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Video – 16 cord flower and stripe braid

flower kumihimo

Length of video – 7.22 minutes

Disk set up – 1.22 minutes

Braid demo – 4.15 minutes

16 cord flower and stripe braid

With the 8 cord Round Braid or Kongo Gumi you can create braids with lovely stripe or spot pattens, but if you want to go further than that you need more cords. Doubling up to 16 cords allows you to make a wide range of different patterns. In this video I show how to make a very appealing flower and stripe design. Once you have learnt the basics you can start to design your own and there are several pattern generators available at no cost on the internet, such as and

All you need to do is copy the exact positions of the cords from this photo. It does not matter which pair of cords you start to braid with, but as explained in the video, you need to turn the disk in an anti-clockwise direction and you need to use the top right and bottom left cords (any order). This will give you a defined pattern. If you turn the disk clockwise you will still have a flower pattern, but it will be slanting and distorted.

flower kumihimo

To make a bracelet you will need 16 cords of approximately 60cm/24inches. For finishing off the braid ends and attaching a clasp, please refer to these two videos.

Glue method

Wire method

flower kumihimo


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You do not want to miss this event!!

Pre-entries are flowing in – send in your pre-registration ASAP to secure a grid position at the front of the pack.

We will have practice all day Friday 9am-4pm. Puget Sound Road Race Association will be hosting a potluck BBQ Friday at 5pm. PSRRA will provide cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and condiments. Stanracing is bringing baked beans, macaroni salad, watermelon, strawberry salad, and a dessert! Please comment what you will be bringing so we can make sure to have enough sides, and desserts. The potluck BBQ will be followed by drag races starting at 5pm.

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Pulse of Oriental Medicine: Alternative Medicine That Works for Regular Folks
Alternative Medicine That Works for Regular Folks

Originally written in 2002, Updated in 2004.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & its Pharmaceutical Treatment (Neuropsychiatric)
By Brian Carter, MS, LAc

Brian is the founder of the Pulse of Oriental Medicine. He teaches at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and maintains a private acupuncture and herbal practice in San Diego, California, and is the author of Powerful Body, Peaceful Mind: How to Heal Yourself with Foods, Herbs, and Acupressure.

I want to tell you briefly about a pioneer in the treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). You may be surprised that this article is not about an 'alternative medicine' treatment, but is, in fact, an alternative approach to (and more successful than) the 'standard of care' that so often ties the hands of western medical practitioners.

Dr. Jay Goldstein, founder of the CFS Institute in Orange County, California, is an M.D. with a background in pharmacology. The Institute originally a combination of drugs, acupuncture, and cognitive behavioral therapy. However, Dr. Goldstein's drug cominations were so effective that the other practitioners were unable to compete.

Perhaps Dr. Goldstein's treatments are so effective because his neurobiological readings and research are so extensive. Equally important is the idea that CFS, whatever its cause, is the manifestation of a brain dysfunction. This dysfunction can be due to genetic susceptibility, childhood developmental stress, viral or bacterial infection, and the combination of these factors overwhelming the brain's ability to adapt.

Many patients travel thousands of miles to see Dr. Goldstein because nothing else has worked. His success rate is quite high. He is a pioneer who has bucked the medical status-quo to the point of having his license threatened. As research and treatment confirm his approach, he is seen more and more as the father of the most successful treatment yet for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Update October 21, 2004: Dr. Jay Goldstein retired from practice about a year ago, mainly due to the hassle factor of being continually sued. Not because he did anything wrong, but because he took on the inherent risk of treating people who may never get better.

It's a shame that people are so base in nature that they would blame him if he didn't cure their incurable disease. Unfortunately, the gratitude of those he did help couldn't outweight the emotional and financial toll taken on him by those he couldn't help.

Despair not, though, Dr. Goldstein was a pioneer, the father of the neuropsychiatric treatment of CFS, and more doctors are following in his footsteps... frequently, articles are published in journals like Pain that echo what he said and did a decade ago.

All information herein provided is for educational use only and not meant to substitute for the advice of appropriate local experts and authorities.
Copyright 1999-2001, Pulse Media International


text:
Published on 19 March 2013 by

Did you know that you can use workflow and testing to ensure you get the configurations you asked for in a secure manner? In this post, we discuss how.

Puppet compiles a catalog using Puppet DSL code and data that's usually at rest on the local filesystem of the puppet master. An agent requests a catalog from a master, and subsequently enforces the catalog locally. It's common for multiple teams to collaborate on the configuration code and data, with the different teams being responsible for different modules. Often times, this means that the Puppet module path is actually made up of two or more module paths, where each modulepath entry is a different version control system repository managed by a different team.

  modulepath = /data/puppet/core/modules:/data/puppet/webapps/modules

I will have a manifest (maybe an ENC too, but let's just talk about manifests here):

  manifest = /data/puppet/manifests/site.pp

I am more likely to have my core security modules in the first part of my module path. Potentially I *could* have a class security {..} in both halves of my module path; however, the module found first by the autoloader will take precedence, and the module in the web apps part of the path won't be evaluated. It's important to get the configurations that you want in first, especially because there's no hard and fast rule that will restrict resource definitions for security configurations to that security module. Any resource declaration might be in any module, subject to uniqueness constraints, and so forth.

Thus, my security class manages a resource:

   user { 'root':
    password => 'myspecialpasswordhash',

If another class attempts to manage the same resource, Puppet will return a catalog compilation error, and no configurations will be managed. This is good. My root user won't get hosed by a rogue configuration. However, there's a twist to this story. What if my manifest (site.pp) declares another class 'configurethewebserver'? That class is defined in the the second half of my module path (which is where the modules that deploy my applications live, as opposed to the core standard operating environment), and gets declared, quite legitimately, in a node definition in the site manifest.

The downside is that it also turns out that someone (a rogue/misguided sysadmin and/or developer who can contribute to my Puppet code) has remembered that you can do class inheritance and override parameters and, in order to achieve their configuration aims, has inserted code something like the following in a Puppet class:

class configurethewebserver inherits security {
  User['root'] {
    password => 'wejustpwnedyourwebinfrastructure',

Unfortunately, the next time I do a Puppet run on my production boxes, my root user no longer has the password hash 'myspecialpasswordhash',but the overridden inherited value 'wejustpwnedyourwebinfrastructure' from the rogue class in the second half of the module path. Sigh.

The clear security moral here is that if you give someone the ability to put code on your puppet master, you've given them root on all the nodes that you're managing on that puppet master. Don't give people root if you don't have to.

Aside from the security implications of delegating access to specific portions of Puppet module path aside, the issue we are really trying to fix here is making sure that the configurations we think we are defining are actually taking effect and work. So what can we do with processes and workflow to help ensure consistency and make sure we don’t fall victim to accidental or deliberate misconfigurations?

First make sure that all the configurations you regard as being core for security are actually defined in your code and data — that way you can positively validate them. If you don't define something, you're not managing it, and you can't test it. Testing things you haven't attempted to manage just won't work — really, you'd just be relying on the defaults. Even if you just want to use the default, enforce it because that’s your desired configuration.

Second, you might want to have a gateway between commits to your version control system and the updates that follow on your puppet masters from a workflow perspective. That gateway is likely to be a person tasked with merging edits into the branch of the repository that the puppet master uses for catalog compiles. That way, you stand a chance that a real human being will review incoming changes. It turns out that humans are really good at heuristics; spotting subtle vulnerabilities tends to be a real person's job. When it comes down to it, computers essentially say 'yes' or 'no', and a computer that says 'maybe' is probably screwing with you. At the end of the day, you've got to fundamentally understand the codebase; if you allow rogue code on your puppet master, you're in trouble.

Third, you should certainly run automated testing against your module code using a continuous integration framework. Make sure you use appropriate data when you do so! Unit testing toolsets like rspec and rspec-puppet to positively validate the functionality of your code and modules is valuable.

Fourth, please consider testing full catalog compiles prior to deploying them. This would involve compiling a catalog for each node in your infrastructure and having integration tests that validate each security related resource configuration based on the your data.

Finally, as well as unit testing code, cheap virtualization technologies make it possible to fully validate the entire application stack in an automated fashion and subsequently test it. If you use continuous integration tooling to automatically spin up your environment, you can test and validate your entire build before you deploy to production since the tool will use your Puppet code and data for configuration. By using the same monitoring tools you use in production against this ephemeral application stack, you can prove a full integration test. It's important to be confident that when you move to production, you will get the configurations you want.

Learn More:

  • Validate your code with rspec-puppet
  • Vagrant is another great tool for continuous integration. You can check out Vagrant founder Mitchell Hashimoto's PuppetConf 2012 talk on advanced Vagrant usage.
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Water Softener Vessel

File: PVE-6161, Last Updated: Sept. 7, 2012, By: TSB/LRB

This vessel is typical of many we have designed for water service for human consumption or industrial use. The design for this type of softener often starts from a customer sketch which indicates the operating conditions, classes of materials to use and required nozzles. The specifications also indicate the painting or rubber lining which is not covered in this sample.

We start with code calculations, and then prepare a fabrication drawing. Although this vessel does not require ASME code stamping, end users typically request it. When required we can also provide Canadian registration services (CRN) on the design.

