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Community Policies and Guidelines
This page details the most recent updates to how we're managing our community, specifically the Slack channel, which is accessed through our Patreon campaign.
Our goal for the community is to create a welcoming and inclusive space for people to discuss our shows, the topics of our shows, and things adjacent to those topics. Every policy below is designed to further that goal.
If you have a community issue in our Slack channel, it's up to you to bring it to our attention. To bring our attention to abuse, harassment, or something that does not feel right, please use the following form to submit an issue report. (This form is also available at duckfeed.tv/report.
Mods will be alerted to your problem, circle back with you, investigate, and address any disciplinary action required. If you do not feel comfortable using the form above and would rather report an issue directly to a mod on Slack, feel free to do so. This means you can reach out to any mod listed below, not just Gary or Kole. Your issue will still be escalated and handled at the mod's discretion.
Our two concrete rules are don't use slurs and don't be a dick to another person.
The quickest way to get banned from our Slack community is to engage in hatred toward anyone based on their race, gender, gender expression, religion, and sexuality. In fact, you shouldn't be hateful at all. Do not make broadly shitty comments about any of the above.
"Not being a dick to another person" is a trickier thing to define, but we keep it vague because we know abuse when we see it. Our mods are invested with the power to make that judgement, and expect to be contacted if you act out of line. The guideline is that it's better to be nice than it is to be right.
One thing that happens quite a bit is that people take comments about media they like personally. Debate about art and media can get heated. Engage in criticism and discussion, but do not do so in a way that is an attack on the people who like a thing. Conversely, if someone is criticising a thing that you like, they are not attacking you. If it extends into harassment, let us know, otherwise do not escalate disagreements that boil down to taste.
Our Slack is pretty big, and we've selected a group of trusted individuals to help us moderate it. They hang around our channels, watch the issue tracker, and make sure the community stays constructive and cool. You should treat these mods with the respect you would give to Gary, Kole, and the other hosts on the network. They are trusted to resolve problems and help you out. Sassing a mod is grounds for punishment or banning.
Rather than having a mod that's in charge of each channel, every mod has jurisdiction over every channel. You can tell who's a mod either by looking at this list, or by checking to see if they have Mod Flair… a picture of a white duck on their avatar. Anyone who isn't a mod who uses this flair to imitate a mod will be banned from the Slack.
A List of Mods:
Gary Butterfield (@cozy_snugglefield)
Kole Ross (@koleross)
Brayton Cameron (@braytoncameron)
Dennis Furia (@dennis)
Nick Glauber (@nickpancakes)
Jeremy Greer (@jeremygreer)
Jala Prendes (@jalachan)
Autumn Greer (@automatik)
Allison Baker (@allisonbyproxy)
Mootcycle (@mootcycle)
Slack and Patronage
Participating in our Slack is a reward for backing us at a certain tier on Patreon, and because of that it's a privilege. If you manually reduce or stop your pledge, you will lose access to that privilege.
If your support stops because of a credit card or billing problem, or some other extenuating circumstances, you likely won't be kicked right away. If you're afraid you might be kicked for something that's out of your control, please reach out to us right away.
Our friend and mod Mootcycle has developed a special tool for managing our Slack. In order to participate in the Slack, you must enable Duckbotnik. Due to storage concerns, this is non negotiable. It does lots of fun stuff and makes Slack a better place to be, but most importantly, it helps us delete old files.
As a large community, we're constantly hitting the storage cap for our Slack Team. Every once in a while Duckbotnik will clean out old and large files that are consuming our storage. This Slack community is not intended for permanent storage of files. Don't put anything there that you would be sad to see disappear. If Moot or another mod asks you to install Duckbotnik, please comply. If you have questions about Duckbotnik, please ask @mootcycle.
The best practice for sharing images on Slack is to just paste in a link to the image that's hosted elsewhere. Imgur.com works as well as any other.
#currentevents (formerly #politics)
We used to have a channel called #politics on our Slack. No more. Though there was plenty of productive, polite conversation within, it was also a place for low-content posting, bickering about dogma, and infighting. The aim of #currentevents is to maintain a space for sharing and talking about things that are happening in the news, but we want to steer the conversation away from Heavy Debate. We want it to be a place to share news and commiserate. If you decide to talk in #currentevents, you will be held to a higher standard when it comes to our guidelines and rules. As with #politics, the existence of #currentevents is 100% probationary forever. If it becomes a hellscape, we will close it.
Participation in #currentevents is a privilege. There's a set of rules that we've come up with and they'll be enforced more strictly than in other channels. If you break one of these rules, we'll kick you from the channel. If you then rejoin the channel, we'll kick you from the Slack. So, please know, that participation in that channel means agreeing to abide by these rules.
Don't "No Content" post. This means posting a link without commentary. We're trying to cut down on link spam. If you post something, say something about it. The idea behind posting it should be that there can be conversation around it. Initiate that conversation.
Look Before Linking. Don't post links remotely from other apps without checking Slack first. If you have a link you want to bring to the group, check and make sure you're not interrupting an ongoing conversation before pasting it.
Use Content Warnings for Sensitive Material. When it doubt, err on the side of caution.
No "All" Statements. Keep in mind that the slack is a large community, with many different view points. You might be pissed and want to post "All liberals are trash" or "All republicans are vampires." Don't do this. It's not constructive and it's easy for someone to feel attacked by it.
In other words: "I can't believe the DNC did this. I think it's a shitty move because _____" is OK. "Democrats are fucking trash" is not.
Don't Fight. If you're getting heated or feeling pissed at someone else in the community, it's OK to just walk away from the screen.
No Personal Attacks.
No Source Shaming. Discuss the content of a link or article, not the source.
No Importing Drama From Other Online Communities.
Do Not Argue With Mods. If a mod tells you to take it down a notch, or take a break, in the interest of preventing the room from turning toxic, respect that.
If you have any questions, DM Gary directly. If someone is being a jerk to you in #currentevents, DM Gary, a mod who's online, or use the reporting system.
It's rough out there, and emotions run high but that doesn't mean we're not dedicated to having a healthy, respectful community. It is fine and good to disagree, but on our slack, we're going to ask you to do so kindly and respectfully.
We're aware that these things fall under the purview of "Don't be a dick", but these are issues we've had in this channel before, and we do not want to see them again. Don't behave like this.
No-Content Posting (Don't Do It). Very often, people will pop into a channel to post several links without comment. This happens in the middle of a conversation that's already taking place. We will eventually have a bot that warns you when you do this, but right now our community guideline is to strongly encourage you to accompany any link you post with commentary, additional thoughts, or helpful context. Memes are fun. Opening a firehose of shitposting is only fun for the person doing the shitposting.
Look before you link. If you're going to share a link in a channel, please scroll back a ways to skim and see if it's already been posted. You could also do a quick search to see if it's shown up recently. Additionally, treat channels in Slack like rooms in real life. It's rude to interrupt.
Content Warnings. If you're posting a link to something that contains sensitive content (violence, hateful speech, sexual stuff) please put "/nounfurl" in front of the link. You can also use /secret, which is a Duckbotnik feature. This will stop Slack from revealing the image or content behind the link. Additionally, warn people if the link leads to something that might cause an adverse or traumatic reaction.
When to drop it. It's not your job to change anyone's mind here. Everyone doesn't need to be on the same page about trivial pop culture stuff, and after you've said your piece, it's OK to leave it at that, even if people don't agree with you. Further, it's OK to not like the subject of a particular conversation. If you find yourself getting annoyed, it's probably best practices to walk away from the screen, mute the channel or leave the channel. If you do decide to leave the channel, do not leave a sanctimonious, condescending, or otherwise belittling comment. It's best to simply leave, but if you feel the need to explain yourself, do so in a manner that is in line with our general community guidelines.
Solicitation. Do not post links to Paypal, GoFundMe, or other crowdfunding campaigns without express approval from a mod.
Slackbot Responses. Slackbot can be programmed to auto-respond to certain phrases. This can be funny if it happens every once in awhile, but it gets annoying if it happens all of the time. The mods reserve the right to go through and clean out noisome Slackbot triggers, and we ask that you pause to consider whether or not the Slackbot response you're submitting will trigger too often or be disruptive to normal conversation. A good Slackbot response triggers rarely, would never come up multiple times in a conversation, and isn't incomprehensible to most people. Slackbot responses that don't follow these guidelines are likely to be removed.
Pop-up channels. We have removed the ability to create private channels, in order to make things easier to mod. If there is sufficient interest for a time-limited channel to discuss a particular thing (like a game, or an event) then a mod will create it. Feel free to use the report form above to request a pop up channel. Not every new game/movie/etc will get a pop up channel but it's worth checking if you think it's a good idea.
Giphy. We don't enable Giphy because it's noisy and it gets in the way of discussion. We will never enable it. React to things using emotes. It's fun.
Old Accounts. It's possible we'll hit some invisible cap on the community size for our Slack team. When this happens, we might start disabling old accounts. If this happens to you and you want back in, just email Kole through the normal Contact channels.


