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A town in the Vellore District of Tamil Nadu, Ambur is located on the banks of the Palar River. The town is referred as Leather City of South India for its leather tanning industry. It is known to be the main exporters of finished and unfinished leather goods.
Places to Stay
There are good budget hotels in Ambur. Some of them are Darling Residency (Tariff – Rs1000), Aavanaa Inn Hotel (Tariff – Rs.1,000), River View Hotel (Tariff – Rs.1000) and Sri Srinivasar Residency (Tariff –1000).
The official language of Ambur is Tamil. The other language spoken is Urdu, Telugu and Kannada.
The Important Festivals of Ambur is Adi Thabasu festival (July) and Eid al-Fitr (August)
Places of Interest
There are several places of tourist attraction in Ambur. Some of the places include Sri Anjaneyar Temple ( 4 kms from Ambur) , Sundara Vinayagar Temple (9kms from Ambur) and Patra Koil (6 kms from Almbur)
How to Get There
The nearest airport to Ambur is the Chennai International Airport. It is about 190 kms from this town.
Ambur has a railway station. There are regular trains connecting to cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Salem, Erode,
The state transport buses connects to some of the districts and towns of Tamil Nadu. Some of the best bus operators that offer good experience for passengers are Sangita Bharathi Travels and B.G.S Travels. Bus ticket booking discount coupons from travel portals can help you save money when you are travelling.
Bangalore, also known as Bengaluru, is often referred to as the 'Garden City' because of the numerous parks and gardens that dot the localities of the city. It is also considered as a major information technology (IT) hub of the country and thus called the 'Silicon Valley of India'. Kempe Gowda, a feudal ruler affiliated to the Vijayanagara kingdom, first established a mud fort, which turned out to be the foundation of the present day city. The city passed through a myriad of rulers ranging from the Marathas, Mughals and Mysore rulers before becoming a part of independent India.
Budget Hotels in Bangalore
There are a couple of good budget hotels in the city. Some of the options which are worth a try are Suntrupthi Residency (Tariff – Rs. 950), Citizen Lodge (Tariff – Rs. 850), The Royal Nest (Tariff – Rs. 900), Vijaya Residency (Tariff – Rs. 900) and others.
The official language of Bangalore is Kannada. Hindi, English, Telugu and Tamil are also understood and widely spoken.
Events in Bangalore
The important festivals of the area are Pongal in January, Karaga in April, Ganesh Chathurthi in August-September, Diwali in October-November, the fasting month of Ramadan, the two Eid(s), Easter and Christmas.
Places to See in Bangalore
Some of the places worth trying out in Bangalore are Bangalore Palace, Lal Bagh, Cubbon Park, Bannerghatta National Park,Vidhana Soudha, Seshadari Iyer Memorial, Tipu Sultan's Palace, Bull Temple, ISKCON Hare Krishna Temple, Meenakshi Sundaram Temple, Holy Trinity Church and St. Mary's Basilica. Wonderla Amusement Park at a distance of 28 km is popular with youngsters and children looking for a break on weekends.
How to Get There
The nearest airport is the Kempegowda International Airport at a distance of 36 km.
Bangalore City Junction Railway Station is the major railway station in the city.
There is bus service running from almost everywhere in south India to Bangalore city. State transport buses as well as private operators ply their buses to and fro the city. SRS Travels, Kallada Travels and SRM, Travels are some of the major operators in the city as well as the region. Do away with standing in ticket counters and opt for online bus reservation facility instead.


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After 19 years of business together, CIBC and Loblaws are parting ways. The grocery chain has decided to get out of the banking business, with CIBC announcing the end of PC Financial, which will be a replaced by a new banking organization called Simplii Financial.
The deal will come into place starting November 1. After that, Loblaws will be phasing out their in-store PC Financial ATMs and banking pavilions between November and March 31, 2018.
Understandably, this move is leaving many PC Financial customers with questions. Here's what we know so far:
As of October 31, all current PC Financial customers will automatically have their accounts switched over to Simplii Financial.
Account numbers will remain the same, which is good news if your payroll is deposited into your PC Financial account or if you have automatic billing set up. CIBC will also be sending PC Financial customers new Simplii debit cards, which will no longer be affiliated with PC points.
Under the new Simplii brand, customers will be able to do all of their banking through the Simplii website as well as over the phone and through mobile devices. Customers will continue to benefit from no-fee daily banking, and any current RRSP's or loans taken will remain the same.
The Simplii Financial brand has been created to target customers who prefer low-fee accounts and are comfortable with online banking. And so far, there appears to be no indication that CIBC will be building in-person Simplii Financial branches or ATMs. As for PC Financial debit card users, Simplii Financial customers will be able to use their debit cards at CIBC ATMs, free of charge.
And for any customers who have been accumulating PC points, no need to panic. Your points aren't going anywhere, but you'll no longer be earning points through the bank starting October 31. Instead, you'll need to obtain a PC points card or an account number to continue earning points. MasterCards, on the other hand, will remain unchanged, and can still be used to gain points towards groceries.
Well, it was nice while it lasted.

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The Trojans hosted the University of Calgary Dinos this past weekend a ball club that competes in the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference and came away with a 3-1 series win. Everett is now 13-3, with one series remaining next weekend (at Chemeketa CC) before North Region play begins.
In game one, the Everett offense started quickly scoring two runs in the first two innings, and then added a huge 6 run inning in the 6th. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Brycen Allen threw five shutout innings and struck out five before giving up two runs in the 6th. Brian Pino and Kaden Roettger came on in relief, neither allowing a run and closed out the 11-2 win. Sam Linscott went 3-5, drawing a walk, and added 3 RBI's. Austin Hauck went 2-5, drew a walk, connected for his 4th double on the year and drove in 2 runs. Full Box
Calgary proved much tough in game two, and both teams failed to push across a run until the top of the 7th when the Dino's strung a few hits together and took a 3-0 lead. Everett was able to get a run in the 8th on a sac fly, but that is all they could get and dropped the 2nd game by a score of 3-1. Sophomore starting pitcher Jacob Bradley went 5 innings with just one hit and 7 strikeouts and Connor Olmstead went two full innings with no hits and struck out 3. Full Box
Sunday's game three of the series started at 10am to get Calgary on the road as soon as possible for the 12 hour bus ride back home. The early start did not seem to bother the Trojan bats as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first inning and never looked back tacking on four more to win 10-0. Starting pitcher, freshman Zach Boswell threw a no hitter (7 innings) and struck out 10 batters, walking only one. Nolan Smith was the offensive standout going 2-4 with a double and three RBI's. Full Box
In the final game the Trojan's once again got on the board early with a run in the first, another two in the third, followed by four in the 4th. Starting pitcher Paul Falco went three shutout innings before giving up a run in the 4th and 5th innings. The bullpen came out strong, with Kaden Roettger finishing off the 5th and Ayden Adams closed pitching two innings, giving up no hits, and striking out two. Tyler McClain went 2-2 with a double and 2 RBI's and Nolan Smith picked up his 2nd double of the day going 1-3 with another RBI. Everett came away with the 7-2 win, and improved their overall record to 13-3. Full Box
They play next weekend on the road, traveling to Salem, OR to face Chemeketa CC in the final series, before North region play begins Saturday March 30th where the Trojans will host a double header with powerhouse Bellevue College.


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When the Going Gets ToughFiled under Biblical Womanhood | Devotional Life | The 5 O'Clock Club
"How do you keep going with these disciplines when it is tough?" Dawn asked us last week:
"I really wanted to try it out but circumstances have only served to discourage me. The alarm waking my 3 year old so I spend the whole 'quiet time' is spent trying to settle him and stop him disturbing the others, then both we both have a harder day because of the extra tiredness. How do you keep on? I am convinced it is a good thing but feel like I am letting my whole family down because I am tired and so discouraged. Sorry just wonder if I am the only one who can't work it out."
You certainly aren't the only one! All four of us know exactly how you feel! With small children, it is hard to do anything consistently. The only thing predictable about our days is that they are unpredictable! But here are a few ideas (all from Mom) that we've found helpful:
1. Change What You Can – Small, practical changes can make a big difference. Consider potential solutions like buying a quieter alarm clock or placing it where the kids are less likely to hear it. I've even set my phone alarm to ring and vibrate and then slept with it under my pillow! My husband and I have run "tests" to see what noises in the house (walking on hardwood, flushing toilet, opening closet) sound loudest in our kid's rooms. And training our children to read books on their beds until a set time each morning has made a huge difference. However, some problems aren't so easy to solve, that's why it's good to…
2. Have a "Plan B" – If your ideal plan doesn't work out, have a back-up plan in place. Plan "A" might be to meet with God before the children wake up; but if you're up half the night with a sick baby, you need sleep in the morning! Plan "B" may be to read God's Word and pray during your children's naptime.
3. "Do What You Can"- If both "Plan A" and "Plan B" fail (which may happen often with small children!) then do what you can. Read this great story from Donald Whitney about how one mother's hunger for God's Word led to some creative solutions. Liberating and inspiring!
4. Try Again Tomorrow – Even if you only rise early two times each week you are doing more than if you never tried at all—that should encourage you!
5. Preach the Gospel to Yourself – This will lead to joy. God is not more pleased with us on the days we rise early or less pleased with us on days when we sleep late. We are accepted and approved because of Jesus Christ.
Finally, as Mom is fond of reminding us: this is a season. It will pass all too quickly and the three year old who wakes up early will be a thirteen year old who you can't get out of bed in the morning. Until then, remember that God's grace is more than sufficient (2 Cor. 12:19). He daily bears us up, and promises that "as your days, so shall your strength be" (Ps. 68:19, Deut. 33:25).


