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Hillbilly Moonshiner

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"Get you a copper kettle, get you a copper coil
Cover with new-made corn mash, and never more you'll toil
You just lay there by the juniper, while the moon is bright
Watch those jugs a-fillin', in the pale moonlight."
Albert Frank Beddoe, Copper Kettle

Someone who illegally distills whiskey from corn or other farm products in a rural area where alcohol is prohibited or heavily taxed.

The illegal activity is often carried out at night, which is how "moonshine" got its name. Other names include "mountain tay", "mountain dew" (not to be confused with the soft drink, which was named after the liquor), "poteen," and "white mule." Typically, the distilling process involves a copper still (the most basic version of which is a pipe run through a hollow log) set up in a remote clearing, preferably near a stream of soft water. The result is often a Gargle Blaster.

"Revenuers" or excise men often feature in these stories, hunting down the moonshiners, who often are willing to resort to violence to defend their work. Shipping out the finished product while evading them is a job best left to a Bad Ass Driver (fun facts: in the United States, the extensive speed and performance modifications made to otherwise-ordinary cars made by these drivers during Prohibition eventually led to the establishment of NASCAR, while speedboats used for smuggling in the Caribbean influenced the design of WWII torpedo boats).

For the enlisted counterpart, see Military Moonshiner; obviously, when the hillbilly enlists he will often turn into one.

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  • The soda brand Mountain Dew was originally developed by Barney and Allen Hartman to be mixed with whiskey. (And "mountain dew" used to be Southern US slang for moonshine, before the soda's popularity completely eclipsed the original meaning.) The original packaging (as well as the deliberately retro "Throwback" packaging) features a cartoon hillbilly.
  • The British mixed-fruit juice Moon Shine was advertised with a cartoon showing two US hillbilly stoats mixing it up in the backwoods, while pursued by a toad sheriff.

     Comic Books

  • Moonshine McJugs by Frank Thorne, which originally ran in Playboy. The strip deals with the erotic misadventures of Moonshine, a buxom female member of a clan of hillbilly moonshiners in Pork Holler, Tennessee.
  • The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers moved to the rural mountains, and Fat Freddy, getting lost in the woods, stumbled onto a moonshiner's property, who, eventually figuring him to be okay, offered him a drink. Freddy: "Well, ordinarily we hippies don't drink liquor, but I happen to be an exception!" The stuff turned out to be made from mushrooms and had a strong psychedelic effect.
  • Moonshine by Brian Azzarello is set in 1920's West Virginia, and features several prominent characters who are Moonshiners.

     Films — Animated

  • Luke from The Rescuers is implied to be one. His "swamp juice" is strong enough to give a Nitro Boost to a swampmobile!

     Films — Live-Action

  • In The People vs. Larry Flynt, the boyhood days of Larry Flynt had the enterprising youngster make and sell moonshine in the Kentucky hills.
  • The Soviet short film Moonshiners (Samogonschiki) by Leonid Gaidai. The titular moonshiners are played by the popular Soviet comedy trio Nikulin, Vitsin & Morgunov.
  • One of these is killed by the eponymous vengeance demon in Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud.
  • The Return of Swamp Thing opens with a bunch of armed office workers searching for a hillbilly moonshine distillery in a swamp, and ending up attacked by a leech mutant. Later, the moonshiners themselves appear to attempt to rape the Love Interest before the eponymous hero intervenes, beating and chasing them away.
  • In The Kettles in the Ozarks, bootleggers rent Sedge Kettle's barn as a base for their moonshine operation and Hilarity Ensues.
  • Lt. Aldo Raine from Inglourious Basterds is said to have been a moonshiner before joining the US Army.
  • Coal Miner's Daughter: The hillbilly moonshiner from Loretta Lynn's home town says that making moonshine is only one of three things to do in coal country, the second being working as a coal miner, and the third being getting out.
  • The 1975 film Moonrunners, later spiritually adapted as the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard (see below), centers on a family of these.
  • In Timber Falls, Brody and his redneck cousins are moonshiners and intimidate Mike into paying $50 for a jar when they come across him and Sheryl on the mountain.

  • In The Little Golden Calf, Ostap Bender reveals his experience as a moonshiner when he teaches visiting American bootleggers some Soviet moonshine recipes.
    • It is heavily hinted that he makes it up as he goes to scam some money out of gullible foreigners.
  • In Frank Merriwell Down South, one of the book's stories has Frank and a friend mistaken for revenue agents by Appalachian moonshiners. They're saved because the mysterious masked rider the moonshiners all respect is a girl they helped out and befriended earlier in the story.
  • The McAuslan story "The Gordon Women" focuses on the characters, on leave, dealing with moonshining in the Scottish highlands — from both sides of the law.
  • Discworld's Nanny Ogg only escapes the appellation of being a moonshiner by King Verence refusing to enforce the laws about liquor distillation in Lancre on a witch so long as she's discreet about it (i.e. hiding the still so that he doesn't officially know that she has one. Despite this, most of Lancre knows roughly where it is, though they pretend not to know if they need to find her while she's brewing a new batch for the show of it). This does mean she has cornered the local market with her product, known affectionately as "Old Suicider." It's made from apples—well, mainly apples.
  • In The Goblin Reservation, one of the characters, a Neanderthal named Alley Oop (intelligent, but still not quite adapted to modern society) makes moonshine at his hut. There is no indication it's illegal (it's the 26th century or so), but the quality is ghastly.
  • In First Blood, the fugitive Rambo comes across a father and son duo in the woods, and guesses correctly that they have a still hidden in the area. He convinces them give him clothes and a rifle so that he'll move on and lead his pursuers away from them.
  • In Alas, Babylon, Randy Bragg enlists the help of the town's resident Mr. Fixit and Gadgeteer Genius to build a still to render down the proceeds of a particularly bountiful corn harvest. Malachi, despite being a teetotaler, even comes up with a method of charcoal filtration. The resultant hooch is of Gargle Blaster potency, and turns out to be extremely valuable as fuel, surgical disinfectant, and trade commodity. It also makes a very good post-nuclear Screwdriver when mixed with local orange juice, which a pair of military officers comment upon in the novel's last chapter.
  • Elmore Leonard's The Moonshine War, later adapted as a film of the same name, centers on a conflict between one of these and a corrupt IRS agent.

