With today's column, I am still four columns behind on the year. I am always unprepared for the long days of Summer, when I often work outside with my beautiful bride. We are often slaloming our zero turn mowers over the hayfields until the sun is just an orange glow in the west, sometimes up until 10pm. Then we usually eat together. I am no longer doing adjunct teaching in Lexington, also a Summer happening. But the hiatus may be permanent this time, as our new governor has put the community college system on short rations. When I have more or less regular duties, I can carve out time to sit to write for EVC.
No excuses, though, I'm mostly saying that I will make every effort to catch up, now that I have analyzed the problem. It is my objective to author 26 columns a year.
I will begin my comeback with a rambling re-enactment of a conversation recently engaged in on Facebook. Then more rambling, as I consider some of the implications of evolution. And speaking of evolution, we have a highly evolved, modern Socrates amongst us — Tom Woods is his name and knowledge is his game. Be sure to check Topic #3 below.
NG: Growing your own food also back then. Something I'm still doing.
VV: My grandparents lived in that time. On one side, they lived in Boston — the 2nd largest US city then. They lived by division of labor. On the other side, my ancestors lived in Liberty KY — a town of 1,000 then. They lived by division of labor. Something I'm trying to do still.
NG: I don't use public parks. I prefer paradise on my property in all cases.
VV: Public parks may be the sole contribution of the British Empire to civilization, the sole expression of their gardener soul, usually overridden by their imperialistic zeal. That being said, we have lived in our own private paradise for a dozen years, now.
VV: The government also thrives through division of labor, yours and mine. As their slice of the pie grows, so does parasitism grow in advance of it. The parasites are not just thieves and slackers, but bankers, war profiteers, and drug dealers.
NG: <3 Their statist thoughts will be the embodiment of their carcasses.
VV: Yes, Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson. Statism thrives on short term ideas, and avoidance of the longer term.
NG: Why do some anarchists seem to be threatened by people who grow some of their own food? I don't get it.
VV: I haven't a clue, unless they miscalculate that you should be tilting at windmills rather than tending a garden. The voluntaryist focuses on what she or he can do, not on what others should do. Division of labor makes for more choice. Both sets of grands tended gardens. If it were not for that, who knows when I may have tasted asparagus or green beans. But it was also because of division of labor that I had catfish and Ernie Kovacs and violin music and lobster and unhomogenized milk.
NG: Division of labor is crucial, but not at the expense of my private property rights. Private property rights trump all, otherwise you're just a communist.
VV: Division of labor, in my understanding, is the antithesis of communism, or any form of collectivism. True division of labor never happens without voluntary exchange, never can occur without property.
Note — I am listening to Human Action, so maybe I'm vulnerable to being pedantic. Sorry. Mises and Rothbard drained every accidental tendency toward collectivism from me so thoroughly that I tend to forget the ambiguity of language and that there are many sides to a story.
NG: To me, you can't even have division of labor that isn't some kind of or degree of slavery, if you don't have private property rights first and always foremost.
VV: If you have voluntary division of labor, you must have, not only property rights but, property, in yourself, in the product of your labor, in the time and space you occupy, in your life and your voluntary associations. Otherwise you have nothing to exchange.
NG: I'd rather nothing to exchange, if we don't start with private property right. Work up to division of labor, which with complete private property rights, actually would be voluntary then.
VV: But if there is no voluntary will to exchange, property is a doorstop. By natural law, we have both property (our own person, space, time, and labor) and the will to divide, multiply, and exchange property. This is at the beginning of each life. Only wrongful others can steal or seize control against your will.
I have some further observations on the above, about the dao of the division of labor to include gardening, about the dao of Hazlitt's Lesson with respect to the division of labor and the floaters who were enemies, about public parks, firefighters, libraries, societies.
The dao of the division of labor to include gardening — We are born through division of labor. Contributions of labor are required of two separate and distinct biological entities, if not more, such as doctors, ambulance drivers, nurses, domestic partners. If we do not pass through some version of this biological gate, the question of property is moot. There is no attempt to guess when life starts. Life starts, period. Plants grow, dividing their biological labors with those of their environment, including gardeners who share in that environment.
The dao of Hazlitt's Lesson with respect to the division of labor and the floaters who were enemies — Both Henry Hazlitt, who wrote that the one lesson of economics is that we must wait to see how all events affect all affected parties both in the short and the long run, and Sun Tzu saw the virtue of patience. Divide your labor of waiting across the time that you have to spend. "Be not the first by whom the new are tried, nor yet the last to lay the old aside," wrote Alexander Pope. A clear understanding of the fullness of time is essential. You own your time too, so spend it wisely.
Public parks, firefighters, libraries, societies — These are things that always start with voluntaryism. Johnny-come-lately statists are usurpers who steal the the thing made by self-organizing phenomena, to try to squeeze some personal power from its expropriation/exploitation. Include roads, freedom, garden spots, and love with these as well.
Beats there a heart so hopeless as to never have wished that its species would not evolve to a higher plane, preferably before its time is done. I have heard many friends express a sentiment somewhat alike to this — surely, mankind is put here, with its reason, thought, symbolism. and communication, to achieve something greater.
In a very broad sense this is true. The evolution of things natural seems to have a general direction, rising forward. Of course that could be an illusion from a short sample. Or it could be confirmation bias.
But hold on. Evolution must work for accrual, and it must work for cooperation. This is a mechanical tautology. As evolution works for a single thing, each single change will generate randomly. That change will then enter a network where the change will either cooperate with the network or it will not. This is genetic change, happening without any connection to the future. Other genetic change will be nipped in the bud so quickly that its absence will be seen as a change, and we often refer to this as memetic change, because it looks as though factors of the environment brought about the change. A third way is true memetic change, where something within the learning process causes a biological change. So, when I say that evolution works for accrual, there is something in the change that is found positive by the species. When I say that evolution works for cooperation, there is something within the change that helps the species to survive conflict with external forces. Both accrual and cooperation are found among genetic, false memetic, and true memetic change.
In the millions of changes which occur in most moments, there is hardly any opportunity for rational input, so I'm saying that evolution will not make species which can stand on the shoulders of giants, except by random happenstance.
A good while back, I shared what I thought were some excellent libertarian and voluntaryist podcasts. This time I will go further, writing about how The Tom Woods Show, and its web pages are a resource, of resources, for the ages.
Go to TomWoods.com — There you will find the motto, "YOUR DAILY SERVING OF LIBERTY EDUCATION" and that is the very least you will get!
Click on the phrase "CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST EPISODES!
You may need to click through an ad here, or view the product in another window or tab, if you like.
Click on an episode. I'm clicking on "Ep. 694 After Brexit, American Secession?" Directly on the caption.
On this page you see important information about the guest and the episode and links related to Tom's enterprises, and most critically, links to Internet information that are relevant to the content of the show.
Wow! Just wow! Not only is Tom Woods a prolific writer, a gifted teacher, and a prodigious podcaster, he is a treasure trove of connected resources for the new (and veteran) seeker of information about Libertarianism (big L), libertarianism (small l), voluntaryism, free market capitalism, and classical liberalism. Enjoy. There will soon be more than 700 episodes (we are at #694 as of yesterday) with similar breadth and depth for the lifelong learner.
NOTE: Your mileage may vary because of your device of choice. Please look for the target, if you don't see the launch sign. You might end up in the wrong public restroom, otherwise.
Well, one reason it took so long to roll out this edition of FTC is because of the ambition of the segments. I hope you will receive them in the spirit that they are offered — let me know! You have seen that the pace of change has taken on incredible speed and acceleration. We have Hillary and Donald and Gary (given names that seem rather odd for the Oval Office — but we have had a Millard and an Ulysses). We have had Orlando and Philando, mixed too closely with Baton Rouge and Dallas, Don't forget BREXIT and Juno.
I will begin working on the next edition immediately, so I can do one column weekly, from time to time to get up to speed. Stay tuned.


text:
Sciences et techniques

Botanique
 Une écaille est une structure végétale morphologiquement proche des écailles animales, à la surface des racines, des fruits, des troncs, de l'écorce, des bourgeons ou des bulbes.

Zoologie
 Une écaille est une plaque rigide qui recouvre certains animaux, dont les poissons et les reptiles ;
 Par analogie, on appelle écaille de tortue la robe d'un chat quand elle mêle le roux et le noir.
 Écaille est le nom vernaculaire de certaines espèces de papillons de la sous-famille des Arctiinae.