This vessel is calculated using the Compress pressure vessel code program by Codeware Inc. Compress is our favorite program for general vessel design. Its extensive library of available calculation methods make it useful for many vessel design tasks. The report is harder to read and longer than Design Calcs, but its extensive code compliance checking makes its use worthwhile. If requested, we can instead provide the calculations in the other code software we regularly use: PV Elite, Design Calcs or even our own in-house Excel spreadsheets.

IBC Seismic Calculations

Support design for this vessel was done to IBC methods as built into the Compress Design program. The most difficult part of the IBC calculations is choosing the correct R factor for structural response modification. ASCE 7-05 Table 15.4.-2 provides the correct values to use (this table is linked below):

        Elevated vessel on symmetric braced legs - R=3
	Elevated vessel on unbraced legs - R = 2

Other R factors are available when special detailing is provided. This example is a vessel on symmetric but unbraced legs – an R factor of 2 is used.

The drawing is created in SolidWorks. By default, we use SolidWorks to create vessel drawings unless AutoCAD is specified. The drawing provides all required information to order material and fabricate without referring to the calculation set – a standard in pressure vessel drawings. Solid modelling is a very useful tool in the design of vessels and other pressurized equipment.

More Information on Seismic Response Factors:

ASME Code Design at PVEng

We work to many ASME standards to design and validate pressure vessels, boiler, fittings and piping systems. We have experience designing thousands of vessels and fittings to multiple codes.

  • Pressure vessel design to ASME VIII-1 and VIII-2
  • Hot water heaters and boilers to ASME I and IV
  • Piping to B31.1, B31.3, B31.5 and others
  • Burst testing to multiple codes

We use Compress, PV Elite, Design Calcs, Nozzle Pro and our own in-house software.

Other Services

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) – We use FEA to design and validate fittings and vessels that cannot be designed by rule-based codes like VIII-1 or B31.3.

Pipe Stress Analysis – Pipe stress analysis is mandatory for British Columbia registration and it is recommended practice for many other systems.

Canadian Registration Number (CRN)We are Canada’s largest independent registrar of fittings, vessels and piping under the CRN program registering for more than a thousand customers.

About Us

Pressure Vessel Engineering has twenty years of successful experience in the pressure vessel field working for more than a thousand customers.

  • Six Professional Engineers on staff licensed to stamp and sign off on designs for use in all Canadian jurisdictions.
  • Fast and professional assistance from our team.

Need help? Our contact information is to the right.


text:
Avengers: Endgame is supposed to be the end of an era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Gwyneth Paltrow says it definitely is for her: She told Variety she’s leaving the MCU after this film.

Here was her quote to the trade:

‘I mean, I’m a bit old to be in a suit and all that at this point,’ Paltrow, 46, told Variety in this week’s cover story. ‘I feel very lucky that I did it, because I actually got talked into it. I was friend with [‘Iron Man’ director] Jon Favreau. It was such a wonderful experience making the first ‘Iron Man’ and then to watch how important it has become to fans.’

Paltrow did say she could make a “cameo” in future movies. “If they said, ‘Can you come back for a day?,’ I will always be there if they need me,” Paltrow added.

Paltrow is one of the original stars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, debuting as Tony Stark’s assistant and love interest in the first Iron Man from 2008. She went on to co-star in both Iron Man sequels and the first Avengers, and she also made a surprise cameo in Spider-Man: Homecoming. She never quite fulfilled her comic-book character’s destiny of becoming a full-on superhero; comic-book Pepper eventually got her own suit of Iron Man armor and became “Rescue.” Paltrow did come close in Iron Man 3. And who knows what happens in Avengers: Endgame. Perhaps we’ll see that before she exits the franchise.

Avengers: Endgame opens in theaters on April 26.

Gallery — Every Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie, Ranked:


text:
Refund and Exchange

【Returns and Exchanges】
Returns and exchanges are accepted on most merchandise that have not been worn,
altered or washed,Original shipping charges are non-refundable.
Please send your return to:
Qing Studios LLC
43 Wyoming Ave,Malden,MA 02148
All returns must be received to our office within 14 days of receiving your order.
Please choose your shipping method accordingly.


text:
Quotation Explorer - 'Exasperate'

If you dreamed to have a tranquil life then do not bother either exasperate or infuriate other's life. Dreaming a tranquil life is good but you cannot surmount it if you have a lot of foes indeed. - Albert Subrado
Click any word or name in a quote to explore, or search for more. [JSON] [SOURCE]


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Tidy Tools for 'Raster' Data

Facilities to work with vector and raster data in efficient repeatable and systematic work flow. Missing functionality in existing packages is included here to allow extraction from raster data with 'simple features' and 'Spatial' types and to make extraction consistent and straightforward. Extract cell numbers from raster data and return the cells, values and weights as a data frame rather than as lists of matrices or vectors. The functions here allow spatial data to be used without special handling for the format currently in use.

Travis-CI BuildStatus AppVeyor buildstatus CoverageStatus CRAN_Status_Badge CRAN RStudio mirrordownloads

The raster package is extremely powerful for spatial data. It provides very efficient data extraction and summary tools via consistent cell-index and comprehensive set of functions for working with grids, cells and their values.

Tabularaster provides some more helpers for working with cells and tries to fill some of the (very few!) gaps in raster functionality. When raster returns cell values of hierarchical objects it returns a hierarchical (list) of cells to match the input query, while tabularaster::cellnumbers instead returns a data frame of identifiers and cell numbers.

Tabularaster provides these functions.

  • as_tibble - convert to data frame with options for value column and cell, dimension and date indexing
  • cellnumbers - extract of cell index numbers as a simple data frame with “object ID” and “cell index”
  • index_extent - create an index extent, essentially extent(0, ncol(raster), 0, nrow(raster))

All functions that work with sp Spatial also work with `sf simple features.

There is some overlap with quadmesh and spex while I figure out where things belong.

Install from CRAN,

or get the development version from Github.

Basic usage is to extract the cell numbers from an object, where object is a a matrix of points, a Spatial object or a simple features sf object.

cells <- cellnumbers(raster, object)

The value in this approach is not for getting cell numbers per se, but for using those downstream. The cell number is an index into the raster that means the geometric hard work is done, so we can apply the index for subsequent extractions, grouping aggregations, or for determining the coordinates or other structure summaries of where the cell belongs.

## summarize by object grouping
cells %>% mutate(value= extract(raster, cell_)) %>% group_by(object_) %>% summarize(mean(value))
## summarize by cell grouping
cells %>% mutate(value= extract(raster, cell_)) %>% group_by(cell_) %>% summarize(mean(value))

The utility of this is very much dependent on individual workflow, so this in its own right is not very exciting. Tabularaster simply provides an easier way to create your tools.

See the vignettes for more.

tabularaster dev

  • Function cellnumbers now provides only basic cell lookup, the weights and other options available in raster functions are ignored.

  • Function extentFromCells is now imported from raster and re-exported.

  • Now applying fasterize for sf polygon objects, and spatstat for sf line objects for very significant speed ups.

  • Now import spatstat for faster line rasterization.

tabularaster 0.4.0

  • add xy argument to as_tibble

  • fix missing vignette knitr reference

  • new oisst data set

tabularaster 0.3.0

  • bufext made defunct

  • added index extent functions index_extent and cellsFromExtent

  • removed decimate function

  • fixed unnecessary lapply call for the points case, so that is now not slow

  • extra handling for as_tibble, value is now optional so that data-less rasters can be used to build cell and dimension indices

  • new vignette stub to list all relevant raster functions

  • object_ is now integer, 1-based to match the rows in query

  • removed boundary (see romsboundary in angstroms)

  • consolidated on the central tools, removed experiments

  • migrated the buffer extent logic to spex, deprecated bufext

  • added as_tibble for rasters

  • added boundary function

tidyraster 0.2.0

  • new data sets rastercano and polycano

  • new functions decimate, cellnumbers and bufext

  • Added a NEWS.md file to track changes to the package.

Reference manual

It appears you don't have a PDF plugin for this browser. You can click here to download the reference manual.

0.5.0 by Michael D. Sumner, 10 months ago

Report a bug at https://github.com/hypertidy/tabularaster/issues

Browse source code at https://github.com/cran/tabularaster

Authors: Michael D. Sumner [aut, cre]

Documentation:   PDF Manual

GPL-3 license

Imports dplyr, methods, raster, sp, spatstat, spex, spbabel, tibble, viridis, gibble, fasterize, magrittr, rlang

Suggests covr, testthat, knitr, rmarkdown, sf, spdplyr

See at CRAN


text:
Supernova [Movie Review]

Title: Supernova
Director: Ishan Modi
Starring: Topaz Winters
Writer: Topaz Winters
Release Date: March 2017 (Singapore)

“It is so easy to believe that I’m made entirely of empty space. Loneliness is familiar – it’s blue and flushed, like remembering. It’s a mother tongue. It comes so easily to me. I disappear into myself and I find solar systems, galaxies. I understand more than I ever could when I’m surrounded by others.”

A film exploring the loveliness in loneliness & the infinite wonder we find when we allow ourselves to bloom into the empty. A soft sense of purpose, how it sings within & around itself: this is so, this is so, this is so.

My Review:

Supernova is a short film written by a good friend of mine, Topaz Winters. It’s a three-minute film exploring loneliness and the world and people around us.

Despite the film being short, I got sucked into it. I seemed to have blinked and it was over.

