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Tag Archives: Take Care

Top 20 Albums Of 2011

No intro needed — with no further ado, here are my top 20 albums of 2011 (in order of release date).

  1. Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra (Feb. 18) — Odd Future and Tyler, the Creator burst on the scene this year, but Ocean stole the show with this tape that was so grandeur it would earn him songwriting credits for Beyonce, and placement on Watch The Throne. Witty songwriting, smooth vocals and drum-heavy, 808 production make this a great, easy listen. The standout cut Novacane was one of the best R&B records of the year.
  2. Adele – 21 (Feb. 21) — 2011 was Adele’s year all the way around. Charting and platinum in over a dozen countries, she cut across genres and cultures, as great music should — a testament to her soulful sound. 21 yielded two Billboard number 1 singles, and the critical and commercial acclaim to match. Moving 5 million-plus units, this is the best-selling album since 2004.
  3. Marsha Ambrosius – Late Nights, Early Mornings (March 1) — Long respected as one of the most talented vocalists and songwriters in the game, she further cemented her place with this debut solo album on which she produced a majority of the songs and wrote (or co-wrote) all of them. Sensual from beginning to end and it never feels forced.
  4. Raekwon – Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang (March 6)  — For awhile, Chef Rae had the best hip-hop album of the year. Feature-heavy and a tad long, yes, but it comes together quite nicely.
  5. The Weeknd – House of Balloons (March 21) — In the same vein as Frank Ocean, the Weeknd made his initial mark with a debut mixtape and then proceeded to dominate the rest of the year — musically and virally. This is what jumped the whole thing off and he hasn’t looked back since.
  6. Big K.R.I.T. – Return of 4Eva (March 28) — KRIT came all-the-way-correct with his first mixtape, but he blew my mind with this one. Just listened to the entire thing all the way through again last week and it sounded just as stellar as the first time. Incredible production, soul samples, and some of the tightest rhymes and flows spit all year.
  7. Fly Union – TGTC (April 26) — How these cats continue to remain slept-on absolutely baffles me (and is proof that a lot of the blogs, labels, A&Rs, etc. aren’t doing their damn job). After a year or two of buzz-building via free “Value Pack” EPs, this was their first full-length project. Their chemistry is great (all in-house production), the content is diverse and relative, and it really doesn’t sound like anything else that’s out right now. Plus the features — namely BJ The Chicago Kid — are on point.
  8. Bad Meets Evil (Eminem & Royce Da 5’9″) – Hell: The Sequel (June 13) — Two godbody MCs and they rip this shit to shreds. Period.
  9. Big Sean – Finally Famous (June 28) — Big Sean shocked me a little bit — this, I thought, was a really good album. Much credit goes to No I.D., who blessed Sean with incredible production, but Sean could have dropped the ball and he didn’t. Three hit records (two number 1s) and counting on here. Real solid work.
  10. Beyonce – 4 (June 28) — Not sure how this is still yet to hit the platinum mark, but that shouldn’t take away from the quality of this album. Beyonce did a great job a channelling earlier eras and influences — there are some really strong records on here, especially Party (one of my favorites of the year) and Love On Top.
  11. Dom Kennedy – From The West Side, With Love II (June 28) — Dom came through with one of the best flowing albums of the year. From Grind’n to Money Don’t Stop to OPM to 2 MPH, and on and on, this is something great to ride to. Real playa shit all the way through.
  12. Kendrick Lamar – Section.80 (July 2) — Sonically, this is the most advanced shit I’ve heard this year. We knew Lamar could rhyme but he really showed his ability construct a complete body of work, a skill many lack today. Conceptually this joint is off the charts. This is really, really dense, but it gets better with each spin. Been listening the day to it since dropped and I’m yet to tire of it. Blew 99 percent of everything else clean out of the water.
  13. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne (August 12) — That people had the nerve to hate on this is pretty outrageous. Higher expectations are the only possible explanation. Even if they didn’t meet them (in the eyes of some), they came close and still landed far beyond most anyone else in hip-hop. No Church In The Wild is the best intro of the year — that joint drives. Otis is the best sample of the year. Niggas In Paris has taken on a life of its own. Murder To Excellence is phenomenal. Great sampling, great production, and sick rhymes….and cats we’re hating.
  14. J. Cole – Cole World: The Sideline Story (Sept. 27) — This has grown on me more than any album this year — especially the back end. There’s still some things I think Cole could have done differently, but there’s no question that the pros heavily outweigh the negatives.
  15. Phonte – Charity Starts At Home (Sept. 27) — Phonte is now near the top of my “most underrated MCs doing it” list. While this was his solo debut, he’s obviously a seasoned vet from his Little Brother and Foreign Exchange days. Not only can he rhyme with the best of them, but his singing is on-point, the production is solid and the content is excellent.
  16. Freddie Gibbs – Cold Day In Hell (Oct. 31) — Gibbs has me all the way on board now, and this is what did it. The flow is razor-sharp.
  17. Pac Div – The Div (Nov. 8) — This is another one that’s continued to get better with time, albeit short. There’s some tracks that really knock on here, but Pac Div really wins when they smoothen things out, and that happens often on The Div. “The system for you to be a part of it”, says Mibbs on High Five. “Declare your independence.” Indeed, they do.
  18. Drake – Take Care (Nov. 15) — People love to hate on Drake, but there’s no denying this album. More than anything, it’s 100 percent cohesive. Whether he’s rapping or singing, the canvas, often provided by 40, is perfect. Hit records are galore, but never forced, and the guest appearances are well-placed.
  19. The Roots – undun (Dec. 13) — It’s between this and Section.80 for hip-hop album of the year, in my opinion. Conceptually, sequentially, lyrically, cinematically, musically, it’s flawless.
  20. Common – The Dreamer, The Believer (Dec. 20) — Common’s bars are cool on this, but nothing we’ve never heard him do before — the sequencing, a fantastic supporting cast (writers, producers, instrumentalists, background vocalists, engineers) and No I.D.’s presence all over are what made this album so good.
  21. Other dope shit: Anthony Hamilton, Back To Love; Tyler, the Creator, Goblin; Jeezy – TM103; TiRon & Ayomari – A Sucker For Pumps; Maybach Music Group – Self Made.

Drake Feat. Lil’ Wayne – HYFR; Take Care

Producer: T-Minus

Sample: E.S.G. – Swangin & Bangin [Link]

After further review, this might be my favorite joint on the album…

Drake – The Ride; Take Care

Producer: The Weeknd

“We talked casually about the industry and how the women be the tastemakers for the shit we makin'”

“So dig a shovel full of money, full of power, full of pussy, full of fame and bury yourself alive. And I died”

Drake Feat. Kendrick Lamar – Buried Alive; Take Care

Producer: 40 and Supa Dups

Peep what Lamar said about the verse:

Drake called me and said he had a beat that 40 did and wanted me on it, told me to do what I feel on the record. The first thing that came to mind was my first time meeting dude,” Kendrick told RapFix. “Me being a fan and following his music, I kind of had an idea of where he was at in his career. He’s in a space where vanity can be a definite crutch if you’re in denial.

But [Drake’s] honest, he acknowledges his vices and faults. I wanted to speak from a standpoint of being a new artist watching everything that’s killing him and wanting to die. We all want a taste of vanity. I seen a taste of it the night I met homie; black Maybach, white waitress, private dinner with crew, 40 pulling up, jeep with no doors. All he needed was Aaliyah [laughs]. All of this was in the homie’s possession that night, and in that moment I wanted it. The conversation that night was real. ‘Am I ready to accept this lifestyle…’ is where I end the verse. I sent it back and Drake called me back with a simple ‘thank you…’

Take Care Review…

I’ll start simply by saying this: Take Care is a really good album. Like, one of the top 5 of the year in hip-hop and R&B. The cool thing to do always seems to be to bash Drake, and at times, he makes it easy to do so (with his hand gestures, overzealous rhymes, facial expressions and stupid commercials where he claims the Heatles are better than the 72-10 Bulls), but there’s no denying the product — unless you insist on being a hater. If it’s not your cup of tea, fine. But as a body of work this is as solid as it gets (in this day and age).

In a time where most albums are simply collections of singles, Take Care is a complete, flowing project. One that consists of several surefire radio hits, no doubt, but they come within the context of the album. Nothing is out of place here. The most crucial thing to grasp in analyzing this album is understanding who Drake is — and what his intentions are — as an artist — something I am just now fully able to do.

The knock on Drake coming in was that he was soft (and he can be), especially compared to the traditional MC.  Some of it comes from some of his extra-gangsta, braggadocios, you-not-about-that-life-bwe bars. The other half is media and public perception. Coming in with Wayne, he was labeled and promoted predominantly as a rapper, albeit a friendly one. Placing him squarely or solely in that box is an injustice to him and will cause you to hear his work with a certain set of parameters that he constantly bucks.

Reading GQ’s interview with Drake’s musical right-hand man, 40, finally helped me fully comprehend (keep in mind, 40 produces most of Drake’s records, is his engineer, creative director in some cases, etc.):

“I had a very distinct taste for R&B music, growing up listening to it my entire life and I love producing it first and foremost. It was everything from SWV and Jon B to Silk and Playa and any you could possibly think of,” said 40.

