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Posted at 01:49 PM in Current Affairs, Family, Friends, Silliness | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Back by popular demand, here's my reading list for the past year.
First, the statistics:
48 books total
- 15 by women, 32 by men, 1 anthology
- Format: 2 audiobooks, 7 e-books, the rest in paper
- Genre: 9 non-fiction or essays; 9 poetry books; 30 fiction, plays, sagas, misc.
The asterisks in the list indicate e-books. The links go to my reviews on Goodreads, most of which also appeared here on the blog.
Standouts? I very much liked this years Booker Prize winner, Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending, and particularly enjoyed listening to it as an audiobook. The seemingly simple story, told in first-person, eventually reveals an unreliable narrator whose version of events made me call into question my own memory, and think back hard about events in my own life. Barnes isn't someone I would read for his literary style, per se, but this is a masterful novel.
It's no secret that I love Teju Cole's Open City. Even though he's my close friend and the book is partially dedicated to me -- an honor that continues to stun and humble me -- I definitely think this was the best book I read this year, for its originality, the lyricism of its prose, and the risks it takes. Many illustrious reviewers have agreed with me, so my objectivity can't be entirely suspect!
As usual with me, there's a bit of a geographical focus, this time on Iceland. Somehow I had never read either the novels of Halldor Laxness or the Sagas of Icelanders, and I'm very glad that gap was closed this year before we went to Iceland; the trip was immeasurably enriched by their writing.
There were also a lot of British novels set in the early 20th century. It was odd to read A.S. Byatt at the same approximate time as Virginia Woolf, and two young-people's books by Frances Hodgson Burnett as well. I loved The Secret Garden, which turned 100 this year, just as much as when I was a girl. Byatt irritates me; I find the books overwritten, overly long, and self-indulgent, and that was especially apparent reading them next to Woolf's beautiful, spare, carefully-constructed prose. Byatt's stories kept pulling me along nevertheless; they won't endure as literature but she's a good storyteller. Woolf is in a class by herself, often painful to read, but in many ways a kindred soul. I'm glad I'm a happier and far less public person.
This year's shock quality award goes to César Aira's How I Became a Nun, with second place to Rawi Hage for De Niro's Game.
In keeping with the year's Nordic theme, I also really liked the uncategorizable Broken, by Karin Fossum.
Quirkiness and condensation are trademarks of Lydia Davis. I'd recommend her Collected Stories as inspiration for any writer.
For sheer lyricism, I loved experiencing The English Patient as an audio book - but I'm crazy about Ondaatje's writing anyway. I could hardly wait to get back to it during the time I was listening to this book, and was bereft when it ended. For similar reasons, I loved John Berger's To the Wedding.
The worst book on this list, hands down, was Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey. It had its moments, but...my God. I've never seen a book take such a disastrous turn and then fall apart the way that one does!
Particular poetry favorites were Seamus Heaney's Human Chain, The Throne of Psyche by Marly Youmans, The Book of Ystwyth -- works by six poets (including Dave Bonta and Marly Youmans) in response to the art of Clive Hicks-Jenkins, and Dale Favier's chapbook, Opening the World.
I liked all the non-fiction titles listed (if I don't enjoy a non-fiction book I generally don't finish it.) The last and the first look like they may be my favorites; John Hales' book about the Athenian navy was absolutely fascinating, and Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes, by Tamim Ansary, seems, after 90 pages, to be an emminently readable and timely look at, well, just what its title says.
I'll be looking forward to hearing what you have to say!
CASSANDRA'S 2011 BOOK LIST (click for lists from previous years) *=ebooks
Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes, Tamim Ansary (current)
Middlemarch, George Eliot (current)*
Letters from Iceland, W.H.Auden and Louis MacNeice
Fight the Wild Island, Ted Edwards
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes (audio book read by Richard Morant)
The Wide, Wide World, Susan Bogert Warner
Vatnsdœla saga, from The Sagas of Icelanders
Egil's Saga, from The Sagas of Icelanders
Opening the World, Dale Favier (poetry chapbook)
The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje (audio book)
Open City, Teju Cole (rereading)
The Book of Ystwyth, six poets on the art of Clive Hicks-Jenkins
Ice and Gaywings, Ken Pobo (poetry chapbook)
The End of the Affair, Graham Greene
Triplicity, Kristin McHenry (poetry chapbook)
Paper Covers Rock, Chella Courington (poetry chapbook)
Phaedrus, Plato
The Picture of Dorian Grey, Oscar Wilde*
Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf*
I Stand Here Shredding Documents, Kristin Berkey Abbott (poetry chapbook)
Possession, A.S. Byatt
The Years, Virginia Woolf*
The Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett*
The Throne of Psyche, Marly Youmans
Far From the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy. Adaptation for the stage by Mark Healy.
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett (reread on its centennial)*
The Children's Book, A.S. Byatt
Errata, George Steiner
Dark and Like a Web, Nic Sebastian* (poetry chapbook)
De Niro's Game, Rawi Hage
How I Became a Nun, César Aira
The Death of Tragedy, George Steiner
Phédre, Jean Baptiste Racine
Broken, Karin Fossum
The Redbreast, Jo Nesbo
The Sign of Jonas, Thomas Merton (rereading)
The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, Lydia Davis
To the Wedding, John Berger
The Jewel Box Garden, Thomas Hobb
Under the Glacier, Halldor Laxness
The Stone Raft, José Saramago
Home is Where We Meet, John Berger (rereading)
Human Chain, Seamus Heaney
Val/Orson, Marly Youmans
Independent People, Halldor Laxness
Open City, Teju Cole
Lords of the Sea: Athenian Naval Power in the 5th century, John Hales
Posted at 07:32 PM in Arts & Culture, Books, Reading | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)
The British certainly know how to create drama. Our Christmas dinner, at the home of friends who generously invited us to share their traditional family gathering, ended with these two spectacular desserts: an English trifle, of liquor-soaked spongecake, strawberry jam, custard, and whipped cream; and a flaming Christmas pudding, which is a sort of steamed fruitcake, usually containing suet, over which brandy is poured and set aflame. Marvelous! And neither exactly trifling on the caloric front, but absolutely delicious.
Over dinner we talked about family holiday traditions. Their family always set up their tree and opened presents the night before, ate lamb for dinner, ended the meal with the desserts shown above, and took their tree down after the 12 days, at Epiphany. Mine set up their tree a week or two in advance, ate roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, had fruitcake and cookies for Christmas dessert and took the tree down on New Year's Day, if not before. I've attended (and usually sung at) a midnight service on the 24th almost every year of my life... J., the son of a minister and immigrant parents, was hard-pressed to remember any family traditions at all except that they opened their presents the night before.
I felt bound by tradition for a long time, and gradually relinquished -- partly by choice, partly by necessity -- the ones I'd grown up with not only for some new ones of our own devising, but more generally a free attitude of doing whatever feels right (and convenient) in a given year. I've found that pretty liberating. At the same time I sometimes miss the long holiday table filled with family members in my grandparents' house, which would always be decorated with particular objects and marked by tradition.
That Christmas Day discussion made me think about families, and individuals, and where we all fall on the spectrum of loving/being bound by tradition, or free-forming our way through life, especially those aspects of life that are usually marked by ritual or form of some sort. Some of us find a great deal of comfort and pleasure in tradition and repetition, while the same things makes others of us downright squirrelly. It's interesting. And some of us start out one way and change, either becoming more flexible and experimental, or more settled into patterns -- sometimes not necessarily because of our own desires, but because new generations of children and grandchildren demand or push us in one direction or the other. I say all of this not as a judgement of any particular way being "right," which of course it isn't, just as observations that traditions and ritual -- or the lack thereof -- play a larger part in our lives than we might acknowledge, and our changing attitudes toward them throughout life have a good deal to tell us.
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Solstice. At 7 am, I rise in near-darkness and go into the front room. I open the louvered blinds, and peer out, to the south, at an overcast, dim morning. The weak and greyish light reminds me of the day three months ago when we landed in Reykjavik, where it is now dark all day long. Here, inside the room with me, is a green spruce tree, bare except for hundreds of sparkling tiny lights that have been glowing all night long. I close my eyes and smell its fragrance, and open them to see again its incongruous beauty.
Yesterday, though, was clear, and in the early morning I watched the sun itself trace a low arc behind the trees. I left the house at 1 pm, wanting to do my shopping in the brightest part of the day, but even so, walking down boulevard St-Denis, I could only feel a faint warmth on my face. It's no wonder we in the north feel bereft now, forgotten.
In spite of science, all my life I've thought of the sun as the wanderer. He begins to leaves us in August, becoming as neglectful as a distracted lover, and travels south to where he is right now – Patagonia perhaps – standing on a mountain peak gazing toward Antarctica. Later today he'll slowly come down the path he climbed, pack his things, and once again turn his face toward the north.
Northern pagan people spent these weeks in anticipation, and celebrated the solstice with joy. Because the sun seems to stand still at solstice, the Roman astronomers waited for a few days before definitively declaring its return journey; therefore they placed the date of Christ's birth on December 25. The clever placement of Christmas, a few days past solstice, conflated the new religion with the existing festival.
Oriens, the Latin word for East, also became the morning star – Venus when seen at dawn — the dayspring, dawn of heaven, even the rising sun itself, and these became epithets for Christ. For weeks we've been singing O Dayspring from on high appear, and calling on the brightest and best of the sons of the morning to dawn on our darkness and send us his aid. Christ died and left us, goes the theology, but he returns at Christmas to renew us, and will eventually come again to reign.
I've been even less enthusiastic than usual about Advent this year. Anticipation, yes; bringing life and light inside our cold, dark homes, yes — but focusing on my own unpreparedness, forgetfulness, sins and weaknesses, no. Only western Christianity would create a penitential season at a time when people are already depressed and starved for light. But I'm not a pagan, for all my love of the natural world, and my awareness of the way its rhythm beats in my heart, and always has.
What do I believe then, what do I believe? Not in Christ's return, except metaphorically. I believe in now, and so, I think, did he. I know from experience that times of obscurity are often followed by insight, darkness by light, and that the two are necessary for each other, but that wisdom comes from being observant to this very moment: the weak light, the clarity of ice. Today that paper-thin edge of duality — that single but two-sided coin — turns its face, but neither one is better than the other. I believe in long journeys, the persistence of love, and the value of endurance: my face in the stinging cold, my feet that want to slip on the ice but find their balance, the sun's eventual return.
Posted at 05:21 PM in Nature, Religion, Spirit | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)
We just got back from a trip to visit my father in central New York State, where we helped him celebrate his 87th birthday. He continues to be completely independent, extremely active, and in remarkably good shape and spirits, for which I'm very grateful. (I sure hope I've inherited all of those genes!)
While there I took advantage of the snowlessness to take a walk in the woods and along the outlet from the lake into the Chenango River, where I took some photographs of different kinds of activities than the busy-ness of the holiday season.
Posted at 03:27 PM in Nature | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
Keeping with our Icelandic (and food-related) theme of late, I think you will marvel at this piece from today's Guardian: a video of a drive and then a hike on Eyjafjallajökull volcano: 'Where Satan goes backpacking.' I want to do this...(Thanks to J. for pointing this out to me!) Be sure to watch through to the end.)
Posted at 07:44 PM in Another Country, Iceland, Nature | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
Edition 12 of the Language/Place blog carnival has just been posted, by Linda Evans Hofke of Lindguistics, this month's host. And it's delicious: a dinner-party full of mouth-watering delights. I'm very happy that Linda included my recent post about eating in Iceland, but hope you'll go and take a culinary and literary tour through many other blog posts as well, all on the ever-intriguing, ever-beautiful topic of Food.
Of special note to regular Cassandra readers: Mark Twain, Italy and Tabasco sauce come together in a piece set at Lake Como, by Parmanu; and Jean Morris remembers a long-ago meal in the mountains of France in Repas d'un midi lointain. Both are beautiful pieces of writing I remember from when I first read them.
And in Food Slurs: an e-Flection on Multicultural Mockings, Dorothee Lang, an international traveller who writes from Southern Germany, and Eric Wrisley, in Ohio, discuss the world of racist epithets based on food.
Great stuff, go read and enjoy!
Posted at 04:30 PM in Arts & Culture, Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I know I've been a bit scarce around here, and the reason is that I've been busy for the past couple of months on a new body of work (both writing and art) about place and identity, inspired in part by Iceland. Where that project will end up is not clear, but I'm steadily working on it and will, from time to time, share some bits here. Meanwhile, regular blogging will continue!
Here is the latest piece. I'm putting it aside for now but plan to make some changes on the right-hand central side. These charcoal drawings are fairly large, about 30" x 22", and they look quite different in person; reducing them changes the feeling and impact a lot -- the actual drawing is approximately lifesize. Originally I thought I'd be doing drawings as preparations for prints, but I like these on their own, too, and the process of working on them, in silence and solitude, gives rise to thoughts and insights that I don't think would happen without going through the practice of drawing.
Lichens, Moss, Lava. Charcoal on acrylic-prepared paper. 30 x 22". 12/08/2011. Click for larger view
If you'd like to see a slideshow of the drawing as it progressed, here's a link on Flickr.
And here's something I wrote, during the drawing process:
I've been working on a new charcoal drawing. Lichens, moss, lava. And a succulent plant something like sedum, with stiff pod-like leaves tightly clustered around flexible stalks. The drawing is large, like the first one, but this time I'm working on a painted ground of loosely applied, thin acrylic, toned with Hooker's green, Naples yellow, and a bit of quinachridone red to a slightly greenish cream.
It's the same problem I've returned to again and again in art: the representation of multiple, complex botanical forms. Here they are scrambling over yet another complicated shape — the deeply pitted lava. The advantage of working in black and white is that the forms take precedence, which is what I want. The disadvantage is the sheer complexity of the scene, but without the differentiation nature gives through color. In real life, the sedum is a brilliant viridian against the steely grey rocks, while the late-season moss encompasses every shade from olive-green to white. Color aids our eyes and brain: this is plant, this is rock, this is lichen – the latter of which appears, not entirely inaccurately, to be a life-form somewhat in-between the two.
Since my childhood I've been fascinated by the beauty of small, intricate groups of cohabiting plants one sometimes comes upon in the wild, created around a tree trunk, a fallen log, or an outcrop of rock not by any hand but nature's. I tried, back then, to make my own, bringing child-size mosses, lichens, small wildflowers and seedling evergreens to the deep hollows formed between the roots of the beech trees on the side of our yard. I tended these miniature secret gardens year after year, populating them at times with a small doll or two and enjoying the unplanned visits by beetles and other insects, but never quite believing in elves or fairies. When, long afterward, as an adult wandering in the woods, I would come upon a verdant growth of moss covering a rounded tree stump like a velvet bustier, delicately adorned by clusters of tiny spores waving on thin stalks, the darker leaves of wintergreen, and, perhaps, the tiny crimson hats of British-soldier lichen, I would be suddenly reminded of those childhood gardens and at the same time inspired by a silent, awestruck wonder at such perfection, wrought so effortlessly by nature and imitated with such painstaking care not only by imaginative children but by master gardeners. For it's not only the grand scenes — the fiord and river, the mountain peaks, the endless waves approaching from a distant horizon — that bring me to that sense of wonder and stillness, but also the microcosm, the world at our feet.
I thought of that while drawing today, this sense of zooming out and zooming in. The lichens lay pure and white against the rocks, the largest barely bigger than two hands, a blankness in the center of much greater visual complexity. But such is a glacier, too: a strange expanse of whiteness that seems, in its very silence, to call out to the stillness within us and find an echo.
Posted at 12:51 PM in Another Country, Arts & Culture, Drawing, Iceland, Nature | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)


