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Professor Joseph Mba specializes in Strategic Management, Strategic Entrepreneurship and Strategic Leadership and Governance. He holds a PhD in Strategic Entrepreneurship and Management from European-American University, a Fellowship of the Institute of Strategic Management, Nigeria, and is an accredited management trainer and consultant, with over twenty-five years executive and consulting experience in accounting, auditing, investment, management, strategic management, business development and organizational leadership.
He was the founding Registrar of the Institute of Strategic Management, Nigeria, and is currently the Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Strategic Business School. He lectures, writes, speaks and consults in Strategic Management, Strategic Entrepreneurship, Corporate Leadership and Governance.
Apostle Joseph Mba is also a called and ordained teacher and apostle of the Christian Faith, and the overseeing President of Great Christian Life Ministry.


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Dr. Glen Metheny has been named chair of Harding University's graduate program of business in the Paul R. Carter College of Business Administration effective June 1.
This new position was formed as a result of the retirement of Dr. Jimmy Behel, academic director of the MBA program. Metheny's current position as director of the program and Behel's former position merged to function as one role.
Metheny has worked with the University's MBA program since 2008. He has also served the University in other capacities, including in areas of degree completion and admissions. He holds a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from Regent University.
"I am grateful that Dr. Metheny is willing to take on the challenges of the chair's role for the graduate program in business," said Provost Larry Long. "Dr. Behel and he have laid a good foundation for the program, and I am confident that he will do an excellent job in leading and growing this important graduate program."

subset: commoncrawl


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I apologize for my lateness! With Christmas being tomorrow I was very caught up in family 🙂 here is my Make Something Mondays a little late. Happy Holidays!
This is gift #4 in the Make Something Mondays holiday gift series!
My best friend got married last month so, for Christmas I am going to give her these photo coasters made with a few of her wedding photos. I picked out 4 gorgeous pictures, sized them to 4×4 inches, and cut them out. Then I went to Lowe's and found 4 white wall tiles.
This is the type of project that you have to work on while you are doing something else. Cleaning the house would be perfect. There is a lot of waiting in this one. Make sure you do this in a well ventilated area or you might get a little loopy!
Things You Will Need:
Felt pads
Mod Podge
Sponge Brush
Sealant (not pictured)
Put a thin, even layer of mod podge over the top of the tile.
Quickly apply the precut photo of your choice. Use your fingers to smooth the photo over the glue. Make sure you press down on the edges. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the remaining tiles and images.
Let it dry for about 5-10 mins. Go do the dishes or something.
*if it isn't dry before you move on to step 3 then you will get some serious bubbles in the photo.
Apply another thin, even layer of Mod Podge over the top of the photo. Repeat this step for the remaining tiles. Let it dry for about 5-10 mins.
*repeat this step 2-3 times.
Step 4:
When your tiles are dry line them up (like the photo) on some newspaper in a well ventilated area. Spray your sealant as evenly as possible on the coasters and make sure to get all of the edges. Let the coasters sit for about 10 minutes to dry completely.
Step 5:
Adhere your felt pads to the bottom of the coaster to protect any surface this will soon be placed on.
When you are done you will have some lovely photo coasters! People love these things, seriously.
Happy crafting 🙂


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Henrik Olai Kaarstein (b. 1989, Oslo) lives and works in Frankfurt am Main and Oslo. He has been a student at the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main since 2010. Recent solo exhibitions include 'Mothers', T293, Naples, 'Isn't', Welcome Screen, London, and 'Charmless', ReMap 4, Athens (all 2013). His works have been included in group shows at Apt 302, Marseille, Clarence Mews, London, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, D'amelio, New York and art fairs such as Art Basel Miami Beach and FIAC. 'Let's Take a Stand That Stands for a While', a collection of his poetry will be published by Britney's press in 2014.
*Extracted from a text by Buck Ellison


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Archive for the 'communism' Category
a bonobo world, and other impossibilities 13
Chinese culture – not so bonobo
I heard recently that the all-controlling Chinese government provides no sex education for its young citizens, and that the abortion rate is astronomically high there. The government as we know had a one-child policy, starting in the late seventies, and firming into law in 1980. It was abandoned in October 2015. Unsurprisingly, this involved forced abortions, even though abortion was made illegal there in the early 1950s. Anti-abortion law was gradually watered down in ensuing decades. The government in its wisdom, especially under Mao, saw population growth as the key to economic success. Deng Xiaoping, who became China's numero uno in 1978, saw things differently as China's population soared.
Journalist Mei Fong, who wrote a book about the one-child policy, points out that, among many other negative effects, the policy led to widespread abortions of female infants, since in China as in most other countries, male offspring are more highly valued. Not the case, of course, for bonobos.
Humans are the only apes who are capable of aborting the not-yet-born. They have also, throughout their history, engaged in infanticide, as have other animals. But of course another, rather recent development has had a powerful influence on our reproductive behaviour, that of contraception. Religious organisations, such as the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church, frown upon the practice, though their holy scriptures are of course mute on the matter, and practising Catholics worldwide have largely ignored church teachings, preferring pleasure to abstinence. Other Christian denominations, and Islamic and Hindu religious leaders tend to be more accepting, though there are no doubt conservative naysayers.
