text:
Where's Wesley?
The True Story of a Manuscript Hymnal Attributed to the Father of Methodism
In 1739, Methodist founder John Wesley made seven copies of a hymnal for his first class, handwriting them because he was not allowed access to printing presses. Through Wesleyan connections, Englishman Ralph Potts (1751 or 52-1816) came to possess one of these manuscript hymnals, bringing it with him when he immigrated to America and eventually settled in Washington, N.C. Potts passed the hymnal to his son, John Wesley Potts. In the late 1800s, the hymnal came into the possession of John F. Shackelford (1846-1921) of Tarboro, N.C., who made the mistake of loaning it to Robert T. Joyce of Mount Airy, N.C. Joyce in turn sent the hymnal to Washington Duke, the famous tobacconist and benefactor of Trinity College (now Duke University), hoping for assistance paying off his church's mortgage. In the end, Shackelford had to sue for the hymnal's return. The hymnal then spent many decades as a revered family relic, its peaceful existence broken briefly by a 1981 burglary in which it was stolen, but eventually returned.Because psalmody was transmitted through a fluid mix of printed books, manuscript compilations, and oral tradition, hymn tunes and texts were frequently mixed and matched, and tune names likewise varied.
Or so the story goes. In reality, this saga is a tangled web of truth and legend, passed down orally through generations of the Shackelford family. Ownership signatures in the manuscript, plus a newspaper article and two letters, document the family's traditions. The alleged Wesleyan origins have dominated the manuscript's history, and if they are true, this artifact is a rare find for Methodist and music history. If the story is false, the hymnal is still a valuable document—but what exactly does it document? It is time to set the record straight, to discover what this artifact really is and what tale is really contained within its pages. And what a tale it is: a story of music, religion, and the lives of common and famous people on two continents. Our journey begins by looking outward, scouring the historical record for information about the hymnal and the people connected with it, but the mystery is ultimately solved by looking inward, analyzing the hymnal's actual musical and textual content. Along the way, we'll observe how everyday objects affect the people they come in contact with, gain insight about the spread of music and religion in both the old and new worlds, and discover the power of close examination of actual artifacts for learning the true story.
Provenance: Unraveling the Tangled Web
We begin by examining the signatures and newspaper article, saving the letters for later. Six men's names are recorded inside the hymnal's front cover board (fig. 1). According to the dates there, the earliest signature is "Jno Wesley, 1739." The next dated signature reads "Ralph Potts's Book, July 3, 1780, Dunston." An undated printed nameplate records "John Wesley Potts." William Williams of Gates County added his signature but no date. Therefore, his chronological place cannot be unequivocally established, but as we will see, he most likely followed John Wesley Potts. A final inscription records the loaning of the document: "This Book is the Property of John F. Shackelford. Tarboro N.C. October 8, 1897. Loaned to R.T. Joyce Mount Airy N.C. Oct 8th, 1897." It appears some initial leaves (at least two) have been lost, since all of the first three hymns and part of the fourth are missing. It is tantalizing to speculate on whether other lost leaves contained further clues about the manuscript's provenance.
1. Signature page, taken from the front cover board of a manuscript of the hymnal attributed to John Wesley. Courtesy of the Music Library, Fletcher Music Center, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C.
The circa 1898 newspaper article tucked within the manuscript's pages is the earliest published report of the hymnal. It reads:
A Written Copy of Wesley's Hymns in This State.
From the Winston Sentinel.
It is learned that Mr. Robert T. Joyce, one of Winston's former citizens now of Mt. Airy, has secured and will loan to the library of Trinity College, one of the seven copies of the hymns of John Wesley, written by the latter in 1739. It is said to have been handed down from Wesley to John Wesley Potts.
When Wesley organized his first class in England, he made the seven copies, all beautifully written, as he was not allowed to do any printing. Ralph Potts brought one to Washington, this State. After a fire in Tarbor [sic] the book was found by John Shackleford [sic].
Mr. Shackleford consents that Joyce shall loan it to Trinity College. Those who have seen the book say the writing and the music notes are almost as well executed as if they were engraved.
The signatures and newspaper article agree regarding the connection to Wesley, but these claims do not match the historical record. There is no evidence of the other six copies, although this alone does not preclude their creation, given the nearly three centuries subsequently elapsed. However, the claim that Wesley "was not allowed to do any printing" is suspect because Wesley printed several other publications in 1739, including three editions of Hymns and Sacred Poems. In addition, the signature's format brings its authenticity into question: according to Wesley expert Peter Nockles, Wesley normally neither dated his signatures nor wrote his first name as "Jno."
Besides Wesley's alleged signature, the earliest dated inscription is "Ralph Potts, July 3, 1780, Dunston." Ralph Potts was born in Northumberland, England, in 1751 or 52, and thus could not have been a member of Wesley's supposed "first class" of 1739. Potts's life in England remains obscure. He was baptized into the Church of England at Eglingham, Northumberland, but the parish registers give only his name, his father's name (also Ralph), and the date, July 3, 1752. The historical record is then silent until March 17, 1787, when Potts became a United States citizen, taking the oath of allegiance in Portsmouth, Va., as recorded by the Norfolk County Circuit Court. He must have immigrated not long after signing the hymnal in 1780, since three years of United States residence were required before taking the oath. Potts did not, however, settle permanently in Portsmouth: an 1856 essay in the Annals of Southern Methodism on "Methodism in Washington, N.C.," states that Potts, "being a merchant of high standing and incorruptible business habits, was induced to come [to Washington, N.C., in Beaufort County] after pushing his fortune, for a certain length of time, in Portsmouth, Va."
Indeed, by mid-1792 Potts had moved to Washington, N.C., where he would leave a legacy for the town in general and its Methodist church in particular. The aforementioned 1856 essay waxes eloquent: "the Methodist Church in Washington owes the very sap of its existence at this day to his faith, his liberality, to his ... unparalleled devotion to its interests." Arriving on the tail of the congregation's short-lived 1791 revival, "Father Potts" threw himself into the church, beginning by marrying Mary Hinton, widowed daughter-in-law of the congregation's founders, Sarah and Dempsey Hinton. He went on to fund erection of their first chapel, dedicated by Methodist bishop Francis Asbury in 1803. On June 9, 1806, Potts, then one of seven trustees, officially gave the building and space for burial grounds to the congregation "for and in consideration of the love & esteem which he hath and beareth for the Worship of God and promoting and Spreading of the Gospel of Christ."
Potts's importance among the Washington Methodists is further emphasized by his role as their primary contact for Francis Asbury, receiving mail for the circuit rider and housing him when he arrived. Asbury's February 1, 1802, diary entry shows the bishop's consistently favorable opinion of Potts, noting his arrival "to the hospitable shelter of Ralph Potts (of Alnwick, Northumberland) where we had all things richly to enjoy." The men's shared English heritage was dear to the bishop's heart, for Asbury wrote on March 9, 1801, "Ralph Potts, a Northumbrian (Old England) but American-made Methodist, received us as the angels of God." Asbury's identification of Potts as an "American-made" Methodist is significant: it suggests Potts converted to Methodism after leaving his native land, and thus had no Wesleyan connections in England. Furthermore, the 1856 essay that spills so much ink praising Ralph Potts is conspicuously silent on the hymnal or any Wesleyan connections, especially given its passing but specific mention that another church father, Thomas Robason, was "a member of the Wesleyan connection in England."
Ralph Potts died March 30, 1816, leaving his estate to his brother William Potts and sister Ann Scott, both of England; his stepson Joseph B. Hinton; and his three surviving children, now orphans (their mother died in 1806): Ann, Sally, and John Wesley. His will records money, property, slaves, and personal items, but no mention is made of any books, let alone a Wesley hymnal.
2. Map of North Carolina locations in the hymnal's story. "Geographical, statistical, and historical map of North Carolina," drawn by F. Lucas Jr., Kneass, sc. (1822). Courtesy of Verona Joyner Langford North Carolina Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C. Click image to enlarge in new window.
Nonetheless, Ralph Potts must have passed the hymnal to his minor son, John Wesley Potts, as indicated by the pasted-in nameplate. John Wesley Potts himself lived only nineteen years after his father's death, but accomplished much in his short life, briefly attending the University of North Carolina, and subsequently earning a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. His wife Paulina C. Potts died while he was in medical school, apparently leaving no surviving children. Around 1831, John Wesley Potts moved to nearby Tarboro in Edgecombe County, which jurisdiction he represented at the North Carolina House of Commons from 1832 to 1835. John Wesley Potts married Lucy Nelson Boyd on Oct. 4, 1834, in a double ceremony shared with Lucy's sister Mary, and Thomas P. Hawkins. The newly wedded bliss would not last long, however. The following summer, on July 13, 1835, John Wesley Potts died in Little Rock, Ark., attended by his brother-in-law Thomas Hawkins. The newspaper obituaries do not tell the men's business in Arkansas; perhaps they had traveled to make their fortunes in that newly opened territory.
From John Wesley Potts's death in 1835 until 1897, nothing is positively known about the manuscript's whereabouts. John Wesley Potts did not register a will, an entirely plausible situation given his young and probably unexpected death. His worldly possessions were likely retained by his widow, but the historical record makes no further note of Lucy Potts or her descendants. Lucy may have remarried, thus changing her surname and making her difficult to trace. The manuscript's signature, "William Williams, Gates County," probably refers to its owner for at least some of the years from 1835 through 1897. Gates County, North Carolina, is only about seventy miles from Tarboro (fig. 2), and several men named William Williams did indeed live there during these years, but only the barest facts are recorded about any of them, leaving this owner's story shrouded in mystery.
In 1897, the manuscript resurfaced in Tarboro, now the property of well-to-do businessman and mill owner John F. Shackelford. From this point forward the historical record unabashedly claims the manuscript as a Wesley relic. Two traditions explain how Shackelford acquired the manuscript; both are suspicious, and neither likely came directly from Shackelford. The 1898 newspaper article preserved with the manuscript states Shackelford found it "in Tarbor [i.e. Tarboro] after a fire." The newspaper cites its original source as the Winston Sentinel, a town nearly 200 miles from Tarboro, and the content overall appears not to have come from Shackelford's testimony. In 1982, almost a century later, then-owner Joe Grayiel recalled being told "a man gave [Shackelford] a satchel of books and the hymnal was among them." If either story is true, how did Shackelford or the newspaper learn about the manuscript's origins and purported history as one of seven copies? The newspaper's statements about the manuscript's connection with Ralph Potts and Potts's residence in Washington are accurate, but if the manuscript was simply "found," how was Potts's residence in Washington established, several counties away and over seventy years after his death? It is plausible this information was discovered through local connections, particularly since John Wesley Potts lived in Tarboro as an adult. Perhaps the true story is more innocuous: the Shackelfords collected relics (to this day, similar artifacts are preserved in the family home) and John Shackelford simply bought the purported Wesley relic, perhaps from William Williams.
