text:
UW-Eau Claire, HPE collaboration a powerful partnership
Monday, April 26, 2021 | Gary Johnson
Photo caption: UW-Eau Claire Chancellor James Schmidt talks about a new public-private collaboration between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and the university at a Monday press conference. Pictured in the video screen is Mayo Clinic Health System Dr. Rajeev Chaudhry.
Students and faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire can engage in more high-performance, data-driven research thanks to a new public-private collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise that dramatically increases the university's supercomputing processing power.
Contributions totaling more than $700,000 from HPE, the National Science Foundation and UW-Eau Claire are enabling the university to purchase a high-performance computing cluster/supercomputing cluster and develop the Blugold Center for High-Performance Computing.
The UW-Eau Claire Foundation secured the in-kind grant of $363,426 in hardware from HPE to complement a $350,000 NSF grant to support the center. UW-Eau Claire's College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs contributed $20,000 to the project.
"Thanks to Hewlett Packard Enterprise and the National Science Foundation, UW-Eau Claire is the first university in the United States to use HPE's Apollo servers with the Cray hardware called Slingshot," UW-Eau Claire Chancellor James Schmidt says. "This investment epitomizes the power of partnerships to drive innovation and provide mutual benefits. Not only do UW-Eau Claire's students gain the chance to conduct research in areas ranging from deep learning and artificial intelligence to data mining and computational number theories, HPE's leaders and technicians can now pioneer new technologies and receive expert feedback from our talented faculty and staff."
The additional 61 computer servers at an off-campus regional data center at Chippewa Valley Technical College can do some computations up to 100 times faster than what is possible with the existing Blugold Supercomputing Cluster that has 25 servers in UW-Eau Claire's Phillips Science Hall.
"As HPE considered where to locate our Global Center of Excellence for Performance Computer Manufacturing, the advantages of staying in Chippewa Falls became clearer and clearer as we engaged Chancellor Schmidt and UW-Eau Claire faculty and staff," says Adam Bauer, director of Issues and Policy Communications for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. "As a future-focused organization manufacturing supercomputers just up the road from this campus, the opportunity to partner with the university was a no-brainer. Together, we can advance research in Eau Claire to levels commensurate with any major university in the country. At the same time, students will have the opportunity to learn and work with us as undergraduates, laying a strong foundation for future employment."
The high-performance computing cluster at the regional data center form the Bose Cluster, named after Indian mathematician and physicist Satyendra Noth Bose. The powerful servers will provide UW-Eau Claire undergraduates with even more high-impact learning opportunities as the university becomes a regional hub of high-performance computing, says Dr. Sudeep Bhattacharyay, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
"One of the major goals of this university is to provide research opportunities to as many students as possible," Bhattacharyay says. "This new computing facility can offer a large number of students this high-impact practice without any further investment. Our hope is that this increased computational power will also increase the innovative discovery of the undergraduate students on this campus."
The original cluster on campus cannot handle the growing demand for computer processing power at UW-Eau Claire, say Bhattacharyay and Dr. Ying Ma, associate professor in materials science and biomedical engineering. Bhattacharyay and Ma wrote the NSF proposal and received the $350,000 grant.
The increased capacity provided by the regional data center will meet UW-Eau Claire's teaching and research needs for the foreseeable future, Ma says.
"HPE really is a big deal for us because the current cluster we have right now really limits what we can do in the cluster," Ma says. "This new cluster opens many new doors."
Ma and Chip Eckardt, senior information processing consultant at UW-Eau Claire, say computational science is becoming increasingly important in all branches of science.
"Computational science, which requires high performance computing, is going to be absolutely where everybody wants to be in the next three to five years," Eckardt says.
Calling the regional data center "a huge deal," Eckardt says the computing upgrade places the university on a par with doctoral universities that participate in the highest levels of research activity, classified as Research 1 by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.
Supercomputing demand exceeds capacity
UW-Eau Claire's supercomputing history dates to 2008, when the chemistry department purchased a small cluster of servers for $25,000.
The Blugold Supercomputing Cluster started in 2014, but campus demand for high-performance computing quickly outpaced capacity.
Multiple academic departments — biology, chemistry and biochemistry, computer science, geology, mathematics, materials science and biomedical engineering, and physics and astronomy — now use the cluster, but many more departments will have access to it with the additional computing power of the Bose Cluster.
"In the departments of chemistry and biochemistry there are several research groups that are dependent on this high-performance computing, as well as materials science," Bhattacharyay says. "There are a number of other university departments that depend on simulation, not just quantum mechanics-based computation practices, but other different molecular simulations. All faculty will have a very strong interest in this high-performance computing."
The additional computer processing capacity is "really a game-changer" for UW-Eau Claire, says Dr. Rahul Gomes, an assistant professor of computer science.
"I look at this as a beginning of a new era where UW-Eau Claire emerges as the hub of deep learning and image processing in the entire Midwest," Gomes says.
"Deep learning" is a subset of machine learning that derives its working logic from the functioning of the brain. Due to its high accuracy, deep learning finds application in self-driving cars that process high-resolution images on the fly.
The Bose Cluster will provide the computing power undergraduate researchers at UW-Eau Claire need as they learn how to apply deep learning to process big data, Gomes says. By logging into the cluster, students can experience how supercomputers operate, submit jobs and process images in batches.
"One of the problems in deep learning for image classification is that it requires a lot of computing power, especially graphics processing units," says Gomes, who joined the UW-Eau Claire faculty in 2020. "Most of the time we have to resort to other external resources in order to process those data sets which require significant time and introduce compatibility issues. But if our students get the experience of processing data sets at the university itself, it will definitely be a good experience for them.
"I can tell my students we have a supercomputing cluster where we can process all our data. And students get to do it. It's pretty exciting to see that here. Being a new professor at this university, it opens up a lot of opportunity for me in collaboration and research. It's pretty awesome."
For example, the additional processing power will allow the computer science and geography departments to collaborate to process high-resolution satellite images, Gomes says.
Biology researchers spend considerable time in the field, but also use new technologies to generate genomic sequence data for hundreds of individual organisms with multiple sequences, says Dr. Nora Mitchell, assistant professor of biology. Mitchell expects to have sequence data for her students to analyze in the coming months.
"We might get several thousands of pieces of data per individual," Mitchell says. "When we go to analyze that data, it requires a lot of computing power to analyze and process all of those samples. For many students, we don't have the software that they would need. But if we have it on the computing cluster we can run it all together, freeing up myself to do teaching and for students to do their other coursework."
Mitchell says the supercomputing cluster allows students to experience research opportunities ordinarily only found at major research institutions, including using supercomputing tools to work on their own research.
"Often students think that computer science or coding can be intimidating, but having this computer cluster is an amazing resource and really helps students to scaffold those skills," Mitchell says. "It shows them that it's not scary, but really exciting, to be working with your own data and getting results from samples students collected and analyzed. That's a really big reward for them."
Dr. Mckenzie West, assistant professor of mathematics, also sees the possibilities in using the supercomputing cluster. For example, she hopes to use the supercomputing cluster in her computational number theory course, allowing her students to compute properties of large numbers and solve difficult equations.
High-resolution images also are a key in the biomedical field, Ma says. The Bose cluster creates yet another opportunity for UW-Eau Claire faculty and students to collaborate with Mayo Clinic Health System physicians and others.
"Medical science has become increasingly data driven," Ma says. "You need a lot of data to make an informed decision, a diagnosis or treatment. This cluster will be the perfect tool to collect those data, analyze those data and then benefit medical science."
Seeing UW-Eau Claire and Mayo Clinic Health System working together using the computer cluster may inspire other Chippewa Valley industries to consider how they also could benefit from the technology, Bhattacharyay says. Additional collaborations could help other businesses as well.
"There will be a synergy if some other industries see that high-performance computing is being used for teaching purposes and research purposes in a university like ours," Bhattacharyay says. "Our cluster has all these different capacities, all these different capabilities, so that will open different industries, different institutions that can come to us and we can satisfy their different needs."
Students gain experience in supercomputing operations
The supercomputing cluster gave Alyssa Huelsbeck, a senior from Little Chute, an opportunity to perform "incredibly relevant" COVID-19 research during her biophysical chemistry course in fall 2020. Bhattacharyay, the course instructor, allowed students to continue their research with the supercomputer cluster during the spring semester, giving them a deeper scientific understanding of the research, she says.
"The supercomputing cluster has been great because we've gotten to do a lot of research on the structure of the virus without having to do the wet-lab work," Huelsbeck says. "We've been able to get a lot of data and it's been relatively straightforward using the supercomputing cluster, so it's been a great resource this semester.
It's incredible to be working on coronavirus research while still an undergraduate student, says Huelsbeck, a biochemistry/molecular biology and Spanish major.
"The world's top scientists right now are working on coronavirus research and we're undergraduate students getting firsthand experience with the supercomputing cluster," Huelsbeck says. "It is an amazing experience."
Huelsbeck is among the UW-Eau Claire students to present their research this spring at the virtual National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
Gomes says Blugolds who have supercomputing operations skills will have an advantage when looking for their first jobs.
"Once they start applying for positions in companies, they can actually say they did a lot of machine learning and used our Blugold Supercomputing Cluster to do that machine learning," Gomes says.
"It's a completely new discipline, and the fact that we have it here in order to test our codes and give our students an opportunity to test our codes, it's basically expanding the curriculum."
Bhattacharyay agrees, noting that the supercomputing cluster will create experiences undergraduate students are not likely to find elsewhere.
"We can train students, we can provide the opportunity for them to actually try their ideas on the cluster and even to make some mistakes," Bhattacharyay says. "That opportunity is unique; it's not like you can get that experience anywhere."
A team of UW-Eau Claire students manage the supercomputing cluster. Previous student administrators have received internships and found jobs because of their experience, Bhattacharyay says.
HPE's involvement in the project creates even more opportunities for students, he says.
"The reason we are so thrilled is because HPE has an assembly unit in Chippewa Falls where they bring all those computing nodes and equipment and assemble them," Bhattacharyay says. "Having a collaboration with HPE will give our students a lot of opportunity in terms of training and high-performance computing maintenance. Students can learn high-performance computing maintenance and serve the entire campus."
Bhattacharyay says local schools and their teachers also will use the computer cluster through summer training programs.
Supercomputing's link to Chippewa Falls
UW-Eau Claire is the first university in the U.S. to run the Cray hardware called Slingshot with HPE's Apollo servers, which significantly increases processing speeds moving data to and from the servers, Eckardt says.
Like Bhattacharyay, Eckardt believes HPE's involvement in the project makes the collaboration even more valuable. Eckardt grew up in Chippewa Falls and remembers the impact Cray Research and its founder, Seymour Cray, had on the region. Now that HPE owns Cray, it makes sense for UW-Eau Claire to partner with the company, he says.
"We can help HPE with doing research and testing for them and maybe we end up doing training of their users," Eckardt says. "The possibilities are amazing and the support people are literally 22 miles down the road. You don't find that anywhere else."
Written by Gary Johnson
Gary is a University Relations Specialist who communicates news for and about UW-Eau Claire. He is a longtime journalist who enjoys telling the stories of Blugold students, faculty, staff and alumni. As a retired marathoner, he now loves more social running, hiking and reading.
James Schmidt
Adam Bauer
Sudeep Bhattacharyay
Chip Eckardt
Rahul Gomes
Nora Mitchell
Mckenzie West
Alyssa Huelsbeck
Learning and Technology Services
Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering
'Thursdays at the U' opens Feb. 2 with program on foraging for edible plants
Author Martha Wright will share her experiences with gathering wild foods and the benefits of spending time outdoors. The presentation, which will be from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at UW-Eau Claire – Barron County, is free and open to the public.
New opportunities in the geosciences
GeoPaths — a UW-Eau Claire outreach program — is introducing high school students from underrepresented populations to careers in the geosciences, a career path vital to solving a plethora of societal issues, including climate change and water scarcity.
Bringing history to life
A team of Blugolds created a digital exhibit that tells the story of a group of talented women who changed societal norms and gender expectations in the years following World War II.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


HONG KONG, June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Insiderslab.com has released insider trading reports for the following stocks: Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY), Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), and American Capital Agency (NASDAQ:AGNC).
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC): By the end of last trading session, the shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) earned US$0.14 (or 1.07%) to US$13.21 with 115.46 million shares exchanged hands, compared to daily average volume of 135.81 million. Insiderslab.com found company Director, Charles K. Gifford, sold his shares at price of US$13.07 for about US$7.59 million on June 14. Investors may want to find out how Bank of America insiders like CEOs, CFOs and Directors are thinking about the future of the company. Check this insider trade report for BAC here.
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ): By the end of last trading session, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) shares rose US$0.42 (or 1.70%) to US$25.16 with about 13.24 million shares exchanged hands for the session, compared to its average volume of 18.98 million shares. When the share gained about 77% this year, Insiderslab.com found company EVP, R. Todd Bradley, sold his shares at price of US$24.45 on June 3. Investors may want to find out how Hewlett-Packard insiders like CEOs, CFOs and Directors are thinking about the future of the company.
Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY): By the end of last trading session, Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) dropped US$0.36 (or 0.77%) to US$46.44 with about 9.54 million shares exchanged hands for the session, compared to its average volume of 12.75 million shares. Insiderslab.com found CIO, Paul von Autenried, sold his shares at price of US$47.24 for about US$1.18 million on June 10. Insiderslab.com believes that it is a clever way to check if insiders like CEOs, CFOs, and Directors in Bristol Myers Squibb are starting to sell more company shares. See insider trade report for BMY here.
Today Insiderslab.com also observed abnormal trade volume for the following companies; insiders may be involved in trading in these companies. It will take some time for insiders to report their trades. Read these reports and add these companies into your Insider Trade Radar.
Insider Filing Source Reference: All observations, analyses and reports are based on public information released by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Please visit insiderslab.com/disclaimers/disclaimers.php for details.


Patients are evaluated using a PET scanner after intravenoulsy injected with a radioisotope. This test is much faster than traditional myocardial stress test and can be completed within 30 minutes. It is also more accurate with the advantage of assessing individual coronary arteries and coronary flow reserve non invasively. All these make cardiac PET ideal for intermediate risk patients requiring risk stratification. This includes diabetics, stroke patients, renal impaired patients, patients with implants and post revascularisation patients (stents, CABG).
Besides general cardiac screening, we also have screening for athletes needing cardiac clearance and exercise prescription prior to their events. After exercise testing, the clinical information obtained is applied to achieve maximum exercise benefits for each individual patient.
We provide individualised treatment to both the sick and those who are apparently healthy but want to reduce their future risk of cardiovascular disease.
This is a test that captures the electrical activity of the heart, externally, at a point of time and is recorded by electrodes placed on the skin.
The treadmill exercise test is a test that measures the heart's tolerance for exercise and helps to detect coronary heart disease. The treadmill stress test involves walking and /or running on a treadmill machine while recording the patient's ECG and blood pressure throughout the test.
This uses ultrasonic energy that is directed over the chest wall to obtain images of the heart. These images show the heart's position, motion of the walls of the heart, the interior chambers, valves of the heart and blood flow within the chambers of the heart. This can help to determine if the heart valves are functioning properly or if there is an abnormal communication or flow between the chambers or the major blood vessels.
Holter monitoring involves a portable device that enables continuous monitoring of the electrical activity of the heart or ECG. We can monitor heart rhythms for more than 2 weeks. This helps us to detect transient and short cardiac arrhythmias. In addition, it can monitor pacemakers, evaluate how well medications are working and assess the heart's electrical activity during episodes of chest pain.
Blood tests are necessary for making accurate medical diagnosis. Our comprehensive range of blood tests include full blood count; lipid profile, kidney, liver and thyroid function tests; diabetes, bone, gout, Hepatitis B and cancer screening.
Cardiac stress testing (ECG stress test) is used in the diagnosis of coronary heart disease and for risk stratification and monitoring of patients with known heart disease. In patients with coronary blockage, a blood supply that is adequate at rest, may not be adequate when there is an increased need for oxygen. Stress testing is less invasive and less expensive than cardiac catheterization, and it detects abnormalities of blood flow. The cardiac demand can be increased by exercise or drugs. Radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging is more sensitive (85 to 90%) and specific (70 to 80%) than ECG stress testing. It is particularly useful for patients with resting ECG abnormalities that may interfere with interpretation of ECG changes during a stress test. It also helps in patients who have high probability of false-positives on exercise ECG such as premenopausal women. Myocardial perfusion imaging test can help to determine the functional significance of coronary artery stenosis, which is then further identified by coronary angiography.
Coronary Angiography (CTA) is a non-invasive heart imaging modality that produces high-resolution, 3-dimensional pictures of the heart and great vessels, to determine the presence of fatty or calcium deposits (plaques) in the coronary arteries. Coronary CTA is able to rule out significant narrowing of the major coronary arteries and detect "soft plaque," in the coronary artery walls that may lead to heart problems in the majority of individuals. The calcium-score screening is a test used to detect calcium deposits found in atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries. It is used to evaluate the risk for future coronary artery disease.
Invasive coronary angiography and intravascular physiological assessment involves a medical imaging technique that is used to visualize the inside of blood vessels. This is done by injecting a radio-opaque contrast agent into the blood vessel and imaging using X-ray based techniques such as fluoroscopy. Angioplasty (stenting) or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) is widely used for the treatment of the blockages of the coronary arteries. Primary angioplasty is the mechanical reopening of an occluded vessel using a balloon-tipped catheter in patients with heart attack. The earlier primary coronary intervention is provided, the more effective it is.
Hybrid PET CT involves the combination of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT) systems. The main advantage of hybrid PET CT is the visualisation of both coronary artery anatomy and understanding physiological significance during the same imaging session. Whereas coronary CT angiography provides information on the presence and extent of the stenosis in the coronary artery that leads to coronary artery disease (CAD), these new PET blood flow tracers provide information on the downstream functional significance of these obstructive lesions. Currently, the clinical applications mainly focus on the identification of coronary artery stenosis, which can be treated by coronary interventions. With advances in technology, CT angiography may allow imaging of the plaque morphology, not only going beyond the assessment of the luminal stenosis but also allowing the new radio-labelled ligands in the application of PET, to assess plaque biology and instability. This is particularly relevant in asymptomatic patients with coronary risk factors.


