text:
Concetti North America Corp. is a branch of the Concetti Group.
Concetti North America Corp. is based in Hoschton, Georgia, and is established to guarantee of efficient after-sales servicing.
The companies belonging to the Concetti Group have been accredited with the quality standard UNI EN ISO 9001 ed. 2008.
We have made customer satisfaction our top priority: this is proven by our numerous customers in Italy and abroad.
The Concetti reference list shows many repeat customers – testament to the performance and reliability that users find in CONCETTI products.
1 customer has purchased 50 installations
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5 customers have purchased 8 installations each
8 customers have purchased 6 installations each
18 customers have purchased 5 installations each
Nowadays, the CONCETTI Group boasts over 2.000 systems installed in 60 countries and exports about 70% of its equipment.


text:
Residential Specific Information
- Bedrooms
- 2
- Toilets / Bathrooms
- 2
This Property Is No Longer Available
- not apt credit .... duplex of 3 main rooms. building 1 year old, is like recently finished / new. super bright, are 84 m2 total distributed in 2 floors. on the ground floor reception hall. living room with exit to balcony. separate kitchen complete with furniture and dining room daily. samsung brand electric cooking appliance. bathroom with bathtub. premium porcelain tile floors. air conditioning equipment f / heat. upper floor: two bedrooms with their respective closets and interiors, the main one with dressing room. There is a special sector like putting together a desk. the edition has sum. pool, solarium and grills. excellent location close to all means of locomotion. parking space / optional garage u $ s 25,000.- excellent opportunity! check !!!
Living / Dining Room
Washing Room
Access by Elevator
Swimming Pool
Back of Building
Parking Avail.
Air Conditioning
Please submit an enquiry to view contact info for the
Eduardo Herrera Inmuebles who published this Apartment
(Sale) Villa Urquiza
Immediately afterwards the agent's contact telephone number and email address will appear.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Shop online our range of contemporary designer TV/Entertainment Units in American white oak, black ash and white polyurethane. Featuring generous storage space, these TV/Media Units are perfect to complement any modern living room space.
Each piece within the Balmain and Manly TV/Entertainment Unit collection is fitted with German Hettich runners and hinges to ensure ultimate functionality.
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text:
The newly refurbished IHR Common Room is available to hire in the evenings as a reception space.
During the day the IHR Common Room it is open for everyone to use the café facilities.
Room Facilities
- 55" Network TV with USB connection and built in Induction loop
- Wireless LAN operating at 100-200 Mbit/s
Please contact email@example.com with any questions or to book.
See here for full list of room rates.
See here for ground floor plan.


text:
When you learn Spanish you are taught stock phrases about the weather like hace calor (it 's hot), hace frio (it's cold), está lloviendo (it's raining), hace viento (it´s windy). The good people of Alcalá obviously didn´t use the same textbook.
"¡Que calor!", accompanied by a flapping motion of the hand in front the face, means it´s hot. But this appears to be relative. In July and August when the temperature hovers around 32°C (90°F), you can respond with some sympathy. But I have also heard it used on a sunny spring day when the temperature has sneaked up to the low 20s (high 60s in old money).
Conversely, when the blessed relief of autumn brings the temperature down to the low 20s, they cry "¡Fresquito!" patting their arms in a sort of self-hugging gesture. But the same expression is used on the coldest winter days, when the thermometer can plummet to around 8°C (48°F).
We are taught in the UK that the diminutive "-ito" added to a word means "little". Hence if fresco means cool, fresquito should mean "a little bit cool". Not so. "Mucho solecito", my hairdresser commented one fine May morning. A lot of little sun?? It also implies affection, informality, geniality. Victor the greengrocer just sold me un kilito de manzanitas granditas (a kilo of large apples). I could have had manzanas pequeñitas or even medianitas (small or medium).
But back to the weather. "¡Agua!" they say if it starts to rain, and dart into the nearest shop or bar. Alcalainos do not go out in the rain unless they absolutely have to. Last winter it rained for nearly three months with hardly a break, flooding the farmlands, washing away roads and leaking into people's houses. There was a pervasive air of gloom around the town until it finally stopped at the end of March. The upside, however, is that the reservoirs are now full and we have four years' supply of water even if it doesn't rain a drop.
Last winter was exceptional though. On average, we get 7 wet days a month between November and February, 6 in March, April and October, 3 in May, June and September, and none at all in July and August. From October to March, we get an average of 6 hours sunshine a day. (Why do you think I live here?)
We saw some snow once on a distant mountain in the Sierra de Grazalema, but it was gone by lunchtime. A friend who lives at the bottom of the hill occasionally has frost on his car windscreen. On fine days following rain, the valleys are often filled with romantic swirling mist, but you have to get up early to catch it. Occasionally the upper half of the town disappears into the clouds, although we are only 190m above sea level.
But Alcalá's most notorious weather feature is the wind. The east wind, or Levante, is so famous it gets its own entry in the Winds of the World directory. Born in the Eastern Mediterranean (the Levant) it is funnelled through the Straits of Gibraltar and whips across the southwestern part of Cádiz Province with fierce gusts, sometimes reaching gale force. When it is feeling particularly generous it will sprinkle the town with fine pinkish-brown dust. It can strike at any time of year, but is most frequent in March and from July to October. Many a flight into Gibraltar airport is diverted to Málaga when the Levante is blowing. Its westerly counterpart is the Poniente; this brings clear weather and is apparently the best time to view the African coastline from Tarifa or Gibraltar.
I feel desperately sorry for people working out in the fields when the Levante is blowing, especially when it goes on for four or five days. It saps the strength and can drive people crazy. We very quickly learned that it can overturn terrace furniture and flowerpots and whip the washing right off the line. We have lost two barbecue covers, both held down with four bricks. A friend of ours lost an 8-foot-wide parasol. A portable bull-ring was blown down at San José del Valle up the road.
The response of the locals? "!Mucho aire!"
Alcala weather statistics
An account of daily life in Alcalá de Los Gazules, a small town
in the Province of Cádiz in the bottom left-hand corner of Spain.
06 August 2010
2 comments:
- tozcal2009 said...
Oh I laughed so much about the language lesson. Learning Spanish with La Vida Alcalaina is great original fun.
Also, what would Spanish be without the gestures? By the way, I notice, that some ways to express things in Spanish may be slightly different than on Tenerife Island where I stay.
- August 22, 2010 at 12:07 AM
- Claire Lloyd said...
Thankyou tozcal2009! I´m sure every part of Spain has its own local expressions, and around Alcalá there are words and phrases that aren´t found anywhere else.
- August 22, 2010 at 10:48 AM
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text:
To film on location, a sideline reporter needs a good backdrop, and the warm ups before an event often make for good footage. But when live sports are happening, even at half speed, it can be risky, as Sportsnet East reporter Ian Mendes found out prior to game two of the World Series.
Mendes, MSN reports, was about to report a live on location shot when a stray ball appears to strike him hard somewhere in the back. Sportsnet East reports his was hit on the foot. Like any other mortal, Mendes is clearly in pain after the foul ball drills him, but then something impressive happens. With only seconds to recover between getting hit and going on the air live, Mendes shakes it off, composes himself, and begins reporting as though he wasn't writhing in pain moments before.
In the video, Mendes is seen waiting patiently for his cue when a foul ball comes from the left of the screen, hitting him. Mendes lets out an initial shout and jumps around a bit. Then, after some contorting and grimacing, he starts in about Brian Wilson like a pro. Somewhat amusingly, a photographer walks behind Mendes during his ordeal, offering just the slightest smirk after he gets hit. But for a few feet difference, this story could have been about a photographer getting beaned by a baseball instead of the sideline reporter Mendes.
When a baseball player gets hit with a pitch, there's a bit of an unwritten rule that they should get up and take their base without undue limping or rubbing. Mendes' bio on Sportsnet East doesn't mention a previous athletic career, but he's probably earned the respect of of the ball players he covers after taking that hit like a champ.
Check out the video below.
What did you think of the sideline reporter's reaction after being hit with a foul ball?


text:
Carrier Grade Linux
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The 5.0 requirements and gaps are published as a single PDF document in the Carrier Grade Linux Specifications – Released Specifications section. Registrations can be done against the current specification, 5.0, by following the link below.
As with previous releases of the specification, the registration disclosure is a self-administered process. Linux distribution and platform vendors provide the disclosure information on their site and this public disclosure information is owned and maintained by each vendor. Registrants should make full public disclosure by filling out the registration template and mailing it to the lf_cgl_registration mailing list for review by the CGL technical board. Once approved an notification will be sent out to the lf_carrier mailing list announcing the new registration. Once completed, registrations may describe their product as "CGL Registered".
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text:
No... you haven't opened the wrong blog. Stick with me and all will become clear!
I met Mrs Beaumont, Mark's mother, this morning. She had spoken by phone with Mark last night and it was wonderful to get some first hand news. Apparently the road surface in the Ukraine is generally appalling, potholes are rife and so there is the constant danger of falling. Mark's main concern, however was his inability to read the Cyrillic alphabet which is used in many Slavic languages, Ukranian included. Map reading and place names present a whole new challenge and if you are thirsty....
....how would you know what the drinks machine (photo from the Flickr search on Lviv) said?
Kiwi or Orange anyone?


text:
Counting Coup
There was a lot of death
and dying up there,
and if I remember correctly,
it gave me a bit of a thrill.
Of course there were the good guys
and the bad.
Both of which were in that process
of dying unto death.
And I knew I was supposed to be
cheering for one side to
prevail over the other
but in truth,
I was somewhat indifferent.
It was the death; the dying.
Yea, and okay, the living as well.
That flux in between.
We had yet to progress to post mortem
but that's not to say that
the exact instant of death
can't have a stench unto itself.
From where I was standing,
the expected smell of death
was mostly non-existent.
Rather, this death
smelled more like stale beer.
Fifty plus years of spilt pilsner
which had saturated those
rotting floorboards upon which I stood.
My father was awfully fond
of that pool-hall.
Perhaps fonder still of the bar in the back.
Fond of those men
who shared his fondness.
There across from this bar and
upon the not too distant wall
hung a painting.
A crude hunk of art which was
taller than I was at that age
and three times that measure wide.
And I stood on that barroom floor,
yet also stood within that painting.
But if you asked whether
I stood with the good guys or the bad,
I'm not sure I could tell you.
There were Americans in that painting
and I figure they had to be the good guys,
but then, isn't that always the case?
There were Injuns… Indians.
Native Americans.
Yes, Americans in that painting.
"The only good Injun is a dead Injun."
Now who was the American
who first came up with
that delightful phrase?
Very likely the same asshole who
stands dead center of that painting.
Dead center.
Dead center.
Right where he was supposed to be.
Back in the Fall of 1967,
Canadian actor Wayne Maunder
was hired to portray
a character of infamy
in a prime time television show
called "Custer".
And I as a child was mesmerized.
And I as an adult remain mesmerized.
You see,
because George Armstrong Custer
was portrayed as a hero.
Long-haired hippy Custer circa late Sixties
had his finger on all the issues of the day.
"Let's sit around the camp-fire,
pass a well-packed peace pipe.
Yo Yo Yo, lite that thing up.
George. Yellow Hair.
Whassup wit dat bogart, dude?"
So you had actor Fess Parker
as Daniel Boone
and Wayne Maunder
as Custer.
Both upstanding righteous guys.
Righteous. Righteous Hell.
In that TV show,
Custer was friends with Crazy Horse.
They hung out.
Smoke a bowl or two.
Passed that bottle of Mad Dog
without wiping off the lip.
Yea, a TV show's rewrite of history
that surely brought
a rancid rise of vomit
to the entire Lakota Nation.
But there as a child,
standing beneath Custer's Last Stand
at the Little Big Horn,
I didn't see the racism.
Held no comprehension
of the decades of genocide
that led those Lakota braves
to their final moment of payback.
And where that painting was
supposed to project the final moments
of one of America's greatest heros,
for me it was no more than a still frame
from a damn good snuff film.
Well… snuff painting perhaps.
Indeed, I as a child got to re-enact
Custer's brutal death over and over again.
And my memory of this pleases me.
As a youth, I suppose I
took the side of the Native American
a little too often.
The "Noble Savage."
And just what does that mean?
Are we to assume that the Lakota,
or the Cherokee,
or the Mohawk, the Apache,
or any of the other
original indigenous nations
ever considered the term "Noble Savage"
as endearing?
Osama Bin Ladin dies
and a nation of Americans
bust out their doors,
look up to the sky and
do a little victory dance.
George Armstrong Custer dies
and a nation of other Americans
do exactly the same.
Noble Americans.
Mobile Americans.
Third-World Americans
force marched and
sequestered away in their
Third-World isolation.
As that same child,
a trip with my father
once took us in proximity
to an Indian reservation.
Descendents of those same warriors
who counted coup on Custer.
Those noble Indians
standing proud beneath their
regal war bonnets.
I wanted to see that.
I expressed so to my father,
and with a glint in his eye,
he agreed to take me to them.
Diverging from our course,
my father steered us
towards that reservation,
and as we traveled into the past,
I scanned the crests
of each and every adjacent hill
in search of feathered silhouette.
And yet we never actually
made it to the reservation.
Instead, my father drove us to a town
there on the edge.
And there he pulled up in front of a bar.
And there father and son
pass from blazing sunlight
into the dim inky darkness
of the bar's interior.
And as eyes strain to adjust,
my father makes a
small flourish with his hand
and says,
There are your Indians."
And I turn from the
whiteness of his gleaming smile
to the squalor of that saloon.
Before me I see
my precious Indians
collapsed upon the bar,
sprawled about
the assorted tables.
Passed out and
bodily strewn across the floor.
There are your Indians."
And I hear my father chuckle.
He finding mirth
in the destruction of
my naïve illusion.
Would that I might have gathered up
those assorted Native Americans
and taken them in mass
to a certain bar that prides itself
of Custer's Last Stand.
To usher them all down to the lone man
sitting drunk at the end of the bar.
"There," I'd say.
"There's my father.
There's your White Man.
There's your Custer.
He in his own
dying unto death
Last Stand.
Do with him
what you will."
c 2011 Jack Hubbell


text:
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Reviews: YA
A YA Fantasy-Romance for older readers with an intriguing mythology and interesting characters.
Set in a medieval Brittany where the old gods are called Saints yet still worshipped, a daughter of Mortain (the god of Death) finds a new purpose and political intrigue while nobles and other countries vie for power and the hand of the young Duchess.
Ismae has known mostly cruelty her entire short life, first from her father, then from her husband on the day of her wedding. She is rescued from a certain witch burning and taken to the convent of Saint Mortain, where she learns of her unique legacy and is given a chance at a new life. This new life includes weapons training, poison, and lessons in womanly arts all in preparation for her service as an assassin. This is not your conventional convent. During the course of her assignments, Ismae crosses paths with the mysterious Duval and ends up posing as his mistress to try to uncover a hidden spy in the Brittany court. Lots of intrigue, some good action, interesting side characters and a discovery of what it really means to be a "daughter of Mortain" carry us through to the ending. It is an ending, of a sort, but there is definitely more to the story. I'll be reading the next one.
There is a lot of blood and violence, which is why I'd put it in an older YA category. Nothing too explicit, but there is a dark tone. The characters live in dangerous times.
I thought that the world-building was very well done and the characters were believable. It was a fast-paced book that kept my attention. I liked Ismae's attitude. It felt realistic. I also liked that she had a mind of her own. I understoond her inner conflict and thought it done well. There is no love triangle and the characters don't fall in love at first sight. Nor is the romance driving everything. It is more of a Fantasy with Romance.
I'd recommend for YA readers who want something out of the high school setting, with some level of the paranormal but not really magic driven.
[I received an Advance Readers Copy to review for Amazon Vine.]
Kind of like a Da Vinci code with teens, except that it deals with alchemy, old letters written in Latin, and high school/college students versus religious conspiracies and famous artwork. It starts with Nora, a high school senior who is a research assistant translating old letters written in Latin. It seems like a boring assignment, with the only upside being the relationship she starts with fellow researcher Max. Soon, though, she stumbles into a centuries old conspiracy, her best friend is murdered, her boyfriend is the likely suspect, and there is much shadowy goings on. Throw in two warring secret societies with long reaches, betrayals, and teens on the run in Prague and you have a very intriguing action-packed read.
I'm stopping here with any plot details. To go over too much would just take the fun out of the ride.
This book really drew me in. Easy to read and fast paced. You need to suspend some disbelief (OK maybe a lot), but I had fun with it. I think this is a great summer read.
[I won an ARC from a blog contest.]
A plague has ravaged the city, maybe the world. No one really knows what's outside the city, so its hard to say. The rich live in towers, wear masks to filter the poisonous air, and try to mentally escape through alcohol, drugs and partying at places like the Debauchery Club. It's the end of the world and if you have the means, you party til you drop (literally). If you're poor, then you try to save enough to get a mask for someone in your family, or you wait for the plague to make its way through your loved ones. Lording over it all is Prince Prospero who rules through fear and violence.
Araby lives a life of seeming leisure, going with her friend April to the Club, numbing her pain and guilt over living while her twin brother died. Her father is a brilliant scientist responsible for creating the masks that allow people to venture outside. Her mother was a pianist and Araby harbors a grudge against her mother for being absent for much of her childhood. Everyone in her family is mostly shut off from each other. Then Araby is saved by the Club's bouncer Will, April disappears, Araby meets April's brother Elliot, she gets involved with a resistance group, and she finally starts acting instead of floating through life.
This doesn't mean that Araby makes the right decisions, of course, but then she didn't exactly start the book making well thought out plans either. She is a character in progress.
This isn't the happiest of books – everything is pretty bleak. I also can't say that I really "like" Araby. I can understand why she is the way she is. I can even understand a lot of the decisions she makes and the hope she starts to have. There is potential here.
If you need to like the main character, you might have issues. If you need a really tough, kick-butt heroine, you won't find that either. Also, if you draw a line at your MC taking drugs or drinking, this could be a stopper for you too. There is a bit of a triangle here, although it didn't bug me as some do. Also, the story is definitely not over. There is a lot left hanging.
That said, I did like the world and the political situation. I liked discovering all of the things around Araby that she was missing out on. Most of all, I liked the setup and where I think this might be going. I will be reading the next one.
[I received an Advance Readers Copy to review for Amazon Vine.]
First, what I loved: Anna. She is pretty damn awesome. Tragic, scary, strong. Sympathetic, yet you also wouldn't really want her hanging around. She ain't Caspar the Friendly Ghost. I loved all of the ghost story aspects, every scene she was in, her relationship with Cas and her uneasy relationship with everyone else.
In the middle: Cas, the narrator. I got Cas, his drive, what keeps him going. I also get why he is so enthralled with Anna. There were lots of times I wanted a bit more on why he is the way he is and why his mom/adult figures let him do what he wants, which brings me to:
What didn't work for me: basically every adult except for Morfran. I don't get the mom. She is just barely there until the end, yet she willingly uproots them and moves wherever Cas wants to fight ghosts without argument. I mean, if she had been more forceful, like a really violent stage mom, that would have made more sense ("You WILL be the best Chosen One ever! Go practice stabbing stuff.").
If I was a teen reading this, the adults lack of involvement (from parents to teachers to police) probably wouldn't have bothered me as much. That said, it still drew me in and I had to finish it, so I will be looking for the next book from this author.
3 comments:
I sampled the Anna's (although I'll be honest--the title and the cover put me off from even sampling for a long time. I was desperate for something to read and it was on sale so I sampled.)ReplyDelete
I thought the writing and scenes were strong, but Cas didn't particularly grab me. He was just okay. The intro scene was good, but the cat and the mom ... empty. Needed some sort of ... something to grab and reel me in. For now it's a pass and some of that is still the cover and title. They're just lack...taste? Class?? I guess they're too much.Replies
Anna harkens back to the bloody ghost stories you scare your friends (and self) with at slumber parties and summer camp. I like the cover in that you pretty much know what you are going to get by looking at it. There's a lot of "dead-looking girl in a pretty dress" covers - this one IS a dead girl in what was once a pretty dress. :) It's different from a lot of the other paranormal YAs out there. Not for everyone, but I liked it.Delete
I think I'll take that as a warning that it will be too dark for me. After reading the sample, I thought it could go either way, but the cover led me to believe staying away was the right move.ReplyDelete


text:
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text:
Check Sequence Bounce Out People one huge event to be released in preston very soon , also check out my sc Damian J DJ
SoundCloud.com/djsuicide86 check out my profile guys. I forgot about Scouse nation
Follow me on SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/azzerj/azzerj-hold-me-tonight-sample new track sample
Anyone have good sources?
@itaho1 not following u m8
but its incredible matter where metod you use you cant find on internet only people that does not share on soulseek or pay private ftp...
@ithao1 RVR went defunct so you won't find them. Not sure how the licensing on those tracks would work now I was asking Ben Sav.
Also I tried to buy revolution UK tracks, but there isnt any source any information, what happened? is sad that the bounce scene does not care keep their music alive... sad but true
For example I cant find any free track of DvB, Bounce Enforcerz, 12'' Massive, Graham Dinamyx, Karlston Khaos. some of Starman, the free tracks of Revolution UK and a long etc that you know...
To UKBounceHouse: I think we we need a subforum to upload those free tracks that have been lost along the years, where everyone can post it, this can be more attractive to the users
@itaho there were never any links. they are coming next year. basically will be links to youtube and soundcloud


text:
Greetings fellow video game enthusiasts! Sorry for the long delay since my last post, Mrs. MP and I spent the last 9 days or so wandering semi-aimlessly around the American Southwest in an RV. A nice respite from the dull daily demands of work that have now refixed their grip upon me.
But just because I was knee-deep in non-electronic nature don't think for a minute that I wasn't able to work in SOME gaming. The very first day of the trip brought us through Austin which provided the perfect opportunity to check out the great new arcade up there - Pinballz!
Pinballz opened late last year in a 13,000 square foot facility and boasts a huge collection of new and old video games, pinball games, redemption games, and other arcade favorites like foosball, skeeball, air hockey, etc. and I'll tell you right now that I am already looking forward to my next visit.
As the name implies they have a GREAT selection of pinball machines. As I walked around I immediately saw all the classics - Medieval Madness, Twilight Zone, Addams Family, Taxi, Tales of the Arabian Knights, Gorgar, Fire!, Doctor Who, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Attack from Mars and tons more. They also had all the latest ones such as Iron Man, Lord of the Rings, Elvis, Batman the Dark Knight, Indiana Jones, Big Buck Hunter and Avatar. I didn't see the brand new Rolling Stones pin anywhere yet but I would assume it is on their buy list.
I even got to play a fun pin I'd only seen once before in a Baltimore crab house/arcade called Twister (based on the movie). It has a fan mounted to the back that blows when the storms pick up and a spinning magnetic disk that spins like a tornado and redirects the balls that cross it. What's really cool is when you get a 5-ball multiball and all the balls get magnetized to the spinner and it spins around like wild until the bundle flies apart and balls go everywhere. Amazingly my wife beat me at it on three straight games - and by beat I mean SLAUGHTERED! She was like a Twister savante. She played as if she could play the game with her eyes closed, in fact I'm fairly certain she did just that on several occasions so I have no idea how she defeated me so handily, but she absolutely crushed me. Her unprecedented victories lent a unique twist to the visit - and hopefully also helped her cope for the evening with my incessant need to play games.
All the pins I played were in excellent condition - they looked and played great. So needless to say, if you like pinball you should most definitely check out this place if you get a chance. You can see their current list of over 80 pinball games HERE.
But as much as I love pinball I've always been more of a video game guy and thankfully they had over 50 of those on hand as well! You can check out their full list of video games HERE, HERE and HERE. There was a nice variety of games and just like with the pins, most of the arcade cabinets were in excellent condition.
All the video games required at least 2 quarters to play which was a bit of a turnoff for me since back in the day when I did most of my playing everything was a single quarter - so pushing in two of them removed me from the nostalgic ambience a bit, but no big deal. I was happy to donate my 50 cents per play. If anything maybe it encouraged me to play a little harder like back in the day when 25 cents seemed like a little more money than it does now.
I had a blast playing the rare oldies like Tempest, Space Invaders Deluxe, Black Widow, Tron, Metal Slug 3, Gyruss, and Narc (an old favorite of mine from the late 80's) and even played a couple of games that I had never played before like Quasar and the arcade version of Feeding Frenzy, but by far the jewel of the collection for me was Sea Wolf.
I think Sea Wolf is the oldest coin-op arcade game I specifically recall playing - probably back in the late 70's at a campground our family used to go to when I was around 9 or 10 years old. I have been looking for a working Sea Wolf for a while and even my pilgrimage to the American Classic Arcade Museum in New Hampshire didn't prove fruitful (they had one but the monitor was bad). But once inside Pinballz I turned the corner to my left and there she was in all her old-school glory.
Sea Wolf was originally released by Midway way back in 1976 as a video game update to the 1970 electromechanical Midway game Sea Devil (which was itself the offspring of the 1966 game Periscope). The game is basically a single-screen vertical shooter in which you fire torpedoes from a submarine to destroy enemy ships that raced across the surface of the sea. Naturally, smaller faster vessels were worth more points than the slower larger ones. The ocean was also littered with mines that would serve to block your torpedoes and allow the enemies to escape unscathed.
Sea Wolf has a unique cabinet with a periscope that you looked through (Battlezone-style before Battlezone) and rotated left or right to aim your torpedoes which you fired by depressing the button on the right periscope handle.
The sound effects are very simple but awesome with the radar ping, the motor of the PT boats whizzing across the screen, the whoosh of the torpedoes being fired and the rumble of the explosions.
The graphics are black and white (hey it was 1976) but Midway added a blue overlay to provide the ocean color (so basically everything is blue). Back-lit transparancies were reflected inside the scope to show the target crosshairs, number of torpedoes left, and a reload light that flashed when you have launched all five torpedoes after which point you would have to wait momentarily while your men reloaded 5 more torpedoes. Onlookers could see the action on the ocean but only you could see all these indicators through the periscope. The explosions were displayed similarly with clearly drawn yellow and orange jagged displays (kind of like the "Bam!" "Pow" shapes that flashed on the old Batman TV show after Bats slugged the Joker). These old-school non-video features are faithfully simulated in MAME as long as you have the required artwork files installed and it definitely adds to the game so if you play MAME download the artwork files and play it! Just note you want to use an analog device for aiming - I use a trackball at home but a mouse should work just fine.
The game is time-based. You have an alloted amount of time (typically 70 seconds) to destroy as many ships as you can before the game is over. If you reach a certain score (4000 points I believe) bonus time is awarded. Also, Sea Wolf was one of the first arcade games to save and display the high score (until the machine was turned off). I have heard that the 1974 game Speed Race was actually the first, but I haven't been able to find that one yet to confirm that for myself. The game was ported to the VIC-20 (which I owned but have no idea where it is now), the Commodore 64, and the Bally Astrocade.
The game was followed by Sea Wolf II in 1978, and by a current-gen arcade version in 2008 which came in both a sitdown and upright model.
All the games also had price tags on them so if you couldn't get enough play time in on your visit you could always just buy it and take it home. The prices looked to be on the high side with a lot of prices hovering around the $2K mark, but like I mentioned before they WERE generally in excellent condition and the prices seemed to be fairly close to what I've seen at Joystix in Houston too so not too unexpected.
They also had a snack counter that sold things like water, energy drinks, and chips and are reportedly on the verge of opening a full-service place in-house called Mikki's Replay Café that will offer food and drink - including beer and wine if you are so inclined (which I often am).
So I have to say I thorougly enjoyed this place and wish them the best of luck because I fully intend to plan return visits in the near future. If you enjoy arcade games or pinball and live anywhere in Texas - yes even you El Paso and Amarillo folks out there (hey you've got a car don't ya?!) then you simply MUST check out Pinballz Arcade.
And be sure to tell them MadPlanet sent you. They won't know what the hell you are talking about, but it would greatly amuse me if you did so.
8940 Research Blvd., Suite 100
Austin, TX 78758
Phone: 512-420-TILT (8458)
E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
[Updated 5/26/2011 with new extended hours]
Monday: Noon - 10:00 PM
Tuesday: Noon - 10:00 PM
Wednesday: Noon - 10:00 PM
Thursday: Noon - 10:00 PM
Friday: Noon-1:00 AM
Saturday: Noon-1:00 AM
Sunday: Noon-10:00 PM
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Pinballz Arcade in Austin, Texas (and the Quest for Sea Wolf Complete!)
Greetings fellow video game enthusiasts! Sorry for the long delay since my last post, Mrs. MP and I spent the last 9 days or so wandering semi-aimlessly around the American Southwest in an RV. A nice respite from the dull daily demands of work that have now refixed their grip upon me.
10 comments:
- Fallguy40 said...
Welcome back MP. Pinballz looks pretty sweet!
I haven't seen a Sea Wolf in many, many years. That one looks to be in very good condition.
I'm also impressed with the Twister pinball. It's not often that a pinball machine can actually incorporate a major part of the movie plot into the game as they use the pinballs to recreate sending up all the little probes into the tornado. That's pretty clever.
- April 5, 2011 at 5:35 PM
- MadPlanet said...
Thanks Fallguy! Yeah I quite enjoyed the place. They had lots of great games that I wanted to mention but the post really started droning on longer than I wanted, I could hear peoples eyes rolling into the back of their heads at my long-windedness.
Yeah Twister is a cool little pin. I saw it for sale in Houston a couple of years ago for like $700 or something like that and I kinda wish I would've bought it but oh well. Most people usually want $1500 or more for their pins if they are in good shape. One of these days I am going to add one to the game room.
- April 5, 2011 at 5:46 PM
- gnome said...
Welcome back most refreshed MadPlanet. Must have been quite a trip eh? Did you try any of them abandoned Interstates?
Oh and Sea Wolf. Never seen one in person, mind, but it must be a pretty amazing thing. Cheers!
- April 6, 2011 at 4:24 AM
- MadPlanet said...
Thank you friend Gnome! I did spend some time on Route 66 and, truth be told, did indeed get my kicks.
If I ever get around to actually owning real arcade games Sea Wolf would definitely be on my buy list for pre-1980 games along with Death Race, Asteroids, Space Invaders, Pong, crap - there's just too many...
- April 6, 2011 at 10:00 AM
- gnome said...
Thing is I really don't know what would be better. Travelling them abandoned American highways or owning an arcade. Hmm... Decisions, decisions.
- April 7, 2011 at 2:20 AM
- MadPlanet said...
Perfect solution - why don't you buy/build an arcade in Los Angeles, fly into Chicago, rent a car and drive the 2,400 miles of Route 66 to your arcade. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone!
- April 7, 2011 at 10:06 AM
- Fallguy40 said...
Just be sure to have a refreshing soda at Pop's in Arcadia, Oklahoma (just a few short miles from the palatial Fallguy estate), and avoid the jail in Oatman, Arizona.
- April 7, 2011 at 5:59 PM
- MadPlanet said...
Oatman! Damn - I was trying to remember the name of that ghost town when we were in AZ and I couldn't. Fallguy your memory is a lot better than mine!
- April 7, 2011 at 7:45 PM
- Anonymous said...
I was hassled about returning a defective toy and 2 of the employees could not be bothered to answer a few simple questions. When I reported this to one of the owners, she was dismissive and couldn't care less.
In addition, several machines malfunctioned and trying to get help was an uphill battle.
- May 21, 2011 at 2:02 PM
- MadPlanet said...
Really? That was not my experience at all, but you may have interacted with different people than I did.
I saw a few games that were not functional but overall the games I played were very well-maintained and in good condition. They have SO many games though that you may have been playing different ones. I hardly touched any of the redemption games upstairs because that's not really my bag.
- May 21, 2011 at 2:20 PM


text:
Isn't Miss Binks just the prettiest bunny? These are her two new additions to her bunny wardrobe. First up is a nice hat to keep her ears warm and the other is a tiara with crystal beads for those days when she feels extra princess-y...
Mom got these from Bunspace. There is a group on Bunspace called Bunnies In Need and they sell and auction things to raise money for less fortunate bunnies. The hat and tiara were both hand-made by the mommy of a bunn named Trinket (http://www.bunspace.com/view_bunny?bunid=5086). She calls the hats "Tinky Couture" and the tiaras are "Tinky Bling". Miss Binks is proud to have these originals in her collection.
As beautiful as Binky is, I sure am glad Mom didn't get anything for me. Apparently the "lop hats" didn't come small enough for me and well, I'm not wearing a tiara! The last thing I wore was that stupid Superman costume for Halloween. "I thought you liked it Fluffy - remember? It had a red cape and everything! You were one tough lop in that costume!" Yeah, sure Mom. I'm not falling for that again. I suppose the next thing you will be saying is it takes a real tough bunny to wear a tiara - nope! Not this bunny!


text:
Major news Truebies! Make that humongous news! Recently HBO announced that it would be making episode 2, "You Smell Like Dinner" of True Blood Season 4 available on HBO on Demand. But now the honor has also been extended to HBO Go which means if you are an HBO subscriber, you can watch it as long as you register. The announcement came via HBO's twitter account tonight:
On June 26 when True Blood Season 4 premieres, see Episode 2 a full week early @HBOGO. REGISTER:http://itsh.bo/hzgBOG#trueblood
And a promo advertising it can be watched right here:
The power is in your hands Truebies. So tell us, are you going to watch episode 2 early or will you wait? Comment below!
Sources: Twitter.com- "@HBO"
YouTube.com-"True Blood"
Video Credit: Jenpero and HBO, Inc.
Image Credit: HBO, Inc.


text:
I know it has been a while since I've done an outfit post. Between my traveling and then the hubby traveling and then having the last few weeks of rain and work hell, I've either not had anything interesting on or I just haven't had time to capture what I wore.
This week was short and I had meetings on top of meetings, including several with new and potential clients, so I did make more of an effort.
One outfit that I wore was this:
12-15-08 by Princess Poochie
The outfit was a black camisole, pencil skirt and ribbed tights with vintage black 1960s pumps. Over that I wore my boucle/shiny houndstooth blazer from JCrew and a very special necklace.
Yes, I was very excited to recieve my Paraphernalia Menagerie Cpt Poulet Cultural Attache necklace. I had to wear it right away! I love so much of the Paraphernalia pieces but I especially love the chicken related pieces.
Isn't he handsome? He looks just like my Napoleon. I loves him! Oh, and if you love Paraphernalia too, there is usually a code in the ad over there to the right that you can use to get some of her great pieces at a discount. If you don't see one, just drop me a comment or an email!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Ensemble du Jour
Graciously shared by Poochie at 10:57 AM
Search me, baby black, boucle, green, houndstooth, isaac mizrahi, jcrew, metallic, outfit, paraphernalia, pencil skirt, target
4 comments:
- WendyB said...
Great jacket!
- December 19, 2008 at 11:59 AM
- Mommie D said...
I love chickens. Especially when mixed with BBQ and bourbon sauce. Yum.
- December 19, 2008 at 1:30 PM
- Swell Vintage - Frankie said...
I love the outfit - very Cher from Clueless! Also, I love Paraphernalia, so thanks for the code! x
- December 19, 2008 at 4:53 PM
- Toni said...
Wow that outfit is stunning, you have great style! I also love the Attache necklace it's totally unique!
I am in love with that jacket and cute skirt and would top off the look with my gorgeous diamond earrings my fiance bought me from www.idonowidont.com and feel like a total fashionista when I go downtown.
I agree, it's very Cher and totally awesome.
- December 19, 2008 at 5:23 PM
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text:
JayAnna Gamer
San Pedro Valley High School
August Student of the Month
Senior, JayAnna Gamer is San Pedro Valley High School's August Student of the Month. She was selected by the staff for this award, because of her hard work and dedication to her studies. JanAnna stands out amongst her peers, because of her excellent attendance, exemplary behavior, and academic performance in her classes.
After graduation in May, JayAnna plans on going to college to be a physical therapist.
As Student of the Month, JayAnna will be recognized at the SPVHS Graduation Ceremony and Recognition Night on May 21 with a plaque.
In addition, her name will remain on the 2013-2014 school year Student of the Month perpetual plaque that hangs in the school's front office.


text:
For once I'm actually using a blog post as inspiration.
The post in question is titled "Shock and Awe without El Kabong". To summarize, it mentions a new missile being developed by Boeing which has the ability to generate a directed EMP effect - allowing it to neatly fry any electronic devices in a target as the missile flies past. The post continues to point out that such technology could be used to disable defenses while greatly limiting collateral damage.
Certainly, I'm happy to see it - improvements in precision weapons and nonlethal weapons make it easier for me to do my job while avoiding civilian deaths. That said, I'd also like to point out that this is far from a perfect solution. Granted, I think the author of the original blog post probably knows that, given the caveats that were included along with the proposed additional uses, but it's worth emphasizing that this, like every other technological advancement in history, can only change the nature of war so much.
One of these problems is the ability to defend against this missile's attack. There are some things which by their very nature will not be easily protected - building a Faraday cage around an antenna tends to make the antenna stop working. However, there's a lot more that can be isolated either with such devices or by building them that much deeper underground (and the blog post in question specifically calls out "provided they have not moved things underground" as one of its caveats). Even if the only recourse is to carefully switch your defense stations between "offline, useless, shielded" and "online, useful, unprotected", that's still more options than you get when your defense stations are smoking craters.
There are also some things that can't be effectively attacked with such technology. A rifle-wielding infantryman may wind up in trouble if he loses communications, night vision, or other electronic assists. He still has the capability to pose a threat, though, and many military technologies are designed with manual backups specifically so that they can continue to pose a threat even if something breaks. The Internet is another example. I've read the original blog post two or three times now and I still have no idea why the author thinks frying Wikileaks servers is plausible - or why he thinks that would do any good. Given the proliferation of mirrors, backups, and additional routers and paths, keeping anything off the air by hitting its storage media or communications links is the next best thing to impossible - at best, it would require a massive intelligence effort to find all of those things, followed by the political will to engage in quite a bit of "collateral damage" to mirror sites and archives that serve other sites as well as the one you were targeting. (Granted, "provided we can pinpoint servers" is the caveat listed with that idea, so I think the author understands that the idea isn't exactly a sure thing. Still, I think such a brief phrase vastly understates the difficulty of that task.) The same idea applies to using it to counter cyber operations - pinpointing their sources in real time remains difficult (at least, to the best of my understanding).
Finally, collateral damage remains a possibility. I alluded to that above when I pointed out that some servers run things we like along with things we don't like. One of the other possibilities here is that we could take out computerized regulatory/control systems for utilities, airports, or any number of other things - and that could have quite a few consequences, including death, for any noncombatants that really needed power or heat right then.
With all that said, I'll close out by acknowledging that I like the look of this new weapon myself. As I was saying above, there are manual backups - but the reason they are the backups is because they are less effective than the primary (electronic) methods. We still have to think about our tactics carefully and acknowledge that this won't save us from sometimes having to kill people - but this particular weapon gives us more nonlethal options than we had, and that's not a bad thing.


text:
Robb Wolf will be in Vancouver July 9th presenting the information from his book new book "The Paleo Solution":
"Spend 1 day with New York times best selling author, Robb Wolf, learning how a Paleo/Evolutionary Medicine approach can explain the science behind modern disease. This seminar expands significantly upon the information presented in The Paleo Solution. It is highly recommended that attendees either have a basic science background and/or have recently read The Paleo Solution book. The cost of this seminar is $195.
Time: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
The day includes:
Basic science curricula:
Macronutrients-protein, carbohydrate and fats
Endocrinology-Hormones (insulin, glucagon, cortisol, PYY, CCK, Leptin)
Receptors, up and down regulation, competitive inhibition
Inflammation-Overview of immune cells and immune response
Genotype vs Phenotype
Acute vs chronic sepsis
Digestion overview
Pathogenesis of
Gut permeability (leaky gut)
Metabolic Syndrome (type 2 diabetes, infertility, cardiovascular disease)
Evolutionary implications of exercise
Why, How much, What types, How often?
Evolutionary Medicine perspective on lifestyle:
Sleep & Photo period
Cortisol & Stress
Effective Supplementation
Recommended lab work
Practical application- Nutrition, exercise and lifestyle considerations for:
Fat loss
Muscle gain
Athletic performance
Clinical examples of Paleo Solution successes
The seminar will begin at 8:30 am and finish at 4:30 pm with a 1 hour break for lunch.
Location: UBC Robson Square 800 Robson St. Vancouver"
To sign up click here.


text: From tomorrow, Dave Sim submits himself to HARDtalk, a no-holds-barred, a-question-a-day interview right here on A Moment Of Cerebus. Our guest interviewers - Stephen Holland (co-founder/owner of the UK-based comics store Page 45), Eric Hoffman (editor of the collected essays Cerebus The Barbarian Messiah) and Dominck Grace (co-editor with Eric of the upcoming Dave Sim: Conversations) - take turns each day in the interviewer's chair and give Dave a grilling that would make even The Comics Journal wince. Don't miss a minute of the action!


text:
More than half the sound files on the site have gone astray...I believe I am not the only blog with this problem (Proudfoot -you also have some sound files missing) . Divshare has been a great service -it's easy to use, storage space is ample and they promise that your files will be "online forever". Plus it's free...
I contacted Divshare Support and this is the reply
"We experienced a server failure which has resulted in the loss of a
small number of files. Currently our recommendation is that affected
users re-upload any files which are missing. Please accept our
apologies for the interruption of service. We are continually working
to improve the DivShare service and have already taken steps to ensure
this does not happen again"


text:
It was said in ages past, that the god Aroden forged a great shield made of of the light of the blazing sun. In this shield, the Last Azlanti, imbued his righteousness and hatred of evil so that, even should he fall, and the realm turn to darkness, hope could be renewed. Yet, when Aroden fell, his shield too, was lost, not surfacing again for over 3 millennia.
In 4548 A.R. a knight of Aroden called Kandara led a sortie into the World Wound to defeat a particularly malignant group of demons. She succeeded, and came back once again with the Sheild of the Sun.
The shield found itself born by many righteous paladins through almost another 2 centuries, when, in 4706 it came to Reginale of the Green. An exceptional man, and even more exceptional knight, Reginale was, however, prideful. In his arrogance, Reginale attracted the attention of Asmodeus who swore to undo the knight.
Little is known about how exactly Asmodeus turned the knight to his own nefarious ends, but it is known that Reginale undertook a mission to destroy the shield by casting it into the Well of Eternal Night. Reginale succeeded, but during his mission fell from grace and thus not quite meeting the criteria to destroy the shield, the artifact was shattered in a brilliant explosion of power, leaving bits of itself far and wide across Golarion.
These bits take the form of glowing golden liquid that, when harvested properly can later be used to wield a tiny fraction of the power of Aroden himself. When dormant, the liquid hangs suspended in the air in the form of a Golden Orb.
Using the Golden Orb involves a special ritual at dawn in which one recites prayers and dabs the liquid on his forehead, and shield arm. Once so anointed, the Orb takes on the form of a Golden Shield for 24 hours.
While active this grants a +7 shield bonus to the bearer and enables the wearer to cast spells as if she were a Paladin of 20th level with a Charisma of 20. In addition, the shield grants spell resistance 15 and also absorbs the first 10 points of any energy damage dealt to the wearer as if the wearer had energy resistance to acid, cold, fire, electricity and sonic.
Once used in this manner, the shield fades with the next rising of the sun. It is said, though, that once every Golden Orb is found and used by a righteous person to defeat evil then the Shield of the Sun itself will be reformed on the side of the righteous.


text:
A range of critiques and assessments of the men's rights movement have been published in recent years. This XY collection focuses on academic or scholarly critiques of men's rights and anti-feminist backlash. See below for the pieces, in PDF.
Also see:
- Men's rights: accessible critiques: http://www.xyonline.net/content/mens-rights-collection-accessible-critiques
- Fathers' rights: academic critiques: http://www.xyonline.net/content/fathers-rights-xy-collection-critiques
- Other materials on men's rights and fathers' rights: http://www.xyonline.net/category/article-content/mens-fathers-rights
- Men's rights, backlash, etc.: academic references: http://www.xyonline.net/content/31-men%E2%80%99s-rights-anti-feminist-ba...
- Fathers' rights: academic references: http://www.xyonline.net/content/fathers-rights


text:
In 1989, Helen Sharman, a research chemist from Yorkshire, answered a radio advert. The advert said, "Astronaut wanted, no experience necessary." After beating 13,000 other applicants for a place on Project Juno, Sharman blasted off in 1991 to visit the Mir space station. She was the first Briton in space.
Over the last few weeks, the British public has gone wild for Tim Peake. Understandably so. Space travel is exciting and it is unfamiliar. As technology advances, scientists are coming to understand more and more about our universe, but space remains a mystery for most of us. The colossal blackness seems impossible to comprehend, and as such, any foray into its darkness is fascinating and compelling. Peake's achievements are impressive and deserve to be noted. He beat over 8,000 other applicants for his place on the expedition and underwent rigorous training. As the seventh British born person in space, and the sixth British born person to visit the International Space Station, he remains a rare breed.
But not quite as rare as some may lead us to believe. Tim Peake is not the first Briton in space. He is the first publicly funded Brit, which I guess is quite exciting, but I think the reason for his popularity lies elsewhere. Peake is the first British space traveller in the social media era. He tweets, he sends funny videos, he tells us about his bacon sandwich and cups of tea. He slides neatly into the superficial paradigm of what it means to be British, and so we glorify in both his Britishness and his accessibility. His mission, Principia, has a website with easily downloadable branding and logos (in a number of different colours and formats as I discovered). Thus any space-mad child can have the Principia logo emblazoned across their bedroom walls and windows.
I would like to ascribe our fascination with Peake, and disregard of Sharman's shattered glass-ceiling simply to the era we live in. To the internet. To twitter. To cups of tea and bacon sandwiches. Unfortunately, I don't think this is quite true. Forgetting Sharman's achievements is uncomfortably reminiscent of science's propensity to forget other women. Women who changed the face of science as we know it, yet whose work went largely unrecognised until very recently. Over time, we have developed a disturbing trait of writing women out of our history. In most cases, the odds they faced were significantly greater than their male counterparts, however they were overlooked, disregarded, forgotten.
Perhaps the most famous of these women is Rosalind Franklin, the British chemist whose X-ray techniques were essential for Watson and Crick's understanding of the structure of DNA. She is not alone. Consider Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who discovered pulsars in 1967. In order to make her discovery, she had to analyse the data printed on three miles of paper from a radio telescope which she had helped to make. Her discoveries resulted in a Nobel prize, which inexplicably went to two of her colleagues. Two of her male colleagues.
When we do accept the importance of women's contributions to science, we strive to make them palatable. To squeeze their achievements into the confined space that women have eked out for themselves in the scientific narrative. Florence Nightingale is remembered solely on the basis of her nursing achievements. On her ability to hold a lamp, to nurse the wounded and to maintain cleanliness. In fact, she was an impressive mathematician, and an early pioneer in the graphical representation of statistics.
The odds really were stacked impossibly high for these women, yet they all succeeded in one way or another. Given this historical context, our attitude to Helen Sharman, in that she's basically unknown, takes a more sinister turn. The speed with which we forget women's achievements, particularly in science is shameful and part of a wider reluctance to accept that women can be successful in the STEM subjects. The situation is improving, yet women remain underrepresented in the sciences at all levels of the education system and into the workforce.
So, when you get excited about Tim Peake over the next six months, remember who came before him and what she represents. Sharman was the first Briton in space, and one of the youngest out of the 545 people who have got up there. She underwent 18 months of gruelling training for just seven days in space and conducted a number of important experiments in that time.
If we have forgotten her, who else are we yet to remember?


text:
This Friday's Question:
When You're Not Reading: What occupies your time
when your nose isn't stuck in a book?
Blogging about books and writing takes up quite a bit of my time nowadays (especially if I'm setting up new social pages like I was yesterday with Facebook). The rest of my time is split as follows:
- Music activities, e.g. playing with my brass band, learning music theory, singing with choirs/at church
- Craft activities, e.g. tapestry work, card making, making soaps / bubble bath, decopatch
- Church activities, e.g. stewarding, attending services, creche
- Youth activities, e.g. volunteering work in schools
- Going for walks
- Watching TV


text:
We had a much needed slow and relaxing couple of days this weekend. I was looking forward to nothing more then a Saturday night in with my 3 favourite guys (Steven and Ant and Dec, obvs.) and some good food. On Sunday we decided to get out the house and go to Thai Corner Cafe in East Dulwich which is pretty much up there as one of my favourite places for pad thai, the service is a little ropey but the food is good and its byob (make sure you book on weekend evenings though). The spring rolls are really really good too, I think I'm yet to find better (happily to be proven wrong) so definitely order those if you go. I'd recommend going to The Actress which is just up the road for a pint and some dessert after.
On Saturday Freya kindly let me into her house to photograph her and her fiancé Adam for a little bit of practise. I haven't quite finished editing them yet but at the end of the shoot we did take a few pics of Freya at her oh so very beautiful desk (and her beautiful dog Molly that I fell madly in love with). It's got me thinking that I might try and start a photo project on bloggers at their desks, if you're a blogger, with a desk (or similar) - then please let me know if I can invade your space for an hour :)
Labels: BLOGGERS , PHOTOGRAPHY , PORTRAIT
A very simple but certainly one of my favourite breakfasts of a soft boiled egg (with a pinch of salt) on toast with a little rocket on the side.
Labels: FOOD , PHOTOGRAPHY
After a couple of months of late nights and too many conversations in my head over the colour of grey I wanted to use, I am very pleased to say that I have officially launched my new website.
The images are broken down into 3 categories that I enjoy photographing - and that I want to photograph; weddings, travel and food, all of which I hope to be adding more to in the near future.
I am very keen to keep my blog and website separate for now, my blog is for showing any pictures I want, little snap shots of my life and what I've been up to as well as the restaurants/places I've visited and talking about it all in a little detail.
My website is my portfolio, it shows a selected range of images that fit into the categories. I'm hoping that as I get a wider range of work, my website format will change a little to show images in photo stories - maybe even published ones. But that will all come with time.
I've been really pushing myself recently to take on new challenges and start working for other people and make new working relationships - so far, it has been going well so I'm hoping it carries on this way. It just feels good to have my website finished.
I'd love to know what you think about it.
Labels: PHOTOGRAPHY
Last weekend I finally made it to Jackson & Rye and I certainly wasn't disappointed - with the interior. Inside it is so beautiful and very fitting of the New York style they have gone for, they have paid such attention to detail and everything is in keeping with the theme. I really wish I had gone dressed in a 60s style dress and pretended I was in Mad Men for an afternoon (unfortunately no Don Drapers were around so I soon snapped out of that day dream). The food, however, was a tad disappointing. I ordered the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich - they have two buttermilk fried chicken options on the menu, one as a sandwich and one with slaw, I pointed and said out loud 'the sandwich please' but was still brought the slaw dish, which is only slightly annoying for me but I can't imagine how many times a day that happens to the chefs. The sandwich was nice but doesn't really compare to Spit and Roast's buttermilk chicken burgers (I craved one of those for weeks after) and the waiters were a little off but we were quite thankful they left us alone for over an hour so we could have a good catch up. The dessert though, wow. It was some crazy chocolate dome and when hot butterscotch sauce is drizzled over the top, the chocolate melts away to reveal cream and ice cream and some crunchy bits - if you go, make sure you get this. Absolutely ridiculous and so indulgent but worth every penny of the £6.50. I'd love to know what anyone else thought if you've been?
I'm been really enjoying buying more flowers over the past couple of weeks, they certainly make our room a bit perkier. Also I'm definitely making use of the lighter days we're having, the light in our living room in the late afternoon is just lovely.
Labels: FLOWERS , PHOTOGRAPHY
Wow there seems to be a lot of restaurant food pics happening on this blog at the minute. I've been keeping myself busy with getting a few things sorted which I'll let you know about in the week (sorry, I hate it when people do that) and haven't had much extra time to do anything else - except go out for food too as it seems! This weekend was so beautiful and London was really looking its best, so we decided to go hide in a Japanese restaurant for some delicious food. Judging by how busy it was, so did the rest of London!
Hope you had a good weekend!
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Hi, I created a paper catalogue for the majority of papers that we use. Currently we are using two types of output profile - either COATED or UNCOATED. In paper catalogue, I defined which types of paper should use which type of output profiles. However, when I import a job, assign it paper from paper catalogue (for example "200gr_EXPRESSION_GLOSS_COATED SRA3 White" and then I go to Color settings of the job, I would expect COATED output profile and calibration to be assigned to it? However, there is still the default value (which is UNCOATED).
See the 3 attached pics.


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From Our Editors
From inside a converted Victorian church, Manchester Climbing Centre offers an indoor oasis for climbers of all ages and abilities. The walls are awash with 75 climbing lines of all shapes and sizes, some soaring 20 metres above ground, while bouldering can be practised in two dedicated areas. A cafe, gear shop and meeting room round out the facilities, while a variety of courses, coaching, kids clubs and birthday party services are also on offer.


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Write a book. Same thing we do every night, Pinky: Try to take over the world. Held a private workshop today, one of my favorite things to do, so we know I can talk the talk, but can I write the write? We'll see. I'm going to absent myself from society for the next two weeks, see what good that does me; in the meantime, I've been picking out some draft excerpts from last year's nano-novel, which will be automatically posted to the site every few days. I thought I'd put them up in their raw, unedited form, so you can see what goes into a first draft of mine and what I skip over and save for the next draft. For instance, when I write the first draft of a conversation, I just write the dialogue and the broad strokes, and it's usually very "on the nose," and I don't skip lines between speakers or add quotation marks, nor do I add much in the way of attributions or stage directions ("he said, throwing the spear at the ninja burglar"), so it winds up looking like this bit, which I posted last year:
Nothing I do is right anymore. She wants to be reassured. When has that ever been his role? Did he ever promise to be the guy who reassures people? He sighs. I never said that. But you indicate that. You indicate it all the time. Abigail, you're making things up. Don't negate my reality. He can barely keep his eyes from rolling.
For ease of reading, I've broken down these passages so you can keep track of what's said and what's thought, and who the speaker/thinker is, as such:
Nothing I do is right anymore, she complains.
She wants to be reassured. When has that ever been his role? Did he ever promise to be the guy who reassures people? He sighs. I never said that.
But you indicate that. You indicate it all the time.
Abigail, you're making things up.
Don't negate my reality.
He can barely keep his eyes from rolling.
See? You're rolling your eyes at me.
I am most certainly not rolling my eyes at you. I am trying to determine what you're trying to say here, and how I can possibly convince you out of something you've decided is real.
You could convince me by acting like you like me every once in a while.
That's neither accurate nor fair, he says. I gave you keys to my apartment; isn't that an indicator of how I feel? I've introduced you to my father. I've told you, I've never had a relationship like this one before, and yet you keep telling me it's not enough. I'm starting to feel like I'm the one who can't do anything right.
His father's genes in him. He would have made an excellent lawyer.
In a second draft, I would spend more time setting the scene, both externally and inside the head of the guy, from whose point of view the scene is meant to be set. I'd show them moving around the small kitchen area, her seated on a stool by the counter while he paced back and forth in front of the burners; you'd hear their voices and see their faces, their mannerisms. I'd rework the line about keeping his eyes from rolling, because it's an overused phrase; and I'd try to find a subtler way to introduce the thoughts expressed in the last two lines. And I'd definitely take out him saying "Abigail," as I've found that most people don't use each other's names a lot in conversation unless they're trying to sell them something.
So this is probably way too arcane and who cares, but I'm generally curious about the way other writers actually work, the logistics of it, in case they've found a way to make it any goddamn easier to write that I could use for myself. Here's something that makes it easier for me: writing first drafts with placeholders, rather than wringing out the perfect word and phrase for everything as I go. It's like drawing: First the face is an oval, then it's an oval with lines all over it, then it's an oval with lines all over it and eye holes, and then after a few more steps you erase the lines and start working on the eyelashes. You don't start with the hair at the left side of the head and work your way across the face, you know what I mean?
Anyway, placeholder scenes from an unfinished novel will be popping up on the site for the next two weeks; make of them what you will, or nothing at all. I will be unresponsive via internet through the weekend of the 16th/17th, but look forward to returning to the blogging world with yet more placeholder scenes from unfinished novels to my name.
Happy new year, still. Happy all year 'round.


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Free shipping in the USA (lower 48) when your order is over $89 (excluding gift certificates and sales tax, if applicable).
In Stock. A beautiful piece! The flowing of a river is reflected in this wonderful tune that will build slow bows for beginners. An introduction to melodic, sustained playing that is suitable for young players.
� 2019 Music44. All rights reserved.


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Here's a model of the Clockwork Scarab from Tomb Raider IV: the Last Revelation. Lara can wind up this little mechanical bug and set it on specific paths to have it do her bidding :)
In addition to the model upload, I have 3 HUGE models in development right now, as well as quite a few smaller ones. AOD Lara has been put on hold due to the fact that I cannot seem to get the model extraction program working on my computer. Plenty to tide you over till then though!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Clockwork Scarab
Posted by Saschacraft at 5:27 PM
Labels: Tomb Raider 4
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Sales Have Ended
Sales Have Ended
Do you find it difficult to express yourself on your website?
Do you ever feel you're 'not creative enough' or 'too shy'?
Is your content confusing and you don't know what's relevant?
Engaging clients and customers through your web presence is essential in building, and creating a trusted relationship with them.
In this workshop, you will gain clarity and learn to identify your key messages and online strategy. Understand your target audience and apply language that connects and engages them. Develop copywriting style that reflects your unique business expertise and learn how to maximise engagement on your website through other online marketing. During the workshop, you will also write copy (or revamp) your Home, About and Services webpages, as well as get expert feedback.
This workshop is perfect for small business owners launching their website or existing small business owners wanting to enhance their web presence for more effective online marketing.
Meet our facilitator - PJ Aguilar, Simplicity Business Support
PJ Aguilar loves supporting business owners with a vision, who are empowered to bring their passion to life. She is the Strategy + Vision Designer at Simplicity Business Support, specialising in helping solopreneurs with web presence, online marketing and tech support. Together with her team, they assist small business owners make a positive impact through website design and development, with a focus on creative expression, engaging online strategies and streamlined systems.
PJ has over 14 years' experience in marketing, communications, business development and administration.
Prior to being in small business, PJ held key roles in government and corporate sectors, including at the Australian National University Marketing and Communications Unit, Origin Communications Group, the Office for Women and the Community Grants Hub. She has extensive experience across various portfolios in account management, national social marketing campaigns and training. PJ has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and is currently completing her studies in New Small Business. PJ loves running and yoga, and lives in Canberra with her young family.
What are my transport/parking options for getting to and from the event?
Information on the venue and parking options is available at http://airportbusinessparks.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/BBP-Meet-Locations1.pdf.
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Email firstname.lastname@example.com with any questions you may have about the event.
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You do not need to bring your ticket to the event.
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Yes, update your registration information on EventBrite.
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American Dixieland Legends
Wild Bill Davison
- First Recordings: 1924 with the Chubb -Steinberg Orchestra
- 1941: moved to New York
- 1943: Records famous Commodore Sessions with George Brunies, Pee Wee Russell, Eddie Condon, George Wettling etc.
- 1950: Hit Record – 'Bonapartes Retreat' with Gene Krupa's Chicago Jazz
- '50s: Working with Condon, Records 'Pretty Wild' album with Strings.
- '60, 70s & 80s: With Condon and freelance, touring the world, including living in Denmark for a while.
- May 1989: Legends of American Dixieland Tour with Art Hodes & John Petters Dixielanders.
Art Hodes
- Born: Arthur W Hodes in Nikoliev, Russia 14th November 1904. Moves to Chicago age 6 months.
- 1928: First Recordings with Wingy Manone Band which included Gene Krupa
- 1938: Moved to New York
- 1940s: House pianist with Blue Note Records, records with Wild Bill and Sidney Bechet. Other sessions with Baby Dodds, etc. Writes for the 'Jazz Record' Magazine.
- 1950s - 1980s: Leads own band, tours as a solo artiste, records and hosts own TV Show, 'Jazz Alley'
- May 1989: Legends of American Dixieland tour with Wild Bill Davison & John Petters Dixielanders
- 4th March 1993: Dies in Harvey, Illinois aged 88.
The Legends of American Dixieland Tour May 1989
Imagine the lunacy of fixing a tour of the UK for an 83 year old cornet player, living in Santa Barbara, California, and an 85 year old piano player, resident in Chicago, Illinois. This was the position in which I found myself in October 1988, after playing a triumphant concert at the Cork Opera House as part of that city's prestigious jazz festival, and recording a CD with two of the most important white, Dixieland musicians in the history of the jazz. The story of how this came about begins a few years earlier, in 1983. I was organising occasional Swing concerts at the Playhouse Theatre in Harlow, Essex, when the opportunity to book Wild Bill Davison presented itself. To me Bill was a hero. He had worked with Bechet and Art Hodes on those sensational Blue Note sessions in the mid '40s – some of the most exciting and freewheeling jazz ever waxed.
Bill must have been happy with the backing we gave him and readily agreed to record in 1986 with a band that included piano professor, Martin Litton and the French soprano sax star Jean Francoise Bonnell. The following year, I was leading my Dixie Marching Band at the Soho Jazz Festival, which included a press shoot in Soho Square - at the opening by Earl Alexander of Tunis. Promoter Peter Boizot had arranged for an upright piano to be wheeled into place and seated at its keyboard was the veteran Hot piano man, Art Hodes. Art's response when introduced to the Earl was, "Gee, I've never played for royalty before, except Paul Newman". Art seemed to enjoy my playing and readily agreed to take part in a trio recording session, with clarinettist, Trevor Whiting. A coffee or two in the Pizza Express sealed the deal and a list of tunes was agreed.
Like me, Trevor had grown up listening to the Hodes – Davison – Bechet 'Blue Note' sessions and the recording, a couple of days later, found us in an unreal setting. Here we were making an album with a jazz legend. Art was so impressed with the session, (Sensation – CMJCD007) he told his agent to book him with the pair of us for his next tour. The London jazz scene was quite closed in those days and both Trevor and I felt outsiders. Needless to say we were not booked for the following tour, although I did play a trio session with Art at the Towner Gallery, Eastbourne in the company of Kenny Davern in 1988. Early that year, I was engaged to play drums with Wild Bill at Bourne, Buckinghamshire. Anne Davison, Bill's long suffering wife and minder said that the Wild One would like to play the Cork Jazz Festival. I had played there the previous year and mooted the idea of bringing Art Hodes over and offering Cork a reunion show.
Jack McGourhan the Director of the festival bought the idea and I arranged for Art and Bill to come over in October '88. I had set up CMJ Records with banjoist, Louis Lince and another friend and jazz enthusiast, Terry Maton and we took the opportunity to book a recording session. Both Terry and I, as Radio Amateurs, were into electronics and recording techniques and CMJ had purchased one of the early Digital recording systems, ideal for the then emerging Compact Disc technology.
The recordings were made direct to stereo, using two PZM condenser microphones, sold cheaply by Tandy, but viewed as essential for recording acoustic instruments by a respected audio magazine. We did want some insurance and booked the talented recording engineer, Dave Bennett to capture the session on his 8 track analogue tape machine. As it turned out, we did have a technical problem, so the CD, 'Together Again', (CMJCD003) was produced from both sources.
Given Bill's age and the fact that the cornet is that most punishing of instruments, we would have been happy with a couple of good tracks with 'adequate' Wild Bill. As it turned out, he played the complete session, turning out masterful performances on the issued takes. The British contingent on the session, besides Trevor and the drummer, were trombonist, Jack Free, one of our warmest players with a huge tone and my long time bass colleague, Keith Donald.
Bill and Art clearly enjoyed themselves and they readily agreed to return in May 1989 for an extended and serious tour. Terry Maton agreed to be co-promoter and I had the job of trying to sell the package, which we called, 'The Legends of American Dixieland'. I had been working with Max Collie's manager, Martin Ross, who taught me much about selling jazz shows to theatres. We had been marketing Max 's New Orleans Mardigras show successfully and I had already presented 'Queens of the Blues' with Beryl Bryden marking Bessie Smith's 50th Anniversary, so I thought selling these two American 'names' would be easy. With the massive contribution from jazz enthusiast, Gwen Main – a retired lady who had been helping me run the Harlow jazz sessions – we set about phoning theatres all over the country.
Wild Bill who? Was the response from managements all over the land, who had never heard of Bill or Art.
A different approach was called for
"Tell them they played for Al Capone in Chicago during the Roarin' '20s", I said. Gwen did and the dates started to pour in.
The formal theatre concerts we played included The Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, Worthing Pavilion, Bounemouth Pavilion, The Playhouse, Harlow, Bridgend Recreation Centre in South Wales, The Sovereign Centre, Eastbourne and concluded with the Albert Hall – the Bolton one! We also played a variety of jazz venues, including Norwich, Oxford, The Concorde Club, Eastleigh, Belfast and Falmouth.
We only wanted one London date and this was offered to Roger Horton at the 100 Club. After a process of negotiation over the fee, we accepted a 70 percent split of the box office. We had one date we could not fill, and Bill was booked as a guest at a jazz club while I secured the UCS Theatre at Hampstead for a solo gig by Art.
Jack Free was awaiting heart bypass surgery and was only able to play the local gigs, so we were very lucky to secure the services of Campbell Burnap for the English dates and Mike Pointon for the Northern Ireland concerts. Clarinettist, Dave Bailey, with whom I worked in the Ken Sims Dixie Kings was signed up for the clarinet chair. Scroll forward to early May 1989 and the final preparations for the tour. Bill and Anne were to be billeted with trumpeter Rod Hamer in Buckinghamshire, whilst Art and his wife Jan stayed at Terry Maton's house in Perivale.
We planned to record each concert for posterity, as we were all aware that this could be the last time either musician would be able to come to the UK. We also planned to play the concerts acoustically, where possible. The arrival day came. Terry went to meet Art and Jan and I went to Heathrow to welcome the Wild One. My confidence about getting through the next dozen or so dates was not boosted by the fact that my first sighting of Bill was in a wheelchair, chewing gum – he was being pushed through the airport by a staff member, whilst Anne walked alongside.
Anne and Bill were a splendid double act – rather like Stan and Ollie. "We're known as the Bickersons", she said. Her business card simply sated, 'Anne Davison – Slave'. She laid down the rules. No more than three cigarettes a day and certainly no booze because of Bill's ulcers. So Bill would cadge fags from other musicians and fans. "Where do you hide them?" I asked.
"I put 'em in my cornet case, she doesn't look in there. And I've got a pair of old shoes she doesn't look in either!" he told me.
Anne had met Bill in the '50s, when she was a 20th Century Film starlet. She swopped a promising movie career for a life devoted to keeping Bill alive. She allowed Bill fifty pence a day spending money. He could have as many dollars as he liked – because he couldn't spend them while he was in England. Dave Bailey recalls:
Bill and Art could not have been more different in character, Bill tended to be brash, forthright and a very good entertainer holding an enthralled audience in his hand with jokes and anecdotes from his past. Art on the other hand was quiet and introspective, a man who knew exactly what he was doing about the keyboard, he was for me, the quintessential support for the 'Knights in Shining Armour' out front, he fed you beautifully supportive laid back chords that inspired one to ever greater inventiveness. At the end of the tour I received one of the greatest compliments of my entire playing career when Art Hodes turned to me and said quite simply "You are a free spirit". That, coming from one of the great American jazz musicians was humbling indeed
Art was a deeply creative musician. He had stayed with me for a couple of days during the 1988 trip. He went straight to my record collection and pulled out different things he wanted to hear. He wanted to keep listening and recording. "I still have things to say", he told me. What was it like working with Bechet on those Blue Notes? "They were my sessions", he said.
Art was the house pianist at Blue Note for a while. So the teaming of Bill and Bechet was his idea. He was also a writer in those days and published a magazine called 'The Jazz Record'.The enmity between the traditionalists and modernists in the mid forties was bitter. Art fought his corner for the old style. Leonard Feather took the opposite view. As a result of Art being branded a "mouldy fig", he lost out on a recording date with Lester Young, which would have been an interesting collaboration as both were rooted in the Blues.
Jan Hodes had been a piano student of Art's, and she was a talented pianist in her own right - she contributed greatly to the show performing duets with her husband. They were a quiet and devoted couple whose relationship was clearly different to the public persona expressed by the Davisons. The first date, Monday 9th May was at the Norwich Labour Hall. We arrived in the city and got lost. No Sat. Nav. in those days. We went to a Pizza restaurant, but Bill was anxious to get to the venue to practice. Leaving Anne with the rest of the band, we set off. As soon as he was away from his wife, the mischievous little boy in Bill surfaced. He enjoyed admiring the local 'talent' on the streets of Norwich on this early spring evening.
We started talking about music. I asked him about drummers. His favourite was Cliff Leeman. He remembered Baby Dodds as being what he called 'old time'. I asked him about Pee Wee Russell. He said he always felt that he needed to help him out. "Who did he like?" I asked him. "Ed Hall" came the reply. As Bill quipped to the audience that night, "We went around and around and around and we kept coming back to that old wall". "It's great to be here", said Art. "At my age it's great to be anywhere".
Louis Lince had managed to get hold of a professional Sony Movie camera and filmed the session. A couple of the numbers from the concert are on my YouTube channel. Louie also sat in with the band on banjo for a couple of numbers.
Next day we played Harlow to a sell-out in the 400 plus seat main auditorium at the Playhouse. Jack Free was on this session. Louis again filmed the concert, but sadly twenty years on, the video tape was unplayable, and I only have an old Betamax copy. Dave Bailey recalls an amusing incident from the show.
Between two numbers. Bill mistook my clarinet stand for his and unknown to either of us jammed his trumpet onto it. The consequence being that Bill's first note on the next number failed to materialise, it took quite a few minutes to extract my clarinet mouthpiece cap from his trumpet, using a piece of bent wire from a clothes hanger, to the merriment of the audience, some of whom I swear thought it part of the act"
Wednesday 11th May found us at the 100 Club and another packed house. This was the last session Jack was able to play with the band.By this time, we were getting into a routine. 'Lady Be Good' was the usual opener. Then 'Someday, You'll Be Sorry', 'Squeeze Me',' Avalon', 'After Youv'e Gone', ' Hindustan' etc. Dave would be featured on 'Rose Room' with the rhythm section. A few piano features, usually a Hoagy tune, Art was fond of 'Washboard Blues' and 'Snowball'. Other times he would play 'Grandpa's Spells' or 'Summertime'. Jan Hodes would join him at the piano and the two would duet on some boogie-woogie or a medley of '20s hits. Then the band came back on for the set closer.Two dates in Northern Ireland followed. We flew from Luton Airport to a welcome from the Apex Jazz Band as we arrived in Belfast.
This was captured by Ulster TV and the two Americans were very appreciative of the attention they were given. BBC Ulster Jazz Club presenter, Walter Love, interviewed Bill and Art and was responsible for the Belfast date. We had a Mercedes Bandwagon, driven by a super driver named Freddy. Mike Pointon was the trombonist for these two dates. Dave Bailey recalls, that Bill had remarked that both he and Mike were not correctly dressed as neither sported a tie.
Before the next concert Anne Davison hijacked two of Bill's ties for Mike and myself, as Bill looked at his tie that I was wearing, he just gave me a steely look, said nothing and tapped in the first number".Later Bill was heard to say as we walked onto the stage 'I'm playing with a bunch criminals'.
Driving through the Ulster countryside, Bill spied a solitary cow in a field. "Hi Annie", he cried, waving at the beast. "Wilhelm"! Was the cry from Mrs Davison. Whenever she was annoyed at Bill she would always address him in that manner. Come to think about I never heard her address him as Bill! Here's another incident. En-route to Eastbourne, Jan Hodes commented to Art that it was Mother's day soon. Anne picked up with, "You hear that Wilhelm, it's Mother's Day and you haven't gotten me anything". "You're not my Godamm mother Anne", he retorted. "Well I act like your mother", she answered. "Well you certainly are a MOTHER", stated Bill. To which his long suffering wife replied, "Wilhelm"!
The Eastbourne gig at the town's 'Sovereign Centre' promised all the possibilities of a disaster. We arrived at the venue. My contract specified a 'first class piano, tuned to concert pitch'. They supplied a first class piano – but it was an electric instrument and Art had never played one before! He coped marvellously.
The Bounemouth date at the Pavilion Theatre was however, the financial disaster of the tour. We had taken a percentage deal and the venue advertised the show on the wrong date. We were joined on stage by an old friend, clarinettist John Wurr. George Buck of Jazzology records subsequently issued much of the concert (along with tracks recorded at Bridgend) on the CD 'Coalition' (Jazzology JCD221). Those that came enjoyed it and the band gave it's all.
The Worthing Pavilion gig went exceptionally well and we were privileged to have top saxophonist, Danny Moss sit in with the band on 'Limehouse Blues'.
Campbell Burnap played 'Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You' as a duet with Art. Campbell told the audience "Back in the time when footballers wore long shorts and I was upstairs playing 78s of jazz – some of them were Art Hodes – my mother shouted up the stairs "that's never going to get you anywhere, all that stuff", and here I am playing with him and it's a great thrill". The gig at the Concorde Club, Eastleigh was a particular joy as Nat Gonella sand a number with the band.
The final three days of the tour were going to be hard - travelling wise. The first at Oxford was the only time that tension between the two octogenarians reared its ugly head.Bill called 'Hindustan'. Art played the introduction – perfectly. Bill fluffed the first note. He glared at Art. At the conclusion Bill picked up the microphone and said, "God dam piano player brought it in too god dam fast – he's trying to kill me".
We had arranged for Terry to drive Bill and Art with their ladies to a hotel on the Devon / Somerset border, as the next day we were due to play at Garras Jazz at Greenlawns Hotel, Falmouth. Art refused to go in the same car as Bill, choosing the slower bandwagon option. I went with Bill and Anne.
"I think Bill has upset Art", I said to Anne. "You hear that Wilhelm, you've upset Art and he's a sick old man", she said. "Yeah! Sick in the god dam brain – besides which he's a god dam communist!" cried Bill.
I was intrigued.Bill recalled with a degree of venom," He booked me for a parade in 1941 and it was for the god dam Reds and I haven't forgiven him for it". Next day it was all forgotten. We had an added treat on the Falmouth date. The wonderful and much missed Maxine Daniels. Roy Stears from BBC Radio Cornwall had arranged for the show to be recorded for broadcast. A happy relationship between Maxine and the two Legends was established and the capacity crowd clearly had a great time.
The Falmouth & Penryn Leader said "It's doubtful whether the two veterans could have found a better group to work with than the John Petters Group". For me, this was a difficult gig. I had an attack of gall stones and felt quite ill during the show. We faced a 350 mile journey to the Albert Hall in Bolton the following day. Friday 19th May 1989: This glorious Victorian concert hall had great acoustics. The band played its heart out. Sadly the recording suffers from a buzz caused by the lighting, but I can say that Bill played superbly that evening.
As well as the 'wild' Bill, there was the 'mild' Bill - the man who could play tender ballads with passion and sensitivity – in total contrast to the public persona. At the end of the evening Terry and I reflected that it was unlikely that we could do this again. We had partaken in a piece of jazz history. It is possible that we had the very last recordings by Wild Bill. As he and Anne flew back to California, we were unaware that a few months hence on 14th November 1989, Wild Bill would go off to join Gabriel's Jazz band in the sky.
Art wanted to come back to Britain following the 'Legends' tour, but kidney failure required dialysis treatment on a regular basis, which made his return impossible. Art passed away on 4th March 1993 aged 88.
Art gave me his business card on which he had written, "To John Petters, carrying the torch we lit".
This was a great honour indeed. Looking back and listening to the recordings of the tour twenty years on, I am very lucky to have been a part of this small piece of jazz history. It gave me a direct experience of playing with two of the music's most important personalities. It taught me a lot. Wild Bill played some great horn on that tour and even sang a few songs. This was not the Bill of the 1940s Commodore Sessions, but at 83 he still had that big, big sound and you knew it could only be him.
Art's prowess at the keyboard was not diminished by age. Every note drenched in the blues. He sounded like a black blues pianist. He had soaked up Jelly Roll Morton, Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong in the '20s – he was there on the Chicago scene at the time. When Art played, you were hearing the truth. Sadly we have since lost Maxine Daniels and most recently, Campbell Burnap, whose playing on the tour was perfect. My thanks go to Mike Pointon, Jack Free, Dave Bailey, Trevor Whiting, Keith Donald, Jan Hodes, Terry Maton, Gwen Main and Louie Lince who all contributed their talents so generously all those years ago.


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Nuptial rates vary from city-to-city and country-to-country, which is where these marriage statistics infographics help visually chart out the numbers. Marriage is a complex concept and many of these charts help to break down the stats when it comes to divorce rates as well as where you're most likely meet your potential partner. Additionally, you'll find great info on how children can both positively and negatively affect marriages these days.
On the political side, these statistical infographics also include a number of same-sex marriage charts that effectively detail where LGBTQ individuals can meet a potential partner, where they can marry and the best cities in North America to settle down. So, whether you're already married or just curious, these statistical marriage infographics will help answer a few of your questions on married life in the 21st century.
15 Matrimony Infographics
More Stats +/-
Online Infidelity Infographics
Same-Sex Infographics
Same-Sex Spousal Graphs
Matrimonial Ring Statistics
Effective Engagement Charts