The star's acting and musical chops make these characters come alive.
Eva Perón is a great subject for theater.
Here's a poor but pretty and extremely ambitious girl from Nowhere, Argentina who sleeps her way to the presidential mansion in Buenos Aires, not only marrying strongman Juan Perón but becoming an icon and a near saint in the process. What's more dramatic than that?
Lyricist Tim Rice had the idea that became a rock opera concept album in 1976, an actual rock opera a few years later. With Andrew Lloyd Webber's music, "Evita" took Broadway by storm in 1979, winning seven Tonys.
San Diego Repertory Theatre, in association with the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, presents "Evita" through Aug. 27 on the Rep's Lyceum Stage. Director Sam Woodhouse uses about two dozen of these extraordinarily talented students in the large cast and orchestra.
You'll see them at the top, as working-class Argentinians ("descamisados" or shirtless ones) trudging off to work. These will become Evita's "people," the ones who will respond to her as to no other politician and will eventually regard her as a saint.
An Everyman character called Che (originally conceived as revolutionary Che Guevara; later used as a Greek chorus and played wonderfully by Jeffrey Ricca) acts as narrator, sometimes questioning her and in fact accusing Evita (Marisa Matthews) of not doing enough good work.
The second act takes Evita on foreign tours, where she finds both more adoration and more disdain (the aristocracy never warmed to her either at home or abroad) as she represents Argentina. Her fame brings her money as well, and rather like Princess Diana, she establishes a charitable foundation.
Also like Diana, Evita will die young – at 33, of cancer, leaving her adoring fans bereft and Perón without the populist following he had on loan from her.
Maddy and Matthews are good foils for each other as Perón and Evita – he, serious and humorless; she, pretty, charming and genuinely interested in others. And they both have the acting and musical chops to make these characters come alive.
The drawbacks of the show are inherent and attributable to Lloyd Webber's lack of interest in writing original music for each song. His tendency to write one good song and reprise it (sometimes changing tempo, meter or harmony) drives me crazy, but I am apparently in the minority.
Sean Fanning's set has a distinctly "descamisado" look about it. Nothing fancy here, though it is dual-level and sports a very scary, steep set of rolling stairs that the dying Evita scales to speak to her adoring public.
But I'm not going to cry much for this "Evita." It's not my favorite show, but the professional cast is uniformly fine and the students impressive, especially in Javier Velasco's dance sequences – the best parts of the show – which are executed with great skill as well as youthful verve and enthusiasm.
"Evita" plays through August 27, 2017 at San Diego Repertory Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, Downtown.


text:
The Land of the Silver Apples
By Nancy Farmer
Illustrated by Rick Sardinha
Mass Market Paperback Trade Paperback eBook Unabridged Audio Download
FROM THE SEA OF TROLLS
BRAVE THEIR WORST
NIGHTMARES -- UNDERGROUND.
Jack is amazed to have caused an earthquake. He is thirteen, after all, and only a bard-in-training. But his sister, Lucy, has been stolen by the Lady of the Lake; stolen a second time in her young life, as he learns to his terror. Caught between belief in the old gods and Christianity (790 AD, Britain), Jack calls upon his ash wood staff to subdue a passel of unruly monks, and, for his daring, ends up in a knucker hole. It is unforgettable -- for the boy and for readers -- as are the magical reappearance of the berserker Thorgil from a burial by moss; new characters Pega, a slave girl from Jack's village, and the eager-to-marry-her Bugaboo (a hobgoblin king); kelpies; yarthkins; and elves (not the enchanted sprites one would expect but the fallen angels of legend). Rarely does a sequel enlarge so brilliantly the world of the first story. Look for the conclusion in The Islands of the Blessed in 2009.
Nancy Farmer
Nancy Farmer has written three Newbery Honor books: The Ear, the Eye and the Arm; A Girl Named Disaster; and The House of the Scorpion, which also won the National Book Award and the Printz Honor. Other books include The Lord of Opium, The Sea of Trolls, The Land of the Silver Apples, The Islands of the Blessed, Do You Know Me, The Warm Place, and three picture books for young children. She grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border and now lives with her family in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona.
Rick Sardinha
Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books (August 21, 2007)
Lexile ® 710
Lexile ® 691 - 790
Children's Fiction > Legends, Myths, Fables > Norse
Children's Fiction > Historical > Medieval
"Jack, Pega, and Thorgil prove strong and capable in ways they themselves never suspected, and readers will look forward to the final installment." -- Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
Booklist Editors' Choice
Bank Street Best Books of the Year
Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best
Sea of Trolls Trilogy Reading Group Guide (pdf)
The Sea of Trolls trilogy reading group guide (pdf)
Book Cover Image (jpg): The Land of the Silver Apples
Hardcover 9781416907350
Author Photo (jpg): Nancy Farmer
More books from this author: Nancy Farmer

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Ursula Stormholder Goes Into the Suck
Ursula Stormholder was raised by pirates with a chip on her shoulder the size of Uranus, but for the right price, she just may save the universe. And in Into the Suck, writer Keith Thomas, artist CB Zane, colorist Oracle and letterer Kel Nuttel are giving her plenty of adventures to delve into. The story is a six issue miniseries that begins with her taking on a job to pick up and deliver a seemingly normal human (if a heavy set drunken frat boy can be considered normal) to her broker. When she returns with her prize, she finds her broker murdered and must now play a cosmic game of cat and mouse with her paycheck named Armando in tow as she seeks to discover who originally brokered the deal so that she can get paid.
Ursula Stormholder is the complete package: Beauty and the Beast. The daughter of the most feared pirate in space, she makes her living as a privateer. Pick up, delivery, and the occasional kidnapping are among the list of services she offers. While trying to make a living, she is also making a reputation for herself outside of her father's shadow. It's not necessarily a good one. In the process she is caught up in her love/hate relationship with her father, chased by the Royal Fleet and ultimately forced to lead a rescue, thwart a villainous foe bent of universal domination and save the galaxy… much like her father did years ago when he was a hero, before this area was the cold, dark, war ravaged place they call The Suck.
Check out the Kickstarter here. Full press release below.
Ursula Stormholder Goes Hard Into the Suck
for immediate release ~ July 4, 2016
Ursula Stormholder was raised by pirates with a chip on her shoulder the size of Uranus, but for the right price, she just may save the universe.
Ursula Stormholder is the complete package: Beauty and the Beast. The daughter of the most feared pirate in space, she makes her living as a privateer. Pick up, delivery, and the occasional kidnapping are among the list of services she offers. While trying to make a living, she is also making a reputation for herself outside of her father's shadow. It's not necessarily a good one.
She has friends and enemies at every port, not equally proportionate.
The art team on "Into The Suck" are writer Keith Thomas, artist CB Zane, colorist Oracle (aka PH Fuller) and Letterist Kel Nuttel and they have outdone themselves. You really have to see it to believe it. And with the help of their Kickstarter-friends they already met their funding within mere days!
This story, which is a six issue miniseries begins with her taking on a job to pick up and deliver a seemingly normal human (if a heavy set drunken frat boy can be considered normal) to her broker. When she returns with her prize, she finds her broker murdered and must now play a cosmic game of cat and mouse with her paycheck named Armando in tow as she seeks to discover who originally brokered the deal so that she can get paid.
In the process she is caught up in her love/hate relationship with her father, chased by the Royal Fleet and ultimately forced to lead a rescue, thwart a villainous foe bent of universal domination and save the galaxy… much like her father did years ago when he was a hero, before this area was the cold, dark, war ravaged place they call The Suck.
That seems like an awful lot to handle for an ass-kicking, pig-headed girl from the bad part of space. Not to worry, despite being socially toxic, she does possess enough charm and warmth to surround herself with a friend and pilot, the ever lovable little green alien Squee, a romantic interest in the form of Prince Ruck who was once the kidnap victim of one of her father's many schemes in the past and her trusty mechanic friend Emery who keeps her ship, the Queen B, operational and always loaded properly for the next mission.
Imagine a super model who can beat up the toughest guy in the room, own the crowd with a wink of an eye and then belch the alphabet. What's not to love?
"Into The Suck" is an action adventure comedy set in a very serious world populated by colorful characters who don't particularly take it too seriously.
Some early reviews went like:
"This looks great."
"This is going to be huge."
"It feel like the late 80's Indy stuff I love, but with much cleaner execution."
"I already have a really good sense of the main crew without a whole lot of exposition, which for a first issue is great!"
And my favorite...
"I laughed so hard I scared my cat."
Come join the crew of aliens and action, of one-liners and romance, about universal domination and saving the galaxy all roled into one. Kickstarter-ing now athttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/700688232/into-the-suck


Monday morning begins with breakfast between 7:30am - 8:30am, with day students able to register between 8am - 8:30am. All will gather in MacKenzie Hall for a welcome, overview, and introduction to instructors at 8:45am, then we're off and running to classes which start at 9:00am. Each class is 50 minutes, and there are 5 a day. We have a short break in the morning from 10:50 to 11:10, and then break at 12pm for lunch, and wrap up class at 3:20pm.


