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Necrosexual Interview
We sat in the bowels of hell with The Necrosexual himsef over a Franzia Chillable Red for a friendly chat on everything around him, the band, the corpse paint, the nightmares and the reality, the black metal legacy and the present. In the darkest shades of the crazy grim mind it all started, just to turn into a corpse entertainment of unlimited magnitude. Where is the gory hole and how to slay a poser – it's all here. Open your mind, it's Rock'n'Roll, baby!
– Hello and welcome to Blessed Altar Zine, to The Necrosexual himself! How are you? Excited for the brand new record release or you are still grim?
– I'm GRIM, as always.
– How did it all started around Necrosexual band? And why did you choose the name Necrosexual for the band and yourself?
– The Necrosexual was born the first moment I listened to Slayer. I was 14 years old at the time, but the seeds of darkness were planted immediately. Years later I was a struggling and unsuccessful comedian. My musical projects were non-existent. So one night in 2011 I donned corpse paint at a comedy show and channeled my inner crazed metal head. It got a loud reaction immediately. That's the best thing about rock n roll. It keeps you young and rowdy at heart.
The name Necrosexual is part satire and part celebration. I wanted to make something that was derivative of all the black metal heritage but also filled with my weird sexual energy and humor.
– Is it already a main band or you, or just a side project?
– I've always viewed the Necrosexual with a one-man army type of work ethic. It has to be that way, because you can't rely on anyone else for a damn thing. As a band leader, I like to surround myself with all kinds of talented and colorful freaks. I enjoy improvisation and collaboration with my art. So the Necrosexual musical incarnation is more of a collective of Grim Ones centered around my cult of personality, and the gang of marauders is growing.
– Your classic 80's bands influences are quite obvious – Venom mostly I think, right? However all the gore and corpse paint suggest more death, black and grind influences too? Are there such? I mean, is "Exhume to consume" your favourite song and anthem, and "Butchered at birth" your favourite album?
– If it's from old school metal from the eighties I probably dig it. Yes, Venom is a huge influence, as is Slayer, Kreator, Dark Angel, Sodom, Bathory, bands of that vein. I'm a bass player and guitarist first and foremost so I've always dug bands who shred. My newer material like "Orgy On Your Burial" showcases more of my death metal and thrash influences. I want to cover a spectrum of metal styles in the future. I'm the most electrifying man in corpse entertainment, so I want to prove that I'm a versatile performer. Some of the new songs I've written for my next release are more on the extreme side of black metal, thrash and grindcore, and some are more rock n roll. But always rooted in the old school, and always heavy. The Grim One has many shades of darkness.
– How does the shock factor helps you? Is it necessary and does it help to sell more, or the substance is more important?
– People love me or hate me. But if you listen to my music, you cannot deny our validity as musicians and song writers. The way I see it, a 50-percent success rate is damn good odds. It cuts through the fake people real fast. A lot of the best metal is extremely polarizing. I used to laugh at bands like Manowar, Immortal, King Diamond and Motley Crue when I was a judgemental teenager, and then one day I grew up and realized the reason I was laughing at them is the reason why they are awesome.
– I guess all the shock factor side should be taken on humorous side and not getting very serious, right? Or I am wrong?
– I'm an over-the-top, flamboyant entertainer who takes my craft extremely seriously. I don't think I do things that are that "shocking," compared to visual aesthetic of the eighties, or bands that used to commit murder and arson. I'm being myself, and having fun. Sometimes I get naked and tastefully cover my genitals with meat, but Anvil's been doing that sort of thing since 1982. If people considering it shocking, maybe they should take a hard look at how it contrasts with other metal bands today. I see a thousand bands who all look the same, all sound the same, all have the same photographs of a bunch of glum dudes in the woods with their hands in their pockets. There's a lost art of theatricality in Heavy Metal and I'm here to remind the world that it's also about ENTERTAINMENT. Corpse entertainment.
– What about slaying the posers?
– I'm a man with many introductions. Slayer of posers. The Casanova of Cadavers. The Joan Rivers of Black Metal. I preach artistic and musical violence over the physical, unless we're talking about good old fashioned mosh pit violence or a consensual cage fighting match. There's enough bloodshed in the world today. Music, and heavy metal especially, is something that brings all kinds of people together.
While I'm on the topic of posers, please allow me to stand on my Franzia box for a moment to say I detest racism, sexism, bigotry and any notion of one people having "supremacy" over another. That trash has no place in heavy metal. Lately I've been reading the especially tired argument from some black metal virgins that "black metal should have no safe spaces" or "metal shouldn't be political" to hide their ass backwards views behind. I say to hell with that. Venom, Kreator, Motorhead were never about that, and they're still harder than 90 percent of the newer black metal music out there today. This planet might be doomed, but we are all on it together. Open your mind or leave the goddamn hall.
– Where is the gory hole? What can we find there? Or it's just an entrance to somewhere?
– The Gory Hole is a place between nightmare and reality. A realm of horror and eroticism. I wrote the lyrics to "The Bottomless Pit" after I watched Hellraiser, and so the "Gory Hole" song is a sort of spiritual successor. You should listen to or read the lyrics yourself, because it is definitely open to interpretation.
– Your second opus comes a year after "Grim-1″ How do you see now both records, what's different then and now?
– It took me almost five years to record and release GRIM-1 due drummers flaking out, so I was eager to release new material right away. It's addictive. GRIM-1 was a studio album, so I wanted the follow up to sound more raw and capture us live in concert.
The Gory Hole Overture in F# was especially fun to record because we played the first four tracks live in the studio. Instead of taking weeks or months to do isolated tracks for each instrument, we pretty much got it all in one weekend.
– Please tell us briefly about "The gory hole overture in F#". We reviewed the album already, receiving high praise, but tell us your thoughts on it. What had been on your mind when you recorded it? What were your messages which you laid down there?
– I'm glad you dudes enjoyed it. We incorporated many elements of our live performances into this recording because, again, we wanted to capture our "concert" sound on record, with my band mates Anthony Vigo Gabriele on guitar and Mike Churry on drums. The intro track "Necromutants March Through Hell" is how we open every show. "In Ancient Daze" is a Black Widow cover song we usually play toward the end of our set list at shows. But more importantly, we also had two new songs to unveil, such as the title track and "Orgy On Your Burial." You can hear the evolution of the Necrosexual sound. We will get more progressive and evil with each new recording.
– Why F#?
– The first four songs are all in the key of F# minor, and I share the view with many famous guitar players that F# is the best scale for heavy metal. Legend has it it is also the only key suitable for summoning the devil.
– What about the places of the recording and the line up on the five tracks in the records? There are differences…
– We recorded the first four songs live in the studio at Panther Pro Audio. The new track "Orgy On Your Burial" was recorded at Red Water Recording, which is also where we made the GRIM-1 album, and features the album debut of Ryan Dred Rot, who often plays drums with the Necrosexual band live when Mike is unavailable.
– Why is it so short? "Grim 1" is also under 30 minutes. When listening I felt I needed more there…
– I too was surprised that Grim-1 clocked in at hardly a half hour. "It took years to make, how could it be finished in the time it takes to watch an episode of Seinfeld?!" But then again, Slayer's Reign in Blood is something like 28 minutes, and that's my favorite metal album of all time. So I'd rather go for quality over quantity, and leave the listener hungry for more. There's plenty more Necrosexual riffs to cum in the near future.
– What's ahead of Necrosexual in 2019? Shall we expect live shows, tour etc.or you have ideas for your next (longer hopefully) record?
– I'm hoping to record the next batch of songs in the late summer or fall for an early 2020 release. I might do a split tape with another band before we settle down for the next full length album.
Upcumming tour dates:
June 1 w/ Tragedy: The All Metal Tribute To The Beegees @ Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA
June 12 w/ Basilysk and Erlkonig @ Downsquares, Baltimore, MD.
June 13 w/ Basilysk and Cruelsifix @ McCormack's Irish Pub in Richmond, VA
June 14 w/ Basilysk @ Slim's Downtown in Raleigh, NC
June 28 w/ Evil Terror @ Blackthorn 51, NYC
– Rumours suggest that you have close connections with other bands…Can you tell us more about this?
– I'm very close with the band BASILYSK. Their drummer Mike plays in my band as well. Also, Josh from Basilysk will be filling on in guitar for some upcoming shows.
– Are there heaven and hell?
– I think Heaven and Hell exist in the human experience as well in the afterlife. I've definitely gone to a layer of hell when I wake up with a heavy metal hangover from drinking too much Franzia Chillable Red.
– Which is your favourite book? And what are you fond of in your spare time, outside the graveyard?…
– It's hard to pick a favorite, but I love a good graphic novel. Watchmen is always an easy choice.
– Do you have a favourite necro/gore artwork of an album?
– I have to toot my own horn and give all the respect to Scott R Johnston and Faith Kellermeyer. They illustrated the covers to GRIM-1 and The Gory Hole Overture In F#, respectively.
– Which three songs by any band describe you best as personality?
– "Altar of Sacrifice" by Slayer
"Iron Horse (Born to lose)" by Motorhead
"Welcome to Hell" by Venom
– What do you want to be the soundtrack for the orgy on your burial?
– "Girls Girls Girls" by Motley Crue.
Interview by Count Vlad
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Erasement – Beyond Recovery
Black Friday I – Underground Reco
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Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception mark 165 years of service and teaching
The Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception, who began their ministry in Canada helping Irish immigrants and orphans, are celebrating their 165th anniversary with grace and gratitude.
"Let us welcome to this sacred circle the spirit of all those who have preceded us. Let us live fully for the sake of the Gospel ever-unfolding into the future," said Sister Mary Beth McCurdy, the SCIC congregational leader, as the sisters marked four days of a Festival of Thanksgiving Oct. 17-20.
"May these four days of festival release within and among us a renewed sense of God's providence, surprise and ever-unfolding presence over 165 years," Sister McCurdy said.
Sister Roma De Robertis
The congregation celebrated with associates, family members, staff and friends at its Ruth Ross Residence in Saint John. Guests came from across New Brunswick as well as Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Toronto, and Portland, Maine. Six sisters and one associate travelled from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories to participate.
The Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception were founded Oct. 21, 1854, in Saint John by Honoria Conway and three companions at the invitation of Bishop Thomas Louis Connolly, the second bishop of the diocese.
The community became the first English-speaking Roman Catholic religious congregation founded in Canada. Amid many challenges, they responded to urgent needs of Irish immigrants and orphans.
As teachers and spiritual leaders, the Sisters of Charity and their associates are committed to collaborating with others for social and ecological justice. They advocate for those who suffer from poverty, violence and exclusion. They also stand with Indigenous peoples. They seek to live simply and to advocate for climate justice and energy alternatives.
SCIC missions have expanded throughout many parts of Canada. In Alberta, the Sisters of Charity have served in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, Hanna, Radway, Wetaskiwin, Camrose, Fort Saskatchewan, Lloydminster, Viking, Edson and Wainwright.
In the Edmonton Archdiocese, SCIC Sisters have served in various ministries including education, catechetics, parish ministry; social service; spiritual and religious care, parish nursing, prison ministry and Catholic journalism.
For 50 years, their members also lived among and accompanied people in Peru.
The sisters' way of life and spirituality were inspired by Saints Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac in 17th-century France, as well as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in 19th-century America. In more recent history, SCIC became active members of the Sisters of Charity Federation of North America.
A panel discussion included Sisters Rosemary MacDonald (Sisters of St. Martha of P.E..I); Mary Beth McCurdy (Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception Saint John); Franklyn Ferguson (Sisters of St. Martha of Antigonish, N.S.), Agnès Léger (Religieuses de Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur Moncton, N.B.) and Joan O'Keefe (Sisters of Charity of Halifax).
One highlight of the celebration was a panel presentation which included representatives of the five federation congregations based in Canada. In addition to SCIC, these include Sisters of Charity of Halifax; Sisters of St. Martha of Antigonish, N.S.; Sisters of St. Martha of Prince Edward Island and Religieuses de Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur based in Moncton.
Panellists were asked to address key moments of both grace and challenge in the history of their religious communities. They also highlighted their experience of a June 2019 Federation Assembly of the Whole in Chicago. Before responding to questions, panellists expressed hopes and dreams for future collaboration among the Canadian-based Federation congregations.
Colourful weavings were displayed in the Carmel Chapel at the Ruth Ross Residence to honour the SCIC anniversary.
Colourful weavings displayed throughout the residence symbolized the 165th celebration. With five felt strands, they represented the Canadian Federation congregations, as well as a broader weaving of past, present and future in God's call to life and mission.
The anniversary celebration was planned by a 10-member committee of sisters and associates. Sister Margaret MacLean wrote an anniversary prayer for the occasion.
Together with staff, committee members and many others contributed to the festival, which included historical exhibits and presentations, as well as prayer, liturgy, poetry, singing, dancing, storytelling and local tours.
The SCIC gratefully received flowers and greetings from many of their partners in mission. Sisters, Associates and guests were treated to entertainment from gifted local singers and musicians at a midday banquet on Oct. 19.
Bishop Robert Harris, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Saint John, presided at the closing eucharistic liturgy Oct. 20 in Carmel Chapel. Briefly tracing the sisters' history, he noted how the founding women heard a call and responded generously.
The bishop said that in Peru and elsewhere, the sisters expressed "the language of love." He also noted that they responded faithfully to the call of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and beyond.
Although their numbers are dwindling, the Sisters of Charity and their associates continue to be a sign of God's presence in the world, radiating divine love and charity, Bishop Harris said.
"The future belongs to God," he added.
Bishop Robert Harris, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Saint John, presided at the closing Mass.
Sister Anita Naves thanked Bishop Harris, highlighting his many kind and thoughtful gestures among the SCIC throughout more than 12 years as bishop. On behalf of the community, Sister Naves also wished him well as he soon begins retirement.
At the closing liturgy, Sister McCurdy said sisters, associates and guests "sing, rejoice and give thanks for all that has been, is now and is yet to be."
For more about SCIC and their associates, please visit www.sistersofcharityic.com
-Sister Roma De Robertis is a former writer with the Western Catholic Reporter newspaper. She joined the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception 35 years ago. She lives in Saint John, N.B.
anniversary Honoria Conway New Brunswick Peru Saint John Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception Women religious