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COLUMBUS (AP) — Almost every major-college football team burns with the central goal of playing for a national championship.
That's also true at Ohio State, only with a twist.
Coach Urban Meyer says a more realistic and reachable goal is to merely to be in a position to play for all the marbles.
"We don't go into the season saying we want to win this one, or this one. If you look around there's not a bunch of goals," he said on Monday. "Our goal is to win the national championship, but we don't put that down. There's too many variables involved."
Instead of reaching for an all-or-nothing prize, Meyer and the Buckeyes hope to head into the stretch run of the season with championships on the line.
"It's always the same: To get to November and then let's go try to find a way to win a championship," Meyer said. "Because there's injuries and issues you have to deal with. So that's our focus."
Ohio State's season may not have traced the line a lot of Ohio State fans or insiders had plotted before the season even got going.
Due to injuries and suspensions, it seems the cast of characters has changed each week.
Yet the fourth-ranked Buckeyes (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) enter their final four games riding a 20-game winning streak and with a world of possibilities.
It's been so long since they lost that they have to think hard what it felt like.
"It has been a few years. What, the Gator Bowl was the last loss?" tight end Jeff Heuerman said, referring to a 24-17 loss to Florida on Jan. 2, 2012, that capped a dreadful 6-7 campaign. "We experienced that a few times that year. A lot of the guys remember that. And that's not something we want."
Things are going so well right now that the Buckeyes are content to ride the wave and see where it takes them.
The offense, in particular, appears to be on a high-speed treadmill. It is averaging a Big Ten-best 47.2 points a game, coming off a 63-14 rout of Penn State on Saturday.
After a while, opposing defenses just want the game to end.
"We like to call that 'no mas,'" tailback Carlos Hyde said with a grin. "It's pretty easy to tell when guys don't want anymore. They don't want to even tackle you anymore. And the offensive line is just blowing guys off the ball."
The Buckeyes open their November stretch run with a game on Saturday at Purdue (1-6, 0-3).
The Boilermakers are unquestionably suffering through a difficult season, but Ohio State is not expressing much sympathy.
Purdue has won the last two meetings and four of the last six in West Lafayette, Ind., and almost shocked the unbeaten Buckeyes a year ago at Ohio Stadium.
"Each week we respect our opponent," linebacker Curtis Grant said. "(Their record) doesn't have anything to do with it because they could come out this week and be ready to play. If you're not ready to play, you'll take a loss."
After the game at Ross-Ade Stadium, the Buckeyes have a bye week to gear up for games at Illinois (3-4, 0-3), the home finale against Indiana (3-4, 1-2) a week later, and then the annual grudge match with rival Michigan (6-1, 2-1) at The Big House on Nov. 30.
Meyer isn't concerned about a letdown at any point along the way.
"We're going into November, we are competing for championships," he said. "So you can bet the focus is very intense."
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Sports Stories You May Also Be Interested In
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subset: commoncrawl


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Information for Mentors
Mentors in our programs often tell us they find the role an enjoyable and rewarding one. Apart from having a positive impact on the next generation of Science and Engineering graduates, mentoring can give you a new perspective on your career and help to connect you to current research at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Science and the Melbourne School of Engineering.
Mentors in this program can be alumni of the University of Melbourne or industry connections, currently employed, with at least one year of professional work experience.
Students in our program are studying an undergraduate, postgraduate degree or research degree in the Faculty of Science, or a postgraduate degree in the Melbourne School of Engineering. Science and Engineering graduates are in demand in a broad range of industries, and therefore the students are interested in meeting mentors from a diverse range of careers.
Applications for the 2019 program are now closed. Applications will open for mentors in early 2020.
"I thoroughly enjoyed my mentoring experience. My mentee and I were really well matched and I felt that I was very helpful to her. It gave me a lot of satisfaction to be able to provide guidance and advice based on my experience in the workforce and to be able to give something back to the University of Melbourne."
Helen - Mentor
STEM Industry Mentoring Team
(03) 8344 9802
The benefits of mentoring⇧ Mentoring is often a rewarding experience and a chance to reflect on your own journey, skills and knowledge.
- Enhance your coaching and leadership skills
- Develop a fresh perspective on your career
- Extend your professional network
- Help to shape the future of your profession and community
- Connect with the next generation of graduates
- Support your mentee to identify and achieve their career goals and develop in confidence
- Reconnect or develop closer links with the University of Melbourne, ranked #1 in Australia
The structure and matching process⇧ This program is facilitated by University staff who will support you and your mentee throughout the program.
- The program runs during semester 2 ( approx. July - December)
- Participants should meet at least 3 times
- The frequency of meetings is negotiated between mentor and mentee in the initial meeting
- Students are responsible for the relationship and will initiate the first contact
- Meetings can take place where and when it is convenient for you
- Option to participate in networking events with other participants
- Option to extend the relationship beyond the official end of the program
Matching Process
When matching you with a student we will take into consideration your personal preferences, which will be recorded on your enrolment form and through any discussions with you prior to the start of the program. Students also submit mentoring preferences which are taken into consideration when matching participants.
Our students come from a diverse range of backgrounds and study areas.
What should I expect from my mentee?⇧ A beneficial and rewarding mentoring relationship is often dependent on a mentee's initiative to engage with their mentor.
As a general guideline, we expect that mentees will:
- Initiate communications with their mentor after a match is made
- Meet the general meeting requirement for the program (at least 3 meetings)
- Consider topics of discussion and questions before each meeting
- Be punctual to meetings
- Communicate regularly and promptly with mentor (based on agreement)
- Honour commitments
- Be respectful of the mentoring relationship and communicate in a courteous manner
- Keep shared information confidential
The Mentor's Role⇧ Mentors challenge, motivate, inspire and empower their mentees.
Mentors empower students to make positive changes in their lives. The role of the mentor is to work with the mentee to identify where they need greater insight and understanding. Mentors need to be open to sharing their personal experiences and knowledge. It is through this exchange that students develop a better understanding of the professional world and the ability to make informed decisions on career paths and strategies post–study.
- Provide guidance to students around self-reliance, motivation and confidence
- Provide insight into particular professional fields and networks and open their mentees eyes to less obvious career paths
- Provide a safe place for discussion without judgement
- Challenge assumptions and preconceptions about career paths and how to succeed
- Encourage self-directed reflection, analysis and problem solving
Preparing for the mentoring experience⇧ We provide all new mentors with guidelines and an opportunity to participate in an optional face-to-face professional coaching workshop at the start of the program.
For any mentors unable to attend a workshop, a recording of a previous workshop will be made available.


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Latest News
Alleged shooter to go on trial
MANATEE -- The trial of a man accused of shooting and killing a 19-year-old pregnant woman during a botched home invasion last year is set to begin with jury selection Monday at the Manatee County courthouse.
Manatee County Sheriff's Office detectives arrested Gregory "Kush" Kennon, 23, because they believe he was one of possibly three intruders who broke down a door at Desoto Village Apartments, 3810 Fifth St. E., on July 12, 2009.
Shots were fired, with one striking Crystal Johnson, who was six months pregnant at the time, in the chest, according to arrest reports.
Johnson's boyfriend, Lawrence Funsch, returned fire, wounding Kennon and his alleged accomplice, 29-year-old Everrick Houston.
Kennon's blood was found on the sidewalk. Houston's blood was also found nearby outside the apartment, according to investigators.
Kennon is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and armed burglary.
Charges against Houston were dropped earlier this month after a judge ruled the Manatee County Sheriff's Office deputies illegally took his DNA from his bloodied clothes at Manatee Memorial Hospital.
Prosecutors said they plan to re-file murder charges against Houston once they are able to legally obtain his DNA.
Johnson died early that morning, but doctors were able to deliver her baby. The infant girl died eight hours later at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.
Detectives never arrested a third suspect in the case. It's possible only two gunmen were involved, but one witness told authorities there were three gunmen.
"We were never able to ascertain if there was a third person or not," said Manatee County Sheriff's Office Homicide Sgt. Pete Rampone.
After investigators found drugs inside the apartment, Funsch was arrested on several drug-related charges. He is set to go to trial in March.


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April 30, 2015
Second feature article discussing the challenges and considerations for the design of pollinator gardens in urban and rural public spaces. From the May/June 2015 publication of the Ontario Bee Journal.
April 23, 2015
Investigating naturalistic planting design's ability to engage people in the ongoing maintenance and gardening of their favourite public landscapes. Published as part of the ASLA's Planting Design PPN (Professional Practice Network).
March 18, 2015
A practical "how-to" article about gardening for honey bees and native Ontario pollinators in the March/April 2015 publication of the Ontario Bee Journal (Vol.34 No. O2).
November, 2014
A blog feature written by the Olmsted Scholars in the lead up to the American Society of Landscape Architect's Annual General Meeting in Denver. November 2014.


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The Sangamon Mass Transit District (SMTD) announced today that bus service will again pass by the Illinois State Fairgrounds at bus stops along Sangamon Avenue over 550 times during the 2017 State Fair.
"Our regular Route 1 North 5th and Route 2 North 9th service will pass by the fairgrounds over 500 times during this year's State Fair," said SMTD Managing Director, Frank Squires. "And we have maintained our stepped up public outreach from last year to continue to get the word out that there are plenty of bus trips to the state fair available to the public."
Brochures detailing schedules will again be available at local hotels, the fairgrounds and other popular visitor spots, and signage downtown, at fair gates and along the routes to the fair make the routes much more visible to residents and visitors alike.
"The only real change from last year is eliminating the last two weeknight trips," said Steve Schoeffel, SMTD's Service Planning & Marketing Specialist. "Since last year's fair, our regular night service was reduced by one hour. So, to avoid dropping off passengers downtown with no bus to connect to, we are rolling back the weeknight trip hours to align with our regular night service."
Service runs weekdays from 6:15 AM to 9:30 PM on weeknights and 6:15 AM to 6:15 PM on Saturdays. There is no Sunday service, and buses may not run their regular routes on the Thursday the State Fair opens due to parade traffic and street closures around the fairgrounds.
All of SMTD's daytime routes that cover most of Springfield meet the state fair routes at the downtown transfer center throughout the day. Passengers needing to change buses downtown should ask their first driver for a transfer when they pay their fare. Regular fare for passengers 5-and-over is $1.25 each way. Seniors 65 or older with ID ride for $ .60 each way. The first two children under 5 ride for free. More than two children under five ride for $ .60 each. To learn more about SMTD's State Fair Service, click here.


