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23 Feb

Every now and again, your own self-manufactured anticipation for a follow-up album reaches such unattainable heights that the result can only be categorized as disappointing. Every now and again, but such is not the case with “It Calls On Me,” the recently released second full-length album from Doug Tuttle (out now on the ever-reliable Trouble In Mind Records). Considering that we considered Mr. Tuttle’s previous effort to be nothing short of perfect, and considering that we consider “It Calls On Me” to be even better, even more pleasing, even more perfect than its self-titled predecessor … what else is there to consider, aside from the very point of life itself?

Fortunately, in addition to being perfect, “It Calls On Me” provides plenty of moments for measured consideration and introspection; nine songs and twenty-nine minutes worth to be exact. What seems to set Mr. Tuttle’s songs apart, the element that seems to drape the entire album in a grey veneer of magic, is the fact that the songs are at once custom-built for brooding and for singing-along. “It Calls On Me” is a stunning collection of hook-heavy nuggets that sound equally poised to cause the listener to shed a few wistful tears, or to simply add their own “la-la-la” backing vocals to the album’s countless catchy choruses.

Through the dozen or several-hundred (who’s counting?) times that we’ve rolled through “It Calls On Me,” we’ve yet to get a firm handle on things like the album’s title (our proposed alternate title: “What’s Eating Doug Tuttle?”), the album’s lyrics, the album’s general raison d’etre. And none of this matters, not even a little. Because what “It Calls On Me” is more than anything else is something you want every album to be: evocative. And “It Calls On Me” is endlessly evocative, no matter who the “me” of the title is, what the “it” of the title is, or how the “calls” of the title manifests itself.

As an album, “It Calls On Me” manifests itself as a ceaselessly pleasing song cycle, with every single note, every single sound from beginning to end placed perfectly and yet, somehow, never feeling fussed over. It begins with “A Place for You,” some extra-terrestrial space sounds, some extra-terrestrial guitar sounds and, rapidly, the full merging of the two into one indistinguishable, indefatigable whole. This is followed by the album’s title track, a cool-breeze in song form, and one fueled by a positively elevating guitar solo – Michael Yonkers-esque, “Eight Miles High”-ish, Roy Buchanan-aholic – that’s panned all the way to the left for maximum enjoyment. It’s just one of many sharp, concise bursts of six-string freakouts peppered throughout “It Calls On Me,” another element of the album’s strange, singular charm.

“Make Good Time” makes a good case for being the album’s most immediately beautiful song, one buoyed by a stinging, insistent bass line, and one where voices float like clouds, sharing space with a subtle mellotron or melodeon touch. “These Times” goes hand-in-hand with “Make Good Time,” before being followed by the slow-motion wonderland of “Painted Eye,” where dashes of pedal steel paint a heartbreaking sonic skyline across which Mr. Tuttle sings, “If you’re happy where you are …,” before launching into another version of “the greatest guitar solo ever”; all hail the inhabitants of over-modulation nation.

No – wait. “Falling to Believe” is next and THIS is the album’s best sad song, an unanswerable twelve-string driven query, asking the musical question, “Can you take some time and find out what you mean?,” before once again launching into “the greatest guitar solo ever.” No – wait. “On Your Way” is next and THIS is the album’s greatest “greatest guitar solo ever.” No – wait …

“Saturday-Sunday” is the album’s penultimate and longest track and – wouldn’t you know it? – houses the album’s greatest guitar sounds (only this time we mean it). “Where Will You Go?,” the greatest song that Paul Revere & The Raiders ever forgot to write, closes the album. It sounds positively bombastic in pace when compared to the songs that preceded it, before the whole thing crushes and burns in just over a single, glorious minute.

As with the album as a whole, everything here sounds natural and somewhat delicate; not frail, but weathered. Rode hard and put away wet, if we might employ the phrase as a compliment. And we might. “If you Saturday comes ringing like a bell, let your Saturday surround you.” Highest possible recommendation.

 “It Calls On Me” is out now on Trouble In Mind Records.

17 Dec

Our year began with our introduction to the music of Noel Brass, Jr., the Seattle-based musician whose “Another Solo Mission” album has been perhaps our most consistent headphone companion throughout 2015. With the curtain being drawn on another year, Brass has unveiled another metaphysical masterpiece, entitled “Zero Utopias and Counting,” and it seems only right to bookend our year with a second salute to this sonic poet.

All the words we wasted in vain, attempting to describe Brass Jr.’s sound, twelve month again remain valid (thought equally pointless). The flight path as described by Brass – “part ambient, part psychedelic, all soul – influenced by early sci-fi soundtracks, film noir, and improvisation” – remains the closest description of reality.

Nothing’s perfect – we join Brass in arriving at a to-date calculation of zero utopias. But the music of Noel Brass, Jr., is as close to perfect as we need anything to be. Highest possible recommendation.

“Zero Utopias and Counting” is available now from Noel Brass Jr.’s Bandcamp page.

“We have been taught to spend our lives chasing our thoughts and projections. Even when the ‘mind’ is talked about, it is only thoughts and emotions that are referred to; and when our researchers study what they imagine to be the mind, they look only at its projections. No one ever really looks into the mind itself, the ground from which all these expressions arise; and this has tragic consequences.” – Sogyal Rinpoche

10 Dec

Andrew Bernstein is a name we did not know until a few short months ago, and is now a name we have a slim chance of ever forgetting.

The source of this unforgettable feeling is “Cult Appeal,” a recently released collection of extraordinary sound experiments from the ever-reliable Hausu Mountain label. Nominally, “Cult Appeal” is the recorded sound of Andrew Bernstein playing the saxophone through an assortment of effects, processors, and an otherwise indiscernible variety of sonic alchemy. The effect, however, is something far, far beyond this meager description, ultimately residing in an arena that exists far, far beyond words.

“New York’s alright if you like saxophones” declared an ancient mystic, seemingly unconcerned with the out-out-way-out contributions of people like Steve Mackay and Nik Turner, not to mention Albert Ayler. And if it helps to contextualize the radical appeal of “Cult Appeal,” please feel free to lump Mr. Bernstein in with such heady company.

However, for these ears, the music of Andrew Bernstein on “Cult Appeal” has come to represent something immeasurably broader in scope. Andrew Bernstein reminds us of the ability of music to inspire, to confound, to outpace obstacles and break down barriers. These are all different ways of saying the Andrew Bernstein’s music has blown our mind in an inspiring, indelible way. Spirits rejoice, indeed. Highest possible recommendation.

You can “name your price” on Andrew Bernstein’s “Cult Appeal” at the Hausu Mountain Bandcamp page. We feel you’d be silly not to.

“The whole point here is to destroy impure perception. So what do we mean by impure perception? Impure perception is basically everything that we see, perceive, and label at the moment. It is not that something is wrong out there and that’s why everything is impure. Instead, it is because, at the moment, whenever we perceive something, it is always filtered through our emotions, our desire, jealousy, pride, ignorance, and aggression. When we look at a person, we may see him or her through the filter of our passion, and will therefore see him or her as very desirable. We may look at another person through the lens of aggression, which will cause us to see him or her as very ugly and hideous. When perceiving others through our own insecurity, we make judgements, refer, and compare, and end up trying to defend or boost our pride, which all stems from ignorance. The list goes on and on. All the different perceptions we have arise from our very own minds and are coming through these emotions. That is why everything we experience ends up being a disappointment. Regardless of whether it is felt in a big or a small way, the point is that there is always a little bit of disappointment. This is what we are trying to purify.” – Cortland Dahl

19 Nov

With a radical expanse of subtlety, Verma’s latest, “MUL.APIN” (out now on the ever-reliable Trouble In Mind Records) is an utterly engrossing album, leaving an indelible impression, serving as a crystallized image of the band’s colossal creativity.

Verma – long masters of the motorik, well-praised as wizards of space rock both epic and anthemic – couldn’t be accused of anything so simple as a “reinvention” on “MUL.APIN.” The pieces of this album’s puzzle have always been present in Verma-land, though they’ve never manifested in quite this way.

Opener “Nerebu/Overture” lays the foundation, serving as a pulsing prelude to the album’s infinite layers of wordless wisdom, molten lava atomically diffused through amplification and cooled to obsidian. “Elil.Sa.Ursag/Hero’s Theme” propels the beat to prime position for the first time, but as the final minute drones and fades, giving way to its mesmerizing sister-song, “Irhandi/Sorcerer,” it’s clear that whatever spell Verma is under won’t be broken any time soon. The culmination of “MUL.APIN” is the Side-B-spanning “Gal.Damhara/Last Battle,” nearly sixteen minutes of aching enchantment, the sound somewhere in-between J.D. Emmanual and, say, “Somewhere In Time”-era Maiden buried in volcanic ash. Wasted years or not, there’s not a wasted moment across Verma’s latest.

