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April Tasting Recap
<A monthly round up of the goings on at G+C>
The beginning of April found Jay in Bordeaux at En Primeur where he toured an average of 13 chateaux a day. Here's what he had to say about it….
This was the year I finally went to Bordeaux to witness the hoopla and ceremony of the EP campaign. Ginsberg + Chan has never taken part in selling EP before and probably never will. We have always been of mind that if you are going to spend hard earned money on a wine you should be able to take possession of it immediately, after all this is wine, not an off plan real estate investment.
Secondly there are too many other merchants doing it with more experience than we had. We just didn't feel comfortable selling a product we knew very little about. In fact, most people still no very little about it and rely on numerous critics scores to help them sell a wine that is not even ready or showing it's true potential. To me this is a very important point. Judging a wine EP is like looking at a 10 month old baby and forming an opinion on how he or she may look in 20 years' time. Slight exaggeration but you get the point. The wine at this early stage is incredibly young so you get tons of volatility, huge amounts of tannins and even bottle variation. In fact the weather at the time of tasting can even affect how a wine shows, not to mention your own mood at the time of tasting. Go back in the afternoon and it may be slightly different again from when you had it in the morning. Of course you can tell if the wine has good fruit and structure but a lot can change over the next 18 months in barrel and bottle. Just look at Parker's indicative scores from EP tastings vs his scores 2 years later when the wines have been released in bottle. A lot of wines given high scores in barrel are often lowered when the wine is finally tasted in bottle. Of course the reverse can also be true but is it worth the risk?
One of the main reasons I really wanted to go to Bordeaux this year was to see and hear firsthand from the people on the ground if this is truly a pivotal year for the whole EP system. I believe it is broken. The end customer in Asia and North America is completely ambivalent to buying EP. The Chateau don't appear to recognize this. When you bring up the subject of how the customers feel stung from overpriced wines of the last few years there is a real sense of complacency. Most only want to talk about the quality of the wine and improvements made to the Chateau such as huge new renovation projects by superstar architects. That's all great for the Chateau owners but it does little for the quality of the wine.
The bottom line is they must try to bring the end buyer back into the game on price. If they do not then the whole system is finished.
What I loved…
I only tasted about 100 wines this trip either directly at the Chateau or at the UGC tastings. Overall I thought the quality was good but not great. I tasted more bad wines than good and many of them I skipped making notes altogether. Not to sound snobbish but I just couldn't find anything worth writing about when they are so young, tannic and unbalanced. I will wait until the wine is in the bottle and less volatile then I can actually make an educated note that will have more value.
My very top pick for reds went to Vieux Chateau Certan(JG97) of Pomerol. This wine was all about perfume, pure red fruits, complex subtle spices and delicate silky texture. Even this young it was extremely well balanced with correct tannins to hold it all together. It's a not a showy wine at all and is more about elegance and Alexandre Thienpont described the wine as "Haut cuisine". If you are a Burgundy fan you would appreciate this wines finesse.
It was a similar story and in order of preference at these other Pomerol Chateau. La Conseillante (JG95), L'Eglise Clinet (93) and Clinet (92). Clinet being the boldest of the group it also has terrific fruit and more of a punch than La Conseillante which is lighter in weight and density. L'Eglise Clinet shared all the pretty perfumed aromas of VCC but a little less balanced at this stage. I think all of these wines will be beautiful in 10-15 years.
On the Left Bank I think the best wines came from the farthest north up the Medoc in St Estephe. One of the first wines we tasted were St Estephe, Cos d'Estournel (93) and Calon Segur (92). All showed excellent fruit and nice tannins with very nice long finish. I really enjoyed Chateau Lafite (96) for its blackberry, fruitcake, spice, olive and light weight. If they get the price right this could be one to buy. Mouton was underwhelming and Latour (95) was nice but as it's not part of the EP campaign any longer so not worth going into detail. I thought Palmer (93) was better than Margaux (92) but neither were exceptional in my opinion so unless the price is generously low I won't recommend. My favourite wine tasted the whole trip though was the Pavillon Blanc (98). It has very intense aromatics of citrus, grapefruit and some creamy tropical fruit. The palate is generous and I could have drank a bottle easily right then and there! It was fantastic and given its limited production could be worth buying. This should be up there with the classics of white Bordeaux.
While Jay sipped Bordeaux, Max got a taste of Tuscany (click through for a full review).
Across the pond, I spent the Easter and the Ching Ming holiday in Napa and Sonoma. Opus One was immaculate & a great tour, where I got my nails a little dirtier digging in the dirt and fawning over the Pinots and Chardonnay over at Littorai & Radio Coteau.
Back in Hong Kong we kicked off our April Wednesday Sessions with Premium White Burgundy. Ooo la la. If ever we needed proof of the longevity and sheer deliciousness of aged white wine, this tasting was surely it. This is why we cellar!
While Allen Meadows of the BurgHound was in town, Mandy and Jay attended the gala dinner where there was no shortage of over the top world class blow your socks off wines. You'll have to ask them about it the next time you're in the shop.
Fridays tend to find a bottle or two open in the Tasting Room and April 17th was no exception. First up the 2007 Bruno Giacosa Spumante Extra Brut proved a refreshing and much more interesting answer to Prosecco.
We also opened an odd bottle that came through. The 1972 Marques de Riscal should, by all accounts, be red but in this bottle the color had bonded to the tannins and sank right to the bottom leaving it colorless. Has anyone encountered this before? Upon tasting we realized this was not just an issue of color & texture, but one of flavor as well. Proof that wine is, in fact, alive.
The following Friday was an unexpected reminder of why Fridays at G+C rock. Jay opened up a 2000 Rosso Venezia IGT from Gravner who is famous for his tannic amphora fermented whites. Hedonistic and full of bright flavors, this Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot demonstrates Gravner is not a one trick pony. Great juice.
Later we were lucky enough to try 1997 Pierre Morey Montrachet Grand Cru (wow), 1967 Rinaldi Barolo (double wow- this was perfect!!!), and 2004 Morey St Denis Domaine des Lambrays (earthy & full of ladybugs according to some).
Saturday, April 25th, was the first annual Taste & Buy Market. We had over 100 people through to taste our 31 of favorite summer wines. Be sure to check out tasting notes and our scores below!
Later in the month we had an indulgent sip of 1946 Don PX Convento Seleccion Bodegas Toro. A 100 point rated wine by the Wine Advocate surely for its over the top decadence & complexity.
Our final Wednesday tasting saw 6 different wines from across the Nuits St Georges. Each was a stellar representation of why we love the masculine yet refined Pinots from these ancient vineyards. You can read the full review of these exemplary wines here.
And finally, the last sip of the month was the sherry butter, orange rind, apricot laden 2001 Fontaine Gagnard Batard Montrachet Grand Cru. Not a bad end to this well oiled month.
You can see the notes for all wines tasted this month below.
2004 Gosset Grand Millesime Brut WS94 LM90+ Creamy nose filled with vanilla brioche, apples, pears, white pepper, and hints of almond. Fresh acidity is met with a slightly bitter finish with flavors of green apple, nuts, and vanilla. A slightly masculine Champagne proving to be excellent value. Now 5+
2005 Ramonet Bienvenue Batard Montrachet Grand Cru BH93 LM94 Golden color. Deep and rich aromas of butter, dried flowers, bees wax, & spice interlaced with citrus fruit. This wine is all about mouth coating texture in all its full viscous glory. Full and concentrated with a long finish and massive potential. This is still quite youthful and would benefit from decanting and a few hours to open. Now 10+