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Inground pool includes all designed to serve two basic functions: to protect your pool from harsh winter weather and to keep dirt, leaves and debris from your pool. You can find more about inground swimming pool covers via http://www.automaticpoolenclosure.com/pool-enclosure.html.
Available in a variety of materials, including mesh, vinyl, and multilayer laminated material, inground swimming pool covers, is a great way to protect your pool and make spring start-up is much easier. Because they keep large debris from your pool, you will have less maintenance to do when it comes time to open your pool next spring. That means you and your family will swim faster.
Mesh inground includes a number of useful features:
- They often display a reflective top layer with the speed of melting snow and to prevent a heavy load on your cover, extending its life.
- They prevent even the best debris from entering your pool.
- reinforced border and hem provide better quality and greater durability.
- They prevent water build-up on the top cover from the rain and melted snow and ice to drain through the mesh into the pool. This eliminates the need for a swimming pool cover pump and to continuously remove the dirt from the cover.
- Benefits of Solid Inground Pool Covers
Solid inground includes also an attractive option because:
- They are designed to withstand the harshest winter weather.
- They block all incoming sunlight your pool, preventing the growth of algae.
- Many solid blanket design features a light so that they are easy to put on, remove and store.

subset: commoncrawl


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Fox and I had a disagreement over "fair use" so YouTube version had the dam scene removed.
Friday, March 31, 2017
Lightvalve Location Review Of Hansen Dam Los Angeles
Fox and I had a disagreement over "fair use" so YouTube version had the dam scene removed.
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Monday, March 27, 2017
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Monday, March 20, 2017
Pixar Has Come So Far
The original Pixar Image Computer sold for $135,000! They sold less than 300 units.
I think the iPhone5 is capable of rendering faster than the original Pixar Image Computer.
Thursday, March 16, 2017
New Teaser Trailer For Aardman Animation's Early Man
It's about time.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Game Of Thrones Season 7 Premieres July 16!
The great war is here. #GoTS7 premieres 7.16.@GameofThrones @HBO #AmazonChannels pic.twitter.com/lwzsS3g7NA— Amazon Channels (@AmazonChannels) March 9, 2017
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Monday, March 6, 2017
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New Trailer For 5-25-77
I love it!
The movie trailer for Entourage has the gang back together for one last time.
Enough is enough.


