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I know it's a stretch, but for the sake of argument let's say that you don't have six dimes to drop on a pair of the highest-fidelity, lowest-coloration, fullest-range loudspeakers I've heard in my home—the $60k Magico Q5s. What to do? Well, there are always the $40k TAD CR-1s or the $30k Morel Fat Ladies or the $22k MartinLogan CLXes, among many many other worthies from Scaena, Nola, Wilson, Focal, YG, Hansen, Vandersteen, sonus faber, MBL, Verity, Revel, Avalon, Quad, and Magico itself. But—stretch with me, again—let's say you don't have that kind of green, either. Let's say you're…well, me. You lust for ultra-high-fidelity sound, but don't have the coin for the Big Boys. What then are your options?
Ladies and gents, allow me to introduce you to the speaker I would choose: the $5495 Magneplanar 3.7 ribbon/quasi-ribbon dipole.
You will be reading all about this wonderful new transducer from Magnepan in HP's Workshop in Issues 212 and 213—and I myself will chime in, briefly, in Issue 214. But to set the table, let me begin by saying (as HP does) that the 3.7 solves the problem that has bothered me most about "true ribbon" Maggies—and solves it completely. As you may recall from my 1.7 review, I've shied away from Maggie's "true ribbons" not because I don't like Maggie's ribbons but because I like them too much. They are so good—so much faster, lower in distortion, and higher in fidelity than Maggie's planar-magnetic drivers—that they audibly tend to call attention to themselves.
In the earliest versions of true-ribbon Maggies, this attention-grabbing discontinuity was marked. The ribbons weren't just better than the planar-magnetic drivers they were then paired with, they also played louder (or were higher in sensitivity, which is functionally the same thing). Unless you damped the wall behind them (easier said than done without unintended consequences elsewhere in the passband) or padded them down with resistors (ditto) or added a whomping subwoofer (which tended to offset the extra treble energy with added bass energy, albeit at a substantial price in coherence, transparency, resolution, and neutrality), you could invariably hear the true ribbons as a separate element in the presentation. Moreover, because the ear is particularly sensitive to parts of the bandwidth in which the true ribbons play, hearing them didn't just ruin coherence; it also added excessive upper midrange and treble brightness to the overall presentation. In short, despite their considerable virtues—and there are few speakers I've heard that can make voices, in particular, sound as breathtakingly realistic as Maggies do—the Maggie 3 Series and the Maggie 20 Series speakers failed to negotiate the very first hurdle any loudspeaker faces (at least in my listening room): They failed to disappear. In fact, I was always aware of the ribbon-Maggies' presence because the discontinuity between the true-ribbon tweeter and the quasi-ribbon/planar-magnetic drivers was always obvious.
As the years passed, Maggie tamed this brightness and discontinuity to an extent, but even the most recent true ribbons (and with Maggie, "recent" has, until the last couple of years, been measured in decades) have had an audible vestige of this sonic legacy. The 3.7s are the first true ribbon Magnepans that do not.
I really don't know how Maggie has done what it's done here—and Wendell Diller, who paid me a visit a couple of days ago to install the speakers, ain't saying—but if I were to speculate, I would guess that the ribbon's output has been damped down somewhat and its distortion (and the break-up modes of the other drivers playing alongside it) reduced—in part via a re-engineered crossover. I do know that Maggie is using much, much higher-quality parts in the 3.7 crossover than it has in earlier 3 Series speakers (which is one reason why the 3.7s cost what they cost), and past experience (with Magico and Morel speakers) suggests that when crossovers are successfully re-engineered to reduce out-of-passband "break-up" modes, the sonic effects are sizeable and easy to hear. There is this, as well. Earlier 3 Series Maggies used planar-magnetic panels for the midrange and the bass. In the 3.7, Maggie has substituted quasi-ribbon drivers for the planar-magnetic ones (just as it did with the smaller 1.7s introduced last year). The break-up modes of these faster, lower-distortion quasi-ribbon drivers, optimized via Maggie's new crossover, may be considerably lower in level than those of the planar-magnetic panels they've replaced, whose break-up modes may have been further roughing up what was already a too-bright treble driver.
I'm guessing about this, of course, but there is no doubt that the 3.7's ribbon tweeter is no longer "there," no longer an easily audible and obviously separate part of the sonic presentation. The blend is so complete—and so successful—that I would have to say this is the most coherent Magneplanar I've yet heard. There is simply no part of the frequency spectrum you can point to and say, "This sounds different than or stands apart from the rest of the frequency spectrum."
Are the 3.7s more coherent than the very coherent all-quasi-ribbon 1.7s? Yes. And I'll tell you precisely why. Despite their excellence, the 1.7s still have a bit of "Maggie grain" to their presentation (as I said in my review)—a low-level, higher-frequency sandiness or spittiness or sibilance that is mostly audible in quiet passages or silences, but that is actually there all the time, overlaying the soundfield like a very fine scrim, sort of like groove noise on a well-used LP (although much lower in level). It is only when you hear loudspeakers that don't have this driver/crossover/enclosure grain, such as the Magico Q5s, that you become aware—acutely, actually—of how much this noise detracts from a realistic illusion of voices and instruments.
Grain—whether it is being added by drivers, enclosures, crossovers, electronics, sources, or all of the above—tends to make voices and instruments sound the slightly peppery way that half-screened photographs look, as if they are composed of tiny dots of information separated by tiny dots of noise, rather than "whole," continuous-tone sonic images. In addition to adding a texture to music and backgrounds, this noise also tends to make instruments sound slightly flatter in aspect than they do in life, as if they are (almost literally) being viewed through a screened window rather than in open air.
The 3.7s have eliminated or, at least, greatly reduced this granular noise. I would assume this is a direct result of the more successful blending of all drivers, but in particular of the way the "true ribbon"—with its inherently lower distortion—has been folded into the mix. In my view this is almost as significant an achievement as Maggie's sensational new blend of true ribbon and quasi-ribbon panels. This is a "noise" I've associated with Maggies since I first heard the I-Us. Here it has been vanquished to the degree that well-recorded voices, like Melody Gardot's on "Who Will Comfort Me?" from My One and Only Thrill [Verve], sound entirely grainless, three-dimensional, free-standing, and "there" (provided, of course, that you are using electronics capable of reproducing dimensionality and not adding grain of their own, such as the Technical Brain TBC-Zero v2 or ARC Ref 40 preamp, Technical Brain TBP-Zero EX or ARC 610T amps, and the Technical Brain TEQ/TMC-Zero or ARC Reference 2 phonostages).
Whether we consciously acknowledge it or not, "realism" in hi-fi playback systems tends to work on a sliding scale; how "there" a voice or instrument sounds depends on how many of the same qualities we hear in life (when we hear these voices or instruments singing or playing) are being incorporated into the presentation. Like the Magico Q5s, the Maggie 3.7s are working at a very high level on this scale (at least, they are in the midrange and the treble). Given a first-rate source, they are recovering more dynamic/harmonic information and delivering that information with lower distortion and more lifelike timing (that is, with the more lifelike durations of transient, steady-state tone, and decay) than any other speakers in their price range I've heard. In the midband and the treble, they are almost literally moving the bar up on the "realism scale" to the level of some of the world's greatest (and most expensive) transducers.
Although their exceptional blend of drivers and unparalleled (for Maggies) lack of grain and distortion is already apparent, there are some areas of performance I'm not yet sure of. Timbres are fabulously realistic on most instruments, imaging is unusually precise (though life-sized), soundstaging is vast, and the treble is simply phenomenal—as quick, open, airy, and extended as almost anything I've heard regardless of price. But I haven't gotten a firm fix yet on the 3.7s' bass extension and power-handling.
I don't want to leave the wrong impression. There is nothing wrong with—and certainly nothing discontinuous about—the 3.7s' bass, which blends as seamlessly with the midband and the treble as the treble now blends with everything else. I'm just not yet sure how deep these speakers are capable of going in my smallish room—or how much power they are capable of reproducing as they descend in frequency. When I heard the 3.7s at CES, I felt that the bass didn't have quite the same amazing presence as the midrange and treble; in my listening room I have something of the same impression. For instance, on the truly phenomenal EMI recording of Schnittke's Second Sonata ("Quasi una sonata"), the 3.7s reproduce Kremer's violin—and all its dynamics (which on this showy piece range from quadruple-p to quadruple-f and all stops between)—with very nearly the same speed, resolution, and in-the-room-with-you realism of the $60k Magico Q5s (the highest-fidelity speakers I've yet heard). This is remarkable—in fact, unparalleled—in a $5.5k loudspeaker. Ditto for the upper bass, middle, and top octaves of Gavrilov's concert grand. What I'm not getting—at least, at this time—is thunderous power and precise pitch definition in the low-to-midbass that I hear via the Q5s on the lower-octave sforzandos of that piano. Nor am I getting quite the same dynamic range on fortissississimos. (Of course, this is a grossly unfair comparison. One of the Q5s glories—and one of the things that you are paying $60k for—is its phenomenal bass extension, resolution, power-handling, and sheer realism and its overall dynamic range.)
At the moment I would guesstimate that in my room, with the gear I'm currently using, the 3.7s are going down (flat) to about 50Hz. I consulted with HP, who's had the 3.7s in house for considerably longer than I have, and he tells me that on initial setup the 3.7s were going down to around 50Hz in his Room Two, just as they are in my Room One and Only. However, he also tells me that with break-in (he recommends playing back a pipe-organ recording for several days) the 3.7s gain another 10Hz of bottom, and now descend to roughly 40Hz (after which they roll-off precipitously). Since Mr. P and I generally hear things alike—and since I've had this bass "break-in" experience with other Magneplanars—I will withhold judgment on 3.7 bass until I've played the darn things more.
Remember, thus far I've only listened to the 3.7s for three days with one set of electronics. I haven't broken them in; I haven't firmly settled on final positioning; I haven't tried them with a variety of ancillary gear. The bass thing—and other details—will become clearer as I listen more, and I will report my findings as time goes by. For the moment, suffice it to say what I've already said: Even on a short listen, these are the speakers I'd buy if I couldn't buy the Q5s, because in many ways (certainly from the lower midrange through the top treble) they come as close to the sound of the Q5s as I have gotten—or that HP has gotten with his own reference speakers—without spending Q5 money.