Culture et société
 Les écailles de peinture contenant du plomb sont une cause de saturnisme chez les enfants, qui les ingèrent facilement en raison de leur goût sucré.
 Comme pour les chats, on qualifie d'« écaille de tortue » la couleur des chevelures mêlant le roux et le noir.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
A budget balanced on ifs
Behind the numbers. (Seth Wenig)
Bill de Blasio's first spending plan as mayor doles out $13.5 billion in total raises to municipal employees — and is balanced with a lot of hopes that he'll be able to pay for them with savings on health care.
The 10% boost over seven years assumes the contract de Blasio just cut with the teachers will set the pattern for the rest of the city's workforce. Without the health savings, the raises run the risk of bankrupting the city.
The new spending, plus conservative revenue projections, plus generous pre-K funding from state coffers, add up to a $73.9 billion budget — a hefty 6% bump over the previous year.
It includes new investments in Hizzoner's priorities, such as cutting NYCHA's repair backlog ($70 million), shoring up bridges ($346 million), resurfacing roads ($49 million) and rehabbing police precincts ($110 million), along with a huge new investment in affordable housing.
Two things de Blasio did reject, smartly, were the City Council's member item slush fund (which it will certainly fight to keep) and the Council's unaffordable call for 1,000 new cops Police Commissioner Bill Bratton never asked for.
That's all good, but what continues to be worrisome is that those billions in raises count on the promise of unspecified, possibly imaginary health-care savings that the administration assures us will absolutely, positively materialize.
The city and unions say they will work together and embrace a menu of options, from group purchasing of prescription drugs to increased use of clinics. Another big chunk of cash is supposed to come from kicking ineligible people off insurance rolls. Are there really that many cheaters?
They insist this mix of relatively pain-free adjustments will yield all the promised savings. Trust us, they promise.
Really? Bending the health-care cost curve has proven a Herculean challenge for Obamacare.
If they fall short, the city says, health-care cuts will go to an arbitrator — who will then have the power to impose more draconian measures.
Such as: forcing city workers to foot the bill by paying premiums or co-pays. Which is pretty much what every worker in the private sector already does.
It is unbecoming to watch municipal workers go to such elaborate lengths to avoid a pill that regular Joes and Josephines have long had to swallow.
Another pile of dough that takes the edge off the $13.5 billion in spending is $1 billion from a piggy bank called the Health Stabilization Fund. The money comes from a pot jointly controlled by unions and City Hall that had just been sitting there. But the city can use it only once — while the spending from raises recurs every year.
There's also $3.5 billion Mayor Bloomberg wisely set aside in a labor reserve. That, too, can only be spent once.
And let it not be lost on de Blasio, who makes his political living crusading against the 1%, that the unexpected surge in revenue that enabled a boost in city spending this year came largely courtesy of the financial services industry.
De Blasio didn't get the new tax he wanted on the wealthiest New Yorkers. He is, however, getting to spend plenty of their money.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


foreign exchange (FX) rates when mining products are in demand.
corporate treasury and risk management procedures.
industries are horticulture, fishing and forestry.
effectively handling commodity and FX risk.
users and, hence, facilitate automated, accurate valuations of OTC options.
perspective and can considerably aid treasuries.
highly volatile and must be managed simultaneously.
treasury function is not the only influencer for treasury transformation.
treasurers and finance executives significantly as well.
TRM system in a timely fashion.
regulation following the 2008 crash.
well advised to look 'down under' for guidance, innovation and best practice.


YOU HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO CHOOSE YOUR AUTOBODY SHOP. INSURANCE COMPANIES CANNOT FORCE YOU TO USE ONE OF THEIR SHOPS.
For the best repairs bring your vehicle to MMS Porsche Approved Collision Center.
If your car is not drivable, call your vehicles roadside assistance, AAA, or our flatbed tow service at (516) 857-3041. Fees may apply. Some tow charges are covered by accident insurance.
Call us with your insurance information and claim number so we can schedule an adjuster to review your vehicle's damages.
If you need to rent a car, check to see if you have accident rental insurance. We suggest Enterprise at (516) 365-7104.
After the adjuster comes to MMS Porsche Approved Collision Center the insurance company will provide an estimate of repairs. If you have any questions, ask us or your insurance company.
We will let you know if there are any additional forms you need to fill out.
Vehicle is repaired to highest standards and you are on the road again!
Insurance Direction of Pay. Authorization of Repairs and More.


text:
Kaneko Ōtei (japanisch 金子 鷗亭; geboren 9. Mai 1906 in Matsumae (Präfektur Hokkaidō); gestorben 5. November 2001) war ein japanischer Kalligraph.

Leben und Wirken
Kaneko Ōtei machte 1929 seinen Abschluss am 2. Lehrerseminar Hokkaidō (北海道第二師範学校, Hokkaidō daini shihan gakkō). Nachdem er eine Zeitlang als Lehrer an einer Grundschule gearbeitet hatte, ging er 1932 nach Tokio und nahm Unterricht bei dem Kalligrafen Hidai Tenrai (比田井 天来; 1872–1939). 1933 veröffentlichte Kaneko in der Kalligraphie-Zeitschrift "Shio no Kenkyū" (書之研究) eine Reihe von Aufsätzen darunter "Shinchō watai" (新調和体) – etwa "Neuer Stil japanischer Zeichen", "Kanshi gūzō" (漢詩偶像) – "Verehrung des chinesischen Gedichts" und "Kaijō geijutsu" (会場芸術) – "Kunst im Versammlungsraum".

Um nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg die am Boden liegenden Kalligrafiewelt wieder aufzubauen, arbeitete er mit Iijima Shunkei (飯島 春敬, 1906–1996) und anderen zusammen, um die 1. "All Japan Calligraphy Exhibition" (später "Mainichi Calligraphy Exhibition") zu veranstalten. 1964 gründete und leitete er die Vereinigung "Sōgen shodō-kai" (創玄書道会), deren Vorstandsvorsitz er später übernahm. 1969 wurde er Direktor der "Japan Fine Arts Exhibition" – "Nitten", 1975 Geschäftsführer und später Berater. Darüber hinaus war er Direktor der "Mainichi Shodō Association" (毎日書道会) und Vorsitzender der "Association of Modern Poetry and Document Writers" (近代詩文書作家協会, Kindai shibunsho sakka kyōkai).

Mit dem Ziel einer Kalligrafie, die von der breiten Öffentlichkeit verstanden wird, schuf Kaneko eine neue Stilrichtung "Kindaishi bunsho Poesie" (近代詩文書) – etwa "Dokumente zur modernen Poesie". Er gestaltete graphisch bei den vom Staat veranstalteten "National Memorial Service for War Dead" (全国戦没者追悼式, Zenkoku senbotsu-sha tsuitō-shiki) im Nippon Budokan in Tokio von 1952 bis 1993 die Markierungspfosten.

Zu Kanekos Schriften gehören "Kaneko Ōtei no shogyō" (金子鷗亭の書業) – "Kaneko Ōtei Kalligrafie", "Nyūmon Mainichi shodō kōza – kindaishi bunsho", (入門毎日書道講座・近代詩文書) – "Einführung Mainichi Shodō Anleitung – Dokumente zur modernen Poesie", "Ko-hijō rinsho seisen maki" (古碑帖臨書精選巻) – "Alte Schriften – sorgfältig ausgewählter Band" und "Sho to sono Shūhen" (書とその周辺) – "Kalligrafie und ihre Umgebung".

Geehrt wurde Kaneko u. a. wie folgt:
 1966 "Nitten Minister of Education Award" für die Stele "Okatsubo Yoriho" (丘壑寄懐抱),
 1967 Preis der Japanischen Akademie der Künste,
 1983 Orden der Aufgehenden Sonne 3- Klasse,
 1983 28. Mainichi-Kulturpreis im Herausgeberkollektiv der Inoue-Shigeyoshi-Biografie "Kokyaku Miroku",
 1987 Person mit besonderen kulturellen Verdiensten,
 1988 Hokkaido Development Achievement Award,
 1990 Kulturorden,
 1994 Ehrenbürger der Stadt Tokyo.

Anmerkungen

Literatur
 S. Noma (Hrsg.): Kaneko Ōtei. In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993. ISBN 4-06-205938-X, S. 735.

Weblinks
 Biographie Kaneko Ōtei in der Kotobank, japanisch
 Kaneko Ōtei Schriftbeispiele

Kalligraf
Japaner
Person mit besonderen kulturellen Verdiensten
Träger des japanischen Kulturordens
Geboren 1906
Gestorben 2001
Mann


James Butler Helps Owners Protect Their Rights.
In his August 2006 "Inside Fractionals" column for Business Jet Traveler, Shaircraft CEO, James Butler, explains why it's important to document poor service from your provider.
Butler notes that when your aircraft is late or other flight problems occur, at a minimum, you may be entitled to some additional flight time. If you've experienced a series of problems, and have a well-negotiated contract, you may even be able to claim a default by the provider entitling you to a higher payout when the provider repurchases your share. In both instances, however, Butler warns that, rather than just complaining, you should ".document the problem in writing."
"[T]o preserve your rights," Butler counsels, "keep copies of all documentation relating to your flights, including the times the trips are scheduled, the requested and actual departure times, the actual arrival times, the reasons stated for any delays and any other pertinent information." He adds, "If you experience delays or other problems on a flight, contact the provider immediately in writing and detail what happened." Furthermore, if the provider admits responsibility for a problem, Butler advises that you, ".get that admission in writing right away..."
In closing, Butler explains, "In a business where, literally, time is money, that paper trail may be valuable indeed."
Inside Fractionals: "Service Problems? You Need a Paper Trail"


