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☆ Wonderstruck || ï PDF Download by ↠ Brian Selznick
Ben and Rose secretly wish for better lives Ben longs for the father he has never known Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother s room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.Set fifty years apaBen and Rose secretly wish for better lives Ben longs for the father he has never known Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother s room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories Ben s told in words, Rose s in pictures weave back and worth in symmetry.
Brian Selznick
Hello there My name is Brian Selznick and I m the author and illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret I was born in 1966 in New Jersey I have a sister who is a teacher, a brother who is a brain surgeon, and five nephews and one niece I studied at The Rhode Island School of Design and after I graduated from college I worked at Eeyore s Books for Children in New York City I learned all about children s books from my boss Steve Geck who is now an editor of children s books at Greenwillow While I was at Eeyore s I also painted the windows for holidays and book events My first book, The Houdini Box, which I both wrote and illustrated, was published in 1991 while I was still working at the bookstore Since then, I have illustrated many books for children, including Frindle by Andrew Clements, The Doll People by Ann Martin and Laura Godwin, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride by Pam Mu oz Ryan and The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley, which received a 2001 Caldecott Honor.I have also written a few other books myself, including The Boy of a Thousand Faces, but The Invention of Hugo Cabret is by far the longest and most involved book I ve ever worked on I live in Brooklyn, New York, and San Diego, California.
Jesse (JesseTheReader)
i think this might be my favorite book by brian selznick. which is hard for me to say, because i've loved the other books i've read by him. we follow two story lines that eventually collide and the way in which they connect made my heart explode with both happiness and sorrow. even though there is no magic present in this story and it's realistic fiction, you can't help but still feel a presence of magic throughout it. overall i was struck with wonder throughout the reading of this book. (sorry [...]
Impressive and moving. Ok end of review. Just kidding, though I'm not sure if I have the words because there is so much that the reader experiences that isn't understood but felt.The story is told from two perspectives. One from a girl named Rose who lives in the 20s and boy named Ben who lives in the 70s. Rose's story is told through pictures and Ben's through words. The two stories intertwine in the most fitting way. I thought the combination of words and pictures was perfect for the story of [...]
"Maybe, thought Ben, we are all cabinets of wonders." I've been wanting to read this beauty of a book for ages now, so when I saw it on the shelves of my library, I was beyond ecstatic.Wonderstruck jumps back and forth between the lives of Ben and Rose, who live fifty years apart from each other. It follows how both of them miss someone important and quite mysterious in their lives. Ben longs of finding and meeting the father he never met, while Rose is more focused on following a certain [...]
Ahmad Sharabiani
Wonderstruck, Brian SelznickWonderstruck (2011) is a U.S. juvenile fiction novel written and illustrated by Brian Selznick, who also created The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007). In Wonderstruck, Selznick continued the narrative approach of using both words and illustrations, this time separating each style in its own story and weaving them together at the end.Ben's story starts in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota in June 1977. He was born deaf in one of his ears. Ben's mom, Elaine, was the town libr [...]
Despite Wonderstruck's 630 pages, I read it within the span of three hours. Granted, over 460 of those pages are illustrations, but I still believe this fact attests to Wonderstruck's ability to keep its reader engaged and entertained.Wonderstruck is two stories in one: it is Ben's story, and it is Rose's story. With the former's being told in words, and the latter's being told in illustrations, this textile tale takes two youngsters, a book, a turtle, a bookstore, a museum, and several supporti [...]
This book wasn't on my radar until my friend Jackie kindly offered to gift me with her copy, which she'd read and didn't want to keep; and I owe her a big "thank you!" Although I picked it up to read a few days ago primarily because I wanted a quick read (and I'd determined earlier, in thumbing through it a bit, that much of its daunting thickness was taken up by pictures), it proved to be a reading experience of unexpected depth and emotional power. (And, yes, wonder!)We have an earlier work b [...]
Lisa Vegan
Wonderful! Fabulous! So special! Very clever!I liked this book even better than The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and that's saying a lot. it's even more emotionally touching than that first book.Ben. Rose. Jamie. Etc. All of them touched me.For not the first time I am tempted to create a new-york or nyc shelf.I read this book in one day. Rose's story told via pictures and Ben's told via text were both mesmerizing.I have memories of the 1964 New York World's Fair, which is mentioned/"sho [...]
Wonderstruck is over 600 pages long and I read it in one sitting. Yeah, this book is 75% illustrations, but still it's no small fit for a children's book to keep my attention like that.Brian Selznick intertwines two stories together in his Novel in Words and Pictures. 12-year old Ben lives in 1977 Minnesota and mourns the death of his mother. 50 years earlier a girl flees her New Jersey home and goes to New York. Ben's story is told entirely in words, and Rose's - in pictures. Of course we know [...]
راستش با تمام تعریف و تمجیدهایی که شنیدم، فک کردم وختی تمومش کنم، پنج میدم. ولی داستانش- برای من- در حد دو بود. گرچه بار عاطفی ِ اثر خیلی درگیرکننده ساخته شده بود. اما بهلحاظ داستانی البته خب توقع منم زیاده، مخاطبش من نیستم که. :دی ولی بار عظیم داستان و روایتپردازی رو، تصاوی� [...]
4.5My stepson's contemporary ballet company is touring a show with a full act called "Stardust" set to David Bowie music. In the days leading up to the New Orleans performance my husband's youngest granddaughter (a 5th-grader) mentioned to me a book she was reading that quoted a Bowie song. The song was "Space Oddity" and I could tell she was trying to figure out if it was pertinent to the ballet we would soon see. (It most certainly was.) Because of this coincidence, I checked out the [...]
I'm not sure why it took me so long to pick this up since I enjoyed The Invention of Hugo Cabret so much. I think I still liked that one better, but I love how these two stories set 50 years apart develop together and weave together. Brian Selznick is truly an awesome author and storyteller.
Hype. What's the point? A publisher believes that a book is going to be big so they crank up the old hype machine and do everything in their power to draw attention to it long before its publication date. That's what they did for Brian Selznick's Wonderstruck and I was sad to see it. As far as I was concerned, Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret was too tough an act to follow. Here you had a book that managed to get hundreds of librarians across the nation of America to redefine in t [...]
I definitely missed the boat somehow on this book. Rather than feeling smarter than all my friends who rated this four or five stars (they all did)--which is what bad or mediocre reviews of well-loved books sometimes sound like--I feel dumber, because I sense that there must be something I'm missing.I read the first third of the book in one gulp and remember being fascinated. Several weeks went by before I was able to get back to it. That might have had something to do with it, or maybe I was ju [...]
Whitney Atkinson
I'm such a huge fan of Brian Selznick because he's a master at constructing stories. And not only that, but stories that intersect art and prose BEAUTIFULLY. This was no exception. I love that this book focuses on two separate stories and timelines, but they find relevancy to the other in the end. It was absolutely fascinating and I read 300 pages of this in one sitting because it just flies by. I found the focus on deaf characters especially heightened the importance of telling one of these sto [...]
Mayra Sigwalt
Que livro lindo!!! Estou arrasada!! Uma história tão delicada, tão bonita e apesar de triste, cheia de esperança!Adorei,adorei!
This book is definitely stunning. I adored it right from page one and I've had it on my wishlist for years before I finally got it given to me at Christmas time. I am so, so happy I made time to finally read and enjoy it this week becuase it is truly something magical (although it's technically got no 'real' magic). This book is unique for the way it is told and the story it tells which really resonated with me and touched me in many ways.First off, let's talk about the format of this book. This [...]
Jeanette"Astute Crabbist"
I opened this book with an almost giddy feeling of anticipation, knowing I'd love it but not knowing quite what to expect. It's more fun if you don't know too much, so I'll try to share my excitement without revealing plot details. Wonderstruck weaves together two stories. One is told with words, the other with masterful drawings. Ben Wilson and Rose Kincaid are separated by 50 years, but they have some things in common. Both are longing for a missing parent. Both have lost their hearing. They'r [...]
Larnacouerde SH
Devrik cümlelerim için şimdiden özür diliyorum. Hislerimi yansıtmakta zorlanıyor, kelimeleri bir türlü toparlamıyorum bu da böyle kalsın.Ah! İnsanın kalbine işleyen, ruhuna dokunan öyle güzel bir hikayesi vardı ki Kutup Yıldızının, böylesini bulmak çok ÇOK zor gerçekten.Bookstagram hesabımda dile getirmiştim; kitap 600 küsur sayfa olmasına rağmen sayfaların yarısını illüstrasyonlar kaplıyor.Ama bu çizimler atıyorum Vahşi Orman kitabında ki gibi değil ç� [...]
Victor Casas
"El mundo estaba lleno de maravillas"Creo que es de los libros más bonitos que he tenido la suerte de leer y para fortuna mía, tiene a favor todo lo que libros como Aristoteles y Dante tuvieron en contra: una bella y bien formada historia de amistad. En este libro podemos empatizar más con el mundo de los sordos, con las personas que viven rodeadas de misterios y sobretodo, con aquellos que intentan encontrar su lugar.De los libros mas "maravillosos" y esperanzadores que he leído en toda mi [...]
Rikke Simonsen
En billedskøn oplevelse med få ord! Det var præcis, hvad denne bog indeholdte. Vi følger to personer - Ben og Rose - hvor vi får Bens historie på skrift, og Roses historie i billeder. De foregår med 50 års mellemrum, og man følger dem skiftevis, og man ender med at flyve igennem bogen, nærmest mens man holder vejret. Brian Selznick laver altid de flotteste tegninger, og man kan sidde og stirre sig blindt på deres skønhed. Der er så mange detaljer, og det giver virkelig SÅ meget til [...]
4.5/5Kitaba BAYILDIM! Kitabın formatı hayatımda gördüğüm en orijinal fikir olabilir. Yorumu için: kronikokur/201
Although there were too many coincidences, I thought this book was amazing. I want to read it again and look for the allusions to Konigsburg that Selznick mentions in his author's notes.
Is it possible to give more than five stars?'s been a long time since a book had such an emotional impact on me. I am wonderstruck.
Aya Hamza
Perfection!!!Review to come
Weighing in at around 630 pages, Wonderstruck is not particularly a commute-friendly book. However, as a large part of the story is told through illustrations, it's also a book that can be read quickly – fortunately for me, as there was simply no way I could carry this around as per my usual reading habits. Wonderstruck tells two intersecting stories, beginning decades apart. Ben and Rose are two characters who understand what is it like to miss something, and to feel alone. It's this sens [...]
Aslında hepimiz bir çukurun ortasındayız. Fark yaratan tek şey, bazıları çukura bakarken diğerlerinin yıldızlara bakıyor olması. Sizde özel çizimleri ve bir o kadar özel kalemleri seviyorsanız okunması gereken bir kitap Kutup Yıldızı. Şaşırtıcı bir anlatım, büyüleyici illustrasyonlar ve etkileyici bir son
سبک "سینمارمان" سبک خیلی خیلی خوب و جدیدیست که واقعاً برای نوجوانان امروزی سبکیست درخور و بهروزمبدع سبک هم همین آقای ریان سلزنیک هست. نویسندۀ کتابهای اختراع هوگو و شگفتزدهولی خب این دوتا کتاب واقعاً باهم قابل قیاس نیستنداختراع هوگو همهچیزش خوب بود، ولی این کتاب فقط س� [...]
David Johnson
Just as magical as The Invention of Hugo Cabret.
"Ben remembered reading about curators in 'Wonderstruck', and thought about what it meant to curate your own life What would it be like to pick and choose the objects and stories that would go into your own cabinet [of wonders]? How would been curate *his* own life? And then, thinking about his museum box, and his house, and his books, and the secret room, he realized he'd already begun doing it. Maybe, thought Ben, we are all cabinets of wonders."And this book is a wonder! It's "the whole packa [...]
☆ Wonderstruck || ï PDF Download by ↠ Brian Selznick 364 Brian Selznick
Title: ☆ Wonderstruck || ï PDF Download by ↠ Brian Selznick
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Published :2020-07-08T02:32:08+00:00