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Welcome to the final part of our Sprig sew along! If you are new to us today, you will want to head to our very first installment of the sew along here.
Today we will be learning how to do our dolls hair and finishing touches! But before I start, I am going to show you something quick!
These bodies were cut from the *exact same pattern*. The one on the left is lined with an additional layer of knit, the one on the right is unlined. Do you see the difference in stretch?
My superhero knit is lightweight and 4 way stretch. This is awesome. However it obviously makes a huge difference in the doll! If I were using the unlined version I may want a slightly larger head (although hair makes a massive difference in head size!).
The lined body is much more firm, the unlined body is softer and squishier. Neither is better or worse, just wanting to show you the difference.
To line your doll, use a knit with similar or slightly less stretch (I use cotton fleece). Sandwich your outer knit with the lining, pin, and trace out your pattern. Then sew and cut as you would have without the lining.
Now, if you are making a girl doll, or want to use the same "sew on" method to attach a boy doll's hair please follow the tutorial that is HERE. This tutorial is done on my traditional doll, however it is exactly the same method you will use for your Sprig! Once you have the hair attached, return back to this tutorial so that you can see how we do our finishing touches (blush, freckles, etc).
For this tutorial, I am going to show you how to make the popular 'wild' boy hair using a crochet cap and a rug hooking method to attach the hair.
Step 1: Crochet a small cap to put on your doll. I don't have a pattern for this, but if you are just crocheting in the round until the cap fits. I usually start with a magic circle and then continue going in rounds until it is the approximate size I want for a wig. I use a small crochet hook so that gaps don't appear.
Lets be real here though. I went to coffee night last night with my homeschooling mama besties, and lovingly convinced my good friend Christine to crochet this wig while I was embroidering the little guys face <3
Once you have the wig, try it on to make sure it fits!
Choose your yarns! I chose two wool yarns – the olive green roving (100% wool) and the black handspun merino wool with teeswater locks as an accent. I like to use the handspun as accent rather than the complete wig, since handspun is a very very expensive option (this skein alone was approximately $50).
Now, you will want to cut lengths of yarn that are approximately 3-4″ long. I think I ended up using about 50 lengths of the olive and 15 lengths of the accent.
Now, you wrap a length of yarn around the crochet hook, then you will put a crochet hook through your cap as seen in the first photo. The next photo shows that you will wrap the tails of your length of yarn around the hook. You then pull the tails back through the cap and loop that was formed. This will knot your length onto the cap.
Continue working from the crown, down to the bottom of the cap. Fill it in as thickly as you wish, keeping in mind that you may be using an accent colour, and leaving space for that!
Add your accent colour, and then try the wig on your doll!
Next, you will be sewing your cap directly onto your dolls head. I chose a thread that matched my skin tone, but you can also use a thread that matches your hair colour. Stitch the cap on, using tight stitches. You need to go around the head at a minimum of 2-3 times. Little ones tend to carry their dolls by their hair, and with 5 boys, I know little boys tend to fling their dolls and let them "fly!".
Okay! Your doll has hair! But chances are, the hair is insane looking, and probably needs a trim! At this point, I hide from my children because I never want them to see scissors and their doll at the same time because it is *inevitable* that they will want to give their doll a haircut if they see you doing it!
Using small scissors, I trim each of the ends of the hair individually. I don't like all the strands to be the same length or it doesn't have a natural look to it. This guy is being left a little shaggy, because I feel like his inner spirit is mischievous and that he doesn't want short hair!
However, hair trims usually mean tiny fibers (especially if you are using wool) that end up covering the doll's face. To fix this, I wrap my fingers in tape and remove the fibers before the next step!
Now comes the fun part! Bringing life to your doll!
Using a piece of skin knit, darkly colour on it with a beeswax crayon. DO NOT ever colour with the crayon directly on your doll's skin.
Using very very light pressure, gently dab/rub the colour onto your doll's cheeks. There is no coming back from this step so believe me, use light pressure. A little goes a LONG way.
For boy dolls, I tend to use slightly less blushing than on my girl dolls. But this is completely personal preference. You do whatever you feel looks best to you!
Because this doll has no nose, I like to add the illusion of a nose using the blusher. To do this, I use a lip brush (not ever used for real make up) and rub it on the colouring.
Then (once again gently), use the brush to make a light arc over where the nose would be!
Now you can step back and admire how adorable your doll is!
At this point, your doll can be complete, unless you want to add freckles!
I asked my girlfriends last night at coffee if this little guy should have freckles. My bestie Liz told me not to ruin him with freckles and to leave him as he was. But of course, being the most annoying "askhole" friend ever, I didn't bother listening to her LOL!
When I do freckles, I use a fabric marker with a paintbrush tip. The tip comes to a very fine point. I get my markers like this at Michaels, and they run about $5 each.
Using a light hand, make small dots where you would like the freckles to be. I suggest practicing on a scrap piece of skin.
And then you are done!
Thank you for participating in my sew along! I had a lot of fun watching your dolls come to life.


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StreetViews - My first exhibition!
Well after five long years of walking around various cities and towns in New Zealand, I can now proudly present 'StreetViews' a collection of 20 black and white street photographs now showing at Nectar Bar and Cafe, 286 Princes Street, Dunedin. As you can see by the date I had the opening several weeks ago and I have to say I had a blast! As a recent graduate I often found that I could very rarely afford to print large prints, let alone have them mounted so it was amazing to view my prints on the wall of Nectar. First off I need to give a big thank you to Prolab in Dunedin (http://www.prolabnz.com/) whose helpful employees spent a long time with me tweaking the printer to give some of the most amazing results (also to Jill for her proofing critique). Also Artzone (http://www.art-zone.co.nz/) who helped me with the matting and mounting of the photos. They did a fantastic job and I'm grateful for their speedy and quality work.
Below are a couple of photos from the night. I should also mention that having been to few exhibition openings myself, I wanted mine to be something different. So after much arm twisting and practicing, the ukulele group 4-play (http://www.facebook.com/4PlayNZ) that I am part of kindly said yes to playing at my exhibition. People sang, people danced and people looked at my images. What can I say? It was a blast!!!
4-play gets ready for some ukulele rock'n'roll!
My absolutely lovely flatmate Tahu who served as toastmaster!!!
Paul...we somewhat forgive him for his use of a guitar in a ukulele group...one day he will see the light and ditch the 6-string.
Red hatted me with Dave...getting our uke groove on!
When the music plays people dance, well two of them anyway.
Actually looking at these photos again make me realize how exhausting the day was...by the end of night I was shattered and felt like going for a nap mid-celebratory burger. Anyway after the night I thought I could relax...well technically I could after my interview with the local television station haha. Yep I guess you could say I hit the big time...in Dunedin. Here is the link to the interview here (http://www.ch9.co.nz/node/16386) red hat and all!
To anyone that is in Dunedin or couldn't make it to the opening then I should tell you that StreetViews will be on view until the end of October. So drop by Nectar grab and coffee and have a look around. All the prints on display are for sale for $150, just notify the staff of Nectar and they will put you in contact with me.
A big thanks to Nectar (http://www.nectarespresso.co.nz/index.php). A wonderful place to hang photos and the staff know how to make a killer hot chocolate! Also a huge THANKYOU to the Noel at the Ronald Woolf Memorial Trust for giving me the scholarship to make this all possible. Each year they support young New Zealand photographer and I am grateful that they chose to support this little exhibition all the way down south!
And finally one big thank you to Nicole, Andrew and Sofi who helped put the finishing touches on the opening. I was a bit of nervous mess and all three were amazing help and support. I am immensely grateful to your help and couldn't have done it without you!


