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In the latest episode of the Being, Human fireside chat in Singapore, Arcc Spaces and the Deloitte Center for the Edge collaborates to shed light on the human side of artificial intelligence and its impact on our collective future.
Learn more about how the blockchain and NFTs are going to affect an artist’s career with Arun Sugumaran, CEO & Co-Founder of ArtWallStreet.
The rise of blockchain technology has made a huge impact globally with only a handful of professionals truly understanding the mechanics of how it works and the possible innovations that can be built upon the revolutionary technology.
Little did people also realize that the art industry actually played a pivotal role in unveiling the true potential of what industries can create with blockchain, through the emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
But, is every major stakeholder embracing a decentralized ecosystem established by blockchain? Are NFTs a bubble that could burst in time like what some believe it to be? Where will blockchain end up down the line globally and what does it really mean for the future of artists?
Join one of our partners, Arun Sugumaran, Founder & CEO of ArtWallSt and Cleve Yap from Arcc Spaces to find out more in this very informative episode of Arcc Insights.
Click here to listen to the podcast on Spotify.
Click here to watch the entire podcast episode on Youtube.
Cleve: Welcome to the show. how’s your morning been so far?
Arun: Oh it’s been good. Just doing our daily catch-up and excited to be here so thanks for having me here to share more about ArtWallStreet and the industry in general.
Cleve: That’s some good progress to hear.
Cleve: So, I believe your company is actually no ordinary platform for artists here but a rather forward-thinking one because it seems to revolve around blockchain tech so probably you might want to start to share with us more on what ArtWallStreet is and its mission?
Arun: Sure. Thanks for the kind introduction and you know, ArtWallStreet is a de-fi investment platform for physical art and collectibles so that’s our main point of differentiation. I mean, our focus is on physical art and collectibles. I think
you would have heard a lot of news and hype around the digital scene, digital arts and collectibles over the last you know, six to eight months and we’re really excited about that but our focus is on the physical side of art.
So, our main mission is to make physical art and collectibles more accessible to everyone. Traditionally, that asset class has been fairly inaccessible and only affordable. But, it’s only afforded by high net worth individuals and the men on the street or the mass affluent have no access to these art collectibles. So, our mission is to change that by leveraging blockchain technology.
Cleve: Yeah, That’s good to hear because I believe there are not only just high net worth individuals who are looking into art but also common people like us. We all might have a high interest in art out there and I think it’s really good to hear that people like you and your team are actually trying to do something to get themselves more exposed to this.
Arun: Yeah, exactly. I’m not sure if you’re aware but the art and collectibles industry in terms of its market size is not really well defined. But, we know it’s huge. So, some bank reports claim that it’s worth US$2,000,000,000,000 worldwide but only 3 to 4% of that is traded every year through traditional auction houses and private sales. So like what you said, the man on the street would not go to invest in expensive art or vintage cars for example, or expensive jewellery.
So, I think our mission is to change that. I think it’s an asset class that has been kind of shut to the mass affluent and the middle income segment and I think there’s a big opportunity there for us to change that.
Cleve: Yeah. Even for myself, I think I might I might take this chance as well to see what else I can collect in the future.
Arun: Sounds great.
Cleve: And you might want to elaborate more in a nutshell on how ArtWallStreet works actually?
Arun: So what we do on the supply side is that, we onboard artists from emerging artists to established artists, and we onboard their artwork on our platform. We then give them the opportunity to “tokenize” the artwork, meaning that we convert them into NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and we enable those artwork to be listed on the platform and be auctioned off to anyone on the platform.
On the demand side, we’re working with the mass affluent segment. So, that’s concerning the middle income to mid-high income market. Think of the target market as anyone who’s invested in stocks. You know, we have many apps out there that enable you to invest in the equity markets right? We are kind of parallel to that but our platform is focusing on art and collectibles. So, we enable you and the masses to invest in art collectibles, similar to how people are investing in stocks right now.
Cleve: OK, that sounds like there’s a lot of new terms over there but I guess we’ll get down there (chuckles). We’ll trickle down there. So, according to you, how is the art industry changing and how would it be like in the post-COVID world according to your opinion?
Arun: I think that’s a good question. I think even during pre-COVID times, there was a lot of innovation in the art space so during the pre-COVID period, there was you know AR (augmented reality) tech, VR (virtual reality) tech, online galleries using those technologies and I think what has happened was during the pandemic, some of these technologies have been accelerated in adoption so obviously, you know people are not traveling and you can’t be in person in physical spaces due to restrictions.
So, there has been an acceleration of the adoption of digital solutions during the COVID period, which is now almost 1½ years. Time flies. I think post-COVID if there is such a term, COVID-19 is becoming endemic as we all know. I think the velocity of adoption will continue so you would see auction houses, artists, and other service providers adopting tech. For example, the big auction houses that are already auctioning off digital art, dealing with cryptocurrencies, who are already setting up virtual galleries and virtual auctions.
So you know, we have COVID-19 to thank for that If you have anything to thank COVID for (chuckles), and i think post-COVID, that’s what’s going to happen. I think people will continue to be on that velocity of adapting solutions so that they’re more connected to an audience and to maybe other artists.
Cleve: I guess it’s a sign of growth whereby because of COVID-19, a lot of people, companies or any stakeholders in the art industry, they’re also forced to adapt right? That’s what we’re seeing right now?
Arun: Correct. I mean, you see that with hawkers, our nation’s pride. You know,
I’ve personally seen a lot of them adopting more digital solutions so I take my wallet out less now. I don’t like coins so it’s easier to go and buy your kopi (coffee) in the morning without using coins. So yeah, i mean that was accelerated during COVID-19. I literally saw that happening at the market near where I live. I was like.. Oh wow, there are more and more vendors using digital payments. So, I think even with other segments and other verticals, zoom calls are a thing now. It’s almost a norm now. That wasn’t something that we thought about 18/20 months ago.
In the art world, I think similar changes are happening, where artists are trying to grow their online presence and exploring more tools. They are starting to learn more about what’s happening in the digital art space, which is great. I mean.. I think it’s all accelerated by COVID-19.
Cleve: Yeah.. Speaking about hawkers, at times I do forget about my wallet and my phone will save me (chuckles). It’s a great phenomenon to embrace as well.
Cleve: Actually, there seems to be a lot of ground covered today about the rise of blockchain in the art industry, and I think today we will need you to further elaborate on the technology of blockchain and the rise of NFTs for us like what you mentioned just now. So, how are these developments going to change the industry, or like what some people think is actually a bubble that is going to burst in time to come or not?
Arun: Yeah. So, I think there are a few aspects to that question. We’ll start with what is blockchain technology. I can’t claim to be the best expert in the world. I mean I do understand the space but in simple terms, it’s a distributed ledger or what you call a distributed database. Data is recorded in this distributed ledger database by some form of consensus mechanism so no single person can record data. In simple terms, it’s based on consensus and that’s how transactions are recorded on the blockchain.
Blockchain has been around for a very long period of time now. The biggest challenge that blockchain and the projects have faced is adoption. The audience or customers or even big enterprises have a hard time understanding blockchain. But, that has changed in the last 18 months thanks to a few companies that have made it a bit more accessible. How so? They’re riding on consumer behavior.
I don’t know when you’re growing up you remember collecting all kinds of different collectibles? For example, during my time when I was growing up, kids were crazy about Dragon Ball cards. They were crazy about some soccer trading cards or whether it was Hong Kong stars.. Whether you get Andy Lau on a card and you collect that. Or, whether it’s Magic cards. People collect that, trade and they’ll sell it. Some will say “okay I want $20 for this.” and then as a ten-year-old kid, you’re thinking about $20 back then in the late 80s or 90s, that’s crazy. You’ll be like “why the hell would you spend that kind of money?” and it’s the same conversation that we’re having today about collectibles. Instead of physical, there are digital collectibles now on the rise. Part of that is art. Part of that are also things like collectible kittens. I’m not sure if you heard of Crypto Kitties?
Cleve: Oh, i think it’s like some kind of game right?
Arun: Well, Crypto Kitties is kind of like a collectible platform where you can create unique kittens. So, you breed kittens and when you breed two kittens, a unique kitten is created and people start trading these unique kittens. I mean.. it’s a cute factor. People understand why it’s unique because a token represents this unique asset. So, that token is basically an NFT.
An NFT is basically a token that represents a digital asset or an asset in the real world. So people started understanding that like “okay I get it now, you can trade this unique digital item as it’s one of a kind online. It’s represented by a digital identity or a token” and people started realizing “okay that’s what blockchain technology is”.
It gets more adopted now and then you know you have NBA top shot. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it but it’s an amazing platform. Basically, in the past people used to collect NBA cards like how I trade NBA cards with you. Now, you have highlight clips or highlight reels. Videos that you can actually trade. So, you own the videos. Maybe the LA Lakers or the Chicago Bulls or whoever you support, and there might be a very exciting play. Whether it’s a three-point shot or whether you’re laying up or it’s an amazing slam dunk and there’s a highlight reel for particular players of particular teams, and that becomes a unique highlight reel. They release what they call it drops. You can open a digital packet, you won’t know what it is, and then when you open it, you’ll realize what highlight reel you have and then you start trading that with people, and that’s enabled by an NFT as well.
So, I think what’s happening with blockchain now or the great thing that’s happening is that it’s something that people are starting to understand. Something that is led by NFTs. So, you know NFTs are enabled by a blockchain but I think blockchain has now received more spotlight thanks to NFTs and digital art in the last eight months. Therefore, what’s going to be exciting is I think there’ll be more solutions built on blockchain. I mean.. You’re seeing banks now looking at adoption. They’ve been looking at blockchain for the longest time but you know they’re now kind of implementing a lot of those plans that they had and you’re going to see that more in enterprises and SMEs as well.
Cleve: It seems like we are all looking at blockchain as the next web era whereby it’s equivalent to how much the internet back in the day actually made such a huge impact globally.
Arun: That’s right.
Cleve: Ok. Talking about the digital forms of art, I’ve done some research before this podcast. I’ve seen a lot of digital forms of NFTs going around the market yeah. They’re actually sold with very high prices online as well so, to be honest personally I’m actually quite surprised that there are actually people buying something with a presence that can only be felt on the internet. So, a few of them that I saw was something like the CEO of Twitter’s very first tweet to be sold at such a high price and there was a very cute cat with some rainbow stripes in the form of a GIF, also sold at very high prices. So, I was wondering how does an artist actually determine the right type of audience to sell their art pieces?
Arun: Yeah, so this is a bit of a philosophical question like how do you value something right? You know, if you go on Carousell today, you’re going to find all kinds of interesting items for sale right? Someone just showed me a screenshot yesterday about a BTS meal from McDonald’s on sale for $2500. So, to me I’m sorry. You know, I admire the Korean entertainment industry, I really do. But, you know the BTS meal is really just chicken nuggets with special sauces and purple boxes and I apologize to all the BTS fans but why is that worth $2500?
So, back to that question now. OK, the CEO of Twitter tweeting his first tweet. I mean, that might be more valuable than a BTS meal in context right? Perception-wise, if you think about the value of that is probably worth more than Chicken McNuggets. But, going back to the history of art and how it’s evolved, typically art increases in value over time and there are a few factors that affect the value of art. One is the scarcity, how unique it is, and of course, liquidity. The market. Whether there’s enough money in the market to purchase art and collectibles and of course changing consumer trends right?
So, you said that you’re surprised by how recently there is this hype around digital art and how expensive some of these items are listed for and sold. You have to keep in mind a lot of these digital art forms are tokenized as NFTs so they are scarce. Firstly, there’s a promise of scarcity. It’s one of a kind, it’s unique on the internet, you buy it and it’s a digital asset that you own forever. Even if they’re copies, you have the certificate for it. Let’s call it a certificate.
So that’s scarcity there. There’s also liquidity. So, you must understand that there have been many early adopters of cryptocurrencies like 5, 6, 7, 8 years ago. These early adopters are now multi-millionaires in the crypto sphere, holders of cryptocurrency. So, as much as you wouldn’t be surprised, if a millionaire drives a Ferrari, you’ll be like “OK, I can’t believe you bought a Ferrari”. It’s like, yes it is a Ferrari, a car that is 100 times better than a Toyota Corolla, maybe 10 times. But, why is he paying that much money right? I think similarly when you have that much liquidity. It drives the price of digital art and NFTs as well.
You know, some people are also crypto evangelists or blockchain evangelists. They believe in this new form of assets and therefore, invest in it. Then lastly, you have consumer trends changing. If you compare with trends 20 years ago, It’s very different today like how you consume games today for example, versus 30 years ago. If you think about it from a form of entertainment, you’ll see a lot of serious gamers spending a lot of money on in-game purchases which to me, it blows my mind. They’re so committed to the game. For me, it’s a form of entertainment but it is questionable right? Like why are you spending that much money on a game?
So, while it’s a game, it’s not a collectible. It is still a digital asset now like in-game purchases are an asset right? Interestingly, NFTs are being used for that as well. But, that’s another topic and i think that’s what’s been driving the price up and the liquidity in digital art.
Cleve: I see.
Arun: Now, what’s left to see is whether this continues as a trend or whether it kind of normalizes and whether it’s going to be applied to other aspects. For example, like for ArtWallStreet, we believe that physical art and collectibles are the long-term game. It’s a proven asset class and we are using this technology to kind of establish ourselves in this asset class.
Cleve: By seeing how the industry flows right now, it makes me feel a little bit old (chuckles) because personally, I’m not someone who is into the digital art trend though. Like I mentioned, I’m still a physical person so a lot more art that I’ve actually appreciated comes in the physical form so yeah, I guess it’s just a change of how people perceive art nowadays.
Arun: Actually, that’s a very interesting point that you raised and you know recently, i was at an online tech conference hosted by a private bank dealing with high net-worths and they were talking to their clients about what’s been happening in tech, what’s the future looking like. They had one of the leading auction houses talk about NFTs and cryptocurrencies and the president of this auction house for APAC said that they’re starting to see crypto natives, holders of cryptocurrencies bidding on physical art as well.
Cleve: Oh.. OK, that’s interesting.
Arun: So, it’s not just that they’re looking at digital art. They’re starting to see a trend of crypto natives, holders of cryptocurrency purchasing physical fine art as well. I mean our hypothesis is that liquidity from the crypto world will move to the physical world in terms of assets.
Cleve: Oh, that’s really interesting to hear though.
Arun: Yeah, real estate or physical art or any other collectibles or even goods and services. So, i think that’s a trend that’s going to increase in velocity over time moving forward as well.
Cleve: I see. That’s very good to know. So, as we speak about a crypto-based marketplace which is also a decentralized form of e-commerce right? So, will the rise of these platforms actually affect the general market established by the financial system set by central banks? This is something I think the world is curious about.
Arun: I think the short answer is, they’ll coexist. You know, the centralized financial ecosystems will continue to contribute to society and they would have a very important role in the stability of countries, nations, and communities. So, I don’t think decentralized solutions are going to wipe out centralized solutions. I think they’re going to coexist. They might be applied in different forms and different contexts and I think there’s still some time for the world to start understanding what decentralized is and the benefits of that.
So, I feel that over the next 3 to 5 years there’s going to be leaps and bounds made moving forward with blockchain technology. Similarly, you would find centralized financial ecosystems adopting some of that technology or retaining some centralized solutions like some kind of a hybrid model. What that means for the consumer is that you’re going to have different options on the table. I think the consumer is the winner. So, if you feel like “OK, I don’t really want centralized solutions, it’s not in line with what I am as a person. I believe in decentralized open data and transparency”, yeah that might be a solution for you. Or, you might be more financially savvy. You might say “OK, you know what? I want to invest in crypto and I want to stake tokens, earn a yield on tokens because it’s giving me a higher yield than my local bank account”.
So, I think a lot of what’s going to happen, and this is just me crystal balling or forecasting it, I think there are going to be a lot of financial advisors down the road and service providers coming out of nowhere saying how do you invest or should it be part of your portfolio. Maybe banks would start offering that as part of their services. Yes, you can have you know your fiat savings and current account but maybe you want to have a crypto portfolio and this is what our experts think. So, banks might start hiring crypto researchers you know? You already have fund managers who manage crypto funds and so i think there’s going to be a coexistence between the two ecosystems which is very exciting for all of us moving forward.
Cleve: Interesting. So, you believe as the world moves forward it’s going to be more of an “each-to-its-own” kind of thing right?
Arun: Yeah, I would say each to its own drawing down from the best of both worlds.
I think the key is that you would have options so maybe you might have an AMEX card that gives you great miles and you will still buy a coffee with your AMEX card at one café. But, maybe there’s another cafe that accepts tokens, and every token that they accept automatically contributes some social cause. Whether it’s animal conservation or serving the underprivileged in society and “You know what? I resonate with this cafe for that, I want to pay in tokens because this café accepts those tokens”. You know what I mean?
So, as a consumer, you start relating to different things like when I talk about miles. Hopefully travel comes back. I mean.. I have faith that travel will come back (chuckles) but I think it’s going to be interesting even with travel. Imagine if you could start spending on crypto. You don’t have to go to money changers anymore right? It could be a universal token of identifiable value that does not depend on geography or the central bank system. Imagine if you travel and you just started paying in whatever particular cryptocurrency that is available for travelers at that point in a very widely accepted format. But, at the same time, you might still use your credit cards for other things. Maybe for your Spotify subscription or your Netflix subscription. So, this is what I mean.
You know, we’re in Singapore. I think Singaporeans always look for the best deals. i think there’s going to be some experts coming on forums saying “hey, you should get this card” or “you should get this wallet because it gives you the best outcome”, “maybe you should buy furniture with crypto here’s why.”, you know? So, I think it’s not too far off. I honestly think it’s a couple of years away. Maybe 2/3 years away or faster, and I’m personally excited about that how blockchain technology is going to be embedded in our lives or be a part of our fabric and part of society. There’s a lot of benefits to technology. The biggest hurdle like I’ve said at the start of the podcast is basically having mass or society-wide adoption of the technology and educating people about the benefits and that’s changing now, led by NFTs, digital art and that’s going to flow into other applications and verticals as well. So, I’m super excited to be in the space. It’s actually a privilege to be part of the evolution of this nascent market.
Cleve: I guess it’s good to see that because of emerging tech like blockchain, we have a lot more offerings that we can embrace through people marketing their own stuff their own way already. So, yeah it is exciting to see definitely.
OK, last question here. Would you like to provide some advice for artists today?
Arun: Yeah sure. I have many friends who are artists that are probably in a better position to give advice. I mean, I’m not an artist myself but i definitely appreciate art and the work that artists do. The main thing that I’d say is that technology is a tool and technology will evolve over time. i think there’ll be many amazing tools that’ll surface over the next few years. But, the key is that artists firstly have to remain true to themselves. They still have to build their identity, work on the quality of art, their identity, their story, and the quality of art makes a difference in price as well.
I ask any art appraiser and they benchmark you against different genres of art or different peers of art and if you’re a young artist, this advice probably goes out to more of you. I think the distraction would be to say technology is going to
transform my art. Yes, there are some tools that will do that but technology is not going to transform the quality of art, your brand, and your identity. So, I’d say the advice is to use technology to help you build that story, to help you build an identity, help you build your craft, and then think about tech and solutions that will increase or amplify your presence, whether it’s online or offline so that people can discover you. So, being discovered is key and for the audience to understand your story, connect with your story or art is also key. So, that still remains very very important.
If not, you know even in the digital art space you’re going to find lots of art that don’t get sold. It’s not valued very highly and that happens in the physical art space as well. Not every piece of art is worth a million dollars so the focus is really still focusing on your craft, identity, and the story that you’re telling or the brand as I call it. So, it’s a combination of developing your artistic skills as well as your business set of skills.
Cleve: That’s right.
Arun: I mean.. Some artists may not like this but you know art in itself is a business. You’re producing something that’s amazing. you’re like the manufacturer and art is a form of expression. It’s an identity. It’s a form of communication and it obviously personifies what the artist believes in. But at the same time, you need sustenance as an artist and for you to have a sustainable career. Hopefully, your art gets sold as well. Just like any other business, you have to learn how to sell and you need to learn how to connect with your audience and it’s just not just artistic skills but the business side of it and I would say maybe that’s kind of like the biggest weakness that many artists have. Like how do you sell my art?
Hopefully, these tools that come on board over the next few years could help these artists become better sellers of their art.
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WHAT: The Somerville Housing Challenge Pilot Workshop will be the first of what we hope will be an ongoing process to explore publicly available data related to housing (and, eventually, other topics!) We hope to bring together people who understand housing challenges and people interested in data analysis/coding. We hope to ask and begin to answer some questions about aspects of Somerville’s affordability and housing crisis. Teams may also wish to begin to design applications that relate to housing. It’s an all-hands-on-deck invitation – join in whatever background, interests, and experiences you bring!
WHY: Somerville has many housing challenges. Our city has grown more expensive. Property taxes and fees are increasing. We have very little open space. Data is available at the city and state level that can help us figure out more about the challenges we face and inform our choices about how to solve them. The public data we have includes the city census and the city assessors database as well as data on building permits, parking permits and campaign finance data.
WHEN: Sunday, July 15, from 1-5pm, with happy hour following
WHERE: Somerville Community Corporation, 337 Somerville Ave, Somerville
RSVP: Please register so we know how many people to expect. You can also share the registration link: https://goo.gl/forms/57dYhvgkckb2Clzg2 and join our mailing list to be part of the planning conversation.
1-1:15PM: Introductions and overview of day
1:15-2PM: Presenters will share: 1. personal and professional experiences with the housing crisis, and 2. basic and more advanced techniques to analyze the data available.
2-2:15 PM: Coordinators of break-out groups will introduce the data they have available and what questions the data may help us answer.
2:15-4 PM: We will break into teams to explore questions we have, and to clarify questions and begin to answer them.
4-4:45 PM: Groups present out on their work and attendees will share feedback, questions.
4:45-5PM: Discussion of next steps (We expect this will be the first of an ongoing series of housing challenge discussions)
5-6PM: Post-event happy hour.
CONTACT: Stephanie Hirsch (email@example.com, 617-512-4847) and Jamie O’Keefe (firstname.lastname@example.org) with questions or suggestions.
DATASETS, TEAMS, & QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE: We expect that we will break into the teams listed below, though more may be added before or at the event (please suggest your ideas for a team!) We hope teams will be a mix of people with experience of the housing crisis, policy experts, and data experts or software engineers that can begin to answer questions raised plus ask new questions. See list for initial questions raised.
Property Ownership & Sales (Leaders: TBD)
Questions: This team will work to answer questions like: Who is buying? Who is selling? How has that changed over time? How many property sales are speculative purchases? How many rental units have been lost to condominium conversions? How many short-term rentals are there and what’s their possible impact on the housing market? What does an investor purchase, renovation, convert to condos, and re-sell process look like in depth?
Potential Datasets: A de-identified dataset of properties (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18UL0isExCiUJJxJJG7v03NYygdMl74pOSBuXjmONx-s/edit?usp=sharing), property transaction data from Middlesex Registry of Deeds (http://www.masslandrecords.com/middlesexsouth/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1), business ownership (such as for LLCs) from the Secretary of State Corporations Division (http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/corpweb/CorpSearch/CorpSearch.aspx), Somerville building permits (https://data.somervillema.gov/City-Services/ISD-Building-Permit-Daily-Applications/q3yh-mp87), Somerville commercial building permits (https://data.somervillema.gov/City-Services/Commercial-Building-Permits/h9ng-teu4), AirBnb Listings (https://www.airbnb.com).
People’s Living Situations (Leaders: TBD)
Questions: This team will work to answer questions like: How many residents are owner occupants? How many naturally occurring affordable housing units exist and who are the benevolent landlords in the city? How can we encourage landlords to rent for below-market rate? Are there seniors living in large homes who would like to rent some of their space but face hurdles? How much housing is there by living arrangement, life stage, income level, ownership, etc.? How many students live in the city outside of university dorms, where do they live, and where would they prefer to live? How many households have 4+ unrelated people, and what would be the impact of changing this policy?
Potential Datasets: A de-identified linked dataset showing home occupants with type of home (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10plmL5ibDF8ZfBz0R6tQASgZsPV2q2i1xJ2gTy6h9co/edit?usp=sharing ), US Census data.
Parking & Land Use (Leader: Chris Allen)
Questions: This team will discuss the relationship between parking and affordability, open space, and streets. With one of our four miles dedicated to streets and parking spaces, parking policies are important (and not as frequently discussed) land use decisions.
Potential Datasets: Parking permit data (https://data.somervillema.gov/City-Services/City-of-Somerville-Parking-Permits-2017/xavb-4s9w) and City Assessing data (https://data.somervillema.gov/Finance/City-Of-Somerville-Assessors-Valuations-FY16/7rxe-3ase)


