereavement as something which doesn't diminish, but which we become more able to live with over time. Like Kübler-Ross' five stage theory, these visual models can help to give structure, containment and shape to the often bewildering experience of grief.
We've been focusing, for the most part, on the emotional aspects of the grief response this week, particularly in relation to Kübler-Ross' model. Like stress and heartbreak, however, bereavement can also manifest itself in a variety of physical and psychological symptoms. Last week, we learned about 'Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy' or 'Broken Heart Syndrome', a condition mimicking a heart attack, which is triggered by extreme emotional stress, such as the loss of a loved one. As this article from the BBC website outlines, grief can also cause stomach pains and nausea leading to weight loss, and can weaken the immune system, making people increasingly susceptible to infection. Sleeping difficulties are common, as are distraction and forgetfulness. It is important to realise that these responses are entirely normal – that forgetting basic and important things is as much a part of the grief response as crying or feeling angry. Knowing other people have felt the same as you may be of little comfort in the aftermath of a bereavement, but it can help to make the experience of grief less frightening – less isolating – to understand that you're not alone in your thoughts, emotions and behaviour.
Written by 20th century North American poet Robert Winner, 'Learning to Mourn' was one of the poems that we came across in our searches on the Poetry Foundation app and website this week. Its title struck us especially pertinent to a number of our conversations this week.
Lucy Clarke suggested that, in the West, we have become less and less comfortable with talking about death. Both as a researcher of grief culture, and as someone who has experienced bereavement, Lucy believes that the rituals and traditions of mourning have been gradually eroded. Grief is internalised, time-limited and glossed over, and an unhealthy pressure is often put on a bereaved person, to 'move on' from the death of a loved one.
Particularly in more economically developed countries, people are increasingly alienated from natural cycles of growth and decay, and significant improvements in sanitation and healthcare mean that we confront death less and less regularly. It can be especially difficult to know how to introduce children to the concept of loss, and how best to support bereaved children. We heard from Sophie Ratcliffe this week about her own experience of being bereaved as a child, about the pressure she felt to behave like a 'grown-up', and about how reading helped her both to escape from and to cope with her father's death. For Sophie, as a teenager, John Donne's poem 'A Valediction Forbidding Mourning' was an incredible source of reassurance and hope, but for much younger children, there are many books designed to introduce and explore the theme of loss, a few of which we've looked at together this week. Some of you will already have been familiar with John Burningham's Granpa and Julia Donaldson's Paper Dolls, and may even have read them to your own children or grandchildren. Badger's Parting Gifts by Susan Varley and Judith Kerr's Goodbye Mog are books cherished by children and adults alike, which very gently address the issues of death, grief and remembrance for young readers. For teenage readers, meanwhile, Patrick Ness' critically acclaimed novel A Monster Calls tells with painful honesty the story of a young boy losing his mother to terminal illness; the book has been particularly commended for its frank and eloquent handling of the range of emotions children in these situations often feel, including anger, guilt and, most notably, a longing for the inevitable to occur. Such stories are important for children, whether or not they have experienced bereavement early in life; but children's stories, which offer safe, often straightforward explorations of loss and grief, can also be enormously helpful and reassuring for adults. Indeed, perhaps unsurprisingly, parents and grandparents often find these books more emotionally intense and more cathartic than the young children with whom they share them.
We hope that listening Lucy and Sophie talk about bereavement will have been a helpful and consoling experience for some of our learners. This course simply would not have been possible without the incredible generosity of our contributors, who gave up their time to talk to us so openly about some intensely personal subjects. We are immensely grateful to them, and also to all of you, for helping to create a space in which people feel that they can share their experiences safely and openly, with a supportive community of fellow learners.
It can be incredibly helpful to read or hear about another person's experience of grief, but there are times when being exposed to the painful emotions of others can exacerbate our own in an unhelpful and potentially harmful way. For this reason, we'd like to remind everyone to pay attention to how the course materials and comment sections are making them feel, and to encourage you all to take breaks from the course if any of the content is causing you distress.
We've enjoyed exploring the Poetry Foundation app and website again this week, and we hope that some of you have also found it a rewarding experience. Of the many moving, uplifting and reflective poems that we read during our searches, we wanted to share three – 'Alone' by Jack Gilbert, 'Consolation' by Wisłava Szymborska and 'Under the Lemon Tree' by Marsha De La O – with our learners here. For those of you who like to have some poems to print off and take away, we've collated the week's focus poems, along with a few (out of copyright) poems from the activity, into a PDF, which you can download by following the link at the bottom of the page.
As we approach the half-way point, we'd just like to say how grateful we are to all those of you who have decided to join us as we progress through this course. We look forward to continuing the conversation with you over the next three weeks.
In the first half of the course, we've been thinking about some of the mental and emotional challenges of the human experience that almost all of us will encounter. Over the next three weeks, we'll be moving on to focus on some specific mental health conditions, beginning with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. We'll be finding out about how the condition was first diagnosed in the military hospitals of the First World War, and we'll also be trying to broaden and modernise our conception of PTSD, which is a misunderstood and commonly misdiagnosed condition even today. In order to do so, we'll be speaking to a clinical psychologist who specialises in the treatment of PTSD, and we'll also be hearing from two contemporary poets, whose writings address their own experiences of trauma.
The very serious conditions we will be exploring in the second half of the course — PTSD, depression, dementia — need to be approached with caution. Please feel free to skip individual steps, or even whole weeks, if you think material may be distressing rather than helpful to you. In particular, some learners may not wish to look at the video footage of First World War shellshock symptoms.
Last week, we read and listened to an Emily Dickinson poem about bereavement, entitled 'The bustle in a house'. Dickinson's poem captures the impulse to tidy, to gather and order which many people experience in the aftermath of a loss, as well as evoking the strangely serious quality with which grief endows everyday tasks.
In the second stanza of her poem, Dickinson describes a process of 'sweeping up the heart/ And putting love away'. The image, perhaps, rather poignantly suggests a loss that is too raw, too painful to be confronted; yet the closure described by the poem can seem peculiarly, even unhealthily abrupt.
Jonathan's poem, 'Processing', which we looked at together at the beginning of the week, offers a gentler, more positive and more comforting perspective on closure after loss. 'The book of memory', according to this poem, 'can still be read but there is nothing more to write'. It is an image that balances the acceptance of loss with the cherishing of a person's memory; it offers both containment and reflection. People who have experienced bereavement are sometimes encouraged to make memory boxes, containing photographs, notes and mementos reminding them of the happy times they have shared with a lost loved one. Like the metaphorical 'book of memory' in Jonathan's poem, the memories contained within these boxes can be revisited at any time, but they can also be temporarily put away when remembering becomes too painful. Memories are kept safe and bounded in a particular place.
We observed, in the introduction to week 3, that there seems to exist an innate human impulse to turn to verse at times of grief, and perhaps it is the case that a commemorative poem, in particular, can serve as a kind of textual memory box. Poems can preserve and protect memories, honour and celebrate them, while the process of writing may itself be immensely cathartic, transforming painful recollections and emotions into external expression. We'd like to end this summary by thanking any learners who have chosen to share their own poems – this week or elsewhere in the course – and any readers who have reflected on and responded sensitively to their fellow learners' poems.


