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Review: Darkstar, News from Nowhere
Darkstar's News from Nowhere is a wonderfully lush but ultimately rudderless slice of droning electronica.
British electronic trio Darkstar isn't in a hurry to go anywhere in particular on their sophomore effort, News from Nowhere. The album is a slugglishly paced, purgatorial mix of Animal Collective-style sequencing and the eerie, formless minimalism of The King of Limbs-era Radiohead. More often than not, that combination leads the band inside a drifting cloud of ambient, overripe electronica that's as beautiful as it is frustrating and forgettable, making for a pretty but ultimately unremarkable listening experience.
Darkstar has an ear for detail that's been carried over from their harder-edged and more percussive 2010 debut, North. On News from Nowhere, the band strikes a paradoxical balance, maintaining an organic allure despite the obvious amounts of programming and tinkering that's necessary to facilitate their shapeless music. The album is almost silky as a result, methodically layered and plotted without ever sounding calculating. It's the reason why something like "Light Body Clock Starter" can unfold as naturally and gracefully as a slowly blooming flower: Borrowing the metallic sheets of sound that open up Björk's "All Is Full of Love," the track is a triumph of lavish, formless synths coalescing behind vocalist James Buttery's tight-lipped moans.
And yet the similarities between "Light Body Clock Starter" and the Björk classic provides insight into one of News from Nowhere's biggest flaws. For all of its playful, ambrosial qualities, the album is desperately hungry for ideas, and with the members of Darkstar often focused on trivial electronic minutiae, those ideas tend to be borrowed from the band's easily identified muses. One track ("-"), built on hazy reverb and reversed vocal samples, is strangely analogous to Radiohead's "Lotus Flower," particularly with singer James Buttery doing his damnedest to impersonate Thom Yorke's high vocal register. Elsewhere, "Amplified Ease" features the kind of rapid-fire chanting and lo-fi sampling perfected by any number of tracks on Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, particularly "Lion in a Coma" and "Brother Sport."
In other words, not only has this kind of music been done before, it's been done in a much more engaging and original manner by artists of superior talent. Offering the same level of meticulousness as North isn't quite good enough for News from Nowhere, which serves up a wonderfully lush but ultimately rudderless slice of droning electronica that's much too imitative to be anything other than a pleasant distraction.
Label: Warp Release Date: February 5, 2013 Buy: Amazon
With "Positions," Ariana Grande Aims to Set Her Status as Pop's Reigning Princess
The singer's new single is filled with plenty innuendo and feminist messaging.
Ariana Grande is clearly vying for the title of hardest-working woman in pop music. Her forthcoming album will be her third in just over two years—Sweetener dropped in August of 2018, followed by Thank U, Next five months later—and over the last year she's released collaborations with Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Childish Gambino, just to name a few.
The 27-year-old singer aims to further solidify her—pardon the pun—position as pop's reigning princess with "Positions," the first single from the new album. The midtempo track, which clocks in at just shy of three minutes, features acoustic guitars, plucky strings, and lyrics filled with plenty innuendo and feminist messaging: "Switchin' my positions for you/Cookin' in thе kitchen and I'm in the bedroom," Ariana sings in her signature smooth, somewhat mumbly affect.
The music video for "Positions," which was directed by Dave Myers, finds Ariana in the role of president, dressed in Jackie O-worthy duds and effortlessly juggling both affairs of state (with an all-female cabinet, natch) and business in the bedroom. Interestingly, the object of Madam President's affections is nowhere to be found in the clip—though she is seen walking five of her dogs across the snow-covered lawn of the White House.
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Every Janet Jackson Album Ranked
We took a look back at the icon's catalog and ranked all 11 studio albums from worst to best.
Janet Jackson's music career can be easily partitioned into three eras, with her commercial peak (from 1986's Control through 2001's All for You) bookended by her early, pre-breakthrough period on one side and the years following her infamous Super Bowl performance in 2004 on the other. There's perhaps no better testament to the power of Janet's breakthrough album, Control, as a quintessential statement on personal and artistic self-actualization than the still pervasive misconception that it's her debut, with 1982's Janet Jackson and 1984's Dream Street relegated to the singer's "prehistory." But while it should surprise absolutely no one that the quartet of albums that Janet released during her imperial phase handily top this list, her most recent effort, 2015's Unbreakable, was an understated return to form, reuniting the artist with longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Janet's follow-up, Black Diamond, was scheduled for release this year before the Covid-19 pandemic dashed those plans. While we await word on the fate of Janet's 12th studio album—and accompanying concert tour—we've decided to look back at her catalog and rank all 11 albums from worst to best.
11. Dream Street (1984)
Before Janet struck multi-platinum with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, she briefly partnered with another famous production pair, Giorgio Moroder and Peter Bellotte. With the exception of the title track, though, the legendary disco duo's contributions to Janet's sophomore effort, Dream Street, fell far short of their iconic work with the likes of Donna Summer. Janet's least successful album isn't without its pleasures though: Produced by brother Marlon, "All My Love to You" successfully apes Off the Wall-era Michael, while the sexy, nearly seven-minute "Pretty Boy"—courtesy of Jesse Johnson, who, along with Jam and Lewis, was part of the Time—provided a glimpse of things to come in Janet's own oeuvre. Sal Cinquemani
20 Y.O. was the first Janet album that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced (this time only in part) after moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. As a result, their ice-cold beats melted into a lugubrious, lukewarm pudding (at under an hour, it still feels almost twice as long as janet. and The Velvet Rope). I don't know what co-producer and Janet's then-boyfriend Jermaine Dupri thought he meant when he said he wanted 20 Y.O. to sound like an old Human League record, but I'll readily admit that the evidence on display suggests he was the only one with the foresight to come up with some new old ideas, even if none of them work to Janet's advantage. The album's desperation is that of a dance icon who once sent one hot track after another to the top of the charts and is now deciding she liked the idea of being at the top of the singles charts better than creating immortal dance music. The grindcore "This Body" brings the fugly with surprising abandon, throwing hissing industrial clatter atop an admirably tuneless dirge (you hardly realize it's a way-late bid in the chopped n' screwed sweepstakes until the 16 RPM guest rap drops in). "Enjoy" is a seamlessly smooth step groove aboard R. Kelly's "Step in the Name of Love" boat, but its presence here only makes the likes of "Get It Out Me" and "Roll Witchu" seem all the more opportunistic. Eric Henderson
9. Janet Jackson (1982)
If on its own terms Janet's self-titled debut has nothing on what was to follow, it's nonetheless a pretty solid snapshot of the post-disco boogie sound. At least, that is, for the duration of side one, where singer-songwriters René & Angela (best known for their steamy funk workout "I'll Be Good") serve Janet with three equally perky-cute dance-pop ditties, and one halfway decent ballad. Janet was clearly still finding her voice, but the snappy backing track of "Say You Do" could easily have slotted into the Jacksons's 1980 album Triumph, and "Young Love" has the confident pristineness of a Patrice Rushen jam. Things get pretty generic on side two, but two or three deep cuts from an artist who came out of the gate only half-formed ain't half bad. Henderson
8. Discipline (2008)
The title of Discipline was encouraging for those who prefer Janet taking control and cracking the whip (both as leader of her rhythm nation and the boss of her bedroom) over the vapid, single-girl come-ons of her previous three albums. Disappointingly, though, the title track doesn't hark back to the self-empowerment of Control, but rather the S&M of The Velvet Rope. Lyrics like "Daddy, I disobeyed ya/Now I want you to come punish me" invite all kinds of psychoanalysis that only grow more disturbing when you remember who her daddy really is, which would be fascinating if she hadn't already written the sexier (and less creepy) "Rope Burn." If one were to try to identify some kind of evolution in Janet's latest bout of dirty talk, it might be sex with robots. Throughout the album, she talks to and interacts with a rather compassionate computer DJ named Kyoko, and her voice is robotic and synthetic on tracks like "Feedback" and the Daft Punk-sampling "So Much Betta"—not necessarily such a bad thing for an artist whose vocals often consist of unintelligible murmuring. Cinquemani
7. Damita Jo (2004)
At some point during the afterglow of adolescent sexual discovery, most people realize that there are more important things in life than getting off. Like Marvin Gaye, Janet got it backward, spending most of her post-Rhythm Nation career searching for, publicly relishing, reflecting on, and then lamenting one giant, decade-long orgasm. The singer's eighth album, Damita Jo, features a slew of the gooey, structureless sex ballads that had become her staple, including "Warmth," three-and-a-half minutes dedicated to describing how Ms. Jackson If You're Nasty gives a blowjob (and yes, she's a method actress, whispering sweet nothings with her mouth full). Even the dance numbers don't stray from her topic of choice. Janet's infamous wardrobe malfunction is commonly cited for her career's precipitous decline, but her inability to evolve beyond her sex kitten persona is more judiciously to blame. Cinquemani
Review: Beabadoobee's Fake It Flowers Evokes Nostalgia Like a Childhood Bedroom
Over 12 tracks, the singer-songwriter is haunted by older versions of herself and captivated by wishful daydreams.4
Twenty-year-old Bea Kristi is the first to admit that her music owes a great deal to '90s alternative rock, not so slyly hinting as much on last year's "I Wish I Was Steven Malkmus." But her output under the moniker Beabadoobee doesn't come down to mere derivation. Unlike Greta Van Fleet, the zoomer band notorious for aping their own revivalist referent, Led Zeppelin, Kristi molds the earnest, fuzzed-out yearning of the Cranberries and Veruca Salt for her own purposes. The Filipino-British songwriter speaks to the challenges unique to 21st-century adolescence, a tricky period in which emotions are impersonally mediated through screens and exes are only an impulsive text away.
