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Archive for the ‘‘The Duchess’’ Category

This is very tenuously linked from my last post, but one of the exhibitions they had on at Chatsworth featured the costumes from ‘The Duchess’ which starred Keira Knightley and Dominic Cooper who we also know as Mr Willoughby, of course. I think this era and the Regency period have to be my favourite for costume – I’m not sure I would have enjoyed being trussed up in all that stuff on a daily basis, though when I was much younger, I did dress up in similar costumes for Fancy Dress parties. I’ve always loved dressing up!
The paintings I’m posting today came about after a trip to the Lakes. We visited Beatrix Potter’s house at Hill Top and of course, I felt so inspired when I visited her husband’s office where so many of her exquisite paintings are kept. Whilst I could never hope to aspire to Mrs Heelis’s excellence with a brush, I hope you enjoy them. They are just a few of the paintings I did with a children’s book in mind – never finished, but as with so many things, I probably got side-tracked!

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I thought you might like to see some of the photos I took at Chatsworth of the exhibition they have on about Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. As well as personal items and letters there are costumes from the film ‘The Duchess’ which stars Keira Knightley as Georgiana, Ralph Fiennes as the Duke and Dominic Cooper who we’ve seen before as Mr Willoughby playing Georgiana’s lover, Charles Grey. I thought the costumes in this film were particularly fabulous – the designer Michael O’Connor did a wonderful job! They had a little section about the filming of Pride and Prejudice with some photographs and the bust of Mr Darcy is also displayed – the nearest I got to finding him, I’m afraid. Still, best of all I got to see my husband don a wig in their dressing up room which is really fun. You can try on wigs and costumes whatever your age – I think he looks rather gorgeous in it!

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Things that make me very very cross

Funny how stuff intersects.

Yesterday was all News International and Rebekah Hypocrite in the dock…whilst on the personal level i was suffering pain, back in theatre, and feeling very sorry for myself indeed. Well, i’ve bounced back. A good night’s sleep works wonders and i don’t feel quite as though i’ve just done five rounds with Mohammed Ali (i know: generation reference!). Only my crotch feels like someone kicked it in!

Au recherche du temps perdu (huh?)

Evening, i therefore got all maudlin and started on a “where are they now” quest. I used to be far more party political than i am now: was a Liberal Parliamentary candidate in 1979, and generally active in their inner councils for a period of some years. Some of my then acquaintances have gone on to greater things (step forward Adrian Sanders and John Hemming – both brilliant MP’s. Plus David Howarth, who has BEEN a brilliant MP and now stepped back once more). Others have gone wrong somewhere down the line (With apologies to A man for all seasons: “Why Leighton Andrews, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world… but for Wales?”).

Some have grown large or bald or discovered ridiculous facial hair (no names, i think, here! well…Simon T: that moustache didn’t suit then and it doesn’t now 🙂 ). Others appear, Dorian Grey-like, to have retained every last vestige of their youth (Simon McGrath). Becky: you’re looking good, too; but unlike Simon, I’d never suspect you of keeping a magic picture in your attic!

I look back sadly on the objects of my only two “boycrushes”. One (definitely won’t be named) has grown old very gracefully and…yes…i bet i’d still fancy him: the other, lithe, androgynous, beautiful youth has turned to a balding, podgy middle-aged lump. Drat!

I still can’t believe how Gavin Grant has changed. Some people are recognisably who they once were, others definitely not: never in a million years would i believe GG now to be related to GG then. Peter Brook has become dapper and trendy in a way i always knew he could. And so it goes.

Fresh Sadness

But there is sadness, too, inevitably, in this reminiscing. I knew about the death of Eleanor Mor O’Brien back when it happened, 20, 30 years ago. I know now that she was the little sister i always wanted and her loss still haunts me…

But in looking, i also discovered two things. One sad. One that fills me with rage.

Richard Holme, as he was when i knew him – and latterly Lord Holme – was a lovely man: clever, witty, insightful, generous. Oh, sure, i wasn’t close enough to know all his failings, and maybe he had some that i never even imagined. But he stood out from the crowd as someone i admired, helped me once or twice politically, practically and was, somewhere in the back of my mind, a man i’d like to meet again.

But it is not to be. For he passed on three years ago. Sad. Very, very sad. Its 20 years since we spoke…but discovering his obit yesterday means it is just one day since i discovered his passing.

Yesterday’s news – today’s scandal

And at the same time, i picked up on something else: how his life intertwined with that of Rebekah Brooks and News International: how a man of exceptional public insight and capability was denied a role that i am pretty sure he would have filled wonderfully.

I’m not going to go into any more detail here, beyond linking to a story that will tell you all about it, over at the Guardian.

One more reason to despise Ms Brooks. Richard was a lovely man. He had his failings – as have all of us – and the News of the World saw fit to trash him for no better reason than that it titillated its readership (and maybe helped ensure that media regulation was a bit more toothless). I bet Ms Brooks wouldn’t even remember his name, now.

Payback Time, Ms Brooks

On the side, quietly, but determinedly, i have been working for a few people who have also suffered at the hands of the News of the World. I’ll be starting to talk to the Met about their cases today, and if there is even a smidgeon of a suspicion that the sanctimoniious exposés run out of Wapping were gained by illegal means, i wish to crucify those responsible: that or extract every single penny possible, so as to make sure Ms Brooks and her hypocritical henchmen hurt.

Sad for Richard. Very, very angry about Ms Brooks.

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  1. 1

    janefae said,

    oops! didn’t intend to hit the like button on my own post. Now i don’t seem able to remove it.

  2. 2

    A few weeks ago during his sermon, I forget what the overarching subject was, my parish priest said:

    “In fiction, good people do good things, and bad people do bad things. That is fiction. In real life, good people also do bad things. That does not stop them being good people.”

    The world of Wade is like the realm of ficiton: if you find someone has done a bad thing, then you are at liberty to judge them a bad person and vilify them. That is her world, but perhaps I am lax in simply choosing not to inhabit it, and am guilty of standing by while grave injustice is done.

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Family by blood and tenderness

All the boys in this picture from Kurtz camping trips past are young men, now.  (My brother Chris–the one on the bottom of the pile–is forever young.)  But the family gatherings haven’t stopped…and neither has the camping.  I’m just home from a trip to Portland where I spent a week of companionship with my mom, while my forever-young brother and his family (who are moving in with Mom) went on their annual camping trip.

Our family’s love of camping was born in Ethiopia, where camping was quite the production.  Luckily, my dad–the one with the outside genes–was always ready to energetically organize everybody and everything.  He was willing to pack and unpack and get a crew going on putting up the tent while another crew (with six kids, you can have more than one crew) started supper preparations.  No lovely little camper like the one Lanie falls in love with and longs to camp in!  Still, my dad did come up with scheme after scheme to make things easier for my mom, the one with the inside genes.   And all the efforts to get the six of us out into the wide, wonderful world turned all of us into the kinds of people who take our own kids–and now grandkids–camping, thus starting the cycle all over again.  I love that about us.  It’s one of the things that knits the Kurtz family together into one sprawling…well…family.

While I was in Portland, I also had an unexpected and glorious chance to introduce my reader mom to two of my writer buddies: Deb Wiles (who lives in Atlanta but just happened to be out in the Northwest) and Deborah Hopkinson, who lives in Portland now.  More than ten years ago, the three of us roomed together at a big International Reading Association conference.  Three books came out of our late, late night talks and brainstormings.

We love to think of artists as solitary geniuses, sitting alone in their lonely garrets.  The life of a writer does involve lots of garret-hood in oh so many ways.  But writer friends not only make the crashing solitude less overwhelming, they often jar bits of genius loose we can’t manage to reach on our own.  It’s one of the most precious things about the Vermont College MFA in children’s literature: the writers who suffered with us through hot/cold boot camps of the residencies and became our friends as well as writing community.

Family by blood.

I’m grateful for all my siblings, for their energies and enthusiasms and that we share so many of those, from camping to reading and writing.  I’m touched by their generosity to me, the grasshopper who has been busy fiddling and not always storing up the grain that I need for the long shivery winter.

Family by choice.  My writer friends are also generous…and also fun.  I love hanging around with them, too.  I love it when our interests overlap.  This morning, I spent a great time with Jackie Briggs Martin’s new blog on writing and endangered animals.

Blest be the ties that bind ths big swirling world into one family.  By blood.  By adoption.  By friendship choices.  And more, more, more.

One response to this post.