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Novacyt Group ( ) is an Anglo-French biotechnology group focused on clinical diagnostics, with offices in Camberley, Surrey, United Kingdom and Vélizy-Villacoublay, France. The company produces in vitro and molecular diagnostic tests, supplying an extensive range assays and reagents worldwide. Its business units include Primerdesign, Microgen Bioproducts and Lab21 Healthcare.

In January 2020 the company announced that its molecular diagnostics division, Primerdesign, had launched a molecular test for the 2019 strain of SARSr-CoV. The test was approved as eligible for procurement under the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing process in April 2020, meaning that the test could be supplied by the United Nations and other procurement agencies supporting the COVID-19 response. In the same month Novacyt announced a collaboration with AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and the University of Cambridge to support the UK in its COVID-19 national screening programme at a new testing laboratory at the university's Anne McLaren laboratory.

References

External links
 Novacyt Group website
 Primerdesign website
 Microgen Bioproducts website
 Lab21 Healthcare website

Biotechnology companies of France
Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
Companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Q: Why do I have to call the Cast<> extension method on a DataGridViewRow? This doesn't work.
var result =
    from row in grid.Rows
    where (string) row.Cells["COLUMN_1"].Value == "Test"
    select row.Cells["COLUMN_2"].Value as int?;

But this does.
var result =
    from row in grid.Rows.Cast<DataGridViewRow>()
    where (string) row.Cells["COLUMN_1"].Value == "Test"
    select row.Cells["COLUMN_2"].Value as int?;

As far as I can tell, the DataGridViewRowCollection is a collection of DataGridViewRows. So why do I have to cast each member to a DataGridViewRow before I can access its properties?
Does it have anything to do with the fact that DataGridViewRowCollection implements the non-generic IEnumerable but not the generic version IEnumerable<DataGridViewRow>? Or that it apparently uses an ArrayList internally? It's not causing me any real problems, but I'd like to understand it better.

A: Yes, it's exactly because of the interface it advertises. Almost all the extension methods in LINQ work on IEnumerable<T> rather than IEnumerable. Cast<> is one way of bridging that gap - OfType<> is another.
However, there's a simpler way of calling Cast<T> - just explicitly type your range variable:
var result =
    from DataGridViewRow row in grid.Rows
    where (string) row.Cells["COLUMN_1"].Value == "Test"
    select row.Cells["COLUMN_2"].Value as int?;

The compiler turns this into exactly the same code as your second sample.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
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Doug Carn (born July 14, 1948) is an American jazz musician from St. Augustine, Florida, formerly married to Jean Carne and known for his several albums released for Black Jazz Records. Carn is a multi-instrumentalist known primarily for his work on organ and piano.

Career
Carn studied oboe and composition at Jacksonville University from 1965 to 1967, then finished his education at Georgia State College in 1969. He also taught piano and jazz improvisation at Jacksonville University for several years.

He, along with Chris Lightburn and Rev. H. L. Patterson of St. Mary's Baptist Church, founded the Lincolnville Restoration and Development Committee in his home town of St. Augustine in 1979. One of the group's projects was the organizing, in 1979, of the annual Lincolnville Festival, which has continued into the 21st century and become one of the Ancient City's leading cultural events.

Carn recorded several albums on the Black Jazz Records label during the 1970s that have since achieved cult classic status, including Infant Eyes, Adam's Apple, and Revelation.  He worked with Nat Adderley, Earth, Wind & Fire, Shirley Horn, Lou Donaldson, Stanley Turrentine, and Irene Reid. In 1997 Carn and other jazz organists including Dr. Lonnie Smith and Reuben Wilson recorded Bongobop with The Essence Allstars that featured both solo performances and a duet with Joey DeFrancesco. He was featured on drummer Cindy Blackman's (of Lenny Kravitz fame) album Another Lifetime. Since 2010 Carn and ex-wife Jean have been performing and touring together; including weekend appearances in 2012 at Ronnie Scott's in London and in 2013 at Lincoln Center and the Iridium in NYC and the Savannah Jazz Festival. His release My Spirit (2015), included live performances of selections from the Black Jazz albums, peaking at No. 46 on the JazzWeek chart.

Discography

As leader
 1969: The Doug Carn Trio (Savoy)
 1971: Infant Eyes (Black Jazz)
 1972: Spirit of the New Land (Black Jazz) with Jean Carn
 1973: Revelation (Black Jazz) with Jean Carn
 1974: Adam's Apple (Black Jazz)
 1976: Higher Ground (Ovation) with Jean Carn; compilation of Black Jazz material
 1977: Al Rahman! Cry of the Floridian Tropic Son (Tablighi Records) as Abdul Rahim Ibrahim
 1995: In A Mellow Tone (Lighthouse Records)
 1996: The Best of Doug Carn (Universal Sound) compilation of Black Jazz material
 2001: A New Incentive "Firm Roots" (Black Jazz)
 2015: My Spirit [live] (Doodlin' Records)
 2019: Free For All (Doodlin' Records)
 2020: Jazz Is Dead 5 (Jazz Is Dead) with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad

With The Essence Allstars
 1997: Bongobop (Hip Bop Essence)

As sideman

With Calvin Keys
 Vertical Clearance (2005)
With Cindy Blackman
 Another Lifetime (2010)
With Curtis Fuller
 Keep It Simple (Savant, 2005)
With Intuit
 Intuit (2004)
With Melvin Van Peebles
 As Serious as a Heart-Attack (1974)
With Wallace Roney
 Home (HighNote, 2010 [2012])

References

1948 births
Living people
American jazz composers
American male jazz composers
American jazz pianists
American male pianists
American jazz singers
American jazz saxophonists
American male saxophonists
American jazz oboists
Male oboists
Black Jazz Records artists
Savoy Records artists
Jacksonville University alumni
Savannah State University alumni
Jazz musicians from Florida
20th-century American pianists
21st-century American saxophonists
21st-century American pianists
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians


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FTR's Analysis of What the Suspension of the 34-hour Restart Means to Capacity Utilization
It appears that opponents of the FMCSA's restart regulations have succeeded in attaching a provision to the current Federal funding bill that will suspend the recently changed 34-hour restart regulations pending a study of their effects. At issue is the requirement to have nighttime sleeping periods during the mandated rest period. Those periods mean that truckers are unable to resume their work cycle in the evening or at night, a major hindrance to many schedules. Given the need for a study, followed by several steps in the regulatory process, FTR has estimated that modified regulations would be in place no earlier than early-2017.
FTR has added this important development to its industry-leading analysis of regulatory drag with the following important result: this change will improve industry productivity by 2.2% immediately, lasting for the two years FTR believes it will take to write a modified regulation. It is estimated that the modified regulation will impose only a very small additional burden, offsetting about half of the current improvement mentioned above. In the meantime, the 2015 productivity benefit will noticeably affect truckload capacity utilization. This will join an already moderating trend to lower capacity utilization to near 96.6%. While this is high by historical standards, it is nearly 300 basis points below the critical level of a year ago. This means that the industry will have an important reserve of surge capacity to handle seasonal peaks or other issues in 2015. FTR expects price increases to moderate as a result, especially for spot markets.
Noël Perry, FTR's Senior Consultant and Managing Director, commented, "It is important to note that this change does not reduce the impending wave of regulatory drag still scheduled for late 2016 and beyond. Indeed it makes it worse, because the revised regs will hit just when a bunch of other regulatory changes appear as well. At that point, capacity will move above 100% and stay there for a year or more, unless the FMCSA doesn't do what it says it will do, or if recession appears to blunt demand. Should recession occur -- at FTR we think this is likely -- that simply will push the crisis out a year or two. At that time, the problem will be worsened by a surge in recovery freight."
Additional details from the proposed legislation highlight a strong concern over the timely adoption of electronic logging devices (ELD). The bill directs the FMCSA to publish its proposed regulation three months earlier than originally planned. Noël Perry stated that "the real message here is the demonstration of Congressional support for safety regulations since the ELDs will have a much larger initial impact than the 34-hour restart rules."
In summary, the big news is that the already moderating driver shortage will be reduced more for the next two years. The bad news is that the problem is not going away. It is simply moved out to 2017.
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Noël Perry is the rare economist to specialize in transportation and logistics. Noël has followed his passionate interest in the way freight moves over a forty-year career, beginning on a loading dock and culminating in his role as a leading industry consultant.
Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter: @NoelPerry12
"When it says FTR, that gives us instant credibility!"
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Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf (1909-1995) was born and educated in Vienna, gaining a PhD in anthropology from the University of Vienna in 1931. A grant from the Rockefeller Foundation enabled him to study at the London School of Economics, under the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski. In 1936, he went to the Naga Hills in northeast India for his first fieldwork; over the next four decades, he worked extensively in south & central India, northeast India and Nepal. In 1950 he was appointed Professor of Anthropology at SOAS, where he established the Department of Anthropology. During his career, he published seventeen books, most of them ethnographies of tribal cultures. He was President of the Royal Anthropological Institute (1975-77) and a pioneer in the field of visual anthropology.
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Historic Beer Birthday: Jaromír Vejvoda
March 28, 2019 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment
Today is the birthday of Jaromír Vejvoda (March 28, 1902-November 13, 1988). He was a Czech composer and his most famous song was the "Beer Barrel Polka."
Here's a short biography of Vejvoda, from his Wikipedia page:
Vejvoda was born and died in Zbraslav. He learned to play the fiddle and flugelhorn in a band led by his father. Later he played these instruments in a military band. He started to compose in the 1920s while he worked as a bartender in a pub owned by his father-in-law. In 1929 he wrote the Modřanská polka named after Modřany, a suburb of Prague where it was played the first time. This catchy tune became a hit and allowed Vejvoda to pursue music as a full-time professional. It was published in 1934 with lyrics Škoda lásky, kterou jsem tobě dala… Publishing house Shapiro Bernstein acquired the rights shortly before World War II and the polka, now the "Beer Barrel Polka" with the English lyrics "Roll out the barrel…", became the most popular song of the Allies in the West, although the original Czech lyrics have a very different meaning and do not speak about beer. After the war this polka became popular around the world, in German-speaking countries as "Rosamunde."
And here's the story of his famous song:
"Beer Barrel Polka", also known as "The Barrel Polka" and "Roll Out the Barrel", is a song which became popular worldwide during World War II. The music was composed by the Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda in 1927.[1] Eduard Ingriš wrote the first arrangement of the piece, after Vejvoda came upon the melody and sought Ingriš's help in refining it. At that time, it was played without lyrics as "Modřanská polka" ("Polka of Modřany"). Its first text was written later (in 1934) by Václav Zeman – with the title "Škoda lásky" ("Wasted Love").
The polka became famous around the world. In June 1939, "Beer Barrel Polka", as recorded by Will Glahé, was number one on the Hit Parade. This version was distributed by Shapiro Bernstein. Glahé's earlier 1934 recording sold many copies in its German version Rosamunde (it is possible the reason for the rapid spread was due to the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, and subsequent emigration of thousands of Czechs to other parts of the world, bringing this catchy tune with them). The authors of the English lyrics were Lew Brown and Wladimir Timm. Meanwhile, the song was recorded and played by many others such as Andrews Sisters in 1939, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Benny Goodman, Bobby Vinton, Billie Holiday, and Joe Patek who sold over a million copies of his album "Beer Barrel Polka."
During World War II, versions in many other languages were created and the song was popular among soldiers, regardless of their allegiances. It was claimed many times that the song was written in the country where it had just become a hit. Its actual composer was not widely known until after the war.
The first hit recording of the song under the name we all know it by today was in 1939, by Will Glahé.
And this more recent recording is by Frankie Yankovic and His Yanks.
Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Czech Republic, History, Music
Historic Beer Birthday: Martin Stelzer
January 30, 2019 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment
Today is the birthday of Martin Stelzer (January 30, 1815-August 3, 1894). Stelzer was an architect, probably from Germany, who built a number of homes in Plzeň, Czech Republic, such as "the old (small) Synagogue in Pilsen, the Little Theatre (formerly on Goethe Street) and a stone Saxon bridge in the suburbs of Roudná which has one rare feature, a sweep middle." He was also hired by the local Burghers (or citizens) to build the town brewery, which today is known as the Pilsner Urquell brewery. He is also believed to have hired their first brewmaster, Josef Groll.
This biography is from the Pilsner Urquell website:
When it comes to the founding of Pilsner Urquell, Martin Stelzer remains one of the most important figures, though he is also one of the most misunderstood.
Often mischaracterized as a brewer, Martin Stelzer was the most famous builder in nineteenth-century Plzen — something like the unofficial town architect. Born in 1815, Stelzer had constructed more than two hundred buildings in Plzen by the time of his death in 1894, including such important sites as Old Synagogue of 1859 and the Small Theater of 1869.
When he was first hired to create the new town brewery in 1839, however, Stelzer was just 24 years old — and, most importantly, he had never built a brewery of any kind. (Later, he would be seen as something of an expert on the subject.) One special demand: the new brewery was supposed to be a cold-fermentation or lager brewery, something that did not exist in Plzen at the time. To familiarize himself with the requirements of the project, Stelzer traveled to Bavaria in December of 1839, visiting several breweries there.
A common rumor holds that Stelzer befriended Josef Groll, the first brewmaster of Pilsner Urquell, during this trip, or even that Stelzer brought Groll back to Plzen with him. However, no confirmation of this appears to have been published during Stelzer's lifetime. It certainly seems possible that the two were friends, however, given the closeness of their age: the original brewmaster was less than a year and a half older than the architect.
In addition to directing the expansion of the Burghers' Brewery in 1849 and 1852, as well as the construction of a new fermentation room in 1856, Stelzer designed and built the brewery's enlarged cooperage in 1870. Stelzer's other projects included the next-door Gambrinus brewery in 1869 and the Dobřany town brewery in 1873. He remains part of everyday lore in Plzen today, having given his first name to the street Martinská in central Plzen as early as 1857.
Roger Protz wrote the entry for Pilsner Urquell in the Oxford Companion to Beer, and he mentions Stelzer in these two paragraphs.
Local businessmen and tavern owners in Pilsen committed to raise funds and build a new brewery, to be called Burghers' (Citizens') Brewery. A leading architect, Martin Stelzer, was hired to design the brewery and he toured Europe and Britain to study modern breweries that used the new technologies of the Industrial Revolution—pure yeast strains, steam power, and artificial refrigeration—to make beer.
He returned to Pilsen to design a brewery on a site in the Bubenc district with a plentiful supply of soft water and sandstone foundations where deep cellars could be dug to store or "lager" beer. He also brought with him from Bavaria a brewer called Josef Groll who had the skills to make the new cold-fermented style of beer. See groll, josef. The brewery was built rapidly and its first batch of beer was unveiled at the Martinmas Fair on November 11, 1842. The beer astonished and delighted the people of Pilsen. It was a golden beer, the first truly pale beer ever seen in central Europe, for the lager beers brewed in Bavaria were a deep russet/brown in color as a result of barley malt being kilned or gently roasted over wood fires. A legend in Pilsen says the wrong type of malt was delivered to the brewery by mistake but this seems fanciful. It's more likely that Martin Stelzer brought back from England a malt kiln indirectly fired by coke rather than directly fired by wood. This type of kiln that was used to make pale malt, the basis of the new style of beer brewed in England called pale ale. A model of a kiln in the Pilsen museum of brewing supports this theory.
And here's an account from Food Reference:
At the start of the nineteenth century, the quality of beer everywhere was often poor and standards varied wildly. This prompted some of the Plzen's conscientious and passionate brewers to band together to find a way of producing a beer of a superior and more consistent quality.
Their first decision was one of their finest, to appoint a young architect called Martin Stelzer. Traveling far and wide to study the best of brewery design he returned to Plzen with plans for the most modern brewery of the age.
He chose a site on the banks of the city's Radbuza River, which offered a number of natural advantages – sandstone rock for the easy carving of large tunnels for cold storage, and aquifers supplying the soft water which would one day help make Plzen's finest beer so distinctive.
But, most importantly, Martin Stelzer also discovered a brewmaster who would change the way that beer was brewed forever: a young Bavarian called Josef Groll.
The original gate, which still stands at the brewery.
The brewery today.
Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Czech Republic, Germany, History
Historic Beer Birthday: Charles J. Vopička
November 3, 2018 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment
Today is the birthday of Charles Joseph Vopička (November 3, 1857-September 3, 1935). He was born on the Czech Republic, but emigrated to the U.S. and became a U.S. Citizen and was also a Diplomat. He "served as United States Minister to Bulgaria from 1913 to 1919, United States Minister to Romania from 1913 to 1921, and United States Minister to Serbia from 1913 to 1919." In April 1891, Vopička and other investors founded the Bohemian Brewing Co. in Chicago, though the name was changed to the Atlas Brewing Co. in 1896. Because of prohibition, they stopped making alcoholic beer in 1920, and during those thirteen years was called the Atlas Beverage Co. while they produced non-alcoholic drinks. In 1933, it reopened again and made beer until closing for good in 1962.
This biography is from the Foreign Language Press Survey:
Charles J. Vopicka, the only American of Czechoslovak origin to hold a diplomatic post under the United States, was born in the little village of Dolm Hbity (Dolni Hbity), near Prague, Bohemia, November 3, 1857. His father was a farmer and mayor of the community. That the young man had to seek his fortune early is not to be wondered at, because the family consisted of fourteen children.
After attending the local schools, Charles set out for Prague where he hoped to acquire a business education. Possessed of a good voice he sang in the choir of the Benedictine Monastery and the Monastery of Krizovnice, which enabled him to pay his board, room, clothing and have a small amount for pocket money. Upon the completion of his business studies young Vopicka secured a position as bookkeeper in a brewery where he remained for four years, during which time he studied French. English and Russian.
The year 1880 finds young Vopicka in the United States. After spending a 2short time in Racine and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he decided seek his fortune in Chicago, Illinois, where he arrived in 1881, and has made his home ever since. Immediately he became an American citizen. In the fall of that year he formed a partnership with Otto Kubin under the name of Vopicka and Kubin, which engaged in the real estate and banking business until 1889. Due to a close application to the affairs of the firm by both partners the business prospered and civic honors began to be showered upon Mr. Vopicka. From 1894 until 1897 he was a member of the Chicago West Park Commission; from 1901 until 1907 he was member of the Chicago Board of Education; from 1902 until 1904 he was a member of the Chicago Board of Local Improvements; in 1906 and 1912 respectively, he served on the Chicago Charter Commission, and the Chicago Association of Commerce.
About this time he organized the Atlas Brewing Company of Chicago and became its President and Manager. For four years he served as a director of the Kaspar State Bank, Chicago, and from 1909 until 1913 he was a member of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association. In 1904 he was candidate for Congress for the fifth district of Illinois on the Democratic 3ticket, but he was defeated.
On September 11, 1913, President Wilson appointed Mr. Vopicka as United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Rumania, Serbia and Bulgaria. Here his work, exacting enough in peace times, was made doubly difficult by the outbreak of the Great War. Added to the delicate situation which was created by the daily snapping of diplomatic threads, there was imposed upon him the extra hazardous task of acting as Chairman of the International Commission in Serbia, where he was also representing the German and Austro-Hungarian interests. He was representing British interests in Bulgaria and German and Turkish interests in Rumania. Representing nine nations in Bucharest, during the German occupation of that city, his life for four years was one of extraordinary activity and private and public strain. Acting for Germany and Turkey he handed their ultimatum to Rumania. Likewise to him fell the task of persuading several hundred thousand Russians to remain in the trenches to fight the Central Powers to the bitter end. After the termination of hostilities and the consequent resumption of international 4amenities, Minister Vopicka conducted parleys for the various powers and has notably assisted in the task of building order out of chaos and destruction. In the spring of 1920, he resigned.
On February 3, 1883, Mr. Vopicka married Miss Victoria Kubin, a daughter of Martin Kubin, an organist of Chicago. They had six children….
He is also a member of the Chicago Athletic Association; the South Shore Club; the Iroquois Club and the Bohemian (Ceska Beseda) Club, all of Chicago.
One of the outstanding accomplishments of Mr. Vopicka, while a member of the Chicago West Park Commission, was the erection of the open natatorium connected with a gymnasium, the first to be established in the United States.
Mr. Vopicka has always been prominent in the affairs of the Americans of Czechoslovak origin. He has served on numerous committees and helped in many ways. During the war he could do but little as his diplomatic post required all of his time, energy and strength. However, when the Hoover campaign to aid Czechoslovak children was underway he served as Chairman of the Chicago District Committee.
His experiences in the Balkans during the Great War have thus far been untold. That they will be of considerable historical value, because of their disinterest, is a foregone conclusion. Mr.Vopicka is now engaged in gathering his notes and compiling them in a back, "Secrets of the Balkans", which will appear very shortly. It promises to be one of the sensations in Great War literature.
Since his retirement from diplomatic work, Mr. Vopicka has again taken up business and is now the head of the American Traders Corporation. He is also interested in solving the financial problems of Czechoslovakia and is the active head of a concern planning to build a modern hotel in Prague.
Despite his diplomatic and other business activities, he was the president and manager so he must have found time to be involved in running the brewery, because, in 1911, he gave an address during the annual convention of the U.S. Brewers Association.
Vopička and his family.
And this is from Heritage Happenings, a newsletter from the Bohemian National Cemetary, where Vopička is buried:
Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun, Politics & Law Tagged With: Czech Republic, History, Illinois
Beer Birthday: Evan Rail
September 16, 2018 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment
Today is the 46th birthday of Evan Rail, expat American writer living, and writing about beer, in Prague, Czech Republic. Evan was born and raised in Fresno, but discovered his love for beer while attending U.C. Davis as a French and German literature major. While there, he spent his time at the nearby Sudwerk Privatbrauerei brewpub, and counted among his friends several students in the Master Brewers program. That's also where he began homebrewing in 1993. He also studied in New York and Paris, before making the Czech Republic his home in 2000. His move to Prague was meant to be for a single year, but he's still there almost two decades later. Given that he met his wife there, and they've started a family, it's likely he won't be moving home any time soon. In addition to writing the Good Beer Guide to Prague and the Czech Republic, Rail's also penned Why Beer Matters, In Praise of Hangovers and Triplebock, all Kindle singles. We finally had a chance to share a beer in person last year when he was in San Francisco for an event sponsored by Pilsner Urquell. Join me in wishing Evan a very happy birthday.
Last year at event in san Francisco, where Evan was doing an event for Pilsner Urquell.
Earlier this year in Copenhagen, along with, clockwise from left: Martyn Cornell, Jeff Alworth, Evan, me, Stephen Beaumont, Pete Brown, Stan Hieronymus and Ron Pattinson.
Talking with Stan Hieronymus during a tour of the Carlsberg Laboratory.
A Facebook cover photo of Evan (which is where I purloined it from, along with the next one, too).
A screenshot from a video of Evan talking about Czech beer.
Filed Under: Birthdays Tagged With: California, Czech Republic, United States
Historic Beer Birthday: Josef Groll
August 21, 2018 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment
Today is the birthday of Josef Groll (August 21, 1813-November 22, 1887). He was born in Vilshofen an der Donau, Germany. Many consider the Bavarian brewer to be the inventor of pilsener beer.
Josef Groll's portrait.
According to the Wikipedia account:
The citizens of Pilsen were no longer satisfied with their top-fermented Oberhefenbier. They publicly emptied several casks of beer in order to draw attention to its low quality and short storage life. It was decided to build a new brewery capable of producing a bottom-fermented beer with a longer storage life. At the time, this was termed a Bavarian beer, since bottom-fermentation first became popular in Bavaria and spread from there. The climate in Bohemia is similar to that in Bavaria and made it possible to store ice in winter and cool the fermentation tanks down to 4 to 9 degrees Celsius year-round, which is necessary for bottom-fermentation.
Bavarian beer had an excellent reputation, and Bavarian brewers were considered the masters of their trade. Thus, the citizens of Pilsen not only built a new brewery, but also hired Josef Groll, a Bavarian brewer. Josef Groll's father owned a brewery in Vilshofen in Lower Bavaria and had long experimented with new recipes for bottom-fermented beer. On October 5, 1842, Groll produced the first batch of Urquell beer, which was characterized by the use of soft Bohemian water, very pale malt, and Saaz hops It was first served in the public houses Zum Goldenen Anker, Zur weißen Rose and Hanes on 11 November 1842, and was very well received by the populace.
Josef Groll's contract with the Bürgerliches Brauhaus (citizens' brewery) in Pilsen expired on April 30, 1845 and was not renewed. Groll returned to Vilshofen and later inherited his father's brewery. The Pilsen brewery was directed by Bavarian brewers for nearly sixty years until 1900.
Groll around age 60.
Here's a description of Groll and his development of pilsner from the German Beer Institute:
The modern Pils may be a northern German brew, but it was a Bavarian brewmaster, Josef Groll, who started it all a scant 160 years ago, when he accepted a new job. Groll, who was born in 1813 in the Bavarian village of Vilshofen (some 100 miles northeast of Munich), prepared a new mash on October 5, 1842, at his new place of employment, the Burgher Brewery in the Bohemian city of Pilsen. As it turned out, the brew that Josef was mixing in the mash tun that day was truly revolutionary…it was the very first blond lager. It was a brew that was to set the style for an entirely new line of beers. The beer that resulted from that first brew was first served on November 11, 1842…and it has conquered the entire world ever since.
Until Groll made his new beer, the standard drink in Pilsen was a top-fermented brew, an ale. But not all was well with the Pilsen ale, because on one occasion, the city council ordered that 36 casks of it be dumped in public. It had become all too frequent that the beers available to the good burghers of Pilsen had been unfit to drink. This caused them to stick their heads together and to hatch a drastic plan: They would invest in a new, state-of-the art brewery and contract a competent brewer to come up with a better beer. In the 1840s, that meant a brewery capable of making Bavarian-style bottom-fermented brews, that is, lagers. Because of the reputation of Bavarian beer, Bavarian brewmasters, too, were held in high regard. So the citizens of Pilsen not only built a Bavarian brewhouse for Bavarian beer, they even engaged a Bavarian brewer to rescue the Pilsner beer from oblivion.
The fellow they engaged for the job was the above-mentioned Josef Groll of Vilshofen. He was an intrepid brewer who clearly rose to the challenge. Instead of using the standard dark malts of his day, he kilned his malt to a very pale color — a technique that had only recently been perfected in Britain. Groll then made use of only the finest of local raw materials. He flavored the brew with plenty of hops from the Saaz region of Bohemia (today, Czech Saaz hops is considered one of the finest aroma hops money can buy) and, of course, brewed with the city's extremely soft water. From these ingredients he made an extract, which he fermented with good Bavarian lager yeast — and a new beer was born. Nobody before Groll had ever made such an aromatic golden-blond, full-bodied lager.
When Joseph's contract was up, on April 30, 1845, he went back home to his native Bavaria, but his new beer's reputation spread quickly beyond the limits of Pilsen. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Joseph Groll sure had cause to feel flattered. Initially, the designation Pilsner beer was just an appellation of origin — a beer made in the city of Pilsen. But soon the new brew was copied everywhere. The first imitators were in adjacent towns with similarly soft water and equal access to Saaz hops. This was the beginning of the Bohemian Pilsner style. But breweries across the border, in Germany, began also to be interested in the Bohemian phenomenon … they had to, because it started to eat into their own sales. This was the time in Europe, when the emerging railway network made the transportation of beer possible to just about any major city.
By the turn of the 19th century, it had become chic from Paris to Vienna and from Hamburg to Rome to drink the beer from Pilsen. The beer's name had become a household word, usually in its abridged form of Pils. The term Pils had evolved from an appellation of origin to a designation for a new beer style, the very model of a modern lager beer. When Groll died in the village of his birth, in little Vilshofen, on October 22, 1887, he probably had no idea how profound a revolution he had brought about in the world of beer!
Groll's beer was taking the continent by storm and was even making inroads in Munich, where brewers were starting to make their own variation on the Groll brew. The Burgher Brewery of Pilsen, however, where it had all started, was far from flattered by the imitations its beer had spawned. This brewery was far more interested in supplying the demand for Pilsner beer itself than having other breweries usurp what it considered its proprietary brand name. In 1898, therefore, the Burgher Brewery of Pilsen went to court in Munich. It sought an injunction against the Thomass Brewery, which had come out with a blonde lager, named "Thomass-Pilsner-Bier." The verdict that the court handed down in April 1899, however, went against the plaintiff. The court argued that "Pilsner" was no longer an appellation, but had become a universal style designation.
A diorama of Groll in his lab at the Pilsner Urquell Museum.
And this account is from Food Reference, but appears to have been written by Pilsner Urquell:
Most importantly, Martin Stelzer also discovered a brewmaster who would change the way that beer was brewed forever: a young Bavarian called Josef Groll.
The first brewmaster, a visionary, young Bavarian Josef Groll, revolutionized how beer was brewed, looked and tasted.
Beer as we know it has always been produced using the same basic ingredients, hops, barley and water, and for thousands of years was brewed in open vats with fermentation occurring at the top of the brew.
Groll was able to look beyond what was possible and combine his knowledge of an innovative new bottom fermenting process, known as 'lagering', with his access to the finest local ingredients at Plzen: a special type of two-row fine-husk barley, the locally grown Saaz hops and of course the uniquely soft local water.
In 1842 Josef Groll's vision became reality. He succeeded in making a beer the best it could be.
Josef Groll was an unlikely hero, so rude and bad-tempered he was described as the 'coarsest man in the whole of Bavaria' by his father.
But it is the fate of every genius to challenge those around him. Throughout history those who have made a step change in their fields, those who have had an idea of true originality, have had one thing in common, the ability to see beyond the ordinary, and create something extraordinary.
Sir Issac Newton observed an apple, and it changed how we see the world. A certain Mr Columbus discovered the New World by rejecting how everyone had seen the old one. And in 1842 Josef Groll created a beer that changed the way the world would see beer.
From the dawn of civilization, beer had been a dark, murky liquid. Then a protest by the citizens of Plzen, Bohemia, inspired the change that would influence the entire beer industry and set the standard for all lagers.
After furious citizens had dumped no less than 36 barrels of undrinkable sludge into the city's gutters in 1838, it sparked off a remarkable chain of events – a new brewery building, an innovative new brewmaster and finally the world's first golden beer.
On 4 October 1842 in St Martin's market, Plzen, Josef Groll unveiled his new creation to widespread sensation, after all a golden beer had never been seen before.
News of this remarkable Plzen beer spread throughout Bohemia. The arrival of the railway and the beer's popularity amongst German and French tourists soon meant that Plzen's famous brew gained international appeal.
But with success inevitably came competition. Josef Groll's original golden beer soon spawned many imitators, many of which also claimed to be Plzen or Pilsner beer, whether they came from Plzen or not. In fact, today Pilsner has become a generic term around the world for any bottom-fermented golden beer sold as 'pils' or 'pilsner'.
In 1898, the brewery acted to protect itself against inferior competitors and the beer's name was changed to Pilsner Urquell- a German phrase meaning literally "from the original source, Plzen".
Some say the name was changed to satisfy consumer demand for the original golden beer. But as those who know their beer will tell you: you can tell the original Pilsner by its slightly darker shade of gold, and of course by its taste which is a world apart.
Beer Sweden also has a nice two-part account, as does Brewing Techniques and Food Reference. Pilsner Urquell's Czech website also has a brief history and a timeline. Brewer K. Florian Klemp wrote Presenting Pilsners for All ABout Beer, which includes Groll's story.
Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: Czech Republic, History
Czech Republic Wants You To Call Them "Czechia" To Sell More Beer
April 19, 2016 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment
This is interesting, if odd, news. The Czech Republic wants you to call them "Czechia," believing that the shorter name is easier to remember and will ultimately sell more Czech — excuse me — Czechia beer. According to the CIA World Factbook, the official name of the country is simply the Czech Republic, in the local language, "Česka republika." The "name derives from the Czechs, a West Slavic tribe who rose to prominence in the late 9th century A.D."
The nation's website claims that "apparently it's difficult for a country to make its way in the world if it has not got a shortened, easy to pronounce, name; something that fits in big letters on a shirt. And the Czech Republic has been dealing with that handicap ever since the split up of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Various unofficial options have been tried, Czech, the Czech lands, for example, but the safest option has often been to revert to the full, official name. After months of deliberations, they think they have a solution. Here's what they decided.
Now, the Czech Republic appears ready to end confusion and take the plunge with an official choice. Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek, who is often confronted with confusion over the name, explained what is at stake.
"We are not talking here about the official political name, Czech Republic, Česká Republika, which is clearly established. But in Europe, every country or almost every country, has a shortened geographical title, for instance the Polish Republic is just Poland, and the same follows for others. In our case, unfortunately, it's not quite so simple because we have not been able to share with the rest of the world the shortened name we use in Czech, Česko. But for us there exists just one possible option as a correct translation of that and that is something along the lines of Chequia or Czechia."
Czechia in English, and various similar forms in other languages, is reckoned to be the most faithful translation of Česko. And it will be raised at a meeting on Thursday evening attended by the foreign minister, prime minister, heads of two chambers, and the president. If the idea is approved, then the shortened name will be registered with the United Nations, and should start to become common verbal and visual currency.
Minister Zaorálek says sporting bodies for one appear to be keen for a final agreement on a shortened name.
"Perhaps it will be something of a relief for them because it will be clear what must be written on the kits and there will be a general agreement about that. The problem is that we have not been able to agree on this as fast as we would have liked. I had the idea that it would be great if we could have got this done in time for the Olympic games but this whole process of approval by constitutional officials and the government has taken a certain amount of time and in the meantime they have had to start making the uniforms. So if it not this time it will be the next. And I have seen that sportsmen and women are willing to do this but they need some time to prepare."
Some are asking whether Czechia might not cause confusion among the geographically challenged. In a far from isolated example, in 2013 the US broadcaster CNN confused the Russian province of Chechnya with the Czech Republic, suggesting that the Boston Marathon bombers came from the Central European country.
It's worth noting that the local term for the country is "Česko," so it's not to far off from that, though it seems like it will take some time to get used to it.
Business Insider asserts in their headline that The Czech Republic is changing its name to Czechia to make it easier to sell beer, adding "Because the name of the country is quite long, companies often brand their merchandise with the word "Czech" to show which country their product comes from. One company that does this is Pilsner Urquell beer, which has "Brewed in Plezen – Czech" written on the bottle. The problem with this is that the word "Czech" is an adjective so can't really be used as a proper noun."
So the official line doesn't mention beer as one of the reasons for the country's new nickname, but several news outlets have brought it up. For example, the New York Times mentions Pilsner Urquell, and their use of "Czech" on packaging already, rather than the official "Czech Republic."
Variants that did not make the cut included "Czechlands," "Bohemia" and, simply, "Czech." (Pilsner Urquell, the storied beer maker, uses "Brewed in Czech" on its cans.)
But they're hoping to make the change before the Olympics take place, hoping that the Czech Republic's team can be referred to instead as the team from Czechia later this year in Brazil.
"It's not good when a country does not have any clearly defined symbols, or cannot say clearly what its name is," Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said on Tuesday, unveiling the proposal. "It would be good to set the record straight once and for all. We owe this to ourselves and to the world."
On Thursday, Czech officials said they would have the name added to the United Nations database of geographical names, which records country names in the world body's six official languages.
Fans of the change have set up a website, Go Czechia, to dispel myths about the name, its origins and other facts surrounding it.
There's also an interesting post from transculture, written by faculty of the School of Humanities within the Faculty of Arts, University of Wolverhampton, entitled From Czech Republic to Czechia, in which they reprint an excerpt from an article by linguist Tom Dickins, who wrote 'The Czech-speaking lands, their peoples and contact communities: titles, names and ethnonyms', published in The Slavonic and East European Review, 89 (3), 2011, pp. 401–54. Here's what Dr. Dickens had to say:
"The degree of acceptance of short forms for the Czech Republic in foreign languages varies significantly. Some languages have largely embraced a new descriptor; for instance, French Tchéquie, German Tschechien and Spanish Chequía. Others have proven more resistant. Neither Czechia in English nor Cechia in Italian (which is perhaps too close to cieca [blind woman]) have become so well established, despite their endorsement in 1993 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and their appearance in official geographical lists.105
There can be few precedents of a small state attempting to impose usage of this type on the speakers of major foreign languages, so it is difficult to predict the likely degree of acceptance of the promoted forms. For what it is worth, a poll conducted in 2006 found that ordinary Czechs overwhelmingly prefer the adjectival form Czech (used as an odd-sounding substantive in English) to Czechia, Czechlands and Czecho.106 Amongst native English speakers, Czecho, the misnomer Czechoslovakia (cf. continued references to 'Yugoslavia'), the Czech-speaking lands and the Czechland(s), all appear to be more common than Czechia, for which there is only one citation in the Bank of English corpus.107 It is striking that even English-speaking Bohemicists are reluctant to adopt Czechia, and in some cases oppose it on the not altogether rational grounds of euphony.
To some extent, the Czechs recognize the anomaly of the situation, as exemplified in the variety of terms which they use to promote themselves abroad, including Czech/CZ made (which invites the unfortunate pun šmejd [junk]), Made in Czechia, Made in (the) Czech Republic, Made in Czech R./Rep./CR/CZ, Czech (Team) or Czech Republic (on sports kit), Czech beer or Brewed in Bohemia/the Czech Republic/in Plzeň, Czech (on the Prazdroj bottle) and Moravian wine."
Filed Under: Beers, News, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Announcements, Czech Republic
Pre-Pilsner Pilsen
This morning Pilsner Urquell tweeted the quetion "What happened in Plzen in the 1830s to make the citizens decide to build their own brewery?"
The answer Pilsner Urquell gives to Plzen Before Pilsner Urquell is a short history lesson about Bohemia in the mid-1800s.
What was the town of Plzen like when Pilsner Urquell was founded back in 1842? To get a feel for things, imagine the number 563. That's the total number of dwellings — just 563 buildings for living in — that stood in Plzen at the time of the town's 1840 census.
Despite its small size, Plzen was still a relatively important place, especially after the construction of the military barracks that were built there in 1826 (this was crowd-funded and paid for by the citizens), after which the town's population and strategic importance grew substantially. By 1840, Plzen had grown to 10,184 inhabitants, up from 6,447 inhabitants some fifty years earlier.
Along with the barracks, Plzen also developed a more cultivated side in the 1820s and 1830s, developing a merchant class and showing theatrical performances and concerts in both Czech and German languages. Perhaps because of that cosmopolitanism, as well as the town's setting not far from the Czech-Bavarian border, a number of imported beers, including many Bavarian dark lagers, began showing up in Plzen by the mid-1830s. These proved to be quite popular, and some residents complained that Plzen was flooded by imported beers. Ironically, the imports were quite cheap, much cheaper than Plzen's own beer at the time, which thus had trouble selling fast enough to keep up with its relatively short shelf life.
The result was a major problem for local beer lovers. The first solution suggested by the citizens of Plzen? A ban on all imported beer. Only after this idea was laughingly dismissed by the town's mayor Martin Kopecký did the good people of Plzen came up with their second proposal: to build a new brewery that could compete with the imports.
It's funny to see concerns about imports being an issue even 175 years ago, something that's still talked about today.
The image Pilsner Urquell uses part of with the story is from 1649. It was a "copper engraving, uncolored as published," and is a "Bird's eye view of the city of Pilsen, published in the Topographia Bohemiae by Matthaeus Merian."
Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Czech Republic, History
PilsNOIR Urquell, Czech Brewery's New Black Pilsner
April 1, 2014 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment
The pilsner style, with it's brilliant golden color, was first brewed in the Bohemian town of Plzen in 1842. Pilsner Urquell started a revolution in brewing and it became the most widely copied type of beer, quickly transforming it into the most popular beer style in the world.
After over 170 years making just one beer, Plzeňský Prazdroj decided it was time to do something different and today are launching PilsNOIR Urquell, a totally new black pilsner. Made with the same Moravian barley and their signature Czech Saaz hops along with the naturally soft local water that's made Pilsner Urquell to make one of the finest beers in the world, it's sure to start another revolution.
Just kidding. Mark Dredge, who's been doing some work for Pilsner Urquell in England, sent me this mock-up spoof the brewery created just to have a little fun. No matter which beer you choose to drink today, remember to have yourself a little fun. The real copy should read:
"We've been making the same beer in the same way for 172 years. Why change now. Even on April Fools Day."
Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, News Tagged With: Czech Republic, Humor, New Beer, new release
Beer In Ads #1065: Pilsner Urquell Keeps You On Earth
January 8, 2014 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment
Wednesday's ad is for Pilsner Urquell, from what looks to be the 1950s based on the style of illustration on this postcard. Showing a geeky-looking mathematician in front of a blackboard filled with a calculation. I wonder if it's just gibberish or if it really does express something mathematically — gravity perhaps? But the idea is that if it weren't for math we wouldn't be here on planet beer to enjoy our Pilsner Urquell.
Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, Czech Republic, History
Czech Beer Infographic
Today's infographic is all about Czech beer, since today is also independence day for the Czech Republic, when then-Czechoslovakia gained their independence from Austria-Hungary in 1918. It was created by Beer Prague, a brewery tour company.
Click here to see the infographic full size.
Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Czech Republic, Infographics