     Live Action TV

  • In the Backstory of The Dukes of Hazzard Uncle Jesse & Boss Hogg were both moonshiners. The Duke boys are permanently "on probation" for running Jesse's moonshine.
  • In B.J. and the Bear/The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, Lobo is a Dirty Cop who runs moonshine on the side.
  • In one episode of Hawaii Five-0 we learn that one of Chin Ho's uncles is one of these, and makes moonshine from the roots of the ti plant. According to Chin the stuff is very tasty but not for the faint of heart. Uncle Choi, played by George Takei, takes pride in his product and does not associate with "the lowlifes that sell bad hooch."
  • Stargate SG-1:
    • In some versions of pilot "Children of the Gods" Skaara shares moonshine his town made with Jack's team. After asking Daniel (who stayed behind on Abydos after the movie) what he's "been teaching these kids", Jack tries it and it makes him hoarse.
    • When Jack gets trapped offworld in "A Hundred Days" for three months thanks to a meteorite strike burying the gate, Jack is introduced to the local moonshine at the harvest festival. His verdict:
      "Absolute rotgut. More, please?"
  • Moonshiners, a Reality Show on the Discovery Channel, follows a group of hillbilly moonshiners. Despite the cameras and publicity, moonshine is still just as illegal as you'd think it to be, except in one case where the show follows a licensed distillery that brews with moonshiner recipes and techniques. (We should note that, like many reality shows, the series is staged: police and sheriff's departments in the areas where the series is filmed have said that if anything illegal was actually going on, they would have shut it down.)
  • Granny Moses in The Beverly Hillbillies is not a moonshiner; she just happens makes her "medicine" in a giant copper still and it is only mildly explosive.
  • An episode of Fantasy Island dealt with two rival moonshining families who both wanted "White Lightning", the best moonshine ever made.
  • The Baldwin sisters in The Waltons would be horrified if you accused them, as respectable elderly spinsters, of being moonshiners. They just take care to brew the medicine that their father devised in the traditional the giant copper still, and keep it hidden from revenue men.
  • An episode of The Glades dealt with two Feuding Families of moonshiners who went legit and now sold legally produced moonshine. However, Jim discovers that old habits die hard and someone is still producing and selling moonshine off-the-books.
  • The History Channel Reality Show, Hatfields & McCoys: White Lightning, revolves around the Real Life Feuding Families of the Hatfields and McCoys trying to come together to run a legitimate moonshine business.
  • These showed up repeatedly on The Andy Griffith Show.
  • CSI: Miami: A pair of moonshiners become suspects when the body of a hunter turns up dead near their illegal still in the Everglades in "Slow Burn".
  • Justified: The infamous Bennett family used to be moonshiners during the days of Prohibition. Family matriarch Mags still brews up the occasional batch, but they've long since diversified into marijuana, possessing fifty drying sheds scattered across Harlan County, Kentucky.
  • PBS historical Reality Show Frontier House cast three families into the wilderness of Montana to recreate the experience of 1800s pioneers. Partway into the project, the father of the Clune family acquired a still from his coworkers back in the modern world and began selling moonshine on the side to supplement his family's livings. The production team decided this was period-appropriate and permitted it.
  • NCIS: New Orleans: Brody and LaSalle find themselves held at gunpoint by an unusually erudite hillbilly moonshiner while investigating a body dump in "It Happened Last Night".
  • Midsomer Murders: The British equivalent (yokel moonshiner?) appears in "Night of the Stag", brewing a particularly potent hooch known as 'the Beast'.
  • The New Avengers: In "Emily", Gambit and Purdey fight a hillbilly moonshiner to acquire several gallons of his hooch in order to fuel a car (It Makes Sense in Context).

  • Ridiculously common in traditional folk music from Scotland, Ireland and the Appalachians. There are innumerable songs about this; some of the old standards are "The Rare Ould Mountain Dew", "The Moonshiner" ("I'm a Rambler, I'm a Gambler"), and "The Hills of Connemara".
  • The song "Copperhead Road" by Steve Earle is a Deconstruction, being about three generations of moonshiners with a grudge against the government. The latest generation is still bitter about the fact that both his dad and his grandpappy died while making moonshine (it's implied that his grandpappy was shot by the "revenue man" and his mooks, while his father died after crashing his souped-up Dodge with a trunkful of illegal booze) while he himself has expanded the operation to growing drugs in the hollow where his grandpappy used to have his still, and is an angry Vietnam veteran who "learned a thing or two from Charlie".
  • George Jones' "White Lighting" is about one of these and his brew, told from the viewpoint of his son.
  • The Big Bopper's "White Lightning" is all about moonshining done by the singer's father, who produces the titular brew.
  • Brian McNeill's song "The Best o' the Barley" is about his great-uncle James McNeill making moonshine on the side during prohibition.

     Newspaper Comics

  • Parodied in The Far Side: "Suddenly the cops stepped into the clearing, and the Spamshiners knew they were busted." The scofflaws are caught in the act of forcing a pig down a funnel of their apparatus.
  • The irascible Snuffy Smith has to guard his moonshine still from "infernal revenuers" and some of his hooch-mooching neighbors.

     Professional Wrestling

     Tabletop Games

  • Call of Cthulhu supplement The Asylum and Other Tales, adventure "The Asylum". The degenerate backwoods Cthulhu Mythos cultists who serve Freygan brew moonshine, which is taken away and sold by gangsters.
  • In the Kingmaker adventure path in Pathfinder, the players encounter Munguk the Hill Giant. Munguk is wandering the countryside looking for berries to make into moonshine.

     Video Games

  • One of the areas to be explored in Evil Dead: Hail to the King is a household of an entire family of possessed moonshiners, called Hellbillies.
  • You can encounter some in Fallout 2, via random encounters near Modoc and Redding.
  • The "Wild Appalachia" update for Fallout 76 introduces a variation: fraternity students at Vault Tec University, eager to get invited to the parties of their more respected peers, start brewing a drink called Nukashine. It requires an already-incredibly-radioactive drink, more nuclear material, and several other ingredients to brew it, and when drunk, it causes temporary hallucinations before the player blacks out and wakes up in an entirely different part of the map.
  • Phil Cassidy, a recurring character in the Grand Theft Auto series, was this trope when he lived in Vice City during The '80s. After the volatile moonshine blows off his arm, he quits and becomes an Arms Dealer in Liberty City.
  • A non-American version exists in My Summer Car, the player character (who's a young blue-collar worker living in the Finnish countryside) has the option of brewing illegal sugar-wine called "kilju".
  • Humphrey the Snoring Hickopotomus from Moshi Monsters, species also referred to as "Hicko's", mix Lazy Daisy Moonshine...that is if they do not sleep through their opportunity to do so.

     Web Comics

  • The first group of antagonists in Lackadaisy were a bunch of pig farmers. As Rocky's burning down their farm he finds a still, causing him to wonder why they were bothering to steal watered-down swill from Lackadaisy's supplier.

