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Summer Falls (CD)
Wednesday, 23 October 2013 - Reviewed by Damian Christie
Summer Falls
Produced by AudioGo
Written by Amelia Pond (James Goss)
Read by Clare Corbett
Released: August 2013
"What chapter are you on?"
"Eleven's the best. You'll cry your eyes out!"
Clara Oswald and Artie Maitland, Doctor Who – The Bells of Saint John
Summer Falls is an oddity in Doctor Who's expansive array of spin-off fiction – and not just because it is presented as an "in universe" book purportedly written by Amelia Williams in the 1950s (aka Amy Pond after her heartbreaking departure from the TARDIS). It is peculiar largely because while you would expect the story to be heavily influenced by Amy's travels and adventures, it barely feels and reads like Doctor Who at all and is disappointingly small-scale in its breadth of imagination. And if this story is supposedly the same one that is referenced in the Doctor Who episode The Bells of Saint John, then I find it hard to believe it could ever have left an indelible mark on the lives of either Clara or the Maitland children!
The story by true author James Goss is homage to the works of Enid Blyton and CS Lewis, two legendary children's authors who no doubt had some influence on his desire to write. The first half of the story is reminiscent of Blyton's children's mysteries such as The Famous Five, particularly as it focuses on a set of bored children in a country fishing village at the end of the school holidays. The second half very strongly evokes Lewis with its winter wonderland setting, vengeful spirits and talking animals – or more to the point, a talking grey cat. Even the wise and eccentric curator Barnabas channels Professor Digory Kirke in The Chronicles of Narnia as much as the Eleventh Doctor.
Goss handles this children's tale faithfully but with little ambition or inventiveness. It would be interesting to invite a 10-year old or an adolescent to listen to this story to sum up their thoughts of it as a work in its own right (and not just as a very indirect Doctor Who tie-in) but to my mind Goss, at the bare minimum, recaptures many of the narrative devices that have made Lewis' and Blyton's works so enchanting to generations of readers. What he doesn't do is perhaps drive home more of the actual Doctor Who connection for the fans – and let's face it, who else is going to buy this release apart from Doctor Who fans?
Sure, there are some superficial similarities between the characters. The enigmatic curator is clearly based on the Doctor (albeit a much diluted, two-dimensional impersonation of the Time Lord's eleventh incarnation!). The story's juvenile heroine Kate Webster is modelled on young Amelia Pond herself. You could even put a case that Armand Dass could pass for a young Rory Williams. Perhaps young Kate's mother, who is constantly having "naps" as an excuse to get out of real work, is loosely based on Amy's aunt who was her only family after her parents were erased from the web of time. However, it is there that the similarities between the characters end. The story as a whole bears little resemblance to any of Amy and Rory's adventures and experiences in the TV series. There are certainly no "Easter eggs" in this story that would appeal to the hard core Doctor Who fan, eg no allusions to Weeping Angels, Daleks or Silents. It really is just a generic, two-dimensional and run of the mill 1950s-style children's fantasy adventure.
The audio reading of Summer Falls by Clare Corbett, however, does make the listening experience more enjoyable. I am not overly familiar with Ms Corbett's CV (apart from a couple of readings of other Doctor Who and other AudioGO releases) but her narration is engaging and just the timbre of her voice is well suited to particularly the younger characters in Kate, Armand and Milo. She effortlessly changes the pitch of her voice between characters, from adults to children to the fantasy characters (her impression of the grey cat is my favourite!) – and vice versa. It really is as much a performance as a straight reading and Corbett acquits herself well.
But no matter how good a performer the narrator is, that will never disguise the intrinsic inadequacies of a story. As an "in universe" experiment, Summer Falls fails to appease the very audience it is directed at – Doctor Who fans who may have hoped to glean some insight into Amy Pond's legacy. What they get is a fairly lame children's story that is unlikely to be read by kids, unless of course they are themselves avid Doctor Who fans. (And again, as this audio book is being marketed under the Doctor Who logo, I cannot see it appealing to listeners who are not Doctor Who fans.) However, if you have young children of your own, Corbett's entertaining rendition of the narrative may be enough to keep them entertained, if not exactly enthralled.
Which again begs the question: Why do Clara and Artie enjoy Summer Falls so much? Did it really enchant entire generations of children in the Whoniverse? And did Amy Pond really become the equal of Enid Blyton? Clearly, our real world version of Summer Falls is sadly not the same as the Whoniverse equivalent!
Related Articles: Summer Falls [e-book] (11 Apr 2013)
FILTER: - Audio - BBC Audio - 1471353397


What do you find most beneficial from having a Customer Success Manager (CSM)?
As we continue to look at ways to improve our CSM team, I'd love to hear from more of our Higher Ed institutions on what they find most beneficial from their CSM.
With continued growth, we are getting more and more awesome personalities and have all kinds of different approaches we take with our customers. As I build out "best practices" for the team, I'd love feedback from the user base.
Kent, I'm definitely on team "I <3 my CSM!"
I think what makes the biggest difference for me is the personal touch. I've got one person I know, trust, and feel 100% free to contact about ANYTHING Canvas related. It's like having my own Canvas concierge at my service (except a lot cooler!).
So what do I recommend? Keep it personal, keep it high touch, and keep being awesome!
Thanks Kona I really appreciate your take. Ben is top notch for sure.
I appreciate having a person who knows me and my institution, who I can trust and feel free to send an email if I have a question. Our CSM, Funmi Odegbami, has been top notch and a valuable person for us. She is extremely helpful and direct to the point. Knowing we got a dedicated CSM was a selling point when we decided to go for Canvas. Given my experience with our CSM, I don't really know what could be improved. So I guess my answer would be to just keep up to those standards :-).
I think the keyword is "Personal".
I agree with Kona Jones. Ben Cannon is an awesome CSM! I love that I can email him questions and get a prompt response. After previous dealing with previous horrible software support systems, we never expected to have this level of support so it was a welcomed surprise when we went to Canvas. Keep up the good work!
Our CSM escalates urgent tickets or helps us with tickets whose handling we're dissatisfied with.
Honestly, I no longer even bother with waiting to hear about my special tickets that I file for faculty as the Canvas admin. I simply pass them right along to our CSM to make sure they're handled well.


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About Shailesh
In Parliament
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced the closure of RAF Scampton and the relocation of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows. RAF Wittering has been identified as one of three RAF bases which could be a potential suitable future location.
The information was disclosed to Shailesh Vara MP in a letter to him from Tobias Ellwood, Minister in the MoD.
The Red arrows are the world's premier acrobatic display team and work is ongoing to ensure that they can continue showcasing their incredible skills, as well as supporting British industry, Armed Forces recruitment and defence diplomacy.
The MoD, in collaboration with the RAF and the Civil Aviation Authority, will now be carrying out further detailed studies to assess the suitability of the potential site.
Mr Vara said:
"It would be a privilege to have RAF Wittering as the home of the Red Arrows.
The Arrows epitomise the values of the RAF and would be a very welcome addition to the local community and economy.
I will be following the process closely and very much hope that RAF Wittering is found to be the most suitable location."
CLICK HERE to download the letter from Minister Tobias Ellwood MP of the MoD
View North West Cambridgeshire in a larger map
NW Cambs Conservatives
Shailesh Vara MP | North West Cambridgeshire
District of Huntingdonshire: Earith, Ellington, Elton and Folksworth, Ramsey, Sawtry, Somersham, Stilton, Upwood and The Raveleys, Warboys and Bury, and Yaxley and Farcet; City of Peterborough: Barnack, Fletton and Stanground, Fletton and Woodston, Glinton and Castor, Hargate and Hempsted, Hampton Vale, Orton Longueville, Orton Waterville, Stanground South, Wittering.
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Shailesh Vara MP
London, SW1A 0AA
Constituency Office:

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Gnome is an acronym used for GNU Network Object Model Environment for desktop comprising of free and open-source software running on Linux and BSD derivatives.
Considering the growing popularity of desktop environment, GNOME was launched on August 15, 1997 as a free open-source software with original intent of creating a distributed object framework similar to that of Microsoft's OLE. On launching an official GNOME site, the GNOME 2 was officially released in 2001 and after a decade, GNOME 3 was launched for the Indian market in 2011.
Gnome is an acronym used for GNU Network Object Model Environment for desktop comprising of free and open-source software running on Linux and BSD derivatives. It is the default desktop environment for many major Linux distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE Linux Enterprise, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Kali Linux, Antergos, Scientific Linux and Red Hat Linux Enterprise. GNOME is available in two different sessions namely – GNOME Flashback or GNOME Classic and another one based on GNOME Shell or Mutter.
Sporting a conventional desktop interface, GNOME 2.0 facilitated users to interact with virtual objects such as documents, windows, files and icons. It started out with Sawfish and later switched to Metacity in the default window manager. Managing windows, files and applications on GNOME 2.0 is similar to that of contemporary desktop operating systems. The launcher menu on Desktop provides users with quick access to programs and file locations, while the top right-hand corner provides notifications on programs running in the background.
GNOME 2.4 expands the offerings of a free desktop environment to multi-platform with a new web-based browser based on the standard-compliant rendering engine available. Each GNOME release is an outcome of the user-driven community development process. The GNOME 2.4 version includes 11 new applications and more than 100 user-requested enhancements. It runs on a variety of platforms to include Linux OS, HP-UX, BSD, Apple's Darwin and Solaris.
Embedded with world-class powerful features such as smooth text rendering, and complete internationalization infrastructure including support for bi-directional text, the upgrade helps users to manage day-to-day functions easily.
GNOME 3.0 brings the traditional desktop environment to life, with a well-classified abstract desktop metaphor released in 2011. The UI helps users to switch between different tasks and virtual workspaces in a separate area called the Overview. All it takes is pressing a button to view your open windows, launch applications and check for messages at one single place, to avoid hassle navigating around the maze of technologies. Side-by-side windows further makes it easy to view several documents at the same time.
Many GNOME core applications have been redesigned with a simplified user-interface (UI) for a consistent user experience. For example, Debian, a Linux distribution that always used GNOME 2, switched to Xfce when GNOME 3 was released. However, it later readopted GNOME 3 in time for the release of Debian 8. The current GNOME version runs on FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris and IRIX.
As recently, the GNOME 3.30 version was released with significant performance improvements and addition of new features, that allows you to run more apps at a single point in time. In total, the recent release incorporates 24,845 changes, made by approximately 801 contributors. The GNOME software manager can now automatically update installed Flatpaks on GNOME 3.30 version. Flatpak is an emerging technology that makes getting apps fast and secure.
Many new apps are already available on Flathub, a repository of curated Flatpaks. Simply switch on the option to update Flatpaks, and the software will make sure you have the latest Flatpaks all the time.GNOME 3.30 has been named "Almería" in recognition of this year's GUADEC organizing team. GUADEC is GNOME's primary annual conference, which was held this year (2018) in Almeria, Spain.


Brenda, a word fitly spoken. My struggle also with perenials who come up where I don't want them. My struggle also to prioritize my time and where I put my energy and affections. Thanks.
So true Rose. Sometimes when I'm gardening I think, "If it isn't where I want it, it's a weed." And then I ponder the application for that bit of truth! We need to live where the Gardener calls us to live. While others may seem to have a better location for blooming or better soil or or or... I need to be where He wants me to be!


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Allison M. Panzer, M.D., M.P.H.
Administrative: (585) 275-4912
A member of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group
groupAn Accountable Health Partner
assignmentNot Accepting New Patients
School of Medicine and Dentistry
601 Elmwood Ave, Box MED/HMD
Faculty Appointments
Assistant Professor (Part-Time) - Department of Medicine , Hospital Medicine (SMD)
Patient Care Settings
Hospital Medicine, Medicine
Dr. Allison Panzer was born and raised in Rochester, NY. She completed her undergraduate degree at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. She then moved to Washington DC and worked at the National Academies' Institute of Medicine, involved with health policy studies on suicide and health literacy. She returned to Rochester to enroll in the University of Rochester School of Medicine, where she received her MD and MPH degrees in 2009. She completed her combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency training at the University of Rochester as well and has since been employed as an academic hospitalist in the Division of Hospital Medicine. She is involved in quality improvement activities, primarily focused on preventable hospital readmissions for conditions including COPD and pneumonia. She serves as a Physician Advisor for the Utilization Management Department of Strong Memorial Hospital and is a member of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Awareness Committee.
Internal Medicine - American Board of Internal Medicine
MD | University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
Post-doctoral Training & Residency
Residency in Internal Medicine / Pediatrics at University of Rochester Medical Center
Internship in Internal Medicine / Pediatrics at University of Rochester Medical Center


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Q: Android from Pixels mockup to dp measure Hi I am working on an Android project and I have the following information from the graphical designer:

The design is done for an Android hdpi screen which should be 960 x 540 px (640 x 360 dp) / hdpi / Normal screen based on Android SDK documentation.
Inside Android studio I am trying to replicate the layout but I seriously struggle to calculate the DP starting from this mock. Is there any good tutorial I should follow?
I tried on a Nexus 5 but as soon as I switch to Nexus 6 for example the layout is completely different and I am using dp all over in my XML.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


When you are facing potential deportation, your entire future is at stake. Few things can be as frightening or as stressful as the threat of removal from the country you have come to call home. Deportation impacts not only you, but your family members, often tearing apart family units. If your situation is not address properly, deportation may force you to leave the U.S. and not return for years, or even permanently. Given the harsh consequences, immigration authorities are required to meet stringent requirements to obtain your removal.
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The deportation process is lengthy and the burden is on the government to show you are indeed deportable. An experienced deportation or removal attorney will examine the facts of your case and investigate the existence of affirmative defenses, such as exceptional hardship to a family member or the exercise of discretion by the Justice Department to withhold deportation.
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With the imminent release of a new Star Wars film, I couldn't resist offering up this word. No, it has nothing to do with Sith Lords.
Sith is an archaic word. Like its cousin since, it can act as an adverb, a preposition, or a conjunction. And like since, it has meanings that can involve either time or causation.
Out of my head, can't take it.
Has Russ been out of his head during the time since his unnamed lover left him, or as a result of his lover leaving? I'm no expert, but it was probably a bit of both. It's that sort of construction which likely produced a sort of semantic leak, expanding the meaning of since and sith.
The story with sith is a bit complicated. Here are the bare bones, as far as I can isolate them.
There was a way of forming adverbs in Old English which involved tacking an -s on to the end of a word. This worked pretty much as the more modern -ly adverb ending does now. The -s adverbs were formed so long ago that they're not immediately evident in modern English—probably the purest current example is the pairing one/once (only a spelling change separates us from that original -s) and its slightly mutated colleagues two/twice and three/thrice.
This pattern was so well established that sometimes Old English would tack an -s on to something that was already an adverb, just for some sort of consistency. And then the two forms might coexist and compete for a while. As a result, two adverbs with the same meaning stumbled out of Old English into Middle English: sithen and sithence.
Sithen gave rise, by contraction, to sith, and then decently faded away during the fifteenth century.* Sithence gave rise, by contraction, to (you guessed it) since; but then it hung around indecently for a few hundred years, only eventually falling into disuse in the seventeenth century.
So Shakespeare had three different "since" words to choose from when he was writing his plays. Never a man to leave a word lolling around with nothing to do, he used all of them.
TRANIO [taking on Lucentio's identity]: In brief, sir, sith it your pleasure is, and I am tied to be obedient […] I am content to be Lucentio.
WARWICK: I come to tell you things sith then befallen.
REYNALDO: This she delivered in the most bitter touch of sorrow that e'er I heard virgin exclaim in; which I held my duty speedily to acquaint you withal, sithence in the loss that may happen it concerns you something to know it.
CORIOLANUS: Have you informed them sithence?
MACDUFF: When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again, since that the truest issue of thy throne by his own interdiction stands accursed and does blaspheme his breed?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, there was a period of a century and a half (1520-1670), spanning Shakespeare's lifetime, in which sith was commonly used for meanings involving causation, while since was restricted to time. This seems like a good and sensible way of dealing with the then-prevailing overabundance of "since" words— but clearly, no-one had informed Shakespeare.
So sith eventually pegged out around 1700, shortly after the departure of sithence, thereby abandoning since to do double semantic duty.
That's exactly the sort of mopey stuff that makes people score you off their party invitation lists, in my opinion.
* In northern Britain sithen spawned another "since" word, syne, which is still with us only in the phrase auld lang syne, from Robert Burns's poem of the same name. Auld lang syne is literally "old long since"—old times or bygone days.
Note: I'm intrigued that my website spell-checker is happy with the word sith, but not sithence. Either it was trained on a corpus of words taken from the Romantic poets, or it knows about Star Wars. I'm guessing the latter.