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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7:00 pm 29 April 2011
I didn't have any expectations coming into "Banished", as it was the first novel I'd ever read from Sophie Littlefield. Interestingly enough, this is her first YA novel branching off into a series of its own, apart from her adult novels. It was an interesting read full of well-developed, identifiable characters and harrowing scenarios, but I have to admit the story did throw me a little off base in the middle and with the expansion of where the Banished originated. I think the history had the potential to be rich, vivid, and identifiable, but in the presentation - it seemed to not quite execute itself as well as it could have.The story revolves around Hailey, a young woman with a remarkable yet cursed gift. She has the ability to heal people naturally, as evidenced when she heals a girl after an accident at school. From that point on, Hailey starts to question what she knows about her life, her family and it's only a matter of time when the truth comes colliding in - literally and figuratively. Hailey's home life is restrictive under Gram, the woman who even forbids her from participating in school sports, but Hailey's saving grace is in the wonderfully adorable Chub (who's a cute adopted toddler in the family). I definitely disliked Gram in the beginning of the story with respect to her activities and treatment of Hailey, but as the novel establishes her backstory, I did end up feeling sorry for Gram at least a little. I also liked Hailey's aunt, Prairie - she's a feisty character and well worth following as Hailey learns the truth behind her family's abilities and history. Prairie has an interesting backstory of her own, too, something we learn even from the beginning of the book until Hailey and her eventually meet up.There are some minor characters who are introduced late in the story that don't have a lot of time to develop, and unfortunately even with the dangerous situations they face late in the novel - it wasn't enough for me to connect with them fully though I liked the characters well enough (i.e. Anna and Kaz). The villains in the novel still feel a bit too distant to really make the reader see beyond a modest level of motive, but the situations they perpetuate are thrilling enough to hold reader interest. I thought it was a decent first novel in the YA measure, and well plotted, though still some areas where it left some loose ends and areas to smooth over. Nonetheless, it's held my interest enough to see what will happen in the next book, and eagerly anticipate it.Overall score: 3/5


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jet the hawk girlfriend
[1][4], Storm is another one of Jet's trusted teammates. Jet argued, however, that they could not just give up Jewel after Storm made them look incompetent. Age Bashōsen proficiencyExtreme Gear riding skillsLeadership skillsProfessional thief, I'm the leader! Jet and his gang eventually broke into the Mineral Museum in Spiral Hill Village in the middle of the day. Anime en vf streaming gratuitement. Height It's unknown of Jet will be re-casted or Tito will voice him. Linda Jacobsen, 59, works as a … [7], Jet is a greedy thief, having no qualms about plundering official institutions in order to earn a profit. He has not made a physical appearance in 2020, but was mentioned in the 2020 episodes. Though he knows he can count on her to do a job well done, he does not appreciate her nagging over his more wilder ideas. When the crew fires shots at Chilly they just joke around, so It's Possible that Jet could Return in Titototter. As he readied himself to fight with his teammates, Jet told them that like he told the Zeti, the Babylon Rogues do not lose. However since Logan kicked Tito and his family out of his life and left Titototter as of 2019 once it came out that Chilly had cheated on Logan and was using him for money, Jet is now a retired character, unless if he could be recasted by one of the Titototter cast, or a new actor would voice him. Jet is known to have a passion for basketball. Like Sonic, he is a Harry Potter fanboy. Jet the Hawk; Sonic the Hedgehog; Wave the Swallow; Storm the Albatross; approximately seven pages of Jet the Hawk being a gay idiot; Storm is the only one catching on; nobody listens to him and his response is "yeah thats fair" Summary. Physical description Boss[1]Legendary Wind Master[2] Despite this, Jet and Wave do care about each other enough to ride or fight together to the end. Sonic returned from his run and had come up with a plan for who should be assigned with who and what Zeti they should go after. Jet is a police officer, but despite he is a police officer, he is sometimes a criminal, because he murdered, Despite Jet confessing he was slow on his first appearance, he's shown to be fast enough to go back in time in, Jet is (at least for now) the only main character that is voiced by. Nearly 1,000 have been ordered, with aircraft delivered to 18 countries across the globe. Jet is an anthropomorphic hawk with emerald green and dark emerald green feathers covering his body and white feathers on his front torso. Golden (beak) Jet the Hawk Suddenly, the group was alerted to a large crash in the town, revealed to be Eggman in a large mech suit, who had come to destroy them all. Jet the Hawk, from Sonic the Hedgehog #26. Jet pondered about this while looking at the Chaos Emerald and made a decision; he tied the Emerald to his board and sent it through the Warp Portal. He is a friend of Sonic, however at the end of "TT Movie: Jet", he sore to get revenge on Sonic. He is an anthropomorphic hawk and the leader of the current generation of Babylon Rogues. He was known for having massive ego, and for simply being a crybaby in general. He is known as the \"Legendary Wind Master\" (伝説の風使い Densetsu no kaze tsukai?) While Wave greets her girlfriend with affection, Jet takes a different strategy. Jet is known to have a in-and-off personality. Jet's full profile, from Sonic the Hedgehog Annual 2019. Titototter Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. Little Jimmy is cosidered as his son because he married Metal Sonic. Jet the Hawk is definitely absolutely most certainly probably not gay. Sonic News Network is a FANDOM Games Community. Gender Appearances There is one person in Cornwall who loves the Royal Navy's Hawk jets so much that she had one tattoed across her forearm. but despite this, Jet is very popular among TT fans. 100 cm (3' 3")[note 1]
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Shark Attacks Seal—Time-lapse Drawing from NEIGHBORHOOD SHARKS!
In honor of Shark Week it's finally time to post my favorite in-studio video yet! Kids and parents beware: this drawing is not for the faint of heart! The animals drawn in this scene are a great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) and a juvenile elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris).