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November 28, 2011
Primary care physicians frequently refer patients to me who have symptoms of depression and concerns that they are losing their memory. The patients report forgetting parts of or entire conversations they have had with people. They can't remember what was said in a work meeting or what tasks they have to do. They misplace things, not remembering where they set it down or left it. They report making "wrong turns" while driving, finding themselves heading in entirely the wrong direction or even becoming lost. They have problems concentrating. They have trouble recalling names of people they have met before. Their partner and co-workers may remark that something has changed.
In a situation such as this, it is certainly essential to consider possible medical causes of memory loss. There are many of these, including (but not limited to) brain injury, strokes, multiple sclerosis, HIV infection, neurosyphilis, hypothyroidism, Wilson's disease, Lewy body dementia, fronto-temporal dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. The patient's evaluation also needs to include a screening evaluation for both the presence and severity of depression. If, in fact, the person is severely depressed, then treatment of the depression may be the first step before proceeding with blood work, MRI's, etc. — which can be expensive and perhaps unnecessary in their case.
Mood disorders, stress, and anxiety have a very powerful negative effect on memory. When in distress, we are frequently preoccupied by our thoughts and worries. We get cognitively trapped in a ruminative loop of fears, self-deprecation, and self-criticism and feel emotionally overwhelmed. We get "lost in our heads." We are living in the "woulda/coulda/shouldas." We aren't really "present" for what is happening around us, because our minds are somewhere else.
You may be sitting in a meeting at work, but you aren't concentrating or focusing on what is happening. You didn't pay attention when you set down your keys. You are daydreaming or distracted rather than noticing you have driven past your street and missed the turn.
There is a circuit in the brain for processing emotions called the "limbic loop." The limbic system is responsible for the fear/panic/anxiety/emotional reaction, but it's also responsible for memory. The limbic loop passes through the amygdala (the fear center, if you will) and then through the hippocampus (the memory center of the brain). Since emotional processing goes straight through the memory area of the brain, when in distress, your memory gets cheated of its full potential!
The good news is that this type of memory problem is completely correctable.
There is a type of severe memory problem seen in severely depressed patients that is called "pseudodementia." The symptoms are the same as with other kinds of dementia — problems with short-term memory. This type of memory problem resolves, however, when the depression is treated. The treatment methods are the same as with all other symptoms of depression (psychotherapy, medication, a healthy diet, exercise). One intervention that may be particularly helpful with pseudodementia is mindfulness-based meditation, although I am not aware of any specific studies looking at it.
Mindfulness meditation is the practice of being fully aware, fully present, and fully "in the moment," without judgement of yourself or your situation. Resources for learning more about mindfulness are readily available online, and you can also find excellent guided exercises on CD, in books, and through meditation centers around the country. The concept is simple: When we get lost in our thoughts and preoccupations, we aren't really "here" or present in the moment. Mindfulness meditation is about grounding ourselves in our bodies — in time and in space. It can reduce the physical signs and symptoms of the anxiety/stress response. It helps lower blood pressure and improves stress-related illnesses and pain. And it helps with mood and attentiveness, improving memory.
There are many possible causes of problems with short-term memory. Consult with your physician if you are having memory concerns. He or she may want to do some tests, but be sure to also share any struggles you might be having with depression, stress, or anxiety.
Dr. Bright is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Vice Chairman for Education in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. He has worked extensively with patients with HIV infection, patients with cancer, and patients needing an organ transplant. His current practice is as a consultant to the medical providers at Mayo Clinic.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Do you want to study or improve Czech language? There is nothing easier than studying with our language school. We can offer you lessons with a Czech teacher online whenever you want, SMS lessons to your cell phone every day, e-mail lessons of Czech vocabulary, grammar and listenings, business Czech etc.Just e-mail us your idea, your goal and we will prepare an individual study plan for you. We can run the lessons in English, German and French.Our e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. You can contact us via SKYPE (ENTER-PRAGUE). We speak ENGLISH and GERMAN. To order the course immediately you can even use our face2face Czech for Foreigners course of 12 one2one lessons HERE


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While in the throes of newborn parenting, I lost the ability to read freely in the evenings. Jake used to spend the entire night in bed with us, and while I cherish those (now past) moments with him, it left me with very little me time. While I nursed him and waited for him to sleep, I'd watch TV or try to read an ebook on my phone, but I couldn't exactly operate a heavy novel one-handed over the baby I was trying to will to dreamland. When he finally began spending the first half of the night in his own crib (around 10-1/2 months), I was able to approach my TBR list again, and I've really enjoyed catching up!
Reading and writing were sort of the first in a long line of hobby collections through my life, so I want to go back to my roots a bit and share a brand new series with you! It will post on Fridays, 1-2 times a month, and share book reviews, TBR updates, thoughts on reading/books/libraries/etc, reading with kids, and much more!
I hope you will follow along, share your book suggestions with me, and join me on the occasions I offer something interactive!
Cool Note: I used to volunteer in my high school library during my study halls. I'd check out books for students, reshelf returned books, and help my fellow classmates find what they were looking for. I now do the same thing in Luke's school, and I'm there now as this post is publishing! It felt like fitting timing ;)
To kick off the series, I want to share my "near future TBR list' with you. I call it that because my goal is to finish these by the end of 2014 in an attempt to catch up on (and perhaps exceed) my GoodReads reading challenge for this year. I'd love to see what you plan to read to close out the year, too!
1. Conversion by Katherine Howe (Currently Reading)
This book is moving very slowly for me, and I'm a little disappointed so far. I expected this to be much more interesting, though I do appreciate the author's voice. It's a book that draws comparisons between the Salem witch trials and a real-life mystery illness among high school girls in upstate NY (not far from where I live!), though the setting in the book is in Massachusetts. I love the idea behind this book - we'll see if it delivers!
2. The Here and Now by Ann Brashares
I'm really excited to get to this one - it's about a group of people that traveled back in time to our current time from the future to avoid an illness and live a better life. I think it sounds really fun to read about people from the future experiencing our current lifetime as if it's the past.
3. Like Bees to Honey by Caroline Smailes
Being endlessly interested in the supernatural, I'm looking forward to this one! It's about a girl who is disowned by her family for getting pregnant when she was young, and later returns to her hometown well in the future. When she arrives, she realizes that she has developed the ability to talk to dead people and she tries to help them out.
4. A Million Little Ways by Emily P Freeman
I actually checked this out from the library and didn't get to it before it was due - so bummed! I've been on the waiting list to get it back for a while now. It's written by the sister of the author of The Nesting Place (both the book and the blog), which I love, and I love the tagline on the front - "uncover the art you were made to live". Don't mind if I do!
5. Landline by Rainbow Rowell
I mean....even when I'm not as impressed as I wanted to be with her books, I'm totally entertained. I'm fully expecting to love this one, too. From what I gather, it's about a guy who has the ability to call himself in the past and offer himself relationship advice, or something like that. I guess I also have a thing for time travel. Why aren't there Doctor Who books. Or ARE there?!
6. Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Love this lady! I can't wait to see what she's written. I LOVE a good memoir, especially a fun one peppered with humor, which I expect hers to be.
7. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
I really love Meg Wolitzer's writing style, though it can be a bit tough to get through at first. This feels big and heavy compared to a lot of the other books on my list, but in a really big pay-off sort of way. This book follows a group of friends from their teens through middle age and explores their struggles both with life and relationships. It promises to be very thought-provoking - I'm looking forward to it!
8. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
I know this one is a movie now, but it made my list solely because it was a very high-rated YA novel, and I love YA almost as much as I love chocolate. That's A LOT. I understand this book to be about a social butterfly of a teenage boy that meets a "not like the others" girl and it rocks his world. I'll bite ;)
9. My True Love Gave To Me (Anthology)
I am going to have to arrange some seriously good timing in order to request this from the library and actually get it when I want to read it. I recognize a lot of the authors that contributed to this anthology, many of them prominent YA writers, and I would love to read some of their work in holiday form! I'm waiting for December for this one - wish me luck!
10. Captivated by You by Sylvia Day
Do I need to explain this one? I meannnnn. I might have liked Crossfire more than 50 Shades. Maybe? Maybe. I don't know. I just know that it's crazy good, and when this comes out in 2 weeks I will probably not wash a dish or fold a shirt for a solid 2-3 days. Ohh, Gideon, your name is terrible but I miss you!
11. Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky
This has been on my list for a really long time, and I was really excited about it but other books kept pushing it back. Someone mentioned it again recently and I was like, I really need to get to this one! So it's back on the list. It's written by a man that worked in a well-to-do hotel chain and shares all of his juicy stories from his time there. Oooh, scandalous!
12. Clash of the Couples (Anthology)
This is a collection of stories about fights and differences couples have, and it looks to be a really interesting (and possibly funny?) read. I'm really excited to get to this one! I love my hubs, but I can already tell I'll relate ;)
I only need to get through 7 of these to complete my challenge (I'm on 23/30 books I set out to read this year), but I'd love to get through all 12. Wish me luck! And see you in 2 weeks for more on books ;)
This post contains affiliate links.


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Sorry for the shilling, but here's my upcoming project:
Please register your email address if you're interested in it.
Edit: Sadly by the request of Coursera itself, I've removed this particular github repository. Coursera is doing the right thing though, don't blame them.
I applied and followed Machine Learning course which is taught by Andrew Ng and offered freely online on Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/course/ml). However since the Octave installed on my computer doesn't work properly (e.g. plotting functionality doesn't work at all, etc), I decided to use python instead.
I managed to solve all of the programming exercises offered, in python instead of Octave. You can access the exercises' solutions here: https://github.com/subokita/mlclass
In order to get started with python for machine learning, you might want to install these python libraries / modules:
- Numpy (http://www.numpy.org), for matrix and array manipulations
- Scipy (http://www.scipy.org), used mainly on optimization / minimization functions
- Matplotlib (http://matplotlib.org), for plotting
- NLTK (http://www.nltk.org), mainly for preprocessing text in spam detection section
- Sci-Kit Learn (http://scikit-learn.org/stable/), used for the SVM section. This is a great machine learning library
http://penandpants.com/2013/04/04/install-scientific-python-on-mac-os-x/ has a good write up on how to install most of these modules using Homebrew and pip.


text: Comedy Central Promotes Programming Chief Kent Alterman 7:00 AM PST 1/23/2013 by Lacey Rose FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Courtesy of Comedy Central Kent Alterman Headshot NEW - P 2013 As the network's new president of content development and original programming, he'll oversee such things as the development and production of fare across all Comedy Central platforms. Comedy Central vet Kent Alterman is expanding his purview. Alterman has been elevated to the cable network's president of content development and original programming. In the new role, the Santa Monica-based exec will oversee the development and production of original fare across all of Comedy Central's platforms, both television and digital. He'll continue to oversee Comedy Central's talent and specials team, too, which is responsible for identifying and developing comedy talent through such efforts as stand-up specials and the network's roast series. In a greater bid for consolidation, Alterman and his talent team will be more closely aligned with the net's enterprises division, headed by Mitch Fried, as well. The latter is part of a larger push to maximize the brand's talent partnerships across an array of categories including publishing, records, live events and consumer product. In the realignment, Fried will now report to both Alterman and Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless. (Alterman will continue to report to Ganeless.) "[The new role] reflects the changing the world that we live in. We're really trying to approach the digital pieces not as an afterthought to our shows but more organic and intrinsic to our shows," Alterman tells The Hollywood Reporter of the network's more holistic approach to talent development. Looking ahead, he says he'd like to not only offer digital extensions but also launch digital originals as well as use the Web to test --and ultimately launch-- more small screen fare. "Kent's relationships with the creative community run deep and his track record in working with and developing strong, unique comedic voices is unparalleled in the comedy world," said Viacom Media Networks Entertainment Group president Doug Herzog. Added Ganeless: "In consolidating all content development under Kent's direction, Comedy Central is breaking the wall between linear, digital and social development, with a strategic vision that great content is great content, no matter what platform." Since returning to Comedy Central in 2010, Alterman and his development team have been focused on growing the network's originals output, with a goal in place to increase original programming by 55 percent this year. Among the latest offerings: Workaholics, Key & Peele, Brickleberry and Nick Kroll's newest offering, Kroll Show. Later this year, the net is expected to roll out fare from Anthony Jeselnik (The Jeselnik Offensive), Ben Hoffman (The Ben Show), Nathan Fielder (Nathan for You), Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer), Andy Daly (Review) and Derek Waters (Drunk History). Alterman adds of his goals for the network: "I'd like to get more scripted shows going. One area that we could use more of is long-form scripted, as opposed to sketch or the hybrid scripted things." In between his Comedy Central stints, Alterman had a film deal at Fox Film Studios as well as projects in development at such studios as Warner Bros. and Lionsgate. Prior to that, Alterman directed and executive produced Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro at New Line, where he was an EVP from 2001 to 2006. During his first turn at Comedy Central, he headed up the brand's New York development office, where he oversaw the development and productions of projects from Amy Sedaris' Strangers with Candy to Amy Poehler's Upright Citizens Brigade. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com; Twitter: @LaceyVRose FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Lacey Rose email@example.com @thr


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Michael Shinn (D.M.A., '10), a performer, educator, arts advocate, and the cofounder of a music festival in Sonoma County, California, was named dean of music at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Shinn was previously the chair of keyboard studies at the Juilliard School in New York, where he also served an instructor of piano, chamber music, piano pedagogy, keyboard skills, and analysis for performers.
The Boston Conservatory merged with Berklee in 2016. Shinn will lead the Conservatory's music division and is the first dean to be appointed since the merger.
"Boston Conservatory at Berklee has such a long and rich tradition of artistic and educational excellence," Shinn said when the news was announced. "And it now sits atop a precipice of potential for innovation in the arts over the next 150 years."
At the Graduate Center, Shinn studied with Professor Raymond Erickson (GC/Queens, Music), who also served as his advisor, and Distinguished Professor Joseph Straus (Music).
"I absolutely loved my experience in the D.M.A. program at the Graduate Center," Shinn said. "The inspiring faculty members, impressive array of courses offered, and brilliant fellow students all contributed to a rich learning environment."
Throughout his career, Shinn has performed regularly as a recital pianist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. and abroad. He is the cofounder and codirector of pianoSonoma, a festival that brings together musicians from diverse backgrounds, as well as artists in residence, for collaborations and performances in Sonoma County, California.
Shinn is also known as an arts entrepreneur and for his work developing online learning tools at Juilliard. He encourages current and prospective D.M.A. students to embrace all opportunities, at the GC and beyond.
"The atmosphere at the GC is supportive, encouraging, and most of all, engaging," he said. "Perform as much as you can, dedicate yourself to your studies, take as many diverse courses as possible, and gain some experience teaching as well."
Submitted on: AUG 29, 2017
Category: Alumni News | General GC News | Music Ph.D. - D.M.A


