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This post is the first on Root Cellars Rock by the wonderful Lisa & Steve McBride who have been sharing their knowledge and experiences as they cultivate a homesteading lifestyle in St. John's, learning about many things DIY and sustainable. We hope to share more from them in the future! This information was recently distributed as a information packet at a FEASt workshop the McBrides hosted at the St. John's Farmers' Market. Most of the photos are courtesy of Lisa McBride Photography, except where noted.
Making Your Own Homemade Maple Syrup in Newfoundland
Maple syrup conjures up images of towering arboretums in places like Quebec or Vermont, but it's a little known secret that the rugged and hardy maple trees of Newfoundland make darn fine maple syrup. With nothing more than a half dozen maple trees, some old salt beef containers and a handful of 25 cent metal tree taps, you're good to go and can expect to end up with over a dozen bottles of hand made maple syrup. Our harvest of 70 bottles for 2012 will provide us with all the syrup we need for our pancakes, maple grilled salmon, and maple glazed carrots (etc, etc...) all year long!
The tapping process takes about 5% of the raw sap from the tree, this process occurs in late Winter as the tree sends raw sap up to the branches to create leaf buds. The small tap hole will heal over by the next Winter, so making your own maple syrup is both local and fully sustainable & renewable – some of the maple groves in Quebec are centuries old!
Collecting and emptying the 30 or so taps we installed in 2012 took us around an hour and a half a day. The good news is - the sap only runs when it's above freezing. So on all those blustery March mornings when it's blowing snow outside, you're off the hook! You can plan on emptying your buckets 3-4 times a week, but this may be every other day, or it may be consecutively, this is weather and temperature dependent.
- A portable drill or hand drill, with a 7/16-inch drill bit, to drill your tap-holes
- Buckets are required for catching sap (2-4L in size)
- Metal tree taps (we bought ours on eBay for 25 cents each). Don't use plastic taps – the high winds here will blow them right out of the trees!
- A hammer is necessary to drive the taps in
- You can also use a metal slug (called a spile driver) to drive the taps in easier and without the risk of bending them – although as long as you are careful this is not necessary
- For boiling down the sap you will need a candy thermometer (available at bulk barn, etc)
- A large stock pot
- Jam jars or fancy bottles for storing
- You will also need felt for filtering your syrup
The Trees
Identify the trees you want to tap in the summer or fall, while the leaves are on the trees and easy to identify. If you are ever unsure of tree variety/species while you are out drilling, just poke around at the base of the tree. There will be some dried leaves from the fall that you can unfurl and use to ID. With only a little bit of practice it is easy to tell the four main maple species apart just by looking at the bark, which makes it easy year-round.
You can collect maple sap for syrupmaking from ANY AND ALL maple trees. So, if you're not confident in telling trees apart, it doesn't really matter much. Sugar maples (Acer saccharum) are the best choice since they contain about 50% more sugar by volume and thus considerably less sap is needed per bottle, reducing boil time (see leaf example pictures). Red Maple (Acer rubrum, a softwood) is a prolific producer here in Newfoundland since it actually flows at temperatures a little bit below freezing, so your red maples will often run on chilly February days while the rest of your taps are frozen shut. Silver maples (Acer saccharinum) are good producers but we have rarely seen these in St. John's, and they rarely get large enough to tap – the wood is quite brittle and it doesn't seem to stand up to the wind storms as strongly as the other maples do. If you see an Ash-Leafed Maple (Box Elder, Acer negundo), let us know – we haven't seen any. They are apparently quite common in Manitoba.
The Norwegian Maple (Norway Maple, Acer platanoides) seems to be the most common in St John's (it is invasive) and it commonly occupies empty lots and streetsides, since it spreads and reproduces faster than our indigenous maples– this is our third choice but due to availability and size we end up tapping more Norwegians than anything else.
So, to recap, if possible prioritize trees for tapping in this order: Sugar> Red> Norwegian> Silver> Box Elder.
Installing the Taps
Drill your tap holes and install your taps in late February. There is no specific date, it is temperature related. As soon as there are two days in a row that are above freezing, it's time. This year our install date was Feb 22.
To install your taps, drill into the tree an inch and a half (4cm or so), on about a 20 degree upward angle, so the sap can flow downwards out the spout. You'll notice the taphole become wet, clear out the wood shavings from the centre of the hole and hammer tap in. If you are tapping a tree you tapped last year, locate the new tap hole 6 inches away from last year's tap hole.
The Sap
Contrary to what you might expect when you think about tree sap as being amber and sticky, maple sap is a clear liquid that is basically almost entirely water. It flows from the roots of the tree to the branches of the tree, in order for the tree to grow leaf buds in the Spring. The flow can literally gush out of the trees like a dripping faucet, or it can drip very slowly – this depends on a number of factors, which are (in order of relative importance): temperature, hours/intensity of sunlight, air pressure, water pressure (if by a river/stream), and wind pressure. The primary factor that determines whether sap flows or not on any given day is whether it is above freezing or not – below freezing nights and warm temperatures during the day mean a heavy sap flow. Sap is good to use for syrupmaking up until the buds are about to open – bad sap has fermented slightly and is cloudy and whitish looking. When you see cloudy sap, its time to pull your taps.
Newfoundland Syrupmaking vs. The Mainland
There are several differences between syrupmaking in Newfoundland as compared to the mainland
Maple sap flows out from the trees in late winter, when the daily temperature is above freezing and the nightly temperatures are below freezing. On the mainland, this process takes place over 2-3 weeks, or even less – the 2012 season in Ontario was only ten days long! The 'freeze thaw' cycle of St John's means the same sapflow process takes quite a bit longer, in our experience over a period of 4-5 weeks instead.
Newfoundland trees are also quite a bit smaller than their mainland counterparts – this means the yield is a little lower. You can expect to produce 2 bottles of syrup (500ml) per tree per season compared to 3 if you are tapping trees on the mainland.
Interestingly, our older, local trees here often split at the base into two, three, or even up to seven main trunks, due to the shallow soilbase and very high winds. So, when measuring a tree to see if it is of 'tappable' size (10 inches in diameter), find the widest part of the trunk. Sometimes this is very close to the ground or even at ground level before the trunk splits. The best place for your taps is south facing when possible, to maximize sunlight. Choose a spot a few inches below one of the larger branches on the tree, at least three feet off the ground. Keep in mind that when you begin tapping, there is probably several feet of snowpack under you. Don't tap too high, or you might find your taps will be eight feet off the ground when the snow melts!
Another unique phenomenon to NL that can affect your sapflow are ICEBERGS. The change of pressure that results when an iceberg is parked outside of the harbour has a surprising affect on your flow rate. High wind pressure combined with the right temperature will also result in an unusually large sap flow.
Processing the Syrup
Maple sap is almost entirely water (96%!), along with nutrient minerals such as zinc, iron, calcium, manganese, potassium and magnesium, and 2-3% sugar. Maple sap on its own is slightly sweet, but otherwise watery, it's quite delicious on a warm sunny day in March. Native North Americans, and early European settlers, drew maple sap directly from the trees in the early Spring as a subsistence food, as it offered key vitamins missing in a winter diet. Maple syrup is what remains after you boil off a majority of the water (the vitamins all remain, unlike Aunt Jemima, which is simply coloured, salted sugar syrup).
So, to get syrup, 90% or more of what you collect has to go up in steam. This involves a lot of boiling down, and the traditional thing to do is to do it outside, with a woodfire. Being urbanites, we boil ours down on the stove. Be warned! This creates a lot (a lot!) of steam, so you'll need a fan and an open window, and probably a rag to wipe up any condensation. Overall, this is a manageable problem.
Processing the syrup can be done once a week, or even twice a week during the peak of the flow season. Save up your accumulated sapflow in a large food grade barrel/ cooler/ tank, in the fridge or somewhere shady outside, until you're ready to boil down. Raw sap is a little bit like fruit juice – it'll spoil if it's left too long or if it gets too warm for too long, but since it's quite cold out still you can leave your sap outside, in a place away from the sun.
Fill up a large stockpot with clear sap, and get it boiling. Keep adding sap to the pot as the water evaporates. The boiling will reduce any impurities in the sap as well as leaving calcium deposits. Skim the foam off the top every so often. The boil down process typically takes a few hours, but in the early stages the pot can be left unattended for 20-30 minutes at a time while you putter about. As you boil your maple sap it will gradually colour, becoming amber as the water evaporates off and the sugar content concentrates and carmelizes.
When the temperature rises to 105°C, it is time to stay close to your pot, the temperature climbs faster towards the end of the boildown and you do NOT want to have to clean hardened sap off your stovetop! The correct temperature for reducing to maple syrup is a consistent 107°C on a candy thermometer, although this can be adjusted by a degree either side once you have made maple syrup and have decided to try for thicker, or thinner, syrup. Filter the syrup through a felt sleeve (preferably, but a coffee filter would work too), and bottle. These temperatures are set for sea level, if you are significantly above sea level you may wish to determine the boiling point of water at your altitude before processing, since water boils at a different temperature as altitude increases.
Once the syrup has reached 107 degrees and has been filtered, it simply needs to be brought back to a boil in order to sterilize the syrup for bottling. Unlike before, with the water mostly evaporated, the second boil takes mere minutes. Bottled syrup is shelf stable and can be stored in the same fashion as jams – refrigerate after opening. However there is one key difference – in the unlikely event that your syrup is left out in the open and develops mold, you can simply scrape off the mold, bring the syrup back up to 107°, and rebottle...good as new! If you're anything like us, though, a bottle never lasts long enough to go bad.
Home processing is not as fine as commercial processing, and it is very normal to see some slight sediment along the bottom of your maple syrup a few months later – this is 'sugar sand', which is a mixture of crystallized sugar and calcium deposits – it is sweet tasting but a bit gritty.
If your syrup is boiled too thick, or sits for too long, large crystalline sugar cubes may form on the bottom of the bottle – once the bottle is done, these maple sugar cubes can be removed, and make a divine addition to a range of baked goods (or sprinkled on top of salmon, for instance).
At the beginning of the maple syrup season you will notice your finished product will be light gold (or lighter) in color. The more clear your syrup, the earlier in season it was processed, and the higher the grade. As the season goes on the syrup turns darker amber. Professional syrup bottlers use a four-point colour chart, and colour determines grade, with clear and light coloured syrup being preferred. Compared to making syrup on the mainland, you can expect a LOT of very light coloured syrup from our trees. Despite our expecting 'dark amber' towards the end of our runs as we had read, we have yet to see any of our syrup turn this dark. All of the syrup is equally delicious, but you may find that lighter and darker syrups have their appropriate uses, for example lighter syrup, being a bit more delicate, goes better with granola and yogurt, from experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do people ever mess with your sap buckets?
A: We get asked this question by literally every single person we interact with while we are out on our 'maplewalks', and the answer is no – we've probably emptied our buckets, collectively, over a thousand times since we began doing this as a hobby and we have only had a single instance of bucket contamination. Our buckets are almost all out in public, along public roads and trails, and the only thing we tend to meet on a daily basis is people's curiosity!!
Q: Do you sell your syrup?
A: We make enough syrup for our own use and we typically have a surplus available – although, since this is a sustainability hobby, the extra bottles are, when available, up for trade. We would happily exchange our surplus, when available, for homestead goods/gardenstuffs/etc. If your schedule or situation doesn't allow for you to make your own maple syrup, and you still want some to enjoy, consider approaching us for some 'tradesies'!
Q: Did you have any previous experience before attempting this?
A: Zip, zero, zilch. We came into this not knowing anything about maple trees, (Or Newfoundland for that matter, who are we kidding) and once we established how to tap the trees in a sustainable and harm-free manner, we jumped in with both feet! So you can too.
Q: How much does it cost to get started?
A: You can buy a beginner's kit from websites on the mainland for around $100. Assuming you already possess the basic tools required, all you need are the taps (25cents/ea) and the buckets, which you can probably find for free. The largest expense is a candy thermometer, if you don't have one, which runs $12 or so.
Q: You boil your sap inside, on the stove. How much did that add to your power bill?
A: We estimated that, based on our consumption patterns and the power use of the stove for the time it was in use, that we spent an extra $25 on our hydro during syrup season. For 70 bottles, this works out to around 30 cents a bottle. If you can cut down a birch tree or two (or tidy up your maple grove), you could probably do the whole thing outside over a fire. In the old days, folks used to make little wooden lean-tos to shelter in during the boildown, these of course were called 'sugar shacks'.
Q: Making syrup was fun. What else can I do with my maple sap?
A: The wonderful world of maplecandying awaits those who get this far – we made our first maple candies and maple taffy this year (Spring 2012). The process can be quite complex and as creative as you make it, but at its easiest, you simply overboil fresh maple syrup, to 112-113 degrees instead of 107, and then pour it out on the snow. The syrup cools and thickens, instantaneously, into maple taffy and can be picked up and eaten – this is pure ambrosia. Maple taffy instructions can be found here.
Q: I've heard of birch syrup....?
A: Yes, you can also make birch syrup (Also called Alaska syrup) from birch trees in the exact same way as maple syrup. We have not tried this yet but we have planned to tap 10 birch trees for 2013. Birch syrup is apparently clear, and is a bit more delicate and less pronounced in flavour than maple syrup. The big downside to birch syruping is that the sap is fairly low in sugar, so while you need 32 gallons of raw sap to produce a gallon of maple syrup, for birches the ratio is 100 gallons of sap to syrup – a huge difference which triples your collecting and boiling time. But if all you have access to is birches, or if your yard is filled with them, then it is certainly something to consider. Birch sap runs a few weeks before maple sap, as birches are one of the first trees to bloom in springtime.
Q: You said you sometimes tap on civic/provincial land. Have you had any problems with that?
A: Collecting maple sap is considered 'fair use' of public land (akin to berrypicking) and has been this way in this land for over 400 years (Aboriginal people first gathered maple syrup over 1,000 years ago, and reduced it down by dropping hot stones into the sap). We were informed by a city worker (St. John's) that sap collecting would not be problematic unless we produced commercially. We were also advised not to tap in designated parks without permission. Of course, it goes without saying that you have an obligation to the trees to tidy up afterwards, and to improve your collecting area, (removal of deadfall branches, etc, clearing out invasive patches of Japanese Knotweed, etc), leaving your grove better than you found it.
Q: I don't have any maple trees, and I live downtown where there are no trees along the roadsides.
A: Old schoolgrounds, churches, and older, larger properties often have dozens of large trees, many of these are maple trees. Consider approaching a school or a church, for example, and offer them a portion of your harvest from their trees in exchange for permission to tap. Contributions of local maple syrup would make a very popular idea for fundraiser craft sales, etc. At a school, for example, this idea could even involve participation/education with the students!
Q: Health-wise, what is the difference between Aunt Jemima sugar-syrup and my own maple syrup?
- Aunt Jemima 'Country' syrup, per 100g: Calories: 256 Carbohydrate: 65g (22% Daily recommended intake) Sodium: 146 mg (6% Daily recommended intake) Added, processed white sugar: 37g
- 100% pure, organic maple syrup, per 100g: Calories: 261 Carbohydrate: 67g (22% Daily recommended intake) Sodium: 0 mg (Yup. Zero.) Natural Sugar: 59g Daily recommended intake of vitamins and minerals by %: Manganese 157%, Zinc 44%, Iron 10%, Calcium 7%, Magnesium 4%, Potassium 4%, Thiamin (B1) 1%, Riboflavin 1%, Niacin 1%, Pantothenic acid 1%
* Based on an expected 2,000 calorie/day diet. So, yes, you've been lied to all these years – there IS a form of sugar that is actually good for you (never mind all the exercise you'll get, going out and visiting your buckets)!


