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what you'll fall in love with
People love living close to excellent schools, beautiful parks, University Village, and Metropolitan Market.
People love living close to excellent schools, beautiful parks, University Village, and Metropolitan Market.
There are still plenty of cute, older affordable homes here, but this is changing quickly as newer homes come in and the area becomes more expensive.
This higher-income neighborhood has new, large homes popping up at an astonishing rate.
Home prices are going up quickly in this neighborhood; this year, homes are already selling for $200k more than they did last year.
Located in northeast Seattle, Bryant is an older neighborhood that's changing quickly. Many people enjoy a sense of community."If you're raising a family, then Bryant is a wonderful place to call home. It's close to the water, there are lots of parks, and there are some excellent places to eat nearby."
*Based on 2016 data
single family home vs. condo
Bryant is close to several gorgeous parks, including the Burke-Gilman Playground Park, Bryant Neighborhood Playground, the University Washington Driving Range, and the nearby Magnuson Park. Go for a jog along the lake, or take advantage of campus events at University of Washington.
Bryant is in large part defined by how close it is to University Village. This dynamic shopping center is brimming with shops, restaurants, services and more, all in a small town-inspired atmosphere. Spend the day popping in and out of shops, enjoy a lunch date with a friend, and even get your grocery shopping done at QFC.
There are plenty of more affordable, small homes here, which is great if you're looking for a cute old house. But this is changing quickly as people move in and build what they want. Oftentimes, this means tearing down these older homes and building 3,200-square-foot homes that will run you $1.6 million. These homes have more modern designs, with open floor plans and upstairs bedrooms.
Bryant is essentially 4 neighborhoods, and each area has its own perks. In the south of Bryant, you have perhaps the most desired area, as its extremely close to University Village. People enjoy living in this area due to its excellent walkability—everything is right there! People also like the 35th to 40th streets on the downhill slope, and it's conveniently walkable to the popular Metropolitan Market from here. Towards the north, it transitions into the Ravenna neighborhood.
Frank's Oyster House & Champagne Parlor is ridiculously good! There are also several places to eat in the U-Village, including Molly Moon's Ice Cream, Pasta & Co., the Ram, Trophy Cupcakes, Veggie Grill, Evolution Fresh, Din Tai Fung—the list goes on and on! Mioposto Pizzeria is another nearby favorite, and you can't beat the deli at Metropolitan Market!


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Welcome to Tsuyoshi's homepage!
Postdoctoral researcher at
Dublin City University
Winter School on Deep Learning for Machine Translation.
--- Dublin, 18-24/Oct/2015.
AMTA workshop on Monolingual Machine Translation
: --- San Diego, November 1, 2012
COLING workshop ML4HMT
: --- India, December 8-9, 2012
Topic of Interests
My interest is on Machine Learning and its application to SMT/NLP as well as human translation.
Statistical Machine Translation / Natural Language Processing
: statistical relational learning, word alignment, system combination, language models, neural probabilistic language models (word embeddings / deep learning), textual entailment, domain adaptation, word sense induction (WordNet), and so forth.
Monolingual Machine Translation
can take advantage of huge monolingual corpora rather than limited parallel corpora: such technique includes system combination, statistical post-editing, neural probabilistic language models, domain adaptation, monolingual word alignment, etc.
System combination
Statistical post-editing
Meaning representation
Language Models
. I worked on nonparametric Bayesian LM (Hierarchical Pitman-Yor LM), topic-based LM, and neural language models.
MAP-based Word Alignment
Machine Learning
: nonparametric Bayesian methods, topic models, deep learning, kernel methods, graphical models and their inference techniques (such as Bayesian HMMs). (Publications below are mostly applied Machine Learning since all the project fundings have been related to SMT/NLP).
Sequential learning with reordering / different lengths
(=SMT learning / inference) is one of my core interest: this problem is solely the interest in SMT community and not in Machine Learning community since there is no immediate applications in bioinformatics, computer vision (scene understanding might have such potentials though), and neuroimaging.
Lifted inference in graphical models
Deep learning / Representation
CA684 Machine Learning.
Deep Learning (Recurrent Neural Network, Restricted Boltzmann Machine) (4/Apr/2014)
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Longyue Wang, Qun Liu. The DCU Discourse Parser: A Sense Classification Task. CoNLL Shared Task (Collocated with ACL), July, 2015.
Longyue Wang, Chris Hokamp,
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Xiaojun Zhang, Qun Liu. The DCU Discourse Parser for Connective, Argument Identification and Explicit Sense Classification. CoNLL Shared Task (Collocated with ACL), July, 2015.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Qun Liu. The Question Answering System of DCUMT in NTCIR-11 QA Lab. NTCIR-11, Tokyo, Dec, 2014.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Qun Liu. The NLP system of DCUMT in NTCIR-11 MedNLP-2: RNN for ICD/Time Entity Recognition and ICD Classification Tasks. NTCIR-11, Tokyo, Dec, 2014.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Ali Hosseinzadeh Vahid, Andy Way, Qun Liu. The DCU Terminology Translation System for the Medical Query Subtask at WMT14, Workshop on Statistical Machine Translation, 2014.
Xiaofeng Wu, Rejwanul Haque,
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Piyush Arora, Andy Way, Qun Liu. DCU-Lingo24 Participation in WMT 2014 Hindi-English Translation Task. Workshop on Statistical Machine Translation, 2014.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Josef van Genabith. Selection-Based Language Model for Domain Adaptation using Topic Modeling. Workshop on Topic Models (collocated with NIPS 2013), 2013.
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Active Learning-based Local Graph Matching for Textual Entailment. SNLP, Thailand, 2013.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Qun Liu, Josef van Genabith. Shallow Semantically-Informed PBSMT and HPBSMT. Workshop on Statistical Machine Translation (WMT13, collocated with ACL 2013), 2013. (Our system was the third in ES-EN and the second in EN-ES).
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Data analytics of semantic space of relations and its deep learning perspectives. (Poster). ASSIA Summer School on Information Retrieval, Japan, 2013.
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Local Graph Matching with Active Learning for Recognizing Inference in Text at NTCIR-10, 2013. (Our system was the best system in binary classification task.).
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Joint Space Neural Probabilistic Language Model for Statistical Machine Translation, 2013. (Technical Report at arXiv:1301.3614).
(Eds) Josef van Genabith, Toni Badia, Christian Federmann, Maite Melero, Marta R. Costa-Jussa, and
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Proceedings of ML4HMT-12 (Applying Machine Learning Techniques to Optimise the Division of Labour in Hybrid Machine Translation), Mumbai, 2012.
Christian Federmann,
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Maite Melero, Marta R. Costa-Jussa, Toni Badia and Josef van Genabith. Results from the ML4HMT-12 Shared Task on Applying Machine Learning Techniques to Optimise the Division of Labour in Hybrid Machine Translation. ML4HMT Workshop (Collocated with COLING 2012), Mumbai, 2012.
Xiaofeng Wu,
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Josef van Genabith, and Qun Liu. System Combination with Extra Alignment Information. ML4HMT Workshop (Collocated with COLING 2012), Mumbai, 2012.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Raphael Rubino and Josef van Genabith. Sentence-level Quality Estimation for MT System Combination. ML4HMT Workshop (Collocated with COLING 2012), Mumbai, 2012.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Antonio Toral and Josef van Genabith. Topic Modeling-based Domain Adaptation for System Combination. ML4HMT Workshop (Collocated with COLING 2012), Mumbai, 2012.
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Neural Probabilistic Language Model for System Combination. ML4HMT Workshop (Collocated with COLING 2012), Mumbai, 2012.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Artem Sokolov, Taro Watanabe. Proceedings of MONOMT-2012 Workshop (Monolingual Machine Translation 2012), (collocated with AMTA 2012), San Diego, US, 2012.
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Annotated Corpora for Word Alignment between Japanese and English and its Evaluation with MAP-based Word Aligner. In Proceedings of the eighth international conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC 2012), Istanbul, 2012.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Josef van Genabith. Minimum Bayes Risk Decoding with Enlarged Hypothesis Space in System Combination. 13th International Conference on Intelligent Text Processing and Computational Linguistics (CICLING 2012), New Delhi, India, 2012. LNCS 7182 Part II, A. Gelbukh (Ed.), pp. 40-51.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Josef van Genabith. Salient Feature-based Adapation in Translation Memory and Machine Translation Integration.(no proceedings). The 22nd Meeting of Computational Linguistics in The Netherlands, the Netherlands, 2012.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Josef van Genabith. MAP Inference with Multiple Models for Statistical Machine Translation. Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence. SIG FPAI meeting, Tokyo, 2011.
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Meaning Representations in Statistical Word Alignment. Poster. Learning Semantics Workshop (collocated with NIPS 2011), Spain, 2011.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Josef van Genabith. DCU Confusion Network-based System Combination for ML4HMT. Shared Task on Applying Machine Learning techniques to optimising the division of labour in Hybrid MT (ML4HMT-2011, collocated with LIHMT-2011), Barcelona, 2011.
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Word Alignment and Smoothing Method in Statistical Machine Translation: Noise, Prior Knowledge and Overfitting. PhD thesis. Dublin City University.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Andy Way. Pitman-Yor Process-based Language Model. International Journal of Asian Language Processing (IJALP), 21(2), pp.57-70, 2011.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Andy Way. Given Bilingual Terminology in Statistical Machine Translation: MWE-sensitve Word Alignment and Hierarchical Pitman-Yor Process-based Translation Model Smoothing. In Proceedings of the 24th International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference (FLAIRS-24). Palm Beach, Florida. pp.269-274.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Alexandru Ceausu, and Andy Way. Statistical Machine Translation with Factored Translation Model: MWEs, Separation of Affixes, and Others. Poster presentation. In Proceeding of the 24th Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference (FLAIRS-24). Palm Beach, Florida. pp. 353-354.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Andy Way. MWE-sensitive Word Aligner in Factored Translation Model. Machine Translation and Morphologically-rich Languages: Research Workshop of the Israel Science Foundation, Israel, Jan, 2011. pp.16-17.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Andy Way. Statistical Machine Translation with Terminology. The First Symposium on Patent Information Processing (SPIP), Tokyo, Japan, Dec, 2010. pp. 41-47.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Andy Way. Hierarchical Pitman-Yor Language Model in Machine Translation. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Asian Language Processing (IALP 2010), Harbin, China, December, 2010. pp.245-248.
Tsuyoshi Okita
and Andy Way. Statistical Significance Test in Machine Translation. Poster presentation. Workshop on Validation in Statistics and Machine Learning, Berlin, 2010.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Yvette Graham, and Andy Way. Gap Between Theory and Practice: Noise Sensitive Word Alignment in Machine Translation. In Journal of Machine Learning Research Workshop and Conference Proceedings Volume 11: Workshop on Applications of Pattern Analysis (WAPA2010). pp.119-126. Cumberland Lodge, England.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Alfredo Maldonado Guerra, Yvette Graham, and Andy Way. Multi-Word Expression-Sensitive Word Alignment. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop On Cross Lingual Information Access (CLIA2010, collocated with COLING2010), Beijing, China. pp.26-34.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Jie Jiang, Rejwanul Haque, Hala Al-Maghout, Jinhua Du, Sudip Kumar Naskar and Andy Way. MaTrEx: the DCU MT System for NTCIR-8, In Proceedings of the NII Test Collection for IR Systems-8 Meeting (NTCIR-8), Tokyo. pp.377-383.
Yanjun Ma,
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Ozlem Cetinoglu, Jinhua Du, Andy Way. Low-Resource Machine Translation Using MaTrEx: The DCU Machine Translation System for IWSLT 2009. International Workshop on Spoken Language Translation (IWSLT 2009), Tokyo, 2009. pp.29-36.
Tsuyoshi Okita
, Sudip Naskar, Andy Way. Noise Reduction Experiments in Machine Translation, project exhibition poster, Slovenia, ECML-PKDD 2009.
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Data Cleaning for Word Alignment, Joint conference of the 47th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics and the 4th International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing of the Asian Federation of Natural Language Processing Student Research Workshop (ACL-IJCNLP 2009 SRW), Singapore, 2009. pp.72-80.
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Preprocessing Methods for Word Alignment, The UK special-interest group for computational linguistics annual colloquium (CLUK 12), Dublin, 2009.
Japanese Translation of Books (2002-2008)
(Japanese Translated Edition). カーネル法によるパターン解析, translated by
Tsuyoshi Okita
, 624 pages, Kyoritsu Publisher. (Orig: Kernel Methods for Pattern Analysis, John Shawe-Taylor and Nello Cristianini, Cambridge University Press)
(Japanese Translated Edition). コンピュータビジョン, translated by
Tsuyoshi Okita
, 826 pages, Kyoritsu Publisher. (Orig: Computer Vision, David A. Forsyth, Jean Ponce, Pearson International)
(Japanese Translated Edition). サポートベクターマシン入門, translated by
Tsuyoshi Okita
, 268 pages, Kyoritsu Publisher. (Orig: Introduction to Support Vector Machines, Nello Cristianini and John Shawe-Taylor, Cambridge University Press).
Papers which are excerpts from my MSc thesis on Software Engineering
Tsuyoshi Okita
. Load Balance Protocol of Cluster on Grid: Pervasive Maximum Algorithmic Parallelism. International Conference on Principles of Distributed Systems (OPODIS 02). Reims, France, 2002.
Tsuyoshi Okita
. PRTccp: Priority-driven Real-Time Concurrent Constraint Programming. Nordic Workshop on Programming Theory (NWPT02). Estonia. 2002.
University of Tokyo, computer science, BSc.
Free University of Brussels, computer science, MSc.
Free University of Brussels, European integration of politics and economics, MA.
Dublin City University, statistical machine translation, PhD.
SFI CNGL II (Creation and Curation): Meaning representation learning and inference 7.2014-now.
SFI CNGL I (cost extension).
FP7 EuroMatrixPlus.
SFI CNGL I (IL1: Machine Translation).
ML4HMT dataset.
dataset page
ZH-EN. LDC2012E126 ML4HMT-12 (COLING) Tuning Data, LDC2012E127 ML4HMT-12 (COLING) Test Data.
Professional Service
Reviewer: Journal of Natural Language Engineering (CUP), ACM Transactions of Asian Language Information Processing.
PC: ML4HMT-12 Workshop, NAACL HLT 2015 (demonstration track).
Workshop co-chair: MONOMT-12 Workshop, ML4HMT-12 Workshop, Dublin Summer School on Deep Learning for Machine Translation.
AMTA (and EAMT).
+353.1.700.6725 (tel)
+353.1.700.5442 (fax)