     Web Original

  • Shine was taught to distill whiskey by his grandfather, a brilliant but Book Dumb moonshiner, when his was only nine. Five years later, people started noticing that his whiskey isn't the sort of rotgut one usually expects, and that he's developed a system to force-age any distilled liquor until it tastes like it has been cellared for a decade or more. It turns out that he is a Mutant, with both the Avatar power (he literally inherited his dead grandfather's soul as his spirit guide) and the Devisor powerset. He is essentially rescued from a raging mob by a curious distillery executive, and soon is very wealthy from selling expensive distilling devises only he can build. He decides to go to Whateley Academy to see if he can improve his talents even further.

     Western Animation

  • The Simpsons:
    • Cletus Spuckler is occasionally seen moonshining. One episode has Homer becoming a moonshine connoisseur.
    • The episode "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" has Homer becoming a moonshiner after alcohol is banned in Springfield.
  • One of the American Dad! Christmas specials has Roger learning how to make moonshine from a hillbilly named Bob Todd after his alcoholism gets so bad that the stuff at the liquor store can't satisfy him. The liquor store clerk told him the guy was a blind four-armed satyr, which he isn't but the hallucinations from his booze make him look like that.
  • Appears in Squidbillies as would be expected. One episode has a slight subversion as the Sheriff notices what appears to be a still and points out that moonshine is illegal only for Lil to casually state she's not making moonshine.... it's her meth lab.
  • On Wacky Races, at least two episodes imply that Lazy Luke is a moonshiner. He displays a jug at the start of "The Great Cold Rush Race", and another episode has him mistaking Dick Dastardly's siren for that of the revenuers.

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Ride the Rainbow

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Fly Bifrost: The Gay Way to Travel!

Thor: What you seek, it is a bridge.
Jane Foster: Like an Einstein-Rosen Bridge?
Thor: More like a Rainbow Bridge.

Many cultures have different connotations on what a rainbow is, having made their theories long before science revealed it to just be reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets. One common idea is that this arch of color is used as a vehicle for otherworldly beings.

This form of Not Quite Flight can be read in a number of ways. Maybe they are Sky Surfing, treating the front-end of a rainbow as a surf-board surfing across the ocean of clouds. Perhaps the rest of the rainbow is a vapor trail that refracts the many colors through the air. Maybe rainbows are giant snakes that eat elephants and people and the user is just their owner, the snake their mighty steed.

Sub-Trope of Everything's Better with Rainbows. Compare with Flying on a Cloud, Ride the Lightning and Stairway to Heaven. See also All Your Colors Combined, Rainbow Lite and Rainbow Motif.

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  • An old Skittles commercial has a group of kids sitting on a rainbow, presumably just walking on it or riding it until stopping at a high point. One of the kids then questions if it's really real, and falls through it like a trap door.

    Anime & Manga
  • In episode 4a of Tamagotchi, Mametchi invents a slide called the Rainbow Sleightchi to help him get to school on time. The slide, as suggested by the name, is meant to resemble a rainbow.
  • Certain cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! create rainbow-like bridges for monsters on the field to use, like Rainbow Blessing and Rainbow Bridge Bifrost.

    Films — Animation
  • Fantasia: After the storm in "Pastoral Symphony", the goddess Iris flies by, leaving a rainbow behind her. Cherubs and baby pegasi play around the rainbow and slide down it.
  • In Little Angels: The Brightest Christmas, the angels travel by turning themselves into a rainbow, each of them acting as a separate stripe.

    Films — Live-Action
  • In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Bifrost is a dimensional energy harnessed by the Asgardian people through a crystalline, prismatic "rainbow bridge" that Asgardians use as a means of traveling across the universe. It is harnessed and controlled through Heimdall's Observatory, Heimdall himself being capable of using this power in short intervals, such as when he sent the Hulk back to Earth after Thanos defeats him in Avengers: Infinity War. Should the Bifrost be left open for too long, the energy becomes destructive and is capable of destroying planets, as is what almost happened to Jotunheim in Thor.

  • In Centaur Aisle, one of the early Xanth books, the party uses a spell to ride a rainbow for rapid travel from the southern tip of Xanth up to the northern Mundane border.
  • In Sweet Story, it is revealed that rainbows are used by rainbow pirates as transportation, allowing them to plunder wherever the rainbows lead and leave along with it. Considering Sally's wish made it impossible for it to ever rain water again, this link between worlds is severed forever.
  • Several Land of Oz books have a minor character named Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter, a sort-of sky fairy who comes down to Earth on a rainbow, and needs the rainbow to return for her in order to get back up to the sky.

    Myths & Folklore
  • Iris from Classical Mythology was a goddess that acted as a personal messenger of Hera, rainbows being her iconic method of transportation between Earth and the Heavens. She has a sister named Arke who performed a similar role for the Titans during their war with the gods, who represented the secondary faded rainbow sometimes seen in the shadow of the more prominent one.
  • The Trope Codifier here is probably from Norse Mythology, where Bifrost was the name of the rainbow bridge that connected Asgard (home of the gods) to Midgard (home of humans). The Midgard end could be moved around, but the Asgard end always connected to Heimdall's home of Himinbjörg. Like everything else in Norse Mythology it's destined to be destroyed in Ragnarok when the forces of Muspelheim storm the bridge to get to Asgard.

    Tabletop Games
  • Dungeons & Dragons, 1st Edition Advanced D&D supplement Unearthed Arcana. The Rainbow spell could create a bridge made up of the 7 colors of a rainbow. The bridge could carry an amount of weight equal to 100 pounds per Character Level of the cleric casting it.

    Video Games

    Web Animation
  • In the Strong Bad Email "flashback", Strong Bad's (probably) made-up tale of how he met Homestar involves him and Coach Z riding down to Earth from the moon on a rainbow bridge.

     Web Comics
  • In The Order of the Stick, there's a rainbow bridge that connects Valhalla and the plane where Durkon meets with the gods.

    Western Animation
  • The Wings of Tinabi from Xiaolin Showdown is a Shen Gong Wu that sprouts wings, bestowing its user the power of flight, leaving behind a rainbow trail in the process.
  • The titular Rainbow Brite uses rainbow pathways to travel places, mainly between Earth and Rainbowland.
  • Giant Realistic Flying Tiger from Uncle Grandpa leaves a rainbow-colored trail behind her, which is implied to be, um... coming from her butt.
  • In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Life of Crime", Patrick needs money, so SpongeBob takes him to "The First National Bank of SpongeBob" by sliding down a rainbow to the pot of gold at the end (which, unfortunately, is empty).