Beabadoobee's debut LP, Fake It Flowers, inhabits nostalgia like a childhood bedroom cluttered with toys, outgrown clothing, and wall posters that serve as relics of innocence and fantasy. Over 12 tracks, Kristi is haunted by older versions of herself and captivated by wishful daydreams. (Appropriately, she wrote the album hunkered down in her childhood bedroom in her London family home, where she also rode out a bout of Covid-19.) She gives voice to statements one would be remiss to utter outside the privacy of their inner sanctum. On "Dye It Red," she hurls out venomous lines with matter-of-factness: "Kiss my ass, you don't know jack/And if you say you understand, you don't." Throughout, momentous choruses and distorted guitars turn Kristi's sweetly sung barbs from the stuff of scribbled journal musings into booming anthems, fit for the soundtrack of a Y2K coming-of-age film.
Across the album, Kristi negotiates the tumultuous fallout of her mistakes, only to relapse, clinging to harmful vices. On the melodic, misty-eyed "Worth It," she confronts her own infidelity, unflinchingly aware of her wrongdoing but still unrepentant. "Together" sees her draw a parallel between crashing her car for the umpteenth time and getting back together with someone she's wounded one too many times. At several points during the tracklist, the specter of self-harm emerges as a response to guilt, like a self-inflicted retribution. On "Charlie Brown," which sounds like an homage to Hole and just as taxing on the lungs, Kristi spills about falling into "old habits that no one knows about."
Kristi's imaginative songwriting brings levity to Fake It Flowers. The singer opens "Yoshimi, Forest, Magdelene" by joking that an unidentified noise "sounds like a fart" before pivoting to the fanciful affirmation that she's so head over heels for a significant other that she can't help but chant the names of their three future children. Curlicues of piano and acoustic guitar give way to swooning strings on the tender "Horen Sarrison," an ode to Kristi's real-life beau. This romance isn't found in the familiarity of a well-worn routine, but in the adrenaline rush of charged chemistry: "And I want you to know that I'm in love/But I don't want you to feel comfortable." Kristi's vision of affection may be distorted by the impossible-to-replicate headiness of a first love, but it's an enthralling representation of its ephemeral beauty.
Kristi seems aware of society's history of ridiculing and undermining women for expressing their grievances in ways deemed too passionate or outspoken. While she pointedly entertains the pejorative "emo" in the title of the introspective ballad "Emo Song," she nonetheless refuses to understate the origins of her trust issues: "You call me up, and lie again/Like all the men I used to trust." Throughout the album, Kristi leans into her emotions, unconcerned about whether or not they might make her seem fragile or melodramatic. Songs like the Smashing Pumpkins-esque "Sorry" convey her fragility, buttressed by symphonic string arrangements and pounding drums.
Detractors may believe that alt-rock revivalism is more interested in merely serving up a '90s bricolage than breaking new ground. While this may be true to an extent, the songs on Fake It Flowers are far from superfluous. Rather, it's evident that Kristi revives the sound—which was predominantly represented by straight white men—in order to infuse it with her own life and experience as a Catholic school dropout and daughter of immigrants.
Label: Dirty Hit Release Date: October 16, 2020 Buy: Amazon
Review: Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You Is More Homecoming Than Retread
The album has all the familiar hallmarks of the E Street Band's signature sound.3.5
Celebrated memoirist Bruce Springsteen's latest nostalgia trick: reconvening a little rock n' roll group he used to play with called the E Street Band. Letter to You isn't exactly classic Springsteen, and it isn't even the best studio album he's made in the last decade—though I know most don't share my affinity for 2012's Wrecking Ball. But it may be the first album he's made since Born in the U.S.A. on which he's fully embraced the E Street Band's signature sound for longer than a few intermittent stretches at a time.
Recorded live in the studio, sans overdubs, over just a few days in late 2019, Letter to You has all the familiar hallmarks of the iconic E Street Band's signature sound: Roy Bittan's roaming piano, bombastic shout-along choruses, creaky harmonies from Patti Scialfa and Steven Van Zandt, and gut-busting sax solos (Jake Clemons fills in ably for his late uncle, Clarence). Springsteen deserves credit for resisting the crowd-pleasing tug of this kind of album for so long that it feels like a warm homecoming rather than a retread.
It's only when Springsteen leans on the nostalgia with explicitly backward-facing lyrics that the album gets a bit too self-aware. Springsteen has never made an album this personal, filled with paeans to felled bandmates, fans, and rose-colored memories of days and nights gone by. Both his recent autobiography, Born to Run, and his hit Broadway show have demonstrated that Springsteen in a self-reflective mode can be highly effective and deeply moving. Which is why some of the songs on Letter to You are disappointingly mushy by comparison. Album bookends "One Minute You're Here" and "I'll See You in My Dreams" are cliché-ridden ruminations on life's impermanence, while songs like "House of a Thousand Guitars" are packed with smug self-mythologizing about the life-changing majesty of rock n' roll.
On the rousing "Ghosts," the E Street Band's thunderous power does far more to convince of the transcendent nature of their music than Springsteen's lyrics—penned for the late George Theiss, the singer in his first band, the Castilles. All slashing guitars and shouted-to-the-rafters refrains, the song has all the makings of a classic E Street anthem. Even if Springsteen has employed them sparingly in the studio in recent years, the band remains a tight outfit from frequent touring. Max Weinberg in particular continues to be a force behind the drum kit, and he's the focal point of the lilting title track. Springsteen himself turns back the clock with a howling vocal and searing guitar solos on the propulsive "Burnin' Train," which could easily pass for an outtake from Darkness on the Edge of Town or The River.
Barnburning new recordings of a trio of songs that Springsteen wrote in the early 1970s, before the formation of the E Street Band in 1972, provide Letter to You's most fascinating links to the past. With their epic multi-verse structures, Old West imagery, and country-rock inflections, "Janey Needs a Shooter," "If I Was the Priest," and "Song for Orphans" join "Ballad of Jesse James"—a similar 1972 outtake released on the 2016 compilation Chapter and Verse—in providing an intriguing window into an alternate history. In this timeline, Springsteen never gravitated toward the rock n' roll soul-circus style of the E Street Band and instead leaned hard into the "New Dylan" hype that surrounded him at the time.
It's no surprise that the guy who wrote the songs featured on Letter to You became one of rock's most celebrated storytellers once he discovered his own individual voice. That guy is also fortunate to have found his ideal compatriots. Whether playing 50-year-old songs or brand new ones, the E Street Band proves that when they're in their element—as they are on this album—they can elevate the Boss to his best.
Label: Columbia Release Date: October 23, 2020 Buy: Amazon
Review: The Mountain Goats's Getting Into Knives Is Overproduced and Under-Thought
The band's uniquely existential and observational approach to rock is, for the first time, beginning to wear thin.2.5
Over the course of two decades, the Mountain Goats have maintained a near-peerless level of quality even as they've evolved their distinct folk-rock sound in unexpected directions. But on the North Carolina-based band's 19th album, Getting Into Knives, their work manages to feel simultaneously overproduced and under-thought.
The songs on the album focus primarily on aging and those irretrievable things taken by time, with seasoned, older narrators imparting wisdom to less experienced counterparts. "Everything becomes a blur from six feet away/Get used to this," singer-songwriter John Darneille warns on "Tidal Wave," repeating "Get used to this" throughout the rest of the track. For every elegantly forlorn lyric on Getting Into Knives, though, there's a clichéd platitude or overdetermined metaphor. Compared to the incisive and quick-witted nature of typical Mountain Goats lyrics, a line like "It's not the destination that makes the difference/It's the freight" feels like a rather lazy observation.
At their best, the band foregrounds an interplay between warmth and darkness, as on "Getting Into Knives," in which the middle-aged Darnielle sings about taking up a new hobby over delicately strummed acoustic guitar and Jon Wurster's hand-drummed percussion. Darnielle emotes with just the right amount of knowing distance, and humorously doesn't elaborate on why "getting into knives" will be a fulfilling new activity or alternative to his current habits, while also promising its worthwhileness through softly yet convincingly performed vocals.
On much of the rest of the album, this tonal bifurcation leans too far in one direction or the other. "Get Famous," which finds Darnielle wishing celebrity on someone who's more suited to constant attention and exposure (read: someone with less integrity than him), feels overwrought, smothered by obvious production choices like the insertion of crowd cheers after the line "listen to the people applaud," as well as by its own suffocating irony. Elsewhere, "The Last Place I Saw You Alive," a ballad dedicated to a late friend, and "Harbor Me," about asking for shelter from a companion, are too tender and bald-faced, taking the band's capacity for rendering human frailty and turning it into sentimental mush.