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Modern Staging and Property Photography
Introducing Tart&Two
Specializing in modern, curated residential interior staging for real estate sales and photography of finished spaces.
Don't wait until you're about to sell to love the space you're in.
Contact email@example.com for more information and pricing.
Available for consultation of your current space, and tweaks with your own furniture and art. Or, work with us on refreshing your space by introducing new and unique pieces.
Draw more people through your door with clean, modern, interesting design that will make your home stand out from all of the others on the market.
Property Photography
Unique, professional images of your updated property.


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Inside AAA is a blog series that provides readers the opportunity to get a glimpse of the people who work for you, the AAA member. In this series, staff members provide insight on their job and themselves.
This week, Inside AAA features Angel Jackson-White. She is AAA's Program Coordinator for Academic Relations.
What is your favorite on-the-job task?
My favorite task is responding to emails regarding academic and career choices in Anthropology.
What is the most rewarding on-the-job moment?
Being told I have great ideas for Student Saturday taking place at the AAA Annual Meeting in Montréal (especially rewarding when you think everything has been thought of!).
What is the most bizarre object in your office?
Definitely my clackers.
What is your favorite activity outside of work?
I love to read – preferably on the beach.


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BPD Officers Arrest Suspect Wanted in Connection to Non-Fatal Stabbing in Downtown Crossing/
At about 2:30 PM Tuesday, September 5, 2017, members of the Boston Police Fugitive Apprehension Unit located and apprehended Davongie Stone, 20, of Boston, a suspect wanted in connection to a non-fatal stabbing which occurred over the weekend. At about 12:40 AM on September 3, 2017, officers from District A-1 (Downtown) responded to call for a person stabbed in the area of Washington and Winter Streets. On arrival, officers located a male victim who was transported to an area hospital where he was treated for life threatening injuries. After a comprehensive investigation, investigators were able to ascertain the identity of the suspect. Earlier today, at about 2:30 PM, the suspect was seen walking in the area of Boston Common. Upon seeing the suspect, officers approached and took him into custody. Davongie Stone is charged with Assault with Intent to Murder, Armed Robbery and Intent to Rob while Armed. The suspect is expected to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on Wednesday, September 6, 2017. The suspect is also wanted in connection to two armed assaults in Cambridge.


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Dog Friendly Holidays
Great news! You can bring your dog along on your next holiday to Hampshire, with Hayling Island Holiday Park offering a range of dog friendly accommodation options. From comfortable and cosy caravans to modern models, you'll find a perfect base for you and Fido to come back to after a day out exploring the local area.
Explore acres of woodland at Staunton Country Park, take a leisurely walk around Exbury Gardens or discover the sights of Portsmouth – there's so much to do in Hampshire. Plus, with a range of dog friendly beaches in Hampshire – including Hayling Island Beach – there are plenty of places to play fetch!
Dog Friendly Attractions in Hampshire
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Staunton Country Park
Middle Park Way, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 5HB
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Staunton Country Park features acres of ancient woodland, a Victorian glasshouse filled with tropical wonders and an ornamental farm with the kids' favourite animals!Find out more
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
Visitor Centre, Victory Gate, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 3LJ
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Home to some of the country's most momentous ships and treasures, a visit to this museum and dockyard is forever memorable.Find out more
Spinnaker Tower
Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 3TT
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You'll witness some of the most breathtaking views possible from the decks of this gargantuan tower - which climbs 170 metres above Portsmouth Harbour!Find out more
Beaulieu, New Forest, Hampshire, SO42 7ZN
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Beaulieu's home to the National Motor Museum, a Victorian manor and a WWII Secret Army exhibition - you won't know where to start!Find out more
Marwell Zoo
Thompsons Lane, Winchester, Hampshire, SO21 1JH
Visit Website
Meet some of nature's most beautiful and exotic species at this 140-acre zoo. From mesmerising Himalayan snow leopards to gigantic white rhinos.Find out more
Paultons Family Theme Park
Ower Nr Romsey, The New Forest, Hampshire, SO51 6AL
Visit Website
Jump onto thrilling roller coasters and splashtastic log flumes for hair-raising adventures, or say hello to Peppa and George at Peppa Pig World.Find out more
Peppa Pig World
Paultons Park, Ower Nr Romsey, The New Forest, Hampshire, SO51 6AL
Visit Website
Little ones will never forget meeting Peppa Pig and friends - from a flight on Miss Rabbit's Helicopter to a car ride with Daddy Pig.Find out more
Winchester Cathedral
9 The Close, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 9LS
Visit Website
A splendid sight amongst the charming streets of Winchester, this cathedral is the longest in Europe and has over 1,000 years of history to uncover.Find out more
Blue Reef Aquarium
Clarence Esplanade, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO5 3PB
Visit Website
With over 50 living exhibits to explore, the Blue Reef Aquarium takes you on an underwater journey from local waters to the tropics and beyond!Find out more
Exbury Gardens
The Estate Office, Exbury, Southampton, Hampshire, SO45 1AZ
Visit Website
A paradise of rare plants, trees and shrubs, this 200-acre garden is the ideal place to simply stop, sit and relax.Find out more
Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium
Telegraph Way, Winchester, Hampshire, SO2 1HZ
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Explore a world of fun and educational interactive science and technology displays before blasting off into space at the planetarium!Find out more
Funland Hayling Island
The Seafront, Hayling Island, Hampshire, PO11 0AG
Visit Website
A family fun park in the seaside holiday resort of Hayling Island, with thrilling roller coasters, log flumes and classic dodgems.Find out more
Portsmouth, Hampshire
Visit Website
From national treasures to contemporary icons, Portsmouth is home to some of the country's top attractions and a visit here is completely essential!Find out more
Goodwood House
Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0PX
Visit Website
Enjoy a refined afternoon tea in the ballroom or burn rubber on the racetrack - a fabulous day out for the delicate or the daring!Find out more
Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
Visit Website
With 57 miles of coastline, countless stunning beaches and crystal waters, it's clear why the Isle of Wight is known as the "Enchanted Isle".Find out more
Hayling Island
Hayling Island, Hampshire
Visit Website
With 3 miles of gorgeous Blue Flag winning beaches it's no wonder that this seaside resort draws people back year after year.Find out more
Krazy Kaves
Unit 5, The Pompey Centre, Dickinson Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO4 8SH
Visit Website
A kids wonderland where they can jump, climb and slide in a fun-filled soft play area - while you sit and relax on the sidelines!Find out more
Cycle Hayling Island
Hayling Island, Hampshire
Visit Website
The best way to discover the amazing views, wildlife and beaches of this traditional seaside resort has to be by bike!Find out more
Eastoke Beach
Sea Front, Hayling Island, Hampshire, PO11 9LL
Visit Website
Eastoke Beach is a great way to while away a few hours with its nearby ice cream parlour and endearing miniature railway chugging along the shingly beachfront.Find out more
Southsea Beach
Eastney Esplanade, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO4 0SP
Visit Website
Often described as "the jewel of the crown", Southsea's fine shingle beach serves up some spectacular views across the Solent and plenty of fantastic facilities.Find out more
Lee-on-Solent Beach
Solent Beach Path, Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, PO13 9LR
Visit Website
If you want to watch the world go by, come to Lee-on-Solent Beach and see the cruise liners, windsurfers, jet skis, yachts and cargo ships glide through the glorious waters of the Solent.Find out more
Hill Head Beach
Cliff Road, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 3JS
Visit Website
Share the swell with an array of water sports enthusiasts including sailing yachts, windsurfers, fishermen and kitesurfers at Hill Head Beach.Find out more
Stokes Bay
Stokes Bay Road, Gosport, Hampshire, PO12 2QT
Visit Website
Stokes Bay, or Pebble Beach as it's also known, isn't the best spot for building sandcastles, but the views of Isle of Wight make a visit here worthwhile.Find out more
West Wittering Beach
Pound Rd, West Wittering, Chichester, PO20 8AJ
Visit Website
This vast and sandy beach is perfect for a traditional beach day set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and offers splendid views over nearby Chichester Harbour.Find out more
Pet Friendly Holiday Parks in Hampshire
Hayling Island
Water sports on blue seas
Coastal Paths
Great Family Entertainment
Sit back and enjoy the fantastic family entertainment in the Reef Showbar
This park offers:


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Welcome to this immaculate, low maintenance brick and tile 4 bedroom home. Great sized bedrooms, all with built in robes. Offering 3 living areas plus a large screened outdoor entertaining area. Boasting beautiful gardens and a fully decked sparkling above ground pool with great views. Located in the sought after Riverview Ridge estate, close to sport complexes, shops and transport, all sitting on a level block 557m2 approx. Superb family home. Be quick!
* 4 bedrooms with built in robes and ceiling fans in 3 bedrooms.
* Updated kitchen with electric cooking, dishwasher and ample storage.
* Light filled lounge room with ceiling fan and combustion fire.
* Great size separate dining room. Family room with reverse cycle air conditioning.
* Modern 3 way bathroom, also adjoining the master bedroom.
* Large screened entertaining area overlooking tropical gardens.
* Drive through single garage with automatic door.
* Above ground pool; fully decked and fenced.
* Level yard on 557m2 approx.
Council Rates: $1,260 PA approx
Water Rates: $709 +Usage PA approx
Rent Potential: $430 - $450 PW approx


text:
The Gospel Commentary
Translated by Hieromonk German Cuiba "This book, The Gospel Commentary, represents a living link with tradition. It is a collection of homilies for the Sundays and feast-days of the church year, drawn from the Holy Fathers and customarily read in church. The book is not credited to its actual author, but rather ascribed to Saint John Chrysostom: such an attribution simply reflects the Church's esteem for Chrysostom as the most masterful and eloquent of scriptural interpreters. It is actually a compilation drawn heavily on Chrysostom, but also on other Fathers...it is reasonable to assume that (this work) is the compilation of Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople, who drew the scriptural commentary from earlier fathers and added his own preface and conclusion to each chapter. Usually the preface is of a rhetorical nature and the concluding passage is a moral exhortation." from the Translator's Introduction
Published in 2002, The Gospel Commentary is nearly 900 pages long and is printed in a large format (7" x 10") with a red hardcover to make it easy to use in church services.


