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[ October 17, 2020 ] Album Review: AfterTime 'The Farthest Shore'	Local Spotlight
[ August 11, 2020 ] Icehouse Has Live (Socially Distanced) Music– This Is Not A Drill	Local Spotlight
[ July 27, 2020 ] Stream Corbin Randall's new single "Push in the Tide" – out today	Concerts
[ July 13, 2020 ] Corbin Randall debuts second single "On the Line"	Interviews
[ May 21, 2020 ] CCR's Doug "Cosmo" Clifford Talks About New Album "Magic Window" and Incredible Life Achievements	Interviews
HomeConcertsThe King of California. Dave Alvin Produces Perfect Night At The Cedar.
The King of California. Dave Alvin Produces Perfect Night At The Cedar.
July 11, 2019 Jack Campbell Concerts 0
I once wrote that if anyone ever carved a songwriters' Mt Rushmore, Dave Alvin should be hewn from the rock. I got to pondering that idea again last night as I sat, and occasionally danced, at The Cedar. Alvin, along with long time running mate and Guilty Ones guitarist Chris Miller reprised the album King of California. It was the opening night of a tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of an American classic.
What I came up with is maybe we should just have a Dave Alvin mountain all by itself. The four faces could be the different musical faces he has presented to the public. If Alvin is anything, he's a chameleon. The man has been moved by so many that came before him. He effortlessly slides between genres and defies categorization.
He's probably best known for founding The Blasters with big brother Phil; the most powerful Rockabilly band on the planet. The band burst onto the scene in the early 80's. In order to move their incendiary live act to a record deal, the band turned to him for original music. As Blasters' fans know, he was up to the task. While he hasn't played with that band in many years, his brother still fronts it and was in town two nights earlier. When Alvin mentioned he'd just learned Phil had just preceded him, a significant portion of the audience let him know they'd been in attendance. "He's a good guy, that Phil! Did he dedicate a song to me?"
Some fans first came to Alvin a bit later when he stepped into Billy Zoom's slot and joined forces with John Doe and Excene Cervenka in the seminal LA punk act X. There's a side of him that can bring the noise. Wielding his signature Fender Strat like a Hendrix machine gun. Recently, he teamed again with Doe and hit the road with their punk super group The Flesh Eaters. Let me add that their Turf Club show earlier this year remains my show of the year to date. Despite a blizzard, the entire sold out crowd showed up and got their faces scorched. I remember the volume from the stage shaking my pant legs. When Alvin let loose, you had to lean into it.
Blues aficionados are quick to claim him. Alvin is a repository of country blues that dates back to the earliest recordings of the 1920's. He's a master of those early Texas stylings. As kids growing up in Downey CA, Dave and brother Phil, amassed a huge collection of vintage 78's which opened a musical world opaque to most of their peers. They began sneaking into the iconic Ashgrove as young teens. They absorbed everything they could from the likes of Lightnin' Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt. "We were like a couple of bees constantly buzzing around their heads", Alvin laughed.
But that fourth head, jutting out most prominently like Washington from that Black Hills granite, should be the one we heard last night. That rootsy, genre-bending monster of Americana. The guy who defies categorization. More than Rockabilly king pin, punk or blues titan, Dave Alvin is simply one of our greatest songwriters on top of being one hell of a musician.
King Of California was an important album. Not only for American music, in general, but for Dave Alvin individually. As he explained: "When I set out to do an acoustic album, people told me it was a mistake. When I decided to sing on the album, people told me it was a mistake." Instead, what we got was a critically acclaimed classic. As memorable as albums like Lucinda William's Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. It belongs in the Smithsonian for future generations to also venerate.
For Alvin it was a breakthrough. An album that proved to himself that those early songs he penned, particularly for The Blasters, were no fluke. It also proved that he was born to be a lead singer. That's a bit hard to comprehend these days when one listens to his beautiful baritone voice. But think back to his childhood and that earliest family band. How would you feel about your abilities if your big brother was Phil Alvin? A friend of mine once described Phil as "Moses coming down from the Rockabilly mountain." You don't stand up to Phil Alvin. You stand back in awe.
King of California in many ways allowed Dave to step out from his brother's shadow. It was the album that set a trajectory which would eclipse anything he'd managed to accomplish in The Blasters. It was the launch point for the roots enamored Alvin who followed that album with Blackjack David and Public Domain, mined from that same vein.
Alvin and Chris Miller parked themselves on a couple of chairs and presented the album in sequential order. It was a sublime experience and the audience clung to every note. I particularly enjoyed how as a duo (often a trio when they invited Cindy Wasserman of opener Dead Rock West to sing harmony vocals) they reinterpreted the original versions. Some of it was a result of a lot fewer strings than the recording. Much of it was simply the songs, and their writer's interpretation of them, had grown up and evolved.
I'm a big believer in songwriters taking the time to tell us the backstory behind a particular song. How and where it was written. Or why they decided to cover it. In the hands of a droll and laconic raconteur like Alvin, it fills the night with smiles, laughter and often a bit of sadness. There is something incredibly powerful and intimate about an artist sitting in front of you unplugged, willing to share the personal stories which caused them to put pen to paper. "A writer once asked me if my songs were autobiographical. I said sure. If you aren't too concerned with the truth."
