Within the research project ZF-Health (Zebrafish Regulomics for Human Health), ZF BioLabs has generated two morphant zebrafish for two rare diseases associated with mitochondrial enzymes, Friedreich's ataxia and Leigh Syndrome, and has performed a moderate-throughput screening of compounds to identify suppressors of disease phenotypes. http://www.zf-health.org/.
The project is being developed by a Pan-European research consortium formed by 19 different organizations and ZF Biolabs is the only Spanish organization within the consortium.
ZF BioLabs collaborated as a partner in an European Research Project on laminophaties, using the Zebrafish as an animal model to study in vivo the molecular mechanisms of the disease pathology.
New screening R&D searching for anti-ageing compounds based on zebrafish embryos. We developed a method to induce senescence associated to oxidative stress in zebrafish embryos.
ZF BioLabs was the Coordinator of an European project that lead to an European Network for alternative testing strategies in ecotoxicology; EUROECOTOX under the Seven Framework Program (FP7).
It is important for nanomaterials R&D projects to include toxicological and safety evaluation so that actual risks of nanomaterials are defined and adverse environmental consequences are minimized. In collaboration with the Institute of Materials Science of Aragon (ICMA), ZF Biolabs has participated in the evaluation of different nanomaterials.
ZF Biolabs developed the ZF S-Cardiac kit to identify potential cardiotoxic effects of drugs based in the Zebrafish embryo model. Funded by Comunidad de Madrid.
This project was a Cooperation Project with the Analytical Chemical Department of Complutense University of Madrid and the Instrumental Analysis and Environmental Chemistry Department (CSIC's Institute of General Organic Chemistry). The main aim of the project was to develop a method for determination of the bioconcentration factor using Zebrafish embryos that serves as an alternative to the adult fish bioassay 305 of OECD. Funded by the agriculture, food and environment ministry.
During this R&D project ZF BioLabs created a developmental toxicity test using Zebrafish embryos as an alternative to the mammalian model and with the very deep knowledge of the Zebrafish embryology adquired, an Atlas of Malformations was compiled. Funded by Comunidad de Madrid.
In this project ZF BioLabs worked as CRO with a large Spanish Pharmaceutical company (Industrial Farmaceutica Cantabria S.A.) testing new cosmetic compounds against the damage caused by ultraviolet radiation. It was developed a screening system for zebrafish embryos to detect the photoprotective activity of natural extracts from seaweed.
ZF Biolabs developed a new vertebrate model for ageing and Systems Biology approach, a mathematical model of relevant age-dependant biological processes (growth, reproduction and mortality) in zebrafish. This knowledge could be applied to develop a Quantitative System Toxicology (QST) platform, taking advantage of zebrafish as a toxicology animal model.
The work was presented at the "International Symposium on "Developmental origins of health and disease" held in Greifswald (Germany) on September 4th and 5th 2009, organized by the German National Academy of Sciences "Leopoldina".


text:
Carriera universitaria
Bradbury al college giocò a football con gli NC State Wolfpack dal 2015 al 2018 inizialmente come tight end e poi venendo spostato nella offensive line. Nel 2018 vinse il Rimington Trophy come miglior centro a livello universitario.

Carriera professionistica
Bradbury fu scelto nel corso del primo giro (18º assoluto) del Draft NFL 2019 dai Minnesota Vikings. Debuttò come professionista partendo come titolare nella gara del primo turno contro gli Atlanta Falcons. La sua stagione da rookie si chiuse disputando tutte le 16 partite come titolare.

Note

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
big pharma, Business, Notable Occurrence
Big Pharma Advertising Dollars Are at an All-Time High
6 Apr 2022 Ryan DeLarme Leave a comment
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
The drug industry influences and manipulates media through advertising dollars. In 2021, drug companies spent an aggregate $6.88 BILLION on direct-to-consumer advertising (DCTA), up slightly from $6.86 billion in 2020
The U.S. and New Zealand are the only two countries that permit DCTA, making media in these countries more likely to have pro-pharma bias
Over the past year, the U.S. government spent $1 billion of U.S. taxpayers' money to advertise the COVID jab, which is the most dangerous and least proven drug ever marketed, while simultaneously calling for the censorship of anyone who dared to address the risks of this novel treatment
By law, drug ads must not be false or misleading, must present a "fair balance" of information describing both the risks and benefits of a drug, must include facts that are "material" to the product's advertised uses, and must include a "brief summary" that mentions every risk described in the product's labeling. Few if any ads for the COVID jab have fulfilled these requirements
How do you control major media? The short answer — illustrated in the video above — is: through advertising dollars. Big Pharma advertising dominates, making up a large portion of a given media outlet's revenue, and that funding gives Pharma the power to dictate what ends up in the news and what doesn't.
While Big Pharma has frequently spent more on advertising than on research and development, over the past couple of years, ad spending has increased to new heights.1
In 2021, drug companies spent an aggregate $6.88 BILLION on direct-to-consumer advertising (DCTA), up slightly from $6.86 billion in 2020.2 And, remember, DCTA is only permitted in two countries in the world, the U.S. and New Zealand, so media tend to be particularly biased in favor of Big Pharma those two countries.
Taxpayer Money Used to Advertise Most Dangerous Drug Ever
Even more egregiously, over the past year, the U.S. government used your tax dollars to advertise the COVID jab, which is the most dangerous and least proven drug ever marketed in the history of the world. How do we know this? Well, there's:
An unprecedented number of adverse reports after the COVID jab filed with the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS)
Insurance companies are reporting unprecedented death rates. For example, OneAmerica reported the death rate among working-age Americans in the third quarter of 2021 was 40% higher than prepandemic levels;9 the Hartford Insurance Company found mortality in 2021 was 32% than 2019 and 20% higher than 2020, and Lincoln National reports that claims were 54% higher in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to 2019 (compare that to an average year-over-year increase of 13.7%)10
Funeral homes are reporting an increase in burials and cremations in 2021 compared to 2020, when the pandemic was at its peak11
In Germany, a large health insurance company found the death rate after the rollout of the COVID jabs was 14 times higher than what was being reported by the German government,12,13 and according to a British government report, 9 out of 10 COVID deaths have occurred in people who were fully vaccinated14,15
So, the U.S. government purchased favorable media coverage for a novel and poorly tested gene transfer injection that is now killing and disabling hundreds of thousands of Americans, while simultaneously calling for the censorship of anyone who dared to address the risks of this novel treatment.In all, the U.S. government spent $1 BILLION of U.S. taxpayers' dollars to 'strengthen vaccine confidence in the United States' and 'combat misinformation about vaccines,' all with 'the goal of increasing rates of vaccination across all ages.'
As reported by The Blaze:16
"In response to a FOIA request filed by TheBlaze, HHS [Health and Human Services] revealed that it purchased advertising from major news networks including:
ABC, CBS, and NBC, as well as cable TV news stations Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, legacy media publications including the New York Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post, digital media companies like BuzzFeed News and Newsmax, and hundreds of local newspapers and TV stations.
These outlets were collectively responsible for publishing countless articles and video segments regarding the vaccine that were nearly uniformly positive about the vaccine in terms of both its efficacy and safety …
The Biden administration purchased ads on TV, radio, in print, and on social media to build vaccine confidence, timing this effort with the increasing availability of the vaccines … Though virtually all of these newsrooms produced stories covering the COVID-19 vaccines, the taxpayer dollars flowing to their companies were not disclosed to audiences …"
In all, the U.S. government spent $1 BILLION of U.S. taxpayers' dollars to "strengthen vaccine confidence in the United States" and "combat misinformation about vaccines," all with "the goal of increasing rates of vaccination across all ages." Government also collaborated with celebrities, social media influencers and "expert" interviewees such as Dr. Anthony Fauci. As noted by The Daily Exposé:17
"In other words, Fauci, the man who has been the 'face' of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, who publicly disparaged anyone who questioned the data he was using to support his recommendations, and who blithely referred to himself as 'the science,' was, in fact, a shill."
The Level of Manipulation of Information Is Immense
While newsrooms claim to be completely independent from the advertising department, history and the personal experience of insiders tells us this simply isn't true.
Take Sharyl Attkisson, for example, a five-time Emmy Award-winning network anchor, producer and reporter whose television career spans more than three decades. In 2009, she blew the lid off the swine flu media hype, showing the hysteria was manufactured and completely unfounded.
In 2014, she wrote "Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama's Washington." It's a tell-all exposé on what really goes on behind the media curtain, and it's not pretty. The extent to which information is manipulated is far greater than most people suspect, and this is particularly true when it comes to COVID.
Years before the pandemic, Attkisson explained how false "consensus" was being created: Let's say you hear about a new drug for an ailment you have, and you decide to do your own due diligence. Ultimately, you conclude it is safe and effective because everywhere you look, the information seems to support this conclusion. You feel good knowing you've done your homework, and fill the prescription. But what you don't know is that:
Facebook and Twitter pages speaking highly of the drug are run by individuals on the payroll of the drug company
The Wikipedia page for the drug is monitored and controlled by a special-interest editor hired by the drug company
Google search engine results have been optimized, ensuring you'll find all those positive sources while burying contradicting information
The nonprofit organization you stumbled across online that recommends the drug was secretly founded and funded by the drug company
The positive study you found while searching online was also financed by the drug company
The news articles reporting the positive findings of that study sound suspiciously alike for a reason — they're reiterating information provided by the drug company's PR department; hence, you will not find any contradictory information there either
Doctors promoting the drug and making derogatory comments about those who worry about side effects are actually paid consultants for the drug company
The medical lecture your own personal doctor attended, where he became convinced the drug is safe and efficacious, was also sponsored by the drug company
In short, the "consensus" you see has been cleverly manufactured by the most effective propaganda campaign in the history of the world, in an effort to convince you of what the corporate cartels want you to conclude at the end of doing "your own research." This way, they can sell you more of their expensive and dangerous products.
Over the past two years, this manipulation has become far more obvious and easy for people to see. Before the pandemic, it was pretty well disguised. Today, most can rattle off dozens of examples of how COVID information was manipulated and controlled, through the examples above and others, both by Big Pharma and the U.S. government.
Government Media Manipulation Has Been Routine for Years
For years, the U.S. government, regulatory agencies and public health organizations have colluded with media to control what gets reported and what doesn't. This, too, is something that has become blatantly obvious during this pandemic, but it's not a new phenomenon.
For example, back in 2016, a Scientific American investigation revealed how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration routinely manipulated mainstream media, stripping them of their independence:18
"It was a Faustian bargain … The deal was this: NPR, along with a select group of media outlets, would get a briefing about an upcoming announcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a day before anyone else.
But in exchange for the scoop, NPR would have to abandon its reportorial independence. The FDA would dictate whom NPR's reporter could and couldn't interview … NPR reporter Rob Stein wrote back to the government officials offering the deal. Stein asked for a little bit of leeway to do some independent reporting but was turned down flat. Take the deal or leave it."
As it turns out, NPR accepted the deal and Stein joined reporters from a dozen other media organizations to get the scoop. "Every single journalist present had agreed not to ask any questions of sources not approved by the government until given the go-ahead," Scientific American wrote.
Considering the U.S. government's many power grabs over the past two years, there's no reason to assume it hasn't been using this kind of manipulation to control media coverage of COVID-19 and the injections. Bill Gates, whose influence rivals that of nation states through his funding of the World Health Organization, has also poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the COVID campaign. As reported by The Daily Exposé:19
"Using more than 30,000 grants, Gates has contributed at least $319 million to the media … Recipients included CNN, NPR, BBC, The Atlantic and PBS. Gates has also sponsored foreign organizations that included The Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, and Al Jazeera. More than $38 million has also been funneled into investigative journalism centers.
Gates' influence within the press is far-reaching, from journalism to journalistic training. This ultimately makes true objective reporting about Gates or his initiatives virtually impossible."
DTCA Known to Produce Negative Public Health Effects
In 2006, experts warned that DTCA could trigger "placebo effects" and result in "negative economic, social and political consequences,"20 and in 2011, an article in Pharmacy and Therapeutics noted that the rules governing drug ads to the public were "too relaxed and inadequately enforced."21
As reported by Forbes in 2019,22 "While DTCA has some positive effects, these commercials tend to mislead patients and can result in the breakdown of the doctor-patient relationship … According to an FDA survey, 65% of physicians said that DTCA for drugs sent confusing messages to the patients …" Importantly, drug ads must:23
not be false or misleading
present a "fair balance" of information describing both the risks and benefits of a drug
include facts that are "material" to the product's advertised uses, and
include a "brief summary" that mentions every risk described in the product's labeling
Have you ever seen an ad for the COVID jab that held true to these four requirements? I can't think of one. People who have been injured by the COVID jab are now also starting to speak out, saying they feel betrayed and misled, as they were never told about the potential dangers of the shot.
One excellent example is the Substack writer Joomi's story, "I Was Deceived About COVID Vaccine Safety."24 Has mainstream media become too corrupted to serve its intended function? I believe so. At bare minimum, the likelihood of getting the truth on anything related to government or health, specifically, is virtually nil these days.
1 Statista February 25, 2022
2 End Points March 22, 2022
4 Fierce Pharma March 28, 2022
5 Pfizer August 4, 2021
6 Incyte Press Release September 30, 2021
7 Clinical Trials. Novartis Secukinumab. March 11, 2021
8 Eli Lilly. Press Release March 26, 2022
9 The Center Square, January 1, 2022
10, 11 Zero Hedge, February 5, 2022
12 Health Impact News, February 23, 2022
13 Greater Mountain Publishing, February 27, 2022
14 UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Covid-19 Vaccine Surveillance Report, February 24, 2022
15 The Exposé, March 1, 2022
16 The Blaze March 3, 2022
17, 19 Daily Expose March 26, 2022
18 Scientific American October 1, 2016
20 PLOS Medicine March 2006; 3(3): e145
21, 23 P&T October 2011; 36(10): 669-674, 681-684
22 Forbes May 14, 2019
24 Joomi Substack January 15, 2022
Advertisingbig pharmaCOVID-19Pfizer
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