  1. Love your blog, Jane. Wonderful pics and inspiring stories. Thank you for all that you share with us!

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Ethiopia Indonesia world and word travelers

I love international schools!  They are such places to explore…

friends from all continents

the power of words.

Often the classes are small.  Always, the classes are full of kids who were born in lots of different places, all bringing their knowledge and ideas and traditions and family connections and passions into one little space.

I tell kids that I went traveling from the United States to Ethiopia when I was only two years old.  I ask how many of them changed continents when they were too young to remember; half or more raise their hands.  We talk about the new things we found on new continents.  We talk about those feelings…what we’ve loved about traveling and what we find confusing.  I tell them that my writing gave me a way to talk about my home in Ethiopia that I never had until I started publishing books…and that maybe their writing will give them that kind of power.

Here in Indonesia, the students and teachers and I have found lots of things in common.

Rainy season in Ethiopia…

and rain whooshing down in Jakarta.  Here’s the view as I looked out the window of the hotel after I got back from the school one afternoon.

Feelings of picking up and letting go of the things you know.  Feelings of finding new things to hang onto, sometimes by one’s fingernails.

The library at JIS-PIE has the hands-down most gorgeous view (out its window) of any school I’ve been in.  Thinking about the snow I left behind in Kansas, I felt full of thrilldom every time I walked into the library.

The other JIS campus has an enormous tree right in the middle of the courtyard.  I sat on a bench during my break and filled myself up with the sight of it.

But I even loved the insides of the rooms because that’s where the kids and teachers and librarians were.  I did meet some passionate kids during these two weeks.  One boy told me that his ancestors on one side were in Kenya for 563 years and the other side of his family comes from the Netherlands and he’s lived in both of those places and also in Spain and South Africa.  World travelers, unite–and tell your tales.

2 responses to this post.

  1. when you visit indonesia again ?

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Opinions – COA – May 12, 2015

Mark Dwayne Sumrell v. State – habitual’s requirement  that defendant have served a year on prior – Sumrell was charged with felony shoplifting in 2004.  He was indicted as an habitual but the indictment failed to specify the crime in one of the prior so the court allowed the state to amend the indictment to add that the crime was cocaine possession and to change the habitual charge from 99-19-81 to 99-18-93.    Sumrell appealed and then proceeded to file pcr motions.   The Miss.S.Ct. eventually allowed him a hearing to show that he had not served one year on one of the priors.  During the hearing, the state had someone from MDOC’s records department testify that Sumrell served more than a year on his robbery and his cocaine conviction. The circuit court denied relief.  Sumrell appealled and the COA affirms.

Bobby Dillon Lott v. Corinthian, Inc. bad faith workers comp. – Bobby Lott worked for Corinthoan as am upholsterer.  In Jan. of 2010 he injured his eye.  Corinthian later fired him for failing to follow the proper procedures for reporting a work-related injury. Lott filed a workers’ compensation claim  alleging that he was terminated in bad faith and that Corinthian and its insurer  failed to conduct a good-faith investigation into his claim.  Ultimately, Corinthian paid workers’ compensation benefits due from the date of injury until Lott was released back to work. A Workers Co,p. AJ determined that the benefits paid were sufficient and that Lott’s termination was not executed in bad faith, nor was the investigation conducted in bad faith. Lott later filed suit for  wrongful termination, gross negligence, and intentional and willful infliction of emotional distress.  The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants. The COA affirms.

Monroe Randle v. State revocation of parole – Randle was convicted of murder  and sentenced to life.  In 2010 he  was granted parole.  In July 2012 r he was arrested for simple assault by threat and possession of a firearm.   He ended up not being convicted on the charges so he filed a pcr in the circuit court which denied relief without a hearing.  The COA reverses and remands for a hearing.

This Court has held that “before one released on parole may be returned to custody, the State must show that he has violated the terms and conditions of parole.” Elkins v. State, 116 So. 3d 185, 187 (¶8) (Miss. Ct. App. 2013) (quoting Moore v. Ruth, 556 So. 2d 1059, 2 1061 (Miss. 1990)). A parolee is entitled to “a written statement by the fact[-]finders as to the evidence relied on and reasons for revoking parole.” Id. While we do not require a conviction to substantiate revocation of parole, the “[m]ere arrest of a probationer is not a violation of probation.” Brown v. State, 864 So. 2d 1058, 1060 (¶9) (Miss. Ct. App. 2004) (citing Moore v. State, 587 So. 2d 1193, 1194 (Miss. 1991)).

In this case, the circuit court judge summarily dismissed Randle’s PCR motion without an evidentiary hearing, and there is no record before this Court providing the information the judge relied upon in revoking Randle’s parole. Therefore, we reverse and remand this case for an evidentiary hearing.

Allison Williams v. Statechallenge to guilty plea –  – Williams pleaded guilty to armed robbery in June of 2012.  She got ten years.  Like every person who ever pled guilty, she now claims it was involuntary;  there was no factual basis for the plea; and her attorney was ineffective.   The COA affirms.

Barry Artz v. Shannon Artzcontempt – The Artzs were divorced in 2002.  Barry initially had custody of their son Caleb.  Several years later, Shannon moved to Ohio and asked the court to modify custody.  The court granted her request, gave Barry visitation and  ordered him to pay $181 per month in child support.  After Shannon filed a petition for contempt in 2007,  Barry agreed to pay Shannon $4,000 in back child support and reimburse her for Caleb’s health-insurance premiums and one-half of Caleb’s outstanding medical bills. He also agreed to increase child support   to $308 per month. There were also provisions on how Barry would get visitation, notice and plane fare. In 2012, Shannon filed a contempt action alleging that Barry had failed to pay child support since May 2012 and that he had failed to pay Caleb’s monthly medical insurance premiums, etc. The chancellor found Barry in contempt.  He appeals and the COA affirms.

Donnie McDonald v. Stateparole revocation –   McDonald pleaded guilty to one count of sale of a controlled substance and one count of possession of precursors with intent to manufacture in 2010. He was sentenced to twenty years on each count (to run concurrently). The trial court suspended both sentences and placed McDonald on five years’ supervised probation. . In December 2012, McDonald was arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.  He was arrested for probation violations.  After a probation-revocation hearing,  the trial court issued an order revoking McDonald’s probation for  (1) committing a crime; (2) failing to report to his probation officer; (3) failing a drug test; (4) failing to pay court-ordered fees; and (5) faiing to complete a drug-treatment program. Rather than order McDonald to serve twenty years, the trial court ordered McDonald to serve five years in the custody of the MDOC with the remaining fifteen years suspended. The trial court also ordered McDonald to complete the drug-treatment program during his incarceration. . McDonald then filed a motion for post-conviction relief which the trial court denied.  McDonald appeals.  (PCR). The trial court denied his motion. McDonald appeals, arguing that (1) the trial court lacked jurisdiction to suspend his sentence or place him on probation, and (2) he was denied due process during his probation revocation.  The COA affirms.

Gary Marter v. Celeste Marter –  divorce; valuation of property –  The Marters divorced in 2010.  The Miss. Court of APpeals reversed the chancellor’s property division and remanded the case for a valuation of 120 acres of land owned by Gary and Celeste. Marter v. Marter, 95 So. 3d 733 (Miss. Ct. App. 2012). The chancellor had assigned a value of $110,000 to the 120 acres but did not explain  how he had arrived at that value.  On remand, the chancellor assigned the same value ($110,000) but explained the valuation.  Gary again appeals. The COA affirms. “Our courts have repeatedly recognized that the chancellor is entitled to make an independent judgment of a property’s value, especially where the estimates of the parties vary widely.”

2 thoughts on “Opinions – COA – May 12, 2015

  1. notice it is May 12 not April 12

    A.J. Buddy Dees, Jr. | Attorney Ellis, Braddock & Dees, Ltd. | 901 Belmont Street | Vicksburg MS 39180 (OFFICE) 601.636.5433 | (FAX) 601.638.2938

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Rock and Lodestone by Glenda Kerney Brown

My lovely friend Glenda Brown has had her first poetry book ‘Rock and Lodestone’ published by Bennison Books. Buying from Amazon all the proceeds go to The Multiple Sclerosis Trust. I am so very proud of you Glenda and love you with oodles my buddy. ❤ xXx

Spinning the Wheels

Rock and Lodestone by Glenda Kerney Brown

Hello to anybody that is still out there. I haven’t posted in eight months because I’ve been working flat out on my poetry, to the exclusion of practically all else apart from my husband and my mum! At last, I’d like to let people know that my first collection, Rock and Lodestone, has been published by Bennison Books and is available on Amazon at the princely sum of £4.99 with all profits going to the MS Trust. You’ll find me under Glenda Kerney Brown.