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As a religion major, we had to study several different aspects spirituality and what it means to us as humans. One aspect is the process of grieving. We grieved hard the weekend the kids left. Granted, we're not done, but time makes things easier. As time has passed, I have thought about things over and over and over. I have more questions than answers; and I'll most likely never get them. (Foster parents aren't privy to such luxuries.)
As far as the process goes, I'm at a confused and angry stage. I'm at the, "if you look at the details, how does this make any sense?!" stage.
If I may just slightly ramble/rant for a moment…(as writing helps with processing emotions and thoughts so…)
Now real quick, we like the parents. They a nice couple who've made some not great choices. We could even see them from time to time with no problems if we wanted. So I don't mean this to be necessarily about being against them; just about how "the system" didn't make them any more prepared than the day we got their kids. Also, everyone has different standards…and of course mine are always too high. Anyways…
When we got to court, the parents were told to be prepared to take the kids if the judge ruled in that favor. The judge ruled as such. So we went to each daycare to pick up the kids.
What happened next will be another one of those events of that day to stick in my mind. The parents were told to be prepared…you should have food in the home, appropriate clothing, and so forth. I don't know the actual standards, but those seem to be pretty basic. One thing I'd consider basic is having appropriate car seats for them. We got to the daycare and the social worker had to remove the little boy from the so-called booster seat that the parents were using. She then removed the booster seat itself. It was in such awful condition. She did it quickly…as if she didn't want anyone to notice the parents' already being incompetent; since she was in fact petitioning for them to get the kids back and that probably makes her judgment look pretty poor.
There it was…looking like some sort of torture device. No pads or cushions. It had a shine to it so it looked as though it were made of aluminum or some sort of metal. It could've been plastic but nonetheless it looked medieval. She retrieved a booster seat from her government vehicle and put it in the parents car. You can imagine what some of my first thoughts may have been.
At that moment, I questioned everything we'd done in 9 months. If they can't even provide a basic booster seat…if on the very day they get their kids back they can't provide something so basic…then are they really ready…and who's fault is it?
But as usual, and as any foster parent knows…if or when they're ready isn't my call.
Back to "the process."