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Scarlet Macaw, Buffalo Zoo
When visiting the zoo, make the most of your photos. Taking photos of wildlife is not about looking cute. It is not about looking pretty.
In my last post I showed you how Wild Spirit was about respecting nature and nature's creatures with the passion to protect and care for them. The natural landscape was protected as well, after all, the property sustains and shelters birds and animals in the wild. So do many of our gardens. Wildlife can be right outside your back door.
I think that many photographing wild animals don't necessarily make the connection to having a responsibility to protect places that need protecting, especially if they photograph exclusively in a zoo. It is too far removed from the habitats in which these animals live to get an appreciation for what life is like in these places. It is often harsh, trying and is rapidly disappearing.
Scarlet Ibis, M&T Bank Rainforest Falls Exhibit
Photographing wildlife is much more than just taking pretty pictures. It can be about endangered species, or changing people's minds on conservation. It can be changing attitudes on using pesticides and herbicides worldwide. Photography can be a catalyst for protecting environments that we know very little about. Photography has the power to elicit change.
Riding through the Cloud Forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica. I was there on a research project designing with the environment, wildlife and habitat, and educating youth as critical components.
People who spend time outdoors gardening, hiking or bird-watching are generally accepting of the responsibility of caring for the environment.
Ocelot, M&T Bank Rainforest Falls Exhibit
If you read my post, W4W – Time, you can understand my views on animals kept in zoos and I just took you to a rehabilitation center. These two places exist for reasons other than pleasing a photographer. Both invest in education.
Golden Lion Tamarin, Buffalo Zoo
Photographing at game parks on the other hand, exist only for casual clickers and have no real purpose beyond photography in my opinion. At these game parks, I see many species of animals in the same field exhibits, ones that would never, or should ever be housed together. Some think these places are better than zoos, but for this reason I find them a major concern.
Sure animals have more room to roam, but at what cost? If mixed herds are stressed to what comprises the herd, then this may not be an ideal life either.
I just saw a photo on another blogger's site taken at a game park not too far from here. All the various species were gathered at the cars looking for a handout of kibble. All I could think of was how dangerous a few of those animals were (male elk with a big spread of antlers and a mature buffalo), and they were mixed with tiny, defenseless animals (possibly muntjak deer).
I did like the Florida, Disney's Animal Kingdom Park though, perhaps it was the size of the attraction or maybe Disney's attention to detail. The animals seemed happier.
Zoos are not ideal for the animals but they do serve to protect animals that are endangered. Unfortunately, the animals suffer from boredom and it is a shame to keep many of the species that we do.
For the reason of breeding programs to help combat endangerment alone there is a benefit to zoos. Zoos also educate, another plus.
And I view photos of the animals the same way. The photos may tell a story of a creature on the brink of extinction someday. And unfortunately, photos may be all that remains of certain animals, even if they look a bit devoid of emotion in the images.
White Faced Saki, M&T Bank Rainforest Falls Exhibit
When you photograph truly wild animals, you need to know as much about them and their habits as you can. That is so much more difficult than shooting animals in a zoo or rehabilitation center. But it helps to know behavior in those places as well, like when I mentioned last post of getting the varied expressions.
Ring-Tailed Lemur, Buffalo Zoo
For example, wild birds like to keep a safe distance, so it is best to move slowly and not in a straight line toward a bird. Birds see minute movements and readily detect direct eye contact and view it as a threat. I find this especially true with raptors, more so than birds accustomed to human contact who are more likely to dismiss our actions.
Female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, my backyard
Many say they can not get close to hummingbirds and the birds leave if they are outside. I find I can sit in the yard by knowing their behavior. Hummingbirds are territorial and need to feed very often. They will get comfortable around people they see in the garden regularly, like the little Ruby Throated above. I was only seven feet away.
The key is being out there before they are scheduled to arrive and make no quick movements in their direction. See my post, Photographing a Hummingbird in Flight – Useful Tips.
Roseate Spoonbill, M&T Bank Rainforest Falls Exhibit
To get more meaningful images, try to take a profile photo, possibly showing just one of the animal's eyes, or better yet, a full view of its face with both eyes visible.
Snowy Owl, Wild Spirit Education, image from Helping Wildlife and Bettering the Habitat
Peafowl, Buffalo Zoo
Flying birds make for good action shots. Raptors such as hawks, like to perch high to watch and wait for an unsuspecting moving meal below. You'll know when they're ready to take off because you will often see bird droppings before the lift off.
Tips like these will be in a future post on photographing birds. I love to study their behavior in addition to photographing them. It makes anticipating what they might do a little more reliable. Having my own bird helps in the understanding too.
Monteverde , Costa Rica, plan a trip to where interesting animals are located!
White-Faced Saki, M&T Bank Rainforest Falls Exhibit
Here are some tips I learned from shooting at the zoo. Some are tips that help when you are out in the field too.
I have been photographing animals my whole life, so these are things I learned from over thirty years with my Nikon cameras. I am not a professional and don't pretend to be one, but sometimes an amateur can help out another with problems they may encounter more easily.
We learn from trial and error and often run into things a seasoned pro might overlook as too routine or simple. Being an architect and Master Gardener, I know this all too well. You just don't know what others might know or not know.
I have been getting emails from individuals asking for my 'advice' on photographing in certain situations. I am doing my best to give tips in a way that is both accurate and easily understandable.
My next 'photo' post will be on macro photography, and after that, one on shooting birds. Both are posts that directly relate to gardens. You might find useful tips you did not know.
Lion, Buffalo Zoo
I am trying to put together posts that will really help out beginners. I encourage everyone to go to the pro sites too.
Now for zoo tips…
- When shooting in a zoo, like most of these images, I like to shoot a shallow depth of field as it isolates the animals and directs the viewer's attention to the subject. More importantly, it takes the 'zoo' out of the image. But I do it too when I shoot the animals in the field. There, it is more for removing a distracting or busy landscape.
- For how I get shallow depth of field, see the post, Depth-Of-Field – How to Love the Blur.
- One thing to note. Always be honest where your images are taken. Just because you remove traces of the physical zoo structures, does not mean the images should be falsely portrayed. I find this respectful of those photographers that take photos on location, where it is sometimes painstaking to get those images.
Male Lion, Buffalo Zoo
- I take two cameras, each with a different lens. One is for getting in a little of their environment, and the other is for zooming in and removing their surroundings. It is for extending my view too since often the animals are a distance away.
Snow Leopard, Buffalo Zoo
- I find when shooting through a fence at a zoo, it is best not to be really close to it. It is more for the sake of the animals, not the photograph. They are less fearful if you are a few steps back. The animal has to be a distance back from the fence as well. It is best at ten feet or so, too close and the fence becomes part of the image, like shown above. That photo was taken for my 'editorial' post on zoos, so it was making a strong point to supplement the text.
- I usually shoot handheld as opposed to using a tripod. Our local zoo has let me bring in a tripod, but many do not. When visiting zoos across the country and beyond, I never even consider bringing in the tripod. Some exhibits even post for no baby strollers either, so you have to be aware of their restrictions. The idea is not to upset the animals.
- That goes for flash too. I always shoot at a lower shutter speed and raise the ISO to avoid using flash. The issue with flash has more to do with the environment rather than the animals. The reflective glass is the problem, but you can reduce that if you stand at an angle to the glass. Try about 45°. The Saki, Lemur and Tamarin were all shot behind glass.
Polar Bear at feeding time, Buffalo Zoo
- Timing is everything. Animals know when it's feeding time, and that's when they're going to be their most responsive to people. I sometimes follow the guys with the buckets. You should see the animals come to life.
Spotted Hyena taking a siesta at the Buffalo Zoo
- When it comes to the light, overcast days are the best for photographing at the zoo if you can't get there early morning or late afternoon. Lousy weather days are good because many animals are active when it's snowy, rainy or cooler and overcast in the warm months. Clouds make a great diffuser. A day threatening rain will mean fewer people. When it's snowing, animals like the snow leopards and polar bears are usually out enjoying the day.
- Pay attention to the light while you are shooting. Bright light means a faster shutter speed but if the light is harsh, you'll end up with an image with blown out highlights and very dark shadows, like the polar bear above.
- Buying a membership is a good idea because it allows access whenever the member wants, plus there are other benefits, like private events. It is unlikely you will get really great images your first time at the zoo. Members have access anytime the zoo is open and that lets you pick your best weather conditions.
Golden Lion Tamarin, Buffalo Zoo
I found a new site that I like very much and you might as well. Nature and Photography has a lot of good advice and is very well written. Rob Sheppard is a naturalist, nature photographer and author. I have seen his work before and read articles of his, but did not know he had a blog. If you like nature and photography, you will surely love this site.
What caught my eye was his wonderful work, but also the similarity of some of his shots to my own. The above image is from my post, Dragonflies, A Photo Shoot at the Lake. But his post has many shots of dragonflies, Photographing Dragonflies. I guess I am on the right track. Go and see. If you like my photos, go see a professional shooting many of the same, only with the expertise of being a naturalist and a pro photographer.
I will be away next week and will see you all when I get back. I will have garden walk posts scheduled in my absence, plus a rant called All Tech and No Talent on a popular trend in photo sharing. Of course, it should rattle a few that love the app.