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The Bifrost

Heimdall sends Thor and friends to Jotunheim with the Bifrost.

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Tagged: progeny

iTunes Gift Card

The Quest for Redemption

By the Friday of every week I am completely exhausted. After wrangling the Twins, beating the snot out of my house-husbanding chores, and writing this fine publication (which many have recently remarked that they cannot believe I have time for), I am spent. So spent that my during-the-rest-of-the-week 2:00 pm crash usually hits at 11:30 am, while lying on the floor with my progeny in the middle of Tummy/Rolling All Over the Place Time, as I nod off mid-pseudo-engaging-baby-critical-thinking-question-about-the-toys-they-are-marvelling-at. (“What color is that ball? What shape is that ba–Zzzzzz…Ow! Did you just punch me in the nose? … What color is my nose?”)

With that in mind, I usually set few, very small goals for Fridays.

To Do List

Take last Friday for example. It was the end of my busiest week in a while. In addition to my regular duties (huh-huh, I said duties), I’ve been doing some contracted tech work as well as boxing belongings and seeking out new residences for the Pseudonymous family since we have recently decided to move.

And so, as I resuscitated myself with my super-charged Friday morning coffee, I decided to aim low. Aside from the givens (twin care, dishwashing, ninjutsu training), my primary objective was to browse the iTunes store for music and determine what I would purchase with the $15 gift card my wife got me over a month ago for Father’s Day. (Would you believe I haven’t had time?) I’ve had it sitting out on the counter as a reminder ever since receiving it from my wonderful wife, and have caught taunting glimpses of it while making bottles, folding laundry, and soothing meltdowns.

iTunes Gift Card

My wife was even thoughtful enough to find one of a semi-transparent-silhouetted guy who high-kicks and rocks air guitar while listening to his iPod, which is exactly how I and all other sane people listen to music.

With months of trophy husbanding experience under my belt, I believed this iTunes iTask to finally be within my iGrasp. Even if the kids were particularly grumpy, I could line up my sonic candidates like reality show contestants waiting for the red rose of approval, hit play, and discriminatingly consume. In fact, the Twinfants would most certainly enjoy the ever-changing sensory stimulation generated by the constant toggling of song clips.

No problem, right?

Well, of course not. Why would I write about that? It failed miserably.

The primary reason the plan disintegrated like a drool-drenched Graduates Puff was that we had absolutely no Nap Overlap. Those of you who are Loyal Readers know this means my children were never asleep at the same time. In fact, for the entire day, they were on completely opposite sleep schedules. As soon as I delivered one to Sleepy Town, the other was just waking up. All. Freaking. Day.

Now, I will admit this situation has its advantages, for instance facilitating quality one-on-one time with each of the twins individually, which is something all the books about twins that I don’t have time to read seem to say is important. On the other tiny hand, such a rhythm does not facilitate Daddy getting a freaking second to himself. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat (unless I combine them), not even to accomplish tedious tasks like defunkifying dishes, laundering laundry, and listening to smooth on-hold jazz while waiting to haggle with customer service representatives.

Plus, at almost seven months old, the Twinfants are teething and especially irritable. As a matter of fact, amidst Frankenstein-monster moans akin to dueling banjos, transparent vampire-fang drool trickles flowing from each mouth corner, angry head-butts to Daddy’s sternum, and the frantic gnawing of foam books, plush pandas, and human fingers, we have sprouted the First Two Teeth of Pseudonymous: The Next Generation, with our son’s inaugural chomper emerging on Thursday evening and our daughter’s fashionably late pearly white fanfaring into view Saturday morning.I Got My First Tooth Card - CLICK TO BUY THIS CARD

Guess which day was right in the middle? That’s right. Friday, the day iFailed.

It wasn’t for lack of trying. Although both kids had their share of I-need-you-to-hold-me-right-now-Daddy-or-I-will-shatter-every-window-with-my-squeals moments, there were also a few peppered throughout the day when they seemed content, or, as Snoop Dogg wouldn’t say: “Rollin’ down the floor, sucking teething rings, sippin’ on baby formula, laid back, with their minds on their (stuffed) monkeys and their monkeys on their minds.”

Then, I got greedy.

On at least three occasions, I thought, Okay, they seem pretty chill. I could maybe squeeze in a song sample or twenty. I even lowered my laptop’s volume and strategically placed it in accessible but out-of-baby-sight locations, as I have learned they do NOT like to compete with Skynet for my attention. On my final Hail Mary attempt, I even tried earbuds. However, every listening session ended abruptly, about five seconds into the first clip, as they noticed I was not staring at them, hanging on their every gesture, the only proper response for which, of course, is a tantrum. This did not make for an optimal music previewing atmosphere.

I’ll admit I missed an opportunity around 2 pm, just after bottle-guzzling. They were happily cooing at their playthings on the floor, and I home-run trotted to my computer. This is it! I thought. It’s all happening! I chose an album (The Features’ Wilderness) clicked “play all samples,” and rejoined the munchkins on the floor. As they chattered and smiled at me occasionally, I laid on my back and stared at the ceiling fan, listening to my prospective new jams. Which made me think of seeing the band live when they came to Phoenix a few years ago. It was just my wife and me then. Simpler times. Not “better” times by any means, but definitely simpler. And I remembered the electrifying onstage energy the band had, and the badass hollow-bodied guitar their frontman rocked. Which made me think about how Pseudonymous hasn’t “Gone Electric” in a while. I’ve been folking out with the Twins acoustically, but haven’t “plugged in” for months. I should do that. Do I need new strings?

Dylan Goes Electric

Bob Dylan "Went Electric" in 1965, met with criticism from legions of fans. But I don't think the Twins will mind.

Before I knew it, the song previews had ended 15 minutes ago and I had still only paid attention to the first five seconds of the first song.

Now, before you decide that this poor, frustrated soul is clearly on his last nerve and take it upon yourself to send in your magical parenting guru suggestions about what I should have done in order to achieve my iGoal even though you: 1) weren’t here, 2) weren’t as tired as I was, and 3) have never met my children and thus don’t know what works (and what doesn’t) with them, I want to emphasize that in the scheme of things, I don’t care about the stupid iTunes card. (I also already tried your suggestion anyway since eating Wheaties daily makes me a Champion by definition.)

