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Promoters anticipate national policy to regulate alcohol use
Alcoholic brands are major sponsors of entertainment activities locally. For the most part, all alcoholic brands under Red Stripe and J Wray & Nephew are vital to the execution of large music festivals, including carnival in Jamaica and Reggae Sumfest.
But based on the Throne Speech delivered in Parliament last Thursday by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, the Government is in the developmental stages of preparing a national policy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol.
The main objectives of the policy will be to regulate the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of alcoholic products, strengthen the health response to their harmful use, reduce road traffic accidents as a result of the use of alcohol, and to monitor and evaluate the public health surveillance measures.
Though in its early days, event promoters are anticipating that when the policy is completed, it will have a positive impact on what has already been established through the individual campaigns that the respective events and alcohol brands have implemented to encourage responsible drinking habits.
According to Gyete Ghartey, director of GLK Entertainment, most of the efforts of the brands to communicate responsible alcohol consumption have worked thus far.
"For argument sake, our main sponsors enforce the use of the phrase 'drink responsibly', on all promotional platforms. It is actually required at the international level," Ghartey said. The Mellow Vibes party promoter notes that while adequate information on the policy is not available at this time, it would have to address the issue of alcohol abuse at all levels.
He said, "It is not an issue our events have encountered, where alcohol is given to persons under 18 years old, since the patronage is mature and we also stop selling alcoholic beverages hours before the event is slated to end, and promote drinking water. Those are practices that also require enforcement."
Meanwhile, entertainment pioneer Kamal Bankay, says: "It is necessary to regulate all industries in terms of what they can or cannot do, and who they speak to and who they can't. Likewise, the industry currently advertises that alcohol is reserved for adults, and anything that is in line with safeguarding that is welcomed by me. However, as a promoter, it is difficult to determine exactly what the regulations and the effects will be, so I await to see the policy."
Speaking on the subject, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton toldThe Gleaner, "We are in the early stages of developing the policy, currently bringing on board a consultant to draft said policy – the draft will be done and will include significant consultation with various stakeholders. So there are a number of stages to go through before we sign off," Tufton said.
He added, "A policy is an important part of the fight against non-communicable diseases, and excessive use of alcohol is one of the leading causes of death; the abuse is also a significant contributor to trauma cases (road accidents)," he said.
He said that there are international conventions at the level of the World Health Organization that will act as a guiding principle.
"Alcohol consumption is a part of our culture and it's not our intention to change that fact, but rather, to discourage and prevent alcohol abuse such as underage drinking and alcohol addiction," he concluded.


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The Benefits of Hiring a MO Deck Builder
Adding a deck to your home could be one of the best decisions you'll ever make in your home-owning life. Any MO deck builder will tell you that when you add a deck to your home, you're not only increasing property value, but you're creating a space to build memories that will last a lifetime. Once you've hired a seasoned MO deck builder (like the experienced crew here at www.promaxstl.com) you'll be well on your way to being the envy of the neighborhood. Here's a quick look at some of the great ways you'll be able to use your deck once it's been built. Entertainment: Forget about the living room! The deck is the perfect place to entertain guests, especially on cool fall and summer nights. A self-contained, above ground fire pit will replace the TV as you and your guests gather around to swap stories and share memories well into the night. Backyard Barbecue: There's nothing more relaxing than enjoying a home-cooked meal from the comfort of your own deck. No longer will you suffer the tyranny of feeling cramped inside your kitchen as you try to eat dinner. The open space of your new deck will make every meal feel like a swanky outdoor picnic. Urban Campsite: Grab the kids and roll out your sleeping bags on the deck for a little urban camping. Stargazing, s'mores, and ghost stories will be all the more fun with the house just a few steps away. Set up the deck for ultimate relaxation by installing a hammock and comfortable, weather-resistant furniture. The possibilities for fun are endless when you hire a MO deck builder to add a masterfully crafted deck to your home. Contact Promax today at (314) 770-0700 to get the ball rolling on your own deck build. However, deck building isn't our only specialty; if you need other home improvement services like bathroom or basement remodeling, Promax has you covered.

subset: commoncrawl


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The SK8 is the ultimate river surfing board, short, but with enough volume to rip even the smallest waves. It's unique shape has plenty of volume in the nose to allow you to stay on the wave without purling. With a nod to our roots as skaters, the SK8 has a concave deck and traction all the way to the nose to keep the board connected to your feet. The 5'0 is 48 liters and sized for either smaller riders or the faster river waves.
5'0" x 23 ¼" x 2 ¾"


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A few days ago, I wrote about Fin K.L. as March's Timeless Thoughts linkup post. Here I am again writing about these ladies and just K-Pop history in general. I love history as a subject, so sue me.
Now that we're at it, I want to share this video I found out of random on YouTube earlier today. It's Fin K.L. performing one of their hit singles, To My Prince. But I want you to take note on the setting and performance by itself, not just the girls or the song they sang.
This was back in 1999. Noticed something different from this performance from the other To My Prince live performance video that I posted in my TT post?
- There's no special lighting effects unlike the ones we normally see in K-Pop live performances in general.
- No backup dancers.
- The girls are wearing the exact same thing (long black dress). In fact, all four of them look almost identical to each other if you look at them from afar. No fancy hairdos, save a few highlights.
- No noise or cheering coming from the audience during their performance. Theres no "Sarang haeyo Fin K.L.!" or "Lee Hyori! Ock Joohyun! Lee Jin-ah! Sung Yuri!" during the rests in between.
- The audience applauded when they entered and ended the performance, but that was it. No screams or cheers along with the applause.
As a K-Pop fan, or just a "pop" music fan in general, you'd be wondering, what kind of concert is this? Did they not wow the audience with their performance?
The more appropriate question is, where exactly are they?
If you haven't figured it out by now, here are two clues: They're not in Seoul, obviously. Second, they are at the last place for any Korean, let alone K-Pop idols and artists, would want to be ever.
If you haven't guessed yet, they're just up north. Not just north of Seoul, but up north. Way up north, right past the DMZ. If you haven't guessed based on the previous clues, then you need to learn your geography.
In 1999, the two Koreas have gone through their processes of bringing peace to each other (and the possibility of reuniting into one country again) by having a joint concert consisting of their best performers in Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea. On their first joint concert, South Korea presented Fin K.L. and their DSP Media oppas, Sechs Kies, to the uber-stiff and conservative North Korean audience, and because they are very stiff and conservative, everything else has to be conservative. The girls chose a love ballad, and Sechs Kies chose Yaegam, a slow and catchy song. The two groups also went on the "safer" performance to show respect to their northern neighbors with the all-black conservative-ish attire and songs that are purely safe for the North Korean public. They chose those songs, not because of the respect portion, but also because, they are also under scrutiny by the North Korean government also.
Ock Joohyun, Fin K.L.'s powerhouse voice, recalled the memory and performance in a Korean show Come to Play. She stated that upon arrival, the North Korean authorities confiscated their passports, and that if any type of speech error or anything they say that may seem controversial, they will be held captive. Wow, talk about "trying to bring peace to each other's countries"…
Here's Sechs Kies' performance in that very same stage.
The 1999 concert was as success, even though the setting seemed dull to anybody who isn't North Korean. They had another one in 2003, with Baby VOX and Shinhwa taking the stage. This time, the stage is a lot more improved, with the stage effects, more lighting, more color (my goodness!), and a bit more exciting. The reactions from the public, however, really makes you want to cringe in fear. Westernized South Koreans performing in front of a rather traditionally conservative North Korean audience…
Baby VOX doing their performance:
… and Shinhwa's performance:
After all that, well… I haven't found/heard any other joint concerts ever since. I guess their peace process would still take many more years before that is accomplished. If they do have another joint concert,1 K-Pop fans, which artists would you want to be sent to perform in Pyongyang?
- if they're ever going to have another joint concert again… [↩]


