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I'm in! I've been accepted as member of the Large Association of Movie Blogs. One small step for zombies, one giant leap for credibility? Nah, but excellent nonetheless!
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Slither - review
Contains mild spoilers.
Alien Parasites. They're nothing new to the zombie myth and I've reviewed my fair share of films that saw little grubby predators weasel their way into the living and dead to take control. I'll admit though to always feeling a little wary when it comes to little green, err, things infiltrating and mimicking the native population, while all the while working towards the ultimate goal of global dominion. I mean, where the parasites take control of cadavers it's easy to shout zombie; they're reanimated dead and they look the part. What about when the hosts are still alive with their pre-parasitical personality suppressed or even joined with? What if the parasite has introduced a new uncontrollable desire or drive like sex (procreation) or hunger (survival); does an insatiable all-consuming addiction constitute enough of a loss of self, will, ego, being to semantically at least proffer the idea of zombie?
Director James Gunn's horror / comedy / alien parasites land on earth and look to take over zombie flick Slither both tasks me to ask this question while at the same time lets me off the hook completely. Three quarters of the way through the film after watching the very foreign parasite take its first victim, the town big shot Grantford Grant (the brilliant Michael Rooker), successfully find a mate and procreate with Brendalynne Gutierrez (Brenda James) and finally look to step things up spewing thousands of slug like throat guzzling parasitical spermatozoon on the world, Slither did the decent thing and allowed the hosts to die first. The resulting dead controlled by the will of the shared single conscious alien super disease are as close to the modern zombie as one is likely to get; their old selves, other than perhaps access from the new host to memories, are gone; they stumble about like something from a Romero film and they like to feast on flesh.
Slither lists itself as a horror comedy but I always felt the tension, gore and scares outweighed any desire for outright laughter. Ok, alien parasitical take over stories are out there and the film is chock full of audaciously brilliant set pieces that could certainly be seen as uncomfortably funny but there's no throw-away gags or cheap easy farce. The film takes its subject matter seriously but isn't afraid to be playful in a non detrimental way to the core story and atmosphere and it works brilliantly. Nathan Fillon as town sheriff Bill Pardy is the dry wit and hero of the film and arguably does have the lions share of one line quips but again they're never out of place or jarring; in many ways he's the Indiana Jones or Han Solo lightening the mood now and again but never at any expense.
The film has a comfortable cohesiveness, a singular vision, and flows with an effortlessness that signifies a cast and crew who were not only professionally invested but were actively enjoying the ride. All the sequences work, there's no dead dialogue or scenes and all the themes played with work; Gunn has cut and shot the film to perfection. Pacing is on point and the climax is satisfying and not drawn out and even though the central idea of the film is ludicrous it somehow manages to avoid any thoughts that it might be; it's a clever trick and shows it knows what it's doing.
As to the earlier question of whether the increasingly 'alien' but alive Grantford Grant is a zombie I'm happy to leave it up in the air. He's definitely had his self repressed but there's definitely a bit of the old person still there. It's all deliberately vague and disturbing, hinting at a precariously easy malleableness to a definition of self we consider so resolute and absolute. Also, if I start at this juncture including alien possessed films where do I stop? Species and The Thing are obvious starters, but I'd soon move on to any and all films that had someone temporarily possessed by someone / thing else and I'm not sure I'm ready to throw Wrath of Khan with Chekov and Terrell succumbing to Khan's indigenous eels into the mix just yet.
Slither is a triumphant alien parasite spectacular with first rate acting, a tight on point story that never languishes and lavish over the top special effects that manage to avoid ever degrading to farce. I'll admit to enjoying this far more than I expected and I was surprised I'd no memories of ever watching it before which is odd as it's the sort of thing I would have actively sought out. An alien parasite film, with tenderness, scares, laughter and zombies, this is definitely an extra-terrestrial recommendation, 8/10.
Monday, 16 December 2013
World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 - review
Contains spoilers.
Now I'm not exactly sure as to the reason I felt the need for a couple of weeks zombie cinematic vacation but I'm sure putting myself through yet another undeniably mundane and mediocre, however well intentioned end of the world spectacular had something to do with it. The Zombie Diaries wasn't a bad film; it had an earnestness and a gritty realism that elevated it's rather poor production and pedestrian pacing to be something I felt wasn't as bad as it could easily have been. It was still a very average film however, and to learn that it felt deserving of a sequel with an equally low budget was surprising to say the least. Learning that it was also set in the same 'world' with the same look and feel and the same first person narrative left me perplexed but intrigued as for all its faults the first showed undeniable promise. Without giving away the punch line it would seem I was right to be cautious.
Directors Michael Bartlett and Kevin Gates have returned to the bleak English muddy fields, slowest least dangerous looking undead shufflers ever seen on camera and obligatory shoehorned in morally bankrupt survivors as if insinuating should civilisation and authority ever crumble every young lad will immediately set off sadistically raping and murdering without a second's pause. The first instalment attempted an ambitious weave of a trio of survival narratives and while it didn't necessarily all work it was these small personal and desperate insights, and not the gun toting action finale that made the film work. The World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 seems to disagree totally with my take however, dropping any delicacy and any ambition to instead tell a more straightforward corridor shooter story with a single group of armed soldiers fighting their way through one heavily scripted encounter after another. There's no real depth, no attempt at anything particularly fresh and an over reliance that having a lot of zombies on screen and plenty of rather lacklustre head shots could carry it all.
It's several months after the apocalypse. The countryside is awash with the undead and a lone group of part time semi-military types are forced to flee the relative safety of their barracks / bunker, because someone left the door open, and make it on foot to the shoreline where they've been lead to believe they'll be rescued and transported abroad where things are much better. Each of the characters has a reasonably coherent back story and the plot itself while wholly unoriginal is not the worst thing I've come across in an amateur production it's just the whole thing is so dreary. I understand that bleakness and desolation was the theme, and that a zombie apocalypse wouldn't be a cause for balloons and dancing, but having the rather stale and derivative posse quite so uninspired and miserable soon makes viewing unnecessarily weary.
If you've watched the first you'll understand the description, slow and non threatening, yet persistent and plentiful. For a group of armed and trained soldiers the near snail paced zombies pose a surprisingly major threat. In fact I'd go one further and really question how such a pedestrian and unassuming foe could so quickly and totally have overcome a far quicker, more mobile, better equipped and far more cognizant population. And here's the rub; I'm all for no direct monster post-apocalyptic dramas, but if you're going to go to all the trouble to fill it with gnarly undead flesh eaters that are purported to have been responsible for the untold murder of billions, one could at least try and present them in a way that might other than fleetingly appear vaguely dangerous. There is some nice blood and gore and some nice deaths, albeit all too often helped by the coincidental blurring / damaged film / interference from the hand held docu style capture but it never manages to ever completely shake off it's low budget restraints or dare I say lacklustre direction.
It's [REC], Diary of the Dead, Blair Witch all over again with one of the soldiers Jonesy (Rob Oldfield) seemingly intent to record absolutely everything that happens however ridiculous it would be that he wouldn't stop and put the camera down to say, run away or shoot back. I've seen far worse but still suffers the same contrivance accusations levelled at all films of this ilk. There's also an attempt to add tension and purposeful drive to proceedings with the inference that should they not reach the boats on time the country will be firebombed to oblivion though this too never feels any more than a tacked on convenient narrative contrivance.
The World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 is an uninspired Romero-esque homage. Average acting performances, laboured dialogue and a plot that feels artificially stretched with unnecessary scenes added just to fill the gaps; it rarely offers anything for the viewer to ever get particularly excited about. There's a certain competence to proceedings and there's nothing pro-actively offensive, other than maybe an unnecessary and unhealthy fixation to include rape or torture, it just fails in all ways possible to stand out. Maybe I'm a tad jaded or maybe I've seen too many 'average' zombie films but The World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 just didn't do it for me in any way, 3/10.
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Located in the Greenwood Village community center in Denver, the property is valued at $46.2 million
Walnut Creek, CA, 7-9-2014—Tom Engberg, CEO of Loja Real Estate, announced the acquisition of Arapahoe Marketplace, a Sprouts anchored community shopping center located in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Loja Real Estate purchased the property from a private investor for approximately $46.2 million. The transaction closed on July 3, 2014.
Arapahoe Marketplace consists of approximately 192,000 square feet on 17 acres and includes 33 tenant spaces; the center is currently 82.4% occupied. The property is located at the intersection of Arapahoe Road and Yosemite Street adjacent to Interstate 25 in Greenwood Village a suburb southeast of Denver.
"We are very pleased to add Arapahoe Marketplace to the Loja portfolio. The acquisition fits our core-plus acquisition criteria and represents the ability to own a well located, successful shopping center with the ability to grow NOI in the short term through our lease-up and remerchandising strategies." stated Scott Kyman, Vice President of Acquisitions
In addition to its core-plus acquisition initiative, Loja is pursuing quality single-tenant grocer acquisitions throughout the United States. Loja currently has in excess of $100 million of additional properties under contract or in its active pipeline.
About Loja
Loja Group LLC is a real estate investment management firm with $200 million in assets under management. Through Loja Real Estate, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary, Loja acquires and manages commercial real estate assets throughout the United States. Additional information about Loja may be found at www.lojagroup.com.
Scott Kyman, Vice President, Acquisitions
Office: 925-935-4405, ext. 6
[email protected]