Bonobos are highly sexual, though of course not as much as many humans, but they eschew contraception, and yet their birth rate is low, and infanticide has never been observed among them, unlike among chimps. Of course their genito-genital frottage is most often used to relieve tension, and generally among females – and more power to that – but more importantly, bonobos present themselves in estrus even when they can't conceive. Their all-round availability to males – when they're in the mood (males have occasionally had the tips of their penises bitten off by disgruntled females – and more power to that) means there's less competition between male bonobos than there is between male chimps. The low birth rate is presumably explained by the fact that full-blown in-out-in-out is no more common among bonobos than it is among chimps. It's also likely that year-round availability means that total rumpy-pumpy is spread out over the year and isn't concentrated only in the fertile period. With bonobos, not every sperm is sacred.
Getting back to China and abortions, obviously if you have no way of discovering, through normal educational channels, the biological facts of pregnancy, and your family and local community, wedded to Confucian or other traditions of sexual modesty and general avoidance of discussing this all-too-basic animal instinct, that instinct might just get the better of you before you become aware of the consequences. So the Chinese authorities appear to have used abortion as an easy solution to the problem. With their peculiar top-down administration (peculiar to we in liberal democratic countries, but China's communist party has essentially taken over the role of the all-powerful Manchu administration of previous centuries, so they're used to it), the Chinese seem to have been persuaded in toto that abortion isn't a moral issue. But of course there's an exception – whereas in previous decades it was a duty to limit your offspring, now it's becoming a duty to refuse sexually selected abortion, in favour of boys. This male-female imbalance has become a serious issue, brought about by a patriarchal administration blind to the problems created by the patriarchy that it continues to uphold. The Chinese Communist Party is of course no more communist than the strife-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are democratic. It is a complex, multi-faceted, circumlocutory organisation, but its most important decision-making office is the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), which consists of a handful of the most powerful political figures in the country, including the General Secretary (currently Xi Jinping). Since its full establishment in the 1950s, the PSC has had 57 members, of which 57 have been male. The CCP has in recent decades promoted capitalism, which it now calls, inter alia, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Whatever that means, it definitely does not allow for bourgeois liberalisation, a term deliberately singled out. Long story short, no sex education in schools – or very little, often too late. Homosexuality, in particular, is a touchy matter – and more power to that – which neither the government nor parents are particularly willing to confront. However, it's probably fair to assume that, as far as attitudes can change, they will do so in the right direction – towards a bonobo world, rather than away from it.
Meanwhile, the impact of all this conservatism weighs more heavily on girls and young women, of course. And it's not just in the matter of sex and pregnancy that Chinese females are getting a raw deal. Women in China have recently demonstrated, in small numbers, about such matters as the dearth of female public toilet facilities, and the very high rate of domestic violence in the country. And they've been punished for it, imprisoned, harassed, and belittled by government thugs, who also harass their families and workplaces into keeping them in line. Some of these women have become heroes of the international feminist movement, but are unknown in their own country due to the CCP's stranglehold on the social media network. And yet, reform will gradually come. The mighty male Chinese government hates to be humiliated by protesting 'little girls', so it silences them and then, knowing full well the justice of the women's cause, makes a few changes in the right direction. And maybe if they, the women, are lucky, the next General Secretary, though surely another male, will be a little more of a bonobo, and there will be just a little more free love and a little less domestic warfare in the land.
The Epoch Times and the 'CCP virus'
Jacinta: So something unusual arrived in our letterbox the other day – a newspaper of sorts. Made out of paper.
Canto: Weird. Haven't read one of those for a while.
Jacinta: Yes, nowadays we read those things on tablets, just like the Flintstones of yore. It wasn't a big newspaper – an 8-page broadsheet – but it was unusual in other respects. It was all about China, or rather the Chinese government – the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). And none of it was positive.
Canto: Yes, the newspaper is called The Epoch Times, and has an 'about us' column on page 2, which tells us it's 'dedicated to seeking the truth through insightful and independent journalism'.
Jacinta: 'Standing outside of political interests and the pursuit of profit, our starting point and our goal is to create a media for the public benefit, to be truly responsible to society'. All very commendable of course, but the whole paper is devoted entirely to criticising the CCP, highlighting its nefarious tactics and giving a voice to silenced, and sometimes disappeared, Chinese citizens, and also to Australian critics of the CCP.
Canto: So it's Australian-based, operating out of Hurstville, a southern suburb of Sydney. Apparently founded back in 2000, it also states 'we stand against the destruction wrought by communism, including the harm done to cultures around the world'. So, what do you think?
Jacinta: Well… we're no admirers of so-called communism (which is always dictatorial or oligarchical rule in fact). We're into open, progressive and collaborative societies. So, while I'm sympathetic to the cause of this newspaper, here's a criticism. It's interesting that we've had this in our mail now, from this 20-year-old organisation. It comes at a time when the CCP is undoubtedly weakened by the spread of SARS-CoV-2, and will be scrambling to improve its reputation and to limit the economic damage done to China by this disaster. It's a bit like these China critics and journalists, many of them of Chinese backgrounds themselves it seems, are 'going in for the kill' against a weakened adversary. All very 'nature red in tooth and claw'. And of course I sympathise to a degree, but note that I mentioned 'collaborative' before, and in our last post we talked about not playing the blame game at this time. The Epoch Times has an editorial on its second page, entitled 'Giving the Right Name to the Virus Causing a Worldwide Pandemic'. Their decision is to call it the CCP virus, a name they use throughout the newspaper. I respectfully disagree for a number of reasons. First, it would be a step backward to the Spanish influenza days. As we know, the Spanish flu didn't originate in Spain, but much of the early reporting of it came from there, while other nations, still engaged in the HSW (Horribly Stupid War) of the period, suppressed the news to maintain morale. This was unfortunate geographical nomenclature, as many people still confusedly believe it came from Spain. Today we wisely use scientific names which refer to the type of pathogen – coronaviruses have their characteristic s-proteins, hepatitis viruses affect the liver, from the ancient Greek root hepat-, etc. This helps make clear that viruses and other pathogens have no nationality and know no borders. It also helps to internationalise science. Second, while we need to know the precise origin of this virus, and to try to shut down what at this stage looks to be the passage from bats to humans via one or more intermediaries, the priorities right now are to stop or reduce its spread, to reduce its effect on human bodies, and ultimately to develop a vaccine to stop it in its tracks. Only after we've achieved these things should we be looking at causes and blame.
