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September 7, 2022 David Astill
"A team lacking both joy and identity": Why NJ/NY Gotham have been the NWSL's strugglers in 2022 – tactical analysis
Fans of the NWSL will always use the same phrases to describe each season, with "full of drama", "exciting" and "competitive" usually among them. 2022 has been no different, with the additions of San Diego Wave and Angel City (based in San Diego and Los Angeles respectively) bringing new challenges and ensuring that every team has had to work incredibly hard to secure every point possible.
However, whilst the playoff fight has attracted a great deal of attention, it has also been worth keeping an eye on the foot of the table, with NJ/NY Gotham not expected by many to struggle and yet spending the majority of the campaign propping up the rest of the league.
The club, who finished fifth last season, have only managed to win four of their 17 matches in 2022, whilst they have found the net on just 13 occasions (the lowest total in the league) and conceded 36 times (the highest total in the league). In fact, their last victory came on 8 July, away at Racing Louisville, and their disappointing season led to the departure of head coach Scott Parkinson on 11 August after less than a year in the post. In the words of one leading NWSL writer, Gotham are "a team lacking in joy and identity", with many fans questioning what has gone wrong.
This tactical analysis will look to answer that question, examining Gotham's performances throughout the season and identifying their problems at both ends of the pitch. The scout report will also show the improvements made since former Jamaica coach Hue Menzies was appointed to lead the team on an interim basis, which have given fans some hope that their team can start to claw their way back and rediscover their form ahead of the 2023 campaign.
When it comes to NJ/NY Gotham's attacking problems, arguably the main thing to focus on is their tactics, as they have been let down on a number of occasions by their in-game strategies and have made it too easy for their opponents to limit their threat. To succeed in a league like the NWSL, teams need to have different ways of playing and be able to adapt when things aren't going their way, which is where Gotham have been found wanting at times.
NJ/NY Gotham have often been too predictable to play against this season.
The match against Chicago Red Stars, which proved to be Scott Parkinson's final one in charge, was where this issue was highlighted the most, with Chicago knowing how Gotham would approach the game and also recognising how they could limit their opponents' effectiveness, with 2-v-1 situations common as they closed the ball down and prevented crosses being made. In this case, Caprice Dydasco, who has recently moved to high-flying Houston Dash, has passed to Midge Purce, but Rachel Hill and Danielle Colaprico have got tight to her and prevented the ball from being transferred into the middle.
It was quite clever how Chicago went about this without Gotham realising because they made it look as if they wanted to press the ball every time they came towards the wings, with Hill here initially running towards Dydasco. However, this was only a ploy, because the Red Stars knew that the pass into Purce would be made, so Hill stayed back from Dydasco and ensured that she could change direction as soon as the ball moved towards Purce, creating the 2-v-1 with Colaprico, and the fact that this happened time and time again showed how Gotham kept playing into their opponents' hands whenever they got into these areas.
The fact that they persevered with these tactics despite them clearly not working also demonstrated that they did not have a backup plan, and that is something that has been noticeable in other games this season too, so is one key reason that they have struggled near the bottom of the league.
NY/NJ Gotham have lacked balance in attack on occasion.
When they have had chances to score, Gotham have at times looked imbalanced, with this situation showing Taylor Smith, who joined from North Carolina Courage in June, leading a counterattack but not having the necessary support from her teammates. As a result, it is easy for Louisville to surround her, with three players getting tight here as they look to prevent her run from turning into a goal.
The reason that she has been left on her own here is because those behind her have not been as quick during the transition, meaning that they have been left behind. It is unclear if this is down to a lack of desire or if those players just don't have the same pace as Smith, but she is the type of player who is at her best when she has teammates around her, so situations like this are not where she is most comfortable.
In fact, it was only when Cameron Tucker came on late in the match that Gotham started to really look dangerous, with Smith netting the winner only a few seconds after her introduction and once space had opened up, so that shows how another reason for Gotham's struggles is that they haven't had the right players working together at times, preventing them from fulfilling their attacking potential.
NY/NJ Gotham have been indecisive when they have had chances to score goals.
When they have got players working together in the final third, a lack of decisiveness has often let Gotham down. In this case, the ball has gone loose after a pass from Angel City defender Megan Reid into the middle, with former Chelsea Women and Bayern Munich Frauen full-back Ali Riley unable to regain control before Purce had put her foot in to send the ball towards the Angel City goal area.
However, whilst the pass from Purce into Kristie Mewis (sister of former Manchester City Women player Sam) was good, the next phase from the former Houston Dash midfielder was poor, as she took too many touches on the ball and then overhit the pass when she did send it back to Purce, forcing her teammate to go too wide and ending her opportunity to score.
Given that Gotham had a 2-v-1 advantage against Canada defender Vanessa Gilles here, with New Zealand captain Riley out of the game, they had to do better, and this lack of precision and quality, when they have been in these situations, is a primary reason for just 32.5% of their shots being on target in 2022. Therefore, if they want to be a more effective attacking side, they need to regain their composure in crucial moments and take these chances, because not doing so has been a big factor in them sitting at the bottom of the league.
Defensively, Gotham's major problem has been a lack of communication and teamwork, which means that they have often left spaces wide open and invited pressure from opponents. They have also been guilty of making some poor individual errors too, which need to be eradicated if they are to have any hope of climbing away from the foot of the table before the regular season comes to an end.
NY/NJ Gotham have been guilty of losing their concentration and conceding easy goals.
Some of their mistakes have been frustratingly simple, which must have been hard to witness at times. In this case, Portland Thorns have moved up the field and now have possession on the far side of the pitch, with Morgan Weaver looking for an option in the middle to move the ball to. Gotham's setup is initially good here, with captain McCall Zerboni marking Marissa Everett, in the blue square, whilst there are three defenders in the box to try and prevent either Yazmeen Ryan or Hina Sugita from having an open shot at goal if the ball comes their way.
However, once Weaver makes her pass, Zerboni loses her concentration and allows Everett to move into the space ahead of her, as the black arrow shows, with the Portland forward controlling the ball and finding the back of the net. The simple fact is that this goal could have been avoided if Zerboni had stayed with Everett and not let her run unmarked towards the goal area, and that is the key point – these are basic mistakes that Gotham need to cut out because they have been the source of their undoing on so many occasions.
It is not only Zerboni who is making these mistakes, but this situation is a good example of what has been going wrong at the back for Gotham and how they can work on being harder to score against.
NJ/NY Gotham have given the ball away in poor areas of the pitch and allowed teammates to play through them.
Gotham have also looked to play out from the back when they can, with Imani Dorsey in possession on the nearside of the pitch here and having made her way up to the halfway line. Everett is once again causing problems and has come to close her down, with Dorsey playing a no-look pass towards Delanie Sheehan, in the yellow circle, hoping that this will catch Everett out and give her teammate space to keep the ball moving forwards. However, the pass lacked accuracy and Sheehan was forced to readjust her positioning, which enabled Everett to win possession for the home side.
It might seem that this is just one loose pass and something that can be fixed, and it absolutely can be, but the fact that Portland's Olivia Moultrie, one of the game's up-and-coming stars, found the back of the net from long-range only a few moves after Everett had won the ball here shows how, once again, Gotham's mistakes cost them. Therefore, if they want to be harder to beat during the remainder of the campaign, they need to be better in possession and not make it so easy for opponents to create goalscoring opportunities against them.
NJ/NY Gotham's positioning has let them down in their own third and allowed opponents to break them down.
It is a common sight to see Dorsey making runs up the field when playing at left-back this season, and it is something that has caught Gotham out on a number of occasions. In this case, she has looked to close down San Diego's Sweden forward Sofia Jakobsson, but this leaves a large gap open between her and Cameroon defender Estelle Johnson, as illustrated by the blue line. Therefore, once Taryn Torres, in the red circle, loses possession to Wave midfielder Taylor Kornieck, Dorsey's poor positioning is instantly exposed as Kornieck can send the ball through the gap and into the path of the league's current top scorer, Alex Morgan, who finds the back of the net.
Whilst this was another well-constructed attacking move by San Diego, for which they deserve praise, it was also another situation where Gotham created their own problems and needed to be more organised at the back, working together to prevent the spaces opening up for the Wave to exploit, and it is situations like this that make it easy to see why they have shipped the most goals in the league in 2022.
Reasons to be hopeful
However, whilst this analysis has so far been very critical of NJ/NY Gotham's performances in 2022, there have been some signs of improvement since Hue Menzies took over, with fans able to hope for better times as the regular season draws to a close. Ultimately, Gotham will not make a second consecutive appearance in the playoffs, but they still have something to aim for, which is to not finish bottom, and that might not be as hard as it first sounds.
NJ/NY Gotham have started to use the wings in a different way under Hue Menzies.
What Menzies has done is to continue encouraging his players to stay wide and use the wings in order to build their attacks, but they now aren't sending crosses in from those areas. Instead, they simply pass out to the wings and try to force gaps to open up in the middle, which is what Ali Krieger is doing here by sending the ball towards Nahomi Kawasumi.
The result of this is that the opposition now can't come out to close the ball down in the same way as Chicago did in the first section of this analysis, because that would give Krieger the opportunity to send the ball into the spaces behind them. On this occasion, Orlando Pride fell into that trap and Gotham were able to use the gaps to progress the ball forwards, so this demonstrates how the tweak in their final third tactics has helped them to pose a bigger threat.
The other aspect of this to mention is that it is not a fixed formation, with different players taking up these wide roles during the game depending on what is going on at different stages of the match. At the moment, it is Kawasumi and Jenna Bike in those positions, but the Japanese forward moved inside the field shortly after this and Taylor Smith went out to take her place on the wing, so there is definitely more cohesion to their play now and players are more aware of what each other is doing and what spaces need filling, which will give fans hope that they can be more competitive during the latter stages of the season.
NJ/NY Gotham have pushed more players up the pitch in the last few games to try and pose a greater threat.
It was also mentioned earlier that Gotham often had an imbalance in their attack, with some players going forwards and others staying back, and Menzies has rectified this by asking his players to stay higher up the field and work in closer proximity to each other.
In the above image, Purce has been joined by Nigeria striker Ifeoma Onumonu in a front two, with the advantage of having two players up front being that Gotham can press opponents and force mistakes. In this case, their presence meant that Angel City's Bosnia goalkeeper DiDi Haračić couldn't play to one of the two defenders nearest her, meaning that she had to attempt a longer pass.
This is where the four players behind come into the equation, as their job here is to win the ball once it travels in their direction and then attack the space in front of them. What is key to their success with this is that only two of the four players run forwards, with one winning the ball and the other offering a passing option, whilst the two who stay back work to give them protection in case of a counterattack. The role of Kristie Mewis on the outside of this four-player line is particularly interesting because having her in this area when she isn't a winger allows her to get into the half-spaces and affect the game in different ways, which is where she is at her most dangerous.
It is clear that Gotham have been thinking more about their setup since Menzies' arrival and have been trying to make the most of these offensive opportunities, and they are starting to look like a team who could pose a threat going forwards. Therefore, this is another reason that fans can have hope during the rest of the season.
NJ/NY Gotham have worked together more in recent defensive situations to be harder to score against.
There have also been some improvements in their own third, with them being more coordinated and working together to prevent teams from scoring against them. Here, Angel City have got into Gotham's box and are trying to get a shot away at goal, but Simone Charley has been closed down by Estelle Johnson, who has moved across to try and win the ball before the shot can be taken.
This allows the rest of the team to set up behind Johnson, with her central defensive partner, Mandy Freeman, the key player to watch here. As the yellow arrow indicates, she moves across to cover her teammate and ends up as the one who stops a goal being scored, with Johnson overrunning and allowing Charley to cut back inside.
