text:
If you live in the Sharon area and are looking for the best, tastiest and most creatively designed kosher wedding cakes in the area, Sugar Daddy is your address.
We serve Tel Mond, Netanya, Ra'anana, Kfar Yona and the Sharon settlements with designer kosher cakes for all of your special occasions, including Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, Wedding cakes, or for just any happy event, we at Sugar Daddy off authentic baked goods of all types.
Our clients will attest to their satisfaction and our professionalism. We offer the entire baked goods pantry and work according to your tastes and special event needs.
Of course, in Netanya and Ra'anana and the entire area we are best know for our wedding cakes, but Sugar Daddy has over the years learned to accommodate with great taste and originality birthday parties and other special family and company occasions.
Give us a call and come in for a taste!
Natan Home Repair in Petah Tikva is the leading expert in the area for home repair, renovation, dry wall, painting, bathroom and shower installation and repair, installation and plumbing and more.
Natan Home Repai and Construction and Painting in Petah Tikva works the entire region, including Samaria (the Shomron). With years of experience and attention to the needs of the customer, Natan Home Repair will take cared of all your needs - for private homes, institutions, villas and apartments.
Natan is thoroughly professional and honest and treats your renovation needs as if it were his own home and for his own family.
Professional painting in Petah Tikva and Professional Home Repair in Petah Tikva is Natan - Installation and plumbing, dry walls, bathrooms, showers and baths, painting, repair and much, much more.
A. Eli Berkowitz - 050-8697093 - English speaking Taxi Raanana, Tai Herzliya, Taxi Kfar Saba and the entire Sharon area and Tel Aviv, plus regular taxi service to Bewn Gurion Airport. Modern transportation with all of the luxuries. English spoken as well as Hebrew.
Herzliya Taxi Service Raanana and taxi service in Herzliya, Kfar Saba and Tel Aviv – 050-8697093 English Speaking Taxi in Israel. Taxi Raanana. Also, taxi Kfar Saba, Herzliya and Tel Aviv. From Ben Gurion Airport to the entire area.
A. Eli Berkowitz Taxi. Native New York taxi driver specializing in taxi service from Ben Gurion Airport to Raanana, Herzliya, Kfar Saba and Tel Aviv and to Ben Gurion Airport from Herzliya, Raanana, Kfar Saba and Tel Aviv. Driving a fully equipped, air conditioned a new Mercedes taxi and strictly enforcing a no smoke rule, A. Eli Berkowitz Taxi service is known throughout the Sharon area as a clean, reliable, friendly, kind and thoroughly professional and personal taxi service, also available for delivery of packages, parcels and for trips anywhere in Israel to and from Herzliya, Kfar Saba and Raanana. Available 24/7. Reasonable and competitive pricing.
Taxi Raanana specializing in the needs of Anglo residents and visitors. English and Hebrew spoken fluently. A. Eli Berkowitz is familiar with the special needs of Anglo customers, Americans, Canadians, British and Australian but works as well and with ease with native Hebrew speakers. The Herzliya taxi service regularly brings visitors and residents of Herzliya, Kfar Saba and Raanana to and from Ben Gurion International Airport and is available 24 hours a day. Advanced reservations available as well.
Taxi Service Ben Gurion Airport - Kfar Saba; Kfar Saba Taxi -24/7. English speaking and Hebrew speaking taxi driver.
Specializing in Ben Gurion airport taxi service, A. Eli Berkowitz taxi will accommodate all of your needs with a polite manner and understanding demeanor, providing his taxi from hotels in Tel Aviv to Ben Gurion Airport and of course, from hotels, businesses and private residents from Raanana, Herzliya, Kfar Saba and Tel Aviv to all of Israel.
Please call if you have any questions or if you would like to book an appointment for A. Eli Berkowitz Herzliya Taxi service in Herzliya and Raanana.
Taxi Raanana - Residents of the area know A. Eli Berkowitz as a devoted professional and kind person offering Taxi services that are fairly priced and always on time. Enjoy the ride in a new Mercedes Taxi and enjoy the conversation, should you want. You will not find a greater ride and a more responsible taxi drive in the Sharon area. Guaranteed.
TOP Cranes in Bat Yam. Leading crane service in Rehovot, Bat Yam, Rishon Letzion, Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas. Crane Service in the Sharon area, Raanana, Herzylia, Hod Hasharon and the entire Sharon region.
Personal and professional crane service that includes skilled and professional staff, advanced crane equipment kept to stringent government standards. Lift by crane contents of a personal or business nature and delicate equipment in your apartment for maximum sensitivity. Full insurance on the equipment and cargo. Crane services will shorten greatly the loading and unloading time of the various objects and avoid causing damage to the object itself and the walls of the house and stairwells.
Crane services in Central Israel and the coast - Top Haramot - - a top quality crane company with a reputation of professionalism, thoroughness and customer satisfaction. Top Haramot - selected by dozens of businesses and institutions as a crane service in the coastal area and the Tel Aviv area. We more than just meet the highest standards in the field and in general. Cranes for any purpose. Moving by crane and all crane srvices in Tel Aviv, Rehovot, Holon, Rishon Letzion and Bat Yam. Crane services for private homes, businesses, institutions, factories, storage facilities and construction. Crane Service in the Sharon area, Raanana, Herzylia, Hod Hasharon and the entire Sharon region.
Shalhevet Bar El - Women's Fashion Designer located in Ramat Gan, near Tel Hashomer.
Shalhevet's expertise is in Women and Teenage Women Fashion Design for those that desire a chic and elegant look that is at the same time modest and current.
The fashions are designed with much forethought and creativity with a desire to bring together various types of top quality and singular cloths with a sense of comfort and particality. This lets our customers attain a feeling of beauty, freedom and modern elegance.
The Shalhevet lines are neither ordinary or customary, but give our customers with a sense of uniqueness that arouses praise and interest, such as my Indian wrap designs. This is part of my motif - a sense of originality, difference and even strength.
Women's clothes for Shabbat (Sabbath), Holidays and even for day to day wear. Every skirt and dress is different, each with its own unique personality and touch, including my own personal love attached to the garment.
Sizes: 38, 40 and 42.
In my jewelry store you will find handmade jewelry that I have designed with a lot of love, originality, thought and the finest materials.
My store contains a variety of jewelry designed for women's tastes from around the world. With so much beauty and originality, you will easily find a perfect gift for a friend, your life's love, or simply as a well deserved present for yourself.
A variety of Necklaces, Bracelets and Rings from a host of materials: Silver, Gold, Gold plated, leather, original stones, Swarovski stones, knits, jewelry with wire and beads and more. Jewelry with engraved bible texts and from the Kabbala.
All original and inspiring designs for all types of sophisticated women with taste and an eye for beauty and quality. Unique Israeli Jewelry sold to customers internationally. Dalia Lev Jewelry.
Gitit Libman - Naturopathic expert, license3d massgist and expert reflexologist, located in the heart of Samaria (Shomron) in the settlement of Yitzhar. Naturopathics for men, women and children. Reflexology, full and partial massage for women only.