2003 Jean Marc Boillot Batard Montrachet Grand Cru BH92 LM90 Big nose of popcorn-y butter, vanilla, and hints of golden delicious apple. The palate was a bit tight yet was lifted with big acidity. Full bodied with energy a long creamy warm finish. This, too, would benefit from more air time before enjoyment. Now 5+
1998 Pierre Morey Batard Montrachet Grand Cru LM93 Many taster's favorite of the evening. A stunningly decadent wine! Golden orange color with bees wax, honey, burnt sugar, dried vanilla pods, and caramel on the nose. I could sit and smell this all day. Big acidity was met with big round texture and a great finish. Now
1995 Jacques Prieur Montrachet Grand Cru WA97 LM97+ Hands down my wine of the night (year!), this was absolutely everything a great aged Burgundy white should be. Burnt orange in color with a nose that would not quit. First there were notes of sherry, almonds, hazelnuts, wax, cheese rind, and with time it opened into exotic fruits and dried apricots. The palate was filled with sweet dried fruit and pressed oranges yet felt restrained and perfectly in balance. Immense depth with a seemingly endless finish, wow. Now
1988 Coche Dury Meursault CT92 LM93 This was the majority's favorite wine of the night. A rich nose filled with butter, spice, and intense citrus. The palate was marked by its massive acidity and, I quote, "awesome texture." The flavor profile totally undermined its nearly 30 years of age and this will surely keep drinking well into the next 10 or so years. Now 5+
1979 Louis Carillon Puligny Montrachet Les Combettes 1er Cru LM97+ For me this is what aged white wines are all about. Orange in color with a sublime nose filled with cider, caramel, Christmas spice, baked oranges, apricot, nuts, and apple core…. Although there was definitely some apple present, the dominant flavors were those of cider and spice, clear indicators of aging gracefully into meditative bliss. I love this wine. Now.
2012 Mas Doix Les Crestes WA94 VL a lovely fruity wine with good acidity from such high percentage of Garnacha. Loads of fresh red fruits and hints of floral (roses). Very easy drinking in such young age and great value for its quality. Good food wine.
2007 Bruno Giacosa Spumante Extra Brut LM89 Aromas of vanilla, cedar, and custard with hints of white pepper. Refreshing palate with clean mineral and saline flavors behind red apples and stone fruit. A great summer appertif! Now 3+
2008 Hubert Lignier Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Les Didiers LM90 Great nose of smoke, pressed violets, dark fruit, warm oak, and forest-y, earthy, masculine notes. Nice structure! Balanced wine with fresh acidity, tart cherry and cranberry notes, chalky tannins, and a sour finish. This is drinking well now and will certainly continue to improve for years to come. Classic.
2008 J.F. Mugnier Nuits St Georges Clos la Marechale 1er Cru LM89 Most of the tasters preferred this to the Hubert Lignier (I preferred HL). A sweeter nose with sweet oak, touches of earth, cranberry, sweet juicy purple & red fruit, sweet plum, violets, and cherry. The palate exhibited great intensity and length and was quite a bit more feminine than the Hubert Lignier. Backward tannins with warm alcohol and lingering floral notes; this will continue to age beautifully.
2007 J.F. Mugnier Nuits St Georges Clos la Marechale 1er Cru LM88 Red fruit, smoke, and some forest-y farm-y funk, this had a great nose. The palate was a bit light with flavors of tea and some sweet fruits. This is drinking well now but will not improve with any further aging as it just doesn't have the structure or depth of fruit to endure. Drink up!
2006 J.F. Mugnier Nuits St Georges Clos la Marechale 1er Cru LM92 Intensely delicious nose of smokey caramel, popcorn, & dark dense plum. Still quite youthful with powerful chalky tannins, warm alcohol, and great concentration of fruit. This is great now and will certainly continue to age and improve. Classic Nuits St Georges and many people's wine of the night.
1999 Faiveley Nuits St Georges Clos la Marechale 1er Cru LM92+ Sous bois, hints of pool toy, dark smoke, black currant, forest, graphite, mineral, and wonderfully intense and manly aromas. Balanced with firm yet well integrated tannins and a mineral laden finish. This is super drinkable now but still has the structure to endure. I <3 aged Burgundy.
1990 Jayer Gilles Nuits St Georges Les Hauts Poirets LM93 Caramel, smoke, canned tomato, nuts, sweet marzipan- this has a wild but totally exciting nose. Great flavors and structure with big tannins, fresh acidity, and cool savoury flavors. This would be brilliant with pizza. Concentrated and deep and almost like and aged Italian for its savoury notes. Cool!
Friday in the office
2000 Gravner Rosso Venezia IGT WS87 LM92+ Inky purple with intense aromatics of boisenberry, black plums, currants, blackberries, dried strawberries, dark chocolate, vanilla, brownie batter, and an undercurrent of savoury notes- pine resin and cedar. The palate proved just as intense with vibrant fruit flavors, high acidity, well integrated soft tannins, and dark hedonistic finish. Really interesting and a step outside the ordinary.
1997 Pierre Morey Montrachet Grand Cru WA90-93 LM94 Golden orange in color. Candied & caramelized aromas of cider, dried flowers, vanilla, sweet fruit core with smoke hints. Something very comforting. Big acidity with lovely honey, pollen, savory earthy flavors, dried orange rind and a touch of cream. Slightly bitter finish. This is what aged whites are all about.
1967 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo LM96 Absolutely a star. Perfect condition and the epitome of what aged Barolo should be. Leather, dusty floral notes, and mushroom aromas are met with silky integrated tannins. This wine has a feeling of completeness and was exactly wonderful.
2001 Domaine Fontaine Gagnard Batard Montrachet Grand Cru LM90 Nose of sherry & butter opening into apricots, honey, pollen and hay. The huge acidity is met with a soft luscious texture, and generous flavors or butter, popcorn, apple core, and a smokey alcohol driven back palate. The finish is quite bitter suggesting this is a great food wine.
Market Highlights
2011 Sette Ponti Oreno JS96 LM92 Big nose dominated by black and red fruits. On the palate the wine is soft, smooth, totally accessible with pleasantly chalky tannins, and great balance. A high quality wine showing excellent value for money.
2010 Azelia Barolo JS92 LM90 Many of our taster's favorite market wine. Great aromas of flowers and berries. The palate has great development of flavors, big late coming tannins, and fresh acidity. An approachable young Barolo.
2012 Tenuta San Guid Le Difese JS92 LM90 The 3rd wine from the producers of Sassicaia. Orginally this expressed dark berries and real density of aromas with a soft palate. As it opened over the next couple of days the aromas expressed more bramble, smoke, and jammy fruit. The 70/30 Cab Merlot blend also expressed more chocolate and herbal notes on the palate. Great balance and will be enjoyed now and for years to come. Super value!
2011 Domaine Grand Nicolet Cuvee Vieilles Vignes (Rasteau) WA92+ LM89 Funky, forest floor, bright red berry nose. Lots of sweet fruits on the palate with well integrated tannin. A great wine for Grenache lovers
2012 Domaine Grand Nicolet Les Esqueyrons (Rasteau) WA94 LM92 Complex aromas of sous bois, cassis, and blackberries with enticing floral notes. The palate is filled with dark fruit, full body, big alcohol, and just the right amount of tannin. A great BBQ wine.
2004 La Rioja Alta 904 Gran Reserva WA96 LM94+ A typical Rioja nose filled with sweet oak, vanilla, and spices interlaced with earthy red fruit. Creamy palate with a deliciously savoury tomato note that comes with oxidative aging. Exceptional traditional Rioja.
2011 Billaud Simon Chablis Tete d'Or BH89 LM89+ A striking contrast to the regular Chablis, the Tete d'Or was ripe with fruit but also had tons of fresh lime, lemongrass, and fresh minerality. A stunning summer white.
2012 Billaud Simon Chablis BH89 LM90 A creamy Chablis with ripe fruit and beautifully minerality. Great intensity and balance. This far outperforms its class and price!
2011 Billaud Simon Chablis Vaudesir Grand Cru BH93 LM92 Creamy, long, full. A complete Chablis for its mouth coating texture, ripe and enticing stone fruit flavors, creaminess, and long finish.
1946 Don PX Convento Seleccion Bodegas Toro WA100 LM95 Raisins, balsamic, brownie batter, hazelnuts and almonds. Huge acidity. Syrupy texture and sweetness. Warm alcohol. Absolutley stunning as a dessert or an ice cream topper.