Wonpro 5-outlet universal power strip, which allows you to charge up to five devices at the same time!
In an increasingly interconnected world where Americans are traveling abroad more than ever with our smartphones, tablets, laptops and other essential electronic products, a simple plug adapter often isn't enough.
Enter the Wonpro 5-outlet universal power strip, which allows you to charge up to five devices at the same time!
This particular model is fantastic for frequent travelers to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, allowing you to use your own plugs with ease -- no need for an adapter, since this Wonpro 5-outlet universal power strip comes hardwired with a grounded plug that works in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. Also this Wonpro 5-outlet universal power strip also comes with added child protection in the form of safety shutters, preventing inquisitive little fingers from going places they really shouldn?t!
It's simple -- just"plug and go!"
Our Wonpro 5-outlet universal power strips all come with built-in surge absorbency and circuit breakers for maximum protection, both to protect your electronic products and your own personal safety.


Our friends at BioAdvance's layout takes advantage of S.A.M's file conversion capability. The layout is a simple fullscreen layout currently displaying images in fullscreen. What's unique about this layout is that the images being displayed onscreen are separate pages in a PDF document that was uploaded to and converted on the fly by S.A.M.


text:
ULisboa has encouraged the international mobility of students, professors and researchers in mobility programs worldwide through partnerships with internationally renowned institutions.
Institutional Relations Unit
Phone: +351 210 443 556 + 351 210 443 554/5
Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa) is the largest Higher Education institution in Portugal and one of the most prestigious universities in Europe.
Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa) is the Portuguese university most sought after by international students.
Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa) intends to strengthen its potential for intervention and influence in strategic international areas by maintaining a strong focus on Portuguese-speaking countries, and by contributing to a broader use of the language as an institution of reference in teaching...


text:
package com.zooz.common.client.ecomm.beans;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnoreProperties;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;

/**
 * The set of customer details, including the customer login ID and login name.
 * Customer details are used for openPayment and getToken API calls.
 */
@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
public class CustomerDetails extends AbstractJsonBean {
    /**
     * the customer"s identifier at the merchant"s server, allowing one click checkout from all devices.
     */
    @JsonProperty
    private String customerLoginID;
    /**
     * the customer"s name at the merchant"s server. It is used mainly for filtering reports
     */
    @JsonProperty
    private String customerLoginName;

    /**
     * Instantiates a new Customer details.
     *
     * @param customerLoginID   customerLoginID is the customer"s identifier at the merchant"s server, allowing one click checkout from all devices.
     * @param customerLoginName customerLoginName is the customer"s name at the merchant"s server. It is used mainly for filtering reports
     */
    public CustomerDetails(String customerLoginID, String customerLoginName) {
        this.customerLoginID = customerLoginID;
        this.customerLoginName = customerLoginName;
    }

    /**
     * Instantiates a new Customer details.
     */
    public CustomerDetails() {
    }

    /**
     * Gets the customer login ID.
     *
     * @return the customer login ID
     */
    public String getCustomerLoginID() {
        return customerLoginID;
    }

    /**
     * Sets the customer login ID.
     *
     * @param customerLoginID the customer login iD
     */
    public void setCustomerLoginID(String customerLoginID) {
        this.customerLoginID = customerLoginID;
    }

    /**
     * Gets the customer login name.
     *
     * @return the customer login name
     */
    public String getCustomerLoginName() {
        return customerLoginName;
    }

    /**
     * Sets the customer login name.
     *
     * @param customerLoginName the customer login name
     */
    public void setCustomerLoginName(String customerLoginName) {
        this.customerLoginName = customerLoginName;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
package org.apache.hadoop.hbase.hbql.statement;

import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.hbql.mapping.MappingContext;

public abstract class StatementWithMapping extends GenericStatement implements ConnectionStatement {

    private MappingContext mappingContext = null;

    public StatementWithMapping() {
    }

    protected StatementWithMapping(final StatementPredicate predicate, final String mappingName) {
        super(predicate);
        this.mappingContext = new MappingContext(mappingName);
    }

    public MappingContext getMappingContext() {
        return mappingContext;
    }
}


Physical Therapy, Massage Therapy, and Chiropractic treatments for Migraine and Tension Headaches.
Treatment for headaches is a combination of physical therapy, massage therapy, and chiropractic treatments. We combine the best of all disciplines to treat your headaches.
Most people are aware repetitive activities, physical habits, poor posture, and stress contribute to chronic muscle spasms in the cervical spine; which can aggravate cervicogenic headaches.
Standard headache treatment of electric therapy, ultrasound, and passive stretching is slow to reduce spasms and scar tissue.
A combination of modalities, manual therapy, massage therapy, Graston/ASTYM, provider performed stretching, and exercises decrease the muscle spasms and improve range of motion faster than traditional treatment protocols.
Graston Technique is incredible at increasing range of motion, removing scar tissue in muscles and ligaments, and relaxing tight muscles. We combine Graston Technique with traditional physical therapy exercises and stretches to speed healing and recovery from injuries.
The technique utilizes specially designed stainless steel instruments to detect and effectively treat areas exhibiting soft tissue fibrosis or chronic inflammation.
For example, some people seek treatment for their headaches, neck pain, and sore knots in their muscles that never go away. These knots are fascial restrictions and scar tissue that may be contributing to their headaches. Using Graston Technique on these areas helps the muscles and can improve the headaches and neck pain.
We are one of the few chiropractic or physical therapy offices certified in the Graston Technique.
Click below to watch several of the news stories on Graston and its treatment.
For more information on Graston Technique and headaches, visit, see www.grastontechnique.com.
Imagine having a Physical Therapist, Chiropractor, and Massage Therapist all working together for your headaches.