We'd love your help. Let us know what's wrong with this preview of Crucible by Mercedes Lackey.
Now the voices of other authors add their own special touche In March 1987, Mercedes Lackey, a young author from Oklahoma, published her first novel, Arrows of the Queen. No one could have envisioned that this modest book about a magical land called Valdemar would be the beginning of a fantasy masterwork series that would span decades and include more than two dozen titles.
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This was a fun, quick read, but to be honest, only one story touched me and that was The Note by Phaedra Weldon. it tells the story of a Companion and her Chosen, but through the experience of the Chosen's mother. It's a story full of sadness, bitterness, anger, and ultimately, redemption.
It may be all-new tales of Valdemar, but for the most part I found myself in only a vaguely familiar landscape. I never managed to get into the Mage Storm books, which didn't help, and the dearth of familiar characters was another impediment; even a major inconsistency I spotted in a later story. I was halfway through before I found one that *felt* like a Valdemar story to me, albeit without Heralds.
So I didn't get on with it as a Valdemar extension, but otherwise the stories themselves were qui It may be all-new tales of Valdemar, but for the most part I found myself in only a vaguely familiar landscape. I never managed to get into the Mage Storm books, which didn't help, and the dearth of familiar characters was another impediment; even a major inconsistency I spotted in a later story. I was halfway through before I found one that *felt* like a Valdemar story to me, albeit without Heralds.
So I didn't get on with it as a Valdemar extension, but otherwise the stories themselves were quite good. There were stories of healers and bards, of love and fear, of the trapped and the lost, of new twists on Gifts, of revolutions and rogues. So a variety, but not quite my cup of tea.
A very mixed bag. Some reasonable stories, but mostly no better than so-so. No one story was a real winner, and too few of them were even 3 stars, so the overall compilation? 2 stars. And I'm being generous.
Mercedes Lackey has had a really rough year, so when I found out she had a new book out I knew I needed to buy it new for maximum royalties to go to her. Crucible is a book of short stories, one of which is by Lackey, the others by different writers.
I enjoyed each. We have the usual stories of Choosings, Healers and Bards, with a few of Shin'a'in and Tayledras for seasoning. I'm a sucker for telepathy stories, and Mindspeech factors in quite a few of these, so that makes me almost unreasonably Mercedes Lackey has had a really rough year, so when I found out she had a new book out I knew I needed to buy it new for maximum royalties to go to her. Crucible is a book of short stories, one of which is by Lackey, the others by different writers.
I enjoyed each. We have the usual stories of Choosings, Healers and Bards, with a few of Shin'a'in and Tayledras for seasoning. I'm a sucker for telepathy stories, and Mindspeech factors in quite a few of these, so that makes me almost unreasonably happy - especially when it's used in unexpected ways. I do enjoy when Heralds aren't the main characters. Lackey gives me a lot to like here, with many Healer stories to get into. Am I the only woman in the world who never wanted a magic horse? I might be, but the use of Heralds mostly as supportive characters and the focus on others appealed to me.
The best part of this is that you don't have to know anything about Lackey's world of Valdemar to enjoy the book. It helps, of course, but these stories stand on their own and work quite well as bite-sized introductions to the world. If you're looking to jump into Valdemar but don't want to commit to a trilogy or figuring out where to start, I recommend this collection as an option.
Part of the 5yr read-along. See books #5 & 8. Particularly like the stories about Lady Cera and her Rethwellan estate. Several other good story lines carried from one book to the next.
I realized I had missed one of the collections of Valdemar tales when I went to pre-order the one coming out in a week, so picked this up and happily tore through it in a few days. The stories in this anthology were a bit wider ranging than in other Valdemar anthologies, which is both a plus and a minus. Several were new entries following characters seen previously, and most were ones involving new characters and even new perspectives.
The first story in the anthology is "Feathers in Need" tellin I realized I had missed one of the collections of Valdemar tales when I went to pre-order the one coming out in a week, so picked this up and happily tore through it in a few days. The stories in this anthology were a bit wider ranging than in other Valdemar anthologies, which is both a plus and a minus. Several were new entries following characters seen previously, and most were ones involving new characters and even new perspectives.
The first story in the anthology is "Feathers in Need" telling the story of a blind gryphon and a changechild, and it is a VERY strong story that left me decidedly wanting more, and I hope that the author will continue the story in future anthologies. The story was so good that it left the next few stories gasping a bit to catch up, in my opinion!
"The Note" about how a young woman's Choosing, life as a Herald, and untimely death as a young woman were viewed by her grieving mother - a side of life as a Herald that is often glossed over or not covered. This was simple, powerful, and had a nice ending that didn't feel contrived.
"The Quiet Gift" about a Bard coming into her powers only after she was too injured to use her skills was a delightful way to look at talents versus skill.
"Vexed Vixen" was absolutely delightful about a peevish Healer who is captured and has to set up her own rescue whilst protecting herself.
One thing that struck me while reading this anthology was that while many of the characters and setups seemed familiar, I was often left trying to remember where they fit in for a few pages. The world of Valdemar is vast, both geographically and chronologically, and without a key term or person it's easy to not quite know when or where you are. This isn't always a problem, such as in "The Note" which could've taken place at any time in Valdemar's history, but for other stories where the setting matters or follows established characters, I think it would be beneficial to include a few lines prior to the story indicating when and where it's set along with whether these are new or established characters.
Valdemar is my second home. For some of you it's Hogwarts, others get lost in Narnia, and some of you like to wander around Middle Earth. Don't get me wrong, I like those places too, but there is something about Valdemar, and it's surrounding lands, regardless of the time period, that feels like home. It's the place I go to when I just need to hunker down and recharge.
When I'm not in the mood for a full length adventures, it's the anthologies that I turn to. They are filled with quick little sho Valdemar is my second home. For some of you it's Hogwarts, others get lost in Narnia, and some of you like to wander around Middle Earth. Don't get me wrong, I like those places too, but there is something about Valdemar, and it's surrounding lands, regardless of the time period, that feels like home. It's the place I go to when I just need to hunker down and recharge.
When I'm not in the mood for a full length adventures, it's the anthologies that I turn to. They are filled with quick little short stories so I don't have to invest a lot of time, seeing a long story line through to the end. I can read one, or a few of them at a time, getting in my fix, but not taxing my busy schedule. I hate when I get to a really good, or intense part of a book, to only be forced to put it down due to time constraints. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more frustrating when it comes to reading.
In the past, I've recommended these anthologies to people who are unfamiliar with Valdemar and it's denizens, but I think I'm going to change my mind on that one. After finishing the last story in Crucible, I realized a couple of things, or at least I put two and two together. These books really are for the fans. Fans who are already familiar with the timelines, peoples, and lands mentioned within their pages are going to get more out of these. The stories jump around too much. There is not sense of time or place among them, so if you aren't already familiar with the basics, you will quickly get lost. And being lost in a foreign land, is never fun.
I've been having a rather rotten time these past weeks, and so it was with some pleasure that I was able to get my electronic hands on a copy of Crucible, Mercedes Lackey's newest anthology of short stories set in Velgarth, the world where the Heralds of Valdemar and the Hawkbrothers and Shin'a'in and other such peoples live.
It's always enjoyable for me to revisit these places - there is, as I have often said, something about the universe Lackey created here that pushes my simple pleasure butto I've been having a rather rotten time these past weeks, and so it was with some pleasure that I was able to get my electronic hands on a copy of Crucible, Mercedes Lackey's newest anthology of short stories set in Velgarth, the world where the Heralds of Valdemar and the Hawkbrothers and Shin'a'in and other such peoples live.
It's always enjoyable for me to revisit these places - there is, as I have often said, something about the universe Lackey created here that pushes my simple pleasure buttons.
As usual, Lackey's contribution "Vexed Vixen," was one of the ones I enjoyed the most. Others that stood out for me were Fiona Patton's "Before a River Runs through It," Jennifer Brozek's "Feathers in Need," Stephanie D. Shaver's "The Highjorune Masque," Elizabeth A. Vaughan's "Unresolved Consequences," and Dayle A. Dermatis' "Never Alone." But all of the stories were, in their own way, fun. Lackey knows what she wants in these anthologies, and she gets it from her contributors.
*Of the 18 short stories in this anthology, 15 were written by women, two by men, and one was a collaboration between a man and a woman.
Favorite story: "The Note" by Phaedra Weldon. While many of the stories in this anthology rated between 3 and 4 stars for me and were cute and enjoyable but not amazing, this penultimate tale punched me right in the feels. There are so many things about the life of a Herald that are explored in this tale, even though the story's point of view is the mother of a (deceased) Herald. Reading this story is worth the cost of the anthology alone.
Story that I wish would be expanded into a novel: "Never Favorite story: "The Note" by Phaedra Weldon. While many of the stories in this anthology rated between 3 and 4 stars for me and were cute and enjoyable but not amazing, this penultimate tale punched me right in the feels. There are so many things about the life of a Herald that are explored in this tale, even though the story's point of view is the mother of a (deceased) Herald. Reading this story is worth the cost of the anthology alone.
All of the stories in this anthology were great. It brought me back to the days when I first discovered stories about Valdemar and that world. I have really missed those stories but these were a welcome read.
My favorite and the one that moved me the most was "The Note" by Phaedra Weldon. I had tears in my eyes entire time I read it because it was such a moving story and the end was awesome.
If you miss Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series, this is defiantly a book you need to pick up.
Whatever happened to those delightful characters who appeared in the previous Valdemar short story anthologies? Vixen the healer is but one of those who's continuing adventures can be found in Crucible. As a bedtime reader these stories make it easier to close the book at a stories end, with the call of the next story promising another good read. This book has joined others on my "Read Again" shelf. A very good read!
A fun and entertaining book full of short stories about Valdemar and the heralds. They were just long enough to be interesting and short enough to keep your interest until the very end. Some of the tales I'd have liked to read more about and maybe in future books they'll continue. Some were funny, some sad, and some exciting. I enjoyed the variation.
I enjoyed this collection of stories. I'm still a fan of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series, because they are just plain fun to read. These stories are written by several different authors, and all of them are good. This is not serious reading, or a deep mystery, and I will not compare it to that kind of book, but it is enjoyable, and that's why I read it. I was just what I wanted.
I love that Mercy lets other authors play in her universe. I really enjoyed the ones that had a story with characters that have been in earlier anthologies; although sometimes it would have been nice to have a "when last we meet x and y they were..." bit at the start just to jog the memory about them before diving back into another story.
An anthology of short stories written by other authors but set in the Valdemar world, and with one story by Mercedes Lackey, this was a very enjoyable book. Most of the stories were excellent and all followed the template set by Lackey (she edited the book so probably made sure of that). Recommended to fans of Valdemar.
Re-reading this antho now 1/2019. I forgot to make notes inside the book so have to read it again and review each story.
This is a series of short stories supposedly set in the world built by Mercedes Lackey. Unfortunately, there were several selections that were not quite my cup of tea. I have read all of the Valdemar books and short story publications and have to say this was not my favorite collection. I will continue to read them and hope for new stories to love.
Though I love the Valdemar series and usually enjoy the anthologies, this one fell a little flat. We encountered fewer familiar characters and I just did not connect with many of the stories.
If you're a fan of the series, it's worth a read, but it's a bad place to start for someone unfamiliar with Lackey and the series.
Enjoy this world and any books I can read about it. Will read the next one for sure.
Some of these stories didn't feel like Valdemar to me, but as one character reminded another "There is no one true Way" so I guess I could just treat those as not my Way.
Some stories are 4 stars, some are 3 stars and a couple are 2 stars. Nothing really great.
Another short story collection set in Valdemar by various authors edited by Mercedes Lackey.
I truly enjoy these anthologies they give you a wider look into the world of Valdemar. Out of the 18 stories I found myself only disliking one. Which did not surprise me it was written by Michele Lang and I have found I have never liked her character Sparrow or her writing style.
Like most of the anthologies there are continuing stories and new stories using the same characters. I can see how this can be b Another short story collection set in Valdemar by various authors edited by Mercedes Lackey.
Like most of the anthologies there are continuing stories and new stories using the same characters. I can see how this can be both enjoyable and problematic. I enjoy certain characters like the Dann family and each of the stories stand on their own so if you read them out of order it does not matter.
Then there is Stephanie D Shaver story that features Herald Wil and his small daughter Ivy and the two companions who travel with them his and one to keep an eye on Ivy. Personally I love them and would love to see a full novel about them. But it can be hard to remember everything that happened in the last story and makes reading that anthologies out of order more difficult. I read this one out of order and I admit I was a little lost.
I do like the fact that the stories take place in every time of the series and are not just set in Valdemar but in the other areas of the world also.
I do not recommenced the anthologies unless you have read most of the series books otherwise a lot of the stories won't make sense.
With more writers new to the Valdemar anthologies than almost any previous, we are left with a mixed result.
And unfortunately, the bad outweigh the good.
At least the returning authors excel, as usual.
re-read the whole series and appreciated them even more!
Would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to experience Valdemar again!
Not the best collection in this series but a good read nonetheless. It is always lovely to have a new short story by Mercedes Lackey, and I truly enjoy other authors viewpoints on this favorite of my fictional worlds to read.
I like to read these kinds of books. It allows me to see how well a writer writes in a setting were you are familiar with the story and know that I like this world. Now I can decide if I want to go and read the writers other solo books.
Interesting how these anthologies are Valdemar stories written by many different authors and yet retaining the Valdemar flavor and characters. Love This!


