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Morsels
An Asian Fusion Worth Its Chili
BY DONNA MINKOWITZ
With a unique cuisine, good prices, and a welcoming ambience, Union Square's Laut is a smart place to reserve a table in advance for weekend dinners. | LAUTNYC.COM
As it came to our table, the tiny bowl of curry dip was preceded by its smell — a mix of coconut, warm spices like cinnamon, and a small amount of chili that literally turned my head, like a cartoon character following the aroma of pie. The curry dip accompanied our appetizer of roti canai ($7.50), a Malaysian bread that looked like a South Asian dosa but was softer and doughier. It is difficult to convey how the slightly sweet, aromatic curry sauce attracted my mouth over and over, or how fine it was to stick that bread in it. The dish was simple, delicious, and enormous, a perfect appetizer for two hungry people drinking beer and the first sign that Laut was better than it looked.
I'm usually dubious of restaurants that serve more than one Asian cuisine — it often means they don't do any of them well. But my wife and I were in Union Square after a mildly traumatic trip to the accountant and it was dinnertime. Very little food nearby was both appealing and cheap enough, or, if it was, had no relaxing seating on which to stretch our weary bones. (I'm calling you out, Republic and Num Pang Sandwich Shop. You're delicious, but your comfort level stinks.) Suddenly, there was Laut looming before us on 17th Street and Fifth Avenue, proudly announcing it served "Malaysian, Singaporean, and Thai cuisine." It wasn't expensive, at least by Manhattan standards.
I was ignorant of the fact that Singaporean and Malaysian cooking are inherently very similar anyway. Both share influences from Thai cuisine, as well. Reader, my ignorance on many subjects is vast, but more unpardonable, perhaps, is that I was also unaware of these countries' geography. Half of Malaysia sits on the same peninsula as South Thailand, and the island of Singapore immediately abuts Malaysia's shore. The word Laut means "sea," and Malaysia is bordered by five different seas that connect it to the rest of Southeast and South Asia. All the countries in the vicinity (including Indonesia, and even China and India) share some food traditions and blend them and reformulate them. I've had "sambal" (a tangy chili sauce in several variations) from Sri Lanka, but here was my Laut waitress serving me an authentically Malaysian sambal with squid, my entrée ($15).
Union Square's Laut brings together sibling cuisines of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand
One of the Malaysian versions of sambal is made with shrimp paste crushed with chilies (belacan), and came, in this instance, with okra, string beans, bell peppers, onions, and that squid, in amazingly soft and delicate cylindrical segments. It was the nicest squid I've ever had in my mouth, and delicious in the very hot and slightly funky sauce.
My wife had the curry laksa with vegetables ($12). Yes, laksa, the Malay-Singaporean-Indonesian soup that adorably snotty butch Lisa Fernandes cooked on "Top Chef." (Fangirls, she has opened a food truck in the city called Sweet Chili that you can find on Twitter.) Yes, among my many weaknesses is that I can be strongly influenced by "Top Chef." Anthony Bourdain and Fernandes had spoken of this complex, spicy noodle soup with such a reverence that I'd always wanted to have some. Laut's version was profound and homey, its broth thick with coconut cream, lemongrass, and galangal, and almost too spicy for me to eat. Karen adored it, though, and I did find it addictive the next day as a leftover.
Laut's setting isn't fancy, but there are beautiful murals on its brick walls, including an elaborate one with a squid, a bird, and a large animal turning into flowers in the midst of a psychedelic bright blue sea. Still, the plasticated paper dinner menus are banged up and even a little funky, and the bathroom plumbing isn't perfect. Service is excellent even when the place is full to the gills, as it often is for lunch and dinner. The only time I had poor service was when I came for a very late lunch and found the lone waitress too occupied with her table of dining friends to be at all attentive to me, the only other person in the place.
But I'd rather have this food than be at a yuppie showcase. At a second meal, we had the "crispy and spicy anchovies with peanuts" and little rounds of green chili ($6), described as "must-have Malaysian style beer snacks." Blisteringly hot, salty, and sweet from the caramelization on the peanuts, they were indeed ideal snacks with or without beer, and I've found myself craving them many times since then. The translucent fried anchovies were like Lilliputian salty noodles in the mix.
About that beer: unless you're a fan of Laotian cult favorite Beerlao or Thai lager Singha, also prized by some, get the Hitachino Nest White Ale, a reputedly excellent Belgian-style white beer from Japan, made with orange and coriander, or my own choice, Brooklyn's own Sixpoint Bengali Tiger IPA (delicious with this food). There are also cocktails and a small wine list.
Eating at Laut were couples, groups, and families of all possible race and age combinations, one of the most diverse restaurant clienteles I've seen in Downtown Manhattan. The clientele does tend straight (and skews young at lunch) but isn't so exclusively.
Alas, some of the other entrées left me cold. I was looking forward to masak asam pedas ("spicy and sour clay pot") with shrimp ($21), but it just wasn't spicy or sour enough, despite the lemongrass, turmeric, garlic, chili-shrimp paste, and Vietnamese mint it was supposed to contain. (The shrimp, however, were perfectly cooked and, as an important matter of social justice, did not come from Thailand, where the shrimping industry is currently staffed by slaves.) Cinnamon and star anise-laden masak kicap with chicken ($15) was just okay.
Crispy chili chicken ($12), though, made an insanely good lunch one day, with little bites of chicken that were sweet and extremely hot at once.
Pulut inti ($7) was the most elaborate-sounding dessert on the menu: "steamed dry rice pudding made from glutinous rice and coconut milk, wrapped in banana leaves and topped with fresh grated coconut sweetened with palm sugar." But the waitress must have misheard us, because she brought a bowl of sweet mush made from black rice mixed with coconut milk (bubur pulut hitam), which Karen judged extremely dull. The mush didn't provide any fireworks, but I found it incredibly comforting. It's something I would have liked to eat for breakfast, or if I were homesick and had just suffered a great loss.
At the end of another meal, the waiter brought a freebie with our check: for each of us, a little wrapped Malaysian sour green apple candy. It was plenty exciting enough, with unabashed, juicy sourness that went on for days, with only a little, teeny hit of sweet to moderate its force.
Laut, 15 East 17th Street (lautnyc.com), is wheelchair accessible enough to get to the tables, but of the restrooms, only the men's is accessible. Reservations suggested for weekend evenings (212-206-8989).
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NDIS Core Supports aim to help develop foundational life skills to help you or your loved one complete daily life activities & participate in the community.
One of the key ways the NDIS provides help for people with disability is through support coordination. Here are the answers to four common questions about NDIS support coordination to help you wrap your head around the topic.
NDIS Funding Eligibility relies upon three 'access criteria' that are administered in the 'National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013' and valuable 'National Disability Insurance Scheme Rules 2016'.
NDIS Plan Support Coordinators help the member to appreciate the review system and guarantee they think about their audit rights paying little attention to whether they are content with their arrangement, as this is principal to helping build member's comprehension of the NDIS.
Nextt provides disability support for an independent lifestyle and a life of your choice. Our team believes that the support provided must focus on tailored skill development to enhance independence.
NDIS agent helps you to know How to Apply for NDIS Funding and designs a plan to get the required help in achieving individual targets. This oftentimes fuses funding for backings.
Our dedicated team help you to provide Disability Housing Australia, where you or your loved one can live peacefully and comfortably. We have delivered community care, support and services since 2003, initially delivered through a wide range of government-funded programs, and now including a wide range of privately-funded choices.
The role of a NDIS Plan Support Coordinator is to connect members with an NDIS plan to backings and services in the network. The role of support coordination is to compliment your life and help put your NDIS plan into action.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is an Australian government reform that is planned to give individualized, quality consideration and support for individuals with a disability, their families and carers.
Proficient Services for Adults with Disability are planned to help the physically and mentally individuals to live autonomously anyway much as could be normal with help with joining them in their condition for good social association.
This press release is related to the Disability housing in Australia. Choose a comfortable living and develop independent living skills with Disability housing in Australia.
There are numerous who have no clue about What is NDIS Funding? If your child has a critical and permanent disability or formative deferral, the NDIS bolsters your child and the people who care for your kid.
How to Apply for NDIS Funding? Supports can be obtained from any enrolled disability or mainstream services as long as they are in accordance with the individual's goals.
Nextt delivers a comprehensive range of community support services, including personal and home care, respite and 24-hour support, case management/co-ordination of supports, specialized community access and social inclusion services. Its hub and spoke model of service delivery includes the engagement of staff who live and work within their local community, with a centralized office that manages the coordination of people, processes and technology.


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You are at:Home»News»Global News»Watch: First teaser trailer for Doctor Sleep
Warner Brothers Pictures
Watch: First teaser trailer for Doctor Sleep
By Becky Davies	on	 June 13, 2019 Global News, News
The first trailer for the film adaptation of the Stephen King novel Doctor Sleep has been released.
The novel was published in 2013 and is the sequel to King's classic The Shining, which was infamously adapted into a movie in 1980, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Jack Nicholson. It has since become known as one of the scariest horrors of all time, telling the story of the Torrance family's stay in a haunted hotel.
Doctor Sleep follows the story of Danny as an adult, and how the trauma of his time at The Overlook hotel still haunts him. He meets a young girl who has similar powers to him, and tries to save her from a cult called True Knot who feed from the 'steam' of children with powers like theirs.
The movie stars Ewan McGregor as a grown up Danny Torrance, opposite cult leader Rose the Hat, played by Rebecca Ferguson.
Doctor Sleep will premiere in cinemas on November 8th. Watch the trailer here:
Becky Davies
English student, Culture/Film PR Officer 2020/21 and News Editor 2019/20. Can usually found listening to the same playlists and watching the same films over and over.
Rumours on Disney and the Halting of Physical Media


An additional means of disseminating research results are conferences and workshops. Thus far, EMES has organised its three first International Research Conferences on Social Enterprise in Trento (2001 and 2009), Roskilde (2011) and the fourth one in Liege (2013) and two major international conferences, EMES-ISTR European Conferences in Paris (2005) and in Barcelona (2008). EMES also participated in the 2nd Conference on Social Economy in the Central and Eastern European Countries (Krakow, Poland 2004).
In addition, a large number of events and initiatives are carried out by EMES' members in relation with major research projects. Some of these events take place on a yearly basis while others do not have a specific occurrence pattern.


Lower level unit, garage, wood burning fireplace, lg Utility, large living room, hook-ups for Washer/Dryer. Oven/range dishwasher, refrig, central air, total electric. Small patio NO SMOKERS, NO PETS, NO UNDERGRADUATES. Yard work & snow removal 50/50 with other Tenant. MUST HAVE ACCEPTABLE CREDIT AND GOOD REFERENCES, NON-REFUNDABLE APP FEE $35.


There are hard days in this work, and you can't make sense of a loss of a life . No one should die at 22. You start to hate a drug that is taking so many people in our province, start to feel a little hopeless. Then you watch a different kind of miracle take place and light breaks through. We are reminded of how incredible people really are, and how much they want to help.
Someone left us too early and a call came into The Alex for help. The family has planned the memorial, and has accessed supports to pay for the actual service being held at a church but they can't afford or find an available hall for the reception afterwards. Their biggest wish is that the memorial be held at the community hall in Ramsay, because that is where 'Sarah' grew up, where her and her family first started coming to The Alex Community Health Centre, and the neighbourhood in Calgary that feels most like home. They want to be able to celebrate her life, share a meal and memories with family and friends.
SO this was the call, asking for help. I would love to say that this is the story of The Alex, and it is, we come together to do amazing work, but it is more importantly the story of the community that comes together to support The Alex.
We don't do any of this work alone, and there are so many people that come forward to help us, and we couldn't do what we do without them.
Then we started to work on food. How would we cater the reception? I am staring at an email from The Alex Hot Meals 'Soul Sisters' that states we have it covered. In less than four hours and in one phone call out this morning, we have more than enough food to host a reception with 100 people.
These are the everyday miracles that happen at The Alex, because of the community around us supporting our work.
Today, we are incredibly humbled, blessed and honored to have these amazing heroes on our team.


Meeting for the church board members. This is where we plan the strategy for the church and give feedback on projects.
The board meeting is an opportunity for the leaders of the various ministries of the church to discuss the projects and the issues that pertain the church. We meet every second Sunday of the month at 3:00 PM. Ministry leaders, assistants and church members who want to be involved are encouraged to attend. Voting members are the church appointed board members.


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~~~~~~~~~~~~\"♡R-18♡\"~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Late in the afternoon, while Xiao Fang was cultivating, Chun Hua and her master walked in on him carrying something in their hands. Xiao Fang detected their approach.
\"Breakfast in bed?\"
Cultivators rarely needed to eat, especially body cultivators in the Solid Body realm.
\"The Patriarch... I mean you're father, left it with me to cook for you in case you came back while he was away. It took some time to prepare, but it isn't easy to cook the meat of a 5th tiered beast\", his mother said.
'5th Tier!', Xiao Fang exclaimed in his head, but couldn't suppress the slight expression of shock appearing on his face.
Though he knew the only way to artificially increase his body cultivation was through the consumption of tiered beasts, he only ever saw 1st and 2nd tiered beasts, but those were useless to him now.
The girls unfolded the bamboo table at the foot of his bed, threw a tablecloth on it, then placed the food down on top of it.
Xiao Fang brought himself to the table at the edge of his bed. The tender meat gave off an irresistible smell, so he only glanced over everything once before he started eating.
His first bite flooded his senses. The food melted in his mouth and it had so much flavour. Without thinking, his meridians opened up and he could feel a torrent of energy filling them. His body was feeling invigorated and every bite only added to the experience.
Meanwhile under the table, Chun Hua and her master approached the long snake that hanging low between his legs. The two girls smiled at each other cheekily.
Xiao Fang suddenly felt two different pairs of hands stroking his sleeping dragon and two different pairs of lips enveloping its head. It was almost as if they were making out, but inside of their mouths was Xiao Fang's mushroom and their tongues were licking it excitedly.
Breakfast and head. This was something he never dreamt of but something he wished he had.
\"Show me what you can do\", Chun Hua's master told her.
Hearing her master's words, Chun Hua slowly swallowed Xiao Fang's meat till it was deep in her throat. She started bobbing her head.
As she was doing that, her master tied Chun Hua's long black hair back and fondled Xiao Fang's balls as she licked his chiseled abs.
There was too much happening, Xiao Fang felt like he was going to blow. He understood what they were doing so he did his best to suppress his climax.
\"Mhm, mhm, mhm\"
Chun Hua tried to move as fast as she could, but was unable to make him cum. She eventually pulled out and looked at her master with a defeated expression. Her master smiled.
\"Speed is good, but technique is paramount. Watch me\".
Xiao Fang's mother went next.
'Fuck!', Xiao Fang thought.
The moment her wet tongue touched the tip of his naked sword, he knew it was her.
Chun Hua's master just started, but just by looking at the way she moved her tongue, Chun Hua suddenly felt enlightened.
Several minutes later, Chun Hua's master had slowly demonstrated all of the most basic techniques she knew to her disciple.
Xiao Fang's naked sword was drenched in his mother's saliva and throbbing far more than before. Luckily, she had been moving very slowly, so Xiao Fang was able to suppress his urge to cum. It would've been too embarrassing if he couldn't even withstand his mother's most basic techniques.
\"Thank you for the lesson, master\", Chun Hua said respectfully. Her master nodded in approval.
\"Good. He should be almost done, how about he have a little fun now\" Chun Hua's master said with a lustful look appearing in her eye. Chun Hua understood what she was thinking so she smiled mischievously.
Xiao Fang looked at the few remaining bites on his plate victoriously.
'Looks like I win this time', he thought.
Suddenly, he felt his mother's sexy lips sliding down his dick as the head of his dragon ventured deeper into her warm wet mouth.
'It's so hot. What changed?', Xiao Fang thought for a moment before he realized what she was doing.
Her tongue skillfully played with the head of his dragon, but she wasn't moving as slowly as before.
She was going in for the kill.
She made his slippery eel enter her warm slimy throat and began sucking him like a pro. She didn't just bob her head, but also rotated it side to side as well.
\"Mmn~ myhh! ahk ahk ahk\"
She sounded likes a horny deep throating milf when his long dick thrusted in and out of her naughty mouth-pussy. Her sexy hands slid up his body as they emitted a pleasurable qi pushing him even closer to a climax. It was in that moment that he wanted to cum in all of her holes, but again he suppressed it.
Within seconds, Xiao Fang could feel his legs going numb. This was by far the greatest blowjob he had ever recieved, and he was getting it while he was eating the greatest thing he ever tasted. He was overwhelmed with pleasure and he didn't think he could hold it for long.
'Just a few more bites', he thought.
His body folded a bit as if he was instictly trying to pull out, but she held onto him tightly as she dug her face into his pubic region. It was no use, she was determined to suck every last drop out of him no matter what.
Despite deep throating his dick, she stuck out her tongue as if she were begging him to cum in her mouth.
\"Ahk!\"
He released his warm Yang qi down her throat. He couldn't get his hands off the back of her head as he pushed her head down on his meat. His lower body jerked as he shooting several loads into her mouth.
Despite cumming so much, she still wasn't finished with him. Before he could get a break, she immediately continued, trying to suck even more out of him. Her lips were glistening with saliva and it messily covered her chin as it drooled down on his balls.
\"Me too\", Chun hua said as she brought her face down and under his groin.
While her master sucked on his dick, Chun hua played with his balls in her mouth. Two thicc beauties on his dick while he was eating the food they prepared for him, what else could a man ask for.
Now, with that in mind, Xiao Fang couldn't care less about his dual cultivation battle against his mother, he just wanted to enjoy this moment as much as possible.
'How could I be so greedy, they should eat too', he thought jokingly.
Without warning, thick hot cum shot down his mother's throat. It was too sudden so she choked on it and pulled out. She pulled out too quickly so she ended up getting cum on her beautiful face.
Seeing the vacant spot, Chun Hua turned her body around and swallowed his meat next. Knowing it was her, he released his Yang qi this time till her dantian was full.
Xiao Fang's mother squinted at him. She wasn't going to let him get away with that little prank. Suddenly, a violet light shone from her eyes.
Once Chun Hua was done, she suddenly pulled out without letting him know so she got a bit of his Yang qi drizzled on her sexy sweaty body. In the next moment his mother latched onto his lower body again and immediately used her dual cultivation technique on him.
Her mouth became coated with a strange but pleasurable qi, and her tongue wrapped around, stroked, and squeezed his little brother like a slippery snake. She was using a profound realm techniques, so this was too much for him to handle.
He quickly came in her mouth, but this time she was expecting it. He came, came, and released some more. She kept making him cum till he had nothing left. His throbbing dragon went into her mouth as a ardent naked sword, but it came our as a flimsy sleeping dragon. Their cultivation realms were just too far apart for this to be a fair fight. This was as good as bullying a child.
When she was done, she and her disciple licked the cum and qi off of each others body before they crawled back out from under foldable bamboo table.
Thinking that they worked well together, Chun Hua smiled at her master.
\"Aiyo, what are you smiling at. You still have a lot to learn. Maybe tomorrow I'll show you how to titty-fuck him properly. With a size like this it shouldn't be too hard\", her master said as she played with her large tits in her hands.
Chun Hua smiled bitterly, but she was happy to receive her master's praise. She then looked at Xiao Fang that seemed to be cleaning his mouth with a little cloth as if nothing had happened.
\"Xiao Fang, you didn't drink the medicine I made you\", Chun Hua said.
\"Thanks, Chun Hua, but as you can see I'm all better now\".
Chun Hua was not convinced. She thought he was just avoiding it because it didn't taste good.
\"Okay, but I already made this so just drink it\".
Xiao Fang's stomach twisted at the thought of drinking that bitter medicine again, but because it was Chun Hua that made it, he couldn't say no. He downed the medicine in one go and Chun Hua's expression became noticeably brighter.
\"How is it, is it good?\", she asked.
\"Mn, it's good. Thank you, Chun Hua\", he answered kindly.
She wasn't convinced with his response, because it seemed like he was avoiding her question. Seeing the disappointed look on her face, Xiao Fang got up and moved towards her.
\"Since when did you stop believing my words?\".
\"It's just... You always say it's good\".
\"Hm, I see\", Xiao Fang thought for a moment then took out his sword.
\"Chun Hua, take a look at my sword, what do you think of it?\", Xiao Fang asked as he handed her his new sword.
\"It looks like an ordinary sword. The blade is very sharp, but what sword isn't\", she said as she touched the sharp edge.
\"Despite how ordinary it may look, it is one of the strongest sword in this sect, but you say it is just an ordinary sword?\".
Chun Hua's eyes widened in surprise as she looked back down at the seemingly ordinary sword in her hands.
\"The best things in life aren't always pleasant, pleasant things aren't always the most effective. You'll find that there are times when you must sacrifice one to achieve the other\", Xiao Fang lectured her.
\"Ah, it's like the time you told me that I shouldn't judge a fish by it's ability to climb\".
\"Um, sort of. A sword is good when it can cut, just as medicine is good when it can heal. I'm stand here before you now, fully recovered, do you still think I was lying when I said it was good?\".
\"I see. In that case, I'm glad that I could help you recover, but I still have one question: did my medicine taste bitter?\", she squinted at him as if she was pay close attention to his next words.
Xiao Fang was taken aback. He turned his head slightly and spoke in a bit of a mumbling tone,
\"Y-Yeah, maybe it was just a bit\", he cleared his throat as if he was trying to pass it off as being unimportant.
She pouted disappointedly. Xiao Fang could only smile bitterly. Seeing the awkward position he was in, his mother interjected.
\"Chun Hua, can you give us a moment. There's something I'd like to tell Xiao Fang\".
Chun Hua did as she asked and left the room first.
\"Pleasant things aren't true, true things aren't pleasant... That's what your grandfather used to say\".
\"He was a wise man, I learned a lot from him\", Xiao Fang replied honestly, but his mother didn't seem to be happy by his words.
\"Perhaps, but he is still our enemy. He may have spared our lives, but he continues to kill countless others like us. You mustn't forget what he made your grandmother do to your eyes. If you are kind to your enemies, then you are being cruel to yourself\", she tried to lecture him.
Xiao Fang lightly shook his head.
\"We all have enemies in this life, but hate makes us ignorant and partisan. That is not a way an honourable man should live... that is not a way you should either\".
Xiao Fang's words hit her like a ton of bricks. She knew he was referring to her relationship with his father, the Patriarch. It had always been in the back of her mind, so she had no words to reply to him.
Earlier in their conversation, Xiao Fang heard her refer to the Patriarch as his 'father' for the first time. While Xiao Fang was in the Black Paradise sect, his father had been keeping her company during those lonely times.
Her charm had little to no effect on him because of his overwhelming cultivation and because he could see blindfolded like Xiao Fang, so their time together was genuine. They talked and laughed and had a good time, almost to the point where she considered sleeping with him again.
However, when he left to the royal court and she saw Xiao Fang arrive blindfolded, she was reminded of the atrocities that his family committed to her sect and child, so she push those feelings away, or so she thought.
With nothing else to say, Xiao Fang sat on his bed, crossed legged, and began to cultivate the Yin qi she gave him. She didn't think about whether they should keep cultivating or not, because they both knew they only did it for the purpose of cultivation, so her feelings for his father didn't effect how she spent her time with Xiao Fang.
Xiao Fang's mother left him to cultivate, then she thought back to the time when she was also young and in love.
'It's been awhile since he's been gone... I hope he still thinks of me', she thought.
Despite how much she hated his parents she knew Xiao Fang's father was still a good loving man, and a great parent.
He had betrayed his sect to keep her safe, fought against his father to save her life, and to top it all off, the elixir...
Despite knowing the terrifying secret behind the elixir, he still gave it to Xiao Fang like she asked. This was the ultimate sin against his family and sect, because it was the true reason they had gone to war. It contained a terrifying power any mortal would commit a crime to obtain, and it was the reason his eyes were always purple, it was.....