The narration was spot on and brings you right into the story as you watch the protagonist gaze around her, question herself, and try to figure things out.

The writing was poetic. I found it to be very true to life and it was easy to follow along with.

The words, sound, and music, were smooth and easy to hear in the background. The camera and direction were great as well. You forget you’re watching a movie.

Everyone should give this film a watch. It’s quick, poetic yet out of this world, and has a great message.

Favorite Quote:

“I crave the company of others as much as they overwhlem me.” –Topaz Winters, Supernova

Have you watched the film? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

Professor Layton Movie Review Rachel Poli
via IMDB
Title: Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva
Starring: Yo Oizumi, Maki Horikita

Summary (from IMDB):

Layton and Luke are caught up in an adventure, when a masked figure steals an entire opera house and forces those in attendance to play a high-stakes game. The winner will receive eternal life, but it could mean death for the losers.

My Review:

Okay, I’m kind of cheating this month with my movie review. No, this movie is not about writing. Yes, this movie is based upon a video game series.

However, being a mystery writer I felt as though this movie would be fairly appropriate.

Professor Layton and his assistant, Luke, find themselves in trouble when a masked man takes over an opera house not allowing anyone to leave until they solve his riddles and he gets what he wants. Of course, no one knows his true motive and if you fail his riddles… Well, that could mean death.

Some of the riddles were easy to guess, some not so much. There was one that I was sure I was right and then Layton had to ahead and be smart and prove me wrong. It reminds me of when I’m writing my mystery series and I wonder if any readers will guess what’s going on or not.

The end of the movie is a complete twist, one that I had not seen coming. Yet when I knew the truth, everything else the movie made perfect sense. It really was a great mystery.

It’s a cartoon, it’s silly, but it was well worth the watch for me.

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva gets  4 out of 5 stars.

Would I recommend? Yes.

rachel poli sign off

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Freedom Writers

Freedom Writers Movie Review

Title: Freedom Writers
Starring: Hilary Swank, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey
Rating: PG-13

Summary (from IMDB):

A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.

My Review:

Based on true events and the book, The Freedom Writers Diary, this movie is inspiring and powerful. This movie shows just how writing can make a huge difference.

Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) is in over her head her first year of teaching. She has a classroom full of interracial freshman who are all against each other. She teaches them to love and respect each other no matter their color or race.

She gives them each a journal to write in every single day. She encourages them to write the stories of their lives and helps them realize that they do matter, they can make a difference whether it’s in their own life, a friend’s, or the world.

Erin taught them way more than English. She taught them history, how to be themselves, and how to really live in this world without being afraid. Because of her, they all were able to graduate high school and some of those students were the first to graduate in their families.

And it all started with a journal.

Freedom Writers gets 5 out of 5 stars.

Would I recommend? Yes.

Julie and Julia

julie and julia movie review rachel poli

Title: Julie and Julia
Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams
Rating: PG-13

Summary (from back of DVD):

A culinary legend provides a frustrated office worker with a new recipe for life in Julie and Julia, the true stories of how Julia Child’s (Meryl Streep) life and cookbook inspired fledgling writer Julie Powell (Amy Adams) to whip up 524 recipes in 365 days and introduce a new generation to the magic of French cooking.

My Review:

I’ve seen this movie a couple of times. I love Meryl Streep, I love Amy Adams. Julia (Streep) was a fun character to follow. Julie (Adams) was an inspiring character, though she could be a bit annoying at times.

What I love about this movie is that while it’s about cooking it’s also about blogging and writing.

I don’t cook often, though it’s always been something I’m interested in. I think the idea of a cooking blog is an awesome idea.

Though what I love about this movie is that Julie had a dream to be a writer. She didn’t know how to get there, she didn’t know how to make a name for herself. So she started off with a blog and a challenge to herself. A challenge to cook for the world.

Meanwhile we get scenes with Julia, who also has dreams of being a writer, but she wants to publish cookbooks. She works with her friends to create a French cookbook and tries to get it published.

Julie found her dreams through Julia’s dreams, which is a cool connection.

If you’re ever feeling down about your own dreams or your own blog, go ahead and watch this movie. It will certainly lift your spirits.

Julie and Julia gets 5 out of 5 stars.

Would I recommend? Yes.

Dead Poet’s Society

Dead Poet's Society movie review

Title: Dead Poet’s Society
Starring: Robin Williams
Rating: PG

Summary (from back of DVD):

In an age defined by crew cuts, sport coats and cheerless conformity, he not only broke the mold… he reinvented it. Academy Award winner Robin Williams delivers and extraordinary performance in one of the most compelling motion pictures of all time.

Williams stars as English professor John Keating, a passionate iconoclast who changes his students’ lives forever when he challenges them to live life to the fullest and “Carpe Diem” — seize the day! Keating’s unconventional approach meets with irrepressible enthusiasm from his students, but the faculty at staid, exclusive Welton Academy prep school is, to put it mildly, not amused.

My Review:

I have heard many great things about this movie. When I finally sat down to watch it, I was impressed, but not as much as I thought it would.

Robin Williams is fantastic in more ways that one and they couldn’t have picked a better actor to play the role of John Keating.

The movie is, as everyone says, inspirational. Williams has some great quotable lines in this movie that everyone should listen to.

The students all have a huge amount of pressure on them from their other teachers as well as their parents. This one needs to be a doctor, that one needs to get straight As and get into the absolute best college there is known to man. One student wants to be an actor, but his father just simply won’t allow it. None of the students want to do what their parents tell them to, but they obey anyway. Otherwise there are other consequences.

Their professor, John Keating, breaks them out of their shell and gets them to do what they want to do. He gets them to do what makes them happy.

The best part? He does all this through poetry.

I will admit the ending disappointed me, but I think it was mainly because I wanted more. I had high expectations for this movie because everyone speaks so highly of it. While is was good and very inspirational, I didn’t fully understand why people fell in love with the movie. I think it’s because the ending was bittersweet. If it ended differently, I might think differently.

Either way, it was a great movie.

Dead Poet’s Society gets 5 out of 5 stars.

Would I recommend? Yes.


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3 Magnificent 7s

mag7-2On Monday I had the chance to go to a screening of the Magnificent Seven. This is a remake of a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Seven Samurai. I had been planning to see the previous films before this new film but the opportunity presented itself so I took the unorthodox approach of seeing the newest film first. Now I have seen all 3 films and can let you know what I thought of all things Magnificent Seven. Maybe I could call it the Magnificent 21 and make it a triple feature?

Let’s start with Seven Samurai:

seventh-samSeven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa is a truly epic film. At 3 1/2 hours it is intimidating and long but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In Japanese with subtitles it is not for the faint at heart filmgoer who isn’t willing to work for their movie.

It tells the story we will see in all of these films. It’s a village that is being manipulated by bandits who are stealing their harvest The villagers decide to hire samurai to protect the village led by Kambei, a ronin who is bitter at his own servitude in his life. Then there are 6 others- Sichiroji, Katusushiro, Heihachi, Kyuzo, Gorobei, and Kikuchiyo.  All 7 have their own story arcs and personalities.

Where the other 2 films treat the bonding with the village as more after-thoughts that is the main story behind Seven Samurai. The villagers don’t trust the Samurai as there is a stiff class divide between the farmers and the samurai. Katsushiro faces particular struggles as he becomes involved with Shino, a farmers daughter.

You have to think of Seven Samurai more like you are binge watching a show on Netflix. It is episodic but in a good way. Nobody could endure any of the pieces for 3 hours whether battles, class struggle, romance or preparation for the bandits; however, together it all works as an amazing film. The acting is first rate and the cinematography is stunning from Kurosawa. There’s about 30 minutes that are completely in the rain, which is amazing to look at.  I found myself getting very involved with the people especially in the last hour and half.

Seven Samurai is definitely the best out of the 3 films because of its scope and characters but it is probably the least rewatchable and digestible, so it depends on what you are in the mood for.

Overall Grade A+

Next up Magnificent 7 (1960)

the-original-magnificent-sevenThe samurai has been turned into the cowboy, which makes sense given their similar place in American folklore. In this version a Mexican village is raided by bandits who threaten to return and take their harvest. The villagers meet Chris Adams played by Yul Brynner who they hire to protect their town from the bandits. He gets 6 of his buddies to help because he feels sorry for the people.

Horst Bucholz, Brad Dexter, Charlese Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn and Steve McQueen make up the rest of the Magnificent 7 and they begin to help the town be ready for the bandits to return. Each of the 7 have different insecurities and weaknesses but they do their best to train the people. In one nice moment the men realize they are eating all the food in the village so they decide to share it with the town. There is a real sense of bonding with the Mexican people and getting to know them.

Horst Bucholz’s Chico has a larger role than I was expecting- falling in love with local Petra and acting as a spy in the bandits camp. Chico find out they are nearly as desperate for food as the villagers. The two groups fight it out and it works because you have gotten to know the men like Chico and Steve McQueen’s Vin Tanner.

All of the performers are top notch in this film, which is part of the reason it works. There is nobody like Yul Brynner as far as I’m concerned and he is great here like always. You completely buy him being the leader for both the people and the 6 other men.

Some of the Mexicans can be caricatures that made me a little uncomfortable but over all an entertaining film with engaging action and performances.