subset: commoncrawl


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I have long taught that the key to finding understanding, strength and growth in a Christian marriage comes from a revelation of the marital relationship between Christ and the Church, this is clearest in Paul's words in Ephesians 5:31-32; "vs.31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." vs.32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church." The problem is that very few Christian marriages seem to be in living contact with this reality; Christians fail to see in the Spirit (cf. Rev 1:10; Rev 4:2; Rev 17:3; Rev 21:10) that as husbands and wives they are a part of something MUCH bigger than their own marriage. Few seem to enter into the vision of the glory and beauty of marriage the scripture presents.
There are a number of reasons for this disconnection. One is poor teaching in the churches, this may reflect the lack of a strong biblical-theological grounding amongst pastors and/or their own marriages do not powerfully share in and reflect the communion between Christ and his Bride the Church. This is especially true if and when there is conflict in marriage, the sharpness and intensity of painful relationships, which so often leads husbands and wives to distance themselves from one another makes it extremely difficult to discern spiritual realities within a marriage.
For example, whilst the scriptures plainly counsel us, vs.26 "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, vs.27 and give no opportunity to the devil…. vs.30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." (Eph 4:26, 27, 30), many couples let hurt, resentment, anger, bitterness and so on stay in their hearts beyond the day on which conflict took place. This is very unwise, it is closer to the wisdom that is earthly and demonic than the wisdom which comes from heaven and pleases God (James 3:13-18).
Remembering that our marriages and meant to reflect the relationship between Christ and the Church Paul makes this bold statement, vs.7 "Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. vs.8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, vs.9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, vs.10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." (Eph 3:7-10). What needs to happen if Christian marriages are to share in and radiate this glorious eternal wisdom?
A battle has been raging on earth between the devil and God since the temptation of Adam and Eve in Eden (Gen 3). The Lord allowed Satan to enter Eden because God's plan from the beginning was that he share his reign on earth with his people; with his Church, and so in Christian marriages.
There is an old saying, what God intended from the beginning is carried out at the very end of history. This is what we see revealed near the conclusion of the book of Revelation; vs.1 "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb vs.2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. vs.3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. vs.4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. vs.5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." (Rev 22:1-5). God's sovereign reign over the universe will be shared with the followers of Jesus. This however is not simply something that will miraculously happen; it is something we are constantly being prepared for.
Whilst Genesis provides us only with an earthly perspective of this struggle the book of Revelation pictures God's arch enemy, "that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan" (Gen 12:9), as conducting a war from the heavenly places. Whilst the climax of this battle is not yet clear from a worldly point of view, the centre point was the struggle of Jesus with the powers of darkness recorded in the Gospels. Jesus prophesied of his victory at the cross, vs.31 "Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. vs.32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." vs.33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die." (John 12:31-33).
The Old Testament text most quoted in the New Testament says this; vs.1 "The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." vs.2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty sceptre. Rule in the midst of your enemies!" (Ps 110:1-2). The Messiah, who we know is Jesus, will not simply reign over his enemies he will reign in the middle of his enemies. In God's wise and glorious purposes sin, Satan and death are allowed to continue to operate in this time before Jesus returns so that the victory over evil achieved in the death and resurrection of Jesus might be revealed through his Church.
This is especially clear in the structure of the story of Revelation.
When we come to read in Revelation 6 that it is Christ the Lamb who releases war and famine and disease on the earth our hearts have already been prepared for this vision of ongoing conflict because we know from earlier in the book that Jesus "has conquered" (Rev 3:21; Rev 5:5).
The Church is called to share in the victory of Christ in a battle that rages against God's people until Christ comes again (Ps 2; Rev 2:27; Rev 11:7; Rev 12:5, 7, 17; Rev 13:7; Rev 16:14; Rev 17:4; Rev 19:11, 15, 19; Rev 20:8).
This makes Christians "overcomers/conquerors" (Rev 12:11; Rev 15:2;).
The nature of the final great battle between Christ and the forces of evil is portrayed in an amazing and surprising way in Revelation 19. In the first part of the chapter there is a great celebration in heaven over the Great Wedding between Christ and the Church; vs.1 "After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out," Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, vs.2 for his judgements are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants." vs.3 Once more they cried out, "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever." vs.4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!" vs.5 And from the throne came a voice saying, "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great." vs.6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. vs.7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; vs.8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. vs.9 And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." vs.10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God." For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Rev 19:1-10). This marvellous union is however for a majestic purpose, that the Church be joined with Christ as a Bride to fight and reign with him over all his enemies. This only becomes clear in the second part of Revelation 19.
vs.12 "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. vs.12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. vs.13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. vs.14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. vs.15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. vs.16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. vs.17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, vs.18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great." vs.19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. vs.20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. vs.21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and mall the birds were gorged with their flesh." (Rev 19:11-21).
The parallels between the nuptial scene in the first part of Revelation 19 and this section makes it clear that the Bride of the Lamb fights with Word as part of his army. In Revelation 19:8 "it was granted her (the Bride) to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints." whilst in 19:11 "the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure" follow the rider on the white horse, who is Jesus. Also, the deeds of the saints are "righteous", so they can share in the warfare of Christ who "in righteousness he judges and makes war" (11).
He is called "Faithful and True" (v.11; 3:14, "faithful and true witness") and throughout Revelation the saints as the witnesses of/to Christ are qualified by their testimony (1:2, 9; 2:13; 6:9; 11:3, 7; 12:11, 17; 20:4).
All this means that the Church most clearly knows herself as the Bride in the midst of spiritual conflict. These realities are known in marriages in the same sort of way.
As the Church exists on a continuous war zone so does every Christian marriage.
This is a spiritual war, it is not what people call the "battle of the sexes", a fleshly struggle over whether a man or a woman is the boss of a marriage.
Things are much more spiritual than this; as Paul says, vs.3 "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. vs.4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds." (2 Cor 10:3-4).
Marriage is always a war zone because things like sickness, financial stress, family pressures, sexual issues… are places where spiritual warfare happens as the devil tempts us into conflict, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness and so on.
God however has a deep purpose in allowing painful situations in Christian marriages, as the story of the unfolding war between the Lamb and the dragon/Satan/ beast in the book Revelation brought clarity and perspective to the churches about the goal of God in their suffering, a call to covenant faithfulness (1:9; 2:2-3, 19; 3:10; 13:10; 14:12), this is God's higher purpose through marital conflict today.
This involves sharing in the way of the cross through humble submission to one another and prayer together; cf. the introduction to Paul's section on marriage in Ephesians 5, "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." (v.21).
What does this look like in practice?
We are naturally proud but most of us are not in a hurry to be humble.
If however the first experiences of shame were accompanied by cover up (Gen 3:7) the Lord has ways of stripping off our protective devices to expose the things we are ashamed of. His most effective way of doing this in a marriage is conflict.
If you want to know what you're really like in your heart have a look at yourself when you are having an argument with your husband or wife.
A friend of ours didn't quite know what she was saying when she remarked that all the sickness that was around in our wider family, including with Donna, was a part of spiritual warfare and a sign that God was going to do something powerful in Myanmar through our teaching.
Sickness is one thing, and all you can do about it is to trust God, but conflict in marriage involves a third party, your spouse.
We should have hardly been surprised then when Donna had a serious falling out; the issue at hand was trivial, but I became angry and Donna started to feel useless and was crying.
Situations like this expose our immaturity, and there are two possible ways to deal with them.
We can either stay convinced the other person is wrong and I am right, or we can treat them as a God given opportunity (kairos) to confess weakness, that we are in great spiritual need and humbly ask Christ for help through prayer. The promise is clear, "vs.6 "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." vs.7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:6-7).
When we take this path we receive spiritual insight into something much bigger than ourselves.
Earlier in this chapter James says, "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions/evil desires are at war within you?" (James 4:1)
It is only when we have passions and desires that are greater than our selfishness and insecurities can we through love and sacrifice share in the victory of the Lamb of God over every evil power.
Our passions and desires for Christ's presence in the world through our marriage must be greater than anything; "those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." (Gal 5:24)
Decades ago I remember going to a wedding that had this part of scripture on the order of service; Eph 4 vs.32 "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Eph 5: vs.1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. vs.2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Eph 4:32 -5:2).
The revelation of "the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." (Eph 3:10) happens in a Christian marriage when husband and wife settle their conflicts in a way that is informed by and reveals the gospel. Such a beautiful and glorious wisdom reflected from a marriage to the evil powers in the heavenly places makes known to them in the here and now that the time of their final defeat is near. This is a statement of great spiritual authority. No wonder marriages are under constant attack by the evil powers.
Christ's Word to the Church as his Bride will always be his word to a Christian marriage.
As the Church must listen to, "the testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of prophecy." (Rev 19:10), so there must be a prophetic dimension to every Christian marriage.
The climax of prophecy in scripture is the book of Revelation, where we are repeatedly that John the seer was "in the Spirit" (Rev 1:10; Rev 4:2; Rev 17:3; Rev 21:10) and received insight from God about what was happening in the spiritual conflict between the powers of darkness and the Bride of Christ.
When we follow the example and inspiration of the prophets who call the Church to pray in the Spirit in this way the reality of the End-time conflict in which we are all engaged becomes increasingly real.
Because I am a difficult person to live with over the years Donna has had to say to me from time to time, "I'm not your enemy".
Some years ago Donna and I went on a trip together to visit the sites of the 7 churches of the book of Revelation, and then to go across to the island of Patmos where the apostle John had been imprisoned and where revelation had been written.
I remember being in bed with Donna early one morning on the Turkish coast. Even though she was asleep, she was radiating her usual extremely attractive personal presence.
In the midst of this awareness of my mortal wife the Lord began to speak to me as so he often does of eternal things.
It became crystal clear to me that Donna is not a corrupting influence in my life but a sign and symbol of the eternal incorruptibility of the Bride of Christ.
The great Christian writer C.S. Lewis once described marriage as two friends standing shoulder to shoulder and staring at a common horizon.
The common horizon is the future glory of the marriage of Christ to the Church. In truth however all the glory belongs to Jesus, who as the Lamb of God laid down his life to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
Nothing can add to or take away from the sacrifice and power of the blood of the cross, but the Lamb of God calls us to join with him, as his Bride the Church, and in our marriages, with him in his great war against all the powers of evil.
To see such things in the Spirit is to enter into the vision of the glory and beauty of marriage the scripture presents; which is indescribably wonderful.
MESSAGE DELIVERED: 2017 | Myanmar
Author: Dr. John Yates
Related Link: Nil


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From the latest healthy dwelling news, remedies and therapies, inspiring affected person stories, to expert recommendation, we're right here that can assist you dwell your healthiest life day by day. Well being care costs affect the economic system, the federal budget, and nearly each American household's financial effectively-being. As an alternative, people who purchase them are cheated out of their money, their time, and even their well being. Providers' requests for extra guidance and data in addition to their issues with the dearth of time accessible to explain screening and testing choices indicate important potential issues with affected person care.
A number of current assessment articles present constant and compelling proof linking a low amount or quality of social ties with a number of conditions, including development and progression of cardiovascular disease, recurrent myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, autonomic dysregulation, high blood pressure, cancer and delayed cancer recovery, and slower wound healing ( Ertel, Glymour, and Berkman 2009 ; Everson-Rose and Lewis 2005 ; Robles and Kiecolt-Glaser 2003 ; Uchino 2006 ). Poor high quality and low quantity of social ties have additionally been related to inflammatory biomarkers and impaired immune operate, components related to antagonistic well being outcomes and mortality ( Kiecolt-Glaser et al. 2002 ; Robles and Kiecolt-Glaser 2003 ). Marriage is probably the most studied social tie.
Sufferers have an expectation, grounded in human rights entrenched in worldwide regulation, to an inexpensive quality of care and to not be exposed to exploitation, abuse or unreasonable dangers of harm. People who are socially remoted could also be on the biggest health danger. While the nutrient has gotten unfavourable attention from the media for many years, the scientific neighborhood has moved on since evidence has piled up displaying that eating more cholesterol isn't necessarily related to greater levels within the blood or an increased risk of coronary heart illness.
Furthermore, the notion of that means" could assist explain well being habits contagion across social networks: for example, the unfold of weight problems throughout social networks seems to be influenced by perceptions of social norms in regards to the acceptability of weight problems and related health behaviors (e.g., meals consumption, inactivity) among network members who are socially shut, rather than members who're simply geographically shut ( Christakis and Fowler 2007 ; Smith and Christakis 2008 ). In a extra fundamental method, higher social connection could foster a way of coherence" or which means and goal in life, which, in flip, enhances psychological well being, physiological processes, and physical health ( Antonovsky 1987 ).
You may eat fewer calories and avoid the chemical additives, added sugar, and unhealthy fats of packaged and takeout meals that may go away you feeling drained, bloated, and irritable, and exacerbate symptoms of despair, stress, and anxiousness. In case you are pregnant, nursing, taking remedy, or have a medical condition, seek the advice of your health care skilled earlier than utilizing products based on this content.