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Well, I tried a search, and once I came up with 6 unrelated threads, and once I came up with 15 pages…
Hopefully a very simple question: what’s the font used in the Street Fighter logos? One font (and a few variants on it) are used in just about every game from SF1 and SF2 to SPF2T, XMVSF and SF3. So what is it?
Here are a couple of ones that are similar: Informal Roman, Biffo MT, Brush 738, Zombie Guts Yanked Italic and Rapier. Which one of these looks the most accurate to you guys? And does anybody know of a closer one?

domain: hobby


There are some new designs that hardly anyone knows about, because the main manufacturers don't consider them sufficiently mature, or they are concentrating on their own product line. Also, be absolutely sure that the ratings for the gear boxes are consistent in terms of stress. I've discovered that in some cases the big gearboxes have a higher "Name Plate Rating" for torque or force that actually results in a much higher stress on the components than the smaller gear boxes. So, the big ones have a much shorter life. In one case, the life was stated to be 100,000 inches of travel for the big ones, and 1,000,000 inches for the smaller ones, but there were no precise data...it was essentially anecdotal, but still instructive.
~James B, Professor, Huntsville, AL
When selecting service factory use AGMA rating systems instead of DIN Standards. DIN tends to be too light. Check for shock loading in applications. Don't always buy on price, understand your application and service factor requirements.
~James Haldane, Technical Support, Black Diamond, Canada
Make sure when comparing geared motors that you keep in mind that you need to compare similarly rated gearboxes. For example, you need to compare worm geared motors with worm geared motors and helical geared motors with helical geared motors. You need to keep an eye on the service factors and also whether the gearbox comes filled with oil. A major consideration should be whether the motor used is a standard motor or a designated motor. I personally would always recommend that clients would use standard AC designed motors as when it comes to replacement costs they are a fraction of the price of a designated motor.
~Cal M, General Management, Dublin, Ireland


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Featuring a sunbathing terrace and barbecue, Rossco Backpackers Hostel offers a safe deposit box, a designated place for smoking, a free car park, a luggage storage and currency exchange as well. The hostel serves as an example of colonial architecture in San Cristobal de las Casas.
Steps away from Na Bolom Cultural Centre, Centro de Textiles del Mundo Maya and Foro Cultural Kinoki the hostel is located in the center of San Cristobal de las Casas. Serving Mexican and Indian meals, El Fogon de Jovel is about 5 minutes’ walk away.
Llano San Juan airport lies within a 50-minute drive away.
Offering 10-bed mixed Dorm, 14-bed mixed Dorm, Economy Twin Room and Private Triple Room, the property ensures a good stay. Some of the rooms at Rossco Backpackers Hostel are fitted with a separate toilet and an iron with ironing board. Rooms are fitted with single beds, double beds and bunk beds. Guests can find private bathrooms provided with bath sheets and toiletries.
Eat & Drink
A shared kitchen is offered in this property.
Rossco Backpackers Hostel offers laundry, 24-hour reception and tour/ticket assistance.
Wireless internet is available in the entire hostel for free.
Free private parking is possible on site.