Rock and Lodestone by Glenda Kerney Brown – Amazon link

Poetry is the thing that makes me tick. It has become who I am, and colours my every day. I could not function without it now. It is my bolthole and my light.

My poems are about the things that I cleave to and explore the themes of love, animals, nature and the bewitching world that…

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7 Responses to “Rock and Lodestone by Glenda Kerney Brown”

  1. 1 clarepooley33 May 18, 2016 at 10:57 pm

    Thank-you so much for sharing this good news with us Jane. xx

  2. 4 ianscyberspace May 18, 2016 at 10:00 pm

    What a beautiful spirit. So selfless in supporting that needy cause.

  3. 6 journeyintopoetry May 18, 2016 at 10:56 am

    How wonderful that Glenda’s words are now being spread far and wide. She deserves a huge success with this great achievement. Needless yo say I have already purchased my copy! 😊❤ xxxxxx

I love to hear from you and having different perspectives are what this is all about.....so feel free to let me know what you think.....

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When my brother and I were boys we used to stand up on the hill by Mark Riley’s house and wait for cars to come by so we could bombard them with snowballs. The spot we stood was perfect because we could see the cars from a long way off. We were much higher than the road and the drivers wouldn’t notice us until a beautifully arched snowball would loft down with a satisfying thump on the hood or better on the windshield or best, though rarely, through the open driver’s window. We lined up our snowballs in front of us so that we could get off several rounds per car like those Zen archers you read about that can launch a dozen arrows before the first one reaches ground. In our minds we were Zen archers, our snowballs following one after another as if the first drew the others in its slipstream.

Our spot was perfect in another way too. You could run from there into the deep and complicated woods behind the Riley’s house and then dart off onto half a dozen paths that were made for small boys to dart off onto. We knew where to meet up at and where to circle around to come out of the woods, sauntering as if we were out for a stroll and not involved in any snowball throwing that might be going on the neighborhood.

Cars would often stop when we whacked them and we would peal off for the woods shouting and sometimes an irate old fart would get out and try to run up the slick hill in leather shoes and fall on a knee in the snow before giving up and cursing all the way back to his Ford. Sometimes when that happened we would slip back out from the woods where we had been watching and launch another volley at the retreating figure and the sitting duck car throbbing at curbside.

There was really only one problem with our set up. While we could see the cars coming from a distance, we were too high off the road to see who was in the car and so with every volley launched there was the delicious risk that it wouldn’t be some forty year old fart, but a carload of jocks from the high school who would slither to a stop and then four doors would fly open in unison and a carfull of whooping high school guys would tear up the hill after us and we’d run for woods shouting, “Oh Shit! Oh Shit!” as we stumbled over each other on the suddenly treacherous ground. And then the pack would be right behind us and those stomping swearing whooping sounds seemed as close as if we were wearing them on our backs.

Sometimes we would get away and then the sheer joy of life would surge through us as we reunited in the little clearing in the woods and talked about how close the escape had been and how we had bewildered them once we reached the woods and slipped down trails made for crafty boys and not for meaty high school guys with their big shoulders and black high top sneakers.

Other times they would get us and that would usually turn out the same: you’d feel their bellowing breathing on your neck just before an iron hand would grab the hood of your winter jacket and your feet would fly out from under you and then a massive presence  would be all over you. They would fling you into the snow and a hand the size of a catcher’s mitt would be on the back of your head, no way you could prevent it, and that hand would push your face down into the snow and twist it so that your face would be rubbed over the ground.

They would go at for a while and it was even hard to shout for mercy or to get any beneficial effect from crying cause the snow would be in your snotty nose and mouth and slipping in that surprising way down your front collar onto your bare boy’s chest below. Sometimes they would kick you or give you a few random punches, but that was usually it. The point of it was that pitiful sight we made as we sat up and turned to see who had done it to us: our faces red and packed with pockets of snow, our knit hats knocked cock-eyed on our heads so that tufts of winter hair shot up in all the wrong directions, those stupid long scarves we wore trailing off in the snow like the tails of broken kites.

Years later, when my brother and I were in our twenties and done with college, we would go out to my folks and drive past that hill where we used to throw our snowballs. The hill didn’t look so big as it used to look and the Riley’s woods were nothing more than a threadbare clump of apple trees. But we’d grown up and had our minds on the complicated lives were starting to live and we didn’t even notice.

Except one day. It was a freezing Christmas afternoon and we were dressed for dinner with the folks. It had snowed the day before. The roads had been cleared but the lawns throughout my parents’ neighborhood were covered with white.  We were late for dinner. We knew that mother would be unhappy cause she had been up early cooking and we had proved that we weren’t any more considerate than we had ever been. We were anxious to get there.

We were coming down Hunter’s Lane. My brother was driving. And all at once there were two thwaps on the front windshield. A snowball attack, no possible doubt. Direct hits.

My brother skidded to a stop. Up on the hill we could see the boys scattering in the frozen afternoon light. I looked at my brother. It was freezing outside. We had a place to get to. I had on a pair of black loafers and a tie and sport coat. He looked at me. We didn’t say anything. We didn’t want to get out of that car. We looked at each other for a long time. And then he sighed. “We’ve got to do it,” he said.

I said, “we’ve got no choice.”

And we flung open the doors of the car in unison and tore ass up the hill whooping in the direction that the snowballs came from.

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Star Wars

Rebels With A Cause

Star Wars: Rebels will come to a close later this year. With the final trailer for the animated series having dropped just last week, I have many concerns about our Ghost Crew, but mostly about Kanan’s hair.

Check out the trailer below:

So, there’s a lot going on. I don’t understand Kanan’s decision-making process but I’m guessing his new hairstyle has more meaning, like perhaps a rebirth or reawakening. All I’m going to say is I agree with Hera. It’s not a good look.

I’ve never been one to theorize the ending or make any predictions for Rebels. Maybe one or two when it comes to Ahsoka’s fate, but in regards to the Ghost Crew I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Thanks to Rogue One, we know that Hera and Chopper will make it out alive. I’m hoping Ezra and Kanan don’t take the hermit path because we just witnessed Luke in The Last Jedi. Yes, Luke had his own problems and running away from everything and everyone seemed like a good idea at the time. However, we are talking about Ezra Bridger and Kanan Jarrus… do I think they’re going to run away from a cause they’ve put so much effort into? No.

As for Zeb and Sabine, all I want for them is to be happy and live their best lives, but I have no current predictions for these two. The big reveal in the trailer was the long awaited appearance of Emperor Palpatine, who is voiced by none other than Ian McDiarmid. Palpatine appears to be fixated on Ezra and I look forward to seeing these two interact with each other very soon.

My two favorite parts of the trailer were the convor and the Mortis mural. The Mortis arc is one of my favorite moments in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and one that made everyone view the Force differently (I mean forget everything you know about midi-chlorians). In the arc, Ahsoka Tano (one of my favorite characters of all time) is killed by the Son who is the avatar for the dark side. The Daughter, who represents the light, uses what is left of her power to resurrect Ahsoka. If you’ve caught up with Rebels, you know that Ahsoka dueled Vader, her former master, and the ending was left ambiguous. All I know is Ahsoka walked down some steps and was followed by the same mysterious convor from the trailer. After the season two finale fans predicted that Ahsoka lived, from a certain point of view, and most likely reincarnated into a wolf or became a force ghost.

In June of 2017, Dave Filoni, creator of Rebels and Clone Wars, sent out a tweet:

As soon as I saw the convor in the trailer I immediately remembered this drawing. No, she’s not the wolf, but she’s probably (like 99.9%) the convor. The only reason it seems plausible is because in the Mortis mural there is a convor on the shoulder of the Daughter. Filoni has also stated that the convor is an avatar of something we have seen before in the animated Star Wars universe. Okay, Dave, I see what you did there.

Let me just tell you, I have never been more excited for a show to end. It’s bittersweet for me because as much as I love this show (most of the time), I am ready for it to come to a close and I look forward to the future of Star Wars animation, or whatever Dave Filoni has up his sleeve. Also, Ahsoka Lives.

Star Wars: Rebels returns February 19th, 2018.

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Holding On

04 Oct

When I was a young leader, I found out that someone wanted to have the position I had. They thought they were better equipped and better qualified.

That was probably true!