There is much ado at Tannochbrae Manor, because the Laird has once again disproved global warming. One equation is all it takes! And an article in a new Chinese science journal with some friends, and lo!
Take away that inappropriate and misapplied equation, remove the unjustifiable tripling and the climate "crisis" vanishes.
You couldn't make it up1. Although the Laird is a past master of self-parody, his triumphant article at WND is really something else. But enough: there is much ado at Tannochbrae Manor, because Scrotum has returned!
It's been nearly two years since the last of my Monckton tales, and fully six since Old Scrotum first trod the boards at Hot Topic, so it's a great pleasure to see someone else picking up the characters and beating around the bush with a pheasant in the hand and a peasant in the pocket. Izen has summoned the wrinkled retainer from retirement in order to help him express his astonishment at the chutzpah of the good Lord in writing and promoting his latest opus, which is being widely greeted with yawns — and some preliminary debunking. There will be more.


text:
Covid-killing ozone spray unveiled in Uni partnership
Eorg ozone spray
A DISINFECTANT spray made from water – and which can eliminate coronavirus without leaving harmful chemical residues – has been developed in a collaboration between University of the West of Scotland (UWS), Finland-based EOD Europe and Scottish clean technology company, Novus Cleantech.
The product, called EORG (Electrolysis Oxygen Radical Generator), is made by converting oxygen from water into 'ozone', to create a disinfectant. The product is so safe, it can also be used to rinse fruit and vegetables, clean and sanitise food contact surfaces, and in drinking water. Not only does the EORG technology disinfect water, but it also turns the water itself into a disinfectant.
Dr William MacKay, Reader in UWS's School of Health and Life Sciences, said: "We are delighted to support the development and testing of disinfectants and to contribute to the worldwide scientific effort to protect the public from Covid-19. The novel disinfectant developed by our colleagues at EOD Europe and Novus Cleantech, and tested by us, shows great promise as an effective and environmentally-friendly solution to disinfection."
UWS researchers optimised and validated the effectiveness of the product in eliminating coronavirus. Following successful trials, it is now being rolled out to market as hand-held sprays, as well as in larger industrial-sized units, which can be used in supermarkets and in food processing.
The project was funded by Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Funding Council.
Tero Luoma, Director of Novus Cleantech, who, in partnership with EOD Europe, developed the technology, said: "I am delighted to see our pioneering technology tested and proven in a Scottish University, as we consider bringing the assembly of these units to Scotland.
"Products available range from 50ml spray bottles that can be carried on a plane, to large-scale flow-through machines for food industry use. The implications go beyond cleaning and sanitising, not only is our technology more effective than cleaning with chemical products, such as bleach, but it is also safe as people can become unwell due to chemicals they use in everyday cleaning.
"The technology has also been proven to solve issues in food processing, such as increasing the shelf life of salmon fillets by rinsing them with our product before packaging – the EORG technology has successfully been tested against E. coli and Salmonella.
"It has been fantastic to work with UWS on the product, which will make a real impact on people's everyday lives, particularly following Covid-19. The same technology will provide people with safe drinking water as well as a powerful disinfectant and we are proud of the collaboration with a Scottish university to bring this to market."
The project is another example of the ground-breaking research which has been underway at UWS since the beginning of the pandemic, not only to test and validate products effective in combatting the virus, but also to investigate the impact of Covid-19 on local communities.
UWS and Novus Cleantech are hoping to build on this study to test and develop other, chemical-free solutions that actively destroy pathogens, allergens, spores and even odours from surfaces, as well as in the air.


