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Showing posts with label Coral. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coral. Show all posts

January 19, 2012

Old Band Related Photos From My Personal Collection

Hot Water Music + Strike Anywhere.

This is Bob Schick (Honor Role / Coral / Dynamic Truths) and photographer Chrissy Piper in 2000. (Hollywood Cemetery)

Chrissy shooting Hot Water Music in Oregon Hill, RVA, 2000.

Hot Water Music under a train trestle in RVA, 2000.

Thomas Barnett of Strike Anywhere hanging out with Hot Water Music on their photo shoot in RVA, 2000.

Chuck R looking over Hot Water Music pictures.

September 17, 2011

Final Notes on the Bob Schick Show Are Now Posted!

I added them to my last post so everything (download links, set list link, and additional song info) would be all in one place. Go here to read them.

September 11, 2011

Missed My Interview with Bob Schick of Honor Role?

Fret no more, you can download the whole two hours right here.

The tracklisting for the show can be found here.

Here is another download. It is a continuous mix of the songs we didn't have time to play. There is about 30 minutes of music total and Bob promises to write up a few notes about why he picked these songs as being highly influential to him.

Fiction Romance    4:34    Buzzcocks    Operator's Manual
Not Superstitious    4:19    Leatherface    Mush
I Just Want To Have Something To Do    2:42    Ramones    Road To Ruin
Poison    2:56    Motörhead -    Bomber
Psychedelic Warlords    4:54    Hawkwind    Spirit of the Age - An Anthology 1976-1984
Perspective    3:29    Peter Gabriel    Peter Gabriel 2: Scratch (Remastered)
Tam Lin    7:12    Fairport Convention    Liege And Lief
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight    3:09    Richard+ Linda Thompson    The Best Of Richard And Linda Thompson

And here is a note from Bob Schick himself about this last batch of songs.

Motorhead "Poison" is an early song with a ferocious vocal & a couple of interesting lyrics about drug damage & Lemmy's feeling for his father.
Hawkwind 'Psychedelic Warlords" My all time favorite badass band. More unhinged than Motorhead & it oozes menace.
Peter Gabriel "Perspective" This is a record I heard in the record store one morning in 1978 & was like nothing I'd heard before. I found it really intriguing(sp?) I took it home & listened to it over & over. At the time I was mostly listening to Rush, U.F.O., Aerosmith & some Beatles. It is a varied  record  & along with his third album always impresses me with its emotional depth. I love those two albums & am still moved by his empathy. I have respect for  him both as a performer & for his record label Realworld.

Fairport Convention "Tam Lin" I love the way Richard Thompson's guitar uses dissonance in the midst of very pretty folk music & Sandy Denny's lilting voice. A great combination of elements that maybe shouldn't go together but create a cohesive & stunning whole.
Richard & Linda Thompson "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" Again Richard's guitar is fantastic, Linda's voice is so pure & the brass band helps create a perfect atmosphere. The lyrics are excellent as well. They paint such a vivid picture, you can almost see it. I've loved their music ever since I first heard it when Petey played it at Plan 9 nearly 30 years ago. How it fits in with my singing, I can't say for certain, but I know I've tried to create an atmosphere that can bring the songs to life.
        In conclusion, I want to thank Tracy & Kenny for putting this show together. I've had a wonderful time. I am also aware that I would not have had a chance to be on the show if it wasn't for each of the members of all the bands I was lucky enough to be part of. Thanks guys. If you know me, I hope you think of me who doesn't like to talk about myself, in general I try to be modest. Listening to me or reading these notes, I would like you to know that I do not think of myself as being talented or special, I just do what I do. But Since Tracy asked me, I'm privilaged to talk about music that has moved me. My hope is that it might impress someone that may have heard a band that they wish to investigate further. Or even just bring back memories.
                               Take Care,
                                    Bob Schick

September 7, 2011

September 8th, 2011 : Cause & Effect : Bob Shick of Honor Role / Coral / Dynamic Truths /

Initially I had planned this blog post to say just say this.

"10 years ago I moved to Richmond, VA and what better way to celebrate than to have my favorite RVA vocalist of all time doing a Cause & Effect show with me!

Bob Schick, singer of the legendary band Honor Role / Coral / Dynamic Truths will be my guest for the full two hours of Cause & Effect. We will be playing the music that changed his life, his favorite tracks from the bands he has played in, and talking about his life as both an artist and a music fan.

Tune in and help me celebrate not only Richmond but one of the finest artists to have come out of this city.

WRIR - Thursday 7PM to 9PM EST- Sept 8th, 2011, 97.3 on your dial for locals and go to WRIR to stream the show live."

But then I got hit by a car last week as I was trying to cross the street and my whole life changed. The good news is I am still here to do a radio show and now Bob and I have even more to celebrate as he too is a survivor on a whole different level. (More about that on air)

I could be wrong but I don't think Bob Schick has been interviewed on a radio station in a decade - maybe longer? Because none of the bands he was in are active today he hasn't done many interviews in a long period time either so this two hour radio show is truly a special occasion. We have a lot to talk about, much ground to cover between his bands and the music he picked for the show. Ryan Adams, Bob Nastanovich from Pavement, Mac from Superchunk, and Mr. Rocket from the Crypt himself John Reis are just a small sample of the creative giants who all worship the bands of Bob Schick, did you know that? Well, it is true and what better way to find out why than to spend two hours listening to Cause & Effect.

We are blessed with a local radio station and a city that offers a platform to share his story as a gifted artist (cult legend!), husband, and father, not to mention his impeccable taste in music. Bob isn't just a musician he is a musicologist in his own right (and a wickedly opinionated one at that). This is a show not to be missed and I hope when WRIR has our fund drive in a few weeks and you have to ask yourself during these tough financial times if donating to the station is worth it, you will think of the special programming we bring the community, one of a kind shows and listening experiences like this one.

And for those of you who think you know Bob - I think there will be plenty of surprises for you to. (okay maybe not you Trinko....but for everyone else ;) His song choices I think will shock a lot of you!I personally can't wait to understand how Fairport Convention and Son House fit in.

Wait until the 36 second mark! This was said in front of a large theater of people at Matador 21 in Las Vegas last year by Bob from Pavement.

August 10, 2010

Shameless Self Promotion : Honor Role / Coral Fans Take Note ! ! !

Years in the making, the Dynamic Truths LPs are finally done and for sale at this very instant here. For those of you who have been living in the dark, I run a record label called Little Black Cloud and this is the first time I have pressed an LP on the label. My other releases, Ringfinger and Cinemasophia, were on CD only so this is an exciting first for me.

Don't know who the Dynamic Truths are? Check out this review.

Here is a tasty little sample of what Jordan from Dusted has to say:

"Categorizing Dynamic Truths as a simplistic update of Thatcher-era British angularities is also fairly misleading. Despite its deliberately stiff rhythms and gloomy minor-key melodies, the band touches equally on jangling, New Zealand-style pop and on unmistakably American tension inherited from ‘80s and ‘90s post-hardcore bigwigs Honor Role (fronted by Schick), Fudge (featuring guitarist David Jones) and Coral (with Schick and drummer Bill Walker). From 1996 through their split in 2000, these three indie veterans, along with a series of bassists (including Honor Role alum Chip Jones) and second guitarists, created music that went unnoticed by all but the sharpest area scenesters"

For a more complete back story on the band go here.


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materials-clamps latvia

Home » materials-clamps latvia

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Orguss Mini Sofubi
© Ray "AcroRay" Miller

Orguss Mini Sofubi

Just for fun, my Orguss mini vinyl figures.

© Ray "AcroRay" Miller
From the album:

My Macross Collection

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Our Approach

Our Approach

For nearly thirty years our partners have researched, analyzed, traded and invested in global macro markets.

Throughout macroeconomic data has been a key input into formulating our expectations for asset price movements across markets. This is common for macro investors.

Over the last fifteen years our partners have developed (and continuously reengineer) a technology that systematically transforms macroeconomic data across developed and emerging markets into tradable economics. This is not common.

  • We visualize big picture macro themes by assembling relevant, cleaned, and curated macroeconomic data.