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Posted on July 6, 2016 by Fairborn Daily Herald
Anniversary of Texas dragging death is especially troubling this year
By Joyce King
Every June near the anniversary of the James Byrd Jr. dragging death in Jasper, Texas, I am invited to speak, to write, to present something on how far we've come as a nation since that awful Sunday morning in June 1998. It's an annual part of my life since I wrote a book about Byrd.
But the interviews this year were sadder and made me more reflective as I pondered 49 precious lives taken away and 53 others facing recovery and survivor's remorse, while post-traumatic nightmares snatch them back to the beat of music, the sound of gunfire, the doomed silence inside a club that was supposed to be a haven.
The same year that a black man was dragged three miles behind a pickup truck in Jasper because of the color of his skin, a gay man was beaten and left to die in Laramie, Wyoming, because of his sexual orientation. The two cases, together, garnered worldwide attention and pleas for civility, tolerance and awareness.
I told the host of one show that it was ironic that the gay man and the black man would never meet. Matthew Shepard and Byrd, human symbols of a movement to conquer hate, are forever inextricably linked by federal legislation designed to provide some degree of protection in the hope that all men really are created equal. All Americans matter.
In 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act so members of the LBGT community would know they were included and afforded equal justice if targeted because of their sexual identity. The law also contains a mandate that police officials keep track of hate crimes and motives.
According to the latest figures available from the Justice Department, in 2014, there were 5,462 single-bias incidents that involved 6,681 hate crime victims. Of the total, almost half of the victims were targeted because offenders harbored racial bias. Nineteen percent were victimized based on their sexual orientation, while 29 percent of the attacks were fueled by prejudice related to the victim's religion or ethnicity. The total number of incidents reported makes me wonder how many hate crimes go unspoken.
As more details about Orlando are confirmed, I'm shattered to learn the shooter's wife may have known about his plans to massacre people. On the other hand, there were people who noted telltale signs about the shooter. They called authorities. They asked for help. It is heartbreaking to comprehend our government had this man in its sights, under investigation, for almost a year. In March 2014, federal agents concluded there simply wasn't enough evidence to charge him or to keep him under further surveillance.
We may never know exactly what is in the mind of a hater who snaps, or who has chosen to terrorize the innocent, target a particular group, based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability. But we do know they are consumed by hatred itself.
In Jasper, at the three trials for the men accused of dragging James Byrd, we learned of the many friends and acquaintances who had heard one or more of the defendants "joking" about what they wanted to do to Jewish people and blacks. Most folks shrugged it off and continued hanging out with them, drinking and partying with them. As fate later revealed, the free speech evolved into free-flowing hatred on a logging road where Byrd was attacked and then chained to the back of a truck.
Now, we have this new anniversary to place alongside Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, San Bernardino and Charleston, as we look differently at the former sanctuary of our schools and universities, movie theaters and churches. Now, we have more numbers, facts and figures on hate crimes, unimaginable crimes meant to defeat and terrorize. And, we are tired, weary of adding new names for victims: Luis, Angel, Paul, Kimberly, Christopher …
As we go forward, there are some lessons America can learn — if she is willing — from the LBGT community. For one, I have never heard a lesbian, bisexual, gay or transgender person promote bigotry, hatred, revenge or any crimes against humanity, never. I have only, ever in my life, heard this community speak of acceptance, peace and love.
This year's anniversary was tough to get through. But I was energized by survivors like Patience Carter and her poetic retelling in news reports of the sheer determination it took to survive the Orlando shooting, unafraid in the face of such brutal hatred.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2016/07/web1_king.jpg
Joyce King is the author of "Hate Crime: The Story of a Dragging in Jasper, Texas." She wrote this for the Dallas Morning News. Column courtesy of the Associated Press.
Hi! A visitor to our site felt the following article might be of interest to you: Anniversary of Texas dragging death is especially troubling this year. Here is a link to that story: https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/opinion/9360/anniversary-of-texas-dragging-death-is-especially-troubling-this-year