subset: commoncrawl


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Sears Furniture Outlet Shopping
With both an online presence and numerous store locations, Sears Furniture Outlet stores provide customers with quality merchandise at discounted prices.
Discounted Merchandise
If you are looking for furniture at great prices, a Sears Outlet may have just the home furnishings you want. At the Sears Outlet stores a variety of merchandise is offered for sale at discounts that typically range from twenty to sixty percent off of the regular price. In some instances the savings are even more, with select items occasionally selling for seventy to seventy-five percent off of the original retail price.
The merchandise sold at a Sears Outlet store changes often since the supply of most items is very limited. In most cases, once a particular item is out of stock, it cannot be reordered. For example, a Sears Outlet may receive three discontinued bookcases or a scratched adjustable height coffee table that was on display in a nearby Sears Department Store. Once the discontinued bookcases are sold, the exact style cannot be reordered since it is no longer carried by the company. In the case of the scratched table, it is the only one marked down in price because of the scratch. Although other tables that are exactly the same may still be available, they would sell for full price at the Sears department store.
Sears Outlet Locations
Although the Sears stores selling the discounted merchandise are sometimes referred to as furniture outlets, they are actually outlets for a variety of products that were originally offered for sale at Sears stores. There are numerous Sears Outlet stores located throughout the United States and Canada. However, the listings for their locations are not complete. The following are several ways to access Sears Outlet locations.
If you live in one of the following states you can locate the nearest Sears Outlet store to you by visiting the Sears Outlet website:
- California
- Delaware
- Massachusetts
- Maryland
- Florida
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Missouri
- Virginia
- Georgia
- Ohio
- Illinois
- Arizona
- Tennessee
- Colorado
- Oregon
- Kansas
Follow these steps to find a Sears outlet near you:
- Visit the Sears website
- Click on the link for Sears Outlet located at the top of the page to go to SearsOutlet.com
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the link that reads, "find the store closest to you"
- Toward the bottom of the page click "Select Your State" and click on it to view a listing of Sears Outlet locations in your state.
Sears Outlet Website
The Sears Outlet website provides easy online shopping offering the same great discounted prices found at the brick and mortar store locations. Several features of Sears Outlet online include:
- Everyday discounts of twenty to sixty percent
- A deeply discounted Deal of the Day
- Special sales with discounts up to eighty percent
- Availability of nationwide shipping (The online Canadian Sears Outlet store offers delivery throughout Canada)
Great Deals on Sears Furniture
Visit the Sears Outlet website or your nearest Sears Furniture Outlet store the next time you are in the market for indoor or outdoor home furnishings. You might find exactly the furniture you are looking for at prices that are very affordable, giving you great savings.


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Work is good. Mainly because it helps you appreciate the breaks better. I believe I touched upon this theme earlier. Anyhow, as it often happens in corporate-dom, we'd worked like dogs (no offence to the ladies who'd worked equally hard) for a long time. To the extent that most of the other teams would rather chew on their shoes than have any sort of interaction with us. Just around this time, the mandarins above decided to give us some money for "team building" before we went postal and we lost half of the company. Then came the difficult task of deciding where to go. For various reasons, some true and mostly false reasons, the ladies decided to ditch us. Which more or less helped us firm on Amgol. I'd been wanting to go here ever since I heard it from a friend.
While the decision was made quite early, due to a variety of corporate reasons - some of which were beyond our control, the actual date was set for middle of March. We hoped that we wouldn't suffer Caesar's fate, though we did have a driver who tried really hard. The idea of a tropical isle really appealed to a the entire team. So right up to the last moment we had people who dallied and then decided to come along. This led to the first problem. The seat next to the driver had to be utilised. So, of course, the first bus had to have it broken. The initial starting time of 22:30 hrs then stretched to 23:30 by the time the alternate bus was arranged. Then the alternate bus had a puncture. We were driving around Nelamangala waking up highly disgruntled puncture repair-men. One who went so far as to refuse double rate because he had not slept for 5 days. Highly unlikely that. Anyhow, by the time we left Bangalore and it's suburbs it was almost 02:15. I for one was sure that we won't reach before 12:00 the next day. But then, I wasn't counting on our friendly neighbourhood Sébastien Loeb wannabe - the replacement driver. Having come of a day shift and forced into driving the night, he made the most of it. In the process, he made sure all of his guardian angels - and possibly ours - were on their toes. I counted no fewer than 3 instances in during which my pathetic life flashed before my eyes. Be that as it may, but we were on the island by 10.00!
After an excellent breakfast of neer dosa and chutney along with coconut halwa, all plans of cricket were shelved as folks jumped into the river for a swim. The river is not very shallow on it's southern edge. As Vishwas, the owner, put it if the boat topples, don't swim, stand. The northern side is, at places, upto 10 feet or more deep when the tide comes in. The island itself is on the estuary of river Varahi. So technically it's on, what would be called backwaters in Kerala. There are not a lot of things to do on the island. We made do with cricket and volleyball. There are no TVs - which is the whole point in my opinion - so those expecting to catch up on what Tulsi and her Saas are getting on to in their
Unlike other land locked places, you won't be able to get off the island whenever you feel like it. Though the skeletal staff, will help you across the river, it is hard work for them, so make up your mind before you make them run around. Folks interested in birding will find the isle an excellent place to fill their time. When the tide runs out between mid-morning and late afternoon, you can arrange for angling as well. You can use the isle as a base to visit nearby beaches - Othinene, Kaup, Maravanthe etc. Since NH 17 passes along the coast, for those who lack personal transport, the public transport is good along this route. There are direct buses to Kundapura, from where Amgol is about 4 kms. Kundapura bus stand should also help you connect to other beaches and places of interest along the coast quite fine. You can also use the Konkan Railway, but you'll need to enquire about the train timings.
But then, these are exacting activities. I would recommend that you spend 2 days doing nothing. Besides lolling on the sand and drinking in the beer of course.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Sun, Sea & a whole lot of chillin'
Posted by Rain-In-The-Face at Thursday, March 22, 2007


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Nuru Massage
Nuru Massage is a type of erotic massage, its a Japanese technique in this massage adults using full body contact to relax the body and mind thereby allowing them to stimulate each other to an exceptional level of eroticism. The massage is done with both partners fully nude, using a thick, ultra-slippery massage gel which is derived from Nori seaweed, which in itself is tasteless, odorless, colorless, edible and does not stain.
Nuru massage is for those that wish to expand their sexual horizons, an experience which will leave you feeling more sexually enlightened and uncensored than ever before. When shared with a skilled practitioner you will reach a level of eroticism rarely if ever reached before.
It will help you unlock any sexual inhibitions you might have. Freeing both your mind and body and so allowing you achieve physical fulfillment at a highly increased intensity.
Nuru Massage Benefits
- Enjoy your massage in style! Nuru gel is unlike any other formula used in a massage. Its unique consistency provides an all new sensual and sexual experience.
- Being aroused by this massage not only creates sensations of pleasure, but it also relieves stress as.
- This massage is perfect for relaxing sore or tense muscles.
- No matter what your sexual preferences are, this massage allows you to relish in the sensual energy created during the activity
- It can be just what they need to spice up their love lives. Being covered in gel and sliding against your partner can not only create new sensations, but also help you feel more comfortable in your own skin.
- You can discover more than just a physical connection, too. This is intimate by nature and can, therefore, improve emotional connections. In fact, Japanese culture views it is a spiritual journey.ct to how they assess each individual's requirements.