“MUL.APIN” is a deeply dramatic album, a stellar, slow burn synth séance whose sonic palette finds color in a hazy hue that’s less draining than despair, less illusory than optimism. “MUL.APIN” is in some ways the sound of the stoic observer to the cosmic void, the soundtrack to stargazing while standing in the middle of a deep, ceaseless grey winter wind whipping through the pines. Yet the beating heart of Verma pulses firmly, if often faintly, throughout the album’s monolithic thirty-six minutes. The effect is something like catching an unexpected amber glow at the very edge of the horizon, a light that may (or may not) signal the end of a desolate road – “Keep a little fire burning, however small, however hidden.” Highest possible recommendation.

“MUL.APIN” is out now on Trouble In Mind Records.

“For a barrier could only arise from association with the past or expectation of the future. So the present moment has no barriers at all. And then he finds there is a tremendous energy in him, a tremendous strength to practice patience. He becomes like a warrior. When a warrior goes to [a spiritual; not physical] war, he does not think of the past or his previous experience of war, nor does he think of the consequences for the future; he just sails through it and fights, and that is the right way to be a warrior. Similarly, when there is a tremendous conflict going on, one has to develop this energy combined with patience. And this is known as right patience with the all-seeing eye, patience with clarity.” – Chogyam Trungpa, “Meditation in Action

12 Nov

Intensities in ONE city, dude. Better than “Pet Sounds.”* Highest possible recommendation.

“Cheese Brain Fondue: Live in Marseille” is available now from Artificial Head Records.

“We are so addicted to looking outside ourselves that we have lost access to our inner being almost completely. We are terrified to look inward, because our culture has given us no idea of what we will find. We may even think that if we do, we will be in danger of madness. This is one of the last and most resourceful ploys of ego to prevent us from discovering our real nature. So we make our lives so hectic that we eliminate the slightest risk of looking into ourselves. Even the idea of meditation can scare people. When they hear the words ego-less or emptiness, they think that experiencing those states will be like being thrown out the door of a spaceship to float forever in a dark, chilling void. Nothing could be further from the truth. But in a world dedicated to distraction, silence and stillness terrify us; we protect ourselves from them with noise and frantic busyness. Looking into the nature of our mind is the last thing we would dare to do.” – Sogyal Rinpoche

5 Nov

Music for Abandoned Beach Parties” is the perfect title for this perfect, thirty-two minute, six-song collection of cosmic thumps courtesy of Brain Rays. Of course, this may depend on your definition of “beach party,” or “ abandoned,” or even “music.”

Of these, “music” is the one least in question. If this is the sound of being abandoned, it’s a friendly, funky way to get freezed out. And if this is the sound of a beach party, it’s fair to say The Potato Bug wouldn’t recognize it (though he’d surely bob his head and wiggle his hips and ride that Brain Rays wave). But this is music. If pressured to describe the music made by Brain Rays, we’d be quick the raise the white flag of surrender, nervously looking downward and mumbling something about “weird synths” and how we know “nothing about hip-hop.”

The good news is no one needs to know anything, define anything to any one; remember, this beach party has been abandoned. There’s no one else around. But there remains a sound, and the echoes of the party remain, revealed and reverberating with grandness and gravity, translated from the dizzy language of late-night longing to the sound of Brain Rays.

“Music for Abandoned Beach Parties” is warm and electric, a thick, cobalt-blue haze of sound from the very beginning of “I Just Dream,” where seagulls crash into the waves of synth-stabs sublime, sucked in and seduced by the beat, the beat, the beat – the everlasting beat. Before you can even begin to wonder where Brain Rays is coming from or where Brain Rays is going, you’re likely to crest and crash as well. We should all be so lucky as to be abandoned. Highest possible recommendation.

“Music for Abandoned Beach Parties” is available now from Bizarre Rituals.

“Desire can be compared to fire. If we grasp fire, what happens? Does it lead to happiness?
If we say, ‘Oh, look at that beautiful fire! Look at the beautiful colors! I love red and orange; they’re my favorite colors,’ and then grasp it, we would find a certain amount of suffering entering the body. And then if we were to contemplate the cause of that suffering we would discover it was the result of having grasped that fire. On that information, we would hopefully, then let the fire go. Once we let fire go then we know that it is something not to be attached to. This does not mean we have to hate it, or put it out. We can enjoy fire, can’t we? It’s nice having a fire, it keeps the room warm, but we do not have to burn ourselves in it.” – Ajahn Sumedho

29 Oct

Describing the trip through “Familiar Obstacles” is no easy task; the accent here is on the obstacle, rather than the familiar. It’s an EP by the two-piece band Tomaga (a previous “Band of the Week” victim), with fourteen songs spanning forty minutes. But distinctions like “LP” or “EP” or even “band” or “songs” are more or less stripped of their meaning by the capable hands of Tomaga, or at least handed over to exponentially broader definitions. This process allows “Familiar Obstacles” to emerge as a pair of explosively engrossing, superb and subversive side-length explorations through musical landscapes that are anything but familiar, and where the obstacles are transformed – sometimes elegantly, sometimes violently, never less than compellingly – into openings.

The opening moments of “Familiar Obstacles” sound almost haunted by Tomaga’s potential for radical reinvention. An alarming drone eventually gives way to a looped, insistent bass rumble, creating a kind of sound-sutured, industrial skin laid atop a wheezing motorik-heart, which we initially expected to eventually erupt forward in full “Hallogallo”-mode.

But what’s expected seldom finds purchase in the territories explored by Tomaga; five-and-a-half minutes into Side A of “Familiar Obstacles,” we’re deeply embedded in an indescribable percussive pattern, a staggering, shape-shifting illusion of sound presented with alien aplomb by Tomaga. The battered, distorted-Dictaphone dub bass-line that follows allows for some equilibrium adjustment, but throughout “Familiar Obstacle,” Tomaga confronts the listener with a constantly shifting sonic landscape, one always imaginatively perceived and radically presented.

“Familiar Obstacles” is a brilliant meditation on the sounds that arise at the edges of our waking consciousness, where the structures that separate rationalism and hallucination are in a constant state of breakdown. Highest possible recommendation.

“Familiar Obstacles” is available now from Hands in the Dark Records.

“When little obstacles crop up on the spiritual path, a good practitioner does not lose faith and begin to doubt, but has the discernment to recognize difficulties, whatever they may be, for what they are—just obstacles, and nothing more. It is the nature of things that when you recognize an obstacle as such, it ceases to be an obstacle. Equally, it is by failing to recognize an obstacle for what it is, and therefore taking it seriously, that it is empowered and solidified and becomes a real blockage.” – Sogyal Rinpoche


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Real Madrid Finally Reveal Plan Sergio Ramos Had To Stop Liverpool In Champions League final.

Real Madrid were happy to let two Liverpool players have the ball in May’s Champions League final, as footage of their pre-match teamtalk has revealed.

Sergio Ramos , Dani Carvajal and Luka Modric were filmed chatting in the Kiev dressing room as they received massages prior to taking on the Reds, with Carvajal urging them to “be close to their three forwards” during the game.

Ramos famously was close to Mo Salah of course , with his first half challenge on the Egyptian injuring his shoulder and forcing him out of the match.

In the conversation between Carvajal and Modric, it was learnt that Real Madrid were happy to let Liverpool’s full-backs Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have possession.

Real won the match 3-1 thanks to a brace from Gareth Bale and a Karim Benzema strike, with two dreadful errors from Loris Karius the main memory of the evening, more so that Sadio Mane’s consolation.

Here’s the full transcript of the conversation, which was tweeted by the Real Twitter account:

Carvajal: “We have to put a lot of pressure on them. They get the ball back and combine fast.

Carvajal: “We have to put a lot of pressure on them. They get the ball back and combine fast.  “If we can stop that, and be close to their three forwards, and boom. Quickly. They try to get out of the pressure? We have to be there. “If they keep it, fine. Let’s keep them 40 metres away.

Ramos: “We have to avoid silly fouls on the sides. They are very strong in the air. We’ll get them in the counter attack. “Same thing with the second chances. We have to communicate well all the time. “In every ball they clear, we have to keep our mark until the end.”

Carvajal: “If their full backs go way up, you can’t chase them all the time. Because by minute 60 you’ll be dead.”

Modric: “Let’s pick our battles. Just like we did against Juventus , you know? We played the same way, and they did too. Let their full-backs have the ball.”

Carvajal: “Yes. Exactly. We just let them have it there.”

Watch video below;

Real Madrid C.F.