lowercased:
if you live in the sharon area and are looking for the best, tastiest and most creatively designed kosher wedding cakes in the area, sugar daddy is your address.
we serve tel mond, netanya, ra'anana, kfar yona and the sharon settlements with designer kosher cakes for all of your special occasions, including bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, wedding cakes, or for just any happy event, we at sugar daddy off authentic baked goods of all types.
our clients will attest to their satisfaction and our professionalism. we offer the entire baked goods pantry and work according to your tastes and special event needs.
of course, in netanya and ra'anana and the entire area we are best know for our wedding cakes, but sugar daddy has over the years learned to accommodate with great taste and originality birthday parties and other special family and company occasions.
give us a call and come in for a taste!
natan home repair in petah tikva is the leading expert in the area for home repair, renovation, dry wall, painting, bathroom and shower installation and repair, installation and plumbing and more.
natan home repai and construction and painting in petah tikva works the entire region, including samaria (the shomron). with years of experience and attention to the needs of the customer, natan home repair will take cared of all your needs - for private homes, institutions, villas and apartments.
natan is thoroughly professional and honest and treats your renovation needs as if it were his own home and for his own family.
professional painting in petah tikva and professional home repair in petah tikva is natan - installation and plumbing, dry walls, bathrooms, showers and baths, painting, repair and much, much more.
a. eli berkowitz - 050-8697093 - english speaking taxi raanana, tai herzliya, taxi kfar saba and the entire sharon area and tel aviv, plus regular taxi service to bewn gurion airport. modern transportation with all of the luxuries. english spoken as well as hebrew.
herzliya taxi service raanana and taxi service in herzliya, kfar saba and tel aviv – 050-8697093 english speaking taxi in israel. taxi raanana. also, taxi kfar saba, herzliya and tel aviv. from ben gurion airport to the entire area.
a. eli berkowitz taxi. native new york taxi driver specializing in taxi service from ben gurion airport to raanana, herzliya, kfar saba and tel aviv and to ben gurion airport from herzliya, raanana, kfar saba and tel aviv. driving a fully equipped, air conditioned a new mercedes taxi and strictly enforcing a no smoke rule, a. eli berkowitz taxi service is known throughout the sharon area as a clean, reliable, friendly, kind and thoroughly professional and personal taxi service, also available for delivery of packages, parcels and for trips anywhere in israel to and from herzliya, kfar saba and raanana. available 24/7. reasonable and competitive pricing.
taxi raanana specializing in the needs of anglo residents and visitors. english and hebrew spoken fluently. a. eli berkowitz is familiar with the special needs of anglo customers, americans, canadians, british and australian but works as well and with ease with native hebrew speakers. the herzliya taxi service regularly brings visitors and residents of herzliya, kfar saba and raanana to and from ben gurion international airport and is available 24 hours a day. advanced reservations available as well.
taxi service ben gurion airport - kfar saba; kfar saba taxi -24/7. english speaking and hebrew speaking taxi driver.
specializing in ben gurion airport taxi service, a. eli berkowitz taxi will accommodate all of your needs with a polite manner and understanding demeanor, providing his taxi from hotels in tel aviv to ben gurion airport and of course, from hotels, businesses and private residents from raanana, herzliya, kfar saba and tel aviv to all of israel.
please call if you have any questions or if you would like to book an appointment for a. eli berkowitz herzliya taxi service in herzliya and raanana.
taxi raanana - residents of the area know a. eli berkowitz as a devoted professional and kind person offering taxi services that are fairly priced and always on time. enjoy the ride in a new mercedes taxi and enjoy the conversation, should you want. you will not find a greater ride and a more responsible taxi drive in the sharon area. guaranteed.
top cranes in bat yam. leading crane service in rehovot, bat yam, rishon letzion, tel aviv and the surrounding areas. crane service in the sharon area, raanana, herzylia, hod hasharon and the entire sharon region.
personal and professional crane service that includes skilled and professional staff, advanced crane equipment kept to stringent government standards. lift by crane contents of a personal or business nature and delicate equipment in your apartment for maximum sensitivity. full insurance on the equipment and cargo. crane services will shorten greatly the loading and unloading time of the various objects and avoid causing damage to the object itself and the walls of the house and stairwells.
crane services in central israel and the coast - top haramot - - a top quality crane company with a reputation of professionalism, thoroughness and customer satisfaction. top haramot - selected by dozens of businesses and institutions as a crane service in the coastal area and the tel aviv area. we more than just meet the highest standards in the field and in general. cranes for any purpose. moving by crane and all crane srvices in tel aviv, rehovot, holon, rishon letzion and bat yam. crane services for private homes, businesses, institutions, factories, storage facilities and construction. crane service in the sharon area, raanana, herzylia, hod hasharon and the entire sharon region.
shalhevet bar el - women's fashion designer located in ramat gan, near tel hashomer.
shalhevet's expertise is in women and teenage women fashion design for those that desire a chic and elegant look that is at the same time modest and current.
the fashions are designed with much forethought and creativity with a desire to bring together various types of top quality and singular cloths with a sense of comfort and particality. this lets our customers attain a feeling of beauty, freedom and modern elegance.
the shalhevet lines are neither ordinary or customary, but give our customers with a sense of uniqueness that arouses praise and interest, such as my indian wrap designs. this is part of my motif - a sense of originality, difference and even strength.
women's clothes for shabbat (sabbath), holidays and even for day to day wear. every skirt and dress is different, each with its own unique personality and touch, including my own personal love attached to the garment.
sizes: 38, 40 and 42.
in my jewelry store you will find handmade jewelry that i have designed with a lot of love, originality, thought and the finest materials.
my store contains a variety of jewelry designed for women's tastes from around the world. with so much beauty and originality, you will easily find a perfect gift for a friend, your life's love, or simply as a well deserved present for yourself.
a variety of necklaces, bracelets and rings from a host of materials: silver, gold, gold plated, leather, original stones, swarovski stones, knits, jewelry with wire and beads and more. jewelry with engraved bible texts and from the kabbala.
all original and inspiring designs for all types of sophisticated women with taste and an eye for beauty and quality. unique israeli jewelry sold to customers internationally. dalia lev jewelry.
gitit libman - naturopathic expert, license3d massgist and expert reflexologist, located in the heart of samaria (shomron) in the settlement of yitzhar. naturopathics for men, women and children. reflexology, full and partial massage for women only.


