Cam integrated CNC control of machines - D.P. TECHNOLOGY CORP.
Systems and Methods for Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) devices comprising a CNC integrated Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) controller configured to input a CAD file and output a CAM file and a CAM integrated CNC controller configured to input the CAM file and output at least one command for at least one servo controller of a set of one or more servo controllers.
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This application claims priority to and the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 61/661,458 filed Jun. 19, 2012, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
1. A system comprising: a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) integrated Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) controller, wherein the CNC integrated CAM controller is configured to receive a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) file and output at least one CAM file; and a CAM integrated CNC controller, wherein the CAM integrated CNC controller is configured to: receive the at least one CAM file; display at least one of: a real-time limit for at least one cutting tool and at least one alternative toolpath strategy for the real-time limit, wherein if the limit is reached, a user can choose one or more alternative toolpath strategies, thereby toolpaths generated with incorrect CNC data are not executed; and output at least one command for at least one servo controller of a set of one or more servo controllers; wherein the CNC integrated CAM controller and the CAM integrated CNC controller are mated via full integration of the CNC integrated CAM controller and the CAM integrated CNC controller, and the mated CNC integrated CAM controller and CAM integrated CNC controller do not use or store a Machine Command File, thereby the CAM integrated CNC controller functions to edit the received at least one CAM file; and wherein the user, via a user interface of the CAM integrated CNC controller, can modify at least one of: the received CAM file and the outputted at least one command for the at least one servo controller.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the CNC integrated CAM controller is configured to determine, by the CAM, at least one of: a tool speed, a tool acceleration, and at least one servo motor current.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the CAM integrated CNC controller is configured to control, by the CAM, at least one of: a tool speed, a tool feed, and a tool acceleration.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one machine parameter in the CNC integrated CAM controller corresponds to at least one machine parameter of the CAM integrated CNC controller.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the real-time limit is a limit in cutting speed.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the real-time limit is set by a Determination of the Kinematics Parameters module configured to set at least one of: a maximum velocity of each servo axis and a maximum acceleration of each servo axis.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the user modified output of the at least one command for the at least one of the servo controllers comprises at least one of: a feedhold command function, a cyclestart command function, and an override command function.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the output of the at least one CAM file from the CNC integrated CAM controller is received by the CAM integrated CNC controller via at least one of: a LAN connection and a memory device.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one CAM file comprises a stored CAM design.
10. A method of modifying a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machine comprising: integrating a CNC controller configured to determine speeds, accelerations, and servo motor currents with a Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) system, wherein the CNC integrated CAM system is configured to receive a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) file and output at least one CAM file; integrating a CAM system configured to edit a CAM file with a CNC controller, wherein the CAM integrated CNC controller is configured to receive the at least one CAM file, display at least one of: a real-time limit for at least one cutting tool and at least one alternative toolpath strategy for the real-time limit, wherein if the limit is reached, a user can choose one or more alternative toolpath strategies, thereby toolpaths generated with incorrect CNC data are not executed; and output at least one command for at least one servo controller of a set of one or more servo controllers; and modifying, via a user interface of the CAM integrated CNC controller the received CAM file and the outputted at least one command for the at least one servo controller.
11. The method of claim 10 further comprising: determining one or more parameters of one or more servo controllers, wherein the determined one or more parameters of the one or more existing servo controllers is entered into the CNC integrated CAM system and the CAM integrated CNC controller.
The invention in its several embodiments relates generally to Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) systems and Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines and specifically to the integration of machine tool program generation by means of CAM systems, and machine tool axes control by means of CNC controllers and servo controllers.
"Part programs" are programs in a machine language that are generated by CAM systems. CAM systems are the interface between the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) design, i.e., the geometric design of a part, and the CNC machine specifications. The first CNC controllers used a standard machine code called EIA/ISO 6983, i.e., a G- and M-code program. This standard is still widely used today. However, there are a number of weaknesses in this standard. First, it is essentially a description of a tool trajectory in terms of lines (G01), circles (G02 and G03), and rapid traverse displacements (G00). For complex parts, e.g., three-dimensional (3D) parts, there may be a need to discretize and approximate a spline curve with small G01 lines, which are then re-assembled by the CNC to form a new spline curve. Second, there are problems of accuracy due to the fact that the coordinates must be written down in a text file. Third, the CNC Operator alters the speeds and feeds to his or her convenience in a way that is inherently unknown to the CAM system, which may cause inefficiencies.
Many efforts have been made to cope with these problems. A new standard, 14649 STEP-NC (STEP-NC), was created with the intention of replacing the old standard: EIA/ISO 6983. The goal of STEP-NC is to be an extensive description of the toolpath in a machine independent form, including tolerances, such that the toolpath can still be changed and measured on the CNC. However, this is quite impossible, because a toolpath is in principle a "tool motion." Therefore, the toolpath is always linked with the machine geometry and the physical limits of the machine. The ISO standard, i.e., G- and M-codes, is merely coordinates and feedrates, whereas the STEP standard has as basic strategy in the cutter file that allows the operator to specify the geometry and the desired precision. However, it is still up to the CNC, i.e., a STEP CNC, to translate this information into cutter speeds and feeds. The STEP approach does not consider that a toolpath is not merely a geometry, but also a tool path, i.e., a tool that moves along a path. All machines have certain areas or directions where the toolpath may be difficult, and one cannot generate a toolpath independently from a machine.
Another effort to solve these problems is by directly calculating the servo controller commands in the CAM system by bridging the interface between the CAM computer and the CNC controller. However, this solution is not optimal, as it is impossible to change the speeds, i.e., the CNC override function, on the CNC. The authors and/or inventors of this approach argue that the operators should not change the speed on the machine anymore. However, a static speed is not practicable due to how parts are machined. In the ISO standard, the feedrate is specified by the F-command, and is ideally sourced from a cutting database containing verified speeds for a certain material class and a corresponding tool. When new materials are used, the speeds must be changed. Additionally, for certain curvatures, the speed should be adapted. Depending on the CNC machine being used, the dynamics of the CNC machine may not allow for the feedrates specified in the cutting database for the curvature to be machined. For these reasons, every part should ideally be first executed at a low speed. Then, in small increments, the speed may be increased in function based on the experience of the operator. In some cases, e.g., large volumes being produced, the part may be optimized more than any existing CAM system, and speeds higher than 100% may be tested. Small cutting problems may even be optimized via the operator changing the speeds and the cutting conditions on the machine.
Another effort to solve these problems is by verifying the machining part program in the CAM system before sending it to the CNC machine. Other variations offer a simulation of the CNC Software off-line. The disadvantage of this approach is that because there are so many CNC parameters to be set, that one may never be sure if the simulation is truly identical to the CNC system on the machine. Therefore, a verified off-line simulation may still cause problems when executed on a CNC machine.
Finally, efforts to solve these problems have involved putting the CAM software on the same processing unit as the CNC. In some versions, both units may run on the same processor. Some have proposed reading a CAD-file by a CAD-interpreter that is located on the CNC processor. This interpreter would then generate a Motion-Object, i.e., a file that contains both toolpath and tool trajectory information. This is an improvement on the EIA/ISO 6983 code interface, but it does not address nor solve the unpredictable behavior of a CNC against the programmed toolpath.
Exemplary system embodiments may include a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) system that may comprise: a CNC integrated Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) controller, where the CNC integrated CAM controller may be configured to receive a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) file and output at least one CAM file; and a CAM integrated CNC controller, where the CAM integrated CNC controller may be configured to: receive the at least one CAM file, and output at least one command for at least one servo controller of a set of one or more servo controllers. In some embodiments, a user, via a user interface of the CAM integrated CNC controller, may modify at least one of: the received CAM file and the outputted at least one command for the at least one servo controller. In additional system embodiments, the CNC integrated CAM controller may be configured to determine, by the CAM, at least one of: a tool speed, a tool acceleration, and at least one servo motor current. In additional system embodiments, the CAM integrated CNC controller may be configured to control, by the CAM, at least one of: a tool speed, a tool feed, and a tool acceleration. In additional system embodiments, at least one machine parameter in the CNC integrated CAM controller may correspond to at least one machine parameter of the CAM integrated CNC controller. In additional system embodiments, the CAM integrated CNC controller may be further configured to: display, by the CAM, at least one of: a real-time limit for at least one cutting tool; and at least one alternative toolpath strategy for the real-time limit. In additional system embodiments, the real-time limit may be a limit in cutting speed. In additional system embodiments, the real-time limit may be set by a Determination of the Kinematics Parameters module configured to set at least one of: a maximum velocity of each servo axis and a maximum acceleration of each servo axis. In additional system embodiments, the user modified output of the at least one command for the at least one of the servo controllers may comprise at least one of: a feedhold command function, a cyclestart command function, and an override command function. In additional system embodiments, the output of the at least one CAM file from the CNC integrated CAM controller may be received by the CAM integrated CNC controller via at least one of: a LAN connection and a memory device. In additional system embodiments, the at least one CAM file may comprise a stored CAM design.
Exemplary method embodiments may include a method of modifying a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machine that may comprise: integrating a CNC controller that may be configured to determine speeds, accelerations, and servo motor currents with a Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) system, where the CNC integrated CAM system may be configured to receive a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) file and output at least one CAM file; integrating a CAM system configured to edit a CAM file with a CNC controller, where the CAM integrated CNC controller may be configured to receive the at least one CAM file and output at least one command for at least one servo controller of a set of one or more servo controllers; and modifying, via a user interface of the CAM integrated CNC controller, at least one of: the received CAM file and the outputted at least one command for the at least one servo controller. Additional method embodiments may further comprise determining one or more parameters of one or more servo controllers, where the determined one or more parameters of the one or more existing servo controllers may be entered into the CNC integrated CAM system and the CAM integrated CNC controller.
Exemplary method embodiments may also include a method comprising: inputting a geometry from a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) file; defining, by a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) integrated Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) system, a tool that moves along a path; creating, by the CNC integrated CAM system, one or more features and a set of one or more associated operations; performing, by the CNC integrated CAM system, one or more simulations, where the one or more simulations may be performed using an integrated Virtual Machine Simulator that utilizes a Determination of Kinematics Parameters module and a Interpolation and Distribution module; and determining, by the CNC integrated CAM system, a CAM file that may be based on an iterative loop of the inputting, defining, creating, and performing steps. In additional method embodiments, the Determination of Kinematics Parameters module may protect a set of one or more servo amplifiers to ensure that no physical limits are exceeded. In additional method embodiments, the Interpolation and Distribution module may ensure that no loss of precision occurs by using the exact mathematical representation as the CAM integrated CNC controller.