text:
L4LM
L4LM Late Nights During Jazz Fest
Genre	 All Genre Rock Jam Electronic Indie Funk Bluegrass Hip-Hop Soul Jazz Blues Reggae R&B Pop Folk Classical Country Punk Gospel Order	 Order By Relevance Most Recent
Andy Stepanian, Leon III, & "Fly Migrator": The Song That Took Me Down A Rabbit Hole [Interview/Stream]
Michael Broerman | Monday, September 28th, 2020
Photo: AIV Photo – Leon III (l–r) Mason Brent, Andy Stepanian
You may not have heard of Andy Stepanian, or his brainchild Leon III. To be fair, I hadn't either until about three weeks ago when his publicist sent an email to my editor with a yet-to-be released, nearly ten-minute track called "Fly Migrator". Now, we here at Live For Live Music receive a vast amount of emails everyday with tracks to check out and albums to listen to. It would be impossible to listen to every one, and it's all the more unlikely that you'll take the time when you've never heard of the act being pitched.
Due to a well-placed tip (thanks, Emily), our team decided to dive into this new track from this band we'd never heard, and our excitement effectively derailed an entire morning's worth of productivity. What is Leon III? Who are these people? How have I never heard of them? Why can't I stop listening to this song?
After a few back-and-forth emails, some digging through known information, and prowling around on Soundcloud, my interest was fully piqued. Here was an act that wasn't on any of the message boards, didn't have Facebook fan groups, wasn't mentioned in the jam Twitterverse—don't worry, this will eventually turn into a compliment. With little out there on Stepanian and Leon III, I decided that I wanted to get in on the ground floor of what I think could be one of the next names in improvisational music. If you're this far already, then you're also probably willing to take a chance and get to know Leon III. While you read, take that first step down the rabbit hole just like I did: hit "play" on "Fly Migrator".
Leon III – "Fly Migrator"
Live For Live Music: For me specifically, ["Fly Migrator"] really had it all. So, can you tell me a bit about how that track came about, and how it fits into your sound as a whole?
Andy Stepanian: I've got a pretty long and crooked path in music, and I'm sort of moving in a particular direction at the moment—or back when this song was written, and even more now, probably—and it's trying to expand the boundaries of songs and get beyond your three-to-five minute song. Really work some space into them, and be a little bit more free in the way that we approach things. So "Fly Migrator" was really a song that, as far as songs, didn't have a tremendous amount of words. It had lyrical content, but not necessarily volume. But the song itself seemed to be best delivered in this sort of epic format. Even from the demo stage. When I demoed it, I think the demo that I did—which I sort of create them on my own—was seven minutes or something.
So we kind of identified it with the guys that played on the album. We knew that we were going to get pretty jammy on it, and that's exactly how it went down. So it kind of almost is a song in three stages. I feel like there's a beginning, and then there's the lyrical middle, and then there's an ending section that has a beat that comes in, a looped drum beat.
Yeah, it was a fun one to make. I think the take that is on the album is one that was done while we were still kind of learning the song. I think everybody was playing a little bit more adventurous than they would be if you were saying, "Okay, this is the take," or "Let's go for one." So that probably gave it the spirit that it wanted.
Live For Live Music: In terms of that style of the no words—these long songs, this adventurous style—is that an approach that's new to you?
Andy Stepanian: No. I mean, I write long songs that tend to have big moments in them, but letting myself put a ten-minute song on an album is probably new to me, sure.
I think the longest one prior to that was six or so minutes, but as a listener, I've been drawn to that kind of music for a long time, and I listen to a lot of that type of music, and then I've sort of gotten more and more into that style of music over time, and migrated away from some of the more formulaic things that I used to be drawn to, I guess… to be very unclear.
Live For Live Music: Speaking of the unclear, speaking of those older, more formulaic things, what made you and Mason Brent decide to put Wrinkle Neck Mules, a band that enjoyed a fair amount of commercial success with that more traditional formula, up on a shelf and start anew with Leon III?
Andy Stepanian: Some of it is musical. So Wrinkle Neck Mules has a certain audience, and has a certain thing. I find that Wrinkle Neck Mules is a band, and it has five people in it, and there's the same five people that have been in it for 15 years. That band sort of always takes a certain angle on the music. There's a perimeter to it, but it was really an opportunity to go explore. Leon III was an opportunity to say, "Let's crack out of the formula, and let's go try to use some different paint colors on the canvas, and let's take an opportunity to not be necessarily locked into a specific band, on any given recording project or any given tour."
So, we can explore different sonic things, and if they work, we can take what works and apply it to the future. But, we don't have to be married to anything necessarily. So that's how it started. "Hey, let's go do this thing," and pushed it into a different area that Wrinkle Neck Mules has ever explored, and see where the songs can go, without sort of the confines of fan expectations, and the band, and those kind of things.
Live For Live Music: How has that change in dynamic affected you, as a musician, so far?
Andy Stepanian: I think a lot of confidence. So, when you play with the band for a long time, you kind of have your role and you know where you stand, and it becomes comfortable, I guess I'd say. So you're comfortable in what the band does, and the style and how it works and all that. But sometimes, that comfort isn't necessarily the best thing, in terms of growth. So going out and putting a lot on my own shoulders and on my own song's shoulders, and then getting into the studio with some people that are true virtuoso types on their instruments, and kind of learning from them. … It's been a growth thing, and then you start to see, "Oh, well that works," and these songs are working and things are going well, so let's do more. Let's go one more step. Let's take this one more step. So it kind of builds on itself. It takes time. I'm a slow learner.
Live For Live Music: Has it been daunting, kind of scary, to do that and put more on your shoulders, whereas with that band it was a set lineup and everybody kind of had this distribution, and now, it's kind of more on you. Is that kind of scary at times?
Andy Stepanian: It was at first, but I'm feeling it. I feel like I've kind of broken through the scary part, and am starting to really be happy with what we're turning out, in terms of songs, and super proud of the product that we've created, in terms of what these songs are. So that more and more starts feeding on itself, and you start saying, "Okay, well that worked. Let's keep going. Let's keep pushing." So in that regard, I'm pretty happy.
Live For Live Music: So then, let's talk about the new album, Antlers In Velvet, out in 2021. There are some new singles coming out next month. How does this new record expand on the first album from Leon III?
Andy Stepanian: So it's a lot of what we just talked about. So the first album… [2018's] Leon III, is this out-of-thin-air kind of thing that we made when we decided to do it. We have the songs. We'd done some demoing, but there was no real sound for Leon III. It was hard to know exactly what to expect, and we went in with Mark Nevers, who is a guy some people know just from his work with Body Prints or Silver Jews or Vic Chestnutt or whatever. And I didn't really know. I was a little nervous. I was unsure of directionally where it was going to end up, and so I felt like I loved a lot of the songs—and still do—on the first album, but I felt hesitant personally about how it was going to go.
I think even the working relationship with Mason [Brent] and working relationship with Nevers, everyone would feel each other out and get to know each other. So I almost immediately knew I wanted to do another album with Mark, because I felt like, "Okay, now we've got this real comfort level," and I think that will result in pushing the boundaries a little farther.
For this one, we decided to do kind of a lock-in type thing, where we all went to California and we lived and worked in the studio for a week, and we brought in some guys that are excellent musicians and their friends, or friends of friends, that they're pros, and that sort of unlocked a little bit deeper and richer feel to the songs, in terms of let's put one more different angle on these things.
So, yeah. I just feel like it's a little bit deeper step. Definitely a lot of underlying psychedelia in the songs. There was in the first album too, but this is, again, another step forward.
Live For Live Music: You talked about bringing in all these immensely talented people. How did that A-team come together for the recording of the new album?
Andy Stepanian: Yeah, it was just Mark Nevers and myself working on it, and figuring out who might come. I mean, there was this guy Kai Welch, who is the kind of good friend who worked on the first album. He's a touring member of Kacey Musgraves' band, but also kind of a wiz on a lot of different instruments. We kind of knew right away that we would bring Kai, and then Mark came to bring William Tyler, who is a very talented guitar player who Mark has worked with for a long time, from Lamb Chop and Silver Jews, and Williams' solo stuff. I was a little hesitant about that, because Mason is really the guitar player, but we kind of decided that that's part of what we're trying to do here. Let's just break out of our norms, and see what Williams can do, and William plays in a really unique style. It's almost not guitar. Sometimes, it sounds like padded keyboards, or a little atmospheric and new age, which is cool.
Then there's this drummer who, also, a lot of people know from his days with a band called Centro-Matic, but who's a pretty recognized engineer and producer on his own right. This guy Matt Pence, who has a real unique drumming style, and who I've always loved. I knew Matt not a ton, but knew him a little bit from around the Texas music scene. Anyway, we got Matt Scott. That was the core, just us brainstorming anything. He might be unique. He might fit together well, but also bring different elements to the table.
Live For Live Music: You talked about it earlier, how part of the fun was not having the set lineup, but it seems like you got a good group of guys together. If you guys do make another album, are you going to stick with these people, or are you going to build it up from scratch again?
Andy Stepanian: I don't know. We're talking about that right now, and then got a bunch of songs now. This one was recorded way back in the spring of last year, and so I don't know. It may be some of both. It might be a hybrid. I have no idea. It'll probably be determined by who we work with. I'm likely to say we're going to work with a producer again, and that might drive some of the decision-making.
Live For Live Music: I also realize this is probably a distant reality right now, but in terms of taking Leon III on the road—a lot of these guys already have other touring obligations. What would that look like, if you wanted to take this act on the road?
Andy Stepanian: Yeah, so it depends. We did a bunch of touring right up until January of this year, and the live lineup changes also. Sometimes it's just because guys are busy, but we have a pretty good crew that are national guys, that are friends of ours, that jump in and play various roles. I have a good buddy from Houston who's a bass player, who I think he's played all of our shows with us, but it kind of depends on who answers the phone, and who wants to go at any given time.
Matt Pence, the drummer who is on the recording, has played with us some, but he is the full-time drummer for a guy named Paul Coffin, who's kind of an up-and-comer in the Americana world.
I'm rambling, but it totally depends. So sometimes, we'll bring a female who sings and plays piano. Sometimes, we'll bring a pedal steel player. There was always the same core instruments, but often, we'll have a fifth or sixth instrument that is different, or it's a different person. Synth player or something like that.
Live For Live Music: It seems like that just contributes to the whole idea of this being a shifting thing that's very open ended.
Andy Stepanian: Yeah, it does. I mean, there's downsides to it too at times, just because you're not always super familiar, and you're always cramming in rehearsals, and we joke that by the end of each little tour, the band is awesome. And then, everybody disbands and goes back to their own music or doing their own. So there's ups and downs to it. You get different angles on the music, but you're always learning. You got to stay on your toes.
Live For Live Music: And then just one more question about the personnel. How did dub legend Lee "Scratch" Perry get involved in this project?
Andy Stepanian: Through just pure effort. On our last album, we had Scientist—who's also a dub legend—do a remix for a song, and I'm always kind of dreamy on stuff like that. So, I just reached out to Lee Perry, really just his email address [laughs], and I didn't hear anything and I was bummed out, but it didn't surprise me.
And then all of a sudden, I got a WhatsApp thing from his wife, and ended up starting a dialogue with her, and they were super open to it, and I was like, "Look, it's not a reggae song, but I think that he could do some cool things with it," and so he jumped in and did it. They rented a little studio, I think, in Jamaica, but I think a lot of times he was living in Switzerland. In one of the two places, I never could tell, but he just jumped in and did it. He's in his eighties now, so I think he had an engineer help him with it, but it was kind of a dream come true.
Live For Live Music: And then switch gears a little bit. How does the Howler Brothers brand fit into your creative output?
Andy Stepanian: It's just another thing. It's something that I started with one of my Wrinkle Neck Mules bandmates, and at the time, it was kind of a means to an end. We were session musicians and scared, and so he's a very talented graphic artist, and he was trying to pursue this thing, and I'm a sucker for a bad idea. So, I decided to jump on and help him, and it's grown and grown over the years. So I'm able to do a lot of creative things. I write a lot of words for Howler, but then I also create a lot of video and content type things that are often funny or bizarre.
So it's a way to sort of toggle in and out of music, and not have it be everything I'm thinking about every single day, but also have another creative realm that I can play in, and also make a living, which has been a blessing during the last six months in particular.
Keep a look out for new singles from Leon III over the next few months as we draw closer to the release of Antlers In Velvet in February 2021. Visit the group's Facebook page to stay up-to-date.
Copyright © 2021 L4LM | Website by Computer Courage


