text:
A librarian will help you identify, retrieve, and use diverse information resources. Librarians teach research education classes &workshops and

create web-based guides and tutorials to help you find reliable, high-quality information.

Reference Hours

Reference & Research Services Librarians are available from 9 AM to 5 PM on weekdays, with evening hours by appointment. The reference desk is located in the Great Hall of the library, along the west wall under the Safari mural, across from the library's main entrance.

Research Assistance

Librarians can meet with students, faculty, and staff individually or in groups to discuss your research questions and guide you to relevant resources. Please contact one of the librarians (see sidebar) to arrange a meeting.

We will help you to identify the best resources for your research and help you become more familiar with search techniques for your specific topic.

Since most of our resources can be accessed remotely, librarians are available to visit faculty members' offices to discuss your research questions.

Library Research Education

Librarians teach both general library orientations and discipline-specific library research sessions.

Librarians provide library research education

  • in the classroom,
  • in the Library Research Training Room, or
  • online.

All first-year undergraduate students engage in a library research education session during the CAL 103 course. In addition, all first-year undergraduate engineering students participate in a library experience session as part of the E101/102 course.

To promote advanced library research education, we are happy to collaborate with faculty members to create a session tailored to the specific research needs of a course or department. So that the session is meaningful, non-redundant, and relevant to the students,

  • The faculty member will collaborate with the librarian to design an instruction session that meets the research needs of a specific assignment. The instruction session will be valuable only if it addresses a specific learning objective.
  • Faculty members are required to be present at the session so that the faculty member can see the sources shown and the issues discussed as well as demonstrate to the students that the faculty member values research skills and the outcome of the assignment, and that the instruction session is an integral part of the coursework.

To arrange a library session, please complete the online instruction request form. Vicky Ludas Orlofsky is the Instruction Coordinator and works with faculty and staff to schedule and develop instruction sessions.

Information Literacy

Through library research education and outreach to the Stevens community, librarians promote the critical evaluation and information literacy skills students need to be successful at Stevens and as members of an information- and media-rich society.

"Developing lifelong learners is central to the mission of higher education institutions. By ensuring that individuals have the intellectual abilities of reasoning and critical thinking, and by helping them construct a framework for learning how to learn, colleges and universities provide the foundation for continued growth throughout their careers, as well as in their roles as informed citizens and members of communities." Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, American Library Association, 2000.

"Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning.

"An information literate student:

  • Determines the nature and extent of information needed.
  • Accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.
  • Evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.
  • Individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
  • Understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally."
    (Association of College & Research Libraries, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, 2000)

Accreditation organizations like Middle States and ABET require university libraries to establish library research education programs that contribute to student lifelong learning skills, including those of information literacy and critical thinking. National attention has been called to the importance of information literacy, as the month of October has been proclaimed by the President of the United States "National Information Literacy Awareness Month."

The library's information literacy program addresses these goals and learning outcomes in detail with a focus on preparing students to excel when faced with future challenges and to understand the value of their contribution to society. If you would like to learn more about the information literacy program, please contact a librarian.

Instruction & Scholarly Communication Librarian

Vicky Ludas Orlofsky

Location On Campus

Reference Desk

Contact Types

p. (201) 216 5361
e. [email protected]
f. (201) 216 8319

Research & Instructional Services Librarian

Courtney Walsh

Location On Campus

Reference Desk

Contact Types

p. (201) 216 5411
e. [email protected]
f. (201) 216 8319

Web Services Librarian

Romel Espinel

Location On Campus

Romel Espinel
1 Castle Point on The Hudson
Hoboken, NJ 07030

Contact Types

p. 2012165382
e. [email protected]


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Type: response

text:
The American Bar

At The American Bar we offer a wide range of drinks and traditional Irish food which is served daily.

Our lounge, is also available for special functions and occasions for groups large or small

Contact details

The American Bar
kilronan inis mor aran islands, Galway, Ireland
Galway, Galway
Phone: 353 99 61130

Additional Information

Venue Type: Bars
Type of Night: Chatting & Drinking, Quiet Drink, Chilling With Mates
Venue Features: Table Service, VIP Booths & Tables
Dress Code: Smart / Casual

Venue Feed

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-143-241-238.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-39
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for September 2017
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


WARC-Truncated: length

text:
Reflections: On Kawara – Silence

By Adam Fales, FCLC ’17

I took a break from the retrospective On Kawara—Silence to buy a few postcards for friends and family at the gift shop near the top of the Guggenheim’s famous rotunda. As the cashier rang up various pictures of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed museum’s exterior, I asked him how his day had been. “Just another Sunday at the Guggenheim” was his response.

It is this passive attitude towards time that I think Kawara’s work simultaneously abhors and upholds as necessary to our human experience. The contradiction between the active and passive times in life haunts the entire retrospective.

One of the first sections I encountered as I walked up the rotunda was a series of date paintings, entitled Everyday Meditation. For the first three months of 1970, Kawara painted the date in white against a dark grey background. All of Kawara’s date paintings followed a rule: the entirety of the painting must be done within the scope of that day, or the painting must be destroyed. On some days, he completed two paintings per day, and on March 3, 1970, Kawara managed three paintings.

Throughout the exhibition’s textual guides, the Guggenheim’s curatorial staff emphasizes the lack of qualitative data throughout Kawara’s work (we get date, time, place, but no idea of what happened then or there), but Kawara’s qualitative life manages to indirectly creep out of his work. In the maps that make up the amazingly vast series I Went, Kawara traced the path he follows each day on a map. On November 27 and 28, 1969, Kawara crossed the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn on the former and returned on the latter. Wherever he went in Brooklyn was outside the scope of the map he chose, so we are left to guess what kept Kawara outside of Manhattan that night. In the incomplete quantitative aspect, the qualitative presents itself, providing a foggy view of Kawara’s life. Small curiosities like this are endless in the many binders full of maps comprising the series.

These impossible glimpses of Kawara’s life fascinate me. His oeuvre entices me to search for the artist’s life in each work, and it is almost always present. The curatorial staff points out that the only series that does not show any evidence of the artist’s touch was a series of telegraphs (sent through some intermediary technician), entitled I Am Still Alive. The first telegraphs feature the dark messages: “I AM NOT GOING TO COMMIT SUICIDE DON’T WORRY”; “I AM NOT GOING TO COMMIT SUICIDE WORRY”; and “I AM GOING TO SLEEP FORGET IT.” The rest of the telegraphs are emblazoned with the eponymous message “I AM STILL ALIVE,” as though, without his personally touching the work of art, he needs to remind the recipient of his life.

After I returned to the Guggenheim’s lobby, I stopped for a moment to listen to the continuous reading of Kawara’s work One Million Years, in which Kawara typed every year one million years into the past and one million years into the future. Due to the noise of the lobby, I could not quite make out each year that two volunteers alternately recited (we were somewhere in the 700,000’s B.C.), and I thought how sad it was that the missed years, each of which lasts the same amount of time as 2015, were now lost. The reciter actively reads each year, but my passive attention allowed them to fade into nothingness.

On Kawara—Silence runs through May 3, 2015 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. For more information, visit the Guggenheim’s website.

Leave a Reply


text:
Damned if you don’t, gutted if you do…

I visited my mum today. It’s been a while, what with Christmas holidays and things, but the truth is I postpone seeing her. I dread it. I fear it. It makes me crazy, and it breaks my heart. So I avoid it, delay it, postpone it, find excuses not to do it, until the cascading guilt builds up to the point where I crack, and off I go down the slippery slope of horror that is dementia.

I skip and dance around the usual paranoia triggers, and we have a relatively peaceful lunch, circling around the same two conversational topics on rapid repeat, as we always do, but without any real distress. Her hearing is much worse, but other than that she seems ok.

But then I get careless. Emboldened by her unusual calm, I suggest we should dig out the family slides and photos and get them copied for safekeeping. It takes me a while to get this idea across, but eventually she agrees it’s a great idea. You can never predict what will trigger her paranoia, but it turns out that searching for photos does the trick quite spectacularly.

So I am rummaging in dust and cobwebs, coughing and spluttering, while trying to reassure her that I am not planning to steal anything, and that she will get it all back as soon as it’s copied. Around and around and around and around we go, all the while she is getting more and more anxious. Finally I find the slides and she insists she has to go through the box before I go, in case there is something valuable in there. She is almost in tears, saying she’s not giving anything away, I have to promise she will get it all back at least 15 times before we make it out the door.

That’s when it hits me like a fist in my face. She is terrified. She is trying so hard to hold on to the structure of her life, and I have just accidentally ripped up her foundations. I did something unexpected, out of the ordinary. Her boundaries, never very flexible at the best of times, are now rigid with panic and horror, as she sees her life and her mind slipping away from her. Her grip on routine is the only thing that holds her upright, and I just pushed her over the nightmare cliff.

Her memory for the past is actually improving, oddly enough. I thought it might comfort her to have some photos of the old days, when her life was calm and predictable, and she knew what was going on. But to get there we had to cross the treacherous sea, navigate the fireswamp, and battle the ROUSes(*) of fear and paranoia.

She is lonely – so lonely – but by the time I get home there’s a message on the answering machine saying she hasn’t seen me for ages, when am I coming over?

She is afraid – so very afraid – but trying to comfort her terrifies her, lest we discover there is something wrong.

She is angry – so very angry – but she can’t quite work out why. So she fixates on something. Something she has lost, or something she imagines someone has done. And denying it only enrages her further.

By the time I get home she might have forgotten it altogether, or she might be working herself into a frenzy of rage. We might be about to receive a barrage of phone calls demanding the slides back instantly, or she might never mention them again. The uncertainty is almost the worst part. Except that the screaming is the worst part. And the fear. That’s the worst part, too. Dementia is a whole morass of worst parts.