💬⚽ ¡La conversación táctica de @SergioRamos, @DaniCarvajal92 y @lukamodric10 durante la sesión de masajes previa a la Final de la Champions! |

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"Luxury and driving comfort overwhelming others. This supremely luxury saloon that has only one in the world is this G00.
The title of Double 0, which was attached in the sense that it is unparalleled and not otherwise possible, represents the confidence of GNADE"
- Ridge Racer 6 website.
The Gnade G00 is Gnade's concept super-saloon, featured in both Ridge Racer 6 and 7. According to Ridge Racer 7's description of the car, the double zeroes in the "G00" name means that there is no other car like it. Powered by a turbocharged engine that sends its power to a 7-speed transmission, this luxobarge is by no means slow, as it can reach over 200 mph. However, compared to other Special Machines, the G00 is completely average.

In Ridge Racer 7, being a Special Machine means that one cannot visually customize the car (with the exception of liveries, exterior and wheel paint, headlights and window tint), or enhance its performance. It is obtainable by completing a special route (Ridge Racer 6) or, in Ridge Racer 7, by beating it in a duel.

Based on it's looks, it resembles a Maybach 62, with its wide and long body, but given the fact it is powered by a similar engine to a Bugatti Veyron, which is an 8.0 litre, quad-turbocharged W16, it may suggest that it is technologically inspired by, and foreshadows the Bugatti 16C Galibier concept (although the Bugatti concept had twin-superchargers instead of the quad-turbo set-up).

The fact that it has a boost gauge in its HUD is textbook that it has a turbocharged engine.

The Gnade G00 surprisingly handles like a Mild-spec machine, despite its heavy weight and wide body, as characterized by its all-wheel drive drivetrain, and the fact that the Mild drift type is synonymous with Gnade-branded cars. However, it has average ultimate-charging characteristics, so the G00 could prove an underrated choice for many drivers who wish to use it.

  • The description of Ridge Racer 6 mentions that the original G00 is a one-off prototype sedan with a highly luxurious interior, but the model of the G00 in the games show a race-spec cockpit, suggesting that the G00 featured in both Ridge Racer 6 and 7 are actually purpose-built racing versions, and given that it has four liveries to choose from, this could imply that four race-spec G00's were built for the sole purpose of competing in the Ridge Universe series (Ridge Racer 6) and in the Ridge State Grand Prix.
  • The G00 is also similar to the racing version of the Aston Martin Rapide, as it is also a race car variant of a luxury saloon.


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Parisian Frill Canary

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Is the Parisian Frill Canary right for you?

Species group:

Other common names: Parisian Canary

Scientific name: Serinus canaria domesticus

The basics:
The Parisian Frill Canary is a huge, impressively ornamented type canary – the largest of the frilled canaries and, to many, the most beautiful. They were developed in the late 1880s and into the early 1900s by a group of Parisian canary breeders working toward a frilled canary that was larger and more impressive than its ancestors from Holland like the Northern Dutch Frill.

All frilled canaries may display frills in three classic areas -- on the shoulders to create a “mantle” or cape-like appearance, at the breast to form a low collar or so-called “jabot,” and just above the thighs to form the “fins.” In the case of the Parisian Frill, however, these frills may be doubled, and there should be frills on the head as well. When looking at a good specimen, you have the impression that the canary is frilled all over except for the tail and flight feathers.

Worth noting: In most canaries, long, corkscrew-type nails would be a problem or even a sign of a health issue. With Parisian Frills, they are part of the show standard that a breeder is trying to achieve. That's right – even the toes are curly!

28 grams (1 oz.)

Average size:
19 - 22 centimeters (7.5 - 8.7 in.)

7 - 10 years

Behavior / temperament:
Their voice is not going to knock a true song canary off its perch, but some of the Parisian Frills will surprise you with a pleasant song. Consider it a bonus, as this bird is bred and judged based solely on size and appearance.

Frilled Canaries in general, and Parisian Frills in particular, may be a little more nervous than some other canary varieties. If you place their cage higher rather than lower, pairs and individual birds will feel more secure. These independent and somewhat delicate birds should usually be housed as singles or in pairs, rather than in colonies or in mixed-species exhibits.

Because of their unusual frilled feathers, Parisian Frill Canaries may not be as well protected against damp and cold as some other canaries, and they need a comfortable, climate controlled birdroom. Each individual or pair requires its own cage. The living quarters might be a minimum size of 24”w x 18”d x 24”h, and it is strongly advised to consult with other exhibitors about which show cages should be used for training. You should also take care that the nesting material, perches, and other equipment are not made of materials likely to catch on the bird's curly toenails.

The backbone of the Parisian Frill diet is a high quality canary seed mix formulated especially for canaries, with a high proportion of canary, rape, flax, linseed, sterilized hemp, thistle, and not too much millet. Some high end seed mixes also contain freeze-dried fruits and vegetable bits, and anise may give the mix a wonderful aroma. Test the seed for freshness by soaking and sprouting. You can also buy special seeds that are easy to sprout in the home. These so-called soaking seed blends may include sunflower, safflower, and wheat that would otherwise be too large or too difficult for a canary to crack by itself, yet once sprouted, they will gain in vitamins and become soft, delicious treats that your bird will love.

Chopped fresh greens like unsprayed chickweed, dandelion greens, and oregano are highly recommended, but any healthy greens such as the flowering heads of broccoli or chopped fruit like apples, apricots, and so on, will add vitamins and flavor to the diet. You should also be able to find some pellets formulated especially for canaries. Some people report that their canaries first learned to eat their pellets after they sprinkled them with a little apple juice.

Protein is important for the molting or breeding Parisian Frill. Many people make a classic eggfood which consists of a hard-boiled egg chopped up well, with about 1 teaspoon of brewer's yeast (NEVER baking yeast) stirred into the mix. Don't leave eggfood sitting around. Remove what's left in the bowl after a couple of hours.

Written by Elaine Radford

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An Interview With Jon David,

An Interview With Jon David, The Man Who Hacked al-Queda’s Homepage: I scored a coup by getting an interview with Jon David, who hacked al-Queda’s homepage. I wish I could have had a little more time to talk with him but considering that he’s been getting interviewed by the likes of CNN, ABC, and the Washington Post today I was lucky to get him at all.

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Monthly Archives: July 2012

Humanity… in Space!

Astronauts gathered around a table

Recently in an episode of my favorite podcast, America’s Test Kitchen, the hosts talked to Mary Roach, author of Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void about astronaut food, eating, and what happens after eating. In discussing the history of space food and eating at NASA, Mary explains a curiously human tangent… Read more »

OfficeTalk Phone Service

OfficeTalk | Phone Service | IT Support

Nearly every television commercial, tech magazine, and ad banner in the past year has been touting this “cloud” thing. Most of us get that the cloud is great way to listen to music, backup and store data, and collaborate on documents with faraway co-workers. But what many don’t know is that the cloud can eliminate a… Read more »

DNS Changer Malware

DNS Malware | IT Support | Ripple

What do Facebook, Google, and the FBI have in common? Nope, it’s not collecting your personal information. Well, maybe that, too, but the story this week is that all three are making an effort to alert people that the computers they’re using might be infected with harmful malware. So harmful, in fact, that it could prevent… Read more »


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Risk Rap

Rapping About a World at Risk

Audit Risk Survey for Fund Managers: Final Results

tax-return1Sum2 is please to report the final results of the IRS Audit Risk Survey for Fund Managers. Sum2 has commissioned the survey to determine financial services industry awareness and readiness for IRS audit risk factors. The survey sought to determine industry awareness and readiness to address IRS Industry Focus Issue (IFI) risk exposures for hedge funds, private equity firms, RIAs, CTAs and corporations using offshore structures.

Survey Background

Due to the pressing revenue requirements of the United States Treasury and the need to raise funds by recognizing new sources of taxable revenue; hedge funds, private equity firms, CTA’s and other corporations that utilize elaborate corporate structures, engage in sophisticated transactions and recognize uncommon forms of revenue, losses and tax credits will increasingly fall under the considered focus of the IRS.

Since 2007 the IRS began to transition its organizational posture from a benign customer service resource to a more activist posture that is intent on assuring compliance and enforcement of US tax laws. Specifically the IRS has invested in its Large and Mid-Size Business Division (LMSB) to enhance its expertise and resources to more effectively address the tax audit challenges that the complexity and sophistication of investment management complexes present. The IRS has developed its industry issue competencies within its LMSB Division. It has developed a focused organizational structure that assigns issue ownership to specific executives and issue management teams. This vertical expertise is further enhanced with issue specialists to deepen the agencies competency capital and industry issue coordinators that lends administrative and agency management efficiency by ranking and coordinating responses to specific industry issues. IRS is building up its portfolio of skills and industry expertise to address the sophisticated agility of hedge fund industry tax professionals.

