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Alabama 1957: a 49-year-old Montgomery waitress, Rhonda Belle Martin, was convicted of murdering most of her family. Her mother, all five of her young daughters, and two of her five (!) husbands—all given small doses of arsenic or rat poison over long periods of time, so that they slowly became sicker and sicker until they died. Her fifth husband she did not succeed in killing, but did leave him as a paraplegic by the time she was imprisoned. (He also happened to be her stepson.) She never confessed to why she did it; it wasn’t for insurance money, and all she ever let on was that she liked to receive the sympathy cards. After she was killed by electric chair, a note was found in her Bible that asked that her body be “donated to science, so nobody ever has to go through what I went through.”
The Big Thing I’ve been working on for about a year has been this chamber opera called These Walls about Rhonda. With librettist Matthias Hope Naroff, we developed a story in five parts (corresponding to the five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance) that charts Rhonda’s feelings about what she did over the course of a few night hours in prison. She revisits the past—happier times, things that made her angry, people that wronged her—and tries to make sense of her present station in life. To the rest of the world, where the press attention has died down, she is “lost to the world, forgotten.” She spends her days obsessively cleaning her meager cell and trying to attract the attention of guards in the distance with salacious songs, wishing she could return to her life as a waitress, serving people (especially men), making them happy.
I’ve written in this space before about my obsession with the American nuclear family. In many ways, Rhonda’s existence was at the polar opposite of what was at the time a growing consensus around what the American family should look like: she had five husbands, marriages that ended either through divorce or murder, and her fifth husband was the son of her fourth husband (whom she killed). She killed her mother. And then there are her five girls she killed. We focused most of Rhonda’s attention in the opera on that last fact: she spends a lot of time reminiscing about her girls, often finding them innocent in a world that she perceived to be constantly trying to bring her down.
The note in her Bible, not reported in most of the historic accounts we found, is a curious footnote to her story. It simultaneously exhibits staggering self-awareness, and also a rather self-centered approach to understanding her actions. It acts as a sort of displacement of blame, from her own agency to some unknown defect of the body. Most of the personality we created for Rhonda stems from this letter. “Have I been forgiven” she asks, “or must I ask again and again?”
It’s finally happening on May 15; more details are here. I’m conducting, it’s 60 minutes long, it’s a charming Monday evening at the theatre. Ok see you there.
In this weird week between Christmas and New Year’s, my neighborhood is quiet, gray, & I’ve been holed up in my apartment scrambling to tie up some loose ends for 2015. A lot’s been happening with me (!): my new ensemble, Echo Chamber (more on this in a moment), has given its first 2 concerts; I’ve written a whole big pile of music for some dear friends; I did some arrangements for Derek Piotr, coming out on an EP early next year. Most of my days as of recent have been spent editing / staring at (other people’s) new operas, which is simultaneously very edifying and very exhausting also. I was in London in June, where I had occasion, among other things, to saunter through the Soho red light district. Here is photo evidence:
On the front burner are two string quartets, for ETHEL and for the JACK (we’re feeling the uppercase, so mostly the music sounds like I’m shouting at people, but what else is new). Until now I haven’t written any string quartets, possibly because I’ve been scared into a corner by Haydn and Beethoven and Bartók, with whom I spent most of my cello-playing high school years. The ETHEL piece is rather liberating, in that sense, because they’re an entirely different breed of string quartet, 1) being amplified, and 2) having the viola and cello on the outside. So you can imagine that I’m having a great deal of fun relegating the poor violins to background status. In any case, these two quartets coming to a New York near you mid-2016!
On the Echo Chamber front: I’m, along with Adam, helping run this sextet—clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, cello, bass—which is dedicated solely to commissioning and performing contemporary work. I wrote a thing, Light Echo, for the group, which we’ll do in February at Pulsing & Shaking, and we’re in the middle of sorting out a bunch of exciting commissioning projects. The current item of interest is a Kickstarter, which we’ve put together to help create four new pieces of music by Brooks Frederickson, Matt Frey, Molly Joyce, and Pascal Le Boeuf. Go watch our cheeky video and then BACK the project & help make new music happen! olé!
Speaking of high school, I’m in the middle of this incredible book Home Fires, by Donald Katz, which details the development of the postwar American suburban family from 1945 through the 1980s (I’ve just made it out of the 60s, barely alive). What’s incredible about this thing is, because it’s written as a sort of ethnographic study of a single family (which happens to be composer Ricky Ian Gordon‘s family, as it happens), one gets a kind of insider view of how the suburbs developed over time, and how the usual stereotypes (alienation, false sense of community, etc.) came into existence. We see the planned Long Island suburban communities morph from charming, almost-utopian enclaves into streets of houses with families pitted against one another, especially as the counter-culture takes root. It’s a highly detailed, almost neurotically thorough year-by-year look into the American nuclear family. Beyond that, it also offers a quasi-firsthand account of the turmoil of the late twentieth century in this country.
If you know anything about me, you know that I have a strange obsession with suburban America and literally anything to do with it. One of my favorite favorite books, Music for Torching by AM Homes (are we sensing a pyromaniac theme here?), details a suburban, presumably Westchester, couple who within the first 20 pages burn part of their house down and flee to a motel with their 2 young children. The book goes on from there: husband cheating with a younger woman only known as The Date (who at one point forces him to get a pubic tattoo during his lunch break), wife having a Lesbionic Awakening with the Perfect Housewife a few doors down, children scattered across town. You should all read the book, like right this second, but know that it ends in a horrifying & thoroughly chilling scenario, which serves as a kind of indictment, I think, of the potential energy built up by a divisive, every-family-for-itself suburban culture. This subgenre of work, rooted in John Cheever’s reading of postwar American life, isn’t unpopular: American Beauty, The Ice Storm (both book and film), Freedom. What makes the pairing of Home Fires and Music for Torching particularly piquant, though, is that the latter is, one feels, the (il)logical extension of the former. The suburbs are built up and destroyed from within, and then we arrive at Paul and Elaine’s batshit existence (and conclude with the aforementioned Scary Moment).
So it’s the end of the year. I made a list of things I liked this year, not necessarily in order:
If you want to be entirely devastated, read this book. I was crying in Tompkins Square Park through the last quarter of it this summer. I still think about the characters, often, many months later.
2. Blue dress, Julia Wolfe
3. Ruins, Dan Nicholls
4. Patrol, Steve Martland
I could have chosen any number of Martland things—I’m minorly obsessed with his music right now (and always)—but Patrol is unique for him in that it doesn’t involve big band-like instruments. It’s quasi-Baroque, and quasi-Arvo Pärt, but also driving and relentless in its fast and slow music.
So what’s up with me is that, for the past few months I’ve been completely whelmed, as anybody who knows me can attest to, by Robert Ashley’s 2003 opera Celestial Excursions. For the uninitiated, Ashley’s operas are more in line with the non-narrative operas of Glass and Reich (Einstein on the Beach, The Cave) than with Tosca. The bulk of the libretto is not sung, but in fact delivered in a spoken manner in very precise metric patterns, occasionally with a single pitch provided for a kind of sprechstimme effect. Here, Ashley’s honed this technique such that often, the singers are creating very difficult, intricate vocal patterns.
There’s something about Ashley’s libretto (about The Elderly and Aging) and the way he’s created these dense, difficult rhythms through the spoken word that’s particularly compelling. And the music! The entire piece is ‘in C major’ (harmonic structure thanks to Kyle Gann’s old-ass website), performed by the electronic orchestra, plus live jazzy piano riffs, developing a kind of limitless atmosphere well-suited to the dreaminess of the content.
Ashley has created 5 characters, each with amazing descriptions:
a man in the witness protection program
washed and dressed and ready for fun
formerly a very sophisticated lady
a man of the dark imagination
(Washed And Dressed And Ready For Fun, for 3 oboes da caccia and theremin.)
The first act, “Is it light yet?,” deals in early-morning dreams; Robert Ashley’s ‘character’ establishes the amorphous identity-shifting of the whole piece with his opening line “I’m in the witness-protection program.” There’s a charming love letter, enhanced by Ashley’s delightful Mid-Atlantic drawl; the line “his chief erogenous zone lay inside his head;” a strangely satisfying encyclopædic aria about the Pleiades over the refrain “No;” and the final section, a heart-wrenching dream about an adopted daughter, Walnut.
Where the going gets good, though, is in the second act, “Asylum,” in which the four members of Ashley’s ‘band’ are residents of an assisted-living facility, and Ashley is a kind of counselor. The residents are petitioning Ashley for asylum, and it quickly becomes clear that they don’t mean a Political Asylum, but rather one from somebody/thing named O, ‘One and Only,’ who seems to be a mental apparition. To relieve tension, the residents break into song in short, highly-digestible numbers, a favorite being The Baguette, in which Joan La Barbara argues that 1 cannot both write in English and have a baguette for breakfast (or the opposite, that one cannot write in French and have a breakfast of oatmeal), as typified by Beckett:
Near the end of the act, things get existential; the residents start asking about dualities. “Dead and gone?” “Muslim and Jew?” “Antonym? Synonym? Antony and Cleopatra?” “The burden is always the same?” Before it’s over, Ashley tells a few jokes (“Two cannibals are eating a clown”). The whole thing is delightful.
Ashley’s pop songs—a fixture since Perfect Lives, but here in particularly earworm-y form—have been stuck in my head for months. It’s almost ten o’clock kids! Do you know where your mother is? The harmonies for each of them are always roughly the same, their emotional landscapes ranging from cheerful (The List) to Ethel Merman (After All The Stuff) to Capitalist Mantra (Love That Stuff) to utterly bizarre (Depression, I Like Q). Each, I think, expresses a deeper nostalgia and melancholy apropos of an opera about old age; they’re slightly out of it, harkening back to musics of the mid-20c. The emotional content of these short interludes tracks with the ‘drama’ of the intervening passages: in moments of faster-paced back-and-forth dialogue, we have songs like It’s Only Fun; at the end of a long string of dualities, we have It’s Almost 10 O’Clock. The final song, Years of Desire, has these words:
Years of desire,
A moment of madness,
Am I crazy, or is this incredibly haunting?
By the final act, “The River Deepens,” we’re all ready for an Einstein-ian nighttime story, and that is exactly what Ashley provides. Each of the 4 actors delivers a kind of stream-of-consciousness monologue about a wide range of topics, from a nightmare involving a road trip to the burning down of grandmother’s house (which has a rare 6/8 feel—most of the opera is in a very straightforward simple meter).
The final one, however, is what really gets me. Delivered by Joan, here a college admissions counselor, the aria tells a short story about a college course invigorated by a student she otherwise wouldn’t have admitted because “she scared me.” The story itself isn’t particularly remarkable, but at the very end, Joan finds the previously-scary student in a coffee shop. The student admits that she was previously haunted by a ghost (a recurring theme in the opera), but the course enabled her to relieve herself of this nuisance (perhaps suggesting why Joan no longer found her scary in the end). It’s all a bit nonsensical; the aria ends with an abrupt, exasperated “I never saw the woman again. Higher education!” In this last scene, the music is constantly churning, as always, yet feels settled, remaining in a very comfortable C major 7 chord, electronic sounds zhooshing above.
After each of the four monologues, Ashley delivers the simple line “The river deepens as it gets down to the sea, the river deepens.” By the final few seconds, the music drifts away, shifting to e minor, and Ashley intones the sentence in a particularly solemn fashion, sending frissons of pleasure down my spine.