The name of this family occurs in the poor rate for Wandsworth, made April 10, 1666, in two places under the heading, "Account of Persons gone out of towne."
Christening. 1607. June 21, Christopher, son of Will. Baylie.
Burial. 1665. Dec 20, Sara Bailey, widowe.
It may be noted that she is not reported as having died of the plague. 1665 was one of the plague years at Wandsworth.
Christopher Bailey was churchwarden 1647-8.
"Pd Xpr Bailey for nailes and pauing tyles, 00 03 4."
About this date several entries to "Goodman Bayly for nayles."
"1654. Rec'd of Christopr Bayley for a yeres rent for ye Clock acre, 02 00 00."
"1656. Pd Mr. Duncombe ye Clerke by Christopher Bayley the yeares Rent of the Clocke Acre for his looking to the Clocke and finding oyle etc., 02 00 00."
"List of goods, 1661.--One hearse cloth ye Guift of Mrs. Bayly."
"1664.--Account of the Church stock Oweth for Mr. Christofer Bailyes graue, 6s. 8d."
Mem.--He last signs the accounts in 1661.
"1665.--Receipts for the Church: Mrs. Bayley's grave, 00 06 08."
In an indenture dated March 24, 1649, between "Waulter St. John and Henry St. John, of Battersey," and the parish of Wandsworth, the name of Christopher Bayley, chandler, appears.
Amongst the signatures to the Constitution of Vestry, on December 6, 1657, is "Chr. Bayley."
The parish registers of Wandsworth give the following entry: "1664. July 3, Edward Crow and Elizabeth Cames, Banns."
"James Stubington, sen., 1s. James Stubbington, jun., 1s."
In the poor rate made 1707, equal to about 4½d. in the £, William Stubbington appears as occupying a house at the Waterside, 9d., that is, £2 annual value; and in 1712 Widow Stubbington appears as the occupier, until 1726, when the value of the premises had risen to £4 per annum.
Marriage. 1628. Sep. 21, James Stubbington and Elizabeth Hayes.
Baptism. 1629. June 21, Elizabeth.
Baptism. 1630. Feb. 13, Elizabeth.
Baptism. 1633. Feb. 10, Katherine.
Baptism. 1634. Oct. 31, Elizabeth.
Baptism. 1636. Nov. 6, Margarett.
Baptism. 1640. Oct. 12, James.
Baptism. 1642. June 19, Willm.
Baptism. 1644. June 23, Mary.
Baptism. 1646. May 24, Anne.
Baptism. 1649. Sep. 9, Thomas.
Baptism. 1660. Dec. 21, Luke.
Baptism. 1663. May 3, James.
Baptism. 1664. Jan. 22, Charles.
All above are sons and daughters of James Stubbington.
Baptisms. 1668, Apr. 11, Martha, 1670/1, Feb 12, Hannah, daughters of James Stubbington, jun.
Baptism. 1678. April 14, Frances, daughter of J.S., jun.
Baptism. 1680. Dec 22, William, son of J. S.
Burial. 1652. June 27, Thomas, son of J.S.
Burial. 1665/6. Feb. 27, James and Charles, sons of J.S. jun. P.
Burial. 1665/6. Feb. 28, Margarett, wife of J.S. jun. P.
Burial. 1665/6. Mar. 12, Luke, son of J.S., jun. P.
Burial. 1677. Dec. 4, the wife of James Stubbington, sen.
P.--Item, These all died of the Plague.
William Wilcocks was one of the members of the Wandsworth Vestry, as appears by his endorsement of December 6, 1677, on parchment attached to deed of Constitution of Vestry.
Marriage. 1635. June 25, Willm. Woolcock and Cecillia Burton.
Baptism. 1636. July 7, Anne, daughter of Willm. Woolcock.
Baptism. 1637. Dec. 12, Thomas, son of W.W.
Baptism. 1643. Aug. 1, Barbara, daughter of W.W.
Baptism. 1646. Jan. 10, Christopher, son of W.W.
Baptism. 1647. Mar. 9, Richard, son of W.W.
Baptism. 1649. Nov. 13, Sibbill, daughter of W.W.
Burial. 1648. May 24, Richard, son of W.W.
Burial. 1649. Sep. 17, Richard, son of W.W.
Burial. 1655. Nov. 14, Sibbell, daughter of W.W.
Burial. 1658. Oct. 19, Sisseley, wife of W.W.
Burial. 1660. Sep. 6, William Woolcock, Baker.
Burial. 1678. July 21, Mary, ye second wife of William Woolcock.
Item. She did hang herself.
"Receipes for the Poore: Rec;d of Emond Crips for Mr. Woolcoxe house for ye poore, li2 00 00."
william Woolcocks signs the accounts June, 1652.
"1655. Disbursmts for Mrs. Smyths mony. Pd Mr. Woolcocks for bread for the poore, 01 01 03."
William Wolcocks signs this account.
William Wolcocks signs the Constitution of Vestry on December 6, 1657.
N.B.--The foregoing notes are most kindly contributed by Cecil T. Davis, Esq., B.A., Librarian of Wandsworth Public Library.
Date given as 1553 by Williamson, obviously an error.
1654. May 17, James Collyer, son of James Collyer, baptized.
1655. May 27, Katheren Collyer, wife of James Collyer, died.
Kindly extracted from the parish registers by the Vicar.
1657, Jan. 14, William Collyer and Ellenor Gardener married.
1657. April 2, George Gardener, son of Richard Gardener, born.