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Looking Occupation Full in the Face
Sarah Tuttle-Singer wrote a longish status about the word "occupation" yesterday. Except none of what she wrote has anything to do with occupation, the concept. Rather, she created a new definition for a word that already has a perfectly good definition as well as a well-defined legal meaning, as put forth by the Fourth Geneva Convention.
This is a predictable tactic, one favored by the left. They throw tons of ordure at the fan knowing some of it is bound to stick. And when I say ordure, I mean lies. They shoot out so much of it all at once that you cannot unpack it all without looking like a pedant. And their followers drink it in and regurgitate it back into the world like the sheeple they are, even though none of it makes any sense.
Here's the status:
And a screenshot:
The text:
After a break-out session at #ZionismV3 at the Oshman Family JCC, where I said the "O word" — Occupation — a woman came up to me and told me she prefers the term "Disputed Territories."
Maybe some of you do, too, and since we know words are important, I'll explain why the word "Occupation" is important:
When I use the term "Occupation" I'm not talking about land. I'm talking about people.
Specifically, over 2 million Palestinians living in Areas A, B, and C who are the mercy of our Minister of Defense.
And what does that mean?
It means that if the IDF is ordered to raze someone's house because their brother's kid stabbed someone, then an entire family is homeless.
It means that the IDF can kick down their doors in the middle of the night – because maybe someone has a brother who was planning a terror attack.
It means that freedom of movement is restricted and that you can't get from point A to point B without a check point.
It means that water can be redirected away from Palestinian villages and toward the settlements if there's a water shortage.
It means that there are children living 30 minutes from the beach who have never seen the sea.
It means that just because things are quiet in Israel does not mean they're well, because over the Green Line there are a lot of people who are living under the control of our government – a government they had no say in choosing.
This is occupation. And that is not in dispute.
And I don't know what the solution is, but I do know that all of us living in Israel and dealing with all the various complexities of what that means — from sleeping in bomb shelters with our babies to sipping cappuccinos on Shenken to wailing over the open grave of our friend killed in a terror attack to swimming in warm sea water at midnight — need to look this full in the face without turning away.
Definition of Occupation
For the record, let us take a look at the first sentence of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which defines "occupation."
Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.
What we are speaking about here is a belligerent nation that invades another country and forcibly transfers people to the area in an effort to create facts on the ground in order to strengthen its claim to the territory.
This does not in any way shape or form describe Israel's relationship to Judea and Samaria. For one thing, Jews lived in Judea and Samaria before there was an Arab people and before Mohammed was a gleam in his mama's eye. Use archaeological artifacts, Josephus, or the bible. You're still going to happen on that unassailable truth.
The Real Occupation
In fact, it was the Muslims who occupied Judea and Samaria, expelling the Jews and installing Muslims in their stead. Of course, they weren't the only people to occupy Judea and Samaria. The territory was occupied time after time in history by the following empires: Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Crusader, Mamluk, Ottoman, and British.
But the Jews never lost hope that they would return. They prayed for rain in Israel during Israel's rainy season. They prayed they'd have next year's Passover Seder in Jerusalem. They said to themselves, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its cunning."
The Quran calls the Jews, "Yahud," meaning the people of Judea. Which is also what "Jew" means, by the way. The Quran refers to the Jews as Bani Isra'il, the sons of Israel, or Bnei Yisrael, as we say in Hebrew. The Quran makes no claim to these territories, but rather describes the ingathering of the Jewish exiles:
To Moses We did give Nine Clear Signs:
As the Children of Israel: when he came to them, Pharaoh said to him:
"O Moses! I consider thee, indeed, to have been worked upon by sorcery! Moses said,
"Thou knowest well that these things have been sent down by none,
But the Lord of the heavens and the earth as eye-opening evidence:
And I consider thee indeed, O Pharaoh, to be one doomed to destruction!"
So he resolved to remove them from the face of the earth:
But We did drown him and all who were with him.
And We said thereafter to the Children of Israel,
"Dwell securely in the land (of promise)":
But when the second of the warnings came to pass,
We gather you together in a mingled crowd. (2314)
surah 17:101-104 Al Isra' (The Night Journey)
But back to the Geneva Convention and Article 49. The language is clear. It describes a forced population exchange. Nothing of the sort happened in Judea and Samaria. Jews are not alien to the land. No one forced settlers to move there. No one was living in the areas settled at the time the settlements were created. The Arabs live in the valleys, the Jews live on the hills. It's the way it is. Look at a topographical map and know this as fact.
Between 1948 and 1967, Jordan held Judea and Samaria. Only two UN member states saw this as a legal occupation: Great Britain and Pakistan. When Israel took possession of Judea and Samaria in 1967, it was no invasion, Habibi. She was fighting off FOUR Arab armies. She was fighting for her life.
Not Occupation: Let Me Count The Ways
So, to sum up, let's list the way Israel is not an occupier. Israel:
- Is not an invader, but rather, was forced to fight a defensive war against four armies
- Didn't force people to move to Judea and Samaria, they volunteered
- Didn't kick Arabs out of their homes to create settlements, but built on barren hilltops
- Didn't transfer a non-native population into Judea and Samaria, rather the Jews are the indigenous people of the territory with their presence in Judea and Samaria actually predating the Arab people.
Now Tuttle-Singer thinks she can get around all that by prefacing her remarks with this statement:
When I use the term "Occupation" I'm not talking about land. I'm talking about people.
But that doesn't mean anything. It's nonsense. It's like someone saying, "When I say 'car' I'm not talking about a vehicle, I'm talking about people who drive," or, "When I say 'butter' I'm not talking about a dairy product but about people who dine."
It's a meaningless construct. And rather than explain the logic behind this assertion that even she can't see, she mounts a soapbox and spouts several anti-Israel lies. Beginning with this:
Specifically, over 2 million Palestinians living in Areas A, B, and C who are the mercy of our Minister of Defense.
Tuttle-Singer does two things with this statement:
1) She gets in a dig at Avigdor Liberman, Israel's Minister of Defense, because to her he's über right when actually he's no different than any other politician and waffles like the best of them when necessary. He has no compunction ordering the demolition of a Jewish home just because.
2) She lies about Area A being under Israel's thumb. Area A has had full Palestinian Authority autonomy in Arab villages and towns since the year 2000. Arab villages and towns in Area B are also under the PA, but Israel and the PA do joint patrols here. Finally, Area C remains to be negotiated and well, that's up to the Arabs. Israel (unfortunately, in my opinion) remains open to negotiate at any time, with no preconditions.
Really, the Arabs could have just about anything they want, if they'd just stop acting like behemoths, stop the terror, and behave like human beings. But back to Tuttle-Singer.
It means that if the IDF is ordered to raze someone's house because their brother's kid stabbed someone, then an entire family is homeless.
Seriously? So teach your children not to stab people. Teach them that knives are for eating steak, and not for murdering peace activists taking bus rides—peace activists like Richard Lakin, for instance.
Don't blame the reaction to terror, the defense. Blame the CAUSE. Blame TERROR.
And anyway, these relatives of terrorists aren't so homeless. They get a warning. They take their stuff out. They cry to the EU, or to their neighbors and someone builds them a newer, nicer house. Also, they get a monthly stipend for being related to someone who murdered a Jew. And they're lauded as heroes.
When a Jew's home is demolished, on the other hand, he's not allowed to rebuild, no one gives him money to buy a new home, and rather than receive a monetary reward, he's out a couple of hundred thousand shekels with no new home on the horizon. And that's by his JEWISH government, regarding a home that sits in Jewish indigenous territory!!
A Case Study: Israeli Demolitions
After Mohammad Nasser Tra'ayra, 17, of Bani Naim, murdered 13 year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel in her sleep, stabbing her multiple times, his parents' home was slated for demolition as a deterrent measure against terrorism. The IDF Spokesman's office released this film clip of the demolition.
However, this doesn't tell the real story.
What really happened was this: the IDF knocked down just a few walls and this only after the family received advanced warning and were able to remove their furnishings and belongings. The family also managed to carefully remove and preserve the windows and faucets for future restoration of the home.
Contrast and compare to these before and after photos of the demolition of the home of Jewish settler, Choni Kaniel of Maale Rahavam, on May 7, 2014.
One day, the Israeli courts decided to redraw the blue line and rule his home illegal. The home was demolished.
But this was not a symbolic demolition as in the case of the family home of the Arab terrorist who murdered a 13 year-old girl in her sleep. It was not a show for the public.
Large machinery was brought.
The home was smashed to smithereens.
No walls were left intact.
Choni now lives in a tent on the spot where his home once stood.
Choni created this meme to illustrate the disparity between the demolition of a terrorist's family home and that of a Jewish home.
Un. Fricking. Real.
Tuttle-Singer writes:
It means that the IDF can kick down their doors in the middle of the night – because maybe someone has a brother who was planning a terror attack.
Well, again. Whose fault is that? Israel remains in a permanent state of war from 1948, when it declared statehood. The Arabs refuse to end the state of war, no matter how much land we give them, no matter what we do. And they murder us. They murder young girls sleeping in their beds. They murder whole families on quiet Shabbat evenings. They murder us on buses and in the streets. They murder us wherever they find us. Wherever and whenever we fail to stop them, fail to defend ourselves. We expelled roughly 10,000 of our own people from their homes in the name of peace, and still, they hunt us down and murder us. They did it before 1948, such as in Hebron in 1929 and 1936. And they're still doing it now.
We have every right to follow the leads that may prevent the murder of someone's mother, someone's sister, someone's son. That is what war means: the war they force on us by refusing to make peace, by refusing to be peaceful, by their nonstop terror. If they won't sign a treaty, then we damned well WILL kick down the doors of potential terrorists to stop them from doing their horrible, ugly, violent deeds.
That Tuttle-Singer sings her song of woe on behalf of the violent and against her own people betrays the blackest of souls.
She writes:
It means that freedom of movement is restricted and that you can't get from point A to point B without a check point.
This too, is the result of constant Arab terror against the Jews since way before the British Mandate. Don't like having your freedom of movement restricted? Don't. Murder. Jews.
Don't like checkpoints? Don't. Murder. Jews.
Why is her concern for the murderers and not for their victims and potential victims? Because she hates us.
Tuttle-Singer writes:
It means that water can be redirected away from Palestinian villages and toward the settlements if there's a water shortage.
This is just a lie. One that's been debunked. Over and over again. A burst water pipe is not a water "redirected" and has nothing to do with any water shortage. Israel has actually increased the water supply to Arab villages and towns.
Some footage of the bursted water line that is now repaired by #COGAT Civil Administration. pic.twitter.com/nclwCaOwBR
— COGAT (@cogat_israel) June 15, 2016
Tuttle-Singer writes:
It means that there are children living 30 minutes from the beach who have never seen the sea.
This has nothing to do with Israel, but everything to do with democratically elected terrorist Arab leaders who keep their people imprisoned in camps and refuse to make peace with Israel. Does she really want to say this has anything at all to do with Israel?? Okay, yeah. It's Israel's fault because Israel EXISTS.
Since Israel exists, these people remain political pawns, held in place by their democratically elected terrorist leaders. So clearly Tuttle-Singer is working toward the eradication of the Jewish State because instead of doing anything meaningful to fight against the injustice, she blames the injustice on the wrong party, and backs those responsible for the injustice, instead. And those who are responsible for the injustice have vowed not to do justice, not to let their people out of the prison camps, until Israel is Judenfrei, with the Jews in the sea, the same one Arab children apparently are so desperate to see.
Which begs the question: why is Tuttle-Singer here in Israel with her children? By her/their presence, they perpetuate the refugee status of the Arab people who remain behind barbed wire, unable to see the sea. She could actually make a difference if she'd just get on a plane and LEAVE. (I know plenty of people who'd be happy to buy her a one-way ticket back to LA.)
Tuttle-Singer writes:
It means that just because things are quiet in Israel does not mean they're well, because over the Green Line there are a lot of people who are living under the control of our government – a government they had no say in choosing.
But things are not quiet in Israel. We are right now experiencing an uptick in terror. And if it's not quiet, it's because the Arabs are not quiet. So as the "new media director" of the Times of Israel, someone who works for a NEWS OUTLET, what the Hell is she talking about?
What she is trying to say (but doing a poor job of it) is that Arabs are ruled by a Jewish government but don't get to vote for that government. But this too, is a lie.
Israelis Arabs can vote. And there are Arabs in the Knesset.
The Arabs who don't have Israeli citizenship are welcome to apply for Israeli citizenship if they live in areas under Israeli autonomy. Once granted citizenship, they can vote in Israeli elections.
Arabs who don't live under Israeli autonomy can vote in PA or Hamas elections, depending on where they live. And if Abbas wants to serve way past his term, and not hold new elections, that's not on the Jews, that's on the Arabs who voted for him.
Tuttle-Singer writes:
This is occupation. And that is not in dispute.
"This" whatever "this" means, is NOT occupation. And that is absolutely no longer in dispute, seeing as I have now unpacked and refuted her every word on the subject.
Occupation is not anything but what it actually is, and there is no Israeli occupation of Arab land. Arabs who don't have freedom of movement, don't have it because of Arab terror, and because they vote for terrorists to lead them: terrorists who will never negotiate peace with Israel.
Tuttle-Singer writes
And I don't know what the solution is, but I do know that all of us living in Israel and dealing with all the various complexities of what that means — from sleeping in bomb shelters with our babies to sipping cappuccinos on Shenken to wailing over the open grave of our friend killed in a terror attack to swimming in warm sea water at midnight — need to look this full in the face without turning away.
I do know what the solution is. Everyone does. It's simple: stop the murder machine. Stop the terror. Accept that Jews have a state on their indigenous territory. Accept that the Jews expelled their own people to give you land. Accept that Israel gives you arms (the better to shoot you with, my dear), autonomy, and citizenship. Accept that Israel offered you housing, gives you money, free electricity, tons of aid, medical care, places in the government, and on our Supreme Court.
Deal with it. Compromise! Lay down your arms, your knives, your car rammings, rocks, and firebombs. Live and love in peace. Give your children a better future.
This is not at all complex. This is what Tuttle-Singer needs to look full in the face, without turning away.
This is the solution.
And only this.