The text of the opera often seems ridiculous and random (Twitter spam, anybody?), however there is, in fact, a structure. I was titillated to discover that, for example, ‘Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. N’ in the first act foreshadows the second half of the second act. The character of eternal vigilance rattles off a few random dualisms (“legal immigrants and illegal immigrants, Jews and Arabs, French and Germans, east and west, rich and poor” etc.), and then mentions “old jokes not quite remembered fully.” This moment calls to mind the deep-end that everybody runs off two-thirds through Asylum.
The moral of the story is that you should all watch the 2009 revival at La MaMA here, and also purchase the record here and sing (or, rather, Declaim) about baguettes in the shower.
I’ve had a busy few months. Pulsing & Shaking had its second set of concerts, which were really spectacular if I do say so myself. The second night went on for about 3.5 hours, but I think it was all worth it in the end, when Palladium Percussion killed it in their performance of Julius Eastman’s Gay Guerrilla. Onwards to next year! Manhattan Saxophone Quartet also premiered Minor Details a few days later, the recording of which is now up here.
I’m also currently in the midst of doing some arrangements for Derek, from his new album Bahar (out May 5; stay tuned). A bunch of his tunes on this record are all about that bass (clarinet), and so what I’m doing is adding more woodwinds and secret celesta. We’re going to perform these a bunch over the next few months, which I’m so excited about. It’s so humbling to work with an incredibly talented vocalist, providing new/different clothes for beautiful music. Watch this space, we’re coming to a Brooklyn near you this spring!
It’s Erev Christmas, and—in a short entr’acte in preparations of sweet & sour duck—I thought I’d give a quick update to this space. Nota bene, I also put up some newrecordings on this thing.
This fall—which has felt, in characteristic New York fashion, more like Summer XL, and now Deepest Depths of Winter—has been something of a whirlwind for me and for the New Music Community At-Large. I wrote some music for Palladium Percussion which they’ve been doing a bunch and of which they just did a studio recording; I prepared an hour’s-long concert of my own music for my degree; a metric tonne of planning for Pulsing & Shaking’s sophomore year has been happening. On that last point: this year we’re going hard. There will be music by a whole bunch of young New York-based composers, some Reich, some Gordon-Lang-Wolfe, outrageous Julius Eastman played on four (4!) marimbas to close the whole thing. Watch this space for more about all that, mark your calendars for February 23 and 24, and also go check out our web presence. For the diehard New Music Folk among us, I’ve been doing fun little interviews with some of the composers involved, which we’ll be releasing slowly but surely over the coming weeks.
Also, Death of Klinghoffer happened! After what seemed like endless amounts of bickering in the press, the thing actually opened, and I couldn’t be happier. Regardless of what you think about the opera itself, I hope you all went and supported the home team; it was a stellar rendition of one of Adams’s most affecting and beautiful works. Perhaps this isn’t the venue to discuss the politics of the opera, however I will just say that, for all y’all who think it is anti-Semitic (or know people that do), send them an MP3 of Marilyn Klinghoffer’s final aria. Not only is it incredibly affecting—much more so than most Adams arias I can think of—it gives her the last word on the whole situation, roundly condemning the events. How this is not anything but respectful, I can’t quite imagine. In fact, the Met’s trailer for the opera offers a pretty nice smorgasbord of everything offensive in the work, and puts it all in context. It seems most of the anti-Kling press didn’t do their homework!
I just finished reading this excellent book, Modern Music and After, by Paul Griffiths, which I am goading everybody I know into reading. It’s a bit heavy on the European modernism (one particularly notable section was the ten-page exegesis of Ferneyhough), but on the whole very well-researched and a good refresher on, well, modern music; it starts with Boulez!
One result of this has been my current obsession with Claude Vivier, spectralist and crazy gay Canadian, with a particular knack for ending pieces abruptly. I can’t stop listening to his last work, Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele, which notably predicts his own death by male escort! It’s outrageously expansive; the music sort of envelopes one whole, especially in the second half (which feels eerily like the Bed aria in Einstein, right?), in which our protagonist—also named Claude—declaims a story in which he meets a man that he is romantically interested in, who lures him into his bedchamber, and then stabs him to death (at which point the piece, you guessed it, ends abruptly). Amidst all of this, a choir is ululating in an imaginary language, and a soprano unfolds a beautifully barren poem about death in winter. There are tuned gongs! And weird synths! Anyway, I can’t get enough of this thing. Go watch this utterly bizarre staging of the piece:
Finally, in light of what’sgoingon, I’d encourage everybody to go listen to the aforementioned Julius Eastman. His indelibly political music—a gay, black, occasionally-homeless composer!—seems the most appropriate at this moment. Here’s some.
To celebrate the beginning of June, I am sitting here neglecting various compositional & engraverly duties, instead listening to Owen Pallett’s new album IN CONFLICT, which is, I think, exactly what the doctor ordered. For Me Right Now, it is the perfect mix of propulsion and energy, and also back-seat lamentation. “The Riverbed” has been stuck in my head for three days non-stop. Have y’all seen the video for it?
The whole album feels obsessive. Each song—every lyric, every harmony—seems intricately crafted, and in fact the entire album is preoccupied with only a handful of ideas. Snippets from the songs haunt each other, which is unsettling in the best possible way. The last track, a kind of outro, is the most deliciously electrified Philip Glass-Satyagraha moment I’ve ever heard (perhaps unintentionally, but one hopes not), fully laden with melancholy & sadness. Go ahead & buy it & make it your early-summer jam.
Simultaneously, I’ve finished this new fiction by Richard Powers, ORFEO. It’s sort of bizarre: the protagonist, a 70-year-old composer-turned-suspected bioterrorist, Peter Els, finds himself attempting kitchen genomics in a craze to create a new music. The book is divided between his current quagmire, fleeing from the government across the country in a Partchian fashion, and snapshots of his life, from birth through university years discovering an avant-garde voice, having a daughter, leaving Boston and family for New York’s nascent ‘downtown scene,’ creating a minor scandal with his historical opera. As mainstream fiction, the book is thought-provoking and engaging, if a bit excessively nostalgic at times. It’s a big book, littered with Els’s obsessive musical tics, constantly preoccupied with effervescent, fleeting melodies (so painstakingly described), and the music that inspires him, always cycling through his mind. When he turns to amateur bioengineering as 70 approaches, the patterns of DNA seem like music to him, beckoning to be tinkered with to engrave a new music, to make his mark on the world. And he certainly does, ending up being wanted for bioterrorism! It’s a crazy-town premise, but perhaps less than one might care to imagine, given the recent NSA fracas. The book almost seems to presage incursions being made into personal privacy, of the Facebook or Presidential kinds, which all clicks nicely into place mirroring Els’s tour-de-force opera that seems to portend the 1993 FBI raid of the Branch Davidian compound.
The thing that really threw me for a loop, though, was Powers’s in-depth descriptions of various pathbreaking pieces of music in the modern era: relating the Quartet for the End of Time to Els’s own search for timeless music in a particularly striking dozen pages; hearing Proverb over the speakers in his frenzied return to his old school’s coffee shop, economics students slowly slinking away (for what reason I’m not quite sure); Musicircus. The whole book, in fact, felt a bit like a big New Music Inside Joke. It’s a bit surreal to be preoccupied all day with technical musical terms and obscure (at least in the big picture) works, to then sit down and read about them in mass-market fiction! One wonders how much somebody without musical training would be able to glean from the book not knowing what a chromatic scale or spectralism are.
What goes completely unmentioned is the book’s namesake, which I’d imagine is Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, the first opera to remain in standard repertoire 400 years later. Els’s entire life seems to be marked with loss of some kind or another: from losing his first love to the siren-call of the +44, to leaving his wife and daughter (his only “decent composition”) for New York, to becoming disillusioned with the aforementioned historical opera. The man retires in suburban Pennsylvania, teaching people in a nursing home about the music he loves; surely everybody’s nightmare. And then, the government investigates HIM for seeming to have caused a bacterial outbreak around the country! Of course, Powers doesn’t take the obvious way out, tracking the plot along that of the Monteverdi. BUT, the poignant ending, which I won’t disclose, sees Els making a very Orfeian gesture in front of his utterly weirded-out daughter. This moment, which gave me chills, isn’t necessarily dependent on knowledge of L’Orfeo, but knowing how Orfeo ends up—ascending to heaven guided by a willing Apollo—gives the whole thing a tear-streaked luster. It’s a very clever resolution to an unbelievably well-researched book. I wonder how many years Richard Powers has spent attending Bang on a Can marathons. Somebody call him up.
I haven’t written in this space hace mucho tiempo, so I thought I’d give a quick update about what has been UP over the past few months. First of all, the inaugural set of concerts in that music festival that I run (along with Evan Kent), was a big success. All the performances were superb, everybody worked hard, and the results were, I think, really top-notch. The first night was sold out, and the second night (in a larger space) had a fantastic turnout too. We did a lot of stuff; it was a sort of survey of the New Music world in New York over the past 40 years or so. There was music by David Lang, Timo Andres, Matt Frey, and I conducted this great piece by Conrad Winslow. My solo piano situation, Piano Cycles, also had a performance, as well as a bunch of other pieces by NYU students. The NYU Contemporary Music Ensemble did pieces by Nico Muhly and Philip Glass (Motion and Music in Similar Motion, respectively, which is the best coincidence ever), and the latter had funky video projections also. The goal was, of course, to get people (performers and audiences) excited about New Music, and we got there, I think. Some exciting projects are arising from the festival, and there’s a sense of urgency among many of the musicians who were involved about doing more contemporary music. Veni, vidi, vici, one supposes. The whole event was really, er, Pulsing & Shaking.
Simultaneously, I’ve been sort of in my bunker, trying to finish up a bunch of exciting projects. At the beginning of March, the NYU Symphony did this piece I wrote for them, Just for the Record, which was a lot of fun. (It came, as it were, right off the heels of Pulsing & Shaking, which ended up being One Crazy Weekend.) I also just wrapped up more orchestra music for the Dynamic Music Festival, another contemporary music festival, this time comprising a group of 16 composition students in and around New York. They corralled 15 musicians from the same geographic area to do the pieces, and the delightful David Bloom will be conducting everything. They’re currently running a KICKSTARTER, to which every one of you should be sending mad ¥¥¥¥¥¥. (The funds from the Kickstarter will be used to pay all the musicians, which is the exact correct move.)
Coming up, it’s a whole constellation of exciting projects. Right now, I’m working on more Twitter music, this time based on that thing that happened a few months ago on Twitter in which the comedian Kyle Ayers live-tweeted a str8 couple breaking up on a rooftop adjacent to him, in (where else) Brooklyn. After that, it’s some organ music, and then assorted things for smaller ensembles to be written over the summer. Before that happens, though, there are a bunch of performances scattered around the east coast between now and June (some frantic music in Pittsburgh, a setting of William Carlos Williams up at Bard Conservatory, this weird quartet for violin/cello/harp/piano in New York, harp music in Toronto, etc., plus Dynamic Music and twitter music).
What now feels like ages ago is I went to London back at the end of November. I sort of snuck out of New York before Thanksgiving and went to see what is most assuredly my favorite stage work, Philip Glass’s 2nd opera Satyagraha, in its third (!!) run at the ENO. I was Deeply Movèd; I cannot listen to the last 15 minutes or so without bursting into tears. I think the man sitting next to me was freaked out. It was so great, though, and you should all see it if it’s ever in your hometown. I saw it in 2011 at the Met and so began my obsession. Also in London:


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Miro - Pillow - Woman, Bird, Star - Extract 1 (1966-73)
Decorative pillow featuring a Surrealist painting of Joan Miró representing a woman, a bird and a star
© Successió Miró Femme, Oiseau, Etoile - Extrait 1" (1966-73)
Miró was a Spanish painter that combined abstract art with Surrealist fantasy to create his lithographs, murals, tapestries, and sculptures. His mature style evolved from the tension between his fanciful, poetic impulse and his vision of the harshness of modern life.
In spite of his fame, Miró, an introvert, continued to devote himself exclusively to looking and creating.
The composition focuses on the three essential figures of Miró "symbolism: the woman, which refers to the link of human beings and their roots in the land, together with the bird and the star that symbolise poetic and spiritual attraction, and which are shown on either side of the central figure. Moreover, it is defined by the force of the white background, which is treated with all the richness and complexity that the quality of the material and the skill of its execution permit.

domain: artistic


LATEST WEATHER UPDATE: More storms Thursday before heat soars. How hot will it get this weekend?
Wilma Arias was cold, so she brought a space heater to work.
Except she didn’t bring the heater during the brisk, rainy months in the fall or the occasionally blizzard-like months of January and February. She brought it to her office two months ago and uses it every day, in the middle of July.
Arias, 31, works as a receptionist at an architectural consulting firm in Woodbridge and struggles with the cold blast of air conditioning in her office. She said she has tried to solve the problem multiple ways: putting her hands around a cup of hot water, bringing two sweaters to work, using blankets at her old job, and asking maintenance to turn off one of the vents near her desk.
As temperatures start to heat up in New Jersey, with a potential heat index of 110 degrees hitting the state on Wednesday, the age-old office debate concerning air conditioning heats up as well.
Atlantic City Electric advises people to set their thermostat at 78 degrees Fahrenheit, which they said is “a reasonably comfortable and energy-efficient indoor temperature” during the summer season.
Arias and the power company may be on to something. A recent study from May found that women perform better on math and verbal tasks at higher temperatures, while the opposite is true for men.
Published in the journal PLOS ONE, the study asked over 540 students in Berlin to perform a set of cognitive tasks, including math, verbal, and cognitive reflection while subject to manipulated indoor temperatures.
Conducted by Agne Kajackaite, a researcher at the Berlin Social Science Center, and Tom Chang, an associate professor of finance and business economics at the University of Southern California, the study’s temperature varied from 16.19 to 32.57 degrees Celsius between sessions, or about 61 to 91 degrees Fahrenheit.
When asked about a “happy medium” for office workers, Kajackaite said a specific temperature can’t be concluded from one study.
“However, the managers should start paying more attention to the temperature in the office,” she said. “They should be listening to what their workers say about temperature and take it seriously, as it has a significant effect on their productivity.”
Although there is no standard temperature for offices, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends employers maintain a workplace temperature in the range of 68-76 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity control in the range of 20 to 60 percent in their manual.
Turning the thermostat up a few notches can do more than increase productivity; it can also help save some money. Although it’s difficult to determine how much money companies would save if the temperature is a little warmer, Energy Star says offices can save about $180 every year in energy costs by installing a programmable thermostat.
As for residential spaces, PSE&G recommends raising the setting to “the highest comfortable temperature” on its website. It said people can save 3 to 5 percent on air conditioning costs for each degree they raise the temperature.
Other money saving tips from energy companies include:
- Closing doors and vents to unused rooms
- Using ceiling fans in a counter-clockwise direction toward the floor
- Closing blinds, shades, and drapes that face the sun
- Operating appliances in the morning or evening, when it’s cooler
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Lebanon's political crisis has taken a dramatic turn with the possibility that a friend of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could become president in a power-sharing deal aimed at breathing life back into the paralyzed state.
The idea of Suleiman Franjieh, a childhood friend of Assad, becoming head of state has taken aback many Lebanese, not least because of who tabled it: Saad al-Hariri, a Sunni politician who leads an alliance forged from opposition to Syrian influence in Lebanon. He would become prime minister under the deal.
It is no less startling because of the backing it would require from Saudi Arabia and Iran, rival states that wield decisive influence over Lebanon's competing factions and which are in conflict elsewhere in the region, including in Syria.
As the war escalates in Syria, with Iran and Saudi Arabia increasing their support for Assad and his enemies, a new deal for Lebanon seems unlikely to signal any broader understanding to settle regional conflicts.
But it would point to a desire to preserve a minimal degree of stability in Lebanon. While badly affected by the Syrian war that has triggered militant attacks, driven a million refugees over the border, and fueled a political crisis, Lebanon has avoided the kind of civil strife some had feared.
Yet the country has been without a president for 18 months and a unity government led by Prime Minister Tammam Salam is barely functioning. The Hariri proposal is the most serious effort yet to resolve that political stalemate.

domain: news


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MANY THANKS FOR INTRODUCING US TO THIS MAGNIFICENT EAGLE WITH SUPERB IMAGES!
A surprisingly sophisticated market beautifully captured!
Thank you Mark for these wonderful images ! I was wondering whether you visited Sicily recently and wanted to alert you that you have come very close to the sites described in Homer's Odyssey. There is a fountain in Ortygia mentioned in many ancient sources and idealized in the myth about Alpheios (the river at Olympia, the home of the Olympic games) following his beloved Arethusa (the famous spring) when she migrated to Sicily.
In the book about the Odyssey I am writing, I identify on a map all the sites mentioned as allegories in the Odyssey and wished many times to have had the time to visit and photographed them, especially the famous island with the cattle of Helios that the companions of Ulysses slaughtered and were punished by death. This island is eight miles north of Syracuse and is called Thapsus: I have wished many times to have a good picture of it!
In any case, if you ever decide to travel from Syracuse north along the west side of Italy and down to Sardinia, let me know so that I can help you identify all the sites mentioned in the Odyssey.
CONGRATULATIONS! A spectacular image!
Magnificent set! I hope you have a chance for nine more visits! (9X90=900)
Admirable compositions and sharp photographs, even after double-clicking. I think you don't have time to set up a tripod, your great camera can handle every situation.
As an archaeologist, I remember that the ancient town was conquered by Julius Cesar but maintained the original name, Troyes comes from the tribe Tricasse and the original town that dates to ca. 600 BCE.
Many thanks for the great photographs, I hope you can publish books with them!
Superb photography, selection, and captions! BRAVO!
Great pictures of such a rare place!
Your thorough exposition of the Ligurian coast, impresses me in many ways but mostly for the bravery or else ignorance of its people: have they never heard of earthquakes? It really seems as though the region has never experienced this most destructive event that happens in most other sites in the south of Italy and elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Except for monasteries, I know of no other settlements built on vertical cliffs!
As a professional archaeologist, I have friends and access to the museum on the day the Louvre is closed and it is a pleasure to have the museum to yourself. Even in the old days of film, I was able to make publication quality pictures using my Nikon FE 2 and three primes: the 28mm, the 50mm, and the 135mm, without flash, with lenses wide open and adjusting shutter speed. It is much easier with modern cameras but still use your best primes, best meaning a combination of less weight and best glass. Most importantly, go early to avoid tourists and try to get to know someone who works there: behind the exhibitions, there are vast spaces full of works of art!
Fascinating! Beautiful images of the Black and White Church!
SIMPLY AMAZING! VERY DIDACTIC EXPERIENCE!
Wonderful as always. Thanks for the cellar photos! Much bigger than mine.
Harmodius has his right arm way up in the air and the right leg straight forward.