On two occasions, Alvin chuckled and explained songs saying that when he eventually wrote his memoir, the song would comprise an entire chapter. He promised to tell us the abridged version before, thankfully, weaving the entire tale. When he introduced the Tom Russell tune Blue Wing, he confessed that he never performed it live simply because it was so important to him. In the late 1980's, Alvin found himself in a dark and isolated personal place. He heard that particular song and immediately decided he was leaving that place and heading somewhere brighter and more positive. The song saved his life. Five years later, he put his take on it onto King Of California. It fit perfectly. For him, it was a reminder of where he'd been and where he intended to go.
One of the hallmarks of a great song is that it resonates through time. It doesn't become a snapshot of a time and place; rather it connects over and over again with different generations and groups of people. The protest songs of years ago often ring true today. Alvin teed up the Memphis Slim song Mother Earth by saying that he didn't go in for political speeches or pushing his opinions. However, he wanted us to know that the words of that old song summed up where he stood about as well as could be imagined.
"Don't care how great you are
Don't care what you worth
When it all ends up you got to
Go back to mother earth"
Listening to that song summed up all the division in our country, as well as what he thought about a country of haves and have-nots. It hit me like a ton of bricks that before Bob Dylan wrote You Gotta Serve Somebody, he certainly did some listening to Memphis Slim.
There is no question that the success and tone of any great album is due, in no small part, to the input of the producer. In this case, the man at the helm was his friend Greg Leisz. He grew up just across the cement canal that was once called the San Gabriel river. Alvin said on rare occasion, it actually held water. Leisz is a master string player and producer; his input on the album is undeniable. If you've attended a fair share of concerts over the years, it's likely you've seen him. He's been here often, working with artists like Lucinda Williams, Ray LaMontagne and Eric Clapton. Alvin informed us that Greg couldn't be with us tonight. He was busy slumming with some guy named Jackson Browne over in Europe.
If anybody has ever written two better ballads than 4th Of July and Border Radio, I'd like to know who they are. The former brought the audience to its feet. A bucket list dream is to sing along with that one on Independence Day. The latter is a personal touchstone. The version on King is a song that grew up and took on new life as 9 Volt Heart. This one appeared years later on my favorite Alvin album, Ashgrove. It connects a generation who grew up with a transistor radio, tucked beneath our pillows on school nights; dialed in to some 50,000 watt border radio that skipped off the ionosphere all the way from Mexico to Canada. On those AM waves was all the music that commercial stations could or would not play. It changed kids like the Alvin brothers. And me. When he sings it, I still weep with appreciation for a gift that was once there for the taking.
Two beautiful encore numbers. Abilene from the album BlackJack David and the moving Dry River. While many in the audience shouted for 5 MORE!, my friend simply said. "That's enough. It's perfect just as it is." I had to agree.
Nearly two hours. One 52 minute album front to back. And a couple of encore numbers. The rest was doing what great singer/songwriters were born to do: tell us stories and make the world outside disappear. The time flew by. That's live music at its best. It's the fix I go out in search of, night after night.
Dave Alvin will be back before long. He's the ultimate road dog. I don't know which of the faces on that Mt Rushmore he'll present. His fans will be waiting for him. The night will once again be memorable. As I walked from The Cedar, I spied a woman proudly showing her Dave Alvin For President t-shirt. I hope he doesn't. It would take too much time from writing great songs. But we could sure do a lot worse. If it's what it takes to carve that face into the rock, he's got my vote.
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"Might be my favourite Antonioni to date. A display of how binding life and love can be, to the exhaustion of continued emptiness without any light. "
"Antonioni captures some of love's audacious moments that leave us with feelings of isolation and disconnect. A battle of morale among characters that display different elements of love; the void unfulfilled by a significant other, temptations of lust and loyalty, as well as the persisting need to feel love/desire back. This familiar tone of Antonioni may disregard emotions at first, and lead one to ambiguous reflection. "
"The beautiful thing about a dancer, is watching their agony mold into a perpetual form of art. Pina's loneliness is so beautifully and emotionally painted, through her movements, and the dancers who fondly look up to her. Wim Wenders further heightens the beauty of choreography in a wonderful tribute to Pina Bausch. I recommend."
"Undeniably finds affection from the viewer as it uncovers how humane and sensitive life can be, even at it's lowest moments. Caught off guard with emotion, I will gladly still meditate on this later."
"At a certain point in life, you'll realize death is dancing in the spotlight and start to omit from routine in search of solitude. Rediscovering the integrity of 'living' and what it means to be present is captured through the gorgeous lens of Gloria bell."
"With it's day-in-the-life persona, it doesn't get any deeper than hanging out with the cool kids and the coming of age. No real attempt at being innovative with it's common grounds, but definitely had some mesmerizing 'feel good' moments."
"A movie that intervenes with the shadows of social justice and lawful rights. At the surface it explores the voice of reason for criminal punishment. With such a distinct character to follow for the film's vocation, I can highly appreciate the dialogue and cinematic details that progress towards the end."


Today the Apple announces the new iPhone Xs. The new Xs will come in 5.8" and a new 6.5" model called the Xs Max. The phones will land on September 21st in a new gold colorway and will feature their next generation chips, an improved dual camera system with all-new 12MP sensors, Dual SIM support, a 7-nanometer A12 Bionic chip with 8-core Neural Engine, and improved color accuracy. The phones will start at $999 and come in 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB sizes. Completing the iPhone lineup is the iPhone Xr, a new 6.1" size that comes in a variety of colors and starts at $749.


Following BJP ruled Union Government, the Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to implement the 10 percent reservation to the youth of economically weak general category in job and education institutions.
Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur hoped that the reservation for economical weak section of general category would prove a boon to the economically weak families of general category as they would also get opportunity in jobs and admissions to the educational institutions. He said that the mantra of 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas' of the Centre and the State governments has been further strengthened by with this decision.
Ahead of the parliamentary election, the Union Government has mooted to give reservation benefits to economically weaker section in general category and amidst the criticism form the opposition government passed the Bill in the Parliament and paved way to give 10 percent reservation in jobs and educational institutions to the economically weak general category families.
The reservation is not confide to a particular religion but applies to people from all religions. Under the new amendment to the constitution people with an annual income below Rs. 8 lakh and owning fewer than five acres of land would be eligible for the reservation.