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RADIANCE OF THE SEAS Western Caribbean March 6 - 13, 2005 By Mary & Vincent Finelli
Thomas Wolfe once wrote "You Can't Go Home again" (1940), but this cruise proved him wrong. After only being back on board the Radiance of the Seas just five minutes, we encountered Captain Kent Ringborn; it was as if the last four years had never happened. We were home again. For two years he was RCI's manager for the Radiance building project in Papenburg, Germany and he personally oversaw the creation of the Radiance (2001). She is the first ship of the Radiance Class which now includes the following: The Brilliance of the Seas (2002), The Serenade of the Seas (2003), and the Jewel of the Seas (2004) upon all of which we have sailed.
When we met this singing Captain, his gentle, caring nature immediately impressed us; during this cruise we noted that those who sail with him never forget his kind friendliness or his beautiful baritone voice. On Monday he invited us to dine at his table on formal night, and later in the week with him at Chops Grille. This cruise felt like it was a family reunion. Unfortunately for us and RCI, he retires in May (2005). If there ever was a Captain who set an inviting tone on board, it is Captain Kent Ringborn! This cruise negated Wolfe's statement ----- we did go home again.
EMBARKATION On Sunday the Port of Miami is easily accessible. No traffic and an excellent port crew made boarding fast and painless. A steward greeted us curbside, took our luggage and wheeled Vincent's chair through security to the Ambassador's Lounge where we picked up our boarding passes, signed our charge account and that was it; since all documents are checked weeks ahead. As Crown & Anchor members we enjoy priority boarding. In less than ten minutes, we were on board and in our stateroom. We have a specific routine for day one: first, we go to the buffet (a very nice one of roast beef, salads, pastas, pizzas, soups (potato leek) fruits and desserts, including RCI's famous cookies); second, we go to the Dining Room to meet the staff and check our seating for dinner. This day Maitre D' Metin Camurlu set us up with a table for two, near the entrance at the foot of the massive staircase. Perfect, from a perfect Maitre D'! Next, we go back to the stateroom and rest until the boat drill, in this case it was held at 4:30pm. We are now in cruise mode: well fed, oriented and shedding all shore side cares.
THE SHIP The GTV (Gas Turbine Vessel) Radiance of the Seas is 90,090 tons, 962 ft. long, 105.6 ft. wide and carries 2,100 passengers (this cruise had 2,207 double occupancy.) and a crew of 900. She boasts of over three acres of exterior glass and elevators overlooking the sea and the centrum. Media and cruisers have deemed this class ship to be the epitome of beauty, size and style. It has maintained the overall profile of a huge private yacht, yet with all the accouterments of the largest ships afloat. The Radiance holds the award for the "Ship Team of the Year 2004" and the "Environmental Ship of the Year 2003," and the media have voted the Radiance Class the "Most Beautiful Ships at Sea." We reported in our 2001 review many details on this ship's decorations; thus, this review will center on general comments and special crew members. Immediately upon arrival, passengers are first impressed with the beauty of the nine deck centrum with its waterfalls, cymbidium orchids and semi-circular balconies located on each deck. Be sure to go to deck 12, where the Crown & Anchor Society Lounge has a window set in the center of the floor, from which the entire centrum is visible all the way down to Deck 4. This is an incredible view not to be missed. There are thirteen decks.
Deck 2 has some interior (Cat. Q) and ocean view (Cat. I) staterooms.
Deck 3 has mostly ocean view (Cat. H), some interior (Cat. N and O) with two wheelchair accessible staterooms.
Deck 4 has ocean view staterooms (Cat. G) with two wheelchair accessible ones, and interior staterooms (Cat. N) with two more wheelchair accessible ones. Forward is the first level of the Aurora Theatre with its crystal embossed curtain and simple elegant seating and decor. Midship is the Lobby Bar, Guest Relations and Explorations Desks. There are six Centrum Elevators, four overlook the sea and two overlook the centrum. We wish the buttons controlling these elevators were divided in two sections; since, it is difficult to reach the opposite end elevator when pushing a wheelchair. Usually the doors closed, just as we reached it: It was especially difficult for those of us with mobility problems. All the way aft is the first level of the Cascades Dining Room, a beautiful dark teak wood embellished room with a bandstand located in front of the waterfall and two curved staircases leading to the balcony. The aft wall is a two deck tall stunning mosaic of the Roman Goddess Aurora rising from the sea while watching a dolphin frolic before her in the ocean. There are figures sitting on clouds exhaling wind and the colors are wonderful: gold, blue, aqua, and copper.
Deck 5 forward has the main floor seating of the theatre. Midship is the Conference Center, Art Gallery and the Photo Shop. The boutiques and shops are also located here (logo wear, perfumes, resort wear, etc.). Next is "Latte-Tudes" coffee shop and RCI On Line computers/internet. Aft is the balcony of the Cascades Dining Room.
Deck 6 forward has the balcony of the Aurora Theatre; toward midship is the Cinema and Scoreboard Sports Bar with its many screens showing live venues from around the world. Then, midship is the Royale Casino for slots and gaming ---- very posh with beautiful peacocks and a lighted, colored glass ceiling. Also, near the Centrum is the Champagne Bar.
Going aft is the Schooner Bar, which is the most nautically decorated area: cannons, cannon balls, and even creosote soaked ropes enhancing the ambiance through the sense of smell. Murals by H.E. Nissen (Norway) depict seascapes and Columbus setting foot on the New World. A lovely full length portrait of Jenny Lind the "Swedish Nightingale" is paired with a painting of the ship "The Nightingale" weathering a storm. Here are located the bar and two specialty restaurants, Chops Grille and Portofino (both with $20 cover charge per person.)
Aft is the Bombay Billiards Club with two gyroscopic self leveling pool tables ---- which are fun to watch on a rough sea day. There was just one of those days this cruise. Next is the Jakarta Lounge with handy chess set ups overlooking the sea. Also located here are the Singapore Sling's Bar, the Calcutta Card Club and the Colony Club, all of which have the atmosphere of an English gentlemen's club with bookcase lined walls, elegant wood and plush seating.
Decks 7, 8, 9 and 10 are all staterooms, eight of which are wheel chair accessible with balcony, bringing the total of special needs cabins to 14. Always located near the Centrum elevators on each of these decks are additional passenger services: On Deck 7 are the business services; on Deck 8 is the Explorers' Court; on Deck 9 is the library and on Deck 10 is the Concierge Club which is available only to Crown & Anchor Diamond Members and Suite occupants. Here, Concierge Willie Salaya was very attentive and courteous. Thank you Willie!
Decks 11, 12, and 13 are all passenger areas. On Deck 11 forward is the Ship Shape Spa with the Massage Center, separate Men's and Women's locker rooms, a Thermal Suite and the Hair Salon. Next is the Solarium, where Vincent can be found every morning in the whirlpool. Mary prefers the lap pool which is filled with sea water (the water was cool and hard to get into, but refreshing once in). The jungle atmosphere is nice and most cruisers take pictures of the life size elephant statues. Aft is the Windjammer Cafe with buffet dining and both indoor and outdoor seating.
Deck 12 forward has the Ship Shape Fitness Center, midship is the Jogger's Track. There is an Optix Teen Center, Game Arcade, the Adventure Ocean Club and Beach, all for the younger cruisers. The children's program is free except for baby sitting after 10pm. We saw the children "Pirates" marching and singing in the theatre, lead by a crew member. They were scary, funny and loud and received a great ovation. Parents seated near us in the theatre told us that their children liked the youth programs so much that they rarely wanted to stay with the adults. Aft are the Golf and Sports area, Golf Simulators and the Sea View Cafe serving excellent snacks and lunch.
Finally on Deck 13 there is the Viking Crown Lounge with a star shaped bar and beautiful windows overlooking the sea. There are also the Vortex Night Club and the Hollywood Odyssey, an intimate Show Club (check out the life size statue of Marilyn Monroe with billowing skirts from the famous scene in the "Seven Year Itch"). Outside, on this deck, is where the Rock Climbing wall and the Putting Green are located.
The stair wells of the ship have bright colorful art work; near the Centrum are unique murals of glass inlays. The ship is gleaming under Chief Housekeeper Renita Kumari.
CABIN Stateroom #7610 is wheelchair accessible with an automatic door opener. When entering on the right, there is a large bathroom with a 5'x5' shower, with safety rails, a bench and an emergency phone and call button. The sink has a mirrored medicine cabinet with shelves. Then, there is a queen size bed with two night stands and reading lamps.
When entering on the left, there is a double armoire inside which the personal safe is inconveniently located. This was difficult to access, especially after clothes were hung in the closet. Next is a lighted, mirrored vanity/desk with six drawers (so narrow that 8"x11" paper cannot lie flat!). There is a TV and a cabinet above it. There is also a navy blue sofa, two chairs and a teeny tiny coffee table. The far wall is all windows, floor to ceiling, and a door which opens on to the trapezoidal shaped balcony, holding two chairs, and a large table, to which our steward added a chaise lounge. Our excellent steward Cassandra Dasilva was amazing. She anticipated all our needs and was efficient and friendly. Thanks Cassandra for everything.
FOOD & SERVICE We have a new friend, Maitre D' Metin Camurlu, who oversees an excellent staff. We also visited with our old friend, Food & Beverage Manager Rinaldo Lima, whom we met on the Brilliance. We were wonderfully served by Waiter Kristian Dukic and his assistant Joel Loayon under the watchful eyes of Head Waiter Leonardo Spinelli. Executive Chef Rana Bir has an enormous task serving over 9,000 meals daily, but he is certainly up to it! The food is generally good with flashes of excellence.
Dinner with Captain Kent Ringborn is always a treat and this time was no exception. On the menu was Shrimp Cocktail, Escargots Bourguignon, Lobster Bisque, Chilled Pear nectar (Mary thought this was delectable) and Caesar Salad. The entrees included the following: Teriyaki Glazed Fresh Alaskan Salmon, Duck a` L'Orange and grilled Beef Tenderloin. The Captain enjoyed his salmon; Vincent said his beef was excellent (and he is not easily pleased); Mary thought her duck was crispy and very tasty. What is there to say but, fine food, fine service and fine company, all contribute to a fine evening.
We also dined at Chops with Captain Kent and the delightful Rolfes (109 cruises with RCI, when do they ever see home?). During this meal we got an up close and personal view of what a Master's life is really like. He received and made various calls to the Bridge concerning the weather in Grand Cayman, our next port of call. He ultimately decided to change course and head instead for Cozumel, Mexico; thereby, avoiding rough weather and giving the passengers an extra night in Mexico. RCI and the Captain stress safety first and we concur.
Room Service took about 15 to 30 minutes; we ordered breakfast every morning in our stateroom: and the coffee and omelets were hot, the fruit and juices were fresh. The variety on the dining room menu was more than adequate; however, both Head Waiter Leonardo and Kristian offered to get us whatever we desired, even if the items were not on the menu. According to Rinaldo Lima the Midnight Buffet was the best he had ever seen, and that is saying something, since he has seen so many. Food and service on board deserve high marks.
Vincent, a retired Professor of Environmental Health, had a very enjoyable meeting with Environmental Officer Mark Curtis (a graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy). He gave us interesting information on the Advanced Wastewater Reduction System and other recycling programs on board. He and the Captain should be proud of the Radiance's high marks on environmental issues and its award winning status.
We spent some time with the especially helpful Loyalty Ambassador Carol Williams talking about the Crown & Anchor Society and Diamond Plus membership perks such as the following: 1. Special tours of the Bridge, Galley and back stage. 2. Choice of Amenities (wine or flowers). 3. Discounts on early bookings. 4. Dinner with the Captain or other ship officers. 5. Schedules of key crew members. We feel strongly that RCI truly appreciates its returning passengers, and knows how to show them that they are valued through special cocktail parties and other perks. There is also on board credit for RCI shareholders and those who reserve a future cruise while on board. ENTERTAINMENT We had sailed with Cruise Director Gordon Whatman before and were happy to encounter him again. He is an extremely upbeat and active leader. He inspires his group and the passengers with his singing (he has had operatic training and it shows). Throughout the cruise there was bingo, trivia, scavenger hunts, pool parties, 50's dances, Casino tournaments, etc.... We also enjoyed some of the music played around the ship, especially that of the terrific Sandra Mandella trio in the Centrum.
The RCI 's Singers & Dancers new show "Piano Man" was a hit. Mary enjoyed "Beetle Mania" especially "Yesterday" and "You May Think That I'm a Dreamer" by John Lennon and dreams of world wide peace. "Welcome to Our World" was warmly received; Bobby Arvon, the voice of "Happy Days," wowed the audience with his singing, impressions and piano playing. He put it all into his show and it was appreciated with a standing ovation.
The nicest final touch was the "Farewell Show" featuring Captain Kent's warm baritone voice. It is tough to say "Good bye" after such a terrific week. But all good things must come to an end. Arriverderci a presto! Till we meet again soon.
PORTS OF CALL Day 1. Miami, Florida Departure 5:00pm Day 2. At Sea Day 3. Labadee, Haiti Arrival 8:00am Departure 4:00pm Day 4. Ocho Rios, Jamaica Arrival 9:00am Departure 5:00pm Day 5. Georgetown, Grand Cayman canceled due to high winds and danger for tendering. Set sail for Cozumel. Arrival in Cozumel 8:00pm. Day 6. Cozumel, Mexico Departure 8:00pm Day 7. At Sea Day 8. Miami, Florida Arrival 8:00am
CONCLUSION This was our 50th cruise and our 25th on RCI ships. It appears that the more we cruise the more we enjoy it. We definitely are addicted to cruising and Vincent gets "withdrawal syndrome" if at anytime he has not booked two or more future cruises. He was showing symptoms while we were on this ship, since he had only one more cruise reservation, the transatlantic crossing on the Costa Mediterranea for this April. The problem was solved aboard by booking a cruise on the behemoth Freedom of the Seas, the next RCI cruise ship which will be launched in May 2006 and will take the title from the Queen Mary II of the largest cruise ship afloat. We hope that there will be many more cruises in between these two bookings, but we have not yet decided on which ones. It would be nice if it were possible to do around the world cruising on several different ships, each leg on a different ship; i.e., from the USA to South America, then on to the South Pacific, Australia, Japan, China, India, Africa, through Suez Canal to Europe, and back to USA, or a similar itinerary. We know that some cruise lines are doing such an itinerary on some smaller ships, but we would like to see it done in a sequence of legs on several ships to fully enjoy the cruises and land tours. Happy Sailing!


