Austin redefines the term "Staycation" as it offers an abundance of weekend getaway opportunities. In the small town of Spicewood, TX, about 30 miles northwest of Downtown Austin, there is a hidden gem. Cypress Valley Canopy Tours offers an experience that is as unique as the property itself. Two of our great agents, Jessica Rios and Kalan Murphy, took the weekend off with their husbands to experience this extraordinary property and have an adventure-filled weekend. Kalan describes their experience for us.
We didn't know much about Cypress Valley when we booked our weekend away. We knew that we wanted to zipline in the large Cypress Trees, and sleep in the same canopy that night. That's what brought us there. What we didn't anticipate was the 88 acres of sustainably maintained land expanding around us. We couldn't wait to explore the expansive terrain and hunt for the resident bison. Jess had high hopes of spotting an owl, but ultimately we only came across a fluffy little bunny, which got our group singing "Little Bunny Foo Foo" despite no children being along for this getaway. We were 2 couples away from our kids for the night and we had selected the Juniper and Willow tree houses. Crossing a narrow suspension footbridge we approached our adorable lodge. They were quaint, clean, inviting and bright. It was what I would consider "glamping" and it was just what we all needed.
The zipline was a beginner course. With 5 zips it wasn't considerably challenging, but for my husband's first time, it was perfect. We had joined another group of 4 and we all bonded through the shared experience. The guides were professional and helpful each step of the way.
We left for dinner, and although we had planned to eat at "Angel's Icehouse" well-known for their live music, home-cooked food and draft beers, the large crowd pushed us to try a BBQ joint called "It's All Good BBQ." We ultimately decided that they should change the name to "It's all Okay BBQ," but the level of customer service certainly couldn't be beat. They were gracious and let us stay past closing as we were distracted in our conversations.
We had late night laughs on the front porch of our tree house and got a good night's sleep in preparation for our mountain biking adventure we had set for the following morning. A short drive from Cypress Valley is Pace Bend Park, a Travis County park with more than nine miles of shoreline along Lake Travis. It's a great spot for camping, fishing, hiking and mountain biking. Let me disclose, this was my second time to mountain bike, I am an extreme novice. These trails weren't easy and some had to be "double black diamond" (and I'm hoping that skiing terminology transfers into the mountain biking world). I might have fallen, more than a few times, but it was still a great journey and I survived. Jessica, Mike and Neil were great trail companions, and we will definitely do it again soon!


This was signed when he was in Dallas for two shows at Bomb Factory and a charity baseball game at Reverchon Park. No creases at all and only some very minor corner wear.
Check out my other auctions and take a look at my feedback to see all my customer reviews. The item "JACK WHITE signed auto BOARDING HOUSE REACH Vinyl LP WHITE STRIPES Proof" is in sale since Monday, April 30, 2018. This item is in the category "Entertainment Memorabilia\Autographs-Original\Music\Rock & Pop\Records". The seller is "ashnicmil87" and is located in Grand Prairie, Texas. This item can be shipped worldwide.


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Reviews, videos, latest news, specs and road tests on the 2020 Buick Grand National Gnxprice. Top Gear reviews the Concept. Terrific refinement, class-leading technology, and incredible interior quality. Want to know more? Read more.


The story of the University of Washington's 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys defeated eliterivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the Olympic games in Berlin, 1936.
The emotional heart of the story lies with one rower, Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not for glory, but to regain his shattered self-regard and to find a place he can call home. The crew is assembled by an enigmatic coach and mentored by avisionary, eccentric British boat builder, but it is their trust in each other that makes them a victorious team. They remind the country of what can be done when everyone quite literally pulls together-a perfect melding of commitment, determination, and optimism.
And yes, they were rowing wood... George Pocock 60' shells. Word is, movie rights have been sold.
The story deserves a more visible place in history, and Brown has brought it to light in a way that will appeal to readers regardless of their knowledge of or interest in rowing or wooden boats. It's a story about universal human values: striving for excellence and the triumph of teamwork.


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Aggies embarking on another search
By Geoff Grammer / Journal Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 11th, 2017 at 9:43pm
Paul Weir, right, with NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia upon Weir's appointment as head coach in 2016. (Andres Leighton/For the Journal)
The Aggies are back on the clock.
Less than a year ago New Mexico State lost basketball coach Marvin Menzies, conducted a national coaching search and ended up promoting up-and-coming assistant Paul Weir. Now Weir has up and left for, of all teams, the in-state rival.
Weir on Tuesday accepted the head coaching position for the University of New Mexico and NMSU is again launching a national search for his replacement.
"At the outset, I want to personally thank Paul Weir for his 10 years of dedicated service to New Mexico State University," NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia said.
"The loss of our head coach illustrates the business side of intercollegiate athletics. We will immediately begin a search for our next coach who will be the best fit for New Mexico State University."
NMSU will hold a news conference today to discuss the search and other matters related to the Weir departure.
At the top of the list will be NMSU's stance on the buyout owed by Weir.
According to his contract, leaving NMSU means he owes them half his base salary (that was $250,000 per season) multiplied by the number of years remaining on his contract. That's what's in question as it was either three years remaining or four.
He had a clause that automatically added a year on his term if they won the Western Athletic Conference tournament, as NMSU did in March. But other clauses in his contract don't take effect until May 1 each year.
So, depending on interpretation of whether that clause was, in fact, automatic or didn't kick in until May 1 will determine whether he owes $375,000 or $500,000. Also in question, since not specified contractually, is when the money has to be paid.
What isn't in question, according to UNM athletic director Paul Krebs, is who owes that money.
"We are not involved in any buyout with New Mexico State," Krebs said, adding the payment is on Weir to pay NMSU.
Weir said he wouldn't get into details about the matter Tuesday, but had nothing but appreciation for NMSU and the opportunity it gave him.
"That first four or five hours (after being contacted by UNM) was a lot of weirdness that you had to work through," Weir said. "But I really just kept thinking and thinking, 'Man, it's Lobo basketball.' I get the awkwardness. I feel it. I sense it. But at the same time, I just can't control that at the end of the day. It's too good a job to pass up."
The teams play each other in Las Cruces on Nov. 17 and in Albuquerque Dec. 9.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In early May, Troop 45 assembled its group of lightfighters and headed to West Point. We were lucky enough to win the draw as a new troop to the Camporee, joining about 7,000 other people for this awesome event.
We woke up early on Friday, arriving in New York in the early afternoon. After a 4 mile hike through mud and over mountains, we arrived at the training grounds of the worlds foremost military academy where we promptly configured our camp in the tightest quarters we've ever camped.
The boys awoke to the sounds of cadets waking them for an early morning PT (Physical Training) session. While it still took a while, they managed to wake even our sleepiest campers. After finishing up their exercises at "O my gosh its early hours", the boys ate breakfast and headed out for the day.
Among their activities, they learned to tie rope harnesses, checked out military weapons, participated in a mock tactical exercise, watched a helicopter assault on the parade ground and had the coolest scouting bonfire I ever saw (complete with a live band). By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted, but they all had an experience they'll never forget.
On Sunday morning, we hiked back out of camp to our vehicles. Once we arrived, we drove into West Point, proper, and took an hour long bus tour of the Academy. I think we were all amazed at the beauty and history of the place. Many of us want to go back because we only saw a glimpse of everything there. It was all quite impressive.
While the entire weekend was amazing, it was capped off by our adults' participation in the Scoutmaster Chili Contest. Greg did an awesome job coordinating our various assistant scoutmasters and carrying in extra gear in order to position our troop for the best shot at the title. Despite his valiant efforts, it appears that a pumpkin pie won the chili contest.


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Tag Archives: Mewtwo
My Quick Thoughts on Mewtwo DLC (Super Smash Bros)
April 17, 2015 sbox180	1 Comment
Wednesday saw the launch of Mewtwo's long awaited return to Super Smash Bros. For those of us who took advantage of Club Nintebdo's promotion, we got a CD in the mail last month as well as two codes of Mewtwo for both our versions of Smash Bros. before it went on mass sale. I was one of these fortunate individuals, and since I've been playing as him the past two days, I want to give you my quick impressions.