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I never managed to write a pre-Christmas post this year. You can probably see why. According to the New Year's Resolutions I see anxiously discussed by friends and colleagues, I'm not alone. Christmas is a disorienting time to be a woman academic. Our analogues in the Biblical texts are the Magi: old men poring over the stars and consulting prophecies, who nevertheless manage to miss the deadline everyone else met, to blab angelic unpublished material to a rival research unit, and to bring the most impractical and tediously symbolic gifts ever to grace a newborn's crib. T. S. Eliot's Wise Men speak in an absurd echo of Four Yorkshiremen Do Christmas, moaning with would-be stoicism 'A cold coming we had of it/Just the worst time of the year … And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory'. Like pampered dwellers in the Ivory Tower, they soon let slip the perks of their lifestyle ('the summer palaces on slopes, the terraces/ And the silken girls bringing sherbet').
I'd like to imagine it's only Magi – or perhaps senior professors – who presume they deserve a research lifestyle smoothed around the edges by the silent attentions of feminine bringers of drinks (and, presumably, preparers of astrolabes and wrappers of boxes of myrrh). But there's a wider academic culture that functions on these expectations. You see it at conferences, in senior common rooms, in libraries. Sitting in Newnham Senior Common Room the other week, I overheard the tail-end of a conversation between two (youngish) men. As one made to pick up his cup and return it to the tray, the other casually instructed him 'you don't need to do that' – even though a female colleague was, just then, doing exactly that piece of clearing up. After all, some unobtrusive non-academic person would soon pop by, with fresh coffee, to tidy the papers and pick up cups left on various surfaces.
The entitlement of this little episode, which casually presumes that someone else will do the clearing so long as we do the hard thinking, makes me rather uncomfortable with the trappings of academia. It also makes me think again about the reasons why hard thinking has become synonymous with freeing oneself from distractions. I have seen several articles recently that claim, approvingly, that good researchers are those who stick at a problem longer than everyone else, who become single-minded in pursuit of an answer. This concentration is, obviously, an awful lot easier with a certain kind of freedom from other obligations. The pram in the hall is the enemy of promise, Cyril Connolly helpfully claimed; Virginia Woolf equally helpfully suggested that a women needs 'a room of one's own'. I would find these quotations less annoying had I heard them less frequently over the last few months.
I think that, especially for women writers and academics, the rhetoric of freedom from distractions has been internalised, and has turned in on itself as a means of self-flagellation. We express guilty regret for insufficient productivity and efficiency, for too many hours spent in procrastination, too many dead-end tasks, too few publications. We need to be more focussed, more single-minded, more concentrated, say my friends and (mostly female …) colleagues. As we balk at leaving the coffee cups on the table, we tell ourselves we need to stamp down on the day-dreaming and the wasted time. While we meet with upset students or respond to distressed colleagues or pick up crying babies, we resolve to be less easily distracted.
I kept telling myself these things too, as I wondered why I hadn't written as many papers as I believe I ought to have done. I sat down to work out where the year went. In March this year, my daughter was born. I submitted and received the contract for my first book (forthcoming from Boydell and Brewer). I had my first article accepted (forthcoming in The Chaucer Review in April 2018). I wrote and submitted my second article (Postmedieval). I organised a series conference sessions with Emma Bérat for our project on Women's Strategies of Memory at Leeds IMC 2018. I started a new job at Newnham College as affiliated lecturer and Director of Studies while my lovely colleague is off on maternity leave, and I found a home for a third paper in an edited collection put together by the fabulous Carissa Harris, Liza Strakhov and Sarah Baechle. Before we quite get to the end of 2017, I'd like to finish writing my paper for the Gender and Medieval Studies conference in early January.
This past term, my partner went back to work 3.5 days a week. I had 12 hours teaching for my first and second-year medievalists at Newnham and Murray Edwards, which fitted into the remaining 1.5 days she was at home with the baby. My marking (22 essays, so around another 11 hours), teaching prep, admin, and all of my own writing and research, happened around the baby. She learned to stand up grabbing onto the chairs in my office, and babbled through a lot of phone meetings with the Senior Tutor in one especially fraught week. Midway through term, in November, I had surgery to remove a 20cm cyst in my ovary, and after term ended, I came back for another week of admissions interviews (and felt devoutly thankful that my colleague, the other Newnham DoS, was doing most of the admin!).
During this past term, I followed my friend Rachel Moss's posts (here and here) as she movingly and thoughtfully discussed the ways in which our bodies and our physical circumstances shape our academic work. Her posts made me gratefully aware of how lucky I am, but also made me think about my own changing ways of being productive. In a sense, being very busy with a baby seems to be a highly concentrated state of thinking. You have no option but to focus on one strand of thought. You don't have time to daydream. It looks awfully like what high-achieving scholars piously claim is the ideal … only, funnily enough, it doesn't quite feel as stimulating and efficient as they suggest.
Big, speculative tangents that take you from Chaucer to the Heroides to the Middle English Dictionary to Bourdieu aren't going to happen if the second priority in your mind is always 'can I pin this paragraph down before the baby crawls off the edge of the sofa?' Like the Dreamer in Pearl, more elusively rounded thoughts tended to slip through my fingers 'from grass to ground,' and get lost.
I thought, wistfully, about the way in which medieval dream-visions operate on multiple levels, constantly throwing up speculative possibilities and inviting us to fellow tangents and digress down unexpected paths. I thought about St Augustine, calmly dissecting the processes of his own memory as he ponders the experience of reciting a psalm, all the while conscious of the remarkable way the text winds itself through the reciting mind from anticipation to memory. I thought, and I began to doubt, somewhat, that what these ideal academics are doing when they free themselves from distractions really is single-minded, concentrated thinking.
I am not suggesting we should all equip ourselves with climbing babies, still less that we should be martyrishly positive in the face of unethically busy workloads or crises with student mental health, or (god forbid) our own health issues. But I would like to see a version of academia in which we could take the time to consider how these things shape our thoughts, where we could acknowledge that being single-minded and concentrated is, in fact, a poor way of thinking. Perhaps if the Magi had bothered to make the sherbet themselves, the break from star-charts might have stimulated a new approach to a problem. Perhaps they would have arrived on time. Perhaps if the men in Newnham Common Room had picked up their coffee cups for themselves, they would have found themselves chatting (as I have) with a chance-met colleague who offered a completely unexpected new perspective on a piece of work.
Speculative, open-ended, seemingly 'trivial' conversations led to some of the work I'm most excited to be settling down to for the next year. Many of these conversations were 'distractions' from work – chats about babies and health issues, jokes about fertility clinics or surgical wards. But they turned into serious thoughts about how the printing press changed the available ways for thinking about (queer) reproductivity, about how Chaucer's Legend of Good Women is interested in the sterility of inherited Classical narratives; about how the pardon Langland's Piers Plowman rips in fury is, in a sense, also the textual body of the infant Christ, both mutilated and brought to birth.
My New Year's Resolution won't therefore be to be more productive or more driven – but to celebrate the speculative, thoughtful, unfocussed moments we need to value more in our own work and in each other.


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New "Wild Lands" Policy Signs
Per chance some riders are not aware of a Congressional hearing tomorrow regarding the Department of Interior's new "Wild Lands" policy, HQ wanted you to be sure and utilize the BRC's letter generator to let Congress know how you feel about more land closures.
Earlier today, BRC issued a National Alert on the congressional hearing tomorrow. Although the main focus of the hearing is how this 21st Century de facto Wilderness designation could impact rural economies and businesses, HQ believes recreationists should weigh about their loss of access as well.
BRC Alert with Background Information and Letter Generator
HQ already sent a letter in using this system. It is real easy. Please take a few minutes to send in your letter about how you feel regarding this new (it's really nothing new… just a not so cleaver repackaging of Wilderness or other non-motorized land designation/classification schemes) closure plan.
HQ knows a lot of you have been fighting other state and federal land-use battles throughout the West, but it is important for you and your friends to stay on point and send in a letter on this issue too.
Thanks in advance for your service!