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Are the Jays for Real?
April 30, 2009 | By RotoRob | comment on this post
Aaron Hill's remarkable comeback from concussion issues has sparked the Jays to a quick start.
Okay, the first month of the baseball season is almost in the books, so I thought it high time to pipe up on an issue I have yet to discuss.
As a Toronto boy, I've had to deal with the city being abuzz over the Jays' fast start. Alright, they got smoked Wednesday bad, so now have to share the AL East lead with the blazing BoSox (with the Yankees closing fast and now just three games back), but the fact is, the Blue Jays have been absolutely crushing the ball. Toronto leads the majors in hitting, paced by Aaron Hill, who is enjoying a tremendous comeback and swinging a .376 stick. We recommended him way back in Week One, but can you believe this dude is still unowned in some leagues? Well, he won't be for long at this pace. Hill looked like he was slowing down a bit earlier this week, but is now 5-for-8 with two runs and two ribbies in the past two games. He spent most of 2008 batting second in the lineup, but was actually more successful batting seventh. This year, he's hit exclusively in the two-hole, and has provided the Toronto attack with a spark near the top of the order that was desperately missing last season. Assuming he remains there all season and stays healthy, Hill will shatter his previous career high in at bats, and likely in most other categories as well.
While the Jays had a middling running game last season, this year, it's downright brutal, and that would concern me if I was a fan of this team. Given the unsustainable attack they've shown so far, the fact that they may have difficulty manufacturing runs once they cool off does not bode well for this team continuing to compete in the AL East for long. Vernon Wells isn't hitting quite as well as he did during his injury-shortened 2008 campaign, but he's already just one steal away from matching his total from last season. He's accounted for a third of the team's nine steals. However, Alex Rios' huge base stealing season last year is looking like the outlier, as he's on pace to return to his career norm of mid-teen swipes.
Production out of the lead-off spot has been a key reason the Jays have turned around one of baseball's worse attacks to become the highest scoring team in the game. Marco Scutaro? Sure, he had a pretty good season with the Jays last year, but this is ridiculous. He's getting on base at an unsustainable .422 clip (almost 100 points over his career mark) and that's translating into a crapload of runs. Scutaro has crossed the plate five times in the past three games, giving him an even 23 runs in 23 games this season. Jeez, we're not even a month into the season and this dude is already almost a third of the way to matching the career high 76 runs he scored last season? Scutaro has been an early-season waiver wire gem batting atop this scorching lineup. Sell high candidate? Uh, ya…I'd say so.
How about Adam Lind? He's gone 0-for-8 in the past two games, yet is still on pace for nearly 200 hits as he enjoys a breakout year. I'm loving how Lind's extra-base pop continues to develop as he nears his prime power years.
Hell, even veteran catcher Rod Barajas – who had such trouble getting on base in his first season in Toronto – is on pace for a career year. He's recorded four multi-hit games in the past five tries, hitting one double in each of those tilts. Barajas is getting the lion's share of the work behind the plate, and he's been productive enough to be gaining some traction on the waiver wire. I'm surprised he hasn't been a more popular pick up, considering all the problems owners are having with catchers so far this season.
Even when their offense sucked last year, the Jays were a good contact team. This year has been more of the same, as they are not striking out much – remarkable considering this team has way more at bats than any other major league team. Rookie Travis Snider struck out far too often in his first taste of the Show last year, and while he's still fanning too much, the youngster has shown improvement in this area (last year, he was whiffing roughly twice every seven plate appearances; this year, it's down to less than twice every nine PAs).
Anyways, it's a damn good thing the Jays are hitting the cover off the ball. While their pitching has still been strong, not surprisingly, they have been unable to duplicate last year's showing when they led the majors in team ERA (3.49). That figure is up almost a half-run per game, and with more outings like Wednesday, when all 11 runs that KC scored were earned, that figure will soon soar over the 4.00 mark and fail to be a team strength.
David Purcey showed some promise last season, and he looked like a pitcher that could at least eat up some innings on a young Toronto staff this year. But he's been roughed up in three of his last four starts, and has now surrendered 20 earned runs in 25 2/3 IP for an ERA north of seven. If Purcey takes the hill as many times as the Jays were hoping he would, this team will not be able to survive his ineptitude. I would assume that despite injuries to Shaun Marcum and Ricky Romero, Purcey's rotation spot is in jeopardy.
The Toronto pitching staff is suffering from more control problems in 2009, something that wasn't a factor last year. Purcey has been awful in this regard. Brian Tallet improved his control last year, but with six walks issued over his last two starts covering 9 2/3 IP, he's now walking almost one batter every two innings. He pitched around it his last start, but on Wednesday, he was absolutely bitch-slapped by the Royals. If he has a couple more outings like that, Tallet will find himself back in the bullpen.