I’m sure you’ve experienced the same thing. It doesn’t matter where you work or what position you have…there will always be someone who comes along and tries to take away what you have.

Read the Bible story found in Numbers 16 (I won’t post all 50 verses here)! You can check it out here.

Our human instinct is to fight for our rights, protect our position and hope to God that we can hold on.

But, is that truly Biblical?

With Moses, I see a different method:

Trust God.

If God placed you there, He can keep you there.

If God wants you there, He will not let you be moved.

Don’t fight with HUMAN effort that which you were given by GOD’S grace!

There will always be haters, gossipers, usurpers, and “all-around-make-your-life-miserable” types of people.

Don’t hold on to your title, position, or authority. Hold on to Jesus!

Trust God.

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Posted by on October 4, 2012 in Business, Life, Ministry, Uncategorized

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Thank u all 2

Yippee!!! Its just a few days to the end of 2015! What can we say?…Has God been so faithful? Oh yes! He has.We truly give God all the praise! Yes there were challenges, trials, walls etc but we won ”BIGG” after all, by the power of God and His mercies! ALL PRAISES TO YOU MY GOD!
Yes, we truly made significant progress! …Took giant strides, added new lines, made tremendous effective changes that pushed us forward! You guys were awesome! Thank you DIVAS…JEMBEL AMBASSADORS, for standing by our side these past 12 months and more with your huge patronage! We wouldn’t have been able to achieve this milestone without you! Tears of joy fill my heart as i write. THANK U A MILLION TIMES!
We were unable to upload all your pics here cos you are numerous and couldn’t receive all your pics before now, but hey, we know you and you know we do! *winks* Thanks! Thanks!! Thanks!!! The few we got, represent you all! We truly appreciate you! We will do more in the coming year with God on our side!
We also appreciate all who supported us in diverse ways…encouragement, suggestions, positive criticism etc which spurred us on! THANK YOU. We are specially grateful to our IT and PR Pro, ..our one and only Joy Ezeka! You are one in a million! May God bless you richly. Jembel loves you for your time and hard work in bringing Jembel this far! Your creative ability, has no match!! We will go places together Joy, and do great things!  Thank you Diva! To our numerous clients, fans, supporters (directly and indirectly) , thank you a million ! You guys rock big time!
 2016 is a greater and more fulfilled year for us all, in Jesus name, Amen! GOD BLESS YOU!

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365 – End

I suppose it may have made more sense to have started the blog when I started the 365 project last year.  The entire project is up on my Facebook page, but here are some of the last photos of the project.    It feels weird to not have the obligation to take a photo every … Continue reading


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The Fourth of July – a Dog’s Nightmare

It’s that time of year: where across the country, American’s celebrate our independence day with parades, cookouts, fireworks, and general revelry! It’s a wonderful tradition, but for your companion animal, it might not be so much fun. Here are some tips for keeping your pets safe and happy during the celebrations this coming weekend:

  • Parades are tons of fun to watch and participate in, but it might be a good idea to reconsider taking your dog along with you to enjoy it. Most dogs are not fans of large, compact crowds of people. Plus, there will be scary noises coming from the bands, firetrucks, etc as well as many children running wild who may not be as respectful as they usually are with dogs. The vast majority of dogs I have seen at parades are demonstrating nervous and overwhelmed behavior – help Fido keep calm and leave him safely inside at home instead of joining you at the parade.
  • Fireworks are TERRIFYING for dogs. There are very few that don’t react to noise of the explosions and how can we blame them – they don’t know it’s pretty and not harmful to them. Definitely DO NOT bring your pup to go watch the fireworks and PLEASE keep your pets safely inside for the entirety of the weekend. The loud explosions of fireworks spook dogs, and many will run away due to fear. Shelters across the country have a huge influx of stray dogs during and after July 4th because so many got out of the yard and ran. Keep Fido safely inside and don’t bring him along for fireworks watching.
  • Cookouts are awesome, even for vegetarians like me. 🙂 My main caution for your pets is to make sure they are not getting into the human food and that you keep an eye on them in regards to the grill. It is all too common to see pups with severe burns due to trying to get at that burger on the hot coal grill! And so many human foods are harmful to pets, so it’s best to not chance it and keep Fido away from the picnic tables and ask guests to not put their plates on the ground (helps avoid ants, anyways!). Keep the food away from Fido and have a watchful eye on him with the grill.

The Fourth of July is a great American Holiday – enjoy the celebration, be safe, and Happy Independence Day!

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Boost engagement with Video

Ways to Boost User Engagement with Videos

Do you have any videos on your site? If not, you probably should consider adding some.

When it comes to getting the attention of a potential customer or fan, few things are more effective than a captivating video. In fact, Marketing Land reports that people are typically more likely to make purchases after watching product videos.

The use of video content on a business site captures visitor attention and reduces bounce rates. Videos give visitors an incentive to stay and interact with your site longer, leading them to become more interested in your brand in the process. The more invested a person is, the more likely they are to transition from a potential customer to an actual one.

Despite the many benefits of video content, most small business sites don’t use it. This is a huge missed opportunity. Fortunately, it’s never too late to add videos and help your site stand out among the crowd!

Continue reading → Ways to Boost User Engagement with Videos

Posted in Tips & Tricks | Tagged , , | 1 Comment
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Improving Your Site Speed with CDNs

No one likes a slow site. Most visitors will click away if a page isn’t loading fast enough, and Google actually gives sites lower search engine rankings if they don’t load quickly.

Luckily, there are multiple ways you can improve your site’s speed. Images and videos are the biggest culprits when it comes to slowing down a site, but they can be forced to load faster by using something called a content delivery network (or CDN).

Let’s explore the CDN basics, and how you can use the CDNs that Jetpack provides to speed up your images, your videos, and ultimately your entire site.

Continue reading → Improving Your Site Speed with CDNs

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Jetpack 4.5: Monetize your site, brand new VideoPress, and many new shortcodes and widgets

Welcome to Jetpack 4.5, available now for upgrade or installation. We’re starting the year in style with some very exciting additions and improvements that we can’t wait for you to try. This release includes:

  • Jetpack Ads (WordAds)
  • Brand new VideoPress
  • New shortcode support
  • More sidebar widgets
  • An update to our Terms of Service

Continue reading → Jetpack 4.5: Monetize your site, brand new VideoPress, and many new shortcodes and widgets

Posted in Releases | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 61 Comments

Jetpack 4.0: WP 4.5 Customizer compatibility and more

The new Jetpack introduces improvements for better performance under the hood and to allow you work faster.

Real-Time Widget Customizing

WordPress 4.5 shipped with a new feature, Selective Refresh: if your theme supports it, widgets refresh in the Customizer as you edit them, letting you see changes instantly without refreshing the entire page.

We’ve updated Jetpack widgets to leverage Selective Refresh, and now they’ll update in real time as well!

VideoPress Made Simpler

A new tool lets you edit VideoPress shortcodes right in the Editor, with a fancy new modal window containing key playback options:

VideoPress modal in Editor

Plus, videos placed in the Editor now adjust themselves to your theme’s content width, so you can more accurately see how it will look in your post or page when published.

WooCommerce Sharing

Use WooCommerce? You just got sharing options for each of your products:

Jetpack sharing buttons placed below "Add to cart" button

Social icons are now placed under the “Add to cart” button in singular product views, making it easier for customers to share your products with their friends and fans on social media.

First-Time User Support

We’ve done a better job explaining the benefits of Jetpack and connecting it to when the plugin is installed but not yet connected.

We also added handy links to shortcode documentation to convey the types of media you can quickly and safely embed.

Jetpack protect helps safeguard your site against brute-force attacks, and now it’s got more muscle behind it. We’ve updated the code and routines that verify your site is protected to be more efficient. For folks using the Contact Form module, sweeping spam submissions out of your database is now faster.

And there’s more

Custom Content Types: a new CSS class on Testimonial featured images — has-testimonial-thumbnail — allows you to customize Jetpack custom post types as you see fit.

Theme Tools: improved microdata for breadcrumbs gives search engines an easier time knowing what page they are on, and how that page relates to the other pages in your site hierarchy.

Widget Visibility: get granular with your widget display:

Widget Visibility UI

Select widgets and specify to show or hide them right from custom post types, in both single and archive views.