Summer is here and we all wish to display our greatest figure in a bathing suit. When diet and workout are unsuccessful in the attempt in order to remove excess fat from our body, there is the more effective body contouring solution: liposuction. Very well liked these types of days, this is a effective and safe cosmetic surgery that will uses suction to remove unwanted fat deposits.
This surgery can be performed in areas of typically the body such as typically the chin, throat, cheeks, biceps, breasts, abdominal, buttocks, body, thighs, knees, calves in addition to ankles. Large volume liposuction atlanta can be performed partially (one or perhaps several areas) or full (12 areas or more). It can also be combined with other rhinoplasty before and after pictures such as breast development or abdominoplasty.
The best candidates for liposuction can be women and men in physical form wholesome with normal system weight however with local fat deposits within unique areas of the body. Patients which have a good firm and flexible body will get better success. Additionally it is important that large volume liposuction atlanta patients will be healthy individuals without life threatening conditions or maybe medical conditions that may block recovery, non-smoking is actually the positive attitude and genuine ambitions for Lipo.
A lot of people think this treatment like a solution for weight problems, when in truth that is addressed to handle the excesses of excess fat in people of normal weight.
The Liposuction is some sort of cosmetic surgical procedure usually conducted with local anesthesia together with sedation, although it may use general inconsiderateness as soon as the case requires a incredibly considerable intervention because there is a large amount of fat to remove. A new cannula connected to some sort of cleaner device is accountable intended for unwanted fat extraction using the suction influence.
That is definitely very frequent, as soon as the function, the use of drains for about three days in addition to the compression garment. Using the hottest equipment together with instruments and highly certified employees for this process, clinics achieves high amounts of acceptance with this visual process.
Recently has gained reputation a new novel method regarding removing local fat: a good ultrasound made it simpler for liposuction treatment called Vaser lipo. This kind of technique is similar to standard liposuction but it uses ultrasound waves to help eliminate this adiposity and even perfectly reshaping the human body with the least feasible invasion and minimal postoperative complications.
This procedure makes use of ultrasound waves to break up extra fat. Once diluted, the doctor gets rid of the body fat with a thin cannula like the one made use of in traditional large volume liposuction atlanta.
This specific technique is very successful together with accurate against fat yet completely harmless in order to other body tissues. The idea is a very valuable treatment to large localized fat deposits and given its precision can end up being used in areas of difficult access.


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LensCulture Awards
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The Yellow River
By following one of the longest rivers in Asia, this series—and its creator—offer insight into China's enduring, yet rapidly changing, national identity.
Photographs and text by Zhang Kechun
Mountains and rivers are very significant for the Chinese people. In this country, there is a cultural awareness that says mountains are "virtuous" and rivers are "moral."
I was inspired to carry out this project after reading the novel Rivers of the North by Zhang Chengzhi. The book is written in a stream-of-consciousness style and its story follows the paths of many rivers across China. Attracted by the powerful words of the novel, I decided to take a walk along the Yellow River in order to find the root of my soul. Along the way, the calm flow of my mind became flooded with the hectic thoughts and ceaseless stream of reality. I felt a profound pessimism.
Nevertheless, as a vast country with a long history, China's future is always bright. The country has food for its people and the power of creation that can cultivate strong citizens. From this point of view, it seems, the future is optimistic.
Trying to balance these two sides, my new work explores the landscapes of China, capturing the ecology of its magnificent natural phenomena. The tiny human figures, insignificant when set against the vast natural forms, are inspired by Chinese artistic tradition. My aim is to create a modern point of contact for our contemporary and sociologically concerned eye.
—Zhang Kechun
Editors' note: Kechun's project Between the Mountains and Water was a finalist in the Magnum Photography Awards 2017. Read our full article on the project and discover more inspiring work from all 41 of the winners, finalists, and jurors' picks.
If you'd like to see more work like this, we'd recommend the following articles: Mother River, a project that journeys the 6,200km length of the Yangtze River; Yangtze: The Long River, an award-winning landscape series by the celebrated portrait photographer Nadav Kander; and Full of Null, one of the world's most populated beaches, captured here in its eerily silent off season.
A man pumping water from the river, Ningxia province. © Zhang Kechun
A giant Buddha's face in a coal yard, Ningxia province. © Zhang Kechun
Fishermen wading in the river, Shaanxi province. © Zhang Kechun
Locals hold a portrait of Mao as they swim across the river, Henan province. © Zhang Kechun
From the series "The Yellow River" © Zhang Kechun
A building immersed in the river, Gansu province. © Zhang Kechun
Workers climbing a billboard, Qingha province. © Zhang Kechun
Sculpture of small white deer in front of a cooling tower, Inner Mongolia. © Zhang Kechun
Overturned cement truck, Qinghai province. © Zhang Kechun
A rocky outcropping in the bed of a dried up river, Shandong province. © Zhang Kechun
Call Me Heena: Hijra, The Third Gender
Shahria Sharmin
"I feel like a mermaid. My body tells me that I am a man but my soul tells me that I am a woman…" A penetrating, multi-year report on a unique group of people—who fall outside of Western notions of gender—trying to carve out a...
Announcing the 2019 Street Photography Award Winners!
Discover 39 remarkable photographers who are using photography to capture and share their unique perspective from the streets around them.
Life from a Tube: The London Underground
Bob Mazzer
The world's subway riders have inspired photographers for decades—this work stands with the best of them, capturing London's Tube riders with humanity, humor and delight. Hear the full story behind this decades-long labor of love.
The Anonymous Project
By inserting found photographs throughout each room in a small house in Southern France, The Anonymous Project creates playful installations that illustrate the lasting importance of amateur photography.
Freezing Land
Ronghui Chen
Youth culture in northeast China endures extreme weather conditions, social isolation, minimal economic opportunities — what will their future hold?
Dead Water
Marilene Ribeiro
In these collaborative portraits, Marilene Ribeiro tells another side of the story of Hydroelectricity—a green, renewable energy—by shedding light on the people whose lives have been torn apart by the construction of dams in Brazil.
Strange Paradise
Charlie Rubin
A kaleidoscopic body of work that explores the convergence of the actual and the artificial under the "realistic" gaze of the camera.
The Place of No Roads
Ville Lenkkeri
Visions of what remains at one of the northernmost outposts of a Russian mining community in the Arctic landscape—now, a Soviet ghost town.
A Thousand and One Evil Deeds
Konstancja Nowina Konopka
Konstancja Nowina Konopka documents the day-to-day mischief of tough kids from Biskupice — a "rusty-with-ill-reputation industrial district" in Southern Poland. These could be characters in a film.
The Drowned
Anna Autio
On the border of Europe lies a mass grave: the Mediterranean. This series presents objects found on the bodies of drowned refugees in an effort to humanize the numbing statistics.
Alexey Titarenko
Photographs and interview with the Russian photographer
'Roids!
Fashion superstar photographer Albert Watson scans his Polaroid photos and enlarges them to reveal luscious texture, color, and artful flaws.


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Q: VIRUS on hp laptop.. win 10, hp pavilion gaming notebook Ok so I have a virus. It's a beauty. It has almost my entire laptop, from ~$users and ~$NT.DAT all the way up to ~$recovery and ~$C: in lockdown.. plus has created bogus files EVERYWHERE (hp/HP/Hewlett-Packard, for example) that look all legit and ok until you get 3 folders deep and all there is is an .ini .DAT .log or .exe file that shouldn't exist. It's been an easy and effective way to prevent me from doing recovery, reset, repair, ANYTHING to get rid of it. Yes I'm willing to wipe the whole thing I'd only had the laptop a few weeks, and I got my pics off early. Also I think last night (after two weeks of being careful) in my frustration at its invasion i may have deleted some files actually necessary for the above functions.
edit
So my question is - is there any obvious solution I may have missed? All antivirus, malware removal etc software I have used has not recognised the problem. I have tried reset, repair, update, registry repair all with the same response - windows "insert fix here" ran into a problem - no changes have been made. Are there any obvious solutions I have missed?

A: On an HP system that came with Windows 10, to reinstall Windows 10 from the recovery USB drive you made:
Note: This will delete everything.

*

*Turn off the computer

*Plug in the USB recovery drive

*Turn the computer on, and press F11 immediately, until the system loads System Recovery

*Choose your language

*Click Troubleshoot

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We're pretty picky about our body wash. Too citrus-y, too floral, too sweet, and you can end up smelling like Toddlers & Tiaras star in no time; anything in the "cucumber-melon' family smells sort of like bathroom deodorizer or bad teen memories. Some makes are too milky, some are just too masculine to blend well with everything else you're layering on top of it—whether that be body balm, oils, what have you. The goal is a product that's pleasant, unobtrusive, and you know, pretty without the "pretty little princess' part. That's where Swedish brand Sachajuan (which, admittedly, we are still kind of unsure how to pronounce—Nick keeps calling it "Saskatchewan ') and their Spicy Citrus Body Wash comes in. The bottle is perfectly no-frills (and kind of beautiful), showcasing the amethyst-colored liquid, which smells like grapefruit, coriander, and jasmine. And it makes for a good, clean feeling that won't have you leaving the shower awkwardly over-perfumed. Lather on up.