The more I pushed to “git-r-done,” the more I realized that purchasing music was just not in the cards for me that day. (Haha, get it?) Even more importantly, every day I could focus on achieving little tasks like buying music, getting every last dish washed, or writing yet another genius blog post–and in doing so, continually exasperate myself because the Twins usually need me more than I anticipate. Or, instead, I could remind myself what a privilege staying home to raise them is. Even though I spend more time with them than anyone else, it still feels like they’re growing up so quickly. I know although my wife enjoys her job, it doesn’t hold a candle to seeing them all day on weekends, and remember when I first returned to work from paternity leave, I felt like I was missing out all day.

Ferris Bueller, Righteous Dude & Sausage King of Chicago

Ferris Bueller, Righteous Dude & Sausage King of Chicago

Every moment I have with them is an opportunity for me to savor the awe-inspiring experience that is parenthood and, in the immortal words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

There will be plenty of time for me to buy my stupid music in the future, and yes, over the weekend, I was finally able to redeem the gift card one night once the kids went to sleep. As it turned out, it was an even better Fathers’ Day present than it first appeared to be.

It reminded me how lucky I am to be a Dad.

You may also enjoy:

Thunderstruck Thumb-Suck   Naptime Musings - My 6 Most Common Thoughts   Dad Reflex (Happy Fathers' Day!)

If not, maybe you just need a day off. It worked for Cameron.

Thunderstruck Thumb-Suck

Desert Lightning

I awoke suddenly to sheets of rain tap-dancing on the roof, werewolf-howl wind gusts, and the white-noise hiss of our baby monitor, my wife’s intent yet exhausted face lit by the screen.

“Hey,” she whispered.

“What up,” I yawned.

“He’s awake.” She turned the monitor to display my son in his crib, tossing restlessly. I glanced at the clock. 3:20 am.

“How’s she?”

“Still out,” she replied, just as the monitor toggled to our daughter, fast asleep.  My wife dubiously shook her head. “How are you just now waking up? How can you sleep through this?”

“Through what?”

A bright flash lit the room momentarily, followed by thunderclap that literally rattled the house.

Arizona LightningShe shot me a the-deafening-storm-you’ve-been-sleeping-through-you-lucky-bastard kind of look. My wife is a light sleeper, so she wakes up often at night and sometimes gets jealous of my hibernation-grade slumber intensity, particularly during nights like this.

“Oh,” I answered. “Talent?”

We are in the midst of what Arizonans call “Monsoon Season,” a time during which we are graced not only with three-digit heat, but also higher-than-usual humidity and a wave of tropical thunderstorms, including the most massive dust storm Phoenix has seen in years–or as I learned the day after the storm, the proper term is haboob. (Yes, really. How exciting is that?!) So, with that in mind, check out these pictures of this enormous, mind-blowing, spectacular haboob, from TWO angles!

While it was incredibly cool to experience (at one point we couldn’t see anything further than five feet out the windows as the tannish fog enveloped the house), the timing was not ideal. The storm hit just as we were putting the Twins down for bed, so despite the soothing simulated-heartbeat jams of their Sound Machines (which I believe are from Miami), the rattling windows, moaning gusts, and our yapping watchdog kept them awake, which allowed them the opportunity to complement the clamor outside with alternating cries akin to dueling guitar solos.

Luckily, neither the storm nor the solos Shook Us All Night Long.

I remembered the haboob experience as the sky paparazzi flashed another photo.

My first thought was: Huh-huh. Huh-huh. Haboob. My second was: Huh-huh. Huh-huh. But my third was: Get ready to hold crying progeny for an hour.

Not that I was hoping for it, but I definitely had to accept it as a possibility. But then, my selfish heart melted when I actually thought of the Twinfants, alone in their beds, waking with a start, never having heard or experienced such a loud, sensory-overloading thing. Recalling my own childhood and how terrified I’d get of lightning storms, I became totally okay with soothing them and letting them know everything would be okay.

Jim Halpert looking at the camera

I don't know if he's saying "hi" or mocking me.

My son flipped from his side to his back, his eyes wide open, looking up at the camera. I swear he already knows what it is and what it does because all the time I catch him half-smirking directly at it like Dunder-Mifflin’s Jim Halpert.

After a few minutes of silently willing him back to sleep, my wife and I gently high-fived as he found his thumb and sucked it all the way back to Sleepy Town.

“Okay,” I murmured, leaning over to kiss my wife. “Good ni–”

FLASH! (Yes, that is an onomatopoeia that doesn’t actually make a sound.) BANG!

“She’s waking up.”

“No she isn’t.”

“She is.”

Sure enough, there my daughter was, exhaling loudly, whipping what little hair she has back and forth. Now, she worried me even more. She’s a little more high-strung and observant than my son. Her eyes like dinner plates, she has a thirst for life in general and passionately takes in everything she encounters. This curiosity will serve her well, but it also causes her to get easily overwhelmed by situations that overload her senses. Such as bright flashes of light and loud booms.

Warwick Davies as Willow

The whipping-back-and-forth-of-hair phenomenon is credited to Willow Ufgood, who heroically did so while saving a baby from the evil queen Bavmorda.

The back-and-forth hair-whipping slowed to an alert halt at another flash and bang. Her eyes widened.

Oh no. Here it comes.

And then something incredible happened.

She just lost her mind laughing.

And then, in utter shock, so did we.

Each crash intensified her hysterics to a higher, more jubilant octave, rolling mirthfully back and forth as the storm raged on, while my wife and I tried to stifle belly laughs so the three of us wouldn’t wake my son.

Eventually, she tired herself out, found a tasty finger, and collapsed.

My wife and I, on the other hand, were now fully awake from laughing until we cried.

In fact, we listened to the sky explode for another hour, returning fire with overdramatic sighs and obscenities.

You may also enjoy:

We Don't Do That Here - A Trip to the Pediatrician's Office   Naptime Musings - My 6 Most Common Thoughts   Big Mother Is Watching

If not, maybe you just need to think of the word “haboob.” Huh-huh. Haboob.

Restroom Sign

Twincoherent: A Note on Gender

Restroom Sign

I don’t know which public restroom your child will be using.

As I’ve been preparing more twincidents for your reading pleasure, the Grammatical Terrors of writing with gender in mind have reared their ugly heads, so I figured I’d tackle that now, in Twinfamy’s first few days, before its umbilical cord falls off.

Most babies are either male or female. This is especially helpful (and fun!) when those babies grow up and attempt to make more babies.

However, this two-party system makes it difficult to use personal pronouns when writing about a generic child (and really, all people). In the olden days, when dinosaurs and handlebar mustaches ruled the earth, a then male-dominated society would opt for pronouns with a penis (he, him, his, etc.). Nowadays, many writers exclusively use vaginal pronouns (she, her and… um…her), some overcompensating from the paranoia of being branded a male chauvinist, and others in an effort to make up for the sins of writers before them.