The level of teamwork here was also shown by Dorsey, who had once again got forward but had this time stayed close to playmaker Savannah McCaskill, in the black circle, who has been one of Angel City's most influential players this season. Once Freeman went across to cover Johnson, McCaskill looked to attack the space left open behind her, but Dorsey tracked her run and stopped Charley from moving the ball into her, playing her part in this chance coming to nothing. Again, this highlights how Gotham have been showing signs of playing more as a team, which when defending will help them to be more robust and not concede as often.
In conclusion, this tactical analysis has looked at NWSL strugglers NJ/NY Gotham, who have had a season to forget in 2022. Whether it is down to poor coaching, ineffective tactics or something else, the simple fact is that Gotham have not been performing at the same level this season as they did in 2021 and have at times looked lost, with their sharp decline alarming fans who had hoped that the team would build on the highs of last year.
The recent change of coach has brought some improvement to the team, as has been shown, but there is still a lot that needs to be addressed before they will really be in a position to challenge again. However, if they keep working on improving basic areas of the game, such as keeping the ball, creating attacking opportunities and being difficult to break down, then there is still a chance that they could end their season on a positive note and give themselves something to build on in 2023.
I am a freelance sports analyst, currently Head of Women's Football at Total Football Analysis, Site Lead at Total Rugby Analysis, and also write content for my own blog (https://davidastillsportsanalyst.wordpress.com).
I am a fan of Liverpool FC and Leicester Tigers. I love to watch football, rugby union, Formula 1, Formula E and tennis, as well as other sports from time to time.
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Energy Vampire – by Matthew Kain
Isn't it time to unplug HECO's monopoly?
by Matthew Kain | Mar 21, 2012
We all know to unplug energy vampires, those appliances that suck power from sockets even when they're turned off. But what about the utility that drains our pockets? In late 2011, Oahu electric rates reached a record high of 34.6 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), nearly triple the mainland average of 11.88 cents. Hawaii is surrounded by green energy potential, so when will we start using it? On Feb. 24, a few miles northeast of Haleiwa, politicians from all levels of government and representatives from the Boston-based corporation First Wind LLC broke ground on the 69-megawatt Kawailoa wind farm, which will become Hawaii's largest, producing enough electricity to power the equivalent of 14,500 homes by the end of 2012. The power generated will be sold to HECO at the rate of only 22.9 cents per kilowatt hour and, since everyone on Oahu pays the same rate, the savings will be passed directly on to all. Which raises the question: Why is HECO taking so long to get other large-producing projects on the grid?
"Every month I dread that electric bill," says 66-year-old Sam DiMartino, who says he has done just about everything he can to cut down his electrical costs. A 25-year resident of 'Ewa Beach, DiMartino is one of a growing number of working class residents who finds it harder and harder to make ends meet as the costs of electricity in Hawaii continue to rise. He checks his meter every day. He's purchased energy efficient appliances. He hasn't used his air conditioner in more than five years.
"We no longer use the dryer," DiMartino says, pulling on the collar of his black t-shirt–dried on his clothesline–adding, "Our clothes are stiff as hell." With his electric bill ranging anywhere from $250 to $400 a month on his three-bedroom townhouse, DiMartino worries about rates getting higher. "I don't know what to cut out next," he says with a hopeless look in his eyes.
Tied to oil
HECO's 100-year love affair with its fossil-fuel-fired generators (HECO switched from coal to oil as a fuel source in 1906) is the reason why our rates have soared in recent years and will continue to soar as long as things remain the same. "We all know that the price of oil has just gone up tremendously over the last year. The most significant thing that is affecting customer bills is the price of oil," HECO spokesman Darren Pai confirms.
It's also the type of oil. "One of the main issues is that we're getting low-sulfur fuel oil from Asia, which has been trading at higher prices than what is sold on the mainland,"
"What we hear from HECO is that the increase of electricity costs is caused by rising oil prices," says Sen. Mike Gabbard, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment. Much higher prices actually. According to HECO's inventory prices, low-sulfur fuel oil–or sweet crude as it is often called–prices have soared to and remained at about $130 per barrel since the latter half of 2011, while conventional crude remained just under $100 per barrel, according to West Texas Intermediate pricing. Asia is one of the only places Hawaii can get the low-sulfur crude that HECO needs in order to keep its generators running. The massive tankers that bring oil here travel one of the world's longest sea routes and risk a plethora of human and natural disasters before making it to Hawaii. If anything were to disrupt our steady supply, Hawaii could have an energy crisis in a matter of weeks.
"But, of course, we're also seeing that HEI [HECO's parent company, Hawaiian Electric Industries]'s profits were up 39 percent in the [fiscal year's] fourth quarter," continues Gabbard. "This concerns me and everybody else out there that's watching HECO's ads. The sad fact is that we are dependent on oil and the price of oil is so expensive and volatile."
The ads Gabbard refers to feature HECO Executive Vice President Robbie Alm and spokeswoman Jade Moon discussing how oil is the reason for our rising energy bills and how we have to develop local, clean energy in addition to reducing our usage. However, even though everyone seems to agree on the state's petroleum addiction, HECO and its critics stand divided about how to "green" the state's energy portfolio.
Holding up the show?
"I think the basic thing that we need to do is change the [HECO and HEI] corporate structure," says Rep. Cynthia Thielen, ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection (EEP). "You have a utility that is the only show in town providing the power to the residences and business, and they're beholden to their shareholders to make a profit."
And the House EEP Committee isn't just talking the talk. House Bill 2400–introduced by EEP Chairman Denny Coffman and heard earlier this session–would have done exactly what Thielen suggests, which would be to eliminate HECO's monopoly as an electricity provider. "Find a way that Hawaiian Electric can turn into being [just] the distributor, but then open the power generation–on a competitive basis–to different provider companies that want to come to Hawaii to provide that power," Thielen says.
HB2400 was deferred almost immediately after being heard, with testimony against it from both
the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) represented by commission chair Hermina Morita, and Consumer Advocate Jeffrey Ono. Hawaiian Electric, of course, concurred.
This is a dilemma not only for ratepayers, but for companies wanting to provide green energy to the grid through power purchase agreements, as well. When HECO signs a power purchase agreement, the company providing the power pays for the renewable energy infrastructure out of their own pocket, as in the case of First Wind's Kawailoa and Kahuku wind projects. Ratepayers don't pay a dime for that energy infrastructure, while we do pay for the upkeep of HECO's oil-fired facilities. "We don't give [First Wind] a penny until they begin to send electricity through the wires. And then we pay them according to the amount of electricity they send," says HECO Spokesman Peter Rosegg. "So First Wind has all the risk of the project, it doesn't show up on our books or in any way affect Hawaiian Electric's finances. That's true of all independent power producers and independent fuel producers. The ratepayer has no risk involved."
The more this happens, the less we need the current, oil-fired electrical infrastructure. So why would HECO want to keep things the way they are? "It's a no-brainer for HECO to depend upon oil because as the price of oil goes up, they, by law, are allowed to pass 100 percent of that increase in cost to the consumer," Thielen says. "Right now it's in HECO's interest to prevent the broader use of renewable energy, because the ratepayer pays a higher utility bill without renewables," she adds.
Who's stopping whom?
HECO Executive Vice President Robbie Alm–the man in the above-mentioned commercials–disagrees with the notion that HECO is not prioritizing renewables. He also opposes bifurcation of the electric utility business in Hawaii.
"That doesn't buy you an ounce of clean energy," says Alm. "You'll have to turn around the next day and do exactly what we're doing, which is put out bids, sign contracts, send them to the PUC, get approval for them and then have neighbors hopefully welcome the construction of the plants and projects. Only that last [thing] actually produces clean energy."
According to Alm, the resistance to getting more renewables on the grid is coming from people who disagree with the individual proposed projects, not from HECO. They may include environmentalists who find flaws in the project designs or residents of communities in which projects are slated to be built.
"The wind farms on Molokai and Lanai are being fought very heavily; there are people trying to fight the [interisland] cable; there are still opponents to geothermal," says Alm. "At some point we need to figure out how we're going to say yes to some of the larger-scale projects and get going. . . . Because every major project, every place, is being fought–every one."
Foes of HECO, including Henry Curtis, executive director of Life of the Land, a Hawaii-based environmental and political action group, maintain that HECO is beating around the bush. "The only thing they understand is liquid fuel, and they fear that renewables can displace their fossil fuel power plants," says Curtis. "Therefore, they have to talk the talk about how much they care; and, on the other hand, resist at every level against any move towards renewables."
But even though 100 percent of the costs associated with oil are passed through to ratepayers, Alm maintains that HECO has no incentive to resist, noting that HECO's overhead of "a couple billion dollars," which is mostly for oil, sharply outweighs the company's net profits. However, according to HECO's Security Exchange Commission 10-K filings, net profits were $100 million in 2011, the highest in 20 years.
"We're not slowing this down," says Alm. "We're putting out a bid for 200 megawatts of renewable power this year that was to replace the project on Molokai that the PUC said they wouldn't accept as is and asked us to re-bid. So what we'll get out of that, we'll see." One main reason for neighbor island opposition to hosting wind and geothermal projects, as well as to the interisland cable, is that residents who already pay more per kilowatt hour would like to see O'ahu cut some of its consumption before using their land to feed its outsize demand.
Reducing the need
A large part of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative–a memorandum of understanding between the
state of Hawaii and the US Department of Energy–focuses on efficiency. Hawaii's goal as a state is to use 30 percent less electricity by 2030.
One common gripe about the use of photovoltaic panels (PVs) is that each neighborhood on Oahu is capped at 15 percent PV generation, but HECO's Peter Rosegg dispels this as myth. "There is no limit or cap," he says. When the combined capacity of PVs on a single electrical circuit reaches 15 percent, a technical study on the circuit's reliability may (or may not) need to be done–at the customer's expense. This is the bad news. The good news though, according to Rosegg, is that only 49 out of Oahu's 465 circuits are at, or near, that capacity. These same standards are used in California and many other places. "It's a reliability checkpoint," says Rosegg.
The PUC has deemed HECO to be solely in charge of system reliability so it's in everyone's best interest for them to be wary of circuit vulnerability risks. However, HECO may have to share the responsibility in the near future.
Established in 1913, the PUC is the watchdog-liaison between the ratepaying public and HECO. Each appointed by the governor, the PUC is made up of three commissioners–currently Hermina Morita, Jon Cole and Michael Champley–who serve six-year terms upon approval of the State Senate. Morita is the current chair. Recently appointed Champley is currently awaiting approval of the senate, and Cole's term expires in June of 2012, when he will be replaced by attorney Lorraine Akiba. The Weekly made attempts to speak with the PUC while gathering information for this piece but was unable to solicit any comments.
"The PUC has had a very cozy relationship with the utility for 99 years," says Curtis of Life of the Land. "I don't fully trust them to make the right decisions. I would rather be [reading] the dockets [and] verifying the analysis that the PUC and the consumer advocate do are correct." Curtis has reservations about the lack of transparency the PUC has with the public.
According to Curtis, commissioners of the PUC file annual financial disclosure statements, but the governor is the only one who has access to that information. "HECO could be wining and dining the PUC on a regular basis," he says. "I'm not saying they are, but they could be, and you would have absolutely no way of knowing that."
A bill quickly making its way through this year's legislative session–SB2787–seeks to give the PUC more power over the grid by allowing them to develop, adopt and enforce reliability standards. Due to the intermittent nature of most renewable sources, HECO is currently the only authority in charge of making sure that the electrical grid meets reliability standards. An example: If half the island is powered by solar and clouds block the sun for a few days–or even weeks–critics charge that the grid could potentially crash. There are adjustments that need to be made in order to ensure grid reliability, they say. For this reason, HECO cannot simply let every hopeful independent power producer storm the grid at once. But are they intentionally slowing down the process? And will the PUC do any better of a job if SB2728 is signed into law?
Sam DiMartino has written several letters to the PUC expressing his concern with HECO and the state's energy plight. But, according to DiMartino, the PUC has continually forwarded his letters and calls directly to HECO instead of fielding his questions and concerns directly. "What are they, a referral agency?" asks DiMartino, who also says he doesn't really trust the PUC. "There's a need for skepticism," he adds.
While many projects on the neighbor islands are being contested, the Kawailoa and Kahuku wind farm projects show that Oahu's opposition to large-scale projects is not all that adversarial. Ratepayer relations with HECO, however, are a different matter.
Rep. Cynthia Thielen of the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection
Image: Photo by John Chisholm