text:
This year's Grammy Awards hosted a history-making win. For the first time in the prestigious award-giving body's ceremony, a hip-hop anthem won "Song of the Year."
It wasn't Drake's "God's Plan," or Kendrick Lamar's "All the Stars." The winning song was "This Is America" by the one-of-a-kind artist, Childish Gambino. Along with that, he also won Record of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance, and Best Music Video. If you've been living under a rock or just don't like good music, maybe you haven't heard of this musical genius. So let us take you on a crash course on what Donald Glover—or Childish Gambino—is all about.
Childish Gambino is—surprise!—Donald Glover. Donald got the unique and rather clever name from a simple Wu-Tang Name Generator. Don't bother trying because only the name "Donald Glover" gets the best result. He's an actor, comedian, writer, producer, director, rapper, singer, songwriter, and DJ.
Well, to summarize, Donald Glover can do it all.
At 23, he was hired by veteran comedian, Tina Fey, to write for her sitcom, 30 Rock. Then he would later star in another sitcom called Community.
During those times, Donald was already experimenting on producing music, producing some mixtapes. And when he realized he could make a career out of it, he got out of the TV comedy business to pursue his love for music. Thus, Childish Gambino was born.
This would lead him to make seven mixtapes, three extended plays, and three studio albums, with another one—the confirmed "last one"—on the way. A number of his hit songs were "Redbone," "3005," and, of course, "This Is America."
Of course, Donald really didn't leave his acting career behind, starring in some movies and TV shows here and there like Solo: A Star Wars Story as Lando Calrissian and as Aaron Davis in Spider-Man: Homecoming. He's also going to be the voice of Simba in the live-action (but really CGI) adaptation of The Lion King.
But, right now, he's probably known for the FX show, Atlanta, which he created, produces, stars in, writes, and occasionally directs. Atlanta has garnered more than its fair share of awards as well in the Emmy's and the Golden Globes.
Despite being born in California, Donald Glover would be raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia, a suburb in Atlanta, which of course, is the inspiration for his critically-acclaimed TV show. He wanted to portray what it's like being a rapper in Atlanta and trying to get your foot in the door. It also stars Brian Tyree Henry, Lakieth Stanfield, and Zazie Beetz.
It was in 2006 when Donald was contacted by Tina Fey and her 30 Rock staff. His work on the third season of the show earned him a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Series. This was also the time when he brought up the Wu-Tang Name Generator and got Childish Gambino. He would create his first mixtape, Sick Boi.
In 2009, he would become more known to a wider audience through the show Community, where he played Troy Barnes, a jock who turns to the nerdy side and becomes friends with a geek named Abed, portrayed by Danny Pudi.
Still in Community in 2010, Donald Glover would make a case to become the next Spider-Man after Tobey Maguire. With the #donald4spiderman trending, fans almost got what they wished for, but, of course, that role went to Andrew Garfield. A year later, comics writer, Brian Michael Bendis, would announce the debut of Miles Morales, an African-American version of Spider-Man, citing Donald Glover on Community as his biggest inspiration.
From 2011 to 2014, Childish Gambino would creep in on the music industry, and take center stage. He would release album after album until everyone took notice of his unique and unconventional approach to hip-hop, rap, and R&B.
2015 would be an acting year for Donald as he appeared in three films in that year alone: The Lazarus Effect, Magic Mike XXL, and The Martian. From there, he would develop his very own show, Atlanta.
At the end of 2016, Donald released his greatest album yet, Awaken, My Love!, an album which featured Gambino singing rather than rapping. In a change of genre, he would incorporate psychedelic soul, funk, and R&B to make a whole new kind of music on his own.
In 2018, he would release the award-winning song "This Is America." Of course, that would only be the start of the biggest year of Donald Glover's career. He would star in Solo: A Star Wars Story, easily being the most memorable character in the film. He then released an EP called Summer Pack containing the songs "Summertime Magic" and "Feels Like Summer." And as of that time, he's been working with Rihanna on a secret project in Cuba titled Guava Island.


text:
The Academy, present in Los Ángeles de San Rafael
Bernabé, Carlos Marín, Amath, Theo, Caio Henrique, Solano and Juan Moreno are doing the pre-season with the first team in Los Ángeles de San Rafael. All of them have been important, some with Atlético B and others in the DH Youth team, champions of the League and King's Cup.
The Academy is a key project for Atlético de Madrid. Every year, there are several outstanding players from our ranks that do the pre-season with the first team. Gabi, Koke, Torres, Saúl, Lucas, Óliver, Héctor or Borja, went through this stage that are now living other players in the concentration at the Tryp Segovia Sierra de Guadarrama Hotel in Los Ángeles de San Rafael.
This is the case for Bernabé, Carlos Marín and Amath, who played in Atletico B last season, and Caio Henrique, Solano and Juan Moreno, who played it with the Youth team of Óscar Fernández. It is also the case for Theo, who has played in both teams. All of them are very excited with the opportunity. From the club, we wish them good luck!


text:
Practical and first hand – by us you learn how to master the challenges of digitalisation
Already for the 7th time we invite you to this practical and forward-looking event on the subject of Document and Enterprise Content Management.
Exclusive exchanges of experiences with case studies and expert presentations await you.
Besides numerous practical and reference reports, we show you the new functionalities and features of lobodms, as well as business applications and enterprise information management based on SharePoint – simple and easy with loboSPhere.
When? Thursday, 22 June 2017, from 08:30 am – 4:30 pm
Where? Town Hall Erding, Alois-Schießl-Platz 1, D-85435 Erding
Use this platform to network and share news and trends.
Conduct interesting discussions with our partners and customers.
We are looking forward to your visit!
Our lobodms and loboSPhere Team
08:30 – 09:30 Registration and Integration forum
09:30 – 09:45 Welcome, outlook and review of 2016/17
Presentation of the partners in the integration forum
09:45 – 10:15 Keynote: "ECM – and what comes after that?", Dr. Ulrich Kampffmeyer, PROJECT CONSULT Unternehmensberatung GmbH
10:15 – 11:05 lobo News: Invoice Management, Dashboard, Outlook Add In, lobodms Team
11:05 – 11:25 Break and Integration forum
11:25 – 11:50 Reference report: Introduction of an SAP archive with lobotalk workflow based on Invoice Management, Christian Maucher, Project Manager Hymer GmbH & Co. KG
11:50 – 12:15 Reference report: Introduction of the Digital Archiving Market (DAM) at MediaSaturn Germany in 450 shops, Jens-Peter Labus, Managing director MediaMarktSaturn IT Solutions
12:15 – 12:40 Reference report: Why did Noerr LLP choose lobodms for its office?, Stefan Weber, IT director Noerr LLP
12:40 – 13:50 Lunch break and Integration forum
13:50 – 14:00 Integration into the world of Dynamics NAV, AX und CRM, Dennis Oelmann, Prodware Deutschland AG
14:00 – 14:15 System change and now? From a foreign system to lobodms, Dennis Oelmann, Prodware Deutschland AG
14:15 – 14:40 loboSPhere – experience Share Point by design, Business application and Enterprise Information Management, Intuitive – Innovative – Integrated, loboSPhere Team
14:40 – 15:00 Break and Integration forum
15:00 – 15:25 Reference report: Integrated Invoice Management in Dynamics AX with lobodms and loboSPhere, Karl Huber, Project manager Rudolf Ölz Meisterbäcker GmbH & Co. KG
15:25 – 15:50 Specialist presentation: Long-term preservation of evidence of mobile or via scan captured data, Ulrich Emmert, esb Rechtsanwälte
15:50 – 16:00 Raffle of a Scanners Kodak i1150WN
16:00 – 16:10 Summary
16:10 – 16:30 End of the event and Integration forum
Our solutions partners
Hotel Henry
Are you in need of accommodation for an over night stay? Then ask for available rooms at "Hotel Henry".
Hotel Henry, Dachauer Straße 1, D-85435 Erding, Tel. +49 8122 90 993-0, www.hotel-henry.de.


text:
Ferrari will implement an extra work shift and could increase production to 9,000 units per year in 2018 as a result of increased customer demand.
Ferrari has set out to achieve an annual production of 9,000 units in 2019, in order to increase profits and at the same time to maintain the brand's exclusivity.
However, the Italian supercar manufacturer has been experiencing an increase in the number of applications for its models lately, which is why it has already begun to adapt to the situation.
According to sources inside the company, Ferrari will be introducing a new shift in the assembly area in addition to the existing one. Following this change, it is estimated that Ferrari will reach its production target of 9,000 units per year in 2018, with a total output of about 8,400 units expected in 2017.
Ferrari hopes to double its operating profit to around 2 billion EUR by 2022, but at the same time it has proposed not to exceed the threshold of 10,000 units per year to preserve brand exclusivity.?Currently, customers have to wait over 12 months to receive the ordered supercars as a result of the many requests Ferrari have received.


text:
The Hill Adds Two New Editors
Hugo Gurdon, EIC of The Hill, announced today the addition of two new editors to the rag's roster. Most notable, Jessica Taylor of NBC News/MSNBC will join The Hill as campaign editor on January 2nd. In an internal memo obtained by FishbowlDC, Gurdon praised Taylor's experience noting that she's worked for CBS News, the Rothenberg Political Report, National Journal, Politico, and the Almanac of American Politics. In her new role, Jessica will be charged with "overseeing and elevating [The Hill's] campaign coverage in print and online."
In addition, Tristan Lejeune will join the pub next Monday as an assistant editor on the news desk. Tristan has served as an editor at Source Media, The Daily Progress and the Lynchberg News & Advance.