As for me, I’ve arrived home shaken, and shaking. My heart breaks for the child behind her eyes, who wants to be held and told it’s all going to be ok, except that the paranoia won’t let her admit it. My heart breaks for the fear she battles every day. Fear that she will be hurt. Fear that she will be abandoned or taken advantage of. Fear of being in the world, and fear of being left out of it. The same fear that she uses to protect herself, and to drive people away.

And my heart breaks for me. I want my mum. And she’s long gone.

(* ROUS – Rodents Of Unusual Size. If you didn’t recognise this acronym go watch The Princess Bride immediately)


text:
Nothing is really disposable

My ride to work route goes through several industrial estates, past a McDonalds, and alongside a university. Naturally the roads, footpaths, and bushes in the area are clogged with an inordinate amount of rubbish. Over the last four years it has amazed me how I can pass the same rubbish week in, week out, and it never moves until there is a big storm at which point it is magically whisked away, out of sight, out of mind, to be replaced a new crop of flotsam from somewhere upwind.

Last week I finally got around to buying myself a long “claw on a stick” device that means I can pick up rubbish without getting on and off my bike, having to bend down, or getting my hands grubby. I take a shopping bag with me, fill it up with rubbish, then empty it into a bin when I get to the end of my ride.

Today's haul included a balloon on ribbon, several lengths of polystyrene, juice boxes, plastic water bottles, plastic bags, coffee cups, and straws.
Today’s haul included a balloon on ribbon, several lengths of polystyrene, juice boxes, plastic water bottles, plastic bags, coffee cups, and straws.

Taking an extra 5 minutes to get to work gave me time to pack a standard plastic shopping bag with rubbish. On the way home I did that again, and this time also picked up a huge length of pink plastic bubble wrap that has been sitting in the bushes for weeks.

I like to think that this will make a difference – there are a lot of plastic cups, plastic bags, straws, and juice boxes that won’t wind up in Port Phillip Bay because of me. There was quite a lot of polystyrene (where does it all come from?) which breaks down into little white balls that look just like fish food in the water, and it’s now safely in bins because I took those 10 extra minutes out of my day.

But in practice I will still look at those spaces and be appalled by how much rubbish there is there. I can’t pick it all up, even over time, as it accumulates faster than I can pick it up. So I started pondering how we could stop it – maybe make McDonalds responsible for all of their rubbish? Make them pay to send cleaners out and pick up every item of branded trash within a 5km radius?

Make businesses responsible for the roadside rubbish outside their premises? What about the parkland? Who is responsible for that? Pay people for the rubbish they turn in? Container deposit schemes for plastic bottles? What about the lids on coffee cups?

Until it finally dawned on me that this was very much post-horse-bolting thinking. Picking up the rubbish is not the point. Stopping it being dropped is not even the point. The point is that we can’t afford to continue generating rubbish. We really can’t. We need to come to grips with the idea that there truly is nothing disposable. Rubbish persists, whether it’s in the streets, floating in the bay, or in landfill. It takes energy to create it, to transport it, and to trash it, and it still remains, a toxic blight on our landscape.

There are so many ways to avoid rubbish – keeping a water bottle with you for refilling, having a keep cup for your coffee, buying fresh, unpackaged food – yet most of them require effort. And goodness knows we’re all busy, exhausted, and stretched to our limits. But until we recognise that “disposable” is a myth, we’ll go on making the wrong choices every day, piling our earth high with rubbish that none of us wants in our garden.

These days everything is temporary. Hole in your jacket? Chuck it. Phone a couple of years old? Toss it, it’s obsolete. Ipad not the latest model? Upgrade! Microwave door broken? Get a new one! (microwave, not door)

We don’t repair things anymore. We are ashamed of things that are old, not the latest model. We have to have TODAY’s fashion in devices, clothes, and cars. But in the long term? This is just not going to work. We are going to be outnumbered, out-massed, and outlived by our own rubbish. What an epitaph.

Hands off Point Nepean

Have you ever gazed out over a pristine beach and felt both awed and calmed by its beauty?

Beach scene

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a forest, breathing in a sense of peace?

Have you ever wondered what it is about natural places that causes them to speak to us in this profound way? That changes us every time we interact with them? That draws us in and gives us a sense of connectedness and belonging?

These are the reasons we preserve these magical places in National Parks. According to the Australian government:

“National parks are usually large areas of land that are protected because they have unspoilt landscapes and a diverse number of native plants and animals. This means that commercial activities such as farming are prohibited and human activity is strictly monitored.

Like zoos, national parks have several purposes. The foremost of these is to protect native flora and fauna. But national parks are also there so Australians and foreign visitors can enjoy and learn about our unique environment, heritage and culture.”

Unfortunately somebody will need to update this – it is becoming increasingly clear that national parks are now nothing more than commercial opportunities. After all, we wouldn’t want our forests “locked up”, would we, Mr Abbott? The Federal government plans to put a coal port slap bang in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef – not merely a national park, but a world heritage area. An irreplaceable treasure.

And now the Victorian government plans to excise a huge chunk of the Point Nepean National Park for commercial development.

Pt Nepean was declared a National Park in 2009, after years of vigorous campaigning by the local community.

Beach at the Quarantine Station, Pt Nepean National Park
Beach at the Quarantine Station, Pt Nepean National Park

Understandably, they believed this meant that the park was now protected, open to the public for ever more, to be preserved and maintained as a national treasure.  Point Nepean includes the old Quarantine Station, and if you have never visited, I urge you to make the time to go while you still can, because it is an amazing site – a wonderful combination of stunning scenery and the incredibly moving stories of those early settlers, brought off ships and housed in quarantine on this wild and remote patch of coast.

See it while you can, because if the State government has its way it will be rezoned, stripped of its environmental and heritage protections, and access restricted to wealthy clients of the “Wellness Centre” and “Geothermal Spa”. Of course, there is no geothermal spa at the site, but it’s only a matter of drilling around one kilometre into the earth, and with any luck they will find some nice hotsprings to bring to the surface – without damaging the surrounding bushland, you understand, because of course drilling one kilometre (one thousand metres! Can they really be serious?) into the earth is so easy to do in a non-disruptive, non-destructive fashion.

The proposed development includes a jetty designed to allow easy access for speedboats coming from around the bay. Which sounds all very fine until you realise that the jetty would be right in the middle of an integral section of Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park, and a known dolphin nursery. According to Parks Victoria, the thinking behind the park is this:

“By keeping some of these marine areas in a natural state, free from potentially damaging human activities, we will protect these environments into the future. Victorians will also benefit from the positive effects that this protection will have on recreation and tourism, community education and scientific research.”

Which seems rather at odds with a high-traffic jetty encouraging speed boats and jet skis through an already fragile area. The development is being fast tracked and deliberately placed outside normal planning controls and public scrutiny, which is always a red flag. If it is truly of benefit to the community why try to hide it, and avoid public discussion and debate?

I often think that the measure of a truly civilized society is the value it places on intangible things that don’t fit in traditional economic models. On community, on nature, on sustainability, on relationships.  On things we can’t easily label with a price tag. Our relationships with these wild places are irreplaceable. As we break down our connection with the natural world and base our lifestyles on foundations of ipads and concrete, we lose a vital part of ourselves.

I often walk on the beach at Pt Nepean, and I frequently see dolphins playing in the shallows. My family and I pick up rubbish along the beach, most of it washed up from other areas of the bay. When I told my girls, aged 11 and 7, that there was a big development proposed for the area, they were horrified. “There’s too much rubbish there already!” they cried. Sums it up, really.

PS. If you want to protect our history and our national parks, you can contact your member of Parliament and urge them to act.

How could you, Mr Abbott?

I spent the holidays with my family having the most wonderful holiday I can remember. We went to Heron Island, where not only were our myriad food issues just brilliantly catered for, we made breathtakingly wonderful new friends, and relaxed properly for the first time in years.

The reason we were so relaxed, apart from bonding with fabulous people, was the Great Barrier Reef. We snorkeled for hours every day, and without fail we saw new and wondrous things every time. We didn’t have to leave the island, we just stepped off the beach, put our masks in the water and were overcome with the incredible biodiversity all around us.

We swam with turtles, who were magnificently unconcerned with our presence.

green turtle

We discovered sea beds carpeted with cow tail rays, shovel headed rays, and white spotted eagle rays, so camouflaged against the sand that we often didn’t notice until we swam right over the top of them.

sting rays

We saw fish and coral of astounding colours and variation, and learnt bizarre and wondrous things about the lives and behaviour of a myriad of weird creatures – like the sea cucumber who can squirt out its internal organs at you when it feels threatened (I do feel that “Stop, or I’ll throw my kidneys at you!” doesn’t sound like the most frightening of threats), the sea star who can casually drop off one of its legs and feast on it if it feels like a snack, or the beautiful reef sharks who are harmless to humans, despite their clear and slightly creepy resemblance to their larger brethren.

While walking among the coral at low tide we had an Epaulette shark swim right up to us and pose, helpfully, for photos.

Epaulette SharkAnd we saw brilliantly coloured sea stars just hanging out on the rocks. Sometimes literally, as they eject their stomachs in order to digest large food.

Blue Linkia Sea StarI could rave on for pages and pages about the astonishing and wonderful things that we saw, but overlaying the trip was an overwhelming, desperate sadness. This richly biodiverse environment is under catastrophic threat, and our politicians seem to be actively hastening its demise.

They do things like ignore the overwhelmingly strong evidence that human driven climate change will spell the end of this kind of environment in an alarmingly short time, doing away with an effective carbon tax and subsidizing coal and fossil fuels to an absurdly uneconomic degree. They approve coal ports in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. They decide that this stunning environment and all its creatures would be the perfect place to dump dredging spoil.

They are trashing our environment, our world, and our future, for reasons I cannot possibly begin to fathom. They may not be  playing dice with the universe, but they are playing God in an all too tangible and destructive fashion, and we don’t have long to stop them before this exceptional place is gone for good. And that will be just the start of our woes.

Fish and coral at Heron Reef

What right do we have to wantonly and irrevocably destroy this most remarkable place for a fistful of dollars? And how do we stop it??