Canto: Right, like when the Titanic's sinking, it's no use wasting time on causes or human failings before the event, all your energies should be spent on saving lives, getting others to collaborate on rescue efforts, and getting the hell away from there. Those other enquiries come afterwards.
Jacinta: Right. Now China is apparently trying to help with supplies of PPE and with its own clinical trials of antivirals and vaccines. Obviously there are political motives there, but if it's providing effective assistance we shouldn't reject it. Now, there's a massive amount of journalism being produced as to the CCP's motives and its effectiveness in, for example its assistance to Italy, with which it has had long-standing relations, and we shouldn't be naïve about the CCP's misinformation campaigns, its dubious politicking, and its cyber-warfare activities, and all of that should be reported on, but in my view, the reporting should always have this question in back-of-mind: Is it (I mean the reporting) helping or hindering the spread and/or defeat of Covid-19? That s the one and only priority at the moment. If the CCP is saving lives and reducing suffering in its own country and elsewhere at the moment, that's a good thing, and should be welcomed.
Canto: Misinformation costs lives too though. It's interesting that both Hong Kong and Taiwan, two regions that have reason not to trust anything coming out of the CCP, have performed far better than most in combatting Covid-19. Many Hong Kong residents have been wearing masks since the SARS outbreak of 2003, and the people themselves were ahead of their own government in wanting shut-downs. They've experienced only four confirmed deaths – an amazing feat. It really pays – and saves lives – not to trust the CCP, it seems.
Jacinta: So let me give a third reason. China is an economic giant, keen to expand its economic impact around the world. Twenty-five percent of Australia's manufactured goods come from China. China is the largest customer for our Australian exports, by far. Successive Australian governments have been trying to diversify our trade relations, but it seems that market forces are moving us to an ever-closer reliance on China. So we know that too-strident criticism of the CCP, however deserving, may have a severe economic impact. It places us in a delicate position. The question then becomes one of leverage – finding ways to criticise from a position of amity, or at least some kind of partnership.
Canto: Good luck with that. And we need to show them that we know what's what, and that we're not weaklings. And join and participate in international forums that promote human and minority rights, and lend our weight to international criticism.
Jacinta: Yes, and with these caveats, I do want to endorse what The Epoch Times is doing. It's important that people hear from and about the dissident voices within China, their courage and their suffering. Knowledge is power, and much anger and outrage is thoroughly justified. What has happened to Fang Bin? To Chen Quishi? To Li Zehua? To Ren Zhiqiang? How does the CCP justify its treatment of the late Dr. Li Wenliang and of Dr. Ai Fen? This will not be forgotten, nor will the CCP's self-interested, deceitful, incompetent and bullying mishandling of the early stages of this outbreak. The party needs to be brought to account, by international forces, in the aftermath of the pandemic.
The Epoch Times, April 20, Special Edition
Supporting Hong Kong 3: it's all about freedom
As I begin to write this, I've learned that Hong Kong developments and tensions are playing out here in Adelaide too, as well as elsewhere in Australia. Supporters of Hong Kong's independence and its freedoms have turned out in unexpected numbers, but they've met with violent pro-Chinese opposition, chanting 'Hong Kong belongs to China', a slogan that, of course, misses the point completely. Hong Kong would be delighted to belong to China if the mainland people enjoyed the freedoms that Hong Kongers have become accustomed to over the years, but that ain't gonna happen in the foreseeable.
In preparation for this piece I've been reading the fulsome Wikipedia article, Human rights in China, and it truly makes the heart sick. I've already written about the Uyghur people of the Xinjiang 'frontier' (as many as a million of them are in prison), as well as the bullying, and worse, of (pretty mild) feminist activists by the Thugburo, but there's also virtually no freedom of the press or the internet, limited freedom of movement within China (especially for the poor), regular repression of ethnic minorities (there are over a hundred of them), selective repression of religions (the Falun Gong have been bizarrely targeted, and organ-harvested), imprisonment and torture of political dissidents, application of fake and damaging 'psychiatric' treatments to non-conformists, and wide-ranging use of execution – China still executes more of its own citizens than the rest of the world combined (though global rates are thankfully falling, and Iran executes more on a per capita basis).
Of course, as far as Hong Kong is concerned, the one human rights 'event' that dominates all others is the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, as tanks are currently taking up positions around Hong Kong. So one has to wonder, considering this grim history, and considering that the controversial extradition bill which set off the protests has been shelved, why Hong Kongers are courting disaster in this way. One reason must surely be the initial success of the movement re extradition. Another is likely to be safety in numbers (illusory or not). Hong Kong is no Tiananmen, it's far far bigger. Even so, if the PRC acts decisively and brutally, can anybody see the international community responding to save the people of Hong Kong? It's more likely there will be a great deal of impotent outrage, and a weak round of sanctions before hastening back to business as usual.