Though the Mountain Goats's music still operates firmly within the folk-rock tradition, a few songs here display a jazz influence, such as the light-handed tapping of tom-toms that weaves throughout "The Great Gold Sheep," the featherweight percussive scene-setting at the beginning of "Bell Swamp Connection," and Matt Douglas's noodling saxophone on "The Last Place I Saw You Alive" and "Get Famous." You can also hear a jazz sensibility in the band's penchant for finding grooves and then departing from the structures at different intervals. At the other end of the spectrum, the bouncy panache of "Rat Queen" hews closer to the conceptual theatricality of the band's last few albums, yet the track comes off as little more than a B-side from the group's 2019 rock opera In League with Dragons.
Getting Into Knives does bear the distinction of being perhaps the most electric guitar-dominated Mountain Goats album to date. Despite the continued centrality of acoustic instruments within their sound, the growl of electric guitar is pronounced and expressive, especially on "Bell Swamp Connection," where it's slow and smeary, assisted with a pedal and married with piano. Of course, one wishes Darnielle didn't feel the need to underline its prominence on "As Many Candles as Possible," when a rumbling guitar prompts a redundant "There's plenty of distortion and it's not real clear…he howls in the night," which is followed by a screeching strum. Such literalness is unusual for the Mountain Goats, whose uniquely existential and observational approach to rock is, for the first time, beginning to wear thin.
Label: Merge Release Date: October 23, 2020 Buy: Amazon
The 15 Best Smashing Pumpkins Songs
The Pumpkins have transcended any one moment or movement, instead reveling in the entire tessellation of 20th-century art.
As Greg Kot of Guitar World once quipped, "the [Smashing] Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." That was in 2001, when the band had spent a decade carving out an impressive art-rock niche, and long after a shortsighted music press had once smacked them with unenviable and laughably off-base label of "the next Nirvana." But even to this day, the two bands are often clumped together as vanguards of the scathing, grungy brand of alternative rock that defined the early '90s. And yet, there's little doubt that the group is much more than some also-ran grunge outfit chasing Kurt Cobain's shadow. Indeed, with 11 studio albums and dozens of EPs, compilations, and soundtrack contributions, Billy Corgan and company have proved to be expert evocateurs, stitching together their melodic pastiche from a diverse litany of musical, literary, and visual sources. Armed with a mosaic sound that includes hat-tips to glam rock, art nouveau, psychedelia, goth, vaudeville, new wave, and Victorian romanticism, the Pumpkins have transcended any one moment or movement, instead reveling in the entire tessellation of 20th-century art.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article was published on July 21, 2013.
15. "Knights of Malta"
The sweeping opening track of 2018's Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun bears the hallmarks of vintage Pumpkins: Bill Corgan's melodic whine, Jimmy Chamberlin's formidable drumming, and the intricate layers of guitar courtesy of Corgan, original guitarist James Iha, and Iha's one-time replacement Jeff Schroeder. Everything about the song feels grand and triumphal—right down to the lyrics, in which Corgan sings, "I'm gonna fly forever/We're gonna ride the rainbow," as if he's approaching the gates of rock n' roll Valhalla.
14. "Set the Ray to Jerry"
As complex as the band's arrangements and conceits often are, the Pumpkins frequently hit paydirt when relying on Corgan's ear for crafting simple melodies. "Set the Ray to Jerry" is that principle in practice, as a two-note guitar riff and constantly rumbling snares come together with Corgan's plain, passionate declaratives ("I want you" and "I need you") to form a lucid, seductive nighttime jam.
13. "For Martha"
Corgan's mother inspired plenty of animus throughout the Pumpkins' catalogue, but none quite as conflicted and harrowing as the kind that fills the song sharing her name. Inspired by her passing, "For Martha" is an eight-minute dirge of gothic piano that bursts into a wave of crying, razor-edged guitars at its halfway point. At the height of it all, Corgan finally delivers his raw, teary-eyed eulogy: "Long horses we are born/Creatures more than torn/Mourning our way home."
12. "Tristessa"
The riffs on "Tristessa" are some of the most efficient the Pumpkins have ever crafted. With four simple notes, Corgan and fellow guitarist James Iha lay down a bouncing, whiplash guitar hook that's strong enough to carry the song through its shattering conclusion, proving along the way that the band had two other weapons in their arsenal besides panache: power and rhythm.
11. "Eye"
Serving as a kind of thematic unifier for David Lynch's Lost Highway soundtrack, "Eye" was Pumpkins fans' first taste of the band's post-alternative offerings, where the remnants of their baroque, neo-Victorian rock tastes met Corgan's new obsession with Pro Tools. While that formula would meet with mixed success on the subsequent Adore, "Eye" remains a sublime slice of electro-goth, pairing Corgan's understated performance with a litany of chilling instrumentation—not to mention the wonderful angularity of that crisp drumline.
10. "Today"
In which the Pumpkins conclusively prove that great art comes from great pain. Purportedly on the verge of suicide, a desperate, perhaps somewhat deranged Corgan penned "Today," a facetious, goodbye-cruel-world lullaby that, when draped in the band's trademark cloak of mellow fuzz, becomes a triumphant middle finger to the crippling effects of depression.
9. "Snail"
There are many points on their 1991 debut, Gish, where the Pumpkins seem caught between their early metal influences (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest) and the art-rock band they ultimately aspired to be, but "Snail" isn't one of them. The track is perhaps the most obvious foreshadowing of the ambitious plans Corgan had for his group: sweeping, unapologetically romantic, and cinematically paced, its verse, bridge, and chorus structured in such a way so that the ultimate catharsis—in this case, a climbing sub-melody full of unbridled optimism—comes bursting through quite dramatically in its final minute.
Review: Laura Veirs's My Echo Is a Divorce Album That Trades Misery for Escapism
Against a backdrop of hopelessness brought about by personal heartbreak and global disasters, the album is an act of self-preservation.3.5
On the "divorce album" spectrum from Vulnicura to Utopia, Laura Veirs's My Echo falls closer to the latter. At just under 30 minutes long, the Portland-based singer-songwriter's 11th album is more concise than it is confessional, but Veirs imbues her lyrics with vivid imagery and gentle humor that trade misery for escapism. This lightness is by design, as she wrote these songs while she was straining to maintain her relationship with Tucker Martine, her collaborator and then-husband. In the album's press notes, Veirs claims, "my songs knew I was getting divorced before I did."
The impulse to leave things unsaid motivates My Echo's sound, which often involves a contrast between acoustic folk instrumentation and electronic flourishes—in other words, between Veirs's need to stay grounded and her tendency to drift off. It also informs her lyrics, which originated as poems she wrote for a "secret poetry group," a fact that's most apparent when she commits to describing her natural surroundings—leaves and rivers and trees—in depth. While Veirs's lyrics are consistently unsettled and sometimes apocalyptic, they largely sidestep concrete problems in her marriage beyond rare whisperings of infidelity and alienation. Perhaps any lurid drama would have undermined Veirs's escapist intentions.
Accordingly, when Veirs makes pivotal emotional realizations, they come from outside herself. On "Memaloose Island," she visits the tomb of Victor Trevitt, where a disembodied voice tells her, "Life is the exception/Don't you forget it." The voice, of course, is her own, implicitly acknowledging the negative space around the comfort of marriage or any other source of stability. She spoils this reveal, though, on the album's opening track, "Freedom Feeling," when she discovers that the liberation she sought in love was within herself all along.
In fact, Veirs spends a fair amount of time on the album explaining herself, keeping little beneath the surface. On "End Times," she compares her ill-fated relationship to Armageddon. On "Burn Too Bright," she asks, "Who were you running from?" and quickly answers, as expected, "yourself." Veirs gives us little work to do to exhume meaning from her images; she's experienced the struggle of sorting out her feelings, so she aims to spare us of that emotional labor. On the gorgeous "Vapor Trails," she reminds us that vapor trails, like people, disappear.
Veirs makes elegant use of her detachment on "I Sing to the Tall Man," opening the song by reducing her husband to objective descriptors—"the tall man in the red kitchen"—before admitting that his "dark eyes and scarred chin remind [her] we are living." She lets us in, pointing to the weight of her love and, as on "Memaloose Island," the love's interconnectedness with her faith in life itself. "I Sing to the Tall Man" neatly complements "Turquoise Walls," another song about confinement that contains some of the album's most immediate lyrics: "I could not sleep, thinking you were keeping someone else's pillow warm." These moments of candidness are welcome, especially when they're funny ("Have you considered maybe his phone just died?" she quips on "Turquoise Walls").
While many breakup albums explore the distance between the euphoria of love and the devastation of it ending, My Echo mostly sits somewhere in the middle. The album's opening lines—"I don't know where I am going/But I got you by my side"—are bittersweet, tinged by Veirs's sly sense of dramatic irony. Soon after, plaintive strings emerge, setting the tone for a mournful, grandiose album that never materializes. Instead, track two, "Another Space and Time," is a sonic outlier, embellishing bossa nova with glitchy electronics and lyrics about ditching the internet for "peace of mind." It's a diversion, a vacation to a California that isn't on fire (one of the album's many eerily portentous details—though any album about loneliness and destruction could be said to have predicted the events of 2020).