3. Hymns 23 and 24, left page, with text; Hymns 23 and 24, right page, with music. Courtesy of Ms. Gwenda Grayiel Moore. Scan courtesy of Digital Collections, J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C.
However he acquired it, Shackelford nearly lost the manuscript in 1897 when he loaned it to fellow mill owner Robert T. Joyce, a prominent citizen and Methodist in Mount Airy. Joyce was apparently something of a historian, for he wrote a short history of Mount Airy for the time capsule placed in the cornerstone of the town's Methodist church building at its 1894 groundbreaking. Joyce "was to take [the hymnal] to Trinity College to attempt to verify that it was written by Wesley," according to a 1982 newspaper article. Less than a year after Shackelford's loan, on August 4, 1898, Joyce did indeed send the manuscript to Washington Duke of Durham, N.C. Rather than requesting authentication, Joyce sought assistance to pay off the mortgage on Mount Airy's new Methodist church building. After suggesting that the hymnal was a gift ("I send you by today's Registered mail a hymn book that will explain it's self… I obtained consent to let you have this for Trinity College"), he proffered a thinly veiled request for needed funds ("To a further statement utterly disconnected with this, I would state for your generous consideration the fact that we owe $2235.00 on our Methodist Church."). Joyce's communication is preserved with the hymnal, along with a second letter dated January 27, 1898, from R.T. Miller of Cincinnati to Joyce asking, "Can I buy the manuscript Wesley Hymnal referenced in Winston Sentinel, for my collection of Wesleyana?" Nothing further is known, including whether Joyce responded. The January 1898 date is curious because it precedes Joyce's August 1898 letter to Duke. Perhaps the year was actually 1899, and Miller mistakenly wrote 1898, as people sometimes do at the beginning of the year. Regardless, the manuscript did not stay permanently in Trinity College's possession, but returned to the Shackelford family, whose tradition states Shackelford raised a lawsuit to get the manuscript back.
The hymnal passed from Shackelford to his daughter Maud Leggett, then to her heir Joseph Grayiel, resting as a revered relic for many decades until the family home (by then recognized in the National Register of Historic Places as the Redmond-Shackelford House) was burglarized on October 30, 1981. Police initiated an international search, but the hymnal didn't go far: on February 16, 1982, Tarboro's newspaper, The Daily Southerner, announced the artifact's recovery via a clandestine meeting at an abandoned house in nearby Rocky Mount, N.C. Upon Grayiel's death, the manuscript passed to his niece Gwenda Grayiel Moore, whose initiative to investigate the long family traditions and bring the artifact to wider attention resulted in the research recorded in this article.
Provenance, then, raises significant doubts about Wesley's connections to the manuscript. Ralph Potts, as the first recorded owner, is the most likely creator, but the historical record is entirely silent regarding Potts's musical activities, much less a hymnal. Let us, then, turn our gaze inward for a detailed look at the manuscript itself: close examination of the hymnal's musical and textual content provides specific evidence as to dating, creation circumstances, and use, ultimately identifying it as an artifact of eighteenth-century psalmody.
The Manuscript's Own Pages: Key to the Mystery
As the name implies, psalmody originally encompassed only singing of the biblical Psalms, but over time the scope broadened to include extra-biblical sacred texts. This sacred music-making tradition emerged in the Church of England in the late seventeenth century and eventually spread throughout Protestant congregations and to America, Scotland, and Wales. At that time, congregational singing had degraded musically, including slow, dragging tempos, spurring formation of parish choirs. In cities, the choirs consisted of charity children, but in rural areas a small group, often young men, would come together to learn music in order to lead and improve congregational singing. These rural choirs might receive tutelage from the resident clergyman, if he was knowledgeable, or from itinerant singing masters who also peddled books of music and musical instruction. Individual musicians created manuscript music books, copying their own parts from the parish's single copy of a printed hymnal, notating other pieces of particular interest, or trying their own hand at composition or poetry. The current document appears to be one such endeavor, containing 223 texts, 194 tunes, twelve pages of music theory instruction, and an index.
4. Hymn 126, from Milgrove's Sixteen Hymns. Courtesy of the Music Library, Fletcher Music Center, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C.
Because psalmody was transmitted through a fluid mix of printed books, manuscript compilations, and oral tradition, hymn tunes and texts were frequently mixed and matched, and tune names likewise varied. Therefore, the best way to identify tunes is by the melodic content, and texts should be identified by the opening words (text incipit) rather than the title. Nicholas Temperley's Hymn Tune Index uses these methods to catalog English-language hymn tunes printed up to 1820 and was the primary resource for analyzing the manuscript, supplemented by an early version of Nikos Pappas' Index of Southern and Western Sacred Music and full-text searching of sacred poetry collections. Analysis of every hymn tune and text reveals a particular selection whose very inclusion is evidence against Wesleyan connections and facilitates dating, particularly by identifying two pieces of art music and three printed sources for the content
The simple presence of hymn 151, "The Despised Nazarene," is an argument against Wesleyan origins. John Wesley denounced this text in the preface to his 1787 A Pocket Hymn Book, For The Use Of Christians Of All Denominations, explicitly naming it along with only one other hymn ("that which begins 'A Christ I have, what a Christ I have'") and calling it "doggerel double distilled." Despite the two hymns being "hugely admired and continually echoed from Berwick-upon-Tweed to London," Wesley had no love for the texts, saying, "I earnestly entreat all our preachers not only never to give them out, but to discountenance them by all prudent means, both in public and private." Wesley's criticism may have been partially due to his disgruntlement over Robert Spence's 1783 Pocket Hymn Book, which included these two hymns but was otherwise largely pirated from one of Wesley's own hymnals. Regardless, the manuscript's inclusion of "The Despised Nazarene" is evidence it was not created under Wesley's guidance.
Two other pieces contradict the 1739 date associated with the alleged Wesley signature because they are not actually hymns but the melodies from oratorio arias composed after 1739. Hymn 154, entitled "A Celebrated Hymn," is "The Hymn of Eve" from Thomas Arne's The Death of Abel (1744). Hymn 157, "Pious Orgies," is from one of George Frederic Handel's most popular oratorios, Judas Maccabaeus (composed 1746, premiered 1747). These selections must have been copied into the hymnal after 1744 and 1747.
Three printed hymnals (ca. 1754-1768), all from England, were identified as sources for sections of the manuscript's content by their sharing a number of the same texts, tunes, and tune names in close proximity or the same sequence, a strong indicator of copying since tunes and texts were frequently recombined in the eighteenth century.
Aaron Williams' The Universal Psalmodist, probably the first (1763), second (1764), or third (1765) edition, is the apparent source of hymns 80 through 90, detailed in Table 1. The minor deviations in tune names may suggest imprecise copying or the existence of an intermediate source, a distinct possibility since The Universal Psalmodist was in wide circulation, including a version printed in the colonies under the title The American Harmony (multiple editions 1769-1774) by Massachusetts Anglican parish clerk Daniel Bayley.
Table 1: Hymns in Manuscript and Aaron Williams, The Universal Psalmodist (1763-1765)
|Text incipit (manuscript)
|Tune name (manuscript)
|Hymn number (manuscript)
|Hymn Tune Index tune code
|Hymn Tune Index text code
|The Universal Psalmodist tune name
Ye that obey the
George's tune
St. George's
Behold the Glories
Thorley tune
Rise my soul adore
Havan tune
Come thou almighty
St. Clements tune
St. Clement's
Ye servants of God
Hallifax tune
Hallifax (1699)
The Voice of my beloved
Bright helmstone
Come Let us join our
Weston flavel
Weston Flavel
Rejoice the Lord is king
Troy Tune
Awake my heart
Bray Tune
Jesus Christ is Risen
For Easter day
685 (variant unaccounted for in HTI)
Easter Day Hymn (685k)
Sinners obey the Gospel
2213a (variant unaccounted for in HTI)
The second printed hymnal represented is Benjamin Milgrove's 1768 Sixteen Hymns as they are sung at the Right Honorable the Countess of Huntingdon's chappel in Bath. Book I. The Countess later (1781) seceded from the Church of England but aligned herself with Whitefield, not Wesley. As shown in Table 2, the manuscript's hymns 124-130 occur in the same sequence in Sixteen Hymns, though only seven of the sixteen hymns were copied. Sixteen Hymns does not include tune names, and the manuscript follows suit. The tunes in Sixteen Hymns contain three or four parts, and the penman transcribed the two lower parts almost verbatim, but omitted the upper parts. The only notable, though inexplicable, difference in the transcription is the frequent omission of anticipatory "graces" (melodic embellishments) before cadences (ends of musical phrases). The texts are also carefully transcribed, with the first verse placed between the staves of music, just as in Sixteen Hymns, even though this is otherwise uncommon in the manuscript.
Table 2: Hymns in Manuscript and Benjamin Milgrove, Sixteen Hymns… (1768)
|Text incipit
|Hymn number (manuscript)
|Hymn number (Sixteen Hymns)
|Hymn Tune Index tune code
|Hymn Tune Index text code
How shall I speak
Hymn 1
Lord thine Image
Hymn 3
Take this poor heart
Hymn 4
TMPHJA1 (variant)
O patient Spotless Lamb
Hymn 5
O Dearest Lord take
Hymn 8
Rise up my Spouse
Hymn 9
He comes he Comes
Hymn 16
Bookseller and publisher of Methodist connections Thomas Butts provided a third printed antecedent, for hymns 142 through 149, in his 1754 Harmonia-Sacra, as detailed in Table 3. The omission of a tune name for the manuscript's hymn 143 in both sources supports the connection between the manuscript and the 1754 edition of Harmonia-Sacra specifically because later editions include a tune name for this selection. Harmonia-Sacra is also the earliest printed source to associate the texts, tunes, and tune names for hymns 146, 148, and 150.
Table 3: Hymns in Manuscript and Thomas Butts, Harmonia-Sacra (1754)
|Text incipit (manuscript)
|Hymn number (manuscript)
|Tune name (manuscript)
|Hymn Tune Index tune code
|Hymn Tune Index text code
|Tune name (Harmonia Sacra)
Buried in Shadows
BISOTN1 (variant)
Father our hearts we
FOHWLU1 (variant)
Father God who Se'est
Come ye weary sinners
Sweet is the mem'ry
With Earnest longing
Happy soul thy Days
Sinners obey the
Ah woe is me
A collective look at the earliest date each tune appeared in any printed source suggests further specifics of the creation timeframe. Of the 194 tunes, 125 (75 percent) were first printed from 1746 to 1775. The tunes cluster particularly thickly in the 1750s and '60s, with 73 of the tunes (44 percent) first printed from 1754 to 1763. These dates are incongruent with the 1739 creation proposed by the alleged Wesley signature, but, remembering that printed volumes are often used for some time after publication, they accord nicely with creation beginning in 1780, the year Ralph Potts signed the hymnal.
An increasing degree of correlation to printed sources in the hymnal's later sections suggests additional creation details. Hymn 80 is the first hymn with a specifically identified printed antecedent, and many hymns before number 80 are not found in their exact combination of tune and text in any English-language hymnal printed before 1820. Of the twenty-two unidentified tunes, six appear before hymn 30. These early hymns might represent a local repertory, perhaps from an itinerant singing master who provided initial or intermittent choir leadership, or even composed by Ralph Potts himself, and therefore most likely were entered in England, because singing schools were common in England but not in Virginia and North Carolina, and also because Ralph Potts's inscribed place of residence was Dunston. The later hymns were likely added as Potts continued as a psalm singer, encountering these tunes and texts either aurally or in written form. Potts's residence when he entered these later hymns is ambiguous, but America's lesser access to goods and travelers slightly favors creation in England.