FIG. 6 depicts, in a functional block diagram, an exemplary CAM integrated CNC controller.
FIG. 1 depicts, in a top-level flowchart, a general environment of a prior art CAM system (201) and a CNC controller (401). A CAD file (101), generated by a CAD system, is the general input of a CAM system (201). In some cases, the CAD data may be entered directly into the CAM system (201). Such systems may also provide basic CAD functions.
The main purpose of a CAM system (201) is to transform the CAD file (101), which contains geometrical information about a part, into a Machine Command File (301), which contains sequential commands for a particular CNC machine. The Machine Command File (301) may also be called a Cutter Location File. The Machine Command File (301) may be written according to a standard machine code, e.g., the EIA/ISO 6983 standard.
In some cases, the Machine Command File (301) may be checked by a Virtual Machine Tool Simulator (202). This verification process may ensure that the generated code will work on the CNC machine, and an advantage to this simulation is that it may avoid the need for later on-machine verification depending on the CNC machine used and the complexity of the part to be verified. On-machine verification may result in large non-cutting times, or dead times, and is therefore non-desirable in some circumstances. The Machine Command File (301) may then be input, e.g., by a USB connection or a LAN connection, into the CNC controller (401).
The CNC controller (401) processes the Machine Command File (301) based on the directives of an operator. The operator can issue a feedhold (601) command, a cyclestart (602) command, or a speed override (603) command. The CNC itself knows all of the machine limits and decides on the ultimate speeds, feeds, and accelerations. These decisions generate commands for at least one of the servo controllers (501,502).
FIG. 2 depicts, in a functional block diagram, additional details of the contents of a prior art CNC controller (401). Such a CNC controller (401) may contain two processors: a first processor (425) and a second processor (426). These processors (425,426) may be found in older micro-controllers in an embedded environment, whereas present-day PC architectures may be in the form of Industrial PCs. Advanced designs may do both tasks on one Industrial PC with different operating systems. The first processor (425) may handle the Man Machine Interface (MMI). Modules in the first processor (425) may include a CNC display (410) and a CNC program editor (411). The second processor (426) may handle translating the Machine Command Code contained in the Machine Command File (301) to sample commands that may be sent to at least one of the servo controllers (501,502). Modules in the second processor (426) may include a Determination of the Kinematics Parameters (421) module and an Interpolation and Distribution (422) module. The Determination of the Kinematics Parameters (421) module may be a physical element that protects the servo amplifiers, and the entire CNC machine, to ensure that no physical limits are exceeded. In addition, the Determination of the Kinematics Parameters module (421) ensures that the machine moves and cuts with quality, and is based on a set of CNC parameters, e.g., a maximum velocity of each servo axis and an acceleration of each servo axis.
FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of a problematic toolpath (300) showing the tool space (305) and the machine space (307). A toolpath is not merely a geometry, but also a tool path, i.e., a tool that moves along a path. All machines have areas or directions where the toolpath may be difficult to navigate. The smooth toolpath for the endpoint of the tool (303) in FIG. 3, becomes a problem in machine space due to the tool positioning required and corresponding CNC machine limits to achieve these tool position changes.
FIG. 4 depicts, in a top-level flowchart, an exemplary embodiment of the integrated CAM and CNC system. The CAM system is a CNC integrated CAM system (701). A Virtual Machine Simulator (707) is now integrated inside the CAM system (701). While the CNC simulator was only used as an optional indicator in the prior art (202, FIG. 1), it is presently integrated into the CNC integrated CAM system (701). The CNC controller is a CAM integrated CNC controller (901). The input of the CAM integrated CNC controller (901) is a CAM File (801), which may be comprised of one or more CAM files used to store a CAM design. The CNC functions of a feedhold (601) command, a cyclestart (602) command and an override (603) command are also available.
Virtually all CNC machines may be equipped with the present system. In some embodiments, existing CNC machines may be retrofitted with this system and the existing servo controllers may be retained so long as their parameters are input into the CNC integrated CAM system (701). In the present exemplary embodiment, the CNC integrated CAM system (701) and the CAM integrated CNC controller (901) are mated. As a result, toolpaths generated with incorrect CNC data will not be executed.
An exemplary embodiment includes a full integration of the CAM system with the CNC system comprising: (a) an integration of the CNC functions that determine speeds, accelerations, and servo motor currents inside the CAM system; and (b) an integration of the CAM editing functions on the CNC system. In this exemplary embodiment, the speeds, feeds, and accelerations are no longer controlled by the CNC, but by the CAM system. Accordingly, the machine parameters in the CNC integrated CAM system (701) may be fine-tuned to each particular CNC machine. In doing this, the limits of the system are known whenever a new feature is programmed into the CNC integrated CAM system (701).
In this exemplary embodiment, there is no requirement to store a Machine Command File (301, FIGS. 1-2), e.g., G-code. From the CNC integrated CAM system (701), a user, or operator, may store the project directly as a CAM file (801). This CAM file (801) may then be sent to the CAM integrated CNC controller (901), where a user will have the same software available on the CAM integrated CNC controller (901) as on the CNC integrated CAM system (701). Accordingly, a user may change any part of the resulting program in the CAM integrated CNC controller (901) as in the off-line CNC integrated CAM system (701). In this exemplary embodiment, both the CNC integrated CAM system (701) and the CAM integrated CNC controller (901) may be on the same processor, and the interface between the two is no longer a Machine Command File (301, FIGS. 1-2), but a software structure. This ensures a high degree of possible precision, because the exact mathematical form as designed by the CAD/CAM system is retained.
An exemplary embodiment integrates the exact CNC Kinematics calculations of the CAM integrated CNC controller (901) into the CNC integrated CAM system (701); and integrates the CAM functions and mathematics of the CNC integrated CAM system (701) into the CAM integrated CNC controller (901). In doing this, the CNC integrated CAM system (701) no longer outputs a Machine Command File (301, FIGS. 1-2), but instead saves the programmed tool trajectory in one or more genuine CAM files (801). These CAM files (801) may then be read by a CNC Controller that has integrated CAM modules: the CAM integrated CNC controller (901).
The exact CNC Kinematics are available at each choice of tool and/or programming of a CAM feature, and one or more options may be compared on the spot. The generation of cutting marks, caused by reversing servo axes, may be immediately shown in the CAM program. The CAM system may indicate, on the spot, limits in cutting speeds. If a limit is reached, a user may react and choose one or more alternative tool path strategies. In this exemplary embodiment, the owner of the Kinematics calculations is no longer the CNC controller, but the CNC integrated CAM system (701). This is accomplished because the CAM software and the CNC software are both available on the CNC machine.
The programmed trajectory, which may be generated off-line, is then transferred to the CNC machine by means of a network, e.g., a LAN connection, or a memory device, e.g., a USB stick. This programmed trajectory does not need to be written down in a Machine Command Language. Instead, it is stored in one or more CAM files (801), thereby keeping track of all design features, options, selections, etc. All these items may still be altered on the CNC machine by the CAM integrated CNC controller (901).
If not altered by a user, the CAM integrated CNC controller (901) will execute the intended trajectory exactly as programmed without any changes of speed or changes of acceleration. If the user decides to change the Kinematics for better cutting performance, the user may use the CAM editing functions or the CNC Override (603) functions.
In a conventional CAM system, a Machine Command File (301, FIGS. 1-2) is inherently limited to writing down coordinates with a certain precision. This precision is generally between 0.01 mm and 0.001 mm. However, in the original CAD file (101, FIG. 1) those values may be smaller than 0.01 mm and/or 0.001 mm, which may result in a small error. This error is half of the precision, e.g., 0.005 mm or 0.0005 mm. Small block lengths are points with a small interval, e.g., 0.1 mm. Specifying small block lengths may cause sudden changes in block orientation due to the discretization. If these points are executed by a conventional CNC machine, then the blockspeed does not increase and the position of the tool changes in jumps. In a 5-axis CNC machine this sudden change in tool orientation may result in chatter, i.e., a vibration of the tool, along with corresponding errors in the workpiece.
During the execution of the trajectory in the present embodiment, the CAM integrated CNC controller (901) may use the exact mathematical representation as adopted by the CNC integrated CAM system (701). This representation may be a line, a circle, a polynomial of nth degree, or any other mathematical function. Through this process, there is no need to take a loss of precision into account. Complex shapes may be precisely manufactured exactly as they are programmed mathematically inside the CNC integrated CAM system (701).
FIG. 5 depicts, in a functional block diagram, an exemplary CNC integrated CAM system (701). In this embodiment, the Virtual Machine Simulator (707) is integrated into the CNC integrated CAM system (701). In the prior art of FIG. 1, the Virtual Machine Simulator (202, FIG. 1) was used to check the issued Machine Command File (301, FIGS. 1-2), and if an error was found, the entire process had to be redone. In this exemplary embodiment, the Virtual Machine Simulator (707) has access to the same software, the same CNC parameters, and the same Determination of the Kinematic Parameters (921) as the CAM Integrated CNC controller (901, FIGS. 4 and 6). The logic for the Determination of the Kinematic Parameters (921) may then be used whenever a feature is programmed in the CNC integrated CAM system (701). In doing this, each CAM feature may be simulated with the same logic as is available in the CAM integrated CNC controller (901, FIGS. 4 and 6), and each feature may be physically correct. In the prior art of FIGS. 1-2, the CNC controller (401, FIGS. 1-2) has been merely a geometrical organ that defined speed and feeds from a cutting database. An existing part program contains toolpaths, specified in coordinates of lines and circles, or splines using calculation results of the cross section between two surfaces: the tool radius and the mathematically defined surface from the CAD system. Calculating and storing these points may result in lost information. The present system leaves these surfaces in their original form up until the executor of the CNC needs a new point to be calculated. In this exemplary embodiment, the Determination of Kinematics (921) is integrated into the CNC integrated CAM system (701). From the CAD file (101) the CNC Integrated CAM system (701) inputs the geometry (702). Then, in an iterative loop, the CNC integrated CAM system (701) defines and/or imports the tools (703), creates one or more features (704), makes one or more operations (705), and performs one or more simulations (706) where the simulations (706) use an integrated Virtual Machine Simulator (707) that uses the Determination of Kinematics (921) modules and the Interpolation and Distribution (422) modules. Once the process is completed, the CNC integrated CAM system (701) outputs a CAM file (801).
An exemplary CNC integrated CAM system (701) may output part programs for more than one CNC machine, so long as the CNC integrated CAM system (701) contains the complete CNC parameters and CNC software for the corresponding CNC machines, and the corresponding CNC machines comprise a CAM integrated CNC controller (901, FIGS. 4 and 6).
FIG. 6 depicts, in a functional block diagram, an exemplary embodiment of CAM functionality integrated into the CAM integrated CNC controller (901). The CAM file (801) may be read by the CAM integrated CNC controller (901). This exemplary CAM file (801) may contain more information than a typical Machine Command File (301, FIGS. 1-2). Every aspect of the toolpath trajectory may be edited on the CAM integrated CNC controller (901) in the same way as on the CNC integrated CAM system (701, FIGS. 4-5). A user may edit the toolpath trajectory using the MMI of the machine via a CAM & CNC display (910) and a CAM editor (911). The Determination of the Kinematics Parameters (921) module protects the servo amplifiers, and the entire CNC machine, to ensure that no physical limits are exceeded. The Interpolation and Distribution (422) module may use the exact mathematical representation as the CAM integrated CNC controller (901) itself. Thereby, no loss of precision may be assured. From the Interpolation and Distribution (422) module in the CAM integrated CNC controller (901), commands for at least one of the servo controllers (501,502) may be issued. Accordingly, the CNC-specific operator functions of feedhold (601), cyclestart (602) and override (603) may all still be utilized.
It is contemplated that various combinations and/or sub-combinations of the specific features and aspects of the above embodiments may be made and still fall within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that various features and aspects of the disclosed embodiments may be combined with or substituted for one another in order to form varying modes of the disclosed invention. Further it is intended that the scope of the present invention herein disclosed by way of examples should not be limited by the particular disclosed embodiments described above.