domain: geography


[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Colts Neck: Art. I, 4-9-1997. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 17:36-8, et seq., no insurance company authorized to issue fire insurance policies in the State of New Jersey shall pay any claims in excess of $2,500 on any real property located within the township chartered Colts Neck, Monmouth County, State of New Jersey, unless or until:
The insured person submits an official certificate, on a form prescribed and certified by the township, that all anticipated demolition costs and all taxes and assessments and all other municipal liens or charges due and payable against said property have been paid; or
All search fees incurred under these provisions shall be paid by the insured.
Any request, pursuant to this article, for an official certificate of search shall specify that the search concerns fire-damaged property.
If demolition of a fire-damaged property has not yet occurred as of the date of receipt by the township of a request for execution of an official certificate required by this article, the insured shall provide on that certificate an estimate of the anticipated costs of demolition. The insurer, on notice to the insured, shall pay the anticipated costs of demolition. The insurer, on notice to the insured, shall pay the anticipated costs of demolition to the township which shall hold the funds in an interest-bearing escrow account in a state or federally chartered bank, savings bank or savings-and-loan association in the State of New Jersey.
The provisions of this article shall be applicable to any fire insurance policy issued or renewed after the effective date hereof and after the filing of this article with the New Jersey State Commissioner of Insurance.
With respect to fire-damage claims in excess of $2,500 on any real property located within the township, the insurance company to whom such claim is submitted is hereby authorized and required, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 17:36-8 et seq., to pay to the township the amount of all anticipated demolition costs and to pay, in addition, the amount of the liens appearing on the official certificate and such other recorded liens or related charges as may be certified to the insurance company.
If any appeal is taken on the amount of any lien or charge, other than an appeal on the assessed valuate of real property pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:3-21, the insurance company shall issue a draft payable to the court of record, to be held by the court in an interest-bearing escrow account in a state or federally chartered bank, savings bank or savings-and-loan association in the state, in an amount totaling 75% of the full amount of the lien or charge being contested but not to exceed the proceeds payable under its insurance policy; and the insurance company shall issue a draft payable to the township for the remaining 25% of the lien or charge being contested, with the full amount paid by the insurance company to the court and to the township, not to exceed the proceeds payable under its insurance policy, pending termination of all proceedings, at which time such moneys and all interest accruing thereon, at a rate paid on interest-bearing accounts in state or federally chartered banks, savings banks or savings-and-loan associations in the State of New Jersey, shall be disbursed in accordance with the final order or judgment of the court.
In the event that an agreement is entered into between the township and the owner of a fire-damaged property for the payment of the anticipated demolition costs, taxes and assessments or all other municipal liens or charges due and payable, by installment payments pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:5-19 et seq., the involved insurance company, on receipt from the township of a certified copy of a resolution of agreement to said effect, may make full payment on the claim to its insured. No such agreement for the payment of municipal charges, including anticipated costs of demolition, shall be made, however, unless the Township Committee is satisfied that the proceeds from the claim for the fire damages are to be used to restore or to improve the fire-damaged property on an immediate basis.
Nothing herein shall be construed to alter or affect any other remedy available to the township under any other applicable law.


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Hideout Festival 2014 presented by Red Bull Music Academy
Sa nedavno izdanje “Vinyl Debts” ploče (12″, digital, PDV003, 2014). From recently released “Vinyl Debts” record (12″, digital,
Nastia will be playing live at Sonus Festival this summer https://soundcloud.com/sonus-festival/nastia-sonus-promo-mix
Valentino Kanzyani will be playing live at Sonus Festival this Summer https://soundcloud.com/sonus-festival/valentino-kanzyani-sonus-promo-mix
Sonja Moonear will be playing live at Sonus Festival this summer https://soundcloud.com/sonus-festival/sonja-moonear-sonus-promo-mix
Specialised electronic music radio show on www.radio808.com hosted by Jan Kinčl Zero. Listen live every
Upiši email adresu:

domain: entertainment


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This website contains free legal materials and articles related to women's land rights. The Landesa Center for Women's Land Rights (LCWLR) has created practice guides to help you use these materials, and we have a full-time librarian who will be managing the site in an effort to keep the materials up-to-date. For more information on how to use this website click on the "Learn More" button below.Learn More
Welcome to LandWise!
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Also, help us make this website more useful by providing us with your feedback and suggestions. Just click on the grey “Feedback” button on the lower right hand side of the screen.
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To receive updates about new Practice Guides and other important LandWise developments, enter your name and email address below. We will never share your information with any third parties.

domain: library


text:
Welcome to Dr Maassarani & Partners
Welcome to Dr Maassarani & Partners. We are a GP practice providing primary care across two surgeries in Kirkby and Melling. We are committed to protecting valuable NHS resources while providing outstanding care for our community.
Shockingly, 1 in 5 men die before they reach retirement age at 65. Men’s Health Week 2019 led by Men’s Health Forum wants every man to know key numbers of health and take appropriate steps to take action on their … Continue reading
Care Merseyside, our social prescribing charity operates courses, events and support across Knowsley. With the consent of patients our GPs, clinicians and administrators have the ability to directly refer patients for a social prescription with Care Merseyside. What is social … Continue reading
The social prescribing charity, Care Merseyside, located next door to our Kirkby surgery at Tower Hill Community Centre has welcomed a new social prescribing activity to the timetable. Supported by Everton in the Community and funded by The British Legion, … Continue reading
Find out where to go this bank holiday weekend if you need medical attention: http://www.knowsleyccg.nhs.uk/how-to-access-health-services-over-the-may-bank-holiday/
On Thursday May 16, 2019 Dr Maassarani & Partners will be closed from 12:30 – 18:30 for protected time training. This will affect both the Kirkby and Melling surgeries. Both our administrators and clinicians will complete mandatory training to … Continue reading
We are delighted to announce that the Care Merseyside Floristry Course is back in May! FACE Forward Through Flowers This course, part of the social prescribing programme at Care Merseyside, teaches individuals about different floral techniques and how … Continue reading

domain: medical


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For the first time since 1972, New Jersey Republicans find themselves with a real chance to elect a US senator — and rightly so, since incumbent Bob Menendez stands exposed as blatantly corrupt. Which is why The Post is happy to endorses GOP challenger Bob Hugin.
Hugin probably wouldn’t stand much chance in deep-blue Jersey. But Menendez has richly earned his massive unpopularity with Garden State voters.
Hugin promises New Jersey “a senator we can be proud of.” And Menendez is anything but that — simply put, he’s an embarrassment.
Although his trial for corruption ended with a hung jury, no one denies that Menendez received lavish gifts — free vacations, watches and $600,000 in campaign donations — from Solomon Melgen, a wealthy eye doctor.
Just as no one denies that he intervened with federal agencies on behalf of Melgen (later convicted in a $73 million Medicare fraud scheme), including obtaining visas for the doctor’s “girlfriends” from Brazil, Ukraine and the Dominican Republic.
A Supreme Court ruling raised the bar high for public corruption convictions, and prosecutors were unable to prove an actual quid pro quo. But the Senate Ethics Committee severely admonished Menendez, saying he’d broken the law.
Little wonder that Jerseyans seem to have reached their own verdict on Menendez — with polls showing more than half of them saying ethics is the major factor deciding their vote.
On the issues, Menendez is a cookie-cutter Democrat, with one key exception: He’s been a leading supporter of Israel and stood nearly alone in his party opposing the Iran nuke deal. On the other hand, in the Trump era he’s been more in lockstep with other Democrats on both issues.
But is his opponent, a political novice, up to the job of replacing him? We believe so.
Hugin, who served 14 years in the Marines and just retired as CEO of a highly successful cancer-drug company, is a straight-up centrist, probably the only kind of Republican who can win in Jersey.
He’s socially liberal — pro-choice, pro-same-sex-marriage, pro-equal-pay-for-equal-work — and a self-described fiscal conservative.
He’s been extremely cautious in his approach toward Trump, embracing some policies and distancing himself from others.
But on key economic issues, he appears committed to common-sense Republican principles. Pushing for lower taxes, he says he’ll work to eliminate or at least raise the cap on state and local tax deductions.
Hugin clearly wants the job: He’s spent millions of his own money on the race and made clear from the start he had no intention of becoming another sacrificial lamb.
And with Republicans now looking likely to retain control of the US Senate, a Hugin win would give the Garden State a voice with the majority caucus.
Voters can choose to believe Menendez’s claim that, after more than 30 years in elected office (and two terms in the Senate), he’s finally learned his lesson and will behave himself in the future. Sorry — we’re not buying it.
New Jersey, and the nation, will be much better off with Bob Hugin in the Senate.


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We built a day care centre during the summer holidays
In Vantaa’s Vapaala, a day care centre was built over the summer, carefully designed to meet the wishes of the users in terms of functionality and safety. The frame of the building is made of steel cell modules that were transported from the factory ready made.
In mid August, some finishing work was underway and the yard was asphalted. “This building went up very quickly during the summer. When we went on holiday, the new building only had a gravel base and foundations on the site,” says Nina Palenius, the director of the day care centre.
When the new building was being designed, the opinions of the future users were also sought. “We had the opportunity to comment on the colour scheme, for example, and we wanted the building to have a nature-oriented look and a multi-purpose use of the facilities. In the new building, the children’s groups have their own living areas with their own colours and furniture in the same colour. We also got carpet mats, which are nice for the children to play on. They are easy to clean now,” says Palenius.
The best thing about the finished building, according to Palenius, are the open windows. “I’m sure we couldn’t have hoped for that. We have already received a lot of positive feedback from the staff about the windows and the good acoustics.
From the outset, building with steel cells seemed a modern option to Palenius. “They are the way of the future. We had great confidence from the start that Vantaa’s builders would be able to choose professional contractors. When we saw the plans, the exterior immediately looked good and the safety aspects had also been taken into account.
Steel and air
Fixcel’s standard module is an all-steel cell. “The cells are made of steel and air. This is a factor in energy efficiency, air is a good insulator,” says Tomi Vittaniemi, Fixcel’s Business Development Director.
The modules are finished at the factory and can then be easily lifted and transported to the construction site. “For example, a standard five-hundred-tonne crane can lift the cell to a height of about 45 metres. This gives flexibility to the installation work because you don’t have to be right next to it. The module is really strong, so you can stack them in many layers”.
In general, Vittaniemi says, it is often very challenging to assemble modules in several layers. “There are also fire classification issues to consider. For us, these are always built into the modules. In our standard solution, two 15.5 millimetre fire-resistant gypsum boards are installed inside the steel cell, both on the walls and on the roof. And on the floor there is a plaster moulding with a water-cooled underfloor heating system. This will enable the structure to be built to fire class P1.
Durable, healthy buildings
The benefits of steel-framed buildings are clear when you take a long-term view of construction. In general, steel construction makes it easier to achieve adaptability. Steel cell modules offer even greater ease of modification over the life cycle. Buildings that quickly appear on site are often temporary solutions. Instead, Fixcel steel cell modules are also used to create permanent buildings that offer the same quality to the user as those built on site.
Vittaniemi points out that if a building has a planned lifespan of at least 100 years, it is likely to have many different uses. “That’s the whole idea of what we do. We can deliver the right type of building, in the right place, at the right time. And we can change its use and location as needs change.