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Kendall and Kylie Jenner Pen a Sci-Fi Novel!
16-year-old Kendall and 14-year-old Kylie Jenner might be the teen sisters of Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe Kardashian, but they're certainly not going to take the same reality TV route to stardom!
Kendall and Kylie want to do something entirely different- they're writing a science fiction novel!
Set 200 years in the future, the story is inspired by their favorite two series, 'Harry Potter' and the 'Hunger Games'!
They hope the book will be ready to hit the shelves by next summer!


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'Talentime' back in cinemas
11 Aug – Primeworks Studios and a group of cinema operators are coming together to honour the memory of the late film director Yasmin Ahmad by organising a re-screening of her latest movie "Talentime" on 13 August 2009 onwards, for a limited time only. The screening will be held across various cinemas nationwide and the organisers have pledged to donate RM1 to an undisclosed charity organisation for every movie ticket sold. "Yasmin Ahmad was an icon of our film industry who will be sorely missed, and this is our way of honouring her memory and allowing viewers to enjoy her work on the big screen once again," said Dato' Sri…
Movies, Reviews
Review : Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (no spoilers)
Ah, the fourth installment of Indiana Jones. There must be a lot of people who are looking forward to George Lucas' and Steven Spielberg's latest offering. I went to watch it last night and didn't quite like it. More on that later. First, the summary. For once I didn't copy paste from somewhere else. LOL! The year is 1957, and the movie opens with a row of military vehicles driving along a lonely road in a scorching desert. A not-that-young-anymore Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and his sidekick Mac (Ray Winston) is caught by Soviet agents lead by the ruthless Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett). They want something from him – the…
Movies, Other
Watch Free Movies at GSC Alamanda
I just found out about this from Delinn. GSC Alamanda is opening on April 3rd and they are offering free tickets! Yea! You can watch movies for free from 29 March to 2 April. The movies they are showing are "Alvin and the Chipmunks", "The Golden Compass", "National Treasure", "Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium", "Anak Halal (Malay)", "Impak Maksima (Malay)", "Om Shanti Om (Hindi)" and "CJ7 (Chinese)". All you have to do is print out this coupon here. Each coupon is valid for two tickets and each person can have four tickets. The movie schedule is at that website also. Whee~~ now got place to lepak if too lazy to go…