We also fixed some issues…

  • Comments: we fixed a mistake where a comment subscription checkbox appeared on custom post types — despite the fact you couldn’t actually subscribe to those types of comments.
  • Contact Forms: we fixed a bug where the telephone field (which can only be added manually) rendered incorrectly, breaking some forms in the process.
  • General: we blocked direct access to the Jetpack_IXR_Client class which caused fatal PHP errors in some server setups.
  • Shortcodes: we removed the frameborder attribute in the YouTube embed code. It was deprecated in HTML 5. Unminified responsive-videos.min.js in order to address a false positive virus alert in ClamAV. Expect it to be re-minified in 4.0.1 once we resolve the issue with ClamAV.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to 4.0:

Alex Kirk, Barry Abrahamson, Bernhard Reiter, Biser Perchinkov, Brando Meniconi, Brandon Hubbard, Brandon Kraft, Christopher Finke, Dan Walmsley, Derek Smart, Drew Butler, Elio Rivero, Enej Bajgoric, George Stephanis, Igor Zinovyev, Ivan Kristianto, Jeff Golenski, Jeremy Herve, Jesse Friedman, Joey Kudish, Lance Willett, Matt Wiebe, Michael Cain, Miguel Lezama, Mohammad Jangda, Patrick Rauland, Philip John, Richard Muscat, RC Lations, Rocco Tripaldi, Sam Hotchkiss, Tammie Lister, Thomas Guillot, Weston Ruter.

Update April 21, 2016

We’ve released 4.0.2 that fixes a fatal error that was caused by Jetpack not being able to find a library directory.

Posted in Releases | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Jetpack 4.0 beta now available!

The Jetpack mechanics have been engineering a fresh new Jetpack version. It’s currently in beta and you can grab it right now joining the Jetpack Beta Program.

Here are some highlighted features of this version that need to be tested.

Continue reading → Jetpack 4.0 beta now available!

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Jetpack 2.5: Google Integration, VideoPress, and Facebook Embeds

In the latest update to Jetpack, we have some exciting new features to share with you including integration of Google services and products, adding VideoPress to our list of modules, and the ability to embed your Facebook updates into your blog posts. Let’s take a closer look at each of these new features!

Continue reading → Jetpack 2.5: Google Integration, VideoPress, and Facebook Embeds

Posted in Releases | Tagged , , , , | 38 Comments

Unlimited Video Hosting

Jetpack Premium now provies unlimited use of our video CDN. Save on hosting storage and bandwidth costs by streaming fast, ad-free video from our global network.

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Wordless Wednesday : I can Fly, I can Fly, I can Fly!

Flying from tree to tree!

Flying from tree to tree!

6 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. anotherday2paradise
    Oct 14, 2015 @ 14:31:01

    What fun if one is young. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Ruth2Day
    Oct 15, 2015 @ 00:31:12

    I’d like to give that a go

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Problems With Infinity
    Oct 17, 2015 @ 21:05:05

    Ah that looks so fun!! I actually got my boyfriend tickets to a zip lining place for christmas, but we haven’t gone yet. This gives me a kick in the butt to get going, thanks!

I would love to hear what you think!

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First off, Ami, don’t faint. Yes, I’m posting twice in one day and two days in a row. It’s a miracle!

Ok, what is a WIP? It’s a work in progress. Of which I have entirely too many! This is a picture intensive post. I apologize. I wanted to show all that I’m working on right now. I have 11. I did have 12, but I frogged one already. A log cabin quilt I was not happy with.

First off, my Summer Shawl. I started this one last summer, but I’m just now getting around to finishing it. I worked on it today, got 8 inches put on, all of which I’m going to frog. Egads, my guage is very loose knitting continental. I’m going to frog back and finish this one English. Still only a few hours left on it.

This is an afghan for Sami. I started this before Christmas, but with all the other afghans I had done (7 total) I just coulnd’t finish this one. My arm hurt too much. I’m still working on it, but slowly. This is in continental.

This is the Clapotis I started. Just started this one last month, so I’m slowly working on it. I’m finished with the increases and am working on the main body. It also is all continental. Everything I’ve started since the first of the year is done in continental.

This is a sampler I restarted just last month. I ripped out and threw away the old cloth (it was 28 count). Got new 14 count cloth and started fresh. You can see a better picture of the finished product here. The Lord’s Prayer Do you see that bag that my thread binder is sitting on? My Great Grandmother made that around 1915 to hold her needlework. Cool, huh?

This is a Star Afghan, crocheted. It’s not for anyone specific. I just started it one day, to put away for future use. I have a blue and yellow one downstairs, already done. I’ve got 3 more rounds of the varigated, then 2 rounds of the pink and I’m done. About 3 hours of work.

A sock. I can’t get excited about this sock. It’s a plain pattern. That’s all I’ve done and I’m bored with it. It will probably be frogged and yarn put away until I find a pattern I want to do. See the little green bag? That’s Dot’s Little Ditty Bag. I crocheted that to use as a purse, but it works great for holding a sock in progress.

This is a crocheted bag. Again, started sometime in Februray. Can you tell I was bored that month? It’s from the 2007 Crochet Pattern a Day Calendar in which I have 2 patterns published. My Pumpkin Treat bag and my Paperback Book Cover. Both are on my pattern blog, Libilou Creations.

This is a dragon for my good friend Kibbers. All I have to do is give him eyes! Then I have to crochet his mate and then put them in the mail! Just a few hours of work and I’m done. I have all the materials.

A baby hat, knit in worsted weight. I started this one English. I’m not sure if I’m going to finish this or frog it. I haven’t decided.

This is a gauntlet for Sami. It’s one, I’ve not started the other. I may frog this one, rewrite the pattern and start over. It’s too long, even with 1 pattern repeat left out.

And finally, an FO.

A felted bag made entirely of stash yarn. I’m quite happy with it. As with all my felting projects, this was hand felted in the sink. I’ve already used it. it’s a handy bag to have.

All of my projects have their own workbags, so I can pick one up and work on it. Several I can take with me, as they are portable projects that I don’t have to think about too much.

So, can I finish another 7 of these by the end of March? I’ll update next week and let you know!

1 Comment

Filed under Yarn Obsession

One response to “WIPs

  1. Ami

    I thought I had made a mistake when I clicked on your blog. No, this can’t be Libi’s, she only posts when it freezes over down South. 😉

    Okay, now keep posting.

    Dare ya.

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This tag is associated with 100 posts

Skills for the 21st Century – PIAAC is the jewel OECD says

The OECD Survey of Adult Skills is the jewel in the crown of its Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). This paper argues that the findings and policy lessons from the project to date justify the high hopes which were placed in PIAAC when detailed planning for the project began in 2003. … Continue reading

Employment policy must address the concerns underlying the populist backlash against globalisation OECD writes

While an expanding majority of OECD countries have finally closed the massive jobs gap that opened during the Great Recession of 2008‑09, people in a number of countries are expressing rising dissatisfaction with core economic policies, including the promotion of international trade and investment. The populist backlash against globalisation challenges the policy advice offered by … Continue reading

Skills can help countries integrate into global markets and specialise in the most technologically advanced industries OECD says

The world has entered a new phase of globalisation over the past two decades that presents countries and workers with new challenges and opportunities. Helped by the rise of information technology, production has become globalised and fragmented along so‑called global value chains: workers across different countries now contribute to the design, production, marketing and sales … Continue reading

The Next Production Revolution – Education and skill system will need constant attention OECD says

The next production revolution will occur because of a confluence of technologies. These range from a variety of digital technologies (e.g. 3D printing, the Internet of Things, advanced robotics) and new materials (e.g. bio- or nano-based) to new processes (e.g. data-driven production, artificial intelligence, synthetic biology). This report examines the economic and policy ramifications of … Continue reading

Literacy in OECD – In most countries, there are large gaps which tend to widen with ages

In most countries, there are large gaps in literacy proficiency between socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged 15-year-olds, which tend to widen on average as individuals enter adulthood. Socio-economic disparities vary widely from country to country How skills are distributed across the population has signi cant implications for economic and social outcomes. Therefore, assessing the extent to … Continue reading

Post-secondary education – The proportion of 25-34 year-olds with upper secondary education or higher has almost doubled across OECD countries

As a result of the rapid educational expansion in the aftermath of the Second World War the proportion of 25-34 year-olds with upper secondary education or higher has almost doubled across OECD countries, from 43% in 1965 to 84% in 2015. In 1965, no OECD country had more than 80% of 25-34 year-olds attaining at … Continue reading

Are workers ready for a digital world?

