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GovTech CIO Top Stories
Ohio's Stu Davis Departs After Nearly 8 Years as CIO
One of the nation's longest-serving state CIOs, Davis leaves behind a legacy of productive IT stewardship during a time of major technological change.
by Zack Quaintance / August 29, 2018
Ohio CIO Stu Davis David Kidd/Government Technology
Ohio CIO Stu Davis has submitted his resignation, and his last day with the state will be Friday, Sept. 7.
Davis, who is the second longest-serving state CIO in the country, has held the top tech position in Ohio since 2011, when he was appointed to it soon after Gov. John Kasich took office. Davis said he plans to leave state service after spending the past 21 years working for Ohio, taking at least a month off to assess his next move. Davis is among the most productive and accomplished state CIOs in the country, and he was one of the first to hold the position when it became widespread within state governments back in the late '00s and early '10s.
Davis' accomplishments in the role are many, ranging from small IT fixes to a massive IT optimization that emphasizes efficiency and stands to save the state money in the long term. When Davis and his team began work, Ohio had 26 cabinet agencies with over 70 boards and commissions, spending more than $930 million annually on IT, approximately 80 percent of which went to infrastructure and operations.
Since then, the state has seen over $162 million of documented reductions to spending related to IT infrastructure, according to a letter from Robert Blair, director of Ohio's Department of Administrative Services, accepting Davis' resignation. Davis also estimates this will have a projected savings that exceeds $500 million. Those reductions stem from a wide range of moves, including the creation of a single email platform for all agencies, attrition of IT infrastructure positions and reducing the state's data centers from 32 to four.
Davis said he is perhaps proudest of the evolution of the Ohio Tech Board that has taken place during his tenure. The Ohio Tech Board meets weekly, and its membership consists of Davis, other tech executives, various agency CIOs and line of business leads from throughout the state. Davis recalls the board's earliest meetings, and how far the board has come in that time.
"That was probably one of the coolest things for me — to watch the Tech Board go from this agency-specific look, very cautious on what we were talking about and doing, to now driving enterprise solutions," he said. "To watch this group now be recognized as the IT leadership of the state has been really rewarding for me."
Other accomplishments during Davis' tenure include centralizing cybersecurity functions, creating essential enterprise services and launching a statewide analytics program that in recent years has begun to yield results aimed at reducing the state's infant mortality rate and addressing the state's ongoing opioid crisis. Ohio has also migrated to public cloud-based services, among many other modernization efforts that have taken place in Davis' time.
In terms of advice for the next Ohio CIO, Davis said he will stress the importance of being an early-riser. Davis himself arrives to work each day at 4:30 a.m., which gives him time to reflect and contemplate big picture goals before other public servants arrive with demands for his time. He said quiet time to reflect on what's working and apply it to big picture goals is vital.
"It really gives me a chance to reflect and think about the events of the day, to think about where we want to be in three years," Davis said. "The CIO has a tendency — if they're not careful — to get dragged into the operational weeds, and you need to keep your head up, you need to have someone else focusing on the day-to-day stuff so that you can think about the big things coming, like autonomous vehicles, like how we're using drones in the state of Ohio, how we're using technology to support autistic kids. The innovation and the innovative things we do are only because you have the ability to look forward."
Davis' departure comes just months before the impending end of term-limited Gov. Kasich's tenure as the top executive in the state. CIOs leaving in advance of a departing governor is a normal trend that takes hold across the country during active election years. This year, 36 gubernatorial elections are underway in the United States. In the gov tech world, it is rare for an incumbent CIO to retain the position when a new governor takes office, even if that governor is from the same political party.
Davis, for his part, said he is looking forward to his next role, whatever that may be.
"I've got 21-and-a-half years in state service," Davis said. "It's been a road, it's been a journey, it's been a heck of a ride. It's time for me to take a step back and decompress. I've been telling people that the next time they see me, I'll be two inches taller."
Ohio Launches Highly Anticipated 18F-Style RFPHow Analytics Can Transform GovernmentHow Ohio Is Migrating to a Co-Managed Private Cloud
Ohio Launches Highly Anticipated 18F-Style RFP
How Analytics Can Transform Government
How Ohio Is Migrating to a Co-Managed Private Cloud
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For 125 years, Gage & Tollner was the most famous restaurant in Brooklyn. But for the past 14 years, it has existed only in the memories of the many people who went there to dine, to drink, to work, and to celebrate.
Before we discuss our plans to bring Gage & Tollner back to life, it's important to acknowledge its storied past. This is by no means a complete history — please tell us your stories about Gage & Tollner, so we can share them with the world!


Cloud Interactive Associates (CIA) is a Marketing and Digital Media Solutions company specializing in bringing new innovations to companies in the West African Sub-Region. Working with an extensive partner and product portfolio. CIA is able to deliver to its clients innovative, value delivering solutions.
We and our partners like to showcase our skills in designing, developing and implementing mobile/digital based, retail marketing solutions for both B2B and B2C audiences. CIA has partnership agreements with the major Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and their subsidiaries within the Nigerian territory.
Management of revenue growth through campaigns and promotions.
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Monitor all content activities for new services and ensure content availability at all times.
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Super Police Dog, Innovative Company Partnering To Find Many Missing Persons In Bergen CountyIt's as if she has no Kryptonite. A super-dog has already rescued dozens of people in Bergen County all on her own. But this police canine is getting some help to track down even more.
Gov. Cuomo Gets Aggressive With 2020 New York Census, Announces Bold, New ApproachWith clout, power and billions in federal aid at stake, Gov. Andrew Cuomo used Martin Luther King Day to mount a campaign to make sure every New Yorker is counted.
Lord & Taylor Sells Flagship Fifth Avenue Store To WeWork
Filed Under:Lord & Taylor, WeWork
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Lord & Taylor's flagship store on Fifth Avenue, known for its holiday displays, is being sold to the office space sharing company WeWork.
The nearly 100-year-old building will be converted to WeWork headquarters, with less than a quarter of the space remaining for a Lord & Taylor store. Ten of the building's 11 floors are now devoted to retail.
WeWork attracts millennials who are looking to share office space, a consumer segment that Lord & Taylor owner Hudson's Bay and other department stores want to attract. So store executives expect the stores to benefit from WeWork members going in and out of the building, and hopes they'll be shopping.
Lord & Taylor will keep the whole building with its usual operations through next year's holiday season. And the holiday displays will continue to go on this year and next year, a company spokeswoman said. The department store was the first to create Christmas windows for sheer entertainment, rather than for selling merchandise. It also pioneered the animated window display back in 1938.
Company officials declined to share details for what the redesigned Lord & Taylor store of about 150,000 square feet will look like.
The $850 million sale, announced Tuesday, is part of a plan by Hudson's Bay Co., which owns Lord & Taylor stores under its own brand as well as Saks Fifth Avenue, to pare down debt and reinvigorate sales.
Richard Baker, chairman of Hudson's Bay, told The Associated Press that WeWork will also lease space in the upper floors in three of the company main stores — Hudson's Bay stores in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, as well as its Galeria Kaufhof in Frankfurt, Germany.
Department stores have been struggling to follow their customers online, with many closing stores and selling lucrative real estate. Big chains like Macy's had been under pressure from shareholders to get more value out of their real estate holdings. But the Hudson's Bay deal with WeWork is a change in how retailers are trying to capitalize on their real estate.
"We definitely think there is a future for department stores for people who reinvest in the business," Baker said.
On Friday, Hudson's Bay had said that CEO Jerry Storch would step down at the end of the month.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Anyone who is surprised by the Left's embrace of censorship and suppression of opposing political opinion has forgotten the Citizens United case.
You may recall Citizens United, which was decided in 2010 by a divided Supreme Court in a razor thin 5-4 decision.
Citizens United dealt with the non-profit's attempt to broadcast "Hillary: The Movie," a documentary it produced that was critical of then-U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton prior to her run for the presidency.
Democrats argued the case was not about free speech, but campaign finance law.
The decision gutted the McCain-Feingold law (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002), which prohibited "communications by broadcast, cable, or satellite within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election".
It could have been called the Incumbent Protection Act instead, as it seemed targeted to ensure those in government would remain so.
Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority, opined "Governments are often hostile to speech, but under our law and our tradition it seems stranger than fiction for our Government to make this political speech a crime."
The minority, however, asserted that the decision related to "the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering".
The Leftists on the court even argued that the government could ban _books_ on the basis of McCain-Feingold.
The Leftists were advocating that lawful speech could be restricted. And that said control of speech could be based upon arbitrary deadlines, limits and affiliations of like-minded individuals.
No less a figure than Barack Obama blasted the decision during the 2010 State of the Union address.
The majority "handed a huge victory to the special interests and their lobbyists," he said.
"I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities..." directly implying that Citizens United had foreign ties.
It had no such ties, as Obama well knew.
Nonetheless, the Democrats' rhetoric was and is consistent.
They seek to suppress dissenting opinions.
They support censorship of news unfavorable to them and news favorable to the right.
Unless Americans, on both sides of the aisle, stand together and decry these tactics, this virus of government-media-tech control could veer into ominous directions.
Americans who feel they have no public voice may become frustrated and agitated.
The immediate hope for America is not unity -- because that seems implausible, at least for the moment, given the rhetoric on both sides -- but on a truce predicated upon one basic agreement.
That free speech is permitted.
That political violence disguised as speech is intolerable in a civil society
That civil political disagreements should be the norm, not the exception.
That every political opponent is not insane or worse.
That Americans can have a truce predicated upon one basic principle: free speech.
It could be an important first step in a reconciliation sorely needed today.
Also see BadBlue Uncensored News.
Labels: Democrats, extremism, Fascism, Media, MSM, Scitech
Sibyl said...
EXCELLENT ARTICLE, Mr. Ross!
Throughout the years, you have done yeoman's work - faithful and dedicated hard work - producing very reliable, truthful news here at Director Blue and BadBlue!
I've reposted especially the lists and compilations in the right column many times!
Big tech went full throttle after McConnell and most republicans gave them full freedom by refusing to legislate changes Trump asked for and gleefully overriding Trumps veto.
Why does no one talk about that?