subset: commoncrawl


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Michael L. Scanlan - 68
4/16/1947 - 4/3/2016
Quincy formerly of Colchester
Michael L. Scanlan age 68 of Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy, Illinois, formerly of Colchester, passed away at 5:30 P.M. Sunday, April 3, 2016 at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy. He was born April 16, 1947 in La Harpe, Illinois, to Lowell and Jean E. Elston Scanlan. Mike was united in marriage to Sonja S. Stoneking in Burlington, Iowa in 1988, she preceded him in death on July 7, 2004. He was also preceded in death by his parents.
Surviving to mourn his passing are 2 Daughters: Tammy Scanlan and Todd Knowles, Macomb, Teresa Friedman, Missouri. Texas. 1 Granddaughter: Ceair Knowles, Macomb, 2 Step Sons: Rick and Jan Stoneking, Brad and Dian Stoneking, 1 Step Daughter: Dr. Renee Stoneking Renner, along with Aunt Mable and several Cousins and many friends.
Mike served his country in the United States Navy during Vietnam. He was a member of the Macomb American Legion, Macomb V.F.W., Macomb Eagles, Macomb Elks, and Local Plumbers Union. He was a lifetime plumber and had worked for the City of Colchester Water Department, and the Macomb City Water Department.
Funeral services will be 10:30 A.M. Saturday, April 9, 2016, at the Jones Mortuary in Colchester with the Rev. Mark Smith. Burial with military rites by the Macomb American Legion and Macomb V.F.W. will follow the services at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Colchester. Visitation with the family will be from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Friday at the Funeral Home. Friends may view and sign the register book at the funeral home after 9:00 A.M. Friday. Memorial is to the Colchester Fire and Rescue for Fire Fighter Rehab Equipment. Condolences may be expressed to the family at jonesmortuaryfh.com
6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Friday at the funeral home
10:30 A.M. Saturday at the funeral homeView Michael L. Scanlan's Guestbook
Recent Obituaries
Betty J. Frisbie, 81
Jack L. Nelson, 85
Orion B. Baxter Jr. (Bing), 80
Dorothy A. Foulk (Dea), 82
John Lawson, 65
Macomb formerly of Colchester
Loren C. Raleigh, 55
Tennessee, Illinois
Twila K. Schrodt, 84


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Stone bathtub Contario
Stone bathtub Contario is manually produced in Indonesia. Even though it looks like it was made of two pieces of stone joint together, the fact is, that it is made of one piece only. No glue, nor paint nor even groat is used. It is drained and polished inside. the outside is hammered. It is either made of cream, grey, yellow marble or black andesit. Marbles we use come from Indonesian mines directly. They often have some quartz veins, that make it look even more beautiful. However no veins pure marble is also available. Andesit however has no veins of other minerals, but little sparkling drops of minerals often appear.
According to a Mohs scale Andesite is 6 to 10 whereas marble is only 3. It means that andesite is much harder to break or scratch.
Stone bathtub Contario can be polished (not hammered) outside too.
Technical specification:
- Producer: Lux4home™
- Designer: Lux4home™
- Material: Marble / Andesit
- Dimension: 180 x 80 x 55 cm
- Weight: 1500- 2000 kg
- Collection: Natural Stone Bathtubs
Please notice that the outside wall of this bathtub instead being polished, it it hammered. However it can be done polished as well.
Natural stone bathtub Contario is to be seen all over the world in SPA centers, hotels, and luxury residential properties. We produce it Indonesia on Java island, and ship it to Europe, America and Asia.


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We introduce the new range of Lillian West gowns and what an amazing collection it is! Romantic soft tulles, bohemian laces and gorgeous designs. The new range features halter styles, strapless and mermaid shapes as well as so much more.
Ask in store today to make your appointment to view the new range!


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Things to do in San Diego
This Californian destination is not lacking in exciting things to see and do, it is in fact jam packed with varied San Diego attractions for children of all ages! There are bike trips out to Coronado Island, nature hikes, nearby villages to explore, nature reserves to see, or simply strolling around downtown like the locals. A locally operated San Diego tour is just the ticket for getting under the destination's skin to see what makes San Diego tick. Be sure to contact us to find out more about the extensive San Diego tourswe have on offer, or merely to find out more about your upcoming San Diego visit.
Our San Diego tours are presented to you as an outcome of the affiliation between the WHL Group (the world's chief "local" travel group) and Intrepid Travel (a trendsetter for small group travel companies) and are marketed through Urban Adventures.
We trust that you will have an exhilarating San Diego adventure with us!
Our Recommended Tours


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Annual Hacker Takeover of Sin City
The time has come once again for the largest gathering of brilliant hackers to congregate in one city. By now folks have started trickling in for the preconference Blackhat USA 2016 training that runs from Saturday the 30th to Tuesday 2nd.
The core event kicks off Wednesday morning with founder Jeff Moss introducing keynote hacker extraordinaire Dan Kaminsky. From that point on, attendees should prepare to drink from the proverbial firehose as presenters drop the latest and greatest findings in the infosec industry. The festivities take a more nefarious turn Thursday evening as the infamous Defcon conference/party gets started. The week wraps up Sunday August the 7th as you'll see many sluggish nerds making their way through McCarran airport after consuming way more knowledge than anyone should expect to retain in a one week span.
I will not have the pleasure of attending this year as I'm still letting the dust settle around me in my new role at ABS. Instead, I'll be keeping a close eye on Twitter and Reddit feeds, in an attempt to live vicariously through the internet buzz of the more impactful presentations. For those that haven't had the opportunity to attend either conference, I'd caution relying on the media's view of what to expect. If I had to personify the two conferences, I'd say Blackhat is a suit wearing corporate elite info sec professional and Defcon would be the defiant grey hat hacker that you want as a friend because the alternative is not pretty. The two conferences each have their appeal, especially for someone such as myself that makes a living offering solutions to help businesses stay ahead of the growing cyber threat that they all face day to day.
Blackhat is corporate driven and you can expect to see one of the most extravagant vendor pits of any conference out there. Any third party that can be remotely tied to security will be represented, so it's a great time to talk directly to system engineers about new products that could solve whatever security challenges you're facing. From a macro level it helps to identify where the industry is focusing by looking at the trends of where vendors are driving the conversation. Last year, I noticed an increase in cloud and virtual east/west security solutions. The presentations are top notch and tend to focus more on solutions and risks facing corporations. If there is a particular product (commercial/open source) that attendees want to have operational exposure to, there is an arsenal track that will show an in depth how-to demonstration. There is no way someone can attend everything that is of interest so I'd advise creating a plan of attack before the plane touches down in Vegas. The nightlife itinerary also needs to be tackled in advance. Most of the larger parties have an online reservation list that fills up very quickly. @defconparties on Twitter has become the de facto tracker of all things party related to the two conferences. Even if you aren't big into the party scene, I'd recommend attending some of the larger ones just to witness how over-the-top some of these events are. Rapid7 is one vendor that sticks out as they typically spend enough marketing money to make Donald Trump blush. This year it looks like they have a party Wednesday night at the Hakkasan Las Vegas Nightclub. Did I mention I'm really bummed I won't be there this year?
On the other hand, Defcon never disappoints in dropping 0-days and clever ways of inflicting payloads in every step of the kill chain. I stated earlier that I wouldn't rely on the media's depiction of Defcon. Most of the write-ups focus on the mohawks and crazy outfits that you will most definitely see. Attendees shouldn't let this be a distraction from the genius level content that can be found in both the speakers and attendees alike. Beyond the presentations I'd recommend stopping by the focused villages. I always make a point to stop by the packet hacking village and wireless village as they are the most relevant to my background. Blackhat is overwhelming while Defcon is like 5 Blackhat conferences going on concurrently. There are 15+ things going on at any given time during the day. If attendees are bored, they simply aren't doing it right. I still have a few things on my bucket list that I've not found time to experience in the past few years such as skytalks, badge hacking, social engineering demos, tamper evident contest and hacker Jeopardy.
Speaking of things I hate I've missed out on, both Blackhat and Defcon have a few key presentations I'm especially upset that I'll be missing. After car hacking was picked up by the main stream media due to Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek's presentation, I'm sure this year's talk by Jonathan-Christofer Demay and Arnaud Lebrun will be standing room only. They plan to release CANSPY, which is a tool designed to hack CAN buses in cars. Another topic of importance to me of late is cloud security. With AWS becoming the easy button for virtual datacenter operations, Dan Amiga and Dor Knafo are giving a talk titled "Account Jumping, Post Infection Persistency & Lateral Movement in AWS". The title alone gets me excited about what these guys will unleash. Blackhat's website allows the presentations to be sorted by topic. When I sort by Enterprise and Network Defense, the results are where I would be spending my time if I were attending this year.
Defcon has a slew of awesome talks and ground breaking events scheduled this year. DARPA has gone all in on the Cyber Grand Challenge, dropping $3.75 million in total prize money with $2 million going to the winning team. For those not in the know about Cyber Grand Challenge, teams will be judged on how well their fully autonomous systems can discover, prove, and fix system vulnerabilities. This contest will surely bring in a lot of press and attention from outside the typical infosec channels. However, hands down, the most interesting talk that I've read up on is being presented by SensePost engineers. Rogan Dawes and Dominic White are scheduled to release a tool that by all accounts will exceed the capabilities of current USB pentesting tools on the market. The talk is titled "Universal Serial Abuse: Remote Physical Access Attacks" I'm particularly excited about this topic as it closely relates to the presentation I was fortunate enough to give last year at Defcon 23. I'm anticipating the SensePost tool will be capable of significantly reducing the forensic footprint while exploiting the victim in a similar method as I demonstrated last year. For raw thought provoking content, attendees should be sure to listen to Jay Healey's talk "Feds and 0days: From Before Heatbleed to After FBI-Apple". His resume is unprecedented with time being spent starting the first Cyber Command, working in the White House, and is currently a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University. This one will likely not disappoint. In reality there are always hidden gem talks which completely over deliver my expectations.
This week is an exciting time in the infosec world. There will be more hacks, defensive tactics, and products released this week than any other week of the year. The vendors and speakers at Blackhat will surely set the bar as it always does to remain the pinnacle corporate security conference. The halls of Mandalay Bay will be full of value proposition talks and strategies to mitigate the latest threats. Later in the week, a few blocks down Las Vegas Blvd, the party really kicks into high gear as Defcon 24 launches. The brightest whitehats, blackhats, and greyhats will descend upon Paris and Bally's casino for the greatest hacking event in the world.
Jeremy has built his career around protecting assets in the most critical IT sectors.