He continued that, “we’re always surrounding ourselves with music like that. Even on Take Care you’ll see a lot of ’90s R&B samples, you know? A lot of different artists from the R&B world of the ’90s—we’re trying to keep that prominent, like the last album with the Aaliyah stuff. I’ve been an Aaliyah fan since I was a kid—me and my sister—so that stuff comes up as well. That Timbaland/Ginuwine era, too.”

These cats is outchea off Aaliyah and Timbaland and Ginuwine! And you can’t tell me that’s not some dope stuff. He mentions Missy Elliot, too. So, while he raps, restricting him — and his music, the production — to that box is a major fallacy.

With this in mind, listening to Take Care is a bit easier and makes far more sense than viewing it as purely a rap album. It is on the same level as his first album So Far Gone (Which was also excellent. Thank Me Later was his major label debut, but technically, So Far Gone was an album. Which is why, looking back, Thank Me Later is much weaker than Gone and Care — he made it in four months, while the other two took at least nine).

Aesthetically it is clean and strong. The sequencing is great. It features verses from 2 of the top 5 wordsmiths in the game right now (in terms of being able to power-pack a verse). While many suffer from scattered production or awkward collaborations, or are forced to leave the producers they came in with (i.e. Wale and the absence of Best Kept Secret on Ambition), Drake rocks with 40 as usual and the familiarity and chemistry between the two is clear and flawless. Other contributors — Just Blaze, Lex Luger, T-Minus — bring quality to the table, and don’t deviate from the album’s overall sound. As a result, Take Care is cohesive as can be.

It does start to drag a bit towards the end, and it feels like every part of the hour and twenty minutes that it is, no doubt. Could he have kept a couple tracks? Maybe. But the songs aren’t that bad. Does he overstep his bounds a couple times? Yep. (On Lord Knows he says, “I’m a descendant of either Marley or Hendrix.” Cmon son.) But by now we’re nitpicking.

As a body of work, this is one of the best of the year. Anyone who tells you otherwise is simply hating or refusing to view the man outside of the traditional rappers’ boundaries. Instead of going through each song, here’s some highlights:

  • Crew Love.
  • Gil Scott-Heron on Take Care with the drums smackin‘. Sound songwriting.
  • Kendrick Lamar absolutely spazzing on Buried Alive, packing more in his verse than Drake does on this entire album.
  • The choir on Lord Knows.
  • The muted horns and perfect sample on Cameras. Maybe the best I’ve heard from Lex Luger.
  • Stevie Wonder’s harmonica cameo on Doing It Wrong.
  • Andre 3000.
  • The depth of Look At What You’ve Done.

Drake Feat. The Weeknd – Crew Love; Take Care

Producer: Don McKinney & Illangelo


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Green Party of Canada Platform: 4.9.1 Women’s equality, 4.9.2 People with disabilities

A continuing review of  the Green Party of Canada’s Platform:

4.9.1 Women’s equality

Women make up over 50 % of Canada’s population, the majority of seniors, and a disproportionate share of the people living in poverty in Canada. Pay inequity is still the rule. Women earn, on average, only 71 cents for every dollar earned by a man. Women within visual minorities earn 64 cents and Aboriginal women earn only 46 cents. Lack of access to affordable housing, affordable post-secondary education, and affordable child care make the lives of women, who head the majority of single-parent households, much more difficult. Women under 30 earn less than women in that age group, when adjustments are made for inflation, than they did twenty years ago. Women make up only 22% of the MPs in Canada’s Parliament.

The Conservative government has pushed the clock backwards on women’s rights in Canada. It refused to accept the recommendations of the Pay Equity Task Force that calls for proactive pay equity legislation to bring Canada in line with its national and international human rights obligations. Instead, elimination of women’s pay equity rights was made part of the 2009 budget implementation bill. The Conservative government rolled back the commitment to establish a national affordable child care program. It removed the mandate for promoting women’s equality, and even stripped the quest for “women’s equality” from the mandate of Status of Women Canada (SWC) and only reinserted it after public outcry.

The Greens will vigorously defend every hard-won victory for women’s rights and for women to advance forward towards full equality in Canada. Women’s equality is fundamental to a just society. Among the best ways to break down barriers and advance opportunities for women are through poverty eradication, national affordable child care, programs to eliminate the financial barriers to post-secondary education, programs for affordable housing, and the adoption of a Genuine Progress Indicator that includes measures of unpaid and voluntary work by women (see Part 1: The Green Economy).

Green Party MPs will:

  • Oppose any possible government move to diminish the right of a woman to a safe, legal abortion. We fully support a woman’s right to choose. We will also expand programs in reproductive rights and education to avoid unwanted pregnancies, and expand supports for low-income mothers.
  • Pass pay equity legislation, as recommended by the Pay Equity Task Force, immediately implement full pay equity for women employed in the federal sector and develop tax incentives for companies to meet the highest standards of gender and pay equity.
  • Oppose the use of religious justice systems such as Sharia Law in Canada that run contrary to our existing rule of law and that specifically subjugate women and diminish the rights of women
  • Establish specific job re-entry programs for women with children who want to restart their working lives either part-time or full-time.
  • Reestablish funding for Status of Women Canada and other organizations that fund non-profit women’s groups and advocate for women’s rights.
  • Ensure that the criteria for new appointments to public boards and agencies include equal opportunity for women.
  • Support greater engagement of women in the political life of Canada by advocating that all political parties nominate, train and support more women candidates.

4.9.2 People with disabilities

Canadians with disabilities and their families live with disproportionate levels of poverty and exclusion. To better understand the underlying factors, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) and the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) commissioned the Caledon Institute of Social Policy to study the situation and propose solutions. It concluded that:

Canadians with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty than other Canadians. Poverty is a result of both exclusion and lack of supports, and it contributes to further exclusion and vulnerability in a ‘vicious cycle’.

Children with disabilities are twice as likely as other children to live in households that rely on social assistance as a main source of income.

Poverty rates of Canadians with disabilities result in large part from the lack of needed disability supports, which enable access to education, training, employment, and community participation.

Canadians with disabilities are too often exiled to inadequate, stigmatizing and ineffective systems of income support that were never designed to address the real income needs of Canadians with disabilities.

The federal government has a key role to play in addressing the poverty and income security needs of Canadians – they have done this through Employment Insurance, CPP/QPP, Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the National Child Benefit, and Child Disability Benefit, and various tax measures.

The Caledon Institute proposes that the federal government invest in a new initiative, which they have called the Basic Income Program, to best provide the support that Canadians with disabilities desperately need. This program is a floor for the access to resources for people with disabilities; it is not a ceiling. With additional programs to break down barriers, people with disabilities have every right to be full, equal partners in Canadian society.

The Green Party of Canada believes it is time to treat Canadians with disabilities with dignity. We endorse the Basic Income Program proposed by the Caledon Institute, which asserts that, when all factors are taken into account, the program will actually save the government money. We urge the adoption of this income security program for people with disabilities as soon as possible as an interim measure until a full poverty eradication federal-provincial program is established to provide for income security for all Canadians.

Green Party MPs will:

  • Work to create a Canada Disabilities Act (CDA) to express Canadians’ vision of a more equitable society rather than the current confusion resulting from the multiplicity of acts, standards, policies and programs that prevail.

  • Support a national equipment fund to provide equipment such as wheel chairs and accessibility tools to assist persons with disabilities with the tools needed to fully participate in work and community life. (This can be a joint program with provinces – the concern is equal access and common standards.)

  • Invest in social housing adapted as necessary to meet particular needs, with both rental and purchase options. This is simply an expansion of our housing program recognizing particular needs.

  • Provide federal health transfer payments to provinces and territories directed to rehabilitation for those who have become disabled, e.g. loss of limbs etc.

  • Enforce the Employment Equity Act to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal opportunity to long-term employment and advancement. Disabled people are generally the last to find employment and the first to be laid off.

  • Institute a basic income for people living with disabilities so that none live in poverty by:

    • Converting the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) to a refundable credit as a first step in creating a national Basic Income program for working-age adults with disabilities.

    • Redesigning the Canada Pension Plan/Disability Benefit (CPP/D) test to incorporate the DTC definition of disability and permit employment, rather than the CPP/D definition that requires a ‘severe’ disability to be life-long and to be the cause of any incapacity to pursue ‘any gainful occupation.’ The revised definition allows individuals to work while retaining eligibility for basic income.

Comments and discussion are welcomed.  I am examining this as I go to gain a better grasp of their platform and invite all who are interested to do the same with comments and discussion.

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Owning an interview like a boss!

I think recently landing a new job qualifies me as an expert in nailing an interview. So in my EXPERT opinion, here are some pointers that I have not seen anywhere else during my research on how to do well in an interview.