Australian Women Directors Alliance: Australian Women Directors Alliance - Welcome!
The Australian Women Directors Alliance is a non-profit coalition of professional women directors and theatre makers. The alliance is run by a voluntary and elected committee. The purpose of the AWDA is to provide a community of peers for mutual support and to further the art, professional development and visibility of women directors in the theatre industry. The AWDA was formed in 2009 as an outcome of focus group discussion arising at the 2009 Australian Theatre Forum (ATF).


Work from this time period explores hybrid drawing methods via the deconstruction of fairy tales, myths, folklore, and popular media. My work blends hand-drawn elements with found images from catalogues, coloring books, children's books, and blurred or partially revealed images that waiver between figuration and abstraction.
I combine traditional and digital techniques of fragmentation, alteration and re-contextualization to encourage an interchangeable narrative. Exploration, play, coincidence, and discovering relationships by chance are important components in my process.


Venus's looking glass, (Legousia, or Specularia, speculum-veneris), species of annual herb of the bellflower family (Campanulaceae), native to sandy, sunny parts of the Mediterranean region. It is grown as a garden ornamental for its blue, violet, or white, wide-open, bell-shaped flowers. The long calyx (collection of fused sepals) resembles a mirror handle and is the source of the plant's common name. The basal leaves are egg-shaped, while the stem leaves are narrow. The plant reaches a height of about 22 cm (9 inches).
Venus's looking glass (Legousia speculum-veneris) A to Z Botanical Collection/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.


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The truth is that divestment will not financially affect these companies. But if enough universities and institutions around the world divested, it would remove the social license fossil fuel companies have to drive the climate crisis and undermine our political process. We can no longer pretend that our investments do not speak to the kind of university we are. Divestment is a moral imperative. Let's make Brown's investments sustainable, for the planet and for ourselves.
Some of you may have already heard about Fossil Free Brown, a new campaign asking that Brown University remove its investments from the top 200 fossil fuel companies. We want to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to the Brown community and clarify a couple of misperceptions surrounding the Corporation's decision to not divest from coal last year.
For two years, the Brown Divest Coal campaign demanded that the Corporation divest from the 15 largest U.S. coal companies. The campaign collected over 3,600 petition signatures, held rallies and events, got media coverage from national news outlets and met several times with President Christina Paxson and Corporation members.
On Oct. 27, 2013, the Corporation, without holding a vote, decided not to divest from coal. Paxson said that while the social harm was clear, it was not enough to warrant divestment, and that divestment was an ineffective tool to change the behavior of the fossil fuel industry.
However, we have reason to believe University politics played a significant role in this decision. We had been repeatedly told that no large school (read: Harvard) had divested from fossil fuels.
When the Corporation made the decision not to divest, there were at least five Corporation members with ties to the fossil fuel industry. Though we asked that they recuse themselves from the decision for the sake of transparency and accountability, we received no response.
"Brian Moynihan '81 P'14: Moynihan is on the (Corporation's) Board of Trustees and is president and CEO of Bank of America, which as of Aug. 14, 2013 has $1 billion worth of holdings in 14 of the 15 companies in question.
Richard Friedman '79: Friedman is on the Corporation's Board of Fellows and is head of the Merchant Banking Division at Goldman Sachs, which as of Aug. 14, 2013 has $1.1 billion invested in 14 of the 15 companies that Brown is considering for divestment.
Steven Cohen P'08 P'16: Cohen is on the Board of Trustees, and is the founder and hedge fund manager of SAC Capital, which as of Aug. 14, 2013 has $33,597,000 in holdings in 11 of the 15 coal companies.
Theresia Gouw '90: Gouw is a member of the Board of Fellows and a partner at Accel Partners. Accel-KKR, a partnership between Accel Partners and KKR, is a cofounder of globalCOAL, a global coal trading platform. Licensed users of globalCOAL include Arch Coal, Peabody Energy and Cloud Peak, all companies targeted for divestment.
Then in 2014, two important events took place. During a conference on climate change hosted at the Watson Institute for International Studies, Executive Secretary of the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change Christiana Figueres spoke about the urgency of divestment. She then sent a letter directly to the University stating, "As individuals and as institutions we are all called upon to do the right thing, even if we stand alone in responding to the moral imperative." A week later, it was clear that we would not stand alone when Stanford University divested from coal. This was embarrassing for universities like Brown that had failed to be climate leaders.
As these events unfolded, the campaign began discussing the idea of extending our ask to all fossil fuels. Most national and international campaigns across universities, cities and churches have been targeting the entire fossil fuel industry for obvious reasons. Why focus only on coal when gas and oil are also primary contributors to climate change? Even the heirs to John D. Rockefeller, who made his fortune on oil, have joined a group of "more than 800 global investors … (who) have pledged to withdraw a total of $50 billion from fossil fuel investments over the next five years," as the Guardian reported last month.
Fossil Free Brown is a campaign asking Brown University to remove its investments from the fossil fuel industry. Camila Bustos is a member of the Climate and Development Lab and Fossil Free Brown.
This op-ed was originally published here and does not reflect the views of Brown University.