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StubHub can be a great resource—I bought second-row tickets to see Pulp the day of the Radio City show for less than face value. The key is waiting until right before the concert to buy anything; otherwise, you're going to be paying a SHIT TON of money. How much is a shit ton? Glad you asked: I took a look at the most way-over-face ticket (as of right now) on StubHub for nine of New York's most popular venues between now and the end of August, and compared them to the actual cost. To the broker who's trying to get 25 times face for Foster the People: I hope you're forced to spend eternity looked in a Hollister where they play "Pumped Up Kicks" on a non-stop loop.
Bowery Ballroom
The Wallflowers, July 24
Actual cost: $25
Highest price on StubHub: $338
Markup: +1,252%
Central Park Summerstage
Foster the People, June 11
Actual cost: $40.75
Highest price on StubHub: $1,000.00
Markup: +2,354%
Hammerstein Ballroom
Tenacious D, June 28
Actual cost: $55
Highest price on StubHub: $500
Markup: +809%
Webster Hall
The Gaslight Anthem, July 24
Actual cost: $29
Highest price on StubHub: $295
Markup: +917%
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Ed Sheeran, June 12
Actual cost: $18
Highest price on StubHub: $160
Markup: +789%
Irving Plaza
Lana Del Rey, June 7
Actual cost: $20
Highest price on StubHub: $501 (VIP)
Markup: +2,405%
Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
Jimmy Buffett, August 30
Actual cost: $96
Highest price on StubHub: $5,883
Markup: +6,028%
Prospect Park
Wilco, July 23
Actual cost: $45
Highest price on StubHub: $500
Markup: +1,011%
Terminal 5
The xx, August 2
Actual cost: $45
Highest price on StubHub: $335
Markup: +644%


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I have meant to start writing based on topics from livejournal's writing block section, since I have had the writer's equivalent to eating a five-pound block of cheese. So here goes:
If an alien ship were to land in your backyard and choose you as the earthly representative of humanity, what would you tell them about our world? Would you consider going back with them for a visit?
1) You will come across many sources of information purporting to be news. These include TV stations and shows, print media, and web sites. None of them actually provide an accurate representation of the actual news. They are all driven by money, profit, and viewership, and provide an output specifically formatted to drive these things. Be especially wary of any given news provider in which they or their most loyal fans say "all of the other news is bullshit; this one is actually unbiased." You'll generally find those news sources are the most biased and misinformed. In any case, don't turn to any news source in an attempt to find out more about our culture or people, unless you're trying to gauge how completely fucked our world really is.
2) Our world is divided into roughly 195 autonomous countries, of various sizes. A concept called "nationalism" divides the population by making people think the parcel of dirt where they were born somehow makes them a different or better person than people who were born in other geographical locations. This is particularly troublesome in situations where a given person leaves their country because it's more economically feasible for them to go elsewhere to find a job or an educational institution, yet they still hold an unnatural allegiance for their previous country of residence, somehow thinking this difference makes them better than other people. This is typically manifested because the person has some deep-seated psychological weakness that requires them to find something that makes them feel superior to others when internally, they feel the opposite is true. In any case, other than artificial factors like economy or civil rights, and minor physical differences like skin tone, regardless of where a person is born, they're still of the same species with roughly the same capabilities. (For example, none of these countries are currently underwater, in heavy zones of radioactive activity, or with altered gravity, so people are not born with mutated super-powers, although this is a common theme in works of fiction.)
3) Although the term "alien" describes individuals such as yourself from other planets, it also describes individuals from other countries. A current hot topic is aliens from other countries who immigrate to this country illegally and do not follow proper protocol for obtaining employment. Our population is currently divided among those who think all people should be able to work here legally and those who think illegal aliens should be shot on sight. So it's best if you pretend you are a legal resident of the United States, especially if you plan to visit southern states like Texas.
4) A prime motivating factor of our current culture is the things you own; a great deal of emphasis is made on what things you purchase or acquire, rather than things you make, do, or accomplish. Be aware that in countries that have no defined social caste system, such as the United States, the population is still unofficially divided into tiers based on income, home and car purchase, and the clothing and appliances individuals choose to purchase.
5) Although our world's scientists have logical proof of most natural processes, about 5/6th of our world's population still believe in some mythos that explains the creation and/or maintenance of our planet by some supernatural god or higher power. These belief systems are called religions, and there are at least a dozen major religions, each with dozens of sub-divisions, based on belief and worship systems. Pretty much every religion is based on the same basic principals, and many major religions have been modeled on the belief system of other religions, causing many common threads in multiple belief systems. But because any given religion is deemed as correct by its believers, they must believe all other religions are incorrect, which causes a great deal of conflict between the planet's inhabitants. And although over a billion people on the planet do not have any religious beliefs, the religious beliefs of others commonly dictate the workings of governmental systems.
6) At the current time, there are seven major incidents and roughly 21 minor instances where one country or group is actively trying to kill members of another country or group en masse to force the overthrow of their government system. Most of these wars are caused by simple religious differences, although many of them are economical in nature. Because of this, it's probably best to avoid travel in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Northwest Pakistan, and parts of India and Mexico.
7) Although most Americans eat the flesh of other mammals for sustenance, many of them also domesticate small mammals such as dogs and cats for companionship. Be careful not to confuse the two and accidentally allude to eating a person's household pets for dinner. When in doubt, if a person has an animal in their possession, try to find out of they have named said animal; if so, it's probably a pet and not livestock intended for consumption.
8) Humans have a number of artificial forms of physical competition called sports which people either participate in or observe. One of the sports, called baseball, involves a very controversial rule called the "designated hitter rule", in which roughly half of the American baseball teams can substitute a different offensive player for their lead defensive player, instead of using the same player for offensive and defensive situations. This rule, adopted in 1973, has slowly destroyed the game of baseball by causing specialization and removing sportsmanship. If you ever get in an argument with an individual who claims all teams should adopt the designated hitting rule, you can typically argue with them that their favorite team merely purchased their last several World Series titles with their excessive payroll and/or that their players were artificially enhancing their physical characteristics by medical means such as steroids, and in most cases, you'd be correct.
9) In California, unless marked, you can make a right turn on red. Please don't sit there waiting for the green light like every other alien in this state; I've got to get to work, you fuckers.
10) Almost every one of the six billion people on this planet thinks they are the center of the universe. If you could do anything that would convince them otherwise while you're here, that would be great.
Lastly, anything I didn't cover can probably be found at wikipedia.org.
And I might be willing to go back with you for a visit, but I'd like to find out more about your food before I leave. Last time I left the country, I drank the water and got horribly sick. But if you have one of those food replicator devices that can create something that agrees with my intestinal tract, just give me an hour to pack and load up my Kindle with a couple of books for the trip, and I'm ready to roll.


text:
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text:
Vocational education
Published on:
Fri, 01/04/2016 - 15:00
Adrian Lucas, tutor in guitar-making describes his experience through the strategic partnership, known as the Leonardo Guitar Research Project in Newark College, United Kingdom, an Erasmus+ programme.
Within this staff mobility project, students from three different schools respectively in England, Belgium and Finland are given workshops and sessions by professors and four luthiers from other schools on the use of non-tropical woods in guitar-making. Through this experience, his students exchange, learn, and experience both craft skills and the business side of the job.