Continue reading My Quick Thoughts on Mewtwo DLC (Super Smash Bros) →
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My Quick Thoughts on Nintendo Direct (April 2015): Smash Bros News
April 3, 2015 sbox180	6 Comments
Yesterday during the late afternoon, Nintendo surprised fans with a Nintendo Direct just in time for April Fools Day. However, as Nintendo has stated before the show began, there aren't many fools to be made here. In fact, there were only a few big surprises this time around. That's what you expect from 48 minutes. Good thing those few big shockers are well worth getting excited for. Continue reading My Quick Thoughts on Nintendo Direct (April 2015): Smash Bros News →
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Gaming, Uncategorized
My Top 5 Most Wanted Super Smash Bros DLC Characters (700 View Special)
November 28, 2014 sbox180	2 Comments
This week saw the release of Super Smash Bros for Wii U, the Wii U's most anticipated game release to date. Whether you're a Smash fan or not, whether you love Nintendo or hate their guts, whether you have the Wii U or never wanted one, whether you dig fighting games or prefer other genres, you most likely had your eye on this game and its 3DS counterpart for a while now.
The Smash Bros series is kind of like the "Nintendo Olympics". Fighters from a plethora of franchises come together to compete in one massive fighting game. Therefore, when a new installment comes out once every console generation it is celebrated. And if you haven't experienced any of the now (technically) 5 Smash Bros games, I'm not sure what your waiting for, nor do I see a better time to try the series out.
With this new iteration comes a lot of firsts for the series, one standing out most of all. Sure 8-player co-op was a pretty big new thing, but I find a lot of intrigue in the introduction of DLC. Of course I'm referring to Mewtwo's announcement not too long ago. Mewtwo being the game's first downloadable character has officially opened the door for other characters to join the fray in the future.
But who could be next? More so, who do you want to be next? Well I have 5 choices who I would personally want as future DLC.
I understand that it's not confirmed that there will be any more DLC characters after Mewtwo, but that's not stopping me from dreaming. No matter if Mewtwo is the only downloadable character or not, I will love this game reguardless. These are just characters I feel would make the experience even better for me personally.
Remember, as I always say, this is not my personal top 5 characters; not everyone's top 5, and not the top 5 characters that will be DLC. My choices may vary from yours, so please feel free to disagree. Let me know in the comments who you would want as DLC.
#1: Lucas
Believe me when I say how disappointed and surprised I was when Lucas was cut in Wii U and 3DS. He was my main fighter in Brawl, and I personally felt he should've been in from the get-go. Especially considering the number of self-admitted clone characters that made their way into the game like Dr Mario, Dark Pit, and Lucina, Lucas seemed like a likely candidate. And even for a clone, he still had a good deal of differences from Ness.
I still think Lucas has a good shot at being in the new game. Like I said, he fits right in with the clones, he would continue to give Earthbound representation, and he has a good base to build upon. With some tweaking, you could probably even make him a bit more different than Ness. Maybe downplay his physical ability while buffing up his psychic ability. I dunno. At least his inclusion would make me happy.
#2: Paper Mario
The idea of this character was being tossed about the Smash Bros community so much that I was surprised they opted not to include Paper Mario. I honestly expected him before Bowser Jr. It's such a genius idea. Not only is he Mario, but he would play almost entirely different from Mario if done correctly. His paper quality also fits in when you place his flat self next to Game & Watch. I see nothing but potential with this character.
In my previous posts, I supported this character by saying that, as far as Mario clones go, Paper Mario would be the most preferred over Dr Mario. Apparently, Nintendo saw it the other way around. That's why I'm not really holding my breath for Paper Mario to make it. At least in this iteration of Smash, people would probably draw the line at one clone per every character. Even I will admit that three versions of Mario would be hard to swallow. At that point you might as well throw Metal Mario in, too.
In my world Paper Mario could coexist with Dr Mario based on how different he would be from Mario already.
#3: Crash Bandicoot
Yes, I know it's not happening. I still want him in the game!
I really commend the choice of third party characters this time around. It's clear that Nintendo went with the most iconic characters they could all representing a major part of Nintendo history in one way or the other. To pick another third party character would have to be on the same level of nostalgia as Pac-Man, Mega Man, and Sonic. I believe Crash is one of the closest to fitting the bill.
This is clearly a biased pick on my part since I have a huge soft spot for Crash Bandicoot games. But tell me he wouldn't fit in the roster. standing next to Fox or Sonic he looks natural. As the former representative mascot for Sony in the 90's, he has a similar relevance to Nintendo history as Sonic does. Besides, Crash was multiplatform for the majority of his career and has exckusive handheld games on the GameBoy and DS. Not to mention how much moveset potential he has.
I realize that Crash would be one of the last characters Nintendo would consider for Smash Bros, especially with rumors of a new Crash game coming to PS4. For me, an announcement of Crash in Smash Bros would do nothing short of make my head explode. Besides, Snake got in, so why not Crash?
#4: Wonder Red
He's absolutely perfect for Super Smash Bros. Think of the possibilities. It's not that hard. He's a brawler who can morph into a giant gun, an anvil, and a sword among other things. You can also play him up as a little powerhouse in terms of strength. Maybe not Little Mac strong, but perhaps Captain Falcon level strong.
I will concede that Wonderful 101 didn't sell well and Nintendo may not see much reason to put him in. But since when has sales dictated inclusion? Ness got in after all. Even if it did, sales for Wonderful 101 could only benefit from extra exposure. Besides, he had a pretty good campaign going for him before the game came out. I still think he'd be an awesome character.
#5: Ryu Hayabusa
In terms of third party candidates, even ones from the 8-bit era, I feel Hayabusa isn't as popular of a choice as characters like Simon Belmont. He still is an awesome contender though. Ryu is a master of swordplay and ninja skills. In fact, Smash Bros can use another ninja since we only have two. There is a ton of possibilities for his Ninpo powers as well.
Ninja Gaiden was a big part of Nintendo's history which is why he has a good shot. While he would stand out in Nintendo's cleverly chosen third party mascots, Ryu still has nostalgia on his side, not to mention relevance. I have faith that Ryu would be an awesome fighter.
Bayonneta: Not sure I need to explain why she'd fit in, but she would.
Rayman: Rayman is another one of those characters who would blend in with the other third-party characters. Plus, he's already a trophy.
Toad: A dull choice, but I feel Toad could provide an interesting style to the roster. Whether regular Toad or Captain Toad, he'll be cool.
Simon Belmont or Solid Snake: Konami should have a character in again. These are my top choices for nostalgia (Belmont) and familiarity (Snake).
Isaac: Fans have convinced me even though I never played Golden Sun before. Besides, I find it peculiar that he isn't even an assist trophy.
There are plenty of characters I would want for the newest Super Smash Bros games. While I'm not saying everyone here is a shoe-in for entry, these are characters I'd love to see.
How about you guys? What characters remain on your dream roster? Let me know in the comments and continue the speculation together.
I'm SBox180. Thanks for reading!
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Analysis: Super Smash Bros for Wii U Nintendo Direct
October 25, 2014 sbox180	1 Comment
I've been itching to talk about Smash Bros again for a while now. I was hesitant to address the rumors that have been surrounding the Wii U version considering how fantastic I have been at predicting Sakurai's plans so far (that's sarcasm by the way). Now that we have concrete facts surrounding this game thanks to Thursday's Nintendo Direct, I think it's safe to open my mouth again.
I come bearing much great news to all of you waiting to get your Smash on when the game hits Wii U. We have a lot of good news and some subjectively bad news. All around, I've personally come away from the event smiling. I'll be covering Nintendo's 53 "facts" by number range. I'll be skimming over some points, so if you want more details watch the direct for yourself here.
Holy Multiple Players, Batman! (Facts #1-4)
I love how the direct tried to start slow with things we already knew like the unlockable characters and HD, then immediately drop a bombshell. The multiplayer of Super Smash Bros will be made even crazier by upping the ante from 4 players to 8. On top of that, certain stages have been made bigger to compensate the 4+ player matches. Suddenly the monstrous scope of Palutena's Temple makes sense.