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Marathonisi Isles
Across the coast of Keri , lies the island of Marathonisi (or else called the island of Marathias), that imposingly jewels the gulf of Laganas.
The island has two reefs, called Pontikonisia, that in the old times were linked to the cape of Marathias.The island has roughly one mile perimeter.
The nature there is pure exotic as the island has no inhabitants.

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Note: The following (supposedly) anonymous book review of the agrarian anthology I'll Take My Stand, published in 1930, was read aloud at a conference of Southern agrarians at LSU in 1992 by author William Blissett as part of a talk on G.K. Chesterton. The audio file for Blissett's talk can be heard on ISI's website here. The lecturer felt the review from G.K.'s Weekly, though unsigned, clearly appeared to be by Chesterton himself, given the mention of What I Saw in America as the reviewer's own book.
The twelve Southerners who take a stand on the agrarian tradition do not hail, as we might suppose, from William Cobbett's Hampshire or Hilaire Belloc's Sussex. They are from the American South, the former Confederacy, and their tradition is defined by region and by a painful and glorious history.
Their title is taken from the sprightly song "Dixie": "In Dixie land I'll take my stand…", although unfortunately they do not explain—no American Southerners ever do explain—who in the song is enjoining whom to look away, from what to what.
The twelve are twelve writers, bold men of letters. As an old hand at journalism, I can espy a good writer who is not a good journalist. These men have, most of them, a gift of phrase, and how their writing must please one another. But a true journalist always knows what will delight, what will interest, what will irk the ordinary reader, whereas these might be surprised at all three responses.
The American South as a literary region has produced little as yet to rival New England. We think immediately of Huckleberry Finn and Uncle Remus and then stop. But some of these writers are so gifted that I cannot help wondering if they and people like them may not give us a Southern renaissance.
I'm thinking of the character of cousin Lucius, as described and evoked by Mr. John Donald Wade, or the day in the life of an independent farmer in the pages of Mr. Andrew Nelson Lytle—a day I could not live myself but I am glad to know that many others can and do.
The great achievement of Sir Walter Scott was his understanding of the dignity of just this sort of obscure person. Mark Twain used to attack Scott for highfalutin' and flapdoodle, and thought his chivalric ideas the bane of the South. But I can't help wondering if he ever read the best of Scott, the Scottish novels from the Covenanter's time to his own youth. I think Scott and Mark Twain would delight, as I do, in the unpretentious solidity of the life described here.
Yes, it's a literary book and Mr. Crowe Ransom, in his curiously named essay ("Reconstructed but Unregenerate"), can appeal to Carlyle and Ruskin with ease and assurance. Curiously named, for what virtue could there be for a Southerner in being reconstructed but unregenerate?
What particularly delights an inveterate Dickensian is that Mr. Allen Tate makes his argument hinge on a distinction between a Northern type of mind, for which a horse is either an abstract idea or a contributor to a statistic, and the Southern kind of mind—which is surely the human mind—for which it is an animal and eats grass. He is a very modern writer and has appeared in the pages of Mr. T.S. Eliot's Criterion but here he aligns himself very properly with Cissy Jupe in Hard Times, who knows how to care for a horse. And against that little ogre Bitzer in Mr. Gradgrind's school who can only define it: "Quadruped. Graminiverous. Forty teeth. Namely twenty-four grinders, four eyeteeth, twelve incisive. Sheds coat in the spring. In marshy country sheds hooves too. Hooves hard but requiring to be shod with iron. Age known by marks in mouth." Thus and much more from Bitzer. "'Now girl number twenty', said Mr. Gradgrind, 'you know what a horse is.'"
We distributists are agrarians and try to see the terms on which our American friends are agrarians too. Back in the 1870s, the supporters of Mr. Austin Chamberlain, that energetic Manchester liberal, brought out a radical program, never fully adopted but never disowned by the Liberal Party. One phrase in it is still alive and kicking: "three acres and a cow." I find it a good, rousing slogan, though again I personally would be at a loss if given three acres, let alone a cow. But it touches the deep human desire for what is called a stake in the country, however minimal. No one will ever get rich on three acres and a cow , and most will want either more acreage or more livestock or something else to do to learn a living by.
But it is a beginning. And it has such appeal that another politician said ruefully, we badly need an urban cow. To which we would answer—an answer which seems not to cross the mind of the American agrarians—why not a small shop? Why not a craft? Why not a guild? Why not a cooperative?
Reading Mr. Penn Warren's essay, I came across a casual reference to forty acres and a mule as what was needed to establish a former slave as a free man. This is a tight little island and Americans do think big. I suppose the difference between three and forty acres is the difference between a mixed farm of fruit and vegetables, fruit and livestock, and a cotton farm. Western farms in the United States are very large indeed. From the beginning, the Homestead Act of 1862 provided 160 acres of public land to any citizen after five years of continuous residence. That seems to have been the smallest parcel.
Allowing for different conditions, distributists and agrarians have the same ideal of widespread distribution of real property and a good measure of self-sufficiency. I wonder by the way if Cobbett's Rural Economy is known in America?
We in England have to resist the temptation to regard agriculture as a business, with a few thriving great landlords, a dwindling yeomanry and a large class of dispossessed laborers. They in America have to be reminded that the tobacco or cotton plantation was essentially a factory and tended to push the family farm to the margin.
One of the documents of the American colonies at the time of the Revolution spoke of the rights to life, liberty and property. That must sound very flat to us, who have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness sounding in our ears. Jane Austen might have included these in her contrast between sense and sensibility. But it would be to miss the point of distributism and, I believe, of Southern agrarianism, to play one phrase off against the other, as if they were in collision and not in line. But the possession, not of a fortune, but of a modest independence is normally essential to the happiness of the creature called man.
And our political task is to point the way and to join in the pursuit—not an easy task but no more difficult than disarmament which nobody seems to think impossible. The case for distributism is the case against the servile state. Out and out slavery never gained a foothold in this realm of England and was abolished in all our colonies in 1833. Whereas, almost a century later, there are still living in the United States persons born into slavery. No one in the book defends the institution, though one of the writers speaks of the bulk of the slaves as "only a generation removed from cannibalism, many having tasted human flesh," a heavy charge that needs substantiation. It is as if one were to accuse a race or a nation of condoning infanticide or abortion or the destruction of helpless invalids or old people.
Few of the other writers mention the Negro problem at all, with the notable exception of Mr. Penn Warren's temperate and humane piece. A few years ago, in a rather miscellaneous book, What I Saw in America, I astonished my readers, who thought I had an opinion, informed or uninformed, serious or playful, on all matters in heaven and earth, by saying that I did not know enough to write anything about the race question in the United States, my information and my experience being too thin—if I may apply the latter word to myself.
I hold to that but I wish that many more of these writers had said more on the subject. Mr. Crowe Ransom's remark that slavery was a feature monstrous enough in theory but more often than not humane in practice strikes me as startlingly inadequate, a vain attempt to close a discussion that has barely opened.
Perhaps that is why the book, for all its courage and pugnacity, lacks buoyancy and confidence. Here, we show up our enemies as servile, and that puts free ground under our feet. We have for ancestor William Cobbett who incidentally admired Old Hickory, Andrew Jackson. Crotchety and inconsistent in many things, but a confident champion of the liberty and property of the poor, they let their enemies pose as progressives and so are trapped in a reactionary position, though I do hope they will not have the folly to accept that label.
The poet W.B. Yeats was told by his father that a gentleman was a man not wholly occupied with getting ahead in the world. These writers are all gentlemen, in that good sense. However, Mr. Crowe Ransom, in his praise of the squirarchy, and Mr. Stark Young, in his adulation of the cultivated and leisurely great landowner, come perilously close to regarding gentlemanliness as the one thing needful. We in England know the Tory squire and the Whig magnate too well, for with all their virtues, to make them the custodian of our liberty and enclosor of our common property.
One last contrast the English reader will need to keep calling to mind. This country is, before all else, a united kingdom. The author of The Napoleon of Notting Hill admits this, though still believing in effective local government and free boroughs. I'd even like what the Shropshire lad calls the colored counties to be different colors. But we are simply not a federation.
The American South, in sharp contrast, is a region within a federal union, with a war on that very issue, a continuous and brooding presence. While there is no extended treatment in the book of any one state, the writers would all prefer, I think, to say these United States rather than the United States and might, in a Pickwickian sense, pretend to believe them sovereign.
I cannot help wishing that the twelve Southerners were a little less morose, had a little more of the pep and go of the song from which they took their title. There are obvious pitfalls in too headlong a pursuit of happiness. But there is such a thing as the pursuit of unhappiness. And the Southern agrarians and English distributists too should be careful not to make a habit or a career of defeat.
If I could carry a tune, I'd sing "Dixie" with the best of them. Yes, in England's green and pleasant land, I'll take my stand with these young men for a halt to the servile state and the achievement of that other condition which they will not want me to call liberal and I am reluctant to call anything else.


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June 9, 2014
Botanical Garden in Padua
Happy Monday, happy June, happy everything!!!
So, summer is arrived, the sun shines, it's hooooot, and for now, I LOOOOVE this!
Two weeks ago, Mr and I visited the "Botanical Garden of Padua", and, well, it was wonderful!!! there were so many plants, flowers, trees...
It was a very relaxing Sunday!
Here's (a loooot of) photos I took that day!
7 comments:
I've got to say I love visiting such places, studying the nature can be so fascinating! I like seeing trees and flowers in bloom, it produces such a calming effect! Such a great post turned out, I enjoyed it very much) Those photographs are very beautiful!ReplyDelete
What an absolutely lovely post, it put a smile on my face. It is so nice to get out and about to these places when the weather is lovely! Happy Monday! :)ReplyDelete
Beautiful gardens. (:ReplyDelete
What a beautiful post! I love botanical gardens too. I wanted to go in Spring but somehow missed it and now its already Summer over here. I really need to go and visit the botanical garden in my city. But I've been so busy travelling thse days, so somehow its difficult to find time. Now that its so hot I also prefer to go to the lake, haha ;)ReplyDelete
Thanks for sharing those beautiful pictures!
Lots of love!


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20 Wolfendales were recorded as miners in the 1901 Census.
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20 Wolfendales were recorded as miners in the 1901 Census.
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3D Animation Vignettes which represent experiments with camera movement and the Muvizu Key Framing Expansion Pack. This video also contains experiments with character movement and dialogue plus ways to integrate AVI files into animations. Finally, there is some work with dramatic dialogue and character interaction.
camera cuts
Lobby Cam, Chapter Three
Ben may be having problems distinguishing dreams from reality. The unique features of the new television are also challenging Ben's emotional condition.
Lobby Cam, Chapter Two
Ben is quickly recovering his physical health. His mental and emotional status continues to erode. This situation is made much worse when the television ordered by Abbie is delivered. In Chapter Two Ben becomes aware of the unique features of the television. Emily and Martha continue to be supportive but Ben's ultimate worry relates to […]
Lobby Cam, Chapter One
Due to a severe injury, Ben Duckworth is confined to his apartment for an extended period of time. For many weeks Ben was lost to the confusion and inability to act that comes with very high levels of pain killing drugs. We join his story at the time that he's beginning to show some mental […]
The Life and Art of Alessandro Gray, Just the Music
"I was feeling well and while I was chatting with Ruth and Margaret a sparrow flew into the wrapping area from the outside. I was drawn to the plight of that sparrow for the rest of the day. I thought it so odd and unnatural for that bird to be in the noisy factory with […]


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Megan and I at the future site of the Orphanage. This site will hold an actual orphanage (building with bedrooms), cafeteria, and school. Due to financial issues, the building of the orphanage has been put on hold indefinitely. Currently the orphans in the Village live alone at their parent's homes or with other family members (typically older siblings or grandparents). Megan and I's first grade class. There are 17 students in this class. The classroom is shared with three other classes (kindergarten and preschool). The board at the front of the room is painted black and utilized as a chalkboard.
Orphans headed home early from school due to a food shortage. For the past two weeks, the students at the Orphanage have not been fed lunch. This is due to a food shortage that is a result of financial problems. When there is no food, the kids are sent home early and miss half of the school day. All of the kids walk to and from school unescorted. Typically these kids walk between 1-4KM to and from school each day. It's heart breaking watching the little three year olds walk through the village alone. They all appear to have an incredible sense of direction.
Orphans eating porridge. Part of the food the students receive is a small mug of porridge. This is served daily and appears to have no nutritional value.
Megan and I in the City, the city our village is located in. Mount Meru is located behind us. The roads in the City can barely be considered roads and more likely resemble trails. Much of the local business takes place in the general market area of the City, including the selling of produce, timber, and fabric.
Megan and I in theVillage, with Mount Meru in the background. We were so stressed and overwhelmed the first few days that we didn't realize how close we were to Mt. Meru. Luckily we had a beautiful day and were able to bask in Meru's beauty.