domain: travel


ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 3, 2019) - Orlando City SC (8-11-5, 29 points) picked up a big win on Saturday night, defeating Western Conference side FC Dallas by a 2-0 scoreline at Exploria Stadium. The win capped off a busy week for the Lions, and fans, who hosted a soldout 2019 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target just days before on the same field.
Tesho Akindele opened the scoring in the match early on, scoring his eighth of the season against his former team in the 13th minute. Carlos Ascues put things away in the final minutes for his first MLS career goal.
The win gives the Lions momentum heading into their next match, as they welcome rival Atlanta United on Tuesday evening for a historic Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal.
Head Coach James O’Connor:
“Obviously very pleased with the win. I thought the mentality that the players showed was excellent and, as I just said, I think there was some outstanding individual performances. I think the effort from the guys to defend and then you look at - we’ve had some decent chances - we managed to take them at the end there. I think overall when you look at the commitment to defending it was excellent.”
13’ Tesho Akindele (Ruan) - ORL 1, FCD 0
The Lions got on the board first with Ruan dribbling with pace to midfield from the right side before slotting a through ball in behind the Dallas defense for Tesho Akindele, who passed it directly into the far post for the first-time finish.
90+2’ Carlos Ascues (Sacha Kljestan, Tesho Akindele) - ORL 2, FCD 0
Midfielder Carlos Ascues added some stoppage time insurance for the Lions, scoring his first career MLS goal to double Orlando’s lead. The home side played some tic-tac passing in the final third, before Sacha Kljestan found Ascues open in the middle for the goal.
- Tesho Akindele scored his eighth goal of the season against his former Club, setting a career-high for goals scored in a single regular season. Akindele scored eight goals in his rookie season with FC Dallas, seven in the regular season and one in postseason play during his 2014 MLS Rookie of the Year campaign.
- Akindele served as the team’s captain for the first time as a Lion, and the first time in his career, earning the armband against his former club.
- Orlando City EVP of Soccer Operations Luiz Muzzi is another former member of FC Dallas, having most recently served as the team’s VP of Soccer Operations.
- With his lone assist in the match, Sacha Kljestan recorded his 92nd in MLS, passing former LA Galaxy midfielder Cobi Jones for sole possession of eighth place in league history.
- The late-game goal scored by midfielder Carlos Ascues served as his first-ever career MLS goal.
- The Lions recorded their sixth shutout of the 2019 season, one shy of tying the Club-record of seven set in both 2015 and 2017. Goalkeeper Brian Rowe has been responsible for all six of the Lions’ shutouts this season.
Next Match: The Lions face off against Atlanta United FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal round on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at Exploria Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. City will return to league play on Saturday, Aug. 10 when it travels to face Toronto FC at BMO Field.
ORL - Tesho Akindele (Ruan) 13’
ORL - Carlos Ascues (Sacha Kljestan, Tesho Akindele) 90+2’
FCD - Reto Ziegler (Yellow Card) 20’
FCD - Paxton Pomykal (Yellow Card) 39’
FCD - Brandon Servania (Yellow Card) 45’
ORL - Sebastián Méndez (Yellow Card) 69’
FCD - Jesús Ferreira (Yellow Card) 82’
Orlando City SC - GK Brian Rowe; D João Moutinho, Robin Jansson, Lamine Sané, Ruan; M Will Johnson (Kyle Smith 90+3’), Carlos Ascues, Sebastián Méndez; F Tesho Akindele ©, Dom Dwyer (Nani 72’), Chris Mueller (Sacha Kljestan 54’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Adam Grinwis; D Kamal Miller; M Dillon Powers; F Robinho
FC Dallas - GK Jesse Gonzalez; D Ryan Hollingshead, Reto Ziegler ©, Matt Hedges, Bressan (Bryan Reynolds 85’); M Jacori Hayes, Paxton Pomykal, Brandon Servania (Dominique Badji 46’); F Edwin Gyasi (Michael Barrios 30’), Jesús Ferreira, Santiago Mosquera
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jimmy Maurer; D John Nelson; M Thomas Roberts, Edwin Cerrillo
Details of the Game:
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Date: Aug. 3, 2019
ORL - 35.8%
FCD - 64.2%
ORL - 9
FCD - 11
ORL - 3
FCD - 1
ORL - 14
FCD - 16
ORL - 2
FCD - 10


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Hey Friends! How’s it goin?
Well today I want to share another oat heavy recipe with ya:
Easy (15 minute) Vegan, Gluten Free Coconut Granola Bites
You may or may not know that I haven’t always been an egg eater. I started eating eggs around the time I started this blog because I woke up one morning with the mother of all egg cravings. I didn’t question it, just boiled some eggs and devoured them. And I haven’t looked back since.
But, when I’m on autopilot at the grocery store – i.e. whenever I go without a list – I ALWAYS forget the eggs.
Of course, on Monday, I decided I wanted an egg sandwich AND to make some granola bars and I didn’t have enough eggs for both 😐
I’ve experimented with flax eggs before so that wasn’t a huge problem. What was a problem, was the lack of parchment paper AND foil in my kitchen. I have an irrational fear of baking without either because I’m always afraid that whatever I make will stick to the pan and not be picture worthy.
My saving grace? My inability to NOT buy muffin tin liners every other week. I seriously have 300+ right now. So in the end, my would-be coconut granola bars turned into vegan coconut granola bites.
And I must say they were a success 😀
The first couple times I made these coconut granola bites as granola bars, I used a large egg and honey. Since I was already replacing the egg with a flax egg, I decided to go all out and swap out the honey as well.
I was actually glad I had to make them in muffin tins because without the honey they were a little crumbly right out the oven. But they firmed up as they cooled and were definitely solid after some time in the fridge.
I’ve been having coconut granola bites as afternoon snacks for a little pick me up, but they’ll be great for breakfast as well.
Warning: If you plan on sharing, double or even triple this recipe because it only yields 6 small coconut granola bites. Jussayin 😉
- 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water (for flax egg)
- 1 cup rolled oats*
- ⅓ cup slivered almonds
- 1 tbsp unsweetened coconut
- 1 tbsp semi sweet chocolate chips**
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract (optional)
- 1 tsp coconut oil, melted
- Mix together ground flax and water and set aside. Mixture should firm up and resemble the consistency of a whisked egg after a few minutes
- Preheat oven to 350C
- Add dry ingredients (oats, nuts, chocolate chips, cinnamon, coconut) to a large bowl
- In a small bowl, mix together maple syrup, vanilla and almond extracts and coconut oil
- Add wet ingredients to try and mix
- Mix in flax egg
- Spoon out mixture into muffin tins and bake for 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan
- Place on rack and/or in fridge and allow to cool full
**Use vegan chocolate chips if necessary
What about you?
Have you joined my oatmeal lovin’ train yet?
Do you make your on granola bars?
Share in the comments below!
Subscribe for weekly health tips
This post was included in the following linkups: Twirl & Take a Bow, Whatever Wednesday, The Makers, The Wednesday Roundup, The Weekend re-Treat, Get Him Fed, Let’s Get Real, That Friday Blog Hop, Delicious Dish Tuesday, Monday Homemade Linkup

domain: food


The Russian Defense Ministry and the Russian Helicopters company have signed the first serial contract on the delivery of Mil Mi-28UB combat training helicopters to Russia's Aerospace Forces, as well as a contract on the delivery of Mil Mi-26 helicopters as part of the state defense order.
"Under the terms of the contracts, two Mi-26 heavy transport helicopters and the first serial batch of 24 Mi-28UB most advanced combat training helicopters will be transferred to the Aerospace Forces before the end of 2018," the Defense Ministry's press service told Interfax on Sunday.
These state contracts were signed by Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov and Russian Helicopters general director Alexander Mikheyev, the ministry said.
"The Mi-28UB differs from its predecessor by having dual controls, as well as the improved ergonomic characteristics of the cabins of the pilot-in-command and the pilot operator. Such an arrangement helps more rapidly retrain army aviation pilots with fully preserving the aircraft's combat potential," the Defense Ministry said.
The Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter is still the world's most powerful serially produced helicopter, which is intended to transport military hardware and different supplies, as well as airlift landing personnel and injured troops, it said.
All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
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i am a nurse with an artistic hands...a woman with passion
caricatures....again and again and again...=)
your welcome..! @_,@
thank you so much for the tip..!
✖ Subscribe to gain awesome features

domain: artistic


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April 5, 2004 -- What makes children picky eaters? Why do some kids only eat bland foods while others scarf down curry? Likely, it's due to flavors they are exposed to very early, before they reach 4 months old -- and even while they are in the womb.
Flavor preferences take shape during sensitive periods in an infant's development and serve as the foundation for lifelong food habits, writes lead researcher Julie A. Mennella, PhD, with the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Her study appears in the April issue of Pediatrics.
The study "may help us understand early factors involved in human food preferences and diet choice, an area with many important health implications," writes Mennella. "We can explore these early influences systematically by studying infants who are breastfeeding, as well as babies whose parents have decided to formula-feed."
Infant Formula Provides Insights
Most babies get milk-based infant formulas like Enfamil or Similac, which are often described as being "sour and cereal-like." But for babies with milk or protein intolerance or allergy, or with colic, there are hydrolyzed protein-based formulas like Alimentum, Pregestimil, and Nutramigen - which have a bitter and sour taste, unpleasant smell, and horrible aftertaste, explains Mennella.
In earlier studies, Mennella has shown that 4- or 5-year-old children fed Nutramigen during their infancy had a more positive response to the formula several years later.
Her current study involved 53 babies, each fed either Nutramigen or Enfamil for seven months. Two more groups of infants were given three months of Nutramigen, introduced at different times, with four months of Enfamil.
At the end of seven months, all were given both types of infant formula, as well as a third hydrolyzed formula, Alimentum. Researchers videotaped the babies' responses to each of the formulas to get a better idea of their reactions, which illustrated their sensory response to each infant formula.
Which formula the infants accepted depended on which they had tasted before -- and when they first tasted it:
- Those who had tasted Nutramigen before responded to both Nutramigen and Alimentum as if they were very acceptable. Babies fed Nutramigen longer than three months accepted it even more.
- Those babies who had never gotten the bad-tasting Nutramigen strongly rejected it and Alimentum. The babies' facial expressions showed that taste and smell were factors driving their responses.
While it's known that newborns reject bitter, sour tastes, her study shows that this rejection does not occur until after 4 months of age, she writes. The "bitter" taste receptors may not mature until the infant is several months old.
The studies highlight a fundamental feature of dietary learning among mammals, she writes. Humans and other animals taste their mothers' diet while in the amniotic fluid of the womb. After they are born, infants are again exposed to her diet if they nurse.
Flavors common to an ethnic group are therefore experienced early in life, she writes.
"Because we know that flavor preferences established early in life track into later childhood, eating habits in the growing child may begin to be established long before the introduction of solid food," Mennella says in a news release.

domain: health


text:
Tiffani Amber Thiessen is an American actress, known for her roles in Beverly Hills, 90210 and White Collar.
Browse her nudes and sexy content featuring her body, tits and ass in the slideshow below.
🔥 Tiffani Thiessen Nude Photos and Videos:
Error message? Let us know! (Please include a link to this page)

domain: celebrity


Saturday, June 10, 2017 20:00
Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium
Tickets: MOP 250, 200, 150
Mendelssohn: Overture to The Fair Melusina, Op. 32
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73
The world-renowned Hungarian conductor Gilbert Varga, who first cooperated with Macao Orchestra in 2015, will visit Macao again and lead Macao Orchestra and Swiss-Chinese pianist Louis Schwizgebel-Wang. Last year Louis recorded Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos with the BBC Symphonic Orchestra, from which he has chosen the Piano Concerto No. 2 for the audience in Macao. Don’t miss the fantastic performance by these talents!
Duration: approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes, including one interval


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Book your room at Hotel Bh Bicentenario
Standard Double RoomMax Occupancy: 2 guests (up to 1 child, 1 infant)
Standard Twin RoomMax Occupancy: 4 guests (up to 3 children, 3 infants)
Standard Single RoomMax Occupancy: 2 guests (up to 1 child, 1 infant)
Hotel in Bogota (Old Town La Candelaria) near Plaza de Bolivar
This hotel is located in Bogota (Old Town La Candelaria), close to Gold Museum, Plaza de Bolivar, and Monserrate. Also nearby are Torre Colpatria and Rosario Square.
In addition to a restaurant, Hotel Bh Bicentenario features a fitness center. Other amenities include a bar/lounge and complimentary wireless Internet access.
LCD televisions come with cable channels. Guestrooms also feature complimentary wireless Internet access, iPod docking stations, and premium bedding.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us!
Hotel Bh Bicentenario
At your hotel
The hotel offers a restaurant. A bar/lounge is on site where guests can unwind with a drink. A complimentary breakfast is offered each morning. Public areas are equipped with complimentary high-speed wireless Internet access.
Business-related amenities at this 3.5-star property consist of a business center and meeting rooms. 3 meeting rooms are available. This Bogota hotel also offers a fitness center, tour/ticket assistance, and multilingual staff. For a surcharge, a roundtrip airport shuttle (available on request) is offered to guests. Complimentary self parking is available on site.
- 24-hour front desk
- Airport transportation (surcharge)
- Total number of rooms - 64
- Number of floors - 6
- Business center
- Free breakfast
- Fitness facilities
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Free Wi-Fi
- Laundry facilities
- Meeting rooms
- Multilingual staff
- Luggage storage
- Room service (limited hours)
- Number of meeting rooms - 3
- Free self parking
Available in all rooms: Free Wi-Fi
Available in some public areas: Free Wi-Fi
Park your car
Free self parking
In your room
- Premium bedding
- Coffee/tea maker
- Daily housekeeping
- Private bathroom
- Hair dryer
- In-room safe
- Cable TV service
- Free Wi-Fi
- iPod docking station
- LCD TV
Eat and drink
A complimentary buffet breakfast is served each morning between 6:30 AM and 9:30 AM.
Crepes and Waffles - This restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Room service (during limited hours) is available.
The fine print for Hotel Bh Bicentenario
When you arrive
Check-in time starts at 3 PM
Minimum check-in age is 18
When you leave
Check-out time is noon
How you can pay
Accepted at this hotel: American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
- The national sales tax (16%) is charged upon check-out to citizens of Colombia regardless of length of stay and to foreigners staying 60 consecutive days or more. Foreigners on a tourist visa are exempt from this tax. Furthermore, the tax may apply per room when the room is shared by a taxable and a nontaxable guest.
- Resort fee: COP 7500 per person, per night
We should mention
This property offers transfers from the airport (surcharges may apply). Guests must contact the property with arrival details 24 hours prior to arrival, using the contact information on the booking confirmation. Children 10 years old and younger stay free when occupying the parent or guardian's room, using existing bedding. Only registered guests are allowed in the guestrooms. No pets and no service animals are allowed at this property.


Film showing at Malvern Theatres
A film from director Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane, Suffragette).
A teenage girl suddenly finds herself struggling to take care of herself and her younger brother. Rocks is an astounding film about resilience, joy, and the spirit of girlhood.
Running time: 1hr 33mins
Please read Malvern Theatres Covid-19 Cinema Safety Guidelines before booking.


Mr. Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh, North and Leith): I am pleased to have secured today's Adjournment debate because it allows me to raise a matter that is of particular significance to my city, my constituency and many other communities situated on the east coast main line, and is also of national importance.
As hon. Members will know, in terms of both passenger and freight transport the east coast main line is one of the most heavily used lines in the country. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, the line is operating at or near to full capacity. As with other services, increased demand for passenger and freight services in recent years has stretched the line to its limit and exposed a number of structural weaknesses, such as overhead power lines that are in need of remedy. As the Minister, will know, the matter has been the subject of several recent parliamentary questions.
I know that the Government are committed to upgrading the east coast main line, and I welcome that, but today I want to raise several concerns about the short-term extension of the franchise. As hon. Members will know, earlier this year my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions announced that the Government favoured a two-year extension to the current franchise, rather than the longer-term franchise that was originally envisaged. I share some of the worries about granting a two-year franchise, and I shall return to them briefly later. Having said that, I can appreciate why my right hon. Friend decided to ask the Strategic Rail Authority to proceed on the basis of a two-year franchise, and I do not wish to argue against that decision in principle. Instead, I want to express my view that a short-term franchise extension should not result in a freeze on improvements to east coast main line passenger services for Scotland in general and Edinburgh in particular.
Hon. Members might recall that when the Secretary of State invited the SRA to negotiate extension of the existing franchise, he set out a number of new passenger benefits that he wanted to emerge from those negotiations. According to the press release, those benefits should include a service every 30 minutes from London to Leeds, early placement of orders for a new fleet of inter-city trains, improvements to existing rolling stock, early investment in station improvements, for example at Doncaster and York, and a range of other potential benefits, including spare locomotives to improve service reliability.
Those are all admirable objectives. However, my concern from a constituency perspective is that the bulk of the benefits will be enjoyed by those using the more southerly sections of the line. Improvements to the London-Leeds services and at Doncaster and York were mentioned, but nothing was said specifically about improvements to services to and from Scotland or the north-east of England, or about long-awaited station improvements such as those required at Edinburgh Waverley. The apparent concentration of benefits on the more southerly sections of the line in the requirements for the franchise negotiation is paralleled by the fact that the first two phases of the infrastructure upgrades will feature improvements at Leeds, Peterborough and King's Cross, but not further north.
I appreciate that improvements at any point on the line have benefits elsewhere on the linefor example, more trains on the London-Leeds service will benefit services running further north by providing extra capacity. I also acknowledge the references to new investment, namely a new fleet of inter-city trains and spare locomotives.
Notwithstanding the promised improvements, I am concerned that the basis on which the SRA has been asked to negotiate the two-year franchise extension is too limited and that consequently services to Edinburgh, the east coast of Scotland and the north-east of England will not be improved over the next three years as they should and could be. I ask my hon. Friend the Minister to consider some specific ways in which the negotiations on the franchise extension could be widened to bring benefits to the communities on the northern section of the line. I shall outline a few suggestions that are supported by a body of opinion in south-east Scotland and beyond.
First, we need a faster service with fewer stops between London and Edinburgh. Cutting out some stops should be possible, given the new half-hourly service from London to Leeds and the additional services that Virgin Cross Country is beginning to provide on the northern section of the route.
Secondly, we want guaranteed journey times of four hours or less from London to Edinburgh on as many trains as possible, preferably all. Shorter journey times are needed to compete to any greater extent with air travel, and reliability and consistency are also important, especially for business passengers.
Thirdly, we need to increase the frequency and consistency of the journey time of trains running from London to Newcastle and Edinburgh. That would allow for greater consistency of departure times and, perhaps more importantly, arrival times at Edinburgh. Arrival and departure times should, as far as possible, remain consistent throughout the day in summer and winter timetables and from one year to the next. As well as bringing benefits to the inter-city traveller, that would have the knock-on effect of making it easier to plan local train services on the basis of inter-city timetables. Another advantage of a more fixed timetable is that it would enable the scheduling of more local trains on the tracks south and east of Edinburgh.
Finally, we need improvements in track capacity in the Edinburgh area. That is important for long-distance services, not only for Edinburgh, but to serve cities and towns further north such as Dundee and Aberdeen. Track capacity improvements also allow for improvements to suburban rail services in the Edinburgh area, for which the city council and the Scottish Executive have ambitious plans.
As the Minister will no doubt be aware, a rail capacity study is under way in central Scotland, but it seems to be proceeding at a snail's pace. The lead body is the Scottish Executive, but I urge the Minister to do what he can to ensure that the study is completed as soon as possible. I have little doubt that the study will also recommend capacity enhancement. I ask the Minister to
I ask the Government to ensure that the SRA takes steps to ensure that the promised early placement of an order for a new fleet of inter-city trains is carried out, by including some funding or guarantee, if that should be required. Some in the industry suggest that the current franchise holder will be unable to commit itself to such orders on the basis of a two-year extension and that the SRA will be required to make a purchase, or underwrite such a purchase, if the new trains are to be provided. I do not know whether that is correct and I appreciate that there will have to be tough negotiations on such matters with the franchisee. It is essential that the order for new stock is placed and I ask the Minister to do everything he can to ensure that that is done.
Hugh Bayley (City of York): I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important and timely debate. I agree with him about the importance of improving services to Scotland and the north-east of England, as well as to my constituency of York. New rolling stock is essential to such improvement because without additional trains we cannot have more services.
Mr. Mike Hancock (in the Chair): Order. The rules for debate allow only for short interventions in speeches by hon. Members, and a speech can be made only with the prior agreement of the Member and Minister concerned, and notified to the Chair.
Does my hon. Friend agree that it would be sensible for the SRA to consider whether it is necessary to extend the franchise by a further one or two years to ensure that we get additional rolling stock?
I ask the Government to reconsider providing direct passenger train links from Scotland and the north of England to the continent through the Channel tunnel. As hon. Members will be aware, such links were promised when the channel tunnel legislation went through Parliament but that promise was not fulfilled. Those of us who use the east coast main line regularly can enjoy the fine, new White Rose train service from London to Leeds in the trains that were originally built for the European service and that have now been leased to operate from London to Leeds by GNER.
In the present economic climate, and given the current contraction of the airline industry, the need for our tourist industry to have direct European links is stronger than ever. Although I appreciate that it is a separate issue from the east coast main line franchise, there is no better time to reconsider the possibility of acquiring such services and I urge the Minister to look at the issue.
I shall to dwell a little longer on the two-year franchise extension rather than the granting of a longer franchise. I understand why the Government took that decision but it is essential that once the current restructuring of Railtrack and the rail industry and the strategic and regulatory framework is completed, the long-term strategic vision for the east coast main line must be clear. We need a 10, 15 or 20-year perspective, not just a five to seven-year one. That position of long-term certainty needs to be reached sooner rather than later. There is no need to wait until well into the term of a two-year franchise to reach decisions for the long term.
I know that the Government do not want a lengthy hiatus in decisions about the future upgrading of the east coast main line. I urge them to ensure that the negotiations for a two-year or perhaps slightly longer franchise extension, hopefully including the improvements to services to Scotland that I have outlined today, are brought to an early conclusion. Thereafter, the industry needs an early decision and a response to the Strategic Rail Authority's strategic plan when it is published. Like other hon. Members, I welcome the vision and commitment to the future of our rail industry shown in the 10-year plan and I want to see that vision resulting in concrete improvements in the long term. If we are to give travellers faith that the long-term vision will be delivered, we also need significant improvements in the short and medium term.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (Mr. David Jamieson) : First, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mr. Lazarowicz) on securing the debate. I have had the pleasure of hearing him on a few occasions and, at the risk of embarrassing him, I must say that his contributions are well considered and well argued. He speaks well and powerfully for his constituents. I am delighted that my hon. Friend the Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley) is here. His interest in the subject that we are considering is well known.
You were in the Chair, Mr. Hancock, for our debate on Railtrack. I contrast the positive and inquisitorial way that my hon. Friend has tackled matters with the point scoring in the earlier debate. I am glad that my hon. Friend also recognises that the improvements on the line that benefit England also benefit his constituents in Scotland. At the outset, I reassure him that the Government remain committed to delivering a better, safer railway with increased punctuality and reliability, reduced journey times and higher standards of customer services. Our intentions are clear and our 10-year plan provides the mechanism to achieve our aim of 50 per cent. more passengers and 80 per cent. more rail freight over the next decade. The east coast main line is a strategically important route that will no doubt have a key role to play in achieving those targets.
As my hon. Friend knows, the east coast main line carries Britain's fastest passenger train service and also handles heavy bulk freight and mail trains. On an average day it caters for 1,900 passenger trains carrying 200,000 people. Yesterday it was 200,001 because I, too,
The spring 2001 national passenger survey revealed that 84 per cent. of GNER passengers were satisfied with their overall service. Only 52 per cent. were satisfied with the punctuality and reliability of services and a disappointingly low 38 per cent. of passengers believed that GNER offers value for money. My hon. Friend explained that the SRA is negotiating a potential two-year extension to GNER's east coast franchise. We are looking to the SRA to use the negotiations to secure improvements that will make a real difference to passengers' journeys, the need for which my hon. Friend articulated so well.
We want better rolling stock, refurbished stations and new services. New services are on the table but I cannot say today exactly what a two-year extension would deliver. In a single-tender negotiation such as this, it would be irresponsible of the SRA or Ministers to be wedded to particular outputs, regardless of the price. Whether a deal can be reached will ultimately depend on what is on offer. Similarly, I trust that the House would not expect me to weaken the SRA's negotiating position. There is potential value in terms of saving the taxes of my hon. Friend's constituents in setting a public deadline by which negotiations will be completed. We will not let them drag out indefinitely and good progress is being made. Passengers rightly demand improvements and, as my hon. Friend outlined, we want them to be delivered as quickly as possible.
I am aware of the accusations of short-termism generated by the decision of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to ask the SRA to negotiate a two-year extension to the franchise. I would therefore like to put the decision in context, which would be helpful to my hon. Friend. The Secretary of State could give the SRA the required direction to award a new franchise early if he were satisfied that there were particular benefits to be achieved. A 20-year franchise would have provided extra capacity through additional rolling stock and improved infrastructure. The costs and design of the east coast main line upgrade were therefore central to maximising the benefits of a long-term franchise. However, it had become clear that neither the design nor the cost of the upgrade was finalised. Indeed, SRA papers indicated that it could take a further two years to finalise.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State concluded that better terms with reduced risk for both parties were more likely to be achieved nearer the expiry of the current franchise, when the upgrade would be better defined. No one wanted a repeat of what happened with the west coast main line. He was also clear that benefits should in the meantime be obtained for passengers on that important route. That is why we believe that a two-year extension is the best way forward. It delivers investment quickly without prejudicing options for the longer term.
The objectives of the east coast upgrade project are to provide for an increase in passenger and freight capacity between London King's Cross, Leeds and Edinburgh. I summarised earlier how busy the line is; it is clearly running out of capacity, and accommodating extra trains for both passenger and freight operators is not possible within the existing infrastructure. The proposed solution is to reduce the number of conflicting movements through infrastructure works at known pinch points and to use better parallel lines for freight. The SRA, which is working closely with Railtrack, continues to drive forward the upgrade project.
As recently as 14 September, a further £17.5 million of development work was provided for phase two of the upgrade. That has not been affected by the decision to put Railtrack plc into railway administration. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced last April that we had reached an agreement with Railtrack that the east coast upgrade would be taken forward as a joint venture project known as a special purpose vehiclean SPV. Special purpose vehicles bring together specialist project managers, private sector financiers, relevant train operators, the SRA and Railtrack to provide a specific major enhancement or project. They are also being developed for other projects such as the infrastructure elements of the south central franchise. The SRA will set out its proposals for SPVs in more detail in the forthcoming strategic plan.
I also assure my hon. Friend that the enhancement project for Edinburgh Waverley station will not be affected by Railtrack's current situation. I hope that that brings some comfort to him. Railtrack is working on a business as usual basis, and we have no reason to believe that that will change once its successor is in place.
I would like to comment on some of my hon. Friend's other specific points. He mentioned direct services through the channel tunnel to Scotland. The Channel Tunnel Act 1987 placed a duty on the British Railways Board to prepare and publish a plan for the provision of regional Eurostars. The board's original plan was published in 1989 and last year a revised plan was published following a review. The plan concluded that regional Eurostar services would make a heavy loss and that there were no economic, environmental or social grounds for providing a subsidy. The Transport Act 2000 requires the SRA to formulate a strategy relating to services in various parts of Great Britain for facilitating the carriage of passengers or goods by rail through the channel tunnel. The formulation of the strategy is currently under review.
My hon. Friend also rightly raised the matter of the two-year extension for the northern section of the east coast main line. I have noted with interest the list of improvements that he would like to be included in the franchise extension and I undertake to ensure that the SRA is aware of them. He will understand that I cannot commit myself to the improvements in this debate, but I will ensure that they are brought to the attention of the relevant parties.
There are two main reasons for that. First, negotiations have been under way for some time and are already working within established parameters. Shifting them now could significantly delay agreement on an extension. Secondly, and more importantly, the development of a railway timetable is a complex and long-term process. Making some of the changes that my
On franchising policy, it may be useful if I set out our proposed new approach, which the Secretary of State announced in July. It focuses on key 10-year plan targets and aims to deliver early passenger benefits such as better performance, rolling stock and passenger facilities. It points to the possible alternative of shorter-term improvements that make a real difference to passengers by making existing franchises work better and, where necessary, improving or extending their terms.
Such short-term improvements sit alongside longer-term investment. It is not, as was widely reported, a short-term policy but a horses for courses approach. We are not precluding the early replacement of the shorter seven-year franchises, but that approach will be adopted only when benefits cannot be obtained in other ways. Neither does our approach rule out a long-term franchise for east coast services in due course. However, long-term franchises need to be tied to long-term investment and in the case of the east coast, that investment is most likely to take the form of the upgrade of the line.
We also issued for consultation new draft directions and guidance for the SRA. The draft sets the authority objectives that cover the need to improve standards of punctuality, safety and comfort throughout all franchise services and the much clearer and more focused approach to franchising that I have just mentioned. The consultation period ended on 21 September and we hope to issue the guidance and directions formally as soon as possible.
I am sure that I do not need to remind hon. Members that the Secretary of State appointed Richard Bowker as the new chairman of the SRA on 24 October. He will play a key role in delivering a better, safer railway. Under his leadership, the priorities of the SRA will include working alongside train operators to give passengers a better deal, implementing its strategic plan for the industry, increasing passenger numbers and the rail share of the freight market, and driving forward the £60 billion, 10-year rail investment programme.
I hope that my hon. Friend is reassured by the SRA's approach to balancing the short-term delivery improvement to passengers with the long-term needs of the east coast line. We are aware that much needs to be done, but we are moving in the right direction, as I am sure he agrees. The 10-year plan provides the investment and the mechanism to improve the national rail network and achieve our aim of 50 per cent. more passengers and 80 per cent. more freight over the next 10 years. The SRA's forthcoming strategic plan will set out its priorities for enhancing the network, and will identify improvements that can be achieved in the short term.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for allowing us to discuss the subject, and I was interested to hear what he said. If he feels that any of his points have not been covered in the clarity or detail that he would like, I would be happy to correspond with him.


text:
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Day 13, catching up
This is the stack of books that sits on my desk waiting to be read. Sometimes it puts on the Bambi eyes, trying to make me pay attention to it. More often, it mocks me, reminding me how long it has been since some of these books were bought impulsively and then never even picked up. Since some of the books are gifts from dear friends, it is often guilt-inducing.
A while ago, I made a deal with myself that I would give away ten books from my shelves and read ten books from my stack before I would let myself buy any new books. (As I look at this stack, I realize that ten doesn't even really make a dent, but I'm in denial about that.) Meanwhile, my amazon wish list has 419 items on it, most of them more books. I've read 7 so far, with 3 to go.
Today, as I was feeling overwhelmed by this, I decided to go at it Dave Ramsey-style, reading from smallest to largest. As I look at the stack, though, I notice that The Prophetic Imagination by Brueggeman is the thinnest book in the stack but it's also one of the densest, with really small print. Maybe I'll watch a movie instead.
Posted by T at 11/01/2011 09:15:00 PM

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Vanishing Point concerns memory, cognition, history, and morality, as experienced through the process of aging and as seen largely through a seriocomic lens. The range is wide, from arrestingly dark to downright hilarious—sometimes both at once—and all stages in-between. The poet Jim Daniels has said about this book, “With profound wit and humility, with a purity and clarity of language that defines our best poetry, [Trowbridge] takes us on a wild ride and gives us our money’s worth.” The last section contains poems from Trowbridge’s graphic chapbook Oldguy: Superhero, with several new poems added to that series.
Poetry. In FEALTY, the world quickly reveals itself as more complex and mysterious than we imagined. In poems surreal, feral, visceral, and yet tender, moving, and wise, Ricky Ray guides us through themes of love, death, animism, fidelity, belonging, and care. There is something of the ancients in his consciousness, which continually reminds us that we not only inhabit the earth, but are movements of the earth itself. Ray's connection to creatures great and small feels elemental; dog and dandelion stand beside man and mountain in the light. His eco-poetics, reminiscent of Wendell Berry and Joy Harjo, displays the dark passion of duende and the rhythmic swing of jazz manouche. All told, Ricky Ray is a modern-day mystic, and FEALTY is a series of startling visions capable of inducing a more intimate kinship with the world.
Why SIX? Because the collection is composed of six poems. And because the perspective in this collection shifts like a kaleidoscope, each image viewable from six possible angles. And because these poems, like the prevalent hexagons of the natural world—honeycombs, for instance—derive strength from their compression and their accumulation. “I call six times just to be sure you heard,” this speaker announces on the first page. These poems are also the six calls—calls to attention, calls to action, calls to account for something of our own. The speaker in SIX is insistent, scrupulous, and unflinching as she plumbs six essential aspects of human experience that have shaped us all: art, language, desire, vocation, faith, and life-changing love.
“I don't know what others do when their world collapses, but I know what a poet does. She writes it. Andrea Hollander's radiant new collection, Blue Mistaken for Sky, is a brave and unsentimental retelling of time held in abeyance, where ‘silence and darkness entered / together,’ and of betrayals—not just of love, but sometimes of life itself. What does she teach us but that it takes a long time of swimming ‘in place against / furiously moving water’ to be able to finally reclaim one's own life. This collection is so beautiful, it hurts.”
Recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize, "Laura Mazza-Dixon's Forged by Joy is a test of light against time, from innocence to loss, a spiritual autobiography seen first through a girl's eyes that behold wonder in everything, including stones - 'sea-polished ovals, green trapezoids laced with gold' - and forged through a life of art and love and loss, arriving at the question, 'Can joy weigh more than grief?' These are graceful, softly cadenced poems of belief carried against the final darkness we all face." Doug Anderson, poet and author of Blues for Unemployed Secret Police
In her stunning ninth collection of poetry, In June the Labyrinth, Cynthia Hogue tells a deeply personal lyric of love and loss through a mythic story. This book-length serial poem follows Elle, a dying woman, as she travels a trans-historical, trans-geographical terrain on a quest to investigate the labyrinth not only as myth and symbol, but something akin to the “labyrinth of the broken heart.” At the heart of Elle’s individual story is the earnest female pilgrim’s journey, full of disappointment but also hard-won wisdom and courage—inspired by Hogue’s own composited experience with loss, in particular the death of her mother. Rooted in the idea of the labyrinth as a symbol for life, as in the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe that Hogue would visit the summer of her mother’s death, these poems above all distill, fracture, recompose, and tell only partially?literally in parts but also in loving detail?the story of a life.
In her splendid fourth collection, poet Ellen Rachlin explores what she calls the "Permeable Divide"--the breach between the living and a loved one lost to death, the gap between confidence and hesitation, the gulf between banking and art, and perhaps most devastatingly, the chasm between freedom and habit. Rachlin combines her deliciously unique talents and background to speak about the differences between money and value. She crafts aphoristic and well-aimed poems that explode when we least expect them to--into a tender understanding of the rifts in our world. You will be catapulted from line to line, moved and inspired.
There is no fooling grief, Ellen Rachlin wisely writes, in her elegant, clear-eyed book, Permeable Divide. These are incorruptible poems of life's inevitable losses that always harbor emotional barter. Bad weather is useless as sorrow, the poet insists; but sorrow, without self-pity, is what Rachlin recognizes-- honestly, calmly, and compassionately -- as part and parcel of our sentient human design.
In her stunning new book, Ellen Rachlin explores, as if from a philosopher's point of view, the world around her. Reality, at times, is observed from a distance--a traveler contemplates the landscape and reckons, "The natural world is never enough." These are gems of poems which seek clarity while catching flashes of light.
Part of being a good squatter is learning to inhabit any space, to find a home in anything. The poems of GUTTER, Lauren Brazeal's debut collection, do just this: inhabiting each form given, whether game card pieces, checklists, stolen police evidence, and letters, or redactions, sestinas and sonnets. The story, told from the perspective of a young girl surviving as a squatter on the streets of Los Angeles and based on the author's own experience with homelessness as a teenager, bounces in time and perspective from the not-yet-homeless child, to the panhandling sprite, to the mournful survivor. More than the narrative of a single person, GUTTER speaks to the struggles of those who have been cast aside as irrelevant or undesirable by mainstream society.
Full & Round is the debut collection from Toya Rochelle. The collection consists of 40 poems that highlight the "lived experience." The best that one can hope for is a life that is full of love, joy, and passion. And even with some ups and downs, the collective support from family and friends shapes and sustains us.
This book of poetry includes poems filled emotions. Some raw, others downright bitter, but all with feeling. "In Her Feelings" will make you laugh, cry, wonder and take you on a journey through thirty-five poetic expressions of love, heartache, betrayal, friendship and more.
Love Without Borders: A poetry collection from the heart, is a compilation of poems on faith, hope, love, and life. It is Volume Three in the Without Borders Inspirational Series, and includes a bonus section of additional poetry written by Virginia Martin’s family and friends. Poetry is an uplifting and inspiring illustration of what makes us come alive. Virginia believes that love connects us all, and invites readers to open their hearts to a new experience in reading the written word.
"DeWitt Clinton’s poems in At the End of the War layer ancient, sacred ritual and texts with contemporary life and language. Clinton’s chiseled poems bespeak a consciousness trying to come to terms with history, specifically the horrific atrocities of WWII and the Holocaust. There’s a communal “we” in many of the poems of a people searching for an identity, a marginalized culture trying to define and reinvent itself on the historical stage. At the End of the War offers a poetic coming to terms with history, a Taoist way to emerge on the other side of atrocities—and speaks poetically for the self and contemporary society." -Krysia Jopek, author of Maps and Shadows, Aquila Polonica
"In DeWitt Clinton’s newest volume of poetry, he writes elegies to the past and present, poems that are lovely and compelling, but “always humble, always/ written in memory.” In sometimes long lyric-narratives, he interprets Biblical stories and honors the Holocaust, artists, and other poets, often in poems written in another’s voice, which allows readers another perspective. These are poems of searching and discovery, of consequences and coming-to-terms, of family, friendship, connections—some strong, some tentative. He writes, “Perhaps that’s all we can do—wonder and wonder some more.” -Karla Huston, Wisconsin Poet Laureate 2017-2018 and author of A Theory of Lipstick, Main Street Rag
"And, of course, a natural inquiry is made: whose children will you be mourning as you still love? How many can you mourn all at once and is there an end? Will the condolence for us all ever rest outside the comma? I tug the reader, yes, place them befuddled in what befuddles me. Some days, this work was the only body with which I would feel safe to watch the rooms inside me be processed, accessed, revisited; if it too carries endless oscillating rooms, a black tesseract might be another attempt at the human's time here."
"Deb Jannerson's Thanks for Nothing is a jewel-toned, kaleidoscopic rendering of living among contemporary America's unkindnesses. Out of pain, Jannerson creates a strange and elemental tableau. Structural inequities, phony concern, and the speaker herself morph into sinister dioramas pasted together from tainted childhood memories and the always-distressing news. The collection's images traverse seamlessly among nature, pop-culture, mythos, and political critique. Jannerson's alliterative and idiosyncratic rendering of firsts--persons, touches, tries--fun-houses the collection's physics, welcoming readers in the experience of emerging, dizzy but comfortable, from a legacy of hurt." -Jessica Morey-Collins, poet and Pushcart nominee
“Crisosto Apache’s collection is mesmerizing for its experimental formal variations. Inspired by Dine’ weaving methods, Apache creates ornate formal compositions coupled with a recursive reading experience. Ranging from fragmentation to prose block, formal considerations reflect the content selected for each poem. “K’us tadini tsaabi’ +2: [38 Necks +2]” discusses the hanging of 38 Dakota men upon the orders of Abraham Lincoln, with each stanza using indentation to pace the poem counting up until reaching the number 38... With the use of Apache Language (Nde Bizaa) & Navajo Language (Dine Bizaad) Apache creates a cascading resonance where the reader is asked to separate themselves from what they know of Native American history, and consider the Indigenous experience in America through Apache’s experiences on the reservation and in urban settings. Through these locations we are exposed to meditations on sexuality, Native American identity, and historical trauma... GENESIS delivers an experience that is both kinetic and visceral.” -Santee Frazier
“Gestation to birth of new generation, this book gives monumental range to the genesis of identity and charts the pathway to soul of self. A long-awaited phenomenal debut.” -Allison Adelle Hedge Coke
“Entirely new, experimental, and worth the effort of reading. Passionate in places, contemplative in others, he travels from that ancient past toward the distant universe.”-Linda Hogan
From the early interweave of working-class life and intellectual and cultural erudition in poems such as “Letter from Bernard Malamud,” “Surplus Jeep,” and “Elmo,” through a glimpse of Polish women tending the graves in Gryzantyny, all the way to the hypnotic and heart-breaking “Ginsburg’s Harmonium,” Leonard Kress provides a feast of compressed, intelligent writing presented with highly polished craft — personal narratives full of colorful observations and surprising insights as well as touches of humor. The past is not even the past; whether it’s the Cold War or the Iliad, Kress makes it provocatively modern and alive. —Oriana Ivy, author of April Snow (2011 New Women’s Voices Prize Winner), and From the New World
An army surplus jeep whose ride is as “choppy” as the final movement of Shostakovich’s 6th symphony? A memory of driving deep in Pennsylvania coal country to woo a girl whose miner father groaned “black piss” at the urinal, while the polka-dancing daughter would “sweat herself slippery, too slick to hold on to, changing her outfit, her partner with each set”? Getting a letter from Bernard Malamud, or reading Isaac Babel’s The Red Calvary alongside a co-worker perpetually hung-over from Mad Dog 20/20? Or, how about a poem titled “Notes for a Poem: The Liquidation of History,” one of the best long-poems I have ever encountered, tracing a forced march through the kaleidoscopic landscape of 20th century Poland, equal parts intelligentsia, alcohol, and ethnic complexity? —Daniel Bourne, author of Where No One Spoke the Language and The Household Gods, editor of Artful Dodge
Welcome to Los Alamos, where the big-brained boys and girls are at it again. But atoms have become passé: now it's the Higgs boson, which they are using to develop a clean, efficient weapon of mini-destruction, mysteriously dropping bodies and groups of bodies into junior black holes within a fifty mile radius. Moreover, they're accomplishing this perfidy in comic rhyming quatrains. Can an intrepid group of six amateur do- gooders resolve the mystery and prevent the unleashing of this new WMD? With the help of several Doberman pinschers, a versificative Kentucky writer and his vivacious muse, Herr Morguemeister, and Verdi's Otello, a resolution seems just possible.
Los Angeles poet Peggy Dobreer's second full-length collection of poetry, Drop and Dazzle, has been described as a tennis match played with snow globes or a game of poker dealt with tarot cards. There are only winners, and with every win comes a loss. It’s all in how you spin the tail on the last man skirting the shore, or the first woman to float face up. The book convenes a conspiracy of hearts; a colony of voices that cannot seem to make up their minds. Swayed by superstition, the vicissitudes of longing, and the need to find a way home, these characters call out and question love with all its obvious juxtapositions: history, family, politics, gender, superstition, promise, and loss. They are relentless in their desire to find meaning, and connection on their various escapades. What else could love be, but the something that can, or not, exist in all things and every place at once? Dobreer’s language is precise and inventive. She knits syntax like others knit rainbow booties for babies on miniature needles. Following threads of assonance and alliteration, rhythms and story, she varies poetic styles throughout the book and creates a lyrical world that is part jazz, part classics, part pedestrian interference, and all parts love.
“Reflections of Life, A Collection of Poetry, Prose and Images,” is the debut literary work from new author and poet Mel Brown McGinnis. This compilation takes you on a journey of love, loss and triumph! "Reflections" is a collection of inspirational poetry, prose and pictures from all over the world taken by the author during her travels, including selections from the author’s photo collection "Natural Elements." The poetry, prose and images work together to tell stories of empowering women, finding love after heartbreak, advocating against domestic violence, navigating the political landscape, creating pathways to success from humble beginnings, reveling in a love of sports, and paying tribute to a musical legend! "Reflections" strives to start the conversation about topics that touch our lives. The end of each chapter contains a list of questions designed to allow the reader to reflect on the topic and encourage action in incorporating plans and healthy behaviors into everyday life and lifestyle changes. This journey may be your story, it may be your mother’s story, or your brother’s story, or your child’s story or your best friend’s story. No matter whose story it may be, "Reflections" touches on something for everyone!
Pat Durmon has been writing poetry since 2005. As an award-winning poet, former mental health counselor, and teacher, she has the knack of leading us to our deepest places and bringing us back refreshed and whole, with new insights into the various aspects of our complex, interrelated, and often mystifying lives. Her new collection considers and honors the significant stages women pass through. The poems speak of nature and its steadfastness. They speak of women who are awake to a difficult world. The first poem in the collection gives the overall picture of a girl/woman walking between vast eternities, between her beginning and her end on earth. It is a journey of growth. It is a story of women.
At first, when I think about What I would do If I didn't have one Or, I didn't have two If I had to discover The world differently With my arms or my feet It would still be an incredible journey for me I would learn everything with the same curiosity


Atomic Number (World of Earth Science)
Atomic number is defined as the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. This concept was historically important because it provided a theoretical basis for the periodic law. Dmitri Mendeleev's discovery of the periodic law in the late 1860s was a remarkable accomplishment. It provided a keyorganizing concept for the chemical sciences. One problem that remained in Mendeleev's final analysis was the inversion of certain elements in his periodic table. In three places, elements arranged according to their chemical properties, as dictated by Mendeleev's law, are out of sequence according to their atomic weights.
The solution to this problem did not appear for nearly half a century. Then, it evolved out of research with x rays, discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Röntgen. Roentgen's discovery of this new form of electromagnetic radiation had inspired a spate of new research projects aimed at learning more about x rays themselves and about their effects on matter. Charles Grover Barkla, a physicist at the Universities of London and Cambridge, initiated one line of x-ray research. Beginning in 1903, he analyzed the way in which x rays were scattered by gasses, in general, and by elements, in particular. He found that the higher an element was located in the periodic table, the more penetrating the rays it produced. He concluded that the x-ray pattern he observed for an element was associated with the number of electrons in the atoms of that element.
Barkla's work was brought to fruition only a few years later by the English physicist H.G.J. Moseley. In 1913, Moseley found that the x-ray spectra for the elements changed in a simple and regular way as one moved up the periodic table. Moseley, like Barkla, attributed this change to the number of electrons in the atoms of each element and, thus, to the total positive charge on the nucleus of each atom. (Because atoms are electrically neutral, the total number of positive charges on the nucleus must be equal to the total number of negatively charged electrons.)
Moseley devised the concept of atomic number and assigned atomic numbers to the elements in such a way as to reflect the regular, integral, linear relationship of their x-ray spectra. It soon came to be understood that the atomic number of an atom is equal to the number of protons in the atom's nucleus.
Moseley's discovery was an important contribution to the understanding of Mendeleev's periodic law. Mendeleev's law was a purely empirical discovery. It was based on properties that could be observed in a laboratory. Moseley's discovery provided a theoretical basis for the law. It showed that chemical properties were related to atomic structure (number of electrons and nuclear charge) in a regular and predictable way.
Arranging the periodic table by means of atomic number also resolved some of the problems remaining from Mendeleev's original work. For example, elements that appeared to be out of place when arranged according to their atomic weights appeared in their correct order when arranged according to their atomic numbers.
See also Atomic mass and weight; Atomic theory; Bohr model; Chemical bonds and physical properties; Geochemistry


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12 Slices Smoked pancetta
100 g. Grated parmigiano reggiano
150 g. Bread crumbs
Prepare the filling by mixing in bowl the Genoese pesto, the grated parmigiano and the breadcrumbs Stuff the eggplant with the filling, roll the smoked pancetta around each roll and garnish with the dorati tomatoes. Serve with a drizzle of pesto and extra virgin olive oil.