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This was the week that J got glasses. He is only very slightly short-sighted but as soon as he put the glasses on, it was like the blind had suddenly been given the miracle of sight. He is so proud of his new glasses, he has even let me take a photo to show you!
I took a photo for WIP Wednesday and was going to blog but then we carried on drinking and knitting and by the time I got home, it was too late to blog. The sock is Saltburn from the Coop Knits book and I am loving it. It may become the amazing technicolour sock as I am doing it in a group of mini skeins of Natural Dye Studio yarn that I won at Knit Nation but I think it will look fab when it is finished.
I have been sewing lots of stock this week. The shop is busy and I am trying to get ahead and make lots for the shows I am doing this year. I am also trying to use up some of the fabric that I seem to have been hoarding for a while. I seem to go in phases of buying lots of fabric then deciding I am going to keep it then a few months later, realise that I am not going to make anything for myself with it so I ought to put it in the shop. This is one of those fabrics. I love it and I think it looks even better sewn up into both needle rolls and project bags.
Both of these and a few more new prints will be popping up in the shop over the next day or so. I have great plans for a tidy-up of the shop over the weekend, given the rubbish weather we (still) have. I want to get super-organised before the end of school.
And now it is time I was on my way to school. As has been the case this last week, five minutes ago, the heavens opened and it is going to be another wet run to school. Just keep thinking of the cup of tea on the sofa when we get home with my little people :)


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I started my creative journey as a freelance cartoonist before Landing a job with Sizzix Back in the year 2000. Like most makers I am happy to turn my hand to anything creative but most of my time is spent creating paper craft projects and messing around with mixed media techniques.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Language pitch
Here's a fun analysis that I did of the pitch (aka. frequency) of various languages. Certain languages are simply pronounced with lower or higher pitch. Whether this is a feature of the language or more a cultural thing is a good question, but there are some substantial differences between languages.
Hertz (or Hz, or ), is the standard way to measure audio frequency. Typical human speech ranges between 50 Hz and 300 Hz. Most men typically range between 85-180Hz, and most women between 165-255Hz. If we look at a spectrum of audio for English speakers, we get a pretty substantial difference between the genders. This is of course not super surprising to anyone with a pair of ears.
Comparing languages
Let's look at the top three languages in the data set:
Estimating the peak frequency by language lets us compare all languages:
Cool! Basically Hungarian has a very low pitch and Chinese has a very high one. The difference isn't actually super big, it's about half an octave on a piano. Still, it's something that's very noticeable to a human. Just to give you an idea of how much half an octave is, I altered the pitch of Ronald Reagan's famous "tear down this wall" speech by so that the difference between the two variants is half an octave. (One octave is always the double frequency, so half an octave is frequency.
- Lower pitch:
- High pitch:
Just to clarify the graph you are seeing above: each circle represents the peak frequency from a bootstrapped aggregate. The dark circles represent the median of those – arguably the most representative frequency. The purpose is to get an idea of the uncertainty in this esimates, and I stole this idea from 538. Note that the individual colored circles do not represent individual speakers – it's really just various bootstrap estimates of the peak frequency.
Within languages
We can also look at the origin of the speaker and see how it differs. For English speakers, it turns out that the difference is quite small:
However Spanish speakers exhibit pretty substantial differences depending on the location, with Spain having a very low pitch (this seems right to me) and Peruvian women the highest (I have no idea whether this confirms any stereotype). Interestingly, the difference is tiny for males and huge for females.
There wasn't a ton of audio featuring the Francophones unfortunately:
There are some other global languages that would have been interesting to look at – Arabic comes to mind. Unfortunately the data I had was a bit limited, and there just wasn't enough data to compare those languages across countries.
The scandie situation
As a "scandie", I'm not surprised by some of these. Finnish is know for a very low pitch (making fun of F1 driver Mika Häkkinen's English accent was a staple of Swedish comedy for a couple of years), and Norwegian is known for its high-pitched voice (going up and down, like the mountains). Danish is in the middle (but more notably, has basically degenerated into a series of guttural sounds). Scandinavian languages (I included Finnish in there even though it's not a Scandinavian language):
Asian pronunciation
Let's check out Chinese vs Japanese vs Korean:
Chinese and Japanese stand out, both being very high-pitched languages.
There's a really weird thing going on here, that I can't explain. Chinese has a really different distribution for males. I suspect this has to do with the fact that it's a tonal language, but I'm not sure why it applies to males only. Let's plot all the Chinese variants to investigate this further.
(By the way, these are languages that ignorant people like me have barely heard of, yet even the smallest of them (Min) has 60M speakers.)
It's quite interesting to see how the Chinese variants seem to have far greater difference in their spectra than between English/Spanish/Russian (see above). I suspect it has something to do with how different variants of Chinese features different number of tones – Mandarin has 4, Wu has 7 etc. The stark difference between male and female speakers (not just different pitch, also a different shape) is still a mystery.
One weird thing
If you're really paying attention to the graphs, you'll notice some weird peaks in the lower end of the spectrum (around 50-60Hz). I didn't really think of it but Andreas Öman pointed out that these are actually a really interesting artifact. Can you think of it? 🤔
Ok – I'll give you one more hint. Look at this chart of female English speakers and the difference betweek UK and US. Pay attention to the weird spikes on the far left of the curve
These are actually AC frequencies ⚡ which occur at 50Hz in Europe vs 60Hz in the US! Turns out you can detect it in the audio spectrum of sound clips pretty well.
Ok, but what's the point?
Here's a hypothesis: there might be a "natural" pitch of each language that is optimized for pronunciating words with the least amount of effort. Maybe the most convenient way to speak Chinese is to do it with a high pitch? Maybe Hungarian phonology really favors a low pitch? I don't know.
Another hypothesis: English is my second language, but it's the language I use by far the most (since I live in New York). There was a very definite point when I realized that I had to change my voice to get to the next level with my accent. Oddly enough it was actually while studying German (my third language). It felt awkward at first to alter my voice to the point where I didn't feel like it was myself talking. But on the other hand I could hear myself sounding so much more German (if you know what I mean). Having been through this transformation I decided to change my "English voice" as well.
This is quite speculative, and a linguist may disagree, but I suspect that one reason it's hard to acquire a native language accent is that it's hard to fully change the pitch of the voice. For instance, Mandarin speakers who picked up English as a second language seem to speak English with a slightly higher pitch. Finnish speakers seem to speak English with an unusually low pitch. Etc.
The pitch is of course not the only thing that constitutes a flawless accent – mastering all the nuances of a new languages takes years, if ever. But I suspect carrying over the pitch from another languages makes it harder to get all the finer points of the phonology.
How did I perform this analysis?
I built a very tiny scraper to download audio clips from a web site that shall not be named (I probably violated their ToS severely). Letting it loose for a few hours got me ~100k audio clips in different languages/genders/origins. I restricted it to 10 clips per speaker in order to get more variety.
After that, I converted all the clips to .wav and started playing around with pitch detection. I hadn't expected to this to be such a sinkhole of effort but it turns out pitch detection is a hard problem.
As a preprocessing step, I found the 2.0s in the clip with the most intensity, and I added a Butterworth bandpass filter with a [50, 300] Hz frequency. A somewhat frustrating bug is that scipy.signal.butter is not numerically robust so I basically just perform a low pass filter then followed by a high pass filter instead. From the little I remember from signal processing in school, this should be equivalent. The bandpass filter seems a bit arbitrary, but the way I rationalize it is that I guess it's form of Bayesian prior distribution of where you expect the fundamental frequency to pop up.
With the help of some online resources. I decided to go for a pure FFT approach. Basically just look at the spectrum and find the peak frequency. The problem with FFT is that various harmonic frequencies pop up in the resulting spectrum, so if the clip has a frequency of 100 Hz then you will see peaks on 200 Hz, 300 Hz, etc. For this reason, an autocorrelation approach seemed marginally better on individual clips, but I realized quite quickly that individual clips are too noisy to be meaningful. Here's a sample of audio clips featuring 10 female English speakers and their FFT spectra:
Instead, I decided to aggregate the frequency spectra from all clips and perform stats on the aggregated data. Again from what I remember from school, FFT is a linear operation, , so it seems fine to compute the FFT spectrum individually for each clip, then add them together and try to look for the peak frequency. This disregards the fact that FFT returns complex numbers, but I think you can ignore the phase shift in the spectrum (the angle of the complex outputs) and just add up the components. I could be wrong (I'm swimming in deep DSP water here).
This seemed to do the trick, and then on top of it I wasted a bunch of hours trying to learn Pandas. I also decided to use bootstrapping to compute some uncertainty estimate of the frequency estimation, so that instead of summing up all the spectra, I sum up a bootstrapped aggregate and look at the peak frequency. This helps me understand the uncertainty of the peak frequency estimate, which turns out to be pretty substantial. (There's probably a bunch of statisticians that would spin in their graves reading this blog posts.)
Anyway, the code is on Github in case you are interested! The whole thing is ~250 lines so somewhat ironically this blog post actually ended up being far longer!


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How Technology is Changing the Interior Design of Your Office
Career Development As technology is changing how people work, the commercial interior design industry is changing how they create workspaces.
Commercial interior designers must create workplaces that support and adapt to the evolving needs of today's employers and employees. The industry must continually reassess the work environment to accommodate the ways in which technology is shifting and enhancing where and how work happens, which ultimately affects how designers work.