Only Super Smash Bros could pull 8 character battles off. It's interesting since this series was the first series to really do 4 player battles correctly. When you look at it that way, this is next level stuff! I'm all over it. Now your big, at-home Smash Bros tournaments can be made that huge deal more exciting. I'm actually surprised this wasn't in the 3DS version, but I expect it to get to there eventually.
The one downside I have is that this seems to be local multiplayer only. It was clearly stated that the chance of having 8 players online is slim at best. Doesn't mean it won't happen, but when it does it'll make your online battles plenty interesting.
Name Your Place! (Facts 4-9)
There will be a crap ton of stages exclusive to the Wii U version whether by structure or by its own merit. But that's not the big news. Some of these stages provide new ways to play, some are exclusive to certain modes, and all of them look awesome.
The 2 main ones detailed were Great Cave Offensive from Kirby and Jungle Hijinx from Donkey Kong Returns. The Kirby stage implements "Danger Zones" which will instantly kill you when you hit them with 100% damage or more. The DKC stage includes foreground and background areas with the use of Donkey Kong's iconic barrels. If you jump in them too soon after you use a barrel, it'll explode and give you damage.
Among the many stages includes Miiverse, which will not be available at launch. It is a Battlefield type stage where Miiverse posts submitted by everyone will appear in the background. It's a pretty cool way to get your posts in the eyes of millions.
Some stages even have dialogue mid stage. The ones shown were of the Star Fox stages where you can hear intercom conversations. You can also activate dialogue by means of Pit's downward taunt.
I love the idea of the danger zones and barrels. They add some strategy to the stages and allow for some creative possibilities for battles. I especially like that special care was made to make it fair. The Miiverse stage looks decent enough. Not too many bells and whistles, but that's good depending on who you are. The dialogue is interesting, too. Quite a callback to Melee's Adventure mode.
Like a Boss (Facts 10-11)
The Wii U version will include stage bosses that will shake up your battles. There were 2 shown: Metal Face on the Gaur Plain and Ridley in Pyroshere.
It appears that, in the case of Ridley, the defense officially rests on that debate. I feel bad for the die-hard advocates of a playable Ridley who had their dream crushed, but I think Ridley makes quite an interesting stage boss. You get a lot more for defeating fighting him since he joins your side, and his defeat gives you an extra KO point. Metal Face also looks intimidating. The fact that he can destroy entire platforms already has me intimidated.
Comeback Kids and a Smashing Playlist (Facts 12-21 & 40)
Here we see the returning Smash modes such as Coin battles, Stamina battles, and Special smash. Masterpieces also return from Bralw, but with a bigger library than before and a direct link to buy the full versions. We also get a little insight on the music which will be included with the game. There are about 3 times the amount of songs as there were in the 3DS version coming from a plethora of composers.
Not too much to note here, but I do commend the amount of music available for fights. You can tell they're really passionate of the selection, too. The Masterpieces get a lot of slack for justifiable reasons, but it's a great way for younger kids to advertize these games to those too young to have played those classics.
Back With a Vengeance (Facts 22-25; 27-28)
We also see some more familiar favorites with some new changes. Classic mode remains similar enough, but now focuses on how well you survive the trials rather than just completing them. There's also a greater risk-reward system for difficulty level. All-Star mode is similar to the 3DS version but in reverse order. Event mode has seen little to no changes. The Stadium mode is also the same, but also supports multiplayer now. The Target Blast mode is also similar to the 3DS, but also supplies a bigger bomb after the second round.
Again not much to comment on here. The one with the greatest change is the Classic mode, and I actually like the new intensity scale.
All a Board (Fact 26)
So, this is the mode from Amazon's leak that's been causing a stir. The newest mode is Smash Tour, a board game mode that has you spinning a wheel to collect items and fighters on the board. When you run into opponents, you fight with what you have, and the winner can take a character from the loser's roster to use.
When this was being talked about weeks before, I was skeptical. Compared to Smash Run on 3DS, I didn't see how a Mario Party type mode would be like. With gameplay footage and a little more insight, I am now shedding those worries. It's really cool looking in execution.
Hand Me Another Mode (Fact 29-30)
Then we have Sakuria's Master/Crazy Hand tease. These 2 new modes are Master Orders and Crazy Orders. Master Orders allows you the chance to gain prizes but with only one shot to complete the trail until you reach Master Hand. Crazy Orders takes this a step further by making you pay for entry with gold until you reach Crazy Hand. Like the casino, you must gamble carefully or lose it all.
I'll admit that when I saw the image tease, I originally thought that they made Master Hand and Crazy Hand playable. I'm quite the idealist that way. However, I do like the alternative. I'll admit that there's a part of me that likes to play my luck, so I have to be careful with Crazy Orders.
Additionally, Crazy Hand has a new form called Master Fortress that comes after Master Core when playing at higher difficulties. This is a really cool form, acting like a stage in and of itself.
Have it Your Way (Fact 31-34; 47-48)
As we all know by now, there will be no one way to play Smash Bros on the Wii U. There are 7 controller types available for the game including the Nintendo 3DS. With the 3DS, you can also transfer custom character info and weapons. But you already knew that didn't you?
The Wii U gamepad's features were also elaborated on, but the only thing new involves screen shots which I'll get to next.
Trophy Terror and Amiibos (Fact 35-39 & 41)
Nintendo also showcased the new trophies for this addition of Smash. They also show new ways to display them, new ways to get them, and new ways to use them. The Photography mode stands out to me since the Wii U gamepad provides new opportunities than that of the Snapshots from Brawl. They also detailed the Amiibo figures that were showcased at E3. I'm certainly getting at least 1.
Insta-Smash (Fact 42-46 & 49)
Here we recieved details of the game's online features. Obviously there is online multiplayer, but there's also the cool new addition of having a local player join you in "With Anyone" mode. You also get notifications that appear on the main menu. In the future, you can even create online tournaments that allow for up to 64 players. Use of the built-in mic on the Wii U gamepad can be utilized before and after online battles. Nintendo also recommended using a wired connection when playing online.
Everything looks good as far as I see. Having 2 local players fight online is also a nice addition in case I decide to team up with a friend and conquer the world together. The one thing I don't like is the limited ability of the chat. Hopefully a patch will fix this so that I can have the battle and the banter that comes with it.
My Ring's Inside! (Fact 50-51)
One of the downsides to Brawl's new Stage Builder mode was the limited options for what could've been a really cool feature. The Wii U plans to change all of that. Thanks to the Wii U gamepad, building stages provides a good ton more possibilities. By drawing obstacles and platforms on the gamepad, you can make crazy stages. Better yet, you'll be able to share your creations online soon after the game's release.
I definitely plan to use the Stage Builder on the Wii U. Looks like I can make the ultimate deathtrap after all
And Now, The Moment You've All Been Waiting For… (Fact 52-53)
The event ends with the announcement trailer of a newcomer of high request. I'm sure you know exactly who it is. You know him, you love him, you've been raving about him for way too long. The trailer's newcomer is… Bowser Jr!… Wait, what?
As a surprise to no one, the newcomer trailer for Bowser Jr and the Koopalings was shown here. However, this was just the disguise to something much bigger: the announcement of Mewtwo as future DLC. He will be available sometime in Spring 2015 for all players who bought both versions of Super Smash Bros 4.
Once again, Sakurai continues to surprise me. I'm not sure which was the bigger shock: the fact that he wasn't in when Smash for 3DS released or his reveal as DLC. Either way, I am ecstatic for this announcement. What makes me even more intrigued is what this means for other characters who weren't placed in yet. Could we see characters like the Ice Climbers appear as DLC, too? Only time will tell, but for now I'm glad to see many Pokemon fans rejoice in such unison.
Overall, the Wii U version of Smash Bros is looking extremely promising. I'm glad we got some new details on the game and for the announcement of DLC. I'm happy, but what about you guys? Let me know in the comments what you thought of the Direct.
Bowser JrCrazy HandgamingMaster HandMewtwoNintendoNintendo 3DSNintendo DirectRidleySmash BrosSmash TourSuper Smash BrosWii U


Victor Jeleniewski Seidler is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology, at Goldsmiths University of London. His research interests include social theory and philosophy; Marxism and critical theory; moral theory; masculinity and sexual politics, and he has written on social theory, ethics and gender, particularly in relation to men and masculinities. In recent years his writing and research have focused on the cultural memory of particular events, including 9/11 and 7/7, and the ways they might challenge traditional social and cultural languages. His 2018 book Making Sense of Brexit, Democracy, Europe and uncertain futures (Policy Press) addresses the causes and implications of Brexit, exploring this moral anger against political elites and people feeling estranged from a political process and economic system that no longer expressed their will.