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How three CEOs helped their companies thrive in a pandemic
Alice Carpenter
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted different responses from company CEOs seeking to ensure their businesses survive. Keeping their employees safe has been the first priority, but beyond that, their task has involved understanding the situation, launching countermeasures, and trying to evolve ways of working to ensure their businesses can continue.
We spoke to the chief executives of three major companies in three very different industries. In their responses to the crisis we found that Winston Churchill's adage of "never let a crisis go to waste" was as relevant as ever, with businesses finding positives during the pandemic.
Accelerate strategy
Shipping giant AP Møller-Maersk embarked on a historic transformation in 2016 to become an integrated transport and logistics company – combining its shipping line, port operations and freight forwarding businesses into a single entity. However, progress had been limited.
The pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to Maersk's customers who, faced with falling demand, had to manage their global supply networks as effectively as possible. They wanted better information across the supply chain and the ability to change outcomes while goods were in transit.
These demands affirmed Maersk's strategy to shift from being a port-to-port container transport company to an integrated, end-to-end logistics company, making use of digital technologies to provide the connectivity and visibility that customers required.
Maersk's customers turned to its blockchain-enabled supply chain platform TradeLens, where the number of transactions almost tripled from 70,000 a week in January 2020 to 194,000 a week in June. Transactions through Maersk.com increased by 20%-25% between January and October 2020. Maersk's CEO Soren Skou told us: "The investments we made in the last five years in digital capabilities came in very handy during COVID-19."
The pandemic accelerated Maersk's technological transformation efforts, which led to new digital products and services while modernising its customer interface, back-end infrastructure and assets such as ships and terminals. Maersk also built expertise through acquisitions, purchasing warehousing and distribution company Performance Team, and customs management firm KGH Customs.
Skou was able to apply what he'd learned from the financial crisis of 2008-09, when Maersk and its competitors fought for market share and ended up driving down freight rates. This time, Skou focused on profitability: cutting capacity by 20%, but filling the remaining vessels even as the pandemic caused shipping volumes to drop. The plunging price of oil also helped Maersk's financial performance, and its earnings actually increased in the first three quarters of 2020, despite near-paralysis of the global economy.
Scale-up innovation
Large companies are often seen as slow and trailing in innovation compared to smaller, more nimble competitors. Standard operating procedures mean they focus on developing "perfect" solutions, testing in pilot markets and proving the business case over a couple of years, before finally rolling out – by which time they have probably missed the boat.
Mars Petcare, a global leader in pet food and pet health services, found that COVID-19 necessitated scaling up innovation. Prior to the crisis, the company had been working on a telehealth service for pet owners, offering video consulatations with vets at 20 veterinary hospitals, where it proved to be a valuable triage tool for prioritising cases.
As the pandemic took hold, pet owners started working from home, inevitably spending more time with their pets which generated more queries about minor health issues. An initial video call with a vet was an ideal solution.
Working with Microsoft, the company scaled its telehealth service from 20 to around 2,000 veterinary hospitals – in one month. Poul Weihrauch, global president of Mars Petcare, told us:
This may not help our earnings in the short term, but it will make the clients happier and pets healthier today and in the long term. A common belief is that big companies are slow, but this shows that big companies can scale innovation very quickly. This time, it was done by necessity… but clearly the goal is that it should be the norm.
These efforts, spurred by high demand during COVID-19, tied in well with Mars Petcare's strategy to dramatically accelerate its evolution from pet food manufacturer to provider of pet care services.
Engage with employees and customers
When the pandemic struck, security became an "essential service". Security company Securitas realised it needed to quickly ramp up its electronic solutions. This validated the company's strategy launched in 2018 to evolve from providing traditional physical guarding to digital security solutions such as facial recognition technology and remote video monitoring.
CEO Magnus Ahlqvist wanted to manage customers' uncertainty, outlining how Securitas was dealing with the crisis. He and his management team worked with major clients, with a similar sponsorship system for each of the countries in which Securitas operates. Ahlqvist told us:
"I have spent more time with clients than I would normally… Being visible and present for clients in a tough moment will pay off in the long term."
The Swedish company's 340,000 frontline guards had to rise to an unprecedented challenge, for which the company pushed hard to equip them with better digital tools.
Having already embarked on strategic transformations, these firms were well equipped to turn an unparalleled threat into an opportunity. Setting a good example from the top, the chief executives were able to put the crisis to work by accelerating strategy, scaling innovation and deepening customer engagement, generating the energy required for the organisation to thrive, despite the hurdles thrown up by COVID-19.
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I am a guest writer at Aspioneer. I am specializing in the categories of economy, healthcare and materials science. Cheers!
Dr. Susanne H. Thompson: Educational Leader With A Flair For Innovation & Learning


[Qgis-developer] Fwd: A new plugin has been created	by	innotechsoftware.
Any chance of adding this to a public repository?
Or at least adding some instructions on the page for the non-technical among us about how to install it?


Our Voices, formerly known as Their Voices, is a youth-led initiative that empowers newly arrived or refugee young people to create films that are meaningful and enables self-representation on matters of concern. Participants use the power of film to express themselves through the development and sharing of positive and constructive alternative narratives. The project has been funded by the state government of Victoria, as represented by the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
I was originally born in Australia but grew up in Egypt. I identify with Somalia and Egyptian culture because of my heritage and have been living in Australia for 18 months now with my family.
Overall so far my experience of living here has been positive, as Melbourne is a multicultural city. There is harmony here for me as I'm living in a place alongside people I feel comfortable.
I enjoy reading and playing games and had never been involved in film production before until this project came along. I worked on the film with my sister, Zainab, and it was Zainab who came up with idea for our script.
Our film is about a boy who becomes deaf and blind because of a disease and looks at how he deals with this problem and continues his life. It's about resilience and sends a good message, as there is light at the end of every tunnel. We believe the film helps to challenge stereotypesI've had a lot of fun doing this course and learnt a lot about other people. I've learnt new films and can now direct film.
I am twenty years old and I was originally born in Australia but grew up in Egypt. I enjoy reading and watching comedy shows and worked on this film with my sister Salma. It was amazing sharing our ideas together. I had a a lot of fun doing this program and meeting new people. I learned many things and enjoyed my time on the course.
My short doco film is about what my life looked like in Iran and what it looks like now in Australia. I reflect on my family life, friendships, and the increased confidence I've gained through learning english. I hope my film will inspire others to follow their dreams and go for their goals.
I chose to participate in the Voices project because I love writing and it's my dream to become a writer and actress. I've learnt 'many things about scriptwriting and editing on the computer and found the voice over's to be most fun. I'd recommend this course to other multi-cultural youth.
"I was born in North West Burma and grew up there before moving to Malaysia as a teenager. I came to Australia three years ago from Malaysia to study. I'm currently completing his bachelor degree in engineering and live with his brother, sister in law, niece and nephew.
My film is about my love for education and my experience in migrating to Australia. I hope my film makes his parents happy and inspire his friends as well.
I did this program with Youthworx to improve my filmmaking and editing skills and make new friends. I've enjoyed sharing ideas and sharing our backgrounds with one another. I had the most fun when students, staff and volunteers came together to have lunch.
I was 16 at the time of making my film. I'm from Somalia but before coming here I was living in Ethiopia. My film is about my experience of living in Australian so far. I chose to do this project because I wanted to learn new skills and tell my story in a way that people would watch and listen. I've become someone who can tell stories as a result of this course.
"I was born in Sierra Leone and have grown up in both Gambia and Australia. I'd say my cultural heritage is African and my experience of living in Australia has consisted of a spectrum of things though mostly positive. Moving to Australia involved my own journey of identity and belonging. Belonging is the acceptance and not tolerance of those around you. Acceptance does not mean believing the same things, it means treating each other with mutual respect. Harmony comes with a shared identity, a shared view-point and a shared likeness.
My film is about belonging, identity and self-acceptance. I chose to do this film because of the unique experience of multicultural youths in being displaced, sometimes many times, having to adapt and re-adapt to new cultures all the while growing and needing to establish their own identities. I want people to take from my film the complexity of what makes CALD youth what they are in the society.