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On Wednesday, January 17, 2018, I officially became the president of the United States.
Well, not officially. That day marked the first in a one-week experiment in which I tried out Donald Trump's daily routine.
Axios and The New York Times had reported on different aspects of Trump's schedule. I scoured the articles for details about what time he wakes up and goes to bed, what time he starts work, and how he spends the time when he's not in meetings – then tried to copy everything for five workdays.
Now that it's all over, I'm left wondering how Trump has so much energy – both physically, because he reportedly only sleeps four hours a night, and mentally, because he reportedly watches at least four hours of cable news every day.
Here's how my week went:
The experiment
Trump's daily schedule breaks down into a few different components.
- Sleep: Trump reportedly rises at 5:30 a.m. after sleeping about four to five hours, meaning he goes to bed after midnight.
- Starting the workday: He's said to take his first meeting of the day at 11 a.m.
- "Executive time": Trump reportedly starts his day with executive time, which includes watching cable news (either "Fox and Friends" or MSNBC's "Morning Joe"), making phone calls, and tweeting.
- Watching the news: After dinner at 6:30 p.m., Trump may watch another few hours of cable news, meaning he consumes at least four hours a day.
It didn't seem like such a taxing routine. But it was.
I woke up like a champ to a 5:30 a.m. alarm and promptly set myself up with my laptop on the couch. Unlike the president, I don't have cable TV, so I'd planned to watch the news online. CBS has a livestream, so that was my first stop.
About an hour later, I woke up again. Apparently I'd fallen asleep again while watching the news. Fail. I brewed a big cup of black tea and returned to my presidential duties.
Though I wasn't technically due at the office until 11 a.m., I had a call at 10:40, so I scurried in just before.
A recurring theme throughout this experiment was guilt – specifically, about coming in later and leaving earlier than all my coworkers. On the first day of the experiment, I didn't leave the office until about 6:30 p.m., partly because I still had work to do and partly because most of my teammates were still working.
After dinner with a friend, I returned home and set myself up on the couch for another few hours of news-watching. This time, I tuned into Fox. Somewhere around 11:30 p.m., I drifted off with my computer still on my lap.
I sprung out of bed when my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. and immediately went to make tea. Falling asleep on the job is for slackers, right?
The dose of caffeine was, it turns out, just the kick in the pants I needed. For the next few hours, I toggled between watching "Fox and Friends," preparing a to-do list for the workday ahead, and reading The New York Times.
Call me a stereotypical millennial, but I found it difficult to resist multitasking while the news was on. Maybe if Ainsley Earhardt had been talking about me instead of Trump, I would have paid closer attention.
The workday went surprisingly smoothly. I cranked out a few articles, transcribed an interview, and had a phone call with a source.
At 6 p.m. I really did need to leave – not only was I on Trump time, but I had to make a 6:30 p.m. appointment in midtown. Panic struck. I frantically messaged my editor asking if it was OK for me to head out – to which she replied "of course."
By the time I got home, I was exhausted, so I watched about 30 minutes of Fox and went to sleep, feeling guilty about that, too.
Executive time was somewhat curtailed today.
I had a 9:30 a.m. call with a source, meaning I had to be dressed and breakfasted before then in order to make it to the office by 11. (My commute is about 45 minutes long.) This shouldn't have been a problem, but I found I'd gotten accustomed to the slower pace and resented having to speed things up.
That afternoon, I met up with my dad for lunch – and felt guilty about ducking out of work for one out of the seven hours I was scheduled to be in the office. I'm curious: Does the president feel this much guilt if he, say, meets up with Ivanka in the middle of the day?
(Side note: My dad was fascinated by the idea that I was following Trump's daily schedule. He wanted to know if I'd been tweeting anything controversial – I said I didn't think so.)
That night, I went to dinner with some friends (also fascinated by the Trump experiment, also curious to know what I'd been tweeting). I considered watching Fox when I got home, but opted for sleep instead. Cheating? Yes. But come on, it was the weekend!
The weekend respite from the presidency was just what I needed. On Sunday, I took two naps and watched zero minutes of cable news.
The week before, a friend had asked me what I'd learned watching the news every morning. I'd realised I had no idea. Maybe it was the multitasking, but my early-morning mind seemed to be a sieve.
So on Monday, I tried hard to pay attention to what the Fox and Friends hosts were discussing. But before long, I'd drifted over to The Times, The Wall Street Journal, Twitter, and my work to-do list.
I also spent much of executive time – today and every day prior – reading my coworkers' articles. This is something I should generally be doing more of, but it's surprisingly difficult to carve out that time every day, so I usually end up missing a lot. (Sorry, guys.)
That's why I enjoyed having a "tweeting routine." Instead of remarking on the state of the government, I tweeted links to coworkers' stories I thought were stellar – meaning I had to read everything that had been published the day before.
It's the final countdooooooown. I had less than 24 hours left of being the president. What a relief.
On the train to work, I felt my phone buzz a few times with Slack messages from my editors. I felt part panic and part FOMO – what if I missed the chance to take on an important assignment?! I suppose it's easier when your home and your office are in the same place (i.e. the White House) – a lot can happen in 45 minutes!
When I finally did arrive at the office, no one was noticeably angry or worried. Phew. I responded to the Slack messages and commenced work as usual.
Once I returned home that evening, I watched Fox until I felt myself nodding off. I went to sleep and set my alarm for 6:30 a.m., newly grateful to be just a regular person.
The takeaway
The most important finding from this one-woman experiment is that not sleeping a lot is hard. Trump might be what scientists call a "short sleeper," meaning he needs only four to six hours of shut-eye a night. I am definitely not.
I also found, somewhat surprisingly, that I missed exercise. I've been going to an early-morning yoga class a few times a week, but I didn't want to skimp on executive time, so I skipped it. I'm not sure if Trump does yoga, but I'd personally recommend it.
I don't hold the highest office in the land – or even at my company – so I felt awful about working shorter hours than everyone else. But it didn't seem to affect my productivity, suggesting that I might have been more focused knowing I had less time to dawdle.
Ultimately, I found it a lot trickier to follow the president's routine than I'd expected. Between the lack of sleep, the lack of time for exercise, and the constant combination of guilt and panic, I'm exhausted. I guess the president has more energy than I do – which, when you really think about it, is probably a good thing.
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Over 25 Years of B.C. Law Experience
Lynn Valley Law brings more than 25 years of BC legal experience to every case we take on. Regardless of whether you need help settling a property dispute, creating a will that protects your assets or resolving a company dispute, you can be assured that Lynn Valley Law has the depth of knowledge to provide you with the guidance and peace of mind you require.
Lynn Valley Law, conveniently located inside the Lynn Valley Shopping Centre, can be easily reached via public transportation or car. Ample free parking is available, and our office is fully wheelchair accessible. Contact us via phone or email, or submit your contact information to us using the form available here.Our Team


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EDI vendor code not does not match Voyager vendor code
- Article Type: General
- Product: Voyager
- Product Version: 8.2.0
Problem Symptoms:
?€¢ When attempting to process incoming EDI messages, receive following error:
"The EDI vendor code of this message is not associated with a Voyager vendor code.
So the message can not be loaded into database!"
Vendor envelope address in vendor profile and EDI message do not match
1. On server, navigate to /m1/voyager/xxxdb/edi/incoming
2. Look at beginning of relevant EDI message; note line that looks similar to this example:
3. In this example, Vendor Envelope Address is "123456789:14", and Library Envelope Address is "ENDEAVOR:92"; note
envelope addresses for your institution
4. In Acquisitions > Vendors > Search EDI Connection Profiles, find profile for that vendor; click Edit
5. Ensure Library Envelope Address and Vendor Envelope Address match codes in EDI message
Category: Acquisitions
- Article last edited: 10/8/2013


