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Cannabis Seeds Uk Get free cannabis seeds with every order and you choose what you want. FREE DELIVERY Free UK Delivery for orders over £30. Free International Delivery for orders over Dutch Passion: original inventors of feminised cannabis seeds and leading providers of feminised seeds with the finest genetics. Get yours today! Buy your cannabis seeds straight from the #1 seed bank. ✔ Best strains ✔ Excellent service ✔ Discreet shipping! Get started today.
Cannabis Seeds Uk
Get free cannabis seeds with every order and you choose what you want.
Free UK Delivery for orders over £30.
Free International Delivery for orders over £250.
All seeds and orders are guaranteed. Order with confidence or visit us in person at our Leeds store.
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SeedMadness is the place for the freshest and finest cannabis seeds.
With over 2500 strains from the top cannabis seedbanks and specialised premises OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC, you know you can trust SeedMadness for your weed seeds.
Our large stock includes many Cannabis Cup Winners & seeds from the most popular seed banks.
Feminised Seeds
Most home cannabis growers looking to buy feminised seeds turn to Dutch Passion. As the first seed bank to create feminised cannabis seeds back in the early 1990's, we take pride in supplying the best quality feminised seeds to the home recreational and medical growers. Female seeds (or feminized seeds) grow into female cannabis plants, saving you the hassle of unwanted male plants.
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Sugar Bomb Punch®
THC Bomb X (Critical Orange Punch x Bubba Island Kush)
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Amsterdam Amnesia
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First Feminised Seeds Company Since The 1990's
Dutch Passion were the first company in the world to create feminised cannabis seeds back in the 1990's. Feminised seeds changed the way people grew cannabis as the grower can use a smaller grow room with fewer seeds for each grow. Each feminised seed will eventually grow into a mature female plant. Feminised seeds account for the vast majority of cannabis seeds used, these days over 95% of all cannabis seeds are feminised.
The process to create feminised seeds was discovered in the 1990's when Dutch Passion allowed some female cannabis plants to bloom for many weeks longer than normal, just to see what happened. The plants eventually produced male flowers, the pollen was collected from these. To everyone's great surprise this ('female') pollen produced seeds which only gave rise to female plants. Today, different techniques are used to produce and collect this 'female pollen'. Feminised cannabis seeds have made growing your own cannabis easier than ever before.
Since the invention of feminised seeds, we have continued to improve feminised seed performance and results. Dutch Passion's main focus is to provide the best performing cannabis seeds to professional growers and home growers. We source the finest cannabis genetics from our unrivalled network of breeders and genetic specialists around the world. When you buy your next feminised seeds buy them from Dutch Passion, the original creators and masters of feminised seeds.
Sugar Bomb Punch. Euphoric couch-lock stone and flowers covered with dense, glistening trichomes.
What Are Feminized Cannabis Seeds ?
Around 95% of feminised cannabis seeds grow into mature photoperiod female cannabis plants. Before feminised seeds were invented people grew from regular cannabis seeds which produced roughly equal numbers of male and female plants. Growers are usually only interested in the buds which grow on the female plants, male cannabis plants are normally discarded.
When Dutch Passion first created feminised seeds back in the 1990's it was a revolution for growers who could grow their weed easily with fewer seeds, fewer plants, smaller grow rooms and less energy. Feminised seeds have remained popular with the majority of growers ever since.
Feminized vs Autoflowering Seeds
Feminised seeds have 2 main phases to their lives, veg and bloom, these can be controlled by the grower. During the first 'veg' stage of their life, feminised seeds grow vegetatively. During 'veg' growth (usually under 18-24 hours of daily light) plants grow leaves, roots and branches but no buds. Buds start to appear when daily light hours are reduced to 12/12 light which induces bloom (flowering). This requires around 12 hours of darkness and 12 hours of light per day.
Autoflower seeds grow from seed to harvest under 20 hours of daily light indoors. No change to the amount of daily light is needed for the autoflower plant to start flowering, it happens automatically (hence the name, auto seeds). Some growers regard autoflower seeds as a slightly simpler/faster way to grow cannabis. You can achieve very high quality cannabis levels from either feminised seeds or autoflowering seeds. Note that autoflowering seeds from Dutch Passion will only produce female auto plants, meaning that you never need to worry about male auto plants.
And Autofem Seeds Were Born
Autofem seeds are simply another name for autoflowering seeds. In the early days of autoflower seeds they were occasionally called autofems by some growers. The 'fem' part of the name refers to the fact that the seeds only produce female autos. Autoflower seeds/autofem seeds are one of the easiest ways to grow your own cannabis quickly. You don't need to be an expert grower to get seriously impressive results from autofem/autoflower seeds.
Feminized vs Regular Seeds
Regular cannabis seeds produce roughly equal numbers of female and male plants. Some old-school traditional growers prefer regular photoperiod seeds if they are e.g. collecting male pollen for breeding projects. But most people strongly prefer to grow from feminised seeds which give rise to mainly female plants.
When using feminised seeds the grower can use a smaller grow room with fewer plants, compared to regular seeds. Dutch Passion are one of the few remaining seed companies to offer a full collection of regular seeds from the best classic varieties.
Kerosene Krash from feminized seeds. Amazing trichome production with a high THC content.
Buy Feminised Seeds From The UK and Worldwide
Your next cannabis grow is too important to disappoint because of low quality seeds. If you want to grow the finest cannabis genetics which will give you harvests of top quality cannabis then choose Dutch Passion. As the original inventors of feminised seeds, with over 30 years of breeding success you can trust Dutch Passion seeds for your next grow. With over 50 cannabis cups and thousands of repeat growers you are in safe hands.
Dutch Passion's collection of cannabis cup winning strains can be shipped to the EU, UK and elsewhere. Buy the best cannabis seeds online from the original inventor of feminised seeds. Our feminised seeds are shipped in discrete packaging and can be delivered in 24 hours. In the unlikely event of any issues you have our award winning service and support team waiting to help and support.
Top 5 Indoor Feminized Seeds
If you are an indoor grower looking for the finest quality indoor feminised seeds then choose a seed supplier that shares your passion for the highest standards. With decades of breeding experience we have a collection of the best cannabis cup winning strains which will grow easily across all grow conditions with heavy yields, superb taste and rich, connoisseur flavours. Our blogs on the Top-5 Indica seeds and our Top-5 Sativa seeds are must-reads for any serious growers looking for the very best feminised indoor seeds.
|Kerosene Krash®
|Sugar Bomb Punch®
|Orange Bud
|Mokum's Tulip®
|THC: ■ Low ■ Medium ■ High ■ Very High ■ Extremely High
Top 5 Outdoor Feminized Seeds
Growing cannabis outdoors is the cheapest way to produce your own medical/recreational weed. You need a sheltered, private and sunny grow location with good quality moist soil. You also need fully proven outdoor feminised cannabis seeds. Dutch Passion has one of the most respected outdoor weed seed collections available. These seeds will grow outdoors in Dutch/UK climates (or similar) with strong pest and weather/mold resistance.
|Frisian Dew®
|Passion #1®
|Durban Poison®
|Frisian Duck®
|Hollands Hope®
|THC: ■ Low ■ Medium ■ High ■ Very High ■ Extremely High
Top 5 THC-Rich Feminized Seeds
For many modern growers achieving a satisfying harvest means growing fully proven, consistently THC rich cannabis strains. THC rich cannabis strains deliver a strong psycho active effect which dissolve stress and anxiety leaving the user mentally relaxed and physically refreshed. THC rich feminised seeds remain one of Dutch Passion's greatest strengths.
|Glueberry OG
|Auto Cinderella Jack®
|Passion Fruit®
|HiFi 4G®
|THC: ■ Low ■ Medium ■ High ■ Very High ■ Extremely High
Top 5 Medical Feminized Seeds
Some medical growers find that THC rich cannabis strains are the most helpful. Others find that CBD rich strains offer better physical effects with a slightly milder (less intense) high. Much depends on your own personal preferences. Dutch Passion offer a range of THC rich strains, CBD rich strains and strains with balanced levels of THC:CBD. It's important to state that each medical user will have their own preferences for indica or sativa, THC or CBD. This means the medical grower will need to research the strains most likely to help them.
|CBD Charlotte's Angel®
|CBD Skunk Haze®
|THC: ■ Low ■ Medium ■ High ■ Very High ■ Extremely High
Top 10 Tips For Growing Feminised Seeds
Growing your own cannabis is really easy. With the best feminised seeds you will grow better quality cannabis than you can buy. Home grown cannabis is easy and enjoyable to grow and cheaper than buying it. Here are our top 10 tips for growers.
1. Choose your feminised cannabis seeds and your supplier carefully!
Even the very best growers can't produce top quality buds from second rate genetics. You need to use the best quality feminised seeds, grown from the finest quality genetics. Dutch Passion were the original inventors of feminised seeds. Since inventing feminised seeds, the Dutch Passion team have constantly strived to further improve the results achievable from them.
Don't cut corners when it comes to the choice of your cannabis seeds. The cost of the cannabis seeds is a very small part of the final overall harvest value. It pays you to research your options carefully. Does your seed supplier have a good track record in feminised seeds? Have they been able to gain any professional recognition with cannabis cups? Has your seed supplier stood the test of time and remained at the top of their profession for decades?
2. Try not to over-complicate your grow
Gain experience slowly, don't be tempted to try complicated grow techniques (such as deep water culture hydroponics) until you have completed several successful grows. Often, people will start growing in large containers of soil. This minimises the need to quickly become an expert in nutrients, and allows an easy way to understand the basics. Cannabis isn't difficult to grow, it's called weed for good reasons! The new grower is encouraged to learn the fundamentals of cannabis growing before attempting to learn more technically demanding skills and techniques. Organic growing in soil is recommended and Biotabs is good nutrient line for beginners to start with.
3. Continual improvement of your grow room
Try to learn something from each grow, improve your skills and grow experience, learn what you can from the internet and books. Avoid temperature extremes, indoor plants don't like temperatures above 30ºC, nor do they like being much below 20ºC. Indoor growers typically like to keep the temperature around a steady 24-25ºC with the lights on, and a couple of degrees cooler at lights out.
Many growers prepare their water the day before it's required. This allows the temperature of the water to match that of the grow room. Never use ice cold water, it will shock the roots. Some growers feel that allowing the nutrient mix to stand for a day before use allows any Chlorine (often used during water treatment) to be released from the water.
Experienced cultivators insist on using pH meters to ensure their water and feed solutions are at the correct pH. Likewise, they will often use EC meters to monitor the electrical conductivity of their feed solutions. EC, or electrical conductivity, is a measure of nutrient concentration. Meters should always be calibrated and checked before use. Professional growers will always have spare meters available in case one fails.
4. Growing feminised seeds outdoors is easy too
Growing feminised seeds outdoors is even easier than growing indoors. In the northern hemisphere, feminised seeds are often harvested around October. Often the grower will germinate the feminised seeds indoors. (see the Dutch Passion guide on best ways to germinate cannabis seeds). This gives the seeds the best possible start, and protects the seedlings from the worst of the early season weather while they are at their most vulnerable. After a couple of weeks of indoor cultivation, the seedlings can then be planted outdoors when the weather is warm and the last frost has gone.
5. Experiment with different periods of vegetative growth
It's common to use around 4-5 weeks of vegetative growth (before bloom) when growing feminised seeds indoors. But some growers get great results with longer veg periods of 6-10 weeks. The extra time spent in veg allows for a larger final plant size. This is great if you prefer to have smaller numbers of XL yielding plants and have the space to accommodate them.
For some growers who don't mind large plant numbers, it's possible to grow feminised seeds with just 1-2 weeks of vegetative growth (or even none at all!). The result will be a fast 'Sea Of Green' harvest of medium size plants which may often have the bulk of their buds on the main bloom.
For outdoor growing it is recommended to pre-grow (18 hours of light per day) the plants indoor for at least a few weeks. Between 3-4 weeks will usually do, use even longer VEG periods if you are looking for the biggest outdoor plants as possible. It will ensure a stronger and healthier plant that will cope better with tough outdoor growing conditions than a young, freshly sprouted, seedling.
6. Avoid the temptation to over feed your cannabis plants
One of the most common mistakes, especially from less experienced growers, is the temptation to over feed their plants. Over-feeding plants can permanently damage and 'burn' the roots of cannabis plants, especially young plants. It is crucial to start feeding nutrients at low concentrations and steadily increase. At the first sign of nutrient burn (perhaps you will note the ends of the leaves turning white/yellow and eventually brown and crispy) you should reduce nutrient concentration immediately and consider a water flush for several days in a row.
Overfeeding your plants will not increase size or potency, but it can permanently stunt the growth of your plants. Understand your nutrients well and never add more nutrients than necessary. Less experienced growers may benefit from a simpler nutrient regime, avoiding an over-complicated array of nutrients until they are more experienced.
7. Avoid the temptation to over water your cannabis plants
Along with using excessively high nutrient concentrations, another of the most common errors is the tendency to over water their cannabis plants. This is also a frequent error seen among new growers. Cannabis roots need oxygen to thrive and grow well, roots do not grow well in water logged soil. Using excessively 'wet' soil will limit root growth, this will restrict the final size and quality of the plant.
Experienced growers will often use a moisture sensor in their grow medium which measures moisture content and indicates when the roots are too dry. Products like the Blumat Moisture meter are recommended to prevent over watering. Note that numerous growers find new grow containers such as fabric grow containers or Air-pots are a great way to improve levels of root oxygenation.
Compared to traditional grow containers, felt grow sacks and air-pots allow good levels of root aeration and are recommended. Another tip is to mix some coco medium through your soil, this will improve the aeration levels too.
8. Find out when you prefer to harvest your buds
Feminised seeds offer the perfect amount of grower control over the final result. You can opt for long or short veg periods and have some control over the final plant size and yield. Connoisseur growers also know whether they prefer their buds harvested on time, or perhaps a little early/late. Some growers find that giving the buds an extra week or two in bloom can give a heavier, 'stonier' feel to the high.
Conversely, harvesting a little earlier may allow a faster harvest and perhaps a slightly more 'lively' or energetic quality to the high. Much depends on your personal preference. But the next time you harvest a plant grown from feminised seeds, consider harvesting a portion of the buds earlier than usual as well as harvesting some buds later than usual. After curing, try comparing the buds and see if you have a strong preference.
9. Consider upgrading to LED lighting
As your experience improves, consider LED lighting. LED is more expensive than HPS, but it is used extensively by serious growers. HPS lights were never designed for cannabis cultivation, they were simply a cheap option which worked. LED lights have a spectrum optimised for cannabis growing and they emit less heat than HPS. LED growers find they use less electricity and have less heat issues compared to HPS growers. But the main benefit of LED is the scope for quality/potency improvements. Most growers find they can push potency and flavour to new levels by upgrading to LED, and would therefore never switch back to HPS.
10. UV supplemental lighting
Some growers are starting to use supplemental UV lighting to boost the potency of their harvests. The idea is to mimic the effects of the UV content in the sun's rays. Professional cannabis growers have found that adding UVB to their grow room can improve cannabinoid content. THC levels can increase by 10-25% relatively.
Historically, the cheapest way to add UVB to the grow room is to add a few 'reptile tubes'. These are fluorescent tubes with a high UVB output designed for indoor lizard owners. Usually, cannabis growers add UVB for 2-3 hours per day for the last 2-3 weeks of bloom. But some UVB specialists claim that a small background presence of UVB can be used from the start of the grow.
Other types of UV lighting, like UV-A, are being explored as well. First reports showed UV-A could have significant effects on terpenes and the aroma of cannabis, as well as having a small effect on photosynthesis. UVC is used for sterilisation, to kill bacteria or get rid of pathogens, but is very damaging to all living things in a high dosage.
Cannabis Seeds
Do you love cannabis? Are you searching for reliable, award-winning cannabis seeds? Do you want rock-solid customer service? You're in the right place! With 36 years' experience as the #1 seed bank, our cannabis seeds cater to every budget and need. Can't wait to get started? Check out our strain catalogue below.
A wide selection of high quality cannabis seeds
Achieve the best possible start by choosing from the wide selection listed here.
Do you love cannabis? Are you searching for reliable, award-winning cannabis seeds? Do you want rock-solid customer service? You're in the right place! With 36 years' experience as the #1 seed bank, our cannabis seeds cater to every budget and need. Can't wait to get started? Check out our strain catalogue below.
A wide selection of high quality cannabis seeds
Achieve the best possible start by choosing from the wide selection listed here. It includes those used for prescription medicinal cannabis in the Netherlands, as well as many of the most famous and distinctive hybrids in the world. A considerable number of varieties from Sensi Seeds and sister concern The White Label Seed Company have won prizes in international competitions. The true sign of quality, however, is in how many satisfied customers return time and again to buy our seeds, knowing that not only the strain genetics but also the attention to customer service, discreet shipping and professional aftercare are absolute priorities.
From beginners to cannabis experts
All levels of expertise are catered for, whether one has a lifetime of growing experience or is a complete novice armed only with enthusiasm. In either situation, genetics are often the deciding factor in the eventual outcome.
The website category filters enable visitors to easily discover which types are most suitable for their experience level. There is even a selection tailored especially for beginners, featuring the easiest to grow options, many of which are also very affordable. Pack sizes from three up to twenty five seeds per pack for most types is also economically helpful.
Other filters include flowering time, yield, and climate. Advice on everything from germination through cultivation, flowering and harvest can also be found on the Sensi forum, where visitors can share their experiences and ideas. Sensi Seeds aims to also cultivate a cannabis community!