Checking my mail. The usual holiday catalogs. Here's one from Figis wanting me to buy fruitcake. No checks or bills, so that kind of evens out. Wait a bit, here's a brown envelope postmarked Seattle. What's really odd, is the way they did the address… letters cut out from something… addressed to ted strutz. Maybe some new advertising gimmick to catch the eye. Inside, letters attached to a paper bag.
You can imagine my surprise when I saw this week's Friday Fictioneer's photo prompt. It was one I had taken, and Rochelle-Wisoff Fields had chosen it to be this week's inspiration for some 100 Word Flash Fiction. I wanted to wait till Friday was almost over to explain the photo and not influence any of the Fictioneer's writings. It has been fun to read the different takes the photo evoked, and you can see them by going to the Fictioneer's link page. As of now, 81 writers have linked their stories… I'll be #82.
There are two types of ferries that service the San Juan Islands in the state of Washington. Located at the top of Puget Sound, in what is called The Salish Sea. The San Juan Islands consist of something like 172 islands, some no more than a rock… but since it is always above water, it's officially an island. I live on San Juan Island… it was named for an explorer called Juan… and is the county seat. I live in Friday Harbor, which may or not have been named for an indian called Joe Friday… but that's another story.
The ferry serves the 4 main islands Lopez, Shaw, Orcas and mine. You board in Anacortes on the mainland (although technically Anacortes is on Fidalgo Island which is connected by bridges and is not part of the San Juan Island Group) and travel by ferry-boat to the different islands, and can even go to Victoria, British Columbia on Vancouver Island (which sails once a day).
There is another run, which is the Interisland Ferry, it is a little smaller ship. The MV Evergreen State was built in 1953, and holds 100 cars and 1000 passengers. That is what I was on when I took the photo. I was the only passenger. In 17 years riding ferries, and I ride the Interisland a lot, I have never been the sole passenger. Let me tell you, it was a strange feeling, almost scary. I walked about the passenger deck and had the weirdest feeling, almost like I was in some of the stories my fellow fictioneers have written, they tend to run to the macabre, cheerful lot. It was around 5 p.m. when I took the photo, as the sun was starting to set. I thought it was an interesting shot, with the eerie calmness of an empty boat (that should have been busy with people doing all manner of things, including jigsaw puzzles) and the beauty of the scenic calm outside.
If you ever get up Seattle way, come up and take a ride on the ferry… I'll buy.
I do not know who sent me the invitation, but I have my suspicions, my birthday is Dec. 4, 1943… do the math, it's a milestone of sorts. There are two Prime Suspects, but they are not fessing up. I guess I will have to wait till I walk on the ferry and see who's there. I will be sure to take my hearing aids… maybe there's a Steely Dan concert I don't know about.
April '14… Here's one I wrote for Friday Fictioneers… I thought it would be fun for my yeahwrite friends to see. I'll post the follow-up story next week.
I was recently onboard our InterIsland Ferryboat the 'Evergreen State', when she encountered some 'difficulties' and became adrift. In 16 years of riding the ferries, this was the most excitement I've had. We were getting close to land, and they were getting a towrope ready to attach to an oncoming ferry. The had everyone stand at the rear of the ferry on the top deck… in case we crashed??? They got whatever was wrong fixed enough to make it into Friday Harbor and dock. I was hoping we would have to be saved… that would have been great to photograph.