A mobile workforce
Gone are the days of corner offices, cubicles, desktop computers, and heavy towers. The cord has been cut. Now, work can happen anywhere, anytime, and among employees who are geographically dispersed. Despite these capabilities, more companies are recognizing the importance of place for employees. They are turning to designers to create work environments that harness the power of face-to-face interactions and the creative connections that can be made during casual conversation and chance encounters in the workplace. Mobility, both within and outside of the office, is driving the design of comfortable and casual work environments. These offices serve as a destination for employees, elevate and enhance an organization's brand, provide options for a variety of work styles, encourage productivity and collaboration and support employee health and wellness.
Adapting to technology
Employee mobility requires technology that reliably supports the ability to work from anywhere. Wi-Fi, video conferencing, charging stations and power sources are essentials that must be integrated into a design plan from the beginning of a project. Employees also expect a higher level of control over their work environment. Furniture manufacturers have become crucial to providing this flexibility. Furniture for commercial spaces is designed to respond to individual users, including pieces like smart desks and furniture with integrated technology to support workplace mobility.
Mobility, both within and outside of the office, is driving the design of comfortable and casual work environments.
Technology and the design process
A decade ago, the process of designing and building out a commercial space was linear. The designer created plans, then handed off those plans to an engineer and eventually a contractor. Building information modeling (BIM) software has changed the dynamic by creating a cohesive process that allows building partners and stakeholders to be involved in every step of a project. This increases efficiency and maximizes opportunities to troubleshoot issues with all parties. BIM software has been available for years but in the field, designers are now seeing its true potential as a tool for collaborative building — just like the kind of tech integration designers are striving to provide to employees in the work environments they create.


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text: By Adam Kent Read article on Catalan music from the ENCICLOPÈDIA CATALANA For a brief outline of the History of Jazz in Catalonia, click here. Music of Early Inhabitants Iconographic evidence in the form of cliff and cave paintings as well as antique vases attests to a lively musical culture among the ancient inhabitants of Catalonia. Other relics suggest the later assimilation of Greek and Roman musical practices in the region. In the first centuries of the Christian era, Roman and other Pagan modes of musical expression coexisted with the evolving Hispanic liturgy, and various contemporary documents speak to tensions between the church's central authority and the persistence of local customs.1 The early Christian liturgy of Catalonia reflected an adherence to the so-called Visigothic-Mozarabic rite, with the region's bishops following the directives of Toledo, capital of the Visigothic kingdom from the middle of the sixth century. The celebrated Veronensis Codex containing the Libellus Orationem was copied out at Tarragona in the late seventh or early eighth century, and several works contained therein are thought to have been composed at the erstwhile Roman stronghold. The codex provides the earliest record of the Visigothic-Mozarabic rite, preserving the ancient psalmody in alternation with antiphons and responsories. Fragments of Visigothic notation abound in the margins of the manuscript. Music and the Moorish Occupation The political events of the eighth century destroyed much evidence of Catalonia's original Christian liturgy and led eventually to the adoption of the more standard Gregorian practice. First of all came the Saracen invasion, beginning with the defeat of Roderic in 711 and the eventual Moorish occupation of the entire peninsula. All of Catalonia was under Moorish control by 718, and the northern expansion of the Islamic nation was halted only by the military might of Charles Martell at Poitiers in 732. In the latter half of the eighth century the Franks succeeded gradually in liberating areas of present-day Provence known as the Septimania, in an effort to create a buffer zone of the Pyrenean foot hills. Charlemagne attempted to occupy Spain as far south as the Ebro river, but only enjoyed a partial success. In fact, the celebrated Chanson de Roland commemorates the defeat of the Frankish armies by the Saracens at Roncesvalles in 778 in a doomed attempt to liberate Zaragoza from the Moors.2 The areas freed by Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious agreed to submit to Frankish protection and came to be known eventually as "Catalunya Vella" ("Old Catalonia"). For the first time, a sense of national identity and unity characterized the region, separating it in many ways from the rest of the peninsula, and binding it to its northern European neighbors. Indeed, Catalonia was quick to comply with Charlemagne's promulgation of Gregorian Chant and assimilated the new idiom into its liturgy long before the rest of Spain and with far less resistance. Catalan Music in the Middle Ages The monastery at Ripoll, founded in 869 by Count Guifré el Pelós (Wilfred the Hairy), became the region's primary cultural center and a hotbed of uniquely Catalan musical development. In the words of Josep Roda Batlle, "it was to Catalonia what Moissac, Saint Martial de Limoges and Metz were to France, St. Gall to Switzerland and Reichenau for Germany."3 The monastery's scriptorium became one of Europe's finest libraries of the time, particularly where its collection of musical treatises was concerned. The monks of Ripoll developed a sort of musical notation unique to the region, known as "notació catalana." The system was cultivated as late as the 18th century and combined elements of neumatic Visigothic notation with diastematic Aquitaine notation. Among the chief surviving examples of "notació catalana" are the Antifonari Matutinari and the Tonarium, both tenth-century works. Beyond the official Roman liturgy, other modes of late Medieval musical expression flourished as well in Catalonia. Presentations of liturgical dramas were quite common in the area, and numerous copies of the "Quem quaeritis?" Easter trope are preserved in Catalan codices, along with a twelfth-century manuscript from Ripoll entitled Verses Pascales de III Mariis, a popular depiction of the Easter morning tomb scene evolved out of the aforementioned trope. Perhaps the most celebrated example of such theatrical productions is the Ordo Prophetarum, which derived from the Cant de la Sibylla associated with the Christmas legend. The work has survived in Latin and Catalan versions, and has endured with little change over the centuries. In addition, several Troubadours were active in Catalonia, and performances by jongleurs and, later, by minstrels were a common form of secular entertainment. Polyphony seems to have existed in Catalonia at the same time as the renowned Notre Dame school. References to the death in 1164 of Lucas, a canon at Tarragona, allude to a "magnus organista," none of whose music has survived. A manuscript from Tortosa, transcribed between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, contains five polyphonic compositions and is considered the earliest example of this type of writing in Catalonia. Many of these early instances of Catalan polyphony are conductus for two or three voices, generally in the Notre Dame style. In 1027 the monastery of Montserrat was founded originally as an appendage to Ripoll. Located at a site of Marian pilgrimage, it eventually became an important center of learning and musical production, gaining independence from Ripoll in 1409. Fire destroyed the library and depository of Montserrat during the Napoleonic invasion of 1811, and the only work to survive is known as the Llibre vermell, a reference to the crimson velvet which has protected the manuscript since the late nineteenth century. The Llibre is a crucial source on several levels. For one thing, it relates vital information on life at Montserrat, discussing important religious, historical, and geographical concepts. The ten musical compositions it preserves are intended as suitable works for singing and dancing by pilgrims at the monastery. Eight of the pieces are in Latin, one in Occitan, and one in Catalan. They transmit several examples of the "ball rodó," or "round dance," and reveal a complete assimilation of the ars nova idiom in Catalonia. As Batlle puts it, "The Llibre Vermell is one more example of how, during the Middle Ages, music occupied a special place amongst the arts in Catalonia, and what great esteem Catalan music enjoyed in Europe."4 The Establishment, Heyday and Decline of the Catalan Nation Catalonia's influential position in European musical affairs during the late Middle Ages was in some ways a reflection of the nation's political clout throughout the period. Early in the ninth century most of the region was liberated from Moorish control, and Barcelona soon established itself as the political capital. Less and less reliant upon authorization from the Carolingian regent, generations of count-kings ruled the area from the Mediterranean port city. Some sense of the Catalan spirit of personal liberty and the limitations inherent in the powers of the count-kings is evidenced in the oath sworn to the Catalonian monarch: "We who are as good as you, swear to you, who are no better than we, to accept you as our king and sovereign lord, provided you observe all our liberties and laws, but if not, not."5 If Catalonia can be said to possess a national character, such a declaration would surely be a clear embodiment of it, all the more remarkable for its early date. In the eleventh century the province of Tarragona was united to the northern territories. Further expansion included the acquisition of several Provençal counties and the fusion of Catalonia with neighboring Aragon in 1134. The Catalo-Aragonese kingdom became a powerful military force and commenced territorial aggrandizement in earnest in the thirteenth century under Jaume I. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Catalonia established an impressive presence throughout the Mediterranean, which included the vanquished Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Sicily. On the peninsula itself, Catalonia neutralized some of Castile's expansionist designs through the conquest of Valencia, an arduous and violent affair lasting from 1232 to 1248.6 In the fifteenth century Alfons IV of Catalonia occupied Naples and established his court there, though by that late date his native land was in serious decline: a series of plagues and crop failures reduced the population of Catalonia by more the fifty per cent by the mid-1400's. Of even more lasting consequence was the marriage of Ferdinand II the Catholic to Isabella I of Castile. This union would sound the death knell to Catalonian independence, since the joining of the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile rendered Catalonia a peripheral concern to be ruled by viceroys or lieutenant governors.7 Catalonia's erstwhile empire was practically in shambles, and Castile was poised for its explorations of the New World and all the attendant wealth that would flow from such an expansion. Music during the Renaissance in Catalonia In spite of the grim politcal and economic outlook in Catalonia during the Renaissance and Castile's so-called "siglo de oro," the region nevertheless contributed significantly to the arts of literature and music, if not so impressively to the visual arts. Music played an important role in civic functions, and municipal bands, known as "cobles," became a part of Catalonia's cultural life, enduring to the present day. Records from Barcelona town councils of the sixteenth century refer to the "pregoner de la ciutat," apparently a sort of town crier equipped with "trompeta." In the realm of art music, the polyphonic madrigal was a significant mode of expression in Catalonia as throughout the rest of Europe, but so was the distinctively Spanish "ensalada." This form was notable for its sometimes eccentric juxtaposition of diverse elements, including a mixture of various languages, different textures and rhythms, and a vacillation between popular and formal styles. The genre was ultimately intended as a sort of entertainment for the noble and educated classes. Among the more distinguished Catalan composers of "ensalades" were Mateu Fletxa "El Vell" (the elder) and his nephew Mateu Fletxa "El Jove" (the younger). Of Occitan descent, Joan Brudieu (1520-1591) is responsible for the only known mass setting of the sixteenth century in Catalonia. Perhaps even more significantly, much of Brudieu's music is said to conserve the characteristics of contemporary Catalan popular music. His Goigs de Nostra Dama are a set of polyphonic variations on indigenous melodies, and two of his fifteen known madrigals are settings of the poetry of Valencian Ausias Marc. Finally, Lluís del Milá, possibly a native and certainly a resident of Valencia, is best remembered for his Libro de música de vihuela de mano intitulado El Maestro of 1536, a pedagogical work devoted to the vihuela. The compositions in the collection are arranged in order of difficulty. The first section presents several fantasies, pavanes, and "tientos" for solo vihuela, and the second advances to vocal works with vihuela accompaniment, including a number of "villancicos" and "romances." 8 "La Decadència" In spite of the aforementioned significant musical contributions, Catalans refer to the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as "La Decadència," a time of not only general artistic impoverishment, but also of political repression.9 Ferdinand and Isabella, the so-called "Catholic Monarchs," had married their daughter Juana ("la loca") to Phillip, the son of Hapsburg emperor Maximilian, ensuring that their grandson, the future Carlos V, would rule over the most powerful and extensive European empire of the time. From the Catalonian perspective, however, the glimmers of social and political egalitarianism discernible in the region from the late Middle Ages were more or less extinguished under the heavy hands of Hapsburg viceroys. In the mid-seventeenth century, Catalonia's enduring resentment of Castilian hegemony erupted into outright rebellion. Coerced military service against the French and the continued posting of Castilian soldiers throughout rural Catalonia sparked a peasant-led insurrection popularly known as "The Reapers' War."10 Catalans butted heads again with Castilian authority some fifty years later, when they backed Hapsburg pretender Charles III during the War of Spanish Succession. When Philippe d'Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV crowned in Madrid in 1701, finally established his regency in 1714, Catalans suffered severe political repression and the loss of any remaining vestiges of regional autonomy under Bourbon rule.11 Music of the 17th and 18th Centuries in Catalonia The absence of court life and the general cultural deterioration in Catalonia throughout the so-called Baroque era—typically dated 1600-1750—had a definitive impact on musical production in the region. For much of the seventeenth century religious music, often in the tradition of Palestrina and Victoria, was the norm, while opera, the musical form which from its inception at the turn of the seventeenth century had a uniquely defining impact on the Baroque style, did not arrive in Catalonia until the start of the eighteenth century. The new style persisted much longer in Catalonia and throughout the rest of the peninsula than in the rest of Europe, and a Classical approach along the lines of the Viennese school never developed fully. El Patriarca, the cathedral and collegium of Valencia, and the aforementioned monastery of Montserrat were crucial musical breeding grounds throughout the period. The so-called "Valencian School" traces its origins to Joan Baptista Comes (1582-1643) and owed much of its vitality to the influence of Italian musical taste. "Mestre de capella" for many years at the cathedral of Valencia, the renowned Comes introduced the technique of "basso continuo" in his numerous religious works and also delved into the polychoral style of Venice. Pere Rabassa, also active in Valencia, was the first composer to introduce the Italianate concepts of recitativo and aria into his "villancicos," starting in 1714. Josep Prades (1689-1757), also "mestre de capella" at Valencia, was an important composer for the stage and demonstrated a profound awareness of contemporary Italian vocal style in such works as his Opera a cinco voces al Patriarca San Jose of 1708. Another "mestre de capella" of the same cathedral, Pasqual Fuentes (1718-1768), was also a prodigious composer of "villancicos," into many of which were interpolated such popular elements as "tonadillas," "seguidillas," and minuets, along with the customary recitativo and arias. The "escolania" of Montserrat was the site of much significant musical production throughout the seventeenth century. Known to his contemporaries as "el mestre, el music, i el compositor,"12 Pere Joan Cererols (1618-1680) , a monk at Montserrat, was perhaps the most celebrated composer of the school. Cererols left the monastery for several years during the Reapers' War and sought refuge in Madrid, where he was considerably influenced by the works of Mateo Romero and Carlos Patiño. His output abounds in vocal works, including a large number of "villancicos" in the Castilian tongue, as well as numerous works to Latin texts. Miquel López (1669-1723) developed the concept of instrumental polyphony at Montserrat and was responsible as well for several theoretical works and a Historia de Montserrat, preserved in manuscript form. His works are said to provide a valuable glimpse of the musical style of Catalonia before the wave of Italianism held sway. Further progress in the area of instrumentation can be credited to Benet Esteve (1702-1772), who enlarged the monastery's orchestra with wind instruments, and his pupil Benet Julià (1726-1787), composer of works for various instruments and keyboard. Josep Roda Batlle describes the works of Anselm Viola (1738-1798) and Narcís Casanoves (1747-1809) as the "culmination" of eighteenth-century music at Montserrat.13 The former taught at the monastery prior to moving to the Spanish capital. He was well versed in the full range of contemporary European styles, and his works reveal a comfort with such Classical forms as the sonata and the concerto, as well as the melodic and tonal norms of the era. Casanoves' work is characterized by substantial Italianate influence, integrated into a multi-faceted personal style, which combined popular Catalan elements with archaic forms of polyphony. A number of other composers active in Catalonia throughout this period produced instrumental music of note. Widely known as "the Spanish Buxtehude,"14 Joan Baptista Cabanilles (1644-1712) was organist at the cathedral of Valencia and produced a substantial number of works in variation form for his instrument. Josep Elies (16? – 1749) was a pupil of Cabanilles, best remembered for his Obras de órgano entre el antiguo i moderno estilo, a collection of twelve pieces which range from the antiquated polyphony of an earlier time to the contemporary taste for simpler and more melodious textures. The concept of enharmonics was introduced to Catalonia by Elies, who apparently had no knowledge of the work of Bach or Rameau. Indeed, this important innovator was credited by his own pupil Antoni Soler i Ramos (1729-1783) as the inspiration for the younger composer's harmonic adventurousness. Soler, presently the best known composer of the region, received his early training at Montserrat under the aforementioned Benet Esteve among others. In 1752 the young composer took orders as a Jeronimite monk in the Escorial, where he was to spend the rest of his life. Contact with José de Nebra and Domenico Scarlatti at the court was an important influence on Soler, whose one-movement, binary-form keyboard sonatas constitute a major part of his output, beyond an abundance of religious and chamber works. Soler was intrigued as well by theoretical issues, and entered into a correspondence on such matters with the Italian Joan Baptista Martini. Soler's controversial treatise Llave de la modulación of 1762 was a product of his speculation on harmonic matters. The composer remained in touch all his life with his native region, and it is largely due to copies of his music prepared at Montserrat that so much of his oeuvre has survived. Echoes of popular elements are readily discernable in many of the sonatas, and in their embryonic sonata forms the path to further structural development seems clear. How odd that such disciples as Rafael Anglès (1730-1816), Josep Gallés (1761-1836) and Josep Vinyals (1771-1827) were content to reproduce Soler's formal procedures without the sort of advances prevalent throughout the rest of the continent. Still, the charm of such works cannot be overstated, and their integration of popular Catalan elements is of particular relevance to this study. Also of note is the work of Francesc Valls (1665-1747), music director at the cathedral of Barcelona. Best known for his significant output of religious works, his Scala Aretina (based on Guido d'Arezzo's hexachord) mass of 1702 provoked a major controversy through its unconventional handling of dissonances. Opera When Archduke Charles of Vienna was proclaimed king of Barcelona in 1705, he brought his taste for Italian opera to Catalonia during his brief rule. In celebration of his wedding, operatic productions were staged in Barcelona, with Italian singers imported from the Viennese court. The works of Antonio Caldara, Giuseppe Porsile and Emmanuele Rincon introduced opera to the city. The archduke's retreat from Barcelona in 1711 had no impact on the newly introduced art form, which by then had acquired a loyal public following. Barcelona had one opera house at the time, the Santa Creu, which before long became a venue for zarzuela premieres. By 1750, Barcelona had its own opera company. Valencia was also committed to musical theater, as evidenced by the Nicolas Moro opera company based there. Some cross-pollination between Catalonia and Italian operatic schools is evident in the number of Catalan-born operatic composers who found employment in Italy and in the important premieres of operas by Italian composers in Catalonia. Barcelona native Domenic Terradelles (1713-1751) is an example of the former, with his successful compositional career at Naples and Rome. In the latter half of the eighteenth century the Valencian Vicent Martín i Soler (1754-1806) was undoubtedly Catalonia's most celebrated composer on the international scene, best remembered in modern times for his opera Una cosa rara, a theme of which was quoted in Don Giovanni. Indeed, like Mozart, the Catalan composer enjoyed a markedly successful collaboration with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. Known as "Martini lo Spagnolo" by the Italians, Martin i Soler resided at various times in Naples, Venice, Parma, and Vienna, eventually making his way to St. Petersburg at the invitation of Catherine the Great.15 Niccolo Piccinni was one of the favorite Italian composers of the Barcelona public, and his operas La buona figliuola (1761) and La buona figliuola maritata (1763) were performed widely in the Catalonian capital. The Early Nineteenth-Century Musical Scene in Catalonia Throughout much of the nineteenth century, civil strife, foreign occupations, and periods of extreme politcal repression tended to compromise artistic production in Catalonia. The supremacy of Italian opera persisted, and such composers as Rossini and Donizetti were lionized beyond the expectations of any native composer. Following the Napoleonic War of 1808-1814, Ramon Carnicer (1789-1855) created and directed an opera company dedicated to the Italian repertoire and underwritten by wealthy families of Barcelona. Carnicer was a gifted composer of Italianate operas in his own right, several of which were premiered in Spain. Other Catalans influenced by the Italian operatic style were Josep Melcior Gomis (1791-1836), Baltasar Saldoni (1807-1889), Marià Obiols (1809-1888), Vicenç Cuyàs (1816-1839), and Nicolau Manent (1827-1887). The Teatre de la Santa Creu had long been Barcelona's only opera house, but the "Liceu Filharmònico-Dramàtic Barcelonès de Doña Isabel II," inaugurated in 1838, was to lead to the creation of a second, more illustrious theater. The "Liceu" was established by a battalion of the Barcelona militia and quickly became Catalonia's first conservatory. Italian opera companies performed under its auspices with an orchestra of the Liceu's students. The Gran Teatre del Liceu, a splendid edifice constructed on the site of a Trinitarian convent ceded by the government, opened in 1847 and quickly established itself as one Europe's leading opera houses. A number of prestigious premieres took place within in its walls, including works not only by such Italians as Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi, but also operas of Weber, Wagner, d'Auber, Meyerbeer, and Halévy. In the domain of instrumental music, Ferran Sors (1778-1839) stands out for his contributions to the guitar repertoire and technique. Sors was trained at Montserrat and mastered the violin, cello and guitar at an early age. A composition student of Anselm Viola, Sors first distinguished himself in his late teens with his opera Telemac, successfully performed in Barcelona and Venice, and later a Catalan-language work, Crits del carrer o Draps i ferro vell. The composer settled successively in Paris, London, Prussia and Russia, where his output of operatic, symphonic, chamber, and vocal compositions was warmly received. Still, it was Sors' mastery of the guitar and his publications for that instrument for which he was most highly regarded and is best remembered. Some sixty-five original works for guitar were published in Paris in 1825, and his guitar method of 1830 was known throughout the entire continent. The "Renaixença" The "Renaixença," or Renaissance, was an artistic and political movement within Catalonia, which called for the reestablishment of a national identity. This entailed the revival of the Catalan language as a medium for literary expression, and the recasting of the region's history along mythologically idealized terms. Writing on the subject in Barcelona, Robert Hughes alludes to the "Renaixença" in relation to Catalonia's growing industrialism: In fact, beyond the region's literary and intellectual elite, most Catalans were preoccupied with trade protection for their industry and recognized the value of remaining politically connected to Madrid. Still, in the long run, the "Renaixença" would have genuine political implications and profound social relevance.16 While the dawn of this new era is often traced to the publication in the 1830's of Catalan-language poetry, it would take the engagement of musicians in the movement to reach the masses. This social agenda was largely initiated by Anselm Clavé (1824-1874), founder of the region's first choral societies. In his youth, Clavé was imprisoned for his dangerously progressive political outlook and his participation in a major popular revolt of 1843. Following his release in 1845, Clavé founded "La Aurora," initially a group of some twenty young singers and musicians committed to performing readily accessible music by Clavé and his peers to the lower classes. By 1850, however, the young revolutionary addressed the need for direct participation in communal music making as a means to social progress by founding "La Fraternitat," Catalonia's first choral society. Municipal authorities compelled Clavé to change the name of his organization to the less threatening "Euterpe" in 1857, although its function and work remained unaltered. Within two years the society was publishing its own magazine, Eco de Euterpe, and in 1860 "l'Associació General de Cors Euterpenses" was created to coordinate the activities of diverse choral societies now thriving throughout Catalonia. Clavé's own musical compositions are noteworthy for their pedagogical simplicity and feeling for basic choral textures. Indeed, although Orpheonism flourished in Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands in the nineteenth century, composers seemed eventually to weary of the requirement of composing technically uncomplicated arrangements for untrained ensembles. The survival of choral arts in the area rests with the formation of several professional societies in the 1890's, most notably the "Orfeó Català," founded by Lluís Millet and Amadeu Vives in 1891. Both musicians were deeply committed to the revival of early music and to exploring the region's folk music. Antoni Nicolau (1858-1933) was another important composer of choral music, including several works based on texts by Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer premiered by the Orfeó Català. The illustrious Palau de la Música Catalana of Barcelona, designed by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner and constructed between 1905 and 1908, became the base of operations for the organization.17 So significant was the Orfeó Català to the musical life of Catalonia that composers of this generation have come to be known as the "Generació de 1908."18 The music of this period owes much of its inspiration to the pioneering work of Felip Pedrell (1841-1922). The Tortosa-born musician produced a significant body of operatic and symphonic music early in his career but, more significantly for posterity, became passionately committed to research into early music as well as the study of popular and folkloric modes of expressions. Pedrell published numerous articles and studies in these areas and founded two publications in 1881, Salterio sacro-hispano and Notas musicales y literaria. Most celebrated is his publication of the Cancionero musical popular español in 1922. The four volumes of this study include not only a wealth of folk music from each region of Spain, but also a good deal of Medieval and Renaissance material. Indeed, Pedrell's Cancionero provided for many a first glimpse of the Cantigas of Alfonso el Sabio, the work of the great "vihuelists" and organists of the "siglo de oro," and many charming "tonadillas" from the seventeenth century. Complete editions of the works of Victoria and Cabezón also owe their existence to Pedrell. One of Pedrell's greatest inspirations was the compositional esthetic of Richard Wagner. The German master's commitment to Nationalism and his quest to create "German opera" became an important example to Catalan composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Indeed, the influence of the leitmotiv technique can be felt in a such purely instrumental music as the original solo piano version of Enrique Granados' Goyescas. Wagnerian opera captured the hearts of the Barcelonese public in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and, with numerous productions at the Liceu, it constituted a significant departure from the previously dominant Italian styles. Clavé had been one of the first Catalan musicians to take up the cause of Wagner's music, and Pedrell continued this tradition in 1901 by forming the "Associació Wagneriana." Pedrell's personal quest to create a quintessentially Spanish national opera along the lines of Wagner found expression in such works as Els Pirineus and La Celestina, the former based on the text of Catalan poet Victor Badaguer, the latter on a celebrated prosaic work of the Spanish Renaissance.19 Most modern-day commentators have only qualified praise for Pedrell's original compositions, but his fervent commitment to the indigenous music and art of Iberia was clearly a transformative force in the artistic development of countless Spanish composers of succeeding generations. "Por nuestra música," an appeal for musical Nationalism written originally as a prologue to Els Pirineus, was in effect a rallying cry for a new era in Spanish art music, which would find its most glorious expression in the works of Catalonians Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909) and Enrique Granados (1867-1916) and the Cádiz-born Manuel de Falla (1876-1946). Although these three composers have achieved an international renown virtually synonymous with the revitalization of Spanish musical traditions at the turn of the century, a number of other Catalans were deeply affected by Pedrell's example on a more localized level. Francesc Alió (1862-1908), a pupil of Nicolau and Pedrell, was a prodigious composer of songs based on texts by Catalan authors as well as simple arrangements of folk songs. Alió's pupil Joan Gay (1867-1926) founded the Institució Catalana de Música before relocating to Cuba. Another protégé of Pedrell and Albéniz, Enric Morera distinguished himself in the fields of composition, pedagogy, musicology, and choral direction. Also of this generation was the pedagogue Joan Llongueres and the legendary musicologist Higini Anglès. In addition, concert artists such as cellist Pau Casals (1876-1973) and Joan Lamote de Grignon (1872-1943), founder and conductor of l'Orquesta Simfònica de Barcelona, contributed mightily to the musical life of the region. "Catalanism" on the Politcal Scene Politically speaking, the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw a continuation of tumultuous changeability in the Spanish government, along with an ongoing development of nationalistic sentiments in Catalonia. "Catalanism" is a term widely used to evoke the political, social, and artistic concerns which centered around the region's unique identity and needs at this time. The aforementioned "Renaixença" was one crucial manifestation, but so was a rather reactionary longing for the restoration of Medieval Catalan political rights and legal proceedings. Worker revolts over atrocious working and living conditions characterized much of this period in Barcelona, even as the city sought to expand and modernize its earlier peripheries through the destruction of its original walls and the adoption of Ildefons Cerdà's "Eixample," or