text:
I wanted to make a little something for my little friends Olivia and Ava. I babysit them every once and a while, they are so cute and fun to play with. They just became owners to two of Toby's brothers and sisters! Simon and Lydia are just as adorable as Toby. : ) I was there to see how thrilled they were about the kitties, and for as excited as they were about the cats, they were just as worried for their fish! So cute.
Anyway, back to the bags!
{I printed what I wanted on the bags and traced it on the paper.}
{Then I cut the letters out.}
{I ironed the paper onto the totes and then painted in the letters.}
{Ava's bag in light pink.}
{Olivia's finished bag in dark pink.}
There are so many tutorials on this, and even instructions on the freezer paper box now, so you wont have any trouble finding directions. The only thing I wish I had was a small circle foam brush that I could have used. It bled a little bit because I used a brush instead of stippling it with a foam brush.
I even added a pocket to the inside of the bag, which I forgot to take photos of. I just sewed in a simple square pocket onto the back inside of the bag. Because every bag needs a pocket! I gave them each a little puzzle and a couple of bracelets. I hope they like their little bags!
Happy July! I can't believe it's already here!
PS: I had a post arranged for yesterday that I forgot to publish. Look out for it tomorrow!


text:
End of Summer Courses:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our directors, teachers, staff and of course our students for all their support in making our first summer program such a success. We have made improvements to our Artisan Series for the summer of 2006. This includes three new one week classes, two six week sessions and one ten week session.
In a less than a week we start our nine month Craftsman Program which includes a full complement of students from Canada, the United States and Venezuela. Our first student/faculty show and open house will be held at our school & gallery in Roberts Creek on January 28, 2006. We have made arrangements for our year end show to take place at the Northwest Furniture Gallery in Seattle, Washington opening May 4, 2006.
We have already begun accepting registrations for next years Summer Programs and applications for the 2006-2007 nine-month Craftsman Program. We have recently received accreditation by Private Career Institution Training Agency in which our students will become eligible for Student Assistance and Loans for the Craftsman Program. For more information call Yvonne on our toll free number.
Week August 22: Design
We wound down our summer classes for 2005 with Artisan F: Design. In this class, students were introduced to the processes involved in designing furniture. Students were asked to arrive with an idea and a sketch for a small piece of furniture. They were given the opportunity to refine their sketch, make subsequent detail sketches and scale their sketch so that a mock up could be constructed consistent with their sketch.
Sketches often fail to give the maker or client an accurate interpretation of the object they desire to make. Therefore from the sketch students began a mock up that inevitably changes for aesthetic or functional reasons. An example is a chair that looks good on paper but when the sketch is scaled and a mock up created it ends up with a seat depth of thirty inches. After potentially days of mocking up and refinements made to the proportion, weight and form some of the subtle details may be worked out. The mock up is generally constructed of scrap material, including cardboard, and it can now be painted, grain and details drawn in, including exposed joinery.
At this point joinery decisions begin to be made. Templates are made and refined and the necessary forms made. Templates are used to make shop or working drawings, which are then made full scale to include joinery. Story sticks can be made from these drawings for efficient manufacturing. In this class students had the opportunity to work out and practice complicated joinery. This is a great primer for Artisan G Projects coming next summer to Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking.
Week August 15: Introduction to Woodworking
In this course students were introduced to the possibilities of working wood with simple yet well-tuned and effective hand tools. We began the week with the harpening, tuning and setting up of the hand tools required. This included hand planes (including block, smoother and jointer), spokeshaves, chisels and scrapers.
After two days of preparation students were given the opportunity to effectively use these tools and learn the correct application for each tool. Students were then asked to flatten, prepare and burnish a face for finish on a piece of hard eastern maple sing a smoothing plane. Using a jointer plane, they then jointed the edge of the board square to the face and using the block plane students squared one end of board to the edge and face. Using these planes all the edges of the board were made friendly.
We then moved onto spokeshaves where Robert shared his first experience with spokeshaves. Erich Janish, a German trained master cabinetmaker was able to tune up and sharpen a spokeshave and use it to fit the edge piece of a veneered table with a few strokes after Robert, his apprentice at the time, had spent hours of frustration trying to achieve what Erich had done in a few minutes.
Applications were covered and the students were given the opportunity to tryout their sharpened and tuned spokeshaves on a piece of cherry. The first experience most people have with this tools is not a good one and it often ends up lost in the bottom of the tool cabinet. It is a pleasure to see the revival of such a fine tool.
This group, already experienced with machine tools decided to focus the week on hand tools so the last two days were spent starting a small dovetailed box of cherry. Robert demonstrated through dovetails. Students were asked to complete a few corners in poplar before moving onto the cherry. Students immediately discovered why cherry has long been a preferred wood by cabinetmakers. During this time the sharpening, tuning and applications and use scrapers were discussed and demonstrated.
As a craftsman and teacher I find it so rewarding to watch the progress of students. The first shavings from a tuned plane, joinery fitting well and shimmering planed surfaces.
On Friday afternoon Robert and the students visited the wood box and explored wood graphics and showed them how to acquire pleasing patterns that can make such a difference in a piece of furniture. For Max, one of our students from San Jose, California the light went on. He said that for that alone the trip was worth it. It is moments like this that make teaching worth it for me. We finished of a week of lovely weather with pints on the patio.
Week August 08: Tool Making and Curved Components
Tool making offers the maker an opportunity to make tools otherwise unavailable or tools that are specific to their work. So, on Monday morning we began the week, as we generally do, by preparing the hand tools required for the week's class. Students prepared block planes, jointer and smoother planes, as well as card and cabinet scrapers, chisels, and spoke shaves. Students also took advantage of our evening hours throughout the week to continuously tune up their tools.
On Monday afternoon the students were introduced to simple metallurgy when they converted common files into paring and dovetail chisels. We began by heating the file to cherry red using a MPS* gas (common to the plumbing industry) and allowing it to gradually cool. This process softens the steel enabling the maker to shape and flatten the tool with grinders, metal belt and disc sanders, then eventually move onto sandpaper, diamond, and water stones.
Once the shaping and flattening is complete, we reheat the tool to cherry red and quench it in peanut oil. This process hardens the metal, leaving it a bit brittle. The back is re-flattened and polished. The tool is then slowly heated at the nonworking end of the tool until it reaches near the cutting edge. It is then requenched in the peanut oil tempering the tool and making it more durable. Handles are then fashioned out of offcuts of sustainable exotic hardwoods.
On Tuesday we moved onto double tapered laminations where students began with form-making. Students sketched the desired shape of a leg. Then a piece of 1/4" MDF was band sawed in the shape of the leg. Spokeshaves, planes,files, and flexible sanding strips were used to fair and refine the curve. Each student then made a tapered-sled to thickness plane laminations to fit their individual form within a few .001". The laminations were then pressed into the form using flexible cauls creating a tapered lamination which was then cleaned up with planes, spokeshaves, and a file.
Later in the week, we moved onto curved veneered panels. Students began by drawing the top view of a curved door, making a template, and refining it as previously done with the tapered lamination form. A form was derived from this template and once constructed, three layers of Italian bending ply were laminated in the vacuum press in the form with a shop-sawn piece of veneer placed in as a spacer. Once dry the substrate was removed, baked in edges were applied then cleaned up. Students then carefully re-sawed a plank of western maple and removed the edges to be re-applied after veneering. Veneers of 3/32", were cut, cleaned up with planes and scrapers, then applied using the vacuum press. Once out of the press, these edges are cleaned up and applied edges are shot with a hand plane before being applied on the curved veneered panel. Once complete the surfaces were hand-planed and edges made friendly.
Another wonderful week at Inside Passage was capped off with Elephants on the beach, with nearly two-dozen people in attendance! The occasion was even more special as it was also Yvonne's birthday. There were many wonderful people who joined us, including Federico and his family who recently arrived from Venezuela. Federico, already an accomplished woodworker, will be one of ten students in our nine-month program, starting in September of 2005. This upcoming program will consist of men and woman from across Canada, the United States, and South America.
Student highlight: For this past week's Tool Making class, we were joined by Cory Roberts from Hamilton, Ontario. Cory studied with Robert in 2003 and is considering attending the 2006 nine-month Craftsman program at Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking. Cory is a fine designer and craftsman who would like to take his work to the next level. He and his wife Sarah spent most of their evenings enjoying our beautiful part of the world.
Next week we move onto Artisan A: Introduction to Woodworking. Students will be introduced to the fundamental skills associated with Fine Cabinetmaking. Students will have the opportunity to sharpen and tune hand tools including: smoothing, jointer and block planes, spokeshaves, scrapers, chisels and scribes. Then the students will learn how to use them in a supportive and creative environment.
Week August 01: Veneers & Curves
This past week we ran our second Artisan E: Veneers & Curves, at Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking with a wonderful group of people from across the United States and Canada.
We began the week, as we generally do, by preparing the hand tools required for the week. Students prepared block planes, jointer and smoother planes, as well as card and cabinet scrapers, chisels, and spoke shaves. Students took advantage of our evening hours throughout the week to tune up their tools.
After lunch we moved onto shop-sawn veneers. Students carefully re-sawed a plank of maple, cutting veneers of 3/32", cleaned them up with planes and scrapers and then applied those veneers—using both mechanical and vacuum press methods—to a baltic birch substrate fitted with baked-in poplar and maple edges. After applying edges to it, the panel was cleaned up using a block plane, smoothing planes, and a file. We burnished the surface with the smoothing plane shavings, leaving a surface ready for finish.
With the veneered panel exercise nearing completion, we moved onto tapered laminations where students began with form making. A piece of poplar was band sawed into the shape of a small leg. Spokeshaves, planes, and files were then used to fair and refine the curve. Each student made a tapered sled to be passed through the planer, in order to achieve their individual form within a few .001". The laminations were then pressed into the form, creating a tapered lamination, which was then cleaned up with planes, spokeshaves, and a file. Using a two-piece form forces the craftsman to work very accurately. The method that uses flexible cauls was also explained to simplify future work.
Thursday was spent finishing off the veneered panel and tapered lamination exercises .
Steam bending was introduced this week where a back splat for a chair was bent out of ash. Ironically enough, the only time Robert has used steam bending was to straighten out an applied edge for the top of a desk ten years ago!
As James Krenov suggests after doing precise work it is often nice to just "make shavings". So, we spent Friday making a small coopered door. Students began by refining their edge jointing skills and learning how to shift the staves so as not to disrupt the grain pattern. They then learned careful glue-up strategies, moved onto hand planing the concave and convex surfaces of the door, and then finally making all edges friendly.
Two of our students—Rich and Gary—have been through summer programs at the College of the Redwoods and wanted a refresher on how to sharpen and set up a coopering plane. The process was reviewed and all the students had the opportunity to set up one of Robert's coopering planes.
Student highlight: Rich Gotz, one of our students for this week's class had a project published in Fine Woodworking issue #169. Rich is a past president of the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild, a fine craftsman, and was a joy to teach.
Rich made the journey with a friend and fellow guild member Gary Wright also a true "Krenovian". Gary took on a particularly difficult tapered lamination form and through shear determination found the fit.
Brent, one of our students this week who has studied with Robert previously, will be joining us for the inaugural nine-month Craftsman program beginning in September 2005. Brent has the makings of a very fine craftsman and we look forward to watching him develop over the next year.
Paul Keller, a professional woodworker from New Westminster, joined us this week in hopes of incorporating more curves in his work. Paul developed quite an appreciation for wooden hand planes while at the school.
Gary Kahne, a doctor from Salt Spring Island, is also avid woodworker whose tapered laminations where nearly perfect on his first attempt. Gary was a pleasure to have around and we look forward to his next visit.
At our school we encourage students to develop a sensible balance between hand and machine tools. This last week, for Robert, it was the challenge to find the sensible balance between his own work, teaching, and the demands of running a school. Luckily, Robert is blessed with a fine support group at the school and in the surrounding community of Roberts Creek.
Next week we move onto Dovetails and Tool Making followed by Artisan A: Introduction to Woodworking and Artisan F: Design.
The count down is on: less than one month until the start of our nine-month Craftsman Program!
Week July 25: Making Hardware
A fine craftsman, an inspiring teacher, and a dear friend—Michael Burns—joined us for Making Hardware this week at Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking. Michael was accompanied by his wife Julie, a warm and gentle spirit who is capable of brightening anyone's day.
Students began the week making wooden pulls. Michael showed a slide presentation and brought samples which generated ideas for the students and demonstrated the processes involved in making some of these pulls.
Each student began with a sketch, made a mock-up, then refined the mock-up, before moving onto making a pull (complete with joinery) of precious wood provided. Wooden pulls are typically done in pairs, making them easier to handle. Shaping and cutting the joinery for two provides matched end-grain on the finished pull. Walk-arounds were done on a regular basis throughout the week to ensure students were given a broader perspective of the work being done by their peers in the class.
On the second day students were introduced to making "Krenovian" latches and pressure buttons. These simple wooden latches provide the maker means of stopping doors and holding them in place. The sound of wood on wood is very pleasant and these latches are relatively simple to adjust.
In the afternoon of the second day, students moved onto working with brass and performed an exercise in cutting, squaring, and shaping brass using simple tools. Michael began to demonstrate some of the many patinas available - including using cupric nitrate, shavings and heat, and combinations thereof. Patination was taught on an ongoing basis, giving the students ample opportunity to experiment with many of the patinas available.
Students were given evening hours from Monday to Thursday until 9pm. They used the time to sharpen tools and work on sketches.The relaxed evening hours saw more than just hand tools—Michael Mulrooney and Pat played a few tunes together on the banjo and mandolin.
On Wednesday, Michael began by talking about applications and the appropriate sizes of knife hinges. Students learned about the processes involved—including drilling for pins, reaming holes, countersinking for screws, and shaping. Students each had the opportunity to make several pairs of straight hinges while Michael went on to teach the applications and the process of making offset L hinges.
Bob Sanderson, one of Robert's classmates from the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking Program, and his wife Taimi, also a CR grad, came by the school for a visit. They brought along a stock of hinges, hangers, and sliding bolts which we now stock at the school.
Bob gave a talk about his goals of improving on commercially available hinges including making the installation easier and improving the fit and finish. Bob also demonstrated the making of ring pulls. He has a sound knowledge of the subject, is a fine craftsman, and has a clear and gentle way of presenting his ideas and thoughts. We hope to see more of him in the future at Inside Passage. For more information about Sanderson hardware, including custom work please contact the school directly.
On Wednesday evening, we were joined by students, former students, former classmates, teachers, family, and friends as Michael spoke and presented a slide show which documented his work and the work of his students, with an emphasis on hardware. There was a full house at the Gumboot Café followed by an open house at the school were our newest addition to the gallery—a coopered lid, dovetailed box of Myrtle by Michael Burns, including hardware of brass, and silk lid stays woven by a colleague of Michael's from the college - was shown. In attendance were seven College of the Redwoods alumni including Larry Stroud, a lovely man and fine craftsman from Sebastopol, California who also took Michael's class.
On Thursday, Michael moved onto the making of drop pulls of brass and wood. He brought with him several samples of his own work, as well as those made by Greg Smith, currently a teacher at CR, and Jay T. Scott, a graduate of the CR program. Students then went through the processes of designing and making his/her own drop pull.
Throughout the week, we were treated to mandolin music by Pat, one of our students from Corvallis, Oregon. Pat was generous enough to share his love of music with Robert, who even managed to learn a couple of cords.
The weather for the week was flawless in Roberts Creek. Our guests were treated to sunsets and dinners on the beach. On Friday, as is tradition, Elephants was held—this time in Michael and Julie Burns' honor. Family and friends gathered to enjoy salads,fresh local salmon, and corn grilled on the fire pit. It was a lovely evening capping off a wonderful week.
Robert continued to work on his cabinet. He made a door, selected, milled, and prepared the surfaces of the Mendocino Cypress and Red Cabruva to be used to line the door compartment. Robert has hinges to make and a lock and key to modify, both of which will receive a patina before installation. Michael's insights in these areas the past week were invaluable.