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Fangirl Geek Fashion Star Wars Superheroes
Fandom Fashion Finds: August Picks
August 31, 2018 August 28, 2018 Kay	DC Comics, Disney, fandom fashion, fashion, geek fashion, Geek Kay, Harry Potter, Hello Kitty, Her Universe, Marvel, porgs, Star Wars, Studio Ghibli
Another month, another set of fashion finds related to some of the biggest fandoms. This month's a big one for Disney both with a Disney Villains push and the upcoming 90th birthday of Mickey Mouse. But don't worry – we've got some new picks in this roundup from some other interests too. Plus a lot of pins – because they're an easy way to add some love for something you love to lots of outfits.
Support my geek fashion reporting at no additional cost to you by visiting these retailers through the banners in this post.
img: RockLove
Rock Love has a brand new Disney Villains jewelry collection focusing on The Little Mermaid, Alice in Wonderland, and Snow White. My favorites are the Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs Poison Apple Ring ($99), the Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs Dagger Heart Ring ($85), and the Alice In Wonderland Painting the Roses Ear Climber and Stud ($45).
You can find even more for Disney Villains in apparel and bags over at Shop Disney: Disney Villains Moto Jacket for Women ($69.95) which is also available in plus sizes ($84.95), Disney Villains Dress for Women ($54.95), Captain Hook Wallet for Adults ($19.95), Evil Queen, Ursula, and Maleficent Wallet ($19.95), and silver Maleficent Backpack ($49.95). You'll also find on the site an Alex and Ani Maleficent Bangle ($44.95). Plus Merchoid has a Sleeping Beauty: Spread Your Wings Maleficent Handbag ($56.99) for pre-order.
Mickey's 90th birthday is coming up. Prepare with a Mickey Mouse Ruana ($49.90) or Mickey & Minnie Collection Patch Bomber Jacket ($68.90) from Torrid. Forever 21 has a whole new Mickey's 90th collection too. I'm a sucker for tiny Mickey print so their Mickey Mouse Print Skinny Pants ($24.90) is an automatic pick. 4 new Mickey-themed shoe designs became available through Vault by Vans on August 25th.
Allison of Rock Love also introduced a Christopher Robin jewelry collection which includes this cute Tigger Necklace ($115).
Give a tribute to Lilo or Hawaii or hibiscus flowers with the Lilo & Stitch Hair Clip Set ($10.90) found at Box Lunch. Dress like Tinkerbell with Torrid's Tinkerbell Skater Dress ($64.90) or fly away with the Peter Pan Tote Bag ($77.95) by Danielle Nicole.
The latest Oh My Disney collection is pretty hit or miss. I don't know why it took so long for the consumer arm to realize people want to wear prints that are associated with their favorite characters but yay! Check out the Oh My Disney Minnie Mouse Skirt ($29.95) and the Jack Skellington Blazer ($69.95).
img: Prophecy Girl
Olivander's Wand Shop Hat ($18.90) might make some muggles do a double take. Or wear this enamel pin of a Quidditch snitch and ball case ($9.90). If your sympathy for Snape runs high, Torrid has a Baroque Snape Chiffon Kimono ($64.90).
Dress like Ron and Harry with their Ron Weasley Marled R Sweater and Harry Potter Marled H Sweater ($58.90 each). Those are a cotton/acrylic blend. If you'd prefer a wool/silk blend like in the movie, Universal Orlando's online shop has both the Ron and Harry ($89.95 each).
Prophecy Girl has some new magical apparel as well including their first skits: Itsa Kinda Skirt (£30) and the Lovely Loony Wrap Skirt (£38).
img: Hero Within
May you have better luck (or Domino-level luck) than most of the X-Force with this enamel logo pin ($8.90). Mondo has some (comic book) Deadpool accessories too. You'll find Deadpool, Cable, and Domino enamel pins ($10 each). I'm going to still wait on someone making a movie Vanessa one.
Mondo also opened the pre-orders for their Okoye, Shuri, and Killmonger Black Panther pins ($10 each). And they are beautiful.
FiGPiN and Marvel teamed up for a 3-pin Spider-Man enamel pin set to celebrate the new game Marvel's Spider-Man. You can pre-order the Marvel's Spider-Man FiGPiN ($14.99) on Amazon before its September 1st release. The Spider-Punk "Marvel's Spider-Man" FiGPiN will be available at Target on September 4th. And Spidey swinging in his advanced suit is only available through pre-ordering the deluxe edition of the game. The previously released Iron Spider FiGPiN is still available.
In non-pins, Hero Within's Avengers collection – first shown at SDCC – is now available for order or pre-order on their site. My eye is squarely on the Avengers Bomber Jacket ($179) with swappable name badges. I also want to check out the Thor Wool Knit Puffer Jacket ($109) and the Black Widow Crop Hoodie ($59). You'll find 4 more coat designs too on their website.
This Batman Logo watch ($39.99) at ThinkGeek is very Batman-y aka it looks like it has gadgets and is mostly monochromatic and tough-looking.
img: Heroes & Villains
This usually isn't my style by it's so artfully done: The formerly SDCC-exclusive Loungefly Porg Backpack* ($64.99) is available on ThinkGeek's website. It's even lined in a cute monochromatic porg print. I want my regular bags lined with it.
(*affiliate links: Use these when you buy to support the monthly fashion roundup at no additional cost to you.)
Bioworld's Heroes & Villains brand was also introduced at SDCC and now you can buy items from the first collection off their website. The Princess Leia handbag ($70) is a tribute to her Ewok Village ensemble. There's also the Princess Leia Women's Bomber Jacket ($100) in a light blue with some nice quilting, but the real treat is the Ewok print lining. Yep, I'll all about Star Wars linings right now.
Po-Zu's back with a spin on one of their original Star Wars sneaker designs. Now there are two monochromatic Rebel sneakers* (£145) in all-white or all-black chrome-free leather. Both women's and men's sizing is available.
Terez now has more Star Wars activewear leggings designs on their site. There's a black and white galactic print available on leggings, joggers, and shirts ($60 – $125). You may recall Linda reviewed a pair from Terez's first Star Wars collection.
Also take a look at Shop Disney for the Loungefly Star Wars Rebel Alliance Wallet ($36.95), the Our Universe version of the popular Darth Vader Racer Jacket ($69.95), and another Leia jacket – the Our Universe Princess Leia Varsity Jacket ($69.95) featuring Ashley Taylor art.
Further Adventures in Fandom
img: Lillebaby
If you know the power of happy little trees perhaps you'll want this Bob Ross enamel pin ($8.90) from Box Lunch.
Let you friends know you're all about The Legend of Zelda with this metal pin ($8.90). And in case you haven't had enough pins yet – Mondo has Adventure Time enamel pins with 4 designs available individually ($10 each) and those 4 included in a 5-pin set ($40).
The My Neighbor Totoro Anniversary t-shirt design contest winners are up at Hot Topic. I especially like this Our Universe Studio Ghibli My Neighbor Totoro Raindrops T-shirt ($20.90 – $24.90) from finalist Isabella.
This month launched the Converse x Hello Kitty collection. I'm amused by the design mashup on the Converse X Hello Kitty One Star Suede Low Top ($100). Meanwhile the shirts of Sanrio x Megology ($20 – $35) apparel combines motivational phrases with adorableness.
ASOS has a The Simpsons collection and these The Simpsons x ASOS DESIGN denim shorts with cloud burnout ($64) are actually kind of cool.
And Lillebaby has teamed up with World of Warcraft to make licensed baby carriers ($35 – $170), which is technically a thing you wear so I'm considering it fashion.
Thanks for reading this month's roundup! Is there a fandom you'd like me to keep an eye out for fashion for? Let me know in the comments.
Looking for more fashion finds? Check out my July and June picks.
She grew up wanting to be an astronaut. After seeing Star Wars, she wanted to be Princess Leia, Han Solo, and an astronaut. Life's taken her on a bit of a different path, but she's okay with that.
Kay is FANgirl's resident geek fashion expert and co-host of the Hyperspace Theories podcast. She reviews books and movies for the site with a heart for storytelling and a mind that likes to analyze. Kay's been a guest on various podcasts sharing her love and knowledge of storytelling, film-making, fashion, and of course, Star Wars.
Most days are filled with her work as a creative services professional - designing websites & branding, photographing, voice acting, editing, and more. Kay spends the little bit of free time she has reading, costuming, and, of course, making pew pew noises. She would pick up more jobs and hobbies if she was a Time Lord.
Latest posts by Kay (see all)
Review: Doctor Aphra, An Audiobook Original (Star Wars) - July 26, 2020
Review: Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie - April 7, 2020
Review: The Art of The Rise of Skywalker - March 31, 2020
← Hyperspace Theories Episode 40: Rey the Grey…Jedi?
Review of Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition →
She grew up wanting to be an astronaut. After seeing Star Wars, she wanted to be Princess Leia, Han Solo, and an astronaut. Life's taken her on a bit of a different path, but she's okay with that. Kay is FANgirl's resident geek fashion expert and co-host of the Hyperspace Theories podcast. She reviews books and movies for the site with a heart for storytelling and a mind that likes to analyze. Kay's been a guest on various podcasts sharing her love and knowledge of storytelling, film-making, fashion, and of course, Star Wars. Most days are filled with her work as a creative services professional - designing websites & branding, photographing, voice acting, editing, and more. Kay spends the little bit of free time she has reading, costuming, and, of course, making pew pew noises. She would pick up more jobs and hobbies if she was a Time Lord.
Hyperspace Theories: The Clone Wars Season 7 – The Siege of Mandalore
June 3, 2020 June 3, 2020 Fangirl
Star Wars Rebels: An Inside Man Review
December 5, 2016 January 25, 2017 Ross Brown
When the Powers of Star Wars and Fashion Combine
November 19, 2015 April 4, 2017 Kay


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BACES – Brussels Academy for China and European Studies – is a platform for exchanging academic ideas, for promoting understanding between Chinese and European people and is established in the framework of the China-EU "High Level People-to-People Dialogue". The Academy has an assignment in the field of education, research and policy advice.
On Monday 31 March 2014, the Brussels Academy for China-European Studies (BACES) between Renmin University of China, Sichuan University, Fudan University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel was officially established.


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CLAIRO ANNOUNCES NORTH AMERICAN FALL HEADLINING TOUR
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED DEBUT ALBUM, IMMUNITY, OUT NOW
"The album that could be the birth of a new star." - Billboard Magazine
"Immunity proves her viral success was no fluke." – Rolling Stone Magazine
"On her debut album, the young viral star moves beyond the lo-fi bedroom-pop of her early recordings and into a restrained, detailed style of songwriting all her own." – Pitchfork
"An impressive LP debut." – Rolling Stone Magazine
"Claire Cottrill, delivers on that early promise on Immunity, which widens her sound without sacrificing the intimacy or the charm.' – Los Angeles Times
"Cottrill has a saintly intrigue and cool confidence, and slick, yearning pop songs to match." – PASTE Magazine
02 AUGUST 2019 (TORONTO, ON) - As the North American arena tour with Khalid approaches completion, and the release of her highly anticipated and widely applauded debut album IMMUNITY out now, 20-year-old Clairo has announced she will be returning to the road this fall for her own headlining tour, with special guests beabadoobee and Hello Yello.
Starting on September 28 in Chicago, the 31-date headlining tour will take Clairo and her band across 21 states across North America, as well as in Canada and Mexico City. Citi pre-sale starts today at 12PM ET until Tuesday, August 6 at 10PM local. Artist Pre-sale starts Tuesday, August 6 at 12PM ET until 10PM local. General Public On-Sale starts Wednesday, August 7 at 10AM local. For a full list of tour dates and ticket information, go to: https://www.clairo.com
This month, Clairo will also be venturing across the Atlantic to perform at Reading and Leeds Festival in the U.K
Easily one of the most anticipated debuts of 2019, Clairo released her full-length album IMMUNITY on FADER Label last week and has received global praise from press and fans alike. The timeless full-length was written by Clairo and co-produced by Rostam, and features special guest Danielle Haim on various tracks.
'IMMUNITY' is out everywhere now on FADER Label.
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
09/28 – Metro – Chicago, IL
10/01 – Turner Hall Ballroom – Milwaukee, WI
10/02 – Varsity Theater – Minneapolis, MN
10/05 – The Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO
10/06 – The Depot – Salt Lake City, UT
10/08 – Showbox SoDo – Seattle, WA
10/09 – Harbour Events Centre – Vancouver, BC
10/10 – Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR
10/13 – The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
10/15 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA
10/18 – House of Blues - San Diego, CA
10/19 – House of Blues – Las Vegas, NV
10/20 – The Van Buren – Phoenix, AZ
10/22 – Emo's – Austin, TX
10/23 – House of Blues – Houston, TX
10/24 – Granada Theater – Dallas, TX
10/26 – Voodoo Music + Arts Experience – New Orleans, LA
10/28 – Revolution Live – Fort Lauderdale, FL
10/29 – House of Blues – Orlando, FL
10/31 – Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA
11/01 – The Underground – Charlotte, NC
11/03 – House of Blues – Cleveland, OH
11/06 – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, NY
11/07 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
11/08 – The Westcott Theater – Syracuse, NY
11/12 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
11/14 – St. Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI
11/16 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON
11/18 – Corona Theater – Montreal, QC
11/20 – Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA
03/19 – Plaza Condesa – Mexico City, MX


