text:
Artist's Alley 12: Jamal Igle From Art School to ZATANNA
Jamal Igle, in many ways, is an artist's artist. Not just content to worry about page layout and design, Igle gets into his character's heads, drawing out emotion, personality and style.
And with a career stretching from comics to animation — and icons including Supergirl, Firestorm and most recently, Zatanna — it's clear that Igle is on to something. Just before he heads off to Chicago for this year's C2E2 convention, we caught up with Igle for the twelfth edition of Artist's Alley, where the artist spoke to us about his art school experiences, his technique for comic book composition, and just how character informs design.
Jamal Igle: To be honest, I think it was something I ultimately always wanted to do. I went to the High School of Art and Design in New York, and I was really sort of at a point — I was 14 years old, and I finally realized that you make a living doing comics. Even while I was still doing a little bit of acting on the side, my focus really was about drawing comics.
Nrama: In your experience at your high school, were there any big moments that helped inform you, as far as your art talent?
Igle: Well, I don't know if there was necessarily any "big" moments, per se. I think that ultimately it really was — it was one of those experiences that just the whole bowl of wax is kind of molded together. It was one of those things that it seemed like everything that was happening when I was there was sort of pointing me in the right direction.
Recently, I met Joe Jusko for the first time, because he was an alumni of my school, and we had this thing called the Spring Arts Festival — we still have it now, actually — and this was when Joe was steadily doing covers over at Marvel, and he had just did that Spider-Man poster that he did back in the '80s, the one where he's taking his shirt off. So the first time I met Joe, we had this hour-long conversation just about anatomy. [.]
And at the same time, I had all these opportunities, especially when I was working at DC, where I was meeting guys like Mark Badger — it was where I met Kyle Baker for the first time — Keith Giffen became a really good friend of mine. I was working with Andy Helfer and Kevin Dooley — I basically spent my afternoons hanging out in their offices while they were editing Justice League.
Igle: Well, I think it was the opportunity to see the process getting broken down. Because the way that Keith — whenever Keith is plotting, when he's plotting a story for himself, he literally never writes a word full-script. What he'll do is break down the story visually, and then he will give it to another artist to draw from. So the storytelling is there. I would look at these things, he would show me what he was doing, he would show me character direction, how to set up patterns in the pages, how to create beats, all this really great stuff.
And the same thing, being able not just with Keith, but sitting in and listening to Mike Mignola talking about comics and meeting Kevin Maguire and meeting Curt Swan and Art Nichols, and hanging out while all of these guys that I loved, basically sitting for awhile at Michael Eury's feet when he was still an editor at DC — it was probably in terms of comics, it was the most well-rounded education that I could possibly ask, as far as the face-time I got while I was working there.
Igle: [.] Oh man. Well. I think about it, and it wasn't big moments — it was all these little things. Like the first time I met Kevin Maguire was at a convention. And he was sitting there, it was him and it was Keith, and he was actually finishing one of the last pages of his Justice League run — I think it was the annual, where they're recruiting for Justice League Europe, and there's this one page where he's drawing all these faces, and there's all these Polaroids that they're looking at some of the members of Justice League Europe were going to be. And he was at a convention, drawing up this page, and I'm just standing there watching him. Just — he was doing these amazing expressions, just coming out of his head. No reference, just beautifully drawn faces. He was just sitting there, working all these things out. I was just… awed. I'm still awed by the man's technique.
There's all sorts of things. Oh God. Now that I'm thinking about it, all these memories are receding back into my head. Sitting in DC's production department at the time, with guys like Stephen Bove, and Gary Acerno and Bob La Rose, and all these older comic book guys — this was before Photoshop, this was before Illustrator, and any of those other programs. Watching these people letter, and color from guy guides and labeling things and shooting photo stacks, and creating logo type by hand — you don't get that anymore. There are very few people who have that technical skill anymore. So a lot of it was just absorbing all that information — I completely became a sponge. Which is why I can't say there was a "big moment" because there was always all these little things that I was taking in.
Igle: Well… here's the thing — my personal belief is, style is inevitable. Everybody has a style, because you need a signature. If you really look at a lot of artists — and not just cartoonists, but illustrators and designers and fine artists — you tend to see is what happens it their style is established very early on, but it becomes refined over time. You very rarely get very radical departures unless it's something that the artist is trying to force on themselves, that they're trying to force this radically different direction.
For me, I tend to think I am a result of the people whose work that I love, and the stuff I was influenced by, and that tended to seep into my work. I'm sort of an amalgamation of all the comic book guys and illustrators that I loved when I was younger, and it just sort of melded together. I was a fan of Dave Stevens — I still am — I was the fan of Steve Rude, Brian Bolland, Boris Vallejo, Norman Rockwell, John Singer Sargent — the list is huge. When I was younger, when I was in school, I was always drawn to those cleaner styles. That definitely influenced me more than anything else, and I gravitated toward those styles.
Nrama: The other thing that goes hand-in-hand with style is process. You've got the blank page in front of you, you've got the script — now can you walk us through where you go from there in attacking a page?
I tend to be very methodical when I'm drawing. I usually read the script three or four times, to get a feeling for it, and I do what I like to think of as a "dress run" — I'll thumbnail an entire issue in one shot, just spend a couple of hours sitting down and just laying down everything so that I have a map for where I'm going. And the thumbnails are very quick — they're like 2 x 3, not big at all — and then once I have that worked out, then I will send those to the editor, whatever editor I'm working with. Sometimes they'll make suggestions, other times they won't.
When I first started working professionally, I used to start by drawing the layout at 11 x 17. [.] I got it down to 8 x 11, and then I cut it down to 4 x 7. I'm constantly trying to figure out how to get the layouts smaller, and to work out all the stuff that I need to work out.
Nrama: And you're going traditional pencils as opposed to digital.
Igle: Right, right, right. I keep thinking about making the jump to digital, but I really haven't made that step. I don't know — I like the feel of dragging a pencil across a sheet of paper. I like that tactile feel. Although I'm fully capable of doing digital work — I've got the set-up, I've got up-to-date equipment, I've got a Wacom tablet that I do a little bit of coloring with, a little bit of production work. All I'd have to do is buy a Cintiq and I'd be able to rock and roll with the best of them.
Nrama: Well, as far as traditional pencils go, what kind are you using right now?
Igle: I use a light blue pencil to do all the lightboxing, to block everything in. I go in after that with an HD pencil. If I'm inking, it's a combination of brush, Japanese sumi in. I'll use, for straight lines, fabric BIC pens or Copic markers. That's if I am inking myself — usually I'm just penciling, I only really get to ink myself on commissions and covers here and there.
Nrama: I know you were talking about shrinking down the layouts and really trying to streamline the process as much as possible for you. After that, what's next?
Igle: Well … because it's a speed issue more than anything else — like, I'd love to be doing some more covers, I really love doing covers — I'm trying to teach myself to color on Photoshop, also. But because of my schedule, it's very hard, unless you're doing something that you're getting paid for, it's hard to squeeze that time in. Especially now — I'm married, I've got a 2-year-old — outside of my regular responsibilities, I've pretty much got just my weekends to myself, and then I'm a husband and father.
Nrama: You were talking about earlier that you read the scripts three or four times. For you, what are the things you're searching for in this script, to bring you images that will resonate?
Igle: The first thing that I'm really looking for is the character. Like, what is the motivation of the characters? How is the scene being set up? What's the mood? What characters need to interact with your lead? If it's an established character, especially if it's a new project, it's a lot about trying to get into that character's head, and figuring out how they move, how they react, and in some cases, how they speak. Does this character lift their hands when they talk? Are they stoic? Are they sullen? Are they sad?
I always start with the character first, and then I build each scene around the character. Then once they get to the point where we're at the actual scene, it becomes a combination of trying to find the right mood, and also trying to find the right reference to try to fit that scene. It's character first, then the scene, then I start to think about the actual storytelling. I start to think about how the page should be set up. Are there any beats in this script that has to be followed? Is there something specific that the writer is asking for, that I need to be sure is in there?
Nrama: As far as reference goes, how are you going about getting that? Is it a matter of going out and taking photos of specific gestures to get the right gestures and expressions? What are you looking for as far as that goes?
Igle: A lot of reference that I'll shoot is physical reference, for a location or a particular kind of car, if I can't find it on the Internet and if I can't find it one of the books I have in my library. When it comes to characters, I have a really good memory — and when it comes to people, I tend to think of my training as an actor, so I've become a pretty good judge of body language. I always look at people, and try to figure out how that person is, based on their body language. I try to incorporate that into whatever it is that I'm doing.
Nrama: With body language, do you think it's emotion, then gesture, or the other way around?
Nrama: Talking about your acting background a bit, and your background in animation, could you tell us a little bit about your experiences in these fields? What kinds of things did these industries teach you to look out for?
Igle: The big thing about acting that I was taught was that you have to take, whenever you're playing a character, you have to find a trigger for whatever emotion that you want to bring forth. The deeper that you face and the more experiences you can draw from as a person, that's what makes you a more effective actor. If you find something within yourself — a real experience, not "I'm going to be sad" — because you can always tell when somebody is making up the emotion they've never actually experienced, or trying to fill a scene with an emotion they've never had any actual experience with.
One of the stories that I've told before was when we were doing Supergirl #36, there's a scene with the death of Zor-El. I actually used, emotionally, that I had a friend who was murdered by someone that we both knew. I ended up waiting with his body for several hours until the coroner came and picked him up. When you sit there and listen to strangers talk about your best friend, trying to grasp for whatever reason — "he's a 17-year-old kid, he must have been dealing drugs," or whatever — you're sitting there and listening, and all you want to do is scream at them, "no, you stupid motherfuckers, you have no idea what you're talking about!" And I was able to draw on that — and I think it made the scene work, and I was able to get all that emotion out on the page. It also made it a very difficult scene for me to draw, because I was drawing all that up again.
Nrama: Wow — that's pretty incredible. You know, you were discussing earlier about body language, and setting up a scene. I know you've got plenty more to take into consideration as well, particularly lighting and mood. Can you tell us a bit about how you build up a scene using these other tools?
Nrama: I have totally never heard of that before. [.] "The Potato Sack." That is totally awesome.
Igle: Chuck Jones started it, I think. When I was working at Sony, there used to be a Simpsons style guide that every animator I knew was trying to get a copy of, and it was in there as well. [.]
Igle: Oh, absolutely. I like to call my time working at Sony as "Storytelling Boot Camp." It was the easiest job that I probably ever had as an artist, but it was the most complicated at the same time. I was basically working on these shows — I didn't have to work on finished art, but what I was doing is we'd be drawing all our boards using 2 x 2 Post-It notes. So you would have to draw 15 pages of boards a day at the time. So I'd be drawing 15 pages of boards a day, handing them to the art director, and the director would just wipe away an entire scene and tell me to start over. So you'd learn the expediency of being able to think on the fly and come up with new ideas on how to tell the same scene, because sometimes you were limited by the budget of the show and what the animators were able to do.
Igle: The key thing was, one of the things that it taught me was character direction. Basically the idea behind character direction is, you know that comic book storytelling is supposed to move in a Z-formation, right? So character direction, the idea is, your lead character leads the reader through the story. Your lead character is always moving from the left-hand side of the page to the right-hand side of the page, and the last panel of that page to the first panel of the page that follows it.
So the entire time, you're actually moving your character through the story, and moving the reader along through the story with the character, and every other character that comes into contact with your lead character, as he's moving to the right-hand side of the story, is actually coming from the right-hand side to the left-hand side. That automatically, subconsciously creates a sense of tension. It doesn't really matter whether the tension is arguing or talking or fighting with your lead, as long as your lead is always leading readers off to the end of your story.
Nrama: The other thing I was going to ask about the jump from animation to comics — character design. Character design in animation is important, because you've got to balance between being iconic and being easy to animate. When you're looking at comics and design, what are some of the things you take into consideration to make a character stand out visually?
Igle: Usually, I always start from a place of believability. If I'm redesigning a character or designing a character I like to think in terms of whether or not if I were to transfer the character to a live person, would it be plausible? For example, when I redesigned Firestorm, the idea was to make the costume a functional costume, one that could be taken off in pieces. Now even though he transforms into Firestorm he merges with somebody else, the idea in my head was that he'd be able to take the gauntlets off, he'd be able to take the boots off, he'd be able to take the helmet off if he needed to, and still be able to stay in costume.
I was thinking about that idea, and it was the same thing when I redesigned Vigilante, which was a story looking into actual military hardware, to see what I could incorporate into the costume. Or theoretical stuff from the time, like artificial spider silk. Spider silk, ceramic plates, ballistic gel housings, stuff like that. I start with whether or not this could be plausible. It really depends on the character.
If I'm creating a character that's supposed to be alien, magical or whatever, I tend to think of things like synergy — I tend to think about what would serve the character best. You look at the idea behind the character, you figure out what that character is supposed to be. If the writer's able to give me a general description of who that character is supposed to be, personality-wise, that always helps guide me in terms of design, as well.
Nrama: Do you have any examples in mind of when you've really dug into what a character's been really about? And when you're talking about what they're "about," are you talking personality, high concept, their greater place in the comics industry?
Igle: It's more about who the character is, personality-wise. You always have to build from the personality of the character — you can't even think about the high concept stuff. For me, the high concept isn't as important because you can have a character with a great concept, but it can still be a flat character. You have to give it a lot more thought about who this character is as a person, or as a being, what is their motivation? If they're after something, what is it they're after? What drives them? You have to think about that first. That sort of forms your ideas more than anything else. Or at least it forms my ideas more than anything else, because I'm always thinking about characters first.
Igle: Well, with Supergirl, the thing about Kara is, Kara, to me, is carrying the weight of being thrust into the family business. She crash-landed on Earth, she was confused, she got into a few fights — she got better, and then suddenly they threw this costume on her and called her "Supergirl." They didn't ask her if she wanted to do that, they just assumed she was going to do it. Ever since then, at first she was trying to ignore it and try to be as normal as she could be in terms of having these powers, to ultimately, when we were working on her, starting to accept that this was what her life was.
While it was kind of thrust on both of these characters, each kind of came at it from different perspectives. With Firestorm, it was thrust upon him, but it started off as more of a power fantasy for him. Because Jason Rusch, when he was introduced, he read comics, he went to conventions — he was a nerd! He was one of us. But he was also coming from an abusive background, so suddenly he had the power to push back.
At first he started to revel in it, and then the Justice League started showing up, and Ronnie came back during my run for a couple of issues, and all that sort of showed him that if you're going to do this, you're going to have to do this the right way, and really take this seriously. So I think, for a very long time, Jason became much more serious than Kara did about it. And he's still very much more, the way they're writing him in Brightest Day, he's the much more serious half of the Firestorm duo. Ronnie's more about trying to get his old life back, and Jason's become much more somber about it.
Nrama: As far as establishing these conflicts, what do you think is the most effective method you've used as far as showing that this character has this specific problem? Is it a matter of expressiveness? Or is this the body language you were mentioning earlier?
Igle: It's a combination. Because comics are such a visual medium, you've got to be able to get across in the story. I mean, there's only so much you can do body language-wise in 22 or 20 pages. So that has to be there — it has to have that energy, you have to have good writing and good art together. You can have good writing and so-so art, but that won't draw the casual comic book readers to a book. You can have great art and bad writing, and that will only carry a book for so long.
Nrama: You mentioned that you've only got so much space in a book, so I'm going to do what I hope will be a service to other writers and artists out there — for you, how much is too much as far as a per-page basis? How many panels do you think you can pack into one page before you think it's losing clarity?
Igle: I think I'm the wrong person to ask that question, because I drew a double-page spread of the French Army fighting three Kryptonians in front of the Eiffel Tower. [.] I, unfortunately, tend to fall into the George Perez and Geoff Darrow school of "everything you can get in, get it in."
Igle: Well, I think it really depends on what you're doing. I think for a superhero book, I think the max should be six panels per page, because you need to have that space visually. But I've done different types of projects, also — I did these two albums for Humanoids years ago, that were printed in France, and the average panel cuts were nine panels per page. That was the average layout — it was between nine and 13 panels per page. And you were still able to squeeze in all the information that you had to, because you weren't worried about having the kinetic energy that you would in a superhero book. So it really depends on the story.
Nrama: You mentioned that you do your own inking with commissions, and you've been flexing your muscles with coloring. I know that coloring can really make or break a book, so how are you looking at color in the context of your pages?
Igle: I think for me, personally, having worked with so many colorists, and having seen so many different techniques over my style, I tend to not like a lot of heavier airbrushing techniques over my work. I like a subtler palette, a smoother palette. There's a lot of colorists out there who aren't painters, so they don't really know how to follow lighting — or if you set up lighting on a page, they tend to ignore it and go in a different direction because they think they know better than what you may have set up. So when I look at color, I tend to look for someone who has good color balance, who's able to do things subtly, and not have a lot of shiny effects hide and obscure things.
Nrama: As far as looking over your career, what do you think is the smartest or riskiest move you've ever done — and what do you think has been your biggest mistake?
Igle: Ooh. [.] I can answer what my biggest mistake probably has been. Very early on in my career, I had a tendency to be very, very stubborn — almost inflexible, actually. I had a little bit of an attitude — I was seeing myself as this comics purist, almost, you know? [.] That didn't win me a lot of friends when I was a kid, because I was nowhere near as good as I thought I was.
I think what really helped in that case was when I went to work at Sony. When I was working with Sony, and then ended up working over at Marvel, I was living in California, I didn't really know anybody, I was miserable. I was working for all this stuff for a company in New York, and I couldn't walk into the office and look at an editor eye to eye. And because artists are the way that they are, I tended to imagine things that were worse in my own head than they actually were in real life. [.]
So when I came back to New York, I was going to pick one artist and model my career after theirs. So I picked Jose Garcia-Lopez. And I said to myself, it's just going to be about the work — it wasn't about being famous, or at the time trying to get into Wizard or get on the top ten of whoever's list, it was about having fun with the work. And hopefully still working — I'm 38 now, and I'd like to still be drawing comics when I'm 68 or 78. I'd like to have the kind of career longevity that he had, or Eisner had, or Kirby, you know?
Nrama: As far as that longevity goes, what do you do to keep honing your skills and keep yourself inspired?
Igle: As far as honing my skills — I think there's only two days out of the week where I'm not drawing, and that's the weekend. And even then, today, I was painting a mural at a high school. [.] So I'm constantly drawing. One of the things I've found that I think kinds of kills the potential that an artist has, especially working in comics, is when they don't look at other people's artwork. I get inspired when I look at other people's stuff — I think, "wow, why am I not doing this?" And that doesn't necessarily mean copying what they're doing, but letting that work sort of soak in and inspire you.
There's other things, too — I look at a lot of movies, I look at a lot of animation. For a while, before my daughter was born, I was taking life-drawing classes — I'm still taking life-drawing classes. When I was teaching, we'd do life drawing in the morning, and comics in the afternoon, so I would draw with the students whenever we had a live model. I'm probably going to try to do that again as soon as my two-year-old daughter stops trying to break out of the house. [.]
Nrama: Finally, to wrap this all up — what do you think that people should know about being an artist in the comics industry, that they just don't?
Igle: I think a lot of people don't really get that it's a lot of work. To be a comic book artist in this industry is not easy. Take it to the point where you can draw a piece or two a day and make it look really, really good, it's a marathon. I could be working up to 16 hours a day for weeks at a time, and that's just the way it is. That's the job.
There's a certain level of technical skill and a certain level of refinement that seems to be required right now, so that takes time. That takes a serious commitment. I don't know a single comic book artist who has time to actually sit down and watch a movie. I took today off, because of a mural painting — it was my first day in weeks and sat down with my wife and watched television. But I've learned to accept that.
I take my free time when I can, and I'm lucky to have a wife who is extremely patient with me, if I do have to stay up till 4 o'clock in the morning trying to get pages done. The thing is, after all this time, I've been in the business for 21 years now, all this stuff is pretty matter-of-fact for me. I love what I do. Sometimes its a job, sometimes its a colossal pain in the ass, but I wouldn't trade it.


text: Calling all CCFC supporters:I'm a Liverpool fan and I just want to put this notice up to give huge respect to the various supporters from a variety of different clubs - especially Cardiff City, Sunderland, Everton, Chelsea, Celtic, Rangers, Man Utd to name but a few - who started groups on Facebook calling for Justice for The 96.My mate Graham Sanders (here in Cardiff) started the Cardiff City page with the following link:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cardiff-City-FC-fans-want-justice-for-the-96/221740621181221 and we've been putting on notes and links as much as we could. However we would like as many of you and your friends to visit the various sites (especially the CCFC one) to leave messages. Your support will be massively appreciated.Cheers,Imran

subset: commoncrawl


text:
My Brother Sam Is Dead
by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
My Brother Sam Is Dead Patriotism Quotes
How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"They say that the whole colony of Massachusetts is ready to fight and if Massachusetts fights, Connecticut will fight, too."
Finally my father lost his temper and slammed his hand down on the table, making the plates jump. "I will not have treason spoken in my house, Sam."
"Father, that isn't treas—" (2.36-38)
Sam has come back from college with some new-fangled ideas. He wants the American colonies to be free, and he's ready to join the fight. Check out how he thinks tons of other people will be just as patriotic as him. But clearly Mr. Meeker disagrees; what Sam calls patriotism, his papa calls "treason." What do you think of this distinction?
Quote #2
I still hadn't made up my mind which side I was on in the war, and I didn't care whether Sam was a Patriot or a Tory or what. All I could think about was snuggling up to him and listening to him talk about scoring telling points. (3.21)
So the contest goes like this: patriotism vs. Sam. And who does Tim choose? Sam, of course. To Tim, this is a no brainer. Sam may be all caught up in being a Patriot, but Tim just wants his brother to be home again.
Quote #3
I wondered, if I went for a soldier, which army would I join? The British had the best uniforms and the shiny new guns, but there was something exciting about the Patriots—being underdogs and fighting off the mighty British army. (5.8)
Patriotism isn't an easy peasy decision for Tim. He's not sure which side he should support. But instead of focusing on big issues like taxation, Tim focuses on, well, something else. He's more interested in uniforms or excitement. Is Tim taking this decision seriously? Or is he too young to make this decision at all?


text:
NACCE is a member organization of over 300 community colleges representing nearly 2,000 staff. Presidents, educators, administrators and center directors are focused on inciting entrepreneurship in their community and on their campus.
NACCE has two main goals:
1. Empower the college to approach the business of leading a community college with an entrepreneurial mindset; and
2. Grow the community college's role in supporting job creation and entrepreneurs in their local ecosystem.
NACCE | National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship
1 Federal St. Bldg. 101, Springfield, MA 01105
Contact us now!
8/26/2016A Story Of Opportunity & Hope
8/12/2016What's Your Competitive Advantage?
8/12/2016Expanding Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
8/29/2016 » 10/21/2016August 2016- NACCE's Entrepreneurship Specialist Certificate Online Training
9/21/2016September Member Webinar
10/8/2016 » 10/11/2016Save-the-date for #NACCE2016!
10/24/2016 » 12/16/2016Bridging College and Community Ecosystems with John Liddy-October Online Course
10/24/2016 » 12/16/2016October 2016- NACCE's Entrepreneurship Specialist Certificate Online Training


text:
Welcome, Guest
I'm currently working on a zero-budget film, which contains (among other things) an interview with a subject that takes place outdoors.
At the time of the shoot, i made sure the area in question was quiet.
However, upon viewing the footage, i notice there is some wind noise during the interview - which interferes with the vocals the "actor" is creating.
On the day, it was not even particularly windy, but i guess the camera mic is so sensitive it picked up even the slightest breeze.
(I know that if I used an external mic, the audio quality would've been better).
My question:
Is there a way in which i can get rid of (or minimize) the wind noise in editing ?
My specs:
OS: Windows 7 Home Basic 64 bit
CPU: Intel Pentium G630 2ghz;
Memory: 4gb
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GT 630
Wind noise is a really big problem, and it's the reason why you see those gigantic furry animals wrapped around microphones. With sound, unless the noise is a very narrow frequency, which you can "notch out" with a filter, you can't remove it without seriously affecting the sound you want to keep.
If the voice is audible above the wind noise, then one thing you can do is put a high-pass filter in the chain, adjusting it so that it cuts out the low "booming" or "thumping" noise from the wind.
Beyond that, you could try boosting the mid frequencies slightly to emphasise the voice.
If there are other ways, I'm sure other forum users will suggest them.
Yeah, wind noise is extremely difficult to eliminate. The problem is that the wind isn't at one discreet frequency, but rather a constantly shifting frequency range. I suggest rolling off as much of the lows (low frequency) as possible without noticeably cutting into the actors' voices. Then use a de-esser, in case there's any whistling wind (and it will help for the actors' sibilance as well). Then boost the mids as much as you can without making the voice's boxy/telephony. Then see where you're at. Tweak. Repeat.
But, any of these fixes also depends on your post sound design for the scene. It would help if the scene, as you imagine it, is supposed to be a little noisy. That way, you can layer your source (and score) to help mitigate your problem. If you can justify it (creatively speaking), then add light Walla, dogs barking, leaves rustling, ice cream truck jingle, etc. You can even add in your own 'wind' to help balance the scene out. And, don't forget to use small editorial fades (half-a-second and under) at the head and tail of your sound clips to soften the pop from a clipped waveform.
I hope it helps!
After you've gotten rid of as much wind noise using EQ, try manually replacing any wind noise between words with windless ambient noise. This will be a tedious process, but may be enough to salvage the shot. You could also do ADR if your actors are still available.
Work Comp: XP Professional SP3, Dell Optiplex 740, AMD Athlon 64X2 2.6GHz, 3070MB, ATI Radeon X1300/X1550 256MB
Home Comp: Really fast!
All treatment is depending on the character of the main sound and the noise. I have managed to get a great result by the treatments in the post above, but if that doesn´t do it you could make a noise-reduction, CoolEditPro had one that you could tweak a lot and i know that Audacity have a plugin like that. If then the levels of highs/consonants have dropped too much, you could sort of ´fake´them back with an exciter. A lot of work, and as always: you shouldn´t fix it in the mix, or as my teacher ones said "crap in - crap out..."
Good luck, hope you make it...
Last Edit: 4 years, 6 months ago by lindskogen. Reason: better language
Take a look at iZotope's RX2, and use its repair tool to "paint" out the noise. The demo comes with a plugin and Standalone version, so why not give it a try.
Wow - thanks for all the very detailed advice.
Much appreciated.
Just a silly LW question:
How exactly can i tweak the bass, mid-level and trebel in LW ?
I've added the EQ effect to the clip in question - but i can't see where i can change the levels.
And the user manual does not mention it at all.
Also, i looked at the "audio mixer panel" but i quite honestly can't make sense of how that works.
My specs:
OS: Windows 7 Home Basic 64 bit
CPU: Intel Pentium G630 2ghz;
Memory: 4gb
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GT 630
Last Edit: 4 years, 6 months ago by jlenting. Reason: corrected a misspelling


text:
Blog Lifestyle Opinion The 'Cac
A Queer Commentary on Consent
TRIGGER WARNING: This content deals with the topic of sexual assault and may be triggering to some people.
As a queer man, I want to speak for myself and engage other queer persons, especially queer men with two points of thought on consent.
First, consider the violence we do to our female friends' bodies. Consider how we shame them, commodify them, and degrade them. I'm not judging you for a casual "Hey B*tch" or "Gurl" here or there. I'm talking about touching them, groping them, without consent. Ladies with queer identified friends, how often have we (myself included) allowed ourselves to grab, prod, play with your bodies as if they are our playthings. These women are our friends and sisters and mothers and girlfriends and sometimes lovers.
Why is this so bad? We aren't into it? We OBVIOUSLY like other hardware. No excuse, because our seuxal behavior may not require her body, we are not to reduce her to an accessory. Her body is already a place of subjugation, policing, and destruction. Her body exist in a patriarchy of oppression. How are we to show support by contributing to her violence? We are adding to a narrative that so many uninformed and horrible persons contribute to everyday. We inflict verbal violence through comments on dress, mood, sexual behavior, and diet. We inflict physical violence by our entitle access to their bodies. We treat them as every other heterosexist space treats them.
We need to see that their liberation is ours. Homophobia is sexism wearing a feather boa. Though the target is the female body, its the devaluing of femininity that is at the core of patriarchal discourse. Love, ask, engage their bodies with consent. If a girl doesn't mind with you play with her breasticles, love her body in that way. But ask first, establish lines, and empower yourself and female friends with the space to control and navigate her body as SHE sees fit.
Second, sexual violence can happen to you, do not be silenced. There are so many burdens and stresses, most unspoken, with being queer and male. We also can quickly be forgotten in many histories and narratives of sexual violence. It happens to men, to gay men, straight men, trans* men, bi men, pan men, questioning men, queer men. Sexual violence happens and there is a place for you to share. You, too, can take back the night. You, too, can survive. You, too, can overcome. Find community and solace where you need. Find healing and family where you need. But remember it can happen to you.
The unfortunate moment when it does, take time to take care of yourself. The memory will be real. Triggers will be real. The lived experience will be real.
If possible, talk to your friends about it. If not consider the mental health services on your campus, but do not feel alone. We are conditioned to think it can't happen to men. Sexual Violence is about power and degradation. It can happen to anyone. Sexual behavior does not limit who can and cannot be perpetrators of sexual violence.
Consider the queer engagement in consent. The way we treat our female formed friends, their bodies, their control. Consider the dynamics we engage with each other, feel supported in times of healing and support. Consent is real. Healing is real. Consciousness is real.
Feel free to email with stories, comments, question, and support: (BlackInTheCac) or tweet at me @jayydodd
Related 'Cac
Pingback: Daily Feminist Cheat Sheet()
Pingback: This Week in Queer Web Content // March 4, 2013 | Queerism()
Pingback: A Queer Commentary on Consent | In The 'Cac | uocemagna()
Pingback: Dear Black Gay Men, Don't Get Comfortable | Social Dashboard()
Pingback: Dear Black Gay Men, Don't Get Comfortable | Pride & Equality Post()
Pingback: Dear Black Gay Men, Don't Get Comfortable | Jay Dodd()
Pingback: Dear Black Gay Men, Don't Get Comfortable | Triple X News()
Pingback: Dear Black Gay Men, Don't Get Comfortable | Freelance Honey Badger()
Pingback: Dear Black Gay Men, Don't Get Comfortable | Kmoffitt()
Pingback: Dear Black Gay Men, Don't Get Comfortable | Safe Schools | Desert Cities()
Pingback: Dear Black Gay Men, Don't Get Comfortable - Racist Not Racist()


text:
Narrow Results
Price Per Night
More Filters
Property TypeView more View less
Local Area
Managed By
Even More Filters
View Map Map
Kalo Chorio Holiday (0)
- Holiday Rentals >
- World >
- Europe >
- Greece >
- Crete >
- Lassithi Holiday homes >
- Kalo Chorio
Additional service fee may apply.
Sorry, we were unable to find properties available for your search. Please check the spelling, redefine your search parameters, or click one of our suggestions.
Alternatively, why don't you use the Map to find your intended location


text:
Looking at Assemblies
From ArachneWiki
After you have run Arachne and created a draft assembly, you will want to look at your assembly. It will take a detailed understanding of your assembly before you can go about improving it. Hence Arachne provides several tools for assembly analysis. The following modules generally require a SUBDIR command-line argument, specifying the assembly location. Also note that the RUN directory, in the context of these modules, should include /work.
Text output modules
Arachne stores its data in a binary format, so you cannot examine your assembly just by looking at the first output files. However, Arachne provides text output modules, which, as the name suggests, read the binary output and produce human-readable text files.
The modules BasicStats and BasicAssemblyStats print out vital statistics of an assembly, such as the contig N50, scaffold N50, the read coverage, and so on.
The module FastbStats gives statistics about a fastb file.
The module VerifyAssemblyIntegrity provides a "sanity check" to make sure nothing is horribly wrong with your assembly.
The module LibStatsOverview provides useful statistics on the reads and inserts in each library.
The module RunMarkup provides a thorough analysis of repeats.
The module PolymorphismEstimator estimates the heterozygosity for polymorphic genomes.
The module GenerateTilings writes out an entire contig, base by base, and lines it up against the input reads that contributed to it. It writes its output in the Tilings subdirectory of SUBDIR. (GenerateTilings may take a long time to run!) A similar module is CreateAceFile, which produces ace files that can be read by Consed and look very much like the output of GenerateTilings.
Visual output modules
Visual output modules allow you to inspect your assembly visually. The primary visual output module is DisplaySupercontig.
The modules SuperDotPlot and FastbDotPlot allow you to compare two different supercontigs with a dot plot.


text:
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Missouri; Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for the 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS)
Final Rule.
EPA is taking final action to conditionally approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Missouri to EPA on January 17, 2007, with a supplemental revision submitted to EPA on June 1, 2011. The purpose of these SIP revisions is to satisfy the RACT requirements for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) set forth in the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) with respect to the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. In addition to taking final action on the 2007 submission, EPA is also taking final action to approve several VOC rules adopted by Missouri and submitted to EPA in a letter dated August 16, 2011 for approval into its SIP. We are taking final action to approve these revisions because they enhance the Missouri SIP by improving VOC emission controls in Missouri. EPA's final action to conditionally approve the SIP submittal is consistent with section 110(k)(4) of the CAA. As part of the conditional approval, Missouri will be required to revise its rules to address one additional source category, no later than December 31, 2012.
Table of Contents Back to Top
- Table of Contents
- I. What final action is EPA taking in this final rule?
- II. What is the background for the approvals by EPA in this final rule?
- III. EPA's Final Action
- IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
- List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
- Subpart AA—Missouri
- Footnotes
Tables Back to Top
DATES: Back to Top
Effective Date: This final rule will be effective February 22, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Back to Top
EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket Identification No. EPA-R07-OAR-2011-0859. All documents in the docket are listed on the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air Planning and Development Branch, Air and Waste Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Back to Top
Ms. Lachala Kemp, Air Planning and Development Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7, 901 N. 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101; telephone number (913) 551-7214; email address: firstname.lastname@example.com.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Back to Top
Throughout this document, "we," "us," or "our" refer to EPA. This section provides additional information by addressing the following questions:
Table of Contents Back to Top
I. What final action is EPA taking in this final rule?
II. What is the background for the approvals by EPA in this final rule?
III. EPA's Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What final action is EPA taking in this final rule? Back to Top
EPA is taking final action to conditionally approve a SIP revision submitted by the State of Missouri to EPA on January 17, 2007, and June 1, 2011. The purpose of these revisions is to ensure that certain sources of VOC emissions are controlled to a level which represents Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT), and that certain source categories meet RACT levels consistent with Control Techniques Guidelines (CTGs) issued by EPA prior to 2006. EPA is also taking final action to approve several VOC rules adopted by Missouri and submitted to EPA in a letter dated August 16, 2011 for approval into its SIP. This latter submittal addresses VOC RACT requirements for sources in categories for which EPA issued CTGs during 2006-2008. The purpose of today's action is to conditionally approve the referenced SIP submissions as meeting the VOC RACT requirements of CAA section 182(b)(2) for the Missouri portion of the St. Louis metropolitan 8-hour ozone nonattainment area.
On October 25, 2011, EPA published in the Federal Register a proposed rulemaking to conditionally approve this SIP revision and to approve these VOC rules (76 FR 66013). EPA did not receive any public comments on this proposal.
II. What is the background for the approvals by EPA in this final rule? Back to Top
This section briefly summarizes the background for today's final action. More detailed discussion of the statutory and regulatory background can be found in the preamble to the proposal for this rulemaking (see 76 FR at 66014-17).
The St. Louis metropolitan area, which includes the counties of Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles and St. Louis, and the City of St. Louis in Missouri (as well as four counties in Illinois), is currently designated as a moderate nonattainment area under the 8-hour ozone standard. For areas in moderate nonattainment with the ozone NAAQS, CAA section 182(b)(2) requires states to submit SIP revisions to EPA that require sources of VOCs that are subject to a CTG issued by EPA, and all other major stationary sources, in the nonattainment area to implement RACT. [1]
On January 17, 2007, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) submitted to EPA proposed SIP revisions demonstrating compliance with the RACT requirements set forth by the CAA under the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. This submittal addressed all source categories for which a CTG had been issued by EPA prior to 2006, and addressed the controls in place for all other major stationary sources in the nonattainment area. Since the development of the initial submittal by MDNR, EPA issued a number of new CTGs, in 2006, 2007, and 2008. States were then required to address RACT requirements for sources in the source categories covered by these CTGs. As a result, on June 1, 2011, MDNR submitted an amendment to its prior RACT demonstration.
With respect to the source categories for which a CTG had been issued by EPA prior to 2006, MDNR certified that all of the existing St. Louis area VOC rules satisfy RACT requirements for the 8-hour ozone standard. EPA proposed to approve this certification (see 76 FR at 66016) and did not receive any public comments on this proposal. Therefore, based on the rational stated in the proposal, EPA is approving this certification in today's action.
With respect to the source categories for which a CTG was issued by EPA beginning in 2006, MDNR submitted three revised rules to EPA for approval. EPA proposed to approve these rules in the proposed rulemaking (see 76 FR at 66016) and did not receive any public comments on this proposal. Therefore, in today's action, EPA finds that these revised rules address the RACT requirements and is approving these rules into the Missouri SIP. These rules cover the following source categories: 1) Industrial Surface Coating Operations (10 CSR 10-5.330), 2) Rotogravure and Flexographic Printing (10 CSR 10-5.340), and 3) Lithographic Printing Operations (10 CSR 10-5.442). For a more detailed description of the CTGs issued by EPA and the corresponding Missouri VOC rules which address these CTGs, see 76 FR at 66015-17.
Finally, in today's final action, EPA is conditionally approving the Missouri SIP revisions that address the requirements of RACT under the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. As discussed in the proposed rulemaking, at this time, EPA is unable to fully approve the state's RACT SIP revision because the current submittal does not yet meet all RACT requirements. Specifically, Missouri has not submitted RACT rules for inclusion into the Missouri SIP to address one CTG: Solvent Cleanup Operations. However, MDNR submitted a letter dated September 30, 2011, committing to submit a SIP to address the solvent cleaning CTG no later than December 31, 2012. Based on this commitment, pursuant to section 110(k)(4) of the CAA, EPA is conditionally approving Missouri's proposed SIP revision in today's action. Under that section, EPA may approve a SIP revision based on a commitment of the State to adopt specific enforceable measures by a date certain, but not later than one year after the date of approval of the SIP. Missouri must revise its rules to be consistent with the CAA (i.e., it must adopt a specific enforceable measure to address RACT for solvent metal cleaning operations) no later than December 31, 2012. This conditional approval shall be treated as a disapproval if Missouri fails to comply with this commitment.
III. EPA's Final Action Back to Top
In today's rulemaking, EPA is taking the following final actions. First, with respect to Missouri's VOC RACT rules that EPA previously approved into Missouri's SIP under the 1-hour ozone standard, EPA is taking final action to approve Missouri's certification that these RACT controls continue to represent RACT under the 8-hour ozone standard. Second, EPA is taking final action to approve revisions to three of Missouri's VOC rules (10 CSR 10-5.330; 10 CSR 10-5.340; 10 CSR 10-5.442) into Missouri's SIP, as these rules satisfy RACT for the Missouri portion of the St. Louis nonattainment area. Third, pursuant to CAA section 110(k)(4), EPA is taking final action to conditionally approve the Missouri SIP revisions that address the requirements of RACT under the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Missouri must submit a SIP revision addressing the solvent cleaning CTG discussed above, no later than December 31, 2012. This conditional approval shall be treated as a disapproval if Missouri fails to comply with this commitment.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews Back to Top
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this proposed action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that reason, this proposed action:
- Is not a "significant regulatory action" subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
- Does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
- Is certified as not having a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
- Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
- Does not have Federalism implications as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
- Is not an economically significant regulatory action based on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997);
- Is not a significant regulatory action subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
- Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent with the CAA; and
- Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, this rule does not have tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in the State, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. This action is not a "major rule" as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by March 23, 2012. Filing a petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect the finality of this action for the purposes of judicial review, nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 Back to Top
Dated: January 10, 2012.
Karl Brooks,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52—[AMENDED] Back to Top
1.The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Subpart AA—Missouri Back to Top
2.Section 52.1320(c) is amended by revising the following entries under "Chapter 5—Air Quality Standards and Air Pollution Control Requirements for the St. Louis Metropolitan Area" to read as follows:
§ 52.1320 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c)* * *
|Missouri citation
|State effective date
|EPA approval date
|Control of Emissions from Industrial Surface Coating Operations
|01/23/2012 [Insert citation of publication].
|Control of Emissions from Rotogravure and Flexographic Printing Facilities
|01/23/2012 [Insert citation of publication].
|Control of Emissions from Offset Lithographic Printing Operations
|01/23/2012 [Insert citation of publication].
3.In § 52.1320, the table in paragraph (e) is amended by adding the following entry to read as follows:
§ 52.1320 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e)* * *
|Name of non-regulatory SIP revision
|Applicable geographic or nonattainment area
|State submittal date
|EPA approval date
|(55) VOC RACT Requirements for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS
|St. Louis
|01/17/2007, 06/01/2011
|01/23/2012 [Insert citation of publication]
|We are conditionally approving this SIP revision based on Missouri's commitment to submit a SIP to address the solvent cleaning CTG no later than December 31, 2012.
4.Section 52.1323 is amended by adding paragraph (o) to read as follows:
§ 52.1323 Approval status.
* * * * *
(o) The Administrator conditionally approves the Missouri SIP revisions that address the requirements of RACT under the 8-hour ozone NAAQS under § 52.1320(c). Full approval is contingent on Missouri submitting RACT rules for inclusion into the Missouri SIP to address the Solvent Cleanup Operations CTG, to the EPA, no later than December 31, 2012.
[FR Doc. 2012-1086 Filed 1-20-12; 8:45 am]
Footnotes Back to Top
1. Section 182(f) of the CAA requires that all SIP provisions required for major stationary sources of VOCs shall also apply to major stationary sources of Nitrogen Oxides (NO X), unless EPA exempts a specific nonattainment area from this requirement based on criteria set forth in section 182(f). With respect to NO X, EPA approved Missouri's request for a "NO X waiver," effective September 19, 2011. Based on this rule, Missouri withdrew the portion of its 2007 submission relating to NO X RACT. Therefore, today's action only addresses Missouri's obligations for VOCs. See 76 FR at 66014-15.Back to Context


text:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on StylinOnline at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Get it today!Shop Now
OrAdd to Wish List
Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skinny Patch What's this, I can't believe my eyes, it's the skinny Jack Skellington as a patch! This amazing patch is the perfect cut out of Jack the Pumpkin King dressed in his Halloween attire. Showing off his long thin skeleton frame, Jack is ready to take on the world and get some scares! This patch is easy to iron onto any fabric or material, perfect for showing off your favorite Nightmare Before Christmas character!. Price: $4.99
© Copyright 2016 - Christmas.com. All rights reserved and protected by Christmas Spirit


text: Director General Cricket Leary has appointed to the Royal Court of Queen Silvia the 77th, Elizabeth Dorsey Alkire Proudfoot. She is the daughter of Lynn and the late Delegate William Proudfoot. She has two brothers Will and Ben Proudfoot. She is the Granddaughter of the late Jack and Bea Currence and the late William and Helen Proudfoot, all of Elkins.


text:
Check Out Our New Sister Site for all Types of Flooring
Hey FoamTiles.com fans,
We just wanted to let everyone know that we have just launched a new site in our http://www.incstores.com family. If you need virtually any type of flooring this world has to offer, http://www.flooringinc.com should offer it. If they don't have the flooring you are looking for yet, please keep coming back and check them out in the future since they are adding new products all the time. Have a great day🙂
New Folding Mats
We are happy to announce that we recently found a new manufacturer of quality folding mats. After beating the manufacturer up on price the best we could, we were able to launch the mats at lower prices than ever before seen. I imagine our competitors were not too happy about that. It turns out our customers loved them because we sold nearly all of them out in a few weeks. They are available for pr-order right now from our site as well as our sister site RubberFlooringInc.com. If you are in the market for a portable mat that works great for tumbling, gymnastics, and martial arts training, we recommend checking these out:
or you can find them at our sister site here:
New Roll Out Mats
We unveiled some new foam roll out mats recently that we think are going to be a big hit. These mats are great for Martial Arts training, Judo, Karate, and more. Each mat is 5′ x 10′ long. What makes these roll out mats really nice is that they are portable and can easily be taped together with some mat tape to form larger MMA training areas. Many of our competitors were already selling similar products so we did decide to beat all of their prices right off the bat as usual. Our sister site RubberFlooringInc.com also offers the same product if you would prefer to buy from them. You can find the mat in their martial arts section. If the demand is there, we will also consider offering more colors for this product in the future. If there are any colors you think we should offer, please leave a comment below.
Whats New…
Well once again we have not posted in awhile. Part of the reason is that we just don't know who is and/or will actually read our blog about foam tiles. We do however like to keep our customer's informed on what is happening around the FoamTiles .com office, so here we go.
Since our last post about kids mats, we have added a few new contemporary colors on our 1/2″ reversible soft tiles line and we have added some new tatami mats to provide more options for our martial arts customers. We are also working on adding some additional soft flooring and matting options that will be available soon (within 1-3 months).
As far as the website itself goes, you may have noticed the home page has been changed recently to include an improved navigation system and an easier to use shopping experience. We do have some other design changes that are also in the works that should be more helpful to our customers. Unfortunately until any changes are made, we are told they have to remain top secret.
Well that is about it for now. We had a great 2011 thanks to all of our amazing customers and we look forward to doing an even better job for you all in 2012. Cheers and Happy Leap Year.
For the most up to date news, it is usually best to visit our facebook or google+ fan pages.
Foam Mats for Kids
Sorry we have not posted in awhile. We have been stretched a little thin while working on adding products and working on launching our sister site GarageFlooringInc.com. We do have some new and exciting news however. We have really been focusing on adding to our line of kids play mats and soft flooring options for children's play rooms. One of our newest and most comfortable floor surfaces is our 1/2″ thick reversible soft touch tiles. These tiles use a different surface pattern to actually make the tile itself feel much softer to the touch. Parents normally find this beneficial since it is less abrasive to the skin of their newborn babies and toddlers.
The other new kids mats we added recently are fun, educational, and portable kids mats that come complete with a zippered vinyl carrying bag. These products are:
The Learning Math Mat which helps to teach kids about numbers and basic math skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
The Zoo Play Mat which is a small 3′ x 3′ mat that is great for use as a portable play mat for infants and babies.
The Road Trip Mat which is also a smaller sized portable foam mat designed for really young children.
All of these new mats can of course be found in our foam kids mat section.
If you all like these new products or have any other ideas of what products you would like to see us add in the future, please leave us a comment below.
Soft Tiles Vs. Foam Tiles, What is the difference?
We are often asked "What the difference is between products called soft tiles and products called foam tiles?" Many companies carry similar products but tend to use these terms interchangeably but what is in fact the difference? In this blog post we will answer that question and provide some extra info that helps explain a little more about each product, how they are made, and the potential similarities and differences between brands.
First things first, so what is the difference? Well basically a soft tile and a foam tile are the same thing. We use the terms interchangeably on our foamtiles.com site and many times we even call the products soft foam tiles. So is there any difference between brands? That is another question we often hear so let's answer that one right away too.
Well if another company is like ours and carries a wide variety of soft tile options, well then both of our companies probably carry a few similar products and a few puzzle tile products that are different. Foam tiles can vary in size, color, thickness, surface appearance, and texture. What is common among all soft tile products however is that they are made from a closed cell EVA foam which is light weight, durable, water proof, easy to clean, shock absorbent, and helps to insulate well against sound and temperature transmission. All of these properties to EVA foam are wonderful things that make the product one of the best portable flooring products around. Then you add in the fact that the raw materials that go into EVA foam are relatively cheap and what you get is a fairly low cost and fun flooring option.
So what is the downside to EVA foam? Well this is easy to answer. The first thing is that EVA soft foam tiles are made in a manner that is almost like baking a cake. Raw pellets are mixed in together with a color additive and then baked under pressure to produce the product. Because of this, some slight color variations and thickness differences can occur between products. Many times it is not even noticeable however once in awhile a customer will notice these things. Like any manufacturing process, some slight tolerance levels must be expected and if you look at the policy pages of our site or any of our competitors, you will notice a policy that there might be some variations between tiles. We wish we could avoid this issue, as do many of our competitors we are sure, however the only way to do so would be to scrap more tiles during production and in turn raise the cost of the tiles. So basically its a catch 22 with EVA that it is very low in cost but can't always be guaranteed to be absolutely perfect. At foamtiles.com though we do promise to work with you to help you fix any problem you may have.
On other thing that can be different between manufacturers is the safety of the tiles. A few years back, many manufacturers starting experimenting with less costly ways to produce soft tiles and during the process, started introducing allergens and potentially harmful chemicals to the process. Some European countries even went so far as to ban some EVA foam products. It turns out these companies were introducing a toxin called formamide into their foam floor tiles. Here at foamtiles.com, we took this threat seriously and immediately had conversations with our manufacturers to make sure they were not doing these practices. We even went so far as to test our tiles for formamide and other potential threats like rubber which can be an allergen for some people. We are happy to report all of our products came back both allergen free and formamide free. We even ran some test with the consumer testing laboratories to ensure our products were safe for kids. Those tests came back with flying colors and we can also certify that our products are free of phthalates and lead.
We hope that this post helps answer some questions about soft foam floor tiles. If you are unsure whether interlocking foam flooring is right for you, we recommend ordering some free samples so that you can see and feel the product for yourself. And what the heck, it's free right?
Foam Tiles – Creative options for picky youngsters
The choice to pick foam tiles for your home playroom is a 'no-brainer'. It has proven to be a safer environment than concrete, wood, title or carpet. Another plus is that foam tiles or mats are budget friendly. Easy installation that can be done by anyone makes picking foam tiles the only flooring option. Foam flooring is also durable and dependable that can support many 'play dates'. Yet one of the biggest reasons to choose foam tiles for playrooms is that the decision of what foam tile design, pattern, or color to pick can be shared.
The best thing about picking foam tiles for playroom flooring is allowing your inner child along with your actual child, a voice. The options available to choose from can be as simple as a favorite color or as complex as a world map. Foamtiles.com carries a vast assortment of foam flooring and matting options that work great for kids. The list includes:
Foam Alphabet Mat
Foam World Map Kit
Hop Around Tic Tac Toe Mat
ABC-123 Mat (available in medium and large sizes)
Soft Shape tiles
SoftTouch Tiles
½" Eco-Soft Tiles
5/8" Reversible Soft tiles
Reversible Black/Grey tiles
Reversible Red/Royal Blue tiles
Light Oak wood tiles
Dark Oak wood tiles
And more….
Picking what foam tile to choose should be a fun and creative process. There are many options available in many different shapes, sizes, colors and designs. The varieties are from bright primary colors to laminate that looks like wood along with puzzle and alphabet mats. Some have numbers and letters of the alphabet on each panel and are available in foam puzzle mats which create and allow for imagination creation, all available to make the playroom an exciting room to spend a day in. Visit Foamtiles.com or Rubberflooringinc.com today to get started.


text:
- Text Size:
- ASmall Text
- AMedium Text
- ALarge Text
A homeless man was arrested for trying to carjack a woman's vehicle while her child screamed in the back seat, police said.
Officers responded to the Walmart parking lot in the 2300 block of NW 23rd Wednesday night around 7 p.m. According to police, the woman put her child in a car seat and turned the car on to run the air conditioning because it was hot.
Police say that's when Jacob Edwin Flippo, 36, asked the woman for a ride. She said no, and Flippo suddenly jumped into the running car and tried to take off while the child screamed.
A bystander rushed to help and Flippo took off running. Police later found and arrested him.
Flippo is facing complaints of larceny of a motor vehicle and kidnapping. The woman and her child weren't hurt.


text:
Over the last few months we have been closely monitoring Facebook's determined efforts to improve its standing in the mobile space here on The Wall. The company are desperately trying to monetise mobile ads, and find other ways to bring in revenue via people's phones. For example they are building relationships with mobile carriers around billing.
Such moves have been continuing at the company's Menlo Park, California, HQ itself, with staff being urged to switch to move to Android devices so that they can improve the Facebook app on that platform.
Facebook management are currently running a campaign to get staff to move to the first growing mobile platform, run by rival Google. The campus is currently featuring a series of posters encouraging Droidfooding – testing Facebook's own Android app:
According to TechCrunch:
"The company tries to make it as easy as possible to test the next generation of its Android apps… Facebook forcibly updates employees to the most recent beta version of apps like Facebook For Android and Facebook Messenger."
Additionally on internal betas Facebook has a feature called 'Rage Shake'. If staffers encounter a bug while using the app they can violently shake their phone and the current state of the phone is sent to mobile developers who remove bugs.
Facebook told Techcrunch:
"There's plenty of people here carrying around both devices, and not just engineers and not just mobile people."
While it is intriguing to watch Facebook send customers too, and acknowledge the power of, a company they do battle with on other products is intriguing. However, it can only be good news for the vast numbers of people using the Android platform, and who want an app that works in a slick manner. The iOS app has long been ahead of those on the Android and Blackberry platforms, and Facebook cannot afford to fall behind on Android as the devices running the operating system grow in popularity.
This is also good news for people trying to build communities and advertise on Facebook. If the mobile apps on all systems become more developed and user friendly it seems likely that the level of engagement between brands and users will grow and improve. Better consistency of apps will also make it easier to design campaigns that will look good across the board.
Better ads platforms are just as important to brands who want to advertise on the Facebook as they are to the company itself.


text:
Further tests have been ordered to establish how Amy Winehouse died after a post-mortem examination yesterday failed to find the cause.
The Metropolitan Police have called for toxicology tests, but the results may not come back for a month.
Despite Winehouse's public battle with drink and drug addiction, no drugs or paraphernalia were found at her home in North London and police continue to treat the death as "unexplained".
An inquest was opened and adjourned at St Pancras Coroner's Court yesterday and during a two-minute hearing the coroner's officer said that the singer's death was "non-suspicious". Her body has since


text:
Friday night in Pittsburgh the Rangers let an early 2-0 lead slip away, but found the resolve to beat the Penguins in overtime, 3-2, to grab Game One of their best-of-seven Metropolitan Division Finals series. Game Two will be played Sunday night, also at the CONSOL Energy Center.
Derick Brassard seemed to beat Marc-Andre Fleury off a scramble in front a little more than three minutes into overtime, but the referee waved off the apparent goal and play continued. Benoit Pouliot followed by hamerring a shot past Fleury at 3:13 to make the controversial no-goal call a moot point.
Henrik Lundqvist was terrific in goal for New York, finishing with xx saves. He made sure to get this game to overtime with a series of big saves late in the third period, including one on a wide-open Lee Stempniak drive through a screen with 11 seconds remaining in regulation.
At the other end of the ice, after a slow start Marc-Andre Fleury was solid in the Penguins net, turning aside xx shots. He, too, made a huge stop in the final seconds of regulation--on a Marty St. Louis deflection--to keep the score tied 2-2.
The Rangers and Penguins started the third period in a two-all tie after two completely opposite periods of play to start the series. The visitors controlled the puck and the play throughout the first period, and snagged an early 2-0 lead; but the Penguins dominated the entire second period, outshooting New York 15-4 and outscoring the Rangers 2-0 to forge a tie through two periods.
Benoit Pouliot, who scored the game-winner in Wednesday's Game Seven clincher over the Flyers, opened the scoring Friday night just 5 minutes 4 seconds into play. Pouliot collected the puck in his own end, skated through the neutral zone and over the Pens blue line, and finally snapped a shot blocker side past Fleury and into the net for his third post-seasom goal, giving New York an early 1-0 lead.
After several near misses, the Rangers finally did double their advantage with 2:57 to play in the first when Brad Richards netted his third of the playoffs. Strong on the forecheck, Carl Hagelin chased down a Dan Girardi pass in the right wing corner, and then zipped a pass to a wide open Richards in the low slot. So open was Richards that he was able to turn, maneuver the puck, and then beat Fleury before any defenders came near him.
While extremely pleased with the results of the first period, the Rangers would later rue the fact that they did not score more than twice against Fleury. Marty St. Louis had two wide-open shorthanded chances, both set up on the same shift by Mats Zuccarello, which he shoveled wide of the Penguins net; and Rick Nash was stoned in tight by Fleury on another prime opportunity during the opening 20 minutes.
After outshooting Pittsburgh 13-8 in the first period, the Rangers were on their heels most of the second. The Penguins controlled the entire flow of the period, killed off three Ranger power plays, and scored twice. Without the strong play of Lundqvist, the Rangers could have easily found themselves trailing entering the third period.
Lee Stempniak and James Neal did put pucks past Lundqvist to even the score during the second period, however. Stempniak slipping a backhander past Lundqvist off the rush at 7:15, and Neal sending a shot from between the circles off Lundqvist's stick/blocker, up in the air, landing behind him and just over the goal line at 13:28.
Lundqvist argued that the puck was struck with a high stick by Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin who was standing to the goalie's left, but a video review clearly showed that Malkin never touched the puck and Neal was credited with the game-tying goal.
To the Rangers credit they came out skating much better in the third period, and even had an excellent chance early in the period to regain the lead, but St. Louis was robbed point blank by Fleury. Lundqvist evened the score seveal minutes later when he made a flashy glove save on Malkin's blast after a Marc Staal turnover during a Penguins power play.
Neither team was able to get untracked on the power play in Game One Friday. The Rangers were 0-for-4 and had very few good looks on the power play. They have been held without a power play goal through their last 25 man advantages dating to Game Two against the Flyers.
The Penguins had some better chances to score than did New York, but they also finished the night 0-for-4 on the power play.


text:
Attic Storage - Olathe, KS
Do you have boats, trailers or RVs taking up valuable garage and driveway space? Uncovered parking is a valuable solution to the problem! Simply store the space-hogging vehicle in our spacious lot and come and get it whenever you need it. Covered parking provides the extra level of protection that can be vital when preserving classic cars and escaping the harsh Missouri elements. Our covered lots are available in various sizes depending on your needs. An experienced and trained staff member will work with you and your budget to provide the covered parking that you require.
StorageMart - Olathe, KS
Open air recreational vehicle parking for trailers, boats and motor homes up to 40 feet. You've invested a lot of money in your vehicles and they should be well-protected. Keep them looking brand new with a climate controlled unit for the ultimate in protection from the elements.


text:
Nightmare fuel
I'm a pretty tolerant man, but I really really hate this stuff:
If there's one thing that gives me the freaking creeps, it's ventriloquist dummies.
(Ask me about the one antique dummy at that auction years ago that wouldn't stop looking at me... no matter where in the room I moved to. Brrrr.)
Anyway, HERE'S a Flickr dump of pictures of more ventriloquist dummies than I can safely handle... have fun.
I'll be sleeping in the corner of my room with the lights on and two machetes in my hands...
Labels: scary, spooky, we're doomed, what's wrong with bill


text:
Sapphire Blue is a managing general underwriter specializing in developing creative solutions to the complex risk management challenges facing the U.S. healthcare industry.
Known for its creative solutions for long-term care facilities, Sapphire Blue now offers industry-specific underwriting expertise, market knowledge and risk management solutions that address the unique risks facing miscellaneous medical and allied healthcare entities including home health providers, medical facilities, ancillary medical practitioners and small hospitals.
In addition to traditional professional and general liability coverages, Sapphire Blue has a long history of developing specialty coverage enhancements such as evacuation expenses, defense for adverse media events, liability exposures that may occur during acquisitions or mergers, and risk inherent in businesses with global facilities.
Coverages are written on a non-admitted basis (except Kentucky) through underwriters at Lloyds, London. All London syndicates are rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best.
Nancy McMahon
President & CEO
Sapphire Blue
RSG Underwriting Managers, LLC
(312) 784-6007
Sapphire Blue is a series of RSG Underwriting Managers, LLC. RSG Underwriting Managers is a Delaware
series limited liability company and a subsidiary of Ryan Specialty Group, LLC, specializing in underwriting
management and other services for insurance products distributed through agents and brokers.
In California: RSG Insurance Services, LLC License # 0E50879
© 2011-2016 Ryan Specialty Group, LLC


text:
A Quaker Meeting in Camas, WA
NWYM Spotlight: Camas Friends from Northwest Yearly Meeting on Vimeo.
Peace Playhouse 2010
Camas Friends Mothers' Day 2010 from Jason Twyman on Vimeo.
10:30am Coffee
10:45-12:15pm Sunday Morning Worship
11:15-12:15pm Nursery available for children 3 and under
11:30-12:15pm Godly Play for Children (ages 4 to 11) (info)
Phone: (360) 834-2446
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Address:1004 NE 4th Ave Camas, WA 98607 (Map)
Twitter: @camasfriends
Facebook: camasquakers
AA and other 12 Step Groups: Info about AA, Al-Anon,etc.
Camas Montessori: Info about Camas Montessori
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Join 476 other followers
Like Us On Facebook
Blog at WordPress.com.
Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.


text:
a1 Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi, Università degli Studi di Torino, V. le Mattioli 25, 10125 Torino, Italy
a2 British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
a3 Centre for Antarctic Plant Ecology and Diversity, Moffat, DG10 9LB, UK
a4 Dipartimento di Biologia Strutturale e Funzionale, Università dell'Insubria, V. Dunant 3, 21100 Varese, Italy
a5 Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Ambientali, Università dell'Insubria, V. Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, Italy
A directional primary succession with moderate species replacement was quantitatively characterized on Signy Island in zones of a glacial valley corresponding to their age since deglaciation. A continuous increase in diversity and abundance of lichens and bryophytes was observed between terrains deglaciated in the late 20th century, to areas where deglaciation followed the Little Ice Age, and others thought to be ice-free since soon after the Last Glacial Maximum. Classification (UPGMA) and ordination (principal co-ordinate analysis) of vegetation data identified three different stages of development: a) pioneer communities, which rapidly develop in a few decades, b) immature communities developing on three to four century old terrains, and c) a climax stage (Polytrichum strictum-Chorisodontium aciphyllum community) developing on the oldest terrains, but only where local-scale environmental features are more favourable. Multivariate analysis including environmental parameters (canonical correspondence analysis) indicated terrain age as being the dominant controlling factor, with other environmental factors also exhibiting significant conditional effects (duration of snow cover, surface stoniness). These findings not only quantitatively verify reports of the rapid colonization of Maritime Antarctic terrains following recent climate amelioration and associated decrease in glacial extent, but also show how local-scale environmental resistance may slow or even prevent vegetation succession from pioneer to more mature stages in future.
(Received July 22 2011)
(Accepted November 03 2011)
(Online publication March 07 2012)
Key words


text:
- Text Size:
- ASmall Text
- AMedium Text
- ALarge Text
Authorities said a 55-year-old Chickasaw County man has died as the results of injuries he received after his vehicle hit a horse on a county road west of Houston.
Emergency crews were called to County Road 20 in the Thorn Community about 3 a.m. Monday after a small pickup hit a horse. Investigators said the driver was taken to Trace Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Chickasaw County Coroner Andy Harmon identified the driver as Bobby Gene Long of Thorn. Harmon told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that Long was traveling north and headed to work when the accident occurred.
The horse was killed in the accident.


text:
Product Details
Riders want to rock, and RED is playing their song. REDphones Premium with DJ Headset, and standard REDphones are both ready for seamless integration with all 2010-12 RED adult helmets. RED Audio—zip it in and crank it.
- All Wires Included for On-Snow Use, No Other Accessories Needed
- Easy Access Volume Control and Mute on Cord
- Easy to Install with One Size Fits All Application
- Great Sound Quality with 40mm Removable Driver
- Integrated Slim Design Disappears Inside Ear Pads
Trending Gear Reviews
adidas Energy Boost Snowboard Boot – 2015Price: $500
adidas The Superstar snowboard boot – 2016Price: $300
adidas The Blauvelt snowboard boot – 2016Price: $375 evo.com
Burton Photon snowboard boot – 2016Price: $369.95 evo.com


text:
|Post Trn TipPost Trn Tip
|Post Stn TipPost Stn Tip
Refresh Live Status (not updated)
Train Board
Rest of the trips are cancelled.
Fri May 09, 2014 (05:49AM)
08624/Ranchi -Patna Weekly Special
|Change Departure Station:
|Change Arrival Station:
|This is the Shortest Route between Ranchi Junction and Patna Junction.
|Travel Time: 9h 55m 7 halts Distance: 407 km Avg Speed: 41 km/hr
Peak Observed Speed: n/a
Type: Mail/Express
Zone: SER/South Eastern
|Departs @ 21:05
Platform# 0
|Arrives @ 07:00 +1 night
Platform# 0


text:
Celebrate your special day with family and friends at a beautiful wine country home in the Alexander Valley, the perfect place for a wedding.
Little House is our private home. Please make an appointment to tour the house and grounds, where you'll find lush lawns, huge oak and redwood trees, a large landscaped swimming pool, children's play area, winding pathways, ponds, gardens, fruit trees, and flowers everywhere, all surrounded by Sonoma County's famous rolling hills planted in noteworthy vineyards.
Liability insurance is required.
Make your dreams come true on your wedding day at Little House. You will treasure every moment and create a lifetime of memories.


text:
This was one of the most requested graphic novels - with the comic issues appearing so sporadically many readers waited years for a collected edition so they could read it all. This doesn't disappoint - while not Moore's greatest work it is a very different beast to the mediocre film version and an excellent addition to any Moore fan's shelves, while the always excellent Eddie Campbell delivers some truly atmospheric B&W inked art.Exploring some of the rumours and half-truths surrounding several bloody weeks in London's East End as Leather Apron stalked the streets - better know to history as Jack the Ripper. Moore's script and Campbell's gritty black and white art instil a real atmosphere of dread among the winding, mist-shrouded streets and pressing poverty.Knockabout/Top Shelf, hardback, published February 2011
This product was added to our catalog on Monday 17 January, 2011.
Maldon, Essex
Phone: 01621 877222
Copyright FPI © 2016All Rights Reserved


text:
Awesome product with a great price. Highly Recommended!Frank R.
FAST Ship - Great Design - BEST Price on the web! THANKS!Ben S.
Outstanding craftsmanship, fast shipping, great product, Thanks!Dylan M.
Billet Aluminum Oldsmobile Water Pump Pulley for use with 5.6" tall water pump.
2 Groove Water Pump Pulley for Oldsmobile Engines (350 & 455). Designed for use with stock power steering and alternator brackets.
Application 1) Oldsmobile 350 Rocket & 455 engines
Fits vehicles with: 1) 5.6" Tall Water Pump
Made in the USA
Material: 6061-T6 Billet Aluminum


text:
Canadians --
If you were to travel to Cuba what airlines service the island -- I know that Mexicana goes there (as does Air Canada although they would not sell me a ticket even if I bought it outside of the US nor will they tell me from which cities they fly). I have a license from the US Treasury Dept. that will authorize me to visit Cuba and a 32 page list of agencies authorized to sell me tickets and yet most of the ones I have called do not offer that service -- so I was wonder what airlines flew there (maybe through the Carribean Islands). ANd if I had any other options -- you can not look this information up on the web as it is blocked to US citizens.


text:
Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
The Spirit Ring (original 1992; edition 2000)
by Lois McMaster Bujold
Work details
The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold (1992)
No current Talk conversations about this book.
Probably more like 2.5 stars. I've enjoyed some of Bujold's other fantasy and sci-fi novels but this one seemed a bit dated for me. Maybe it just reminds me of books I read when I was younger. Also having a young female protagonist made it feel more like it was for teen girls than 43 year-old men.I also tend to like fantasy better if it's NOT set in the "real world" it makes the magic and other fantastic elements more believable for some reason.
I like the ending climactic battle, but got bored a lot before that. I would recommend "The Curse of Chalion|61886" instead if you want to read something in the fantasy genre from Bujold.
Fairly standard "plucky girl" fantasy but with a nice mix of Bujold humour.
A fun read after loving the Vorkosigan series. Exciting and intriguing, but ultimately not too much that's memorable.
I feel this book a bit underated. May not be the kind of book I'd like to reread, but it's imaginative and well done. I think it suffers from comparisons with Bujold's other books. I don't agree with those who say this is her worst book, although it comes early among her works and I think Bujold's one of those authors that got stronger over the years. Nevertheless, I like this more than say Ethan of Athos or Falling Free in her Vorkosigan series or The Hallowed Hunt in her Chalion series. But it's true that I don't find the characters in this book as vivid and complex as Miles in the Vorkosigan series or Ista of Paladin of Souls or Dag of Sharing Knife. It's also the one novel of Bujold's to date that's a standalone.
And it's the rare historical fantasy--which is a lot of what I like about it, but is a departure from the Space Opera of the Vorkosigan series or High Fantasy of Chalion--or Sharing Knife with it's feel of the American frontier of perhaps the far future. The Spirit Ring is recognizably set in late 15th century Renaissance Italy. The time of Lorenzo Medici, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Michelangelo. It's not set in Florence or Rome though but the made-up small dukedom of Montefoglia in a world where white magic is sanctioned and overseen by the Church--and black magic is a real danger. A world of mage-artisans who can make magical rings. And the heroine, 15-year-old Fiametta Beneforte, is the daughter and unofficial apprentice of such a master mage. Then the duchy is imperiled by black magic and that's where Fiametta--and the young miner Thur Ochs--must take risks to free it and those they love who are are at risk of their very souls.
It's a well-written and obviously well-researched work and I very much enjoyed the read.
I like this neat Renaissance fantasy all the more for being self contained -- I grow weary of everlasting series. The heroine is a young biracial woman, which the author has said was the reason for the book's low sales.
References to this work on external resources.
Wikipedia in English (1)
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0671578707, Mass Market Paperback)Fiametta Beneforte dreamed of making beautiful and enchanted objets d'art, but alas her magician-goldsmith father was more likely to have her scrub the kiln than study magic. After all, it was a waste to train a mere daughter beyond the needs of the moment.
Thur Ochs dreamed of escaping the icy mines of Bruinwald. But the letter from his brother Uri arranging his apprenticeship to Master Beneforte was not the only force that drew him over the mountains to the Duchy of Montefoglia...
A betrayal at a banquet plunges Thur and Fiametta into a struggle against men who would use vile magic for vile ends. Needs of this desperate moment will require all their wits, all their talents, and all their courage, if they are to rescue both Montefoglia and the souls of those they most love.
(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:12:34 -0400)
When her father, a goldsmith and master mage, dies during the siege of their Italian village, fifteen-year-old Fiametta finds her own fledgling magic tested in the ensuing battle against the evil Lord Ferrante.
(summary from another edition)
Amazon Kindle (2 editions)
Audible (1 edition)
CD Audiobook (1 edition)
Project Gutenberg (0 editions)
Google Books — Loading...
Popular covers
An edition of this book was published by Audible.com.
Is this you?
Become a LibraryThing Author.


text:
Before StagingMany home buyers have difficulty visualizing size and scale when a room is vacant. In this case it maybe even hard to tell WHAT room they are viewing.
After Staging Furniture helps solve that problem. Let us provide beautiful decor and furnishings to create a warm and inviting space to prospective Buyers
Before StagingDated light fixtures and furniture not suited for the space simply does not help Buyers see how lovely this space could be.
After StagingUpdated lighting and simple dining decor creates an elegant space!
Welcome to SIMPLYSTAGING, your home staging partner. We are a professional Home
Staging and merchandising company
that can help you sell your home quickly and for the best possible
Home staging showcases the best features of a house by
creating an inviting but neutral atmosphere that will appeal
to the widest range of potential buyers. We create a warm and attractive
ambiance for home buyers to immediately envision themselves
living in your home. The result. Your home sells quickly, and at the
best possible price.
You Never Get a
Second Chance to Makea Good First Impression!
As the real estate market continues to change, home
staging is rapidly becoming the solution to transforming a
home into a well designed product, that is
merchandised to sell quickly.
Our goal at SimplyStaging is to deliver the highest
quality home staging service, design and investment value.
Headquartered in Naperville, Illinois, we service Chicago's western
We provide a range of services to meet any budget. We want to make sure we put together a Staging Plan that works for you.
The process begins by meeting with you and walking through your home, inside and out. Together we prepare a comprehensive checklist and recommendations to make your house an attractive showplace when shown to potential buyers. It is totally up to you on how much you want to do yourself.
"Do it for me" Staging Services
After your Consultation you may decide you need a little more help. We offer Staging Services using what you already have to showcase the home and transform it by adding a touch of current and extremely affordable items to get great Internet photos. We will give you an edge over the competition that will sell your home quickly.
Vacant and Model Home Staging
Without furniture it is often difficult to tell the size and scale of a room. A buyer starts to wonder if their furniture will fit. And when the buyer does not have answers to their questions...they move on. Nine out of every ten buyers walking in your home cannot imagine the wonderful possibilities your home has to offer. Don't let unanswered questions distract buyers from considering your home as a purchase.
Color Consultations
When you are getting your home ready for sale every room does not have to be beige. However it is always a good idea to choose paint colors that provide a neutral canvas for a new home buyer. Our Color Consultations provide clients assistance in choosing the right colors that help create a color scheme that will flow harmoniously throughout the home.
Chris DeBoo
Phone: 630-961-5575
Email: Click Here To Send Email
Website: http://www.simplystagingllc.com
Located In: Naperville, IL, 60565, USA
Services Available: Providing Staging Services in Chicago and the Western Suburbs...Naperville, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Plainfield, Lombard and more...
About Us |
Contact |
Search |
Site Map |
Home |
Online Course |
Go to The Staging University®
Visit our other web sites: IAHSP.com | Advisory board
© 1999-2010 StagedHomes.com®. Stage®, ASP®, ASPM®, StagedHomes.com®, IAHSP®, Accredited Staging
Professional® are Federally Registered Trademarks of StagedHomes.com®
By using this site, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use, Federal CAN-SPAM Act


text:
FiltersShow / Hide
- All Events
- Music
- Comedy
- Theatre & Shows
- Sport
- Cinema
- Festivals
- Days Out
- Edinburgh Fringe
- Anywhere In The UK
- Location: Anywhere in the UK
Radius: ... miles
Fri 15th Feb at 8:00pm
Peacock & Gamble
@ Cambridge Junction, Cambridge
Featuring: Peacock & Gamble
This event has been and gone!
Catch the next one:
Check out the info below for future tour dates, and track them to receive alerts when they tour near you
Don't Even Want To Be On Telly Anyway: Peacock & Gamble
That's right! Everybody's favourite comedy nice boys, Ray and Ed, return with another hour of fun, idiocy and very handsomeness live on a stage.
Chortle Comedy Award nominees in 2011 and 2012, off of Radio 4 Extra and Russell Howard's Good News (loads).
'Moments of stupendous invention' (List)
'A gloriously silly hour in the company of two overgrown toddlers' (Chortle.co.uk)
'Crude, loud and bladder-poppingly funny' (Evening Standard)
'Incredibly enjoyable – can't recommend it enough' (Pete Donaldson, Absolute Radio).
This event takes place at Cambridge Junction, which has achieved Bronze Status for disabled access from Attitude Is Everything.
Peacock and Gamble
The world used to be a desolate, sad and dark place. A barren land where nothing would grow and the only sustenance for the craggy ground came from the tears of recently orphaned children. And then, in 2005, Ray Peacock and Ed Gamble met. A rainbow exploded across the sky and God winked.
'A hugely entertaining double act' (The Independent).
Peacock and Gamble tour dates
Track this event
- Event has been added to your calendar
- Any important updates will be sent to your email address
- Add to your personal Ents24 calendar
- Sync with iCal, Outlook and others
- Receive important updates
- 1 person currently tracks this event
Venue Facts
Venue: Cambridge Junction
Disabled Access: Bronze Status
Website: junction.co.uk
Enquiries: 01223 578000
Bookings: 01223 511511
Disabled Bookings: 01223 511511
→ Cambridge 5 min walk