text:
Dads: Should you get close to your kids? Yes! The father role in bedtime kids' stories is get close and snuggly. You can't do that with a book in your hands! Here's more information in this free "how to tell a story" video. See all our videos of storytelling techniques at http://www.daddyteller.com/vids .
Get the DaddyTeller Paperback at Amazon.com via this link here.
If Amazon is sold out, order a paperback copy of this book direct from the printer. Please click on this link now.
All the free vids are listed on this page here.


text:
Descalso leads Cards to 6-2 win over Nationals
VIERA, Fla. (AP) -- Stephen Strasburg has never been to Chicago, much less experienced what it's like to pitch at Wrigley Field.
On opening day, for that matter.
He's about to find out. The young Washington ace pitched four innings in his final tuneup Saturday as the Nationals lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2.
Strasburg allowed three runs, two of them earned, all in the second inning. He gave up five hits overall, striking out three and walking one.
Strasburg finished spring training with a 1-4 record and 4.18 ERA. He struck out 17 and walked six in 23 2-3 innings. His next outing will come Thursday against the Cubs.
"I'm ready to get out of Florida, that's for sure," Strasburg said.
The 23-year-old wrapped up his first full spring training since undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2010, which cut short his rookie season.
"I think the bottom line is I got my work in, got the innings in," Strasburg said. "I felt good some days, felt a little off on others. All in all, I'm happy with it. I learned a lot. It's still a huge learning process, and I think I have a much better idea of what makes me successful. I'm just going to try to build off that."
Strasburg will be limited to 160 innings this season, but that didn't stop the Nationals from making him their No. 1 starter. His family will be in Chicago for the opener, which will mark the first time his mother has seen him pitch in person since he made his major league debut against Pittsburgh on June 8, 2010, when he struck out 14.
"It's been a long time," Strasburg said. "I'm excited for the experience. It's something that doesn't happen to everybody, to start opening day in Wrigley. It's going to be fun no matter what."
While it may be a long five days for Strasburg to wait until he pitches again, it's an even more excruciating time for players like infielder Chad Tracy, who's trying to make the Nationals as a reserve. Tracy had two hits, including a solo homer, but could possibly lose out to outfielder Xavier Nady whenever the final roster cuts are announced.
"I think everybody's waiting," Tracy said. "No official word has been given. I feel good about where I'm at, where I stand. You've just got to let things play out and hopefully, you go north."
For St. Louis, right-hander Jake Westbrook finished off a strong spring, throwing 5 2-3 innings of two-hit ball. He allowed the home run to Tracy and walked three while striking out four. He finished the spring with a 1.50 ERA.
"Jake was just ... all the normal stuff. Controlling the counts, using the bottom of the zone, letting the sinker do its thing and trusting his defense," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "It was the same old stuff he's been doing all spring. It was nice to see again."
Daniel Descalso had a big day for St. Louis with two doubles and four RBIs.
The win gave the Cardinals a 16-8-2 exhibition record, meaning the defending World Series champions will avoid double-digit losses in spring training for the first time in more than 10 years, despite losing star Albert Pujols and manager Tony La Russa.
NOTES: Nationals OF Roger Bernadina was in the original lineup, but was replaced by Corey Brown. A native of Curacao, Bernadina had flown home after the death of his father and had not rejoined the team by the start of game, though he was in the locker room after it had already started. ... Westbrook isn't scheduled to pitch on April 9, but likely will stay with the team and get his throwing in on the side. ... The Cardinals switched things up as Jose Oquendo coached first base and Chris Maloney worked the third base box. Matheny said he wanted to have an open line of communication with Maloney in the event Oquendo is ever ejected or is absent for some reason.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A brain positron emission tomography (PET) scan is an imaging test that allows doctors to see how your brain is functioning.
The scan captures images of the activity of the brain after radioactive "tracers" have been absorbed into the bloodstream. These tracers are "attached" to compounds like glucose (sugar). Glucose is the principal fuel of the brain.
Active areas of the brain will be utilizing glucose at a higher rate than inactive areas. When highlighted under a PET scanner, it allows doctors to see how the brain is working and helps them detect any abnormalities.
It's typically an outpatient procedure. This means you'll be able to go about your day after the test is complete.
The test accurately details the size, shape, and function of the brain.
Unlike other scans, a brain PET scan allows doctors a view of not only the structure of the brain, but how it's functioning as well.
This allows doctors to:
- check for cancer
- determine if cancer has spread to the brain
- diagnose dementias, including Alzheimer's disease
- differentiate between Parkinson's disease and other conditions
- prepare for epilepsy surgery
Your doctor may have you undergo a brain PET scan regularly if you're undergoing treatment for brain disorders. This can help them monitor the success of your treatment.
Your doctor will provide you with complete instructions to help you prepare for your brain PET scan.
Alert your doctor to any medications you may be taking, whether they're prescription, over the counter, or even nutritional supplements.
You may be instructed not to eat anything for up to eight hours before your procedure. You will be able to drink water.
Tell your doctor if you're pregnant or believe you could be pregnant. The test might be unsafe for your fetus.
You should also tell your doctor about any medical conditions you may have. For example, people with diabetes will likely be given special instructions for the test. Fasting beforehand could negatively affect their blood sugar levels.
Immediately before the test, you may be asked to change into a hospital gown and remove all of your jewelry.
Of course, you want to plan your day around your appointment as well.
You'll be brought into the procedure room and seated in a chair. A technician will insert an intravenous catheter (IV) into your arm. A special dye with radioactive tracers will be injected into your veins through this IV.
Your body needs time to absorb the tracers as blood flows through the brain, so you'll wait before the scan begins. This typically takes about an hour.
Next, you'll undergo the scan. This involves lying on a narrow table attached to the PET machine, which looks like a giant toilet paper roll. The table glides slowly and smoothly into the machine so the scan can be completed.
You will have to lie still during the scans. The technician will tell you when you need to remain motionless.
The scans record brain activity as it's happening. These can be recorded as video or as still images. The tracers are concentrated in areas of increased blood flow.
When the desired images are stored in the computer, you'll exit the machine. The test is then complete.
It's a good idea to drink plenty of fluids after the test to help flush the tracers out of your system. Generally all tracers are out of your body after two days.
Other than that, you're free to go about your life unless your doctor gives you other instructions.
Meanwhile, a specialist trained in reading PET scans will interpret the images and share the information with your doctor. Your doctor will then go over the results at a follow-up appointment.
The images of brain PET scans appear as multicolored images of the brain, ranging from dark blue to deep red. Areas of active brain activity come up in warmer colors, such as yellow and red.
Your doctor will look at these scans and check for abnormalities.
For example, a brain tumor will show up as darker spots on the PET scan. A person with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia will have larger-than-normal portions of their brain appear darker on the scan.
In both of these cases, the dark areas signify areas of the brain that are impaired.
Your doctor will go over your personal scan to explain what the results mean and what will be the next course of action.
While the scan does use radioactive tracers, the exposure is minimal. It's too low to affect the normal processes of the body.
The risks of the test are minimal compared with how beneficial the results can be.
However, radiation is believed to be unsafe for fetuses, so women who are pregnant, think they may be pregnant, or are nursing should not undergo a brain PET scan or any other kind of PET scan.
Other risks include uncomfortable feelings, if you are claustrophobic or anxious about needles.


text:
"The Laws of God Are Blessings," Ensign, May 1975, 23
The Laws of God Are Blessings
I stand before you in deep humility, my brothers and sisters, and with a prayer in my heart that what I say may give encouragement to all who are here, or all who need that encouragement, and most of us do. I should like to base my remarks upon a divine truth that is found in the book of Proverbs. It reads as follows: "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life." (Prov. 6:23.)
A commandment is a lamp to show us the right course, and indeed the law defines that course that we are to follow. Some people look upon laws in general as impediments to them—obstacles—and there are good people in every segment of life who believe that the laws of God, even the great Ten Commandments, are intended only for certain people—for those whom they describe as being extremely religious or for the less fortunate. They believe that while it is essential to observe the laws of the land, it matters little or none if one observes the laws of God.
Some people feel that the laws of God inhibit freedom; and that they who are not religiously inclined are automatically exempt from the laws and commandments of the Lord; and that if one minds his own business and lives his own life, so to speak, he has sufficient religion for his own welfare; and that salvation and joy everlasting will somehow be forthcoming, even though they do not observe the laws and commandments of God.
Surely these are shortsighted views. Actually, the commandments of the Lord are principles upon which our lives must be built if we are to find happiness, success, and peace.
We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and the ordinances of the gospel; and that because of his great love for man, the Lord has granted each of us an opportunity to live in the flesh and through obedience to the laws of the gospel and through service to our fellowmen, to find happiness and peace and prepare to live hereafter in a state of "never-ending happiness" as the Book of Mormon describes it. (See Mosiah 2:41.)
But the Lord does his work according to eternal principles and eternal laws. While he is a God of love, he is also a God of order. He does not deviate from the established principles and laws, because they are right in the first place. And he and they are the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The laws and conditions prescribed for the welfare of mankind cannot be changed nor circumvented, because they are divine and were established before the foundation of the world was laid. They are, in fact, the only means by which we can have peace of mind here and gain eternal life hereafter. This is expressed in a great revelation given to the Prophet Joseph, as follows: "For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world." (D&C 132:5.)
So, brothers and sisters, we need simply to remember that which is expected of us if we wish a blessing. The Lord will remember that which is expected of him.
Now, his commandments are not grievous. They are not burdensome. They are not oppressive. We sing in one of our hymns, "How gentle God's commands! How kind his precepts are!" (Hymns, no. 67.) The laws of God are not given to us to burden us or to handicap us. They are not impositions. They are the statutes through which, if observed, the purpose of life and existence is to be realized. Even those who are called to go through trials, sorrow, tribulation, and adversity are promised that if they are faithful in tribulation and adversity, that "the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven." (D&C 58:2.)
It is comforting to read the words of the Lord in regard to this:
"Verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.
"Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes for the present time the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.
"For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore, the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory, the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand." (D&C 58:2–4.)
Now if one is inclined to question the wisdom of observing the law—whether it be the laws of man, the laws of nature, or the laws of God—he should consider these words of the Lord: "Again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.
"That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment." (D&C 88:34–35.)
Observance of law brings harmony, peace, order; while without observance of law there is found confusion, and sorrow, remorse, failure—whether it be the laws of God or the laws of man, or whether it be nations or whether it be individuals, it is the same. There are those who ask (they have asked me, and really that is why I am speaking along this line), "If the Lord loves us, why does he then give so many commandments, some of them restrictive in their nature?" Well, the answer is he gives us commandments because he loves us. He wishes to save us from sorrow and remorse and failure, and the worst of all, regret, and from losing our blessings.
In the same way, wise parents often find it best to deny a child his wishes or to instruct him to act in a certain way, even though it is contrary to what the child desires. This is done because of parental love and is done in the interest of the child's welfare. If he responds as he should, it results in lasting benefits and satisfaction for both.
Now, the Lord loves us enough to say, Thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not covet, and so forth. (See D&C 42:18–28.) You know the laws, and President Kimball explained them so well this morning. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the perfect law of liberty, according to the apostle James. (See James 1:25.) God is its author. He set forth the conditions. He is its fountainhead. The gospel is a great system of laws, which laws are simply eternal principles by which our Father in heaven desires to save mankind, his sons and his daughters, not only to save them, but also to share with them all that the Father has—associations with those we love, honor, power, glory, dominions, even exaltation.
But while he gives us commandments, he also gives us the freedom and the liberty to reject them if we choose, as Brother Stapley has already explained to us. As he spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden he told them that they could eat of every tree of the Garden. This they were free to do. However, he gave a commandment that they should not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil or certain blessings would be lost or denied them. They could eat the fruit if they desired, and if they insisted, but they must remember that he forbade it. They were at liberty to break the commandment; their liberty was not restricted; but if they did eat of the tree, they would have to pay the penalty.
As it was with Adam and Eve, so it is with us. We have the divine right and also the individual responsibility to determine whether we will accept or whether we will reject the laws and principles and commandments of God. But my, how grateful we ought to be that these laws are given us and are plainly understood, given us to direct us, that we may not lose our way in this world of misunderstanding and by following the vain philosophies of the world. How thankful we ought to be for such truths as these:
"Men are, that they might have joy." (2 Ne. 2:25.)
"I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." (D&C 82:10.)
"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it [that blessing] is predicated." (D&C 130:20–21.)
And finally, this most beautiful statement by my friend King Benjamin in his address to his people. He said:
"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord hath spoken it." (Mosiah 2:41.)
We should be grateful for Spencer W. Kimball (and his associates), a great living prophet provided by the Lord to guide us in these difficult times and to teach us, and to speak the mind and will of the Lord in a day of confusion. I add my testimony to those many which have been borne today to the fact that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that the gospel has been restored in the fulfillment of prophecies and promises of ancient prophets, and that we have with us today a prophet of God to direct us, to help us, to warn us, and to reveal the mind and will of God unto us and unto the world.
May the world take heed while the day yet lasts, for when the night cometh, no man can work, and the opportunity will be gone. This I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Amen.


text:
Interference can be destructive or non-destructive. When a principal invokes an object (thereby requesting a service) and the implementation carries out the principal's intent, the interference was non-destructive in the sense that the interference was desired.
In invoking the object, the principal may make itself vulnerable to destructive interference. When a user runs Solitaire on Windows, the Solitaire program is instantiated and given all of the user's authority. The program may delete all of the users files after publishing credit card and other sensitive information on the Internet. This type of interference is undesirable, however, generally practically unavoidable due to the way programs work on Windows (and Unix, for that matter).
The problem is that the callee has induced negative consequence for caller due to actions of the former. To not have to depend on another program (and thereby not have to add it to its tcb), it is necessary that the caller only make itself vulnerable to destructive inference in ways that can be detected and from which it can recover.
Mark Miller examines the idea of destructive interference in his PhD thesis Robust Composition: Towards a Unified Approach to Access Control and Concurrency Control.


text:
I upgraded my iPad 2 to iOS 5.
I don't want to sync it through the cloud : I just want to sync it as usual, with iTunes through my USB connector.
But I have a problem : as soon as I upgradedto iOS 5, when my iPad is connected to my Mac, iTunes is not displaying the device summary pane.
I have SnowLeopard 10.6.8, iTunes 10.5.
Here is a screenshot of what I get :
As you can see, the iPad is seen by iTunes, but no device summary pane is displayed.
Any idea how I can solve this problem ?


text:
Sir Colin Davis
born on 25/9/1927 in Weybridge, Surrey, United Kingdom
died on 14/4/2013 in London, England, United Kingdom
Colin Davis
Sir Colin Rex Davis CH CBE (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom he was particularly associated were Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett.
He studied as a clarinettist, but was intent on becoming a conductor. After struggles as a freelance conductor from 1949 to 1957, he gained a series of appointments with orchestras including the BBC Scottish Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He also held the musical directorships of Sadler's Wells Opera and the Royal Opera House, where he was principal conductor for over fifteen years. His guest conductorships included the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Dresden Staatskapelle, among many others.
As a teacher, Davis held posts at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and the Landesgymnasium für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" (preparatory school for music) in Dresden. He made his first gramophone recordings in 1958, and his discography over the next five decades was extensive, with a large number of studio recordings for Philips Records and a substantial catalogue of live recordings for the London Symphony Orchestra's own label.
Early years
Davis was born in Weybridge, Surrey, the youngest of three sons among seven siblings, to Reginald George and Lillian Davis.[1][2] The family was musical, and he was exposed to music from an early age. He recalled:
"I can still see Sargent conducting the first concert I ever attended. I can still hear Melchior in the final scene of Siegfried – an old 78 playing on my father's gramophone. … I can also remember the moment I decided to make music my life. I was 13 or 14 at the time and the performance was of Beethoven's Eighth. Doors were suddenly opened. I became totally involved, even obsessed by music, although I was frightfully enclosed by my likes and dislikes. Today I'm game for anything."[3]
With financial assistance from his great-uncle, Davis was educated at Christ's Hospital in Sussex[4] and then won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied the clarinet with Frederick Thurston.[5] His fellow-students included Gervase de Peyer, but Davis developed a greater interest in conducting. He was, however, not eligible for the conducting class at the college, because he could not play the piano.[6]
Following compulsory military service and completing his studies at college, Davis served as a clarinettist in the band of the Life Guards. Stationed at Windsor, he had continual opportunities to attend concerts in London under conductors including Sir Thomas Beecham and Bruno Walter. In 1949, he began his career as a freelance musician (the "freelance wilderness", in his own phrase) where he remained until 1957.[2] His first conducting work was with the Kalmar Orchestra, which he co-founded with other former students of the Royal College. He was subsequently invited to conduct the recently founded Chelsea Opera Group in Don Giovanni. In the early years of his career, he also took some engagements as an orchestral clarinettist.[7] What seemed at first to be a full-time conducting appointment, for the Original Ballet Russe in 1952, ended abruptly after three months, when the company collapsed. In between sparse conducting engagements, Davis worked as a coach and lecturer, including spells at the Cambridge University Musical Society and the Bryanston Summer School, where a performance of L'enfance du Christ awakened his love of Berlioz's music.[8]
BBC and Sadler's Wells
His first breakthrough came in 1957 when, at his third attempt, he secured the post of assistant conductor of the BBC Scottish Orchestra (now the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra).[9] The chief conductor of the orchestra generally chose to conduct the standard repertoire pieces himself, and left Davis with modern works and non-standard repertoire works, including those of Berlioz.[10] By 1959, Davis had developed to the extent that, after a concert of Stravinsky and Mozart with the London Mozart Players, the chief music critic of The Observer, Peter Heyworth, wrote, "Mr Davis conducted two works in a manner that showed that he is not only outstanding among our younger conductors, but probably the best we have produced since Sir Thomas Beecham, his senior by forty-eight years."[11]
Davis first found wide acclaim when he stood in for an ill Otto Klemperer in a performance of Don Giovanni, at the Royal Festival Hall in 1959. A year later, Beecham invited him to collaborate with him in preparing The Magic Flute at Glyndebourne. Beecham was taken ill, and Davis conducted the opera. After the Don Giovanni, The Times wrote, "A superb conductor of Mozart declared himself last night at the Festival Hall…. Mr Davis emerged as a conductor ripe for greatness."[12] Neville Cardus in The Guardian was less enthusiastic but nevertheless considered that he "had his triumphs" in the performance.[13] After The Magic Flute, The Times called Davis "master of Mozart's idiom, style and significance",[14] although Heyworth in The Observer was disappointed by his tempi, judging them to be too slow.[15]
In 1960, Davis made his début at the Proms in a programme of Britten, Schumann, Mozart and Berlioz.[16] In the same year, he was appointed chief conductor of Sadler's Wells Opera, and in 1961 he was made musical director of the company, with whom he built up a large repertoire of operas, conducting in London and on tour.[17] Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians wrote of this period, "He excelled in Idomeneo, The Rake's Progress and Oedipus rex, and Fidelio; his Wagner, Verdi and Puccini were less successful. He introduced Weill's Mahagonny, and Pizzetti's Assassinio nella cattedrale to the British public and conducted the première of Bennett's The Mines of Sulphur (1965)."[18] Together with the stage director Glen Byam Shaw, he worked to present operas in a way that gave due weight to the drama as well as the music.[19] In his early years, Davis was known as something of a firebrand with a short fuse in rehearsals,[20] and his departure from Sadler's Wells in 1965 was not without acrimony.[21]
After he left Sadler's Wells, and being passed over as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra,[22] Davis was named chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, effective September 1967.[23] At first, in the general view of the public, his tenure was overshadowed, at least during the Proms, by the memory of Sir Malcolm Sargent. Compared to the "suave father figure" image of Sargent[24] to the promenaders, it took some time for the much younger Davis to be accepted.[23] The BBC's official historian of the Proms later wrote, "Davis never really identified himself with the Proms in the way that Sargent had done.[24] Davis was uncomfortable with the traditional hullabaloo of the Last Night of the Proms and attempted, unsuccessfully, to modernise it.[25] The BBC's Controller of Music, William Glock, was a long-standing admirer of Davis, and encouraged him to put on adventurous programmes, with a new emphasis on modern music, both at the Proms and throughout the rest of the orchestra's annual schedule.[26]
Covent Garden
In 1970, Sir David Webster, who ran the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet companies at Covent Garden, invited Davis to succeed Sir Georg Solti as principal conductor of the opera.[27] At about the same time, the Boston Symphony Orchestra invited him to become its musical director, but Davis felt that if Covent Garden needed him, it was his duty to take on the post.[19] Webster's vision was that Davis and the stage director Sir Peter Hall, formerly of the Royal Shakespeare Company, would work in equal partnership as musical director and director of productions. After early successes together, including the première of Michael Tippett's The Knot Garden in December 1970, Hall left to succeed Laurence Olivier as director of the National Theatre. Webster had retired by that time, leaving Davis, together with Webster's successor as General Administrator, Sir John Tooley, to run the Royal Opera.[27]
Davis' early months in charge at Covent Garden were marked by dissatisfaction among some of the audience, and booing was heard at a "disastrous" Nabucco in 1972. His conducting of Wagner's Ring cycle was at first compared unfavourably with that of his predecessor.[28] Among his successes were Berlioz's massive Les Troyens (with Jon Vickers and Anja Silja) and Benvenuto Cellini, Verdi's Falstaff, the major Mozart operas, and, as one critic put it, he "confirmed his preeminence as a Britten and Stravinsky interpreter" with productions of Peter Grimes and The Rake's Progress.[28] Davis conducted more than 30 operas during his fifteen-year tenure,[18] but "since people like Maazel, Abbado and Muti would only come for new productions", Davis yielded the baton to these foreign conductors, giving up the chance to conduct several major operas, including Der Rosenkavalier, Rigoletto and Aida.[28]
In addition to the standard operatic repertoire, Davis conducted a number of modern and unfamiliar operas, including Tippett's The Knot Garden and The Ice Break (of which he is the dedicatee),[18] and Alexander Zemlinsky's The Dwarf and Eine florentinische Tragödie.[29] With later stage directors at Covent Garden, Davis preferred to work with those who respected the libretto: "I have a hankering for producers who don't feel jealous of composers for being better than they are, and want to impose their, often admittedly clever, ideas on the work in hand."[30] Davis hoped that Götz Friedrich, with whom he worked on Wagner's Ring cycle, would take on the role of principal producer vacated by Hall, "but it seemed that nobody wanted to commit themselves."[28]
During his Covent Garden tenure, Davis returned to the BBC Symphony Orchestra as principal guest conductor from 1971 to 1975, and held the same post with the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1972 to 1984.[2] In 1977, he became the first English conductor to appear at Bayreuth, where he conducted the opening opera of the festival, Tannhäuser. Despite the Bayreuth habitués' suspicion of newcomers,[31] his Tannhäuser was "highly successful".[32] He debuted at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, in 1967 with Peter Grimes, the Vienna State Opera in 1986 and the Bavarian State Opera in 1994.[2]
Bavarian Radio Symphony and London Symphony Orchestras
From 1983 to 1993, Davis was chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, with whom he developed his concert hall repertoire, including symphonies by Bruckner and Mahler.[21] He was offered but declined the music directorships of the Cleveland Orchestra in succession to Maazel and the New York Philharmonic in succession to Zubin Mehta.[33] As a principal guest conductor he was associated with the Dresden Staatskapelle, which appointed him honorary conductor (Ehrendirigent) in 1990, the first in the orchestra's 460-year-history,[34] and whose musicians referred to Davis with the nickname "Der Sir".[35] From 1998 to 2003, he was principal guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic.[2]
In 1995, Davis was appointed principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, the culmination of a long association with the orchestra. He had first conducted the LSO in 1959, and in 1964 he headed the orchestra's first world tour. He became principal guest conductor in 1975 and was at the helm in the LSO's first major series at its new home, the Barbican Centre, in a Berlioz/Tippett festival in 1983.[34] In 1997 he conducted the LSO's first residency at Lincoln Center in New York City.[34] Davis was the longest-serving principal conductor in the history of the LSO, holding the post from 1995 until 2006, after which the orchestra appointed him its President, an honour previously held only by Arthur Bliss, William Walton, Karl Böhm and Leonard Bernstein.[36] On 21 June 2009, 50 years to the day after his first LSO performance, a special concert was given at the Barbican, at which present-day players were joined by many past members of the orchestra.[34] His programme for the concert was Mozart's Symphony No 40 in G minor, and Brahms's Piano Concerto No 2, with Nelson Freire as soloist.[37]
During his time with the LSO, both as principal conductor and later as president, Davis conducted series and cycles of the music of Sibelius, Berlioz, Bruckner, Mozart, Elgar, Beethoven, and Brahms,[34] and in 2009 began presenting a cycle of the symphonies of Carl Nielsen.[38] Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians wrote, "He conducted a Sibelius cycle in 1992 and a concert performance of Les Troyens the following year, both of which have become the stuff of legend. More recently he has added grand performances of Bruckner, Richard Strauss and Elgar, the première of Tippett's last major work, The Rose Lake (1995), and a Berlioz cycle begun with Benvenuto Cellini in 1999 and crowned by an incandescent Les Troyens in December 2000, all confirming his partnership with the LSO as one of the most important of its time."[18]
Davis was president of the Landesgymnasium für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" in Dresden,[39] and held the International Chair of Orchestral Studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London.[40] Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, principal of the academy, wrote of Davis, "As the Academy's International Chair of Conducting over 25 years, Sir Colin helmed six opera productions and over sixty concerts, classes and chamber music projects. Such extraordinary generosity from a major international conductor is surely unique. He inspired a whole generation here, as did Henry Wood and John Barbirolli before him."[34]
Davis's discography is extensive, numbering over 300 recordings. He made his first record in 1958 conducting the Sinfonia of London in performances of Mozart's Symphonies 29 and 39 for World Record Club (TZ 130). [41] This was followed on 8 May 1959 by a recording made in Kingsway Hall, London, for Decca with the New Symphony Orchestra of London and pianist Peter Katin performing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor Op. 18. He made several records for the small independent label L'Oiseau Lyre, including a 1960 L'enfance du Christ and a 1962 Béatrice et Bénédict which, at April 2013, were both still available on CD. For EMI he made both operatic and orchestral recordings, the former with Sadler's Wells forces, including excerpts from Carmen and a complete Oedipus rex, and the latter including Harold in Italy with Yehudi Menuhin, and what remains one of his best-known recordings, a 1961 Beethoven Seventh Symphony.[42][43]
Philips and RCA
In the 1960s, Davis signed as an exclusive artist for Philips Records, with whom he made an extensive range of recordings in the symphonic repertoire and a large number of operatic recordings, including the major Mozart operas; operas by Tippett, Britten, Verdi and Puccini; and a comprehensive survey of the operas of Berlioz, culminating in an award-winning first recording of the complete Les Troyens issued in May 1970.[21][44]
Davis's 1966 Philips recording of Handel's Messiah was regarded as revelatory at the time of its issue for its departure from the large-scale Victorian-style performances that had previously been customary.[45] Other Philips recordings included a 1982 set of Haydn's twelve London symphonies with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra "distinguished by performances of tremendous style and authority, and a sense of rhythmic impetus that is most exhilarating";[46] and a 1995 Beethoven symphony cycle with the Dresden Staatskapelle, of which Gramophone wrote, "There has not been a Beethoven cycle like this since Klemperer's heyday."[47]
Davis made a number of records with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Philips, including the first of his three Sibelius cycles, which remains in the CD catalogues. They also recorded works by Debussy, Grieg, Schubert, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky.
For RCA Victor Red Seal, Davis recorded complete symphony cycles of Sibelius (with the LSO), Brahms (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, 1989–98), and Schubert (Dresden Staatskapelle, 1996).
LSO Live
Davis's terms as chief conductor, and latterly president, of the LSO coincided with the orchestra's decision to launch its own record label, issuing live recordings (patched where necessary with takes from rehearsals) at budget prices. Davis's recordings on the LSO Live label include Beethoven's opera Fidelio (2006), a wide range of Berlioz works, including a second recording of Les Troyens (2000), La damnation de Faust (2000), Roméo et Juliette (2000), Béatrice et Bénédict (2000), Harold en Italie (2003), and the Symphonie fantastique (2000); Britten's Peter Grimes (2004); Dvořák's Symphonies Nos. 6–9 (1999–2004); five Elgar sets: the Enigma Variations (2007) and the Introduction and Allegro for Strings (2005), the three symphonies (2001), and The Dream of Gerontius (2005); Handel's Messiah (2006); Haydn's Die Schöpfung (2007); Holst's The Planets (2002); James MacMillan's St John Passion, (2008) The World's Ransoming and The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (2007); Mozart's Requiem (2007); Nielsen's Symphonies Nos. 4–5 (2011); a third Sibelius symphony cycle (2002–2008); Smetana's Má vlast (2005); Tippett's A Child of Our Time (2007), Verdi's Falstaff (2004), Requiem (2009), and Otello (2010); and Walton's First Symphony (2005).
Davis was appointed CBE in 1965,[48] knighted in 1980[49] and appointed Companion of Honour in 2001.[50] He was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society's gold medal in 1995,[2] the Queen's Medal for Music, 2009,[51] and has numerous international awards, including Commendatore of the Republic of Italy, 1976; Commander's Cross, Order of Merit (Germany), 1987; Commandeur, l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), 1990; Commander, Order of the Lion (Finland), 1992; Order of Merit (Bavaria), 1993; Officier, Légion d'honneur (France), 1999 (Chevalier, 1982); Order of Maximilian (Bavaria), 2000.[2]
Other awards include Pipe Smoker of the Year in 1996,[52] Male Artist of the Year in the Classic Brit Awards 2008,[52] and the Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Opera for his LSO Live recording of Verdi's Falstaff.[34]
Personal life
In 1949, Davis married the soprano April Cantelo. They had two children, Suzanne and Christopher. Their marriage ended in 1964, and in that same year, Davis married Ashraf Naini, known as Shamsi.[4] To satisfy both the Iranian and British authorities, the couple were married three times, once in Iran and twice in the UK, in the Iranian Embassy in London as well as in a UK civil ceremony; they had five children.[53] One of their children is the conductor Joseph Wolfe, who chose a different surname, because he wanted to "create some space to grow and develop my own identity as a musician."[54]
Lady Davis died in June 2010 at the time Davis was conducting Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Royal Opera House. Davis continued the run of performances just days later and when asked, the following year, how he had the strength to perform, he replied, "It comes from the music. There is so much negative nonsense talked about Mozart, but he is – well, he's life itself."[55]
Illness and death
After his wife's death, Davis's health declined rapidly. He fell from the podium at Covent Garden in February 2011, and cancelled many engagements in the subsequent months. His last concert with the LSO was a performance of Berlioz's Requiem in June 2012.[4] His last known performance was with an amateur London orchestra and soloist Thomas Gould, a month before his death.[56] On 14 April 2013, Davis died in London at the age of 85 after a short illness.[57][58]
Antonio Pappano, music director at the Royal Opera House, said Davis's death came as a "huge blow".[59] Labour MP Harriet Harman tweeted that Davis had "made a historic contribution to music – in this country & worldwide", while Borjan Canev, former assistant conductor to Davis, said "thank you for being my inspiration".[60]
- ^ Blyth, p. 4
- ^ a b c d e f g "Davis, Sir Colin (Rex)", Who's Who, 2010, A & C Black, 2010; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2009, accessed 9 January 2010
- ^ Gramophone, December 1967, p. 39
- ^ a b c Nice, David (14 April 2013). "Sir Colin Davis obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
- ^ Blyth, pp. 6–8
- ^ Blyth, p. 8
- ^ Blyth, pp. 9–10
- ^ Blyth, p. 10
- ^ Ivan Hewett (2013-04-15). "Sir Colin Davis: from angry young firebrand to wise elder statesman". Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-12-25.
- ^ Blyth, p. 11
- ^ Heyworth, Peter, "Best Since Beecham", The Observer, 6 September 1959, p. 23
- ^ "Outstanding Don Giovanni under Mr. Colin Davis", The Times, 19 October 1959, p. 6
- ^ "Schwarzkopf dominant in concert version of Don Giovanni", The Guardian, 20 October 1959, p. 7
- ^ "Mozart Genius at its Peak", The Times, 29 July 1960, p. 13
- ^ Heyworth, Peter. "Disenchanted Flute", The Observer, 31 July 1960, p. 18
- ^ The Times, 3 August 1960, p. 5
- ^ Blyth, p. 13
- ^ a b c d "Colin Davis", Grove's Dictionary, Oxford Music Online, accessed 9 January 2009
- ^ a b Blyth, p. 21
- ^ Rupert Christiansen (2013-04-15). "Sir Colin Davis and his stormy career in opera". Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-12-25.
- ^ a b c "Davis, Colin", Naxos.com, accessed 10 January 2010
- ^ "Sir Colin Davis". Telegraph. 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2014-12-25.
- ^ a b Orga, p. 158
- ^ a b Cox, p. 192
- ^ Orga, p. 166
- ^ Blyth, p. 16
- ^ a b Haltrecht, p. 101
- ^ a b c d Canning, Hugh. "Forget the booing, remember the triumph", The Guardian, 19 July 1986, p. 11
- ^ Royal Opera House programme booklets for 30 September 1983, 3 April 1970, 2 December 1970, 6 December 1972, 11 July 1977 and 7 October 1985
- ^ Gramophone, July 1981, p. 23
- ^ 26 July 1977, p. 9
- ^ The Times, 25 July 1977, p. 9; and 26 July 1977, p. 9
- ^ Morrison, p. 217.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mackenzie, Lennox, "50 years with Sir Colin Davis", LSO.co.uk, accessed 10 January 2010 Archived 30 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "The Staatskapelle Dresden mourns the death of its Conductor Laureate, Sir Colin Davis" (Press release). Staatskapelle Dresden. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 2014-12-25.
- ^ LSO concert programme booklet, 9 January 2007
- ^ LSO concert programme booklet, 21 June 2009
- ^ LSO concert programme note, 1 October 2009
- ^ "Schirmherr: Sir Colin Davis". Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. accessed 30 October 2011
- ^ "Colin Davis Fellowship", Royal Academy of Music, accessed 10 January 2017
- ^ TZ 130 cover notes
- ^ "Discography", Blyth, pp. 60–61
- ^ Gramophone, February 1996, p. 8
- ^ Gramophone, May 1970, p. 84
- ^ Gramophone, November 1966, p. 77. It was produced by Mercury Records' Harold Lawrence and recorded by Philips engineer Hans Lauterslager using the Mercury 3-spaced-omni mic technique, called "M3" by Philips. See Lauterslager, Hans: presentation at Audio Engineering Society Amsterdam 2008 Historical Event. Presentation included listing of Philips M3 recording sessions. The recording was reissued on CD by Philips in the 1990s as a 2-CD set in the "Duo" series.
- ^ Gramophone, June 1982, p. 33
- ^ Gramophone, December 1995, p. 75
- ^ "No. 43529". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1964. p. 10.
- ^ "No. 48059". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 January 1980. p. 288. accessed 15 September 2009
- ^ "No. 56237". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2001. p. 5.
- ^ The Official Website of the British Monarchy, accessed 11 January 2010
- ^ a b Norris, Geoffrey, "Sir Colin Davis: Knit one, purl one, conduct one", The Daily Telegraph, 15 May 2008
- ^ O'Mahony, John. "Calm after the storm", The Guardian, 21 September 2002
- ^ "Joseph Wolfe"' Classical Source, accessed 29 January 2012
- ^ Service, Tom. "Sir Colin Davis: 'You are of no account whatsoever'", The Guardian, 12 May 2011
- ^ Greg Cahill (2013-04-15). "Sir Colin Davis, 1927-2013". Strings. Retrieved 2014-12-25.
- ^ Sir Colin Davis 1927–2013, LSO.co.uk, accessed 14 April 2013
- ^ Schwirtz, Michael (14 April 2013). "Sir Colin Davis, British Conductor, Dies at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
- ^ "Conductor Sir Colin Davis dies". BBC News. 14 April 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
- ^ "London Symphony Orchestra president Sir Colin Davis dies, aged 85". London Evening Standard. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
- Blyth, Alan (1972). Colin Davis. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 675416.
- Cox, David (1980). The Henry Wood Proms. London: BBC. ISBN 0-563-17697-0.
- Haltrecht, Montague (1975). The Quiet Showman: Sir David Webster and the Royal Opera House. London: Collins. ISBN 0-00-211163-2.
- Morrison, Richard (2004). Orchestra – The LSO: A Century of Triumph and Turbulence. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0571215843.
- Orga, Ateş (1974). The Proms. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. OCLC 1121308.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Colin Davis. |
- Colin Davis at AllMusic
- Colin Davis discography at Discogs
- Colin Davis on IMDb
- Morrison, Richard. "Monarch of all he's survived", Profile of Davis at 80 – The Times, 21 September 2007
- The Hector Berlioz Website, page on Sir Colin Davis
- The Hector Berlioz Website, page on discography of Sir Colin Davis, compiled by Malcolm Walker and Brian Godfrey
This article uses material from the article Colin Davis from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.


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Update db
Fragment of a discussion from User talk:Wmat
Well, it's not that simple. We are hosted for free by OSUOSL. They are currently in the process of retiring the db server we're using. They're looking into what version of MariaDB is on the new server that we'll be migrating to.
Can you tell me exactly what the feature is that makes the 10.0 series faster? I'm not hearing any complaints about speed.


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Notice Number: NOT-OD-08-030
Key Dates
Release Date: January 4, 2008
Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov/)
EFFECTIVE DATE: The newly revised Continuation Progress Report for a DHHS Public Health Service Grant (PHS 2590, rev. 11/07) instructions and forms are now available and will be accepted immediately. All progress reports received on or after March 1, 2008 must use the new instructions and forms. During the transition period the previous version (interim revision 04/2006) will continue to be available, and progress reports using the previous version will be accepted through February 29, 2008.
The newly revised instructions and forms are available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm. The forms available on the website continue to be provided in two formats MS Word and PDF-fillable using Adobe Acrobat Reader Software. Free Adobe Software may be accessed at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. Applicants are strongly encouraged to access the instructions and forms via the Internet because they provide valuable links to current policy documents and allow easy navigation of the instructions. For further information, contact firstname.lastname@example.com.
Please read the instructions carefully. This edition of the PHS 2590 implements a number of important policy changes, including NIH Policy for Sharing of Data Obtained in NIH-Supported or Conducted Genome-Wide Association Studies, and registration of clinical trials in ClinicalTrials.gov as required by Public Law 110-85.
One significant change to the PHS 2590 is the business process for submission of the continuation progress report. As of March 1, 2008, only the signed original continuation progress report is required to be submitted to the centralized mailing address (No additional copies required).
The additional changes are highlighted below.
Notable Changes to the PHS 2590 Instructions (rev. 11/07):
Implementation of Grants.Gov Terminology
As part of the ongoing effort to keep the PHS 2590, 398 and the SF424 (R&R) synchronized, new terminology is implemented in the PHS2590:
Non-Competing Continuation Progress Report |
Continuation Progress Report |
Competing/Administrative Supplement |
Revision application |
Principal Investigator |
Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) |
Key Personnel |
Senior/key Personnel |
Performance site |
Project/performance site |
Duly authorized representative |
Authorized Organizational Representative |
Instruction modifications
Instructions for Career Development Award Applications
Institutional Research Training Application Including Ruth L. Kirschstein-NRSA Applications
Registration Reminders
Progress Report Narrative for T's and K s
Changes of note to specific form and format pages:
Face Page
Project/Performance Site Format Page
Checklist Page (Form Page 6)
Inquires about preparing a specific progress report should be directed to the program official and/or grants management specialist of the awarding institute or center.
Inquiries on any changes to the forms and instructions may be directed to:
Grants Info
Office of Extramural Research
National Institutes of Health
Telephone: 301-945-7573
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
I decided to do two versions of Macaroons using a couple of unusual ingredients.
Dividing the basic recipe into two, one batch will be flavoured with a newish product on the market "Vanilla Bean Paste". If you'd had to scrap vanilla pods before you'll understand how good this is. You get those oh-so-desired tiny little seeds without the effort.
The second will be flavoured using Green & Black's Organic Hot Chocolate with Orange and spice - a change for using plain cocoa.
Basic Macaroon Recipe
2 cups desiccated coconut
½ cup sugar
2 egg whites
I had thought of piping these but the mixture is way too firm so I made tiny bite sized rounds, about one inch/2.5cm in diameter.
In the close up you can see the tell-tale speckles of vanilla bean.
My inspiration for this, well, it's nearing Valentines Day, so with chocolate you must have hearts...
To cut the shapes I ended up tipping the mix onto baking paper and pressing it down with a fork so it would bind, then I used a normal cookie cutter to cut out the shapes - be careful lifting them, use a flat bladed spatula and they will hold together
Cook as per the recipe and Voila!
And the taste: Chewy centers and a nice crispness on the edges. The flavourings come through in both Macaroons.


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Introducing: Edulis, Michael Caballo and Tobey Nemeth's reinvention of Niagara Street Café
After more than a decade in the neighbourhood, the well-loved Niagara Street Café has been reborn as Edulis. The restaurant's Twitter bio says, "Crafted with love," and while the whole love-as-actual-ingredient thing is surely overdone, it rings true in this case. Everything about the place, from husband-and-wife owners Michael Caballo and Tobey Nemeth, is an ode to some version of love or another: love of family, love of Europe and of course, love of mushrooms—the place takes its name from the Latin for porcini.
For chef Caballo, this is a homecoming—back to Toronto from world travels and back into a kitchen where he was executive chef from 2005 to 2008 for former owner Anton Potvin. "We've been stockpiling stuff—antique botanical prints of hens and mushrooms, ideas and recipes—for 15 years, all towards this dream," says Nemeth, who, although also a chef of some renown herself (Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar), has opted to manage the front of house. Caballo's right-hand man is sous chef Chris Sinopoli (another JK Wine Bar alum), and between the two of them, everything is made in-house, from scratch, from mostly local ingredients (except of course, the European treats that just aren't grown here, like small-grove olive oil and fragrant black truffles).
The 33-seat room's changes have been largely cosmetic, transforming the space from romantic, Bohemian bistro to something reminiscent of a little gem stumbled across in a Spanish fishing village: marble tabletops, white walls, beautifully scuffed leather banquettes, blue and white gingham napkins, hand-painted Spanish tiles. The second floor is reserved for private events, and the bare bones 30-seat patio is a project for next season.
The food is, as Nemeth describes it, "relaxed, but crafted with a view to fine technique and ingredients." The menu is unlike what most Toronto diners are accustomed to, with a single page listing dishes in a free-flowing style, not broken down into courses. Some dishes are intended for sharing, like a whole roasted Chantecler chicken with alfalfa hay that's carved table-side by Caballo ($60), while others are a little smaller, like house-made rabbit butifara sausage with porcini mushrooms on toast with a creamed pine nut vinaigrette ($12). But what they really want diners to do is trust them: order the Carte Blanche ($50), and you've given Caballo the green light to send you five to seven courses of whatever he's loving that day. "We encourage that," says Nemeth, "it's the best way to experience the menu and it's the way we like to eat. Just have fun, talk and the food keeps coming."
Edulis, 169 Niagara St., 416-703-4222, edulisrestaurant.com, @EdulisToronto, facebook.com/EdulisToronto


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Transparent Proxy and Redirection with LINUX 2.2
- Transparent Proxy and Redirection with LINUX 2.2
- User-Space Redirection--The Illusion of the Facade
- Transparent Proxy Support--Slight of Hand
- Kernel Port Forwarding--High Wizardry
Redirection of IP Traffic—Smoke and Mirrors
This article is about methods to take traffic headed to one destination and point it toward a different destination, without the sender (and sometimes the receiver) being aware that any such activity is taking place. The action doesn't necessarily have to be covert; it may be the only way to allow access from the outside to systems inside a masquerading firewall. Redirection options run the gamut from simple user-space processes to kernel firewalling rules, a combination of these two, and then finally some more complex kernel rules that perform reverse masquerading. This article covers each of these with an example.


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Welcome to Easterseals South Georgia. Since our founding in 1957, we have been dedicated to ensuring that all people living with disabilities or special needs and their families have equal opportunities to live, learn, work, and play.
Our mission is to provide exceptional services, education, outreach, and advocacy so that people living with disabilities can reach their full potential and enjoy a life filled with possibilities. We envision a society where inclusion knows no bounds, where individuals with disabilities are celebrated for their unique abilities, and where everyone can thrive without limitations.
Compassion, inclusivity, and advocacy are at the core of everything we do. We believe that every person deserves to be seen, heard, and valued for their unique abilities. Our person-centered approach ensures that we provide individualized support, recognizing the diverse needs and aspirations of each individual we serve. Through our relentless advocacy efforts, we strive to break down barriers and promote a society that embraces and celebrates everyone.
Wednesday, February 28, 2024, 1:50 PM
By Mike Ervin Every once in a while, I have what I call a "green-bus nightmare": I'm out…
By Mike Ervin
Every once in a while, I have what I call a "green-bus nightmare": I'm out and about and all of a sudden, a public transit bus goes by and it's painted green and there are three big steps inside the front door — so it's inaccessible as hell for someone who uses a wheelchair, like me.
The public transit buses in Chicago are much different today. They're painted white, red and blue and inside the front door is a ramp that flips out onto the curb when the driver flips a switch so a wheelchair user can roll right in.
So in my nightmare, I'm mad as a hornet when I see the green bus go by. I say to myself, "What the hell is this? I thought those inaccessible buses were long gone!"
And then I wake up and realize it was just a bad dream.
But that's how things were in Chicago prior to 1990, when the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. The ADA requires that all public transit buses put into service must be wheelchair accessible. But without any federal mandate like that, there wasn't a single accessible bus in the street fleet of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). You can imagine how frustrating that was for anyone who didn't have the physical ability to board CTA buses. It was as if the CTA system didn't even exist. To give people today some context on that situation, I ask people to imagine that the entire CTA system is suddenly and indefinitely shut down! How would that impact their lives? How would they get around? How isolated, abandoned and angry would they feel?
This is why I became an activist. I graduated from college in 1978 and I was living with my mother and sister in the house in which I was raised. The house was on a main street and a green CTA bus passed by several times a day. Come about 1983 or so, I began hearing word-of-mouth tales from other disabled folks about a group of disabled activists in Denver, Colorado who called themselves American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT). There were public transit buses with wheelchair lifts in operation in Denver mostly because ADAPT organized aggressive protests where people in wheelchairs did things like surround inaccessible buses that were on the street waiting at intersections. The protesters wouldn't move for several hours so the bus couldn't move either. And sometimes ADAPTers even got arrested for protesting like that.
Right around that same time, a man from Chicago named Kent Jones, who used a wheelchair, went to Denver to attend an ADAPT organizing training for people from around the country. When he returned, he called a meeting for the purpose of organizing a local chapter of ADAPT.
I attended the meeting because I was mad. Hearing about the exploits of Denver ADAPT forever changed my perspective on those green buses that passed my house daily. I now saw them as an essential public facility as much as city hall or the library. Thus, I was mad at myself that I wasn't as mad a lot sooner as I was now about what the inaccessibility of that public facility meant. It meant that if I wanted to go somewhere, I either had to spend a lot of money purchasing a vehicle and adapting it to be accessible, spend a lot of money hiring an accessible vehicle such as a med-i-car, to take me there or just forget about it and not go. But if my neighbors who weren't wheelchair users wanted to go somewhere, all they had to do was wait at the bus stop. And that meant that those who designed the CTA thought that disabled people like me never could or should use it.
The ADAPT principle of direct-action protest says that you take your demands directly to the person or entity that has the power to meet your demands. In our case, that was the seven-member CTA board of directors. Four are appointed by the mayor of Chicago and three are appointed by the governor of Illinois.
So for our first action, we attended one of their monthly public board meetings where all of their decisions are made. We presented our demands and the first one was that every bus that they ordered from now on must be equipped with a wheelchair lift. We disrupted the meeting with chanting and noisemakers to demonstrate our resolve.
But the CTA board voted unanimously not to include lifts on any new buses. So we continued disrupting their meetings, blocking traffic in our wheelchairs so buses couldn't get through and staging similarly aggressive but nonviolent protests. Sometimes we got arrested. We also pursued a discrimination lawsuit against the CTA with the help of pro-bono lawyers.
The lawsuit eventually went to trial and in January of 1988, the judge who presided over the trial ruled that CTA illegally discriminated against the disabled under state law by not having any mainline accessibility. Shortly after that, the CTA board, which now had a member who was a wheelchair user who was an ardent ADAPT supporter and had been appointed by Mayor Hafold Washington, voted 6-1 to equip future buses with wheelchair lifts.
And shortly after that, the ADA was signed.
When I reflect on all this, I feel our campaign to make public transit accessible was motivated by love — love for ourselves as people with disabilities and love for the disabled community. It's true that we simply wanted more freedom to travel independently. But there was much more to it than that. It was so important to us because we were insulted that we were being denied a basic freedom just because we were disabled. We loved and respected ourselves and each other too much to accept the notion that we deserved and should settle for less because of our disabilities. We deserved to be accommodated and included and we wouldn't take no for an answer.
We also hoped that bringing about this change would pay dividends far into the future, not just by making it easier for further generators of disabled people to get from one place to another but by lessening the debilitating sting of disability stigma, which is so often used to rationalize exclusion. The more we are a natural element of the daily routines of people whose lives aren't affected by disability, the less they will be inclined to believe that we don't deserve to be among them. And hopefully that has made and will make it easier for others to break down the many other walls of disability segregation.
A famous quote by Che Guevara is, "the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality."
Regardless of one's opinion of Che Guevara, he was sure right about that.
Mike Ervin is a writer and disability-rights activist living in Chicago. He is a columnist for the Progressive magazine and writes the blog Smart Ass Cripple.
Monday, February 19, 2024, 1:41 PM
By Andrea Jennings Community Love: Cultural Humility and Accessible Solutions In the tapestry of hu…
By Andrea Jennings
In the tapestry of human experience, accessibility is intertwined with love, shaping the fabric of a compassionate and inclusive society. One example is disability justice advocate Mia Mingus, who coined the term "access intimacy," which describes the feeling when someone who is not necessarily from the disabled community understands your access needs.
As February unfolds with the celebration of Valentine's Day, it's an opportune time to reflect on how we all share love, express love, and foster accessibility, extending the significance beyond mere observance to embody a lifestyle of inclusion, cultural humility, and genuine care.
From childhood, I was fortunate to learn the true essence of love from my mother, particularly during Valentine's Day. It wasn't just about exchanging chocolates and flowers and embodying Agape love—selfless, unconditional, and inclusive. My mother's teachings transcended romantic notions, emphasizing the importance of spreading love beyond our immediate circles. Together, we embarked on a tradition of making Valentine's cards for friends and everyone in my class, ensuring no one felt left out. This act of kindness extended to our family members, neighbors, and anyone who crossed our path. Through these gestures, my mother instilled in me the belief that love knows no bounds and should be shared generously with all.
Reflecting on my upbringing, I realize the parallels between love, accessibility, and cultural humility. Accessibility is not merely a privilege or favor but a fundamental aspect of humanity. Just as we wouldn't frame love as a favor granted to select individuals, accessibility should not be viewed as something we should be grateful for. It is a basic human need and a right for all individuals.
Fostering accessibility is a manifestation of love in action. It removes physical, social, and systemic barriers that hinder full societal participation. Whether implementing wheelchair ramps, providing signage, or offering assistive technologies, accessibility ensures everyone has equity and equal opportunities to engage, participate, and succeed.
Cultural humility serves as a crucial aspect of fostering accessibility and inclusion. It empowers us to recognize our own biases and privileges while actively seeking to respect the experiences of others. By approaching interactions with humility, openness, and a willingness to learn, we create spaces where diversity is celebrated and everyone feels valued and included.
In addition to advocating for ourselves, Disabled individuals often face micro aggressive comments and assumptions when it comes to romantic relationships. Society's narrow perceptions of disability can lead to intrusive questions and misguided beliefs about the nature of our relationships.
Microaggressions can manifest in various forms, such as asking personal questions that would not be directed at non-disabled individuals or making assumptions about the dynamics of our relationships based on our disabilities. For example, comments like "you're so lucky to have a partner despite your disability" overlook the possibility that both partners contribute equally to the relationship or that the non-disabled partner may also benefit from the relationship.
These microaggressions not only perpetuate harmful stereotypes but also undermine the autonomy and agency of disabled individuals in romantic relationships. Instead of being seen as capable of experiencing love and intimacy on their own terms, disabled individuals are often objectified or pitied, reinforcing the notion of their otherness.
Challenging these microaggressions in our community and the media requires a commitment to dismantling ableism and fostering genuine inclusivity in all aspects of society. Changing those perceptions is one way we shift paradigms.
Advocating for ourselves in a world that often overlooks or dismisses our needs can be exhausting. Not only do we face external barriers to accessibility, but we also frequently find ourselves in the position of having to justify our disabilities and access requirements. This constant need to explain and defend our existence can affect our mental and emotional well-being.
While advocating for our rights and pushing against the status quo, it's crucial to remember the importance of self-love. This means being kind and compassionate to ourselves. Self-love entails acknowledging our worthiness and deservingness of respect and accommodation without needing to justify or apologize for our disabilities.
While in college, I asked for a specific accommodation, and that instructor replied, "oh yes, I know you want this to be easy-peasy." Not only was this comment unnecessary, but it was condescending in nature and an example of microaggression that I often encountered. After these constant assumptions, it is important to remind ourselves of our worth.
Embracing self-love while advocating for ourselves is an act of self-preservation and a radical resistance against ableism and discrimination. It allows us to reclaim our narratives and assert our agency in spaces that often seek to marginalize us and not recognize our autonomy. Advocating for accessibility and recognizing our independence becomes pivotal in this context.
Self-love also involves setting boundaries and prioritizing our well-being. It means recognizing when to rest and recharge and not feeling guilty for prioritizing self-care.
Integrating the understanding of the spoon theory offers valuable insight into managing energy levels for those with chronic illnesses or disabilities, reinforcing the importance of self-care and advocating for our well-being. Within this framework, acknowledging the nature of energy reserves and learning to pace activities enables individuals to prioritize their well-being and cultivate a sustainable approach to self-care.
Moreover, self-love empowers us to challenge internalized ableism and embrace our disabilities as integral parts of our identities. Instead of viewing our disabilities as something we need to change, we can celebrate them as unique aspects of who we are and understand it is the barriers that need to change. This allows us to embrace our authenticity and cultivate a sense of empowerment and pride in ourselves.
In conclusion, prioritizing accessibility and cultivating love in various spheres — community love, romantic love, and self-love — is vital for fostering inclusivity and empowerment. By collectively prioritizing accessibility, challenging microaggressions, and promoting nurturing self-compassion, we construct a world where every individual's worth and uniqueness are celebrated.
Andrea Jennings, M.Mus., is a Disability & Accessibility Strategist, Actress, and filmmaker passionate about music, law, and entertainment. Her journey led to creating Shifting Creative Paradigms – Leveling The Playing Field® Multi-Media Production Co., advocating for social justice through Disability culture, film, music, and art. Her work has graced prestigious platforms like Park Avenue Armory, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Rutgers University. Her work is also recognized in Forbes, Billboard Magazine, The Atlantic Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and The New York Times.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024, 11:15 AM
By Alicia Krage Since moving in with my boyfriend last year, I've thought a lot about the various wa…
By Alicia Krage
Since moving in with my boyfriend last year, I've thought a lot about the various ways I can show love, especially around this time of year. We're often thinking about love this month as Valentine's Day approaches.
I've learned that showing love, especially in a relationship, could mean accommodating your partner's disability, or learning how your disability coincides with your relationship. It's important to create a space of acceptance and inclusion while also addressing the other person's access needs. It's in these simple acts that I feel show the most love because it addresses that, yes, we are both blind, but this doesn't have to be a defining factor — as people or as part of our relationship. This comes into play when planning trips, too. For example, Juan and I are taking a trip to San Antonio in a few months and, while it's not a far trip, it's our first solo trip together. This means making accessible travel plans, as well as researching accessible touristy activities we can do. Juan is really into artsy things, so we're looking into tactile art museums that we'd be able to enjoy. I think dating with a disability allows us all to become open minded about different ways of doing things and different accommodations that can be made.
This could apply to platonic relationships as well, which is something I've thought about immensely since relocating from Chicago to Houston. I remember a conversation I had with my mom on my last night in my hometown. She asked me what I was most nervous about, and the answer came easily: "Making friends. Because making friends as an adult is hard." Almost a year later, I realize that wasn't anything I needed to worry about.
Aside from the friends I'd made during previous visits, I only have a few new friends here, but that's okay. I like my circle small.
I met my closest friend Desiree at a book club. I found it on Facebook, actually, because how else do people meet outside of college or work? I didn't know. She posted asking if anyone was interested in joining one, so I responded. We messaged here and there and swapped numbers. Closer to the date of the first meeting, I told her that I'm blind and please look out for me during the first meeting because I wouldn't know where to find anyone. Unphased, she said, "Absolutely! I'll help in any way I can!"
Since then, our friendship grew outside of book club and evolved into constant texting, exchanging book recommendations and exploring various local coffee shops and going out for the occasional brunch. I know it seems trivial to say, but I've never felt like "her blind friend." I'm just her friend who needs help sometimes. She'll let me know what type of place we're going to — if you just walk up to the counter and order or if it's a sit-down place — in case I arrive first. If we're going out for a meal, she'll always ask if I need her to read me the menu. When I went to her house the weekend before Valentine's Day for a "Galentine's Day" get-together, we played games, but they were simple enough that I could definitely participate. I constantly feel loved in our friendship because she has always provided me a space to be myself, to advocate for my needs without feeling like I'm asking for too much, and meeting my access needs.
My family has always been good at this, too. It's in the way they adapt card games if necessary, or plan accessible activities during family vacations. They also recently started activating audio description when we watch TV shows or movies. My mom always said that the people audio describing know what information is important, so it's better to have that feature turned on. I felt weird about it at first because I thought it would annoy them and it would be hard for them to tune out. But they assured me several times that they didn't mind. And so that's how we've been doing things.
I'm fortunate to feel so loved in all of my relationships — romantic, platonic, and familial — because my blindness has been something to accommodate at times but nothing that has ever felt like an inconvenience. And I've learned that those are the people you surround yourself with. Enjoying time with family comes easy because I know it's second nature to them to adapt things.
Enjoying time with friends, old and new, comes easily because they'll accommodate me too, and if they are new to this and don't know how, they'll ask. I've assured them that if they ever have questions about my blindness, it's always okay to ask. I can't expect them to provide a safe space for me if I don't do the same for them. By providing a safe space for them to ask questions, they do so and accommodate as necessary — and provide a safe space for me, too.
All of this has taught me what love really is. A lot of people think acts of love are these big, grand gestures showcased in TV shows, movies, and books, but it's those little things that really matter. I used to be stuck in that comparison trap in relationships and wanting my partner to show me the kind of love I read about, or saw in all those rom-coms, but I've learned to stop looking for that because that's all fiction. And I've learned to truly appreciate those who show love in the disabled community by educating themselves on our disability, whether someone is blind, deaf or hard-of-hearing, uses a wheelchair, etc. I have friends with all types of disabilities which helps me understand what love is to them, too. It's educating and asking questions, wanting to learn. It's learning their story and any accommodations they may need if you choose to meet up, and making things accessible to them. It's finding audio described media, or wheelchair accessible restaurants, or providing the closed-captioning headset in movie theaters. There are many ways to show love to people with disabilities, and it's often in the smallest ways that mean the most.
Alicia Krage is a graduate of Northern Illinois University. She relocated to Houston, Texas in early 2023 where she found a great community of people with disabilities. She has a passion for writing, centering her posts on advocacy, inclusivity, and relationships as a totally blind person.
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Tuesday, January 30, 2024, 11:19 AM
By Andrea Jennings Accessible transportation serves as the lifeline for many individuals, fostering …
By Andrea Jennings
Accessible transportation serves as the lifeline for many individuals, fostering connections to communities, enabling access to essential services, and promoting independence. We will explore the impact of an accessible transportation process for all and the importance of accessible design in transportation services, from booking transportation, accessible drop-off and pick-up locations, and seamless connections to arriving at destinations with undamaged mobility aids.
As someone who uses multiple mobility aids, I have experienced the impact of navigating different modes of transportation with different mobility aids. I use leg braces, canes, and walkers, depending on my muscle weakness and fatigue level. I often use a wheelchair for traveling as it preserves my energy and reduces my risk of falling. I vividly recall a journey emphasizing the importance of an accessible, seamless transition for transportation. On my way to an essential conference in my industry to connect me to my peers and the community, I faced barriers due to a lack of communication between the transportation company's staff members.
Boarding the train, my intended mode of transportation for that day, was accessible, but connecting to a bus ride through that carrier posed potential barriers. Once I exited the train to transfer to the bus, I could not find any clear instructions or signage to tell me where I could safely wait for the connecting bus and where the bus would arrive. If it had not been for my personal care attendant, who could track down staff members eventually, I might have missed the bus. I should have been able to travel independently with accessibility procedures integrated into the process of transferring from the same carrier's train to their bus connection. This process could be more seamless, benefiting everyone. This is a great time to mention that hiring persons with lived experience in leadership positions as executives is essential to ensure that different perspectives are included when planning or restructuring designs. Accessible transportation ensures that individuals can move from one mode to another effortlessly and facilitates a sense of connection within the community.
A colleague and friend, project manager Ushonda Wilson, highlighted a significant issue within accessible share rides – time constraints. Ushonda explained that she had to leave a work-related community event early because her mode of transportation, which included a train and a ride-share service, only ensured accessible services up to a specific time of day. Time restraints create barriers because Ushonda was excluded from full participation in an important work-community and career-enhancing event. While some of these ride-share services are cost effective, these services often impose strict time limits, hindering individuals with disabilities from thoroughly enjoying community or career-related events. By shedding light on these limitations, we can advocate for more flexible and inclusive policies allowing everyone to travel to work and participate in community activities without undue restrictions.
Ride-share services play a pivotal role in accessible transportation. Well-defined drop-off and pick-up stations make a significant difference in the effectiveness of these services. Clear signage ensures that designated areas highlight and promote a smooth, accessible, stress-free travel experience.
While waiting for transportation, shelter and safety provisions are integral to the transportation experience. Covered waiting areas protect from the elements, ensuring that rain or harsh weather conditions do not become barriers to accessibility. Again, this is a feature everyone can benefit from; extreme weather conditions aggravate many disabilities. By addressing these concerns, we create an environment that prioritizes the well-being of all passengers.
A key aspect of accessible transportation is ensuring that the drivers and the entire staff, internally and externally, are well trained to address accessibility measures successfully and adequately assist individuals with disabilities. This training should encompass awareness of different disabilities, sensitivity to diverse access requirements as we are not a monolith, and the ability to identify and support passengers requiring additional assistance beyond compliance. Design improvements that allow us to stay in or use our mobility aids or provide the proper storage of our mobility aids while on board is crucial. There are too many instances where mobility aids have been damaged during travel. These changes not only affect our connection to the community because we fear traveling due to the concern of our mobility aids being damaged, but this affects our health and can be a matter of life and death, as it did in the case of Disability advocate Engracia Figueroa. By doing so, transportation providers create a more accessible and inclusive experience for all.
Contingency plans are essential in the realm of accessible transportation. Companies should establish protocols for unexpected situations, ensuring that individuals with disabilities are not left stranded or facing undue difficulties. A solution is to address unforeseen challenges such as vehicle breakdowns, road closures, or any other disruptions that may impact the smooth operation of services. Also, disseminate these contingency plans in an accessible format in plain language for all to comprehend.
In addition to transportation companies, various industries play a role in ensuring accessibility. Hotels offering shuttle services, public transportation agencies, and other service providers must invest in training their staff on properly addressing and integrating accessibility throughout their company's infrastructure. This approach extends the principles of accessible transportation beyond the vehicles themselves, creating a holistic and supportive environment for all.
Accessible transportation is not merely about convenience; it is a gateway to employment opportunities and essential services. For many individuals with disabilities, reliable transportation is the key to accessing workplaces, medical facilities, and educational institutions. By highlighting the role of accessible transportation in connecting people to these vital aspects of life, we underscore its broader societal impact.
A universal design approach to accessible transportation benefits society as a whole. Ramps, wider aisles, and other accessibility features make transportation more human centered and user friendly for all, including parents with strollers, aging adults, and individuals with temporary injuries. Embracing universal design principles enhances the overall accessibility of transportation systems and reinforces the idea that inclusivity benefits everyone.
Perhaps the most profound impact of accessible transportation is the independence it provides. By removing barriers to mobility, these services empower everyone to lead more fulfilling lives, participate actively in their communities, and pursue opportunities that were previously out of reach. Accessible transportation is a service and a catalyst for our future, prioritizing accessibility and serving all communities.
As we work towards a more accessible future, let us recognize how accessible transportation is vital in enriching lives and strengthening the bonds within every community. Accessible transportation is not just a means of getting from point A to point B; it is the lifeline that connects individuals to their communities.
By prioritizing accessible design in all aspects of transportation, from the moment a person books their travel to the moment they arrive at their destination, we can create an accessible and inclusive transportation system that helps all connect to their communities.
The journey toward accessibility requires ongoing collaboration, communication, and a commitment to creating a more connected, inclusive, and accessible society.
Andrea Jennings, M.Mus., is a Disability & Accessibility Strategist, Actress, and filmmaker passionate about music, law, and entertainment. Her journey led to creating Shifting Creative Paradigms – Leveling The Playing Field® Multi-Media Production Co., advocating for social justice through Disability culture, film, music, and art. Her work has graced prestigious platforms like Park Avenue Armory, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Rutgers University. Her work is also recognized in Forbes, Billboard Magazine, The Atlantic Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and The New York Times.
Thursday, January 25, 2024, 1:24 PM
By Mids Meinberg The United States is a car-centered culture. While increasing work-from-home and de…
By Mids Meinberg
The United States is a car-centered culture. While increasing work-from-home and delivery options do increase the viability of staying at home, there are still a wide variety of tasks that require a person to leave the home. In most of the country, leaving the home means driving to reach that other location. Many disabled people, including myself, are unable to drive because of our disabilities. This cuts us off from so many aspects of culture and life and forces dependence on others for many vital aspects of survival, like medical visits.
The idea of the "walkable city" has become an increasingly popular discussion in online spaces. Essentially, a walkable city is a way of building communities so that all necessary facilities for employment, survival, and entertainment can be reached within a fifteen-minute walk from any given residence. These sorts of integrated communities are more common in Europe. When I lived in a German village, for instance, I was able to reach anything within that village with a short walk, despite living on its outskirts, ranging from cafes to bakeries to the village center. Perhaps more importantly though, I could easily get to a bus stop.
Making walkable cities would require vast overhauls in zoning regulations and existing infrastructure and is not an especially likely outcome, at least in the short term. More achievable, though, is enhanced public transit networks. Where I live now in the suburbs of New Jersey, an area unusually dense in public-transit options for the suburbs, I am a three-mile walk away from the nearest public node, and that is too far for me to be able to walk — even if the route from my home to that bus stop was safe for pedestrians, which it is not!
Denser public transit nodes might be more expensive for municipalities, but the benefits they offer for all citizens cannot be understated. Cars are extremely expensive and force most people to go into heavy debt to acquire one. If people were able to get to where they need to go without driving, then they would be able to more comfortably manage their finances, even for nondisabled people! It is an especially pressing matter for disabled people, though, as a wide variety of disabilities prevent driving.
For me, a combination of low vision and anxiety make driving impossible. For others, mobility disabilities can prevent the ability to drive. Indeed, the high level of danger involved in driving should make people more interested in public transit options to get from place to place. Any degree of driving skill less than master makes the roads less safe for everyone involved, not just the driver. According to a study by the National Library of Medicine, cars are 4 times as likely to have accidents than buses. Serious injuries were twenty-eight times more likely for car users than bus passengers!
In addition to the safety functions, having more buses means fewer vehicles on the road which reduces traffic for everyone. While there are obviously costs involved in expanding a bus network, the benefits far outweigh these costs. Being able to connect to a broader community allows people to live fuller, more engaging lives, not only through access to services but also access to employment. The vast majority of entry-level work positions in the United States require access to regular transportation, which is a major impediment for disabled people finding work.
I personally have struggled to find work thanks to my inability to drive, my inability to access places that would be willing to hire me. While work-from-home (WFH) jobs experienced a surge during the height of the pandemic, workplaces using WFH have begun to decrease in number since then. In addition, WFH jobs almost universally require access to higher education. Entry-level positions for people without a college degree are almost always in person. While many of these positions might be inaccessible for some disabled people, there are plenty (like basic office jobs) that most disabled people can do, but only if they could get to the office.
Larger cities typically already have some public-transit networks in place, but even these networks could become more broadly accessible. The subways of New York City are infamous for their expansiveness but also their corresponding complexity. Simpler or more abstract subway maps could be helpful in increasing navigability for people who struggle to understand the existing map. In addition, almost every subway station in New York City is not wheelchair accessible, blocking wheelchair users from using them safely or at all. While there are some subway stations with elevators, these elevators frequently break down due to lack of maintenance.
Similar problems exist in other cities with subways or elevated rails. In addition, some buses can be very complicated in using their wheelchair accessible functions, to the point that some bus drivers are not educated in their function. Expanding awareness and demonstrating usage of the ramp and lift functions would go a long way in helping to make sure that wheelchair users are more integrated into our pubic transit networks.
Trolley systems can be a functional alternative to subways or elevated rail, and since they don't require a change in elevation, they are inherently more accessible. That said, trolley lines do take up space on the road, and thus are less traffic efficient than subways or elevated rails. They are relatively rare as well, with buses tending to fill in for the same role. Trolleys, despite their lack of flexibility, are even safer than buses, are quieter, and pull power from the grid rather than requiring fuel, making them significantly more cost effective in the long run. Urban spaces with larger land area could truly benefit from the inclusion of trolleys into their public transit networks.
When I lived in Germany, I made several trips to the Hague in The Netherlands as part of my social studies curriculum. The freedom to be able to catch a trolley from just down the block from our hotel and ride it all the way to the centers of commerce and entertainment and culture in the city, along with my classmates, and to feel like I was truly immersed in the city despite not being able to drive, is a treasured memory that I will never forget. Walking down the boardwalk with the frigid air coming off of the North Sea, salty in the early evening air, and knowing that the hotel was a short trip away in a warm trolley was something only available because of the amazing public transit options in the city.
Let's work to make more public transit available for everyone.
Mids Meinberg is a writer and game designer working out of New Jersey. They have an AA in Creative Writing from Brookdale Community College.
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text:
Author: Robert Heinlein
Narrator: Emily Janice Card
Publication Date: 10/1/09
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
[Goodreads | Amazon | Audible]
Blurb (GR): Meet Podkayne Fries, a thoroughly Martian Ms. who thinks that Earth is not really fit for habitation and that humanity evolved on the now-exploded Fifth Planet
Paddy has one goal in life; to be the first female starship captain.She has her strategy all scoped out, and with her determination, looks and I.Q. she'll get there, never you doubt!
But all work and no play would make Poddy a Dull Girl, so when a chance comes her way to travel to distant Earth to Venus witrh her elderly uncle, Paddy jumps at it, even if it does mean having her loathsome little brother along for the trip. Travel, Adventure, the chance to cuddle up (in a nice way) with real spaceship officers and ruthlessly pump their brains- she'll have it all!
What Poddy doesn't know is that "Unca Tom" is more than her warmly supportive relative: he is also the Ambassador Plenipotentiary from Mars to the Three-Planets Conference (travelling not quite incognito enough) and that certain parties will stop at nothing to gain control of his vote -including kidnapping and doing terrible things to sweetly innocent Poddy Fries....
Review: So this was a bit ridiculous. I listened to all five discs rather quickly, as it started out as a fun space story. Then suddenly I was on disc four and thinking to myself, "Sooo, nothing much has happened yet." This book is about creating a world, setting the stage for what could be a cool story about a future female space pilot and then having the main character talk herself out of her ambitions because childbirth and mothering are the most important aspirations for women in the world and blahbitty blah blah blah. Thanks, Robert A. Heinlein, I definitely needed the reminder of how women should act. In case you're reading this review and wondering what kinds of awesome tidbits the main character shares in her journal, they are statements about hiding your intelligence from men, never letting a man see that you are better at anything than he is, and accepting that you should never have aspirations that will hinder your ability to find a man and reproduce for the good of the universe.
This book hints at so many possible plotlines and they go nowhere. The actual plot/action doesn't even start to occur until at least halfway through, probably further. Heinlein hints at a possible romance; it goes nowhere. He describes a lot of planets and governmental structures; it's all irrelevant. He spends the first half of the book on a space journey; it has very little bearing on the overall plot. The book ends more abruptly than any I've ever read. Honestly, this felt like the first part in a serialized story. (Ha! I just looked it up on Wikipedia and the book itself started out as a serialized story.)
Emily Janice Card did a good job voicing the teenage protagonist and her 11-year old genius brother. The side characters, including one or two with southern accents, were distinguishable, which isn't always the case in audiobooks. I do enjoy her narrations but unfortunately, I always keep thinking about her father's politics and it takes me away from the story she's reading. I know this isn't the case for everyone but it IS the case for me, even if she doesn't share the same beliefs. (I don't know one way or the other)
Skip this one unless you're a writer who is looking for a world that was created and then just disregarded. There are lots of ideas to be had here!
2/5 stars