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Introduction: A key idea in today's Sunday School material is that God gave instructions about sabbath and jubilee years. Prayerfully, we will be challenged to work on obeying God's will regarding our stewardship of His gifts.
(Click here for the pdf version)
Read Leviticus 25:1-7
I. Sabbath Year. In our Sunday School material, the Lord sends word through Moses about the sabbath year. For six years the people are to work their land. But during the seventh year, the land is to rest. The people and animals can eat the food, but not work the land. This is to be done in obedience to the Lord's instructions.
Applications –
- God's instructions through the leader. Notice in vss. 1-2 that the Lord told Moses what to tell the Lord's people. In like manner, God is still telling the leaders He sent what to tell the people of God.
This means that leaders should give serious effort to hearing and sharing what God says, not just what they want or what the people want to hear. This also assumes that the people of God will hear and obey what God says through God's leader.
We can all tell if what is being presented is of God, by comparing it with God's word. Let's work on hearing and obeying God's word through the leader whom God has sent.
- God's expectations. Notice in vs. 2 that God was giving the land to the Israelites, but He also had some expectations of what they would do with the land.
First, in like manner, God is still giving us great blessings. Think about not only the physical possessions that God allows us to have but also the immaterial blessings. Think about the assurance of being saved, peace in confusion, joy in sorrow, and hope in despair. Think about health and relationships.
Second, God expects us to handle our blessings in certain ways. We are to be stewards and caretakers of God's blessings in ways that bring glory to Him. Think about how your stewardship of your health, wealth, relationships, and abilities bring glory to God. Let's work on caring for the blessings that God gives us in ways that bring glory to Him.
- We still must work. Notice in vs. 3 that the Israelites were expected to work in the land that God was giving them. There are too many who behave as if they are not supposed to work. Or if they work, they think that they have earned the blessing more than being a recipient of God's gift.
We should prepare ourselves to do the work that God is calling us to do as stewards of the gifts that He has given us. Just as a person can work for a company 20 years and not own the company, we should not think more highly of ourselves than we should.
Our seniority doesn't change our
status from being a steward to be an owner. We should simply be a better
steward. Let's work on doing the work of
taking care of the blessings that God has given us.
- Obeying and trusting the Lord. Notice in vss. 4-7 that the people were to observe the sabbath year in obedience to God. There were some side benefits. Resting the land helped the land to be more fruitful. Resting the land allowed the poor to have more food to be able to glean from the fields.
But again, the primary reason for resting during the sabbath year was to demonstrate reverence and obedience to God. In like manner, there are times when obeying God's will has side benefits.
For example, taking care of our bodies as God's temples should be an act of obedience, but it can also help us have a better quality and quantity of life. Let's work on obeying God and trusting Him to work things out for our good.
Read Leviticus 25:8-12
II. Year of Jubilee. In our Sunday School material, the Lord sends word about the jubilee year. Every seven sabbath years there is to be the jubilee year. That is, every 50 years, not only is there a sabbath year, but debts are to be released. People can go back to their family's property.
Applications –
- Being right with God and His people. Notice in vss. 8-12 that every fiftieth year, there was to be both a day of atonement with God and a year of jubilee among God's people.
First, those who have been saved should be mindful of how blessed we are to be saved. Our sins have been atoned for, by way of Jesus' death for our sin debts.
Second, the more blessed we are, the more of a blessing we should strive to be to others. As individuals, we can be kind and even compassionate to especially those who are less fortunate than we are.
As citizens, we can strive to support communal ways to help the less fortunate get back on their feet and no longer need charity from the community (e.g., gainful job training and placement; affordable and quality drug treatment, mental health, counseling, and physical health care; housing; business training, opportunities, and capital; etc.). Let's work on being right with God and His people.
Conclusion: Let's work on obeying God's will regarding our
stewardship of His gifts. God has much for those who obey His will.
From Sunday School Material 5-20-18 to Home