text:
Classical music: Meet Perry Allaire – radio host, singer, conductor, writer of program notes and Renaissance man of music.
When it comes to classical music, it is hard to surpass Perry Allaire for being a well-rounded and knowledgeable citizen of the classical music world.
Allaire qualifies as nothing less than a Renaissance man of music.
Allaire (below) hosts a Friday morning classical music program called "Fantasia" on Madison's community radio station, WORT-FM 89.9.
Classically trained in voice, conducting, music theory and music history, Allaire is also a veteran singer with Madison Savoyards, which puts on productions of Gilbert and Sulivan operettas each summer. (Below is Perry Allaire singing Wagner in 2009.)
For nearly 25 years, Allaire contributed program notes for concerts at the Wisconsin Union Theater.
He also conducts the choir at Madison's Holy Redeemer Church.
Perry Allaire recently spoke to Paul Baker (below), who hosts the "Only Strings" program for the radio station WSUM at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Baker published his interview with Perry Allaire on the blog that he writes for the show.
Meet Perry Allaire.
Here is a link to the interview:
https://onlystringswsum.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/perry-allaire-40-year-wort-veteran-host/
Tags: Amateur radio, Arts, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, community, Gilbert and Sullivan, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Madison Savoyards, Music, Only Strings, opera, Operetta, Paul Baker, program notes, Radio, Renaissance, Renaissance man, strings, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wagner, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, WORT-FM 89.9, WSUM
Classical music: Listen to wrong notes played by great pianists.
Yesterday, The Ear offered a blog post about stage fright and performance anxiety.
It was written by someone who knows: Concert pianist and polymath Renaissance Man Stephen Hough (below), who is also a writer, painter, composer, photographer, culture critic and more.
But even the greatest musicians can -– and do — mess up.
So today is a follow-up.
Here is a link to a YouTube video with some pretty messed up notes and whole passages by some of history's greatest pianists, virtuosos and technical wizards.
They include Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Horowitz (below) and Artur Schnabel – along with the actual scores to show you what is being muffed.
There was no recording technology back then, but it makes one wonder what Frederic Chopin or Franz Liszt might have sounded like off the page when they played. Or even such famed keyboard virtuosos as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
After all, in the same video the great Arthur Rubinstein (below) even explains how he faked an entire difficult Chopin etude and dumped a whole batch of deliberately played wrong notes into it during a public concert — and still won rave reviews from the critics!
It also puts a frame around the picture, and suggests that maybe we should simply worry more about the music and less about the notes. Performers just have to learn to accept failure! Perfection is beyond any of us.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
If you know of other examples, or have personal experiences to share, let us know.
Tags: Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Artur Schnabel, Beethoven, Chicago, Chopin, Classical music, Franz Liszt, Jacob Stockinger, Leonard Shure, Liszt, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Music, performance anxiety, Piano, polymath, Renaissance, Renaissance man, stage fright, Stephen Hough, Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Horowitz, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, wrong notes, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Early Music Festival turns 15 with a perfect opening concert by the Toronto Consort that explored the Italian Renaissance and the musical legacy of Leonardo da Vinci.
The Madison Early Music Festival started as an idea.
So, what better way to mark its 15th anniversary than by exploring perhaps history's greatest Man of Ideas -– Leonardo da Vinci?
And that is exactly what happened during the opening concert last Saturday night by MEMF, which this year is exploring Italian music from 1300 to 1600.
The festival — complete with workshops, lectures and concerts -– is held each summer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
It started as a way to help fill the summertime void of classical music. But now summer is its own season when it comes to classical music in Madison, and much of that success is due to MEMF's success.
Co-founders and co-artistic directors UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe and his soprano wife Cheryl Bensman Rowe (below) had every reason to be proud and moved -– and they were, visibly and audibly.
This summer, because Mills Hall is under construction, MEMF has had to turn to other venues, chiefly the nearby Luther Memorial Church at 1021 University Avenue and Music Hall on Bascom Hill.
The opening concert "The Da Vinci Codex" was held at Luther Memorial, and the church seemed close to full, meaning almost 400 listeners attended. This alternative venue actually seemed an improvement in that it offered a warm and acoustically superior environment with sets and a building that complemented the religious beliefs and art of that era's music and culture.
The program was set up by a fine and well-attended lecture and slide show given by UW-Madison art professor Gail Geiger (below). She examined the heretofore underestimated role of music in Leonardo's life and career as a painter, drawing master, poet, engineer, inventor and all-round genius.
What the audience then heard was a two-hour concert in which no false note was sounded, no false step was taken.
The performer was the Toronto Consort, making its Madison debut. It proved an outstanding and thoroughly professional group of eight persons (below) who are multi-talented in their ability to sing, to play instruments and to recite narration dramatically, expressively and convincingly. They were not afraid to entertain and as well as to inform. (You can hear a sample of similar music performed by the Toronto Consort in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Ear was especially impressed by the tightness of the scissors-and-paste presentation and the uncanny way the Toronto Consort spoke to and engaged with the audience, who laughed and applauded thunderously.
The program's effectiveness came from the terrifically seamless and smooth narrative thread, the story that centered on the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci. It was unifying and used primary sources (Leonardo's notebooks and letters) and secondary sources like the proto-art historian Giorgio Vasari's "Lives" and other historians or critics. (Below is David Fallis, the artistic director, tenor and narrator.)
The performers moved easily from historical accounts of Leonardo in Florence, Milan and France to contextual music that illustrated Leonardo –- the ultimate Renaissance Man — from birth to death. And it proved thoroughly enjoyable and often deeply moving. You did not have to be a fan of early music to be taken in by the contagious melodies and harmonies, the catchy inflections and rhythms, the facts of an amazing life and career.
Just watching these complete professionals perform took us into their world because they are full-body performers who used hands, feet and facial expressions to convey the emotional meaning of the music and get the audience to connect with the music and with them. It felt like Renaissance jazz, so free and yet also so disciplined and practiced was the performance. It is what The Ear likes to call "the well-rehearsed surprise" and is a hallmark of all great performances that are virtuosic and make what is hard seem easy or effortless. (Below is Katherine Hall, viola da gamba player and soprano, singing.)
There is much more left of the 15th Madison Early Music Festival to hear, including "Songs of Love" by the instrumentalists and vocal ensemble Ex Umbris in Music Hall tonight at 7:30 p.m. tonight; plus other concerts including the second annual Handel Aria Competition in Music Hall on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. (NOT 7 p.m., as the MEMF home website mistakenly said at first, and the always impressive All-Festival Concert, which focuses this year on the Trionfi of the poet Petrarch, on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Luther Memorial Church. FREE pre-concert lectures by experts in art, music and history take place at 6:30 p.m.
Here is a link to a schedule and descriptions of events, with times, places and participants:
http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/conferences/madison-early-music-festival/index.html?source=madisonearlymusic.org
Unlike many of Leonardo's ideas, which were adventurous and even prophetic if uncompleted, MEMF has moved from idea to reality.
The Ear has no doubt, and every hope, that it is here to stay, and that it will continue to evolve and grow.
Tags: aria, art history, Arts, Baroque, Bascom Hill, Chamber music, Classical music, drawing, Early music, engineering, festival, Florence, France, genius, George Frideric Handel, Giorgio Vasari, Handel, instrument, inventor, Italian Renaissance, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Leonardo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, MEMF, Milan, Music, Music Hall, painting, Petrarch, Poetry, Renaissance, Renaissance man, song, songs, soprano, Toronto, Toronto Consort, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, viola da gamba, vocal music, voice, YouTube
Classical music: Award-winning pianist Stephen Hough is an accomplished polymath or Renaissance man who also blogs and paints. His personal history is fascinating. So are the sharp stylistic differences he demonstrates in different art forms.
Longtime readers of this blog know my admiration for the British pianist Stephen Hough (below).
Hough, who won the prestigious Naumberg Competition while at the Juilliard School, plays the piano superbly well and has a large shelf full of international awards for his recordings on the Hyperion label. He especially likes to explore less well-known repertoire.
He is a terrific teacher and coach, as I have witnessed firsthand in a masterful master class (below) in Madison.
But in addition to his career as a concert pianist, the supremely talented Hough — who is an astonishingly accomplished polymath or Renaissance man — also writes a regular and highly informative and entertaining blog for the Telegraph newspaper in the United Kingdom. He touches on everything from, of course, the piano (especially historic pianists and performances) to theology (an openly gay man he converted to Roman Catholicism at 19) and fashion (especially his fondness for hats). One of his best entries for me was about the role of hitting wrong notes:
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2013/06/23/classical-music-how-do-you-cope-with-wrong-notes-you-hit-or-hear-pianist-stephen-hough-has-a-healthy-and-helpful-point-of-view/
Here is a link to his website:
http://stephenhough.com/index.php
Here is a link to his marvelous blog:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/author/stephenhough/
What most people – and I include myself – – most admire about Hough's playing is its clarity, its sense of measure and proportion.
As he himself says, he is not much given to "hairy-chested" interpretations of big, intense Russian music like Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. His recent award-winning recording of the complete Chopin waltzes shows his ability to find new and convincing things to say about familiar works and he says them clearly as well as gracefully and elegantly. (Just listen to the YouTube video at the bottom.)
He discusses his approach in a fine interview and profile that appeared in The New York Times just before a Carnegie Hall recital this past spring in which is also played his latest big work, his own Sonata "Notturno luminoso."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/arts/music/stephen-hough-brings-his-eclectic-style-to-carnegie-hall.html?pagewanted=all
And here is a review in the Times of that recital:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/arts/music/stephen-hough-at-carnegie-hall.html?_r=0
But the real surprise for me came when I about and saw his style of painting. He paints in oils, and he exhibits and sells his art.
But unlike his music-making, his painting of this MacArthur "genius award" winner seems almost violently Abstract Expressionist.
Here are a couple of examples:
But of course ultimately it is piano playing that keeps Hough – who resides in the UK, New York and Australia – in the public eye. Listen to this Chopin waltz and you can understand why.
Tags: Abstract Expressionism, Carnegie Hall, Daily Telegraph, fashion, Frédéric Chopin, gay, hats, Hough, Juilliard School, New York City, New York Times, Proms, Rachmaninov, Renaissance man, Roman Catholicism, Russian music, Stephen Hough, Tchaikovksy, The Juilliard School, The New York Times, theology, wrong notes, YouTube