To better focus the resources of the agency the IRS has developed a Three Tiered Industry Focus Issues (IFI). Tier I issues are deemed most worthy of indepth examinations and any fund management company with exposure in these areas need to exercise more diligence in its preparation and response. Tier I issues are ranked by the IRS as being of high strategic importance when opening an audit examination. This is followed by Tier II and Tier III focus issues that include examination issues ranked according to strategic tax compliance risk and significance to the market vertical. Clearly the IRS is investing significant organizational and human capital to address complex tax issues of the industry. The IRS is making a significant institutional investment to discover potentially lucrative tax revenue streams that will help to address the massive budget deficits of the federal government.

Survey Results

The survey was open to fund management executives, corporate treasury, tax managers and industry service providers. CPAs, tax attorneys, compliance professions, administrators, custodians and prime brokers were also invited to participate in the study. The survey was viewed by 478 people. The survey was completed by 43% of participants who began the survey.

Geographical breakdown of the survey participants were as follows:

  • North America 73%
  • Europe 21%
  • Asia 6%

The survey asked nine questions. The questions asked participants about their awareness of IFI that pertain to their fund or fund management practice and potential mitigation actions that they are considering to address audit risk.

The survey posed the following questions:

  • Are you aware of the Industry Focus Issues (IFI) the IRS has developed to determine a fund managers audit risk profile?
  • Are you aware of the organizational changes the IRS has made and how it may effect your firms response during an audit?
  • Are you aware of the Three IFI Tiers the IRS has developed to assess a funds audit risk profile?
  • Are you aware of how the Three IFI Tiers may affect your audit risk exposures?
  • Have you conducted any special planning sessions with internal staff to prepare for IFI audit risk exposures?
  • Has your outside auditor or tax attorney notified you of the potential impact of IFI risk?
  • Have you held any special planning meetings with your outside auditors or tax attorneys to mitigate IFI risk?
  • Have you had meetings with your prime brokers, custodians and administrators to address the information requirements of IFI risk?
  • Have you or do you plan to communicate the potential impact of IFI risk exposures to fund partners and investors?

Survey highlights included:

  • 21% of survey participants were aware of IFI
  • 7% of survey respondents planned to implement specific strategies to address IFI audit risk
  • 6% of survey respondents have received action alerts from CPA’s and tax attorney’s concerning IFI audit risk
  • 26% of survey respondents plan to alert fund investors to potential impact of IFI audit risk

Sum2 believes that survey results indicate extremely low awareness of IFI audit risk. Considering the recent trauma of the credit crisis, sensational fraud events and the devastating impact of last years adverse market conditions; fund managers and industry service providers must remain vigilant to mitigate this emerging risk factor. These market developments and the prevailing political climate surrounding the financial services sector will bring the industry under heightened scrutiny by tax authorities and regulatory agencies. Unregulated hedge funds may be immune from some regulatory issues but added compliance and disclosure discipline may be imposed by significant counter-parties, such as prime brokers and custodians that are regulated institutions.

Market and regulatory developments has clearly raised the tax compliance and regulatory risk factors for hedge funds and other fund managers. Issues concerning FAS 157 security valuation, partnership domiciles and structure, fund liquidation and restructuring and complex transactions has increased the audit risk profile for the industry. Significant tax liabilities, penalties and expenses can be incurred if this risk factor is not met with well a well considered risk management program.

In response to this industry threat, Sum2 has developed an IRS Audit Risk Program (IARP) that prepares fund management CFO’s and industry service tax professionals to ascertain, manage and mitigate its IRS risk exposures within the Three IFI Tiers.

The IARP provides a threat scoring methodology to ascertain risk levels for each IFI risk factor and aggregates overall IFI Tier exposures. The IARP uses a scoring methodology to determine level of preparedness to meet each of the 36 audit risk factors. The IARP helps managers to outline mitigation actions required to address audit risk factors and determine potential exposures of each risk. The IARP calculates expenses associated with mitigation initiatives and assigns mitigation responsibility to staff members or service providers.

The IARP links users to issue specific IRS resources, forms and documentation that will help you determine an IFI risk relevancy and the resources you need to address it. The IARP will prove a valuable resource to help you manage your response to a tax audit. It will also prove itself to be a critical tool to coordinate and align internal and external resources to expeditiously manage and close protracted audit engagements, arbitration or litigation events.

The IARP product is a vertical application of Sum2’s Profit|Optimizer product series. The Profit|Optimizer is a C Level risk management tool that assists managers to uncover and mitigate business threats and spot opportunities to maintain profitability and sustainable growth.

The IARP product is available for down load on Amazon.com.

The product can also be purchased with a PayPal account: Sum2 e-commerce

Sum2 wishes to thank all who anonymously took part in the survey.

If you have any questions or would like to order an IARP please contact Sum2, LLC at 973.287.7535 or by email at customer.service@sum2.com.

April 20, 2009 Posted by | FASB, hedge funds, IRS, legal, off shore, private equity, Profit|Optimizer, regulatory, reputational risk, risk management, Sum2, Tax, taxation | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Are Sound Practices?

What are Sound Practices?

Sound practices are a set of standards and controls that mitigate numerous risk factors in the corporate enterprise. Sound practices must address corporate governance, operational and market risk factors, regulatory compliance, corporate citizenship, and stakeholder communications within a set of defined expense ratios.

Corporate Governance

James Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank stated, “Corporate governance is about promoting corporate fairness, transparency and accountability.” Sound practices are a necessary prerequisite for effective and ethical corporate governance. Businesses must accept its precepts and clients and investors must demand compliance, ethical trading principles, honest and timely disclosure, operational integrity and a full commitment to its implementation and adherence. Effective corporate governance practices maintains the faith of investors and provide clear measures of transparency, accountability and performance measurement of business managers and owners.

Financial Health

The implementation of a sound practices program is a powerful value creation tool. A sound practices program provides investors and creditors an enhanced level of confidence that operational risk factors are minimized and other classes of risk are being monitored and controlled. Corporate and transactional transparency and shareholder disclosure is assured. Investor confidence and a more thorough understanding of a corporations strategy and risk characteristics will be the result of a sound practices program.

Investor Communications

The sound practices program advocates the delivery of reports, analysis tools and management compliance statements to investors and corporate stakeholders through accessible media channels. All communications should support a stated level of transparency for investor disclosure. Investors should expect timely disclosure of corporate risk factors and other events pertinent to corporate performance, profitability and potential risk events and factors.

Brand Building, Regulatory Compliance and Best Practices

Sound practices require that regulatory compliance programs be embraced as a brand building exercise. Corporations that approach compliance by implementing best practice solutions will mitigate reputational and regulatory risk, attract high end clientele, and command premium product margins.

February 15, 2009 Posted by | sound practices | , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment


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men's knitwear

Men's fashion keeps pace with the time and is constantly changing depending on the mood and life pulse. However, every man should have properly selected basic wardrobe which will 100% never go out of fashion. And here the first rule is: in cold season there should be knitwear in the wardrobe - classic turtlenecks, sweaters and cardigans. After all, today knitted clothes make the basis which perfectly matches not only jeans, but also business suits.

Revan Paluh, the participant of the TV project "Ukraine’s next top model - 4", represents the debut RITO men’s collection. "Revan embodies the image of the modern male," say the designers of the brand, "He perfectly reflects the mood of our collection, in which the cold shades of blue and gray coexist with sensual red or deep bordeaux, and laconic silhouettes are combined with soft cashmere. This season we’d like that every man has found his own bit of warmth at RITO".


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Donate Menu

Rmi Outlet

Plug Into New Ideas

RMI Outlet, Rocky Mountain Institute’s blog, explores topics critical to RMI’s mission to transform global energy use to create a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon future.

Nuclear Power: Join the Live Debate

For four decades we have known modern energy systems could threaten civilisation in two ways—climate change and nuclear proliferation—so we must reject both fates, not trade one for the other. New nuclear build worsens both problems. It provides do-it-yourself bomb kits in civilian disguise. It reduces and retards climate protection by saving 2-10 times less carbon per dollar—and 20-40 times slower—than superior low- and no-carbon competitors. But taking economics seriously and buying those cheaper options instead can protect climate, peace and profits.

Easing the Pain at the Pump

The United States uses a tremendous amount of oil each year—enough to fill a large
 football stadium more than 350 times. More than half of this oil is imported, partly from volatile Middle Eastern countries.

 Why do we consume so much? We drive the kids to soccer games. We ship orange juice
 from Florida to Maine. We make business trips from Denver to Houston. More than 70% of U.S. oil in 2009 was used to the transport of people and goods. Such a heavy reliance on oil to sustain our modern lifestyles leaves us defenseless when gas prices soar to over $4 per gallon.

EV Readiness: Let’s Walk Before We Run

The term, “coopetition” is often thrown around RMI. It describes a spirit embraced by innovative companies to set aside their differences and collaborate toward a common goal—one that is often much bigger and more ambitious than what an organization could reasonably achieve alone.

Energy Modeling for High-Performance Buildings (Video)

The black box “voodoo” that many consider building energy modeling to be today is being dragged into the spotlight. New, more aggressive building efficiency standards, codes and disclosure rules such as those implemented in San Francisco, New York City and Washington, D.C., are already acting as change agents, driving greater focus on the importance of energy modeling as an accurate predictor of true energy use.


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Tobacco Intervention Champion Workshop

Mon, 2017-03-27 09:00 - 16:30
The Ontario Finnish Resthome Association
723 North St
Sault Ste. Marie
Filed in:
About this Event:

Learn what is new in the third edition of RNAO’s best practice guideline: Integrating Tobacco Interventions into Daily Practice.

Join a network of tobacco intervention best practice guideline champions for ongoing consultation and resources.

Receive tools and resources to help with implementation of an evidence-based best practice guideline (BPG).

Session Objectives

  • Explain the health consequences of tobacco use, and nicotine tolerance, dependence and addiction
  • Identify types of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products and pharmacological options
  • Describe the RNAO BPG development process and learn more about the Tobacco Intervention (TI) Initiative
  • Identify key recommendations from the RNAO Tobacco Intervention BPG
  • Identify the role of a best practice champion as a leader in knowledge exchange and transfer
  • Discuss use of the Toolkit: Implementation of Best Practice Guidelines when integrating tobacco intervention best practices into organizational settings

  • Presented by Tiiu Sildva (BN, MPH)
    Tobacco Intervention Specialist
    Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)
  • Jennifer Callaghan (BA, MPH)
    Project Coordinator
    Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)

For further details, contact Jennifer Callaghan

Cost for non-Members:
$0.00 CAD


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Roads on her Face #38: Grandpa

I did go visit him partly for self-serving purposes, partly because I might could write him onto a page and feel as if I understand him better, give him a more real place in my life and in my story. One visit won’t do that, of course, and so I will go visit him again. He’s 90, living now in a tiny town near the Arizona/Mexico border, a town with one restaurant and a fast-food joint and a whole hour from his VA hospital. I can easily imagine myself in his shoes, all alone and waiting to see which year of the next 10 will be his last. Which of these breaths will suddenly stop? I know how quickly I will be there looking back. I hope someone will visit me then, and I partly go to build up stock in my karma bank for when I’m old too.

But visiting him was a wealth of surprises and feelings, stories I’d never heard and someone else’s explanations for things that were wrong. The more explanations I hear the more I feel as if I could draw a thread out of all of them that would be closest to the true beginning of the cloth, the one true explanation woven of pieces of all explanations.

I remembered him as a smiling presence, a husky soft laugh like my dad’s, vague memories of him taking out his false teeth and clacking them at me, liquor on his breath and that ha, ha, ha; Grandma with her louder cackling laugh and smell of cigarettes, all of them laughing at these teeth and me looking at him with no expression the way I often did. I always liked him well enough.

I decided to visit Grandpa since I’m living close to him again, for a few years signed on to the ebb and flow of the desert, the way it brings me closer to the younger me, to the family we had that passed for nuclear, to the traveling and the moving of my dreams each night. To the empty howl of a train, the night sounds of crickets and whippoorwhils and the dark silhouettes of saguaros against brilliant jewel-toned Arizona sunsets. To what passes for home.

I called him once and got the answering machine, leaving him a message that I’d call him after work. “This is- this is your granddaughter. James’s daughter,” I said, picturing him knitting his brows on the other end and trying to pick out which of his 50 grandchildren this could be. When I called later that afternoon, he picked it up right away as if he’d been sitting beside it staring at it, willing his hearing aide to work.


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Ashley Kaylor Matchmaking

A website with touches of glitz, femininity, and lux…

Ashley Kaylor’s site is unlike the typical matchmaker’s. Instead of the cutesy hearts and pink cupids, it embodies exactly the style that her audience is looking for. It’s not over the top with florals – you know the sites that look like they’re in a purgatory of a 3rd grader’s valentine’s day card collection?

Ashley Kaylor’s website was approached with clean minimalism in mind. The gold leaf detail, a favorite of Ashley’s, give the site the extra oomph to take over the world.

Ashley Kaylor Matchmaking

The goal: A website and digital brand with a modern and minimalistic feel – not at all cliche matchmaker (meaning no cupids, hearts, and pink arrows)! Check these goals off because this site looks spectacular.

Most of it is set on a white background with simplistic text and borders. The gold leaf touches – especially on main headlines – brings out the lux styling of the brand.

My favorite part: The gold leaf is used in only a few places. This makes it a great way to highlight the important things while not making the website gaudy or off-putting.

Want a FREE consultation about your branding and website? Click here and schedule a call!

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Tag Archives: Kobold

New short story in Midgard Preview from Kobold Press

26 Oct

Midgard Preview coverMy very short story “At the Sign of the World Serpent” is one of two pieces of fiction in Midgard Preview, which you can download free from Kobold Press. DriveThruRPG named Midgard Preview the Free Product of the Week in the current issue of its e-newsletter.

The other piece of fiction in the book  is by best-selling author and award-winning game designer Jeff Grubb. The credits also include Ben McFarland, who just won a gold ENnie award at Gen Con, and Wolfgang Baur who is…well, he’s Wolfgang Baur. It’s an honor to be included, is what I’m saying.

It also makes me think that “Grubb and Rockett” would be a great name for a business in a steampunk story. Maybe they’d make rocket packs.

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Ritchie Bros. and IronPlanet Secure Unconditional Antitrust Clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice; Acquisition is Expected to Close in the Next Few Weeks

Historic acquisition is expected to transform the company and industry through complementary brands, innovative digital technology, product offerings in multiple channels and expanded global reach

May 18, 2017 — Ritchie Bros., the world’s largest heavy equipment auctioneer and provider of end-to-end services (NYSE & TSX: RBA), today announced the receipt of unconditional antitrust clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice for the proposed acquisition of IronPlanet®, a leading online marketplace for heavy equipment and other durable assets. Ritchie Bros. outstanding brand reputation and high degree of customer trust, coupled with IronPlanet’s digital prowess built on user friendly technology, will provide multiple product and channel offerings.

“Over the last three years, we’ve been successfully executing on a multi-channel diversification strategy to ensure that the company stays relevant and strong in a changing environment. In IronPlanet, we found a company that allows us to continue our rich history of innovation and gives us the tools and talent to transform into a digital information and insights powerhouse,” said Ravi Saligram, Ritchie Bros. CEO. “The missions of our companies are aligned: deliver maximum choice and value to our customers. We look forward to bringing our combined pride and passion together under one umbrella to accelerate our growth initiatives and add shareholder value.”

Greg Owens, IronPlanet chairman and CEO added, “The management team and employees of IronPlanet are enthusiastic about joining forces with Ritchie Bros. – the possibilities are endless when you merge brand strength with technology. We are inspired by the vision of leading a digital transformation in the industry.”

The anticipated benefits of Ritchie Bros.’ acquisition of IronPlanet are extensive and make a positive impact on the business internally and externally. Highlights include:

1) Pioneer a path into the future. Ritchie Bros. is a forward-thinking, growth-focused company that never stops innovating. By continuing to invest in technology and providing end-to-end support solutions, the company will continue to set a benchmark for equipment values across the globe.

2) Maximize opportunity for customers. The acquisition of IronPlanet is intended to provide the highest quality choices in asset disposition to best serve customers. The acquisition is the next step in Ritchie Bros.’ diversification and multichannel strategy. As a successful player in the marketplace for nearly 60 years, Ritchie Bros.’ unique business model and heritage of extraordinary customer relationships make it a leader in the industry.

3) Caterpillar Alliance. Ritchie Bros. also enters into a historic, long-term strategic alliance with Caterpillar, which will significantly strengthen its relationship with Caterpillar’s independent dealers around the world by providing enhanced and continued access to a global auction marketplace to sell their used equipment.

The transaction is expected to close in the next few weeks. A new organizational structure will be announced after closing.

Ritchie Bros. and IronPlanet first announced the acquisition in August 2016: http://prn.to/2pMuZFC.

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Mia, Millie and Alfie

Mia, Millie and Alfie have been born into a family where they are loved, just like millions of other children are around the world. Watching them grow is an amazing experience. Sharing with them about life is an awesome responsibility, teaching them God’s ways and His truths is extremely important to Boo and myself. Much of what we have learnt about life was given to us by our beloved parents. While Mia, Millie and Alfie will never know them personally, we are committed to passing on the important things our parents shared with us. They were incredible people.

Sir Isaac Newton is credited with a phrase which has had a big impact on my life ‘Standing on the shoulders of giants’ in which he gives credit to those who have gone before.

Newton didn’t originate it though. The 12th century theologian and author John of Salisbury used a version of the phrase in a treatise on logic called Metalogicon, written in Latin in 1159.

This so makes me think of the impact our parents had on our lives. Mia, Millie and Alfie will, I trust, get to know much about them as they grow, and we will pass on to them what our parents passed on to us.

“We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours.”

This is the commandment that God, your God, commanded me to teach you to live out in the land.  This is so that you’ll live in deep reverence before God lifelong, observing all his rules and regulations that I’m commanding you, you and your children and your grandchildren, living good long lives.

Do what you’re told so that you’ll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised.

God, our God! God the one and only!

Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!

Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.

The Bible (The Message Version)

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Perpetual sunshine produces a desert.

I came across this quote some years ago on a calendar I used to keep on my desk when I taught in Cogan Primary School. It has stuck in my brain through all that time. It’s an intriguing thought. On the surface I guess it means that if every day has sunshine and no rain, eventually nothing will grow; you need rainy days to go with the sunny days to enable growth to take place.

In a way life is just like that!

If things always go smoothly and we never experience pain or heartache, then our lives become dry and barren. We cannot appreciate the good days in our lives, if we never go through those tough times. While we may hate them as we go through them, but when they are replaced by the happy times in our lives, we are able then to appreciate the good days because of the bad days.

It is told that once Elgar, the great musician, was listening to a young girl singing. She had a beautiful voice and a well-nigh faultless technique, but she just missed greatness. “She will be great”, said Elgar, when something happens to break her heart.” There are things which only sorrow can teach.

It has been said said that sorrow is the source of the great discoveries in life. It is in sorrow that you discover the things that matter, and the things that do not matter. It is in sorrow that you discover the meaning of friendship and the meaning of love. It is in sorrow that you discover whether your faith is a merely superficial ornament of life or the essential foundation on which your whole life depends.

The sorrowful times in my life have not been many, but the tough days we had, were hard.

Among the most difficult of times was when Boo lost her beloved dad when she was nineteen. He went to work one morning and never came home. He had a stroke at his desk and was rushed to hospital where he sadly passed away. Boo never had the chance to say goodbye. She was at the age when she needed him more than ever. He was a wonderful man in every sense of the word but he died too young. He never lived to see any of his children get married, never saw his grandchildren at play or his great grandchildren smile.

Jean still weeps often.

We will never forget the miscarriage Boo suffered in our early married life, we were young and inexperienced and it hit us so badly. It took us so long to get over it. They were dark days. There were other days when we barely had enough money to live on and making ends meet was a constant battle.

I still struggle with the loss of my both my parents within a few months of each other; although we always knew that once one had died the other would follow soon. They were remarkable people, who just lived for each other. My dad passed away while we were on holiday three thousand miles away and the fact that I never got to say goodbye to him hurts so much. The journey home was a difficult one in so many ways. A few months later my mum left her house one day to  come on holiday with us, was taken ill in the car and she never returned to the home she loved. She died quietly in my arms in hospital.

In more recent times, the pain of seeing our daughter and son in law struggle with infertility was tangible and we questioned God as to why he would allow this to happen.

The sometimes long journey through these ‘rainy days’ has helped shape us into the people we are today. We can enjoy our happy days because of those sad days.

It is in sorrow that a man discovers God. It’s been said, “When you come to the bottom, you find God.”

There is a deep sense in which it is literally true, that sorrow has its own unique blessedness to give.

As you struggle with sorrow in your life, always remember that after the rain has stopped the sun will come out….

Perpetual sunshine produces a desert.

3 thoughts on “Perpetual sunshine produces a desert.”

  1. Gulp… A very moving post. Thanks for sharing Rog. We’ve certainly experienced sorrow and tough times & appreciate the good times too because of this.

    1. I am sure Brene. Our family send your family much love at this tough time. Love the pictures of you and Sam – and that great picture of your family smiling. Your strength is inspirational.

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Just Max and me… Adventures Day 2

On the way home from school on Thursday Alfie asked me, “is Grandma still at your house?”

No sooner had he said it, he realised his mistake and after hitting his head a few times with a clenched fist he corrected himself. ‘Is Margaret at your house?” he said giggling.

Max arrived a little later than usual. His mum was taking Alfie to Breakfast Club – a real treat for them both. When I opened the door I didn’t know what to expect as Poor max had been unwell earlier in the week with his new teeth and various minor infections. I was met with the biggest smile ever and I knew my little friend was better and looking forward to one of our Friday specials, Just Max and me. However today was going to be slightly different. Today was going to be Just Max and me and Margaret.

Margaret is my friend. We met by accident 26 years ago nearly when I paid a trip to Northern France to sing with a group of young people.  It’s been a lovely friendship based on mutual respect and a desire to support each other. Margaret teaches English to Senior Citizens in France and also tries to share her Christian love with all she meets. She has dedicated her life to serving others.

Max spent the first couple of hours having his breakfast, playing and watching train videos – his absolute favourite pastime. Watching steam train videos is a mark of great parenting (and grandparenting) skills!

After breakfast we had a game of ‘Hide the Remote Control’. I am beginning to get to now some of Max’s favourite places to hide it!

We had already decided to head for Barry Island, it was a glorious day late in September – too nice to stay at home. However Max looked a little tired and so we decided he would catch a later train after he had chance to nap. He certainly didn’t want to sleep all the way around Barry Island.

The yapping dog woke Max and we prepared to set off. It was something of a motley crew Max , Margaret and me!

Going to Barry on the train is wonderful but for a young lad in a pushchair it has a nightmare beginning. We have to negotiate the iron bridge over to the Barry Island Platform or Platform 2 as the lady robot announcer calls it.

So, pushchair under one arm and the other holding Max’s left hand and Margaret holding Max’s right hand we set off.

The train arrived on schedule and as Max saw the oncoming train he was visibly shaking with the greatest excitement. Unprompted, he waved frantically at the driver who waved frantically back and even gave him a personal toot on the train horn.DSC01369

Max was very anxious to leave the confines of the pushchair and sat excitedly by the window. He just loved the train journey, down through Dinas Powys, across the moors, through Cadoxton and the various Barry Stations. As we slowed down Max waved to every single passenger waiting on every single station.

When the guard came around I had a moment of panic! In my rush to make sure I had everything, I realised I had left the very thing I needed most at home – not Max or Margaret but my wallet. I searched every pocket three times at least as she inched her way towards me. A big smile and a cheery ‘Tickets please’ gave me hope. I asked her if I could pay with my phone and after she confirmed that I could all was well. I gave all my fellow passengers a look of disbelief and told them I had no idea how it works but was grateful that it did. They all smiled and looked at the two ‘old dears’ and the smiling little lad!

As we were heading towards Cadoxton, Margaret must have been thinking and she asked me if Alfie ever still called her grandma. I smiled and told her what Alfie had said to me just the day before! I think she liked that.

She replied, “Well, he’s the nearest I will ever get to be anyone’s grandma!”

I had a moment of sadness in my happy day. Margaret would have made a lovely ‘grandma’ – she has so many talents that she could have shared with them. Mia used to love and sit and watch Margaret knitting and they would often spend hours together.

As the train past the Docks Building I explained to Margaret what an wonderful building it was.

Barry docks office building
Barry docks office building

The Dock Offices at Barry cost £59,000 to build. Constructed of red brick and Portland stone, a clock tower was added at an additional cost of £6,000. It has a ‘theme’ of the calendar. There are four floors – the seasons of the year; seven lights in the traceried fanlight window – days of the week. The porch has twelve panels – months of the year.
Within the building are 52 marble fireplaces – weeks of the year. The windows number 365 days, one for each day of the year. Each window has four panes of glass – weeks to a month. In the east and west walls of the entrance hall are two circular windows – Sun and Moon. The staircase, made of Portland stone, has 31 steps (days of the month) from ground to first and second floors and has an ornamental ironwork balustrade with circular foliage and fruit trails.

We pulled into Barry Island spot on time and made our way off the station. I looked at the lovely old building and remembered many happy visits here in the 1950s, when I arrived on a proper steam train and Barry Island had a proper station. How good it would be if the new franchise did up these great old places.

I spent many happy hours in Barry Island as a child. My mum and dad would take us on the train from Llanishen Station to Barry Island on a regular basis. Most of the journeys were on steam trains. Unforgettable bliss!

On the way, we would hold our breath after Grangetown Station, as the train would take one of two routes as it approached Penarth. The short way was via Cogan, Dinas Powys and Cadoxton and on to Barry, but the long way, which always brought groans from us kids, was through Penarth via Dingle Road, Alberta Place Halt, Swanbridge, Lavernock and Sully, before joining the main line near Cadoxton. I would give my right arm to be able to travel that line again on a steam train. Sadly houses have been built on the track bed in some places and so that dream will never become a reality and I will never have to learn to write with my left hand!! A few years ago I did walk the old line from Biglis Roundabout to Penarth Station. I had to sneak through a garden near Lavernock but an amazing amount of track bed is still left.

The journey home would be made smelling of calamine lotion as we always got sunburnt and spent two days in agony every time. No sun cream or after sun gel in those days!

Max loves to ride in the pushchair and look out at all the interesting things there is to see. We had to walk around the fairground, now closed until next summer and headed towards the beach, It was glorious. Max was so happy. After crossing the road Max got out to walk and investigate everything. He’s just at that age where he wants to look into everything and find out about things.

We walked down towards the beach and stood by  Number 4 on the sea wall, the scene of many beach missions with my old buddies Mick and Clive. Max was desperate for the beach, but I wasn’t ready for shoes full of sand – some other time my little friend.

As we walked away from the beach I saw Margaret heading towards the local gym. I noticed she had worn her trainers and was thinking maybe she was after completing a couple of circuits….

We headed for Whitmore and Jackson’s, Max needed his lunch and Margaret and I were about to share a cream tea, Doug and Joy’s Christmas present to her from last year! It was delicious.

Max negotiated his way through his lunch, insisting he ate both yoghurts all on his own – he did a great job!  Some of his jam sandwich fingers ended up with one side on the floor but he enjoyed it all. He certainly has a great appetite.

We were having such a lovely time that we decided to catch a later train home, which we did.

With some spare time I was able to tell Max and Margaret about the old tunnel that once ran between Barry Island Station  and the little dock station. At one time you could get a train right to where the Paddle Steamers left for Weston and Minehead. I would loved to have travelled on that little stretch.

We had another bout of Max shaking with excitement as the train crawled around the sharp bend into Barry  Island Station for our trip home. Amazingly Max had another wave from the driver and another special toot from the horn. Max needs no prompting he just waves madly himself. Even I get the urge to wave at a train driver!! Why is that?

Max loved to journey home, no signs of tiredness.  It was a great day – such fun and such good company – Just Max and me…and Margaret! Looking forward to next Friday before this Friday has finished!

He was met by  his brother Alfie who was looking for someone to be a Robin for his Batman.

Happy Days!

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text:
SECONDS Dragonfly Enamel Pin

SECONDS Dragonfly Enamel Pin

Regular price £8.00 £4.00 Sale

This listing is for a SECONDS PIN.

This means that this pin is flawed in some small way, which makes it imperfect and not sellable at full price, but not damaged enough to throw away.

Each pin has a different flaw so I am unable to provide photographs of each individual flaw, but please know that they are very minor.

Pins will be sent without a backing card if they are a seconds pin.

Seconds pins cannot be returned or exchanged.


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Thursday, August 28, 2014

Labor Day Weekend 2014

Since I had asked for the whole weekend off, I drove down to St. George on August 28th to first pick up the girls from school...

...then took them home to get their homework done. After they finished their homework, we went over to Jump'n Jacks near their house before they closed for the night.

After I took them back home, I drove and spent the night down in Mesquite.

On Friday (August 29th), Rachel arranged it so that they would get out of school before they went to lunch. So I picked them up just in time to head north so we could be up to Park City in time to see Bridgit Mendler. However, the hotel charged me for the room, which left me not even enough to get them 1 single hamburger to even share. And what made it worse is that I had my dad's credit card for emergencies, and that too was not being accepted. So I spent an hour on the phone trying to get someone to put something in my bank or PayPal account to get them lunch and gas to get up north. The girls spent the entire time playing in the play room and the father of the girl the girls were playing with was SO KIND ENOUGH to give me some cash to get them each a cheeseburger. I thanked him so much. Back on the road, and then my mom told me that my uncle went over to my bank and deposited cash into my account to be able to get gas in the car to get home.

After that nightmare, we finally made it up to Park City just in time to see Bridgit start to perform.

The next day, I first took the girls ice skating up at CHRC. Tasha met us up there a little later on. After skating, the girls and I drove over to her house so that the girls could meet her parents, to open presents (late birthday)... make homemade pizza's...

...and to play with her pets.

Then while we were waiting for the pizzas to bake and playing out front, the ice cream man van came around. So I bought them each an frozen snack since we couldn't find the ice cream man during the summer.

The next day, Sunday, I took the girls up to Snowbird to Oktoberfest.

We had our faces painted.

Rode the TRAM to the top of the mountain.

And made funny faces behind dad.

I had to work on Labor Day, so Grandma and Grandpa Sharich took the girls back home.

Friday, August 15, 2014

My First Concert 8/15/14

As my 2014 birthday gift from TJ, he gave me two tickets to go see 311 at the USANA Amphitheater on August 15th. The second ticket, I invited Tasha (of course).

So I worked an early shift, then came home to carpool with TJ to first pick up Tasha, and then his friend Garin.

Made it early to see the first band (can't remember their name). Second band was Pepper. I've tried listening to their songs on Pandora, but I couldn't get into any of their songs.

Third band was someone called Dirty Heads. Enjoyed a few songs of theirs to download a couple albums a few days later.

Then once the sun had gone down, 311 came out and did their gig, set, whatever. We left a few songs before they we were finished (we found their show playlist online) because TJ has experienced dealing with the traffic when the show is over there.


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One last look at Wickenburg until next winter! A slideshow

Busy, busy, busy today!

The crew and I will leave Congress Camp in the morning.  We’ll be off to find another desert boondock.  All day my feelings vacillate between wistfulness at leaving and excitement at what we may discover tomorrow.

Before hitting the road, I always evaluate our situation.

Well, we’re stocked with groceries and drinking water.  The fresh water tank and the waste tanks are about half full.  One propane tank is empty.  The crew has a spare bag of kibble.  Lots of clean clothes because we went to the laundromat yesterday.

I perform the tasks that have become routine before breaking camp.

I check the engine’s fluid levels, the condition of the air filter, and the inflation of all six tires.  I wash the windshield, windows, and side mirrors.  The front half of the PTV’s interior is put in order for our comfort.  I make sure the awning is secure.

I dump the ashes out of the charcoal grill into the fire pit, brush the grill clean, and put it in the back of the PTV.  The lounge chair, camp chair, and side table go behind the side door.  I pull up the four stakes holding down the outdoor rug.  I sweep and fold up the rug, wrap it with bungees, and stow it behind the other side door.  I slide the rake, broom, and awning supports into the back of the PTV.

Inside I put away clutter and tidy up the kitchen, placing a small bag of trash in the PTV.

Now there’s not much more to do in the morning!

Since we’re leaving tomorrow, I’ve compiled a slideshow of photos I took in and around Wickenburg. Of course, I can’t help but include desert plants!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Oh boy, tomorrow we’re off to a new camp!

P.S.  I want to mention that I met reader Ron from South Dakota as he was pulling into this BLM camping area the other day.  He and the lovely lady with him are camped up the lane from us.  “Hey, Ron!  The best campsite is yours tomorrow!  Enjoy!”

About rvsueandcrew

Fulltime nomad
This entry was posted in Simple living and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

57 Responses to One last look at Wickenburg until next winter! A slideshow

  1. Marcia GB says:

    Wonderful slide show, Sue. Happy trails wherever the road takes you and the crew!

  2. beryl says:

    dont know if the desert land around lake pleasant is the type of place to set up your camp-miles and miles of rocky dirt roads-there once was a spa out that way where alot of big important use to reside.-cant remember the name of that place

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      Hi Beryl,

      I took a look at Lake Pleasant online. When I read there are 148 sites, I decided to pass. Nice of you to mention it though. If I can find a secluded spot, that’s always my top choice.

    • JOAN LATRELL ROBERTS (Phx Az, by way of Cambridge, NY) says:

      Castle Hot Springs??

  3. Sally Jacob says:

    I so enjoy your photo’s and comments.. thank you for the lift it gives me along with a kick to remind me I think this lifestyle is terrific!

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      Hi Sally… It is a terrific lifestyle. It’s great that you can make it suit you… lots of neighbors and activities or off by yourself or somewhere in between.

  4. Cheryl Ann says:

    Can’t wait to see your new site! I know you’ll miss this one, but there are always new adventures, right? Nice slide show! 🙂

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      Hi Cheryl Ann,

      I can’t wait to see our new site either! I’m not exactly sure where we’ll roost tomorrow. I have some places I want to look at, but I’m totally unfamiliar with the area we’ll be going through. That’s part of the fun!

  5. Mick in TN says:

    Your great with the camera and the pen; now please show us your brush and canvas.

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      Hi Mick,

      I don’t know what it is… I haven’t felt like painting at all this past winter, which is when I thought I’d have the slow pace to allow it to happen. Maybe photography has replaced it.

      I have a great camera that a friend gave me.

      • Sally Jacob says:

        Photos are such great windows into the world you are standing in… and a quick result of ones efforts to capture it… I have also gone to the photographs to capture and share what I get pleasure from. I love to draw and paint- but it takes time and set up etc.. a photo is so quick and on to the next idea.