Over the past 10 years I've spoken about events which I not only experienced as disturbances, but which I saw as disturbances to the social theory that I had learnt. As well as 9/11 and 7/7 there were earlier critical moments, for example the 1998 Kosovo intervention, for which I was thinking about the notion of humanitarian intervention and what that meant; how could war, or sending military violence be a form of humanitarian intervention? I was disturbed by the recognition of neighbours being at war with one another, people who'd grown up and relied on one another now suddenly being at war. Experiencing these types of disturbances, I also felt social theories themselves were being challenged, which prompted me to step back and rethink the sources we had relied on. With the Brexit book, I was writing again out of this feeling of unease at an event, as a practice of making sense of it, thinking about the strengths and weaknesses to sociology. I felt it that was then right to have it as part of a public discussion.
How did you navigate through the arguments surrounding Brexit?
I listened to the different voices and arguments of those voting remain and voting leave, and used ethnographic interviews conducted by myself or by journalists, to look beneath surfacing questions of racism and xenophobia, to try to understand the anger people felt of being left out a political process. This meant engaging with questions of austerity, with the banking crisis, questions about changing policies in the EU, how the EU saw itself as a transnational project, and what that meant for people feeling that they were disempowered. Through the agenda of New Labour, and the aftermath of the financial crisis, people felt that they had no voice about what was going on in their own communities. Major corporations had closed shops in towns where these shops and spaces had carried important memories; communities destroyed without any sense of how to think back our notion of neoliberal progress.
How do you think Brexit has challenged sociology?
In writing the Brexit book, I recognized how sociology – or the development of sociology – meant that we didn't know how to understand what had happened; we didn't predict it, or even recognize that it was a real danger. I've been questioning what it was about the sociology that had become transnational, in an important way, just as the EU was a transnational project, so that nationalism was seen almost as negative.
The transnational and cosmopolitan consciousness – the sense that certain identities are constantly renegotiated and in process and in movement – didn't give us the intellectual sources to understand what happened. The dominance of a certain type of poststructuralist discourse theory meant that as an analyst you didn't really have to listen to different levels of people's experience. Poststructuralism stood out apart from the people it was analyzing, and there was a sense that from its outside, impersonalized, detached position it could somehow know in a sense of being superior what discourses were shaping the experience of everyone else. Sociologists stood apart, and there still is in sociology a strong, relatively posthumous tradition of being right, of having the correct analysis. It's only very recently that we've seen a shift back to ethnography and even community studies, and sociologists are starting to reevaluate projects that were in British sociology in the 1970s even before the poststructuralist, such as the feminist notion of relational sociology.
You mention feminism there, how has this influenced your work?
I was in the USA in 1970, during the very strong Bread & Roses women's movement in Boston and Cambridge. The women's movement seemed to me to express certain relationships to the notion of the transformation of everyday life and voice, which I'd understood through philosophical studies, particularly Wittgenstein. It also raised the importance of speech and language, not as discourse, but as finding words in order to express your experience. Feminism gave me an ethnographic of how important it was to find your own voice.
I recall after living in Boston that feminism was a radical challenge to sociology, much more than Marx was. Marx framed injustice and oppression as real only if it took place in the public sphere, whilst feminist concerns are almost always coming from within the private and personal. This feminist viewpoint, the framing of the personal and the importance of finding a voice, influenced my work on masculinities as I framed relationships between certain types of European modernities and certain forms of white colonial masculinity. In many ways it was a decolonizing project, just in being able to name masculinities in a particular way, and name the claiming of a certain rationalism as male.
How do issues of gender feature in the book?
It looks at masculinities and how those were played out, trying to understand the masculine terms of the referendum campaign, and how women were marginalized, how young people weren't listened to, the emerging dominance of particular form of masculinity – the boys fighting out in 'a boy's game' – alongside questions of migration, immigration, and race, and how to think about them.
There was a real failure of the media in giving often male leaders the space as spokespeople to debate and discuss, as if this event was just a debate or discussion. The language of control became absolutely vital in the debate, and it touched something visceral within certain communities. When you talk about controlling borders, you are also talking about controlling bodies, and this raises questions about who's bodies, and in what way is that body gendered, and who's getting control over what body? There's a gender violence that was part of the UKIP frame – that traditional form of hypermasculinity that Nigel Farage represented – and there are increasing dangers in term of gender and sexual violence in the face of that. These are important connections to make and sociology is a critical discipline to be able to frame those concerns in that way.
What has it meant for you personally, in writing this book as a practice of understanding?
There's been a framing in my work for some time about the notion of roots and rootedness. There's a been conflict between 'roots' and 'routes' in the sense of looking backward and forward, and the value placed on that within the universalist consciousness. The search for your own family roots was less important, or unnecessary, to the creation of new hybrid identities in the present, and the routes or journey your family was taking. That never felt right to me, that opposition felt unhelpful, but it was very powerful, and very powerful in dismissing a certain rootedness or belonging.
I think it made sense because of my parent's migration. My family were refugees from Nazi Germany, from Vienna and Warsaw, but I didn't really have a way of engaging with that history. I'd learnt to put it aside. That history belonged to my parents and was none of my business, and my task was to become British in a particular kind of way. I carried these histories, and as you get older you feel even more that there's this history that you carry, in my case the holocaust histories. Only in the 1980s I wrote a book called Shadows of the Shoah, on Jewish identity and belonging, and I realized that one of the things that had drawn me to Marx was this notion on the Jewish question, which meant that in order to become human you had to transcend particular types of identity. You had to transcend being a woman, or being gay, or being Jewish; any religious or ethnic identities had to be transformed in order to be human. In not having to engage with my own history, as a Marxist, I became universalist.
Around the time of the Brexit vote we witnessed the reemergence of anti-Semitism, both in Britain and across Europe, particularly in the recent Hungarian election. Suddenly anti-Semitism was refigured – and in the Brexit vote, as people were critiquing the corporate character of the EU, I felt that the peace that it had provided across Europe was crucially important, and also the healing of these bits of my own family history.
Part the analysis of it was recognizing how I had been challenged, and how I was positioned racially as potentially foreign. The question of racism and how to understand racism and its relationship with islamophobia and the question of immigration, all these things had to be thought about in a different way.
The differences between Donald Trump's America and the British colonial history, colonial memories, and the place of slavery, are quite different. Britain looked for a moment like it wanted to reproduce an anglophone, white, post imperial empire, and there was a moment when the alliance between Teresa May and Donald Trump looked possible, because the EU had presented a post-colonial possibility where Britain, as part of Europe and part of a block, could find a new European identity in the world. But Britain has never dealt with its colonial history, and so its history is still haunting it. It was there in the Brexit referendum posing as a certain nostalgia – that sense of making Britain great again – that Britain can survive on its own. Even the notion of a global Britain carries uncanny imperial resonances, so we don't know what that future outside Europe looks like.
We need to open a dialogue for how divided the country is, as it's much more divided than we recognized. Some compromise is needed, and with this some engagement with Britain's colonial history. In echoing the notion of Britain being great again, we need discussions with people from EU and other countries whose presence has been so unsettled, and how the Brexit vote has done such damage to people's sense of place and belonging. The challenge of reimagining Britain as a multicultural, multi-faith society, and as a nation state part of Europe really needs focusing on, otherwise the damage will be a small-scale isolationism, which will be horrendous.
We also need to consider all the ecological issues about global warming and how that is placed politically. We're facing an immediate threat in global warming which has already moved beyond the stage that we thought it could have been prevented, or stopped. The population movements that are happening globally are partly what stimulated these migratory challenges – the movement away from Syria, a land that can no longer be farmed, where people can't have protected lives, and the migration of people into the cities – these kind of population movements are going to make the future difficult.