text:
Music | Delmarie Hines: My Journey. My Story.
I must ask you to stick with me on this one. It’s a bit of a winding road.
Music has always played a major role in my life and the life of my family. My memories of my childhood are full of music. Lately, I have been enjoying vivid memories of the songs my parents sang to me as lullabies. I am the youngest of 4 children. My older siblings were all involved in music. Someone was always learning a song, a solo, an audition piece, practicing for band rehearsal, choir rehearsal, ensemble rehearsal, piano lessons, or just jamming some 8-track, 45, LP, or tape. Mom was preparing music for Sunday morning worship. Dad was singing some hymn that was in his heart. I was just singing, singing, singing. I loved singing more than talking and that’s saying a lot because I LOVED to talk. I had a terrible stutter as a child. I had to attend speech therapy sessions in elementary school. I had to learn to slow my mind down so that my mouth could catch up. Singing is what my therapist and parents used to help me learn to slow my thoughts down. Stuttering never got in the way of singing. I could close my eyes, see the beautiful colors and patterns and just siiiiiiiinnnnnnnggggg my little heart out. Another trick was that my father would put his hand on my chest and tell me to breathe and then we’d sing together. Dad had a great big tenor voice. I learned to remember that feeling when I would get frustrated or stuck on a word. To this day, putting my hand on my chest forces me to breathe deeply. Dad would often have me read something to him, slowly. He had me convinced that I was reading slowly because he needed to hear it slowly. My mother would gently put one hand on my forehead and her other on my back. That would make me stop, breathe, think and try again. Mom’s trick was to have me read something from her medical journals. That forced me to slow down because I had to sound out all of those complicated medical words. Now I just put my hand on my forehead when I need to stop, breathe, think and try again. My brother, David, would hold me and sing to me or read to me when I got angry or upset. Music and reading were my safe places. My family made them so. My sister, Charmaine, who was my arch enemy in childhood, was also one of my favorite singers. My brother, Milton, my other childhood enemy, could sing like Stevie Wonder and I loved it. I tried not to let it show but I think they both knew that I LOVED to hear them sing.
My mother made everything she sang sound sweet. She was THE alto….one of those people simply born to sing alto! Hearing her sing in the kitchen was one of my joys in life. Even way back then, we connected through music in ways that needed no words.
People would come to our house to practice their parts and solos with my mother during her years of directing the Sanctuary Choir and serving as the Minister of Music at church. Seeing my mother’s beautiful smile when they sang correctly was everyone’s goal (that arched eyebrow when the part wasn’t right was to be avoided at all costs). One thing she knew for sure. I was going to know my part and be able to tell her who was in my section and not singing correctly. As the youngest child, being a snitch was sort of an art form for me. LOL. My mother and I did a lot of talking. There was a lot to learn. She taught me how to cook…and especially how to cook for Dad. She taught me how to assist Dad and her in their careers and the work they did in partnership. She taught me how to be a lady and a woman. She taught me how to read, write, and edit with an eye for detail and thirst for depth. She taught me how to be a woman in a leadership role especially when I was the only woman and/or the only person of color in the room. She taught me about the power of words and the need to tread lightly at times…never as a sign of weakness but as a sign of strength, wisdom, maturity and submission to God.
Here we are at 2017 and my mother is slipping away from me and I’m grasping at straws to hold on to her. The woman whose counsel I depended on heavily can no longer have a meaningful conversation with me. The woman whose dry wit could make me laugh hard is now difficult for me to understand. I find myself approaching conversations with her as I did with my nieces, nephews, and godchildren when they were little. My mother’s facial expressions let me know that in her mind she makes perfect sense, so I do my best to figure it out. She still makes me laugh. At times she gives me that look that lets me know that she no more understands what she is saying than I do. She also has her moments of clarity when she’ll hit me with one of her witty zingers. I give her the side-eye and we both giggle. My mother, a brilliant, deeply spiritual, witty woman with a vocabulary that often sent me running to the Oxford Dictionary (some of the words could not be found in Webster’s dictionary) is slipping away. That ferocious insatiable beast called Alzheimer’s is annihilating her beautiful mind. We are now 5 years into her diagnosis and the years are taking their toll. Since words are difficult for us, we share music…often. We especially share music in the still of the wee hours, when sleep escapes both of us and she calls out for her mother. We hum, listen to music, connect in ways that do not require either of us to try to understand the other. We simply share our love of the vibrations and power of music. I want to keep the music playing. I want to keep connecting. I need to keep the music playing. As a child I learned to turn to music when words were difficult for me to utter. Now I turn to music as an adult as words are becoming difficult for my mother to utter. Music…it’s been there for me my whole life and I pray that the music never ends.
This song is about two lovers but with the change of just a few words, it’s applicable to my relationship with my mother. This may seem weird to some, but it’s perfect for Mom and me.
Each time you hear her name?
Are you brave enough to confess that you are afraid to trust God? Are you beat down enough to admit that you are afraid to trust God? Are you afraid to trust God? I confess that I have been, I am, and I am hoping to stop this cycle. Trust has been a major issue for me overall. As I’ve stated before, my trust issues went into overdrive when my father died suddenly. I clung to the belief for YEARS that God had made an error and was simply too embarrassed to admit it. I can kinda laugh about that whole way of thinking now but there is still a part of me that is open to accept God’s apology for ruining my life! LOL I let that pain fester and grow into a deep lack of trust for anything that made no sense to me, that could not be documented, or that materialized outside of what I found logical even if not my taste. All along though I still acknowledged God, loved God, and kinda sorta served God (insert side-eye here). There is no way to fully serve God without trusting God. There is actually no way to be engaged in a healthy loving relationship with ANYONE without trust.
Trusting God requires passion and commitment. I’m not just trusting God to hold my hand as I cross the street. I’m trusting God to BE THE PATH. I’m trusting God to reveal my future and guide me as I do what God says do. I’m trusting God to be my everything. The trick though is that I have to give up all of my notions of who and how I should be. THAT’S MAJOR! This must be why God sent His Son, Jesus, to be our example. This trusting God thing takes sacrifice and not just giving up Ben and Jerry’s for Lent. It requires giving up your life so that you can live. It requires seeing God in everyone. It requires knowing the will and Word of God. It requires embracing a love that is not always cuddly, but a love that disciplines, that corrects, that cuts to the bone, that sheds blood, that comes with HIGH accountability. That kind of love demands and breeds passion and commitment. Now that I think about it, the question is not just will I TRUST God, it’s also do I LOVE God. Do I love God enough to TRULY surrender all of me to all of Him?
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. There are many reasons for that but we can discuss those later. Today I just wanna talk and hopefully hear back from you.
This whole exploration of trust started here. There is a note in my mother’s medical file that states: “Failure to thrive”…3 little words…just 3 little words. Her doctor mentioned the possibility of cancer being the reason she is failing to thrive. If I didn’t have a tight budget I would have SMASHED my phone to make her and her words disappear. PLEASE NOTE: To those of you reading this who know my mother this is not a confirmed diagnosis. At this point it’s just an exploration of what is causing her “failure to thrive.” The tears came quickly…tears of anger, confusion and fear all at the same time. Have you ever been there? It’s a painful place to be. It’s a lonely place to be. It’s also an easy place to get off track in every way possible. This question quickly came to mind, “Who and what will I trust?” I am a Christian so that question more specifically for me is will I trust God to be God?
THAT IS A HUGE QUESTION!!!
I knew that I needed to run to God but it was more like confront God. I was angry. I wanted to let God know a thing or two about the way my journey is playing out. My prayer time was not focused on miraculous healing for my mother. I have laid her at the altar before God and I am caring for her to the best of my abilities. There is nothing more that I can do than that. God is a healer and that remains true no matter what. I heard or read this recently, “Everyone who God heals also eventually dies!” With that in mind, I was ready to let God have it. Unexpectedly though, my prayer time was not focused on my anger or my list of grievances against God. My prayer time was focused on trust.
The question I wrestled and am wrestling with is will I trust God no matter what? This is not some undefined trust. I’m talking about a trust that shows up as an unconditional yes to whatever God asks of me. A trust that shows up as unconditional and full surrender to God over what I want. A trust that shows up as obedience to God. A trust that shows up as complete, irrevocable, absolute submission to God. I am clear that I’m using words that many like to steer clear of these days. I’m in my 50’s now. My need for popularity and to be one of the cool kids ended a LONG time ago! I want an intimate and powerful relationship with God…a relationship that gives God glory. I want to be a disciple of God. Those goals require trusting God.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a fan of embracing reality. Today’s challenge was to embrace the reality that God’s will can be and at times will be painful for me. This pain is in direct correlation to my desire to have what I want, the way want it, when I want it. God’s will is my joy only if I die daily and in Him alone live, breathe and have my being. We get to heavy blowing, running, shouting, dancing, speaking in tongues and whatnot when we declare that. The truth of the strength and courage of this conviction though is revealed when life smacks you in the face with a brick or your own choices lead you to run at full speed into a brick wall. Well I’ve been smacked and I got angry with God. That anger surprised me. I went all the way back to things that happened in high school and went down the list of the times I felt that God had disappointed me, forgotten me, abandoned me. When I stepped into the Prayer Room today the anger left and I was left to struggle with trusting God. I cried…and I’m still crying. I recited scripture. I talked with God. I heard from God. I listened to music. I sang. I cried some more. The thing that I am most clear about is that my mother will be fine. The work I have to focus on is me and my relationship with God.
It’s not over. I’m still processing. What gets you through your battles in life? How do you let go of anger? How do you turn life’s circumstances into opportunities to grow closer to God? Do you trust God to be God? What does that question mean to you? Let’s pray for each other as we navigate through this thing called life. Let’s talk about trust.