text:
ii view: new Citigroup CEO off to a promising start
Keith Bowman from interactive investor
Global consumer banking is to become more focused. We review prospects.
First-quarter results to 31 March 2021
Revenue down 7% to $19.3 billion
Net income up 216% to $7.9 billion
Earnings per share up 214% to $3.62
Chief executive Jane Fraser said:
"It's been a better than expected start to the year, and we are optimistic about the macro environment. We are committed to serving our clients through the recovery and positioning the bank for a period of sustained growth.
"Our capital levels remained strong and stable, allowing us to respond to the needs of our clients and return capital to our shareholders. At 11.7%, our Common Equity Tier One Ratio was
unchanged from the fourth quarter and we resumed the repurchase of common stock, which we had voluntarily paused at the onset of the pandemic."
ii round-up:
New Citigroup (NYSE:C) chief executive Jane Fraser wasted no time in implementing strategic changes at the major US and international bank.
Retail banking operations across 13 markets, largely in Asia, are to be exited given the bank's current lack of competitive scale, with the four hubs of Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE and London proving its new focus.
Like rival JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), buoyant financial markets activity and the return of reserves previously set aside to cover expected pandemic related loan losses helped the bank to beat Wall Street profit forecasts.
Citi shares rose by more than 2% in pre-market US trading, leaving their gain over the last year at around 70%. Shares for rival JPMorgan are up by a similar amount, while shares for UK bank Barclays (LSE:BARC) have more than doubled.
Citi's earnings per share came in at $3.62 per share, comfortably ahead of analyst estimates at under $3 per share. A reserve return of nearly $3.9 billion helped fuel the earnings beat, as did a 46% in investment banking related revenues to a total of nearly $2 billion.
Equity market related sales rose 26% year-over-year to $1.47 billion. Net income for its institutional client division surged by 64% to $5.94 billion compared to the first quarter of last year.
Less favourably, revenues for its global consumer banking division fell by 14% to $7 billion. Lower card volumes and reduced interest rates across all regions, given central bank action to limit pandemic damage, more than countered strong deposit growth and gains in wealth management.
Citi returned $2.7 billion to shareholders over the quarter. Like rival JP Morgan, it has also resumed its share buyback programme.
ii view:
Citi operates through two divisions of global consumer banking and institutional clients. Global banking is the largest credit card issuer by loans outstanding. The institutional clients division serves the complex needs of companies, financial institutions, public sector bodies and investment managers. It facilitates $4 trillion of transactional flows daily.
For investors, a still Covid clouded outlook cannot be ignored. A global consumer banking business yet to fire on all cylinders is also noteworthy, as is the dampening impact on profits from continued ultra-low interests and the banks previous operational challenges.
But clear intention to refocus strategy from the new CEO offers reassurance, as do further returns of prior bad-debt provisions in relation to the virus crisis. A forecast dividend yield of close to 3% (not guaranteed) is also not insignificant given current low interest rates. In all, while Citi still has much to do to elevate its status to that of JP Morgan, the new CEO is off to a good start.
Geographical diversity
Attractive dividend payment (not guaranteed)
Falling revenues
Lower interest rates are broadly bad for bank profitability
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Former Jihadist on Islamic Terror in the US | What CNN is trying to hide
By Dr Mark | August 25, 2018 | Comments 1 comment
Show Summary: The true, cold reality of Islamic terror in America is much more chilling even than the news of an Islamic terror training camp for kids in New Mexico. Find out what CNN isn't telling you about the reality of Islamic terror here in the U.S. In fact, they are trying to hide it from you.
Five Different Times, on Six Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!
Air Dates: Month # & #, 2018 | Guest(s)
This Week: After a couple weeks off to take care of some much-needed (and noisy) remodeling, we're back. And we are starting with a show that will make you sit back and think why aren't we hearing this in the MSM?
This week's news of Manafort and Cohen is fading fast from the headlines but what was also dropped from the headlines faster than a hot potato. Muslim extremists are (or were) back in the news. But only getting a brief mention before quickly being overshadowed by a MSM all too willing to bury the story.
As shocking as the story of an active Islamic terror training camp was, operating right here on U.S. soil in New Mexico, the reality is perhaps even more frightening.
What CNN is Trying to Hide about Islamic Terror in the US
What should have been a week-long story in the media faded within 24 hours. Law enforcement uncovered a school for children where terrorists were training them to kill other children in their classrooms. Add to that the almost unbelievable ruling by the judge to set the accused free with practically no bail. But as shocking as these open threats of violence and terror are, in many ways what you'll hear this week on I Spy Radio is even more frightening.
We call in Kamal Saleem. He is a former Jihadist who was trained to kill but was commissioned to come to America to destroy it from within by attacking its core beliefs and culture. Kamal knows exactly what was happening at this training camp and what it all means because he went through it at a young age. He grew up in the Middle East, a younger son of a Muslim family, whose "best hope" for meaning in life was to kill the enemies of Islam because becoming a martyr would guarantee his entire family's unconditional right to enter Heaven.
So what's the difference between CNN and I Spy Radio? When CNN has a "Middle East expert" or "Muslim expert" on to discuss Islam, it's to have them on as apologists—to make excuses for Muslims sowing the seeds of terror. I Spy Radio has a genuine Middle Eastern Muslim—who turned from his Islamic faith on to warn others about it.
Don't miss this extremely fascinating show that takes us into the mindset of terrorists as he discusses their real intentions on Christians and Jews. He also gives us some insights into what happened in the 1920s that resulted in a strategic and tactical change for Muslims in their struggle with the West. Can Islam and Christianity have peace? Can the Children of Ishmael be redeemed?
Can't catch the show? Monday, after the show airs, head to www.ispyradio.com to download a free podcast — or visit the archives to hear our past shows.
Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don't worry—the podcast version will be right here after the show airs.
Kamal's ministry is Koome Ministries. Check out his line of teaching materials for churches and civic organizations.
You can also donate to Kamal to help support him as he seeks to bring Muslims to the truth and light of Christianity
Further Reading on Islamic Terror
Swedish Muslim woman, 24, wins £3,000 compensation after company ended her job interview because she refused to shake hands with her male potential employer (Daily Mail, August 16, 2018)
Asylum Seeker Terror Suspect Granted British Citizenship Just Weeks Before Failed Attack (Breitbart, August 16, 2018)
Muslims Hold Massive Rally at Vikings USBank Stadium — Chanting "Allahu Akbar" (Gateway Pundit, August 21, 2018)
Four Year Prison Sentence for Afghan Migrant Who Stabbed Four People After Being Told Not to Harass Girls (Breitbart UK, August 21, 2018)
Exclusive: Tory MP Slams 'Idiocy' After Labour Attacks 'White People Profiting' from Jamie Oliver Rice Recipe (Breitbart UK, August 21, 2018)
Report: Corbyn Secretly Visited Israel to Meet Hamas Terrorists (Breitbart UK, August 21, 2018)
EXCLUSIVE: Corbyn met with group of Hamas extremists in PARLIAMENT who called for attacks on the Royal Navy, boycotted Holocaust Memorial Day and praised suicide bombers – as it emerges he secretly visited terror group in Ramallah (Daily Mail, August 21, 2018)
SHOCK VID: Machete-Wielding Balaclava Thug Thrown Into the Air in Hit and Run (Breitbart UK, August 21, 2018)
Man who stabbed his mother-in-law to death in her own home then tried to stage it as suicide after she helped her daughter flee their arranged marriage is found guilty of murder (Breitbart UK, August 21, 2018)
"Muhammad Tafham, 31, knifed Rahman Begum, 46, after she helped her daughter run away to live with her long-term boyfriend."
"Mrs Begum tricked the defendant into leaving their home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, while his wife Aysha packed her belongings to move to Bradford, West Yorkshire."
ISIS claims terror attack on French 'jihadi town' (Daily Mail UK, Aug 23, 2018)
Iran's President Calls For Military Buildup After Revealing New Fighter Jet (Daily Caller, August 21, 2018)
Iran launches its first homemade fighter jet which looks suspiciously like a decades-old American F5 (Daily Mail UK, August 21, 2018)
Belgium knife attack: 'One dead and several wounded' in restaurant stabbing horror (Express, August 22, 2018)
Winning: Study Shows Worldwide Terror Attacks Falling Under Trump (Breitbart, Aug 7, 2018)
Terrorist violence decreases worldwide in 2017, but remains historically high (Homeland Security START Study, Aug 1, 2018)
List of Islamic Terrorist Attacks 1970 – 2018 (Wikipedia)
Immigration from the EU falls to lowest level since 2012 at 87,000 a year but overall inflows to the UK are still running at 270,000 (Daily Mail UK, Aug 23, 2018)
"Because the ONs failed to count 2.3million children born to foreign parents as migrants – giving a lower total of 3.1million, or 47 per cent of the rise – the effect of the previous Labour government's open-door policy was not calculated correctly."
Texas Exports More Oil Than It Imports For First Time Ever (Oilprice.com, Aug 21, 2018)
"The bulk of crude oil exports from the Houston-Galveston area went to China, Canada, Italy, and the UK, with exports to China averaging 300,000 bpd in both June and July. This month, however, not a single crude oil cargo has been loaded for China, according to media reports, amid growing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
"Meanwhile, however, Texas is on track to become the biggest oil producer after Russia and Saudi Arabia, according to production estimates by HSBC, quoted by CNN. If the estimates turn out to be correct, the Lone Star State will be pumping almost 6 million bpd in 2019."
I Spy Radio Year 8, Islam, Media, Muslims, Muslims, Politics, Radical Islam
I Spy Radio, Islam, Islamic terror, Kamal Saleem, Muslims, New Mexico, politics, radical Islam, terror, terror traiing camps
One Reply to "Former Jihadist on Islamic Terror in the US | What CNN is trying to hide"
Lilly Davis says:
Kamal is always great. Thanks for having him on and bringing great info to people.
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Mike Will Made It
American, Rapper
Michael Len Williams II (born March 23, 1989), known professionally as Mike Will Made It (often stylized as Mike WiLL Made-It) or simply Mike Will, is an American record producer, DJ, rapper, and songwriter. He is best known for producing trap beats for several Southern hip hop artists as well as for producing several singles, such as "Black Beatles" and "Powerglide" by Rae Sremmurd, "Mercy" by GOOD Music, "No Lie" by 2 Chainz, "Bandz a Make Her Dance" by Juicy J, "Pour It Up" by Rihanna, "Love Me" by Lil Wayne, "Body Party" by Ciara, "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus, "Formation" by Beyoncé, and "Humble" by Kendrick Lamar. He has released six mixtapes and one studio album, Ransom 2.
Mike Will Made It was born on 23 March 1989 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. His full name at birth was Michael Len Williams II. He is best known as a rapper. He is 6' (183 cm) tall with an average build. He has dark brown eyes and black hair (color). His zodiac star sign is Aries.
Michael Len Williams II
He wrote "We Can't Stop" with Miley Cyrus
Producer, Rapper, Songwriter
6' (183 cm)
Brown - Dark
Multiracial
Talent agency talent agency
Parent company parent company
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History of Liberty May 24, 2019 by admin
Where Was President Andrew Johnson Born
Andrew Johnson was born and grew up in North Carolina without formal schooling. How he defined the office • Johnson's clashes with Congress led to him being the first president to be impeached –.
Jan 20, 2017 · When Donald Trump is sworn in as the President of the United States on Friday, he will become the 45th person to occupy the highest position in the U.S. government. Going by place of birth, Virginia is at the top of the heap with eight presidents. Just 21 states are on the list, which is.
In 1868, he was impeached by Congress, but he was not removed from office. He did not run for a second presidential term. Andrew Johnson was born on December 29, 1808, in a log cabin in Raleigh, North.
Apr 16, 2008 · It's a wonder Andrew Jackson was able to defeat the British during the War of 1812. And found the modern Democratic Party. And become President.
Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant in Point Pleasant. and sat in on cabinet meetings during Reconstruction under President.
The directory includes the biographies of judges presidentially appointed to serve during good behavior since 1789 on the U.S. district courts, U.S. courts of appeals, Supreme Court of the United States, and U.S. Court of International Trade, as well as the former U.S. circuit courts, Court of Claims, U.S. Customs Court, and U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.
1. Humble origins. Andrew Johnson was born Dec. 29, 1808, in Raleigh, N.C., to poor parents, and his father died when the future president was 3 years old from effects of saving some acquaintances.
Surprisingly, perhaps, I'm not talking about the current president, Donald Trump. I'm talking about one of his predecessors, a man who was impeached 150 years ago: Andrew Johnson. Trump likens himself.
Frases De John Quincy Adams Leia as melhores citações do autor John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams foi um advogado e político norte-americano. Foi o sexto pr. México y los Estados Unidos, John Quincy Adams fue procla- mado por los. Su nombre solía ir acompañado de frases elogiosas (caso muy poco frecuente en. "Don't disturb my circles!" ("Μη μου τους
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 – July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869.Johnson assumed the presidency as he was vice president of the United States at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.A Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, Johnson came to office as the Civil War concluded.
The United States of America: Fun Facts about The United States' Presidents: The Presidents are listed in the order in which they served the nation.
The presidency of Andrew Johnson arrived as the result of a tragedy that shook the nation. Johnson—who was born on this day 210 years ago—took office after Abraham Lincoln was shot by assassin John.
Jan 22, 1973 · Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th president of the United States; he was sworn into office following the November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Upon taking office, Johnson launched.
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States of America. Andrew Johnson grew up near Raleigh, North Carolina. He was born in a log cabin there on December 29, 1808. His father, Jacob,
David Daniel Psychology James Madison University She will succeed Daniel. the college. David Weissenburger, interim dean of the College of Health Sciences and Human Services at Tarleton State University, has retired. He started at the university. Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology Professor Gilbert has won numerous awards for his research and teaching. His popular book, Stumbling on Happiness , spent 6
Presidential historians have been making a list. and our Mo Rocca may have the winner: No survey of forgotten presidents (such as James Buchanan, Chester A. Arthur or Millard Fillmore) would be.
Birth states of presidents. Information on the United States Presidents by term – chronological list of presidents of the United States. The List can be sorted alphabetically by President name or by the name of the state he was born in.
First Lady Biography: Louisa Adams. LOUISA CATHERINE JOHNSON ADAMS. Born: 12 February, 1775 London, England *Louisa Catherine Adams is the first First Lady born.
The award for Most Humble Origins goes to Andrew Johnson, hands down. He was born to a sharecropper in North Carolina. Furious, Congress turned against the sitting president, and in 1868, Johnson.
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American soldier and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of Congress.As president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a.
Born in December 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina to two working-class parents, Andrew Johnson enjoyed. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, seceding confederate states began breaking.
On this day in 1808, Andrew Johnson, the nation's 17th president, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. He then moved with his mother and stepfather to Greeneville, Tennessee, where he established.
The month with the most presidential birthdays is October with six. The presidents born this month are John Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight David Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter.
On this day in 1808, future President Andrew Johnson is born in Raleigh, North Carolina. Of the 11 counts, several went to the core of the conflict between Johnson and Congress. The House charged.
In 1868, the House of Representatives deemed it appropriate to impeach President Andrew Johnson. Johnson, who served as.
Dec 29, 2018 · The presidency of Andrew Johnson arrived as the result of a tragedy that shook the nation. Johnson—who was born on this day 210 years ago—took office after Abraham Lincoln was shot by assassin.
The Johnson Scholarship Foundation seeks highly qualified applicants for the position of Chief Executive Officer. The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the day to day management and operation of the Foundation.
The Mordecai Historic Park is not the original site of the birthplace for Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States. Johnson may have been born in this home, but he didn't live there.
James K Polk Administration My best advice for President Bush is to read a book about James K. Polk's administration. Polk managed to wage the Mexican War and minimize protectionism, thus assuaging both factions of the. Oct 29, 2009 · James Polk (1795-1849) served as the 11th U.S. president from 1845 to 1849. During his tenure, America's territory grew by
The merciful end of the Civil War had been followed by the tragic assassination of President Lincoln. Suddenly Gorman's friend Andrew Johnson was president of the United States. To attract bigger.
The House has initiated impeachment proceedings more than 60 times, according to its historian's office, and voted to impeach.
Andrew Jackson, the 7 th President of the United States, was born in a remote area of the Waxhaws region between North Carolina and South Carolina, three weeks after the sudden death of his father at the age of 29. Jackson's mother and two brothers died during the Revolutionary War, and at the age of 14, he was orphaned. His family's death during the war would spark Jackson's lifelong.
Number President: 17th Presidnet: Terms Served: 1 Term served: Dates Served : 1865-1869: Party: Democrat: State Represented : Tennessee: Married to : Eliza McCardle.
How Much Money Did The Boston Tea Party Cost Oct 27, 2009 · The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and. But this was an issue that went much deeper than the cost of tea. The colonists could see what the British Parliament was trying to do and it
Johnson was born in a log cabin to a poor family in North. In "The Swing Around the Circle: Andrew Johnson and the Train Ride that Destroyed a Presidency," author Garry Boulard says that.
In Which Year Did The Boston Tea Party Take Place
Where Is James Monroe From