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Cernunnos  – imię, którym zwyczajowo określane są wizerunki rogatego boga w mitologii Celtów.

Imię to pojawia się w takim brzmieniu tylko raz, na tzw. Kolumnie Przewoźników, pochodzącej z I w. n.e., ale wizerunki mężczyzny z rogami lub porożem jelenia, często siedzącego ze skrzyżowanymi nogami i otoczonego zwierzętami, oraz trzymającego lub noszącego torques, znane są z wielu innych źródeł. Widnieją m.in. na kotle z Gundestrup (Dania) czy na płaskorzeźbie znalezionej w miejscowości Vendœuvres we francuskim departamencie Indre.

Nie ma informacji o tym bogu w źródłach pisanych, a szczegóły dotyczące jego kultu czy znaczenia w religii Celtów nie są znane.

Imię: świadectwa epigraficzne
Imię [C]ernunnos pojawia się tylko na tzw. Kolumnie Przewoźników (Pilier des nautes). Poświęcona przez galijskich marynarzy Jowiszowi oraz cesarzowi Tyberiuszowi, co pozwala ją datować między 14 a 37 r. n.e., została odnaleziona w 1710 r. w fundamentach Katedry Notre-Dame w Paryżu, w miejscu starożytnej Lutecji, która była stolicą civitas celtyckiego plemienia Paryzjów. Obecnie jest wystawiona w Musée National du Moyen Âge w Paryżu.  Charakterystyczna kamienna kolumna jest ważnym zabytkiem galijsko-rzymskiej religii. Reliefy na bazie kolumny obrazują i wymieniają z imienia kilku rzymskich bogów, takich jak Jupiter, Wulkan, czy Kastor i Polluks, razem z galijskimi bogami Esusem, Smertriosem, oraz Tarvosem Trigaranusem. Osiemnastowieczne rysunki inskrypcji pozwalają odczytać wersję Cernunnos, jednak pierwsza litera uległa od tamtego czasu uszkodzeniu, więc dzisiaj możliwe jest tylko odczytanie [_]ernunnos.

Kolejnym dowodem jest inskrypcja na metalowej tabliczce z Steinsel-Rëlent w Luksemburgu, na terenach zamieszkałych przez celtycki lud Trewerów. Uważa się, że ta inskrypcja, o treści Deo Ceruninco, "bogu Cerunincosowi", odnosi się do tego samego bóstwa.

Imię Cernunnos zostało powiązane z boskim przydomkiem Carnonos z celtyckiej inskrypcji napisanej po grecku, odkrytej w Montagnac (Hérault). Brzmi ona: αλλετ[ει]υος καρνονου αλ[ι]σο[ντ]εας (alleteiuos karnonou alisonteas); καρνονου pojawia się w celowniku, a ostatnie słowo prawdopodobnie oznacza nazwę miejsca wywodzącego się od alisii, "jarzębu" lub "głazu" (porównaj z Alezją, galijską Alisiią), napis można zrozumieć więc jako "Alleteinos [poświęca] Karnonosowi z Alisontei".

Przydomek Carnonos wywodzony jest z galijsko-łacińskiego przymiotnika carnuātus, "rogaty". Galijskie słowo karnon ("róg") jest wyrazem pokrewnym łacińskiego cornu, germańskiego humaz, oraz angielskiego horn, a także praindoeuropejskiego *k̑r̥no-. Celtycki rdzeń mógł prawdopodobnie mieć formę *kornu/kernu. Rdzeń karn- ("róg") pojawia się zarówno w galijskiej, jak i galackiej gałęzi Celtów kontynentalnych. Hezychiusz z Aleksandrii objaśniał galacki wyraz karnon (κάρνον) jako "galijską trąbkę", to znaczy celtycki róg wojenny, wymieniony jako carnyx (κάρνυξ) przez Eustacjusza z Tessaloniki, który wspomniał o czarze głosowej w kształcie zwierzęcia. Rdzeń słowa występuje także w nazwach celtyckich ludów, na przykład Karnutów (Carnutes) – co być może oznacza "Rogaci" – oraz w kilku imionach własnych wymienionych w inskrypcjach.

Proto-celtycka forma imienia boga została zrekonstruowana albo jako Cerno-on-os lub Carno-on-os. Cząstka –on- jest charakterystyczna dla imion bóstw, jak w przypadkach Maponosa, Epony, Matron czy Sirony.

Ikonografia

Postać oznaczona na Kolumnie Przewoźników imieniem [C]ernunnos przedstawiona jest z porożem jelenia we wczesnej fazie corocznego wzrostu. Z obu rogów zwisają torquesy. Dolna część reliefu zaginęła, ale wymiary kolumny pozwalają przypuszczać, że bóg mógł znajdować się w pozycji siedzącej, ze skrzyżowanymi nogami, podobnie jak rogaty mężczyzna na kotle z Gundestrup.

W celtyckiej ikonografii rogaty bóg jest często przedstawiany w towarzystwie zwierząt, często z dorosłym jeleniem, z rogatym wężem, rzadziej z bykami (jak np. w Reims), psami czy szczurami. Z tego powodu uczeni często określają Cernunnosa jako "Władcę Zwierząt" albo "Władcę Dzikich Stworzeń", boga natury i urodzaju. Rogi mogą symbolizować siłę i płodność, oraz wskazywać na rolę Cernunnosa jako bóstwa opiekuńczego polowań. Jednak, jak podkreśla Phyllis Fray Bober, towarzyszący mu rogaty wąż, jako symbol chtoniczny, może także wskazywać na jego związki ze światem podziemnym. Podobne znaczenie mógł mieć także motyw psa.

Na Kolumnie Przewoźników Cernunnos występuje wśród bóstw patronujących dobrom materialnym, żegludze i handlowi (Merkury, Wulkan, Kastor i Polluks, Fortuna), co sugeruje, że mógł być także bogiem bogactwa i materialnego powodzenia. Może o tym świadczyć np. sakiewka trzymana przez boga na wizerunku z Reims (w starożytności, Durocortorum, stolicy plemienia Remi), oraz jeleń wymiotujący monetami z Niedercorn-Turbelslach (Luksemburg), na ziemiach Trewerów. Także torques może być interpretowany jako symbol bogactwa. Podobnie jak Pluton, byłby on więc bogiem obfitości i świata podziemnego zarazem. Inne często przedstawiane z Cernunnosem bóstwo, Merkury, również łączy funkcje opiekuna handlu, posłańca i przewodnika, także po świecie podziemnym (psychopompa). Rogaty bóg mógł więc pełnić równolegle różne role: bóstwa natury, dostatku, polowań czy życia pozagrobowego.

Innym przykładem obrazów powiązanych z Cernunnosem jest petroglif w Val Camonica w południowoalpejskiej Galii. Rogatą postać ludzką datuje się na okres od VII w. p.n.e. do IV w. p.n.e. Na reliefie z Vendoeuvres widnieje rogate dziecko, otoczone z obu stron przez węże oraz trzymające sakiewkę i torquesy.

Pośród dzieł Celtów mieszkających na terenie obecnej Hiszpanii, wśród rogatych figur Cernunnosa znajdujemy "podobnego do Janusa" boga z Candelario (Salamanka), z dwiema twarzami i dwoma małymi rogami, rogatego boga ze wzgórz Ríotinto (Huelva), oraz reprezentację bóstwa zwanego Vestius Aloniecus, odkrytą niedaleko jego ołtarzy w Lourizán (Pontevedra).

Wyobrażenia Cernunnosa podważają często wyrażany pogląd, według którego Celtowie zaczęli przedstawiać swoich bogów w ludzkich formach dopiero po podboju Galii przez Rzymian. Celtycki "rogaty bóg", choć potwierdzony w ikonografii, nie może być zidentyfikowany w opisie celtyckiej religii w rzymskiej etnografii i nie wydaje się, by nadano mu przetłumaczone na łacinę imię; być może ze względu na swoją odrębność nie został przeniesiony do rzymskiego panteonu. Choć Cernunnos nie został przyswojony przez Rzymian, uczeni czasami porównywali go, pod względem funkcyjnym, do greckich i rzymskich istot boskich takich, jak Merkury czy Akteon, wyspecjalizowanych form Jupitera, oraz Dis Patera, którego Juliusz Cezar uważał za przodka Galów.