Veirs looks to paintings and sculptures for guidance and solace at key points on My Echo. She also displays a similar relationship to music on "Burn Too Bright," which is about the death of musician Richard Swift, and on the dirge-like "Brick Layer," which mentions the late Jason Molina. On the standout "All the Things," Veirs announces that she's a poet and, on a chorus that could be her artist's statement, says, "All the things I cannot hold/I cannot save." To Veirs, artmaking is a means of preserving memories of loves, people, and moments lost. While these things fade, her art doesn't. Against a backdrop of hopelessness brought about by personal heartbreak and global disasters, My Echo is an act of self-preservation.
Label: Raven Marching Band Release Date: October 23, 2020 Buy: Amazon
Review: Matt Berninger's Serpentine Prison Is an Easily Digestible Solo Debut
The album is an enjoyable, if predictable, outing from an effortlessly reliable songwriter.3
The National spent the 2010s pushing the boundaries of their music, allowing for nervier, more impressionistic sounds and experimentations with song structure. Many of these evolutions are indebted to the far-reaching influence of members Aaron and Bryce Dessner on the stalwart indie band's songwriting. But something about the National's subtle brand of rock, lead singer Matt Berninger's buttoned-up baritone, and the band's sardonic lyrical ennui has prompted certain critics to label their music as "boring."
Serpentine Prison, Berninger's solo debut, is likely to spark a similar debate. The album distills the singer-songwriter's work with the National down to its barest form, as it mostly revolves around an acoustic guitar or piano and Berninger's signature vocal style. The result is a pleasant, if undemanding, album that diverges from the National's more experimental recent releases, 2017's Sleep Well Beast and last year's I Am Easy to Find. But while nothing here is as exciting or memorable as anything the National has released in the last 15 years, Serpentine Prison is an enjoyable outing from an effortlessly reliable songwriter.
Berninger seems to thrive under these lower stakes, as many of the album's songs evoke a wistfulness missing from his work with the National. The sentimental "Distant Axis" finds his usually biting lyrical deadpan replaced with a certain kind of longing: "I feel like I'm as far as I can get from you," he sleepily sings on the track. And on "Oh Dearie," Berninger shows off his penchant for richly drawn downtrodden narrators. His hushed final lines—"I don't see no brightness, kinda starting to like this"—stand in contrast to the song's acoustic lullaby quality, an understated but welcome variation of his standard form.
Booker T. Jones's production brings ornate dimensions to these songs. This isn't a particularly orchestral album, but the way that judicially placed drums and softly struck keys ring against Berninger's deep vocals makes it sound like the songs are reverberating throughout a theater full of rapt listeners. When the songs take on added flourishes, like the lush brass arrangement that appears halfway through "Take Me Out of Town" or the string solos that punctuate key moments in "Collar of Your Shirt," they swell organically with the rest of the arrangements.
These moments of indulgence are helpful in diversifying Serpentine Prison's tracklisting, which often falls into a monochromatic haze of slow, easily digestible sounds. Another such indulgence comes in the form of a duet on the album's best track, the bluesy "Silver Springs," featuring Gail Ann Dorsey in a beautiful back-and-forth with Berninger. Dorsey, who was previously featured in the National's triumphant "You Had Your Soul With You," steps in to interrupt what otherwise would have been the album's loneliest song, the track's chanting hook enlightening a straightforward, almost juvenile kind of isolation: "They'll never understand you anyway in Silver Springs," Berninger and Dorsey sing in unison.
Much of the rest of Serpentine Prison fails to engage the listener as effectively as "Silver Springs" does. These songs easily fade into the background, not unlike those found on so many adult contemporary-influenced singer-songwriter albums. But while Serpentine Prison may invoke familiar accusations of dullness, it's refreshing to hear Berninger's disaffected songwriting style take on a more grown-up perspective.
Label: Concord Release Date: October 16, 2020 Buy: Amazon
Review: Annie's Dark Hearts Dives Into the Past with Both Regret and Wonder
The album sounds like the soundtrack to an imaginary teen drama co-directed by John Hughes and David Lynch.3.5
Norwegian pop singer Annie's Dark Hearts is, per the artist herself, "a soundtrack to a film that doesn't exist." Throughout the album, her first in over a decade, Annie paints nostalgic, richly detailed narratives filled with road trips, fairgrounds, and idealistic young love—all set to jangly, atmospheric soundscapes that feel like they were lifted from some imaginary teen drama co-directed by John Hughes and David Lynch.
Annie broke out in the mid aughts with cheeky, indelible dance-pop like "Chewing Gum" and "Heartbeat," but Dark Hearts luxuriates in an unapologetically moodier palette. The closest the album gets to a dance-floor filler is "The Bomb," whose anxious mantra of "S.O.S." and samples from the 1988 apocalyptic thriller Miracle Mile are backed by a shuffling breakbeat and Angelo Badalamenti-style synth washes. "They're dropping the bomb/So put a beat on," Annie sings, resigned to a fate of partying until the end of days.
The rest of Dark Hearts is decidedly more wistful, as Annie reflects on lost loves, family cycles of dysfunction, and her hometown of Bergen, Norway. Film references abound throughout, including more of those cool, cinematic synths on "The Untold Story," in which Annie's ethereal but detached vocal evokes that of Lynch muse Julee Cruise, and David Cronenberg's Crash, which serves as the basis for "American Cars." The latter details the hazards of a directionless romance, suggesting what it might sound like if Lana Del Rey dropped her indie beat-poet shtick and leaned fully into synth-pop.
Producer Stefan Storm outfits Annie's bittersweet reveries with big, bellowing drums and textures derived from pitch-affected vocals. On "Mermaids Dreams," Annie's voice is bent and distorted, beckoning like a siren from beneath waves of reverb, and her recollections of fleeting physical ecstasy on "In Heaven" are accompanied by mournful, tentatively plucked guitars. The songs leap from genre to genre, sonically tied together by their connections to the past: "The Streets Where I Belong" suggests the small-town tributes of Springsteen as sung by an anonymous dream-pop chanteuse, while the poetic "Corridors of Time" and the deceptively jovial "It's Finally Over" channel classic pop modes like doo-wop and '50s girl groups.
Stripped of these thematic threads or Storm's inventive studio tricks, Annie's wisp of a voice can easily float away from the listener. "Forever '92" falls flat in its attempts to summon the spirit of the titular era, and the drifting, Sade-esque rhythm of "Stay Tomorrow" isn't robust enough to anchor the song's theme of "sailing away." That's partly why 2004's Anniemal, with its innovative production and impeccably crafted hooks, remains such an enduring and satisfying pop debut. In these dystopian times, it's easy to long for the infectious dance-pop of that album or Annie's other past releases, but Dark Hearts opts for a different kind of escape. Ten years on from her last full-length album, the singer is reckoning with the present by diving headlong into her past with equal parts regret and wonder.
Label: Annie Melody Release Date: October 16, 2020
Review: 21 Savage and Metro Boomin's Savage Mode II Is a Dark, Robust Sequel
The album is a ratification of "bigger and better," an example of steady improvement through impeccable craft.4
"Are things better or worse the second time around? Can we really do anything more than once?" intones actor Morgan Freeman early on in Savage Mode II. The album answers affirmatively, in the form of a robust and deeply enjoyable sequel to the 2016 collaboration between rapper 21 Savage and producer Metro Boomin. Freeman's contributions, especially a delightful rejoinder on the midpoint interlude "Snitches & Rats," are performed with a mock gravitas that 21 Savage and Metro Boomin frame with equal parts levity and seriousness.
The principal focus of Savage Mode II is Metro Boomin's production. As a teenager, the knob-twirling wunderkind ditched school to revolutionize trap music, providing stellar beats for Atlanta eccentrics-cum-marquee stars Future and Young Thug, refining the excesses and strange outlier sounds of Southern hip-hop into his own tasteful brand. "Rich Nigga Shit" has the feel of a live band, with peppy synths and fiddle intermingling with exciting freshness while a subtle but dynamic bassline mimics an analog instrument, recalling the sinewy work of both Thundercat and the Internet. The dazzling "Glock in My Lap," co-produced by Southside and Honorable C.N.O.T.E., boasts a host of moving parts, including squealing violins, the rattle of a tiny cowbell, something resembling a kazoo, and the low rumble of shredded bass.
21 is more often than not the stabilizing force around which Metro paints and creates elaborate designs. As he frequently reminds us, the 27-year-old Atlanta MC has a real claim to legitimacy in his gangsta raps. "I grew up 'round drugs, sex, and violence," he tosses off on "Slidin." (He's suffered a number of untimely losses of people close to him, often in his presence, including brother Taylor "Tayman" and close friend and associate known simply as Larry, both of whom are eulogized on Savage Mode II's ornate album art.) 21's dark, foreboding presence and tone are borne of an early acceptance of death's omnipresence and randomness; he lays down spiky bars with a sneering swagger but also a pointed humbleness.