  6. Bee says:

    I think the others are correct, it is time for “Spike and Bridget” to write a book, that will allow you to er…focus on the photography aspect of the book. Sometimes reading your posts and looking at the pictures makes me want to chuck it all and just go do it now. But the money issue always gets in the way! (Drat!)

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      I know how it is, Bee. You want to have all your ducats in a row before chucking it all. It took me about 7 – 8 years before I was financially able. That’s from visualizing my dream to realizing it. Those years were so long! But the big day finally arrived. Each day you’re closer, right?

  7. Got yourself some mighty fine photos in your slide show. Was great to see you last week & I’m sure our trails will cross once again next winter. We’ll pick up that conversation right where we left off. Didn’t figure you would make it over to the house. You & I are so much alike that way. You & the crew stay safe & we’ll be following your travels from afar. All the best from AL & The Bayfield Bunch:))

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      It was great to get together! We are so very much alike, Al. I had every intention of visiting you at your place. For heaven’s sake, it’s just up the road! The day would be beautiful and I’d get started on something, and there the day would slip by. “Oh, well, I’ll go tomorrow.” And then that day would go somewhere… I don’t have a Kelly to point me where I should go!

      Safe travel back to Canada. I’ll continue to read your blog every day. Love you guys, including the delightful Miss Pheebs.

  8. Bee says:

    All kidding aside, you do have a great eye for photography. Maybe if you know where you will be next winter you can take a course in photography. I know you don’t want to be tied down, but this might turn into a good source of extra income. As my youngest tells me, “Just sayin'”.

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      Hmm… “a good source of extra income.” I’m hoping my Amazon links will be that for me.

      Thanks for giving me another chance to remind people where to shop, Bee!

  9. R.Judd says:

    Sue,Have you ever made your way through California,Oregon and Washington? It is so beautiful there and the people are friendly.

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      Hello, R.J.!

      I invite you to go back through the archives and read about our travels through AZ, UT, CO, WY, SD, MT, ID, NV, and, yes, California and Oregon. We didn’t make it to Washington.

      We saw the Oregon coast and camped along the Rogue and near Crater Lake. And California… Mono Lake, Alabama Hills, Owl Canyon, Sawtooth Canyon, Joshua NP, Salton Sea, Borrego Springs, to Yuma, AZ. I know there’s a lot more of both states I want us to visit. Yes, I agree. Both beautiful states and friendly people.

  10. Tammy says:

    Sue, for some odd reason, seeing all your cactus photos has made me want a small one for the RV. I saw them in Walmart one day and they all had little flowers on them blooming, so cute.
    And…I wanted to tell you we made the Chicken and Green Chilies dish you had on your blog I think Nov or Dec 2011, and we all loved it. Will definitely be adding that to my recipe book.

  11. Jean &Skip says:

    Wonderful slide show Sue, the desert flowers are so beautiful, guess we will never see them so I appreciate your photos.

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      Hi, Jean and Skip!

      Thank you. It’s a pleasure to share the desert. The desert flowers are stunning. Those pink cactus flowers look unreal, like they’re made out of tissue paper. I was driving down a road, glanced into a subdivision and saw a flash of bright pink. Made a U-turn and went back. There they were in the landscaping of a gorgeous home for sale.

  12. Sally Browning says:

    Enjoy your blog very much, Sue ! Hope your journey on down the road finds a great location to relax and explore…. Enjoyed your list of “to dos’ before hitting the road ….. Admire your get up and goooooo attitude…. My best pal Duke and I are following you and the crew from Sarasota, Fl… All the Best….

  13. cinandjules (NY) says:

    Posse up………we’re moving in the morning!
    You have a natural gift when it comes to capturing whatever you point your camera at.
    Don’t forget the bird feeder. Safe travels.

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      The bird feeder was the first thing I took care of. I wouldn’t want to go down the road with that hanging off the back. Of course, I’d probably see it in my final walk-around check, but then maybe not. I get so excited about folowing the road!

  14. john stoner in ocala,fl. says:

    would be ease to follow you on a map if you would mark it. good web site. john in ocala,fl.

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      You’re right, John. I’ve tried to insert a map with no success. I’d love to have one. I think it might not work for the same reason I can’t put ads on my blog. WordPress doesn’t support it with Java or whatever.

      Thanks for reading my blog and for suggesting an improvement. If anyone can help me with a map, I’m willing to set one up.

  15. Sherry In Oregon says:

    Hey, Sue! Enjoying the blog & your pics …. I love the way you talk about all the nuts & bolts of your lifestyle along with philosophical, artistic & intellectual commentary.
    Just wanted you to know, I hope you don’t mind, but I shared the recipe you detailed above with my Facebook Recipe group & I certainly made sure to credit it to you …. I’ve made something similar before & I remember it being delicious.
    Just for fun, I may try to fancy schmancy your recipe up a little bit with some sour cream, maybe layer in some tortillas (which I think I’d prefer to using bread & the tortillas would be baked into the sauce) , add some sliced olives, that sort of thing. I’m a “what’s in the cupboard I can add in” kind of cook.
    Cheers to you and I’ll be awaiting the report (human AND canine) from the next camp!

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      That’s fine with me, Sherry! If you can, change the credit to Kathy Redding who shared it with me. Good luck playing with the recipe. Your ideas make my mouth water as I haven’t allowed myself sour cream or any kind of bread for many moons!

      • earthdancerimages says:

        The green chili/chicken recipe I made for you when you visited us in Zion was layered with flour tortillas and lots of cheese! EZ to make ! Safe travels and great adventure on the road ahead! It’s always exciting to end up somewhere unexpected!

  16. bythervr says:

    Hi Sue,
    Good luck on your newest adventure. I glanced at the numbers this morning and I see you have over half a million views and almost a thousand followers. You have a wonderful writing style and a life style many of us envy. The daytime temperatures here are reaching into the high 40’s and the snow is melting fast. I checked the furnace in the trailer yesterday and it’s working like a charm. It won’t be long now that I’ll have my pickup truck pulling my sweet mobile home down the road again. I look forward to reading your blog daily.
    All the best,

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      Hi, Barrie,

      Great to hear the snow is melting. Before you know it, you’ll be on the road to adventure!

      I appreciate the kind words about my writing. As soon as I finish replying to comments this morning, the crew and I are off to find our new camp. Not only is settling in a new area fun, but also writing about it is, too!

  17. diaryqueen says:

    Happy trails, Sue! About the pics – who is the gent kneeling beside his horse (statue-wise)? I apologize if you’ve mentioned him before and I further apologize if I’m ignorant and should know b/c it’s well-known! Enjoy the drive!

  18. Barry says:

    My sister was right you do take great pictures….Have a safe trip where ever you going. I am in Deming. NM It is starting to get spring here….

  19. Ms. Minimal says:

    Safe travels!! Can’t wait to see where you land!!

  20. Chuck says:

    Another beautiful camera shoot!!!! There are lot of us awaiting the first coffee table edition! And for the travelogue by the “Crew”! Drive safe. Chuck, Geri n the Boys.

  21. Barb says:

    Well, now that we’re back home (boondocked and camped from November of 2012 till just recently)
    I get to live vicariously through you till we “snowbird” again next year. I’ve been reading the whole trip long about your adventures as we moved around. Were in Quartzsite, Wickenburg, Phoenix, as well as the Imperial Sand Dunes, and got a kick out of reading of your experience with that 🙂 Look forward to seeing and hearing about where you are next! Take care 🙂

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      So you read about the dust storm on Ogilby Road! It sounds like our paths were very close at times. I hope to have many adventures this summer with my crew, enough to keep you reading!

  22. rvsueandcrew says:

    I’m writing this while pulled over for lunch. I forgot to mention that we may end up camping where there is no signal for internet. If you don’t hear from me, don’t worry!

  23. DeAnne from TN says:

    Yay! I can’t wait to see where we will go next. I feel your enthusiasm vicariously. Oh, the places we will go!

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      We’ve arrived at our new spot! It took a lot of searching but we made it and I’m very happy with it. Trouble is I’m worn out right now. I’ll be sure to post in the morning, if not tonight. Great signal strength here.

  24. Ron Sears says:

    Don’t forget to check that spare tire on both rigs from time to time…

    • rvsueandcrew says:

      There’s not much point in me checking the spares as I’ll never put them on. I’m not strong enough to lift tires. I have to use fix-a-flat or call emergency road service. If road service comes out, we can add air then if they need it.

  25. Your pictures of the cacti have been most refreshing, sitting here looking out at the slags of melting snow and brown vegetation under them…but spring is coming.

  26. Love the pictures! We are going to either Cedar Key Florida or Santa Fe in September. Do you or any of your readers know of good campgrounds(not ready to boondock yet!) around these two areas? Have a safe trip to your next destination!

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