In an increasingly digital world where the skill needs of employers are continuously evolving, policy makers need to make sure that everyone can participate and learn new skills. Recent technological change has shifted skill demands predominantly towards high- level skills. Workers need to be prepared to change jobs over their working life while avoiding unemployment … Continue reading

OECD PISA – Singapore tops latest global education survey

Singapore outperforms the rest of the world in the OECD’s latest PISA survey, which evaluates the quality, equity and efficiency of school systems. The top OECD countries were Japan, Estonia, Finland and Canada. The OECD’s PISA 2015 tested around 540,000 15-year-old students in 72 countries and economies on science, reading, maths and collaborative problem-solving. The … Continue reading

Youth – One in ten jobs have been destroyed since 2007 OECD finds

Fifteen percent of the OECD youth population were not in employment, education or training (NEET) in 2015 – about 40 million young people. More than two-thirds of them were not actively looking for work. The total gross income that could have been generated by NEETs in 2014 is estimated to have been between USD 360-605 … Continue reading

Rising Inequalities in OECD Countries – Gini coefficients 1985 vs 2013

Source: Sighing for paradise to come | The Economist Advertisements

Labour Force Statistics in OECD, 2015 – Unemployment rate by country

This annual edition of Labour Force Statistics provides detailed statistics on population, labour force, employment and unemployment, broken down by gender, as well as unemployment duration, employment status, employment by sector of activity and part-time employment. Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  OECD Labour Force Statistics 2015 – OECD Bookshop Advertisements

Literacy, Numeracy and Computer Skills – Substantial returns to ICT skills OECD finds

This paper examines which incremental increases in numeracy skills, literacy skills and skills and readiness in using ICT for problem solving have the biggest impact on employment participation and related labour market outcomes, and how these compare to incremental increases in educational attainment. Using the 2012 PIAAC data, our analysis confirms that there are significantly … Continue reading

Minimum Wage Around the World – A Chart for OECD’s 34 member countries

Supporting low-wage earners is one of the keys to promoting inclusive growth, and minimum wages are a common if sometimes controversial way of doing it. Of the 34 countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 26 have a minimum wage – 9 of which have been introduced since 1990. … Continue reading

South Africa – Needs more investment, jobs and a public employment service as a one-stop shop OECD says

Labour market reforms can raise employment and incomes. Establishing a public employment service as a one-stop shop for job seekers would make it easier for people to find jobs, and for employers to find the right workers. Costly industrial actions have held back the economy without delivering major gains to workers. To reduce conflict and … Continue reading

Vocational education and training has been neglected OECD says

“Vocational education and training has been neglected. If “strong vocational programmes increase competitiveness”, “many programmes fail to meet labour market needs” writes the OECD in LEARNING FOR JOBS: SUMMARY AND POLICY MESSAGES. The OCDE review “aims to bridge the gap between learning and jobs, by exploring how to make initial vocational education and training for … Continue reading

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3D Designer (Interiors/ Experiential Retail / Window-displays) To bring theatre to retail

East London
Salary dependant on experience
15 Feb 2018
15 Mar 2018
Contract Types
Full Time
Design Disciplines
Branding, Interior, Other, Retail
Job Functions

This is an opportunity for an experienced strong mid-weight/senior 3D Designer to join a studio who bring theatre to the retail sector; renowned for exuberant retail interiors, global window roll outs and pop-ups, they work with leading brands in creating a buzz in experiential design!

As a 3D Designer you will bring a high level of creativity to a fast paced, exciting environment where each project generates a brand led story. You will need to demonstrate experience of working with brands, ideally within the retail sector and have a keen awareness of retail trends.

Responsibilities will include:

  • Producing initial concept work and visuals
  • Detailed design development, with an understanding of manufacturing techniques and materials and research ability
  • Producing final visuals using SketchUp and Adobe Creative Suite

Projects are completed quickly in tune with client marketing activity and shop-fits; you will be involved throughout the process to implementation and reap the reward of seeing the projects go live!

Based in East London, this is a permanent role where you will be part of a highly collaborative team; working closely with the technical team, project manager and production team in delivering projects with a ‘WOW’ factor.

If you would like further detail before applying please contact Lucy on 0203 1740185 or lucy@studio.eu.com.

Please ensure that when applying that your portfolio and CV are in a pdf format.

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Achievement Support Leader - Inclusive Learning - Peterborough Regional College

Peterborough Regional College
Competitive salary
09 Mar 2018
14 Mar 2018
Contract Type
Full Time

Starting at £16,455 rising to £19,325 with experience in the role

We currently have a permanent, full time opportunity for an Achievement Support Leader (ASL) in the Inclusive Learning Team. This is an exciting opportunity to support students to achieve. The position of Achievement Support Leader is essential to ensuring timely student success.

As an Achievement Support Leader you will be responsible for supporting learning progress of the students you support, as well as delivering group tutorials/ workshops and facilitating assessment activities, alongside monitoring the effectiveness of placements and provide support to learners’ throughout their placements ensuring that College standards and expectations are met and maintained.

As an Achievement Support Leader you will have excellent communication skills, outstanding levels of customer service and be efficient in your working practice. This role requires you to set SMART targets for students and support outstanding learning outcomes, using and accessing data on pro monitor, alongside monitoring and tracking of learner attendance.

Your area of responsibility will vary so flexibility and the ability to prioritise are essential along with attention to detail.

The working hours will usually be 8.30 am to 5.00 pm from Monday to Thursday and 8.30 am to 4.30 pm on Friday. However, the working hours will vary on occasions dependent on the needs of the College. You will undertake a minimum of 1020 contact hours

The successful candidate will have a good level of education to a minimum of level 3 and at least a level 2 in English and Maths to be experienced in using IT applications and have the ability to lead and co-ordinate. Ideally you will also hold a qualification related to the support of learners, a level 3 teaching qualification and or a TAQA qualification but this is not essential as the College will support you in achieving these as part of your professional development.

You will be a motivated, self-starter with the highest level of commitment to constantly seeking new business opportunities. This is a target driven role requiring a creative person that is driven to succeed.

  • Exceptional communication skills both verbally and written are essential along with excellent presentation and negotiation skills.
  • An ability to develop the quality of the student experience that leads to outstanding outcomes
  • Experience of implementing a range of quality processes and systems within a further education environment
  • An ability to engage and motivate students to deliver high performance outcomes in a further education environment
  • Awareness and respect for colleagues, young adults and children’s cultural, religious and emotional needs and beliefs
  • Committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people

The College offers many good employment benefits including 30 days holiday entitlement plus Christmas close down (or additional payment for hourly employees), access to the Local Government Pension scheme, and many on-site benefits and facilities, including a gym and on-site nursery. This position will be based at our Peterborough Park Crescent site.

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Jobs in Bracknell

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  • HR Advisor

    • Bracknell, England
    • Up to £34000.00 per annum
    • Ashley Kate HR

    Ashley Kate HR is delighted to offer this role on behalf of our professional services client based in Bracknell, Berkshire.


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Family Keyworker

Erith (City/Town), London (Greater)
£27,600 - £32,469 plus essential car user allowance
14 Feb 2018
02 Mar 2018
Full time
Listing type
Job vacancy

Family Keyworker: Family Togetherness

Management Grouping: Children’s Services

Team: Family Wellbeing

Location: Erith Youth and Family Centre and children and family centres

Salary: £27,600 - £32,469 plus Essential Car User Allowance

Contract: Permanent – 36 hours per week

Closing Date: 2 March 2018

Job reference: ECS0000175

This specialist role forms part of the Family Wellbeing Service. You will need to be experienced in supporting families experiencing parental domestic violence, parental mental ill health, parental substance misuse and children at risk of school exclusion/permanently excluded from school to bring about positive change for them and have experience of multi-agency working to support families. You will need to have transferable skills and to work flexibly across a range of specialisms e.g. parental domestic violence, parental mental health, parental substance mis-use and children at risk of school exclusion.

Bexley has adopted Signs of Safety as it’s practice model. This strengths and solution focused ethos of working with families and colleagues is threaded throughout all areas of Children’s Social Care. As part of your role you will continue to work with and embed this practice framework. The framework is having a positive impact practice development, effective engagement with families, staff morale, and motivation across the service.

The role requires a dedicated and specialist worker who works alongside families providing both practical support and advice. Families engaged within the service will range from high complex need through to low need.

You will deliver weekly parenting drop in sessions across the borough. This is to provide advice to parents on a range of parenting issues, with a particular focus of reaching to communities, where physical chastisement is commonly used and helping them to learn disciplinary methods, which promote healthy parent child relationships. You will also provide an intensive, targeted, high quality whole-family service for Bexley families who are identified as having children and young people who are at risk of poor outcomes and/or at risk of escalating to high need statutory services.

Through the process of completing a comprehensive assessment of need, you will help families to make their own decisions about the changes they need to make, work with families to develop a SMART family plan and then support the implementation of this plan. By working in a family centred and holistic way staff will ensure improved outcomes and life chances for children and families of London Borough of Bexley (LBB).

You will be required to deliver input and training in specific areas of specialist work to colleagues and other professionals in support of the objectives of the service.

There is direct supervisory responsibility however; there may be requirement to assist in induction and training of peers and new employees.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service

What we offer

  • Career Average Revalued Earnings Pension Scheme
  • Performance Related Pay
  • 25 days Annual Leave (rising to 28 after 5 years’ service) plus Bank Holiday Entitlement
  • Annual Leave Purchase Scheme
  • An excellent working environment at our fantastic new offices
  • Opportunities for flexible working with excellent ICT facilities
  • My Choice Staff Benefit Scheme – Includes Childcare Vouchers, Cycle to Work Scheme, access to high street shopping vouchers and online discount codes.

View more about our employment deal visit our website.

About us:

Bexley is an outer London Borough with the best of both worlds, located between the hustle and bustle of London and the Garden of England, Kent. Within the borough we have award winning parks, open spaces and listed heritage sites.

The Family Wellbeing Service are based in Erith Youth and Family centre and community locations across the borough to help strengthen partnership working and bring about good outcomes for children and families.

Your Application:

  • Closing Date for your application 02 March 2018
  • Please visit our website via the button below to find out more and apply. CVs will not be accepted unless they are submitted with a completed application form.
  • Anticipated Interview date: 21 March 2018

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.

Follow us on Twitter @LBofBexley and @BexleyCareers

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Now is the time to invest in gold

Without consideration, it is obvious that gold market is depressed – severely. During the time of gold bull market, there were sayings that gold will hit and go over $2000/oz – which never happened. Prices loom around $1000/oz now and given the volatility of commodities and historic gold prices, people can see that gold price will eventually rise again.

Many gold producers are therefore significantly undervalued – world’s major gold players included. So if a strategic long-term investor is looking for some gains, the bear gold market now is the time to buy gold or invest in gold producers.

CNN came up with an interesting article regarding this – and a opinion of why gold prices are tumbling:

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Recommended Reading for Marketers – Week of 10/29/12 – 11/2/12

This was a difficult week for so many people. I wish the friends and families of everyone suffering through the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy the best and sincerely hope that the recovery is swift.

I managed to find several great reads this week despite being away on business most of the time. I spent the week digesting content on startups, content marketing, PPC, and technology. Here are some pieces I thought especially stood out you may also enjoy.

  • Why Incentives Are A Necessary Marketing Evil – I’ve always been a fan of incentive-based advertising in marketing and new data is showing that it’s proving to be more and more effective as consumers get access to new ways to tune-out advertising. I’m especially interested in how brands are incorporating it into video advertising; I seem to only actually engage with video ad pre-rolls when there is something especially compelling – and that in itself is rare. While this piece is light on data to support its claims, there are some interesting theories presented.

Continue reading

Budget-less Marketing

It seems as if for now, the dust is settling from the recent economic turmoil. Though the outlook is somewhat positive, it may be months before businesses get back on track. This means that marketing dollars are still tight and in some cases, nonexistent.

The past few months have been very difficult for the company I work for. We serve the automotive industry and have been faced with situations that have almost forced our marketing and advertising budgets to zero. This isn’t because we are cutting back, but because there just wasn’t the available capital to move forward. This put me in an interesting position and I believe it has been one of my greatest challenges to date – how  to successfully market a companies products and services with just a few penny’s in the bank. Continue reading

Good Times with VSEO

VSEO (Video Search Engine Optimization) is a  new term that has recently gain ground in the marketing community. Marketers are struggling now more than ever to get their piece of the search engine pie. With the search competition growing, and more advertising dollars being directed towards it, marketers will have to pull out all the stops to boost their site traffic via search engines. I’ve always tried to have fun with anything that I do, including the efforts I put into marketing both for myself and the company I work for. So when VSEO came about – I jumped right on it! Sites like YouTube have made VSEO efforts easier than ever; just put together the content, upload it, add a detailed description, related tags and you’re done. Continue reading


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Project Structure

WP1  Hydroacoustic and visual habitat mapping

WP2  Benthic diversity and recolonization potential

WP3  Biogeochemistry and ecosystem functioning of nodule fields

WP4  Sediment plume dilution and dispersion

WP5  Communication with stakeholders, policy makers, offshore mining industry

WP6  Data and sample management

Main objectives

  • Spatial (footprint of impact) + temporal scales of abyssal response to anthropogenic disturbances
  • Proof of concept for (rapid assessment) monitoring technology capable of defining the ecosystem status
  • Biodiversity in CCZ, long-range connectivity of species / gene exchange, role of seamounts
  • Comparative ecological, genetic, geochemical, hydrodynamic investigation between different areas in the CCZ + DISCOL
  • Communicate project results to stakeholders, policymakers (ISA:  initiate revision of regulations), industry


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Free admission, tickets can be purchased at the 2017 Jubilee in the Park. This event is also 21 and older only and features music by the group 5 live bands over the span of the day. Proceeds from the event benefit the AMMILVETS FOUNDATION.

Attendees will able to vote for a People's Choice Award of the best Florida Brewed Craft Beer. All Breweries present will make up some of the best that Southwest Florida's has to offer in the local craft brew industry.

On April 22nd our event will feature only only the most popular craft beers and will prove to the people choice in community events here in Southwest Florida, The 2017 Jubilee in the Park will be held from noon to 6 p.m. at MATLACHA COMMUNITY PARK in Matlacha, Florida.

This year’s event participants will be able to sample craft beer and vote on their personal favorites, along with event foods featured Little Joe’s Special Events Services. With more than 40+ beers to sample, for event participants at nominal ticket prices. Tickets can be purchased at the 2017 Jubilee in the Park on the day of the event. According to Keith Campbell, a member of the event's committee, you should expect to see quite a few new beers this year from the 12+ breweries attending.

In addition to beer sampling, the 2017  Jubilee in the Park features Craft Beer Festival, Classic Car Show, Free Kids Fishing Derby, and 5th Annual Redfish Shootout. This event benefit the AMMILVETS FOUNDATION programs and services funds.

Beer Ticket are priced at $1.00 / ticket.

  • 3 oz. Sample  - 1 Tickets
  • 12 oz. Full Pour  - 4 Tickets


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“Sometimes I Lie”–Review

41fsIXhitVL._SX330_BO1,204,203,200_My name is Amber Reynolds.

There are three things you should know:

1. I’m in a coma.

2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.

3. Sometimes I lie.

Amber learns she is in the hospital. She may not be able to open her eyes, let alone speak. But she can hear everything and everyone, although they have no idea. Even though she doesn’t remember how she wound up in a coma, Amber suspects her husband had something to do with it.

This story alternates from Amber’s paralyzed present, the week before the accident, and a series of childhood diary entries from 20 years ago. Every chapter leads up to the most important question: Is something really a lie if you believe it’s the truth?

I must say I did enjoy the suspense from this book, especially the chapters with the childhood diaries. Once I got to the ending, it made me wonder if the narrator was actually telling the truth or not. For those who’ve read the book, what do you think?

Feel free to post your comments. Happy reading!

Sometimes I Lie will be available on March 13, 2018.

About the author: Alice Feeney is a writer and journalist. She has spent 15 years with BBC News, where she has worked as a reporter, news editor, arts and entertainment producer, and One o’ Clock news producer. Alice is a recent graduate of the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. She has lived in London and Sydney and has now settled in the Surrey countryside, where she lives with her husband and dog. Sometimes I Lie is her debut.

“Behind Her Eyes”–Review

61gp9iiebal-_sx329_bo1204203200_David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife. But then why is David so controlling?

Louise is a single mom who has been in a rut since her divorce. One evening, at a bar, however, she meets an attractive man and they both hit it off. Even though they’d spent that evening only kissing, it was the first in a long time since Louise felt good about having someone touch her.

At the start of a new week, Louise begins her new secretary position at a psychiatrist’s office. And that’s when she meets her new boss, David: the man from the bar, who also happens to be married. Although they agree that their kiss was a mistake, neither one can stop thinking about the other.