The new normal

Here in Melbourne, Spring has suddenly sprung. Truly it has – don’t bother me with your petty calendar-based technicalities, I know Spring when I bask in it.

Outside the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and the temperature has reached that balmy level where, if it were summer, we’d all be muttering about brass monkeys and their frozen … er… seed cases (this is a family friendly website, ok?). Truly, it’s 17 degrees out there and we’re breaking out the t-shirts, shorts, and thongs, making plans to head for the beach. Weather like this in January would have us reaching for our coats and beanies. But coming as it does after a grey, cold winter, 17 degrees is pure, unadulterated bliss.

We are a remarkably adaptable species. We adjust quite quickly to new circumstances, and sometimes we forget that anything has even changed. What’s normal today is entirely dependent on what happened yesterday. Was it 12 degrees and rainy? Then 17 degrees is fine. But sometimes it pays to examine the new normal, and wonder if we have actually progressed. So here is a random list of normalities that could use some adjusting.

1. Politicians lie. They do. It’s a fact. We’re so used to it that it’s not even newsworthy anymore. It’s just a thing we know they do. I don’t know what the point of elections is anymore. We vote for some party on the basis of promises that we know they will break. We accept the lies, the inhumanity, and the gross inequity of their actions. Perfectly intelligent people swallow all kinds of lies like “saving lives by stopping the boats” and “budget emergencies”, even when evidence has shown them to be complete rubbish. And we are neither surprised nor horrified when they turn out to be corrupt. It’s just the way they are.

But we don’t have to accept it. We don’t have to vote for politicians. We can vote for independents, and minor parties. The major parties would have you believe that it leads to chaos, but Julia Gillard steered a hung parliament and a very fragile senate through some of the most significant progress Australia has seen in years. We got a National Disability Insurance Scheme, we got a price on carbon – a step that much of the world is now implementing, while watching in horror as we dismantle ours. The worst thing that can happen to a government is to have complete control. Good government is a process of negotiation, balance, and compromise.The more independents and minor parties get the vote, the more politicians will take note and start to listen to us. Your local member broke a promise? Sack ’em. It’s the only way they’ll learn.

2. We need new stuff. It’s hard rubbish time in my area, and the number of large, fully functional televisions that have been thrown out because their owners have shiny new flat screen tvs is ASTOUNDING. All because we need new stuff. We picked up a coffee table that needs a couple of nails and a polish to be as good as new. It’s a sturdy, high quality table. It’s lovely. But it was chucked on the scrap heap, because we need new stuff. More with the shiny things. Newsflash: We don’t need new stuff. Things can be repaired. Things can be polished. I can imagine a whole new class of profession in the future: people who fix stuff. Freaky, eh?

3. There’s rubbish everywhere. Yes, there is. But like politicians, we don’t have to accept that. We can take responsibility for our own rubbish. We can create less rubbish (don’t get me started on coffee pods), and dispose of what we do create carefully. We can pick up a little of everyone else’s rubbish every now and then. How many times have you walked into a school, a shopping centre, or a carpark and thought “how disgusting, people are such pigs!” and yet not done anything about it? Be the change you want to see in the world.

4. We need cars. We don’t, you know. We have feet. We have bicycles. We have public transport. Sure, there are arguments against many of those things, but you have more power in your body than you give it credit for. You can walk further than you think you can. You can ride further than you think you can. And the beautiful part is that the more you do it, the more you can do it. Got kids to transport? Get yourself a cargo bike. Cheaper than a second car, and you’ll save yourself the cost of a gym membership too. I’m not saying cars aren’t useful, but does your family really need two?

5. Productive=Busy. We are greatly invested in being busy these days. Wasted time is anathema. Got to be up and doing! But if there is one single thing I have learnt from being ill for a long time, it is that sometimes the most productive thing we can do is nothing at all. Mindfulness, stillness, peace and quiet – whatever you call it, we all need it, and we don’t value it nearly enough. I recharge my phone with ferocious obsessiveness, rarely letting it get flat. But I let myself get flat all the time. When was the last time you prioritized recharging yourself?

6. We mustn’t interfere. I have friends who live on a beautiful beach in Tasmania, where signs say dogs aren’t allowed, as it is a significant nesting area for a number of threatened species. Nonetheless, dog owners take their dogs there regularly, even off the lead. Rather than tut-tutting under their breath, my friends call them on it. Gently. Tactfully. But ever so firmly. They’re clever about it. They give people a chance to save face with comments like “Did you realize that dogs aren’t allowed on this beach?” which gives the owners the chance to say “Oooh, no, thanks for letting me know” and scuttle away with their tails between their legs (sorry). They still see dogs on that beach, but there are less of them, and they rarely see anyone they’ve spoken to coming back. This is how progress is made.

The mum next door screams at her kids a lot? Strike up a conversation. Maybe she really needs someone to talk to. There’s a dad in the supermarket with his toddler on the floor, screaming up a storm? Reach out to him. “Hah, I’ve had days I’d have liked to do that!” or “we’ve all been there, eh?” to let him know he’s not alone. When I was away from work for an extended period, I got lots of messages, emails, texts and phone calls, just checking that I was ok. I even got a few visits.

The world needs more reaching out, not less. So often we have no idea what’s going on, even next door to us.

What’s normal to you, and how much of it needs to change?

If it ain’t broke, throw it away anyway

Our 20 year old microwave broke yesterday. The mechanism still works, but the door opener snapped so that the microwave could no longer be opened. My husband, who has the heart, soul, and incidentally the degree of an Engineer got it down, choked a little on the accumulated dust behind it, and took it apart to see if he could fix it.

Inside he found a piece of aged, brittle plastic that had snapped. And then he asked me a curious question: “So, Lin, do we want a new microwave, or shall we fix it?”

“Is it hard to fix?”

“No, I just need to find a bit of wood or metal, shape it to fit, and screw it in.”

“Ok, I think we fix it, don’t we? By which I mean you fix it, and I’ll stand around looking impressed.” (I’m a software girl. I don’t do hardware. It’s fiddly and I tend to break myself in the process.)

Roughly 20 minutes later the microwave was fixed, cleaned, and back in its rightful place.

What puzzles me is that if I did not have access to this wonderfully talented & obliging engineer-type person, I don’t think I would have hesitated – I’d have chucked it out and got a new one. Sure, the big ticket items like fridges and washing machines usually rate an attempt (generally expensive, often futile) at repair, but smaller items like microwaves and coffee machines are alarmingly disposable. I’m not even sure I could find someone willing to repair a 20 year old microwave, if I tried.

Indeed, when my coffee machine broke under warranty a couple of years ago, the shop did not even look at it, they simply replaced it. Odds are that machine wound up on a rubbish heap somewhere, even though the broken part was simply a piece of tubing that needed replacing.

That’s the act of a society that has infinite resources to call upon. No limit to the metals and plastics we can chew up, and no constraint on the pollution we spit out.

Let me hear you say ‘smogulous smoke’ (smogulous smoke)
Schloppity schlop (schloppity schlop)
Complain all you want, it’s never ever, ever, ever gonna stop.
Come on how bad can I possibly be?
How ba-a-a-ad can I be? I’m just building an economy.
How ba-a-a-ad can I be? Just look at me pettin’ this puppy.
How ba-a-a-ad can I be? A portion of proceeds goes to charity.
How ba-a-a-ad can I be? How bad can I possibly be?

How bad can I be? The Lorax.
There are other signs of a society that believes it has infinite resources. Such a society might, for example, buy a new mobile phone, laptop or tablet device every year. My phone company spammed me incessantly when my contract was up, trying to persuade me to buy a new phone. They could not wrap their heads around the idea that the one I’ve got is working just fine, thanks.
Or it might package food to within an inch of its life (or perhaps beyond) in foil, foam trays, and plastic. It might produce plastic toys that break on the first use, and pack them into plastic packages, tie them down with plastic cable ties, anchor them to a plastic backboard, and shrink wrap the lot in still more plastic.
It might produce an infinite variety of single purpose items that nobody actually needs, like separate cleaning sprays for kitchen, bathroom, and laundry benches, another for shower screens, and still another for the toilet. Oh, and don’t forget the magically different floor spray. (We use a combination of vinegar and bicarb for all of that, and it’s amazingly effective, despite the devastating lack of brightly coloured packaging and almost, but not quite, entirely unreal floral perfumes.)
Such a society might throw away bike tubes every time they puncture. Buy coffee in take away cups every day. Store leftovers in disposable plastic wrap, and take lunch to work or school every day in new plastic bags. It might even buy a single item at the supermarket, put it in a plastic bag, and then just drop the plastic bag on the ground somewhere when it’s no longer needed.
And maybe, one day, such a society might pause and take a good hard look at itself. Such a society might wonder what kind of a world it was handing to its children.
And then it might take a travel mug to buy coffee. It might choose simple, multi-purpose cleaning products, and use reusable containers for leftovers and lunches. It might buy in bulk to minimize packaging, and refuse plastic bags. It might even choose to ride, walk, and catch public transport instead of driving.
And who knows? Such a society might even feel good about itself, eventually.

Treading lightly

When I say “teenage boys,” what’s your first reaction?

My daughter is vehement about not wanting to become a teenager, because everything she hears about teenagers is bad. They graffiti. They are rude. They are grumpy. They are vandals. Teenagers have a really serious PR problem.

And, indeed, 3 teenage boys made me cry last Tuesday. But not, perhaps, the way you are thinking. They showed up at my desk at recess with a gift, to tell me how grateful they were for the opportunities I have given them, and the work I have done with them.

And it wasn’t just any gift. We worked together on a dolphin research project, so they gave me a purple bracelet with a silver dolphin charm on it, together with one of the most appropriate and eloquent cards I have ever seen (also purple, and also with dolphins, naturally).

purple bracelet with silver dolphin
purple bracelet with silver dolphin

That project was one of the highlights of my career, both as a teacher and an academic. I had a wonderful time working on it, and the fact that it’s ongoing and turning into a real, usable, useful system is intensely satisfying to me. It was clear from the way the students kept working on it long after the assignment was submitted that they were highly motivated. I knew how they felt about it. And they knew I knew. Yet they wanted to express their gratitude in a tangible form.