ROBERTA: Today JRW welcomes Alicia Rasley to talk about plotting problems-my biggest nemesis! Alicia is a teacher, writer, and editor. She blogs at edittorrent and has a brand new novel out this month, THE YEAR SHE FELL, published by Bell Bridge Books. Welcome Alicia! Congratulations on your book and thanks for stopping in to help with our plotting!
10. Backstory Blunders: The past is prologue, for sure, but you can tell too much too soon, if everything about the characters' past is explained right up front in Chapter One.
8. Limping to a Conclusion: You don't want the reader to think you ended the book just because you ran out of paper. Make the ending a conclusive one, reinforcing the themes of the book and the progress of the protagonist.
2. Structural Weaknesses: Many a good story is sunk by a weak structure: a hidden protagonist (the readers can't tell early whose story this is), meandering setups, misrepresented conflict, rushed climaxes, incoherence between the protagonist and the plot (the main character doesn't have much to do with the main plot, or this person would never do what the plot requires him to do). Much of this derives from a misunderstanding of the purpose of structure. It's not a prison, chaining you to a "formula", it's a map to help you and your readers explore the issues you're developing with this story. Learning structure can teach you when to modify it and when to branch out on your own. The key to structure, in my opinion, is understanding the concept of the story questions-- the question or problem your opening poses, and the events which combine to create the answer.
ROBERTA: Alicia will stop in today to answer comments and questions. But first please I've asked her to tell us more about THE YEAR SHE FELL.
It's set in West Virginia, and involves the richest family in town and the three sisters who must deal with their prominent family's legacy and tendency to bury important secrets. What might interest writers is my point of view technique— there are five sections, each narrated by one of the major characters, so five different voices.
For the first time, I was asked to create a "reader's guide" with questions that book clubs might like to discuss. That was an interesting experience! I think we authors like to think that we answered all the questions and didn't leave any ends untied. So I had to get beyond my natural defensiveness and really think about what issues the book had raised but never settled. The main issue is family secrets and whether sometimes discretion is better than openness. Several members of the Wakefield family are keeping secrets, and they'll always say their deceptiveness is for the good of the family.
I hope you'll enjoy the story and the mystery it unfolds. It goes on sale November 15.
While you're at my website or blog, check out all the articles and posts aimed at writers of fiction.
What genre is your book? Is it a murder mystery? Does the reader know the family's secrets or do you slowly reveal them? Sorry--you gave such good advice I think some vital information about your own book was omitted.
My question-concerning my own plot is: The weakness of the victim/protagonist, aren't all protagonists in mysteries usually victims? Amateur slueths must have a plausible reason for getting involved in solving a murder, especially when they're being framed, so even though they are not the murder victim, they've been victimized in their lives or professions in some way. What is the weakness factor?
I'll look for your book - the story is intriguing.
I realized there's something of a split between #8 and #7. As writers many of us wrestle with that sagging middle (OMG, how will I ever fill all those pages so I can get to the end?). But as I reader, more and more I find I'm enjoying a book with strong characters and compelling pacing--and then the writer seems to run out of steam at the end and just wraps the story up as quickly as possible. You can almost tell by looking at how many pages you have left. Only an eighth of an inch? The ending must be rushed. And that's disappointing.
How do you keep the ending strong? Do you cheat and write that before the middle, just so you're still fresh and enthusiastic?
I'm actually drawing a graph-line at the top of my word chart showing where I am in the book. It's really helpful to see --kind of like on a Kindle--where I am in the story.
"Make sure every scene has at least one event that affects the main plot -- that way the readers can't skip without missing something important."
Love this! This quote is going on my bulletin board.
You had me at Tumors and Parasites.
I'm sending my son -- who is writing his first novel in college - this link and hoping he reads it.
The family doesn't even know the family secrets, so the sisters have to figure out what their mother is hiding.
Well, as for your own question, victims in murder mysteries are usually dead, so that's not a problem. The sleuth has to have a reason to investigate, and what the reason is might determine the sub-genre actually. The sleuth in a cozy mystery like Miss Jane Marple usually doesn't need a personal reason to investigate. "The victim was the cousin of my goddaughter!" might be enough.
But anyway, there's a difference between a character in conflict or in trouble (getting framed for a crime) and a victim-- it's all in the reaction. A victim (like the murder victim :) just lies there and accepts it. "Okay, I didn't do it, but I'm so weak and powerless and the prosecutor is so powerful. And the real murderer is probably someone rich, and there's no way I'll ever get out of the frame. So I'll just pack up my possessions and go plead guilty." THAT's a victim.
So think about how your sleuth reacts to try to get out of the trouble you put her/him in.
MaxWriter, well, if you don't want to plot in advance (and I understand!), you might just concentrate on building a character who will respond in fun ways but also has some internal conflict that needs fixing. Think about creating the character who will incite interesting events, and then see what happens?
Sheila, I know what you mean about the ending!
I think first of course we should treat the ending as important, not just a wrapup, not just a pro-forma thread-tying, but the actual right ending to this set of events.
But also I think sequence can matter. What needs to be finished in what order? Like generally (and this isn't a rule, just the way I tend to write), I have the interactional/romantic conflict fixed first, because I want the two of them to work together to fix the external conflict in the big climax scene. And then I want to show the internal conflict resolve in the resolution scene (the very end). I think it's important to think of these as separate scenes, not all wrapping up at once.
So in the dark moment/crisis, the heroine can decide to trust the hero, thereby resolving the big romantic issue.
Then together they can go after the bad guy in the climactic scene and resolve the external conflict.
Then in the resolution, she can resolve her internal conflict of abandonment by choosing to let go of her dream of finding her lost mother, and instead turn to the future and agree to adopt the teenaged girl left orphaned by the murder.
That is, if we think of each of the conflict-resolves events as a separate scene (in whatever order seems to work best), there's no limping to conclusion, because everything that needs to be settled is given sufficient importance. What do you think?
Hank, that's a great idea! I think that the reader has an unconscious sense of "where I am in the story," and of course a conscious sense too, either with a Kindle version or a physical book. She can tell how much is left! And so she can sense if this middle is sagging too much, or if the ending starts too early.
And my books suddenly made more sense, I think.
Thanks for a wonderful article and a lot to think about!
Thanks for the explanation. I guess I can't envision a protagonist not doing anything, so I guess I don't have that problem!
Good luck on the book, it sounds...dysfunctional!
Another variant on "whose story is it" is when the author falls in love with multiple viewpoint and we're 60 pages in and still don't know who is the protagonist (aka 'whose story is it?") For me, there has to be one, though I've had writers argue with me and say that there novel has 3 (or 4 or more...). Leaving me to scratch my head and wonder.
Hallie, I know what you mean. I've gotten three chapters into reading a book without really knowing who it's about. I guess that's what the back blurb is for?
Alicia, thanks so much for visiting with us. We love having you here!