Next week we move onto Artisan E: Veneers and Curves. Students will be guided through the processes involved in veneering, tapered laminations, and coopering. Until next time, continue to enjoy the many subtleties of our craft!
Week July 14: Joinery
The inaugural Artisan D: Joinery class was held this week at Inside Passage where students were introduced to joinery used in fine furniture making. As usual, we began the week sharpening and tuning the hand tools required for surface and edge preparation and the final fitting of joinery. In addition to their block planes, chisels, and scribes, students were provided with wooden smoother and jointer planes made at the school which were then tuned by the students themselves, while they took advantage of evening hours throughout the week.
With the necessary preparation work behind us, students were introduced to a simple yet effective low-tech doweling method using the drill press, horizontal boring machine, and/ or a hand drill. Students were given the opportunity to use these new-found methods to complete a small wall cabinet. The cabinet, done in poplar, was prepared with the same considerations and care used in making fine furniture. Each component of the cabinet was hand-planed and the edges softened to a friendly "happy" state. Students were introduced to the concept of let-go, making the cabinet slightly tapered from front to back. This allows the maker to fit a drawer that runs true and—just before leaving the cabinet—the drawer tightens, preventing it from falling out of the cabinet and onto the ground.
With the cabinet doweled, students planed the back of the cabinet flush and routed a rabbit to accept a frame and panel back. The cabinet was then carefully assembled in three stages: A frame and panel was made with considerations for seasonal movement and grain orientation; open mortise and tenon joinery was used on a fitted panel with a hidden pin (allowing the panel to come and go with seasonal humidity); and finally the frame and panel surfaces, and the edges were prepared for finish and carefully assembled.
Next we covered variations of the mortise and tenon joints—such joints as live, floating, compound, multiple, and wedged tenons. These joints were executed using a router and slot mortiser. Next we moved onto the careful fitting of the frame and panel into the back of the students' cabinets.
Students of varying skill levels each walked away with a lovely little doweled cabinet with a frame and panel back, razor sharp tools, the understanding of a sensible balance between hand and machine tools, and the knowledge of how to make a variety of mortise and tenon joints.
Student highlight: Throughout the week we were treated to wonderful hand made pies by Don, one of our students who operates a woodworking business in Whistler; the families of our students were treated to exceptional weather; and the partner of one of our students took advantage of our creative and inspiring area and spent the week painting in preparation for her upcoming show.
Updated Summer Schedules, Resident Bench Craftsmen arrive
We have updated our Summer Program schedule for 2005, see the new schedule under the Programs section. Our Summer Program Schedule for 2006 is also now available and it includes a completely revised Artisan Series including a 6-week Artisan Program and a 10-week Artisan Program and Projects Course. New for 2006 is the 4-week Artisan G -Projects course where students undertake a project under the consultation of Inside Passage faculty.
Our first two Resident Bench Craftsmen, Peter and Cody, have joined Inside Passage. For more on these craftsmen see the Resident Bench section under "Programs".
Week July 04: Marquetry
We finished another week of classes at Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking. This week we were pleased to host Julie Godfrey from Massachusetts. Julie studied under modern masters James Krenov and Silas Kopf and was a classmate of Robert's at the College of the Redwoods. It was especially nice for their families to have the opportunity to reconnect.
Marquetry is very focused, often intense and intricate, work. Julie provided the class with time to relax by giving several demonstrations and daily slideshows which included the history of Marquetry, sequence of processes covered, as well as the work of the world renowned marquetry craftsman Silas Kopf, with whom she apprenticed.
Students began the week choosing a somewhat simple (this of course, depends on your perception of simple!) image which they then traced and transferred onto the veneer. This was followed by a more intricate project: Julie demonstrated shading using fine sand (in this case from just down the road) in a cast iron skillet on a hot plate. Edgesof the veneer are set in the sand for varying lengths of time creating shadow lines or shading. Using the bevel-cut method, subsequent veneers are added until a picture appears. Students used fret saws and birds mouth fixtures made here at the school. The picture is then inset into a background veneer. With this process complete, Julie demonstrated the process of vacuum pressing.
A group project was started using the Boulle method, where brass and typically rosewood or ebony is used to create a negative of one another. The scroll saw was used for this process. And Julie emphasized throughout, that organization is the key since there are so many little pieces of wood and brass.
Julie also gave a talk and demonstration on three-dimensional drawing. Julie's abilities as a marquetry artist are only enhanced by her wonderful sketching ability. Julie also demonstrated the process of repetitive packet cutting. Graciously, she used the hide glue out on the deck.
Although commercial veneers were used for the class, primarily to increase the palette available to students, Julie demonstrated the process of re-sawing veneers giving the students the ability to prepare their own veneers.
On Thursday evening Julie presented a slide show and spoke a little on the history of Marquetry, from its early forms on up to the modern masters –including the work of Silas Kopf and her own. We had a wonderful turnout for the show including Brad Bielka, another classmate of Robert and Julie's from Santa Cruz, and his partner Lisa. The open house that followed proved to be an excellent opportunity for students to show and talk about their work, and for the community of Roberts Creek to have a closer look at what our school is all about.
A wealth of information presented by a fine teacher. We will look forward to her next visit.
Week June 20 : Chair Making
We just finished two very informative and entertaining weeks of classes here at Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking. Ejler Hjorth-Westh, currently a teacher at the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking Program in Fort Bragg, California, joined us for a two-week chair making class. Ejler began with the history of chair design, moving on to the functional and practical elements of design, and then Ejler spoke about sketching and preparing full-sized working drawings.
In January, Ejler and Todd Sorenson, Ejler's current apprentice, presented our school with a set of "ducks" used in traditional boat building to lay out curves. Ejler demonstrated with these amazing little tools and inspired the students to collectively make a set that was raffled off later in the week. Cody Bradford, one of two of our resident bench craftsman, was the fortunate winner.
From their working drawings, students made templates of the legs which they then faired and refined, and later used to create full-sized models (or mockups) of their chairs. The mockups were made of poplar and screwed together so that they could be disassembled quickly to make refinements. This process can typically last several days.
Ejler then discussed joinery used in chair construction, including compound angled floating mortise and tenon. In addition, he demonstrated a sliding dovetail which he uses to join the arm rest with the rear leg and seat rails. Much of this joint is done by hand and allows the craftsman to make adjustments with a few strokes of a hand plane. Robert demonstrated another method for compound angled joinery using twin live tenons.
On the first Friday, Karen and Ejler hosted Elephants. This tradition started at the College of the Redwoods back in the early eighties where students (current and past), teachers, and friends gather for food and drink—developing a strong sense of community. Karen, Ejler's wife who operates a fine catering business in Mendocino, treated us all to a few of her fabulous dishes!
Chairs are typically built in multiples. For this reason, Ejler started the
week off by demonstrating a number of simple, yet very effective, jigs and fixtures used in the millwork process of chair making, including shaper work.
Ejler introduced the group to two means of bending wood: Steam bending, a method which he employs for curving the back splats of many of his chairs; and bent laminations using forms and flexible cauls. Robert also shared with the group the use of tapered laminations, which he uses often in his own work.
After several years of frustration involved in finding an upholsterer to do fine work, Ejler approached an upholsterer who was willing to give him a crash-course, providing he would not bother him again. Ejler has certainly refined the process since then. He showed the group the upholstering—including the seat frame, webbing, use of Dacron and foam, covering, and finishing. The end result was a seat that was comfortable and looked great!
On Thursday, Ejler presented a slide show and gave a talk, which was followed up by an open house at the school. We had guests from both eastern Canada and the United States in attendance.
Ejler finished off the week talking about finishing. He prepared an oil finish that he used to refinish his chair on display in our gallery, which has seen a lot of use since our opening.
In the end, there were nine refined mockups and nine very happy students. Elephants was held in Ejler and Karen's honor, where we were joined by family, friends, and former and future students of Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking.
Week June 13: Dovetails & Tool Making
Another busy and enjoyable class has finished at Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking. This week's students were invited to look at the intimate relationship which exists between the tools, the materials, and the maker. Students began the week preparing their tools for cutting dovetails, including block planes, smoothing planes, chisels, scribes, and violin knives. Students learned the processes involved in the sharpening and tuning of these instruments to be used later in the week. To break the monotony of flattening irons, students completed a shooting board and chopping block also to be used later in the week.
On Tuesday the students were introduced to simple metallurgy when they converted common files into paring and dovetail chisels. We began by heating the file to cherry red using a MPS* gas (common to the plumbing industry) and allowing it to gradually cool. This process softens the steel enabling the maker to shape and flatten the tool with grinders, metal belt and disc sanders, then eventually move onto sandpaper, diamond, and water stones. Once the shaping and flattening is complete we reheat the tool to cherry red and quench it in peanut oil. This process hardens the metal but leaves it a bit brittle.
The back is then re-flattened and polished by the student. The tool is then slowly heated at the non-working end of the tool until it reaches a straw-like color near the cutting edge. It is then re-quenched in the peanut oil, tempering the tool and making it more durable. Handles are then fashioned out of off-cuts of sustainable exotic hardwoods.
After two days of metalworking, we were ready to put all of the preparation to use and start cutting dovetails. We began with a demonstration of cutting the pins and were joined by Gary Kent, a College of the Redwoods graduate, who will be teaching with Robert during the Craftsman Program this fall.
Students had an opportunity to practice cutting the pins before Robert demonstrated the cutting of the tails and transfer process later that morning. The remainder of the day and evening was spent cutting through dovetails in poplar, a soft friendly wood that insists on sharp tools.
Thursday, students were given the opportunity to cut through dovetails in Doussie—where they soon discovered the difference cutting dovetails in a harder more brittle wood. The remainder of the afternoon and evening students spent cutting through dovetails in Alder and Poplar, two woods of similar properties yet they present a contrast consistent with that of a typical drawer.
Student highlight: Michael Mulrooney, our teaching assistant, joined the students in the evenings. Here, he shared his insights of our craft. Watching the progression of a student is one of the most gratifying aspects of being a craftsman and teacher. Already a fine craftsman, Michael's warm and patient nature will only serve as an asset to our school when he participates in our nine-month program this fall before taking on a teacher's role in May of 2006.
With a full week behind us the group was joined by Gary, Mark, family, and friends on the patio at the old Gumboot where important matters of the world were discussed.
Next week we will be joined by Ejler Hjorth-Westh a College of the Redwoods alumni and teacher who will be teaching a two-week class in Chair making. This will be the first full class held at our school and after spending several months in preparation, Robert will have an opportunity to spend some time working on a cabinet he started in the fall.
New Course for Artisan Series:
We have added a new course in our Artisan Series: Introduction to Woodworking, August 15 to 19. In this course, woodworkers will be introduced to the possibilities of working wood with effective and well-tuned hand tools, as well as the set-up and safe use of the machines commonly used in woodworking. Learn how to tune up your own plane, or buy one of our planes, to produce extra fine shavings for perfectly smooth surfaces.
Please see our program section for a full description of this course.
Week May 30: Plane Making & Surfaces
We have just completed another week of classes here at Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking. This week it was Plane Making & Surfaces. In this class, students began with the process of harpening and tuning-up a few simple tools used in the process of making wooden hand planes. Block planes were tuned and sharpened, allowing the student to remove end-grain shavings less than .001" thick. Spokeshaves and chisels were also tuned and sharpened, and later used in the clean-up and shaping of our wooden planes.
We began with a blank of Lyptus, a sustainable hybrid hardwood. Commonly used in flooring, the properties of Lyptus lend themselves well to plane making. Its dense, relatively easy to work with, hard-wearing properties are most suitable for making planes capable of producing very fine surfaces.
The blanks were re-sawn into three pieces – a center block and two cheeks. The ramps were cut in the center block using the bandsaw. All surfaces, including the cheeks, were cleaned up with a hand plane. The three pieces were dry fitted, marked, and doweled using our Davis & Wells horizontal boring machine. At this point the position of the cross pin was carefully marked and drilled using the drill press. A cross pin was then fashioned from a length of 9/16" stock.
After being cut slightly oversized, shoulders were cut using our Inca cabinetmakers saw, then cheeks were cut on the bandsaw. We then returned to the solitude of the benchroom where, using hand tools, the cross pin was carefully fitted to our plane body awaiting assembly. Following a dry run and necessary alterations, our planes were glued then allowed to set.
At that point, students were given the opportunity to begin work on a second plane with a more specific purpose in mind - joiner, coopering, compass, polishing, spoon, bottom … the possibilities are endless!
At that point, students were given the opportunity to shape the plane using the bandsaw and hand tools, this making them fit the craftsman using them. Students then had the opportunity to use their new planes to complete a perfect board exercise were a piece of eastern hard maple was hand planed six inches square then burnished with the shavings to a high shine unattainable with abrasives. The tuning, sharpening, and use of scrapers was introduced as an alternate method when dealing with difficult woods
Student Highlight: Derrick, one of our students from Port Townsend, Washington, has a background in boatbuilding. He decided to make a large jointer suitable for edge jointing planking for his boat. At 35" long it is by far the largest wooden hand plane I have witnessed being made. Once completed this plane was capable of flattening very long planks, as well as making shavings as fine as any smoothing plane.
Another great week! Next week we move onto Dovetails and Tool Making. Watch our website for more information. Limited space is still available in most of our summer classes, so check our Summer Program page for a list of the programs that are available to woodworkers of all skill levels at Inside Passage.
Classes Begin! Week May 23: Veneers & Curves
On May the 23rd, Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking opened its doors. Our summer schedule kicked off with Veneers and Curves, a five-day class open to woodworkers of all levels.
The class began with students carefully re-sawing a plank of maple, cutting veneers, cleaning them up with planes and scrapers, then applying those veneers using mechanical and vacuum press methods to a baltic birch sub-straight fitted with baked in poplar and maple edges. After applying edges to the panel, the panel was cleaned up using a block plane, smoothing planes, and a file. Then, the panel was burnished with the shavings taken with the smoothing plane, leaving a surface ready for finish.
The second segment of the class dealt with tapered laminations, where students began with form making. A piece of poplar was band sawed in the shape of a small leg. Spokeshaves, planes, and files were then used to fair and refine the curve. Each student made a tapered sled to thickness plane laminations to fit their individual form within a few .001". The laminations were then pressed into the form creating a tapered lamination, which was then cleaned up with planes, spokeshaves, and a file.
As James Krenov suggests after doing precise work it is often nice to just "make shavings". We spent the rest of the week making a small coopered door. Students began by refining their edge jointing skills and learning how to shift the staves so as not to disrupt the grain pattern. They then learned careful glue-up strategies and moved onto hand planing the concave and convex surfaces of the door and making all edges "friendly" or "happy", as a student once suggested to me.
Student highlight: A few of the students arrived with projects underway, so efforts were made to assist students with their independent work. A set of spalted maple side table tops and a set of curved maple veneered doors were constructed using skills covered in this class.
A good week with great people – beautiful weather, lunches at the beach, and pints on the patio!
The Programs
The actual dates have been changed; visit the Programs section of our web site.
We have altered the summer course schedule to include the Inside Passage Artisan series. For a description see our program page.
The Gallery
Our on-site gallery will give students the opportunity to display and sell their woodwork in a setting where the furniture of acclaimed woodworkers like James Krenov, Michael Burns and our own Robert Van Norman will be on permanent display. We are particularly pleased to have, as our first acquisition, the latest cabinet by James Krenov. Please visit our Gallery section for photographs and descriptions of this collection.
Another recent acquisition, is the Caspar chair in Madrone by Ejler Hjorth-Westh of College of the Redwoods and one of the founders of Medocino Coast Furniture Makers.
Robert is working on a cabinet called A Writers Friend, as shown below. The progress of this piece will be documented in the "News" section of our website.
A visit to James Krenov
The faculty had a special opportunity to visit with Jim Krenov at his workshop in Fort Bragg, California. We had a chance to discuss the curriculum of the 9-month Craftman Program beginning at Inside Passage and to talk about the design aspect of his latest piece.