text:
QOTD: Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
"Happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet."
Everyday I wish for the same shit.
I wish for you,
I wish for me.
I wish i didn't have to wish.
QOTD: Palo Alto
Palo Alto (2013)
"I wish I didn't care about anything. But I do care.
I care about everything too much."
I look at you.
You can't see me.
You could, but you never would.
You look in my direction, right through me.
It's like nothing.
I roll my eyes and watch you leave.
I'm annoyed and you didn't even do anything wrong.
Whatever, I think to myself.
Fuck you.
QOTD: Another Earth
Another Earth (2011)
"I saw this image when I was a kid. The photograph of Jupiter taken by NASAs Voyager. Beautiful. But nothing special until shown in rapid succession. Suddenly Jupiter was alive. Breathing. I was hypnotized."
He gets my attention.
I engage.
It's harmless, I think to myself.
He talks fast, with purpose,
but it's too much.
He forces his words on me.
Before I know it,
I'm suffocating.
QOTD: Requiem for a Dream
"Somebody like you can really make things all right for me."
Two of them missing,
probably reminiscing.
They went to get weed before 2am.
They came back, eyes red.
Pure magic
QOTD: My Own Private Idaho
"When I turn twenty-one, I don't want any more of this life. My mother and father will be surprised at the incredible change. It will impress them more when such a fuck-up like me turns good than if I had been a good son all along. All the past years I will think of as one big vacation. At least it wasn't as boring as schoolwork. All my bad behavior I'm going to throw away to pay my debt. I will change when everybody expects it the least."
You, you, you, or you.
I keep imagining that it's you. This time, it's you. I think about all the possibilities and I get myself excited. We could go here, we could go there, we could have fun.
I keep listening to these songs. Hoping one day they will have more meaning because I listen to them with you.
I keep going to these places, hoping that you'll be there, but you're not.
I imagine it freezing out, we stand under purple light and look down at our feet. You step closer. I try to hide my nervousness. I think to myself, this could really be something.
But you're not there and it's all in my head. I'm a wreck and you don't even know I exist.
One day you'll be there, I can feel it. Then I'll be the one smiling.
QOTD: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
"Adults are, like, this mess of sadness and phobias."
An angel
i keep it together
will any of this amount to anything?
QOTD: The Virgin Suicides
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
"We knew the girls were really women in disguise, that they understood love, and even death, and that our job was merely to create the noise that seemed to fascinate them."
this fucking close
this fucking far
never close enough
QOTD: Blue Valentine
Blue Valentine (2010)
"I don't know, I just feel like I should just stop thinking about it, you know, but I can't. Maybe I've seen too many movies, you know, love at first sight. What do you think about love at first sight? You think you can love somebody just by looking at them? But the thing is man, I felt like I knew her, you ever get that feeling? Yeah, I probably don't right... it felt like I did though."
"Sometimes I think I have felt everything I'm ever gonna feel. And from here on out, I'm not gonna feel anything new. Just lesser versions of what I've already felt."
Review: American Honey
american honey
(2016) [R] 2h 43min Dir. Andrea Arnold
A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.
initial thoughts:
This movie was pure magic. Even though it ran a long running time, I found myself wanting to watch more. It was an adventure that most people haven't experienced, and a thrilling one at that.
I could actually compare this film to Gummo. They both showcase misfits in deserted, isolated southern locations. But the this film does everything right that Gummo does wrong. American Honey has characters that are interesting and likable and diverse in race and sexuality. While both films portray southern lifestyle in a realistic way, American Honey not only shows confederate pride, but the complex dangers of it and how it affects certain people.
I completely loved the film from start to finish.The film utilizes unknown talent which makes the characters so real and human. Star (Sasha Lane) makes for a super compelling lead. She was perfectly cast, I couldn't imagine the film with any other actress.From the music to the stunning cinematography, this film is truly a film for a new generation.
aesthetic / style:
+ Cinematography, Colors
+ Realism
+ Close ups to show intimacy
+ Shallow depth of field
+ Stickers, gummy bears, little touches
2016 has been a ruff, slow year for movies. I would say American Honey has been my favorite this year and even last year (with the exception of Mommy).
It's memorable and unique and the soundtrack is so very good.
Also, it's so great to see such great, original female talent in front and behind the camera.
worth watching?
It's a must see. It's thrilling and interesting. Its a movie about people you might not see in your day to day life, the misfits and the "throw-aways". But I think many people can relate to the characters which makes it even more fascinating to watch.
It's worth a watch, I know I'll be re-watchhing soon.
rating: 4½ / 5