subset: commoncrawl


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Doc Rivers is one of the best coaches in the league in part because he knows how to handle guys. It is a similar trait that Phil Jackson used to win so many titles with some of the biggest head cases in all of sports on his teams.
Enter Darko Milicic, who at the very least has a fair amount of baggage headed into his first season with his 7th team.
Doc Rivers promises to take mental approach with Darko, Rondo -Celtics blog - Boston Globe basketball news
Milicic has obviously been bogged down by the pressure and expectations of being selected so high in a draft class that has become one of the best in recent memory. "You can see that he gets frustrated easy," Rivers said. "So we're trying to eliminate those episodes. Our thing right now with Darko is to play forward. From being around for a short time, as a coach I can probably feel he's played his career backwards. He lives in the past a lot and we're trying to get him to live in the future. I told him (Friday), the only time I'll take you out is if you make a mistake and make another mistake because you're thinking about the last mistake. I won't take you out for making a mistake. So hopefully that works."
Reading between the lines, the feeling I get from Doc's comments about Darko are "hey, we'll try anything - and if it works, great. If it doesn't, oh well."


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PlayMakers: Esther in Intimate Apparel, Jory in Disgraced, MiMi Real in The Parchman Hour. She was also the Assistant Director for Count at PRC2.
Regional: Other favorite theatrical roles include Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream at WriteAct Rep in L.A. and Vivian Bearing, Ph.D in Wit at Justice Theatre Project.
TV/Film: Credits include Cold Mountain (Anthony Minghella), The Bay (Barry Levinson), Freedom Song (Phil Alden Robinson) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (Joe Gillespie). Rasool also appears on Season 5 of House of Cards.
Shows at PlayMakers
- Disgraced Sep 16 - Oct 4, 2015
- Clybourne Park
- Intimate Apparel
- Dot
- The Parchman Hour


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Rihanna is taking to the stage yet again she is now opening her Diamonds tour in the USA. On Friday night she kicked off her first night of 27 dates in New York of Diamonds to a excited audience at the First Niagra Centre, Buffalo. The non stop party maker came to the concert in various eye catching outfits including a neon superhero-style ensemble and a sheer mini-dress with white thigh-high boots, which is bound to get the fashion world talking. But Rihanna did not turn up in Boston tonight due to contracting laryngitis and her performance at the TD Garden has been postponed. She is scheduled to play a show in Baltimore on Tuesday, which Live Nation has confirmed will go ahead as planned.
And she played tribute to her Navy by praising them as rock stars. She continued 'There is only one first show, you all have a special place in my heart," she said. And performed all her hits including Don't stop the music, only girl, Rude Boy, Stay and many more.
Here is a preview of what to expect from the Diamonds tour


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It's not all fun. Professionals working behind the scenes in the television industry must contend the long hours and may be lack of recognition.
For a world plagued with problems- political, social, and environmental – television is the ultimate escape. But for professionals in the biz, the television industry is far from its visible glamorous avatar. While actors work almost 20 hours a day it doesn't get any easier for people working behind the scenes. However, the difference is that actors are suitably compensated by the fame and recognition they acquire through their work while professionals working behind the scenes have to be content with a demanding schedule and anonymity.
Whether you're a cinematographer or a make up artist, the skill and dexterity you will need is unparalleled. Working in a studio can be a thankless job as well, because the number of hours you need to put in can leave you completely drained at the end of the day.
A creative outlet>>>
The television industry offers excellent opportunities to exercise your creativity. Creativity, coupled with the willingness to work hard is a potent combination. As Aditya Rao, an animator with a leading production house assert, Creativity is not a nine to five job. Work hours in this field are extremely flexible.
This field is perhaps one of the very few fields where age is irrelevant. The industry is known to have a light man who is 90 years old. The tools of survival in this business are hard work, and the desire to go beyond your previously achieved goals to accomplish even more.
The respect and the fame you stand to gain in the television industry is unbelievable but one must always pay heed to Erma Bombeck's words: Don't confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other. The fame you might encounter here has nothing to do with Page 3 presence. The actors you see on TV are valuable to the industry, but then so are we. The recognition they enjoy is very different from that which we enjoy if you applaud. That is recognition for him. But in our case, when our seniors or colleagues appreciate our work, that's recognition for us.
The television industry is becoming increasingly structured. With the advent of a formal education system in the business, the quality of professionals has improved, as young students become increasingly open to the ideas of working behind the scenes in television. As a freelancer with a news channel, says people who want to join this business must pursue courses related to the field they want to make a career in – editing, cinematography etc. Everyone needs to struggle considerably before they make a mark in this industry—I did make a mark in this industry – I did to – but that struggle can be sizably reduced if you are well qualified.
Despite the benefit of an academic background, there is great degree of on the job training involved as well, so the field is a good option for those who are averse to the rote method of learning.
Additionally, a person working behind the camera definitely enjoys a longer shelf life than those who work in front of it. One can also count on all round personality development while working behind the scenes, because inter-personal skills are honed through interactions with clients.
However, as the adage goes, 'Every coin has two sides'. There is a dark side to the business of television as well.
Clocking in long hours>>
Professionals in the television industry need to be on call 24×7. A post production professional associated with a leading youth entertainment channel notes, there are times when you need to wake up at three in the morning to rush to the studio and rectify mistakes that your colleagues might have made. Since our seniors are under tremendous pressure we need to take on our share of responsibility as well. If this means working longer hours, when it cannot be helped
In fact, majority of the problems associated with working in television are connected are concerned with the tiring number of hours on the job, and the subsequent fallout. The long hours, irregular eating habits and the tremendous pressure of deadlines does take a toll on one's health.
While actors may be paid considerably well, the same can not be said about those working behind the scenes. Remuneration for starters is normally minimal; a fresher can expect a starting salary of Rs 5000 if he gets placed with a leading production house. Then, depending on the work he puts in, and the potential he has, he can expect a steady rise in his income. An executive producer at a leading news channel defends, People in this line of work are not driven by fame and money. They are driven by their commitment to work.