And yet. Another huge difference between 2019 and 1989, of course, is the democratisation of recording technology. It's another difference that has doubtless emboldened Hong Kongers. It's also playing massively on the minds of a government that has taken media control to an extreme never before seen in human history. The PRC has made a habit of demonising 'western values' in recent decades, and it knows full well that a frontal attack on Hong Kong will demolish their claims to moral superiority overnight. Smart Hong Kongers also know this – so it's a fascinating, frightening stand-off situation. I've had a number of Hong Kong students over the years, and many of them are still in Australia pursuing further studies. I can't imagine what they're going through at this point.
The hope we should all be holding to is for a peaceful resolution, but there are questions as to who should be negotiating for each side – and particularly for the people of Hong Kong. The protesters have made five 'formal demands':
- the complete withdrawal of the proposed extradition bill
- the removal of the use of "riot" concerning the protests
- the release of arrested protesters
- an inquiry into alleged police brutality, and
- genuine universal suffrage
All of these demands seem reasonable, prima facie, unless of course there were protesters guilty of brutal acts etc, but in any case it's highly unlikely that the Grand Poohbahs of the Chinese State would demean themselves by negotiating with mere protesters, especially after labelling them as 'terrorists' according to Thugburo convention. Leading protesters are also reluctant to identify themselves, as they know they'll be immediately targeted by the PRC government. That leaves the Hong Kong administration, and its Chief, Carrie Lam. It's interesting, and perhaps surprising, that protesters didn't include her resignation as one of their official demands – though many are unofficially demanding it, and it's implicit in the universal suffrage demand. She has apparently warned recently that Hong Kong may be on a 'path of no return', a comment as frightening as it is vague. Certainly such warnings don't seem to be working; student demos are being supported by general strikes, and specific actions by lawyers, civil servants, hospital workers and others. Most of these actions have been peaceful, but there have been violent incidents, and the role of the Hong Kong police in suppressing/exacerbating such incidents is crucial, and concerning. Police tactics have become more aggressive, but they don't seem to be dampening the determination of the protesters, who've had enough of increasing PRC interference in Hong Kong affairs. They've also developed smart tactics, such as 'being water', flowing from place to place, continuous and uniform, without leaders or followers. This and other tactics were born from years of experience of failed and partially successful protest movements of the past. Perceived and documented police brutality has also been harnessed for the cause, as in the photo of a women hit in the eye, apparently by a police 'bean-bag round' a non-lethal form of ammunition. Women throughout Hong Kong and Taiwan are now sporting 'bloodied' eye-bandages in solidarity.
Unsurprisingly, those of us who've been around for a while are hardly sanguine about how this will end, and our greatest hope is that the PRC will see that the cost of engaging in what would certainly be a bloodbath, carried out in front of the world, would be greater than any economic or other foreseeable long-term benefit for a nation whose economy is already the envy of most nations. The Hong Kong and Taiwan protests are undoubtedly a smack in the eye to PRC pride, as, inter alia, they expose the lie about 'Asian values' the PRC is keen to promote in its battle with 'the west'. I suspect that what will happen in the near future is a war of attrition, with the Chinese hoping that some sort of over-reach by the protesters will justify anti-terrorist 'action'. The noises from the international community thus far haven't by any means convinced me that the PRC won't get away with mass slaughter when the time comes.
supporting Hong Kong 2: handover/return
Terms redolent of significance: in talking yesterday of ancient Egypt to my students, many of whom I tend to assume, after years of experience, are geographically challenged, I mentioned that it was in the north-east corner of Africa, just across the Red Sea and the Suez Canal from Israel. 'Palestine', one of my older Saudi students corrected, with a little grin.
I think also of the term 'nakba', which the Israeli government has been trying to erase from written records. It's of course a very significant term for Palestinians everywhere. The Brits refer to 1997 re Hong Kong as the 'handover', which fails to refer to the extremely doubtful terms of its original acquisition. The Chinese refer to it as 'the return', which fails to refer to the massive value-adding, in human if not in environmental terms, that occurred under British control.
Hong Kong is now a 'special administrative region' of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and in relinquishing it, Britain brought its once-mighty empire to a whimpering end.
The twenty years or so before 1997 saw a lot of diplomatic manouevring, principally between the PRC's main man Deng Xiaoping and Britain's Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher. At first, the negotiating teams were a long way apart. Deng was insistent that the territory should be handed over unconditionally, and that if necessary it would be taken by force, which, he argued, would be easy-peasy. Thatcher argued that a treaty was a treaty and that Britain always stood by its treaties, cited a 'Convention for the extension of Hong Kong territory', signed in 1890, and quibbled about the wording of the old treaties, but it was clear that the PRC had the upper hand. Even so, the economic transformation of the region, especially since the seventies, and the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, encouraged British officials to provide as many democratic safeguards against the Chinese oligarchy as possible, as 1997 drew near. Chris Patten, the last British governor, battled to increase the voting franchise in the early nineties, while the PRC fumed over lack of consultation. A watered-down package of reforms was accepted in 1994. It fell well short of full democracy. So when the big day came, on July 1 1997, the proposed 'one country, two systems' future was being much questioned and worreted over.