plan for urban enlargement.20 The formation of the "Lliga Regionalista" in 1901 led to increased electoral clout for Catalonia, and several repressive moves from Madrid—including the banning of the Catalan language from public schools in 1902—actually had the effect of inspiring stronger nationalist feelings and increased voter turnout. In 1912, the Spanish government conceded a small degree of autonomy to the region by enacting the so-called "ley de mancomunidades," which authorized the creation of provincial health, social, cultural, and educational programs, all backed by government funds. The "mancomunidades" would endure some ten years, until their repeal by the government of Primo de Rivera.21 Catalan Music in the Early 20th Century Several of the twentieth century's most notable Catalan nationalist composers came to artistic maturity during this period of renewed regional pride and empowerment. A pupil of Enric Morera, Jaime Pahissa is perhaps best remembered today for one of the first biographical studies of Manuel de Falla, although his compositional essays included some of the earliest dodecaphonic, polytonal, and "intertonal"22 music penned in Catalonia. Pahissa composed a great deal of theatrical and operatic music, and his Suite Internacional of 1926 remains one the most progressive and interesting works of the era. Better known for his strong commitment to dodecaphony was Robert Gerhard (1895-1970), a Catalan native who became eventually a British subject. In the early 1930's, Gerhard and Pablo Casals succeeded in enticing Schoenberg to winter in Barcelona, where the music of the second Viennese School was gaining considerable exposure.23 Gerhard was in fact Schoenberg's sole Spanish pupil, having completed earlier studies with Pedrell and Granados. This sense of a "dual heritage" would inform much of Gerhard's output, a concept well illustrated by the premiere in 1932 of the orchestral version of his Sis cançons populars catalanes in Vienna with soprano Conchita Badia under the direction of Anton Webern! More Romantic in inspiration was the Catalan Eduard Toldrà (1895-1962), who first distinguished himself as a child prodigy of the violin. In 1911 he founded the celebrated "Quartet Renaixement," which contributed significantly to the musical life of the region as well as the rest of the nation. Toldrà's organizational skills surfaced again in 1943, when he established the "Orquestra Municipal de Barcelona," which he directed to great international acclaim until his death. As a composer, Toldrà trained under Nicolau and produced a substantial corpus of music in a rather nationalistic vein, including a number of chamber and vocal works. One of Toldrà's more important contemporaries was the Catalan Manuel Blancafort (1897-1987), whose "Polca de l'equilibrista" from Parc d'attractions (1920-1924) was premiered by the legendary Ricardo Viñes and earned the composer an international reputation. Impressionism and the work of the French "groupe des six" were major influences on Blancafort's style, although the neo-classical works of Stravinsky also exerted a considerable pull in many of Blancafort's later compositions. Still, the consistent element in the composer's output is a marked regionalism and the unabashed exploitation of Catalan folk materials. Blancafort's work is frequently contrasted with that of his illustrious colleague, Federico Mompou (1893-1987). Mompou is of course one of the most crucial figures of this period, and his work will be the focus of several later chapters. Other Catalan composers of the period worthy of mention include Agustí Grau, Xavier Gols, Josep Valls, Frederic Llongàs, and Joaquim Serra. Commentators have frequently associated these composers with the "Generation of '27."24 Oppression, the Second Republic, and the Spanish Civil War When Miguel Primo de Rivera, captain-general of Catalonia, seized control of the Spanish government in 1923, the dictatorship he imposed moved yet again to suppress all traces of Catalanism from the province. Rivera was fiercely committed to the ideal of Spanish unity and reserved his deepest contempt for Catalonian middle-class dreams of independence. The working class tended to accept the new regime for its creation of numerous employment opportunities, many of which stemmed from the 1929 World Exhibition at Barcelona. Still, Rivera's ban on the Catalan language and flag from public institutions, his revocation of the Mancomunitat laws, and his abolition of Catalan political parties excited in many a secretive spirit of Catalanism, associated at that time with Catalan separatist revolutionary Francesc Maciá.25 Primo de Rivera's dictatorship was short-lived, since he was obliged to step down once King Alfonso XIII withdrew his support in 1929. Within two years Alfonso himself would be ousted, however, as a new government assumed power. Catalonia supported wholeheartedly the establishment of the Second Republic of Spain, since its constitution assured autonomy for the region along with the creation of the "Generalidad catalana." Nevertheless, mounting social unrest and widespread conflicts between extreme elements on both ends of the political spectrum led to the deterioration of the Republic within five years. The "Falange Española," a right-wing movement founded in 1933 by Primo de Rivera, reacted against the left wing of Spanish politics, emphasizing Spanish traditionalism and a quest for civil order.26 The lines were being drawn for the monstrous Spanish Civil War of 1936 – 1939, after which Generalísimo Francisco Franco would rule Spain until his demise in 1975. Music in Catalonia under Franco The suppression of Catalan autonomy under Franco's dictatorship and Spain's general alienation from the international community during this oppressive regime dealt a heavy blow to the previously promising musical scene in Catalonia. Shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War Barcelona had proudly hosted the Fourteenth Festival of the SIMC (Societat Internacional de Música Contemporània) and the Third Congress of the SIM (Societat Internacional de Musicologia), evidence of the city's prominence as an international musical center. In the aftermath of the civil strife, many important composers such as Mompou, Pahissa, and Gerhard chose to live abroad, whereas others such as Morera and Millet were largely ignored. Prominent soloists left the country as well, perhaps most significantly Pau Casals, whose Orquestra Pau Casals disbanded. Many of the musical societies which had flourished in Catalonia since the late nineteenth century folded, and the Orfeó Català suspended its activities. So extreme was the repression of Catalan institutions that for years the use of the Catalan language in choral compositions was banned, as were performances of the "Cant de la Senyera," Catalonia's "Song of the Flag." Fortunately, the desolation was not to be long-lived: as much as Catalonia suffered under Franco, she also became the embodiment of resistance to his totalitarian regime. Through the efforts of numerous gifted composers, performers, and pedagogues, the region's musical life was soon to revive. With the creation of the Orquesta Municipal of Barcelona, Eduard Toldrà provided the area with a stable symphonic ensemble. This orchestra would be succeeded in 1967 by the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona under the baton of Antoni Ros Marbà. The Orfeó Català was authorized to resume its performances in 1946, and numerous new choral groups were established in the following years, including the Capella Clàssica Polifònica, the Coral Sant Jordi, and the Cor Madrigal. "Club 49″ of Barcelona, founded by Joaquim Homs and Carles Maristany, sought to promote awareness of the musical avant-garde through its numerous public performances, as did the Joventuts Musicals, founded in 1951. Other performance groups committed to new music were Diabolus in Musica, the Conjunt Català de Música Contemporània, the Laboratori de Música Electrònica Phonos, and the Grup Instrumental Català. Although Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-99) is a native of Valencia, that region's historical link to Catalonia and the composer's international renown warrant inclusion of him in the present discussion. Rodrigo studied with the Valencian López-Chávarri before relocating to Paris for studies with Dukas. After the Civil War, the composer of the world-famous Concierto de Aranjuez settled in Madrid and has held the "Manuel de Falla" chair at that city's university since 1947. Following the phenomenal success of his ubiquitous guitar concerto, Rodrigo continued to produce a number of works in a similar vein, one of which, the Fantasía para un gentilhombre, has enjoyed comparable acclaim. In his songs, Rodrigo has turned frequently to Catalan texts, which he sets with uncommon sensitivity, frequently in a neo-classical style with modal harmonies. Barcelona native Joaquim Homs (1909- ) trained under Robert Gerhard. In contrast to the rather conservative compositional orientation of Rodrigo, Homs has favored atonal and frequently dodecaphonic approaches. His commitment to contemporary music is evident in numerous magazine articles and in his efforts on behalf of several Catalan organizations. Homs played a crucial role in arranging and providing commentary for concerts of Club 49 and was the first president of the "Associació Catalana de Compositors." A pupil of Morera and Pahissa, Xavier Montsalvatge (1912- ) was born in Girona and has achieved an international stature on par with that of Rodrigo. Montsalvatge has evolved compositionally through a number of diverse styles and trends. His most popular works are generally from the 40's and early 50's, when the composer was enamored of "antillanisme," a Caribbean musical style associated with Spain's colonization of Cuba.27 Among Montsalvatge's most representative compositions from this period are the Cinco Canciones Negras for soprano and orchestra, the Cuarteto indiano, and Divertimientos sobre temas de autores olvidados for solo piano. A more neoclassical approach characterizes much of Montsalvatge's output from the later 50's and 60's, as suggested by such works as the Desintegració morfològica de la Chacona de Bach and the Sonatine pour Yvette. Later still, the composer would turn to dodecaphonic resources in his Cinc invocacions al Crucificat, Laberint, and Sonata concertant, among others. Among the more important Catalan composers born during the era of the Second Republic and the Civil War are Romà Alís, Lleonard Balada, Jordi Cervelló, Salvador Pueyo, and Andrés Lewin-Richtes. Alís has distinguished himself through his pedagogical activities in Madrid and Seville, as well as through numerous film and television scores. Balada began his studies at the Conservatori del Liceu before moving to New York to continue his training at the Juilliard School. He is currently on the composition faculty of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. Particularly noteworthy is his opera Cristóbal Colón, composed in 1986. The influence of the Second Viennese School is apparent in the expressionistic and atonal work of Cervelló. The composer has been drawn in several instances to compositions on Jewish themes, including his Anna Frank, un simbol of 1971. Pueyo studied in Barcelona with Toldrà and Zamacois, a prominent pedagogue, before proceeding to Paris to continue with Pierre Shaefer. Abstraccions and Antítesi, both for orchestra, are considered among his most advanced compositions. Finally, the electronic camp finds representation in the work of Lewin-Richtes, who studied at the electronic music studios at Columbia University with Davidovsky, Ussachevsky and Varèse. Virtually all Lewin-Richtes' compositions entail the use of taped music, be it purely electronic works such as his Fontecilla mix I, works for voice and tape like the Sequencia III per a Anna, or "collages" for instruments and tape as in the Collage en homenatge a Gerhard. Music and Politics of the New Generation More recent Catalan composers have included Carles Guinovart (1941- ), Eduardo Polonio (1941- ), Albert Sardà (1943- ), Anna Bofill (1944- ), Vicenç Acuña (1945- ), Mercè Capdevila (1946- ), Josep A. Roda (1947- ), Joan A. Amargós (1950- ), Lluís Gasser (1951- ), Llorenç Balsach (1953- ), and Isabel Garvia (1959- ). A fine selection of their work for piano is provided in Llibre per a Piano, a publication of the Associació Catalana de Compositors.28 Commenting on this most recent generation of composers Josep Roda Batlle remarks: …composers of the present day seek total originality, and each of them his own language, which makes it difficult to group them by characteristics or schools. These musicians were somewhat influenced by the Generation of '51, starting composing under the directives of serialism or aleatory, only to end up defining and refining their own musical language… These are composers of the present and the future, not yet history.29 In the political arena, the last several decades have brought about bright new horizons for Catalonia as well. With the restoration of the Spanish monarchy in the person of Juan Carlos I following the death of Franco, Spain made rapid progress towards democratization in the form of a constitutional monarchy. The new constitution was ratified in December of 1978 and called for regional autonomy in the context of a unified nation. In this document, areas of state-wide control are distinguished from matters left to regional governments. Catalonia had especially compelling claims for autonomy, given its unique history, culture, and language, as well as the enduring quest of its population for such a political structure. In December of 1979, the national "Cortes" ratified Catalonia's specific petition for autonomy, the Catalan populace approved the proposal in a referendum, and the new statute was officially implemented.30 Tensions have nevertheless persisted in the struggle to define Catalonia's autonomy. Grandiose ambitions on the part of certain Catalans desirous of incorporating Valencia into a "greater Catalonia" along the lines of the erstwhile empire have been ascribed to "Regional imperialism" and won little national support.31 A more pressing concern has been the emigration to Barcelona of large members of the working force. Such non-native Catalans often have political orientations different from those of the indigenous population, as well as limited respect for the region's customs and culture. Democratic principles accord natives and emigrants equal electoral power, thereby imperiling some of Catalonia's unique identity.32 Still, a silver lining is discernable in the dilemma: in the quest to articulate the essence of supposedly endangered "Catalanism," the meanings and implications of the term are bound to become more widely known and understood. 1 Unless otherwise indicated, all references in the present chapter to Catalan musical history derive from the following source: Josep Roda Batlle, Música i músics a casa nostra (Barcelona: Editorial Teide, 1993). 2 Robert Hughes, Barcelona (N.Y.: Vintage Books, 1992), 75. 3 Batlle, 15-17. 4 Batlle, 47. 5 Hughes, 119. 6 Ibid., 104-109. 7 Ibid., 169-171. 8 Gilbert Chase, The Music of Spain (N.Y.: Dover Publications, 1959), 55-58. 9 Hughes, 175. 10 Els segadors (The Reapers), a nearly ubiquitous Catalan anthem dating from the nineteenth century, commemorates this struggle. 11 Vicente Cantarino, Civilización y Cultura de España (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1995), 207-210. 12 Batlle, 66. 13 Ibid., 67. 14 Ibid, 71. 15 Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 6th ed., s. v. "Martín y Soler, Vicente," by Othmar Wessely. 16 Hughes, 254. 17 Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Barcelona: A Thousand Years of the City's Past (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), 211-212. 18 Batlle, 125. 19 Encyclopædia Britannica, 1964 edition, s. v. " Celestina, La," by P. E. Russell. 20 Fernández-Armesto, 171-172. 21 Fernández-Armesto, 190-191. 22 Batlle explains "intertonality" as a system based on "pure dissonance." 138. 23 Willi Reich, Schoenberg: a critical biography, translated by Leo Black (N.Y.: Praeger Publishers, 1971), 176. 24 Batlle, 155. 25 Fernández-Armesto, 219-221. 26 Cantarino, 323, 361-369. 27 It is useful to recall that for many years Cuba was seen as yet another region of Iberia, and the inclusion of a piece such as "Cubana" in Manuel de Falla's Cuatro piezas españolas, for example, would not have seemed incongruous. 28 Associació Catalana de Compositors, Llibre per a Piano (Barcelona: Associació Catalana de Compositors, 1980). 29 Batlle, 172-173. 30 Cantarino, 412-424. 31 Ibid., 423. 32 Ibid., 424.


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2017 Toyota Sequoia New Design Exterior, Interior
2017 Toyota Sequoia New Design – Review
2017 Toyota Sequoia New Design – Introduced in the automobile market as a new truck, the Toyota Sequoia have been there for over 10 years now. The Sequoia has gone through some major redesigns during the past years and its transformation coming from a Truck to a entire sized sports utility is owed going without running shoes. Probably it is one of several largest SUVs ever made, it borrows most connected with its design traits on the legendary Tundra. Sequoia has shown to be beneficial for Toyota possesses always maintained a continuous sales record. Now Toyota is warm up and will soon look at the 2017 Toyota Sequoia New Design. The latest variant of this Japanese SUV is presently under research and development and it is expected to come furnished with a lot advanced features.
Interior and Exterior
When it comes to interior designing, Toyota knows its ways well and 2017 Toyota Sequoia New Design is usually an epitome of that. The corporation has successfully implemented the suitable amount of class and trendiness within their latest design. In terms of space and comfort this variant more than you need. The space inside can be quite efficiently used and there is certainly room for extra gear. Besides that The 2017 Toyota Sequoia's interiors are actually crafted with the best quality of materials. Other interior upgrades mostly add some technological ones. New GPS, improved infotainment system along with touchscreen interface are to name a few. This new variant should be able to accommodate up to 8 passengers.
2017 Toyota Sequoia New Design doesn't possess much to upgrade on the subject of its exterior look. It's already pretty modern and nice. Even so Toyota has thought we would add a number of 'important tweaks' as outlined by some experts. With regards to its dimensions along with basic exterior outline this will remain pretty significantly unchanged. Redesigns include recently designed bumpers along with front grille in addition to day time working Led head lamps and side lamps. Toyota might be working away at this SUVs bodyweight reduction in order to offer better gas economy. Other than it's likely to remain the identical.
With regards to 2017 Toyota Sequoia New Design, we can say that one is going buy its looks. That looks sturdy and continuous and carries an equally powerful engine under their hood. This upgrade is really a much needed one and Toyota did justice to it. This new variant's powertrain associated with 2017 Toyota Sequoia New Design will have a very powerful V8 motor. It is expected to become a 5.7 Liter all of which will have a maximum power output of 381 HorsesPower and a torque of 401 pound per feet.
This engine will probably be combined with an vehicle 6-speed transmission system. Manual options are not likely to be available. To add to that Toyota is also implementing lighter body design as well as new engine will deliver better fuel efficiency output. On the freeway it truly is most probably around 17 kilometers per gallon and on city roads it is going to offer 13 miles for each gallon. Last but not the very least, this engine will likewise offer improved performance and will also be equipped with the required systems.
Release and Price
2017 Toyota Sequoia New Design will be marketed in early 2016. Toyota put a price ranging from $ 54,000 to $ 61,000.


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This rant is the 12th installment of the Rant On... series, which will be featured regularly - by which I mean whenever I feel like ranting. Post any suggestions for future rants in the comments.This rant is a little different than the rest of the series. Here's some ads that don't make any sense (with my reactions in italics):
See American Gangster as you've never seen it before!
- Considering I haven't seen it yet, you could show me just about anything with a label that says "American Gangster" on it, and that'd be true.
Think pets don't get fleas in the winter time?
- No, I don't think that. In fact, they probably do.
Think again!
- Wait, so they don't? I guess I don't need your product. Oh yeah, I don't have any pets anyways. *changes channel*
From the NetZero TV commercial: All internet providers take you to the same internet, so why pay more to get there?
Hmm, where to begin...I can get to work by bike or buy car in the morning, so why pay more for the car? Oh yeah, BECAUSE IT'S 10 BILLION TIMES FASTER. Seriously, who thought that line was clever? They should be forced to use a 56k modem for life.
Why is it called the greatest car in the world?
- Because you keep calling it that? Because your ad guys are lazy at coming up with taglines? Because your definitions of "greatest," "car" and "world" don't match anyone else's? Because you're being facetious? Because you paid someone to call it that? (Note: Credit goes to dave for coming up with some of these)
The DVD has an additional 30 minutes of unseen footage...
- Wow, they're really willing to take a big gamble on that footage. If it were me I'd make sure I knew what I put on my DVD rather than putting some footage nobody's seen on there. Hell, if nobody's seen it, it may not even be footage from the same movie.
And of course, Mitch Hedberg had a great joke that fits in this post nicely:
I saw a commercial on late night TV...It said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were.


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Missmollyy's Bio and Free Webcam
- Real Name:
- Molly
- Followers:
- 94769
- Birth Date:
- May 23, 2000
- Age:
- 19
- Sex:
- Female
- Interested In:
- Men, Women
- Location:
- My Room
- Last Broadcast:
- 5 months ago
- Language(s):
- English
- About Me:
"Hi, Guys! I'm Miss Molly. Welcome To My Room! I am so happy that you are here. I love to talk so please be sure to say Hi when you come into my room! You will see that we will become friends very quickly! I am very open and love to joke around but just know I also like my privacy and take my room seriously! I love EVEN numbers, so it makes me happy when you tip with even numbers:) Please be nice and tip well, and I will spoil you in return!!"
Thanks everyone who supports me in anyway. I truly appreciate each and every single bit of it :) Make sure you don't forget to follow me!
Spank Ass20 Tokens
- Booty Shake22 Tokens
- Song Request30 Tokens
- Flex Abs36 Tokens
- Boobie Flash50 Tokens
- Ass Spread98 Tokens
- Flash Pussy100 Tokens
- Finger Pussy102 Tokens
- View your Cam / C2C200 Tokens
- Finger Ass202 Tokens
- Snap Chat300 Tokens
- Instant Naked5000 Tokens
- Buy My PantiesGift Card for $100 or 2000 Tokens
- No PM'S Allowed
- NO Personal or Location Questions
- Do not Spam, Promote your Room, any Websites or try to get Attention from any of my Viewers!
- NO Demands without TIP!
- Dirty talk is Allowed but only in tip notes or Private!
- Respect all Room Visitors and Moderators!
- Private is 120 tokens/min for Minimum 10 Minutes. Privates can include Cam2Cam, Cumshow, Light Anal, Roleplay, and Sexy Lingerie!!
(Tip for PM and ask me before start private show).
For Extra 200 tokens You may pick a toy of your choice!
- My Fanclub.
Molly Membership is only $10.99 or 1000 Tokens / Month, that includes Access to my Snap Chat & Your name featured in my bio, a Icon next to your Green Coloured username in chat, PLUS! Members get Unlimited Private Messages
Fan club members:
Your name here?
- Who will be Crowned My New King ??
Only the Highest SINGLE Tip becomes the New King.
The King will be rewarded with a crown next to their username in the Chat Room!
Username is also Featured HERE in my Bio as the top King Tipper for that Specific Month.
January ♛ Nyslut92 - 1,175
Febuary ♛ Tipper2 - 1,150
March ♛ Tipper3- 1,000
April ♛ Tipper4 - 50
May ♛ Tipper5 - 25
June ♛ Nyslut92- 1,201
July ♛ Tipper7 - 1,250
August ♛ Tipper8 - 1,250
September ♛ Tipper9 - 1,250
October ♛ Tipper10 - 1,250
November ♛ Tipper11- 1,250
December ♛ Tipper12- 1,250
- Any UNAUTHORIZED use of my profile, video, pictures or audio in any form or in a forum now or in the future is NOT permissible without my expressed written consent. Any act to promote or gain profit in any manner (e.g. either monetarily or socially) from the use of my profile, video, pictures or audio in any form my profile is a violation of my privacy and subject to legal action.
You acknowledge and agree that you shall not post, upload, publish, transmit or make available in any way content of this page including images and recording streamed live video available for download. Penalties of Copyright Infringement: By reproducing, republishing or redistributing the work of a copyright holder without permission, you may be violating or infringing on his or her rights under the Copyright Act. The copyright holder may sue for compensation cost from $ 250 to $ 150,000 or ONE YEAR JAIL SENTENCE.
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PENALTIES OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT: By reproducing, republishing or redistributing the work of a copyright holder without permission, you may be violating or infringing on his or her rights under the Copyright Act. The copyright holder may sue for compensation cost from $ 250 to $ 150,000 or ONE YEAR JAIL SENTENCE.


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Tacoma's 'Grit' Inspires Local Artist Jason Holland
March 3, 2016
Tacoma artist Jason Holland has always been interested in art. Until recently, however, it was a hobby; a side gig. After all, it's tough to make it as an artist. Jason worked a regular job, and spent some of his spare time doing freelance work. That is, until he was injured on the job. Call it bad luck, or maybe a blessing in disguise, but being unable to work gave him the opportunity to seriously consider becoming an artist.
Jason has been drawing as long as he can remember. In the 2nd grade, he won an art contest by drawing a picture of a classmate. When he described the feeling he said, "That's when I realized I could do this. I chose to draw a portrait of a friend, and when I was finished, the drawing actually ended up looking like him!"
Born and raised in Tacoma, Jason takes the inspiration for his art right from the city. His current project, a 3-piece series called "Grit City", features the unofficial city mascot: the giant octopus. Why the octopus? "The octopus is mysterious," Jason said. "It's a challenge to capture, but it also provides many perspectives and opportunities for subtlety." Jason just released the second piece in the series (available in our shop), and the third entry is forthcoming.
'Grit City', Jason explained, is how he sees Tacoma. The city has always been known as a blue-collar town; and he believes that "roll-up your sleeves" mentality defines the attitude here. Many in the city are against the proposed methanol plant, and he admires the determination shown by opponents of the project.
If you like the Grit City Series, you'll be excited to know that Jason is planning another series, for which he has "a lot of ideas rattling around". We love supporting local artists, and we are very excited to have these pieces, and hopefully many others, in our shop.
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Maths Group
Have a good holiday. Remember to try and practice your math regularly, this will help you when you comeback to school after the break. There are lots of games here you can use. You can also use your mathletics and perhaps see if you can still get your top speed on your speed sheets. Here are some divisions left over from today. 635462 / 6, 726252 / 8, 28376 / 4, 828272 / 6, 1238211 / 8.
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Last Year, several volunteers and staff from Big Brothers Big Sisters joined with the Live Different group on a trip to the Dominican Republic to build a home for a family. This is Zuhal's story of her experience.
I like many others on this trip did not think of the impact this trip would have on me and how I view life. I went on this trip thinking that it will be purely physical labour but underestimated the emotional roller coaster that it puts one on. Growing up as a refugee in India I had seen slums and people living in extreme poverty and it always hurt me to see people in those situations but just like any other child soon I was distracted by my own life yet the images stayed in my head till this day. Yes I have seen poverty but I have never experienced it like I did on this trip as an adult and all what I remembered as a kid came rushing back to me and reminded me of those kids in India living in slums and the stigma they endured on day to day basis.
When introduced to Sandra (Nuevo Renacer Community Leader, Live Diffferent) and learning about her story I realized how important the role of a mentor is in the lives of children, youth and even adults. She truly revives the word mentor and is a living example of what a mentor should be like. Sandra has so selflessly sacrificed so much for the well-being of her community and the healthy ways of developing her community Nuevo Renacer. She is a true inspiration and a role model not only to her community members but also to many of us taking part in this build. When people ask me what my highlight during this trip was my answer remains the same "meeting Sandra" because not only has she devoted her life to serving her community but she also reassured me of why I do what I do at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel. Being in the field sometimes we forget the impact we have on others but it's only during certain moments do we realize the true beauty of mentorship and why we are doing this.
I had the privilege of working on the Kids Club knowing that it would be a space that will be used not only by the kids we interacted with but also those in the future generations. It brought out many emotions in me – I was happy, excited, inspired, touched, humbled and most of all I knew I was a part of a big movement which at the moment may seem small but the impact this club will have on this community is larger beyond words.
This partnership between Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, Live Different and West Jet is one to be proud of as it brought out many of us across Canada together to work on the same goal. The teamwork was beyond amazing and our Littles are truly an inspiration and I am so proud to be a part of Big Brothers Big Sisters. As Sandra says "nothing is impossible" and this trip proved it to me and many more that "if we all stand up together we can move mountains and one day end poverty". The Live Different staff are great motivators and made us see things from a perspective that when living in North America we sometimes forget to switch on. Their devotion of this project and the community is not just building new homes from families but creating employment, increasing sense of community and showing them the importance of volunteering. We witnessed these values and came to understand their commitment in creating a better world for all.
I am so grateful for being a part of this great journey and also more confident after this trip that yes one person can make a difference.
by Zuhal Khoja
Conversation Club Caseworker
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel
Monday, May 25, 2015
My experience with Live Different Builds
Last Year, several volunteers and staff from Big Brothers Big Sisters joined with the Live Different group on a trip to the Dominican Republic to build a home for a family. This is Zuhal's story of her experience.
Monday, May 18, 2015
Did you know that May 21st marks World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development?
by: Nooreen Pirbhai
National Inclusion Advisor
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada
As Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO states, "our cultural diversity is a stimulator of creativity. Investing in this creativity can transform societies. It is our responsibility to develop education and intercultural skills in young people to sustain diversity of our world and to learn to live together in the diversity of our languages, cultures and religions, to bring about change."
As the National Inclusion Advisor at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, I have the privilege to hear about the ways in which Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies are developing and/or adapting mentoring programs and processes to ensure the inclusion of the rich cultural diversity in their regions. More importantly, I get to be a part of conversations that relate to how Big Brothers Big Sisters can meaningfully engage and mentor culturally diverse children and youth, some of whom are newcomers to Canada.
Throughout all of these conversations, there is one common understanding: the process of being truly inclusive needs to be a multi-pronged approach that does not just look at programming, but an intentional process that requires agencies to ensure diversity and inclusion is fully embedded within an agency's day-to-day and long-term work. This includes an agency's strategic priorities, governance, human resources, community engagement, partnership development, and other internal and external activities. It is a process that recognizes that it has no end date, rather it is a journey that we must consciously stay on, meaning that we all still have a lot of work to do. In honour of this, and World Day for Cultural Diversity, I challenge all of us to reflect on our programs and practices to see how we can become more culturally inclusive.
Lastly, to continually celebrate and reflect on our personal and organizational achievements on World Day for Cultural Diversity, and throughout the year, join the grassroots campaign, Do One Thing For Diversity and Inclusion. The campaign encourages people and organizations from around the world to take action in supporting diversity. You can join the campaign via their Facebook page, which serves as a platform for people around the world to share their experiences through posts and videos. Be sure to check it out!
Happy World Day for Cultural Diversity!
For more information on World Day for Cultural Diversity, go to: www.un.org
Monday, May 11, 2015
Here's to Canadian Mom's
"You are not perfect, but you are perfect for me!"
These are words of wisdom from my 8 year-old son that inspire me whenever self-doubt sets in – which I hate to admit happens more often than not.
At Big Brothers Big Sisters, we are fortunate to meet and work with thousands of beautiful, courageous and incredible women across the country, also known as moms. These women want the best for their children. They worry and they fight to provide their children with as many skills and opportunities as possible to encourage them to reach their full potential.
It's no wonder that they worry.
According to the Save the Children 2012 State of the World's Mothers Annual Index, that helps document conditions for mothers and children in 165 countries and shows where mothers fare best and where they face the greatest hardships, Canada ranks 19th, behind countries like Estonia, Slovenia and Portugal.
The most recent data from Statistics Canada's Women in Canada report states that working mothers still earn 25% less, on average, and still do approximately double on average, of the child and household related chores than dads. The same report also demonstrates that women account for more college and university graduates than men.
Why should we be concerned about the condition for mothers?
Providing mothers with access to education, economic opportunities and maternal and child health care, gives them and their children the best chance to survive, thrive and reach their full potential. By supporting mothers and improving their conditions, we can improve the lives and well-being of our children and, in turn, our communities.
Despite the worry and self-doubt, brave moms across the country reach out for support and with the help of over 27,000 volunteer mentors, they are providing new opportunities for their children. We, at Big Brothers Big Sisters are honored to know and work with these moms each and every day.
To all the Moms – we hope you put aside the self-doubt and worry this Mother's Day. To everyone else, please take a moment to recognize and encourage all the mothers you know that work so hard.
If your mom was your mentor, please let her know! www.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Healthy Children Lead to Healthy Communities
Moksha/Modo connects strongly with the values held by Big Brothers Big Sisters and feels the work they are doing is vital to the present and future health of our global communities.
Moksha/Modo Yoga is an international community of yoga studios rooted in these 7 Pillars: Be Healthy, Be Accessible, Live Green, Community Support, Reach Out, Live to Learn, and Be Peace.
To say that "growing up in the world today is not exactly easy" would be a true understatement! Society is in such a rush all the time, and more often than not we see people competing against each other, rather than working together. There is too much pressure to "be this" or " be that" and not enough encouragement to just "be you!"
Within our ecosystems, our economies, our cities, our communities, our families, and ourselves, suffering exists. One could see this as a total burden, or one could see the world's problems as a number of incredible opportunities to create positive change.
Today's youth are the future leaders of our communities so it is crucial that they learn how to value themselves first and foremost. This way they can live up to their fullest potential as individuals and become empowered members of their families, their communities, and therefore the world. Making the world a better place starts with the individual. This is why Moksha/Modo supports Big Brothers Big Sisters in what they are doing to mentor today's children and youth.
Developing a regular yoga practice is a great way to be healthy and feel good in your body. Yoga has endless health benefits and science is always discovering new ones as time goes on. Physical benefits include helping with: back and knee pain, arthritis, poor digestion and constipation, pregnancy, poor posture, and scoliosis.
Mental/emotional benefits include helping with: stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and self esteem.Yoga helps us to take time for and take care of ourselves, so that in our lives we can be our very best! And the awesome part is that anyone can do yoga.
So, if creating positive change to make the world a better place begins with the individual, then why not encourage our children and our youth to develop healthy lifestyle choices early on!
This year marks Moksha/Modo's 6th annual Grow Your Yoga Campaign. In each of our local communities participants will practice yoga everyday for 30 days. In a community supported challenge like this there is a lot more encouragement to show up everyday. Not only that, it is really inspiring to see lots of other people doing something good for themselves! This inspiration spills out into the individual's relationships, families, and community, making the world a bit better, one yoga class at a time.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is bettering our global communities by creating positive change one Big and Little at a time, so this year we've decided to donate 100% of our collective funds raised through Grow Your Yoga to them.
By the end of May our goal is to raise $200,000 with individual donations of just $5.
You can sign up for or donate to Grow Your Yoga at your local studio or here.
Martha Deeks, Student, Teacher, Owner
Moksha Yoga Kingston


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This week I visited the international filmfestival in Rotterdam. For this year's edition the festival left the confinement of the city's film theatres and expanded onto three urban screens erected in the city's public space. During the festival three specially commissioned films are projected on landmark skyscrapers in the centre of Rotterdam to address the question: 'What could the language and tradition of cinema contribute to the function and software of urban screens?' After having biked past the screens myself I would answer this question hesitantly, that is: I would argue that programming for urban screens becomes more interesting if the content moves beyond the mere cinematic.
The festival of course aimed to do more than just move cinema outside the black box of the movie theatre. The idea was that the filmmakers would make site-specific works. I found the experiment interesting and a welcome contribution to the debate, however with mixed results; only one of the three films (Nanouk Leopold's Close-up) touched me. The other two films (Carlos Reygadas Serenghetti and Guy Maddin's Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair did not convince me.)
Part of the problem was perhaps technical: the projections were not bright enough and confined to a rectangular space high-up on the buildings. This made it hard to see what was projected in the first place. May be it was because of this that Reygadas' idea to contrast the urban landscape of concrete, glass and asphalt with images of a women's soccer match filmed in a 'surrealistic moutain landscape' fell flat. But I felt it also had to do with the particular use of the urban screen, as just another 'screen' in the vast array of broadcast media we now have, yet another rectangular outlet not unlike the ubiquitous tv-screens found in so many bars, broadcasting distant sport events. Even thought the work meant to reflect on the urban condition, it did not really become part of the urban experience itself, it remained a screen showing something happening somewhere else, without forging a strong link to the here and now.
|Photo: Jaccodotorg
I find urban screens much more interesting when they do exactly that and are programmed to become a part of the public space, when they engage the space or the audience around it more directly. Nanouk Leopold's Close-up did that: it showed a six hour long film of a close-up of a human face that looked directly into the camera. The central traffic junction Hofplein now featured the huge face of a man looking down upon the passers by, directly addressing them directly with his gaze. This of course brings al sorts of connotations with it: who is it that actually watches over public space? Are we being watched? Are we watching ourselves?
Overall, I think that at this point in time it is outside cinema that we find more interesting urban screens experiments that engage the public (space) directly (and it was a pity the film festival didn't connect her cinematic experiments with urban screen endeavors from the world of art and design). I think urban screens could actually play an important part in the making of our public spaces: if the small screen of the mobile phone or satellite navigator provide us with a personalized version of the city connecting us mainly with absent others, then perhaps the urban screen can address us on a more collective and connective level, visualizing for instance collective rhythms, connecting us in someway with a collective mood, or forging connections with those around us that are not in our personalized networks. Experiments with data visualization are a first step in this direction, they lead to artistic content for urban screens that somehow reflects the mood or variety of the public actually in the public spaces.
One work that even goes a step further and directly forges all sorts of public interaction was shown eight years ago(!) in Rotterdam, on the outside of the very cinema building that now hosts a large part of the Filmfestival. This work, Lozano-Hemmer's now famous work 'Body Movies', consisted of pictures of shopping people projected in large format on the outer wall of the cinema on the main square of Rotterdam. These pictures were however barely visible, since a very bright flood-light projected from below washed out their projection. Only when passers-by would stand in front of the flood-light, the original pictures became visible in the shadows their bodies casted on the cinema wall.
I saw the installation myself a year later in Linz, and there people immediately started playing shadow games on the screen, revealing different parts of the pictures. They were even rewarded for that: when the contours of the shopping people depicted in the projections had become visible, a new slide was projected. This way a choreography emerged of people collaborating trying to fill up the outlines of all people in the image with their silhouettes. Could projects like this perhaps in a playful way connect the individuals immersed in their private 'telecocoons' in public space?


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The passage of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will have an impact on Ohio University in a variety of ways including our academic programs in health and wellness, the costs and types of benefits we offer our employees, the availability of research funding, and the delivery of clinical services (just to name a few issues). The following report provides some analysis of what to expect from the PPACA. Thanks to Jennifer Horner for passing it along.
C. Stephen Redhead and Erin D. Williams, "Public Health, Workforce, Quality, and Related Provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148), March 24, 2010, Congressional Research Service.
From the Introduction: "Among its many provisions, PPACA creates a mandate for most U.S. residents to obtain health insurance and provides for the establishment of insurance exchanges through which certain individuals and families will be able to receive federal subsidies to reduce the cost of purchasing that coverage. In addition, PPACA significantly expands eligibility for Medicaid; substantially reduces the growth in Medicare spending that had been projected under preexisting law; imposes an excise tax on insurance plans with relatively high premiums; and makes other changes to the federal tax code, Medicare, Medicaid, and numerous other programs. This report, one of a series of CRS products on PPACA, summarizes the new law's workforce, prevention, quality, and related provisions. It begins with some background on health care delivery reform, followed by an overview of the report's content and organization."
Filed under: Economics, Infrastructure, Politics |


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Vacationing together in Zurich, girlfriends Lady Dee and Kira Zen are taking advantage of April's last chilly days at a stunning sky resort. As Kira admires her wintery surroundings from the balcony, Lady joins her for some outdoor foreplay. But a cool breeze is blowing through the pine trees, so the lesbian lovers move inside to warm-up--and strip-down! Leaving a trail of clothes to the bed, Lady and Kira get toasty with a round of pussy-licking and finger-banging. After they both have their share of oral orgasms, the beautiful Czechs rub their juicy twats together in a sexy tribbing. Glowing from their hot lovemaking, it's time to explore the beautiful wilderness around them, and maybe have a quickie in the woods!
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