Możliwe odbicie w wyspiarskiej odmianie języka celtyckiego
Próbowano znaleźć powiązania pomiędzy Cernunnosem i Conallem Cernachem, przyrodnim bratem irlandzkiego herosa Cúchulainna w Cyklu Ulsterskim, opierając się na rdzeniu cern- w przydomku Cernach. Przydomek ten tłumaczony jest zazwyczaj jako "zwycięski", Anne Ross zaproponowała jednak inne jego znaczenie  – "kościsty, mający kanty", co wiązałoby go z rogatym bogiem. Związek z ikonografią Cernunnosa widoczny byłby także w scenie z poematu Táin Bó Fráich, w którym Conall chwyta jadowitego węża, a ten owija się wokół niego, nie czyniąc mu szkody. Poglądu tego nie podzielają jednak inni badacze.

Możliwe powiązania ze świętym Kiaranem
Niektórzy widzą cechy Cernunnosa zawarte w życiu świętego Kiarana z Saigir, jednego z dwunastu apostołów Irlandii. Kiedy budował swoją pierwszą małą celę, jak głosi jego hagiografia, jego pierwszym uczniem i mnichem był niedźwiedź, który został uczyniony spokojnym przez Boga. Następnymi byli lis, borsuk, wilk, oraz jeleń.

Neopogaństwo
W wicca i innych formach neopogaństwa czczony jest Rogaty Bóg; to bóstwo łączy synkretycznie wiele rogatych bogów z różnych kultur, łącznie z Cernunnosem. Odzwierciedla on pory roku w corocznym cyklu: życia, śmierci i odrodzenia.