In the 22 years since, that date has been marked by demonstrations organised by Hong Kong's Civil Human Rights Front, demanding universal suffrage. They started small, but in 2002-3, anti-PRC activists received a boost of sorts when a proposed law, Article 23, designed to suppress political activity and freedom of speech, especially criticism of the PRC, became a rallying issue. Article 23 was indefinitely shelved when half a million people came out in demonstrations against it in July 2003. Since that time the struggles between pro-democracy and pro-Beijing forces in Hong Kong have been increasingly overt. Since 1997, the PRC has been keen to have the territory controlled by regime puppets. The first was Tung Chee-hwa, a more or less unknown businessman given the title of Chief Executive of Hong Kong at handover. He faced extreme pressure to resign during the 2003 demonstrations, and finally stepped down in March 2005, under some pressure from Beijing for corporate mismanagement. He's still influential in Hong Kong and recently blamed, at least in part, the introduction of liberal studies (during his administration) for the current unrest. Might be right there.
Tung's replacement was Donald Tsang, who seems to have been a more able administrator, though his popularity gradually declined during his 7 years in office as he became involved in business scandals as well as mishandling, according to his own admission, a new Political Appointments System, which critics found lacking in transparency, among other things. Clearly with so much at stake, and with so much suspicion of Beijing interference, the Chief Executive role has been anything but an easy ride.
The third Chief Executive was Leung Chun-ying, surprisingly elected in 2012 – the electors being the 1200 or so members of the Election Committee, largely controlled by Beijing. He had a reputation as a reformer, within the extremely narrow confines acceptable to the PRC. During his incumbency social unrest culminated in the umbrella movement of late 2014. Like many similar protest movements over the past few years, this changed nothing in terms of democratisation for the region, even if it proclaimed to the world that Hong Kong was prepared to fight hard for its freedoms. Serious rioting also broke out in late 2016, in response to an attempted government crackdown on street hawkers. Again, Hong Kong residents and business people were showing their spirit for combatting government heavy-handedness. It's also clear however, that the Beijing thugocracy knows nothing other than heavy-handed control of 'its' people. It's a recipe for major confrontation.
In recent times Hong Kong has experienced serious housing problems and a growth in the proportion of people living below the poverty line. This and concerns about PRC interference have created growing levels of unrest. The manner in which the Hong Kong Chief Executive is elected has been a sore point, with protest leaders pointing out that it fails to satisfy 'international standards in relation to universal suffrage' – this is enshrined, for what it's worth, in Article 45 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, which requires 'selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures'. Of course, this is as likely to be honoured by Beijing as is the UN-directed Palestinian 'right of return' by the Israeli government, and no reforms have occurred for the most recent election in 2017, which brought the current Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, to power. All of these CEs have been more or less pro-Beijing puppets.
The most recent unrest was, of course, sparked by a recent bill proposed by Lam, which would allow criminals, and political prisoners, to be extradited from Hong Kong to China. And we all know that political prisoners are to the Thugburo as an Englishman is to the Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum giant. The protests have been massive, causing the bill to be indefinitely shelved. Lam has since stated publicly that 'the bill is dead'. Interestingly, though, the protest movement has continued…
This obviously inadequate summary of Hong Kong's history has helped me in coming to a better understanding of current events, which the democratic world in particular is watching with fascination and foreboding. As I may have mentioned, I would've been in Kowloon next week but for a health issue (not my own) which caused us to cancel, so that adds to my interest in these tensions and their possible outcomes. In my next post I'll try to get my head around more of the details of the current situation.
the Vietnam War – liberation, ideology, patriotism
I've been watching the Burns and Novick documentary on the Vietnam War, having just viewed episode 6 of the 10-part series and of course it's very powerful, you feel stunned, crushed, angry, ashamed, disgusted. There are few positive feelings. I have in the past called the 'Great War' of 1914-18 the Stupid War, from which we surely learned much, but this was yet another war whose only value was what we learned from it about how to avoid war. That seems to be the only real value of war, from which such unimaginable suffering comes. People speak of 'collateral damage' in war, but often, at the end of it, as in the Thirty Years' War, the Great War, and I would argue the Vietnam War, collateral damage is all there is.
Over the years I've taught English to many Vietnamese people. Years ago I taught in a Vietnamese Community Centre, and my students were all middle-aged and elderly. They would no doubt have had many war stories to tell. In more recent times I've taught Vietnamese teenagers wearing brand labels and exchanging Facebook pics of their restaurant and nightclub adventures. For them the war is two generations away, or more. Further away in fact than WW2 was from me when I was a teenager. Time heals, as people die off.
Of course Burns and Novick provide many perspectives as they move through the years, as well as highlighting historical events and characters I knew little about, such as the Tet Offensive, the South Vietnames leaders Thieu and Ky, and North Vietnam's Le Duan and his side-lining of Ho Chi Minh. But it's the perspectives of those on the battlefields, wittingly or unwittingly, that hit home most.
When I was young, Vietnam was a major issue for Australians. My older brother was suspended from high school for participating in a Vietnam moratorium march in 1970. I was fourteen at the time and had no idea what 'moratorium' meant, except that the marchers were protesting the war. I also knew that my brother, three years older, was in danger of being conscripted and that I might face the same danger one day, which naturally brought up the Country Joe McDonald question 'what are we fighting for'? Why were Australians fighting Vietnamese people in their own country, killing and being killed there? The unconvincing answer from government was that we were fighting communism, and that we were there to support our allies, the USA. This raises further obvious questions, such as that, even if communism was odious, it was even more odious, surely, to go to faraway countries and kill their inhabitants for believing in it. The Vietnamese, whatever their beliefs about government, were surely not a threat to the USA – that was, to me, the obvious response to all this, even as an adolescent.