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Still got him his lead artist number #1, though, so let's start off with the Top 10. And I get why 'One Dance' got him there - it's a pop-crossover that features Drake delivering exactly no effort to murmur his way through a badly-produced dancehall pastiche, but since that sound is big right now, it claimed the top spot on sales and streaming and picked up plenty of airplay even despite no YouTube video, and the second that comes Drake will have the position on lock. Could 'Panda' challenge it from #2 if it got a video first? Frankly, I doubt it - Drake already jumped past him on airplay and streaming and sales aren't what they were. Then we have '7 Years' by Lukas Graham, which peaked in airplay this week and even with respectable sales has been thoroughly blocked from anything else that it's not going higher. What might actually last longer - to my astonishment - is 'I Took A Pill In Ibiza' by Mike Posner, which went up to #4 thanks to consistent airplay, okay sales, and surprisingly strong YouTube, which it's been quietly picking up over the past few weeks. Nothing compared to 'Work From Home' by Fifth Harmony & Ty Dolla $ign, though, rising up to #5 thanks to ruling YouTube and strong airplay... although sales gains are falling off slowly. The song where losses are hurting a lot more is 'Work' by Rihanna and Drake, though, convincing me that Drake's hype is tied to the album and will probably be short-lived, as this song was bleeding in all categories even as it held to #6. Next we have a new top ten entry - and one that surprised me a bit - 'Don't Let Me Down' by The Chainsmokers ft. Daya at #7, mostly thanks to good airplay gains and sales, and as soon as Drake's streaming dominance fades it'll probably pick up there as well. 'Pillowtalk' by Zayn, on the other hand, might not be as lucky, as airplay gains slowed to a crawl and YouTube slipped as well even as it recovered to #8. Then we have our second new top ten entry, and a brand new song for this week: 'This Is What You Came For' by Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna. And to answer that, no, I never come for Calvin Harris, he tends to drive me in the opposite direction, which we'll be discussing later, but apparently the public doesn't agree, because he spent the weeks running up the sales and airplay charts, as if we needed that. Finally, we have Justin Bieber returning to the Top 10 with 'Love Yourself', mostly because it has leftover airplay and YouTube - if Beyonce's 'Sorry' gains more traction, expect it to be replaced by next week.
Of course, we can't rely on that, so we have our losers and dropouts. And remember how I predicted that these large-scale arrivals would exacerbate chart collapses of many tracks prematurely? Well, we had round two of that this week, because even with Prince evaporating from the charts after the sales vanished, there were still plenty of dropouts. The biggest dropouts I predicted last week: 'Jumpman' by Drake & Future, 'Back To Sleep' by Chris Brown, 'Company' by Justin Bieber, 'Acquainted' by The Weeknd, and unfortunately 'You Should Be Here' by Cole Swindell, even though an album release might have given it more momentum. Granted, country had a rough week regardless - not only did 'That Don't Sound Like You' by Lee Brice also drop out, 'Confession' by Florida Georgia Line fell to 96, 'I Like The Sound Of That' by Rascal Flatts dropped to 97, and - sadly - 'My Church' by Maren Morris fell hard to 80. Then we had the losses that were easier to predict: 'Team' by Iggy Azalea continues to flop at 88, 'Youth' by Troye Sivan takes a nosedive down to 83, 'Promise' by Kid Ink and Fetty Wap continues down to 91, and Kanye West's two songs 'Famous' with Rihanna and 'Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1' with Kid Cudi go to 95 and 98 respectively. Unfortunately, as I also expected Beyonce also took some pretty big hits this week, although I'd argue without Drake rushing in she could have held more longevity, and it still didn't prevent songs like '6 Inch' with The Weeknd from only falling to 28, it's still got sales and staying power. However, 'All Night' went to 64, 'Freedom' with Kendrick Lamar fell to 65, 'Daddy Lessons' slid to 66, 'Pray You Catch Me' went to 70, 'Sandcastles' slipped to 71, and 'Love Drought' dropped to 73. Finally, we have the outlier: 'Summer Sixteen' by Drake went to 89 - the track that should have been on Views becomes a casualty of its inevitable short-lived success. Oh, the irony.
Now, as with last week there weren't many gains or re-entries, but we did get a few. As expected the continued rise of Pink's bland return 'Just Like Fire' went back up to 55, and 'Somewhere On A Beach' by Dierks Bentley recovered hard to 41. I'm a little bit more surprised that 'Lost Boy' by Ruth B regained its traction to 42 or that 'Let It Go' by James Bay went back to 32 - there really isn't much to either song, they don't need that much momentum! And of course 'Pop Style' by Drake got the big boost from the album and went to 21 - joy. But the song that drew my curiosity was the returning entry at 29: 'My Boo' by the Ghost Town DJs... which because of an Instagram 'Running Man' challenge that unfortunately has nothing to do with the movie that crossed over to Vine and got piled on by pretty much everyone on the parts of social media that goes crazy over asinine dance crazes. Wow, for the most part I don't care whatsoever, but I will note this challenge has let it rechart higher than it originally did back in 1996, and it's not a terrible dance-pop-ish R&B track, so I'll let this slide... for now.
And on that note... might as well get started with the newest round of the Drake show for our long, long list of re-entries that'll be a lot less interesting of fun than when Beyonce was here because at least she had a video to match up - although this will be easier to edit and can't you tell by now I'm stalling? Well, enough wasting time, let's start with...
(yeah, there are no Drake videos here - thanks Apple Music)
86. 'Views' by Drake - so just like last week, I've already reviewed the album in detail, so I'm going to endeavor to keep all sixteen of these new Drake entries fairly short, especially considering this record left very little impact on me. That said, this is one of the better tracks, opening with a decent gospel sample that builds into at least slightly more opulent production and swell. And Drake's actually rhyming... although it's up for debate whether or not the thoughts he's expressing here are 'too deep for a therapist' especially when it's very much his lane of surreptitiously attacking rivals without naming names and bragging. But there are three lines that draw more attention, the first being that Drake never compromised for sales - no, you just did it to get a #1 single - that we wouldn't believe more of his life story - well, you could try telling us one of these days instead of maddening vagueness - and 'if I was you I wouldn't like me neither', the one element of self-awareness before this track fades into atmospherics for the final minute. And while that line is definitely true about the rest of the album, in context of the song it feels incredibly disconnected outside of just referring to jealousy, which kind of undercuts the whole pseudo-gospel vibe. In other words, it's a decent song, but man it's got problems too.
75. 'Fire & Desire' by Drake - don't get me wrong, I dig the minimalist buzz of the instrumentation and bass-heavy punch, even if the pitch-shifted vocals drive me up the wall... but Drake at this point it's been five years since 'Moment 4 Life' - if you haven't screwed Nicki Minaj by now, it's not going to happen, especially after 'Anaconda' and 'Only' in 2014, no matter how many desaturated, sloppy ballads you make. I may have liked this a little more before, but saying you've got 'z's for these other girls sleepin' on 'em'... yeah, I get why Nicki wasn't interested. Next!
74. 'True Colors' by Zedd & Kesha - we take a short break from the Drake show to something I haven't seen in a long time: a Kesha song on the Hot 100! Okay, to be fair here, it's not really a Kesha track: she didn't write it, and it's actually a remix of a song Zedd already made in 2015, and I wouldn't say it's one of his best entries either. On the other hand, Kesha sounds great on it - she's always had a talent for melancholic electro-pop that her singles in her heyday never recognized, even if I do feel her vocals are a little too compressed here. Hell, even though I don't think this song is destined to be huge - Zedd's production is a little too muted to really explode, even despite the gleaming keys, roiling drums, and bells building to the minor key crescendo - it's proof that Kesha still has far more charisma and raw power than so many modern pop acts these days. Not the sort of killer material that Kesha's delivered in the past, but if this is what we need for a modest revitalization, I'll take it.
72. 'Faithful' by Drake ft. Pimp C & dvsn - I can't be the only one who's uncomfortable with that sampled Pimp C verse being here, right? The legend is dead, and when you sample a verse where he specifically says he only works with Bun B and that rapper is nowhere to be found here, you've crossed the line of bad taste again, Drake. Regardless, this song then proceeds to swamp out the bass, Drake proceeds to fall off the beat on the hook, and imply the girl's suspicions about him cheating are lodged firmly in her vagina - and women like this guy again? It's not a good sign when dvsn is the only thing worth caring about in their earnest and pretty powerful delivery that doesn't remotely fit in with anything else of the song, and even then the writing is only okay. As a whole, though, this track is a mess - next!
68. 'Keep The Family Close' by Drake - you know, there was some promise with this as the opener. The atmospherics that lead to this lush, piano-and-horn-touched opening as Drake laments all the friends he had to leave behind, full of all of the tortured metaphors that he pushes to their limits - that Chrysler/Bentley metaphor, the 'fooding/serving them' line - as he says his friends were supposed to 'put their pride aside and ride with him' - what are you asking to put their pride aside for, Drake, what are you asking them to do? And sure, there are points that hit with some impact - the blasts of horns and organ texture for the second verse - but it's not like Drake is singing with real passion or the mix hits with any real depth beyond the one deeper drum or the mix doesn't fade into atmospherics for the outro that don't really go anywhere. Again, this should be good... and yet somehow, it just isn't.
63. 'Don't Mind' by Kent Jones - we now take our second short break from the Drake show to talk about a protege of DJ Khaled - seriously. Well, maybe that's not quite fair, as apparently he's a trained jazz pianist who wanted to become a music professor and got his start working behind the scenes, and this is his breakout single, interpolating a melody from Barry White's 'Practice What You Preach' on the hook. So fitting for a song in the grand tradition of screwing foreign girls - to quote him, they give him 'desktop till he overloads' - and giving them license to cheat by saying, 'Well, your man doesn't speak English, so how would he know?' And to accompany those godawful lines we have a minimalist DJ Mustard-esque synth loop with some faded synth and cymbals and a frontman who speak-sings through a track with some insufferable smugness - and that's saying something given I have twelve more Drake songs to cover! Next!
61. 'Redemption' by Drake - we're now heading into a part of Drake's Views that I actually like, starting with 'Redemption', a very minimalist track with a muted bassy tap and warped filters around the hook to supplement the non-melody of the track. But really, the song is more about Drake's words, as he starts delving into his own bad relationship habits as he yearns for real affection and searches for the right words to earn her redemption. Apparently none of those words was an apology, because he feels he's entitled to those for Christmas on the final verse as he wonders if those exes still think about him - and in a welcome moment of self-awareness, he realizes he's probably never going to be forgiven. I still don't like the victim complex underscoring the track and the production is borderline non-existent, but it works for what it is, I'll take it.
54. 'Weston Road Flows' by Drake - probably the best song on Views thanks to a flipped Mary J. Blige sample, it's Drake returning to rapping about his come-up and bragging about how far he's come. And even though Drake's been to this well dozens of times before, there's enough detail here and a couple decent lines - even if those lines are counterbalanced by 'platinum like wrappers on Hershey's' and a few pointless shots taken at Meek Mill. Again, Drake has made better songs in this vein, but if Drake returning to his roots can give us this, I guess I'll take it.
53. 'Feel No Ways' by Drake - from the best song on the album we come to the worst, which tries to go for a late 80s R&B vibe, but it just doesn't connect with how the noisier lo-fi drums play off Drake's cleaner singing, especially when it's going to switch up later anyways. But what I really can't stand are the lyrics, where Drake says because this girl wouldn't go along with doing things Drake's way, they're over and now she's pissed - 'gassed up', as Drake describes her - and she's badmouthing him. But wait, on most of your charting entries before Views, especially 'Hotline Bling', didn't you want a girl who would stay home and be a good girl for you? And what I really hate is the framing: Drake, stop framing yourself as a victim here, it's not remotely romantic or believable, and it's nowhere going to be enough to justify your douchebaggery. Ugh, talk about a mess - next!
52. 'Too Good' by Drake ft. Rihanna - and to continue on the 'let's feel sorry for Drake's romantic bitching' train, we have his collaboration with Rihanna. Now to his credit the fact that Rihanna is here injects the song with a more textured tropical beat that has a little punch and provides the mirror image to his arrogance. But then again, maybe it's for the best when both of them think they're too 'good' to each other and this just ends - and while I'd probably say this is more of a song than 'Work' was, it's a shame it doesn't bother to make either of them remotely likable, with Drake coming out worse as he tries to accuse Rihanna for playing the victim when he's doing the same damn thing! So yeah, I actually kind of liked this song in context with the album, but on its own, it's not nearly as good - man, that's exasperating.
49. 'Child's Play' by Drake - and on the topic of Drake screwing things up with women, we have this song which opens with the sample implying that if your girlfriend goes to a season opener basketball game, she's screwing a player on the team. You know, because women can't like sports unless there's sex involved - granted, Raptors tickets are expensive and I'd be frustrated too given how they blew things in overtime yesterday but we're getting off-topic. Actually, can I keep ranting about DeMar DeRozan and his godawful shooting in Game 4, because this song is rancid. Yeah, bouncy sleigh bells and decent hook, but then we get to the verses, where Drake dives into soap opera horseshit with a girl he pulled out of the hood, who starts fighting with him at the Cheesecake Factory, drives his Bugatti to get tampons, and is actually a little suspicious when Drake lies about the number of people he's slept with, all behavior that inspires Drake to hide the keys and threaten to take her back to the hood. I've heard K. Michelle songs, from an actual reality TV star, that have more dignity and class than this disingenuous classist nonsense, and at least she'll go over the top with her melodrama! Ugh, this blows - next!
47. 'With You' by Drake ft. PARTYNEXTDOOR - Drake, you keep trying to make PARTYNEXTDOOR happen with these overly autotuned stabs at dance floor hookups. If it wasn't going to happen off of If You're Reading This It's Too Late with 'Preach', a song that actually evolved and was better than this forgettable track with the only memorable part being Jeremih's crooning, it's not going to happen!
45. '9' by Drake - Drake, you keep saying you're ready to die for Toronto - why don't I remotely believe any of it? And why is this song such a pale facsimile of all of the bangers you shoveled out last year, with a less interesting synth melody, your standard trap hi-hat, and a clumsily autotuned fragment for what passes for a hook here? And let me stress, this is a song I don't mind - it at least has a melodic progression even as Drake raps about his chain going 'jang-a-lang' - but again, he's done so much better!
44. 'U With Me?' by Drake - I'm starting to think that Drake conned the public into thinking he wasn't a complete twit around women, because him DMing all of his exes to tell them they 'belong to him', even in a symbolic context, is more creepy than anything else! And even though he references his supposed real-life girlfriend in passing in this song, he spends this track trying to ascertain his side bitch's commitment to him - dude, you're dating Serena Williams, what the hell are you playing here, and why the hell am I supposed to care about your angst that she's not communicating with you fast enough? Angst that you communique by saying that she's 'toyin' like a happy meal'? Yeah, the bombast on the third verse is impressive after the beat switch-up, but it stands out because it's one of the few places on this record where Drake actually sounds like he's trying, and even then it drops into a trap-touched outro with pianos that feels both dragged out and abrupt. Again, another song that had some potential, but it certainly doesn't come together enough.
40. 'Still Here' by Drake - it's not a good sign that I tend to forget this track exists every time I listen to this record, mostly because the scuzzy synth and Drake's lazy flow does nothing to make me like a guy who brags about poorly investing his money and stealing girlfriends. It's not even that it's bad so much as it's bland - I've heard this before, Drake, and if you don't care, why should I?
38. 'Grammys' by Drake ft. Future - it's a leftover from What A Time To Be Alive and not a good one. At least that record had some sparkle and glitz to it, something this bass-swamped generic trap banger does not have. At least Future sounds like he's having fun as he spits your generic Future verse, although I do question him not wanting features when this itself is a feature, but again, at least he's having fun not caring, in comparison with Drake who cares way too much about being Top 5 - yeah, Drake, you wish.
34. 'Controlla' by Drake - so I haven't talked much about Drake hopping on this Caribbean accent, and while of course he's unconvincing on it, I think the bigger issue ties into how he tries to assert that he's an aggressive 'controller' for this girl through his gentle autotuned croon against a completely desaturated mix plus sample and airhorn and whining about girls who don't want to see him happy. Gee, after what we've heard today, I can't think of why...
33. 'Hype' by Drake - so here's a confession: I had to put all of these songs back on my iPod to relisten to them for this episode. And given that we're now on the last song and I've practically relistened to the entire thing, I can say with certainty that I'll be taking them all off again, because I only found more things that didn't work. At least we're ending off with a 'banger' against a muted, twinkle and stale trap beat with real bars, where Drake says he's been 'blacking' after a Michael Jackson reference, or how he got his epiphany at Tiffany's after spending $50,000 dollars, or how he hasn't run out of material - see this album - or how his hook completely kills any momentum that he might have had from his previous verse... so yeah, that's Views. It was mediocre at best. Expect over half of this record to fall off the charts in record time.
20. 'H.O.L.Y.' by Florida Georgia Line - I heard about the controversy surrounding this song long before I heard the track itself, and rumors suggesting that it was indicative of a new trend coming from country, drawing on religious phrasing and iconography to refer to less religious things. Now let's be clear that this is nothing new, especially outside of country music when you look at acts like Hozier or Depeche Mode or Nick Cave or really the majority of 'gothic'-themed acts. But even within country I'm not exactly against it on principle, as Maren Morris' 'My Church' drew upon some soulful production and smart songwriting to recontextualize what 'faith' meant to her, which was more of the music. Florida Georgia Line, on the other hand, use it for a punishingly stiff piano ballad with gratuitous autotune on the backing vocals to describe the heavenly girl who saved him from heartbreak, who I'm going to choose to think is Rachel Platten from when she made 'Stand By You'. The sad fact is that even she's probably better than this, as then we get the second verse with these guys getting the girls screaming hallelujah when they touch them and wow, I don't buy it for a second. And sure, this is embarrassing, but at least their previous songs used to be a facsimile of country - this is just bad pop that's way too stiff and uses its title as an acronym to mean 'High On Loving You'. Gross, skip this.
9. 'This Is What You Came For' by Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna - and we end this week on the precipice of boredom itself, with Calvin Harris. And I'd usually say that's not quite far as he has evolved since his interchangeable blasts of synth that cluttered up the early 2010s, but the truth is that i just don't care at this point, and this song is here because of name recognition for he and Rihanna alone, not because it's actually good. And look, I didn't like either of Rihanna's previous collaborations with Calvin Harris, 'We Found Love' and 'Where Have You Been', but at least Rihanna sounded like she cared on both songs and 'We Found Love' had a hell of a hook. This... Rihanna's on autopilot, the thicker synths on the crescendo break into another rattling beat that's more hazy claps and choppy vocal fragments than instrumental melody, and it barely has any sort of punch. At least when Zedd brought in Kesha, he got a singer who actually cares about what she's doing and who isn't going to croon through a song that I'm guessing Taylor Swift refused to do even as a favour to her boyfriend on account of being too bland. But considering this week... nope, I'm still going to forget this, I'll pass.
So this week went entirely too long and man, so much of it was a wasteland devoid of quality. For best... thank god Zedd and Kesha showed up to add some passion with 'True Colours' to take the top spot, and I guess I'll give Honourable Mention to 'Weston Road Flows' by Drake for being the best track off of Views. But the worst... I honestly can't think whether 'Child's Play' or 'Feel No Ways' is worst, so they're going to tie for this week, with Dishonourable Mention going to 'H.O.L.Y.' by Florida Georgia Line for some atrocious production and that second verse. Right now I'm just thankful most of this crap will be gone for next week - or at least I hope so.
So this week went entirely too long and man, so much of it was a wasteland devoid of quality. For best... thank god Zedd and Kesha showed up to add some passion with 'True Colours' to take the top spot, and I guess I'll give Honourable Mention to 'Weston Road Flows' by Drake for being the best track off of Views. But the worst... I honestly can't think whether 'Child's Play' or 'Feel No Ways' is worst, so they're going to tie for this week, with Dishonourable Mention going to 'H.O.L.Y.' by Florida Georgia Line for some atrocious production and that second verse. Right now I'm just thankful most of this crap will be gone for next week - or at least I hope so.