Przypisy

Bibliografia

Bóstwa celtyckie
Bóstwa płodności
Bóstwa przyrody

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Back to bleakhousebooks.com.hk
Saying Goodbye to Hong Kong: An Unexpected End for an Independent English Bookstore
'I Don't Have a Poem to Read': My Personal Reply to Our Lovely Readers, Here and Afar
The Last Memo
Coming Up For Air: Sometimes You Want to Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Peril by Toni Morrison
Ivan on An Interview with Tsuyoshi Toyota, Founder and Owner of Doyosha (土曜社), the Japanese Publisher of "Books With An Attitude"
bleakhousebooks on The Squeeze
Patty on The Squeeze
Coming Up For Air (Ming Pao)
October 15, 2022 October 15, 2022 bleakhousebooks
Following tearful embraces and goodbyes, Albert ushers everyone from the bookstore at 7:45 p.m., closes the door and hangs a sign on it that reads, "Hong Kong is my home."
by Lok-Kei SUM 沈諾基*; translated from the Chinese by Mary King BRADLEY**; cover photo by Chun-Tung LAM 林振東/ reprinted with the permission of Initium Media 端傳媒 (25 October 2021 | Hong Kong)
Every three months, Reena receives three or four books selected for her by bookshop owner Albert Wan. She belongs to the Bleak House Books subscription readers' club. Last Christmas, Reena's boss gave one-year memberships to five employees, including Reena.
She happened to be in the office when the first package arrived several days later, delivering what felt like all the excitement of another Christmas. "Everyone had a box, individualized [for him or her. You could see that] a lot of thought went into it," she says.
Like the name Bleak House Books, the name for the store's mail-order subscription service, Pickwick Club, was inspired by the works of English author Charles Dickens.
Pickwick Club offered just three genres: mystery and suspense, general fiction, and young adult. But Reena, who works in writing and publishing, is especially fond of fiction for 8- to 12-year-olds, and so she emailed Bleak House Books to request that type of book. "I'm not very good at following the rules, so I changed them," says Reena with a laugh.
Reena received one book from Bleak House Books, The Wild Robot, that particularly appealed to her. In this highly imaginative fantasy, a robot is shipwrecked on a remote island and becomes the adoptive mother of a goose.
Reena is full of praise for the subscription boxes from Bleak House Books, which have always contained at least one book that hit the bullseye and often included unknown titles by authors she hadn't heard of. Even if she had gone to the bookstore herself, she says, she might not have been as equally successful at finding so many books that she enjoys.
It was almost a year before Reena first set foot in the San Po Kong bookstore, her reason for doing so its imminent closure. Albert's decision to return to the United States with his family after the abrupt changes in Hong Kong's political environment had left him no choice: he would have to close Hong Kong's only remaining independent English bookstore.
"I wanted to ask them, what's your secret? How do you know which books I want to read? Can you teach me to do the same thing for myself?" says Reena. She is losing not only books she would never otherwise encounter, but a bookseller who understands her.
Four Chances to Get It Right
Albert says that if only one person experienced a new book or author through Pickwick Club, he considers it a success. "Please keep reading, my friends," he tells them.
Albert's parents are Hongkongers, but he was born in the United States after they emigrated there in the 1970s. Originally a literature major, he transferred to the business college of another university, where he switched to studying finance. He realized the financial industry didn't suit him only after he began working in the field, and it was then that he began his law studies. Afterwards, he became a defense lawyer, living, working, and adding to his family in cities such as New York and Atlanta.
When his wife, Jenny, found a teaching position in Hong Kong in 2017, Albert brought their two children to the city and started Bleak House Books as an online bookstore. After months of lugging books to markets of all sizes, Albert and his wife decided they had enough capital saved to open a brick-and-mortar store. It didn't take long for them to find a unit on the 27th floor of an industrial building in San Po Kong.
Albert says that from the moment he saw the place, he liked both its looks and its light, and that he immediately decided to rent it—that was in October 2018. "San Po Kong … seems spacious, compared to many other places in Hong Kong," he comments.
In good weather, summer sunlight does indeed penetrate the somewhat dirty air of this industrial neighborhood to seep into Bleak House Books, where the new and used books arranged on more than twenty bookcases exude a soothing smell. A piece of Chinese calligraphy that translates as "fine prospects" is tacked up in a corner of the window. All of these details form a magical moment in which reality and a world of books are inseparable.
It was a deliberate choice not to let the book shop become a "hoarder's paradise," says Albert. He hoped that readers who came to browse could sit in comfort for a while, without having to worry that a tower of books might topple onto their heads at any moment. A reading corner inside the store, designed especially for kids, features a rug and bean bag chairs.
When Reena is mentioned, store owner Albert laughs and refers to her as a "tough customer," one who not only demands the unusual, but who also sends a message to tell him when the store has sent her books she doesn't like. He says that there's no real trick to selecting books for other people. It just requires a bit of time and taking note of how the other person reacts. "I figure, you have four chances to get it right, so … [laughs] if you fuck it up the first two times, you know, you'll hear from them and you can tweak it," he says.
Before Bleak House Books closed, Pickwick Club had approximately 20 members, which means Albert selected several hundred books for them over the course of a year. Busy at work, he had time to read only one book each month, so he saw making the selections as an opportunity to engage with new books and authors. This month he will send out this year's fourth—and final—installment of Pickwick Club books ahead of schedule.
Tucked into the boxes is Albert's farewell message to readers, thanking them for their faith in Bleak House Books and love of reading. In his message, he says that if only one person experienced a new book or author through Pickwick Club, he considers it a success. "Please keep reading, my friends," he tells them.
Albert says the saddest part of leaving is that he can no longer maintain the same sincere, close relationship with his readers. For Albert, his wife, and kids, the book store is an extension of their family. It's not uncommon to see his kids at the store, and his wife Jenny, an associate professor of humanities, also visits the store from time to time. With the addition of employees and regular customers, they are all one big family.
"I can't say our relationship is being severed, but it is going to be more attenuated."
Running a Bookstore Is Asking for Trouble…
"Even though we were just a stupid bookstore, [I wanted] people to come into this space and have them feel safe and at peace."
An independent Hong Kong bookstore closing is nothing new, although Bleak House Books is a rare example of one that is closing for reasons other than financial problems. On August 29, Bleak House Books posted "The Last Memo" on social media, announcing it was about to close. "Given the state of politics in Hong Kong, Jenny and I can no longer see a life for ourselves and our children in this city," wrote Albert.
Later, he adds that the family's main struggle in regard to leaving Hong Kong has been choosing when, not "if." Just as Jenny has responsibilities to her university community, Albert must ensure that the bookstore's staff has enough time to deal with Bleak House Books closing. "It's not any one thing, it's everything, really, and most of it has to do with politics," he says.
Albert acknowledges that the United States, where they will shortly return, also has serious problems. "But at the end of the day, despite all the limitations and false fronts, there's a type of freedom there that doesn't exist in Hong Kong anymore."
Although nothing the family does on a daily basis has any direct relation to politics, in "The Last Memo" Albert writes: "As George Orwell once remarked, 'In our age there is no such thing as "keeping out of politics." All issues are political issues.'" The bookstore hasn't stopped doing business as a result of this, however. In its final days, box after box of new books has been delivered.
Asked if anyone had offered to take over the bookstore, Albert says, "Who the fuck wants to run a bookshop now? I mean, you're just asking for trouble, right?" He simply hopes that one day he can hang up the Bleak House Books sign again in the United States.
Even so, he says that running Bleak House Books has been the perfect combination of physical and mental labor. From pulling a cart piled high with packages to the post office in summertime heat, to sitting at his desk and pondering how to market a book, it has all given this bookseller immeasurable satisfaction.
"I don't regret anything, I would think that this was probably the best thing to have happened to me," Albert says. "The bookshop has kept me going. During the toughest times during the past few years, it has given me hope."
Bleak House Books was a clear supporter of the 2019 anti-extradition movement, stocking numerous titles on democratic movements and human rights during that period. "It felt like we had an important job to do, even though we are just a stupid bookshop, to have this space for people to come to and feel like they're safe and at peace," Albert says. "You felt like everything mattered a little more, even if it didn't matter in the end, you just felt like you had to do something."
Later, during the pandemic, Albert closed the bookstore twice. Fortunately, the mail order sales established online in the bookstore's early days picked up at the same time, which kept Bleak House Books going. Albert describes Bleak House Books as a financially healthy and happy bookstore right up to the end. "I never thought it would be politics that would drive us to leave [Hong Kong]," says Albert. "The bookshop is more a casualty of our decision [to go]."
Sending a Book "Inside"
"This isn't just about a book. The truth is that no one in Hong Kong is immune to what's going on here." Even if no one you know has gone to prison, those who have aren't so far removed from us.
Two weeks after Bleak House Books announced it was closing, the store received a letter from a Hong Kong prison. This was when Albert first learned that a book from his personal collection, given to a reader, had made its way into the hands of Jane, serving a prison sentence for a case related to the anti-extradition movement.
That reader was Jane's former tutor; the book, the tutor's favorite novel, Beloved by Toni Morrison. He had given Albert's old copy to Jane after her arrest. But because the pages contained Albert's handwritten notes, Jane couldn't take the book into the prison with her, to keep her company during her three-year sentence.
"I was very sad knowing that I won't be able to visit Bleak House Books even after I got out in 2024. I wonder what Hong Kong will become after three years, better or worse," Jane wrote in her letter. "Maybe one day, I will be able to walk into your bookshop again, in somewhere else, in another time."
This is how a book connects Albert, who once took a college literature course in the United States, with a Hong Kong girl he has never met, who was imprisoned for a 2019 social movement. The same paperback novel touched several lives before returning to Bleak House Books as a letter.
After sharing the story, Albert repeats again and again that this is "very sad." "It's not just about a book. The truth is that no one in Hong Kong is immune to what's going on here." Even if no one you personally know has gone to prison, those who have aren't so far removed from us.
Albert never thought he would receive a letter like this after he became a bookseller: "I used to get letters from people in jail because I was a lawyer, they needed my help." Albert says what he could do was to write back to Jane and arrange to send her a clean copy of Beloved that would pass the prison inspection.
Recalling his days as a defense lawyer, Albert says the job taught him the power of stories and the written word. He discovered that telling a persuasive story during a trial had the power more or less to shape a person's future. But over time, he also came to see that the American legal system was dictated by money and had an undemocratic aspect.
Albert chose to give his bookstore the same name as the book by Dickens because what the author says about the law in Bleak House agrees in many respects with Albert's experiences. "The legal system has issues in general that make it a less than ideal vehicle for social change," he says, and gives the example of abortion rights. U.S. law has already weighed in, but that hasn't ended the longstanding "culture war" or attempts to restrict women's access to abortion in many states.
"There are lots of ways to instigate social revolution. This bookshop is one of them … it's a small store, but what we do changes this community," says Albert.
A Safe Space Away from a Pandemic and Politics
Both women think it's very difficult to find a good English bookstore in Hong Kong. For a city that has branded itself as a "World City," this is truly incredible.
During Bleak House Book's final days, many people heard the news that it was closing and came to the store for the first time. An 82-year-old retired engineer, for example, made a special trip in search of a book about Marx. Unfortunately, he was unable to find one. There were also customers like Mrs. Hui, who first discovered that Hong Kong had a book store like Bleak House Books when she read in the newspaper that it was about to close. Several people chose not to buy books, and instead left the store with old maps of Hong Kong and post cards.
"Latecomers" included the Indian ladies Schoanna and Vedika. As kids they would frequently spend an entire afternoon together at an English bookstore, sitting on the floor to read. "So it feels really odd that we have to rack our brains to find an English bookstore, we're really at a loss," says Vedika. The pair finally found Bleak House Books through a friend's recommendation.
The large English-language bookstore chains in Hong Kong, such as Page One, have closed down one by one, leaving only the bookstores and book fairs focused primarily on Chinese books for the mainstream market. These places don't suit Schoanna and Vedika's needs. Schoanna, however, has always refused to buy books online or switch to e-books. "I need to see it and smell it," she said. Only when she has it in her hands can she feel if a book is right for her.
Now, every time Schoanna returns to India or travels outside the city, she brings back a pile of English books. Vedika agrees that buying books online is more of a "procedure" and that it's easy to be swayed by reviews. Hong Kong's brick-and-mortar bookstores carry only the more popular English books, however, with no shelf space for new or smaller authors. Both women think it's very difficult to find a good English bookstore in Hong Kong. For a city that has branded itself as a World City, this is truly incredible.
There are also regular customers like Major, who stop by the store every few weeks. Major, who lives in the area, describes Albert as "quite the character" and admires the storeowner's attention to current affairs and his outspoken style on social media. "Nowadays there aren't as many opportunities to disengage and browse through such a sea of books."
In the past, Major has scavenged for treasure in the boxes labeled "Name Your Own Price," unearthing masterpieces like Fahrenheit 451 and Catcher in the Rye. For him, Bleak House Books is a safe space where the pandemic and politics can't find him for a while.
A Common Devotion
"If you're looking for inspiration and hope for a brighter future though I have just the thing for you."
After several weekends of the store having been crowded to capacity, the last night for Bleak House Books finally arrived on October 15th. Readers had "looted" the store over the past several days, leaving gaping holes in the store's twenty-plus bookcases taller than a person. Second-hand paperback books usually kept in crates were moved to the shelves to fill in the gaps. "If I'd known it was going to be like this, I wouldn't have said we'd donate whatever books were left. All the books are gone," Albert says afterwards.
The roughly 900-square-foot space was packed with readers. Some obviously didn't find what they had in mind, but still took a book to the counter to make one last purchase. Albert's entire family and four shop assistants were all there. They had booked a table at a nearby restaurant, to share a meal with friends after Albert wrapped up the store closing.
Although the bookstore would no longer be in business at Halloween, the store still managed to sneak in this annual tradition. On the last day, its interior was decorated with skeletons, pumpkins, and bats. Custom candy boxes inscribed with "Bleak House Books" sat next to the counter.
When the hour set for the doors to close came at last, several dozen people remained, quietly watching the store's owner and employees, unwilling to leave. Albert told them he had nothing else to say, and asked with a wry smile, "Why are you still here? Go home."
No one said anything, but their answer was loud and clear.
Following a round of tearful embraces and goodbyes, Albert ushered everyone from the bookstore at 7:45, closed the door and hung a sign on it that read, "Hong Kong is my home."
Albert and the others sat down to eat at last, an hour late.
During the interview, Albert mentions several times that he loves to write. He personally managed all of the Bleak House Books social media posts, which often took the form of diary entries about the day-to-day running of the store, or which reflected his thoughts on recent events.
If you want to find the roots of Bleak House Books, however, you might have to dig a little deeper.
On November 8, 2016, Albert posted a final article to his personal blog Invisible Man. He wrote that he would be moving abroad and closing down his law practice, and would therefore no longer be updating his blog about criminal defense and civil rights.