Overall Grade- B

seventh-samurai2In our latest version we have director Antoine Fuqua taking a crack at the Magnificent 7 story. This version follows the 1960 film pretty closely but it amps up the violence at every turn. This new take won’t be for everyone but I found there was entertainment to be had.

Instead of a group of bandits this time we get an evil capitalist named Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard). Unlike the 1960 version where the bandit’s men were starving, Bogue just wants power and more land. It’s the classic big bad greedy man. He was a real snooze fest in the movie to be honest.

But to open the film Bogue burns the church to the ground and murders Haley Bennett’s husband for standing up to him. She finds Denzel Washington’s Sam Chisolm and hires him to fight against Bogue and his army. Chisolm then gathers together his crew of 6 and they begin to train the town to defend themselves.

I really liked this cast. Denzel Washington is a movie star and he shines with swagger and charisma. Chris Pratt is great. Ethan Hawke is grizzled and weary. Vincent D’Onofrio is fantastic. I loved how diverse the cast was with Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Martin Sensmeir all playing unique roles with a lot of heart to them.

The thing that separates this film from the other two is the violence. I can’t believe it is a PG-13. There are probably 200+ men that are killed in various ways throughout the movie. We see stabbings, shootings, arrow kills, explosions, the list goes on and on. The last act of the movie is as kinetic and crazy a fight scene as anything I’ve ever seen.

I guess you either think stuff like that is fun or you don’t. I kind of did believe it or not. Plus, the stars sell it 100%. The stuff with Bogue is pretty lame and it does drag in the middle and the characters are more rote than in the other 2 versions. They are pretty much excuses for the violent action so it depends on whether you like that kind of thing or not.

Also nice to hear a lovely last score from the late James Horner.

Overall Grade- B-

Also, A Bug’s Life is definitely based on this mythology, which evidently everyone already knows but me! Learn something new every day!

Have you seen any of these films and what do you think?

Here is my youtube video

9 thoughts on “3 Magnificent 7s

  1. 1960’s The Magnificent Seven wasn’t some great comment on the nature of good and evil, but it was a masterfully composed piece of entertainment with so much charisma it just burst off the screen. One of the greatest action/western films of all time.

    We’re in agreement about the new version however. This was pretty ho-hum. Some amusing moment here and there, but mostly forgettable.

    “[Peter Sarsgaard] was a real snooze fest in the movie to be honest.” <—-I concur!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ha yeah that was a total miss of a villain. I think I had a little more fun with recent one than you did but you’re right. It probably won’t be remembered like the 1960 film. I guess Westerns just aren’t my favorite because this didn’t seem as good as something like The Searchers or High Noon but I haven’t seen many of them. I liked it but it didn’t blow me away either like it did for you. Seven Samurai was a lot better in my opinion.

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Betrayal by the Things we Love Most

This is a dreamy short story.

The boundless ocean stretches ahead. Its jagged, mirror-like surface reflects back the pale orange sun. The boat moves at speed through gently rolling waves sending up a spray of fine mist. On every conceivable surface the salted droplets land, a coating of flaky, crumbly mineral grows. The salt covers my lips and arms with crystalline layers. My grip on the railing provides purchase against the cool wind and damp. The sun helps too. Water maids accompany me on this journey, swimming in the wake and ahead of the bow in the form of dolphins.

I peer to the upper deck, flying high above, well over the worst of the spray and wind. Perched upon this, my constant companion whom I couldn’t do without. She gazes out past the local scenery with the aid of binoculars, to some far off wonder beyond my grasp. From that outlook, another horizon is visible a bit farther than my own. She takes a more pedestrian view by carrying the eagle-eyed tool off to her side. Her other hand forms a shade visor over gleaming eyes. A shift in the oncoming rays turns Claire’s body into a silhouette of a goddess on the harsh radiating light of our life bringing sun.

She comes down from her heavenly perch, nestled upon the higher deck. The ease and grace with which she moves in nothing short of perfection. Claire is down at the deck to exchange words with me. The sweet sounds of her irresistible intonation wash over me. I hear her words, but that’s not everything. This exchange has the surprising quality to put me at ease.

Claire leads me to the deck cabin by her usual mannerisms — consisting of feather light touches on the inside of my palm and arm — knowing exactly how. The deck cabin bolsters a pendulum sort of door, swinging back and forth with the lightest of breezes. Claire pushes the door aside as I miss her contact for a brief moment, moving through the filter screen of a doorway. The door swings through on its pendulum arc.

In that instant, Claire disappears into the body of the ship. I push through the door expecting the truth of Claire behind, yet she is not to be seen in the darkened chamber. I walk through the room looking for her only to be disappointed. Claire is nowhere below or above decks. A looming dread comes over me. The rhythmic slapping of the door ends with a loud bang. I look back to see nothing — an empty wall in place of the door.

I look for an escape route from the dark, desolate chamber entombed within the ship. The transom windows are inches beyond my outstretched fingers. The blackness is held at bay by late evening light coming in. Chalk markings of an indecipherable and crude tongue graffiti the walls. Paper underfoot crumples and crunches with each step. I sink to the ground in a state befitting my current desolation.

Wetness encroaches my battlements from every front. A deep red sludge, a curse adding to my sad state. With each passing breath and moment, my heart fills with revulsion. The impending creep of the fluid sends me up and away. The red concoction comes higher, soaking into more of the paper under footing, turning it into a blood red mush. I end up tasting the fluid to verify my suspicion that this is blood from some massive creature.

The transoms let in something else, filling my prison just a bit faster. The golden amber liquid comes in by waterfall. The intense smell of liquor wafts up into my nose. The liquid flows in with the goal of drowning me as sewer rat. The onslaught goes on without a sign of relenting, intent on my destruction. There must be a method escaping my thoughts that can rid me of impending doom.

The transom is my salvation. I get myself soaked through and through grasping desperately at the window inches above my attempts. Wandering from light to light, I find a step where there is none to reach my salvation. I pull myself up with as much strength as my frame can manage, up to the deck. Halfway up, a tug on my leg slides me back. The next so forceful, my head reels up into glass transom. This, my end.

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Photo credit: Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash

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Graham Kar

Writer, Reader, Radical Thinker

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100m Reel of 20A DC Stranded Copper Conductors Power Cable

This exceptionally heavy duty stranded copper conductors in red and black PVC outer sheath cable is on a rotatable drum for ease of handling. Able to handle a DC load of up to 20A, this braided cable features 2 cores - each with 75 strands of 0.19 mm solid copper conductor wire. Suitable for a variety of applications, such as mains power, DC power, automotive applications (both in vehicle power and audio), high end speaker systems and audio transmission.

  • Conductor: Copper
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A Loving Daughter Promotes BRCA Screening Worldwide

Ginger Conejero was living the dream. Crowned Miss Philippines Earth in 2006, she was enjoying a successful career as a reporter and newscaster for the largest broadcasting network in the Philippines, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation.

All that changed when her mother, Azela, who was living in the Bay Area, was diagnosed with BRCA-related ovarian cancer in January 2015. Ginger took a leave of absence to be at her mother’s side. She also took steps to take care of herself by undergoing simple genetic testing to determine if she has the gene mutation that is related to her mother’s and her maternal aunt’s cancers.

As Ginger related in an interview at UCSF Radiology’s “Considering BRCA Genes: Knowledge Improves Outcomes” event, co-hosted by the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, she is not diagnosed as BRCA-positive but her experience with her mother opened her eyes to the importance of screening for hereditary cancers. When UCSF doctors first recommended genetic testing, Ginger says, “I thought, ‘Is that really necessary?’ But the team at UCSF went through the benefits of being tested, and I’m glad I did it. Not just because I don’t have the gene mutation, but because it provided a lot of information.”

In order to be able to give ongoing support to her family, Ginger has relocated to the Bay Area where she is now an Associate Producer for The Filipino Channel, a worldwide subscription network based in Daly City. She makes the effort to attend events on cancer to improve her knowledge of complex health issues and to get the support she and her family both need as they navigate the care and treatment of loved ones.

Ginger monitors both breast and ovarian cancer awareness, in light of her experience of supporting her mother. She hopes to someday help audiences sort through the vast array of health news to focus on the importance of early screening even for those who have no family experience of cancer. Ginger also knows that outside of the United States, awareness of the importance of screening is not as strong, nor is screening necessarily offered. She sees her position as a journalist in two cultures as an opportunity to influence not just patients who might be able to be screened, but the larger cultural landscape on the necessity of screening.

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Motherhood in the Crucible

I’ve been struggling lately. As a mom. As a human.

For some reason, I find myself in the mothering doldrums every year around Mother’s Day. The day comes and goes, but I have really small kids and a nonexistent budget for brunches or presents, so it’s a day just like any other.

Nearly every year the thought: “All Mommy wants for Mother’s Day is some dang time to herself” crosses my mind. And every year, I feel like a terrible person for thinking it.

Having little kids is really hard.

When it was one kid, I felt pretty awesome, if not more exhausted than I ever have in my life. One kid is life shattering, but also kind of easy, once the newborn days are past.

As the mom of one kid, I don’t know what I’m doing, but my kid didn’t know that so I can get away with my ignorance. I can pop her into the car seat and take her along to dinner, an event, a friend’s house, and it’s like: “Look, the Rystedts made a cute human!