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Originally converted from an excellent condition low millage low owner UK 350z GT by an ex Porsche Experience instructor. Further modified by a subsequent owner and myself into a very reliable fast road legal track car. Built to a high standard using the best parts. Been maintained by Mark at Abbey Motorsport since 2013.
All in all, a well setup reliable car that could be either kept as a track car or raced in a number of series.


text:
Migrants Bringing Rare Diseases Strain Health Service
Gregor Fischer/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Incoming migrants are bringing long-eradicated diseases to Germany and are putting the medical system under extreme stress.
As well as bringing a rising tide of crime and attitudes towards women that many consider incompatible with modern European values, the over one and a half million migrants who flowed into Germany last year have also brought unheard-of and rare strains of diseases to the continent. The new arrivals and their illnesses are putting pressure on the German health care system, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
All migrants upon arrival in Germany are required to undergo medical screening. German doctors have been struggling with the high number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases amongst migrants, but are also finding it increasingly difficult to diagnose diseases that have been wiped out in Germany but are still prevalent in the Middle East and Africa.
Gastrointestinal and liver diseases, scabies, and tuberculosis (TB) are common amongst migrants. Henning Mothes from the Jena University Hospital in Hamburg said that German doctors are struggling to diagnose TB as the symptoms that the migrants are displaying are not typical, and the disease often goes undiagnosed. Doctors are now advised that any migrant with abdominal pain now be tested for the disease.
Another illness common in the Arab world, but unheard of in Europe, is a parasite found in foxes and dogs that can be transmitted to humans. The parasite can cause severe damage to the liver, forming large cysts that are difficult to diagnose and only a skilled specialist is able to operate on them. If the parasite is allowed to spread further into the abdomen, the disease then becomes inoperable.
Many of the diseases that migrants carry are fortunately not contagious to the general population but there have been several cases in the past year of highly-contagious diseases being spread among the migrant population. One disease in particular, a flesh-eating tropical disease, has left many in Islamic State territory horribly disfigured.
In Austria, a deadly bacterial illness was found in an asylum home in an old converted hotel. The discovery of the disease raised alarm when it was reported that, if left unchecked, the bacteria could have a similar fatality rate as the Ebola virus.
HealthImmigrationLondon / EuropeEurope Migrant CrisisGermany asylum seekers


text:
American Media Acquires Bauer Media's Celebrity And Teen Brands
Tony Silber Contributor
I cover media: innovators, tech disruptions and business strategies.
Photo by Mathis Wienand/Getty Images for InTouch
American Media, the publisher of National Enquirer, Men's Journal and Us Weekly, announced today that it has acquired 13 brands from Bauer Media USA, including the celebrity titles In Touch, Closer and Life & Style, and nine brands from the Bauer Teen Group.
Not included in the deal are two of Bauer's bestselling magazines, First for Women and Women's World.
With the acquisition, AMI will dominate the celebrity-magazine category. In addition to Us Weekly, and now In Touch, Life & Style and Closer, it owns Star and OK. Meredith's People remains the category's behemoth.
AMI said in a statement that it secured bridge financing from existing investors to fund the acquisition, which would close around the first of July. After that, the statement said, it will refinance its existing debt.
The Bauer titles—including the Bauer Teen Group, including J-14 and Girls World—will become part of the AMI Entertainment Group. Combined, the statement said, the AMI Entertainment Group will reach 38 million readers and deliver the youngest median age in the category.
"Today's announcement underscores AMI investor confidence in our business strategy as we continue to build and grow our Entertainment Group," said AMI CEO David J. Pecker. "Despite newsstand sales declining 20 percent annually, both Bauer and AMI have continued to invest in the marketplace and we believe there is still a terrific opportunity to grow newsstand revenue."
American Media has been on a buying spree, acquiring Us Weekly for $100 million and Men's Journal, both in 2017.
Tony Silber
Tony Silber is a journalist, business executive, and event organizer. He's president of Long Hill Media (longhillmedia.com), a full-service content-marketing agency dedi...


Why Does My Refrigerator Leak?!?!
I have a question regarding my leaking refrigerator that no one can seem to help me with. The air vent from the freezer leaks into the fridge all the time.
drain tubes are not obstructed, water pours through them freely, etc.
What else could be the cause of this? I can't seem to get an answer from anyone.
The only place water comes from is the air vent. I have been keeping a pan underneath it to stop the water from pouring down the back wall and then out of the front onto the floor.
With no ice blocking the vent I can't figure out why it drips there all the time? The only answer I seem to get from anyone is that it's an ice blockage, which it isn't.
Comments for Why Does My Refrigerator Leak?!?!
All I've been able to think about is, why does my refrigerator leak?!?!
Eventually, after a lot of boring time spent watching water drain I figured out the problem and solved it myself.
The water draining from the freezer would drain in small amounts(drops)at a time (rather than a continuous flow).
Then drain down the back inside of the fridge rather than drain into the drain vent where it was supposed to go.
From there it would collect under the crisper drawers and then leak out in front of the fridge and leave pools of water everywhere.
It did this only during the warm weather months. After seeing how inefficiently the drain from the freezer was allowing the water to go down the back of the fridge a few drops at a time instead of into the drain housing in the fridge I took some of the housing and made a sleeve from some flexible plastic.
I inserted it into the hole in the freezer drain and it goes directly into the housing in the fridge where it can now drain properly down the drain tube into the pan under the fridge.
It took me minutes to make and insert and hasn't leaked in over a year. I have a Magic Chef fridge, but obviously it has a poor design flaw that was easily fixed without having to call in someone.
You could also double check to see if your fridge is properly balanced, but mine was so that wasn't my issue.
I, too, have a leaking LG fridge that pours water from a vent inside.
Same puzzle...no apparent cause for it.
There is an additional leak Outside the fridge too!
Mine is an LG. Very difficult to find a repairman for LG.