lowercased:
music | delmarie hines: my journey. my story.
i must ask you to stick with me on this one. it’s a bit of a winding road.
music has always played a major role in my life and the life of my family. my memories of my childhood are full of music. lately, i have been enjoying vivid memories of the songs my parents sang to me as lullabies. i am the youngest of 4 children. my older siblings were all involved in music. someone was always learning a song, a solo, an audition piece, practicing for band rehearsal, choir rehearsal, ensemble rehearsal, piano lessons, or just jamming some 8-track, 45, lp, or tape. mom was preparing music for sunday morning worship. dad was singing some hymn that was in his heart. i was just singing, singing, singing. i loved singing more than talking and that’s saying a lot because i loved to talk. i had a terrible stutter as a child. i had to attend speech therapy sessions in elementary school. i had to learn to slow my mind down so that my mouth could catch up. singing is what my therapist and parents used to help me learn to slow my thoughts down. stuttering never got in the way of singing. i could close my eyes, see the beautiful colors and patterns and just siiiiiiiinnnnnnnggggg my little heart out. another trick was that my father would put his hand on my chest and tell me to breathe and then we’d sing together. dad had a great big tenor voice. i learned to remember that feeling when i would get frustrated or stuck on a word. to this day, putting my hand on my chest forces me to breathe deeply. dad would often have me read something to him, slowly. he had me convinced that i was reading slowly because he needed to hear it slowly. my mother would gently put one hand on my forehead and her other on my back. that would make me stop, breathe, think and try again. mom’s trick was to have me read something from her medical journals. that forced me to slow down because i had to sound out all of those complicated medical words. now i just put my hand on my forehead when i need to stop, breathe, think and try again. my brother, david, would hold me and sing to me or read to me when i got angry or upset. music and reading were my safe places. my family made them so. my sister, charmaine, who was my arch enemy in childhood, was also one of my favorite singers. my brother, milton, my other childhood enemy, could sing like stevie wonder and i loved it. i tried not to let it show but i think they both knew that i loved to hear them sing.
my mother made everything she sang sound sweet. she was the alto….one of those people simply born to sing alto! hearing her sing in the kitchen was one of my joys in life. even way back then, we connected through music in ways that needed no words.
people would come to our house to practice their parts and solos with my mother during her years of directing the sanctuary choir and serving as the minister of music at church. seeing my mother’s beautiful smile when they sang correctly was everyone’s goal (that arched eyebrow when the part wasn’t right was to be avoided at all costs). one thing she knew for sure. i was going to know my part and be able to tell her who was in my section and not singing correctly. as the youngest child, being a snitch was sort of an art form for me. lol. my mother and i did a lot of talking. there was a lot to learn. she taught me how to cook…and especially how to cook for dad. she taught me how to assist dad and her in their careers and the work they did in partnership. she taught me how to be a lady and a woman. she taught me how to read, write, and edit with an eye for detail and thirst for depth. she taught me how to be a woman in a leadership role especially when i was the only woman and/or the only person of color in the room. she taught me about the power of words and the need to tread lightly at times…never as a sign of weakness but as a sign of strength, wisdom, maturity and submission to god.
here we are at 2017 and my mother is slipping away from me and i’m grasping at straws to hold on to her. the woman whose counsel i depended on heavily can no longer have a meaningful conversation with me. the woman whose dry wit could make me laugh hard is now difficult for me to understand. i find myself approaching conversations with her as i did with my nieces, nephews, and godchildren when they were little. my mother’s facial expressions let me know that in her mind she makes perfect sense, so i do my best to figure it out. she still makes me laugh. at times she gives me that look that lets me know that she no more understands what she is saying than i do. she also has her moments of clarity when she’ll hit me with one of her witty zingers. i give her the side-eye and we both giggle. my mother, a brilliant, deeply spiritual, witty woman with a vocabulary that often sent me running to the oxford dictionary (some of the words could not be found in webster’s dictionary) is slipping away. that ferocious insatiable beast called alzheimer’s is annihilating her beautiful mind. we are now 5 years into her diagnosis and the years are taking their toll. since words are difficult for us, we share music…often. we especially share music in the still of the wee hours, when sleep escapes both of us and she calls out for her mother. we hum, listen to music, connect in ways that do not require either of us to try to understand the other. we simply share our love of the vibrations and power of music. i want to keep the music playing. i want to keep connecting. i need to keep the music playing. as a child i learned to turn to music when words were difficult for me to utter. now i turn to music as an adult as words are becoming difficult for my mother to utter. music…it’s been there for me my whole life and i pray that the music never ends.
this song is about two lovers but with the change of just a few words, it’s applicable to my relationship with my mother. this may seem weird to some, but it’s perfect for mom and me.
each time you hear her name?
are you brave enough to confess that you are afraid to trust god? are you beat down enough to admit that you are afraid to trust god? are you afraid to trust god? i confess that i have been, i am, and i am hoping to stop this cycle. trust has been a major issue for me overall. as i’ve stated before, my trust issues went into overdrive when my father died suddenly. i clung to the belief for years that god had made an error and was simply too embarrassed to admit it. i can kinda laugh about that whole way of thinking now but there is still a part of me that is open to accept god’s apology for ruining my life! lol i let that pain fester and grow into a deep lack of trust for anything that made no sense to me, that could not be documented, or that materialized outside of what i found logical even if not my taste. all along though i still acknowledged god, loved god, and kinda sorta served god (insert side-eye here). there is no way to fully serve god without trusting god. there is actually no way to be engaged in a healthy loving relationship with anyone without trust.
trusting god requires passion and commitment. i’m not just trusting god to hold my hand as i cross the street. i’m trusting god to be the path. i’m trusting god to reveal my future and guide me as i do what god says do. i’m trusting god to be my everything. the trick though is that i have to give up all of my notions of who and how i should be. that’s major! this must be why god sent his son, jesus, to be our example. this trusting god thing takes sacrifice and not just giving up ben and jerry’s for lent. it requires giving up your life so that you can live. it requires seeing god in everyone. it requires knowing the will and word of god. it requires embracing a love that is not always cuddly, but a love that disciplines, that corrects, that cuts to the bone, that sheds blood, that comes with high accountability. that kind of love demands and breeds passion and commitment. now that i think about it, the question is not just will i trust god, it’s also do i love god. do i love god enough to truly surrender all of me to all of him?
it’s been a while since i’ve blogged. there are many reasons for that but we can discuss those later. today i just wanna talk and hopefully hear back from you.
this whole exploration of trust started here. there is a note in my mother’s medical file that states: “failure to thrive”…3 little words…just 3 little words. her doctor mentioned the possibility of cancer being the reason she is failing to thrive. if i didn’t have a tight budget i would have smashed my phone to make her and her words disappear. please note: to those of you reading this who know my mother this is not a confirmed diagnosis. at this point it’s just an exploration of what is causing her “failure to thrive.” the tears came quickly…tears of anger, confusion and fear all at the same time. have you ever been there? it’s a painful place to be. it’s a lonely place to be. it’s also an easy place to get off track in every way possible. this question quickly came to mind, “who and what will i trust?” i am a christian so that question more specifically for me is will i trust god to be god?
that is a huge question!!!
i knew that i needed to run to god but it was more like confront god. i was angry. i wanted to let god know a thing or two about the way my journey is playing out. my prayer time was not focused on miraculous healing for my mother. i have laid her at the altar before god and i am caring for her to the best of my abilities. there is nothing more that i can do than that. god is a healer and that remains true no matter what. i heard or read this recently, “everyone who god heals also eventually dies!” with that in mind, i was ready to let god have it. unexpectedly though, my prayer time was not focused on my anger or my list of grievances against god. my prayer time was focused on trust.
the question i wrestled and am wrestling with is will i trust god no matter what? this is not some undefined trust. i’m talking about a trust that shows up as an unconditional yes to whatever god asks of me. a trust that shows up as unconditional and full surrender to god over what i want. a trust that shows up as obedience to god. a trust that shows up as complete, irrevocable, absolute submission to god. i am clear that i’m using words that many like to steer clear of these days. i’m in my 50’s now. my need for popularity and to be one of the cool kids ended a long time ago! i want an intimate and powerful relationship with god…a relationship that gives god glory. i want to be a disciple of god. those goals require trusting god.
anyone who knows me knows that i am a fan of embracing reality. today’s challenge was to embrace the reality that god’s will can be and at times will be painful for me. this pain is in direct correlation to my desire to have what i want, the way want it, when i want it. god’s will is my joy only if i die daily and in him alone live, breathe and have my being. we get to heavy blowing, running, shouting, dancing, speaking in tongues and whatnot when we declare that. the truth of the strength and courage of this conviction though is revealed when life smacks you in the face with a brick or your own choices lead you to run at full speed into a brick wall. well i’ve been smacked and i got angry with god. that anger surprised me. i went all the way back to things that happened in high school and went down the list of the times i felt that god had disappointed me, forgotten me, abandoned me. when i stepped into the prayer room today the anger left and i was left to struggle with trusting god. i cried…and i’m still crying. i recited scripture. i talked with god. i heard from god. i listened to music. i sang. i cried some more. the thing that i am most clear about is that my mother will be fine. the work i have to focus on is me and my relationship with god.
it’s not over. i’m still processing. what gets you through your battles in life? how do you let go of anger? how do you turn life’s circumstances into opportunities to grow closer to god? do you trust god to be god? what does that question mean to you? let’s pray for each other as we navigate through this thing called life. let’s talk about trust.


text:
Just got this card from Newegg last week and I have had nothing but problems with it.
up to 100%. Had an EVGA 1070 Ti before this and never had issue one with it.
I have the latest Nvidia drivers and Aorus Engine.
Anyone else having issues with this card?
I forgot to list my monitor.
It is a Dell S2716DG G-Sync. TN panel.
I had no problem with it (except the fan going on/off when idle...) until today.
I tried to update drivers/revert to old version, same results. I thaught maybe it was related to the game itself, so I put back my old 970 and no problem.
So it's defenetively the GPU itself, it's weird cause I didn't had any single issue before that crash and after, it was a mess.
I'm sending back my card tomorrow.
tech support helped me DDU and reinstall. Did not help.
I have similar issues with an rtx 2070 Gaming (non oc) the card is not overclocked and worked for the first hour then the mess started after 1-2 minutes i start a game.
I bought it for VR.
My Windforce RTX 2070 is still running fine after 15+ hrs in AC Odyssey in 2K / Very High settings.
Temp is around 68-71 celsius.
Btw., I use MSI Afterburner, if it matters at all.
Have got the same problem. Card worked fine for about 10 hours. PC crashed, code 43 in windows, some nice green artifacts during boot-screen and also in windows. My old r390 still works.
Hey Guys, I'm new here. Just wanted to add in my experience with my Geforce RTX 2070 Windforce 8G. I got it from Newegg about a week ago, worked fine out of the box. Had the latest driver with Aorus installed, everything was default. Just today I launched Rocket League, I play on a Dell S2417dg with 1440p and noticed extremely low fps like in the 20's. I restarted everything seemed fine. Later in the day, PC was still on I launch Black Ops 4 a game I've been running at 110+ frames on 1440p, it got to the connecting screen finished then as it loaded the next screen it would flicker to desktop then back then black but in game still with the in game cursor, but just a hanging black screen. I can't even close the game properly after that point, I have to kill it in task manager, but then my system becomes extremely unstable and laggy afterwards.
Then I restart again and give Rocket League a try, I notice the game starts no problem but then drops in frame-rate drastically just in the menu, then starts to stutter. Then I notice a black shadow artifact as I move my mouse.
After a huge sigh, I start the diagnostic process, I render test the card, it fails and locks my system. The whole time I started having issues I notice the RGB Gigabyte logo is stuck orange and isn't changing color at all. I remove all software and drivers, clean install manually. Still no luck. Then I swap PCI-E slots on the motherboard, the logo starts changing again, I have a short lived burst of positivity, but 2 seconds in to the black ops main screen I start to stutter and my system starts feeling immensly slow and I start to hear glitchy noises reminiscent of the same audio before a blue screen.
I put the 1060 6GB back in that it replaced and so far 0 issues.
Do you guys think these are symptoms of a faulty psu or it being underpowered? I don't think my ram is the issue either, its been memtested and I haven't had issues on the previous card or now since I've reinstalled it.
620 watt Antec Eco 80+ bronze PSU.
I personally don't think it's underpowering.
I have a 500W 80+ Silver PSU (got it as I had the GTX 1060 in the past) with i5 8400, PCIe sound card, tower CPU fan, 3x HDD (2x 5400, 1x 7200), 2x SSD, 16 Gb RAM and I don't have any stability/power issues.
Nvidia recommends 550W power supply for RTX 2070.
Hey guys just wanted to give an update, I got the replacement card, lets see how long she lasts! So far so good, playing BO4 @ 1440p at around 90-100 fps at medium graphics. I'll let you guys know down the life of the card if I experience any issues.
Is there any fix for the 2070 artifacting yet??
If you buy a GPU which is supposed to work at the frequencies from the factory and is giving artifacts, would you underclock it or RMA ?