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David Hockney: Drawing from Life exhibition review ★★★★★
27 Feb 20 – 28 Jun 20, 12:00 AM
An intimate exhibition of Hockney's drawings at the National Portrait Gallery explores the loves of his life, from Picasso to his beloved mother
By Emily Spicer on 25/2/2020
David Hockney. My Parents and Myself, 1976. Copyright David Hockney. Photo: Richard Schmidt, Collection: The David Hockney Foundation
David Hockney: Drawing from Life exhibition review 4 David Hockney: Drawing from Life exhibition review Emily Spicer
To limit the spread of Covid-19, certain UK theatres have decided to close. Those due to attend an event should contact their ticket provider for more information.
One image in the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition on David Hockney perfectly captures the spirit of this most prolific of artists. Hockney examines his face over the rim of his glasses with intense scrutiny as he draws a self-portrait in the mirror, one arm steadying himself on the table, an expression of alert concentration written across his face. The resulting pencil drawing, made in 1983 and at a time when he was drawing himself almost every day, shows the artist determined and confident, marking the page with an economy of energetic strokes.
Those familiar with Hockney's work will know that few artists observe as keenly as he does and with such a voracious appetite for drawing. Yet this is apparently the first major exhibition of his drawings in over 20 years. Here you will find an intimate story of one man's life rendered through portraits of the people he loves.
Left: David Hockney, Gregory, 1978. Copyright David Hockney. Photo: Richard Schmidt, Collection: The David Hockney Foundation. Right: David Hockney, Mother, Paris, 1972. Copyright David Hockney. Photo: Richard Schmidt, Collection The David Hockney Foundation
The small room dedicated to Hockney's mother is the most moving in the whole show. A committed supporter of her son's chosen career, Laura Hockney would sit patiently while her likeness was committed to paper. A line drawing made in sepia ink (and with van Gogh in mind) shows the artist's mother seated, still in her coat and hat, soon after Hockney's father passed away. Images such as these demonstrate Hockney's ability to imbue his portraits with pathos. Sadness and resignation are etched into her eyes. A montage of photos taken of Mrs Hockeny in the graveyard of Bolton Abbey on a rainy day speaks, too, of human frailty and mortality in the most touching terms.
Hockney's artistic heroes are many, but throughout his career Picasso is a recurring presence. He represents himself with a bust of the Spanish master and at times even emulates Picasso's cubist approach. Portraits rendered with exacting naturalism were put to one side in favour of fragmented images, while he was, according to the wall text, 'thinking anew of Picasso' at various points in his career. Take, for example, one of his many portraits of Celia Birtwell, his friend of more than 50 years. Celia in Hollywood, made in 1984, shows Birtwell in a Breton top, her face distorted to a cartoony degree.
Left: David Hockney, The Student: Homage to Picasso, 1973. Copyright David Hockney. Photo: Richard Schmidt, Collection The David Hockney Foundation. Right: David Hockney, Mother, Bradford. 19 Feb 1979. Copyright David Hockney. Photo: Richard Schmidt, Collection The David Hockney Foundation.
One thing this exhibition does beautifully is to show the evolution of Hockney's friends, his relationships and his interest in technology. As we walk through the galleries, his lovers age before our eyes, fashions shift and innovations are made. These changes are perhaps most marked with two portraits of the printer Maurice Payne, which hang side-by-side. One is a monotone lithograph of Payne in a check shirt, sporting a head of dark curls in 1976; the other depicts the same man over thirty years later, his hair now grey. But everything else in this second image is brightly coloured in with an iPad.
The exhibition finishes with a wall of ten drawings made last year in Los Angeles and Normandy. Here, we find a gallery of familiar faces including Birtwell and Payne. Artist and sitters are much older now (Hockney is 82), but there is still so much energy in these drawings. In one image, Birtwell sports a spotty dress and a contented smile, in another a bright red beret. These paintings stand as a testament to lasting friendships and one man's irrepressible spirit. Nothing here suggests that Hockney is ready to hang up his paintbrush (perish the thought), or that his powers of observation are waning.
What David Hockney: Drawing from Life exhibition review
Where National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE | MAP
When 27 Feb 20 – 28 Jun 20, 12:00 AM
Price £17+
Website Click here for more information
Photo London, Somerset House
Best photography exhibitions in London
Art exhibitions in London this weekend
The Alchemist, Covent Garden
Renowned for its molecular mixology, placing theatre and immersive experiences at its core, The Alchemist opens its second London branch in Covent Garden
The sort of wine bar/restaurant you never want to leave, this place has two separate floors depending on whether you fancy something bustling or more chilled. The French menu features both small plates and charcuterie alongside plats du jour that might include gilt head bream, monk's beard, broad beans and rouille.
Frenchie Covent Garden
Restaurant and wine bar Frenchie has been credited with redesigning the Parisian way of eating. Its simple, generous yet precise dishes are heavily influenced by chef cum owner Gregory Marchand's classical training in Nantes.
Theaster Gates: Afro-Mingei, White Cube
Takis, Tate Modern review ★★★★★
Leonardo da Vinci: A Mind in Motion, British Library
Rembrandt's Light, Dulwich Picture Gallery
AI: More than Human, Barbican Centre review ★★★★★