United Labor Credit Union offers all members of Labor unique and affordable ways to borrow money. At United Labor, we find ways to loan you money, not deny you the opportunity to borrow for what you want and need. There's no credit cruch here!
The President and a special Credit Committee of Labor leader volunteers review your application and move you through the borrowing process quickly (in some cases, instantly). If you are denied credit for any reason, a United Labor Senior Lending Specialist will explain your individual situation confidentially and with compassion. Oftentimes, we are able to help you get through a rough financial patch and repair your credit so you can reapply and save money when you borrow in the future.
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THERE IS NEVER A HARD TIME TO CLEAN YOUR CARPETINGS.
First and foremost it have to be noted that We do not and will not inflate our costs throughout high demand or seasonal problems. By evaluating the demands of our clients prior to the cleaning company our administration team is able to schedule our professionals time correctly.
We can not worry this enough … leaving high soil levels in the carpeting for any kind of size of time will create pre-mature wear to the carpeting (web traffic lanes, fiber threadbare, fast re-soiling as everyday particulates in the air and massaging off of shoe bottoms, will stick to the currently present soil in the carpeting fibers intensifying the currently existing problem.).
All carpeting needs to be vacuumed regularly. 70% of soil is removed with vacuuming, the staying 30% is removed with a hot water removal.
As specialists, we understands that there is never a hard time to clean your carpetings– whether its dirt and pollen in the Spring/ Summer or salt and debris in the Loss/ Winter they all obtain tracked on to the carpeting– completely dry vacuuming and removal are the only method to remove the components that harm both your carpeting and the air top quality of your structure.
Public assumption usually says that a rug is only filthy when you see the dirt. This is far from the facts. By the time soil could be seen, carpeting fibers are currently being harmed.
ECO-FRIENDLY CARPET CLEANSING IN [area] DOES YOUR CARPET NEED A DETOX?
Our Commercial Carpeting Upkeep aids keep [area], the Lower Landmass et cetera of BC environment-friendly by utilizing safe, green carpeting cleaning products. As an industry-leading professional carpeting cleansing firm, we take care of large jobs that call for hostile cleaning. Unlike numerous of our competitors, we are concentrated on utilizing cleaning products and modern devices that are both reliable and green.
Our Calmar, carpeting cleaning company consists of area removal and carpeting maintenance in between deep cleans up. Our specially-formulated Encap-Tech cleaning procedure, green Pre-Spot discolor eliminator and Gum tissue eliminator interact to obtain down and filthy with your carpetings, leaving them looking new once again.
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Enter Our Cleaners, managing your commercial carpeting cleansing the green method. Our environment-friendly carpeting cleaning products do not consist of toxic chemicals. Our products fulfill the most strict requirements for health and wellness, are licensed by Ecologo ™, the Canadian government"s environmental standard and accreditation program, in addition to the distinguished Carpeting and Rug Institute (CRI).


Lauren Bush Lauren is the Chief FEEDer and Co-Founder of FEED Projects, a charitable company with the mission of creating good products that help feed the world. At the podium, Lauren speaks about philanthropy, hunger, and global issues.
Lauren was fabulous! Charming, beautiful and eloquent--everyone was impressed.
Lauren Bush Lauren is the Founder and CEO of FEED, a social business whose mission is to "Create Good Products That Help FEED the World." In 2004, Lauren became the Honorary Student Spokesperson for the UN World Food Program. In that role, she traveled to various countries and learned about the issues of hunger and poverty firsthand. Coming back to America, Lauren was inspired to create a consumer product that would engage people in the seemingly overwhelming fight to end world hunger. In 2005, she conceptualized the idea for FEED by designing the initial FEED 1 bag which, when purchased, feeds one child in school for one year.
In 2007, FEED was founded. Every product sold has a measurable donation attached to it and, to date, the social business has been able to provide over 94 million school meals globally through the WFP and Feeding America. FEED has also supported nutrition programs around the world, providing over 3.5 million children with Vitamin A supplements through UNICEF. Additionally, FEED has forged successful relationships with companies such as Target, Disney, Pottery Barn, Clarins, Whole Foods, Gap, Tory Burch, Rachel Roy, DKNY, Links of London, Godiva and TOMS.
Lauren is also the Chairman of the Board of the FEED Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization that supports programs and organizations that are effectively working to fight hunger and eliminate malnutrition throughout the world.
For her work with FEED, Lauren was named one of Fortune Magazine's Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in 2009 and one of Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30 in 2010. She has also received the 2010 Accessories Council Humanitarian Award, the 2011 Stevie Award for Best Non-Profit Executive, the 2011 Fashion Group International Humanitarian Award and the 2013 Women in Communications Award (WiCi).
Lauren also routinely speaks at global conferences that focus on business, philanthropy and the issues of hunger and poverty. Examples include Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy, Forbes Women, Women in the World, Atlantic Ideas, Aspen Ideas, Women in Entrepreneurship and Politico, Google and Tory Burch's Women Rule.
Lauren was born in Denver, Colorado, and grew up in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Princeton University in 2006 with a B.A. in Anthropology and certificate in Photography. She now resides in New York City, where she works on FEED and other socially conscious ventures.


Rock and roll! Hurting for cash, Strong Bad sets out to dominate the Battle Royale of the Bands. Can he rule the stage and win the big prize? Or will he be drowned out by the competition? Find out in this high-voltage episode -- with special guest stars, rock gods LIMOZEEN!
Your PC will need a graphics card thats as powerful as a GeForce 2 MX 400 64MB/Radeon 7000 64mb and it should be paired with either a Athlon XP 1500+/Pentium 4 1.5GHz CPU to match the Strong Bads Cool Game: Episode 3 - Baddest of the Bands recommended system specs. This PC setup will deliver 60 Frames Per Second on High graphics settings on 1080p monitor resolution. 512 MB will also be needed to achieve the Strong Bads Cool Game: Episode 3 - Baddest of the Bands rec specs and get 60FPS. You will require a DirectX 9 GPU. We suggest a 18 year old PC to play smoothly.
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Essential oil safety is a SUPER hot topic right now, so I thought I'd share my thoughts and research on where I'm at with the topic of using essential oils as flavorings. You may notice that I talk about this in a few of my recipes, like Lemon Yogurt, Peppermint Milkshakes, and more.
I use the NOW oils as food flavorings, and I'm going to share the research that I've found and where my own personal comfort level is on this topic.
P.S. I don't work for NOW or represent them in any way. They have no idea that I exist as far as I know.
There are a number of good brands out there that do offer great quality unadulterated oils that are suitable for flavorings and aromatherapy uses. If you're considering a brand, do your research as to how they source & test their oils.
Make sure the company you purchase from is testing their oils with GC-MS (and has a report for each batch) and purchases their oils directly from a distiller; you're very likely to get a high quality oil this way.
If you've heard nasty things about the NOW quality of oils, then I'd encourage you to read up on their site and on third party testing sites.
If you know of other reputable testing groups, please let me know in the comments…some of the popular ones are not necessarily trustworthy, unfortunately.
Essential Oil Ingestion- is it safe?
There are *thousands* of oils, each one having a unique chemical footprint, and each one having specific dilution ratios and use parameters for use. Not every plant oil, no matter how pure, is safe to use internally.
Not every plant oil, no matter how pure, is safe to use internally.
Learning to use all of the different oils and how to use them for holistic health care takes a couple hundred plus hours of study. And I'll just straight up tell you that I'm not qualified to practice aromatherapy on this level.
Even with a great quality oil, and an oil that's considered food safe (GRAS status), you can still do damage if you fail to consider dosage, dilution and frequency. And that varies by age and it can also vary from person to person depending on their liver health, genetics, and more.
This is why it's important to not approach essential oil use topically or internally casually or willy-nilly.
Just because something is natural doesn't mean that it's safe to use and without side effects. In fact, many potent poisons are completely natural substances. Did you know that some plants (herbs) are so toxic that even the honey made from their nectar is poisonous? Yeah. There is such a fine line between *potent* medicine and poison…the difference is in the dose and duration. Isn't that why we *love* essential oils for their distilled potency and power? Yes!
Sometimes the line between beneficial and harmful is blurry and it takes us years to cross over it. Even if you know people who regularly consume essential oils internally with no apparent damage, that doesn't mean it's safe to do for you…for your family…for your kids.
Certain chemicals compounds found even in completely pure & natural food safe essential oils can build up in the liver and cause stress to your organs, and worse…damage to your health long term. (Please read the comments on that post) And people often don't even realize it until after the damage is done.
I'm a BIG fan of essential oils, but I'm a bigger fan of being wise with natural remedies and doing your homework.
But I digress….today, I want to talk less about ingestion for holistic or medical use, and mainly focus on using essential oils as flavorings in foods and drinks. But what do I MEAN by flavorings? I think that's a REALLY important question.
I only feel comfortable ingesting GRAS (food safe) oils that are fully dispersed in a recipe where emulsification is happening. Using a *properly diluted* amount of a food safe essential oil in a recipe with proteins, emulsifiers like egg or gums and starches, and preferably fats in it is where I feel very comfortable. Emulsification means that the oil is evenly distributed throughout the food or beverage.
The tighter parameters that I'm comfortable with for my family exclude the most common way that people are using oils. I'd like to tell you why.
I do NOT think it's safe to add essential oils to water. Oil and water don't mix, so adding a drop or two of essential oils simply creates a film or droplets of pure oil on top of the water.
Ingesting by dropping it straight into water can expose your delicate mucous membranes to straight essential oils at thousands of times over the safety threshold of dilution for topical or internal use. That can be damaging to your mouth, esophagus, throat, stomach lining, etc.
Using essential oils in water or just ingesting too much or too many on a daily basis can become a problem for liver health. Over time it can cause major problems internally, and you run the risk of developing sensitivity to oils where they over-activate your immune system. Like an allergy, once you develop sensitivity to an oil you can no longer use it.
I'd also like to point out that this method of ingestion is not really about flavor- it's usually touted as a health promoting daily protocol. Which honestly frightens me.
Ingesting oils is not always immediately dangerous, but if I were wanting to use essential oils internally for holistic health, I'd definitely consult with a certified aromatherapist first. Aromatherapists do recommend internal use but only for short time frames, and with a close eye on patient health during that time. You can read more about what the leading aromatherapy schools teach on the topic of ingestion in that link.
When I did the photos for this post, I realized that lemon oil disperses across the surface of the water in such a thin sheen that you can barely detect it visually. But the scent is remarkably strong.
Yes, lemon is a food safe oil, but the dilution ratios are ignored, there is no emulsification or distribution happening in this scenario. And there are documented accounts of elevated liver enzymes from this practice. If you enjoy lemon flavored water, please just use lemon juice or slices instead.
So IS it safe to use essential oils as flavorings, like I do in my recipes? For instance, I talk about using lemon essential oil here in my lemon yogurt recipe as a flavoring. Is THAT safe?
First, I go back the BIG issue of seeing each oil as a unique compound: I research each essential oil individually prior to using it as a flavoring.
The best quality citrus oils are pure cold pressed, because heat damages the flavor. And the FLAVOR…they smell like heaven.
What about pesticides? Choose a reputable company that tests each batch of oil to be sure that their lemons don't have anything funky sprayed on them. Knowing that my lemon oil passed this test, I trust the purity of this over my grocery store zest any day.
Choosing oils that are Generally Recognized As Safe by the FDA for food products/additives is a great starting point, but it's ONLY the starting point. Next you need to learn the safe dilution ratio for the oil you're using.
Certain essential oils have been used safely for long periods of time in food and beverages in the correct ratios. And by correct ratios, I mean parts per million. (ppm) In these cases, the oils are fully dispersed in the recipe, and a range of safe dilution ratios is followed for each unique oil and food or beverage type.
Let's envision parts per million: if you had 1 million drops of lemon yogurt, you'd have a little over 13 1/4 quarts of yogurt, and you'd add the corresponding number of lemon essential oil drops to the giant vat as you mixed. This is how essential oils are used in the food and beverage industry.
According to the Handbook of Flavor Ingredients by Dr. George A. Burdock, Ph.D, cold pressed lemon oil is safe to use as a flavoring agent in amounts up to 3000 ppm*.
I'm only using one quart of yogurt in my recipe, so if I figured that right with this tool, that would be a maximum safe limit of 68 drops. I think that would be a mite too strong even for my lemon loving lips, so I'm going to stick with my 4-6 drop ratio, which is WELL under the safe limit for food applications.
In the case of lemon yogurt, there is a good amount of protein, and the recipe is stirred thoroughly to make sure the oil is evenly distributed. Since I'm not eating this daily in large quantities, and since I'm well below the dilution ratio, I feel very comfortable with this type of use…this is IMO responsible use as a flavoring agent.
Quality food safe essential oil in food that's evenly distributed through the mix, and in proper food safe dilution? Bing-bing!
So that's my research and what I'm comfortable with as far as using oils internally. I hope this post helped provide some food for thought, no matter where you stand on the issue of ingestion, and that you'll take some time to read through the posts I've linked to (and the comments!) and continue to research to make your best decision for your family.
*please note: different food types have different dilution ratios. 3000 ppm is the "all other" category since this recipe didn't fit into the gelatin recipes, baked goods, candies, ices, non-alcoholic drinks, or alcoholic drink categories provided. Please do your own thorough research on what is safe for using essential oils in foods. In addition to playing it safe, please pay special attention to your own body's signals about whether a food is a good fit for you or not.
P.S. If anyone is looking for a good birthday present, this nerd-girl would love a copy of the Handbook of Flavor Ingredients. 🙂 The Google book preview doesn't show me all of the stuff I want to know.
« Lemon Yogurt Recipe- Family Size!
Thank you for sharing your insightful research.
Thank you for sharing. I found out the hard way to stop ingesting oils in water. I loved drinking my water flavored with lemon oil then I started having breathing issues and throat issues. I went to the doc a few times and they didn't know what was wrong. Then I stopped putting the oils in my water and voila – no breathing issues or throat issues. It's amazing how companies say it's safe to put in water. Thanks again! 🙂 I love your blog.
Oh goodness! So glad you figured out what was causing it.
Thank You for your insightful article. I love essential oils. I use to use DoTerra, which is absolutely wonderful but a little pricey. I have been using NOW lately and they are great. We have just recently launched an online store that sells essential oil related products, not the oil themselves and your articles and website is fantastic. You will definitely be a go to source. Thank You!
Thanks, Krystal! Best wishes on your new endeavor!
My father, a chemist and manager of the analytical labs for a major company in the US until he retired twenty years ago had this definition of poison: "Too much." Too much of anything can become a poison, you just have to know how much is too much. In the case of essential oils, "too much" can be defined by droplets. After reading the MSDS (Manufacturer's Safety Data Sheets) for various brands of essential oils, I decided that essential oils would not be part of our life. The risk of "too much" is too great. When I hear of parents letting their children dispense essential oils to themselves on their own perceived as-needed basis if they have a sore throat or cold, I do get very alarmed. And yet sellers of essential oils promote this very action. So, no essential oils will ever be found in our house.
Question…what about using extracts instead of oils? What exactly are the differences between the two? Interesting article. Thanks!
an extract may use a tiny amount of oil or other flavoring added to a base of alcohol or glycerin. 🙂 You use a larger amount…usually a few teaspoons of extract is equivalent to one drop of oil.
Thank you. I'm going to add a micro amount of lemon oil to flavor my homemade toothpaste recipe.
Thanks for such a well written post! You braved the issue of EO safety and did so very thoughtfully . You said we could mention other EOs we use and I have to highly recommend checking out PlantTherapy. They are very safety conscious and do publish testing results for all batches. They have many certified aromatherapists available for questions and have a great FB page: SafeEssentialOilRecipes (I'm not connected in any way…just a happy customer!) Thanks again, Gwen!