text:
A Look at 6 Lesser-Known Instruments of the Percussion Family
For many young children, the percussion instruments are the most fun to play and learn. Striking, shaking, or clanging these instruments produces an immediate response that the child can hear or sometimes even see. This easily grasped one-to-one correspondence between the child's actions and the instrument's sound is a big part of the appeal.
Playing a percussion instrument is also valuable because it helps people of all ages improve their physical coordination, dexterity, and motor skills. In addition, percussion instruments give music students the chance to let loose creatively in ways that few other instrument types can equal. Researchers have even learned that drumming and practicing other percussion instruments can reduce stress and even improve the immune system.
For all these reasons and more, percussion instruments are justifiably popular with student musicians, professionals, and audiences around the world.
The following is a closer look at a few members of this truly global family of musical instruments. This list focuses on some of the more seldom-discussed instruments in the percussion family, and thus omits the piano and the many types of acoustic and electronic drums that are popular in the U.S.
The boom of the timpani
In Sergei Prokofiev's classic Peter and the Wolf, an imaginative musical romp through the instruments of the orchestra, the crash of the timpani announces the arrival of the hunters.
Timpani, also known as kettledrums, entered the Western musical world during the Middle Ages, imported by returning Crusaders and Arabic warriors arriving in western and southern European ports. Timpani came to be used in connection with trumpets to herald the arrival of aristocratic cavalry troops onto a battlefield.
Timpani consist of large, round, copper-bodied drums shaped like half of a sphere. Their drumheads consist of sheets of plastic or calfskin stretched tight across the opening. A player produces sound by striking the instruments with sticks or mallets made of wood or tipped in felt.
Timpani can be tuned to produce a variety of pitches when their drumheads are loosened or tightened via an attached foot pedal. In a typical orchestra, a single musician will play four or more timpani in a range of sizes and pitches. Playing the timpani calls on all the performer's skills of attention and sense of pitch, since a typical orchestral piece calls for multiple tuning changes.
The xylophone's flexible range
The xylophone's early history lies in Asia, most scholars believe, before it spread to Africa and then to Europe. The instrument's name derives from an ancient Greek word that refers to its wood-like tones.
The common denominator among the many types of xylophones available today is that the typical xylophone consists of a set of keys, or bars, organized in octaves, like piano keys. Affixed beneath the keys are a series of resonators, or metallic tubes, which produce the sound. Xylophones can be simple toys for the youngest children or sophisticated, multi-octave orchestral instruments.
The xylophone player strikes the keys with a mallet. Mallets are produced in varying degrees of softness or hardness; changing the pitch of the xylophone involves using a different type of mallet or changing the way one strikes the keys.
The xylophone's close relatives in the percussion family include the larger and more mellow-toned marimba, the smaller and jingly-voiced glockenspiel, and the vibraphone.
The Jazz Age vibraphone
Invented in the 1920s, the vibraphone is distinguished by its metal keys and resonators and by the addition of little spinning discs, or fans, in its interior. These small discs are electrically powered and are arranged under the keys and over the resonators.
A player uses felted or wool-tufted mallets to strike the keys. He or she tunes the vibraphone by means of a motor that turns a rod connected to the discs. The resulting sound is the type of shifting, sliding pitch that's referred to as vibrato when produced by the human voice.
The vibraphone has found extensive use in the popular jazz repertoire of artists such as Lionel Hampton. The instrument's first appearance in an orchestra was in the 1937 Alban Berg opera Lulu.
The cymbals – the orchestra's alarm clock
The crashing of the cymbals in the orchestra makes everyone take notice. A set of these ultra-loud percussion instruments consists of a pair of large discs, ranging in size from 16 to 22 inches in diameter. These discs are typically fashioned of spun bronze.
A player hits the cymbals together, or in the case of suspended cymbals, strikes them with a mallet. In general, larger cymbals produce lower sounds.
The waterphone's New Age appeal
The waterphone is a newer innovation in percussion. Patented in the 1970s and based on a Tibetan water drum and other instruments, the waterphone consists of a bowl of water, a resonator, and a series of differently sized metal rods. A player uses a mallet, bow, or his or her own fingers to produce sound by striking the rods.
The vibration causes the water to shift in the bowl, thus altering the shape of the resonance chamber and creating a whole range of gliding sounds and echoes. Musicologists have described the waterphone's sound as mysterious and otherworldly, and the instrument is noticeable in many television and film soundtracks.
The triangle's thousand-year-old lilt
The triangle is a simple steel bar bent into the shape of an equilateral triangle, with part of one corner left open. The player strikes the instrument with a simple steel rod.
In use at least since the Middle Ages, the triangle often featured an attached set of jingly rings until the early 19th century. As European audiences of the 1700s demanded music in the Turkish style, Western musicians paired the triangle, the cymbals, and the bass drum into an ensemble with the aim of replicating the popular Turkish Janissary sound.
The triangle's piercing pitch is audible even over the sounds of a full orchestra. Accordingly, classical composers tend to use the triangle sparingly, often to add punctuation to a composition.
4 of the Best Lyrical New Picture Books from 2018
Children love music and picture books. This means that parents and educators are constantly on the look-out for new books to share that nourish a love for both music and reading.
Today's picture book writers and illustrators are producing work that is distinguished by rich literary and visual imagination. Among these treasures are a number of works that convey, in the sounds of their vocabularies and through the skill of their illustrations, what it feels like to make and enjoy music.
Here are only a few of the best picture books published in 2018 whose storylines focus specifically on music. All of these titles will be found in most online and bricks-and-mortar bookstores as well as in many public libraries.
1. The Bunny Band
The Bunny Band was written by Bill Richardson, illustrated by Roxanna Bikadoroff, and published by Groundwood Books. It presents young readers and their families with a delightful adventure into the ways in which music can facilitate even the most unlikely friendships.
Lavinia is a badger who cherishes her carefully tended vegetable garden. Suddenly, she realizes that an unknown someone has been eating her lettuce and taking her other produce. She sets out to catch the thief and discovers that it is a bunny. The angry badger threatens to put him into her stew pot, but the little rabbit begs her to spare him. In return, he promises her a mysterious reward.
After Lavinia shows mercy on the repentant thief, she receives a surprise. The next evening, in the moonlight, her new friend returns, bringing with him lots of other bunnies, each one bringing a musical instrument. This lively bunny band pours delightful music into Lavinia's garden with a host of banjos, ukuleles, trumpets, drums, and even a set of bagpipes. Much to the badger's surprise, the music makes the garden grow!
In thanks, Lavinia treats all the bunnies to a surprise: a feast made from the produce in her garden.
The book's rich and whimsical illustrations show the individual personalities of Lavinia and the entire bunny musical troupe. They are engaging for readers of all ages and convey in line and color the spirit of joyful music shared among friends.
2. Khalida and the Most Beautiful Song
Khalida and the Most Beautiful Song, written and illustrated by Amanda Moeckel and published by Page Street Kids, is a symphony in pink and purple watercolors. Khalida is an overscheduled child. She wants nothing more than to capture the elusive song that whispered briefly to her one evening.
But no matter how she tries, the time and place are never right. Her busy life comes between her and her ability to sit down at the piano to do the creative work she longs for.
Even through adversity, Khalida persists in her quest for the essence of the song. Her perseverance is at last rewarded. The young girl's love of music, and the beauty of the song she is finally able to catch, are made palpable through Moeckel's flowing, elegant pictures. These serve as a visual counterpoint to the musical flow of the text.
3. New York Melody
With its delicate tracery of laser-cut shadow images and sharp black-and-white shapes, New York Melody was written and illustrated by Helene Druvert and published by Thames & Hudson. It is a keepsake book to treasure.
The simple story begins at Carnegie Hall. A single musical note on a page of sheet music gets free of its comrades and goes off on its own to explore the wonders of New York City. It drops in on a secret little jazz club, pays a visit to Broadway, and at last finds an island of peace as it joins in with a guitar player in Central Park. The guitar's melody catches the ear of a passing cyclist, who carries the tune all over the city, causing passersby to pause in enchantment.
Along its journey, the note works in tandem with numerous instruments, including a saxophone, a double bass, and a trumpet. The depiction of this last instrument, in glowing, vivid gold, presents a visual delight amidst the book's otherwise monochromatic palette.
Druvert's book has a genuine ability to make the aural delights of music palpable through words and pictures. Additionally, it captivates readers with a tour through famous—and not-so-famous—New York landmarks.
4. The Dam
David Almond is best known for Skellig and other darker, edgier novels for older children. He worked with illustrator Levi Pinfold and publisher Candlewick Studio to create in The Dam a haunting tribute to the power of music to memorialize and recreate a lost world.
The book is based on the true story of the creation in Northumberland, in the 1970s, of the Kielder Water reservoir and dam. It resulted in the largest man-made lake in the United Kingdom. The region has historically been rife with legends and home-grown music produced by the people who lived on farmsteads all over the valley.
In Almond's re-imagining, a father and his young daughter return to the village after it has been abandoned. They know that the dam about to come into being will flood the land they love, burying the many abandoned stone houses under the waters.
In Almond's story, the father and daughter go from empty house to empty house, filling them for one last time with music from the girl's fiddle. Pinfold's muted, elegiac art provides the perfect accompaniment for this tale of loss, remembrance, and finding emotional resilience through the creation and performance of music.
Historians point out that, by the time the real dam at Kielder Water was constructed, the buildings had all been razed. However, The Dam's vividly etched tribute to things lost will ring true for readers of all ages. Not even a sprawling dam and the rushing in of mighty waters, the book tells us, can still the human longing for creating new worlds—and remembering old—through music.
8 Things You Need to Know about The Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, which is housed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on New York City's Upper East Side, is an educational institution that has helped to further the skills, talents, and careers of numerous young musicians and other performing artists from around the world for generations.
Over the years, The Juilliard School has expanded its programs to include a broad array of performing arts curricula, and it now serves as Lincoln Center's professional education division. It offers undergraduate degrees in music, drama, and dance, as well as a master's program in music. Its current total enrollment stands at approximately 1,400 students.
The following are a few interesting facts about the Juilliard School:
1. Distinguished alumni
Designed as a place to nurture extraordinary talent, The Juilliard School has produced scores of distinguished graduates who include legendary pianist Van Cliburn; cellist Yo-Yo Ma; conductor Leonard Slatkin; contemporary actors Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Samira Wiley, and Michael Urie; and Jon Batiste, bandleader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
2. A turn-of-the-century American conservatory
The school began as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, when it took up residence at the corner of 12th Street and Fifth Avenue.
Founder Dr. Frank Damrosch was the godson of the 19th century composer and musical prodigy Franz Liszt. Damrosch, then the head of the city's music education program for public schools, worked with a focus on providing American music students with access to the same quality of instruction that was common in the best European conservatories.
When the institute opened its doors, it did so with a student body that was five times as large as originally expected, leading to a sudden need for expanded quarters. In 1910, it relocated to a space close to Columbia University.
3. A benefactor's legacy
In 1919, Augustus Juilliard died, leaving a will containing the largest single bequest to further music education that was unseen up until then. Juilliard, who made his fortune in the textile industry, was thus immortalized in 1924 through a new institution called The Juilliard Graduate School, funded by his bequest under the auspices of the Juilliard Foundation.
Two years later, the graduate school merged with the Institute of Musical Art. The new combined school would be renamed The Juilliard School of Music in 1946.
4. Expansion beyond music
The school, as constituted after 1926, came under the direction of a single president, John Erskine, a popular novelist and a professor at Columbia University.
In 1937, Ernest Hutcheson, a widely known composer and pianist, took over as president, followed in 1945 by William Schuman, a distinguished composer.