First Atelier for Young Festival and Cultural Managers in Shanghai, China.
The Atelier for Young Festival and Cultural Managers took place from 17-23 October in Shanghai, China. The Atelier Shanghai is organised by The Festival Academy (initiative of the European Festivals Association, EFA) in collaboration with the Center for China Shanghai International Arts Festival, developed in the framework of the China-EU High Level People-to-People Dialogue between the People's Republic of China and the European Commission and supported by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China and by the European Commission through the newly set-up Cultural Diplomacy Platform.
The Atelier opened at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on the 17th of October. Mr. Yi Gong, Vice President of the Center for China Shanghai International Arts Festival, greeted the 44 participants coming from 16 different countries worldwide and the 4 mentors already present and welcomed them in Shanghai, center for tourism, finance, trade and creativity, and one of the most influential dynamic and creative cities in China.
Mr. Marcin Grabiec, Counsellor at the EU Delegation to China, emphasized the importance of concretising the framework of the China-EU People-to-People Dialogue and the uniqueness of the programme. Supporting partners, The British Council, represented by Mr. Nick Marchand, Director Arts, China and North East Asia, British Council, Counsellor (Culture and the Arts), British Embassy – China and Institut français de Chine, represented by Mr. Paul Freches, Attaché culturel, Consulat général de France à Shanghai, Service de coopération et d'action culturelle welcomed the participants in Shanghai, and also Goethe Institute has passed a warm welcome.
"We need to be political. You are all people who will be able to influence the landscape in the coming years. What is your vision? What would the world look like if you had a magic wand? However small or big your festival or venue is, you have a platform to act and react from and to create a space for beauty, for inspiration, for questioning values, for human encounter. Use it!" You can read the full speech here.
Mr. Jing Hui Meng, Artistic Director and Founder Wuzhen Theatre Festival finally kicked off Shanghai 2017 with a Keynote speech, striking up 7 days of international cultural exchanges, and intense discussions.
"I wish I could be one of the Atelier participants. Art is like a rainbow and a bridge for souls. Art Festivals are places for beautiful encounters. We, artists and art professionals, are here to learn and grow. People come, people go - We continue to inspire and be inspired in celebration of art."
Festival directors have their fingers on the pulse of the nation. They listen to songs, poetry and theatre to read the mood of the nation. They have the vision to curate expressions and thoughts in dynamic ways that bring people into discussion to find solutions and resolutions. Festival directors can turn dead walls that have been devastated by poverty and war into canvasses that breathe and express new life. Festival directors have the ability to take shouts of protests and to turn it into songs that of victory and celebration." You can read the full speech here.
Twelve renowned festival managers from all over the world guided the participants through lectures, one-on-one talks and intense workshops under the coordination of Hugo De Greef, who has been in charge of this since 2006. We welcomed Robyn Archer (Artistic Director of The Light in Winter Melbourne, Australia), Mark Ball (Associate Artistic Director of Manchester International Festival – MIF - UK), Hugo De Greef (General Coordinator of The Festival Academy, former EFA Secretary General), Bernard Faivre D'Arcier (President Lyon Biennial, Former longstanding Director Avignon Festival), Nele Hertling (Member Strategy Group "A Soul for Europe", Former Vice-President of the Academy of Arts Berlin, Former Director Hebbel-Theater Berlin, Germany) Ophelia Huang, Shanghai International Dance Centre, Hongming Lin (Professor and Dean of Art Management Department, Shanghai Conservatory of Music), Jinghui Meng, (Founder and Artistic Director of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, China), Gebing Tian (Director Paper Tiger Theater Studio, China), Catherine J. Wang, (President of the Center for China Shanghai International Arts Festival, former Director of the Forum Affairs Department of the Shanghai World Expo), Rongjun (Nick) YU (Vice President of SMG Shanghai Performing Arts Group, Director of Shanghai International Comedy Festival).
The Atelier closed on 23 October with a ceremony at The Grand Theatre, during which Mr. Yi Gong, (CSIAF) welcomed Mr. Hao Zheng, Deputy Director General, Bureau for External Relations, Ministry of Culture, P.R. China, Governor Mr. Jan Briers, President European Festivals Association (EFA), Mr. Hugo De Greef, Atelier Coordinator and co-founder The Festival Academy, Ms. Inge Ceustermans, Managing Director The Festival Academy and two participants of the Atelier for Young Festival and Cultural Managers, Ms. Alina Chiriac and Mr. Li Ren, who all addressed the audience with their conclusions and statements after spending 7 days together during the Atelier Shanghai.
7 days which allowed all people present a privileged insight into Chinese culture, meeting personalities and visiting venues of the Shanghai arts scene during the day (with special thanks to the Ming Contemporary Art Museum - McaM, the Shanghai Theatre Academy, the Shanghai Concert Hall and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra), the Shanghai Performing Arts Fair – SPAF, and witness performances part of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival at night. But most of all these 7 days meant an inspiring gathering of 44 extraordinary individuals that moulded this edition into 'their Atelier' thanks to their vision, openness and engagement to exchange and create a unique time and space for all.


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Redknapp pegged to take on England top job
Rob Harris
Endorsed by a growing number of England players, Harry Redknapp should move closer to becoming the new coach of the national team on Friday when plans to recruit Fabio Capello's replacement are finalised by Football Association (FA) executives.
But with Tottenham hitting unprecedented recent highs under Redknapp, FA executives meeting on Friday will also consider alternative options if the affable and widely respected manager cannot be prized away from White Hart Lane.
The groundswell of public support for Redknapp gathered after Capello quit on Wednesday in a row over fired captain John Terry, with the Italian plunging England's preparations for this summer's European Championship into turmoil.
Now the FA is swinging into line with the national mood by stating a preference for a homegrown coach and recognising the widespread backing for Redknapp, whose Tottenham is third in the Premier League.
"We of course understand the feeling of the nation and supporters, fans of England are very important when it comes to choosing the right person for the job," FA general secretary Alex Horne said on Thursday. "But we have to sit down and look long-term and give ourselves as many options as are available.
"We owe it to ourselves to write up the job brief and make sure we sit down calmly and make sure we have an exhaustive list."
Two of England's most prominent players, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand, have led the calls on Twitter for the appointment of Redknapp.
"We need an English manager now, we don't need anything else lost in translation," Ferdinand said. "Harry Redknapp would be my choice by a distance."
And he seems to fit the job description that will be completed on Friday by a four-man board led by chairperson David Bernstein.
"The motivational qualities of a future England manager are absolutely vital, to be able to handle big players and motivate and excite both the players and the fans," Bernstein said. "We'd all probably agree that the quality of play and the level of confidence shown at Wembley is not quite where we'd like to be."
But persuading Redknapp to take the job beyond Euro 2012 might not be so clear cut, with another season still to run on his Tottenham contract.
Having been backed by Tottenham during a tax evasion trial which ended with not guilty verdicts on Wednesday, Redknapp might want to remain loyal to a club on the brink of a second season of Champions League football.
Hefty compensation
The option is open for Redknapp to just coach England at the June 8 to July 1 European Championship before returning to Tottenham.
"We are not prepared to restrict ourselves at this stage," Bernstein said. "He might be English. He might be British. He might not be. He might be for the Euros only, he might be long term. We need to look at all the options."
Bernstein insisted that "we can't be driven" by Redknapp's support in the England squad.
But if Redknapp is recruited, despite the hefty compensation that would be paid to Tottenham, he can expect a similar salary to Capello, who was on around $9-million a year.
"With Fabio, it was expensive but I don't think you would say it was a mistake," Bernstein said. "Going forward, we will have to assess things very carefully. But let me be absolutely clear we are not going to do anything on the cheap. We have to get the right person for the job and we will pay the proper market rate."
The new coach will not be expected to deliver instant success for a country that has only ever won the World Cup in 1966.
Pending racism trial
"Let's be a bit realistic here," FA director of football development Trevor Brooking said. "We haven't won a tournament for 46 years … let's not get this expectancy that whoever comes in is going to suddenly start delivering us championships or whatever."
England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce will take charge of England's friendly against the Netherlands on February 29, with the Euro 2012 opener not until June 11 against France.
Of course, England is also without a captain. It was the FA's decision to strip Terry of the armband due to his pending racism trial that angered Capello and led to him quitting.
Terry, though, can remain a member of the squad, which could also include Rio Ferdinand, whose brother Anton is alleged to have been racially abused by Terry in the case that will go to court on July 9.
"You don't want to go to a tournament divided," said Brooking, who played 47 times for England. "You want the spirit, quality and atmosphere to make results."
There will also be a new code of conduct for players.
"I want to ensure we can reach a genuine agreement with the players on because it is important they have a level of ownership on this," Club England managing director Adrian Bevington said. — Sapa-AP
Fabio Capello
European heavyweights face criticism over 'cynical' Super League
How Klopp and Mourinho became victims of change
Expect no charity from football's elite
Football will define its own destiny as it returns to a strange world
Can Spurs halt RB Leipzig's despised march?
Three things we learned from the Premier League


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Diethelm von Krenkingen (1169 erstmals erwähnt; † 12. April 1206 im Kloster Salem) war von 1157 bis 1161 Abt des Klosters Rheinau, von 1169 bis 1206 des Klosters Reichenau und von 1189 bis 1206 Bischof von Konstanz.

Leben
Diethelm von Krenkingen stammte aus einer edelfreien Familie der Freiherren von Krenkingen, welche zwischen dem südlichen Schwarzwald und dem Randen begütert war. Er bezeichnet in einer Urkunde von 1210 den Bischof von Salzburg Eberhard von Regensberg und den Bischof von Gurk Walther von Vatz als seine mütterlichen Oheime.

Er war zunächst Mönch des Klosters Reichenau. 1169 wurde er von Friedrich Barbarossa zum Abt des Reichenauer Klosters ernannt. Er begab sich nach Rom zu Papst Urban III. (Papst von 1185 bis 1187) und erhielt den Segen und die Weihe als Abt. 1189 wurde Diethelm als mächtiger Abt der Reichenau in Personalunion zum Bischof des Bistums Konstanz ernannt, der damals größten deutschen Diözese. Er war zudem enger politischer Berater von Philipp von Schwaben, dem jüngsten Sohn Friedrich Barbarossas (ab 1198 römisch-deutscher König). Diethelm von Krenkingen wurde von Philipp 1197 mit der Verwaltung des Herzogtums Schwaben betraut. Wegen seiner politischen Einmischungen und der Nähe zum staufischen Herrscherhaus  wurde Diethelm von 1201 bis 1204 von Papst Innozenz III. unter Kirchenbann gestellt. Diethelm von Krenkingen legte sein Bischofsamt 1206 nieder.