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text:
us-womens-open Tournament News
Jessica Korda Seeking First Major Victory
us-womens-open
Written By: LPGA Communications @LPGA
Of all the Korda family wins in tennis and golf, only Petr Korda's 1998 Australian Open tennis victory is a major championship title. Oldest daughter Jessica Korda has put herself in prime position to join dad as a major champion, sitting atop the leaderboard going into the weekend of the 2019 U.S. Women's Open.
"That's what you play for," said Korda of becoming a major champion. "At the same time, I feel a lot of luck is always a big part of winning a Major Championship, making the most putts and the least amount of mistakes. It's really hard to win out here, obviously. I think everybody can see that, watching us week in week out. Solid golf will always put me up top. If I have a chance, I'll try to take it."
While Korda has yet to earn a major win, she has seen success across her major appearances. She has top-10 finishes at all five majors, with her best showings coming in ties for fourth at the 2018 ANA Inspiration and 2018 KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
GINA KIM CATCHING ATTENTION IN CHARLESTON
What a few weeks it's been for 19-year-old amateur Gina Kim. In early April, Kim competed in the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur. In early May, she finished sixth at the NCAA Auburn Regional as a freshman on the Duke University women's golf team. Just last week, Kim finished 10th in the individual portion of the NCAA National Championship and helped lead the Blue Devils to the seventh national title in program history.
And now, playing in her second U.S. Women's Open, Kim finds herself just two strokes off the lead for yet another national championship, this time the U.S. Women's Open. Kim's 138 is tied for the second-lowest 36-hole score by an amateur in championship history, just behind Grace Park's 137 in 1999.
"I try not to have any expectations for myself, and I think that really helps in terms of me just trying to have fun but also knowing that I have to compete out here as well," said Kim, whose first-round 66 is the lowest round ever by an amateur at the U.S. Women's Open. "I just think kind of being confident in what I'm doing and constantly just keeping the same routine and committing to it and just enjoy the experience while walking, I think that's really helped me a lot so far."
With 36 holes to go, Kim has put herself firmly in the discussion for Sunday's winner. In 1967, France's Catherine Lacoste, the daughter of tennis great Rene Lacoste, became the only amateur winner of the U.S. Women's Open. Nine amateurs have finished second, including current LPGA stars Morgan Pressel and Brittany Lang, who tied for runner-up in 2005. Only one other amateur won a major championship – Pat O'Sullivan at the 1951 Titleholders, which was a major in 1937-42, 1946-66 and 1972.
Five amateurs have won six LPGA Tour events: Polly Riley (1950 Tampa Open), O'Sullivan, Lacoste, JoAnne Carner (1969 Burdine's Invitational) and Lydia Ko (2012 and 2013 CN Canadian Women's Open).
NO. 11 CONTINUES TO CHALLENGE USWO FIELD
The 11th hole at the Country Club of Charleston continues to stymie this week's U.S. Women's Open competitors. With 45 players yet to finish the second round due to the weather delay, the famed reverse Redan hole has yielded just 19 birdies to go along with 111 bogeys, 21 double bogeys and five of the dreaded "other."
The hole is shaping up to be one of the most difficult par-3s in U.S. Women's Open history. With 45 players yet to finish the second round, it has a scoring average of 3.4776, nearly half a stroke over par. In 2012, the 13th hole at Blackwolf Run played to 3.47, while No. 5 at Pine Needles Lodge and Country Club in 1996 played to 3.44.
Rolex Rankings No. 49 Mamiko Higa (65-71)
She hit nine of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens, with 29 putts
Higa is playing in her first U.S. Women's Open
This is Higa's 12th LPGA start; she has top-10 finishes at the 2013 AIG Women's British Open (T7), the 2013 Mizuno Classic (T3), the 2017 TOTO Japan Classic (T5) and the 2018 AIG Women's British Open (T4)
Higa is a full-time member of the JLPGA; she has five victories on that tour, including the 2019 Daikin Orchid Ladies Golf Tournament
Higa is trying to become the second Japanese player to win a women's major championship, joining Chako Higuchi, who won the 1977 KPMG Women's PGA Championship
Rolex Rankings No. 13 Jessica Korda (69-68)
Korda's second-round 68 is her best round at the U.S. Women's Open; she previously shot 69 four times, including in Thursday's first round
Her 137 is her best 36-hole score at the U.S. Women's Open; her previous best was a 140 in 2016
She hit 14 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens, with 32 putts
Korda is in her ninth season on the LPGA Tour; she has five career victories, most recently at the 2018 Honda LPGA Thailand
This is Korda's sixth event of the 2019 LPGA Tour season; her best finish is a tie for second at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup
She is competing in her 12th U.S. Women's Open; her best finish is a tie for seventh in 2013
World Amateur Golf Rankings No. 50 Gina Kim (66-72)
Kim's 138 is tied for the second-lowest 36-hole score by an amateur in championship history, just behind Grace Park's 137 in 1999; Hye-Jin Choi also shot 138 in 2017
Kim is playing in her second U.S. Women's Open; she missed the cut in 2018
Kim is a rising sophomore at Duke University; she is part of the Duke women's golf team that last week won the NCAA National Championship title
She was a semifinalist at the 2018 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship and competed in the 2019 Augusta National Women's Amateur


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Institutional Administration, Developments & Reform (4847)
Relations with National Parliaments (27)
Jump to: 1958 | 1965 | 1971 | 1975 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1989 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1999 | 2006 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2013
UNSPECIFIED (1958) Le Traite C.E.C.A. devant les parlements nationaux = The E.C.S.C. Treaty before the national parliaments. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1965) Cahiers mensuels de documentation europeenne = Monthly papers on European documentation. 7th year, No. 10, October 1965. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1971) Rapport sur les compétences legislatives et budgetaires des Parlements Nationaux et du Parlement Européen = Report on the legislative and budgetary powers of the National Parliaments and the European Parliament. SEC (71) 2387, 24 June 1971. [EU Commission - SEC Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1975) Paris meeting of Presidents of National Parliaments. 7 January 1975. Research and Documentation Papers, Political Series No. 1. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1981) Motion for a Resolution tabled by Mr Katsafados pursuant to Rule 25 of the Rules of Procedure on the question of Members of the European Parliament being members of both their national parliament and the European Parliament. Working Documents 1981-82.1-122/81. 9 April 1981. [EU European Parliament Document]
Diligent, A. (1981) Report drawn up on behalf of the political Affairs Committee on relations between the European Parliament and the national parliaments. EP Working Documents, document 1-206/81, 27 May 1981. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1982) Motion for a resolution tabled by Mr. Antoniozzi, Mr. Barbi, Mr. Adonnino, Mrs. Baduel Glorioso, Mr. Blumenfeld, Mrs. Cassanmagnago Cerretti, Mr. Croux, Mr. del Luca, Mr. Diligent, Mr. Fruh, Mrs. Gaiotti de Biase, Mr. Giavazzi, Mr. Goppel, Mr. Haagerup, Mr. Habsburg, Mr. K.H. Hoffmann, Mr. Jonker, Mr. Kallias, Mr. Katzer, Mr. Klepsch, Mr. Leonardi, Mr. Lucker, Mr. Luster, Mr. Macario, Mr. Malangre, Mr. Modiano, Mr. Narducci, Mr. Orlandi, Mr. Rabbethge, Mr. Schall, Mrs. Schleicher, Mr. Stella, Mr. Travaglini, Mr. Wedekind and Mr. Zecchino with request for topical and urgent debate pursuant to Rule 48 of the Rules of Procedure on the establishment of European Parliament/National Parliament Joint Committees in Member States for the purpose of exchanging information. Working Documents 1982-1983, Document 1-1032/82/rev., 13 December 1982. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1983) Motion for a resolution tabled by Mr. Antoniozzi, Mr. Barbi, Mr. Adonnino, Mrs. Baduel Glorioso, Mr. Blumenfeld, Mrs. Cassanmagnago Cerretti, Mr. Croux, Mr. del Luca, Mr. Diligent, Mr. Fruh, Mrs. Gaiotti de Biase, Mr. Giavazzi, Mr. Goppel, Mr. Haagerup, Mr. Habsburg, Mr. K.H. Hoffmann, Mr. Jonker, Mr. Kallias, Mr. Katzer, Mr. Klepsch, Mr. Leonardi, Mr. Lucker, Mr. Luster, Mr. Macario, Mr. Malangre', Mr. Modiano, Mr. Narducci, Mr. Orlandi, Mrs. Rabbethge, Mr. Schall, Mrs. Schleicher, Mr. Stella, Mr. Travaglini, Mr. Wedekind and Mr. Zecchino pursuant to Rule 47 of the Rules of Procedure on the establishment of European Parliament/National Parliament Joint Committees in Member States for the purpose of exchanging information. Working Documents 1983-1984, Document 1-24/83, 15 March 1983. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1989) Bodies within national parliaments specialising in European Community affairs. Revised edition. Research and Documentation Papers, National Parliaments Series No. 3, April 1969. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1991) Directory. Corresponding committees: European Parliament/national parliaments. [EU European Parliament Document]
Fluci, Maria Teresa (1991) The adaptation of national legislation to Community law and the new Italian legislation. Research and Documentation Papers, National Parliament Series No. 11, April 1991. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1992) Bodies within national parliaments specializing in European Community affairs. Research and Documentation Papers, National Parliament Series No. W1. [EU European Parliament Document]
Crespo Allen, Marilia (1993) Parliamentary immunity in the Member States of the European Community and in the European Parliament. Research and Documentation Papers, Legal Affairs Series W-4. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1994) Bilan de l'impact du PE sur les politiques communautaires á travers l'activité de ses commissions. Troisiéme Législature 1989-1994 = The European Parliament's Influence on Community Policy as Shown Through the Work of Its Committees. Third term of office 1989-1994. VII. Committee on Legal Affairs and Rights of Citizens. IX. Committee on Women's Rights. X. Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and Media. XI. The EP and National Parliaments. Info Memo Election Special No III, 17 February 1994. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1995) Briefing No. 6 on the role of the national parliaments. First update. [EU European Parliament Document]
Hunt, John (1995) National parliaments, European security and defence and the road to the 1996 intergovernmental conference. Assembly of Western European Union Fortieth Ordinary Session (Third Part) Document 1459, 22nd May 1995. [EU Related]
Hunt, John (1995) National parliaments, European security and defence and the road to the 1996 intergovernmental conference. Assembly of Western European Union Forty-First Ordinary Session (First Part) Document 1486, 6th November 1995. [EU Related]
Kotsonis, Mr. (1995) Parliamentary co-operation in the Mediterranean. Assembly of Western European Union Forty-First Ordinary Session (First Part) Document 1485, 6th November 1995. [EU Related]
UNSPECIFIED (1995) Rules governing lobbying in the national parliaments of the Member States. Research and Documentation Papers, National Parliament Series No. W5. [EU European Parliament Document]
UNSPECIFIED (1996) Stage reached in discussions within the national parliaments on the Intergovernmental Conference in 1996. [EU European Parliament Document]
Robol, Mr. (1999) Strengthening cooperation between the Assembly of WEU and the national parliaments for the definition of a European security and defence policy. Assembly of Western European Union Forty-Fifth Session Document 1664, 9 November 1999. [EU Related]
UNSPECIFIED (2006) Annual report 2005 on the relations with the national parliaments. Report from the Commission. SEC (2006) 350, 22 March 2006. [EU Commission - COM Document]
UNSPECIFIED (2008) Annual report 2007 on relations between the European Commission and national parliaments. Report from the Commission. COM (2008) 237 final, 6 May 2008. [EU Commission - COM Document]
UNSPECIFIED (2009) Annual report 2008 on relations between the European Commission and national parliaments. Report from the Commission. COM (2009) 343 final, 7 July 2009. [EU Commission - COM Document]
UNSPECIFIED (2010) Annual report 2009 on relations between the European Commission and national parliaments. Report from the Commission. COM (2010) 291 final, 2 June 2010. [EU Commission - COM Document]
UNSPECIFIED (2010) Annual report 2010 on relations between the European Commission and national parliaments. Report from the Commission. COM (2011) 345 final, 10 June 2010. [EU Commission - COM Document]
UNSPECIFIED (2013) Annual report 2012 on relations between the European Commission and national parliaments. Report from the Commission. COM (2013) 565 final, 30 July 2013. [EU Commission - COM Document]