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Have you ever trekked across country in your car? I mean REALLY driven across country, living in your car for several days, taking breaks and staying at hotels and an occasional Air B'n'B ? Now, try a multi-day road trip with four cats, three children, two snakes and a bearded dragon! Yes, that is an experience of a lifetime - and I know because I created THIS experience when I moved from Florida to Utah, and it was the most memorable road trip experience. And right about now you are probably saying to yourself, "this woman is crazy", you're right (and my family would agree with you); but the point is, there are many experiences to have while on a road trip, which you wouldn't get via another transportation.
The road trip you are most likely thinking about are the leisurely vacation types, without the carload of animals and add a SO or a good friend or your family. Driving leisurely down scenic byways
and zipping by on freeways to get to your destination, a road trip can be an experience you'll never forget. Stop and take gorgeous pictures on your every whim and listen while your family says, "do we have to stop AGAIN", then find an out of the way cafe to eat lunch at and find a place to stop and have some fun, like a petting zoo! Yes, there is a petting zoo off of I-84 in Utah, which is a favorite stop of mine! Can you tell I like animals?
How do you know where to stop? You don't know and that's the fun! So how do you plan, when you don't know where to stop? Check out these tips to create a fun road trip experience (minus the traveling zoo!).
Want the best road trip to see as much as possible on your trek? Take your time. Make driving time between three to four hours a day. Driving at this pace will allow your road crew to stop at several random points of interest which sound fascinating. One stop we found when travelling across country was a museum of the movement across the wild west. An old timer was dressed in period clothing, greeting you at the door. Walking through the exhibit took you through time travel in experiencing the old west! We would never have found this on our own, we saw the advertisement while driving on the highway.
Looking to get to your destination a bit faster, create a schedule with five to six hours of drive time per day. Doesn't sound like a lot of time to spend driving, but, trust me, your legs and buttox will feel it! With driving at this pace, you can pick up one big fun and random stop along the way to your final destination and a couple of smaller stops such as a walk through a half-mile trail at a park, a locally owned ice cream shop or a town festival. No matter where you are, you are sure to find an interesting and inviting place to stop.
Road trips are unique because you can't experience a trip any other way than by car. Traveling by car offers a more cultural and intricate vacation experience. Roadtripping offers you in-depth and tailored adventures suited for you! Next trip, consider taking your car - you'll be glad you did - and remember to stop by the petting zoo when you're in Utah!
For great advice on how to travel gluten-free, grab my Guide to Traveling Gluten-Free on Amazon today!
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August 2022


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广西离瓣寄生 guang xi li ban ji sheng
Shrubs ca. 0.7 m tall, branchlets and leaves densely yellow, stellate pubescent when young, becoming glabrous. Branches grayish, lenticellate. Leaves alternate or subopposite; petiole 2-4 mm; leaf blade ovate or obovate, 2-3 × 1-2 cm, thinly leathery, lateral veins 2 pairs, abaxially obscure, base broadly cuneate, apex obtuse. Racemes solitary or 2- or 3-fascicled, axillary, densely 2-4-flowered; peduncle ca. 1 mm, stellate pubescent; bracts ovate-triangular ca. 1 mm. Flowers 4-merous. Pedicel ca. 3 mm. Calyx ellipsoid, ca. 1.5 mm, limb annular, entire or 4-denticulate. Mature bud subclavate. Corolla yellowish, pubescent, petals linear-spatulate, 3-3.5 mm, reflexed from middle. Filaments ca. 1.5 mm; anthers 2-loculed, ca. 0.5 mm, connective broad. Style slightly 4-angled, ca. 3 mm; stigma subcapitate. Berry yellowish or orange ellipsoid, ca. 7 × 3-4 mm, smooth. Fl. Aug-Nov, fr. Nov-Dec.
* Forests on mountain slopes; 300-1000 m. SE Guangxi, SW Hainan.
The plants are parasitic on Camellia oleifera.
Treatments in Other Floras @ www.efloras.org
Chinese Plant Names
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MBARendezvous.com -India's content lead MBA website has started series of articles to equip MBA aspirants with general awareness with the hope that you would get success in various MBA entrance exams
Following article on" Understanding CESS" is part of our series on general awareness:
Cess is a form of payment which is imposed on public for accomplishing a particularly defined task. For instance, Road cess is imposed on Petrol/diesel to fund the National Highway Development Project; education cess is imposed on all indirect taxes to fund the cost of universalization of education.
Therefore, the cess is also known as an earmarked tax It is different from tax in such a manner that while imposing tax, the government never defines the avenues in which the proceeds of a particular tax will be spend. As indirect taxes are of two types viz. Ad valorem and specific duty, cess can also be ad valorem or specific where former is imposed on the basis of specific attributes of a commodity like weight, size, volume, length etc.
The Road cess in India imposed on sale of High Speed Diesels and petrol comes under this category as government collects Rs2 on every litre of fuel sold. The education cess is Ad valorem in nature as it is imposed on the value of tax. For instance, if indirect tax estimation of a commodity is Rs1000, then 2 percent education cess means Rs20 which depends on the value of tax but not on the specific attributes of the commodity or services.
Another quality of road cess is that it is based on the benefit approach of tax theory according to which, tax/cess is collected by those who will use the services. Since most of the vehicles in all likelihood ply on National highways, the disadvantage suffered by them in paying the tax is compensated by the benefit derived by plying on good roads in the form of saving of time and fuel among others. In the 11th plan (2007-12), the Government is estimated to have collected Rs 38,771 crore as road cess and Rs 54,898 crore should be generated through road cess in the 12th plan to meet the huge funding requirement of central road projects.
Recently, a Working Group on Urban Transport headed by former Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan suggested that to generate resources for public transport projects, a green surcharge of Rs 2 per litre on petrol, a green cess of 3 per cent of the annual insured value of all private vehicles, and a urban transport tax on purchase of new cars and two-wheelers at 7.5 per cent of the total cost of petrol vehicles and 20 per cent in case of personal diesel cars may be levied. Since all these proposed charges are aimed at particular goal, they can also be kept under the category of cess.
Education cess was introduced in 2004, when the Central Government levied a 2% education cess on practically all the major central taxes. Reportedly, an estimated amount of Rs 60,000 crores has been collected till December 2011. Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK) has been established since November 2005 as a dedicated non-lapsable fund to receive the proceeds of the cess.
Education Cess is not a part of the net proceeds of the divisible pool of sharable taxes based on constitutional provisions and as per the recommendations of the Twelfth Finance Commission, the proceeds of Education Cess credited into a non-lapsable fund called Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK) are utilized exclusively for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme.
Expenditure on SSA and MDM Scheme is incurred from PSK after the funds provided by way of Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) are fully utilized. No specific allocation is made separately to States/UTs against the amount collected through Education Cess. Assistance under PSK is released to States/UTs as per the schematic pattern and budgetary allocation for SSA and MDM Scheme.
The 1% secondary and higher education cess was introduced in Budget 2007-08 to fund secondary and higher education as well as for the expansion of capacity by 54% for reservation for socially and educationally backward classes.
However, education cess is criticized because its utilization is unclear. There is no accountability about how the education cess has been used. The irony is that neither Ministry of Finance nor HRD are coming out with one clear figure. The total amount of cess collected seems to vary as per the estimates of both the ministries.
There are other cesses also imposed by state and local governments also like coal cess, water cess, Solid waste management cess etc to ensure supply of clean water and proper waste disposal in the city.
The advantage of cess over tax is that former has a clear direction regarding the development activities for which it must be spent and thus the authorities are more accountable for proper utilization of cess proceeds but such accountability is lacking particularly in case of education cess in India.
Further, when the fundamental purpose of government revenue from all sources of taxes on income, sales, excise etc is to fund development expenditure & then the need of cess to fund the spending on basic education, public health and basic infrastructure means that primary revenue has been diverted to non-development avenues.
Update your GK / General Awareness and stay tuned to www.mbarendezvous.com - MBA Website, MBA Portal


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A firm or sector which provides profit for both service providers and consumers, and which the services of the business are always in demand is known as printing service business. This sector helps us to reduce workforce, saves money and can be started with minimum investment, but it delivers massive turnover at every end of the year. 3D printing plays a vital role in Hollywood because which transforms imaginary thoughts of the movie maker into a real one. Many printing companies in Singapore import highly equipped printers to provide high-quality printing materials.
The most important thing in designing a business card is getting all details from top to bottom from the client which includes his company name, owner name, contact details, and his design preferences. Using fonts in the card must be in the form of readable type and don't make it much smaller or very larger because it will create uneasy for the business people. For the creative business card, we can use bright and light colors which will deliver the stunning look and black and white design can provide a pleasant look. Name card printing or business card printing is always done in the design taste of the company that includes company color, company logo and information to be displayed on the card. A thickness of the card with unique finishing can provide the luxurious look, and it is pleasant to deliver in the business meeting. Make your card simple by giving essentials information like firms services, firms communication details because too many aspects can provide irritation. Provide the essential knowledge of the sector in the center of the card because it is readable and safer during cutting process of the business card.
In Singapore name card or business card printing designers prefers the advance design to attract the client and unique design skills can provide strong basement and high demand in the market. Advanced design techniques include implementation of QR code it might take an ample space in the business card, but it will provide all the information of the firm like services and contact details which will deliver classy and professional look. Use recycled materials for card making because it will reduce paper usage and it will be eco-friendly and providing recycle usage logo at the end of the card can provide clients eco green awareness to others. In the card printing use different shapes because it will offer the exciting look and it protects from wear and tear effect. Many printing companies in Singapore provides free printing at an initial stage of the business to show their unique design skills, and after getting a response from the clients, they will provide high-quality business cards at a payable rate.
Don't make blender mistakes like spelling mistakes in the contact details which includes the mobile number, landline number, address of the sector and email address because this will predict you as unprofessional in the market. A home-based printing business is stickers printing Singapore peoples earn more profit through this, and they provide branded look for clients firm. Sticker printing is very famous among young people because they will stick their favoured actor or actress photos in the vehicles like car, bike and sticking famous quotes in the car is the latest fashion in the sticker printing business. Sticker printing is used in sports zone, shopping center, amusement parks and music sector. Sticker printing is used as a favorite and promotional tool for launching new products of the company to survive in the business and to earn a profit.