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Home / Officers of the University / Julien C. Carter, Vice President for Human Resources
Julien Carter
Julien C. Carter is the Vice President for Human Resources. In this role he collaborates with the university community to ensure that human resource practices, policies, and systems at Tufts are aligned with institutional priorities, attuned to changing workplace demographics and supportive of individual employees.
Julien joined Tufts University in January, 2015. Prior to Tufts, Mr. Carter served as the founding Vice President for Human Resources at Khalifa University for Science, Technology and Research in the United Arab Emirates, and Chief Human Resource Officer at both the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Louisville. In addition, he was the Commissioner of Employee Relations for the State of Minnesota in the cabinet of Governor Jesse Ventura.
Julien holds a B.S. from Missouri State University, M.A. from Truman State University, and J.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is also is a former Captain in the United States Army Reserve.
February 2015


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Firefighters' risks are significantly higher for some specific types of cancer than the general population.
In 2013, NIOSH researchers reported a two-fold excess of malignant mesothelioma, a very rare cancer. Put another way, firefighters have a 100 percent increased risk (100 percent = double = 2 times) of getting mesothelioma. Firefighters have a 129 percent increased risk of dying from mesothelioma. A 2006 meta-analysis by Grace LeMasters of 32 firefighter cancer studies noted a two-fold excess for testicular cancer. Firefighters have a 62 percent higher risk of getting esophageal cancer, and they have a 39 percent increased risk of dying from esophageal cancer, according to the NIOSH research.
Here's an overview with some specific additional risks for firefighters noted:
More FAQs