Diethelm engagierte sich insbesondere um die Zisterzienserabtei in Salem, wo er auf eigenen Wunsch hin seine letzte Ruhestätte fand.

Literatur
 Arno Borst: Mönche am Bodensee, 610–1525. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1978, S. 172–188.

 Helmut Maurer: Genealogisches Handbuch zur Schweizer Geschichte. IV. Band, 1980, S. 127.
 Helmut Maurer: Konstanzer Bischöfe 6. Jahrhundert bis 1206. (= Germania sacra; NF 42,1; Die Bistümer der Kirchenprovinz Mainz. Das Bistum Konstanz 5). 2003, S. 393–432 (Digitalisat)
 Karl H. Roth von Schreckenstein: Herr Diethelm von Krenkingen Abt von Reichenau (1170–1206) und Bischof von Constanz (1189–1206); ein treuer Anhänger König Philipps. Beitrag zur Geschichte der Bischöfe von Constanz. In: Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins (ZGO), Bd. 28. Heft 3, 1876.
 Ursula-Renate Weiss: Die Konstanzer Bischöfe im 12. Jahrhundert.; ein Beitrag zur Untersuchung der reichsbischöflichen Stellung im Kräftefeld kaiserlicher, päpstlicher und regional-diözesaner Politik. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1975, ISBN 3-7995-6819-0. S. 145–176.
 Karl August Barack (Bearb.), Gallus Oheims Chronik von Reichenau, 1866
 Karl Brandi (Bearb.), Die Chronik des Gallus Oehem, 1893

Siehe auch
 Liste der Äbte des Klosters Rheinau
 Liste der Äbte des Klosters Reichenau
 Liste der Bischöfe von Konstanz

Weblinks

 Bishop Diethelm von Krenkingen

Anmerkungen

Abt (Reichenau)
Bischof von Konstanz
Römisch-katholischer Bischof (12. Jahrhundert)
Römisch-katholischer Bischof (13. Jahrhundert)
Person (Waldshut-Tiengen)
Geboren im 12. Jahrhundert
Gestorben 1206
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Is there any plans to allow users to change device icons in the app to something that is more representative for what the device is used for?
To me it seems rather strange that the icon controlling a row of LED spotlights in my living room is a picture of a hidden in-wall Fibaro Dimmer 2. What is more annoying is that i have to click the icon to get access to the actual dimmer slider. This is not very good Human-Machine interface or good WAF!
To build the logic in a Smart Home, icons representing the actual device is probably a good idea.
In an ideal world the Smart Home should know what You want, but in the real world there will be a need for some kind of interface to override the automation, and to be used by e.g. guests.
Would love to se arguments for keeping the solution as is.
And for feature request regarding icons, please post them on GitHub. Think your idea is a pretty good one and loved by the community. The way of putting it, not so much. The people on the forum are your friends, not the ones able to pull the strings at Athom, and also not the ones that can explain to you why Athom doesn't change it.
I guess you haven't read about the "going (full) to mobile" things going on at the moment.
For all the reasons you name now.
Try searching the forum, enough about "homeydash" and "new mobile app"
I apologise if I appear rude!
I am actually very pleased with the performance of my Homey, and I appreciate the good work the enthusiasts of the community is doing!
I am probably to impatient regarding improvement of Homey. But I still think there is some core functionality that should be addressed by Athom, and not not up to the community to figure out workarounds to.
I am using the new mobile app, and it is a vast improvement over the previous one. But still at the moment my critics about icons and HMI stand.
I have had a quick look at HomeyDash, but it was not giving me any added value over the normal interface. I have probably not used enough time to figure out how to configure it properly. I am hoping for integration with ImperiHome, which would solve most of my requirements for a tablet-on-a-wall controller.


United's stuttering start to the season has seen the experienced Portuguese coach's position at Old Trafford repeatedly called into question.
MANCHESTER: Jose Mourinho's turbulent time as Manchester United manager could end with him being sacked as soon as this weekend, according to a British press report.
But the spotlight on Mourinho intensified when Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper reported late Friday he would be sacked regardless of the result of United's match at home to Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday.
United are struggling in 10th place and last week's 3-1 loss to West Ham meant they had suffered their worst start to a league campaign in 29 years.
According to the Mirror, Mourinho, 55, has lost the confidence of the board with "senior United sources" telling the paper his nearly two-and-a-half years in charge will end whatever the outcome of the Newcastle game.
Tuesday's goalless draw against Valencia in the Champions League -- a match where United struggled to live up to their fans' expectation of attacking football -- also meant former Chelsea boss Mourinho had gone four home matches without a win for the first time in his managerial career.
"Yes, I accept (it is not good enough)," Mourinho, who has reportedly had several bust-ups with star player Paul Pogba this season, said when asked about United's losing streak during a pre-match press conference earlier Friday.
The press conference, called for the unusually early time of 8:00 am (0700 GMT), lasted a mere eight minutes and 29 seconds.
But that was time enough for Mourinho to suggest United's results would pick up.
"We are better than this and because we are better than this, our situation is going to improve. I have no doubts about that," he said.
"I think opponents with much more potential than us finished behind us," he said.
"That is the reason why it was a phenomenal season."
United became a byword for managerial stability during Alex Ferguson's trophy-laden 26-and-a-half years in charge.
But were Mourinho to be dismissed, it would mean United had got through three full-time managers, plus club great Ryan Giggs's spell as caretaker, in the five years since the legendary Scottish boss retired in 2013 -- a period that has coincided with the club failing to win either the Premier League or Europe's Champions League.
Former United and England full-back Gary Neville, one of Ferguson's most dependable players, said such an attrition rate was against the "principles and values" of the club.
Asked if United would be right to sack Mourinho, Sky Sports pundit Neville replied: "No. To be honest I'm furious.
"I'm furious going back three, four years ago when David Moyes was sacked, when it broke a day before to journalists.
"I think of Louis van Gaal being sacked the evening of a cup final and finding out from other people."
In what appeared to be an attack on Ed Woodward, United's executive vice-chairman, Neville added: "At the end of the day this is now going on five or six years and I have to say that any manager -- Jose Mourinho is one of the best managers in the world -- and I think in this moment in time any manager would struggle in that football club, the way in which requirement is handled, the way in which it operates.
"Enough is enough for me. I love that football club, I absolutely love it to death, it's been my life... I have to say something has to change and it isn't the manager, it's above that.
"And I'm furious that we're stood here thinking that there's a report that's broken out... journalists don't break stories of this nature unless they're absolutely certain.
"I hope it's not true, but if it is true I think it's an absolute disgrace," he insisted.


Singer/songwriter Aimee Mann has released a new song titled Can't You Tell?, as part of a project called 30 Days, 30 Songs, a project releasing music from the likes of Mann, Death Cab for Cutie, R.E.M. and others leading up to Election Day next month.
Mann will release a new album titled Mental Illness in the spring.
Aimee Mann, Death Cab for Cutie, donald trump, politics, r.e.m.