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Bob Dylan Was Right: We All Serve Somebody
By Guy Sayles
There's no such thing as absolute freedom. Bob Dylan was right:
You're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
We're always serving something or someone.
It might be pleasure or power or money. It might be the agenda of our political party, or the glories of our alma mater or the reputation of our family, club, group or class. It might be to the status quo, which we serve by never speaking up or standing out or asking questions.
It might be our fragile egos, which we serve by polishing our image, making an impression and stage managing our children to act out the scripts we never had the courage to play.
It could be devotion to the way of love for God and neighbor. It could be a commitment to extending God's justice and peace, grace and mercy, God's presence and joy to everyone.
It could be a resolve to live like Jesus. Loving God and neighbor, working for God's will and way, and becoming like Jesus – these phrases describe a way of serving that results in our experiencing the vibrant, abundant and radiant lives God wants us to have.
In his novel "The Second Coming," Walker Percy has Will Barrett contemplate a lazy cat and reflect on his own life: "All at once he realized where he had gone wrong; there was this cat sitting in the sun, one hundred percent cat, and as for himself, Will had never been one hundred percent anything in his whole life."
A cat, which is one hundred percent cat, is free. A squirrel, scampering across the ground and scurrying up and down trees, is free. A soaring and singing bird is free.
When Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte jumps in the swimming pool, when Hope Solo takes to the soccer field, and when Kobe Bryant drives to the basket, they are in touch with the freedom that comes from doing what they were made and have trained to do.
When Doc Watson let songs of loss and longing flow from his heart through his guitar and voice, when John Coltrane's gratitude welled up from his soul and moved like a river through his saxophone, and when Bach pressed his hands and feet to the keys and pedals of the organ and set loose a barrage of joyful praise, they gave us the sounds of freedom that they were uniquely graced to hear.
All of us, when we commit ourselves as completely as we can to the will and way of God made known in the history of Israel and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we catch sight, hear whispers and feel stirrings of what it is like to be one hundred percent ourselves.
The greatest freedom comes from a full and glad yielding to God.
Guy Sayles is pastor of First Baptist Church of Asheville, N.C. This column first appeared on his blog, From the Intersection.
Freedom Guy Sayles
Choosing Which God (or Beliefs) You Will Serve
By Colin Harris
Protecting Religious Freedom for People of All Faiths
By Ferrell Foster
When the World's Burning, Who Needs Poetry?
By Lee Camp