“Yes, we are judging you”

  1. Make sure you have no eye gunk (that stuff that collects during the night in the corner of your eye), it’s gross and distracting.
  2. If you need to fart, keep it in. Seriously, don’t trust that it will be silent. And you better know that even if it is silent, that thing could clear a funeral home out.
  3. Don’t eat a ton of garlic on your pizza the night before. Same goes for fish. (who eats fish on pizza anyways?) Just trust me on this one… You will smell like an Italian kitchen or those dodgy fish markets. It seeps through your sweat gland things on your skin. Just. NO!
  4. Under no circumstances should you ask your interviewer what his/her zodiac sign is and it is NEVER okay to yell “SAMESIES” when they do answer with your sign. (To be honest, who still cares about star signs??)
  5. Same goes for asking the interviewer where they are from.
  6. Actually, just don’t ever use the word SAMESIES in an interview. EVER!!!
  7. Interviewers find it really distracting when you wipe the snot you spent 2 minutes digging out your nose, under the chair. Also, don’t yell “We’ve struck gold” when you finally get it out. It’s disconcerting.
  8. This goes without saying, but never EAT said snot. (Keep it for later)
  9. Don’t stand up in the middle of the interview and start pacing up and down with your hands behind your back. This is not a boxing ring. Sit down, son!
  10. When your coffee arrives, don’t take out your flask to ‘spice it up’, at least offer the interviewer some. He/she has to sit in there with your snot eating ass. If they decline, don’t remind them that it’s past noon somewhere in the world.
  11. Don’t take your shoes off mid-interview and ask their opinion on the toe fungus that you have had for the last few months after your trip to find the lost city of Atlantis.
  12. Don’t whip out photos of your pets or children unless asked to do so. Do not ask your interviewer if you could come visit to see their exotic collection of Amazonian tree ants either.
  13. It is frowned upon to take out a picnic basket and start eating cold meats and bread with stinky cheese during an interview. Even if you offered some to the interviewer.
  14. Words or phrases like yoh, swag, dude, bro, bruh, my niggah, gangsta, dope, dawg, trippin’ etc are not proper interview terminology. Do not walk into the interview room and say “Nigga, you trippin’, these offices are dope. I could hang here” You are not Fiddy Cent, neither are you in a Bad Boys movie. (How cool would it be if you were either?)
  15. Do not stare unblinkingly into your interviewer’s eyes. Also, don’t lick your lips or take out a knife while doing so. (Calm down Dexter) Interviewers scare easily!

“I could stab you in the eye with my glasses!!!”

I hope you can benefit from these pointers.

Always remember to be yourself, unless you suck, then be someone else.

Peace out, homie!

9 thoughts on “Owning an interview like a boss!

  1. Pingback: Owning an interview like a boss! | ugiridharaprasad

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India Launches Chandrayaan 1 Moon Mission (News) October 22, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in Base Race, Bulgaria, Chandrayaan, European Space Agency, Helium-3, Indian Space Research Organization, Japan, Kaguya, Roscosmos, rover, Russia, selenography.

Today, India’s Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched it’s first lunar mission, the Chandrayaan 1.

An unmanned lunar explorer (a la Japan‘s Kaguya), the Chandrayaan-1 (which is “moon craft” in Sanskrit) is set to map lunar topography in 3D, creating (as the ISRO puts it) a “3D atlas” and notably, chemical mapping of the lunar surface.

While I haven’t found any specific references to helium-3 in any Indian or other documentation of the Chandrayaan project, that prominent “chemical mapping” goal suggests that, like Russia, China, NASA, and others, India is seriously interested in the resource potential of the Moon.

The craft is carrying scientific payloads for six other organizations (check that link for specific pages for each one), including NASA, Europe’s ESA, and Bulgaria’s Space Research Institute.

This story got some big media play in the form of a huge front-page Drudge Report splash, with a huge picture of the Moon in the place usually reserved for the likes of Obama and McCain. Here’s that spectacular image (which ran with an “INDIA TO THE MOON!” headline):

I’m a little surprised at the high-profile coverage, as this Indian mission isn’t a whole lot different than JAXA‘s, which didn’t appear to get quite the same sort of media push. I think this speaks to the sort of excitement the Base Race can generate, especially as the significant 2010-2020 decade pulls closer (and as things domestically get more and more grim in the meantime).

The Chandrayaan-1 mission is expected to last for two years, with Chandrayaan-2, a joint Indo-Russian moon rover venture, shooting for 2011.

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The Styles of Eighteenth-Century Ballet

€ 73,49
Bisher € 77,58
Lieferbar innert 2 Wochen
Juni 2003

An exploration of the various styles of eighteenth-century dance, i.e. ballroom versus ballet, the four traditional styles of theatrical dance, regional preferences for given styles, and the breakdown of this system of styles, together with a consideration of the importance of caprice, dance according to gender, the overall voluptuous nature of stage dancing and finally dance notation and costume.

Chapter 1 Acknowledgments Chapter 2 Introduction Chapter 3 1 The Rise of "the French Art of Dance" Chapter 4 2 Ballroom Dancing versus Ballet Chapter 5 3 The Four Traditional Styles of Ballet Chapter 6 4 One Man's Style, Another Man's Poison Chapter 7 5 The "Fair Sex" and Its Style Chapter 8 6 Caprice: To Each His Own Style Chapter 9 7 The Meltdown of the Four Traditional Styles Chapter 10 8 Voluptuousness: The Heartbeat of Ballet Chapter 11 9 Choregraphie: Choreographic Representation and Misrepresentation Chapter 12 Appendix: Remarks on Costume Chapter 13 Bibliography Chapter 14 Index Chapter 15 About the Author

Edmund Fairfax is an independent scholar.

Well-researched...Recommendeddddd CHOICE ...a scholarly, well-researched, but very readable work on the development of ballet in the 1700s...Even non-history buffs will want to invest in [this] book. Dancer An enormously valuable work of scholarship. American Society For Eighteenth-Century Studies Book Reviews This forthright book addresses many misconceptions surrounding eighteenth-century dance. Its author, schooled in music, fashion design, languages, classical ballet and Baroque dance, is well placed to address these myths...Fairfax's careful selection and shaping of copious quotations from primary sources should convince all but the most blinkered reader that this period's dances and dancers were anything by primitive...a wealth of new material and interpretations...This book is planned as the first in a series of three studies: volume two will consider technique, while the final volume will cover pantomime ballet. Fairfax has challenged many of our perceptions with a clear-sighted approach to constructing history, working from the declared philosophy that a historical document read in isolation is not actual 'history'. Given Fairfax's striking conclusions and the breadth of his reading, we can anticipate that the other volumes will also break new ground in dance history. Eighteenth-Century Music ...explores an important subject that has received little attention in the past, has been treated piecemeal when it did, and is finally tackled here with confidence, over a broad base of data...The project is colossal, the material is rich, and the book is dense with quotations, packed with fascinating information that the reader must absorb at the frenzied pace set by an author who capers his way up and down the eighteenth century and back and forth across European borders...Fairfax's give to dance history is substantial... Dance Chronicle Well-researched...Recommended CHOICE
EAN: 9780810846982
ISBN: 0810846985
Untertitel: New. Sprache: Englisch.
Erscheinungsdatum: Juni 2003
Seitenanzahl: 392 Seiten
Format: gebunden
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Burning Sands

Rated NR 105 min. 2017

Burning Sands takes you on a raw, voyeuristic journey of fraternity pledging through the eyes of one favored pledgee, who is torn between honoring a code of silence or standing up against the intensifying violence of underground hazing. Led by a breakthrough performance by Trevor Jackson, director Gerard McMurray's feature directorial debut brings an emotional honesty to the classic tale of "rites of passage" and the complicated bonds of brotherhood.

Film Credits

Director: Gerard McMurray

Writer: Christine Berg and Gerard McMurray

Cast: Alfre Woodard, Trevante Rhodes, Serayah, Imani Hakim and Steve Harris

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A jacket for April showers

rain coat using McCall's 6531

I wanted to make a lightweight showerproof jacket that didn’t look like camping gear. I used McCall’s 6531 for an unlined jacket and a waterproof fabric in a dark grey/pewter colour. There seemed little point making a rain coat without a hood so using the collar pattern piece as a guide I drafted a 3-piece hood instead. The batwing sleeves are a bit 80’s but actually the shape is pretty nice, particularly with the sleeves rolled up using the sleeve tabs. I will probably end up using the pattern again, however, that’s not to say it’s without flaws. For an unlined jacket (which is what I wanted) there are no directions on how to finish the inside seams which I found a bit disappointing. As I was following the pattern steps blindly I had already sewn it together when I realized this so when I decided that flat-felled seams would be best I ended up doing them on the inside – so there were 3 lines of stitching instead of 2. Having given myself further problems by adding an unlined hood I made some bias binding to create a bound hem at the neckline and a facing for the hood edge. The pattern also suggested a strip of seemingly unfinished facing to flap freely on the inside by the zip. As I imagine I will wear the jacket open a lot of the time I ditched this in favour of more bias binding to encase the zip. I also used cording instead of elastic at the waist and eyelets instead of the buttonholes suggested in the casing. M6531 Here’s the finished coat (well almost finished-there are no snaps on the pockets yet as I ran out and am waiting to get some more). Why didn’t I press it? Actually the creases in the photos are the ones the material acquired between the ironing board and the wall – I don’t what the material is but creases will definitely have to be an accepted part of the design.  rain coat using McCall's 6531back and details of raincoat made using McCall's 6531

7 thoughts on “A jacket for April showers

  1. This is awesome! I missed it earlier this year and saw it in your round-up post. You did a great job of making very practical and wearable garments for yourself this year!