The frequency and distribution of duplicates and the variations in layout reinforce the argument for creation over time. Of the manuscript's 223 texts, 71 repeat texts already included, reducing the number of unique texts to 152. Only rarely are the tunes using the same text grouped together, even though grouping would have saved both space and effort, especially given that there is little duplication among the tunes: 183 of the 194 hymn tunes are unique, and even among the repetitions, only two are nearly exact duplicates; the others are variants.
The hymnal uses several different content layouts. From the beginning through hymn 122, the layout is very consistent: text on the left, corresponding music on the right. After hymn 122, both layout and content shift. Seven canons are inserted between hymns 122 and 123, and from hymn 123 forward, one verse of the text is generally written between the staves of music, with additional verses often present on following pages. Hymns 152 through 154 and 156 through 158 consist of the previously noted oratorio arias plus four anthem-style pieces, and hymns 196 through 225 are texts only with no corresponding music.
As a rule, the manuscript contains only two or three verses of each text, even if more are needed to form a complete thought, apparently constrained by space. For example, hymn 24's text is obviously a versification of Psalm 23, yet it breaks off halfway through (fig. 3). Odd as this practice may seem, it is not abnormal. English country psalm singers often copied only a few verses to jog their memory and sang the rest by heart. Likewise, tunebooks printed in America between 1698 and 1810 often included only one stanza.
Ralph Potts's Musical Life in England and America
Further examination of the hymnal provides information on Potts's choirs on both sides of the Atlantic and suggests psalmody reforms were working in the English parish where Potts first learned psalmody, as evidenced by the parts included, "moods in psalmody" used, rhythmic features employed, near absence of fuging tunes, inclusion of music instruction material, and absence of camp-meeting songs.
The particular musical parts contained in the hymnal suggest it was initially used by a man (Ralph Potts) in a parish choir of men and, at least at times, women and/or children. Each hymn is dutifully headed "Tenor," but most selections actually contain two parts: tenor and bass. In eighteenth-century psalmody, the tenor and bass were the most important parts (the bass provided the harmonic foundation and the tenor carried the melody) and, at least in theory, were sung by men. The two upper parts (alto and soprano, assigned to women and children) did not contain the melody and were often considered optional, even though most printed hymnals included all four parts.
Though most selections stand fairly well with only tenor and bass, hymn 126, copied from Milgrove's Sixteen Hymns, does not (fig. 4). The second half opens with a brief imitative section. In Sixteen Hymns, the tenor enters first, followed by the two treble parts in turn, and finally by the bass. The manuscript's presence of only tenor and bass parts gives the unmusical impression that the tenor sings alone for four full measures before the bass entrance.
"Moods in psalmody" are a theoretical principle of eighteenth-century psalmody similar to modern time signatures. They are notated via similar symbols and indicate the meter (number and subdivision of beats in each measure). Unlike modern time signatures, however, moods also imply tempo, a carryover from earlier times. The manuscript's musical instruction helpfully defines the moods in psalmody: and 3/2 are "Adagio, Very slow"; and 3/4 are "Largo, a little quicker"; and finally, and 3/8 are defined as "Retorted, very Quick." An additional mood, even quicker than retorted time, occurs fifteen times in the manuscript, denoted by 2/4. The instructional material also distinguishes between "common time," with measures divided into two or four beats, and "triple time," with measures divided into three beats. Table 4 demonstrates the preference for the quicker moods and triple time, where the three main beats resist equal grouping, giving the music rhythmic thrust.
Table 4: Moods of Psalmody: Frequency of Occurrence
|Frequency of Occurrence
Largo triple (3/4)
Largo common
Adagio common
Very slow
Adagio triple (3/2)
Very slow
Quickest common (2/4)
Retorted common
Very quick
Retorted triple (3/8)
Very quick
Other or not indicated
Modern scholars sometimes classify psalm tunes according to their rhythmic composition. The oldest rhythmic style is the "common-tune," not to be confused with the common time mood, although, like common time, it consists of measures equally divided into groups of two or four beats. Furthermore, common-tune style is characterized by long note values of equal length and stress without written embellishment. This "old way of singing" grew slower and slower over time, creating the situation reformers hoped to rectify by forming parish choirs and writing new tunes with varied note values and rhythmic motion. The manuscript includes only nine hymns in the common-tune style, plus three additional hymns in triple time which contain only note value of a half note or longer. This preference for tunes with quicker tempos, rhythmic variety, and triple time, in conjunction with the earlier observation that seventy-five percent of the manuscript's tunes were first printed between 1753 and 1784, suggests the choir was leading the congregation in learning the newer tunes.
Despite their desire to remedy the old way of singing, some clergy believed choirs were rather too successful in reforming parish music because choirs, once trained, were not content merely to lead basic psalmody but sought to perform complicated anthems and even dabbled in secular music. Around 1740, the "fuging tune" emerged. These imitative pieces became popular among musicians and a thorn in the flesh of church officials who complained of their complicated nature (excluding the congregation from joining in), overly lively character (inappropriate for solemn worship), and propensity for each part to sing different words simultaneously (obscuring the text). The manuscript, however, contains very few fuging tunes, suggesting this choir stayed true to its role of encouraging congregational singing. The manuscript's seven canons and six anthems might represent a small deviation, if they were used during services rather than on non-worship occasions.
Reformers would have been pleased that at least one choir member took active interest in music fundamentals, filling twelve pages with basic music theory. As might be expected of personal notes, the information is broad-ranging, skipping from topic to topic. It includes tables typically found in psalmody instruction materials; explanations of clefs, key signatures, musical notation, and intervals; and a mnemonic poem for finding "mi," the note eighteenth-century theoreticians used to identify keys.
But what of the Washington Methodists? Singing was important in American Methodism. Though the only explicit mention of singing in Washington is an incidental statement that figurehead Sarah Hinton "not only sang and prayed in public, but exhorted also in the presence of all conditions of men," the context implies that music was not rare, but a normal activity not worth mentioning. Furthermore, it seems unlikely Potts would have learned psalmody, brought the manuscript with him, and not continued to make music in Washington. Indeed, as a church leader, it would have been normal for him to not merely participate in singing but to lead it, and the manuscript indicates he certainly had the knowledge and ability.
As we envision Ralph Potts leading American Methodist singing, one style is strikingly absent: the camp meeting song. Camp meetings were integral to American Methodism from around 1800, including in Washington, for two young men were converted at a nearby town's camp meeting in 1806. These open-air meetings featured "lively," emotional singing with simple texts and melodies, frequent use of refrains, and texts full of personal pronouns like "I" and "my." In the manuscript, the texts balance their focus among the individual, the group, and God and his works; refrains and choruses are nowhere to be found; and the presence of canons, composed art music, and music theory rudiments furthermore suggest the calmer, more studied approach characteristic of the Church of England, English Methodists, and earlier American Methodists.
Provenance, correlation with printed works, and musical content analysis all indicate this hymnal is not a Wesley relic but the personal possession of Ralph Potts and an artifact of eighteenth-century psalmody. Yet, a perplexing question remains: when and how did the story of Wesleyan connections originate? This tale likely emerged in the years between John Wesley Potts's 1835 death and Robert T. Joyce's 1898 letter to Washington Duke, mixing a bit of truth (Potts's emigration from England, status as a Washington Methodist patriarch, and naming of his son after the Methodist founder) with a bit of legend (Wesley's authorship and Potts's Wesleyan connections). The mysterious William Williams, John Wesley Potts' widow Lucy, or other, unrecorded, owners are the most likely candidates for creating or contributing to the story, which may have grown up over time, gathering embellishments as oral traditions tend to do. John Shackelford or Robert T. Joyce are also possibilities, though it seems more likely the Wesley connection was created prior to their involvement. Despite the Wesley story's spuriousness, it was largely responsible for the careful preservation of this document and the colorful glimpse it provides into the history of everyday people and eighteenth-century psalmody.
Further Reading
For additional information on psalmody, see Nicholas Temperley's The Music of the English Parish Church (Cambridge, 1979). Temperley's The Hymn Tune Index of hymn tunes printed with English-language texts up to 1820 is available free online and as a print publication (New York, 1998). Two scholarly compilations of psalmody contain representative music and valuable introductory material: Nicholas Temperley and Sally Drage's Eighteenth-Century Psalmody, Musica Britannica vol. 85 (London, 2007) provides an English focus, while Richard Crawford's The Core Repertory of Early American Psalmody, Recent Researches in American Music vol. 11-12 (Madison, 1984) takes an American perspective.
Many hymnals and other primary sources referenced in this article are now digitized and available for viewing and full-text searching via Google books and electronic subscription packages such as Early English Books Online and Eighteenth Century Collections Online.
On Ralph Potts and the artifact's history, an 1856 article attributed to John S. Long discusses Potts at length, providing a valuable early source: "Information From an Old Record; Or, Methodism In Washington, N.C.," Annals of Southern Methodism (1856): 239-257. Potts is also mentioned in Francis Asbury's journals, referenced below, and his American citizenship is recorded in Elizabeth B. and Bruce Wingo's 1784-1884: 100 years: Naturalizations and Declarations of Intention: Norfolk Borough/City; Norfolk County (Now Chesapeake); Princess Anne County (Now Virginia Beach); Portsmouth; Eastern District Court Virginia (Norfolk, Va., 1987). Ralph Potts's will is transcribed in Betty J. Camin's Beaufort Orphans (Raleigh, N.C., 1984-1985) and his real estate transactions, including donation of the church building and property, are recorded in the Beaufort County deed books, which are housed in the Beaufort County, N.C., courthouse or may be examined via microfilmed copies in libraries. Many other books on Washington, N.C., history reference Ralph Potts and the early Methodists, but accuracy of this information is spotty and it is best to go back to the earlier sources.
For more on Francis Asbury and early Methodism in North Carolina, see the excerpts from his journals compiled in Francis Asbury in North Carolina: The North Carolina Portions of the Journal of Francis Asbury (Nashville, 1964) or read all three volumes of his journal for a broader view: The Journal of Francis Asbury, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church (New York, 1852).
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text: In their paper they use a non-geometric design to generate the concepts. Non-geometric designs represents a class of orthogonal designs that when the assumption of effect sparsity is valid, i.e. that only a few of the attributes actually influence the respondents' preferences, provide an opportunity to analyze interactions between attributes as well as the attributes themselves. In this article the use of non-geometric Plackett-Burman designs for conjoint analysis is advocated. Also, a procedure based on restricted all subsets regression for taking advantage of the special characteristics of the non-geometric designs is proposed and demonstrated using data from a conjoint study performed on cellular phone antennas in Sweden. Blomkvist, Ekdahl and Gustafsson also conducted a Monte Carlo simulation to further illustrate the properties of the proposed procedure and the use of non-geometric Plackett-Burman designs for conjoint analysis