text:
Actress Carol Channing (1921-2019)
By jakeem,
January 15, 2019 in General Discussions
Location: Earth 1
The actress Carol Channing, Broadway's original Lorelei Lee and musical version of Dolly Levi. has died, a little more than two weeks shy of her 98th birthday. Her publicist, B. Harlan Boll, confirmed that Channing died of natural causes at her home in Rancho Mirage, California after suffering two strokes last year.
She was the recipient of five Tony Awards -- competitive and special.
Her Broadway debut was in the 1949 musical "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," based on the 1925 novel by Anita Loos. Channing's performance as Lorelei Lee earned her the cover of Time magazine for January 9, 1950. Marilyn Monroe played Lorelei in the 1953 screen version.
Cover Credit: BORIS CHALIAPIN
She made her screen debut in the 1956 Western comedy "The First Traveling Saleslady" with Ginger Rogers, James Arness and Clint Eastwood. Her first screen kiss was provided by Eastwood, but it wound up on the cutting room floor.
Channing again captivated Broadway audiences in "Hello, Dolly!" Jerry Herman's 1964 musical version of Thornton Wilder's play "The Matchmaker." The role of Dolly Gallagher Levi had been intended for Ethel Merman, who declined it at the time. The production was a smashing success and won 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actress in a Musical (Channing). One of Channing's competitors in the category was Barbra Streisand, who would play Dolly in a 1969 film version.
The 1967 movie musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" featured Channing as the eccentric Muzzy Van Hossmere. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and won a Golden Globe Award in the same category.
Channing co-starred with Jackie Gleason in Otto Preminger's 1968 counterculture comedy "Skidoo." She played the wife of an ex-mobster under pressure to break into Alcatraz prison and whack an old friend. The movie also starred Frankie Avalon, Mickey Rooney, Michael Constantine, Frank Gorshin, John Phillip Law, Peter Lawford, Burgess Meredith, George Raft, Cesar Romero and Slim Pickens. The film marked the final screen appearances of Groucho Marx and Fred Clark -- and the first for actress Alexandra Hay.
On January 11, 1970, Channing became the first celebrity to provide halftime entertainment at a Super Bowl. She performed at Super Bowl IV at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, where the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League upset the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League 23-7. It was the last championship game before the merger of the AFL and the NFL later that year. Two years later, Channing performed at Super Bowl VI, also held in New Orleans.
On a memorable 1979 edition of NBC's "Today," Channing cracked up Gene Shalit with her tale about a London dinner party she attended at the estate of the American-born Lady Astor. Shalit went into hysterics as Channing recounted her inability to understand the Mayfair accent of a dinner guest, Sir Benjamin Harrison. Former "Today" host Tom Brokaw called Channing's story "the single funniest moment" he had ever experienced during his years on television.
Channing played The White Queen in a 1985 CBS miniseries that featured Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" on back-to-back nights. Alice was played by child actress Natalie Gregory.
In her candid 2002 memoir "Just Lucky I Guess," Channing revealed that she was informed at the age of 16 that her father was part-African American. She later told CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers that she took "great pride" in the news, but eventually regretted mentioning it in the book. "Now I am sorry that I wrote it because there are too many people not ready for that," Channing said. "I didn't realize that. There are too many people who just feel there's a difference. There is no difference in people. None."
Through the years, Channing headlined more than 5,000 performances of "Hello, Dolly!" -- and only missed one performance because of food poisoning. The role of Dolly Levi also had been performed by many other stars, including Merman, Pearl Bailey (who won a special Tony Award), Mary Martin and Betty Grable. In 2016, it was Bette Midler's turn. She starred as Dolly in a Broadway revival that won her the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical.
Al Hirschfeld @AlHirschfeld
She takes her final bow. We are deeply saddened to hear of the loss of Carol Channing http://goo.gl/uPwDti
Mike Barnes @MikeBarnes4
#RIP Carol Channing."Perhaps once in a decade a nova explodes above the Great White Way with enough brilliance to re-illumine the whole gaudy legend of show business," Time magazine wrote in 1950 when she was starring in 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.'
Bette MidlerVerified account@BetteMidler
The great, the legendary #CarolChanning has died at age 97. She was a complete original, and there will never be another. Blonde, 6 ft tall and utterly hilarious, she was a legend. My condolences to the world; to those who knew her or saw her and those who never got the chance.
John FugelsangVerified account@JohnFugelsang
Carol Channing did the Broadway revival of Hello Dolly in 1996 and her playbill bio inspired me forever; it listed all her awards, adding "...and an appearance on Nixon's 'hate list,' which she numbers among her highest honors."
Mitzi GaynorVerified account @TheMitziGaynor
Carol Channing brought more magic into this world than just about anyone. She's completely irreplaceable. How fortunate are we that her artistry will continue to entertain us for generations to come. Carol, thank you for being so uniquely & gorgeously, You. #CarolChanning
Swithin
LocationNew York City
So sorry to hear this! One of the theater greats. I saw her in Hello, Dolly! -- she was amazing and should have made the movie. The Tony Awards the year she won had four great ladies in the Best Actress in a Musical category: Beatrice Lillie (High Spirits); Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl); Inga Swenson (110 in the Shade); and Ms. Channing, who deservedly won. The original cast album of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes preserves her great performance as Lorelei Lee. The movie (which she should have starred in) can't touch it.
I first saw her on television, performing her Cecilia Sisson routine. She was a magnificent actress and a great lady. RIP.
Legend. Long life.
Hopefully TCM will give her a primetime spotlight in April or May, instead of waiting till the end of 2019 to show one of her films "in memoriam."
drednm
LocationMaine
RIP CAROL CHANNING.
One-of-a-kind star who became a household name even though most of her work was on the stage.
Channing had her first major film role in 1956, co-starring with Ginger Rogers in The First Traveling Saleslady. She got to sing "A Corset Can Do a Lot for a Lady." Rogers once quipped that this was the film that finally killed RKO.
In 1965 Channing and Rogers appeared together as "mystery guests" on What's My Line to publicize that Rogers was replacing Channing in the mega-hit Hello, Dolly!
Channing earned an Oscar nomination for Thoroughly Modern Millie, which Channing made as a sort of "audition" for the proposed film version of Hello, Dolly! The role went to Barbra Streisand.
LornaHansonForbes
LocationDark City, USA
LocationOhio
Sad news. I heard her name on the news this morning and knew it had to be about her dying. I'm sure Broadway will be dark tonight.......
As far as a night of her films, WHAT films? She only appeared in a handful and her most famous is from Universal (Millie).
Sukhov
LocationCity of Mahagonny
12 minutes ago, Hibi said:
They have THE FIRST TRAVELING SALESLADY in the Turner library. And I can see them renting THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE from Universal, and SKIDOO from Paramount, as they've aired those before. So yeah, a night of Carol Channing films on TCM is quite possible.
I dont think so. She's not considered a film star.
Her Dolly Levi was a unique stage creation.
She did do a lot of theater, but had only two famous roles onstage.
Television played an instrumental role in keeping her name alive.
And, of course, her unending impersonation of Lorelei Lee.
22 minutes ago, rayban said:
She was someone I would look forward to seeing as a guest star on Love Boat. Her larger than life camp persona worked perfectly on that silly show. Charo was another one.
6 minutes ago, TopBilled said:
You probably remember the 1982 episode of "The Love Boat" in which Channing, Ethel Merman, Ann Miller and Della Reese performed "I'm the Greatest Star" from "Funny Girl."
3 minutes ago, jakeem said:
Yes, indeed, thanks for posting the clip. So much talent packed into one episode!
GordonCole
4 hours ago, Swithin said:
I saw her once on a talk show where she said she had dyed her hair so much that when she washed it that morning she saw it all fall off in the sink. And then she pulled off her blonde wig and showed a head which looked like a peeled onion with one little tiny blonde pony tail about two inches long. What a fun lady!
4 hours ago, Hibi said:
She's someone TCM can still market to its viewers, since she did make some noteworthy films.
She might rate a film at the end of the year for those that have passed.....
Princess of Tap
6 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:
I was a little kid the first time I saw Carol. She was doing an act with George Burns after Gracie Allen had retired.
For years I wasn't sure if she was really a woman or a female impersonator.
Carol was the biggest star on Broadway in the 1960s.
Such a sweet lady!
sewhite2000
Thanks for the detailed write-up and all those pics! Wow, halftime performer at the Super Bowl! Times have certainly changed.
I'm of an age where I really only knew her from whatever she did on '70s television - shows like The Love Boat, and I'm guessing she was one of the roster that would show up on those '70s game shows where celebrities assisted the contestants like Match Game and Hollywood Squares? I knew who she was from probably the age of seven or eight, but I didn't really know anything about why she was a celebrity until much later, after buying the CD of the original cast recording of Hello, Dolly! and watching Thoroughly Modern Millie as an adult.
TCM did not do an In Memoriam retrospective for a group of stars at the end of 2018...instead, they gave the whole night over to Burt Reynolds. I can see them doing something for Carol Channing in the months ahead, instead of waiting till December when someone "bigger" might die and get the whole night again. We'll see what happens.
To say she's not a film star, or to say she's not important enough for TCM programmers to do a tribute, is a bit unfair. My opinion.
cigarjoe
LocationNY
We'll have to agree to disagree then. Yeah, I noticed there wasnt one in Dec. A great stage star, yes. But I doubt TCM considers her a big enough movie actress to do anything. They didnt do anything when bigger stars like Teresa Wright or Kathryn Grayson died.
Grayson's had two Star of the Month retrospectives. There was an evening of Teresa Wright films, though not when she died.
They like to come up with new themes for primetime. An evening of Carol Channing movies would be right up their alley, and her passing gives them a reason to do one about her.


126 rivers and lakes in Vermont are so polluted, meaning that they do not meet basic minimum water quality standards, that they are considered "impaired" by definition. Vermonter's cannot swim or expect to catch fish in many of them.
73% of stormwater impaired streams, 19 total, drain directly or indirectly to Lake Champlain; 12 are located in Chittenden County.
Causes of impairment include sediment, nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen, toxics, thermal pollution, stream modification, and pathogens, which cause disease in humans.
Phosphorous pollution in Shelburne Bay and the Main Lake is primarily due to stormwater runoff from urban and suburban development; Phosphorous impairment in the Otter Creek section is at least 50% due to stormwater pollution.
Flows directly from developed land and unstable stream banks caused by development.
Both factors are a function of impervious surface in the watershed.
Even under the new 2002 standards, a less than perfect 80-90% reduction in sediment equates only to a 40-60% removal for phosphorous.


» T-Break Transformation Podcast: Episode 21! You Don't Need Motivation & You're Not Lazy!
You Don't Need Motivation And You're Not Lazy!
In today's episode I discuss what motivation is, and why you don't need it. I look at will power, laziness, and what you really need to succeed and reach your goals. It's simpler than you might think.


Two thumbs-up for the Merrell Radius low-cut.
I mentioned in recent posts that spring is the perfect time to reorganize your gear for summer. It's also a great time to break in new footwear. I've used many different styles throughout the years from trail runners to heavy hiking boots, and right now I'm using a mid-weight hiking shoe by Merrell called the Radius. Merrell makes two versions of the Radius, a mid height shoe and a low cut version. I have the low cut version and I love it. You might love it too. The Radius is a simple shoe but it has some nice features.
Leather construction with a protective rubber toe bumper on the front of the shoe. Aggressive Vibram® Multi-Grip™ outsoles with sticky rubber and deep 5mm lugs for stability, traction and long wear.
Molded nylon arch shanks supply torsional stability on uneven terrain.
I've been very pleased with the Merrell Radius so far. I've used this shoe to hike from Courmayeur to Saas Fee and from Bolzano to Cortina. I've hiked the desert and I've hiked the San Juans. I've negotiated trails in snow, sleet, rain and sun. The Radius carried me across abrasive sandstone and through lofty alpine meadows and they still look relatively new. I've even worn them to the neighborhood pub. After a year of heavy use, my reaction is two thumbs-up, which says a lot considering that I continually ask this shoe to do everything.
If I were to list the pros and cons then they would look like this.
1. Great all around shoe.
3. Waterproof. (I tested this one during many days of rain and my feet stayed toasty and dry).
4. Lighter than a hiking boot.
5. Narrow heel. (This is great for me).
6. Durable. My shoe still looks and feels great after many miles on the trail.
1. People with weak ankles or heavier loads should consider the mid-height model.
2. Heavier than a trail runner. The average weight is 2 pounds per pair, (based on a Men's 9).
3. A bit hot in warm environments.
4. Wimpy insole. While the stock insole is much better than most, I always recommend using something more supportive like a custom insole. Superfeet offers a nice moderately priced alternative.
5. I lost a lug! What's up Vibram?
I recommend the Radius low-cut for someone who likes to put in long hiking days with little more than a day pack. While the Radius doesn't really excel at any one thing, it performs admirably at everything. A heavier hiker though, or a backpacker with heavy loads, would probably prefer the mid-height option or a more beefy hiking boot. Still, if you're looking for a comfortable, durable, waterproof and lightweight hiking shoe that will last a long time, then consider giving the Radius a try. Hikers with narrow heels will be especially pleased.