No one really minds a single kid. A missed nap or bedtime? Eh, whatever. We can handle that.

Then my husband and I are like: “This is not so bad. Let’s have another!” And along comes Baby Two.

Whoa there.

Now I’m Mom allll of the time. One kid falls asleep and the other wakes up. One kid finishes eating and the other’s ready for lunch. Around the clock.

Now we have to worry about bedtime and naptime more religiously. The kids share a room and when someone is overtired they keep the other one up. Two overtired kids are a freaking disaster.

When it comes to things that happen outside of our house, people without kids are like: “Hey, that’s cool, bring ‘em!” But inevitably one kid melts down for no reason and we get promoted to the-friends-who-remind-us-why-we-use-birth-control status.

Plus, we have to leave anywhere by 6pm at the latest, unless we want to be out of rhythm for the next week, so that’s fun.

But Kid Two is even cuter than Kid One (how did that happen?), and we’re like “let’s go three for three.

Bam! Pregnant.

Now we’re outnumbered.

We’ve outgrown the apartment.

We’ve outgrown the car.

Honestly, the sheer amount of space that three kids require kind of takes us by surprise.

But we embrace it, because somewhere there are crazies living in tiny homes with more kids than us. (Although I hope for the tiny home parents’ sakes that at least a couple of their kids at least know how to wipe their own tushies).

These days, we live and die by the hours of naptime and bedtime. Except the baby doesn’t give two craps about those things yet, so I’m Mom 24/7 with a baby clinging to me for at least 20 hours in the day.

At least he has the decency to follow the family pattern, and is the cutest baby yet, so I mostly spend my time looking into his eyes and saying, “you’re the cutest baby eeeeeeevvvvveeeeeerrrrrrr”, approximately 50,000 times a day. (I may still be drunk on post-birth hormones.)

Three kids in, and we actually know other people with kids, so we have friends who want to get together at a reasonable hour – like 10am. This is progress, but generally we don’t venture into dinner territory. Ever.

You see, a dinner invitation is basically like “Hey, let’s have the Rystedt basketball team over. Except that one kid (Colm) eats an entire dump truck load of food at every meal.” “No way. That’s crazy.” “No really, they did a feature on it in the news…

But we can’t leave our house after 4pm anymore anyway because bedtime preparations now take approximately three hours longer than the kids actually sleep at night. My husband and I usually eat cereal with chips and salsa (don’t even judge) at the coffee table after the children go to bed, because that’s the closest thing to a date we get these days.

I love my kids. I love being their mother.

But the need for a break is so real.

When Kyriakos was born, I had to cut back from most of my writing work because handling my kids is a full-time job and then some. I feel like such an idiot even saying it, for even saying that I can’t balance a career and my kids.

I haven’t even been all that public about it because honestly? I’m embarrassed. I feel like a failure.

It wasn’t an easy choice, and is definitely not one that makes financial sense for our family.

Balancing my kids and my house take all of my time, and if we were well-off and I could whisk my kids to the aquarium and gymnastics lessons and all kinds of fun activities or outings, maybe I’d enjoy being mostly a stay at home mom more than I do. I feel guilty for saying this because once upon a time I used to think that simply being a stay at home mom would be the ticket to happiness…

But now my momming requires extreme frugality in addition to managing my kids while my husband works in the bedroom office all day. It involves conjuring free entertainment out of nowhere and making my tiny living room an exciting place that holds my children’s attention for more hours in a day than I’d like.

This isn’t a fun season.

It’s exhausting. It’s more stressful than I’d ever imagined possible.

Meanwhile, my three little brothers are off doing awesome things, winning awards, getting into their dream schools, pursuing careers. And I’m jealous as heck. We all grew up with the same educational opportunities and strong ambitions.

But now I’m just a mom. I know, I know.

Just a mom.

Just a homemaker.

Just a woman shopping at Aldi and planning a menu around inexpensive pantry staples.

Just a maker trying again and again to coax the sewing machine into making something useful for my kids from old clothes my husband and I don’t wear anymore.

This is a season, I keep reminding myself. Because it is. We’re not in dire straits – we’re business owners with three kids. My husband is a full-time student. We need to move halfway across the country in the very near future.

It’s a season of restlessness and exhaustion. Of a trip to the pet store being the closest thing we’re going to get to the zoo this summer. Of creatively putting all of the parts into order so my rapidly growing kids can have every piece of clothing they need exactly when they need it.

It’s by no means a hateful season.

I love the thrill of making the grocery budget go farther than it looks on paper. I love finding creative ways to store things in our few closets. I truly do.

I love the time I spend with my kids. But I miss the time with the person who gave me those kids.

I also miss the work I used to do – especially my writing work. There’s a version of myself that’s totally career-oriented and gladly leaves my husband home with the kids while I head out in a pantsuit every day. (Except minus the pantsuit… It’s 2018, People.)

I think what I really miss is the opportunity to just be me. For a version of me that exists outside of my house and has a purpose beyond keeping the kids alive and plating another dinner and wiping another tush.

As I write this, my kids are “doing yoga”, which actually means using my unrolled yoga mat as the parking lot for all of their toys with wheels. In the last month, I broke my favorite (new) coffee mug in an exhausted haze; the cup holder on my diaper bag expelled my custom Yeti tumbler onto the sidewalk, shattering the finish everywhere; and someone’s magenta tye-dyed shirt bled all over the DockATot cover I’d so diligently saved for while I was pregnant with Kyriakos. Nothing is safe from the touch of my children.

There is no Me anymore. There is only Mom.

This is a necessary transition. It’s one I mostly welcome, even though at times I struggle with the selflessness aspect required – especially when that time is 2am.

I don’t know if it’s the length of time that I’ve been mothering, the number of kids I have now, or the inevitable pushing of the pause button on my career aspirations that makes this season so pivotal in my mothering journey. Likely, it’s a combination of these things and others that I’m too tired to think of at the moment.

When my oldest – Paisley – was born, I became a mom. But in this season, I feel like I’m really becoming a mom in all of the ways.

I worry about some things, like “how long after potty training is too long to use a diaper at night?”, more than I used to. I worry about other things, like “when my one-year-old is going to decide to start speaking English?”, way less. I also worry way less about what other people think when I leave the house with my three kids because, well, I’ve left my house with three kids.

I don’t really wear makeup anymore, although I do still shower and wash my hair every morning. Not giving that one up no matter how many kids I have!

I don’t care about wearing trendy clothes or brand names anymore, although I do spend more time wondering where my kids’ clothes come from and what types of chemicals they might be treated with.

My priorities have shifted in so many significant ways that I’m not sure pre-mom me would even recognize the person I’ve become. Again, this isn’t a hateful thing. It’s actually a really good thing.

Paradoxically, I’m more comfortable in my own skin than I ever have been, even if I’m more physically uncomfortable (running on zero sleep, sleeping through my 5am alarm for workouts/yoga because the baby fell asleep at 4:30, perpetually pregnant/breastfeeding for four straight years) than I ever have been. (Mercifully, the three active kids keep the baby weight from accumulating and an obsession with feeding my kids nutritious meals means we don’t have heaps of Oreos in the house.)

I’m more confident than I’ve ever been, too. Make a decision. Stick with it. Even if the only reason is because I’m too tired to change course and reverse engineer the progress (or not) that we’ve made.

Motherhood has stripped me down to the core.

And now I’m being rebuilt.

New priorities.

New perspectives.

New routines.

I knew, at some cerebral level, that this is what parenting would do to me. To us. But living through it is a whole different story.

Once I adjust to the curveballs of this season, the next season will already be here. And it’ll be time to adjust again. Every year, my identity will become more entrenched in the mom mindset, and bits of old me will leave or change.

My kids will change. I’ll get the fresh air I’m so desperate for now. The worries will change, no doubt. And the financial pressure of raising human people will grow as we add more babies and our current ones grow into new hobbies or permanent teeth that need braces.

This journey isn’t all about me. It’s not all about my kids either.

Motherhood is a vocation and has been the crucible for my own faith formation.

How can I expect my children to live out faith and reliance on God if I don’t model it for them?

Perhaps I never expected to have to live it in front of them. Sure, patience, grace and humility are a requisite part of parenting.

But there are times when I’d rather the testing didn’t come before my children’s eyes. That I’d get the divine epiphanies between the hours of 7pm and 7am, when my babies are fast asleep and oblivious.

Seasoned parents are laughing at me right now (I hear you). Many of the challenges that prove our faith come from our children.

Equally as many – maybe more – come from the challenges of providing for them or the worries of what they might encounter as they grow up. But I can’t walk into their room in the morning with the troubles of my heart written across my face (even though some mornings I do just that).

One of the blessings that this season has brought is a time to do devotions with our kids in the morning and at night.

Our routine has slowed in a lot of ways, even if our children have added layer upon layer of complexity to even the simplest tasks.

Spending time in the Word and prayer with our kids strengthens us spiritually, but also gives us the chance to teach them and help them grow in their faith. Surprisingly, coming together for devotions, even when the living room is strewn with toys and (clean) diapers or I’m scrubbing down the counters while my husband holds the baby and reads the Bible, strengthens me in a way I don’t consciously understand sometimes.

Never before in my life have I had the luxury of time to spend in lengthy devotions day and night. Even though parenting brings the challenge of crammed time, it also brings a freedom to fill that time with activities that are constructive and necessary for the formation of young minds and hearts.