I'm not sure which god––or demon––led me to it, but I just happened to pick up a newspaper article (from the Parade magazine, I think) that talked about the joy of tidying up. I don't know what possessed me, but I decided that the stack of greeting cards that had piled up on my piano for the past several Christmases and birthdays should be looked at again, with a view to keeping ones with addresses I might need or photographs…..
Recently, I read an article that discussed "guerilla tactics" for successful book launches. I'm sure you're familiar with most of the tactics: use traditional media outlets, but also reach out to social media; offer discounts and relate the launch to special events; and especially, do what you do best.
A friend of mine, Dottie Dettmering, who is 95 years…..
The following item was written by Sheila Lester, a member of my writers critique group, The Scribblers. I think many of us have experienced something similar…unless we're under age 21.
When I die, my idea of Heaven will be a place that is NOT filled with any electronic, electrical, mechanical, technical, or any other kind of "ical" or "nic" items. I do not want to see, hear, touch, smell, or taste anything that has to do with The Web, The…..
A book is usually made up of 60,000 to 100,000 words recorded on paper or in a digital storage device, with one word following another in such a way that the whole makes a sensible, entertaining, enlightening whole. If you're lucky, you'll finish the thing after a year or so and people will want to pay good money for the end product. And then, with high expectations, you'll start to write another one.
i saw this posted on Facebook, and I just had to share it. Of course, when a person buys MY book, "D Is For Dysfunctional…and Doo Wop," he or she is really buying my entire life, because I didn't leave out very much––only the dull parts.
I'm almost ready to publish another book, "Doo Wops in Paradise,"…..
One of my dear friends, Dottie Dettmering, is 95 years young, and a member of my writers critique group, The Scribblers. The group meets in a local retirement community, and we've been asked to write an article for the community's newsletter each month. Dot submitted an essay she had written a few years ago, entitled "There's Always Something To Write About." I've included the item below, for your enjoyment. But…watch for a "surprise" at the end: –––––––––– I had gone…..
I was checking Facebook the other day, and on my homepage an item attracted my attention. I knew I must share it with you, my friends.
Keeping abreast (an accidental play-on-words) of the latest hairstyles, make-up trends, and fashion has always been of interest to me. Sadly, I don't emulate what I see happening. Capri pants and T-shirts are my main costume. Comfort is my mantra. Somewhere in the back of…..
Then, I tried to get up. Owwww! My hips hurt, my back ached, my legs seemed to be made of limp spaghetti. When I finally got out of bed, I had to wait for a moment until I…..


text:
Q: How to use if/else awk to evaluate a file and extract this information? I have a file like this:
419 I     0.3529
420 S     0.3182
421 T     0.3740
422 Y     0.3872
423 I     0.3460
424 E     0.4409
425 S     0.3182
426 T     0.3740
427 Y     0.4141
428 I     0.3460
429 S     0.3131
430 Y     0.3838
431 T     0.3939
432 S     0.3101

and I am trying to make an Awk program to evaluate the third column for numbers greater than or equal to 0.4. If true, take 4 characters up and 4 down in that letter (second column).  If there are multiple matches, I want one fixed-length string for each:
STYIESTYI
IESTYISYT

The first one comes because there is a match on the line numbered 424; the second is a (partially overlapping) match for the line numbered 427.  How would I approach this?

A: $ cat tst.awk
BEGIN {
    tgt = (tgt=="" ? 0.4 : tgt)
    cxt = (cxt=="" ?  4  : cxt)
    bef = (bef=="" ? cxt : bef)
    aft = (aft=="" ? cxt : aft)
}
$3 >= tgt { hits[++numHits] = NR }
{ chars[NR] = $2 }
END {
    for (hitNr=1; hitNr<=numHits; hitNr++) {
        for (lineNr=(hits[hitNr]-bef); lineNr<=(hits[hitNr]+aft); lineNr++) {
            printf "%s", (lineNr in chars ? chars[lineNr] : "")
        }
        print ""
    }
}

$ awk -f tst.awk file
STYIESTYI
IESTYISYT

Note that this will behave sensibly if the line with the 3rd field >= 0.4 is closer than 4 lines to the start and/or end of the file - make sure to test those conditions with any potential answer as they are common rainy day cases for this type of problem that people providing potential solutions often forget to cover.
For example, try all potential solutions with this input file and see if you get the output you expect:
$ cat file1
421 T     0.3740
422 Y     0.3872
423 I     0.3460
424 E     0.4409
425 S     0.3182
426 T     0.3740
427 Y     0.4141
428 I     0.3460
429 S     0.3131
430 Y     0.3838

$ awk -f tst.awk file1
TYIESTYI
IESTYISY

or if you get missing output lines or lines with leading/trailing blanks or other undesirable chars or something else.
Note also that you can change the target value from 0.4 to something else, and you can change the number context lines to print before and/or after the the matched line just by setting command line args, e.g.
To print 5 lines of context before and after 0.37:
$ awk -v tgt=0.37 -v cxt=5 -f tst.awk file
ISTYIEST
ISTYIESTY
ISTYIESTYIS
TYIESTYISYT
YIESTYISYTS
STYISYTS
TYISYTS

To print 1 line before and 2 lines after 0.34:
$ awk -v tgt=0.34 -v bef=1 -v aft=2 -f tst.awk file
IST
STYI
TYIE
YIES
IEST
STYI
TYIS
YISY
SYTS
YTS

A: awk to the rescue!
$ awk    '{a[NR]=$2; v[NR]=$3>0.4}
   v[NR-4]{for(i=NR-8;i<=NR;i++)
              printf "%s", a[i];
           print ""}' file

STYIESTYI
IESTYISYT

If your file is big, a rolling window might be a better solution.
UPDATE: As per @Ed Morton's comment, the script always expects that there will be 4 trailing lines after a match.  If not so, special END block need to be added to handle the dangling lines.
$ awk    '{a[NR]=$2; v[NR]=$3>0.4}
   v[NR-4]{for(i=NR-8;i<=NR;i++)
              printf "%s", a[i];
           print ""}
      END{for(i=NR-3;i<=NR;i++)
             if(v[i])
                 for(j=i-4;j<=i;j++)
                    printf "%s", a[j];
          print ""}' file

A: How is this?  Keep a track of the last four characters and print them off on a match.  Then set num to count off the next four characters.  Note the use of printf rather than print to avoid an automatic newline.
// {if ($3 > 0.4) {printf "%s", v0 v1 v2 v3 ;
                   v0 = v1 = v2 = v3 = "";
                   num = 4}
    if (num > 0) {
        printf "%s", $2;
        num = num -1;
    } else { v0 = v1; v1 = v2; v2 = v3; v3 = $2; }
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
require 'ansible/ruby/modules/base'

module Ansible
  module Ruby
    module Modules
      # create/delete/dump zabbix template
      class Zabbix_template < Base
        # @return [String] Name of zabbix template
        attribute :template_name
        validates :template_name, presence: true, type: String

        # @return [String, Hash, nil] JSON dump of template to import
        attribute :template_json
        validates :template_json, type: MultipleTypes.new(String, Hash)

        # @return [Array<String>, String, nil] List of template groups to create or delete.
        attribute :template_groups
        validates :template_groups, type: TypeGeneric.new(String)

        # @return [Array<String>, String, nil] List of templates linked to the template.
        attribute :link_templates
        validates :link_templates, type: TypeGeneric.new(String)

        # @return [Array<String>, String, nil] List of templates cleared from the template.,see templates_clear in https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/3.0/manual/api/reference/template/update
        attribute :clear_templates
        validates :clear_templates, type: TypeGeneric.new(String)

        # @return [Array<Hash>, Hash, nil] List of templates macro
        attribute :macros
        validates :macros, type: TypeGeneric.new(Hash)

        # @return [:present, :absent, :dump, nil] state present create/update template, absent delete template
        attribute :state
        validates :state, expression_inclusion: {:in=>[:present, :absent, :dump], :message=>"%{value} needs to be :present, :absent, :dump"}, allow_nil: true
      end
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Do fairies have tails? That's the question that first pops up when this anime is mentioned. The answer, of course, still eludes me because not even the Mages of the guild Fairy Tail have ever actually seen a Fairy and the origin of their name remains a mystery.
The anime was adopted from Hiro Mashima's popular shounen manga Fairy Tail and it's one of those few mangas which remained loyal to its genre. The plot of the anime is set in Fiore, where mages train day and night to be the strongest magic user in the realm and join magic guilds to take on missions. Fairy Tail is Fiore's number one guild and is hated by their government for its destructive - and sometimes idiotic - members who just drink and party all day.
The anime, instead of portraying a single protagonist, follows a team of mages. The main character is Natsu Dragneel, who uses Fire Dragon Slayer magic and is looking for a dragon named Igneel. Along the way he meets Lucy, a stellar spirit summoning mage and together they team up with Gray Fullbaster (an ice mage) and Erza Scarlet, an S-Class mage (high ranking, dangerous missions mage) and one of Fairy Tail's best.
The thing I liked most about the anime is its variety in the arcs. Every single arc in the anime is extremely entertaining and there's no repetition at all (although some of the characters just keep coming back), whether it's a rival guild invading Fairy Tail or going to war with a dark guild, Natsu and company is always in the centre of trouble.
The anime has got awesome theme songs and these are one of the best I've heard since the legendary ones of FMA and the artwork is fantastic. The plot has got depth and perception and it reaches to almost every character in the guild. There are a few hilarious moments between the actions sequences, the mirth of which will leave you bent over with laughter and there are enough eye candies in the anime to hold a Miss Fairy Tail competition (which they actually do).
One drawback I found in the anime is that there is no equilibrium of strength. No matter how much stronger the opponent is or how beaten down Natsu is, he always (miraculously) wins gloriously. Of course this happens in all shounen animes but in this case, it happens every single time.


text:
Home See our Georgia O'Keeffe paintings before they go to the New York Botanical Garden
See our Georgia O'Keeffe paintings before they go to the New York Botanical Garden
For the last three years, museum deputy director of art and programs Theresa Papanikolas has been working as guest curator for Georgia O'Keeffe: Visions of Hawai'i, opening at the New York Botanical Garden on May 19. With her experience as curator of HoMA's popular 2013 exhibition Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams: The Hawai'i Pictures, she was the perfect candidate to curate this new show.
The mounting of this exciting exhibition means the museum's O'Keeffe paintings, including the three hanging in the Modernism gallery, will be off on a yearlong journey starting at the end of April. Your last day to see these singular depictions of a lush, almost abstract Maui is April 22—Earth Day.
And if you plan on being in New York between May 19 and Oct. 28, you have the opportunity to see the museum's O'Keeffes in a new setting. Georgia O'Keeffe: Visions of Hawai'i comprises an exhibition of more than 15 of the works O'Keeffe made in 1939 in the islands in the NYBG's LuEsther T. Mertz Library Art Gallery, as well as a flower show in its Enid A. Haupt Conservatory that evokes the gardens and landscapes that inspired O'Keeffe and tells the complex story of the flora and ecology of the islands.
The show is a homecoming of sort for the paintings—they made their public debut in Alfred Stieglitz's American Place Gallery in Manhattan in 1940.
NYBG programming for the show includes an Aloha Nights series that features kapa- and lei-making demos, work by tattoo artist Keone Nunes and designer Manaola Yap, and a poke truck (!). The garden's walkways will be illuminated by O'Keeffe-inspired lanterns created by Mark Chai. Special tickets for these events are now on sale.
The exhibition will travel to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. The museum's O'Keeffe works will return home in March 2019. So get a good look now.
Georgia O'Keeffe (American, 1887-1986)
Waterfall—No. III—Iao Valley, 1939
Gift of Susan Crawford Tracy, 1996 (8562.1)
Honolulu Museum of Art
Posted in Collections, Permanent Collection · Tagged: Georgia O'Keeffe, Georgia O'Keeffe: Visions of Hawai'i, New York Botanical Garden
Becky Faunce said…
Have a good trip and come home safely! Shall we plan on a big party when the come back?