On the day of the U.S. presidential election, before any of the results had been released, he wrote, "If there's one thing I've learned writing for this blog over the past seven years it's that change—in perspectives, in policies, and in humanity—comes slowly if at all. Worse yet not all of that change is of the positive sort."
It's possible that after Albert wrote that post, he, like many others, experienced profound heartbreak over the final election results, then soon to come. But before any of that happened, he offered this piece of advice to the reader of his blog:
If you're looking for inspiration and hope for a brighter future though I have just the thing for you. It's the text of a speech given [at Central Park in 1944] by one of the greatest jurists to have graced the bench of the federal courts. His name is Learned Hand, and this is [how Judge Hand began his] speech, entitled 'The Spirit of Liberty':
'We have gathered here to affirm a faith, a faith in a common purpose, a common conviction, a common devotion.'
It's possible that even now, another idea is starting to take shape in Albert's mind: an idea that involves another bookstore. A bookstore that is independent, with an edge, and awash in a good, soothing light.
* Sum Lok-kei is an independent journalist in Hong Kong. He is interested in politics and culture, particularly where they intersect.
** Mary King Bradley is a freelance editor and translator. Her recent translations include essays for the Hong Kong bilingual anthology Writing in Difficult Times and a series of diary essays by Law Lok-man in the Mekong Review. A personal essay is forthcoming in an English anthology, Making Space: A Collection of Writing and Art. She lives in Hong Kong.
August 27, 2021 October 15, 2022 bleakhousebooks
The Bleak House Books family (L to R) Albert, Aggie, Ysabelle, Angel, Maylene, Jenny, Ida, Charlie (miss you, Rachel)
How does one go about shuttering a happy, thriving and successful bookshop? This is a question that has been plaguing me for some time now.
From the very beginning, my goal for Bleak House Books has been a modest one: to build a viable, self-sustaining, community-oriented bookshop on my terms. Four years later I can say that I have achieved that goal, thanks in part to the persistence and efforts of my wonderful bookshop family and also to the support of our readers and the community.
So it is with great sadness that I need to announce that Bleak House Books will be closing. The last day the bookshop will be open to the public will be Friday, 15 October 2021, and the last day we will fulfill online orders placed with us will be Friday, 1 October 2021.
The decision to close the bookshop follows another equally painful and sad decision, which is that my family and I will be leaving Hong Kong in the near future. As much as I would prefer not to have to disclose this in a public announcement, I believe I have a responsibility to the people who support the work that we do here at Bleak House Books to be honest and transparent about the reason for why I need to close the bookshop.
The backdrop to these developments is, of course, politics. To be sure, what my wife Jenny, my kids, and I do in our daily lives is not overtly political. Jenny is a university professor, I sell books, and the kids are primary school students. But as George Orwell once remarked, '[i]n our age there is no such thing as "keeping out of politics". All issues are political issues.' This observation is as true today as it was in 1940 when Orwell first made it. And given the state of politics in Hong Kong, Jenny and I can no longer see a life for ourselves and our children in this city, at least in the near future.
Some of you might be wondering why I decided to close the bookshop rather than sell or find someone else to run it. There's no single answer to that question. Bleak House Books is an independent bookshop. And like any other independent bookshop, it has its own unique character, voice and mission. It is my preference to keep it that way. Also, to hand the reins over now after only four years of bookselling seems a bit premature to me. There are many things I still want to do and say, and of course, many more books I'd still like to share with everyone.
My immediate concern for the next month-and-a-half will be keeping Bleak House Books open until the very last minute of the very last day for our readers, our community and Hong Kong. We have some fun stuff planned, so it's not all doom and gloom from here on out.
I recently put in a large order for new books — our last — that has brought to the bookshop some old favorites, special selections from our resident and far-flung bookworms, and also the random selection from Ye Olde Bookseller for which Angel, my trusty shop manager, will invariably tell me: 'but no one's going to buy that, boss!' We will also have one last poetry reading with our good friends at Cha literary journal, the theme for which is 'LOVE'. And maybe I'll finally break down and buy a beer fridge so I can have the proverbial 'last beer' with anyone who wants to have one with me at the bookshop before it closes.
There will, however, be no farewell party, and no clearance sale. For those books we have left at the bookshop and in storage after the last day we will donate most of them to any independent bookshop or local institution that wants them. We will make sure our Pickwick Club subscribers and readers who have placed special orders with us get the books they are supposed to get. And we will return all the books given to us for sale on consignment back to their rightful owners.
Having started this announcement with a question, it is perhaps fitting to end it with one as well, which is: what will happen to Bleak House Books after this? And my answer is: 'I don't know exactly'. We are living in uncertain, even dangerous times and for those reasons it is very hard to plan ahead. What I can promise everyone is that this is not the end. It is not the end of Bleak House Books. It is not the end of our journey. It is not the end of anything really.
I was asked by a friend what I will miss most about Hong Kong when I leave. Strangely I couldn't articulate to her what those things might be even though I knew I would miss a lot of things about this city. The truth is I don't have the mental energy to 'miss' anything about Hong Kong yet because my focus is what I can do for the city here and now. Maybe there will come a time when I can spend a lazy afternoon thinking and reminiscing about what life was like in Hong Kong during this 大時代. But that time is not now. There is still a lot of work to be done and I intend to do as much of it as I can before my time here is up. 香港人,加油!
March 23, 2020 March 23, 2020 bleakhousebooks
by Albert Wan
Originally published in Ming Pao on 12 April 2019 and reprinted here in full with the permission of the publisher
I know about a magical bookshop in Hong Kong. It's on the island-side, so you can get there easily by your preferred mode of public transportation, but the best part of the journey there is the part that takes place on foot.
If you're going by MTR, your first instinct when you exit the station may be to melt into the crowds. Don't do that. There is a lot to see and you'll miss it if you play it cool and join the herd.
Once you get your bearings, find a safe spot to plant yourself so you don't get run over and stop to look around. You will catch glimpses of both old and new Hong Kong. On one street you might see traditional Hong Kong-style cafes serving familiar Cantonese fare adjacent to their newer, sleeker cousins of varying cuisines. On another, you might find a range of specialty shops — think handkerchiefs and plastic tarps — opened in an age when it was neither hip nor optional to operate such establishments.
The streets are narrow enough so that you know they weren't designed with the automobile age in mind. Traffic signals are few and far between. Pedestrian crossings exist by way of subtle negotiations between the driver and walker rather than by marked signs.
I hope you're in decent shape because you'll have to negotiate a few steep stairways to get to the bookshop. Walking is serious, often sweaty business here in Hong Kong.
Once you get past the steep climbs, you will discover that the crowds and cars and bustle have all magically disappeared. Stretching in front of you will be one of several streets, almost certainly deserted and so quiet you will be able to hear yourself think again. Rather than busy storefronts and stalls you will see street art of the edgy and not-so-edgy variety.
You are close now. Walking down these eerily quiet streets you will feel like you're floating down a jetway to a plane that is about to take you to your favourite vacation destination.
The bookshop is nestled at the end of a dead-end pedestrian side street, tucked away in an airy but cozy corner with chairs and tables arranged nicely in front. The corner is formed by a large stone and cement wall painted in a shade of pink. The wall shores up a large park that looms over the bookshop and gives it a kind of sanctuary effect one is more likely to find in a temple or a church than at a retail space.
When you step inside the bookshop you feel like you've stepped inside a home and not a store. It is the home of a person who not only loves books but also loves all the little things in life; ones that we take for granted all the time.
Look straight ahead and you'll see a nicely appointed kitchen — coffee is made fresh to order — complete with a full size refrigerator in powder blue. Look to your right and you'll see what might best be described as the ultimate picnic spread, not of food, but books, all personally curated by the owner and carefully set out. If you're lucky the owner might be around but even if she isn't you will find yourself in good hands with one of the bookshop's many readers-turned-managers.
At first glance the shop might seem small. But there's a pocket staircase leading up to a second floor. Mount it and you will find yourself in another room lined with more books and also a sunny seating area that overlooks the street below. An idyllic spot for reading, people watching, or both.
If you haven't already guessed, I am describing the bookshop that is Mount Zero Books in Sheung Wan. It is the kind of bookshop that perhaps Ye Olde Bookseller would have opened up had he sold books in his past life. More importantly, however, it is the kind of bookshop that makes life worth living.
Today the resident bookworms at Bleak House Books will be "taking over" Mount Zero Books for the day so that we can finally experience the magic of Mount Zero Books for ourselves. And you, Dear Reader, are cordially invited to join us so that you too can see what the fuss is all about. We promise you won't be disappointed.
Bookstore Owner 'Murdered' (New York Magazine; July 9-16, 1979)
February 22, 2019 February 25, 2019 bleakhousebooks
by Carol Brener
I have just made my debut as a cover corpse. I did once have a death mask made, but that was small potatoes. Now, on bookshelves across the country, I lie with a large kitchen knife sticking up out of my blood-drenched blouse. I am smartly dressed, befitting the model murdered in Octagon House, one of three classic Cape Cod mysteries of the thirties by Phoebe Atwood Taylor being reissued in paperback by Foul Play Press ($4.50 each). When I asked who killed her/me, I was told, "Many people had reason." I have since read the book, and I/she deserved it.
"Brener: Foul Play gives Murder Ink. owner a taste of death.
The other two corpses in the series are artist Edward Gorey and Dilys Winn, founder of Murder Ink. (the bookstore that I now own) and Edgar winner for the best-selling Murder Ink, the Mystery Reader's Companion.
Gorey was "stabbed" with an elegant silver dagger while in a rocking chair. Dilys has tumbled to the bottom of the cellar steps, a neat puddle of blood beside her head. I repose on a level garage floor. (I was fairly comfortable: A heater was nearby, and I sleep on an extra-firm mattress.)
Photo courtesy of www.ernstreichl.org
Lew Merrim, our cheerfully macabre photographer, made "my" murder weapon by sawing a kitchen knife off at an angle and soldering it to a flat metal plate, which was taped in place on my chest. My genuine 1930s blouse was then slit to fit and slipped over the knife and the area bloodied up with paint artfully splattered to cover any sign of the gray tape. In the interest of authenticity, I wore a bra and full slip, garments consigned to the back of a drawer some years ago; an innocuous gray skirt; period seamed stockings bought specially for the shooting; and my pet black pumps. I was not pleased to hear Dilys chirp, "Where did you get those dreadful shoes?"
The three Taylor books, with their cover corpses, are lined up smack at eye level in my store, but no one recognizes me or my cohorts. Elma Lipscomb, however, who cleans my apartment, knew me the instant she saw the cover. I am told she carries the book on all her jobs. No one messes with Elma these days.
BHB's copy of Octagon House with Carol Brener as 'murder victim'
Coming Up For Air: First Kill All the Lawyers (January 2019)
January 25, 2019 bleakhousebooks
Below is our January 2019 edition of 'Coming Up For Air', a monthly column we write for Ming Pao's English language section, reprinted here in its entirety with the permission of the folks at Ming Pao.
【明報專訊】A few months ago I received a letter at the bookshop. It had all the trappings of an important document: London return address, personalised stationery, heavy stock paper. As I opened it I joked to Rachel our shop manager that it was probably a lawsuit. Luckily, I was wrong, but not by much.
The letter came from a large law firm and warned us not to sell a certain book. The book at issue was a newly released biography about a very rich and prominent individual who had at one point in time dated the likes of Paris Hilton but who is now considered a fugitive from justice.
The letter claimed that the biography was defamatory and full of lies. It did not mention of course that the biography had passed the vetting process of one of the world's largest publishers, or that, at the time the letter was written, the book was already the subject of several talks that were scheduled to take place at prominent venues around Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong International Literary Festival and the University of Hong Kong.
The letter called on us to do two things: to avoid the book as if it were the plague — that meant we couldn't stock it, sell it, distribute it, write about it, etc., — and to reply in writing with a pledge that we would avoid the book as if it were the plague. If we failed to do either of those things we would be sued.
My first reaction upon receiving this letter was to toss it in the trash. There was zero chance the book would end up on our shelves. Biographies about shady moguls are not the kinds of titles we stock at our bookshop, no matter how salacious or explosive their content.
Writing and sending threatening letters is also common practice among lawyers and I knew from past experience that not all such letters warrant a response, either because their claims have no merit or because it would never ripen into a full-blown lawsuit.
Nor did I want to start down the slippery slope of self-censorship. Even though I had no plans and never would have plans to sell this biography that was causing all this stir I wanted to leave the door open to the prospect of changing my mind. The last thing I wanted was to over-react to what may very well have been empty threats and box myself in to the point of no-return.
Lastly, I didn't want to give the lawyer whose job it was to track down and threaten fledgling, indie booksellers like ourselves the satisfaction of a reply. Granted, my reply (if I sent one) probably wouldn't have gone to the lawyer whose name appeared at the end of the letter but to one of his lowly, debt-ridden, nameless associates who did most of his dirty work.
But then I started thinking about our bookshop and all the time and effort everyone here has spent to make it into the special place we think it is today. It would be the height of irresponsibility if I put all that at risk just because I couldn't get over my own feelings of anger and disbelief at having been singled out by this law firm.
And then my thoughts turned to the time I was a lawyer, all the demand letters I've sent or received during that time, and how important it was for me to receive a response to or follow up on these letters — mostly because it was the responsible thing to do, even if the end result was more litigation. So if the lawyer who handled this case was worth his salt he would make us feel the pain for not replying to his letter.
So at the end I decided to write him the response he wanted but on my terms. Here it is in full:
We are in receipt of the attached letter. We have no interest in your client, his life or any books that have been or will be written about him, including the one referenced in your letter. That means we will not waste our time or money to order or stock the book referenced in your letter or sell or distribute it in any way. Nor do we have any pre-sale orders for the book since we don't sell it at our bookshop and have no plans to sell it. Hope that gives your client the peace of mind he is trying to buy.
So who won when all was said and done? The lawyer and his client received the commitment they demanded and the book hasn't reared its ugly head in our bookshop. But they've also left us alone since then. No more threats. And thank god no lawsuits.
It is hard though not to think about what might have happened had we never received the letter. Was the threat of litigation all it took to scare regular folks like ourselves into submission? Would the book have made its way into the bookshop had it not been for the letter, even as a used book (not that anyone has tried to sell or give it to us)? Hard to tell. But one thing's for certain: another book will be published, someone will be unhappy with it, and there will be no shortage of lawyers for this person to hire who will do their best to make this book disappear.
Available from Ming Pao via direct link here.
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Welcome to OARSUM, the home of "Build a Bag". All sailcloth products are stitched by using the traditional sail maker zigzag stitch and using genuine sail maker thread. All handles are made from high quality webbing or nautical rope to provide extra strength and support. The dimensions are approximations. All our products are unique and handmade in Hampshire, Great Britain.
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text:
Q: Is "goods" countable? I am referring to goods as in services and goods provided. I came across this definition (emphasis mine):