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OMGZendaya and Jacob Elordi Spark Dating Rumors By Vacationing Together in Greece
Sep 3, 2019 9:52 am
Wait, are Zendaya and Jacob Elordi dating? That seems to be the question on everyone's minds after they were spotted vacationing together in Greece. Yep, the two stars (who both acted in the HBO show Euphoria!) just jetted off to Athens together to celebrate the former Shake It Up actress' birthday, and um, we are so here for this rumored new couple.
Ok, so although the two haven't shared any pictures from the vacation themselves, fans were quick to notice them in the background of a tourist's photo.
Damn bae never lets me get a pic alone
A post shared by Easy (@marcus_easy) on Aug 30, 2019 at 8:34am PDT
OMG. As fans know, everyone has been shipping Zendaya and her Spider-Man: Homecoming costar Tom Holland for quite some time now. Why? Well, besides acting in two movies together and having a ton of chemistry on screen, the two stars are constantly hanging out, gushing over each other in interviews and on social media, posting adorable photos together and having the cutest little interactions. Not to mention that a bunch of people semi-close to the rumored pair even confirmed that they were dating!
When a fan asked on Instagram if the two were in a relationship back in September 2018, Skai Jackson's mom seemingly responded, "Yes. It's true. They been on the low for a while."
But despite all the proof, the costars have continuously insisted that they're only friends. Not to mention that Tom was recently photographed cuddling up to a different girl, so yeah, it's safe to say that they aren't dating after all.
As for Jacob, he was linked to his Kissing Booth costar Joey King for a while. But in November 2018, fans speculated that they had called it quits after they noticed the two stars had deleted some of their Instagram pictures together. And in July 2019, the internet pretty much lost it when he was spotted kissing model Cari Flowers.
Well, until they confirm anything, it's hard to say for sure what's going on between Zendaya and Jacob, but they would seriously make an adorable couple.
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place on the banks of the Ganges every year, and every 12 years the Kumbh Mela—when hundreds of thousands if not millions of pilgrims descend on the city, including thousands of holy men and women. The legacy of the British and the Mughal rulers can be seen around the city, with the architecture a curious mixture of Gothic and Mughal. Make sure to visit the Allahabad Fort, home to the "immortal tree," as well as the Allahabad Museum. All Saints Cathedral is considered one of the finest in the whole of India.
Anyway, i don't know if any of us could rectify it, but please do suggest a way to change it or it would be so nice, if anyone could do it. Kanpur is also wrongly added to Kerela. Both Allahabad and Kanpur are Districts of most populated Northern State, Uttar Pradesh.
To cut it short, our History, 9 out of 14 Prime Minister of India belongs to Uttar Pradesh (State) and 7 of them are either born in Allahabad or had received there education at some level or the other at Allahabad.
Now the most important part for which we all are here, it is one of the most developed city in Uttar Pradesh. All modern facilities and amenities are easily accessible. Shopping culture is on boom, Many restaurant are available but mainly serves North Indian Food, for continental 'El Chico' would be a recommendation, no better standalone restaurant serving continental i know till date.
Mainly known for it's Sangam- a confluence of three river i.e. Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, though river saraswati couldn't be seen and don't know of anyone who had seen it either. so it's mainly Ganga & Yamuna.The point of convergence is a sacred place for Hindus. A bath here is said to wash away all the sins and free the individual from the cycle of rebirth. Kumbh Mela (Every 12 year), Aardh Kumbh (Every 6 year), Magh Mela (Every year) are the major occasion when this sacred baths are performed in the month January-February (oOH! its Winter:P), well people come in millions, Allahabad becomes the most populated city in the world during the Kumbh Mela period.