Meghan Markle didn't toss her bouquet to a group of single friends at her wedding reception. After her May 19 wedding, Prince Harry's wife decided to follow the tradition of royal brides by leaving her bouquet on the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
Kensington Palace announced Sunday that Markle's wedding day flowers were resting on the tomb in Westminster Abbey. The tradition started with Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, after she married King George VI in 1923. She had done so in memory of her brother Fergus, who died in World War I, and the royal brides after her followed suit. Kate Middleton did the same after her 2011 wedding to Prince William.
The Duchess of Sussex's bouquet, which she carried at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, was already honoring a dead loved one. She included sweet pea forget-me-not because it was Princess Diana's favorite flower. It was a way for the couple to honor Harry's late mother.
The royal wedding bouquet also consisted of lily of the valley, astilbe, jasmine, astrantia and myrtle, which is another tradition. Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Victoria, was first to carry a sprig of myrtle when she got married in 1858. It was used to symbolize "the traditional innocence of a bride," Kensington Palace says.
The Duke of Sussex tried to make the bouquet even more personal for his love. People reports that Prince Harry handpicked a few flowers from their own garden at Kensington Palace and asked florist Philippa Craddock to incorporate them.
The traditions and symbols didn't stop with Markle's bouquet. Her veil was paying tribute to the Commonwealth. The flowers embroidered on her the delicate fabric featured 53 flowers, one representing each country in the Commonwealth. Of course, many may have overlooked the detail on the veil after seeing her stunning headpiece.
Queen Elizabeth II lent Markle the Queen Mary's diamond bandeau for the wedding. The crown was made in 1932, but the center brooch actually dates back to 1893.
Later, Markle got to wear another fancy piece from the family's extensive collection of jewels. For the evening reception, Markle was spotted wearing Princess Diana's aquamarine ring on her right hand. On her left was her wedding band, made from Welsh gold (another tradition started in 1923 with the Queen Mother), and her engagement ring, which features two smaller diamonds that belonged to Diana and a center ring from Botswana.
Unlike Prince William, Prince Harry has opted to wear a wedding ring. Markle gave him a platinum band with a textured finish during the ceremony.


There has been some information released that the following films are being re-released in 3D.
Waiting on the official announcement for exact dates.
King Kong the Peter Jackson version date to be announced, but this film was shot using 3D cameras so it should happen sooner then the others.
Those movies would be great in 3D!
Reruns? 3D has to do better than that to preserve or even capture a new audience. We went through this with the SD to HD, or rather how many of us bought the BD version of a movie when we already owned it on DVD. Please keep in mind that me thoughts of LOR in 3D will be great for those that wish to purchase. But since a vast majority already own the trilogy on dvd or bd,,,,just don't see it being a big seller.
Those films and the Star Wars films will be re-released in 3D theaters.
Last edited by Lee Stewart; 02-27-2011 at 11:48 PM..
Titanic did not sink on April 12. The collision with the iceberg occured at 11:40 pm on April 14 and Titanic sank at 2:20 am on April 15.
Re-renting them is nice, but if you decide you like it enough to buy it again, you just stuck yourself in a hole of rental cost, and cost of the movie. That's why I wait for things to go on sale Retailers do that sometimes !
I guess I am different. Most movies I only watch once, maybe twice..so buying is a waste of money. As a matter of fact some movies I was so disappointed watching, it was a waste of time watching them once, e.g. the over hyped transformers crap.
I was hoping it was Cameron's mistake.
As far as movie content, and the stories being lack luster, it happens. I definitely enjoy most peoples new spins of old classics. Especially now the effects are better.... Doesn't help all movies of course, but Pirahna 3D...now they's a classic cult movie LOL! Do I own it...YUP!
No 3D movie is going to release in 2011. It is not well.