As our children grow, we plan to continue our time together. We plan to homeschool our kids, both to solidify my all mom, all the time status and to help them maintain a healthy balance between their spiritual and academic nourishment.

Motherhood is truly a vocation.

Maybe I only got nine months of preparation before going into the big leagues. And maybe that’s why sometimes I feel so woefully unprepared for the challenges of each day.

But when I stop into our kids’ room before heading to bed and see their fluffy little heads and crazy sleeping positions, I always feel joy. Even if they were the rottenest little goblins that day.

When the baby cries in the wee hours, I cherish his warmth as I cuddle him close for a feeding. I don’t love being woken up in the middle of the night, but for this season, I hold him closer.

One day his baby cheeks will be stubbly and he won’t want to cuddle me. That season will hold its own challenges and triumphs. (Right now, I don’t remember that as often as I should, and often I’m frustrated that he can’t do a single thing for himself.)

Today I’ll clean the house and the diapers, cut the food into tiny pieces and bathe a curry-soaked toddler in the kitchen sink. Tomorrow will be a new day and another adventure as Just Mom.

Gabrielle Rystedt on EmailGabrielle Rystedt on FacebookGabrielle Rystedt on Pinterest
Gabrielle Rystedt
Gabrielle Rystedt
Gabrielle Rystedt is a writer by day and a writer by night (because writers never sleep), who spends time balancing client orders, a couple of books and her blog at Raising Rystedts. She’s a business school grad who’s dabbled in management, both at the project and company level. She loves coffee and crafting, and enjoys settling down with a good book. Though as mom to three kiddos in three years, she realistically spends most of her time reheating her coffee and typing away like a crazy person on a laptop keyboard while surrounded by (clean) cloth diapers and cheddar bunnies.

What are your thoughts?


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Watch The Official Trailer For Creed 2 Starring Michael B. Jordan

Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan reprises his role as Adonis Creed in the first official trailer for the Creed sequel. In the latest edition of the Rocky spin-off, the film finds Jordan squaring off against Dolph Lundgren‘s son, a boxer like his father Ivan Drago who appeared in Rocky IV. The film written by Sylvester Stallone and directed by Steven Caple Jr. also stars Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Russell Hornsby and more.

Watch the trailer above and read the official synopsis below.

Life has become a balancing act for Adonis Creed. Between personal obligations and training for his next big fight, he is up against the challenge of his life. Facing an opponent with ties to his family’s past only intensifies his impending battle in the ring. Rocky Balboa is there by his side through it all and, together, Rocky and Adonis will confront their shared legacy, question what’s worth fighting for, and discover that nothing’s more important than family. Creed II is about going back to basics to rediscover what made you a champion in the first place, and remembering that, no matter where you go, you can’t escape your history.

Creed 2 opens in theaters on November 21st, 2018.


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Tragic death of Tracy Shelvey

4 Feb 2014

Rape Crisis England & Wales is extremely saddened by today’s news of the tragic death of Tracy Shelvey, who took her own life after the man on trial for raping her was acquitted (4th February 2014). We extend our deepest condolences to Tracy’s friends and family.

Although we’re not able to comment on this case specifically, Rape Crisis England & Wales remains resolute in its long-standing conviction that all women and girls who have experienced sexual violence of any kind at any time in their lives need and deserve specialist advocacy and support. Our member Rape Crisis organisations offer a range of confidential and independent services including helplines, counselling and Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs).

Rape Crisis ISVAs believe, listen and provide practical and emotional support and information to survivors that choose to report to the police, throughout the criminal justice process and beyond.  Regardless of whether a court case ends in a conviction, Rape Crisis believes this represents social justice and we know from our extensive experience of working with women and girls that it can and does save lives.

We encourage any woman or girl whose life has been affected by sexual violence of any kind at any time to visit our website for details of her nearest Rape Crisis services. Please note that you do not need to have reported to the police in order to access these. Our website also contains information for male sexual violence survivors.

If you would like to find out more about how you can support the work of the Rape Crisis movement, click here.


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Lama Think of Me!

His Eminence Menri Ponlop Yangton Trinley Nyima Rinpoche. Photo credit: Unknown

With the devotion of my body, speech and mind, I pray to the essence of the three Enlightened Bodies, the kind root lama.

Please bestow upon me right now the realization of my own enlightened mind and the meaning of the view, realization and behavior.

May I recognize my natural mind, without modification and free of extremes.

May I recognize the brilliantly clear power of the wisdom of self-awareness.

May the many kinds of unceasing mental perceptions arise as self-appearances.

May I recognize my own enlightened mind, I pray.

Bless me that I may see my true face!

Bless me that self-awareness will arise for me!

Bless me to recognize my own true nature!

Bless me to see my own enlightened mind!

Lama, think of me!  Lama, think of me! Lama, think of me!

Hold me, and all other sentient beings, in your compassion, I pray!

Protect us with your compassion, I pray!

Lead us with your compassion, I pray!

A Powa Prayer written by Lord Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen and included in his Kalong Gyatso, An Ocean of Instructions. Translation by Raven Cypress Wood ©2015 All Rights Reserved.

Posted on November 19, 2018, in Prayer and Ritual, Tibetan Lamas, Translation, Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.

  1. Wonderful!

  2. Thank you for sharing this beautiful prayer

  3. You are most welcome.
    All the best to you and your family,

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/ Images

Given an appropriate-images configuration render the appropriate size variant of an image

Use in combination with appropriate-images.

After you've generated resized, optimized images with appropriate-images, you'll want to use them in the browser. If you like React, you'll want to use them with React. You'll need to determine which variant of the image to load — that is, which size, and whether to load the .webp version or not. This module does that.

Here are the steps it takes.

  • Measures the element's available width with react-simple-surveyor;
  • Combines that width with your appropriate-images configuration to get a URL, using appropriate-images-get-url;
  • Then renders the appropriate variant of the image.

(If you aren't using React but want to use your appropriate-images in the browser, check out appropriate-images-get-url).

appropriateImagesReact.scopeAppropriateImage(imageConfig, options)

Returns an AppropriateImage component scoped according to your appropriate-images configuration and options.

Type Object. Required.

Your appropriate-images configuration. Use the same configuration at run time, in the browser, as you do at build time, when generating the resized, optimized images.

Type: (originalUrl: string) => string. Default: x => x.

If you want to transform the URL in some way, use this function. One use-case is to take advantage of Webpack's augmented require() to get the URL that Webpack creates — if, for example, you're adding a hash to the end of files loaded with Webpack's file-loader.

For example:

const appropriateImagesReact = require('@mapbox/appropriate-images-react');
const AppropriateImage = appropriateImagesReact.scopeAppropriateImage(myImageConfig, {
  transformUrl: url => require(`/my/image/directory/${url}`);

Type: number.
Default: 1.3.

See the same option for appropriate-images-get-url.

This is the component that is returned by [scopeAppropriateImage].
It can render your image in two ways:

  • As an .
    Usually you'll do this.
  • As the background image of an absolutely positioned
.
    This can be handy in situations when you want to take advantage of powerful CSS background properties like background-size and background-position.

All props you pass other than those documented below are applied directly to the rendered element (e.g. alt, id, data-*, aria-*).

Type string.

The id of the image to render.
Must correspond with a key in the [appropriate-images configuration].

Type boolean.
Default: false.

By default, an  element is rendered.
If this option is true, you instead get a
, absolutely positioned to fill its container, whose background-image will be the appropriate image.

Type string.
Default: 'center center'.

Only meaningful if background={true}.
Any background-position value will do.

Type string.
Default: 'cover'.

Only meaningful if background={true}.
Any background-size value will do.

const React = require('react');
const appropriateImagesReact = require('@mapbox/appropriate-images-react');
const imageConfig = require('./path/to/my/image-config.js');

const AppropriateImage = appropriateImagesReact(imageConfig);

class MyPage extends React.PureComponent {
  render() {
    return (

An appropriate image will be loaded below:

        <AppropriateImage name="bear" style={{ maxWidth: '100%' }}/>


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Sally Hansen – Pink Slip & Golden Rule & Spark in the Dark

Hi everyone! Today’s manicure features a trifecta from Sally Hansen. This may have been better looking in my head, but I still like it a lot!

04-06-2016 Sally Hansen - Pink Slip & Golden Rule & Spark in the Dark
Sally Hansen – Pink Slip & Golden Rule & Spark in the Dark

I started with Sally Hansen Pink Slip from the Complete Salon Manicure line. This is an off white crelly. Not quite sheer enough to be a jelly, but too sheer to be a creme. I did three coats and was pretty happy with it, but then I had to walk the dog too soon and dinged a couple nails. So I added a fourth coat and topcoat. This is sheer, but it built up nicely. It’s not chalky like some whites are prone to be. I’d say it’s a very good formula for this type of polish and it’s a very nice color. I don’t really see any pink to it though.

The photos for this were taken in the lightbox…

Then I added 1 coat of Sally Hansen Golden Rule, also from the Complete Salon Manicure line. This is a clear base topper with one uniform size of gold metallic glitter. Very shiny and a very good formula. It distributed really well on the nail and came out on the brush perfectly. Some of the photos make it appear to have silver and gold glitter, but that must be a weird light reflection because I’m pretty sure it’s all gold.