Schuman began an effort to increase the school's reach by offering not only music courses, but a new dance division, as well. The Literature and Materials of Music program, a pioneering curriculum in the art of music theory, also became a core component of the school during his tenure.
Image courtesy Shinya Suzuki | Flickr
5. An iconic string quartet
It was also under Schuman's direction that the school established its own in-house quartet, the Juilliard String Quartet, in 1946.
The Boston Globe has called the quartet the most important ensemble of its kind ever to be founded in the United States. Today, its members not only champion and exemplify the classical tradition, but they consistently work to expand the repertoire of newer works performed. Its 2018-19 season features works that include a newly commissioned piece by renowned Estonian-American composer Lembit Beecher.
Quartet members served as master instructors during their touring seasons, working with students in classes and open rehearsal formats. The group also hosts a five-day-long Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, annually in May.
In 2011, the quartet received a National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences lifetime achievement award, the first ever presented to a classical ensemble.
The Juilliard School today also hosts a broad array of other performances, including those by its orchestra, wind ensemble, and members of its Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts.
6. Becoming part of Lincoln Center
In 1968, when Peter Mennin served as Juilliard's president, he oversaw the creation of a drama studies program headed by powerhouse actor and producer John Houseman. In that same year, under Mennin's direction, the school rebranded itself with its current name, The Juilliard School, then relocated to its campus to Lincoln Center in 1969.
During Dr. Joseph W. Polisi's tenure as president, Juilliard added new curricula in historical performance and jazz, as well as several new drama and liberal arts tracks and community engagement programs. Damian Woetzel, a former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, became Juilliard's president in the summer of 2017.
7. A rich history captured on film
A documentary on the history of the school, which was produced by PBS, features the remembrances of current and former alumni and instructors. In 2018, the documentary became available for streaming online.
Titled Treasures of New York: The Juilliard School, the hour-long film includes comments from world-renowned figures in the arts such as violinist Itzhak Perlman and trumpeter and music educator Wynton Marsalis. The film captures the school's rich history of teaching, learning, and performing, from its inception to its relocation to Lincoln Center.
8. An even stronger international footprint
The Tianjin Juilliard School in China is projected to open in the fall of 2019. The school's creators envision it as incorporating all of the elements of a true 21st century music conservatory on an international scale.
Meet the Bright and Bold Brass Family
The brass family of musical instruments takes its name from the material with which they are made, and their booming, brassy sound makes a big impact.
The brass instruments that most young students will encounter are the French horn, tuba, trombone, and trumpet. They might also meet the cornet, which is very similar to the trumpet, and the sousaphone, closest in style to the tuba. The euphonium and the baritone are less well-known—their size and range fall somewhere between the trumpet and the tuba.
Buzzing mouthpieces, valves, and pipes
Musicians play brass instruments, as they do members of the woodwind family, by pushing their breath into the instrument. But, unlike the woodwinds, it is not a vibrating reed, but a metal mouthpiece shaped like a cup, that amplifies the sound and drives it forward as the player's lips buzz against it.
Today's brass instruments consist of a long stretch of tubing or piping that flares out toward the end like a bell. In order to allow for better and smoother handling and playing, the instruments' pipes are configured into twists, curves, and curlicues of various types. Attached to the pipes are a variety of valves that allow the player to open or close a range of apertures along the pipe's length.
When a player presses down on various combinations of valves, he or she can vary the sound, loudness, and pitch.
The clear, strong sound of the trumpet
The trumpet and the cornet are the smallest and highest-pitched members of the brass family. The differences between the two are miniscule, and their sounds are almost indistinguishable, although the trumpet's shape is slightly longer and slimmer. Beginning players typically find that neither is an improvement on the other.
The trumpet is easy to maintain and to store, with only two body pieces to take apart between one band practice and the next. The instrument's valves and slides need occasional oiling.
The earliest prototype of the trumpet we know today appeared in approximately 1,500 BC. Early artisans began to decorate the horns they fashioned from animal tusks, and eventually from ceramics and metal. But the trumpet remained largely a one-note hunting, ceremonial, and wartime accessory until the latter part of the Middle Ages. It was then that musicians began to realize its artistic possibilities.
Baroque composers began to incorporate the trumpet into their compositions, impressed with its clear, ringing tone. By the close of the 1700s, Viennese musician Anton Weidinger had added keys to the instrument, giving it the capacity to produce a complete chromatic scale in all registers. The invention of valves replaced the keyed system, and by the second decade of the 1800s, the first working brass instrument valve ushered the trumpet into the modern orchestral age.
Makers of early musical recordings were so taken with the strong, bold sound of the trumpet that they featured it often, and superstar players such as Louis Armstrong made it an indelible part of the American musical experience.
Learning to slide with the trombone
The trombone's long slide piece increases the length of its tubing and changes its pitch, making the slide analogous to the valves found on other instruments. Like the trumpet, it ends in a bell-shaped piece, but has a larger mouthpiece than the trumpet.
The trombone is relatively more challenging to play and to care for than other brass instruments. It's important to take particular care of the slide and treat it gently—if it is damaged, the instrument becomes unplayable. The trombone's two-piece structure makes it easy to assemble and disassemble, and, like the trumpet, it simply requires occasional oiling and greasing.
Students who have good pitch will be able to know exactly how far to extend the length of the slide to produce a desired tone. Students who are unsure of pitch may have more difficulty in controlling the trombone's pitch.
The trombone arose as a byproduct of the development of the trumpet in the 1400s. Until hundreds of years after its invention, musicians and composers in the English-speaking world called it the "sackbut."
From cor de chasse to French horn
The model for the French horn was based on ancient horns used for hunting. Its name is a bit of a misnomer, since most of the major developments in the instrument took place in Germany. Like its relatives, it was developed during the late-medieval period, when musicians' experimentation created a variety of new horn types.
Seventeenth-century alterations in horn formations produced a model with a larger flared bell, the first recognizably "French horn" type of instrument. This model was originally called the "cor de chasse" and then the "French horn" in English.
Complete beginners are not usually capable of attaining great proficiency in playing the French horn, and so should proceed with caution before settling on it as a band instrument. But for a student with an excellent grasp of pitch and solid prior musical training, it can be a good choice. Like other brass instruments, the French horn is comparatively simple to store and to care for.
The big and beautiful tuba
The tuba, the brass family's largest instrument, is also its deepest. It can play both accompaniment and melody, adding surprisingly nuanced and beautiful tones.
Students can obtain tubas of various sizes; it's important for each musician to identify the size that's right for them. Younger players who struggle with the full-sized tuba may find that the baritone is a more manageable instrument, at least at first. The tuba's care is similar to that of other brass instruments, and it consists of at most three pieces.
Unlike its cousins, the tuba's origins lie not in ancient or medieval times. Drawing on previous valved band instruments, two Berlin-based musicians filed a patent for the tuba in 1835. Johann Gottfried Moritz and Wilhelm Wieprecht provided their new instrument, set in the key of F, with five valves. Later variations include the Wagner tubas, small-bore models created specifically to fit composer Richard Wagner's requirements in his large-scale opera The Ring of the Nibelung.
Spotlight - Teaching Children Music from Other Cultures
The universality of music as an art form—and as a cultural treasure—has become a cliche. However, as music teachers know, that cliche represents an important truth about the way in which music can expand horizons, facilitate understanding, and contribute to a broader appreciation of the heritages of all the people in the world.
Children who learn that there are others much like themselves who make music, dance, and sing together just as they do, can be a powerful motivator for them to learn more about other cultures. And when they participate in positive programs that introduce them to cultures other than their own, they learn to become more tolerant and accepting of other human beings.
In addition, participation in multicultural musical activities exposes children to a wider variety of sounds, intonations, and rhythms than they would ordinarily experience at home.
Educators point out that the process of teaching children music from a rich variety of cultures should begin in early childhood with an emphasis on broad participation. And any good early childhood music program will typically incorporate rhythmic movement activities and opportunities to develop social skills.
Studies validate multicultural music experiences.
Research has shown that when children hear music from other cultures, they develop the ability to perceive fine distinctions among sounds. This is just the type of experience that helps them to acquire and build on vital early language skills. They also learn the art of listening and increasing their ability to concentrate.
Experts assure anxious parents that hearing music in multiple languages—just as in the case of learning a second language—actually helps young children to improve their primary language skills.
World Music Day honors many traditions.
In fact, there is an entire day dedicated to the celebration of listening to, performing, and enjoying music from all over the world. World Music Day, which is observed in a multitude of ways in numerous countries, occurs on June 21 of each year.
The observance began in France, as Fête de la Musique, in the early 1980s. Since then, it has served as a means of promoting free access to music for everyone in some 700 cities worldwide, and it is supported by organizations such as Musicians Without Borders.
A treasure trove of recorded music.
Teachers and parents who want to focus on offering a multicultural palette of musical experiences can begin with one of the many well-reviewed recordings for children. These include the series published by Putumayo, which provides high-quality CDs of representative musical compositions from a wide range of cultures for children of all ages.
Putumayo's children's catalog, which is available online, includes the classroom favorite and Parents' Choice award-winner World Playground. The label's other selections include Kids' African Party, which also offers an aid to learning with a list of instruments and musical genres that are distinctly African.
Other Putumayo titles include Cuban Playground, Italian Playground, and other "Playground" CDs featuring musical styles from New Orleans, Brazil, France, and the Caribbean. The albums are joined by several "Dreamland" collections, featuring multicultural songs suitable for quiet family times.
A classic American performer interprets the music of the world.
Ella Jenkins is a performer beloved by generations of parents and children. Jenkins, an African-American singer and actress, has worked since the 1950s to deliver definitive renditions of a wide range of folk songs for audiences of children. Her albums are available on the Smithsonian Folkways label.
Jenkins' classic Smithsonian Folkways albums include Multi-Cultural Children's Songs and More Multicultural Children's Songs. Children can enjoy songs from these albums that teach common greetings in many languages, including Swahili. Other tracks include renditions of beloved songs depicting the cultures of Israel, China, Australia, Germany, and many other nations.
Smithsonian also publishes Jenkins' early albums Call and Response: Rhythmic Group Singing, which introduces listeners to West African music, and Adventures in Rhythm, which teaches awareness of rhythmic concepts in music from the very basic to the more complex.
A bilingual educator offers multiple ways to learn music.
José-Luis Orozco is another musical artist with an international catalog that spans decades. A teacher with a master's degree in education, Orozco has made a career of sharing the joys of music in Spanish and English with children and their families. He performs throughout the Americas to promote the value of bilingualism and multicultural understanding.
Orozco's albums include Caramba Kids, De Colores, Esta es mi tierra/This Land Is Your Land, and numerous others. His website also offers educational kits that can enhance classroom music and cultural programming.
Putting traditional American classics in a global frame.
Another Smithsonian Folkways artist, Elizabeth Mitchell, offers recordings anchored in her early work as a teacher of young children in New York City. Her classes consisted of children who spoke a wide range of languages. Mitchell discovered that music could serve as a bridge among cultures. She has since gone on to immerse herself in the American and world folk music traditions. Her highly accessible albums include You Are My Little Bird, which features interpretations of American Appalachian and other folk melodies appropriate for all ages.