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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. All Americans can celebrate it, we can all get together as a family, give thanks for the many blessings in our lives, and eat!-all without the stress of finding the "perfect" gift or fear of political correctness!
Unfortunately, however, knowing that this might be the last Thanksgiving with an aging loved one can produce enormous pressure to make the holiday especially significant. In fact, when faced with the inevitable, many family members try to make up for 40, 50, or 60+ years of a less than close relationship in 1 day and set goals such as:
~ Preserve the family history
~ Erase all the years of animosity
~ Get answers to all the questions about your childhood
~ Get answers to all the questions about their childhood
~ Make this the holiday you become the Walton\'s
While it may well be sadly true that this will be the last Thanksgiving you share with your aging loved one, going into the holiday with unrealistic expectations – that everything must be done now – just ratchets up the anxiety and makes the day more difficult and stressful than it needs to be – and lessens the likelihood of success.
So, what do you do?
~ To begin with, keep your level of expectations realistic. Rather than think of this holiday as the one that finalizes everything, instead, think of it as the one that gets the process started.
~ Slow down the day – leave time for a number of quiet conversations rather than 1 big, significant one.
~ Start with "easy" topics such as your aging loved one\'s Thanksgiving traditions. Learning about their history can often explain decisions they made later in life.
~ Focus on objects such as family possessions or photographs. You might even want to pull out old photo albums or home movies and get the whole family involved.
~ Let the stories go where they go naturally. Trying to force a direction often stops the progress in its tracks.
Remember, an open door to future conversations in the holidays to come may be your most realistic expectation – and the one that reaps the biggest reward.
© Copyright AgeWiseLiving® 2007 You can find information about Generational Coaching, AgeWiseLiving® seminars and free teleseminars, and to sign up for Barbara\'s free monthly newsletter at http://www.agewiseliving.com/ or by calling toll-free (877) AGE-WISE. Barbara E. Friesner is the country\'s leading Generational Coach and expert on issues affecting seniors and their families. She is an adjunct professor at Cornell University, where she created and teaches "Seniors Housing Management" at Cornell\'s School of Hotel Administration.


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Broken promises are recyclable
… or at least biodegradable.
note: a promise … I cross my heart
a broken promise … I double cross my heart.
double note: broken promises are liabilities
promises are reliabilities.
triple note: there is no "compromise" in a promise, but there is a "promise" in compromise … for some reason.
quadruple note: this guy makes me laugh everytime I see him … I'm sure he says the same thing about me … so we are even.
quintuple note: bicycles are recyclable.
notes to myself #189
You don't belong to too many clubs … and none of them have cool clubhouses either.


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On January 23rd The Bulletin of Atomic scientists' doomsday clock moved to 100 seconds to midnight. Rising geopolitical tensions, warmongering rhetoric from world leaders and an erosion of the rules-based international order means the risk of nuclear war is shamefully re-emerging.
Doctors in Unite recognises the futility of maintaining Trident. Nuclear weapons are a wholly ineffective countermeasure against the UK's disparate security threats. The cost of maintaining them is astronomical, money which could be far better spent elsewhere.
We call for unilateral nuclear disarmament. The Trident weapons system should be scrapped, and alternative and equivalent employment for those UK workers currently involved in the nuclear weapons programme must be provided.
Following a motion proposed by Dr Thabo Miller, our union will affiliate with the campaign group International Physicians for the Preventions of Nuclear War. We also urge the whole of Unite to follow our lead, and affiliate with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.


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- Rating: [rating:3/5]
This is the story about a coffee that got its big break: a spiffy new package — with birds and butterflies and lots and lots of green leaves — and brand new positioning in the organic aisle of your local supermarket. It had the look. But on the inside… really it was just the same ol' bean. A little earthy. A little nutty. A little sweet. And just a touch confused.
It's also a little cracked. Literally. There's a lot of broken beans in the bag, and from their crispy edges I'd say that's pre-roast breakage, and not a question of handling post-roast. And while its label reads, "light to medium roast," it's full-on, full-city; there's no shortage of surface oil on these beans.
Just ground its fragrance offers a fair amount of chocolate, spice and just a whiff of bitter fruit… Cranberry? Sour cherry? It's a tough call. And a brief one, as its aroma while brewing quickly shifts from fruit of any sort to a tug of war between notes of cocoa and wet tree bark. In the cup, much of the cocoa remains, but a battle wages, still: there's rooty flavors and peaty flavors and eventually, as the cup cools, just as most every flavor loses ground to pine resin roast notes, it's saved by a finish that fairly oozes sweet caramel.
If coffees were plot-lines it would be a cliche: the cup that wanted to have it all — to be everything to everyone and really make its mark on the world — and that on the brink of losing everything discovers a moment of sincere sweetness that's almost startling.
Recommended… with faint praise, but a romantic's optimism.


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Since 1989, Trans-Pro Logistics has delivered premium transport solutions for the North American market. With a network of over 35,000 screened & evaluated small to mid-sized carriers and committed owner operators, our team of experienced freight shipping professionals are ready 24/7 to manage all your transport challenges.
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Jesus observes and appreciates nature
Jesus constantly calls his disciples and his followers to look at the world around them. His teaching regularly draws on examples and illustrations from the world of plants and animals, and it seems that Jesus just sees a layer of meaning in everything around him. The sun, the rain, birds, trees, the cycles of the seasons, each of these tells him something about God the father. And so Jesus' teachings do not propose a philosophy or a merely intellectual perspective – his is a theology of the everyday. Read through the Sermon on the Mount sometime, and spot the down-to-earth imagery:
- The earth: heaven and earth, sun, rain, sand, rock, floods and storms.
- The human body: hands, heart, head, the face, eyes, teeth, and cheeks.
- Plants: trees, lilies, grass, grapes, figs, thorn bushes and thistles.
- Animals: birds, dogs, pigs, fish, snakes, sheep, and wolves.
The Sermon on the Mount is just one example. Again and again Jesus poetically makes his point with allusions to nature: "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests" (Matt 8:20) "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" (10:29) "How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!" (12:12) "A tree is recognized by its fruit." (12:33)
If it strikes you that there is something wonderfully innocent and childlike about Jesus' observations about the world around him, you would not be the first to notice. Jesus said the same thing himself: "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." (11:25)


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West Side Alliance S.C. is excited to announce its partnership with Demosphere and the launching of a new look website that will hopefully enhance the club's web presence and improve the functionality of the site. "The growth of our program required a new strategy to updating the website," reports club Director of Coaching, Roger Bush.
Continue article by clicking here...
New Look for WSA Website (cont.)
The new site will enable multiple web administrators to play a role in keeping the site up to date. While there will be many new looks to the new site, there was a strong and sincere effort to maintain some of the key hallmarks of the previous site. Bush points out web designers, Skip Whitehurst, Cecilia Whitehurst, Joey Kennington, and Jason Foster for their hard work on the WSA website over the past 15 years. One of the primary advantages of the new site will be the ability of teams to access and to maintain their own team pages. "Keeping Mark Foster happy is always at the forefront of our decision making process," reports Bush.
In addition to many new features including video platforms, sponsorship links, and calendars, the club will also simultaneously launch a college profile platform allowing the over 100 college prospects currently playing for WSA to administer and update their resumes and profiles from their own computer. "It is a step in the right direction and something we need to do on behalf of our older players in the club," says Ryan Bush.
While the previous website was not kept up to date, that will change now. Expect the website to become a very functional and useful tool for players, parents, coaches and administrators. The first new article of the new website era at WSA has been posted!