Of course, the situation was more complex than this, I came to realise, but it didn't really change the principles involved. At about this time, 1970, I happened to stumble upon a Reader's Digest in the house, from around '67. It featured an article whose title I still vividly recall – 'Why not call China's bluff in Asia?' Written by a retired US general, it argued that the enemy wasn't Vietnam so much as China, the root of all communist evil. China was acting with impunity due to American weakness. The USA would never win in Vietnam unless it struck at the heart of the problem – China's support and enabling of communism throughout Asia and elsewhere. The general's answer was to show them who had the real power – by striking several major Chinese cities with nuclear bombs.
Killing people was wrong, so I'd heard, but apparently communism was even more wrong, so the ethics were on this general's side. Of course I was disgusted – viscerally so. These were apparently the kind of people who ran the military. Then again, if people are trained to kill, it's tough not to allow them the opportunity… and they're only Chinese after all.
I must make an admission here. I don't have a nationalistic cell in my body. I've just never felt it, not even slightly. Okay, sure I support Australia in soccer and other sports, just as I support local teams against interstaters, insomuch as I follow sport. But I've never in my life waved a flag or sung a national anthem. When I first heard the Song of Australia being sung at school assembly, as the national flag was hoisted, I noted that the words extolled the wonders of Australia, and presumed that other anthems extolled the virtues of Guatemala, or Lesotho, or Finland, and I could have been born in any of those countries or any other. It all seemed a bit naff to me. Maybe the fact that I was born elsewhere – in Scotland – made me less likely to embrace the new country, but then 'God Save the Queen' – could anything be more naff than that little ditty?
So the idea of my possibly being forced to fight in a foreign war just because I'd landed up in a country whose rather vague ANZUS obligations supposedly entailed an Australian presence there seemed bizarre. I couldn't look at it from a nationalist perspective (had I known the term at the time I would've called myself a humanist), which freed me up to look at it from a more broadly ethical one. From what I gathered and am still gathering, the US intervention in Vietnam, which began with Eisenhower and even before, with US military assistance to French colonial rule in Indo-China, was fueled first by the essentially racist assumption that South-East Asians weren't sufficiently civilized to govern their own regions, and then by the 'better dead than red' ideology that caused so much internal dissension in the US in the fifties. The idea, still bruited today, that the 'rise of communism' was a direct threat to the USA seemed far-fetched even then. The Vietnamese, it seemed obvious, had been fighting off the French because, as foreigners, they had little interest in the locals and were bent on exploitation. Naturally, they would have looked at the Americans in the same way. I certainly had little faith in communism at a time when Mao and the Russian leadership seemed to be vying for 'most repressive and brutal dictator' awards, but I didn't see that as a threat to the west, and I also had some faith that a fundamentally unnatural political system, based on a clearly spurious ideology, would die of its internal contradictions – as has been seen by the collapse of the USSR and the transformation of China into a capitalist oligarchy.
So it seemed to me at the time that the Vietnamese, whatever their political views, aspirations and allegiances, were above all bent on fighting off foreigners. They were seeking autonomy. The problem was that foreigners – the Americans and their allies, as well as the Chinese and the Soviets – were all seeking to influence that autonomy to their own national and ideological benefit. Of course, the Vietnamese themselves were ideologically divided (as is every single nation-state on this planet), but the foreign actors, and their military hardware, gave those divisions a deadly force, leading to Vietnamese people killing Vietnamese people in massive numbers, aided and abetted by their foreign supporters.
War, of course, brutalises people, and some more than others. That's where the nationalism-humanism divide is most important. That's why, in watching the Vietnam War series, I'm most moved by those moments when patriotic bombast is set aside and respect and admiration for the courage and resolution of the Vietnamese enemy is expressed. It's a respect, in the field, that's never echoed, even in private, by the American leaders back in Washington. So often, patriotic fervour gets in the way of clear thinking. I was watching the last moments of the sixth episode of the series, when Hal Kushner, a doctor and POW in Vietnam, was speaking in a heartfelt way of his experience there: 'we understood that despite different backgrounds', he said, 'different socioeconomic backgrounds, different races, different religions, that we were… Americans.' I actually thought, before he uttered that last word, that he was going to make a statement about humanism, the humanity of all parties, at last saying something in stark contrast to his patriotic pronouncements up to that point. But no, he wasn't about to include the Vietnamese, the enemy. Of course, Kushner had had a bad time in Vietnam, to say the least. He'd been captured and tortured, he'd seen many of his comrades killed… I could certainly understand his attitude to the Vietnamese who did these things, but I could also understand the rage of the Vietnamese, equally patriotic no doubt, when they saw this horde of fucking foreigners coming over with their massive weaponry and arrogance and fucking up their country, destroying their land for years, bombing the fuck out of village after village without discrimination, killing countless babies and kids and young and old folk, male and female, all to prevent the Vietnamese from installing a government of their own choosing just in case it wasn't sufficiently in keeping with the will of the US government. If patriotism blinds you to this unutterable inhumanity, than it's clearly a sick patriotism.
I look forward to watching the rest of the series. I wonder who'll win.


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Opening Reception: "Un-Scene Chattanooga" Exhibit
Click here for more information
Victoria Pearmain presents her new collection of oil paintings that represent her view of behind-the-scenes locations around Chattanooga that remain hidden from the casual observer. A plein-air painter for many years, Pearmain absorbs the atmosphere of her subjects on location to give life to her representation which she finalizes in the studio. A vacant lot, the factory now shut down, the little view of nature on the edge of the Walmart parking lot – these city vignettes inspire her works in oil on canvas, paper or panels. The collection will run February 7-28.