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There are many reasons why c-section rates are so out of control in this country. One reason for these sky high numbers is because the rates of VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean) are still abysmal even though there is no evidence to support that a second cesarean is safer than a vaginal birth. Well, to start doctors have a profit motive for performing surgery (that's right, they make more money for performing C-Sections) and insurance companies can increase their premiums or withdraw coverage if doctors allow VBACs. Plus, because ACOG recommends that an obstetrician and an anesthesiologist be "immediately available" during labor for patients who have had a previous Caesarean just in case, smaller hospitals are unable to pay these practitioners to just hang around.
Enter Tuba City (who doesn't want to live in a place with that name?). Tuba City's hospital is run by the Navajo Nation and sees about 500 births per year. What's so revolutionary about this place? The hospital and doctors are insured by the federal government and paid a salary, not per procedure. MIND BLOWN.
This is HUGE. This means these doctors are free to, "Think about what's best for the patient and not what covers our butts." Which one would think should be par for the course. But as you can see, it's not always the case. Our system just makes it too easy for some (not all!) doctors to put liability, profit and convenience ahead of our physical and emotional well being.
HB2- THE LAW THAT SOUNDS LIKE A VIRUS... BECAUSE IT Is.
As you know, the Supreme Court was rather busy this month looking at a crucial constitutional challenge to two provisions in Texas' HB2 law. While this bill is chock full of goodies making it highly challenging for women in need to get access to safe care, the two provisions being challenged are:
- That doctors must obtain admitting privileges from a hospital 30 miles from the clinic where they perform abortions.
- Abortion clinics must comply with the same building regulations as "ambulatory surgical centers."
What's absurd about it:
- Admitting privileges are at the mercy of the hospital administration so they can decline access solely on the basis that they themselves are against abortion and even more on point, abortion is one of the safest medical procedures out there, so there is no basis, no evidence, no nothing to demonstrate why this is necessary.
- Unlike Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn (R) suggests (go to 2 min and 11 sec in), there is zero need for hallways in abortion clinics to be able to fit stretchers because, stretchers aren't used in an abortion clinic. There is zero need for procedures to be done in a room set up identically to a room for brain surgery because there is no operating during an abortion.
If these provisions go into full effect, Texas would see a 75% reduction in the number of clinics serving 5.4 million women of childbearing age and this would open up a whole can of worms for states to pass similar bills - like this ONE and this ONE.
The constitutional question at hand is whether having 10 clinics to serve all these women, including many who would live 200 miles away from the nearest facility, represents an "undue burden" on the right to abortion deemed impermissible after the Casey decision. For now, it has been recommended that the Supreme Court remand this back to the lower courts for hearings, to address questions about the capacity of the remaining clinics to fill the state's needs. Round and round we go.
The FDA isn't taking Essure, an alternative for permanent birth control, off the market just yet even though complaints include reports of the device breaking, moving and causing side effects ranging from chronic pain and bleeding to autoimmune disorders such as psoriasis and lupus. While the government seems to have a right to control our bodies when it comes to abortion, one of the safest procedures out there, they have no problem leaving it up to us as to whether we'd like a perforation of the uterus or fallopian tubes (also known side effects of this birth control). Wow. #takeessureoffthemarket
Pot-infused feminine products? Enough said. We're all for innovation but we also ALWAYS take caution when sticking something in any of our holes. We prefer to go au naturel - if your period cramps hurt too much, listen to your body, is there some kind of hormonal unbalance that's causing extreme pain? Willing to give Foria Relief it a try? Please report back.