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Swedbank said separately it had launched an external review, after some of its top investors urged it to ensure the allegations were independently examined.
A television report on Sweden's public broadcaster SVT on Wednesday alleged that money laundering could have occurred in relation to at least 40 billion Swedish crowns ($4.30 billion) transferred between Baltics accounts at Swedbank and Danske between 2007 and 2015.
Danske is being investigated in five countries over some 200 billion euros ($226 billion) of suspicious payments from Russia, ex-Soviet states and elsewhere that were found to have flowed through its Estonian branch.
The Financial Supervisory Authorities of Estonia and Sweden said in a joint statement the money-laundering report was very serious.
"The Estonian and Swedish FSAs have today agreed to initiate a joint investigation with the purpose of closely examining the information reported by SVT."
They said the Bank of Lithuania had also agreed to participate. Lithuania's financial regulator said it would separately examine Swedbank's local operations.
Latvia's financial regulator said it had fined Swedbank in 2016 for not paying "sufficient attention" to transactions that "had no apparent economic or visible lawful purpose". The regulator said Swedbank had failed at the time to obtain documents and data on the customers.
Swedbank said it had appointed audit firm EY to carry out an external investigation and to report the results to its board of directors before its annual general meeting on March 28.
"Preventing and averting money laundering is one of the bank's most important responsibilities," Swedbank CEO Birgitte Bonnesen said in a statement.
Bonnesen had said on Wednesday she was confident about the bank's actions to prevent money laundering but could not promise that nothing had slipped through the net.
Swedbank shares fell almost 14 percent on Wednesday in their biggest intraday fall since the financial crisis. They closed down 9.3 percent on Thursday to 165.05 Swedish crowns, and having lost more than a fifth of their value in two days.
Swedbank is the largest bank in the Baltics with around 3.3 million retail customers and around 300,000 corporate customers. The Baltics accounted for just under a fifth of Swedbank's revenue in 2018.
Analysts have highlighted the risk to Swedbank of a potential criminal complaint from Bill Browder, once one of the biggest foreign money managers in Russia, who is now campaigning to expose corruption.
Related Coverage
- Swedbank initiates external review of money laundering report
Browder, founder and CEO of investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, told Reuters on Thursday he intended to file a criminal complaint against Swedbank with Swedish authorities.
Browder has also urged various government authorities to bring money laundering cases against Danske.
"We see the prospect of a criminal lawsuit from Bill Browder and any potential U.S. investigation as price-sensitive issues," Jefferies analysts said.


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Meteocentrale Switzerland
Weather situation
On Meteocentrale you will find current weather data, local weather forecasts and a treasure of useful information around weather. Thanks to our high-resolution weather radar and current severe weather warnings there will be no nasty surprise any more.
Highest temperatures
|Basel-St. Jakob-Park
|Oberwil (BL)
|Wintersingen (BL)
Lowest temperatures
|Buffalora (Ofenpass)
|Kleines Matterhorn
The climate in Switzerland
The climate in Switzerland is strongly influenced by the Alps extending across the country and representing the most important meteorological divide in Central Europe. Thanks to the Alps, large climatic differences in Switzerland are to be found within a small geographic area. The largest contrasts exist between the northern side of the Alps with its temperatre climate and the southern side of the Alps characterized by mediterranean climate.
In the Swiss Midland, extending between Lake Geneva and Lake Constance as well as between Jura and the Pre-Alps, climatic conditions which are typical for Central Europe are to be found. The average annual temperature is just below 10 °C, with mean values around the freezing point in January and between 16 and 19 °C in July. The average annual precipitation amounts are just above 1000 mm. In winter often a so-called inversion layer results in a large-scale low stratus cloud coverage which partly persists for several days or even weeks. Thereby the cold wind from northeast (named Bise) is pressed between Jura and Pre-Alps and can thus reach gale-force on the western shores of Lake Geneva.
In the northwest the Jura chain edges the Midland. With average altitudes ranging from 1000 to 1500 metres it has slightly more humid and lower temperatures in comparison with the Midland. In summer, thunderstorms are more frequent. In winter, so-called cold air pools form inside of closed valleys during windless and cloudless nights, which are responsible for especially low temperatures. Therefore, the lowest temperature ever reached was -41.8 °C, recorded in La Brévine (January 12th 1987).
The Pre-Alps as a transition between Midland and alpine region are among the most diversified areas in Switzerland concerning the weather. Humid air masses coming from Northern Europe dam up along the Pre-Alps and frequently cause large amounts of precipitation – significantly larger ones than in the Alps. Here again, thunderstorms become more frequent, not seldom accompanied by intensive hail. During Foehn (a warm and dry wind coming from south) conditions, the temperatures are substantially higher than in the Midland and thanks to the dry air a spectacular visibility can often be enjoyed. But beware of its strength: During a Foehn storm sailors are recommended to avoid Lake of Uri, Lake Brienz or Lake Walen, for example!
The Alps accommodate a high complexity of microclimates commonly changing within a few kilometres depending on the slope or a valley's orientation. So-called intra-alpine dry valleys as Valais (Rhone Valley) or Engadine are topographically shielded to the north as well as to the south. These regions not only get a lot of sun (the Kleines Matterhorn above Zermatt and the Diavolezza in the Upper Engadine with 2000 to 2500 sunshine hours per year) but also accommodate the driest place in Switzerland (Ackersand in the Matter Valley with about 500 mm per year). In addition, heavy thunderstorms occur less often than elsewhere in Switzerland.
The Simplon region, Ticino and the southern Grisons are counted the southern Alps, characterized a meditterranen type of climate. Average temperatures are higher (Locarno-Monti for instance has 11.5 °C on average) and dry periods are longer than elsewhere making it a popular holiday destination. However, if a low pressure area develops over the Gulf of Genoa, enormous amounts of precipitation can occur within a very short time. When a severe weather warning is issued keep away of creeks and rivers which might become riptides! Concerning the amount of precipitation, Camedo in Centovalli is record holder with 2400 mm per year.
Favourite cities Switzerland
|Weather Berne
|Weather Geneva
|Weather Basel
|Weather Chur
|Weather La Chaux-de-Fonds
|Weather Sion
|Weather Lugano
|Weather Montreux
|Weather Zermatt
|Weather St. Gallen


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Chunky Board
This board is very practical and can be used for slicing and serving. The perfect size for breakfast or lunch or when serving an hearty table
14"L x 12"W
14"L x 12"W
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Each one of our boards is named after a landmark in Kerry, Ireland. The link between the Chopping and Serving boards and their names is that they are made in the heart of the Kingdom of Kerry and sourced from sustainable 100% Irish hardwoods.
The boards can be used as Bread Boards, Cheese Boards, Chopping Boards and Serving Boards


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PolyDrain Overlay Rails (set of 2)
Overlay Rails are made of galvanized steel, stainless steel or brass and are applied to any standard channels. They cover and protect the channel edge in medium-duty traffic applications. When visual aesthetics are important, the Overlay Rails enhance the appearance of the PolyDrain channels. (Overlay rails for end plates are available).


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Original Ebru art in soft blue colors on beautiful Angel Wings, made of feathers.
The Angel Wings series is a tribute to my sister Cherie, who passed away in 2011, and April who passed away in 2009. April is the sister of my friend and colleague Tammy.
I decided to start a special fund that will be used to encourage art in our community. Next to her son John and Christmas, Angels were Cherie's favorite thing ever. And now she is one, as is April.
Money generated from the sales of – or donations to – the angel wings will be put into the Cherie and April Angel Wings Fund, which will be used to provide art classes and supplies for various art forms to those in the community who wish to participate but can't otherwise afford it – including but not limited to kids, veterans and seniors.
Size: Approximately 16 (w) x 12″ (h). Includes bands on the back to wear or hang.
How is this made?
This ancient Turkish art involves first floating acrylic paints on water, then manipulating the design on the water by hand using a stylus or various forms of rakes and combs before finally being transferred to beautiful feathers that make up these amazing angel wings. You can also use other fabric types and papers.
Can the angel wings be framed?
Yes, absolutely! Fabric art is lovely and efforts should be made to preserve your piece. You can use a standard frame or get a custom frame, depending on your personal preference.
Can I do it too?
Yes, of course you can! You can do it on your own, or you can come to one of my art parties. Check out my Art Workshops page or simply contact me to set up a new workshop.


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World Hindi Day 2013
World Hindi Day was commemorated last Thursday, January 10 in Mauritius and other countries. On the occasion, the propagation of the languagWorld Hindi Day 2013
World Hindi Day was commemorated last Thursday, January 10 in Mauritius and other countries. On the occasion, the propagation of the language in different parts of the globe and its adaptation to the changing world as well as the contribution of the Hindi cinema in the promotion of Hindi was highlighted.
World Hindi Day is observed every year since January 10 in Mauritius after the first World Hindi Conference held in Nagpur in 1975 while the first celebrations of Hindi Day took place in Delhi in 2002.
The World Hindi Secretariat (WHS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Human Resources and the Indian High Commission along with other local institutions celebrated the World Hindi Day at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Indian Culture (IGCIC), Phoenix, on Thursday last. The main theme of the celebrations was: 'Chitrapat aur Hindi' - the propagation of Hindi worldwide through popular Hindi movies - A tribute to Hundred Years of Hindi Cinema.'
This year, to mark the occasion, Prof. Herman Hendrik Van Olphen, a renowned Hindi scholar from the University of Texas, Austin, was the chief guest. In his keynote address, he stressed that "the battle for the promotion of Hindi belongs to everyone." He also outlined the evolution of Hindi in the United States during the last five decades.
"Some 50 years ago, there was little presence of Hindi in the States and less than ten universities offered programmes in Hindi. In 1958, the teaching of Chinese, Arabic, Russian and Hindi was considered and with the increased arrival of Indian immigrants, the presence of Hindi was strengthened. Presently, there are government aids for the teaching and/or learning of Hindi, Bangla and Punjabi in the US. Hindi is being taught in summer and at the University of Texas, Hindi and Urdu are being taught six hours per week since 2006," shared Prof. Van Olphen with the audience entirely in Hindi and the correct pronunciation.
For Dr Vasant Bunwaree, Education Minister, Hindi has become a major international language and appealed to parents to encourage their children in learning Hindi. "Hindi has a journey of more than 1,000 years and it is keeping pace with the fast-changing world be it in the field of education, technology, business and entertainment. It is not going to help if Hindi does not move with time and evolve with technology. My Ministry wants languages to move in this direction where technology makes learning and teaching more interesting," he said.
The celebration comprised live musical and dance performances by local artistes. Lastly, a film depicting the evolution of Hindi and its propagation through popular media, that is Indian cinema (which is also celebrating its centenary this year), was also shown.
Vishwa Hindi Patrika
The 4th issue of the annual magazine Vishwa Hindi Patrika of the (WHS) was also launched on that day. A printed copy as well as the electronic version of the magazine on the website of the WHS was also presented.
Also, a special page on the website entitled 'Har Diwas Hindi Diwas' which talks of any event related to Hindi on any other day was launched.
100 years of Hindi writing
Mauritius is considered as one of the countries which have contributed immensely to the propagation of the language. This year marks the centenary of Hindi writing in Mauritius. The World Hindi Secretariat will stage several activities to commemorate this event on March 2, 2013.
Winners of International Hindi Short Story Competition
The World Hindi Secretariat had launched the International Hindi Competition of short stories last year. The names of the winners were announced on the occasion of the World Hindi Day. There were three winners from Mauritius: Bhawna Horeesorun (tie at the first place), Farook Rujal and Vinaye Goodary.
Hindi-French Dictionary
A Hindi-French Dictionary by Vijaye Kumar Beeharry, O.S.K, was launched on the occasion of World Hindi Day. The dictionary of 150 pages contains some 10,000 words and expressions and provides not only a literal translation of the words, but gives the different meanings of the words in different contexts.
Published on: Friday 18 January 2013


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This past week I had the opportunity to meet with a new client to help her de-clutter and organize her garage. Her goal is simple: to be able to park her vehicle (s) inside leaving some room for storage. Sounds easy, right?
According to a recent study, only 25% of Americans with 2-car garages are able to park 1 vehicle inside and over 50% of homeowners rate the garage as the most disorganized place in the house.
It's no wonder Garages are one of the most overwhelming areas of the home to organize.
If you want to avoid scraping frost off your windshield each morning now is the time to pick a weekend and purge some clutter before the weather gets too cold.
Below are the HOW, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY to helping you have the garage of your dreams:
HOW: Empty the space. The best way to truly de-clutter and organize your space is to empty all of the contents, sort what you have, and purge what you don't need. I call this my Organizing ESP (EMPTY, SORT, PURGE)
WHAT: Decide what you want to store in your garage. Currently anything and everything that doesn't have a home is living in your garage. Now it's time to purge the clutter and streamline the rest.
WHERE: Create zones for each area. You want to be able to find things quickly so the best way to do so is to create "zones" for each separate area. For example: gardening, tools, seasonal storage, sporting equipment.
WHEN: Invest in product. Once you've determined what items are remaining and what zones you have you can now look at product. Which product is best for your needs will depend on the purpose your garage is serving. ***You want to make sure that you maximize vertical space (keep as much of the floor free from clutter), use clear bins (for easy identification of contents), and stay away from cardboard that can damage the contents if it gets wet.
WHY: Paint. The garage should be an extension of your home. Walking into a room that is freshly painted automatically gives the illusion of a clean and organized space.
Maintenance is key to keeping your garage organized; following these simple steps will help keep you on track, and your space free from clutter.
Happy Organizing!


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The Devastating Photo That Single-Handedly Changed The Public Opinion On The AIDS Crisis
The 1980s AIDS crisis wasn't initially met with compassion. It was swept under the rug, regarded as a gay issue that didn't affect most people. The Reagan Administration's views on AIDS were equal parts ignorant and ambivalent. It was clear they didn't understand the disease when in 1982, Press Secretary Larry Speakes actually joked with a reporter about the epidemic, alluding to the fact that anyone who knows about the issue must be gay themselves. Thousands of people thought you could contract AIDS simply from touching an infected person, and thousands more were unknowingly carrying around the virus thinking they were untouchable. The disease was harshly dubbed the "gay plague," and it took a few shocking celebrity tell-alls and one haunting photograph of an AIDS patient to change public opinion.
The early 1990s were a turning point for activists lobbying for government intervention and awareness. AIDS patient David Kirby unwittingly became the face of AIDS when the powerful image of him moments before his death was used in a 1992 ad campaign by clothing retailers Benetton. Just a year prior, famed basketball player Magic Johnson told a packed room of sports reporters he was HIV-positive. These two events greatly helped Americans realize the virus could affect whole communities and, by 1993, President Bill Clinton created the White House Office of National AIDS Policy.
But none of this may have happened if Therese Frare wasn't invited into that haunting hospital room. Here is the story of the single photograph that changed the way people viewed AIDS.
David Kirby's Photo Was Published By LIFE In 1990
In November of 1990, Life magazine published the haunting photo, which depicted David Kirby, a young man who was in a losing battle with AIDS, in the moments before his last breath. The picture was powerfully tragic – Kirby's thin limbs contorting as he stared into nothing, the faces of his family as they watched him suffer.
The photo quickly became the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and was met with both adoration and immense controversy.
HIV And AIDS Were Widely Misunderstood And Overlooked In The 1980s
HIV and AIDS were largely regarded as a problem solely for gay people. Because of the prejudices surrounding homosexuality, the suffering of those who were infected was widely overlooked, and at the time this photo was taken, activists were still lobbying for the government to speed up the development of new, life-saving drugs.
It took years for the White House to create an office of National AIDS Policy, and Kirby never saw it happen in his lifetime.
Who Was David Kirby?
David Kirby was a small-town boy from Ohio. In the 1980s, he became a gay activist and moved to California after falling out with his family. It was in the late '80s that Kirby learned he had contracted HIV. Though his parents were estranged, he got in touch, asking if he could come home.
Kirby said he wanted to die with his family around him, and his parents welcomed him back with open arms. Near the end of his life, he ended up at Pater Noster House, an AIDS hospice in Columbus.
Photographer Therese Frare Started Volunteering At Pater Noster House
Therese Frare's photography started as a personal project and ended with her image becoming one of the most famous photos of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Shortly after starting grad school at Ohio University, Frare began volunteering at Pater Noster House.
While she was there, she became close friends with Peta, another volunteer, who was looking after David Kirby and some of the other patients.


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Our Digital Marketing Packages includes all services under the umbrella term of Digital Marketing.