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We help big-hearted yoginis of all levels live out their big sky dreams in Montana (and other amazing destinations).
Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Quiet your mind. When was the last time you felt truly… connected? We don't mean connected to your phone, your job, your social media feed, or your to-do list. We're talking about the deep, grounded, and peaceful state-of-mind that allows you to be the best version of yourself.
Today's always-on, information-overload, whirlwind-pace world makes it hard to achieve such a mindset. But, it's not impossible. It just takes a little intentionality, love, and space. And we've got plenty of that here in breathtaking Big Sky Montana country. Book your Big Sky Yoga Retreat today!
Whether you're an experienced yogini looking for a fresh challenge or new to the mat and hoping to build your practice, Big Sky Yoga Retreats offers something for everyone. From LUXE Cowgirl Yoga™ to LUXE Cowgirl Yoga™ & Creativity, Yoga and Hiking to Yoga and Yellowstone, our retreats are designed to help you connect with your body, breath, nature, and other inspiring women.
This retreat celebrates, strengthens, and nurtures the female spirit and deep relationships. I'm sure I would never have learned about such a thing, or identified the longing for it, without my experiences on Big Sky Yoga Retreats.
Surround yourself with some of the most stunning scenery in the U.S., from snow-capped peaks and mountain meadows to cool waterfalls, glacial lakes, star-studded skies, and fresh pine forests. No wonder Montana has earned a reputation as The Last Best Place.
The only thing Founder Margaret Burns Vap loves more than yoga and outdoor fitness is connecting and inspiring women. Not only do her retreats help transform body and mind through yoga and outdoor activities, they provide a safe (and luxurious) atmosphere to open up and be yourself.
"I'm in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love. And it's difficult to analyze love when you're in it." – John Steinbeck.
Big Sky Yoga Retreats is honored to be recognized frequently as one of the premiere yoga retreat companies in the world. Check out our third-party praise across magazines, blogs, and videos from news leaders like CNN.


Sunway Vivaldi is a luxury condominium project developed by Sunway City on 7.7 acres of freehold land. It is specially created as if the beauty of the outdoors is brought to your doorsteps and has a sustainable concept that celebrates the tropical environment. It is a positive well-structured space where each room in a unit is carefully planned. Sunway Vivaldi is estimated to be complete by February 2011.
Sunway Vivaldi is also within easy reach to shopping malls, business centres, schools, cafés, restaurants, medical centres and golf clubs. The nearby amenities include the Mont Kiara Business Centre, Plaza Damas, Plaza Mont Kiara, Garden International School and Pantai Medical Centre. Sunway Vivaldi is easily accessible via major highways like the SPRINT Highway, North-South Highway, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1 and Jalan Duta.


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Compiled by Robert W. Kiger and James L. Reveal, this database is a scheme of four-character abbreviations for all properly usable plant-family names known to have been published to date, and of two-character rank suffixes for coordinated abbreviation of type-based names at standard suprafamilial ranks.
This scheme provides a comprehensive basis for standardized semi-mnemonic abbreviation of plant-family names and type-based suprafamilial names. It comprises two coordinated sets of abbreviation elements. The first is a suite of unique four-character abbreviations for all plant-family names that were validly published to date, are legitimate or conserved, are potentially correct, and are admissible. Thus, this suite includes, so far as known, every family name that, with citation of the correct authority, might properly be used, and no others. All but nine of these family names are based on generic names, the exceptions being those sanctioned by the Code. The second set of elements is a list of two-character rank-suffix abbreviations that can be appended to the abbreviations from the family-names suite to obtain unique six-character abbreviations for type-based names at any standard rank above family.
Robert W. Kiger has been responsible for devising the family-name abbreviations and for databasing the resulting set of names and abbreviations. James L. Reveal, drawing on his comprehensive investigations with the late Ruurd Hoogland on the publication and nomenclatural status of plant-family names, has been responsible for determining the names to be included in the family list; he also devised the set of rank-suffix abbreviations. We welcome suggestions for improvement, directed to either of us. All brickbats, however, should be aimed at Reveal, who is the larger target.
Whenever possible, for mnemonic utility, the abbreviation is the same as the first four letters of the family name's stem. When the stem comprises only three letters (e.g., Pin-aceae) or only two (e.g., Po-aceae), the abbreviation is filled out to four characters by adding one or two "+" symbols, as appropriate. These fillers can be elided, with no loss of uniqueness, in any contexts that do not require fixed-length abbreviations, or they can be replaced by another non-alphabetic character of choice.
In the majority of family names included here, the first four characters (including any fillers) of their stems are unique sequences, which have provided straightforward abbreviations. Otherwise, when the first four letters of two or more stems are identical, the fourth and, in a very few cases, the third characters have been varied to obtain unique abbreviations. Each abbreviation derived by such variation utilizes letters found elsewhere within the stem, chosen for as much mnemonic value as the constraints allow. When a name that has been or is likely to be considered a name in current use belongs to a set that required such variation, it has had priority for least variation.
The two-character suffix abbreviation AC (for -aceae, indicating family rank) is implicitly appended to each of these four-character abbreviations of family names (more precisely, of their stems). In some contexts, however, it may be desirable to render these two additional characters explicitly (see below under Suprafamilial rank-suffix abbreviations).
The database can be searched by full family name or by four-character abbreviation.
These are two-character abbreviations of the standard suffixes that indicate the suprafamilial ranks normally used in the hierarchy of botanical nomenclature. Appended to the preceding four-character family-name abbreviations, they will provide unique six-character abbreviations for type-based names at those suprafamilial ranks.
In contexts where abbreviations for family names will be used along with ones for names at suprafamilial ranks, and where it is necessary that all those abbreviations be of uniform length, the two-letter abbreviation AC (for the rank suffix -aceae) that is implicitly appended to the four-character family abbreviations can be rendered overtly to achieve parallel structure, with no compromise of uniqueness. In such situations, of course, fill characters in the four-character family abbreviations would not be elided; if they were, then not only would some of the compound abbreviations fall short of six characters, but in some cases there would be a loss of uniqueness in the initial four-character strings.
The following pairs of full names and their abbreviations will illustrate the application of the above scheme.
This is a contribution of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service with support from the National Agricultural Library. An earlier version of the information in this database was published in Huntia, 11(1), 2000. The database is available also at http://www.plantsystematics.org/reveal/pbio/fam/famabbr.html.


Enhance your vibe and your spiritual environment with Therapeutic Juniper Berry Essential Oil. This oil has a fresh, rich-balsamic, woody-sweet and pine needle-like odor reminiscent of evergreen oils.
Spiritual uses: create clairvoyance and to bridge the gap between this world and what lies beyond. It is also useful for purification, and is traditionally burned in the celebration of Samhain. Juniper is useful for protection magick, particularly warding off theft. It is one of the nine woods traditionally placed in a Celtic balefire.
Although not native to Egypt, Juniper berries have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, and it is believed that they may have been imported from Greece. The Greeks themselves reported on the medicinal benefits of Juniper berries long before using them in food. They were used by athletes in the ancient Greek Olympics, as they were believed to increase strength and stamina. Juniper is the chief ingredient in gin, the liquor developed in the Netherlands in the 17th century; the name "gin" itself derives from either the French (genièvre) or the Dutch (jenever), both meaning "Juniper." In the Scottish Highlands on New Year's Day, Juniper was often burned both in the house and in outside bonfires.