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The New International Encyclopædia/Reuchlin, Johann
REUCHLIN, roiK'lḗn, Johann, known also by the Greek form of his name, Capnio (1455-1522). The first humanist of Germany and one of the earliest promoters of Hebrew studies in that country. He was born at Pforzheim, in Baden, February 22, 1455. He began his studies at his native place, continued them at Freiburg, and in 1473 accompanied Prince Frederick of Baden to Paris, where he made the acquaintance of Johann Wessel (q.v.) and began to study Greek. The next year he went to Basel, where he took his bachelor's degree in 1475 and his master's in 1477. He then revisited France, studied law at Orleans and Poitiers, and gave lectures in Greek and Latin. In 1481 he established himself at Tübingen as teacher of jurisprudence and literature. He entered the service of Eberhard, first Duke of Württemberg, accompanied him to Italy in 1482, and was employed in a number of public services. He visited Italy again in 1490. In 1492 the Emperor made him a count of the German Empire, and about the same time he began the study of Hebrew under a learned Jew who was Imperial physician. In 1496, after Eberhard's death, he went to Heidelberg, and made a third visit to Italy in the service of the Elector Palatine in 1498. At Rome he applied himself with renewed vigor to the study of Hebrew and Greek. He returned to Württemberg in 1499, and in 1502 was made a member of the Swabian confederate tribunal, retaining the office till 1513. In consequence of a quarrel between Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg, and the Swabian League, he went to Ingolstadt in 1519 and taught Greek and Hebrew at the university. When the plague broke out at Ingolstadt two years later he returned to Tübingen, intending to devote himself exclusively to study, but soon fell sick, and died at Liebenzell, June 30, 1522. Reuchlin is justly regarded as the father of Greek and Hebrew studies in Germany. He had great ability as a teacher, and, although for most of his life he held no professorial chair and was not always free to lecture openly, nevertheless he directed and encouraged the study of both languages in his generation. His devotion to Hebrew was the cause of the most interesting and important incident of his life. In 1510 one Johann Pfefferkorn, a baptized Jew, called upon princes and subjects to prosecute the religion of his fathers, and especially urged the Emperor to burn or confiscate all Jewish books except the Bible. Reuchlin remonstrated, maintaining that only books directly written against Christianity should be destroyed. This attitude drew upon him the enmity of the Dominicans, and particularly of the Inquisitor Jakob van Hoogstraten (q.v.). Reuchlin's opponents controlled the universities of Paris, Louvain, Erfurt, and Mainz; but many of the distinguished and independent thinkers of Germany were on the side of the scholar. Ulrich von Hutten and Franz von Sickingen in particular gave him support and protection, the latter threatening Hoogstraten and the monks with terrible vengeance if they did not cease to persecute "his teacher, Doctor Reuchlin, that wise, experienced, pious, and ingenious man." The Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum (q.v.) was an outcome of the contest. While there was much in Reuchlin's character and experience to draw him toward the Reformation, he never openly joined the movement, and late in life declared against Luther. Melanchthon was his great-nephew. Heuchlin's works include editions and Latin translations of Greek texts: a Vocabularius Latinus Breviloquus (1475); a manuscript Greek grammar (not published; the Rudimenta Linguæ Hebraicæ (1506), which, with pardonable pride, he declares to be "the first attempt to execute a grammar of the Hebrew tongue." and made "without any foreign help;" De Accentibus et Orthographi Hebræorum Libri III. (1518); an edition of the seven Penitential Psalms (1512), the first Hebrew book printed in Germany; De Verbo Mirifico (1494); and De Arte Cabbalistica (1517), works on the Cabbala; Scenica Progymnasmata (1497), and Sergius (1507), Latin satirical comedies, not without humor and literary merit; the Augenspiegel (1511; ed. by Mayerhoff, Berlin, 1836), a reply to a book by Pfefferkorn (the Handspiegel). Two of Reuchlin's Greek treatises, the De Quatuor Idiomatibus and Colloquia græca, have been published by Horawitz under the title Griechische Studien (Berlin, 1884). The best biography of Reuchlin is Geiger, Johann Reuchlin; sein Leben und seine Werke (Leipzig, 1871); consult also: id., Johann Reuchlins Briefwechsel (Tübingen, 1875); Horawitz, Zur Biographie und Korrespondenz J. Reuchlins (Vienna, 1877); Holstein, J. Reuchlins Komödien (Halle, 1888); Strauss, Ulrich von Hutten (6th ed., Leipzig, 1895), for the controversy about the Jewish books.


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Mars, Inc. finalizes multi-year extension with Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday it has finalized a multi-year renewal with Mars, Inc. to remain the primary sponsor on Kyle Busch's No. 18 Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
As part of the deal, Busch's No. 18 will feature Mars brands that include M&M, Snickers, Skittles, Double Mint and Pedigree. Since joining forces in 2008, JRG and Mars have recorded 29 wins, 142 top 10s and 15 poles.
"Representing Mars, Inc's family of brands on the No. 18 since 2008 has been an honor, and knowing they are committed to JGR for the next several seasons is awesome," said Busch, who enters this weekend's season finale with a shot at his first Sprint Cup championship. "Their support for me, my family and everyone at JGR has been incredible and this energizes me to work even harder for them and the team."
Mars, Inc. renewed their partnership with JGR in 2014, so Tuesday's announcement further solidifies the companies commitment to Busch, Gibbs and NASCAR overall.
"In order to get to victory lane, you have to have the best team on and off the track," said William Clements, vice president, sponsorships, Mars. "Our partnership with JGR and Kyle has routinely delivered for us at the track, as well as in-store and with millions of fans. We look forward to the opportunity to continue to build upon this amazing partnership."
Tuesday's announcement did not specify the length of the contract extension, other than to say it was a multi-year agreement.


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I spent a year being under a member from the USNORTHCOM, headquartered at Peterson AFB, Colorado. A member of that person spent that year, without my permission. At one point that agent threatened to destroy everything I had built up for 15 years. It took me two hours to locate this senator (a person in New England) and a couple of hours later to order USNORTHCOM to cease and desist. I was never bothered again. And I will not have that threat again. This threat from USNORTHCOM lasted one year.
FOLKS: This is only the start of this truly NEW WORLD ORDER. Yes. They do call it the NEW WORLD ORDER. And it really is horrific. There is no joy. And they are ordering all citizens to force everyone of 5 years old in the Western Hemisphere to have and carry around an ID card. Five year old children most have a card. Do you think that is a good start to tell these citizens to look around and worry who may be looking for me, if I can't find my ID card.
We are talking about 800,000,000 people. They will soon have access to all those people and their hatred of others. Is that a way to bring about a harmonious place where everyone is afraid to smile and many are hostile to others. It will certainly go a long way toward making it possible to spread it around for everyone to bring hatred in one place, I can guarantee it.
"We seek a world based on international law. We are committed to support effective multi-lateralism, based on a stronger and more efficient United Nations so that it can better fulfill the goals and objectives set forth in its mandates." George W. Bush, discussing the year-old United States economic integration agreement with the European Union, June 10, 2008. (How about now, when the EU-US are trying to integration with one legality. It isn't. Christian vs. Islam).
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, commenting on the Obama administration's Pathway's to Prosperity in the Americas initiative, a project to integrate the Western Hemisphere into a trading region like the European Union, May 31, 2009, El Salvador.
Hillary Clinton… was… saying that the United States will be just a part of the Western Hemisphere. The citizens of the Western Hemisphere will become just a part of the 34 nations of this hemisphere. When finished, all citizens of the hemisphere must have an ID card that will be placed in the data system.
The only nations that haven't started their ID cards, are the Mexicans. Canada and the United States are still having problems with their IDs. Mexico is now ordering all children in Mexico to have an ID card, followed by the adults. If you do not have an ID card, you can not exist.
USNORTHCOM will be able to contact anyone in the hemisphere if you do not have an ID card. Mexicans' children (25 million), are the first to have their ID cards. Adults will follow next, then visitors. (Mexican, Canadian, and American soldiers, are training for foreign duty in North America.) All citizens of the Western Hemisphere will also take in all guns and ammunition, along with all guns, all paper and ID cards.
Those few who don't have their ID cards, cannot function. They cannot buy or sell in the New World Order because they don't have that ID. A person will make it possible for you.
Once you have your ID card, Don't lose it.
"Once registered, you will have a legal entity. Without that, you can't enforce any rights whether they are social or economic or indeed human rights. So the potential benefits for individuals are enormous. Unless you're registered, you really are invisible as a person to the authorities in the eyes of the law and indeed to the government." Carla Abouzahr, Health Metrics Network. (This paragraph is a fact. They are serious about this.)
Registered or not, there will be no where to hide in the New World Order. Folks, this is the end of life, as we know it. (Yes. The authorities will demand that you have an ID card so you can be found when they want to find you.)
NOTE: There will be 800,000,000 people of the Western Hemisphere, when all 34 nations are integrated. When Canada, the United States and Mexico are finished, the Western Hemisphere will add 478 million more citizens to the Western Hemisphere. Then all three nations will be able to take part in actions for North America.
When this Western Hemisphere has begun finishing up all ID cards of the 34 nations, then all the remaining citizens of these 34 nations can finish up all of the ID cards. At that time, all guns, ammunition,and paperwork will go to the authorities.
Once all citizens are finished- guns, ammo, paper work and your ID card will be part of your special training in civilian. Without it, you can't function legally. No citizen, then, can carry a gun or any ammunition in the Western Hemisphere.
No citizen can have any ammunition or guns in the Western Hemisphere, except the police, military and special groups, which can utilize guns for legal actions.
NOTE: A note to citizens of the Western Hemisphere:
Swear allegiance to the flag
Whatever flag they offer