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One of the first books I read after moving to our farm was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
I am sure many of you are familiar to this book. For those of you who are not, it is an inspirational book about a family on a quest to eat locally for 1 year.
The recipe that I followed comes from the their link above but I was unable to cut & paste it. (probably for copyright purposes) So I found another link that had nearly the same directions.
The recipe below is from Ricki Caroll. I encourage you to take a peek at the site because it has pictures to go along. I will take better pictures next time.
The above are the two ingredients you need and I bought them at the local natural food store. You will also need salt and 1 gallon of milk (I used organic raw milk from a local farm)
How to make this cheese :
The Milk:Make sure the milk you use for this cheese is NOT ULTRA- PASTEURIZED--Homogenized milk will work fine.--Fresh farm milk will also work well but we encourage you to try with 1 gallon of store bought whole milk first.--Low fat milk will work but the cheese will be drier and less flavorful
You will need:--A 6 to 8 quart stainless steel pot. Aluminum or cast iron will not work.--A stainless steel or strong plastic slotted spoon.--A two quart microwave safe mixing bowl--measuring spoons--A thermometer which will clearly read between 80 - 120 degrees F.
Prepare your work area:Do not prepare any other food while you are making cheese. Put all food products away. Move all sponges, cloths and dirty towels away from your work surface, wipe your sink and stove with soap and water. Finally use your antibacterial cleaner to wipe down all surfaces.
Process:crush 1/4 tablet of rennet and dissolve in 1/4 cup of cool unchlorinated water and set aside to use later.
Add 1.5--2 tsp. of citric acid to 1 cup cold water and stir well. Now pour cold milk into your pot. Then add the citric acid in a thin stream as you briskly stir the cold milk. This will bring the milk to the proper acidity to stretch well later. Next Heat this milk to 90F As you approach 90F you may notice your milk beginning to curdle slightly due to acidity and temp....NOTE... if having problems with milk forming a proper curd you may need to increase this temp to 95 or even 100F ...
When at 90F add your rennet (which you prepared in previous step) to the milk and stir in a top to bottom motion for 30-60 seconds...then stop.
Now turn the heat off (it may continue to rise as high as 105For so)
Let the milk remain quiet for the next 3-5 minutes during which it will form a curd. A longer set will result in a firmer curd.
Cut the curds into a 1" checkerboard pattern and then scoop with a slotted sp0on into a heat proof bowl to be used in the microwave. (If the curd is too soft at this point let sit for another minute or so)You will now press this curd gently with your hand, poring off as much whey as possible. Reserve this whey to use in cooking or making ricotta.
Next microwave the curd on HI for 1 minute. You will notice more whey has run out of the curd. Drain off all whey as you did before.Quickly work the cheese with a spoon or your hands until it is cool enough to touch (rubber gloves will help since the cheese is almost too hot to touch at this point)
Microwave 2 more times for 35 seconds each and repeat the kneading as in the last step. Drain all of the whey off as you go.
Knead quickly now as you would bread dough until it is smooth and shiny. Add salt near the finish.
At this point the cheese should be soft and pliable enough to stretch like taffy.
It is ready to eat when it cools. Form it into a ball and drop into ice water to cool and refrigerate. When cold you can wrap in plastic wrap and it will last for several days but is best when eaten fresh.
Option:--A substitution of reconstituted dry milk and cream is very viable and is a great option if you can not find the right type of milk--Lipase may be added to the milk to provide a typical italian cheese flavor--If you want a softer texture, do not let the curd set as firm and work less when draining and kneading.. this will make a moister cheese.
This recipe is called "30 Minute Mozzarella". And if you read the directions closely (I did not...no big surprise there) it is quick and easy!
The whole family liked it. We ate some warm, cold, and we finished it up today making some bagel pizzas. The only thing I would do differently is add more salt. I now understand why cheese is so expensive. The end result from 1 gallon of milk is a modest size mozzarella ball. (I will weigh it next time)


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The middle school held their first ever talent show this month. Jazz band played the opening number, with Lex on bongos. It was fun watching the jazz band and realizing I know about half the kids in it.
The evening continued with music, dance, and even a few magic tricks. It was everything you would expect from a middle school talent show. I was amazed with the bravery these kids had. Kids were up there, alone on stage, singing their hearts out. It was awesome.


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The indoor galleries at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln have finally reopened with two new exhibits, "Visionary New England" and "Transcendental Modernism." But it's the deCordova's Sculpture Park that's been an artistic refuge for families during the pandemic looking to retreat from the confines of their living rooms and take a break from computer classes.
The indoor galleries at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln have finally reopened with two new exhibits, "Visionary New England" and "Transcendental Modernism." But it's the deCordova's Sculpture Park that's been an artistic refuge for families during the pandemic looking to retreat from the confines of their living rooms and take a break from computer classes.
The deCordova Sculpture Park is 30 acres of field and forests, lawns and rolling landscape dotted with a wonderland of sculptures by 20th and 21st century artists, including Dorothy Dehner, Andy Goldsworthy, Antony Gormley, Dan Graham, Alexander Liberman, Nam June Paik, Beverly Pepper, Jaume Plensa, George Rickey and Ursula von Rydingsvard. Also on loan to the museum are pieces by Jim Dine, DeWitt Godfrey, Paul Matisse and Isaac Witkin.
The restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic have led families to explore new places. Families say they feel safe exploring the deCordova's Sculpture Park, where masks and social distancing are required.Want news like this sent straight to your inbox? Head over to MetroWestDailyNews.com to sign up for Entertainment Headlines and make sure you never miss a thing. You pick the news you want, we deliver.
Angling for the truth at the deCordova in Lincoln
"Visiting the deCordova Sculpture Park was something I had been wanting to do for years!" said Mansfield resident Theresa Edo, who visited the deCordova recently with son Luke, 10, and daughter Emily, 13.
"The grounds were a beautiful walk, and we liked that small placards on the ground would tell us a bit about each piece or a phone number to call for more info," said Edo, who is the director of communications for the American Cancer Society's Northeast Region, in an email. "It sparked conversations about what we saw or felt when we looked at the art, yet it didn't feel as 'serious' or out-of-touch as an indoor art gallery might have."
DeCordova opens 'land artist' Andy Goldsworthy's functional 'Watershed'
Freeman said she loved hearing her kids "form their own opinions about what they liked or didn't, or just seeing their appreciation grow. And, it was great that it was a close, in-state drive. We hit Dairy Joy in Weston afterwards for a yummy outdoor lunch!"
A visit to the deCordova's Sculpture Park was just one of many day trips for Needham residents Andrew and Kristen Collins, who visited recently with their 15-year-old daughter Rory and 12-year-old son Kiernan.
"...like everybody else, my wife and I have tried to help our children adjust to the 'new normal' and the pandemic," Andrew Collins wrote in an email. While the family has been able to escape for trips to the Cape and the Adirondacks for a change of scenery, Andrew Collins said he and his active son really enjoy getting outside and away from the computer for a paddle on the Charles, a hike in Needham Town Forest or a visit to the deCordova where Andrew's company, Sentient Jet, has worked in the past for museum's benefit auction. Kristen Collins is the creator of "The Front Steps Project" with photographer Cara Soulia, featuring portraits of Needham families made during the pandemic. Their book about the project is due next month.
"When we were thinking of an interesting afternoon, this just happened to strike the right chord," Andrew Collins said. "It was outdoors, it is clearly one of Boston's unique cultural spots, and it just felt like Kiernan might enjoy it. The pre-purchase of a reservation was nice and it was simple.
Subjective visions, revealing truths in related exhibits at the deCordova
"The grounds are well cared for and so spread out that we never felt we were in any social-distancing violations and found visitors to be very respectful," Collins continued. "My son was really taken by both the unique nature of the statues and exhibits as well as the placards with information on the artist. Unexpected things really captured his attention - giant heads, giant hearts, or oversized leaf. as well as the large cylinder-like pipes that he could stand in. As we headed back to our car at the end of the day he also found an old automobile with a unique silver coloring."
The deCordova has been on Heather Harris' bucket list since she moved to Massachusetts 15 years ago, she said.
"Because of COVID-19 our schedules have slowed down and there are fewer sporting events to go to," said Harris, a Mansfield resident who is a staff writer with the marketing and communications department at Bridgewater State University. She also writes a regular column called "A League of Her Own" for the Country Gazette. A visit to the deCordova was "a perfect opportunity to safely practice social distancing while exposing the kids to art. My mom was an artist and art teacher, so it was kind of a nice way to extend her passion to my children."
Harris said her children, Dexter, 15, and Vivien, 12, who have been learning remotely but will be switching to some in-person classes, really enjoyed the outdoor museum.
"The giant heart sculptures were a family favorite," Harris said. "I am known as the 'heart lady' and am always keeping an eye out for hearts in nature and random places. From a distance they are fun to look at, but when you get closer, they are even more interesting when you examine all of the different objects embedded in the two sculptures."
This was Harris' first visit to the deCordova. Passes sell out quickly, she said, so be sure to plan your visit ahead.
Harris' children explored giant teepees and a plexiglass sculpture they could also enter that many younger kids also enjoyed exploring. "There was a sculpture that if you ran sticks along it, it created music/noise," said added. "There are even canopying trees that you can enter and see what it looks like from inside of a tree.
"As my kids are older, we talked about their take on things. What they thought the artist was trying to convey, why they chose a specific medium," Harris said. "Dexter is taking a public art class this year at Mansfield High School and it was awesome to be able to bring him and have him relate what he was seeing to his class content."


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Guest Profile
Cyndi Dale
Cyndi Dale has been a natural intuitive since young, and offers these gifts to clients and groups seeking to make real and positive change. Her favorite activities include helping people open their "essential energy", the powers and perspectives unique to them. Once you understand your essence, you can tap into the energies ofand beyondthe world, joining the community of like-minded people who want to better themselves and others.
Cyndi is an internationally renowned author, speaker, healer, and business consultant. Her books to-date include bestselling New Chakra Healing, now published in over ten languages, and Advanced Chakra Healing, The Four Pathways Approach; Attracting Prosperity Through the Chakras; Attracting Your Perfect Body Through the Chakras; Advanced Chakra Healing Heart Disease, and Advanced Chakra Healing: Cancer. Other books and audiotapes will be released soon, including a six-part CD training, Advanced Chakra Wisdom Sounds True and the book, Illuminating the Afterlife.
Cyndi has been trained in several different healing modalities, including shamanism, intuitive healing, energy healing, family of origin therapy, therapeutic touch, the Lakota way and faith healing and holds a fourth degree mastership in Reiki. She has taught business ethics at the University of Minnesota; served as a public relations consultant to 3M and Tonka, and has been honored in "Who's Who in American Business," "The American Women of Noteworthy Achievement" and the "International Association of Business."


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Top 15 Free Website Speed Test Tools of 2018
The speed of a website can be a critical factor to its success. As discussed in our content delivery network guide, faster loading websites can benefit from higher SEO rankings, higher conversion rates, lower bounce rates, longer visitor duration on site, better overall user experience, and engagement. That is why it is important to take advantage of the many free website speed test tools available out there so you can achieve optimal performance. Google wants your site to load in less than a second.
What can a website speed test help you analyze?
Here are just a few of the common ways websites speed test tools are used:
- Pinpointing scripts, fonts, and plugins causing load time issues (HTML, JavaScript, CSS)
- Checking minification of your scripts
- Finding large images resulting in bottlenecks
- Determining if you have render-blocking JavaScript or CSS
- Testing Time to First Byte (TTFB)
- Analyzing total load times, page sizes, and # of requests
- Checking performance from different geographical locations
- Checking rendering speed in different browsers
- Analyzing HTTP Headers
- Measuring performance of your content delivery network
- Verifying that assets are loading correctly from your CDN
Website speed concepts
Before running a website speed test it is important to understand a few concepts behind how these tools work so that you can better analyze the data and then optimize your site accordingly. Not only can you test the speed of your web host, but you can also measure your CDN performance.
Time to first byte (TTFB)
Time to first byte (TTFB) is the measurement of the responsiveness of a web server. Basically it is the time it takes your browser to start receiving information after it has requested it from the server. By using a CDN you can dramatically reduce the impact of the load on your origin server, which in turn should help decrease your TTFB.
Read more about time to first byte and time to last byte.
Render-blocking JavaScript and CSS
Render-blocking refers to JavaScript and CSS that are keeping your page from loading as quickly as it could.
Google recommends removing or deferring JavaScript that interferes with loading the above the fold content of your webpages. Here is a great tutorial on how to properly defer JavaScript loading.
Example of deferring JavaScript by placing it just before your
</body> tag.
function downloadJSAtOnload() {
var element = document.createElement("script");
element.src = "defer.js";
if (window.addEventListener)
window.addEventListener("load", downloadJSAtOnload, false);
else if (window.attachEvent)
window.attachEvent("onload", downloadJSAtOnload);
else window.onload = downloadJSAtOnload;
You will then also want to optimize your CSS delivery to keep it from causing delays on page load. Here are a few ways to fix this:
- Properly call your CSS files
- Lessen the amount of CSS files
- Use less CSS overall
Here is a great article on render-blocking CSS by Ilya Grigorik, a web performance engineer at Google.
CSS is a render blocking resource, get it down to the client as soon and as quickly as possible to optimize the time to first render!
Minification of resources
- White space characters
- New line characters
- Comments
- Block delimiters
This speeds up your load times as it reduces the amount of code that has to be requested from the server. You can use a tool like Dan's CSS and JavaScript Minify to remove all the unnecessary characters. Or if you are running WordPress you can use a plugin like Autoptimize, which will minify all of your HTML, JavaScript, and CSS for you.
HTTP requests
When your browser fetches data from a server it does so using HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). It is a request/response between a client and a host. In general the more HTTP requests your web page makes the slower it will load.
There are many ways you can reduce the number of requests such as:
- Combining your CSS and JavaScript files
- Inline your JavaScript (only if it is very small)
- Using CSS Sprites
- Reducing assets such as third party plugins that make a large number of external requests
List of website speed test tools
Now that you have a basic understanding of the web performance concepts above, check out these 15 free tools below for testing your website's speed. Each of them offers their own unique features, reporting, and different ways to dissect your results.
It is also important to realize when running tools like these that a first time DNS lookup will usually be slower. If you are comparing total load times it is sometimes better to run tests multiple times and take an average of the results.
1. KeyCDN Website Speed Test
KeyCDN built a fast and lightweight Website Speed Test tool that you can use to get detailed insights on how your website performs. If offers 14 locations to choose from around the globe, and you have the option of making your test results private or public. The test includes a waterfall breakdown and a visual website preview at the bottom. You can quickly see how many HTTP requests were made, the full size of the page requested, and the load time.
It is also one of the only tools besides PageSpeed that is responsive and works great on mobile devices.
2. Google PageSpeed Insights
Google PageSpeed Insights is a website speed test tool that grades your website on a scale of 1 - 100. The higher the number the better optimized your site is. Anything above an 85 indicates that your website is performing well. PageSpeed gives you reports for both the desktop and mobile versions of your site. You can view recommendations for improvements such as you need to minify CSS or optimize your images.
PageSpeed Insights measures how the page can improve its performance on:
- Time to above-the-fold load: Elapsed time from the moment a user requests a new page and to the moment the above-the-fold content is rendered by the browser.
- Time to full page load: Elapsed time from the moment a user requests a new page to the moment the page is fully rendered by the browser.
A mobile report includes an extra category called "User Experience" that is included in the scoring of your site. This includes checking your viewport configuration, size of your tap targets (buttons and links), and also eligible font sizes.
The PageSpeed Insights team also recently launched a new website speed test tool on think with Google which you might want to check out. One nice feature is the beautiful reports that it generates. Can be great for sending to clients.
3. Pingdom Speed Test
Pingdom is probably one of the more well-known website speed test tools. Their reports are divided into four different sections which include a waterfall breakdown, performance grade, page analysis, and history.
The page analysis offers a great overview with additional information such as a size analysis, size per domain (you can easily compare your CDN assets size vs your domain), the number of requests per domain, and what type of content had the most requests.
Pingdom's speed test tool also allows you to test your website's speed from four main locations including:
- Dallas, Texas, USA,
- Melbourne, Australia
- San Jose, California, USA
- Stockholm, Sweden
The results of a Pingdom speed test provide you with performance insights, similar to Google PagesSpeed Insights, which outline where can you make improvements. The results also break down the page size by content type, page size by domain, requests by content type, and requests by domain.
4. GTmetrix
GTmetrix goes into great detail as it checks both PageSpeed and YSlow metrics, assigning your site a grade from F to A. It's reports are divided into five different sections including PageSpeed, YSlow, waterfall breakdown, video, and history.
With a free registration, you can test from seven different locations. They also let you choose the browser, Chrome vs Firefox. You can test and compare website performance against various connection types (like Cable vs dial-up) to see how it affects your page loads. Other advanced features include a video playback to analyze where your bottleneck is occurring and also the ability to run Adblock plus. With ads disabled you can see how they affect the loading of your site. It is recommended to make a free account as you will get additional options, such as those mentioned above.
5. WebPageTest
WebPageTest is very similar to some of the previous tools mentioned but has over 40 locations to choose from and over 25 browsers (including mobile). It assigns you a grade from F to A based on different performance tests such as FTTB, compression, caching, effective use of a CDN, etc. It's report is divided into six sections which include a summary, details, performance review, content breakdown, and screenshots.
It also offers a unique approach on the test. It runs what they call a first view and a repeat view. This helps to diagnose what may be a first time DNS lookup delay as mentioned earlier. WebPageTest has more advanced features as well such as video capture, disabling JavaScript, ignoring SSL certificates, and spoofing user agent strings.
6. Varvy PageSpeed Optimization
Varvy PageSpeed Optimization is a tool developed and maintained by Patrick Sexton, who also created GetListed.org, which is now known as Moz Local.
The reports are broken into 5 different sections including a resource diagram, CSS delivery, JavaScript usage, page speed issues found, and services used. This tool uses more of a graphical representation of what could be fixed on your site, such as render blocking.
7. Uptrends
Uptrends is pretty basic but they do offer over 35 locations to choose from when running your speed test. Their report is broken up into two sections, a waterfall breakdown and domain groups. The domain groups offers a unique perspective as it categorizes the resources into different sources: 1st party, statistics, CDN, social, ads, first party overall, and third party overall.
8. dotcom-monitor
dotcom-monitor offers 23 different locations and seven different browsers in which you can run your website speed test. Their unique feature is that you can run all geographical tests simultaneously. This can save you a lot of time, as every other tool you have to run them individually per location. You can then click into each individual report and or waterfall breakdown.
Their reports are divided into five different sections which include a summary, performance, waterfall chart (breakdown), host, and errors.
9. PageScoring
PageScoring is all about offering a simple and easy to understand performance report with a minimalist design. They show your overall load time and then the following pieces of information:
- Domain lookups
- Connection Time
- Redirection Time
- Page Size
- Download Time
You can then see your assets and how long it took for each to load. If you are looking for a quick and easy website speed test tool, this works pretty good.
10. Yellow Lab Tools
Yellow Lab Tools is a newer web performance and frontend quality testing tool developed by Gaël Métais. This tool gives you a lot of information and some unique features not seen in other tools such as a view of when JavaScript interactions with the DOM during the loading of the page and other code validation issues. Get a global score based on the following qualifiers.
- Page weight
- Requests
- Bad JavaScript
- Bad CSS
- Server Config
The JavaScript timeline shows you exactly how the DOM interacts during the loading of the page.
11. Google Chrome DevTools
And of course we can't forget Google Chrome DevTools. It is a very easy to use tool (with advanced features) and you can quickly launch it at anytime in your Chrome broswer using the following shortcut keys.
- Windows:
F12or also
Ctrl + Shift + I
- Mac:
Cmd + Opt + I
With the latest developer tools update, they have added an aggregated details panel into the waterfall timeline. This allows you to more easily see what is costing you the most time, and you can then break it down by domains, subdomains, etc. To run this click into the "Timeline" panel and press
Ctrl + R (
Cmd + R) to refresh the page. You can then click into the "Summary" panel and "Aggregated" details panel.
We also have a great post on what is blocking the DOM and how to fix it. In the developer tools, you can see exactly the DOMContentLoaded time and the total load time. To run this click into the "Network" panel, click on the "Show Overview" option and press
Ctrl + R (
Cmd + R) to refresh the page. A blue line will show up for DOMContentLoaded and a red line for total load time. Normally everything that is left of or touching the blue line are assets that are blocking the DOM, or also referred to as render blocking resources.
12. Sucuri Load Time Tester
The Sucuri Load Time Tester provides a quick and easy way to test the performance of your sites from around the globe. It will give you a global performance grade, from an A to F. The test measures how long it takes to connect to your site and for one page to fully load. A very important value to pay attention to is the "time to first byte", which gives you how long it took for the content to be sent back to the browser to start processing the page.
13. Pagelocity
The Pagelocity tool offers another unique approach when it comes to a website speed test. It gives you a total score out of 100, consisting of factors such as social, SEO, resources, and code. The tool also offers the ability to track your competitors. You can signup for a free account to benefit from the additional features. The code view is especially unique as it will show you if your site is running over HTTPS, what your TTFB is, and a graphical interface of your DOM elements with a bar chart.
The resources view is also quite interesting as you can quickly see which assets are making up your total page weight. As you can see in our test images are more than 4x that of our external scripts.
14. YSlow
YSlow is an open source project and tool that analyzes web pages and helps you figure out why they are slow based on Yahoo!'s rules for high performance websites. It is currently maintained by Marcel Duran, who is also involved in the WebPageTest project. YSlow operates in three steps to get its performance test results:
- YSlow crawls the DOM to find all components (image, scripts, etc.).
- YSlow gets information about each component size (Gzip, expire headers, etc.)
- YSlow takes the data and generates a grade for each rule, which in turn gives you an overall grade.
YSlow has 23 different rules that it runs your website against to grade it, such as using a CDN and reducing DNS lookups. GTmetrix offers an online analyzation tool to check your YSlow score. Make sure to check out our in-depth tutorial on how to improve your YSlow score.
15. PerfTool
PerfTool is an open source client side performance tool project, hosted on GitHub. It collects various information about your website and displays it in an easy-to-digest manner on a reports page. It combines three data sources in one, PageSpeed Insights, devperf, and W3CJS. In total it gives you over 200 different performance indicators.
One big advantage with the PerfTool is that you can run multiple pages tests at the same time for Google PageSpeed Insights report. Then, compare website performance results from previous tests, set score threshold and get detailed report about your tests. This can actually save you a lot of time if you are benchmarking your entire site's web performance, as you don't have to test your pages one by one.
Website speed test with Chrome extensions
There are quite a few free Chrome extensions in which you can analyze website speed. Here are a couple of them. You can easily launch them from right within your browser.
Mobile website speed test
If you are needing to run a mobile website speed test a couple of the tools we mentioned above do include this:
- WebPageTest
- GTmetrix
- dotcom-monitor
Another way to simulate a speed test on a mobile device is to use Chrome developer tools in device mode. To enter device mode click on the small phone icon in Chrome DevTools or you can press
Ctrl + Shift + M (
Cmd + Shift + M). You can then choose what device you want to emulate, the orientation, and even resolution. You can also change the network throttling to see how your website actually would render on say a regular 2G or 4G connection.
You can then use the "Network" tab and waterfall breakdown to run speed tests.
As you can see there are a number of website speed test tools you can choose from. Each of them has their own unique features as highlighted above. It is a good idea to regularly test your site and a establish a benchmark so over time you can make improvements.
Once you know where the bottlenecks are you can begin to fix them. Almost all of the tools above list recommendations. Some of the most common fixes include:
- Compressing your images and files
- Picking a fast web host
- Optimizing your code and scripts
- Using a content delivery network
- Caching
- Reducing the number of HTTP requests


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Now that the iPhone X has finally arrived, have a look at all the different gear you can buy to go with it!
iPhone Case
Probably the most important accessory you will buy for your iPhone X! There are so many types of case to choose, from super strong protective cases to delicate, decorative cases. You can even personalise your own iPhone X case with photos, images and text of your choice to create something totally unique. Click here to buy online.
Essential for any kind of sport, you need to get your hands on a quality arm band to keep your iPhone X safe and secure while you're working up a sweat. Have a look at this complete running kit for the iPhone X from Quad Lock.
Screen Protector
Choose a tempered glass screen protector for the best possible barrier against scratches and cracks. Tempered glass screen protector gives Ultimate Scratch Protection, Perfect Fit, Retina Clarity and a Smooth Feel. Read these tips on the how to chose the best screen protector.
Power Bank Charger
The best power bank chargers will have a full 10400mAh capacity. Charge your iPhone up to five times, your Galaxy smartphone up to three times or your iPad once. Charge one device at maximum speed or two at 3A total. A lightweight solution to life's daily power needs (10.2 oz). The LED displays the available power left. Reliable original Samsung lithium-ion cells ensure quality, supplying you with more than 500 charge cycles during the course of its life. Input: 5V/1A; Use a 1A adapter (not included) for fastest charge times (5 hours). Find out more.


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Cali Vinyl Hickory Brook Pro Wide and Click VF Threshold
Sold in stores only. Selection varies by store. Check your local store for availability.
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Designed to match your Hickory Brook Cali Vinyl Pro floor, threshold pieces help to conceal expansion spaces along vertical objects that are generally difficult to frame, such as fireplaces and sliding glass doors.
- Cover perimeter expansion gaps and smooth out the edge of your floor
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- Ultra-Low VOC - Safe for the home with no added urea formaldehyde
- Days to ShipShips in 3-5 Business Days
- Primary BrandCali Vinyl
- Weight1.1 LBS


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Mike's Paint & Body offers all types of auto body repair and painting services by highly trained professionals. We use modern techniques and state-of-the-art equipment to return your damaged vehicle to its original, high-quality fit and finish.
Please listen to our radio commercial to learn more about our limited time offer. Promotion valid now through March 1st!
Mike Abenante has been in the collision repair business for over 20 years. In 2000, he used his expertise in this business to open his own shop, Mike's Paint & Body in Virginia Beach. Due to an increase in demand, a second location, Mike's Paint & Body II, opened in Chesapeake, Virginia. Both of his custom-built facilities feature the most modern equipment and technology available in the collision industry for results that guarantee customer satisfaction.
Since 2000, Mike's Paint & Body has continued to receive the BBB's A+ rating as well as I-CARS's Gold class designation, which means they set the standard for experience and expertise you can trust.
We understand that being involved in a collision is a stressful experience. That's why we're here to help you every step of the way. We'll review the damages, provide you with an accurate estimate, and complete your repair in a timely manner.