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Maria Silva
1978 - 2018
Obituary of Maria Silva
Maria Silva, age 39, of Bridgeport passed away into eternal rest on Thursday, April 5, 2018, in Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT; Maria was born in Long Island, New York but had relocated to the Bridgeport Area many years ago. Maria was part of the After School Lighthouse program where together with her fellow coworkers they worked towards the care, attention and benefit of the children of Bridgeport. Maria was full of life and held back nothing to be the best she was at whatever she would do. Maria leaves to cherish her memory her father of Bridgeport; Her daughters Lucia and Emily; her sister Yolanda Esposito; Maria was also survived by her husband Edison Silva; She will be never forgotten in addition by a host of other relatives and friends whom will dearly miss her. Friends are invited to attend calling hours on Monday, April 9, 2018 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Funeraria Luz de Paz (Peaceful Light Funeral Home), 426 E. Washington Ave., Bridgeport, CT 06608. Funeral Services have been scheduled for Tuesday, April 10, 2018 10 a.m. for a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Mary's Church, 25 Sherman St., Bridgeport, CT. Interment will follow in Mt. Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, CT. Please sign our online register book as a place that has been established where you may share your thoughts, memories, prayers, pictures and so much more and is found EXCLUSIVELY at www.luzdepaz.com.
to see the services live online/para ver los servicios en vivo en linea
go to........ www.zoom.us
top right corner click on "join a meeting"/mano derecha arriba oprima "Join a meeting"
enter the following meeting number/entre el numero de reunion siguiente
2033308081 (our phone number/lo cual es el numero de telefono nuestro)
android or ios, download zoom cloud app / con telefonos sistema andrioid o ios baje applicacion titulada zoom cloud
enter app/entre a la aplicación
click join meeting and enter meeting number/oprima, ingresar a reunion (join a meeting)
entre los numeros 2033308081
About Us
We are committed to creating and conducting services that exceed the expectations of the families we serve. We have been serving the the Citizens of the great city of Bridgeport, CT and beyond for over 15 years.
Our Location
426 East Washington Ave.
Bridgeport, CT 06608
Phone: (203) 330-8081
24 Hours a day at your service


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To better serve our followers, and new visitors to our site, we have collected the most frequently asked questions to assist you in getting better acquainted with the Global Clashes site,
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Global Clashes site is an online news platform. While it is just like any other site that gives you all types of news, we are different because we cover all types of news from the whole world.
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Membership is not required. However, you cannot download any articles for future reading if you are not a member. Your access is also limited to news available within the month. Archives are not accessible and so is the community where you can interact with other people.
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Tuesday, 27 September 2011
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Do a search on the internet with the words "yoga and creativity writing" and a plethora of websites for "writing & yoga retreats" will cascade down the page. I've written in a past blog of how yoga has helped me through chaotic times in my life. I teach yoga to young children (ages 2 to 5), seniors and at a Pilates studio or anybody else who'll listen to me expound the benefits of the practice. Now, I want to teach it to fellow writers because of the parallel universes of writing and yoga.
Yoga is an exploration to our inner territory using our mind, our breath, our awareness and our body as it moves together into a pose (or 'asana' in Sanskrit). It's the same journey with writing. My first writing teacher in Vancouver warned her students to be careful with their bodies as they write, because the energy of the thoughts and words is cathartic and moves along the tissues of our bodies and breathes out through the pores of the skin. Writing moves the molecules of our breath, whether its held and waiting for release or the replenishing cycle of intake, then over and over again, till we say it is done. In another writing workshop here in LA, I shared with my group that I always felt lethargic when trying to get some tracks down on the paper. Some writers understood what I was experiencing. The teacher said that the process is natural, because we were working through some sludge, and it's not unusual to sleep a lot working through the heavy lifting of writing about it. It does take courage to write some things; and beyond that it takes endurance to get through it. I'm still working on both.
Courage and endurance is part of regular yoga practice. It's not always easy to show up on the mat (or be in that quiet space) where you decide to work it out. Some days you try out a new pose that looks gorgeous, but when you imagine and assemble the different parts of your body to fit the pose, it's a wobbly faulty towers. It's the same with writing too. There are some things I want to say but the assembled words are not expressing the essence, so I let it go. Perhaps try again another time. Or I may decide after further attempts that I'm not yet ready. It's the same with yoga. Sometimes I have to let go and admit that an asana is not for me, not yet anyway. "Adho Mukha Vrksasana" (translates to Downward-Facing Tree Pose or Handstand) is a mouthful for me, and I'm not ready to try it, because, because… fear. I'm afraid that I don't have that upper body strength, I don't have the technique, or that it's not worth the effort today. Maybe someday I'll get around to it. Yoga is not about the body fitting into the asana, rather it's the asana fitting the body. Yoga and writing is about expression and the honesty of the expression.
Check out this 3 minute tutorial on the Adho Mukha Vrksasana:
Beyond Fear – Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand)
I like how the yoga teacher, Sarah, tells her story about the Handstand: "that this is the scariest pose for me", and that "for many years I just avoided it", and that "now a days I just try a little bit every day", and that "to be okay with where I'm at", and finally, "to learn compassion for yourself".
Were I to introduce yoga to writers I would start with chest opening and hip opening asanas. If you've heard of the expression 'issues in your tissues' or 'biography is your biology' then I'd start with these parts of our anatomy because we carry our grief, joy and stresses in these areas. I am inviting you to join me in a yoga and writing practice. Are you interested to try this? I'm game if you are.


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I enjoy designing and making many forms to serve in the celebration of daily pleasures, rituals, mysteries and traditions.
Vases are among my favorite vessels, and the presence of flowers elevates consciousness; vases represent the infinite possibilities of form and character in creation.
Candelabra enrich our lives and enhance ceremonial occasions as well as the simplest of rituals, invoking traditions of fire rites and offerings from diverse world cultures.
The unique form of the Candle-Vase is designed to serve as an assemblage of either one entity or as two separate pieces, for both candle light and flowers.
Aroma therapy lanterns are a delight to make and serve in many traditions of healing and introspection.


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Modern film scores are terrible, say composers
"Most film music written today is terrible, with few scores lingering in the memory like the underwater menace of Jaws or the whimsical Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's, top composers have told The Times.
Hans Zimmer, who wrote the music for the Hollywood box-office hits Gladiator and The Lion King, dismissed the majority of contemporary screen compositions as unmemorable. "They drift around like cows grazing. So many scores sound like nobody really thought about them."
Apart from the fact he's basically saying 'It was better in the old days', which you could feasibly say about eveything ever, this is nonsense right?
Off the top of my head i can think of Danny Elfman (Tim Burton stuff), John Murphy (28 weeks later, sunshine)... then the top of my head fails me.
But I really enjoyed recent move in modern soundtracks like there will be blood and michael clayton, for all that discordant, creepily ambient noise. Can we get over Jaws already?
i dont think a film score
has to be memorable. it just has to compliment to pictures it goes along to.
stupid old fools
like there will be blood, the music itself isn't too memorable but it does very well at building up the tension.
Although sometimes nothing is just as good like No Country For Old Men.
I haven't seen it
but i was told there was no music and that it was excellent.
Reminds me of the birds. I love how that has no music.
he has a vague point
in that no recent films have had a truly memorable musical motif in the mould of Jaws or The Godfather or something. But memorability isn't the be all and end all of film scores - the main idea is surely to compliment the piece rather than linger in the memory
Also, hypocrite much? Who can remember the score from Gladiator or The Lion King (except for the Elton John bobbins)?this'd this
I can think of loads
of great scores from films recently.
There Will be Blood comes to mind as a score that is essential to the success of the film, yet in a more subtle way than, for example, Jaws.
Danny Elfman is shite
Mark Mothersbaugh is cool though. The stuff from The Life Aquatic is memorable. I suspect that ain't the stuff he's talking about mind.
its evolution innit
nowadays we have film SOUNDTRACKS which can be much better thing in my opinion. *cough* lost in translation, fight club *cough cough*
philip glass!
this was a question in a job application i was writing today...vortigun this'd this
i think film scores should be memorable
as well as compliment the film. hearing a particular piece can reawaken what you felt when you first saw a favourite film or scene. people mention jaws a lot because the soundtrack is so distinctive - it compliments the film by filling the listener with fear and dread, and as soon as you hear it you know it's jaws.
i think he may also be trying to target films whose soundtrack are made up of already existing songs. wes anderson's use of the kinks and 60s pop, for example (even though mark mothersbaugh does a lot of fantastic scoring on his films too). the songs may be suited for the action in the film, but don't really give the film it's own identity.
anyway, i wonder why they chose to mention the lion king and gladiator as the films hans zimmer has scored - true romance is his best work, imho
Actually quite the contrary
Sure we can remember a couple of great old soundtracks, Godfather and what have ya...but more films use indie songs - which is good cos I'm godamn sick of Nickelback and Spiderman - but also the classical film scores are better.
Old people should stick to reminiscing the price of gasoline.
No, he is right. A lot of film music today is just moody ambience. And worse, it seems added as an afterthought by blokes with computers sitting in editing suites rather than a proper composer.
But then on the other hand, Zimmer would say that, having grown rich off insane overblown, pompous, yet memorable soundtracks.
You think about it: What was the last soundtrack you heard that had its own personality - a soundtrack that you can't think of the film without hearing?
I can think of, like 4 in the last few years.
It's different strokes
for different folks innit; I saw the second half of Enduring Love last nite and was blown away - A good soundtrack has to accompany - not overshadow the action on screen...
Every soundtrack 'accompanies' the action on the screen. A good soundtrack is a piece of music insuperable in your consciousness from the movie it comes attached to.
That's why Jaws is such a good example. Right now there is a kid at the beach somewhere pretending to be a shark and that kid is going "duuuu-dun... duuuu-dun..." - he most probably hasn't even seen Jaws, but the music now = sharks. I doubt Michael Clayton has done the same for lawyers.
you know
the nu-metal thing they had going on in the saw films always comes to mind when i think about those, also when i'm feeling a bit annoyed with people. i guess your right...
to be fair, i imagine lawyers probably do imagine themselves in soft light, looking george clooney-esque, with an ambient soundtrack while theyre working, no?
Nah, they still think of the LA Law theme. Same as police can't walk down the street without The Bill thudding in their heads like a 7/8-time jackhammer of awesomeness.
michael clayton is corporate law though
i reckon theyve probably been waiting a while for a suitable soundtrack to separate themselves from mere criminal lawyers...
I love it how Jonny Greenwoods scores for Bodysong and There will be blood
have both actually been brilliant. One of the few genre crossovers that are actually brilliant.
if i'm reading that right
i think you may have contradicted yourself. you say that scores are rubbish, because rubbish films are being made. but then complain about people who say music is rubbish because of crap chart bands...that's the same thing, isn't it? there are the same amount of rubbish bands and films as there are good bands and films. it's all about sifting through the shit to find the gold.
Hans Zimmer's scores are general? Guh?
And I wouldn't be so blasé about the man who wrote the book on square-jawed All-American action music. You need to step off.
how can you say zimmer's scores are bad?
he did cool runnings for fuck sake!
Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai
RZA did an such amazing job of the score for that film. Its just such a massive generalisation to say modern film music is terrible. As with everything, there is good and bad.
And the score for The Lion King is ace too.
it is a generalisation
but with a point. Older film music (from the big time film studios) in my opinion is much better, and the reason modern films like There Will Be Blood are good is because a newcomer like Greenwood took charge whilst clearly also looking backwards for inspiration (tell me that score isn't Hitchcockian?). Its true that a film shouldn't take over the pictures, but at the same time the more powerful it is the more the images and characterisations may stick in your memory. My guess is its about finding that balance by daring to push things to the edge, and in the old days when ideas were more often than not, fresher, these were the films that set the benchmarks and boundaries. Too many modern films today just blend in with what already has existed and so its only power comes from daring to find something new or to borrow ideas and utilise the pastiche factor, otherwise i don't really notice much. I guess that's why Greenwood worked so well on TWBB, fresh new talent. Anyway for me its all about Predator, hits the spot.
Zimmer's been pedalling the SAME FUCKING SOUNDTRACK for years
and his protegé who did the first Pirates of the Caribbean film sounds JUST like him.
I think the problem isn't the scores, it's that a lot of modern films are just not lending themselves to a classic orchestral score.
Or take shit like Smallville where the scored stuff is great but they can't help but emphasise the 'teen' aspect with some piece of shit teen-orientated-rock shit.
...ribbean score
If you'd never seen POTC, and just imagined what the soundtrack to a cheesy Disney live-action pirate-themed movie would be, chances are it'd be exactly the same as what the actual score was. Rubbish.
What he misses
Is that few scores ever have lingered in the memory like Jaws or Breakfast at Tiffany's. What makes them memorable is that they were uniquely good scores. There's obviously not gonna be that many uniquely good scores 'cos if they were then the scores wouldn't be uniquely good and we wouldn't remember them.
Were things better in the old days?
I find my enjoyment of a lot of a classics is hampered by overbearing scores that clogg up every scene. On The Waterfront is an example that pops to mind.
I think a lot of the time in the old days they still weren't used to the inovation of 'the talkies' and couldn't quite move away from the accompaniment music you got with silent films.
i couldn't be bothered to read all replies, but anyway
Looking at it from kind of a less musical point of view I guess, and looking at it as just one part of the overall film, I have to say a lot of times it's probably better when it's not memorable. I mean it's nice to have a good soundtrack that may be memorable, but the soundtracks that have stood out to me recently are the ones that *don't* stand out. They complement the film really well, but don't distract from it at all. Like you might barely notice there's a soundtrack as you're watching the film. No big dramatic violins or anything.
Capote's soundtrack is a great example. I saw that movie once with someone else even though I'd promised my mom I'd see it with her (I forgot), so then I ended up seeing it twice. The first time around I didn't even notice the soundtrack, so the second time around, when I could sort of take a step back in viewing it, I noticed how perfectly the soundtrack worked with the film. I prefer that sort of soundtrack, personally.
^ entirely too long
Rubbish trolling.
Nothing to see here guys.oh_gerardus_MERCATOR this'd this
some enjoyable, memorable scoress of recent years
Requiem for a Dream
The Fountain
There Will Be Blood
Ghost in the Shell
^I'd like there to be more like these. cheers.
and while we're on the Clint Mansell appreciation,
how about Moon - a soundtrack containing ambience that accompanied the movie perfectly, plus an ultra memorable theme songHalfMachine this'd this
Vangelis - Blade Runner
Best soundtrack ever?
Frank Beard facts of the day
Hans Zimmer wrote this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0pvFulUd98 and is playing the keyboards in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8r-tXRLazs
I'm OK with most film music
as long as it's not Philip fucking Glass or Michael cunting Nyman
One of the things I didn't like about Prometheius
was the limp soundtrack. When you compare it something like Aliens, which added a real sense of fear and sadness, you start to understand why people found the new film to have zero atmosphere.
I think Atonement's soundtrack is memorable
The use of a typewriter interesting. Dario Marianelli's other stuff is nice too, he did the soundtracks for Pride & Prejudice and Jane Eyre.
Alexandre Desplat's soundtrack for The King's Speech is good.
Clint Mansell's adaptation of Tchaikovsky in Black Swan is genius.
Hard not to notice the music in The Artist (Ludovic Bource).
No mention of Thomas Newman?
The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, Wall-E, Angels In America (technically a mini-series, but still)...I guess that his style has become a little predictable, but there's no doubt he can conjure up some beautiful music for any given scene.