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European Art, 1600 to the Present: Biographies >
Gainsborough, Thomas
Gainsborough, Thomas gānz´bûr˝ō [key], 1727–88, English portrait and landscape painter, b. Sudbury. In 1740 he went to London and became the assistant and pupil of the French engraver Hubert Gravelot . He was also influenced in his youth by the painter Francis Hayman and studied the landscapes of the great 17th-century Dutch artists. In 1745 he returned to Sudbury, later moving to Ipswich and finally to Bath, where he gradually acquired a large and lucrative portrait practice rivaling that of his contemporary Sir Joshua Reynolds . Gainsborough is celebrated for the elegance, vivacity, and refinement of his portraits, which were greatly influenced in style by the work of Van Dyck . Some of these portray old-money aristocrats, but more are from the newly wealthy and highly cultured middle-class elite. Gainsborough had little taste for the society of his sitters, however, and spent much spare time painting his favorite subject, landscape, entirely for his own pleasure. These works were among the first great landscapes painted in England. As a colorist Gainsborough has had few rivals among English painters.
In his last years Gainsborough excelled in fancy pictures, a pastoral genre that featured idealized subjects (e.g., The Mall, 1783; Frick Coll., New York City). He painted all parts of his pictures himself, an unusual practice for his day. He left a large collection of landscape drawings, which influenced the development of 19th-century landscape art. He is well represented in the national galleries of London, Ireland, and Scotland; in the Wallace Collection, London; and in many private collections. Examples of Gainsborough's work may be seen in the Metropolitan Museum and the museums of Cincinnati, Boston, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. Outstanding among his well-known works are Perdita (Wallace Coll., London), The Blue Boy (Huntington Art Gall., San Marino, Calif.), and Lady Innes (Frick Coll.).
See his letters, ed. by M. Woodall (rev. ed. 1963); his drawings, ed. by J. Hayes (2 vol., 1971) and ed. by J. Hayes and L. Staiton (1985); his prints, ed. by J. Hayes (1972); J. Hayes, Gainsborough's Landscape Paintings: A Critical Text and Catalogue Raisonné (2 vol., 1982); J. Lindsay, Gainsborough: His Life and Art (1983); M. Rothschild, The Life and Art of Thomas Gainsborough (1983).
See more Encyclopedia articles on: European Art, 1600 to the Present: Biographies


Home from the Hospital...Now what?
I completed my music therapy internship in an inpatient physical rehabilitation hospital working primarily with adults who had brain injuries. Some patients had been involved in car accidents, some had a stroke, others had neurological diseases, but they all wound up in my office looking to a team of specialists (including a board certified music therapist) to help them with their cognitive and physical functioning. After their inpatient stay, patients were discharged home or to a facility to get on with their lives complete with a discharge plan to help them continue recovery.
Music therapy played a vital part in the recovery process for many of my patients, particularly when it came to working on impulse control, following directions, improving articulation and clarity of speech, and organizing both fine and gross motor functions. When they were discharged home, their plans often times included provisions for continued outpatient speech therapy, physical therapy, or occupational therapy, but to my knowledge never music therapy.
The road to recovery from a brain injury doesn't end when a patient leaves the hospital. I've had the privilege of working with two different adult clients with brain injuries since coming to The George Center. With one client, we've been working together to improve her cognition to organize information, so that she can fully devote herself to her studies in college and be able to manage the tasks necessary for holding a job. We've also gotten to work on giving her back some physical skills necessary for playing her violin which were impacted because of her brain injury. In our session this week we even started building an adaptive device for her bow to help her play with more stability since her right hand shakes.
Other clients with brain injuries need a place to process the dramatic changes that have happened in their lives and work through all that they are facing. There's a place for all of these things (and more) within an outpatient music therapy setting.
Time to sing, dance, and play the summer away!