These photos are all taken in the lightbox…

Then, I just couldn’t stop there, so I added about 1 coat of Sally Hansen Spark in the Dark. This one is from the Xtreme Wear line. Another clear base glitter topper. This one has gold and black glitter in a few sizes including black bar glitter. I’m not a fan of bar glitter, so I tried to take it all off my nails, but I see one piece made it through. This one is a bit more base heavy than Golden Rule and you need to maneuver the glitter just a little bit. This glitter comes out on the brush really well, you just get a good bit of clear base also and that can quickly make your mani too thick and bubbly.

So here’s the finished mani and these photos were taken in natural light on an overcast day…

Well, there we have it!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

The polish in this post is from my own collection and was purchased by me.
©2016 RealPolishFanatic / All Rights Reserved

If you like what you see,
please take a second to push the
“Like” button at the bottom of the post
and follow me so you never miss an entry!

About Me & My Blog

My blog is a beauty based blog, specifically about Nail Polish: Nail Polish swatches, Nail Polish comparisons, Nail Polish collections, my Manicure of the Day. All content and photos are my own property and cannot be used without my express written consent.

My name is Paula and I live in Canada right now with my hubby of many years and Chico my “baby”. You will see him featured periodically at the end of a post (the dog, not the hubby).🙂

I would love to hear from you!

Happy polishing!!

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Do we really need the land?

MFUNDO BONGELA argues that instead of giving black people back the land their ancestors were forcibly removed from, it would be better to give them today’s equivalent of that land in the form of a slice of the industrial economy.

This was before the industrial revolution that freed commercial interests from land ties, which opened up space for every citizen who could provide a service or create something that the industrialising economy needed to have a shot at success. It is during the industrial revolution that many institutions of training were built as part of the realisation that human capital was becoming what land was during the agrarian era of economic development.

The exclusion of black people from participation in the mainstream economic life of the country during industrialisation, reducing them to mere slaves breaking their backs in the belly of the revolution, on the mines and railroads, meant that the resource mobility of black labour, which could ensure that anyone who worked hard and was innovative could become successful, was effectively condemned to a life of backwardness and poverty, and many to death.

Black people were therefore excluded from both the agrarian economy and the multiple phases of industrialisation, pushing back our human development by at least 100 years. It’s possible therefore that Africans, as with other peoples of the world, would have moved away from the agrarian economy as industrialisation kicked in and upskilled themselves to both drive and benefit from industrialisation.

The stories of people black people, especially in the last 23 years, who started with nothing and later became a great success is testament to how far the world is from the land-tied wealth of the past and how industrialisation and its needs has opened space for anyone who could identify a niche or need to create a product to meet that need and be a great success. This is the 21-century meaning of true wealth.

This speaks to the importance of government focus during industrialisation periods. Whether it’s the first or the fourth industrial revolution, two critical investments of government have always been a necessary condition for its people to maximise benefits of industrialisation.

Investment in infrastructure in order to enable commercialisation to happen with minimum hindrances and investments in institutions of higher learning have always formed the primary ingredients of an industrialising nation. There has always been a risk that those who do not have critical skills may be missed by an industrial revolution and may never catch up.

This begs a question: at this stage of industrialisation, shouldn’t the constitutional imperative of correcting the injustices of the past, particularly the land question, be converted instead into a meaningful contribution to industrialisation?

Over the years, other sectors of the South African economy have grown faster than the agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing sector; resulting in agriculture’s share of the GDP dropping from more than 6% in the 1970s to 1,9% in 2015 (Economic review 2015, DAFF). So, what does it mean to get land back today? Do we really want land or do we want its historical value to the pre-agrarian period and or when it was taken from us? What is really the true worth of what we lost?

This may require a lot of wisdom, but part of the solution may well be that instead of colonial white settlers and their offspring giving back the physical land, they must be asked to make payment of their ‘land price equivalent’ to a special fund that will be used to provide commercial infrastructure to all black areas and to build multiple institutions of learning in every region of the country to upskill the 45% of our young people who remain unemployable.

This would be a recognition that whilst land was the biggest contributor to economic participation in an agrarian economy, during this fourth Industrial revolution, ownership of land is not what it was when our land was taken away from us.

An investment into institutions of higher learning is not only about producing skilled labour but it’s also equally about investment in research so that new products, new technologies and new science can be devised which will continue to reinvent the pace of the industrialisation and create new industries that can employ more people.

Africa is said to be at an advantage because we can largely avoid the past western industrialisation model that burnt tons of fossil fuels into the atmosphere and brought us the unstable and violent weather patterns we are currently experiencing today. It is through huge investments in research that Africa will discover more efficient and environmentally friendly paths to strong and high levels of development.

Most of our land in South Africa is used for agriculture. Given that agriculture no longer contributes as much to the GDP of the country, any effort that seeks to correct the injustices of the past by merely giving back the land would be short-changing black people.

The question today may well not be what is the land price equivalent that is due to black people but what is the GDP equivalent of the land stolen from us in today’s terms. It may well be an equivalent of what financial services contribute to GDP today.

It’s important, therefore, for us to appreciate that whilst we seek to correct the injustices of the past, the world has not been standing still waiting for us to come back and take what belongs to us. What belonged to us then is unrecognisable in today’s value system. Our people need empowerment.

Would a return of land bring the level of historical empowerment a landownerhad in 1930 or would the level of industrialisation in today’s economy be today’s land equivalent? These are the questions that we must answer. These are the questions that must inform our policy.

Bongela is ANC Regional Secretary in the Joe Qabi Region of the Eastern Cape

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2017 Goals and Stuff

I actually did pretty good on my goals from last year.  Ill go over those first and how I did on them, then get to the good stuff, my goals for next year.

2016 Goals

My first for 2016 was to visit five new national parks and revisit some old ones.  I did this one!  Doing a lot of traveling, it sort of worked out.  Living in Utah I had a chance to visit all five there.  Driving from Wisconsin to Utah, then Utah to Florida and back, I had even more opportunity.

New Parks

Parks I revisited (All Utah)

I wanted to hike Angels Landing in Zion this year.  On my drive out to Utah from Wisconsin, I got a horrible cough and felt miserable a lot.  We went to Zion anyways and gave it a shot.  We didn’t make it all the way up.  My lungs were burning and it just wasn’t going to work.  So I tried it and got almost halfway up before turning around.  Next year.

I also wanted to go back to the Grand Canyon, to the North Rim or back to the south to go into it.  I didn’t do either of those, but I saw plenty of other canyons!

Paddle boarding and kayaking were things I wanted to do again and I did!  Only once for both, though so it could use some improvement.  I went paddle boarding on Lake Powell, but it wasn’t very long because it got windy pretty quickly, but I did it and it was still fun.  I went Kayaking in the Philippines on an island hopping tour a couple times.  That was a good place to kayak.

I wanted to go back to Guatemala this year and that didn’t happen, but I kind of figured if something didn’t, it would be this.  Of course I still want to go back, I’m just not sure when yet.

Writing regularly was also on my list and I like to think I did pretty good with that.  I couldn’t post on here a lot because our Internet was terrible so I’m playing a little bit of catch up right now.  I did write all kinds of other things that didn’t make it on here, though.

Snorkeling was also on the list, and probably always will be because I successfully managed to avoid it for another year!  Yes, I want to do it, but I also really don’t want to at the same time.  It just freaks me out, man!

And last but not least, I wanted to see my friends more.  I sort of did this, as much as I could being this far apart.  I met up with three of my friends in Vegas in September and drove out to Utah with my friend Danny, whose birthday we went to Vegas for.  When I visited home I tried to see whoever I could and didn’t do too bad with that either.

I’d say I did pretty alright, but there’s plenty of room for improvement.  Now, onto the goals for 2017!

2017 Goals

I have three general lists for this coming year.  One is for Wyoming, one for Utah (where I will most likely be in the summer again), and one of just general goals.  Ill star with Wyoming since that’s where I am now.

Wyoming Goals

I want to see lots of wildlife out here, mostly a bear, a moose, and wolves.  I haven’t seen any of those yet.

Visit Yellowstone in the winter.  I would love to see it with snow allover.  And this is probably a great place to see all that wildlife!

See the Tetons in winter.  The mountains are already impressive with snow, which I can sometimes see from my room now, but I would like to see the lakes and the rest of the park in winter.

Go snowshoeing.  I don’t know why I developed this obsession with going snowshoeing this year, but I want to real bad.

I would also like to go snowmobiling.  Seeing as I’m working at a snowmobile lodge, this is the perfect opportunity.

Dog sledding is also a thing in the area and I would really love to try that if the opportunity arises this winter.

Try Geocaching in the area, if there are any winter ones.

Utah Goals

First, there are a bunch of National Parks and National Monuments I want to explore in the southwest still, mostly in Arizona, so I’ll start with those.