domain: design


text:
Good to know
|Distance to city centre||2,9 km|
|Nearest airport||Madrid Barajas|
|Distance to airport||19,8 km|
Time of year
Show reviews that mention
The place looks good but is rotten from within...
Rotten people and tried to steal... overall terrible experience... don’t come here even with the lack of choices elsewhere....
I liked the location, the size of the room, the service.
The smell of the beathroom when the exaustor was off for a few minuts, the smell of the bathroom was not so good.
Conveniently located for passing through Madrid from the Costa Blanca to the northern ports. The room was clean and spacious and the beds were very comfortable. The reception staff were very efficient and pleasant to talk to. The breakfast was good and again the staff were very helpful. The is a large car park which, I believe, is secure. Because the surroundings are commercial it is very quiet at night, which suits us perfectly. Oh, and they loved the dog we had.
The evening meal was not much to talk about. We have stayed here twice and eaten only once. On the second stay we elected to dine out.
A really nice hotel with very friendly staff and a very comfortable room. Could not complain about the breakfast, all very fresh and piping hot where needed. Overall a good place to stay for a one night pass through.
We were disappointed at the menu for the evening meal although the price reflected the choice of food available. We will stay here again but will choose to dine out in future.
We really like the parking available on the premises, free of charge. The price for a nice hotel is great. Another convenience is the shopping center across the street with a variety of restaurants.
The pillows were rather hard.
When you stay at Alcala Plaza in Alcala de Henares, you'll be within a 10-minute drive of Palacio Laredo and Monastery of San Bernardo. Featured amenities include complimentary newspapers in the lobby, dry cleaning/laundry services, and a 24-hour front desk. Self parking (subject to charges) is available onsite.
based on 1 208 reviews
Things to know
- Accessible parking
- Spacious rooms
- Great shopping
- Comfortable beds
Policies vary by room type and provider.
FAQs when booking at Alcala Plaza
Where is Alcala Plaza located?
Alcala Plaza is located at Calle Hita 4, 2,9 km from the centre of Alcalá de Henares. Plaza Cervantes is the closest landmark to Alcala Plaza.
Does Alcala Plaza offer free Wi-Fi?
Yes, Alcala Plaza offers free Wi-Fi.
Does Alcala Plaza offer free parking?
No, Alcala Plaza does not offer free parking.
Does Alcala Plaza offer free airport shuttle service?
No, Alcala Plaza does not offer free airport shuttle service.
How far is Alcala Plaza from the airport?
Alcala Plaza is 19,8 km from Madrid Barajas.
Can you bring pets to Alcala Plaza?
Yes, Alcala Plaza is a pet-friendly hotel.
Does Alcala Plaza have a pool?
No, Alcala Plaza does not have a pool on-site.
Most popular landmarks
- Plaza Cervantes 3,1 km
- Corral of Comedies Theater 3,1 km
- Hospital de Antezana 3,3 km
- Cervantes Birthplace Museum 3,3 km
- Regional Archaeological Museum 3,4 km
- Archbishop's Palace 3,5 km
|Madrid Barajas||19,8 km|
|Alcalá de Henares||2,9 km|

domain: travel


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What our Patients Have to Say
"If you're looking for a new optometrist to take good care of you then Dr. Arellano and Dr. Landas are the best in the biz. They provide thorough exams and are very attentive to your needs".Hiba K.Focal Point Optometry Patient
"Our entire family has been coming here for years, and have always been satisfied with the care we receive. The doctors and staff are knowledgeable and kind"Alyson S.Focal Point Optometry Patient
"Dr. Arellano and his whole staff are absolutely amazing. I've been going to eye doctors a few times a year for my entire life and I've never met a doctor that cared as much as Dr. Arellano!"Chris S. Focal Point Optometry Patient
We Accept Vision Insurance
We are an in-network eye doctor for VSP Vision Care and EyeMed Vision Care members.
Early myopia intervention can help your child now and reduce their eye health risks. We offer treatments proven to help your child in partnership with Treehouse Eyes.

domain: health


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The Georgia Environmental Protection Division is set to enforce better water quality at nearly 3,000 industrial facilities across the state. New rules could take effect in the spring.
The rules apply to companies that use chemicals or substances that can wash into waterways when it rains. Such sites include garbage landfills, auto salvage yards and chicken plants.
Jason Ulseth with the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper helped draft the new rules. He says right now facilities, like chicken processing plants, are only asked to try to meet environmental benchmarks. Under the new plan, they would be required to.
“They have chicken trucks that come in and out and all the chicken litter gets dropped onto the parking lot, or onto a cage, or onto a truck and it’s exposed to storm water. So, when it rains it washes all that chicken litter into a nearby stream and it pollutes it with fecal coliform bacteria and nutrients.”
Poultry industry officials say the rules give them three years to make changes at their facilities.


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Once upon a time, when I was a kid, I had two or three books in progress, and my mom said, "I don't know how you can do that. I can only read one book at a time."
For whatever reason, the committee in my head decided that reading more than one book at a time was a BAD thing. It probably fits in with the fact that I am really good at starting things and not finishing them, but with books, this isn't the case, unless the book suck. Even if the book sucks, I feel guilty if I don't finish it. Kind of like how I feel guilty if I divide my day lilies and don't replant the ones that I am casting out of the spot next to the front door. I feel like I am committing flower murder. But I'm Catholic, I can live with guilt.
ANYWAY, as most of us do, I have spent many hours of my adult life overcoming the lessons I learned as a child (and instilling different, but no less damaging values in my children). I now have three or four books in progress (kind of like writing...how many WIPs do I have? Ummmm....)
I have a little book I keep in my purse with a list of books I want to read...back list stuff of authors I like, books that other people have recommended, that sort of thing. I decided that I would also keep a list of books I've read in this little notebook. I'm not keeping a list of the ones I'm working on, though...so I think I'll share the past week's reading list with you:
On audio disc, in the car: The Heart of a Soldier, by Capt. Kate Blaise.
This is a true story of a couple who fell in love in high school and both became soldiers fighting in Iraq. It's an awesome memoir. The true-life love story, the details of life as a female soldier in the first days of the invasion of Iraq...I have been in tears at least four times so far, and I've only listened to half the discs.
On my Kindle: Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
This is the first book in the Hollows series. According to the Suzanne Johnson system of identifying a genra by it's cover, this is Urban Fantasy (badass woman with tattoos. If it was a guy with rock hard abs, it would be a Paranormal Romance, FYI). We are reading this as a book club thing on Suzanne's Preternatura Blog, 2 chapters a week. Come join us!
Paperback #1: When You Dare, by Lori Foster.
I'm a Lori Foster fan from back in her Harlequin Blaze days. I loved most of the MMA fighter guy books, so have hopes for this new series. Not sure I am buying how this Hard Core Alpha Guy falls so instanly in love with the woman he accidentally rescued, but the story doesn't suck, either. Definitely going to finish it!
Paperback #2: Premeditated Murder, by Ed Gaffney
This one is a legal thriller, and I should put in the disclaimer that Ed Gaffney is the husband of my hero (have I mentioned this before?) Suzanne Brockmann, which kind of prejudices me to like it before I open the cover. I met Ed last October (which gives me the right to call him "Ed" and not "Mr Gaffney") and he was a really nice guy. I'm only a couple of chapters into the story, and there are a LOT of POV's going on, which is a little hard to track, but the plot has got several threads...there is a regular kind of guy who killed a bunch of terrorists, the president, a lady reporter, a couple of lawyers, some other seemingly unrelated deaths. I kind of run hot and cold on legal thrillers in general, but I like the characters I am supposed to like (at least I think they are the ones I'm supposed to like!) so I'm definitely hooked.
On my Crackberry Kindle app:
Tied Up, Tied Down by Lorelei James
Yeah, kids, this is this week's Smut Selection. I've actually read this whole series already, and it's worth a re-read. Definitely Ero Rom, and some of it's a little cheesey; but there are great secondary character story arcs all the way through this series.
I am also sloooowly but surely critting a great "suspense with romantic elements" for the lovely Dawn Alexander. I am pushing her to ramp up the romance, maybe we can start a twitter campaign for some nekkid parts (although I'm only halfway through. Maybe there will be nekkid stuff and I just haven't gotten to it...).
That's what I've been reading. Any surprise I haven't been getting my writing done? What have you been reading?

domain: literature


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Medfield High School's varsity hockey teams have qualified for the MIAA Division 2 tournament.
The girls' team, which went 8-8-3, holds the 27th spot in the tournament, and will take on Burlington on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7:10 p.m. at the Burlington Ice Palace.
Methuen/Tewksbury, which went 19-1-0, currently holds the top spot for the girls tournament.
The boys' team, which went 14-3-3, holds the third spot in the tournament, and will take on Quincy, the details for which have yet to be released.
Plymouth South, which went 15-3-2, currently holds the top spot for the boys' tournament.


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In consecutive issues of MOTOR in 2015, I discussed the topic of safety recalls on this page. First, in March, I reviewed a free online tool from NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) that could be beneficial to you and your customers; then in April, I described potential federal legislation designed to reduce the number of cars on the road with outstanding safety recall notices by requiring every state to notify vehicle owners of any incomplete recall repairs on their vehicles when renewing registrations.
After that bill—the Repairing Every Car to Avoid Lost Lives (RECALL) Act—failed to pass, funding for a pilot program for up to six states became part of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, signed into law by President Obama in late 2015. Since that time, however, only one state—Maryland—applied for and received a grant to test whether such a notification program will work.
Maryland’s pilot program is scheduled to begin in April and run for two years. The recall notices its Dept. of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) plans to send out with registration renewals will not be a substitute for notifications from manufacturers, which are still obligated to contact customers. And the program is simply a notification that, unlike the RECALL Act, will not prevent vehicle owners from renewing their registration.
A recent article in the Detroit Free Press noted that two additional states, Kentucky and Florida, are developing their own campaigns related to recall notification, but details have not yet been released.
In 2016, a record 927 separate recalls were issued, affecting more than 53 million vehicles. In addition to Maryland, Kentucky and Florida’s state-run programs, others are also acting to attack the problem of unperformed recall repairs.
The National Safety Council, for example, is working with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) on a national outreach campaign to notify owners if their vehicles are under recall. The group has set up a website that redirects vehicle owners to the NHTSA webpage where they can check for recalls by entering their vehicle identification number.
Meanwhile, in addition to its webpage—NHTSA Recalls—that allows owners to enter their vehicle identification number to see whether their vehicle is under a recall, NHTSA also recently launched a reminder effort on recalls tied to the end of Daylight Saving Time: http://bit.ly/NHTSA-time.
I encourage you to share this information with your customers. Even though it may not directly generate business for your shop, by doing so, you’ll help to ensure that your customers are driving a safe car and will simultaneously help build their confidence in you.


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Usain Bolt’s late cameo for Central Coast Mariners stole worldwide headlines last Friday night.
But the athlete’s professional footballing debut shouldn’t overshadow the promise shown by a bunch of new Mariners signings.
Here’s who impressed as the Mariners continued their pre-season development under Mike Mulvey.
Jack Clisby had scored one goal in 97 Hyundai A-League matches prior to the Mariners' friendly match up against Newcastle Jets last month.
Now, the fullback has three in his last two Mariners appearances. Clisby’s brace featured a cool finish in the opening 20 seconds and a textbook thumping header from a corner late in the first half.
Clisby’s endurance down the left flank has made him a standout performer since his arrival from Western Sydney Wanderers.
One of few Mariners players to last the full 90 minutes, it was another solid showing from Clisby in Gosford, who might just have made the left fullback position his own.
Another highlight in Navy and Yellow was Mario Shabow, who wreaked havoc ahead of Clisby on the left hand side.
The 20-year-old has found regular first team minutes difficult to come by in his fledgling Hyundai A-League career so far, but could this season be his breakthrough?
A deceptive ball carrier with great vision and shooting ability, the Baghdad-born winger exhibited all the qualities required to push for a regular position in the Mariners starting eleven this season.
But competition for places in the Mariners frontline will undoubtedly be fierce this campaign, and Shabow could yet be rivalled be another right-footed left winger in Peter Kekeris.
Kekeris’ ability to glide past pressure and jink his way through defenders was a big highlight of the evening, while he also displayed a clean pair of heels and coolness in front of goal to score the Mariners' third goal of the evening.
He’s already been handed 44 minutes in the FFA Cup 2018 – will Kekeris be able to stake his claim for first team action in the coming weeks?
One of two former NPL NSW strikers on deck for Central Coast this season, Josh Macdonald will be out to prove the doubters wrong in the Hyundai A-League.
A former Sydney FC National Youth League winner, Macdonald was unable to secure first team football while on the books of Western Sydney Wanderers in 2015.
But after some strong showings for Wollongong Wolves in the NPL NSW, Macdonald made a great impression in front of the Mariners faithful.
A well taken goal on debut was the highlight of a positive and sharp display from the striker, who should add a great option to the Central Coast frontline.


Quite Unwieldy Experimental Sublimation Torpedo, or QUEST, was an experimental anti-god missile used by Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz to attack the god Thor. The Vogons bought the device from Zaphod Beeblebrox, who reveals that he installed a lawnmower engine on it in a scheme to defraud them. It was installed in the ship The Business End.
Jurassic World: Dominion Dominates Fandom Wikis - The Loop
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Sixth and Main is a very professionally made lowbudgeter which succeeds to a great extent in exploring the emotions underneath the skin of the cliche skid row character. Christopher Cain wrote…
High Anxiety is a straight Hitchcockian sendup - homage applies as well - with highs and lows ranging from a brilliant restaging of the shower scene in Psycho to childish bathroom humor.
This $6 million adaptation of the H.G. Wells horror-fantasy tale, previously filmed in 1932 by Paramount as Island of Lost Souls, is a handsome, well-acted, and involving piece of cinematic…
A rather bizarre mixture of gritty comedy, satire and delving into female status makes this a literary film. There is a lot of talk, sometimes good, but often edgy and too often pointless in lieu of…
First Love is a sensitive and melancholy film about the impact of romance on college student William Katt when he falls for coed Susan Dey.
Absorbing moody and often compelling story about psychological dependence and transference.
A gem-like, almost hypnotic, tale of an older man's obsession with a young woman. Loosely based on a 19th century book by Pierre Louys, director Luis Bunuel has updated it and put a good part of the…
In Looking for Mr Goodbar, writer-director Richard Brooks manifests his ability to catch accurately both the tone and subtlety of characters in the most repellant environments - in this case the…
Plot peg is the truck accident of philandering husband Charles Napier, who's got Ann Wedgeworth in Dallas and Marcia Rodd in Portland, both with homes and children.
The Picture Show Man has an old-fashioned endearing quality. The story of an itinerant purveyor of motion picture entertainment in the country areas of Australia in the 1920s, it's cute without being…
The plot [by Beverley Cross and Raqy Harryhausen] takes Patrick Wayne, as Sinbad, on a quest to free a prince (Damien Thomas) from the spell of evil sorceress Margaret Whiting. Thomas has quite a…


Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Nita Lowey (17th District of New York)
October 23, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC– Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY17/Rockland-Westchester), issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s signing of the anti-choice “Geneva Consensus Declaration.” Around the world, millions of people are grappling with a deadly pandemic with no end in sight. Violence and instability have erupted from Belarus to Nigeria and from Nagorno-Karabakh to Thailand, to name just a few examples. Human rights, justice, and health care have gone woefully neglected for far too long in repressive societies the world over. With such unprecedented global challenges, it boggles the mind that the Trump Administration wasted precious taxpayer resources and unnecessary energy on co-hosting an event entitled the “Geneva Consensus Declaration” in order to attack reproductive health services for women.
This sham declaration neither advances women’s health nor improves children’s quality of life. As an American and grandmother of eight, I’m appalled that our government officials would stoop to such new lows. As Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, I condemn in the strongest possible terms such an abuse of platform. At a time when the world is in desperate need of American leadership, the silence from the Trump Administration on the most critical issues currently facing our planet continues to speak volumes.


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NEW PHOTOS: Otago Rally shakedown
This morning’s shakedown for the 2008 Rally of Otago saw a number of drivers testing their cars ahead of this weekend’s event.
The short stage produced some dramas as well, with Australian Darryn Snooks the first to strike problems in his Datsun Stanza. His car came to a halt with a broken accelerator linkage early in the proceedings.
After an engine failure earlier in the week, Emma Gilmore gave her Subaru a quick shakedown, while Mark Laughton unveiled his recently repainted Hillman Avenger V8.
Aussie Keith Callinan appeared in his brand new Ford Escort RS1800 and was raving about the car’s potential, while much interest centred around Andrew Hawkeswood’s Audi Quattro S1 replica – complete with Subaru Impreza WRX runnining gear. The Quattro does, however, have a beautifully sounding Quattro 5-cylinder engine.
To see photos of this morning’s shakedown, CLICK HERE.


BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Concern about the risks of leveraged investments has prompted securities regulators to take a closer look at these specialized products, and the result could blunt their appeal to investors and traders.
Exchange-traded funds are part of a review of derivatives-based funds that the Securities and Exchange Commission announced in late March. Meanwhile, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has indicated it may put stricter position limits in futures markets that could impact some large commodity ETFs.
The SEC said its examination will determine whether "additional protections" are needed for funds and ETFs that invest in derivatives. The agency has also put the brakes on any new ETFs that would make significant investments in derivatives, although existing ETFs aren't affected.
"It's appropriate to engage in a more thorough review of the use of derivatives by ETFs and mutual funds given the questions surrounding the risks associated with the derivative instruments underlying many funds," said SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro.
Derivatives are financial instruments such as futures, options and swaps that derive their value from something else. They include contracts based on the movement of stocks, interest rates and indexes.
Disclosure and risk
IndexUniverse.com editor Matt Hougan said the SEC check-up appears primarily focused on leveraged and inverse ETFs, and some actively managed ETFs.
"The SEC seems to want to know whether there is enough disclosure and risk mitigation," Hougan said. He said possible outcomes include requiring daily cash settlement of derivatives to reduce counterparty risk, more diversification, improved collateral management and increased disclosure.
Leveraged exchange-traded notes, or ETNs, are a "winner" since the debt instruments aren't regulated by the SEC and so aren't included in the review, Hougan added. Even so, ETNs have their own unique counterparty risks, he said.
Leveraged and inverse ETFs have been a fast-growing segment of the business. The products are designed for traders rather than buy-and-hold investors because they magnify the market's daily moves. Inverse or bearish funds bet against the market and allow investors to profit from market declines or hedge.
As of April 1, there were 151 U.S.-listed leveraged and inverse ETFs with total assets of $29.9 billion, or 4% market share, according to Morgan Stanley.
Leveraged funds can generate unexpected returns over longer periods because they reset daily.
The SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority last year issued an investor alert because they were concerned about possible investor confusion.
"Some investors might invest in these ETFs with the expectation that the ETFs may meet their stated daily performance objectives over the long term as well," the SEC and FINRA said in a joint statement. "Investors should be aware that performance of these ETFs over a period longer than one day can differ significantly from their stated daily performance objectives."
The big players in leveraged and inverse ETFs are ProShares, Direxion and Rydex SGI.


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June is here. The sun is shining and the temperature is sizzling making it feel like a typical summer’s day. As holidays are off this year, it is the ideal time to jump into The Cornish Connection by Amanda James to visit a place special to my heart, Padstow.
Book Review: Cornish Connection by Amanda James
Title: Cornish Connection
Author: Amanda James
Where extraordinary things happen…you’ll find Nancy CornishNancy and Charlie Cornish are happily married and live in Padstow, Cornwall. Nancy works in The Whistling Kettle Cafe and Charlie is a DS in the Truro police. Charlie’s a down to earth Cornishman, while Nancy, seemingly an ordinary member of her community, has an extraordinary gift. She is able to make psychic connections with those who have passed, and objects belonging to those still living.Charlie mostly tries to ignore that aspect of his wife’s personality, he can’t abide all that ‘mumbo jumbo’ as he calls it. Then, out of the blue, Nancy leaves her job and decides her mission in life is to use her gift to help others. This is not what Charlie signed up for, and he lets Nancy know about his feelings in no uncertain terms. That is, until he realises she might be a very useful detective…Helping Charlie find a missing teenager boosts Nancy’s confidence, and makes her determined to continue her work. People come to see her because they want her to find a long-lost friend or relative, an object that is dear to them, or a pet who’s gone missing. Helping people find happiness is Nancy’s main aim. Charlie, however, wants her to help him solve crimes.Will the couple find some common ground? Or will their connection be broken?The Cornish Connection – a beautifully told, thought-provoking and uplifting story. The perfect feel-good summer read!Perfect for fans of Emma Burstall, Fern Britton and Heidi Swain
I knew by reading the blurb I would like this book but I was not prepared for its refreshing take on psychic investigations. The novel has a warm quality throughout and I connected to the character, Nancy immediately. I loved how her psychic ability is seen as something ordinary and it is those that disbelieve in her abilities who are the outsiders.
Part mystery/paranormal and part cosy village fiction, it is a novel with a difference and introduces a collection of characters to fall in love with. They all have their own stories which Nancy becomes involved with as she investigates their lives. Several themes are touched but it is an exploration of friendships, love and acceptance for the unusual. A thread I enjoyed and I look forward to seeing how it develops is how ghosts, psychic ability and a change in career can alter the dynamics of a marriage. How much of is it is related to the supernatural and how much is the growth of confidence Nancy is feeling? We will find out I’m sure.
It also made me fancy cake which to me is always a good sign of a good book.
The story left me upbeat and in need of more, so I am glad it is the beginning of a series and I can read more of Nancy’s investigations in the future.
Would I recommend?
Yes, this is a perfect holiday at home read or ideal to snuggle under the duvet when you need some Cornish sunshine. I am happy to add it to my forever bookshelf for a comfortable reread.
Amanda James has written since she was a child, but never imagined that her words would be published. Then in 2010, after many twists and turns, the dream of becoming a writer came true.
Amanda has written many short stories and has thirteen novels currently published. Her time travelling debut – A Stitch in Time was published in April of 2013 and has met with great success.
Amanda lives in Cornwall and is inspired every day by the wild and beautiful coastline near her home. She has many suspense/mystery novels set there. Somewhere Beyond the Sea, Summer in Tintagel, Behind the Lie, Another Mother, Deep Water, The Cornish Retribution, The Feud and Dark Deception. Amanda has two women’s fiction books. The Calico Cat, a family drama/coming-of-age, and The Cornish Connection, cosy crime with a psychic twist.
Amanda can usually be found playing on the beach with her family, or walking the cliff paths planning her next book.
Twitter – @amandajames61
I am so pleased I was given a copy of this book to review and give my honest and unbiased opinion. It was a lovely treat.
I hope you are well and staying safe. Happy reading!


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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hey guys I wanted to share a site some of the guys I ride with found last year. It's called the tour of honor. It supports the wounded warrior project. It gives you destinations like memorials in your state and region. Pretty cool and it was a fun ride last year. I already signed up for this season. Last season we did Missouri in two days just over 1,000 miles.


- Source: justice.gov
The financial services industry prepares to control another threat abounding amidst the country’s COVID-19 pandemic upheaval: fraudulent activities. As technology usage escalates to unparalleled levels both on the home front and in work environments, fraudster attempts to take advantage of vulnerable Americans and businesses are escalating. Banks may need to increase diligence under customer identification and fraud prevention programs to avoid inadvertent facilitation of fraudulent activities. Treliant experts offer advisory services related to cybersecurity, privacy, securities compliance, anti-money laundering / Bank Secrecy Act (AML/BSA), anti-fraud / anti-terrorist financing programs, forensic technology, as well as corporate and regulatory investigations. If you need assistance identifying and managing fraud-related risks, Treliant can help.
On March 21, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its first enforcement action in federal court to suspend the operations of a fraudulent website offering COVID-19 vaccines. A known vaccine does not exist at this time. A temporary restraining order was issued by federal courts in Austin to halt the website’s operations while the investigation ensues. The filing represents the DOJ’s affirmative action to combat pandemic-related fraud, following Attorney General William Barr’s direction for the department “to prioritize the detection, investigation, and prosecution of illegal conduct related to the pandemic.”
Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division states that the DOJ “will not tolerate criminal exploitation of this national emergency for personal gain. We will use every resource at the government’s disposal to act quickly to shut down these most despicable of scammers, whether they are defrauding consumers, committing identity theft, or delivering malware.”
The DOJ release provides the following precautionary measures, which Americans should take to protect themselves from known and emerging scams related to COVID-19:
- Independently verify the identity of any company, charity, or individual that contacts you regarding COVID-19.
- Check the websites and email addresses offering information, products, or services related to COVID-19. Be aware that scammers often employ addresses that differ only slightly from those belonging to the entities they are impersonating. For example, they might use “cdc.com” or “cdc.org” instead of “cdc.gov.”
- Be wary of unsolicited emails offering information, supplies, or treatment for COVID-19 or requesting your personal information for medical purposes. Legitimate health authorities will not contact the general public this way.
- Do not click on links or open email attachments from unknown or unverified sources. Doing so could download a virus onto your computer or device.
- Make sure the anti-malware and anti-virus software on your computer is operating and up to date.
- Ignore offers for a COVID-19 vaccine, cure, or treatment. Remember, if a vaccine becomes available, you won’t hear about it for the first time through an email, online ad, or unsolicited sales pitch.
- Check online reviews of any company offering COVID-19 products or supplies. Avoid companies whose customers have complained about not receiving items.
- Research any charities or crowdfunding sites soliciting donations in connection with COVID-19 before giving any donation. Remember, an organization may not be legitimate even if it uses words like “CDC” or “government” in its name or has reputable looking seals or logos on its materials. For online resources on donating wisely, visit the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website.
- Be wary of any business, charity, or individual requesting payments or donations in cash, by wire transfer, gift card, or through the mail. Don’t send money through any of these channels.
- Be cautious of “investment opportunities” tied to COVID-19, especially those based on claims that a small company’s products or services can help stop the virus. If you decide to invest, carefully research the investment beforehand. For information on how to avoid investment fraud, visit the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website.
The public is encouraged to report suspected fraud schemes related to COVID-19 by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) hotline (1-866-720-5721) or by e-mailing the NCDF at email@example.com. For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19, consumers may visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) websites.


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“Professor” Ravichandran Ashwin Gives On Rajasthan Royals Teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal A Chess Lesson. Ravichandran Ashwin and Yashasvi Jaiswal of the Rajasthan Royals were spotted playing chess together.
In the midst of back-to-back games and the relentless pressure of performances and results in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Rajasthan Royals (RR) players Ravichandran Ashwin and Yashasvi Jaiswal moreover, found some time to play chess together. “Prof Ashwin ke daayein haath ka khel. #RoyalsFamily | @ashwinravi99 | @yashasvi_,” RR wrote on their official social media handles.
Here’s the video of both players enjoying a game of chess together:
This IPL 2022, Ashwin has also been outstanding, taking wickets and scoring runs for RR. So far, he has taken eight wickets at an impressive economy rate of 7.10 in ten matches. With the bat, he has 83 runs at a fantastic strike rate of 145.61.
Jaiswal, on the other hand, has had a difficult time in IPL 2022. He has only played three games and scored 25 runs. However, the talented left-hander could see action in RR’s upcoming games.
The Sanju Samson-led side is currently third in the IPL 2022 Points Tables, with six wins from ten games.
On May 7, they will face the Punjab Kings at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.


Are you ready for the race between Nokia Premiere Pro Max vs. Motorola G Pure with an 8500mAh battery 12GB RAM? Jump down to find the winner now!
Nokia Premiere Pro Max Vs. Motorola G Pure Specifications
HDM Global is about to launch Nokia Premiere Pro Max with the latest technology and hardware. Meanwhile, Motorola G Pure is a mid-range smartphone with an affordable budget. Let’s talk about the display! The Nokia Premier Pro Max Specifications flaunt a 6.9-inch IPS LCD with 4K resolution, along with a 21:9 display. At the same time, the Motorola G Pure Specifications flaunt a 6.5-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. With a bigger screen size, the Nokia beast wins the first goal.
Regarding the capacity, the Samsung device houses a massive 8500mAh energy box while the other Chinese smartphone carries a smaller 4000mAh energy cell. Hence, the Nokia handset wins again with a larger capacity. Hardware-wise, the Nokia handset uses the Android 12 as the operating system. In contrast, the Motorola device runs on Android 11. Concerning the system, the Nokia flagship takes power from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset as the processor. Moreover, the Motorola device comes with a MediaTek Helio G25 chipset.
With better hardware, the Nokia beast scores the next point. Additionally, the Nokia flagship sports three storage options: 128GB/ 8GB RAM, 256GB/ 10GB RAM, 512GB/ 12GB RAM (Expandable up to 512GB). Otherwise, the Motorola monster has different options: 128GB/ 8GB RAM, 256GB/ 8GB RAM, 256GB/ 12GB RAM (no card slot). How about the optics system? In detail, the Nokia Premier Pro Max camera comes with a triple 108MP + 16MP + 8MP sensors and a 48MP selfie snapper. Besides, the Motorola G Pure camera includes 613MP + 2MP sensors and a single 5MP snapper for taking selfies. With better camera tech, Nokia wins the last round. Finally, the Samsung team is the winner with better performance and Specifications.
Nokia Premiere Pro Max Vs. Motorola G Pure Release Date and Price in Pakistan
The Nokia Premiere Pro Max Release Date should occur in the second quarter of 2022. In contrast, Motorola G Pure is now up for sale. Regarding the cost, the Nokia Premiere Pro Max Price in Pakistan starts at Rs. 30,096 ~ $399. Plus, the Motorola G Pure Price in Pakistan starts at Rs. 4,451 ~ $59. Which beast do you like more? Please drop us a comment below to share your opinion!


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Potentially clinically relevant concentrations of Cefazolin, Midazolam, Propofol, and Sufentanil in auto-transfused blood in congenital cardiac surgery
Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery , Volume 13 - Issue 1
Background: Use of donor blood in congenital cardiac surgery increases the risk for post-operative morbidity and mortality. To reduce the need for allogenic blood transfusion a technique for peri-operative mechanical red cell salvage is applied. Blood from the operation site is collected in a reservoir, processed, passed through a lipophilic filter and returned to the patient. Influence of this cellsaver system on coagulation, fibrinolysis and inflammatory markers is known. To our knowledge no studies have been performed on the effects of autotransfusion on drug concentrations. A clinically relevant drug dose could potentially be returned to the patient through the auto-transfused blood, leading to unwanted drug reactions post-operatively. We aimed to measure drug concentrations in blood salvaged from the operation site and in the auto-transfused blood to determine if a clinically relevant drug dose is returned to the patient. Methods: The study was performed at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of a tertiary university hospital. Blood samples were taken from the reservoir, after processing before the lipophilic filter, the auto-transfused blood, and the waste fluid. Samples were stored at -80 C and drug concentration for sufentanil, propofol, midazolam and cefazolin were measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Drug concentrations measured in the reservoir and the auto-transfused blood were compared and the relative reduction was calculated for each patient. Results: Blood samples were taken from 18 cellsaver runs in 18 patients, age 0-13years. Drug concentrations in the reservoir were comparable to concomitant concentrations in the patient. For sufentanil 34% (median, IQR 27-50) of drug concentration was retained from the reservoir in the auto-transfused blood, for midazolam 6% (median, IQR 4-10), for cefazolin 5% (median, IQR 2-6) and for propofol 0% (median, IQR 0-0) respectively. Conclusion: Depending on the drug, up to 34% of the drug concentration salvaged from the operation site is returned to the patient through autotransfusion, potentially causing unwanted drug reactions post-operatively. Additionally, influence of a cellsaver system should be considered in pharmacological research during and after congenital cardiac surgery and could result in dose adjustments in the postoperative phase.
|, , , , ,|
|Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery|
|Organisation||Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery|
Zeilmaker-Roest, G.A, van Saet, A, van Rosmalen, J.M, Bahmany, S, van Dijk, A, Wildschut, E.D, … Bogers, A.J.J.C. (2018). Potentially clinically relevant concentrations of Cefazolin, Midazolam, Propofol, and Sufentanil in auto-transfused blood in congenital cardiac surgery. Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 13(1). doi:10.1186/s13019-018-0747-0

domain: biology


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Back with the first Flower Kings album in six years, one immediately notes that long-time keyboard player Tomas Bodin is no longer with the band. He was an original member of the band, playing on the debut ‘Back In The World of Adventures’ back in 1995, and every release since, so I was very surprised to see him missing as he has been a key part of the sound since the beginning. This led me to do some quick checking of personnel and I was pleased to see other long-time members Hasse Fröberg (vocals) and Jonas Reingold (bass) still there alongside Roine Stolt (guitars, keyboards, ukulele, vocals). They have now been joined by Zach Kamins (keyboards, glockenspiel, guitar, Theremin, harmonium) and drummer Mirko DeMaio.
The Flower Kings will always have a special place in my affections, as I still remember being sent the solo album by the ex-Kaipa guitarist almost 30 years ago now, and the impact it had on me, never thinking it would lead to a full band. In addition, it was the first concert I ever took my youngest daughter to (and the photo of her at that gig, taken by the official tour photographer, appears at the end of Volume 3 of The Progressive Underground). I absolutely adore their music, and always look forward to each album, but always with just a hint of doubt. The reason for this is that Roine likes long songs and long albums (this one is well over 80 minutes in length), and it doesn’t always work. There are times in the past where I have bemoaned the lack of an outside set of ears and the willingness to cull minutes of music from a song and make it more direct. However, the more recent albums have seen a much more focussed approach (even if no shorter), so what is this like?
Over recent years Roine has been working with other musicians and solo, and this is the first official new Flower Kings album since 2013’s, ‘Desolation Rose’, with a new keyboard player to boot (I think there have been six or seven drummers over the years so they can obviously survive those changes). But, with Roine obviously very much in control, Hasse Fröberg still in fine voice and Reingold playing his normal set of different basses, adding the right sound where he needs to, I really shouldn’t have worried. This is classic Flower Kings, as if they had never been away and as if Bodin was still there. Harmony vocals, lush sounds, layering of instruments, plenty of hooks and plenty of time for musicians to extend themselves without ever moving too far into the area of proving just how clever they are, this is an album any proghead will sit back with and smile.
The first time I listened to this I played it on headphones (always best with these guys I find) and just drifted along on a progressive wave, thoroughly enjoying the experience and never once wondering why they yet again weren’t using an editor to cut back on their more over the top moments. Delicate when they need to be, rocky when the time is right, The Flower Kings are back with a wonderful release which is going to make them new friends with the old ones more than happy. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait so long for the next one.


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One of the most iconic elements of the Final Fantasy series, at least for those that love the masterpiece titled Final Fantasy VII, is Cloud's massive Buster Sword. After all its shape and hefty bulk are quite
If you've been keeping up with DualShockers' coverage of E3 2013, than you may have seen our Editors Joel and Al asking a few gamers their opinion of the Microsoft conference. But DualShockers' very own E3 team
E3 2013: Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida Talks About the PlayStation Camera and on Why it Isn’t in the PS4’s Box
The fact that the PlayStation camera won't be sold in the same box as the PS4 raised some questions between the playerbase, and today Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida shed some light on the reasons behind the
E3 2013: Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida Shares Relevant Details on PlayStation Plus Requirement for Multiplayer on PS4
A lot of questions are being asked by the fans on the caveats of the PlayStation Plus requirements for multiplayer with the upcoming PS4, and Sony Worldwide Studio President Shuhei Yoshida provided some straight answers as part
If someone asked me what was one of the games that I was most interested from this year's E3, Bungie's new IP, Destiny would certainly be at the top of my list. The game looks like a
Square Enix is continuing to release assets of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn for us to enjoy. After the lovely gameplay trailer and the stunning CG artwork iunveiled today, we get a batch of twelve
E3 2013: Final Fantasy XIV PS4 to be Released in “Early” 2014, Crossover with Lightning Returns Announced and More
In occasion of E3 Square Enix hosted a special Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Letter from the Producer Live, with Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida answering questions relayed by Community Manager Toshio Murouchi.
Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III Director Tetsuya Nomura just dropped a bomb at the end of his interview on the Square Enix Presents E3 livestream.
As if Square Enix hasn't blown it out of the park already this E3, they just released a trailer of some intense battle gameplay from Final Fantasy XV. This trailer shows party play and showcases destructible environments
During a Square-Enix Presents E3 Live segment, Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura was asked about the possibility of multiplayer being added to the latest iteration of the title, Kingdom Hearts III. Through a translator, he said:
As promised during yesterday's conference Sony Computer Entertainment just released the full version of the tech demo created by Quantic Dream and titled "The Dark Sorcerer".
While the newest trailer of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn involved a surprising lack of CG and was made almost entirely with gameplay footage, Square Enix just released a batch of high-resolution CG artwork that looks
I was holding off judgment, I really was. After Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One last month, I was a bit skeptical, sure, but I would never completely and utterly judge a product by one showing. I could,
Many Warhammer 40,000 fans had lost their hope for a MMORPG based on the franchise after THQ basically killed Dark Millenium Online and subsequently killed itself. Looks like hope is still alive (contrary to the IP's philosophy),
It has finally been confirmed from Square Enix that both Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III will be coming to the Xbox One as well as the PS4.
Word on the street is that the PlayStation E3 conference was pretty epic. If you happened to miss it we got you covered, as Sony Computer Entertainment just published the recording of the entire thing.
Many shots have been fired today at E3, and now that the smoke is clearing we're finally able to sit back, relax, and give a look at this $399 PlayStation 4 console that seems to be driving
During Sony's E3 press conference a new 12 minutes long tech demo by Quantic Dream was teased, bringing back the infamous "Old Man Face" from the PS4 unveiling presentation.

domain: game


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I am already spayed, up to date with shots, good with kids, good with dogs, and good with cats.
LuLu was surrendered to HEART in February of 2012 with her 5 kittens who were born in a garage. All of the kittens have been adopted and now Lulu is looking for her own home. She was a great mom and will fit into any home situation. She is sweet, playful and loving!
's adoption fee of $80 includes spaying/neutering, feline leukemia and FIV testing, worming, flea treatment, first distemper vaccine and booster, rabies vaccine, and a Free First Vet Visit Certificate. Inquiries from Western New York only. Please visit HEART's web site at www.heartforanimals.org.
Can’t adopt me? You can still help. Donations are greatly appreciated so HEART can continue assisting the homeless pets of WNY.

domain: pet


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|3ds Max 4.00|
Dice come in the blue. Other sample images provided show how the color/texture can be changed. Go wild..invent your own. The odd colors are part of the appeal of roleplaying dice.
This is for 3D Studio MAX 4 and above!
.3ds version is included, but you'll need to re-apply textures. DO NOT change mapping coordinates though. Very important. PLEASE READ the .txt instructions included for changing textures. It is important that you change the correct material because it's instanced throughout each number on each die.


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When: Sat., Dec. 3, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sun., Dec. 4, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 2016
Local artists Carol Andersen, Laura Corsiglia, Joyce Jonte, Peter Lisle and Patricia Sennott share their paintings, drawings, prints, cards and refreshments.
1125 16th St. (Arcata)
Select a star to rate.
© 2021 North Coast Journal