lowercased:
just got this card from newegg last week and i have had nothing but problems with it.
up to 100%. had an evga 1070 ti before this and never had issue one with it.
i have the latest nvidia drivers and aorus engine.
anyone else having issues with this card?
i forgot to list my monitor.
it is a dell s2716dg g-sync. tn panel.
i had no problem with it (except the fan going on/off when idle...) until today.
i tried to update drivers/revert to old version, same results. i thaught maybe it was related to the game itself, so i put back my old 970 and no problem.
so it's defenetively the gpu itself, it's weird cause i didn't had any single issue before that crash and after, it was a mess.
i'm sending back my card tomorrow.
tech support helped me ddu and reinstall. did not help.
i have similar issues with an rtx 2070 gaming (non oc) the card is not overclocked and worked for the first hour then the mess started after 1-2 minutes i start a game.
i bought it for vr.
my windforce rtx 2070 is still running fine after 15+ hrs in ac odyssey in 2k / very high settings.
temp is around 68-71 celsius.
btw., i use msi afterburner, if it matters at all.
have got the same problem. card worked fine for about 10 hours. pc crashed, code 43 in windows, some nice green artifacts during boot-screen and also in windows. my old r390 still works.
hey guys, i'm new here. just wanted to add in my experience with my geforce rtx 2070 windforce 8g. i got it from newegg about a week ago, worked fine out of the box. had the latest driver with aorus installed, everything was default. just today i launched rocket league, i play on a dell s2417dg with 1440p and noticed extremely low fps like in the 20's. i restarted everything seemed fine. later in the day, pc was still on i launch black ops 4 a game i've been running at 110+ frames on 1440p, it got to the connecting screen finished then as it loaded the next screen it would flicker to desktop then back then black but in game still with the in game cursor, but just a hanging black screen. i can't even close the game properly after that point, i have to kill it in task manager, but then my system becomes extremely unstable and laggy afterwards.
then i restart again and give rocket league a try, i notice the game starts no problem but then drops in frame-rate drastically just in the menu, then starts to stutter. then i notice a black shadow artifact as i move my mouse.
after a huge sigh, i start the diagnostic process, i render test the card, it fails and locks my system. the whole time i started having issues i notice the rgb gigabyte logo is stuck orange and isn't changing color at all. i remove all software and drivers, clean install manually. still no luck. then i swap pci-e slots on the motherboard, the logo starts changing again, i have a short lived burst of positivity, but 2 seconds in to the black ops main screen i start to stutter and my system starts feeling immensly slow and i start to hear glitchy noises reminiscent of the same audio before a blue screen.
i put the 1060 6gb back in that it replaced and so far 0 issues.
do you guys think these are symptoms of a faulty psu or it being underpowered? i don't think my ram is the issue either, its been memtested and i haven't had issues on the previous card or now since i've reinstalled it.
620 watt antec eco 80+ bronze psu.
i personally don't think it's underpowering.
i have a 500w 80+ silver psu (got it as i had the gtx 1060 in the past) with i5 8400, pcie sound card, tower cpu fan, 3x hdd (2x 5400, 1x 7200), 2x ssd, 16 gb ram and i don't have any stability/power issues.
nvidia recommends 550w power supply for rtx 2070.
hey guys just wanted to give an update, i got the replacement card, lets see how long she lasts! so far so good, playing bo4 @ 1440p at around 90-100 fps at medium graphics. i'll let you guys know down the life of the card if i experience any issues.
is there any fix for the 2070 artifacting yet??
if you buy a gpu which is supposed to work at the frequencies from the factory and is giving artifacts, would you underclock it or rma ?


text:
At first we were hesitant to book this place as we scout in Agoda and Trip Advisor for other options meaning for cheaper accommodation since we wanted to try to stay overnight in Amorita Resort. But then a deal came up in Ensogo and I couldn't pass up the chance. Of course, I have to verify it directly to the Amorita Resort/Momo Beach Sales office about the deal as I don't want to be scam like the others. Yes you heard it right, Momo Beach House is under the same management of Amorita Resorts Group. True enough, the deal is legit and they are very nice to answer all my queries concerning the deal.
Who couldn't resist this deal? An overnight stay for two with free breakfast, roundtrip airport-hotel-airport transfers (I was told that it cost 650 per person), free Wi-Fi access and best of all free use of Kayak & Paddles Board and Bike! I confirmed this information when I called their Sales office and talk to Avery and Charlotte.
After that, I hurriedly booked for 3 nights for me and hubby then 2 nights for my sister and her soon-to-be-husband. I know you notice the word "hurry" since at that time when I buy the vouchers I have only one day before the deal expires. Surprisingly, when I check Ensogo today they have extended this deal.
I drop off the idea of spending an overnight stay in Amorita and decided to stay here in Momo Beach House for the rest of our Bohol trip which is 4 days and 3 nights. Php 10,164 was our total expense for the accommodation. What sold me into this deal was the place is just new so I know that the rooms, facilities and the surroundings are well-kept and clean. Plus, it's near the beach! And lastly it's a cheaper alternative of their sister resort, Amorita.
I requested for a standard room good for two person located on the 2nd floor overlooking the pool. Initially we wanted a view of the beach but turns out those rooms with that view are the family rooms.
I got more excited to spend our Bohol vacation in Momo Beach House when I read an article published by Manila Bulletin under Travel featuring Momo Beach House. Hopefully by November we will still experience the serene, secluded and calm Momo Beach which is considered to be a secret haven.

lowercased:
at first we were hesitant to book this place as we scout in agoda and trip advisor for other options meaning for cheaper accommodation since we wanted to try to stay overnight in amorita resort. but then a deal came up in ensogo and i couldn't pass up the chance. of course, i have to verify it directly to the amorita resort/momo beach sales office about the deal as i don't want to be scam like the others. yes you heard it right, momo beach house is under the same management of amorita resorts group. true enough, the deal is legit and they are very nice to answer all my queries concerning the deal.
who couldn't resist this deal? an overnight stay for two with free breakfast, roundtrip airport-hotel-airport transfers (i was told that it cost 650 per person), free wi-fi access and best of all free use of kayak & paddles board and bike! i confirmed this information when i called their sales office and talk to avery and charlotte.
after that, i hurriedly booked for 3 nights for me and hubby then 2 nights for my sister and her soon-to-be-husband. i know you notice the word "hurry" since at that time when i buy the vouchers i have only one day before the deal expires. surprisingly, when i check ensogo today they have extended this deal.
i drop off the idea of spending an overnight stay in amorita and decided to stay here in momo beach house for the rest of our bohol trip which is 4 days and 3 nights. php 10,164 was our total expense for the accommodation. what sold me into this deal was the place is just new so i know that the rooms, facilities and the surroundings are well-kept and clean. plus, it's near the beach! and lastly it's a cheaper alternative of their sister resort, amorita.
i requested for a standard room good for two person located on the 2nd floor overlooking the pool. initially we wanted a view of the beach but turns out those rooms with that view are the family rooms.
i got more excited to spend our bohol vacation in momo beach house when i read an article published by manila bulletin under travel featuring momo beach house. hopefully by november we will still experience the serene, secluded and calm momo beach which is considered to be a secret haven.