Still others attempt to write in a completely gender-neutral fashion. This can be done by always using the plural form (e.g. they/them) and occasionally crafting sentences that are either grammatically incorrect or slightly awkward, as well as using other generic terms (child, baby, youngster, progeny, offspring, loinfruit, etc.), but this often is just a pacifier’s throw away from referring to a baby as an “it,” which is just offensive. It makes you sound like a Terminator seeking your target and attempting to destroy “it.” Some writers even employ clumsy, multiple-choice eyesores like s/he, him/her, and my personal least favorite, him/herself.

Simply put, writing about singular, hypothetical babies can be a pain in the diaper.

I care about you, O Loyal Reader, and I don’t want you to stumble over such madness. It would anger me if that got in the way of you consuming my genius, in the same way that Mel Gibson would be a half-blue-faced, kilted savage if some dufus in a ten-gallon hat were blocking your view of Lethal Weapon 5.

However, I don’t know which public restroom your child will be using when HE OR SHE grows up (see how lame that is?). You might even have one of each like me, or dare I say some combination involving three or more (and if you do, God bless you). No matter what, I can’t always write in such a way that is pronounically relevant to your exact situation. I’m sorry. Don’t cry. I can wrap you up in your blankie if it’ll make you feel better.

The best way I’ve seen it executed in other parenting texts is by alternating between masculine and feminine forms every other chapter or post, so I’ll do the same here, with the exception of gender-relevant topics, like how to avoid a golden shower while changing your son’s diaper.

Since I have both a girl and boy, I’m already tuned into that balancing act, as evidenced by the equal number of pink and light blue items that have taken over my house. So if it happens that you have a son and I use “she” in a post, I’ll ask you to not assume I’m calling him a sissy, nor am I calling your stunningly beautiful daughter mannish when I use “he.” I’m just trying to keep it even, as I do with my love for my own son and daughter—tied at 100%.

(Yes, I do realize that allocating 100% to each would actually equal 200% of my love, which is technically impossible. Don’t be that guy…or girl.)


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Monthly Archives: January 2011

Operation Barbarossa and Germany’s Defeat in the East by David Stahel

This describes the initial stages (first few months) of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. It makes a very well reasoned case that despite their significant progress in this period the Germans were inevitably doomed to failure. Their inability to sustain anything like the necessary logistical support as they moved so deep into the Soviet Union was very damaging. Additionally, their inability to support the massive losses also ultimately led to failure.

It was a Christmas present.


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Tyranny of Pink

In a World where you can be Anything - Be Kind! | Tyranny of Pink

In a World where you can be Anything – Be Kind!

In a world where you can be anything, be kind!

We have been living here for almost two months now – woop, can you believe that? Honestly I don’t know where the time goes. Honestly, one thing that really stands out for me about this country is how kind people are.

People are genuinely nice – way to go New Zealand! Seriously they will offer you help or their seat on the bus or walk past you and say hello or smile at you because you’re there. It’s such a nice way to live.

I’ve had my fair share of unkind people in my life, I’ve no doubt been an unkind person but I try really hard to be kind. I try really hard to not be a “mean girl” because the world is too big a place to be fighting with others for our place in the sunshine.

It’s not about YOU

When people are nasty to each other or they say things in anger, it’s usually not about them. I am a really sensitive person and get my feelings hurt a lot. It’s funny because people OFTEN say how they thought I was “a bitch” until they got to know me. I don’t think I’m a bitch but my resting bitch face makes people think I am mean. I’m not. I’m actually very nice (if you have to tell people you are, are you really lol) but honestly, I’m also very introverted so people think I’m aloof.

Anyway I digress. There is so much room in the world for all of us. We may not agree and we may not like each other but that doesn’t make it okay to be mean. It’s never okay be nasty to someone, especially if you don’t even know their side of things.

Suicide is so prevalent

People are killing themselves ALL THE TIME. Public figures who we think are happy and wealthy and successful (because money = success) and then suddenly we read about their suicide and it’s bloody tragic. Bullying is something that happens so often that we sweep under the rug.

We judge people without knowing their side of the story.

We take the word of one person over another.

We are quick to get involved and fuel the fire because it’s fun to be on the “inside” of juicy gossip.

But really, who are we serving?

Are our lives REALLY enriched by being unkind? I don’t think so. Instead, it just leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.

Stop being so fast to jump in on the action. Stop being so fast to be nasty and mean. In a world where you can literally be anything – be kind. You never know what that might mean to the other person.

Buy a stranger a cup of tea today

Smile at someone as you walk past them

Tell someone you like their outfit

Call an old friend just to say hi

Send your mom flowers

Just do something nice today! You might change someone’s whole day!

Be kind whenever possible. It’s always possible. – Dalai Lama

4 thoughts on “In a World where you can be Anything – Be Kind!”

  1. So true….. Look, sometimes people deserve a whole bloody bucket of unkind, because it sucks when you’re always considering everything others may be going through, but nobody returns the favour???? So there needs to be a balance I guess, but yes….most of the time I agree with this…be kind <3

    1. I think in those situations, you need to be kind to yourself and walk away. It takes so much from you to be ugly back. Michelle Obama said “when they go low, we go high” and I want to believe that’s possible.

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Stanway in Colchester

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

On 11 May 2020 the government announced changes to COVID-19 lockdown measures:

Stay alert

We can all help control the virus if we all stay alert. This means you must:

  • stay at home as much as possible
  • work from home if you can
  • limit contact with other people
  • keep your distance if you go out (2 metres apart where possible)
  • wash your hands regularly

Do not leave home if you or anyone in your household has symptoms.

New guidance - see these links to the official government documentation:

What to do if you have symptoms – note the list of symptoms has been added to:

Stay at home for 7 days if you have at least one of these symptoms:

  • a high temperature
  • a new continuous cough
  • a loss of, or change to, your sense of smell or taste.

If you live with other people, they should stay at home for 14 days from the day the first person got symptoms.

This will help to protect others in your community while you are infectious. See the full Stay at home guidance for households with possible coronavirus (COVID-19) infection.

Click on: NHS website- COVID-19 symptoms for more details on how to check if you have Coronavirus symptoms.

If you or someone you live with has symptoms you can now ask for a test - see Asking for a test.

Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

You do not need to contact NHS 111 to tell them you’re staying at home, unless:

  • you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home
  • your condition gets worse
  • your symptoms do not get better after 7 days

Other Information and Resources to help you and others to say safe.

Colchester Borough Council has produced:

Both contain a raft of useful information including contact details and links for a variety of help organisations.