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THE SOJOURNERS
That three remarkable singers from the U.S. would align themselves under the banner of The Sojourners in Vancouver remains one of the most inspiring stories in the Canadian roots music community of the last couple of decades.
Marcus Mosely who hails from Texas, Will Sanders whose roots are deep in Louisiana and Khari McClelland who was raised in Detroit are a group that strangely enough Canada can call it's own and The Sojourners are without question one of the top vocal groups on the continent.
[soliloquy id="7989″]
Brought together by Mosely after he received a call from bluesman Jim Byrnes a few years ago, requesting he round up a few talented friends for a recording session, The Sojourners took flight at that session and have been soaring at high altitudes ever since.
Three terrific recordings (Sing And Never Get Tired/The Sojourners/Hold On), prestigious dates with Byrnes opening for the Blind Boys of Alabama and Dr. John, headlining spots at Canada's finest roots festivals and participation in the award-winning Things About Coming My Way: A Tribute To The Music of the Music of the Mississippi Sheiks as well as the Time-Life box-set Let Freedom Ring, are confirmations of the impact The Sojourners have had on audiences around the world.
As the Sojourners bio proclaims: This is not music that strives to be polite. In The Sojourners' universe, echoes of doo wop, R&B, country and blues weave together to create a unique sound that has all but vanished from today's world. This is gospel music that can take a punch and remain standing. Singing praise music with their own special 'stank', the Sojourners sound just as at home in a road house bar as they do in a revival tent.
ROOTS&BLUES fans can look forward to a strong gospel blues component this year and expect The Sojourners to be the foundation of what will be a marvelous and inspired set early Sunday afternoon and of course The Sojourners will be doing a stand alone concert as well as workshops of varying themes at side stages.
The Sojourners would make Pops Staples smile in a big way!
Visit The Sojourners website to find out more about this band: www.thesojourners.ca