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Tradable economics - unlike market prices - directly informs economic activity. They can be simple time series, official releases or advanced indicators. Economic data becomes tradable through intuitive transformations, high quality controls, deploying point-in-time timestamps and applying strict out-of-sample estimation and construction decisions. [For more information on tradable economics, see
Systemic Risk and Systematic Value Project.]


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MinMax Games has released Space Pirates and Zombies for Mac OS X. It costs US$4.99 (for a limited time) and is available at http://macte.ch/CyD7Z .

Here’s how the game is described: “At its core, Space Pirates and Zombies is an action based, skill oriented, top down space combat game.  It’s similar to the ones we knew and loved in years past, but now using full physics simulation and modern graphics for those oh so pretty explosions.  But as you dig deeper, SPAZ becomes much more. ”

In Space Pirates and Zombies, you fight zombie infestations across the stars. The game features 33 ships, 70 unique components, and a physics-based combat system.


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‘Salami Slicing’ Found in Analyses of Antipsychotic Trials

Evidence of duplicate publishing in articles analyzing data from clinical trials testing second-generation antipsychotics for depression

Shannon Peters

A new study, published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, examines the prevalence of duplicate publications, or ‘salami slicing,’ in analyses of second-generation antipsychotic trials for depression. The results of the systematic review show widespread duplicate publishing and author financial conflicts of interest. The researchers, led by Glen Spielmans, professor of psychology at Metropolitan State University of Minnesota, write:

“Clinical trials serve as the bedrock of a publication strategy, yielding papers which are often widely cited, followed by secondary analyses, cumulatively providing the impression of a massive database of scientific support. Yet the decidedly overlapping nature of many secondary analyses suggests that the quantity of published analyses focusing on a drug does not offer a reasonable proxy for a drug’s actual efficacy or safety.”

Photo Credit: Flickr

The researchers describesalami slicing’ as the practice of “publishing separate, yet similar pieces of a dataset in multiple papers.” They explain that this type of duplicate publication “can distort the medical literature by making a drug appear strongly supported based on the sheer volume of publications analyzing clinical trial data.” Pharmaceutical companies often pay “key opinion leaders” to author these publications in order to lend credibility to the article and market their drugs.

Many have critiqued the practice of salami slicing when it involves multiple publications from a single study. However, less attention has been paid to salami slicing that involves pooled analyses, where researchers combine results from multiple clinical trials into one large analysis. To address this, the researchers analyzed pooled analyses for clinical trials studying the efficacy of second-generation antipsychotics for depression.

The researchers identified 43 articles, 38 of which were funded by the pharmaceutical industry. Almost 90% of the authors of these articles had financial conflicts of interest, such as being an employee of the company that manufactures the drug being studied or receiving financial support from the pharmaceutical industry. Only two articles were independent of industry funding and had no authors with conflicts of interest. Thirty-four of the articles that were industry sponsored reported using a medical writer, who are often paid by industry and used to speed up the publication process.

Results show strong evidence of salami slicing as “several such analyses did not address unique research questions and/or provided very thin slices of data.” For example, at least 9 pooled analyses were written based on the same seven studies. In addition, 21 of the articles only reported on data from one or two clinical trials, a small number given that pooled analyses are designed to combine a large amount of data from multiple trials.

The researchers state, “We found that many pooled analyses regarding SGAs [second-generation antipsychotics] in the treatment of depression show substantial overlap. Overall, the included analyses could have been presented in a much smaller number of publications without losing valuable information.”

Antipsychotics are widely used as an adjunctive treatment for depression despite their significant side effects and a lack of clear evidence that they improve quality of life. Therefore, it is concerning that pharmaceutical industry may be artificially inflating the research literature on the efficacy of these medications for depression. The researchers write:

“Pharmaceutical companies design clinical trials, own the raw data from the trials, and analyze trial data. Through their own employees and/or contracted writers, drug firms greatly influence both the initial journal articles describing clinical trial results and a myriad of subsequent post hoc and pooled analyses.”

The authors caution against “marketing-based medicine,” as opposed to evidence-based medicine. They call for journal editors and peer reviewers, in addition to authors themselves, to end the practice of salami slicing.

Spielmans, G. I., Olson, S., & Keicher, R. M. (2017). “Salami slicing” in pooled analyses of second-generation antipsychotics for the treatment of depression. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 86(3), 171-172. doi:10.1159/000464251 (Abstract)

  1. It is highly likely that a “depressed” person seeing a psychiatrist will be taking an antidepressant. Adding an antipsychotic, to an antidepressant, is already medically known (by all doctors with brains) to create “psychosis,” via anticholinergic toxidrome.

    “The symptoms of an anticholinergic toxidrome [can] include blurred vision, coma, decreased bowel sounds, delirium, dry skin, fever, flushing, hallucinations, ileus, memory loss, mydriasis (dilated pupils), myoclonus, psychosis, seizures, and urinary retention. Complications include hypertension, hyperthermia, and tachycardia. Substances that may cause this toxidrome include the four “anti’s of antihistamines, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and antiparkinsonian drugs[3] as well as atropine, benztropine, datura, and scopolamine.” From:

    But we already know the psychiatric industry does not know this (they would be the doctors without brains, or ethics), since the DSM recommended treatments for “bipolar” include combining the antidepressants and antipsychotics. So anticholinergic toxidrome, which should be included in the DSM but is NOT, induced “psychosis” will almost always be misdiagnosed by psychiatrists as one of the billable DSM disorders.

    For this reason it is highly likely adding an antipsychotic to an antidepressant will do substantially more harm, than good, to a “depressed” person. Of course, this also means most “bipolar” patients are actually dealing with an iatrogenic illness, as opposed to a “genetic” illness.

  2. This is absolutely ridiculous. And yet, I am not the least bit surprised. “Depression” is still a very lucrative market, even though it seems that the emphasis until recently was on expanding “Bipolar Disorder” to include more and more people, who could then be prescribe more and more psychiatric drugs.

    I don’t think the psychiatrists alone are to blame for this. I forget the exact percentage, but the bulk of psych drug prescriptions are written by non-specialists. Family doctors, general practitioners, etc. certainly know that neuroleptics are very serious drugs with very serious adverse effect profiles, but many of them have chosen to dispense Latuda and friends to their patients as “treatment.” My best guess is that a lot of these unfortunate patients are female. A number of people who are given the neuroleptics have their “treatment” covered by Medicare or Medicaid, which brings in race and social class issues, also.

    I find it strange that the neuroleptics–which have long been known to cause intense misery (“neuroleptic-induced dysphoria,” akathisia, etc.)–are now being pushed on people who are so sad that they have been labaled with “depression.” It seems that these modern marvels don’t work all that well, either, which goes to show (once again…) the power of Big Pharma $$$ and “experts” to drive up drug costs, expose lots of people to unnecessary risks, and damage peoples’ lives, all to treat an “illness” that has yet to show up on brain scans, blood work, or even careful inspection at autopsy.

    • Latuda is a frightening drug and I can’t believe it hasn’t been withdrawn. I’ve been off of it for more than a year now and I still struggle with temperature dysregulation on hot days. I suppose I’ll be lucky if that’s the worst lingering side/withdrawal effect from the many years of medications but I can’t believe it’s casually accepted. Especially given that the antidepressant effects of the drug quickly wear off, leading to massive dosages in attempts to chase the normal feeling. I’d call it the nastiest drug I’ve ever taken and the effects from it are what finally put me over the edge into the antipsychiatry camp. I’ll continue my one-woman crusade to call these drugs out as absolutely nothing more than poisons.

  3. In studies of the second-generation “antipsychotic” drug (dis)Abilify, 25% of trial participants experienced akathisia after they started taking Abilify.

    “The most commonly observed adverse reactions (incidence greater than or equal to 5 percent and at least twice the incidence of placebo plus ADT) associated with the use of adjunctive ABILIFY were akathisia (25 percent vs 4 percent), restlessness (12 percent vs 2 percent) […]”

    Except restlessness is the hallmark feature of akathisia. I assume that the people with akathisia didn’t get a separate diagnosis of restlessness. That would be like diagnosing 25% with headache and 12% with pain in the cranium. So it’s possible that 37% suffered with akathisia, but some of them were labeled “restless” because it sounded better.

