text:
Saturday (28) - Arriving at Parmarth Niketan Ashram
bought blanket
International Yoga Festival - Sunday 1
Today was the start of the International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh. This is the festival I just missed two years ago when I arrived from Paharganj, where I had attended the Dalai Lama's teachings for a few days. However, it was a divine plan that helped me walk into this ashram, of all the ashrams that are here in Rishikesh, and that is why I am here today. This year is the 8th year the festival is being held and there are almost 400 participants here. There were about 500 participants here last year, and the decline is probably due to the Mumbai bombings last year and the recession.
This morning I did not attend the Kundalini Sadhana (spiritual practice) which starts at 4am every day. My body was still adjusting to the cold temperature and recovering from the long journey, so I had decided to skip that session. I started at 6:30 doing Sukshma Yoga with Swami Yogananda who was born in 1909, i.e.: he is 99 years old. He was quite something, shouting orders very fiercely in another language while a translator gave us direction, although the Swami knows English and would occasionally speak some English. He started doing some simple warm-up exercises and then moved on to some asanas, but finished with some very advanced asanas, including Matsyendrasana with one leg in half lotus and Yoga Nidra (both legs behind the head), which of course nobody could do, especially since we in a large tent and was very cold.
We had some light snacks like a banana and a bit of porridge and tea and next I attended Deep Yoga with Bhava Ram and Sundari Ram. Bhava Ram has an interesting experience of Yoga, since he used Yoga and Ayurveda to heal his broken back and recover from stage 4 cancer. He started the class playing the guitar and chanting a mantra to Shiva, the father of yoga. The class was not very vigorous as I expect most classes will be, but I need to relinquish my attachment of the hard ashtanga asana practice for a while. What I am feeling though, is that because I am experiencing so many different yoga styles so quickly, I am feeling ungrounded, and this is another reasone I am missing my ashtanga practice... a regular practice and a practice that I know, and a grounding practice.
At 10:15 there was brunch, which is one of two big meals we have in the day. The food is extremely sweet, which I am not enjoying. The porridge is already prepared with so much sugar, you cannot taste the porridge, only the texture. I am missing the fruit salads and dosas I had in Mysore.
At 11:30 there was lecture in the big tent, which was not very interesting. The big tent that they have put up for the festival has been decorated nicely with white and gold linen sheets creating a false ceiling on which the monkeys like to climb and look at us through the gaps. One of them decided to pee right above me. Luckily it just missed me and went onto my yoga mat... I guess I was blessed by the Indian monkey god called Hanuman :-)
At 13:15 was the first Reiki session, which was a simple introduction. She will do this every day during the festival at the same time and if we attend all of the sessions we will gain the level 1 Reiki certification.
At 15:00 I attended the Shinto Yoga class. This was very interesting and it had a very big Japanese influence. We did sun salutations the shinto way, both standing and kneeling and then we did some things on our backs, which he said was like a fish writhing. We had to do it for thirty seconds or more, which became quite difficult. Towards the end I felt like I was back in a martial arts class when we were facing a partner holding there hand and trying to throw each other off balance, but it was a very playfull atmosphere which was enjoyable. At then end we each got a piece of paper and a pebble from the ganges, which he said will help us clear our minds while we practice Dharana (concentration).
At 17:00 was the welcoming ceremony, during which some of the boys at the school in the ashram showed us some yoga poses. They were incredible, but what struck me was that the poses were sloppy, just like Krishnamacharya in his 1938 video, which Nancy had mentioned during her retreat. According to the book "The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace", it was only BKS Iyengar who introdruced precision into the asanas, and the west has taken this even further applying anatomical science. Afterwards was the evening aarti (devotional singing), which happens on the banks of the ganges every evening. At 19:00 was finally dinner. I am finding that I am extremely hungry here, even though I am eating a lot, which I think is due to the colder temperatures. After dinner there were Indian cultural dances, which went on until just before 22:00.
IYF - Monday 2
I was late for the 6:30 class, so instead I decided to practice Ashtanga in the room, which by the way I am sharing with Prana, a guy who runs the ZenDen Mountain Retreat near Cape Town. The space was cramped but it felt good and I got up to Janu Shirshasana and then did finishing sequence so that I would be in time for the next class, which was Kundalini Yoga with Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa. She seems to be a big favourite with everybody and she seems to have been teaching at the festival for years already. She does not teach in the tent or in one of the large rooms in the three story building, but she teaches on the ghat (steps next to the ganges river). Yesterday I did not want to do this because I was very cold, but it had actually warmed up a bit since I arrived on Saturday and when I got onto the ghat I was happy I came, because it was so very beautiful.
I had attended very few Kundalini classes before and hated all of them until I did Gurmukh's workshop in South Africa last year in May. I did enjoy it, but I was still not convinced this was my cup of tea, so I had a little worry in the back of my mind. I did not need to worry though, because the Kundalini Yoga class was fantastic. Gurmukh's theme was one of Yogi Bhajan's (founder of this lineage of Kundalini yoga) sayings, "Understand through compassion, otherwise you will missunderstand the times", and she talked about the fact that we all pick our parents, our bodies etc through our karma and that we make a living by what we get, but that we live by what we give. Then she made us shake our bodies while sitting with our arms raised above our heads for about ten minutes and then another eight minutes standing up. I think my shoulders felt like my arms were lead after the first minute, but then the pain subsided and I could hold my arms up throughout and I felt elated. The session was quite similar to what Gurmukh had taught in South Africa. We finished by clapping hands while sitting in a circle in groups of four, chanting "Sat Nam", "Har" and "I god, you god".
Then we had breakfast at around eleven and I did not attend the lecture afterwards. The Reiki was very nice and we learnt more about the seven energy centres or chakras in our bodies. I then did the Vyayam Yoga session, which I found very interesting. The only problem I had with the session, like so many Indian teachers, they do not introduce themselves or their session. He started by singing and playing the harmonium with two assistants. He then did pranayama with us, but while we were doing the pranayama (seated) there was a lot of arm movement and mudras that we had to do.
He then handed over to one of his assistants, a young teenager I think with a shaved head, except for some long hair flowing down from the top portion of the back of her head. This seems to be something a lot of kids do here... need to find out more about this. Anyway, she then took us through some movements and explained that the movement follows the breath, so this was very similar to ashtanga, and the breath was also ujjayi. The movements were very circular and flowing continuously, there were no postures and the whole system is based on a system used by ancient Indian warriors, so one movement for instance was supposed to look like drawing a sword from the sheath. The hands and arms move with strength in the muscles, however, we should not be thinking of the muscles moving the body, but the breath, which is exactly what Gurmukh was teaching in the Kundalini class this morning.
I then went and had a "swim", more like a quick three dips in the cold waters of mother ganga with my room mate Prana. We bought a ready made small basket of flowers with a candle, lit the candle and sent it down the river before we entered the water.
Brunch at 10:30 and Dinner at 19:00 are almost always the same with two types of rice, dhal, kitcheree, chapati and naan, some vegetables such as carrots and green beans and sometimes some ochre. So it is very monotonous, but the desert is always different. Today was gulab jamoon and I had a total of nine of them... they were sooooo good! After dinner was satsang (divine association) with Pujya Swamiji, who is the head of the ashram where the festival is at. Pujya Swamiji seems to be a very well known spiritual leader, as I have seen pictures of him with the Dalai Lama, with Bill Clinton and with the Israely Prime Minister. Swamiji's right hand person, an american lady, who renounced the material life to lead a spiritual life of service to others unser Swamiji's guidance, who lives at the ashram talked about the first two yamas from the eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, namely Ahimsa (non-violence) and Satya (Truth). Ahimsa included mentioning that we should not eat meat as this could save our lives, our families lives and the earths life. Apparently there is no food shortage in the world, only a distribution problem, as we feed the grain to cows, chicken and pigs, that could feed the poor instead. Regarding truth, she said that we should always ensure that our words serve a purpose and are kind. She used the metaphor of the monks cleaning a clay Buddha and finding gold in a crack and then discovering that there is a clay Buddha hidden behind the clay, which was put on the statue to protect it from warriors who were marauding the country. The truth does not always need to be the cold heartless facts that are required in a court of law.
Pujya Swamiji was then asked a question about how we can make a difference considering all the poverty around us and he answered that we should live a simple life and give to those in need.
IYF - Tuesday 3
In the morning I attended a Kriya Yoga or Nada Yoga session with Sadhvi Abha Saraswati, who gives month long training to lead chants. We started off with some pranayama exercises and then went onto singing the Vaidika Shanti Mantra and she was really good because she actually was very clear on which syllables are high notes and low notes. There are only three notes, the middle one being the same as OM. There is a fourth note, which is a double note, which she explained in the Gaayatri Mahaa Mantra, which I have already mentioned in my blog about Kirtan with James. Then we moved onto the Mrtyujaya Mantra, which I love and we finished with the Asatoma chant. I can only tell you what the names of the mantras are because she actually handed out books with the words, so that is quiet nice!!!
After a quick snack I headed off for another session of Kundalini Yoga with Gurmukh. My calves are stiff from jumping around yesterday. She actually arrived on time today and was quite funny when she welcomed the newcomers, saying that those of us who attended the first few sessions will have stopped wondering, "Where are the downdogs?" as there are none. Kundalini is very different to normal Hatha yoga, and I can only remember doing one asana with her so far, namely Ushtrasana (Camel pose). Today she actually made us hold camel pose for a full three minutes while chanting "I will not take the bait" (of complaining and having a normal negative mindset). She gave us another hard class with the theme being another of Yogi Bhajans sayings "See others as yourself." My shoulders were really saw from her class because we were holding up our arms almost the entire class starting at 8:15 and she ended late again at 10:40. The partner work I did with Indra whom I had met in Mysore. She is from Malaysia and actually taught a workshop on kids yoga in Mysore, which I had missed. The end of the class was very enjoyable. Gurmukh asked an american lady who had studied Bangra dancing in India for six years to lead us in dancing bangra to two songs after which we got into a huge circle holding hands and singing and then repeating something the Dalai Lama had said.
After the big brunch, was a lecture with Pujya Swamiji during which he talked about what it means to be a yogi. It mainly means that a yogi is always content - santosha (one of the niyamas in Patanjalis Yoga Sutras). We should always be content. The reason people are unhappy is because they constantly want more and he said when he came to Rishikesh there were no shops between the ashram and Laksman Jhula (pedestrian bridge) and Ram Jhula did not exist, so people had to walk (this side of the ganges river is a pedestrian only zone) all the way up to Lakshman Jhula to go buy something and people were happy with that. He talked about a poor beggar within whom he saw a yogi, because the beggar was not complaining. He said god wanted him there, and his journey was over.
He also said that everybody we worship today is someone who had special powers, and that those people went through tests without complaining and always used their powers or gifts to help others and never to help themselves. We should accept the divine plan.
He made two other points, namely that we need to be consistent and that we should practice moderation and he finished by saying that the yamas and niyamas are the foundation of yoga - union with the divine. We can miss our asana and pranayama practice, but we should always keep the connection with the people around us and see the divine in everyone.
After some questions he concluded saying that the most important of the yamas and niyamas is surrender!
Afterwards was another Reiki session and then I wanted to attend the Om Meditation session, but I went to my room as I was in a bit of pain and have trouble sitting. Don't know exactly when I got hurt, but hopefully my left QL muscle will recover soon. In the evening after dinner was a cultural musical performance in the tent organised by the Uttarakhand (state) Tourism Department. It was absolutely fantastic. I was very unhappy because my camera battery packed up! What was also sad was that hardly any of the yogi's attending the IYF actually attended. I was there with Almendra from Mexico and Jetal from the USA. There were probably less than 10 others. However, lots of Indian people from outside had come including lots of kids, as well as all the Rishikumars (orphans and other poor kids going to school in the ashram) of course.
IYF - Wednesday 4
The program for today was slightly different in that there were no classes at 6:30, instead there was a walk up behind the ashram into the Himalayas with Pujya Swamiji. He seems quite fit because the pace was quite good. The walk was only an hour, so I was disappointed when we had to turn back. Afterwards I decided not to do Kundalini again as my back was still not happy. There were quite a number of other people who had sore legs or other complaints from the Kundalini yoga. I attended the Deep Yoga (San Diego) class again, which was very new agey again, but it is very grounding and nurturing.
At Brunch they served masala dosas today, which everybody enjoyed. The lecture today was with Dr David Frawley and his wife on Lord Shiva and Shakti energies. I had bought one of Dr Frawley's books during the trip on Ayurveda and yoga, and everybody else also seemed quite excited about the lecture, as he is I think the only westerner ever to have officially been recognised as a master of Vedanta. Kerry had heard him speak before the last time she came to the conference and said he was too intellectual and she went to bed as she had had no sleep. The lecture was very intellectual and Iola from Cape Town just immediately lay down and dozed because it was straight over the top of her head. I started taking notes furiously, but there was so much new information I could not keep up. I was also lying down on my chest so that I could take notes and not feel any pain, but lying down was not conducive to staying alert. At one stage I realised that his wife was speaking and I did not remember when she took over from him.
Straight afterwards was another Reiki session, and then into another session, so three sessions back to back, one and a half hours long each. The third session I chose to go to a Kundalini yoga class taught by Siddhi, an elderly german lady, who teaches hand mudras. Other people had loved her class and I also really enjoyed it, but again not something that I see myself practicing daily in the near future. We basically sat for the entire one and a half hours, learnt several mudras and then she put on some music and we would do the mudras in a sequence chanting to the music at the same time, so it was quite enjoyable.
IYF - Thursday 5
IYF - Friday 6


text:
Although FBI told Apple that they might not reveal how they hacked the iPhone of a perpetrator in San Bernardino shooting scene, they might have given a hint to the people at Cupertino's giant about the method adopted. Last night at Kenyon University, FBI Director Comey told CNN that their new method for unlocking the phones might not work on most of the models. This might be because of Secure Enclave that comes with Apple's custom silicon A7 and models after that. This means all the iPhones from the 5s through the newest models can't be accessed by the FBI's method.
This is a sturdy clue for Apple to find the loophole that FBI tunneled through to tear out the perpetrator's iPhone 5c. The method given by Edward Snowden (a world renowned hacker) involves by-passing the auto-erase function by copying the contents of the flash memory in the phone, then trying some passcodes and then copying the original content back to the flash of the iPhone to reset the counter. But, the iPhones having A7 chips and later come with Secure Enclave that also keeps track of the login attempts which means that overriding the flash will not override the auto-erase function. This might be a solid theory that supports the fact why newer iPhones can't be broke into and a supposed method that FBI adopted.
The scope of the hack seems dull since as of September only about a quarter of the iPhone users on the USA are using the phones that do not come with Secure Enclave. This limited scope also makes it less possible for the FBI to get compelled to disclose the method adopted.
This might be a big revelation which might allow Apple to look into if FBI has successfully broke into the phone unless of course they are bluffing. The latest reports also say that the Senate Intelligence Committee is trying hard to get the cooperation from the tech companies to defeat encryption, but it was exposed today that the proposed bill is not supported by the White House. Trust is a delicate thing when it comes to playing with your privacy and your personal data especially when a third party is involved. We don't know who to root for in the battle but both the parties are standing upright at their statements. We'll see later what happens because this seems to be a potentially long battle.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I did finish my 2 bee squares for May for Erin at http://billybuttondesign.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/getting-my-bee-hive-to-work.html
and they are just sitting waiting to be posted today. I held onto them so I could show them to Claire. Erin had picked the Road to Tennessee block with a kona white background, with a little grey thrown in. I must admit I really enjoyed sewing these, even though I had to take off one of the corners and redo. It had slanted off somehow and made the overall square a little small. Sorted now. My machine is very basic so for a scant seam, most sewists move their needle on point. I have to move my fabric and it makes it difficult to be consistent. This bee is the Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland Scrap Bee
|the 2 May squares for Erin
|the square with grey addition
|the other square
well, this has been a short post - I'm off to have a little of these
and watch a little of this,
hope the weather picks up!
all the best,
Helen x


text:
The new round of Chanbara play testing draws nearer! And I'm revising and expanding on the old adventures I ran with my Evansville Group years ago. Back in 2013, the play test didn't last long, and we never got to these adventures. So I'm dusting them off to use them again.
I've completed converting all the information from the original adventure from AD&D to Chanbara stats (wasn't hard) and doing a bit of revision in the notes. Now, I'm adding some extra contingency plans for things that could happen if the players take the adventure in an unexpected path (or fail at something). The hooks may make this seem like a simple "fetch quest" but of course it's not going to be that simple! And when things get complicated, things are less likely to go according to plan.
When I ran this back in the late 90's in Evansville, the party failed the "fetch quest" which then inspired them to try and rectify the situation and led them on to greater threats and to uncovering the enemies' plots (well, some of them... we stopped playing before they had even figured out who was behind all of this). It was possible then, and it's possible now that at the end of the adventure, the PCs will have the object of the quest, so I need to plan on both contingencies.
So, expansion and preparation for contingencies is the plan. It's also helping me flesh out some NPC faction motivations a bit more. Or maybe I had the motivations figured out 20 years ago, and have just forgotten them in the intervening years.
The up-side of this over-prepping and revamping is that I should be able to publish the module; possibly as a super-module with the whole darned campaign if the play test goes well and I can keep up the pace while working on my dissertation. Possibly as a series of linked modules. This series, along with the standalone Ghost Castle Hasegawa (which I'm planning to play test again via PbP if anyone's interested) will give Chanbara a nice little bit of support when released that Flying Swordsmen never got.
Last Post
3 minutes ago


text:
Last weekend I organized the Brown Bag Art Sale at Strongbox West. It was a really fun time full of great art and gift shopping. We had 16 artists involved, a keg and a couple food trucks. All art was under $100. and made locally.
|ingrid ysla, acbd design, mary rebecca, fallen arrows
Check out my booth below, I split the space with Liz Jahn and Tiffany Skoog.
Thanks to everyone that came out!


text:
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Bloggin' On the Cheap
The Blog is CHEAP TODAY! Meaning I am unavailable...please post your comments. I shall watch GH later, unless it's a real snoozer and you tell me not to!
17 comments:
- sonya said...
Watch it Karen! The show was pretty good today! :)
- August 29, 2013 at 3:02 PM
- david said...
In my humble humble opinion, most of the show was kinda slow. The final sentence spoken.... yeah, worth the wait. (And we Have been waiting 9 months, haven't we?)
The previews for tomorrow look good too.
Does anyone else think that when Alexis is around Derek the director told her to play the part like she was still a 16 yr old school girl, smitten by the big man on campus in the leather jacket? It seems that way to me.
Today was dialogue-heavy. Not always a bad thing, but a lot of tied up loose ends and having 2 people per shot talking and catching up.
My advice is to go ahead and watch, finger tightly poised on the FF button, but then let it ride the final 15 minutes.
- August 29, 2013 at 3:05 PM
- kdmask said...
I DID see the last sentence!! I got home at 2:45
I guess when KM signed that contract, things got moving along!
- August 29, 2013 at 5:16 PM
- Andrea said...
Was today's show worth watching?
No it was a FF kind of show. Until the last minute and the previews. Tomorrow you gotta watch!!!!!
The best part of todays show was Patrick and Britt fighting. BUT the last line said it all This is not your baby!
Maxie sneaks in to hold the baby tomorrow. YAY! I hope Spin see her.
And the AJ saga continues... I hope someone emptied that garbage.
- August 29, 2013 at 6:33 PM
- sonya said...
The hospital: I am really annoyed that Lulu is still in that room with the baby!! I really want Spinny to tell Lante the truth, and for him to be with his daughter! I want to see Spinny holding his baby daughter NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! Nik and Lulu scenes was strange! While they were talking about private stuff, a nurse was there working! ROFL! What the?!!? I bet the nurse was listening to them really well while working. :) Come on Lulu put 2 and 2 together and figure everything out about the baby!! BAH! Oh is Ellie and Sabrina BFF's now?! :) That would be cool. :) While they were talking, I was wondering when is Ellie going to close the door!!! Oh she does! Finally! :) Molly, Alexis, and Sam scene! Molly wins the line of the day!
Molly: Are you sure that he isn't just another long lost Quartermaine?
ROFL! Oh Molly you are adorable. :) Hey I love Alexis's shirt! :) Julian and Alexis scene! Hot stuff! He was so close to her! :) Just kiss her already! :) Julian holding baby Cheeto!!! Awww! :) Maxie with her daughter awwww! Mac and Maxie talk. :)
Wyndemere: Patrick and Britch scene. At first I thought she was sleeping and having a dream! We missed the end of GH yesterday so I don't know what happened.. Come on Britch tell him he isn't the father!! Oh Patrick wants full custody! ROFL!
Britch: HE'S NOT YOUR SON!
Maury: You are NOT the father!!!
- August 29, 2013 at 9:35 PM
- sonya said...
Oh and Karen, cheap red and white wine bottle picture? ROFL! Do you have any? :)
- August 29, 2013 at 9:37 PM
- Tammy Young said...
I thought today's show was a bit of a let down compared to how great it has been lately.
I think it was because of LuLu.
I just can't get into this character with the new actress.
Nothing against her personally, I just still miss JMB!
This whole SL would be so much better with her. So reluctantly I admit I did FF thru her scenes.
- August 29, 2013 at 9:38 PM
- Elizabeth Gunther said...
I have a feeling that Lulu is going to go a little nuts and take the baby when it comes out that she isn't her mother. She just seems that desperate for a kid. Of course once it comes out that Brit is carrying her baby everything will be all better. lol
- August 29, 2013 at 9:58 PM
- AntJoan said...
Yes, I noticed that Alexis got all sexy/blushy in front of "Derek."
- August 29, 2013 at 10:05 PM
- AntJoan said...
Oh, and I also thought at first that the Patrick/Breatch scene was her dream.
- August 29, 2013 at 10:07 PM
- dar said...
I don't think Britt is carrying Lulu's baby. I know that's been the rumor but it just doesn't feel that way to me.
- August 29, 2013 at 10:34 PM
- heidi said...
Prop of the week - the yellow paper gowns. I think Lulu or someone will find out Britch is carrying her baby before she finds out the nameless Cheeto doesn't belong to her and Dante. Any other outcome will be just plain cruel. Until Julian comes out, I can't stand to listen to everyone exclaim what a complete and total stranger he is. Enough already!
- August 29, 2013 at 11:12 PM
- Carrie said...
Today was ok. NuLu is a fail. I hope she doesn't stick around. I don't blame the actress I just don't think she fits the roll.
Could Patrick day "my baby" more? Should be a drinking game!
I maxie and spin are together ALONE with Georgie tomorrow whether or not the truth comes out.
- August 29, 2013 at 11:55 PM
- Just Smack Yourself said...
What is a cheeto
- August 30, 2013 at 4:13 AM
- sonya said...
heidi said...I think Lulu or someone will find out Britch is carrying her baby before she finds out the nameless Cheeto
Nameless Cheeto! ROFL!
- August 30, 2013 at 7:50 AM
- Everyday Jane said...
How sure are we that the baby isn't Lulu and Dante's? I mean she lost the baby and got pregnant with another baby, the old fashioned way, all in the same night. I saw a rumor that Britt's baby is Brad's. The only way I am going to be happy is is these babies belong to Dante and Lulu and Spin and Maxie.
- August 30, 2013 at 1:48 PM
- sonya said...
Everyday Jane said... I saw a rumor that Britt's baby is Brad's.
Yeah I saw that rumor. I don't believe it. I still think the baby is Lante's! :)
- August 30, 2013 at 9:07 PM


text:
... and cutting out fabrics for a Scrappy Bull's Eye Quilt.
Since I'm using a number of reds and pinks in this quilt, I decided to try these Shout Color Catcher sheets so the colors don't run. I'm not sure how much it helped, but I figured it couldn't hurt!
Also, I started stitching my red & white fabrics into yo yo's ...


text:
First lady takes Kerry to task on stem cells
Laura Bush says it's unfair to raise false hopes for cures and defends president's policy
LANGHORNE, PA. - First lady Laura Bush defended her husband's policy on embryonic stem cell research Monday, calling Democratic rival John Kerry's criticism "ridiculous" and accusing proponents of overstating the potential for medical breakthroughs.
"We don't even know that stem cell research will provide cures for anything — much less that it's very close" to yielding major advances, Mrs. Bush said.
The first lady weighed in on the highly charged political and scientific issue on the third anniversary of Bush's decision to limit federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to only the 78 stem cell lines in existence Aug. 9, 2001.
Religious groups oppose the scientific work in which culling of stem cells kills the embryos, equating that with abortion, and had urged Bush not to be the first president to fund the research — even with limits.
Proponents of the science, including former first lady Nancy Reagan and 58 Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, argue that it could lead to cures to diseases such as diabetes.
Some say it could lead to an Alzheimer's cure, but the scientific community says that's not likely. Former President Reagan suffered from the latter for a decade before his death June 5 because of related pneumonia.
Only a fraction of those initial 78 stem cell lines — 21 at last count — are yet available to researchers because of problems with the lines' growth or their ownership. In March, a National Institutes of Health count cast doubt on how many ultimately would be usable.
Proponents and members of the medical community say more than 100 new cell lines have been created worldwide since Bush's decision — some with new techniques that may make them more scientifically useful — and could be studied under more open rules. An exact count isn't possible because private funding means much of the work is done without any public scrutiny.
With polls showing overwhelming support for stem cell research, Kerry has promised to give scientists more freedom. He has used the word "ban" to describe Bush's actions when what the president has done is limit the research.
"That's so ridiculous," Laura Bush said in an interview with The Associated Press, calmly fielding questions about her husband and his presidential race.
Mrs. Bush added matter-of-factly: "It's one of the myths that start during a campaign."
Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said Bush's restrictions apply to 99.9 percent of potential stem cell lines that could be studied. "If that's not a ban," he said, "we don't know what is."
Unusually combative, the first lady said Kerry was trying to make a political issue out of her husband's policy "without saying what's right. I imagine he knows better."
Mrs. Bush credited her husband with being the first president to use taxpayer money for the research. That is true, perhaps only because the science is so new. Bush invested $25 million in limited research.
Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, said Monday that Kerry would reverse Bush's policy, invest $100 million for research and establish ethical guidelines for the science.
In a speech to the Pennsylvania Medical Society, which endorsed her husband, Mrs. Bush said policy-makers must be aware of the "ethical and moral implications" of the research.
"I hope that stem cell research will yield cures," the first lady said. "But I know that embryonic stem cell research is very preliminary right now and the implication that cures for Alzheimer's are around the corner is just not right, and it's really not fair to people who are watching a loved one suffer with this disease."
Afterward, the first lady said she was not singling out the Reagan family, several of whom have called for the restrictions to be lifted. Ron Reagan spoke out against Bush's policy at the Democratic National Convention last month.
"It's not fair" to raise false hopes "because stem cell research is very, very preliminary," said Laura Bush. Alzheimer's contributed to the death of her father in the 1990s.
Embryonic stem cells are master cells that form during the early days after conception and can turn into any tissue in the body.
Many scientists hope to one day harness them to grow replacement tissue to treat diabetes, spinal cord injuries and other diseases.


text:
There are enough clichés in Boychoir to fill several films. They're all piling up on top of one another. Here is the synopsis. All you have to do is check them off. Stet (Garrett Wareing), is an 11-year-old boy who lives alone with his alcoholic mom. After his mother dies in a car accident, Stet meets his dad for the first time. Stet's father (Josh Lucas) is married and does not want his wife or his daughters to know about his illegitimate son. Stet is gifted with a beautiful pre-pubescent voice, but also has lots of issues. He can be quite aggressive. The school's principal (Debra Winger) is convinced that the American boychoir school in New Jersey is the right place for Stet. Of course, all the other boys at the school are snobbish rich kids. Dustin Hoffman plays Carvelle, the head conductor. Carvelle is an old curmudgeon who does not think at first that Stet belongs at the school, but soon softens up to become his supporter. And we must not forget the school bully who wants to cause some harm to our hero. (Insert dramatic ominous music) Here, the bully is a cute blond boy with glasses. I've seen these clichés so many times before. Instead of originality, we are offered rehash of things we've seen previously. One example is when Stet pours his mother's booze down the sink. I've seen that in countless movies and TV shows. Also, a film like Boychoir is always about a boy, never about a girl. And if there is a choir, it will sing religious music, if there is a chapel (and there is always a chapel), there will be stained glass windows. And everyone will cry and be moved and think it is a great film because they cried and they were moved. Amazingly, Boychoir is the latest film from internationally acclaimed Quebec director François Girard. He previously directed award-winning films like Thirty two short films about Glenn Gould and The red violin. Why did he decide to direct such an ordinary film with such a lousy screenplay? OK! So Boychoir is not the most original movie ever made. Actually, it is not original at all. That's the bad news. Now, here's the good news! The quartet of adult actors playing the school's staff is making the film watchable. You feel that Dustin Hoffman could do anything here and it would be effective. In a part that threatens to become the most corny thing you saw in years. Heck, Boychoir is corny. It is like watching a film made in 1943. But Hoffman plays with such restraint and distinction that he makes the ordinary seem extraordinary and special. And there is a ripple effect happening with his co-stars. British actor Eddie Izzard plays Carvelle's rival without his usual mannerism. Wooly, Stet's young music teacher, is played by Kevin McHale (just graduated from TV show Glee). He is even more restrained than Hoffman, and uses exactly the right tone to strengthen this paper-thin character and make him likeable. But the best performance belongs to Kathy Bates, who plays the head mistress. In the few scenes she appears, Bates easily steals the film from them all, including Hoffman. Of course the music (performed by The American boychoir) is beautiful. And Garrett Wareing as Stet is more convincing showing the quiet and emotional side of the boy than his violent side. So, certainly not a great film, but it is still enjoyable to watch Hoffman, Bates and company and because of the music.
Rémi-Serge Gratton


text:
Ever feel like you're stuck renting due to a lack of time to focus on starting the home buying process? We offer a fast-format, free Workshop that clues you in on a very efficient pathway to home or condo ownership in the city.
We cover down payment & monthly payment optimization, hot neighborhoods & a firm handle on the real estate market and how to succeed as a first time buyer.
Also ask us about local Down Payment assistance programs. You can make a surprisingly high income and still qualify for Down Payment funds & more:
– The DC Open Doors Program
– Maryland's MMP Mortgage Program
– The VHDA $0 Down Grants Program in NOVA
– Special Prince George's County programs
Our guidance and expertise with financing programs has resulted in over $33 million in homes purchased by our Workshop attendees.
We meet twice weekly, all sessions are free of charge, and if you can't meet on Tuesday or Saturday, just give us a call at 202.769.5681!


text:
|In July 1992 and looking eastward near Mile 10 of the former CPR Megantic Subdivision.
This is also the same location where the Frank Jolin 5026 Westbound photo was taken.
Why the attraction, I do not know, but seeing a railway track curving out of sight always leaves me with these nagging questions, "What is around there at the end of the curve? What does it look like there? What will I see?"
They are questions that demand answers; a curiosity that has to be appeased.
So, what is out of sight at the end of the curve?
After many miles of walking along railway tracks over the years the answer really is quite simple. Always another curve in the track, leading out of sight and again, presenting the same questions demanding answers.
The Oddblock Station Agent


text:
Wyclef Jean – Fela Kuti
Legendary Fugees rapper, Wyclef Jean is set to release his 4th solo album – Carnival III – later this year.
The lead single off the album is titled "Fela Kuti", cementing Wyclef's position in the Naija family as our adopted brother. All you gotta do is ask his close friends, Sound Sultan and 2baba.
Definitely a good look for Nigerian music and culture on the global stage. Listen below.


text:
The Digital (and Film) Cameras Most Wanted List
I've admittedly become one of those people who use their phone as their main photography device. However, when I notice someone pull out a camera, I'm still always curious what they're shooting with. At a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 event last year I got to check out the Galaxy Camera (an Android powered smart camera) and the experience reignited my desire to shoot with a dedicated camera. Here are five digital cameras on my wishlist...
I still use my trusted Canon S95 for taking good quality photos, but I like keeping an eye out for new cameras with new technology and cameras with playful designs.
Galaxy Camera: A couple years ago I used to dream of a camera like the Galaxy camera. It's the perfect on-the-go point and shoot camera because it allows you to take quality photos and edit and share your photos without having to connect to a computer. Android users will recognize a familiar interface because the camera runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Polaroid Android Camera iM1836: Also announced at CES, Polaroid's Android camera is the first of its kind and is not yet available. It's an Android-powered compact camera with interchangeable lens options. Similar to the Galaxy camera, it has built-in peer-to-peer WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity so you can pair the camera with any Bluetooth enabled device to share photos. You can also share photos through social media with Polaroid photo sharing apps that come with the camera.
Nanoblock Camera: Perhaps a little less high tech than the first two smart cameras above, but not any less cool, Photojojo's Nanoblock camera is a wonderful toy camera that shoots stills and video. The plastic lens gives photos a nice lo-fi look that picks up colors well, making it a great camera to bring outdoors. It comes with a built-in USB connection so you can easily upload your photos into a computer when you get home.
Diana F+ Love Letters: I love the retro vibe I get from looking at Diana cameras. I have one for when I feel like experimenting with print photography and was delighted when I came across this one covered in printed fabric. It's a little early for Valentines Day but it'd definitely make a good present for February 14. The lens shoots photos that are lo-fi and dreamy. There are two shutter speeds - one for day and one for nighttime.
Nikon 1 J3: Another new edition that was announced at CES is the Nikon 1 J3. I had a friend who was using the J1 and loved it. She most admired her camera for the modern design and also the ability to capture photos in action. I haven't tried out the J3 model yet but imagine it packs all the great things about the J1 into it and more.


text:
Lotus Pond: Botanical Gardens, Wellington
Diana Bridge
Jump to navigation
Diana Bridge
Diana Bridge introduces her second collection of poems, The Girls on the Wall (1999), with a...
Lotus Pond: Botanical Gardens, Wellington
All winter I have harried the pond
with restless visiting.
As rain hammers the glass roof
and a fan worries the edge of sight,
I remember something missed.
How June after June pink buds
on the Chinese lake became small stupas
housing more than a flower can.
Did gods sit there inside each pleated bulb?
Some say they did.
I saw only the aftermath
a waste of toppled stalks.
The lotuses have flown,
acquired visas and migrated to
the middle of this pool. There
they huddle, like with like.
Precarious, unrooted; community
is all. Their sons and daughters
rise on curving stems,
turning the plates of their small-featured
faces to the light, as if to music.
'Lotus Pond: Botanical Gardens, Wellington', original unpublished version , revised version from Red Leaves (Auckland University Press, 2005), © Diana Bridge 2004, used by permission of the author. Recording from the Aotearoa New Zealand Poetry Sound Archive 2004.
Would you like to sponsor this poem? Find out how here.


text:
Over the past two years, Tuff Shed customer Andrew Clemency has transformed his Pro Tall Barn into his weekend getaway home. For Clemency, the process started with five acres of land and a dream.
Living in Phoenix, Arizona he was familiar with Tuff Shed and our longevity in the Phoenix market (our factory-direct location in Phoenix opened in 1987 and was only the third location for Tuff Shed at the time).
He remembers being impressed that Tuff Shed could accommodate his design and installation needs, especially the large, 18×40 building delivered and installed some 200 miles away in the White Mountains of Southern Arizona.
"I knew I wanted something large and needed it delivered and installed on my property. After looking around at other options, it was an easy choice to get a Tuff Shed," says Andrew.
After the building was installed on his property, Andrew combined his own efforts along with some contract help to finish the interior in grand fashion. They added interior framing, electrical, plumbing, drywall, etc. with the inside layout of this building's first floor now featuring a large main room, a full kitchen, dining room, and a bathroom.
The second floor of his barn is just as impressive, with a beautiful spiral staircase leading up to his master bedroom, which Andrew points to with a certain pride. "It's beautifully finished," he says of the space which includes hardwood floors and four overhead skylights.
An increasing number of Tuff Shed customers are taking Andrew's approach to this project; having Tuff Shed install the exterior building shell, and then adding the interior finish themselves. In fact, this concept was the impetus for Tuff Shed's Cabin Shell program, which was rolled out in 2014. For Andrew, it meant getting his dream weekend getaway at a much more reasonable price than hiring a custom home builder.
Andrew estimates that he has spent $90,000 on the project to date, including $28,000 he spent on the Tuff Shed exterior building shell. The value in return, he says, is priceless, with frequent family gatherings and time that is well-spent together. "It so much more than just a weekend getaway," he says.
And Andrew gives high marks to his experience with Tuff Shed. "If I've ever had an issue or question, Tuff Shed has been very supportive," says Andrew. "All in all, my experience with Tuff Shed has been great."


text:
I actually find fireworks kind of boring, but apparently that's because I can't SEE THROUGH TIME:
Long exposure fireworks
Tags: xscreensaver
Current Music: Metric -- The Void ♬
DNA Lounge update
DNA Lounge update, wherein there are posters, photos and tentatively good ABC news.
Tags: dnalounge
Location: 37° 46' 15.63" N, 122° 24' 45.70" W
Pulsating skin dress
Local Androids: Like Living Organisms
A breathing artificial skin garment with pulsing veins (air is pumping through the veins to simulate a pulse), the pulse increases when you approach and the neckpiece deflates on touch as sign of trust.
Tags: blobs, boobs, fashion, mpegs, mutants, parts, perversions, robots
Current Music: Silver Swans -- Heartbeat ♬
Mi-Go Brain Cylinder


text:
Neck Kitchen Sink
Neck Kitchen Sink is free HD wallpaper. This wallpaper was upload at January 22, 2019 upload by admin in .You can download it in your computer by clicking resolution image in Download by size:. Don't forget to rate and comment if you interest with this wallpaper.
Description wallpaper for Neck Kitchen Sink
- Title: Neck Kitchen Sink
- Author:
- Upload:
- Link: http://www.signaturehardware.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/4/0/409415-front-kitchen-faucet-spring-spout-brushed-nickel.jpg
- Tag:
- Category: Uncategorized
- View: 0 View


text:
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Legal, Wikipedia.
agree to differ
Of two parties, to mutually accept that they simply do not (and will not) share the same view on a particular issue, in the interest of moving past the issue or avoiding further confrontation. After their discussion about politics intensified, Fred and Sue had to agree to differ before it impacted their friendship. I'm sick of arguing with you, so let's just agree to differ and move on from this issue.
beg to differ
To politely disagree with someone else. I'm sorry, headmaster, but I beg to differ. Students at this school should have more access to financial aid and scholarships, not less. He thinks that the evening was a disaster, but I beg to differ—I saw plenty of guests enjoying themselves!
differ from (someone or something)
To be unlike someone or something. Can you explain how this car differs from that one? This proposal barely differs from the original one at all!
differ in (something)
To have specific differences from someone or something else. I can tell the twins apart—they differ in that Jim has a birthmark on his cheek. This recipe differs from that one because it doesn't require eggs.
differ with (someone) about (something)
1. To disagree about something. I'm sorry, but I differ with you about that analysis and don't see how you can interpret the text that way.
2. To argue or debate about something. If you two are going to differ with each other about your interpretations of the text, can you at least take it outside?
beg to differ (with someone)
Fig. to disagree with someone; to state one's disagreement with someone in a polite way. (Usually used in a statement made to the person being disagreed with.) I beg to differ with you, but you have stated everything exactly backwards. If I may beg to differ, you have not expressed my position as well as you seem to think.
differ from something
[for something] to be different from something else. No, this one differs from the one you saw because it has a bigger handle. How does this one differ from that one?
differ in something
[for people or things] to be different in a specific way or in specific ways. They differ only in the color of their eyes and the size of their shoes. They differ in size and shape.
differ (with someone) about somethingand differ (with someone) on something
1. [for someone] to disagree with someone about something. I must differ with you about that. We differ about that. I don't differ with you on that point.
2. [for someone] to argue with someone about something. Tom was differing with Terry rather loudly about which one of them was going to carry the flag. Let's stop differing with each other on these simple things!
Tastes differ.
Prov. Different people like different things. Fred: Bill always goes out with such stupid girls. I can't understand why. Alan: Tastes differ.
beg to differ
Disagree with someone, as in John told me Max was sure to win, but I beg to differ-I don't think he has a chance. This courteous formula for expressing disagreement echoes similar uses of beg in the sense of "ask," such as I beg your pardon, so used since about 1600. Also see excuse me.
agree to differor
agree to disagree
If two people who are arguing about something agree to differ or agree to disagree, they decide to stop arguing because neither of them is going to change their opinion. I find some of his views very curious and we've agreed to differ on some things. You and I are going to have to agree to disagree on this issue.
agree to differcease to argue about something because neither party will compromise or be persuaded.
aˌgree to ˈdiffer(of two or more people) allow each other to have different opinions about something, especially in order to avoid more argument: Our views on this matter are so different that we'll just have to agree to differ.
I beg to ˈdifferused to say politely that you do not agree with something that has just been said: I must beg to differ on this. I think you are quite mistaken.
differ from
To have qualities that are not the same as those of something else: My results differed from the results of everyone else who conducted the experiment. Sopranos differ from altos in having higher voices.
beg to differ
To disagree in a polite manner.