How long do you run your generator prior switching over to it with a minor load? I suspect it would be based on how large the generator is and based on an adequate warm up period. The generator on Bay Tripper is 5kw so it's relatively small. I switch to it within a couple of minutes of starting. Am I doing it wrong?
Assuming it is a diesel genset I put a load on it immediately of about 10% or so and go to whatever demand I have once it warms up - typically less than a couple of minutes.
Regarding your genny "warm up". I usually start the genny with no load and let it run until it smooths out (typically less than 20-30 seconds) then apply loads sequentially.
I switch within seconds. as soon as the oil pressure gets high enough for me to let go of the preheat switch, I start applying load.
If the genset is cold, I'll get a little "hunting" and if that happens I turn off my water heater for a minute until the genny warms up, then it won't hunt.
Depends on the generator. The coolant temperature on mine rises quickly, even without a load. When I see 100 degrees, I add some load. Add the balance of the load when it reaches operating temperature.
I turn on my main breaker within maybe 30-60 seconds of startup. But initial load is never more than about 25%. Then maybe a minute later the inverter/charger switches over its loads and ramps up charging. That brings load up to 50-60%.
I start my small NextGen 3.5KW unit with the genset's breaker off. I let it run for a minute or so. Then I turn the breaker on and the Freedom inverter/charger slowly ramps up its charging over a minute or so. It can put a 10 amp AC load on the generator if the batteries are down. That warms up the generator and after a few minutes of high current charging the charger ramps down to about 5 amps AC. I then add any big loads like the water heater or stove top.
So like my propulsion engine I wouldn't put big loads on the generator until it is well warmed up. I don't try to plane my boat until the engine is at operating temp for example. A generator being a smaller engine takes less time, but probably 3-5 minutes if it has a light load on it.
I have a 5kW and switch it over probably ten seconds after start- how long it takes to walk back and check that it is pumping water. But load is small, like charger and fridge. Big loads like AC I wait like five minutes for it to warm up.
Sometimes I start it with the breaker on and sometimes with the breaker off. Depends on what I'm doing at the time. I always preheat about 20 seconds. Knock on wood, I have not had any significant issue with it except a minor leaking seal which I replaced as soon as I was able. My gen is large and likes to handle larger loads. During the christmas parade, Just powering the 5000 or so leds was not enough to keep it happy for a 4 hour period of time. I had to turn on more cabin lighting, (also leds).
I think it depends on the generator. I am also still learning what all of my systems like and are capable of doing. Trial and error if you will.
The NEC mandate for required backup power generation is not to exceed 10 seconds from power outage to power restoration.
Because of this I have no problem immediately loading a generator. Never seen one hurt by that practice over a several decade career. Granted many of these unts are kept warm with block heaters, but they also go from a dead stop to full load in one step, something a recreational marine generator never really sees.
An interesting note... At my shop we go from power outage to fully loading our generators in 3.7 seconds. That includes detection, crank, and load transfer. We also have a two generator system. If the primary generator fails to pick up the load, the secondary unit will come online, all in under the 10 second NEC requirement.
I know the above has nothing to do with "marine" generators, but the insite is relevant since for every marine generator there are probably a thosand land based units in service.
And I let it cool down for the same amount of time....about 5 minutes.
Have put small load on my Westerbeke 8kw immediately as the refrigeration and water heater are fed with 110 v ac as soon as the ac is present. The inverter passes through the AC to the house outlets immediately. The two inverter/chargers which are the major 110v load take perhaps thirty seconds to cycle to bulk charge after the 110 ac is present.
This has been going on for 18 years. Little late for me to start worrying about it.
I put between a 10-20% load on mine within about 30 seconds of starting. Beyond that, I try to wait a couple of minutes if I plan to say switch on all 3 air conditioners.
We have westerbeke 7.5 diesel and I load it immediately. We have a roof top air, and small refrigerator. I have a 2nd alternator that keeps everything up while underway so I turn the charger off .
I let it run a couple minutes under a light load, like fridge and battery charger, just to hear and watch it run, make sure water is pumping, then switch on whatever I want. What is the hurry?
Mine has an autostart on demand feature, which I never use. It can start and stop on demand, but with a fridge and a PC and lights, it is going to want to run most of the time.
I removed the charger circuit from the autostart side, otherwise it wants to run all the time. I just leave the charger switch on all the time, that way I wont be forgetting to turn it on.
I too worked in industry where we had backup gennies that had to get on line in 10sec. Big old Nordbergs and it was a challenge to meet that spec.
But if there was no rule requiring 10sec, I think most engineers would prefer some warmup, especially on big machines. That thermal stress issue..
When testing, we would start with gov set low, then sync and gradually add load over like 15min. We were gentle with them when we could.
Also, those backup machines usually don't log a lot of hours. Testing and an occasional outage. So there may be issues that are not seen.
The "average" recreational marine generator probably dies from lack of use or corrosion related issues I would believe, but that is defered to you, since I don't deal much in the recreational side.
Again, I have never seen or heard of a generator failure that was even thoght of being attributed to immediate loading. I live in a world where standby generators are immediatly loaded to near full load once a week during the weekly generator test cycle. These units frequently are in service for decades. The Automatic Transfer Switch initiates a transfer, which applies full load in one step. This is even aggrivated by the fact that many installers do not turn on the "in phase monitor" function which makes the intial loading a pottentially 180 degree out of phase transfer with a 30 milisecond break before make. (in my opinion not a good idea).
I do see a number of generator end failures, but when you look at the installation, they are situations where where high ambient temperatures, mixed with high loading levels exceed the manufacturers operating specifications. That and the occasional end bearing failure.
I never thought about the question. Takes but a moment after starting for the Northern Lights to sound 'normal'. Takes more than that for me to get over to the panel. I leave all the 110v panel breakers off so switching stuff on is sequential. The AC is on a separate panel and is therefore switched later as well.
I can certainly hear the genset change sound with varying loads, but very seldom does the rpm dip even for a moment.
Once the engine starts, check instruments for proper oil pressure and battery charging voltage. Never attempt to engage the starter while the engine is running. Apply a light load to the generator and allow the engine's operating temperature is reached (170 - 190 F) and when a load is applied to the generator.
-Light load until normal coolant temp on the gauge.
-Apply large loads like AC, water heater, battery charger, etc.
Even at full rated electrical load, a marine gen engine is not at full engine load. My 8 BTD is a 21hp (16Kw) diesel engine.
The key to the wear is the oil temperature. If it is a cold engine room start, let it warm up with light load first. If it is warm from running a few hours ago, or the engine room has been warm from the days run, go ahead and load it up.


People move for different reasons. They may need more space for their growing family, or are simply ready for a change. Whatever the reason, when the time comes to move to a new place, you might find yourself torn between purchasing a new home and investing in a custom-built home. On the one hand, looking at houses on the market means you can move in almost immediately after closing; you will have to wait a lot longer to move into a custom-built home. But how much time exactly? Truth be told, the answer depends on a handful of factors.
If you want to invest in a custom-built home but don't know where to start, read on! Here's some information from a knowledgeable and experienced home builder in Sonoma County, CA.
On average, and assuming that everything goes according to plan, most custom home builds take anywhere from 10 to 16 months from start to finish. That being said, it's important to understand that this timeframe depends on the size of the house, the time needed to clear the lot, weather conditions, construction delays and a variety of other related factors. Furthermore, to estimate the time it will take to build your custom home, it's helpful to know the size and complexity of the home, where you want to build it and the time of year you want to start construction.
There's also you, the client. Because the home is being built to your personal specifications, you will have many decisions to make before and during the home build process—any delay in responding to the contractor could add days or weeks to the build time. Another variable that can extend the build time is change orders. You'll be updated in real time, but substantial delays are possible if change orders occur later in the building process, as opposed to coming in near the beginning of the build.
In addition to taking into account time for making decisions and running into delays, you will also need to include the time it'll take to design the house or choose a premade plan, as well as waiting for approval from the local building administration. And let's say you choose an architect-designed custom home—this particular design process takes anywhere from three to six months, plus additional time for permitting. If purchasing a plan, it will need to be checked and modified by an architect, but requires less time (two to three months plus permitting).
A custom home build may not be the best plan if you're on a tight schedule or have a specific date that you need to move. This can be an issue because construction will take time and you won't be able to move in for several months or more, at least until the house is completed and passes inspection. Keep this in mind if you do decide to hire custom home builders in Sonoma County, CA.
Feel free to contact the team at ABA Custom Homes Inc. for more information!


"When you are left with nothing but broken pieces…take them…rearrange them…and make a masterpiece!"
As a glass artist since 1976, my experience spans the past 35 years and has included creating and designing original works, as well as all the various stages of the creative process. My medium includes stained glass, mosaic and most recently mixed media and repurposed glass art styles. My "Recaptured Tempered Glass" line is earth conscious and eco-friendly. Each piece is made from over 80% recycled materials, which guarantees each piece to be a unique original.
It was a chance Glass Art class in the 70's which ignited my passion. From that moment in time I began to experiment with and grow to appreciate the constant flow, movement and light creations that are the mesmerizing traits of glass. As a Northwest native, my work has been showcased in art galleries, wineries, golf courses, and specialty shops across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California, including a window of the Oakland Raider's logo hanging in the Oakland Coliseum. As of ski season 2014 my recaptured glass skis went international heading from the ArtWorks Gallery in Sandpoint, Idaho to a new home in Scotland.
As a member of numerous artist guilds, I participate in many seasonal art shows, charity events and have provided Trophy Award Windows for numerous west coast golf tournaments and currently accept private commissioned work.


So, I just finished watching Firefly the other day.
Yeah, I know. I know!
Anyway, now that I've completely destroyed my nerd credibility here, I'm going to try and regain some ground by returning to geeking out over Kingdom Hearts 2.
Don't matter none that it took you this long to watch it. Easy to miss on ruttin' Fox, and the boxed set's spendy enough that I wouldn't have it if I didn't get it as a gift. Bonuses are shiny, though.
Yeah. The biggest hold-up was that, well… I don't watch tv. So my natural laziness prevented me from going to any extra special measure to seek it out.
Once Serenity came out, which I saw, I knew I wanted to watch Firefly.
Unfortunately, again… laziness prevailed. I watched about half of it while the discs were on loan from a friend, then had to return them. It took me a few more months before I remembered to go hunting them down again.
I'd watch a good 1/4 to 1/2 the series in one sitting – but actually getting around to those sittings was the problem.
And hey! That was way more explanation than was truly needed. Ah well, such is life.