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My favorite coffee, perfect weather, and first sighting of the invisi-birds on Friday must mean the forces of the universe are aligned in perfection.
Coffee of the Day: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
Bird of the Day: piping plover
Weird Wrack Item of the Week: a New York driver's license
Invisi-bird Status: 15 nests -- 13 on the refuge and 2 at Sandy Point. Number actually seen by me: 3!!!!!!
|What a Gorgeous Day!
|Where Plovers Dine
|See Them? Those Three Dots Along the Waterline? Yup!
me. It landed on the beach, right at the water line. Pretty soon another one joined it. The two of them were feeding like crazy -- doing that foot trembling thing that's actually called "plovering" because plovers do it (weird because some gulls do it too). They hung out there for quite some time. Every once in awhile, they would hunker down next to a long strand of kelp that had washed up. This was all too far away for me to see what they might have been doing with the kelp. I don't know what kind of insects or whatever a single strand of kelp might harbor. A third piping plover joined them foraging on the flats for awhile, but then it flew up the beach to the highest line of wrack near where the stairs from the Lot 1 boardwalk used to be. I lost track of it amongst the wrack, and resumed watching the other two. I even got to point them out to a visitor, who was happy to know they're really here.
|Hard at Work on the Boardwalk
|Where Newbury Residents Party
|Driver License in the Wrack

subset: commoncrawl


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Valerie J. Bluth is a member in the Labor & Employment practice group. An experienced litigator, Ms. Bluth represents clients in all aspects of employment law, including claims asserted under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family & Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the New York Labor Law, the New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law, in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies. Ms. Bluth also regularly advises clients regarding employment discrimination and harassment, wage and hour compliance, employment policies and practices, unemployment insurance and Workers' Compensation claims, internal investigations, reasonable accommodations, leave of absence management, terminations and disciplinary actions, labor-management relations, grievance processing, collective bargaining agreement interpretation and application, alternative dispute resolution and a variety of other workplace issues. Additionally, Ms. Bluth routinely drafts employment, restrictive covenant and non-disclosure agreements as well as employment policies and employee handbooks, and develops and presents training programs for managers and staff regarding various principles of workplace law. She also represents clients in traditional labor matters, including labor arbitrations and National Labor Relations Board proceedings.
Ms. Bluth has represented and advised both small businesses and large corporations, in both unionized and non-unionized settings, in the hospitality, real estate, analytics, startup, advertising, automotive, retail, information technology, luxury brand, cosmetics, journalism, and healthcare industries as well as in the nonprofit, education and municipal sectors. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Bluth practiced labor and employment law at Vedder Price P.C., Jackson Lewis LLP and Putney, Twombly, Hall & Hirson LLP.
Above all, Ms. Bluth works tirelessly to ensure clients are in compliance with an ever-changing landscape of federal, state and local employment laws, especially with respect to pay practices and employment policies, and to devise practical solutions for any employment problems that might arise.
Ms. Bluth received her Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and her Juris Doctor degree from Fordham Law School. Ms. Bluth is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey, as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, and District of New Jersey. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association, Labor & Employment Law Section.


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The first day at my new website. There are major changes with more coming. Some new artwork is now viewable on the home page and I am working on adding galleries.
New Website
by Rob R Robinson | Nov 30, 2015 | News | 4 comments
4 Comments
Ruth Armitage on February 1, 2016 at 6:25 pm
Congrats on your new site, Rob! Looks great 🙂
Rob R Robinson on February 2, 2016 at 8:35 am
Thanks, Ruth! I still have a long way to go.
Jan McCartney on February 3, 2016 at 8:00 pm
Super design, Rob! The theme works so well with your colourful pieces. You inspire me.
Rob R Robinson on February 3, 2016 at 9:53 pm
Thanks so much, Jan!
I look forward to seeing what you do with the inspiration.


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Benefits & Disadvantages of Knockout Roses
Knock Out roses (Rosa radrazz and others) grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 11, and they are among the hardiest roses to grow and the most disease-resistant. They are resistant to black spot disease and are low-maintenance and drought-tolerant, all of which are true and proven. Very few disadvantages come along with these roses, although some aspects may turn off certain gardeners.
These shrub roses grow rather quickly to a height of about 4 feet tall, the height marked on most of their tags, making them suitable for a bushy hedge, backdrop or accent plant. As hardy as they are, though, you might find that you get a shrub rose much taller than 4 feet; these guys can quickly outgrow the space you put them in if you have ideal conditions. While this isn't necessarily a disadvantage to most gardeners and homeowners, it can be if you expected your moderately sized shrub rose to stay moderately sized. If you have fertile, well-drained soil, don't be surprised if you end up with a massive shrub over 6 feet tall.
Whether you choose a single- or double-blooming variety of Knock Out rose is a personal decision. Both types provide an abundance of blooms throughout spring, summer and early fall. This is definitely a benefit, as these quality performers produce without much hands-on care. The only disadvantage -- and it's a slight one at that -- is that, like other roses, the spent blooms can become an eyesore if you don't pluck them away with regular deadheading. Knock Outs will, however, continue to bloom and push out the spent blooms on their own over time if you choose to let them be.
Pest- and Disease-Resistance
These roses are hardy and prove to be much more pest- and disease-resistant than many other types of roses. They aren't perfect, however, and you're still likely to see some pests on them. As far as diseases, Knock Outs are still susceptible to a few fungal diseases, though outbreaks are not as severe as on other roses.
Bottom Line
Knock Outs proved to be a superior type of rose when they were first introduced and continue to provide gracious blooms with little maintenance to the joy of many gardeners. Disadvantages of this family of roses are rare; just keep in mind that like all living plants, there is always the chance of something going wrong despite their hardiness.
Photo Credits
- Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images


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Friday Headlines
the weekly newsletter from EHS
Look out, Medusa's about!
16 March 2018
This week at Classics Club our Sixth Form Classicists taught Year 7 the myth of Medusa, the famous snakey Gorgon who was finally slain by the hero Perseus.
We then set about creating our own Medusa face masks, inspired by the goddess Athena who used the image of Medusa on her famous shield. Girls created fantastic personalised masks complete with green snakes and some glittery highlights and finished off the experience by devouring some jelly snakes! A fantastic time had by all.
Look out, Medusa's about!
Click image for full view


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Rejoice, power listeners. We bring you good tidings.
Pandora will lift the 40-hour-per-month mobile listening limit on free music it introduced in February, starting Sept. 1.
The news comes via TechCrunch, reporting on the music service's financial earnings call. What brings about the change? Sounds like Pandora's gotten smarter.
More "surgical techniques," like skip limits, allow the company to control costs in a way that won't impact users as obviously as the "blunt tool" cap.
What's more, CFO Mike Herring said that business improvements, especially in advertising, mean Pandora is able to "monetize those hours from 41 onward at a much higher rate." Mo' money, mo' listening.
iTunes Radio who?
This isn't the first time Pandora has instated and then retracted a listening limit. The company imposed one on free desktop usage, but pulled the cap off in September 2011.
Herring today said that usage dropped by 10% following February's imposition. While he doesn't expect a huge jump come Sept. 1, he said Pandora anticipates listening hours increasing.
Though Herring brushed off the impending launch of iTunes Radio by stating, "We are no strangers to intense competition," it's worth noting that the Apple-led service won't launch with a listening cap.


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A special spring flower mosaic made of Dutch bulb flowers is currently on display at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. The mosaic was unveiled on 15 April and is named 'Flags of Liberty'. It commemorates 70 years of liberation of Holland and is a Dutch thank you to the Allied Forces. The mosaic of 10 square meters and made up of 36,000 bulb flowers has been designed by Jan Guldemond, former head designer at Keukenhof. The bulbs were supplied by JUB Holland. The colourful display on the foot of the iconic Palm House depicts the British and Dutch flags flying in the wind, celebrating liberty. At the unveiling the flowers had just started to bloom and the display should be visible for the next few weeks for all visitors to Kew to enjoy.
On this beautiful spring day, the symbolic handover of the flower mosaic took place in colourful Royal Botanical Gardens Kew. Major (Rtd) Kenneth Mayhew (98) received from the Dutch Ambassador, Laetitia van den Assum, a beautiful bunch of Liberation Tulips as a symbolic thank you to all liberators. Major Mayhew is the oldest living carrier of the Military Willemsorde, the Dutch equivalent of the Victoria Cross. He received this honour for his role in the Liberation of Holland in 1944-45. The other veterans who attended, including Major (Rtd) Maurice Hewitt, who fought in Holland in WW II and a group of Chelsea Pensioners, also received a Liberation Tulip. Apart from the veterans there was also military representation from Holland, the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Canada. Also the German Military Attaché was present to emphasize the importance of peace, liberty and reconciliation.
While the bulbs were steadily growing in Kew Gardens, the pupils of three local schools started working on a project around freedom and reconciliation. Pupils of the International School of London, Mount Sheen Primary School and the German School in Richmond attended themed lessons these inspired them for a compilation artwork that is on display in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery in Kew. This way the younger generations were involved and a group of pupils were present at the ceremony. It gave them a chance to talk to the veterans about their experiences first hand.
Ambassador Van den Assum emphasised in her speech the importance of reconciliation, how valuable freedom and peace are and how important it is to pass these on to future generations. She warned for the dangers of indifference. Richard Deverell, Director of Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, touched upon how Kew was affected during the Second World War and also the link between Kew Gardens and Holland. Music was provided by the Parachute Regiment Brass Quintet and the Nijmegen Compagnie Grenadier Guards provided the Guard of Honour.
The flower display in Kew is part of the Dutch Embassy project 'Tulips for Liberators'. A second display has been planted in Lincoln, next to its historic cathedral. This mosaic has the title 'Operation Manna' and refers to the first airborne relief operation in the spring of 1945. The allied forces, led by RAF Bomber Command, dropped food parcels in the western part of Holland where the Dutch people were starving after a severe winter. Many of these relief flights were done from Lincolnshire. The commemorative flower display in Lincoln will be unveiled on Tuesday 21 April 2015.
About JUB Holland
The mosaics have been created in partnership with specialist bulb growers JUB Holland, who have provided the following varieties: Muscari aucheri 'Blue Magic'; Muscari aucheri 'White Magic'; Muscari botryoides 'Superstar'; Tulipa 'David Teniers'; Tulipa 'Liberation'; Tulipa 'Prinses Irene'; Tulipa 'Prinses Margriet'; and Tulipa 'Seadov', Tulipa 'Willem van Oranje' and Tulipa 'Peach Blossom'
The Liberation Tulip was named in May 2014 in London by Major (Rtd) Mayhew. It is a yellow and red tulip grown by JUB Holland


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Spain new export market
We keep on expanding our reach to new markets and Spain is the latest on the list. In 2015 we were nominated as the All Weather Mat supplier to the new SEAT SUV "Ateca". This is our first project with SEAT and deliveries will start in April this year.
- We have identified interesting customers and markets and the Volkswagen Group, including SEAT, is one of them, says CEO Christian Kiks.
The mats have been developed in close collaboration with SEAT. Our Product Design Department has had a key role.
- We presented design concepts to SEAT at an early stage of the project and the final design was developed based on our suggestions.
It's not solely a question of design, however: a high material quality level is equally important. SEAT's materials lab has demanding requirements, but our material passed their tests.
We look forward to a long and mutually prosperous partnership with SEAT.


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FutureLink empowers youth and young adults for career success, providing education, training and support services to disconnected young adults facing educational and economic barriers and equipping participants with pathways to success that lead to long-term employment in high demand occupations.
The following are examples of just some of the services the program provides:
- Job Search Assistance, Soft Skills Training, Workshops
- Resume Preparation & Interviewing Assistance
- Paid Work Experience Programs, and more
FutureLink serves customers in the age range of 16-25 throughout the seven counties of Barry, Barton, Dade, Jasper, Lawrence, McDonald, and Newton, and is staffed during regular business hours at the Missouri Job Center locations at Joplin and Monett. Special after-hours services are available by appointment.
Basic career services are available to all. Some services do require eligibility. Those with one of more of the following barriers are typically eligible for FutureLink's individualized or training level services: foster care, pregnant or nursing, homeless, offender/ex-offender, disability, dropout, English language learner, and/or basic skills deficient.
For more information or to request a FutureLink career counselor, call your local youth career manager at one of the numbers below, or send an email to email@example.com.


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Boutique Hotel Casa Santa Rosa is one of the most luxurious Hotel in Antigua Guatemala, offering our guests the comfort, tranquility, security, in an exclusive environment. Two beautiful gardens contribute to the natural environment which will make you feel right at home.
Casa Santa Rosa is located just a few minutes from the Central Park of La Antigua Guatemala. Has nine spacious suites decorated different, 6 of which 4 suites have a Jacuzzi, and 3 standard rooms, beds of high quality fine cotton and linen.
We offer our guests delicious breakfast "a la carte" and served for your convenience, we have additional services like a mini bar if you required, wireless internet, laundry services and transportation to and from the Airport to La Antigua Guatemala. Our administrative staff also help you in the coordination of all your transportation and tourist travel during your visit to Guatemala.


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I love what I do, I wake up excited to work on my next sculpture. I don't think of what i do as work – more as play …when you say work that sounds like a chore – I love what I do so I think of it as play – I will often say when my husband comes home from work – "look what I've played today "
Everything I do is self taught & to me that brings learning – my early standing pieces were rather wobbly but through experimentation they now stand really well. I've learned so much more by having to solve problems myself, than if I'd been taught how to do something. My earlier work was quite light, but I know make them heavier by making a clay structure.
I'm often inspired by the material I'm using. As I start on a new piece I'm not always sure what it will end up as , for example I had some old favourite knitted socks that had holes in them , which when I looked at them I realized they would make a great jumper for a pixie. The other day when i was walking fraiser ( my dog )in the rain my imagination was running wild , & I was wondering how faeries would keep dry – so when I got home I started work on a standing faerie sheltering under a large leaf.
I have been making my sculptures for about 12 years & I still haven't got tired of making faeries & pixies. I will sometimes make other pieces for a change, but always come back to the faeries. AS a break I will sometimes make some greetings cards or do the odd bit of stained glass.
I've always thought of myself as a artist , when I left school I did an art foundation course but didn't go on to university, I worked for a few years painting murals on motorbikes until I had my children, over the years I was always doing arty things , but just for myself. It wasn't until I started making my sculptures that I started selling my work, and I truly feel that what I'm doing now is what I should be doing.
I feel at peace with myself – if I'm not creating something I feel empty, when I can take a pile of rubbish that most people would throw away and turn it into something beautiful it makes me feel like myself.
I've been with my husband Eric for 30 years and he's still my best friend. I have 2 daughters and 2 grandsons. My dog Fraiser is my life – I'm with him 24hours a day – it's really true – "love me love my dog" he has his own sofa in my studio so he's comfy and I will often pause as I'm working to just look at him as he fills my heart with total love. Fraiser is a lurcher & is the inspiration for my dog sculptures.
Every piece I make is a total one off – no two pieces will ever be identical. I use no moulds or patterns – so although my work will have a recognizable theme each piece will be individual. I'm happy to do commissions be they a small piece made from your child's old baby clothes, to a life sized old man. If someone likes a piece that is already sold I will happily make one similar – but due to the fact I use recycled material there's no guarantee I will be able to source the same material.
I sell my work through galleries/ exhibitions. Although I love meeting people & talking about my work I find it hard to sell my work as I feel as if I'm selling myself & therefore find that I don't promote myself very well …. I feel if I say look at this fantastic sculpture – look how unique and different it is , that it is boasting – so I let the galleries do the boasting for me.
I totally feel that what I'm doing now is what I should be doing , so although I like to experiment I'm happy doing what I do.
My studio is my happy place Eric built my studio in our back garden . It seemed huge when it was first built 18 foot x 12 foot – so nice and roomy – now you'd struggle to find any space! On the walls I have murals I have made, photos of my family, many photos of fraiser & several cartoons or inspirational sayings that I like. Fraiser has his own sofa in my studio so he can sleep away the day while I'm working. I have a log burner to keep me warm. My studio is a dirty space the floor is thick with resin – what I do is very messy & I can work without worrying about making a mess. I will sometimes go outside to do 10 minutes work & find I have been out there for several hours – times flies when I'm in my studio – as they say "time flies when you're having fun".


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Ages 40 and up / Re: My history - my journal« on: November 18, 2014, 12:50:47 PM »
Hey friends I'm in doubt. Must I reset my counter ? Too much fantasies, thinking about sex almost all the time. In a few moments ago, in my job, I thought about to buy some toys in the sex shop. How stupid I am ! For God sakes. Although I now have more clarity, I acessed one sexshop's website for 2 or 3 minutes. No P. No M, No O. Just look some toys and closed the page. Now I don't know if it's honest to read my counter saying 18 days or if I must reset it. What do you think about this ? Thank you.


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Back to Journals » Patient Preference and Adherence » Volume 11
New insights into frequency and contents of fear of cancer progression/recurrence (FOP/FCR) in outpatients with colorectal carcinoma (CRC) receiving oral capecitabine: a pilot study at a comprehensive cancer center
Authors Hefner J, Berberich S, Lanvers E, Sanning M, Steimer A, Kunzmann V
Received 28 May 2017
Accepted for publication 25 July 2017
Published 14 November 2017 Volume 2017:11 Pages 1907—1914
DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S142784
Checked for plagiarism Yes
Review by Single anonymous peer review
Peer reviewer comments 2
Editor who approved publication: Dr Johnny Chen
Jochen Hefner,1 Sara Berberich,2 Elena Lanvers,3 Maria Sanning,2 Ann-Kathrin Steimer,2 Volker Kunzmann4
1Section of Psychosomatic Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine II, University of Wuerzburg, 2Faculty of Medicine, University of Wuerzburg, Bavaria, 3Children's Hospital of the City of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, 4Section of Clinical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine II, University of Wuerzburg, Bavaria, Germany
Background: Fear of cancer progression/recurrence (FOP/FCR) is considered one of the most prevalent sources of distress in cancer survivors and associated with lower quality of life and functional impairment. Detailed measures of FOP/FCR are needed because little is known about the knowledge of FOP/FCR, its associations with the patient–doctor relationship, and the rate of adequate therapy. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancer entities, and oral capecitabine is widely prescribed as treatment. Therefore, we initiated a pilot study to expand the literature on FOP/FCR in CRC outpatients receiving capecitabine and to generate hypotheses for future investigations.
Methods: This study included 58 patients treated at a comprehensive cancer center. FOP/FCR was assessed with the Fear of Progression Questionnaire (FOP-Q-SF). Satisfaction with the relationships with doctors was assessed with the Patient–Doctor Relationship Questionnaire-9 (PRDQ-9). Levels of side effects were rated by the patients on a visual analog scale. Clinical data were extracted from the charts.
Results: A total of 19 out of 58 patients (36%) suffered from FOP/FCR according to our assessment. Levels of FOP/FCR seemed to be mostly moderate to high. Only four out of the 19 distressed patients (21%) were treated accordingly. Typical side effects of oncological treatment were associated with higher FOP/FCR. Satisfaction with doctor–patient relationships was not associated with FOP/FCR. Regarding single items of FOP/FCR, three out of the five most prevalent fears were associated with close relatives.
Discussion: FOP/FCR occurred frequently in more than one in three patients, but was mostly untreated in this sample of consecutive outpatients with CRC receiving oral capecitabine. In detail, most fears were related to family and friends. In addition to an unmet need of patients, our data indicate sources of distress not considered thus far. If replicated in larger studies, results may help to inform intervention development and improve patient care.
Keywords: oral anticancer drugs, colorectal cancer, fear of progression, screening for distress, comprehensive management
This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.Download Article [PDF] View Full Text [HTML][Machine readable]


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I have talked with countless people who have felt a relief when their loved one died. Relief their loved one was no longer in pain, relief that they didn't have to visit that nursing home anymore and all it entailed, relief that their loved one is "in a better place."
However, the partner to that relief is often guilt. Am I a bad person? I didn't want my parent to die. Most people don't have the strength to admit their relief fearing people's judgment will only add to their guilt. I recently happened upon a brutally honest CNN article on this topic titled, "After the Death of a Parent, Some Bloom". I have somewhat conflicting feelings about the article, but ultimately decided that I shouldn't avoid the topic just because it's a little uncomfortable to talk about.
There's not a lot of resources out there for people who have lost a parent, after all if you buried your parents then the life cycle went as planned; you buried them, they didn't bury you, so what is there to be so upset about? A lot!
Jeanne Safer is author of the book, "Death Benefits: How Losing a Parent Can Change an Adult's Life—for the Better." I've adapted her processes for transformation after the death of the parent, many of these can be applied to any type of loss:
1. Make a conscience decision to acknowledge the death and learn something from it.
2. Allow yourself private time every day to reflect on their life and your relationship. Look at family photos or possessions and remember the feelings you had around them.
3. Construct a narrative of your parent's history as objectively as possible.
4. Create an inventory of your parent's character, and decide to what keep.
5. Reflect on both the positive and negative impact your parent had on your life.
6. Remind yourself that you don't have to follow your parent's ideas of how you should look, feel or act ever again; you can question everything now without offending them.
7. Acknowledge your guilt and let it go.
8. Seek new experiences and relationships.
Not all 8 of these are appropriate for everyone in every situation. It's just a suggestion list, if it helps you get rid of some of your guilt then I'm all for it. Safer says, "Some children get married, some get divorced, some change jobs or become religious or atheists. They feel emotionally liberated when they no longer are dominated by someone else's values or have to be emotional caretakers….the list goes on and on." However the CNN article makes the point several times that the child is only freed after grieving the loss of the parent. No matter how you process it, grieving a loss is a lot of work, both physically and emotionally.
End of Life Insights provides Consultation Services, Public Speaking Engagements, Professional Development, Expert Witness Testimony and Research on end of life issues.
Martha has been involved in the Colorado Funeral Service Industry since 1988. She has been the Department Chair of the nationally recognized Mortuary Science Program at Arapahoe Community College since 1996.


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The Sherborne Milburn suite has a contemporary look with a stylish, inviting back cushion design, complemented by soft sweeping 'pillow' arms and full-width 'chaise' seating. Optional protective armcaps & exceptional value 'Staingard' 5 years stains & accidental damage protection is also available, click on the logo to view the 3 levels of protection offered.
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Orders over £395 qualify for free delivery to the UK mainland. A two-man team will deliver your furniture to the room of your choice, set it up and remove and recycle any packaging. For an extra charge of £15 per seat, they can remove your old suite too.
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Destiny 2's Curse of Osiris First Livestream Begins Tomorrow
Bungie will be going live on its Twitch channel Wednesday, November 15 to flaunt Curse of Osiris, Destiny 2's upcoming expansion.
Tomorrow, the first of three livestreams for Destiny 2's upcoming expansion — titled Curse of Osiris — will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific on Bungie's Twitch channel. The stream will focus on the expansion's Mercury location as well as the new characters you will meet and the enemies you will encounter. You can check out the "tune in" trailer below flaunting the expansion's new features below.
Curse of Osiris was revealed at the tail-end of October alongside a new trailer. The new expansion begins with an ancient portal mysteriously opening on Mercury and Destiny's enemy time traveling robot race, the Vexx, pouring out of it.
If that wasn't enough trouble, the most powerful and notorious warlock in Destiny's history — Osiris (voiced by Oded Fehr) — will make his debut alongside his ghost, Sagira (voiced by Morena Baccarin). For the uninitiated, Osiris is Ikora's mentor as well as the namesake for the Trials of Osiris Crucible event.
Curse of Osiris will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on December 5, 2017. The base game is available now for the aforementioned platforms. Players who purchased the expansion pass will have access to Curse of Osiris as well as the unnamed second expansion slated to release next Spring.


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Coronary heart disease (CHD), which causes heart attacks and angina, is the single leading cause of death in the United States. The strongest risk factors for CHD development include circulating levels of lipids and lipoproteins, both of which are strongly regulated by genetic factors. Variants with significant effects on lipid levels have been identified for a number of monogenic familial disorders, but these account for only a small proportion of CHD. In contrast, genetic determinants for common lipid abnormalities remain unknown. The overall plan for this project is to identify and characterize genetic variants that contribute to the regulation of fasting serum concentrations of total cholesterol. The focus of this study is a locus which has been initially mapped on the basis of linkage data to chromosome 19 in at least 15 studies, then subsequently narrowed to a 1-LOD support interval <15.7 cM in Pima Indians. The specific goals of this proposal are to first refine and prioritize localization of the QTL(s) for fasting serum TC concentration on 19p by genotyping a dense set of SNP markers in a study sample of 2,884 Pima Indians. All QTL-associated SNP alleles and haplotypes will then be genotyped in 701 African American individuals from the Genetics of NIDDM (GENNID) study, in whom we have previously observed linkage for TC concentration, and 740 Mexican American individuals from the San Antonio Family Gallbladder Disease Study (SAFGS), who are more likely to share greater genetic similarity with Pima Indians. Completion of this aim will provide validation of findings obtained in Aim 1. The next step will utilize an innovative bar-code approach to next-generation sequencing to fully characterize regions showing association with TC concentration, and identify specific variants that are likely to exert functional effects on cholesterol metabolism. Finally, we propose an exploratory characterization of functional effects associated with strong QTL-related alleles, which will provide a basis for the development of a full-scale investigation of the molecular mechanisms by which these specific variants affect regulation of cholesterol metabolism as the focus of an independent grant application. Combined, these aims will identify novel variants with critical effects on fasting total cholesterol concentration. Identification of the genetic mechanisms influencing cholesterol concentrations will advance our understanding of lipid metabolism, leading to an enhanced knowledge of the pathophysiology of the atherosclerotic process.
Total cholesterol levels are under the control of genetic factors. The goal of this study is to advance our knowledge of common lipid abnormalities, such as hypercholesterolemia, through the identification and characterization of genes that have been linked to chromosome 19 in a number of different populations. Identification and characterization of genes that regulate cholesterol metabolism will enhance our understanding of the inheritance of common lipid abnormalities, provide markers to target individuals at greatest risk for developing heart disease, and potentially lead to improved treatment strategies for hypercholesterolemia.
|Hanson, Robert L; Leti, Fatjon; Tsinajinnie, Darwin et al. (2016) The Arg59Trp variant in ANGPTL8 (betatrophin) is associated with total and HDL-cholesterol in American Indians and Mexican Americans and differentially affects cleavage of ANGPTL3. Mol Genet Metab 118:128-37
|Alvarez, M Lucrecia; Khosroheidari, Mahdieh; Eddy, Elena et al. (2015) MicroRNA-27a decreases the level and efficiency of the LDL receptor and contributes to the dysregulation of cholesterol homeostasis. Atherosclerosis 242:595-604


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Not long after moving into the building I've called home over the past 20-odd years, I heard that it had once been occupied by a cult. Longtime residents soon confirmed it, but they were hazy about the particulars. No one could remember the name of the group, only that its members were strange and menacing. Nor could my neighbors recall the circumstances under which the cult had departed. The latter struck me as a potentially important piece of information: if reclaiming the cult's old property was part of an apocalyptic scenario, I wanted plenty of notice.
The millennium ended without incident, and in time the mystery slipped my mind entirely -- until just a few years back, when the solution turned up one day by surprise. It came from a book about Synanon, a drug-rehabilitation program that started in California during the late 1950s. It was inspired by Alcoholics Anonymous, as the name suggests, although Synanon went off on very much its own course by taking in heroin addicts and the abusers of other hard drugs. In handling such tough customers, Synanon modified AA's therapeutic methods considerably. Another difference was that Chuck Dederich, the founder, was as eager to encourage publicity as Bill W. [2] was to avoid it.
By 1965, there were two books about Synanon by academics as well as a Hollywood film (starring Eartha Kitt as a junkie) [3] along with an enormous amount of print and television coverage -- all highlighting Synanon's remarkable success in turning self-described "drug fiends" into sober, productive citizens. Just when and how the group went off the rails is a difficult question. But it did, and the effort to establish an East Coast headquarters by taking over my apartment building (noted in Rod Janzen's The Rise and Fall of Synanon: A California Utopia, published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2001) was not even the most bizarre and disturbing thing Dederich and his followers did in 1978. That distinction would go to the attempt to silence one of the group's critics in California by placing a rattlesnake (its rattle cut off) in his mailbox.
Synanon's multifaceted and highly successful public-relations efforts during its first dozen years are recounted in detail in the first two chapters of Claire D. Clark's The Recovery Revolution: The Battle Over Addiction Treatment in the United States (Columbia University Press [4]). Clark, an assistant professor of behavioral science at the University of Kentucky, leaves no room for doubt about the depth of Synanon's influence. The group has been defunct since the early 1990s and is long since forgotten for the most part -- except for the rattlesnake incident, perhaps.
The group's spectacular degeneration is incidental to Clark's interest in it. She places Synanon in the wider history of American attitudes toward dependency on highly addictive substances -- swinging between framing the problem in terms of morality or of physiology, to be addressed as a crime or as a matter of public health. To simplify a bit, the high rate of relapse from medical treatment tends to bolster the sentiment that the one sure way to minimize addiction's social cost is to lock addicts up, while the general effect of locking them up is to reinforce the subculture of addiction. (Another by-product of incarceration: addicts who leave prison with stronger criminal skills and connections.)
The genius of Dederich in creating Synanon was that it combined the therapeutic promise of Alcoholics Anonymous with his firsthand knowledge of addicts' deviant socialization. Joining meant moving into group housing and entering "the Game" -- marathon therapy sessions in which participants ruthlessly challenged one another's pretenses and defenses. For hours and sometimes days at a stretch, ex-addicts tore away the lies, rationalizations, self-pity and anything else that they recognized, from experience, could lead back to using. And it worked.
"The longer residents stayed in Synanon," Clark writes, "the less likely they were to drop out: the dropout rate fell to 40 percent for those who stayed three months, 32 percent for those who stayed six months and less than 25 percent for those who stayed a year or longer. As of 1964, of the 1,180 members who had joined Synanon since 1958, 463 (39.3 percent) were in residence or had graduated in good standing. By the standards of Synanon's contemporaries, that cure rate was more than respectable."
Public attention to Synanon was not a result of its success rate alone -- or even of the founder's willingness to let journalists, celebrities and the occasional sociologist sit in on the confrontational Game, though the voyeuristic appeal must have been a factor. In analyzing Synanon's development from its founding in 1958 through roughly 1970, Clark brings into focus how the group exemplified, and sometimes anticipated, the cultural themes of the period. It was a counterinstitution, run on a principle of anti-expertise, without input from the medical or judicial professions, and the implication soon became clear that the Game was radically antiestablishment in spirit, demanding greater honesty and authenticity of participants than was the social norm.
At the same time, Synanon advanced what Clark identifies as a "retrograde moral philosophy" -- dedicated to hard work, frugality, self-control and maturity -- against the supposed "new morality" of the period, with its countercultural and consumer-society values.
It was quite a contradictory package -- and as such almost perfectly suited to meet, in the author's apt phrase, "nonaddicted spiritual seekers' seemingly conflicting desire: to transform society by dropping out of it." Perhaps the least bizarre thing about Synanon's course after 1970 (the point at which Clark rather abruptly drops the subject) is that it attempted to claim tax-exempt status as a religion.
The "second generation" of therapeutic communities -- as Clark calls groups that borrowed from the Synanon model without copying it exactly -- was more open to involving medical professionals; some combined group-therapy techniques with methadone treatment or other pharmacological interventions, while Dederich had insisted on a total break from substance use. A few post-Synanon therapeutic communities sustained the outlook at the American society was sicker than any junkie. (Some forged ties with the Black Panthers; at least one sounds like it might have joined up with the Weather Underground sooner or later, if not for attracting the attention of the FBI.) But other groups developed working relationships with judges and prison wardens, feeding into what is now an established if underfunded system of drug-treatment and mental-health centers.
As The Recovery Revolution's final pages suggest, it is possible to overstate how well-accepted or mainstream therapeutic communities have become. As the number of drug overdoses has spiked over the past 20 years, the rhetoric of punitive drug policy is always easier to generate than funding for treatment. The history Clark records is of an alternative that has inflicted some black eyes on itself over time, but that has also proven itself in practice and saved lives.


text: This comprehensive reference details the technical, chemical, and mechanical aspects of high-temperature refractory composite materials for step-by-step guidance on the selection of the most appropriate system for specific manufacturing processes. The book surveys a wide range of lining system geometries and material combinations and covers a broad range of tests for the determination of the thermal, mechanical, strength, and resistance properties of refractories. With contributions from international specialists with widespread experience in the field, Refractories Handbook provides examples of refractory lining systems utilized in a range of industries, including glass, cement, and steel.


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Designers - Lucy Folk - Sunglasses
Lucy Folk
Frequent Flyer Sunglasses, Granite
Lucy Folk Frequent Flyer Sunglasses are fun and flamboyant personified. Inspired by the iconic Aviator, these sunglasses, designed in collaboration with renown eye-wear designer Sunshine Bertrand, feature large scale lens and unique bridge detailing across the nose and boast a custom eye-wear chain fixture. Ideal for those with a heart, oval or round face.
Handmade in Italy
Italian Acetate, Stainless Steel, Brass, CR39 Zeiss lenses
Colour: Granite
View more


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Marlene Dumas paintings have always been something to talk about. Whether about their style or the subjects they depict, they are always a conversation piece and a discussion topic. Therefore, it is no wonder that those pieces reach pretty steep prices in auctions. Marlene Dumas is an artist and a painter born in South Africa who currently lives in works in Amsterdam. The Cape Town native now works primarily with oil on canvas and ink on paper, but in the past, she was no stranger to prints, collages, installations, and drawings. Marlene has attended the University of Amsterdam where she studied painting and psychology, a science which greatly influences her works as an artist. During the 1980s, Dumas has started to paint heads and figures, which are the works she is most famous for even now. She often investigates the themes of ethical intolerance and racism, especially when it comes to apartheid.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Marlene started to produce a series of works that tackle the notions of pregnancy and babies, inspired by the birth of her daughter Helena in 1987. She created a project called Stripping Girls in collaboration with the photographer Anton Corbijn, the subject of which were the girls from the famous Amsterdam peep shows and strip clubs. Her portrait works depicted various figures, from her family and friends, over strangers, to famous faces such as those of Naomi Campbell and Osama Bin Laden. The artist chooses to show these faces in a distorted, sometimes even disturbing fashion, which is the result of her use of thinned down paint, that creates smudged and washed out figures, very characteristic of her oeuvre.
Yes, Marlene Dumas is amazing, and to honor her as an artist we have compiled a list of top 10 Marlene Dumas paintings that reached the highest prices in auctions. So without further ado, scroll down to see these works.
Editors' Tip: Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave
For all of our lovely readers who want to know more about Marlene Dumas and her works, this book is the one for you. The South African artist has focused on the human figure throughout her career, often exploring the themes of desire, confusion, love, and despair. She also fearlessly criticized political and social attitudes towards women, people of color, children, and other historically victimized groups. The authors of this book, Cornelia Butler, Richard Shiff, Matthew Monahan, and Marlene Dumas herself have all contributed in creating a reading which pleased the admirers of Dumas' oeuvre. The book contains an illustrated exhibition history and biography of the thought-provoking artist, as well as texts written by the authors.
Created in 2004, Angelique demonstrates the artist's mastery of a niche space between abstraction and figuration, intimacy and immediacy, exile and integration. It depicts a female portrait upside down, with a gaze which confronts the viewer with intimacy and awareness and pulls them closer. It is rendered in wide brushstrokes of black paint which construct the background while contrasting with the diaphanous whitewash of the figure's skin. Referencing the work by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, which portrays a damsel caught in the midst of battle between a heroic savior and a snarling beast, the artist sought to subvert the canonical precedent by bestowing power upon the historically powerless figure.
The work was sold on May 19th, 2017 at Sotheby's New York during their Contemporary Art Day Auction for $1,550,000. More data on the work here.
The Dance is one of Marlene Dumas paintings that offer the expressionist and gestural contemporary masterpiece. There was a time in Dumas' career when she became captivated with the themes of pregnancy and babies, which led her to produce a number of pieces the subjects of which are children, from birth to early adolescence. Thus, in 1992 she painted The Dance. The deceptive title brings a joyful scene, the music, and lightness to the viewer's mind. But instead of that, the artwork depicts children of various ethnicities in a bleak space, facing the wall and turning their backs to the viewer. The piece brings the feeling of melancholy of the environment in which the children are placed, but the beam of light are the clothes they wear and the vibrancy of the colors that stand out from the overall sad and unappealing surroundings.
This painting was sold at Christie's London in 2007 for $1,914,870. Find out more about the auction by clicking here.
Die Baba is probably one of the most talked about Marlene Dumas paintings. The piece brings attention to the facial expressions and the gaze of the eyes of the baby, usually depicted as innocent and blissfully ignorant of the problems of the world and the heaviness of life. But in Marlene's painting, the baby is not baby-like. It is not oblivious to the thoughts and sins we carry within. It is a baby that stares right through the very core, the baby that knows, the baby that silently judges, the baby that is simply – not a baby. Some described this painting as an early depiction of Hitler, the vilest figure of the modern history. While the actual facial features used as inspiration for Die Baba did not belong to Hitler, but to the artist's brother, the work of art still raises the question: Are we born good and become evil later in life, or is it possible to actually be born evil?
Die Baba was sold in 2006 at Christie's New York for $1,920,000. See the whole painting and more details on the auction here.
Mother. The source of everything. The giver of life. The provider. The one who brings children to the Earth. The one who nurtures them. The one who loves them. The one who is always there for them. The one who is proud of their accomplishments. The one who cries with them. The one who is happy for them. The one who is always there. The one who helps them on their path through life. The one who eventually dies. Marlene Dumas' mother died in 2007. Before her death, she told the artist not to paint her as an old woman. Thus, this Marlene Dumas painting is a depiction of her mother as a young woman, before she was a mother before she did not even know she would become one. The intimate depiction of the most important woman in everyone's lives.
This piece was sold at Christie's New York in 2011 for @2,000,000. See the whole piece and more details here.
Created in 2006, The Pilgrim depicts a close up of a bearded man, absent-mindedly staring into nothingness. His face is bathed with a pink twilight, with lush and vivid rose, orange and green brushstrokes on his forehead, nose and cheek. The title indicates no particular individual, but rather a type of person. Pilgrims undertake a journey, a pilgrimage to a holy place to find spiritual enlightenment or healing, prepared to endure physical misery for God's sake.
The work was sold on March 8th, 2018 at Phillips London during their 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale for $2,053,918. More data on the work here.
Marlene Dumas paintings bloom where words perish. Her images speak more than any words ever could. Night Nurse is one of those images. The artwork is a prime example of Dumas' style, both in content and in form. In collaboration with Anton Corbjin, Marlene ventured onto the journey of depicting prostitutes from the famous Red Light District. She explored the themes of nudity, eroticism, and sexuality, and in this painting, those themes are represented through the image of a barely-clothed subject. The piece suggests a number of narratives but does not tell us what is the exact story behind it. Elusive and sophisticated, the painting is a perfect representation of Dumas as an artist, and thus it receives the third place on our list.
Night Nurse was sold at Phillips New York in May of 2016 for $2,517,000. See the whole painting and additional details here.
Another work from the famed Magdalena series created for Venice Biennale, Magdalena (Dark Polychrome) plays on the biblical myth of Mary Magdalene, who, according to legend, lived a secluded life clothed only by her hair. Fusing historical paradigms with images of the supermodel Naomi Campbell, the artist depicted a figure with full-lipped pout framed by curtains of flowing black hair, a trait that marks this painting out from the full cycle of twelve paintings. The body occupies a completely abstract realm of space, set against the dark blue ground against.
The work was sold on March 5th, 2019 at Sotheby's London during their Contemporary Art Evening Auction for $2,478,555. More data on the work here.
A sensorially stimulating example of the artist's profound investigation into the role of the painted figure in an increasingly image-driven society, Red Head presents an Edenic woman emerging from the luscious resonance of a vibrant sunset spectrum. Continuing a dialogue with one of her most enduring subjects - the female nude, it recalls the great female nudes of art history, but also a contemporary subject that she has engaged with in her most iconic works of the mid-1990s - supermodel Naomi Campbell. With features seemingly drained of identity, drifts between the realms of subject and object.
The work was sold on May 11th, 2016 at Sotheby's New York during their Contemporary Art Evening Auction for $2,700,000. More data on the work here.
As you have probably figured by now, Marlene Dumas paintings are not constrained by the shackles of reality. She does not care about what the world looks like, she cares about her own representation of it. Therefore, the piece entitled The Teacher does not offer a realistic image of a teacher and her class. The faces of the children and their tutor are, again, somewhat disturbing, disfigured. They do not offer a lot of detail, but they manage to depict a variety of emotions. Some are confused, some are deeply sad, some are smiling, and others are perplexed. The teacher has a strict facial expression, with eyes that gaze into the spot away from the imaginary lens. Everyone in this painting has their own personality, their own problems, even at such a young age. They are all together, but at the same time, all alone.
The Teacher was sold at Christie's London in 2005 for $2,967,800. See more details here.
This work is part of Dumas's major series collectively known as the Magdalenas. Created for her landmark Venice Biennale show of the same year, these larger than life, vertiginous paintings take on the trope of the 'fallen' woman as epitomized by the biblical tale of Mary Magdalene. These works portray femininity in a bold way, confronting the female body as a locus of pleasure and sin, asserting a catalog of empowered female embodiment. This exquisite example from this important series was based on an image of Naomi Cambell, with her seductive femininity preserving a Lolita-esque girlishness. The figure is cut off at the knees and her white t-shirt was replaced by long flowing locks of hair that half conceal the figure's bare chest.
The work was sold on November 16th, 2017 at Sotheby's New York during their Contemporary Art Evening Auction for $3,000,000. More data on the work here.
Created in 1985, De gele vingers van de kunstenaar, encapsulates the very breakthrough moment in Dumas' career in the mid-1980s. It is part of the breakthrough body of work The Eyes of the Night Creatures that Dumas created after a five-year hiatus from painting, during which time she had primarily created works on paper. The debut of the series marked her triumphant return to painting and figuration. Based on a photograph, the work captures a late-night art world gathering of friends that smoke, drink and talk. It is also a tribute to her friend and artist René Daniëls, depicted on the left.
The work was sold on November 16th, 2017 at Phillips New York during their 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale for $3,000,000. More data on the work here.
Created in 1997, Colorfields features five heroically-scaled women, confronting the viewer with its bold chromatic arrangement. The title itself references the Color Field movement, but also the emotive nature of color harnessed and exercised by the Abstract Expressionists. The painting is based on a Vogue photograph of four models, Carla Bruni, Nadja Auermann, Shalom Harlow, and Karen Mulder, with an interesting addition of a fifth figure to the far right. While she draws influence from a myriad of sources, the artist insists she is most interested in maintaining an air of mystery throughout her body of work.
The work was sold on May 18th, 2017 at Phillips New York during their 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale for $3,500,000. More data on the work here.
The unforgettable piece entitled The Visitor, painted in 1995, is one of Marlene Dumas' most important paintings - and the most expensive one to date. The large-scale image presents her painterly style and the choice of subjects. Influenced by the work of Degas, Matisse, and Munch, The Visitor ropes of innuendos and social commentaries. The artwork shows six young women surrounded by the claustrophobic environment of a confined room. The girls are facing the bright light coming from the open door, but their personalities are nevertheless cloaked in mystery, inviting the viewers to examine their faces more closely to raise the veil of anonymity. The viewer is faced with the shadowy room, behind a scene impregnated with the implications of taboo, ambiguity, and unclear narrative that evokes the feeling of unease.
The Visitor was sold at Sotheby's London in 2008 for $6,337,340. To see more details on the auction and the piece, click here.
Brooklyn, New York, United States of America


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Georgetown Playfield Play Area Renovation
Updated: January 18, 2018
Thank you, Seattle! This project is complete.
The play area renovation promotes health for all ages by providing state-of-the-art play equipment, fitness equipment, and improved pathways and playfield access.
The renovated play area features an airplane themed composite deck and rope climbing structure for children 5 to12 years old, a smart play structure for 2 to 5 years old, exciting rotating climbing play equipment, and a fun music band circle including drum, chime, and xylophones. The new fitness zone, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, provides various types of exercise equipment for teens and adults. The improved picnic area creates a more inviting community space with additional picnic tables and BBQ grills. New accessible parking on S. Findlay St. and improved paths to the renovated comfort station strengthen the link between play area, spray park, picnic area and comfort station and provide improved access for all throughout the north end of the playfield.
The Seattle Park District provided the funding for this play area renovation and Kaiser Permanente provided the funding for the fitness area. This is one of many communities that will receive fitness equipment and benefit from the Seattle Parks and Recreation and Kaiser Permanente partnership.
There's a gym's worth of training machines at the Georgetown playfield. Fitness equipment installed includes: an elliptical trainer; chest/back press; squat press; pull-up/dip machine; assisted row/push-up; ab crunch/leg lift; and rotary torso to strengthen abdominals.
Georgetown Playfield, 750 S Homer St, Seattle WA 98108
The Seattle Park District provides $500,000 in funding for planning, design and construction.
Planning: 2016
Design: 2016 - 2017
Construction: Fall 2017 - Winter 2017/18
Completion: Early 2018
Project Description
This Seattle Park District project will replace playground equipment which will include play elements and access for children of all ages and abilities.
Community Participation
Public Meeting/Open House 5/14/2016
Public Meeting 9/24/2016


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Debt and Financial Performance of Reits In Malaysia: A Moderating Effect of Financial Flexibility.
Curiosity in bank debt financing decision was primarily inspired by the perceptible contradiction between the REITs' unique operational business structure particularly REITs in Malaysia (M-REITs) and the finance theory of capital structure decision. The Trade Off Theory implies that the financing strategy of using debt provides no value in REITs entity with a marginal tax rate of zero. The use of debt by REITs entity is seen to be a puzzle in numerous REITs literature as REITs do not have tax shield benefit of using debt. High dividend payout requirement constraints REITs ability to retain its internal earnings and have to use debt to undertake growth strategies. The moderating effect of financial flexibility in a relationship between bank debt financing and the financial performance are examined and presents new empirical evidence on the role of the financial flexibility. The study offers some important insights into the debt financing decision for M-REITs. Using the unbalanced panel data from all M-REITs for the period from 2005 to 2014, this study reveals that size has strong positive relationship with debt financing, smaller M-REITs prefer to use short term debt, diversified M-REITs is found to have lower debt as compared to focused M-REITs, growth in investment and liquidity has positive relationship with bank debt financing while internal cash constraints and cash flow volatility has a negative relationship with debt financing. The results of this study indicate that both Pecking Order Theory and Trade Off Theory complements each other in explaining the M-REITs debt financing decision and less supportive for Agency Theory. This suggests that the use of debt as a disciplinary tool seems to be less crucial for M-REITs entity with high mandated dividend payout requirement. Indeed, the high payout requirement behaves as a "disciplinary tool" in M-REITs. The results on the relationship between debt and financial performance reveal that both short term and long term debt are negatively related to financial performance, liquidity is found to be an important factor on M-REITs' financial performance and size have no relation with financial performance. Financial flexibility positively moderates the relationship between debt and financial performance. The findings retrieved from this study serve as a useful guide to M-REITs' managers to manage the financial flexibility as it has important moderating effects on debt and financial performance relationship.
REITs; Malaysia; financial flexibility; financial performance; debt; moderating
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Series: Spin the Globe #2
Format Read: Ebook
Source: From the author for an honest review
Release Date: April 24, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.
Blurb from goodreads:
Spin the Globe: The Incredible Adventures of Frederick von Wigglebottom is a fact-based and educational book series based on bedtime stories I told my daughter and son. Each night they would ask Daddy to tell them a story. After exhausting every variation of bunny, frog, knight, and princess stories I could come up with, one evening I took notice of the globe that sat atop their dresser. I asked them to help me with a story topic and had them spin the globe! They would use their finger to stop the globe, and wherever their finger landed, I had to tell them an impromptu story about that particular country or area. This particular story of the series takes place in the city of Trondheim on the coast of Norway. Frederick meets Nikolina, a girl of Viking heritage, and Erik, a Sami boy who teaches him about this area of Scandinavia in the Land of the Midnight Sun.
Steph's Thoughts:
Initially when I was asked to review this book and the first in the series, I thought they would be great for my little guy. However, my guy is 4 and they are a little out of his age range but I enjoyed them immensely.
In this story, Frederick travels to Norway. My Great Grandmother was born in Norway, so this one had my immediate attention. Frederick first meets Nikolina. She tells him of Fjords, Vikings and the northern lights.
They head over to meet Erik. Erik shows Frederick around the library and teaches him more about Vikings, some myths and about the Sami people. This also means that Frederick learns about reindeer.
I was surprised to learn a few new things, myself. When I was in school, I did quite a few school reports on Norway but there were a few things in this book that I never learned about. I didn't realize that only the Sami people were allowed to own reindeer herds.
I am going to buy the physical version so that when I explain his heritage to my son, he can learn a little about where his Great-Great Grandmother was born. These books are a lot of fun. They teach kids about the world in a cute way. I love them. They are a definite must for any child's bookshelf.


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Inheritance tax
Inheritance tax is a 40% tax applied after a person dies to estates that are worth over £325,000 – or more if a home or the sale proceeds of a home are included.
What's included in the estate?
The value of your estate for the purpose of inheritance tax includes:
- your savings
- possessions including property
- pension funds (certain payments from payment funds may be subject to Inheritance Tax)
- subject to certain exemptions, the value of any money or property you gave away during the seven years prior to death
The first £325,000 of your estate is tax-free so the 40% tax only applies to anything that goes over this value.
If you leave your property to your children or your grandchildren (including adopted, foster or step-children), you may gain an additional tax-free allowance of £125,000. This amount will increase by £25,000 every April until it reaches £175,000 in April 2020. Any unused part of this amount can be passed on to a surviving partner.
This additional exemption will also be available where someone who has died sold their home or downsized on or after 8 July 2015.
The rules are complicated and you should seek professional advice.
What's exempt from Inheritance Tax?
- If you leave your whole estate to your husband, wife or civil partner then no Inheritance Tax will be payable.
- If a husband, wife or civil partner doesn't use all of their £325,000 tax-free limit, then any unused part can be passed on to their surviving partner.
- You don't need to pay Inheritance Tax on anything you leave to charity. And if you leave 10% or more of your estate to charity, then a reduced rate of 36% tax may apply to what is left over. Special rules apply though so seek legal advice if you are planning to do this.
- Gifts of up to £3,000 in each tax year are exempt from Inheritance Tax, as are small gifts to individuals and some wedding or civil partnership gifts. But be aware that gifts made while you are alive could be liable for Inheritance Tax, depending how much they were and when they were given.
Find out more at GOV.UK
Find out the rules and exemptions around inheritance tax.
For more information call the Age UK Advice Line on 0800 678 1602.
We're open 8am to 7pm, every day of the year.
Please help us be there for older people in need
By donating today, you could help us answer more calls to our advice line, campaign harder for older people's rights and fair treatment and provide regular friendship calls to people who are desperately lonely.


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CODELOCK 400 Series Model CL415 Tubular latchbolt with Passage feature
- Brand
- Codelocks
- Condition:
- New
- Model:
The CL415 is a medium duty tubular mortise latch with Code Free entry option.
The outside lever handle will retract the latch after a correct code is entered.
The spring loaded latchbolt will lock automatically when the door is closed.
- Internal doors and External doors
- Mechanical Codelock
- Medium duty tubular mortise latch
- Code Free access option
- Lever handle lock for doors hung on the left or right
- Use in offices / schools / warehouses / hospitals / care homes / nurseries / hotels / leisure facilities / the home
Available in Stainless Steel, Polished Brass, and Flat Black.
Code Free access option on the keypad.
In Code Free mode the outside lever will retract the latchbolt without using a code. This option is ideal for day to day use when punching in a code is not necessary e.g. external doors in a school with high traffic.
The CL415 locks are supplied with a random code commencing with the 'C' clear button. To change the code after fitting, the lock must first be removed from the door. The code is non-sequential, that is the code can be entered in any order e.g. 1234 can be 4321 or 1342 or whatever is the most convenient sequence. With the 12 buttons, a total of 4,095 different codes are available, any of which may be entered in any order.
The CL415 code chamber consists of 12 buttons from which the code is selected, and a 'C' button which is used to re-set the chamber after an incorrect entry, and which must always be used as the first digit of a code. Buttons may only be used once in a code. For example, 1212 is not possible.
A CL415 code, or combination, can be entered in any order or sequence; e.g. 1234 can be 4321 or 1342 or whatever sequence is most convenient to remember. With 12 buttons, a total of 4,095 different codes are available, any of which can be entered in any sequence.
The lock is factory set with a randomly selected 5 digit code starting with the C button. The code is not recorded by the factory. The code can be changed as often as required to any other 5 digit code. Every new code must start with the C button. Using the spare tumblers, one red and one blue, the code length can be changed to 4 or 6 digits. Shorter codes are possible, but 1 or 2 digit codes are not recommended.
Code Change Instructions
Note: On model CL415 – a) Press the 'Y' button and the ''C button to ensure that the lock is not in passage set mode, b) when changing the code do not reposition 'Y' or 'C' tumbler.
1. Take your CL415 lock off the door by unscrewing the 2 bolts in the backplate.
2. Press the C button to reset the chamber and place the lock case on a flat surface with the buttons down.
3. Remove the 2 red screws and carefully lift off the code chamber plate. Check all 14 springs are held in place on the plate.
4. Note that the red-tipped code tumblers correspond in position to the existing code. The blue-tipped non-code tumblers fill the other positions. The C tumbler is not colored.
5. Hold the lock in your hand and depress the C button. Keeping the C button depressed use tweezers to re-position the tumblers to correspond with your new code. The square notches of ALL tumblers MUST face outwards, with the colored tips ON TOP: see diagram below. Do not force the tumblers in.
N.B. Holding the C button depressed whilst removing or replacing the tumblers is essential to avoid damaging the internal mechanism. Do not attempt to reposition the C tumbler.
6. Replace the code chamber plate carefully with the 2 red screws.
7. Check the operation of the new code, and make a written note of it before re-installing the lock.
8. Note: Fit either the Blue or Red tipped spindle to the code side, dependant on hand of door.
9. Fit the butterfly spindle to the inside lever handle.
No maintenance of the working parts is necessary. Do not oil. To maintain the finish the lock should be cleaned regularly with a soft cloth. A silicone spray or similar should be used to provide a protective film against grit and grime.
|Body material
|Zinc alloy
|Door material
|Suitable for wooden doors
|Door thickness
|1 3/8"- 2 1/2" (inches)
|Latches - Option 1
|60mm (2 3/8") backset latch requiring 25 x 82mm (1" x 3 1/4") hole (supplied by default)
|Latches - Option 2
|70mm (2 3/4") backset latch requiring 25 x 92 mm (1"x 3 5/16") hole
|The lock will fit doors hung on the left or right
|Spindle type
|2 part 8mm (5/16") spring-loaded spindle


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Barry McGuigan not sure whether Josh Taylor will enter WBSS tournament
By Scott Gilfoid: Promoter Barry McGuigan isn't saying whether Josh 'The Tartan Tornado' Taylor (13-0, 11 KOs) will enter the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) light welterweight tournament to compete against talents like interim WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis (21-0, 18 KOs) after the way he had to struggle to beat 34-year-old former WBC 140 lb. champion Viktor 'The Iceman' Postol (29-2, 13 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
McGuigan says Taylor, 27, is keeping his options open by not making a decision yet on whether he'll enter the WBSS tournament or instead choose to try and face WBC light welterweight champion Jose Carlos Ramirez (22-0, 16 KOs). Taylor could always enter the WBSS tourney and compete with Prograis, WBA champion Kiryl Relikh and Ivan Baranchyk. The positive of Josh Taylor competing in the WBSS tournament is the possibility of him winning the tournament and winding up with the IBF and WBA 140lb titles.
If Taylor win those belts, he'd be in great shape once the tournament ends when he faces WBC champion Jose Ramirez. It would be a huge gamble on Taylor's part though for him to fight in the tournament, as he doesn't appear to be anywhere near as talented as Prograis. That's a match-up that could go very, very wrong for Taylor with him getting knocked out in two or three rounds. Prograis appears to be world's better than Tayor, who looked horrible in struggling to beat a past his best Viktor Postol last Saturday night.
Taylor appeared to barely win the fight, but the judges gave lopsided 12 round unanimous decision that the boxing world totally disagreed with. The fans didn't disagree with Taylor deserving the victory. Their issue was merely with the ridiculously lopsided scores of 117-110, 118-110 and 119-109. In other words, two of the judges scored it for Taylor 11 rounds to 1 and 10 rounds to 2. If you saw the fight, you would be sickened by how poor those scores were. Granted, Taylor won but it was by a razor thin margin. The judges were off in outer space with the three scores they turned in for that fight. When you see score like that in a close contest like the Taylor vs. Postol fight, it just makes you shake your head with disgust.
"I feel I'm on the verge of fulfilling my dream and fighting for a world title," Taylor said after the fight, hinting in a MAJOR way that he intends on taking the safe route by going after WBC 140lb belt holder Jose Ramirez next rather than the most talented fighter in the light welterweight division in Prograis. "That was playing on my mind a little bit before the fight. I didn't feel any pressure but it was playing in the back of my head that if I won, I'd be fighting for a world title."
Just reading what the 27-year-old Taylor is saying, I think it's academic that he'll be facing Ramirez next instead of showing bravery by entering the World Boxing Super Series tournament to risk his backside against Prograis, Relikh and Baranchyk.
After the dreadful scoring of the Taylor-Postol fight, I seriously doubt that Top Rank will let the 25-year-old Ramirez come to Scotland to defend his WBC title in the next four to five months. I mean, if Taylor and McGuigan are counting on the champion Ramirez to come to Glasgow to defend his WBC title, they could be waiting for a long, long time for that to happen. Top Rank isn't likely going to want to put the 2012 Olympian Ramirez in the position where he needs a knockout in order to leave Glasgow with his WBC title still in his possession. With the awful judging from last Saturday, Ramirez would need to knock Taylor out for him to have his hand raised at the end. Believe me; the scoring from the Taylor-Postol fight
wasn't lost on Top Rank boss Bob Arum. He clearly is aware of how horrible those scores were, and he's not going to want to mar his fighter Ramirez's record by having him fight in Scotland and wind up receiving the same treatment the 5'11" Postol did. Losing by a controversial decision isn't on the top of Ramirez's agenda for a fight against Taylor. If Taylor's people want to try and lure a champion to the Scotland, they're probably going to need to look in another direction towards someone like WBA belt holder Kiryl Relikh.
"It was a little bit of a below-par performance," Taylor said about how he performed against the Ukrainian talent Postol. "I started very poorly in terms of defence and switched off too much. But I adapted and I definitely think there I can be 20 or 30 per cent sharper. I happy enough, though, and the next one will be the big one," Taylor said.
If the "next one will be the big one," as Taylor is talking about, then it's academic that he plans on having his promoters match him against Ramirez rather than risking his unbeaten record – and career – by entering the World Boxing Super Series tournament and winding up getting knocked out in three or four rounds by Regis Prograis. There are levels to the sport, and Prograis is way up there at the top of the division looking down at all the other guys like Taylor, Relikh, Baranchyk and Ramirez. It's still not a given that Taylor will fight Ramirez next in the UK.
The only way I see that fight happening in the UK is if Taylor's management drag their feet during negotiations and let the fight go to a purse bid, hoping that they can outbid Ramirez's promoters at Top Rank. I don't know if they'll be able to do that. If Top Rank boss Arum doesn't want to put Ramirez in the position of potentially getting the same treatment Postol did, then he'll likely win the purse bid by throwing down a large offer. But Arum might have enough confidence in Ramirez's ability to knockout Taylor that he'll be willing to risk him losing the fight by letting him fight in Glasgow in front of his legions of boxing fans.
To be sure, the 5'10" Ramirez has excellent size, power and a very high work rate. If he's able to get in a war against Taylor, he could very well KO him like he's done against most of his opponents since he first turned pro 2012. Ramirez didn't look so great in his last fight in defeating Amir Imam by a 12 round unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC light welterweight title last March at Madison Square Garden in New York. That fight was a lot closer than the scores handed down by two of the judges.
The only judge that seemed to have his thinking cap on was the one that scored it 115-113 for Ramirez. It was that close of a fight. That fight showed that Ramirez is definitely, which you can argue is why Taylor is so excited about fighting him. He sees weakness in Ramirez, so he wants to fight him. If Taylor thought he could win the WBSS tournament, he'd likely enter that tournament in a second, because he's emerge with two belts rather than one and his popularity would be sky-high because it would have meant that he beat the like of Prograis, Relikh and Baranchyk. Ramirez isn't rated nearly as high as Prograis by the boxing world.
Ramirez will be defending his WBC title next month against bottom #15 WBC fringe contender Danny O'Connor (30-3, 11 KOs) in a voluntary defense on July 7 on ESPN at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California. Ramirez has the victory in the bag by fighting the 33-year-old O'Connor, who hasn't fought any of the talented contenders in the light welterweight division during his career. This is a safe fight for Ramirez. Prograis wanted to face Ramirez next, but he wouldn't have had time to beat him, which he likely would have done with ease, and then enter the WBSS tournament. As such, Prograis opted to enter the WBSS tournament instead so that he could wind two world titles and then come out and look to beat Ramirez or Taylor to win the third title. There's nobody in the light welterweight division that has the talent to challenge Prograis now that Terence Crawford has moved up to welterweight. Prograis is going to come out of the WBSS tournament as the king of the 140 lb. division.
More Boxing News:
- Boxing Results: Sergey Lipinets and Custio Clayton ends in 12-round draw
- Boxing Results: Julio Cesar Martinez destroys Moises Calleros in 2nd round TKO
- Michael Conlan vs. Isaac Dogboe agreed for Dec.5 on ESPN
- Tyson Fury's shortlist: Kabayel and Takam for Dec.5 in London
- My Whirlwind 2020: Rachel Ball on Shannon Courtenay and Ebanie Bridges
- Boxing Results: Sergey Lipinets and Custio Clayton ends in 12-round draw
- Devin Haney reacts to Mayweather saying "too many belts"
- Hearn says Krzysztof Glowacki-Lawrence Okolie and John Ryder-David Lemieux possible for Joshua-Pulev card on Dec.12
- Gervonta Davis: Teofimo Lopez's win over Lomachenko wasn't convincing
- Tyson Fury reaffirms he's fighting on December 5th in London


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Triathlon from hell…
When it comes to sports games, I tend to shy away from the standard fare of
football, basketball, and hockey. Give me something different like BMX, skateboarding
or snowboarding and I'm all over it. Lucky for me, game developers are responding
to those of us with the urge to blast across the Himalayas on a snowboard or
ride over a Hawaiian lava flow on a quad.
Xtreme Sports presents itself in the shape of a triathlon, leaving competitors
to hone several skills at a time. Each race has three legs, each of which is
a different sport. You might find yourself bombing downhill on a snowboard,
then onto a speed glider, after which you let go and run as fast as you can
to your quad for a race to the finish line. I really like the variety, Mastering
just one sport won't guarantee you the gold.
This makes for a bit of difficulty regarding control adaptation. Upon switching
events, naturally, the control scheme changes – sometimes drastically. Snowboarding
has totally different controls than, say, mountain biking, so you must be quick
to change gears and go from slalom to pedaling in the blink of an eye. The unfortunate
part is that the CPU isn't holding a controller, so you might find yourself
fumbling for buttons while getting skunked.
To even the score, they threw in the Road Rash element, where you can
bash the player next to you with an elbow as they try to pass.
The graphics are smooth with decent textures. However, the character animations
are fairly minimal; they look nice, but get redundant. Des[ite different crashes,
your character always winds up in the same twitching, fetal position beneath
your board or bike.
The animations for the tricks are pretty cool, although again limited since
there aren't that many tricks. It must be hard to make any one of six different
events very complex, but there are relatively few tricks per event. A little
more depth would have been great..
of the events are gaming firsts. There's Speed Gliding, in which you grab hold
of a hang glider (gee, I didn't see any animation for buckling a safety harness…that's
even more extreme) and get pulled through a course of giant balloons by an airplane.
Then there's Bungee Jumping. I have been waiting for someone to translate this
insanity into a form that I might actually try, and now I can say I've done
it. Other events range from Sky Surfing to basics like mountain biking and snowboarding.
Having so much variation really helps.
Teaming up with a buddy means split-screen action all the way. I saw no graphical
suffering or noticeable slow-down. However, two player only lets you compete
in single event races, not the triathlon. Sort of defeats the purpose.
With only four selectable characters, you'd hope there were more to unlock…but
there aren't. There are some unlockable courses and power-ups which do offer
more possibilities, but in a game that has six events and eighteen different
courses, more characters would have been nice.
Xtreme Sports offers pretty graphics and varied gameplay, but the individual
events are simply too limited for this to have a long shelf life. However, the
new events really sets XS apart from other sports titles. If you're tired
of the same old sports, then get a little extreme.