So I wear my bracelet every day, and when things get overwhelming I use it to remind myself that I must be doing something right, and that I am appreciated.

They didn’t have to do it. They didn’t have to write the card, or buy the bracelet, or do anything at all. They could easily have taken the attitude that I was just doing my job. They could have been all take and no give. But instead, as they have done throughout the project, they took the opportunity to give back. To lift my spirits in a way I could never have anticipated, and certainly never asked for. They left me far happier than they found me, both with their work, and with their gift.

They chose to make a difference.

There are so many ways we can all make a difference.

On the weekend I went walking with my family at the Quarantine Station down at Pt Nepean. As we usually do, we took a plastic bag and collected what rubbish we could. We collected a wide range of random stuff. Polystyrene, plastic bottles and caps, hair bands, food wrappers, pieces of glow stick, rope, and a large chunk of silicon sealant.

Rubbish from the beach at Pt Nepean
Rubbish from the beach at Pt Nepean

There was some rubbish wedged in rocks where we couldn’t reach it, and it took so long to cover a small section of beach that we couldn’t collect it all. The bag we carried away with us was only a small fraction of the rubbish on the beach on that one day, and it was heavy.

Volume of rubbish collected in half an hour at Pt Nepean.
Volume of rubbish collected in half an hour at Pt Nepean.

The trouble with starting to collect rubbish is that it’s very hard to stop. It’s easy to become a bit obsessed, and not stop as long as there is rubbish in sight. Sadly, in our current environment, that often means not stopping. Ever. Because there is SO much of it. Ever since our involvement with the Baykeepers Documentary, we have been a lot more aware of rubbish. Heartbreaking pictures of dead birds and dolphins with a stomach full of plastic bags tend to have that effect.

So if you make yourself responsible for it and decide to clean it up, you could be at it forever. And ever. And ever.

But you don’t have to pick up every single piece of rubbish to make a difference. The other day on the way home from work I ignored a lot of rubbish, as I have to, or I’d never get home. But I did pick up quite a few large pieces of polystyrene. This is particularly nasty stuff, because it breaks down into small white balls that look exactly like eggs. It attracts toxins and pollutants, and winds up floating, egg-like in our waterways. Indigestible balls of poison that our native fish, birds, dolphins and seals snap right up, with tragic results.

So I picked up as much of it as I could, and then I rode home. The rest of the rubbish that I had not picked up nagged at my heart, but I was comforted by the idea that there was a whole lot less rubbish than there would have been if I hadn’t stopped at all. Sure, I hadn’t got it all, but I left that part of the world a little cleaner than I found it.

I think this is a lesson I can learn at work, too. I can’t fix everything. I can’t do everything I want to do. I can’t solve every problem for every student, or even make my own subject perfect. But I can aim to leave the world better than I found it. Not perfect. Not clean. Not sorted. But better than it would have been without me.

It’s easy to feel that we have so little power, such a faint voice, that nothing we can do counts. There’s so much rubbish that it feels as though there’s no point in even trying to pick it up. But if everyone picked up 3 pieces of rubbish, our insoluble litter problem could vanish overnight. We can’t fix everything alone. But we can do a little every day, and have an impact that surprises us, even in a week. And by doing what we can, we can inspire others to do what they can. And together, our tiny acts can build up into a tsunami of change. Just by doing a little, when we can.

Like my students, we can choose to give back. To make a difference in the world. By showing someone we appreciate them. By cleaning up our local environment a little. By seeing something that needs doing and getting it done.

And that’s something that everyone can do.

We have to look to the future

“We have to look to the future. Either that or we say there is no future. I don’t see that as an option.”

Neil Blake. Baykeeper. Port Phillip Ecocentre.

My 10 year old, Zoe, worries. She worries about climate change. She worries about the environment. She feels helpless. She wants to pick up every piece of rubbish she sees (which can make for very slow car trips). She wants to care for every injured animal. To rehabilitate every patch of trashed bushland. To clean every waterway. I know exactly how she feels.

Earlier this year Zoe got the opportunity to be part of a documentary about plastics in Port Phillip Bay. Called Baykeepers, the film is about the impact of plastics in our waterways, and the people working to stop it.

Every piece of plastic that gets dropped in Melbourne, whether it’s in the street, the playground, your backyard, or your school, is likely to end up in Port Phillip Bay. And plastics are forever.

This is the tragic irony of this Plastic Age we live in. We create plastics to throw away after mere minutes of use – think soft drink bottles, coffee cups, or the wrapping on your sandwich – and then they last forever in the environment. Oh, sure, they break down, but only into smaller pieces of plastic. They never actually go away.

Do you know what happens to those tiny bits of plastic? They get washed into the sea where they collect toxins. Then, being the size of fish eggs, algae and other tasty things, they get eaten by fish and other sea creatures. The plastics and the toxins get concentrated up the food chain, and end up in your plate of fish and chips, or your smoked salmon pizza.

And now we are introducing micro-spheres of plastic into the environment in, of all things, makeup. Exfoliating scrubs are made of tiny beads of plastic, intended to be washed down the drain. We are making plastic specifically intended to wind up in our waterways.

It’s enough to make you despair, just like Zoe. Fortunately tonight we saw the premiere of Baykeepers. It was the first time we had seen the whole thing put together, and understood the story that the film’s director and producer, Michael J. Lutman, was planning to tell. Baykeepers isn’t just a story about plastic. It’s the tale of people who care about our impact on the earth. It’s a story of enlightenment. Of people beginning to recognize our place in the environment, and our responsibility for it.

It’s a tale worth telling, retelling, and telling over again. It’s about waking up to what we’re doing. It’s about telling your friends, your neighbours, and your colleagues. It’s about taking that lightning flash of understanding – of that devastating image of waterways choked with rubbish – and sharing it with anyone who will listen.

Zoe was very lucky to be a part of this powerful and compelling film, but we all have a role to play in the story of the earth. We all have people around us who don’t quite get it. Who haven’t yet realised what it actually means to drop an empty soft drink bottle, or let go of a helium balloon on a plastic ribbon. Who bring their lunches to work in plastic wrap instead of reusable containers. Who casually toss their chip packets aside.

It’s not enough to change our own behaviour. We have to be the catalysts for changing the behaviour of others.

We have to look to the future. To make sure there is one.


text:
Integrated Formal Methods

4th International Conference, IFM 2004, Cnaterbury, UK, April 4-7, 2004. Proceedings

  • Eerke A. Boiten
  • John Derrick
  • Graeme Smith
Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, volume 2999)

Table of contents

  1. Front Matter
  2. Invited Talks

    1. Thomas Ball, Byron Cook, Vladimir Levin, Sriram K. Rajamani
      Pages 1-20
    2. Richard J. Boulton, Hanne Gottliebsen, Ruth Hardy, Tom Kelsey, Ursula Martin
      Pages 21-35
  3. Tutorial

  4. Contributed Papers

    1. Bill J. Ellis, Andrew Ireland
      Pages 67-86
    2. Steve Schneider, Helen Treharne
      Pages 87-107
    3. Adalberto Farias, Alexandre Mota, Augusto Sampaio
      Pages 108-127
    4. Sagar Chaki, Edmund M. Clarke, Joël Ouaknine, Natasha Sharygina, Nishant Sinha
      Pages 128-147
    5. Kirsten Winter
      Pages 148-167
    6. Jin Song Dong, Shengchao Qin, Jun Sun
      Pages 168-186
    7. K. Lano, D. Clark, K. Androutsopoulos
      Pages 187-206
    8. Tiberiu Seceleanu, Juha Plosila
      Pages 227-246
    9. Michael Möller, Ernst-Rüdiger Olderog, Holger Rasch, Heike Wehrheim
      Pages 267-286
    10. Cécile Bui Thanh, Hanna Klaudel
      Pages 287-306
    11. Gabriel Ciobanu, Dorel Lucanu
      Pages 307-327
    12. Tim A. C. Willemse
      Pages 343-362

About these proceedings

The fourth conference in the series of international meetings on Integrated F- mal Methods, IFM, was held in Canterbury, UK, 4–7 April 2004. The conference was organized by the Computing Laboratory at the University of Kent, whose main campus is just outside the ancient town of Canterbury, part of the county of Kent. Kent is situated in the southeast of England, and the university sits on a hill overlooking the city of Canterbury and its world-renowned cathedral. The UniversityofKentwasgranteditsRoyalCharterin1965.Todaytherearealmost 10,000 full-time and part-time students, with over 110 nationalities represented. The IFM meetings have proven to be particularly successful. The ?rst m- ting was held in York in 1999, and subsequently we held events in Germany in 2000, and then Finland in 2002. The conferences are held every 18 months or so, and attract a wide range of participants from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia. The conference is now ?rmly part of the formal methods conference calendar. The conference has also evolved in terms of themes and subjects - presented, and this year, in line with the subject as a whole, we saw more work on veri?cation as some of the challenges in this subject are being met. The work reported at IFM conferences can be seen as part of the attempt to manage complexity by combining paradigms of speci?cation and design, so that the most appropriate design tools are used at di?erent points in the life-cycle.