The question is whether a cosmopolitan universalism, and a sociology that is framed though a cosmopolitan universalism that is transnational has the appeal of a younger generation of no borders. A generational conversation must happen because its proving that the nation state across Europe is not going to disappear. The conservative right is strengthening – the recent Hungarian election shows you that the question of race and migration is becoming an everyday discourse. The Islamophobic mentality that "we're not going to let them in because of what they do in other countries" is providing an anti-immigration rhetoric that is deeply racist, and anti-Semitic, and homophobic. These are all areas that sociology has contributed to and I think sociology really needs to be part of the answer, and at least part of the process of questioning and listening. I strongly feel that sociology hasn't necessarily asked itself questions about why, even though it listened – or learnt to listen – it didn't seem to hear what was coming. Thinking about some of the sources and questions that turned sociology in a certain direction –it's not a matter of going back, it's a matter seeing where we are now and critically asking questions; what can we hear and what can't we hear? What do we judge, and what's the nature of judgement and evaluation? What is the practice of making sense of something that challenges your traditional forms of social theory? I think it means forms of theoretically informed ethnographic work that isn't necessarily theoretically driven.


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sweetbacon
Subject: Does this make sense? Tue Oct 07 2014, 20:06
This is not intended to be GW bashing so I hope it doesn't come across as such. After reading the new codex, I have a question about GW's design philosophy and business acumen. Specifically, it introduced several new kits which (presumably) GW hopes to sell quite a bit of. I have no issues with the physical kits themselves, but I do wonder why there seems to be such a huge disconnect between the sales/marketing branch and the design team.
For example, the new Void Raven bomber looks pretty sweet and has some decent weapons options. But a fully upgraded one is nearly the same point level as a Land Raider and I don't understand why the design team did this if they hope to sell a lot of units for this model. This is a totally serious question: does the design team (or GW as a whole) understand that, for most 40K players, rules play a huge part in determining whether something is worth buying?
The same questions applies with the blatant rule/unit power manipulation in order to drive sales. Its great that GW gave people an incentive to buy Scourges, Razorwings, Reavers, etc., but why did they also completely erase any incentive to buy Wyches, Hellions, etc.? Wouldn't they rather have the income generated by people buying the new good units as well as the old good units (which would still be good in this scenario)? It seems like they are robbing Peter to pay Paul here. Why not make the bad stuff good ($$$) and leave the good stuff like it was ($$$)? Does anybody have any insight into why they do this?
GW is, at the end of the day, a business which must make profits to keep the share holders happy. How do they intend to do that if they deliberately make 1/3 to 1/2 of each codex's units (more for some, less for others) so bad that nobody would want to buy them? I just don't understand why they don't think the revenue generated by these formerly good units is worth keeping...
Thor665
Location : Venice, FL
Subject: Re: Does this make sense? Tue Oct 07 2014, 21:09
Well, a couple of thoughts;
1. This presumes that GW understands when they're making a unit good or bad.
2. This also presumes they are not just trying to make a balanced codex (whether or not they succeed this is theoretically what they're trying to do)
This is hardly the first time a new model/kit kind of blew. I think Mandrakes were generally accredited as one of the single worst selections in the game at the time they came out.
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amishprn86
Location : Ohio
About the Bomber, yes upgraded it is a Land Raider, But its also a Flier, that changes things alot.
Its better to look at a Storm Raven in comparison. Base 200 pts VS ours-Base 160pts
40pt Difference 4 Missiles, 2more Armor, Transport, PotMS, TL-Assault/Heavy Bolter
We get 2 S9's (Not TL) a Bomb, Night vision/Super Sonic.
To me this is terrible balancing. The bomber IMO should have came with Missiles and a 5-10pts upgrade for each/other missile.
I would have love to seen the Splinter Rifle on the Razorwing be able to upgrade to a HL or a HWB to make it a AA specialty.
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Harlequins 5k+
Dark Eldar 10k+
AoS: BoC 8k, CoS 3k
Panic_Puppet
You missed Ceramite Plating off the Storm Raven. And the weapon options are different... choice of twin-linked Assault Cannon/Lascannon/Plasma cannon in one slot and heavy bolter/multi-melta in the other. POTMS makes it great for simultaneous aerial-ground assault.
From looking at it, I think our best option is probably D-Scythes on the Void Raven and use it as a ground attack craft, and trust Razorwings for an anti-air option as most fliers generally have lower armour.
Count Adhemar
Dark Lord of Granbretan
@sweetbacon wrote:
This is a totally serious question: does the design team (or GW as a whole) understand that, for most 40K players, rules play a huge part in determining whether something is worth buying?
The answer to that appears to be a resounding 'No'. Everything I have ever heard that claims to be from an inside source at GW says that they genuinely think people buy the models for the models, not the rules.
You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. In what world could you possibly beat me?
Barking Agatha
In a company like GW, everyone is given a specific job to do. It isn't the developer's job to drive sales: there's someone else who does that, and that's probably someone who doesn't know (or care) about the difference between Vector Dancer and Vector Strike.
The designer designs the miniature, the developer writes rules for it, the sales department pushes it. Ideally they all communicate with each other so that the product works for everyone, but with pressing deadlines that isn't always the case. And they all want to make it to the pub before six.
House of the Bitter Laugh, uniting the Kabal of Scorn, the Cult of Disdain, and the Coven of Jaded Atrocities
Expletive Deleted
@Count Adhemar wrote:
That's strange to me. I appear as a normal person to people in my social circle, and it's easier to keep up that ruse when I invite them over, they see all my pretty models, and I can say, "Well they're part of a tabletop strategy game I play with friends. It's like chess."
As opposed to, "Check out muh new airplane! SWOOSH!"
"Excess, yeah that's what we do best."
Lord Val
I suppose if we pose the question. Will GW pump (substantial) cash into a new model kit and give it terrible rules?
No. They wouldn't. Theyd make sure it fitted in and was compatible with their other products. Assuming they want a return on the money they put in to developing and producing a new kit. At least if they want to make money. . . Which I assume they do.
This is incredibly depressing, Count. If GW truly thinks people buy 40K models solely because they like to assemble and paint somewhat pricey space man toys (and some people do, to each their own), why do they even bother with rules at all? I know GW seems to be quite proud of the fact that they don't seek or care about feedback from their customer base (which seems crazy to me), so why don't they just get out of the rules business altogether if they have such apathy toward the "gaming" part of their, um, game? The fact that they haven't suggests that at least on some level, somebody in the company, probably a summer intern, sort of understands that maybe, just maybe, there is a correlation between rules and model sales(?).
@Thor665 wrote:
This is a little terrifying to actually contemplate. Because I think you're right, Thor. I'm picturing the design team for each codex as being completely sequestered from the design teams for every other codex, meaning the people who wrote the latest DE book may have been locked away in some bunker for the last two years believing that they were working on a masterpiece, all the while blissfully unaware of what their counterparts assigned to write the Eldar and Tau codexes came up with in 2013. That at least would make more sense than people getting paid to write rules for a game they seemingly have never played.
Its_Rumble
Location : CA
Subject: Re: Does this make sense? Wed Oct 08 2014, 01:17
What do you expect out of people working at minimum wage. This conversation can go WAY off course talking about free markets and product quality, but what do you expect when the people making your army are pulling a bare minimum.
Archon Rievect
Location : The WWP behind you!
Well GW HAS STATED in the past that they are a MODEL MAking company, NOT a GAMING company.... contrary to their name... and this came straight from GW's mouth more than once, so I guess they are living up to it with the serious crappy nerfs done to IC's,vehicles,etc...... and now we have the most expensive paper airplane in the game I believe and opponents only have to go 'whew! just have to make it through one turn of these things then I can blow them from the sky with ease....'
My Razorwing has NEVERRRRRRR even earned its points in combat AND has been BLOWN from the sky in 1 turn and always with 1 hit...... never makes it more than the turn it decides to show up in.....
AT least they should make it so WHEN it crashes to its doom it goes nuke with an 18" platter for damage, S10,AP1, ID ,sucks you into the warp like a wraith cannon....at least it would bring an evil smirk to my face.......
Warning: baseless conspiracy theory ahead.
Say GW have been craftier than we imagine. Let's imagine that they have segmented their customer base by game and primary army choice, perhaps with some underlying personality type analysis.
Next, let's say they do a bit of research, be it focus groups, psych research, internet text analytics... they learn a lot about what players of each faction tend to like.