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The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, has said the party would win the 2019 elections in Ogun State without the support of the incumbent governor, Ibikunle Amosun.
While describing Amosun as poor student of history, he reminded him that he had forgotten he lost election before winning on the platform of the APC.
Amosun and two other governors, Abdul-Aziz Yari and Rochas Okorocha of Zamfara and Imo States respectively are at loggerheads with the national chairman for not recognising their preferred governorship candidates.
Oshiomhole was reacting to Amosun, who on Monday insisted that he would work against the APC during the forthcoming general elections in the state.
Instead, he said he would mobilise all human and material resources at his disposal to ensure that his preferred candidate, Hon Abdul Kabir Adekunle Akinlade of the Allied Peoples' Movement (APM) succeeds him in office.
He spoke, while receiving the APC women leaders from Edo State and Abuja, who paid him a solidarity visit at the APC national headquarters, Abuja.
"Those who think our political future is tied to them; they are poor students of their own political history. Some of these people who talk as if they are invincible, they have forgotten that they have run elections in the past and lost until they abandoned their parties and joined us. So if they return back, history will repeat itself."
"Whether you are a big or small man, the rules are not supposed to discriminate. Our popularity in Imo and Ogun today is much higher. It is not that once you are a governor you have high electoral value.
He added: "Yes in APC, our governors have high electoral value but we also a few who are electoral liabilities."
The APC chairman said Nigeria needed to go back to the era where institutions were respected and protected and not powerful individuals.
"Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is from Ogun State. The state is one of the most enlightened states in Nigeria. They have a huge history; they are not in a political kingdom headed by one person."
"If they were looking for true reconciliation, they wouldn't have done what they did (defection of aides). That is not how democracy works. Nigeria must grow beyond this syndrome 'I'm the governor, I will decide.' You have only one vote. With due respect, I was once a governor. Overall APC is much stronger now.
He claimed that the actions of governor Amosun would not affect the fortunes of the party in the forthcoming elections.


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Entertainment News
Photos: Mistura Asunramu, Soji Omobanke, Shina Ayo Oyinlola At Ankara Festival 2016 In Dallas Texas
April 23, 2016 – Pictures: Mistura Asunramu, Soji Omobanke, Shina Ayo Oyinlola At 2016 Ankara Festival In Dallas Texas
Nigerians all over the world converged in Dallas Texas last night for the 6th annual Ankara Festival.
The event which held at the Hilton Garden Inn hotel in Dallas last night was graced by popular Radio Presenter Shina Ayo Oyinlola and popular Nollywood celebrities.
Nollywood stars spotted at the event last night include Bayo Bankole aka Boy Alinco, Olusoji Taiwo aka Omobanke, Mistura Asunramu and many others. See photos….
5 Comments
Its okay. Mistura is not looking bad.
nice one.
They're all looking wonderful. Enjoyment people
Alinko I seem you
Lovely pictures..@naijagist, plz always include their names with the pictures


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This is a photo that Bud sent me via text, with the caption that said, "Verrazano Bridge – not in Kansas anymore." He took this on his way to Coney Island on Wednesday.
Navigating the City was nothing like usual. This photo was taken during "rush hour" but the normal rush was nonexistent. It appears that the situation held a similar surreal quality such as when Dorothy found herself in the Land of Oz.
The purpose of this trip to Coney Island is to answer a call for assistance with the many death cases occurring in the area. In September, 2001 there was a call for funeral directors in New York City. At that time, Bud did not feel that he was in a position to help.
Once again, there is a call for funeral directors. The providers there are overwhelmed with the number of cases and need help with transporting the deceased, embalming or cremation prep, and many other tasks. Bud has been thinking of going for a couple of weeks, as this time he feels he should be there.
One of the funeral homes he contacted had, at the time of his initial contact with them, 109 cases to work through, with more calls coming. For comparison, funeral homes that are members of the National Funeral Director's Association handle, on average, 113 cases per year. This one facility is working to serve one hundred and nine families, and their call rate is currently about 30 new calls per day.
On his first partial day, Bud has simply been transporting decedents from the morgue at Mount Sinai Hospital to the funeral home. The photo below was captioned: Ramp to temporary morgue, Trailer 2. (The temporary morgue is not the house in the background, rather it is the white trailer.)
In my reading, I've learned that most hospitals in the area have morgue capacity for about 12, but there are some that can handle up to 25. This has resulted in the installation of the temporary morgues.
As you consider the situation in New York City, whatever you may think of the entire Covid-19 scenario, please remember that grief is running rampant there. Vast numbers are managing grief every day and their pain is deep and real. Please pray for those families and friends who are navigating the valley of the shadow of death.
Please pray for Bud. It may be that he will be the most help by transporting, but whatever his assigned task, it will be challenging simply because of the sheer numbers involved.