    1. Making things that you’re actually going to use seems to be the hardest thing of all- and I definitely made a concerted effort to do that this year.

    1. Unfortunately I really don’t know what fabric it is. My local shop sells end of line and leftovers from the garment industry, which means good prices but you don’t always know the exact fabric makeup. It’s definitely some sort of waterproofed poly/nylon blend though.

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text:
Beds: 4
Baths: 3 | 1
Sq. Ft.: 3,596
Listing #O5473331
Under Construction. Still time to change features and colors! Modern, new construction home nestled in the tree-lined streets of historical Delaney Park, right off of Lake Davis. Enjoy downtown convenience without the hustle & bustle. With 3,500+ sq ft, this home is designed for spacious, comfortable living. The open concept allows for easy entertaining. The gourmet kitchen is centered around a huge 11' island. Perfect for cooking with a 48" gas range, range hood, 42" refrigerator, etc. The large owners retreat is conveniently located downstairs with private lanai access, separate sinks and closets, a large walk-in shower with dual shower heads, and stand-alone tub. A sleek staircase with cable railing takes you upstairs to 3 additional bedrooms and a large game/recreational room. Each bedroom offers oversized walk-in closets. 500+ sq ft of outdoor space allows for relaxation and privacy. Stunning architectural features including tray ceilings, custom woodwork, trim, and paint throughout. Elegant porcelain and hardwood flooring throughout. The exterior offers an expansive paver driveway, tapered slate tile roof, smooth stucco, stone accents, and cable railing. The large lot offers space for a luxurious pool/spa and deck. Delaney Park is conveniently located in between Downtown Orlando & SODO for easy access to all that Orlando has to offer. Just minutes to I-4 & 408. Schedule an appointment today to choose your finishes and review plans at the construction site. Expected completion by June/July 2017.
Property Features
Location Information
County: Orange
MLS Area: Orlando/Delaney Park/Crystal Lake
Latitude: 28.529055
Longitude: -81.365911
Subdivision: BROOKVILLA
Location: Sidewalk, Street Brick
Directions: From 408 East, take exit 11B toward Mills Ave, turn right onto S Mills Ave, turn right onto Delaney Park Dr
Interior Features
Interior: Smoke Alarm(S), Tray Ceiling, Walk In Closet, Washer/Dryer Hookup
Master Bathroom Description: Dual Sinks, Tub with Separate Shower Stall
Full Baths: 3
1/2 Baths: 1
Kitchen Description: Island
Has Fireplace: No
Heat/Cool: Central
Cooling: Central
Floors: Carpet, Porcelain Tile, Wood
Appliances: Dishwasher, Range, Range Hood, Refrigerator
Exterior Features
Stories: Two story
Is New Construction: yes
Construction: Block, Siding, Stone, Stucco
Exterior: French Doors, Irrigation System, Outdoor Lights, Patio/Porch/Deck Covered, Trees/Landscaped
Foundation: Stem Wall
Roof: Tile
Minimum Age for Community: N/A
Utilities: Public Utilities
Parking Description: Attached
Garage/Carport: 2 Car Garage
Has Garage: yes
Lot Description: Up to 10, 889 Sq. Ft.
Lot Number: 26
Lot Size in Acres: 0.19
Lot Size in Sq. Ft.: 8, 126
Possible Best Use: Single Family Home
Zoning: R-1A/T/AN
Water Frontage: 0
Has Waterfront: No
Elementary School: Blankner Elem
Jr. High School: Blankner School (K-8)
High School: Boone High
Additional Information
Property Type: SFR
Property SubType: Single Family Home
Year Built: 2017
Status: Active

$ per month
Year Fixed. % Interest Rate.
Principal + Interest: $
Monthly Tax: $
Monthly Insurance: $
Interest Rate
Down Payment
List Price:
Based on a fully amortized fixed rate loan. Ask your agent for the tax rates in your area. Insurance estimate is based on an average cost, your final premium cost will be determined by the type of coverage you select. This program only provides an estimate.
Scarlett Burleson
Broker: Mainframe Real Estate

© 2017 My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc.. All rights reserved.
The data relating to real estate displayed on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange (IDX) Program of My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. All listing information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified through personal inspection by appropriate professionals. Listings displayed on this website may be subject to prior sale or removal from sale; availability of any listing should always be independently verified. Listing information is provided for consumers' personal, non-commercial use, solely to identify potential properties for potential purchase; all other use is strictly prohibited and may violate relevant federal and state law.
MFRMLS data last updated at May 23, 2017 7:14 PM ET


text:
The Magic Pudding

How is it possible that I have never heard of The Magic Pudding before?  It was published in 1918 so it has been around, and in print, for a jolly long time,  there is nothing dated about, it is funny – laugh out loud funny – and it has illustrations by the author (Norman Lindsay) that are the equal of Shepard or Tenniel.  And let’s not forget the fact of it being an Australian book – coming from just over the Tasman you would expect it to have a little fame here.

Dealing  with each of my points above:

1. It has been  around for a long time.  Well, in 2018 it will one hundred years old.  In Australia there is a Norman Lindsay museum, and the latest edition  of the book is published by the New York Review’s Children’s Collection with an introduction by Philip Pullman.  Most pleasingly I have discovered that Lindsay wrote the book on a dare.  A friend told him that children only liked to read about faeries, and he thought children liked to read about food and fighting.  Perhaps all children’s books that are from, or look towards the Victorian and Edwardian era are somewhat about  faeries, food and/or fighting… Peter Pan, Narnia, Alice, Harry Potter.

2. There  is nothing dated about it.  I mean,  look at the first  page:

We then get the sideways view, and the rear view of our hero (and his Uncle), which is all terribly postmodern.

To use that ridiculous term.

I think it was Umberto Eco who pointed out the fallacy of post-modernism.  That it was not in fact some cutting edge trend,  but a style of writing that has been around for an awfully long  time,  and that underwent a great upswing  in popularity in the 1990s.  The surge in popularity caused academics to think they were in the midst of something  new, but books that are self-conscious have been around for a while.  Tristram Shandy is a famous early example in  English, but there are plenty more – especially among children’s books which have always been a little freer to play games with conventions.

3. It is very funny.

“One of the great advantages of being  a professional puddin’-owner,” said Sam  Sawnoff, “is that songs at breakfast are always encouraged.  None of the ordinary breakfast rules, such as scowling while eating, and saying  the porridge is as stiff as glue and  the eggs  as tough as leather, are observed.  Instead, songs, roars of laughter, and boisterous jests are the order of the day.  For example, this sort of thing,” added Sam, doing a rapid back-flap and landing  with a thump on Bill’s head.  As Bill was unprepared for this act of boisterous humour, his face was pushed into the Puddin’ with great violence, and gravy was splashed in his eye.

“What d’yer mean, playin’ such bungfoodlin’ tricks on a man at breakfast?” roared Bill.

“What d’yer mean,” shouted the  Puddin’, “playing such bungfoodling tricks on a Puddin’ being breakfasted at?”

“Breakfast humour, Bill, merely breakfast humour,” said Sam, hastily.

“Humour’s humour,” shouted Bill, “but puddin’ in the whiskers is no joke.”

4. It is wonderfully illustrated.

Norman  Lindsay was an  artist, and from a family of artists.  Apparently he is the loose basis of the artist character in the movie Sirens,  otherwise (in)famous as the screen debut of Elle Macpherson.  Aside from war propaganda posters and saucy pictures of ladies in the buff, he produced reams of art in most genres it would appear.  What I love about the illustrations  in The Magic Pudding is that they are not just  detailed, accurate drawings of animals  and  people, but that they are so full of life.

 Look how composed this little scene is, how all the focus is on one spot, but also look at Barnacle Bill and his wonderful hands.

This is a fantastic book.  Fantastic.

One thought on “The Magic Pudding

  1. I love books with pictures. When I was a boy, they brought out most great stories in The Classic Comic Series. They had great illustrations; so great that a guy like me who can’t read could understand all of that great literature.

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text:
MI weekly selection #6

Vietnamese large flying frog | Credit: Rowley et al. (2012)

Anyone can find an exoplanet

A team of volunteer amateur astronomers has discovered evidence of 42 alien planets. The volunteers were sorting through NASA data as part of the Planet Hunters crowdsourcing program. Professional astronomers have yet to confirm the proposed planets.

Drought predictions in East Africa

Variations in sea-surface temperatures of the Indian Ocean likely caused the historical fluctuations in rainfall seen in the paleorecord.

Science Daily

Jessica E. Tierney, Jason E. Smerdon, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Richard Seager.(2013) Multidecadal variability in East African hydroclimate controlled by the Indian Ocean. Nature, 493 (7432): 389 DOI:10.1038/nature11785

New large flying frog found

Scientists hiking along Vietnamese lowland forests found a new type of flying frog that is “one of the most flying frogs of the flying frogs.” The frog has large feet with webbing that extends to the toepads, while females have forearm flaps to help them glide.