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The mantra is a very very powerful opening into the soul … See, Your soul is like constantly calling you and saying: "I miss you. Where are you? Why do you keep running round? Why don't you come home? I have this wonderful meal cooked for you. I would love […] Read more »
A New Life in Mosquito City – part 41 – Wonderful to see you!
Frank: Wonderful to see you. Pierre: How are you? How are you? Frank: Oh! Fantastic. Great to see you. Pierre: Who is your friend, here? Frank: Oh. This is Mark. Pierre: Hello Mark. My name is Pierre. Frank: Ok. Pierre. Mark. Mark: Good day Pierre. How are you, mate? Nice to meet you. Pierre: Where are you from? Mark: I am from Australia. You are French, are you? Pierre: Yes, I am from Paris. Read more »
Bilingual – English and Flemish – 1
Use this post to learn English and Flemish at the same time. Where are you from? I come from Belgium. Which language do you speak? Read more »
Three Accents – Australian, English, American – 1
Listen to these three accents: Australian, English and American. I don't have any money. I have to go to the bank. Where is the bank? Read more »
A New Life in Mosquito City – part 33 – The Dream
Dreams can be revealing. They can tell us about what is happening in our sub-conscious and unconscious mind. In this episode, Mark wakes up from a dream and discovers some interesting insights. Read more »
In My Opinion…
Vedanta is a Hindu philosophy and practice whose goal is self-realization. In this conversation, Mark asks a woman in India about the best place to study Vedanta. Read more »
Bilingual – English and Arabic 3
Use this post to learn English and Arabic at the same time. Where are you going? (Arabic) I am going to the market. Where are you going? I am going home. Read more »
A New Life in Mosquito City – part 32 – Is everything ok?
In this episode, Mark goes into work on a Monday morning at the Mosquito City herald. He speaks with his boss, Frank, and discovers that Frank isn't exactly who Mark thought he was! Read more »
Bilingual – English and Luritja – 1
[audio:luritja1.mp3] Download audio file (luritja1.mp3) Use this post to learn English and Luritja at the same time. What do you want? I don't want anything. What does he want? He wants to learn Luritja. Why? He works with Luritja people. Where is he from? He is from Sydney. Read more »
Easy English 100 – Grammar is Music
[audio:grammar is music.mp3] Download audio file (grammar is music.mp3) at M J M I think grammar is beautiful. I think grammar is beautiful. I think it's beautiful. Grammar is music. Music. Words are music. Music. Everything has music. I was watching television. I saw a programme I saw a programme […] Read more »


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Up for discussion in part 7 of our Data Driven Dentistry roundtable is how to make sure dental students are working with new technologies.
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Mattress fit is personal. This mattress type is an ideal match for 24% of people. Are you part of that 24%?
The Bob's Bob O Pedic line is recommended by 64% of owners on GoodBed (based on 641 ratings).
Do you have a Bob's Bob O Pedic mattress? Write a Review!
The Bob O Pedic product line is a collection of mattresses that is manufactured by Bob's.
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You May Also Like
Susan Parks-Cohen, PhD, is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and earned her undergraduate degree in psychology at Westminster College in 1992. She went on to the University of Pittsburgh and earned a MS in child development and a PhD in psychology. As a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, she worked full time studying female adolescent drug abusers at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. She completed her pre-doctoral clinical internship and neuropsychology post-doctoral fellowship at McLean Hospital.
Dr. Parks-Cohen is currently assistant director of the Child and Adolescent Testing Service. Her clinical interests include the integration of cognitive and dialectical behavioral therapies with neurocognitive coaching techniques, prevention of head injuries for athletes, and stress management. Dr. Parks-Cohen is on the advisory board of Life after War: Reintegrating Veterans, a non-profit organization.
Cambridge Outpatient - 799 Concord Avenue, Cambridge, MA
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Member Loyalty
Business Overview
Our client is a leading membership body in the UK with a member base comprising mass affluent to affluent professionals. As savvy consumers they have had access to other member benefits packages but these were not particularly successful. On the recommendation of an existing client the membership body engaged Xexec to work on implementing key retention tools.


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Manly attractions
15 January 12
Today's outing is to Manly on the northern side of Sydney Harbour. We need to take a ferry to go there, and so we purchase the $2.50 Sunday Funday tickets that allow us to use all forms of public transport.
Manly is a southerly isthmus, offering bay beaches and ocean beaches to its residents and visitors. We're not here for the beach, which is just as well because it rained on and off during the afternoon. Our main destination is Oceanworld which sits on the other side of Manly Cove from the wharf.
Oceanworld is located in an older building, which means that it contains stairs and no lifts, and as the attractions are spread across three levels, it means wheels can't get past the main foyer. There's a designated pram-parking area inside the entrance, but parents with sleeping babies and toddlers are left to hover over their prams.
The main aquarium in the foyer is empty, which is not a good sign. But others are indented into the walls, and they contain creatures. I really like the amount of information given next to each exhibit.
Perhaps it was because we'd already spent time peering into waterworlds at the Sydney Aquarium, or maybe just because they were tired. But our girls weren't really interested in the big fish — they just wanted to play at the touch pool.
When we finally left the aquarium, we headed back to the ferry wharf, where enterprising amusement-ride operators had set up their attractions. I thought we would have had enough rides to last the year, but the girls' eyes were focusing on something new.
Advertised as the opportunity to "walk on water", these large, plastic balls provide enough room for a person to stand up within them as they float in a shallow pool. The challenge is to stay upright, to actually stand or walk on the water.


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When Viola Davis ascended the stage last month to accept the Emmy for her role in How to Get Away With Murder, she accepted the award not only as the first black actress to win for best actress in a drama series, but on behalf of the women of color who were limited by the large diversity gap in Hollywood. "You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there," Davis said, before going on to thank other prominent black actresses in the entertainment industry. "So here's to the Taraji P. Henson's, the Kerry Washington's, the Halle Berry's, the Nicole Beharie's, the Meagan Good's, to Gabrielle Union: Thank you for taking us over that line."
Ever since the show's inception last fall, Davis has courted both critical praise and numerous accolades for her lead role as Annalise Keating, a criminal law professor at a prestigious Philadelphia university who helps four of her students cover up a complicated murder plot. The show itself has challenged white, heteronormative depictions of race, gender, and sexuality on prime time television. While Keating is a ruthless defense attorney who runs her law firm with an iron fist, one episode sees an emotional Keating removing her wig and makeup after a draining scene, revealing her natural hair..
Davis has been dismantling Eurocentric standards of beauty and exposing the marginalization of black women in the media to "mammy" roles throughout her time in the spotlight. In her acceptance speech at the People's Choice Awards, Davis called out a New York Times article that labeled her "older, darker, and less classically beautiful" than fellow actresses Kerry Washington and Halle Berry and characterized her as an "angry black woman."
The show boasts a diverse cast with four people of color as its main leads. Alfred Enoch plays Wes Gibbons, a student who was recently admitted to the school off the waitlist. Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King) is a highly-ambitious lawyer who emulates Keating and dreams of one day rising above her socioeconomic status. Laurel Castillo (Karla Souza) is a shy, but determined Latina student who begins an affair with Frank, one of Annalise's defense attorneys.
What the show gets right is, rather than merely stopping at representation, HTGAWM seeks to normalize race and sexuality through authentic depictions of human experiences. In one episode, we watch as Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee) sleeps with a client's male secretary in order to win a case. The show never shies away from realistic portrayals of gay sex—something that has normally only been attributed to heterosexual sex scenes on prime time. Rather than creating characters who embrace their own stereotypes, showrunner Shonda Rhimes and writer Peter Norwalk normalize Walsh's sexuality. Much like Keating who operates with a shaky moral compass, Walsh is both narcissistic and manipulative yet still possesses redeemable qualities. In the same way that Keating gives representation to marginalized racial groups, Walsh is written as a fully-developed, flawed character instead of relying purely on stereotypes.
Rhimes claims that she isn't "diversifying" television but "normalizing" it. "I really hate the word 'diversity,' it suggests something other. As if it is something special. Or rare," Rhimes said in her acceptance speech at the Human Rights Campaign Gala. "As if there is something unusual about telling stories involving women and people of color and LGBTQ characters on TV."
Programming such as NBC's Black-ish, the CW's Jane the Virgin, and ABC's HTGAWM are paving the way for progressive portrayals of women, LGBTQ characters, and people of color on prime time television. In the same way that producer Ryan Murphy missed the mark with Glee and Scream Queens. HTGAWM is unraveling traditional standards of beauty and giving nuance to its marginalized characters by portraying them as real people instead of relegating them to caricaturist stereotypes.
Featured Image by NBC