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OMG Housewife Disfigures Husband's Mistress Face With Acid
A housewife, Mrs Suzanna Fawole (38), has been remanded in Ife prisons in Osun State after she was arraigned in Magistrates' court, Modakeke and accused of bathing one Funmilayo Aderibigbe (35), whom she suspected to ber husband's lover, with a liquid substance suspected to be acid, thereby causing her grievous bodily harm.
The acting Chief Magistrate, Mr O.A. Ayilara ordered that the accused be remanded in Ife prison custody while the case was adjourned till July 1 for further hearing.
May 6, was like any other day for Aderibigbe who resides on Adeboye Street, Ife-Modakeke road. Set for the day ahead, she went ahead to prepare herself for the activities she had lined up for herself, oblivious of what was in stock for her.
Before the end of the day, however, her once-beautiful physique which made her the toast of all, suddenly crumpled under the subduing power of acid. She was almost turned into a monster such as ones usually seen in horror movies after she was allegedly bathed with acid by Fawole.
Crime Reports gathered that Fawole had alleged Aderibigbe of having an affair with her husband. As a result, the suspect had sent a number of threatening text messages to the victim, warning her to steer clear of her husband. Aderibigbe reportedly ignored the messages and went about her life until the deadly liquid was used to arouse her from her perceived indifferent attitude.
Residents of the area were said to have been infuriated by the suspect's act, as an angry mob reportedly gathered, with the intention to revenge Fawole's act but immediately police officers and men attached to Modakeke Division of the Osun State Police Command were alerted on the occurrence, Crime Reports gathered that they quickly moved to the scene to control the crowd and prevent a serious crisis from erupting.
It was said that peace was eventually restored to the area after the suspect had been arrested. The victim was also taken to Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, (OAUTHC) Ile-Ife for prompt medical attention. Her mouth and tongue were said to have been badly affected that she was being fed through the nose.
During interrogation, Fawole reportedly confessed that she decided to teach the victim a lesson out of frustration and fear of losing her husband to the lady. The victim was said to be fond of going to the matrimonial home of the suspect to meet her husband with whom she was suspected of having a relationship. Fawole admitted beating Aderibigbe before pouring the acid on her.
Culled from Tribune
Suicide Bomber Screaming "Sai Buhari" Blows Up Self In Maiduguri Meat Market Killing 5
33 Year Old Woman Arrested For Beating Up Herself [PHOTO]
The Igbo Speaking Nigerians Have Been Unjustly Treated – Etcetera
PHOTO: Man Dies After Receiving Acid Bath At Lovers House
Related Topics:NewsPHOTOSPEAKS
How I Love It In The Bedroom – Nigerian Representative To Big Brother Africa Beverly Osu
NEW MUSIC: Tabitha – Onwa M na Eti


I wanted to show off the skateboards I've done over the past year on ArtsProjekt, so check them out!
This entry was posted in ArtsProjekt, Belial, Between the Buried and Me, Christeen, Cyborgs, Evil Priestess, Leviathan, Robots, Skateboarding, Skateboards. Bookmark the permalink.
← Tour Posters for Sale! Benefits the CBLDF!


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What now? Why do we continue to see the same oppressive, racist tactics that divide and destroy our communities? Is it a lack of votes to the "right" party? Is it a lack of education and understanding? Or is it the effects of an intentional system, working to perfection? Now more than ever Haymarket's work to create systemic change is critical. We must support our grantees as they work to address the root causes of racism by creating change in their communities.
As we all know immigrant communities have been a target for years and the threat has increased under the new administration. The children of immigrants are at risk of losing everything if DACA is eliminated. Organizations we fund, such as Student Immigrant Movement (SIM) (Boston, MA) and CT Students for a Dream (C4D) (Bridgeport, CT) are working tirelessly to prevent this from happening.
Throughout the country our Black brothers and sisters are disproportionately imprisoned within a system built to destroy their humanity, putting their communities at the mercy of the prison industrial complex. Families for Justice as Healing (FJAH) (Boston, MA) organizes incarcerated and previously incarcerated women and girls to help families address the harm and trauma caused by incarceration. FJAH has focused their efforts on the Primary Caretakers Bill, a bill that would allow judges to consider community based alternatives to incarceration, enabling families to stay together.
Every day people are being pushed out of their homes and communities due to gentrification. Predatory housing policies and land grabbing leave poor and working class communities unable to sustain their livelihoods. Organizations such as Springfield No one Leaves/Springfield Nadie se Mude (Springfield, MA) are defending folks who have been displaced from foreclosed homes though direct action campaigns, solidarity building and political education. Working within their community to build collective power, defend against displacement, win long term community ownership and control over land and housing.
Our grantees need your support in order to change the tide that threatens us all. We ask that you do so by making a generous contribution that is meaningful to you, a contribution that will enable our grantees to continue fighting to hold our country accountable for its atrocities.
Give the gift of Change not Charity!
Download a card to print with ways to give, or contribute by mail:
Haymarket People's Fund
42 Seaverns Ave, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
or by following the link below
Please note that we have changed our stock transfer instructions. Please contact Jennifer Dowdell Rosario at 617-522-7676 x106, or Karla Nicholson at 617-522-7676 x103, for stock delivery instructions. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Download Our Calendar and Financial Report
42 Seaverns Avenue


Celeste Ackelson, a brown-haired lady with long hair and a curvy figure, is known to family and friends for her impeccable style and terrific fashion sense. To the general public, however, she's known more for her connection.
Presently, Ackelson is married to Brian Baumgartner, an American actor, most famous for his role as"Kevin" in the hit sitcom "The Office". She currently uses the title, Celeste Baumgartner.
Celeste was born in America in 1982. Now she's 36 years old. Celeste has said little else about her youth but notes that she had a rather average upbringing.
The pair immediately clicked, with Ackelson frequently expressing that she loved how much Baumgartner made her laugh.
His personality was a sweet, somewhat slow accountant who was famous for his love of his continuous accounting mistakes. After the couple got married, many of his The Office costars arrived at the marriage, such as Angela Kinsey, Jenna Fischer, Oscar Nunez & John Krasinski.
The wedding brought widespread attention from several media outlets because of Ackelson's stunning dress and the guest list, which included all of Baumgartner's old castmates.
Baumgartner has acted in many different functions but is famous for playing Kevin Malone on the hit NBC series The Office. The Office, now hailed as one of the greatest comedies in America, follows the lives of office workers from a tiny fictional paper company in Scranton, PA.
In March 2015, 1 year after becoming married, Ackelson gave birth to a baby girl, whom they called Brylee Bea Baumgartner. Although Baumgartner has another kid with his ex-wife Fisher, Brylee Bea is the couple's only child together.
Ackelson has yet to declare whether she and Baumgartner intend on having any more kids. Presently, the couple looks very happy together, and don't look like they'll be dividing any time soon. Celeste, her husband, and her daughter currently live together in Los Angeles.
According to friends and family members, Celeste has always had a bit of an artistic spirit. She loved reading and frequently drew as a kid. When she grew older, her artistic side still remained, and she worked on little personal projects for herself and her friends.
Finally, her love of art moved beyond the standard definition and to the world of fashion. She's always well-dressed and shows off her sense of fashion whenever her and her husband head out to events or red carpet premieres. She promotes the most recent fashion trends in several of her public appearances.


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Brianna Keyes (født 30. september 1993) er en kvindelig australsk håndboldspiller. Hun spiller i UTC Handball Club og på Australiens håndboldlandshold, som højre fløj. Hun repræsenterede , under VM 2019 i Japan.

Kilder

Håndboldspillere fra Australien

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


18:05 13/12/2018 The Federal Antimonopoly Service has launched a case against large retailers like Eldorado, Ulmart and thers over increase in prices for digital set-up boxes.
16:57 13/12/2018 Russian business ombudsman Boris Titov has suggested that businesses could forward up to 20% of tax-exempt profit as donations to certain NGOs.
10:59 13/12/2018 The Moscow Commercial Court has dismissed a request filed by the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) seeking to recover property of four persons previously in control of the Bank Gorod, estimated at 10.5 billion rubles ($158.4).


Shine and enlarged pores have the same cause: excess sebum. Effaclar Mat is formulated with Sebulyse which helps to matify skin and tighten pores. Sebulyse sebo-regulating efficacy is clinically superior to zinc, the reference active ingredient.
Oily skin and suitable for sensitive skin.


David Hough was my partner in this book project "You met my late husband?" Er, no, actually I didn't, is often my reply. I would like to have done, sure.
Writing obituaries is often an exercise in "meeting" after the event. Such contact, over conversation, over coffee, over both, can lead to something like friendship. The question from a wife or family member, about any possible meeting, is a source of comfort. The implication is that my work has done justice to a life well lived.
Likewise, a reader may call to make the point: "I'd like to have met the doctor you wrote about in last week's paper." So would I, is often my reply.
Many obituaries in my recent anthology, Encore, included the results of such conversations. Families and friends enjoyed the chance to reflect on my knowledge of the person whose life and achievements have been summarised.


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Recall the Bygone Industrial Days of Brooklyn's Waterfront
By Patrick Sisson Sep 4, 2015, 10:51am EDT
The Brooklyn waterfront's industrial past will be on full display in its very epicenter come September 10, when Photoville returns to the uplands of Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 5. The NYC Municipal Archives' contribution to the massive two-week-long free event will be called A Century On the Brooklyn Waterfront and will focus on 100 years of the East River's shifting use, from 1870 to 1974. "When you look at Brooklyn Bridge Park and you see the piers, the majority of people today don't realize those were actually used for shipping, and that Brooklyn's waterfront was a lively transportation hub," Quinn Berkman, a photographer and program coordinator at the New York City Municipal Archives told Brooklyn Daily, who first reported the exhibition. The images, many of which come from glass lantern slides, glass plate negatives, and silver gelatin prints, underscore the Brooklyn Bridge Park of today, where tourists and New Yorkers flock for everything from scenery to gardens.
Full history lesson at Curbed New York >>


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Jacksonville State beats Georgia Southwestern 78-73
Posted: Dec 27, 2022 / 10:26 PM PST
Updated: Dec 27, 2022 / 10:26 PM PST
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (AP)Demaree King's 30 points led Jacksonville State over Georgia Southwestern 78-73 on Tuesday night.
King added five assists and four steals for the Gamecocks (7-6). Skyelar Potter scored 15 points, going 5 of 14 (3 for 9 from distance). Clarence Jackson finished 3 of 5 from the field to finish with eight points.
The Hurricanes (0-1) were led by Lars Nilsen, who posted 17 points and four assists. Jerroda Briscoe added 11 points and two steals for Georgia Southwestern. Phillip Burwell also had 10 points and two steals.


2. Make sure the 'Managers' tab is selected and from this screen, click on 'Add New'.
3. You can now fill in details for the new manager including name, email address and a photograph. You can also determine whether you wish the manager to have a profile on the tablets by ticking the checkbox next to 'Add Manager as Practitioner'. If the manager does not need access to the tablets leave this box unchecked.
4. Then click 'Submit' and the manager will appear under the Managers tab on the Settings screen on your Manager Dashboard.
Once you have submitted the new manager, if you have chosen for them to be added as a practitioner, remember to press 'Refresh' on the Staff List screen, on all your tablets. This will update the application with any new practitioner settings.
Note: New managers' login username and password (and PIN code if selected to also be a practitioner) will be sent to the manager email entered when adding their profile.


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Home News Briefs Scargo Hill Capital, a new firm focused on the lower mid-market, debuts
Scargo Hill Capital, a new firm focused on the lower mid-market, debuts
Scargo Hill Capital, a new asset management platform, has launched. Based in Boston, Los Angeles and New York, the firm is focused on providing direct lending to lower middle-market companies in the retail and consumer product sectors. Andrew H. Moser is serving as managing partner and CEO while Thomas J. Lynch is managing partner and chief risk officer. Scargo Hill's backers include Schottenstein affiliate SB Capital Group and Stephen G. Miller, CEO of 360 Merchant Solutions.
BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Scargo Hill Capital, LLC, today announced its formation to provide senior secured capital solutions in the lower middle-market across retail, consumer products and the broader supply chain. The firm boasts a partnership of retail industry, commercial finance and asset management leadership with significant domain expertise and experience spanning multiple credit cycles. Scargo Hill is led by co-founders Andrew H. Moser, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas J. Lynch, Managing Partner and Chief Risk Officer, and Mark E. Gallivan, Principal. The firm's partnership also includes strategic and lead investors, Schottenstein affiliate SB Capital Group and Stephen G. Miller, CEO of 360 Merchant Solutions.
"The ongoing credit challenges and widening gap across lower middle-market companies has made it very challenging for them to access adequate liquidity," said Mr. Moser. "Scargo Hill has been created to provide a full range of senior secured capital solutions to a sector that our management team has been dedicated to serving for nearly 25 years."
Scargo Hill was formed as an institutional asset management platform focused on providing investors with access to senior secured private debt that addresses an identified credit market dislocation in the industry's lower middle-market, especially among emerging growth retail companies and consumer wholesale brands.
"Scargo Hill combines the lending capabilities of a commercial finance company with the investment management capabilities of an institutional asset management platform to bring a truly differentiated offering to the market," said Morten Kucey, Managing Director of SB Capital Group. "We've operated in the retail sector for over 80 years, and one constant has been the need for capital to fuel growth. Scargo Hill will serve as an innovative capital solutions provider and partner to help its borrowers and investors achieve their goals."
"Historically, asset-based lending has been most closely associated with financing for troubled companies, but Scargo Hill's primary focus will be on providing transition capital to fuel 'turn-ups', emerging companies and consumer brands," Moser added. "With the retail and consumer sector changing dramatically before our eyes, Scargo Hill is asset-based lending reinvented."
Scargo Hill employs a rigorous underwriting process supported by in-depth collateral monitoring and financial analytic tools and resources rooted in sound credit disciplines and decades of relevant asset disposition experience, techniques and strategies.
"The Scargo Hill team has extensive historical experience valuing merchandise as it moves through the supply chain and is positioned to provide optimal asset yield and enhanced availability to its borrowers," said Stephen G. Miller, CEO of 360 Merchant Solutions. "360 is privileged to be a vital part of the future of this specialized lending group."
"Traditional sources of capital have become extremely burdensome and challenging to access for companies seeking growth capital or for those in transition," said Moser. "For emerging growth companies seeking increased liquidity to manage through transitional business cycles while still building brand value, inventory continues to be a largely untapped form of collateral to secure non-dilutive capital solutions."
Scargo Hill believes that access to capital will increasingly come from non-traditional or alternative sources to bank capital where borrowers can find timely, relevant solutions, and investors can find strong risk adjusted returns, and low correlations to traditional asset classes.
"In the years since the financial crisis, private debt has further emerged from a niche market to become a significant institutional asset class and the demand from both investors and borrowers continues to grow," said Mr. Lynch. "The persistent dislocation in the credit market for lower middle-market companies has created a compelling investment opportunity. Scargo Hill's portfolios will be constructed utilizing a manufacturing versus selection process, meaning we will source, underwrite, monitor, and intervene proactively when necessary to protect and safeguard invested capital."
About Scargo Hill Capital, LLC
Scargo Hill Capital is an institutional asset management platform focused on providing senior secured direct lending to lower middle-market companies across retail, consumer products and the broader supply chain. Scargo Hill offers working capital solutions that provide maximum liquidity and flexibility with the goal to help its borrowers and investors achieve their goals. The firm ideally targets transaction sizes under $25 million but will consider larger, value-add transactions. For more information please visit www.scargohillcapital.com
About SB Capital Group, a Schottenstein affiliate
SB Capital Group, a Schottenstein affiliate, is a leader in the field of asset recovery, rescue finance, restructuring and strategic store closing events. With principals who are equity holders in retail enterprises, consumer products, franchising, licensing and real property, SB Capital Group leverages resources and depth of experience to provide services across a wide spectrum of industries. For more information, please visit www.sbcapitalgroup.com
About 360° Merchant Solutions
360 Merchant Solutions is one of the country's leading consulting, business evaluation, asset acquisition, and asset disposition firms for wholesalers, manufacturers, and retailers. In addition to helping companies maximize asset yield, 360 manages operational and human resources issues, real estate relationships, and other critical areas that are impacted when companies go through a transitional period. For more information, please visit www.360merchants.com


As we start off a new year, here's a quick look back at our favourite bits of kit from 2016.
The Phase One IQ3 100MP XF Camera System blew away all expectations this year. Even before all our Phase One IQ3 80MP digital back orders had been delivered, this bad boy made it's grand first appearance on January 2nd 2016, and has been a run way success ever since. A slight stall in availability in the middle of the year due to earthquakes hitting a manufacturing plant in Japan were a minor setback and did not effect public demand!
For those who want ultimate file size, image quality and ISO flexibility, there is now only one place to look.
If you haven't yet had an opportunity to test the Phase One IQ3 100MP XF Camera System out, please feel free to contact us for a demonstration and complimentary test of the kit and SK lenses.