In places on Savage Mode II, the rapper succeeds in breaking out of his typical stable of themes and narratives around gunplay, drug deals, smoking weed, and sexual trysts. On "My Dawg," he reflects on the tragedies that have dotted his lifetime, including a 2019 ICE arrest in which his birthplace and visa were contested. He's heavy-hearted and thoughtful, a register he's confidently grown into since arriving on the scene as primarily a horrorcore rapper. His flows aren't remarkably diverse, but he always spits with precision, and his speed of delivery on "Many Men" and "Brand New Draco" is impressive.
It's Metro, though, who elevates 21's stories to something approaching greatness. The producer samples very carefully, using a snippet of Diana Ross's "I Thought It Took a Little Time (But Today I'm In Love)" on "Runnin," the wisps of the vintage cut nudging each line forward. He has a finesse for texture and atmosphere, employing the sound of a scratchy vinyl on "Runnin" and "Said N Done," a static-y beat on "RIP Luv," and the solemn piano riffs that were the driving instrument on the more minimalist Savage Mode. This sequel is a ratification of "bigger and better," an example of steady improvement through impeccable craft.
Label: Epic Release Date: October 2, 2020 Buy: Amazon


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
It is very important that you read and understand the following booking conditions before you decide to book with Uncover the World Travel Ltd..
It is very important that you read and understand
the following booking conditions before you decide to book with Uncover the
World Travel Ltd.. It is also important that you read the relevant itinerary and
understand what is involved in the type of Tour you are intending to book.
Uncover the World Travel only accepts bookings subject to the following booking
By making a booking you agree that you have fully read and understand these terms and conditions.
These booking conditions, the relevant web pages, each itinerary that the Client has booked and the booking form, all of which are hereby incorporated into and shall constitute the entire contract made between the Company and the Client.
By making a booking, the first named person on the booking agrees on behalf of all persons detailed on the booking that:-
Your Booking is made with Uncover the World Travel Limited, also trading as 'Egypt Uncovered', 'Egypt Uncovered', 'Nepal Uncovered' and 'Thailand Uncovered', 'herein referred to as "the Company." Our registered office is Plumpton Cottage, Mitchell Lane, Bradford, BD10 0TA, United Kingdom, Registered No, 7560987, VAT No. GB244418513.
A Contract enters into force only after the Company receives a non-refundable booking fee, a signed and completed booking form, which may be submitted by post, fax or through an online form and the Client receives confirmation of acceptance in writing with a confirmation invoice. The booking fee will normally be GBP150 / USD250 / CAD400 / EUR250 / AUD300 / NZD300 / ZAR 3000 / INR 15,000 per person for all group tours or 25% of the cost of the tour for all private and tailor-made tours or 50% of the cost of the tour for discounted/voucher bookings made through agents of the Company, in addition to the full price of any internal or international flights and travel insurance booked as part of the package. The price of any flights or travel insurance booked as part of the package will be added to the booking fee, which is paid at the time of booking, is accepted as part of the total cost and will not be refunded, unless the applicant cannot be offered a place. Some Tours may require a higher booking fee, which will be advised to the Client at the time of booking. If a Tour booking is made within 56 days of departure the booking fees will be the entire Tour price. Signed and completed booking forms must be received by the Company within 10 days of receipt of booking fee by the Company or the booking will not be accepted by the Company. The Company reserves the right to add a processing fee of up to 5% of all monies paid by credit card. This only applies to commercial cards and cards registered outside the UK and EU. The balance of the total cost, where relevant, must be paid no later than 56 days before departure for Tours. If the balance has not been received at this time before departure, the Company will treat the contract as cancelled by the Client. Cancellation charges are applicable; please see below.
The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 require us to provide security for the monies that you pay for the package holidays booked with the Company and for the repatriation of EU citizens in the event of our insolvency. We provide financial protection for our package holidays:
Bookings for packages including flights:
We do not sell packages including international flights to residents of the United Kingdom or flights departing from the United Kingdom. Flight based packages may be made available from other international destinations.
Bookings for packages that do not include flights:
Uncoverthe World Travel Ltd. is a company committed to customer satisfaction andconsumer financial protection. We are therefore pleased to announce that, at noextra cost to you, and in accordance with ''The Package Travel, Package ToursRegulations 1992'' all passengers booking with Uncover the World Travel Ltd. arefully insured for the initial deposit, and subsequently the balance of moniespaid as detailed in your booking confirmation invoice. The policy will alsoinclude repatriation if required, arising from the cancellation or curtailmentof your travel arrangements due to the insolvency of Uncover the World Travel.
This insurance has been arranged with Affirma, a
trading brand of MGA Cover Services Limited (registered address Farren House The
Street, Farren Court Cowfold West Sussex RH 13 8BP, company registration:
08444204 authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
registration number 678541). In the unlikely event of Insolvency of Uncover the
World Travel, you should in the first instance contact ABTA: ABTA Ltd, 30 Park
Street, London, SE1 9EQ. Helpline: 020 3117 0599. This line is open from
10.00-16.00 Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.
This protection extends to passengers living outside the UK for the land cost of the holiday only be it deposit or full value. Repatriation is only to the original UK destination if originally included by sea or by land; repatriation to passengers outside of the UK does not apply.
There is no requirement for Financial Protection of day trips, and none is provided. This insurance is only valid for packages booked that DO NOT include flights. In order to deal promptly with any claim hereunder it is essential that you retain all bills, receipts and other documents relating to your travel arrangements. Claim forms must be submitted within six months of date of insolvency. We cannot consider or pay claims received after this date.
We are a Member of ABTA, membership number Y4447. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA's Code of Conduct. We can also offer you an arbitration scheme for the resolution of disputes arising out of this contract. The scheme is arranged by ABTA and administered independently. It is a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on you for costs. The upper limit on claims is £5,000 per person and £25,000 per booking form. The scheme doesn't apply to claims which are solely in respect of physical injury or illness or their consequences. It can however deal with claims which include an element of minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,500 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element. Your request for arbitration must be received by ABTA within eighteen months of the date of return from holiday. For injury and illness claims, you can request the ABTA Mediation Procedure and we have the option to agree to mediation. Further information on the Code and ABTA's assistance in resolving disputes can be found on www.abta.com.
We reserve the right to amend the price of unsold holidays at any time and correct errors in the prices of confirmed holidays.
The price of your confirmed holiday is subject at all times to changes in transport costs such as fuel, scheduled airfares and any other airline cost changes which are part of our contracts with airlines (and their agents), cruise ship operators and any other transport provider; to cost changes arising from government action such as changes in VAT or any other government imposed changes; and to changes in currency exchange rates and to dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports any or all of which may result in a variation of your holiday price. We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements. You will be charged for the amount over and above that, plus an administration charge of £1.00 per person together with an amount to cover agents' commission. If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your confirmed travel arrangements (excluding any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements), you will have the option of accepting a change to another holiday if we are able to offer one (if this is of equivalent or higher quality you will not have to pay more but if it is of lower quality you will be refunded the difference in price), or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid to us, except for any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements and/or credit card fees. We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy.
Should you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on your final invoice. There will be no change made to the price of your confirmed holiday within 30 days of your departure nor will refunds be paid during this period. Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your confirmed holiday cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.
From time to time we may offer temporary discounts on our holidays. These discounts apply to new bookings made during the promotional period only and cannot be applied to existing bookings.
Travel insurance is vital. It is your responsibility to ensure that you take out a comprehensive travel insurance policy to cover you during your travel. We will require full details of your insurance before you travel. You will not be able to travel without valid travel insurance. We will not be liable for any losses howsoever arising, in respect of which insurance cover would otherwise have been available.
We endeavour to ensure that all the information and prices both on our website and in our brochures are accurate; however occasionally changes and errors occur and we reserve the right to correct prices and other details in such circumstances. You must check the current price and all other details relating to the arrangements that you wish to book before your booking is confirmed.
It is your responsibility to fulfil the passport, visa and other immigration requirements applicable to your itinerary. We can provide general information about the passport and visa requirements for your trip. Your specific passport and visa requirements and other immigration requirements for you and your party are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. We can provide general information about any health formalities required for your trip but you should check with your own doctor for your own specific circumstances. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel, or incur any other loss because you have not complied with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities. You agree to indemnify us in relation to any costs which we incur as a result of your failure to comply with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities. Most countries now require passports to be valid for at least 6 months after your return date. If your passport is in its final year, you should check with the Embassy of the country you are visiting. Special conditions apply for travel to the USA, and all passengers must have individual machine readable passports. Please check www.usembassy.org.uk. For further information contact the Passport Office on 0870 5210410 or visit www.passport.gov.uk. It is your responsibility to check visa requirements for your destination. Up to date travel advice can be obtained from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, visit www.fco.gov.uk. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provide up to date information on safety issues worldwide, visit www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo. Non British Citizens, including other EU nationals, should contact the Embassy, High Commission or Consulate of your destination, for up to date advice on passport requirements.
We will do our best to assist you in altering your arrangements after booking, but cannot guarantee that this will be possible. Any changes to the original booking must be confirmed in writing by the person signing the booking form and must be accompanied by an administration fee of GBP50 / USD75 / CAD100 / AUD100 / NZD100 / EUR75 / ZAR1000 / INR5000 per booking, in addition to any extra cost incurred as a result of the amendment and/or any extra services required.