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Q: Join a table to get the output by making one column as two columns (or simply split one column into 2 columns) I am trying to join a table to get the output by making one column as two columns (or simply split one column into 2 columns)
SELECT * FROM PRODUCT;

KEY| PRODUCT |CATEGORY
1  | trip    |city
2  | trip    |ocean

Into
KEY| PRODUCT |CATEGORY1 |CATEGORY2
1  | trip    |city      |ocean

A: One method uses aggregation . . . but this only works for two categories:
select min(key), product,
       min(category), nullif(max(category), min(category))
from t
group by product;

More commonly when listing multiple values for a product (such as categories), you would put the results in a JSON array or a string:
select min(key), product,
       string(category, ',') within group (order by category) as categories
from t
group by product;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Kanata-based cloud tech company Embotics acquired by Swedish enterprise
From left: Snow Software CEO Vishal Rao with Embotics' Jay Litkey. Photo provided.
Dec 4, 2019 2:26pm EST
Embotics
Snow Software
Jay Litkey
Vishal Rao
Michael Torto
The new owners of an Ottawa tech company that was recently acquired by a Swedish software enterprise say they plan to make major investments in the local firm's operations as they push to become a world leader in the growing cloud management space.
Snow Software, an IT infrastructure management firm headquartered in Stockholm, said Tuesday it has purchased Kanata-based Embotics in an all-cash transaction. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2006, Embotics helps customers keep track of their cloud-based tech infrastructure, including software applications and computing platforms such as Amazon Web Services. Snow, which started 22 years ago and now counts automakers Jaguar and Saab among its more than 4,000 global customers, provides similar services for clients to monitor the IT software and hardware they use at their physical office spaces.
Embotics founder Jay Litkey says the newly combined company will offer a complete picture of all the technology its customers are using on a daily basis – including how many copies of a particular product they own, how often each bit of hardware and software is being used and whether clients are complying with all the licensing requirements.
The goal, he says, is to ensure customers are getting the most bang for their IT buck.
"Before we got together, we each could only give a partial story about what you have and what that spend is," he says. "Together, we can now give full visibility, and that's very powerful. The savings goes up, the confidence goes up and you now have that 100 per cent visibility and certainty."
Litkey, whose company now employs about 60 people, says that as companies scale up, they often end up buying far more cloud-based applications than they actually need to effectively run their operations.
"And they do that because they lose track of what they have and how they're using the cloud, because it's no longer in their data centre," he explains. "That massive overspending problem ends up biting almost everybody."
Litkey says Embotics now has "north of 100" customers, among them high-profile companies such as HBO, NASA and clothing retailer Nordstrom. The serial entrepreneur says the firm has demonstrated it can save clients "many millions of dollars" a year by helping them streamline their cloud-based IT spending.
Snow Software CEO Vishal Rao says the Swedish company began looking at how best to branch out into cloud-based services about 18 months ago and decided the M&A route was the way to go. Management considered a number of acquisition targets before zeroing in on Embotics.
"It's very rare that you get an opportunity to bring together two market leaders," says Rao, whose 700-person company surpassed the $100-million mark in revenues for the first time in 2019.
"We have done just that. From a technology perspective, from a cultural fit perspective and then purely from an alignment on long-term strategy perspective, we felt Embotics was the best fit."
Embotics headquarters on Leggett Drive will now become a "key hub" of research and development for Snow, according to Rao. He says Snow intends to "double down on the investment that Embotics has made" in its operations, suggesting the company's footprint in Kanata will continue to grow.
"We plan on being in Ottawa for a long time to come," Rao says.
The local leadership team will remain largely intact. Litkey is moving into the role of executive vice-president of cloud management and will remain based in Ottawa, while other key Embotics executives – including VP of engineering Brian Clow, chief technology officer Jesse Stockall and executive vice-president of products Mark Jamensky – will also move into senior roles with the Swedish firm and continue to work out of the Kanata office.
CEO Michael Torto will stay on with the company for a "transition period" before shifting to an advisory role.
The cloud computing space presents a "multibillion-dollar" opportunity, Litkey says, but building out a global sales team from scratch is "very expensive and time-consuming and risky." Joining forces with Snow gives Embotics instant access to its larger partner's extensive international sales and marketing team, he says, opening the door to huge growth potential.
"One of our challenges that most Ottawa companies have, is how do we compete on a global scale," he explains. "Because it's one thing to build the world's best technology – something that Ottawa companies are very good at doing – it's a whole other ballgame to get that out into the global market. Snow … allows us to compete on the global scale because they have really good, deep, solid talent in all of the major markets of the world geographies."
Litkey says the capital's deep pool of skilled software engineers is a major drawing card for foreign enterprises such as Snow, adding he believes the Swedish company when it says it's committed to the city for the long haul.
"This is not a, 'Let's take this IP and run with it,'" he says.
"As a longtime Ottawa resident, I have seen too many stories of great technologies or great ideas departing and nothing being left. Ottawa will remain a major hub for Snow pursuing this billion-dollar opportunity."
Ottawa's Intouch Insight to acquire two companies in $1.75M deal
Ottawa's Telepin Software providing mobile wallet tech in Yemen