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by Dan Gutstein
Patricia Sarrafian Ward was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, and moved to the U.S. when she was eighteen. In addition to numerous journal publications and awards, her novel The Bullet Collection was published in 2003 and received the GLCA New Writers Award, the Anahid Literary Award and the Hala Maksoud Award for Outstanding Emerging Writers. In recent years, Ward has turned to book arts, making miniature books and dioramas exploring themes of wartime experience, depression, and the creative process that have been exhibited in numerous shows in the Boston area. Her installation "Re/Vision", composed of book-objects made from the shreds of an unfinished novel, appeared in a solo show at Gallery 263 in Cambridge, Mass., and was a Featured Artist Project at the Center for Book Arts in NYC in 2012. Ward lives outside of Boston with her husband and child.
Dan Gutstein: Can you describe your writing life, amid turbulent conditions, in Beirut? Did you carry any of these writings with you when your family fled Lebanon and came to the United States? How many languages do you speak, read, write?
Patricia Sarrafian Ward: My writing life began pretty much as soon as I could hold a crayon. I have tons of stories and "books" that I wrote over the course of my childhood. The earliest is from when I was about five or six, written in many colors, and tells the story of a princess accused of witchcraft. A knight comes to her defense, but can't pass the three tests proving her innocence. They are both burned at the stake and their ashes reunite in the sky. I still remember my intense joy at their being together again, and how this joy felt suffocated by despair because, actually, things hadn't turned out very well. Now that I think of it, that sort of "awful joy" filled up all my stories back then. As I got older I wrote most often about girls who could change into animals and bound away, or who had witchy powers, and so on. It is telling that I wrote next to nothing about war—only one novella when I was 13, but set at a remove in World War II London. In fact, when I was 17, I was writing a book in which I come out and say "The war never meant anything to me." I'd have never admitted it then, but it seems obvious now that I used writing as a way to lift myself out of my everyday world—the war in Beirut, my sister's depression, and the dreadful constant uncertainty that reigned over us all.
So when I came to the States, I came with that same distancing of myself from those experiences. I was in a college writing workshop, my first ever, and the teacher who would become my mentor and dear second dad, Jerry Badanes, said to me, "Why do you keep writing all this stuff about love? Write about the war!" I replied (I am 100% sure I said this), "The war never meant anything to me." He then gently and steadily disabused me of my notion. It was under his care that I found the courage to start what would eventually turn into The Bullet Collection.
As for languages, I was in a French/Arabic school till I was nine, so I have a good base, but I am not fluent. Meaning, I wouldn't pick up a French novel because it would exhaust me to try and get through it, but I can carry on a conversation when pressed. I am actually better off speaking Arabic for some reason. It stayed with me, and I have used it more in my adult life. I also know enough Italian to feel comfortable landing at Fiumicino and sallying forth. I can't write in anything but English, though.
DG: When you write "dear second dad" about Jerry Badanes, it's obvious that he was very important to you. Can you describe how he nudged you towards writing about your experiences in the war? Did he encourage you to confront certain subject matter—or did he influence your sentence-writing? His own novel, The Final Opus of Leon Solomon, dealt with the experiences of a Holocaust survivor. Did you find inspiration in that text?
PSW: Well, I cannot claim to remember much—the last class I took with Jerry was 23 years ago! What I do remember is that the time I spent with him was precious. It was a haven, and also a marvelous adventure. I hadn't realized that when I came to the States, I'd meet intelligent and empathetic people, and in this way Jerry was a revelation. You have to remember, I was raised abroad, and even the Lebanese with all their terrible problems make time to criticize Americans for being stupid and shallow. (That I myself was half American left me in perpetual crisis, but that is another subject.)
My overall memory is that Jerry loved me and took great care of me. We spent many hours together talking. Jerry's office had French doors that opened onto a small verdant area with stone benches and shade trees. When I wanted to smoke a cigarette, he'd open these doors, and then enjoy my second-hand smoke tremendously, lamenting having had to quit.
I can see myself sitting in that office crying. I probably did that quite a bit. I was violently depressed, a mere few years away from almost dying in a suicide attempt. I don't really know how he got me to write about the war. I think probably from sharing his own family memories of the Holocaust, and impressing upon me the importance of bearing witness. And because he listened, and he cared. He wasn't really a nuts and bolts kind of teacher. He was all about writing from the heart and not fretting about commas and so forth.
I do remember one extraordinary moment when he told me that I couldn't worry about my family's reaction to what I wrote. He said this is what it means to be a writer. That was what finally gave me permission to spill it all out. The first versions were autobiographical. Over the years, as I revised, the book transformed into a work of fiction, with the autobiography serving as the skeleton of the story.
I know that his novel influenced me hugely. How specifically, I can't say now—but in general—his love for language and lyricism, and his need to tell even the ugliest truths, and his ability to reach into the soul of things. I have wanted to re-read his book for years, but I feel a thickness in my throat when I think of doing so, much as when I want to open a book of my father's and end up leaving it closed. I am mystified by the intensity of grief. They say time heals all, and it does, but not grief, which when you crack the door even the smallest bit, is still as bright and awful as ever.
DG: It's easy to tell that your time with Jerry meant quite a deal to you both as a writer and as a person in despair. Which other writers have influenced you?
PSW: Gabriel Garcia Marquez—One Hundred Years of Solitude. Umberto Eco—Name of the Rose. James Joyce—"The Dead." Sebastian Faulks—Birdsong. Elias Khoury—Little Mountain. And on and on. Every book, you're at a unique moment in your life, and it touches you in that context. For example, Little Mountain stands out in my memory because when I read it, I had just discovered there were books about the Lebanese Civil War that were translated, that I could read, that illuminated my own experience—one which was terribly isolating, here in the States, to the point that for years, I actually wouldn't even tell people where I came from because it would elicit such shock and curiosity.
When I was finishing the first real draft of the novel, I was reading Tim O'Brien along with all the Lebanese writers I could find. The intensity of his voice and his willingness to lay himself bare affected me deeply. At that time I also discovered Miriam Cooke's War's Other Voices: Women Writers on the Lebanese Civil War. I understood that my voice belonged to a family, that I was not alone.
DG: Of the many things that inspire me about your novel, one is my feeling that the book is "not on the clock"—or if that's not accurate, then perhaps there are many different clocks ticking throughout a given station, a roomful of clocks that tell "many times" as opposed to a single hour. The effect, to me, is that the story can radiate the soaring sentences and fearless descriptions, without the insistence of "plot." I think of The Bullet Collection as a deck of cards. How did you shape the novel?
PSW: Your use of the word shape reminds me of a key moment many years ago during my journey writing this novel, when an author at a conference explained how some books do not have plots, but they do have shape. Finally, I was freed from this notion that I was supposed to carve a plot into my book!
I was aware from the beginning that the narrative was non-linear and fragmented. It just came out that way, it felt natural and real, and I couldn't impose some other, more orderly voice on the narrative (and sometimes I tried because I thought I should). This book, while fictionalized, is very much entwined with my own experience, and the "not on the clock" sensation you talk about reflects how I lived for years after leaving Lebanon. I now understand this is born of trauma, this kind of half-life of intense nostalgia and homesickness, recurring memories, relived experiences, all while frantically trying to reconcile to the present and make a go of things.
In fact, when I look back on how I wrote this novel, which was in bits and pieces over many years, I realize that even that years-long process mirrors the shape which mirrors the content.
DG: I'd like to take a closer look at one of my favorite "bits" from the novel, and ask you two questions about the following passage; from page 35, it reads:
"The war went on and on, and Mummy experimented with American bread that rose up over the pans and made my mouth water for the hot wheaty taste. We only had such exotic bread because there was no regular bread to buy, and some people had no bread at all, so we were not to enjoy it too much, which was hard. The flour caked on Mummy's apron and arms and forehead where she wiped sweat with the back of her hand. Alaine and I waited in our places opposite each other at the kitchen table, and I leaned my elbows on either side of my coloring book, jealously watching Alaine organize her bullet collection. Outside, the shooting burst on and off, but today it was on the south side of Beirut so we didn't have to go to the hallway. The doors to the balcony were open, allowing in a warm breeze and the soft clucking of three half-grown chickens on the balcony below ours. I was plotting to buy some as a present for Mummy, whose birthday was coming, and then they would not be able to refuse. Daddy had said, Chickens belong in the country, not on balconies, but Mummy had had a donkey called Saisaban when she was a child in the village, and the donkey actually went into their living room: there was a photograph in the album that proved this."
(i) This novel is about the Lebanese Civil War and its effects on a family, but it's also about sisters. As we see in this excerpt, the book is named for Alaine's bullet collection, and Alaine, of course, collects other elements from the war—a canteen with a bullet hole in it, shrapnel, and a gas mask, never mind her discovery of a dead Syrian soldier. The narrator, Marianna, is envious of Alaine's involvement with these pieces of 'materiel', but what else did the war mean to these sisters—as siblings with rivalries, and fights, and glowing moments of teamwork?
PSW: Well, when you live in a war, the fact of it is crushing, all-encompassing. It infects every part of your life. You cannot step outside, or think of stepping outside, without considering the state of the war. Is the sky quiet, is there a murmur on the horizon? Are the roads weirdly empty? Where was the latest battle? When does the cease fire expire? Shall we go shopping now or wait? Is there school today? And so on. It is completely oppressive and controlling, and totally unpredictable. It's like an abuser who is happy one day and enraged the next, and you have to react accordingly. In this way, the war is like another character in the novel that the children are both trying to have for themselves, to control. Marianna is jealous of the 'materiel' because it represents Alaine's close relationship with the war. She wants the war, too. She wants to go out at night, she wants to find corpses and see blood and body parts. Her need is born of the total powerlessness of a child civilian in an unpredictable and terrifying world. She longs to be let in, to be able to do something rather than stand apart as a helpless witness, even if it means self-destruction as it does for Alaine. So the war defines them at every level individually, and also defines the mechanics of their relationship whether fighting or colluding, throughout each of their entwined depressions and eventual recoveries.
(ii) DG: The family in The Bullet Collection leaves Beirut, but before it leaves, the family members also deal with near-leaving, in which suitcases are packed, left in the hallway, and then unpacked to great relief. This flight (and near-flight) is wrenching given the many emblems of home and belonging evident in this excerpt, including the family's togetherness, Mummy's baking, the chickens on the balcony one flight down, and the proof that Saisaban once hoofed into a living room. Can you talk about some of the most important traditions and landmarks this family had to abandon when the war finally forced them to leave Lebanon?
PSW: When they finally leave Lebanon, the family breaks to pieces, and I think this would be the greatest loss of tradition, that of the close-knit family with shared meals and an open door to family and neighbors. During the war, despite the tremendous strains they were under, there was a feeling of camaraderie, of being in things together, but in the U.S., they are stranded. Away from relatives and friends, from the norms of wartime life, from all that is familiar, they drift apart and don't know how to interact. In terms of landmarks, everything is alien—the nicely-paved streets, the wooden houses, the greenery, and rain falling in summertime. The house they live in is bizarre with its linoleum floors and creaking noises, seeing as they come from dwelling in stone and tile.
All these elements of strangeness and loss are drawn from my own experience without any fictionalization. In fact, when it comes to that abandonment of home, I don't think I fictionalized an iota. How do you create a simulacrum of such a loss? In the novel, Marianna sees the lights winking on and off in her uncle's apartment in Ma'amaltain as the boat pulls away from shore. I can still see those lights. I can go right back to the heaving boat and the stench of oil and the grief of leaving. That light still hurts—even though it technically shouldn't. After all, since that night in March 1987, I have gone back to Lebanon many times. I have gone into that very apartment I thought I'd never see again, and flipped the very switch that winked good-bye. Some years ago, my uncle sold the apartment, and now I will never set foot in it again. Time has moved on and delivered turns I'd never have imagined. And even after all this, the memory of that light growing fainter on the hillside still lances me. It represents everything intangible that cannot be retrieved. Home. Everything that is represented by the bread, the balcony, the chickens, singing before mealtime. Maybe everyone has that winking light and it's called childhood—I don't know. But I can tell you, I went back to live in Beirut after grad school, and it's just plain true that you can't step in the same river twice. Though who's to say I won't try again before I expire.
DG: The interactions between the sisters are quite exceptional throughout, and for the benefit of the reader, I'd like to quote a little bit more from later in the novel, page 71:
"Alaine came back one day from Crystal Mountain carrying a dirty rag and a canteen with a hole in it. A gas mask hung from her shoulder and she was bent beneath its weight, the big goggle eyes swinging against her back.
—I found a body, she said, and smiled.
—Like Bella?
A few weeks before, we had heard that someone's dog had been killed. They said its eyes had been gouged out.
—No, stupid. Not a dog.
I didn't know if I should believe her or not. I followed her around, mystified, while she soaked the rag in the water and played with the canteen. Our bright clean room in Uncle Ara's house, decorated especially for us by Astrig, transformed under Alaine's hand. She lined bullets on the shelf. She propped the canteen next to them. She hung the gas mask above her bed and the streaked, muddy lenses frightened me, because the person who had looked through them was now dead and his dead eyes were watching me. I heard the grown-ups whispering in the living room. I felt left out, I wanted to find a body, too."
After you published The Bullet Collection, you turned some of your creative energies toward book arts. Could you describe some of these works? Have any of these projects grown out of your background in Beirut or your fiction writing? Do you have any new exhibitions on the horizon?
PSW: I actually spent several more years writing before turning to book arts, and have a heap of unfinished manuscripts that have been nagging at me … in fact, at the moment I've set book arts aside in favor of finishing one of them.
The themes of war, displacement, and nostalgia most definitely resurfaced in that medium. In fact, at a certain point I noticed that the books themselves were physical manifestations of my experience as a child, which overwhelmingly I associate with being indoors, hiding, peeking out at the turbulent, inaccessible world. So in "Nostalgia" and "War Dreams", for example, the tiny figures of myself and my sister are within the walls, and in a weird but apropos reversal, the viewer has to peek in to absorb the full experience.
I have come to understand that the smallness and the layers in these tunnel books serve as a kind of buffer. I do not look head on at this part of my life, but with care, with not everything visible at once. In this way it is a kind of protection, the window set in a wall, the wall shielding me. And this makes sense because sometimes when I catch a news segment about some war on the other side of the world, I will literally collapse in tears, having been caught unguarded, with no buffer.
Another example is "If It Were Zack." This is a silent scene composed of images from the bombardments in Gaza. The sad truth is they could be from Syria, or Afghanistan, or Iraq, from any number of places, at any given time. I inserted myself with my son Zack, fleeing with him, trying so hard to protect him only to lose him and then find his little body. The corpse of the toddler in the last scene is from South Lebanon, during the 2006 Israeli bombardments. I wept as I made this book. How could I not? This was someone's child.
The most recent book I made is called "The Same One Place." I think of it as the sequel to The Bullet Collection. It is a small, reversible tunnel book describing the nostalgia and pain of my lost home and vanished past … and this experience is mirrored by my present life in Maynard, Mass., with reflections on how, at last, I have made my peace with my two lives.
DG: Thanks for this conversation, which has illuminated your process as a writer, your difficult experience in the Civil War (and after), and your book arts projects, among other topics. Please describe two pleasures in which you participate, whatever they may be. For example, if you prefer a certain style of beer, please do tell.
PSW: Ah, all things eventually come back to stout … as it should be. I'm so looking forward to apres-ski stouts! (I don't get into them in summer.) My favorite last year was Cadillac Mountain, with Mean Old Tom and Founder's Breakfast tying for second. In addition to discovering sumptuous beers, my other great pleasure is swimming. There is nothing more magical for me than walking through woods and meadows and going for a swim in a pristine pond. It's like finding myself in the life I dreamed of as a kid. I'm in disbelief, every time.
The Bullet Collection is available in hardcover from Amazon and Graywolf Press. It will be available in paperback beginning in December; pre-order your copy [here]
Visit Patricia Sarrafian Ward's web site
Read an excerpt from The Bullet Collection
The Syrian refugees now number over 6 million. With this in mind, Patricia started a fundraiser for Save the Children that comes with a 3:1 match from USAID. About the fund, Patricia writes: When I was a kid growing up in the war, I felt abandoned by the world. I even wrote a story in which Lebanon was forgotten—the characters wake up and Lebanon is no longer mentioned on the BBC, Cyprus isn't visible anymore, and any attempt to flee ends in failure, the roads magically turning back to Beirut. Lebanon is obliterated by war, and the world doesn't notice. I used to wonder how all those people out there in the world could just ignore what was happening. I pictured them in their pretty houses with their lawns and cars and quiet lives, oblivious and heartless. And now, I am one of those people. I live my quiet life in my nice house in my stable country, far, far away, and somewhere on the other side of the world there is a weeping kid wondering why I don't do anything to help. I realize now that people did care, and they do care, they just feel powerless. I have suffered from the same paralysis, again and again. I don't think writing letters to politicians or making pieces of art is enough. So I decided to take action that has concrete impact. Save the Children is there every day, on the ground, handing out food and shelter and providing hope, all around the world. This organization lets kids in crisis know that the world does care. And these kids desperately need to hear that.
Pingback: October 20, 2013-