text:
UPDATE: ARTISTS' UNION ENGLAND HAVE WRITTEN TO ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND. SIGN THE PETITION HERE.
The appointment of Rupert Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth Murdoch to Arts Council England’s National Council is not only deeply troubling, given her close ties to the Murdoch corporate empire, but is also a glaring example of how nefarious the UK arts establishment has become. The appointment of ex-Tate boss Sir Nicholas Serota as Chair of Arts Council England has clearly ushered in a new era of favouritism and nepotism in which a tiny select elite grease the palms of each other and their friends and family. Just look at the biographies of the other members of the National Council.
The appointment of Elisabeth Murdoch is directly linked to Sir Nicholas Serota’s current leadership of Arts Council England and to his wife, Teresa Gleadowe’s own arts projects. There are numerous connections, of which only some will be touched upon here. But first let’s remember that during Serota’s reign at Tate, he supported artwashing in the form of BP sponsorship, refused to recognise unions, privatised staff positions, introduced the use of zero hour contracts, presided over a culture of widespread bullying, privatised information, and, of course, Tate staff were then asked to kindly chip-in for a new boat for his leaving present! Serota’s leadership of Tate lasted 28 years.
Serota repeatedly used his position to privatise the institution, forging relationships with corporate and private interests, no matter where the money came from or at what cost to the environment or human rights. This culminated in the naming of the new wing of Tate Modern after the billionaire Ukranian oligarch Len Blavatnik, who donated a ‘substantial amount’ of the £260 million cost, according to The Guardian. Blavatnik was said to be the UK’s richest man in 2015. His wealth came from oil (including links with BP), chemicals and aluminium but he has extended his fortunes by investing in film, music (he owns Warner Music Group) and property. And, like many rich businessmen, he likes offshore tax havens too. The entire ‘Blavatnik’ wing of Tate Modern is nothing short of a monument to artwashing. He has recently donated £5 million toward the new V&A extension – a donation which left ex-Blairite Labour MP, now V&A director, Tristram Hunt feeling ‘honoured’ and the entrance being named ‘Blavatnik Hall’. Blavatnik has also given £75 million to Oxford University for their ‘Blavatnik School of Government’ (you couldn’t make this stuff up!) The billionaire is also a Trump supporter and donor.
The point here is that like BP and Blavatnik (to name just two dubious ‘sponsors’), the appointment of Elisabeth Murdoch to a position on Arts Council England’s National Council represents another example of the ongoing corporate capture of the arts in England. And, it is, I suspect, not a coincidence that this latest corporate appointment has happened under Serota’s leadership. Remember that the director of Tate is appointed by the government and approved by the prime minister. Serota was appointed to his role as Tate director by the Tories and Margaret Thatcher in 1988; he was appointed as Chair of Arts Council England by the Tories and Theresa May in 2017.
Clearly, Serota is a bit of a poster boy for Tory privatisation of the arts. This is very concerning. You see, Serota is not just Chair at Arts Council England now, he also remains a director of the Creative Industries Federation (here’s a flavour of their board and “ambassadors”). The Creative Industries Federation claims to have a “heavyweight board” of “top creative and business leaders”. It works “with politicians of all parties and across all of government and with every level of government - from eight Whitehall departments including No 10 and the Treasury, the devolved nations, metro mayors, city leaders, LEPs and local authorities”. It is another example of the corporate take-over of the arts – the neoliberalisation of the arts. It is worth remembering that Serota is also a non-executive director of the BBC. He was appointed in April 2017.
But Serota also oversaw Tate Modern’s partnership with Elisabeth Murdoch’s Freelands Foundation, which provided funding in 2015 and 2016 for the Tate Exchange programme which was launched in the new ‘Blavatnik’ wing. Murdoch’s Freelands Foundation is a Tate Exchange Founding Associate. Not only that, but Elisabeth Murdoch was a trustee of Tate until September 2016. Her foundation gave the company of which she was a serving trustee £150,000 in 2016 alone. This information is all available in the very revealing Freelands Foundation 2016 annual report. It is also interesting to note that the Freelands Foundation is a company limited by shares and a charity subject to US and UK laws. Furthermore, Murdoch’s foundation is entirely owned by Freelands Foundation Inc. – and where does it get its money from?
So, Elisabeth Murdoch served alongside Serota at Tate and helped fund some of the Tate’s work. And yet, as Tate’s own declaration of members’ interests 2015-2016 makes clear, Elisabeth Murdoch is a shareholder in her father Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Twenty First Century Fox! Much of her wealth invested into the arts by her Freelands Foundation must come from dividends from shares in these highly unethical organisations. It is quite possible that some of the money used to fund the arts by Freelands Foundation comes from The Sun! Just think about that. And Murdoch is now a senior figure in Arts Council England. This is disturbing, to say the least!
Yet the Freelands Foundation also has links to Serota’s wife, Theresa Gleadowe’s arts companies. It is funding CAST (the Cornubian Arts & Science Trust) to deliver its three-year Groundwork project in Cornwall which was also awarded with £500,000 worth of Ambition for Excellence funding by Arts Council England in 2016. The Arts Council award was secured using £50,000 funding from Elisabeth Murdoch’s foundation. CAST’s other partners for their Groundwork project are Tate St Ives and Newlyn Art Gallery – Serota declared himself to have an interest in both these companies. Serota’s full list of his interests makes for a very illuminating read that deserves far more investigation than I have time for here. Importantly, Serota’s wife is a director of CAST and chair of its trustees. What’s more, the Groundwork project is also supported by Kestle Barton Trust of which Serota’s wife Gleadowe is a trustee. Kestle Barton is also funded by Arts Council England. The art world is, it seems, a small world.
It is therefore unsurprising to learn that Teresa Gleadowe is also a director of Kneehigh Theatre – an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation which received an increase in annual funding earlier this year. Interestingly, the company lists Sir Nicholas Serota as one of its “champions”. Kneehigh’s previous director Emma Rice caused outrage in the art world by gaining NPO status from nowhere. The extremely influential Rice remains a current “revered accomplice” of Kneehigh Theatre. But, more importantly, Serota’s wife is also chair of the board at Nottingham Contemporary – a company which won this year’s Freelands Award which was selected by Elisabeth Murdoch and is worth £100,000. Strangely, Gleadowe was one of the Freelands Award selection panel! Even more surreal is the discovery that Gleadowe is also a member of the Freelands Foundation’s advisory committee. So Serota has very close connections to Elisabeth Murdoch!
The appointment of Elisabeth Murdoch is an outrage for all the obvious reasons. But it’s just one part of a concerted corporate takeover of the arts by a self-entitled elite whose time is up! We need a radical change in how the arts works in this country. We need a radical redistribution of resources. We need equity and fairness for everyone. We need to decolonise the arts. And, to do that, we need to root out this sort of privileged, corporatist, self-serving class of English Arts Oligarchs.
The appointment of Murdoch is a point of no return. We must fight for truly representative, truly democratic arts and culture. And we must start demanding that now!