An unarmed Granbury man was pleading for his life before he was fatally shot by an Arizona officer, according to witness accounts in a newly released police report.
A woman who was present during the January shooting and a transcription of the officer's body-cam footage describe 26-year-old Daniel Shaver as crying and saying "Please don't shoot" shortly before Officer Philip "Mitch" Brailsford fired five shots from his AR-15 rifle.
Brailsford has since been charged with second-degree murder and fired from the Mesa Police Department.
A Maricopa County judge on Tuesday barred the release of the body-camera footage, which both prosecutors and defense attorneys said needed to be sealed to protect the trial's integrity.
But the supplemental incident report released this week includes a transcription of the footage, as well as a witness's account and 911 calls.
Officers were called to the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Mesa on Jan. 18 after receiving reports of a man pointing a rifle out a hotel window.
Shaver and a woman identified as Monique Portillo were ordered to exit the hotel room. Shaver was told to get on the ground and Portillo was told to go to the officers, who handcuffed her.
Portillo told authorities that they had been drinking and that Shaver could've been intoxicated. She also said that Shaver had showed her and a male colleague a pellet gun in his room earlier.
According to a description of the body-cam footage, Shaver was "compliant and offered no resistance." As an officer identified as Sgt. Langley asked Shaver questions, he responded with "yes, sir" and "no, sir."
At one point Shaver moved and Langley shouted at him, "If you do that again, we are shooting you."
"Please don't shoot me," Shaver says. According to the transcription, he was sobbing.
Shaver was then ordered to crawl toward the officers. His hand appeared to move to his waist at one point and officers started to say "Don't" before Brailsford fired five shots.
The description of the body-cam video says Shaver's movement was "consistent with attempting to pull his shorts up as they were falling off" but also "a very similar motion to someone drawing a pistol from their waist band."
Shaver was declared dead at the scene. His autopsy report has not been publicly released.
Shaver was unarmed. Police recovered two pellet guns from the hotel room, which they determined were related to his pest-control job.
Craig Mehrens, a lawyer for Brailsford, has previously said that Brailsford thinks "he acted appropriately and within the guidelines of what he was taught."
Shaver's wife, Laney Sweet, has filed a $35 million notice of claim — a precursor to a lawsuit — against the Mesa police, citing excessive force and wrongful death.


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Christopher Glynn is a highly successful pianist – a song accompanist and chamber musician – as well as being the artistic director of the Ryedale Festival in North Yorkshire, which usually runs for two weeks in July. Since the festival couldn't go ahead as normal, RyeStream was created to share a series of performances filmed in festival venues. I asked Chris how he works his double existence as artistic director and performer; and what the future might look like, now that Ryedale – as with so many other festivals and venues – has dipped its toe into digital waters. So how did his connection with Ryedale begin?
'I went to play there in 2008, and became really interested in the festival, how friendly it was, how it had such amazing venues. About two years later they advertised for an artistic director, so I wrote them a letter. And here I am, almost ten years later! It's been a joy.'
Chris's approach to running Ryedale has been focused on bringing together big-name artists with musicians I've often not yet encountered, at the beginning of their careers. 'I see it as creating a hub of activity and support in a local area and then taking a chance on some emerging musicians alongside the bankable ones, and on some new ideas alongside the well-established formats. I think of festivals as having three elements: people, place and programme. The people and the places at Ryedale are both second to none – you really couldn't ask for more. So it just feels very exciting to put a programme together to go with them.'
The desire to support younger musicians comes partly from Chris's own experience of being the pianist – and organist – on whom others took a chance when he was starting out. He taught himself to play the piano before he could read music, and later became the organist at the local church whilst also playing jazz at a piano bar in his hometown of Leicester. And there was another crucial building in Leicester that was to have an enormous impact.
'There was a wonderful music library in Leicester, publicly funded, and from the age of seven until when I left home, it was like my second home. I'll never forget this music library, I spent a lot of time there, encouraged by my dad, who also a regular borrower. I was obsessed with taking out LPs and scores, it was a journey I went on by myself. And it was transformational. I got into classical music at an early age, and I dreamt about programming obscure and long-neglected composers. at a really early age. I remember really wanting to do a Myaskovsky revival! I was just very absorbed in music. In general, I think that the local-level infrastructure of music-making – a library, a concert hall, a festival, a choir – is incredibly important. So it saddens me that the Leicester library has gone the way of so many others.'
After winning an organ scholarship to Oxford (Edward Higginbottom 'took a chance' on him, Chris says), he began to accompany singers from the chapel choirs and got to know the song repertoire. He decided that this was the music he loved most but thought it was too late to make a career as a pianist. At this point, another musician 'took a chance' on Chris: the pianist and teacher John Streets. 'He was the person who came up to me and said, "you can do this. You just need a bit of help." I think the library, and the people who take a chance on you are so important.'
So he became a professional pianist, and in addition to concertising and running Ryedale, he also teaches at the Royal Academy of Music (and was even the hand-double of Antonio Banderas in the 2016 film Finding Altamira). What, then, does a festival artistic director actually do? And how much time does it take?
'Programming is the central thing: what goes into the festival is my decision. But I'm also involved in decisions that aren't purely musical or programme-related. It really matters to me that the stage is at the right height, and people can see the performers' faces. It really matters to me to stand at the back and hear what the audience think. If you're asking people to pay subscriptions and make donations, they really need to feel that you're completely invested in it and really care about it, that it's not just an extra gig on the side of your performing career. They must feel that you really care about every aspect of it. Because they do. If I, or my team, ask one the many Ryedale volunteers to provide some food, edit a magazine, host an artist, steward a concert, or whatever, they take incredible care over it. I love that. And I think that's a big responsibility for us when we're leading it to do the same.'
'I've never added up, and it would be impossible to add up, how much time it takes, it's so intermingled with my other work. I'm always thinking about it.' In fact, Chris says, the time he would have previously spent reading a book on a plane or a train between concerts is now entirely filled with Ryedale business. 'It's stitched into my life, every aspect of it.'
And speaking of planes and trains, the business of musicians on tour – and the environmental sustainability of that – is something Chris feels we should be thinking about a lot more carefully. 'If a top-level artist flies into Heathrow to play at the Royal Festival Hall, then it really makes sense for them to then go and play in Birmingham, Glasgow, Wales, Ryedale, Cornwall, wherever…to go from court to court through the UK, before even thinking of taking another international flight. A bit more funding for the regions, and more joined-up thinking, would start to make that realistic. And artistic directors like me need to pick up the phone to each other much more to share our plans, and say: we've got this performer coming in 2023, where else can he or she play?'
Before we go further into the realms of international possibility, let's return to the local. Ryedale usually runs a spring weekend (which was scheduled this year for 20-22 March) plus the main festival in July. So what happened when lockdown was announced?
'We cancelled the Spring weekend two weeks before the date. We paid the performers and asked the audience to donate their ticket money if they could, which most of them did. My biggest worry for the summer festival was that we'd go ahead but only sell half the tickets, which would pretty much bankrupt us in an instant. But it gradually became obvious that we'd have to cancel (and we're going to reschedule everything at some point). I never realised how much work it is to cancel a festival.'
And then there was the decision to produce digital content. The hunger for music, clearly, was as great as ever, if not greater during lockdown. 'So how can we meet that? Also, what can we do for all the freelance musicians? I'm aware of so many people who are really struggling. And where's the silver lining? Where's the opportunity that comes out of this crisis? And that was what led us to RyeStream.'
Which meant finding artists willing to come and perform, a camera and sound crew, and permission to use spaces which would traditionally feature during the festival – a challenge, since at the point planning began, the Church of England was still closed, and many of the Ryedale venues are local churches. The team also had to build the online platform, which was 'a really steep learning curve – a lot of sleepless nights. If we'd sat and thought about it logically, we might have concluded it would take about two years to do. But thanks to the dedication of the Ryedale team, we did it in six weeks. There's nothing like a crisis!' A big part of that has been the energy and determination of the small team who run the festival. 'There's really something about the nimbleness and agility of smaller organisations like ours,' Chris observes, in comparison to bigger venues and organisations which have inevitably been slower to react: 'You can't turn a big ship around on a sixpence.'
The result of the festival team's hard work has been a string of beautifully produced videos from excellent performers, including the Carducci Quartet, Rachel Podger, and Chris himself accompanying soprano Rowan Pierce violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen. But despite the quality of footage being far superior to many of the taped-on-a-shoestring lockdown offerings, Chris is adamant that the tech shouldn't exclude simplicity. He was struck by the June concert series from Wigmore Hall, which showed 'what you can do with a well-placed camera angle and a great artist. It doesn't need to be complicated.'
Ryestream is currently free, although donations are encouraged. Does that undermine the value of the content, given just how much is available for free at the moment?
'I thought that a donation model would be more effective – to start with – than putting content behind a paywall. And so far the figures bear this out: we've had a very good response to our call for donations and far more people have watched than could ever have fitted in any of our venues. That money will end up in the pockets of musicians. In the long term, we will need to charge in a more structured way for content. And we should do that in a more co-ordinated way throughout the sector, so that we don't undermine each other, and find a way of making it work – but that's a bigger conversation.'
Monetising is not straightforward and is partly conditioned by the technology underpinning the platform (how many YouTube subscribers you have, for instance). A different approach is being taken by the Oxford Lieder Festival, which is selling online passes to their October events. But of course, different approaches will suit different festivals – and 'one of the biggest things we should take out of this is that we're all going to have to talk to each other about this and collaborate.'
And of course, digital resources make things available to a far wider – potentially international – audience and pool of supporters. 'The internet is a huge opportunity for any minority interest – and I guess you have to count classical music as a minority interest – and COVID has just supercharged that… You enjoyed a concert in person? So you can go home and watch it again. Or a housebound pensioner in Pickering can go to the concert – they can watch on Ryestream. Or your person in Portsmouth can watch it, because they love classical music and they're a fan of Isata Kanneh-Mason.' The broader possibilities are still to discover – how to integrate digital and in-person events in a way that is accessible in the best possible sense without, for example, undermining touring schedules for performers. And Chris also points to the potential of adapting to social media models of sharing. 'I'm a real fan of Ian McMillan's tweets – he's made the tweet an artform. I think there's generally something about smallness at the moment, whether it's TikTok or Twitter: how can you make something meaningful in that incredibly condensed space? How can you master the form?'
The future, then, is rich with possibilities, if bigger strategic conversations can be had about funding and joined-up thinking around the UK for touring artists and setting fees and ticket prices. In the meantime, as we wait to see what events might run over the coming months, what can we do to help?
'You can come along, when we're back. You can become a friend. And most of all you can also become part of the dialogue. I see being an artistic director as a conversation: the programming is what comes out of the conversation between me and the audience. So please come, and please tell us what you think – tell us what you like, what you don't like, what you think music should be. Everyone's got something to offer. I'd like more people to join the conversation and bring different perspectives. It's really important that we keep welcoming new people to the classical music party.'
Ryestream performances are available on YouTube and via the website until Sunday 16 August.
Let's Play, Let's talk about this...	Antonio Banderas, Carducci Quartet, Christopher Glynn, Edward Higginbottom, Ian McMillan, John Streets, Myaskovsky, Oxford Lieder Festival, Rachel Podger, Rowan Pierce, Royal Academy of Music, Royal Festival Hall, Ryedale Festival, Ryestream, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, Wigmore Hall