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Can Androids Pray: Blue Review – An Existential Crisis Cut Short
by micramanic · April 14, 2020
Can Androids Pray: Blue
Developed By: Strange Scaffold
Published By: aPriori Digital Ltd
Price: £5.79/$6.59
VECTORS: ACHIEVED… ENGINE: CRITICAL… SHIELDS: CRITICAL… FUEL: CRITICAL… WEAPONS: CRITICAL… EXISTENCE: CONFIRMED
What is the meaning of life? How would you know if you were alive? Is it real or just elaborate advanced programming? Is this AI at work? These are but a few of the many questions asked throughout Can Androids Pray: Blue.
Despite the genre tags labelling this game as "Adventure, RPG" it is extremely light on both.
What we have here is a very deep and meaningful conversation between two android mech pilots whose mechs have both been destroyed, leaving them in a critical condition.
You, the player, play the part of Cortney in what could easily be mistaken for an end of game sequence. Cortney and Beatrice are both assumed to be android mech pilots that have clearly got themselves into a spot of bother, leaving their mechs destroyed and themselves on critical life support.
Notice I said "assumed", as this is where the fantastic writing really shines through. When I first started my playthrough, it seemed pretty obvious that they were indeed androids, after watching the HUD spring to life and seeing the myriad of commands bounce back and forth. However, as you progress further into the game and the conversation gets deeper in tone, not to mention all the choice words, you WILL begin to have your doubts. Especially as you never really see the co-protagonists for the entirety of the game.
Is It Just Fantasy?
My perception of the characters before me was even more skewed just by hearing their tone of voice through the text. I lost count of how many F-bombs that were dropped, not to mention all the sassy responses I was able to choose from. "Would an android really be programmed to say all these things, to think this way?"
Can Androids Pray: Blue did a great job in immersing me into its bleak futuristic world. To observe this conversation between two fallen combatants that, from start to finish, we never get to see. Throughout, the scene never changes, aside from a day and night cycle. This reinforces the fact that you have been talking all night. This style of gameplay isn't going to appeal to all, however, I myself am a huge fan of narrative-driven games so I was in my element with this one.
Caught In A Landslide
Can Androids Pray: Blue has enjoyed much critical acclaim since its conception;
As featured at the V&A Dundee Museum, A.MAZE 2019, Game Devs of Color Expo 2019, Wordplay 7, and the EGX Rezzed Leftfield Collection.
I can attest to the amount of high-praise this game has received as I really enjoyed my time with it.
The game can be played in handheld, tabletop and docked mode with no loss in quality. Without no conventional gameplay or voice acting to speak of, the background music took centre stage.
Consisting of some great laid-back Lo-Fi instrumentals, it really aided the experience and didn't detract from the setting or theme of the game. With the game being a little on the short side it does an admirable job of keeping the player engaged with the sheer deluge of dialogue options it throws at you. Just seeing this alone led me to believe that the game has been set up for multiple playthroughs resulting in a lot more endings.
So far I have taken the fairly light-hearted approach, though I intend to revisit this one to give the aggressive route a try. I won't spoil any of the plot points or endings as I feel this is the life and soul of the game, so to speak.
No Escape From Reality
As I've mentioned throughout this review, I really had a great time with Can Androids Pray: Blue. I personally feel that there aren't enough games out there that push the story to the forefront, but when they do come along I am very excited to play them.
For me, it really helps with the immersion and I felt that Strange Scaffold has done a stellar job with this one. The visual direction helped a lot to set the tone, opting for a polygonal cell-shaded art-style with an understated colour palette that made the sunrise feel even more special.
The soundtrack was equal in tone, having a futuristic yet chilled vibe to it. The writing was outstanding and despite the game being a little on the short side for my taste (can be completed in a single sitting), it never outstayed its welcome nor felt padded in any way. If anything it left me wanting more and I couldn't believe it was over so soon.
Needless to say, Can Androids Pray: Blue is a very niche title that isn't going to appeal to everyone. That being said, at only a mere £5.79 or $6.59, it isn't exactly going to break the bank if you do decide to take a punt on it. Not only that, but there is a nice discount on the price should you pick it up before launch.
I look forward to seeing what Strange Scaffold come up with next. Will they elaborate on this world or take a shot at another great piece of storytelling?
Did you enjoy this review? Check out our reviews of HyperParasite and Disaster Report! Do you enjoy what we do? Check out our Ko-Fi, and consider dropping us a coffee! If you want to do what we do, we're looking for new writers and editors! Fill out the form here if you're interested. Thanks!
Review copy provided by aPriori Digital and reviewed by Micramanic.
Tags: 2020funnyindieNintendoNintendo SwitchretroReviewReviewsspacestory-driven gameSwitch
micramanic
Gamer enthusiast, huge Nintendo fan and of anything retro. Fulfilling my dream of writing game reviews, thanks to AnyDayReviews.
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The Spinoff reviews New Zealand #66: The Spin-Off, a knitting quarterly
The Spinoff Board of Review | ⚖
Spinoff Review
Don Rowe reviews Spin-Off, a knitting quarterly with easily as many polemics and features as The Spinoff – only with more staff.
Reports of print's demise are overstated – and I've got proof. It's contained in the 104 pages of the Spin-Off quarterly, easily the best publication of its name and a giant Fuck You to the prophets of doom who stand foaming at the periphery of this industry.
With four editors, a copy editor, a proof reader, a six person editorial advisory team and a three person board of editor emeritae, Spin-Off might be the most well-staffed publication on the entire planet.
A knitting and yarn spinning specialty magazine published in the United States, the Spin-Off winter 2017 issue contains 14 features by as many writers, two DIY projects, a guide to sourcing ethical wool and what appears to be a make-your-own Tekashi 69 wig.
Eskeddit! Photo: Debbie Held for Spin-Off magazine.
There are meditations on the nature of work and toil; a celebration of taking a pause.
"The textile arts hold a neverending opportunity for creative expression, if I just give myself time," writes Kyle Kunnecke, quietly musing on self-realisation through the practice of knitting.
"Knitted hats from Peru and a glass jar of rocks are the last thing I see before sleep, standing guard as I doze off after another day of making."
Jennifer Bauman meets a Navajo weaving clan in the high deserts of Arizona, traversing the cacti-rich Mojave to learn from the 90-year-old matriarch of the Lane family. Together the pair shear Rambouillet and Churro sheep, specialty breeds developed over centuries to endure the hostile and ever changing climate in which they live.
"Zena tells me the sheep and goats are holy animals made out of rain," writes Bauman.
"Their wool resembles clouds full of water, holding the promise of new growth. The people are intricately tied to the animals, the land and their spiritual belief system. Everything is done with intention, following guidelines passed down through the generations. Nothing is wasted, and the animals are treated with total reverence."
Elsewhere Debbie Held traces the history of the Cajun people, French-Canadian settlers with a symbiotic relationship with the brown-cotton plant. The heroines of this people, as Held calls them, forged a society out of breakbacking toil – and saw it through the Great Depression as many across North America starved.
Dusty pube wool. Image: spin-off magazine.
There are beautiful minutiae in Spin-Off, an entire vocabulary of words like loom and treadles and scurf. There are ads for spinners and needles and thread. There are pictures of alpacas and pictures of black wool, which resembles pubic hair dusted with dandruff.
Spin-Off presents another perspective, in which knitting is not in fact really tedious and lame, but instead a magical symbiosis of weaver and weaved. The ultimate union of craftsman and medium, transmuting the product of the natural world into the very clothes on our back.
"The art and craft of spinning yarns" – a motto we in our unhyphenated Spinoff snobbery could learn a thing or two from.
Verdict: Well-staffed and richly researched, Spin-Off is a shining example of how the best writing can elevate even the most banal content.
Good or bad: Good so long as it remains uninterested in pop culture and New Zealand politics.
Join The Spinoff Members for as little as $1 to help us hire more journalists and do more investigations. Or get a free Toby Morris-designed tea towel when you contribute $80 or more over a year.
Hardboiled in Auckland and LA: A tribute to detectives Tito Ihaka and Harry Bosch
Goodbye Court News, and thank you for the scoops