Transfer of booking to another person is at the Company's discretion; however we will endeavour to assist wherever possible. Where a Client is prevented from undertaking a Tour, the Client may transfer their booking to another person who satisfies all the relevant conditions to the Tour. A transfer administration fee of GBP50 / USD75 / CAD100 / AUD100 / NZD100 / EUR75 / ZAR1000 / INR5000 will be charged, or GBP100 / USD150 / CAD200 / AUD200 / NZD200 / EUR150 / ZAR2000 / INR10,000 if the transfer is made less than 56 days before departure. Additional fees may also be charged to cover the cost of re-issuing transport tickets or other items where necessary.
You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. The cancellation will take effect from the date that written notification from the person who made the booking is received at our offices/ via email. We recommend that you use recorded delivery/ read receipt. Any cancellation will incur a charge to reflect the reasonable costs incurred by us in arranging and cancelling your booking. Charges for cancellation after the balance due date will vary due to the complex nature of our travel itineraries. Please note, the costs of many international flights are non refundable. This will be advised to you at the time of booking. The full costs of cancellation will be communicated to you at the point of cancellation. We have prepared the following cancelation charges below as a guide only, and these are subject to variation.
(The cancellation charge detailed will be calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling excluding amendment charges which are not refundable in the event of the person(s) to whom they apply cancelling.):-
|More than 56 days
|Loss of deposit
|Full refund of balance
|42 to 56 days
|Loss of deposit
|70% refund of balance
|28 to 41 days
|Loss of deposit
|50% refund of balance
|15 to 27 days
|Loss of deposit
|25% refund of balance
|0 to 14 days
|No refund
Please note, flight cancellation charges will be applicable in addition to the cancellation fees outlined above.
Flight cancellation fees are set by our flight agents and the airline concerned and the Company will follow these rules. We strongly recommend that you to take out insurance against irrecoverable cancellation costs.
The Company reserves the right to change or cancel any Tour without prior notice. We strongly recommend that you to take out insurance against irrecoverable cancellation costs. If we cancel or make a material 'major change' (for example, change of destination, or to a lower standard of accommodation), we will notify you as soon as practically possible and offer you the choice of (i) accepting alternative arrangements; (ii) arranging an alternative holiday with us; or (iii) cancelling your holiday with full refund. Regardless of the option you choose we will pay you compensation, unless the change has been caused by Force Majeure or low bookings, as outlined below:
|No. of calendar days notice prior to date of departure
|Compensation per Passenger
|More than 70 days
|69 - 43 days
|42 - 28 days
|27 -14 days
|Less than 14 days
No compensation is payable in relation to a minor change, and the options above for major changes will not apply, either. Examples of "minor changes" include the following when made before departure: any change in the advertised identity of the carrier(s), flight timings, and/or aircraft type; a change of outward departure time or overall length of your holiday of twelve hours or less, or a change of accommodation to another of the same standard or classification. If any additional expenses are incurred through delays, accidents or disruption of planned itineraries because of situations or events beyond the Company's control or considered advisable by the Company, such expenses are to be borne by the Client. The Client accepts that situations or events beyond the control of the Company may prevent the Company from supplying services and/or itineraries as described.
If we are unable to provide a significant proportion of your holiday whilst you are away, suitable alternative arrangements will be made for you at no extra cost or, alternatively, you will be returned to your point of departure and given a pro-rata refund for any part of the holiday not received. This does not apply to minor changes in your accommodation, itinerary or transportation. If any additional expenses are incurred through delays, accidents or disruption of planned itineraries because of situations or events beyond the Company's control or considered advisable by the Company, such expenses are to be borne by the Client. The Client accepts that situations or events beyond the control of the Company may prevent the Company from supplying services and/or itineraries as described.
The Company runs small group departures generally ranging from 2-20 travellers though group sizes do vary between tours. Shoestring type tours generally have a larger maximum group size. In rare circumstances we do run with group sizes up to a maximum of 50. Therefore group sizes indicated on our website, brochure and other marketing literature are for guide purposes only. The company retains the right to change the minimum and maximum group size for any of it tours at any time without prior notice.
Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions we will not be liable or pay you compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by any event which we or the supplier(s) of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. These events can include, but are not limited to war, threat of war, civil strife, terrorist activity and its consequences or the threat of such activity, riot, the act of any government or other national or local authority including port or river authorities, industrial dispute, lock closure, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster and adverse weather, sea, ice and river conditions and all similar events outside our or the supplier(s) concerned's control. Advice from the UK Foreign Office to avoid or leave a particular area or country may constitute Force Majeure. We will follow the advice given by the UK Foreign Office.
If the Client leaves the Tour voluntarily before completion of the Tour, or is required to do so by the Company on the grounds that the Client's presence is detrimental to the safety or well-being of either the Client or the Tour, then all liability that the Company may bear to that Client will cease immediately, including the Client's right to any refund. The Company will have no responsibility for repatriation or any other expenses, which may arise out of such an event. If a Client becomes ill, all hospital expenses, doctors' fees and repatriation costs are the Client's responsibility and the Company shall not be liable for any refund of the Tour cost.
We have based our holidays on the services of major international airlines and whilst these airlines are rarely subject to lengthy delays, there are occasions regrettably when delays do occur. Unfortunately we cannot accept responsibility for such events however we will provide you with prompt assistance. Unfortunately we cannot cover the costs of meals, overnight accommodation or any other cost resulting from delay. If you face a delay or are denied boarding we advise you to first contact your airline, who may be able to assist.
Tours operated or supplied by the Company have been designed to provide participants with an exposure to the true nature of the environment visited and therefore involve an element of potential risk and exposure to potential hazards over and above those associated with normal 'package' holidays. All bookings are accepted on the understanding that the Client appreciates such risk and hazards and that they undertake all tours, treks and other activities at their own volition.
The Company shall not be liable for any loss of or damage to baggage, personal possessions, passports and other documents or any consequential loss resulting there from, and its staff or agents are not authorised to accept responsibility for their safekeeping. We strongly recommend that you to take out insurance against loss of or damage to personal belongings.
In some circumstances we act as AGENT for reservations for domestic flights offered in the country in question. Your contract will be with the Principal advised to you at the time of making the reservation, the Principals terms and conditions will apply. These flights do not form part of your package booked with Uncover the World Travel Ltd.
You agree to comply strictly with the laws and
customs of all countries visited, whether in respect of health, immigration,
exchange control, drugs or any other matter. You agree to accept the authority
of and to comply with all reasonable instructions of the Tour leaders, employees
and agents. You agree to behave in a considerate and respectful manner to other
participants in your Tour, to our staff, and to local people. Your behaviour
must not prejudice the satisfactory progress of the Tour or any participant's
safety or wellbeing. You accept that any liability and responsibility that we
bear to you immediately ceases if you arrange any extra tours or activities
independently during the tour that do not form part of the Tour Itinerary. We
reserve the right to exclude you from the whole or any part of the tour if we
consider that you are likely to prejudice the safety, good order or discipline
of the tour, including as a result of you failing to comply with the Tour
leader's instructions, breaking any law or regulation of the country you are
travelling in, or failing to adhere to the code of conduct described above,
provided that we exercise our discretion reasonably in this regard. In such
event you will reimburse to us any reasonable costs, expenses or losses which we
incur or suffer as a result of our decision to exclude you. No refunds will be
given in the event of you being excluded from a Tour, and you agree that we are
not responsible for, and indemnify us against any costs you may incur including
costs of repatriation e.g. transport and flights and accommodation. You agree to
comply with all reasonable instructions of the Tour leaders, employees and
It is your responsibility to be in possession of a valid passport, visas, permits, necessary certificates, logbooks and medical certificates, as required by the Tour. The Company accepts no responsibility for change in visas or requirements for visas. The Company is not held responsible for the failure of a Client to obtain or produce the necessary visas, certificates, logbooks or medical certificates.
All Clients must satisfy the Company and themselves, prior to confirmation of booking, that they are fit and able to undertake and complete their chosen Tour as outlined in the relevant itinerary details published on the website or in correspondence. No unaccompanied minors (under 18 years of age) are accepted on any of the Company's Tours. Any Client with an illness or disability, or undergoing treatment for such a condition must declare the exact nature of the condition at the time of booking and make provision for any treatment or medication required during the Tour. For tours which involved a high level of physical exertion we may require participants to complete a medical questionnaire. Any failure to make this disclosure will constitute a breach of these booking conditions and result in the termination of the Contact, and all monies paid to the Company will be forfeit. On Tours that include any activities or travel in or on water including diving, cruises, sailing, rafting or any other transfer by boat, the Client must declare at the time of booking if they are unable to swim. Clients unable to swim will not be excluded from a Tour, with the exception of a rafting or diving Tour, but rather the Company will take additional precautions, where necessary, to ensure the safety of the Client. In the case of diving and rafting, any Client unable to swim will be excluded from the Tour. Before commencing any diving Tour the Client must declare that they have met the requirements of a standard PADI diving medical questionnaire. Any failure to make these disclosures will constitute a breach of these booking conditions and result in the termination of the Contact, and all monies paid to the Company will be forfeit. Some activities may be unsuitable for young children and some Tours may have a minimum age limit.
For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 we are a data controller. In order to process your booking and to ensure that your travel arrangements can be properly performed we need to collect certain personal details from you. These will include, where applicable, the names and addresses of party's members, credit/debit card or other payment details and special requirements such as those relating to any disability or medical condition which may affect the chosen holiday arrangements and any dietary restrictions which may disclose your religious beliefs. We must pass on your personal details to the companies and organizations who need to know them so that your holiday can be provided (for example your airline, hotels, transport companies, credit/debit company or bank). The information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or otherwise as required by law. Where you provide us with personal details such as those mentioned above, you consent to this information being used as described above. We are entitled to assume you do not object to our doing any of the things mentioned above unless you tell us otherwise in writing. We have appropriate security measures in place to protect the personal details you give us. We may have to pass your details to organisations outside the European Economic Area, (EEA), controls on data protection in these places may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country.
You are generally entitled to ask us (by letter or e-mail) what details of yours are being held or processed, for what purpose and to whom they may be or have been disclosed. We will charge a fee to respond to such a request.
Any comments, likenesses or images of you secured or taken on any of our Tours may be used by the Company without charge in all media (whether now existing or in the future invented) for bona fide promotional or marketing purposes, including without limitation promotional materials of any kind, such as brochures, slides, video shows and the internet.
For more information on how we collect, use and store your personal data please see our Privacy Policy.
Clients are only accepted on the understanding that they accept, appreciate and understand the possible risks of adventure travel and that they agree to take these risks of their own free-will. The Client will comply strictly with the laws and customs of all countries visited, whether in respect of health, immigration, exchange control, drugs or any other matter. The Client agrees to comply with all reasonable instructions of the Tour leaders, employees and agents.
We make every effort to ensure that your holiday arrangements run smoothly but if you do have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your hotelier) immediately who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please contact us by telephone. Contact numbers for our local suppliers will be provided before departure and they should be contacted first as they will be best placed to resolve the problem quickly. You may also contact us in the UK on +44 (0)800 088 6002 (office hours) or +44 (0) 0203 6333041 (24 hours). Failure to do so will affect ours and the applicable supplier's ability to investigate your complaint, and will affect your rights under this contract. If the problem cannot be resolved and you wish to complain further, you must send formal written notice of your complaint to us within 28 days of the end of your stay, giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. This will assist us to quickly identify your concerns and speed up our response to you.
These Booking Conditions and any agreement to which they apply are governed in all respects by English law. We both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter which arises between us out of or in connection with your contract or booking will be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales only.
Uncover the World Travel Ltd. Booking Conditions v.2.4 | Last Updated: 31/01/2018


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World Extreme Cagefighting went out with a bang in the cage, and the promotion didn't do too bad in the ratings, either.
With a pair of titles on the line in the final event in WEC history, "WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis" scored an impressive 0.62 household rating and an average audience of 615,000 viewers on Versus, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) confirmed with an industry source.
The ratings figure marks the third-straight WEC event to experience a gain in viewership, and WEC 53 finishes as the seventh-highest rated event in the promotion's history.
Quarter-hour figures were not available, but the evening's five-round main event between new WEC champion Anthony Pettis and former title-holder Ben Henderson was an instant classic that likely drew increased viewership as the bout wore on. That fight, of course, was capped-off with a fifth-round highlight that will live on in MMA history for quite some time as Pettis leaped off the cage to deliver a flying high kick that floored his opponent and likely sealed the win.
WEC 53 took place at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz. The show was the last-ever event in WEC history as the organization merges with its sister promotion, the UFC, in January. The event also featured pre- and post-shows with Versus reporters/hosts Molly Qerim and Ariel Helwani, and the wrap-up scored 352,000 viewers for a 0.34 household rating.
In addition to the evening's main event, WEC 53 also saw the promotion crown the UFC's first-ever bantamweight champion, as Dominick Cruz dominated top challenger Scott Jorgensen for five rounds in order to close out the WEC as its final champion and also earn the UFC's newly created 135-pound belt.
The event was the most-watched WEC card since 640,000 viewers tuned into WEC 46, in which Henderson first claimed the undisputed WEC lightweight title over former champ Jamie Varner.
Recent WEC ratings as compiled by MMAjunkie.com include:
- WEC 53 (Henderson vs. Pettis): 615,000 viewers
- WEC 52 (Faber vs. Mizugaki): 570,000 viewers
- WEC 51 (Aldo vs. Gamburyan): 486,000
- WEC 50 (Cruz vs. Benavidez II): 316,000
- WEC 49 (Varner vs. Shalorus): 324,000
- WEC 48 (Aldo vs. Faber): n/a (aired on PPV)
- WEC 47 (Bowles vs. Cruz): 373,000 viewers
- WEC 46 (Varner vs. Henderson): 640,000
- WEC 45 (Cerrone vs. Ratcliff): 330,000
- WEC 44 (Brown vs. Aldo): 414,000
- WEC 43 (Cerrone vs. Henderson): 419,000
- WEC 42 (Torres vs. Bowles): 670,000
- WEC 41 (Brown vs. Faber II): 1,300,000
- WEC 40 (Torres vs. Mizugaki): n/a
- WEC 39 (Brown vs. Garcia): 531,000
- WEC 38 (Varner vs. Cerrone): 702,000
- WEC 37 (Torres vs. Tapia): 671,000
- WEC 36 (Faber vs. Brown): 497,000
- WEC 35 (Condit vs. Miura): 423,000
- WEC 34 (Faber vs. Pulver): 1,540,000
For complete coverage of WEC 53, check out the MMA Events section of MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Anthony Pettis)


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Who was/is John Barry ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more
John Barry,
king of screen composers, was born John Barry Prendergast in 1933, grew up in York, and spent his youth watching films in the movie theatres owned by his family. After national service derailed his ambition to be a concert pianist, he formed the John Barry Seven in 1957 and found work backing pop stars like Tommy Steele and Frankie Vaughan. HIS first soundtrack success came in 1959 with Beat Girl, starring Adam Faith, and in 1962 Barry was asked to arrange the title theme for the first James Bond picture, Dr No.
Since then, of course, his name has been inextricably linked with 007's, the winning combination represented here by the title music for the second, probably best ever, Bond film, From Russia With Love. Enjoy, too, the evocative opening sequence from one of his earliest projects, Zulu, plus several notable pieces from the US ABC-TV 1963 documentary special Elizabeth Taylor In London. OUR final track, Christine, released in 1963 by 'Miss X' (actually Joyce Blair) was a topical parody based on the Profumo affair. Later, Barry would pick up Academy Awards for Born Free (1966), The Lion In Winter (1968), Out Of Africa (1985) and Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves (1991), but our 16-track selection highlights those early-mid Sixties pieces that first propelled Barry's music to a worldwide audience.
Pass the popcorn and enjoy!


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Xorcom IP PBX
Xorcom IP PBXXorcoms IP PBX range are highly customisable, easy to use and reliable. If you need durable scalable solutions for your IP PBX VoIP System Xorcom is a great choice for all your VoIP needs. Xorcom IP PBX hardware is supported by a plethora of its sister products.
Not sure what size Telephone System you need? Use our Xorcom IP- PBX Comparison Chart or use our Product Configurator:


text: A Japanese company named Ymup is set to unveil what is being touted as the world's first oxygen generating backpack. The generator itself is battery powered and should give climbers about 2 hours of O2 at a 30% concentration. It can even be operated via remote control should you need to remove your gear to negotiate a tight space. I don't think that the Ymup backpack is ready for an Everest expedition just yet, but it could be extremely useful for less extreme climbs (especially if a solar panel was added down the line). The Ymup is set to be released on July 31st with price-points ranging from US$880 to US$1,150. [Ymup via Crave via Ubergizmo via Crunchgear]


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Value Proposition Design
About The Author
Elisabet Lagerstedt
Elisabet is the founder and CEO of Inquentia and as Executive Consultant supporting executives and their teams in building a better future through innovation, growth, and renewal. Always from a market and customer perspective. Elisabet holds a Masters of Social Sciences from Lund University and executive education from Harvard Business School, Oxford, IMD, INSEAD, and Singularity University. Professionally, Elisabet has 25 years of business experience, whereof 15 years on a management team level. Elisabet is also a guest lecturer and mentor at the Master Program of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Lund University, speaker, blogger and author, and a member World Future Society and the SingularityU community.
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Five-star recruit Adoree' Jackson of Serra signed his letter of intent with USC on Wednesday after he had a dream about choosing the Trojans the night before and decided to follow it. This story will be updated.
Find Jackson's recruiting profile here: http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/20140204/adoree-jackson-high-school-football-scouting-report
Join our USC Signing Day live chat here: http://www.insidesocal.com/usc/2014/02/05/usc-signing-day-chat/


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Full Body Harness
To zoom in, use the keyboard to focus on the arrow icon within the product image. Once it receives focus, use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move and position the product image. The zoom feature provides no benefit to users who are blind.
Using 360° Viewing:
- Rotate: Use top-to-bottom, side-to-side by use of mouse arrow.
- Zoom In: Double click on image.
- Zoom Out/Reset: Put photo at full zoom & then double click.