When trying to teach robots or machines to perform tasks, we devise algorithms for them to follow. Some algorithms are good, some are bad. Some take a long time to finish, others never finish at all. Algorithms are judged in comparison to some optimal algorithm. Oftentimes this optimal algorithm is only theoretical - we can never implement it, but we know how it would perform if we could.
Getting to optimal yields marginally diminishing returns - think about walking on an incline, where every step you take means a 1% increase in the slope. It gets harder and harder to keep increasing. Eventually you get high enough, even though you don't get to the top.
What is the minimum number of covers (blue outlines) required to cover all of the red dots in the figure below.
Easy right? Just use the two long covers.
Figuring out how many cameras/towers/podcasts and where to place them/which to purchase is hard to do perfectly. So instead of solving it exactly, let's implement a Greedy algorithm.
In computer science speak, Greedy just means that our algorithm will pick the best possible next choice, given a number of different options. Humans are greedy in this sense all the time - for example: Scheduling your classes in school. You can greedily pick your favorite course first, then your second favorite, and so on. However, what if your favorite course overlaps with your second and third favorites, and the next available course is your 4th favorite? Is it better to be enrolled in your 1st and 4th choices or your 2nd and 3rd? It's not obvious to me. Clearly being greedy is suboptimal, but perhaps its not a bad default.
Clearly not optimal (because 3 covers is worse than 2 covers), but simple enough to teach a robot!


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Q: How to check if a cover is normal given the action on a fiber. Assume you have a space $X$ and a homomorphism $r:\pi_1X\to S_n$. Then $r$ defines a n-sheeted covering space $Y$ of $X$. My question is, can you immediatly determine if $Y$  is a normal covering using only $r$ (without computing $\pi_1Y\subset\pi_1X   $ and checking if it is a normal subgroup.
Example: $X=S^1\vee S^1$, and let $a,b$ denote the two generators of $\pi_1 X$. Look at the r defined via $a\mapsto (12),\ b\mapsto(123).$ This gives rise to a three sheeted cover $Y$ over $X$. Is this cover normal?
Again, I can check it because in this case it is very easy to draw $Y$ and it is possible to calculate $\pi_1Y$ by using Van Kampen. My question is - can you see if $Y$ is normal or not only by looking at $r$.

A: Let $p:Y\rightarrow X$ be the covering.  Then the orbits of the $\pi_1(X)$ action (via $r$) correspond to the connected components of $Y$.  So let's assume this action is transitive, so that $Y$ is connected [I don't know what normality would mean when $Y$ was disconnected].
Then $p_\ast\pi_1(Y)\le\pi_1(X)$, and $rp_\ast\pi_1(Y)$ is a point stabilizer, since the point stabilizer is precisely which loops lift to loops in $Y$.
So for $p_\ast\pi_1(Y)$ to be normal, the point stabilizer of $r\pi_1(X)$ must be normal.  But then it stabilizes all points (since point stabilizers are conjugate), and so $rp_\ast\pi_1(Y)$ must be the identity subgroup.
Thus, $p:Y\rightarrow X$ is a normal covering precisely when the action of $\pi_1(X)$ (via $r$) is regular.  I guess that's one reason why a normal covering is also called regular.

A: Let $G=\pi_1(X)$ and $H=p_*(\pi_1(Y))$.  The group $G$ acts on the set $G/H$ of cosets by left multiplication.  Deck transformations of $Y$ correspond to $\operatorname{Aut}_G(G/H)$, which are functions $G/H\to G/H$ that commute with the $G$ action.  The group $\operatorname{Aut}_G(G/H)$ is isomorphic to $N(H)/H$, where $N(H)$ is the normalizer of $H$ in $G$. (This automorphism group corresponds to the group of deck transformations of $Y\to X$.)
In your specific problem, we have $[G:H]=3$.  The homomorphism $f:\langle a,b\rangle\to S_3$ given by $a\mapsto (1\ 2)$ and $b\mapsto (1\ 2\ 3)$ corresponds to a group action $G\to \operatorname{Bij}(G/H)$ through some identification of the set $G/H$ with the three-element set $\{1,2,3\}$, whatever $H$ might be.  In any case, $H$ is normal iff $\lvert\operatorname{Aut}_G(G/H)\rvert=3$.  That is, iff $\lvert\operatorname{Aut}_G(\{1,2,3\})\rvert=3$, with $G$ acting on $\{1,2,3\}$ via $f$.
Suppose $h:\{1,2,3\}\to\{1,2,3\}$ is such an automorphism.  Then $ah(1)=h(a1)=h(2)$, and since this means $h(1),h(2)\in \{1,2\}$, we deduce $h(3)=3$.  Already this means there are at most two automorphisms, so $H$ is not normal.
It is not clear if this is any better than constructing the covering space and seeing the lack of symmetry.


I have a 90x24 panorama photo that I would like to have split onto 3-30x24 panels. The price list on the order form only lists standard sizes and not panorama sizes. How do I go about placing this order?
You can order custom size prints by emailing hamilton@pixuru.com. Please attach your image and order details.


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Q: load in tab panel part of other page I use jquery ui tabs. And I want to show part of other page(page.html and it's in the same folder) in panel for certain tab.
Here is page.html

Page.html content 1

Page.html content 2

And here is the page with tabs

    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="jquery-ui-themes-1.10.3/themes/black-tie/jquery-ui.css" />

                Elem 1

                Elem 2

                Elem 3

But the panel for elem1 is always clear. Where is the problem?

A: If it's in the same folder as the script you are running, the path should not have a / at the beginning.  /page.html will look in your server root for page.html.


A warm welcome into Year 5 to all parents, old and new!
Please take time to read this and if you have any queries regarding the information then you are very welcome to pop in and see me.
Year 5 will be a great year as your children prepare for Year 6. We aim to make it an enjoyable experience for them even though it will be a hard working year, with all the changes in the curriculum. We have high expectations of every child in the class and we will develop their knowledge, independence and maturity in order for all of them to succeed. The children themselves will be expected to take a key role in their learning experience and all of this will prepare them for their final years in primary school education.
At the end of a hard working year, we are confident that all of them will have grown into mature and responsible children who are well prepared for the final stage in their primary education.