And maybe, they come across some interesting findings. They find that players who predominantly play Eldar or Tau really hate losing. They think, well, no one likes to lose. But when they look at some other armies, it's not as evident. And when they look at guys who play Orks, Tyranids, and Dark Eldar, they find that winning is less important to these segments than average.
The market research guys are a bit confused, but to the exec it's clear. "Just make sure that Eldar and Tau win more games! And the guys who don't think winning is important can be the guys who everyone else beats to keep interested. That way we can sell more kits to everyone. "
Ok, I'll take my tin foil hat off now.
The Dark Eldar and Dissynergy.
3d printed Dark Eldar bits on Shapeways.
@Creeping Darkness wrote:
Next, let's say they do a bit of research, be it focus groups, psych research, internet text analytics...
Ha! They're not Goldman-Sachs or the NSA. As gaming companies go, they're pretty big, but as businesses go, they're not that big.
I love that the part of my crazy conspiracy theory that is hardest to believe is the idea that GW might actually do market research!
1. They can care less about balance.
2. They're a miniatures company first and write rules as a byproduct of making the "fantasy" cool.
3. They say they do playtesting, but at this point I think it's lies.
A webway to better gaming
darthken239
Yeah ive heard the old "Were a model making company not a Gaming company." Well maybe you could have got off your ass and made some models. It's not like the DE range needed a whole revamp seeing as how it was only recently done. and a few special character models would have sold quite well.
@HERO wrote:
1. They cannot care less about balance.
Sorry, had to correct that. it's one of the Americanisms that really drives me nuts.
Mr Believer
Location : Nottinghamshire, UK
Thank you Count. Got there first. David Mitchell did a brilliant episode of his "Soapbox" series on this phrase on YouTube, worth checking it out...
It's true, GW have stated that they don't do market research and they aren't interested in customer feedback. However, now all the books are being made by a collective, I think we're seeing better balance between them. We all would have loved another pure Phil Kelly book, of course we would. But the problem with giving design to one person is that it can be very difficult for them to balance the army against the others out there. Especially if they have a great love of the pointy-eared ones. Ideally, the core rules and all codices would all be written by the same group to maintain balance across the range.
My other car is a Ravager
This discussion also got me thinking about the seeming randomness of how they are updating these codexes. Ravagers get worse but more expensive? Scourges and Grots get better but stay the same price or see a marked decrease. Conceding the fact that GW doesn't care about balance or play testing, do they truly not recognize that models that are worse on the table top won't sell as much as those that are good? At the same time, making models that were selling fine worse also hurts their bottom line. I would like to believe that GW is a company full of rational actors who are driven by normal market forces, but purposely making one's own products less desirable to the consumer seems so odd to me that I feel like I'm taking crazy pills when I try to suss out the reasons for why they do what they do.
The_Burning_Eye
Trueborn
Location : Rutland - UK
Here's a theory - maybe they've tried with this codex to address the spam element that we tended to see with many (admittedly not all) DE lists. the fluff is that Kabalite Wrriors form the core of a DE force, but we were seeing lists with Hellions and Wracks as troops instead, so remove the options for them to be troops. Similarly, troops selections full of wyches with haywire grenades - this doesn't fit the fluff so take away that option for them.
Of course this theory falls flat when you look at venoms and the fact we can now take 14 in one single detachment.
Tan? You're joking, I'm a gamer, you're lucky I'm wearing deodorant!
My Blog - The Burning Eye Blog (check it out - comments always welcome)
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@The_Burning_Eye wrote:
Also we only have one viable troop choice, and little of worth in the heavy and elite sections. If anything venom spam just got worse. Not worse in power, the point costs stay the same, but now there's less incentive to field other models.
@Expletive Deleted wrote:
I agree there's one clear winner in the Troop section.
I'd argue (at present, prior to playtesting) that Talos/Cronos, Grotesques, Incubi are all still of serious worth, and Wracks and Mandrakes definitely have a specific role to play (i'm intrigued by the comments about wracks with ossefactors, I'd like to test them out) and I can see Mandrakes being very helpful against certain types of opponent. I'm also looking forward to trying out the Voidraven as I think the bomb combined with the S9 lances will help me a lot. I also like the idea of consistently flying it off the board, arrive and drop the bomb, fire off some missiles maybe then evade any return fire, and fly off next turn, then come back and use the lances to help bust any remaining tanks.
@Mr Believer wrote:
Ideally, the core rules and all codices would all be written by the same group to maintain balance across the range.
I disagree. If I ran GW (and I'd do a brilliant job, 'cause I'm clever!)... and assuming I didn't have to answer to a board of directors and I could do what I wanted... I would just say, 'Okay, you guys are Team Dark Eldar. Your job is to make them shine. I want these things to fly off the shelves, preferably because they've been purchased, and not because you've put springs on them, or something.' Then I'd grab Jervis by the ears, while standing on a table (he's awfully tall) and say, 'Jerv, you balance it all out, and keep it sensible.'
Then I'd look for the three most slow-looking people working for GW that I could find and say, 'Okay, you guys are Team Tau...'
Location : Bristol, TN
@Barking Agatha wrote:
You may be setting yourself up for a tough decision there.
Subject: Re: Does this make sense?
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The Locus of the points at a certain distance from a given point is a circle.
The Locus of the points at a certain distance from a straight line is two parallel lines from both sides at the given distance.
The Locus of points at the same distance from two given points is the perpendicular bisector of the two given points.


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You know that exhausting feeling of searching high and low for your keys when you're late for work? You know you put them in the usual place, so why aren't they there? You've torn the house apart; cushions are on the floor, the freezer is ransacked and the whole house is skewed with frantic searching until finally… you lose all hope. You stop, take a breath, and decide to call in sick because the day is ruined anyway. Then you feel your back pocket. Seriously?!
At the age of 25, I should have been married with 2 babies and a husband who loved me. That was my dream. Instead at 25, I reached the point of giving up on finding a husband. I had searched high and low; I had moved towns, changed my appearance, dropped my standards (then raised them higher), tried blind dates and finally realised it just wasn't going to happen.
2 years later, when I gave up yet again on the search for a husband (for good this time), the extraordinary happened: God orchestrated a meeting that really would end my search. It came in the form of an email. That email led to a phone call, which let to coffee, which eventually led to our happily ever after.
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text:
Novartis leverages digital transformation to address most pressing health challenges in Asia
SINGAPORE, Feb. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Novartis is on a mission to transform healthcare in Asia by partnering with the health tech ecosystem.
Alexis Serlin, Head of Asia Cluster, Novartis AG, speaks before Novartis Asia leaders and executives of Asian health-tech startups during the Novartis Health-Tech DesignShop in Singapore. "Novartis in Asia seeks to leverage data, digital and exponential technologies to address the most pressing health challenges in the region. This is why we are partnering with key heath-tech startups in Asia to equip our company in bringing transformative healthcare solutions to patients," said Serlin.
"Novartis in Asia seeks to leverage data, digital and exponential technologies to address the most pressing health challenges in the region. From Big Data, Machine Learning, Telemedicine, the use of sensors to Virtual Reality — we aim to harness all these technologies to create disruptive opportunities, transform the healthcare landscape and save lives. This is why we are partnering with key heath-tech startups in Asia to equip our company in bringing transformative healthcare solutions to patients," said Alexis Serlin, Head of Asia Cluster, Novartis AG.
With an industry-leading development pipeline, Novartis is well positioned to spearhead a transformative revolution in healthcare. The Novartis pipeline has 26 potential blockbusters in confirmatory development and 13 projects in clinical development across Cell, Gene & Radioligand therapies, with 60 major submissions planned from 2019 to 2021. Novartis is advancing a pipeline of medicines with the potential to change the standard of care in high-burden disease areas, such as multiple sclerosis, asthma, age-related macular degeneration, sickle cell disease, and lung cancer.1 The quality and consistency of Novartis' R&D is reflected in its #1 position as the company with the highest number of Breakthrough Therapy Designations (BTDs), a key measure of innovation. Between 2005 and 2018, Novartis secured regulatory approval for more new drugs than any other pharmaceutical company.2
According to Mr. Serlin, Novartis intends to map the health-tech space in Asia, particularly start-ups focused on enhancing healthcare delivery avenues, such as improving patient outcomes, transforming patient journeys, and creating differentiated and transformational customer engagement models, among others. "There are a lot of health-tech start-ups in Asia brimming with transformational business ideas, and we intend to incubate them," said Serlin.
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References:1. https://www.novartis.com/news/media-releases/novartis-rd-update-highlights-industry-leading-development-pipeline-including-potential-blockbusters-and-advanced-therapy-platforms 2. Intrinsic Health/New Street Research. Novartis: Time for a Premium Multiple.
Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20181218/2330634-1


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Choker set is made to look stylish and goes perfect with wedding attires. Wear your designer wedding costume and compliment it with this Choker set to look all fabulous and stylish. Let the world go gaga about your fashion statement. Be at the centre of all the attraction with this elegant and trendy Choker set.
Tiara Silver Jewellery is one of the leading silver jewellery manufacturer and supplier in India. We are the manufacturer & supplier of Choker in India. We make eye-catching designs of Choker for our clients both in India and various parts of the world. We specialize in making a variety of Necklace sets, Pendant sets, Kada, Bracelets, Earrings, Rings and Religious Jewellery etc. We also expertise in manufacturing Bracelet, Baju Bandh, Bangles, Choker, Cufflink, Chain Belt, Half Round Kada, Hathpan in India.
We are the Manufacturer of Choker in India, our Choker is supplied to all major cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Indore, Vadodara, Nashik, Mangalore etc.


'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine' by Gail Honeyman.
"Smart, warm, uplifting, 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine' is the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes, the only way to survive is to open your heart." Also, we know we need to hurry up and read this one before the movie starring Reese Witherspoon arrives in theaters.
Photos borrowed from here, here and here.


Tired of paying high prices for leather jewelry you could easily make? Then get out your crafting gear, and make your own leather bracelets from scratch! The process is easy, and you will be left with a handmade, sophisticated piece of jewelry. Try one of these five techniques for making your own leather bracelet at home, and show off your creative sense of style.
Gather your materials. You can find leather supplies at most craft stores or online. To create a beaded leather bracelet, you will need leather chord or strips, as well as beads with holes large enough to fit the leather.
Measure and cut the leather. Cut 2 strands of leather cord or strips with scissors. When crafting leather bracelets, you can estimate the length by wrapping the strand around your wrist and adding a few more inches to the overall length to compensate for a tie.
Knot the ends. Tie the strands together at 1 end with a secure knot, leaving a bit of leather on the end for tying the bracelet around your wrist. For the easiest beading process, tape one end to a tabletop or pin it to your pant leg.
Begin beading. Place a single bead onto one of the strings and slide it to the base of the knot.
Slide the second piece of leather through the bead. The leather chord should slide in the same bead from the opposite side. This will create a loop around the bead, securing it in place. This process will be done for every bead added.
Continue adding beads. Continue adding beads to your bracelet by sliding a single bead up one of the strands, and then pulling the same strand through the center in the opposite direction. Do this until your bracelet is long enough to wrap around your entire wrist.
Finish your bracelet. Use a basic knot to tie off the other end of your bracelet. Remove the tape from the opposite end, and tie the tails together around your wrist to finish off your piece of jewelry.
Why do you need to cut two strips of leather to make a beaded leather bracelet?
So you can braid them together.
Definitely not! Leather strips are already very thick for a beading material. Braided leather can look cool, but if you braid the strips before you add the beads, you'll have a hard time getting the beads over the thicker braid formed by the two strips. Choose another answer!
So you can string the beads on two strands at once.
Not exactly! In some types of bracelets, you string the bracelets on two or three strands of beading material at once in order to make the bracelet stronger. When you're making a leather beaded bracelet, however, the strips are already very thick and unlikely to snap. Pick another answer!
Correct! When you make a beaded leather bracelet, you'll initially string them on one strip, then thread the other through from the opposite side to create a loop. This holds each individual bead in place along the length of your bracelet. Read on for another quiz question.
So you're able to tie the finished bracelet together.
Not quite! In a beaded leather bracelet, both strips are used to make the bracelet itself instead of one being reserved to tie up the finished bracelet. To make sure you have long enough strips to tie, add a few inches to the measurement of your wrist. Choose another answer!
To secure the bracelet to your work surface.
Nope! It is easier to make a beaded leather bracelet if the knotted end is secured to your work surface, but you can't do that with a leather strip. You need tape for a hard surface like a table or a pin for a fabric surface like your pant leg. Guess again!
Select your supplies. This bracelet can be made from any three strips of leather - either chord or full pieces of the material. For a more bohemian look, use thick leather strips. A polished look can be accomplished by using leather chord.
Measure and cut the leather. Wrap the leather around your wrist to determine how long to cut your pieces. Cut 3 strips of leather cord or strip with scissors.
Tie a knot. Tie a regular knot at one end of the strips, securing them together. Attach the strands to a table with sticky tape or use a safety pin to pin the leather to your pant leg.
Begin your braid. Wrap the right cord and set it over the left cord. The braiding used for this simple bracelet is the same used for hair.
Cross the left strip over the center. The second step is to move the piece from the far left, and place it over the center. It will now be the new center strip.
Cross the right strip again. Move the piece from the far right over the center strip. This is the same step as the first one.
Cross the left strip again. Following with the same pattern, move the left piece of leather over the center piece.
Finish your braid. Braid the leather strips until they've reached a length long enough to wrap around your entire wrist. Smooth out the leather wrap to flatten out the braids.
Tie off the end. Secure the strands with a regular knot, and then remove the sticky tape and place the wrap around your wrist.Tie the two ends together and cut off any excess you may have.
When you're making a braided leather bracelet, what strip should you move first?
Almost! As a matter of fact, nothing will break or go catastrophically wrong if you start making a braid by crossing the left strip over the center strip. It's just not the way braided leather bracelets are normally made, so you might want to try something else. Guess again!
Yup! You braid a leather bracelet exactly the same way you would braid hair. That means that you begin by taking the rightmost strip and crossing it over the center one so it becomes the new center strip. Then you cross the leftmost one over the center and continue repeating those two steps in order. Read on for another quiz question.
Get your supplies prepared. To create a leather cuff, you will need strips of tooled leather, leather glue, a leather needle, waxed linen thread, and a button snap or clasp for the ends of the bracelet.
Measure and cut your leather. Use a ruler to measure a strip of leather 2 inches (5.08 cm) wide, by the length of your wrist plus one inch. Cut the leather to size with a pair of sharp scissors or utility knife.
Layer your leather. Attach your cut and sized leather to a larger, tooled piece of leather with leather glue. Use your fingers to smooth out any wrinkles, and allow it to dry overnight. Adding a second layer of leather to your bracelet will give a more finished look.
Cut the bracelet to size. Trim the edge off the tooled leather to make it the same size as your original strip. You should now be left with a nearly completed double-sided leather strip.
Stitch the edges. Use a leather needle and waxed linen thread to stitch the cuff together. Any stitch is appropriate; the stitching is simply securing the edges of the leather and giving a more sophisticated look.
Add your clasps. Use your needle and thread or the leather glue to secure your clasps to either end. With the completion of this step, you're finished!
What kind of stitch should you use to attach your two pieces of tooled leather?
You're partially right! If a straight stitch is what you feel most comfortable with, then you can go ahead and use it to secure your leather strips. However, if you'd prefer something fancier, don't feel compelled to use a straight stitch. Choose another answer!
You're not wrong, but there's a better answer! Chain stitches are an interesting choice for a leather cuff because they're mainly decorative, but as long as you pass the needle through both strips of leather, a chain stitch will work fine. It's not the only workable option, though! Guess again!
Absolutely! The stitches in a leather cuff are there to hold the leather strips together and for decoration. There's no one specific stitch you need to use. Any kind of stitch that can join two pieces of fabric without a seam will work fine, so do whatever feels right. Read on for another quiz question.
Select your supplies. For this bracelet, you will need thin leather strips or chords, leather or fabric glue, a needle, and embroidery floss in multiple colors. You will also need scissors to cut both the leather and the thread. Clasps are optional.