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Project Summary with Interim Results
Human societies are characterized by flexibly changing social groups with remarkably strong bonds. Forming and maintaining such bonds is a deeply-rooted ability that is of vital importance for both individual mental health and society as a whole. A striking, universal characteristic of bonded groups is their widespread tendency to synchronize their movements rhythmically in time, as in community dancing or military drill. Prolonged episodes of such behavioral synchronization have profound effects: they boost cooperation and group solidarity and evoke feelings of pleasure, analgesia and deindividuation in the individual members. However, field studies and experimental research have thus far failed to provide clear insights into the neural and psychological mechanisms of the link between synchrony and bonding, and seem to disregard neurobiological levels of explanation. Yet, adopting a biological perspective is crucial for a full understanding of the ultimate and proximate mechanisms by which social motivations are modified by behavioral synchrony.
The present project aims to fill this gap. Using a multi-level social neuroscience approach we aim to assess how social bonding between individuals is modulated by synchronous motor behavior, and which neurobiological pathways enable these processes.
To this end, in the first project year we have focused on developing and validating novel experimental paradigms and behavioral measures to test specific hypotheses, with high experimental control and ecological validity.
Specifically, we have developed a new paradigm to induce physically exertive movement synchrony in a group setting in the laboratory. This set-up enables us to assess effects of synchrony over and above effects of mere physical exertion on several dependent measures. We also developed and tested a new method to assess changes in individual pain threshold caused by the synchrony induction. In addition, we have developed a battery of questionnaires to measure effects on subjective reports of task enjoyment, group bonding, positive affect and fatigue. A set-up consisting of the synchrony induction paradigm and dependent measures is currently being tested in a group of 72 participants (24 participants per group). Data collection is half-way and is expected to be completed soon. In parallel, we have designed a new paradigm to assess negative social consequences of group bonding processes evoked by synchronous group movements – a research direction which has thus far received little attention. This paradigm will be tested in first half of the second project year.
In addition to the efforts to develop and test novel paradigms, the first project year has resulted in two manuscripts reporting results of experiments on closely-related topics, which were carried out prior to the onset of the current project. One of these manuscripts is currently in revision; the other has been submitted for publication. One publication concerns the behavioral and electrophysiological effects of being imitated on social bonding. In this work we show that being imitated in a bodily congruent way selectively increases affiliation, social influence, prosocial behavior towards the imitator, as well as electrophysiological indices of empathic arousal. Imitative movements that were only temporally congruent did
not induce such effects, suggesting that the effects of movement similarity on social bonding are rooted in embodied motor simulations. The second publication addressed how representing other's bodily, cognitive and affective internal states drives enhancements in empathy and prosocial behaviour towards them. The findings of this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study suggest that actively overcoming the own perspective, rather than projecting oneself in others' shoes, might be more crucial to prosocial behaviours than previously thought.
Crucially, once thoroughly validated in a behavioural setting, the paradigms and measures which are currently being developed and tested will be combined with psychopharmacological manipulations to identify the neurobiological pathways by which synchrony affects social bonding. Ultimately, the expected insights resulting from the project will be of high societal and clinical relevance, critically advancing our understanding of the complex processes that act on our biological urge to belong, and the healthy or deficient social behaviours arising from it.


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macrumors 68000
Original poster
- Jan 16, 2004
- 1,613
- 0
right, i am having major finder problems. every time i turn my computer on finder never starts up, i just get the spinning beachball but all the other programmes work. i have to relaunch finder several times before it gets working but it always takes a few minutes to get itself going after relaunch. i have tried all the usual things such as repairing permissions etc. so basically any other ideas? i have noticed that my drives do not show on the desktop till finder has started, could it be something to do with that (e.g. my internal drive is going?) i dont think this coud be the case as i can launch other programmes that are on the dock as that is there.
so any ideas?
so any ideas?


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Senior Associate
Eric M. Heath serves as the Associate Vice President for Safety and Security at the University of Chicago. The University of Chicago's Department of Safety and Security is a full-scale public safety entity that includes the University of Chicago Police Department (an accredited law enforcement agency), Environmental Health and Safety, Transportation and Parking, Emergency Management and several other public safety units. Prior to returning to the University of Chicago, Eric was the Assistant Vice President for Public Safety and Chief of Police at George Mason University where he led a fully accredited public safety entity.
Eric is actively involved in the advancement of Campus Public Safety and works extensively with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA). Most notably, Eric serves on the Board of Directors for IACLEA as the current Vice President for Finance and was recently elected as IACLEA's next President-Elect. As a Board of Director and the previous Co-Chair of IACLEA's Government Relations Committee, Eric has represented IACLEA on numerous public safety initiatives over the past several years in Washington D.C. For his work with the association, Eric was awarded with the 2015 IACLEA President's Award.
Eric is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Sociology and has attended the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command. A Veteran who has served overseas in the Middle East, Eric has served in a public safety leadership capacity at several prominent institutions including the University of Arkansas, Vanderbilt University, and George Mason University.
Communities - Campuses - Schools - Workplaces
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Cincinnati Streets Preventive Maintenance 2019
Strawser Construction, a contractor for the City of Cincinnati's Department of Transportation and Engineering, is performing preventive maintenance on streets in the following neighborhoods throughout September 2019:
- Bond Hill
- Clifton
- East Price Hill
- Hyde Park
- Linwood
- Mt. Auburn
- Mt. Lookout
- Mt. Washington
- Roselawn
- Spring Grove Village
- West Price Hill
Please see the links above (or the neighborhoods drop down menu) for a list of streets and tentative start/end dates for each neighborhood.
Note: Dates are subject to change due to weather and field conditions. Please check back regularly for updates regarding work in your neighborhood.


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The time has nearly come for the best young badminton players from across the country to show off their talent after the seedings for the U11 National Junior Badminton Championships were confirmed.
Boys and girls from all over Scotland will descend on the National Badminton Academy, Scotstoun, for the competition – taking place on May 12 in Glasgow.
They'll do so looking to follow in the footsteps of competitors past, with Ben Riddle and Brooke Stalker celebrating the double 12 months ago – both winning in the singles and doubles.
This year Deepti Vijayakumar will be the one looking to achieve that feat, with the Edinburgh shuttler seeded first for both the girls' singles and girls' doubles.
Second seed in the singles will be Glasgow's Pranavi Singh, on her home courts, while Vijayakumar will pair up with fellow Edinburgh player Qing Yang Xiao in the doubles, looking to follow Katrina Chan and Stalker onto the top step of the podium.
Meanwhile Michael O'Neil Ferrero of Stonehaven will be tournament favourite in the boys' singles, the title last won by North Berwick's Riddle.
But hot on his heels will be Alfie Martin, while Nathan Sadler and Lewis Smith are the other two expected to challenge for honours as joint 3/4 seeds.
Martin and Ferrero will also be competing on the same side of the net in the boys' doubles, but they won't be favourites for the title – that mantle instead going to Dunblane's Cameron Russell and Lewis Smith of Glasgow.
Badminton Scotland chief executive Anne Smillie said: "We're really looking forward to welcoming the best U11 players from around the country to Scotstoun on May 12.
"All the top players around the world have to start from somewhere and perhaps we may see players competing here who go on to be world beaters in the years to come.
"You never forget your first badminton memories and hopefully all those who take part will be inspired to pick up a racket throughout their lives."
Draws will be published at www.tournamentsoftware.com by Wednesday 9 May.


text: Charma D. Dudley, Ph.D. FPPR Pittsburgh, PA Charma D. Dudley, Ph.D., FPPR is a member of the NAMI Board of Directors and is a native Pittsburgher. She is a licensed psychologist and also employed as an Associate Director of Behavioral Health Services at Value Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania. She previously served in the role as Clinical Director for several years at Family Resources, a private non profit agency that provides prevention and treatment services to families affected by abuse and neglect. In private practice, Dr. Dudley specializes in the treatment of individuals with affective disorder illnesses (depression, anxiety) and children and adolescents who exhibit behavioral problems. Dr. Dudley is also a consultant and trainer for behavioral health and social service agencies in the areas of cultural competency, mental health concerns for children and adolescents, diagnostic assessment, clinical documentation, child abuse, cognitive behavioral treatment and other therapeutic approaches. Dr. Dudley is the author of Treating Depressed Children published by New Harbingers. She has also achieved diplomate certification in Psychopharmacology from the Prescribing Psychologist Register. Dr. Dudley is a member of the American Psychological Association and Pennsylvania Psychological Association. Dr. Dudley currently serves as president of the Board of Directors of NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania. While serving as the Board President, Dr. Dudley has appeared on radio and television programs educating the community on mental health issues. Dr. Dudley was nominated for Entertainment Industry Council's 3rd Annual Mental Health Media Awards, for TV Community Affairs Program of the Year WPXI-TV NBC for the segment The Effect of Violence and PTSD on Children. During the 2019-2020 Board term, Charma serves on the Governance and Public Policy Committees.