text:
Upgraded 5 hours back
A nationwide gun control advocacy group is partnering with a Las Vegas law firm in a class-action suit versus a leading bump stock manufacturer over exactly what they called negligent production and marketing of the items that break the intent of federal law.
At least 12 such gadgets were found in the hotel space of Stephen Paddock, who fatally shot 58 Route 91 Harvest music festival guests from his 32nd flooring hotel space at Mandalay Bay on Oct. 1 and hurt almost 500 more, according to City Authorities. They did not define the business that made the devices.
The suit, filed Friday in Clark County District Court by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and Las Vegas law practice Eglet Prince, asks Houston-based Slide Fire Solutions to cover the cost of therapy and other treatment connected with psychological distress as well as looks for compensatory damages.
"This case is on behalf of all festivalgoers who suffered emotional distress as a result of the shooting," said lawyer Robert Eglet. "We included punitive damage since we wish to send out a message so gun business will not produce items negligently."
The lawsuit claims that the manufacturer of the gadgets misguided federal authorities about their desired function and marketed them to thrill-seeking gun enthusiasts who wanted the experience of firing a totally automated weapon that is otherwise greatly limited under federal law.
The suit has three named plaintiffs, all victims of the shooting.
Jonathan Lowy of the Brady Center said the negligent production and false marketing of bump stocks– which retail from $100 to $400– turned semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic "weapons of mass destruction."
With 12 such bump stocks in his room, Paddock subjected those participating in the show to deal with "battlefield conditions," he stated.
The variety of shots fired and people eliminated and hurt would not have actually been possible without the negligent sale, marketing and usage of bump stocks, Lowy said.
"Our company believe there would have been no chance for the shooter to strike as many people in 11 minutes," he stated.
Eglet said the class-action suit will cover only those "who suffered psychological distress." 10s of thousands of people could sign up with the lawsuit, provided an approximated 22,000 guests were at the festival, he said.
Eglet pledged to file specific lawsuits on behalf of those who were hurt or killed by shooting, though he did not provide a schedule for when those fits would be submitted. No dollar figure is specified in the claim, Eglet stated.
The lawyers stated Slide Fire has actually removed several functions on its website over the past week, consisting of a tool allowing prospective bump stock purchasers to discover certified dealers in their location.
A Slide Fire agent did not instantly respond to phone and email ask for remark today, and a Facebook message on the business's page also went unanswered.
Attorneys stated they intended to leave room for the continued production and sale of bump stocks, arguing that it was at first developed for disabled users that would not otherwise have the ability to fire semi-automatic weapons.
"Our objective is not to put anybody out of organisation, but rather to seek damages and punish those who produce and market these items negligently," Eglet said. "This has been the most destructive occasion in the history of our neighborhood."
Eglet, who is a weapon owner and takes pleasure in hunting, stated neither he nor any of his friends had actually ever heard of bump stocks before last week's mass shooting.
Lowy stated while bump stocks have been "on the radar" for the Brady Center, the organization had not been involved with any lawsuits connected to the item.
The gadgets were initially meant to assist people with impairments who have arm movement problems fire a semi-automatic long gun. Bump stocks replace the stock and handgun grip and allows the weapon to fire continuously, mimicking a fully automated gun.
Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Center, stated that assuring federal regulators reviewing the gadget that the bump stock was to help handicapped gun owners was disingenuous and deceptive. "However when they marketed it to the general public, they said it's because completely automatic weapons are enjoyable," Gardiner said.
"So exactly what their item is developed to do is subvert federal law on gatling gun, and that's careless," she stated.
The weapon market has broad defenses from lawsuits. The Defense of Legal Commerce in Arms Act was enacted in 2005, securing gunmakers and dealers from being held accountable whenever a criminal activity is committed with a firearm.
Nevertheless, in this case, Gardiner stated, that liability would not apply because Slide Fire makes neither firearms nor ammunition.
Considering that the shooting, a bipartisan mix of members of Congress have actually called for a restriction on bump stocks, while the National Rifle Association has suggested the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives must review the devices and determine if they need to be subject to higher constraints.
The ATF ruled in 2010 that the devices were exempt to limitations under either the Weapon Control Act or the National Firearms Act, laws that restrict access to gatling gun and silencers.
The Associated Press added to this report.


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Top Friends
About Me
|London, ENG
Showing latest 10 of 15 comments
thanks for the layout comment :)
Aww! I dunno about web layouts, no one uses them anymore here! Even my myspace layouts don't get many views anymore :(
Rachel, how are you?!?
If the text is black then that's something you've done to it or your browser.
I've just looked at the code and it has it set to white. I also checked the preview and it's also in white.
I'm glad you like my layout. Thanks for the cmmnt and fav:)
Rachel! A bit late on this one, but how did you enjoy Twilight you fanatic :P
And thank you so much for the layout comments :)
Just like old times Rachel dear! I love you!!
thank you (:
thank you for using it of course! :D I appreciate that sentiment. :] Which site would you be using it on? Oh and just so you know, I've got an LJ now, and I'm completely lost. XD
ok, i'm done talking to strangers... :p
first click on forums on the tab link ontop.
click on announcements, and then apply official designer + member.
since you already have more than 50 graphics, you're good to go (=
Just tell them you want to apply as an official designer and give them your myspace or website link. and you're all set!
if you have any questions they have a link there where you can ask a question/concern.
your welcome! you make awesome icons.