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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AgentsDating
Agents Dating
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Two agents (often times being secret agents) may or may have not romantic/sexual feelings for each other. Nonetheless, they go on one or more dates. There are two contexts to this:
The context of a mission/investigation. They often go undercover in order to find out the bad guy's intentions or to scout places where he hangs out. It is a great way to go unnoticed or, alternatively, to engage in flirting and seduction with others to get information (most of the times, it's a female that does such a thing). If they're in an emergency or tight spot, Fake-Out Make-Out will probably ensue.
Non-professional contexts. Here, there is a higher chance of them being genuinely attracted to each other (as opposed to the previous context, when there's deception and/or illusion at play). They also feel an interest in relaxing from the job and a need to have a good time. There's some chances of conversations getting directed towards their missions, their rivals and/or their colleagues or bosses.
This trope may lead to the fact that two people dating or in a relationship who share the same profession may clash and compete on a professional level. Spies do tend to outdo each other, because they're taught to do so.
There are bonus points if conflicting loyalties are discussed or shown. Agents swear their loyalty to their country, they keep secrets (and yet have to talk to each other), and they are married to the job. So there is a whole set of issues that a normal couple or potential couple does not have. When in a couple both characters are spies or on similar undertakings, the relationship dynamic is affected (for example, if one partner goes amiss) and the spywork is also affected. That's the reason why, for example, two police officers (or detectives/spies from an agency) dating is generally frowned upon.
In both cases, expect lots of double entendres, possibly some Spy Speak and a lot of chemistry. There's also a good possibility of a romance or sex ensuing either right after or at the end of a film or episode.
This trope is a regular part of spy dramas and other kinds of shows where a mission or an investigation is supposed to take place before, during or after the event.
When at least one of them gets a bit more...obvious and careless, they can become overt operatives.
Besides secret agents and spies, this trope also covers police agents and detectives. The former tend to have the most chances to date, since they don't need to be as secret or as deceitful as spies or detectives. They can also show themselves to be part of the police, through the use of uniform or badges.
In cases where this goes or might go wrong (since there are also agents with...questionable motives), see also Honey Trap. The agent who engages in this is very likely to be a Femme Fatale Spy. A Sex–Face Turn might happen in cases like this. When two opposite sides work together or have a date together (or both), it's a case of this and When Harry Met Svetlana.
There are also cases where one is a spy and the other is not...at first sight. The latter is a Deep Cover Agent.
Compare/contrast Duel of Seduction. A subtrope of Office Romance.
open/close all folders
In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, Subaru and Teana (agents of a special counter-terrorist unit) hang out together on their day off—which is technically not a date—but it's cut short, anyway, when they accidentally rescue the resident Living MacGuffin and are ordered to RTB.
In the Double Duck story "Hong Island", while in Bangkok, Thailand, Donald Duck and Kay K, before going to search for their Gadgeteer Genius, Gizmo, have dinner. At the end of the dinner, they get the restaurant check, which includes an envelope with two plane tickets to go to Krabi, in the southern part of Thailand.
In the short-lived Hawkeye & Mockingbird, the two go on a date, after making arrangements for it during the course of one of their missions together. It's notable because, despite being married for a good few years, this is one of the first times they're actually on a date, since they got married less than ten days after meeting each other and spent most of their marriage fighting evil, so 'dates' for them mostly consisted of punching things in the face (though, they had been shown previously going on dates occasionally). Of course, the date shown doesn't go well as Clint decides to surprise her by tracking down her mother...having not realized that Bobbi had faked her death to keep her family out of danger, and that by dragging her mother back into her life, it ultimately gets her mother shot.
This is the crux of the relationship between the post-2005 version of Bucky Barnes and Black Widow. They go back to their time training in the Soviet Union in the 1950s.
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold has this as an important plot point. Although Liz Gold is not an agent (she's a secretary of a local cell of the Communist Party of Great Britain), her relationship with the head of the West Berlin office of the British Secret Intelligence Service, Alec Leamas, is noteworthy in the context of this trope due to the conflict between love and loyalty from the couple, to the point of Leamas telling all the information in exchange for her freedom. They manage to overcome the issues, albeit at a high price.
In C.T. Phipps' urban fantasy Red Room series, Derek Hawthorne and Shannon O'Reilly have an immediate attraction which later leads to them becoming sexually involved. Complicated by the fact Shannon was ordered to seduce him, which Derek knows, and that agents are expected to marry in order to continue the Conspiracy—which neither member wants to involve any offspring in.
The entire premise for the Cut and Run series, at least after the first book. Unless they're alone, they tend to keep it separate from work because they have to hide their relationship on the job. Except when they get put Undercover as Lovers and take advantage of getting to portray a married couple, giving an example of both instances of Agents Dating simultaneously.
Quiller mentions that the Bureau tries to steer women in security-cleared government positions towards their shadow executives, one of whom gets a roasting from his superiors when he describes the set-up as the best-run call girl system in London.
Live-Action Film
Happens many, many times in the James Bond series, if you're willing to be sufficiently loose with the term "date". Many of the "Bond Girls" happen to be secret agents as well, sometimes from rival agencies to MI6.
In From Russia with Love, SPECTRE cooks up a plan to kill Bond with Tatiana Romanova, a gorgeous low-level clerk of the Soviet embassy in Istanbul. Bond knows it's a trap but goes along with it, because (aside from the obvious reasons) it comes with a chance to steal a valuable encoding device.
In You Only Live Twice, Bond ends up in a fake wedding with Kissy Suzuki (a Japanese agent who works for Tanaka). They have a dinner in which Kissy informs him that they're sleeping in separate rooms. Bond protests "But we're supposed to be married. We're on our honeymoon!", but Kissy replies "Not honeymoon. This is business." They still end up making out at the end.
In Live and Let Die, Bond and Foxy Brown Expy Rosie Carver (who says she's from the CIA) pretend to be husband and wife on vacation. Turns out she's The Mole.
In The Man with the Golden Gun, Bond and Mary Goodnight (a clumsy MI6 field operative) hook up at the end.
In The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond and Soviet agent Anya Amasova flip flop between working together and working against each other before they finally hook up at the end.
In A View to a Kill, Bond bumps into KGB agent Pola Ivanova at a spa and, well, they have a good time together in a jacuzzi. Pola then sneaks out to bring the audio cassette of a recording of Big Bad Max Zorin to her boss, General Gogol, only to find out that Bond has switched it with a relaxation cassette.
In Licence to Kill, Bond resolves the Love Triangle by choosing CIA agent Pam Bouvier. During the course of the film, she has to pose as his "Executive Secretary", with all the implications that come with that.
In Tomorrow Never Dies, Bond and Chinese agent Wai Lin have something of a Teeth-Clenched Teamwork until the climax. Then they make out once Carver is defeated and his stealth boat is destroyed.
In Die Another Day, Bond hooks up with two female agents. The MI6 one turns out to be The Mole, and Bond ends the film with the good yet clumsy NSA agent.
In Casino Royale, Bond and Vesper Lynd break the tension between the Absurdly High-Stakes Game of Texas Hold'Em. By the end, he's ready to retire and stay with her. Turns out she's The Mole, and ends up letting herself die out of guilt for what she did given she genuinely loved Bond (though she still gave Bond a last minute useful information about The Man Behind the Man beforehand).
In Quantum of Solace, after Bond seduces agent Fields, they attend a party Dominic Greene holds that night. There, she helps Bond escape by causing Dominic's second in command, Elvis, to fall down the stairs. Sadly, she gets killed soon afterwards and her body gets covered in oil.
Narrowly averted for a change of pace in Skyfall with Bond and Eve Moneypenny:
Eve: "I'm sure we'll have one or two close shaves."
Hilariously averted twice in No Time to Die:
Nomi (the new 007) comes to Bond in Jamaica to warn him that he should stay in his lane, but not before toying with him a bit as if seduction was happening between them. Then, when she takes her wig off and explains the real reason she approached Bond (namely that he should stay off her lane on the Obruchev case).
Bond: Well, that's not what I was expecting you to take off first.
Then, in Cuba, CIA agent Paloma drags Bond in a wine cellar and starts opening his shirt much to his surprise, to which he jokes that they should get to know each other a little more first... only to reveal that she has a tuxedo ready for him for the Spectre party. Nothing romantic happens between them otherwise.
Spy Kids starts with their mother telling the story of the two spies who fell in love, with several dates...in which they are some distance from each other since they're on opposing sides.
In Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, gun nut Tackleberry goes on a date with fellow officer Kirkland, which culminates in them going back to her place for nookie — but before that can happen, they must (seductively) remove the large number of guns they have hidden on their respective bodies.
This Means War (2012) is pretty much centered around this. Lauren decides to have sex with two different spies who are pursuing her, to see which one of them is better in bed. After they found they've been sleeping with the same woman, they wage an epic battle against one another.
The two main characters of Allied fall for each other while Undercover as Lovers and begin a relationship for real.
In The Debt, Rachel and Stephan portray a couple while on a mission in East Berlin in The '60s. They eventually get married - and get divorced.
Live-Action TV
Get Smart is one of the most iconic cases (and possibly the Trope Maker), with Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 dating from a certain point onwards (which is referenced with some regularity), and falling in love with each other at a certain point. Everybody in the Agency seems to know this:
Maxwell Smart: [Agent 99 leans to kiss him] 99 please, nobody here knows we're dating.
The Chief: [walks by] Yes, they do.
Maxwell Smart: On the cheek.
[Agent 99 kisses his cheek]
Agent 99: [as they walk off] Give me a little one.
[Max kisses her on the lips]
Chuck begins with CIA agent Sarah Walker going on a date with typical everyman Chuck, trying to get close to him and find out where the Intersect is. Over the course of the series they go on a number of dates, both as part of their cover and sometimes for real. Eventually, they begin dating officially, before marrying at the end of season 4. Sarah also dated Bryce Larkin, her former partner, shortly before he seemingly went rogue.
In Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness has been known to create sexual tension with anyone he so much as says "hello" to, but it's even worse with his Torchwood agents. His gun use demonstration with Gwen was full coddling, he makes innuendo out of just about everything they come across, he officially asks out Ianto while they're on a mission, Ianto's recruitment involved getting very turned on after the two erotically fall all over each other while attempting to catch the eventual Team Pet, Gwen's caught them playing "naked hide and seek" in the hub at least once, Martha kissed at a missions' end just because "everyone else has had a go", and Jack's fond of handing out overly sexual kisses of life on the job. And that's not even scratching the surface...
Bones: After their Relationship Upgrade, Booth and Bones will often discuss domestic relationship stuff while doing their respective jobs (they're partners on the field that are a forensic anthropologist and FBI field agent respectively) or they'll talk about the job while cuddling in bed together. Other times their date nights/lunches together will be interrupted by a call from The FBI/forensic team at the same time for the same case they'll be working on.
Midsomer Murders has a Running Gag around this: every time Sergeant Jones goes out for dinner with his officer girlfriend, Barnaby (either the old one or the new one) calls him because there's been a development in the case, usually another murder. Apparently the Running Gag of Tom Barnaby's "Eureka!" Moment striking whenever he's out with his wife is contagious.
MacGruder and Loud was about police partners who hid that they were secretly married (and lived in adjoining apartments with a secret door connecting them) so they wouldn't be reassigned to work with other officers. Regulations stated that if two cops were married, they could not be partners, so they kept this thing a secret from the rest of the department.
Joan and Arthur are another well-known version of this on Covert Affairs being a spymaster couple that is together all the time despite their marital troubles. Annie seems to attract the affections of a whole bunch of men but Auggie is an on again-off again, and a close friend in between "on" times. Eyal would be a lover except he is from a rival agency.
The Game (2014): Has two married agents, one a field agent, one a technical expert.
And the short-lived 1991 series Under Cover, about two married (with children) US agents for a Government Agency of Fiction.
UFO. One of the SHADO pilots is dating Lt. Ellis from Mission Control, so computer-psych tests are run to see if it will affect their performance. The test suggests that a recent tactical decision by Ellis was overly protective of her boyfriend, so she deliberately sends him into a dangerous situation to prove otherwise. He survives, but isn't bothered by her decision because it gave him a chance to see some action.
In Spooks, Zoe is asked to give her view on the subject to some new recruits. They're a bit confused by her enthusiastic endorsement of the idea, as she's just started dating a colleague. When the CIA liaison officer starts aggressively moving in on Tom Quinn, there's a cynical comment by another agent over whether the relationship will be more useful to the CIA or MI5, depending on who reveals what in the bedroom.
Played pretty much straight throughout The Avengers, with John Steed and his various female partners Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King in a state of perpetual UST, and often seen in romantic or dating-esque scenarios, though, in keeping with the tone of the series, rarely more than hints were offered, with Steed and Peel (a Mind Swap scenario notwithstanding) kissing only once. The relationship between Steed and Tara, despite its May–December Romance aspects, was allowed to be somewhat more suggestive, with the final line of the final episode featuring a character expressing concern about Steed and Tara being unchaperoned while riding a rocket ship into earth's orbit.
Crimestrikers has several relationships between members of the titular team. Since the game takes place in a World of Funny Animals, it also offers quite a few examples of Interspecies Romance.
Queen's Gambit has this if you romance your partner Emmett.
Agents Wolf and Cranium from El Goonish Shive are dating and doing a terrible job at concealing it .
Web Serials
In Curse Words, Kayden and Magistus (each good friends with a pair of political arch-rivals) start dating under the assumption that the other is working for their friend's rival. They quickly establish a 'no politics' rule in their relationship for this reason.
Western Animation
Archer:
Sterling Archer and Lana Kane go through an on-again-off-again relationship throughout the series.
Malory, the head of the agency and Archer's mother has been in a relationship with the head of the KGB and the head of a rival agency.
Truth in Television, particularly during the Cold War , although things didn't always went well due to various factors.
If you do a quick search, you'll find websites solely dedicated to dating police agents and officers.
Alternative Title(s): Spy Couple
Dating Tropes
Am I Just a Toy to You?
Espionage Tropes
Alone-with-Prisoner Ploy
After-Action Patch-Up
Love Tropes
Age-Gap Algebra
Delicate Is Beautiful
Attraction Tropes
All Amazons Want Hercules


Know what to ask your doctor to help you determine if we are right for you.
The doctor may pull hairs to check how easily they come out if your scalp, and then examine them under a microscope.
Certain patterns of hair loss may lead to a diagnosis.
The doctor will check for thyroid problems and nutritional deficiencies, such as anemia, that can lead to hair loss.
Your doctor might perform this---you'll receive a local anesthetic—to get a closer look at your hair follicles.


This chapter, which discusses the evolution of innovative research on game playing in the household and online, such as in studies of massive multiplayer, three-dimensional Internet game environments, demonstrates the need for Internet Studies to deal with the ebbs and flows of the market and the rapid pace of technical change. The video game industry is one of the most profitable and dynamic industries in entertainment. Its future will possibly add a mix of social connectivity and continuing advances in technology as players seek each other as much as they seek games. Casual games are frequently incorporated into pre-existing social networks. Serious games did result in a change in knowledge, opinions, and possible future actions. The research community surrounding games comes from communication, psychology, cultural and critical studies, sociology, and now even business, economics, and computer science.
Dmitri Williams is an Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, USA, where he is a part of the Annenberg Program on Online Communities (APOC).
Adam S. Kahnis a doctoral candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, USA.


languagehat.com : 2006 BECKY AWARD.
But by a unanimous vote, this year's Becky goes to the psychiatrist Louann Brizendine, whose bestselling book The Female Brain argues that most of the cognitive and social differences between the sexes are due to differences in brain structure. It's a controversial thesis. The New York Times's David Brooks and others have hailed the book as a challenge to feminist dogma, and Brizendine herself has charged that her critics are angry because her conclusions aren't politically correct. Actually, though, you can leave out the "politically" part. The reviewers for the British science journal Nature described the book as "riddled with scientific errors." And in newspaper commentaries and posts on the LanguageLog blog, the University of Pennsylvania linguist Mark Liberman has been meticulously debunking Brizendine's claims about men's and women's language.
Brizendine claims that "differences between men's and women's brains make women more talkative than men, and goes on to say that women on average use 20,000 words a day while men use only 7000" and that "women on average speak twice as fast as men do." Both these claims are utterly and provably wrong (see the Log and the Nunberg link for details). Congratulations, Louann, and I look forward to your rapidly delivered, many-worded acceptance speech!
Oh my holy Estienne translation of the Vulgate, I'm afraid, based on the number of words the woman I currently adore and love uses in her daily criticism of my various (actually many) faults, I have to agree with Ms. Louann Byzantine, that, yes, women do use more words daily than men; in fact, 20,000 seems a low figure to me. I had an Aunt Bessie who I guarantee you could use 20,000 words easily before the end of breakfast. How about a reality show challenge concerning this: Puerto Rican women versus Long Island Jewish men? Holy Roller women preachers versus male auctioneers. Would a man do the announcing? Like maybe have Ralph Kiner do the commentary along with a slow-talking woman, like Martha Stewart, did you ever notice how slow she talks? Seems to me that it would take a larger brain to spew out more words per any period of time than a smaller brain. So what if the words don't make any sense, but then that's another argument. And by the way, how does one deduce the difference in sizes of brains? Through measuring the brains pried out of cadaver skulls? Through measuring the skull, too, maybe? I know the infamous Italian psychiatrist, Cesare Lombroso, could tell whether you were a criminal or not by measuring your cranium.
But, OK, I, too, will join all you linguisticos in congratulating Louann (I grew up in Texas with a lot of Louanns)on her prestigious award for her splendid work of faith and not evidence.
PS: The Aunt Bessie mentioned above could outjabber any assemblage of men whether professors or scoundrels for any length of time, hours, days, weeks, months, or years. I once heard my her babble nonstop for at least 4 hours one family gathering. It didn't bother me; I found her quite melodious and inspirational since I'm a pretty fast talker myself–and I proudly admit to having a woman's brain.
So the growling wolf is actually a 'louve'?
It may just be that men seem to talk to the point. A woman droning on about fashion and makeup seems like they talk more. Men talking about footbal there are never enough words. Hillary Clinton talking just seems longer. Barak Obama when he talks, it seems to go by quickly. A woman is at her best when she speaks sweet nothings. I think it aslo proves that by having having an award named after a woman "Becky" you are admitting a woman talks more than a man. Jessica Simpson should get honorable mention this year. Chicken of the sea and all.


to develop precision medicine solutions for severely ill and injured patients.
"Providing precision critical care, breath to breath and beat to beat."
The VentRight platform provides continuous ventilation monitoring and real-time decision support from initial contact with a critically ill patient until ventilatory support is no longer required.
Precision-Automated Critical Care Management (PACC-MAN) represents a "critical care internet of things (IoT)" where multiple interconnected devices work together to provide optimized care for each individual patient. PACC-MAN's automation improves value by decreasing costs and improving clinically relevant outcomes.
EVAC dynamically controlls the inflation and deflation of an endovascular balloon catheter in the patient's aorta to ensure blood pressure to the heart, lungs, and brain are precisely regulated and sustained within normal physiologic ranges, even in instances where conventional mechanisms are failing.


Bali is known for many things—its abundance of culturally-rich religious sites, iconic rice paddies, forested volcanic mountains, assortment of beaches, spectacular coral reefs, and of course, its endless stream of resorts and retreats vying for a share of the enduring tourist population. Como's property in the tropical paradise, however, isn't squeezing in with other luxury players in resort towns Seminyak or Sanur. Instead, the hospitality brand has its eye on a lesser known coastal village—Canggu, an up-and-coming destination that is already a favourite amongst expats and surfers.
With already two properties in Bali—Como Shambhala Estate, the luxury hotel collection's flagship wellness retreat; and Como Uma Ubud, a rustic resort nestled in Ubud's tropical jungle—which fully embrace the island's rich culture and heritage through architecture and interior design, Como adopts a distinctly different approach towards Como Uma Canggu, catering to the village's vibrant scene of digital nomads and beach lovers. The result? A cosmopolitan melting pot that borrows from both modern-Asian and European design principles.
Opening its doors just last year, Como Uma Canggu manages to find a place for itself between the languid vibes of Canggu and the cosmopolitan vision of designers Koichiro Ikebuchi (Como Shambhala and Como Uma Ubud) and Paola Navone (Como Point Yamu in Phuket, and Como Metropolitan Mami Beach).
A spacious all-white lobby—where the resort chain's famous Como Shambhala Retreat also resides—invites guests into its beach-side haven. Checking in was hassle-free, and we were promptly offered fresh towels and a refreshing glass of hibiscus lemonade, a much needed respite from the Bali heat.
The meticulous service didn't end there—throughout our stay, the friendly staff remembered our names and were always quick to offer assistance anytime we appeared to be in need, so that we were always comfortable on the property.
The beachfront resort boasts 52 rooms and suites, 55 one- and two-bedroom residences and 12 three-bedroom duplex penthouses, each airy and spacious with an abundance of natural light. A warm palette of white and beige and nautical accents of blue exudes the understated luxury of Como, and woven bamboo furniture pay tribute to Balinese craft.
The one-bedroom residence we were checked into had a kitchenette, a spacious living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom fitted with rain showers and a whirlpool tub. The best part of the room, however, was outside—an open deck offers panoramic views of the Indian Ocean, with ample space to lounge and even dine al fresco, which we got to enjoy on one of our nights.
Wellness is at the heart of the Como brand, and you can stay on track with your fitness goals at the well-equipped gym, one of the largest in the precinct. Group activities from yoga and meditation to TRX (total resistance exercises) and HIIT (high-intensity interval training) are available daily, complimentary to all guests during their stay. After working out a sweat, pamper yourself at the Como Shambhala Retreat with a signature Como Shambhala massage—a must at any Como property.
Accessible from the lobby, the spa is a restful sanctuary offering a repertoire of Asian-inspired therapies, facials, and body treatments. It also shares a spacious shower and steam room with the gym for a quick refreshment.
Exclusive to guests, the Como Beach Club is only accessible to the public via reservations. Primarily designed by Italian interior designer Paola Navone, the beachside hangout is a modern take on the traditional surf shack, with its eclectic mix of prints, colours, and materials.
Overlooking the bustling Echo Beach, the beach club boasts a bar, swimming pool with lounge beds and swing chairs (P.S. totally Instagram-worthy), and an alfresco dining area, which exudes a different charm from day to night. In the morning, buffet breakfast is served with nutritious options for its health-conscious guests, including granola, almond milk, and yoghurt.
The kitchen—which boasts an authentic wood-fired grill for its delicious pizzas—serves up an eclectic global menu and seasonal specials centred around fresh, regional ingredients, while the bar offers a collection of thirst-quenching cocktails and mocktails throughout the day.
At night—after catching one of the best views of the Balinese sunset—dinner is served by the candlelight to tunes from live acoustic artistes, or visiting DJs. We particularly enjoyed a set by Bali-based band Manjă, who had us grooving to their covers of chart-topping hits.
Need a quick pick-me-up between workouts? Glow Juice Bar offers fresh, cold-pressed juices, smoothies, as well as healthy snacks and nutritious salads that you can 'grab and go'. The juice blends—a Como signature—are mixed for optimal health benefits, such as digestion, circulation, and replenishing hydration.
Echo Beach, just outside of the resort, is a surfer's haven with great spots to swim and surf. Como Uma Canggu offers a 'Surf and Stay' experience in partnership with Tropicsurf, which offers daily surf lessons for all levels (including use of equipment) and a 90min deep tissue massage, on top of accommodation, daily breakfast and a daily group activity. Beginners are taught board handling, ocean safety and go through balance-board simulations before riding their first green waves, while lessons for more advanced surfers take place in the ocean in front of the resort.
The luxury surf operator also manages a Surf Centre on site, for rental of surf equipment, year-round coaching and access to the best surf breaks in the area.


Jousting jollifications and brutal battles at this classic British castle depicted in a Timberscenes Moving Postcard!
Just peg, glue then turn the handle to make it move. Making a Timberkit is to step into the whole world of Automata, ingenious moving models and scenes. It is an art form in which you can appreciate the magic of mechanical action and a fascinating education and hobby for children and adults of all ages.
All wooden components are shaped and drilled. Includes comprehensive instructions.


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Play a significant role in helping us create a training model for long-term engagement, positive behavior change, user retention, and peer-based accountability.
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text:
Home enews six Virginia Distillery Releases Three New Whiskies in Courage & Conviction Line
Virginia Distillery Releases Three New Whiskies in Courage & Conviction Line
Virginia Distillery Company has announced three new whiskies in its Courage & Conviction product line. These are individual bottlings of the core trio of casks — bourbon, sherry and cuvée — that comprise the flagship Courage & Conviction American Single Malt.
"These are a great way for us to highlight the casks that are foundational to the Courage & Conviction line," says Virginia Distillery Company CEO Gareth H. Moore "One example is that we are one of only a handful of distilleries in the world to use these unique cuvée casks, a profile developed by the late Dr. Jim Swan."
Courage & Conviction Bourbon Cask aged in ex-bourbon casks sourced from Kentucky, which adds notes of vanilla, caramel, butterscotch and toffee to the whisky, the company reports. Courage & Conviction Sherry Cask uses three different sherry casks — Fino, Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez — which gives the whisky notes of cherry, fig, golden raisin and caramelized plum.
Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask aged in a "STR" cask sourced from European red wine products. The cask is shaved, re-toasted and re-charred, meant to energize the wood sugars, the company says. This brings forward notes of raspberry, cherry, brown sugar, cocoa and baking spice.
Each expression is an American Single Malt whisky, aged a minimum of three years onsite in Virginia. The suggested retail price for each of these three bottlings is $84.99 per 750-ml. bottle.
The first batch of these three new whiskies is dedicated to Nancy Fraley, a master blender and consultant who works with distilleries worldwide on maturation programs and sensory analysis.
"Nancy is a great friend and mentor to our team at Virginia Distillery Company," says Moore. "We are thankful for her guiding nose and so happy we can recognize her by dedicating the inaugural batch of these three new expressions to her."
The whiskies become available to Virginia consumers beginning March 17 at Virginia ABC stores, and through direct-to-consumer shipping via the distillery's website. Nationwide direct-to-consumer shipping starts in early April, and the whiskies will be available when the distillery's visitors center re-opens later this spring.
Roll out to retailers in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. begins in early-to-mid April. Retailers in Alabama, North Carolina and Ohio will have limited availability during the same timeframe. Michigan retailers will receive the whiskies beginning in May.
The inaugural batch of Courage & Conviction, dedicated to Dr. George G. Moore, released in spring of 2020. The Dr. Jim Swan batch of Courage & Conviction released in fall 2020.
The flagship release of Courage & Conviction is a combination of these three casks, with a target profile of 50% bourbon casks, 25% sherry casks and 25% cuvée wine casks.
Virginia Distillery Releases Three New Whiskies in Courage & Conviction Line - feləne® vodka March 17, 2021 At 2:05 am
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Do the kids love fish, dolphins, or sharks? Have they seen 'Finding Nemo' or 'Shark Tale' and want to see the real thing? Mine love sea life, and so they are always keen to visit an aquarium!
Aquariums are more than just a great day out - many provide educational resources, and carry out important conservation work.
The National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth is the UK's largest aquarium. It has a massive collection of sea life, including a display devoted to the UK's marine life as well The Great Barrier Reef and the Atlantic Ocean tank which contains a life size replica of a WW2 seaplane. The National Marine Aquarium was the first aquarium in the United Kingdom to be set upfor education, conservation and research. It also has an art gallery, a maritime garden and an exciting programme of school holiday events.
The London Aquarium is in Central London, right next to The London Eye. The capital's only aquarium is huge, with a multi-sensory voyage of discovery through the rivers, lakes and oceans of the world. You can see octopuses, eels, sharks, piranhas, rays, jellyfish, clownfish, tangs and even some Gentoo penguins.
Brighton Sealife Centre This sealife centre near the seafront in Brighton boasts the UK's first glass bottomed boat in an aquarium. You can touch starfish and crabs and watch feeding demonstrations every day. You will also see sharks, marine fish, octopuses, rays and much more.
Blue Reef Aquariums are situated in Southsea (Portsmouth), Tynemouth on Newcastle's coast, Tyne and Wear, in Hastings in East Sussex and in Newquay, Cornwall. See clownefish and bullfrogs, bearded dragons and snakes as well as sharks and pufferfish, seahorses and jellyfish.
Exploris is Northern Ireland's only Aquarium is situated on the shores of a marine nature reserve and area of special scientific interest at Strangford Lough. Along with a host of marine life to see there is also a seal sanctury, and displays of repltiles, snakes and crocodiles. They hold regular events at weekends and school holidays with craft activities and a chance to see divers feeding the sharks every sunday.
The Lake District Coast Aquarium is on the quayside at Maryport, Cumbria. It has special displays on the marine life of the Irish Sea and Solway Estuary and does much to raise awareness of the area's marine heritage. Displays of freshwater fish include trout and carp as well as some lesser known species like the porcupine pufferfish, as well as lobsters, sharks and rays.
St. Andrews Aquarium can be found close by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in Fife. It's displays include shrimp, octopus, eels, rays and seals - with an Amazonian display including the deadly piranha. They also have everything from British sharks to spiders, lobsters to lionfish, poison dart frogs to piranhas, loveable seals…… and some fabulous meerkats.
Lakes Aquarium in Lakeside, Newby Bridge, Cumbria is a unique freshwater aquarium featuring the UK's largest collection of freshwater fish. You can also learn about and even feed the otters, or see all the creepy crawlies in the rainforest exhibit. They also have the world's very first Virtual Dive Bell where you can come face to face with all sorts of underwater creatures including a terrifying bull shark, a charging hippo and a fierce Nile crocodile – all without getting wet!
The Oceanarium in Bournemouth has marine life from all over the globe - sharks, sea turtles, stingrays, dwarf crocodiles, jellyfish, clownfish and a very cute otter family. It has feeding demonstrations and talks plus a walk-through underwater tunnel. It also hosts a programme of events for kids and adults throughout the year.
Seaquarium Has two locations; one is built on it's own pier on the wonderful sandy beach at Weston-Super-Mare while SeaQuarium Rhyl has an open seafront location and sits on the beautiful North Wales coastline. Featuring species from around the world on show in 9 different zones, plus our amazing outdoor Sea Lion Cove where you can meet our delightful harbour seals. This state-of-the-art exhibit gives you a fantastic underwater view of seals in their 33,000 gallon pool. A delightful exhibition with displays and talks, your ticket is valid all day so you can go in as often as you like (Our 4-year-old insisted on going in three times).
Deep Sea World is situated beneath the world famous Forth Rail Bridge at North Queensferry in Fife. In the world's longest underwater viewing tunnel you can walk along the bottom of ocean as sharks glide inches above your head, or even go shark diving - all training is included so this is open to everyone. They have a big educational programme and are currently working with the SSPCA to build a Seal Sanctuary at the centre.