text:
NEWSLETTER No 27 APRIL 1999
DRAGON ROAD COLLAPSES, DUNNING CUT OFF
On the quiet morning of Sunday, December 6, 1998, a knot of officials met on the roadway above the old Schoolhouse, and the word about their decision went quickly around. The road connecting the village and the Dragon was about to be closed!
There was no choice. The roadway was collapsing. All but foot traffic between Newton of Pitcairns and Dunning village would have to be blocked off. For how long? Indefinitely, was the first alarming report.
Of course, despite this obstacle, village life continued in its usual vigorous way. We can report that the Historical Society held its planned events for the winter, and despite some occasionally dire weather, the January talk by Ken Laing on St. Serf's, the February Members Night with four enthusiastic speakers, and a March video night drew large and supportive audiences.
The evenings gave a fine launch to what promises to be another busy year for the Society, what with the 60th anniversary evacuees' reunion, a barn dance, an expanded Website, new publications and many more events in store.
So what happened to the roadway? A temporary road was built within a week, and is still there. But for that one week, to paraphrase the famous headline about fog in the Channel, Dunning was cut off.
FORGET THE INTERNET, I'LL COME IN PERSON
DPHS member #48, Trevor Fulton of Napier, New Zealand, writes:
I have been scrimping and saving for the last eight years, and this year I'm coming across the skies to the homelands once more. I look forward to taking part in as many of the society's activities as possible. (Trevor will be in various parts of Scotland doing geneological research from June 6 to October 24. He continues:)
Last month I attempted to hit your website on my local library's Internet facility. Alas, I had no luck, possibly Murphy's Law stabbing me in the back again. I kept finding some 'sex line'. This could have been most interesting but most frustrating, when all you wish to find is www.dunning.mcmail.com. I made a tactical retreat after ten minutes and three attempts. I had no wish for the young lassie librarian behind the reference desk, who had a clear view of my bumbling attempts, to get the impression I was one of the local perverts. I will someday pluck up the courage for another attempt, otherwise I will have to peruse all your archives during my time in the village.
I look forward to retracing my roots and meeting with Dunningites in the summer.
Thimble Wynd, Bridgend, Dunning.
a linocut by Albie Sinclair
TIME FOR THANK YOU'S
We are blessed with members who contribute to the Society in many ways: by doing research, giving talks, making coffee and donating baking, by lending exhibits, putting out chairs, writing articles, by serving on subcommittees, preparing posters and news releases, by manning stalls, by interviewing and being interviewed, by attending meetings, by subscribing faithfully, by contributing sketches, by working on the website, by taking part in fieldwalks and trips of all kinds, by taking photos and videos, by doing the Society booksand paperwork, by selling tickets, by taking part in surveys, by serving behind bars and barbecues, by preparing and distributing news letters, by buying videos and booklets, by persuading others to join, by contributing books and artefacts and old photos and house deeds to our archives...and in many other ways. To all of you, the Society's very grateful thanks.
OH, WHAT A WEB WE'VE WOVEN
If all goes well, by the time you read this letter your Society, several of our members and our new website will have played a part in the most unexpected event in our group's history: the staging of a real wedding.
Just before Christmas, Simon Warren, our webmaster, was contacted on e-mail apparently by a Harry Dunning. Attracted by seeing his own surname on our Website, the sender wanted to know: how could he and his fiancee get married in that lovely old church St. Serf's in Dunning?
Alas, replied Simon, they could not. St. Serf's is no longer a place of worship.
Was there some other church they could get married in? Would Simon be willing to make the arrangements? And what was the time difference between where they lived and Dunning?
Yes, there's the parish church. Yes, I will help. But I can tell you the time difference only if I know where you live, replied Simon.
Las Vegas, came the startling answer. And I must tell you I'm really Marjorie Lough, Harry Dunning's fiancee. I'm Irish, and we'd like to get married on St. Patrick's Day, March 17 1999.
From there, things proceeded rapidly. Simon and his wife Moira took on the job of making most of the wedding arrangements, including inviting some 30 guests and setting up a wedding reception afterward. The 30 guests are mostly Society members who have taken on some task at the wedding.
Since to meet our printing deadline this is being written before March 17, we can only hopefully anticipate that all went well on the day.
You may already have read about the event elsewhere. Tipped by a leak to the local press, the national media has shown a great interest in the event. After all, in an era when Scottish couples fly all over the world to exotic locations to get married, it's an unusual twist for a Las Vegas couple to come to our wee Scottish village to get married.
And it's just a bit unusual for a local history society to act as bridal agent.
STOP PRESS: WE'VE A GREAT MILLENIUM MEMENTO!
The Society will be producing a calendar for the year 2000, with scenes of Dunning old and new. Available for purchase in early June. More details in July's newsletter. Contact Liz Fletcher, the Post Office, 01764 684 213.
AN EVACUEE MOTHER
Interview taped with Mrs. Margaret Brand, in her home in Glasgow, by Lorne Wallace in February, 1998. Mrs. Brand is 91 years old.
My name is Mrs. Margaret Brand, my husband was Thomas Brand. My children were James Brand, Thomas Brand, May Brand and the youngest is Greta Brand who was born in Dunning.
In 1939 we were living at 258 Lower Figg Street, then Lauriston. On September 3rd, we watched all the evacuees leave the school but we stayed. I didn't like the idea of the children going, I rather wanted the children with me. My mother-in-law lived beside us, and I didn't want to leave her either.
My husband was working in Perthshire and lived through at Aberuthven. He'd been in the army but he was taken out to work for the Forestry Commission. He worked at a sawmill.
When the bombs started falling in the Clydebank blitz, we used to go for safety. The wardens sent us into the cellars at a big distillery.
After the Clydebank blitz, my husband wrote and he said he was getting us a place, but it was on the outskirts of the village of Dunning, Rossie Cottage.
Well, we didnee know and we took the train and I took the children. Well, the cottage, there was nothing in it. It really belonged to Mr. Bell, the dairy farmer, and he just let it out. To me it was just like a wee bothy. We were heartbroken that there were nothing in it. Very little furniture in it. We'd left quite a nice home in Glasgow.
We went through there and the water was outside the door and there were no shops or anything. I'm from the city. No shops! You had to walk frae Rossie Cottage I would say it's a mile and a half into Dunning for the groceries.
Except for a Wednesday, Mr. Laing came with his van. But a Friday I would have to go in. We thought it was terrible. May had just started school in Glasgow and Tommy was five, he was starting school in Dunning, and it was a long way especially for the two of them to walk to school. We stayed about two or three months in Rossie Cottage. Then Mr. Brown must have spoken to his mother and the minister came up to see me and he said "I've got you a place right in Dunning" and I was quite happy.
Mr. Brown's mother owned the wee houses on Thimblerow, including the one we moved to. Dry toilets. We were number 6, Thimble Row, and we were quite happy. There were two apartments. There was a bedroom and a sittingroom where we put a bed. There were the three children and myself. We sent for our own furniture and our own beds by the railway and they came through and I made it quite comfortable.
Running water? The wee tap was outside. And the dry toilet? The Campbells, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, they were residents of Dunning, they used to come and collect the dirt and this carry on every Friday. Really and truly, when I think of it now, I don't know how I managed, after leaving the good clean house I left in Glasgow.
There was no gas or electricity, paraffin lamps, and I had to cook on the coal fire. I really do not know.
And then Mrs. Brown came in and she was talking about potato picking and we knew nothing. James and Tommy and me went. To lots of places, Dalreoch at the Broom, he was a posh farmer, and Scott at Millhaugh, and Peter Howie's farm and Alex Philip's. Coming in from the farms, the lorry left us all at Thimblerow and we came in and I had to start all the cooking.
And Mrs. Brown taught me how to make jam. I made about fifty pound of jam. I really don't know, but as time went on I got used to it. Everything was done in the coal fire.
We slept downstairs. We had an attic. When friends came she used to put two beds up in it, that's all, we hadn't the room, and we were very grateful for it.
Martha Bird stayed across frae us in Thimblerow. There were two wee doors, our place and hers. Hers was just the one room apartment, ours was the two. That was the old lady that nobody saw.
Besides the potatoes, I worked at the threshing mill, and the turnips. Mr. Howie said I would have made a good farmer's wife. I was up at the top of the threshing mill, working with the men. I had to go up and as the men forked the bundles of grain up to you, you picked it up, cutting the string with a knife strapped to your wrist and put it through the threshing mill. Never done that in my life! But you got used to it. Occasionally you'd cut yourself with the knife.
I worked mostly at the farm. And Alex Steel's mother worked on the farms too. And I can assure you that Alex Steel's family were very nice people. They came from the outskirts of Glasgow. And she came to the potato picking too. But she couldn't do the threshing-mill and that, no.
Well, I went, Mrs. Campbell and quite a lot of the people up the Dragon, Mrs. Henderson, taking the tops off the turnips, shawing the neeps.
I worked at the farms when the weather was good. Then again, in the winter, I worked with Mrs. Campbell at dressing the potatoes, putting them through the riddle and that. Starting from October. I worked on the farms for several years. I had never done that kind of work before, the only work I'd done in Glasgow was at a dairy. I'd been a lithographic printer up until when I got married.
When I was working on the farms, the older children would be at school until 4, but Tommy, who was the smallest, would be finished at 3. I used to tell him what farm I was at if it was near the village, and he'd come out to meet me. It was the idea of riding back in the lorry that attracted him, he was in his glory.
We went to the church. Everything was held in the church or the church hall. And in the church hall every Thursday, Mrs. Steel and I learned the country dances and that.
My husband had moved over to Thimblerow when we came. He continued working at Aberuthven and he and the chap Andrew Brown used to take their bicycles to go to work, at half past six in the morning.
My husband met with an accident, cycling from Aberuthven, with a lorry on the main road. He was taken into the hospital at Auchterarder. It was his ankles crushed, the way he fell. He was off work for close to two months. Then he was okay. That's the worst thing happened to us.