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13 Oct Three Basic Rules for Credit Cards
Posted at 22:29h in Bankruptcy Basics 1 Comment
Larry Burkett's three basic rules for credit cards are:
1. Use your credit cards only for budgeted items.
2. Pay your credit cards off every month.
3. The first month that you find you cannot pay off your credit card bills, destroy your credit cards.
If you believe you must have credit cards, Larry Burkett's three rules are rules to live by.
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Jay S. Fleischman is a bankruptcy lawyer with offices in Los Angeles and New York. He can often be found on Google+ and Twitter, where he shares information about consumer protection issues and personal finance.
Latest posts by Jay Fleischman, Esq. (see all)
- 5 Things You Need To Know About Bankruptcy Exemptions Before Your Case Is Filed - August 28, 2013
- Beware Of This Person When Trying To Wipe Out A Second Mortgage In Chapter 13 - August 26, 2013
- Our Best Tips For Filing For Bankruptcy Without Your Spouse - August 22, 2013
- 5 Ways To Celebrate Financial Literacy Month - March 31, 2013
- Burning Money With Handcuffs On - March 21, 2013


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Farewell to Les Paul, guitar player, music innovator
Jay David Murphy
Aug 14, 2009 in
Les Paul's sound affected a generation of guitar players and blazed the electric guitar path that lead to Rock-n-Roll. His music and his innovations are still creating new ideas and sounds today.
Father of the Electric Guitar, Les Paul Dead at 94
Les Paul was born Lester William Plosfuss, June 9 in Waukesha Wisconsin in 1915. You would have not guessed a boy from Wisconsin would change the face of modern music.
But he did, Les Paul was a jazz guitar player in the making from the very beginning, though he got is start playing country music.
But he was the jazz guitar player who brought jazz into country and the blues. Jazz is truly the musical gift born in America and its original gift to the world. It was jazz that made him unique in the world of music. His country, blues, and pop recordings were infused with his take on the jazz guitar. The way he formed his cord progressions had never been styled the way he had done it. His tempo and delayed attack of the pick in his right hand, his brand of sliding the cord with his left hand, made his guitar playing popular.
His sound affected a generation of guitar players and blazed the electric guitar path that led to Rock-n-Roll. His music and his innovations are still creating new ideas and sounds today.
Les Paul began playing country music first though. His first instrument was a harmonica, then the banjo, in his early teens, it was the guitar he fell in love with.
In those times, radio broadcasting was born and it was the mass media that could reach out live and touch anyone with its immediacy, like today's Internet now does. It touched Les Paul and before he was out of high school he was hooked, so he dropped out to be part of the Wolverton's Radio Band in St. Louis.
This is were Les Paul was exposed to southern blues or as some like to call it, Mississippi Delta Blues, it was music from the black juke joints that populated the banks of the Mississippi and the back woods across the south. It was a different time; a unique era, and Les Paul found the amazing sound coming from out dark of the night and ate it up.
Les Paul worked his way up the Mississippi to Chicago where he continued in radio and made his first two albums. He was not known on his first record has Les Paul; it was Rhubarb Red, which must have seemed better than Lester Plosfuss at the time, the second record he played on was with Georgia White. At that time it was on a 78 speed record that was thick, black, and brittle.
By 1938 he was ready for New York and had built himself as a guitar player who was technically fantastic and innovative with his pick work. He started to mix blues, jazz, and country, beginning to define his own new and unique sound. His first gig was in a trio with Jim Atkins and Ernie Newton, who doubled on bass and drums.
By 1943 his talents were well known and he decided Hollywood was the place for him, it was new, fresh, and the movie business had begun to grow up around the orange orchards of Southern California. It was a place an innovator could spread his wings.
Traveling had become a progression, like his cords and developing his own sound, and by the time he reached California he was ready to go national. It was a move that put him in fates way.
In 1944 his first huge brake came when he went on the inaugural Jazz at the Philharmonic in Los Angeles as a walk on replacement and stepped into the arena with the great Nat King Cole. This would be like stepping on stage today with the likes of Paul McCartney, Elton John, or Stevie Wonder.
It was Bing Crosby who spotted the gifted Les Paul and began to foster his career, supporting his innovations, and then taking his unique guitar sound and popularizing it in a number hit one hit, "It's Been A Long Long Time."
The Bing Crosby connection was more than a musical collaboration, it was a business partnership. Or maybe it could be said, using century's old terminology. Les Paul had found his Patron King. Bing was the King of music, before Elvis carried the crown. In the matter, of a few years, Les Paul was working with the best in show business.
In 1946 he did "Rumors Are Flying" with the Andrews Sisters. He came back in 1948 with the landmark, "Lover (When You're Near Me)" and "Brazil" on the flip side, and "What is This Thing Called Love?"
Photo of a Les Paul and Mary Ford album cover that featured some of their greatest hits from a private collection.
Jay David Murphy
It was two years later in 1950, the other piece of the Paul puzzle appeared on a record. Tennessee Waltz was Mary Ford's introduction to the world, later the two names were synonymous, Les Paul and Mary Ford it was a voice and a guitar that complimented each other as if it was preordained.
They would go on to record hit songs through 1961 together. They had a bad divorce in 1964 and by 1977 she passed, September 30th, due to complications from diabetes. Their list of hits is impressive and their impact on modern pop music is part of the fabric today's music.
Their hits over the years also includes, "Mockin' Bird Hill," Vaya con Dios," "How High the Moon," "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise," "My Baby's Coming Home," "Whispering," the classic "Lady of Spain," "Bye Bye Blues," the timeless tune, "I'm Sitting on Top of the World."
Several albums come to mind growing up with a father who also played jazz guitar with a lot of the greats.
"The New Sound" from 1950, "Les and Mary" from 1955, "Les Paul Now!" and "Guitar Tapestry" in 1968.
This is were this journalist has to expose a bit of his history with Les Paul and the personal affect on his life.
Growing up in a small town in southeastern Arizona in the music store, provided a vibrant and exciting environment to be exposed to, the music store was a window to the world to peek into and connected small communities across America to the big cities and a national culture of popular music.
In small rural towns across the US, in a time before box stores and shopping malls, there was main street USA. There was a drug store, shoe store, florist, the five and dime, a bank, a bar, and a music store.
Each had its function in the culture and as America grew up and JC Penny and the Sears store came to small towns, so did Les Paul and Mary Ford on a record in your local music store or juke box, or radio, and later on television. They would mark changing music and technology.
In the late 1940s, Les Paul joined with Big Crosby, to bring his genius in sound innovation that went beyond cords and licks of a guitar, and took music into the future.
Les Paul was like an astronaut of sound, he was a visionary of sound reproduction, amplification, recording technology, and of course the inventor of the guitar that carries his name, The Les Paul.
The classic "Black Beauty" the Les Paul Guitar.
Jay David Murphy
Did Les Paul invent the solid body electric guitar? No, he was part of the history of its beginning, sharing the credits of its development with Adolf Rickenbacher and Leo Fender. It was Gibson that he collaborated with and put his name on his signature guitar.
In the 30's, Paul had built his own solid body electric guitar and it had a name, "the log," to his credit it is considered by some to be the first solid body usable electric guitar ever made, it was a prototype for what was yet to come. It was Gibson who took Les Paul's design specifications and created a marketable mass producible guitar.
The 1952 Les Paul Gold Top (made of Mahogany and Maple) was the first, then came the second in 1954, the Black Beauty with its mahogany top, the Les Paul Custom. Later in 1957 Gibson added humbucker pickups. There are lot of other details about this guitar that would and should be considered firsts, but the things that stood out were its design and its wide rosewood fret board, which was a carry over from the acoustic guitar and really created a standard for all electric guitars except the Fender, which used pine as its signature fret board.
Later they created the Les Paul Junior, an introduction guitar for the beginner player, and at roughly the same time came the Les Paul TV, which was made with a yellow color, so it could be seen without the glare caused by the black and white cameras of television.
As the decades began to turn, the Les Paul continued as it does today. Still the classic Les Paul "Black Beauty" holds up as one of the most beautiful solid body guitars ever created.
In 2008 Gibson introduce its new version of the Les Paul Standard. It is built using the traditional specs laid originally down by Les Paul. You could say that after 50 years of variations and innovations, Gibson went back to the original drawing board of the master, and went old school. Les Paul really did get it right the first time. For decades everyone tried to reinvent the wheel he built, they tried to improve on it, but in the end, they went back the beginning and rediscovered what they had from day one, perhaps the greatest guitar ever conceived by a man.
Since the first Les Paul signature guitar, some of the greatest talents since have played his creation.
Jimmy Page stormed Rock and Roll in his Led Zeppelin, tearing up records and arenas with the thunderous thick sound of his Les Paul guitar.
Ace Frehley and Kiss can credit a huge part of their success to the Les Paul guitar which was a critical part of their sound.
Bob Marley took the Les Paul and made it sound clear and clean, then added his unique upstroke and became the godfather of reggae.
Randy Rhodes took the fat sound of the Les Paul and melded it with a classical music background and brought heavy metal a sound that is still changing popular music.
The Gibson Les Paul guitars have given life to Rock-and-Roll and with this musical axe, still fells modern music with its tone quality and amazing versatility.
What more could you say about a man who created the wheel?
Les Paul helped us hear that musical wheel turn. He found ways to let us enjoy the music that came from the wheel he created.
The 1972 Gibson Recording guitar made of a hunk of mahogany, which he endlessly worked on, was his favorite axe to grind for audiences to enjoy as late as last year. Les Paul still had regular gig in New York until he was 93 years old. He had played music since a child and almost played an instrument for 100 years.
It is such a beautiful thing, that for almost 100 years someone played music at such a high level of expertise that it really is almost incompressible and has to be some kind record.
But his contributions reached beyond the guitar and into the recording studio and its equipment and innovations.
Capitol Records took the song "Love (When Your Near Me)" and showed the world what a multi track would sound like. This experiment, that Les Paul worked on in his garage, had him playing 8 different guitar solos on top of each other. The recording changed music reproduction forever.
Today, mixing boards can create and blend a endless number of layers of sounds, to create one unique piece of music. But there was a time, when what you heard and recorded is what you got.
The artist had to be a top talent and be able to lay down a song without any mistakes, they had to get the whole song in one take and everyone had to be a great musician.
Today's artist relies heavily on mixing to create a song and can now digitally enhance their voices. Some would say that there is a difference in talent from the early years of the recording industry. Mainly being, live acts had play every gig they could get to be considered for a record label.
Today, many people with hits have rarely have done live performances and their recorded performance in the studio is fostered in the editing room by sound engineers that create the mass produced song that is sold to the public.
That's not to say that all musicians out there don't or didn't come from live performance, but the abundance of quality musicians with live experience may be at question.
One example is the disappearance of the variety show, when talent came together to all sing together, and many times at the drop of the hat and never having played music together.
Here it comes; in the day, what you might call 'old school' they had to sing and play their instruments great, they had to be talented and well rehearsed. That's why programs like American Idol are the closest thing to a variety show that exists today and would explain its popularity and its validity. Those kids can't fake it, they got to sing.
Lets call this next part of this story, cord progression, the Les Paul affect, not unlike the butterfly affect.
When Les Paul began recording his licks with multiple tracks, he made it possible for music recording to evolve, the vibration carried through the decades and continues to reverberate today.
Bring Crosby made it possible for Les Paul and Jack Mullin (who found a Magnetophone and reels of tape in Germany during WWII) to become American inventors of modern recording equipment and techniques.
Jack Mullion with Crosby money, started Ampex the word in recording for decades. For those who don't know, sound records on tape as a chemical reaction to vibration not unlike exposing light to film, which also creates by a chemical reaction bring an image to life. Bing financed Mullin and he rebuilt and redesigned the technology he had acquired from Germany.
Today, recording is now being done digitally, just like photographs, and film. In the beginning, it was only professionals who could do such wonders, but now children record music, film themselves skateboarding, and photograph themselves to put on My Space at will, cheaply and effectively. Les Paul was really one of the first kids who got to play with recording sound on tape, cutting the trail that leads to kids today, making music on their computers digitally.
One of the challenging moments for Les Paul came in 1948 when he was badly injured in a car accident shattering his right elbow. He had to make a choice, where to have his right arm set for life, which he had surgeons set it to permanently play guitar.
For others this would have been the end, for him it was just another evolution in his iconic career and the bulk of his years of making music laid before him, which was road that he traveled for another 50 years.
Les Paul's musical journey came to end, on August 13, 2009 in his home in White Plains, New York with his family at his side and his music playing in the back ground.
The Les Paul affect may continue well into the next century or for as long as people record sound. He flapped his wings almost 100 years ago for the first time, soared a lifetime, and left the musical breeze he created behind, to make music cool for generations to come. That's jazz.
Les Paul, the musician and inventor, creator and artist, husband, father, grand father and great grandfather. That's jazz.
Les Paul, he was a jazz guitar player who tapped into the blues while bringing country and pop to millions of people around the world. That's jazz.
Les Paul was more than a name on a guitar, he was a music butterfly whose wings finally stopped beating, the world stopped and listened, and then said "Vaya Con Dios."
Now that was jazz, Les Paul a guitar god.
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Special Rates for Christian Communities!
6 Days Pilgrimage Tour to Peloponnese
Pilgrimage to the largest peninsula of Greece
Historic, beautiful, wild and divine the Peloponnese has much to say to the soul of a pilgrim. Ancient monuments, Byzantine castles, natural beauty and wonderful coastlines blend attractively with the mountain ranges and the roughness of the landscape.