    Is there a black box warning for akathisia?

    If anything other than a “psychiatry” drug caused it, would the drug be approved?

    PS I’ve been putting “mental health” in quotation marks for a long time, and I rarely type the letters m-e-d-i-c-a-t-i-o-n in the order. From now on, “psychiatry” and related words will be in quotation marks, too.

    It works very well:

    I went to a psychiatrist and she said…
    I went to a “psychiatrist” and she said…

  4. Why isn’t there a TV series, long running, about a brave, humane, kind psychologist who works in a clinic and tries to help people by talking with them about their fears and sadness? The brave psychologist could be the hero of the piece and he or she could also try to help the patients and inmates by getting them off of psychotropic drugs? There could be villains — psychiatrists who push drugs and ECT, and there could be romance (between psychologists, psychiatrists, and even patients/clients). It could be an ensemble series, sort of like The Good Wife, that ran 7 seasons. There could be plenty of drama, and there could be more than one hero/heroine. Maybe such a series could help publicize and further the idea of the need for change in the practice of psychiatry and mental hospitals. Of course, the series would need excellent actors and high production values, which would mean it would need much money. And I am sure big Pharma would not sponsor it.

    There could even be retrospective episodes to past decades or even historical eras: one history I remember reading was about a woman who had been institutionalized for over 30 years for psychosis and depression. Finally someone thought to do a blood workup and discovered she had extreme hypothyroidism and no one had ever thought to test her. Of course, when she was originally hospitalized, there were no blood tests for thyroid levels. All the pain and anguish modern psychiatry has caused needs to be publicized, even in a commercial product, like a TV series.

    • “…when she was originally hospitalized there was no blood work done to test her thyroid levels.” This has actually happened to me on more than one occasion.

      It will never make a TV series. Whether Welton is serious or not, it would never make it past the panel of Big Pharma sponsors. Not only would they refuse to run Effexor commercials during the program (duh!) they would most likely threaten to take their business elsewhere.

      If there were hope for such a series it might consist of a bunch of comic sketches presented on YouTube or Vimeo. Sort of like The Onion.

      Nowadays such a production can be very low budget. If anyone else wanted to try this kind of thing, I can write the screenplays. Of course we also need actors, technicians, video editors, director, producer, etc.


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Brad Venter, our Flight Operations Manager shares about some airstrip surveys conducted in January 2021:
We’ve been doing Morobe Province surveys the last couple of days. We did three surveys a couple of days ago and went to Bungawat, Yawan and Tapmange. We also did a resurvey at Sapmanga to check the clearway after the community reported that they had cut them down.

The following day we did surveys in Indagen, Isan and Satwag, we were planning to survey Saidor but it was raining. We are trying to get airstrips surveyed and open in the Morobe Province so that we can start clinic runs in partnership with the Etap Lutheran hospital and also provide service to the people in Morobe Province.

Everywhere we go, the people are very excited to see us. In fact, on one day, we were given 26 cabbages by various communities. We shared them out with the Goroka base staff and the Goroka compound families and all our security guards. Glenys Watson was flying with me. She will be one of our main Morobe Province pilots. Communities are incredibly excited to see the “meri pilot”, in fact at Indagen, she had a major reception and they were all so happy to see her and that gives us a great deal of reassurance that when she starts flying around solo, she’ll be fine and that the communities will look after her.

It’s been really good for these communities to see us coming back again and that we haven’t forgotten about them. We keep telling them we’re talking with the Morobe government, and that we are just working on it slowly. We are going to try and get a program going a little bit by a little bit and that, yes, we as MAF are still interested in coming back to the Finisterres.

There is still a lot of work to do because there are many more airstrips to survey. Satwag is the furthest airstrip on the Huon Peninsula that we’ve been to so far. Beyond that, we have no Caravan experience in that area.

Additional surveys were conducted in the Simbu Province and Southern Highlands. We surveyed Mt Tawa (pictured), Appa, Woposali, and Aue. These communities had not seen an aircraft in nearly one year. On one day alone, we flew 3 medevacs as there were people in these communities that needed urgent medical attention.


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• Captain Keegan

January 15, 2020

First fishing report of the new year! Was nice and warm down here on the lake today - about 55 degrees - so thought I would get out to do a bit of fishing. Water temperature dropped a bit after all the rain we got this past week (lake came up about 4') and was around 48 degrees where I was. Tried some shallow and deep presentations. Ended up with a couple of very nice fish around some balls of bait in and around docks in the back of coves. Appears the bait is starting to move towards the back of the creeks and most of the bait is moving very slow as we approach the shad kill. Easy ambush for hungry bass. Had a 4 lb largemouth and a 4 lb smallmouth, both on a jigging spoon.

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How To Design an Obeya For Lean Performance Management
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How To Design an Obeya For Lean Performance Management

Wed Jun 14 2017
By: Mike P

Obeya’s have taken over the manufacturing landscape over the course of the past few years. This spin on the traditional war room emphasizes the importance of breaking down communication barriers that typically arise from a disconnect between workforce and upper-management. Derived from the Japanese term for “big room,” an Obeya is a dedicated space that uses visual communication tools to provide teams with a dedicated space to address problem-solving issues and present a big picture look and the status of an entire facility. Originally designed as an isolated space away from the production, manufacturers have increasingly begun implementing the concept onto the shop floor. For manufacturers that have done their homework, an Obeya is a powerful resource the gels seamlessly with process improvement, but manufacturers that believe an Obeya is just a set of walls and some whiteboards will be sadly mistaken; there’s more to an Obeya than just creating a room. Luckily, if you don’t know where to start, we’ve got you covered. Below you’ll find a list of some essential practices that manufacturers should be sure to follow when designing an Obeya for their factory. covered. Below you’ll find a list of some essential practices that manufacturers should be sure to follow when designing an Obeya for their factory.

Determine Your Intention
Before building an Obyea of your own, the first thing any manufacturer has to be able to identify is the purpose of the room itself. In a general sense, the purpose of an Obeya will always be to enhance communication, but manufacturers have to get into specifics of the problem itself. Whiteboards and charts can only get you so far without context and intent. Is your Obeya going to be used for problem solving on a specific process in your supply-chain, or used as a centralized hub for shipping and receiving? Ideally, you want to be able to walk into an Obeya and instantly understand what is being tracked and measured.

Keep It Close To Home
An Obeya should be as close as possible to the project or process that is of focus. It’s all a part of adding a sense of relevancy to your workspace. The last thin you want to do is to confuse your team and lose focus on the project at hand—after all, the entire point of an Obeya is to maintain and improve focus.

Think About Utility
People—myself included—often refer to an Obeya as a room, but in actuality, an Obeya can take the shape of any location. Rather than focus on the shape or location of an Obeya, adopters should be more concerned with making sure the environment can facilitate the entirety of your team. The focus of building an Obeya should be on three things: tools, people, and space. Without the proper visuals, your Obeya will be unable to reflect the focus of your project—not to mention your team will be left entirely in the dark. You want to be sure to incorporate tools that encourage communication, track changes as they happen, and highlight areas of improvement when possible. Above everything else that goes into designing an Obeya, consideration should primarily focus on how the room will fulfill its intended purpose. No one Obeya is the same; when it comes to creating an Obeya for your factory, it’s important to keep in mind that design and utility will vary based on your team needs.