If you have a question you want answered, send it to us at [email protected].
Q: Will there be a transcript or replay of the Cannabis Investing Event, as I am already committed for that evening? – D.R.
A: On Wednesday night, during my publisher's first-ever Cannabis Investing Event, our experts talked about the historic opportunities in the cannabis market today, why the industry is approaching a watershed moment, and what you need to do to profit.
Unfortunately, we aren't replaying the event in its entirety, but you can read a full recap of what happened – including clips from the night of the event – right here.
Q: Doc, my ideal target would be a growth stock with a high potential to turn into a value stock. How possible is that? What might that entail? – D.S.
A: Finding a "value stock" – a good business that's trading at a reasonable price – that turns back into a "growth stock" – a business that can increase its sales and profits quickly – should be the ideal target for anyone. After all, the goal should always be to pay a cheap price for growth.
Unfortunately, the market doesn't work that way. These situations are very rare.
Stocks that have above-average sales and earnings growth are perceived by investors as being worth more than stocks that don't. That's why growth stocks have lofty valuations.
But every once and a while, the market gets it wrong. Investors are emotional. And that's when we want to take advantage.
I'll give you an example… Back in December 2017, I recommended that my Retirement Millionaire subscribers buy shares of online dating company Match Group (MTCH). Match was in a high-growth industry and its sales had increased 19% from 2015 to 2016 and 23% from 2014 to 2015. It was a classic growth stock.
Then, a few months after we bought the stock, social media giant Facebook (FB) announced it was introducing a new dating feature to its platform. That sent Match's stock down 22% in one day. We of course thought the Facebook news was nonsense and that it would have little to no impact on Match's business and future growth (so far, we've been right).
But the overreaction in the market (investors getting too emotional) sent Match's shares down so much they turned into a bargain. The stock had a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20, about the same valuation as the S&P 500 Index. If you bought Match at that price, you paid a cheap price for its growth… a.k.a. the holy grail. And you'd be up nearly 70% today.
These types of situations are rare, but keep an eye out for scenarios where the market overreacts… And when it does, be ready to make your move.
Q: I have very much enjoyed your articles on inflammation recently. As a lawyer with a high-stress job, and a former football and rugby player with all kinds of aches and pains, I'm no stranger to inflammation and what it can do to our bodies. For an entire year, I thought I had celiac disease, until I realized it was really just inflammation (aggravated by non-digestible sugars – FODMAP). So, I've taken your advice on diet (I eat steel cut oats with blueberries most days of the week), exercise, sleep, etc. My body and gut (and emotions!) are now on the mend.
Recently, a friend and I were discussing our lower back pain, and he related that he's been taking turmeric curcumin supplements, which have really helped him. Can you please remind me/us whether the supplements show any efficacy (beyond placebo effect) vs. a diet with turmeric added in? Is there any benefit to be had? Or are we wasting our money? – C.J.
Years ago, health care giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) sold Band-Aid bandages containing the spice turmeric in India. Turmeric bandages might seem odd, but the spice has a long history of medicinal use in India. Many creams and salves there include the spice. Turmeric contains a chemical called curcumin, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory. That's how it fights pain.
As with most spices and foods we write about, it's always better to go for whole foods instead of supplements. The problem with turmeric supplements is that higher doses can cause upset stomachs, diarrhea, and gallbladder contractions. It may also thin your blood. This last side effect is especially dangerous if you're already on blood thinners or an aspirin regimen.
Also, since turmeric is a spice, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn't regulate it. Turmeric supplements may contain other things besides the spice. That includes things like flour, food dyes, and lead. And no current studies set standards for an upper safety limit. Curcumin has these standards, and they vary by body weight. We suspect turmeric is probably similar.
We recommend using turmeric as a spice, rather than in a pill. You can get a good helping with cooking, so try adding it to your next stir-fry, roasted veggies, or soup.
Q: Might you and your staff be able to suggest websites or software packages that can be used to consolidate all of my investment accounts into a single, complete overview? – C.C.
A: There are a few ways to track all of your brokerage accounts from one place.
Personal-finance service Mint is a longtime favorite of several folks around our office. Among other things, it combines your brokerage accounts to let you see the allocation breakdown of all your investments. Mint will even show you if you're outperforming or underperforming the S&P 500.
SigFig also has a popular – and free – portfolio tracker. Like Mint, you can use SigFig to see your complete allocation overview of your portfolio. But that's about it. SigFig is purely for your brokerage accounts… unlike Mint, which offers a wider range of financial tracking services.
Personal Capital is similar to Mint. You can see all your investments in one place, use budget tools, and track your cash flows. Some of our colleagues have used and like Personal Capital. The downside here, from what we've heard, is that you're likely to get sales calls once you've signed up.
How do you keep track of your investments? Drop us a line at [email protected].
Did you miss it? You're not ready for an emergency.
Forty-nine turmeric recipes, the wonder spice your body needs.
Something different: The danger of "inactive ingredients" in medicine.