lowercased:
update: artists' union england have written to arts council england. sign the petition here.
the appointment of rupert murdoch’s daughter elisabeth murdoch to arts council england’s national council is not only deeply troubling, given her close ties to the murdoch corporate empire, but is also a glaring example of how nefarious the uk arts establishment has become. the appointment of ex-tate boss sir nicholas serota as chair of arts council england has clearly ushered in a new era of favouritism and nepotism in which a tiny select elite grease the palms of each other and their friends and family. just look at the biographies of the other members of the national council.
the appointment of elisabeth murdoch is directly linked to sir nicholas serota’s current leadership of arts council england and to his wife, teresa gleadowe’s own arts projects. there are numerous connections, of which only some will be touched upon here. but first let’s remember that during serota’s reign at tate, he supported artwashing in the form of bp sponsorship, refused to recognise unions, privatised staff positions, introduced the use of zero hour contracts, presided over a culture of widespread bullying, privatised information, and, of course, tate staff were then asked to kindly chip-in for a new boat for his leaving present! serota’s leadership of tate lasted 28 years.
serota repeatedly used his position to privatise the institution, forging relationships with corporate and private interests, no matter where the money came from or at what cost to the environment or human rights. this culminated in the naming of the new wing of tate modern after the billionaire ukranian oligarch len blavatnik, who donated a ‘substantial amount’ of the £260 million cost, according to the guardian. blavatnik was said to be the uk’s richest man in 2015. his wealth came from oil (including links with bp), chemicals and aluminium but he has extended his fortunes by investing in film, music (he owns warner music group) and property. and, like many rich businessmen, he likes offshore tax havens too. the entire ‘blavatnik’ wing of tate modern is nothing short of a monument to artwashing. he has recently donated £5 million toward the new v&a extension – a donation which left ex-blairite labour mp, now v&a director, tristram hunt feeling ‘honoured’ and the entrance being named ‘blavatnik hall’. blavatnik has also given £75 million to oxford university for their ‘blavatnik school of government’ (you couldn’t make this stuff up!) the billionaire is also a trump supporter and donor.
the point here is that like bp and blavatnik (to name just two dubious ‘sponsors’), the appointment of elisabeth murdoch to a position on arts council england’s national council represents another example of the ongoing corporate capture of the arts in england. and, it is, i suspect, not a coincidence that this latest corporate appointment has happened under serota’s leadership. remember that the director of tate is appointed by the government and approved by the prime minister. serota was appointed to his role as tate director by the tories and margaret thatcher in 1988; he was appointed as chair of arts council england by the tories and theresa may in 2017.
clearly, serota is a bit of a poster boy for tory privatisation of the arts. this is very concerning. you see, serota is not just chair at arts council england now, he also remains a director of the creative industries federation (here’s a flavour of their board and “ambassadors”). the creative industries federation claims to have a “heavyweight board” of “top creative and business leaders”. it works “with politicians of all parties and across all of government and with every level of government - from eight whitehall departments including no 10 and the treasury, the devolved nations, metro mayors, city leaders, leps and local authorities”. it is another example of the corporate take-over of the arts – the neoliberalisation of the arts. it is worth remembering that serota is also a non-executive director of the bbc. he was appointed in april 2017.
but serota also oversaw tate modern’s partnership with elisabeth murdoch’s freelands foundation, which provided funding in 2015 and 2016 for the tate exchange programme which was launched in the new ‘blavatnik’ wing. murdoch’s freelands foundation is a tate exchange founding associate. not only that, but elisabeth murdoch was a trustee of tate until september 2016. her foundation gave the company of which she was a serving trustee £150,000 in 2016 alone. this information is all available in the very revealing freelands foundation 2016 annual report. it is also interesting to note that the freelands foundation is a company limited by shares and a charity subject to us and uk laws. furthermore, murdoch’s foundation is entirely owned by freelands foundation inc. – and where does it get its money from?
so, elisabeth murdoch served alongside serota at tate and helped fund some of the tate’s work. and yet, as tate’s own declaration of members’ interests 2015-2016 makes clear, elisabeth murdoch is a shareholder in her father rupert murdoch’s news corp and twenty first century fox! much of her wealth invested into the arts by her freelands foundation must come from dividends from shares in these highly unethical organisations. it is quite possible that some of the money used to fund the arts by freelands foundation comes from the sun! just think about that. and murdoch is now a senior figure in arts council england. this is disturbing, to say the least!
yet the freelands foundation also has links to serota’s wife, theresa gleadowe’s arts companies. it is funding cast (the cornubian arts & science trust) to deliver its three-year groundwork project in cornwall which was also awarded with £500,000 worth of ambition for excellence funding by arts council england in 2016. the arts council award was secured using £50,000 funding from elisabeth murdoch’s foundation. cast’s other partners for their groundwork project are tate st ives and newlyn art gallery – serota declared himself to have an interest in both these companies. serota’s full list of his interests makes for a very illuminating read that deserves far more investigation than i have time for here. importantly, serota’s wife is a director of cast and chair of its trustees. what’s more, the groundwork project is also supported by kestle barton trust of which serota’s wife gleadowe is a trustee. kestle barton is also funded by arts council england. the art world is, it seems, a small world.
it is therefore unsurprising to learn that teresa gleadowe is also a director of kneehigh theatre – an arts council england national portfolio organisation which received an increase in annual funding earlier this year. interestingly, the company lists sir nicholas serota as one of its “champions”. kneehigh’s previous director emma rice caused outrage in the art world by gaining npo status from nowhere. the extremely influential rice remains a current “revered accomplice” of kneehigh theatre. but, more importantly, serota’s wife is also chair of the board at nottingham contemporary – a company which won this year’s freelands award which was selected by elisabeth murdoch and is worth £100,000. strangely, gleadowe was one of the freelands award selection panel! even more surreal is the discovery that gleadowe is also a member of the freelands foundation’s advisory committee. so serota has very close connections to elisabeth murdoch!
the appointment of elisabeth murdoch is an outrage for all the obvious reasons. but it’s just one part of a concerted corporate takeover of the arts by a self-entitled elite whose time is up! we need a radical change in how the arts works in this country. we need a radical redistribution of resources. we need equity and fairness for everyone. we need to decolonise the arts. and, to do that, we need to root out this sort of privileged, corporatist, self-serving class of english arts oligarchs.
the appointment of murdoch is a point of no return. we must fight for truly representative, truly democratic arts and culture. and we must start demanding that now!


text: Paladon Systems offers hydraulic flushing and certification of new and existing equipment to NAS 1638 standard. As hydraulic system cleanliness is paramount to the reliability of actuators and control systems it is essential that flushing be carried out following the installation and prior to commissioning. Regular checks of the hydraulic system will ensure continued reliability. Paladon Systems has flushing rigs available for use in hazardous areas and with all commonly used hydraulic fluids including mineral oil, synthetic fluids and water glycol fluids.

lowercased: paladon systems offers hydraulic flushing and certification of new and existing equipment to nas 1638 standard. as hydraulic system cleanliness is paramount to the reliability of actuators and control systems it is essential that flushing be carried out following the installation and prior to commissioning. regular checks of the hydraulic system will ensure continued reliability. paladon systems has flushing rigs available for use in hazardous areas and with all commonly used hydraulic fluids including mineral oil, synthetic fluids and water glycol fluids.


text:
At face value, SAP’s recent acquisitions of Ariba, Syclo and Successfactors have little in common with one another.
The common denominator seems to be the the shift from on-premise technology to cloud based technologies and SaaS in general but with the twist of mobility enablement but they are all likely all built on different technology stacks. The fact that Ariba has been around for 16 years and has successfully demonstrated a viable market for Spend and Contract Management undoubtedly helps justify the $45 per share but perhaps even more interesting, is the synergies with existing SAP technologies. There seem to be very few. Integration exists but essentially Ariba is wholly external.
Looking back into a glimmering past, of course it was more than a decade ago that Ariba was duking it out with the now defunct CommerceOne. At the time they were considered two of the major contenders for the B2B market in the e-procurement and contracts space. Back in 2000, both were losing money. These days Ariba’s net income is far from stellar but then SAP’s investment in Ariba is a futures buy and clearly the decision to acquire has many facets that are not limited to buy vs. build and are probably more about client base acquisition and consolidation. There is significant product overlap but nonetheless Jason Busch gives a nice summary analysis of the existing functional gaps even after the acquisition.
Some household brands that use both SAP and Ariba are Unilever, Home Depot, Target, Nestle, Sony, HP across many industry sectors. Bringing 1100 buyer customers, 59000 supplier customers, and more than 730000 companies from the Ariba network into the SAP fold will undoubtedly ultimately lead to discrepancies in usability and single point of interaction results when the two companies and their technologies ultimately merge but that’s likely to be a few years out. Consider that even the BOBJ acquisition 5 years ago still leaves some technology gaps in the convergence of SAP reporting and BW and BOBJ.
These facets are important from the perspective of business users, they will need to consider that their UI experience for some time at least, is going to involve more than one interface; that the UI experience will be different and that some of the integration technologies will be imperfect. Certainly there seems to be little in common in the underlying technologies applied by Syclo, SuccessFactors and Ariba so the assessment process of technical diligence must have been entertaining to say the least. The support model will likely be even more interesting.
The acquisitions in some measure seem reminiscent of Oracle’s acquisitions of Siebel and Peoplesoft and more recently Taleo for talent management , RightNow and ATG for service and customer relationship management and Endeca for search and analytics. The mashup of those technologies and user experiences undoubtedly continues to be challenging to manage and support.
All of this should also be viewed in the context of supportability. SAP customers feel that the level of support that they get for BusinessObjects is less than stellar; this was the result of survey conducted by the SAP User Group.
In the context of Winshuttle products the message is surely a little more encouraging. The current options of on-premise installation with desktop application or SharePoint form based technologies allows SAP customers to completely control the process, the UI and the collaboration scenarios that they want to enable for their business users. Leveraging existing technology stacks that include Microsoft Excel, Microsoft InfoPath and SAP ERP users can leverage their existing security credentials and IT supported processes but apply a new face and augment the process with out of the box workflows or customized workflows that do not involve large teams of implementation consultants. Most Winshuttle customers ‘roll their own’ but do rely on Winshuttle Support for occasional technical assistance in understanding the nuances of working with different SAP transactions.
The message then, is pretty simple. If you can do it using the SAP GUI UI there is a very strong chance that you can rapidly improve the user experience or the entry speed by applying a Winshuttle interface bound to a spreadsheet or a form. HTML forms and Excel centric data gathering are user experiences that most business users are intimately familiar with and deployment requires little more than valid SAP credentials for those touching SAP and MSOffice or an Internet browser. For most business users there’s little or nothing to configure and for system architects and IT personnel there’s the opportunity for rapid deployment and little or no backend configuration or changes. More importantly, this approach facilitates delegation of the design and the business process selection to the individual business units seeking to improve the user experience and accelerate business data processing and analytics.