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Mallett Art
Timmy Mallett
grape harvest
I love the light on these grapes, blue and black and pink reflected from the sunlight on the leaves just turning in the autumn sunshine.
This little painting was inspired by my trip down the Moselle valley seeing dark blue grapes with reflections on them, hiding in vines. I couldn't believe how much colour there was in such a tiny area!


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Plumes of smoke rose over the centre of the city while the building itself burned strongly after the early morning attack.
State media said four security guards were killed in the bombing. An Islamist group working with rebel forces, Tajamo Ansar al-Islam or Gathering of the Supporters of Islam, claimed responsibility, which it said was carried out by a suicide bomber working with army insiders.
It added that four of its men had also died in a gun-battle on the scene afterwards.
The bombing is the worst attack on the centre of Damascus since four senior military leaders, including the brother-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad, were killed in a bomb attack on the national security headquarters in mid-July.
Since then, the war has moved to the streets of both the capital and of Syria's biggest city, Aleppo, both of which had been largely secure until then.
The Syrian government sought to put the best face on yesterday's attack, despite its further evidence of the ability of the rebels to strike at will across the country.
"All our colleagues in the military leadership, the army staff command and the Defence Ministry are unhurt," the information minister, Omran Zo'abi told Syrian television.
"It's a terrorist act, close to an important site, that's true. But as usual they failed to achieve their goal."
But the scale of the attack was captured both on CCTV footage released on Syrian television, showing both bombs exploding, and by scenes of the Syrian army forced to lay siege to their own headquarters as fighting continued inside.
A Syrian journalist and blogger who had worked for Press TV, the English-language Iranian service, was shot dead in the fighting. Its Damascus bureau chief, Hussein Mortada, a Lebanese citizen, was wounded.
Meanwhile, activists reported the discovery of scores of bodies in the southern Damascus suburb of Dhiyabiyeh. Claims of the dead ranged from 40 to 107, though the circumstances of the killings were unclear.
Arab leaders were meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly yesterday to discuss the Syrian crisis. Nabil al-Araby, the secretary-general of the Arab League, insisted at a briefing that a new proposal by the Emir of Qatar for Arab states to intervene did not mean the use of military force.


text: I was thrilled to see this in the May June Issue of New York Spaces Magazine. This is the cover story for this Issue. A special thanks to Edda Elias and Associates for choosing my artwork for this beautiful space. And thanks to Portland Fine Art for selling it to them.Read More


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The Imperial Vintage Large Sideboard is included in this fine range of premium quality oak furniture. This truly timeless range of furniture radiates quality and style. The true centre piece of this range is the stunning three meter extension table with its accompanying carver and ladder back chairs, that is perfectly suited to a grand country home or a contemporary barn conversion.
This range carries all the hallmarks of top quality cabinet making, with dovetailed drawer boxes and traditional under mounted draw runners. The wood for each peice of furniture has been carefully selected to make sure the colour's and grains are perfectly balanced.
The range comes with two handle options. The first is an elegant hand stitched red leather that compliments the warm soft tones of the oak. The second option is a sophisticated satin brush metal.
W1700 x H1000 x D450 mm
Returns and Exchanges
There are a few important things to keep in mind when returning a product you purchased. You can return unwanted items by post within 7 working days of receipt of your goods.
- You have 14 calendar days to return an item from the date you received it.
- Only items that have been purchased directly from Us.
- Please ensure that the item you are returning is repackaged with all elements.
Ship your item back to Us
Firstly Print and return this Returns Form to: Morgan Doyle Ltd, MDL Business Park, Arklow, Co.Wicklow, Ireland, Y14 NH79
Please remember to ensure that the item you are returning is repackaged with all elements.
For more information, view our full Returns and Exchanges information.