subset: commoncrawl


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Time for Breakfast in the Gutter. While you have the whole day to plan how to spend the rest of your life here. In this story Angel Luis Colon gives us a man whose plans may be dreams, nightmares even. And in the Gutter? Nightmares
come true.
come true.
Counting Ashes by Angel Luis Colon
You're sitting in the back of a U-Haul truck with no rental papers or insurance associated to it. There are huge scratches across the truck's side, defacing a picture of alligators. It's the kind of summer morning where the air's thick as custard and it's already pushing 90 degrees based on the cheap little thermometer to your right.
You jam the fresh pack of Newport you bought last night against your palm and unspool the cellophane from the box. Light one up. First smoke of the morning always goes down nice with coffee. Shame you're still waiting on a cup—light and sweet. Asked for a buttered roll too, but your faith on that showing up with the coffee is low. New kid who takes the breakfast orders is an idiot.
Today you're selling leather jackets with no price tags. Tomorrow, who knows. Shoes, bootleg handbags, knockoff sneakers, maybe even cases of the cigarettes you're smoking now. There was a time you could do this at a flea market or door to door, but folks don't take kindly on these hustles anymore. You lean back and wait for your partners. Think of how you'd rather be home on the sofa watching TV—maybe Maury or whatever fake judge is screaming at idiots. It's the kind of day where pants should be entirely optional, but you're stuck in slacks and a light blue button-down—poor choice on the shirt when you spy the growing darkness at the edges of your armpits.
You think about whether that SUV across the street is an unmarked cop car, try to get your mind off the lack of coffee and the pit stains.
That's a terrible distraction, so you let your mind wander.
You think about when you said no to Sally all those years ago that time she came calling about that belly bump. Think about how instead of going with the safe bet, the sure bet, you said yes to that bartender, Debbie, at the Knights of Columbus on account of the way she looked in those slinky neon dresses that were so popular back in the day. You think about how Debbie hasn't let you sleep in your bed for three weeks, about how she does more blow than eats food and calls you everything but your name.
A few people walk over and haggle over the price of a ¾ length brown leather trench. You upsell the product—swear it's authentic. They know your line ain't true, but still want to hear you say that bullshit. They'll tell their friends the guy who sold it said the product was legit and pretend to be ignorant, to have been swindled. More fun to play the victim than be called out for being a cheap piece of shit.
You pocket some of the surplus from overcharging for two coats and a wallet.
You think of when you dropped out of high school, of choosing liquor and weed over digging your nose so deep in books you'd have ink stains all over your face to this day. You always liked reading. Had a thing for Robert Frost poems.
You think about your brother with his skinny wife and his skinny kids and their skinny life. You think about their twice-a-year vacations to places far and wide. Think about that big house in Greenwich and how every room has a TV that would be better off in a movie theater. Those things cost a mint. So does all the jewelry you've seen hanging off that skinny wife's skinny neck, wrists, and fingers. You think about how one of those vacations is coming up this weekend and count the time between now and Saturday in menthol cigarettes. You wonder if you can convince Ernie, your boss, to let you have this U-Haul and some Virginia plates over the weekend. Feel confident your brother is the kind of man to overpay on his insurance.
And you wait.
You wonder if you're ever going to get that goddamn buttered roll and coffee.


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You can take a break from Daily Challenge by setting Time Away here:
**Be sure to complete the current day's challenge *before* setting your time away.**
How long can I take time away?
You can take a break for up to 30 days.
Will I break my streak if I take time away?
No, but your streak won't increase, either. You will have the same challenge streak when you return from your break.
What if I decide I want to come back early?
You can resume Daily Challenge any time you want. Just visit the site and you can jump back into Daily Challenge right away.
How will my connections know what's going on?
We will put a small note on your profile page that says you're away and the date you plan to be back. If you like, you can also personalize and post your own message.
Can my connections keep in touch with me while I'm on break?
Private messages cannot be sent to members who are taking a break. You will not miss any messages while you are away.
What about my pacts?
If you're in a pact when you start your break, the pact will be broken.
What if I am in a track when I start my break?
If you are in a track other than Everyday Well-Being, your access to that track might expire. It will depend on how long your break is and how many days you have already completed in the track. If your access to the track expires, you will be in the Everyday Well-Being track when you return.
What if I invite someone to join Daily Challenge and that person wants to join while I'm on a break?
That person can join Daily Challenge even if you're away.
Isn't this unfair to Daily Challenge members who never miss a day?
When thinking about this feature, our biggest goal was to be fair to all of our members. Even our most dedicated members may want to plan a vacation with limited Internet access or find themselves with an unexpected life event that affects their ability to complete challenges. We also believe that because health and well-being change from day to day, we wanted to acknowledge that illnesses, injuries, or chronic conditions command our respect and understanding.


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Dogs and Bee Stings
Does your dog seem to have a nose for bees? These remedies can help ease the pain if he or she is stung by a bee or wasp.View Article
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Helping your pet adjust to the arrival of a new baby is much like preparing a young child for a new sibling. An infant brings many changes to a household, however, you can help your pet adjust to the big changes with minimal time and effort by making gradual adjustments to your lifestyle before the baby arrives. The best time for you to prepare your pet and make many of these changes is during your pregnancy. Cats and dogs are sensitive to routines, and by making changes now, you minimize the chances of your pet resenting the baby when she arrives.