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C25EF6A5-C3C9-4296-A825-1441FBD46B8F
Belco's only wind concession is hot air
Bill Jewell
I was interested to read recent exchanges between Bermudian supporters of renewable energy who identified the availability of wind data from various sources.
I share a real concern at the talk of the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda finalising the integrated resource plan next month after a request for Belco to provide more emphasis on renewables, which we know will be a feeble and token effort.
This concern is particularly valid in conjunction with the RA making totally unacceptable statements that large-scale, offshore wind-farm proposals will have to be excluded from the IRP at this time because of lack of wind-monitoring data at the proposed offshore site/s.
Belco has been totally remiss over the past 19 years in not carrying out the obvious task of pursuing the need to obtain the above additional wind data at proposed sites.
It is absolutely correct that wind data can be extrapolated from available onshore sites. In June 2000, I organised a workshop on "Renewables and Alternative Energy Technologies" while working for Belco as Senior Manager, Engineering and Planning.
This event was held in liaison with the Department of Environmental Protection, with papers and attendance by numerous members of the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation, with the Premier also attending.
My department presented a joint paper entitled The Challenge of Wind Power for Bermuda. Our team included Francis P. Bowles, of the Bermuda Biological Station, in liaison with his US partners. The paper incorporated a year assessment of wind data, with sets obtained from the Bermuda airport, Bermuda weather balloons, the Harbour Radio site, BSSR North Rock Station (offshore), Belco air-quality stations and an 80m Rohn tower on the southern coast of Bermuda.
This paper is included in the formally presented Proceedings document. The conclusions were promising, but recognised that follow-up engineering studies were required.
I am very critical of Ascendant/Belco for ignoring not only this work carried out in 2000, but also all subsequent data that became available, together with published data on the significant improvements to wind generators by way of both efficiency and cost.
Ascendant/Belco was totally out of order when it commenced on the preparation of the IRP back in 2013, with the incredible and totally unjustified statement that it would demonstrate liquefied natural gas as the favoured choice. It ignored the formal Electricity Act 2016 requirements that stated the IRP should examine all energy sources, and immediately dismissed offshore wind generation owing to lack of offshore wind data.
This fixation on LNG is stated in its annual reports, together with published information that it spent several million dollars on the report preparation — mostly on a "packaging exercise" by a tame consultant paid to try to make a case for LNG.
I would strongly argue that while its IRP claims erroneously to make a case for LNG, there is equally a very challenging set of studies and investigations yet to be carried out to determine if LNG is feasible or possible. These would include exclusion zone space availability from regasification plant and other exacting safety and planning requirements.
There is at least as much available data on extrapolated wind conditions as there is on the totally provisional/indicative LNG data that Ascendant/Belco is prepared to proceed on.
Before committing to any decisions on Bermuda's energy future in an IRP, it would be remiss not to revisit the formal 2011 Bermuda Energy White Paper. This government paper was carefully developed, based on all available study data, and set targets that included:
• Reducing energy consumption 20 per cent below 2008 levels by 2020
• Establishing 35MW offshore wind by 2020
• Establishing 12MW utility scale solar PV by 2020
• Establishing 20MW rooftop solar PV by 2020
The feedback on this document was very positive, and the following extract was quoted in its summary of responses: "The publication of the Energy Green Paper was welcomed by most respondents who generally acknowledged and appreciated the Government's efforts in developing Bermuda's first consultation document on energy policy. There was a strong consensus that the Energy White Paper should be comprehensive, action-oriented and account for local circumstances unique to Bermuda.
"There was general agreement that the energy policy should prioritise the security, reliability and sustainability of electricity supply. Policies that promote the responsible adoption of alternative and renewable energy technologies, and the competitive viability of independent power producers, were encouraged."
It is evident that the Regulatory Authority's invitation to provide feedback on the IRP attracted a big number of responses, demonstrating that the public were keen to participate in the vitally important issue of their energy future.
It can be no coincidence that the Belco IRP proposal to make a transition to LNG-sourced fuel received widespread criticism, while the "Etude" alternative IRP proposal, which focused on the ambitious development of renewable energy sources, received widespread support.
This feedback survey result affirms that the public favour a plan similar to the aforementioned 2011 White Paper, which was identified as the best way forward until the totally unjustified LNG distraction was allowed to intervene.
I conclude by suggesting that the RA should be encouraged to reconsider its approach and avoid early commitment to any statement on finalising the IRP soon, and certainly without the vital step of further consultation with the public.
Belco should be required to immediately undertake the outstanding and necessary offshore wind studies and meanwhile demonstrate a genuine intent on renewables and energy-efficiency measures while retaining conventional oil-fired diesel/gas turbines in the interim period.
It is also imperative that all information on any takeover offers is shared and factored into decisions in a transparent manner.
• Bill Jewell, a chartered engineer, is a retired former Senior Manager, Engineering and Planning, at Belco. The former international consultant held the position for 11 years, with the final two spent developing renewable, and new technology and business opportunities
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Published May 07, 2019 at 9:00 am (Updated May 07, 2019 at 8:26 am)


A bartender, everyone has already seen. But have you ever met a robot behind the bar? It's called R1 B1 and it's the first professional and interactive bartender robot. If you go to the restaurant "The XVI XVI" of Montreal, you will have the pleasure of making you serve dream cocktails by this friendly humanoid robot.
He is a robot with dexterity and incredible skill. Designed by a team of passionate developers, roboticists and designers, this robot will surprise you with its skills. He masters how to prepare a lot of different cocktails. What he does with skill while holding interesting conversations with customers. And it is not just about making cocktails or talking. If you doubt about a cocktail or another, R1 can be a good advisor for you. He also knows how to set the mood by dancing and putting on good music. In short, R1 B1 is everything an ordinary bartender does but with more class. With R1 B1, it's a whole new way to party that is invented.