Unified Modeling Language (UML) automata calculus component systems formal method formal methods logic model checking modeling object-oriented modeling process algebra program analysis programming refinement verification

Editors and affiliations

  • Eerke A. Boiten
    • 1
  • John Derrick
    • 2
  • Graeme Smith
    • 3
  1. 1.Computing LaboratoryUniversity of KentCanterbury, KentUK
  2. 2.Department of ComputingUniversity of SheffieldSheffieldUK
  3. 3.School of Information Technology and Electrical EngineeringThe University of QueenslandAustralia

Bibliographic information

  • DOI
  • Copyright Information Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004
  • Publisher Name Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
  • eBook Packages Springer Book Archive
  • Print ISBN 978-3-540-21377-2
  • Online ISBN 978-3-540-24756-2
  • Series Print ISSN 0302-9743
  • Series Online ISSN 1611-3349
  • About this book


text:
Forgot your password?
Android The Media Linux Hardware

LinuxDevices Content Returns To the Web 15

DeviceGuru writes "One of most widely respected repositories of embedded and mobile Linux news and information has just returned to the web., which tracked the evolution of embedded and mobile Linux from an unknown player to being at the heart of billions of mobile and embedded devices, transferred from Ziff Davis Enterprise to QuinStreet through an acquisition two years ago, then went dormant for a year, and finally vanished from the web in May. Now, through an arrangement with QuinStreet, more than 14,000 news items and articles are back online in the form of a LinuxDevices Archive, hosted by The archive is searchable from a calendar interface that lets you click on any month of any year between 1999 and 2012, to see what was going on in that time period."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

LinuxDevices Content Returns To the Web

Comments Filter:

"No matter where you go, there you are..." -- Buckaroo Banzai


text:
Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

Forgot your password?

Submission + - Archos releases Dev Edition firmware for Tablets ( 3

Charbax writes: While Archos current "Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android" is a 4.8" WVGA Tablet hardware that runs Android 1.5 and soon 2.0 with the full Google Marketplace Experience (according to rumors), users of last year's 4.8" and 7" Archos Linux Tablets have been complaining that Archos firmware updates of its proprietary embedded Linux OS were too rare and added too little of the requested functionality. Under pressure from hackers demonstrating jailbreak methods, Archos has just now officially released the open-source Special Developer Edition firmware based on Angstrom Linux generated from a customized open embedded build for last year's Archos 5 and 7 Internet Media Tablets. If many talented developers join the community of Archos hackers to make software for this new Archos SDE firmware, Android, Angstrom Linux, Maemo Mer, Qt and Ubuntu Linux could be expected to run smoothly on it soon. Which could make it the ultimate pocket Linux Internet Tablet for Linux hackers. Installing Archos new SDE firmware permanently disables DRM playback and voids the warranty. The Archos 5/7 Internet Media Tablets are running on a 600mhz ARM Cortex A8 processor, with 60GB to 320GB of built-in hard drive storage and powerful hardware acceleration for 720p video playback and even HDMI output. The advantage of this open-source firmware working on last year's model is that the 250GB 4.8" Archos 5IMT Tablet now sells for $199 at and the 160GB 7" Archos 7IMT version is $209 and those are to be found even cheaper on ebay.
This discussion was created for logged-in users only, but now has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Archos releases Dev Edition firmware for Tablets

Comments Filter:
  • They've always been compliant in publishing the GPL'd source that they use or modify, but they're releasing this for the wrong reasons. One person on the archosfans forum (archilles) published code to jailbreak this model and get access to all the plugins, without publishing the details. Others have been very forthcoming with the internals they've reverse engineered.

    Archos' response has been to put out an Angstrom Linux distribution, while wiping the DRM keys from the device. Even though they are distributi

    • Comon, it makes sense for them to void the warranty and disable DRM when officially allowing jailbreak. Third party hackers with bad code could make software that actually could brick or otherwise permanently harm the hardware. Archos should not be responsible for more than how consumers use their official firmware.

      With time, the open development could though provide very stable ways to run Android, Maemo Mer, Ubuntu and more. At some point it would be considered safe to install those third party install
      • Actually, since they lock the boot0 and boot1 (bootstrap stages) and the recovery kernel, it would be very difficult for somebody to permanently brick their Archos device. As for overheating, I imagine the processor has thermal protection that would keep it from frying itself.

        Removing the DRM makes sense, and good riddance, says I!

"No matter where you go, there you are..." -- Buckaroo Banzai


text:
Re: hda: lost interrupt starting with 2.6.8

On Sun, Mar 13, 2005 at 01:36:19PM -0500, Vince Weaver wrote:
> >hi vince, i am a bit confuse, but i suppose this is self compiled kernels,
> >right ? Can you test the debian kernels and confirm that they have or not
> >this
> >same problem ?
> >
> >/me building with the debian standard gcc.
> Sorry for the confusion, it now looks like this issue has nothing to do
> with debian.  I started out trying to reproduce it on my friend's debian
> iBook but it turns out that the debian compiler and kernel seem to be OK.
> My problem comes with compiling the stock Linus kernels using the gcc
> 3.2.2 that came with Yellowdog 3.0.

Yellowdoc 3.0, as in older than even debian/woody or almost, no wonder it
fails or something.

Thanks for the info, and nice it got solved for you.

Sven Luther

Reply to:


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
Mailinglist Archive: opensuse-factory (649 mails)

< Previous Next >
Re: [opensuse-factory] Next steps for Firefox on TW
On 2017-08-11 09:51, Wolfgang Rosenauer wrote:

So to summarize it all leads to the current state and proposal:

- it's technically possible to update MozillaFirefox to 55.0 now
- I will add Firefox ESR as a _new_ package to TW called firefox-esr
(recognize the small inconsistency in naming but MozillaFirefox is
called like that for historical reasons. It provides also "firefox" as
virtual name since many many years.) (still can be discussed)
- the result is that current MozillaFirefox users will be upgraded to
latest version and people who want to stay with ESR need to act.
- there is one main question which I'm a bit undecided still:
How to handle parallel installations? Do we want to allow that?
This will need some patching work since otherwise both will run on the
same profile. That is also the reason why switching between both is
dangerous (remember the incompatible statement above).
There is a technical way to circumvent this (still to be verified) by
changing the profile patch for ESR away from .mozilla to something
else (.mozilla-esr?) but this will be an openSUSE specific thing!

So this would be my proposal but I'm still looking for feedback
especially to the last item.
If possible please keep replies focused to the topic.

It all seems good to me.

Suggest you always create the .mozilla-esr config as backup in case a
user wants to go back later (even if the esr version is not installed
initially). Or, create a backup.

Whatever done may be like an experiment for what to do for Leap 14.x :-)

Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 42.2 x86_64 "Malachite" at Telcontar)

< Previous Next >


text:
Looking down on Tropical Plant

LPS0036 USD 50.00Walking along in Key Biscayne reveals many of these plants.  This one looked particularly inviting and happy.  It seemed to celebrate the bright blue sky and warm sunshine.

Sorry, comments are closed for this post.

©  Copyright Sharyn A. Brotz 2017.  All Rights Reserved.

Web Design by KojolaPower

Follow this blog

Get every new post delivered right to your inbox.

Email address


text:
This is some kind of mojo in this burrito de pollo!!

Burrito De Pollo

Live Action Quick Tips

Did you know….

The precise origin of the modern burrito is not known. It may have originated with vaqueros in northern Mexico in the nineteenth century;farmworkers in the fields of California’s Central Valley, in Fresno and Stockton; or with northern Sonoran miners of the 19th century.In the 1895 Diccionario de Mexicanismos, the burrito was identified as a regional item from Guanajuato and defined as “Tortilla arrollada, con carne u otra cosa dentro, que en Yucatán llaman coçito, y en Cuernavaca y en Mexico, taco” (A rolled tortilla with meat or other ingredients inside, called ‘coçito’ in Yucatán and ‘taco’ in the city of Cuernavaca and in Mexico City).

An often-repeated folk history is that of a man named Juan Méndez who sold tacos in a street stand in the Bella Vista neighborhood of Ciudad Juárez, using a donkey as a transport for himself and the food, during the Mexican Revolution period (1910–1921).To keep the food warm, Méndez wrapped it in large homemade flour tortillas underneath a small tablecloth. As the “food of the burrito” (i.e., “food of the little donkey”) grew in popularity, “burrito” was eventually adopted as the name for these large tacos.(

Today’s Restaurant

El Caminito – Sunnyvale, Ca

Average Cost

Less than $10-12 per plate

Rating (1-10)

Recommended Dishes:

Burrito De Pollo, As long as it is with their shredded chicken it will be good

Every time I go to a Mexican restaurant and I order a wet burrito there is usually some kind of red chili/enchilada sauce that is used.

El Caminito is the only place I know if where the wet burrito has a light brown sauce over it that is so divinely created and tasty you think it was created in the heavens.

They have a shredded chicken so tender that it almost tastes like there is butter mixed in with it. Anywhere else the chicken would have been fat chunks of sliced chicken.

They also add perfectly cooked refried beans and cheese to the burrito with cheese blended in with the sauce on top of the burrito as well.

Each bite consists of this delicate shredded chicken and this sauce that just sparkles in your mouth as a delicious treat to your palate. It is a good size portion and will leave you in a comatose so be ready to take a nap after. 🙂

If you are in the Sunnyvale, Ca area and are looking for a great place for Mexican food then this is where to be. Good job El Caminito! True live action eating!

I hope you all are having a great Sunday. This makes for a great Sunday meal so hopefully this gives you an idea on your next food adventure.

Thanks for joining me on today! I look forward to seeing you on the next run. Keep hope alive!

Eating is an enjoyable way of life.Live it..Learn it..Love it!

Trevis Dampier Sr.

Wikipedia (11 April 2015) Burrito. Retrieved from

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Vancouver's Community-Driven Concert Calendar

  Bookmark and Share

Upcoming Shows

no upcoming shows listed

Past Shows

Thu. May 4th 2017
Copper Owl Victoria BC (No Minors)
Original West Coast Blues The Bill Johnson Blues Band, The John Pippus Band
Sun. November 16th 2014
@  1216 Bute Street (All Ages)
The John Pippus Band, Open Mic, Robert Burton Hubele
Fri. March 7th 2014
Pat's Pub (No Minors)
The John Pippus Band, Daryl Branston, Rough Nights feat. Michelle Szulc
Wed. December 11th 2013
Vancouver FanClub (No Minors)
Holly Jolly Triple Bill: Henry and the Nightcrawlers, The John Pippus Band, All Purpose Voltage Heroes
View All Past (8)
The John Pippus Band

The John Pippus Band

Confirmed: Jul. 6, 2017

blues Rock from Vancouver BC

Contact Details

John Pippus

Guitar/bass/drums/vocals. High energy indie blues/rock.