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In this chapter, Buffy and Hiywan bond over dead animals and a water fight.
Characters: Hiywan (the First Slayer before she became a Slayer), Buffy. See here for a glossary of original characters.
Wordcount: 21,642. This chapter 4765
Rating: 15 (R) (Non-explicit references to sex, nudity, animal deaths, various bodily functions, nature being red in tooth and claw, etc.)
Previous chapters: One Two Three
Chapter Four
I rested my head a while against the antelope's cool fur as it hung there, trying to calm down (and also, my forehead hurt where I'd hit it). Then I took a couple of deep breaths, and turned to look for a knife. At which point, I discovered that Amare had, perhaps wisely, made himself scarce during the argument, so all that was for nothing. Oh great.
His tools were neatly laid out on a treestump, however, and I picked up a couple of knives until I found one that fitted my hand well, and tested the blade. It seemed sharp enough, and there were no cracks in the stone, so I took it and walked back to the carcass. As I did I glanced over to find Buffy; she was still standing exactly where I left her, but at this distance I couldn't make out her expression. I felt a pang of guilt, wondered if I should go over and apologise for getting angry with her... but I had work to do. I grabbed a handful of fur in my left hand, and forced the point of the knife into the deer's body, up near the neck.
A small drop of blood came out and smeared the knife, but not much; most of it was already gone. I started cutting downwards towards the belly; it was slow and heavy work, and I had to saw the knifeblade backwards and forwards to get it to cut through the thick layers of skin. I soon had sweat running down my forehead, and paused to wipe it away.
As I did, I was surprised to feel a hand on my wrist, and a woman's voice asking a hesitant question. It was Buffy, of course, and she had a surprisingly meek smile on her face for me as she pointed to the knife, then at herself, then at the antelope. Hmm? Well, if she wanted to... I smiled back, cautiously, and handed her the knife as if it were a peace offering.
Buffy examined it closely for a moment, a dubious look on her face, and brushed her thumb over the edge a few times. Then she took a firm grip on the flint and stepped up to take my place in front of the carcass. Then she turned around and looked at me questioningly, miming a cutting motion and pointing at the deer's belly. I frowned; surely she'd skinned prey before? But I was realising it wasn't safe to assume anything where our guest was concerned. I stepped forward, put my finger at the base of the cut I'd already made, then traced a line down over its belly to between its hind legs. Buffy nodded, then waved me back. I was glad enough of the chance to rest for a moment.
Then she grasped the loose skin in her off-hand to pull it taut... and I stared open-mouthed as she drew the knife straight down in a single clean cut, slicing through fur and hide as easily as if it weren't even there. Just how strong was she? It was all so fast, I didn't even have time to warn her before she'd laid open the antelope's belly too, and its guts came sliding out in a horrible stinking, bloody mess. She made a sound that sounded like "Awk!" and sprang back hastily, and I swear her reflexes were so fast, not a single drop of gore splattered her. In fact, I clapped my hands together in appreciation, and she looked at me in surprise, then grinned. But then she put her hands on her hips and said something to me in an accusatory tone - but she was still grinning - and she pointed at me, the knife, herself, and the guts, then repeated her accusation. Did she think I planned that deliberately? I didn't... but actually, it would have been funny if I had. So I was grinning back as I protested my innocence, and she rolled her eyes at me, and then I couldn't help myself any longer and burst out laughing, and then she was laughing too.
After a while, we'd got control of ourselves again, and Buffy approached the deer once more - but slowly, and with a look on her face that said "This is really gross". She muttered something to herself as well, and I almost set myself off giggling again as I wondered if she'd actually said, in her own language, "This is really gross". But I took pity on her, and asked for the knife back again. She handed it to me with a look of relief, and I took a deep breath - then regretted it as the stink hit me. I started to kneel down, then hesitated. This was going to be messy, and skin was a lot easier to get clean than leather. I unfastened the top of my wrap and rolled it down around my waist, just as Amare had earlier with his own.
At which point, I remembered Buffy's usual response to nudity and such, and looked round at her in curiosity. Had she turned bright red again? Run away, turned her back? Actually no; her only reaction when I met her eyes was to shake her head and sigh in long-suffering exasperation. Um, I think that was a good thing? Anyway, to work.
I reached in and started pulling out the rest of the antelope's innards, sawing at them with the knife to free them. I couldn't see what I was cutting; I had to go by feel with my arms plunged deep inside the cooling carcass. It wasn't long before my arms were coated with blood and slime, and the front of my chest was liberally splattered too. But then I'd finished, and I stepped back in relief. Buffy was watching me, but she looked a little nauseous: I pulled a face in sympathy and scraped off the worse of the muck from my arms. Then I looked around for some help; where had Amare vanished to? And where was Teshome?
I eventually found them sat by the river throwing stones into the water, and Amare exerted the privilege of his position by telling Teshome to go find Assefe so the two of them could clean out the intestines and prepare them. Teshome grumbled, but did as he was told.
When we got back, Buffy was examining Amare's tools, a look of curiosity on her face. She put them down again hastily, but I adopted a reassuring tone and told her to feel free. She had clan-right, after all; our possessions were hers. Instead, Buffy watched with surprise (and relief) as the two young men picked up the dried animal skin laid under the antelope carcass and picked it up, with the heap of guts lying in the middle of it, and began carrying it off towards the river. She looked like she wanted to ask a question, but then just shrugged. Instead, I picked up the knife we'd been using, then pointed at the assemblage of tools and gestured for her to take one for herself. She raised an eyebrow, then reached out for one of the knives - no testing them one by one like I'd done, but a decisive choice. Then she followed me back to the antelope.
I took my knife, held up the animal's left foreleg, and drew a line with my blade along the inside of the leg from ankle to shoulder, then across the chest to connect with the main cut down the deer's underside. Then I pointed to Buffy and the other foreleg. She looked at me for a moment, then nodded, indicating the leg with her own knife and miming cutting it. I nodded, and we set to work side by side to skin the antelope.
Buffy wasn't as quick or dextrous at this as she'd been at opening the belly. She had the strength, sure enough, but cutting around the legs cleanly took skill and practice as well, and she seemed a little clumsy and unsure of herself. The knife slipped a couple of times, drawing angry and frustrated expostulations out of her. I glanced over; the cuts were a little ragged, but not too bad, and I smiled and said something encouraging, then set back to work. When the front legs were done we started on the rear ones, and Buffy seemed to be getting the hang of things more. She seemed quite proud of herself when the hide of the right hind leg came off cleanly and easily, and I grinned at her.
She smiled back, wiping the perspiration from her forehead with her hand - then grimacing in disgust as she realised her hand was all covered in the antelope's blood, which she'd now transferred to her face. I couldn't help laughing, and after a moment she chuckled rather ruefully as well. Then together we set to work on the last and biggest task, slicing the hide from the animal's body. It was now drawing on to late afternoon and the sun was lower in the sky, but it was still hot, and the work was sweaty and sticky and messy. But the two of us made relatively easy work of it together; somehow we'd seemed to get into a rhythm, matching our actions to each other without a word spoken.
Though Buffy did make one comment, as she peeled back the skin with a loud ripping sound: I think from her wry tone it was a joke, although of course I didn't understand it. But immediately afterwards she seemed to cringe and add something else in an apologetic tone of voice - at least I'm pretty sure one of the words she said was "Sorry", since she'd said it enough by now I was starting to recognise it from context. Was she apologising to me for her joke? Was it in bad taste or something? I wished, once again, that I could understand what she was saying. Senayit's spell couldn't come fast enough.
But the skin was finally removed. It wasn't perfect, a little ragged round the edges, but serviceable. It would make a decent wrap for someone. Maybe Buffy herself; perhaps she'd look less strange in proper clothes?
As we took the hide over to the large treetrunk Amare had designated for scraping, he came over himself and offered to take the carcass over to the campfire so it could be cooked. I accepted gratefully; it would save time. He also, without being asked, passed me one of the antelope's leg bones. As Buffy watched in curiosity, I set it down on a large, flat rock on the ground and went over to Amare's tools to get a few small flakes of flint and a hammerstone. I scored a line on the bone with my knife, pushed one of the flakes into it, then started hammering at it with all my strength.
Sweat got in my eyes and obscured my vision; I brusquely wiped them with the back of my hand and carried on hammering until I was finally rewarded with a loud crack as the bone split. Then I inserted a second flint further up the bone and started hammering again. My arm was getting tired, and as I stopped to rest Buffy squatted down next to me and held out her hand. I didn't hesitate: gratefully, I gave her the hammerstone, stood up and stretched.
Buffy herself seemed a little uncertain, studying the first split I'd made carefully, as if she'd never hammered a bone before and wanted to reassure herself what to do. Then she addresed herself to the stone wedge, gripped the bone firmly in one hand and raised the hammerstone in the other, then brought it down in a single heavy blow. The bone split instantly and cleanly - reminding me once again just how strong she was. I clapped in appreciation, and she smiled at me, obviously pleased.
One more wedge was needed - which Buffy took care of as well as the last - and the bone was split. I mimed tearing it into two, then gave it to Buffy to actually pull apart. She made it look easy. Then I took one half of the split bone and tested the edges where it had cracked - it was suitably sharp. Walking over to the bloody animal hide stretched over the log, I pressed the blade of the scraper against it with both hands and drew it down as smoothly and cleanly as I could. The tattered bits of fat and flesh clinging to the inside of the hide came off, messily, and most of it went onto the ground. Some of it went onto me, of course. I moved the scraper back up and pulled it down in a second sweep next to the first.
At this point I looked up to see Buffy watching me, her pale pinkish-white face looking a little green now instead. Mercilessly, I pointed at the other half of the bone still lying on the ground, at her and at the hide, and quirked an eyebrow. She groaned loudly - which made me grin - but picked it up and joined me. Together we made short work of the hide. The final stage was to carry it over to the tanning pool and dunk it in there to soak overnight. By now I could already anticipate Buffy's reaction to this part of the procedure, and she didn't fail to disappoint. I'm not sure if "Eww ew ew ew ewwww!" meant anything in her language or it was just an expression of disgust, but it sounded funny. I'm half-convinced she knew it too and by now was deliberately playing things up for my benefit.
Finally we were done. I stretched, rolling my head to loosen my neck muscles, and flicked my hands down at the ground to shake off the worst of the blood and gore from them. I should probably have refastened my wrap too at this point, but I was too dirty to want to touch it just yet. Instead I mimed washing to Buffy and gestured toward the river. I'm not sure she understood the gesture, but she followed me when I set off there - and seemed positively enthusiastic when she realised where I was going.
The banks of the river in this region were mostly sticky and soft, but I found Teshome and Assefe sat on one of the drier, sandier stretches. They'd finished cleaning out the animal guts in the water and were now cutting them into shorter lengths and tying off one end of each piece. These made handy containers for cooking the smaller bits of food that couldn't be stuck on a spit to roast. The two of them greeted me cheerfully, although they politely averted their eyes when they saw I was half-naked.
I waded out into the water, then crouched down to wash the worst of the blood from my hands. Then I unfastened my wrap and slid off off my hips, then climbed out of the river again to hang it over a tree-branch for safekeeping. At this point I looked around to see what Buffy was doing.
She was standing next to the river, looking at it with huge longing eyes, holding her red-dripping arms well away from her sides. But she also kept looking sidelong at Teshome and Assefe, awkwardness and embarrassment clearly drawn in her posture. They in turn were clearly trying their best not to stare at her in too-obvious fascination.
While Buffy's odd prudishness and over-refined sensibilities still made me a little impatient, I was getting more used to her ways now; and I did sympathise with her here. It wasn't really fair to the two men either, to expect them not to look if Buffy took her clothes off. I mean, they'd all seen me naked plenty of times (and vice-versa), it was no big deal; but this odd-looking stranger was another matter.
I picked up my wrap again and gestured downriver, where the stream curved around in a bend past some trees. "I think Buffy and I will go and bathe further down there; there's a nice rock to sunbathe on afterwards."
Assefe pouted and said, "Aww", which made me tilt my head and give him an old-fashioned look - at which he grinned unrepentently. But Teshome, who was older, merely said mildly, "Be careful you don't get eaten by a crocodile."
"There aren't any crocodiles here. You know that."
"Yes, but do the crocodiles?"
At this point Assefe interjected, "I don't think any crocodile would dare try to eat Hiywan anyway. Remember what she did to that hyena?"
I felt my face heat, and looked down at my feet in embarrassment. The time I came back into camp covered in dried blood and dragging the headless corpse of a giant person-sized hyena behind me had already passed into clan legend - and I mean literally. There was a song about me and everything. I cringed every time they sang it.
Of course Teshome and Assefe knew I hated the song, which is exactly why the two of them started singing it right then. I glared at them - they kept on singing through their laughter - but at least it gave me the excuse I needed to stalk off in a huff, beckoning Buffy to follow me.
We made our way through the trees, then out onto the rock that overlooked the river. I heard Buffy say something soft next to me; she sounded pleased and impressed. I looked around, trying to imagine the place through her eyes. It was certainly pretty enough; the rock was a golden honey-coloured stone, contrasting with the deep green of the forest on either side. The river reflected the trees and the sky, deep blue and green; and the ripples as it eddied around the rocks glinted white in the sunlight. I dropped my wrap and ran to the edge of the rock, leaping off into the river below with a giant splash. The shock of the cold water was exhilarating and made me scream in mixed delight and pain. Then I ducked down into the water and started scrubbing at my skin with a handful of sand from the bottom untl I felt sparkling clean, and my flesh tingled with warmth once more.
I'd lost sight of Buffy; she was still somewhere behind the rock doing something or other. But then she stepped into view, poised gracefully on the very brink. The sun, low in the sky, turned her golden hair into something like a flame, so she seemed like an avatar of Tsehay herself. Her pale blood-splattered body glowed pink in the reflected light, as if a fire were kindled inside it. Her whole body, I noticed with a sudden grin. Granted, she was holding one hand protectively in front of her hips, and the other arm was clamped firmly over her chest, but she'd actually taken her clothes off. I hadn't been sure she even could, but clearly so...
At that point she emulated me by jumping in the river with a wild yell that sounded like "YaaaaaheeeeARGHHomygodthatscold!!" My smile turned to a yell of outrage as the impact of her landing created a giant wave that soaked me, plastering my hair to my skull.
"Ooops. Sorry." She said it in her own language, but I knew exactly what she'd said.
"No problem," I replied, with a deceptive smile... then swung my own arm back and around to create a wave that soaked her in turn. Then I added, in the exact same tone she'd used, "Ooops. Sorry."
Buffy's eyes and mouth went wide, three perfect circles as water dripped down her face... then she set her mouth firmly, swung her own arm and splashed me right back. Then added in a meek, harmless little voice, "Sorry."
"I forgive you." I turned my back on her, waded away through the waist-deep water - then swung around, my fingers interlinked to form a double fist, putting my back and shoulders into the movement as I'd been taught, and sweeping my arms around as if I were striking a killing blow to an opponent - except in this case, my weapon was water and my only victim a very wet Buffy.
She gave me a look then muttered something that sounded, from its tone, very much like, "Oh, it is on." Then flipped over so she was floating on her back, and kicked her legs vigorously in my direction creating a whole series of huge waves. Of course, this effort also propelled her away from me, so only the first few actually hit me. It still made me shriek, though.
She eventually paused, just moving her arms slowly to keep herself afloat, and raised her head a little way out of the water. "Sorry."
"It's quite all right". I waded over to where she floated, looked down into her face, then moved my hand almost gently to splash a little bit of water into it. A small gesture... but far more effective since it was precisely targeted. She spluttered, and I murmured the standard apology.
In reply Buffy took a deep breath and flipped over, down below the surface of the river. I was surprised. I squinted down, trying to make out her shape under the water, see what she was doing. I felt her hand touch my ankle briefly, then my other foot; maybe checking where I was standing? And then she burst out of the water with an almighty splash, right in my face, shooting up fast as a gazelle, clearly pushing herself up off the bottom of the river, and I was utterly soaked. I screamed - Buffy said sorry - and I retaliated.
No finesse this time, just a series of splashes with my hands. Buffy replied in kind; we were both giggling and shrieking and occasionally saying "Sorry", but I didn't really have the breath left to keep on repeating it. Buffy, though, seemed to be actually getting faster as I slowed down due to exhaustion; her splashes were coming three to my two. I paused a moment to get my breath back, and she suddenly seemed to explode into action, her arms moving faster than any human's had a right to, sending half the river flying towards me. I sat back in the water with a thump (and another splash), and muttered weakly, "Okay, you win."
She seemed to get my meaning well enough, and stopped too, the slightly faster rising and falling of her chest the only sign of her exertion. She smiled at me and extended her hand. It seemed like a friendly gesture, so I returned the smile and took her hand a little hesitantly. She moved her hand - and mine - up and down a couple of times in what seemed to be a ritual gesture of some kind, then more practically helped me stand upright. My legs quivered, and I knew I'd been in the water long enough.
I scraped off as much water from my body as I could with the heel of my hand, then stretched out on the rock to let the sun dry me. It was nearly down now, but there was still enough daylight left, and I enjoyed the feeling of warmth on my skin. I looked over to see Buffy emerge from the river and copy my actions, and I moved over to make room for her beside me on the rock. She shook her head, however, and took a seat slightly lower down, where the trees cast a shadow over the surface of the stone.
I looked surprised, pointing up in the sky, then drawing my hand along the sharp dividing line that divided sunlight from shadow and raising my eyebrows. She shrugged - then seemed to realise something, and looked a little taken aback, even wistful. She said something to me in her own language, then frowned in thought.
"Buffy..." pointing at herself, "No..." shaking her head; it was another of our words she'd clearly managed to pick up, then "(Unknown word)", and she mimed long fangs in her mouth and biting. I recognised the actions - I'd used them myself earlier - and supplied the word "Nightwalker". She repeated the word herself, then her own; presumably 'vampire' was her language's term for nightwalkers. Then she repeated the whole sentence. "Buffy no nightwalker".
"Buffy is not a nightwalker" I corrected her. Clearly she wasn't; I'd seen her in direct sunlight all day. Then I added "I am not a nightwalker". With a little repetition, we managed to get her to understand "I am", "You are" and "She is". I felt quite triumphant.
"I'm not a nightwalker", said Buffy again in our language (yay!). "But- " I recognised that word from context only - "I am (something), and I don't (something something something)." She pointed to herself, then gestured at me. Then she took my hand and stretched out my arm, then put her own arm next to mine. Side-by-side like that, the difference in colour was startling. She pointed to the sky, made a circle with her thumb and finger - "Sun. The sun", I told her. Then she pointed at the sun, at my arm, and made a soothing, stroking gesture. Then at her own arm, and hooked her fingers like claws and jabbed at it.
"The sun hurts your skin?" It made some sort of sense - I remember how alarmingly dark red she'd turned out on the open plain as we hunted the antelope; and now I thought about it, it did seem like she'd taken special care to stay in the shade as much as possible when we got back to camp, even more than people normally do. It still didn't make sense why her skin was that colour though; it seemed highly impractical. My suspicion that her people normally lived underground in caves all the time came back to me; hopefully it wouldn't be long before I could ask her directly.
Which reminded me: it was time we got back to camp. In fact we'd really left it too late, because as I was standing up to go and get my wrap the sun finally slipped below the horizon, and the shadows under the trees quickly lengthened. I felt a brief moment of panic which I sternly suppressed. We were only a few minutes' walk from camp, twenty armed warriors were virtually within earshot, and I was a trained fighter myself... but still. Night in the forest or on the savannah was not meant for humans.
I knew it better than most. I'd heard my sister's voice - not Haset, my other sister, the one whose name I rarely used anymore. Calling me to come out and join her, leave the safety of the shelter and walk out into the moonlight. Now, as an adult, I understood what she'd wanted, what danger I'd faced. When Buffy said something in my direction - it sounded like a mildly surprised question - I replied by urging her to hurry up, we had to get back to camp quickly; and the note in my voice made her give a double-take and look around in alarm.
There was no obvious danger, of course. I was letting my fears get the better of me. Buffy found her clothes after a little searching and got dressed quickly and efficiently. It was only at that point that I realised she'd lost her self-consciousness about being naked when our waterfight began, and not given it a moment's thought thereafter. Even so, I politely turned away as she got dressed, despite my fascinated realisation, from the glimpses I did catch, that she actually seemed to wear a second layer of clothing - very abbreviated clothing - underneath the layer I was already familiar with. Why would she do that? What was the point? Yet another thing to ask her when I got chance...
We set off back to camp as soon as Buffy was ready, following the river. It was already full dark before we reached it, and the water was a handy guide to stop us getting lost on the way. But then there was the welcome sound of five dozen people talking, and the glint of the flickering campfire, and the appetising smell of roasting meat. We were home.
To the next chapter


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Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is to offer a selection of longer cruise itineraries this year, with durations from 25 to 46 nights on voyages to the Adriatic, Greenland, Norway, New York, Canada, the Caribbean and Brazil.
Highlights of the brochure include the following itineraries.
Black Watch will be sailing on a 25-night Centre of Venice & the Adriatic cruise on 13 April 2015. Sailing from Liverpool the first port of call will be Gibraltar. Cartagena in Spain will follow before a call into Catania in Sicily. Kerkira, on the island of Corfu in Greece, will be the next call which will be followed by Kotor in Montenegro. Hvar in Croatia will be the next stop before enjoying the legendary sail into Venice. Here guests will stay in port overnight before heading on to Split and then Dubrovnik, both in Croatia. The next port will be Valletta in Malta followed by Algiers in Algeria. Cadiz in Spain is the final call before heading back to Liverpool. Prices start from £2,609 per person based on two adults sharing a twin-bedded inside cabin and subject to availability.
Balmoral will be sailing on a 35-night Voyage to the American Deep South cruise on 14 September. Departing from Southampton Balmoral will traverse the Atlantic Ocean before calling at Sydney, Nova Scotia in Canada. The next port of call will be Boston, USA, before calling at Salam in Massachusetts. She will then call at Oak Bluffs in Martha's Vineyard before arriving in New York for an overnight stay. The next port on the itinerary will be Charleston, South Carolina, followed by Savannah, Georgia. Jacksonville, Florida, follows before an overnight stay in the lively city of Miami, Florida. Nassau in the Bahamas will mark the start of the return leg which is then followed by a call into St. George in Bermuda. The final port of call will be Ponta Delgada in the Azores before setting sail back to Southampton. Prices start from £3,239 per person based on two adults sharing a twin-bedded inside cabin and subject to availability.
In other news Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines also announced that the 929-guest ship Braemar will be spend a second cruise season in Harwich International Port, Essex. The first voyage this season from the port on-board Braemar will be the Easter City Getaway cruise on 4 April that will offer overnight stays in Hamburg (Germany) and Amsterdam (Netherlands) and will also call at Antwerp (Belgium).
(Photo credit to Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines)


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Reliving my favorite Govball NYC 2017 moments with French Connection, Forever 21, Minkpink, a few of my besties & all the music. Download or listen to my Govball '17 playlist here.
Look 1: French Connection Hennessy drape dress, Perret utility jacket, boots and Hoyt rope tote, Sunday Somewhere sunglasses, Vintage belt. Shot by Frankie Marin for French Connection and Melodie Jeng. // Look 2: Forever 21 gingham off-shoulder top, grommet shorts, cabbie hat, rose-heeled boots, Ralph Lauren bucket bag. // Look 3: Minkpink cropped lace jumpsuit, ASOS studded jacket, Henri Bendel crossbody bag, French Connection boots.
Confession: I've never been to Coachella. Despite my love for festivals, live music and boho style, it slowly began losing its appeal to me about 6 years ago and I haven't seriously considered going since. I guess it helped that, around the time my interest started waning, our friend Jordan launched a New York-based festival meant to serve as the Big Apple's answer to Coachella: Governor's Ball. A live music, 3-day extravaganza taking place just a stone's throw from my spot in Brooklyn? I was sold from the start.
Since those early days, Govball has taken off, booking bigger and bigger acts every year and quickly becoming a playground for the city's style set. Even though it's started to blow up, I appreciate that the event still has a homespun vibe to it. I inevitably wind up bumping into a bunch of friends and neighbors just walking around the grounds, I've got a favorite bar and bartender who hooks it up between sets (love you Zach!), and everyone just seems a tad more chill in comparison to the chichi-celeb-model-fest that Coachella has become.
Already looking forward to next year, but until then I'll be listening to the below playlist on repeat! Featuring a compilation of my favorite performances from this year, it quickly brings me back to those few carefree days in early June...


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How To Grow Your Snapchat Audience with GhostCodesPosted on
For the last few months I've been putting a lot of my attention and efforts into Snapchat. I strongly believe in this platform, and by now you should too. They're aiming for a $25Billion valuation right now, can you imagine? Linkedin has been around for about 13 years and it's selling for $26B. Snapchat has … read the full post


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As both a homemaker and a frugal-minded individual, one of my biggest passions and concerns is avoiding food waste. When I see a cucumber go rotten before I've had a chance to use it, I can get so upset not only because I've just wasted my money, but also because household food trash accounts for 43 percent of the nation's entire food-waste problem, which is an issue that has mounting global and environmental ramifications. What incenses me more than dumping out spoiled milk from my own fridge is the fact that most folks do not think twice about the consequences of chucking their uneaten leftovers into the garbage or buying another pint of strawberries when they have one behind the eggs about to go bad.
Besides wasting your money, wasting food does serious damage to the environment, as food in landfills produces incredible amounts of methane, which is over 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. In addition, when you waste food, you are also wasting the resources like energy and water that went into producing it in the first place, making the effect on the environment even more nonsensical.
There are many ways to limit your household's food waste, but the most important way to approach this ongoing problem is simply awareness. Being mindful of the choices you make with food every day, including what you are buying and how you inventory what's in that fridge, should become a lifestyle choice and a daily habit that can bring a lot of change. The process of limiting your family's food waste doesn't have to be taxing. Here are ten additional simple ways you can change your habits to lessen your contribution to the food-waste crisis.
1) Compost: Instead of throwing your produce in the trash where it will eventually produce dangerous methane, composting allows it to break down and be recycled back into the earth. And the process couldn't be easier! Even though we do not waste much food in our house, it was still incredibly eye-opening to see just how many little scraps of produce we generate from cooking. Even if you do not want to compost, at the minimum, use your garbage disposal for vegetable and fruit scraps instead of the trash. It's not ideal, but it is better than food being sent to the landfill.
2) Buy Ugly Produce: Supermarkets are designed to routinely chuck produce that looks ugly or imperfect into the garbage. It may seem like a small thing but being the customer that buys the weird-looking but perfectly edible potato or misshapen pear does make a difference and saves that piece of food from being wasted.
3) Use Smaller Plates: When we use big plates to serve ourselves and our family, we might be actually piling up more food than we can eat, creating more food waste. Use smaller plates and start off small with portions.
4) Use Your Freezer: The freezer stops the clock on food, making it your best resource for helping to avoid things going bad. Have a handful of raspberries getting mushy in the fridge? They may be too unpleasant to eat fresh but rinsing them off and freezing them just bought you an ingredient for a blended fruit smoothie.
5) Label: Research finds that 96 percent more leftovers would be eaten if we knew what was in the containers! Keep a roll of masking tape near the fridge and write down the contents of each leftover container or Tupperware item so that all family members know what they can eat.
6) Use Technology: The USDA has a free app called FoodKeeper, which helps to educate you on food storage and safety.
7) Buy Local Produce: Buying local helps the environment tremendously. When you buy local, you are cutting down on the time and resources that went into production of similar produce elsewhere. Keep in mind that transporting produce long distances uses a great deal of fossil fuels.
8) Know Your Fridge: Did you know that the air is colder on the lower shelves in your refrigerator? This makes it the better section to store things like meat and dairy, so they have less chance of going bad too soon.
9) Trust Your Nose: "Sell-by" and "use-by" dates can get people confused and nervous, allowing lots of unnecessary waste of useable food. These stamped dates are intended more for retailers to know when to pull an item from the shelf rather than for safety. A better tenet to follow is to simply trust your sense of smell. Your nose will tell you if milk has soured or if that ground beef has gone bad. Focus on using these items before they've had a chance to get to that point.
10) Educate Others: It's imperative to enlighten others about the impact of food waste on the environment, as well as how easy it can be to save food and money by simply making more of an effort. Share tips with others and stress the importance of what simple changes can do.