Use a Customer-First Approach
There’s a fine line of distinction when it comes to what exactly classifies as an Obeya. You can’t just find yourself an empty room, throw in a few whiteboards and then: voilà, you’ve created an Obeya. Sure, at the very least, an Obeya can be interpreted as an open room that’s purpose is to improve communication, but even then it depends upon the context of how it’s being used to solve problems. If the room you’re using for an Obeya has all the necessary tools in place but is mainly used for internal communication problems, then that’s not an Obeya. An Obeya should be used for solving issues that affect the customer. The room itself should encompass a problem and its components while providing individuals with milestones and solutions to help remedy the situation. An Obeya is not just a room guided by conversation; instead, an Obeya is a room and materials that start a conversation.
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This bug was fixed in the package util-linux - 2.34-0.1ubuntu2.3

util-linux (2.34-0.1ubuntu2.3) eoan; urgency=medium

  * d/p/lsblk-force-to-print-PKNAME-for-partition.patch: fix regression
    that lsblk doesn't print PKNAME column for partitions (LP: #1862846)

 -- Mauricio Faria de Oliveira <>  Thu, 20 Feb 2020
11:13:53 -0300

** Changed in: util-linux (Ubuntu Eoan)
       Status: Fix Committed => Fix Released

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  Crash and failure installing focal

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You can now place your classified advertisement online and within minutes it will go live on our website. Write your classified advertisement in the Comment Section at the foot of the "Bargains of the Day" article providing us with your name and email address and once the advertisement text is complete just send it us, using the SEND option. We will reply to you and give you a costing and then you pay via credit card. The minimum ten 10 word classified costs 4.36€ incl. VAT and you can also send us a photograph. FIRST WEEK FREE OF CHARGE! For each day you place your advert you will receive a free lineage insertion in the printed version.

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BUYING, SELLING or letting a property on the islands? Look out for our special property section on Saturdays. If you wish to include your advert in this section please call 971-788405.

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Tag: fragrance diffuser

Want It: Fragrance Diffusers

Luxury scented candles are always a nice gift for yourself or for a friend.  And there are a lot of amazing brands that make them. And although I like candles, lately I’ve been wanting to get myself a fragrance diffuser.

These look really chich and sophisticated and I assume they have a subtle and pleasant scent. These should also last for a long time.

Cochine Reed Diffuser Vietnamese Rose & Delentii, £49 from zuneta.com

“This beautiful fragrance evokes the lush floral scents that infuse the sun-filled streets and gardens of Saigon. White petals of Jasmine, Gardenia and Peony combine to unfold an enchanting aura that is soft yet elegant.”

After browsing online for some time I’ve found several that I loved and one of them you can see above. I would also love to try the Jonathan Ward London diffusers which should be out in summer.

And what do you think? Would you get a fragrance diffuser or you think this is more suitable for a salon? Maybe you like home sprays instead?


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About The Firm

Our practice covers all state and federal courts, including bankruptcy courts, in the entire Western Region of the United States and multiple jurisdictions throughout the country.

Our attorneys also specialize in the following jurisdictions:
We are actively expanding our practice to include every jurisdiction in the United States.

Click here for our multiple areas of practice.


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Archive for November, 2008

The Republican party does not believe women can lead!!

The Republican party does not believe women can lead and here is another example, the election was not even a day old and the GOP is already throwing Sarah Palin under the bus. I told several people this would happen once McCain lost because they only chose her as VP to capture the Hillary voters ( The prime example that McCain is a bad decision maker). The main reason is the GOP will put a woman on the ticket when the other party has a minority to try to capture votes but they will never let a woman lead the ticket. At least not anytime soon, look for the accusations to fly left and right over the next couple weeks, cause isn’t mudslinging the GOP way?

Sarah Palin ‘did not know Africa was a continent’, say aides

Sarah Palin spent “tens of thousands” more than the quoted $150,000 on clothes for the Republican campaign, met McCain aides in her hotel room dressed in nothing but a towel, and did not know Africa was a continent, according to new reports.

Fox news has reported that Mrs Palin did not understand that Africa was a continent, not a country, and did not know what countries were in the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In separate claims made in the latest issue of Newsweek magazine, the Republican vice presidential nominee was reported to have been told to buy three suits for the Republican convention, and to hire a stylist. Instead, she went on a spending spree in upmarket stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

Quoting unnamed sources within the McCain camp, the magazine alleges that most of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who “was shocked when he got the bill.”

An angry aide described the shopping spree as “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast”, and predicted that the truth would eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

The magazine also claimed that Mrs Palin used low ranking staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards, and that up to $40,000 was spent on clothes for her husband Todd.

A number of articles of clothing have been lost, the magazine states.

The disclosures are made in “How He Did It, 2008”, in Newsweek’s Special Election Project, a behind-the-scenes account of the presidential election produced the day after the polls closed.

The magazine also claims that at the GOP convention in St. Paul, when aides Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her, Ms Palin walked into the room wearing only a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat to Todd, adding: “I’ll be just a minute.”

Other election revelations include that on the night Hillary Clinton officially lost the Democratic nomination, she enjoyed a long and friendly phone conversation with McCain.

“Clinton was actually on better terms with McCain than she was with Obama,” reports the magazine. “Clinton and McCain had downed shots together on Senate junkets; they regarded each other as grizzled veterans of the political wars and shared a certain disdain for Obama as flashy and callow. “


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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Posted by Mala at 12:00:00 AM 4 comments
Sometime ago, I posted Bhindi masala. Suddenly I realised, I have forgotten to share the recipe of this simple, awesome, soft, green Vendakka curry...this is my m-i-l's special curry...learnt it from her. So simple, yet awesome...all kids love this friends used to keep their fingers on their noses asking how only my Vendakka curry is so green and soft......
There are few more recipes of Okra/bhindi/vendakka in the bucket list...wait patiently...
Please check my Glossary for any unknown terms.

Okra/bhindis - 1/4 kg, washed, wiped and cut
Salt to taste

To season
Gingely oil - 2 tsps
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Hing/asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Split urad dhal - 1 1/2 tsps
Red chillies - 2-3, broken
Curry leaves a few

Recipe Cuisine: South Indian; Category: Lunch / Dinner
Prep time: 5 mts; Cooking time: 15 mts

Serves 2

Cut okras

Seasoning done in a kadai

The cut okras and curry leaves added

Now, turmeric powder and salt

Mix well

Sprinkle some water, flames on the lowest, cover with a lid

5 minutes later, open and stir

Serve with extremely tasty curry with sambar or rasam.

This post first appeared in

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This is why straight men sometimes seek out gay sex.

Here’s a trend that has a lot of people confused. On dating sites and apps there’s a growing new category:  gay men seeking sex with straight men. Or straight men seeking sex with gay men.

In America, there are reportedly more than three million men who identify as straight – but secretly have sex with other men.

A recent piece on explored this trend, pointing out that 10 per cent of ‘male seeking male’ ads, were asking for men who did not identify as gay or bi. On top of this, 24 per cent of ‘male seeking male’ ads were actually posted by men who were not gay or bi.

So why do straight men sometimes seek out gay sex?

Therapist Joe Kort, speaking to Salon, said that it wasn’t necessarily because these men are closeted or actually bisexual. Instead, he theorised that men merely enjoy how easy it was to get this type of sex.

Many people become confused about this because they think these men are gay or at least bi because they are hooking up with other men… But these men are not attracted to the men, they are attracted to the quick and easy sex that doesn’t involved social skills or getting to know one another.

Another reason straight men might seek out gay sex, is because they feel more freedom to engage in more unusual sexual practices. Kort continued:

For many of these guys, they say it is opportunity for sexual release and they can engage in more kinky and fetish-type sexual acts that they cannot readily find amongst women.

Kort added that for those coupled-up, straight dudes out there seeking gay sex, they were more comfortable with the concept, as they didn’t see it as cheating. If “it is with another man and not a woman”, many men think it doesn’t count.

On the other hand, why are gay men seeking out straight males for sex? In this instance, Kort theorises that it has to do with power relations, saying that “internalised homophobia” might have something to do with it.

“They seek out the privileged male, which is usually the straight man, and gives them the illusion that they are accepted by the type of male who usually rejects us,” Kort says.

straight to gay
According to experts, “internalised homophobia” might have something to do with it. (Image via iStock)

Joe Kort has previously written for The Huffington Post about why he doesn’t necessarily categorise men who have sex with other men as gay – even though that is a controversial position to take. However, Kort feels that he is respecting how how patients self-identify – if they don’t feel the need to classify themselves as gay or bi, why should he?

Kort explains that, “The truth is that many men who have sex with men aren’t gay or even bisexual. Although their mental and emotional state resembles that of the initial stages of coming out, gay and bisexual men go on to develop a gay or a bisexual identity, whereas these men don’t.”

Tristan Taormino at Village Voice conducted a series of interviews with straight men who have sex with other men, and asked them about their motivations.

