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United States Coast Guard Band
|U.S. Coast Guard Band
The U.S. Coast Guard Band pictured in 2009.
|1925 to Present
|United States
|U.S. Coast Guard
|military band
|public duties
|Part of
|USCG Office of Public Affairs
|New London, Connecticut
|Coast Guard Blue
Coast Guard Unit Commendation
|LCDR Adam Williamson[1]
|Assistant Director
|CWO Richard E. Wyman[1]
|Drum Major
|MUCM Jonathan Towne [1]
|Conductor Laureate
|CAPT Lewis J. Buckley (ret.)[1]
|Service Identification Badge
The United States Coast Guard Band is a military band maintained by the United States Coast Guard. Established in 1925 and classified as a "premier ensemble", the Coast Guard Band is stationed at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut and is responsible for providing musical support to the Coast Guard Academy's corps of cadets, as well as other official Coast Guard events and ceremonies. During the summer months it undertakes national and international tours to promote the Coast Guard.
As of 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard Band is the Coast Guard's only professional musical ensemble (a second branch band, the U.S. Coast Guard Pipe Band, is an auxiliary-staffed organization).
Founding and early years
In March 1925, the Coast Guard Band was organized with the assistance of Lt. Charles Benter, leader of the U.S. Navy Band, Dr. Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Philharmonic, and John Philip Sousa, former director of the U.S. Marine Band.[2] At the time of its establishment, it was primarily as a ceremonial unit responsible for supporting cadet activities at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where it was stationed.[3] In 1931 the Coast Guard Band was the principal military band for two of the days of the week-long observances of the sesquicentennial of the British surrender at Yorktown: October 17, thematically designated "Revolution Day", and October 18, designated "Religion Day".[4]
World War II
An influx of new personnel into the Coast Guard during World War II stretched the band's capabilities and, for the first time, additional bands were raised by the Coast Guard to support stateside ceremonial and training requirements of the expanding force. In May 1943 an all-women's band, the Coast Guard SPAR Band, was activated at the Palm Beach SPAR Training Station. The Palm Beach SPAR Band, which had a strength of 35 personnel, was transferred to Washington, DC in 1945. While there it performed in the triumphal parade held for Admiral Chester Nimitz and participated in the mourning ceremonies for President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt, assigned to perform dirges at Union Station for the arrival of the funeral train carrying the president's body. The SPAR Band was deactivated in 1946.[5][6]
In addition to the Coast Guard SPAR Band, bands were activated in many Coast Guard districts for the duration of hostilities. The 11th District Band enlisted Rudy Vallée as its bandmaster (during World War I Vallee had served in the U.S. Navy for three months before being expelled after it was discovered he was 15 years old). Like the SPAR Band, the district bands were phased out after the end of the war, the Coast Guard Band returning to its status as the service's sole musical unit.[7][8]
In 1965 the Coast Guard Band was chartered by Congress as the official band of the entire service and was given parity with other U.S. military "premier ensembles".[3] In 1976, and again in 1981, the Coast Guard proposed moving the band to Washington, D.C. Petition drives by citizens of Connecticut prevented the moves.[9]
Lewis J. Buckley assumed command of the Coast Guard Band in 1975 as the group's fifth director. Leading the band for 29 years, until 2004, Buckley retired as the longest-serving conductor of a major military service band in American history.[10]
Modern era
In 1989 the Coast Guard Band became the first U.S. military band to perform in the Soviet Union and, in 2016 the Coast Guard Band performed at the debut of "The Finest Hours" at Mann's Chinese Theater, the first time the band had performed at the debut of major motion picture.[2][11]
In late 2015 the Coast Guard began another study about the feasibility of relocating the band from its traditional station in New London, Connecticut to Washington, DC. The proposal to relocate the band has been opposed by United States Senator Richard Blumenthal.[12]
Almost all personnel of the Coast Guard Band are assigned to the ceremonial and concert bands, the group's primary performance units. The band, however, maintains several chamber music groups to provide specialized performance capabilities to which some personnel are co-assigned. This includes a woodwind quintet, a brass quintet, and a jazz band.[13]
According to the Coast Guard, competition for its limited vacancies is fierce, and many new Coast Guardsmen enlisting as musicians are conservatory-trained with degrees from elite institutions including the Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, and the New England Conservatory.[14] A number of its members also perform with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony, and the New Haven Symphony.[9]
Operationally located at Leamy Hall at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the band has billets for 54 instrumentalists and command staff, and one vocalist. Its vocalist billet has traditionally been filled by a female singer.[1][9][15]
Uniforms and equipment
In addition to regular Coast Guard uniforms, the Coast Guard Band is authorized wear of special ceremonial dress consisting of navy blouses with banded collars and shoulder boards, and a multi-colored aiguillette. A second distinctive uniform, the "concert ceremonial dress uniform," is patterned in white with blue highlights such as shoulder boards and cuffs.[16]
See also
- United States military bands
- U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard
- U.S. Coast Guard Pipe Band
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Personnel". uscg.mil. U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- 1 2 "Our History". uscg.mil. U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- 1 2 "Coast Guard Band Will Be Featured Here on Tuesday". Ludington Daily News. 31 July 1981. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- ↑ Manley, Kathleen (2005). A History of Yorktown and Its Victory Celebrations: Revival to Patriotism. The History Press. pp. 51–55. ISBN 1596290781.
- ↑ Sullivan, Jill (April 2009). "A History of the United States Coast Guard SPAR Band". Journal of Historical Research in Music Education. 30 (2): 118–146. JSTOR 40215357.
- ↑ Sullivan, Jill (2011). Bands of Sisters: U.S. Women's Military Bands during World War II. Scarecrow Press. pp. 77–80. ISBN 0810881632.
- ↑ Ostrom, Thomas (2009). The United States Coast Guard in World War II. McFarland. pp. 160–172. ISBN 0786453710.
- ↑ "Rudy Vallee Joins Cal Coast Guard". Lewiston Daily Sun. 18 August 1942. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Relocation of Coast Guard Band Out of New London Still Under Review". military.com. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- ↑ "Directors". uscg.mil. U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- ↑ "Coast Guard Band Goes Hollywood". WBUR-FM. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- ↑ Hardman, Ray (5 November 2015). "U.S. Coast Guard Might Move Its Band From New London to Washington, D.C.". WNPR-FM. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- ↑ "Chamber Players Recital Series". uscg.mil. U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- ↑ "Careers". U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ "Petty Officer 1st Class Lisa Williamson, a musician with the Coast Guard Band...". dvidshub.net. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- ↑ Uniform Regulations M1020.6H. U.S. Coast Guard. April 2013.
External links
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States Coast Guard Band.


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African American DNA Research Forum
Re: Testing on Your Own
In Response To: Re: Testing on Your Own ()
Sherry, I simply entered your numbers into the table - if you'd like me to email the speadsheet to you with your numbers entered I can do that. I didn't notice a way that I could attach the spreadsheet through this forum so, if you want to send me an email, I'll just reply with the attached file.
Messages In This Thread

subset: commoncrawl


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WASHINGTON (TFC) — Recently Boeing, the world's leading commercial aircraft maker, a corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, helicopters, rockets, and satellites was awarded a 3.2 billion dollar contract from the U.S. Army to sell AH-64 Apache helicopters to Saudi Arabia according to the Defense Department. Boeing along with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and several other aeronautic defense firms regularly compete for large government contracts.
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The U.S. Army is helping to oversee the development of a rotary unit for SANG, including 42 Army aviators working to train and assist in modernization efforts, and there looks to be more purchases planned for the future. There is no wonder with all the money flowing in why the United States government turns a blind eye to Saudi Arabia's documented war crimes and human rights violations.
"We are training everything across the board," from maintainers to refuelers to firefighters, not just pilots, said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, the Saudi Arabian National Guard modernization program manager.
The unit cost for a new Apache helicopter is $35.5 million — based on fiscal 2014 numbers — and $21.5 million for a unit rebuild, according to the Department of Defense fiscal 2016 budget request. Under the deal, Boeing will modernize 244 Apaches for the U.S. Army and 24 new helicopters will go to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In addition to the U.S. Army and Saudi Arabia, the AH-64 Apache multi-role combat helicopter is flown by Egypt, Greece, Israel, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.