Essex County Council has set up a new service to help vulnerable people in our community who are staying at home and in need of support during the coronavirus period.

If you know of a member, indeed anyone you believe to be vulnerable, who seems to have slipped through the official support network net and have no family, friends or neighbours able to help them with food and essentials and is struggling, please put them in touch with the Essex Welfare Service Hub via and by calling 0300 303 9988, Monday to Friday between 8am to 7pm, and Saturday to Sunday between 10am to 2pm.

Beware of Coronavirus scams - see FRAUD ALERTS for details of email, phone and text scams plus doorstep callers using Coronavirus and other opportunities to gain access or trick vulnerable/elderly into parting with money.


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“A bittersweet time has come at Rhodes Grove Camp. The historic tabernacle, constructed in 1917, was officially condemned in the spring of 2004. Since that time the management of Rhodes Grove has sought a sensible plan for its removal.

“A local German-Baptist business offered to take the building down, piece by piece, to be used for wood-flooring. This is being done for an extremely minimal amount of money. We consider this to be a blessing, as we did not want to spend significant dollars on removing the Tabernacle. The removal process should be complete by mid-February.

“There are no immediate plans to construct a new building on that site. To help preserve the important commitments, memories and decisions made in the building, we have commissioned an artist to render a painting of the tabernacle. Rhodes Grove will make prints of this painting available at a low cost to those who are interested. More information will be shared as it becomes available.”

Jamaica Conference held its first Youth Leadership Training Seminar January 6-8 at the York Town church. It was attended by 45 young people from 18 churches. The event was hosted by the conference Church Services Board.

The seminar presenters were:

  • Bill Blue, youth pastor of Fowlerville UB Church (Fowlerville, Mich.). and a member of Youth Leadership Team of the USA National Conference.
  • Matt McKeown, youth pastor of Daytona UB Church (Holly Hill, Fla.), and also a member of the Youth Leadership Team.
  • Nathan Gernert, youth pastor of New Horizons UB church (Rockford, Ohio).

The objectives of the training seminars were:

  1. To communicate the qualities of a healthy, biblical youth ministry.
  2. To develop effective programming.
  3. To train youth leaders in how to teach young people how to share their faith.
  4. Build a bridge with our brothers in the USA National Conference for future cooperation with our Youth Workers.

Here are some comments from persons who attended the event, in response t the question, “What are you taking back to your local church from this Youth Leadership Training?

  • “The need to deliberately create an atmosphere of love” (York Town Church).
  • “New strategies, greater motivation, and more knowledge” (Rhymesbury).
  • “The fundamentals of Jesus’ leadership style that He use in His ministry and how to improve harmony and balance in our ministries” (Content).
  • “A new approach to witnessing. Though from another culture, Bill Blue was excellent. He captured my attention and the seminar was purpose-focused” (Washington Gardens).
  • “Every activity in youth ministry must have a purpose, and that purpose must be eternal” (Content).
  • “The urgency in reaching unsaved young people as well as the strategies that can be followed to make evangelism and outreach more effective. This was a wonderful training session. It was presented creatively and was very interesting and simple to understand. I was expecting to be bored and that we would be passive as participants, but the sessions were the total opposite (Greater Portmore).

A “Part 2” is planned for later in 2005 or early 2006.

Briana Nei is the youth and drama leader at Emmaus Church in Berryville, Va. She writes, “Incredible things are happening at Emmaus. We have been meeting for a little over a year and a half. Last Sunday, January 9, was our highest attendance with 114 people. Our youth program is growing quickly. Many have been saved. We are seeing people come out of homosexuality, drugs, alcohol etc.

“The teens put on a Christmas musical called STARS, which I wrote and directed. About 30 people were involved with putting on this 90-minute show about reality TV and the desire of teens to find hope in pop culture. Over 250 people attended the two showings at the middle school auditorium. Many non-Christian teens attended both nights because they loved it so much. It created much unity among the teens involved from different social backgrounds.

“The youth are studying godliness, honor in relationships, and other hot topics during regular youth night. We also are starting Power Groups for teens (short-term four-week small groups that focus on different topics). We are getting ready to begin the Grow in the Word discipleship series with about ten senior high students (many of them new Christians), plus a new believer’s five-week Power Group. God is moving.

“We started a Hispanic ministry, and a mercy ministry to hungry and homeless families. We have a ministry for young boys and a children’s ministry busting out of the seams (about 30-40 on a normal Sunday).

“One family has a ministry called Hope-n-Helps; they serve pastors, orphanages, and leper colonies in India. The church recently raised $2000 to send to churches in India harmed by the Tsunami. The youth did a project on giving in November through this ministry. The teens were given seed money out of the youth budget and, as in the parable of the talents, were given one week to try to increase it as much as possible. The students tripled the money in one week from $100 to $300 dollars by selling brownies, candles, or whatever they wanted to do. All the money was sent to India. They were excited as they received letters back from the pastors and orphanages.”

Margaret Maybee, minister of Music at Eden UB (Mason, Mich.), writes, “We were privileged, for the third time, to present a 20-minute portrayal of the Christmas Story on the lawn of the Ingham County Courthouse in downtown Mason. We did this on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings of Thanksgiving weekend.

“The Eden Church presented a Christmas Cantata entitled ‘Journey to the Manger.’ A new cantata with a powerful message of what God can do to change the heart of an atheist through drama and music.

“Eden church went to two services–a blended service, and a contemporary service. We recently changed this, making the first service traditional and the second one contemporary. No other church in the Mason area offers a traditional service. We have both styles, now and we trust it will help reach those who favor the hymns, choir, organ, and piano. This change came because of a request of some in the congregation. A fine worship band will provide the contemporary service to meet the needs of those who desire this type of music. Our goal is to reach all kinds of people for Christ.”

On January 7, Camp Cotubic sent out a plea for help. An ice storm knocked down numerous trees and branches, and also killed the power at the camp in the town of Bellefontaine. The ton of trees and branches and also wiped out the power.

In response, 40-50 men, women, and children showed up the next day, Saturday, to help clean up the mess. Chainsaws ran most of the day. They created a number of piles of wood to be removed or burned, and in other places pushed trees to the side to open the roads. New Horizons Church in Rockford, Ohio, offered to rent a tree chipper for the camp.

Our couple in India sent a report on January 9 concerning the tsunami. “In India, the badly hit state is Tamil Nadu, which is the state south of our state. We live one and half miles from the coast, where one village was hit hard by the tsunami. Twenty houses were washed away and five people died. More than 5000 people were accommodated in the local schools and colleges in Narsapur immediately after it happened. They all returned to their villages within 48 hours. We offered medical care in our hospital.