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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 13, 2012) - Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (TSX:BAM.A)(NYSE:BAM)(EURONEXT:BAMA) announced today that it has exercised its right to redeem C$350,000,000 principal amount of its C$500,000,000 8.95% Notes due June 2, 2014 (the "Notes") on October 15, 2012. The Notes will be redeemed on a pro rata basis, such that each Note holder of record on October 1, 2012 will have 70% of their Notes redeemed.
The redemption price for the Notes will be determined in accordance with the provisions of the trust indenture dated September 20, 1995 and the eleventh supplemental indenture dated June 2, 2009 and will include accrued and unpaid interest on the Notes up to, but not including, the redemption date.
Notice of redemption will be delivered today to CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc. ("CDS") and the trustee, Computershare Trust Company of Canada. Non-registered holders (banks, brokerage firms or other financial institutions) who maintain their interests in the Notes through CDS should contact their CDS customer service representative with any questions about the redemption.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a global alternative asset manager with over $150 billion in assets under management. The company has over a 100-year history of owning and operating assets with a focus on property, renewable power, infrastructure and private equity. It has a range of public and private investment products and services, which leverage its expertise and experience and provide Brookfield with a competitive advantage in the markets where it operates. Brookfield is co-listed on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges under the symbol BAM and BAM.A, respectively, and on NYSE Euronext under the symbol BAMA. For more information, please visit our website at www.brookfield.com.
For more information, please visit our web site at www.brookfield.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Note: This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian provincial securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities regulations. The word "will" and derivations thereof and other expressions that are predictions of or indicate future events, trends or prospects and which do not relate to historical matters identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements in regards to the redemption of the Notes described in this news release. Although Brookfield Asset Management believes that such forward-looking statements and information are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, the reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information as such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by forward-looking statements include: economic and financial conditions in the countries in which we do business; the behaviour of financial markets, including fluctuations in interest and exchange rates; availability of equity and debt financing; and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in the company's form 40-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as other documents filed by the company with the securities regulators in Canada and the United States including the company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Results under the heading "Business Environment and Risks."
We caution that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to Brookfield Asset Management, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Except as required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether written or oral, as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact Information:


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Discussion in News started by Brian, Apr 15, 2011
are you using a different alias for your phone? e.g. NenaPhone
(if not, try this, if so, weirrrrrd)
Aww..what happened to Mumble?
still undergoing disconnects because of the OS transition.
i'd put my vent info up here but it's only 10 slot i believe, and when i checked back it said I "Downgraded a 10 slot to 15 slot" so idk WTF is going on. Whoever wants in my vent, hit me on steam for the INFO. I don't want random trolls joining
Or bug me for the vent info too. :rolleyes:
A mapping channel would be kinda neat imo, would it be too much trouble to add one in case you agree with me?
Just got mumble and don't know jack about it though
If you get on mumble daily ill add what ever channel you want. We currently have way too many channels though so it shouldn't be hard to find one if you want peace a quiet.
Shouldn't be. Brian started yesterday, and didn't believe me about the box locking up about every 3h.
what do you mean shouldn't be... of course they SHOULD be, the entire box was offline for the majority of the day on 2/8. Wake up sir.
Disconnects? They were not occurring because you were restarting the box randomly during the day (before you even started this). At least this is my understanding of his post, unless if he means the constant downtime. If he meant that, the wrong thing was said.
So Alex misspoke. Thanks!
sorry i gave up trying back then, but i did try again with NenaPhone and it worked. ;p
Late x 1!
ur x 1!
What is up with this habit of ending every post in Thanks what the fuck x 1!
can't add a server?!?
Well well! since this topic is still open I figure i'd make the post I made in another thread here so it's (un)official! This will no doubt get buried in the other thread I posted this in so here I go. I added/subtracted some words and added a couple things.
PSA for new mumble users - On mumble it tends to get hectic at times, and people do get lol'd at or mildly troleled, so if new people are joining or trying to get in on the conversations there are usually a couple unwritten rules depending on who's doing what:We usually smack talk a lot in mumble, so it's all in good fun, it's not meant to intentionally hurt. If it's straight up harassment though let someone know. Harassment is not OK. It's slightly more relaxed than in the servers, but most rules still apply. Don't be a You do not need a mic to join mumble. Mumble chat is thankfully visible on one page so users can read chat without having to click another tab.No League/Dota2/unrelated game chatter in game-specific mumble rooms, or if the user channel calls for no League/Dota2/unrelated game chat please respect the room. Sometimes multiple games do happen and people get moved, but don't take it personal. It's ok to ask if anyone is up for these games, but please make another channel or move to another channel.There is a lot of cross-conversation in populated rooms. If you need to say something consider typing it out and informing who you want to look at mumble chat.Don't yell into the mic; if we ask you to fix your mic or you have a scratchy mic/sound is too loud/quiet please find a solution, we just want to hear you clearly and keep our ears intact. Input/output can be fixed in the settings menu in mumble.If you want to type in chat, that's completely fine. Don't join to find a specific person and go to the channel to start typing @Momo @Momo @Momo @Momo @Momo @Momo @Momo multiple times trying to get their attention, people go AFK without notice sometimes. You can ask if they're there and then right-click their name to do a private message, much better than spamming chat since some people keep Text To Speech on to hear others typing in the channel.If you don't want to hear someone talk, right click their name to mute them on your end by clicking "Local Mute". This works incredibly well for mic spammers. You may also ignore messages from users. This can always be undoneDon't spam pictures in rooms. It's OK to post links, but really any type of spam is generally a bad idea.These are just a couple general rules. This insures that you stay on everyone's good side and nobody gets anal-angered or ignored. We're not scary people but as long as you aren't the aforementioned there should be little to no trouble at all. Thanks and happy chatting.
edit: had this typed hours ago, just noticed I forgot to post it. Your mileage may vary.
Separate names with a comma.


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The red carpet will be unfurled next week as Leven prepares to host its second premiere of a locally-produced film in five years.
Adventure yarn 'The Legend of Black Diamond' is receiving a special screening at the Kino Cinema on Thursday, May 14.
Around 80 invited guests, consisting largely of people who helped make the movie, will be in attendance, while filmmakers from Glass Bullet Productions /Channel Fife will be walking the red carpet.
The event will be open to the public too and, after the presentation, a question and answer session is proposed, allowing people, if they wish, to ask cast and crew members about the film and their future projects.
The 90-minute feature was written and directed by Graeme Campbell and is a dark satire echoing the global banking crisis and Fife's own history – but with solid dollops of revenge fantasy, sci-fi and spaghetti western influences.
The picture was shot over two or three years in various locations – including Leven, East Wemyss, Elie, Kinglassie, Cupar and Dalkeith – and completed in 2012.
However, a meticulous post-production process has seen extensive special effects and grading carried out by film editor and co-star Laura Binnie, plus sound design work by Daniel Zamorano, while its music score was created through composition software.
In 2010, the former Regent cinema premiered another Levenmouth-made Channel Fife film, 'East Fife Crusoe', and Graeme said probably few towns could match what Leven had to offer in terms of two locally-made movies being presented within five years.
Kino boss Graeme Reekie was also keeping a previous bargain to show the film.
"Graeme has been very generous in taking his Hollywood movie off for the night and allowing 'Black Diamond' to play," said Graeme Campbell.
It is a ripping yarn, full of adventure, thrills and an absorbing plotGraeme Campbell
Futuristic western with shades of economic strife and history of Fife
The plot of 'The Legend of Black Diamond' sees the title character, played by Jemma Grace Carroll, team up with a motley and mysterious gang of accomplices for a revenge mission. She owns and works her own coal mine – however, bankers in the infamous City of Finance, or 'The Citadel,' want back – with interest – money borrowed by her late father. They resort to brutal methods – but Black Diamond is a resourceful lady... Local people appearing in the film include Farooqi Muskwati (of 'East Fife Crusoe' fame), Jeff Fallow, Audrey Egan and stunt co-ordinator Bob McCrystal, while the Mail's Ralph Mellon was an extra. Writer and director Graeme Campbell said: "It is a ripping yarn, full of adventure, thrills and an absorbing plot." Trailer at www.glassbulletpictures.co.uk


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In this article, Naomi Kleynhans takes a closer look at how a specialised consulting company turned the unsatisfactory performance of their administrative assistants around by developing a new, comprehensive job profile that provided clear performance directives. This, together with targeted training and mentorship, resulted in an astonishing outcome.
by Naomi Kleynhans
Naomi Kleynhans is a senior implementation consultant responsible for job profiles and skills audits at CBAR Systems and can be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.com
About Golder and Associates: Golder and Associates is an employee owned company with 7000 employees globally who operate from 160 offices located throughout Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America. Golder professionals provide consulting, design and construction services in earth, environment and related areas of energy.
Problem statementA whole group of employees – all administrative assistants serving in a highly specialised consulting environment - were about to lose their jobs due to incapacity to perform the duties required of them. Management could not afford to carry staff that was not providing the required level of service, but they also wanted to follow best practice standards for Human Resources management.
The action planThe Human Resources team, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, lead the development of the action plan to address the performance issues. Cognisance was taken of HR best practices as well as Schedule 8 of the South African Labour Relations Act – CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE: DISMISSAL [Schedule 8 amended by s. 57 of Act No. 42 of 1996 and by s. 56 of Act No. 12 of 2002].
The 7 point plan of action:


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BDA alarmed by controversial and potentially dangerous advice in BBC's 'Doctor in the House'20 November 2015
On 19 November 2015, the BBC aired the first episode of their new series Doctor in the House. The British Dietetic Association was alarmed by some of the advice provided by the doctor to the family featured.
In the episode, key sources of carbohydrates for the person with diabetes were removed with emphasis placed on removing dairy and wheat containing foods. This along with suggesting that the 5-a-Day for the individual came from vegetables only, avoiding fruit completely, whilst also promoting time-restricted eating / fasting.
"This advice is potentially dangerous with possible adverse side effects. Not only is there limited evidence around carbohydrate elimination and time-restricted eating for those with diabetes, but cutting out food groups and fasting could lead to nutrition problems including nutrient deficiencies and adversely affect their blood sugar control, particularly in individuals taking certain medications or insulin," said Dr Duane Mellor PhD and registered dietitian.
"Whilst reducing refined carbohydrates and sugar intake is definitely a positive, many of the other recommendations lack evidence from scientific research base. People living with diabetes watching the programme are advised to stick with their current treatment and discuss any changes with their diabetes team, which can include a consultant or GP, dietitian and Diabetes Nurse."
According to Diabetes UK guidelines, everyone with diabetes should receive individual and ongoing dietary and nutrition advice from a dietitian. The television show did not appear to use a dietitian to assist with the dietary advice, and whilst doctors are highly qualified professionals, dietitians are the only qualified health professionals that specifically assess, diagnose and treat diet and nutrition problems at an individual and wider public health level. Uniquely, dietitians use the most up-to-date public health and scientific research on food, health and disease, which they translate into practical guidance to enable people to make appropriate lifestyle and food choices.
For more credible dietary guidance for diabetics, please visit the BDA's FREE resource, Food Fact Sheets. There is a Fact sheet specifically for Diabetes Type 1 as well as Diabetes Type 2.
Additional information
- Visit the BDA website at: www.bda.uk.com
- Dietitians are the only nutrition professionals to be statutorily regulated, and governed by an ethical code, to ensure that they always work to the highest standard. Dietitians work in the NHS, private practice, industry, education, research, sport, media, public relations, publishing, non-government organisations and government. Their advice influences food and health policy across the spectrum from government, local communities and individuals.


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School Traditions
Many treasured traditions help to make Regis and all Sacred Heart schools unique. This glossary of terms will help you learn about some of the traditions our students celebrate each year. While some of these activities are distinctive to Regis, many are observed throughout the worldwide Sacred Heart Network, further linking us with our global community.
Big Brother, Little Brother
The treasured "Big Brother, Little Brother" relationship fosters leadership skills among Regis' middle school students. The older boys take responsibility for younger boys at many school functions. Big brothers lead by example, serving as mentors and modeling expectations of respect and high moral character. Strong bonds between big and little brothers are formed as the relationships build over a four-year period. Students in 3 Pre-K are introduced to their fifth grade big brothers and remain with them throughout the next four years.
Today is Congé! (pronounced kon-zhay, French for leave-taking or farewell) This announcement is much anticipated by students at Sacred Heart schools around the world. It signals a day when the entire student body leaves its regular studies and has fun. The boys look forward to this all year. It can be any day, but it is always a surprise and designated by our Head of School. Social Awareness activities are often included on Regis Congé days as a way to give back and remember our commitment to Sacred Heart Goal III (a social awareness which impels to action).
Field Day
Field Day is a special day near the end of each school year when students in Sacred Heart schools are able to display their athletic gifts. At Regis, Field Day is a daylong, multi-discipline sports event with the entire school divided into teams so that all grades work and play together. Each team is comprised of a mix of boys from each grade level. Parents are encouraged to attend and cheer on their Knight!
International Passport
The International Passport is an identification card that can serve as a means of introduction in the 41 countries where the Society of the Sacred Heart presently serves. The International Passport is usually given by the Head of School at the end of the school year to graduating eighth grade students.
Mater Admirabilis
The term Mater Admirabilis (pronounced mah-tair ad-meer-ah-buh-lus, Latin for Mother Most Admirable) refers to a painting of the Virgin Mary by a novice of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Her painting, a fresco finished in 1844, depicts Mary as a young woman in a rose-colored dress. Every Sacred Heart school has a statue or painting of Mater. At Regis, our statue of Mater is located in the Kelley building. A small kneeler is available at the base of the statue for quiet prayer and the boys may, and often do, leave slips of paper with special prayer intentions.
The feast day of Mater Admirabilis is October 20, and, on this day each year, the boys adorn her statue with festive pink carnations. Additionally, during the months of October and May, Regis students may earn the prestigious Mater medal. These medals are awarded to those students who best exemplify the chosen virtue for the month. Highlighted virtues include kindness, humility, and patience as they are most closely associated with Mater. The Mater medals are awarded each day at morning assembly.
Prize Day
Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ)
The term religious refers to the nuns who serve in the Society of the Sacred Heart. The terms "sister" and "nun" are more familiar to those Catholics who have attended parochial schools. After taking their vows, Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart often sign their names followed by RSCJ, which is derived from the French Religieuses du Sacré-Cœur de Jésus. The term "religious" gives reference to this designation.
These traditional marks of distinction were historically awarded to girls at most Sacred Heart schools in recognition of good conduct, good spirit, leadership, and helpful influence. At Regis, medals and certificates for Excellence in Conduct and for Highest Honors are awarded at the conclusion of each trimester and at Prize Day.
Rice Bowl Day
Each year on Ash Wednesday, Regis students and faculty may choose to observe Rice Bowl Day, our custom of having a simple lunchtime meal of rice and water. The purpose of this observance is to have a small experience of self-denial and to understand that many throughout the world experience hunger every day.
Social Awareness
In accordance with Sacred Heart Goal III (a social awareness which impels to action) and Goal V (personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom), the Regis community actively participates in offering service to others and concurrently encouraging personal growth. The Social Awareness Program emphasizes the life and dignity of each person. Every social awareness experience includes educational, action-based, and reflective components that are appropriate for the developmental age of our students.
In addition to an on-going emphasis regarding the importance of serving others, Regis sets aside two dedicated school days each year to focus on giving service to the local community.


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A 29-year-old NYPD officer was arrested early Friday morning while off duty, police said.
Brayan Terrazas allegedly slapped his girlfriend, "who had a 3-month-old child in her arms," police said.
After being arrested at 12:30 a.m., Terrazas was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, criminal mischief and harassment, according to the NYPD. He is being held in Corona, Queens, cops said.
The police could not confirm that the child was Terrazas'.
Terrazas was previously arrested and pleaded guilty to a violation of driving while his ability was impaired by alcohol in Queens in 2012, the NYPD and prosecutors said. He was fined in that case.


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In 1960, psychologist Peter Wason conducted a series of experiments to test a theory.
In the experiment, he presented his subjects with a series of three number and asked them to determine the rule for which they followed.
Based on the presented series, subjects could propose other series of numbers to see if they also satisfied the rule. After they were satisfied with their tests, they could propose what they believed the rule was.
Wason's goal was to better understand how people collected evidence in support of a belief. The series of numbers Wason presented to subjects was 2-4-6.
Naturally, the first assumption was that the rule was a series of increasing even numbers, yet whatever their initial hypothesis, they only offered tests that fit with their hypothesis.
Subjects proposed a number of other examples to test their assumptions:
8-16-24 (increasing even numbers)
4-8-12 (average of first and last equals middle)
8-10-12 (increasing by value of 2)
All of these passed the test and were valid for the rule. Subjects almost always then proposed a rule that supported their initial assumptions. The thing is, they were always wrong.
The actual rule was simply increasing numbers in general. It didn't matter if they were even or odd, incremented consistently or averaged. Each subsequent number simply had to be larger than the previous value.
The issue that subjects faced time and time again, was that they never tested a series of numbers that disconfirmed their initial assumptions.
It is the peculiar and perpetual error of the human understanding to be more moved and excited by affirmatives than by negatives.Francis Bacon
This is confirmation bias.
It is a form of thinking where you take notice or seek out information that confirms your beliefs, rather than what contradicts them.There are two distinct areas. First, there are facts, which are the truths around any subject as far as we know them. Second, there are our personal beliefs or what we believe to be true. Where these two overlap is where confirmation bias can occur.
The problem is, we tend to ignore all the other facts that may dispute our beliefs. Why does this happen? It seems to be related to how our mind retrieves information both cognitively and emotionally.
From a cognitive stand point, we tend to select information that is easy for us to retrieve. In this way, we grab on to the first idea we have and see if it works. If it does, we stick with it because it is the path of least resistance.
For example, subjects that believed even numbers were relevant in the experiment above, simply stuck with that idea because it came to them first.
Then there is the emotional standpoint, where we simplify prefer to be right rather than wrong. We want pleasant thoughts over unpleasant ones. In this way, we naturally want our beliefs to be truth because that makes us right. We stick to our guns in the worse way possible.Confirmation bias can clearly get the best of us, so how do we overcome it? We have to get in the habit of proving ourselves wrong.
It's not enough to find information that backs your point of view. You also need to try and find information that refutes it. You need to play devil's advocate and argue against your personal beliefs.
By doing so, you'll be able to clearly see the flaws in your thinking and not fall into the trap of confirmation bias.
As they say, ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power. Take the time to prove yourself wrong.


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We spent now almost two weeks with dear friends on board. It goes basically very well, of course there are a few drawbacks: Learn from our mistakes and have a "better" trip with your guests!
The most important point: Never ever have a guest which loves to cook & eat! In the beginning it's nice to get at least three hot meals served a day. But at one point your grill will break down because it tried to hold all the 20 pound T-bones (yep, it happend!) and you find yourself running for gas bottle refills in remote places. The worst part is actually the endless snacks in between! I mean after one week you start to gain all the pounds back again which you've finally lost the past few months.
We love wine. Usually we have it for dinner. But we normally do not have it for an early apero, lunch and dinner. And of course some glasses in between as it is so refreshing during "holiday". Latest when they discovered the nice Caribbean Rums you start to think about the days after guests: Is it difficult to get regularly meetings with A.A.* while cruising?
Never, I mean really NEVER tell your guests that you have a Watermaker! Your 170 gal (650 Liter!) water tank lasts for a few hours or so. Same with electricity, our solar array is big, real big. But I literally hear my poor batteries whining when the hairdryer runs off the inverter. So it's best if you keep guests blind about technical stuff you've acquired during your outfitting process.
The scariest part of having guests is actually if HE spoils HER. I mean Rahel is happy that someone cooks and cleans the dishes. I love that too. But it really scares the hell out of me when she starts to ask me when it was the last time I served her breakfast!!!! Don't let that happen - you will pay the next six months, at least!
Last but not least: Avoid any health freaks - I mean I know jogging every mornings is a good thing - but the look of your wife who thinks you should do something as well is real poisonous.
So, even if we enjoy every minute of this luxury we, or most probably me, will have to pay a high price for this spoiled weeks. Learn from my mistake: Next time I will clearly plan more ahead and have some macho hardcore sailors around me who drink only beer, swear and smoke like hell. I will keep my weight and they will make me look real great!
* Alcoholics Anonymous
* Alcoholics Anonymous


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Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) is a non-invasive method to treat fibroids that many women consider. It is a procedure performed by radiologists who insert a small catheter into the large vessel in the groin, and then they find and block with plastic particles the vessels that feed the fibroids. Women who want to become pregnant should know: UFE has limitations and may have long-term effects on fertility.
UFE is a good approach to control bleeding, but in younger patients the long-term control of fibroids is very limited. Additional fibroids can grow or the fibroid that was embolized can reestablish blood supply. We highly recommend to women who are told they can get embolized and still want babies, to reconsider the approach because it can affect implantation of the embryo into the lining of the uterus, where the baby grows. With fibroid treatment, it's important to preserve the blood supply and it's also important to preserve the lining of the uterus.
According to UpToDate®, the premier evidence-based clinical decision support resource, there is an adverse effect on women who have become pregnant after having UFE:
"A systematic review and several case series of pregnancies following UFE or UAE have reported adverse outcomes including miscarriage, preterm delivery, placental problems, and malpresentation."
Safe fibroid removal, that does not affect fertility, can be achieved with laparoscopic myomectomy using the LAAM technique. This approach was developed by CIGC surgeons Paul MacKoul MD and Natalya Danilyants MD and it takes the best elements of both laparoscopic and open approaches for myomectomy. It is safer than open or robotic procedures, and more effective than UFE at preserving the uterus for fertility. With 2 small incisions, one 5MM incision at the belly button and a 1.5 inch incision at the bikini line, fibroids of any size, number or location can be removed.
Learn more about the risks of UFE and safer treatment for fibroids in this WTOP News article:
Women With Fibroids Should Think Twice Before Getting UFE
If you would like to get a GYN evaluation for your fibroid symptoms, call 888-SURGERY or contact us online. CIGC has offices in Bethesda, MD, Annapolis, MD and Reston, VA. Patients who reside outside the Washington DC area travel to CIGC through our travel program.
The Center For Innovative GYN Care: Who We Are
Dr. Paul MacKoul Reviews | Dr. Natalya Danilyants Reviews
Paul MacKoul MD on Facebook | Natalya Danilyants MD on Facebook
Paul MacKoul MD on Twitter | Natalya Danilyants MD on Twitter
Paul MacKoul MD on LinkedIn | Natalya Danilyants MD on LinkedIn


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- About
- Projects
- People
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- Center
April 12, 2013, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
A Cross-Disciplinary Workshop for Students and Faculty
This day-long workshop brings together Bard faculty and students to explore a range of questions on teaching and learning about cities in an academic context.
We will ask: How do the reading of texts, the building of cultural monuments, and the creation of artistic works transform our understandings of the city? Is it possible to read the city as a text or view it as a cultural monument? Are there cities better preserved in cultural memory than physical space? How are identities and ideas of cities formed through literature, film, and other media? In what ways can these different strategies of representation transform the urban experience and the city itself?
Students will present their work on cities at a panel, to be followed by a roundtable for faculty on teaching methodologies, theoretical frameworks, and principles of canon formation to consider when discussing cities and urban space in the classroom.


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Have you forgotten your password and do not have the same email that was used to log on to ePIP in the past?
Send an email with your name and phone number to the New Hampshire Medicaid EHR Office.
A staff member will verify your identity and the provider's identity and send you an email with your new password.


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It was a night where I & my lovely wife would dine together without any harassment from our boys.
Restoran Sekinchan Ikan Bakar is huge, impressive, with many workers (maybe too many), and interesting corners like the fresh seafood counter, the BBQ counter, the Ulam counter, Nasi Lemak Bungkus counter and of course a cashier counter.
This was our pick of the night for the "bakar", such a joyous chap at the counter.
The BBQ was well prepared with banana leaf and yummy gravy making it a sauce coated BBQ cuisine. The seafood was fresh and the BBQ was delicious. It was a simple and satisfying Ikan Bakar meal. I hope Restoran Sekinchan Ikan Bakar will stay on for a long time cos we will be coming back with our boys.
Majulah Taman Setiawangsa!
Restoran Ikan Bakar Sekinchan
Centrum Setiawangsa
Jalan Setiawangsa 8
Taman Setiawangsa
Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03-4251-5766 / 012-6878455


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No sooner does man discover intelligence than he tries to involve it in his own stupidity ~ Jacques Cousteau (6/11/1910 to 6/25/1997) a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water.
Note: This commentary concerns the 7th Republican Party presidential debate, which was held on 1/28/2016 in the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines IA. This would be the debate that Donald Trump refused to attend because it was hosted by Fox Nooz and Megyn Kelly returned as one of the 3 moderators
Stupid comments during a GOP debate? Obviously there have been MANY (and there will be many more). But I'm speaking about extraordinarily stupid and not the normal stupidity intelligent people have come to expect from Republicans. Stupidity such as Cruz stating that Obama has "degraded" the military (when, according to the Mises Institute, a Libertarian source, the military has not withered away under Obama). Or even stupidity such Marco Rubio claiming that President Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to let Syrian refugees into the US without vetting them.
But in regards to the truly stupid? People insist that Ben Carson is smart because he's a retired neurosurgeon, but I wonder if he's an idiot savant. During the 3rd GOP presidential debate, he made it clear that he did not understand what GDP means (DSB #27). And, as we all know, there have been many more stupid remarks from Carson.
GQ (AKA Gentlemen's Quarterly) with their article titled "What If Sarah Palin Were a Brain Surgeon?", is on the right track here, I think. When I heard this comment from Carson I had to rewind my DVR because I thought I must have misheard him.
|Chris Wallace: Dr. Carson, I'd like to ask you about that issue (question just asked of Ted Cruz). Where are you on the mandatory ethanol standard? Should government be in the business of picking winners and losers, or should it be left to the marketplace?
Ben Carson: I'm very much against the government being involved in every aspect of our lives. ... we are blessed with tremendous energy in this nation. We need to be talking about new sources of energy. 70 percent of our population lives bicoastally. What about hydroelectric power? We can develop that...
Bicoastal means "occurring or existing on two coasts, or on both the east and west coasts of the US"... so Carson is talking about people who own more than one home and fly back and forth between them? Although it's more likely he meant to say "by the coast"... but this is also wrong. Not quite as absurd as the first interpretation, but still wrong. (the closed captioning, btw, read "bicoastally" and not "by the coast" or "by coast").
According to a 9/9/2015 Washington Post article "nearly 40 percent of Americans live near the coast". LiveScience says "half of US population lives in coastal areas". Both stats (obviously) fall far short of the 70 percent claim made by Carson. If that is what he meant. Perhaps he really does think that 70 percent of Americans own multiple homes (with at least one home located on each coast)?
I'm not the only one who heard this idiocy, btw. As I always do before authoring a commentary, I first check if anyone thought of it first. Turns out someone did. If you're saying "no, there is no way he could have said that"... check out Josh Barro on Scoopnest. WTF is Scoopnest? Damned if I know. Looks like some kind of Twitter competitor. Point is, I'm not the only one who heard this absurd claim from Carson.
Runner up for stupidest comment of the night goes to Jeb Bush for a "factoid" included in his response to a question by Bret Baier. (This comment, btw, took place earlier in the debate than the Carson one).
|Bret Baier: It's hard for anyone with your pedigree to avoid being called establishment. Isn't that part of the problem in this race, that 3 others on this stage are splitting the mainstream Republican vote? And thereby possibly handing this nomination over to an anti-establishment candidate?
Jeb!: ... Look, I'm establishment because my dad, the greatest man alive, was president of the United States, and my brother, who I adore as well, is a fantastic brother, was president. Fine, I'll take it. And I guess I'm part of the establishment because Barbara Bush is my mom. I'll take that too.
Along these same lines, Randal Paul said that his dad was "the most honest man in politics that we've seen in a generation" (he said this after the claim from Jeb concerning his dad). OK, so I don't think I believe Ronald Paul is quite that honest, but (regarding to this obvious "dad off" between Jeb and Randal)... doesn't being the greatest man alive trump (no pun intended) being the most honest (even if it's "in a generation")? Although Randal only claimed that his daddy Ronald is the most honest man IN POLITICS. Some people (I think) would say that's a low bar.
I wasn't the only person who heard (and decided to comment on) Jeb's assertion that his father is "the greatest man alive". Although, this apparently is not the fist time he's made this claim. Headline Politics notes that "Jeb was speaking at the Detroit Economic Club" when he replied (in response to a question implying his last name was a negative) that "George W. Bush has been a great president and that... George H.W. Bush is the greatest man alive".
Right. I think we all would acknowledge (even many Republicans) that the last name "bush" is a negative. BTW, I'd be willing to overlook Carson's statement as him misspeaking. President Obama misspoke when he stated that he had visited 57 states on the campaign trail (Beaverton OR 5/9/2008) and Republicans have been citing his "stupidity" on that issue for his entire presidency.
|Snopes: The actual intent behind Senator Obama's misstatement is easy to discern... He was trying to express the thought that in all the time he had spent on the campaign trail so far in 2007-08, he had visited all (48) of the states in the continental U.S. save for one (i.e., "one left to go", excluding Alaska and Hawaii), but in his weariness he slipped up and started off with "fifty" instead of "forty". (Note the long pause in the video clip between the words "fifty" and "seven".)
But is there a logical explanation for Carson's claim that "70 percent of our population lives bicoastally"? He probably was referring to how many people live near one of our two coasts, but, as I already pointed out, 70 percent is way off. I don't expect any clarification on this statement, however. Remember that that there hasn't been any explanation regarding his historically inaccurate (and totally absurd) claim that the biblical Joseph built the pyramids to store grain (which is, apparently, his "personal theory"). Fact is, he stands by it.
And, what about his assertion that homosexuality is a choice "because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight - and when they come out, they're gay"? Or how about the doozie about ObamaCare being worse than slavery? I mean, even if you're not a fan of the ACA, you've got to admit that it falls far short of being that bad (Source: Ben Carson is plain nuts: The 7 most stupefying statements by the GOP's favorite neurosurgeon).
But all this stupidity is not surprising if you believe (as I do) that Conservatism is a mental illness. And there is also the fact that "having a low IQ score makes you more likely to vote conservative" (5 Scientific Studies That Prove Republicans Are Plain Stupid).
I do not, of course, believe ALL Republicans are stupid. Some who vote Republican do so because they're rich and don't want to pay higher taxes. And Republican politicians, while they may not be stupid themselves, have GOT to realize that they're pandering to low-intelligence voters. This, I am convinced, is the likely explanation for Donald Trump (who, as many on the Conservative side have pointed out, has tended more toward the Democratic side in the past).
But Carson? Sure, he might be "smart" as far as neurosurgery goes. But he's very clearly not that smart in other areas. Or qualified to be president. Not that there is any chance of him ending up in the White House (given the fact that that article I referenced earlier concerning the scientific studies that link low IQ and Conservatism also link low IQ and racism).