● 7 - 40KHz super wide frequency range, offers board sound field and captures more abundant sound details, immersive sound effect.
● Aluminum alloy metal shell, professional grade electronic frequency division.
● On-cord control, easy to pause / play music, switch songs and answer / refuse call.
To settle the score,...yes, these are (unfortunately) a shameless copy of the Campfire Audio Andromeda IEMs, which retail for over 1,000 USD. That being said, however, this means that the chassis on which these IEMs are built on is very good.
The ergonomics of these earphones is very good. I do not think these IEMs were fatiguing at all to wear, despite their odd shape. Because the casing is based on the Andromedas, these ZS6s are actually quite enjoyable to wear when commuting or listening at home. The all-metal build does not add onto the perceived "weight" of these IEMs and actually assures the wearer that if they do drop them, they'll still keep going long after their unfortunate accident.
Sound quality is very decent for a budget-Fi IEM. Bass and Sub-bass levels are spot-on, with the bass being more aggressive and punchy. Mids are a bit recessed, but not too pushed back that you can't hear male/female vocals with good detail. Here is the caveat with these IEMs...You MUST get Comply foam Eartips. The level of sibilance that occurs within the high frequencies is just too much, and even after about two or three hours, these IEMs become unbearable to listen to. That being said however, KZ should be proud with the improvement on their already well-performing ZS5's and the ZS6's are a great IEM to collect, if you are collector of Knowledge Zenith audio earphones.
For the price, the Knowledge Zenith ZS6 IEMs are a great pair of budget-Fi earphones, IF you can replace the stock eartips with Comply eartips. With ZS6's being even lower than the price I bought them for, they really are a no-brainer for college students or just anyone looking for good-sounding IEMs on a budget.
Los ordene el 19 de diciembre y llegaron el 5 de enero, 16 días después, muy rápido.
Sonido más bajo, más oscuro, no se sienten casi los platillos, pérdida general de detalle Instrumental, menos bajo, voces presentes y cálidas.
Sonido más alto, separación y gran presencia Instrumental, muchísima más claridad, tridimensionalidad, platillos se escuchan clarísimos, más bajo pero sin opacar el resto de frecuencias, las voces más presentes pero cálidas, un poco más agudo pero nada fatigante para mi gusto, igual se puede disminuir con el ecualizador. En general muchísima más precisión.
Las olivas de serie no me gustan, compre las de espuma con memoria de forma KZ pero no se quedan en ancladas en los auriculares y se salen con facilidad muchas veces quedando dentro de mi oído, las cambie por unas olivas que vienen con los auriculares Sony hybrid in-ear que traen el núcleo de colores según la talla y una espuma o foam entre el núcleo y el capullo plástico creando una mayor aislación y éstas no se salen fácilmente.
shure se215 ~100 US, construcción plástico.
KZ ZS6 ~30 US, construcción aluminio.
Los KZ ZS6 suenan y se ven como auriculares de 200 dólares o más, me atrevo a decir que superan fácilmente a los shure se315 que rondan los 200 dólares y traen solo un driver dinámico.
Ha sido algo muy grato y revelador redescubrir mi librería musical, estoy escuchando cosas que antes no sabia que estaban hay, en la canción, e escuchado sonido de truenos en una canción de radical face que no había escuchado antes, en una de las canciones de miwa la cantante japonesa a alguien se le olvidó apagar su celular y alcanzó a timbrar 4 veces por un breve momento durante la grabación, ese es un sonido que aunque lo avía escuchado antes no sabía que era de un celular y con estos audífonos lo pude notar con tanta claridad que hasta pude contar cuantas veces timbró.
La comparación la hice usando mi reproductor fiio x1 II Generación y mi amplificador fiio A3, use sólo archivos de audio en formato FlaC a 24 bits.
Everyone says this pair is the bomb. It's not. Not without a tip change anyways (You have no idea how much of a difference it made. Went from unusable to nearly perfect in an instant).
The look and feel of the quality is great. The cable could be better. I got the silver cable upgrade with them so I can't comment on that. But that's not really the main point of headphones; music is.
My ears are a bit small, so pain was an issue after about 20 minutes of wearing the earphones.
The bass is pretty deep and punchy, not muddy at all.
The treble is the main weakness of these earphones. They are way too high. As soon as you press play, you realize how high. Hi-Hats made my eyes squint from being uncomfortable. Cymbal sounds started being annoying to the point of anger within minutes. Even the artists themselves singing was hard to listen to. The sound might seem like it's amazingly "Clean", but it's just way over the top to the point of being unhealthy to the ears. My ears couldn't handle it for long, and I'm not into equalizing every second.
After I tried everything I could, I swapped the silicone tips from another pair of earphones I have. These tips have a wider opening. It blew my away instantly. The highs are still too high, but not to the point of making me too uncomfortable. The cymbals/Hi Hats are significantly less noticeable. The music as a whole sounded more warm and easier to listen to.
I'm gonna keep looking until I find the perfect pair of tips to bring perfection out of these earphones.
Still, even after the tip change, I prefer my $20 Blitzwolf earphones, and that's entirely because of the high treble. Sad.
Возможно, стоило б поэксплуатировать данные наушники в течении, хотя бы, пары недели, прежде чем писать отзыв. Но, так уж вышло.
В первую очередь хочется отметить, что денег своих они однозначно стоят. Звучание приятное, как по мне "ровное".
Присутствует так называемая "сцена". Особенно в звучании порадовали вч, сч с их "детальностью".
Приятное впечатление о себе оставила эргономика этой модели. Совершенно никакого дискомфорта с постоянным поправлением наушников. Вопреки многим другим отзывам привыкать мне не пришлось, одел и насладился сразу.
Следует заметить, что и провод также оказался весьма неплохим, мягкий, гибкий, с г-образным джеком. Коннекторы в самих наушниках сидят очень плотно, не вываливаются.
Не заметил, также довольно часто упоминаемой, проблемы с задранными высокими частотами.
Здесь следует сразу оговориться: Слушаю я музыку преимущественно электронную, на классических композициях (с живыми инструментами) не тестировал.
По общему впечатлению вау-эффекта они, конечно, не вызывают, но звучание вкупе с добротной сборкой и неплохими материалами внушают доверие.
Говоря о недостатках, лично мне слегка не хватило низких частот. Возможно, проблема исключится после полноценного "прогрева". В остальном же - время покажет.
You just cannot ask for more!!
Before coming to pros I lil background..
I am an audiophile and have upto $200 earphones in my arsenal. My source is a entry level dap,Sony Walkman and a hi res certified mobile. The soundstage on these is outrageously wide. these are louder than most. The instrument separation is great and sound is very detailed. The clarity can be better with a silver upgraded cable but is adequate with the provided cable. The sound signature is slightly treble oriented while the lows and mids are a spot on. Overall the sound is energetic and warm. The treble although is piercing sometimes but is nothing that a little piece of cotton cannot fix. I have been using them foam tips which is definitely recommended. Fit is good and I felt no fatigue wearing them for long. To sum up, these earphones blow all the other earphones out of water even in $200 range and are probably the best I've tested. Given a good source with less thd, low jitter and a good channel separation these are great earphones to pair em up with.
The design can be a bit better, it takes some time to set them in ear, but it maybe just a beginner's thing.
Quality and a Sound to back it up!
Got these in today and I have to say I am thoroughly impressed with KZ. The packaging feels like a step up for them, it's a small white box with an computer line rendition of the ZS6. You box is like a sleeve so you have to slide the top case off the actual container, sorry if that's confusing. Inside youll find the standard extras like the tips and information booklet along with the headphones and the cable. Once I opened the box I tried on the monitors with the included tips and the fit was nice and cozy, although a bit heavier than the ZS5 (obviously). The shell feels like a quality metal shell. After installing the cable I plugged them into my player and put on some music. I am blown away by the detail of these monitors, bass is strong but not in your face, treble is bright and clear although it can be a bit bright at times, soudstage is nice and wide, almost 3d like. Overall I am glad I picked these up and am sure you will be too.
I must admit before I heard them I was totally open minded and wasn't expecting much. Ok the ZS5 has received pretty favourable reviews and the 6 was going to expand on that. By all accounts it has been a success. I went for the green finish as I thought it looked great and from a distance Campfire Audio esque in looks.
In some cases at low volume it can be really enjoyable, it's a breath of fresh air with it's energetic feel. However at high to mid volume it can become unbearable and also the fit isn't great they move about a bit in your ear. If you're looking for best in class sound insulation again you're going to be disappointed here. But above all I didn't think you could get this kind of quality for this price it's amazing for the money. Huge soundstage and infinite detail even on the most demanding of tracks are all attributes that the KZ ZS6 has in abundance. Just buy a pair.
Ok just to get the one negative out of the way. There is a nasty harsh treble Spike, it's there but look it cost $25 usd (when I bought them).
In-eary s více měniči, jsem ještě nemněl možnost slyšel. Po přečtení pár recenzí a diskuzí na netu, jsem objednal v podstatě zajíce v pytli (KZ-ZS6). Byl jsem velice zvědav, jak budou ZS6 hrát… První dojem po rozbalení, pecka! Vynikající zpracování! Po usazení do uší jsem jen žasl, jak pohodlně sedí a hlavně perfektně hrají!!
ZS6 mají perfektní lokalizaci nástrojů s výborným podáním prostoru. Basy a středy jsou skutečně vynikající! Výšky jsou perfektní. Co se týče sykavek, které jsou v diskuzích hodně řešeny, ty tam jsou, ale jen v určitém typu skladby… Mně osobně vůbec nevadí nebo spíš nejsou nepříjemné. Pokud by měl někdo problém, na netu jsou různé modifikace ZS6, které sykavky utlumí.
KZ-ZS6 jednoznačně doporučuji, pokud někdo hledá in-eary s více měniči, ideální volba.
There is only the version with mic of this item.
Does this earphones have mic?
Does the pre-order include the extra silver cable shown in the pictures, in addition to the earphones?
This item just contains :1 x Earphones .


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Adam Tomlinson and Anna Wallace
Join Adam Tomlinson and Anna Wallace on BBC Radio York.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01yq8ky
Adam Tomlinson and Anna Wallace: Scarborough playwright Alan Ayckbourn and York singer Jess Gardham (17/01/2020)
Adam and Anna bring you North Yorkshire's people, places and passions.
Adam Tomlinson and Anna Wallace: Arabella Weir and Arthur Smith (16/01/2020)
Adam Tomlinson and Anna Wallace: York author Fiona Shaw (15/01/2020)
Adam Tomlinson and Anna Wallace: Saxophonist Snake Davis
Adam flies solo to bring you North Yorkshire's people, places and passions.
Adam Tomlinson and Anna Wallace: What's the future for York Theatre Royal's panto? Theatre executive Tom Bird speaks for the first time
Adam Tomlinson flies solo, bringing you North Yorkshire's people, places and passions.