In 2008, the Jays did a fantastic job of limiting the long ball. So far this year, they haven't been quite as stingy, but I wouldn't call it a serious problem. Tallet's been the worst offender here, but the big surprise is that Roy Halladay has been getting touched up more often that usual. In fact, he's on pace to surrender a career-high 29 home runs and that's sent his ERA up almost a run over last season, despite peripherals that are more or less similar, and in some cases much better than they were in 2008. Doc will be fine, as long as he limits those long balls to mostly solo blasts. So far, two of the four dingers Halladay has served up have been of the dreaded multi-run variety.
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 9:19 am	and is filed under BASEBALL, RotoRob, Team report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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Torrance Shorter stands in the rain outside of Martin A. Ryerson Elementary School one recent afternoon in a last-ditch effort to keep the grammar school from being merged with the nearby Laura S. Ward Elementary School next fall.
As parents pick up their children, he slips fliers through car windows and encourages them to come out to a meeting that he's helping to organize. He stuffs more fliers into kids' hands. "Tell your momma to come to the meeting this afternoon," he says to one pre-teenage boy as they locked eyes. "Right when you get home," he adds as the boy walks off.
Shorter knows many Ryerson parents and grandparents. He and his wife live just across the street in the same house that he grew up in. "This is the grade school I graduated from," the 6-foot-tall out-of-work cook says. Now, four of his own children attend the Humboldt Park school and he serves on its Local School Council.
Ryerson is one of 54 elementary schools across the city that is slated to close next fall. CPS officials estimate that doing so would save the district $43 million each year during the next decade. By consolidating schools, CPS CEO Barbara Byrd Bennett has pledged to pour more money into the new schools that will replace the shuttered ones.
But in many of the consolidated schools, the additional resources are likely to pale in comparison with what's spent incarcerating people from the same neighborhoods, a Chicago Reporter analysis of more than a decade of Cook County criminal courts sentencing data found.
Take Ryerson, for example. It's located in a census tract where the cost of incarcerating its residents will top $80 million, a Reporter analysis of felony sentences handed down in Cook County's criminal courts during the past 12 years.
The majority of those corrections costs will be covered by state and county taxes. That's more than twice the $48 million, in federal, state and city tax dollars, spent on educating students at Ryerson during that time, the Reporter and our sister publication Catalyst found in a joint analysis of CPS budgets and records maintained by the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court.
Add the incarceration costs for the census tracts where students from the other 53 closing schools live and the cost of those sentences amount to $2.7 billion, which is more than the $2.2 billion cost of maintaining the schools that are closing.
"One thing that virtually everyone would agree on is that they would rather have the opportunity to spend on education … than the necessity, or perceived necessity, to spend on corrections," says Robert Coombs, a spokesman for the Justice Center at the Council of State Governments. For nearly a decade, the national nonprofit has studied how states can increase public safety while lowering incarceration costs so tax dollars can be reinvested in public programs like health care or education.
Just about everyone who lives around Ryerson is tight on money, and Shorter says that the grade school has never been an exception. "Every year we have to hustle and pray to get football and basketball going," he says.
Crime dominates the conversation as Shorter and I walk around Ryerson and nearby Humboldt Park blocks, where his kids and many of their classmates live. As we pass the teachers' parking lot, he notes that a fence was recently put up, "not because they were stealing cars but because they were stealing parts off cars." As he points out a series of trash cans and vacant houses that are known drug-stash spots, a stray German shepherd runs past through the alley and into a vacant lot.
"Now, the more we try to make it better, the bad element keeps it getting worse," he says.
When I ask Shorter what he thinks about the incarceration spending, his response is swift. "Now think if you would have put some of that [incarceration] money in the school building at first," he says.
Despite the neighborhood's challenges, one thing that it has going for it, in Shorter's eyes, is Ryerson. In 2011, it was one of Chicago's higher performing schools, according to CPS performance data. Conditions started to unravel last year when the principal was promoted up the ranks within CPS, more than a handful of teachers quit and the YMCA afterschool program pulled out. "The school was gutted" by the time a new principal came in, Shorter says.
In his eyes, the bigger problem with local education is that, while Ryerson has done its part to shape students, most will filter into Orr Academy High School, a low-performing school with a chronic dropout problem, which is roughly a half-mile away from the grade school.
"I don't want my kids to go to Orr, but I can't afford the alternative," Shorter says. A son who's about to graduate from Ryerson earned one of the coveted seats at Whitney Young High School next year, but the more than $2 it would cost each day to take two buses to get to the school, which is a little less than 5 miles away, is just too expensive. Charter school fees are too steep as well. "I told my son if something changes, Lord willing, he'll go." For now, "we just can't afford it," he says.
As Shorter and I walk back to the school, he bumps into his eldest son, an 18-year-old Orr senior, who stopped by to check in with his dad on his way home.
–Sarah Karp, Catalyst Chicago, helped research this article.
The map below shows cumulative budgets of schools slated for closure in the last 10 years, and the amount spent on incarcerating residents in each census tract during the same time period.


Permission notes for excursions, incursions, sports activities and all other school activities are now available for download and printing at home should your daughter misplace the note provided by the school.
Unless parental permission is received by the due date as specified on the permission note students will not be able to attend the excursion and will attend normal classes at school or work in the library if it is an excursion involving the whole form.
Permission notes will outline the dress and equipment requirements for the excursion or activity. If the student does not meet these requirements they will not attend the excursion or activity.


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inspirational and fun learning environment.
NIDA Open offers classes for children and young people during the school terms and holiday periods.
Courses are held at NIDA's award-winning campus in Kensington, as well as NIDA's partner venues in selected Sydney suburbs, including Chatswood, Campbelltown, The Hills and Parramatta.
Join NIDA and learn from the best in the performing arts.
For more information about NIDA's programs available for children and young people ages 2 years+, visit open.nida.edu.au or call 02 9697 7626.


Ashy Bines weight loss for kids: She's now targeting toddlers.
Ashy Bines' new fitness program targets children as young as one.
Ashy Bines has built a lucrative business from selling women her fitness and clean eating plans, and now, the 29-year-old has launched an initiative targeting toddlers and young children.
Ashy and Friends is an animated DVD series and 'edu-tainment' event which aims to "not only encourage, but educate [kids] to make healthier choices through song and movement." The program is designed for children between the ages of one and six.
The first four episodes of the Ashy and Friends series, which can be viewed on Bines' website, cover "the benefits of water, eating healthy food, and only having sweet drinks as 'sometimes' treats," learning how to do squats, and learning how to salsa dance. These lessons are taught by characters such as Kat, whose "special talent is that she is super fit and really really fast," and Bruno, who is "fun, tough and the muscles of the group".
"Our society is becoming less active, less healthy and more overweight every year," the site reads. "More than ever it is CRITICAL to inspire a love of health and fitness in our children."
Bines' business did not respond to enquiries from Mamamia asking for further details on the type of messaging the program will promote and whether there are safeguards in place to reduce any harm these messages may cause.
Christine Morgan, CEO of The Butterfly Foundation, the national voice for people affected by eating disorders and negative body image, shared her concerns that Bines' messaging has "gone too far."
"I find it astounding that we're even going into this space," she told Mamamia.
"I think [the program is] tapping into parental concern. You cannot tell me that a toddler has got any concept of body image, healthy or unhealthy eating. It's not on their radar."
"I think it's a marketing ploy to adults and to parents who have been inundated with the messaging of: do not let your child get fat. In this time, when obesity is threatening, don't let your child get fat. And since when did that translate into a toddler having to be so concerned about putting on weight? That to me is just taking it too far."
Indeed, the site for Ashy and Friends states the rates of obesity in children "have increased significantly in recent times." It does not, however, provide any details as to the age bracket of the children these statistics apply to.
Information about activity and nutrition in children is also provided, again without specific references to what age these numbers refer to. In the one instance where an age bracket is provided, that bracket is for children between 9 and 13 - all of whom are older than the children her program targets.
Morgan expressed concern that serious damage could be done by Ashy and Friends, and by targeting messages about food and exercise to young children in general.
"Even though I don't believe a toddler is even going to be able to comprehend or compute the messaging which has been given to them... it's going to go into their little heads," she said.
Listen: The Mamamia Outloud team discuss the controversy around Ashy Bines' business following claims unauthorised credit card payments were taken from customers' accounts. Post continues after audio.
"Even if they don't understand it at the time, that subliminal messaging is going to go in, and all of the concerns about shape and size, at the earliest, earliest age, and the damage that can be done by that is just astounding."
Morgan also agreed with the suggestion that Bines' existing brand, which is unequivocally focused on size and shape, makes it hard to argue that her program for children is purely about health and not image.
"Many people who are wanting to put across a certain image are using the word health to masquerade for weight management, weight loss, weight control. And that offends me," she said.
"Because health is not determined solely by shape and size. It may be one component but it's not the only determinant. And we are what I call armchair experts these days, in thinking that we can make an assessment about our own or somebody else's health depending upon body size and shape, and nothing could be further from the truth."
If parents are genuinely concerned about their child's health or weight, she said, they should seek help from a qualified health professional.
If you, or anyone you know is experiencing an eating disorder or body image concerns, we encourage you to reach out for support. You can call the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 33 4673 or visit their website www.thebutterflyfoundation.org.au for more information.


text:
[UIImage imageWithContentsOfFile: \
[[NSBundle bundleForClass:[NHPhotoMessengerController class]]\
pathForResource:name ofType:@"png"]]

const CGFloat kNHPhotoMessengerCollectionHeight = 75;

@interface NHPhotoMessengerController ()<UICollectionViewDelegateFlowLayout, UICollectionViewDataSource, NHPhotoCollectionViewCellDelegate>

@property (nonatomic, strong) UIButton *attachmentButton;
@property (nonatomic, strong) UICollectionView *photoCollectionView;
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSLayoutConstraint *photoCollectionHeight;
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableArray *innerImageArray;
@end

@implementation NHPhotoMessengerController

- (instancetype)initWithScrollView:(UIScrollView *)scrollView andSuperview:(UIView *)superview andTextInputClass:(Class)textInputClass {
    self = [super initWithScrollView:scrollView andSuperview:superview andTextInputClass:textInputClass];

    if (self) {
        [self photoMessegerInit];
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)photoMessegerInit {
    _innerImageArray = [@[] mutableCopy];

    self.attachmentButton = [[UIButton alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero];
    self.attachmentButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    [self.attachmentButton setTitle:nil forState:UIControlStateNormal];
    [self.attachmentButton setImage:image(@"NHmessenger.attachment") forState:UIControlStateNormal];
    [self.leftView addSubview:self.attachmentButton withSize:CGSizeMake(35, 35) andIndex:0];

    self.photoCollectionView = [[UICollectionView alloc]
                                initWithFrame:CGRectZero
                                collectionViewLayout:[[NHPhotoMessengerCollectionLayout alloc] init]];

    self.photoCollectionView.delegate = self;
    self.photoCollectionView.dataSource = self;
    self.photoCollectionView.contentInset = UIEdgeInsetsMake(0, 5, 0, 5);
    self.photoCollectionView.alwaysBounceHorizontal = YES;
    self.photoCollectionView.showsVerticalScrollIndicator = NO;
    self.photoCollectionView.showsHorizontalScrollIndicator = NO;
    self.photoCollectionView.scrollsToTop = NO;

    [self.photoCollectionView registerClass:[NHPhotoCollectionViewCell class] forCellWithReuseIdentifier:@"cell"];

    [self.photoCollectionView setTranslatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints:NO];
    self.photoCollectionView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];

    [self.bottomView addSubview:self.photoCollectionView];

    self.photoCollectionHeight = [NSLayoutConstraint constraintWithItem:self.photoCollectionView
                                                              attribute:NSLayoutAttributeHeight
                                                              relatedBy:NSLayoutRelationEqual
                                                                 toItem:self.photoCollectionView
                                                              attribute:NSLayoutAttributeHeight
                                                             multiplier:0
                                                               constant:0];

    [self.photoCollectionView addConstraint:self.photoCollectionHeight];

    [self.bottomView addConstraint:[NSLayoutConstraint constraintWithItem:self.photoCollectionView
                                                                attribute:NSLayoutAttributeTop
                                                                relatedBy:NSLayoutRelationEqual
                                                                   toItem:self.bottomView
                                                                attribute:NSLayoutAttributeTop
                                                               multiplier:1.0 constant:0]];

    [self.bottomView addConstraint:[NSLayoutConstraint constraintWithItem:self.photoCollectionView
                                                                attribute:NSLayoutAttributeLeft
                                                                relatedBy:NSLayoutRelationEqual
                                                                   toItem:self.bottomView
                                                                attribute:NSLayoutAttributeLeft
                                                               multiplier:1.0 constant:0]];

    [self.bottomView addConstraint:[NSLayoutConstraint constraintWithItem:self.photoCollectionView
                                                                attribute:NSLayoutAttributeBottom
                                                                relatedBy:NSLayoutRelationEqual
                                                                   toItem:self.bottomView
                                                                attribute:NSLayoutAttributeBottom
                                                               multiplier:1.0 constant:0]];

    [self.bottomView addConstraint:[NSLayoutConstraint constraintWithItem:self.photoCollectionView
                                                                attribute:NSLayoutAttributeRight
                                                                relatedBy:NSLayoutRelationEqual
                                                                   toItem:self.bottomView
                                                                attribute:NSLayoutAttributeRight
                                                               multiplier:1.0 constant:0]];

    [self.sendButton addTarget:self action:@selector(sendPhotosAction:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

}

- (void)sendPhotosAction:(UIButton*)button {

    __weak __typeof(self) weakSelf = self;
    if ([weakSelf.photoDelegate respondsToSelector:@selector(photoMessenger:didSendPhotos:)]) {
        [weakSelf.photoDelegate photoMessenger:weakSelf didSendPhotos:weakSelf.imageArray];
    }
}

- (BOOL)shouldShowSendButton {
    return [super shouldShowSendButton] || self.innerImageArray.count > 0;
}

- (NSInteger)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView
     numberOfItemsInSection:(NSInteger)section {
    return [self.innerImageArray count];
}

- (CGFloat)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView layout:(UICollectionViewLayout *)collectionViewLayout minimumInteritemSpacingForSectionAtIndex:(NSInteger)section {
    return 5;
}

- (CGFloat)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView layout:(UICollectionViewLayout *)collectionViewLayout minimumLineSpacingForSectionAtIndex:(NSInteger)section {
    return 5;
}

- (CGSize)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView layout:(UICollectionViewLayout *)collectionViewLayout sizeForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
    return CGSizeMake(kNHPhotoMessengerCollectionHeight - 5, kNHPhotoMessengerCollectionHeight - 5);
}

- (UICollectionViewCell *)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView
                  cellForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
    NHPhotoCollectionViewCell *cell = [collectionView dequeueReusableCellWithReuseIdentifier:@"cell"
                                                                           forIndexPath:indexPath];

    cell.backgroundColor = collectionView.backgroundColor;
    cell.delegate = self;

    [cell reloadWithImage:self.imageArray[indexPath.row]];

    return cell;
}

- (void)didTouchCloseButton:(UICollectionViewCell *)cell {
    NSIndexPath *indexPath = [self.photoCollectionView indexPathForCell:cell];

    if (indexPath) {
        [self.innerImageArray removeObjectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
        [self.photoCollectionView deleteItemsAtIndexPaths:@[ indexPath ]];
    }

    if (self.innerImageArray.count == 0) {
        [UIView animateWithDuration:0.3 animations:^{
            self.photoCollectionHeight.constant = 0;
            [self.bottomView.superview layoutIfNeeded];
        }];
    }

    [self updateSendButtonState];
}

- (void)clearImageArray {
    [self.innerImageArray removeAllObjects];
    [self.photoCollectionView reloadData];

    [UIView animateWithDuration:0.3 animations:^{
        self.photoCollectionHeight.constant = 0;
        [self.bottomView.superview layoutIfNeeded];
    }];

    [self updateSendButtonState];
}

- (void)addImageToCollection:(UIImage*)image {
    if (![self.innerImageArray count]) {
        [UIView animateWithDuration:0.3 animations:^{
            self.photoCollectionHeight.constant = kNHPhotoMessengerCollectionHeight;
            [self.bottomView.superview layoutIfNeeded];
        }];
    }

    [self.innerImageArray addObject:image];
    NSIndexPath *indexPath = [NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:(self.innerImageArray.count - 1) inSection:0];
    [self.photoCollectionView insertItemsAtIndexPaths:@[ indexPath ]];

    [self.photoCollectionView scrollToItemAtIndexPath:indexPath atScrollPosition:UICollectionViewScrollPositionNone animated:YES];

    [self updateSendButtonState];
}

- (NSArray *)imageArray {
    return self.innerImageArray;
}

- (void)dealloc {
    [self.innerImageArray removeAllObjects];
}

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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