  • Mesa Verde (Colorado)
  • Death Valley (California, Nevada)
  • Joshua Tree (California)
  • Grand Canyon (Arizona)
  • Petrified Forest (Arizona)
  • Saguaro (Arizona)
  • Great Basin (Nevada)
  • Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Colorado)
  • White Sands (New Mexico)
  • Organ Pipe Cactus (Arizona)
  • Cedar Breaks (Utah)

Hiking I would like to do in Utah:

  • Smith Fork slot canyons
  • Buckskin Gulch
  • Kanarraville Falls
  • Buckskin Hollow
  • Coyote Gulch
  • Escalante slot canyons
  • Fantasy Canyon
  • The Wave (this is actually in Arizona)
  • Golden Cathedral
  • Little Finland
  • Calf Creek Falls
  • Fantasy Canyon
  • Navajo Loop in Bryce Canyon

Now for the other stuff in Utah:

  • Camp more
  • Drive the whole Burr Trail
  • Geocache along highway 276
  • Go to Lonesome Beaver
  • Find Geodes
  • Explore the Henry Mountains more
  • Go further into Capitol Gorge

Finally general 2017 goals

I won’t include everything on my list because I may not have the resources to actually finish a few of them just because of where I will be all year.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get those things going, but for now, they’re under wraps.

Start yoga.  This is something I’ve been saying for years, kind of like snorkeling.  Maybe this year I will actually start it.  I need something to do all winter, right?

Do a little blog maintenance.  Things like fixing categories, changing Pinterest things, adding new pages, or fixing old ones.  Maybe making guides.  Maybe sharing more postcards.  That sort of thing.  General improvements.

Get into more writing, like freelance writing.  It would of course be ideal to be able to support myself online somehow, but I need to just get started.  Making anything online would be a good step forward.

Get rid of stuff.  I have a lot of stuff.  I want less stuff.  I want to get rid of stuff.

Visit home in April.  It would be the easiest time, between jobs and all that.  And flights aren’t as much as I thought!

Visit five new National Parks.  I think this will be a yearly goal now, as long as I’m spending this much time in the US.  Of course I’ll probably be going to some of the  same ones again, though.  There’s just so much to see and it’s so easy when I’m this close to so many.

Geocache more.  This is listed in both the lists above, but I love it.  It’s a good way to see new places that you might never knew existed before you were scrambling through them looking for a tiny film canister hidden in a tree.

Go to Canada.  This goes along with the next point.  So far, that would be the only (and unofficial) plan to leave the country in 2017.  Whaaaaaat?  Yeah.  How weird?  This would specifically be the east coast, like Nova Scotia.

Go on an East Coast road trip in the fall!  I would love to do this after finishing up another season in Bullfrog.  It’s the ideal place to see the fall colors and I’ve never been there!  I’ve always wanted to see the east coast, so why not this year?

Save more money.  I did pretty much none of this over the summer, so I would like to get a lot better at this over the next year.  All these side trips are going to take a lot more planning to fit more into one trip and maybe that’s how I’ll camp more, too.  Only time will tell.

So, those are my goals for 2017.  There’s a lot of them.  Like, a lot, but, hey.  There’s a lot I want to see.

What do you want to see on here most next year?  What are your goals for 2017?  Have you done anything on this list?  What and how was it?

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Results for subject term "Peoples--Dutch": 7

The Van Brunt family was a well-established early Dutch family who settled in New Utrecht. This street may be named for Rutgert Van Brunt who was a member of the NYS Assembly from Kings County from 1783-1784.

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Tag Archives: leg tattoos

Tattoos on legs

Roller Derby

If you dig Roller Derby you will probably like this one. I totally loved the thinking behind this tattoo.
The girl is involved in derby, is into tattoos, and goes by “Pistol.” Take one neo-traditional tattoo styled pistol and stick it in a drawing of her very own skate and we have exactly what she is when skating. A pistol in a skate! I know I am a dork for finding the play on words so fun, but hey… it pulled the theme of this together in my mind so well I can’t help but dig it big time.
roller derby tattoo port angeles

Rainbow Striped Unicorn

Bet you haven’t ever seen a rainbow zebra striped unicorn before.
rainbow zebra striped unicorn tattoo

It is also a bit carousel horse and when I was asked to draw it I was told it should be a Friesian Unicorn with rainbow zebra stripes.
All in all this is a very unique tattoo. I searched all over trying to find a rainbow zebra striped friesian unicorn drawing or painting because I had never seen one before and came up empty handed. It seems it isn’t so hard to come up with newness in art or tattoos after all.

Imagination at it’s finest

A lotta stuff going on in this one. Click the pick & look close.
imaginative tattoo scene super original by Aarron Laidig

The location is the right thigh. All of the stuff going on in this piece was from the clients imagination. The little owl and wizard frog are revamps of existing images she supplied. The war turtle was an existing piece I did a year or so earlier. The rest was mostly bic penned on per her description. The photo was taken at approximately two years healed. My favorite part to do was the little spooky cabin in the far left background and the rolling grass hills.

Mermaid – from the Old English mere (sea), and maid (a girl or young woman). The equivalent term in Old English was merewif. This particular mermaid tattoo is done in a style I would roughly consider Neotraditional American with slightly thinner lines than usual to add a bit more femininity and give room for more detail in the scales.. The art is a re-draw of a client supplied image. The location is on the outer thigh just behind (to the side) of the knee. As a mermaid fun fact I give you this… In 1493 the famed explorer Christopher Columbus reported seeing three “female forms” which “rose high out of the sea.” He noted that the mermaids were not as lovely as represented in fables and art.
Mermaid tattoo in neotraditional traditional tattoo style


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Watch Maintenance & Manuals

Search For Manual

To get the right manual select the reference matching with the 5 digits engraved on the back of your watch

Please select the watch reference

Bracelet Watches
Direct contact with sprays such as hairsprays, perfumes or detergents may cause damage to your watch.
Leather Straps
Leather straps deteriorate at different rates depending on climatic conditions, sweat acidity and levels of wear and tear. To ensure your leather strap lasts as long as possible take the following precautions: avoid soaking your strap in water, avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight, and avoid direct contact with solvents, detergents and perfumes.
Waterproof Watches
Always make sure the crown on your watch is fully locked or screwed down to avoid water from entering the case which can cause considerable damage to the movement. A hard knock might cause a watch to lose its water resistance without you realising it. Be sure to service water resistant watches regularly. Water resistant watches must be opened and closed by a skilled watchmaker.
Table of water resistance
Battery / Power
Quartz Watches
All quartz watches are powered by batteries so it is not necessary to wind them. If your quartz watch stops, have the battery checked as soon as possible by a reputable jeweller. A "dead" battery may cause serious damage to the movement if left inside the watch too long. Quartz analogue watches contain both electronic and mechanical parts which require periodic servicing.
Automatic Watches
The self-winding device in automatic watches keeps the watch wound while it is being worn. Off the wrist, it will keep going for between 28 to 48 hours. To restart the watch after this time, rewind it manually. A Chronograph is a timepiece equipped with additional time measurement functions independent of normal time-telling.
Mechanical and automatic watches should be cleaned and serviced every three years to ensure trouble-free time keeping. The moving parts of quartz watches also need maintenance, as any small foreign particle could stop them, but less frequently.
From time-to-time clean your watch case and metal band with a soft brush and liquid soap, then rinse with water.


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William Necktie

Regular price $0.00 $48.00 Sale

Refined Vanguards' ties are handmade in the USA. Each item will be unique due to its handcrafted nature. Every detail has been carefully executed resulting in a high quality with plenty of style. The William is a red or blue color necktie made of cotton fabric. This tie is exquisitely finished with a floral pattern tipping.

Made In The USA
100% Cotton
Dry Clean Only
Widest Point: 2.5
Widest Point: 3.25


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1833 Dragoon Cap Plate

5 in stock

SKU: INS-053 Category:

White metal Eagle with brass Sun Burst with attaching loops on the back.

In 1833, trouble with the Indians on the distant northwest frontier returned the Dragoons to the regular establishment for the first time since 1815. Close attention was paid to their outfits because of the importance placed on impressing their enemies. New headdress and insignia was prescribed. The insignia prescribed for the Dragoons’ 1833 dress caps marked a dramatic departure from anything previously seen in America. A large Napoleonic eagle, made of white metal, was superimposed over an octagonal brass sun burst background

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Weight 4 oz

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1858 Remington Steel Frame Revolver – Uberti

1 in stock

SKU: REV-05 Category:

The Colt 1836 patent was due to expire in 1849 but, having the possibility to demonstrate that they had not used it to its full capacity, Colt was able to renew it until 25th February 1857. The extension gave them the chance to force out the competition. When the patent expired, Remington introduced a solid frame design, which was both elegant and reliable. The reliability of the Remington and its accuracy made it so famous that, at the end of the Civil War, when the Government offered the ‘Yankee’ officers to take over as an outfit,the prevailing choice was for the Remington. Product Specifications: Action: Single Action Size: 14″ Caliber: 0.44 Capacity: 6 Barrel: 8″ Octagonal – Blue Finish Sights: Fixed Steel Weight: 3 lbs. Stock/Grip: Walnut Color/Finish: Steel frame, butt plate and trigger guard Call for Price and Availability When ordering reproduction firearms from Regimental Quartermaster, please be aware of the following: Due to state law in New Jersey, we are unable to ship firearms there. We can not ship our reproduction Firearms outside of the United States. Before firing any of the listed firearms, we recommend a thorough cleaning of the rifle or revolver. We offer guides on care and maintenance of the firearms in our book section. We recommend that any live firing should be done with an experienced shooter present. Must be 18 years of age to purchase any firearms. NOTE: ALL black powder musket and revolver shipments require an adult signature for delivery!

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Weight 2 oz

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