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7 Oddest Allergies of Summer; Know the Symptoms
by Eric Schenkel, MD
This article was originally published in Living Allergic.
Every summer, millions of North Americans experience the greatest hits of the allergy world: pervasive pollens, unexpected bee stings, food reactions at barbecues, or garden plants that give them the itch.
But summer can also bite back in some highly unusual ways. With the help of two top allergy pros, [AllerVie Health Network] allergist Dr. Eric Schenkel and Canadian allergist Dr. Paul Keith, we're running down seven of summer's oddest allergies.
1. Fruit Oral Allergy
They're some of the sweetest tastes of the season, but fruits including peaches, watermelon, oranges and berries can become a sour experience for people with oral allergy syndrome, an allergy that leads to itching and burning in the mouth, lips and throat. In a minority of people who have the syndrome, it can even lead to anaphylaxis.
So why is the immune system fretting over something so sweet? It's because these fruits share similar protein structures with seasonal allergy triggers like grass pollen and ragweed.
Advice: For most with the condition, cooking the fruit alters the protein enough to stave off a reaction, but Schenkel warns it's not a foolproof plan. "Cooking changes the protein structure – but you don't always cook things all the way. For example, you might have an apple pie that isn't completely cooked," he says. "So you have to be careful."
2. Thunderstorm Asthma
When the big summer thunderstorms roll in, it's not only time to close windows and unplug major appliances: asthmatics might also need to up their meds. Studies have shown that, for several days after a thunderstorm, reports of asthma exacerbations go up.
So what's going on? Scientists think storms smash grass pollen down into tiny pieces that are easy to inhale, and to get farther into the lungs.
Advice: "It may not be the best time to go running after a big thunderstorm that has broken up the pollen into smaller, more inhalable particles," says Keith.
When hosting family and friends this summer be sure to ask your guests if they have any common food allergies that you need to avoid.
3. Summer BBQ Alert
In summer there's nothing like hitting the trails, but bears or big cats aren't the only creatures you need to watch out for on a foray into the forest. University of Virginia allergist Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills has discovered that bites from a certain type of tick – Amblyomma americanum, or the Lone Star tick – can trigger a rare IgE response to a sugar found in beef, lamb and pork. This causes a reaction to these meats that doesn't kick in for hours.
Advice: For those who've acquired the nasty condition, technically known as alpha-gal allergy, but dubbed "red meat allergy," it means that tucking into that tasty steak can lead to symptoms that range from hives to full-blown anaphylaxis. Thankfully, the CDC offers tips on preventing tick bites if red meat is still on the menu.
4. Solar Hives
While most people flock to the sun in summer, others run for cover because they get solar hives (also called solar urticaria), which is a mast cell reaction to the sun's UVA and UVB rays. (Cold or warm water can also cause a reaction called aquagenic urticaria.) As well, even the sunscreens we use to block the sun's harmful rays can darken a sunny day. For people with allergies to sulfa drugs, PABA – a common ingredient in sunscreens – can lead to a skin reaction, as can other components.
Advice: "If you put it on and immediately get an itchy rash, then you know there's an ingredient in there you should be avoiding," says Keith. Learn more about the physical urticarias here.
Sometimes, it's difficult to pinpoint a laundry-related allergy reaction, as it can take anywhere from a few hours to 10 days to experience symptoms. But, if you think you're experiencing side effects from your laundry detergent, stop using it immediately.
5. Laundry Lurkers
Hanging laundry outside is great for the environment and gives clothes, bedding and towels that lovely fresh air smell. But for seasonal allergy sufferers, freshness can also pack a punch, because pollens latch onto clothes and get tracked inside, where they continue to pester. Stick with clothes and bed linens dried indoors on a rack or in the dryer, and remember to opt for hypoallergenic, fragrance-free detergents to avoid asthma and skin reactions.
Advice: When it comes to indoor air, air conditioning can be a godsend for those with asthma and allergy because it helps to keep pollen out. However, it can also dry out the air to the point where asthma is triggered more easily. "Air conditioning is a double-edged sword because it's really cold, dry air," says Keith, "so if you do have inflamed mucous membranes, it may bother you."
6. Mosquito Allergy
Long, hot summer days are often the most memorable, but once the sun goes down, they're also the most mosquito-heavy. The majority of people get a small, localized immune response to the insect's bite – that itchy little bump – but for a small few, the mosquito's saliva can set off systemic reactions including hives and asthma, and in rare instances, anaphylaxis.
Advice: Avoidance is the number one treatment; wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants can also keep the pests at bay, and repellants can help, but sometimes they can trigger reactions, too. "It's rare, and I have never seen it myself, but people can go into a serious allergic reaction from mosquito bites," says Schenkel. "Malaria is the least of their problems; it's the allergic reaction they have to watch out for."
When hiking this summer, be mindful of poison ivy. Busy trail systems will mark the plant with signage, but not all trails do. So be alert and avoid getting a rash by wearing long pants and sleeves when possible.
7. Poison Ivy
It's the summer itch that just won't quit, but few people realize that the reaction to poison ivy is actually an allergic response to the plant's oily sap, urushiol – and reports of its highly irritating ways date back thousands of years.
However, if you get sidelined by a poison ivy rash, take heart: it's a sign your immune system is working.
Advice: "If your immune system isn't responding to poison ivy, it may indicate a defect in your body's defense, so it means your T-cells are functioning," says Schenkel. "Of course that's small consolation for somebody who gets really miserable from it."
Medically Reviewed By: Eric Schenkel, MD
Reviewed on: June 9, 2022
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HomeBooksContemporary Fiction
Be Frank With Me: A Novel
by Julia Claiborne Johnson
320 pages5 hours
AN AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION ADULT DEBUT HONOR BOOK
WINNER OF THE AUDIE AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE NARRATOR
LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
A sparkling talent makes her fiction debut with this infectious novel that combines the charming pluck of Eloise, the poignant psychological quirks of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and the page-turning spirit of Where'd You Go, Bernadette.
Reclusive literary legend M. M. "Mimi" Banning has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years. But after falling prey to a Bernie Madoff-style ponzi scheme, she's flat broke. Now Mimi must write a new book for the first time in decades, and to ensure the timely delivery of her manuscript, her New York publisher sends an assistant to monitor her progress. The prickly Mimi reluctantly complies—with a few stipulations: No Ivy-Leaguers or English majors. Must drive, cook, tidy. Computer whiz. Good with kids. Quiet, discreet, sane.
When Alice Whitley arrives at the Banning mansion, she's put to work right away—as a full-time companion to Frank, the writer's eccentric nine-year-old, a boy with the wit of Noel Coward, the wardrobe of a 1930s movie star, and very little in common with his fellow fourth-graders.
As she slowly gets to know Frank, Alice becomes consumed with finding out who Frank's father is, how his gorgeous "piano teacher and itinerant male role model" Xander fits into the Banning family equation—and whether Mimi will ever finish that book.
Full of heart and countless "only-in-Hollywood" moments, Be Frank with Me is a captivating and unconventional story of an unusual mother and son, and the intrepid young woman who finds herself irresistibly pulled into their unforgettable world.
Publisher: HarperCollinsReleased: Feb 2, 2016ISBN: 9780062413734Format: book
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JENNIFER EGAN JOINED THE WHO'S WHO of American letters in 2011 when she won a Pulitzer for A Visit From the Goon Squad, an interlinked-story-collection-as-novel that bucked more than a few conventions. Her new novel Manhattan Beach is more convention
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The Millions Top Ten: September 2017
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Be Frank With Me - Julia Claiborne Johnson
BECAUSE THE STATION wagon blew up in the fire, Frank and I took the bus to the hospital. When I told him we'd get there in less than half the time in a taxi, Frank said, I only ride in taxis with my mother. You are not my mother, Alice.
This was a fact. Once the kid latched onto a fact there was no point in trying to talk him around to practicalities. Fine, I said. We'll take the bus.
We hadn't been on the bus very long when Frank said, People are staring at me.
So? You're fun to look at. This was also a fact. Frank was pretty in the angelic way ten-year-old boys are sometimes: skin all pink and white and smooth, outsized dark eyes with ridiculously long lashes, freckles spilled across his nose. He had red hair, but not the crazy, curly orange kind that gets kids cast in television commercials when they're four and ostracized on the playground when they've grown to a pasty, lumpy eleven. Frank's was the Irish setter auburn you almost never see in real life, shiny-smooth and heavy, with a way of falling across his forehead that made you think there was always a stylist standing just outside the frame, keeping it perfect. Casting agents would have gone nuts for him in the early days of Technicolor.
But his looks weren't what had our fellow travelers transfixed, certainly not in a place like Hollywood where gorgeous kids are so common that you even see them on city buses. No, what got people staring was Frank's look. Before we left the house that morning he'd shellacked his hair like a mini Rudolph Valentino, put on a wing-collared shirt, white tie and vest, a cutaway coat, morning pants, and spats. Also a top hat, which he balanced on his knees while we rode to the hospital because, as he'd explained to our bus driver when the man admired it, A gentleman never wears his hat indoors.
I was the only person on that bus who understood what a sacrifice it was for him not to wear the hat. Out in the world, Frank needed to be 100 percent buttoned up, buckled down and helmeted, even if it were a hundred degrees outside. Seasonally inappropriate is what mental health factotums call his way of dressing, while people into fashion call it style.
Alice, can you make the people staring at me stop staring at me? he asked.
I can't, I said. Close your eyes so you can't see them.
He did, and put his head on my shoulder. I almost put my arm around him, but stopped myself in time. When he leaned against me I caught a whiff of fire and maybe a little brimstone. Frank usually smelled like a mix of lavender and rosemary and little boy sweat so I guessed the smoke had gotten its fingers into his wardrobe, even if the fire hadn't. I'd have to take all his outfits to the cleaners. I'd have to rent a U-Haul.
They're just staring because you're the only kid on the bus dressed in a morning suit, I added.
I chose this ensemble because I am in mourning, he said. He sat up and turned his face toward me, but kept his eyes squeezed shut.
Your mother is going to be fine, I said. I hoped I wasn't lying. "For the record, that kind of mourning, the feeling sad kind, is spelled m-o-u-r-n-i-n-g. Morning like a morning suit is spelled m-o-r-n-i-n-g."
I am not a good speller.
We all have our strengths and weaknesses.
I imagine Albert Einstein was a bad speller, Frank said, settling against me again. A bad speller, with terrible penmanship. Despite these shortcomings, Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. Do you think Einstein's mom cared about his spelling and penmanship?
Probably, I said. Mothers are like that. It's their job to sweat the details, don't you think?
When Frank didn't respond I realized he'd fallen asleep. I was glad to see it. The ride would be long and he hardly slept, ever. He had to be exhausted. I know I was. Which wasn't going to make it easier to handle whatever we found once we got to the hospital. Frank's mother had been held there for three days of psychiatric observation after the fire.
Frank's mother was M. M. Banning, the famous literary recluse.
Long before she'd become famous or a recluse, Frank's mother or my boss, the nineteen-year-old version of M. M. Banning, a college dropout from Nowheresville, Alabama, wrote Pitched, a novel that won her a Pulitzer and a National Book Award by the time she turned twenty. It became the rare book—there must be only a handful—that still sells about a million copies a year, thirty years after its publication. Pitched revolved around a handsome, enigmatic, and unnamed baseball player who dazzled the world before going off his nut. It was short, simply written, and ended with someone dying, a magic combination that made it a fixture on every junior high school reading list in America. Over time the book became a touchstone for disaster, too, a handy symbol for anyone with a story about a failed athlete or other cursed soul. Toss a copy of Pitched on that character's bedside table and the audience knows to think uh-oh.
After Pitched, M. M. Banning never wrote another word as far as anybody knew.
WHO IS FRANK?
MIMI'S PRICKLY," ISAAC Vargas told me when he asked if I'd go to California to work for M. M. Banning while she wrote her long-awaited second novel. I'd been his assistant for the past year at the publishing house in New York City that had brought out her literary blockbuster back in the late 1970s. As a junior editor, Mr. Vargas had pulled Pitched from a pile of unsolicited manuscripts and had been M. M. Banning's editor ever since. In theory, anyway, since there had been no more manuscripts to edit after that first one. Or even much communication between the two of them. When she'd called, Mr. Vargas hadn't talked to M. M. Banning since before I was born.
Mimi's in a tight spot. She has to get this novel written, and she has to do it fast, he explained. She wanted an assistant to help her navigate computers and keep her household running until the book was finished. She needs somebody smart and capable, someone we can trust. I thought of you, Alice.
It was a lot to take in. Pitched had been my mother's favorite book in the world. If I closed my eyes I could still see her girlhood copy of it. She'd handled that paperback so much its covers felt like they were made of cloth. Its yellowed pages had stiffened and were missing little triangles of paper that had gone brittle and broken off where she'd turned down corners. The blurb on the back cover read: A sensitive work of incredible insight, a writer of startling gifts. One of the premiere voices of this or any generation. An instant classic!
Underneath that was a photo of young M. M. Banning. Cropped carrot-red hair, big chocolate eyes behind heavy masculine glasses, wearing a cardigan sweater that engulfed her, looking more like a scrawny preteen boy in Dad's clothes than a young woman on the cusp of her twenties. My mother was such a fan that she stole her father's cardigans and glasses every Halloween in junior high so she could trick-or-treat as M. M. Banning. I think she would have dressed me in my father's sweaters and eyeglasses, too, except by junior high my father wasn't around for us to steal from.
Ha! Mr. Vargas said when I told him about my mother. What's funny is that Mimi borrowed my glasses and sweater for that photo shoot because she didn't like anything the stylist brought for her to wear. She told the hair and makeup person to give her a crew cut. 'What you want is a pixie,' the woman told her. 'No. What I want is to look like a writer,' Mimi said. 'Not like some girl who got elected to homecoming court to make the prom queen look prettier.' When I told her I loved the photograph, Mimi said, 'You know who'll hate it? My mother. That's what I like best about it.'
Did her mother hate it?
I don't think her mother ever saw it, Mr. Vargas said. He stroked the stubble on his chin and looked out the window. Listen, don't tell Mimi any of that business about your mother. She has a complicated relationship with her fans. And her mom. I think there are times when she wishes she'd never written that novel. Which reminds me. Did I tell you Mimi has a kid now? Named Frank. First I've heard of him. Imagine that.
In the foreword of the latest edition of Pitched that I bought at the airport bookstore to reread on the plane to California, scholars floated many theories about what had silenced one of the premiere voices of this or any generation. M. M. Banning hated writing. Loved writing, but hated critics. Felt suffocated by her sudden, outsized fame and wanted no more of it. Had stored up a trove of manuscripts to be published after her death, when she'd be past caring what anybody else thought about her. Hadn't written the book in the first place—that it had been a sort of long-form suicide note penned by her brilliant, dead brother.
A mystery kid she was raising on her own? Not a one had volunteered that.
I bought a notebook at the airport bookstore, too. There wasn't much of a selection there, so I'd been stuck with a pink one with a unicorn on its cover and a pack of crayons Velcroed to its side. I left the crayons on the seat beside me in the airport departure lounge for some kid to find. Who is Frank? I inked across the top of its first page while I waited for my plane.
For that matter, who was M. M. Banning? Her name was as much a fiction as her book, Mr. Vargas told me. The publisher had decided the name she came equipped with, Mimi Gillespie, lacked gravitas. So she invented M. M. Banning, a name of indeterminate gender better suited to a bank president than a college dropout. Once the book was published and became a hit, Mimi Gillespie was as good as dead. Except to Mr. Vargas, who remembered how she was before she was famous.
M. M. BANNING lived in Bel Air, in the kind of place I'd only seen before in magazines—stone facade framed by palm trees to the street, all glass everywhere else. It wasn't the kind of house I'd think of buying if I happened to be a celebrity obsessed with privacy. I wondered if M. M. Banning woke up some mornings wondering how on earth she'd ended up there.
According to Mr. Vargas, ending up in Los Angeles had never been part of the plan. When she was twenty-two, he told me, Mimi had left New York to oversee her book's adaptation into a movie. I'll just be gone a few months, she said.
Everything had gone well at first. The film version of Pitched won an armload of Academy Awards, one of them for the screenplay she'd worked on as a consultant. Mimi attended the ceremony on the arm of the up-and-coming actor who played The Pitcher, an exquisite cipher named Hanes Fuller, who appeared on-screen shirtless more often than not. The press called them today's alternate-universe Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe because she wore glasses and cardigans and was stunningly average-looking, while he always seemed to have his chest hanging out.
At twenty-three, she'd married the movie star. By twenty-five, they'd divorced. Instead of coming back to New York, she'd moved to the glass house and disappeared inside. Or tried to. Before she'd unpacked her boxes, M. M. Banning's more fanatical devotees had tracked her down and pressed their faces against the glass to peer inside. I've read your book. I feel your pain. Come out and play.
M. M. Banning put up a stucco wall iced with razor wire to keep her public at bay. Fans and the occasional photographer still lurked outside its perimeter hoping—what? That the reclusive novelist would come out to pose for the literary equivalent of a photograph of a yeti? That one day she'd be lonely enough to invite a lurker inside and they'd become best friends forever?
When the airport cab dropped me at the gate I was relieved nobody was around watching with binoculars as I punched in the entry code in the keypad. 21 22 00 0. The gate swung open and I scuttled through, then huffed up the steep driveway with my bags. I stood at the door for a minute enjoying the irony of the word welcome worked into the rush doormat at my feet. My mother would have died from the excitement of knowing I was there if it weren't for the inconvenient fact that she was already dead.
Los Angeles is paradise on earth, Alice, Mr. Vargas had said as he'd scrawled the keypad's code on a Post-it for me back in New York. You can't blame people for being seduced by it. Have you ever been?
Never, I said.
Everybody should go once.
How many times have you been? I asked.
Once, he said. Listen, I know Mimi has a reputation for being difficult, but if I weren't fond of her I wouldn't send you. She'll love you if she'll let herself. In the meantime, don't let her scare you off.
I wiped my feet on the mat and squared my shoulders. Don't let her scare you off. I practiced my smile. Businesslike, but with enough warmth to keep me from coming off as too Nurse Ratched. I mumbled lines I'd worked on during my flight. Nobody knows single motherhood better than I do. It was just me and my mom growing up. . . . No, I'm good, I ate on the plane, thanks. Just a glass of water, I'll get it myself, tell me where. . . . So this must be Frank! Only nine years old? You seem much older.
Little did I know.
I probably stood there longer than I should have, because the recluse herself opened the door before I could ring the bell and demanded, Who are you? I've been watching you on the security cameras since you came through the gate.
I was so surprised I gasped M. M. Banning! like a toddler might squeal Santa! if she stumbled on the guy in the red suit and fake beard sneaking a cigarette out back of the mall during his break. To be honest, I'm not sure I would have recognized her if I'd passed her on the street. In the years since that book jacket photo had been taken, her hair had grown out into a grayish-brown ponytail, she'd developed a big furrow between her eyebrows, and her jawline had gone soft. But her eyes were the same fathomless brown, so dark that the iris and pupil seemed one. She still wore glasses and a cardigan, too, except now the cardigan made her look less like a writer than a middle-aged librarian. A vengeful middle-aged librarian brandishing a portable phone.
You'd better be the girl Isaac Vargas sent, she said, because I have the police on speed dial.
I WASN'T ALWAYS an M. M. Banning fan.
When I read my mother's battered copy of Pitched for eighth grade English, I confess I didn't see what the fuss was about. I hate how the guy is just called 'The Pitcher,' I complained to her. Why doesn't he have a name? My mother said she guessed the author did that to make the story feel universal, to help readers imagine the character as their own brother or son. I don't have a brother or son, I said. It just makes it easier for me to imagine him as a water jug with a handle. My poor mother. Her favorite book, trashed by her only child. What can I say? Junior High Alice preferred Jay Gatsby, with his million-dollar smile and mansion and all those beautiful shirts.
I reread Pitched as coursework in Twentieth-Century Lit when I was a junior in college, soon after my mother died unexpectedly of undiagnosed heart disease. It was a different book to me then. That time it tore me apart. I confessed in class that I'd cried my eyes out when I finished.
You realize now, my professor commented drily, that youth isn't wasted on the young. Literature is.
WHEN M. M. Banning called Mr. Vargas, I was sitting at my desk just outside his open office door. They talked for almost an hour. He said very little other than uh-huh, uh-huh, Oh, no, and I'm so sorry, Mimi. The gist of it was that she'd been swindled of her fortune by a crooked investment adviser who'd just been thrown in jail for life that March for bilking the rich and super-rich across America. By June, she was on the brink of losing not just her house but also the copyright to her book, collateral she'd given high-end loan sharks who marketed themselves as money managers to the rich and clueless.
They had an office on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, she told Mr. Vargas. They sent a car for me. They had nice office furniture. I wanted to believe they could save me. That was the thing she said that really broke his heart. My wife's oncologist had nice office furniture, too, he told me. A few months after I came to work for him, Mr. Vargas's wife had died of pancreatic cancer. That fall, his daughter Carolyn shipped out to an expensive private university on the West Coast. On top of all that, the publishing company he'd worked for his whole career had been acquired by a media conglomerate. When he answered M. M. Banning's call Mr. Vargas said he'd half-expected Personnel, phoning to tell him he'd been downsized. Instead, a second book from M. M. Banning. Good, bad, or indifferent, it would be a best seller. His career was saved, at least for now. And to think she'd called him looking for salvation! Mimi didn't know it yet, but she'd thrown all of us a lifeline.
So, how far along are you? he asked. I thought Mr. Vargas was talking to somebody newly pregnant.
I don't have a word on paper yet, he told me she answered. But I have the beginning and the middle in my head.
M. M. Banning did have two very specific demands: a huge advance and an assistant, bankrolled by the publisher and hand-selected by Mr. Vargas because, she told him, I'm a lousy judge of character. As you so delicately put it once.
What happened to her could have happened to anybody, Mr. Vargas told me.
Not to me, I couldn't help thinking. Never to me. I'm too careful. Some people in my college dorm might have said boring, but they were glad to call me to come bail them out of jail so their parents wouldn't know where a night of carousing had landed them. The careless ones knew I'd be awake, sober, and studying. Boring saved their bacon more times than I could count.
Mr. Vargas scribbled out the qualifications Mimi listed for the ideal assistant:
• No Ivy Leaguers or English majors.
• Drives. Cooks. Tidies.
• Computer whiz.
• Good with kids.
• Quiet. Discreet. Sane.
Before I worked for him I'd had a string of fresh-off-the-Greyhound jobs, the kind people my age go for when they're not quite ready to settle into the practical careers they may have been wise enough to train for while they were in college. I had an accounting degree but hadn't quite been able to bring myself to use it yet. I'd worked as a pet groomer, leaflet distributor, barista, sketcher of tourists in Central Park, black-shirted-to-blend-in catering staff, kindergarten assistant. When we met, I was working weekends at a computer store because my salary as a private school math teacher wouldn't cover rent and food and insurance. At the store I had to wear a piece of plastic over my heart that read HI! I'M A GENIUS! ASK ME ANYTHING! After an hour of demonstrating shortcuts for managing his flow of information, Mr. Vargas told me I deserved every exclamation point on my name tag and asked me if I'd like to come work for him. Does this job you're offering me provide insurance and sick days? I asked, though I had never missed a day of work in my life. It did. In those days when acquiring your own insurance was both astronomically expensive and hard to come by, a paying job that sounded glamorous and provided benefits sounded like a dream come true. The job came with insurance, sick days, and two weeks of vacation annually. Mr. Vargas didn't have to ask me twice. I took it.
Which is how I'd landed on M. M. Banning's welcome mat being chewed out by one of the premiere voices of this or any generation. I pulled myself together before she called the cops and said, I am the girl Mr. Vargas sent.
She put the phone in her cardigan pocket. Well then, she said. If you're done staring at me, I guess you can come inside.
HIS NAME IS Frank."
M. M. Banning and I were seated on the living room couch, watching her son playing outside in the hot, bright sun. The kid, dressed in a tattered tailcoat and morning pants accessorized with bare feet and a grubby face, looked like some fictional refugee from the pages of Oliver Twist, one who'd walked all the way to Los Angeles from Dickens's London and had slept in ditches at night along the way.
When I say Frank was playing what I mean is that he was assaulting a peach tree with a yellow plastic baseball bat, scattering the green midsummer fruit as if the future of the human race depended on it.
Does he always dress like that? I asked.
Some version of it.
That's fantastic. Most kids don't care about their clothes that much. They're just as happy wearing T-shirts and a pair of shorts. My mother always said that the best way to connect with anybody who was a mother was to find a way to compliment her child. An approach that served me well when I taught at the private school, even the times when it had been a stretch to come up with something nicer to say than Your child is such a good little mouth-breather.
I know. She sounded more irritated with me than pleased.
Strike one. I tried again. Frank looks pretty energetic.
I go to sleep exhausted, she said. I wake up tired.
Yes. I had a nice flight. Thank you so much for asking.
Frank went at the tree again, but in a slo-mo, Kabuki kind of way—his swing stylized, his face a mask. I decided to give it one more go. Hey, is that a T-ball bat? I asked. I used to coach the T-ball team at the private school where I worked.
Then you should know a T-ball bat when you see one.
She's not one for small talk, Mr. Vargas had warned me. No kidding. I gave up and settled in to watch the kid strip the tree of the last of its unripe fruit. It was awkward sitting so close to M. M. Banning when we'd just met, but there wasn't much furniture in the living room to choose from. Just the white slipcovered couch we occupied and a black baby grand player piano that had been working through a selection of jaunty Scott Joplin rags since my arrival. There was a piano bench, but I thought it would be weird to go to sit on that. No rugs, but wall-to-wall carpet in the hallway. My mother would have been interested to hear that, since she found nothing in the world tackier than wall-to-wall carpet, even though we'd lived in more apartments with it than without. There were no photos on the piano, no art on the walls. Unfaded squares of paint, though, where pictures must have hung until recently. Looking around the room, you got the sense M. M. Banning and her son were just moving into their house, or just moving out.
Frank seems like an interesting kid, I ventured finally.
She took her glasses off and rubbed her nose. He's a character.
Outside, Frank dropped the T-ball bat and wandered over to have a word with the battered black Mercedes station wagon parked in the driveway. He and the wagon's luggage rack came to some kind of understanding and Frank took off his belt, looped the buckle end, and opened the car door. He stood on its sill while he tied the notched end to the rack.
M. M. Banning jumped up and went to the sliding glass door. She struggled with it, but the door was stuck.
Here, let me help you with that, I said.
I've been meaning to get somebody to come out and fix this, she said, but the man I have do things is out of town and I don't like having strange people in my house. What's Frank doing out there?
The kid went about his business, slipping his wrist through the loop in his belt, then hopping down and closing the door, being careful to raise his arm to keep the belt from getting caught. Then he kicked a leg back, fell against the door, kicked and fell again, using his free hand to alternately mimic a pistol firing at the luggage rack and make his coattails flap behind himself. I was reminded of the black-and-white westerns I watched on TV in the afternoons after school. I think he's robbing a stagecoach, I said.
M. M. Banning put a hand on her chest and stepped back from the glass. Yes. He's playing. He's all right. The door can wait. He's fine. Calm down. She didn't seem to be talking to me.
No worries, I said. I'm not a person who says slacker things like no worries or enjoy, but I've found the best way to handle anyone difficult—rich worrywart moms, the famished Manhattan vegan ordering a late lunch—is to exude the bland calm of the heavily medicated and go about my business. I kept fiddling with the door. It jumped the track, that's all. I gave the door a fierce jiggle that popped it back in its groove. When it's stuck, you do this. I showed her the lift-and-bounce maneuver. Listen, when your guy comes back, tell him to replace this glass, I said, tracing a long jagged line that split one of the giant panes. That's an accident waiting to happen. What cracked it? An earthquake? I didn't like thinking about earthquakes, but in Los Angeles, how could I not? Still, every place I'd ever lived in had come with its own brand of potential disaster—tornadoes in Nebraska, muggings in New York. I guess beneath my thick veneer of boring beat a heart primed to fall in love with danger.
Frank's head cracked it, M. M. Banning said.
"Ouch. That kind of thing happens


The strategy behind advertising during the Super Bowl is flawed. There is literally no reason to pack consumer connectivity into a single day. Successful brands do it every day.
In our latest research fielded in January of this year, we are seeing more two-way connectivity with brands who work at it all year. When we asked "How have you connected with your favorite brand in the last 30 days?" we saw email at 20%. There's always an argument for mass awareness – but our research also showed that any recommendations from friends to search were 2.5x more likely to influence adoption that TV, Facebook or You Tube ads combined. It's getting personal folks.
Then we look at all of the contrived concepts around how to get consumers to connect on February 4th, it's amazing the amount of effort that is so concentrated. Seriously, a $1.4 billion dollar day for NBC?
According to CMO.com – it's innovation, but it looks more like desperation and a stretch to get digital to support the buy.
Mars made an ad for a single viewer and let that person do a Facebook live to stream his reaction during the game.
Hyundai did real time updates.
All of this is about them – it is not about the marketer. "Say important things – TO ME. Shares MY interests.
That's the key – it's about them. And getting there by trying to win an entertainment contest for one day doesn't necessarily build anything. Clearly, not everyone can win the day.
The Drum recently quoted a statistic that less than 10% of consumers could remember a Super Bowl ad two weeks later.
So it makes sense to build a platform that can be articulated all year long. Why release a game or a contest during the Super Bowl? Why shout in a crowd? That's exactly what Mercedes did by releasing their "win a car" game on Sunday. Keep your finger on the screen and qualify to win.
And the work it takes to "pre-hype" could be spread out all year as well.
The battleship is slowly turning in the C-suites. Now we have A/B ads featuring "real workers," and content that is crowd sourced photos of consumers from Kraft.
The other 364 days are wide open for the rest of us.
Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider by Norty Cohen, CEO of Moosylvania and the author of The Participation Game.