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week_4: fabricating an enclosure for physical computing project (in progress)
This assignment involves creating an enclosure for a physical computing project and thus, serves as post for both of classes: fabrication & physical computing.
The chosen architecture for the enclosure is a wooden box of size 21.5 x 21.5 mm (8.5 x 8.5 inches) that I bought at AC Moore Art & Craft Store. What I found particularly interesting in this box was the capacity for sliding in a sheet of acrylic as it cover, giving me the opportunity to design the cover and later create the space for the interface by laser cutting the acrylic. The envisioned colors for the enclosure are black for the wooden box and white, orange or sky-blue acrylic sheet. I proceeded then to paint the box in black (lamp black) using acrylic painting 'Grumbacher' and prototype different versions of the interface in white cardboard and foam board (Figure 1 and 2).
Figure 1. Customization of wooden box as enclosure for physical computing project. After the box was completely painted in black, the acrylic sheet was replaced with white cardboard to start prototyping different versions of the interface (lower right photograph).
Figure 2. Six different interface prototypes were drawn next to each other within the actual size of the acrylic sheet. Seeds from wild and domesticated rice were placed on top of each drawing and the interaction was acted upon for each interface. The best two designs (the one that felt more parsimonious) were chosen and I proceeded to drawn the interface on the white cardboard, and then to slide it into the box instead of the acrylic sheet. In this manner, I could make the interface more realistic prior to buy the acrylic sheet and make the Adobe Illustrator file with the final interface design to laser cut.
Upcoming work includes creating Adobe Illustrator file containing interface design specifics, buying acrylic sheet of the proper dimensions, laser cut the acrylic sheet and place it into the box together with all the physical computing components for this project.


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Beer: Rail Slide Imperial Spiced Ale Brewery: SanTan Brewing Co. Style: English Strong Ale ABV: 7.1 percent
The problem with seasonals is that they're just that -- seasonal. Here for a short time, then gone for another year, your cravings be damned. Feeling like a Pumpkin Porter in the springtime? Too damn bad, buddy. Suck it up until next October. But as the snowbirds well know, we do not tolerate changing seasons in Arizona. Give people the power to take home their limited-release ales and drink them whenever they please, and they'll love you for it.
This is why SanTan's new series of seasonal canned brews is so brilliant. Starting in November, the brewery will release a new seasonal in cans every three months for all to enjoy. Since many of the beers -- including Sex Panther, Count Hopula and the award-winning Mr. Pineapple -- have until now only been available at the tap, this is a big deal.
See also: - SanTan Mr. Pineapple - Chow Bella's Guide to Pumpkin Beer 2012
The first canned seasonal to hit shelves is Rail Slide, an English strong ale brewed with spices of the chilly season. While the name is new, the brew isn't entirely original -- it's a descendant of 12 Daze, last year's collaboration with Liberty Market that contained a chai tea mix of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, cardamom and nutmeg. For Rail Slide, SanTan once again collaborated with Liberty, but created a slightly new blend, adding licorice to the other wintry spices.
Brewed with two-row, caramel, Munich. roasted and chocolate malts as well as a little wheat, Rail Slide has the color and clarity of a garnet gemstone. when poured into one of SanTan's curvy glasses, it gains a fuzzy head of sandy tan that slowly descends to fleece-like ring.
The aroma is like walking into grandma's place after a day in the snow. Sweet, warm caramel and toffee mingle with touches of apple, roasted walnut and coffee. Close you eyes and you'll detect the spice blend of cinnamon, ginger, apple and licorice wafting about the room.
The flavor is far less impressive than the aroma, but still hits the notes it needs to. Ginger is the main contributor here, with cinnamon and licorice playing supporting roles. American ale yeast lends apple and alcohol to the malt's nuts and caramel, while Summit hops contribute a little bitterness (about 35 IBUs worth). A major complain would be the beer's water-thin body, which is just too ephemeral to support the myriad flavors within. almost-not-there carbonation does nothing to help the situation. the wave of toasty nut bread that appears at the finish, however, does.
Rail Slide became available November 1 and will last most of the winter season. You can find it on draft at SanTan, at the brewery's many draft accounts across the Valley, or in six-packs in bars and bottle shops. Take them home and enjoy them whenever you feel like. You can now.
Zach Fowle is a Certified Cicerone, an accredited guide to beer. He works at World of Beer in Tempe.


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Women make up only 5 percent of chief executives of big corporations in Africa according to a survey by Africa CEO forum.
The study was carried out by Africa CEO forum in a bid to promote female empowerment and to support the contribution of women to the continent's economic development.
The survey reveals there is a low representation of women in the top echelons of African companies despite finding that businesses with most women on their boards have an operating profit over 20 percent higher than industry averages.
Further, 18 percent of businesses on the continent have no women in senior roles while only 29 percent of senior roles are held by women.
Angola, Botswana and Central Africa Republic are the only countries with firms who have 50 percent female participation in ownership.
Kenya falls in the 25-50 percent category alongside Uganda, Ethiopia and Rwanda among others.
South Africa, Nigeria and Mauritius are in the countries with less than 25 percent female participation in ownership.


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Update the content for accuracy
Yup. The name of the game here is accuracy. Over time, there are quite a few things about a piece of content that can get stale and out of date. Evaluate the post for accuracy and determine what needs to be modified, added, or removed. The first thing I usually do is delete any parts of a post that are no longer relevant, and add headers for new sections that need to be added or replaced. Then I go through the post in its entirety to fill in the blanks and make my changes.Read More »Update the content for accuracy


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Saturday, January 17, 2009
2005 Sequoia Grove Chardonnay
I love the red wines of Sequoia Grove and have been to the winery and think some of the Cab's are phenomenal and so I'm excited to taste this Carneros sourced, Napa Valley Chardonnay. I have tasted quite a few Chards as of late and so I think my palate is sharp in this area at the moment, so lets see what I can come up with! The bouquet is expressed with baked apple aromas, creamy oak, toast, lemon curd, and hints of caramel corn. The dominant force on the nose is the creamy oak character and baked apples, so I'm not surprised that on the palate this wine is loaded with rich creamy oak and homemade apple pie flavors. This is a big California style Chardonnay that has a rich caramel ribbon character and deep, penetrating, lemon custard notes. There is a bit of nutmeg and spice that is also enjoyed on the finish, along with the super rich and pronounced toasted oak. This wine is a just a pinch of acid away from being an absolute stunner, but I feel it just falls short of true balance. If you love buttery, full-malo, slightly clumsy Chardonnay, then this is totally you! - (and I do!!) 90 Points
Posted by thomas at Saturday, January 17, 2009
Labels: Chardonnay
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David Cameron is often accused of being policy-lite but that's not entirely fair. During his brief period as Shadow Education Secretary he has adopted a clear policy on synthetic phonics and has overturned Tory policy on tuition fees. His support for tuition fees his part of his belief in co-payment; itself part of the 'shared responsibility' idea with which he first launched his campaign.
In the first new policy disagreement of the contest David Davis has distanced himself from Mr Cameron's tuition fees policy. Mr Davis was part of the Conservative Party Policy Board that endorsed the 2001 policy which opposed Labour's introduction of the fees. Damian Green, a key supporter of Mr Davis, was the Shadow Education Secretary who announced the policy.
Alluding to his humble background Mr Davis told students at his Warwick University: "I start with an outstanding prejudice on this. I don't think I would have gone to university if there had been top-up fees and tuition fees to find." He likened tuition fees to Gordon Brown's stealth taxes.
After yesterday's controversial decision to avoid questions on drugs policy (which today's Independent says has pleased the Cameron Camp) Mr Davis will need to find many additional ways of eroding Mr Cameron's opinion poll advantage. An ICM survey for today's Guardian found that Mr Cameron led Gordon Brown by 15% amongst floating voters. Amongst committed Tory voters Mr Cameron led Mr Davis by 3-to-1.