No audio samples have been linked to this profile.

Current Lineup

John Pippusguitar / vocals
Peg Wilsonbass / vocals2014-present
Brice Tabishguitar / vocals2016-present
Wes Skakundrums2016-present
Status: Available for Shows/Gigs
- Last confirmed Jul. 6, 2017


text:
Coconut Crusted Salmon – Super Easy

By The Food Coach, Jennifer Bruer

1 cup shredded (medium or fine) unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tbsp coconut sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Salmon fillets (the crust is good for about 4 fillets so adjust accordingly)
1 tbsp coconut oil or ghee

Optional: cranberry sauce

  1. Preheat oven to 375
  2. Grease a parchment lined baking pan with coconut oil or ghee
  3. Place the first 4 ingredients in a shallow dish and stir it up evenly
  4. Dip salmon fillets in the mixture to coat evenly all sides
  5. Place on the pan and cook in hot oven for 15 minutes or until salmon is fully cooked
  6. Serve over a bed of vegetables and topped with fresh cranberry sauce


text:
Friday, September 6, 2013

2 years sober today..

Woke up at 4am. Thought about how today is my two year soberversary. Thought about how I don't feel any huge elation about this soberversary. Thought about how soberversarys are strange events, more of a low key 'getting on with it' rather than a high energy 'Whoop Whoop!'.

Thought I felt a bit cold so flicked my electric blanket on to 1. Realised I was wide awake and wasn't likely to go back to sleep so reached for my iPhone. Read this brilliant post by ByeByeBeer. Thought about how lucky I am to never feel alone in my sobriety because of all of the lovely people who write sober blogs, read sober blogs, comment on sober blogs.

Thought about the book I am writing about how I got sober (yes, I have a publishing contract!), about what an intense, introspective process it is writing this book.  Thought about how writing the book sometimes feels like trudging through thick mud, reliving and trying to articulate what I went through after I chose to take alcohol out of my life. Thought about how there was so much was going on inside my mind that I never put into words. Thought about great it is to be writing it all out before it fades completely away.

Thought about how I cried the other night when I was writing the part that explores how after a couple of months of not drinking it became very apparent to me that I used wine to fill a lot of 'empty space', and that the honest truth is that even now 2 years later I still don't know how best to deal with that 'empty space' all of the time.

Thought about how a lot of the time I do well at filling the 'empty space' with family and friends and blogging and pop music and dancing and green juices and green teas and lovely oils and reading books and bubble baths and hugs and Tara Brach and exercise and cooking and homemaking and pop culture and reality TV and politics and new dresses and beauty products and stuff.

But also thought about how sometimes I don't do so well at filling the 'empty space' left when I took away the wine, and I fill it with dysfunctional food habits and uncomfortable glum thoughts. Thought about how I am going to tackle my sugar / carbs issues by doing my dear friend Sherry's 30-day challenge starting on September 18.

Thought about how I don't know if 'empty space' is a normal feeling. A normal part of the human condition that I just have to get used to sitting with, or whether the 'empty space' is something I need to keep working on, need to figure out.

Thought about how the kids would be waking soon and a cup of tea would be nice so snuck out of bed and boiled the jug and put a green tea bag (flavoured with mandarin) into my favourite mug then sat at the computer.

Thought about how really, incredibly, quietly, amazingly, brilliantly, truly, wonderfully cool it is that I live without alcohol. Maybe there is a little bit of 'whoop whoop' in there after all.

Thought about what to write. Wrote this.

Love, Mrs D xxx

  1. Mrs D

    I so very much love reading your posts, and I do love your style.

    This: "I don't know if 'empty space' is a normal feeling"... I think the fill for this space is what we all live in pursuit of, to a greater or lesser extent, but that we all eventually realise, there is no one person nor thing that fills it...

    I believe (at least at this age - shall let you know if I am wrong a little later in life!) that it's a part of the human condition. Some people feel it more keenly, some people try to ignore it, some people try to hide it, some people don't talk about it... but more or less, it's at least an occasional, normal thing. Hence one million bloggy ladies on the Internet writing up their "gratitude" lists... hence one million "you can be happier" books... hence etc.

    And in the end, I think we learn to focus on today - and all it brings us - and stop hunting for the fill... and all of a sudden, somewhere there, perhaps in our grandma years... we realise... that happiness lies in the addition of many small things... that it is the small things that fill us up each day. And that very often, the really big things that should make us happy (finding a life partner, a big promotion, etc) very often are too overwhelming to really fill up the need they thought they would.

    Maybe I'm wrong... just really wanted to say... I think you're normal (and lovely!).

    Best-est wishes from the Alps

  2. Hi Mrs D. I'm so pleased that it's your 2-year soberversary, and not just because you're out leading the way for lots of us. Big congrats on 2 years, and on the book contract, too! Now that's a book that will be worth reading! I really like your writing, the combination of honesty and humour you seem to naturally bring in, and reading through your blog, I see your writing voice has changed over time, I guess as you have. My thoughts on the empty space you're talking about: I think this has something to do with the existential dilemmas that are part of being a person, but that contemporary culture doesn't make much room for. I'm curious what you'll have to say about those spaces in another year. OK, enough from me, I mostly just wanted to say a big hooray for you being you!!!

  3. Congrats on your first two years of freedom Mrs D!'s good to know I can expect about the same as this year; next year lol. Normal life with a little whoop whoop thrown in :)

  4. Happy Soberversary!!!

    I agree with 'Thirsty stil' about the existential dilemma. Sitting in the emptiness, in the moment, is arguably the hardest, bravest and most important thing we can all do. Not sure.

    But all the other things that bring us joy and peace are so important on this journey called Life.

    Love you sis and have a Extraordinary day.

    ps. I just pulled a card for you and it says this:

    The individual epitomizes the universe.

    Where exactly does your influence on life end? You'll never know the full power or consequences of your actions and choices. Enhance the whole of life today through your actions.

  5. Congratulations! Two years is AWESOME but even more awesome is the lovely awaking and serenity, or maybe that's not the right word....calmness or contentedness might be more accurate, that emanates from your posts now. The lovely lovely thing about your writing is that I feel like I can "see" you, it is so real. That is why I think what you have done has touched so many people and made it seem possible for them too. THAT deserves a massive WHOOP:) Have a wonderful day.

  6. Congratulations Mrs. D! BIG WOOT WOOT! I think that the empty space is normal, I just think that we used to fill it up with alcohol and now it is just there. But the space is ok, to just be is ok, at least for me and it sounds like you have found some calmness and serenity in it. It may still feel uncomfortable but it's a good place. No drama, no craziness, no shame, no guilt. This is sobriety. Sending many hugs to you and congrats again!

  7. You are so awesome - a huge WHOOP WHOOP from over here on your two years. I am soooo glad you're out here writing about it all and you have helped me and others so, so much.

    I think it's amazeballs about your book, because I really think there is this gap in understanding about women like you (us) who maybe don't fit the social stigma stereotype of a down and out alcoholic but are desperately unhappy about their drinking nonetheless. And the more voices like yours that are out there the more that stigma will lose its power. I can't wait to read it.

    Love and green tea,

    Lilly xo

  8. Congratulations! Your real-ness is so much appreciated and I know your book will be awesome!

  9. Mrs D - your blog is the very first one I found when I decided to get sober. Today is day 55 for me, and I check in with your blog every day. You are a huge inspiration! Big congrats to you. Thank you so much for sharing your story!

  10. Awesome, epic, wonderful, A+! I can't wait to read your book, Mrs. D.! Congratulations, in a low-key sort of way. :)

  11. Congrats on the two years.

    The empty feeling is normal, I think, we can't all be swinging from the chandeliers all the time life goes up, comes down and sometimes just sits there and learning that that is ok and it is ok to sit with that and just wait and not have to create something unless really necessary or really needed is part of the trick of the serenity we strive for.

  12. How lovely to see you earn another year. You are a miracle and an inspiration to the rest of us.

    Happy, happy birthday!!

  13. You're a lovely, warm, engaging writer Mrs D. I've been lurking on your blog for a while and am really thrilled you are going be published! I'd love your thoughts on one thing though - and maybe your book can address this - the one thing I really struggle with (as a mum-of-two who recently ruined 2 and a half years of sobriety with a 6 month bender, which to be honest hasn't finished yet ...) is precisely how and when and why people decide to stop drinking. Why don't we talk more about people's low points that catalyse their quitting? And why, even if we think we've hit a new low, do we sometimes uncork the bottle again? I know you often say about the memoirs that you've read, that they gloss over the actual recovery part and focus more on the lows. But I'm interested in the nexus between those two. Any thoughts?

  14. Congratulations on two years and on that book contract Mrs D! I'm sure it'll be the first of many books and many many years of sober living.

    So good to read you today.

  15. Thought about how blessed I feel that the blogosphere has brought you into my life and how miraculous it is that sobriety has brought me a friend I love that lives on the other side of the planet.

    Thought about how proud I am that I know a real love author and how I can wait to read her book - even if I have to pay shipping costs from NZ to the US.

    Thought about how one day I'm going to visit NZ and we'll sit and enjoy some tea and talk about getting and being sober in a non-sober world and we'll feel like we've known each other all of our lives.

    Thought about YOU. Have soberversary my friend.

    Love and hugs and (as usual) endless belief,

  16. Happy Soberversary Mrs D!!
    Oh how I wish we could all get together and celebrate when we pass these milestones and then you could see how totally thrilled all of us out here are for you at reaching another massive sober goal!
    Little did you know this time two years ago that you would be touching all of these lives, inspiring people, saving souls. It's huge it really is and it deserves a shout it from the rooftops, shout out...
    Love you
    Carrie xx
    ps. Awesome news re the book, can't wait for that!

