text:
The Temporary Travel Office produces a variety of services relating to tourism and technology aimed at exploring the non-rational connections existing between public and private spaces. The Travel Office has operated in a variety of locations, including Missouri, Chicago, Southern California and Norway.
Is MySpace a Place?
Networked Performance pointed me toward an interview (download in PDF)with Networked Publics speaker Henry Jenkins and Networked Publics friend danah boyd about Myspace. The site, popular with teenagers, has become increasingly controversial as parents and the press raise concerns about the openness of information on the site and the vulnerability this supposedly poses to predators (Henry points out that only .1% of abductions are by strangers) and the behavior of teens towards each other (certainly nothing new, only now in persistent form). In another essay on Identity Production in Networked Culture, danah suggests that Myspace is popular not only because the technology makes new forms of interaction possible, but because older hang-outs such as the mall and the convenience store are prohibiting teens from congregating and roller rinks and burger joints are disappearing.
This begs the question, is Myspace media or is it space? Architecture theorists have long had this thorn in their side. "This will kill that," wrote Victor Hugo with respect to the book and the building. In the early 1990s, concern about a dwindling public culture and the character of late twentieth century urban space led us to investigate Jürgen Habermas's idea of the public sphere. But the public sphere, for Habermas is a forum, something that, for the most part, emerges in media and in the institutions of the state:
The bourgeois public sphere may be conceived above all as the sphere of private people come together as a public; they soon claimed the public sphere regulated from above against the public authorities themselves, to engage them in a debate over the general rules governing relations in the basically privatized but publicly relevant sphere of commodity exchange and social labor. The medium of this political confrontation was peculiar and without historical precedent: people's ...
SWITCH: Issue 22
HI everyone. Just wanted to announce the new issue of SWITCH:
SWITCH : The online New Media Art Journal of the CADRE Laboratory for
New Media at San Jose State University
http://switch.sjsu.edu firstname.lastname@example.com
SWITCH Journal is proud to announce the launch of Issue 22: A Special
Preview Edition to ISEA 2006/ ZeroOne San Jose.
As San Jose State University and the CADRE Laboratory are serving as
the academic host for the ZeroOne San Jose /ISEA 2006 Symposium,
SWITCH has dedicated itself to serving as an official media
correspondent of the Festival and Symposium. SWITCH has focused the
past three issues of publication prior to ZeroOne San Jose/ISEA2006
on publishing content reflecting on the themes of the symposium. Our
editorial staff has interviewed and reported on artists, theorists,
and practitioners interested in the intersections of Art & Technology
as related to the themes of ZeroOne San Jose/ ISEA 2006. While some
of those featured in SWITCH are part of the festival and symposium,
others provide a complimentary perspective.
Issue 22 focuses on the intersections of CADRE and ZeroOne San Jose/
ISEA 2006. Over the past year, students at the CADRE Laboratory for
New Media have been working intensely with artists on two different
residency projects for the festival – "Social Networking" with Antoni
Muntadas and the City as Interface Residency, "Karaoke Ice" with
Nancy Nowacek, Marina Zurkow & Katie Salen. Carlos Castellanos,
James Morgan, Aaron Siegel, all give us a sneak preview of their
projects which will be featured at the ISEA 2006 exhibition. Alumni
Sheila Malone introduces ex_XX:: post position, an exhibition
celebrating the 20th anniversary of the CADRE Institute that will run
as a parallel exhibition to ZeroOne San Jose/ ISEA 2006. LeE
Montgomery provides a preview of NPR (Neighborhood Public Radio)
presence at ...
Art & Mapping
The North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) has released a special issue of their journal, Cartographic Perspectives:
Art and Mapping
Issue 53, Winter 2006
Edited by Denis Wood and and John Krygier
Price: $25
The issue includes articles by kanarinka, Denis Wood, Dalia Varanka and John Krygier, and an extensive catalogue of map artists compiled by Denis Wood.
[-empyre-] Liquid Narrative for June 2006
Christina McPhee:
hi all, I am not sure we got this message out to Rhizome!
Please join our guests this month, Dene Grigar (US), Jim Barrett
(AU/SE), Lucio Santaella (BR), and Sergio Basbaum (BR) , with
moderator Marcus Bastos (BR), for a spirited discussion of "Liquid
Narratives" ----- digital media story telling with a dash, perhaps,
of 'aura' .
Here's the intro from Marcus:
The topic of June at the - empyre - mailing list will be Liquid Narratives. The concept of 'liquid narrative' is interesting in that it allows to think about the unfoldings of contemporary languages beyond tech achievements, by relating user controlled applications with formats such as the essay (as described by Adorno in "Der Essay als Form", The essay as a form) and procedures related to the figure of the narrator (as described by Benjamin in his writings about Nikolai Leskov). Both authors are accute critics of modern culture, but a lot of his ideas can be expanded towards contemporary culture. As a matter of fact, one of the main concerns in Benjamin's essay is a description of how the rise of modernism happens on account of an increasing nprivilege of information over knowledge, which is even more intense nowadays. To understand this proposal, it is important to remember how Benjamin distinguishes between an oral oriented knowledge, that results from 'an experience that goes from person to person' and is sometimes anonymous, from the information and authoritative oriented print culture. One of the aspects of this discussion is how contemporary networked culture rescues this 'person to person' dimension, given the distributed and non-authoritative procedures that technologies such as the GPS, mobile phones and others stimulate.state of the planet infographics
a small collection of beautiful information graphics documenting the current state of the planet.
see also gapminder & 3d data globe.
> A Film About Art, Politics, and War
> ***with director Michael Benson in person!***
> when: 6 pm, Friday, November 9th
> where: room 3226, 400 So. Peoria Street (Art & Design Hall, UIC)
> mass transit: take the blue line to the UIC-Halsted stop, get off
> at front
> of train, turn left onto Peoria street.
> screening is Free and open to the public.
> Until 1991 the Western republic of Socialist Yugoslavia, Slovenia's
> violent secession struck the first spark in the Balkan war which
> defined
> the first chapter of the post-cold war era. Using an inventive
> combination
> of reportage, dramatization, archival footage, animation and
> miniatures,
> Predictions of Fire is a revealing study of the controversial and
> internationally acclaimed Slovenian arts collective NSK, as seen
> through
> the lens of 20th century Central European history. Shot in Ljubljana,
> Moscow, New York, Belgrade, and Athens, this visually arresting film
> offers a portrait of a culture suspended between East and West. By
> documenting NSK, Predictions of Fire holds a mirror up to Europe
> and the
> world, analyzing the way nations are brought into conformity with
> ideology.
> The film won the Canadian Film Board's Best Documentary award at
> the 1996
> Vancouver International Film Festival. The jury issued a statement:
> "Predictions of Fire is intellectual dynamite. It explodes the
> icons and
> myths of communism and capitalism. Out of the shattered history of
> Slovenia, this film constructs a new way of looking at art,
> politics, and
> religion."
> In the early 80's, an industrial rock band named Laibach emerged
> out of
> the tiny Yugoslav republic of Slovenia. Incorporating what many
> took to be
> fascist imagery in their performances, they shocked this tiny Balkan
> republic and, after signing a recording contract with London's
> prestigious
> Mute Records label, went on to shock the rest of the world as well.
> Laibach was soon joined by a painting group, Irwin, and theater
> group, Red
> Pilot, at the helm of one of the most ambitious and cutting-edge arts
> collectives in the world. Modeled after a socialist state
> bureaucracy, and
> calling themselves Neue Slowenische Kunst (New Slovenian Arts, or
> these three groups became the titular heads of a micro-state within
> the
> independent republic of Slovenia. NSK recently began issuing its own
> passports and opened embassies and consulates in Moscow, Berlin,
> Ghent,
> Florence, and in the US.
> Although Predictions of Fire documents the NSK collective, positioning
> their work within the history of ex-Yugoslavia, the film emerges as
> much
> more than an arts documentary. Predictions of Fire offers surprising
> insight into the Yugoslav conflict and the ongoing trauma
> experienced by
> generations of Eastern Europeans raised in totalitarian regimes.
> Variety
> wrote that the film "uses a postmodern, quasi-Godardian sensibility to
> show how politics invades every facet of artistic creation and how
> integral ideology is to the understanding of the structure and
> signification of images... An extremely rich tapestry of historical
> events
> and their mythic implications in both art and politics unfolds
> onscreen."
> Review blurbs:
> "Riveting... fascinating... intriguing... An extremely rich
> tapestry of
> historical events and their mythic implications unfolds onscreen...
> With
> it's rich visual imagery,
CAE Fundraiser Tickets Now on Sale
> Tickets for the Critical Art Ensemble fundraiser are now on sale!
> Please visit
> http://www.aspacegallery.org/events.html
> for more information and to purchase tickets.
> On November 23, 2007, A Space Gallery hosts a gala art auction for
> Steven Kurtz, founder of internationally acclaimed art group Critical
> Art Ensemble. Award-winning author Naomi Klein will speak from her
> bestselling new book "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of Disaster
> Capitalism." An auction of artwork follows, including works by:
> John Abrams
> Ed Burtynsky
> John Greyson
> Freda
> Guttman
> Johanna Householder
> Istvan Kantor
> Janet Jones
> Micah Lexier
> Rafael Lorenzo-Hemmer
> Ken Lum
> Kent Monkman
> Nancy Nicol
> Ed Pien
> Jin-me Yoon
> ... and many more.
> We look forward to seeing you there!
> Warmly,
> Toronto CAE fundraising committee.
Events Nov 9-11 - Just Space(s), Los Angeles
> Friday, November 9, 12:00-1:30pm @ LACE
> Parking Public: A Walking Tour of Utopianism and Parking in Hollywood
> with Ryan Griffis and Claude Willey
> ============
> Saturday, November 10, 2:00-4:00pm @ LACE
> Symposia Session #3: Economic Justice and the Right to the City
> Participants: Ben Beach, Steve Rasmussen Cancian, Robert Garcia, Gilda
> Haas, John Malpede, Mark Purcell
> ============
> Sunday, November 11, 2:00-4:00pm @ Echo Park
> In the Spirit of Dedication and the Right to Roam: A Sunday picnic and
> public meditation on Access to Land
> Sarah Lewison and Erin McGonigle invite you to join us at Echo Park
> Lake near the statue of the Lady-of-the-Lake on Sunday, November 11
> for a picnic and reading on land that is dedicated to the public.
> +++++++++++++
> +++++++++++++
> Friday, November 9, 12:00-1:30pm @ LACE
> Parking Public: A Walking Tour of Utopianism and Parking in Hollywood
> Parking Public is an investigation into the realities of utopian
> thought as materialized in the seemingly mundane and pragmatic spaces
> of parking lots. Parking lots, one of the most visible, yet
> overlooked, artifacts of American mobility reveal the concrete space
> required to store the utopian ideals of automobility. Parking Public
> is a mapping of these literally concrete spaces in an attempt to
> locate the interests they serve.
> This tour of parking and utopias in and around historic Hollywood will
> be guided by Ryan Griffis of the Temporary Travel Office and Southern
> California artist/scholar Claude Willey. Parking lots will serve as
> the backdrop for discussions about the past, present and future of
> mobility, urban planning and spatial politics.
> All are welcome to join us on this free 1.5 hour tour that begins at
> LACE at 12 noon.
> ++++++++++++
> ++++++++++++
> Saturday, November 10, 2:00-4:00pm
> Symposia Session #3: Economic Justice and the Right to the City
> Participants: Ben Beach (Legal Aid Foundation LA), Steve Rasmussen
> Cancian (Living Room Project), Robert Garcia (The City Project), Gilda
> Haas (Strategic Actions for A Just Economy), John Malpede (LA Poverty
> Department), Mark Purcell (University of Washington)
> These sessions bring together artists, activists, and scholars whose
> work addresses overlapping issues. Each of the panelists brings a
> unique set of experiences and ways of working to bare on the broader
> goals of these sessions: to explore how spatial (in)justices is
> produced (and reproduced), how these injustices are made visible to
> diverse publics, and how (and where) the production and reproduction
> just spaces and societies begins.
> http://info.equaljusticeworks.org/fellowships/profiles/
> fellowprofile.asp?fguid=7220079677
> http://www.designerbuildermagazine.com/designerbuilder_sidewalk.html
> http://www.cityprojectca.org/about/bio-rgarcia.html
> http://www.spa.ucla.edu/dept.cfm?d=up&s=faculty&f=faculty1.cfm&id=342
> http://lapovertydept.org/index.php?
> option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26
> http://faculty.washington.edu/mpurcell/
> ++++++++++++
> ++++++++++++
> Sunday, November 11, 2:00
Re-launch of Rhizome.org
On Oct 26, 2007, at 5:10 AM, nathaniel stern wrote:
> The new site looks great - congratulations.
Fwd: [artivistic07] [ UN.OCCUPIED SPACES ] 25 to 27 October
> 25 to 27 October 2007 :: Montreal
> http://www.artivistic.org
> Artivistic is an international transdisciplinary three-day
> gathering on the interPlay between art, information and activism.
> Artivistic emerges out of the proposition that not only artists
> talk about art, academics about theory, and activists about
> activism. Founded in 2004, the event aims to promote
> transdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue on activist art beyond
> critique, to create and facilitate a human network of diverse
> peoples, and to inspire, proliferate, activate.
> For the third edition of Artivistic, the expression [ un.occupied
> spaces ] was chosen to stimulate new ideas in response to the
> hidden confusions caused by the infinite networks of 21C
> globalization and neo-liberalism. [ un.occupied spaces ] dares to
> link the charged issues of environmentalism, indigenous and migrant
> struggles, and urban practices together through the angle of
> occupation. In an interconnected world, critical thought and action
> cannot but become flexible and uncompromising at once. To think
> with occupation consequently becomes a strategy for approaching
> these issues in a way that will reveal their interdependence, and
> fuel creative and tactical collaborative actions between "co-
> artists" (artists and non-artists). Built around three interrelated
> questions, the event consists of roundtables, workshops,
> interventions, exhibitions, performances, and screenings at our
> temporary headquarters at 5455 av. de Gaspe, #701, and in different
> venues and spaces of Montreal.
> < what is indigenous? >
> The very use of the term "indigenous" presupposes a claim to the
> existence of certain rights. The right to traditional uses of
> territory. The right to live on the land from which one has been
> displaced. The right to status. The right to self-determination.
> The right to a life with dignity. In what context does indigenous
> mean something and how is it represented today? What is the
> relationship between identity based on place, the land and/or
> territories and the right to resources? What is indigenous in the
> context of globalisation, migrations and mobility?
> < what is natural (space) ? >
> The environment is in a pretty bad shape. Yet, does not typical
> environmentalism often propose "solutions" which alienate the very
> people that could make a difference by using a false dichotomy
> (natural/artificial, nature/culture) and by perpetuating the myth
> of a pristine nature? Current strategies often make use of fear and
> guilt to provoke action, yet will we not be helping our environment
> in a more efficient way once we let go of our arrogance as humans
> and start living with and in the world rather than of, and
> alienated from, the world?
> < what is (there) to occupy? >
> The term "occupation" often inspires images of invasion, enclosure
> and rape. How are spaces and bodies ruled over? What is public
> space, ultimately? Why do reserves exist? To ask what is occupation
> is in fact to ask what is left to occupy for occupation is more
> pervasive than it first appears. At the same time, occupation
> echoes resistance when it comes to certain forms of appropriation.
> How does one occupy appropriation or how can one appropriate
> occupation?
> The Autonomous Conference >> Artivistic also includes an open-
> source component. Participants will be able to sign up on the day-
> of to hold an ad-hoc session that is not in the official program
> but is fully part of the event. You can prepare in advance, but you
> don't need to submit anything.
> Our events are free admission, with a suggested donation of $10 for
> waged participants.
> Please register to secure a place: firstname.lastname@example.com
> For updates / more information: http://www.artivistic.org /
> email@example.com


text: Did Jerry say I was doing a weird flash dance routine? Umm how about the Karate Kid? Apparently that movie was too new for him. And no acknowledgement of the Footloose tractor scene either huh? Clearly I was playing chicken with the judges when I hit the camera to see who would flinch first. Come on. That was obvious.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Macy Gray: How life is now
PUBLISHED: 27 Oct 2012 00:03:00 | UPDATED: 28 Oct 2012 06:15:42PUBLISHED: 27 Oct 2012 PRINT EDITION: 27 Oct 2012Macy Gray: I did a lot with one song. I just don't know if you could do that today. No label is going to give you $2 million to make a record. Photo: Nic Walker
Brook Turner
Macy Gray's has remade Stevie Wonders 1972 hit Talking Book on the 40th anniversary of the Motown original. Photo: Nic Walker
Somewhere, deep inside Macy Gray there lurks a gimlet-eyed diva. There must. She's been written about often enough, the tetchy star hapless journalists run up against: sullen, monosyllabic, suspicious.
She is nowhere in sight, though, as Gray shuffles into the faux country-house function room of the Sir Stamford Hotel in Sydney's Macquarie Street.
The night before she has given her all in a full funk revival at the Sydney Opera House, complete with band and fluoro costume changes. Now, dressed in a designer tracksuit, fresh from demolishing a bowl of french fries, she looks more like a teenager – fidgety, shy, entirely without side – than one of the last of the old-style stars, a throwback to an era in which labels still ruled the world.
Then there's the voice: Billie Holiday channelled by Minnie Mouse on record; in person more like Isaac Hayes on helium.
Gray burst on a prelapsarian music business back in 1999, a fully formed phenomenon from her first album, Macy Gray on How Life Is, which spawned the global smash I Try.
Her advent was greeted with a five-page feature in The New Yorker anatomising Epic Records' carefully calibrated campaign to break a singer no one was in any doubt was the music industry's next big thing.
Ask Gray about those heady days, however, and she is almost childlike in her frankness. "It was crazy. I don't think I got it. Some people, as soon as they get a chance, go out and get branding deals. Me, I just partied. That was my problem.
"I had all these boyfriends and no reason to be serious. Everything came so easily for me that I just got it in my head that that was how it was going to be for the rest of my life."
Not any more. I Try hit the top five in the US (No. 1 in Australia) and won Gray a Grammy. On How Life Is sold 7 million copies worldwide. But her sophomore effort The Id was released on September 18, 2001, a week after the terrorist attacks and the year after weekly record sales began to trough.
The album never made it into the US top 10, though it did hit No. 1 in the UK. "After that the conversations changed," Gray says. "My label sat me down and started giving me advice, like 'could you write another I Try'."
In the noughties her fortunes all too often parallelled those of the music business, with subsequent releases generating some raves and the odd radio hit – such as When I See You from 2003's The Trouble with Being Myself – and a great deal of middling.
Now Gray's back with three albums this year and a new film (the Nicole Kidman vehicle The Paperboy). The occasion for our interview is the second of those 2012 albums, an ambitious and very Gray remake of Stevie Wonder's 1972 hit Talking Book, which will be released this weekend, the 40th anniversary of the Motown original.
Produced by Hal Wilner (Metallica, Lou Reed, Lucinda Williams), it contains some likely hits: I Believe, for instance, or Gray's psychedelic, almost psychotic take on Maybe Your Baby.
"I knew I could translate those songs with my voice, which was the main thing, because there are albums of [Wonder's] I would never touch," Gray says of the decision to take on a classic. "Not that Talking Book is a lesser album, but I knew I could sing those songs because I had been singing them all my life."
As for the critics: "The first step here is to marvel at the audacity of Gray's undertaking, the second to admire its earnestness (she dubs it a 'love letter to Stevie') and the third to note how gracefully she pulls it off," an early four-star review in Slant Magazine said this week. "Rarely has Gray's laryngitic delivery soared like this or manifested such a sense for the well-considered phrase."
But while it looks like a comeback, all that activity hides a more interesting story, one about which Gray is equally frank on a break from her Australian tour.
Busy, she says, is what you have to be in a business in which no one project generates anything like what it used to. "I did a lot with one song and I just don't know if you could do that today. It's definitely reached the point where, if you want to be a baller [someone who makes it big], you've got to do other things. People like[rapper] Lil Wayne are on everybody's record. You have to work a lot harder than you used to."
Talking Book is a case in point. The album was recorded in only five days, with a total budget of $30,000. "The Id cost $2 million to make," Gray says. "Labels just don't have the same money as they used to; there just aren't the same sales. You used to put a song out and sell 5 million copies. Today you might get a million downloads but the album just sits there."
The corollary for an artist who has always worked in the shrinking label system – "I wouldn't have the focus to self-release," she says. "It's admirable but I know myself" – is that "if you want to maintain the kind of living you're used to, you're going to have to do a movie or put out more records. It's just a different day. No label is going to give you $2 million to make a record."
Hence the rat-on-a-wheel pace of modern stardom. After our interview Gray is on her way to the Gold Coast as part of a whistle-stop one-week tour. Then it's back into the studio – for a few days at least – to record her third album of the year, a return to song-writing after covers.
She is celebrating her 43rd birthday the next day at Jupiters Casino, a less dismal prospect for an inveterate poker player. "I'm from Ohio. I don't know if you know anything about Ohio, but there's nothing to do there," she says. "Everybody plays cards. I grew up playing every night."
Does she play for money? "What else is there to play for?" Not that she has much of a poker face. "When I get a great hand I'm always, like, 'awesome'."
For the rest, she finally feels like she has grown up after the notoriously wild years of her early fame. "I just started getting it," she says. "I get the business of it, I get that there are things you do and things you don't do."
Do those include the drug habits she has previously spoken of picking up en route? That addiction to bad boys? "I think I'm just doing things a lot smarter than I used to and I've definitely cleaned up a lot in terms of my indulging," she says. "But I don't really judge addiction. People turn to things for all sorts of reasons. There's a lot of artists who get caught up in pills and it's nothing you do on purpose. You don't lay in bed and wish for it."
So what about that other part of the Gray legend, that she is bipolar?
"Where did you read that?" she asks. A few places, I say. It's even baldly stated on her Wikipedia page. "God," she sighs.
So is it true? "I think I'm cured," she says, breaking into a smile. "That do?"
The Australian Financial Review
Read more
People | Macy Gray, Nicole Kidman, Stevie Wonder |
Topics | Arts & Entertainment /Music , Arts & Entertainment /Performing Arts |


text:
Formative Assessment Tool. 2 Jan UPDATE 5/13: Understoodit is closing but here's another similar option that let's you take the pulse of your class during your instruction – PollEverywhere If you are looking for a new formative assessment tool check out Understoodit.
Whether your students are on iPads or have access to the web from desktops, Understoodit is a fantastic free assessment tool that is perfect for collecting data when presenting new information to students. As you speak, students press one of two buttons on a website unique to your class: "Confused" or "Understood" You'll receive real-time data on how well your class understands your presentation.
At first I was hesitant to try Understooit with my fifth graders, since it seemed so perfect for university professors and high school teachers, but it worked great with my group. Faculty Focus Email. In the typical college classroom a small handful of students make the vast majority of comments. As a teacher you want to create a classroom environment that helps students of various learning styles and personalities to feel comfortable enough to contribute as well as understand the importance of class preparation and active participation.
To reach this goal requires a constant balancing act of encouraging quiet, reflective students to speak up and, occasionally, asking the most active contributors to hold back from commenting in order to give others a chance. On LinkedIn Group we asked members to share some of the strategies they use to engage students in discussion, manage the dominant talkers and the nontalkers, and steer a discussion that's gone off track. Essay on the value of intense discussion-based instruction. Established orthodoxy indicates that the ideal pedagogical method centers on small, discussion-based classes.
Such a model enables "active learning" that, coupled with on-the-spot guidance from a skilled faculty member, is much more likely to change deep thought patterns than traditional lecture-based approaches. The emphasis shifts from the assimilation of content (and its regurgitation) to learning how to learn — how to be a better reader, how to think more critically and creatively, how to collaborate with others in the task of learning.
Few would doubt that this model sounds very appealing. Yet the experience of many educators inclines them to believe that it is unrealistic. Students, it seems, are generally too unmotivated to make it work. By Mobify. Single Best Free Way to Transform Classrooms (Primary-Lifelong) of Any Size--and Fast Too!
It may sound like I'm selling snake oil, but I actually do have one trick that, at no cost, can transform your classroom or public speaking event, whether a seminar or a lecture, whether for 8 year olds or doctoral students, CEOs or senior citizens. You can try this tomorrow, and turn the biggest lecture into an interactive, collaborative experience without so much as an investment even in clickers or a projector. Every Student Response Strategies « LessonCast. True implementation of personalized learning in schools requires a shift in the roles of educators and a shift in educator professional learning.
This course examines the evolving role of teachers incorporating personalized learning experiences in the classroom. Taking a close look at what personalized learning is and isn't, participants create resources to support teacher roles as facilitator, assessor, instructional designer, content curator, coach, and advisor, and family-school collaborator. Lessoncast believes in personalized professional learning. Several modules have assignment options. Participants may choose between the assignments according to which one is more applicable for implementing personalization in their learning environment. Blended Learning: Adding Asynchronous Discussions to Your F2F Classrooms.
This post was co-authored with Elizabeth Alderton, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. --------- We have all done it: "participated" in a face-to-face discussion, nodding along in agreement, but not really present.
Many of us have sat in discussions, afraid to throw in our two cents because we might sound silly. On other occasions, we have had a fantastic idea to share, but the conversation passed by before we had a chance to contribute. If it happens to us, it also must be happening to students in our classroom discussions. Student-Led Discussion Manual. Using Quizzes to Promote Student Engagement and Collaboration. January 26, 2012 By: Audrey Deterding, Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning Quizzes are standard in many college classrooms, and determining how to best use this learning format generates a variety of discussion and suggestions.
I, too, continue to search for ways to inspire the often dull quiz routine. Upgrade your KWL Chart to the 21st Century One of the take aways from the Curriculum Mapping Institute this past week was that it brought an upgrade to THE trusted KWL (Know, What to Know and Learned) Chart to the forefront.
It seems a no brainer…one of those things… "I should have thought about it"… So what is this upgrade all about? An "H" snuck into the Acronym! What does this "H" stand for"? Using Whiteboards in the Chemistry Classroom & Beyond. One of the most fascinating aspects of student learning is the way in which information is processed in a student's mind.
Teachers, and students alike, cannot fully appreciate how a student ascertains a set of given facts, a new concept, or solves a problem. This is because thinking takes place 'behind the scenes' in the human brain. When a student demonstrates that they have learned something, or comprehend an idea, it almost seems magical how the learning took place. Online Discussion. Socratic seminars, fish bowls, and computers. October 6, 2011 by mrkaiser208 The concept of a fish bowl or Socratic seminar is not new.
Just Google it and see how many hits come up. This learning method has been used for years by numerous teachers. However, this doesn't mean that everyone knows about it. I have known about it for a while now, probably two or three years, but today was the first time I have ever used it in the classroom, and now that I have, I don't know why I waited so long. Top 12 Ways to Increase Student Participation. Call it "active learning," or "classroom participation" -- every teacher wants to know how to motivate students to particpate, and how to nurture more involved students and fewer apathetic ones.
With a little extra planning, that is possible. Below are four common reasons students don't participate and techniques to solve those problems and spice up your lessons. Problem: The content is repetitive. Maybe it needs to be repetitive because the students don't really "get it," or maybe you're reviewing for a test.


text:
Big changes have come to Genealogy.com — all content is now read-only, and member subscriptions and the Shop have been discontinued.
Learn more
Home Page
Surname List
Index of Individuals
John Thomas Clay (b. 1587, d. 1656)
John Thomas Clay
(son of
John Thomas Clay
Mary Carlton
was born 1587 in Monmouthshire, England, and died 1656 in Charles City, Henrico, VA. He married (1)
Ann Nichols
Notes for
John Thomas Clay
An English Grenadier. Landed at Jamestown on the ship "Treasurer" in February 1613 and settled later in Charles City County, Virginia.
Fact 1 1613
Arrived in Charles City, Virginia on the Treasurer
Fact 2
Sourse: Clonial Families of The United States America
Captain John Clay came to Virginia in 1613 on the ship the "Treasurer". Tradition says he was in charge of the 50 Musketeers onboard the ship, sent to offer protection to the settlers at Jamestown.
John 2 was a soldier in the British Army. He was given the rank of Captain at the young age of 21, and was sent to the New World (Virginia) to control problems that were developing. He traveled on the English Ship "Treasure". His wife Ann, arrived in 1623. Both ships are recorded as having landed in Jamestown. After Ann's arrival, they settled in a township called Charles City, located in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
John became sympathic toward the settlers cause, and began to represent them. He finally resigned his military position and joined the "settlers" position.
A son, Charles, was born to John and Ann in 1638. Charles married Hannah Wilson and lived in Henrico County, Virginia until he died abt 1686.
John Claye arrived in the "Treasuror" Feb. 1613. He was known as "The English Grenadier", of whom we have so many traditions. He was living in Charles City in 1624.
Patent (210) grants John Clay twelve hundred acres in Chrles City County, Virginia, beginning at the lands granted by order of the Court of to Francis Hooke, up to the head of Ward's his Creek, and bounded on the north bounty of James River. Due one hundred acres too him as an old planter before the government of Sir Thomas Dale, and the other eleven hundred for the transportation of twenty-two persons by the "West" July 13, 1635 (Ledger 1, page 230.)
"These lands granted John Clay were near the present City Point, only a few miles from what is now Chesterfield County, and no other settler of the name is mentioned in any record in this section. "Richmondcritic, 1888.
Capt. Clay had been married before leaving England, and left his wife behind. He sent for her as soon as he prepared a comfortable home. Why he delayed so long, those familiar with the history of the Jamestown Colony best understand, Hunger, despair, and death followed the one so fast in the wake of the other that twice within a few years that colony was reduced from five hundred persons to less than sixty souls, and in 1616 there were only three hundred and fifty English people in all North America.
John had been married before to (1) Elizabeth and he married (2) Ann in 1612 in England.
In "Hotten's List of Emigrants to America 1600-1700," we find among the "Musters of the Inhabitants of Virginia" these items:
"The Muster of the Inhabitant's of Jordans Journey, Charles Cittie, taken the 21th, of January 1624," Of these:
"The Muster of John Claye"
John Claye arrived in the Treasuror, February, 1613. Anne, his wife in the Ann, August, 1623.
William Nicholls aged 26 yeres, in the Dutie, in May, 1619."
(This is the first mention of the Claye name in colonial records}
At this period of Virginia history Sir Thomas Dale was Governor, and, having been bred a soldier, ruled with great severity. He was so harsh the people hated him. Yet, the colony prospered under his administration.
During this time in Virginia History, each man was granted a home and three acres of land, which he himself must cultivate, paying therefor two and a half barrels of corn to the public granary. These allotments of lands were gradually increased, and finally the Governor persuaded the London Company to grant fifty acres in fee-simple to each colonist who would clear and cultivate them and pay annually a nominal rent to the King "at the feast of St. Michael the Archangel." Those paying into the treasury the sum of twelve pounds and ten shillings should be entitled to one hundred acres, to be located as desired.
From this allotment there gradually grew up along the James River and some of its tributaries a settled through scattered community of planters dependent upon their own exertions for support and free from the evil associations and vices engendered in the earlier days of Jamestown.
Of this class was Captain John Clay, "The English Grenadier," of whom we have so many traditions.
John Clay was living in Charles City in 1624.
. Capt. John Thomas2 Clay; born circa 1587 in England; married Anne (--?--) before February, 1613; married Elizabeth (--?--) before 1645; died 1655 at Jamestown, VA. He was an English Grenadier and landed at Jamestown, VA on the ship "Treasurer" in Feb. 1613 and settled later in Charles City Co., VA.
Children of Capt. John Thomas2 Clay and Anne (--?--) were as follows:
i. Elizabeth3 was named in the inventory of her father's estate.
ii. William; born at VA; married Emlin (--?--). He was appointed Constable for Weyanoke Parish, Charles City County on February 3, 1659.
iii. Mary was named in the inventory of her father's estate.
iv. Henry.
v. John lived on the lower side of Deep Creek, Amelia County, VA.
vi. Thomas.
3. vii. Charles, born 1638 at Charles City Co., VA; married Hannah Wilson.
There were no children of Capt. John Thomas2 Clay and Elizabeth (--?--).
All of the below is undocumented. Let us hope that those that read this will follow through with their own research. This was located on the World Wide Web...
Descendants of John Claye
Generation No. 1
1. JOHN1 CLAYE was born Bet. 1421 - 1458, and died Bet. 1514 - 1548.
Notes for JOHN CLAYE:
Knighted by Edward IV at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471.
Child of JOHN CLAYE is:
2. i. JOHN2 CLAYE, b. Bet. 1514 - 1543, Glouster County, England; d. Bet. 1568 - 1628.
Generation No. 2
2. JOHN2 CLAYE (JOHN1) was born Bet. 1514 - 1543 in Glouster County, England, and died Bet. 1568 - 1628.
Children of JOHN CLAYE are:
3. i. JOHN3 CLAYE, b. 1565, Glouster County, England; d. May 16, 1632, Monomothshire, Wales.
ii. DAUGHTER CLAYE, m. SLUFFYN SHIRBROOK.
Generation No. 3
3. JOHN3 CLAYE (JOHN2, JOHN1) was born 1565 in Glouster County, England, and died May 16, 1632 in Monomothshire, Wales. He married (1) DAUGHTER FERRERS, daughter of EDWARD FERRERS. He married (2) MARY CARLTON WFT Est. 1577-1608, daughter of WILLIAM CARLTON.
Children of JOHN CLAYE and MARY CARLTON are:
4. i. JOHN T4 CLAY, b. 1587, Monomoth Shire, Wales, England; d. 1638, Charles City Co., Virginia.
ii. SUSANNA CLAY.
iii. MARY CLAY.
iv. PENELOPE CLAY, b. Bef. 1585; m. THOMAS BRELSFORD, August 06, 1601.
v. WILLIAM CLAY.
vi. THEOPHILUS CLAY, b. Bef. 1590; d. March 02, 1589/90.
Generation No. 4
4. JOHN T4 CLAY (JOHN3 CLAYE, JOHN2, JOHN1) was born 1587 in Monomoth Shire, Wales, England, and died 1638 in Charles City Co., Virginia. He married ANNE NICHOLS 1618 in LONDON ENGLAND.
Notes for JOHN T CLAY:
[Br�derbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree #1011, Date of Import: Sep 30, 1996]
John Thomas Clay, son of Sir John Clay landed at Jamestown, VA in 1613 and settled in Charles City County, Virginia.
(Above data from " Genealogy of the Clay's", Author Mary Rigers Clay, Louisville, Kentucky.)
John Thomas Clay, the Grenadier (hired soldier in the King's army) arrived in the new world in February 1613 according to the muster on the "TREASURER". The TREASURER was commanded and partially owned by Captain Samuel Argall, who was a brother of Elizabeth Argall Filmer, ancestress of Martha & Lucy Green Clay (wife of Henry Clay 1713-1764). It is stated in his muster that he (John Clay) was a planter before the goverment of Sir Thomas Dale. Sir Thomas Dale was deputy governor of the Virginia Colony from until August 1, 1611, however he also werved the colony from March 1614 until May 1616. This last term is surely the reference in the muster since John Clay arrived in the new world in February 1613.
(Above data copied from Clay Family Quarterly, Vol.-4-No. 1 January 1969 Pages 11-12.
"17th Century Isle of Wright", John B. Boddie, Author
Page 212- John Clay was the first of this family in Virginia. He was living at Jordan's Journey, Charles City, County, Virginia in 1625 when he made a muster of this family in the census of that year as follows:
John Claye in the "Treasurer", February 1613
Ann Claye, his wife arrived on the "ANN" August 1623
William Nichols, servant, aged 26 in the "Duke" May 1619
Abstracts of Virgina Land Patents, Vol. 3, Page 186
John Clay, 1200 acres in the County of Charles City, due 100 acres to him as an old planter before the goverment os Sir Thomas Dale, and the other 1100 for transportation of 22 persons. By West-July 13, 1635.
NOTE: John Clay came to Virginia in 1613, his wife in 1623. In 1655 William Bayly patented 400 acres purchased from William Clay, son of John Clay. These persons may have been ancestors of Henry Clay, Senator from Kentucky, whose first recorded ancestor Henry Clay, was living in that part of Henrico County, VA. which is now Chesterfield County, Va. when extant records began in 1677. There is also a family of Clays in Surry County, Va. from an early date.
Copied from; Clay Family Quarterly Vol. 2 No, 4, page 64.
August 23, 1643, John Wall patented 1790 acres on Chippoakes Creek, between John Hooke and William Pilkington, adjacent John Clay and John Freme.
One William Bailey patented 400 acres of land in Charles City, May 1, 1655, "part of a dividend of 200 acres granted Captain Francis Hooke, 26, October 1637 and assigned to John Clay and John Freme and by inheritance descended unto William Clay son of said John and by William Bailey purchased of said William Clay, the younger."
On the 18th of February, 1663 Anthony Spilltimber of Surry and wife Mary daughter of Robert Harris, formerly of Isle of Wright, sold 250 acres on Lawne's Creek to John Clay of Surry. In 1688 this land was the subject of a suit between Anthony Spilltimber and John Jennings who married his wife's sister. Spilltimber said that he had sold his rights to John Clay, Sr., "upon which he now liveth." (see deed)
John Clay made his will in 1675 as "John Clay the elder", and gave his son William the land he had bought of Anthony Spilltimber. Thomas Clay his eldest son was given the other land and John was given stock and cattle. Thomas was then living in Surry for he was a tithable in Lawne's Creek Parish in 1668.
In 1673 Thomas was accused of unlawful assembly and of declaring he could not pay his public taxes. He made his will in Surry in 1679 and gave all of property to his wife Elizabeth, no children mentioned. However he had a son Thomas who was mentioned in the will of his brother William in 1676, but Thomas may have died before his father's will was made. If not he and any brothers may be the ancestors of the Clay family of Kentucky, otherwise the first mentioned William Clay was their probable ancestor.
William, son of John the elder, married Judith daughter of Captain William Corker, Burgess of James City in 1655-66. William Corker was the son of John Corker, Burgess for James City in 1633 and 1645. He was Clerk of the House of Burgesses, 1645-1653 and Married Dorcas born in 1601.
William Corker, Burgess for James City 1655-56 and Captain of militia, married Lucy, sister of Captain John White, and made his will in Surry, September 4, 1677 naming children, Susanna, wife of George Branch of Surry, Judith wife of William Clay, and Lucy, wife of Thomas Jordan.
Captain John White was a Burgess in 1641 and had a lot in Jamestown in 1644. He was probably son of William White, haberdasher of London. His will was proven in Surry in 1679 an he left his property to his two sisters Lucy Corker and mary White.
William Clay died in 1675 (see will) and left two daughters, Elizabeth who married John Brantly and Sarah who married George Barlow. John Brantly died in 1730 leaving a son Clay Brantly and grandsons John and Thomas Brantly sons of Clay (see will).
George Barlow was the son of Thomas Barlow who died in 1679. George made his will in which he mentions sons, George and Thomas, and three daughters. (see will)
Children of JOHN CLAY and ANNE NICHOLS are:
i. FRANCIS5 CLAY, b. 1625; d. WFT Est. 1627-1716.
ii. WILLIAM CLAY, b. 1617, England; d. WFT Est. 1631-1720; m. JUDITH CORKER.
iii. THOMAS CLAY, b. Abt. 1634; d. WFT Est. 1635-1724; m. ELIZABETH.
5. iv. CHARLES CLAY, b. 1638, Charles City Co., Virginia; d. June 01, 1686, Henrico Co., Virginia.
Generation No. 5
5. CHARLES5 CLAY (JOHN T4, JOHN3 CLAYE, JOHN2, JOHN1) was born 1638 in Charles City Co., Virginia, and died June 01, 1686 in Henrico Co., Virginia. He married HANNAH WILSON 1667 in Henrico Co., Virginia, daughter of JOHN WILSON.
Children of CHARLES CLAY and HANNAH WILSON are:
i. JOHN6 CLAY, b. 1668, VA; d. 1722.
ii. THOMAS CLAY, b. Abt. 1670, VA; d. 1726, Prince George.
6. iii. HENRY CHARLES CLAY, b. August 03, 1672, Henrico Co., Virginia; d. August 03, 1760, Chesterfield Co.,Virginia.
iv. CHARLES B. CLAY, b. 1674; d. 1765, Chesterfield Co., VA; m. SARAH, 1712.
v. MARY CLAY, b. 1676; d. WFT Est. 1665-1758.
vi. ELIZABETH CLAY, b. Abt. 1678; d. WFT Est. 1665-1758.
vii. JUDITH CLAY, b. Bet. 1678 - 1680; d. WFT Est. 1677-1770.
Generation No. 6
6. HENRY CHARLES6 CLAY (CHARLES5, JOHN T4, JOHN3 CLAYE, JOHN2, JOHN1) was born August 03, 1672 in Henrico Co., Virginia, and died August 03, 1760 in Chesterfield Co.,Virginia. He married MARY MITCHELL 1708 in Henrico Co., Virginia, daughter of WILLIAM MITCHELL and ELIZABETH INNES.
Children of HENRY CLAY and MARY MITCHELL are:
i. AMY7 CLAY, b. Abt. 1720; d. WFT Est. 1721-1814.
ii. HENRY CLAY, b. September 03, 1711, Bedford, Henrico Co. VA; d. 1764, Cumberland Co. , VA; m. LUCY GREEN, 1735, Amelia Co., Virginia.
iii. JOHN CLAY, b. 1721; d. Bet. 1722 - 1811.
Notes for JOHN CLAY:
Grandfather of Senator Henry Clay, the Statesman.
iv. MARY CLAY, b. 1718; d. Bet. 1719 - 1812.
v. AMEY CLAY, b. 1713; d. Bet. 1714 - 1807.
vi. MARTHA CLAY, b. Bet. 1715 - 1716; d. Bet. 1716 - 1809.
Father: John 1 Sr. CLAY(E) b: 27 NOV 1558 in York, England
Mother: Mary CARLTON b: ABT. 1558 in England
Marriage 1 ??? ELIZABETH b: WFT Est. 1580-1606
Married: WFT Est. 1604-1639
William CLAY b: ABT. 1617 in Charles River County, Virginia
Francis CLAY b: ABT. 1625 in Virginia
Thomas CLAY b: ABT. 1634 in Charles River, Virginia
Charles CLAY b: ABT. 1638 in Charles City County, Virginia
Marriage 2 Ann CLAY b: ABT. 1588 in England
Married: ABT. 1616 in London, Middlesex, England
William CLAY b: ABT. 1617 in Charles River County, Virginia
Francis CLAY b: ABT. 1625 in Virginia
Thomas CLAY b: ABT. 1634 in Charles River, Virginia
Charles CLAY b: ABT. 1638 in Charles City County, Virginia
John CLAY b: ABT. 1617
More About
John Thomas Clay
Date born 2: 1587, Monsmouthshire, Wales.
Died 2: 1655, Jamestown, VA, USA.
Died 3: 1656, Charles City, VA, USA.
Children of
John Thomas Clay
Ann Nichols
Charles Clay
, b. 1638, Charles, City, VA
, d. 1686, Henrico, Co, VA
William Clay
, b. 1617, Charles City, Henrico, VA, d. 1663, Charles City, VA, USA
John Clay
, b. 1624, Charles City, Henrico, VA, d. 20 Oct 1675, Charles City, VA, USA
Francis Clay
, b. 1616
, d. date unknown.
Thomas Clay
, b. 1626, Charles City, VA, USA
, d. 1673, VA, USA
Children of
John Thomas Clay
Henry Clay
, d. 03 Aug 1760, Henrico, VA, USA
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Leona Lewis | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Leona Louise Lewis |
Born | Islington, London, England, UK | 3 April 1985
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
Instruments |
Years active | 2006–present |
Labels | |
Associated acts | Ryan Tedder |
Website | leonalewismusic |
Leona Lewis | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Leona Louise Lewis |
Born | Islington, London, England, UK | 3 April 1985
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
Instruments |
Years active | 2006–present |
Labels | |
Associated acts | Ryan Tedder |
Website | leonalewismusic |
Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, vocal producer and animal welfare campaigner. She was born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, where she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. Lewis achieved national recognition when she won the third series of The X Factor in 2006, winning a £1 million recording contract with Simon Cowell's record label, Syco Music. Her winners single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This", peaked at number one for four weeks on the UK Singles Chart and it broke a world record for having 50,000 digital downloads within 30 minutes. In February 2007, Lewis signed a five-album contract in the United States with Clive Davis's record label, J Records (now RCA Records).
Lewis's success continued with the release of her debut album, Spirit, in 2007; it went 10x platinum in the United Kingdom, while the lead single, "Bleeding Love", spent seven weeks at number one. She achieved international recognition with the album in 2008, when she became the first British female to top the US Billboard 200 album chart in more than 20 years. Spirit has sold more than eight million copies worldwide, and "Bleeding Love" peaked at number one in over 30 countries, becoming the best-selling single of 2008 worldwide. As a result, she was proclaimed 'Top New Artist' by Billboard in 2008. Under the guidance of Cowell and Davis, Lewis released her second UK number one album Echo and recorded the theme song for the film Avatar in 2009, while embarking on her first UK arena tour, The Labyrinth, in 2010.
In 2011, Lewis released the non-album single "Collide", a collaboration with Swedish DJ Avicii, and her first extended play, Hurt: The EP. Her third album, Glassheart, was released in 2012. It marked a new creative direction for Lewis, drawing inspiration from dubstep and electronic music. However, it failed to match the commercial performance of her two previous albums, peaking at number three on the UK Albums Chart and becoming her first to not be certified platinum. Lewis began to record material for her first Christmas album during her Glassheart Tour, which took place in mid 2013. Christmas, with Love was released later that year. Its lead single, "One More Sleep", peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart. With this chart entry, Lewis became the first British female solo artist to achieve eight top 5 singles, surpassing Olivia Newton-John's record of seven. In 2014, English recording artist Cheryl Cole equaled this tally, and they hold the record jointly.
With a career spanning eight years, Lewis is the best selling act to have emerged from The X Factor franchise, having sold 30 million records worldwide,[1] as well as being the British female solo artist with most weeks at number one in the United Kingdom. Lewis has won two MOBO Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award, an MTV Video Music Award and two World Music Awards. She is also a six time BRIT Award and three time Grammy Award nominee. Lewis is known for her expansive four octave mezzo-soprano vocal range, power, technical control and, in particular, her frequent use of the falsetto register. Aside from her musical career, Lewis is a philanthropist and an animal welfare campaigner for World Animal Protection and is a supporter of other animal rights charities and organisations; she is also a vegetarian. In 2014, Lewis made her film debut in the supporting role of Elena in the romantic comedy musical, Walking on Sunshine.
Leona Louise Lewis was born in the London Borough of Islington on 3 April 1985, to her father Aural Josiah "Joe" Lewis, a youth offending officer and DJ of Afro-Guyanese descent, and her mother Maria Lewis, a social worker and former ballet teacher of Welsh, Irish, and Italian descent.[2][3] Lewis has two brothers: an older half-brother named Bradley and a younger brother named Kyle.[3] As her parents began to realise Lewis's passion for singing, they enrolled her at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, and later to the Italia Conti Academy, the Ravenscourt Theatre School and the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology until they could no longer afford to do so, making cutbacks when necessary in order to help their daughter achieve her dream of being a singer.[3] Lewis wrote her first song at the age of 12; she initially trained in opera, before moving into jazz and blues, and eventually into popular and contemporary music.[4]
At the age of 17, Lewis decided to leave BRIT School in order to "get out there" and pursue a career in music. By this point, she had already begun to write and record her own material, and worked as a receptionist at a solicitors office and a Pizza Hut waitress in order to fund the studio sessions.[3][5][6] At age 18, Lewis secured a lead role in The Lion King theatre show in Paris; however, she decided to turn the part down after she hurt her back while ice-skating.[6][7]
She recorded a demo album called Twilight in collaboration with Spiral Music, a production company based in Fulham, however it failed to secure Lewis an album deal with any record companies.[8] Although the album was never released commercially, Lewis performed a couple of the tracks live on the Radio 1 music station in 2004.[9] Another demo album was recorded under license from UEG Entertainment called Best Kept Secret, who have reportedly claimed to have spent £70,000 trying to launch Lewis's career with no success. A track from the album called "Private Party" became a hit on the underground urban music scene in London in 2005.[9] Speaking about her struggle to secure a record contract, Lewis said "I tried to secure a record deal by doing things my own way. I worked very hard but I never managed to land a contract. That's why I decided to audition for The X Factor. It's programmes like these which provide the best place to showcase fresh new talent."[7]
Lewis auditioned for the third series of The X Factor in 2006, singing "Over the Rainbow" for judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and guest judge Paula Abdul. She was placed in the girls category, with Cowell as her mentor. Throughout the course of the show, Lewis was compared to Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion (as well as other artists), performing songs by all three of them.[7] Lewis was declared the winner of the competition in December 2006, beating runner up Ray Quinn, garnering 60% of the public vote; more than eight million votes were cast.[10] Her winners single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's song "A Moment Like This", was released on 17 December 2006.[10] In the United Kingdom, it broke a world record after being digitally downloaded more than 50,000 times in less than 30 minutes. The song became the 2006 UK Christmas number-one single, selling 571,000 copies in its first week and selling more than the Top-40 combined.[11] It spent four consecutive weeks atop the UK Singles Chart, and was number one in Ireland for six weeks.[12] Despite being released on 17 December, "A Moment Like This" became the second best selling single in the United Kingdom in 2006,[13] and it has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments of over 600,000 copies.[14] As of December 2014, Lewis's version has sold 900,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[15] For winning, Lewis signed a £1 million recording contract with Cowell's record label, Syco Music.[16] Upon winning, Lewis said:
I'm just shocked. It's unbelievable. I feel like my dream has come true, the dream I've been dreaming since a little girl has come true. There were points I thought, 'You know what, I don't know if this is going to happen'. But with the help from my friends and my family, they all kept telling me to believe in myself and keep on doing it and I did and now I'm here and thank you so much to them.[10]
In February 2007, Lewis signed a £5 million (US$9.7 million) five-album contract in the United States with Clive Davis's record label, J Records,[17] and showcased for several American music executives.[17][18][19] A press release described how Cowell and Davis would work together in a "first-of-its-kind" partnership on both the song and producer selection for Lewis's debut album, titled Spirit.[20] Lewis recorded tracks for the album in London, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, and Atlanta,[21] where she worked with several songwriters and record producers including Dallas Austin, Walter Afanasieff, Salaam Remi,[22] Steve Mac,[23] Stargate[24] and Ne-Yo.[25] It was released in November 2007 and entered both the Irish Albums Chart and the UK Albums Chart at number one, becoming the fastest-selling debut album in both countries, and the United Kingdom's fourth fastest selling album of all time.[26][27][28] It was released in several other nations in January 2008, and went to number one in New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Germany, South Africa and Switzerland.[29] Two more tracks were recorded in 2008 for the US release of the album: "Forgive Me", produced by Akon, and "Misses Glass", produced by Madd Scientist.[30] It was released in the United States in April 2008 and entered the Billboard 200 at number one, making Lewis the first British artist to reach number one with a debut album.[31] A special edition of Spirit was re-released in November 2008 in Europe, including the songs "Forgive Me", "Misses Glass" and a cover of the Snow Patrol song "Run". The album again went to number one in the UK Albums Chart. To date the album has sold over 9 million copies worldwide[32] and has a 9× platinum certification in the UK.[33]
Lewis's second single, "Bleeding Love", produced by Ryan Tedder and written by Tedder and Jesse McCartney, was released in October 2007 in the UK, where it sold 218,805 copies in its first week, giving it the biggest first-week sales of 2007 to date.[34][35] It entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, where it stayed for seven weeks,[36] and in the Irish Singles Chart it remained at number one for eight weeks.[37] It reached number one in the singles charts of New Zealand, Australia, France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Austria, Canada and the United States. "Bleeding Love" won The Record of the Year in December 2007.[38] In February 2008, "Bleeding Love" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 85 and then went on to peak at number one for four non-consecutive weeks. The song became the first track by a UK female to reach number one since Kim Wilde's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1987.[39] Lewis's third single, a double A-side featuring "Better in Time" and "Footprints in the Sand", was released in the United Kingdom in March 2008, in aid of Sport Relief, and she visited South Africa for the charity.[40] The single reached a peak of number two in the UK singles chart selling over 40,000 copies in its first week of physical release. "Better in Time" was released as Lewis's second single in the US, where it peaked at number 11 in the Billboard Hot 100.[41] "Forgive Me" was released as Lewis's fifth single in November 2008; it reached number five in the UK.[42] "Run" was released as a download-only single in the UK, reaching number one, and becoming the UK's fastest-selling download-only single with 69,244 copies sold in two days.[43] Lewis's last single from Spirit, "I Will Be", was released in January 2009,[44] only in North America; it peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. In August 2008, she performed "Whole Lotta Love" with guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Beijing, representing the handover to London as the host of the 2012 Summer Olympics.[45]
In September 2008, she joined several female singers to perform a single for the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer. The single, titled "Just Stand Up!", was performed live during the one-hour telethon that aired on all major US television networks.[46] Lewis received three nominations for the 51st Grammy Awards in December 2008. "Bleeding Love" was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Spirit was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album. She was nominated for four BRIT Awards, in the categories British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act, British Album for Spirit, and British Single for "Bleeding Love",[47] but despite being the favourite to win the most awards, she received none.[48] She won two awards at the 2008 MOBO Awards: Best Album for Spirit and Best Video for "Bleeding Love".[49] In December 2008 Lewis was named 'Top New Artist' by Billboard magazine.[50]
Lewis's second album, Echo, was given a worldwide release in November 2009.[51] Production took place throughout 2009, including work with Ryan Tedder,[52] Justin Timberlake,[53] Max Martin,[54] Arnthor Birgisson,[55] Kevin Rudolf,[56] and John Shanks.[57] It was recorded in Los Angeles and took nine months to produce.[58] Lewis described the album as "more guitar-driven" compared to Spirit.[59] Lewis performed her first full UK show at the Hackney Empire in London on 2 November 2009, performing songs from Spirit and Echo.[60][61] Echo reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and the top ten of Austria, Ireland and Switzerland.[62] Despite previous attempts from Lewis's lawyers to ban the release of Best Kept Secret by UEG Music, claiming that the singer had not given her consent, the album was released in January 2009 when the label insisted it owned the rights to the music and Lewis would receive a 50% share of the album's profits. However, a television advert for the album was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority, who said in a statement: "We considered that the claim 'Leona Lewis's new album' misleadingly implied it was the singer's latest recording rather than a new CD of tracks recorded some years ago."[63] The album was released to iTunes in standard and deluxe editions, and two EPs, "Private Party" and "Dip Down"/"Joy", were released in September 2009.
The first single released from Echo was "Happy", which was written by Lewis, Tedder and Evan Bogart and produced by Tedder.[64] The single was released on 15 September 2009,[65][66] peaking at number two in the UK,[67] and reaching the top ten in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Japan and Switzerland.[68] Lewis also recorded the theme song for the 2009 science fiction film Avatar, directed by James Cameron.[69] The song, "I See You", was written by James Horner and Simon Franglen. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the 67th Golden Globe Awards.[70] Another usage of Lewis' album can be found in "My Hands", which was used in the international release of the Square Enix video game Final Fantasy XIII.[71] In January 2010, Lewis provided vocals on a cover of "Everybody Hurts", released to help raise money for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[72] The second single from Echo, "I Got You", was released in February 2010. In April 2010, she featured on a duet with Italian singer Biagio Antonacci, called "Inaspettata (Unexpected)", from his album Inaspettata.[73] They performed the song on the Italian TV show Io Canto on 22 October 2010.[74] Lewis performed a 13-piece set list at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon, Portugal, on 22 May 2010, including songs from Spirit and Echo.[75]
Lewis signed a book deal in January 2009 to release an illustrated autobiography in October 2009. The book, titled Dreams, contains mostly pictures taken by photographer Dean Freeman.[76] At a book signing for Dreams on 14 October 2009 at the Piccadilly branch of Waterstone's book store in central London, Lewis was assaulted by a 29-year-old man from south London[77][78] who was arrested at the scene;[78] Lewis suffered bruising.[79] The assailant was sectioned under the Mental Health Act[78] and was charged with common assault.[79] He admitted to the offence and was hospitalised for an indeterminate period.[80]
Lewis's first tour, titled The Labyrinth[81] supporting Spirit and Echo, started in May 2010,[82] with a theme based on the film Labyrinth.[83] Lewis was scheduled to tour North America from July to August 2010 supporting Christina Aguilera's Bionic Tour,[84] however, Aguilera cancelled the tour, leaving Lewis's plans unknown.[85] A DVD of the tour, along with a ten-track CD, was released with the title The Labyrinth Tour Live from The O2 on 29 November 2010.[86]
Lewis began work on her third album, titled Glassheart[87] shortly after she had completed The Labyrinth tour.[88] Though originally announced to be released on 28 November 2011 in the UK, it was eventually released in October 2012.[87] The album was released on the RCA Records brand after RCA Music Group disbanded J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records.[89][90] Reports suggested that the album had taken a dubstep direction, with songwriters asked to submit dance songs and no ballads.[91] Lewis described Glassheart as "energetic, deep, [and] unique" and said it would have a darker tone. She cited Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush and Tears for Fears as the album's primary influences.[92] For the album, Lewis worked with numerous writers and producers including Ammo, Jonas Quant, Chuck Harmony, Claude Kelly, Ryan Tedder, Fraser T Smith, Al Shux, Steve Robson,[93] Dallas Austin,[94] Rico Love[95] and Ne-Yo.[96][97]
Lewis released a single, the dance-pop song "Collide", written by Autumn Rowe and produced by Sandy Vee, in the UK on 4 September 2011 and Germany on 9 September 2011.[93][98][99] It debuted on the official UK top 40 singles chart at number 4.[100][101] Lewis released an EP on 9 December 2011, titled Hurt: The EP, containing three covers.[102] Lewis went on to perform on the American version of X Factor,[103][104][105] and as the featured performer for the closing of the 2011 Doha Film Festival, where she sang ten songs, including several cover versions.[106] In June 2012, she performed at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend 2012 after being announced on 25 May 2011 as an ambassador for the event. It was the BBC's biggest ever free-ticketed live music event.[107][108] Following the announcement that Lewis would be an ambassador, she performed a special Live Lounge at the Hackney Empire, with a reggae version of "Better in Time", which incorporated Rihanna's "Man Down", and a cover of Labrinth's "Let the Sun Shine".[109][110] At the Hackney Weekend, Lewis performed further cover versions and debuted the song "Come Alive" from Glassheart.[111]
In August 2012, Lewis announced that the lead single from Glassheart would be "Trouble", released on 7 October 2012.[112] It entered the UK Singles Chart at number seven. The album debuted at number three in the UK and at number four in Ireland, respectively. The second single, "Lovebird", failed to reach the UK top 200 in the absence of radio support.[113] Lewis embarked on a 16-date tour in the UK beginning in April 2013.[114]
In February 2013, Lewis left her management, Modest! Management.[115] It was announced that she will begin work on her fourth studio album and it will be released later in the year.[116] In July 2013, Lewis revealed that her new studio album would be a "Motown-influenced" Christmas collection comprising both classic covers and original material.[117] The album, titled Christmas, with Love was released on 2 December 2013 and the lead single, "One More Sleep", was released on 5 November 2013. Lewis performed the song on the semi-final of the tenth series of The X Factor on 8 December 2013. The same day, "One More Sleep" debuted at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart with Christmas, with Love debuting at number 25 on the UK Albums Chart. A week later, Christmas, with Love advanced to number 13 and "One More Sleep" climbed 31 places to number 3, making it Lewis' highest charting single since 2009's "Happy". With "One More Sleep" peaking inside the top five on the UK Singles Chart, Lewis has set a new record for British female solo artist with the most top five singles in the history of the chart, bringing her total eight top five singles. She has overtaken Olivia Newton-John's tally of seven top five singles.
On 23 September 2013, it was announced that Lewis would appear in Holiday!, a 1980s-inspired musical film.[118] In February 2014, the film was renamed Walking on Sunshine, and it was released on 27 June 2014.[119] Meanwhile, Lewis recorded a duet with Michael Bolton called "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", which features on Bolton's album of the same name, which was released in the United Kingdom on 5 May 2014.[120] On 17 May 2014 at the FA Cup Final Lewis performed two songs: the traditional pre-match anthem, "Abide with Me", and the national anthem.[121][122] On 27 May at the 2014 World Music Awards Lewis performed a cover of "La La La", a song originally performed by Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith; Lewis was joined on stage by Naughty Boy.[123] On 3 June, it was announced that Lewis had parted ways with her record label of seven years, Syco Music, and label boss Simon Cowell tweeted: "Congratulations Leona. We had 7 great years together and now wish you all the best for the future. You put X Factor on the map."[124] Lewis had already secured a new deal with rival Universal Music's Island Records UK, joining artists such as Robbie Williams, Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Jessie J, and has said of her joining the label: "After seven incredible years at Sony I feel honoured to be given the opportunity to sign to perhaps the most iconic label of all, Island Records."[125]
Lewis later revealed that her departure from Syco had come after "several years" of consideration. She also stated that when she expressed her desire to part with the label that she was threatened with the public being told that she had been dropped instead of parting amicably. However, further creative differences in relation to her fifth studio album finally caused Lewis to leave the label. Of her departure she stated: "I was asked to make a record that would not have been true to myself. By all means as an artist in this climate, I was thankful to even get the chance to make another record. But I cannot make music that does not speak to my soul, and as scary as it seemed, I could no longer compromise myself, and so I decided to leave."[126]
Lewis is currently working on her fifth studio album. On 27 November 2013, she confirmed to Digital Spy that she would begin recording sessions in January 2014, after she finishes promoting Christmas, with Love.[127] She revealed that during the production of Christmas, with Love in Summer 2013, she had met with some producers to conceptualise a theme for the fifth album, but that the main focus at the time was songs for the Christmas album.[127] With regard to style and composition, Lewis said that 2013 allowed her to become re-inspired; she stated that after recording songs for the 1980s-inspired film, Holiday!, she wanted the album to have a 1980s sound. Later, however, after she recorded Motown inspired songs for the Christmas album, it allowed her to "just get out of [her] head and go into something completely different", stating that she is now leaning towards a "retro throwback sound" for the album.[127] Lewis stated that she has "reached out" to a couple of different people, including Bruno Mars and his frequent collaborators, The Smeezingtons.[127] Lewis also stated that given the opportunity, she would also "love" to record a full length classical album in the future, due to the positive reception of her Classical rendition of "Ave Maria" on Christmas, with Love, which she performs in Latin.[127] In December 2013, Lewis told Billboard magazine: "Earlier in the year, I was getting in with a few different producers, I actually got in with DJ Poet, who is an amazing producer. We did a couple of songs together, which has been really exciting. I will probably get back in and work with him again".[128]
On 12 February 2015, Lewis uploaded a video to YouTube which showed the singer performing a new song called "Fire" in a studio.[129] On 16 February, she uploaded a video to her Instagram account which showed her recording vocals in the studio for new tracks. [130]
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Lewis possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range which spans four octaves,[135][136][137] and has had classical training. She has stated that she practises operatic scales every week. Music critic Neil McCormick, of The Daily Telegraph, has praised Lewis's technical skills, writing, "Her mezzo-soprano range allows her to take melodies from luxurious low notes to high-flying falsetto, gliding with elegant power and impressive control through all kinds of fluctuations and modulations."[136] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic adds, "Lewis can hit [high belted] notes but make it seem easy, never straining her voice and building nicely to the climax," continuing, "Unlike most divas, there is a human quality to her voice, as she's singing to the song, not singing to her voice".[138] In the same vein, Slant describes Lewis's vocals as "technically unimpeachable" in a review of her album Echo, though the author goes on to say they "lack any warmth or emotional expression."[139]
Lewis commented on the musical style of her debut album describing the album as "classic songs with a contemporary edge", containing R&B and "fresh pop" styles, ballads and "soulful up-tempo numbers".[23] It has an American style, with some electronic 1980s sounds. However, the songs are not beat-driven or following the latest trends, but are songs that can be performed acoustically.[23] Lewis's second album "Echo" mixed pop and R&B; during an interview with Variety magazine she spoke on the album's sound saying she "wanted the album to have a little bit more of a live feel to it, with a little more live instrumentation."[140] In February 2011, whilst talking about her third studio album "Glassheart", Lewis said the album would be more experimental than Spirit and Echo, embodying a "different" yet "classic" sound. She added, "I'm really, really excited about it. I'm working with some new producers, some up and coming people and it's going to be kind of a different sound – but still classic".[141] Lewis described it as "energetic, deep, [and] unique". She also commented that it would have a darker tone and that she would be putting her "heart into [her] lyrics".[142]
Lewis credits Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston as her major influences. She said, "when I was growing up I used to listen to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, those kind[s] of big powerful kind of singers so that influences a lot of my music and a lot of the songs I like to sing."[143] Lewis cited Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush and Tears for Fears as her third studio album's primary influences.[142]
Girl group Fifth Harmony has named Leona as one of their primary influences, citing her as "amazing." [144]
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In October 2008, The Times reported that Lewis had turned down a seven-figure sum from Mohamed Al Fayed to open a Harrods sale. Lewis commented that she turned down the deal on the grounds that Harrods is the only UK department store which continues to stock clothing made from animal fur.[145] "It wasn't a million pounds that I was offered, as the papers reported, but even if it had been, I still would have turned it down."[146] "I got a lot of flak for that. There were people who said I should have done it and given the money to charity, but that would have been such a contradiction."[147] She announced in October 2008 that she was in the "bargaining period" of launching her own ethical line of accessories through Topshop,[145][148] and that she was in the late stages of releasing her own perfume in Europe.[149] Her perfume, Leona Lewis, was launched by LR in July 2009.[150] In 2010, she set up a fashion company with her then boyfriend, Lou Al-Chamaa, called LOA Clothing Ltd.[151]
In 2011, Lewis was a guest judge on Platinum Hit,[152] and in May 2012, she returned to The X Factor as a guest judge during auditions in London for the ninth series.[153] In March 2013, Lewis was announced as the new brand activist for The Body Shop.[154]
She has also shown support for Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools, by donating items for auction to raise money for the organization.[155]
Lewis lives in Hackney. She lived with her boyfriend, who became an A&R scout for Sony records, until they split in June 2010.[156] They had known each other since she was approximately ten years old.[157] Since 2010 she has dated dancer and choreographer Dennis Jauch.[158] Lewis has been a vegetarian since she was 12;[22] she won PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian along with Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis in 2008,[159] and Europe's Sexiest Vegetarian in 2009 with actor Scott Maslen.[160] She also was named PETA's Person of the Year for 2008.[161] Lewis is a supporter of World Animal Protection[162] and is a patron of Brentwood's Hopefield Animal Sanctuary.[163] Lewis is a supporter of Arsenal F.C.[164]
In September 2014, via an open letter to fans, Lewis revealed that she had been suffering from depression around the time of her departure from Syco. She credited her professional separation from Simon Cowell and meditation helped her "still the madness." [126]
Title | Year | Role | Notes |
Walking on Sunshine | 2014 | Elena | Film debut |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leona Lewis. |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Leona Lewis |
Preceded by Shayne Ward | Winner of The X Factor 2006 | Succeeded by Leon Jackson |


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The following letter is from Father Francis Neale of St. Thomas' Manor plantation to Reverend Doctor Dzierozynski at Georgetowne College. Father Neale's letter is in reference to two seperate issues. The first issue involves the sale of "his best negroe hand". This slave's wife and three daughters have a different master who must sell them. Father Neale wishes to keep the family together, however he cannot afford to buy the wife and three children; therefore, he sees the sale of the husband as the only way to try to keep the family together. The second issue concerns debts incurred from transporting slaves to St. Inigo's and the lost work time of these borrowed slaves. Father Neale asks Dzierozynski to respond to this request, and also to consider his appeal for two additional slaves for St. Thomas's Manor.
Accepi 13. Jan. 1826
Port Tobo md -
January 11th}
Rev'd Doctor Dzorinsky [sic].
George Town College
Dis't- Columbia
George Town
Rev'd & Dr Fr<,/p>
My many and I may say duty calls to the sick, & my having attended -------- during all Christmas have put it out of my power to write to you. I find it necessary to inform your Rev'd that this Family must loose her best Negroe hand for labor- the reason is his wife belongs to another person & their master has ordered her & her children to be soled [sic]. I cannot buy her, too much is demanded. $500 for her & her three children- they are all girlsof which we have 10 or 12 already in our family. I shall be obliged to sell our Man not to separate Man & Wife. I have spoken to the owner of the wife he says he cannot admit her into his family at Washington he has too many ----- - our carpenter Charleshas not as yet returned from St. Inigo's to which place he was taken to work for the corporation. Nothing was paid by St. Inigo's in return for all my expenses incurred for sending down the slaves, & loss of time by those who conveyed them down to St. Inigo's. I did ask your Rev'd if the promise made by the last agent ( to afford the assistance of two men to St. Thomas' Manor) could be comply'd with ? I have not received any effectual answer. I am called to another sick person & must conclude
I remain Rev'd Fr affectionately yrsin Christ--
Francis Neale
St. Thomas's Manor
10 Jan.ry 1826


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Taste Them - don't waste them.Dr Garth Cambray In Africa, many of the staple foods that we eat are not indigenous to Africa. However, we are blessed with a huge diversity of commercialisable indigenous food products. Some of these have been commercialised outside our continent and the products are exported back to us. In many cases, forests with great species diversity are cleared to grow crops. Non wood forest products from uncleared forest regions can in some cases provide better and more sustainable income opportunities. In this article we will explore the potential of two African forest products to contribute to employment creation and conservation. The baobab tree, (Adansonia digitata) is synonymous with sub-tropical and tropical Africa. It can live for thousands of years. In the wet months it grows leaves and stores copious water in its thick fibrous trunk. In the dry months it sheds its leaves and uses stored water to survive. The tree can be used for its fibre, the leaves can be used to make jam, and the fruits can be eaten. Baobabs are excellent housing providers to honeybees as they frequently contain big nooks and crannies in which bees can build nests. However, in much of Africa, the baobab is threatened by growth in human populations - the age old 'pretty tree vs field of food' question is resulting in these big old trees being removed. But if one can find a way of turning the tree into a source of income, then, it will stay and be cared for. The Malambe Fruit Juice company in Malawi has developed a way of making a tasty fruit juice out of the fruits of the baobab. In fact, the name Malambe actually means baobab. Throughout Africa the problem exists that capital flows to cities where people exist in comparative luxury to that of rural areas. Most food and consumer goods are imported and very little money is paid to people in rural areas for their produce as they don't sell much to the cities. By establishing rural industries which provide services to the cities, some money returns to rural economies and the wheel begins to turn. Baobab fruit are harvested in rural areas and the juice is extracted and marketed. About 4000 bottles of Malambe juice are produced per month, allowing rural people to earn a living. The juice is very healthy having 8 times more vitamin C than orange juice and also containing a lot of iron. Baobabs are also entirely organic plants. If Malambe Juice were to acquire an international market, the baobab, that great symbol of African plants, would begin to slowly reverse the flow of money from poor to rich areas and ensure that in 100 years time we will still be able to enjoy these gentle giant trees. In Zambia, the miombo woodlands produce many products. Three of these specifically are used in alcohol making. Alcohol, being a highly marketable commodity, allows these products to achieve good market values and contribute to the rural economy. Throughout the region, beekeeping in traditional hives is well developed. Honey is harvested and the honey sugars are washed from the combs with water. The honey water is allowed to ferment to various types of traditional mead and is sold. The wax is rendered into pure wax blocks and also sold. Bees require vast regions of plants with lots of flower to make honey. Hence, if beekeeping is viable, it encourages sustainable use of biodiversity to produce honey. The fact that honey equals alcohol helps drive this important conservation message home. Two other products of the miombo woodlands are also important in producing alcohol. The roots of the plant Rhynchosia insignis, are used in preparing a special traditional beverage known as Munkoyo. The roots are gathered from plants growing in disturbed forest areas and are generally sold to brewers who in turn use them to make beer and sell that. The beer is made from maize, which is a rurally produced product. The beer itself is not of a highly alcoholic nature, but is nutritious and healthy. The fermentation increases levels of vitamin B in the beverage meaning it is better to consume than maize meal. Another bush fruit plant Masuku, Uapaca kirkiana, has great potential. The National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research of Zambai has developed a process to produce a wine from the Masuku fruit. The institute has conducted research into sustainable cropping of these trees and also investigated strain improvement to increase yield and palatability. The Masuku wine has however not yet been commercialised. Should this happen, with correct marketing, the beverage has the potential to channel international money into the poorest and most needy parts of Zambia. More information: Related Articles: Marula brew: community brewing to benefit from biotechnology? Biotechnology and the art of growing elite marula trees |
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The Meatrix is committed to helping educate people around the world about sustainable food. We encourage you to take action locally – check out the organizations listed below to find ways to get involved. Please help us keep this page current by sending information about additional organizations to firstname.lastname@example.com. Also in French.
Alliance Paysans Ecologistes Consommateurs (PEC)
The "Alliance of Farmers, Ecologists and Consumers" includes national farmers, consumers and environmental organizations, as well as regional alliances, and is part of the European Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Food (REPAS). The PEC Alliance promotes an environmental-friendly agriculture based on quality food production and on the respect of nature and man. The website of the PEC Alliance hosts a guide to all AMAPs in France (see next entry).
AMAP (Association pour le Maintien d'une Agriculture Paysanne)
The "Association for the Maintenance of Family Farming" (AMAPs) are "proximity partnerships" between a group of consumers and a farm, usually located in suburban areas. AMAPs are comparable to the system used in the U.S. called "Community Supported Agriculture" (CSA). It is a form of direct marketing that works by means of the consumer group subscribing to the farm's products in advance. AMAPs can be developed for any kind of production, particularly for fruits and vegetables.
Confédération Paysanne (CP)
The "French Farmers Confederation" or CP is a farmers union founded in 1987 that later became an essential component of the French unions landscape. Since its foundation, the CP has questioned the high-productivity model of agricultural development which flourished during the past 40 years and led to a number of problems: decrease of agricultural prices, overproduction, environmental crises, disparities among farming regions in France, Europe and the world, as well as the continuing downfall of the number of farmers. The CP proposes an alternative model of agricultural development, based on "peasant agriculture" (or family farming). The CP is member of the European Farmers Coordination and of Via Campesina, the global farmers movement.
MODEF (Mouvement de Défense des Exploitants Familiaux)
"Movement for the Defense of Family Farmers" (MODEF) is a family farmers union that defends food sovereignty and the maintenance of a vibrant agriculture on the entire French territory. MODEF is a member of the European Farmers Coordination and of Via Campesina, the global farmers movement.
Réseau Agriculture Durable
The "Sustainable Agriculture Network" founded in 1994 in response to the need to coordinate projects of local groups, promotes a kind of agriculture based on economical and autonomous systems – it spreads know-how and offers continuing training. In the course of the years, the network was able to gather experience and to have its practices recognized by a number of farmers and professional agricultural institutions.
Nature & Progrès
"Nature and Progress" is an international federation of organic producers and consumers that in the 1970s formulated the first system specification for organic agriculture in the world. As grassroots association of pragmatic ecology, it proposes concrete alternatives to the current ecological, health and human crisis caused by industrial agriculture. It proposes projects based on relations of conviviality and closeness among people and their environment. Nature & Progrès defends its values throughout France thanks to the work of its local groups that organize organic fairs and events. The association also issues a magazine called "Nature & Progrès".
Biocoop was the first network of organic outlets to be created in France. The Biocoop outlets were born thanks to the commitment of consumers who, starting in the 1970s, got organized to supply themselves with organic products. Later, in the 1980s, these purchase groups developed into commercial cooperatives that sprouted all over the country. The founding principles of the network are spirit of cooperation, development of a sustainable, organic agriculture, transparency and fairness in commercial relations, quality of products and participation of "consumers-actors".
Cohérence pour un Développement Durable et Solidaire
The "Coherence for a Sustainable Development based on Solidarity" network was born out of the following appraisal: the need to strengthen coordination among the different players of the region's economic, social and cultural life. This appraisal has become certitude. Anchored in a given territory, the members of this network have committed themselves to promote and put in place fairer modes of production, of exchange and of consumption that respect man, the land and the natural resources.
Mouvement pour la Défense et le Respect des Générations Futures
The "Movement for the Protection and Respect of Future Generations" (MDRGF) is an association that for many years has been working to denounce pollution of water, soils and food caused by pesticides. It informs citizens about health hazards related to pollution and proposes agronomic alternatives that allow to produce healthy food free of chemicals. The association works at the national and international level. In France, it is the official representative of PAN Europe (Pesticide Action Network Europe).
Agir pour l'Environnement (APE)
The "Ecological Action" association was founded in 1996 with the aim of putting an efficient action tool at the service of citizens who want to get involved in ecological issues. The idea is to offer concrete support to – and sometimes anticipate – citizens' concerns vis-à-vis the environment. For the numerous campaigns that were led so far, the association was able to forge partnerships with other environmental and non-environmental organizations.
France Nature Environnement
FNE aims at reconciling man and nature. On agricultural issues, FNE is committed to obtaining a reduction in the use of pesticides in France.
Action Citoyenne pour les Alternatives aux Pesticides
"Citizens' Action for Alternatives to Pesticides" (ACAP) is a coalition of associations, comprising of 125 member organizations that collectively represent 300 groups spread all over France that inform the public about the hazards related to pesticides use and propose alternatives.
This association for the protection of old seed varieties proposes people to adopt a plant threatened by extinction among 550 varieties of tomatoes, 150 varieties of pumpkins, 130 varieties of lettuces.
Semences paysannes
"Peasant Seeds" network has multiple goals. It mainly aims at bringing together the various initiatives that promote biodiversity on farms and in gardens, each one keeping its originality and specificity. It facilitates formation, exchange and re-appropriation of traditional know-how, and works to achieve the validation and recognition (at the technical, scientific and legal level) of traditional practices of seed and plant production. In partnership with researchers, the network promotes the emergence of new schemes of selection, variety creation and seed distribution suitable for organic, biodynamic and peasant agriculture. The network further seeks to consolidate the conservation and management of agricultural biodiversity on farms and in gardens. It also raises public awareness on the high stakes involved in seeds production and trade.
The "GMO Info" association is the citizens' GMOs watchdog informing the public on the hazards related to the spread of GMOs.
OGM Dangers
The "GMO Dangers" association's mission is to fight against GMOs by outlining the multifaceted aspects of GMOs that are seldom debated: their economic, political, philosophical, alimentary, environmental, agricultural and legal dimension. The aim is to solve the problem at its root.
Accueil Paysan
The "Farmers Welcome" network that encompasses the entire French territory offers vacation on farms. The website lists hundreds of addresses in France and abroad.


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Siberian Man Storms Out Of The House After His Wife Serves Him Cold Soup, Gets Lost In The Woods For A Month And Almost Dies
NBC New York – A Siberian man angrily stormed off when his wife served him cold soup — only to get lost in the woods for more than a month, barely managing to survive. "I thought I was going to die. The temperatures were sub-zero and I was getting really weak," he told local media, the U.K. Daily Mail reported. Yuri Ticuic, 69, ate berries and leaves in the forest and eventually collapsed in a field beside a haystack, which he picked at for sustenance. After over a month of eating hay for food and snow for water, Ticuic was found frost-bitten, weak and crippled by farm workers. They took him to a hospital, where doctors said he was lucky to have survived and may have to have his severely frostbitten legs amputated. "No matter what happens, that's the last time I criticize my wife's cooking. Anything is better than hay grain," he said.
I'd love to sit down with Mrs. Ticuic, no? Mrs. Ticuic was it too much to ask to have the soup served hot? Is that too outlandish of a request? Because now your husband needs to have his legs amputated. How does that make you feel? You're a goddam Siberian housewife. What else do you have to do with your time than make sure the soup is warm? Were you in a rush to go meet the girls for a martini at happy hour? Did you have a tennis lesson at the country club? Did you need to hit the mall to pick up a new pair of Louboutins? No. Because you live in fucking Siberia. Basically your only concern is survival and making sure you put a warm meal on the table for your husband's survival. And if he can't get that from you, he might as well go live in the wilderness. Amongst nature eating hay and berries. Probably just as satisfying as your cold ass soup.
Hope your happy with yourself, toots. Because just a month ago you were a failure of a housewife who couldn't even serve hot soup. Now you're a failure of a housewife who couldn't even serve hot soup who has a husband with no legs. Good work.


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Kan. treasurer's office gets $880K in old bonds
Published on -4/2/2013, 8:09 AM
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A Shawnee County District Court judge has awarded the Kansas treasurer's office the title to $880,000 in unclaimed U.S. savings bonds.
Treasurer Ron Estes will hold the bonds while efforts are made to return them to their legal owners or their heirs.
Estes said Monday that the federal government is holding more than $16 billion in matured savings bonds that are no longer paying interest. He estimated that $151 million of the total is owed to people whose last known address was in Kansas.
Some of the bonds were issued as far back as World War I.