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https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/COMING-HOME-Conn-and-Mass-state-troopers-escort-11865110.php
COMING HOME Conn. and Mass. state troopers escort body of fallen brother officer
Published 12:00 am EDT, Saturday, September 4, 2010
ENFIELD (AP) -- The body of state trooper Kenneth Hall was escorted home from the Massachusetts medical examiner's office Friday afternoon.
Hall was killed in an accident on Route 91 in Enfield Thursday afternoon when a pickup truck, driven by 32-year-old Michael Pajak of Enfield, slammed into Hall's cruiser while he was parked in the northbound right shoulder during a traffic stop.
Hall was pronounced dead at a Springfield, Mass., hospital. Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio said seven of that state's police cruisers escorted Hall's body Friday afternoon from the Holyoke office of the state medical examiner to the state line on Interstate 91.
Connecticut troopers continued the escort from there to a Windsor funeral home. In both states highway access was briefly closed to allow the procession to pass.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered U.S. and state flags to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Hall, who was 57.
Connecticut state police said Hall's death was the 12th fatal motor vehicle accident involving a trooper or auxiliary trooper.
Pajak and a passenger in the truck, Jenny Benvenuto, 33, of Windsor, also were taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Benvenuto was in critical condition Friday, but there was no information on Pajak.
Pajak had not been charged in connection with Hall's death on Friday. Police said their investigation was continuing.
Pajak has a criminal record that includes a citation for distracted driving in May, according to the Judicial Branch website. He was convicted of driving with a suspended license in 2000 and served time in prison on drug charges, according to the records.
According to police reports of Thursday's accident, Hall was stopped behind another vehicle in the right shoulder with the emergency lights on his car activated. Police said Pajak, who was speeding in the far left lane, tried to cross all three travel lanes at once and ended up veering off the highway and hitting Hall's cruiser, pushing it into the car in front. Pajak's truck then sideswiped the front car and rolled over, coming to rest in the left lane.
The driver of the truck Hall initially stopped was standing on the side of the highway and witnessed the accident. He was not injured.


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Home / Business / Education / News / Minimum Wage: NUT Rejects N27,000, Insists on N30,000 For all Workers
Minimum Wage: NUT Rejects N27,000, Insists on N30,000 For all Workers
January 23, 2019 Business, Education, News
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), has frowned at the N27, 000 minimum wage approved for Nigerian workers by the National Council of State.
The union was also not comfortable with the Federal Government's decision to pay its workers N30,000 as minimum wage. The National Council of State, at its Tuesday, Jan. 22 meeting, approved N27,000 as the new minimum wage.
Dr Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, however, said that the Federal Government would pay 30,000 as minimum wage to its workers.
The minister, however, said the state governors were at liberty to add to the approved amount if they so desired, but that the option of paying should not be less than N27, 000.
In December 2018, the tripartite committee had recommended N30, 000 as minimum wage. Dr Mike Ene, NUT Secretary-General, told newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, that the council should make the new minimum wage equal across board.
"It is unfair and needed to be addressed immediately because a worker is a worker everywhere in the country, either with the federal or state government.
"The N30, 000 translates to N1, 000 per day, we insist that the 30, 000 stands for all workers in the country,'' Ene said. Dr Sabiu Sani, a lecturer with the Department of Economics, University of Abuja, said that the government would have implemented the tripartite committee agreement.
According to him, "We are supposed to have leaders that we can trust and not those that show disrespect to contract.''
Minimum Wage: NUT Rejects N27,000, Insists on N30,000 For all Workers Reviewed by newsrepublique media on January 23, 2019 Rating: 5


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Tags: dna | testing
DNA Testing Becomes More Affordable
Thursday, 16 July 2009 02:50 PM
A young US start-up brimming with medical research veterans brings genetic testing to the masses on Wednesday with an affordable, comprehensive DNA service for the public.
Pathway Genomics entered a growing direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing market with its own laboratory in the Southern California city of San Diego and certification from state and federal agencies.
Genomics vowed to provide the most extensive DNA analysis at the lowest price -- about 250 dollars.
"Our goal is to keep a low cost and make this test available to anyone," Genomics founder and chief executive Jim Plante told AFP.
"I always felt that consumers didn't have direct access to genetic information in a way that was cost effective."
DTC genetics service 23andMe charged 999 dollars for full DNA analysis when it launched in 2006 but cut the price to 399 dollars last year as competitors raced into the market.
Complete genetic analysis for health and ancestry from DTC service deCODEme were priced at 985 dollars, according to its website Tuesday.
Genomics said it keeps costs low and quality high by running an in-house lab equipped with technology whose cost has come down with advances in genetic testing.
Genomics offers extensive analysis of an individual's risk for diabetes, Alzheimer's or myriad other diseases, and claims it can trace people's ancestry back more than 150,000 years.
DNA analysis can also show what conditions parents might pass on to children or when drugs might affect people adversely.
"We felt it was the right time to put together a service like this," Plante said. "We see our clientele as people very interested in improving health and wellness."
Genomics developed a saliva collection kit so all people need do is "spit in a tube, screw on the cap and drop the tube in a return envelope" for delivery to the San Diego laboratory, Plante explained.
A Genomics team of science experts is headed by David Becker, known for his role in a 2008 breakthrough in identifying genes that appear to influence risk of Alzheimer's disease.
"We believe that through genetics, you can learn about yourself and take actions to improve your health and reduce your risk," Becker said.
"We look at genetics as one part of the whole person. On our road map is to work very closely with healthcare providers and integrate that into our service."
Genomics will also provide counselling and education to educate and counsel customers as well as doctors about ways lifestyle, heredity and genetics combine to influence health.
"Evaluating an individual's genetic profile is important, but it only reveals part of a person's health and wellness," Becker said.
"We want our customers to take control of their health by identifying areas in their life that they could change to reduce their risk for developing diseases."
Genomics "risk evaluations" include perspectives on people's chances of getting particular diseases compared to the overall population.
The firm's website at pathway.com has already received a "high percentage" of orders from Europe, South America and the Middle East, Plante said.
Genomics was launched as government officials grapple with whether DTC gene testing services should be more strictly controlled to assure people get reliable results and avoid the misuse of DNA information.
Under one adverse scenario, health insurance providers could deny healthy people policies based on medical risks identified by genetic analysis.
© 2009 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
A young US start-up brimming with medical research veterans brings genetic testing to the masses on Wednesday with an affordable, comprehensive DNA service for the public.Pathway Genomics entered a growing direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing market with its own...
dna,testing


Huawei's vision is to enrich life through communication. By leveraging our experience and expertise in the ICT sector, we help bridge the digital divide by providing opportunities to enjoy broadband services, regardless of geographic location. Contributing to the sustainable development of the society, economy, and the environment, Huawei creates green solutions that enable customers to reduce power consumption, carbon emissions and resource costs.