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Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has Russian composers programmed throughout the 2021/22 season, which was planned in 2020. We believe that these works should continue to be performed; the pieces come from all times in history, from the Czarist age to the authoritarian regime of Stalin. Many of these composers, who are integral to the classical music canon, wrote works in reaction to the oppression and violence of their time living in or being forced to leave the Soviet Union or Russia. These works are reflections of universal human emotions that touch us all. To remove these compositions from the programming is to silence their voices based on tragic events in the contemporary world. Musicians use their art to respond to or transcend politics and reminds us that art has the power to eliminate boundaries and connect us to each other.
FABIO LUISI conducts
ETIENNE DUPUIS baritone (Eugene Onegin)
NICOLE CAR soprano (Tatyana)
PAVOL BRESLIK tenor (Lensky)
BRINDLEY SHERRATT bass (Prince Gremin)
MELODY WILSON mezzo-soprano (Olga)
ALEXIS GALIDO mezzo-soprano (Larina)
CLAUDIA CHAPA mezzo-soprano (Filipyevna)
KEITH JAMESON tenor (Triquet)
ALLEN MICHAEL JONES bass
WILL HUGHES bass-baritone
DANIEL NORWOOD tenor
DALLAS SYMPHONY CHORUS – JOSHUA HABERMANN director
ALBERTO TRIOLA stage director
CAYLEY CARROLL assistant to stage director
YULIA LEVIN repetiteur & rehearsal pianist
JESSICA DRAYTON lighting designer
DIANA CROWDER dance director
KIERA MAYS dancer
COURTLYN HANSON dancer
CARRIE RUTH TRUMBO dancer
KYRA MCGUIRK dancer
ADAM WALLMAN dancer
ROBERTO REYNA dancer
ADAM KULLMAN dancer
TCHAIKOVSKY Eugene Onegin | OPERA-IN-CONCERT – SUNG IN RUSSIAN WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES
Act I, 72 minutes | Act II, 41 minutes | Act III, 35 minutes (approximate durations)
Partake in Fabio Luisi's mastery of opera and a stellar cast of handpicked soloists in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, a Russian lyric opera filled with celebratory tunes, an infectious waltz, passion-soaked arias, plush orchestration and even a dramatic pistol duel.
Based on the poetry of Pushkin, the story is about two friends who fall into a jealous argument at a dance over the young and beautiful Tatyana, ultimately challenging each other to a duel. Onegin is victorious, but runs into Tatyana years later and discovers that she has married Prince Gremin.
Onegin writes Tatyana a love letter and demands a meeting, at which Tatyana acknowledges the reciprocal love but ultimately chooses to honor her promise to Gremin. She flees the stage in tears and Onegin is left alone.
View Program Notes
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Fabio Luisi
Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Directorship
Etienne Dupuis
Nicole Car
Pavol Breslik
Brindley Sherratt
Melody Wilson
Alexis Galindo
Claudia Chapa
Keith Jameson
Allen Michael Jones
Will Hughes
Daniel Norwood
Dallas Symphony Chorus
Joshua Habermann
Chorus Director
Jean D. Wilson Chair
Alberto Triola
Stage Director
by René Spencer Saller
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893): Eugene Onegin
When Tchaikovsky began his fifth opera, Eugene Onegin, he was mired in a melodrama of his own making. On June 1, 1877, he visited Antonina Milyukova for the first time. She was a student at the Moscow Conservatory, where he had been teaching for the past decade. Although Milyukova barely knew Tchaikovsky, she had been sending him increasingly deranged love letters, threatening suicide if her affections were not returned. Instead of backing away and delegating the problem to someone more qualified to help her, Tchaikovsky responded like an eager suitor. He was moved by the similarity between her hopeless passion and that of Pushkin's tragic heroine Tatiana, whose decision to declare her love in a letter to a virtual stranger in Eugene Onegin sets off a life-changing chain of events. Tchaikovsky had been considering Pushkin's classic novel as the source for his next opera for about a month, after his friend the singer Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya suggested it to him. Now it seemed like fate.
With the Pushkin plot still percolating in his mind, Tchaikovsky, a deeply conflicted and self-loathing homosexual, came up with a truly disastrous idea. He proposed marriage to his unstable young admirer, just two days after meeting her. The wedding took place that July. Two months later, he waded out into the ice-clogged Moscow River and tried to drown himself.
With the help of his younger brother and a St. Petersburg psychiatrist, the composer recovered from his nervous breakdown and his brief but traumatic marriage to Milyukova. Over the next eight months, while convalescing in Switzerland and Italy, he wrote and revised Eugene Onegin. His fortunes continued to improve: Nadezdha von Meck, his generous new patron, promised him an annual stipend that would allow him to resign from the Conservatory. For the next 14 years, until von Meck abruptly cut off her generous subsidy, Tchaikovsky was free of his day job and able to devote all his mental energy to composition. He came to consider the enigmatic widow his best friend. The pair exchanged hundreds of remarkably intimate letters without ever meeting in person.
In May 1877 Tchaikovsky wrote to his brother Modest: "How glad I am to be rid of Egyptian princesses, pharaohs, poisonings, and stilted effects of all kinds. What a mine of poetry there is in Onegin." He finished the opera by January 1878, and revised it in March 1879, October 1880, August 1885, and June–July 1891.
Pushkin's Plot, via Tchaikovsky
Instead of recounting Pushkin's story in a continuous, or linear, way, Tchaikovsky's version of the plot is episodic: the opera dramatizes a few pivotal moments from Onegin's and Tatiana's lives. Tchaikovsky adapted the libretto himself, with some assistance from his brother Modest and the poet Konstantin Shilovsky, who helped develop the initial scenario. Several chunks of the libretto are extracted verbatim from Pushkin's verse-novel.
The composer described the opera as a series of "lyrical scenes in three acts and seven tableaux." Act II begins some months after Act I concluded; Act III picks up some five years after the end of Act II. Life happens in the interstices, the junctures between then and now. As the characters mature, the power dynamic shifts from jaded heartbreaker-dandy Eugene Onegin to ingenue-turned-grande dame Tatiana: the girl he once thoughtlessly spurned, transformed into the woman he realizes—too late!—is his one true love.
When we first meet Tanya, the soprano heroine, she's reading a book and waxing capital-R Romantic ("Have you not heard?"). Her mother, the widowed Madame Larina, reminds her that life is not a pretty story. She and the girls' nurse, Fillipyevna, reminisce about their youth and remind themselves, not entirely convincingly, that habit is a good proxy for happiness. Olga, her flirtatious, fun-loving little sister, offers a simpler option: be happy and enjoy life in the moment ("Ah, Tanya, Tanya"). All this happens before Tatiana meets her disaffected neighbor, Eugene Onegin, who reminds her of a hero in one of her romances. And just like a heroine in one of her romances, she falls in love at first sight. Her family members tease her for being a sentimental poetess addicted to suffering, but she longs for love, and recognizes it as soon as she feels it. She writes an ardent letter to Onegin ("Let me die, but first") and pleads with fond old Fillipyevna to find someone to deliver it to him. Tchaikovsky used much of Pushkin's poetry verbatim in long passages of the "Letter" scene, which contains some of his most enduring melodies.
After receiving the love letter, Onegin devastates the young virgin by turning her down, using the tried-and-true "it's not you, it's me" line prevalent among dissolute bachelors and literary cads ("Were I a man whom fate intended…"). He offers to be a brother to her—perhaps a bit more than a brother—but warns her to be more discreet when addressing eligible bachelors, since less scrupulous men might take advantage of her sincere and giving nature. Slut-shaming, 19th-century style, and Onegin has the gall to get all sanctimonious about it! Tatiana is heartbroken and humiliated.
Act II takes place at Tatiana's Name Day ball. Onegin, dragged there by Lensky, dances with Tatiana. His mood sours when he overhears the other guests gossiping and sizing them up as a couple. To punish Lensky for bringing him to the ball, Onegin flirts with Lensky's intended, Tatiana's heedless and hedonistic little sister Olga, the contralto on whom Tchaikovsky lavishes some of his most lustrous, honey-glazed secondary arias. This rash act of retaliatory flirting leads to a pointless rivalry that culminates in Onegin killing his best friend—the passionate poet Lensky—in a duel. Before he dies, Lensky delivers a perfect valedictory aria, the bittersweet "Kuda, kuda" ("O where have you gone, o golden days of my spring"), his meditation on youth and its ephemeral passions. Then he dies in a duel that he fully acknowledges is ridiculous. Lensky must die because Lensky and Onegin are both stubborn cowards who refuse to back down, apologize, or give up the claims of honor.
Before you scoff at the idiocy of dying in a duel over a woman's reputation, remember that in 1837, about five years after the last installment of Eugene Onegin was published, Pushkin himself died in a duel, for a similarly asinine reason (his glamorous young wife's supposed virtue).
Lensky, the lyrical tenor and source of the most unabashedly romantic and Italianate love arias, dies, alone—insufficiently mourned by the faithless Olga, who never appears onstage again. Onegin, the supposed victor, only grows sadder and more nihilistic.
About five years have passed. Onegin finds himself out of sorts at a fancy banquet. His acquaintance Prince Gremin, it turns out, is now married to a beautiful woman whom he adores unreservedly: Tatiana. It's entirely to Tchaikovsky's credit that he gives one of the finest and most memorable arias to Prince Gremin, the antihero hero's romantic nemesis ("All men surrender to Love's power"). In another kind of opera, Prince Gremin would be a cuckold for certain, but in this one, the loyal husband prevails.
In their final duet together, Onegin realizes that he is in love with Tatiana, and not, as she suggests, simply drawn to her improved social status. He has always loved her, he realizes, suddenly but too late. He begs her to run away with him. Although Tatiana can't deny that she still harbors strong feelings for her former neighbor and first love, she prefers to stay true to her faithful husband, the prince, and bids Onegin farewell forever. Does she doom him to eternal torment? As far as he is concerned, yes. Tchaikovsky ends the opera there, with Onegin marinating in his misery.
But at least half of the audience sides with the women and the lovers. The songs we love best are the romantic arias from Lensky and Gremin; young Tanya's love letter, a rhapsodic outburst of virginal desire; her dusky-throated younger sister Olga's supple appeal to pleasure and laughter; Madame Larina's and Filippyevna's bittersweet memories of their courtship days.
The spurned girl gets both men in the end: the one who broke her heart, and the one she married. Tanya has learned to love the one she's with, and it certainly doesn't hurt that he is also a prince and a war hero. Has she become her mother, substituting habit for happiness? No, she has simply grown up and gotten smart enough to love the man who loves her instead of the man who rejected and humiliated her, the condescending and oblivious Eugene Onegin of Acts I and II. Onegin's tragedy is that he discovers the love of his life too late, after two acts' worth of unthinking cruelty. By the time he figures out what he wants, in Act III, it's too late.
Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837)
Like a Slavic Shakespeare, Alexander Pushkin exerts an outsize influence over Russian culture. His gifts to the writers who followed him are vast and incalculable. All the greatest Russian composers mined his texts for source material. He was prolific during his brief lifetime, and his substantial body of work contains examples of every major genre that existed in his day: novels, short stories, lyric poems, narrative poems, plays, critical essays, and letters.
Everything Pushkin wrote bore his distinctive, immediately recognizable style. Even Vladimir Nabokov, the consummate technician, the Russian prose stylist's stylist, despaired of translating Pushkin's intricately rhymed stanzas. The scheme Pushkin deploys for Eugene Onegin, the so-called Onegin stanza, or Pushkin sonnet, calls for strict tetrameter, with four stressed syllables per line. The rhyme scheme is equally rigorous, alternating pairs of masculine and feminine rhymes.
Although the original Eugene Onegin amounts to a scant 100 pages or so, Pushkin saturated every line with allusion and nuance. For his magisterial 1964 translation, Nabokov needed two full volumes of text to convey Pushkin's meaning in English. Ultimately, Nabokov chose to render Pushkin's poetry as prose because he believed that replicating the complex meter and rhyme schemes would be impossible.
Nabokov's poem On Translating Eugene Onegin opens with a rueful acknowledgment that his task amounts to a desecration:
"What is translation? On a platter
A poet's pale and glaring head,
A parrot's screech, a monkey's chatter,
And profanation of the dead."
Born into the Russian nobility, Pushkin was reared mostly by nursemaids and spoke French at home until age 10. He learned Russian from the serfs on the family estate and from his nanny, to whom he remained extremely close. After publishing his first poem at 15, he became a rising star of the St. Petersburg literary scene.