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Machine final form
Once again I have done the final form before completing my 101 sketches. But know I can concentrate on creating my last final form, which is life form.
Below are the turnarounds of the machine form which is thumbnail 49. I chose this one as I feel that this machine could be a bad guy or a good guy, and he would also fit in nicely with the wasteland structure.
|Front view
|Side view
|Back view


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£100.14 incl. VAT
£83.45 excl. VAT
The BTD-CAT5-P1R Single-Port CAT-5 Midspan/Injector (also known as PoE Passive Splitter) is a commercial grade Power-over-Ethernet device that provides DC power for one PoE-equipped device. It is compatible with Cisco Aironet® 1100 and 1200 series access points and other equipment supporting reverse polarity PoE pinout (Pins 4 and 5: Power - / Pins 7 and 8: Power +).
Power-over-Ethernet eliminates the need for an AC outlet at each AP location. Only a single Ethernet cable is run to each AP instead of separate power and data cables. The injector is typically installed near the Ethernet hub.
The integral lightning and surge protection individually protects the 4 data lines as well as protection for the power lines. High speed devices clamp any voltage, positive or negative on the wires. The limits are +/- 15 volts on pins, 1, 2, 3, 6 and +/- 58 volts on pins, 4, 5, 7 and 8.
The BTD-CAT5-P1R features shielded RJ45 jacks. This along with the BTD-CAT5-P1R's metal housing helps reduce the effects of EMI interference. A ground lug and terminal is provided directly on the injector housing providing superior grounding.
This unit can be mounted to a DIN 3 rail using the DIN mounting clip located on the rear of the unit.
This kit includes the injector/tap and a 48VDC @ 70W power supply (PS4870-25R).


text: ZGF designed the 209,000 SF regional headquarters for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Delivered design/build, the high performance building provides the Corps with a 21st century workplace environment bathed in natural daylight. The concept—the Oxbow—features a narrow office bar bent around a central shared atrium called the commons. The open plan office layout provides the greatest amount of flexibility for teams to grow and shrink and the commons—where all the conference rooms and shared services are located at the core of the building—compels users to come together. The design integrates active and passive systems, materials and strategies to achieve aggressive water and energy saving requirements without sacrificing comfort or amenity. Optimized mechanical systems feature chilled beams, heat recovery and phase-change thermal energy storage. The reclamation of 200,000 board feet of timber from a warehouse previously located on the site provides a dramatic interior environment. The LEED Platinum® building is performing in the top 1 percent of similar-sized office buildings in the U.S. with an EUI of 25 kBTU/SF/yr and an Energy Star score of 99—meeting the 2030 Challenge.


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- Originality and whimsy meets time-honoured inn-keeping in rural Oxfordshire
- We love...
- knowing that each ingredient on the Dining Room and Pub's menus has been chosen for its superior quality. Don't miss the seasonal tasting menu!
Justin and Charlie (Charlotte) Salisbury's Oxfordshire edition of their small but influential group of Artist Residences, is a lesson in how to combine five-star inn style with substance.
Just a 30-minute drive from the centre of Oxford, their 16th-century, thatched-roof inn with rooms (also known as Mr Hanbury's Mason Arms) is loaded with authentic charm and artistic licence. Its location in South Leigh is an archetypical small English village, which was a huge inspiration for avant-garde artists, the Connor Brothers, when making their eccentric mark to the interior design.
Traditional features such as flagstone floors and deep inglenook fireplaces remain in place, while bold House of Hackney wallpapers and eye-catching Andy Doig neon signs both enliven and bring joy to the proceedings. The five cosy bedrooms all fit under the inn's eaves and have playful sounding names such as The Rabbit Hole and Farmhouse Lofts, whilst the new Barn Suite is located in private outbuildings complete with a tall vaulted ceiling and its own terrace. Amenities include roll top en-suite bathtubs, quirky antiques and rustic furnishings such as Sri Lankan tea chests that serve as bedside tables.
In the morning, breakfast options include a full English alongside classic boiled eggs and soldiers, and the American favourite: pancakes and maple syrup. Head Chef Leon Smith keeps things traditional in the first-floor Dining Room and ground-floor pub, with enormous Sunday roasts and fish and chips in addition to more "cheffy" dishes showcasing Yorkshire grouse, Cornish plaice and greenery from the inn's veggie patch.
Accolades received: inclusion within the Michelin Eating Out in Pubs Guide 2017 and 2 AA Rosettes.


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We will visit three of the most interesting handicrafts towns in the country:
San Sebastian, Ilobasco and Suchitoto.
After we visit the main plaza and take time for shopping, we will go to Ilobasco, the "clay town" known primarily for its clay dolls, as well as for other types of pottery made from local clays. We will see the process of clay preparation and its transformation into beautiful pieces of art.
We will end at Suchitoto, the best preserved Colonial town in the country. We will walk through the town's cobble stone roads and we will have lunch at "Posada de Suchitlan", a restaurant with a wonderful view of Suchitlan Lake.
©2008 Tourin El Salvador. All rights reserved. Website by Webtiller Designs.


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B2 to broadcast select Midget games
The North American Hockey League has announced that select games at this week's NAHL Midget Showcase Series will be video broadcast over the Internet through B2 Networks.
The U18 division's 13th- and 14th-seed game (9 a.m. CST), 9th- and 10th-seed game (11 a.m.) and championship game (1 p.m.) – which will all be played on Sunday, December 16 – will be broadcast via B2.
"Having these games broadcast over the Internet is a tremendous opportunity for family and friends who can't make it to St. Louis to watch and hear everything as it happens," said NAHL commissioner Mark Frankenfeld.
Family and friends wanting to watch the event via B2 Networks will need a high-speed Internet connection and a current version of Microsoft Windows Media Player. Each of the games can be viewed for $6 (U.S.).
The games will be available for viewing through the official Web site of the NAHL Midget Showcase Series, www.nahlmidgetshowcase.com, as well as www.b2livetv.com.
Next week's event, which is the second tournament of the three-leg NAHL Midget Showcase Series, will be held Dec. 13-16 at The Summit Center in Chesterfield, Mo., home of the St. Louis Bandits.
Fourteen (14) teams will compete in the Midget Major division (U18) and ten (10) will skate in the Midget Minor (U16).
For more information on the NAHL Midget Showcase Series, visit www.nahlmidgetshowcase.com.


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Stoopid Shades, a Truckee-based sunglasses brand, was looking for ways to sell more products online and approached First Chair looking for strategic marketing consulting.
We worked with the owner to understand the current situation, conducted market research, and developed a digital marketing strategy with the goal of increasing awareness, growing their audience, driving more website traffic, and ultimately increasing sales. As a young company in a competitive niche, brand awareness
During our engagement in the summer of 2016, we generated visual content for Stoopid Shades and used it to reach over 100,000 people in their target audience. This led to a 5X increase in social engagement, a 3X increase the size of their social audience, and a 19% increase in online sales.


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Paris is the capital and largest city in France. Paris has a population of approximately 2.2 million people. Famous for the Eiffel Tower, Paris averages over 25 million tourists a year and July and August are the peak of tourist season. The top Paris attractions are Disneyland Paris, Notre Dame Cathedral, Sacre Coeur, the Louvre Museum , Eiffel Tower, Versailles Palace, Centre Pompidou and the Cite des Sciences.
Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements numbered 1 to 20.The first arrondissement contains the Ile de la Cite, the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens. The other arrondissements spiral from there in a clockwise direction.The first arrondissement contains the Ile de la Cite, the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens. The other arrondissements spiral from there in a clockwise direction.
The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889, by Gustave Eiffel as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair. The Eiffel Tower stand at 1,063 ft. tall. "Only intended to last 20 years, it was saved by the scientific experiments that Eiffel encouraged, and in particular by the first radio transmissions, followed by telecommunications. For example, the radio signals from the Pantheon Tower in 1898; it served as a military radio post in 1903; it transmitted the first public radio programme in 1925, and then broadcast television up to TNT more recently. Since the 1980s, the monument has regularly been renovated, restored and adapted for an ever-growing public."
My first grade teacher moved to Paris after I had her class. I remember keeping in contact with her and asking her to send me a postcard with the Eiffel Tower on it; it's now one of my favorite possessions.
Disneyland Paris opened on April 12, 1992, as the Euro Disney Resort. The park contains two theme parks, a golf course, an entertainment complex and six Disney resort hotels. Disneyland Paris covers an area of 4,940 acres.
The Musée du Louvre or the Louvre Museum is one of the world's largest museums. As the most visited art museum in the world it's also a historic monument. Louvre was first opened to the public as a museum on November 8, 1793, during the French Revolution. The Louvre hosts the "Mona Lisa" from Leonard de Vinci, among other world-famous paintings and artwork from all era's and areas of the world.
Notre Dame Cathedral is the official seat of the Archbishop of Paris and has been a Roman Catholic Cathedral since the Middle Ages. Maurice de Sully, the Paris Bishop, started its construction in 1163. He deemed the church that already stood in the location unworthy of the prestige of his position. Construction continued for years, with many bishops and architects making their mark on the seemingly never-ending building process. The fact that so many people had a part in building Notre Dame is what accounts for its unique and varied design. Notre Dame is 130 meters long, 48 meters wide, 35 meters high. Notre Dame witnessed many historic events, including the coronation of Napoleon (1804) and the mass for Paris liberation (1944). Major components that make Notre Dame unique include one of the world's largest organs and its immense church bells. Of the five large bells, the one in the South Tower is the most prominent; he bourdon bell Emmanuel weighs over 13 tons.