When she least expects it, Louise bumps into Adele—David’s wife. Adele insists she’s new in town and seeking a friend. While guilt-ridden, Louise doesn’t feel right about accepting sweet Adele’s friendship.  However, the more time she spends with Adele, the more suspicious Louise becomes of Adele and David’s marriage. Adele doesn’t work.  She often appears anxious at certain hours when she’s expecting David’s phone calls. And her everyday routine is as if she has a curfew. And why is it that David never speaks of his marriage? And is David abusive, according to Adele?

While Louise struggles with her decision to tell David about her friendship with Adele, more strange behavior and secrets accumulate, putting the three of them at risk.  Because Louise constantly hears two sides to the stories, she realizes something isn’t right in this marriage and there seem to be more questions than answers. Although she’s advised to back off, Louise risks her life to get the answers she needs.

I think the storyline, itself, was pretty good. Each chapter speaks from Adele’s and Louise’s points of view, with the occasional chapters from Adele and David’s past. As for the ending, it did surprise me. To be honest, though, I’m not sure how I feel about the whole story. I didn’t love it, yet I didn’t hate it. I became curious about Adele’s plans and David’s reasons for his own behavior. Every chapter made me wonder whose side I should take. Even though there’s been a lot of hype about the ending, it just didn’t move me. But don’t let that discourage you from checking it out. You may enjoy it, perhaps.

Feel free to post your comments. Happy reading!

Behind Her Eyes will be released on January 31, 2017.

About the author: Sarah Pinborough is a critically acclaimed adult and YA author based in London. Sarah was the 2009 winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story and also the 2010 and 2014 winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella, and she has four times been short-listed for Best Novel. She is also a screenwriter who has written for the BBC and has several original television projects in development. Her next novel, Behind Her Eyes, coming for HarperFiction in the UK and Flatiron in the US (January 2017) has sold in over 20 territories worldwide and is a dark thriller about relationships with a kicker of a twist. Follow her on Twitter. You also can check out her page here.

“Behind Closed Doors”–Review

51JkXh+jrWL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_The perfect marriage?  Or the perfect lie?

Jack and Grace Angel are the ideal married couple, living in a beautiful home in England.  Jack is a successful lawyer.  Grace is beautiful and charming.  She also prepares amazing meals and always manages to stay slim.  Others want to get to know Grace more, but how can it happen with Jack always at her side?  Although Grace doesn’t work, she never seems to have time to meet friends for coffee, or anything else, for that matter.  In fact, she never answers her phone.  And why are there bars on one of the bedroom windows?

Once they’re alone, Grace goes from loving, patient wife, to a life as Jack’s prisoner.  While he remains polite and charming toward others, Jack preys on Grace’s fears.  Although there isn’t a lot of physical abuse, Jack uses verbal abuse and threats to control Grace in their home and in public.  No matter how hard Grace plots her escape, Jack is always one step ahead of her.

I won’t give away too much, but I must say this story is as suspenseful as it is scary.  Grace thought she’d married the man of her dreams, only to soon discover her husband is a psychopath.  The thought that real people who are in these kind of situations is terrible.  The abuse in the story is awful, but I had to keep reading.  In fact, I’m still thinking about the conflict.  This book may not be for those who are emotionally sensitive to this genre, but I also won’t discourage anyone from reading it.

Behind Closed Doors will be available on August 9, 2016.  As always, feel free to post your comments.  Happy reading!

*I received this copy from St. Martin’s Press, in exchange for an honest review.

About the author: B.A. Paris grew up in England, but has spent most of her adult life in France.  She has worked both in finance and as a teacher.  She has five daughters.  Behind Closed Doors is her first novel.

“Percolate”–A Review

Is there a voice inside of you that’s urging you to make changes and seek a richer, more fulfilling life?  Do you feel like you’ve been searching for something more meaningful, even if you don’t know exactly what it is?  Have no fear–“Percolate” will show you how to let your best self filter through and thrive!

I can honestly say that I did enjoy reading Percolate, by Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino.  I like how the author uses coffee as a metaphor for when it comes to making changes in your life; for example, chapters that are entitled Allow for Change to Brew, Choose a Bolder Brew, Create Your Own Best Blend, etc.

For anyone who is looking to make a change or two in life—major or minor—I’d recommend this book, especially if you’re a fan of coffee.  Throughout the book, the author talks about events in her life that caused her to make positive—albeit difficult—changes that made her the person that she is now.  Also, she talks about everyday topics and issues that we all go through and what we can do about it, including solutions to achieve happiness.

There was a particular passage in one of the chapters that caught my attention, where the author says: “When people tell me they’d be happier if they had more money or a nicer house or a multitude of explanations, I can’t help but think it’s all a disguise.  No one thing or person can make you happy; happiness is a choice from within.  These are merely excuses to not be happy in the present moment.”

I’m happy to have had the opportunity to read this book.  Check this book out and feel free to post your comments.  Happy reading!

FTC Disclosure: I received this free copy from Hay House in exchange for an honest review.  The opinions are my own and based on my own experience.

“Mother, Mother”–A Review

9780385347259_p0_v1_s260x420Meet Josephine Hurst, a mother of two beautiful daughters, an intelligent son, and her tech-guru husband, Douglas. As long as everything is under her control, Josephine’s family is picture perfect in their historical landmark home. The Hurst family couldn’t be anything below that. Keeping the entire family intact, however, isn’t an easy task for Josephine. Her controlling ways take a toll on the rest of the family when Josephine’s oldest daughter, Rose, runs away with a mysterious boyfriend. The Hurst home becomes a prison as the remaining family members continue to ask about Rose.
Tension continues to build as the youngest daughter, Violet—a Buddhist who has turned to Eastern philosophy—winds up in a psychiatric ward for her abusing hallucinogenic drugs. Violet’s brother, Will, has been diagnosed with Asperger’s. He also is homeschooled and in a world of self-doubt. The more time that he spends with his mother, the more he is unable to break free of the spell she has him under. Josephine’s husband, Douglas, is not only distant from the family, he is escaping his reality with alcohol.
Josephine does her best to keep the family struggles in the dark; however, when she receives a visit from Child Protective Services due to a violent incident, she works harder to make sure that the law is always on her side—no matter what the cost.
“Mother, Mother”—by Koren Zailckas—is a haunting story of family and a mother’s love that goes too far.
This story definitely was a nail-biter. Josephine’s character was convincing. I’d say that she’s the kind of person a reader could love to hate. She’s conniving, manipulative, and verbally abusive. Although the story didn’t end the way I’d hoped, I liked that it wasn’t too predictable. I was hoping for a little more; however, I think that it was worth reading. It was disturbing and I think that this is a great read for fans of psychological thrillers. Feel free to post your thoughts.
Happy reading!

FTC Disclosure: I received this free copy from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are based on my own experience.


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My life

I often wonder how I keep afloat.

In the past two weeks, I have been bombarded with all sorts of shit.

A real shitstorm!

So, it starts with me. Yes, my boobs aren’t real. Not ashamed. I spent 35 years having the chest of a 10 year old.

But, something wasn’t right. Come to find, that I am so muscular, that my pec muscle pushed one of my implants out of place. I can not afford to get it fixed right now. How flippin crazy is that. Only me!

Then, my brother contacts me, whom I haven’t talked to in over a year, to tell me that my dad was taken to the hospital with stroke symptoms.

He has been fighting leukemia for nearly two decades and has had many complications along the way. He also has had to have various melanoma removed from his skin.

In the same breath as telling me about my dad, my brother informs me that my only grandmother I had left died back in November from a stroke, and NOBODY told me.

Jesus Christ!

Wait, it gets better.

My ex husband decided that because of the incident with my fiance, he is now taking me to court for full custody.

How haven’t I broken down by now?

My girls are always safe. An isolated incident. A huge wake up call for him as well as I. We are both going to counseling together because we realize the problems are greater than us.

We are getting help, and he wants to take my girls away from me. He is a monster, and I hope he realizes the hatred he is going to create, not only from me, but from the girls. Especially my oldest.

Nobody fears my fiance. We all realize here that he has a problem. We all want to give him a chance because we love him.

I don’t even know how I am going to be able to pay for representation.

I am a great mom. Not conceited. Just honest. Todd is a great father figure, that I know those girls don’t get over there since he is always at work.

So, here I sit in a state of numbness. Not knowing what to do and how to feel. Talk about sending your anxiety into overdrive. I think now I can also include some depression.

How have I not crumbled yet? Seriously!

One thought on “My life

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Annicka is contestant in Kaboutjie baby competition. Please vote for Annicka and share this post with your friends on social networks by clicking buttons on right side!

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