Constantly clashing with the tsarist regime, Pushkin lived in Crete and the Crimea and joined an underground political group fighting for Greek independence from Ottoman rule. His Freemason status, libertine ways, and radical politics put him at odds with his overlords, and in 1820 he was exiled to a remote southern province, where he launched his "southern cycle" of romantic poems. He also started writing Eugene Onegin, which he would publish in installments between 1825 and 1832. He would later call it his favorite among all his works.
After being pardoned by the newly installed Tsar Nicholas I in 1826, Pushkin returned to Moscow, where he met the 16-year-old socialite Natalya Goncharova, already famous for her beauty. They married in 1831 and moved to St. Petersburg, where Natalya gave birth to four children and Pushkin wrote books and got into feuds. The couple remained unhappily married for about six years, until Pushkin was shot and killed in a duel by the dashing Frenchman with whom Natalya was rumored to be having an affair and who also happened to be her brother-in-law. By that point in his life, the pugnacious poet had engaged in dozens of duels, but this would be his last.
Conversely, Natalya's luck improved. She went on to marry a nobleman in 1844 and bear three more daughters. She may have engaged in a discreet affair with Nicholas I. She died in 1863, of natural causes.
The Composer Speaks
In a letter dated January 1878 Tchaikovsky wrote:
"I wrote this opera because one fine day I felt an inexpressible urge to set to music everything in Onegin that is just asking to be turned into music. I did this as best as I could. I worked on the opera with an indescribable enthusiasm and pleasure, not worrying too much as to whether it had action, effects, etc.
"[…] I need people, not puppets; I would gladly tackle any opera [subject] in which, even if it did not have any powerful and unexpected effects, I should find beings like me, experiencing emotions which I too have experienced and can understand […] I am looking for an intimate but powerful drama, based on a conflict of situations which I have experienced or witnessed myself, and which are able to touch me to the quick."
"[…] I wrote it because I was obeying an irresistible inner attraction. I assure you that it is only under this condition that one should write operas. As for thinking about effects and worrying about how it will work on the stage, that is only necessary to a certain degree. Otherwise, what you'll get is something effective, entertaining, perhaps even beautiful and interesting, but not fascinating, not actually alive."
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Keith Wright and The Mississippi River Part I
Posted on April 29, 2010 June 10, 2012 by admin
The Old Vicksburg Bridge. The current passing through the 800' wide navigation channel lying within the 825' open span is very swift. This is evidenced by the current eddies that can be seen downstream of the span piers. For a better view you can click on the picture to enlarge it. This picture is a copyrighted work of Jim Frazier and is used under the principle of creative commons.
1965 and 1966 often found me as a backseat passenger in a Ford Station Wagon traveling through and all around the states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. At the time I was employed as a Rodman for a survey crew operated by Southern Natural Gas Company headquartered in Birmingham Alabama.
Interstate Highway construction was going on in a big way all over the United States at that time and we were often called upon to go to a site here or there to survey the location of one of our existing gas lines, return to Birmingham and draw up a map showing the highway plans superimposed upon it. This was done so that decisions could be made about how the gas line could be moved one place or another or lowered a sufficient amount to accommodate the road that was to be built above or near it.
So it was that in the fall of 1966 we were given the task of locating gas lines that passed through a levee for the Mississippi River a few miles into the eastern edge of Louisiana, directly west of the City of Vicksburg Mississippi.
The proposed route for I-20 through that region called for a new bridge to be built just south and close alongside the old combination highway and railroad bridge over which automobile traffic flowing along US 80 traveled. The old bridge is now closed to automobile traffic but remains in use today by the Kansas City Southern Railway carrying traffic across Louisiana, and into and out of Metropolitan Vicksburg Mississippi.
It was directly beside this old bridge that I stood on a small sandbar strewn with rocks, driftwood, and other stranded river flotsam, to observe one of the most remarkable feats of human daring and endurance that I have ever witnessed.
The two principal participants in the proceedings were Party Chief Tom McCray and Rodman Keith Wright. In addition to myself, a cast of characters that were primarily observers was: Instrumentman "Skip" Gentle, Instrumentman Jim Brazier, and Rodman Mark Gilliland. I will tell you the story in as understandable a way as I can by proceeding thus:
Most of our crew had met up at Tom McCray's house in Birmingham early one morning in late September or early October, piled our personal gear and ourselves into the blue Ford company station wagon that was our survey vehicle in that day, and set forth for the work site a few miles into Louisiana. Instrumentman Skip Gentle met up with us somewhere in the Birmingham area so that he could travel in caravan with us in a separate station wagon.
In those days, with only short sections of the interstate highways in place, a trip from Birmingham to Vicksburg occupied a good part of the day. Our plan was to travel directly to the work site stopping only for necessary breaks along the way and to take lunch and register at a motel once we arrived in Vicksburg. This was so that we could arrive with enough time left before darkness fell in order to reconnoiter the site so to lay a plan for our work activities the following day.
As one can imagine, in a car full of people traveling that far, conversations would go on about a variety of subjects. In this case, on this trip, most of the talk consisted of a lot of verbal jousting with Keith, and most of that was between Keith and Tom.
As I recall Keith was about twenty years old, brand new on the crew, and had never been outside of the state of Alabama. Keith however was rough business, physically and verbally. He was a well built short stocky young man who had been an underground coal mine surveyor. That alone speaks to his physical ability – he was strong and tough.
He could give as good or better than he got verbally. Throughout the trip Tom would throw chiding, sometimes too edgy or seemingly unkind remarks to him having to do with what Tom perceived to be a lack of sophistication about things more worldly than the coal mining community Keith grew up in. Keith wouldn't back down an inch. He would always come back with some remark or tale to outdo Tom. We never quite knew whether to believe him or not. He was boastful in an almost outrageous kind of way yet he was somehow a very likable person.
Somewhere along the way the subject of the Mississippi River came up. This of course was new fodder for both Tom and Keith. Tom trying to impress upon Keith that he really hadn't seen a river until he had seen "Big Muddy." Keith of course holding forth that nothing called a river could be as big as all that, that the Black Warrior River near his home was as big as rivers get and that the Mississippi would be called something other than a river if it were all Tom made it out to be.
And on it went, mile after mile, after mile. Tom not giving up the futility of trying to impress the grandeur of the Mississippi River upon a boy who had never seen any kind of watercourse larger than a relatively small river during a spring flood. Keith throwing everything Tom said back to him in spades, all the while, all of us thoroughly enjoying the verbal sparring every mile of the distance to Vicksburg.
Dakota Minnesota Eastern Locomotive Number 6368 running over the kansas City Southern Railroad leads the *Shreveport to Meridian Manifest off of The Old Vicksburg Bridge. Notice the down-ramp on the right. It is a part of old US 80. The small beach alluded to in the story can be seen just left of the bridge on the other side of the river. This view is looking straight west. Photograph used with the permission of Chris White, Photographer.
Sometime during the mid afternoon we arrived on the outskirts of Vicksburg and began our travel thorough the city along US Highway 80, only stopping long enough to register at a motel and also to have a late lunch in the cafe on the premises. Continuing our journey we eventually arrived at the old river bridge earlier spoken about. The bridge had an unusual approach built onto it; one had to pass through an entrance structure and go down a ramp of sorts in order to land upon the level surface of the bridge – some one hundred fifteen feet above the surface of the water.
As Tom made the approach down the ramp, all of the magnificence of the mighty river hove into view. With that Tom exclaimed, "There Keith! What do you say now!" – Keith, quick as a wink shot back, "Huh! I thought I was gonna get to see something – that ain't nothing but a little old mud puddle, why, I'd swim across that thing if . . ." – He never finished the sentence.
That was far more than Tom McCray could stand. Tom shouted, "I'm gonna shut you up once and for all!" At the same time he was furiously wrestling his billfold out of his back pocket with his right hand while holding the steering wheel with his left. In an instant he, still steering with his left hand but now also clutching his wallet with it, tore some folding money out of it and laid it back over his shoulder onto the top of the seat-back. "There!" he exclaimed, "Put your money where your mouth is!" Keith, not pausing or batting an eye ask, "anybody else?"
Whether additional bets were taken at that time by others in the car or were negotiated later is beyond my memory and knowledge. I know that I did not wager anything at all. This was not necessarily because I had any objection to it on the grounds that the proposed activity was obviously life threatening, though I like to think that had something to do with it. It was probably more because I didn't have the money.
Our journey continued on across the river and a mile or two farther west until we came to our designated work-site. We spent only a short time there. It was late in the year, the days were short and sundown wasn't far off. Tom was anxious to get back to the river so that the wager could be carried off.
The Old Vicksburg Bridge can be seen just north of and parallel to modern day I-20 in the southeast quadrant of the picture. Enlarge the picture to see the small dirt lane we drove down to gain access to the river. It is just south of and parallel to Old US-80. The Southern Natural Gas Right Of Way clearing can be seen in the upper center.
If one carefully examines an aerial map of the western approaches of I-20 and Old US 80 to the Mississippi River, parts of the small dirt lane we drove down to gain access to the river can still be seen between the Interstate on the south and the old bridge to the north. Though high water obscures a view of it on the aerial photograph I recently viewed, at the end of the dirt lane was the small sandy beach I earlier alluded to. It was there that we arrived and disembarked from our vehicles just as shadows were at their longest and the sun was only minutes from touching the horizon.
I believe Skip and Jim immediately began skipping rocks as was their custom if any kind of smooth water and a collection of rocks were within a hundred yards of each other. They drifted off a little south along the small beach. I don't know if they were trying to distance themselves from what was about to happen or if there were just flatter skipping rocks that direction. Tom and Keith ambled off east toward what looked like a good entry point at the waters edge and almost directly under the edge of the bridge high above them. Mark and I hung back, still within earshot, but nearer to the end of the road. This was probably for no other reason than, at least for me, it was usually always a pretty good idea to not interfere with anything Tom was up to.
I distinctly heard Tom say, "There you are big boy, I hope you're a good swimmer." Keith responded, "Not really, I can dog-paddle alright but I've actually never swam much at all." With that he kicked off his boots, stripped off his socks and shirt, waded into the shallow water and set off for Mississippi.**
* The term I used, "Shreveport to Meridian Manifest" is properly called "The SHME Manifest" in strict railroading terminology. "Manifest" as it it used in the railroad industry simply means a common, regularly scheduled, freight train made up of different types of rail cars and kinds of cargoes.
**Part II of the story has now been published. You may read about it by clicking the link following. In it you will learn of the outcome of this story, and also discover the eventual fate of Keith Wright, a boy I knew as a friend. Keith Wright and The Mississippi River Part II
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Keith Wright And The Mississippi River Part II
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DACC Co-Ed Cheerleading Tryouts for 2019-2020 Season; Clinics Tues., Apr. 30 & Wed., May 1. Tryout and Interview Thurs., May 2 @ 5:30PM. Mary Miller Complex. Mandatory Attire: Plain black t-shirt, black shorts, cheer shoes, hair in ponytail – no zippers, buttons, or jewelry. Minimum Tryout Skills: Learn/Perform 1 Crowd Cheer and Sideline Dance. Standing and/or Running Tumbling (preferred). Toe touch and 1 jump of choice. Basic Stunting Skills (libs and heel stretches). Requirements: Must bring a copy of current sports physical, signed waiver and letter of recommendation with you to tryouts. Email head coach Nikia McGlory at McGloryN@danville118.org with any questions about becoming a DACC Cheerleader.