text:
Main Blog > Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman's Daughter!
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman's Daughter!
What's life like when your father is "The Smartest Man in the World" and has a Nobel Prize to prove it? Michelle Feynman, daughter of the famous physicist Richard Feyman, tells us:
When I was very young, I thought my father knew everything. Indeed, a prominent magazine once declared him "The Smartest Man in the World." Upon hearing this, his mother threw up her hands and exclaimed, "If Richard is the smartest man in the world, God help the world!" My father was the first one to laugh. [...]
Despite his success, my father encouraged an irreverent attitude toward himself. Our dinner conversations were full of tales about mistakes he made during the day: losing his sweater, having conversations with people and not remembering their names. On Sunday mornings, he would often forgo reading the newspaper in favor of a wild hour of loud, often discordant music, drumming, and storytelling with my brother and me. When it was his turn to drive the car pool to elementary school, he would pretend to get lost. "No, not that way!" all the kids would scream. "Oh, all right. Is it this way?" and he would turn the wrong way again. "Nooooooo!" we would yell in utter panic.
Read the rest over at Discover Magazine: Link
Tags: Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman's Ode To A Flower
Feynman Series
Symphony of Science V: "The Poetry of Reality"
Symphony of Science
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman's Daughter!"


Anything can happen in the summer — and for these young Latinos, anything does! From an unexpected trip to Cuba for a family funeral to a summer job that changes everything, these summer stories will have teens on the edge of their seat waiting to find out what happens next. Recommended for grades 7-12.
Product Description: For fifteen-year-old Mariana Ruiz, it's not so much an unexpected vacation as a literal "guilt trip" — her father's way of atoning for ignoring his Puerto Rican roots. The heat is merciless, the food is spicy, and her great aunt and uncle's mountain house teems with relatives, only one of whom — her distant cousin Lilly — speaks English. Bored, and hoping to make up for missing her best friend's star-studded Sweet 16, Mariana offers to help in the planning of Lilly's quinceañera.
Product Description: Brought together each summer at a boarding school in Switzerland, three girls learn a lot more than just French and European culture. Shirin, an Iranian princess; Ingrid, a German-Canadian eccentric; and Vivien, a Cuban-Jewish New Yorker culinary phenom, are thrown into each other's lives when they become roommates. This is a story of 3 paths slowly beginning to cross and merge as they spend the summers together and form an unbreakable bond.
"The day after Enoch Morales graduates from elementary school, his mother throws him a surprise eleventh-birthday party, and his best friend, Spencer, gives him an iguana. The following day, the two boys are playing outside when Spencer is shot and killed. Over the summer, Enoch tries to cope with his shock and anger, his growing certainty that Spencer had become involved in a gang, and his mixed feelings about his older half brother, who has moved from Puerto Rico to New York City to live with Enoch and his mother.
This Hollywood is a barrio in 1968 New Mexico, where the students at Las Cruces High School struggle through heartbreak, loss, and an entrenched racial divide to find their place in the world.
"Marcus is quiet and artistic; his younger brother, Enrique, is a charismatic ladies' man. Both boys have been scarred by their father's constant physical abuse directed at Enrique and witnessed silently by guilt-ridden Marcus. The man left a year earlier, but the boys are far from healed. Enrique turns to fighting and dating and dumping girl after girl, while Marcus gets stoned.
Product Description: When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead body in the swimming hole, they embark on a hero's journey to return the dead man to his family in Mexico. But returning home to Texas turns into an odyssey that would rival Homer's original tale. With the supernatural aid of ghostly La Llorona, Odilia and her little sisters travel a road of tribulation to their long-lost grandmother's house. Along the way, they must outsmart a witch and her Evil Trinity.
Product Description: When Pancho arrives at St. Anthony's Home, he knows his time there will be short: If his plans succeed, he'll soon be arrested for the murder of his sister's killer. But then he's assigned to help D.Q., whose brain cancer has slowed neither his spirit nor his mouth. D.Q. tells Pancho all about his "Death Warrior's Manifesto," which will help him to live out his last days fully — ideally, he says, with the love of the beautiful Marisol. As Pancho tracks down his sister's murderer, he finds himself falling under the influence of D.Q. and Marisol, who is everything D.Q.
"In a risky career move, ballerina Soledad refuses an offer to join a dance company in order to play the role of Carmen with a Miami-based competitive all-male drum and bugle corp. Although the role and its opportunities are seductive, spending the summer with her new boyfriend, bugle-playing Jonathan, and exploring their fresh, exciting love is equally compelling.


The network previewed this plan by sharing a video mashup of female characters saying the word, only for it to be censored.
The Freeform network is commemorating International Women's Day by bleeping out the word "sorry" every time a woman says it during a show Thursday.
The network previewed this plan by sharing a video mashup of female characters saying the word, only for it to be censored as the hashtag #NotSorry pops up on the screen.
"In observance of International Women's Day, no woman on this network will say 'I'm sorry,'" a narrator intones in the video.
The network's shows featured in the video include "Shadowhunters," "The Bold Type" and "Grown-ish."
Freeform also shared a tweet Thursday encouraging women to only apologize if they actually did something wrong — and not just for giving their opinions or asking a question.
"It's time to kick our 'I'm sorry' habit to the curb. We won't miss it," the tweet reads.
Freeform isn't the only company paying homage to International Women's Day, which has been celebrated on March 8 for over 100 years. McDonald's flipped over its trademark "M" on social media to resemble a "W" and will also use packaging and clothing featuring that symbolic logo in select restaurants Thursday, according to CNBC.


text:
Q: Bytes to image from Parse.com I'm trying to convert a Parse.com object into an image with Javascript. The object is of the type Bytes, and I can't convert it in any way. Can someone give me an example of how to turn it into a functional URL? I try to access it but it just keeps crashing.
Edit:
getURL: function () {
    var query = new Parse.Query("Token");
    query.limit(20);
    query.find().then(this.handleCallback.bind(this));
},
handleCallback: function (objects) {
    for (var i = 0; i < objects.length; i++) {
        this.tokenSearch[i] = {
            imgURL: "data:image/png;base64," + objects[i].get("pic")
        };
    }
}

I have tried objects[i].get("pic").url(), objects[i].get("pic").toString('base64') and some other stuff, but it won't work!

A: If you want to store images and later have a URL you can load, you should switch to the File data type instead of pushing just a byte array. The documentation you linked recommends the following:

There are two ways to store binary data. The Bytes type allows you to associate NSData/bytes[] types directly on a PFObject. This is recommended only for small pieces of binary-encoded data. For actual files (images, documents, etc.), the File type can be used by instantiating a PFFile/ParseFile and setting it on a field.

You have stored the actual byte array into the pic column of your Parse class. Therefore, that's all you get. If you chose instead to store it as a File (PFFile in iOS/OSX, ParseFile in Android), you could do what you're trying to do. As it is, Parse is merely storing the bytes as it would store any other data, such as a Date or a String. There's no URL data associated with it.
Here's how you can create and upload a PFFile from an iOS device:
- (void)updateloadImage:(UIImage *)image {
    PFFile *file = [PFFile fileWithData:UIImagePNGRepresentation(image)];
    PFObject *newToken = [PFObject objectWithClassName:@"Token"];
    newToken[@"pic"]   = file;
    [newToken saveInBackgroundWithBlock:^(BOOL succeeded, NSError *error) {
            // Do real error handling here
            // Now, you have :
            // 1. The "pic" saved to Parse as a PFFile
            // 2. The "token" saved to Parse as a PFObject
            // 3. The "pic" stored as a property on the "token"

    }
     ];
}

Once you have it stored that way on Parse, you would access it in the JavaScript SDK something like this:
function getURL() {
    var query = new Parse.Query("Token");
    query.limit(20);
    query.find().then(function (objects) {
        for (var i = 0; i < objects.length; i = i + 1) {
            this.tokenSearch[i] = {imgURL: objects[i].get("pic").url()};
        }
    });
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: How do I split data out from one column of a pandas dataframe into multiple columns of a new dataframe I would like to split data from this pandas dataframe (let's call it df1):
YEAR   CODE   DIFF
2013   XXXX   5.50
2013   YYYY   8.50
2013   ZZZZ   6.50
2014   XXXX   4.50
2014   YYYY   2.50
2014   ZZZZ   3.50

Such that I create a new dataframe (let's call it df2) that looks like this:
YEAR   XXXX_DIFF   ZZZZ_DIFF
2013   5.50        6.50
2014   4.50        3.50

I guess I'm grouping by year and splitting the single column results found in DIFF into specific CODE matches. I have tried something like this:
df2 = df1[['YEAR','CODE','DIFF']].query('CODE == "XXXX"')

And I know I can rename columns and drop redundant ones but I wasn't sure how to get the ZZZZ DIFF values across to df2?

A: Using pivot + filter + add_suffix:
out = (df.pivot(*df).filter(['XXXX','ZZZZ']).add_suffix('_DIFF')
                   .reset_index().rename_axis(None,axis=1))

print(out)

   YEAR  XXXX_DIFF  ZZZZ_DIFF
0  2013        5.5        6.5
1  2014        4.5        3.5

A: You can first set index and unstack, finally remove the unwanted column level and rename.
(
    df1.loc[df.CODE!='YYYY']
    .set_index(['YEAR', 'CODE'])
    .unstack()
    .pipe(lambda x: x.set_axis(x.columns.droplevel(0)+'_DIFF',
                               axis=1, inplace=False))
)

CODE    XXXX_DIFF   ZZZZ_DIFF
YEAR
2013    5.5         6.5
2014    4.5         3.5

A: IIUC,
 df = (df
       #I use the first method because groupby automatically sorts
       #the largest will be at the top
       #first method gets the first row for each group
       .groupby(['YEAR','CODE'],as_index=False)['DIFF'].first()
       .query('CODE.isin(["XXXX","ZZZZ"])')
       .pivot(index='YEAR', columns = 'CODE'))

 #this lumps the multiindex columns into one
 #the reversed method flips the positions to match ur expected output
 df.columns = ['_'.join(reversed(i)) for i in df.columns.to_flat_index()]

df.reset_index()