Activist Amanda Holt helps lead a discussion with citizens about how they can play a part in legislative redistricting. | Image Credit: Linda Breitstein, DTL.
Amanda Holt of Kuhnsville, who won a court challenge to the 2011 state legislative maps, and the DTL team discussed her work and the importance of equitable legislative redistricting. Their point: Average citizens can make a difference. The DTL team announced the launch of the project's first statewide mapping competition and interactive exercises designed to get citizens ready to map. The event was sponsored by the Concerned East Penn Taxpayers Association. For more on Holt, watch this video.


Audrey Elisabet: An Anatomical A.
Pelvis made by me, reference by Valerie Winslow.
I have been working so hard! There is so much to do for school that Marinó and I take shifts, studying and taking care of Ylfa. This semester is not as easy as I expected. But I am really enjoying myself. I have not been this hard at work for a long time and the effort is really paying off. I got two A's this week in my Introduction of Anatomy for my studies of the pelvis and ribcage.
Ylfa is also a lot of work these days. We are running around, catching her when she falls of her wobbly, walking feet and grabbing her off the staircase and furniture she is climbing. This girl is very active. We will go to the first class of the Waldorf class I signed us up for, next week. It will be wonderful to take her around other children and see how she will react to the different environment. She will most definitely grow a lot from this new experience. I will share how it went next week.