tender document:
A written invitation sent to potential suppliers of a good or service to inform them about the information required for the buyer to choose among them. Issuing a tender document typically begins the tender process by which a business selects qualified and interested suppliers based on such things as their price, availability and proposed delivery terms.

The use of good as a countable noun seems wrong to me. Is good used correctly here, is it a countable noun? Can one provide a good?
EDIT:   Google returns  9,790,000 hits for "suppliers of a good". Does that mean I have to accept it as "correct"? Does no one else feel it is wrong?

A: OED has

C. noun
III. A particular thing that is good.
7. Property or possessions; now in more restricted sense, movable property.
a.
(a) plural
(b) The plural form occurs as a sing.: Property, an amount of property. (Cf. sense C. 7d)

So yes, the plural form can occur as a singular, and mean a certain amount of property; a thing. In my experience it's restricted to legal wording where goods may either have its customary meaning of "movable property" as what is almost a mass noun or mean two or more singular goods [consider the phrase goods and services in the context of your quote].  Consequently the word good is used to mean "a thing" as a single entity and remove that ambiguity.
I would certainly not recommend using the singular good in normal use!
Just for the record, sense C. 7d is related, but now obsolete:

†d. singular Money. (a) great good : a great sum of money. marriage good: a marriage portion. Obs.
marriage portion n. a portion or dowry given to a bride at the time of her marriage.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Breakfast, Panoramic Room
Overlooking Marina Bay and poised at the gateway to Singapore's bustling Central Business District, Pan Pacific provides easy access to all of the hottest local sights, retail and entertainment venues. However, this 5 star hotel also boasts a host of attractions of its own, ranging from the upmarket St Gregory Spa to its pristine swimming pool and the epicurean delights of its award-winning eateries, which allow you to feast on an exciting array of global cuisines. Pan Pacific Singapore is famed for its world-class facilities and its superlative service, making it the perfect option for a luxurious Singapore honeymoon.
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Kuramathi Maldives combines turquoise waters, white sandy beaches and private villas. This All Inclusive resort has a private honeymoon pool villa, offering newlyweds an authentic island retreat. You can certainly see why we voted this our top honeymoon resort. with plenty of activities to do on the island, from open-air cinema screenings, 9 a la carte restaurants and 6 bars, stunning location for snorkelling and a range of water sports and land activities to fill your day, Kuramathi is the ultimate oasis for a romantic Maldives honeymoon.
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text:
William Price ( à Talca, Chili -  à Kénogami, Québec) est un marchand de bois, industriel, chef d'entreprise et homme politique québécois (député de 1908 à 1911).

Biographie
Petit-fils de William Price, il prend en 1886 la relève de ses oncles William Evan Price, David Edward Price et Evan John Price dans l'entreprise familiale, Price Brothers and Company. En 1899, il en devient le président et propriétaire. Il modifie profondément la compagnie et développe l'industrie papetière en achetant notamment l'usine de pâte à papier de Jonquière et produit à partir de celle-ci carton et papier journal. Celui-ci est principalement exporté aux États-Unis. En 1912, il fonde la ville de Kénogami, dans laquelle demeure la majorité des travailleurs de l'usine qu'il construit au même endroit.

Fondamentalement impérialiste, il établit deux compagnies pour la Seconde Guerre des Boers et participe à la construction de la Garnison Valcartier au Québec durant la Première Guerre mondiale, ce qui lui vaut d'obtenir le grade de lieutenant-colonel honoraire en 1914 et d'être fait chevalier en , ce qui l'autorise à utiliser le préfixe "sir".

Il est député conservateur de Québec-Ouest à la Chambre des Communes, à Ottawa, de 1908 à 1911.