Measure and cut the leather. Wrap a single piece of leather around your wrist, and add 2-3 extra inches to the length. The extra leather will be used to tie the ends together when the bracelet is completed. Cut the leather to size.
Secure the leather. Tape down one end of the strip to a table top, about two inches from the end.
Begin wrapping your thread. Dab a bit of glue to the leather, and then wrap a piece of embroidery floss around it. Wrap the embroidery floss tightly around the strip for as long as you would like, before switching to your next color. When you finish, add another dab of glue and cut off the excess embroidery floss.
Add additional colors. Follow the same process as above by dabbing on a bit of glue to the leather, and then wrapping a new color of embroidery floss around the strip. Continue wrapping the floss as far as you would like, and then dab on some more glue and cut off the excess.
Continue the pattern. Add as much floss as you would like to your bracelet to give it a bit of color. You may choose to wrap the entire leather strip, or only a bit of it; the choice is up to you!
Finish off the embroidery floss section. When you've added as much thread to your bracelet as you would like, thread the end of the floss through a needle, and cut off all of the string except for about 1 inch. Thread the needle under the embroidery floss that you've already wrapped around the leather. Pull the needle out the other side, leaving the tail end of the thread hidden under the wrappings.
Finish off the bracelet. If you want to add clasps to your bracelet, attach them to the ends of the leather strands at this point. Otherwise, simply tie the ends together around your wrist, and you're finished!
How should you finish off the embroidery floss section of a leather friendship bracelet?
Tuck the end of the floss under the wrapped floss.
That's right! Once you're finished with the embroidery floss section of your bracelet, thread the floss through a needle and use the needle to bring the end of the floss back under the wrapped portion. This will make your bracelet look neat and professional, as there won't be a visible end of the floss. Read on for another quiz question.
Tie off the end of the floss.
Glue down the end of the floss.
Almost! When you start and finish using a specific color of floss in your design, you should glue down the ends so that the floss stays put without being knotted. However, at the very end of the embroidery floss section of your bracelet, you should do something else for the cleanest finish possible. Pick another answer!
Get all your supplies. A studded leather bracelet requires strips of tooled leather, assorted studs, an x-acto knife, a hammer, a snap-on clasp, and scissors.
Measure and cut the leather. Wrap the leather strip around your wrist, and add an additional inch to the measurement. Use the scissors to cut the strip to length, and cut off the corners to round off the ends.
Place the studs. Take your studs and arrange them how you like over the leather bracelet. When you've gotten them just where you want them to be, gently poke the leather with the prongs from the stud. Doing this will not pierce the leather, but leave a small indent.
Cut slits for the studs. Use the x-acto knife to cut small slits where the prongs indented the leather. These cuts need only be wide enough for the prongs to be inserted through; cutting them too wide will show up on the finished project.
Add the studs. Slide each of the studs through the slits you have cut. The prongs will stick out the back end. Twist them around just how you like them before securing them in place.
Bend down the prongs. Flip the leather strip over and use your hammer to bend down the prongs. If there are two prongs on the back of each stud, hammer them down in opposite directions.
Add the buttons. To create the clasp, add the snap-on buttons to either end of the bracelet. These may have prongs that can be slid through the leather and hammered down like the studs, or they may need to be glued in place.
Try on your bracelet. Use the snaps to secure the bracelet on your wrist. Adjust any studs that may have gotten twisted around or moved out of place. Your bracelet is finished! Show off your new style by making several and stacking them.
What's the benefit of gently poking your leather strip with the prongs of your studs?
It shows you where to cut slits in the leather.
Yes! The prongs of a stud aren't strong enough to reliably pierce the leather by themselves, so you'll need to cut slits for them. If you press the prongs gently into the leather, it'll show you where to cut to form the pattern of studs that you want. Read on for another quiz question.
It attaches the studs to the leather.
Not exactly! If you press down super-hard, you may be able to pierce the leather with the prongs of the studs, but you may also damage the prongs. And pressing them in gently will only leave little indents on the leather without piercing it. Pick another answer!
It creates a cool pattern in the leather.
Not necessarily! If you wanted to, you could use the prongs of a stud to form a design in the leather. However, there's another, more practical purpose to gently pressing the prongs into your leather strip, even though the marks from the prongs will be hidden when the bracelet is done. Choose another answer!
Where can I purchase a roll of thin, leather cord online?
Most craft and jewelry supply stores carry thin leather cord. Try Jo-Ann, Michaels, or even Amazon.
Can you use other material? If so, what kind?
The closest equivalent would be vinyl. You can get many types in leather looks (search for vegan leather). Some people have also had success with using some types of rubber (like wheel inner tubes) as an alternative. Basically, you want something that is not woven like most fabrics, as they will require much more work to finish the edges and keep them from fraying.
How do you make an engraved leather bracelet?
To engrave, or 'tool' the leather, you will need to specifically buy 'veg tanned' or tooling leather. Normal chrome-tanned leather will not mark well.
Why does the clasp keep coming apart from the leather cord even though it is glued?
You need to use a glue that is specifically for leather, as regular craft glue will not be strong enough. A jewelry-specific glue, such as E6000 or an industrial glue like Weldbond, will work if you allow sufficient drying time.
People making this kind of jewelry never spend enough time showing the final knots. I can't figure out how to get the bracelets off and on because I can't figure out how you are tying them. Is there a close-up tutorial?
How do I make the sliding adjustable leather mens necklace?
How would I put on a suede wrap bracelet?
wikiHow is a "wiki," similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 17 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has also been viewed 475,128 times.
To make braided leather bracelets, measure and cut three leather strips for each bracelet you want to make. Next, tie a regular knot at one end of the strips to secure them together, then tape the knotted end to a table. Braid the strips the same way you'd braid hair, crossing one strip over the other, until the bracelet is long enough to wrap around your wrist. Tie off the end, then wrap the bracelet around your wrist, tie the ends together, and cut off the excess!


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Hulkenberg turns down Indycar seat
Fri, 5 November 2021, 08:00
Nov.5 (GMM) Nico Hulkenberg has issued a polite 'no' to the prospect of a career in Indycar.
The 34-year-old German, who lost his full-time Formula 1 seat at Renault at the end of 2019 and is now Aston Martin's reserve, tested for McLaren's Indycar team in Alabama recently.
"I can definitely confirm that these monsters are very difficult to drive. I probably need to go the gym more often," he smiled afterwards.
It was reported that McLaren could offer Hulkenberg some one-off outings in a third car next year, before adding a full-time third entry to its team for 2023.
But Hulkenberg is pulling out of the opportunity.
"It was exciting to test an Indycar two weeks ago and I am grateful to Arrow McLaren SP," he announced on social media.
"However for personal reasons I decided not to go ahead with it. (I'll) keep you posted on my future plans."
2022 cars 'pretty damn fast' – Hulkenberg
Hulkenberg struggled with Indycar 'monster'
No Alfa Romeo seat for Hulkenberg


Goalkeepers: 16. Charles Itandje (Konyaspor), Ndy Assembe (Guingamp), 22. Sammy Ndjock (Fetihespor), Loic Feudjou (Coton Sport).
Defenders: 12. Allan Nyom (Granada), 5. Dany Nounkeu (Besiktas), Cedric Djeugoue (Coton Sport), 14. Aurelien Chedjou (Galatasaray), 3. Nicolas Nkoulou (Marseille), 4. Armel Kana-Biyik (Rennes), 12. Henri Bedimo (Lyon), 2. Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Queens Park Rangers), 12. Gaetang Bong (Olympiakos).
Midfielders: 18. Eyong Enoh (Antalyaspor), 11. Jean Makoun (Rennes), 21. Joel Matip (Schalke), 19. Stephane Mbia (Sevilla), 7. Landry Nguemo (Bordeaux), 6. Alex Song (Barcelona), Cedric Loe (Osasuna), Edgar Sally (Lens).
Strikers: 9. Samuel Eto'o (Chelsea), 13. Eric Choupo Moting (Mainz), Benjamin Moukandjo (Nancy), 23. Vincent Aboubakar (Lorient), 15. Achille Webo (Fenerbahce), 17. Mohamadou Idrissou (Kaiserslautern), Fabrice Olinga (Zulte-Waregem).