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Tag Archives: weekend gloss
Weekend Gloss: "Understand Less"
After Slumber is an unfinished sequence about the history of civil disorder in the UK between 1979 and 2009 – "thirty years of hurt", as another of the poems in the sequence has it. I had a notion of writing one poem for each stanza of Shelley's The Masque of Anarchy, but came to a halt after just 17, leaving all kinds of things hanging – amongst them "anarchy the skeleton" as a heavy-metal mascot in a chariot race, where the "chariot of Pluto" had careened off-course and was descending into Hades like the good ship Event Horizon. I may take it up again at some point.
Each poem in the sequence began with a "seed phrase", written in ALLCAPS, with other significant words or phrases appearing ALLCAPSed from time to time. "UNDERSTAND LESS" is a paraphrase of then-British-Prime Minister John Major's assertion that "society needs to condemn a little more and understand a little less" in an interview given three days after the discovery of the body of the toddler Jamie Bulger, who had been murdered by two primary school children. The quotation also appears, paraphrased as "we should condemn more and understand less", as an epigraph to Irvine Welsh's The Marabou Stork Nightmares, a strange, surprisingly ambitious book about the linked cycles of colonial and sexual violence.
Once you have the Bulger murder in mind, I think any obscurities in the poem should quickly resolve themselves. Like Welsh's book, it's about violence, fantasy, vengefulness and senseless "oppugnancy" as "the truth of power" (note how "voicing the truth of power" modifies "speaking the truth to power"; it's significant that "anarchist", throughout the sequence, is freely applied to both Tory free-market ideologues and the window-smashers of the black bloc – the latter with more sympathy than the former, naturally). "Some are left / as ghosts in their own lives" refers most obviously to Bulger's killers, but also to the loved-ones of the victims of such violence, who from time to time are called upon to appear on television demanding vengeance. It's always seemed to me indecent to incite grieving people in this way. The claim that both "understanding" and "condemnation" are impostures with respect to the tragedy and horror of the Bulger case is being made quite straightforwardly.
Non-readers of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series may need telling that "CRUCIATUS" is a spell which inflicts agonising pain on an opponent, although Rowling doesn't actually have her teenage heroes filling their enemies' bowels with boiling lead. "My appetites are strange / even to me"…
after slumberharry potterjamie bulgerjohn majorweekend gloss
Weekend Gloss: "For amusement, re-run the delectable nude scene"
The Spirit Zone was a sequence of 14-line poems that were not sonnets, which I wrote in the run up to the Millennium celebrations and the opening of what was then known as the Millennium Dome. (The Dome itself is now called the O2 Arena, and is within walking distance of where I currently live). The Dome's original exhibition was divided into different "zones", of which the "spirit zone" was one. I never visited it, but I was interested in running the different senses of the word "spirit" through a poem sequence and seeing how they did and didn't link up.
This poem is constructed around something one of my cousins told me when we were both around 11 or 12, which was that there was a moment in the 1984 film The Woman In Red when Kelly LeBrock sprang naked out of bed, and if you paused it and whacked up the brightness and contrast you could – in spite of the director's best efforts at tasteful concealment – see her bush. It's funny what stays with you.
(He wasn't the only one, apparently, who found this detail of the film particularly arresting:
Review from Rotten Tomatoes
I don't think I've ever seen it – or them – myself, although Kelly LeBrock was good fun in Weird Science).
"Troubles march in long lines" is indeed the epigraph to Andrea Dworkin's Pornography, where I think it's credited as a Russian proverb. The last few lines of the poem wonder a little about Dworkin's systematising overview of the ubiquitous phenomena of male sexual violence and predation. Things that look like accidents – like road accidents, of which there are staggeringly many every year – start to fall into line when you take the perspective of an emancipatory global-historical movement. We're a long way, still, from the realisation of that projected emancipation, which I ended up imagining here as a kind of cataclysmic moment of historical self-awareness, "a trailing shriek of feedback". Once again, turning up the brightness and contrast until things blur and saturate, and the hidden is abruptly brought to light.
(Why "farcically", by the way? Because farce comes from forcemeat, stuffing meat – forcing, stuffing, overfilling having here an obviously sexual sense. I owe a lecture of Valentine Cunningham's, circa 1994, for this bit of etymological insight.)
I'm not sure now that the implicit charge of messianism can be made to stick. Dworkin's public oratory certainly had a fire-and-brimstone resonance to it (Susan Brownmiller nicknamed her "Rolling thunder"), but I don't think she thought women's liberation depended on an apocalyptic moment of all-out sex war. (Well, sometimes she sort of did: "harden your hearts, and learn how to kill" was her advice to young feminists at one point. But then someone like Elliot Rodger or Marc Lépine crawls out of the woodwork, and you're reminded of what it's like to feel that way). Dworkin wanted things to happen in the here-and-now; some of them seemingly-impossible things, like "a 24-hour truce in which there is no rape" (who would declare such a truce, on whose behalf? Who would enforce it?). The claim in this poem that "oppression is contingent" is nevertheless too easy an evasion, I think, of the moral force of that demand. Everything's contingent, including veritable systems of oppression; that's why it's possible for them to end.
andrea dworkinthe spirit zoneweekend gloss
Weekend Gloss: Homage to Douglas Clark
The late Douglas Clark was a poet who lived in Bath. Of himself he said "my health, both mental and physical, has never been good and my life has been troubled". In the best of his poetry, the terrors of acute mental breakdown are described without sensationalism, along with the sadness, inertia and disorientation of life in its aftermath. Lyric poetry typically projects an ego under stress, reinforcing itself through the willed exacerbation of its circumstances. If I can magnify the forces that assail me, then in some sense I can also command them. Douglas Clark's is not a poetry of command in this sense. His voice can sometimes seem very small, unassuming; his verse flat in affect, matter-of-fact in subject matter. "The antiquated engines of love trundle out," he writes, "I have forgotten how to write poetry". In spite of this his poems about cats and kittens were widely enjoyed, which might have bemused this poet whose early models included Ezra Pound and Basil Bunting.
As far as this "homage" is concerned, all of the necessary context can be found by browsing the poems collected on Clark's still-extant homepage. It may seem odd to dedicate a "homage" of all things to such a "minor" figure, but I admire him for his fifty years (by his own reckoning) of living "a peculiar life, like Spinoza but without his intellect", for his frankness about the causes and courses of his own failure to thrive, and for the gentleness and openness of his attention to other living creatures.
douglas clarklyric poetryweekend gloss
Weekend Gloss: Arthuriana
Of the two parts of this, the second is I think the better. The poem's quite old now, and I made a single change to it in posting it here: replacing "ichor" with "blood" (Geoffrey Hill uses "ichor" in a similar context in The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Péguy, and it seemed too direct a borrowing – although given that the whole thing's a Geoffrey Hill Tribute Act number, I'm not sure whether this wasn't a misplaced scruple).
The first part comes in equivocally: "the mythos is as you find it" could read any number of ways. One way of approaching the Arthurian mythos is to find it all a bit silly, as Monty Python and the Holy Grail certainly does. But there's also the sense that the mythos is in some sense there, waiting to be found or rediscovered, and that its perennial availability for rediscovery is precisely its way of being there. It "is" "as you find it", for each and every "you" that might come across it. Of course this notion is built into the mythos itself, with Arthur and his knights asleep in Avalon awaiting the moment of need when they must re-awaken. This is a bit of a late addition to the story (attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth), a kind of self-mythologising appendix; but it feeds into all kinds of things from That Hideous Strength (which recalls Merlin from the grave to combat a particularly nasty rebel-Oyarsa infestation) to The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. And of course it's directly implied in the title (itself taken from Malory) of T. H. White's The Once and Future King, a tremendous and, by the end, wrenchingly-sad meditation on war, power and governance. (I owe White, amongst other things, the observation that his Lancelot was "probably sadistic, or he would not have taken such frightful care to be gentle").
For my children's generation, their Arthur is probably the boneheaded crypto-homophobic jock portrayed in the BBC's Merlin – an excellent series, but one which like so many contemporary "re-imaginings" plays subversively with material with which its intended audience cannot be presumed to be familiar (cf Sherlock). My Arthur, I think, is this one:
Re-watching it now, I'm very struck by how the tone of its closing minutes coincides with what I was envisaging and aiming for in the second part of Arthuriana: that late-70s BBC eerieness must have struck deep (although I would have been only 5 when this first aired – it must surely have been an early-80s repeat?). The shift across the two parts of the poem from bathos ("spurs snagging in damp bracken") to pathos ("the barge drifts / with its burden", an unconscious borrowing from Eliot's The Waste Land – "The barges drift / With the turning tide") accords with how I feel about the myth, I think: the Pythons made great fun of its chauvinistic brutality and face-saving nationalism, but even Monty Python And The Holy Grail can't entirely withhold dignity from its subject.
arthurianamerlinweekend gloss


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That's On You
The law of attraction states that everything that we are experiencing, have experienced or will experience has been attracted to our lives by our own doing.
Personally, I believe in this. And if you're reading this, I'm guessing that you believe it or some part of you believes it to be true.
Like most things in life though, it's easy to take credit for the positive stuff. When you get that promotion, land a new client or finally get that date with the person of your dreams, you can say "I did this!"
But what about the negative stuff. Are you taking credit for that? Or are you blaming external factors?
Thanks to Grant Cardone's The 10X Rule, I have come to realize, yet again, the power of words.
I often say that things are happening FOR me but he has flipped that around to things are happening BECAUSE OF me.
That simple change of words creates a radical shift in mindset. All of a sudden I am taking radical responsibility for everything that happens in my life. Yes, I know most things in life are out of my control but that does not mean I have to relinquish responsibility.
We are responsible for our own lives. If shit's not working out or you're not happy with your current situation, that's on you and nobody else.
Tracking What's Important
Some things are easy to measure and track.
If you have decided to begin playing the piano, it's easy to see your progress. If you play baseball, it's easy to follow your stats and see the areas that are changing. If you lift weights, it's easy to track if you are getting stronger. If you invest your money, you can see it go up and down.
But what about things like your emotional strength? Or your parenting skills? Or your character? Or your leadership skills? Or your relationship with your spouse.
Often, the things that are most important are the hardest to track and since we can't track them we don't give them the attention they need.
Tracking is important, especially in business, but it's not everything.
How To Change The World
How do you see the world?
Do you believe people are nice and that the world is a good place or do you see destruction and all the evil in the world?
Do you believe kids are the greatest joy in the world or a nuisance because they make too much noise and wreck your front lawn?
Do you see opportunities all around the world or problems that are too big to solve?
Do you travel through the world struggling at every turn or having fun like it's a game?
We don't see the world as it is. We see the world how we are.
If you want to change the world, change yourself.
The ONLY Way To Be Successful
Money?
Freedom?
Relationships?
Health?
Spirituality?
Is success something you get or something you feel?
If other people believe your are successful, does that make you successful?
The ONLY way you will ever FEEL successful is if you are fulfilled and the only way to be fulfilled is to do what you want to do.
Happy Monday! I hope you're doing what you love. If you're not, I hope you're putting a plan into place to make it happen. If you're not, that's on you...
Losing To Win
As a parent, I believe it's important for my son to learn how to lose.
Losing is not bad thing. A loss is not a failure.
A loss is an opportunity to learn.
In my experience of life, every loss I have had has taught me something. Whether it's a lesson about some "thing" or a lesson about who I am, a loss always makes me better.
My wins, on the other hand, do not always teach me something. Not because there's not a lesson, but because I feel as though I did everything right. What more is there to learn? This can be deceiving. That is why the losses are so important.
In sports, you could win because of a bad call. If you don't realize that, what could you be missing? Life is the same.
Perhaps what you thought was working, is no longer working. Or perhaps you got lazy. Or perhaps the game has changed.
The loss will help you realign.
If you are concerned about your kid "losing", don't be surprised if your kid becomes afraid of losing when he's older (and in turn, afraid to take the risks that are required for a fulfilled life).
Building A Solid Foundation
I should eat healthier.
I should go to the gym more.
I should watch less TV.
I should work less.
I should spend more time with my kids.
I should. I should. I should.
Stop guilt-tripping yourself! Stop "shoulding" all over yourself! It's not helping you.
Is it motivating you to change?
I would venture to say that it's not. I bet it's only making you feel like shit.
How about you compliment yourself instead? Acknowledge yourself for all the great you did.
It's a lot easier to build on a solid foundation than one that has been broken down over the years.
And if the foundation is broken down, it will take some time to repair it. The sooner you start, the better.
Would you talk to your child the way you talk to yourself in your mind? Deep down, we're all just kids looking to be acknowledged.
P.S. If you have young kids, you are building their foundation right now.
It's All Or Nothing... Or Is it?
I always do that.
I never do that.
Everyone is doing it.
No one is buying it.
It happens every time.
Everything is going wrong.
Always, never, everyone, no one, every time and everything are rarely correct (notice I did not say never correct). They are all-or-nothing words.
The words we use are powerful. Both for the people who hear them as well as our subconscious minds.
Is it true that you always screw up?
Is it true that you never make a mistake?
Is it true that everyone is on social media?
Is it true that no one is buying your product or service?
Is it true that your kids push back every time you ask them to do their chores?
Is it true that everything is going wrong?
Be careful what you say to others and what you tell yourself. If you say the lie enough, you may just end up believing it.
Do you think you're stupid or do you think you're a genius?
Do you think you're weak or do you think you're strong?
Do you think you're a terrible parent or do you think you're the greatest parent of all time?
Do you think you're a terrible spouse or do you think you're a terrific spouse.
Do you think you're sick or do you think you're healthy.
Do you think you're a follower or do you think you're a leader?
Do you think you're disconnected or do you think you're connected?
Do you think you're tired or do you think you're full of energy?
It's true, you are what you think...
But only if you believe it.
Stop Judging To Start Understanding
It's important to understand.
Only when we understand a person are we truly able to serve them.
Only when we understand some "thing" are we truly able to use it to it's fullest capability.
It you want to serve somebody, you need to understand them.
If you want to use some "thing" to its fullest capability, you need to understand it.
But in order to understand, you need to stop judging.
When you judge something or someone, you are no longer seeking to understand. Your mind will be seeking to prove it's judgement.
That goes for understanding yourself as well. Stop judging yourself and start understanding yourself instead. Then you will create amazing change.
My Public Commitment for 2020
On January 8 of 2019 I committed to a Daily Blog and I kept that commitment. 365 days of a posting a blog every single day!
Not only have I kept it but I will continue to write every day. I will commit to another year and I suspect it will continue on after that.
But that's not my commitment for 2020...
Today, January 8, 2020, I am committing to something new...
I'm committing to a daily podcast.
I will make sure that everyday you will hear my voice (if you choose to subscribe to Lean In with Casey Grey).
Just like when I committed to writing daily, I am doing this because I want to be better than I was yesterday (or in this case, last year). I want to become a better speaker and storyteller so that I can help people find that inspiration inside of them and release it!
I said it last year and I'll say it again. New Year's Resolutions are useless unless you are committed.
What are you going to commit to today?


Arista's matriX AMP-1616 Modular Matrix Switcher is a 16 by 16 full routing type swappable modular design multi- input type matrix switch, which can take 16 HDMI video signal sources and distribute to 16 different displays, and can also work as a HDMI signal splitter to show the same HDMI video signal source on 16 displays simultaneously. The AMP-1616 Modular Matrix Switcher also allows users to easily switch between multiple sources via Remote Control, buttons on the unit, or through software control.
Supports IR Remote Control, RS-232 control on a programmed computer, TCP/IP and USB control (optional).
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Supports Full HD, Full 3D and HDCP protocol compliant.
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Perfect image quality and strong anti-interference performance.
Wall mountable case for better stability.


"The easiest sweet potato recipe ever"
Cut sweet potatoes in half - lengthwise.
Place each half in a baking pan with the flesh up.
Drizzle each side with a little oil. Rub oil into flesh (to cover entire side).
Sprinkle a pinch of salt on each half.
Turn over so the flesh is facing down on the pan.
Bake the sweet potatatoes uncovered for 30-35 minutes. I prefer mine well done so I do 35 minutes.
When you take them out of the oven, the flesh will be soft enough to cut several incisions on each half. I do this so when I add a dollop of butter the butter melts down.
These are delicious the next day too - so put them in an airtight container before you go to bed and enjoy them tomorrow.


text:
\section{Introduction}
After the discovery of time-reversal $Z_2$ topological insulators (TIs)\cite{kane05},
Fu proposed another type of TI protected by crystal symmetries such as mirror
or rotational symmetry\cite{tci_fu}.
This class is called the topological crystalline insulator (TCI),
expected to display exotic quantum phenomena including topological superconductivity.\cite{ando15}
Through model calculations in three-dimensional systems,
Fu suggested both the $n$-fold rotation $C_n$ ($n$=4,6) and time-reversal symmetries\cite{tci_fu}
could produce TCI,
whereas Alexandradinata {\it et al.}\cite{alex14} and Alexandradinata and Bernervig\cite{alex16} further proposed that $n$-fold rotation
and reflection $C_{nv}$ symmetries
of $n$=3, 4 and 6 may lead to the TCI without help of the time-reversal
symmetry.
In contrast to ordinary TIs,
need for spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is not a requirement for a TCI,
but many prospective TCI materials suggested by first-principles calculations require
SOC to invert band characters, as in \ttn~ investigated here.
However, SOC will affect the final gap size, so heavy atoms may still be more
favorable as in conventional TIs.

The combination of large bulk thermopower and gapless TI boundary states represents
a new frontier in topological materials. In finite samples the conductivity
provided by (topological) surface states impacts
the resulting thermopower as discussed by
Xu {\it et al.}\cite{xu2014,xu2017} The surface conductance leads to an anomalous
Seebeck effect that can be tuned by engineering the size and shape of the sample.
The first TCIs were proposed in IV-VI semiconductors of a simple rock-salt structure
with mirror symmetry\cite{nacl1,nacl2}, such as SnTe, PbTe, PbSe, SnS, and SnSe,
which had been known as good thermoelectric materials\cite{singh10,roy15}.
Soon after these theoretical predictions, the topological character of these
compounds was observed\cite{tanaka,dziawa,hasan},
specifically, a double Dirac-cone structure through (spin)
angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES).
In contrast to the ordinary $Z_2$ index class of TIs showing an odd number
of Dirac points in a surface state,
TCIs have an even number of Dirac points\cite{nacl1}.
Moreover, scanning tunneling microscopy and ARPES studies showed massive Dirac cones
induced by breaking the symmetry in these TCIs,
suggesting a possibility for engineering the Dirac band gap\cite{okada,zel,wojek}.
Their two-dimensional monolayer cousins are also suggested to support TCI phases\cite{monoNaCl1,monoNaCl2}.
It has been suggested that the rock-salt structure PbPo shows both TCI and ferroelectric instability\cite{min}.
In additional to the rock-salt compounds, TCI phases have been theoretically predicted in pyrochlore oxides\cite{fiete},
antiperovskite compounds\cite{hsh14}, the orthorhombic perovskite SrIrO$_3$\cite{kee},
and full-Heusler compounds\cite{pham}.
However, exotic physical properties of TCIs have not been established
due to the lack of the combination of both theoretical predictions and
experimental realization.

In this Rapid Communication we investigate topological and thermoelectric properties
of the time-reversal symmetric cubic perovskite nitride \ttn~
possessing both the fourfold rotation and mirror symmetries utilized by Fu\cite{tci_fu}
but now using first-principles approaches.
Nitride perovskites are quite rare compared to the oxides\cite{marq} and with different
properties, including that itinerant hole or electron doping is expected to be much
easier in the nitride\cite{ScN-MgO} due to the smaller electronegativity
and larger polarizability of N relative to O.
The cubic perovskite insulator \ttn, displayed in Fig. \ref{str}(a),
was obtained using solid-state synthesis methods by Brese and DiSalvo\cite{ttn3_exp},
but characterization has been limited.
Theoretical calculations have confirmed the semiconducting character
and stability of the cubic phase\cite{shein,matar,polfus}.
The results we present indicate that perovskite \ttn~ is not only a TCI, but also displays
highly favorable thermoelectric properties.

The organization of the Rapid Communication is as follows. The theoretical methods are
presented in Sec. II. Sec. III contains the main results on the electronic
structure, the TCI characteristics, and the carrier density and temperature
dependence of the thermopower. In Sec. IV we provide a brief summary.

\section{Theoretical Approach}
The experimental diffraction data\cite{ttn3_exp} indicate the cubic perovskite structure,
and density functional calculations obtain positive elastic constants
for the cubic structure\cite{shein}.
Our {\it ab initio} calculations, performed using the experimental lattice parameter
 $a=4.02$ \AA,\cite{ttn3_exp} which is close to our optimized value of $4.06$ \AA, were performed
using the accurate all-electron full-potential code {\sc wien2k}\cite{wien2k}.
Selected results were confirmed with another all-electron full-potential code {\sc fplo}\cite{fplo}.
The Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation (GGA)
was used as the exchange-correlation functional\cite{gga}.
SOC has been included in the results we present except where noted.
The Brillouin zone was sampled with a uniform fine $k$ mesh of $21\times 21\times 21$
to check the narrow gap nature carefully.
In {\sc wien2k}, the basis was determined by $R_{mt}K_{max}=7$
and augmented atomic radii in atomic units: Th 2.4, Ta 2.0, and N 1.7. For {\sc fplo}
the default basis functions for the constituent atoms were used.
The second variation precedure \cite{Koelling_80} is used to include SOC effects in {\sc wien2k}.
About 1-Ry width of conduction bands is kept for the second diagonalization,
giving nearly perfect convergence of the SOC calculation.

To investigate for topological character, our calculated band structure and eigenfunctions were fit
using the {\sc wannier90} code\cite{wan} with an initial basis of N $2p$, Ta $5d$, Th $6d$, and $5f$ orbitals,
resulting in an excellent fit  in the range --7 eV to 4 eV relative to the Fermi level $E_F$
[see Fig. \ref{band}(a)].
From these results, the surface states were calculated through the Green's-function approach
implemented in the {\sc wanniertools} code\cite{ch_suf}.
The hybrid Wannier charge center is also provided by the {\sc Z2pack} code\cite{z2pack}.

Thermoelectric properties were studied using the {\sc boltztrap} code\cite{boltz}
based on the semiclassical Bloch-Boltzmann transport theory\cite{boltztheory}
with a constant scattering time
approximation. A much denser regular $k$ mesh containing up to 60000 $k$ points
was used since these calculations were very sensitive to details of band structure
in the region of the gap.

\section{Results}
\begin{figure}[tbp]
{\resizebox{8cm}{6cm}{\includegraphics{Fig2.eps}}}
\caption{Top: (a) Nonmagnetic GGA band structure of \ttn~
 in the region containing N $2p$, Ta $5d$, and Th $6d$ and $5f$ orbitals.
 The nearly flat Th $5f$ bands appear around 3 eV,
 relative to the Fermi level $E_F$ which is set to zero.
 The orange dashed lines indicate bands obtained from Wannier interpolation,
 showing an excellent representation of the bands.
 (b) The corresponding atom-projected densities of states (DOSs),
 in units of states per eV.
 Bottom: enlarged fatband structures of (c) GGA and (d) GGA+SOC
 along the $M-\Gamma-X$ line near $E_F$.
 The band inversion induced by SOC at the $\Gamma$ point is evident
 in panel (d).
 With SOC included, at the $\Gamma$ point the characters of each band are
 the singlet N $p$, doublet Ta $d$, doublet N $p$, and singlet Ta $d$,
 from the lower to higher energy.
 The $\pm$ symbols at the $\Gamma$ point denote the parity of each band.
}
\label{band}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure*}[tbp]
{\resizebox{11cm}{11cm}{\includegraphics{Fig3.eps}}}
\caption{The (001) surface spectral functions (SOC included)
obtained from the Green's-function method for (a) ThN and (b) TaN$_2$ terminations.
The Fermi contours are shown in blue.
Without SOC (not shown here), no surface band appears.
Panels (c)-(e) display the spin texture (shown with red arrows),
having only in-plane components,
on the double Dirac cone at energies denoted in panel (a).
The arrows provide the spin direction. Note the changes in scale in panels
(c)-(e).
}
\label{sf}
\end{figure*}

\subsection{Electronic structure}
First we address the electronic structure obtained with a dense $k$ mesh
to investigate the character of its small gap carefully.
The full range GGA band structure and the corresponding atom-resolved DOSs
given in Fig. \ref{band}(a) and \ref{band}(b), respectively,
indicate that this system is a small gap band insulator\cite{gap},
consistent with the formal charge configuration of Ta$^{5+}$, Th$^{4+}$, and N$^{3-}$.
The valence bands have the fully filled N $2p$ character,
whereas the bottom of the conduction bands has Th $t_{2g}$ character
as shown in Fig. \ref{band}(c) and \ref{band}(d).
Thus \ttn~ shows a common $p-d$ direct gap between two threefold degenerate bands at the zone center.