En 1924, il meurt lors d'une inspection de son usine de papeterie de Kénogami à la suite d'un premier glissement de terrain, alors qu'un second glissement de terrain l'entraîne dans la rivière Saguenay. Il sera retrouvé presque 9 jours plus tard, et identifié à l'aide de ses initiales qui étaient gravées à l'endos de sa montre.

Hommages

Le Parc commémoratif Sir William Price à Jonquière, dans le secteur Kénogami de la Ville de Saguenay lui est dédié. On y trouve entre autres sa sépulture et un belvédère. Le Centre d'histoire Sir-William-Price, voué à la mise en valeur des patrimoines historique, architectural, urbanistique et industriel de Jonquière, a également été nommé en son honneur.

Le mont William-Price, dans la réserve faunique de Matane, lui rend hommage.

Sources
 .

 .

 .

Voir aussi

Articles connexes
 Famille Price

Liens externes

 http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-f.php?id_nbr=8334
  Centre d'histoire Sir William Price

Notes et références

Voir aussi
 Liste des anciens élèves du Collège Bishop

Député fédéral canadien provenant du Québec
Homme d'affaires québécois
Histoire du Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean
Naissance à Talca
Naissance en août 1867
Décès au Québec
Décès en octobre 1924
Décès à 57 ans
Famille Price


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text:
GPS Goes Mainsteam The 30-year-old Global Positioning System is finally a hot consumer item, with applications for in-car navigation systems and cell phones. The popular technology is changing how people understand geography.
GPS Goes Mainsteam
Dan Charles
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17611103/17611041" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
After this Christmas, millions of people no longer have any excuse for being lost. That's because they got GPS navigation devices in their stockings. It was one of this year's hottest gifts.
"Everybody's buying them. Everybody," said Kyle Butler-Myers, who works at a Best Buy store in Washington, D.C.
The people who are lining up to get their hands on satellite navigation do not appear to be gadget enthusiasts.
In fact, 2007 was the year when the Global Positioning System finally went mainstream. It's everywhere: in cars, cell phones and strapped onto the arms of joggers. A spokesman for Avis said 10 percent of the company's rental cars now leave the lot with a GPS device on-board. That is twice the number of just a year ago.
As asking directions gives way to listening to instructions from a GPS unit on the dashboard, some scientists are wondering whether the technology will change the way people see and understand the world around them.
Holly Taylor, a psychologist at Tufts University, said many of those who love maps already use GPS technology to explore geography in new ways. For example, they use GPS to record their route while biking or hiking, then lay that out on a conventional paper map or load it into a computer program such as Google Earth. That allows them to see their movements in a new way, and "get that insight: 'Oh! I was really close to this vista while I was hiking. Next time I go on that hike, I can take off on that trail and get this beautiful view.'"
People who have trouble with directions seem to use GPS as a technological crutch; it's a way to avoid learning.
"Now they don't have to figure out how to get around, because they just program those addresses into their GPS," Taylor said.
But even for the directionally challenged, GPS can reveal hidden features of the landscape.
"I like to drive and listen to things," said Jim Carrier, who founded a small company called Intellitours. "It occurred to me a long time ago that as I drive along, I'd like to know what I'm seeing as I pass."
So, Intellitours is creating a location-activated soundtrack for portions of the interstate highway system. Travelers will be able to load it into their GPS navigation devices. Then, upon arriving at the appropriate location, the GPS will start playing a description of that region or the history of that spot.
It's a little bit like the audio tours you can rent in museums, except that this museum is as big as the country, and you never have to leave. At a point just outside Richmond, Va., for instance, the GPS device will describe the efforts by Union forces to capture that city during the Civil War, including excerpts from diaries kept by residents of Richmond at the time.
"Hopefully, they will be drawn into the story and as they drive through Richmond at 80 miles an hour, they will come away with a richer sense of the history there," said Carrier.
This kind of thing is likely to become a lot more common. A GPS device could become your guide to the world: to restaurants, hospitals, even real estate listings.
But in fact, it can only guide you to things that are stored in its digital map of the world. Carrier worries a little about how that map will be created. Businesses may buy their right to a listing, while lots of other places could remain invisible.


text:
Q: "Fancy for fancy's sake" I read that expression in a book, but that phrase didn't make much sense to me (at least not when trying to translate to Portuguese). I wonder if it's a common expression and what it exactly means. If possible application in one sentence.
thank you

A: I don't know whether the X for X's sake trope originated with the phrase art for art's sake, but that's what immediately came to mind.
Wikipedia gives this origin of that phrase that I think is interesting:

"Art for art's sake" is the usual English rendering of a French slogan
  from the early 19th century, "l'art pour l'art", and expresses a
  philosophy that the intrinsic value of art, and the only "true" art,
  is divorced from any didactic, moral, politic, or utilitarian
  function.

Fancy as a noun usually means something unreal or impractical, a flight of fancy. I guess that in the fancy for fancy's sake expression the meaning is adjectival: over-elaborate. I'm not sure the phrase in question is truly grammatical, but it's very expressive.
In passing: a rural railway station had some new automatic electric doors. The local staff had put up a helpful sign: "Fancy Doors", I think they considered the doors to be over-elaborate.


Ride With the Devil-according to the band's Bandcamp page-was actually recorded three years ago and has waited a long time to come out of its slumber. Witching Altar is from Brazil and they play some traditional doom metal paying homage to the doom metal bands of old.
Ride With the Devil does not sound like it was recorded three years ago and shelved for what seems to be an eternity. Instead the album seems newly recorded just coming hot off of the presses. 2012 was not a long time ago of course, but the recordings of the songs held well enough to make it seem like they were recorded only yesterday.
As most doom is, Ride With the Devil is fueled by riffs. They range from the slow down trodden fuzzed out riffs we all are familiar with, to some uptempo riffs to throw in variety instead of keeping them at a numbing slow crawl. The slow crawl of course are a staple of doom and they are heavy and memorable here, but the riffs and guitars don't just offer that. Blended into the murky mix are some psychedelic guitar solos as well as the more uptempo riffs I mentioned above.
The more down tempo riffs play into the hands of the lead singer who possesses a very haunting vocal style. The vocals are almost chanted sounding ghostly at times. The vocals sound like they were sung in a cathedral and have that echoing sound to them even though they themselves do not actually echo. The brooding stylings of the vocalist is further enhanced by the lyrics themselves having dealt with themes of the devil himself.
Their is an instrumental track well placed in the album titled her embrace. It falls about half way through the album and it showcases the talents of the musicians. More interesting still are the keyboards that are played on some of the songs in order to add more of a poltergeist like feel.
The end of the album displays two cover songs. The covers are of Cromwell by Reverend Bizarre and Living Backwards by Saint Vitus. These two songs are covered well of course and tie the album together nicely at the end.
Overall, Ride With the Devil was worth the wait. Witching Altar have the old school doom down pat and would like to take you on a journey with the Devil. So I say you should take the Devil's hand and take the ride.


Bottom line: you're doing great, mama!
My twin boys (Grant & Gavin) were born two warriors, arriving at just 31 weeks. My birth story was not the one I had imagined.
I think most parents of premature babies feel a little alone and struggle with a lot of different emotions when dealing with a different arrival for their babies than expected. I know I did. It was so hard to see my boys and not be able to hold them. It broke my heart. I instantly loved them with all my heart, but I also felt scared and guilty. I wished during those first couple of days that I had someone to talk to who understood my feelings.
My wonderful family, friends, husband, and the Internet (LOL) really helped me through the first year of parenting twins. I always enjoyed searching for tips and suggestions online during my new schedule/free time (3 a.m., 5 a.m., etc.), and I wanted to share two of my favorite pieces of advice, plus a couple things I learned along the way.
I love that advice from Babble.com because it came to me on a day I needed to hear it. As a new mom to twins, even simple outings seemed impossible. Over time I learned that it is hard for parents of singletons to truly understand. Their advice is based on their experiences, and the intricacies of having two are not accounted for, but I learned over the next two years I would be able to do all those outings and more!
I love this advice as well from Laura (SunnyDayFamily.com) because it is the truth! I always searched online hoping to find and solve all my struggles (getting both my boys to sleep through the night or getting them to eat vegetables). It became frustrating when the recommended solutions didn't work, and I always felt guilty. But over time I learned you can't rush things. It will happen eventually.
If your twins are in the NICU, ask the nurses if they can organize a meet-up for all the parents, or join an online support group. Making friends with other mothers who had their babies in the NICU really helped me keep my head up during that time.
Also, before your twins graduate and leave the NICU, ask the NICU nurses for their email addresses. I can't tell you how many times I emailed our NICU nurse during the first three months at home. Advice is a great thing to have, and having an expert who also knows your children is priceless.
Best wishes for health and happiness with your twins!
Heather Stoeckel Karpinsky is the founder of Baby A & Baby B LLC and the inventor of the Twin Feeding Set. Heather lives with her family in Louisiana. She is the coauthor of The Mommy MD Guide to Twins, Triplets, and More.