text:
The 'Stemma', or coat of arms of René of Anjou (1409–80) was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1861, a few years after it had been removed from a villa at Montughi near Florence, which had previously belonged to the Pazzi family.
Although unrecorded in contemporary documents, this enamelled terracotta relief is unanimously accepted as a work by Luca della Robbia, executed for Jacopo de' Pazzi some time between 1466 and 1478. Measuring eleven feet (3.35 metres) in diameter, the monumental scale of the 'Stemma' was dictated by its original position, high on an outside wall of the villa. As a result of its age and removal from its original position the work is cracked in many places and has been repaired with plaster.
The centre of the roundel depicts a shield bearing the arms of René of Anjou. Quarterly of five, three in chief and two base, they are (from top left to bottom right) Kingdom of Hungary (Ancient), Anjou-Naples, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Duchy of Anjou and Duchy of Bar. Over-all is superimposed the escutcheon in pretence for the Kingdom of Aragon. Above the shield is a crowned helmet surmounted with the crest of a double fleur-de-lys between a pair of dragon's wings.
Behind the helmet and shield is a mantle decorated with the arms of Anjou. Above the crest the letters IR in tree-trunk capitals refer to René's christian name and that of his second wife, Jeanne de Laval. Below the shield is the insignia of René's own chivalric Order of the Crescent ('Croissant'), a collar enscribed OS:EN:CROISSANT:.
On either side appears a flaming brazier, a symbol common both to René and the Pazzi family. The base of the left-hand brazier is decorated with the crosslets of the Pazzi arms. From the inner handles of the braziers hangs a scroll with René's motto :DARDANT:DESIR:.
Around the centre runs a decorative border within which is recessed a garland of fruit. Its circular form suggests a wreath, which has honourific and commemorative associations appropriate to the function of the 'Stemma'. In a similar way, portraits or coats of arms on Quattrocento medals were sometimes set within wreaths. However, this garland is not composed of laurel, but of seven different types of fruit, each tied in four bunches. They are: pine-cones, pears, lemons or oranges, quinces, figs, grapes and cucumbers.
In Renaissance works of art fruit and vegetables were often used for purely decorative purposes, as in Luca's 'Stemma' of the Mercanzia at Or San Michele. They could also serve a wide variety of emblematic functions, as in Luca's frieze in the chapel of the Madonna at Impruneta, where bunches of grapes, citrons and quinces were symbolic respectively of the Eucharist, the Virgin Mary and the Resurrection.
As emblematic and decorative requirements overlapped and as the same image could often be symbolically interpreted in several different ways, it is sometimes difficult to be sure that an iconographic significance was intended by the artist.
In the 'Stemma' of René of Anjou, the fruits can all be iconographically related to a single coherent theme, which appears to justify a symbolic interpretation of their significance. Quince, pine-cones and pears are all symbols of Virtue. Grapes, figs and quince can signify Resurrection. Oranges or lemons and figs can suggest Salvation. On another level, pine-cones serve as a symbol of Immortality and quince denotes Immortal Virtue. Although the cucumber has some negative connotations, it is often iconographically interchangeable with the gourd, symbolic of Resurrection and Salvation. It therefore seems likely that the fruit was intended to allude to the theme of Virtue and its just reward: Resurrection, Salvation and Immortality.
Such general but positive symbolism is quite appropriate to the assertive purpose of a coat of arms. One may check this interpretation by comparison with two further 'semme', also commissioned from Luca della Robbia by Jacopo de' Pazzi. These depict the arms of Pazzi himself and those of his wife, Maddalena de' Serristori.
The decorative borders of these reliefs are composed of the same fruits as appear in that of the 'Stemma' of René of Anjou, except that quince, figs and pears have been deleted and apples added. The significance of this new addition is consistent with the theme outlined here, as the apple can also symbolise Salvation.
Enamelled terracotta sculpture was produced by a technique very similar to that used since at least the 14th century by Italian ceramicists in the making of glazed pottery. Although Luca della Robbia cannot be credited with the discovery of this fundamental principle, he was the first artist to discover an enamelling technique which could be successfully applied to sculpture.
His eventual breakthrough followed several failed attempts to enamel small terracotta reliefs, made during the 1430s. Luca's technique remained a closely-guarded secret until after his death, but its basic steps can be briefly outlined. The artist first modelled his damp clay into the desired shape. This was usually done by hand, although simple designs, such as decorative repeat-motifs, could be cast from a mould.
The latter method was generally eschewed by Luca although it was often used by Andrea della Robbia. Cast details were inevitably much cruder and more stereotyped than those individually modelled, as may be illustrated by the contrast between the sensitively sculpted foliage of the 'Stemma' of René of Anjou and the monotonous formalised flowers from the border of the later della Robbia roundel of 'The Adoration of the Shepherds', also at the Victoria and Albert Museum. After the clay had dried, it was fired in an oven. If the sculpture was of considerable size, it would previously have been cut into sections which were fired separately.
This was the case with the 'Stemma', where the central area is formed of seven or eight pieces and the border of no less than fourteen. When it had cooled, the clay was treated with a lead glaze before being fired a second time, in order to make its surface harder and impervious to water. The glaze would be coloured by the prior addition of one of the limited number of coloured oxides available.
By the standards of the day, the range of pigmentation in the 'Stemma' is a very wide one, comprising six colours: white, yellow, purple, blue and light and dark green. A multi-part relief, such as the 'Stemma', would then be pieced together before finally being cemented into the place prepared for it on the wall.
In his 'Life' of Luca della Robbia, Vasari described the artist's changeover from marble carving to enamelled terracotta in the following terms: Luca 'came to realise how slight had been his advantage and how great had been his labour. Accordingly he determined to abandon marble and bronze, and to see if he could derive greater advantage from other methods. It then occurred to him that clay can be manipulated with ease and little trouble, and that the only thing required was to discover a means whereby work produced in this material could be preserved for a long time ...'.
This rather facile analysis is superficially plausible, but tells part of the story at best. As a medium, terracotta had the advantage that its raw material was rather cheaper than marble and consider-ably less expensive than bronze. Most important of all, however, was the unique nature of enamelled terracotta as a brightly and permanently coloured form of poly-chromed sculpture.
In a shadowy position, such as the inner lintel of a church portal, it was much more clearly visible than bronze, wood or marble. If set high in an outside wall, as was the case with the 'Stemma', its fused ceramic colours would not only be distinguishable but also proof against the elements.
The career of Luca della Robbia (1400-82)
Luca probably trained in the studio of Nanni di Banco and may have worked on the marble 'Assumption of the Virgin' over the Porta della Mandorla at Florence cathedral, which was left unfinished on the latter's death in 1421. He was already an accomplished sculptor before matriculating as a member of the Florentine guild of stone and wood carvers in 1432.
Luca's first important commission was the 'Cantoria' or Singing Gallery for the North Sacristy of the Cathedral, which was executed between 1431 and 1438. This remarkable work, with its relief panels bursting with animated figures of singers and musicians, clearly indicates his consummate skill and delicacy as a carver of marble.
His position as a leading member of the Florentine artistic avant garde was confirmed in 1434 when Alberti jointly dedicated his seminal artistic treatise 'Della Pittura' to Luca, together with Donatello, Ghiberti, Masaccio and Brunelleschi. During the later 1430s he executed several important marble carvings before producing, in the period from 1441 to 1443, the work which was to mark a turning point in his career.
The tabernacle of the sacrament for the chapel of St. Luke in the Florentine church of San Egidio is mainly of carved marble with the addition of a central relief of cast bronze. However, the cherub-heads and garlands in the frieze, the background of the lunette behind the marble Pieta and the decorative inlay in the spandrels and the ledge at the foot of the tabernacle are all of enamelled terracotta. Thereafter, Luca worked almost exclusively in this new medium.
His lunette relief of the 'Resurrection', executed in 1442-45 for the Cathedral sacristy, was followed in 1446-51 by a second lunette of the 'Ascension'. The intimate series of roundels of the 'Months', which originally decorated the study of Piero de' Medici and which are also at the Victoria and Albert Museum, were probably produced in the mid-1450s.
Around the end of the decade he executed his greatest figurative cycle, the majestic Twelve Apostles, set in roundels in the ceiling of the Pazzi chapel at Santa Croce. The much more florid ceiling of the chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal at San Miniato al Monte dates from about 1461 to 62. At about the same time the decoration of the chapels of the Madonna and the Cross at the collegiata at Impruneta near Florence were taken in hand. Few of Luca's heraldic stemme are precisely dateable, but all seem to have been executed during the 1460s and 70s. Of all his works, the best-known are the numerous versions of the Madonna and Child which proved so influential on later artists.
During Luca's declining years, his nephew and former apprentice Andrea worked beside him, some-times in association but more often independently. The roundel of the 'Adoration of the Shepherds' in the Victoria and Albert Museum is probably a work of the 1470s, which has been variously attributed either to the uncle or the nephew. After Luca's death, Andrea and his sons continued the family workshop well into the 16th century. Their reliefs are competent enough, but they display a stereotyped sentimentality which inhibited further original development.
Stemme and Roundel sculpture
During the Quattrocento, the circular or tondo format was very popular both for paintings and reliefs. The severe geometry of Brunelleschian architecture was particularly receptive to this form, which could be used with equal propriety to decorate walls, ceilings, domes or pendentives. Luca's 'Twelve Apostles' in their simple pietra serena frames were appropriately sobre accessories to the Pazzi chapel.
The 'Four Cardinal Virtues' and the 'Holy Ghost' roundels from his ceiling of the chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal had much more elaborate frames with several rings of egg and dart mouldings and scales of three-tone blue. When Luca designed the 'Stemma' of the Mercanzia in 1463, he employed the roundel format to fit the pre-extant niche on Or San Michele.
He recast the frieze of fruit which had already been employed at Impruneta as a seething ring of leaves and fruit which emphasises the swelling organic form of the central fleur-de-lys. The shape of the central oculus of the Pazzi chapel, which Luca decorated with the family's arms in 1465-70, also required the use of the circular form. This basic design proved so successful and he re-used it for the stemme of Jacopo de' Pazzi and his wife at the Palazzo Serristori and for that of René of Anjou.
In these later stemme he substituted more disciplined and monumental bunches of fruit for the wider and more fragmentary variety of the Mercanzia commission. The successive repetitions of the circular fruit frame made by Luca's successors should not obscure the essential novelty of his invention.
Jacopo de' Pazzi, (d. 1478)
Jacopo de' Pazzi was a member of an old and illustrious Florentine merchant family and is now best remembered as a leader of the Pazzi conspiracy which attempted to unseat the Medici in 1478. After the disastrous failure of this plot, he was executed, his property confiscated and his coat of arms defaced.
Although Jacopo held several high offices in Florence, he enjoyed greater favour with René of Anjou. The association of the French prince with the Pazzi began in 1442, when René was entertained at the family villa in Montughi. After the death of his father Andrea in 1445, Jacopo strengthened these ties. He served as an agent collecting works of art for René, held the offices of clavaire and viguier of Marseilles and became a royal counsellor. In 1453 he was made a member of the Order of the Crescent and appended its distinctive symbol to his own armorials.
The decoration of Jacopo's villa with the 'Stemma' of René of Anjou not only recorded the prince's visit there but also stressed the Florentine's own status as the trusted servant of a great foreign lord. One could compare this political purpose of the 'Stemma' with those of contemporary portraits of Duke Federigo of Urbino, prominently wearing the Order of the Garter granted to him by Edward IV.
This ostentation might be acceptable for a prince such as Federigo, but was hardly appropriate for a citizen of the Florentine republic. Such actions were crowned by the Pazzi conspiracy, earning Jacopo an unenviable posthumous reputation for pride and arrogance. Jacopo's commissions indicate that he was a discerning patron, who was well aware of the propagandist value of art. All of Luca's stemme with a fruit frame, save for that of the Mercanzia, were ordered by him. Jacopo would appear to have been particularly fond of this design, which his patronage did much to propagate.
René of Anjou (1409-80)
Few princes of his day could boast as many titles as René I; Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence (from 1434), Duke of Bar (from 1430), Duke of Lorraine (1431-53), titular King of Naples and Sicily, Hungary and Jerusalem (from 1435) and Pretender to the Crown of Aragon (from 1466). After being held a prisoner by the Duke of Burgundy (1431-32 and 1435-37), he hurried to claim his Neapolitan inheritance.
From 1438 until 1442 he was in effective control of Naples, before being expelled by the rival claimant, Alfonso of Aragon. Although René played an important part in the Anglo-French negotiations of Tours (1445), he was seldom fortunate in his own political affairs and was more at home in the world of arts and letters. René wrote a number of didactic and moral works as well as romances in both verse and prose. The most famous of these was the 'Livre du cuer d'amour espris' (1457), of which an exquisitely illuminated copy exists at Vienna.
René's book of hours in London indicates that his interest in the visual arts dated back at least as far as 1435-36. It is instructive to compare the dramatic coat of arms in this manuscript 'with Luca della Robbia's much later 'Stemma'. In addition to patronising notable Flemish-trained painters such as Nicholas Froment, René was one of the first Northern princes to appreciate Italian Renaissance art. He employed Pietro da Milano as a medallist and Francesco Laurana as medallist, sculptor and architect. Other Italian works of art were acquired at his behest or sent as gifts by Jacopo de' Pazzi.
The second 'Stemma'
A watercolour by the French antiquary Gaignières illustrates a 'Stemma' of René of Anjou which is practically identical with the terracotta at the Victoria and Albert Museum, save that the position of the fruit in the border and the shape of the dragon's wings on the helm has been altered and the Pazzi crosslets on the right-hand brazier have been deleted. This watercolour is probably a copy of a second della Robbia 'Stemma' which formerly decorated the facade of René's palace at Aix.
Although this building was demolished in 1776-86, an old drawing by Pouillard records the appearance of the facade; almost hidden behind a later porch, a large coat of arms in a decorated roundel is visible, set just below the roof line. A crudely carved vault boss of 1480-98 from Jeanne de Laval's manor of Les Rivettes is decorated with the Duchess' arms, set within a circular fruit frame, confirming the existence of the second 'Stemma' and illustrating its influence upon local craftsmen.
The recent discovery of the lost 'Stemma' from Aix sets the terracotta at the Victoria and Albert Museum in a new light, indicating that it is the survivor of at least two versions of René's arms commissioned from Luca della Robbia.Written by Mark Evans, 1981, and published in the V&A Masterpieces series. Revised 2006.


text:
A few weeks ago Heather at Production not Reproduction started sending out writing prompts, so that folks in the blogroll could have a discussion of sorts on various topics. This is what she says about them:
The Open Adoption Roundtable is a series of occasional writing prompts about open adoption. It's designed to showcase of the diversity of thought and experience in the open adoption community. You don't need to be part of the Open Adoption Bloggers list to participate, or even have a traditional open adoption. If you're thinking about openness in adoption, you have a place at the table.
We're at prompt #4 now, and I still feel like I'm teetering on the edge of participation. I don't have a traditional open adoption...just currently I don't have any adoption and that's something I feel intensely aware of sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time. This is a funny club to be in, the waiting club. But I wouldn't be here, if it weren't for open adoption.
So our fourth assignment is to write about a small moment that open adoption made possible. It might be about something that happened during an interaction or conversation if you have face-to-face contact. Or a moment centered on a letter or picture, if you don't. Just a single, small moment that could not have happened if the adoption were not open.
So far most of what the other bloggers have posted - all of whom are currently in open adoptions - is pretty special. In a good way. Mine isn't special, at least it isn't special yet.
When we looked at adopting, we looked at all kinds. Domestically there just aren't a lot of closed adoptions still happening. Internationally, open adoptions are pretty hard to do. So if we had wanted a closed adoption, we probably would have gone international. I suspect that is part of what makes international adoption such an attractive option for so many.
The first moment then, is this: I am talking to Liz, days after we complete all of our paperwork and turn in our profile books. She is telling me the story of a woman whose baby girl is due mid-March. My heart is pounding. This is more information that I would ever have in a closed adoption. I say yes, please, show her our book.
Then there is the other moment, a few days later: I am again talking to Liz, but this time she is telling me that the woman chose someone else. She chose a single mother to parent her daughter, she chose someone that reminded her of herself. My heart is again pounding, but differently. I hang up the phone.
Neither of these moments would have been possible if we weren't hoping for an open adoption. We wouldn't know these stories, which means we wouldn't know much about our child before she comes to us. And we wouldn't be chosen, which despite feeling rejected when we are not picked, is so important to me. I want a relationship with my child's biological family. I want her to want us. I want her to choose us from a wide range of options. I think this is good for the first mothers, giving them an important degree of control over situations that must feel quite untenable. I think it's also good for us as the adoptive parents. There is a sacred trust that begins this relationship. It starts with choice, and options. Even when the choice isn't us, we're making it possible for others to become parents in this painful, uncomfortable, and wonderful way.
And our turn will come.


text:
Vermont Mayors Coalition Announces 2017 Legislative Session Goals
January 26, 2017
Contact: Brian Lowe
**Please scroll down below the press release for a copy of the Vermont Mayors Coalition 2017 Legislative Policy Summary.
Vermont Mayors Coalition Announces 2017 Legislative Session Goals
Mayors Advocate for Measures Related to Opioids, Police Training, Clean Water, Municipal Taxation of Parking Garages, and Public Safety
Montpelier, VT – The Vermont Mayors Coalition today announced its 2017 legislative session goals and its commitment to collaborate on and advocate for these areas of common interest to their cities and towns. At a news conference at the State House, the Coalition released its legislative policy summary for the 2017 legislative session, which includes:
- Supporting Effective Measures to Address Opioid Addiction
- Implementing a Common Sense Approach to Clean Water Funding
- Reforming the Police Training Curriculum in VT
- Public Safety Notification
- Parking Garage Tax Exemptions
- Eliminate Cap on TIF Districts
The Vermont Mayors Coalition was created in 2013 by Vermont's eight Mayors, and includes:
- Bill Benton, Vergennes;
- Liz Gamache, St. Albans;
- John Hollar, Montpelier;
- Thom Lauzon, Barre;
- Seth Leonard, Winooski;
- Chris Louras, Rutland;
- Paul Monette, Newport; and
- Miro Weinberger, Burlington.
The Mayors offered the following statements about the issues of common interest they are collaborating on and advocating for during the 2017 legislative session:
Vergennes Mayor Bill Benton: "The Vermont Mayor's Coalition represents a diverse group of municipal leaders. We strive to support legislative goals that are non-partisan, support our communities and contribute to the well-being of the entire State of Vermont."
St. Albans Mayor Liz Gamache: "The 2017 VMC platform reflects key elements that make strong communities: the physical and mental wellbeing of our citizens, care and concern for the environment, and healthy economic conditions. Legislative action to support the needs of Vermont's cities is essential to strengthening Vermont's future."
Montpelier Mayor John Hollar: "Municipalities face enormous costs to comply with new stormwater protection requirements. As Mayors, we supported these water quality measures, but the State needs to provide substantial financial support to help meet these new standards."
Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon: "While we've made some improvement in the area of public safety information sharing, I believe we can and need to do better. The unfortunate reality is that communities across Vermont are still playing a reactive role as we continue to struggle with opiate addiction and the related issues of domestic violence, gun violence, child neglect, mental illness and threats against agencies in a protective role. We need to redouble our efforts to ensure that valuable investigative and preventative public safety information is available and shared between health, protective and law enforcement agencies. This type of information is invaluable in preventing crime in Vermont's towns and cities."
Winooski Mayor Seth Leonard: "As Vermont's economy comes into focus during the 2017 Legislative Session, the VMC is proposing or supporting several initiatives to ensure our State's population and employment centers continue as vibrant engines of growth. We are looking to the Legislature for partnership in making the State's goals of financial sustainability and growth a reality. If we can achieve these ends together, our communities will thrive and so will Vermont."
Rutland Mayor Chris Louras: "The nation's and Vermont's demographic will continue to change over the coming years and decades, and our economic future depends on policing standards that recognize an increasingly diverse population. The State should review the CJTC curriculum and update as necessary to weave fair and impartial policing principles into all aspects of academy coursework."
Newport Mayor Paul Monette: "Economic development is vital to all communities within our State, and many municipalities are experiencing austere budgets and other circumstances that are beyond our control. This results in a lack of resources to help with infrastructure improvements, and the TIF district is a valuable tool to help create a true public/private partnership. By allowing municipalities to reinvest a major portion of the increased value and associated municipal/educational taxes, we are helping promote economic development. Successful results of TIFs can be seen all around the State, and the Mayors Coalition urges the legislature to lift the cap on new TIFs."
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger: "For years, the Mayors Coalition has supported ambitious efforts to protect our waterways from run-off so long as they are implemented in a way that is effective, efficient and fair. The 2017 Legislative session represents a time of critical decision making for the future of our waters, and the Mayors continue to urge decisive action to create a new system guided by these principles."
Vermont Mayors Coalition
Legislative Policy Summary
2017 Legislative Session – January 12, 2017
The Vermont Mayors Coalition (VMC) is advocating for State action to support municipalities in the following four important issues:
Supporting Effective Efforts to Address Opioid Addiction
The VMC supports the principles laid out by the new Administration and calls on the State to help support efforts that are producing positive results addressing addiction challenges. In Rutland and Burlington, two similar, community-wide efforts known respectively as Project Vision and CommunityStat have defined the opioid crisis as a complex challenge best addressed by bringing together local public health, law enforcement, non-profit, private sector, and government leaders. While the two models are different in certain respects, both facilitate data aggregation, information sharing, and broad stakeholder engagement. Both also clearly identify leaders able to establish priorities and accountability and charge them with a responsibility for driving change.
These efforts are changing two communities' response to a terrible challenge in meaningful and positive ways. Two forms of State support could help more Vermont communities enact similar changes. First, the Mayors call for the State to continue directing leading appointees to attend and participate in these meetings and to facilitate the creation of additional efforts in other Vermont towns and cities. Second, the Mayors call on the State to offer modest matching funds to incentivize community action. These programs are lean and require little in the way of State investment – and that small investment can make a substantial difference.
Clean Water Funding
In 2015, the State of Vermont passed the landmark Vermont Clean Water Act (H.64), designed to protect Vermont's lakes and streams from excess nutrients like phosphorus. Over the years, the VMC has advocated to make the act effective, fair, and efficient, and supported the passage of the legislation. Much regulatory and legislative action and implementation is still needed to succeed in this generational challenge of keeping our waterways clean.
In 2017, in light of the Clean Water Funding report released by Treasurer Beth Pearce, the VMC remains focused on moving this effort forward:
The Mayors support the Governor's and Treasurer's proposed allocation of $50 million of existing resources to the Clean Water Fund for two years to address this critical challenge over the next two years. This reallocation should follow the same effective, fair, and efficient principles the VMC has previously advocated for. Municipal projects should receive priority funding from the Clean Water Fund during this period, recognizing that needed municipal resources are largely unfunded at this point. The VMC urges Legislators to begin working now on a long-term funding solution.
It is vital to set a long-term target State funding percentage for each TMDL investment area. Without fixing a target annual funding level the State is committed to reaching, it will be difficult to settle on an appropriate funding strategy. While the Treasurer Pearce report would provide sufficient State funding to allow for the first two years to be enacted, the State would need to play a meaningful role in future years.
The VMC reiterates their 2016 call that the State should assume 80 percent of the future costs beyond the Treasurer's two-year interim period, with municipalities increasing their contribution to 20 percent. Until 2015, the State was committed to paying for all wastewater facility discharges. Not only does the State have far greater options for raising revenues than municipalities, and thus a greater ability to fund this necessary work, the implementation of our collective TMDL-reduction efforts will be more effective and efficient if the State is responsible for a fair share of the system's financial burden. A clear target will also be a major factor in determining which of the different revenue sources under consideration are the most equitable and sufficient to cover the costs of the water quality improvement programs that will be required to meet state and federal requirements over the next 20 years.
The Mayors continue to support statewide tiered per parcel fee that reflects the parcel's usage and impact as the fairest and most sustainable funding mechanism to support clean water. To be sustainable, the revenue sources should be tied, as clearly as possible, to stable revenue sources that are fair, progressive in nature, and have a nexus with clean water. A Statewide tiered per parcel fee, or charge by a new statewide stormwater utility that accounts for factors such as size and the degree to which activities on the land contribute to problematic runoff, is the best option.
The Mayors call on the Legislature to create a working group now to create an implementation plan for a tiered parcel fee in 2019. There is no time to waste. The working group should include representatives from the legislature, Treasurer Pearce's office, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Health, municipalities and agricultural interests impacted by the fees, as well as other stakeholders as necessary.
As Treasurer Pearce's report notes, any new parcel or stormwater utility fee should recognize the contributions of property owners within municipalities with existing stormwater utilities raising local revenues to pay for TMDL mitigation efforts. The Mayors do not oppose a modest additional cost to municipalities that border Lake Champlain, as while 94 percent of the State is impacted by the various TMDLs under discussion, the lakeshore communities do derive additional benefits from tourism; benefits that are dependent on clean water.
The VMC is strongly opposed to the State increasing the sales and use or rooms, meals, and alcoholic beverage taxes, as those are already primary sources of municipal revenue. There should also be some consideration of tapping into sources that reach out-of-state visitors, whose transportation patterns and use of the lake may play heavily into the clean water analysis.
Reforming the Police Training Curriculum in Vermont
The Mayors call on the new Administration to review the training curriculum, certifying exams, and structure of the Criminal Justice Training Council. Vermont has good reason to be proud of its police agencies and the initial training those officers receive at the Police Academy in Pittsford, VT. A change in Administrations offers a good opportunity to review existing training protocols at the Academy to make sure training received and exams administered reflect the demands that will be placed on these aspiring young officers in the cities and towns they serve.
Further, the Academy trains officers to serve a wide range of communities across the State. The Mayors believe those communities should have a voice on the Council that runs the Academy, and urge the Legislature and Administration to consider revising the existing appointment structure of the Council to give Vermont's cities and towns a voice in the training their officers receive. The Mayors also believe the Criminal Justice Training Council should provide a clear overseeing authority within State Government, whether through the Attorney General or the Commissioner of Public Safety.
Tax Exemption of Municipal Parking Utilities
During the 2015 and 2016 Legislative Sessions the VMC pushed for the Legislature and Administration to take a serious look at statutes related to the taxation of municipally owned parking facilities. Last year we provided testimony to the Senate Finance Committee evidencing that 32 V.S.A. § 5401(10) must be updated to reflect a taxation exemption for municipal parking infrastructure. We did so with the support of the Vermont Department of Taxes, Vermont Economic Progress Council, and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. Despite a broad coalition of support and an absence of impact to State revenue, another session went by without action. We are renewing our pledge to pursue this issue to ensure Vermont growth centers can continue to be drivers of our State's economy.
The VMC is stressing urgency on this issue, as our state does not need artificial barriers to economic growth. Asking municipalities to continue to create vibrant commercial and residential centers of growth for Vermont's economy without flexibility to also control parking is not realistic. Parking is a public utility that municipalities are providing for public benefit. Municipalities need flexibility to ensure parking structures and lots serve the highest and best public use and represent desired land use goals of the community, region, and state. An inability to have municipalities involved in financing garages compromises decades of thoughtful planning around development and land use. Economic development is directly impacted, as is the implementation of smart growth plans. We risk towns foregoing opportunities for critical jobs and housing development that would boost the Vermont economy. The State has an opportunity to correct this issue without forgoing revenue before it is applied to all applicable situations.
The VMC wants to make the impact and risk of not addressing this issue very clear. The value a parking utility is being taxed twice – once in functional value and second as a structure. Property owners and municipalities are being taxed for the same structure and use. The implementation of this statute is not only hurting the municipality but is also impacting the property owners who seek to create jobs and housing opportunities in Vermont.
Municipalities will be compelled to ignore optimal land use and environmental risks, constructing surface parking if this statutory provision stays in place. Garages and lots that support public uses in downtowns will be left without adequate repairs or will become operationally untenable. Using Winooski as a case study:
- Expenses for a garage include salaries, utilities, maintenance, and debt service.
- Expenses for Winooski garage increased from $637,618.42 to $782,471.75 ($144,853 increase) as a direct result of the application of this tax.
- $140,000 of that increase was from implementation of taxation we are seeking to address.
- Result: Removed staffing, cuts in maintenance, reduced capital repair budgets. In the long-term we are unable to make future parking development financially feasible. This has harmed current businesses and is curbing future growth.
This is not limited to impacting one community. If applied uniformly and fairly, other villages, towns, and cities will have similar budget impacts.
Public Safety Notification
Currently, it is a crime for a prohibited person to attempt to purchase a firearm, yet there is no formal process or requirement to notify local, county, or state law enforcement when this attempted purchase takes place. Local, county, and state law enforcement notification can be invaluable to law enforcement agencies as we continue to struggle with the issues of addiction and the often related issues of domestic violence, child neglect, mental illness, and threats to agencies and employees in a protective role.
The VMC is calling for notification when a prohibited person attempts to purchase a firearm. Given the vast knowledge that local police officers have regarding their respective communities (such as pending arrests, investigations, and points of contact), this information could prove invaluable as a preventative tool. Such was the case in Waterbury in the fall of 2016. Acting on information provided by Sheriff Sam Hill, who had been forwarded information regarding a threat allegedly made against a DCF employee and an alleged attempt to purchase a firearm by State's Attorney Scott Williams, Barre City law enforcement took the lead on the investigation, and working with Waterbury law enforcement and ATF, were able to determine that a purchase of a firearm had, in fact, been made. The accused (who is prohibited from possessing a firearm) was arrested without incident and held without bail. The accused has since been released to a drug treatment program.
Eliminate Cap on TIF Districts
Many Vermont cities have created and successfully used tax increment financing (TIF) districts to spur economic development. The benefits to these cities—including Burlington, Barre and St. Albans—have been significant and measurable.
Current law does not allow for the creation of any new TIF districts, despite their proven success in creating new economic activity in our downtowns. The communities of Montpelier, Rutland, Newport, Springfield and Bennington have formed a separate coalition to advocate for the elimination of this cap. The Vermont Mayors Coalition endorses this effort and calls on the legislature to allow any community to apply to create a TIF district.
# # #


text:
Ang Lee's LIFE OF PI new trailer launched starring Tabu, Irrfan Khan and Suraj Sharma
On 23rd November 2012, movie lovers will witness an epic saga of survival and courage against all odds: Ang Lee's LIFE OF PI! And in anticipation of what is likely be one of the biggest movie event this year, the brand new trailer of the film has been launched showing a glimpse of the mystic magic to come!
The new theatrical promo of the Hollywood film showcases stunning scenes introducing veteran Indian talents Tabu and Irrfan Khan in the film along with breathtakingly vibrant colors of Pondicherry and Munnar where LOP was extensively shot.
From the Oscar winning director (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), LIFE OF PI 3D is the visually stunning tale of a boy who is adrift at sea in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger after his family is drowned in a shipwreck. The Indian appeal of Ang Lee's magnum opus is visible with every scene of the film right from the star cast to the locales and magical elements that combine to make this a special festive treat for fans!
A stunning kaleidoscope of India showcases Irrfan Khan as the older Pi Patel describing the events of the film in the trailer with beautiful 3D shots to the music of Coldplay!
India had much to rejoice when Ang Lee chose 17 year old newcomer Suraj Sharma to essay the role of Pi. Suraj lives with his Mathematician parents in Delhi. He has no previous acting experience and was cast following an extensive, months-long search. Over 3000 young men auditioned for the part.
Lee said it was the performance of young Indian actor Suraj Sharma, chosen from more than 3,000 hopefuls that ultimately inspired him to move forward with the technically challenging production — even though Sharma couldn't swim when he was first cast.
"I met him, I tested him, and he held his breath for 20 seconds. So I got him a swimming coach, work-out coach — every coach," the filmmaker said with a laugh. "He gives an emotional performance in a movie that has the look of a family film, but it's also a movie about big ideas. I hope people will spend weeks talking about it — that's my idea of a family film."
Lee, whose many other honors include an Oscar nomination for his direction of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and whose "Sense and Sensibility" was a Best Picture nominee, has shot LIFE OF PI in 3D, utilizing groundbreaking techniques to capture the story's epic scope.
LIFE OF PI is based on Yann Martel's beloved book, one of the biggest publishing events of the past decade. The book has sold over seven million copies worldwide and continues to sell over 1,000 copies per week and has won the prestigious Mann Booker Prize, and was a New York Times bestseller for over a year.
Not only is the film a global platform of Indian talent with its cast and crew, but some of India's most scenic spots were tapped for the film, a first of its kind for a Hollywood film. Judging by this new trailer LIFE OF PI promises to be one festive movie treat for fans this year.
LIFE OF PI 3D releases on 23rd November in English, Hindi, Tamil & Telugu!


text:
(Nov. 2016 -- in progress) Second-level Professional Master's Programme in Space Science and Technology at Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, with a partial fellowship
One-year course aimed to scientifical and technological knowledge.
Main classes: Earth Observation, Space Flight Dynamics, Management Strategies, Spatial Instruments, Space Weather, Celestial Mechanics.
(2013 -- 2016) Master degree in Mathematics at Università degli Studi di Firenze, General Curriculum Vote: 110/110 cum laude.
Thesis defended on the 20th of July 2016 titled Analysis of transport equation in a periodical potential with BGK-type collisions. Supervisor: Prof. Luigi Barletti.Main classes:Algebra, Computational Symbolic Geometry, Mathematical Methods for Applications, Mathematical Methods for Computer Science, Functional Analysis, Stochastic Processes, Mathematical Logic.
(2009 -- 2013) Bachelor degree in Mathematics at Università degli Studi di Firenze, Discrete Curriculum
Vote: 92/110.
Thesis defended on the 23rd of October 2013 titled
Analysis of David-Putnam procedure. Supervisor: Prof. Daniele Mundici.
(2004 -- 2009) High school graduation at Liceo Classico Michelangiolo in Firenze
Vote: 100/100 cum laude.
Work experience
(June 2017 -- in progress) Internship at e-Geos
Involved in the E2mC project. I am acquiring knowledge in Python programming, PostgreSQL and basic knowledge in QGIS. I am now getting started with Deep Learning.
(2009 -- 2017) Private lessons
Support activities in Maths and Physics for high school and university students.
Italian Mother tongue
English B2/C1
French A1/A2
German A1/A2
Communication skills
I have excellent communication and teamworking skills. I acquired these skills also thanks to my tutoring activity and my spelelogical and alpine free time activity, for which a careful collaboration is necessary.
Computer science skills
Programming languages: C, Python, basic Java, PostgreSQL
Operative Systems: Windows, Linux (Ubuntu)
Software: Matlab, Macaulay2, HOL Light, STK, QGIS
Markup languages and text editors: LaTeX, Microsoft Word, Emacs, Sublime Text
Certifications and Awards
(May 2017) STK certification, 1st level, released by AGI.
(October 2009) Premio Michelangiolo for the brilliant results in the academic year 2008/2009.
(June 2007) PET certification, released by Cambridge University with outcome Pass with Merit.
Additional information
(2014 -- today) Partner of Speleological Group SST
Exploration and collaboration in the management of activities.
(25th -- 28th September 2017) Earth Observation Open Science 2017 Conference
3d consultation meeting of EO Open Science in ESRIN (Frascati, Italy).
(28th August -- 2nd September 2017) Summer school SDSM 2017 (S. Martino al Cimino, VT) with fellowship
Satellite dynamics and space missions: theory and applications of celestial mechanics.
(16th May 2017) PRISMA Day 1st ed Workshop on meteors and meteorites.
(10th September, 2016) Participation in Citizen Debate for Europe and Space organized by ESA
(30th October, 2015) Participation in testing SmartUnifi App
Registering is the only way of posting vacancies and obtaining contact details of candidates in our CV database.
All it takes is a few minutes and a credit card (Visa or American Express). To sign-up to this service, simply click on the Register link and fill in the form. You will then have instant access to our system after on-line payment where you will be able to complete the transaction in either US Dollars, UK Pounds or Euros.
All online credit/debit card transitions are handled through our secure third party payment processors at WorldPay. Worldpay are part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, the 5th biggest banking group in the world, WorldPay payment solutions are trusted by thousands of businesses, big and small worldwide.
Pricing starts at €450 (approx £400 or US$500 - use the convert tool for an exact conversion) for one month unlimited job postings and unlimited CV database access (for one user), with package discounts available if you have more permanent recruiting needs. For example, a Gold subscription will give you unlimited jobs posting and unlimited CV database access for one year at just over €250 per month!
2019 Pricing Structure (excluding VAT):
|1 month - Discovery
|450 euros
|3 months - Bronze
|1150 euros
|6 months - Silver
|1950 euros
|12 months - Gold
|3200 euros
If online payment is not convenient, give us a call at +33(0)622757477 or send us an email at email@example.com. We will set up an account for you and invoice you. Note that you can also pay through PayPal.
Please note that the posting of academic positions is free of charge. All you need to do is email us your job description and we will post it for you.
Spacelinks is based in France so the following European Union regulations regarding electronic commerce apply:
- if your business is located outside the EU, VAT does not apply to you
- if your business is located in France, you will be charged a 20% VAT
- if your business is located in the EU and you don't have a valid VAT registration number, you will be charged a 20% VAT
- if your business is located in the EU and you do have a valid VAT registration number, you won't be charged VAT provided you give us your VAT number (mandatory for invoicing)
For sales enquiries and general information, you can call us on +33(0)622757477.
Support is available Mon-Fri on +33(0)622757477 or via email. Out-of-hours support is provided only via email.
Please also note that we are located in France. Our normal office hours are 09:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday. France timezone is GMT+1.
We are very serious about our job seekers privacy so only legitimate recruiters and employers are eligible for a recruiter account. All subscriptions requests will be manually approved and recruiter accounts constantly monitored. Users who enter inaccurate or incomplete information will not gain access to post jobs or search resumes. Sharing of login details with a third party will result in the suspension of the recruiter's account with no subscription refund.
Recruitment agencies are only eligible for a Gold package and recruitment agencies recruiting for companies already using Space Careers will not be accepted.
To ensure you are approved, please include the following on your application:
* The website address of your Company. Under construction websites will be rejected.
* Email - Must end in @yourcompany.com. Applications using free email accounts such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail will be rejected.
Individual exceptions can be made on a case by case basis by emailing email@example.com. Accounts found not to be in compliance will be deleted.