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SimulTrans provides software, document, and website localization services, translating text into over 100 languages. Established in 1984, SimulTrans has enabled thousands of businesses to provide high-quality content to their international customers.Management ownership allows an exclusive focus on customers and quality, as exemplified by ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 certifications. In addition to its headquarters in Mountain View, California, SimulTrans has offices in Bonn, Boston, Dublin, London, Paris, and Tokyo.
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Have you ever heard the saying, "You get what you pay for"?
This statement is essentially inferring that you if you want quality, then you'll have to throw down some cash.
I used to believe that, but I don't anymore. Over the last 7+ years, I've discovered more and more apps, tools and websites that have helped me on my journey to financial freedom. Most of my favorites have been completely free.
Oh, yeah … the best price out there my friends.
Yes, there are quite often other services that are being sold in addition to the free ones, but hey … if you don't want them, don't buy them. And if you do, now you at least trust their offering after digging their free service. It's like a test trial.
Here are 7 free money tools that will help you save more money, grow your wealth and protect your family:
Personal Capital
Nicole and I have been tracking our net worth since 2010 when Suze Orman helped us figure out that we were broke as a joke! We started at -$50,000 and now we're closing in on $750,000. That's an $800,000 swing in 8-years!
We owe a lot of that success to simply tracking our net worth. Personal Capital has served as incredible tool for this.
You insert all of your account information including debts, cash accounts, investment accounts and even assets like your home and car (yes, even your car counts toward your net worth).
There's even an easy-to-use app for checking in on your net worth goals throughout the year. We're shooting to be in the 2-comma club by 40!
I connected with this family empowering company after they sponsored my weekly podcast. Their mission to help families make smart financial decisions and protect their kids is right up my alley.
Tomorrow's user-friendly app helps you build your family's last will and testament for free. They also offer options for a family trust and affordable term life insurance as well.
For the last 7 years, Nicole and I have used Mint to manage our monthly budgets. This free online system has helped us to reduce money fights, pay off our $195,000 mortgage in 4 years and plan for our family's future.
Each month, we get together to complete our "budget party" using Mint. We discuss the following:
- What we spent and saved last month
- How we're going to allocate our money this month
- What events (birthdays, weddings, etc) we have coming up in the future
- How we're tracking against our big family financial goals
- The progress of our investment accounts (529, HSA, 401k, Roth IRA)
Related Article: Create Your Budget on Mint in 10 Simple Steps
(If you're more into spreadsheets than online systems like Mint, check out Tiller. Tiller is not free, but it's an inexpensive system that is helping loads of people manage their money more effectively.)
For the couples out there, Honeyfi is a budgeting app designed specifically for you. This free app allows you and your significant other to easily share your budget information together.
HoneyFi also has a tracking and chat feature that allows you to easily check in on certain shared expenses. One of the founders of Honeyfi told me that his wife uses this feature as a good way to harass him when he gets fast food too much!
That sounds like me and Nicole … I give her a hard time for her Target purchases and she harasses me for buying random stuff on Amazon.
Each year, every US citizen is entitled to a free annual credit report according to Federal law. To claim your free report from all three reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and Transunion), you need to visit AnnualCreditReport.com.
I set a Google Calendar reminder for myself to visit this site once a year. It helps me to know if my identity has been stolen and if my credit information is up to date. So far so good!
Credit Sesame
For an everyday check of your credit score, I like Credit Sesame. This free app monitors your credit, gives you an up-to-date score and offers suggestions on how to improve it.
Since we don't have a mortgage anymore, I have an "F" grade for the "age of accounts" category. Wah wah … small price to pay I suppose.
I don't plan on borrowing much money going forward so I guess I'm good with my credit score going down. I do still want to get credit cards though so we can score some free travel with the kids this year.
Birch Finance
I discovered this credit card optimizing company last fall at a financial conference I attended.
Birch Finance tracks your credit cards and recommends which card is best to receive the most cash back and rewards. I just started using it a few months ago and love how it's laid out.
This free app will help you earn more rewards with every purchase you make. If you're going to be spending anyway, you might as well be rewarded!
What money tools do you love?
Please let me know in the comments below!
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What does WWCW stand for?
WWCW stands for World Wide Christian Web
This definition appears somewhat frequently and is found in the following Acronym Finder categories:
- Organizations, NGOs, schools, universities, etc.
- Abbreviation Database Surfer
- « Previous
- Next »
- Wayne-Westland Community Schools (Westland, MI)
- What Would Colbert Say (Stephen Colbert)
- Work With Computing Systems
- Waves, Water-limits, Currents, and Sediment Transport
- Wellington, West Coast and Taranaki (Wellington, New Zealand)
- Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust (Devon, UK)
- World Wide Country Tours (Greendale, WI)
- Office of Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy (US DoD)
- World Women's Christian Temperance Union
- Wiltshiren Wildlife Conservation Volunteers (Wiltshire, UK)
- What Would Chuck Yeager Do?
- What Would Chow-Yun Fat Do?
- Cape May, NJ United States (airport code)
- US Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District
- Wastewater Discharge
- Weather Working Day (Shipping)
- Web Worker Daily (blog)
- Westward (weather reports)
- Wildwood (Amtrak station code; Wildwood, FL)
- Wind Wave Direction


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The Abandoned Mine Shaft and SCIENCE!
That said, there we were, cruising through the desert. The area is full of deserted mines, most of them covered and sealed off (but a few are not…I have known people unfortunate enough to find those hidden shafts and die horribly).
So what's our first instinct? SCIENCE! In glorious 4K!
The town of Mercur has a very troubled past and is now completely inaccessible. The graveyard, however, is completely accessible and is a well known haunt! It was one of the first locations Julie and I conducted a formal ghost hunt with some damn strange results. It's also the reason I carry a weapon when I "hunt" in the open (long story for another time).
We have several bits of evidence gathered from the area that will be included in later posts.
The Mines
To the north of Mercur's graveyard is a series of structures and that is where you find some of the mines (sealed off). You DO have to be careful, there are still many that are not covered in the immediate area!
This is just a preview…
As I mentioned, we have a lot of material from Mercur that will be posted in the near future! It's a tough place for ghost hunting (wind, environment, crowds, cranky occupants…etc.)
Another reason this area is a favorite? Boondocking! BLM land is king out there, so finding a campsite is easy. It will be crowded though. It's a very popular area for off-road riding and general outdoor recreation.


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Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons in Wainscott (90 Daniels Hole Road) is bringing is some quality earnings and teaching kids about the spirit of giving back with their charitable "Lemonarf" stands this summer.
Chloe Lucyk (8 years old) and her cousins Mariann and Madison Brennan (both 6 years old) raised close to $350 selling lemonade and all kinds of baked goods, including cupcakes, cookies, brownies, mini cakes and tarts, at their Lemonarf Stand on Sagg Road in Sagaponack this past Saturday. Meanwhile, another Lemonarf Stand set up by 13-year-old girls Phoebe Smolan, Rosa Carmichael and Sara Graziano at Waldbaums in East Hampton raised more than $400 selling homemade hair accessories, chocolate chip cookies and lemonade the very same day!
ARF sent out a special thanks to all these girls on Facebook this week, noting their "amazing" accomplishments and hard work. "Wow is all we can say," ARF wrote, beaming with pride over the success of these stands. "The ARF animals and staff can't thank them enough for their hard work and dedication!"
The brand new Lemonarf, A Club for Kids youth and fundraising initiative was introduced this summer and it has been wildly successful. A Lemonarf Stand is a regular lemonade stand, but it's designed to let customers know that money raised from sales will go directly to the care of the animals at ARF.
Free Lemonarf starter kits—including Lemonarf buttons, poster, minibank, cups and recipes for homemade lemonade and baked goods—are available to any child who wants one, just stop by ARF and pick one up today.
The Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons actively rescues cats and dogs, provides quality care and offers sanctuary until loving homes can be found. Founded in 1974, ARF is the leading animal adoption center on the East End. For more information, please visit arfhamptons.org.


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Taylor Swift Dominates American Music Awards Nominations
Entertainment| |
Pop star Taylor Swift looks set to win big at the American Music Awards after scooping six nominations.
The Blank Space singer is up for Artist of the Year, Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock, Song of the Year for "Blank Space," Collaboration of the Year for "Bad Blood" with Kendrick Lamar, Favorite Artist – Adult Contemporary, and Favorite Album – Pop/Rock for 1989.
She will compete against Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor in the female category, while she will go up against her pal Ed Sheeran and Trainor for the Adult Contemporary prize.
Other nominees for Song of the Year include "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" and The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face."
In the album category, Swift's 1989 will do battle with Sheeran's X and Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour. All three acts are up for Artist of the Year alongside a host of stars including Grande, Nicki Minaj, Luke Bryan, Trainor and One Direction.
Sheeran, who trails Swift with five nods, will battle Sam Smith and Joe Jonas for Favorite Male Artist – Pop/Rock, while One Direction, Maroon 5 and Walk the Moon are named in the Favorite Duo/Group – Pop/Rock category.
Winners will be announced on November 22 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be hosted by Jennifer Lopez.
The main nominations are below.
Artist Of The Year:
Luke Bryan
Ariana Grande
Nicki Minaj
Maroon 5
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
One Direction
Meghan Trainor
The Weeknd
Song Of The Year:
Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, See You Again
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, Uptown Funk
Ed Sheeran, Thinking Out Loud
Taylor Swift, Blank Space
The Weeknd, Can't Feel My Face
Favorite Pop/Rock Album:
Ed Sheeran, X
Sam Smith, In The Lonely Hour
Taylor Swift, 1989
Favorite Female Pop/Rock Artist:
Taylor Swift
Ariana Grande
Meghan Trainor
Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist:
Joe Jonas
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Favorite Duo/Group: Pop/Rock:
Maroon 5
One Direction
Walk the Moon
New Artist Of The Year:
Fetty Wap
Sam Hunt
Tove Lo
Walk The Moon
The Weeknd
Favorite Artist: Rap/Hip-Hop:
Fetty Wap
Nicki Minaj


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Hospitality and Catering GCSE
This page contains information related to our legacy GCSE Hospitality and Catering specification available in England and Wales (taught from 2009). The final award for GCSE Single Award Catering and GCSE Double Award Hospitality and Catering will be Summer 2017. The final award for GCSE Hospitality will be Summer 2018.
WJEC is pleased to offer the following alternative qualifications:
- GCSE Food and Nutrition (from 2016) - WALES
- GCSE (9-1) Food Preparation and Nutrition (from 2016) - ENGLAND
- Level 1/2 Award in Hospitality and Catering
- Level 1/2 Award in Event Operations
Course Materials
All course materials are available on our related documents page.
Digital Resources
We offer an extensive range of free digital educational resources.
Past Papers
Past papers and mark schemes are free to download.
Online Exam Review
OER is a free interactive teaching and learning tool which includes exam answers and examiner comments.
WJEC Secure Website
Access WJEC's secure website to view exclusive materials which are not available on this website.
Subscribe for Updates
Sign up to our mailing list to receive important news and updates for this qualification.
Controlled Assessment
Unit 1 - Catering skills related to food preparation and service
These tasks are live for any candidates completing the controlled assessment tasks from September 2015 to June 2017.
The controlled assessment is structured as follows:
Photographic evidence in relation to controlled assessment task is available.
Unit 3 - Hospitality skills related to events and functions
These tasks are live for any candidates completing the controlled assessment tasks from September 2015 to June 2018.
We are pleased to offer Hospitality and Catering as either paper-based or on-screen assessments. To find out more and see how examinations look on-screen, visit the e-Assessment page.
Get In Touch
Entries information and contact details can be found here.
Subject OfficerAllison Candy
029 2240 4266
Email Allison
Subject Support OfficerGemma Edwards
029 2240 4266
Email Gemma
Additional Contact Details
Related Qualifications
Upcoming CPD Events
GCSE Hospitality and Catering (Legacy) Examiners' Report Summer 2018Download
Principal Examiners' Report
The Summer 2018 Principal Examiners' reports provide feedback on this Summer's examination series. The reports include helpful observations and commentary on the work produced for this series and can assist teachers in preparing their students for the next examination series.


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|Perl Monk, Perl Meditation
Re: My program it doesn't work could you tell me my mistakes?by monkeygirl (Pilgrim)
|on Nov 08, 2001 at 06:46 UTC ( #123985=note: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
Here is your program wrapped in code tags, and formatted so it's a little easier to read. I've made comments explaining what's going wrong/on within the code.
It is highly recommended you use strict; and run with Warnings and Taint. I'm not going to rehash the reasons why, when there is already a node on PM such as Use strict warnings and diagnostics or die just waiting to be read.
Also, remember to include your shebang line at the top of your program (usually #!perl or #!/usr/bin/perl), or else your program won't run. And if you're on a Windows box, you have to execute the program like this: perl programname.pl or perl -T programname.pl
If the program is still giving you problems, please reply back to this thread for additional help. But I implore you to be more descriptive of the problem as it will increase the chances of us being able to help you out.
Update: As blakem points out, Anonymous Monk probably did have the <STDIN> after all. Node edited to reflect changes.
If Bill Gates can name a company after his "bedroom" problems, I can have a stupid sig that points it out.
In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom


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Josh Peck: 'iParty' with Kenan Thompson!
Josh Peck and Kenan Thompson reunite with Dan Schneider on the orange carpet at the iParty with Victorious screening event held at The Lot in Los Angeles over the weekend.
Kenan is actually the special guest star in the movie event! Check out what the stars told us about working with him!
JJJ Fun Fact: Both Josh and Kenan were stars of two of Dan's other shows! Josh was on Drake & Josh and Kenan starred on both Kenan & Kel and All That.
"iParty with Victorious" premieres THIS SATURDAY @ 8PM ET/PT on Nickelodeon.
"iParty with Victorious Clip:" Where'd the Panda go?
Posted to: iCarly, Josh Peck, Victorious


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Canon Australia has reshuffled its executive ranks with the appointment of a new managing director and executive officer.
Oceania managing director, Taz Nakamasu, has been promoted to executive officer of Canon Inc and will be based in Japan, from April 1, 2015.
Canon's New Zealand managing director, Yusuke Mizoguchi, will replace Nakamasu, taking on the role of managing director of Canon Australia/Canon Oceania.
Yusuke Mizoguchi will also take on Taz Nakamasu's responsibilities as Chairman of Canon New Zealand, chairman of CiSRA, along with a number of his board positions.
There will be a period of transition during March, according to a company statement.
Kim Conner has been appointed as managing director, Canon New Zealand.
During his four-year tenure at Canon Australia, Taz Nakamasu has achieved many significant milestones.
He led the first two acquisitions in the region, namely SunStudios and Harbour IT as well as overseeing the integration of Océ.
Nakamasu also drove strong profitability in the Oceania business, along with leading a number of major projects and initiatives for the business.
This included the recent relocation and design of Canon Australia's new headquarters, along with the re-design of working practices within the business.
Nakamasu said he was extremely humbled by the opportunity he had been given to lead Canon Oceania for the last four years.
"During this time I have worked with some extremely talented people that have supported the achievements that we as a business have made," he said.
"In Yusuke Mizoguchi and Kim Conner, we have two exceptional leaders that will take the Canon Oceania business to the next level."
New Zealand boss, Mizoguchi, oversaw a full company reorganisation, investment in capability to drive customer engagement and the development of a strong leadership team to maximise business results.
Mizoguchi said it was with great honour to take on on the leadership role.
"Everyone who works in the Canon Oceania region has tremendous respect for what Taz Nakamasu and his team have achieved during his tenure," he said.
"I take on a business that is truly in great shape."
According to a company statement, the appointment of Kim Conner to Managing Director Canon New Zealand is recognition of her many achievements with the Canon Consumer division in New Zealand, including achieving number one market share in a number of key categories.
The appointment means Conner becomes the first female managing director in the Canon Oceania region.
Conner said, having spent seven years helping to grow the Canon New Zealand business and seeing the various changes take place, it was fantastic to be given the opportunity to lead a company that is not only well-recognised on the global stage, but has a significant place in the New Zealand business community.
"We're thoroughly committed to continuing and indeed extending our reach, while being known as a great and sustainable place to work," she said.


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Windows System Color Theme for Silverlight - Part Three
The Windows system color theme for Silverlight now includes styles for all toolkit controls except charts and graphs (these will be themed shortly). When theming the remaining controls, we decided to make a few changes to all controls...
- All button controls are now slightly rounded to add a bit of visual interest to the set
- The "Animated" property for text hinting is now used to soften the appearance of fonts (we're not sure it works well when the interface is in high contrast modes, but it looks great when in standard mode)
- All controls use the font Segoe UI and fallback to Lucida Sans Unicode and then Verdana
The project also contains a Styles.xaml file that you can use to theme your Silverlight Navigation Application projects by simply swapping Styles.xaml files. This new theme is a high contrast derivation of one of the three new themes that we plan to make available to the community this month. More details can be found below and the updated project is available for download here.
Screen Shots
What follows are screen shots of the controls in standard and high contrast modes...
Text Hinting
As mentioned previously, the theme now uses texthinting set to "Animated", and the controls look great in standard mode, but they are a bit muddied in high contrast modes with dark background colors, as you can see below (the first image shows texthinting set to "Animated" and the second image shows texthinting set to "Fixed"). If your scenarios require crisp text, we recommend you do a search and replace on "Animated" and replace it with "Fixed"...
Let me know what you think of the theme, and feel free to ping me with questions!


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Ball Toss w/ Numbers
Model Number: 67536
The free standing Ball Toss with Numbers is a fun and educational way to get kids to perform athletic activities while simultaneously keeping their minds engaged. This commercial playground equipment is made of high-quality, long-lasting materials in order to provide years of outdoor entertainment.
Constructed from a 3-1/2" O.D. powder-coated steel pipe, and 1/4" thick rotationally molded plastic, and both come in a variety of color options so your sure to be able to match your school, church, daycare, or other organization's color scheme.
Have questions or need help?
Speak with a Play Specialist 1-800-381-4491


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Enjoy a sampling of the stories from around the internet that captured our interest this week:
- Our new favorite Tumblr photographer, Christopher Moloney, takes images of street scenes made famous in classic movies. The twist? He holds an image of the actors in the center of the cityscape. [The Atlantic Cities]
- A roundup of the tech to watch in 2013. [IEEE Spectrum]
- Mark Lynas was a pioneer of the anti-genetically modified food movement in the 1990s. But at the Oxford Farming Conference this week, Lynas says that he was in the wrong. A brave speech, with a fascinating transcript. [MarkLynas.org]
- The app Pocket has revealed the top 10 most-saved videos of 2012, and we are thrilled to see two TED Talks on the list — one second only to "Gangnam Style." [GetPocket.com]
- Online comments can be nasty — but can they have a negative effect on how people interpret what they read before them? A study has found that, when an article on nanotechnology was accompanied by comments full of name-calling, participants gave less favorable reviews of the technology itself. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
- The story behind the Great Maple Syrup Heist of 2012. [Business Week]
- All-male panels at tech conferences are far too common. Here, a pledge many male speakers are signing that they won't participate in a panel if it is made up only of guys. [The Atlantic] It reminds us of what TED's own June Cohen told The New York Times about the complexities of building a conference program where gender disappears.
- It's the future and past of journalism at the same time — a look at the terrible newspaper that appears in Back to the Future Part II. [New York Magazine]
- Here, a deep-dive look at how Larry Page is steering the Google ship as CEO. [Fortune] Want to know more about the Google machine? Watch Page's talk from TED2005, with co-founder Sergey Brin, "The genesis of Google."
- When we look back on life, we realize that we have changed considerably. But we greatly underestimate how much we will change in the future. [The New York Times] Interesting new research courtesy of TED speaker Dan Gilbert.
- What hours does the Big Internet Museum keep? Every day, from 00:00 to 00:00, of course. [TheBigInternetMuseum.com]