text:
The original company was formed in 1946 under the title The Scale Model Equipment Company Limited to manufacture scale models and detail parts for the model engineering trade. During the 1950's movement was away from model making to precision engineering, principally parts for aircraft instruments and business machines.
In 1959 Alastair Robertson-Aikman, the Company's founder, required a pick-up arm for his own use and an experimental model was built. It received such an enthusiastic reception from friends in the sound industry that it was decided to produce it commercially and the first SME precision pick-up arm appeared in September 1959. Production was 25 units per week composed entirely of individually machined components. At this time a new factory situated in Mill Road, Steyning was opened and the Company's name was changed to SME Limited, a less committal title to suit its new activities.
SME now has over 60 years experience in high quality precision engineering and the Company's plant at Steyning is now probably the largest and best equipped devoted to the manufacture of precision pick-up arms and turntables.


text:
One space or two after a sentence? Do I use a hyphen between weight loss? Aren't since and because synonyms? Why is there sometimes a comma before a dependent clause?
[Remember, keep sending in your questions to email@example.com with the subject line "W.A.W. Mailbox" and I will answer each Friday. I will use your first name ONLY unless you tell me explicitly that you'd like me to use your full name or you would prefer to remain anonymous. My comment policy also may mean one of your comments ends up in the mailbox. And I really suck at grammar so you should ask people who know more than me.]
More grammar questions? Seriously? Haven't you people realized I can barely achieve grammatical coherence within my own writing. You should be asking these questions of grammarians like Grammar Girl or Dr. Grammar. I'm just happy on days I manage to end a sentence with a period
Celina asks:
Should I be using two spaces or one after a sentence.
My reply:
But, let me "teach the controversy."
Actually, I can't really do that because there IS no controversy. There are only gum-toothed old folks like me who learned it in a bygone era of different technology who can't let go, and the brave new world of of the computer literate who will usher in the new chapter of humanity with their single spaces and their Google Glass Singularity and their not having to pay a quarter for video games. Whatever aesthetic actually remains of people who like double spacing are the sad and dying remnants of an ancient species, slowly watching themselves go extinct in the new millennium, but with just enough spite to use their dying breath to tell the whipersnappers and smoochers to get off their lawns.
[I pause in this narrative to tell you about my ex-wife's sister who (god this can't be right!) is like a teenager at this point. When she was about five or six, she watched Steamboat Willie, and didn't get the part where Goofy was eating the corn by going from one end to the other and back with a DING! "Well, it's like a typewriter, honey," her mother said. My sister in law (ex) cocked her head and said "What's a typewriter?"At that point I went to try to find an ice floe, but we were in central California.]
You see, once upon a time, back when dinosaurs used to roam the Earth, and your intrepid (but very cute and sexable despite his advanced age) blogger was learning how to type, there were these machines called typewriters. And due to typesetting in published works, the space after a sentence needed to be a little longer than the space after a word, so we hit the spacebar twice. Even in the early days of shitty 80's word processors like MacWrite and WordPerfect the space bar was just a certain space (because everyone was hitting two spaces at the end of sentences).
And people like me wrote for years--decades in many cases--using the two space system. But of course, a computer is exactly the sort of newfangled device that can handle automatically making the space a little bigger after a bit of sentence-ending punctuation. So one space is what most published venues demand. It is only a few hold outs who think that the single space looks a little too close that love the two spaces. Most people complain about the "rivers" of empty space running through the page they have to look at with two-spacers.
Those who try and fail like me are to be pitied (and possibly given pity sex). We are a dying breed and the unapologetic one-spacers are not the norm. We try. Give us some orthopedic shoes and a second chance, okay?
Dave asks:
Should I use a hyphen between "weight loss"? I've seen it both ways.
My reply:
If you want to be persnickety you should use a hyphen if "weight loss" is an adjective, but not if it's a noun.
My objective in exercising is weight loss.
Weight loss is a noble goal as long as health isn't sacrificed.
Would you like a weight-loss shake?
My weight-loss plan is to exercise ten hours a day.
I'm pretty sure this is one of those rules that was invented just to fuck with people who try to learn English. Two word adjectives (called compound adjectives) are supposed to have a hyphen. If you have any trouble with that, just leave it out. English is trending towards less and less non-essential punctuation as a general rule. It is only within the most formal writing (or the pedanticest of pedants) that you will see an absolute call for it.
Anonymous asks:
Why does my English professor keep marking me wrong for using "since" instead of "because"? Aren't they basically the same thing?
My reply:
Technically, they are not. But your prof is also being a crusty old fossil to actually mark you off for it.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that they are about sixty years old or more. Most people younger than that would be using since and because pretty interchangeably, even in written English. But some of the old guard--especially with highly formal educations--still draw the distinction in the same way I had older English teachers when I was in school (many eons ago...when there were still typewriters) who would make a big deal over the difference between "like" and "as." The young teachers didn't care, but the older ones would mark us wrong.
We made dinosaur jokes about them at the bike racks.
Once upon a time "since" pretty much only had to do with time and as a preposition or an adverb that is still the case, but now when it is used as a subordinating conjunction, it also can also be a synonym of "because." Strict grammarians do not like this recent shift. (And by "recent" I mean technically within the living memory of some humans.) They don't like their peas mixed with their porridge, and prefer to be restrictive about the meaning of "since" to keep it strictly about time.
My advice is to do what your teacher tells you until you're out of the class and then just make sure your meaning is clear when you use it from now on. English teachers can be a foul lot to argue with about grammar when their blood is up and they're sure they're right.
Trust me--I am one.
Munira asks:
Why do I sometimes see published English writing with an independent clause followed by a dependent clause separated by a comma? I thought you only used the comma if the dependent clause comes first, but English is my third language.
My reply:
Isn't English just the most ridiculous train wreck of weird rules and exceptions you ever saw?
Munira is talking about the rule for subordinating clauses. Normally you only use a comma when the subordinate (or dependent) clause comes first (After we ate the cheese, we felt sick.), but not if the main (or independent) clause comes first (We felt sick after we ate the cheese.)
Certain style guides call for, and certain writers stylistically use a comma when the dependent clause is second if it shows contrast with the main clause.
Like this: Chris used a comma before the contrasting clause, even though the main clause was first.
Or this: Chris ate too much cheese, although he knew it would make him sick.
Or this: You will eventually be bitten and become a zombie, unless you use this body armor while you're fighting.
Not everyone uses this rule, and not every guide calls for it, so be careful. Writers often use it only when they want to emphasize the contrast. When I teach this rule to my ESL classes, I don't mention this exception because it's generally accepted as correct by more people if the comma is just not there--even in cases of an exception.
Also, like most grammar rules that could go either way in English, some people learned it pretty strictly one way or the other, so they may give you some grief if you use it the way they think is wrong.
Friday, January 10, 2014
More Grammar Questions I Have No Business Answering
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Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa but you won't find him in Rome. Christmas here is a quiet affair and it doesn't seem to include the jolly St. Nicholas. The official season begins on December 8th with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Only then do a few Christmas lights and modest decorations appear on some streets. (You might say it's all very tasteful.) It's possible to walk for blocks in Rome and see no evidence of the holiday season with the exception of an increased number of shoppers. Some churches display kitschy nativity scenes lightly dusted and possibly reused for centuries. I have yet to sight a Santa but Italians do suspend their disbelief for the Befana witch who fills children's stockings with candy on Epiphany. Apologies to my Italian friends but I think she's a creepy-looking ambassador of generosity and more a character for Grimm than goodwill.
Speaking of characters, look who joined us on Christmas morning:
Mom visited as well and we had a lovely week with her. We toured the Roman port city at Ostia and the countryside villa of Emperor Hadrian. We also went to the aqueduct park near the old Roman road, Via Appia.
There's little snow in the Alps so far this year and limited skiing in Northern Italy. We canceled our plans to head north after Christmas and instead, chased snow to the south, in the Apennine mountains of Abruzzo. They are part of the range that runs north-south along the spine of central Italy. All of Napoli was seemingly there as well. The city is only 90-minutes from several local ski resorts in the region. Skiing with Neapolitans and living to tell the tale is a blessing! Our resort was not equipped to manage the assertive holiday crowd and many skiers seemed oblivious to customary safety regulations, such as slowing down when you reach lower runs trafficked with children and novice skiers. Lift lines looked like a rugby scrum:
But we had fun once we figured out how to survive the disorder and drama of it all. We skied through lunch and into the afternoon when crowds thinned.
Happy New Year to our family and friends!


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The Myths About Factoring For Recruiters - Debunked
Following my article debunking myths about invoice finance for recruiters, this one looks at some of the misunderstandings and myths about factoring for recruiters. I have included an infographic, that sets out these myths.
Factoring Myths - Infographic
Myth 1 - Recruiters Get Paid Quickly
Gone are the days when recruiters tended to be paid by customers on very short credit terms. Credit periods have dragged out and payment delays are common. Things are now so bad that our research found that 52%, of recruiters that we surveyed, said that they wanted late payments to be addressed so that they were paid more quickly.
Myth 2 - Better Credit Control Is The Only Option If Customer's Don't Pay
One way of speeding up payments from customers may be improving your own credit control procedures, that could improve your debt turn, by getting payments in quicker. Perhaps by pre-dunning where you contact a customer before an invoice is due, you might see a slight improvement. However many companies stick to regular payment patterns and that can mean having to wait. For example, some pay the month following receipt of invoice on a set day each week - thats just the way they operate and no amount of chasing will change that.
As an alternative you could use a factoring company to bridge the payment gap. The factoring company will provide prepayments against your sales invoices when you raise them, effectively releasing the majority of the value of your invoices, into working capital, immediately.
In addition, many companies find that factors are better at collecting money, and can speed up their debt turn as they tend to employ highly skilled, professional credit control staff that know every trick in the book, and how to overcome payment excuses.
Myth 3 - Factoring Is Expensive
It doesn't have to be. Factoring prices start from a single fee of £3,000 + VAT per annum to fund against all your invoices, or you could just select invoices that you want funded and pay just for those, without any obligation to fund more invoices. Typically that costs about 2% for every month that you require funding.
However, our research has revealed that there are dramatic differences between the cheapest and most expensive factoring quotes. We found a 165% swing between the cheapest and most expensive in a recent mystery shopper exercise. This means that you could end up paying 2.7 times more than you needed to, if you pick the wrong factoring company.
Myth 4 - You Will Be Tied Into A Contract
Not necessarily. If you don't want to factor all you invoices, then you can use what is called selective, or spot factoring, which typically does not have any contractual lock ins. You just pick which invoices you want finance against and submit those, with no obligation to keep using it.
Even if you want all your invoices funded, many factors now offer short notice of termination periods and not all will place a minimum turnover requirement on your business.
Conclusions & Further Help
Hopefully that has layed to rest a few of the many misconceptions that we have come across.
If you would like any further help finding a suitable factoring company please contact us or call Sean on 03330 113622.
Source: East Sussex & Kent Recruitment Finance Survey (100 Respondents) - June 2016 & Factoring Prices Mystery Shopper Study January 2017


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Read and add comments(members) to the latest news about anesthesia and the AA profession
Integrating AAs into Your Practice
Wednesday, February 05, 2014 17:38
INTEGRATING ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANTS INTO YOUR PRACTICE (1).pdf
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The Current Challenge of AA Education: Increasing the Supply to Meet a Growing Demand
Wednesday, June 12, 2013 22:07
ASA News.pdf
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AAAA bylaws vote
Sunday, May 19, 2013 19:54
Daphne Tolentino
The AAAA has notified all members of the voting period for the revision of the Bylaws. According to the Bylaws, proposed revisions and additions must be voted on by the general membership and pass with a vote of two-thirds majority. To all DCAAA members and AAAA members, it is highly encouraged to participate in this voting process, as this new online voting policy allows all members to contribute their opinion to the AAAA.
Please go to www.anesthetist.org and vote under the "Members Only Section." Paper ballots are available by request. The viewing period will be set from May 13th, 2013 to June 11th, 2013. Questions will be answered by the Bylaws and Ethics Committee, and all comments and questions must be posted by June 11th, 2013. On June 12th, 2013 voting will be open to all eligible members until June 25th, 2013.
It is encouraged that all DCAAA members participate in this voting process as it is your right to voice your opinion on the matter and submit your vote. Representation from DCAAA members is imperative as we should all support the survival of our profession.
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Proposed Bylaws Changes for Approval AAAA
Thursday, February 07, 2013 15:18
Beginning Feb 11th through Feb 24th, AAAA members will be able to vote on the proposed bylaws changes that will allow for a state society to start charters after approval of members that are either
residing and/or practicing
in that state. This new change pertains to us practicing in the DMV area.
Please go online and vote
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Online Payments
Saturday, August 04, 2012 18:46
Online payments through Paypal can now be made on the DCAAA website
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Should you swab the stopper of a BRAND NEW PROPOFOL VIAL?
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 21:30
According to the package inserts for both propofol and Diprivan, strict aseptic techniques should be used in preparing and administrating the agents. The agents and vials should be disinfected with 70% isopropyl alcohol prior to administration. Do you swab the propofol vial before use?
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Is the condensation on Propofol vials safe?
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 21:20
Yes, according to APP Pharmaceuticals the condensation occurs secondary to the auto-sterilization process and poses no risk to patients.
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Administration team
Ready to answer your questions, process your orders and put you in contact with the right people.
With many years' experience our admin team are friendly, approachable and trusted to deal with your queries reliably.
Donna Raglan
Client Relationship Manager
Donna is your first point of contact at Mining Searches UK.
She started her career as a hotel receptionist and duty manager, as well as working in the banking and estate agent sectors.
Prior to Mining Searches UK, Donna worked for an international postcard and souvenir company managing the bespoke products department for 10 years.
Qualifications: RSA Stages 1, 2 & 3 Distinctions in Word Processing & Audio Typewriting
Fun fact: Donna was Miss Ice Cream 1985 and she has a polar bear called Harry.
Jane Easton
Finance Manager
Jane started her career in the financial sector in 1993. She started working in accountancy practice as an auditor, moving into the commercial sector some 10 years later.
Prior to Mining Searches UK, Jane worked for a large manufacturing company as their financial administrator for 10 years.
Qualifications: Fellow Member of the Association of Accounting Technicians.
Fun fact: Jane has a keen interest in Cornish History, and is the Honorary Treasurer of the West of England Steam Engine Society.
Carey Turner
Operations Manager
Carey has spent most of her adult life living in Vancouver, Canada and working for one of the country's biggest banks as an Account Manager.
Prior to that Carey worked in various, financial sales and administrative roles. She completed an apprenticeship in accountancy, worked as a hotel receptionist, a retentions advisor and also assisted with the marketing and administration of a mobile phone app.
Qualifications: Association of Accounting Technicians Level 3, CLAIT, Investment Funds in Canada, Personal Financial Services Advice.
Georgia Higgins
Business Administration Apprentice
Completed her level 2 business administration NVQ, and when the opportunity arose at Mining Searches UK to complete her level 3 NVQ she was keen to start.
Qualifications: Level 2 Business admin NVQ
Fun fact: Loves exploring Cornwall
Mining Searches UK is the trading name of Cornwall Mining Services Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales with registration number 01381067 and with registered offices at c/o Ascential Group Limited, The Prow, 1 Wilder Walk, London W1B 2AP.


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MORE: FA tracker: position players | FA tracker: pitchers
It's the heart of the heart of the offseason, and the discretionary income is flying around with seemingly little … discretion. And so comes an annual refrain that's perhaps a bit louder this time around, what with the Yankees' return to spendthrift status. Yes, baseball, some observers tell us, still needs a salary cap.
First, the reality is that MLB is never going to have a salary cap because the MLBPA, unlike, say, the NFLPA, is an actual functioning union and not a curtseying valet to ownership. Second, the current run of unprecedented labor peace in MLB is largely because of the fact that owners have finally realized they're never going to get the hard cap they once pursued with a self-immolating sense of mission.
Beyond all of that, though, is this: Baseball absolutely does not need a salary cap. This can be said for a number of reasons.
Most notably, the putative purpose of a salary cap is to improve or maintain competitive balance. This is the call-to-action that team owners across leagues parrot ad nauseam. They do so because the argument appeals to our innate sense of fairness -- this is a cooperative arrangement, after all, and not a sector in which one firm seeks to put the others out of business. They also do it because fans and observers too often buy into their arguments without evidence. That's a good thing for owners because the evidence doesn't back them up.
The only thing hard salary caps do with any certainty is increase the profits of ownership by tamping down labor costs, which -- spoiler alert -- is precisely why owners agitate for those caps. It has nothing to do with improving competitive balance in large part because caps don't, you know, improve competitive balance (see: reams of evidence).
Underlying all this is a premise worthy of full-throated denial. That is, MLB doesn't have a competitive balance problem in any sense of phrase. These data, current as of 2011 and covering the prior 10 years, come courtesy of Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Hard cap on payroll, franchise tag for roster stability
Champions (7): Patriots (3), Steelers (2), Buccaneers, Giants, Saints, Colts, Packers
Super Bowl teams (14): Seven champs plus Bears, Raiders, Cardinals, Panthers, Eagles, Rams, Seahawks
Non-playoff teams (3): Bills, Lions, Texans
No salary cap, only luxury tax on high payrolls
Champions (9): Red Sox (2), Giants, Yankees, Phillies, Cardinals, White Sox, Marlins, Angels, Diamondbacks
World Series teams (14): Nine champs plus Astros, Rangers, Rays, Rockies, Tigers
Non-playoff teams (5): Nationals/Expos, Royals, Pirates, Blue Jays, Orioles
Hard cap on individual salaries, soft cap on payroll, exceptions allowed, luxury tax on teams over payroll cap
Champions (5): Lakers (4), Spurs (3), Celtics, Heat, Pistons
Finals teams (10): Five champs plus Mavericks, 76ers, Nets, Magic, Cavaliers.
Non-playoff teams (0): Knicks and Timberwolves have longest droughts, since 2004
As you can see, MLB by these measures has enjoyed more parity than the capped NBA and roughly equal parity to the capped NFL.
What about competitive balance as gauged by, say, the spread between best and worst winning percentages in a particular league in a particular year? Do salary caps make a difference on that front? Here are Evan S. Totty and Mark F. Owens writing in the Journal for Economic Educators:
We find no evidence in our data to suggest that salary caps have helped competitive balance, measured as the variation in wins between the best and worst teams in a league in a given year, in professional sports. Further, there is some indication that the introduction of the salary cap in the NBA is associated with a significant decrease in competitive balance.
Once more, with feeling: Salary caps do not improve competitive balance, no matter what our stern and fatherly sports commissioners tell our credulous press.
To the extent that there are any meaningful differences in parity in MLB and the NFL (which is occasionally the case over carefully tailored spans of time), they're owing not to the salary cap or lack thereof. Rather, those differences are a function of the fact that the NFL plays 10 percent of MLB's schedule (the vastly smaller sample size lends itself to more fluke-ish outcomes), generally allows a full week between games for scouting and game-planning, has a one-and-done playoff format, features more equitably shared local revenues and for years rigged the schedule to benefit weaker teams. There are apples-to-oranges comparisons, and then there are apples-to-carburetors comparisons. This is an instance of the latter.
To pre-empt another populist argument in favor of salary caps, no, increased player salaries don't lead to increased ticket prices. There's no meaningful relationship between the two, as study upon study has proved. Ticket prices are determined by consumer demand. If teams could raise prices every time they needed to pad their revenues, then let's just say the cost of game tickets would be a lot higher. Ticket prices increase when there's a willingness -- or perceived willingness -- on the part of fans to pay more for them.
Beyond all that, accounting estimates credibly suggest that MLB is wildly profitable at the league level and in terms of individual franchises. Owners already enjoy the luxury tax on major-league payrolls and hard slotting in the draft. Thanks to the structural checks in the collective bargaining agreement, they also get to retain their players for six full major-league seasons at below-market rates if they choose to do so.
Once they hit the market, those players make a lot of money because the market has decided that's what they're worth. Just as the deep-coffered Yankees set the market for Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury, so did the otherwise miserly Twins set the market for Phil Hughes and Ricky Nolasco. Even if we did cap salaries, talent that cares about such things will still generally flow in the direction of the large media markets because that's where the off-the-field business opportunities are concentrated (local endorsements and whatnot).
You see, the only reason to support a salary cap in MLB is if, for reasons sufficient unto yourself, you think ballplayers should be paid below market rates and want to see owners further enriched. Otherwise, salary caps don't do anything else.
Oh, and there's also this …
Remember this day next time you hear MLB needs a salary cap. Nothing like today happens in a sport with a cap.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) December 4, 2013
He's talking about this day of glorious transactional madness, and most observers of the sport don't want to fritter away that kind of offseason intrigue for no good reason.
Come to think of it, maybe that's the best reason of all.