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American Jews for Donald Trump?
By Henry Schvey
Amid the incessant election babble of recent months, there was one headline that stood out for me as an American who happens to be Jewish. That was the news that Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas casino owner, Republican party broker and supporter of Israel, has come out in support the now presumptive nominee of the Republican party, Donald Trump.
Trump, Adelson said to the Jewish organization World Values Network, "will be good for Israel." This comment had low traction in a crazed news cycle filled with Trump and Ted Cruz's vituperative comments hurled at one another, but had particular resonance for me, simply because it raised a pertinent (and unanswered) question: Why would Trump be good for Israel, and why should American voters, especially Jewish Republican voters, consider supporting him in the November general election?
Both Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, have both been fervent supporters of Israel in their stump speeches, so it may be difficult to ascertain why Trump might be a better advocate for the State of Israel than Clinton. But let us, for the sake of argument, assume that Adelson is correct, and Trump would be a better friend to Israel than his opponent, if by "better friend," we mean more supportive financially and in defense of Israel's military objectives. Yet, even were this so, I still argue that American Jews' support of Trump would be absolutely disastrous for Israel. Why? The answer, I submit, goes far deeper than whether Republicans should or should not, unquestioningly offer support of their party's nominee. Instead, Republican support for Trump in the general election requires us to bore deeply into the origins of Israel's history and her aspirations as a Jewish democratic state.
It will be almost universally acknowledged that relations between the United States and Israel are at an all-time low, a result of the initially frosty, now overtly hostile, personal and political antipathy between President Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister. Their profoundly opposed views on a nuclear deal with Iran famously led to Netanyahu's acceptance of House Speaker John Boehner's invitation to snub the president and present his case against the Iran deal directly to Congress—a strategy which ultimately proved unsuccessful. It is devoutly to be hoped that the next four years will see an improvement in this relationship between our two heads of states, whomever they may be. But the real conundrum for us today is how this old (and absolutely vital) friendship can best be restored for the sake of both countries and peace in the Middle East and the world at large.
And it is here that Adelson's comment about Trump "being good for Israel" seems so terribly short-sighted, and even dangerous. True, a Trump presidency would alter the dynamic between Washington and Israel—but would it alter it for the better even if it were ostensibly more pro-Israel? My own belief is that it would be disastrous, and particularly for Israel.
With Israel's nominal support for a two-state solution with the Palestinian Authority already suffering a grievous blow as a result of Netanyahu's ongoing, unconditional support for increased settlements on the West Bank, the support of a President Trump would demolish any hopes of negotiations before they ever began. How, it might fairly be asked, would Palestinians (or the many countries sympathetic to their very real plight), ever consider the United States a fair broker in Middle East negotiations with a "deal maker" who has openly supported racist and proto-fascist policies at home?
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Trump's statements against Mexican immigrants; his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the homeland; his attacks against tortured veterans; his mockery of people with disabilities; his sexist attacks against women—all these not merely disqualify Trump as a leader of the free world—they also undermine his potential advocacy of Israel.
Trump has gone to great lengths to establish his Curriculum Vitae as Demagogue-in-Chief, not as someone who can be counted on to advance the cause of democracy either in the United States—or abroad. How then can the Republican party support for president of the United States a man who repudiates the very essence of what Israel means? And can Israel, a country whose birth was created in response to the Nazi Holocaust and systematic persecution and decimation of a significant ethnic minority, possibly benefit from the support of a man for president who willfully calls for disenfranchisement of Muslim citizens because they happen to embrace their religion? Can a more hypocritical stance be imagined, especially for Jews whose recent history has been so deeply poisoned by such hate?
Adelson's ignorant contention that such a man might be "good for Israel" should not be lost amid the already chaotic news cycle. It should be a wake-up call which gives us cause for real alarm.
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Stoke Place is the "Hotel of the Month" over at Living Etc. I can understand why. The decor is kinda edgy and quirky, but in a homey, cozy kind of way you don't see in a lot of boutique hotels. As the article says, you'll be "busy stealing the rest of the hotel's style." I concur.
this looks like a fun place to stay, the green wallpaper is great, i looooove living etc.


Use the Secure Card Data/Encryption Key Maintenance screen to rotate encryption and purge old credit cards on file.
Step 1: Make sure every user has logged out.
- To verify that all users are logged out, select Help> About in the toolbar at the top of the application, and then click the Product Licenses button. The License Monitor screen appears. All users that are currently logged in appear on the License Status tab.
Step 2: Open the Secure Card Data/Encryption Key Maintenance screen (Administration > Evosus Card Services > General Setup > Secure Card Data/ Encryption Key Maintenance).
Step 3: Click Rotate Encryption Key.
- All users must be logged out of the system before clicking this button.
Step 4: Purge the cardholder data.
- This will remove the credit card information older than the purge date.
- The purge date is set up using the Purge Sensitive Cardholder Data field on the System Parameters.
a. Check the Purge credit card on file if expired for over _ months box if you also want to purge old credit cards on file, and then enter a value in the field.
b. Click Purge Cardholder Data.
c. Click OK on the message that appears.
- The purge information appears in the Log field.


Why hasn't Russel Wilson stepped up and defended his wife Ciara after Future's nasty attack? Future has a message for his baby mama Ciara and apparently it's in the lyrics of his latest song. There's new speculation that Atlanta-based rapper Future has once again slammed Ciara in his latest hit and Russell Wilson is once again doing nothing about it.
Future and Ciara's relationship and engagement ended two years ago after it was alleged that the rapper cheated on her three months after the birth of their child, Future Zahir Wilburn in 2014. The ex-couple was locked in a bitter custody battle of their son for months before Ciara moved on with her new boyfriend, Seattle Seahawks star Russell Wilson.
Even though Ciara and Russell Wilson have now tied the knot and have moved on from the drama in their lives, Future seems to provoke a new feud by taking a shot at his ex-fiance and the mother of his son.
Clearly, for anyone who knows Ciara and Future's history, it was the "I Bet" singer who was famous long before Future was a household name. In fact, many would even go as far as saying that it was Ciara who put Future's name on the celebrity map thanks to their tumultuous relationship.
For Future to imply that he helped "make" or even revive Ciara's career is nothing less than preposterous as she's managed sell millions of albums and has been in the mainstream media before Future even had his first record deal.
Of course, if there's one person who should defend Ciara right now, it would be Russell Wilson. No man wants to hear his wife's ex-fiance take aim at her in public, much less in song lyrics. Regardless of whether or not Future is trying to set the record straight or simply can't let go of the fact that he is no longer with Ciara, Russell Wilson should at least make an attempt to defend his wife's name. Otherwise, Future will continue to rap about his failed Ciara engagement for years to come.
Tell us CDL readers, do you think Future is rapping about Ciara in his latest song? Should Russell defend Ciara and demand that Future leave his wife alone? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Exemplary Employer — MBNA Corporation – Personal Finance Employee Education Fund, Inc.
MBNA Corporation, now part of Bank of America, was the nation's top credit card company and one of the world's biggest finance companies. It had a strong culture of concern for the well being of employees. This is an historical write-up of one the finest employee financial programs ever provided in the United States.
In 1993, leadership awareness that workers were facing significant financial pressures at home that spilled over into the workplace prompted MBNA to take action to assist its employees. MBNA believed that having a team of financial advisors to administer confidential, individual counseling would be an effective and appropriate investment. Therefore, the company founded the Financial Advisory Service (FAS) at MBNA in 1993. The company was also concerned that its employees might access company systems and information to perpetrate fraud if financial pressures reached high levels. Therefore, a secondary purpose of FAS was to provide relief that might help to mitigate fraud. MBNA is one of the first major corporations to offer such a robust program to support its employees.
After a year of offering only financial counseling, MBNA introduced additional programs to supplement the FAS. MBNA introduced loan products that saved its employees money while also generating revenue for the company. It was an innovative program and an outstanding practice that paid dividends to all parties.
MBNA also launched a charitable giving program that provided grants/gifts to its employees with very compelling needs. This gave the corporation the ability to provide direct funding to help employees resolve financial crisis situations. Through the charitable giving program, MBNA advisors worked with its employees to assess each situation and search local and national charities to find support. If external charities were unable to meet employee needs and if the situation met MBNA guidelines, the corporation provided direct financial assistance to help resolve the situation.
As a result of MBNA's commitment and concern for the well-being of its employees, we consider MBNA Corporation to be an employer who in years past exemplified many of the principles and goals of the Personal Finance Employee Education Fund. Also impressive is that their quality employee financial program was not only self-funded, it also earned a small profit.