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Crappily ever after
My husband of a year is the most selfish, inconsiderate, cold-shouldered man I've ever known. He's 24; I'm 22. He behaved similarly when we were dating, but when he proposed, he made promises to treat me better, and I believed him. Well, we pretty much only do what he wants to do. If it's an activity for me, he'll whine and act miserable the whole time. He often cancels our plans to hang out with his friends. On our anniversary, we had reservations at a fancy restaurant 45 minutes away. I got ready, and he suddenly decided he didn't want to drive there and took us to some random place nearby. At that point, our evening meant nothing. He is king of the silent treatment and never admits fault or listens to my feelings. We've sought out marriage counseling, but when there's no sex, compromise, communication, or friendship, should I still hold out hope? I'm trying to because I told myself I'd only get married once. — Upset
It's 2013. You tell people you're divorced and they mumble, "Oh, sorry." They don't put you on a scaffold in the town square to be jeered at by all the villagers and then make you go around with a big scarlet "D" sewn on all your clothes.
Our early 20s should be called the Age of Idiocy. Not for all people but for a whole lot of us, including me. Until we figure out that life's hobby is kicking us in the teeth, there's a tendency to just wing it and believe things will turn out okay. Well, there are things — like signing a contract to spend your life with somebody — that just shouldn't be, uh, wung. Sure, this guy showed promise as a boyfriend; that is, he made empty promises that he'd be completely different after marriage. For future reference, anybody can say he'll be different. Only after he consistently shows he's different over time does it makes sense to believe him. Unfortunately, it's hard to think so sensibly if, like many early 20-somethings, you see marriage as an express elevator to adulthood: Hop in; press the "just married" button; get off at grownup-land, where you'll magically become mature adults and get on with all that happily ever after stuff.
Your husband has his merits, like that both of his kidneys seem to work and he has yet to express an interest in drowning squirrels. Couples therapy could help — if you had a guy who just didn't know how to be married but cared deeply for you and wanted to learn. Your husband's behavior, however, reflects the lack of empathy common to narcissists. Empathy isn't something you can train an adult to have — not to any meaningful degree. What you can do is accept that you were naive and amend your "marry only once" pledge to "marry idiotically only once." You might also take a more positive view of mistakes. They tend to be pretty amazing teachers — providing we admit we've made them so we can learn from them instead of sticking around to see if we can't make a bunch of sociopathic babies with them.
Mild kingdom
My girlfriend's love of animals is causing some tension. She cannot watch any movie in which an animal gets hurt or dies. Telling her to remember that it's a movie and the animal doesn't actually die just makes her really mad. She'll say my knowing animal suffering upsets her should be enough of a reason. — Rational
Never mind that Titanic is a movie about 1,500 people drowning in the freezing Atlantic Ocean. For some, what matters is "Omigod, did that lady's goldfish die?" And wouldn't you know it, there's a site for these people, doesthedogdie.com, which details whether animals in a movie are depicted getting injured or killed and confirms that no, in Titanic, "Old Rose's dog and goldfish are not harmed." Phew, huh? Snarking aside, no amount of turning to your girlfriend and saying "Oh, come on, that dog has an agent and headshots!" will change her need to live in a world where Old Yeller never bites it. There's also a good chance that much of her upset is about what she thinks your reaction means — that you don't care about her feelings. Try putting on a new you — telling her that you understand how hard it is for her to see animals suffer, that you'll let her know when she can uncover her eyes when you're watching TV, and that you'll go alone to movies in which aliens snack on deer. This should dial back the tension so you two can snuggle on the couch together, watching humans being shot, bludgeoned, and hacked to pieces. (Do the gentlemanly thing and cover her eyes if the camera pulls out to reveal an ant trap.)
Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave., #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or email firstname.lastname@example.com (advicegoddess.com). Alkon is the author of I See Rude People: One Woman's Battle to Beat Some Manners Into Impolite Society.


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Derry City and Strabane Ulster Unionist Party Councillor, Derek Hussey, has condemned the recent attacks on Strawletterdallon Orange Hall just a few miles outside Newtownstewart in County Tyrone.
The Ulster Unionist representative for the Derg Electoral Area said "At lunchtime on Thursday (February 18), following an initial attack on Strawletterdallon Orange Hall on the Wednesday night, I had been on site to view for myself the damage inflicted on this well used Community Facility in our rural area.
"It was obvious that substantial force had been used as the windows and doors are of high quality in regard to their protective ability resultant from a previous arson attempt on the Hall in 2011.
"It was with disbelief and dismay that I then got word late on that same Thursday night of a further attack against the Hall with more windows being damaged.
"On contacting the local Neighbourhood Police Inspector I was assured that they would be giving additional attention to the area and that they are rightly treating these incidents as hate crimes.
"These incidents aside, there has been concern in regard to rural crime generally and I trust that the authorities will ensure that police resources are available and sufficient to assist in the proper protection of our rural areas.
"I urge that all help be given to police in their efforts to apprehend those bigots from within the community who have committed these hate crimes.
"This Orange Hall whilst being home to the local Lodge is also a Community Hub used by family and friends of the Lodge together with many other organisations across a broad spectrum of the rural community in the area both young and old."
Alderman Hussey concluded by adding "The sheer vitriolic and venomous mind-set of those carrying such actions does not bear thinking about and their wanton sectarian vandalism must surely be condemned by right thinking people of all persuasions as they represent nothing but pure hatred. "Such actions against Orange Halls over the years have generally strengthened the resolve of their occupants and I have no doubt that the community using Strawletterdallon will respond similarly in their situation and I wish them every success into the future."


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For those in film school, the project is like a crash course and a final exam, jam packed into one restless weekend.
This is the Miami edition of the 48 Hour Film Project, an international event that gets play from local filmmakers from Israel and Johannesburg to Las Vegas, Nevada. The one constant -- you get 48 hours to complete a short film from scratch.
As teams form at News Cafe in Miami for the launch, they wait to find out what prop they need to use, what line of dialogue must be included in the film and finally what genre they will be expected to produce.
Ranging from western and horror to musicals, everybody is crossing their fingers, banking on their strengths.
While the local edition of the project is dubbed 'Miami', in reality all of South Florida comes to participate. Local producer Cathleen Dean has made it a point to bring in filmmakers from as far north as West Palm Beach.
"That's why I choose to screen the films in Hollywood, because it's kind of a middle point," she says. "There is a tremendous amount of talent up there," noting that there are several strong teams coming from Delray Beach.
In total, 40 teams from across South Florida are participating.
One of them is Inno Films, a group of about 15 students from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Team leader Kevin Duplan says this project is a major way to showcase South Florida film industry talent, providing an incentive for companies to shoot in the region.
"I'm one of the people who says 'I don't want to move to New York or L.A. to have a film career.' I would like to stay here. I was raised here," he says.
For this project, the only thing Duplan knows for sure is that they don't want to get a musical. Please, anything but a musical.
Silvio Vega is a Spanish professor at St. Thomas University and this is his second year participating as a hobbyist, team leader and producer for team Key Lime Video. Last year he produced a science fiction film but was disqualified for turning it in about a half-hour late. This is typical: about 20 percent of project films are disqualified for being late, although ultimately all of them will be shown at screenings this weekend in Hollywood.
Vega says the problem last year was a dispute with the director. Tight deadlines tend to make tempers flare. But this year he is taking on a heavier load himself, along with a smaller crew and revised approach.
"Tomorrow is all production and then after production, we go immediately into editing. Last year we went to sleep, and that was a mistake… We're going to sleep after planning."
After a little bit of mixing and mingling, Dean gets on stage to announce film genres for each team as well as production elements required for each film. The following elements draw mixed reactions from the crowd:
- Films must feature a button as a prop.
- Films must include the character Larry or Lorrie Linton, a hypochondriac.
- Films must include "that's not what my mom told me" in the dialogue.
Duplan and Inno Films get-- surprise surprise-- the musical genre but immediately set their sights on film de femme with a wild card.
Vega and Key Lime Video wind up with another sci-fi film.
And with that, the teams take off.
To see what they came up with in 48 hours last weekend, you can attend screenings on Friday and Saturday nights at the Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center.


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Ladies, the holidays are upon us. And they call for makeup to complete the glitzy and glamorous looks we'll be wearing to various special events.
Sure, getting your face Christmas or New Year's Eve party-ready is more than just dabbing on bolder-hued eye shadows, lipsticks and blushes in bigger amounts. But it's not rocket science either, assures Little Rock makeup artist Aaron Perkins, owner-operator of Face Your Day Studios.
"When it comes to makeup this holiday season," Perkins says, "it's all about effortless BB creams [beauty balms -- moisturizer, anti-aging aid and foundation, all in one], shimmery earth-tone shadows, berry lips, and peachy blushers."
Perkins offers a few makeup tips and tricks for holiday celebrants:
• Do lashes. Be it extensions or strips, lashes always take a look to the next level.
• Don't over-glitter. Confine shimmery shades to the lids only.
• Do cream blush. This will keep your look fresh without leaving the cheeks splotchy.
• Don't over-line the lips. In photography, this is a great technique for lips to appear fuller. In person, however, this can be quite distracting.
• Do liquid liner. Ever wanted to have that exaggerated winged eye? This is the perfect time to experiment.
• Don't sleep in makeup. Be sure to remove all makeup with a cleansing cloth or gentle cleanser before bed.
Perkins is also a beauty consultant at Celebrate magazine and style chairman for the Nov. 20 Festival of Fashion benefit for CARTI. His clients include state Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and North Little Rock District Judge-elect Paula Juels Jones.
Link up with fashion
The Little Rock chapter of The Links Inc. announces the 41st incarnation of its signature fundraising event, the Holiday Jazz Brunch and Fashion Show. This year's brunch will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Little Rock Marriott. Donna Terrell, news anchor for KLRT-TV, Channel 16, is event chairman.
This year's brunch will feature the fashions of Little Rock's Linda Rowe Thomas. Entertainment will be by Saboor Salaam. Ticket are $75 and can be bought from Gloria Love, chapter president, at (501) 350-4819. Proceeds will help the chapter conduct local projects designed to help improve the quality of life for local families and children.
Bows of a feather
Featured in the Neiman Marcus Christmas book: men's bow ties by Brackish -- the feather tie maker.
Crafted in Charleston, S.C., the bows come in various colors, with fabric center wraps. Styles includes such attention getters as the Hound ($185), made with natural red feathers and a houndstooth wrap; the Pheasant With Snakeskin ($195), layered with pheasant feathers enhanced with hand-stitched snakeskin; and the Peacock ($275), which speaks for itself.
In Arkansas, Brackish bow ties can be found exclusively at Little Rock gift boutique Powder & Smoke, Pleasant Ridge Shopping Center. "They have been amazing," says owner Mindy Stewart, who began carrying them right before Valentine's Day. "The second I saw them I thought that this is huge for men ... because men are so hard to buy for ... especially the ones that have everything."
Brackish got its start when founder Ben Ross handcrafted a set of turkey-feather bow ties for the men in his wedding party in 2007, according to brackishbowties.com.
They've been "flying out of the store," Stewart says.
Spa move
La-Tee-Da Salon & Spa, formerly located in a strip mall at 4618 John F. Kennedy Blvd. in North Little Rock, has moved a bit south. The new location is 3784 John F. Kennedy Blvd. (at H Street). Angie Schnebelen, hair designer and color specialist, is the salon owner.
Janet Petrus, a skin-care specialist who worked in the Little Rock market for nearly two decades, is now at the salon giving facials and clearing up skin-care issues using Eminence, an organic Hungarian skin-care line. (Eminence was voted a favorite for six years in a row by spa professionals, according to Day Spa magazine.) The salon also features the services of massage therapist Sandra McKelvey; Marsha Fisk, hair designer and color specialist; and hair and makeup expert Stacie Mack.
Winning model
A belated congratulations goes to model Bryana Carter, who was named The Eventful Cupidon Model 101, Fall 2015 during an Oct. 23 fashion show featuring the work of Little Rock crocheted-fashion designer Lacie Cupani.
Carter, of Conway, won a $200 voucher toward a trip to London, along with a three-night hotel stay and other prizes. In London, she participated at the Fashion Designers' and Craft Makers' Young Designer Awards and Collections Showcase in London on Oct. 31 and had the chance to volunteer and model for competing European designers.
On Nov. 1, Carter and European models participated in an "Urban Fashion Models" photo shoot in the city.Read more at:green prom dresses


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FLORENCE COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - The Florence Fire Department was dispatched to a house fire in the 300 Block of South Kemp street early Sunday afternoon.
According to Florence Fire Dept., upon arrival the officer in charge found heavy smoke coming from the chimney and the upper part of the house.
The fire was found in the attic and was quickly extinguished.
The home did suffer heavy smoke damage and some water damage.
The Florence Fire Department, Florence Police Department and Florence County EMS were all on the scene of the fire. No one in the home was injured nor any of the officials on the scene. The fire was accidental and at this time appears to have been caused by a faulty chimney.
The residents were alerted to the fire by their smoke alarm sounding. The Florence Fire Department wants all residents to be aware how important it is to have working smoke alarms in your home.
Copyright 2012 WMBF News. All rights reserved.


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With our recent hot weather, I was looking for ways to entertain my son and keep him cool at the same time. All of these ideas were a hit with him!
I filled a large pot with some water and gave him a spoon and some small plastic bowls. He started out splashing the water with his hands, but by the end he had tried standing in it and had even put his head into the water. :)
Another thing that he enjoys is playing with ice cubes on the table. It is a little less messy than the pot of water and can entertain him for quite awhile.
He also really likes squirt bottles. He enjoys being spritzed with water and also likes to squirt water into his mouth.
Do you have any fun activities to keep kids cool in the summer?
Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
With my Grandson, I'll fill up the kitchen sink with water & let him stand in front of it on a sturdy chair. He can spend hours with plastic containers and various serving spoons, measuring cups, etc playing at making soup or whatever.
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We've recieved information that a speaker somewhere has been rigged to cause "Serious damage". Search the island together for it, then shut it down. We cant take any chances!
Here is how to complete it:
1: Accept the field-Op in the command room.
2: Go to the lighthouse.
3: Stand near the speaker in the bottem left corner.
4: Your spy phone will ring. Answer it.
5: Complete this mini game:
Congratulations, you have successfully completed Field-Op #11. Collect your medal.
You can now spend you medals on some new Elite gear! Check the post below! What do you think of the enw Field-Op?


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Beppe Fenech Adami told to remove illegalities
Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami has been ordered to remove illegalities at his Għargħur home after the Planning Authority rejected a sanctioning application.
Dr Fenech Adami applied to sanction landscaping works carried out on a field at the back of his home which were not in line with approved plans and had transformed the field into a garden.
The sanctioning request included paved stone pathways, an aviary and chicken coop, as well as variations in the shape and location of his swimming pool. Other interventions were proposed to be removed and the site returned to its original state.
While the two-storey home is within development boundaries, the swimming pool and field areas are ODZ.
The Planning Commission rejected the application on Wednesday after the Environment and Resources Authority objected due to "take-up of agricultural land and excessive site formalisation through the introduction of built development".
The application also did not provide enough detail on the material of the animal enclosures, while the chicken coop requested for sanctioning included a structure of stone, contrary to rural policy, according to the PA's case officer.
The Agricultural Advisory Committee said the coop was to keep chickens, guinea fowl, emus, ducks, peacocks and a turkey, while the aviary was planned for zebra finches, Java sparrows, canaries and budgies.
The case officer noted no issues with sanctioning the swimming pool area, which had been marginally reduced from that approved.
Dr Fenech Adami was last February awarded €3,000 in damages after a court ruled in his favour in a libel case against One News, which had broadcast claims of irregularities in the development of the swimming pool and the issue of development permits for the home.
The Labour Party said yesterday the PA's decision confirmed that Dr Fenech Adami had attempted to deceive in insisting his property was in line with the law.
"Even though Dr Fenech Adami won his libel case, which is under appeal, no legalisms can detract from the fact that neither he nor the PN have any credibility to speak about protecting ODZ land," Labour said.
"Dr Fenech Adami is not the first MP who has behaved contrary to the PN stance on ODZ land and has faced no censure from the party leadership. The PN, therefore, has no credibility when it speaks of environmental protection," it charged.


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Many people today would love to redecorate their home but have trouble figuring out exactly what they want to do, or how to go about doing it. Numerous simple methods of renovating your home's interior can be determined with some research. The article below has ideas that can help.
Think of the purpose of the room before you design. For kid's rooms, you want something more colorful and fun. But the same decoration wouldn't work in the dining room.
Incorporate coordinating patterns and multiple textures in the space. The patterns and textures will draw attention to all of details you are incorporating into the space. In order to get a contemporary style, you will definitely want to focus on patterns and textures.
When designing a room, keep in mind the mood you would like to create in the space. Have a mood or theme in mind when you pick materials for the room. For example, you might want a bright color for an office or craft room but a soft shade for a relaxing lounge area. Let the desired mood and the intended use of the room be your guide.
Sit down and talk about the finances that you want to spend on a project before you initiate it. It's a terrible thing to start a project you can't afford. You can be happier and less stressed if you are taking on a design project.
A nice tip for interior design is including various textures or patterns into the room you design. Patterns and textures can serve as great accent pieces, particularly on smooth surfaces like glass or wood. Creativity with textures and patterns is a great way to update the look of a room.
It is ideal that most pieces of artwork are placed at the eye level of those occupying a room. If you hang the artwork too low or too high on the wall, it can make your room seem off-balanced and may even give the illusion that your room is smaller and poorly organized.
Let your children make some of the decisions regarding the design of their own bedrooms. This will help them to feel comfortable instead of designing the room the way you would like. You need to make all of these items accessible to your children. Think like a child yourself, and remove any design ideas that could be hazardous to a child's health.
Consider your style when you design rooms. You want to be appropriate for guests, but you are the one who is going to live there every day. If you want some crazy decor or frilly pillows to cover your beds and sofas, then do it, as you're the one who needs to be happy with the living space. If you do not like the look later down the line, you can make it different.
When re-designing a kitchen, try thinking outside the box in regard to counter tops. Traditional materials such as granite are popular, but consider using concrete, cork or even wood. You may find these to be not only unique, but also easily affordable.
A quick way to update your space is to focus on accessories. Swap out the light fixtures, fans, and other small things around the room. Try out a few new pieces like new curtains or a few stylish tea towels. Making small changes such as these can make your rooms look fresh for a small investment.
When you are doing a home decorating project, you should remove clutter first. An excessive amount of accessories and furniture is likely to cause your room to appear small and cramped. Rather, choose fewer items in order to maintain an airy feel.
It is not necessary to put all of the furniture in one direction. A conversation area off to the side is a great idea for breaking up the space. You can sit down and relax with a friend while enjoying a cup of tea.
Be creative with picture frames. Your photos are a symbol of you, and the frames that they are in should be to. You do not need to have them hang in only straight lines. Try to hang them in planned angles or patterns. Using the surrounding white space could give you interesting effects and it could even change the room's mood.
Lessen the clutter in your home to expand usable space. Try to find a few nice storage containers to keep any clutter organized. Add filing cabinets to your office space to contain paperwork, or storage bins to a toy room. Having a box sitting in the corner doesn't take up nearly as much room as having items scattered all over.
Make sure to personalize each and every room with your style. Impressing guests is great, but remember that you have to live there. If you want certain elements like frilly pillows or items that look like they come from a ship to adorn your rooms, then do it. The good thing is, if your tastes change, so can the decor.
With all of the ideas you just acquired you can now write some things down about what you're going to do to fix up your home. Find out how other people feel about your ideas. Once you do this, utilize your ideas so that you can transform your home into a masterpiece.
One of the most common complaints about rooms is that many are simply too small. Try painting these ares with light colors. Dark colors make a space look very small.


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Warrenpoint Town boss Matthew Tipton last night took to Twitter to deliver his verdict on striker Darren Murray's move to title-chasing Crusaders.
Murray signed a three-and-a-half year deal with the Danske Bank Premiership leaders last night - a move which Crues boss Stephen Baxter said should lift some of the weight off club record scorer Jordan Owens.
The 26-year-old ex-Cliftonville and Portadown hitman has netted 10 goals in 18 league appearances this season for Warrenpoint this term. He will be greatly missed by the County Down outfit but manager Tipton said he wishes his former goal-getter well.
"I'm not really one to wish players luck once they leave my club but I'll break that rule for @Darrenmurray9," Tipton wrote on Twitter. "It's been a pleasure to work with you over the past year and you deserve every success with @CrusadersFC. Hopefully we get to work together again in the future."


text: Your removalists came yesterday and I was so impressed with their service! They were efficient, friendly, and careful. They all seemed to know exactly what they were doing and worked incredibly well as a team. I was also impressed with the quality of the packing and wrapping – how much care was taken to get everything wrapped up and packed neatly into the container. I was also impressed with how intelligently they packed. They did not waste space, nor create excess boxes, and everything was neatly labelled and inventoried.