Now specific effects of SOC are considered.
The bottom panels of Fig. \ref{band} shows enlarged band structures of GGA and GGA+SOC
overlapped by the fatband coloring showing Ta $5d$ and N $2p$ characters.
Inclusion of SOC leads to splitting the threefold bands on either side
of the gap into a doublet and singlet and enhancing the energy gap to 150 meV.
The gap is smaller by 10 meV at the optimized volume.
Most importantly, the band splitting results in band inversion at $\Gamma$.
As shown in Fig. \ref{band}(c), before SOC
the threefold band at the top of the valence band arising from $2p$ states of all
N ions has negative parity,
whereas the Ta $t_{2g}$ triplet at the bottom of the conduction band has positive parity.
SOC results in splitting and inverting the parities: The parity of each band in the doublet
at the bottom of the conduction band is negative [see Fig. \ref{band} (d)].
This band inversion suggests a nontrivial topological character as will be discussed
in the next subsection.

\begin{figure}[tbp]
\resizebox{8.5cm}{8.5cm}{\includegraphics{Fig4.eps}}
\caption{The (001) surface spectral function (SOC included) of ThN (left)
and TaN$_2$ (right) terminations when breaking symmetries.
For the upper panel, the Ta ion is displaced by 0.01 \AA~ in the (100) direction
to remove only the mirror symmetry.
For the low panel, the ion is displaced by the same amount in the (111) direction
to break both the mirror and rotational symmetries.
}
\label{bsf}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Topological crystalline insulating phase}
Our calculations of the topological character begin from the Wannier representation,\cite{wan}
shown in Fig. \ref{band}(a).
The $Z_2$ indices $\nu_0;(\nu_1\nu_2\nu_3)$ are calculated\cite{z2}
from the parties of all occupied bands, excluding the core orbitals, at TRIMs, shown in Fig. \ref{str}(b).
The indices are $0;(000)$, indicating that \ttn~ is topologically trivial. Specifically,
two negative-parity valence-band states have interchanged with two positive-parity
conduction-band states, and the change in occupied TRIM parities by two leaves vanishing Z$_2$ indices.
To gather further evidence, the hybrid Wannier charge centers are calculated for
half of the BZ on the mirror plane\cite{z2pack}.
Consistent with the $Z_2$ indices,
the hybrid center plot shows an even number of crossings, indicating that a $Z_2$ TI
has not emerged (see the Supplemental Material\cite{ttn3_supple}.

Next, we performed surface-state calculations by the Green's-function approach.
Figure \ref{sf}(a) and \ref{sf}(b) show the surface spectral functions for
ThN and TaN$_2$ surface terminations,
respectively, using (001) surfaces [given the cubic symmetry, only (001)
needs to be considered].
For both terminations, two pairs of surface bands crossing the gap appear at the zone center,
although distinctions verify that they are inequivalent.

The spin textures, pictured in Fig. \ref{sf}(c)-\ref{sf}(e),
are calculated in three regimes: below the lower Dirac point,
above the upper Dirac point, and midway between the two points.
At 160 meV in Fig. \ref{sf}(c), the texture on the outer
Fermi contour is clockwise with opposite chirality on the inner contour.
At 120 meV [the intermediate regime, Fig. \ref{sf}(d)]
both textures are counterclockwise.
At 75 meV the texture on the outer Fermi contour is counterclockwise
with opposite chirality on the inner contour.

To reveal the origin of this topological character,
crystalline symmetries have been broken by displacing the Ta ion in two directions.\cite{ttn3_supple}
First, the ion was displaced by 0.01 \AA~ along the (100) direction to remove the
$x\rightarrow -x$  mirror symmetry.
The upper panel of Fig. \ref{bsf} shows that elimination of this mirror symmetry
destroys the surface state of the ThN termination (the disconnect of bands
near 0.06 eV energy), whereas that of the TaN$_2$ survives.
Second, both the mirror and the rotational symmetries were discarded by shifting Ta
along the (111) direction by 0.01 \AA.
The bottom panel of Fig. \ref{bsf} reveals that both surface states have disappeared.
This killing of surface bands by breaking of symmetry
is evidence that \ttn~ is a
TCI protected by $C_4$ symmetry rather than by mirror symmetry. Similar effects
have been observed in the antiperovskite compounds\cite{hsh14}.
Also, these two pairs of surface bands indicate that
the mirror Chern number ${\cal C}_M=({\cal C}_{+i}-{\cal C}_{-i})/2$ is two,
where ${\cal C}_{\pm i}$ are individual Chern numbers for Bloch eigenstates
with eigenvalues $\eta =\pm i$\cite{mirror_chern}.
Note that two Dirac cones in \ttn~ concurrently emerge at $\bar{\Gamma}$,
in contrast to the previous TCIs with $|{\cal C}_M|=2$\cite{nacl1,monoNaCl2},
which have two Dirac cones separately appearing at two different TRIMs.

\begin{figure}[tbp]
{\resizebox{8cm}{8cm}{\includegraphics{Fig5.eps}}}
\caption{Seebeck coefficients $S(T)$ (in units of $\mu$V/K)
versus (a) band filling $\mu$, (b) and (c) concentration of doped carriers
at various temperatures in the range of 150 K -- 400 K; SOC is included.
This behavior is similar to that without SOC (not shown here),
but is roughly doubled by SOC.
}
\label{seebeck}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Thermoelectric properties}
As mentioned above, the first TCIs were realized in promising thermoelectric compounds.\cite{nacl1,nacl2}
There is however no direct relation between thermoelectric and topological properties
aside from the commonality of possessing small band gaps.
First, thermoelectric properties are a bulk property, whereas the impact of the topological
character resides in the boundary states.
The Seebeck coefficient is determined solely by the bands $E(\vec{k})$,
their derivatives, and the Fermi level $E_F$\cite{boltztheory},
whereas the topological states are
the result of topological features arising from inversion and mixing of the bulk
valence and conduction bands.
Nevertheless, one may simplistically anticipate that a high thermopower is achieved
in TCIs or TIs with a narrow gap since SOC, which is often significant
in topological matters, leads to considerable changing in dispersion around $E_F$,
hence may provide the steep DOS that often signals large thermopower.
Such a connection occurs in this system, as we now discuss.

As shown in Fig. \ref{band}(b) and \ref{band}(c),
inclusion of SOC substantially reduces the dispersion of
the doubly degenerate bands at the top of the valence band
and the bottom of the conduction band along the $\Gamma-X$ line,
resulting in a steeper DOS that roughly doubles the Seebeck coefficient.
Figure \ref{seebeck} shows $S(T)$ (SOC included) over the range
150 K -- 400 K in temperature.
Due to the narrow gap, $S(T)$ rapidly increases in magnitude
at very small levels of doping and reaches the very large value
of  $\sim$ 400 $\mu$V/K at 150 K.
Upon increasing $T$, the maximum in $S(T)$ monotonically decreases.
However, it retains excellent thermoelectric performance
(200 $\mu$V/K -- 300 $\mu$V/K)\cite{singh13},
indicated by the dashed lines in Fig. \ref{seebeck},
over a range of 10$^{17}$/cm$^{-3}$ -- 10$^{19}$/cm$^{-3}$ doping level
({\it i.e}, $\sim$10$^{-4}$ -- 10$^{-6}$ carriers per formula unit) below $T=400$ K.

\begin{comment}
While bulk $S(T)$ and boundary bands are distinct in origin, their coupling
in a thermoelectric device is of considerable interest.
In finite samples the conductivity provided (topological) surface states impacts
the resulting thermopower, as discussed by
Xu {\it et al.}\cite{xu2014,xu2016} The surface conductance leads to an anomalous
Seebeck effect that can be tuned by engineering the size and shape of the sample.o
\ttn provides an extension of this possibility from the standard TIs considered
to crystalline topological insulators.
\end{comment}

\section{Summary}

In \ttn, which is a rare cubic nitride perovskite,
spin-orbit coupling leads to enlarging the gap to 150 meV and inverting valence and conduction bands.
Interestingly, two surface band Dirac cones in the gap concurrently appear at the zone center,
although this system shows trivial $Z_2$ indices and character of the hybrid Wannier charge center.
This even number of surface bands indicates that \ttn~ is a topological crystalline insulator
with the mirror Chern number $|{\cal C}_m|=2$,
protected by the mirror and fourfold rotational symmetries.
Additionally, due to the narrow gap and less dispersive bands near $E_F$ induced by SOC,
this system shows a very high Seebeck coefficient with a maximum of $\sim$ 400 $\mu$V/K at 150 K,
suggesting a possible application as an element in a thermoelectric device(see the Supplemental Material\cite{ttn3_supple}).
Our findings indicate that stoichiometric \ttn~ is a TCI also with a good thermoelectric properties,
inviting further theoretical and experimental researches.
Most currently known topological insulators suffer from defects in the bulk
that degrade the insulating bulk to semiconducting, thus precluding identification of
and therefore application of the topological surface bands. The sample quality did not allow determination of stoichiometry in \ttn\cite{ttn3_exp}, but this material is chemically distinct from previous TIs and thus provides new opportunities.

\section{Acknowledgments}
We acknowledge Y.-K. Kim for useful discussion of topological insulators and
K.-H. Ahn and Y.-J. Song for useful technical discussions. Discussion on
nitride perovskites with A. P. Ramirez, M. Subramanian, and T. Siegrist
were appreciated.
This research was supported by NRF of Korea Grant No. NRF-2016R1A2B4009579
(M.C.J and K.W.L) and by U.S. DOE BES Grant No. DE-FG02-04ER46111 (W.E.P.).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv