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The journey of the Journey: Azamara Journey Cruise Review by sofron
Overall Member Rating
The journey of the Journey
Destination: South America
Embarkation: Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)
There were many good points. Embarkation was a breeze--efficient, friendly, quick. The ship itself is a gem, just the right size to be comfortable. You can get from anywhere to anywhere on board in less than 5 minutes. Azamara is an off-shoot of Celebrity and, as on Celebrity, we were greeted with a glass of champagne, BUT, no escort to our cabin. On a ship that prides itself on its crew:passenger ratio, why did they drop that Celebrity courtesy?
CABIN Plenty of storage space. Ample closets and lovely wood hangars that you don't have to slide on and off that hook and ball combination. I guess they don't expect Azamara passengers to steal hangars. Lots of drawer space, too.
There is a refrigerator and safe, flat screen TV and lots of nice luxury More touches. The ship provided robes and slippers, binoculars and umbrellas. The Elemis soaps, shampoo, conditioner and lotion were lovely. One large free bottle of Evian. Two hair dryers--one in the bathroom on the wall and a non-attached hand dryer at the vanity. The fabrics on the sofa and throw pillows, like the fabrics used on all furniture throughout the ship are top quality. The bathroom is small, but adequate as is the balcony. The towels are Egyptian cotton and very absorbent EXCEPT FOR THE DECORATIVE BROWN BAND (totally unnecessary). Whatever decorator suggested that touch should be thrown out of the decorator's guild. That band is already pilling and will make the towels look shabby in no time. Plain cotton would have been much better.
Now, what is lacking. 1)Space in the bathroom to put a cup or glass. 2)Makeup mirror anywhere, in the bathroom or at the vanity/desk, with good lighting. 3) Good mattresses. It was like sleeping on a brick. I have been told that the mattresses were ordered, but not received yet and that some ships in the Celebrity fleet are already reequipped. Why didn't they start with the "luxury line?" The pillows, on the other hand, were wonderful and the linens quite good. They did pad our bed with foam, so that made sleeping bearable, but nothing as good as Holland America. 4)A reasonable TV channel selection. On cruises billed as luxury and all of long duration, you'd think they would skip the Cartoon Network and replace it with a financial channel. CNN International is OK, but the regular CNN to keep us in touch with home would have been nice, too. New movies on pay-per-view would be good, too, especially on long cruises. CABIN STEWARD AND BUTLER Both of these gentlemen were unfailingly helpful, courteous and efficient. The cabin was always clean. No towel animals. The butler brings fresh fruit every day and fills the vase with flowers (usually). There is a different sweet every night. The butler will, if requested, unpack and pack, shine shoes, serve breakfast and afternoon tea. Frankly, I didn't see the need. If someone else unpacks it will take me three days to find everything. There are already too many opportunities to eat without an additional meal and all the other duties are carried out by the room steward on other ships.
PUBLIC AREAS Beautiful, tasteful, elegant, for the most part. Luxury fabrics. Lots of bars and nooks. A small sitting area off the casino with a large screen TV was popular for sports. The Cova Cafe was another popular spot, with snacks available all the time--sweets, small sandwiches, and other delights. Coffee, tea, chocolate, too. Entertainment was provided by a pianist and/or harpist. Looking Glass (10 forward) was the spot for games and trivia. Lots of bridge players, mah jongg, games of all sorts available. At night, there was usually music, live or DJ. I didn't use the Martini Bar, so I won't comment. The casino seemed to be adequate, but the huge bar that took up a lot of floor space in the middle was hardly ever used. The library was supposed to be Michael's Club in the evening, but every time I was in it, it was just the library, much too big and beautiful to be so underutilized.
The shops run toward the expensive and impractical-- fine jewelry, expensive semi-precious items and costume jewelry. There is a small selection of clothing, an area the size of a kitchen cabinet for sundries and that's about it.
The pool is small but adequate, not too deep. The lounge chairs are wood, with thick upholstered cushions. Be sure to reserve one in the shade by 8am or you're out of luck. A trio played at poolside for about an hour each day. The pool and deck are kept very clean. The pool is salt water and is drained, cleaned and refilled daily.
SPA I didn't use the spa services much. The exercise classes are free--Pilates, spinning, aerobics, yoga. There seem to be sufficient number of treadmills, etc. Other spa services seemed pricey, but that's the case on most ships. The thallasotherapy pool (heated saltwater bubble pool) that we enjoyed so much on Celebrity for free is for fee only on this ship-- $125 for the cruise. I doubt anyone used it. I suggested that they make it a Captain's Club perk and it may be on future cruises.
INTERNET Slow, slow, slow. Many terminals, inadequate bandwith. It can take 10 minutes or more to reach your ISP, at $.53 a minute and even then you may not be able to sign on. We protested and got a refund. The best time to use it is between 6-8am, when the bridge and the ship offices are not downloading anything. Better still, use the internet cafes available on even the smallest island or in terminals.
DINING The Windows Cafe (buffet) is roomy, with adequate table space inside and outdoors on the stern. The food is of excellent quality, better than most ships. The dishes became repetitive, which was to be expected on an 18 day cruise. Trays are available, but it is better to use plates alone. There are machines for coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade and a variety of fruit drinks. The coffee machine is slow and badly adjusted. It gives either half a cup or an overflow. Refills from the wandering waiters are spotty. Wait staff is very friendly. We ate breakfast and lunch there throughout the cruise but service is available in the dining room, too.
Breeza is the poolside grill. It offers hamburgers, hot dogs, Polish sausage and nachos, with a salad bar. There is a daily special, too. The hamburgers are average; the french fries are excellent as is the sausage. They have cheese and chili to top the nachos, but no salsa.
The specialty restaurants, Prime C and Aqualina, are really good. Service is wonderful and the ambience makes it a special dining experience.
Discoveries, the regular dining room, is a problem and I don't know what they can do. It was terrible for the first few days. Some people gave up and ate only at the Windows Cafe. The food is usually excellent, with a few misses--dry chicken (they don't do poultry well), undercooked fish occasionally, but they correct anything like that immediately.
There has been much care and attention paid to the quality of the food, the presentation, the tableware and the general ambience, all to the good, but the service is spotty at best and the room can be noisy, chaotic and crowded. The waiters often confuse orders, dishes hit the floor, diners get bumped by passing waiters and other diners. I don't think they have the free-style dining concept fully under control. Dinner often takes 2 hours or more, most of that time taken with waiting for dishes to arrive. Your soup can sit at a station for half an hour before anyone brings it to the table. Rarely were we asked if the dinner was satisfactory or if we wanted anything else. The wait staff just seemed relieved to be able to carry out orders. If you weren't happy and wanted to change your order--good luck! Refills of coffee, soda or other drinks on request; they are not refilled automatically. It isn't the atmosphere of a luxury dining room.
WINE SERVICE AND BARS I didn't use it personally but heard,"I ordered wine, but when it arrived, I didn't like it. The wine steward tasted it and said, 'It tastes OK to me.'" That is not professional conduct. Other comments "I don't mind paying $50 for a bottle of wine, but not for the $3.98 Trader Joe special." Mixed drinks are very overpriced. Should a Cosmopolitan cost $15.00?
CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES none
OTHER ACTIVITIES The usual--lots of trivia, name that tune, pictionary, ring toss, etc. Some more innovative activities included acting class, poetry, etc. The cruise staff was cheerful, energetic and friendly. Becky, the cruise director, is transferring to Quest in the Caribbean and Andreas will be doing South America as he speaks multiple languages. Ryan and Carissa worked very hard to keep everyone entertained. Carissa's Battle of the Sexes was a highlight of the cruise.
SHORE EXCURSIONS Lousy. I have never, in all my years of cruising, seen so many people angry and asking for their money back. The descriptions were bad--mild wasn't always and neither was strenuous. It was as if the shore excursion people had never been to these ports and had no personal knowledge of the conditions. There was little control over the onshore personnel. Most people were told to make their own arrangements if they weren't happy with what was available and, believe me, our own arrangements were better. After one or two bad experiences, most people cancelled their tours. The best part of that department was the local person who came on board for 2 hours in the morning to explain what was available on shore so we could make our own arrangements.
ENRICHMENT Wonderful! The lecturer was knowledgeable and entertaining, never dull. He spoke to packed audiences about Brazil, Portugal, the importance of cricket and soccer, the history of the samba and tango and kept us enthralled.
GUEST SERVICES E for effort, but they were over their heads on this cruise. It was a demanding bunch of passengers who expected the kind of concierge service one would get at a Hyatt and what we got was "I don't know." They have to check with the home office in Miami for everything. We asked them to check on our reservations for the flight home, which they promised to do and said they did, but at the end, they were not able to do it. They had to be cornered into that admission.
LAUNDRY There is a do it yourself laundry on Deck 7, but be warned, there is rust in the water and it may stain your clothes. If this happens call the butler, give him the garments and they will be cleaned at no charge. Bring your own fabric softener, stain remover and other laundry items. Detergent is provided.
CAPTAIN AND BRIDGE CREW Friendly, super competent and always available to passengers. He is the youngest captain I have ever seen and he is great!
DISEMBARKATION Smooth and fast. The problem was with the last day. We all were booked on red-eye flights out of Sao Paulo, not known as a tourist mecca. The routes had no rhyme or reason. Why did they route someone who wanted to go to Charleston, SC through Toronto? We were off the ship at 9:45 am with a flight at 11:30pm. Tours to fill the day were offered at $190 each but there is nothing to see in Sao Paulo unless you like pitiful slums. After much coersion from the passengers, the cruise line came up with a hospitality room to leave your luggage and some day rooms at our expense. It was not carefully thought out.
SUMMARY Azamara has potential, but a long way to go. It is not even up to usual Celebrity standards yet. Less
Published 12/03/07
Cabin review: 7031
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Artist Biography
William S. RICE
1873 - 1963
William Seltzer Rice (1873-1963), an etcher, painter, and printmaker was born on June 23, 1873 in Manheim, Pennsylvania where his family had a carriage-painting business. He began drawing at an early age and had art lessons from itinerant artists. At age twenty he enrolled at the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art in Philadelphia and took classes from Howard Pyle at the Drexel Institute. He worked as a staff artist for the Philadelphia Times until 1901 when he was offered a job in California as supervisor of art in the Stockton public schools. He remained in that position for ten years and then became head of the art departments at Alameda High School, Fremont High School (1919-30), Oakland's Castlemont High School (1930-40), and University of California Extension (1932-43). While teaching, he earned a batchelor of fine arts degree from the California College of Arts and Crafts and taught summer classes at that school. Rice produced a number of watercolors of the Tahoe area before 1915; however, at the Panama Pacific International Exposition he was exposed to Japanese prints which impressed him deeply and changed the course of his future work. Wood block and linoleum prints then became his forte. He retired from teaching in the public schools in the 1940s but continued accepting invitations to teach and exhibit for the next 15 years. He died at his Oakland home on August 27, 1963. He was author of Block Prints: How to Make Them and Block Printing in the School. Member: San Francisco Art Ass'n; California Society of Printmakers; California Society of Etchers; Oakland Art League; Pacific Art Ass'n; Bay Region Ass'n. Exhibited: Pennsylvania Museum of Industrial Art, 1904 (prize); California Society of Etchers from 1912; Panama Pacific International Exposition, 1915; San Francisco Art Ass'n, 1916, 1925; Santa Cruz Art League, 1934; Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939; Library of Congress, 1943. Works held: California College of Arts and Crafts; National Museum of American Art (Washington, DC); Boston Public Library; Library of Congress; New York Public Library; California State Library.
Return to artwork page.

subset: commoncrawl


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Uzzi Ship Wreck Dive T Shirt
Uzzi is a brand name in quality apparel; these Uzzi Team Dive Shirts has a design on chest of a Dive Ship Wreck and the Uzzi Logo with Flag on left arm. Comes in sizes medium, large, x-large, xx-large choose from colors black, or navy. Shirt is 100% Pre-Shrunk Cotton and Machine Washable. Ship Wreck T-Shirts are a great gift for your diving friend or significant other. On Land or in the Ocean Uzzi Amphibious Gear will keep you in Style and Comfort.


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U.S. Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01), released the following statement today on the Administration's plan to bring the Colombian trade agreement to Congress without including language that would incorporate requirements from the Labor Action Plan to improve Colombian workers' labor rights. The Action Plan was negotiated earlier this year with the Colombian government.
"I am extremely disappointed that Congressional Republicans have prevented any meaningful reference to the Action Plan Related to Labor Rights in the Colombia Free Trade Agreement implementing legislation that we're being asked to consider.
"Over the last several months, the Administration has worked diligently with the Colombian government to create a path forward for badly needed improvements in workers' rights in Colombia. While I believe that the "Action Plan" did not go far enough to address the harsh conditions faced by Colombian workers, it does have the potential -- if properly implemented -- to strengthen basic workers rights on the ground in Colombia.
"Improving Colombian workers' rights is not only the right thing to do morally, it's the right thing to do economically too. The more the people of Colombia improve their lot, the more demand there will be for American goods and services. It would be irresponsible for the United States to now backpedal and move forward without inclusion of the Action Plan in the implementing language.
"I will actively oppose the legislation in its current form."
Source: http://larson.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1338&Itemid=99


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Girls Shoes
Your little lady will love these big labels and unique shoes for less. We've got everything from branded girls trainers, on-trend shoes and designer sandals for much, much less. Fashion-loving feet, head straight this way. Don't forget to measure feet each time you buy shoes. Download our free kids shoe size measuring guide here.


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The Nookie Know-It-All: Low Tide For The Crimson Wave
"I've heard about the various birth control pills that you can take to go without your period for a few months and longer. Are they really safe and recommended?" — Banning Aunt Flo, via email
Have you seen that SNL skit (clip after the jump!), where the women are going ape sh*t because they haven't had their period in months? I have, and I have to say it scared that crap out of me.
However, for some women with health conditions worsened by getting their periods (such as endometriosis or anemia), these pills are god-sends. There's also tons of women on pills such as Seasonale and Seasonique (which allow you to get your period only four times a year) who experience no side effects more serious than spotting (which, I have to say, would really annoy me.)
All in all, the benefits of taking extended-cycle pills (less $$ spent on tampons) seem to outweigh the risks. However, since the pills are so new, nobody really knows what the long-term effects might be, so be sure to also ask your doctor.
If you have any of these symptoms, make an appt. with a doctor. Just like any other addiction, it's something that requires attention and treatment.
Got a burning question for our amazingly wise Nookie Know-It-All? Email it to [email protected] Don't worry, we'll keep your deets between us.
A Note On Playing It Safe: The Frisky thinks safe sex is smart sex – so please practice it in the way that's right for your relationship.


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Astrology 101: What Your Rising Sign Says About You
We have talked a whole lot about sun signs and explained the significance of your moon sign; now it is time to complete your astrological personality trifecta by decoding your rising sign. As you might remember, your birth chart is basically a snapshot of the sky at the exact moment you were born. In technical terms your rising sign–or "ascendent," as it is often called–is the sign that was rising over the Eastern horizon at your time of birth. Your rising sign is a very important part of your astrological personality profile. It illustrates your outward self: a social mask of sorts…
Your rising sign influences people's first impression of you, how you interact socially, and how you view and relate to others. Example: when we first met, we didn't like each other at all. Winona thought Katelyn was too serious and logical; Katelyn thought Winona was too perky and superficial. Once we got to know each other better (and ultimately became best friends), we realized we had really been judging each other's rising signs–Katelyn's rising sign is critical, reserved Virgo, while Winona's is flighty, chatty Libra. Terrible first impressions were pretty much inevitable!
The self you project to the world is most often a perfectly balanced blend of your rising sign and your sun sign. Your ascendant is a very important part of your personality and how you function in the world. The main thing to keep in mind when learning about your rising sign is that unlike your sun and moon sign, your rising sign reflects a more superficial, outward personality. Having a Sagittarius ascendant will not make you a Sagittarius, but it will probably help you relate to and attract Sagittarians.
Ready to find out your rising sign? You'll need the exact time and place of your birth, which you can plug into a rising sign calculator like this one. Once you've got it, check out this quick overview of the way your rising sign is reflected in your personality profile:
An Aries Rising makes you appear more… open, lively, independent, and dominant.
A Taurus Rising makes you appear more… calm, steady, self-contained, and centered.
A Gemini Rising makes you appear more… talkative, witty, positive, and curious.
A Cancer Rising makes you appear more… shy, subtle, kind, and intuitive.
A Leo Rising makes you appear more… magnetic, expressive, strong, and eloquent.
A Virgo Rising makes you appear more… reserved, observant, analytical, and nervous.
A Libra Rising makes you appear more… charming, optimistic, socially adept, and accepting.
A Scorpio Rising makes you appear more… secretive, quiet, brooding, and mysterious.
A Sagittarius Rising makes you appear more… jovial, direct, opinionated, and honest.
A Capricorn Rising makes you appear more… diligent, controlled, serious, and detail oriented.
An Aquarius Rising makes you appear more… idealistic, progressive, contrary, and friendly.
A Pisces Rising makes you appear more… romantic, sensitive, vague, and adaptable.


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Day trips from NYC: Great fall trip ideas for families
This autumn, escape the city limits—just for the day!—on one of these family-friendly day trips from NYC.
Storm King Arts Center, New Windsor, NY
Traverse 500 grassy acres of large-scale sculptures at this modern art mecca located in the foothills of the Hudson Valley (1 Museum Rd; 845-534-3115, stormkingartcenter.org; $12, children 5-12 $8). Kids will love walking beneath and through the towering tall steel beams and stone columns, truly becoming part of each piece. Museum Hill has a stone indoor museum and restrooms—start there and then head to the South Fields, where your crew will encounter mountain vistas and unique pieces like StormKing Wavefield (where the grass itself is the art medium) and Storm King Wall (an expansive, winding stone fence). On Sundays, special craft activities (think mask-making and pumpking decorating) are offered. (Note: The installations are spread wide apart, so expect lots of walking. A tram does run around the grounds every 20 minutes.) For lunch, stop by the The Storm King Café, which uses locally grown ingredients in their salads, soups and sandwiches, or head to Brothers Barbecue (2402 New York 32, Cornwall, NY; 845-534-4227, thebrothersbarbecue.com) for Southern favorites like collard greens,ribs and grits. Travel time: 1 hour
Old Westbury Gardens and Nassau County Museum of Art
Two of Nassau County's cultural gems are located within four miles of one another, both on Long Island's North Shore. Old Westbury Gardens (71 Old Westbury Rd, Old Westbury, NY; 516-333-0048, oldwestburygardens.org; $10, children ages 7–17 $5, children under 7 free) has formal gardens, woodland trails, pathways that meander along the ponds and lake as well as an early 1900s mansion filled with English antiques and artwork. Check the calendar for educational kids workshops: Fall topics include bird-watching, Falltography and Dash Thru the Decades, where participants get to experience childhood entertainment and games of 100 years ago. The garden also hosts the Rise of the Jack O'Lanterns (therise.org) on select days in October and November—kids will be in awe of the 5,000 individually carved pumpkins. Lunch at Kitchen Kabaret (409 Glen Cove Rd, Roslyn Heights; 516-484-3320, kitchenkabaret.com) is an experience in itself. The gourmet pizza, fresh deli, and omelette station make for difficult decisions—but be sure to recaffeinate at the cappuccino bar (and good luck getting the kiddies past the bakery) before continuing your excursion at the Nassau County Museum of Art (One Museum Drive, Roslyn; 516-484-9338, nassaumuseum.org; $10, chlidren ages 4–12 $4, children under 4 free). Family Fun Sundays (1–3pm) include an interactive tour and hands-on art activity. In addition to the three-story Georgian mansion that houses the main collection of European and American art from the 19th and 20th centuries, the complex has a sculpture garden and nature trails on its 145 acres. Travel time: 30 minutes
New Paltz, NY
Prepare your crew for an active day in the Shawangunk Mountain Range (or "the Gunks," as locals call the jagged cliffs that frame the area). Enter Minnewaska State Park Preserve (5281 Route 44-55; 845-255-0752, nyparks.com) and park in the Awosting Parking Area for a short (less than 1/2 mile round-trip) but steep hike to Awosting Falls. Then move the car to the main parking lot, where a two-mile trail encircles the turquoise Lake Minnewaska (which gets its rare hue from mineral deposits). Picturesque views, colorful foliage and wooden gazebos dot the circumference. A history lesson can be found on Huguenot Street; kids can view rotating exhibits at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center (88 Huguenot St; 845-255-1660, huguenotstreet.org) and tour restored homes and a church circa early 1700s ($16, children ages 7–13 $10, children under 7 free). Since New Paltz is a college town, you'll find bar food and beer aplenty. We like the Gilded Otter (3 Main St; 845-256-1700, gildedotter.com), a brew pub with a vast menu that includes hearty fare like meatloaf, three meat chili and buffalo wings. Adults can sample the seasonal brews like pumpkin ale or oatmeal stout. Travel time: 2 hours
West Point, NY
Our nation's history, Gothic architecture and stunning foliage await at the prestigious United States Military Academy (all visitors over 16 must present ID). Begin at the Visitors Center (enter from Route 218 in Highland Falls; 845-938-2638, usma.edu/visitors) where you can buy tickets for the one-hour bus tour (no self-guided tours are permitted; check westpointtours.com for schedule). The first stop is the massive granite Cadet Chapel, home of the world's largest pipe organ as well as astounding stained glass windows. Trophy Point is another highlight, with its breathtaking vista overlooking the Hudson River. Post-tour, peruse the gift shop, which has an ample selection of kiddie-sized Army gear, from hooded sweatshirts to plush mascots and make a stop at the free West Point Museum, where weapons aficionados of all ages will gawk at the collection of swords, rifles and tanks from every time period. After leaving the grounds, head to the Ice Cream Shop in Highland Falls (419 Main St; 845-446-2380) for cones or milkshakes. Fall flavors include pumpkin and southern apple pie. Travel time: 1 1/2 hours
The Hamptons, Long Island, NY
The summer crowds have thinned, leaving the Hamptons adelightfully relaxing destination. At the Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center and Museum (100 Montauk Hwy, Southampton; 631-287-4923, shinnecockmuseum.com; $8, children 5–12 $4.75, children under 5 free) an unassuming log cabin holds paintings, wood carvings, tools and jewelry that collectively tell the story of Native Americans' presence on Long Island since the end of the last ice age. The South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center (377 Bridgehampton Tpke, Bridgehampton; 631-537-9735, sofo.org; $7, $5 children 3–12 $5, children under 3 free) immerses kids in each exhibit by engaging all five senses. Kids smell foxes, touch marine animals and look through telescopes as they explore. The nature trail behind the museum connects to the nine-mile Long Pond Greenbelt—little ones will have a ball crunching fall leaves. The quaint Candy Kitchen Ice Cream Parlour and Eatery (2391 Montauk Hwy, Bridgehampton; 631-537-9885) has typical diner fare, but their famous ice cream sodas are a must. Sugar Daddy's Toy Store (103 Main St, Westhampton Beach; 631-288-3537) has a huge selection of Rainbow Looms, Disney Infinity characters and a life-size illuminated Iron Man that makes for fun photos. Travel time: 2 1/2 hours
Delaware River Railroad Excursions, Phillipsburg, NJ
Visitrs can take a scenic trip via a historic steam train that includes unrivaled foliage along the Delaware River as well as family-friendly adventures (99 Elizabeth St, Phillipsburg; nyswths.org). Board the Great Pumpkin Train, which includes a free pumpkin for every child ($17, children $13) or upgrade to the Dinosaur Train Corn Maze ($20, $13 $13; includes train plus maze) for a new twist on the popular autumn outing. Ride the train to a farm, where you'll get lost in a labyrinth shaped like Buddy, the T-Rex from Jim Henson's PBS cartoon. Pass through twelve checkpoints to find your way out, then jump in the giant pumpkin bounce house. School age kids will love the Ol' Susquehanna Mine Train ($21, children $13), which includes a tour of a 1700s mine followed by gemstone panning on a sluice. Participants are guaranteed a minimum of four ounces of gems, which include rubies, amethyst and arrowheads. Phillipsburg, or P-burg as locals call it, has an abundance of cheesesteak and hot dog joints in town. Try Toby's Cup (857 Memorial Parkway, 908-859-1925), where milkshakes are noteworthy too. Travel time: 1 1/2 hours
RECOMMENDED: More things to do in the fall with kids
During the autumn months, Mother Nature tends to be on our side making it the perfect time for hat-free romps in the park, strolls on awesome hiking trails and photo ops against the New York fall foliage. This fall, take a break from city life by planning a day trip for your family—everything from apple picking excursions to historic steam train trips and sculture garden outings.
Scroll through the slide show, below, to find out about our favorite day trips from NYC this fall—all are within 2 1/2 hours are the city.


text: Schoolwide's Complete Assessment Solutions have been carefully designed to help teachers monitor student progress and support effective literacy instruction that meets students' fluid and differentiated learning needs. The data gleaned from these assessments will inform teachers' instructional decisions, such as placing students in appropriate guided reading groups and determining the focus of whole-group, small-group, and individual instruction. Learn More


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AN eight-year-old boy has boogied his way to success just months after being turned away by dance groups due to his disability.
Ethan Harrison has danced in front of 2,000 people, representing the North West in a national dance competition and has been awarded rosettes for passing examinations in samba and the foxtrot.
Ethan's mother Hillary Harrison, from Farnworth, said: "I had difficulty finding a dance school for Ethan because some said they couldn't take him because he has Down's syndrome — and one said he wouldn't be able to join in because he would disrupt other children.
"It was upsetting. He shouldn't be stigmatised.
The dance groups don't know him so shouldn't discriminate against him.
"He has been dancing at Discomania Dance School since about April and loves it. He loves performing, he has always loved dancing and is quite the showman."
Ethan, a Year Three pupil at Upper Orchards School in Farnworth, has learned modern ballroom, Latin American and freestyle dancing.
He has always enjoyed dancing and has performed on stage on holidays in the past.
Ethan especially enjoys dancing to AllStars 2002 hit, Bump In The Night.
In the summer, he qualified for the region to compete at national level against other young people with disabilities.
They went on to secure fifth place at the championships at Blackpool's Winter Gardens.
Most recently, he has received the Friendship Award from his dance school, which meets at Capitol House, Churchgate.
Ann Weall, dance school principal, said: "He loves dancing and as long as he is achieving something and he feels like he is achieving something it's fine. Everyone at the dance school loves him, the kids have just taken to him.
"When he won the Friendship medal the cheer was bigger than cheers for everyone else."


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POOLE'S first same-sex marriage ceremony took place at the town's Guildhall yesterday, just days after gay marriage became law across the country.
It was a small, intimate affair as Reverend Kersten Kirkland married her partner, Sue, in a service led by registrar, Debbie Fiveash, and witnessed by friends, family, and the family mascot, a small orange teddy, named Dewey.
Rev Kirkland, who works in the local community and holds regular Sunday services at her Parkstone home, said she hoped their wedding could help overcome prejudice surrounding the gay marriage issue.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, recently signalled that the Church of England must end its resistance to gay marriage, despite the law change causing bitter divisions among clergy.
Ordained archdeacon Rev Kirkland said: "Certainly in our local community this is a significant step. Both Sue and I were really looking forward to the day, so it is much better now that the law change has come into force.
"With civil partnerships, people always feel the need to point out it is not the same as marriage, and let's face it, the reason they do this is because we are gay.
"I now have the right to call Sue my wife."
Rev Kirkland, who has established The Fellowship of St Julian, says she is no stranger to bigotry and hopes the historic law change will, eventually, help create a more tolerant society.
"At the end of the day, it is better that people are gay and Christian, then not Christian at all," she said.
Rev Kirkland added that the gospel message is about love and acceptance.
The happy couple spent the rest of the day enjoying the sunshine in Poole Park with the wedding party and later went out for a meal with their extended families.


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Warm Spinach Salad with Soft-Poached Eggs
Leafy greens like spinach provide a huge amount of nutrients, especially vitamin A and vitamin K.
Slideshow: Terrific Green Salads
- Total Time:
- Servings: 4
- Salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 pound baby spinach
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons coarsely chopped thyme
- Freshly ground pepper
How to make this recipe
In a small saucepan, bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and the eggs and simmer over moderately high heat for 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to a bowl of cold water and let stand for 3 to 4 minutes. Keep the pan of hot water on the stove over low heat.
Meanwhile, put the spinach in a large bowl. In a medium skillet, combine the olive oil, sherry and balsamic vinegars, shallots and thyme, and boil for 1 minute.
Crack the eggs all over and gently peel them under warm running water, keeping them whole. Using a slotted spoon, slip the eggs in the hot water for 30 seconds.
Pour the warm dressing over the spinach, season with salt and pepper and toss. Mound the salad on plates, top each with an egg and serve.
One Serving 285 cal, 22 gm fat, 4 gm saturated fat, 11 gm carb, 3 gm fiber.


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With all the buzz surrounding a "Frozen" Broadway show in the works, Disney is also working to adapt "The Little Mermaid" for the stage.
According to the production company, Sara Bareilles will play Ariel alongside Rebel Wilson, who will take on the role of Sea Witch Ursula. Furthermore, John Stamos, Darren Criss and Tituss Burgess are all on the roster as well!
Upping the girl power quotient for the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, living legend Carole King took the Staples Center stage with Sara Bareilles for a very special duet.
The "You've Got a Friend" songstress looked amazing as she hammered out her hit "Beautiful" on the piano while Ms. Bareilles looked on with admiration.
Hoping to nab a couple of gramophones, Sara Bareilles was the center of attention as she arrived at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards tonight (January 26).
Primped to perfection and donning designer duds, the "Brave" hottie was in good spirits as she mingled with fellow famous folks outside the Staples Center.
Supporting fellow artists in need, plenty of famous faces headed to the Los Angeles Convention Center for the 2014 MusiCares Person of the Year Gala on Friday (January 24).
Honoring the legendary Carole King, the evening began with a duet of "Hi-De-Ho" sung by LeAnn Rimes and Steven Tyler.
Making a hypnotic appearance in Los Angeles, the seductive Sarah Bareilles arrived in style at the 2014 People's Choice Awards on Wednesday (January 8).
The "I Choose You" siren wore an immaculate designer dress, getting up in front of the grand piano and unleashing a performance of her hit song, "Brave."
Her new song "Brave" just hit the charts, and during promotions Sara Bareilles scored a feature in Glamour magazine's August 2013 music issue.
While rocking an adorable pose for the Danny Clinch-shot spread, the "King of Anything" hitmaker discusses how she handles stress and reveals the lessons she's learned from being single.
Making for quite the fun-filled experience in NYC, the Escape To Total Rewards event at Gotham Hall was the place to be on Thursday night (March 1).
Joining in on the festivities were celebs ranging from Kourtney Kardashian and Ashlee Simpson to Katharine McPhee and Katrina Bowden.
In wake of Saturday's (August 13) devastating stage collapse, Sugarland has opened voiced their thoughts and feelings - as well as their prayers of hope - for those affected by the tragedy.
The accident, which has left five people dead and dozens injured, happened just as the band was readying to take the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand stage at the Indiana State Fair, as high winds apparently caused the apparatus to give way.


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LGBT Mormon, Families & Friends Pre-Conference Fireside
April 4, 2014 @ 19:30 - 22:00
Event Navigation
Join us for the 2nd Annual Spring Pre-General Conference Fireside for LGBT Mormons, Families & Friends on Friday, April 4, 2014.
Our Keynote Speaker this year is Tom Christofferson and music will be by the Utah County Men's Choir, Lisa Tensmeyer Hansen, Director.
Location: the Hilton Salt Lake City Center, 255 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
Schedule: 7:30 p.m. Gather and mingle
8:00 p.m. Fireside begins promptly
9:00 p.m. Desserts & socializing after the fireside
About our Speaker
Tom Christofferson is the Chief Marketing Officer of J.P. Morgan Investor Services in New York City. Tom's career in asset management and banking has given him opportunities to live and work in Europe and the US. Additionally, he has twice served on the global diversity council for his firm, and continues to be a senior sponsor there of its Pride business resource group. He is currently a member of the advisory board of his firm's political action committee.
Tom was born in Utah and grew up in New Jersey, Illinois and Utah. He served as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Canada Montreal Mission. Before and after his missionary service, Tom attended BYU. As part of his coming-out process he was an active member of Affirmation in Los Angeles in the late 1980's before moving to New York.
In addition to his efforts with Affirmation, Tom has served on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations, on the finance committees of Senate and Presidential campaigns and is currently as a member of the National Advisory Council for the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. Tom lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his partner of eighteen years, Clarke Latimer.
See also the Facebook page for the event, and make sure to join and invite others, too! (The event is open to the public.)
We also encourage those attending to consider attending the earlier Navigating the Borderlands event from 4-7 p.m. that will feature our friends Joanna Brooks and Tim Weymann, as well as a potluck dinner. Please note this earlier event is a different location than the evening event.


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Business Across Borders and Screens: How the Atlantic Built Quartz
"The world is getting smaller and more global, and more companies from small to large are doing business across borders," says Jay Lauf, Publisher of The Atlantic's new mobile-specific news site Quartz. "Global business professionals, almost by definition, are very mobile, very tech savvy, and very connected. They need things to be always on as they cross time zones."
As the world's attention becomes increasingly divided, traditional publishers have learned to follow their audiences across multiple screens. However, the multiscreen approach was quite apt for Atlantic Media Company as it sought to nourish a growing audience segment - global business professionals juggling multiple devices.
"At Atlantic Media Company, we look at spaces adjacent to our properties that don't do exactly the same thing," Lauf explains. "As we surveyed our market, we saw one demographic growing in both numbers and importance: global business professionals. So, we came up with a product to serve that market and to serve it in a way that is reflective of their own habits and the devices they have closest at hand."
Thus, Quartz's content is carefully curated to satiate global business professionals' appetites for relevant news – one day's top stories cover Facebook profits and India's "gold mania" – delivered 24 hours a day across every time zone.
Due to the rapid pace of tablet adoption and the medium's suitability for displaying long-form content, Quartz was designed first for tablets, then smartphones and finally desktop. Marketed as a "digitally native news outlet for the global economy," the publication bypasses the app economy by relying on a single site optimized by responsive design, allowing the displayed content to transition almost seamlessly from tablets to smartphones to desktop
The site reached 3.1 million unique visitors in aggregate in 2012, and in December alone topped 1.4 million. "We are way ahead of our original pacing schedule and have tripled our expectations for 2012," Lauf says.
Because of Quartz's focused audience (very smart, very affluent, very influential), each of these viewers represents a valuable target for advertisers, and Quartz has worked to ensure that the advertisements on its site - all premium - are embedded within the content stream, designed to be synchronous with editorial content.
Quartz's ability to streamline advertising and content begins in the environment in which it is published. Quartz is headquartered in an open loft space in SoHo. Lauf says, "That alone fosters a certain level of camaraderie and collaboration: editors, developers, sales and marketing people. We share a sense of mission and purpose."
While there is an "absolutely sacrosanct" divide between editorial and advertising content, the Quartz team attempts to look holistically at technology and development, viewing both types of content as the whole product experience.
Lauf reveals that the editorial and advertising teams at Quartz do share some of the developers. "While there are some developers whose primary job it is to work on user interface, some are really dedicated to editorial experience, and I do have content and developers on my team who work for advertisers. We in sales and marketing are building out a team that mirrors the editorial team in service of the advertising."
Advertising and editorial content do come together beautifully on Quartz, which features two main types of advertising: engage and bulletin. Engage ad units are over-sized ad units with enhanced capabilities, including rich media and video.
Bulletin ad units are responsive ad units that are written by Quartz's marketing team and that are designed to mimic its editorial content. These ad units have the same functionality as any editorial content and can include infographics, live links, sharing (social), and video. For instance, the site currently features a bulletin piece on deep sea exploration sponsored by Cadillac. An unlikely pairing, to be sure, but the article is something that Quartz's users would actually read.
Lauf reports that so far both consumer and advertiser feedback for Quartz has been great. "There are always development challenges when you launch a new digital product, especially one with new technologies (HTML5, CSS3)," he says. "But we feel as though the challenges relative to what they could be have been few."
The Quartz team is constantly trying to improve the user experience and intends to make it faster, sleeker and more responsive. They've also found that the site does not work well on old versions of browsers versions such as IE6.
Addressing this, Lauf paraphrases Roger McNamee, co-founder of Elevation Partners, "Every dollar, every man hour, every bit of intellectual energy that you spend to retrofit to old technologies is a dollar, a man hour, a bit of intellectual energy that you aren't spending on the future."
Maria Tucker
Business Development Manager at AdMonsters
A mobile startup veteran, Maria joined AdMonsters in 2011 to serve as resident mobile expert. After her tenure as Mobile Editor, Maria has begun to put her people skills to use as Business Development Manager. In this role, Maria strengthens AdMonsters' existing partnerships and works to develop new partnerships within the ad tech industry.
Maria double-majored in chemistry and religion at Williams College, and she holds a master's in Archaeology of Religion from Harvard. When not navigating the ad tech world, Maria can often be found shoveling dirt, screening for artifacts, and identifying seventeenth-century coins. Other interests include meditation, travel, food, mummies, and skydiving.
Follow Maria: @mariatucker3
In the model, banking across borders arises because countries differ in their relative ..... Thanks for post! my url


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Ugly Labeling Fix
When you have a printed circuit board (PCB) made you can have markings and labels put on the board using screen printing. This labeling is often just referred to as the silkscreen. However the methods of silkscreen labeling are generally not as sharp as the photo-imaging methods used to pattern the solder mask. For this reason I generally like to use the solder mask layer for labeling more than the silkscreen layer. That being said, on the last batch of LCD charger boards the solder mask looked awful! This is definitely not the norm, but it made me think that I should really change the way I do labeling so that it is not so dependent on the quality of the solder mask. My solution came from the fact that the etching of the copper is the most precise (it's an actual spec you pay for). Now the copper defines the edges and the sharpness of the label is no longer dependent on the quality of the solder mask (or silk screen for that matter).
8/3/2014 03:25:38 pm
now if only I can find enough space in my circuit to put in copper labels...
8/3/2014 04:17:31 pm
Looks great. I guess the only down-side would be exposed copper that might potentially short something, or ground out if something conductive gets in there. A final coat of very clear lacquer over those masked areas would solve that issue.
Brad @ OBMFG EMS.
8/6/2014 01:57:27 pm
Just put some conformal coat. should do the trick
Paul Allen
8/3/2014 04:37:26 pm
If you will notice, by having it etched in the copper the label is no longer attached to the GND fill, so it's actually less likely to cause shorts to ground. That being said it is still exposed conductive metal, so if that is what you were getting at then I can see your point. In the end the reality is there are usually lots of places to shot things when you are using an exposed PCB, so caution should be exercised anyways. :)
Brad @ OBMFG
8/6/2014 01:58:17 pm
Conformal Coat!
8/3/2014 09:42:11 pm
Nice one, they look amazing.
Joshua Franz
8/3/2014 11:25:32 pm
What is the purpose of the copper ring around the edge of the board? I've noticed quite a few circuit boards that have that, and I'm not quite sure what the purpose is.
8/4/2014 03:44:46 am
Generally for ESD and can also help with EMI if its done correctly.
8/4/2014 01:47:17 am
Hi Paul, just wondering how did you made the Paul Allen engineering logo in the last pic. Thanks in advance
8/4/2014 02:52:03 am
I also would like to know from where did you got the PCBs made..??
8/4/2014 04:12:32 pm
hey paul
Leave a Reply.
Paul Allen
December 2015


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BEDFORDSHIRE www.leighton-linslade.com is a great small site profiling the local area and villages'
BOATMEN see 'waterways'
BOOK INDUSTRY ANCESTORS? if they were printers, bookbinders or sellers, engravers, stationers etc, they may be among the 94000 pre-1851 records at www.bbti.bham.ac.uk
BOOKS: try www.archivecdbooks.org for a fabulous range of antiquarian genealogical books put onto CD. Other good sources of hard copy books: www.abebooks.com
BOOKS: try www.halsgrove.com for their wonderful community history books ("The Book of....", packed with old photo's, names etc, also www.chapelbooks.co.uk
BREWING: the Pub History Society can help you get information on Land Registry records and property ownership regarding pubs www.pubhistorysociety.co.uk
BRITISH LIBRARY: "Collect Britain" for digitised images, and will contain maps, photographs, press cuttings etc. We recommend you keep checking it for updates and news. www.collectbritain.com. The British Library's Newspaper Library is at www.bl.uk
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE: might your ancestor have been in gaol? Look at bucks_prisoners where you can search their database
CARIBBEAN: www.rootsweb.com/~caribgw/ is a good source of island links.
Census - 1940 - complete US census - 134 million records, free to use but need to sign up with a free account
CENSUS CD's: obtain CD's of scanned census from Rod Neep at www.archivecdbooks.org or from www.stepping-stones.co.uk
CHANNEL ISLANDS: www.channelislandshistory.com is a good starting point. as is www.societe.org.gg and www.societe-jersiaise.org and www.alderneysociety.org
CORNWALL NEWSPAPER SEARCH: Searchable website for Cornwall newspaper names index click here.
CORNWALL ONLINE CENSUS PROJECT: an army of volunteers is gradually working it's way through Cornish census data 1841-1891, a really great service with regular updates, link at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kayhin/ukocp.html and it all eventually uploads to: http://www.freecen.org.uk
CRIME: try www.oldbaileyonline.org which details criminal proceedings there 1660-1834
DERBYSHIRE (also see SOUTH Derbyshire entry further down): Rob Burn's site for his one-parish survey of ROSLISTON at http://www.rootsweb.com/~engcrosl
DEVON: Family History Society, founded in 1976, and now has over 4,000 members. Its aims include promoting the study of genealogy and history and encouraging the preservation and transcription of relevant documents and records. http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/
DEVON: South Hams Super web site for South Devon covering census transcripts, indexes and lookups from Ray Osborn in Rotorua, NZ, who is also Administrator of the SOUTHHAMS mailing List -[email protected] click http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~our4bears/index.html
DEVON: TORBAY an excellent on line map access www.torbay.gov.uk/map.asp
DIRECTORIES this site has scanned images of selected trade directories www.historicaldirectories.org
DURHAM commercial site offering c 500,000 records for County Durham & Easington www.durhamrecordsonline.com
EMIGRATION/IMMIGRATION: (see also "USA Immigrant" entries below). For Births, Deaths & Marriages in New South Wales, Australia, try this site: http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au. For New Zealand there's a site just building up relating to ships which left the UK for Auckland at http://www.cossar.co.nz/. By far one of the best sites for ships passengers worldwide has to be http://www.theshipslist.com. The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild is at http://istg.rootsweb.com and there's also some good links from www.scan.org.uk
FAIRGROUNDS this site has some good background to UK fair sites and historical data, and some diaries http://www.shef.ac.uk/nfa
FRANCE: this is the site for National Archives of France, you can select an english language version www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr
Genealogy Database Groups: This site helps you contact like mindedgenealogists with matching interests, at People-Connection
Genealogy Links: Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links & Chat, fantastic resource for links, good UK resource
GENUKI: Information starting-points & links to useful sites. Huge, with a complex choice of mail list areas - it gives your research a kick start. From here you can subscribe to the Rootsweb Mailing Lists, each localised area list is monitored and often have differing 'rules' as to what is, and isn't acceptable for discussion making adherence to each list's do's and don'ts difficult, but ask permission if you are unsure. Some will allow you to discuss information available from commercial sources, others won't (making the offering of good and accurate advice somewhat difficult!) but each list usually has very helpful members who will offer assistance although lists vary in membership size and, therefore, effectiveness from time to time - always remember to thank those who offer help http://www.genuki.co.uk
GLOUCESTERSHIRE: link to a great site containing Tewkesbury Parish Records, but also many records from other Glos' parishes and WORCESTERSHIRE too...from William Good in Sydney, Australia. Also, for masses of information and old photographs from the brewing industry try www.gloucestershirepubs.co.ukThe Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum" has a database of 40,000 soldiers who served in the Gloucestershire Regiment during the First World War and an extensive archive of the Regiment's 300 year history
HEREFORD: History of Hereford gaol http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/post-medieval/prisons/prisons_index.htm
INDIA: Good links include: BACSA( British Assoc'n for Cemeteries in South Asia) - India, middle & far east. www.bacsa.org.uk Also FIBIS (www.fibis.org) - a source for lives in 'british india' from the 1600's onwards. You can find the East India Register and Army List 1855 (15,000 names from Madras, Bengal, Bombay civil & military depts) at www.nationalarchives.com
IRELAND: link to National Archives of Ireland (1901 and 1911 censuses for whole of Ireland) at www.nationalarchives.ie the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland are at www.proni.gov.uk, and the General Register Office for Irish Republic is in Dublin and can be linked to at www.groireland.ie while the same for Northern Ireland is at www.groni.gov.uk. Irish genealogy Ltd is an overall contact for the Republic and Northern Ireland - a great place to start a search www.irishgenealogy.ie. Also try www.irishorigins.com and www.familyhistory.ie
ISLE OF MAN: www.manxroots.com is a good starting point, as is www.manxnotebook.com and www.lawsons.ca. Two good maritime sites realted to IOM include www.mightyseas.co.uk and www.iom-shipwrecks.com
JEWISH: a super site dedicated to Jewish genealogy is http://www.jgsgb.org.uk, it includes cemetery and marriage records online and is growing quickly. Also try http://www.jewishgen.org, a US based site but includes great UK records too. www.movinghere.org.uk is a digital archive of caribbean, jewish, irish & south asian migration to Britain
LANCASHIRE: Westmorland - fabulous site of transcriptions & information http://www.northofthesands.org.uk. There is an amazing site which you can search for burials and cremation records (over 10,000 so far) from Ashton, Audenshaw, Denton, Dukinfield, Droylsden, Hyde, Mottram and Stalybridge. Around 100,000 records are aimed to be loaded. http://www.tameside.gov.uk/corpgen2/cemandcrem.htm
LATIN: if you need to work out the translation of latin medical terms! www.antiquusmorbus.com contains terms in several languages including a separate list of Scots terms
LEICESTERSHIRE & RUTLAND Family History Society has masses of parish records available to purchase.: try www.lrfhs.net/onlinesales.htm
LONDON: See www.victorianlondon.org for information on trades, professions and lots about victorian servants and their lives. Also a great site is at http://www.londonancestor.com . Also useful is the Victorian London A-Z street index at www.gendocs.demon.co.uk/lon-str.html and the 1827 Greenwood's London street map at http://users.bathspa.ac.uk/greenwood/ . The next site tells you what hospital records from 1220 are held at the London Metropolitan Archives: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/leisure_heritage/libraries_archives_museums_galleries/lma/records_held.htm
MAGAZINES The UK has several major titles now, some of the best are www.family-tree.co.uk and www.ancestorsmagazine.co.uk
MAPS old maps and aerial photo's across Britain: www.old-maps.co.uk
MARITIME: this site has over 5000 searchable records of memorials to seafarers and victims of maritime disaster: www.nmm.ac.uk/memorials
NEW ZEALAND: good searchability, great place to start http://www.genealogy.org.nz
NEWSPAPERS: British Library Newspaper Catalogue, online at www.bl.uk/catalogues/newspapers.html
NORFOLK: a great site based on pubs giving really great data including sale & auction documentation, licensee records etc www.norfolkpubs.co.uk
NORTH EAST ENGLAND: John Bage's site - researching names BAGE, CLASPER, DAWSON, MORRISON at http://www.johnbage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
NORTHERN IRELAND: Start with http://proni.nics.gov.uk it can't provide online records but tells you where you can start your search, a great site with a lot of information leads to follow. A more unusual site does require membership but is good value, Ulster Histroical Foundation http://www.ancestryireland.co.uk/
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE: you can contact the Nott's Archives by emailing [email protected] they can point you in the right direction to locate documents and records
ONE NAME STUDY SITE: "DRING": by kind permission of Steve Morse, an all encompassing site looking at this surname http://www.dring.org.uk
ONE NAME STUDY SITE: "TYLCOAT": by kind permission of Dave Tylcoat in Devon, a super site looking at all the variations of the name and a great link to the village of BURRINGTON's site and a useful HANDWRITING page from Dave also http://www.btinternet.com/~tylcoat/index.htm
ONE NAME STUDY SITE: "WILLGOOSE": by kind permission of Kay Feltham. A great site with other names too, and good search functions http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~willgooseweb
ONE NAME STUDY SITE: GLYNIS MILLETT-CLAY: Family tree site from South Africa which covers mainly names in Camborne, Cornwall and Mansfield/Southwell in Nottinghamshire. Names include Millett, Cock, Clay, Phillips, Thomas, Mumford, Singer, Uren, charleston, Pascoe, symons, Tonkin, Curnow, Mitchell and Richards at Cornish-Family
ONE NAME STUDY SITE: O'Donoghue Society, click here
Online Parish Clerks Scheme: this link takes you to the main link addresses for this scheme operating in some parts of the UK Click Here
PASSPORT RECORDS: www.nationalarchivist.com contains a pay per view option to see images of application registers 1851-1862 and 1874-1903
PEERAGE: www.burkes-libraries.com allows you to browse the latest edition of Burke's Peerage (over 2500 noble families listed)
PHOTOGRAPHIC: http://www.thornburypump.myby.co.uk/PI/ is a site listing UK victorian and edwardian photographers. www.rogerco.freeserve.co.uk/index.htm is a good site for help on dating victorian and edwardian photos. www.imagesofengland.org.uk is a site funded by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery fund, it aims to put 37,000 images of listed buildings online. www.photolondon.org.uk have an online gallery. www.leodis.net offers historical photo's of Leeds & district, whilst www.picturesheffield.com offers up images from in & around Sheffield itself.
PLEASE HELP & LET US KNOW IF ANY LINKS FAIL - VIA THE CONTACT PAGE - THANK YOU (Want a link here to your own useful site? Please just ask via the Contact Us page.
QUAKERS: very good site with its own research section and a guide to finding UK records http://www.qfhs.co.uk
RANDOM ACTS OF GENEALOGICAL KINDNESS: worth a try- volunteers willing to undertake research in various areas. www.raogk.org/ (followed by either england, scotland, ireland or wales, will get you there.
ROYAL MAIL: This site has a good family history section for all aspects of researching mail workers in the UK www.royalmailgroup.com/heritage/english/home/default.asp
Scotland: Here at Scotlands Family we are a new genealogy portal for Scotland which offers everyone doing their own Scottish family tree research, at home or overseas , an impressive number of free on-line sources of data and information. Launched in January 2006 and growing fast, we predict this site will become hugely popular, and complementary to Scotlands People on-line records.www.scotlandsfamily.com
SCOTLAND: On Line Census data Parish Records now available for Scotland plus 1891, 1901 census indexes, plus 1881: see www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. Also look at www.csfhs.org.uk this is the Central Scotland Family History Society. 1861 and 1871 census transcriptions can be obtained via www.scotsorigins.com. The National Library of Scotland can be found at www.nls.uk. A great site for help understanding Scottish terms and words is http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl (electronic dictionary of older Scottish tongue). The Scottish Archive Network is at www.scan.org.uk . Dundee University's Medical History Museum has a searchable site woth over 2500 images including people and places, www.dundee.ac.uk/archives
SCOUTS UK Scout Associations website (inc' their national archive) www.scoutbase.org.uk
SEARCH SITES: MyCinnamonToast Surname Search, Huge index of links to genealogy web sites and databases, classified by surname and by region
SOCIETY OF GENEALOGISTS want dates of family history fairs?: try www.sog.org.uk (or try www.familyhistoryfairs.co.uk for their events also
SOMERSET: Stogumber. Martin Southwood's excellent site of parish record entries from Stogumber, Bicknoller, Sampford Brett & Taunton St James http://wsomparreg.mysite.freeserve.com
SOUTH DERBYSHIRE: Brett Payne's fabulous site for all things South Derbyshire http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~brett/sdindex.htm
STAFFORDSHIRE For anyone in Staffordshire with irish roots there's a dedicated website: http://cwis.livjm.ac.uk/soc/families . Another good site is www.staffspasttrack.org.uk, lots of great images. Link to Phil Wood who has a records database (20300+) of WHITTINGTON nr Lichfield. Phil will happily search his data if you have a name enquiry
SUSSEX: SALEHURST On line Parish Records of baptisms, burials, marriages etc linked here by kind permission of Rob Burns: at http://salehurst.netfirms.com
TEXTILES: Colour Museum (society of Dyers & Colourists) www.sdc.org.uk. Bradford Textile Archive www.textilearchive.bilk.ac.uk. Quarry Bank Mill (Stal, Cheshire) www.quarrybankmill.org.uk and www.carpetarchivecentre.co.uk gives you access to historical records in relation to carpet-making, whilst The Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters is at www.frameworkknitters.co.uk
USA IMMIGRANT? try www.ellisisland.org another great searchable site where you might find your ancestors went across the pond. Ellis Island was where most immigrants were registered on arrival from the UK after 1/1/1892. Also try the Immigrant Ship Transcribers Guild at www.immigrantships.net. Another good site is http://english-america.com, and www.genesearch.com/newyork is another great passenger list site
USA New England ancestors:www.newenglandancestors.org. The New York Historical Society:www.nyhistory.org . Main National Archives & records site is at www.archives.gov/
WALES On line help starts at www.llgc.org.uk (this is the National Library of Wales site), lots of online help plus a search service.
WAR RECORDS: try www.cwgc.org a great easy-search site which sometimes give parents names also. Also look at www.gazettes-online.co.uk which you can search for WW1 and WW11 data in the London, Belfast and Edinburgh old Gazettes. http://redcoat.future.easyspace.com contains data of officers who died in various campaigns (inc obituaries). www.worldwar1.com is maintained by The Great War Society and is full of excellent information. www.silentcities.co.uk is a great guide to WWI cemeteries on France and Belgium. There is also a good site detailing Australian servicemen from WW11 at http://ww2roll.gov.au/. A fantastic site shows original red cross reports from WW1 of wounded/missing/killed in action reports: the Australian Red Cross site - it can often detail their backgrounds, families etc: http:www.awm.gov.au/database/index/asp, the link will tell you "not found" but you'll see you are there! Hit their databases button and there's some great information inc' this red cross site. Also try www.regiments.org . www.rollofhonour.com includes the Boer War rolls of honour. www.britishwargraves.org.uk aims to provide an online photo-archive of graves of British servicemen and women from 1914 until the present dat
WARWICKSHIRE: from Michael J McCormick, nearly half a million 1891 census records at http://www.hunimex.com/warwick/w-a-p.htmlAlso check Pickards Pink Pages for Warwickshire Geneology which has the complete 1841 Warwickshire census and 1861 partial census data. There are MIs and BMDs and loads of other Warks data
WATERWAYS: Shardlow (Derbyshire) waterways heritage centre http://homepages.which.net/~shardlow.heritage/ , and a names list of boat people on the Wolverhampton canals www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/sts/names/wolvcanal.html
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: Really useful conversions site for all commodities is FootRule. http://www.footrule.com
WEST INDIES: (see section 'caribbean' too). The best place to start is probably this site, masses of useful links www.rootsweb.com/~jamwgw Also try www.stvincent.netfirms.com
WILLS TRANSCRIPTIONS by Rob Burns, UK wide can be seen at http://wills4all.netfirms.com
WORKHOUSES: www.workhouses.org is a great place to start. www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Lpoor1834.htm has details of the 1834 Poor Law Amendments. www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses gives a list of all UK workhouses
YORKSHIRE: The York Cemetery Database: index of c. 10,000 surnames from c. 28,000 graves- you can ask for data via their website www.yorkcemetery.co.uk


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The property that includes
Sequoyah Caverns was obtained by Abner Ellis through the
provisions of the Homestead Act of 1862. Ellis began
homesteading proceedings in the 1800's and obtained the land
patent to the cave property in 1890. In exploring and
developing the property, Ellis and his bride, Harriet Serena
Hawkins, discovered the Caverns and became interested in
them. During his exploration of the Caverns, he found salt
troughs, cooking pottery and other artifacts in the large
entrance room. Because of this, and the smoke blackened
walls and ceiling, he named it the Cherokee Cooking room.
Ellis was extremely interested in the youth of his day and
on weekends they would congregate at his home, located
almost at the mouth of the cave, and would explore the
Caverns with him. During this period and through the ensuing
years, the artifacts were carried away by these young
explorers and those that followed them. It is a known fact
that both the Cherokees and Creeks lived in the cave.
Names, initials and dates going back to 1824 have been found on the cave
walls and formations. Old timers in the area say they have been there as
long as they can remember. On one large column, now named the Sam Houston
Column, is inscribed "Sam Houston, 1830". This is believed to be authentic,
and could well be, as Sam Houston lived with the Cherokee Indians for some
years and the story has been passed down that he married one of Sequoyah's
Early white settlers held square dances and old time "singings" in the Caverns for many years and explored them by torchlight.
The cave is shown on official TVA maps as Ellis Cave after it's original owner. However, in 1963 when its present development was started by Clark Byers and Alva Hammond, they named it Sequoyah Caverns after the famed Cherokee. There is no definite proof that he ever entered the Caverns. He did teach and live in the area and in all probability visited with the members of his tribe that lived there.
Today the Caverns are beautifully lighted. The conducted tours, taking approximately 45 minutes, traverse smooth and almost level walk-ways through a veritable "fairyland" of beautifully colored formations and looking-glass rimstone pools.
An authentic log cabin, built during the early 1800's has been given to the Caverns by the descendents of L. Russell Brown, an early pioneer of the area. It has been moved piece by piece and carefully reconstructed almost on the site of the original Ellis home. The cabin is now a museum of early American artifacts.
Sequoyah Caverns and Ellis Homestead
1438 County Road 731
Valley Head, AL 35989
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text:
James Packer's bruising week is ending on a brighter note with the billionaire facing a big pay day thanks to Apple.
The US computing giant is in talks to acquire rapper Dr Dre's music subscription service Beats Music for $US3.2 billion ($3.4 billion) which includes Mr Packer as an investor.
In March, Packer and two other backers have reportedly topped up their initial $US60 million ($66 million) investment last year with up to another $US100 million.
Mr Packer has also scored big wins on the Hollywood front with his movie producing venture RatPac.
Its joint venture with Warner Bros helped fund the critically acclaimed hit Gravity, as well as The Lego Movie, which notched up the second-biggest February opening weekend in the US with a $US77.2 million ($86 million) gross.
Mr Packer still has a legal cloud over him following a public brawl last Sunday with former best mate and Nine chief excutive, David Gyngell.
The fight is currently the subject of a police investigation.
In an interview with US business magazine Forbes in March Mr Packer (pictured) said he had made "a bunch of mistakes in my life".
"Business is good right now, but now my personal life is a disaster," he told the magazine.
"I had a marriage breakdown last year. The last thing I think I am is perfect. I'm just trying to do the best job I can. I'm trying to be the best father I can to my kids. I'm trying to do the best job I can running my business."


text:
Get ready — Justin Bieber's new documentary will be released on… [PopCrush]
Taylor Swift's love advice from Ed Sheeran: [HuffPost Teen]
Sah-weet! See what Tristan Wilds is up to post-90210. [ClevverTV]
TMI, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. T… M… I… [Crushable]
We'd KILL to be besties with these (fictional) queens: [Gurl]
16 Signs You Found Your Best Friend [HelloGiggles]


text:
Jesus Christ, The Son of David- The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew 1:1.
Jesus Christ is present throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The power of His glory and majesty are revealed as a mystery unfolds from Genesis to Revelation; for ears that can hear and eyes that can see.
Jesus Christ, The Son of David. Matthew 1:1. VerseVisions, Jesus in Scripture. Copyright 2007 by Mark Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
VerseVisions, Inspirational Art with a Promise!
When God sends a message to us through scripture it is never by accident. In Isaiah 55:11, God says that wherever He sends His word it never returns empty, but always achieves the special purpose for which it was sent.
VerseVisions is a contemporary Christian art ministry whose purpose is to share the love and message of God to all people through art and scriptural words of encouragement. VerseVisions Christian themed paintings are inspired by bible verses.
Prayerfully consider the bible verse that inspired this painting and know that the Mighty God of all the heavens has reached out to touch you this moment!
This work is available as a special large forma
Facebook | Twitter | Gallery | Prints | Blog | Pinterest


text:
This year, Wisconsin joined other GOP-led states in passing a highly restrictive voter ID law — one that not only disenfranchises low-income, minority, and senior voters, but places a serious burden on students hoping to vote by restricting the types of acceptable student IDs. Few institutions currently have IDs that comply with the law and now have to print stickers with required information for the IDs so they can be used at the polls. Even with this updated IDs, students "still have to show proof they were currently enrolled at school" to vote.
But while some students must jump these hurdles, Wisconsin election officials determined that students at technical colleges don't even get to try — IDs issued by technical colleges are not valid for voting under any circumstance.
Recognizing its "mistake" in this prejudicial rule, the state's Government Accountability Board "adopted an interpretation" of the law "that concluded technical college IDs qualify on election day just like any other four-year university ID." Angry at the inclusive change, Republican lawmakers on the legislature's rules committee voted 6-4 to force the GAB to make the new policy a formal administrative rule — a move that allows Walker to block the regulations
Wisconsin Republicans Move To Make It Harder For Many College Students To Vote
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Tue Nov 15, 2011 2:50 PM
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text:
Submit Review
Disc Reviews
Measure Skills, Not Scores
by Blake Takkunen
Posted: 8-24-04
You are playing in a tournament on your home course and find yourself in a foursome with three out-of-towners. You step up to the tee on a hole you have played several hundred times: a 300' hole with a tight, tree-filled fairway that doglegs to the right. You pull out your go-to disc and lace a perfect, low, slow turning drive that weaves its way through the tree trunks, under branches, and park it. The next player steps up and throws a controlled roller down the center of the fairway that turns over and finishes right next to your disc. Another player launches a high anhyzer shot over the trees with similar results. The last of the four flicks a high sidearm hyzer over the trees and also parks it. You feel your inner monologue nagging at you with the phrase "I have never even thought about playing those lines."
While your drive was as good as any of the others, think to yourself how many times you can execute that shot with that kind of consistency. Chances are you have hit many of those trees and often need your "A game" to grab a deuce. The big question you should ask yourself is, "do I have all of those shots in my bag?"
For many up-and-coming players, the answer is no. The big follow-up question is: "why not?" A common scenario among developing players is to focus too much on their scores and ratings and not enough on disc skills. While the first part of the learning curve in disc golf generally involves developing technique and focusing on lowering your scores, once a certain level of consistency has been reached, players often neglect developing the full array of shots that will help them become the best players they can be.
What is your mindset when you are playing a practice round? Are you trying new things that you aren't familiar or comfortable with? Or do you find yourself defaulting to the same shots and attempting to break your personal best? While pre-tournament honing should usually focus on the shots you plan to use in the upcoming competition, the variety of tools you have to work with are developed in practice.
If we return to the scenario above, chances are the other players will end up with better results on that hole if you played it 100 times. This happens because they were able to remove variables that could negatively affect the shot. While the low turnover shot is great when it works, the numbers of factors you have to contend with are larger then they could be. That finesse shot is going to require nearly perfect power, height, angle, turn, wind, and aim. The other lines allowed for a much greater margin for error and could probably be executed more consistently and easily with a greater average level of success.
Everyone eventually develops their preferred shot, but having multiple options that you trust at your finger tips is part of developing a well-rounded game. Spend a period of time focusing more on skills and less on scores. Do you have a straight hyzer? Sweeping hyzer? Knife hyzer? Flattened hyzer? Hyzer flip? Roll curve? Can you throw a sidearm? Overhand? Can you throw a controlled roller? Distance roller? Sky roller? Cut roller? Can you make your most overstable disc fly somewhat straight? Can you make your most understable disc curve hard left? These are some of the questions you could be asking yourself to help solidify your fundamentals and available shot selection. A good way to find out what shots you don't have is to play your home course carrying one to three discs and seeing if you can make them do what you usually do with a full bag. In the long run, a full repertoire of shots should help you consistently throw better scores.
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text:
Where Is Google Local? I Missed The Memo
Posted 20 July 2009 - 01:45 PM
However try local.google.com and you end up on something called Google Maps. The word Local does not appear anywhere on the page. That is not really what I'm looking for. If I'm searching for my local pizza as so many others seem to do, then I want a name, address and telephone number. Since Google is aiming to catalogue all the information in the universe, it should not be too tall an order to serve up something really local.
Local Search particularly as we all go mobile and iPhone our way around our neighbourhood is clearly where there is a lot of money to be made. Yet Google seems to want to go at this the hard way. Local Search is not something you'll find mentioned or linked to on any of their main online properties. There is no Local link that I can find on any desktop PC web page they maintain. I've written about my frustrations on this in a piece entitled, Wot No Google Local Search.
What Google seems to prefer is that we put our query in the Google Search field (or presumably the Google Chrome browser uni-field) and they will guess as part of the Universal Search process, whether it seems to be a Local Query. I realize that's a great challenging intellectual exercise for the algorithms, but all I want is a local address. If they guess correctly that it's a local search request, then they'll add in a list of ten 'local' businesses at the top of the Universal Search results, but still add in the Web results as a safety net. When you think about it, it's somewhat ironic that they deliver the local results as part of a Universal search.
Given that they seem to want to put another name on Local Search, it is perhaps not surprising that the Local Business Center is also not what it seems. This is only a way of getting us all to improve the quality of the data in their Maps database. Unfortunately some people have thought they might own a piece of this. In other words, it would be for businesses the equivalent of the Google Profile they have brought out for individuals. As another thread points out, this is turning out to be a Completely And Utterly Farcical Google Local Verification Procedure.
The bottom-line on all this is that once more we are seeing a highly intelligent group of people assume that if they create the best technical product they can, people will like it. It's probably time to go back to the drawing board, guys and gals. Think customer-centric. Figure out how to meet people's needs and try to meet them. Failing all else, you could just do a Me-Too on what Yahoo et al are doing.
Posted 20 July 2009 - 02:20 PM
Whereas Yahoo! and Bing have one specific section that is Local, for Google, they have chosen a broader interpretation and Local data is covered, as you have seen, in two places - in Maps and in the Universal SERPs. 2 separate algorithms govern these 2 types of information (you'll see ranking differences for the same searches between the 10-pack and Maps).
Maps has very moderate usage, according the data I've seen, but Google's decision to put local data into the Universal SERPs is very significant. They are choosing to let you get local results from page 1, without having to click into a Local entity. It's a bit like how they show you video results for some searches, without you having to go into Google Video or YouTube. I think they are striving for an easier and more integrated experience.
Personally, I'm fine with this simple approach. What I'm not fine with is the epic number of errors in the data and the utter lack of customer support.
Posted 20 July 2009 - 02:30 PM
Posted 20 July 2009 - 03:31 PM
We will probably have to agree to differ here.
That's fine and dandy if they have any chance of guessing say 90% of the time what people want and delivering that 'above the fold'. I don't think they will ever achieve it. Of course by not delivering exactly what the searcher wants they do have the opportunity of serving up Ads so that could be affecting their decisions here.
It's a bit like how they show you video results for some searches, without you having to go into Google Video or YouTube. I think they are striving for an easier and more integrated experience.
For some searches you don't need a more integrated experience. You know what you want and you just want Google to serve it up. That reminds me that I did write an open letter to Matt Cutts suggesting he might want to recommend a simpler set of buttons on the classic search page. By now with Universal Search seeking to provide a more integrated experience, the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button is even more of an anachronism and wholly inappropriate.
Does anyone want to make any guesses on when the I'm Feeling Lucky button will disappear? Customer-centric! I don't think so.
Posted 20 July 2009 - 09:15 PM
I don't think we disagree, because I find I agree with your comment:
That's fine and dandy if they have any chance of guessing say 90% of the time what people want and delivering that 'above the fold'. I don't think they will ever achieve it. Of course by not delivering exactly what the searcher wants they do have the opportunity of serving up Ads so that could be affecting their decisions here.
I think you're absolutely right.
#6 Guest_rustybrick_*
Posted 21 July 2009 - 06:18 AM
Mike B has a good timeline of those events at http://blumenthals.c...ine-comes-home/
Google Local was renamed to Google Maps on April 20, 2006.
Technically, they should likely redirect local.google.com to maps.google.com.
Posted 21 July 2009 - 07:12 AM
It explains what goes on 'under the hood' but still leaves open the question of whether Google is handling it the best way. Serving up local results when you guess a Universal Search request looks as though it needs some local results thrown in is technically difficult, as we are seeing. Even on a mobile device, you cannot rely on GPS positioning to spot the location since the local request may be about somewhere you are travelling to.
The two-box approach to Local Search is extremely efficient. OK the competition all uses it and Google has a fixation on a single search box. However they could be pursuing the wrong solution.
Posted 21 July 2009 - 09:09 AM
On the other hand, by inserting information from Google Maps into organic searches at google.com Google is definitely responding to a need that is reflected in searches that are made dramatically more often in the main search engines than in the alternative search options (maps, local, or local).
Bill pointed this out from a massive study in Yahoo about how a search engine may determine geographical intent. From that article he extracts data from a study of a massive number of yahoo users. He includes this information in his article
13% of searches involve some level of geographic intent
50% of searches involving geographic intent dont actually use a location in the query (like searches for pizza or dentist) (my emphasis)
84% of queries that include locations do so on a city level
The survey data involved several hundred million searches.
Similarly a couple of years ago, Greg Sterling at Screenwerk reported similar findings with approximately 50% of searches having geographic intent...but no geo modifiers (ie Dentist instead of Chicago Dentist).
In the context of better providing relevant information to searchers I think the addition of maps inserts into google.com searches was an excellent one. (Its just too bad the data often stinks)
As Miriam stated above, the number of searchers who originate their local searches in either maps.google.com local.yahoo.com or local.bing.com is absolutely miniscule.
Posted 21 July 2009 - 09:59 AM
So, throw a bone to business, get listed at the top, ahead of the competitors. Throw a bone to users - look at the range of information on our first page - and pat on the back at GHQ - we're gathering all this wonderful SMBusiness information for future marketing.
Just my thoughts.
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Musical Instrument Appraisal
Get Musical Instrument Appraisal from Experts
I believe what you are looking for is the Farrand Organ Company as they were in Detroit and were a major contributor of that regions economy. The company was in Detroit from 1897 until at least 1908.
Here are three entries that give you some more information. I did not want to summerize them as I dont know what you are looking for and I didnt want to change the information.
"William Reynolds Farrand, who has well upheld the prestige of the family name, and is one of the representative business men and progressive citizens of Detroit, was born in that city September 9, 1853. Educated in the public schools, in 1870, at the age of seventeen years, he found employment in the wholesale drug house of Farrand, Williams & Company, with which he continued for a number of years and had charge of one of the departments. In 1884 Mr. Farrand became actively interested in the Whitney Organ Company, and was elected treasurer. In 1887 when the business was reorganized, under the title of the Farrand Organ Company, he continued as treasurer of the new corporation, and when the Farrand Company succeeded the Farrand Organ Company he became president. In this office he has been successful in upbuilding one of the substantial and important manufacturing industries of his native city."
"Farrand and Votey was at 12th St. & Grand Trunk Railway, Detroit, MI; started as the Detroit Organ Co. in 1881, a worker owned enterprise which proved unsuccessful and was bought out by Detroit music dealer C.J. Whitney and organ builder Edwin S. Votey, a former Estey employee, in 1883 and incorporated as the Whitney Organ Co. W.R. Farrand joined the same year as financial manager. Whitney retired in 1887 and the name changed to Farrand & Votey. Started building pipe organs in 1888 and in 1889 acquired the patents of Frank Roosevelt, successor to Hilborne Roosevelt. Acquired the Granville Wood Pipe Organ Co. in 1890. Votey did pioneering work on piano players, developing the famous Pianola. In 1897 the company split up, Farrand remaining with the reed organs as the Farrand Organ Co., and Votey taking the pipe organ and player piano business into the Aeolian Company where he became a Vice president. The Farrand Organ Co. later brought out its own piano player, the Cecilian, and went bankrupt in 1915"
"The Farrand-Cecilian Piano & Organ Company was originally founded in 1883 as The Detroit Organ Company in Detroit, Michigan. In 1887 the firm was purchased by C. J. Whitney and E. S. Votey and the name of the firm was changed to "Farrand & Votey". In 1897 the name of the firm was changed to "Farrand Piano Company", and their concentration went from building primarily organs to building pianos and player pianos. Instruments by the firm were known to be of very good quality, and were generally of a higher grade overall. By the 'teens and 'twenties era, player pianos built under the names "Farrand - Cecilian", "Farrand" and "Cecilian" were manufactured by the prominent Bush & Lane Piano Company."
There are quite a few Michigan histories that deal with business history of the area and organ and piano factory histories are available. Now that you have a bit more information, you maybe able to find quite a bit more. (or maybe this will give you what you need! I hope so. )
Best wishes, Dori
PS Please remember to press accept as this is the only way JA pays its experts for their time and expertise! Thank you.