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It's been a few months since Dan Price, the 31-year-old CEO of Gravity Payments, unveiled a controversial plan to pay even the most junior employees on his 120-person staff a minimum salary of $70,000. And while it's too soon to tell if the plan will succeed long-term, the response to it was immediate and overwhelming.
It's been reported that the salary spike has led to both positive and negative outcomes at the company. On one end, many employees are pleased with their salary increases, and the publicity brought in new business and job applications. On the other, two of Price's most valued employees quit because they resented receiving much smaller raises then some new hires in order to accommodate the new plan; and some clients who were either concerned about rate increases or viewed the move as a statement against capitalism took their business elsewhere.
With all the buzz, backlash and attention now surrounding Gravity Payments, many are wondering how Price decided to roll out this new plan, and who is advising him to ensure his success. As a CEO myself, I'm particularly interested in his process. Though he's coming from a noble place of wanting to improve upon economic concerns, he - like all entrepreneurs - still needs formal advisors, and I was curious about who he regularly turns to for advice.
When I spoke with Price, he said that he does not have a formal advisor, but he said that he did seek out insight from others when he was creating his new initiative. "I had a lot of conversations with people at Gravity, clients of ours, my father and brother who are business consultants, and with about 20 other CEO's," he said. "I'm looking at working with a formal advisor as a part of my process for the future and I often reach out to those in my network that have specific expertise and seek their insights," Dan states. "I think if I could do it over again, I'd have even more of those conversations because I think they're valuable."
The truth is, our peers, friends, family and staff can provide helpful insight, and you don't want to discount the importance of their advice. But, you also want to seek out formal trusted advisors who have a deep understanding of your business, along with the wisdom you need to compensate for your blind spots.
As entrepreneurs, that's the kind of guidance we really need -- people who have no motives other than to make sure we succeed. We need people with varied points of view who are well equipped to help us prepare for the big moves that will significantly impact our businesses. We need people who are committed to helping us arrive at sound decisions that guide our companies to healthy and profitable futures. In short, we need trusted business advisors.
This is true for you, me, Dan Price and every other entrepreneur. In fact, as Marcus Lemonis of CNBC's "The Profit" recently told me, "If you examine any successful entrepreneur, they typically have one thing in common: an advisor. Nearly every successful person in history had someone who they could confide in and learn from."
Working with an advisor often leads to success. For example, Howard Schulz, Founder and Chairman of Starbucks, built his company on the advice of leadership guru Warren Bennis of USC. Netflix Founder and CEO, Reed Hastings, steered his company based on Jim Collins' teachings. And Warren Buffet learned how to analyze business from his business partner, Charlie Munger.
Throughout history, we've seen that the most successful people aren't afraid to ask for advice from experienced and trusted advisors. I would argue that these advisors are a tremendous part of how they've achieved such great success. So, why don't more entrepreneurs follow their example? Is it the American culture of independence that inspires entrepreneurs and business leaders to "go it alone," rather than seek out sound, strategic advice? Is it not knowing how to ask for help or does seeking advice seem to require too much time? Is it an unwillingness to be vulnerable and appear weak, or to let a perceived outsider get too close to their business? Or is it ageism bias, where entrepreneurs think the experienced advisor is out of touch with current trends and doesn't have anything to offer?
Whatever the reason, it's time for change. When seeking out advisors, I recommend looking for people who:
-Possess a deep understanding of your industry, and have achieved success in a key area that you may be struggling with.
-Are connected and have a willingness to share those connections.
-Have your back. Their only agenda is to help you succeed. (This likely requires a meaningful incentive to ensure they have a vested interest. For example, paying them through options, dollars or another mutually beneficial arrangement.)
-Are able and willing to help you. Don't chase the big guns who won't take the time to offer guidance. Your advisors need to be there when it matters most.
-Know when to step in and help, and when to give you space to make the right decision. You also want advisors who will be comfortable with the fact that you won't always take all of their advice.
-Always have you near the top of their priorities, and are constantly searching for ways to add value and help you succeed.
-Have diverse points of view that compliment your weaknesses. This ensures you're getting well-rounded and comprehensive feedback where you need it most.
I also recommend creating an employee advisory committee to stay attuned to what motivates your staff, so you can be sure your decisions are in alignment with their needs. You may want to consider a customer advisory committee as well, to make sure you know what your customers want and can anticipate their response to certain initiatives. In Dan Price's case, this may have helped him to unveil his plan in a way that got all of his customers on board, rather than losing a few and having to win them back.
In the challenging role of entrepreneur and CEO it's also important to remember that just because you have trusted advisors, you're not required to take their advice. As Captain Kirk once said, "One of the many advantages of being a captain...is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it." But seeking their guidance ensures that you have a more full picture.
Do I believe a formal strategic advisor would have steered Price in another direction? Perhaps. Or, maybe they would have provided him with key insights to minimize the backlash and negative attention. We'll never know for sure. But what I do know is, social entrepreneurship is on the rise, and I say rock on, Dan Price, with your bad-ass self! Congratulations on actively standing up for what you believe in and working to fight income inequality.
In a final salute to your success, I encourage you and every other CEO and entrepreneur reading this article to consider consulting with formal trusted business advisors who can help you succeed.
Jennifer Love is the Business Navigator + CEO of Entrepreneurist, an advisory and digital education platform to help entrepreneurs get funded, increase sales, and maintain sanity. Read more at JenniferLove.com, or follow her on Twitter at @JLoveBiz.


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Is learning languages a hobby for you? Are you a polyglot, someone who speaks multiple languages fluently? Have you thought about what are the best jobs for polyglots?
Learning languages as a hobby and being a polyglot has many perks, like being able to understand sports commentary delivered in other languages or the ability to read texts written in scripts like Cyrillic. That's fine and good…but what if this hobby could be monetized?
A lot of people out there know more than one language, but they don't actually use this special skill in a way that makes them money. Being a polyglot is attractive within many different job fields, including these four jobs that are absolutely perfect for polyglots.
This is perhaps the most obvious career you can have when you're a fan of languages. Translation is simply taking words in one language and translating them into another, like translating a brochure written in English into Chinese. The problem many polyglots encounter when it comes to translating is that they don't expect the career to require so many other varied tasks. A translator needs to be a "people person", understand project management responsibilities and language fluidity. Hanna Sles, a Ukrainian translator, says: "Competition in translation industry is becoming fierce. Your brilliant skills in translation won't be enough to make a successful career in translation sector. There is a host of other essential skills like marketing, customer service, and of course, time management." It's not enough to translate words directly — you have to write them in a way that flows well.
Language training or teaching
You'll find that foreign language teachers are always in demand, and the more "rare" the language, the more likely you'll be to find a job. This job choice may require special certification or specific degrees depending on the state or country involved. Some countries require Bachelor's Degrees in order to teach a foreign language while teaching languages out of the country can require other specifications. Teaching also doesn't have to occur within a classroom. From community centers to online courses, you can find teaching and training positions outside of education establishments.
Finally, online streaming services and media manufacturers are constantly looking for skilled linguists to translate their content into different languages for scripting and subtitling. Netflix and Hulu are two big employers of polyglots. They need multilingual translators to help grow their language base by adding multi-language subtitles to their video content.
If you want to avoid writing, there are other types of jobs for polyglots, too! For example, interpretation may be the better job position for you. Interpreting is like translation in the spoken sense. Imagine there are two people who want to talk but who share no common language. As an interpreter, you can bridge this communication gap by translating for each person. This is also a very basic interpretation of the career; some interpreters help translate for large audiences and within other scenarios. Interpreters must also be in tune with people. They must be ready to translate tense situations, especially depending on where they're interpreting. Airlines, pharmacies, police stations, schools. Interpreters exist everywhere, and the context of the conversations change depending on the setting.
Jobs for polyglots
These are four examples of great jobs that polyglots can apply to and likely land with no problem. However, that doesn't mean they're the ONLY four jobs out there. Many different vocations look at someone who has language skills as preferable when compared to someone who only knows one language. In short, when you put "polyglot" on your resume, you're likely to get a lot of job offers — but which one will you choose?


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so, by now you probably all know via Twitter that i met up with Scandi Foodie in Mosman Bay last week!! it was an awesome afternoon - she's such a wonderful lady, and it was a pleasure to meet her. i haven't been able to upload photos yet due to travelling up north again, but they are on the way...
i'm currently exploring the coastline between Sydney and Port Macquarie with a friend of mine called Barbara, who is an absolute legend of a lady at 73 years old :)
anyway, onto some of my latest eats and treats:
♥ homemade meatballs with basil crumbed green beans and roasted red pepper - most delicious. it was a very welcome lunch for my cousin's student border... he had the biggest smile on his face!
♥ my first proper lamington. no jam - no siree! this was from Moxon's Bakery in Armidale, as light as a feather and perfectly coconutty. i shared it with my new friend Sara, who enjoyed hers heaps too.
♥ a deconstructed burger. if you ever go to Neville's in Armidale and ask for a Works Burger, but with no bun, this is what happens!! it was truly yum, and i'm so grateful to the fab chef who was kind enough to do this for me.
well, that's all folks! another installment from my adventures down under... stay tuned :)
currently loving: writing to my mum - we've been writing proper handwritten letters each week whilst i've been over here. it's as lovely to write and send them as it is to find one in the letterbox!


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Discussing Caribbean tourism
Caribbean and international tourism officials will hold two days of discussions on a wide range of issues affecting the regional tourism industry as the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization(CTO)'s State of the Industry Conference (SOTIC) opens here later on Wednesday night.
The two-day conference in this French-Caribbean island will be addressed by several dignitaries, including Serge Letchimy, the Congressman to the French Assembly and President of the Regional Council of Martinique; Tourism Commissioner, Karine Roy-Camille and the CTO chairman Beverly Nicholson-Doty.
Nicholson-Doty has already indicated that the conference at which delegates are expected to critically discuss issues such as training and education, service quality, standards, visitor satisfaction, and regional transportation, will provide an opportunity for creative solutions to the challenges facing the sector.
"Strong inter-sectoral linkages with industries such as agriculture, construction and the financial services sector, for example, place additional responsibility on all of us in tourism to emerge from this conference with a stronger plan for a more sustainable and more resilient tourism sector," she said in a statement ahead of the official opening.


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Amy Winehouse, whose promising career has been crippled by substance abuse problems, cut short a European tour on Sunday after fans in Belgrade jeered her shoddy opening-night performance.
Winehouse, 27, sporting her trademark bouffant hairdo and figure-hugging dress, struggled to perform her songs and keep her balance as her band gamely played on. On some tunes, the audience did most of the singing. On other occasions, Winehouse lectured her bandmates, and anxiously clutched her arms. She appeared to be reading the lyrics from a teleprompter. The singer was headlining a Serbian festival, whose lineup included techno singer Moby.
A representative said upcoming festival dates in Istanbul on Monday and in Athens on Wednesday would be canceled. Her next show is scheduled for July 8 in Spain. – Reuters