text:
Sunday, August 30, 2009
What Is In A Name You Ask?
When the BB was born, I had a pre-selected boy name. Actually I had two, since I had wanted twins, but the ultrasound scans had dashed all my hopes, and I knew it would be just one. So one name was what I had in mind for a boy and and one for a girl.(I did not officially know the sex of the child, since it is illegal in India to disclose that, but I had a strong hunch from the second trimester that it would be a boy).However, when the BB was born, the name did not feel so good anymore, neither the GP, nor I wanted to keep it. And so began the hunt for a name. And it took us nearly a month to finalise it. And then we thought the job is done. But apparently not.
There are explanations galore that I have to give to people, who have a million questions to ask, about why we named him what we did. For those who don't know, the DH and I were born to families of different faiths, and hence the name could have been signifying either of the faiths, Christianity or Hinduism. We picked a name that is Greek in origin, because we both liked the name, its meaning and it sounded wonderful to us. Barely did I know the game had just begun, when I felt that it was actually done. Before the name was selected, there were strong hints and messages sent across to the DH by his relatives, telling him a Hindu name was not acceptable, and later I have ended up hearing no end to it.
To me a name is a word, belongs to a language, not any religion per se. So its the meaning and phonetics of the words that were important to me. I did not care to give him a name that is Indian so to say, because I had to, I just wanted something nice. I was not determined in picking any particular kind of name. I wanted something Egyptian or Greek because both the mythologies entice me and I find them very exotic. My own name is quite exotic, but quite a tongue twister, and I knew I definitely did not want that for the BB. All my life I have heard my name butchered and liked it a little less for that. The Hindu/Christian angle in a name just never occurred to me. With a high probability of not being in India all our lives, I found it a sensible thing to give him a name, which is easier to pronounce. The only thing I had decided on , was the first alphabet of the name, that had to be. It is the last alphabet of the DH's first name, because I thought of this as signifying that his son, would take up from where he leaves, had it been a girl, it would have been the last alphabet of my own name, same reasoning.
As is the case, when you tell someone you have had a baby recently, they ask the name. And so often I have had surprised looks and words from people for not giving him an Indian name. How could I not put a bit of my ethnic background in his name I have been asked time and again. An old colleague infact told me quite bluntly on the face, that India has great names to offer, and its only stupid people, who want to ape the west who go looking for non-Indian names. I was quite taken aback by his hostile reaction. And there have been more and more and more such incidents. I do not even bother to reason anymore.
But I wonder what is this mentality about Indian names. What is the issue here? That we cannot open up and accept new things, or is our culture not strong enough in itself? I have heard and known names formed out of Indian languages all my life, and hence the name I picked sounded more unique and exquisite to me. When people from other cultures can appreciate and adapt to our culture, why can we not do the same to theirs. What is the big deal? Does that not make us a richer culture, when we combine some more. And selecting a name from a non-Indian language, does not alter the culture of an entire nation so to speak. And the culture that people so wish to defend, also includes, sati, dowry deaths, spitting on the roads, wife beating and worse. So get off the high horses, people. Its my child's name. I choose what I want to, you have issues, move on, and name your own child, I don't need your censure.
The name has nothing to do with religion or culture, it is just something that I believe would sound good, and be meaningful. I don't believe in surnames either for that matter. I believe in individuality, and the burden of a family name weighs us down. I am what I am, not what my ancestors have been over generations. Every family name, carries an energy with it I believe, based on the people who have formed the blood line, and the heritage of carrying it scares me honestly. I want to be free, and do what I want to do, as I want to do it. Not carrying a surname, does not mean I am any less related to the people who are family, but it does make me feel free. In India, it is quite impossible to expect to survive without a surname, and even worse in a state like Maharshtra where the name has to have the father's/husband's name inserted into yours, else you lack credibility. I was actually questioned at my passport's police clearance, for not mentioning the DH's name as my middle name. Imagine, what would have happened, had I gone without a surname or even my maiden surname for that matter. The police officer would have probably fainted. It is just so pathetically regressive, that it is not even funny any more. So if I ever manage to get to a truly free land, I am getting rid of all surnames, and may just pick a fun last name, or maybe use the DH's first name as my last name, like Sushma Swaraj does. Would probably do that even for the BB, I don't need him carrying the burden of family names. Want him to grow up as a strong individual, a good human in his own right, without names shackling him down.
My name was selected in a lucky lot kind of way, traditionally. A few names were selected, (not based on particular alphabets or anything) written on the floor, like rangoli/aalpona and diyaas were lit, one for each name. The last one to remain lit was the chosen one. The BB's name came from a lot of googling, seeing baby name sites and constant discussion between the DH and me. The DH's was picked by his father. How was your's chosen, or your child's for that matter?
12 comments:
- Sraboney said...
Lets see - how was mine chosen? I was born in the month of Srabone (July) hence, Sraboney...
We knew we were having a girl so my husband chose one name and I another...When our daughter was born, my husband thought the one I had chosen was more appropriate so we went along with it...I don't think we went into meanings in great detail when were zeroing in on our choice just what sounded good...
- August 30, 2009 at 7:22 PM
I understand that logically when you say How can you not put a bit of your ethnicity in your kid's name? it doesn't make sense but practically, it would actually be stupid if I'd name my son as John or Tim.
I had a long list of names for a boy and a girl starting from differnet alphabets but when the pundit said that the name has to be on Y, there was no name that we had thought of on Y. So again the search began and we finally decided on Yuvaan.
Btw, these websites never give you a good enough name. I've tried a lot of times.
Btw, I so want another daughter so I can name her Nirvana. I love this name.
- August 30, 2009 at 8:04 PM
- Mamma mia! Me a mamma? said...
I'm with you on choosing names that sound good. When I was pregnant with the EO, I googled baby names every chance I'd get. I had three or four choices for boys and five/six for girls, with Rionna being my favourite. No Hindu connotation to that at all...just something that sounded very musical to my ears. Sigh...as you know, I did not give birth to a 'Rionna'. The YO's name was chosen to match his big brother's.
As for me, well, when my mom was expecting me, she was 105% sure that she was having a boy. She would spend hours compiling lists of boys' names. By the time I was due to make my entry, she had two pages choc-a-bloc full of boys' names. At the end, in case there was a small chance that it wasn't a boy after all, were two girls' names. 'Bidisha' and something else. My name is not Bidisha...
- August 31, 2009 at 3:40 AM
- Pixie said...
I feel, quite frankly, that it's the parents business and liking to choose their babies name.
If they have asked someone else to select a name, then go along with that.
No one has any right to ask you why you named your child so-and-so. That's just rude.
And the whole last name thingn, is totally regressive.
My kid's gonna have a part of my name and my husband's.
Anyone who doesn't like it or questions it can take a hike! :D :D
this just means, I agree with what you say!! :) :)
- August 31, 2009 at 3:24 PM
- Passionate Goof said...
Sraboney - Oh! So sweet. :) I know what you mean,the phonetics was the main attraction for us too.
Rakesh - Actually not stupid, if you think about it the right way. the moment you think, oh! its from somewhere else, I got the name from elsewhere, that is all it will be to you. Personally i don't carry tags well, culture, religion, family , any of those things, so to me, its whatever catches my fancy. :) I like 'Yuvaan'. What does it mean? And lovely girl name .... when do you use it?
M4 - Rionna, sounds so exotic. Love it! I love both the EO and YO's names btw. Just two girl names, and yet such a wonderful one??
Pixie - That is a lovely thing to do, putting a bit of the father and mother's name into the child's. Such a perfect way to name their own creation. And about the last name, chhodo, I was forced to adopt a middle name from the time I came into Maharashtra.
- September 1, 2009 at 6:14 AM
- Piper .. said...
:) My grandpa chose my name. I have no clue why he liked it so much! My parents did too and that`s how I`m who I am! I loveeeeeee your name as well as BB`s. BUt I`ve already told you that!!
Still not able to manage time. Lots of pending work. Shall email you at length. Had a doc`s appt today. Have to talk to you about it.
And ohhh before I forget, the pics were gorgeous!! You so rock,Girl!!
Hugs. Been so long I`ve had a good talk with you.. :(
- September 1, 2009 at 9:23 AM
- Just call me 'A' said...
I agree with you on finding a name that is easy to pronounce. I have a rather exotic name too, right :) and it's been battered in all possible ways. So I do know that if I ever have kids I would want a easy name. I'm not one to go for religion, culture, geography etc on a name. I'd like a universally sounding name....and that is possible i think but yes, many people would just leave that at that. they'll dig in and question and want to know why and why not. I dislike the piece about adding father's name, village's name etc to one's name. why can't i just have me....my individuality and grow myself from there, rather than be burden with what already is/was.
we make our own living complex I tell you.
I'm finally back to blogging and it feels nice :)
- September 1, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Yuvaan is actually gujarati for Youth!
- September 1, 2009 at 5:06 PM
- Passionate Goof said...
Piper - Really? Grandfather picked it? The one I finally have, was chosen by my father's maashi. :) And thanks for the compliments, though i am not particularly fond of my name. :P I wish my medical reports said I rock as much as you do.;)
'A' - Believe me I can imagine, there is a limit to how much you can go about correcting people. I am with you completely on the name expressing my individuality and not burdening me with heritage. Good to have you back girl!!
Rakesh - You a Gujju? Really?
- September 2, 2009 at 2:35 AM
- Monika said...
oh tell me about it... I am still told that I have kept a wrong name for Ojas... and u know we still havent choosen a second name for him for the same reason... I want some part of my name to get attached to him and hubby doesnt like his last name and MIL wants even their village name to be in it
sigh too complicated
- September 7, 2009 at 4:26 AM
- mummyjaan said...
We had fun picking out the kids' names. I searched books, baby-name sites, asked friends and relatives, made up a huge list - and 'researched' meanings and historical associations, etc. from the 4th months onwards. We discarded our favourite about 7 months into the pregnancy when my aunt said that it had awkward meanings, even though to this day I think it was a melodious and immensely sweet-sounding name. khair, went on to give Apya our second favourite pick.
Kept the list handy and then picked out 3rd favourite when second child came along.
- September 7, 2009 at 12:26 PM
- Passionate Goof said...
People really go crazy with names, whats with village, father, mother, uncly, aunty etc etc etc. I am going to get rid of even the surname as soon as I can i tell you!!
Mummyjaan - Oh! had a whole long list did you? Wow! I did not, we just kept picking and discarding till we settled on one. :)
- September 7, 2009 at 4:49 PM


text:
Naw. I am just joshin'.
You might think that the nail is in the coffin on our old friend, spinning rust, especially after reading Storage Newsletter for the past couple of days. Their round up and commentary on Seagate's Q1 performance, then today on Western Digital's Q1 earnings might have you doubting disk futures.
I think that is rather silly. First of all, here are some interesting numbers on disk sales that are a bit more holistic.
In the first three months of 2014, Seagate and Western Digital shipped 115.6 million hard drives with an average size of about 890 GB per drive. That is roughly 114.4 Exabytes of capacity. Compare that to 21.2 Exabytes of external storage deployed worldwide by IDC's estimate in 2010.
Seems pretty robust to me, even if the shipments/revenues are lower than a couple of years ago. But is anyone factoring in supply chain choke, higher prices and lower capacities per drive a few years back?
Anyway, the real news was that DataCore SANsymphony-V R10 was announced this week. The latest version provides a way to cobble together local and direct-attached storage, including Flash, into virtual storage volumes that move with VMs from place to place. Who needs VSAN if I can do this? And the price is a fraction of what a rip and replace of my existing SAN and its replacement with DAS kit would have been. Kudos to DataCore once again.
Finally, just to show how not anti-disk I am, I will be doing a webinar in about an hour and a half on the use of disk in archiving. Tune in if you want to this webinar, hosted by Spectra Logic.
Is disk a viable alternative for archive? I will discuss it with Bruce Kornfeld of Spectra Logic at noon Eastern, 10 Mountain, 9 Pacific TODAY!
Cheers and Happy May Day.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The University of Texas at Arlington®
Fall 2006
Table of Contents
University Calendar (2006-2007)
This catalog is a general information publication only. It is not intended to nor does it contain all regulations that relate to students. The provisions of this catalog do not constitute a contract, express, or implied, between any applicant, student or faculty member and The University of Texas at Arlington or The University of Texas System. The University reserves the right to withdraw courses at any time, change fees, rules, calendar, curriculum, degree programs, degree requirements, graduation procedures and any other requirements affecting students. Changes will become effective whenever the proper authorities so determine and will apply to both prospective students and those already enrolled.
Students are held individually responsible for complying with all requirements of the rules and regulations of the University and the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System. Failure to read and comply with policies, regulations and procedures will not exempt a student from whatever penalties the student may incur.
The University of Texas at Arlington - Undergraduate Catalog 2006-2007 - Volume LXXXVIII - Published in August 2006


text:
Lister Medical CentreLister House Health CentreAbercrombie WayHarlowEssex, CM18 6YJTel: 01279 639 791
We shall be closed for the May Bank Holidays ALL DAY on Monday 6th May and Monday 27th May 2019. If you require your repeat prescription before the holidays please ensure that we receive your request by noon on the Wednesday before the Bank Holiday.
We shall also be CLOSED for clinical training from 12:30 on Tuesday 4th June and re-open at 08:00 on Wednesday 5th June 2019
If you need urgent medical treatment during these times of closure then please call NHS111 by dialling 111
Lister Medical Centre is usually open Monday to Friday 08:00 to 18:00 (closed Mondays 13:00 to 14:00)
Patients over the age of 16 years can now access a care navigation service. This free service is delivered in partnership by Community Agents Essex, Age UK Essex and the Provide Essex Lifestyle Service. If you are struggling with a non-clinical issue and it is impacting on your health and wellbeing - you can self refer to the service.
Please note that our Registration times have changed.
If you wish to register with the Practice, please come at the following times:
You can now book your pregnancy directly with the Midwife as you no longer need to see the GP.
Please call: 01279 827 817 from 8:30am to 9:30am and from 3:30pm to 4:30pm.
Antenatal screening for sickle cell disease and thalassaemia aims to offer informed reproductive choice by identifying parents who are genetic carriers and at risk of having a baby that inherits the condition. The standard recommendation is that the sickle cell and thalassaemia screening test should be done between 8-10 weeks. Early screening is critical to this choice, including the option to terminate pregnancy in the first trimester. All screening tests and decision making should be completed by 12-16 weeks of gestation.
Women are advised to contact their midwives as soon as possible to arrange for their booking bloods to be done or self-refer for screening to:
Frontline is a community project that helps the public and frontline workers;
Frontline Leaflet
Further information may be found here.
Shared decision making (SDM) is the conversation that happens between a patient and their health professional to reach a healthcare choice together. This conversation needs patients and professionals to understand what is important to the other person when choosing a treatment.
Go to https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/sdm/ to visit the NHS Shared Decision Making website.
This is a national initiative allowing you to give your feedback on the service your GP practice provides.
Participation is voluntary and your answers are treated in confidence. Your answers will be used to drive improvements in the service that this practice provides to its patients.
Please click here to take the test.
We are very pleased to be offering weekend appointments to our patients.
These appointments are available at a local health centre and can be booked through our receptionists.
We are encouraging people to use this service which provides additional appointments to fit in with your busy lifestyles.
Patients can see a GP, healthcare assistant or nurse for routine appointments, health checks and treatments. People with long term health conditions such as asthma and diabetes can also access these appointments.
To find out more about the service please go to http://stellarhealthcare.net/our-services/evening-and-weekend-gp-service or ask our receptionists.
Travel Clinics will now be held all day on Wednesdays which will be the only time when patients can have vaccines administered for travel.
Please ensure that your pre-travel questionnaire is completed and handed into reception at least 6 weeks before your travel date.
We have been reviewing how we can improve the quality of care to all of our patients, particularly to those with chronic health conditions like Diabetes, Heart and Lung conditions. When you receive letters inviting you for annual checks, please read the letter carefully and follow the instructions.
This process is new to all staff and our management team would value your feedback on the user experience.
We have introduced an online system to enable you to cancel appointments; book appointments with your usual GP; order your repeat prescription; or view a brief summary of your medical record.
Go to this page for details of how to obtain your SystmOnline username and password.
The NHS is introducing the Electronic Prescription Service. This could make collecting prescriptions easier and more convenient for you.
This service gives you the option to 'nominate' the place you choose to get your medication from so that they can receive your prescriptions electronically. This could save you a trip to your GP practice just to collect a prescription — particularly if you have regular prescriptions.
For more information please download our leaflet.
All patients of Lister Medical Centre, including children, have been allocated a named accountable GP. This is nothing new; we have been doing this for years but we are now required to tell you that we are doing it. Click here to read more about this requirement.
Copyright 2006 - 2019 My Surgery Website | Privacy & Usage | Edit | Staff Home | Site Map | Accessibility | Site T&C's | Service T&C's


text:
Luckily for us, the author is offering 2 ebook copies of The Search for Ethan to be drawn on the Sunday 3rd of January. Just leave a comment on the blog below or on our Facebook page.
Robert Southworth! I hear you cry, how can it be that you are reviewing a book that has neither a musket nor toga in sight? Well the clue is in the blurb…
'A gritty contemporary drama, brimming with dark humour. Two typical teenage lives are transformed after a night of hallucinogenic experimentation, when the subsequent bad trip spills into their real lives with tragic consequences. A desperate but comically bizarre search for redemption begins, with help from an unlikely source.'I have to admit, that dark humour is a weakness of mine. However, enough of my weaknesses, and onto the novel. The Search for Ethan is a modern tale, indeed many of us could recognise many of the characters from our hometown or even dare I say it, out own family. The book itself has a number of main characters and switches to and fro between each of their points of views as varying catastrophes erupt. It's an interesting style of writing, one of which I have never been a great fan but I have to admit, that within this novel it really works and only serves to enhance the storyline. A point on the storyline, this book does not throw you headlong into it straight away. For me, and others may think differently it places the characters first, as a grand master positions his chess pieces before moving in for check mate. This being the case, a reader may ask, well the writing's brilliant, the characters a joy but where is the story? Trust me, just as you are thinking this, the novel shifts up a gear, and the tale erupts from the pages.
Now I feel I have to discuss the characters. I have no hesitation in declaring this book my favourite of 2015 when it comes to the creation of characters. Vibrant and colourful in terms of the people themselves and the language used they are a triumph for the writer and a joy for the reader to experience. My personal favourite is Margo, mother of one of the main characters. Everything about her should make you squirm and cause an instant dislike but in truth in many ways I see her as a hero of the book, others may see it differently. Here we have a quote from the book as Margo searches for the man who has led her son astray (warning strong language).
"Fuck! What!?What?"As you can see this is not a children's book. That said, the language is colourful but in keeping with the characters and storyline. The novel addresses complex issues with sensitivity and dark humour, and a great deal of skill by the author. There are no good and bad guys as such, but as in real life most of the characters are capable of positive and negative acts in equal measure, and sometimes great stupidity.
"Where the fuck is Ian dick head?!"
"I don't fucking know do I."
Margo began opening drawers until she found what she was looking for. Weasel's breath abruptly stopped as the blade made contact with the base of his already tender penis.
"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck…" muttered Weasel dementedly.
"Oh fuck indeed…" replied Margo with the calmness of the end game and certain victory.
"You've killed him," she whispered.To summarize I would say the book is something different, and hard to categorize in its approach to the telling of a story. The reader is at the same time mesmerised, delighted and repulsed by the behaviour of some of its main protagonists. As my reviewing is set to come to end for this year, I have no hesitation in declaring this book by Robert Cowan, has been my favourite read of 2015. Its unusual style and brilliant characters have been a joy, and an education for a fellow writer.
"Indeed I have," he replied, his voice tinged with pride.
"Oh my God, what have you done?"
"Eh? Saved your life that's what I've done. I'm a fucking hero."
The girl started screaming and Stevie heroically, punched her in the mouth…
About the Author
Robert Cowan lives in a small town in Scotland with his family and a couple of cats. He has always had a love for music and whilst studying for a degree in mechanical engineering bought a drum kit. Despite not making it in the music business the author continued to want to express himself and turned to writing. The Search For Ethan is his debut. A second novel 'Daydreams and Devils' has also been recently published.
You can learn more at http://robertcowanbooks.com/
You can learn more at http://robertcowanbooks.com/
Robert Southworth is the author of his Spartacus novels. Robert can be found on


text:
Preventing Youth Violence
The Lenox Hotel61 Exeter StreetBoston, Massachusetts
Each year half a million people are murdered worldwide; and in almost every society on earth, violence is disproportionately concentrated among young people. In the United States, African American males lose nearly as many years of potential life before age 65 to homicide as to the nation's overall leading cause of death, heart disease. Jens Ludwig, director of the University of Chicago's Crime Lab and co-director of the University's Urban Education Lab, will examine the key causes and potential remedies of youth violence, drawing on examples from the Crime Lab's ongoing projects.
Ludwig is the McCormick Foundation Professor of Social Service Administration, Law, and Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and has been awarded the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management's David N. Kershaw Award for contributions to public policy by age 40. In 2014 the Crime Lab received a $1 million award from the MacArthur Foundation, recognizing creative and effective institutions.
To learn more about efforts to prevent youth violence, read these articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Crain's Chicago Business.
$20/person for general admission$10/person for recent graduates (College alumni of the past 10 years and graduate alumni of the past five years)Two complimentary registrations for members of the Alumni Leadership, Chicago, Harper, and Phoenix Societies
Includes program and refreshments
Register Online
Deadline: 5/5/2015
6:00 PM-7:00 PM: Registration and reception
Jens Ludwig (Speaker)
Jens Ludwig is the McCormick Foundation Professor of Social Service Administration, Law, and Public Policy in the School of Social Service Administration and Chicago Harris, director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, and co-director of the University of Chicago Urban Education Lab. He also serves as a non-resident senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and co-director of the NBER's working group on the economics of crime. His research focuses on social policy, particularly in the areas of urban poverty, crime, and education.
In the area of urban poverty, Ludwig has participated since 1995 on the evaluation of a HUD-funded randomized residential-mobility experiment known as Moving to Opportunity (MTO), which provides low-income public housing families the opportunity to relocate to private-market housing in less disadvantaged neighborhoods. In the area of crime, Ludwig has written extensively about gun-violence prevention. Through the Crime Lab he is also involved in partnering with policymakers in Chicago and across the country to carry out large-scale policy experiments to identify effective (and cost-effective) ways to help prevent crime and violence. In the area of education he has written extensively about early childhood interventions, and about the role of social conditions in affecting children's schooling outcomes.
His research has been published in leading scientific journals across a range of disciplines including Science, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Economic Journal, and the American Journal of Sociology. His co-authored article on race, peer norms, and education with Philip Cook was awarded the Vernon Prize for best article in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. He is also co-author with Cook of Gun Violence: The Real Costs (Oxford University Press, 2000), co-editor with Cook of Evaluating Gun Policy (Brookings Institution Press, 2003), and co-editor with Cook and Justin McCrary of Controlling Crime: Strategies and Tradeoffs (University of Chicago Press, 2012).
Prior to coming to Chicago Harris, Ludwig was a professor of public policy at Georgetown University. He is currently on the editorial boards of American Economic Journal: Policy, the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, and was formerly co-editor of the Journal of Human Resources. In 2012 he was elected vice president of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), the professional society for public policy schools. Ludwig received his BA in economics from Rutgers College and his MA and PhD in economics from Duke University. In 2006 he was awarded APPAM's David N. Kershaw Prize for Contributions to Public Policy by Age 40. In 2012 he was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science.
- See more at: http://harris.uchicago.edu/directory/faculty/jens_ludwig#sthash.XflZ0YTv.dpuf
Kelly Doody 773.702.8369
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business |
University of Chicago |
Privacy Notice


text:
by Howard J. Ross, founder & chief learning officer, Cook Ross Inc.
I'm very excited that the paperback edition of my book, Reinventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Culture to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance, will be released by Rowman & Littlefield next month. In that regard, I wanted to share a recent review of the book written by Atiba Ellis, Associate Professor of Law at the West Virginia University College of Law, a scholar who has specialized in the study of race in America. Dr. Ellis' review really touched me because more than anyone he seems to have captured the essence of what I was trying to say in the book. Please have a read and let me know what you think!
Continue reading "A Humbling ReInventing Diversity Book Review" »


text:
Places > United States > Oregon > Portland Brewery
Widmer Brothers Brewery Tour
Photo Credit:
Did you know that as an Xploritall member, you can create your own custom Travel Guide? Just register for your FREE account, add places to your wishlist, and the Trip Planner will organize all of your saved places into a Travel Guide for you.
We opened the brewery in 1984, and built a new 40-barrel brewing system in our current Russell Street location in 1990. We've grown steadily ever since. In 1996, we completed installation of a state-of-the art 250-barrel brewhouse, bringing our capacity to 220,000 barrels per year. In 1996, for the first time in our brewery's history we also installed a bottling line, capable of producing 500 bottles per minute. In 2008 we added six new 1500-barrel fermentation tanks that increased our capacity to 450,000 barrels per year, and added a new keg filling line capable of filling 300 kegs per hour.
Free tours: F 2pm & 3pm. Sa 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm. Su 1pm & 2pm.
Reservations required / group sizes are limited
Call 503-281-2437 ext. 7201
Once your reservation is confirmed, please plan to meet your tour at the Widmer Brothers retail store prior to your tour start time. Close toed shoes are required to participate in our brewery tours.
Your Friends With This Interest (0)
None of your friends have added this place to their Wishlist.
Members With This Interest (1)
None of your friends have added this place to their Wishlist.
Members With This Interest (1)
|Jamie Brady
Your Friends That Visited Here (0)
None of your friends have visited here.
Members Who Visited (0)
None of your friends have visited here.
Members Who Visited (0)
Activities (0)
Resources Powered by Barnes & Noble and Maps.com


text:
Fine Art Fashion Photography by Monia Merlo
Monia Merlo is a talented self taught photographer, who was born in 1970 in Italy, in a small town near to Venice. Monia studied architecture at Venice University and currently works as a freelance photographer, mainly focused on fashion, conceptual and portrait photography. Her work has been featured in Vogue Italy, Makamo, Fotonotiziario, Style, InsideArt-Fotoblur and many others.


text:
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tip#305: How To Build Meaningful Contacts on LinkedIn and Facebook - 2012 Movie
When it comes to building networks with social media like LinkedIn and Facebook the key is to focus on cultivating meaningful contacts. Sharing your passions and personal interests attracts like-minded people.
Writing my previous blog post on the movie 2012 was such a joy that I wanted to share it on LinkedIn and Facebook. Soon after I was so amazed to receive worldwide responses so quickly that I wanted to share the evidence that you too can build online networks by sharing what is meaningful to you.
1) Passion
It all starts with passion. I am so passionate about movies and for writing that I've combined the two to write an article on the motivational aspects of the movie 2012. You start by taking action with your passion.
2) Harness Social Media
I then used social media to post the article on my Movies that Motivate blog. Next I posted a link to the article onto my "current status" section of LinkedIn and Facebook. This way all my contacts on these sites automatically saw what I was up to when they were online.
3) Join Groups
The big key was to post the article link with examples of the 2012 movie's motivational messages onto groups I had joined on LinkedIn. Joining groups of themes that interest you is what connects you with 100's and 1,000's of like-minded people. They could be professional groups like Marketing or personal interest like Movie Lovers. See examples of my list on my LinkedIn profile on right side near bottom.
4) Results
Within 24 hours I received about a dozen comments and new meaningful contacts from around the world: Bombay India, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and in the US (Akron Ohio, Los Angeles California, New York NY). Most comments were very encouraging and shared my optimistic point of view about the 2012 movie.
These new contacts came from a variety of fields: Marketing, Human Resources, Graphic Design and Movie Lovers. Now that we are connected we are open to explore how we can help one another achieve our goals and dreams.
And like one of the motivational messages in the movie 2012, it all comes down to helping one another and perpetuating that human spirit on a global level.
Be Inspired To Explore
So be inspired to explore social media like LinkedIn and Facebook. It is a whole new world for quickly building your local and global network. Find something that excites you about social networking online and that's what will fuel the time and energy you'll invest.
Remember that is all starts with sharing your passions and personal interests with the world. By doing so you will be rewarded with the gifts of connecting with like-minded individuals across the planet that will encourage and support your thoughts, ideas and interests.
Isn't that a powerful thought?
• Join me now on LinkedIn
• Join me now on Facebook
• Get one-on-one social media consulting: More details (under Consultations)
Emmanuel Lopez-Motivatorman
Motivational Specialist For Professionals
© Emmanuel Lopez 2009
4 comments:
- Chris Morales said...
Well done. I love your suggestions. You opened my eyes to new ways to build my networks. Thanks
- Head Health Nutter said...
Thank you, Emmanuel, for sharing this valuable information!
You've helped me see that I need to tune up my efforts on social media and that I've been under-estimating (and under-utilizing) this powerful communication tool.
And big thanks for the practical step-by-step process to reach out to more people! :)
- Bollywood Movies said...
We read your blog. It is superb. Just watch and entertain the bollywood movies.
De Dana Dan and Aladin.
あなたは(英語/日本語)を話しますか? [url=http://japanese-garden.org]バイアグラ[/url] バイアグラ 服用
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Like all successful organisations, Selby College has a mission, vision and wants our customers and stakeholders to know what we value.
College Mission
To be an outstanding provider of education and training, meeting the needs of employers and our community and supporting our learners to achieve their potential through excellent teaching and learning.
Public Value Statement
Selby College is committed to adding value and enriching the social, economic and physical well-being of the community we serve.
We understand the larger significance of the services we provide to individuals, businesses and groups, and this shapes everything we do. We recognise the importance of individual excellence and personal accountability. We embrace diversity, curiosity, respect and responsibility.
We act with integrity and we collaborate wherever possible, aligning ourselves with others and sharing knowledge and resources to create new opportunities. People are at the very heart of how we organise and utilise our resources. We empower our learners and aim to transform their lives by raising their aspirations and encouraging and supporting them to achieve to their very best. In doing so, we provide a catalyst for sustainable economic growth and prosperity.
College Vision
To be the college of first choice for individuals and organisations within the area we serve, as one of England's top performing colleges.
Corporate Values
- Commitment to improving the skills of our local and regional communities and employers
- Pride in our learners, our college and our excellent reputation
- Focus on excellence and continuous improvement
- Outstanding teaching, learning and assessment
- Enterprising approach
- Inspiring our learners and raising their aspirations by providing a supportive environment that enables them to grow in confidence, esteem, motivation and aptitude
- Maintaining a safe, friendly and welcoming atmosphere
- Culture of collaboration and teamwork, with staff who 'go the extra mile' to support our learners
- Financial strength of the college and the imperative to protect it
Selby College Prevent Duty and British Values Statement
Selby College adheres to the Prevent Duty which aims to prevent learners from being drawn into extremism and believes British Values including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs are very important to everyone in our college community.
These British Values identify how we should conduct ourselves as citizens in Great Britain today; a diverse population with each individual contributing to our society as a whole.
These values are promoted to students across all areas of our curriculum, via pastoral tutorials and reinforced through a variety of different college media including our website, through posters and other published materials.


text:
Archive for the 'FATA' Category
Beyond 2014: Afghanistan, Pakistan, the West and the Rest
New York- On February 5th, I participated in a Huffington Post Live discussion entitled "Engaging The Taliban" (featured below) after the trilateral meeting between David Cameron, Asif Ali Zardari, and Hamid Karzai at the British Prime Minister's country residence outside London. The topic concerned the withdrawal of NATO and ISAF troops from Afghanistan at the end of 2014 and the idea of some kind of vague peace deal with the Taliban midwifed by Pakistan and meant to take place in Qatar. That talk inspired my lengthy article in today's edition of Asia Times Online (at left).
Afghanistan, once a byword for forgotten backwater, has had its war become internationalized to the absurd point where even a good number of tiny non-NATO, non-Western nations like Georgia (desire to join NATO), the United Arab Emirates (business interests, Islamic hearts-and-minds credibility), and Tonga (pressed by the UK) have inserted troops. And nations like these have done so in the context of their very diverse, often non-overlapping agendas.
For Afghanistan's non-Pashtun ethnicities who house a sense of collective victimhood, this is the equivalent of having the fox guarding the hen house. Despite US troops and intelligence officers partnering up with warlords who were deemed "legendary" in the earliest days of Operation Enduring Freedom, there are certainly no angels among any of Afghanistan's warlords of all hues despite a certain amount of rather theatric press reportage at the time. But renewed political power for the Taliban, whose enemies believe it would use to gain military power in the theater of Afghanistan's gun-barrel politics, would be the surefire catalyst for a retro-themed civil conflict.
Some factional military leaders especially those of the Jamiat-i-Islami/Shura-i-Nazar type whose 1980s and 1990s-era leadership has suffered a string of assassinations attributed to the Taliban such as Burhanuddin Rabbani and Muhammed Daud Daud in 2011, may likely be content to exact retribution in some form. Abdul Rashid Dostum– another sworn enemy of the Taliban who knows that he is on their target list–could easily fully remobilize his Junbesh-i-Milli militia when push comes to shove.
But the risks for the integrity of the Pakistani state have changed entirely since the Taliban swept in Kabul in 1996. The creeping Talibanization of Pakistan creates an entirely different calculus. Additionally anti-Shia/Hazara violence in Balochistan being carried out by Lashkar-i-Jhangvi seems to be at an all-time high, a dire crisis which Pakistan's political leaders refuse to effectively address. All sorts of Taliban factions are now operating in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital, and inflaming tensions with the very territorial, virulently anti-Pashtun Muttahida Qaumi Movement which portrays itself as the guardian of mohajir identity in southern Sindh Province.
Part of the advantage of Pakistani hegemony over Afghanistan in the 1990s was that Islamabad could have groups that it was funding or manipulating outside of its territory. Afghanistan was relegated to an obscure, abandoned backwater that was essentially a free-fire zone for regional proxy warfare. States from all over Eurasia were dragged into Afghanistan's internecine battles.
Following 9/11, the Afghan morass brought into most if not all of the armies of the Western world. At the same time, Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus was ejected after the fall of Konduz in late November 2001. Now as the West and its allies clamor for the exits, Pakistan, Iran and other regional powers will be forced to reassess their role in the future of Afghanistan. And it does not look promising. The Pentagon would like to leave a residual number of troops behind for training and "support" missions pending an as yet unspecified status-of-forces agreement being worked out with Kabul.
Though the United States ending its combat mission in Afghanistan has made a big splash in the news, there has already been an attrition on Western troop numbers. Dutch troops packed up and left Uruzgan Province in August 2010 when the Netherlands enfeebled coalition government collapsed over the issue. The Dutch ditched their Australian partners in the home province of Mullah Muhammed Omar which created a vacuum that had to be filled by American troops. The French, now deployed in Mali in what is perceived as being a more immediate to France's national interests, entirely abandoned their combat mission in Kapisa Province in November 2012. The final French combat troops then departed Afghanistan altogether in December 2012. New Zealand plans on pulling out the majority of its troops from Bamiyan Province by April of this year.
In the understated words of noted Pakistani journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai: "2014 and the Western withdrawal will not mean Pakistan's problems are over."
BBC Arabic Appearance
Los Angeles- On Friday evening (GMT), I appeared on BBC Arabic's Newshour presented by Malak Jaafar to discuss reaction to that days Washington Post story entitled "U.S. 'secret war' expands globally as Special Operations forces take larger role" by Karen de Young and Greg Jaffe with Egyptian Brigadier General (retd.) Safwat al-Zayat. Thanks to my colleague Murad Batal al-Shishani for arranging this.
May Issue of Militant Leadership Monitor Online
Los Angeles- The May issue of MLM is out. Worked hard on this one. Enjoy! If you're not already enjoying, subscribe!
Launch of Militant Leadership Monitor!
New York- On Friday evening, I launched the first issue of my new publication with the Jamestown Foundation called Militant Leadership Monitor. I have the free teaser article about the death of a Moro militant in Waziristan a few weeks ago. It's a subscription-based site that we are doing for $150 a year for twelve issues ($300 for institutions). Our inaugural issue has profiles of Qais al-Khazali by Rafid Fadhil Ali, Dr. Khalil Ibrahim by Dr. Andrew McGregor, and Ilyas Kashmiri by Arif Jamal plus briefs by yours truly on the surrender of an Oromo Liberation Front leaders in Addis Ababa and the shoot up of Mullah Krekar's flat in Oslo. I think we're off to a good start…2010 is shaping up to be an interesting year.
Baitullah Mehsud Dead?
Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn is reporting on the possible death of Baitullah Mehsud in Wednesday's missile strike which is believed to have killed one of his wives. Mehsud's demise would mean an uncertain fate for the future of the TTP in South Waziristan and it is not clear whether he would have a successor. Of course it has been rumoured that Mehsud has been dead before so we'll have to wait and see on this one.
Here is the full text of the article: "
ISLAMABAD: There is a strong likelihood that Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed along with his wife and bodyguards in a missile attack two days ago, Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters.
'We suspect he was killed in the missile strike,' Malik said on Friday. 'We have some information, but we don't have material evidence to confirm it.' Meanwhile, Director General ISPR Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas cautioned that the reports of Mehsud's death are still unconfirmed. 'We are receiving reports and probing,' he said. ABC News cited a senior US official as saying there was a 95 per cent chance that Mehsud was among those killed in the missile strike. US officials have visual and other indicators it was Mehsud and Pakistanis are now trying to collect physical evidence to be certain, ABC reported. A US official also told Reuters that there was reason to believe Mehsud was dead. 'There is reason to believe that reports of his death may be true, but it can't be confirmed at this time,' said the official, providing the information on condition of anonymity. The official would not comment on the circumstances surrounding Mehsud's possible death.
A relative of Mehsud's dead wife had initially said the Taliban leader wasn't present when the missiles struck, but rumours that he had either been wounded or killed refused to die down. The stricken house is some two hours' walk from Makeen, and Taliban fighters had cordoned off the area, refusing to let people enter, according to villagers. A senior Pakistani security official said that aside from Mehsud's wife, one of Mehsud's brothers and seven of his bodyguards perished in the attack. The official said intelligence services were trying to discover the identity of another victim, and there was a good chance it was Mehsud. Intelligence agents had also picked up signs that leaders of various Taliban factions planned to gather for a shura, or council meeting, somewhere in Waziristan later on Friday.—Reuters"
Hashoo Bombers Strike Again
Yesterday another one of the Hashwani family's hotels was demolished in a well-planned and executed suicide attack in Peshawar. The Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel chain is owned by perhaps Pakistan's most prominent Ismaili family, the Hashwanis. Major cooperations in Pakistan, when not wholly owned subsidiaries of the Pakistani Army, are most often familial enterprises such as the Hashoo Group. The Hashwanis had been in talks with the U.S. government to sell it the PC Peshawar property to be used as its new consular offices in light of NWFP's ever growing importance in U.S. foreign policy. There are rumors that they were or are considering getting out of the hospitality industry altogether. Last year's Marriott bombing was devastating to the family's investment portfolio though its patriarch Saddaruddin Hashwani issued a defiant statement to the press that he would rebuild the Islamabad Marriott and would not bow to terrorist intimidation.
While covering the Pakistani elections last year, I often worked out of the PC Lahore's business centre and devoured some incredible international fare at the hotel's restaurant after long days trudging up and down Mall Road looking for stories. Even if I could have afforded to stay there, I wouldn't have because of its obviousness as a high-value target in the wave of jihadist violence that had already engulfed the country by mid-2007. Partly for my safety, I stayed at a low profile guest house down the road. It probably doesn't help that the 5-star hotels in Pakistan are owned by a group of Ismailis, who are a branch of Shi'ism that holds the Aga Khan in highest esteem as living imam, when considering the militants takfiri ideology. The Sunni extremists that claim to adhere to takfirism believe that individuals may declare those who follow different strains of Islam apostates and can therefore justify acts of previously imaginable terror throughout South Asia and the Middle East. Takfirism is essential in creating a sense of the "Other" in the militant mind which is used to justify attacks against those praying in mosques and eating in hotel dining rooms. Undoubtedly, the reasoning behind the attack will be attributed to either the PC's international clientele or its possible sale to the Americans. The Ismailis as a cultural subset are extraordinarily successful business people with Shah Karim al-Hussayni, the Aga Khan, chief among them. The Aga Khan and the Hashwanis represent immense wealth in a region wracked by poverty and illiteracy-related militancy.
When I was in the country last year, the Afghan Taleban targeted the telecom company Roshan's mobile phone transmission towers in southern Afghanistan after having previously attacked the Serena hotel in Kabul. The Taleban issued a communique stating they wanted the towers shut down at night because they believed their movements could be tracked by coalition forces and the mobile signals were being used to target them. Ismaili business interests seemed to be under sustained assault. Now again, the Taleban's attacks on the Roshan towers and the Serena were very likely of a purely strategic nature but the fact that the towers are owned by the Aga Khan (and his European consortium partners) doesn't exactly help. A major segment of the Aga Khan's charitable work is aiding remote Ismaili communities in Central and South Asia who the Taleban consider to be apostates similar to the Twelver Shi'i Hazara they attempted to annihilate in the 1990's.
I had some of the same thoughts regarding Benazir Bhutto. Not only was she Shi'i, like her father Zufliqar and the country's father Mohammed Ali Jinnah, but she came from the rich and resented zamindar feudal structure in Sindh province that is another post-colonial relict of British divide et impera strategy. As I've written previously regarding Sri Lanka, the Crown's modus operandi was to favor ethnic and religious minorities over the unwashed masses in order to maintain control over the populace and extract their colonies natural wealth with as little disruption as possible. I'm sure the Pakistani Taleban didn't need Benazir to be a land owning Twelver to declare her an apostate but I doubt her lineage and status helped her case. Benzair spent the last morning of her life meeting with Hamid Karzai at the Islamabad Serena (which a friend of mine photographed hours before her assassination).People across the region who depend on the Ismaili establishment for employment, sustenance and remittances have suffered enormously from the Taleban's unforgiving insurgency and reconciliation cannot begin soon enough should the kinetic war-fighting cease anytime soon. Inshallah!
UPDATE: The death toll from the PC attack now stands at 17.
Link to the HuffingtonPost version.
BBC Appearance on Drones and Demonization
I participated in a contentious debate on the BBC at the last minute today with Owen Bennett-Jones, author of Eye of the Storm, who was hosting a show from Islamabad. Initially, I didn't realize I was on with a perennially controversial figure in Islamic politics in Pakistan Khalid Khawaja whom I met at his lawyer's office in Rawalpindi last year. Pakistan is convulsing in the largest humanitarian crisis since the catastrophic Partition of British India in 1947.
The Pakistani army is waging a difficult battle against those it terms "Miscreants" which the Western media knows collectively as the Taleban. Meanwhile millions of civilians, much like those in Sri Lanka, are caught dangerously in the middle. If Islamabad treats its own citizens as badly as Colombo, there will be plenty of trouble ahead. The rifts within Pakistani society have become so deep that solutions, rather than traditional exchanges of blame and conspiracy theories, are desperately in order. The United States is attempting to partner with Asif Ali Zardari who many Pakistanis see as an integral part of the problem much the way Afghans now view Hamid Karzai. Siding with inept and inherently corrupt leadership further perpetuates insurgency in these two vital and very fragile state structures. Taleban ideologues proclaim foremost that theirs is a war against a fraudulent leadership and a vacant justice system marketed through a prism of rigid Islamic doctrine. The Taleban's two-front war is not terribly differing from the massive Maoist insurrection being waged against the state in central India. Pakistan has yet to adopt a viable counterinsurgency strategy and huge parts of NWFP are being displaced as a result. Fighting a conventional war against furious Pashtun religious nationalists will fail unless Pashtunistan's legitimate issues are addressed in the long term which, so far, Islamabad does not appear inclined to do.
Podcast link here…
A Lament for Pakistan
I have a piece this week on the Huffington Post on where Pakistan was and where it is or could be going. Read it here…


text:
Jana got in touch after hearing about me from a friend. She needed a logo and a video membership website. She got a Corporate Identity, Titles and video direction, modular system core concept. She got copywriting, she got collateral, advertising, revenue generating ideas like "Pilates in the Park," coupons designed, corporate packages designed, and ppt presentation.
■ 2012 / Recent Work / Last Updated February 1, 2015 by Katja Maas / Tags:


text:
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Beading For A Cure 2011...
Are you ready for some GREAT auctions? Well then - set your alerts, alarms, reminders... whatever you have. The auctions begin March 21 - 3:00 pm Eastern time and there are some fantastic items up for the first round! All for a good cause too (colorectal cancer research).
Here is the link to the auctions, bid high and often! Here is the link for each round of auctions with photos and dates they will be auctioned. I also have a badge up on the right side of my blog that is a direct link to the EBay auctions. If you want to take some time and see all the great photos for each item that will come up for auction this year - you can check the gallery. There are wonderful close up photos of each piece. If you want to print off a flyer for the auctions, that is also available here.
This is the fourth year I have participated in the annual event and the first year there was a competition. I was notified last week that my entry won second place - I was shocked. You will see what I mean when you have a chance to see all the beautiful entries. I am honored to be a winner amongst so many incredible bead artists and their pieces.
Each participant is given the same kit of beads. We are required to use at least one of each bead in the kit, we are allowed to add one additional bead type and can incorporate as many non bead items as we like - such as cabochons and sequins.
Here is my photo of the beads for this year provided in the kit
As you can see, it is a beautiful selection of purple and bronze. I loved working with these colors! My first step was to go through my stash to see what I wanted to add, if anything.
I found these beautiful vintage bronze/brownish faceted cabs, I only had two - I used both of them. I also found these smaller glass cabs with purple and bronze. I had four and used them all. It seems I cannot bead anything with out adding sequins. Vintage are my favorites and while I do not have many left, I did find this wonderful strand of deep purple sequins. My added bead is a small purple/brownish bugle.
The items of mine together with the kit led me to make this cuff. Once I get the big cab glued on, the rest seem to just flow. I did not have a plan, I let the beads take me where they wanted to go.
I used Nicole's bead backing in light purple as my base. When the beading was completed, I sandwiched a brass cuff blank between the bead backing and light purple Ultrasuede and stitched it up with LOTS of those beautiful crystal bicones.
I was going to just make a cuff, but that hardly seemed fair since I still had a ton of beads left from the kit.
So I found that last brown faceted glass cab and worked up a brooch.
That's when I discovered I had more of the smaller cabs and still plenty of beads from the kit so thought a pair of earrings would be the perfect addition to complete the set.
Little did I know at the time that would make me a...
I am stunned and honored!
Posted by GraceBeading at 9:08 PM
4 comments:
- quiltmom said...
I'm not stunned- they are stunning and you have created something really beautiful- I especially love the brooch. The purple and bronze is brilliant.
Congratulations on your win - Thank you for sharing your gorgeous piece.
Warmest regards,
- Sue said...
Oh, exquisite work, Grace. I just love the way you put things together. I'll definitely be watching the auctions!
- Dottie Hoeschen said...
Congratulations Grace! Your work is beautiful!!
Dottie H.
- abeadlady said...
I wasn't surprised at all! Your beadwork is always meticulous and inspirational, Grace.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Leaves of Grass
This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body - Walt Whitman


text:
Canada Cricket
Canada Cricket History
Early DaysIt is generally thought that cricket was introduced to Canada by British soldiers after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, although the earliest confirmed reference to cricket is of matches played on Saint Helen's Island, Quebec in 1785 on what became the site of Expo 67.
The roots of modern Canadian cricket though come from the regions of Upper Canada, in particular Toronto, then known as York. During the early years of the nineteenth century, a schoolmaster by the name of George Anthony Barber encouraged the game there, and founded the Toronto Cricket Club in 1827. Barber instigated a game played between the Toronto Cricket Club and the cricket team of Upper Canada College in 1836, a game won by the college team. This game has been annually ever since. As already mentioned, Canada played its first international against the USA in 1844 in New York at St George's Cricket Club, now the site of the New York University medical centre.
Late 19th CenturyGeorge Parr led an English team to Canada in 1859, which was the first ever international cricket tour. A product of the tour was a book by Fred Lillywhite entitled "The English Cricketers' Trip to Canada and the United States", published the following year. On the tour, which also ventured into the USA, the team won all five official matches against a 22 of Lower Canada (by 8 wickets at Montreal, Quebec on 26 October-27 September), a 22 of the United States (by an innings and 64 runs at Holboken, NY on 3-5 October), a different 22 of the United States (by 7 wickets at Philadelphia on 10-12 October), a 22 of Lower Canada (by 10 wickets at Hamilton, Ontario on 17 October-19 October) and a further 22 of the United States (by an innings and 68 runs at Rochester, NY on 21 October-25 October). There were also some exhibition matches and two excursions to view the Niagara Falls.
When Canada became a nation in 1867, cricket was so popular it was declared the national sport by John A. Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada. Unfortunately, the influence of baseball from the United States saw a decline in the popularity of cricket, despite tours from English and Australian teams. The third tour by an English team in 1872 featured none other than the famous W. G. Grace. The first Australian team to tour came in 1877, and they returned in 1893 beating Canada by an innings. Three games were played against Ireland between 1888 and 1890, Ireland winning one, with the other two drawn. A tour of North America by the Australians in 1913 saw two first class games (both won by the tourists) against a combined Canada/USA team. The second of these, played at Rosedale, Toronto was the first first class match played in Canada.
1887 England tourAfter an unofficial tour in 1880, which saw the Canadian captain arrested during a game against Leicestershire and the tour abandoned, the first official tour of the United Kingdom by a Canadian team took place in 1887. The tour started with two matches against Ireland, against whom Canada drew one game and lost the other, followed by two matches against Scotland with the same result. The tour then ventured into the north east of England with a defeat against the Gentlemen of Northumberland and a draw against Durham.
The tour then continuted with various matches against county sides and others, with wins coming against the Gentlemen of Derbyshire and the Gentlemen of Warwickshire. The Canadian team finished the tour with a win/loss record of 2/5 with the remaining twelve games all drawn.
1950sThe Marylebone Cricket Club visited Canada in 1951, the highlight of which was the first first-class game played by the Canadian national team, played in Armour Heights, Toronto, which was won by the visiting side. This was followed in 1954 by a tour to England on which Canada played eighteen games, four of which were given first class status, including one against Pakistan who were also touring England at the same time. The MCC again visited Canada in 1959 under Dennis Silk, and played a 3-day game against a Canada XI in Toronto which they won by 10 wickets. They were undefeated throughout the tour, winning most of their matches by wide margins, but had a closely fought draw against the Toronto Cricket Club. However, it would be fifty years before Canada would next play a first class cricket match.
1960sThe annual series of matches between Canada and the USA continued, alternating between the countries. In the 1963 match in Toronto, Ray Nascimento scored 176, then a record for the series.
1970sCanada drew a game against Ireland in 1973, and the following year again embarked on a tour of England. The tour was a much lower profile than the 1954 tour, with the games being against club sides, county second XIs, and minor counties. Canada had a 4/6 win/loss record on the tour, with a further six games being drawn. In 1979, Canada participated in the first ICC Trophy. They reached the final of the competition, which qualified them for the 1979 World Cup, where they played their first One Day Internationals. The World Cup was not a successful tournament for the Canadians though, and they failed to progress beyond the first round, losing all three games.
1980sCanada participated in the ICC Trophy again in 1982 and 1986. They could not repeat their success of 1979 though, and failed to progress beyond the first round on both occasions. Other internationals in the 1980s include a no result game against Ireland in 1981, and a 3 wicket loss to Barbados.
1990sThe 1990s saw Canada progress up the international ladder, playing in three further ICC Trophy tournaments, their best being a seventh place finish in 1997. They also began competing in West Indian domestic one-day cricket in 1996, and competed in the Commonwealth Games cricket tournament in 1998, though they did not progress beyond the first round.
2000s2000 saw Canada host the first ICC Americas Championship, a tournament which they won. The following year they embarked on a tour to Sri Lanka, but the highlight of 2001 was their hosting of the ICC Trophy. They finished third in the tournament, which qualified them for the 2003 World Cup. It was this ICC Trophy tournament that first saw the emergence of John Davison, who was to become one of Canada's most successful players.
Canada played various matches in the build up to the World Cup, visiting Argentina in April 2002, finishing as runners up to long time rivals the USA in the Americas Championship, swiftly followed by a fifth place finish in the ICC 6 Nations Challenge in Namibia. The West Indian A team toured Canada later in the year, and Canada won the one-day series 2-1, and drew a two day game. This was followed by Canada's best performance to date in West Indian domestic one-day cricket, winning two games in their first round group, just missing out on qualification for the semi finals.
The World Cup itself was a tournament of contrasting fortunes for the Canadians. They started with their first ODI win, over Bangladesh. Two games later saw them dismissed for 36 against Sri Lanka, then the lowest score in one-day international history. The next game against the West Indies saw John Davison score the fastest ever World Cup century, although Canada lost that game, and did not progress past the first round.
Present Day2004 started badly for Canada, with a last place finish in the Six Nations Challenge in the United Arab Emirates after Canada lost all their games. They'd improved significantly by the time of the ICC Americas Championship in Bermuda, which they won. Also in 2004, Canada participated in the first ICC Intercontinental Cup, finishing as runners up to Scotland. The highlight of this tournament was the game against the USA in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when John Davison recorded the best match bowling figures since Jim Laker's 19 wickets against Australia in 1956.
In 2005, Canada again finished third in the ICC Trophy, which gained them official ODI status from 2006 until the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier, as well as qualifying them for the 2007 World Cup. Their performance in the Intercontinental Cup that year was not as good as in 2004 however, as they did not make it past the first round.
In 2006, Canada put in good performances in the four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup, beating Kenya by 25 runs and Bermuda by nine wickets, but their one day form was a complete reversal, losing three times to Bermuda and Kenya, and a further loss to Zimbabwe.
In August, Canada took part in the first Division of the Americas Championship. They beat Argentina and long time rivals the USA, but lost to the Cayman Islands and eventual winners Bermuda, and finished third, their worst performance so far in this tournament.
In June and July 2008, Canada will host Bermuda for three ODIs and Intercontinental Cup matches against Bermuda and Scotland. In August, Canada will travel to Ireland for an ODI and an Intercontinental Cup match.
Tournament History
World Cup* 1975: Did not participate
* 1979: First round
* 1983 to 1999 inclusive: Did not qualify
* 2003: First round
* 2007: First round
Intercontinental Cup* 2004: Runners up
* 2005: First round
Commonwealth Games* 1998: First round
ICC 6 Nations Challenge* 2002: 5th place
* 2004: 6th place
ICC Trophy* 1979: Runners up
* 1982: First round
* 1986: First round
* 1990: Second round
* 1994: Second round
* 1997: 7th place
* 2001: 3rd place
* 2005: 3rd place
ICC Americas Championship* 2000: Won
* 2002: Runners up
* 2004: Won
* 2006: 3rd place


text:
Welcome to my corner of the web!
Since you are you are here, you are maybe a little curious about me and the blog's background. Then you can read the long version: this blog post right here.
The short version however, is that I love writing, and I love all things tech and Social Media, so when blogging became a thing over ten years ago, I jumped on board, and never looked back.
Oh, and I'm wife to one, mother of four, full-time student, part-time supplier coordinator in the oil industry, LDS and lover of pets. And Books. And chocolate.


text:
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 1869 – 1948 was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement.
Gandhi was persuaded to try homeopathy by Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das, and after his initial suspicion, he became a staunch advocate of homeopathy, (commenting before he had even tried it) '… Personally, I would prefer homeopathy anyday to allopathy. Only I have no personal experience of its efficacy… (Dana Ullman, The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy. (North Atlantic Books, 2007). Multiple pages. See also Shashi Tharoor, Nehru: The Invention of India, (Arcade Publishing, 2003). Page 37)…'
And after Gandhi had experience of homeopathy, he exclaimed (from Chittaranjan Das 1950 All India Homeopathic Medical Conference 1968):
From Dana Ullman, The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy. (North Atlantic Books, 2007). Multiple pages) '… Homeopathy is the latest and refined method of treating patients economically and nonviolently. Government must encourage and patronise it in our country. Late Dr. Hahnemann was a man of superior intellectual power and means of saving human life, having a unique medical nerve. I bow before his skill and the Herculean and humanitarian labour he did.
His memory wakes us again and you are to follow him, but the opponents hate the existence of the principles and practice of homeopathy, which in reality cures a larger percentage of cases than any other method of treatment, and it is beyond all doubt safer and more economical and the most complete medical science…'
Gandhi introduced homeopathy in the Indian Constitution Bill as the official Medicine of India since independence from the British Empire in 1948.


text:
Lets face it, we're not all superstar gift givers. While others are picking up on subtle hints by loved ones, the clues blow past you like any booze-filled Friday night. If you're the latter, the holidays or birthdays are filled with anxiety. Well here at FashionMR, we want to lend a hand to make this holiday season a bit more enjoyable and relaxing. Below is a collection of stocking stuffers that will surely tickle the fancies of any man (no sexual pun intended).
The gifts in this guide range from "cheap and cheerful" to "downright ridiculous". And they vary from the tiny pocket sized bottle of Sriracha ($15) to the luxurious stay at the Presidential Suite in the Mandarin Oriental in Pudong, Shanghai, China ($27,000/Night). So whether you're being overly generous this year, cutting it back or somewhere in the middle, you'll be sure to find something in FashionMR's 50 Holiday Gifts.
$100 or Less
Thermals By Tani ($150-$300): Soft to the touch, thermals from Tani provide a mixture of warmth and comfort throughout the winter months; a staple in every male wardrobe.
Uniqlo Cashmere Sweaters ($90): An unbeatable price for a cashmere sweater, Uniqlo pulls it off again with this comfortable and warm piece. The sweaters come in crew neck or v.
Bison No.1 Leather Belt ($100): Sturdy and better looking with age, Bison No.1 leather belts are handcrafted in the USA and each item screams quality. Rather standard in design, it'll keep any pair of slacks or denim from coming undone. Each belt is stamped with a silhouette of a Bison and very smooth to the touch. It's another leather product that looks better with age.
Topsiders by ChantUSA ($90): Fusing college livery and casual topsiders, ChantUSA has a growing collection of shoes from UCLA to the University of Miami. Each pair comes made in leather and branded with the school's initials on the sides. So flaunt your school colors. Tastefully express school pride or help someone else do the same this holiday season.
Pocket Sriracha ($7): Ease your craving for Sriracha with this pocket sized bottle. Just throw it in your bag and be ready whenever you have that itch for some heat.
Death Before Decaf Mug ($12): We love our coffee here at FashionMR, so we feel that it should be made known to everyone around you. If you're just as passionate about your cup of joe, this is the a way to do it.
Shit I Got to Fu*king Get Done Notebook ($10): We know you always have a laundry list of things to do each and everyday. And if you're the forgetful type, why not write it in this?
Bonobos: Bold Check ($85): Look clean and stylish this holiday season with this button-down from Bonobos; currently on sale for $48.
New Balance: Elite Racing 999 ($99): Comfortable, classy and stylish in design, Elite Racing from New Balance is sure to help you standout from the rest.
Hickoree's: The Hill-Side Salt & Pepper Beige Socks ($18): Your socks have every right to be seen. So, let the world know that your socks are the shi*t with these bad boys!
Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon ($24): The holidays wouldn't be the holidays without some "fire water" courtesy of Bourbon extraordinaire Evan Williams. So make someone (or yourself) happy with some Evan Williams Bourbon.
Petrolified Iconic Car Prints ($19): Got carlovers in your life? If yes, surprise them with these minimalistic prints of iconic cars throughout history. It's sure to class up any man-cave.
Maple Bacon Flavored Ground Coffee 1 lb. Bag ($13.99): Why buy and enjoy them separately when you can simply enjoy it all in a coffee? This is the perfect gift for the bold few who enjoy bacon as well as coffee.
Kopi Luwak Coffee ($70): With the reputation for being "the world's most expensive coffee", the Kopi Luwak Coffee is quite an exotic blend of coffee. Harvested using methods that would make you cringe or hurl, the Kopi Luwak Coffee is truly in a class of it's own.
Bodum Santos Stovetop Glass Vacuum 34-Ounce Coffee Maker ($80): Since we're on the topic of coffee, why not talk about cool brewing methods? Bodum offers this nifty vacuum brewer that's sure to add a twist to any coffee-lovers brewing ritual.
Call of Duty Advanced Warfare ($60): For the Sony PS4 and Xbox One systems, COD: Advanced Warfare is a perfect choice for the gamelovers in your life.
Parker 71R Safety Razor Shave Set ($80): A classy razor set, the Parker kit has everything you need to shave like a "real man".
Penfield Summit Parka ($435): Any winter holiday gift guide will be lacking without a jacket recommendation. The Penfield Summit Parka is a quality choice that is sure to last many seasons. A mix of casual and utilitarian, these parkas are right at home over any kind of top; suit, shirt or sweater. And with a line of fur over the hood, it keeps the wind and low temperatures away.
Topo X Woolrich Rover Pack ($190): Topo in partnership with outdoor brand Woolrich, makes these cool day packs. Built by hand in Colorado, this pack is a mix of durability as well as quality. You can feel quality from the fabric used to make the pack, to the seemingly indestructible zippers.
Naked & Famous 32oz. Selvedge Denim ($495): Weighing in at 32oz., this heavyweight from Naked & Famousis are as stiff as they come. It'll turn any yogaphile or gymnast into a rigid branch. And because they are raw, you're going to have to break into denim. While it may be a pain to get into or move around in them, this denim is the king of all warm denims. Due to their thickness, this pair of denim is durable and long lasting.
Danner Mtn Light Overton ($330): An item manufactured right here in the U.S. of A., is the Danner Mtn Light Overton boot. The pair comes with Gore-Tex lining (breathable and waterproof) and a suede exterior. And much like the Bison belt, these boots look better with age.
Maple Set Knives ($105): This set of knives is a rather unique item in that each knife is made mostly of wood; with just the blade being metal. By using only a small amount of metal for the blade, it cuts down on the weight, making it comfortable to use.
Shinola: The Runwell Watch ($550): Built in Detroit with passion and quality, the Shinola Runwell watch is a minimalistic watch hand-built to last.
Grovemade: iPhone 6/6+ Wooden iPhone Case ($129-$139): Grovemade iPhone 6/6+ cases are built by hand using leather and wood. Each case is built to near perfection and made to last much longer than the life of the iPhone.
Eye of Mine: GoPro Gimbal ($399): A perfect companion to the GoPro, the Eye of Mine Gimbal is designed to keep the camera steady and leveled in any situation.
YotaPhone 2 ($800): Packed with two displays, the YotaPhone is first of its kind. With a AMOLED 5 inch display in the front and a 4.7 inch E-paper display in the rear, it allows the user to go with a battery saving option by using the B/W rear display. It also comes packed with the usual set of amenities like an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and Android OS built in.
Brooks Brothers: Fitzgerald Fit Blue with Rust Windowpane Sport Coat ($498): Known for comfort, luxury and quality, Brooks Brothers knocks it out of the park with this tasty number.
Polo: Diamond-Quilted Sport Coat ($279.99): Perfect for the winter season, this coat by Polo is ideal for any classy and simple setups.
Red Wing: Iron Ranger ($310): Designed for durability and know for its ruggedness, the Redwing: Iron Ranger is no exception. You can probably go without another boot for awhile.
Tanner Goods: Utility Bifold Wallet ($100): This Bifold wallet is another example of a quality item built right here in America. But if you're not fazed by that fact, know that it is well made to last for years.
Canada Goose Freestyle Vest Caribou ($307.80): Jackets are a necessity this holiday season, so are the vests if you're planning to go for a layered look. Keep warm while looking good with Canada Goose's Freestyle Vest.
Lomo' Instant ($120): If you're bored and annoyed at the design and handling of the Fuji Instax line of instant cameras, why not try one from Lomo? It takes the same film used on the Instax cameras, so you won't have to commit to another film format.
World Class Driving Experience ($300+): For those who love cars and experience based gifts, the World Class Driving experience will keep you smiling for a few hours. Enjoy a few hours driving cars you can only dream about (i.e.: Ferraris, Lamborghinis and pretty much anything fast).
20th Anniversary Sony PS4 ($650): If you're a Sony purist, you shouldn't let this one go. With only 12,300 units being sold, it is a rare piece. Reminiscent of the original Sony PS1, this kit comes with the unit, controller and camera; all in the same color.
Leica M-A ($4750): Put together with extreme scrutiny, Leica's M-A is 35mm film camera handmade in Germany. Unchanged since the 50s, this camera is made to last longer than your great grandkids, hence the price.
Hendo Hoverboard ($10,000): If Marty McFly was a childhood hero to you and 'Back to the Future' was your favorite movie growing up, then the dream of owning a real hoverboard is that much closer. For $10,000 bones you can live out your childhood dreams while emptying your wallet.
Custom Suits by Brook's Brothers ($14,000+): You know that any item from the Brook's Brothers line screams quality. These suits are no exception. If money is no issue, why not get your loved ones a suit that matches perfectly to them?
DJI: Inspire 1 Drone ($2899): This little gadget is sure to bring out the kid in you. It's a perfect item for videographers and enthusiasts alike. Just be mindful of the price.
2016 Lexus RC-F ($60,000+): Lexus is back in full force with a classy and sporty coupe. So go ahead. Buy it for your trophy wife when she says, "You don't have to get me a Ferrari."
Fujifilm X100t ($1299): While it looks a lot like the last model, X100S, it comes built in with a large number of new features that will make any photography professional or enthusiast smile.
Lux iPhone 6+ ($12,000): So why is this iPhone so expensive? Just take a look. The 24K gold plated iPhone 6+ also comes with diamond encrusted Apple Logo. Extravagant? Yes.
Presidential Suite at the Mandarin Oriental in Pudong, Shanghai, China ($27,000/Night): Take your loved ones to spend a week or two in this palace of a suite. They'll never forget it. Really. NEVER.
1967 MIKOYAN MIG 21 UM ($70,000): While your millionaire buddies brag about their G6, one up them with a Soviet Era fighter jet.
Moro Monk Strap by A. Testoni ($38,000): Made with alligator skin, the Moro Monk is a labor of love. Meticulously put together, these shoes are made to be durable yet soft and comfortable in any weather condition. Testoni also offers an option to add a gold, diamond encrusted buckle.
$100,001 or Greater
432 Park Avenue: Tallest Condo in the World ($95 million+): If you want to feel like a god in NYC, this is the place to do it. With 360 views of the entire city, the price tag is well worth the money in the Big Bad City.
Wallypower 118 Yacht ($33 Million): "The Darth Vader" of yachts, it definitely lives up to its name. It may not be the biggest, but it is definitely one of the slickest and swiftest yachts out there.
Westbury Castle Estate ($8 Million): If you know anyone that has dreamed about owning a castle, now they can all the way across the pond in England.
Mercedes Benz 6×6 ($600,000): Based off the G-Wagon, the Mercedes Benz 6×6 is sure to help you drive in style during the zombie apocalypse.
The Triton 36000 Personal Sub ($15 Million): If one-upping your rich friends isn't enough, show your worth by gifting a loved one or yourself, a personal sub.
Prevost Featherlite RV ($1 Million+): Built with all the usual amenities you would find in a villa, the Prevost Featherlite RV is as luxurious as it gets. Travel in style and comfort.
Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse ($2.5 Million): Sold in a two tone black and orange, it is the closet thing to a G6 for the road. If you know anyone with the need for speed, this is something right up their alley.


text:
A recent report that in many Western countries the frozen meals are becoming increasingly unpopular, reasons for which are not well known, is creating some anxiety among the major players in this sector. The fact that it is experiencing a negative growth during the last few years cannot be ignored and it is natural that it is a cause of concern.. It surely does send a powerful message about the the fast changing food habits in many parts of the world. Whether it is due to better awareness about the intimate linkage between food and health or the desire to eat safer foods which is the driving force is any body's guess. In contrast the organic food industry which was a minuscule player till about a decade ago is looking imposingly towering over the mainstream food industry which tells a narrative that consumer trust in food industry is fast eroding , probably due to the perception that the industry is more concerned with profits rather than their well being. The emergence of the High Pressure Processing Technology (HPP) probably may give a breather for the main stream industry as it is one of the cleanest technologies man has ever known with no apprehension about quality or safety issues. Here is a take on the fast growing HPP technology which is increasingly being applied to many products including ready meals. .
"Another use for High Pressure technology is on ready meals. The CSIRO's director of innovation in food, nutrition and bioproducts, Professor Martin Cole, said dinner was nearly ready. "Ready meals as a business are really taking off around the world," he said, at the Future of Food conference at the University of Sydney. "Everyone is time poor and yet everyone wants really good quality food, "With that business is the shelf-life, and that's where the technology comes into play. "It's based on High Pressure technology, which we've been looking at for over a decade, brought here from around the world."We've even taken some things from the CSIRO Total Wellbeing diet, so instead of people needing to read the books, these are ready meals."
Frozen meals are supposed to be the most convenient format for preparing a meal with minimum hassles though thawing still represents a minor hurdle in making a meal in a jiffy. Besides apparent loss of texture during freezing process and subsequent thawing could be a disadvantage against this category of foods. It is here HPP technology scores over all others and that explains its gaining unparalleled popularity with the industry. From being a limited player till recently handling only fruit juices, HPP can be useful in preserving many food products without exposing to severe processing conditions. The only constraint for its fast growth is the unbearably high cost of the machinery involved in setting up even small scale production facilities. If the technology becomes popular and if large demand emerges, the cost may come down significantly in the coming years.


text:
Worcester is about one month away from the City Council approving construction of a $240-million stadium development to bring the Pawtucket Red Sox to the Canal District, but the coup for the city to lure the top minor-league affiliate of the historic baseball franchise from its long-time home has been about 15 years in the making.
After a very public negotiation in the 1990s where Worcester felt like it was used as a pawn, the talks of the team moving to Central Massach morphed into smaller discussions ramping up in fits and starts whenever the team appeared to be questioning its commitment to Pawtucket. Those seeds eventually grew to fruition as Worcester officials used professional and closed-door discussions – and a lot more public money – to sneak through the window created by Rhode Island's hesitancy in approving financing for a new stadium.
"I've lived here my whole life, and I've never seen the community so excited about anything," said Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus.
The two-man discussions
The first link in the thread of officially landing the team in Worcester began shortly before the PawSox agreed to a lease extension in 2005 with Pawtucket. Former Worcester City Councilor Phil Palmieri had brought the idea to the floor of the council chambers of snatching the PawSox from their Rhode Island home. A group from Shrewsbury wanted to take on that challenge, but the team ultimately agreed to extend its stay in Pawtucket through the 2020 season.
Next came 2015, when the team was purchased by new ownership group headed by then-Boston Red Sox President Larry Lucchino. Palmieri – dubbed "Mr. Baseball" by Mayor Joseph Petty on Aug. 17 when the PawSox announced their intentions to move to Worcester – again raised the issue on the council floor shortly before the team began discussions to move to Providence.
At the time, Palmieri cited the blighted Wyman-Gordon site in the Canal District, which eventually will become the team's new home. Behind the scenes, Palmieri was talking to the Jim Skeffington, then president of the PawSox.
From that relationship, Palmieri was introduced to a ballpark consultant for the team who came to Worcester to check out the vacant Wyman-Gordon land.
With the team still in active talks with Rhode Island, those conversations remained with just those two men until Skeffington died of a heart attack in 2015.
Still, Palmieri realized that Worcester actually had a shot.
"I really needed to start talking with some critical players," Palmieri said.
The first man Palmieri reach out to: Timothy Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Dinner meetings
In December 2016, Murray and Augustus had dinner with Lucchino and his wife in Boston. The discussion was about a possible ballpark in Worcester, but the team was committed to trying to make it work in Pawtucket through June 2017 after failing to relocate to Providence. Lucchino said exactly that.
If that should fall through, Lucchino said Worcester would get a shot.
Aside from sending out feelers every now and then, Worcester stayed on the sidelines until July 2016, when a postcard campaign spearheaded by the Canal District Alliance kept Worcester in the back of the team's head.
The City Council in August 2017 then authorized Augustus to do everything in his power to lure the team to Worcester. Those efforts began the same month with a lunch meeting at Canal District eatery Lock 50.
That was the city's first real sales pitch, Augustus said. It included dozens of decision makers on the city's and team's sides.
"Then we started having conversations that just grew with frequency and intensity over a period of time," Augustus said.
Lucchino and team officials began coming to Worcester without telling City Hall to get an unbiased view of Worcester.
"We'd just hear about them going out to dinner somewhere or to a different venue," Augustus said. "It was them wanting to see for themselves if everything we were saying was in fact true."
Winning over the PawSox
Eventually, the team and city began meeting weekly. That grew to two or three times a week. Meetings would typically last at least three hours. Some would last the entire day. Some would take multiple days in a row.
"We even did one set of meetings at the Cape," Augustus said. "We stayed overnight."
Day after day, Worcester was rubbing off on the team, said Dan Rea, the PawSox senior vice president and general manager.
However, the team didn't immediately commit one way or the other, and it was still leaning toward staying in their longtime home.
"We wanted to give Rhode Island and Pawtucket every shot," Rea said. "It's been our home for decades."
It wasn't until the winter and spring months that moving to Worcester became a real viable option for the team, Rea said.
Augustus and Rea couldn't pinpoint one specific meeting where they feel the tide really turned, but Murray cited one late spring meeting at Worcester law firm Bowditch and Dewey where corporate sponsorship was discussed.
"In Rhode Island, they've got some of the best corporate sponsorship in all of Triple-A baseball," Murray said.
Team ownership was concerned that Worcester couldn't match that kind of big business support.
In 10 days, Murray and Augustus were able to draw up a list of potential corporate sponsors in Central Massachusetts to surpass what Rhode Island could offer.
"I dare say his jaw dropped," Murray said of Lucchino.
Certainty, support & money
The ultimate deciding factor, Rea said, was the certainty associated with Worcester's proposal, which he said gave the team the best shot for a 2021 opening day.
Boston developer Madison Downtown Holdings had control of the site and was already signed onto the ballpark project, which calls for a $240-million investment with hotels, apartments and mixed-use retail. The public support in Worcester and Massachusetts was many times more than there was in Pawtucket and Rhode Island, he said.
Worcester represented an opportunity for the team to reach a broader market Northern New England, Rea said, but still retain those core fans in Rhode Island.
Certainly not overlooked is the extravagant financial package offered to Lucchino and company with the team contributing $6 million in upfront money and $30 million in rent payments vs. the $12 million upfront and $33 million in rent payments in Rhode Island.
Still, from July 2 when Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo signed legislation authorizing a $83-million ballpark at an abandoned department store in Pawtucket, until the hours before the Aug. 17 announcement in Worcester, the team and Pawtucket worked earnestly to find common ground to stay in the city it has called home since 1970.
The rumor mill was in full force out of Rhode Island. Augustus and his team would sometimes fear Pawtucket would pull it off and secure their future with the the PawSox.
"It was a rollercoaster," Augustus said. Still, "I knew we were in a better spot than Rhode Island."
Pawtucket didn't have control of the Apex Cos. site or a developer lined up. Worcester had both.
$38M vs. $101M
The package Worcester offered to the team was never anything Rhode Island or Pawtucket would come close to, said Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien.
The offer to keep the team in Pawtucket, however, was unprecedented for Rhode Island, Grebien said. The $38 million of combined city and state funds would cover a significant chunk of the $83-million ballpark. The team would foot the remaining $45 million.
The team met with Grebien along with state and city officials weekly since July 2, but not much changed in the deal. Grebien said the city was willing to help offset some electricity costs, but that was about it.
In Worcester, the city was willing to borrow $101 million to pay for the stadium development, including $30 million which the team would pay back through annual lease payments.
"We were never going to extend ourselves just to keep the ballpark here," Grebien said.
The ballpark and top minor league affiliate of one of the most storied franchises in American sports history was important to the fabric of Pawtucket and the future economic development of the city, but more important for Grebien was protecting the city and state's taxpayers.
"Worcester was willing to expose themselves to a much higher degree than we ever could or would here," Grebien said.
Despite the dollar discrepancy in public funding between Worcester and Rhode Island, Rea said the team might have stayed in Pawtucket had the Rhode Island legislature approved earlier legislation backstopped by the taxpayers, a bill blocked by House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello.
Because of the nature of the legislature's dealings, the team faced vocal opposition during public hearings in the Ocean State against putting up so much money for an organization run by wealthy businessmen.
Those testifying in the public hearings cited 38 Studios, the failed video game company from Red Sox legend Curt Schilling, which went bankrupt after defaulting on a $75-million state loan.
"People were skeptical because of that saga," Grebien said.
Another factor playing against Pawtucket was the extra scrutiny put on the team's value to Rhode Island after the PawSox failed to get approval over a stadium deal to move to Providence in 2015. That three-year scrutiny included studies, public input and hours of meetings, and it all opened the window for Worcester to engage with the team.
"Clearly, Worcester was able to steal them from us," Grebien sid. "It was very transparent here, but they kept everything closed."
Behind closed doors
Closed, it was. Very few details of the Worcester negotiations were leaked out. That was by design, Augustus and Murray said, to avoid the divisiveness created in Rhode Island over the team.
"That probably did help," Augustus said.
According to Rea, about 20 other New England cities and towns were pitching the club on relocating to their cities. To avoid spilling the beans to the competition, Augustus and Murray structured the deal so it wouldn't need to be made public until negotiations were complete
The tight lips of City Hall officials and business leaders was the product of Augustus attempting to build a relationship with Lucchino and the team. To make a potential 30-year relationship work, there needed to be trust.
"I needed to make sure that if we get into a 30-year relationship with the PawSox, they were able to trust the person and entity they were getting into a relationship with," he said. "For the time being, that person is me."
Augustus was charged with doing everything in his power to get the deal done. He bypassed any legislative approval by utilizing state resources including the Housing Development Incentive Program to pitch in $35 million for the apartment component of the development and MassWorks funding for a proposed Canal District parking garage.
So, instead of a public discussion like Rhode Island with people of varying interests debating the good, the bad and the ugly about the PawSox and its owners, Augustus and Lucchino were able to unveil a take-it-or-leave-it proposal in euphoric public announcement full of congratulations and cheers.
The City Council does have the ability to alter the deal, but the team would need to sign off on any changes. In their Aug. 21 meeting, the council members said they would perform their due diligence but expressed broad support for WooSox and its stadium.
"People are just generally excited for this," Augustus said.
Type your comment here: