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MEET Hudson Jack
As a budding entrepreneur, filmmaker, Lego enthusiast, and avid hiker, Hudson is always on the go - creating, inventing and learning. He loves to give gifts, make holidays special, and has a special passion for prayer, sharing the Gospel, and helping vulnerable children. Hudson is a gifted leader and is a wonderful big brother to his five siblings. His dream is to become a missionary to Cambodia someday!
MEET Harper Grace
A sweet, tender, nurturing soul, Harper has a soft spot for all animals, especially dogs and dolphins. Little critters of any kind are her delight. She loves to knit, draw, paint, sew, cook, play the harp and violin, and spend time with her cozy little dog named Gracie. She is a loving big sister, and is truly a joy to her family and friends. She hopes to work with animals someday!
MEET Kipling "Dubber" Joel"Loveable rascal" is the best way to describe this fun little guy! He is full of quirks, surprises, hilarity, and classic little boy mischief and adventure. He's a little bit like Dennis the Menace, keeping us constantly guessing as to what zany thing he will say or do next. Kip is the comic relief of the family - keeping us rolling with laughter at his witty comments and hilarious personality, and yet he has a serious side as well. His current plan is to be a "wilderness survival guy", a missionary to North Korea, a pro-football player, and an army guy - all simultaneously - when he grows up!
Avonlea "Avy" RoseAn aspiring writer, actress, gymnast, and filmmaker, Avy is a bundle of personality, energy, and passion! She is a girly-girl who loves princess dresses, sparkly lipstick, and baby dolls, but she also has quite an adventurous spirit. Avy is not afraid of anything and is constantly trying new and daring feats. If she sees a tree, rope, rock, jungle gym or high mountain - it must be climbed and conquered! Avy is bursting with creativity and has a fun-loving spirit and a tender heart. She wants to make movies, write books, and rescue orphans someday!
Lily Micheline
Lily is one huge personality, with a loud, assertive voice and attitude that can hold its own even amid the volume and chaos of five other siblings. She absolutely loves to be on stage performing in front of people, and the word "shy" is a completely foreign concept to her. Lily also loves to talk! If she had her way, she would talk non-stop, all day long, without taking a breath, to anyone within earshot. This little munchkin knows no strangers. She will make friends with anyone who crosses her path. She is a huge fan of dogs, pretty dresses, and small plastic animals.
Rees WilliamRees is an unusual mix of quietness and intensity - though he is strong-willed, he is not "center stage" like his sister Lily. Rather, he likes to study, think and observe, and is often content to play by himself. He is a sweet, affectionate boy who loves to draw intricate and detailed pictures of all kinds of animals and construct elaborate masterpieces out of tinker toys and blocks. He especially loves and looks up to his big brother Hudson, and is quite the little gentleman with his sisters. Because of his intensity, Rees can be a challenging little boy to raise, but his adorable smile and ever-ready hugs quickly melt our hearts, even on the most difficult days!
(we'll keep this short & sweet)


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Jan 24, 2015
Kito, Ian, Daniel and Reza cover new Enterprise Java releases, including Jersey, RichFaces, AngularJS, TypeScript, JMS, Akka, Spring, Hibernate OGM, JSF, Scala and more. They also discuss Oracle's new Alta UI project, as well as Adopt-a-JSR, JavaOne videos, and more.
Akka 2.3.8 Maintenance Release
Spring Framework 4.1.4 & 4.0.9 & 3.2.13 released
Spring IO Platform 1.1.1 released
Spring Batch and Spring Batch Admin Releases
What about the other Java EE 8 launched JSRs?

subset: commoncrawl


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The CBS hit remake Hawaii 5-0 returns to TV this fall, undoubtedly bringing back its trademark action-packed episodes, beautiful scenery, and four butt-kicking, gun-wielding stars: Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim, and Grace Park. Earlier, we featured Daniel and Grace's workout secrets; now take a look at how Alex and Scott stay fit for their physically challenging roles.
Alex O'Loughlin
The Australian actor, Alex O'Loughlin, who plays fearless 5-0 leader Steve McGarrett, recently landed the August cover of Men's Fitness. In his feature, says he's spent most of his life dabbling in different forms of exercise – but hasn't had to rely on his naturally athletic background for any of his last few roles (he played a vampire in 2007's Moonlight and a doctor in 2009's Three Rivers) until being cast as Steve, a nearly indestructible Navy Seal. He did everything from studying Shobukai karate at 6 to lifting weights in his 20s, maintaining a lifetime commitment to exercise. "[When I was younger], I'd have a chicken, a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, and a bag of chocolate cookies for lunch, then go to the gym and bench 240 pounds. That's a young man's thing."
Today, the 35-year-old has to rely on a milder but much more specific diet, assigned to him by LA-based trainer Jeff Blair. The nutrition program (which Alex says, "changed my life") is as follows: two gallons of water a day, a light breakfast of a half-cup of oatmeal, a banana, a few almonds, and a splash of 2% reduced-fat milk, and balanced lunch and dinners that include a combination of protein, veggies, and carbs. It also includes a formula for portion control:
"If you look at your open hand, the size of your palm is the amount of protein you should take. Your splayed four fingers equal the amount of space you should have for vegetables. And the triangular area between your index finger and thumb is for carbohydrates."
However, Alex O'Loughlin remains dedicated as ever to exercising – taking advantage of being located in Hawaii to take up surfing with co-star Scott Caan, a longtime surfer. He also says he likes to circuit train. "If you do one exercise after another without breaking, you bump your metabolic rate up to such a place that you create what's called a 'furnace effect' – your metabolism is firing at such a high rate that you can go to sleep and you'll burn calories through the night. That's my ideal place to be."
Scott Caan
On the show, Scott Caan plays the Jersey transplant Danny "Danno" Williams – and surprisingly, does most of his own stunts. Always keeping so active, however, comes with its downsides; Scott recently tore his ACL in real life. Aside from stunt work, some of Scott's favorite hobbies include other sports such as surfing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu – which he often trains for back in his LA neighborhood. Even his ACL injury during a jiu-jitsu match hasn't been able to stop Scott from staying active, however: "I feel like I could surf, but the doctor says I shouldn't for a few months. So I've been secretly longboarding just a little bit."
Diet-wise, Scott credits his physique to busy schedules and subsequent lack of eating time. "They don't like to give us any time off," he joked. "So they feed us crackers and snacks. An apple here and there, and cheese." Being surrounded by Hawaii's local foods also facilitates his healthy eating. "I like it here. I like the Asian food," Scott Caan says.
Sources: Men's Fitness, Hawaii e-News, Men's Health, Self


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London is one of the world's most expensive cities to visit, and its convenient suburbs are no exception. With Hayes being so close to Heathrow Airport, accommodations that cater to business travelers can get pricey, but cheap hotels in Hayes can still be found. Comfort Hotel Heathrow, ibis London Heathrow Airport, Staycity LHR Hotel, Berkeley Park By BridgeStreet Worldwide, and Premier Inn London Hayes, Heathrow all offer affordable rates starting at less than $90 a night. These rates increase during the busier spring and summer seasons, so plan your trip accordingly.
Budget-minded travelers can save quite a bit of cash by renting private rooms or flats provided by Hayes' residents. Smaller rooms start at about $30 a night with entire flats costing upwards of $125. You can expect the average nightly rate for all options to come in at around $110. Private accommodations in the Hayes area aren't always available, however, so search early and often to find a good deal.
Luxury accommodations starting at around $200 a night abound in the greater London area, but with its close proximity to the airport, most higher-end Hayes hotels are recognizable chains like Sheraton Skyline Hotel London Heathrow, London Heathrow Marriott, and Radisson Blu Edwardian Heathrow Hotel. While this ensures an abundance of amenities that travelers expect from these big name brands, those hoping for a boutique hotel experience may want to look closer to central London.
© 2019 Hipmunk® and Concur® Hipmunk® are trademarks of Hipmunk, Inc. and Concur Technologies, Inc.


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With Capt Scott in the wheel-house this afternoon, and a crew of experienced Biologist and Naturalists we were in for a real treat. Mika, Emily and Lindsay, were on board to enhance our experience in the waters south of Victoria. Our first encounter with the fascinating wildlife was at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve where we saw Harbour Seals, and California and Steller Sealions jockeying for the best position on the rocks. The Lighthouse here was first lit on Boxing Day, 1850, but is now automated. From this location we headed south to find two Humpback Whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. They were traveling together, but certainly gave us great looks at their Flukes so we could identify them as BCY0324,and BCY1068. They made a couple of unexpected close passes, which amazed and delighted our guests on board. The huge whales would dive deep after several breaths at the surface. We finally left them to head back to Victoria. Another exciting trip with Prince of Whales.
Marie "Orca-Magoc"
Most of the images on the blog are shot with a 400 mm & 600 mm telephoto lenses. Because of our restrictions around wildlife (100+ meters), we use powerful lenses to better share orca activity that passengers see on their trips. Keep in mind this also heavily compresses space between objects. We also crop images for best blog viewing.


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I mean for fuck's sake, the man gave us Before The War AND We Burn, all by himself (not to mention We Damn The Night). What were the best things Kiske gave us? We Got The Right and A Little Time? Great tunes, classics even, but not exactly speed metal Satan. Maybe Deris' vocals are a smidge AOR, and he doesn't quite have the vocal rasp to riches story as Kai Hansen, but so what? Michael Kiske sounds like Bruce Dickinson to beginners anyway, and Deris' range is pretty solid here (though apparently he has to downtune stuff from the first three albums to accommodate him live. Lame).
The Time Of The Oath is the album everyone should have gone running to after the bloody semen slap in the face to the metal collective that was Load. Not only are the requisite fast songs here, but we also have some killer slow tunes Lars can only dream of waving in the faces of thrashers. Forever and One just might be the best ballad Helloween ever recorded, with some amazing running the gamut leads from Michael and Roland (the final phrase around 2:57 is particularly dank).
Other choice oaths include Steel Tormentor, a Judas Priest fueled Killing Machine that at first I was rather annoyed to find as the last track of their first official live album, but now I not only find its spot very worthy, I'm mad it isn't in the reunion set. Come on guys, I know people are amped to hear the Kiske tunes, as they should be, but the first two tracks here are very worthy of first encore status. As is the title track, which takes a simple driving rock riff and groove, charges it up and burns down the countryside with it. A Million To One is also worth noting, again, for being a lethal mid-paced banger, but the guitar work is exquisite. Check out 2:52, quite possibly the best guitar harmony the band came up with after Halloween.
It's a damn shame America seemed to cast Helloween out completely after Chameleon and Heavy Metal Hamsters. I'm not quite sure whether this or The Dark Ride is the better album. Hell, I haven't even heard Better Than Raw yet, so Lemmy knows what variable that will bring to this trigonometry equation of true metal. Research can be fun sometimes, kids. Purchase this one from your local college bookstore today.
I believe that I am destined to be a terminally confused Helloween fan, since I came to the band at an odd phase, totally loved what I heard, explored the back catalogue, and found that the "classic" era didn't really hold much for me. I am 100% in favour of the albums that have included Andy Deris on vocals, while the heavier, less traditionally power metal-ly songs have always appealed to me the most. I love Gamma Ray, so go figure. However, I've found it tough to get an objective viewpoint on this mid-period output, as I was led to believe that 'The Time of the Oath' and its predecessor 'Master of the Rings' were rather mediocre efforts, not as influential as Helloween's groundbreaking 80s work nor as focused as the heavier material that emerged after the turn of the century.
And yet, I'm really enjoying 'The Time of the Oath' at the moment. I think "enjoying" is a key word to understanding the appeal of this sort of album, because what the Germans were doing here doesn't sound especially polished or flawless, but it will make you smile and appreciate the melodic nous that they had mastered by this juncture. Arguably the musicianship isn't quite as finely tuned as on 'The Keeper of the Seven Keys' or 'Better than Raw' (which comes closest to the general sound of this album out of all Helloween releases), but there is an ease and sense of freedom to the tangling guitars and energetic rhythm section that is infectious and can quickly turn a bad day into a good one. If you're already having a good day, be prepared to start singing the choruses of the likes of 'Wake Up the Mountain', 'Kings Will Be Kings', and even the impressively good ballads at inopportune moments throughout the day, to the great irritation of those around you. Most of the songs here have a quality to them that will make you want to participate, not just listen, and that counteracts some of the cheesier moments found scattered about.
Now, I've already said that this isn't a flawless album and that the musicianship is a little below what these guys are really capable of, but let me reassure you by saying that it's only slightly off the pace. Always known for being a highly skilled band, Helloween can still blow most of their power and speed metal contemporaries out of the water, particularly when compared to the slightly formulaic attempts of bands like Rhapsody of Fire or Hammerfall (different formulas, I admit, but nonetheless rather predictable) or even the deliberately complex likes of Dragonforce or Blind Guardian, over whom these guys are just so much more listenable. The swirling, uplifting twin guitars that run right through 'A Million to One' sound intoxicating in terms of both speed and melody - something that Running Wild are still striving for after 40 years - and even the simplistic, almost rock-and-roll-ish 'Anything My Mama Don't Like' wins through for sheer energy and freedom. As such, both guitarists are on great form, only needing a few more memorable riffs to make a full house, while the rhythm section are both creative and frantic at times, reminding us of their potency on the faster numbers. Deris doesn't quite get the perfect position in the mix, occasionally sounding like he's competing pretty hard with the other musicians, though he's also far above passable, especially when crafting big choruses. The production is also good, probably the best of the band's career to this point, giving heaviness, detail, and warmth.
I was under the impression for a long time that the songs on 'The Time of the Oath' were a bit of a mixed bag, though I've slowly realized that it's simply a case of there being a lot of variety and a slightly overlong running time. It would have been nice to see the album clock in under an hour, particularly considering the needlessly bloated length of 'Mission Motherland' and the inclusion of 12 songs, which again seems slightly unnecessary. That said, there's not much wrong with any of them, except for 'If I Knew', which is a bit ropey in places, though I've never been a big fan of too many ballads. The real killers are surely the furiously fast opener 'We Burn' (which is a little bit funny if you think that Deris might be squealing "wee - burns" about a urine problem) and the monstrously majestic title track, which could easily have been written by Candlemass and kicks so much ass even Oprah is looking worried. In between, the quality is not quite so high, but there are probably about 6 songs on here that are really great and the rest are all decent, so I don't have any further complaints.
In conclusion, 'The Time of the Oath' should not be written off - a sin of which I am thoroughly guilty - and should be listened to with a big smile for best results. Good stuff.
Sometimes, a little time can work wonders...
After releasing a lukewarm "Return to form" album a la Master of the Rings (I still have no idea what that album title has to do with anything), the newly formed lineup of Weikath, Grosskopf, Grapow, Kusch, and Deris returned to the studio to begin work on their next album. I think the biggest reason behind the overall "Lacking" quality of their previous opus was simply that it was rushed. Less than 1 year isn't a long time to throw a full-length album together. Well, 2 years was all the power metal quintet needed to load some anthracite in the engine and get the old locomotive back to flying down the railway. Well, nearly so, at least.
The first thing you'll notice when picking up the the album is the TOTALLY METAL album art. The "Keeper" featured on Keepers 1 makes a return, with FLAMES, DEMONS, AND CRYPTIC IMAGERY. METAAAAALLLLL!!! It's the perfect set-up for great things or absolute crushing disappointment, and fortunately it's the former that reigns victorious. Nearly everything has changed or has been improved on since last time, with the most notable adjustment being the choice to cling to what they have always done best: straight up power metal. See, the last album had a sort of split personality between hard rock and power metal, quite likely influenced by Deris as his previous band, Pink Cream 69, was certainly more hard-rock orientated. Whatever happened within those 2 years, in the end the hard rock sound was pushed aside for the most part and metal was brought back to the forefront... And with that came a production job that is a little more "Muddy" and less atmospheric. It's a very subtle change, but in the end I believe it does actually work in it's favor, at least on the faster tracks. Another production change is that Deris isn't drowned in effects like last time, and his voice really gets to shine. Actually, regardless of the production, Deris sounds way more comfortable behind the mic this time around. He sounded surprisingly good o MotR, but it was on this album that he really fell in place with the rest of the band. I mean, just listen to "Kings Will Be Kings" and then compare it to anything off MotR, and... You can easily hear the improved conviction.
The Time of the Oath simply explodes on takeoff, skipping any sort of intro and going straight for the throat (Or in this case, the neck) with "We Burn", a furious burst of energy with a fist-in-the-air chorus and some killer soloing. It's a short song, but that's the beauty of it: it really pumps you up for the album without dragging you do with it's length. It is followed up by an equally great track, "Steel Tormentor". It's a slower number, but never becomes boring due to having an absolutely killer main riff and some beastly rhythm work. Oh, and the lyrics kick ass, too; but hey, with a song title like Steel Tormentor, you already know it's going to pulverize on all levels.
As the album rolls along, one gets the feeling that they put a whole lot more thought into pacing the album correctly. I hate to draw so many parallels to MotR, but that album had probably the absolute worst pacing in any Helloween full-length release, with the speedy tracks loaded on to the very beginning and end of the album and nothing but midpaced (And often shitty) tracks filling up the middle. This album spreads everything out evenly for the most part, with only one gripe I have which I will point out later.
There are plenty of gems strewn throughout this album. Two of the album's singles, "Power" and "Forever and One", succeed in their individual goals as a power metal anthem and a moody ballad, even if the latter has one-dimensional love song lyrics that could have been written by an angst-ridden high school outcast who just lost his girlfriend. This album also marks the return of the "Minor key speed metal" style of songwriting which had been absent for quite a while from any Helloween full length. Along with the opener, we also get "Before the War", which really penned Deris as a capable songwriter with it's interesting chord progressions and rhythmic choices, and the aforementioned "Kings Will Be Kings", which is probably the strongest song on this album. It has it all: blazing riffage, strong bass work out of Grosskopf, Deris singing at his best, and Kusch pulling off his best performance on the album. Kusch's drumming is actually a major talking point, as he avoids the common pitfall of falling into simplistic rhythm and manages to keep things interesting throughout the entire album with creative beats and fills thrown around. Hell, listen to the insane, out-of-signature drum fill after the first chorus on "Kings..." and tell me that this guy isn't beyond competent.
There's very little here that could be considered filler. "A Million to One" is rather boring and uneventful, with a chorus that sounds oddly reminiscent of Iron Maiden circa Somewhere in Time, which should be a good thing but it just doesn't have any real hooks. "Anything My Momma Don't Like" could easily be called filler because of how goofy and surprisingly simple it is in composition. A lot of people absolutely hate this track, and I know I'm in the minority when I say that I love it. Looking beyond how stupid and simple it is, it somehow manages to be catchy and FUN. Maybe it isn't "Tr00" enough for people, I dunno. TTotA unfortunately loses steam in the last third of the album. This is the only area where the pacing is weak, and it isn't helped that the final two songs are yawn-inducers. Then you have the album's signature epic, "Mission Motherland". Too bad it's completely unfocused, bereft of any good hooks, is repetitive as a skipping vinyl at times, and goes on for way too long. It's crammed full of *cough* Nu-metal*cough* riffs, sure, but it just never forms into anything beyond sounding like the whole band just pooled a bunch of unrelated ideas together and called it a song.
A huge step in the right direction? Yes. Perfect? Certainly not. It wouldn't be until their next release that they really knocked it out of the park, but The Time of the Oath showed the world that yes, Helloween is back. Back with a fury.
Biggest difference with Master Of The Rings is that this album sounds more cohesive. The balance is much better and as a whole the album is purely a power metal album from start to finish. Except for one song that is. The average pace is slightly higher this time and also there are more guitar harmonies within songs.
However unlike many others I think Deris' performance on this album is less impressive than on "Master of The Rings" and albums that came after this. On the previous album he sang a bit more raw and raspier. This time he tries more clear falsetto vocals but it becomes obvious he loses a lot of power when he does so. Kiske sounded more powerful when he sang higher and higher. With Deris however it is the other way around. What happens a lot on this album is that some songs do not achieve an epic touch because the falsetto vocals at certain points fail to give some songs a deserved powerful climax.
As a result of this some songs don't have a chorus that is majestic nor impressive enough to make them rise from decency. A good example is "Power". The song has potential and is light weight speed metal we knew from Helloween in the eighties. The song is good, but unfortunately not excellent.
"Before The War" does a better job. Now this is a song which is fast and has so many strong parts it can easily compete with eighties Helloween. Also "Kings Will Be Kings" is one of the best power metal songs here.
Opener "We Burn" is a simple and enjoyable up tempo opener with a decent speed metal chorus and dito riffing. Second song "Steel Tormentor" has more in common with mid-eighties Iron Maiden than Helloween. Except for the double bass drums this song sounds like the Piece Of Mind / Powerslave period but with Paul Di'Anno's brother doing vocals. Strong song though.
The titletrack "The Time of the Oath" gives me mxed feelings. Everytime I heard this song live it was one of my favorites. This studio version however is lacking something. Maybe it's heaviness, maybe it's Deris' vocals which are more powerful live. I'm not sure what it is exactly. Good live song though.
Now for the bad section of the album. "Forever and One" is pretty awful. Imagine the song with a female vocalist and you'd have the cheesiest Nightwish/Within Temptation song. Of course those bands were not as big back then and in those days I obviously couldn't compare Helloween to them. But looking back now it is obvious.
"A Million to One" and "Wake Up the Mountain" are mid paced sin-a-long tunes but far from impressive (except for the middle section of "Wake Up the Mountain" which is impressive). The verses and chorusses sound much more generic than for instance the old classic "I want Out" and "Future World" did. These songs would have been decent coming from a Helloween clone, but not the masters themselves.
Funny thing is that after "A Million to One" the next song "Anything My Mama Don't Like" sounds pretty enjoyable. It is a hardrock tune with groovy touch and balances between the Pink Bubbles and Chameleon albums yet has little to do with the power metal approach on the rest of the album. But because it is so much better than "A Million to One" it becomes refreshing at that point. When changing the tracklisting on the album it has far less impact though and sounds like a funny B-side.
Now for "Mission Motherland". The length promises an epic track. It is not however. It is a stretched mid paced pounder with an overlong middle section and a rather average chorus. Not a bad song, not at all, but just nothing more than decent.
So even though it is slightly more cohesive than Master Of The Rings it still is an inch short of the best Deris-era works.
After falling off the face of the earth in the early 90s, Helloween was wrestling with it's own identity. Kai Hansen, who had pushed the band the most in the Power Metal direction, had opted to make music on his own terms and basically abandoned a band he co-founded.
During subsequent years, a power struggle was developing between singer Michael Kiske, who wanted to go a more eclectic route, and the others who were not keen to the idea. With the exodus of Michael Kiske, and the entry of Andi Deris and Uli Kusch, the course had been set.
After a somewhat powerful yet inconsistent first effort in "Master of the Rings", the new line-up delivered solid gold with this release. We have some amazing shredding visive Roland Grapow on "Wake up the Mountain" and "Steel Tormentor", rivaling Malmsteen, one of his primary influences. Marcus Grosskopf is still in top form, writing highly active bass lines, including a rather technical slap bass part for a section of "Mission Motherland".
Andi Deris displays his amazing range and adaptive vocal style in every song, but his rough edged grunts on "We Burn", his high Halford-like wails on "Mission Motherland", and his tempered low range on "Forever and One" deserve the most note.
Uli Kusch makes one hell of a racket, paying tribute to the memory of Ingo Switenberger, whom this album was dedicated to. "Before the War" and "We Burn" display his speed, while "Wake up the Mountain" shows off his more intricant slow work. And Michael Weikath is still composing some great rockers, including "Power" and "Steel Tormentor".
The songs basically fall into 4 categories, the fast ones, the medium tempo ones, the experimental ones, and the ballads. Of these, the strongest are the fast ones. "We Burn", "Steel Tormentor", "Power" and "Before the War" are instant classics. Of these, "Before the War" is the most powerful, not letting up for a moment between Deris' vocal storytelling and the rhythm section's unrelenting assault.
The medium paced ones are a tiny bit mixed. "Wake up the Mountain" is an amazing technical display, The title track is extremely memorable, and lyrically quite surprising for a band that wrote Rise and Fall 8 years ago. "A Million to One" is a solid rocker, but "Anything my momma don't like" gets a bit silly at times. It is a well-meaning attempt at either recapturing or satirizing the spirit of angst driven bands like Twisted Sister.
Of the experimental ones, the epic "Mission Motherland" is loaded with many treats for the ears, not the least of which is an amazing vocal performance. The Ballads are also a bit of a mixed bag, "Forever and One" is a charming ballad with a good melody, but "If I knew" is a bit boring, and a tiny bit too long.
Although not quite a perfect release, this is the Helloween that I remember from the late 80s who were more concerned with writing great songs rather than trying to mix genres in innovative ways or delve into abstract philosophical concepts with their lyrics. Although I have a preference to Michael Kiske's voice, it is obvious that he ultimately was not the right personality for Helloween in the long run. Andi Deris fills his shoes adequately, and brings a unique new sound to the fold. Recommended highly to power metal fans and to fans of older Helloween material.
Helloween's "The Time of the Oath" follows a structure that has become pretty standard for a power metal release - a mix of fast and mid-tempo tracks, a vaguely "epicish" track near the end and the obligatory couple of ballads thrown in for good measure. Nevertheless, despite the variety of the songs and the fact that there are four contributing songwriters, the release maintains a certain continuity that differentiates an album from a mere collection of songs. The production is adequate and as it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of any of the songs I won't mention it further.
What separates "The Time of the Oath" from similar releases are the patented Helloween moments of genius, both in the compositions and in the performing. The album also manages to avoid the clichés of modern power metal such as repetitive double bass drumming that can reduce a grown man to tears faster than throwing handfuls ground glass into his open eyes and the entire lyrical "exploration" of "sword and sorcery" themes. In particular, the title track (which succeeds in being purely evil - and not merely in a "scream-through-your-eardrums-and-rape-your-brain kind of way that I understand many black metal bands are going for), "Power", "Kings Will Be Kings" and "Steel Tormentor" standout as brilliant.
The title track is my personal favourite on the album, being the most menacing piece of atmospheric metal since Tony Iommi and the boys sat down with Satan himself and penned "Black Sabbath". The mood is perfect and while the heavy and malevolent primary riff might not be quite as distinctive as the one from the aforementioned song, atmospheric keyboard work and an excellent vocal performance really make this one a standout. My only complaints with this one are the occasional stupid "whooshing" sound effects (there's only about 3 in the whole song 7 minute song so its not a major issue) and that the solo that kicks off at 4:00 seems slightly out of place. Don't worry, they haven't inserted a cut of 1910 Fruitgum Company's "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" or a reggae breakdown into the song, I simply think that a slower-paced, heavier solo would fit better here than the speedy guitar work on offer.
"Power" is the furthest thing from "The Time of the Oath" on the album (and yet is my second favourite track), being a more traditional happy, sing-a-long Helloween song with an exceedingly catchy chorus and nice guitar leads. Surprisingly, the lyrics are another high point of this song and seem to document Helloween's history from Weikath's (slightly smug) point of view.
"We Burn", "Steel Tormentor" and "Before the War" are great blazingly speedy yet melodic metal tracks and all three are among some of Helloween's best of the style. Steel Tormentor is the superior of the three, though "Before the War" isn't far behind.
Uli Kusch debuts as a songwriter on this album and his two compositions, "A Million to One" and "Wake up the Mountain", stand out as particularly important as his influence is to grow and he is to become more involved in the song writing on the following two albums. His contributions here are both enjoyable, mid-paced tracks that provide the listener with something slightly different while still remaining true to the Helloween sound.
The ballads are the weakest part of the album and unfortunately don't maintain the high standard of the other songs. "Forever and One" just seems uninspired and rather boring, it's not dreadful though. "If I knew" strikes me as a longer, less interesting version of "A Tale That Wasn't Right" from the first Keepers album and during its 5:31 length, the "skip track" button beings to look awfully tempting. The only plus side I can think of is the deliciously melodramatic ending: "I'd simply break down…. and cry".
"Mission Motherland" is the "epic" of the album and seems to be an attempt to marry the many changing tones and intricate instrumental work of another Helloween epic, "Halloween", with the more melodic style of another of their earlier compositions, "Keeper of the Seven Keys". The result as a whole doesn't quite live up to either of the earlier works and isn't as memorable (though Grosskopf's bass work is just as remarkable as it was on "Halloween") but the song remains tight and doesn't get boring despite its 9 minute length. There are also some great vocal melodies early on in the piece and in the chorus.
In my opinion, "The Time of the Oath" contains some of the greatest Deris-era (and even some of the greatest Helloween) songs and is essential for fans of the band and comes highly recommended for fans of the genre. This record is often overshadowed by the following two albums and, while I can't speak for "The Dark Ride" (I haven't heard it), I'd place this release at least on par with the heavier follow-up "Better than Raw". And as a side note, if you really don't like the ballads on here there's a quick fix – just burn the CD minus the two ballads onto a blank disc. The thing will still be about 52 minutes long (longer then a fair number of other power metal releases) and it will save you having to reach for the "skip track" button on your player at any point during the disc.
Definitely a strange album from Helloween. I don't know what happened with the incredible anthems these guys prepare on each album. The songs are no as remarkable as in other albums, even though this doesn't mean it's a bad album. I really prefer the predecessor (Master of the Rings) or the successor (Better Than Raw) of this album, but in the end it has some nice tunes on each song and good ideas on the solos and melodies. Let's talk about these strong aspects from The Time of the Oath.
There are two songs on this album that have the typical trademark from the pumpkins: We Burn and Power, the only problem I find is that they're too short hahaha, but it seems that they work specially good live because of their sticky and powerful choruses (We Burn) or the leading riff (Power). Maybe the strongest song of the whole album would be Before the War, I really like this track, the bass performance is impressive and the solo section is the highlight of the song. Wake Up the Mountain and A Million to One are good and in a very "sing along" style, but don't have anything special to mention. The rock ballads are good enough (Forever and One and If I Knew) and maybe the best of the whole Helloween career just as In the Middle of a Heartbeat from Master of…, but remember that Helloween is not very good with ballads. Anything My Mama Don't Like is the Rock & Roll song of the album: the riff, the lyrics… there's always one on all the Helloween albums from the Deris era. Mission Motherland is awesome and has a lot of flawless interpretations: the vocals, the slapping bass section, and of course some progressive drums and guitar riffs mixed with the galloping metal main riff. A long song, but you won't notice it; it's very well driven only a step below the superior Revelation from the Better Than Raw album. Finally comes The Time of the Oath, a little bit long and repetitive, but strong enough as all the Grapow's contributions to this band, without mentioning that the solos for this one are among the best of the album.
The Time of the Oath is an album to be heard because everyone has different points of view about its importance in the pumpkin history. I must say that in my opinion every album from any band is important. But if you want to hear to the best from Helloween look after Better Than Raw or Master of the Rings, or maybe you must listen to anything from the Keepers' era (when the real history began!). Anyway, is a good choice to complete your Power Metal collection.
And best of all: more COHERENT and therefore a lot better. That was the biggest problem with the previous album, that several songs sounded a bit underdeveloped and poorly constructed, thus losing a lot of coherence and character and therefore overall enjoyability. However, even the weaker parts showed promise in places; and after all, the circumstances were that 'Master of the Rings' was recorded just one year (or so, I don't have the exact dates) after the pop-metal "experiment" 'Chameleon', and this with two new members on board, so the result could have been much worse. I guess all Helloween needed now was to reload and refocus for the follow-up, this very album.
They did. On this album, the band just sounds a lot more comfortable and focused, creating a much clearer "identity"; something that the previous album really lacked in places. The songwriting is still every little bit as fresh and original as the previous album, though, still making the band difficult to compare with any others. Actually, I've often heard this album being described as a return to their roots, but I find that a bit hard to agree with, as I generally hear more 'Master' here than either Keeper or even Walls. There's ONE important thing it does return to in places, though...
...namely the SPEED!! This album has a fair share of straight-up speed metal blazers; the previous album had pretty much none, at least nothing of this caliber! This album therefore belongs a bit more in the power/speed metal vein than the pure power metal one of 'Master', and add to that the heavier and more vicious guitar tone and it's noticeable that the band has shifted up a gear since two years earlier. However, including a few speed metal songs does not automatically make you 'Walls of Jericho', so with all things considered, this album being a full return to their old sound is quite far from the truth. It's still a NEW sound they're working with - but a really good one (and just as fucking METAL), mind you.
There's just this one thing that unfortunately forces me deduct a point or two - namely the production. I did write "rawer" in the title, and as 'Master' wasn't really all that soft-around-the-edges either, that doesn't necessarily have to mean a good thing (it's just seemed a bit synonymous with "darker" and "heavier";)). I mean, it's not quite raw in that said sweet, balls- out 'Walls of Jericho' sense, but rather in an "awful mixing" sense. The hi-hat tends to completely bury the guitars quite often, especially when they're playing really fast - in which the BASS becomes more audible, in fact! Actually, EVERYTHING on here sounds rather low-budget and technologically backwards, but at least the guitar tone carries enough punch to fit the heavy nature of the riffs.
There are twelve songs on here, making up over an hour of music in total, but with the exception of a couple of clearly skipable tunes, this is an album that completely keeps my attention from beginning to end. There aren't just highlights everywhere, there are also a number of absolute fucking CLASSICS that stand out even more, deserving special mention.
For example, "Power" just plain fucking rocks. Flowery as fuck and equally fun, it's Helloween doing what they do best - inventive, but no bullshit power metal. Check out the amazing lead after the second chorus - this has been turned into some silly sing-along section at a few live shows, probably because it's MEMORABLE as fuck!! Not quite in the raw, heavy speed metal vibe of some of the other tracks, though...
like "Before the War", for instance!! Holy shit, is this one aggressive, but still with an extremely good sense of melody, like in the chorus and of course THE SOLO!!! Hell fucking yes, best solo since "The Chance", if you ask me - Roland Grapow is indeed more than Kai's shoe-filler (I think he's the one doing that first solo, yes?).
You want more speed? The two first tracks really blaze as well, with the second one, "Steel Tormentor", probably being the highlight of the two. Can't miss that fast vocal delivery in the verses!! Then, "Kings Will Be Kings" is solid too, but unfortunately a bit like a watered-down "Before the War" and VERY hurt by the terrible mixing, more than any other track. At least it's a bit epic and memorable.
The two Uli Kusch (drummer)-written tracks, "Wake Up the Mountain" and "A Million to One" are a bit slower and more experimental, but both are surprisingly awesome and surely among the true highlights on here. "Wake" has an especially amazing verse - Andi truly takes it away here. "Million" has this really interesting and extremely catchy chorus, nice emotional verse and also that super-nifty lead at 2.52...Helloween are doing just FINE w/o Kai Hansen, thank you very much!! Happy power metal works for them, aggressive speed metal too, also slower and more melodic stuff, even ballads...
Well, not quite this time. Both ballads on here are more in the overblown, almost symphonic vein rather than the said country-esque "In the Middle of a Heartbeat" on the previous album. "Forever and One" isn't bad, but...it's just kinda movie-soundtrack cheesy, but admittedly works just fine when played live, as the sing-along-ability is undeniable. "If I Knew" is also pretty OK, I guess, but definitely overlong and just kind of uninspired in places. Anyway, to me none of them really come close to "In the Middle...", but ballads in this vein are usually what you can expect from a German band;).
But don't go just yet, there are more highlights up ahead! "Mission Motherland" is one of the heaviest numbers, if maybe not the fastest, but some of the riffs just plain crush, in a fast chugging while not-quite-generic groove sense, while still not sacrificing anything in the way of melody. At around nine minutes, it's "teh epic" on here, but unfortunately it really feels more overlong than epic and thus not quite as good as it could have been. Maybe it was made for nostalgia, just to make some old fans happy by trying to sound a bit like "Halloween" or "Keeper of the Seven Keys" just by making the song a bit long. It does not succeed in that, but oh well. "Anything My Mama Don't Like" is the obligatory goofball track ala "The Game Is On", but actually, it's almost a bit like a recycled "Why?", as the main riff is quite similar. Not bad by any means this time, though; the pre-chorus is excellent, the chorus is mindless fun and the verse riffage is still fairly heavy for what it is.
Finally, the title track - HELL FUCKING YEAH! Amazing dark, epic and EVIL fucking power metal tune here...you thought 'The Dark Ride' was dark? This makes whatever the darkest track on that album is sound like Freedom Call in evilness and Europe in heaviness, even though this one DOES incorporate keyboards, as well...but even they are surprisingly evil too, making the "Mr. Crowley" intro sound like "Jump"! Holy shit, this track just has to be the high water mark of Roland Grapow's career as far as songwriting goes - the riffs are dark, heavy and convicting, the atmosphere is thick as FUCK and the vocals sound eerie, torn-up but also soaring at the same time. All this, finely crafted into a perfectly written and constructed seven minute masterpiece of power metal. The best track on here and maybe the best Helloween track EVAR. That includes EVERY album with the "Helloween" label on it.
Yeah, I guess you can say that it was with this release that Helloween were TRULY back. Not back with the old line-up, not even back with the old sound - but back as one of the top power metal units in the world (though not with that much competition by 1996, I guess), a position they've upheld ever since. As I said, they're more comfortable with the new sound this time around than when they created it two years ago; pretty much everything that was wrong about the last album is now gone/corrected, and also, they're not afraid to throw in some blazing speed metal every once in a while, certain to make plenty a metalhead happy.
And YES, this album is obviously underrated as fuck. "'The Dark Ride' was Helloween's comeback album" my ass; THIS is the shit, kiddies. Get it. Now.
Holy fucking hell, where did this come from? Master of the Rings was a pretty damn good album, but there was still no sign of the greatness that was to come only two years later.
The Time of the Oath is only my sixth favourite Helloween album in fact, but it is nonetheless completely amazing. The production is instantly noticeable- the difference from Master of the Rings to this one is spectacular. It's thick, it's powerful and it gives the album all the intensity and explosivity (is that a word?) it deserves. The guitars especially sound ten thousand times better, which alone increases the overall quality of the album alot, since Helloween like any other metal bands obviously rely heavily on the guitarwork.
The band also sound much tighter and well organized, they really work like a well-oiled machine in this one. But the biggest notable change is still in the songwriting. Master of the Rings was very good, but this is incredible. The actual style is pretty similar to the previous album, although the general pace of the songs has increased quite alot. And of course, the quality has increased hugely. This is classic power metal of the very best kind, through almost the entire album. A few of the songs don't quite reach up to the general standard of the album, but they are few and the difference is rather marginal.
The lyrics also seem a bit more serious for the most part. They are still in the traditional fun-loving Helloween vein, but there are no all-out silly moments like there were on most of the previous offerings.
What we have here, is that the band totally puts their heart and soul into the album, and manages to whip out intense, asskicking riffs, fun and memorable vocal lines and tons of divine lead sections like only Helloween can do them.
We Burn and Steel Tormentor start things out with a solid kick in the sternum. Fast paced power metal with speed tendencies, loads of melodies, and overall ownage straight through. Steel Tormentor is in fact one of the album's best songs, and a true Helloween classic.
Wake Up The Mountain is a bit more experimental, with very cool bass highlightings during the verses and a quite different atmosphere. The solo is also completely mental. Power goes back to the style of the first two, and is just as amazing. Forever And One (Neverland) is the first of the album's two ballads, and is in fact one of the best Deris-era ballads ever. Like any Helloween ballad it's very, very emotional and cheesy. It's a love-hate thing, and I fall into the former category.
Before The War is the best song on the entire album. Speed metal based riffwork with a lethal dose of melody, fast sung vocal lines whose awesomeness cannot be put into words, and a mindblowing guitar solo are all standout factors on this power metal masterpiece.
A Million To One is another pretty different tune. Midpaced, melodic, fairly emotional and has a very interesting atmosphere overall. Not one of the highlights, but a great song nonetheless. Anything My Mama Don't Like seems to be the least well-liked song on here. But of course, I love it. Fast and catchy riffwork, killer lyrics and more splendid soloing- and of course the strange, silly ending. Kings Will Be Kings is standard Helloween: Pretty fast and heavy underlying riffwork with excellent melody lines supporting the memorable vocal lines, a great chorus and whatnot. Mission Motherland reaches over 9 minutes, and has a semi-epic atmosphere and a killer middle section featuring a bunch of heavy riffs and solos.
If I Knew is the second ballad on the album, and is yet another masterpiece of cheese. It's a beautiful acoustic track with a more sad atmosphere than Forever Than One, although it's not quite as good.
We close of with the title track, which is another of the highlights. It has this really dark and scary atmosphere over it, and is quite unlike anything the band has done before. It is also insanely heavy, and has these really cool Latin backing vocals towards the end. A magnificent closer to a magnificent album.
With The Time of the Oath, Helloween reclaims the title of Power Metal Gods, and rightfully so. And they just seem to get better with each record.


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Vision Systems International (NYSE:VSI - News), a joint venture between Elbit Systems of America, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd. (NasdaqGS:ESLT - News) and Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE:COL - News), has won a contract from the Aerospace division of defense behemoth Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT - News) to enhance the helmet mounted display system (:HMDS) on the F-35.
Comprising of two additional phases in the development, the contract will enable VSI to improve the F-35 HMDS currently in production for the 5th generation Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.
The VSI team is already in the process of mitigating display jitter affecting the display symbology, enhance the helmet system's night-vision performance capabilities, and incorporate the latest digital imaging sensor capabilities into the HMDS to improve night vision performance. The joint venture has been working on these attributes since March 2011.
In the process, VSI has modified the current magnetic receiver unit (:MRU) contained in the pilot's HMDS to detect both seat and aircraft vibration frequencies and filter them out in both the hardware and software contained in the HMDS display processor. It has already tested and proven the capabilities of the new MRU.
In an effort to enhance the night-vision performance capabilities, VSI is incorporating new digital night-vision sensors in both the fixed camera mounted in the cockpit and the helmet camera with the pilot's helmet mounted display (Toronto:HMD.TO - News). The resulting images will be sharper and more viewable at extremely low light levels.
To date, VSI has produced more than 4,500 joint helmet mounted cueing systems (:JHMCS) for the F-15, F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft. VSI is also currently under contract to deliver Night Vision Cueing and Display Systems (:NVCD) to the US Air Force and Navy, and the Fifth Generation HMDS for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It also produces the Targo HMDs for multiple aviation platforms including fighters, light attack, military airlift and trainers.
This contract award demonstrates the confidence Lockheed Martin has in VSI to advance the fifth generation HMDS capabilities that are integral to the success of the F-35 program. VSI expects to deliver the enhanced HMDS beginning in the third quarter of 2013.
Based in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security company that is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The company presently retains a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) that corresponds with our long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock.
Rockwell Collins Inc. also retains a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold), which supports our long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock.
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Knowledge Hub
Rehabilitation Robots, Active Prostheses, and Exoskeletons: Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2014 to 2020
Press release • Jul 27, 2016 06:17 EDT
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WinterGreen Research announces that it has published a new study Rehabilitation Robots, Active Prostheses, and Exoskeleton Market Shares, Strategy, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2014 to 2020. The 2014 study has 326 pages, 154 tables and figures. Worldwide markets are poised to achieve significant growth as the rehabilitation robots, active prostheses, and exoskeletons are used inside rehabilitation treatment centers and sports facilities providing rehabilitation for all patients with injuries or physical dysfunction.
Relearning of lost functions in a patient depends on stimulation of desire to conquer the disability. The independent functioning of patients depends on intensity of treatment, task-specific exercises, active initiation of movements and motivation and feedback. Rehabilitation robots can assist with this task in multiple ways. Creating a gaming aspect to the rehabilitation process has brought a significant improvement in systems.
As patients get stronger and more coordinated, a therapist can program the robot to let them bear more weight and move more freely in different directions, walking, kicking a ball, or even lunging to the side to catch one. The robot can follow the patient's lead as effortlessly as a ballroom dancer, its presence nearly undetectable until it senses the patient starting to drop and quickly stops a fall. In the later stages of physical therapy, the robot can nudge patients off balance to help them learn to recover.
According to Susan Eustis, principal author of the market research study, "Robotic therapy stimulus of upper limbs provides an example of the excellent motor recovery after stroke that can be achieved using rehabilitation robots." Exoskeleton systems provide wheelchair bound patients the ability to get out of a wheelchair
Rehabilitation robot market size at $43.3 million is expected grow dramatically to reach $1.8 billion by 2020. Market growth is a result of the effectiveness of robotic treatment of muscle difficulty. The usefulness of the rehabilitation robots is increasing. Doing more sophisticated combinations of exercise have become more feasible as the technology evolves. Patients generally practice 1,000 varied movements per session. With the robots, more sessions are possible.
Download Sample Copy of This Report at: http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/182377


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Alan Baumler: Best History Blog Writer, 2006
It's official:
Best Writer: Alan Baumler at Frog in a Well
Of all the nominations, the judges felt that Alan Baumler's writing for Frog in a Well is the finest example of how blogs can make history accessible. He stands in the middle ground between scholar and non-scholar, adeptly demystifying historical and academic issues, bringing clarity to debates with his own arguments, and enlightening the unfamiliar of Asian history and culture.
Alan Baumler is an Assistant Professor of History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
I was at the Cliopatria Lunch at which the awards were announced. Well, "announced" sounds so official; Ralph passed the list around and I found out about Alan when the person about two seats ahead of me let it slip. Anyway, it was fun to see everyone "in the flesh."
More blogging about Day 2 — I was at two interesting panels, and got lots of schmoozing in — sometime on Day 3. Congratulations, Alan!
6 responses to "Alan Baumler: Best History Blog Writer, 2006"
Here here. Congratz Alan, and indeed Frog in the Well as well.
Congratulations! Well deserved.
Alan, you deserved it.
[…] award-winning Alan Baumler's been doing some material culture blogging, too: a thoughtful post on antiques […]


text: Rejoice! August 1, 2016Category #1Sue This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 (KJV) I've been enjoying the journey with family during these beautiful summer days. Will return with a blog post on Thursday! Sue Reeve Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)


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A Month of Anniversaries
I probably wouldn't have realized it without Facebook, but June has been chock full of anniversaries! It's the five-year anniversary of my impromptu trip to New Orleans where Dave and I met, the three-year anniversary of when we reunited in … Continue reading
My Day in Pictures
I wanted to eat this: Instead I ate this: Earlier I did this: And now I'm doing this: Today was not a great day. I was in a funky mood. But it's ending on a high note now that my … Continue reading
Sugar-free chocolate with coconut and almonds (aka "Almost an Almond Joy")
The first time I made this I had just eaten dinner and was having a major chocolate craving. Of course I was on a diet (because seriously, when am I NOT on a diet?), so I decided to make some … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Cooking, DIet, Dieting, Fitness, Food, Health, Life, Photos, Recipes Tagged almond joy, almonds, candy, chocolate, chocolate delight, cocoa powder, coconut, coconut oil, desserts, Truvia Leave a comment
Sugar-free Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream/Pudding, with Almonds (Paleo, Low Carb)
Oh. My. God. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. (I could stop this post right there, because seriously, that's all that needs to be said about this ice cream recipe. It is AMAZING. Quite possibly the best chocolate ice cream I've ever tasted. Sooo rich. … Continue reading
10 sweet potato recipes that I'm dying to make
Among the groceries that my mom gave me the other day were eight sweet potatoes. EIGHT! I decided that instead of "wasting" them by simply microwaving them and adding butter, I would use at least a few of them to … Continue reading


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Rising housing costs leave Canadians without retirement fundsBy Andrew Rickard | May 27 2016 09:43AM
A survey from Manulife Bank shows that some homeowners are struggling to pay bills as housing costs rise. Many are also concerned that they will not have enough money to retire.
The Manulife Bank survey reveals that increasing housing costs are making it difficult for many Canadians not only to pay their day-to-day bills, but also to set aside enough money for their retirement: 37% of survey respondents admitted that they had been "caught short" at least once in the past year and did not have enough money on hand to cover their expenses, and 60% are not confident that they will have enough savings to last them through their old age.
Highest housing debt loads
Manulife says the average Canadian homeowner with a mortgage now has an outstanding balance of $181,000, up from the $175,000 average mortgage debt reported last fall. Housing debt loads remain highest in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, and in Toronto, with an average of $259,000, $217,000, and $194,000 respectively.
The survey also found that Canadians have most of their money tied up in real estate: 80% say their homes will account for 80% of their wealth when they retire, and another 17% believe their homes will make up between 60% and 80% of their household wealth when they finish work.
House-rich and asset poor
"Our research has consistently found that becoming debt-free is among the top financial priorities for Canadian homeowners. They must also find a balance between debt repayment and saving for retirement so they don't end up house-rich and asset poor," comments Manulife Bank president and CEO Rick Lunny.


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Sunday, December 15, 2019
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The Benicia Housing
Authority which helps provide affordable housing to Benicia
residents has the following programs:
Section 8/Rental Assistance:
Certificates and Vouchers Funded by U.S. Dept. of HUD
745-9672 -waiting list information
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
Rehab Program for Property Owners
Sponsored by the City of Benicia
Capitol Heights
75 units of Public Housing
Funded by the U.S. Dept. of HUD
Casa de Vilarrasa
80 units of Senior Housing
Funded by State Dept. of Housing and Community Development.
Phone: (707)745-2071
Fax: (707) 745-2673
© 2019 Benicia Community Action Council


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(Corrects name of speaker in paragraphs 6-7 to Chief Executive Oleg Bagrin from Senior Vice President Grigory Fedorishin)
MOSCOW, April 27 (Reuters) - Russian steelmaker NLMK's core earnings more than doubled in the first quarter, beating expectations, on higher prices and export sales and an improving domestic economy.
Steel manufacturers in Russia, such as market leader NLMK and its closest competitor Evraz, have struggled over the last two years as oversupply helped to push world steel prices to 11-year lows and Russia's economic crisis sapped domestic demand.
But prices have picked up and prospects for the sector are expected to improve further this year on expectations of the Russian economy returning to growth.
"In Q1 2017, NLMK Group was able to grow sales in the EU and U.S. markets against a backdrop of higher internal demand," NLMK Chief Financial Officer Sergey Karataev said in a statement.
NLMK, controlled by Russian billionaire Vladimir Lisin, posted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled $618 million, beating an average of analysts' forecasts in a Reuters poll of $598 million. EBITDA was $290 million in the first quarter of last year.
Chief Executive Oleg Bagrin said NLMK's stronger earnings could lead management to recommend a first quarter dividend payout higher than that outlined in its policy.
Speaking on a conference call with investors, Bagrin said the matter would be discussed at a board meeting on Friday.
"Probably, given the financial position and performance of the company, the dividend payout proposed by the management will be above the policy targets," he said.
NLMK's current policy states that dividend payouts are to be made in the range of 50 percent of net income and 50 percent of free cash flow, as long as the company's net debt to EBITDA ratio is one or below.
Its net debt to EBITDA ratio was 0.4 in the first quarter while free cash flow totalled $208 million, down 24 percent year-on-year.
NLMK's revenue rose 37 percent year-on-year to $2.2 billion on higher prices for its products, the company said.
Net profit was $323 million in the first three months of 2017, versus $57 million in the same period last year when the company said its earnings were hit by losses incurred from exchange rate fluctuations. (Reporting by Jack Stubbs; Editing by Jane Merriman and Adrian Croft)


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Learning is all around us. Home activities at five.
Caspar is five. After reading and learning about a child in the second plane of development I can tell that he is not there yet. It feels like he's transitioning. After being asked about what activities Caspar does at home, it was very easy to write a post about it.
As many of you know Caspar goes to a Montessori school. After school he generally likes to be by himself. I think this is his way of dre-stressing or 'coming down' from school. He likes to play with cars, run around the house and loves jumping on beds and rolling around. But after this what does he like to do?
Science: Above, these aren't just carrot tops this is regenerative growth. Caspar has always loved science experiments. Most of them are made up (mixing coloured water with chalk and soap) but he often uses science experiment books and those with pictorial experiments are very useful. Although he's almost past the stage now he went through a period of observing the weather and moon phases and taking measurements such as rain and temperature. Occasionally he will keep a journal on his observations but this usually only lasts a day or two.
Art: Caspar likes to experiment but tires of any one medium quickly. Most of his creating still comes from his making box which usually develops into large box building activities. Most recently he used a hot glue gun independently which added a new dimension to his collages. Clay, paint and markers are all used regularly.
Building: In addition to creating box structures from his making box Caspar will build. If it's with blocks he will only build with these large blocks, always adding new elements and props such as cars, road signs, people or just sticks.


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So little did I expect that James Blake would seemingly follow up on my suggestion and drop a record with no warning whatsoever! Now as much as I'd like to say I called it and would love to further test my precognitive powers, in reality it's probably just a matter of timing. After all, for the first time in his career James Blake has landed a featuring credit on the Hot 100 thanks to 'Forward' with Beyonce, so why not push that moment of hype further with the long-teased third record The Colour In Anything. But on a similar note, I was concerned that the release might be overshadowed by louder or more famous entries, especially when hours later Radiohead announced they were releasing a new album this Sunday! And that's not considering the album itself, which running over an hour is nearly double the length of previous James Blake albums, and I was a bit concerned how well that sort of atmosphere would translate to a longer project. But enough dancing around the issue: how did I find The Colour In Anything?
Here's the thing: when you have someone like James Blake, unless there is a huge leap forward in songwriting or atmosphere or melody, any differences in quality between his records is going to be fairly small. That said, The Colour In Anything is tricky to evaluate - in terms of individual songs, it easily has some of his best in terms of writing and production, but on the law of averages, it also produced some of his worst. And I can't be the only one who feels that the length of this record doesn't really do it many favours - and yet with that being said, I can't say I didn't enjoy it on some level, the sort of blissed out, misty music that manages to remain compelling enough in production and delivery to keep pulling me through, something which Drake's Views - a record you could definitely argue was trying to cultivate a similar sort of chill yet emotionally-driven atmosphere - couldn't quite pull off.
So let's start with Blake himself - and while there will be moments where he sounds a little like Sam Smith, he's always been a far more emotive and complex performer, capable of stately elegance but also moments that are plaintive and emotive and powerful. There isn't nearly the same stiffness in his liquid delivery, helped by production that gives it plenty of space to really breathe, and while I'd always prefer more harmonies and multi-tracking - he's got a knack for rich vocal harmonies that always feels a little underserved - the one track where he really tilts into that is the closer 'Meet You In The Maze', where most of it is spoiled by gratuitous vocal effects. And while I've accepted this is a part of Blake's production style, I can't say it's always executed as well as it could be on this album and only serves to emphasize the distance that has hurt his intimate and subtle songwriting since his early work. It does come together on the 808s & Heartbreak-eque tones of 'Put That Away And Talk To Me', but I've always thought he's sounded better on intimate pieces like 'f.o.r.e.v.e.r.' or the gorgeous and heartbreaking title track, or even the stately swell of 'Waves Know Shores', but the pitched-up opening of 'My Willing Heart' or the squawking fragments throughout 'Choose Me' or that annoying looped piece on 'Noise Above Our Heads', or the stuttered title word of 'Always' just do not flatter his tones whatsoever.
Much of this is also a factor of the instrumentation and production, and here's the thing: when you have such a straightforward setup - sparse piano or synths, programmed percussion, and a thick cushion of reverb - you have to pay attention to subtleties to note the shifts. But the odd thing is that right from the first track, with the trap hi-hat and much thicker squealing synth, you get the impression this is James Blake's loudest project to date... without quite being the biggest. This might seem like a contradiction, but much of this has to tie into the atmosphere - for as much as the vocals have room to swell and breathe and occasionally some of the midrange percussion or pianos, the sharper trap percussion is nearly always very close to the front of the mix, which places a much sharper boundary on the sound than Blake was able to create on Overgrown. But more than that, with the choice to go for more blaring, klaxon-like synths that warble across the mix, these tracks are thicker but also closer to the ear. And sure, nearly all of it has great texture - take the drums against the subtle swells on 'Timeless' or the glassy melodies on 'Put That Away And Talk To Me' that plays off the whirring percussion surprisingly well, the subtle horns on 'Waves Know Shores', the beautiful misty blur of 'I Need A Forest Fire' featuring Bon Iver playing off James Blake really quite well, the distant clatter of metallic drums against the faded pianos on the first half of 'Modern Soul' - but contrast that with the synths on 'I Hope My Life' that could have been pulled from a Depeche Mode song or the burbling deep house tendencies of 'Noise Above Our Heads' or the stuttering ring on 'Two Man Down' against what sounds like brighter synths or the rattling handclaps against the pitched-up vocals on 'Always', and you can tell James Blake is playing for what now is a more accessible sound. And I hate to say it, but it doesn't really flatter Blake's skillset - many of these tracks aren't rooted in a strong melodic hook and are more abstract, free-floating pieces, and thus can lack momentum when they're going for a more convention sound. And nearly all of them run long - this record is a long seventeen tracks as it is, and thanks to the generally low-key vibe and Blake's ambivalence towards momentum, this record can definitely drag on the back half, especially right after the incredibly powerful title track... he just wasn't going to top that, the record could have easily ended there.
But to explain why that is, we need to talk lyrics and themes. Now I've been critical of Blake in the past - I can respect how well his simple brand of writing can translate to subtle nuance, but there's a peculiar facet to his writing which seems to act directly against the sense of intimacy that he's trying to cultivate. And the best way I can describe it is if James Blake doesn't feel like a primary actor in his own relationship drama - the girls might change, the situation might evolve, but Blake himself seems to remain the same or not take a lot of action, which has a certain consistency but can make me feel a little distant, especially as its his feelings that drive the emotional throughline. Now that doesn't really change on this record - songs like 'Points' are prime examples, as the girl changes and that causes the relationship to fall apart - but what I like is how Blake is more aware of his own inertia. And while there are moments where he tries to break free of it - 'Put That Away And Talk To Me' is the best example as he tries to fight free of a weed-induced stupor, and 'I Need A Forest Fire' shows on some level he craves action to restart things - where this album gets interesting is when he tilts into it. For example, 'Love Me In Whatever Way' shows him getting taken along the path towards affection, along with the warning that he's not going to correct his course easily. Or take the fading scene of 'Radio Silence', where the break-up proceeds in slow motion and while he's in pain, the deadening feel of inevitability creeps through. That's arguably where we run into a bit of an issue with the writing - the tone isn't smug, but for as self-assured as James Blake is, his lack of activity on some of these tracks can hit a detached note that doesn't help him appeal sympathetic. However, by far the best track is the title track, as Blake tries to hold together a relationship with someone that seems to have depression, who can't see the colour in anything, and for as much as he wants to help, for as much as he loves this girl and would love to carry her past her pain, he can't really help her here in the way she needs, and there's real drama in not being able to take action. Easily one of his best ever tracks, I'd recommend this record on its strength alone.
But as a whole... I dunno, I do like this album a fair bit, but I'm still not convinced James Blake has made his atmospheric masterpiece just yet. The songwriting and vocal delivery is improving, but this record could have been tightened significantly with a fair few cuts and the production didn't need to go as broad as it did. I'd argue James Blake is in a weird spot right now - certainly influential and working with superstars who have the budget and clout to push him over the top, but Blake himself isn't really making mainstream accessible music, and I don't know if he ever will. As it is, for me this is a light 7/10 and definitely a recommendation if you're a fan, but I'd check out pieces of it over listening to the entire thing as a whole, because it certainly runs longer than it should. That said, Blake's comeback is considerable, and there are great songs here, so definitely take a look.


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Footnotes: How Running Makes Us Human by Vybarr Cregan-Reid (Ebury Press, 2016)
Introduced by Oliver Balch
The 1980s children's television show Why Don't You? had one of the most stunningly honest slogans in television history. Turn off your TV sets, viewers were told, and 'do something less boring instead'. The same injunction could apply to books about running. Running is something you should be out there doing, not something you sit in a chair reading about.
Vybarr Cregan-Reid is far too smart a writer to let this pass him by. He's far too honest as well. From the off, we learn that he's not an especially good runner, that he struggles with his weight and that he occasionally bunks off work. He's much like the majority of us, in other words. At one stage, he even concedes that analysing running is to miss the real point of it. To write about it is to turn an opportunity to escape into an object of work: it is to transform the beatific 'nothinks' emptiness of running into something that demands thinking.
The central thesis of Footnotes is that when we run we are fully human. This isn't a book about technique or speed or even exercise. At its heart, it's about the transformational potential of running: how something as simple as putting one foot in front of the other for mile after mile can release our true selves and take us to what Virginia Woolf called those fleeting 'moments of being'.
Cregan-Reid certainly isn't the first running enthusiast to make the case for the physiological and psychological benefits of getting out into nature and working up a sweat. Yet few before have done it so artfully or completely. Drawing on the worlds of literature and science in tandem, he introduces new ways of seeing old writers – Oscar Wilde's terror of the treadmill, for instance, or the 'haptic intelligence' of Thomas Hardy – and brings fringe fields of research into the light (forest bathing: any guesses?).
Cregan-Reid's pen does much of the running for us. It, like him, rarely sits still. One minute he is flitting along the boulevard du Montparnasse, the next he's staring up at the 'sheer heedlessness' of the Cumbrian mountains. More often than not, he takes a fellow writer in tow. These delightful, bare-footed vignettes (for the author is a committed 'terra-runner') not only reveal Cregan-Reid's passion for his subject, but also his deftness as a nature writer. He captures the visceral experience of bare feet 'smooching the concrete'. In general, he's less one for views than for what's passing underfoot: chalky cobbles protrude 'like femoral heads'.
Just sometimes, Cregan-Reid strays into the kind of zealotry that he is quick to deride in others. Does all of what makes us human really come to us from movement? Do runners really give back to the natural world in the same way that they take from it? My own experience of running, positive though it is, leaves me a little cautious. Yet do I know what he means when he talks of looking at pictures of a landscape and instinctively imagining running though it? Of course. Do I also baulk at running machines? Naturally.
One of the charms of Footnotes is Cregan-Reid's wit. As with any book on running, it's impossible to escape at least some talk of medial ankle rolling or underpronation. A dash of humour helps ride out these obligatory passages. At one point, he describes watching a slow-motion replay of his running style: 'I had managed to create the effect of a drunken tripod … it was horrific.' Very occasionally his love of witty wordplay – 'green with empathy', 'psycho-jography', '50 shades of Jude' – gets the better of him.
Footnotes puts forward an impassioned and energetic case for the mechanics behind the joy of running. It might even see you getting out of your chair and doing something more interesting instead.
This review first appeared in the Literary Review.
Tomorrow at the Hay Festival Winter Weekend:
Sunday 27 November 2016, 12.30pm • Venue: ST MARY'S CHURCH, Hay-on-Wye
Click here to buy tickets
Running is more than a sport; it's more than just exercise, and it can tell us more about the way we live now than you could possibly imagine. Running is the poetry of motion. It can make us more intelligent, more empathetic, and is more effective at dealing with symptoms of anxiety and depression than any drug available in the world. Cregan-Reid is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Kent. Balch is author of Under the Tump and a keen runner.