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Home > TelcoFlex > TelcoFlex 3
TelcoFlex 3
Images are representative of items listed and may not be actual item.
TelcoFlex® List III meets IEC requirements.
TelcoFlex® lll Central Office Power Wire and Cable Class B Strand With Braid. The Cable has low-smoke, lead-free and silicone-free non-halogenated insulation. UL Central Office Power Cable 105°C dry, 60°C wet. UL Listed RHH/LS FT4 and VW-1, 90°C dry, 60°C wet, 600 volts. Sizes 1/0 and larger are UL, CT USE rated. CSA AWM I B 105°C, 600 Volts, FT4-ST1.


text: In December 2014, City Arts Magazine asked me to work with Sarah Rudinoff to create a 20 minute piece for their annual Genre Bender series. In March 2015 we performed The Forgetter Who Forgets, first acting on stage with lots of cuddling couples before segueing into a film that we made at Smoke Farm. The response was so great that we are now filming our opening sequence we performed live and submitting the film to festivals. More about the original piece here and photos from the performance here.


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Fedcap Events
Graduation Ceremony Caps an Amazing Year for The Fedcap School
The Fedcap School in Orange, New Jersey, held its annual Graduation ceremony on June 16th. Over 80 people attended to celebrate the achievements of 11 remarkable students, who earned both a Certificate of Completion from the Fedcap School and a State of New Jersey high school diploma.
The Fedcap School is a New Jersey Department of Education approved Private School for Students with Disabilities ages 14 through 21 who are eligible for Special Education and/or Related Services. The school prepares students for full-time employment and independent living through individualized, student-centered learning and a supportive, results-based therapeutic environment.
The past year has been an extraordinary one for the Fedcap School. For the first time in the school's history, students have been accepted into college – not just one student but five, one of whom earned a full, four-year scholarship! Four other students will be employed full-time based on placements through the school's internship program, and the remaining students will continue to receive services through the New Jersey Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR). All graduating students receive a transition package from DVR - NJ that provides ongoing access to services and supports.
"This year was a banner year for the Fedcap School," said Principal Luanne Macri. 'We continue to break down barriers and change the perception of what people with disabilities can do. As our graduates become productive, self-sufficient members of society, they are the proof."
Dr. Roque Gerald, Senior Vice President, Fedcap Education Practice Area spoke about the power of education not only to change lives, but to change the world. "You have all overcome phenomenal challenges, and have shown that you have what it takes," he said. "As you embark on a new beginning, remember to help others as you have been helped, and you can change the world."
Class Valedictorian Lisa Gray, who will study radiology at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York on a full, four-year scholarship, introduced the keynote speaker, former Superior Court Judge Torkwase Sekou, who delivered an inspiring message of hope.
Student Alliyah Fuller read one of her own poems, I am somebody. "I am somebody," she said. "I must be respected, protected and never rejected. I am God's child. I am somebody."
Following a musical performance by some of the students, Principal Luanne Macri asked the graduates to turn their tassels from the right to the left; they then approached the stage and were presented with their diplomas.
After rousing applause the inspiring ceremony was concluded, and students joined their families and Fedcap School staff for a lunch prepared by the school's Culinary Arts Department.


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Coach David Hall is certified by USA Track and Field to coach athletes from middle school youth through adults in all running, jumping, and throwing events. He is also certified by the Road Runners Club of America as a Distance Running coach. He maintains his American Red Cross certifications in CPR and First Aid. He also holds a US Soccer Federation state level coaching certification with a recommendation to proceed to National level coaching training.
"I was a competitive swimmer in my youth through high school. I started running in college and kept running through my time in the U.S. Navy. My interest in running was renewed when my children became youth soccer referees and I certified along with them. My running allowed me to keep up with the play at the very start of the season for high school varsity matches.
It was in the summer of 1996 that a co-worker saw me running at lunch one day and suggested I join the company team for the 5K held in Hartford each August. That led to running 5K's regularly and to trying the 10K distance at the Windsor Lions Club Bradley Airport Road Race. By 2003, I was ready to give the Hartford Half Marathon a try.
My first Marathon was the 2004 Walter Child Race of Champions in Holyoke, MA. Later that year, I also competed in the Hartford Marathon. I have run marathons in New York, Boston, Arizona, and Florida."
Thank you again it was a pleasure to have you as my coach, the entire process was very easy and reasonable. You were a great coach with a personable experience which I appreciated. You helped me achieve my goal as well as learn something new. Would recommend to anyone. Thank you."
— Joel, 44, Passed Police Academy Fitness test for job promotion


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Africa Fire Mission is a 501(c)(3) committed to increasing the sustainable capacity of fire departments across Africa. We accomplish this through training, empowerment, support, and encouragement:
Train – We partner with African governments, NGO's, missionaries, schools and corporations to provide education and training to firefighters and local communities. We use Community Health Education (CHE) to teach firefighters and community members in Africa to protect themselves from the dangers of fire.
Empower – We work to increase the ability of communities in Africa to respond to disasters and provide relief when disasters occur.
Support –We provide personal protective equipment and communication tools to fire services throughout Africa to allow fire departments to operate in a safer and more coordinated manner.
Encourage – We build the capacity of African fire services so that local communities are able to provide sustainable public safety and disaster management services.
Core Values: + Partnership + Community Ownership + Development + Transformation
+ Sustainability + Advocacy + Innovation


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Brixton Bowery L/S Flannel Shirt - Navy/Royal
£54.99 was £69.99
This variant is currently sold out
The Brixton Bowery L/S Shirt is a standard-fit long-sleeve flannel. It features two chest pockets, adjustable button sleeves, standard shirt tail hem, and custom Brixton woven label at pocket. Ideal for popping on over a tee on the cooler nights
Colour - Navy/Royal


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Setting the Mood
The Art of Crafting Original Music for Meaningful Moments
Our interview with CP Pro Audio's Chris Plante on composing custom music for brand experiences.
Earlier this year we explored how music choice can influence your event audience's emotional experience. The mood of a meeting is heavily influenced by not just what the audience sees and experiences, but also by what the audience hears.
The right music, whether subtly playing in the background of a networking opportunity, or setting the tone of your big screen conference opener for thousands of attendee's watchful eyes and ears, can make or break the moment.
Billboard's top 40 and classic pump up rock jams are easy go-to's to speaker entrances or award ceremonies, but when it comes to the media elements at your show, and ensuring the delivery of an impactful message, you may find your brand experience needing more.
Just like how stock art sometimes won't cut it, neither will stock music. For those instances, there is custom composition. We're talking designing music specific for a moment. Investing in an original composition, or even an entire score, for your events and marketing content. That's true attention to detail. That, friends, is art. And it's something we're passionate about at Cramer.
"Nothing is more powerful than composing to picture," says Executive Creative Director, Mark Wilson.
There are more content creators than ever before, and more demand for quality music to accompany all that content. Services like Music Bed and Soundstripe allow creators to license high quality music for film projects starting at $15.
It's an incredible time to be a filmmaker, event producer, and marketer with how quick, easy, and cheap it can be to put out great looking and sounding work. Fortunately, it's become quicker, easier, and cheaper to create custom compositions as well!
On the higher end of commercial and documentary production, even sound design for brand experiences, you're not going to want to license a track that your audience may hear in 10 other various projects or settings. You want something as unique as the experience and the message that your content is conveying.
In the past, original music has been costly due to expensive composers and studio time, but these costs have been driven down by more accessible technologies. When the impact of the project truly matters, there should be no reason not to go custom.
On one of our favorite composed projects to date, we brought in our friend and owner of CP Pro Audio, Chris Plante.
Chris is the mastermind behind the music that accompanied the IBM Amplify conference opening video. First, check out the video and take a listen below, then dig into our interview with Chris where we chat about the craft of music composition and the unique challenges of writing music for moments like these.
An interview with CP Pro Audio's, Chris Plante -
Let's start with IBM Amplify. Can you tell us a little about your inspiration for the track here?
During the conversation I had with Mark, and Brendan O'Brien, I think Mark said something like, "they know you better than you know yourself," and that really said it all for me. That was going to be the emotional driver behind the piece. And the goal was to make this sound like a song that already existed, and not like a bed or stock track.
The lyrics were going to subtly, but directly, convey what the audience would be seeing on screen. In that way, it's so much more powerful that picking any random tune to pair with the video.
What was so great about working with Cramer on this was that the team had such a strong direction and vision for what they wanted this to feel like, that they sent along 8 or 10 temp tracks which I used to basically decipher, "what is the line tying all of these together?" Whether production or vibe, chord changes or tempo, I could use that, and then create something original that would really suit the project.
So you prefer when a client sends you some starter tracks rather than a blank slate to work with?
I think if the client has already found something they like and know the direction they want to go in with the music, it can be really helpful to not waste time going down the wrong path. So a lot of times I do prefer getting those temp tracks as a starting point. But for something like a movie, I would be less likely to want that, and would rather have full creative liberty to interpret what the scene demands.
Getting something with demo tracks isn't a bad thing though, because it gives me a benchmark to beat. And that's my whole job. To beat the hell out of stock music.
When might you say stock music is a viable option?
I mean stock has its place. Use stock if the music is neither here nor there. If you're just delivering text on screen for instance and the piece doesn't need to be emotionally important and dynamic.
If you want control over the emotional dynamic and want people to really come away from a video feeling something, stock may only get you 70 or 80% there. Music can so deeply affect the way that you react to a visual, that if your project does have that level of importance, you're selling it short by not going with a carefully crafted original piece. You wouldn't use a stock script right?
Ok sold. No stock! Can you paint us a picture of your process when you're starting to compose something original?
Every time I get something new, I kind of quasi black out! It's strange but there is a moment when I watch something for the first time where I just feel such a strong pull towards where I can take the piece sonically.
I feel like I've always had pretty good instincts for where important sync points and lifts or lulls happen within video storylines, but sometimes I may be wrong, and that's okay. It's an exploration exercise.
Does your process change depending on the medium you're composing for? Say, a video for web vs. a video for an event?
Well it's all about understanding what we want the audience to feel, in a moment, no matter where that moment takes place. And then translating that into music.
The main question that I always ask the production team is what do you want the audience to feel when they watch or listen to this? Because the answer to that question is the answer to what I'm going to do musically.
But, for events specifically, there are some cool places we can take sound design that changes the writing process. For a different project with Cramer, we had an event with six screens flashing on and off at different important sync points, and using stereo imaging, we were able to make the audio impact sync with the visuals.
When the video cut hard left, so did the audio, which helps draw audience attention where we wanted it to go and that is a better experience for the attendee. You need to mix a track differently for a big room too. Where the music is going to play makes a difference.
Are you ever given an audience persona to consider as you think about who they are and how to make them feel?
Who a person is, from a traditional marketing persona standpoint, doesn't matter as much as you might think.
Even though we all have different tastes and come from different walks of life, when we're put in a situation where we're watching a film or a video, especially in a theater or at an event, music will affect us similarly across demographics.
If I'm writing for C-level executives, it's not much different than writing for the 4,000 people they employ. At the end of the day they're all affected by music, regardless of their position at a job.
Sometimes the age bracket is an important consideration, as far as style goes. You know, writing music for 8th graders vs. a sales team. But what I really feel moves people is tempo, harmony, and melody. You can take a similar mix of those three things, and produce something stylistically different depending on the audience.
What would you say to a client, who may be on the fence, to help them understand how thoughtfully crafted original music is worth their investment?
You're already investing so much in an experience, and you're hoping for your audience to come away with a certain lasting feeling, and it's important to note that a large percentage of what they do feel is going to come from the music and the sound design.
Although we focus on visuals because we're visually-oriented creatures, a lot of what's happening in our brain is actually based more on what we're hearing. Music is a much bigger experience than we often give it credit for, but I would argue it's as important as any other element of your program!
To connect with Chris, visit cpproaudio.com.com. To chat about an original composition to compliment content design for your next brand experience, contact us.
For some fun final proof in how drastically music and sound design choices can influence how you feel about what you're seeing and the messages you're absorbing, may we now present the Ms. Doubtfire trailer, recut as a horror movie.
Written by
Popular Now
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6 Things to Ask Before Choosing your Event App
Hotel Experiential
Hotels are going full experiential to transform and compete in the hospitality space.
Panel 2.0
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Measuring Experiences By Emotional Reactions
Crafting Music for Meaningful Moments is part of our obsession with:
Event Experience Design
The art of designing memorable moments.
Dig in


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Product Shoot For BEADIT Hats and JA'DOR Jackets
A lot of my commercial work takes a more creative route in order to showcase the product in a more dynamic and interesting light. I shot for BEADIT, a lifestyle brand that specializes in hats with bead patches that are made in Haiti; and JA'DOR, a clothing company that celebrates vintage wear.
E-Commerce Shoot for Flying Solo NYC
I shot for retail store Flying Solo in New York City for their e-commerce website launch.
Product Shoot for BABE Essentials
I shot for BABE Essentials, a wellness and body care brand in Haiti.


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The incredibly talented Australian Kerrie Hess – who also lived in London, Hong Kong and Paris – (I have always dreamed of living in a chic Parisian apartment and this acclaimed illustrator has lived this dream with a lovely apartment that had all of the charm of old world Paris with pretty cornices and fireplaces) – is well-known for her chic, sophisticated and romantic designs that are loved by millions of people. Think designs for Chanel, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Christian Louboutin. She is inspired by the Paris-based photographer Carla Coulson, the styling of Grace Coddington for Vogue, dresses by Collette Dinnigan and her son.
Kerrie Hess (and yes, she is the sister of fellow illustrator Megan Hess) began her career as a graphic designer in the lovely city of London for The Independent Newspaper magazines. It's the place where she began to illustrate for them on the side. She soon realized that although she still loved design, illustration was the love of her life. From that moment on, more and more illustration work started to trickle in from there. From Alexander McQueen to Printemps Paris, I am simply in love with the incredible fashion illustrations made by this lovely lady.
Below are a few of her dazzling and inspiring illustrations:


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to bake - vegan chewy ginger cookies
inspired by: Karlie Kloss for the Cherry Bombe Cookbook
recipe type: cookies, to dessert, to snack
cuisine: plantbased, glutenfree, dairyfree, vegan
vegan chewy ginger cookies
- 1/2 + 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1:4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
- 1tsp ginger, ground
- dash of nutmeg
- 1/8 tspsea salt
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- optional : 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 185°C. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet
- In a large bowl, whisk together the buckwheat flour, almond flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt.
- Add the coconut oil, maple syrup (and vanilla) and mix together with your hands until a moist ball of dough forms.
- Roll out the dough into 8 cookies. or 1 giant cookie... this will affect the crunchy sides and gooey interior of the cookie.
- Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes.


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Originally Posted by benwalsh91
come thruuuu!!!
I will be your tour guide here in London. I really want to go visit some southern spain and some really non touristy areas, I stumbled upon this super cool little town called Rhonda in Spain and I've been wanting to go visit. may fly out there one weekend soon seeing as its only a few hours from me.
you guys are super lucky, all the cool spots are so close, so much history out there, id love to see it
Forum Rules


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Accidental (?) poetry in Red Dwarf…
Like a blind old incontinent sheepdog
he's had his day
Take him out to the barn with a double-barreled shot-gun
and blow the
mother away.
How do you do?
How do you do?
So you must be Lister
And you are too.
But I am not human
and neither are you.
And it is not our place
to judge them.
I wonder why you do.
There's at least one other I've noticed but it's not coming to me right now.


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The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) released the results of the banking system overview, which was initiated earlier this year. Pursuant to the report of the national regulator on the outcome of the asset quality review (AQR) and the stress tests, that was announced recently (Report), the domestic banking sector successfully passed this, first-of-its-kind, system–wide assessment. The tests in Bulgaria were extended throughout all 22 locally licensed banks, with the exception of the 6 branches of foreign banks operating in the country. As a result, the domestic exercise had a broader scope than its Eurozone counterpart, which only covered the banking institutions of systematic importance.
The local process combined an AQR, on the basis of ECB's methodology, followed by stress tests of the evaluated market players. The interpretation of the AQR results are that there are indications of a well-capitalized banking system and that the capital ratio is substantially above the regulatory minimum1. The same applies to the individual institutions with the exception of 2 banks with domestic shareholding which are close to the red zone. The results of the subsequent stress tests were further assessed as reconfirming the strong capital position of the sector and its resilience to shocks. Following the stress tests some banks shall be required to maintain the existing capital reserves, while others shall aim to restore this coverage and build capital, taking into account the adjustments of the assets triggered by the AQR.
CRYSTALIZED NPLs
The AQR revealed that corrections to the bank assets will be required mainly due to reclassification into NPLs of performing exposures at the total value of approx. EUR 1.8 billion. Therefore, the affected banks will be required to set aside additional capital provisions. This could unlock the market for transactions with bad loans as the affected institutions will try to clean-up certain parts of their balance sheets. Acceleration might be expected specifically for the corporate NPLs. They represent the bigger proportion of the reclassified debts and reflect the hold-and-wait strategy of some of the local banks, which were reluctant to recognize bad corporate loans and respectively to dispose of them.
The Report announced that supervisory measures over the banks were imposed following the overview and they do not reveal any specific negative consequences. With regard to the AQR's results, the measures vary from recommendations on enhancing certain policies and operational rules to requirements for taking particular actions to decrease NPLs exposure. The required corrections to the assets need to be reflected in the banks' financial statements as of 31 December 2016. The banks will have to cope with the lighter measures, in terms of procedural improvement, by the end of the year, while for the reduction of the NPLs they have a window until 30 June 2017. Those that are expected to divest assets, including First Investment Bank and Investbank, will be subject to increased supervision, meaning additional on-site inspections and reporting. The institutions that appeared vulnerable following the stress tests might, at a later stage, be subject to limitations on dividend distributions or requirements for additional capital buffers. If these appear insufficient, the implementation of additional restrictions might be requested by the end of 2017. The announced supervisory measures are subject to immediate execution and cannot be appealed. Taking into account the grace periods envisaged for getting in compliance with the prescriptions, the final effect over the individual players is still to be seen. This may further hasten the banking consolidation if the corrections prove to be challenging for being managed by own funds and combined with out–of the country drivers such as the economic adjustment programme for Greece, may increase the M&A activity in the sector.
The overview was initiated following the implementation of the European regime dealing with preventions of the banking crises and limiting rescues of failing institutions by public funds. Along with the goals for EU harmonization, it aimed to clear up some domestic legacy issues around questionable transparency in the finance sector. On the contrary to what was expected, the Report does not disclose sanctions under the new recovery and resolution framework. By virtue of law such intervention can be imposed separately and independently to the announced supervisory consequences. The discretion for applying the new regime is again with BNB, this time acting in its capacity of the local restructuring authority. Unlike the supervisory requirements announced in the Report, the potential restrictions under the special regulation are subject to appeal by all persons with legal interest. Yet, as the practice of the Supreme Court demonstrated in the case of Corporate Commercial Bank, the right of appeal can be severely restricted, effectively barring creditors and shareholders from challenging unfavorable decisions. The refraining from specific intervention steps reassures the opinion of BNB on the overall stability of the banking sector.
The full text of the report of the Bulgarian National Bank is
accessible here:
Sources used: BNB
1. The Report indicates that the CET1 capital ratio of the Bulgarian banks is 18.9%, which is well above the 4.5% minimum required pursuant to the European Capital Requirements Regulation.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.


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This is a response to the availability of internships at LUCIMA STUDIO.
Last year I thought I could train the interns to do the nitty gritty, but I quickly realized that they neither had the skill sets nor desire to execute those tasks. I was somewhat shocked when I requested my interns to figure out how to sync/share my iCal with everyone... yet no one could figure it out.
I wound up doing it myself. Something that took me less than 5 minutes of Googling and experimenting with iCal.
Being a professional photographer is really just a matter of being entrepreneurial and resourceful. I don't imagine those things can be taught. You either are or aren't independent-thinking and proactive.
And I think that's what it came down to. I found that the interns weren't capable (or driven) to think freely and push my business forward. Everyone had to be told what to do.
Now on the other hand, I too have responsibility in this matter because I have a hard time letting go of responsibility because I have a hard time trusting that it will be done correctly. Furthermore when interns aren't paid for their time, there's a lot less motivation to put in 110%.
But even then, I could see in the eyes of some of my interns the utter lack of attention and ability to hold focus. If these interns were cameras, they would be cameras that could acquire focus on a subject but then would quickly slip out-of-focus for no apparent reason.
It's very frustrating interacting with people that have the attention span of a goldfish.
Which gets me to thinking that most photographers these days (myself included) aren't cut out to be good apprentices or interns. As a lot, they simply don't have the patience to sit down and learn properly. These days it's too easy to bypass the standard operating procedures. No one I know actually flips through the manual anymore. They Google/YouTube what they want to know. Now, any 17-year-old can hit Best Buy and buy a 5DMII with a kit lens and call himself/herself a photographer... or worse a wedding photographer and bid for jobs. Which is incidentally why wedding photography prices are being driven down.
This is really a rant on the instant gratification that everyone seems to be chasing. Or rather the entitlement that I see is so rampant amongst Americans in general, but more so the current generation of kids that have rarely put in a hard day's worth of work. I'm not sure if it's the parenting or reality TV, but every kid with a Facebook/Myspace account believes they are special, that they deserve their own show... When the reality is that they possess no talent and lack the drive to actually do anything about it.
But then maybe you'll strike gold and be a cast member on Jersey Shore?
It goes back to the whole T-ball society I blogged about before.
It's a double-edged sword, really. While digital made photography easily accessible to the average Joe, it also raised the level of competition. There really are some really gifted young photographers out there pushing the envelope; an envelope that hasn't been pushed in decades. But with that being said, there are so many more average photographers that feel like they ought to do better than they are currently doing. They believe they're undervalued for their talent... when really they're not.
I believe you get exactly what you deserve in life.
Here's the reality of photography as a business. Photography is photography. But being a professional photographer is not just about the photography.
I'm going to say this again, "Being a professional photographer is not just about the photography".
You can be the best photographer in the world and still be threatened by bankruptcy (*cough Annie Liebowitz).
Surviving as a professional photographer means being a successful entrepreneur. And as free-thinking and revolutionary as our kids are, they lack the discipline, dedication, and sheer attention span to be successful entrepreneurs. Most of the time it's because they're looking for shortcuts (or just weaseling out of doing things they don't want to do). And while that's "great out-of-the-box" thinking, when push comes to shove, somebody's gotta do the bullshit that nobody wants to do. When you're an entrepreneur, that somebody is you. But when nobody is willing to do those tasks, the business ultimately falls apart.
So, no. The current generation of kids these days aren't built for apprenticeships/internships. They might be great at photography but they amount to very little as professional photographers. They spend too much time wondering why they're under-appreciated and undervalued and not enough time working hard to build the right foundations for a good business.
Does that mean I'm going to stop taking interns? Nope, it just means that I need to be more selective about which ones I take. I am still open to suggestions. I am still looking for interns that can do things that I can't do. I am still looking for interns that can challenge the way I do things in general and provide me new perspectives. I'm still looking for interns that are proactive and can generate new revenue streams and or increase current revenue streams. Later on I might even create paid internships but most likely after I find a manager who can help me with the current set of tasks that undermine me on a regular basis. Hell, if you can demonstrate why and how you're not exactly what I've described above, feel free to email firstname.lastname@example.com and tell me why you would be a great intern.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Looking for Proactive, Disciplined, and Resourceful Entrepreneurs
Posted by Charles Lucima at 4:03 PM
5 comments:
"I was somewhat shocked when I requested my interns to figure out how to sync/share my iCal with everyone... yet no one could figure it out."ReplyDelete
You should have asked Siri:)
I dunno if even Siri would have come back with the right answer, it took a few tries and it was rather complicated finding an iCal server to host my calendar updates LOL! :)ReplyDelete
Maybe Evi would have done better? ;)
If ONLY I lived in your area.. :(ReplyDelete
- Mary Martin PhotograpyApril 1, 2012 at 3:03 PM
Kudos to you for being spot on about our kids today...I couldn't have said it better myself.ReplyDelete
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The Thekla Archives: 2017
Trim, Multi Track Presents: Trim
- Tuesday 4th April 2017
Trim is a genuine one-off. An immediately discernable presence and personality, his distinctive, lopsided flow stands out in 3D from any backing track it's wrapped around. Since cutting his teeth in the early days of grime, he has honed an inimitable and witty lyrical approach, seamlessly blending everyday observation with surreal humour. Witty insults cut abruptly into strange and imaginative asides; tales of growing up are paired with musings on video games, family, friendship and London life.
"I think in grime a lot of people thought you had to be a certain persona or say certain things to be a grime MC," reflects Trim of the unique worldview and darkly humorous streak that mark out his lyrics. "Whereas I didn't think you had to be – you just have to be yourself. I'm just in my own cloud, my own bubble – and I never want to come out, either, because if you try to adjust to everyone else, you're not yourself. So I'd just stay away from everyone else, hide in my house and write the first thing that comes to my head."
Within his self-defined world, Trim's lyrics and flow are able to cut across genres, a rare versatility which has made him a uniquely adaptable presence as an MC, from his origins in the grime scene and a stint in seminal grime collective Roll Deep, to a prolific string of acclaimed solo mixtapes and collaborations with a host of varied names within the electronic music world, including James Blake, Mark Pritchard, Becoming Real and Dusk & Blackdown.
Growing up near Limehouse in East London, Trim first became involved with music during grime's early days. He'd already spent several years writing poetry and hip-hop lyrics, and was inspired by the fiercely energetic and location-specific nature of the music that was being channeled from the pirate stations based just on his doorstep. He started sneaking into pirate radio studios during broadcasts, turning up uninvited and awaiting a turn on the mic to deliver his unique, already distinctively off-kilter bars.
"I was going on all these radio stations, and all the station mangers would always come and see me and be like 'You're not allowed on' or whatever," he remembers with a laugh. But Rinse FM founder Geeneus was one of the first to recognise his talent, and the young Trim soon became a regular fixture on Rinse. "He was like, 'Just keep coming man, I just want to to hear you'."
It wasn't long before others started to take notice. Wiley, one of grime's earliest architects and pioneers, asked Trim to join his crew Roll Deep in 2003, not long after former member Dizzee Rascal had departed on his road to solo success. He remained with the crew – alongside fellow scene luminaries such as Scratchy and Flow Dan – for several years. During that time he developed an infamous reputation for his barbed wit and skill during lyrical clashes against other MCs, and was a key presence on Roll Deep's debut album In At The Deep End.
In 2007, feeling disillusioned with a shift among many grime contemporaries towards the pop charts, he departed Roll Deep to pursue his own personal musical vision. Over the subsequent years he's been dazzlingly prolific. "I'm a bit of a weirdo, I don't stop," grins Trim of his non-stop approach to lyric writing. "I don't think there's anything else outside that for me – everybody has their hobbies and gets their thrills from certain drugs or other stuff, but for me, my biggest thrill is sitting behind a piece of paper and having music thumping in my ears."
Since 2008 Trim has released a string of acclaimed mixtapes – including the raw and raucous Soul Food volumes and Monkey Features– that have further explored the many facets of his musical personality and his numerous lyrical alter egos on the mic. Remaining independent and developing his own approach has marked him out as something of a maverick in the scene that first nurtured him, but it has also enabled him to be unusually fluid and flexible in his approach. "Grime has changed in a lot of ways and it's not really grime anymore now, compared to what we were doing," he reflects. "But I think I'm the closest thing you'll get to grime, because I haven't changed to fit into this whole pop world. Still, my music's not depressing or anything – it's just reality."
So with new studio music and his debut full-length artist album on the horizon, the future will offer listeners still further insights into Trim's reality, while broadening outwards to encompass different styles of music and lyrical perspectives. Expect to hear far more soon from this most idiosyncratic and charismatic of musical personalities.
The Grove, Bristol BS1 4RB
Doors 7:00pm
Ages 14+
Advance tickets available from:


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About Us
New from Farmer Dawsons
Pay your milk bill
We've had so much positive feedback about how much you love our milk
that we thought, "Why not?" and decided to produce more gorgeous goods
from our dairy. That's why we're now offering creamy yoghurt and
milkshakes in a variety of flavours and also we've just launched our newest
Mint Choc Chip Ice-Cream - it's absolutely fab!
So try something new for your next delivery.
We think you're going to love these great new tastes.
NEW from Farmer Dawsons
NEW Mint Choc Chip Ice-Cream
Dairy Made Yoghurt - Raspberry Flavour
Dairy Made Yoghurt - Rhubarb Flavour
Dairy Made Yoghurt - Blueberry Flavour
Yoghurt 6 pack - Various Flavours
Milkshake - Chocolate Flavour
Milkshake - Strawberry Flavour
Milkshake - Banana Flavour
Don't miss your chance!
Order our new Yoghurts, Milkshakes and Ice Cream now
with your local Dawsons Milkman.
Or call us on:
01827 713526
We've added some great new flavours to our range of Dairy made ice-cream. Come and check
them out!
creamy Yoghurts
in a variety of
flavours and yummy milkshakes too!
Need to pay your
milk round bill?
Farmer Dawsons Kimberley Hall Farm, Bentley, Atherstone, Warwickshire CV9 2JR


text:
Style Number:
Take an extra 30% off a range of already reduced women's fashion, shoes and accessories. Discount applied in shopping bag.
Not available in conjunction with any other offer. While stocks last. Offer available until 07/11/2018.
Terms and Conditions
Bonus Offers (including gift cards) and gifts: Unless otherwise stated, bonus offers and gifts are limited to one per customer and available while stocks last. If the purchased item is returned, the bonus or gift must also be returned or its value will be deducted from the refund. All offers are subject to stock availability. Offers are not available in conjunction with any other offer.
Naturalizer men WHITNEY BLACK PATENT 21631744 QYLDHPO
Naturalizer WHITNEY BLACK PATENT 21631744 QYLDHPO
- Product Code: QYLDHPO
- Availability: In Stock
- £112.82


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[quote author=monkschain link=msg=8882 date=1349474753] That's great news! In the middle of a system upgrade so unable to test b4 as of yet. Dxf will be useful. ;) monks [/quote]
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Posted by
- October 06, 2012, 08:18:42 am
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Is there any way of specifying a different folder to install the beta to? I need a copy of 2.2 installed and the beta is installing over it.
I did try out the dxf import btw but WM hung with a small size file around 150 KB. It was from Global Mapper. If I can install to a diff folder I can look into it more.
Posted by
- October 05, 2012, 03:05:53 pm
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That's great news! In the middle of a system upgrade so unable to test b4 as of yet. Dxf will be useful. ;)
Posted by
- September 28, 2012, 06:25:54 pm
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just one quick point to add is that the latest beta of 2.3b4 can import DXF spline paths with full Z elevations intact. You'll probably need to be using something more than just a spline based illustration package to export them, but WM can now use them!
Posted by
- September 25, 2012, 05:25:29 am
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Hi Troedel, what I meant is that the vertices within Illustrator don't have z values so you can't use it for impot of complex 3D shapes and you can't use it in a workflow which has per vertex z. World Machine itself supports them. The ideal workflow for that would be via .shp file import, but if you don't need that then it's not an issue. Yes, you can always set them once you get them into WM but if you have a lot of vertices it takes ages to set them all. It's possible but can be VERY time consuming.
I used to use the drop to terrain and then set them from there to create the which I see you've done :) My problem was getting stream and ridge info from Global Mapper into WM preserving the per vertex z. I found it was best to mark out your main river beds manually in WM and then run a deep channeling erosion on them either in Wilbur via Incise flows or just within World Machine. That way you can generate procedurally the many tributaries flowing into the rivers you've marked out by hand rather than having to create them all by hand.
Posted by
- September 12, 2012, 01:42:41 pm
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O.K. I did some experiments and discovered that lines in WM have individual z info for each vertex. If you right click the line you can edit the lofting curve which gives you precise control over all vertices z value. In addition you can see the height value of the underlying terrain currently selected as output. Right now I´m working on a cut through my mountain establishing a downhill path by adjusting the line used as a mask for a simple transform set to glaciate and canyonize a bit. Results are promising although it´s tedious work fiddling around with different height settings. There is an option to drop the curve to the surface heights, perhaps I can capitalize on this. More work ahead. If I´m a little bit satisfied I´ll post some pictures ;) ?
Posted by
- September 04, 2012, 05:37:05 am
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I was advised by Wilbur's author to use basin fill but you can't really control it very well because it tends to make major changes to large area so I ended up not using it. BUt, our problems may not be alike. I'm working quite cloesly to a topo map reference, where rivers are strictly marked, but, if you had a bit more flexibility in your map, you might fair better with that approach.
One limiting factor with Wilbur is map size. It doesn't use tiling so you're limited by your system much more. I've used 10K terrains fine, but I think (with 6GB) I could probalby get up to may 12K if I pushed it.
World Machine has probably the best erosion tools around but they work best on small to medium scales. You might turn your sediment carry right up and thinking about it, I do that to solve the same problem- it fills in basins created by the channelling erosion. But they are very localised. I doubt very much if it will extend to large basins. Geologic time enhancment produces some great eorsion but it's pretty destructive and unpredictable.
Regards rivers, this is what I'd advise you to do. The single most important thing about large landscapes is rivers. If you are not going to be seeing the landscape from a great height, then ignore this, but if you can see it, then this is what I'd do.
You need to create a river mask whether the rivers are real or not. What I'm saying is you need the eye to see them, but they might not necessarily have accurate hydrology (if you ran a physics sim over them). The eye doesn't see the rivers (not the smaller ones) but it sees the terrain implying them. So you need to get as many good long flow networks from your initial river mask + the incise flows feature in Wilbur. Incidentally there are only 3 programs (as far as I know) that can give you long river flows: Wilbur, GeoControl, GTS (search
Viewing Dale). (GeoControl produces great rivers but is limited to 4096 as it's still 32 bit).
Create upland areas where water can flow from (a hills mask) in WM. Doesn't have to be complex terrain even. Build, export. Cut channels into the terrain in Wilbur along your initial river mask to encourage flow along and into them. Noise the terrain a bit still masking. Then run incise flows and precipiton repeatedly. Once you have results you're hapy with, generate a river mask. Then take your new river mask, combine it with your original river mask to patch any holes, and apply that to the original hills mask in order to break the hilly areas up (ie, generate the hills around the new mask). You could repeat that cycle. I think if you did it enough times you'd have great looking flows- but you may end up changing the coastline too much with the Wilbur erosion. I think it could be done though by using a mask on the erosion step which reduced the erosion towards the coastline. Another thing is, you might not even use the output terrain from Wilbur since you can use the river mask for both terrain placement and cutting channels along rivers to the original (pre-Wilbur) terrain.
Another approach is to just use real terrain in your initial hills mask, then run that through Wilbur to gen your rivers mask. Not tried that one yet but I think I'll be trying that in future- it may or may not work that well.
As you can see I've still go a few things I'd like to try. :D
Re .shp. Yes, they have z info but I don't think each vertex can have a different z value. They all have to be the same. I don't know. That's one for Stephen! .shp is the industry standard GIS (Geographic Information Systems) vector format. It's used in applications like Google Earth, WorldWind.
Me too with the artistic approach, what I know is just stuff I've picked up over the years. I think all of the big challenges will have to be tackled by programmers :)
Posted by
- August 31, 2012, 03:25:36 pm
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That sounds like I have got to sacrifice accurate hydrology because it's not necessary for my intended use of maps. Perhaps I try the "eye" approach to create something not totally unbelievable, taking real elevation maps as guidelines.
Regarding the Illustrator files there isn't really much to say other than stated above. Once I got the proper routine I imported the svg´s as layouts which worked fine after eliminating to first difficulties ( hours... ). What happend was me getting stranded with Layouts that had thousands of anchor points and WM2 breaking down to a crawl. So perhaps I've got to say that handling layouts via Illustrator isn't really necessary as the basic handling options are present in WM2. The GUI for doing that could be a little bit more elaborated ( different tools for object selection, anchor point selection and a clear button for deselection of everything ). By the way it was/is a 30day trial of CS6 and I won't spend the money just for creating layouts in wm2. Inkscape perhaps.
So I switched back to Photoshop ( I own that one at least ;) ) for creating masks ( which is overkill ) and they worked fine. Disadvantage are the missing (?) falloff controlls a layout generator gives you. But the reload for every worldbuild is nice as I can open PS, work on the mask, hit build and get an almost immediate update in wm2. Neat.
Thanks for your reply regarding waterways. Is it possible to fill up basins in wm2 as it is possible in wilbur? I would say it is but I haven't figured it out. In wilbur it is a one button action which is nice. Macro Project? Perhaps that could be a way to avoid larger sinkholes after designing the first terrain draft.
Good night everyone, its late ;)
Edit: Couldn´t sleep. Isn´t somthing like .shp implemented in wm2? The layouts have z info stored within their vertices. So .shp for layout should be a possibilty. As I´m a "noob" regarding this I wonder what other programs you would like to use to generate these files and why. Always remember that mine is a more "artistic" approach with little knowledge in realworld topology. Please forgive me I know it´s worth a read for this kind of terrain modelling ;)
Posted by
- August 31, 2012, 02:43:03 pm
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Hi Troedel, thanks for the greets and compliment. Not been on here properly for a wee while. I don't even know what's on the CG boards...long time ago that! :)
A tutorial on Illustrator to WM workflow would be very welcome. When we were testing WM 2 we made a start on this when Stephen introduced the vector format support. The i/o has not really been advanced since then though and imo it could be tested more and improved. The vector support struck me as not quite to where I wanted it to be for full use as a workflow. Setting per vertex z would have been really useful but I don't think the svg and ai format supported that...? But, I'm hoping you can explore and advance it.
I would really like to see .shp file support (that supports per vertex z) and also georef and projection information preserved in file i/o, but not necessarily a spherical viewer or generator! that's a way off I think.. One could envisage a smooth WM workflow between GIS and Game/modelling applications. Not sure come to think of it what WM does with the georef info in files that have them.
You pmed me regarding reproducing my approach...I think I'm right in saying that? Well, it took me a long time to try this and that out. As you can say, you can reproduce easily enough the patching in mountains. Regards accurate water flow, that's a different matter. It can't be done while using real terrain from satellite data. Accurate hydrology is something you have to sacrifice. However, I use a two layered approach to the model which helps a bit. The bottom layer controls the flow of the water *but* only at the macro level. You cannot specify with any certainty whatsoever water flow within say small watersheds. The only way *as far as I know* to create accurate water flow over a *large* dem is to create the entire dem via contours and then interpolate them using software. That's how I did it. And you will probably have to create a really big contour map to get any benefit from using contours at all, otherwise you will not get accurate flow at any useful level of detail. You've got to make it as big as you can for it to be worth your while. Unfortunately, you also have to create your contours to as high a resolution as you can too because while many areas of the map will allow for widely spaced contours you always have to have extremely closely spaced contours in some areas (1 pixel separation). So you will need 1 px wide contours. You could go the vector route of course too. I preferred the raster one because Photoshop at that time was the only app to support large file sizes- we're talking a few years ago now!
You might be able to do it in photoshop via discrete greyscales and then blur it but you will need to mask out the rivers, probably feather it too. You'll need to do the greyscales at very large res though...or...blur- upscale-blur-upscale, etc. The problem with that approach though is that you always get an even blur over the raster, whereas you really need a blur which is different in differnt areas. You could end up with just a mush. There may be other approaches but I don't think any of them will be significantly easier than any other. It's just a bit of a b**** to do.
Posted by
- August 28, 2012, 03:33:39 am
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I think I finally got what I want.
Things to respect in Illustrator :
1. Change a compound path back to a path
2. Be sure to have just one path before exporting to svg ( tracing creates 2 paths, one for the inner one for the outer shape )
3. Set the correct fills and strokes, see above
4. Simplify the path to just straight lines
Things to respect in WM
1. No paths within the boundaries of other paths, it will mesh things up
2. Create a second svg for "inner" shapes import them and set them to substract
Those are the bumpers I ran into so perhaps it can be avoided in the future. I certainly got WM to the limits of my machine with this one. I hope my rig will hold together for the rest of the project ;) And a bug was spoted on the way. Certainly worth the effort.
THX for the help I got so far.
Posted by
- August 27, 2012, 06:47:36 pm
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In investigating there's actually an edge case bug in the way WM detects path vs filled path. For now, the 100% reliable way is to assign a fill but no stroke to a shape. The way the rules SHOULD work is that as long as a fill is applied, it is a polygon rather than a line.
Posted by
- August 27, 2012, 01:19:50 am
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Ok, made some progress this morning. Figured out that it seems to need straight lines to form a mask. I removed all anchors with handles and changed them to corners, after that the resulting svg resulted in masks. Holes within a polygon result in a pretty meshed up result. Isolating those "inner seas" and reproducing them with a different file and changing to "substract" will do the trick. Perhaps I will do a little tutorial on tracing in Illustrator and importing to worldmachine. It seems to me that there are some things to consider...
Posted by
- August 26, 2012, 12:30:56 pm
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Am I getting it right:
shape will be a path with empty fill or empty stroke
polygon with non empty fill and stroke
I´m not able to work this thing out properly. Can my svg contain multiple paths? Is there an upper limit of anchor points?
Here is my svg in .txt format as an attachment, if someone wants to have a look.
Until now I worked with a bitmap mask which gave good results but did not enable me to use a falloff to get nice underwater coastal areas. I think there are ways to to it but a mask would be nice. tracing by hand is a no go for me ;) I painted it in the first place...
THX for the help!
Posted by
- August 21, 2012, 01:12:00 am
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Thanks for the fast reply. I had tried it with a fill but left the stroke empty. I will check this out tomorrow.
I love the mystery of Worldmachine. It´s like chess. The single pieces are "easy" to learn, problem is learning how they work together. Iwould like to see more finished renders with the underlying device structure.
Posted by
- August 20, 2012, 06:59:05 pm
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Hi there,
Good to hear from ya.
World Machine's determination of if a shape is a path or a polygon is actually not related to whether the path is closed; instead for SVG it decides based upon the shapes fill and stroke properties. A shape will default to a path unless it has a non-empty fill or an empty stroke. This should be the info you need to get an import working!
Posted by
- August 20, 2012, 01:42:42 pm
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Hi everyone,
So I'm a new guy around here with many questions on my mind. I've singled one out to start with as it would save lots of time. I managed to import a svg 1.1 file as a layout but only as a path. Is it possible to get a polygon? I'm working with Illustartor to trace my png map, single out the big continent shape and save as svg. Any help would be very welcome.
And hi to Monk and his great ME DEM Project. Read alot about it over at the CG forum.
THX in advance,
p.s.: I looked up svg structure and checked if illustrator set the closepath command z. It did.
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