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# of watchers: 29
|Wiki-page rating
For Male Model Entries ONLY.
For Female Model Entries ONLY.
2010-08-04 [Akayume]: Yay! :D :D :D
2010-08-04 [Skydancer]: That would be lovely, the cupid thing just does not work well for me. :D
2010-08-05 [Cillamoon]: Hey no worries, now it's just about me finding the time to update everything and get it going again....not to mention advertising X_X
2010-08-05 [Akayume]: Yay! :D... This gives me an excuse to get a new swimsuit. X3
2010-08-11 [Cillamoon]: New theme and deadline announced today!
2011-06-02 [Cillamoon]: Winners announced. I truly apologize for the horribly long wait. :(
2011-06-02 [Skydancer]: Aw,well thanks though I would have much enjoyed seeing many other entries.
2011-06-02 [Cillamoon]: As would I, but here's hoping the next round shall be better.
2011-06-03 [Skydancer]: hmmm now I have to figure out how to interpret this new theme. :)
2011-06-03 [moira hawthorne]: Im not sure how to interruptive the levels...
Basic Level: Innocently Happy
Moderate Level: Clean Cut
High Level: 1920's Vogue
are we suppose to grade our skill level as a artist/photogr
2011-06-03 [Cillamoon]: I wouldn't say you have to grade your skill level, rather just there are three options for you to choose from to enter. We wanted to give contestants more of a choice of what they would like to do, broaden horizons a bit.
2011-06-03 [moira hawthorne]: but you are saying that Innocently Happy isnt as difficult a theme to express as Clean Cut which in turn isnt as difficult a theme to express as 1920's Vogue???
2011-06-03 [Skydancer]: I can see innocently happy, just a nude playing in a field, Clean cut is a little harder for me to figure out.... maybe taking a bath?? certainly a more difficult image to set up. the 20's vogue has me stumped though... chuckle... for now.
2011-06-03 [Nioniel]: @Moira; yes, it's supposed to get progressively harder. That way
a) people who don't have access to certain things that would fit a more difficult theme and still compete and
b) people who want more of a challenge will have to work a little bit to come up with something to fit the theme. :)
It's very much like the Keyword Photography Competition. :)
2011-06-03 [Cillamoon]: @Sky: I agree on innocently happy. Clean cut I would do a woman in the state of undressing from a stylish tuxedo possibly. Like Victor Victoria a bit.
2011-06-03 [Skydancer]: ah, so quite a bit of set up for the second level then... Might have to build a speakeasy for the third level. :D
2011-10-05 [Mortified Penguin]: This wiki isn't about Newton's head...
2011-10-05 [Cillamoon]: Lol!
2011-10-24 [Cillamoon]: For all you watchers out there, this round of the contest will be closing next week so please get your submissions in while you can, thank you!
|Show these comments on your site


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Something for anyone that fancies themselves as a mod DJ – the My Generation DJ t-shirt.
It's made by DJ firm DMC and is in "denim blue", with red, white and blue target, along with red turntable arm.
The shirt is made from 100 per cent cotton, is one size only (you might want to check what size) and is available from Hard To Find Records now for £15.95.


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Thursday, January 21, 2010
Happy Anniversary to Us!
18 comments:
Congratulation on your wedding anniversary. Bring out your cake topper, and enjoy the memories. Very few can say they made it 21 years! Hope you make it to 25th! We will be celebrating 35th in June, and everyone gave us a month!ReplyDelete
Happy Anniversary !ReplyDelete
I was just thinking about this a couple of days ago. Happy Anniversary. Have a great day.ReplyDelete
Happy Anniversary! Enjoy your day.ReplyDelete
Hope you have a wonderful anniversary! Your cake topper is adorable, too bad you couldn't find a special place to sneak it in with your prims. Have a great day, DawnReplyDelete
May you have many more wonderful years together! :)
(My cake topper and veil are in a box in the garage! haha!)
Congrats Ann on a wonderful accomplishment. I hope you and your hubby have a wonderful anniversary. Enjoy your day.ReplyDelete
Happy Anniversary, Ann!!ReplyDelete
Have a beautiful day ;)
Congrats! My topper and candle were Precious Moments (remember them) Have a great one, KimReplyDelete
Happy Anniversary!ReplyDelete
I hope you have a wonderful day planned.
Happy Anniversay!!! we had 2 weddings..one on christmas eve 1985 by the jp..and another January 18th 1986..the church wedding for the family...I didn't have the white dress or the candle..(didn't know about the candle thing) but we had a great time and the shower came after the wedding..because we surprised everyone by eloping...and I was 21-1/2..my birthday was in May..so really close to 22..my cake topper is on a shelf in my shabby chic bedroom...and so is my bouquet..it matches the colors in there..:) hope you had a wonderful day..you look so cute..:)ReplyDelete
Happy Anniversary to you both!I think that is where most everyone's wedding apparel that was married then has ended up; in a closet in a box. Hope that you have a wonderful day & through all the basketball, there is some time for the 2 of you.ReplyDelete
Happy Anniversary! I missed getting married in the 80's - I didn't get married until 1991, so no unity candle for me. Almost everyone else's weddings had them, though. I still have my dress that's stored in an airtight box in the closet. Maybe my daughter will be able to use it one day. But, she will have to get rid of the big, puffy short sleeves - remember those? :)ReplyDelete
How wonderful, Ann.ReplyDelete
Happy Anniversary!!!
Here's to the next 21!! And the next 21 after that!!! And the next...!!
Hope you two have an amazing day.
Congrats! That is beautiful! I just realized my first wedding was 21 years ago! wow! but we were only married 3 years. I congrats and admire you and your hubby for your longevity and togetherness!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 21, 2010 at 10:03 PM
Happy Aniversary!! I got married in 1979 and we had the unity candle with our invitation on it also. It is in a box in our storage room with the candle topper...and my dress and veil are in a box in the closet.
Have a great day.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, ANN!!ReplyDelete


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Junima Shakya
Nepal Sponsorship Manager
June 19, 2014
After a two-and-a-half-hour drive from our regional office in Biratnagar, we reached our destination Saptari. Saptari is an eastern Terai district of Nepal where Save the Children will soon launch its Sponsorship program. The first stop in Saptari was our new partner organization's office. We all then headed to Launiya, a village in Saptari.
We reached the only school, and a primary school at that, in Launiya village. Due to lack of classrooms, pre-k and grade one students share the same classroom. During our conversation with one of the pre-k facilitators, Usha Kumari Mandal, we found out that she received a formal training on early education many years back, but has not been updated about the standard methods of teaching. She expressed her concern over the sharing of the classrooms and added, "It is difficult to care for children…plus, it becomes chaotic when two teachers try to teach their lessons simultaneously to these two groups in the same classroom."
Anticipating similar challenges, we moved to our second destination, Ko Madhyapura. We witnessed the same problems. Lack of room required children from different grades to share a single classroom. The classrooms were in deplorable conditions. Students in one of the classrooms actually shared space with a pile of bricks. We noticed that the school had a majority of female students, only 26 out of 155 registered students were malw. When inquired, one of the teachers informed us that while parents sent their daughters to government schools, they sent their sons to private schools for better education opportunities.
We could not help but notice that almost half of the registered students remained absent in the school. We saw some children accompanying their parents in the household chores or some leisurely spending their time playing in the pond near the school. Very few parents in this community realize the importance of education in their children's lives and when parents go out to work, they keep their eldest child in charge of the house and their siblings. The head teacher of the school suggests that these problems can partly be overcome by providing training on active teaching and learning methods for teachers. He further adds, "The regularity of students can be improved by maintaining a sound teaching and learning environment… we should also focus on creating and managing proper classrooms for students."
The challenges in this community are many. Ultra-poverty, lack of awareness, different priorities concerning one's immediate survival, and decades of oppression by the so-called elite groups are some of the major causes preventing this community from living a prosperous life. The younger generation needs a little lift to fulfill their dreams and hopes of better lives.
We are glad that our Sponsorship program will soon be there for that!
Interested in joining our community of sponsors? Click here to learn more.