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Drive a mining truck carefully and try to reach the end of the level without losing too many blocks from your shipment. If you can navigate across rough terrain, you will get a decent score. Mining Truck is provided to you by FunLand.com and is categorized into our racing games. This game was played 347,042 times and currently has a rating of 4.35 out of 5.00 after 4,352 votes.


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Y Ford Gron (Scranton) was a 19th-century Welsh language periodical first produced in January 1867, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Thomas Walter Price and William Aubrey Powell. Its content, literary articles and reviews, and poetry and news from Wales, was aimed at the Welsh American population.
 The ability of Welsh migrants to America to maintain their language and culture are evident in this publication and others such as Y Drych and Yr Amserau.

See also
 Y Ford Gron - A Welsh language magazine of the same name, published in Wales between 1930 and 1935.

References

Periodicals published in Wales
Welsh-language magazines
Music magazines published in the United Kingdom


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Home » Opinion » About RIOC's Stingy, Broken Public Purpose Funds
Public Purpose Fund Grants Fall Short
About RIOC's Stingy, Broken Public Purpose Funds
Friday, December 8, 2017 - 10:12 Updated 2 years ago David Stone
As I begin writing, I don't know what the Common Council's Public Purpose Fund Committee will recommend in grants before passing them on to RIOC. What I do know is that not a dime will go to our seniors. That alone should awaken RIOC to the fact that this system is not just stingy, but badly broken.
Is Stingy Part of RIOC's Unwritten Mission?
Let's start with RIOC's stinginess because it affects everything that's wrong with the process by which PPF grants are determined and distributed.
If RIOC were more generous, needy nonprofits would be looking forward to generous rewards for services given, and thriving would be more a matter of fact than of worry.
"Public Purpose Funds should be allocated to benefit Roosevelt Island residents, enhancing their quality of life through education, artistic and cultural enrichment, improved health or a better environment." Source — RIOC.
Reads nice, right?
And the legislation making it possible passed, championed by our local elected officials and signed by the Governor, with generosity packed tightly inside an idea: return a small amount of the money ($27 million in fiscal 2016) RIOC collects from ground leases and other Island resources to the community to improve conditions in a locally aware way.
But RIOC fails to deliver anything near the good fortune promised by that legislation.
The enabling legislation allows RIOC to award up to 3% of its annual operating budget for "…GRANTS TO NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS OR GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES THAT PROVIDE DIRECT SERVICES OR BENEFITS TO THE RESIDENTS OF ROOSEVELT ISLAND…"
(Sorry about the all-caps, but that's how the legislation is written.)
The math is simple.
RIOC's operating budget comes in at well over $20 million, meaning they can award in excess of $600,000 to nonprofits that help Roosevelt Island residents.
Instead, RIOC coughs up a measly $100,000 in a perfect year, sometimes less because if you don't follow the rules and report according to guidelines throughout the year, you aren't getting all the money, paid in arrears, you were promised.
Pause for an apology…
Significant details on the above cannot be reported because RIOC has persistently been in violation of an important condition of the law:
"On or before May 1, 2016, the corporation shall post a report on its website that shall list and describe the purpose of each grant issued between 2010 and 2015. Such report shall also describe the resulting public benefit of each grant."
When confronted by a resident about why the State agency has never done so, RIOC attorney Jaci Flug explained, "You are correct that our current website does not include that section. It will be updated as the entire RIOC website will soon be redesigned and updated."
Think of it like this — you've parked your car illegally on Main Street for eighteen months, but PSD shouldn't ticket you because you're going to get a new car at some future time. No explanation necessary... or offered.
Or, you might just arrive at the depressing conclusion that RIOC hasn't bothered because they consider Public Purpose Funds a nuisance they'd rather not spend much time on.
Thanksgiving at the Senior Center. In 2018, RIOC will not be in this picture.
While a hundred grand may sound like a good bite of the apple, it's not when you're in an economic environment where you have little access to philanthropy or corporations that traditionally help nonprofits…
…and it's only one-half of one percent of your budget.
More like spit in your eye, that skinny but round number comes off as the lowest they believe they can get away with.
And in the past year, RIOC was so slow to pay, one nonprofit, RIVAA, was forced to fall behind in rent, which is what their grant is meant to cover.
That rent — adding insult to injury — is more than Hudson, RIVAA's landlord, agreed to pitch in to this and future year's Winter Wonderland, also subsidized by RIOC.
Hudson and RIOC appear to give, but not much, with one hand what they take away and more with the other.
RIOC does have a strain of generosity though, and it's not limited to handouts for real estate developers.
In the year ending March 31st, 2016, the most recent we found available, eight RIOC employees earned more than $100,000 in salary, that is, before benefits like health insurance and pensions.
Heading that list was then President/CEO Charlene Indelicato with a payout of just under $178,000. Her successor, Susan Rosenthal's Vice President salary annualized at just under $152,000.
Neither is a whopping amount, and a lawyer with Rosenthal's credentials could reasonably expect to earn much more in private practice.
But in contrast with what RIOC is willing to squeeze out for nonprofits, eight individuals pulling down more than the same one-hundred grand given to support services is an unsettling fact.
Worse, as Board Member Margie Smith pointed out (to no avail) and as a nonprofit executive complained bitterly to me, RIOC's committed to giving up $50,000 in income every year to help Hudson, one of the City's most prosperous real estate companies, cover the costs of its Winter Wonderland, which unimpressively decorates a limited section of Main Street and for only a couple of months.
RIOC also kicks in all the electricity and labor for burying lines carrying it underground.
RIOC and Hudson, which collects tens of thousands in rent from nonprofits, brushed off local artists who offered and were capable of doing more with the Winter Wonderland concept for far less.
It may not be corrupt, but it's certainly incompetent to splurge on a limited, passing display, when groups of capable community members go begging.
It's also stingy and painfully shortsighted.
It may be too late for RIOC to correct the flaws in its PPF system or to put an end to its inadequacies, this year. Time is short for getting their 2018 budget numbers finished and passed up the Hudson to Albany.
But there's plenty of time to consider the future and the good that can be done when RIOC shares the wealth and invests wisely in the very unique needs of Roosevelt Island.
Across the River from Roosevelt Island: Dark History at Rockefeller University


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Monsanto Video Revolt: Global anti-GMO online rally launches
15 Jun, 2013 10:14
People hold signs during a demonstration against agribusiness giant Monsanto and genetically modified organisms (GMO) in front of the White House in Washington on May 25, 2013. (AFP Photo) © AFP
A new initiative to bypass the corporate media blackout on GMO foods and bring the issue to world attention has been launched. Monsanto Video Revolt is to hit the net in the upcoming weeks, editor of Naturalsociety.com Anthony Gucciardi tells RT.
Anyone can become a part of the Monsanto Video Revolt announced by the Global Healing Center, Natural News and Natural Society, which have united to counter genetically modified Monsanto-produced crops and the overwhelming amount of poisonous herbicides and pesticides being dumped all over the world.
The campaigners want to fill the mailboxes of lawmakers and the folks responsible so full that they will have no choice but to listen to Monsanto opposition.
According to the initiative, participants are to record a video of explaining why they stand against Monsanto and GMO's at large. Then on July 24, videos are to be uploaded to a major video website such as Vimeo or YouTube - with Monsanto Video Revolt in the title – and shared through Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.
"The Monsanto Video Revolt is a natural extension of the protests and the opposition against Monsanto and GMOs at large," Gucciardi told RT's The Truthseeker.
Having succeeded with the March Against Monsanto in May, anti-Monsanto activists believe they must continue the momentum and join forces to slay the giant that is Monsanto. The March Against Monsanto was very successful, but "there's no reason for the mainstream media to cover it," he explained.
With the Video Revolt "we're blasting this information over the gates of the mainstream media right into the central nervous system of society as a whole," Gucciardi said, because "media could choose to ignore – and they do every single time in the mainstream media."
"We're going to flood search engines, YouTube, video websites with Monsanto Video Revolt to the point where everyone is going to see it even if he is not looking for it specifically," he said, dubbing the initiative "a display of power of the alternative news community."
"This movement as a whole, this video campaign and others, this initiative ultimately will turn into real action, legislation change, because we've had enough of the Monsanto pollution of our food supply, and it is going to change very soon. This is ultimately either the beginning of the end or the end of the end from Monsanto," Gucciardi concluded.
Monsanto Video Revolt is called to abolish the US Monsanto Protection Act, signed by President Barack Obama In March 2013. Monsanto legislation was hidden inside of the Continuing Resolution spending bill, and it enabled protection of Monsanto and its genetically modified creations from federal courts.
In 2007, during his election campaign, Barack Obama promised to 'immediately' label GMOs upon his election. Having become president he never bothered to stop Monsanto's increasing monopoly on the food supply. Instead, he pushed the pro-Monsanto bill into law.
The Monsanto Video Revolt protesters also intend to make GMO food labeling mandatory, as people have the right to know what they are eating.
Study reveals GMO corn to be highly toxic
Monsanto wins landmark patent case in Supreme Court
Feds delay approval of new Monsanto crops over environmental concerns
Monsanto CEO trashes company's opponents over 'elitism'
Global march challenges Monsanto's dominance: TIMELINE
Unapproved Monsanto crop found growing in Oregon
Monsanto can't explain how GMO wheat survived
Monsanto secures victory over organic farmers
UK lobbying EU to allow new GM crops despite public skepticism
Chemical, used by Monsanto, found in urine of Europeans - study