Event Details
Sponsor: In-Town Gallery
Admission: Free
Phone: (423) 267-9214
Email: email@example.com
Location: In-Town Gallery
Event Schedule


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Tuesday, 22 May 2012 07:08 AM EDT
President Barack Obama will offer school districts the chance to compete for awards from a $400 million program by designing plans to individualize classes and improve student achievement.
The awards, of as much as $25 million each, will target districts that "focus on transforming instruction so that it meets all students' learning abilities," the Education Department said in a statement today. The department will take comment on the criteria for the awards competition through June 8, according to the statement.
The plan is the latest addition to Obama's $4 billion Race to the Top program, which during the past three years has distributed grants to states on the basis of plans to raise educational standards and tie teachers' evaluations to student performance. The district-based plan will encourage efforts to help teachers determine which students have mastered subject matter, and help others catch up, according to the statement.
"We are inviting districts to show us how they can personalize education for a set of students in their schools," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in the statement. "We need to take classroom learning beyond a one-size-fits-all model and bring it into the 21st century."
Districts applying for the funds must serve at least 2,500 students, 40 percent or more of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, according to the statement. The department expects to announce awards for a total of 15 to 20 districts in December, an official said on a conference call with reporters.
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Painting Companies Digital Marketing
We have experience helping painters just like you.
We have experience helping painters just like you.
Painting companies need digital marketing just like everyone else. In order to grow your small painting company, you need to embrace digital marketing. There are a lot of components of digital marketing for painting companies, but the experts at Big Rock Marketing can walk you through all of them.
Whether you choose a couple of our services or all of them, you will love the digital marketing offerings from Big Rock Marketing. Our services include
Our team is experts in all of these services. So, you can rest assured that you will grow your business online when you hire Big Rock Marketing. Online success will translate into the "real world" success as well, so it is a win-win for you.
Why do painting companies need a digital market? Good question. There are a couple of different answers. The first is that almost all the shopping has moved online. As the internet becomes ever more popular, and more people shop from home, it becomes essential for you to have an online presence as well.
A second reason is that there are over 400,000 painting companies in the United States. There are no companies with over 5% of industry revenue as well, which means there is a lot of diversity in the market. In fact, most painting companies do not employ outside employees. Whether you have employees or not, you need digital marketing to help set you apart from your competition.
With such diversity in the industry, creating a well-known, local brand can be a challenge. And, with the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, painting companies are likely to take an economic hit. Thus, marketing well and becoming identifiable to your customers is essential for succeeding in the painting industry. Thankfully for you, Big Rock Marketing is here to help.
You should hire Big Rock Marketing for your next digital marketing campaign because of our expertise. We know what customers want, and so we are uniquely situated to help you meet your goals. Don't just take our word for it, our results speak for themselves.
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It is hard to overestimate the importance of good website design. This may seem to be a subjective goal, but it is not. There are a few tried and true features that all popular websites have in common.
We discuss SEO more fully below. For the other features, a good website should include all of the items from the list above. You will notice that most of the features are about user experience. The user of your website should not struggle to navigate to or find anything, no links should be broken, and the website should be designed for mobile use as well.
Mobile optimization is especially important. The world of the internet is moving even more towards mobile use. The large majority of customers now use their mobile devices to browse and shop online. That means that you have to have a website that is configured for mobile use. If it is not it could affect your search results ranking, repeat business, and more.
Testimonials and compelling content are also very important to a good website for painting companies. As a painter, you would for many different clients. Potential customers want to see that you can do a good job. The best way to prove that to them is to add testimonials about your work.
At Big Rock Marketing, we build websites in WordPress. All of our websites will be 100% unique. They will be fitted to your business, goals, and audience. Contact one of our experts today to learn about our website design process today.
We mentioned a dedicated discussion of SEO, and here it is. SEO is an acronym. It stands for search engine optimization. You want to rank as highly as possible in search results. Most customers will pick the painting company that appears in the first two spots of a search. You need to be in one of those spots in order to maximize your potential.
SEO can be a complicated topic, but the experts at Big Rock Marketing are more than happy to explain it to you. SEO is not just a backend concept. It is an ongoing process of content creation and adaptation as the criteria governing search results change. It is not just the use of keywords, but many other little changes that can make a huge difference in the ranking of your website.
In order to set up SEO correctly, we will work with you to learn your painting company in-depth. Give us a picture of your industry and target audience, and we will ensure that the SEO works for you.
The final digital marketing strategy that all painting companies need is content marketing. This is the development of compelling content for your website. It often takes the form of blog posts.
You don't want all content on your website to be advertising. It should answer some questions your customer has. For example, you may explain how to paint without creating lines, or how to tape a room correctly. Yes, this gives the customer information they need to do the painting themselves. But, it also establishes your brand as a helpful source of information. This makes it more likely for customers to share your content, return to your website, and ultimately hire you for their next painting job.
Does all of this sound too good to be true? It's not. You just need to hire Big Rock Marketing. We can make all your digital marking dreams a reality. Try us today!


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Library Site
Harry Boardman - A Lancashire Mon
Page 1
Photograph courtesy of Roger Liptrot
(b 1930, Failsworth, Lancashire; d 1987)
Folk singer, one of the first in the UK folk revival to examine the folk
tradition around him rather than regurgitating the Anglo- American tradition
that was the norm. An early interest in skiffle led to running a folk club by
'54, an unusual pursuit then; he came under the infl. of A L Lloyd and Ewan
MacColl but became noted for his championing of his local, Lancastrian folk
music and folk traditions. His first recording was for Topic on New Voices '65,
an anthology with Maureen Craik and the Watersons; then albums Deep Lancashire
'68, Owdham Edge '70 and (with David Hillery) Trans Pennine '71. Boardman
contributed to the most important collection of British mining songs ever
released commercially when he appeared as a guest, as did Dick Gaughan, on the
High Level Ranters' The Bonny Pit Laddie '75. More albums incl. A Lancashire Mon
'73 (all these on Topic), Golden Stream '78 on AK Records and the privately
issued Personal Selection '86. His written works incl. Folk Songs and Ballads of
Lancashire '73, with his wife Lesley Boardman, and Manchester Ballads '83, co-
authored with Roy Palmer.