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Attorney Phil Schenkenberg Featured in Minneapolis/St. Paul Business JournalPrint PDFShare
August 26, 2016
Attorney Phil Schenkenberg participated as an expert in a panel discussion on important developments in cybersecurity. The panel discussion was highlighted by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal in the article, "Table of Experts: Cyber Security," and Schenkenberg was quoted throughout.
To view the detailed transcript of the panel discussion, click here.


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Bath WI, Bath WI garden, Botanical Gardens, edible garden, Events in Bath, Garden Party, the Queen's birthday
Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make yesterday's garden party so wonderful, from booking the garden to ordering glasses and prosecco to decorating the garden so beautifully and baking delicious food – and to all our members, speakers, local dignitaries and friends who came along and supported us!
The garden gurus who volunteer their time and green fingers have done a wonderful job making our edible garden look so beautiful, helped by the 'Botanicals' (the Botanic Gardens gardeners) – there would be no garden party without them.
Thanks too of course to Nick and his wonderful pramophone!
Congratulations to all the raffle prize winners – and thanks to Rachel Demuth of Demuth's Cookery School for drawing the winning tickets.
Guests really rocked the regal look with their shiny crowns, and special mention on the dress front must go to Andrea with her amazing bunting skirt (with net petticoat!) and to the floral outfit Kitty (queen of the smoked salmon sandwiches) wore so elegantly…complete with dragonfly! Not to mention the gentlemen of Banes Parks and Gardens, who scrubbed up rather well don't you think!
Funny how some photos always manage to turn out perfect for a caption competition!
We are already looking forward to next year's garden party – 5th July 2017, put it in your diaries!
…and please don't forget we are not having a Bath WI meeting next month! Wishing everyone a very happy Summer and we will see you on 7th September back at St Mary's.


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Lucky for me and my "I've-got-blogger's-block" self (it's like writer's block, but for bloggers!), another blogger took care of today's post for me! Stacie of The Flirty Guide contacted me recently about featuring our wedding, and I was just so excited! This is the first time our wedding has been featured on a website other than Weddingbee or Kelli Nicole Photography, and it makes me quite proud to see my carefully-planned soiree get a little attention.
So head on over to The Flirty Guide and click on my face on the left. Or, check it out on The Flirty Blog. Stacie did a great write-up about the wedding and about Spirals and Spatulas, and I'm sure she'd love it if you stopped by to check it out. Plus, you can look at that silly picture of me with the power drill again.
Have a lovely Tuesday!


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Sunday, July 08, 2012
Language issue is contrived says Iosif Kobzon
Legendary Soviet and Russian pop singer, long-time member of the Russian State Duma, Iosif Kobzon, attended a ceremony celebrating the 80th anniversary of Donetsk region where he was born and where he is revered.
During the festivities he and president Yanukovych even sang a rather overblown duet together - 'My mother [is] Ukraine, my father.. Donbas'...
Kobzon was asked by a 'Novosti Donbassa' journalist for his opinion on the current Russian/Ukrainian language scandal. He did not understand why the status of Russian needed to be changed.
"...who today gets in the way of anyone speaking in parliament in Russian? Who obstructs anyone speaking Russian in Donbas? And would anyone be surprised if any of you were to speak in Ukrainian? So, it's a contrived political conflict, which I hope, will be resolved without any particularly serious consequences", said the Russian singer.
My guess is most Ukrainians who live in the region think the same way...
p.s. If you are interested in this sort of thing, I couldn't help noticing....Kobzon has a very peculiar hair-line...
MONACO DECLARATION AND RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY AT THE TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL SESSION: MONACO, 5 to 9 JULY 2012
Pdf version available at this link at "Final declaration in English
Resolution on Ukraine at page 17...
Also this on the Magnitsky case: "Calls on national parliaments to take action to impose visa sanctions and asset freezes on persons responsible for the false arrest, torture, denial of medical care and death of Sergei Magnitsky,.." Could cause some furrowed brows on Ukraine's mount Olympus..
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Think Before You Post
Have you guys seen this? Creeeeepy. But I do agree with the message it's trying to convey.
Ack! This freaked me out... Thanks :)ReplyDelete
That was quite creepy! But it does sound a much needed message. especially because what's on the Internet, is on forever. even if it's deleted. Thus I have a love/dislike relationship with technology :)
Thanks for sharing this
Ewww creepy. But so true. Everyone needs to be careful when posting.ReplyDelete
A great wake-up call for everyone, no matter how young or old!ReplyDelete
Thank you so much for commenting! I read each and every one.
Please be aware that any comments under an "anonymous" user are subject to deletion, as well as cruel or unnecessarily rude comments (because sometimes it's necessary to be rude.*wink*). Comments on posts older than 2 weeks are also moderated, and may take a few days to appear.


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"There is a proposal (which is yet to be tabled before property tax consultative committee and standing committee) whereby property tax defaulters can still pay their arrears without being charged penalty and interest," confirmed a source. Sources said that to rein in property tax defaulters, the NMC had in April 2010 started imposing 2% penalty on those paying tax after the due date. The decision was taken to ensure that the NMC received property tax on time. But this failed to get defaulters to pay up.
On the lines of amnesty scheme for water bill defaulters, the civic administration has proposed four categories to waive off penalty (or interest) for property tax due from April 1, 2010, till March 31, 2016. Rule 51 of the Maharashtra Municipal Act (appendix D) empowers the municipal commissioner to waive off the penal interest on property tax arrears. It will not require approval from neither the standing committee nor from the general body.
Sources said the civic administration has drafted a proposal to waive off interest and penalty for this period if the defaulters pay up before December 31. If a defaulter pays property tax dues before August end, the NMC will waive off 70% of the penalty. Similarly, those who pay by September end, they will get a 60% waiver in penalty and those paying in the subsequent months will get a penalty waiver of 50%, 40% and 25% till December 2016.
A senior official from the property tax department justified the move and said: "Based on the feedback received from citizens, it was found that people want to pay property tax but are not satisfied with the assessment orders passed against their property through e-governance. They also believe that a much higher amount of tax is levied on their property, hence they chose not to pay the property tax."
In 2015-2016, the property tax demand was Rs126.41 crore, while the arrears amounted to Rs130 crore. Against this, the NMC recovered Rs96.79 crore as tax and Rs77.30 crore towards arrears. However, the interest (from April 2010) has reached Rs144 crore.
Already, the amnesty scheme launched by NMC to waive off 50% dues of water bills has received flak from taxpayers for letting off the defaulters. Taxpayers expressed shocked as to how the NMC can even think of floating an amnesty scheme for property tax defaulters when the interest itself is over Rs144 crore.
This scheme is being planned at a time when the civic body is reeling under acute financial crisis. After waiving off water dues of over Rs60 crore out of about Rs110 crore, there is no logic behind launching similar scheme for property tax defaulters. On the other hand, the increase in property tax is burdening citizens who pay their dues sincerely, said civic activists.


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Je Joue's guide to sex toys and student lifeBy Je Joue
Find balance in your hectic schedule
It's easy to get carried away with lectures, labs, and exams during the school year. Connecting to your body when you're already overwhelmed can be difficult, and university can become exhausting — grades first, everything else after, but that kind of approach is counter-intuitive. The mind is so much more productive when we strike the right balance between work and play.
Here are a few tips to get you thinking about you:
Your pleasure matters
Practising self-love or having partnered fun is just as important at university as getting a good night's sleep and eating your veggies. For many, experiencing pleasure is a key part of rounded self-care. It has been proven that orgasms are an effective way to release tension, relieve stress, improve sleep and reduce the discomfort of menstrual cramps (Planned Parenthood).
Is a shared room the end of privacy?
Being noisy in the bedroom might be fun, but it can also be a consent violation when living with others: it involves a third party in your sexual activities. If your roommate isn't comfortable hearing your sex toys, respect that boundary by choosing quiet motors. Small toys like the Je Joue Classic Bullet are a great way to add quiet stimulation during sex, and Je Joue's Bullets are amazing for dorm life. They're discreet and velvety-soft, and they charge with a simple micro USB cord.
For anyone (un)lucky enough to live with a roommate during university, establishing ground rules is an important way to start the year. If you're sharing a room, figure out when your roommate won't be in, so you can have time for masturbation. If you're in different rooms in the same apartment, choose quiet vibrators that won't rattle through the walls. The Je Joue Mimi Soft is a dorm room must: whisper-quiet, with a rumbly motor that'll change your world. (Plus, not having to buy new batteries every week is a blessing. Not only are rechargeable toys better for the environment, but they're way easier on your wallet after the first few months.).
Choosing the right toy
The two biggest mistakes that university students make with their sex toys are not buying body-safe materials and not keeping their toys clean. Like a romantic partner, sex toys need to be picked carefully and cared for over time. This is especially key for insertable toys like the Je Joue G-Kii, a bendable g-spot vibrator that (for some bodies) also offers simultaneous clitoral stimulation. Play safely by buying fully waterproof toys made from body-safe materials, and make sure to wash your toys thoroughly with soap and water before and after every use.
The Big O
For many, solo pleasure is the foundation for university life — especially within the first year. But if you're having partnered sex and you find you need more clitoral stimulation to orgasm during it, have a chat with your partner about closing the orgasm gap. Achieving orgasm during sex is totally not a requirement, but if it's something you want, your partner should support you in that. Remember, it's not only people with penises that deserve orgasms!
Take time to get to know you.