  17. Wow, congratulations on 2 years. That is a truly marvelous accomplishment. Have a lovely, peaceful anniversary of your sobriety today. ~Jen

  18. Happy 2nd birthday, congratulations on that and on your publishing contract.

  19. A day late, but celebrating with you as you usher in year three. What a joy to read your blog and watch you grow. Watch you help others (that includes me). Hoping this next year is as wonderful.
    with love, Lisa

    Makes me want to do my Carlton Happy Dance!

    So happy for you.

    And yes, those empty feelings are normal. I think we are just not used to *feeling* them. The more we get used to sitting with and feeling those feelings, the more normal they will feel.

    Congrats my friend, so glad things are going well,

  21. Congrats on your 2 years! What a trip! You're such an inspiration and prime example that, even after two years, sober life still keeps getting better and better.

  22. Oh my dear sweet Mrs. D. A belated sincere congratulations on your 2 years!!! Couldn't be happier for you and also to hear you have a book in the works, which I look forward to reading.

    Know what you mean about the empty space and leaning towards it being a normal/unavoidable state at times. Don't feel I'm the healthiest at how I deal with the lows or emptiness, though perhaps it's getting better over time (slowly, ever so slowly).

    Congratulations again on your 2 years sober!!!

  23. Happy Late Congratulations on Two Wonderful Years! Sometimes I think we need to feel the empty space in order to be motivated to do something special (or not so special); just to do (or think) something. But then again, what do I know. I'm relatively new to empty spaces. I used to fill those spaces with wine, beer and liquor until Oct 1, 2012.


text:
Another eyewitness who saw car knock down pedestrian reveals more details

Another eyewitness who saw the incident involving a car and a pedestrian along Upper Serangoon on Wednesday morning has revealed more details about the incident.

Madam Juliana Loh, 43, told AsiaOne she was making U-turn when she saw a black Toyota Prius run over a person’s arm at Surin Road while turning out onto Upper Serangoon Road.

The car then drove away and did not stop to assist the pedestrian. Another eyewitness who caught the incident in her in-car camera gave chase but did not manage to stop the driver.

According to Madam Loh, the victim is an elderly woman in her 80s known as Madam Cheah.

“I stopped to help her off the road and sent her to Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Accident & Emergency,” said Madam Loh.

The research manager added that Madam Cheah seemed “very calm” but was “in shock”.

“I didn’t see if she fell herself or was knocked over. I only saw the back wheel of the car roll over her arm,” added Madam Loh, who was sending her two daughters to school when she witnessed the incident.

Madam Cheah told Madam Loh that lives in Kovan and was walking home after church when the incident happened at 7.23am. Madam Loh lodged a police report that morning.

Police told AsiaOne that reports were made and a 66-year-old female driver is assisting with investigations.

Thursday, May 25, 2017 – 18:01

Source link


text:
Nearby Rent-A-Center Locations

Save Time at the Store
No Credit Needed!

Start Your Application
Why do we ask for this?
All fields are required
Preferred Contact Time
Preferred Contact Time

Are you looking for the best bedroom furniture for your master bedroom or guest room? At Rent-A-Center, we know that a relaxing bedroom is one of the most important parts of your home. Achieve a new level of comfort and style when you rent a bedroom set in Oxford from Rent-A-Center. We carry all kinds of furniture for your bedroom, from bed frames to dressers, to King-size beds and bunk beds! The complete bedroom sets we carry provide you with all the necessities you need to fully furnish your bedroom, from the side tables to the headboard. Our bedroom rental sets include headboards, footboards, nightstands, drawer chests, and more. Never worry about the hassle of pricing or matching pieces of bedroom furniture from different stores or different brands. We do the design work for you by pulling together the perfect look. What's more, our bedroom sets come in many styles, including contemporary, rustic, and traditional, so you can pick the perfect furniture for your home. A variety of finishes, accents, hardware, materials, and styles create a bevy of choices you can pick from to bring a harmonious, sophisticated look to your room.

We also think it's important to make sure every bedroom is furnished with high-quality, dependable products. Rent-A-Center ensures that every piece in our bedroom sets is safe and made to last. In Oxford, the bedroom furniture we offer comes from well-known brands in the industry, so you know you're renting from a trusted source. Our collections are made up of furniture that's built to last.

Call (800) 665-5510 to find the store nearest you and we'll help you pick out a rent-to-own bedroom set that's perfect for your needs!


text:
The waking soul

My body is always awake because my soul is always asleep. For most this is not a problem. Most people spend their whole lives without waking up their soul. But my soul awakens like an eruption from a volcano. And it is powerful, cunning, and cruel. Usually it only wakes up for defending the ones I love or the honor of someone I respect.
However it waking up without that need is what is making me nervous. I know that I have trained for this but the kind of power that comes from my soul is nothing like my waking mind. most people like my waking mind, but almost none have seen my soul in action and the ones that do are thankful that I am on their side.

Only two groups of people have seen it, totaling in a number less than 50. Both thought it was awesome. Only 3 people have seen the effects on me once the event was over and I was still erupting.

I know that this state is what my goal is but that does not make me any less scared to “push the big red button”.

My remenants during the dark trials.

So I am not allowed to list names, places, marks or what marks do, or really any of the stuff that I really want to put. However I can put down what is left and what is happening to me. On the astral, there are times when the pain is so bad that I black out only to wake up in my physical body hours later. The marks hurt like hell, but make me stronger than most things in hell. Unfortunatly I am still not past the ritual part so there is only so much that I can say about this.

Short version of what is happening is that I am being split down to my core. At first I didn’t know that this meant but now I am getting it. I am pretty much being reverted to my first memories alive. Other things are being stripped away as well, like my ability to contain my emotions, something that I worked hard on for many years.

The things that are left are raw emotions, impulsiveness, and untangled mind, and, strangely enough, two instincts. These two instincts are best defined as predatorial and territorial. Something else that is left is a form and an astral set of armor. The form is that of a Nemean Lion, which is the lion that Herakules had to kill on his challenges. This lion is golden of color, and is invincible from any external attacks. The lion was the first creature that I identified with in this life and it appears to be resurfacing as the “Base” of my soul. The “armor” is really a demonic exoskeleton that looks like a bone white, semi draconic, skeletal creature. A hollow from bleach might be a good discription minus the hole in it.  This armor is almost impenetrable and is immune to most internal attacks.

The ritual master says that these are the base of my soul when created by the gods. Both seem to be nods to both my astral parents (a demon and an elf) and my creator parents (Hades and Hethert-Sekhmet). If this is indeed the base of my soul, I will build on this with confidence. I consider myself blessed to have been given this chance to have a fresh start and to build my soul without the insults and pains of being bullied. most of those pains have been stripped away and I cannot really recall what it was like.

So let me end this with something that I don’t say nearly often enough. HAILS AND THANKS TO THE GODS AND ANCESTORS.


text:
Thoughts on Education

apple-on-deskI remember being a high school student and starting to notice that some of my teachers looked tired and walked into the classroom with an air of defeat, just another day toward carrying out a sentence or punishment of sorts.  Don’t get me wrong, I had my share of involved teachers that were motivating and energetic.  These motivated teachers made me pay attention and actually care about the lesson to be learned.  I often wondered what happened to these other teachers, you know, the bitter ones that had exhaustion in their eyes.

A number of my relatives are educators in one form or another.  My sister is a “school office lady” (that was the official title I gave my own school receptionist!)  Only now can I appreciate that this school office lady is a jack of all trades who makes the school run smoothly.  She is a counselor, a nurse, a mediator, a coordinator, a tutor, a scheduler, and more.  So, thank you school office lady at Bulkeley High School!  One of my aunts is a Spanish/English tutor among other things and another aunt is a behavior tech, while a third is a teacher’s assistant in a special education classroom.  All four of these ladies are excited and filled with hope about who they may be able to help.  They go to work each day, loving their job, challenging as it may be, and rising to the challenge because they care about the kids they are helping.  This hard work and dedication seems all worth it.  Why?  Because someday there may be one kid, just one kid, that may say, “aha, I got it!”, or, “thank you,” or, “you made a difference.”  Perhaps the difference they make may not be expressed in words.  It may be that a student ceases to have fits when transitioning to a different activity or that grades are improved.

In an often thankless job such as education, I can see how many educators would be frustrated by the long hours (often unpaid), the lack of support, and the low pay.  How can school systems keep teachers motivated and excited to do their jobs?  What can parents do to support their children’s educators?  What can school administrators and Superintendents do to help?

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Your cart is empty.

Blog Shop

Aetelier is a lifestyle brand based in The Netherlands focussing on everyday objects and wearables that are simple, contemporary and (multi) functional.

Aetelier is short for Love Aesthetics Atelier. A Continuation of the renowned website Love Aesthetics founded by Ivania Carpio, the atelier is where ideas can grow and take physical form. The distinct visual language that Ivania has developed through Love Aesthetics plus her appreciation for (multi-) functionality resulted in an understated yet luxe range of products for everyday life.

An ‘under construction’ and ‘work in progress’ element is signature in Aetelier’s aesthetic, referencing to the concept of creative workspaces, where experiments take place, new things are built, ideas are born and where there is a feeling of freedom and endless possibility. Examples include the seemingly unfinished notebook with exposed bookbinding, the hardware-store clasps on the shapeshifting dress or the paint-splattered concrete atelier floor printed in life-size on the soft blanket.


text:
The Sneeze

They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium.

With their rich maroon gowns flowing… and the traditional caps, they looked almost… as grown up as they felt.

Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears.

This class would NOT pray during the commencements—-not by

choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it.

The ;principal and several students were careful to stay

within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance an d no o ne asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.

The speeches were nice, but they were routine…..until the final speech received a standing ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then, it happened. H

All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!!!!