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HOA House Foreclosures
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HOA Condominium Foreclosures
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Pages xxxvii-xlv
An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Volume 4, South east. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1923.
This free content was digitised by double rekeying and sponsored by English Heritage. All rights reserved.
In this section
Sectional Preface.
(i) Earthworks, Etc., Pre-historic and Later.
The earthworks of interest in the S.E. quarter of Essex are few and most of them are in a fragmentary condition.
There are three 'camps,' at Asheldham, Danbury and Prittlewell respectively, all in a poor state of preservation. At Bradwell-juxta-Mare slight undulations in the ground near St. Peter's Chapel mark the site of the foundations of the N. and W. walls of the Roman Station.
The church at South Benfleet stands on the probable site of the camp built by Hasten, c. 894, and near the Artillery Barracks at South Shoebury are slight remains of a work which has been ascribed to the same period.
There are entrenchments near West Tilbury church consisting of a rampart and internal ditch, probably on the site of an earlier work, and at East Tilbury are earthworks apparently not of a defensive nature and locally known as "Soldiers' Graves."
A large moated mound of low elevation near Purleigh church is not shown on the Ordnance maps. Rayleigh Castle (Plan p. 123), probably built by Suene, the son of Robert Fitz Wimarc, is a good example of the mount and bailey type of earthwork, but the masonry of the castle has long since been removed. The ring and bailey at Orsett is shown on the O.S. maps as "the site of Bishop Bonner's Palace," and retains traces of foundations along the edge of the ' ring.' At Hadleigh the castle built by Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent in the reign of Henry III, was much altered and largely re-built by Edward III, and has practically no defensive earthworks.
About eighty homestead moats have been located. The best are at Mucking Hall (Barling), Moat House (Basildon), Bowers Hall (Bowers Gifford), Scotts' Hall (Canewdon), Barn Hall (Downham), Laindon Ponds (Laindon), Bacon's Farm (Mountnessing), Chichester Hall (Rawreth), Chitham's Farm (Ramsden Bellhouse), Butler's Farm (Shopland), the Hall (S. Ockendon), and a double moat at Edwin's Hall (Woodham Ferrers).
Unclassified earthworks include a large number of pits in Hangman's Wood, Little Thurrock. They are known locally as Dene-holes, and consist of shafts sunk to a depth of from 50 to 100 feet down to the chalk, and, in most cases, enlarged at the bottom into several chambers. Similar pits have been found near Bexley, in Kent, and elsewhere, and they are generally considered to be disused chalk mines. An ancient track on the Maplin Sands, known as the Broomway, is also of interest. Starting in Great Wakering parish it runs parallel to and about half a mile from the coast, past Havengore to a point on Foulness Island known as Fisherman's Head. Several branch roads leave the main track for points on the shore. The track is submerged for about twelve hours of the day. Other unclassified earthworks are Plumberow Mount (Hockley parish), opened in 1914 and assigned to the Romano-British period; two mounds and some banks in Norsey Wood (Great Burstead); a number of large mounds of irregular shape situated close to the River Crouch (opened and described as being connected with mediaeval salt workings) and some Red Hills, the latter being low mounds of burnt earth which are found generally along the line of the old high-water mark or at the sides of creeks.
(ii) Roman Remains.
South-east Essex contains one Roman monument of importance. The remains of the Roman fort (Plan p. 14) at Bradwell-juxta-Mare, destroyed by erosion on the seaward side and largely destroyed or buried on the landward, are yet sufficient to show that it may be included amongst the forts built on the southern and eastern coasts at various times between the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 5th centuries. All or most of the coins found in the fort during the excavations of 1864 fall within this period, and there is no sufficient evidence of any earlier settlement on the site. Whether we may go further and accept the specious identification of the fort with the Othona of the Notitia Dignitatum is less certain. The Saxon chapel which lies across the west wall is satisfactorily identified with Cedd's foundation at "Ythancaestir," stated by Beda (Hist. Eccl., III, Ch. XXII) to have been in the province of the East Angles and on the banks of the Pante—a name still retained for the upper reaches of the Blackwater. The derivation, however, of Ythan from Othona presents difficulties, and is not accepted by Mr. W. H. Stevenson. The variant "Othana" given by the Vienna MS. may be disregarded, and, in any case, does not solve the problem; but the evidence, both as to the Roman and the Saxon forms of the name, is too limited to form an adequate basis for conjecture. The difficulty is not reduced by the fact that Walton Castle, a fort of similar type, which stood until the eighteenth century on the shore near Felixstowe, has not been fitted into the list of the Notitia, and must at present remain a possible claimant to the name.
The other Roman remains in this region, though individually of little importance, have a definite historical value. Houses of Roman type are apparently absent, and the occurrence of Roman bricks, and possibly of Roman masonry in mediaeval structures, such as the parish church of South Benfleet or the destroyed Rayleigh Castle, may perhaps be attributed to the later plundering of the numerous 'villas' on or near the Kentish shore of the Thames. The population on the Essex side seems to have consisted of natives who were content with their traditional round huts of timber or turves, such as those which a happy chance has preserved in the Thames mud at East Tilbury. Similar huts have been preserved but ill-recorded on the Kentish flats; and it may be assumed that the potters whose kilns have been found at South Shoebury, Buttsbury and Great Burstead lived in dwellings of equally primitive and evanescent type. The area is rich in pottery of the latest pre-Roman period, and it is evident that the local craft survived the Roman conquest until the close of the first century, if not later. Its products—the so-called 'Upchurch' and other wares—retained native characteristics but showed increasing Roman influence, and the occurrence of a Romano-Celtic cordoned urn with pottery apparently of 3rd-century date in an oven recently found at Chadwell represents an exceptionally late survival of a distinctively native type.
The endurance of native traditions is further exemplified by the moundburial, apparently of early 2nd-century date, found many years ago in the parish of Foulness. This burial should probably be included with the betterknown series already referred to in Volumes I and III of the present Inventory. Incineration-burials of more normal type have been noted at West Tilbury, opposite Low Street Manor House in Mucking Marsh (Arch. Journ., XLII, 276–7; XXIX, 187), Great Burstead, Grays Thurrock, where Roman burials are said to have been found in a denehole (V.C.H., Essex, I, 309–11; cf. Illus. Lond. News, 1857, II, 267; Arch. Journ., XXVI, 192), and possibly at Canewdon; whilst inhumation burials have been discovered at South Shoebury in the immediate neighbourhood of Roman remains.
To what extent, if any, the dykes which drain and protect the marshes bordering upon the Thames may be ascribed to a period as early as that of the Roman occupation is quite uncertain. The submergence of the Bradwell fort and the East Tilbury huts, and analogous evidence elsewhere round the Essex coast, show that the land-level was higher there in Roman times; but it is not impossible that such settlements, with others in the neighbourhood of London (see Surrey Arch. Collections, XXVIII, p. 111) were to some extent protected by dykes similar to those which have yielded a Roman centurial stone on the flats of Monmouthshire.
Apart from the arterial road from London to Colchester (see Volume II), no road certainly of Roman origin has been identified in south-east Essex. The lack of any well-defined approach to Bradwell suggests that the fort may throughout its history have been supplied principally by sea; and in the remainder of this region absence of roads is the natural corollary of the absence of Roman structural remains.
(iii) Ecclesiastical and Secular Architecture.
Building Materials: Stone, Flint, Brick, Etc.
The general characteristics of building in the S.E. district follow very closely the local Essex types, and there is little variation in the methods and material employed. In ecclesiastical work, proximity to the Thames Estuary and consequent freedom of communication with Kent and the Medway are reflected by the much freer use of Kentish ragstone, which is very largely employed for rubble-walling in place of the flint-work of the northern and central parts of the county. Reuse of Roman material is comparatively infrequent and very little septaria and pudding-stone is apparent. None of the brickwork is of earlier date than the 15th century, except for the unusual glazed bricks in Purleigh church. Secular building, when not of timber, is almost invariably of brick, except for some rubble-work used in the core of the walls of Rochford Hall, and the walls of certain dissolved religious houses such as Prittlewell and Thoby Priories, adapted as dwelling-houses.
Ecclesiastical Buildings.
The churches of S.E. Essex do not include any buildings of the first class, but though most of them are of small size they are by no means lacking in architectural interest. Chronologically all the mediaeval periods are sufficiently represented, but the examples of the 14th century are generally undistinguished.
In the chapel (Plate p. 17) of St. Peter-on-the-Wall (Bradwell-juxta-Mare), Essex possesses a pre-Conquest building of the highest interest. It may be identified, almost certainly, with the church built by St. Cedd at Ithancester c. 654, and the nave (Plate p. 16) of this date is still standing almost intact.
Part of the church of Great Stambridge may be definitely assigned to the late pre-Conquest period, and work of the same date is probably preserved in the churches at Corringham and Fobbing though the evidence is inconclusive.
Of late 11th and 12th-century churches the most complete are at Hadleigh (Plate p. 61), Rainham (Plate p. 115), Sutton and Chadwell. Good Romanesque detail survives at S. Ockendon (Plate p. 120), Sutton, S. Shoebury and E. Tilbury, and there is a good transitional doorway at Prittlewell Priory (Plate p. 121). The W. tower at Corringham (Plate p. 28) is an interesting late 11th-century structure, with blind arcading resembling that at Great Tey.
The proportion of 13th-century work is considerably larger in the S.E. than in the other parts of the county, but none of it is of marked distinction. The best examples occur at Stifford, Thundersley, Mountnessing, E. Tilbury and Horndon-on-the-Hill. There is a richly moulded S. doorway at Sutton (Plate p. 121) and the surviving arch (Plate p. 173) of Bicknacre Priory (Woodham Ferrers) is of this period.
Work of the 14th century is meagre in extent and comparatively poor in quality. The arcades (see Plates) at Danbury, Orsett, Purleigh and Stanford-leHope have fairly good detail, and Great Burstead and Rochford have window-tracery of some interest.
The 15th and early 16th centuries are best represented by a series of handsome W. towers (see Plates), of which those at Prittlewell, Hornchurch, Little Wakering, Canewdon and Barling are executed in stone, and those at Rochford, Downham, Sandon and Billericay in brick. Great Baddow, Sandon, E. Horndon and Burnham churches possess other good work of the period, the first three being mainly examples of brickwork.
Very little post-Reformation ecclesiastical work has survived, but parts of the towers of E. Horndon (Plate p. xxxviii) and W. Thurrock (Plate p. 167) and the porch at Great Baddow (Plate p. xxxviii) may be mentioned.
Turning to peculiarities of plan Hadleigh is the only church possessing an apse and S. Ockendon the only one with a round tower. The foundations of the round nave at W. Thurrock are no longer visible.
The belfries of Stock (Plate p. 156) W. Hanningfield, Ramsden Bellhouse (Plate pp. xxxviii–ix), Mundon and Bulphan are entirely of timber and the bell-turrets (Plate pp. xxxviii–ix) at Horndon-on-the-Hill, Mountnessing and Laindon rest on elaborate timber-construction within the walls of the nave. At Laindon there is also an interesting timber annexe (Plate pp. xxxviii–ix) at the W. end of the nave. At Nevendon there is structural evidence for an early nave of timber, subsequently replaced by the existing building.
The only roof of particular excellence is the handsome carved example over the S. porch at S. Benfleet (Plate p. 140). Other roofs of interest occur at Laindon (Plate p. 48) and Wickford.
The porches are mostly of timber, and of these the best are at S. Benfleet, Shopland, Stock, Mundon and Fobbing (see Plates). Stone or brick porches of interest exist at Southminster, Sandon, Rayleigh, Prittlewell and Great Wakering (Plate p. 60). The last named is W. of the tower and has a chamber above it. Stone or brick vaulting occurs only in the porches at Southminster (Plate p. 146) and Sandon, mentioned above.
Monastic and Collegiate Buildings.
The monastic houses of S.E. Essex were of little importance and have left only inconsiderable remains. Of two small Cluniac houses the Priory of Prittlewell retains parts of the Frater and western range, while at Stanesgate Priory (Steeple) the shell of the 12th and 14th-century nave of the church (Plate p. xxxiii) is still standing but threatens to fall in the near future. The Austin Canons possessed two small houses at Bicknacre (Woodham Ferrers) and Thoby (Mountnessing); the first is evidenced by one arch of the crossing only and the second by part of the S. wall of the church and some portions of the W. range (Plate p. 96). There are no remains, except the parish church, of the alien hospital or priory of Hornchurch.
Small 17th-century almshouses are scheduled under Rochford and Stock, and there are remains of late 16th-century work in the Pennant Almshouses at Hornchurch.
Secular Buildings.
The high proportion of pre-Reformation houses is maintained in S.E. Essex; the number scheduled is 75; but comparatively few are in any way remarkable, and only one (Bretts, Aveley) may possibly go back to the 14th century. The best examples of timber-framed building are Great Sir Hughes, Great Baddow (Plate p. 52); W. Hanningfield (9); Slough House, Danbury (Plate p. 32); and Upminster (4).
Of larger houses (see Plates) nearly all are built of brick. The remains of Rochford Hall, now partly ruinous, indicate a very extensive building of early 16th-century date. Belhus is a fairly large courtyard house of the same period. Creeksea Place, Little Warley Hall and Flemings, Runwell, are fragments of 16th-century houses of some distinction. Edwins Hall, Woodham Ferrers; Porters, Prittlewell (Plate p. 114); and Woodham Mortimer Hall are fair examples of the lesser houses of the 16th and 17th centuries. Of later work of the 17th century there are examples (see Plates) with features of interest at Fremnells, Downham; Ford Place, Stifford; and at Nelmes, Hornchurch. The Manor House, S. Shoebury, is a fair example of a dwelling of the period of Queen Anne. On Canvey Island are two early 17th-century octagonal houses (Plate pp. xl-i) of timber, built probably by the Dutch settlers.
Of military works there are extensive remains of the 14th-century curtain and towers of Hadleigh Castle (Plate pp. 64–5) and the late 17th-century gatehouse (Frontispiece) and other works at Tilbury Fort.
Altars.—The only mediaeval altar-slabs noted are those at Canewdon and Stock.
Bells.—Thirty-five bells are of pre-Reformation date. Of these six are of the 14th century, including one at Southchurch probably by Geoffrey of Edmonton, two at Rawreth by John of Hadham, and three (one at Bowers Gifford and two at Eastwood) by William Burford. There are also four bells of c. 1400 by Robert Burford.
Brasses (Plates pp. 25, etc.). — The district contains eight 14th-century brasses and of these the most interesting are the Flemish plate (Plate p. 160) to Ralph de Knevynton, 1370, at Aveley, and the fine but mutilated figure (Plate p. 56) at Bowers Gifford. Half-figures of two priests and a lady remain at Corringham, Stifford (Plate p. 160) and West Hanningfield respectively. There is also a mutilated armed figure (Plate p. 56) with remains of a canopy to Sir I. Bruyn, 1400, at South Ockendon, and a smaller armed figure of 1371 at Shopland.
Of later brasses the most important are the figures (Plate p. 78) with heraldic mantles and tabard at Ingrave (formerly at West Horndon). The earliest 16th-century brass at Althorne includes the figure of a nun in the group of daughters.
There are two interesting early 14th-century indents formerly with half-figures at Hornchurch and West Thurrock, and other indents of the same period at Stifford, Basildon, Southchurch, Corringham and elsewhere.
Ceilings and Plaster-work. — The finest plaster ceilings (Plates pp. 97, 153) in the district are those at Ford Place, Stifford, where one of the rooms has figures representing the four seasons, and at Orsett Hall. There is also an enriched ceiling at Beauchamps, Shopland, and the front of the same house has good pargeting dated 1688.
Chairs (Plate p. xlii).—Several churches possess 17th or early 18th-century chairs of more than usual richness. The best examples are at Aveley, Chadwell, Paglesham and Grays Thurrock.
Chests (Plate p. xliii).—The chests of the district include a 13th-century example at Wennington and another early example of similar type at Eastwood. There are 'dug-out' chests at Great Burstead, Mountnessing and Rayleigh, and massive iron-bound chests at South Ockendon, Rainham and West Hanningfield. The poor-box at Runwell is cut in the solid.
Consecration Crosses.—The only definite consecration crosses in position are at Rayleigh and Southminster. South Benfleet and Great Stambridge have crosses of brick on the buttresses of the towers.
Doors.—The most interesting door in the district is at Eastwood (Plate p. 45); it is elaborately enriched with ironwork of two distinct dates. A second door at Eastwood and another at Buttsbury have interesting ironwork of more ordinary character (Plate pp. 4–5). There are carved or traceried doors at Hornchurch and Prittlewell, and at Belhus, Aveley, is a richly carved early 16th-century screen with doors, not in situ and of foreign workmanship. The doors at Hatches Farm, Little Burstead, have fine carved panels of the same period.
Fireplaces (Plate p. 65).—The best stone fireplaces are at Orsett Hall; Porters, Prittlewell; South Ockendon (10); and Horndon-on-the-Hill (18); of these the first has. carved figures of Hope and Charity, the two next are of late 16th-century date and of semi-Gothic character; the fourth of somewhat coarse Renaissance design. There are wooden overmantels of interest at Belhus, Aveley; Stockwell Hall, Little Burstead; Horndon-on-the-Hill (18); Upminster (8); and Danbury (2), all of late 16th or 17th-century date.
Fonts (Plates pp. xlii-iii).—Of early fonts the best is the well-preserved round bowl with interlacing arcading at Eastwood; square 12th-century fonts with varied enrichment occur at Vange, East Horndon, Tillingham and Aveley, Of similar character, but of early 13th-century date, are the examples at Shopland, Laindon and North Benfleet. Fourteenth-century fonts with features of interest occur at Horndon-on-the-Hill and Bradwell-juxta-Mare, the latter carved with grotesque faces. The finest 15th-century font is at Althorne; it has a series of carved figures. There are other 15th or early 16th-century fonts of more ordinary type at Great Stambridge, Grays Thurrock, Mountnessing and Orsett.
Glass (Plates pp. xliv-v).—Ancient painted glass in the churches of south-east Essex is mainly represented by fragments of borders, quarries and tabernacle-work. At South Hanningfield (13th and 14th-century) and North Shoebury (both 14th-century) there are interesting examples of grisaille-foliage with borders in situ.
Of single figures, there are two complete, though restored, examples, probably SS. Helen and Mary Magdalene, at North Ockendon, under canopies. At Hornchurch there is a mutilated 15th-century Crucifixion and a tracery light with a figure of our Lord, both in grisaille.
Of subject panels there are some fine examples (16th and 17th-century) at Prittlewell, not native to the church but formerly part of the Neave Collection of old painted glass at Dagnam Park, Noak Hill.
Of heraldry there are a few good examples at Great Burstead, Woodham Ferrers and North Ockendon of the 14th century, and at Sandon and East Horndon of the 15th century, the last an especially good shield of the arms of Tyrrell impaling Marney. At Upminster is some interesting, though much mutilated, heraldry of the Lathom family.
The fine heraldic domestic glass with the arms of Fiennes and Barrett formerly at Belhus, Aveley, has recently been removed.
Monuments.—There are no monuments of outstanding interest in the district except the three oak effigies (Plate p. 29) in armour at Danbury, all of the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century. An interesting and unusual memorial is the wall-tablet with incised 14th-century inscription (Plate p. 48) at Fobbing. At East Horndon is a handsome incised slab (Plate p. 40) with figure and canopy, to Alice Tyrell, 1422. There is a fragment of a late 12th or early 13th-century carved head-stone or coffin-lid at North Shoebury, and a slab (Plate p. 25) with carved edges of late 12th-century date at Rettendon. Of late mediaeval monuments the only ones of interest are an altar-tomb at Hornchurch, the recessed and canopied tomb at Rayleigh, and an altar-tomb at Stanford-le-Hope, set in a 14th-century recess (Plate p. 105).
Most of the Renaissance monuments of interest date from early in the 17th century. They include tombs with recumbent figures (Plate p. 100) at North Ockendon, Little Warley, Orsett (Plate p. 105) and West Thurrock (Plate p. 172), and wall-monuments with kneeling figures at Woodham Ferrers (Plate p. 105), North Ockendon, South Ockendon and Hornchurch. At North Ockendon is a curious series erected by Gabriel Pointz to the memory of his ancestors, and the monument (Plate p. 141) at South Ockendon represents a Lord Mayor of London in robes of office. The monument (Plate p. 85) at Little Warley has a superstructure in the form of the draped canopy of a bed.
Paintings.—Ecclesiastical paintings on plaster are uncommon and mostly very badly preserved. There are remains of a 'Doom' at Woodham Ferrers, various subjects in panels at East Hanningfield (Plate p. 104), a figure of St. Thomas of Canterbury at Hadleigh, and a Nativity at Little Wakering. Domestic painted decoration is represented by the elaborate 17th-century scheme at West Hanningfield (2) and remains of a figure-subject at Belhus, Aveley.
Panelling.—Panels of foreign origin, enriched with carved heads, etc., are preserved at Porters, Prittlewell; Hatches Farm, Little Burstead; and Belhus, Aveley.
Piscinae (Plate p. xlv).—There are 12th-century pillar-piscinae at Sandon and Aveley, the former elaborately enriched. Of 13th-century piscinae examples are to be found at West Thurrock, Rettendon, Woodham Ferrers, etc. None of the later piscinae are particularly noteworthy, but there are 14th-century examples at Little Thurrock and Purleigh.
Plate (Plate p. xliv).—The stem of the cup at Mundon may be of pre-Reformation date, but the cup itself is of the 17th century. The district contains an unusually large number of Elizabethan cups, 39 in all; of these one is of 1561, eight of 1562, four of 1563, and six of 1564. None of the later plate is of great interest, but there is a good flagon of 1665 at Stifford.
Pulpits.—The only pre-Reformation pulpit is at Sandon (Plate p. 79), but there are good late 16th or early 17th-century examples (Plate p. 4) at Great Baddow, North Ockendon, Wennington, East Tilbury and Aveley; the first of these is richly ornamented and retains its sounding board. There is a late 17th-century pulpit with carved cherub-heads, etc., at Canewdon, and one of slightly later date at Purleigh.
Royal Arms.—There is a handsome painting of the Royal Stuart Arms (Plate p. 79) on plaster in the church of Laindon Hills. There are remains of another painted Royal Arms at East Tilbury.
Screens (Plate pp. 4–5).—Mediaeval screen-work is uncommon in the district; there is, however, an interesting 14th-century screen at Corringham, with turned shafts, and 14th or 15th-century examples at Bulphan and Stanford-leHope.
Seating (Plate p. 5).—There are good bench-ends with carved popey-heads at Rettendon and Danbury, the former with heraldic devices. The benches and ends at Great Burstead have traceried panelling.
Sedilia.—Sedilia, generally ranging with a piscina, occur at Tillingham, Rettendon (Plate p. xlv), Stanford-le-Hope, Orsett and Little Thurrock (Plate p. xlv); the first two are of the 13th and the remainder of the 14th century.
Staircases.—The finest staircase in the district is the handsome late 17th-century example at Nelmes, Hornchurch (Plate p. 71); the pierced carving is disposed in raking panels between the string and the rail. Seventeenth-century staircases of minor interest occur at Little Warley Hall, Eastwood (8), etc.
Miscellanea.—There are wrought iron hour-glass stands at South Ockendon, Wennington (Plate p. 104) and Stifford. At Great Burstead is a late 17th-century reredos (Plate p. 53) said to have been brought from a London church. Portions of two carved alabaster 'tables' are preserved at Barling (Plate p. 25).
Mediaeval Churches, etc.—Of the hundred churches included in the Inventory, fourteen have been entirely re-built, and two others except for small portions of old walling which have been incorporated in the new work; four others have been entirely re-built except for the tower; of the remaining eighty, three retain little old work beyond the tower, and the majority have been restored and in some cases partly re-built. Five are in fairly good condition, five poor and five bad. The church at East Hanningfield (Plate p. 33) is now a ruin, Hazeleigh, owing to its ruinous state, has been pulled down, and Laindon Hills is now only used occasionally and through neglect is rapidly becoming ruinous (Plate p. xxxiii). There are bad cracks in the tower at East Horndon, and Ashingdon is in a serious state through the shifting subsoil. The tower at Downham is badly cracked, and with those at South Shoebury and Stifford is threatened by the growth of ivy. With these exceptions the growth of ivy on the walls is only serious at Mucking.
The parishes of Havengore, Lee Chapel, Little Stambridge and West Horndon have no churches.
About seven per cent, of the secular buildings are in poor or bad condition; most of them, however, are small cottages. Great Sir Hughes, Great Baddow, is in a badly neglected state and Rochford Hall in a poor condition and partly in ruins. The more important houses, however, are generally in a good state of preservation, but, among others, Belhus, Aveley, has suffered in the hands of restorers. Hadleigh Castle is in ruins and the existing work is in some danger owing to the unstable condition of the subsoil.
The earthworks generally, including the camps at Asheldham, Danbury and Prittlewell, have suffered under the plough and are in a poor state of preservation; the site of the camp at South Shoebury has been largely built over by barracks. A notable exception is Rayleigh Castle, an exceptionally good and well-preserved example of the mount and bailey type.


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In Depth: The best ways to buy and read books on iPhone and iPad
How to buy books for iPhone and iPad
Your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch can let you video chat with someone on the other side of the world, identify and then tell you all about each pinprick of light in the night sky, and create astonishing works of art; and so we sometimes forget that you can use it to read books.
And that's a shame, because an iOS device is a wonderful thing to read on, whether you're snatching a few paragraphs of a trashy page-turner on the Tube (shhh; no-one has to know!), finally getting round to reading some classic Dickens or settling down with a sense of joyful anticipation to devour the latest novel by your favourite writer.
Here, we'll take you on a guided tour of the options you have for reading books on iOS, making sure you spend your money wisely, and helping you discover great places from which to stock your virtual shelves. We'll make sure you understand the different formats, how to take advantage of reading ebooks, and give you tips on getting the most from your reading, wherever you are.
We'll be concentrating mostly on the big apps and stores: iBooks from Apple, Amazon's Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook app. But there's some great stuff in smaller apps too, so we're not going to ignore them.
Pick the best store
So let's say you want to read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo; you can buy it on the iBookstore, on amazon.co.uk or on barnesandnoble.com, so which do you pick?
On one hand, it doesn't really matter on any practical level; all three stores have apps that run on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and so it's easy to pay a few quid/bucks and be reading a few seconds later.
There are, though, things you should think about when choosing your store; the decision is an important one, since you're buying into a whole ecosystem; especially in the case of the Kindle and Nook platforms, which have their own dedicated e-readers; not just some holiday reading.
Sure, you can mix and match, there's no harm in having iBooks, Kindle and Nook installed on all your devices for you to jump between as you read, but knowing what we're about to tell you will help you make good decisions for now and in the future.
One decision might be made for you; unless you're in the US, there's currently no practical way to buy books for the Barnes & Noble Nook. You could muck about with proxies or vouchers or a willing stooge in the States, but we don't really think it's worth the hassle. The Nook is likely to come to the UK this year, but until then, those of us outside the US should buy from Apple and Amazon.
An obvious differentiator is price. Even if, by the end of this page, you've decided to buy most of your books for Amazon Kindle, say, you should still have a shop around to see where a book you want is cheapest.
Overall, it's been our experience that Apple is the most expensive of the big three stores and Amazon the cheapest, but the difference is often negligible; at the time of writing, a selection of 10 books from the New York Times best-seller list in total cost $13.23 more on iBooks than on Kindle, a difference of only 15%.
That said, we've seen much, much bigger differences in price with some individual titles, so do take a minute to see if buying from another store will save you a decent chunk of change.
Amazon also has the handy Deal of the Day, where there are some gems, but mostly it's not the best sellers.
The Apple way
Apple's iBookstore has two advantages over its rivals. One is that it's a little simpler to buy from.
Because Apple insists on taking a 30% cut from anything sold inside apps (and doesn't even allow, say, the Kindle app a button that says "Buy books" that launches its online store in Safari), on most reading apps on iOS you have to buy books through a web browser; this unlocks them for your account and then you download and read them through an app.
Apple, of course, can do things a bit differently, and there's a Store button right at the top of your bookshelf. This makes it just a little simpler to buy from, you do it all from inside one app; but it would be shortsighted to opt for iBooks as a platform just because it took a couple of taps fewer to buy a new book.
Richer content
iBooks' second advantage is that publishers can create much richer books, with videos, interactivity and more, using Apple's free iBooks Author app, and you can only read these in the iBooks app; there are relatively few such books around, but they're likely to become more common.
Think about the supported devices too. Sure, since you're reading Tap!, you probably care most about compatibility with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and all three stores have Universal apps that work on all devices, but because every store wraps their books in Digital Rights Management gunk that means you can only read them on officially sanctioned devices, it's wise to plump for a store that has as broad a range of apps and services as possible.
The big loser here is iBooks. It only has apps for iOS; you can't even read your books on a Mac. In the middle is Barnes & Noble, which makes apps for Android, Mac and PC as well as iOS and its own hardware readers. Amazon gets it most right. As well as supporting everything that Barnes & Noble does, it also has apps for Blackberry and Windows Phone, and you can even go to read.amazon.com to access your library through a web browser.
Admittedly, the list of supported web browsers is comparatively small: Firefox 6+, Chrome 11+, Safari 5+ on Mac/PC, and iPad; but while other things might get in the way, we like the idea of buying a book for our iPad, say, and then being able to snatch a few chapters on your office PC over lunch even if you've forgotten to bring you iPad in with you.
We'd recommend Kindle or Nook as well because each platform has its own standalone readers, ones that use E-Ink. Now, you know we love the iPad and iPhone, but there are times when an E-Ink device such as the £89 Kindle or $99 Nook Simple Touch is just better for reading. They're light, robust, have batteries that last for many days or weeks depending on how much you use them, and best of all are easy to read in sunlight.
In fact, because their E-Ink screens look (disconcertingly at first!) like a printed page, the brighter the light, the clearer the page looks. iOS devices are much more flexible, rich and capable devices overall, but if you're heading to the beach for a holiday, throwing a full-charged Kindle in your bag would be a good move; it's great that you can buy a book once, and read it on your iPhone, your PC, your Kindle and much more.
Ultimately, then, our recommendation is to go with Amazon. The choice is superb, prices competitive, and there's scarcely a device around on which you cannot read its books. Yes, ideally, books would be completely free of DRM and the latter reasons wouldn't figure in any decision, but that's not the situation we're in now!
Apps compared: Kindle vs iBooks vs Nook
Amazon Kindle
The Amazon Kindle app isn't as pretty as iBooks, but we love it because of the option to share snippets on social networks.
01. Highlight
Found a witty line or want to mark an important line in an academic textbook? Tap and hold on a word in the text then drag the blue handles to select the text you want, then tap Highlight.
02. Note
If you want to add notes to your book, select a relevant bit of text using the technique described in 01 then tap Note in the pop-up; write in your note, which will be synced to all your Kindle apps and devices.
03. Define
Tap and hold on just one word and a definition pops up on the screen. If you don't have a dictionary installed, the app will prompt you to download one for free, and we recommend you do.
04. Progress
You can tap on the centre of the screen to show or hide a range of icons and controls 'Äì such as this one that shows you how far through a book you are. You can grab this little slider to move forward or back.
05. Go to
Tapping this icon brings up options for navigating around the book. You can go to the cover, the beginning, a table of contents, and the option of jumping directly to a page-number-like Location.
06. Search
One of the great things about digital books is that you can search them. Can't remember quite where a fact was or when a character said something in particular? Tap and search!
07. Display options
Tap this icon and you can change the size of the text, the colour of the text and the paper, how bright the screen is and, when you're in landscape, whether text is shown in one or two columns.
08. Share
If you read something you think your friends and followers would enjoy, highlight it here and then you can share it on Twitter and Facebook. Once you start doing this you'll love this feature!
iBooks is certainly the prettiest of the ebook apps; check out out that lovely analogue feel that the highlighter pen has.
01. Highlight
If there are passages that you especially enjoy, tap and hold then drag the blue handles to select it, then tap Highlight in the pop-up. Uniquely, you can pick from five colours for highlights, and also underline.
02. Note
Notes work similarly to highlights. Select your text and then tap Note to scribble down an annotation. To see it again, either tap the highlight ; which can be the same or a different colour to straight highlights, and then tap the note icon in the pop up, or tap the note icon in the margin.
03. Define
Tap and hold on a word in the text, and iBooks will either slide up (iPhone) or pop up (iPad) a definition for you from iOS' built-in dictionary.
04. Progress
This line at the bottom of the page (which you hide and show, along with other icons on the screen, by tapping in the centre of the screen) shows you how far through a book you are; you can grab the little handle to skip forwards or back.
05. Contents
This button takes you to the contents listing for your book, and also lets you see a list of all the Notes and Highlights you've made in it, plus a list of any bookmarks you've added.
06. Search
Even with turned-down pages and a rainbow of highlighters, it can be easy, with a real book, to lose important bits of a book. Happily, you can search through an ebook in a blink of an eye; tap this icon!
07. Display options
iBooks offers the most options for changing the font your book is displayed in. As well as system defaults such as Georgia and Times New Roman, there are some very elegant serifs and Seravek, a fresh sans-serif. Here you can also change the visual theme, the size of the text and the screen brightness.
The Nook app isn't particularly pretty, but you can configure your own colour themes if you don't like the defaults.
01. Highlight
If you've found a bit of your book that you want to be able to find again later, highlight it just like you would with a fluorescent marker. Tap and hold on a word and then drag the blue handles at either end to select the text you want to highlight, then tap the icon in the pop-up.
02. Note
Sometimes, a highlight isn't enough, and you want to do the equivalent of scribbling a note in the margin; that's what notes are for. Select your text as in 01, then tap Notes and write in what you want.
03. Define
If you come across an unfamiliar word, don't reach for your dictionary, just tap and hold on it and then tap Define. As with iBooks, you can also chose to search that word on Wikipedia or the web.
04. Progress
As you read through your book, your progress is shown in this bar at the bottom, and you can quickly slide to a different part of the book by grabbing this little slider.
05. Contents
Tap here to see a full table of contents for your book, plus a basic list of all the bookmarks and annotations you've added as you've gone along.
06. Search
We love how easy it is to search ebooks rather than frustrated flicking through pages of a real book. Just tap this magnifying glass and type in the thing you're looking for.
07. Display options
Nook actually offer you lots of options for the layout of your book. As well as a range of fonts and sizes, you can set line spacing, margins and the theme. If you don't like the preset themes, you can create and save your own.
Other places to get books for iOS devices
Of course, you're not limited to Apple, Amazon and Barnes & Noble when you want to get books. There are many dozens of other stores, and in lots of cases you can buy directly from favourite publishers too. (Romance giant Mills & Boon, for example, is enjoying huge success with ebooks; they're cheap, people read lots of them and we suspect they're attracting a new audience that likes not having to display a bodice-ripping cover to fellow commuters!)
Many stores have a section of free books; most are the same selection of public-domain works whose copyrights have expired, but that's a great opportunity to catch up with some classics. (Plus, don't spend money you don't need to; the complete Sherlock Holmes could cost you as much as £15.99 on Amazon's website but you can legally get it for free.)
Don't assume that you'll be able to read ebooks purchased even from big-name stores on your device, though. They'll be wrapped in DRM, and not all systems are compatible. Waterstones, for example, says that its ebooks aren't compatible with iOS at all.
Here, though, are just a few of the places you should check out:
The Kobo system is similar to the Nook and Kindle: a store selling books for its dedicated E-Ink and Android-powered readers, with apps for iOS, Android and Blackberry. It partners with WHSmith in the UK, though, so if you want to comfort of a known brand, it's worth considering.
Google Play
With a web view and dedicated Universal app for iOS, Google Play lets you buy commercial books and grab lots of public domain books for free. We like that it can translate on the fly too.
Project Gutenberg
The daddy of public domain works. Stuff your device with Bronte, Dickens, Conan Doyle and more without spending a penny.
A slew of public libraries have joined a project to let you borrow ebooks for free. Grab the Universal, free OverDrive Media Console app and sign in with a free Adobe ID to see if any libraries near you are part of the scheme.
One notable omission from all stores is the Harry Potter series. If you want to read the adventures of the boy wizard, you need to go direct to this new J.K. Rowling website.
And there are loads of independent publishers and ebook stores too, and some of them sell books without DRM; iBooks, for example, can read anything in DRM-free EPUB. The stores are everything from big independents such as diesel-ebooks.com to self-publishing platforms such as smashwords.com.
More great reading apps
Price: Free
Works with: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
The Opuss app actually sits in the Social Networking category of the App Store, and that's because it really is closer to, say, a long-form Twitter client than a book.
The idea is that, as a writer, you can write little stories, journal entries, poems or indeed pretty much anything you like, assign it to a category, and push it out to your community of followers. Of course, what this means for you as a reader is the opportunity to browse and snack on short-form literature.
Well, that may be making it sound grander than it actually is, but if you can right the right people to follow, Opuss could be a really rewarding network. It might sound a little too much like Twitter to bother with, but it does have editing tools that you don't get with Twitter or any of its varied clients for iOS devices.
Malcolm Tucker: The Missing iPhone
Price: £3.99
Works with: iPhone, iPod touch
The Missing iPhone is a glorious interpretation of what a book could be on an entirely new platform. While some books evolve the format by adding interactive elements and multimedia content, this throws the idea of media placed on nice, finite, browsable pages out entirely, and creates something wonderful.
Of course, it helps if you already know the characters and backstory from the sweary BBC series The Thick Of It, but anyone can appreciate the innovative narrative structure.
The conceit is that you've found the phone of government spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker, and through exploring emails, documents, and voicemails voiced by the original cast pinging onto your iPhone as the story unfolds, you're given a glorious, immersive experience like no other.
Price: Free
Works with: iPhone, iPod touch
Movellas is similar to Opuss - though nowhere near as lovingly crafted - but here the emphasis is squarely on sharing and reading stories by aspiring authors.
Of course, you run the risk of exposing yourself to some frankly turgid writing, not to mention embarrassing teen fiction, hopeless fan fiction and other vagaries of the internet world. But there are gems too, and there's something to be said for the delight of finding exciting, touching, fresh and - above all - original stories from authors who haven't yet broken into the publishing world proper.
It could be the literary equivalent of being into a band long before they were famous: "Yeah, I was there at the opening of the first chapter, actually…"
Ladybird Classic Me Books
Price: 69p
Works with: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
We've steered away from kids' books and comics in this issue, but there was one that we just couldn't skip over. For those of us of a certain age, the paintings that brighten up Ladybird books, and the (sometimes odd and old-fashioned, to modern eyes) stories that they tell are incredibly resonant. Now they can come to life even more with Ladybird Classics.
Kids can either read the books on their own, have them read-aloud by a narrator, or parents can record themselves reading the stories; all the kids have to do is tap on the text. Even better, you can draw tap zones on the picture and record sounds for them too, making the three little piggies squeal, for example!
The pages have all been scanned in from old copies to to give them a real vintage feel!
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Price: £2.99
Works with: iPad
Take one part children's book, one part Pixar adventure, mix well, and what you get is The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Designed by an ex-Pixar illustrator and animator with his colleagues at Moonbot Studios, it's a lovely example of what books might be in the future.
Each page has some fun interactive elements that you can play with and the whole experience is charming.
Free books
Price: £1.49
Works with: iPhone, iPod touch
Sure, all Free Books really does is gather together works that you could get online for free from places like Project Gutenberg and stuff them into an app, but the interface is polished, though, irritatingly, the typography and layout of the actual books could use some love and it makes it easy to browse by genre, author and more.
It can also quickly and easily import books in EPUB format; it hooks into Dropbox, so it's a simple matter to drop files into the Dropbox folder on your computer and read them here. There's a sister £1.49 app for free audiobooks, however.
Al Gore - Our Choice
Price: £2.99
Works with: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
Built on a platform created by some superb designers Al Gore - Our Choice has interactive info graphics, videos and more. And of course, the subject matter of dealing with man-made climate change is important too.
Price: Free
Works with: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
You can't - well, shouldn't - read books when you're driving, so an app like this one is a great idea. Now, you can of course buy audiobooks from places such as iTunes, but here you can get audiobooks without spending a penny.
The idea is that volunteers all over the world record stories that are in the public domain, such as Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island and the Sherlock Holmes stories, then release those recordings into the public domain.
The quality is surprisingly high, and though the selection is limited to a little over 3,500 classic works, it's still worth exploring. Of course, you can always contribute yourself, too - just put on your best speaking voice.
Ebook formats explained
It's easy to forget, since they're essentially just big text files, that ebooks come in certain formats just like movies or photos, and that you need to understand them to make sure you don't get a book you can't read.
The most popular ebook format at the moment is EPUB. EPUB is essentially just an agreed-on set of rules that uses a flavour of HTML to style and structure a book. It's an open standard, but that doesn't mean that an EPUB book bought from, say, Apple (the standard format for its iBooks app), could be opened on a Sony eReader.
And that's in part because books sold now are usually wrapped in DRM. Lots of stores use Adobe Digital Editions as a middleman to deal with DRM, but there's no native support on iOS. Some apps such as OverDrive, implement it themselves.
The upshot is that while you can load a non-DRM'd EPUB into an app such as iBooks, you're safest to open books in their store's dedicated reader. But while Nook and iBooks use DRM'd EPUB, Amazon uses a variant of Mobipocket called AZW.
Often, sites such as Project Gutenberg that allow you to download books in a range of formats. For more detail about which formats are supported on your device take a look at the table on Wikipedia.
Syncing and sharing
Unless you're reading along with a child, reading is usually a solitary pursuit; you immerse yourself in the world the writer has created, and wander it alone, watching the characters and places through just your eyes.
But if you've enjoyed a book, you want to share it with others, either by actually loaning them the whole book, or by telling them about it. So we'll show you how it's possible to do all this!
All the big three apps allow you to do four basic, but pretty awesome things: highlight passages you like, add notes and bookmarks and have all these sync in that book across all your devices.
Additionally, without you doing anything, Kindle, iBooks and Nook will sync where you are in your book across all your devices too, so that if you stop reading a book on your Kindle before you go to sleep, for example, and then head out the door for work the next morning with your iPhone, you'll be at the same place in the Kindle app on your iPhone as you were on your Kindle. (Caveat: you need an active data connection to sync your place, so if your commute means you'll be out of range of a mobile or Wi-Fi signal, open the app once on your device while you still have a connection to the internet.)
The Kindle app (and Amazon's range of e-readers) has an extra trick: when you select a chunk of text, you get the option of sharing it on Twitter and Facebook. Friends will be able to see the text you selected, as well as links to the book on Amazon. Sure, you are in some sense acting as a shill for Amazon to sell more books, but there's real value in the act of curating and recommending books to friends.
Further sharing
If you want to share more of a book than just a sentence or two, you have some options; sadly, though, not all of them work in all territories or even for all ebooks.
Barnes & Noble and Amazon let you loan ebooks to friends that you have bought; books transfer to your friend for a fortnight, you cannot read it while they have it, and then return to you after that time.
There are, though, limitations; first, this is US only, and second, books have to have lending enabled, and only a subset do. Publishers control whether or not a book can be loaned. You can get round the first bit if you live outside the States by naughtily adding a US address to your Amazon account, but the second bit is insurmountable without getting your hands dirty in cracking DRM.
Happily, there's a simpler solution, though it's really only suitable for close friends and family. Say you and your partner want to read the same ebooks; it's easy to associate a Kindle or Nook app with just one account on two or more devices, so you can all see the same library. You might want to turn off the syncing-to-the-furthest-place feature, though, if you plan on reading the same book, or you'll be jumping about all over the place!
With iBooks, just associate each device with the same Apple ID (even doing so just temporarily) in Settings > Store, and then you can re-download the same books from that single account. The same goes for apps, by the way!
Read the best of the web on your device
You could spend a lifetime doing nothing but reading books and still not scratch the surface of humanity's accumulated wealth of knowledge and emotion, but sometimes the idea of committing to a whole novel is a daunting one.
And yet you still want quality writing, and to feel the fizz of new ideas and the joy of a well-turned sentence. Happily, the web is here to help. There is an astonishing, gratifying quantity of great writing on the web, writing that can inspire, entertain and delight.
We're not talking about a news snippet here or even the pithiest blog entry there; we're talking about proper, considered journalism. Small essays, treatises, explorations of ideas and context for what's going on in the world.
There are, of course, two problems with this. The first is that as you're pottering around the web while you're working, you rarely have the opportunity to take the time to read these so-called long-form pieces when you come across them or when friends recommend them to you. And the second is that with all the cacophony of the internet, it can be really hard to find this great writing.
One of the most revolutionary ideas on the iPhone and iPad is exemplified by Instapaper. The idea of Instapaper is quite simple: whenever you find an article online that you think you want to read but don't quite have the time for right now, you send that article to Instapaper. Install the apps on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and those articles will be saved on your device, you can even read them if you don't have an internet connection, so it's a great way to fill, say, a commute on the Tube with fresh, exciting writing.
What's more, just the text of your article is saved, so you can read free from the distraction of all the other stuff on its webpage.
Insta good reads!
To add articles to Instapaper, you can install a little bookmarklet (there are instructions on how to do this on instapaper.com; it' really simple!) and then click it in your web browser. Alternatively, if you have copied the link on your iOS device, launch Instapaper and it will offer to add it.
Lots of apps such as Twitter clients let you quickly send links to services such as Instapaper too. There are alterantives too, such as Pocket, the renamed app for ReadItLater.
Get the most from reading on iOS
Here's one last bit of reading for you before you snuggle down with your book: our essential tips for reading.
01. Check out Audio books
Don't forget about audiobooks too; load up your device with modern blockbusters, classics you've never gotten round to, and inspirational guides and memoirs, and every jog, every bedtime, every hitherto dull drive to work becomes filled with delight and fasciation.
You can, of course, buy audiobooks on CD and then rip them to your PC or Mac in iTunes, technically still illegal, but bodies such as the BPI, speaking through its chairman, have said: "We will not sue you for filling your iPod with music you have bought yourself, but it's easier to buy them in ready digital formats."
Apple has partnered with Audible, so there's now an audiobooks section in the iTunes Store. You can still buy direct from Audible, however, and we're forever seeing Audible trying to get you to sign up by offering you a free audiobook, so have a search around to see if you can get in on that deal.
02. Brightness
Reading in the dark? Try turning your screen's brightness down; go into the Settings. iPad owners can also double-press the Home button and swipe left to right.
03. Invert the screen
Most reader apps offer a dark mode. If yours doesn't, fake it by making a triple-press on the Home button invert the screen in Settings > General > Accessibility.
04. Airplane Mode
Toggle Airplane mode in Settings to ensure you're not interrupted with calls, notifications or the temptation to check Twitter every two minutes!


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I've compiled a list of frequently asked questions to help make navigating and understanding policies a little easier for every one.
Why does my browser say the site is insecure?
Browsers are beginning to label ANY site that doesn't use https as insecure. This is not necessarily true. Our payment process already transfers out to PayPal, and that process IS secure. We are investigating moving abfsingles.net to https.
How can I help improve ABF Singles?
Let people know about ABF Singles.
Add a picture and fill out your profile.
Report suspected spammers and other degenerates.
Can I upload nude pictures?
No, because our advertisers won't allow it. If I can see male (YES, male) or female nipples/areola/genitalia, I delete those automatically, If I think you're pushing the boundaries too much I'll delete that too. I understand some women want to show cleavage and I'm fine with that. Please do so in a respectful manner. If I need to remove your picture a couple of times I will just close your account.
I'm a guy, why can't I post a picture of my bare chest?
This policy is currently under review, and may change in the future. But for now, it stands. There is a reason for it, and if the policy changes, it will be posted and changed in the ToS.
Why do I see (edited by admin) all over the place?
You see that because the member has published personally identifiable information (hereafter, PII) somewhere on the site. So, no PII is allowed in the timelines, your profile or any other publicly accessible part of the site. If you see the "(edited by admin)" in your profile or timeline posts, blogs or any other part of the site you should consider yourself warned. Too many occurrences, and your account will be deactivated. PII includes anything that can identify yourself, email address, Kik/Snapchat/any other chat handle, phone number, street address.
Why do I have to have an active email account?
You need to have an active email account so that we can contact you for a number of reasons. The site will notify you when certain things happen (you receive a message, a friend request, etc). These events are controllable. The admin team may also need to contact you if there are issues with your account.
How do I cancel my account?
Use the following menu options: My Settings>Settings>Cancel Account.
How do I block another member?
If the other person is just annoying or not really your type you can view their profile and there is a 'Block Member' option in the bottom right of their profile. If they continue to harass you or send any type of threatening message. This is serious business, please use the report feature and keep any offending messages for further investigation. You have the right to be here without feeling harassed or intimidated. Please do not report people because they hurt your feelings or you disagree with them. Always use the block option first, if it continues then report it.
Why can't I send a message?
Regular members can no longer send messages. You can read any message you get. Sending messages is only available to donating members.
Is my password secure?
Yes, it is encrypted and stored in our database. I cannot see your password, I can only reset it.
Can I advertise my product, service or website?
Maybe, use the contact us form at the bottom of the page.
I'm online but people cannot see me in the online chat? Click the little gear icon labeled 'Chat Settings' in the bottom right corner. Make sure Online is underlined and not invisible.
I was removed/deactivated and I don't know why.
There are generally a few reasons why accounts are deactivated. The most common reasons are:
Creating multiple accounts.
Adding prohibited pictures.
Being rude, deceptive or disrespectful


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Personal Data
Written by Law Firm A. A. Georghiou Llc
Personal data are any information that identify or can potentially identify a natural living person. Such data are, for example, our identity, social insurance, passport, telephone or vehicle registration number, or biometric data such as fingerprints or even DNA data extracted from a piece of hair.
The law provides that data concerning racial or ethnic origin , political convictions, religious or philosophical beliefs, participation in a body, association or trade union, sex life and erotic orientation and data relevant to criminal prosecutions and convictions are sensitive data. The legislator provides that sensitive data should enjoy a higher level of protection because it is often easy for people to suffer discriminations on the basis of these data.


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Here's the latest article from the Stress Management site at BellaOnline.com.
8 Tips to Lower Workplace Stress
We all boil at different points and some of that steam heats up the workplace. Try these mood-boosting strategies to lower workplace stress. When you are happy, you pay it forward.
Please visit stressmanagement.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Stress Management.
To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Stress Management located here -
I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!
Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!
Debbie Mandel, Stress Management Editor
One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com


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Looking for answers to the many problems and issues facing senior adults can seem overwhelming. Who to call? Where to turn?
Whether it is a simple question of how to replace a lost Medicare card, or a more complex issue such as assessing the level of care an older adult might need, ElderLink St. Louis is there to help. The information and advice you need is only a phone call or e-mail away! Best yet, there is no charge for our services.
ElderLink St. Louis is a coordinated referral service for older adults, their children and caregivers. Our staff members, who hold masters of social work degrees and are experienced in gerontology, connect users with advice and information on everything from aging-in-place and caregiver resources, to employment, end-of-life services, financial resources, housing, learning and recreation, physical and mental health, safety and legal issues, and much more.
And remember, all it takes is a simple, confidential phone call or e-mail.
You can contact us for a free, personal telephone consultation at (314) 812-9300from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday or Tuesday and Thursday evenings by appointment. You can also send us an at firstname.lastname@example.com and we'll contact you. We look forward to being in touch!
Click here for a PDF of our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).


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Issa Rae is slowly but surely taking over HBO…and I'm excited AF! It has been reported that HBO has picked up two shows from the Insecure star and co-creator.
According to Deadline, HBO has picked up a comedy and drama from the acclaimed actress as a part of Rae's production deal with the premium-cable network. With Emmy-winning writer and producer Travon Free, Rae will serve as executive producer for Him or Her. The single camera 30-minute comedy chronicles the love life of a bisexual black man and the relationships he finds himself in.
Sweet Life, a coming of age drama, is set in the Black Beverly Hills of Windsor Hills. The series will focus on the wealthy black teens growing up in the Los Angeles neighborhood. As Deadline reports, Rae will team up with Scandal producer Raamla Mohamed to pen the script for the one-hour drama. Mohamed and Rae will both serve as executive producers for the drama, along with 3 Arts.
Earlier this month, The New Yorker shared a video of Rae pitching a show about a series following the lives of the well-heeled teens. "Think 90210 or Gossip Girl for black kids," Rae says in the video. "Maybe we could call it Ladera Heights 90041, Windsor Hills 90043. It could be Potomac Maryland 20854. That's the real s***."
As for now, there are no premiere dates set for the shows but we're definitely excited to see what Issa Rae has in store!
.@IssaRae pitches a "90210" for black kids. pic.twitter.com/GCp67g2AU8
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) September 15, 2017
Photo Credit: PR Photos


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American Pie
"What's for dinner?" Buffy asked.
"Ice cream," Hank said, upending a dish over her head and covering her hair with Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey.
"Mississippi Mud Pie," Angel added, squashing a piece into her face.
"Banana Split," Giles said, shoving a banana into her ear.
"Cheesecake," Parker put in, dropping a slice down the front of her blouse.
"Apple Pie, of course," Riley insisted, slapping a slice onto her forehead.
"Spotted Dick, pet," Spike leered, pelting her with currant pudding.
Buffy screwed up her face and burst into tears. "Why do all the men in my life dessert me?"


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One of America's leading contemporary artists is the subject a new exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, located here in Washington, D.C. Painter, sculptor, author and educator Judy Chicago led the feminist art movement of the 1970s by creating images of women's experiences from a uniquely female point of view. Though controversy has sometimes accompanied the critical acclaim she has enjoyed over the years, today Judy Chicago is widely considered a feminist icon and pioneer who dared to challenge the art world establishment.
At the National Museum of Women in the Arts, there was a feeling of excitement among people in attendance at the opening of the Judy Chicago exhibition the first time a collection representing the artist's 30-year career was being exhibited in a major gallery. "When I was growing up as a child, looking at art and wanting to model myself on the artists, all of them were men. And their views of women were not consistent with how I experienced myself," she says.
Judy Chicago, who adopted her surname from the city where she was born, began formal art training as a child in the traditional way one might expect of art institutions of the 1950s. But she says the 1970s women's movement fueled her desire to use art to communicate women's history and experiences, which she felt had been largely ignored. Ms. Chicago's first major effort in this direction would become her most famous and most controversial work.
She called it The Dinner Party. "I sometimes describe it as a reinterpretation of The Last Supper, from the point of view of those who had done the cooking throughout history," she says. "Because if you look at The Last Supper paintings, there is all this food on the table, which sort of miraculously appeared and then miraculously cleared away. So, who did it? Right? And why weren't they there? They're [the women] always absent from the story and so putting them back into the story has been one of the goals of my career and my work."
The Dinner Party, which opened in San Francisco in 1979, is a symbolic representation of the history of women in the form of a 16-meter triangular table. Thirty-nine place settings represent notable women through the ages, including Primordial Goddess, Sappho; writer and abolitionist Sojourner Truth and artist Georgia O'Keefe.
Although much acclaimed for its scope, inventiveness and Ms. Chicago's multi-media use of ceramics, china painting, tile and needlework, The Dinner Party was also criticized for Ms. Chicago's use of what she describes as "vulvul" imagery each plate, whether embellished as a flower or butterfly, in some way also resembles a woman's genitalia.
But Judy Chicago says her main goal was to give young women a broader view of their own history. "And they wouldn't have to go through what I went through in college, which was having a class, for example, in the intellectual history of Europe, in which the professor ended the class by talking about women's contributions and his basic assessment was the they had made none. And so, in my own research, before there were women's studies, I discovered that this was not true. Women had made many contributions and they had been erased," she says. "And one of my goals when I did it was to counter that erasure."
The Judy Chicago retrospective at the National Museum of Women in the Arts includes some of the test plates and place settings for The Dinner Party, which is now on permanent exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York. Other paintings and sculptures included in the Washington exhibition include Powerplay, an examination of the concept of masculinity; excerpts from The Holocaust Project on which she collaborated with her husband, photographer Donald Woodman; and The Birth Project, a celebration in paint and textiles of the power and range of the birth experience.
"In the early '80s, there were almost no images of birth in the museums that reflected women's experience of giving birth. There were images of the Madonna and, as any woman knows who's gone through it, it is neither an immaculate conception or a bloodless act," she says. "So even introducing the subject of birth, introducing the subject of menstruation, of women's history, the subject of women's bodies and how women feel about their own bodies, these were all not part of our history. The idea that women's experience would be important was not accepted. So changing that has been a really long struggle."
For Judy Chicago, the struggle has paid off. Since she founded the Feminist Art Movement 30 years ago, she has been credited with inspiring similar art movements throughout the world. And in cities across the United States, numerous retrospectives of her work are currently on display. In addition to The Dinner Party at the Brooklyn Museum, her Holocaust Project is being shown at the Orlando Museum of Art. And her most recent project, Resolutions recently opened at the Hunter Museum in Chatanooga, Tennessee.
Judy Chicago says she would like to say to women artists everywhere to "have courage." "Because my career is a testament to persistence, I suppose. Not giving up in the face of pretty hideous reviews there's been pretty hideous writing about my work over the years. So I think it says something about the power of art, that art can really move us, change us, help us, transform ourselves. And I'm so thrilled by everything that's happening," she says.
Artist Judy Chicago, speaking from the National Museum of women in the Arts in Washington. Her exhibition will be on view through February, 2003.


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Volleyball Profile With Megan Arend
Highlighting the Women's Volleyball Senior Captain
Name: Megan Arend
From: Sacramento, California
Major: Communications and Sociology with a minor in Business
Why did you choose volleyball?: "In fourth grade I was best friends with two twins and their older sister played volleyball in high school. We tagged along to one of her games and I thought it was the coolest sport ever. And I ended up joining a team the next year."
Favorite Memory: "The Temple Tournament spring of freshman year. We won the tournament, it was spring weekend, there were so many jokes and it was an absolute blast."
Biggest Accomplishment: "Recovering from torn ACL halfway through sophomore season. I had to get surgery, and I was cleared to play during pre-season but I was definitely not ready for the strain on my injury. Working back up to that good level was huge for me."
Goals for the Season: "Have the team make it to A-10's, as a personal and team goal. And I never want to have regrets playing this sport, or be timid on the court. I want to be remembered as a good leader."
Favorite Quote: "Life is 10% given, 90% what you do with it."


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Geneviève Oligny Longpré
Student in Medicine and PhD student in Biochemistry
Université de Montréal
Award-winning publication: Engagement of β-arrestin by transactivated insulin-like growth factor receptor is needed for V2 vasopressin receptor-stimulated ERK1/2 activation
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA
"G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) constitute the two largest membrane protein families involved in cell membrane signal transduction. However, little is known about the interactions between the two receptor classes. Using the V2 receptor (V2R) as a GPCR model, we describe a new ERK pathway activation mechanism based on the transactivation of the insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGFR), an RTK, by V2R. We demonstrated that V2R stimulates the ERK pathway by generating an extracellular ligand able to activate the IGFR in an autocrine manner and confirmed the existence of the mechanism in vivo in rats."
Given the recognized role of the ERK pathway (kinase regulated by extracellular signal) in controlling cell growth and proliferation, V2R-activated ERKs could be involved in oncogenic processes in the kidney. Interestingly, V2R and IGFR are therapeutic targets in the treatment of polycystic kidney disease and renal cancer. Examining the pathophysiological roles of this new signal pathway could elucidate the molecular basis of certain kidney diseases and lead to the development of new treatments.


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10:00am PT by Marisa Roffman
'The Vampire Diaries': Boss Julie Plec Shares Her Most Defining Moment (So Far)
As The Vampire Diaries gears up for a very different seventh season, the first 133 hours have had their share of heartbreaking moments, cast shake-ups and twists.
The Hollywood Reporter asked The Vampire Diaries co-creator Julie Plec to share her defining moment of the series (so far).
There's so much. I think I couldn't pinpoint it to a defining moment for the show, but I could pinpoint it to a defining moment for me: writing the episode "Ghost World."
It was the seventh episode of season three, and I was behind. I was on deadline, and I got to the part where Anna (Malese Jow) talked about, "Does the other side exist, does peace exist, is it anything, is it nothing, or are you just alone?" And Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) said, "I like to believe there's more than that." And then to have Anna reunite with her mother at the end of the episode … I realized, in that moment, I was writing a show about the absolute terror attached to growing old and dying alone.
When you're dealing with immortal characters, what's the point of being immortal if you don't have love, if you don't have family, if you don't have brotherhood, if you don't have loyalty? And I realized that's where the show lives and dies. You have to carry these people with you, otherwise you're just living this wish fulfillment, desire of living forever. When in actuality, it's the greatest curse that can be put on you. That's when I realized I was locked in forever.
The Vampire Diaries returns Thursday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. on The CW. Which Vampire Diaries moment stands out to you?
Marisa firstname.lastname@example.com @thr


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A Sustainable Honda Dealer in South Jersey
Going Green, Saving Green and Protecting Our Environment
Rossi Honda is a premier Honda dealer in South Jersey that has taken several measures to go green. What exactly does it mean to "go green" or "be green?" We'd like to share a little bit of our story.
Not only did we install 900 solar panels at our dealership; we used them to optimize our operations. The motion sensors on the solar panel canopies provide extra security and protect vehicles from the outdoor elements, which is another benefit.
Inside, our dealership implemented other practices to preserve energy consumption and save money. For instance, we switched out to a more efficient lighting and started recycling. We also have plants that require less water, in addition to selling hybrid and plug-in cars. Things like that add up and allow us to pass the savings on to you, our valued customer. It also earned us the coveted Honda Environmental Leadership Platinum Award, which recognizes environmental leadership at our showroom.
Plus, you can feel good about going to Rossi Honda because of all these sustainable practices. In setting this precedent, hopefully other Honda dealers in South Jersey—and around the world—will follow suit, which means a cleaner, healthier environment for everyone.
Find out more about our dealership, view customer testimonials or browse our inventory of new and Certified Pre-Owned Honda vehicles. To contact us, call 856-692-1700


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Wall Decor
The Cape is my Happy Place Reclaimed Wood Wall Decor
Regular price $ 24.95
Is Cape Cod your happy place? Or do you know someone else who absolutely loves the Cape? If so, this Cape Cod-themed reclaimed wood sign is for you!
Each sign features the Cape's distinctive shape and the text "The Cape is my Happy Place" hand painted on two planks of reclaimed wood measuring approximately 16" x 7". The sawtooth hanger mounted on the back makes the hanging process simple.
Looking for a different color scheme or graphic? Just send a description to firstname.lastname@example.com and we'll customize as requested!


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The UAE Embassy to Kingdom of Sweden supervised the iftar project provided by Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation throughout the Holy Month of Ramadan.
The embassy distributed more than 1,000 iftar meals at mosques in Stockholm and the areas where most of the Muslim communities are living.
Beneficiaries thanked the UAE and the charity for gesture of kindness that help in cementing ties among Muslims in Sweden.
Source: UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs


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You are here
Home » Human Evolution Evidence » Behavior » Making Clothing
Making Clothing
Awls and perforators were probably invented in Africa and carried to colder climates, where they were used to pierce holes in clothing. Later, humans used bone and ivory needles to sew warm, closely fitted garments—perhaps like those carved on some human figurines.
Page last updated: September 14, 2018


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Food trucks and carts have been given a wide variety of reasons for why they are no longer welcome in Midtown, Manhattan. Most of these reasons relate to an outdated court ruling, or complaints by rent-paying brick and mortar restaurants, but this is the first complaint we've heard that has ostracized food carts based upon their physical appearance.
A new campaign by neighborhood business owners and members of the 34th Street Partnership have called out food and street vendors for being rude, obnoxious eyesores that are cluttering the streets. Dan Biederman, who heads the Partnership as well as the Bryant Park Association said "The problem is really simple: the food vendors, with about five exceptions, are the ugliest collection of miserable-looking vehicles we've ever seen. The vendors are almost exclusively terrible citizens, they litter with impunity and are generally rude to anyone who asks them to clean up."
The partnership has taken action by asking city officials to reduce the amount of street vendors in Midtown, and effectively take away licenses and relocate them to 'better' places. Biederman claims the street vendor problem has worsened since many vendors began putting flashing signs on their carts. This, in conjunction with excess smoke, odd smells, piles of trash on street corners and the general aesthetic appeal of carts have made the streets in midtown unpleasant for residents, tourists and office workers. The group mentioned that several carts do look physically attractive, such as Wafels & Dinges and the Fruit-n-Juice cart on West 35th and Broadway.
The Street Vendor Project, which helps street vendors identify their rights, has responded to this most recent charge by this campaign. "It's a little bit crazy to call vendors ugly and take them away from their neighborhood," said Street Vendor Project attorney, Matthew Shapiro.
Shapiro argues that vendors provide important jobs to immigrants, and offer more affordable food for people who cannot afford the high priced options in Manhattan. "They can't afford to invest in their business and make them looks better because they're always getting slammed with fines. When people think of New York, they think of street vendors, they think of the hot dog cart. It's part of the city."
Biederman sees city organizations as a means to regulate the food trucks, though they are already heavily regulated by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. With litter, crime and graffiti disappearing from the city, Biederman now sees food trucks and carts as the single biggest complaint, which the city has a responsibility to address.
DailyFoodtoEat is the official blog of FoodtoEat, a sustainable online food ordering and concierge catering service featuring your favorite restaurants, food trucks and caterers. Check out the deliciousness here: www.foodtoeat.com


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Shana Gutierrez
"I truly love each and every day with my students."
Shana Gutierrez has 17 years of experience in the field of education, and currently teaches kindergarten at Stratford School's Fremont Curtis campus. In addition to teaching her kindergarten class, Shana also serves as a campus resource teacher.
Seeing the wonder in children's eyes and watching them process newly acquired knowledge is extremely fulfilling to Shana, who has seen her kindergarteners grow through the Stratford program all the way through eighth grade. With the combination of strong academics and character education, Shana sees well-rounded, compassionate citizens graduate from Stratford School.
Shana loves the warm, family atmosphere of Stratford, believing it helps faculty, children, and parents feel comfortable learning and growing at Stratford.


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Bennett is played with amused British low-keyed-ness (an ongoing topic of conversation in the movie) by Alex Jennings, and Miss Shepherd of course is Dame Maggie Smith, playing a role that's not as far from the Dowager Countess of Grantham as you might initially expect.
"Miss Shepherd" is a bundle of contradictions. As an aging homeless woman partly dependent on the tolerance of others, she is wheedling, insinuating, and needy. However, she can also be imperious, rude, and ungrateful. Some of these are artifacts of her troubled past, but some are just her own crotchety character. Having known some individuals with "issues" ourselves, Georgie and I found the portrayal very creditable.
We never find out her entire story but do get enough bits to piece together her real name, and revelations about her relationships with music, the Catholic Church, mental health, and the police.
The piece is very much a tour de force for Dame Maggie, who claims by right every scene she is in, but Jennings very ably holds his own, especially given the script which allows him to literally talk to himself, as well as to the audience, a trademark of author Bennett's plays.
It's a very unusual story, particularly by American standards. Miss Shepherd survives not only on Bennett's forbearance, but also on the bemused tolerance of the "liberal" people of Camden Town. Their willingness to allow the usually dirty and sometimes frightening old woman to squat among them passeth all understanding, save that the British tend to love their eccentrics. In America, at least one neighbor would have had police, lawyers, zoning, and health authorities thundering down on Bennett's head.
Dame Maggie is worth the price of admission alone, but Jennings' wry and understated performance is a pleasure, and they are supported by a comfortable and entertaining cast of faces familiar from British TV and film.
The ending is unexpectedly upbeat, but, as Bennett discussed (with Miss Shepherd, and with himself) there would come a point at which he could write whatever he wanted—so he did.
This entry was originally posted at http://sinister-sigils.dreamwidth.org/289027.html. Please comment there using OpenID.