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■ The shop is 'relaxing space' of open structure with classical music floating. You can forget the hustle of the city, to have a calm time, or have a conversation with friends.
■ Have a luxurious time with excellent music and aromatic coffee!
The first floor is open cafe style in Paris. The large basement looks as if reserved seats in the concert hall. When you get tired after walk, when you want to get away from the noise back to yourself, when you want to talk with friends leisurely, and when you want to grow your dream with a sweetheart……please feel free to visit us. Not to mention traditional blended coffee, we are waiting for your visit to provide aromatic tea, passionate cocoa, fantastic parfait and light meals.


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Being the capital city, Delhi is a city of two diverse worlds —Old Delhi and New Delhi. Old Delhi was formerly the capital of Islamic India with narrow lanes, old magnificent havelis and mosques, while New Dehi which was earlier ruled by the British Raj is modern state with spacious garden avenues and plenty of government buildings. Delhi which was once ancient Indraprastha —the capital of the Pandavas during the Mahabharata , is now the largest commercial city and major political centre of India.
Places to Stay
There are good budget hotels in Delhi. Some of them are Hotel Delhi City Centre (Tariff – Rs.1000), Hotel Picasso (Tariff – Rs.1,000), Hotel Formule 1 (Tariff – Rs.1000) Hotel Golf View (Tariff – Rs.2500).
The official language Delhi is Hindi The other languages spoken include English, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalm.
The Important Festivals of Delhi is Mahavir Jayanti ( March), Guru Nanak's Birthday (November), Durga Puja October , Holi( March) Krishna Janmastami (August), Maha Shivratri (March) and Eid ul-Fitr (July).
Places of Interest
There are several places of tourist interest in Delhi . Some of the places include Akshardham Temple ( 4kms from busstand), Jama Masjid ( 3 km from bus stand) , Qutab Minar ( 19 kms from Delhi station), Safdarjang Tomb (2.4 kms from bus stand), India Gate, Jantar Mantar ( 3kms from bus stand) ( 10 kms from bus stand), Birla Mandir ( 5kms from bus stand), Red Fort ( 20 kms from North of Delhi) and Parliment House (3 kms from bus stand)
How to Get There
Indira Gandhi International Airport, is located at the southwest of Delhi.
There are five railway junctions in Delhi. They are New Delhi railway station, Old Delhi, Nizamuddin Railway Station, Anand Vihar Railway Terminal and Sarai Rohilla.
The state owned Delhi transport is most popular means of transport for the public. There are many buses that connect to various cities . Some of the best bus operators that offer good experience for passengers include RS Yadav Travels, City Land Travels and Rishabh Travels. Volvo bus ticket booking has become very popular amongst travellers in India.
Ganganagar, also known as Sri Ganganagar, is a town in the northern side of Rajasthan. The place is named after Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner who designed the irrigation structure for the town by channelising River Satluj through canals. The town is called the 'Bread Basket of Rajasthan' since the major crops of the region include wheat, jowar and grams. The age old temples and beautiful gurdwaras attract pilgrims to this place. Kalibangan, the archaeological site, is also a tourist spot.
Places to Stay
There are a few good budget hotels in Ganganagar. Some options are Hotel 3H (Tariff – Rs. 500) and Hotel Star Inn (Tariff – Rs. 1224).
The most commonly spoken languages of Ganganagar are Punjabi and a dialect of Rajasthani called Bagri. English and Hindi are also spoken in this region.
The significant festivals of Ganganagar are Bhadrakali Mela and Gogamedi Mela (celebration in honour of the Serpent God Gogaji) which falls during the rainy month of September every year. Other festivals celebrated are Holi (festival of colours celebrated in March) and Diwali (celebrated in November).
Places of Interest
The main tourist spots in Ganganagar are Gurudwara Buddha Johad (66.8 km from the town of Ganganagar), Balaji Dham (27.7 km from Ganganagar), Gol Bazar (2.4 km from Ganganagar) and Hindumalkot Border (29.8 km from Ganganagar).
How to Get There
The nearest airport to Ganganagar is the Bhatinda Airport (93 km away from the town). Delhi and Jaipur airports are secondary options as both are approximately 400 km away from Ganganagar.
There are train services from major cities like Jaipur and Delhi to Sri Ganganagar Railway station.
There are private bus and state bus services to Ganganagar from Jaipur, Delhi and Punjab. Some other options are Aravind Travels, Chouhan Travels, Indo Canadian Tpt. Co. and Hardev Travels. You can now get bus tickets offer through TicketGoose.com, a leading Online Bus Ticket Booking Service provider. In case you don't have the time and energy to stand in bus counters, booking bus tickets online will help.


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The Village Hall, Spreyton, Devon, EX17 5DX
Services - 1st Sunday in the month 11am, other Sundays 6.30pm
Spreyton are a small, faithful congregation with a traditional evangelical faith. The Methodist Chapel was built in 1880, but by the end of the 1980s was feeling its age and was no longer felt to be fit for Christian worship. With the revamp of the Village Hall, this provided an opportunity for the Methodist Community to participate in the discussions and designs for a new community room to be established.
In June 2002 a modern new room full of light and splendour was opened and used for worship for the first time. This room not only provides a permanent home for the Methodist congregation, who meet for worship every Sunday, but is also used by other groups which helps put the church at the heart of the community - where it belongs.


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Income must average 3 times the monthly rent for prospective residents, and 5 times the monthly rent for guarantors.
We gladly accept guarantors. Must have an average income of 5x the monthly rent and be a U.S. citizen.
Renters may not have had previous evictions. In addition, factors including negative payment history, past or current bad debts, liens, bankruptcies or judgments can disqualify an applicant. Employment verification may also be performed. We adhere to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Minimum FICO score of 570 (average score for all leaseholders) required.
*The above terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. Nothing herein in any way constitutes an offer to lease or a promise or guaranty that an applicant will be offered a lease. Qualification for a lease is subject to each applicant completing an application for residency, meeting all applicable leasing requirements of landlord and executing all applicable lease documents.