The student on stage.. simply looked at the audience and said,

each and every one of you!’ And he walked off stage…

The audience exploded into applause. This graduating class had found an unique way to invoke God’s blessing on their future with or without the court’s approval.  What a COOL story!!  Clever!!

3 Responses to “The Sneeze”

  1. Grandma says: I love it! Uncle Tom says: Annie sent this to me yesterday. Now there’s a clever way to get God into the picture! Grandma says she thinks God had a hand in this. This evidently really happened at the University of Maryland.

  2. this was awesome.I had no idea things were that bad in the US.

  3. That is an awesome story! Thanks for sharing it.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this:


text:
Its been 5 months since I decided my future is going to be in films. Its like those fb quotes that you don’t post thinking either its inappropriate or i am not big enough to post it yet but safely store it in a corner in your notepad which surfaces in fb after some time :) You really can’t run away from your innermost calling. So here I am. making films!

I have been writing all these years but always thought I will save them for now. I would just write synopsis. But before I quit, I had written a full length feature script. But I can’t approach anyone with it so decided I am going to make short films to prove that I can tell a story. For a person in formative years, reaching wider audiences is crucial to gauge popular feedback. Honestly, the critics will always have something to fault. here’s an illustration – adapted from the aesop’s fable ”The Miller, his son and their donkey”.

Adapt, adapt and adapt. Finally what you have is so NOT you. How do I defeat this?

  1. Have a clear guideline. For example, say your films will (1) be realistic (2) be simple to understand — no elitism (3) communicate in layers i.e. readily understood but when peeled convey profound meanings/feelings. (4) Whatever… just know your ambit. Adapt within these guidelines. Guess what, Adaptation is the Beauty and Curse of all living beings. So leverage it for the good.
  2. Try and have reference points which your team can relate. Guidelines are ambiguous. For example, say you want your films to be like Balu Mahendra’s films, Bala’s films, K Balachander’s films etc or Film X, Y, Z etc.
  3. Try and target a wider audience to gauge popular feedback. For example, I formulated what I call a “bus theorem” or lets say “motel theorem“. The motel theorem goes like “What percentage of people in this motel will understand and pay to watch this movie.” Why motel? Because it has people from all walks in right proportion. You have govt buses, omni buses, you have fewer people in personal vehicles like car, you have workers, you have women, you have children. This sample would closely reflect the population.

Here comes the problem for today’s independent(indie) film makers. 1 and 2 is well within the film-makers control but how does he reach sufficient people in various walks of life. That there is very limited, practically no, avenue for revenue from short films is well documented. While this is also linked to the absence of a distribution system, more importantly, offline distribution is even more crucial for “popular feedback”. The problem with online is that 1. you generally reach only the literate. 2. you get feedback that is regurgitated after seeing – this is no way equal to say 50 people watching it live. You can check the pulse for every dialogue and scene. Obviously, the avenue that is working as of now offline is small screen competitions. But it can accommodate only a handful. If one is selected though he will have to quit his job! So it isn’t covering Indie’s really.

Recently my friend and college junior Selvakumar Vinaiooki had posted about “one reel movement” an arrangement by which 10 minute shorts were shown in theaters before movies. This was in 2008. But I learnt later that this flopped because it was an authoritarian initiative – a production house made films and screened in their cinemas (which showed mainstream films) but didn’t survive for long. Perhaps they started too early.

While I was pondering over this, my friend Rajavel Subramanian, invited me to a play in the city. I was expecting a well established theatre or the typical places I have seen plays in Chennai in the past. I was mildly surprised at “Spaces” near Besant Nagar Beach, Chennai. It was quite spacious and had the awesome aura to the place – natural, contemporary, artistic. We saw a street play! Pretty cool!. The only rule is that you can not charge entry and you get the space free! You are allowed to keep a donation box.

There came my Eureka moment.

Why can’t we, film-makers, leverage such facilities across cities in a co-operative society model. Hire same location weekly and same time. Say Spaces, Friday 7pm.  For Spaces, rent is nil and can host 100 people easily. We just need projector and screen. We can rent or one of the members can lend. The operational cost is peanuts. We can market in FB initially. Audience should know if I go Friday 7 pm, I can check out some short films. One hour every week, 3 shorts. This way we could get footfall from the offline population. We can utilize some offline marketing later. Of the 3 shorts we could keep one international and two from community. We need a team to select and screen every week. The three 3 shorts besides giving an avenue for distribution will also help widen our own horizon as film-makers.

For other cities…I wonder, wouldn’t film schools have such arrangements for their young alumni? Can’t we talk to them to take our films as well? Can’t we talk to college cultural groups for screening in their auditorium. VisComm departments could spearhead such initiatives. It’s educational for them as well!

We need a name. What if we became huge offline distributors :) Just kidding.. but for brand sake and what we stand for – offline distribution of independent cinema we need a name. StreetCinema? GulliCinema? RoadieMovies?

If you want to contribute/participate join the fb pages Indian Underground Cinema and Film buffs rendezvous.  Folks there have been debating for a while. Will we make it? Hope so. For now, let’s focus on what’s in our control – the path, the team and our commitment.

Its fairly clear for Chennai. What we need is a few thousand bucks for renting projectors [ or a projector donor :) ] , a line-up of movies and the show is on. I am on and will need some volunteers.

Whoever you are, you can help us. Spread the word. Come to see our films. Shape our distribution model – share your thoughts here.


text:
home.htm 2017-07-10T11:28:30+00:00

Integrity in Relationships – Integrity in Technology

SCROLL DOWN to learn more

Industry Buzz & Announcements

Learn more about what we do

The Lightstream Difference

We combine an unmatched CUSTOMER CARE MODEL with world-class TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS featuring the latest in hosted and cloud-based technologies from multiple service providers to offer the most comprehensive and cost-effective “white glove” solutions.

Lightstream is a premium integrator of the most respected and robust technology solutions available. With an emphasis on core values of loyalty and customer care, Lightstream not only designs and engineers enterprise solutions, but also serves as a trusted advisor for complex business challenges, enabling partners to rapidly meet business objectives and achieve success.

LS Globe
Lightstream Solutions Model
Our Vision (Video)
Serving Our Customers Since
Technology Partners
Commitment to our Customers
Corporate Customers

The Broadest Range of Technology Solutions Available

Lightstream is uniquely positioned to assist today’s IT professionals in navigating the otherwise impossible task of dealing with multiple technologies, carriers, and service providers. With over 100 technology partners, Lightstream integrates a wide range of technologies and services, providing a single point of contact for billing, support, and management.  As a result we give our customers the best product we offer…PEACE OF MIND.

Lightstream Has Advantages Over Service Providers

  • CHOICE: The right solution among multiple service providers

  • COVERAGE: We provide broader reach worldwide

  • CONVENIENCE: One-stop shop for all of your cloud, voice, data, network and professional services needs

  • ADVOCACY: We have the same priority and access to providers’ service centers as their direct teams, but we can bridge support between providers

  • SIZE: Responsible for millions of dollars of monthly services, but still small enough to be personable without bureaucracy

  • CARE: Our culture is all about customer care; this pervades our entire company

  • EXPERIENCE: A wealth of expertise and experience, with most of our employees coming from world-class technology providers

Contact Us Now!

A Better Experience

Lightstream is a technology integrator that truly adds value to customers through unique engineering, project management, and service-oriented solutions. Our resources differentiate us from all others in the industry. Not only are we your advocate with the difficult-to-work-with providers, but we also function as your consultative sales representation to provide you with an objective approach to comprehensive technology solutions.

Lightstream Solutions Model

We can help guide you through the challenges of migrating to new technology solutions.

We don’t limit you to one service provider; we prefer to give you all the options. From simple solutions to complex enterprise environments, we provide it all.

“Lightstream is in a unique position…”

“Lightstream is in a unique position among companies who provide technology services today. Instead of being limited like a carrier or cloud provider to what is in their own basket of offerings, Lightstream has partnered with all of the top network and cloud providers; which allows them to bring everything together under one umbrella. Having worked for large carriers for years, I think this gives them a real advantage over working with multiple service providers individually.”

– Kary Burns, Co-Diagostics

Lightstream brings a very good mix of technical talent that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to have within our own ranks.
David St. Claire , Skywest Airlines
“Lightstream adds business value. They bring the best possible solutions and are an extension of my organization. They are family to me.”
Bruk Kammerman, HCA

Join The 1,000+ Satisfied Lightstream Customers!


text:
Back in Time - Roman Ruins in Conimbriga

 Olá! Guess who's back, back again...Yes, it's me! You're probably asking: "Where were you for such a long time?" I'm gonna tell you. Travelling around Spain! It's true, I promise. And I think I owe you a lot of photos from amazing places. But today I have to go back in time, before I went to Spain, me and my friends went to Conimbriga. Roman ruins near Coimbra - my Erasmus city. It was incredible, you see all those things and you think: "Just how...? How did they do that?" I've never seen something like this in my life.

You can walk through the ruins almost as you like, so you can feel the atmosphere and imagine that you really went back in time. You can even imagine people swimming in the pool or enjoying hot baths, walking on the former streets...I know my imagination is pretty big.

Everywhere there are signs with description in also English, so you don't have to worry about not understanding what the signs say. I can tell you, even though I'm trying to learn Portuguese, it is very hard sometimes to understand. And after one week in Spain where I spoke in Spanish (and English of course), I have to learn everything all over again...

And now to the part that interests you the most I think. The price. The ticket costs 3 € for the ruins plus the museum. I can tell you, it's definitely worth it. If you want to know more, here is the link for the FAQ of the official website.

And if you don't want to pay, there is beautiful nature. Perfect for running, hiking and long walks. However, I advise you to go inside and enjoy the beauty. In the museum I also found the devil (as you can see on one of the photos below) and tried to recall something from my Latin classes, when I wanted to translate what was written on the stones.

Conimbriga is wonderful place, where you can relax and learn new things from human history, and trust me, I always say yes to this!

No comments:

Post a Comment