lowercased:
at face value, sap’s recent acquisitions of ariba, syclo and successfactors have little in common with one another.
the common denominator seems to be the the shift from on-premise technology to cloud based technologies and saas in general but with the twist of mobility enablement but they are all likely all built on different technology stacks. the fact that ariba has been around for 16 years and has successfully demonstrated a viable market for spend and contract management undoubtedly helps justify the $45 per share but perhaps even more interesting, is the synergies with existing sap technologies. there seem to be very few. integration exists but essentially ariba is wholly external.
looking back into a glimmering past, of course it was more than a decade ago that ariba was duking it out with the now defunct commerceone. at the time they were considered two of the major contenders for the b2b market in the e-procurement and contracts space. back in 2000, both were losing money. these days ariba’s net income is far from stellar but then sap’s investment in ariba is a futures buy and clearly the decision to acquire has many facets that are not limited to buy vs. build and are probably more about client base acquisition and consolidation. there is significant product overlap but nonetheless jason busch gives a nice summary analysis of the existing functional gaps even after the acquisition.
some household brands that use both sap and ariba are unilever, home depot, target, nestle, sony, hp across many industry sectors. bringing 1100 buyer customers, 59000 supplier customers, and more than 730000 companies from the ariba network into the sap fold will undoubtedly ultimately lead to discrepancies in usability and single point of interaction results when the two companies and their technologies ultimately merge but that’s likely to be a few years out. consider that even the bobj acquisition 5 years ago still leaves some technology gaps in the convergence of sap reporting and bw and bobj.
these facets are important from the perspective of business users, they will need to consider that their ui experience for some time at least, is going to involve more than one interface; that the ui experience will be different and that some of the integration technologies will be imperfect. certainly there seems to be little in common in the underlying technologies applied by syclo, successfactors and ariba so the assessment process of technical diligence must have been entertaining to say the least. the support model will likely be even more interesting.
the acquisitions in some measure seem reminiscent of oracle’s acquisitions of siebel and peoplesoft and more recently taleo for talent management , rightnow and atg for service and customer relationship management and endeca for search and analytics. the mashup of those technologies and user experiences undoubtedly continues to be challenging to manage and support.
all of this should also be viewed in the context of supportability. sap customers feel that the level of support that they get for businessobjects is less than stellar; this was the result of survey conducted by the sap user group.
in the context of winshuttle products the message is surely a little more encouraging. the current options of on-premise installation with desktop application or sharepoint form based technologies allows sap customers to completely control the process, the ui and the collaboration scenarios that they want to enable for their business users. leveraging existing technology stacks that include microsoft excel, microsoft infopath and sap erp users can leverage their existing security credentials and it supported processes but apply a new face and augment the process with out of the box workflows or customized workflows that do not involve large teams of implementation consultants. most winshuttle customers ‘roll their own’ but do rely on winshuttle support for occasional technical assistance in understanding the nuances of working with different sap transactions.
the message then, is pretty simple. if you can do it using the sap gui ui there is a very strong chance that you can rapidly improve the user experience or the entry speed by applying a winshuttle interface bound to a spreadsheet or a form. html forms and excel centric data gathering are user experiences that most business users are intimately familiar with and deployment requires little more than valid sap credentials for those touching sap and msoffice or an internet browser. for most business users there’s little or nothing to configure and for system architects and it personnel there’s the opportunity for rapid deployment and little or no backend configuration or changes. more importantly, this approach facilitates delegation of the design and the business process selection to the individual business units seeking to improve the user experience and accelerate business data processing and analytics.


text: I’ve received a couple of e-mails in the past week from people trying to use zDragDrop with a strict doctype. Apparently, I forgot to add the “px” on a couple of style measurements and that was causing the library to fail when using a strict doctype. So, I just quickly updated zDragDrop to include this fix (thanks to Pawan and Alan for pointing it out). This updated version is available in the Downloads section.

lowercased: i’ve received a couple of e-mails in the past week from people trying to use zdragdrop with a strict doctype. apparently, i forgot to add the “px” on a couple of style measurements and that was causing the library to fail when using a strict doctype. so, i just quickly updated zdragdrop to include this fix (thanks to pawan and alan for pointing it out). this updated version is available in the downloads section.


text:
Step 1 Check for and restore the IMAP_ROOT environment variable. For details, see the case VSM Environment Variable Is Set Incorrectly.
Step 2 Initialize the database again.
The symbol \ exists at the end of the value of the IMAP_ROOT environment variable.

lowercased:
step 1 check for and restore the imap_root environment variable. for details, see the case vsm environment variable is set incorrectly.
step 2 initialize the database again.
the symbol \ exists at the end of the value of the imap_root environment variable.


text:
Dining at Culloden House Hotel usually takes place in the impressive dining room, complete with its plaster reliefs and Adam-inspired columns, which occupies the left rear portion of the of the main block of the hotel. An additional morning room can be used for private dining and for family groups with young children wishing to dine together. You can read our hotel review for Culloden House Hotel here.
Lunch and dinner are both served by the hotel. Dinner is a journey of discovery. What you discover is just how good Scottish cuisine can be. There are two menus to choose from. The first is an à la carte menu offering a range of choices for starters, intermediates, main courses and desserts. The second is a daily changing set "Scottish Dinner Menu" offering distinctively Scottish dishes, some of which also appear on the à la carte menu.
Any reference to specific dishes can only be indicative of what was on offer when we dined, but the starters of "herb and spice rolled carpaccio of Highland venison" and "Scottish smoked salmon, oak smoked and ginger cured" were equally superb. As were the intermediates of "timbale of haggis neeps and tatties" and "gin and tonic sorbet". And it becomes difficult to find superlatives sufficient to describe the mains of "tournedos of Scottish beef fillet" served with, among other things, wild garlic, and "honey glazed duck breast". The standard was maintained through the sweet course and the end result was one of the best all round dining experiences we have experienced anywhere.
Culloden House has been awarded 2 AA Rosettes for its dining, but the reality far surpasses the expectations raised by this. The outstanding quality of the food itself is matched by the exceptional service, which is perfectly judged, and paced to suit the individual progress of the diners on different tables. It must be added that the quality of the food is matched by good helpings: no-one is likely to go to bed hungry.
Breakfast is taken in the dining room, with all elements being served to you at your table. The outstanding quality of food and service we enjoyed at dinner was maintained at breakfast, making it one of the best we have experienced. Everything, from the obviously freshly squeezed fruit juices to the porridge was excellent. The cooked main courses included options of smoked haddock cutlets and grilled kipper fillets, or home made herb muffin with smoked salmon and scrambled egg. Plus a traditional Scottish fried breakfast it would be worth travelling a long way to enjoy. Here the menu offered a choice between back or smoked Scottish bacon, and between beef and onion or Cumberland pork sausage  the latter an interesting twist in a hotel so closely associated with the Battle of Culloden. Plus everything else you would expect, and eggs perfectly cooked to your preference. You can read our hotel review for Culloden House Hotel here.

lowercased:
dining at culloden house hotel usually takes place in the impressive dining room, complete with its plaster reliefs and adam-inspired columns, which occupies the left rear portion of the of the main block of the hotel. an additional morning room can be used for private dining and for family groups with young children wishing to dine together. you can read our hotel review for culloden house hotel here.
lunch and dinner are both served by the hotel. dinner is a journey of discovery. what you discover is just how good scottish cuisine can be. there are two menus to choose from. the first is an à la carte menu offering a range of choices for starters, intermediates, main courses and desserts. the second is a daily changing set "scottish dinner menu" offering distinctively scottish dishes, some of which also appear on the à la carte menu.
any reference to specific dishes can only be indicative of what was on offer when we dined, but the starters of "herb and spice rolled carpaccio of highland venison" and "scottish smoked salmon, oak smoked and ginger cured" were equally superb. as were the intermediates of "timbale of haggis neeps and tatties" and "gin and tonic sorbet". and it becomes difficult to find superlatives sufficient to describe the mains of "tournedos of scottish beef fillet" served with, among other things, wild garlic, and "honey glazed duck breast". the standard was maintained through the sweet course and the end result was one of the best all round dining experiences we have experienced anywhere.
culloden house has been awarded 2 aa rosettes for its dining, but the reality far surpasses the expectations raised by this. the outstanding quality of the food itself is matched by the exceptional service, which is perfectly judged, and paced to suit the individual progress of the diners on different tables. it must be added that the quality of the food is matched by good helpings: no-one is likely to go to bed hungry.
breakfast is taken in the dining room, with all elements being served to you at your table. the outstanding quality of food and service we enjoyed at dinner was maintained at breakfast, making it one of the best we have experienced. everything, from the obviously freshly squeezed fruit juices to the porridge was excellent. the cooked main courses included options of smoked haddock cutlets and grilled kipper fillets, or home made herb muffin with smoked salmon and scrambled egg. plus a traditional scottish fried breakfast it would be worth travelling a long way to enjoy. here the menu offered a choice between back or smoked scottish bacon, and between beef and onion or cumberland pork sausage  the latter an interesting twist in a hotel so closely associated with the battle of culloden. plus everything else you would expect, and eggs perfectly cooked to your preference. you can read our hotel review for culloden house hotel here.