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My friend M started to make ATC's last year and I wrote about the one I made for her here. A few months ago I got one from her too, but I didn't want to write about Halloween in May! The pumpkin on this lovely ATC is 3-D.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Personal Library of Stitches 8
Today I want to show you some details of my first sampler for the 5th week of this class. This first one is 2 rows of buttonhole stitches. Chevron stitches with four legged knots.
There's a bigger picture of my sampler here.
There's a bigger picture of my sampler here.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tilda ornament
This crazy ornament was a birthday present for a quilting friend. I used Tilda fabric I've got from other quilting friends. The blue polka dot and the pink fabric are from my stash. There's a bigger picture of this ornament here.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Zentangled P
Monday, October 25, 2010
Personal Library of Stitches 7
For the fourth week of Sharon's class I made 3 samplers (4 x 6 inch). The first one is aida with Chevron stitches in 17 different threads. The second one is purple felt with Ermine stitches and a whipped long armed chain.
And the last one is a 28 count blue linen with Ermine stitches and variations of the feather and buttonhole stitch. In the upper left corner I had fun again with the sword stitch.
There's a bigger photo of them at my Flickr-page.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Personal Library of Stitches 6
This is my sampler for the third week of Sharon's class Personal Library of Stitches. The embroidery is 3 x 4 inch. I used Portuguese stem stitch, herringbone stitch, rope stitch and a lot of chain stitch variations. I enjoyed working on this embroidery! There's a bigger photo at my Flickr-page.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Personal Library of Stitches 5
I'm enjoying Sharon's class very much. Today I want to show a few details of my sampler for the third week. The stitches in this detail are Portuguese stem stitch, rope stitch, closed herringbone and linked double chain. These are raised rope stitch, closed herringbone, cable chain stitch and Portuguese stem stitch.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Personal Library of Stitches 4
My sampler for the second week of this class was already finished, but there was no time to blog about it. The size is 4 x 6 inch. The quote is a reminder to an article about mental blocks to creative thinking. There's a bigger picture of my sampler here.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Zentangled N
Janine made a pretty green zentangled N for me for the alphabet ATC swap. This is the one I made for Deveri. It needed a month to travel to his new home! I was glad to hear it had arrived.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Personal Library of Stitches 3
I was very busy this week with my sampler for the second week of this class. Today I'll show you a few details. This first one is a whipped long armed chain with Colonial knots, detached chain stitches, cross stitches, seed stitches and French knots. This 'eye' started with the button with needle weaving. Then I added fly stitches, pistil stitches and Colonial knots.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Betweed & Paradox
After watching this video at YouTube, there was only one thing I could do. Try! And I did. I made an inchie with betweed and paradox.
Geplaatst door Annet op 5:32 PM 1 comment: Links naar dit bericht
Friday, October 1, 2010
Personal Library of Stitches 2
Today I finished my border sampler for this class. The size is 4 x 6 inch and I think I will used this size for the other class samplers too. I wrote about the first 8 rows last Tuesday. These are the stitches I used for the last 6 rows:
Now I'm done stitching rows!
- a row of laced buttonhole stitches (left) and a chained bar with French knots (right)
- laced detached chain stitches with beads
- rectangular cross stitches
- backstitches for the date (in Dutch) and arrowhead stitches at both sides
- a combination of Cretan and herringbone stitch
- interlaced band
Now I'm done stitching rows!
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On November 2, 2011, the Congressional Gold Medal was presented collectively to the U.S. Army's 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service, also known as the Nisei Soldiers of World War II. The medal was in recognition of their dedicated service during World War II.
The obverse of the medal features Nisei (second-generation Americans of Japanese ancestry) Soldiers from both the European and Pacific theaters. The color guard of the 442nd Regional Combat Team is depicted in the lower field of the medal. Inscriptions include "NISEI SOLDIERS OF WORLD WAR II" and "GO FOR BROKE". The latter was the motto of the 442nd Regional Combat Team, eventually used to describe the work of all three units.
The reverse depicts the insignias of the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service. The inscriptions include the abbreviated titles of the three units "100th INF BN", "MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE", and "442nd RCT". A ribbon at the base of the design includes "ACT OF CONGRESS 2010". The dates "1941-1946" appear in the upper left field.
The obverse was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Charles L. Vickers, while the reverse was designed and sculpted by Don Everhart.
Three-inch and one-and-one-half inch bronze reproductions of the medal are available from the United States Mint. The three-inch medals are priced at $44.95 and the one-and-one-half inch medals are priced at $7.95 each. Sales of the bronze medals began today, November 2, 2011 at 12:00 Noon ET.


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Latest Telepresence and Visual Collaboration News:
Full Article:
LifeSize to Bring Enterprise-Class Video Conferencing to iPhone 4S
October 7, 2011 | Hogan Keyser
SINGAPORE (Teletechwire) - LifeSize, a division of Logitech, today announced that LifeSize ClearSea (formerly Mirial ClearSea), an enterprise-class desktop and mobile video conferencing platform, now supports iOS 5 and will soon feature support for the new iPhone 4S. Users will be able to instantly connect from any iPhone, including iPhone 4S, to any standards-based video conferencing system.
Since Logitech's acquisition of Mirial in July, LifeSize has been working to extend open, interoperable video collaboration solutions to anyone, anywhere, on any device. LifeSize leads the industry in bringing enterprise-class mobile video to market and driving adoption, with video calling apps available today for a wealth of iOS and Android-based mobile devices from Apple, Dell, Google, HTC, Motorola and Samsung. As a result, LifeSize is now the only vendor in the enterprise video conferencing market to offer natively interoperable video calling from the conference room to the PC and Mac as well as to iOS 5 and a broad range of smartphones and tablets.
"For years the market has struggled to deliver interoperable video conferencing solutions to mobile devices - the experience has been far from the simplicity of a voice call," said Simon Claringbold, Vice President, Asia Pacific, for LifeSize Communications. "At LifeSize, driving relentless innovation is in our DNA. We know enterprise users, ourselves included, want the ease of making a video call anywhere at any time on any device. With today's iPhone 4S announcement, we're making that possible and changing the video calling landscape - all while maintaining enterprise-class quality."
LifeSize ClearSea is an enterprise-class client/server solution for desktop and mobile video collaboration. Because it's open and interoperable, users can seamlessly connect from their desktops or mobile devices to any H.323 or SIP-based video conferencing system or infrastructure solution in seconds. LifeSize ClearSea Server is available as a hardware appliance or virtual machine software and includes a state-of-the-art HD desktop client for PC/Mac and Android/iOS mobile devices as well as NAT/firewall traversal and multi-party conferencing capability.
Pricing and Availability
- LifeSize ClearSea is available globally today
- LifeSize ClearSea supports iOS 5 today and will have support for Apple iPhone 4S to market in November 2011
- A free trial of LifeSize ClearSea can be downloaded at: http://www.clearsea.com/download.html
Additional Resources
- LifeSize ClearSea datasheet
- LifeSize blog
About LifeSize Communications
LifeSize is a pioneer and world leader in high-definition video collaboration. Designed to make video conferencing truly universal, our full range of open standards-based systems offer enterprise-class, IT-friendly technologies that enable genuine human interaction over any distance. Founded in 2003 and acquired by Logitech in 2009, LifeSize, with its commitment to relentless innovation, continues to extend the highest-quality video conferencing capabilities to anyone, anywhere. For more information, visit www.lifesize.com.
LifeSize, the LifeSize logo, Logitech, the Logitech logo, and other Logitech marks are trademarks and may be registered. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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If you have a little soft spot for shabby chic styling, then today's post is especially for you. Grimme is a handmade label based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Designer and crafter Nataliia creates collectible rustic wooden toys and decor like the beauties that you see below. I quite adore the floral horse and cat! Nataliia also creates textile toys and jewellery. View the full range here.
>> Shop for handmade wooden toys at Grimme


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The whole web seems to be talking about analytics and conversion rates these days and you are stuck at how to put a social media share button on your website? Depressed you don't know enough about your customers? Don't have the budget to pay developers to fulfill your dream concept? With our new partnership with SiteApps, not having the funds or technical skills won't be stopping you anymore from having a great site which sells effectively.
SiteApps makes adding special features to a website really simple, the way you install apps on a smartphone. It also gives you the power to analyze, segment, and target your visitors in a simple way that just works.
Introducing SiteApps for webmasters
SiteApps is a service for webmasters that combines several key features to allow you to quickly and easily update your website, target your audience on a granular level, and convert better by doing the following things:
- In-depth analytics report & recommendations - SiteApps goes through your Google Analytics data to give you insight into how people are using your website and provides suggestions on improving their experience. Following the analysis, SiteApps provides specific recommendations for individual marketing, social media, sales, payment and customer service apps according to the findings of the analytics report. While these recommendations are based on the findings in the report, you are free to select apps independently of them.
- Adding more functionality with apps - by adding a simple Javascript code to your website (manually or through a plugin/extension if running on WordPress, Joomla, etc.) you can install various "apps" to improve performance. Offerings in the marketplace range between small "extras" like putting a Santa's hat on your site's logo and advanced marketing tools such as A/B testing and exit surveys. Currently, there are over 100 different apps with the number rising constantly.
- Personalize website experience for each user – with SiteApps you get the capability to segment your users based on a large number of characteristics - location, new-vs-returning, device, OS, etc. - and show them different "versions" of your website. Segments additionally make it easy to track how changes to your website affect visits and behaviour.
Get more with your SiteGround account
As a SiteGround customer you will get integration with the service through your cPanel and an extra FREE app on top of SiteApps' free account which allows you to be running up to 2 free apps and measure up to 2 customized segments at any time. Paid plans give you higher counts of apps and segments you can utilize simultaneously on your site. And if you upgrade within the next 60 days you'll get a 50% lifetime discount on your account!
It takes seconds to get started with SiteApps
Just go to the cPanel of your account and locate the SiteApps icon. Link your website with SiteApps and add the Javascript code following the instructions on the website. That's it! All management is done through the SiteApps dashboard – you can look at analytics, create user segments, and install apps with a few clicks from it.
Get started by logging to your cPanel or visiting www.SiteApps.com/siteground