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newly received or noteworthy information, esp. about recent or important events : I've got some good news for you.
Fall 2019
The JBL 2370A horn for the 2420 driver has been exchanged
with the excellent AH-550 AzuraHorn that improved the diffusion of the sound and the spectrum of the radiated frequency from the driver. The AH-550 horn is a hands down winner and trust me I have tried many horns used in professional PA systems.
Summer 2019
The Best little enhancer for your system money can buy
In case that you've spend a fortune or less for your sound system and your hand is still itching for more expenses (AKA improvements) there is something I would recommend that can add value and safety to your system.
Recently I have done extended research and studied a lot of enhancers, purifiers, resonators, dummy earthing, demagnetisers, cookers, sticks and stones that promise magical results to your sound system. After in depth research and analysis I came to the conclusion that the best enhancer is the blue evil eye bead amulet that can not only protect you from the evil eye but also from stray radiation part of the known spectrum and from the one that is not yet discovered, it also enhances and refreshes you listening area.
Please note that the blue evil eye bead amulet existed long before the invention of electricity with great results for the believers.
Spring 2019
Two Way Single Loudspeaker For The Monophonic Setup
This is the single loudspeaker for the monophonic setup.
It consists of the JBL 2420 HF driver with the 2370A horn, the 2206 12'' woofer and a pair of second order Linkwitz-Riley filters one HP and one LP.
The enclosure is a 70 litre box of slot vented type.
Winter 2019
How To Turn A Stereo Cartridge Into A Monophonic one
A trick that I picked from my MW radio days is how to turn a stereo cartridge into a monophonic one.
Well it is pretty simple, you just have to short the cold right channel out to the hot left channel out, then you connect the hot right and the cold left to your mono amplifier/preamplifier.
Don't forget to adjust the R-load accordingly.
Fall 2018
Mono Turntable
As the monophonic ''RCA'' phono preamplifier would feel lonesome I had to pair it with a mono ''vintage'' turntable.
The choice was easy as a Garrard 401 was my favourite pick.
The turntable was matched with a Karmadon remake of the Gray 206 tonearm and a DENON DL-102 cartridge.
Summer 2018
Now that the digital audio technology has reached its peak and anything sounds like everything, I felt the urge to step back to the day mono ruled.
So much technology, so many developments since the monophonic days and still most MP3s and Youtube videos sound like a coffee grinder.
Well, besides all that, stereo always got on my nerves every time I would listen music in a car or in a bar, as I had half of the music, usually the half that was on the speaker, near to me. Not to mention that most of the times I listened to music I was engaged in at least one more activity, sitting or standing far away from the stereo sweet spot. Being pined down and just listening to music always seemed to me like the clockwork orange torture.
The idea of building this mono phono preamplifier that is based on an old RCA schematic I came across in the net was not hard to resist. The schematic includes four different equalisations for old LPs.
Back to Mono?
Summer 2018
As much I hate to scold there are things that have to be said.
I can understand and accept those people that collect records as others collect stamps, matchboxes, mugs or other useless stuff. What I do not comprehend is the urge of those misinformed trending hipsters that spend a kings ransom for turntables and dedicated preamplifiers for a troublesome, almost useless medium, as vinyl.
I do recall the days we used to send the master tapes to the record plant for production and what we got back (white label, test pressings) was something a lot different to the original recording. I do also remember cutting the lathe several times till we could compromise and get an acceptable result. Needless to mention the narrow frequency response, the limited headroom and the high surface noise. All these make me believe that it is totally stupid to resurrect a medium that is so limited and has nothing to do with ''high fidelity''.
The problem is even greater for the new production of vinyl records as they are mostly cut with some eastern block leftover lathe cutting machines, and then print in 200 plus grams records with superficial grooves. Those unacceptable records have grooves that are thiner than the scratches in my favourite well played records. (Thin grooves means lower volume, easier destroyed records and higher noise to sound ratio).
And as if the neo-vinyl curse was not enough there is another trend for those with deep pockets and their mouth in the place of their ears. That moronic trend is the lust for open reel tape recordings. I was always wondering what is the source of those recordings, as some of them are from the sixties and seventies, and how they are mass reproduced to open reel tapes.
Here I have to mention that the problem with the tapes is that they have limited lifespan and that they self demagnetise and rot.
They need a storage environment that is controlled in humidity and temperature, away from strong magnetic fields, and to be kept tails out for the print through phenomenon. Even so they have to be baked from time to time in order to get revived.
These are only the problems with tapes, troubles pile up with the maintenance of the tape recorder/reproducer.
In the good old analogue studios there was an in-house maintenance engineer whose main tasks was to keep among the other apparatus, the tape recorders up and running and in good shape. So think twice before getting involved in the open reel madness.
Summer 2018
For sure 9990 is an X-lent step-up transformer for MC cartridges. With a nominal ratio of 1/20 it is a match made in heaven for my DL-103r cart. Neither a correction filter nor a load adapting resistor are used.
Even better, the best future of this transformer is that you don't have to sell a kidney and half your liver to get it.
For more information about step-up transformers
Winter 2017
This is a sneak preview of the newly designed preamplifier. It consists of two chassis, one for the pre that includes a RIAA and one for the power supply.
Winter 2017
This is a newly designed preamplifier, constant current source loaded, with a pair of EC8010 tubes. The frequency response measured is dead flat from 10Hz to 36Khz. It is of para-feed design, the output transformers have a 5/1 ratio with 15KΩ primary and 600Ω secondary. This new improved version employees a pair of SOWTER 1010/1701b transformers for peace of mind and for better lower end.
Winter 2017
Planing and building a new RIAA preamplifier, constant current source loaded with a quad of 5842 tubes.
Spring 2016
The new amplifier named Aura is finished and tested It uses 2A3 output tubes and E86C drivers .
Click to link and discover how m-amplifiers are built.
Winter 2016
A commission on a shoestring was the building of a pair of bass reflex loudspeakers employing the Visaton BG20-8 drivers in a 30 lit. enclosure tuned @ 40Hz.
For more information on loudspeakers please click to link.
Fall 2015
A new , parallel feed , tube amplifier employing the 300B as output tube.
There were no shortcuts for the components used in this amplifier , on the contrary it is a ridiculously over-designed and heavy amplifier for its 2 X 5 watts output .
Heavy is also the CO2 footprint of the amp and it certainly does not conform to DIN.
Summer 2015
Happily Surprised
One of the few thinks that happily surprised me over the last years, besides the One Electron UBT-3 transformer, was the JJ 2A3 tube.
I was always skeptical about the products from behind the former iron curtain as if I were to buy me a car I would never but never get me a Scoda, Wartburg or Volga. You might say tubes and cars have nothing in common but let me note that the production mentality is the SAME.
To cut a long story short I did an a/b/….n test with several 2A3 tubes and the winner, hands down, was the Slovak JJ 2A3 that still has to prove its value in time depth.
The tubes under test were : CVC, Fivre, Sovtek. Shuguang (Small and Large glass envelope), Emmision (solid and mess plate) and of course the JJ 2A3.
In my opinion the CVC, antique Fivre and Sovtek are good enough for target practice. The Shuguangs are acceptable in case you like harsh high frequencies.
In the league of the big boys, Emmision and JJ, the JJ sounds fuller with excellent lows and airy, clear highs. The second runner up was the Emmision mess plate with a more ''constrained'' smooth sound, all of the big boys have thick crystal glass envelop as some one would expect from the famous glassware tradition of Czechoslovakia.
Please don't forget that the opinion about those tubes is clearly subjective but based in objective study.


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turquoise and red jade bracelet II
This weekend I didn't get very much done craft wise, the above bracelet which I love with the remainder of my turquoise beads, and I framed one of my vintage book page paintings. Technically that was an accident though as I ripped the page and hastily trimmed it down and stuffed it in a frame and it sits in the box room waiting to be placed somewhere.
thanks for popping by my house Katy!