Mike – a 44-year-old married man – said that he liked the male bonding aspect of having sex with other men, and that “It’s just less complicated than with women. We’re both there for sex, and that’s it.”

Thirty-five-year-old John was dating several women at the time of the interview, echoed this sentiment, saying, “There are less emotional complications for me. Many men will do things some women will not, and many men give better oral sex. I think men will exercise their hunger for sex and not deny that they are horny more so than women. They feel comfortable sexually bonding.”

Regardless of whether you think that straight men can have sex with other men, without being secretly bisexual or gay – straight is how these men self-identify.

Which raises complex questions when it comes to communicating sexual health messages to them about safe sex. How do you talk to men about gay sex when they don’t identify with being gay?

What do you think:  Can people have sex with a member of their own gender, without being gay or bisexual?


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Patch Repository

VLC Media Player Patch Details
Patch Name vlc-2.2.8-win32.exe
Patch Description Update for VLC Media Player (2.2.8)
Bulletin Id TU-021
Bulletin Title VLC Media Player Updates
Severity Important
Location Path vlc-2.2.8-win32.exe
Bulletin Summary This update can be applied to x86 and x64 Operating System.
Superceding Bulletin Id 307112
Patch Release Date Dec 4, 2017

Affected Product Information

Product Name Service Pack Name
VLC Media PlayerVLC Media Player

Disclaimer: This webpage is intended to provide you information about patch announcement for certain specific software products. The information is provided "As Is" without warranty of any kind. The links provided point to pages on the vendors websites. You can get more information by clicking the links to visit the relevant pages on the vendors website.


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It’s happening. They’re finally releasing the long-awaited Zack Snyder cut.

Justice League, when released back in 2017, was met with disappointing reactions. Critics pointed out flaws in the film, quite harshly, and nobody can forget that Superman CGI debacle. But Snyder was always vocal about the film not turning out how we wanted and that he had a lot more footage that could enhance the movie experience. And that was it, fans started flooding social media with demands for the release of the Snyder cut. After years of demanding, fans finally got what they wanted.

Director Zack Snyder announced the news on a live Q&A Wednesday, following a virtual screening of his Henry Cavill-led Superman film Man of Steel.

Now all we can do is wait patiently, and hope the Snyder cut will meet the expectations we have with this special release.


text: Pink Lady® growers make a contractual commitment, through integrated fruit production charters. This cultivation method, which protects the environment, combines conventional practices with natural solutions from organic farming: – The orchards are observed constantly, using software to monitor the trees, the soil’s water requirements and the climate; – Biodiversity and a natural balance are maintained through grassy fields, hedges and birdhouses in the orchards; – Priority is given to natural methods of tree protection, such as using natural predators, for instance, ladybirds, against aphids, and the mating disruption pest management technique; – Any other measures, such as applying synthetic products, are kept to a strict minimum and used as a last resort and in case of absolute necessity.


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Manzanillo Sun October 2010 cover

April 2011

  In this issue: General Interest Calendar of Events – April 2011 Letters to the Editor Office Bytes – Adjusting Font Size – Viavian Molick The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society – Tommy Clarkson History Streets of Manzanillo – Juan Escutia – Terry Sovil Catholic Missions in Mexican and Latin America – David FritzPatrick […]

Continue reading

Ken Kesey In Manzanillo

By Terry Sovil from the April 2011 Edition With the Merry Pranksters “I am in the ocean, doing nothing, just bobbing.” Kenneth Elton Kesey, September 17, 1935 to November 10, 2001, was a novelist, a psychedelic notable of the counter-culture and leader of the Merry Pranksters. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation […]

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The Missions

By David Fitzpatrick from the April 2011 Edition The Catholic Missions in Mexico and other parts of Latin America The early Spanish colonizers of Latin America considered it important to establish a permanent, functioning, European style community as quickly as possible. Since the introduction of European Spaniards in sufficient numbers seemed difficult, if not impossible, […]

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True Confessions of a Casting Director

By Marci Liroff

What did you do for your career this week? Seriously, what have you done? I ask this question at the beginning of every class in my three-night Audition Bootcamp series of classes. What, exactly, have you done this past week to further your career?

The class responses vary from “I got new headshots taken” to “I checked breakdowns and submitted myself on three projects” to “I took a workshop” or “I had an audition.” It also counts if you do this: “I went down to the bus station to observe people.” This exercise each week keeps students accountable within the class, with their peers, so that they will hopefully be motivated to do several things each week to further their careers. Also, in so doing, we share useful information like online tools, websites, and other resources.

The peer pressure alone makes sure that they have something to report each week! During these weekly discussions, I realized that I hadn’t been practicing what I preach. Remember that as an independent casting director, I have to look for work, too. I’m out there like you are—auditioning for the role of the casting director. It struck me that I’ve become more than a little burnt out looking for my next job. As an actor, you must feel this way, too, at times.

This weekend I went out of town on a much-needed getaway with friends. I had just put my 10-and-a-half-year-old dog down and was quite blue. Because my brain was over-exhausted and not very clear, I forgot to bring my computer and iPad. When I arrived, I went into a kind of mini meltdown. For those who know me, they know that I’m pretty addicted to technology and the Internet. I was now going to get a 48-hour, cold-turkey experience.

Funny how life conspires to make you face yourself head-on.

I remembered that balance is everything. You’ve got to have balance in your life, or you’ll become a shell of your former self, and your work will suffer. Keep your life full and stay interested in your craft. If you stop being interested in your craft, know that it’s OK to stop acting until you get your juices flowing again. You need to be living your life. You’ve got to find balance and actually have a life in order to draw experience and emotion for your work.

Finally, I realized that it’s more than OK to unplug when you need to and not feel guilty. We’re all in this together. Let’s come at our art from a healthy and joyful place.

What do you do to find balance in your life? Please share in the comments below!

Make sure to check out my new online course “How To Audition For Film and Television: Audition Bootcamp”. You can view it on your laptop or your mobile device and your subscription gives you lifetime viewing privileges for this course. I’ll be adding lectures throughout the year.

Glad you’re here!

Want to share this post? Here are ready-made tweets!

Click to tweet: “True Confessions of a Casting Director” @marciliroff says it’s ok 2 unplug and find balance

Click to tweet: Casting Director @marciliroff lays it on the line with “True Confessions of a Casting Director”

Inside The World Of A Casting Director – Part 3

By Marci Liroff

In Part 3 of this series I talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of being a casting director along with finding balance in your life. Good advice for all walks of life!

“What does a Casting Director actually do?” Well, I’m here to tell you all about it! Joy Wingard wrote to me from college saying she’s interested in being a casting director and wanted to know what really goes on in the world of casting.  Since I was crazy busy, I asked her to jot down a few questions and I’d answer them over the ensuing weeks.  She asked quite a few insightful questions that I wanted to share with you all.

Q: What do you enjoy the most & the least about being a CD?

A: The most?  Getting a script and lovingly working with the filmmakers to put together a fantastic cast.  Finding someone new, or thinking of someone for a part that is totally outside the box and getting my team on board and hiring them.
Making the call to the agent/mgr and actor to say “you’ve got the part!” brings me such joy!
Another part I truly love is working with the actors. I love to help them create a great character and guiding them through the audition process.

Enjoy the least?  The politics.  There are way too many politics involved in my job. Enough said.

Also, it’s not my favorite thing to negotiate with a lawyer. In the old days (when I first started) I’d negotiate with the agent. Nowadays, the agent hands it off to the client’s lawyer and I’m spending days on end going back and forth with the lawyer. Seems to me that’s Business Affairs’ job.

Q:  I understand having passion for a job and loving it enough to embrace it wholeheartedly and spend most of your time doing it, but do you find that you’re able to have enough time away from the job to embrace a life outside of work?

A: Finding a balance between work and your “life” is key to any career.  For me, even when I’m not officially working, I keep my eyes peeled – I’m always ‘looking’ in a sense.  When I’m reading a magazine, the newspaper or online, I’m constantly clipping out (or bookmarking) articles about actors on the rise and adding them to my database.

But, you do have to know how to totally “unplug” and live your life or you will be just a shell of a person!  This holds true for an actor.  Whenever I meet an actor who feels burnt out or wants to walk away, I tell them to make sure to do something you love.  You need inspiration from somewhere right?  Go to the beach, a concert, kick up your heels and go dancing, paint, be with your kids, dogs, loved ones, cook, eat great food, meditate. How can you be an actor (or a great person) if you’re not living a full life?

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Glad you’re here!

How Not To Fall Off The Tightrope In An Audition

By Marci Liroff
Do you ever flub a line or get lost when you’re auditioning for a role?
Your palms get sticky, your throat gets dry, you start seeing black spots floating in front of your eyes and you suddenly can’t hear?! Fun…right?! Actually, no, it’s not fun at all! It’s a horrifying feeling when that happens and I’m going to tell you how to win over the room when this happens. Yes, you heard me….win them over.
Here’s what’s happening when you’re auditioning or performing live. I liken it to a tightrope walker. When the tightrope walker is up on the rope, the whole audience is rooting for them. They are on the edge of their seats with anticipation and are subconsciously praying for them to do well. When the tightrope walker missteps and loses her footing and almost plunges to the ground (or rather the net!), the entire audience gasps. But, when the tightrope walker gracefully and masterfully recovers and rights herself back on the rope the entire audience springs to their feet and applauds.
Likewise, when you’re in an audition and go up on your lines, it’s how you recover that can either make or break you. If you dissolve into a puddle on the floor with “I’m sorry’s” or “Can I please, please start over again?!”, or “Damn, I f*cked it up again!”, you’ve essentially just lost your audience. Yet, if you can gracefully dip down and check your sides (because in your preliminary auditions you’ll still be holding your sides and turning the pages along with your scene), find where you are, and look up and continue…’ve just won us over. It’s as if you’ve almost fallen off the rope, corrected your footing and gotten back onto the rope and pulled off your trick. We’ll follow you anywhere.
Another smart thing to do is if you’ve just started your scene and you feel you are way off-track from what you’d prepared – say, “I’m going to start again”…..compose yourself, and immediately start again. When you start saying “I’m sorry, can I please start over….please?!!” you’ve lost us because you’ve lost your power. Remember…this is your audition. Take charge, take control of the room. I don’t mean you should act obnoxious or needy or demanding. There’s a fine line between being charming and in control in an audition and being a diva. And please, don’t do this when you’re 2-3 pages into your scene!
We want you to succeed. How you behave in an audition is indicative of how you may be on set. A true pro wouldn’t fall apart because they forgot or screwed up a line. Hey we’re all human. ALL of us. It’s just a line, you didn’t run over my dog, it’s not the end of the world. But, how you handle it is everything. Everything.

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!
We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Glad you’re here!
Marci This article also appears on


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The Picture Book Buzz

The Picture Book Buzz: Interview with Anna Forrester

I chose Anna Forrester and her debut picture book, Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story, to kick off a new portion of my blog - The Picture Book Buzz. My goal for 2017 is to post interviews with authors at least once a month, on Mondays.

Many organizations use citizen scientists to help them gather information, to assist in the conservation and preservation of our world. I have participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count (December) and the Project Feeder Watch (November- April) with The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. for many years.

In her debut picture book, Anna Forrester explores a family's participation in a citizen science project - the bat count. See my Perfect Picture Book Friday, #PPBF post on January 20, 2017, for a review of Anna's book.

ME: Tell us a little about yourself. (Who was your biggest inspiration as a child? Where/when do you write? How long have you been writing? What is your favorite type of book to write?)

ANNA: I grew up in the Midwest – in Missouri – and was the youngest of four kids. The first story I ever remember writing was in second grade and was about a girl who had no bones. I think I illustrated it too: in my memory, she wore a big, sunny, yellow dress with green spots

Right out of college I became a teacher in New York City – kindergarten and second grade – and I went to graduate school for education. That was when I wrote my first children’s book. But I couldn’t handle the uncertainty of being a writer, so I started working with schools that were building gardens, and then went back to school again and became a landscape architect. I still do landscape design work – as a consultant focusing on play and kid's spaces – but a few years ago I returned to writing and quickly began to focus more on that. The uncertainty feels much more manageable this time around.

What is something no one (or few) knows about you?

When I was just out of college and living in New York City, I caught a hamster running across a terrace in the West Village, right outside this place called The James Beard House. I took him back to my apartment, built a cage out of two plastic milk crates and named him James Beard. His squeaky wheel kept me up at night, but otherwise he was an okay pet.

What was your inspiration for Bat Count?

My family does bat counts every summer in central Pennsylvania. I struggle with feeling helpless about the ecological crises that we are living through now, and I worry that kids who are growing up with constant news about climate change and all sorts of extinctions may experience similar feelings. BAT COUNT captures some of that distress and tries to offer a little hope.

What was the hardest portion to write or part to research for this book? (Or both)

I found the writing much harder than the research – especially the ending. But I really do believe in this idea that we leave ourselves clues in our writing. So, in grappling with the ending, I eventually fixed on the fact that, for no particular reason, I had given Jojo twin brothers. In those twins – whose birth had forced Jojo to grow up faster and had turned her into an older sibling with a lot of responsibility – I found a solution. The parallel of the bat mama having twins provides Jojo with concrete hope, and it also gives Jojo a chance to connect with her mom and get some needed love and validation. Hope, love, and validation – what could be more important?

Did you ever think about writing this from a third person POV and making it a nonfiction PB? Why did you chose first person POV?

I never thought about non-fiction, probably because the story – for me – is as much about struggling with feelings of ecological hopelessness as it is about the facts of bat life cycles and white nose syndrome. As for third person: I looked back through my drafts and it was always in first person! Which isn’t necessarily a good thing (It’s always good to experiment with different perspectives). But I think first person makes Jojo’s struggle immediate and relatable.

ME: I agree with you, Anna. The 1st person POV places the reader squarely into the emotions of Jojo and her mother regarding the diminishing numbers of the bats in their barn and their joy at the end. The reader's connection with Jojo and her family is part of what makes this book such a jewel.

What one thing do you hope your readers take away from Bat Count?

The idea that they can make a difference – that they can get involved, through citizen science, and help scientists work towards solutions to environmental and ecological problems. (You can find all sorts of great projects on line at: scistarter.org; www.zooniverse.org; and http://www.birds.cornell.edu/page.aspx?pid=1664)

ME: It may feel like a small, inconsequential thing to count bats or birds. But citizen scientists have allowed The Cornell Lab of Ornithology to track the migration pattern changes of birds around the world. These results help them argue for climate change and try to preventing further extinctions. Check out how you, too, can help.

What do you know about writing or publishing now, that you wish you had known when you started writing?

So, I always imagined myself publishing trade books. And I still hope to. But I really thought that trade publishing was somehow ‘better’ than educational publishing. Which isn’t true at all – the two are just different.

I have been SO happy with the process of publishing this first book in the education market. Because the book has the kind of content it does, when I talk about it I have all of this stuff to talk about – bats, white nose syndrome, citizen science -- in addition to the characters and the writing and the story. And for whatever reason, that feels super comfortable for me and is really satisfying.

What is your favorite animal? Why?

My latest obsession is with this little creature called a fairy shrimp -- although I have yet to actually see one in real life! Fairy shrimp only live in vernal pools, and last spring I visited a LOT of vernal pools looking for fairy shrimp, but I never saw a single one. This spring I will keep looking.

Fairy shrimp are close cousins of Sea Monkeys, and triops (which some kids may know), and they have been around for 400 million years. They truly are ‘living fossils’.

Good luck, Anna, in finding your elusive fairy shrimp. I hope you continue counting bats and that scientists find a way to combat the white-nose syndrome. Thank you for stopping by and discussing your amazing book and yourself. This was lots of fun! :-)

To find out more about Anna Forrester, or get in touch with her:

Website: http://www.annaforrester.com/

Blog: Hmmmmm https://annaforrester.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DuncanTonatiuharte

Twitter: https://twitter.com/annaforr

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15957199.Anna_Forrester

Maria Marshall
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I have a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Toronto, and a 4 year honours undergraduate degree in psychology from York University.

I first worked in a psychiatric setting for 8 years. It was a hierarchical environment in which patients had very little power. I soon began learning about and lecturing to staff on sexual issues for both women and men. I saw patients experiencing numerous sexual/intimacy issues, as well as dealing with sexual orientation concerns and transgender thoughts and feelings. Over time I began lecturing through AAMFT in Canada and in the U.S. And had a few papers published on sex therapy along the way.

In my private practice, I adhere to a Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice which are integral to my work with clients. This is in conjunction with all applicable legislation, combined with my judgement as a professional, and as a member in good standing as a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. (referred in part from OCSWSSW)

As a Certified Sex Therapist (BESTCO), I adhere to the highest standards of practice that are expected of me. I stay current with research and evidence-based practices, including work that depathologizes women's sexual concerns and all sexual/intimacy and sexual orientation, sexual identity areas of concern.

I am a member of:

  • OAMFT (the Ontario Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (www.oamft.com)

  • AAMFT (the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, www.aamft.org), as a Clinical Fellow

  • CAMFT (the Canadian Association for Marriage and Family Therapy) as a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist (RMFT).

  • OASW (the Ontario Association of Social  Workers) (www.oasw.org)

  • SIECCAN (the Sex information and Education Council of Canada) which provides members with the Journal of Human Sexuality; essential for all sex therapists, researchers, and educators.

My approach to therapy has been influenced by the variety of learning experiences that I have been fortunate to have had over the years. As a therapist I have also seen how women are undervalued in our society, and recognize that abuse against women and girls, is highly underreported. As a therapist I work with women, and at times with men, who have been dealing with the after-effects of trauma in their lives. Most recently I have attended workshops on violence against women in Indigenous communities, and continue to explore this area.

In my practice I combine various forms of therapeutic approaches and theories, depending on what works best with each person I see. I also depend a great deal on my own sense of self, my years of experience, while bringing together and continually analyzing complex/multiple issues that may arise. I depend on Collaborative Therapy, Sex Therapy Techniques, some Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Feminist Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Therapies, Psychodynamic Therapy, Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress as needed. But foremost is the relationship I form with clients as an approachable, flexible, caring, and direct therapist.

The field of sex therapy has changed over time, and there is more evidence-based information, research studies and so on, that as a sex therapist I keep up with to ensure that I have the latest information at hand in order to best help my clients. As well, there is more information online that clients access on their own, which can allow them to be more knowledgeable before even meeting me.


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Spotlight 2577

07703 207878

West End Singer Irish Actress Director Celtic/Irish Harper

 Review of NO WAY BACK - Virtual Theatre Company

There must be any number of saviour-hearted organisations from both the world wars getting unintentionally overlooked in all the commemorating. One of these is – or rather, has been until now – the splendid VADs. Voluntary Aid Detachment, which strikes my ear as strangely formal and bloodless by comparision. Yet the words are an accurate enough description. The young women formed a detachment, even if they could hardly have been more attached to their work; they were all volunteers, and my goodness didn’t they aid. High time they got themselves memorialised in the words and music of a stage show. Thanks to director John Drewry and his Virtual Theatre Company’s team of some dozen players, singers and technicians, this has now happened and Memories of War has been mobilised. Where better to catch the crack troupe than at the home of the Second War’s star player, Winston Churchill. Here, in the Mulberry Room in the grounds of Chartwell, Drewry and his team have just completed a well-attended three-night run. It’s a game of two halves, first one devoted to First War, second to Second. “No Way Back,” as the first half of the show is called, draws much of its humour, and its poignancy, from the spectacle of genteel shire girls and daughters of the manse turning up for duty as they might for the onerous game-playing at country house weekends. Naturally this world was far more complex and, since the government of Lloyd-George, far more threatened than it liked to let on. The resulting strange English composite of grit, wit, feigned insouciance and moral backbone is beautifully evoked here by Suzanna Rickmann, Marie Kelly, Diana Scougal and the Drewrys John and Eunice.

Review of ON THE HALLS 19 March 2014

Watch a film clip combination from ON THE HALLS - the new play about the lives loves and songs of Marie Lloyd and Vesta Tilley by Michael Thomas

Testimonials GOLR Spring Luncheon, Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington 17th May 2009"Thank you so much for the wonderful harp playing in the foyer before the luncheon. I heard the lovely notes across the foyer and it transported me away! And you looked so terrific and playing so beautifully as well" Queen Ratling

Hi Marie,Thank you soooo much for your fabulous entertainment. They all loved you and have been singing your praises ever since! The looks on all their faces, the way you got them all up singing and dancing, was a joy to see. I'm attaching a few photos as a memory for you and, thanks again, for making such special memories for all of us. Lorraine.


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People Are Now Spending More Time on Smartphones Than They Are Watching TV

Andrew Hutchinson @adhutchinson

This chart marks a significant shift for marketers.

According to new research from eMarketer, in 2019 - "for the first time ever, US consumers will spend more time using their mobile devices than watching TV, with smartphone use dominating that time spent."

I mean, we've seen this coming for some time, but still, it's a significant shift.

As per the report:

"The average US adult will spend 3 hours, 43 minutes (referenced as 3:43) on mobile devices in 2019, just above the 3:35 spent on TV. Of time spent on mobile, US consumers will spend 2:55 on smartphones, a 9-minute increase from last year. In 2018, mobile time spent was 3:35, with TV time spent at 3:44."

The average consumer is also now spending 2:57 in apps, versus 0:26 in mobile browsers. Listening to digital audio (music and podcasts primarily) is the most common app usage, while social network activity comes in second.

As noted, the significance of the mobile shift has long been a known factor, but it is worth highlighting the point at which the threshold is crossed, and we see consumer habits focus increasingly on their mobile devices, as opposed to the more communal TV experience.

And that's where eMarketer predicts a future downturn in the same:

"Consumers’ use of smartphones will continue to make up the majority of their media consumption, but we predict that use will plateau by 2020, as consumers become increasingly uneasy about overuse of mobile devices."

No doubt your marketing strategies are already re-aligned with the modern consumption shift, but again, it is worth noting this change, and taking stock of how people are now spending their time. TV advertising is still highly effective, but the cheaper - and now more popular - mobile experience could prove more beneficial, depending on your approach.

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Long-Term Bond Mutual Funds : Mutual Fund Fees

This database will allow you to view the fees and other expenses associated with mutual funds as well as an alternate, lower cost, ETF option.

Search for a mutual fund by symbol or name:

Choose a Long-Term Bond mutual fund below to see its investment fees and other associated costs.


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Mark Wigglesworth

Mark on Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 1 & 15

‘In my beginning is my end’

Born in 1906, Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a prodigious child as both pianist and composer. Starting piano lessons with his mother when he was eight, he was writing a Pushkin-inspired opera by the age of nine. But this relatively comfortable middle-class childhood would not last long. After the 1917 Revolution, Shostakovich’s bourgeois family background proved a distinct disadvantage in the new social order that ensued. The unexpected death of his father in 1922 only made matters worse. His well-educated mother had to work thirteen-hour days as a cashier and Shostakovich was forced to spend many after-school hours as a silent-movie pianist to help the family cope with the hardships of the post-Revolutionary economy. And yet, despite suffering from malnutrition and tuberculosis, there are also stories of him losing his job for laughing too much at the Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin films he was employed to accompany. This apparent contradiction was a personality trait that would stay with him his whole life, and the sometimes juddering juxtaposition of the lighted-hearted with the profound marked his compositions from the very beginning.
Symphony No.1 in F minor, Op.10
Written when the composer was eighteen, Shostakovich’s First Symphony was the graduation piece that completed his studies at the Leningrad Conservatory. It has been likened to the opening chapter of a novel, setting the tone for all that follows. His trade-mark musical gestures are all immediately obvious. Nervous tension and sarcastic wit, passion and intelligence, contemplation and action, nobility and banality – all expressed with an economy of means that is simultaneously subtle and direct.
The symphony opens with a virtuosic brilliance heavily influenced by Stravinsky’s Petrushka. But perhaps it was not only that work’s orchestration, with its soloistic piano part, that fascinated the student composer. Like Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, another piece he admired, the disconcerting idea of human beings as puppets, with their actions manipulated by unseen string-pullers from on high, was one that stayed with the composer right the way through to his final symphony, written almost fifty years later.
After composing the first two movements, Shostakovich wrote to a friend that it would be more fitting to call the work a ‘symphony-grotesque’. But the style was about to change. ‘I am in a terrible mood,’ he continued. ‘Sometimes I just want to shout. To cry out in terror. Doubts and problems. All this darkness suffocates me. From sheer misery, I’ve started to compose the finale of the symphony. It’s turning out pretty gloomy.’ The second half of the piece is certainly much more tragic in vein. And the Mahlerian string sonorities and Tchaikovsky-like descriptions of fate and death are more old-fashioned influences than contemporary ones.
The directors of the conservatory were excited by the genius they felt they had nurtured and arranged for the symphony to be performed by Nikolai Malko and the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. The première, on 12th May 1926, was an enormous success, and it was not long before the work gained worldwide recognition. Walter, Toscanini, and Klemperer all performed it. Alban Berg was even moved to write a flattering letter of appreciation. Shostakovich himself called the première his ‘second birth’. The Soviet Union had discovered its first international star, the first to be trained solely under the new system rather than old imperialist Russia, and the authorities proclaimed him as an exaltation of the new at the expense of the old. In time, this much repeated role would become as much a burden to him as it was a saving grace.
Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op 141
Given the turbulent history of twentieth century Russia, it is perhaps understandable that the style of every Shostakovich symphony varies as much as the periods for which each was written. There is little logical chronology running through them all. A composer who always had to respond to the vagaries of his time was unlikely to be able to follow a purely musical compositional path. Nevertheless, there is a totality and succinctness to the Fifteenth that makes it hard not to interpret it as anything other than the story of the composer’s life and a chronicle of his time. To emphasise the work’s autobiographical nature, Shostakovich either directly quotes from, or at least conveys the atmospheres of, all his previous symphonies. We hear the precocious revolutionary energy of the First, the life-numbing emptiness and baffling absurdity of the Second and Third; the terror of the Fourth, kept private for so long, and the more public expression of that terror which is the Fifth; the loneliness of the Sixth and the heroic defiance of the Seventh and Eighth; the irony of the Ninth; the tragedy of the Tenth; the historical tributes of the Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth;; and the poetic mourning of the Fourteenth. Along with references to his operas and film scores, not to mention excerpts from, among others, Beethoven, Rossini, Glinka, and Wagner, all are knitted together into some kind of musical biopic. That the work does not come across purely as a homage to Shostakovich the man, and the fact that it never resembles an incongruous patchwork collage is an enormous tribute to Shostakovich the composer. As always, the man and composer are inseparable, bound by a prescriptive yet creative thread perhaps unique in the history of music. ‘I don’t myself quite know why the quotations are there,’ Shostakovich told his friend Isaak Glickman, ‘but I could not, could not, not include them’.
The composer’s own explanation of the first movement is typical of the doublespeak that has so often been posthumously attributed to him. It ‘describes childhood, a toy-shop with a cloudless sky above.’ But as a purely nostalgic reminiscence of a time in which Shostakovich the boy would play for hours with puzzles and mechanical amusements, it is unconvincing. The conductor Kurt Sanderling, whose comments on the composer come with more authority than most, is unequivocal about its true meaning. ‘In this “shop” there are only soulless dead puppets hanging on their strings which do not come to life until the strings are pulled. (It) is something quite dreadful for me, soullessness composed into music, the emotional emptiness in which people lived under the dictatorship of the time.’ Perhaps it was not unconnected in Shostakovich’s mind that the USSR’s largest toy store stood just across the street from the Lubyanka, the infamous KGB torture headquarters. ‘We are all marionettes,’ Shostakovich once grimly remarked. The music seems to suggest that if you play games with life, they can easily get out of control.
The legend of William Tell is one of a humble peasant, who sparked a revolution by refusing to kowtow to the tyrannical rule of the authorities. Is this the obvious reason behind Shostakovich integrating Rossini’s famous tune into his danse macabre? Or is it because it was his earliest musical memory? Maybe it is an allusion to the fact that it was one of Stalin’s favourites. With Shostakovich, it could easily be all three. But whatever the reason, its banality enforces the superficial jollity of the movement in a way that can make an audience feel uncomfortable if they giggled at its first appearance.
The second movement opens with a public and austere brass chorale alternating with a private and lyrical cello solo whose haunting beauty belies its 12-tone composition. The juxtaposition of the two is jarring and the perfect cadences that link them sound like a sarcastic attempt at integration. The sparsity of texture in so much of this movement, indeed in so much of the symphony as a whole, was as much a result of the painfully debilitating polio in Shostakovich’s right hand, as it was of the emotional desolation that he wanted to express. The practical difficulties of writing resulted in a simplicity of texture, hiding, or perhaps revealing, a complex world of untold secrets, ominous stillness, and unanswered questions.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, the bassoons’ rather overblown consecutive fifths that form a bridge into the third movement, recall from Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben a section originally entitled Adversaries of the Hero. The older composer’s jibes against his musical critics appear rather lightweight in the context of the sort of political opposition Shostakovich had to deal with. The humour in this scherzo is as absurd as it is grotesque: Alice in Wonderland as told by the brothers Grimm.
Shostakovich composed most of this symphony whilst lying in a hospital bed and it is not especially hard to imagine why an invalid composer might want to quote the music that Wagner writes for the impending death of a hero. Shostakovich uses the famous Fate motive from The Ring to herald the work’s finale and after a passing reference to the opening of Tristan und Isolde, the music dissolves into what sounds like the distant memory of a song by Glinka. Any shroud of mystery behind this seemingly enigmatic connection of events is lifted when one reads the song’s original text.
O do not tempt me without reason:
Affection lost cannot return.
How foreign to the broken-hearted
Are all the charms of bygone days!
I can no longer trust thy promise;
I have no longer faith in love;
And cannot suffer once again
To be deceived by phantom visions.

Do not augment my anguish mute;
Say not a word of former gladness.
And, kindly friend, o do not trouble
A convalescent’s dreaming rest.
I sleep: how sweet to me oblivion:
Forgotten all my youthful dreams!
Within my soul is naught but turmoil,
And love shall wake no more for thee.

The central section of the movement is a passacaglia, a dance that does not go anywhere, an unchanging bass line that imprisons the melodies above it. The symbolism of this form led Shostakovich to use it many times and it is apposite that it forms the climax of his last major work. The theme quotes the struggle and resistance of the Seventh Symphony, the rhythm of which in turn refers back to Beethoven’s Egmont Overture. Like William Tell, Egmont stood up to his oppressors and Shostakovich’s empathy with them both is understandable. Only at this point is the full power of the orchestra unleashed, playing all together for the first time in the piece. Its force is all the more shattering for having been delayed so long. But the intensity of this final protest takes its toll and the music collapses in exhaustion as a result. The end of the work evaporates into a mesmerizingly empty texture, a sound world ticking, time running out, leaving a hollow culture behind, the diminishing resistance of the Egmont theme, and the final toll of a bell, the bell with which the whole symphony began.
It is not exactly the ‘happy symphony’, Shostakovich claimed he had wanted to write. Like all autobiographies, it looks backwards, and it does so with an acceptance that is realistic and honest. Having contributed more symphonies to the standard modern concert repertoire than any other composer, his theme is one that continues to speak to many, a testimony to the realities of his life and time, and though the music can stand alone, one can tell that the importance of its message lies way beyond its notes. Like many Russian artists, Shostakovich felt a moral responsibility to speak the truth. He did not live long enough to witness the reforms of the last decade of the twentieth century. But though he would undoubtedly have welcomed both perestroika and glasnost, he may have been too realistic to welcome them as the panacea for which many hoped. Struggle has always been part of the Russian psyche. Given that nearly half of Russians today claim to have an essentially positive opinion of Stalin, and nearly a quarter would vote for him if they could, Shostakovich’s music needs to be heard more loudly than ever. Sometimes things change, only to remain the same. Listening to the similarities between Shostakovich’s first and last symphonies makes that abundantly clear.
© Mark Wigglesworth 2014

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