    YEAR    XXXX_DIFF   ZZZZ_DIFF
0   2013        5.5       6.5
1   2014        4.5       3.5


text:
Loss, Memory and the City
The Place of Longing
Ricardo Reis contemplates the city
Ricardo Reis crosses the park to take a look at the city, the castle with its walls in ruins, the terraced houses collapsing along the slopes, the whitish sun beating on the wet rooftops. Silence descends on the city, every sound is muffled, Lisbon seems made of absorbent cotton. soaked, dripping. Below, on a platform, are several busts of gallant patriots, some box shrubs, a few Roman heads out of place, so remote from the skies of Latium, as if one of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro's native rustics had been set up to make a rude gesture to the Apollo Belvedere. The entire terrace is a belvedere as we contemplate Apollo, then a voice joins the guitar and they sing a fado. the rain appears to have finally disappeared.
(José Saramago, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, p. 49.)
Tags: city, Lisbon, Pessoa, Saramago
Categories city, Lisbon
RIP José Saramago
Here the sea ends and the earth begins. It is raining over the colorless city. The waters of the river are polluted with mud, the riverbanks flooded. A dark vessel, the Highland Brigade, ascends the somber river and is about to anchor at the quay of Alcântara. The steamer is English and belongs to the Royal Mail Line. She crosses the Atlantic between London and Buenos Aires like a weaving shuttle on the highways of the sea, backward and forward, always calling at the same ports, La Plata, Montevideo, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco, Las Palmas, in this order or vice versa, and unless she is shipwrecked, the steamer will also call at Vigo and Boulogne-sur-Mer before finally entering the Thames just as she is now entering the Tagus, and one does not ask which is the greater river, which the greater town.
(José Saramago, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, tr. Giovanni Pontiero (London: Harvill, 1992 [1984]), p. 1.)
So begins The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, the classic novel by José Saramago, the Portuguese writer who died today at the age of 87. The combination of the potentially fantastic and the banal, the metaphoric and the everyday, is typical of Saramago. There is always a sense in his prose that, whatever the story he might be telling us, there are a multitude of stories framing it, running alongside it or visible just beyond its borders. Saramago wants us to know that those stories, which are sometimes really observations (as all stories are observations, ways of seeing the world) and sometimes fantastical retellings of official history, need to be included in the story he is telling us, such that we imagine, or he lets us believe we imagine, that what is unfolding in the labyrinth of his text is one, unending metastory. Frequently, in his wandering, loosely punctuated prose–sometimes described as magical realism, sometimes as stream-of-consciousness, but perhaps just as easily though of as the flow of history running all around us and threatening to drown us in the present–he will take us sidestepping through the fragile walls that separate these universes, giving us a glimpse of the bigger picture before shuttling us back to the scene in which this particular story is taking place.
One does not ask which is the greater river, which the greater town. In The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, we know which town we have settled in. The novel tells the story of the dead writer Fernando Pessoa returning to visit one of his surviving heteronyms, the classically minded poet Ricardo Reis. In fact Pessoa is not quite dead, but rather existing in the exile of limbo while he awaits a more permanent death. Reis, too, is an exile, returning to Lisbon in the opening scene of the book after a period in Brazil. Over the course of the book, Reis is constantly witnessed wandering the streets of Lisbon in a recurrent pattern that, spelled out on the sidewalks and in Saramago's wandering prose, symbolizes his brief presence in the city as a kind of psychogeographer. Like Paul Auster's New York Trilogy, Michel de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life and Iain Sinclair's Lights Out For The Territory, the citizen as walker is both reader and writer, at once subject to the pre-existing paths laid out in the city text and yet able to assert an agency via the sheer act of activity. But Ricardo Reis is not long for this world–he can not be seen, in however magical a reality, to exist beyond the fading memory of his recently deceased creator, Pessoa–and he always seems to be at the mercy of what Italo Calvino calls the 'intuition of the city as language, as ideology, as the conditioning factor of every thought and word and gesture … as monstrous as a giant crustacean, whose inhabitants are no more than motor articulations'.
Here is Saramago's description of one of Ricardo Reis's strolls:
Ricardo Reis walks up the Rua do Alecrim, and no sooner has he left the hotel than he is stopped in his tracks by a relic of another age, perhaps a Corinthian capital, a votive altar, or funereal headstone, what an idea. Such things, if they still exist in Lisbon, are hidden under the soil that was moved when the ground was leveled, or by other natural causes. This is only a rectangular slab of stone embedded in a low wall facing the Rua Nova do Carvalho and bearing the following inscription in ornamental lettering, Eye Clinic and Surgery, and somwhat more austerely, Founded by A. Mascaró in 1870. Stones have a long life. We do not witness their birth, nor will we see their death. So many years have passed over this stone, so many more have yet to pass, Mascaró died and his clinic was closed down, perhaps descendants of the founder can still be traced, they pursuing other professions, ignoring or unaware that their family emblem is on display in this public place. If only families were not so fickle, then this one would gather here to honor the memory of their ancestor, the healer of eyes and other disorders. Truly it is not enough to engrave a name on a stone. The stone remains, gentlemen, safe and sound, but the name, unless people come to read it every day, fades, is forgotten, ceases to exist. These contradictions walk through the mind of Ricardo Reis as he walks up the Rua do Alecrim…
(pp. 46-7)
Poetry, fantasy, the monumental and the everyday, the eternal and the transient, memory, loss, pathos, and the humour of pessimism: all this exists in Saramago's late voice. He will be missed.
Tags: city, memory, place, Saramago, writing
Categories Memory, place, psychogeography, writing
Flyer for book
A flyer for my new book Fado and the Place of Longing:
Fado & the Place of Longing June 2010
Tags: fado
Categories book, fado
My book Fado and the Place of Longing: Loss, Memory and the City is published by Ashgate today.
Tags: fado, places of longing
Ana Moura – Coliseu
The Road to Novo Fado (I)
Strolling and Shuffling
Voice (I)
Carlos do Carmo
fadista
fadology
A Nossa Rádio… (Portuguese)
I Remember / Je me souviens
Katia Guerreiro
Late Voice
Lisboa Desaparecida
Portal do Fado (Portuguese)
So Transported
Vinyl Vacations
Places of Longing and Belonging
Amália: Estranha Forma de Vida (Portuguese)
Fado and the Place of Longing (Amazon page)
Fado and the Place of Longing (Ashgate page)
Museu do Fado (Fado Museum)
My research profile
My reviews at Tiny Mix Tapes
My reviews on PopMatters
Radical Musicology
Amalia book Carlos do Carmo city consciousness fadista fado fadology fate festas fiction film flow globalization Lisbon Memory museum mythology noise nostalgia place psychogeography recording saudade sound space tourism voice writing
albums Aldina Duarte Alfama Alfredo Marceneiro Amalia Ana Moura archive Argentina Santos Beckett Carlos do Carmo carrying city consciousness duende Dulce Pontes everyday life experience fadista fado fadology fate Fernando Farinha festas fiction film fixing flow globalization Gonçalo Salgueiro guitarra Henri Lefebvre history ideology imagined city I Remember Je me souviens Jorge Fernando Lisbon Lula Pena Madragoa Mafalda Arnauth Maria Severa memory memory work Michel de Certeau Misia mnemotechnics Mouraria museum mythology Nick Cave noise nostalgia origins Pessoa pimba place places of longing production of space psychogeography punctum recording recordings Saramago saudade sounded city space studium tears tourism transgression translation trazer witnessing writing


Join us for the ultimate 'White Christmas' on this exciting, memorable family-friendly voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula. Towering glaciers, amazing wildlife encounters, snow-covered landscapes, massive icebergs and the option to choose your favourite activities each day make this voyage the perfect way to spend the holiday season.
Discover Antarctica and its remarkable wildlife through photography, zodiac excursions, hiking onshore, and, for the more adventurous, camping and sea kayaking. Visits to historic huts and the opportunity to visit a working research station add another dimension to the voyage. This popular 10-night expedition, at the height of the Antarctic summer, features many of the well-known landing sites such as Neko, Paradise and Orne Harbours, Cuverville Island and the Erera Channel – and, ice conditions permitting, we hope to transit the spectacular Lemaire Channel. A final highlight will be a visit to the beautiful South Shetland Islands where we hope to visit Deception Island and nearby locations such as Half Moon Island or Hannah Point.
Want to know if this is the right holiday season voyage for you? We are always ready to talk you through your options – and there are many – so that we can find you the perfect Antarctic adventure. Contact Us!
Welcome to the Antarctic! This morning the magnificent snowy peaks are laid out before us. It's a a truly awesome sight. The waterways of the Antarctic Peninsula are home to deep bays, pristine coves and inlets and numerous small islands. The Gerlache coastline features heavily glaciated mountains permanently covered in ice and snow. Rocky outcrops are home to gentoo, adelie and chinstrap penguin rookeries and the waters are rich in marine life. We frequently encounter seals, including the powerful leopard seal. Curious humpback whales and the smaller minke whales are present much of the time as they feed on the vast schools of krill. Sightings of orca are not uncommon. Every day we plan an exciting range of activities including guided hikes on shore and visits to wildlife colonies with our expert naturalist guides. The historic huts and science stations located along the peninsula provide a fascinating glimpse into the past and potential future. Zodiac cruising among the ice searching for seals and whales is amemorable activity. Meanwhile, the sea kayakers may range several miles from the ship. Our resident photography guide will be on hand to help you with your camera setting and image composition. Somewhere along this stretch of coastline we plan a night on shore, camping in Antarctica. We have all the right gear and equipment and an expert team to make it happen – all you need is an adventurous spirit!
Those onboard RCGS Resolute will make their way back to South America, the educational presentations continue and we enjoy an entertaining and memorable voyage recap by our Expedition Leader. If weather conditions allow, we hope to make a rounding of Cape Horn. It's a fitting place to reflect on a wonderful expedition. Approaching the entrance to the Beagle Channel in early evening light, we enjoy a special dinner attended by the Captain of the ship. On our departure in 2018/19 we have extended amount of time to explore the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands on Day 9 and 10. For those onboard the Ioffe, enjoy an extra day in South Shetland before your flight the next morning.
RCGS Resolute guests will arrive in the early morning into Ushuaia. It is time to say farewell to your crew and fellow travellers. Guests will be transported to their hotels or to the airport for return flights home. Guests onboard Akademik Ioffe will arrive at King George Island and transfer ashore by Zodiac to take the short flight into Punta Arenas, Chile.
Copyright © 2014 Ice Tracks Expeditions. All Rights Reserved.