“We have distributed saris, towels, and lunges (men’s clothing) to the fishermen community who have become Christians in the near by villages. Community health teams from our hospital are involved in helping the people in the villages. We are still in need of funds for blankets, sheets, and funds to help rebuild huts so they can start over again. These people are going through much grief. Showing the love and compassion of Christ is so important right now.

“We request that your gifts be sent to Global Ministries, 302 Lake Street, Huntington, IN 46750. Please mention that it is for tsunami relief.”

On February 5, Corunna UB is sponsoring “An Evening with Marilyn Laszlo.” It will be at the Auburn Cord-Deusenberg Museum in Auburn, Ind., beginning at 5:00 pm. From 5:00 — 6:00, there will be a tour of the museum (tours will also take place following the event). A banquet begins at 6:00 pm, followed by music by “One Faith,” a women’s trio from Emmanuel Community UB church in Fort Wayne. Then Marilyn Laszlo will speak.

Tickets for the banquet are $18 per person. They can be obtained by calling either 260-281-2138 or 260- 927-8137. They are also available at the Anchor Room Bookstore in Fort Wayne.

On Sunday morning, February 6, Jennifer Blandin will speak at 9:00, followed by Marilyn Laszlo speaking at 10:00.

At the beginning of January, Bishop Paul Hirschy began a new round of radiation treatments. On January 12 he reported, “I am in the middle of the second week of radiation treatments on a lump in my neck. They originally projected just ten days of treatment. However, the lump has not decreased as rapidly as the doctors expected, and so I very likely will need additional treatments. Doctors will let me know on Friday, when I go in for my treatment.

“As of today, January 12, I am happy to report that I have not had any noticeable side effects from the radiation treatment. I praise God that I have been able to keep my normal schedule except for the time that I must drive to Fort Wayne for the treatment. I have had to cancel just a few meetings during this time.”

HallmanTwins.jpgOn January 5, during an ice storm, Pastor Tim and Tara Hallman of Anchor UB Church in Fort Wayne, Ind. became the parents of twin boys. Levi Matthew and Isaac Timothy, identical twins, were born 17 minutes apart at Dupont Hospital in Fort Wayne. They were born about four-and-a-half weeks early, weighing 5 lbs, 8.8 oz (Levi) and 5 lbs, 13 oz. Everyone’s doing great.


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unctad.org | Agribusiness, textiles, and tourism offer job opportunities for Tajikistan
Agribusiness, textiles, and tourism offer job opportunities for Tajikistan
17 November 2016
Flag of Tajikistan
Tajikistan could boost growth and create more jobs by attracting investment to the agribusiness, textiles, and tourism sectors, says UNCTAD's investment policy review of the country, presented in Geneva on Tuesday.

TajikistanWith some of the world's highest mountains, Tajikistan was once a part of the Soviet Union. Today it maintains links with the Russian Federation, home to some 700,000 Tajiks migrant workers. In 2013, remittances accounted for 42% of Tajikistan's gross domestic product (GDP), among the highest shares in the world.

Although the country's GDP has grown on average 8% per year since 2000, half its working-age population is unemployed.

"What the data shows us is that private investment has been low, one of the lowest in Central Asia in fact, and that it has been concentrated in sectors that have not created enough jobs," said James Zhan, Director of UNCTAD's Division on Investment and Enterprise, speaking ahead of the presentation of UNCTAD's investment policy review for Tajikistan.

Between 2006 and 2014, Tajikistan attracted $2 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI), and more than half of this went into extractive activities such as mining. Russian and Chinese investors accounted for around 70% of total FDI during this period.

"We've seen increased investment in prospecting for minerals and oil, but for the time being, Tajikistan has only a few proven deposits compared with its neighbours," Mr. Zhan said, noting that these deposits are hard to access.

However, the report finds that the country, located in the old Silk Road region and in the heart of the Pamir Mountains, has strong potential in the agribusiness, tourism and textiles sectors.

Tajikistan, which shares some Persian traditions and a southern border with Afghanistan, used to be a major producer of fruits, vegetables, silk and cotton. But most of its agricultural products are unprocessed, leaving opportunity for processing, storage and packaging. Aluminum and cotton account for 60% of exports.

The report notes regulatory gaps, but Tajikistan's efforts to attract foreign investors have helped put the country into the world's top 10 reformers of the World Bank’s Doing Business report for the years 2010, 2011 and 2015.

"Foreign investment and a strong local private sector are essential to foster economic and social development,” said Mr. Dilshod Sharifi, Head of the WTO Affairs Department of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, commenting on the report.

UNCTAD has supported developing countries and economies in transition with a total of 45 investment policy reviews , and provided technical support with implementing recommendations. Studies show the reviews have helped countries to attract and benefit from FDI and to improve the business climate.

Please wait....


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CKY Cancel Their Appearance at Halloween PTA 2019

CKY Cancel Their Appearance at Halloween PTA 2019

CKY Cancel Their Appearance at Halloween PTA 2019

By Press Release / Off The Press / Friday, 20 September 2019 15:14

CKY cancel their appearance at Halloween PTA 2019, RAM announces new bands

South African powerhouse events company RAM Touring have announced that American hard rock band CKY have had to cancel their appearance at this year’s Halloween party, taking place on the 26th October at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

The band took to social media with the following statement: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, CKY has been forced to cancel our remaining 2019 tour dates including our upcoming South African tour. To our fans in South Africa, we look forward to coming to see you in the future and hope we can get there soon!"

With the news coming just weeks away from the event the RAM team have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that they deliver the world-class event people have come to expect from them. With the addition of FUZIGISH, Hellcats and Grimehouse to a line-up that already includes local heavy hitters like Fokofpolisiekar, Facing the Gallows, Red Helen, Truth & It’s Burden, PHFAT and Shortstraw they’ve done just that.

RAM Touring owner Robert Pereira comments on the ordeal: “It saddens us that, a fun and reputable act like CKY won’t be able to make it through to our country anymore. I’m sure it cannot be easy for them to cancel the rest of their shows this calendar year, but I’m sure we will have them on our shores at some point. The show goes on though, and we are extremely happy to have added FUZIGISH, Grimehouse and Hellcats to this year’s Halloween line-up. These are 3 amazing acts and we are super happy with what the final line-up looks like. Let’s get weird!”

Halloween pta print poster

Halloween PTA Saturday 26 October 2019 +18’s only

Tickets are R200 and available now at Howler

There will be tickets available at the door for R250 is pre-sold tickets do not sell out.

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