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How to Hide Seams between Cake Tiers
A really quick way to make your cake look finished is to hide the seams. The seam is here, you can see where it's 2 cakes put together, but we want it to look like one giant piece. I'm going to use a rose tip here, which is usually number 104. I've got some royal icing in my piping bag. You'll notice that it's pushed all the way forward and then spun around, and that's to keep it from shooting out the bag and covering my hand and anything else that might be in the area. Nice clean tip. You're going to take the fat end and just go towards the end. I'm filling it in. I know it looks a little crazy at first. I'll now take my finger and just drag it around, getting rid of any excess. It's also going to make it nice and sturdy. There we go.
I've done the entire top tier. I'm just going to go around and take off any excess. You want to go fairly quickly that it doesn't bubble up too much on you. Royal icing dries up like cement. It's what we use to build gingerbread houses, so it's going to hold everything together really nicely, but you want to fairly quickly go around and clean up the edges. Also, continually clean off your tip, it's going to keep any errant Royal icing from getting all over the place. You'll notice I'm going fast, but not too fast. I want it to really fill in the seams.
There we go, nice clean finger. If I go too fast, then it will look a little bit dry, so just keep going back, almost like you were caulking a bathtub. Just fill it in. You can use some of the excess Royal icing to take care of any elephant skin that you might have gotten. It'll fill in the little holes or any little pin pricks you did to get rid of bubbles. Just brush it in, and it will cover up a host of problems.
There you go. That is how you hide the seams between the tiers of your cake.


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RORY McILROY has his sights set on finishing the season as European number one for the first time to cap a brilliant year.
McILROY is already ranked world No 1 and has sealed the money list title on the US Tour after four wins in 2012, including his second major title in the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
But the 23-year-old has never finished top of the European 'Race to Dubai' standings and is determined to do so after finishing second to Ryder Cup team-mates Lee Westwood and Luke Donald in 2009 and 2011 respectively.
"The big goal is just to keep my level (of play) up and try to win the Race to Dubai," McIlroy said ahead of his first match against Matt Kuchar in the inaugural Turkish Airlines World Golf Final today.
"I have a bit of a lead at the minute. I have come close twice before and if I can win it this time it would be a great way to cap off a great season."
McIlroy is currently £346,000 ahead of another Ryder Cup team-mate, Justin Rose, on the money list, but South Africa's Branden Grace leapt from 12th to third with his fifth victory of the season in the Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday.
And although he is a further £276,000 back, there remains plenty of cash on offer for him to complete an unbelievable campaign.
"First is definitely in my sights," Grace said. "The gap is not a lot - maybe one more win or a couple of good finishes."
McIlroy added: "I watched some of the golf on Sunday and he was very impressive down the stretch, especially after the wobble he had around the turn. We have some big-money events left so there's a lot that can happen."
Big money is certainly up for grabs in Turkey, but none of it will count to the money list as the event is not sanctioned by either the European or PGA Tour.
McIlroy is among an eight-strong field competing for a first prize of £935,000, with £620,000 for the runner-up and even £187,000 for seventh and eighth.
Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and 2012 Players Championship winner Matt Kuchar join McIlroy and Tiger Woods in Group One, with Lee Westwood, Justin Rose, Hunter Mahan and US Open champion Webb Simpson in Group Two.
The format is medal match play - head-to-head matches with the lowest strokeplay score over 18 holes winning one point - and each player plays three matches in the group stages; one today and two tomorrow.
The winner of Group One will then face the runner-up of Group Two, and vice versa, in Thursday's semi-finals, with the final to be staged on Friday.
McIlroy and Woods will not face each other until the final game tomorrow, by which time they could already be through to the semi-finals if they win their opening two games.
McIlroy has played down talk of rivalry between himself and 14-times major winner Woods. Ryder Cup winner McIlroy and world number two Woods are the biggest names in a field which includes five of the world's top 10. The lowest-ranked player is Schwartzel at 30th.
McIlroy and Woods could potentially meet again in Friday's final.
"This will be the first match where we have played against each other head-to-head compared to individual stroke play so it should be fun, and it's a match I would really like to win," McIlroy said.
"But while I would rather be a part of this than not, I'm in a great position being compared to Tiger. People who watch sports want to see some form of rivalry between myself and Tiger but I don't see it.
"I am just pleased to be mentioned in the same conversation with Tiger."


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We are coming at you with another mini palette! (We just posted about the UD Petite Heat palette yesterday!) Viseart is releasing their new Petit Pro 2 on Friday, 2.23! Coming off the heels of the last release of their Tryst Palette, this tiny little eight pan eye shadow palette is basically a perfect blending of their Golden Hour and Tryst palettes – congrats! They had a little baby! This will most likely cost $30 like their original Petit Pro.
We hate to hate, but like, come on. We have seen this color story about 754 times before. Yes, it is a beautiful shade selection! So beautiful, that we all have it already amongst various other palettes in our collections. The shimmer shades look AMAZING, we have to admit. But otherwise, we kind of feel like this is super lackluster. There is just nothing special about the packaging or the shade selection or, like, anything, ya know? We can think of better ways to spend our $30. And we are wondering like, why aren't there shade names? Are they on the back? We aren't super familiar with Viseart so fill us in if we're missing something!


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Batman: Arkham City — New Joker Trailer
IGN via MTV Multiplayer has posted a new Joker trailer. What do you think? CCU wants to hear from you.
FIFA 12: The Power of Three
Football's brightest star is undergoing a revolution – in more than one way.
From IGN:
"FIFA 12 is by far the best game we've ever done by a mile." The mile. It's a unit of measurement rarely used in football, except when talking about the length of a Premier League player's driveway, but here FIFA's lead producer David Rutter is putting a stake in the ground and boldly stating that, come its September release, FIFA 12 is going to revolutionise football games.
E3 2011: WWE '12 – IGN Live Commentary
The wrestling game series goes back to the basics! Find out what changes to expect in WWE '12 with IGN live at E3 2011.
E3 2011: Madden '12 – IGN Live Commentary
Check out the latest incarnation of the famous football game Madden on the IGN Live Show at E3 2011 in Madden '12.


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August 25, 2016
As part of my ongoing Slovak binge I've decided to finally give italki.com a try. My current language exchange partner is leaving soon, and I want to keep getting speaking practice in order to regain my former conversational fluency.
I've never used Skype for language practice before. Odd, no? I've always felt I had enough language practice through language exchange clubs and living in different countries.
This could be a breakthrough for me in terms of language practice efficiency. We'll see. I'll report after my trial lessons next week.
I'm very picky about language teachers and am allergic to any kind of formal instruction since I have my own method. The Slovak teachers'/tutors' profiles put me off a bit with their emphasis on providing materials and structure for their students and helping beginners learn the language. I realize they're catering to the average student, though.
A small barrier for me is the need for an Internet connection. I don't have one at home as a matter of principle, so I'll have to do this at one of the cafes that I frequent in town. Not a big problem, I think.
I definitely prefer face-to-face contact, but I'm going to continue. My language coach immediately adapted to my needs, and we simply spoke Slovak for 30 minutes. I did most of the talking — probably 70%, which is about optimal. She wrote down all her corrections and answers to my language questions in the chat window, which is also perfect. The student can then choose which of these corrections are fit to carry over into their vocabulary notebook to include in their frictionless learning process.
At the end of the lesson the coach asked how I envisioned our future lessons together. This is always an interesting moment for a self-directed learner. The teacher asked if I wanted to discuss some particular topics together (implying that she would prepare some materials for me). I said I'd like to talk about the subjects that are relevant for me right now. So I'll just be talking about whatever it is I'm thinking about. This is best for me, but it may feel a bit forced at first because we don't really know each other.


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Purple PrintMakers Launch Show today!
Our assessment is today and you can view the work produced during the year-long Certificate in Printmaking on Friday 22 June from 6 until 9 pm and on Saturday 23 June from 12 until 4 pm. The exhibition is in the print room at The Curwen Print Study Centre.
The Purple PrintMakers site describes how to get there,
Here are some photographs as I prepare for the show. Please come along and join me for a drink. I welcome any feedback on my first printmaking show.


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Welcome to the Apprentice level content page.
Here you can find a range of articles to give you a flavor of the website.
As an Apprentice level member you can also access all podcasts which are available to download as an MP3.
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