CAD Downloads
How can we improve our Product Images?
- Shipping Weight 4.9 lbs.
Country of Origin USA Country of Origin is subject to change.
Note: Product availability is real-time updated and adjusted continuously. The product will be reserved for you when you complete your order. More
Product Details
These safety harnesses for positioning have one D-ring on the upper back, two or more D-rings on the hip straps, and a body belt. The hip D-rings and body belt connect to positioning and restraint lanyards that help keep the wearer positioned correctly near his or her work while working at heights. This keeps the wearer's hands free to do work and reduces the energy it takes to stay in place while working. The D-ring on the upper back attaches to a self-retracting lifeline or shock-absorbing lanyard that connects to a secure anchor point. These safety harnesses are often used for construction applications such as foundation-building and rebar work.Safety harnesses are devices worn by people who are working at heights to help reduce the risk of injury if they fall. The harness distributes the force of the fall across the wearer's body when the fall is arrested. These fall-protection harnesses are secured around the shoulders, torso, and upper thighs. They have a single D-ring or web loop on the upper back (dorsal) for attaching a self-retracting lifeline or shock-absorbing lanyard that connects to a secure anchor point on a building or structure. The position of the D-ring reduces strain on the wearer's body and keeps the wearer upright in the harness during and after a fall. Some safety harnesses have additional D-rings on the shoulders, hips, or chest that allow them to be used for positioning, ladder climbing, and raising or lowering workers into confined spaces.
Technical Specs
- Item Full Body Harness
- Harness Style Vest
- D-Ring Locations Back, Hips
- With Belt Yes
- Includes Padding Yes
- Padding Location Back, Shoulder
- Weight Capacity 400 lb
- Harness D-Ring Material Steel
- Chest Strap Buckles Mating
- Leg Strap Buckles Tongue
- Brand and Series Honeywell Miller Titan II
- Torso Adjustment Friction
- Hardware Material Steel
- Harness Sizing L/XL
- Webbing Materials Polyester
- RFID Equipped No
- Harness Color Orange
- Standards ANSI A10.32, ANSI Z359-2007, CSA Z259.1, OSHA 1910.66, OSHA 1926.502(d)
- Features Increased worksite safety with Hi-Viz color webbing and ANSI Z359.11 compliance; Easier vertical adjustability that stays in place; Slip resistant back D-ring pad and forward positioned side D-rings, keeping your tool bags in the right place; Oversized ID tags provide quick and easy harness size identification; Back strap increases safety by preventing roll out in the event of a fall; More comfort and better fit with lighter, strategically-placed padding that provides optimal airflow
- Harness Size L, XL
- Webbing Coating Uncoated
- Webbing Material Polyester
- Color and Size Orange - L/XL
- Harness Application Positioning
How can we improve our Technical Specifications?
Compliance and Restrictions
Alternate Search Terms
Fall Protection Equipment (2953)
Fall Arresters (2316)
Personal Fall Arrest Systems (1561)
Fall Protection Harnesses (1555)
Body Harnesses (1548)
Fall-Arrest Harnesses (1539)
Safety Harnesses (1539)
Chest Harnesses (1539)
Full Body Harnesses (1539)
Construction Harnesses (465)


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Awww, for how many more years can we hang onto him looking this angelic (if a little "shaggy dog" in the hair department!)
Then it's out for dinner. A relief for me from all the cooking to come!
Can't stay out too late though! There's essential jobs to be done at home if the man in red is to visit...
Ahh, this is the best bit, pjs on in front of the fire, snuggling under the eidy, tin of Quality Street out, everything to look forward to the next day!
We are incredibly lucky with the Munchkin in that he is not a child who starts jumping up and down at some horrendous hour half way through the night but waits for us to get up at a sensible time for the festivities to begin on Christmas Day. And the reward for this good behaviour?!
Ah yes, Father Christmas has not disappointed! Jacky-Ginge is wondering what on earth is going on and why he's being made to wear a stupid red bow? He's enjoying having so many people sitting down and having a choice of laps on which to station himself, however.
Seems other gifts were well received, too!
Even if the Munchkin did think it was a cat, not a fox!
Yum yum, all that present opening is hard work...
So, that was Christmas, over in a flash, all to quickly, as usual. We've finally been able to get together with family, despite most of us being at various stages of the dreaded cold bug and it was a joy to see homemade gifts being appreciated as they found new homes...
Me? Well I did rather well in the gifts department, too. The eagle eyed amongst you (my sister!) will recognise this gorgeous vintage crazy patchwork throw from my Bridport post. A certain someone managed to slip back and wrap it up for me for Christmas Day. Jacky approves!
I also received this gorgeous Orla radio which I wanted for my "new" quilting room upstairs.
However, it seems I have competition for the lovely big table in my quilting room. Ohhh, the Munchkin has been busy since Christmas Day!
All aboard the Hornby express!
Chuff chuff!
You can visit the shops (or the farm!)
Whoosh! There goes Clan Line!
Clan Line is hauling The Orient Express (as in real life) complete with Pullman coaches. Want a ride? Your table awaits with its working lamp!
Yes indeedy, there is one happy chap. The Munchkin? No, his Dad, of course!
Now my friends, New Year awaits us so we wave goodbye to you for a while and indeed to 2010. It has, as they say, been a very good year.


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Welcome, Adero! Edit
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One in three U.S. adults is 'prediabetic'
People with diabetes can lose 10-15 years of life on average
Chances are you've seen it in the headlines. Thanks to obesity and lack of physical activity, diabetes has become a health problem of epidemic proportions in the United States.
What you may not know is that more than one in three American adults over age 20 is already estimated to have "prediabetes" — high blood-sugar levels that signal a collision course with full-blown diabetes and its potentially deadly complications.
Dr. Pawar practices internal medicine at Rocklin's Placer Center for Health.
Fortunately, relatively modest lifestyle changes can slow or reverse prediabetes and prevent you from developing diabetes proper. Even losing as little as 10 pounds can make a huge difference.
Prediabetes and diabetes
- physical inactivity
- parent or sibling with diabetes
- family background is African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Alaska Native, American Indian or Pacific Islander
- gestational diabetes or giving birth to a >9 pound baby
- high blood pressure
- low HDL or "good" cholesterol
- high triglyceride levels
- polycystic ovary syndrome
- impaired fasting glucose or glucose tolerance in previous testing
- other conditions associated with insulin resistance, such as severe obesity or acanthosis nigricans
- cardiovascular disease
If test results are normal, testing should be repeated at least every 3 years. In those without these risk factors, testing should begin at age 45.
Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose, or sugar, levels are too high. More than nine in 10 cases are type 2 or "adult-onset" diabetes, the kind linked to excess body weight and physical inactivity.
In type 2 diabetes, your body does not make or make good use of insulin, a hormone that helps glucose enter your cells to give them energy. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood and can lead to serious and often life-threatening cardiovascular, kidney or eye problems.
— Sanyukta Pawar
According to the CDC, the risk of death among people with diabetes is about twice that of people without diabetes of a similar age, and people with diabetes lose as many as 10-15 years of life on average. Diabetes is also a leading cause of new cases of blindness, kidney failure and nontraumatic amputations of the legs and feet.
Prediabetes involves blood-glucose levels that are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as formal diabetes. You may hear a physician refer to elevated or prediabetic blood glucose levels as "impaired glucose tolerance" or "impaired fasting glucose."
According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, studies have shown that most people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years — unless they lose weight and change their diet and physical activity.
Like diabetics, prediabetics also have increased risk of heart disease and stroke. And according to the American Diabetes Association, recent research has shown that some long-term damage to the body — especially the heart and circulatory system — may already occur during prediabetes.
Symptoms, tests and risk factors
When they do occur, physical symptoms of prediabetes can include:
- Unusual thirst;
- A frequent desire to urinate;
- Blurred vision; and/or
- A feeling of being tired most of the time for no apparent reason.
But like type 2 diabetes itself, people with prediabetes often do not experience noticeable symptoms at all. Physicians usually diagnose the condition through one or more blood tests that gauge long-term blood sugar levels, fasting blood sugar, and/or your body's response after drinking a sweet liquid.
Ditching prediabetes
The American Diabetes Association offers a risk self-test for diabetes, also featured on the UC Davis Health Management and Education website.
The good news about a prediabetes diagnosis is that it can be used as warning sign, allowing you to take control of and change your health and habits before it's too late.
While several drugs have been shown to reduce diabetes risk to varying degrees, none are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating prediabetes or preventing diabetes.
However, relatively modest lifestyle changes can delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes in prediabetics — and even restore normal blood-glucose levels.
Achieving a 5 to 7 percent weight loss and logging 150 weekly minutes of moderate physical activity can reduce the onset of type 2 diabetes in prediabetics by nearly 60 percent.
That doesn't have to mean fitting into your high-school jeans — for many people, a 5 to 7 percent weight loss can be as little as 10 pounds or less. And 150 minutes of exercise can translate into a just a brisk half-hour walk taken five days a week. Simple!
If current trends continue, one in three Americans will develop diabetes sometime in their lifetime. With a few adjustments, many prediabetics can avoid being one of them.