Life in Dunning. Well I was heartbroken when I landed in Dunning, and saw what...I was just heartbroken and felt like packing up and going back again. I couldna do that. We had a wee bit of a squabble. My husband said is it not far better here with the kids away from the bombs and that? But I still kept my own place on in Glasgow, or my mother did and my sister, you see.
My sister she came through to see us in Thimblerow, and the landlady said "Oh, you can stay for a night or two, no matter". My sister went. "No way could I stay here, it's so quiet" she says. Mrs. Brown had given her cabbages and things, she had to catch the last bus back to Glasgow that night. She says "I'd rather live with the bombs than live with the quietness here," she says. And she was very nervous this sister of mine. And she says "How are you going to manage", she says, and I says "Oh, we'll manage". She says, "No gas or nothing! Get me the last bus back!' she says.
I just had to make the best of it. I was young, I was young so there was nothing to it, I got so used to it. But the first night on the potatoes. Your back was broke from the potatoes. Mrs. Brown used to come in and she was laughing like hell, Mrs. Brown. "You'll be all richt in the morning," she says " You'll be all richt in the morning!" The man came to say "Come away, Mrs. Brand". "Oh we couldna", I says. But the next day we were okay.
The two boys were in their glory with the money they made from the potatoes. We used to take them into Perth, the bus in the square, and let them spend their own money. They loved it.
I made quite a lot of friends in Dunning. Local people. And evacuees, there were quite a lot living with Jock the tailor when we arrived. But they left, the bombing was ended and the war seemed over, and I said, well, Tommy is working, and we'll stay. And we did.
My life in Dunning was quite good. I would never have sampled if it hadn't been for the war. I just got used to Dunning.
When I used to visit Glasgow, because I never spent a Christmas in Dunning, I always used to go back to my own in Glasgow, the neighbour children were so white, you know, and mine were all tanned like anything. It done them a world of good.
My mother came to visit me in Dunning. She came and she thought it was wonderful. She came for two or three weeks because of transport and that. It was just that she couldn't sleep wondering how we were getting on. So she came away to see us. It so happened I was working the day she came, at Millhaugh, and somebody directed her away out there. And we watched her at the gate. She was horrified. She said "I never thought I would see the day when I'd see you picking potatoes!" She stayed with us three weeks, and then went way. She was reassured. She said "You seem to be quite happy.
Some of the residents just grumbled about the evacuees coming. I don't know why, but the Dunning people were all so quiet and all of a sudden there's this bunch coming in with children, and the army. I suppose it would upset them, they were so used to their own way of living.
But the likes of Mrs. Brown the landlady, she thought it was marvellous, she thought it livened up the village a wee bit. So did Mrs. Laing, the grocer's wife, she said that. She could never understand why a lot of people used to grumble, they used to chase the children when they ran through the square and that.
Jock the Tailor he used to say it was a good thing, it was very sensible of us to have come away from Glasgow because we used to read in the papers about Glasgow. We thought we were very lucky to be through in Dunning. He said that people should be very thankful that they can help people like you coming into Dunning.
But a lot of evacuees had left because they couldn't get used to the quietness. There were just a few shops, and in the city we were used to everything.
Every Wednesday Mrs. Steel and I used to go in to Perth. She was keen on antiques, and I just liked to walk about. We used to go for hot pies. They were famous for hot pies in Perth!
Anyway, how could I grumble. I had my husband and my family were with me. That's how I looked at it, I accepted it.
I did have the hardest part, coming in, making the fire, cooking for them, giving them theirs first, going out to fill up the jugs and that. This is what we missed the most. Having the water outside, you couldn't get away from that. In the beginning of Thimblerow there was Mrs. Morris, next was Mrs.Spence, we were in the third house, and then Mrs. Brown. They all had water. But there were four neighbours, Mr. Laidlaw, the two bachelors, Mrs. McRae, we shared with them the one small tap outside.
The fire was the only heating we had, and we had to cook on the fire as well.
Mrs. Brown used to give me the use of her wash-house out the back, and we hung on the lines outside. We used a washing board, then put them through the wringer. In Glasgow, we had had the steamies, the public wash-houses. We used to go there, driers and everything in it.
As the war was winding down, my husband was sent away from Aberuthven to work at Almondbank, to work at naval stores. He also cycled from Dunning to Almondbank, though it was ten miles. I always remember one Sunday the family was away with the church or something. It was a lovely day, and him and I we walked from Thimblerow to Almondbank, and back again. He wanted to show me the place where he worked. (laughs) We were young, so nothing's a bother to ye!
I made friends, good friends, local people, in Dunning. The Flockhart sisters, Mrs. Angus, Mrs. Howie her up in Rossie Cottage. Belle Flockhart had a sweet shop, and she used to have to go in to Perth to get her stock every now and then. I was passing by one day. Her sister Margaret was an invalid, in an invalid chair. Margaret shouted hello to me and when I went to speak to her the dog went for me. A great big dog, an Alsatian. It went for my leg, and Margaret started screaming. The neighbours came out, and then the district nurse came by. Oh, I had a terrible leg. The nurse counted sixteen bites. The dog was shot after. And I was pregnant at the time, with my daughter Greta.
We were among the last evacuees to leave Dunning. Greta was born the 31st of July, 1945 and we were back in Glasgow the next month when V-J Day was celebrated in George Square.
Looking back, my husband used to say to me there's no many women that would have done it. Oh, I fought with him at first when we went. I said "Is this what you were telling us we'd come through to at Rossie Cottage?" We sat on the suitcases. The kids were crying. My husband was doing his best to try to peacify us. The kids were saying "We want to the toilet." "There isn't any toilet here." Well, they wanted home. Nothing, practically nothing there. If only I could have got back to Glasgow that night, I believe I would have went. But I persevered. Persevered. Och, it was a good experience.
-An interview with Mrs. Margaret Brand, who promises to be at the 60th anniversary reunion of Dunning evacuees, being sponsored by the Dunning Parish Historical Society on September 3, 1999 in Dunning.
Mrs. Brand's story will be one of close to fifty evacuee reminiscences to be published this summer on the Dunning Parish Historical Society's web site at www.dunning.mcmail.com
THOSE SPLASHES
Do you recall our reporting in an earlier newsletter about the attempted robbery which took place the night of our last Barn Dance on July 17, 1998? We told you how thieves in a painters' van made a getaway after a foiled attempt to steal goods from Dunning's Spar Shop. Closely pursued by a police car, they sped away along the Perth Road over the River Earn and past Dupplin Estate, until stopped by a police roadblock.
In an effort to slow the pursuing police car, the thieves threw ladders, painting equipment and several cans of paint out the back door of the van during the pursuit. The next day, from this side of Forteviot Bridge to almost the end of Dupplin estate, there were fourteen paint splashes of various colours, roughly v-shaped like arrows, pointing in the direction of Dunning.
The post-script is that the thieves have been duly tried and sentenced, and the case has been legally closed. As historians, however, we are pleased to report that the memory of the event, and most of the paint splashes, fading but still prominent, lingers on. If you're making your way to Dunning from Perth this year, just follow the coloured arrows!
St. Serf's in Winter. - Pen sketch by Kenny Laing
"SIMPLE AND HOMELY AND SENSIBLE"
Last September in St. Serf's Church, Kirsty Doig and Clare Richards provided us with an amusing evening of readings from the scrapbook of former St. Serf's minister, the Rev. Peter Thomson. Here, with Kirsty's introduction, is an excerpt from that evening.
Kirsty: To have the opportunity to read news cuttings about local events of 100 years ago is interesting to say the least. Firstly there is the content of the report. Then, in reading between the lines and behind the lines, new lights are thrown on the life of the times and increased understanding of Dunning today.
Change there has been indeed, but through it all, the essential Dunning, the core, the soul, the heart of the community life of the village beats as strongly today as in yesteryear.
The prose style of the reporters, appearing sometimes showy and affective is likely to be an attempt in pre-TV days to re-create the total experience of actually being present at the scene.
You many recall that the last meeting of the Historical Society to be held in St. Serf's (in August 1997) took the form of a flower festival.
With this first newspaper report tonight, we invite you to sit back, close your eyes if you wish, forget the present day experience of a world continually on the move. Neither think on the harsher realities of the cottar's life 100 years ago, but in imagination, let your mind enjoy this scene of happy rusticity as you make your way through the village to this church one lovely August Sunday in 1891 to attend a flower festival.
Clare Richards of Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Dunning will read in full the report of the Flower Service held on that day.
Clare: - DUNNING 1891 OUR FLOWER SERVICE - By one who was there
Let me describe the quaint, old-fashioned, peaceful and pleasant little town of Dunning.
Everything about it is simple and homely and sensible.
There is no stiffness or straightness about Dunning. Its little bits of streets run just here and there, at their own sweet will. I don't think anybody calls them by any particular name; and there are no nonsensical numbers painted on the doors!
Everybody knows where everybody else lives; and the postman hands about the letters in a quiet, easy, peaceable manner.
There is plenty of room for everybody's house to stand on; and plenty of room for a bit of a garden and a little orchard beside. Everybody has plenty of good fresh air and Heaven's blessed sunshine and plenty of fresh, clear water, and no dirt or rubbish anywhere.
But don't imagine that Dunning is some out-of-date dottled kind of a town! Dunning moves with the age.
It now and then runs up a crack new shop---roomy and elegant, now a bank, now a trim little villa on its outer margin. It has built a hall, airy and commodious and well-furnished, where many a good, popular lecture has been given and many a good speech made.
Dunning has, shall I say, plenty of kirks. But I think it might be said that the kirks don't "delight to bark and bite" nearly so much as in most other places. They "live and let live" and get along in a neighbourly, friendly kind of way, as all Christian kirks should.
Such was the case certainly on a lovely summer afternoon in August last. For it seemed as if our grand old church tower was the one point to which all feet were wending their way.
A pleasant thing it is at any time to look up at the old grey head that holds itself so erect and steady high up in the air; and has such a look of quiet peace and gentle kindness and noble strength.
It makes one think of the wrinkles and the silver hair and the gentle stateliness of some fine old Scottish grandmother looking down calmly and lovingly at the children around her.
How beautiful the old tower looked that August afternoon! The western sun-rays tinged the brown stone with a warm red glow and the pigeons wheeled in pretty flights around its summit.
Folks of all ages, old and young, were finding their way to the old tower, of all ranks, high and low, by all means of conveyance, foot, cart, gig, carriage, bicycle, of all various "persuasions", Free, U.P., Old Kirk and Episcopalian, for, oh dear me, the flowers are of no particular kirk! And the old tower looks upon us all in a kindly way as her bairns.
But blessings on the little pilgrims!
It was quite charming to see some bright red-cheek'd little beauties of four or five in their trim, white, puffy, Sunday frocks toddling along on the tiny bits of feet and with a wonderful look of mingled grave importance and smiling glee, bearing clasped between two little fat "handies" this much thought of, much talked of "flower".
"Child of pure unclouded brow
And dreaming eyes of wonder"
Methinks a smile of sunshine crosses the face of the old tower as you come trotting in, on your little feet, at the old gateway, with the precious and pretty handful for the sick and the poor.
I never saw a church so delightfully packed. For though every inch of available space was occupied, there was nothing like crushing.
The crowd seemed to be entirely composed of white frocks and beautiful flowers.
And instead of the stifling, chokey atmosphere of an ordinary crowded meeting, the summer breeze came softly and pleasantly in at various windows and wafted about the mingled flower perfumes as if to let everybody in every part of the church have a sniff.
I don't know if it is possible to convey to a reader a very distinct impression of what we saw and heard in our dear auld kirk that afternoon.
If I could, by an magic art, bring to my readers' senses the breath of the "summer air", and the odour of the nosegays, if I could by any wondrous phonetic invention of the present day reproduce the tones of the harmonium and the voices of the children singing their hymns, if I could with a pencil borrowed from fairyland sketch those rows and rows of sweet child faces that filled the area of the church!
But these things I cannot do and I must just content myself in plain honest prose with telling what I think it was that delighted everyone who was present, and there was grave, quiet, serious enjoyment of the service observable on many a face there.
It was nothing but this, that everything was simply, quietly, reverently done. The hymns were wisely chosen. Children have a way of showing when they like a particular hymn by an extra heartiness in their (if I may say it) "skirling". The prayers, which the pastor with his own good taste and good feeling, had prepared were so short and simple and childlike that all present could easily join and follow. And they were so quietly and reverently spoken as to impress deeply all worshipping hearts.
But there was one particular feature, which, it appeared to me, made the service well worth being taken notice of and described for the sake of other Sunday schools and churches. That was the very serious and yet much delighted manner in which each boy and girl there discharged the duty of the day. Who that knows children would not be inclined to be a little afraid that 200 children required to march up the aisle one by one, place a flower in the minister's hand and return to their seats, might before the ceremony was accomplished get somewhat into disorder?
Who would not be apt to fear that children might jostle, that babies and bouquets might come to grief, that big boys might lark rudely, etc.?
And who would not be inclined to believe that the service must be a really good thing for the children which was not marred by any of these things, and in which each boy and girl seemed to know what they were doing and to feel its sacred and sweet and lovely meaning.
Kirsty: Here is a less rhapsodic clipping from Mr. Thomson's notebook dated five years later. Dunning in 1896
Clare: The year which has just gone from us, a couple of weeks yesterday, has, so far as concerns the staple industry of the place, hand-loom weaving, been no improvement on its immediate predecessor or, indeed, on many others, and this once prosperous industry here must now, we fear, be looked on as a dead one.
Apparently nothing comes here now that can be done elsewhere with the power loom, but happily there are but a few depending on it for a living, not over a score at most, and the majority of these will ere long be independent of it through age and other infirmities of the human frame.
Alas! Alas! What changes here in the short space of but three or four decades, when at the latter time Dunning could boast of its 300 to 400 weavers and their requisite number of hand-winders.
All was bustle and stir then, and the weekly wages then earned would average at the very least from 26s to 32s and 6p per week, not a few weavers far extending the latter sum. Now however a fourth part of it cannot be steadily earned.
The tradesmen of the place have all been more or less fully well employed. That is joiners, slaters, blacksmiths and painters and in these callings we learn they have no reason to complain.
The erection of a handsome and substantial new villa in the upper portion of the district, the Newton of Pitcairns (as it was wont to be and is still called, although its more antiquated name was that of the "Dragon") for Donald McDuff Esq. of Glasgow, afforded several months employment to a number of the labouring population. Mr. Peter Anderson, builder, Auchterarder, was the successful contractor for the whole; the joiner and slating work fell to two local tradesmen viz. Mr. James Wilson, joiner and Alexander Duncan, slater; and the plastering work to Mr. Hopson, Auchterarder and the plumbing and gas-fitting to Mr. William McLeish, Perth. The painting work is likely to go to the local tradesmen Messrs. A. and J. Dewar.
It is also pleasing to think that there is a prospective hope of another two villas or cottages also being erected in the same locality in the spring of 1897.
As in other parts of the county, those engaged in agriculture have not had their lines cast in pleasant places, either as regards harvest weather for securing their crops, or as to prices obtained and which farmers assert have remained persistently low both as regards stock, cereal and root crops. A slight firming indication of these, however, was beginning to be felt towards the close of the year and no doubt farmers and dealers in general will wish for a continuance in this direction during the year we have entered upon.
Excerpts from the news scrapbook of the Rev. Peter Thomson, as read to our Sept 3/98 meeting in St. Serf's by Clare Richards with editor/compere Kirsty Doig.
NOT TO WORRY
Reporting in January that the Dupplin Cross is presently on view in the new Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, we noted the concern of some parishioners that the Cross might never come to its promised permanent (in three years' time) display site back in Strathearn in St. Serf's Church, Dunning.
That concern was fuelled by a display presently in Perth Museum of the local museum's proposed expansion plans. On the plans, the Dupplin Cross is clearly marked in place as an important exhibit.
However, we have been reassured by the following letter sent to one of our members, Perth and Kinross Councillor Janet Law, from the man in charge of Perth Museum, Michael A. Taylor.
Dear Janet,
Thank you for forwarding the Dunning Newsletter along with your letter about the Dupplin Cross. There are two points which I would like to make in response.
Firstly, I have been unable to detect any deviation by Historic Scotland from their previous statements to the effect that the Cross will be returning to St. Serf's in three years time.
Secondly, the Council's view as I understand it is to retain items of historic interest locally wherever possible. This was clearly demonstrated in the lengthy scrap we have had with the National Museums of Scotland over the allocation of the Corrymuckloch Hoard to Edinburgh. In the case of the Dupplin Cross, the Arts and Heritage Division has always backed local retention. The suggestion that the Cross might come to Perth into a possible extension of (Perth Museum) was made when the whole issue of the Cross seemed bogged down with neither Forteviot or Dunning emerging as its favoured home. The suggestion was made to provide a repository of last resort rather than see the Cross stay in Edinburgh and was incorporated into the brief for the architectural competition well before the Secretary of State made his announcement. Naturally, it has now appeared in the winning design in a prominent position as befits such an important relic.
Please let me take this opportunity to assure you and the people of Forteviot and Dunning that we have no ambition to house the Dupplin Cross to their loss. The plans which they have seen are based on a brief which is now out of date and I can assure you that the Cross will not feature on the detailled design drawings which will follow.
Please feel free to pass this on to the Dunning Parish Historical Society.
Yours sincerely, Michael A. Taylor, Head of Arts & Heritage, Perth and Kinross Council December 16, 1998
Our thanks to Mr. Taylor, and to Janet Law for her prompt and unsolicited response to our expression of concern.
Pen and ink sketch by Henry Hoey
THE DPHS 1999 SPRING/SUMMER PROGRAMME
Thursday, April 15. 7:00 pm A visit to Innerpeffray Library and Chapel, with Ted Powell as guide, as we savour one of Strathearn's hidden historic places. Meet in Tron Square at 6:30 pm to share a ride, or go directly to Innerpeffray for 7 pm. Cost (incl. tea) is £2.
Thursday, May 13, 7:30 pm, Village Hall. Our Annual General meeting with guest speaker Gordon Barclay of Historic Scotland, an expert on the Early Bronze Age. If he has received funding approval, Mr. Barclay will explain his exciting proposal for archaeological research to be carried out in, among other places, Dunning.
Saturday, May 22 Our annual coach trip, this year to the new Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh: a great opportunity to visit the museum without the hassle of finding a parking spot! We'll also drop in at Rosslyn Chapel near Dalkeith, with a fine high tea laid on. Cost including high tea is £15.50 for members (£17.50 non-members). Passenger numbers are limited so please phone Peter Duncan soon at 01764 684 243 to reserve a place. We depart from Tron Square at 9:30 am.
Sunday, June 20. We're invited on a guided trip to Dunkeld and Birnam as guests of the local historical group which visited Dunning last year. Meet in Tron Square at 1:30 pm to share rides.
Friday, July 30, 8:30 pm Perhaps our last Barn Dance, at Ian Philip's Leadketty farm. For tickets call Ian at 01764 684 269 or David Halliday at 01764 684 026.
Friday, September 3. The 60th anniversary of the dramatic arrival of World War II evacuees in Dunning. (On September 3, 1939, 300 children suddenly descended on a village with only 100 pupils in its wee school!) All evacuees are invited, and a party of pupils from Haghill School, Glasgow, from which most of the original evacuees came. A committee of Society members, evacuees and teachers has planned a busy programme of events for the day. As members you'll be invited to share in a meeting in St. Serf's, a reception and a big band dance (as at the evacuees' reunion we held in 1994). Mark September 3 on your calendar! More details of this and other coming events in our July newsletter!


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