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Gopher & Mole Scoreboard
2012: Gophers 25, Moles 2
2013: Gophers 9, Moles 1
2014: Gophers 14, Moles 4
2015: Gophers 15, Moles 1
2016: Gophers 19, Moles 3
2017: Gophers 8, Moles 1
2018: Gophers 11 Moles 0
Gophers 8
Moles 0
Recent Posts
Category Archives: Garden
Hello to all our gardening buddies! My countertop is covered in tomatoes, and there's a lot more out in the garden! Along with carrots, beets, basil, corn, squash, cukes, dill, hops, peppers, beans, oh my!! And pears (red ones especially … Continue reading
Harvest, harvest, harvest…
Hello my dear gardening friends, The garden looks beautiful (much thanks to all who weeded!) and has much to offer right now. Come on over and harvest this weekend if you can! The beans need to be picked! There are … Continue reading
WeedFest – BozoPalooza
Hello all my fancy fellow farmers! Next Saturday, August 12, is our big weeding day/potluck extravaganza, and you are all invited to join in! We start at 9am, and quit by 4pm. Darrel is planning to bbq for lunch, so bring whatever sounds … Continue reading
WeedFest 2.0
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I have a need… a need to weed!
Hello Farmers! One last reminder about this Saturday morning's weeding party – just in case I missed anyone with my previous email. If you have a free couple of hours, come join Darrel in the garden and whack a weed … Continue reading
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Planting or Bust!
To all my lovely gardener enthusiasts, Planting commences tomorrow! I know – very short notice, but this is somewhat extraordinary circumstances this year, so I beg forgiveness. From 12 pm to 5 or 6pm or so, I will be out … Continue reading
Alert: Planting Day Reschedule
Hey there Co-op Members We have a bit of a family situation that has come up. Due to a fire in Bud's (her dad) garage last evening, Suzanne will be in Lebanon though this weekend helping with insurance, birds, and … Continue reading
Fun times watching the garden not dry out.
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I came up with a calendar of events for every day of fall break. I need to have things planned in advance otherwise we just mope around the house and watch too much TV and go shopping for things we don't need just to have something to do.
I worked yesterday. It was finally the make-up day for when I took my birthday off. I tried to do it the very next Monday, but that is when we were hit by the hurricane and school was cancelled. While I was gone Michael took the kids to the mall. They went to the rock store and bought some rocks for Spencer's rock collection. Then they went to Phoenix Children's for Spencer's weekly appointment with dermatology. We have 5 appointments left.
Today's events included going to the IDEA art museum in Mesa, going out to lunch, going to the candy store to buy candy fish and making jello aquariums.
It was lovely and cool outside when we arrived so we actually spent a good amount of time playing with the outside musical instruments. And yes, I picked similar outfits for them so all I had to do was scan the room for red shorts and dark tops (Elliott's was black, Spencer's is actually very dark grey).
We bought a groupon for a 1 year membership so we'll be going here a lot until October, 2015.
There is a new camping room since the last time we were there, about 6 weeks ago. It was really cool, both literally and figuratively. I used the flash for some of these pictures but it was as dark as night in there. It was also cold and breezy, as if you were actually in the woods camping.
There were dress up clothes before you went in.
Without the flash.
With the flash. They were fishing for glow in the dark fish.
Elliott was very concerned about the fire. He kept saying for us to not touch it because it was too hot. He never did believe us that it was pretend. He also freaked out when Spencer sat on the fake logs (that were actually soft pillows) and pretended to roast a marshmallow and eat it. Elliott was screaming and crying that it was his turn to eat a marshmallow. We had to show him our hands and inside our mouths to convince him that we were just pretending and that there were no marshmallows and he was not actually getting cheated out of anything. Jeesh!
This was post meltdown when he demanded that his play clothes be removed.
Inside the train. The screen that normally shows a movie of scenery as if you were on a train was broken.
They spent a lot of time rolling each other in this tube. A lot of time. Oh so much time. Thank goodness for the pinterest app.
Once we were done we headed to my favorite breakfast place. We would eat there way more if it wasn't in Mesa.
On the way home we stopped at the candy store to buy candy fish. In my mind I thought we would just buy a box of swedish fish, but they actually had a variety of bulk aquatic creatures made out of sugar and gelatin. We got sharks, dolphins and both big and small fish.
After Elliott's failed nap we made the jello aquariums.
Then we dropped Spencer off at his aikido class and Elliott and I went to Kohl's. I had a $5 Kohl's cash that expired today and I hate when I lose those to an expiration. It's like throwing a $5 bill away. I also had a $25 gift card that Cathy gave me for being a part of her wedding in August. I was somewhat looking for shoes for my bridesmaid duties for Monica's wedding and a dress for the rehearsal, but I didn't find anything I loved. Well, I found some awesome shoes for a ridiculously low price, but a size 8 I am not (even though I almost convinced myself I could make them work).
So in the end Cathy ended up buying me this cute little pumpkin candle holder (I put the candy corn votive from the Yankee Candle factory in there),
and this black top.
I needed neither of them, but sometimes that's the best kind of stuff to buy with a gift. I had to use $1.97 of my own money. Not bad. Thanks Cathy!
After dinner the kids had their jello aquariums for dessert. It was a sticky, messy affair.
Up tomorrow. Two doctor's appointments and a new splash pad.


text: Firmly in control and able to pay for the care and services they deserve, today's retirees are redefining adult living communities. Unlike previous generations before them, people are not moving to senior living communities out of medical necessity. Instead, lifestyle choices will be the driving force behind their decisions. They want the right combination of price, location and personality.


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Congratulations to Elektra and her new home. If you find yourself in Estes Park, look for her cruising the town with her family and pack-mate Sancy.
One thought on "Elektra goes home"
A big Thank-you to Bobbie and her family, for helping me to transition into Silken Windhounds. Sancy has enjoyed getting reacquainted with Electra and we are looking forward to our jaunts on Lake Estes Trail, and downtown visiting friends, and the Riverwalk.
Lot's of new experiences for the girl, she has already been on vacation to Bryce Canyon, where they have a dog friendly trail. She has fit right into our lives so easy and know that the reason is that she was raised by a very special family at Firebird Silken Windhounds.
So happy, Love ya,
Lorna and Jack


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Hi guys,
Sorry its been awhile since my last post, a combination of wedding season (yes its starts earlier and earlier each year) a cheeky few days away at the parents and snowboarding has resulted in me missing my Wednesday blog posting sessions.
Today I wanted to quickly address a question I get asked fairly often by potential brides & grooms which is as you may of guessed already "can we come to see you perform?".
For myself and I would guess most other DJs pretty much of all their work are private events such as weddings, birthdays etc… which means it would be rather unprofessional to bring a couple of strangers along to what might be a very private and intimate event. I would also say as a DJ it would worry me that this potential couple might come along for 5 minutes early on in the evening when we might be at the stage everyone has just eaten while expecting to see everyone dancing like lunatics.
We then also have the issue of music policies, for example the potential couple might be looking for a heavy influence of soul and motown for their evening music while the couple who I'm working for on that evening might of asked for tons of rock and indie. The worry would naturally be that the potential couple think I don't personally play any of their preferred genre of music while the reality is I'm very reactive to what is happening in front of me and playing to the guests tastes rather than me pitching up each week and playing the same songs in the same order.
That being said I totally understand why I get asked this question and I'm very keen to help explain why I say it's not possible, however a quick sit down together and a discussion of the music can pretty much help you decide if feel me (or your potential DJ) has the required knowledge of your preferred genre of music.
I have been very lucky recently in the fact a fantastic videographer was booked all day (and evening) who has very kindly put together a video of me performing in the evening. This is what I'll be showing to my clients who do ask me this questions in future 🙂
Videographer is Adam Huckle http://www.adamhuckle.com who of course I highly recommend!
Filed under: DJ, Entertainment, First Dance, Wedding, Wedding Planning | Leave a Comment
Tags: can we see a dj perform, Cotswolds, DJ, Entertainment, Gloucestershire, matara, Tetbury, Wedding
Chatty Man?
Hi guys,
Hope you're all well, sorry I've not posted for a few weeks however its been pretty busy here with the influx of enquiries for 2013/14.
Today I just wanted to throw some thoughts down onto virtual paper regarding the use of the microphone while performing. When talking with clients/couples one common question is about microphone usage and their desire for the DJ to steer clear of the stereotypical type chat and things like introducing a song, giving some information about the record label and how long it was in the charts blah blah blah.
For myself the amount I use the microphone really does depend on what is happening during the evening. If everything is going along "well" then I have little need to "chat" other than to announce things like the buffet being ready, the first dance and of course the grand finale.
That said at some events I have a sense that while the evening is going "ok" but I could do with attracting a few more "chair dancers" onto the floor. One way to do this is to use the microphone to say something along the lines of "hi guys, don't forget you're more than welcome to make requests this evening we want to see you all on the dancefloor". The idea is to get the across the fact guests can request but also to remind them that there is a DJ not a juke box present and to make myself appear approachable.
Having been a moderator on a DJ forum for a while I've seen time and time again DJs who say "I let the music do the talking for me" which actually translates into "I'm too shy to use a microphone or have no idea how to use it". It is important to have confidence when using a microphone as this will translate into the message you are broadcasting to your party guests. I actually think most of the time it doesn't matter what you say, its how you say it.
Thats all from me today folks, hope you've enjoyed todays blog 🙂
Filed under: DJ, Entertainment, Event Planning, First Dance, Wedding | Leave a Comment
Tags: Being A DJ, Bridal Questions, Cheltenham, Disco, DJ, Entertainment, Gloucestershire, Wedding, What to look for in a DJ
What does a wedding MC do……..
This may or may not be something that you have come across yet however it more than likely something that you will see appear in wedding marketing/groups/forums sooner rather than later…..
First and foremost a wedding MC will introduce yourself and any wedding guests making speeches at your wedding breakfast (usually father of the bride, best man etc…). From a background of public speaking to wedding parties myself and many counter parts within the industry will feel confident in doing so and can help offer advice to those who haven't. We can also offer microphones, speaker systems etc.. should it be required at your venue and highly recommended that you do so at marquee weddings.
With a wedding MC as well you're getting someone with vast experience of weddings so not only can offer help and advice on the timings of your day but will be able to adapt to events on the day to ensure everything runs smoothly. We certainly aren't wedding planners however in the absence of one we can help ensure people are in the right place at the right time which is a job I know a lot of in house food and beverage managers don't particularly enjoy.
If you are thinking about employing an MC or maybe you're worried about how your big day will run then why not just pay for a quality MC but also pay for peace of mind as well.
Naturally any questions then please let me know, I'm here to help 🙂
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: DJ, Entertainment, Gloswed, Gloucestershire, MC, Wedding, Wedding tips
Hi folks,
Hope you are all well and good this fine afternoon.
Todays blog post isn't directly related to any recent incident but it is something that time and time again comes up usually when dealing with guests rather than clients.
Before I started DJing for what I would describe as "mainstream parties" I had all sorts of ideas about what music I would play. Coming from a funky house background I was going to rock parties up and down the country with cool tunes that nobody had heard before and everyone would be dancing. I had no idea how wrong I could be until I actually did start doing Uncle Johns 40th and more recently weddings.
Six years (and roughly 500 gigs) later and my outlook and ideas have changed. Yet still every so often I have to explain to guests why I'm unlikely to play their request which some people understand but many don't. Today hopefully I will help some people understand at least the thinking that I put into my song selection.
Firstly, there are a few general golden rules,
*As a wedding DJ my job is to entertain and get everyone dancing. I'm not here to "musically educate" everyone.
*People in general will only dance to music they know pretty well.
*What you may consider a "big hit" may not actually work as you think. If I had a pound for everytime I've heard "play it, everyone loves this song" then I wouldn't be writing this blog post.
*I usually have a rough idea of the next 10/15 minutes of songs. I'm a reactive DJ so always looking to "play the right records at the right time" so if I'm playing some Motown to a full dancefloor I'm very unlikely to play a record that is vastly different such as heavy metal. I will however save that request for later and will even plot roughly how I will move from motown to metal but it will take some time to do so. The only time it is worth abruptly going from one song to the next is it you suddenly need to "up the tempo" or the current song isn't working (which I have to admit is rare but it happens to all of us). This is a major point most guests don't actually understand and appear to think we have our own collection of songs on shuffle. If is a common theme that us DJs encounter is the party goer that goes "play my song now, nobody likes this" to a full dancefloor of people.
*If your a guest at someones wedding, chances are the happy couple have had some input into the music policy for the evening, heck they are more than likely to have chosen their DJ based on their music policy. If your DJ tells you that the couple have vetoed your request then he/she is very unlikely to change their mind no matter what you say.
That said here are some things I urge you not to do
*DJs surprisely are also humans, if you ask for a song in an aggressive and rude manner then it only makes it more unlikely that he/she is going to play it.
*Don't ask "what songs have you got". Chances are the DJ has already got a few to work through and failing that is trying to rack his/her brains to find the next good song. If you don't know what song you want to request then please do not ask the question. The answer will be "thousands" whoever you ask. If you know the song but don't know what it is called then that is different.
*If the DJ is actually on the microphone or has his headphones on please don't stand their poking him/her within an inch of their life. You might think this is common sense but it happens………
*The most important one is that a good DJ knows what they are doing. None of us want an empty dancefloor and we have a sixth sense that tells us if what we are playing is "working". They don't need to be hearing "play this right now" or "this music is ****". Remember you are one of what should be a good number of guests all with their own musical preferences and pleasing everyone is a nigh on impossible task. The expression "you can either please all of the people some of the time or some of the people all of the time" rings true.
So there you guys have it. In summary I certainly don't want this to sound like me on a soap box having a good old moan because it really isn't. Its more to give people an insight in what the DJ at your next party is likely to be thinking and his/her approach. With this knowledge you can hopefully appreciate the thought process and understand why your song may not get played straight away. Naturally if anyone has any questions then please feel free to comment below and I'll happily get back to you kind folks.
Filed under: DJ, Entertainment, Event Planning, Wedding, Wedding Planning | 1 Comment
Tags: Bridal Questions, Disco, DJ, engaged, Entertainment, FAO, Music, Playlist, Wedding, What to look for in a DJ
Welcome, 2013
Hi everyone!
Happy new year everyone, hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing time off over the festive season.
Seeing as we are starting a new year I thought I would take the time today to talk about retro theme ideas that we can help with, particularly if your thinking 70's or 80's.
Being a huge fan of 70's disco I was over the moon with one of my couples last year when they said in the meeting that they wanted just disco and funky house all night and had Beegees "More Than A Woman" as their first dance which is one of my personal favourite songs. For this we also swapped out our usual lighting and went with just a disco ball which really helped with the theme and is a very cost effective solution to anyone wanting a retro look to their evenings entertainment.
If your thinking of an 80s theme then we have a few more options to offer our clients. We have the LED night fever dancefloor which personally I think looks really cool when used in the right environment. We can also provide the old fashioned lightscreens as a frontage if you really wanted to push the boat out on this. I will admit they aren't to everyones taste. We can also provide UV lights as well which works well with a neon theme or when guests have used good quality body paint. If you have a particular favourite tv show or "icon" from your chosen years then we can project images at your event.
These are just a few ideas to get you guys started but if you have any of your own then please do share them with me.
Filed under: dancefloor, Event Planning | Leave a Comment
Tags: 70s, 80s, birthday party, retro, vintage
Some wonderful feedback…
Hi guys,
Hope we are all keeping well out there in the blogging world. Currently sat once again in Cafe Corretto the day after the Glosbiz Christmas party and feeling surprisingly fresh!
I received an email first thing on a Monday which reminds me why I do what I do, it certainly isn't a money thing but the buzz I get from seeing a group of friends and family celebrate someones big day with my help as a wedding entertainer is a very powerful thing.
You may remember me mentioning on here (and on the facebook and twitter pages/accounts) about a tipi wedding in November during the worse rainfall we have had in years….in Tewkesbury (those of you that are local will know its the first place to food anywhere). It was a challenging gig and lucky that I went prepared. Here is the email….
"Dear Neil,
Apologies for not sending this earlier as we have just returned from our honeymoon but we just wanted to say a big thank you for all your efforts and DJing at our wedding particularly given the dreadful weather that day. We were just happy you managed to turn up given the location of the reception but you did a fantastic job and we hope you managed to get back okay and in good order.
We can recall numerous comments from our guests about how great the DJ was. My abiding memory was of the dance floor being pretty much full the whole time which is always a good sign. Thank you also for playing the songs on our list no matter how 'cheesy' they were! Should any of our friends need a recommendation you will be top of our list and if you would like feedback for your website then we will be more happy to provide some.
Thank you again,
That will see me flying for the rest of the week. It also reminds me why I'm not actively trying to increase the number of DJs that I employ and aiming to do 95% of the DJ work that comes our way.
That should be it for me in 2012, hope you guys all have a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Please do let me know if you have any comments or suggestions for future blog posts.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: Disco, DJ, Events, Feedback, November, Tewkesbury, Tipi, Wedding
Hi everyone,
Writing this blog post today from the warmth of a coffee shop overlooking a very frosty and wintry looking Gloucester. This weeks post is in reply to a suggestion from the fabulous Kirsten Butler from "The Little Wedding Helper" http://littleweddinghelper.co.uk/ Having worked with her I can say I've seen her magic first hand, a very talented lady.
Now my teachers pet introduction is done, let me crack onto the question raised by Kirsten. I wanted to state at this point I have only a few golden rules, one of which is to avoid being negative about other suppliers however I will more than likely mention a few stories that I've heard which I feel is relevant to answering the question.
The stereotypical DJ (which is constantly reinforced by the media) is of some old fella behind some flashy and tacky light screens talking non stop over the music, with a pint in one hand and a fag in the other. While this might of been accurate in the 1980's the whole industry has moved on leaps and bounds since then. The whole red coat routine is rather old hat now and while most experienced DJs have this in their locker, the good ones know when to dust it off and party like its 1985.
That said, its fairly common for some newbies to the industry (As an admin on a national DJ forum I see day in and out whats "occuring"). The common phrase is to "let the music do the talking" which translates into no interaction at all with their audience. I have had a small number of clients request this which I'm happy to do but will say in my own personal opinion that its not the way to go. Why?, well I don't feel the need to tell everyone how long this B side track was in the charts in 1979 but I do feel the need to make myself come across as friendly and approachable to all party goers. When someone comes up to request a song they are telling me so much more with that, little things like body language can give me ideas to how people are feeling at the time, what mood is everyone in. Does the volume need to be increased or is the genre of music not quite right for that particular moment in time.
Even if people are so forthcoming with requests it doesn't stop me looking around spying for clues to how to maybe improve the "soundtrack" be it early doors background music or how to reach that grand finale track. Its a skill and a sixth sense that only comes with experience and some common sense. I've heard too many stories to the contrary to say every DJ does this.
Which leads me nicely onto my next point, meeting pre event with your DJ. Even if you have no particular music tastes in mind (which actually makes this meeting even more important) is the you feel you can trust him/her to make these choices and that they know what they are talking about. For me I'm always keen to find out what genres of music they like and don't like so I know the boundaries to work within on the evening. The whole playing the same old songs at weddings is not true for myself and when possible I avoid playing the cliche tracks like "Celebration", "Dancing Queen" and "Come On Eileen". Naturally if my instinct tells me these songs will work wonders then I have no issue what so ever in playing them.
To sum up then, yes you could have someone sat their on a chair playing songs in a random fashion but if it has no flow, if the DJ has no connection or even cares about the dancers then how are you going to get people up dancing and enjoying themselves? It is a skill and an art which I'm working on constantly to improve.
So if your looking for a DJ to listen, react and execute the perfect soundtrack to your day then please do let me know. I have many good friends in the industry all over the country and always happy to recommend. If you need any tips or advice then please do also send suggestions my way, who knows I might feature it in a future blog post 😉
Filed under: Entertainment, Event Planning, Wedding | 2 Comments
Tags: Disco, Wedding, What to look for in a DJ


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Click here to download this resource as a PDF
Increasing equity for people with physical and mental disabilities in and around our worship spaces can be easier than you imagine! Check out these four ways your church or ministry can better welcome, accommodate, and worship alongside those with disabilities:
- Church events are a great way to be considerate of the physical and mental abilities of all people. The next time your church or ministry has an event, include a space on your registration form for accommodations. These accommodations may include wheelchair or other mobility / auxiliary access, noise cancelling headphones, or large print bulletins. These small, but important accommodations can widen your church's ability to reach more people in meaningful ways.
- Much of how we navigate the world is shaped by the way we interpret biblical texts. Reimagining Scripture, especially texts that highlight the physical and mental abilities of others, helps us to preach in ways that do not problematize the differing ability. For example, texts like Acts 3:1-10 and Matthew 17:14-21 are often positioned with a person's inflictions as the problem to be solved. While Jesus' healing manifestation for both people is evident, preaching these texts often stigmatizes life experiences that are beyond our control. Reimagining Scripture in a way that does not elevate the affliction as a "problem" allows for liberative and inclusive preaching that does not stigmatize those with different physical and mental abilities.
- Many older or conventional churches do not have ramps for wheelchairs to enter the building or sanctuary. Many edifices have steps that lead up to the pulpit, worship space, or choir stand making it difficult for someone with a physical disability to take part in the worship experience. This limits the ability of people who may have a calling or interest in preaching or music. More contemporary churches can also miss the mark with their church designs by not considering the accessibility needs of those with physical disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act website offers a great checklist for existing facilities that want to make their building more ADA accessible.
- For people with Sensory Processing Dysfunction (SPD), bright, flashing lights and loud sounds can make it difficult for individuals to engage in worship. People with SPD have highly sensitive sensory reactions to touch, light, and sound making many worship spaces difficult to manage, uncomfortable, or prohibitive. Using noise cancelling headphones or creating a worship space with dimmed lights and lowered audio are practical ways to help engage those with SPD. People with forms of Epilepsy can also benefit from these equitable changes in the worship space.
Many of these practical tips are easy to implement to ensure that we create welcoming spaces for all people, regardless of physical or mental ability. All of them are worth it. While we may first think of these ideas as ways to reach more diverse people, what we want to ensure is that we are offering radical hospitality as a form of worship. Radical hospitality is about curating spaces where mutual respect and regard for personhood is ingrained in the worship, theology, and practices of our churches. Accessibility opens up our physical, visual, auditory, and theological senses to be aware of the presence of God. Accessibility in practice and preaching is accessibility to God – a path that is free of obstruction and limitation – a path that is wide enough to accommodate us all.
See also: the Annual Accessibility Audit for UMC's and Accessibility Mini-Audit for Churches
This resource is written by Rev. Alisha Gordon


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We found the beautifully whimsical brand Willow Knows while browsing Need Supply Co. and were instantly intrigued and lusting after the pieces. The patterns on the brand's silk scarves seem like they should be framed and hung on our walls as art, let alone draped around our necks. They are mesmerizing. We were even more excited to find out the designer behind the label, Jessica Lee, lives in Charlottesville, VA, very close to our hometown of Richmond. Lee finds her inspiration from her daily surroundings there which we can say from first hand experience are truly beautiful. There is a great interview with Jessica on Need's blog that made us fall even more in love with this handmade label. We've always loved the word willow, too.
Can you summarize willow knows in four words or less?
JL: Intuitive – intensely hued – motion
Here are our favorites from the Spring '13 collection:


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Practice Areas
Our environmental team provides legal assistance to national and foreign companies in a wide range of environmental law-related matters, focusing on identifying environmental, social and governance issues and proposing action plans to address such risks.
We assist clients in commercial and real estate transactions, including in support for the regularization, management and monitoring of environmental liabilities and compliance with environmental social and governance standards after the transaction.
Together with Stocche Forbes´ Infrastructure, Banking and Capital Markets teams, the environmental team advises on the development and financing of major infrastructure projects involving the energy, port, road, urban mobility sectors, among others.
We work closely with Stocche Forbes´ Litigation team in judicial and administrative litigation cases, representing clients in arbitration and investigative proceedings concerning environmental matters.
Our environmental team can produce complex memorandums and legal opinions, including within the context of commercial transactions and to fulfil high standards of international financial institutions.
In all this work, we aim to provide the solutions that strike the proper balance as to ensure our clients legal certainty, the efficient use of resources and prevention of reputational damages.
Our robust transactional experience enables us to address any environmental issues with an objective and timely approach that is consistent with our clients' needs. Our team is able to provide highly technical and at the same time pragmatic legal recommendations, always based on an extensive analysis of all related environmental, social and governance risks.


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On the Plains of Hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who, at the Dawn of Victory, sat down to wait, and waiting—died!
-George W. Cecil (1923)
Breaking concrete with a sledgehammer.
That was my task in helping to repair the walkway. To pour the fresh cement would require breaking up the old, uneven section. Swinging the hammer high, I slammed the head against the hard surface…and felt my teeth snap together as a chip of stone grazed my cheek. The section of concrete was very thick, and swing after swing the slab looked quite the same.
"Nothing is happening," one of project volunteers said.
"Oh, it is happening," another said. "Just watch."
A few more swings. A few more high-pitched pings.
And then, with no warning, at a blow just like all the others, came a deep, cavernous thump as a network of wide, spiderweb fractures formed in an instant. The breaking had been taking place all along deep inside the concrete. Fissure after unseen fissure snaked through the structure of that slab, and when enough of them met up, at that final moment, everything gave way.
You never know how close you may be to a breakthrough. To a movement of God. To an answered prayer.
We give up all too soon.
What if Naaman, leprosy-riddled, had washed in that muddy Jordan River only four times?
What if Joshua had stopped at the fifth trip around Jericho?
What if Elijah had prayed but six times and gave up on the rain?
What if you give up now?
Keep washing.
Keep marching.
Keep praying.
Keep swinging.
2 Kings 5
Joshua 6
1 Kings 18:41-45


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Romeo and Juliet, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Ben and Jerry.
Ah, yes. The perfect partnerships where the stars are aligned and the heavens part, and in some cases where your names combine. Sports teams and sponsors are often in search of a similar union — a harmonious alignment of brand and team that reflects the team's values, a brand that their audience adores and a brand that they know their audience will want to consume.
So how can sports teams use data to help strengthen their partnership with sponsors?
Finding sponsors based on data, not feelings
According to IEG's annual spending analysis, the number of companies spending over $15 million on sports sponsorships grew from four to 107 in 2014 and remains steady in 2015. However, many of these partnerships are approached with ambiguous terms. Decisions are often made on a "gut feeling" or sports teams simply align with brands that have the largest marketing budgets or brands associate themselves to a team or player based on cool factor. Typically, there are few metrics in place to back up these investments, like TV logo exposure and sales activity.
Large brands continue to generously drop millions of dollars on these "blanket" sports sponsorships. And now with the advent of mobile apps, social media, in-stadium wi-fi, the opportunity to reach these fans has become more sophisticated. This makes sports sponsorships more nuanced, and therefore more competitive and expensive for brands — even without a strong sense of ROI.
Despite the hefty price tag, a recent analysis by the association of National Advertisers revealed that only 35% of marketers consistently measure the impact and effectiveness of their sponsorship activities, and 80% of them reported that the need to measure sponsorship ROI has significantly increased in the last couple of years.
So why isn't anyone paying attention to the data that is likely available to them?
Sports sponsorships offer brands a unique opportunity
Sports teams offer a unique value proposition to sponsors. To put it into perspective, the NFL accounted for the top 45 out of 50 TV shows in 2014, bringing in 17.6 million viewers per game. Where else can brands have direct access to such a high concentration of captive fans and guarantee a recurring audience?
To prove this loyalty even further, Wall Street Journal recently published an article confirming that NFL sponsorships revenues will rise by 15% this year, despite highly controversial scandals by football players like Ray Rice. The same goes for FIFA. Even though there is a clear display of highly unethical behavior, brands are still in favor of associating themselves for the sake of reaching unwavering sports fans. Sports fans aren't going anywhere and brands can find solace in knowing that their message is received by a sizable population.
So basically, we know that brands will spend money, but why aren't they optimizing the money that they are spending by using data?
Sports sponsorship data is overwhelming
With all of the fragmented data sources, getting data and personas aligned has proven to be overwhelming and cumbersome for most marketers. Most teams have relied on traditional methods, such as using Scarborough (Nielsen) to try and measure metrics like cost per reach, unaided awareness per reach, sales/margin per dollar spent, long-term brand attributes and indirect benefits to help evaluate if the investment is worth it. However, there is a wealth of first-party data that has become available through email, social media, gated wi-fi and more where companies can now have a truly holistic view of their fans and run highly targeted sponsorship campaigns. Having data in so many disparate places with inconsistent metrics makes capturing ROI incredibly difficult for sports teams.
Putting data science behind sports sponsorships
In order to understand if sponsorships are truly being optimized there are several teams that are pioneering new ways of using data to please sponsors. The Panthers were able to sign, retain and upsell sponsors by capitalizing on customer demographics and brand affinities data. They were able to collect this data through social authentication, gated wi-fi and gated content on their fan newsletters.
Another team that is leading a sponsorship revolution are the Indiana Pacers. By collecting and unifying first and third party data, they have been able to show change in audience affinity over time. For example, if a beer brand sponsors a portion of the stadium, they are able to use first party data to show the difference an increase or decrease the affinity for the beer.
So while sports teams and brands have a long way to go before they start combining their names, unifying customer data is certainly a good first step.


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Here are a couple of my Kanban DT cards for this week ...
... for this one I have used the 'Christmas Scroll topper' and 'Vintage Christmas Swirls card', both from the Christmas compendium collection ...
... for this one I used the 'Christmas Lights topper' with the acetate and 'Christmas Holly Background card'
Hope you like them.
You can see more of my DT cards and all the other members DT cards on display on the 'Crafted by You' stand (C16) at the NEC, Birmingham this weekend.
'Crafted by You' are the NEW retail division of Kanban.
I will be there and so will the lovely Dawn Wheeler and Karen Smith (Mrs Kanban) so pop by and say hello, we would love to meet you.
'Crafted by You' will have a website too shortly where you will be able to buy all your Kanban crafty goodies.
Please visit the Facebook page to keep upto date.


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Tag: Dr. Amy Hendricks
The Secret Sauce for Keeping Specialists in Rural Nova Scotia Revealed
Dr. Amy Hendricks is passionate about rural medicine. When she moved to Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 2016, she left one small community for another. She'd been working in Yellowknife for 14 years, caring for patients in remote areas across the […]


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Conrad Anker has traveled the world in search of the raw climbing experience. From the summit of Everest to the granite spires of Antarctica back to the frozen water falls of Hyalite Canyon near his home in Bozeman, Montana, Conrad has seen a nature in its untamed power. He has experienced the wrath of avalanches creating the need for climbers and skiers to be properly educated and trained in awareness. "Avalaunch is the prefect combination of knowledge and training in a easily accessible fun format. I am honored to be part of this program." noted Conrad.
Photo: Max Lowe


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CHICAGO -- If there is one player who can't bluff his way through the trade deadline, it's Aramis Ramirez.
The Cubs third baseman is plugged in like Steve Jobs.
At his locker at ancient Wrigley Field, he's often talking on the phone, while playing around on his Apple laptop before games. I doubt he's on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+, but I've definitely seen him on Facebook.
Here's a question: Does he "like" the trade deadline? He'll say no, but I'm not so sure. I think if you "poke" him, he might change his mind.
"It's just hard, because I'm playing for the Chicago Cubs right now and I've been traded five times already to five different teams," he said before Monday's game. "People are calling me, 'You're going to Atlanta, you're going to New York, you're going to wherever.' I say, 'Nobody's me telling me anything.' That's the end of it. I'm not going anywhere right now."
"Right now" is the operative phrase. While Ramirez has repeated often that he won't waive his 10-5 no-trade rights, he's also given himself some leeway to change his mind.
I talked to him at his locker for four minutes Monday, and he offered at least five "right now" or "for now" qualifiers. Nothing is certain right now, and while he said nothing has changed about his stance on staying in Chicago, that could change after two conversations.
His agent Paul Kinzer was on his way to Chicago on Monday to talk to his favorite client, and likely the Cubs, to hash out Ramirez's future. Like any good agent, Kinzer wants Ramirez to be in a position to make optimal money in a winning situation.
That's probably not going to be in Chicago. It shouldn't be in Chicago. Unless, of course, we're talking about the South Side.
Since his much-ballyhooed arrival in 2003, Aramis Ramirez has been the most important Cub, and certainly the most productive. But it's time for him to go. Everything ends sometime, and that time is now.
Ramirez has a club option for 2012 that will pay him $16 million, or a $2 million buyout if the Cubs keep him this season and decline his option. If he's traded, the option automatically vests. Kinzer doesn't want the option, not with the way Ramirez is hitting. A team that wants him would have to agree to either waive the option or make it a player option. That makes any deal more difficult, unless a team wants him only for a rental. That's possible, but it could limit the caliber of prospects the Cubs would get in return.
"I don't see him going anywhere," Kinzer said.
But it's not that cut and dried.
Ramirez's value is at its highest peak in years. He went into Monday's game hitting .300 with 16 homers and 56 RBIs for a fifth-place team. He added a solo homer off Roy Halladay in the first inning and a sacrifice fly RBI in the third. It was his 12th home run in his past 23 games as he continues a torrid stretch offensively. He had a slow start, power-wise, which certainly didn't help as the Cubs dug themselves into a Grand Canyon.
And he's still a Lead Glover at third, but the 33-year-old is far and away the best third baseman who could be on the market for 2012.
The Cubs need to rebuild, not reload, painful as it might be for ticket sales. The group assembled for the past three playoff appearances peaked in 2008, and unless Todd Ricketts is building a flux capacitor, there's no return to that fleeting glory. For whatever reason, this team just can't get back on track.
The Cubs looked good Monday night against Halladay, and that win made them 39-58. The team has gotten progressively worse in each of the past three seasons. Everyone knows it's time to shuffle the deck.
"We shouldn't be 20 under; we're better than that," Ramirez said. "I don't know if we're a 95- or 100-win type ballclub, but we're not as bad as we're playing."
Sorry, the record is the record. The Cubs are this bad. And we're all sick of it. He should be, too.
Ramirez could actually bring back solid prospects this summer, not the C-list talent the Cubs have gotten back in recent money-saving deals. That's why the Cubs should do everything they can to get a deal done. I'm not a fan of dumping players just for the sake of change or because fans are upset. But that wouldn't be the case, necessarily.
I'm not giving Cubs general manager Jim Hendry any new ideas here. He has tough decisions to make once the trade market gets sorted out. Marlon Byrd and Carlos Pena are also very attractive options for teams looking to make a run. Pittsburgh could use all three of them. Now, that would be a reversal of fortune.
Ramirez doesn't want to waive his rights to refuse a trade, a privilege he earned by being the best Cubs third baseman since Ron Santo. He's also stated the main reason he doesn't want to leave is that he has no interest in uprooting his family -- even though they live here only during the summer.
"My family's here," he said Monday. "I got two little boys. It's hard to move in the middle of the season. I've done that before, and that's not fun. That's the end of that. I've heard a lot of it, but right now I'm not going anywhere."
But his two boys, ages 3 and 7, and his wife will go back to the Dominican Republic next month, so you wonder whether the Family Man could relent in the next two weeks. After all, he gets a $1 million kicker if he's traded. That can pay for a pretty nice apartment, even in Manhattan.
Kinzer said Ramirez has wavered on his desire to stay in Chicago a few times in conversation but has always doubled back, saying, "I know I like it here."
Kinzer, who is close with Ramirez, said he really doesn't know how Ramirez really feels right now.
"I'm going to talk to him to get a better feel," Kinzer said in a phone conversation. "If it looks like there's no chance [he stays with the Cubs in 2012], then we'll sit down and talk about it."
Kinzer has a strong relationship with Hendry. He has four clients on the current roster: Ramirez, Geovany Soto, John Grabow and most importantly Starlin Castro. But he doesn't know Tom Ricketts from Tom Selleck, and so there's no sense of what kind of team the Cubs will field in 2012 or whether Hendry will be making the decisions after the season.
"It's hard to see what the future holds for him in Chicago," Kinzer said. "We'll sit down and talk. He's always wanted to finish his career in Chicago, but sometimes, it's not the player's choice."
Ramirez said he's interested to see how the Cubs fix things here. He's been through one rebuilding already.
"Well, we'll see what happens," he said of coming back in 2012. "Of course I want to be in Chicago, but at the same time, I want to win, so I have to wait and see what's going on here."
Let me save you some time, Aramis: Go. Go to the Angels or the Yankees or whoever courts you. Go now, help yourself get a fat new deal, help another team win a pennant and help the Cubs build for the future.
It's time to log off.
Jon Greenberg is a columnist for ESPNChicago.com.


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American photographer Steve McCurry (b. 1950) has created some of the most recognisable images in the history of photography, including his iconic 1984 image 'Afghan Girl'. He's shot photo projects around the world for National Geographic and has been a member of the Magnum photo agency since 1986. More recently, in 2010 he had the opportunity to shoot the last roll of Kodachrome transparency film that rolled off the production belt. He was in Amsterdam to promote his new book from Phaidon, Untold: The Story Behind the Photos, and took the time to sit down with GUP's online editor Katherine Oktober Matthews to speak about working hard, keeping the right frame of mind, and managing expectations.
You've been travelling around the world to take pictures since your youth. Why do you suppose these two things, photography and restlessness, so often go hand in hand?
People that want to examine the world, that want to wander and explore, they can write, they can photograph – it just depends on what your inclination is. You could travel the world and be an architect or a ballerina! I think it has more to do with curiosity. With photography and travel… I don't know, sometimes those two things collide and all kinds of things happen.
Since you tend to take an intuitive approach to photographing -- you've said before that your working process is basically to walk around and get a feeling for the place -- is there anything you can do to help serendipity land in your favour?
Well, you need to be in the right frame of mind and be curious. I think that pretty much says everything right there.
What is the 'right frame of mind'?
To be relaxed and open. I think it's honestly that simple -- for me. I can't talk about somebody else, and their process and how they approach it. You need to sort of calm your mind and allow the present to take over and to not be preoccupied with other things.
How do you handle the times when you don't have the right frame of mind? Is it possible to force it?
Conditions in life are never ideal. You know, there's times we get up in the morning, and we think, "I don't think I'm going to go to work today. Gonna take the day off. In fact, take the week off! Gonna go to Spain and relax on the beach." You have to push through that. You have to adjust your thinking: there's no option. You have to get up and get out the door. Some days it's raining outside and it's cold. You might think, "I'll just stay inside and read a good book." You have to push through that and just do it.
Does that mean that hard work is more important than passion for getting it done?
It's a mix. It's not so simple. You need passion and fortitude. Sometimes things are not ideal and you have to power through that, but I think it's the same for anybody! That's life! Literally, that's life! I mean, sometimes you think, "Do I want to go to that dinner tonight? Or that meeting? I don't know, maybe I'll just cancel it… maybe I'll just cancel everything!" (he laughs) Know what I mean? And there's other times when you think, "My God this is incredible, I can't believe it! I'm the luckiest person alive."
So, it's mixed but, again, every human being that ever lived in the history of the planet has the same experience, it's no different. There's a whole spectrum of people who have talent and commitment and passion, but it's all on a scale – we all have different levels of those components. Some people are highly gifted and they just aren't interested in anything – nothing! I've known people like that. Brilliant, but they'd rather not do anything.
What is it that gets you personally out the door when it's cold and raining and you'd rather not?
I know that once I get out the door and on the street, maybe I'll feel differently. Maybe. Let's try it. Get out the door, walk around, have a cup of coffee, play with a dog, talk to somebody. That's the hope. As opposed to saying, "Well… I'm just gonna skip it today."
Do you let yourself skip it sometimes though?
…No?! Just 'no'?
Like I said, generally, once you get the wheels moving, you come around. Sometimes we're productive and sometimes we're not, but you really have to average it out. Some days are good, some days aren't, and you just have to understand that and relax. It's like playing roulette: eventually 22 is going to come up. I mean, even Shakespeare probably had an editing process.
So, not every photo can come up a 22.
Yeah, not every picture is brilliant! A writer might write something that which ends up just staying in the notebook, and for a photographer… you photograph some things that you know are just as a record, or something that you know isn't brilliant, but you get the wheels moving. Am I going to wait for the perfect picture before I start shooting? Well, how many perfect pictures are there in a lifetime? Get out and start examining the world, start probing, and eventually…
As you've travelled around and photographed other people and their experiences over the years, what has this taught you about your own life and your own experience?
Just that we're all connected, in that we're here on this planet at this particular time and we all have to interact, and get along. Try to coexist in a good way. And, do it right now, cause we're gonna be dead, and another group is going come in and to replace us. So, let's try to take care of the planet and let's try not to kill each other, so that we can do whatever it is that we want to do. What's the ultimate goal here? It's to enjoy this brief life that we have, and make it as fulfilling and worthwhile as possible.
Mother and child looking in through a taxi window, Bombay, India, 1993
You describe people as fundamentally the same, no matter where you are. What are the commonalities of humankind, as you know them?
We all like to laugh. We all want to be respected, we all want to be loved, we all want to have friends and family to some degree. Most people look forward to their day off, so they can go fishing or relax or do whatever people do. People want to be appreciated. If you tip a taxi driver in Beijing, he appreciates it. If you respect a taxi driver in Cairo - talk to him, treat him as an equal and not as an object or something – he'll respond to that. When people are disrespected, they get upset, and that manifests itself in various ways. But, you take a taxi driver anywhere in the world, and they want to improve their life… that's what I'm talking about when I talk about this commonality of humanity.
In terms of photography, which can by its nature be an intrusive thing, how are you best able to avoid being seen as disrespectful?
Each moment, each situation, you have to evaluate case by case. You ask yourself from one moment to the next: is this the right thing to do, is this being respectful? You do your best to try and keep peace and keep your mind calm, and I think I do that most of the time. There's occasions where someone might get upset, but that's pretty rare. Life is swirling on around us all the time and sometimes you want to walk away from a situation. You just have to judge each moment on its own. Maybe that's too vague, but -- you want to photograph life as it's unfolding, so you can't ask everybody every time you want to take a photograph, "Can I have permission to photograph the back of your head on the subway?"… you know? They're gonna say "fuck you"! You just have to evaluate each moment.
Bicycles hanging on the side of a train, West Bengal, India, 1983
By now, you've been photographing for more than thirty years. What sort of things do you still struggle with, or what is still a challenge to you?
The same things that challenged me twenty or thirty years ago! It's just that I happen to be older. It's not that anything changes, it's just that time has moved on.
There's always struggles. I mean, life is struggle. Whoever you are, wherever you are, that's just part of being alive. Those things don't change just because of some level of success. You still have to work and struggle. Effort and reward -- they're all intertwined. You can't really look at struggle as necessarily a negative thing. Or work. The word 'work' can seem kind of like drudgery, but you can't look at it like that.
But the challenges and struggles and obstacles… they all remain the same.
Which is what, for you?
Trying to do the best I can, and trying to make my life as fulfilling as I can, and all that. It's so mundane! My life, your life. We're all basically trying to get through the day the best we can. You know, like you have to do laundry… there's a level of pick-and-shovel work to life, and a monotony to it, but that's the same for everybody on the planet.
Even the people that we view as rich and famous - they go on the treadmill, they have to eat certain foods. Life isn't always at a fever pitch, and if you accept that and understand it and embrace it, then things are good. Actually, life is pretty good. Everything isn't at that peak, but that's okay. You can't have expectations all the time and complain that "my life is boring… blah blah blah" – well, that's life! That's it! Welcome to Planet Earth, you know? You have to accept it and embrace it, and then, it's cool.
Over the years, you've clearly seen some terrible poverty, conflicts and other difficult conditions and behaviors, and yet your photographs seem to be always imbued with a real humanity. When you see the worst of the worst, does it ever get hard to like people?
No, I mean, life is mixed, right? We've all had terrible times in our lives. Some days are good, some days are not good, and as you travel through life with your camera, you see the good and the bad. It's complex but there's also simplicity to it, you know? It's not all beautiful and it's not all terrible, and you could say the same thing about yourself: there's things in our personality that we like and things we don't like, so the whole thing is mixed.
But you have to try to understand that it's pretty much the same for everybody. So don't try to compare yourself too much with other people, just try to get through the day in the best possible way, knowing that, in the end, it's always going to be mixed. When you know that and accept it, you can relax a bit and not try to obsess over the fact that life isn't perfect. That's what I've learned. Because if you're expecting perfection, then you're always going to be disappointed.
Steve McCurry's new book, Untold: The Stories Behind the Photographs, is available from Phaidon.