National Geographic

Jodi J. L. Rowley, Dao Thi Anh Tran, Huy Duc Hoang, and Duong Thi Thuy Le (2012) A New Species of Large Flying Frog (Rhacophoridae: Rhacophorus) from Lowland Forests in Southern Vietnam Journal of Herpetology 46(4):480-487. DOI: 10.1670/11-261

The Indian DNA connection of aboriginal Australians

Scientists have long believed that aboriginal Australians did not mix their DNA with other peoples, but new DNA evidence suggests biological links between aboriginal Australians and people from India. The study found that interbreeding occurred as early as 4,200 years ago, and may have coincided with the time the dingo, the Australian wild dog, appeared on the continent.

LA Times

Irina Pugacha, Frederick Delfina, Ellen Gunnarsdóttira, Manfred Kayserd, and Mark Stonekinga (2013) Genome-wide data substantiate Holocene gene flow from India to Australia PNAS DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1211927110

RePOOPulating the gut to eradicate infection

Artificial poop transplants could be an effective cure for people with a hard-to-treat bacterial infection in their intestines.

Elaine O Petrof, Gregory B Gloor Stephen J Vanner, Scott J Weese, David Carter, Michelle C Daigneault, Eric M Brown, Kathleen Schroeter and Emma Allen-Vercoe (2013) Stool substitute transplant therapy for the eradication ofClostridium difficile infection: ‘RePOOPulating’ the gut Microbiome 1:3 DOI:10.1186/2049-2618-1-3

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text:
In which I am a child again

I will be turning 29 next week and while I may not be one to harp on age, there is a sense of “oh my goodness, I’m an adult now” that has marked the choices I’ve made this year. Sometimes, it’s a bit overwhelming to have to fend for myself, so I decided to do something completely indulgent and buy myself a present, one that serves no real function or purpose except to make me happy.

and then this happened

So why does an old lunchbox please me so much? It all started when I went off to school for the very first time, MoonDreamers lunchbox in hand and a thermos full of spaghetti inside. I remember having lots of spaghetti for lunch as a kid, until I ended up on the school lunch program after my mom started working again. I loved my lunchbox. I remember carrying it proudly to the cafeteria, swinging it as I walked in line with my fellow classmates. I didn’t always love what I found inside, but the cool factor of having a lunchbox with cartoons and glow-in-the-dark spots was worth it.

I must’ve loved the MoonDreamers too, though I always wonder just how much I really understood. You see, I only spoke Spanish until I started going to school and was thrown off the deep end into English. Somehow, I managed to make meaning while watching that show, and that lunchbox cinched it.

My mom gave my lunchbox away after I started receiving school lunches. I didn’t realize the loss until I was older and by then it was too late to get it back from my cousins (to whom most of my things went). This isn’t the box I had–mine was blue–but it makes me smile all the same.

Author: gricel d.

writer. librarian. cat lady.

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text:
Here are some posts under recurring topics in this blog. Feel free to discuss with me any topics you’d like  to see. Enjoy!

Consumer Insights

How Can Consumer Attitudes be Measured Without Surveys?

Making the case for online consumer research

Consumers as Human Beings, Not Merely Count in a Sample Size

Relating to the consumer by understanding their lifestyle closehand

Social effects of media, technology and advertising on kids

Big Data

Marketing is More Science than Art

What True Partnership Means in the Agency/Client World

Structures are Salient in Math and Science, Latent in the Arts

Identifying What People Do and Where They Are through Data

Media Economics

Creating Value: Media Economies of Scale

Creating Value: Online Publishing

Digital Marketing

A Critical Challenge to Pursue

Digital media, kids and underprivileged circumstances

Social Media

The Potential of Social Media

Oscars in the age of the social network

Mobile Marketing

The deal with mobile

Global Marketing

Globalization and the Corporation

Marketing to the Poor of the Developing World

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I’ll be performing at the Concréte Mixer — Convocation for the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver. This who will be with  Rick Reid, Lizzy Mosher,  Thomas Lundy and Victoria Lundy.

Where: Lamont School of Music, University of Denver , Newman Performing Arts Center – Gates Concert Hall. Parking and directions.
When: Friday Oct 17th, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Tickets: While this is a convocation for the music school, the event is also open to the public and is FREE
Facebook Event Page:

I’m super excited to be performing at this event. First off, it will be great to bring our Musique concrète show to the Lamont School of music. Second, my daughter will be sitting in on one of my songs providing vocal drones. Third, , the venue is simply stunning.

Show Concept

I can feel, as if it were quivering in my memory, the whole drama of these last three years of experimentation […] The miracle of concrete music is […] things begin to speak by themselves, as if they were bringing a message from a world unknown to us and outside us.

– Pierre Schaeffer, “In Search of a Concrete Music”

The Lamont School of Music is hosting five artists presenting acoustic, analog electronic and digital noises, sound effects and tonal music inspired by the musique concréte form and philosophy. The artists will play in multiple configurations as solos, duos, and other combinations. Mark Mosher will create expressive sample-based “instruments” on-the-fly, building up his instruments in real-time by sampling his own synthesizers as well as capturing audio from contact mics, and output from the other artists. To compliment the music and sound, Mark will also project interactive visuals, and the visuals created by the other artists. Theremin artist Victoria Lundy, and sound designer and musician Rick Reid—all performing solo and interactive work, will join him. Lizzy Mosher will provide vocal drones, and Thomas Lundy will perform dry ice on metal “Copper Heart,” the Carbon Dioxide Orchestra’s signature instrument.

  • Welcome
  • Copper Heart Trio Improv, – Victoria Lundy, theremin; Thomas Lundy, copper heart with dry ice;  Mark Mosher, Octatrack live sampling synthesis + visuals
  • Sounds from a Distant Outpost – Mark Mosher from album Fear Cannot Save UsMark Mosher, Ableton Llve/sampler performed on Ableton Push + visuals; Lizzy Mosher, vocal
  • After Hours (Part 2) Rick Reid – Rick Reid, field recordings, iPad.  This composition is offered as a sequel to John Pfeiffer’s “After Hours,” a track on his 1968 RCA album, Electronomusic: 9 Images. Pfeiffer used field recordings of office machines of that era (typewriters, rotary dial telephones, etc.) to create a percussion orchestra. “After Hours (Part 2)” updates that concept with sounds from the 21st century workplace.
  • Concrete Birds Victoria Lundy –Victoria Lundy, theremin, Ableton Live with samples
  • Wind and Ghosts Victoria Lundy – Victoria Lundy, theremin, Ableton Live with samples
  • “Tools of the Trade” Improv – Rick Reid, tools; Thomas Lundy, tools; Mark Mosher, Octatrack live sampling synthesis
  • Birth Mark Mosher & Michael O’Bannon, from A.I. Winter EP InstantiateMark Mosher, Octatrack with original harmonic content; Lizzy Mosher, voice over recording at age 5
  • End Jam  –  Victoria Lundy, theremin; Thomas Lundy, copper heart with dry ice; Rick Reid, live spoken word; Mark Mosher, Octatrack live sampling synthesis + visuals

Thomas Lundy has served as curator of the Concréte Mixerseries since its beginning.He will provide metal shrieks and tool noise sources for Mark Mosher and Rick Reid.

Victoria Lundy has been playing theremin in the Denver experimental/underground/punk scene since the 90s. She was a member of the avant garde Carbon Dioxide Orchestra, who opened for the legendary Silver Apples in 1997; is a founding member of Denver’s acclaimed nerd rock band The Inactivists and has appeared all of their 6 CDs and EP, and as a guest player live and in recordings with other local artists. She also was a member of Jackson Induced Mutant Laboratory and performed with them at the 2011 Denver Noise Festival and at the 2013 Denver Post Underground Music Showcase with ambient project Pythian Whispers. Victoria has appeared at many venues in -Denver as well as Boulder’s Dairy Center for the Performing Arts, and demonstrated the theremin at the World Science Fiction Convention. Recently she’s been concentrating on solo ambient work exploring the expressive qualities of the theremin.

Lizzy Mosher is a vocal artist and actor from Boulder.  She is currently a senior at Fairview High School.  She has performed in local theatre since she was twelve and as a vocalist in numerous performances with several Boulder-based choirs. Lizzy is excited to be performing in this Concréte Mixer and will be providing live looping vocals as a sampling source.

Mark Mosher is an electronic musician, sound designer, composer and performer from Boulder. He has performed at festivals and theaters around the country such as Electro-Music Festivals in NY and Asheville NC, Pacific Northwest Synthfest, Art Institute of Sunnyvale, Georgia Tech, Midwest Electro-Music Experience, The Dairy Center for the Performing Arts and more. Mark is the founder of the 190+ member strong Boulder Synthezier Meetup ( and has been blogging on music technology for over 9 years at

Mark is excited to be returning for his 3rd Concréte Mixer show and his second performance on DU Campus – the first being in the grand opening of The Hypercube space in 2011. At this event, Mark will be creating expressive sample-based “instruments” on-the-fly on a computer-less and deep hardware sampler called the Elektron Octatrack. On most pieces, he will build up his instruments in real-time by capturing audio from contact mics and output from other musicians at the event. Mark will also be performing using original harmonic content distilled down into expressive performance patches on the Octatrack and on Ableton Sampler and Ableton Push.  To accompany the music and sound for the show, Mark will also be providing interactive visuals with live camera input. For more information and links to albums, please visit and

Rick Reid has been fascinated with recorded sound ever since early childhood, when he heard his own voice played back on his older brother’s reel-to-reel tape deck. His first electronic instrument was a photo theremin, built with a Radio Shack electronics kit. Rick now owns and plays a wide range of electronic and acoustic instruments ranging from the conventional to the truly peculiar. Rick studied radio and TV broadcasting in both high school and college and worked part-time as a radio personality while still in school. He has since created thousands of TV on-air promos, marketing videos and commercials as a writer/producer for Starz, Encore, MoviePlex, TNN and broadcast TV stations in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. As a freelance voice actor, he has also been heard on dozens of national and regional radio and TV commercials, web videos and corporate/industrial media productions. Rick has been a sound designer for more than sixty theater production in the Denver-Boulder area, and has occasionally performed as a stage actor. He has released two experimental electronic music albums and created underscore and theme music for the sci-fi web video series “Lucha Libre: El Tecolote vs. the Body Thief from Dimension X.” He is slated to play theremin on the score of an upcoming indie horror feature film. Rick makes his home in Denver with his pet tarantula, Curly. For more details about Rick’s creative work and links to his music, visit

More on Musique Concrète

Wiki Entry –

Here is a fun old documentary taken from the BBC 1979 documentary “The New Sound of Music”

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text:
Archive for October, 2014

Camionetas and a Nahuatl Mapping Project

By Laura Matthew

Riding the camioneta is a classic gringo experience in Guatemala. But it can be confusing. Buses to Quetzaltenango, for instance, say that they’re going to Xela. That’s because the K’iche’ Maya city Xe Lajuj Noj is on most Guatemalan maps called Quetzaltenango in Nahuatl, language of the Aztec empire and of the Mexican invaders who led the Spanish into Central America in 1524. Despite Maya speakers still constituting the majority of Guatemala’s population as they did in the sixteenth century, almost all Guatemala’s place names are officiallyGuatemalaBus Nahuatl. Geography is written by the victors.

But is it true that Nahuatl came to Central America mostly via invasion? The primary indigenous language of El Salvador is Nawat-Pipil, still spoken today by descendants of Nahua-speaking migrants who arrived in the region in the thirteenth century. Some Nahuatl documents produced in colonial Guatemala look like their counterparts in Mexico – but many others are written in a dialect so distinctive that Spanish friars gave it is own nomenclature and used it to create new catechisms for evangelizing the native population.

A good decade ago (!), linguistic anthropologist Sergio F. Romero and I started collecting colonial-era Nahuatl documents from Central America. I and other historians like Paul Lokken and Robinson Herrera were also noticing references in Spanish documents to Nahuatl being spoken by Nahuas, Mayas, Spaniards, and Africans. Sergio and I published our thoughts on this corpus in a 2013 article, but a lot of questions remained. We had no data for huge swaths of the region. We had not systematically looked at other sources like church records or Spanish chroniclers. And our documents raised as many linguistic questions as they answered. Indeed, some of our conclusions in that article have shifted since its publication.

Enter the Nahuatl in Central America Mapping Project, which I am creating with the help of History graduate student Ben Nestor and advice from Indiana-Purdue University’s Polis Center for geospatial informatics. We hope that visualizing the uses of Nahuatl in Central America over space and time will suggest new ways of looking at things. How consistently and for how long, for instance, was Nahuatl used as a language of translation in any given area? How did the Spanish classify different regions linguistically, and did those classifications change? Where and when in Central America do we see concentrations of texts with certain dialectical features?

The GIS component of the project is important, its collaborative character even more so. It would be difficult for any single researcher to ferret out all or most of the many references to Nahuatl that lie scattered throughout Spanish colonial archives. And as a historian, I ask very different questions of the documents than my colleagues trained in linguistics, geography, or anthropology. Putting our heads together consolidates our research efforts around this particular set of questions, pools our collective knowledge, and reveals our disciplinary blind spots. We can accomplish a lot more together than any of us could do separately.

So we begin this spring with an advisory board of specialists in southern Mesoamerican linguistics, history, anthropology, geography, and religious studies, who will help Ben and I create a rich ontology that turns our existing documents into data. The next steps will be linking that data to a series of maps and launching the project website. A broad range of scholars will be invited to join the project as official (and officially recognized) contributors, by uploading their own documents and participating in the resulting conversation as new data is transferred to the maps. I think of this as “curated crowdsourcing”: verified and academically sound, but also open, interdisciplinary, dynamic, collective – and hopefully surprising.

Colonial-era documents and geospatial humanities help us dig deep into the history of Mesoamerica. We thereby honor the living descendants of ancient Mesoamericans, millions of whom ride the camionetas every day.

LaurMatthewLASAa Matthew is an associate professor of history whose first book, Memories of Conquest: Becoming Mexicano in Colonial Guatemala (2012) was awarded the 2013 Howard Cline Memorial Prize, Conference on Latin American History and the 2013 Murdo MacLeod Prize, Latin American and Caribbean Section, Southern Historical Association.  She is the 2014-2015 holder of the Way-Klinger Sabbatical Award.

There’s a Legend on the Phone . . .

Ed Schmitt is a Marquette PhD alum who teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.  A few months ago he received a surprise phone all from a living legend–the Civil Rights activist James Meredith.

When my cell phone began ringing early on a Friday evening last spring, I expected it to be my daughter. She and a friend had been at a local shopping mall, and it was almost time to go pick her up. Seeing an unfamiliar area code, I hesitated before answering. “Mr. Schmitt,” the caller said, in a measured and slightly weary tone, “this is James Meredith.” I dropped the car keys which I had just grabbed and, while stammering my deep appreciation for his call, began casting about for paper and a pen. I sent a letter to the legendary civil rights figure a few weeks earlier, with a request to interview him for my book project about the activist and comedian Dick Gregory. And now I was quite unexpectedly talking to him in my kitchen.

I’d conducted many interviews before, but never with someone of quite his stature, and never on such short notice. He could tell I was a bit flustered. As I thought about the best way to proceed (my mind raced between – “you don’t have your notes in front of you” and “don’t let this opportunity pass”), I mentioned the possibility of sending him some questions to consider and then scheduling another time to talk. “Whenever and however you want to do it,” he said reassuringly. What followed was a delightful hour-long discussion with one of the most famous heroes of twentieth century U.S. history, and a renewed appreciation for the value of oral history.

I contacted Meredith seeking to learn more about his relationship with Gregory, and particularly how he viewed Gregory’s role in the movement. Both men are fascinating, deeply committed, and somewhat enigmatic. Born less than a year apart, they were a bit older than most of the student activists who energized the black freedom struggle through the sit-ins and other direct action protests of the early 1960s. And both were military veterans, who continue to view themselves as lifelong soldiers in the battle for equality.

While Meredith is best known as the first African American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi, I hoped to focus on a couple of later episodes in his career that I thought might provide insight into Gregory’s significance. He was open to discussing all of these, and his memory seemed quite sharp despite the passage of fifty years since the events in question. I learned about Meredith’s high regard for Gregory despite their philosophical disagreement regarding the strategy of nonviolence, was made aware of a mutual friend I had not been familiar with who became an important Gregory ally in the South, and perhaps most importantly, I gained a deeper appreciation for the human complexity and personal relationships involved in the movement.

James Meredith flanked by federal marshals at the University of Mississippi, 1962 (Library of Congress).

Historians love written documents and have always viewed oral history a bit more cautiously. Perhaps because we are trained to be skeptical of documents, it is even easier to question the motive or memory of a living figure than something fixed in print. While it must indeed be assessed critically, oral history can provide things written documents cannot. Hearing Meredith bristle when he discussed how others tried to use his 1966 “March Against Fear” for their own purposes, or noting his tone of voice when he said that for most of his career Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t really understand poverty conveyed insights beyond what written documents may have. And to hear him gently tell his grandchild to go play in another room because he was discussing “important matters” was to be reminded powerfully of the humanity of a figure who might otherwise be relegated to a role as an iconic set piece in a too familiar tale.

The term “interactive history” has become popular in an age of eye popping technologies that bring the past alive in new ways for students. In truth, history has always been interactive, even with seemingly fixed print documents. Uncovering a pivotal handwritten note on a memo from an advisor to a president, or a viewing firsthand the artistry in an ancient manuscript allows us to encounter the past in sometimes thrilling ways. But perhaps no source is as interactive as an oral history interview. To explore topics of your choosing with an historical figure – and to be able to ask a follow up questions – is historical inquiry at its most interactive. Concluding my interview with Meredith, I asked if I might contact him again should further questions arise. He repeated what he said at the outset: “Whenever and however you want to do it.” All historians should be so fortunate as to have access to such a source.

. EdUniversity of Wisconsin-Parkside Associate Professor of History Edward Schmitt. Schmitt received his PhD from Marquette University in 2003 and is now an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin at Parkside.  His first book, based on the dissertation he wrote under the direction of Robert Hay, was President of the Other America: Robert Kennedy and the Politics of Poverty (University of Massachusetts Press, 2011–https://www.umass.edu/umpress/title/president-other-america).  He is currently researching a book on the role of activist and entertainer Dick Gregory in the social movements of the 1960s and 70s.

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Category Archives: Romance

Binge Watching?

I have to admit to binge watching stuff in the past. Like Sons of Anarchy. Or Fuller House. Or Gilmore Girls. Or Royal Pains. Or Last Man Standing. Okay. I’ve binge watched a lot. Now-a-days, I’ve found a better thing … Continue reading

Posted in Crazy Random Thoughts, Journaling, My Thoughts and Musings, Romance | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Once a writer, always a writer

I look at all the books that I (and others) consume on a daily, weekly, monthly basis and remember way back in college when I was going to write…well, I admit, I was never going to write the great American … Continue reading

Posted in Animal Rescue, Crazy Random Thoughts, Cursillo, Dad, Daily Fat Fight, Fantasy, Fiction, Food, General Dog Stuff, God, Greyhounds, Journaling, Music, My Thoughts and Musings, Mystery, Recipes, Restaurant Reviews, Rock 'n Roll, Romance, Service to Others, Stupid things people say, The Bible, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments


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Leela – Untitled/Unfinished

The below story was written more than 15 years ago.  I remember writing this story part by part anxious to read what I had written to my mom.  She was the best encourager and would listen intently as I read to her my most recent paragraphs.

I never did finish this story – maybe one day Leela’s journey will be completely told but for now you can share the beginning of her adventure.

by: MaryEllen Herrera

Leela was a girl who dreamt of being free.   She dreamt of making her own decisions. She dreamt of being a regular girl of fourteen.  But she was not and she couldn’t let herself think she was.  Other fourteen year old girls didn’t have parents who forced their child to marry and other fourteen year olds didn’t have to leave school, the only thing she really enjoyed, to become a wife and a mother.  Leela herself still couldn’t believe that her parents were doing this to her.  She always felt safe with her parents.  Etched in her mind was that terrible day everything changed.

It had seemed like a normal day.  She went to school like always, but when she returned home and was introduced to a tall handsome man by the name of Taylor Clout, she remembered her stomach clenching and she couldn’t understand why.  His smile was reassuring as he took her hand in his and she thought that he held it much too long.  She tried to return his smile, but it felt awkward on her face and she hoped he wouldn’t notice.  She was thankful when her parents excused her saying she had homework to do.  She escaped quickly  to her room and she only relaxed when her door was tightly shut behind her.

That night as she was doing her homework her mother knocked at the door.  A strange nervous knock that made Leela feel dread as her mother entered.  Leela remembered the way her mother’s hands were slightly trembling as she walked over to where she was sitting.  Her mother was trying hard to smile reassuringly as she sat next to her daughter.

“Leela, honey,” she began a little nervously, “you remember that nice gentleman who came to visit today?”  Leela couldn’t answer.  She felt a shudder creep up her back as her mother continued.

“He’s really a nice man, Taylor is.  He comes from a very acknowledged family.  He lives many miles away, that’s true, but he is well off.  Maybe he is a little old, twenty-eight actually.”  Here she stopped and gazed lovingly into Leela’s eyes.  Leela wondered why her mother kept rambling on about Taylor.  It made her feel uneasy.

Her mothers eyes slowly dropped as she began again, “Yes he is a bit old. Your father seems to think that that is good.  I guess your fathers right, being of that age he does have a career and a place of his own.”  Another pause.

Leela held her breath as her mother turned hard and spoke firmly.  “Leela, your father and I both decided that it would be best if you and Taylor married as soon as possible.”

Leela let out a short gasp as her mother continued, her voice like ice, “You will wed tomorrow.”

Nothing more was said.  Leela watched her mother leave.  She couldn’t believe something like this could happen to her.

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Just for Future Science Teachers

Are you thinking of becoming a science teacher? What a great idea! See the resources below for information about becoming a science teacher. There are many reasons to choose teaching as a career: Intrinsic Reasons for Teaching

  • Joy of seeing students learn; potential to affect the lives of others
  • Performing a significant social service
  • Fellow teachers/colleagues relationships
  • Work you love to do; gives sense you are respected and appreciated
  • Love of subject taught; lifelong learning opportunities
Intrinsic Reasons for Teaching Science
  • Science teachers shape students’ lives and impact society
  • Science teachers are part of the scientific community
  • Science teachers influence the future
Extrinsic Reasons for Teaching
  • Salaries Beginning salaries for teachers in Southern California start around $45,000; veteran teachers may earn as much as $95,000. Teachers are paid additional stipends for coaching, serving in leadership roles, and for summer school teaching. Teachers move up the pay scale each year and jump extra steps for completing additional education.
  • Work Schedule Teachers typically work two semesters of 18 weeks plus 10 teacher work days. This means that teachers work about 185 days per year, compared to 260 week days of a standard year. Many teachers use the summer for rejuvenation, education or travel, or part-time employment.
  • Benefits Teaching offers great retirement plans and health/dental/vision benefits. Membership in teacher credit unions offer low interest loans.
  • Job Security Most teachers are tenured after two years.
  • Opportunities for Advancement Teachers may become curriculum specialists, department chairs, counselors, and school and district administrators.

View the following resources for additional information on becoming a science teacher:

Why Choose Cal State Fullerton for your Single Subject Credential Program?

    • Science candidates are part of a technology-rich cohort whoich focuses on the use of information, communication, and educaitonal technologies to improve teaching and learning in science.
    • Science methods and student teaching seminar are taught in the Synergy Classroom Laboratory, demonstrating the synergistic combination of science and technology
    • Students complete the Intel Education Essentials program during their EDSC 304 Educational Technology courswe.
    • Faculty model use of innovative technologies, including Blackboard, video streaming, online thinking tools, and audience response systems
    • Program completers are in high demand by Orange County schools as well as those in surrounding counties.
    • Programs are accredited by the National Council on Teacher Education (NCATE), the most prestigious accrediting body in the nation, and also by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC).
    • Candidates successfully complete the California Teaching Performance Assessment and prepare an Individualized Induction Plan for their employing district.
    • Field based program allows students to apply theory to practice in classroom settings. Cohorts of students study and work together under the direction and supervision of a team of university and K-12 faculty.
    • Methods courses and supervision are content specific.
    • Intern program (Professional Track) allows qualified candidates to earn their credential while employed as public school classroom teachers.
    • Science and education faculty are involved in our neighboring schools, collaborating with teachers to improve policy and practice. They have published numerous articles; obtained millions of dollars in annually funded grants; and are recognized regionally, nationally, and internationally.


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Surfaces 1: The ooze of the past

Curves and surfaces are a wonderful visual representation of mathematics. They can move from the simple and profound to the complex and intriguing. They have even been accused of being part of a sinister plot. In addition the mathematics behind them is becoming increasingly useful in many areas, algebraic statistics for example.


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Casino Revenue Up 24% Over Last August

BERLIN — The August revenue numbers for the Casino at Ocean Downs and Maryland’s two other operating casinos were released this week and while the news was mixed for the most part, the Berlin facility enjoyed another strong month after setting a record in July.

As the campaigning for the referendum on expanded gambling in Maryland continues to heat up with the battle already raging in advance of the November election, at least two of Maryland’s three operating casinos including the Casino at Ocean Downs continued to put up strong numbers during the month of August. The 800 machines at the Casino at Ocean Downs generated $5.67 million in August, just short of the $5.75 million posted in July, which was the record for the 16-month history of the Berlin gaming facility.

The $5.67 million generated in August represented an increase of $1.1 million over August 2011, or roughly 24 percent. It’s important to note the Berlin casino, like most businesses in the resort area, lost an entire weekend in August 2011 due to Hurricane Irene. In addition, there were five weekends in August this year, which also contributed to the spike in revenue over the prior year.

A look at the average daily gross per machine also reflects healthy growth on the bottom line. For example, the Casino at Ocean Downs generated $228.66 per machine per day in August 2012, compared to $196.66 per day in 2011. It’s important to note the Casino at Ocean Downs expanded its number of VLTs from 750 to 800 last summer, which makes the increase more pronounced.

While the news was good for the most part for the Casino at Ocean Downs in August, the same cannot be said for Maryland’s first slots venue, the Hollywood Casino in Perryville in Cecil County.

The Hollywood Casino Perryville generated $6.5 million in August and its gross gaming revenue per day came in at $140.14 for its 1,500 VLTs. The August 2012 numbers represent a decline of over $2 million in August 2011, or a drop of around 24 percent.

Meanwhile, the Maryland Live Casino in Anne Arundel County continued to be a revenue juggernaut in August. In only its second month of operation, Maryland Live generated around $32.5 million in August and its average daily revenue per machine came in at $281.60 for its 3,717 machines.

In August, the Casino at Ocean Downs generated $2.7 million for the Education Trust Fund, bringing the calendar year contribution to nearly $17 million. The Berlin casino generated $311,888 in local impact grants in August and the calendar year-to-date total now stands at $1.9 million.


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BEST OF 2013: 20-16

pinkish black cover

20. PINKISH BLACK, “Razed to the Ground” (Century Media) — Just about everything about Dallas-based duo Pinkish Black is disturbing, from the origin of their band name, to their penetrating drone that can cause your head to spin, from their doomy darkwave that, while not inherently metal, still belongs way up there in the discussion. The music on their second full-length “Razed to the Ground,” their first for Century Media (one of their most surprising, yet intelligent, signings to date) can chill you and spook you out in ways even the most evil and bloodthirsty black metal bands could ever dream, basically because these guys weigh in on your psyche and on matters far more tangible in daily life. How many of us ever are really going to see a baphomet? How many of us have been in a fucked up relationship, not necessarily romantic?

It’s easy to get creeped out by the band’s sounds. The synth-drums setup might make some think of Zombi, and there are some sonic similarities, but there are a lot of psychedelic nightmare-scapes and doom drubbings to set them in their own stratosphere. Daron Beck (keys, vocals) and Jon Teague (drums, synth) do a great job creating dark, creeping, but ultimately catchy songs that should turn on the dreariest of doom fans but even those who dig bands such as Sisters of Mercy, the Cure, and the Cult. This is a deranged, yet stunning record that may take some time to find its proper audience, but once it does, everyone included is fucked. (Sept. 17)

To buy the album, go here:

desfheaven album

19. DEAFHEAVEN, “Sunbather” (Deathwish Inc.) — What could very possibly be the most positively embraced metal album of the past decade, “Sunbather” blew up even before the record hit the streets. Writers, including me, heaped praise on this mix of black metal, post-rock, indie rock, hardcore, you name it, and nearly half a year after its release, it still more than holds up and still packs the punch it did on first listen. From the emotionally tormented vocals from George Clarke, to Kerry McCoy’s music that runs the gamut of second wave black metal to Slowdive melodrama, “Sunbather” really has everything a scarred human being could want.

As with anything that gets this much praise and hype, there has been some backlash. There are questions as to whether Deafheaven’s music is even metal at all (it totally is, by the way) or if it’s just some hipster shit (it’s not, and please stop that one), but doing that just ignores the human tragedy and anguish contained in these seven tracks. The album is not a tough guy, beat-your-ass listen, or some sort of Satanic diatribe. It’s a collection of sometimes scathing, sometimes gorgeous music that embraces the highs and lows of life, realizations that suffering for your art might involve scraping by to even exist, and even the relationships with those people who are supposed to be closest to you that never really come to fruition. It’s a very human record, and maybe that’s another reason it has touched so many people. I called it a modern classic in my June review, and I stand by that with great conviction. (June 11)

To buy the album, go here:

blood ceremony album

18. BLOOD CEREMONY, “The Eldritch Dark” (Metal Blade/Rise Above) — There were plenty of bands that took gigantic steps ahead creatively in 2013, but perhaps none did so more effectively and convincingly as did Toronto band Blood Ceremony. The band always had a knack for dark, ritualistic doom metal and rock, but on their third record “The Eldritch Black,” they reach out even further to adopt a larger coven, mixing in classic rock and English folk to make them a bigger, more explosive band, and one capable of more sounds than you and I thought possible. This eight-song record is paced just right, contains just enough material, and really could find the band playing on rock radio on stations where their playlists aren’t corporately controlled. My guess is their audience would swell and they’d become one of Metal Blade’s biggest bands.

Maybe the best way to describe Blood Ceremony’s sound on this third album is occult rock, though that’s just scratching the surface of what they do, and so many of these songs are just incredible pieces of songwriting, from the great, Heart-friendly opener “Witchwood,” on which singer Alia O’Brien just sells the hell out of the thing, to the incredible folk ballad “Lord Summerisle,” their tribute to “The Wicker Man” that is suing by bassist Lucas Gadke, to the Decemberists-style rocker “Ballad of the Weird Sisters,” that has some of the most raucous guitar playing on the album. This is such a great record, such a gigantic leap toward their future, that there’s no telling what this band will conjure next. (May 28)

To buy the album, go here:

body cover

17. THE BODY, “Christs, Redeemers” (Thrill Jockey) — Armageddon and worlds being torn apart is as much a part of metal as guitars, volume, and devils, but perhaps no band expresses the horror of seeing existence blown to pieces better, and more frequently, than do Rhode Island duo The Body. Their music is pure terror, an assault that might make some people’s ears bleeds and insides explode, but if you get their mission, then chances are you spent many a bloody hour with the band’s new record “Christs, Redeemers,” their first for Thrill Jockey. The sludge doom menace created by guitarist/vocalist Chip King and drummer Lee Buford isn’t for the weak of heart, and might not even be for all metal fans, but there’s no question of their heaviness

As usual, the band is joined by the Assembly of Light Choir, who add their angelic voices to this smoking pile of destruction, perhaps leading you down a misleading path before King and Buford blast in with their mucking punishment, views into hell, and messages carried by the shrill shrieks and growls that sound downright inhuman. With each release, The Body increase their vitriol and come away with something scarier than what they offered up before. If they manage to top the bone-crushing chills they achieve here on “Christs, Redeemers,” the next album might literally make people’s hearts stop. (Oct. 15)

To buy the album, go here:

woe cover

16. WOE, “Withdrawal” (Candlelight) — Woe is a band that has grown in scope and sound ever since the 2008 debut “A Spell for the Death of Man” all the way up to their explosive, excellent latest album “Withdrawal,” released earlier this year. While the band remains a relentless black metal machine, there is more atmosphere, punk rock, and even proggy moments on their latest opus, and if you’ve followed this band’s trail, you might have sensed this was possible. This time around, Chris Grigg collaborated with the lineup assembled for this record, making for the liveliest, richest experience in the Woe catalog and hopefully stands as an indication that growth is something we can expect going forward for the band.

Grigg’s mangling screams remain a centerpoint for the band, as he often sounds like a man on the edge or just someone releasing every ounce of human trauma, and the music on “Withdrawal” is both nightmarishly dark and unapologetically heavy and melodic. These songs just flow by, and before you know it, the record’s over, making you wonder where these 43 minutes have gone. Lyrically, “Withdrawal” is more personal, more societal, more human meltdown than ever before, perhaps even giving Grigg that extra emphasis to go on and just go for broke vocally, and he also happens to have the best Woe music to date behind him to give each song added depth. I can’t say enough good things about this record. I loved it from the moment is arrived, and it gets played pretty regularly around here. This is Woe’s greatest achievement so far, but hopefully it’s just the beginning of a cataclysmic next step. (April 22)

To buy the album, go here:

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Archive for September, 2014

Snake Gourd Kootu – Paduvala Kayi Kootu

Snake Gourd Kootu – Paduvala Kayi Kootu is a dish which my Husband loves dearly. Last week when we went to H-Mart found Snake Gourd, and both kinds of Pumpkin. He wanted me to make this Kootu, so here is the recipe.

I used the same procedure as posted in Sweet or Sihi Kootu. Used Moong dal instead of Toor dal.

The very first time I fried all the ingredients I received a phone call, lowered the heat and went to take the call. By the time I came back the ingredients where charred black. Had to redo the whole thing again. So, while frying the ingredients, stay close to the Gas Stove. 🙂

Ingredients to grind:

  1. Urad dal or Uddina Bele –  1 tablespoon
  2. Whole Black pepper or Menasu – 10
  3. Raw Rice – 1 and 1/2 tablespoons
  4. Whole Red Chillies – 5 (use less than less spicy)
  5. Fresh or dry coconut – 5 tablespoons

P.S: 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons

Other Ingredients:

  1. 1 big Snake Gourd washed and chopped
  2. 1 cup cooked Moong dal or Hesaru Bele
  3. For seasoning :  Oil, mustard seeds, hing, turmeric.

  • Fry all the ingredients mentioned in ingredients to grind. Once it is cooled, grind into a smooth paste.
  • Cook moong dal in pressure cooker along with Snake Gourd.
  • In a big vessel, mix the cooked dal, add the ground paste.
  • Add salt.
  • In a pan, heat oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, hing, turmeric.
  • Add this to the dal, and vegetable mixture.
  • Let it boil for a few more minutes.
  • Serve with rice or chapathi.
  • I had made Sweet Pumpkin Palya and fried a few Happala and Sandige.

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Book three of the Angel Series
Would you risk everything, for salvation?

Helena — part earth-bound angel, part vampire — is pregnant, and it’s playing havoc with her unique abilities. Her usual diet of vampire blood makes her physically ill, one minute she’s visible the next she’s not, and she’s suffering from blackouts.

After yet another blackout, Helena finds herself back in Satan’s clutches. This time there is no way for her to escape on her own, and a dangerous rescue mission ends with Helena going into labour prematurely.

Helena’s child is born and all too soon must leave her to deliver a message to the mortal world. But the last time someone was sent with a message, it didn’t end well …

Watch the trailer for Angel’s Messiah on YouTube.
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