(From Musicweb encyclopaedia of popular music)
Harry Boardman – Discography
(On compilation records, Harry's songs are in bold text)
New Voices - Topic Records - 12T125 (1965)
album of first recordings. The Watersons, Harry Boardman, Maureen Craik:
Boston Harbour - The Watersons / To the Begging - Harry Boardman / The
White Cockade - Maureen Craik / Owdham - Harry Boardman / The Greenland
Whale Fishery - The Watersons / Hard Times - Harry Boardman / The
Sandgate Girl's Lament - Maureen Craik / Three Score and Ten - The Watersons /
The Broom of Cowdenknowes - The Watersons / Bonny at Morn - Maureen Craik /
The Hand Loom versus the Power Loom - Harry Boardman / A U Hinny Burd -
Maureen Craik / The Shurat Weaver - Harry Boardman / Kin Arthur's
Servants - The Watersons / The Weaver of Wellbrook - Harry Boardman
Deep Lancashire - Topic Records - 12T188 (1968)
Songs and Ballads of the Industrial
North-West. Various Artists:
Harry Boardman with The Oldham Tinkers
Picture courtesy of John Howarth
Maureen (or Emma B as she is known on the mudcat forum) has sent in this memory of Harry. The song in question is "The Bury New Loom.
"One long
conversation I had with Harry at Holmfirth, not long before his death related to
his teaching. Following the publication of the book Folk Songs and Ballads of
Lancashire (which I still have a copy of) Harry received a letter from a
secondary school teacher on behalf of some of his teenage pupils who were doing
a project. The students appeared to have picked out the best/worse examples of
'double entendre' weaving songs possible and were requesting a full explanation
of the 'technical terms' involved. At the time Harry was undecided whether to
let him into the 'secret'
Owdham Edge - Topic Records - 12T204 (1970)
Popular song and verse from Lancashire. Harry Boardman vocal, banjo, concertina,
Lesley Boardman mandolin, tenor banjo, Bob Diehl fiddle, The Oldham Tinkers
(John Howarth vocal, banjo. Gerrv Kearns vocal, guitar, Larry Kearns vocal,
mandolin, whistle), Mike Harding vocal, Jew's harp, concertina, Harvey Kershaw
speech, piano, Tim Boardman vocal, Robin Boardman vocal, guitar, bass
concertina, John Tenent tenor horn, Harry Ogden vocal, guitar, Ian Hope fiddle,
Mary Kershaw vocal.
Sam Shuttle and Betty Reedhook (BOARDMAN); Owdham Edge (OLDHAM TINKERS); Our Sarah's Getten'
a Chap (OLDHAM TINKERS); The Miners' Lockout (BOARDMAN); Street Scene
(HARVEY KERSHAW); Pounds, Shillings and Pence (TIM & ROBIN BOARDMAN); Down at
Our School (OLDHAM TINKERS); The Little Piecer (BROOKS); Sammy Shuttleworth
(HARDING); Bowton's Yard (BOARDMAN); Toddlin' Whoam (LARRY KEARNS);
The Bard's Reformation (BOARDMAN); Schoolyard Song (OGDEN); Nobbut a
Cockstride Away (MARY KERSHAW); Billy Suet's Song (BOARDMAN); Canute
(OLDHAM TINKERS); Our Bill (WRIGLEY)
Trans Pennine - Topic Records - 12TS215 (1971)
Harry Boardman and Dave Hillery.
Scarborough Sands / I'll Have a Collier For My Sweetheart / Forty Miles /
Tommy Stroo's Ghost / Cowd Stringy Pie / Tha's Welcome Little Bonny Brid
/ Nellie o'Bobs O't' Crowtrees / Weaver's Song / Happy Sam /
Manchester Canal / T'auld Wife of Coverdill / Lass O'Dallogil / My Love, My
Love /
Cockfight / Haley Paley / With Henry Hunt We'll Go / Ensilver
A Lancashire Mon – Topic Records - 12TS236 (1973)
Harry Boardman.
A Lancashire Mon / T Spinner's Tale / Radcliffe Otter Hunt / Victoria Bridge on a Saturday Night / Kitty & Robin / Saddleworth Buck Rabbit / Whoam Brewed / Warrikin Fair / Spinning Shoddy / To the Begging / Beltane Song / Garland / Owdham on a Saturday Night / Nine Times a Night.
The Bonnie Pit Laddie - Topic Records - 12TS271/2 (1975)
Re-released on CD - Topic Records - TSCD486
High Level Ranters with Harry Boardman and Dick Gaughan:
Doon the Waggon Way / Miner's Life / I Wish Pay Friday Would Come / Augengeich
Disaster / Collier's Rant / Farewell to the Monty / Putter / Little Chance / My
Gaffer's Bait / Coal Owner and the Pitman's Wife / Blackleg Miner / Miners'
Lockout / South Medomsley Strike / Durham Lockout / Aa'm Glad the Strike's
Done / Collier's Pay Week / I'll Have a Collier / Instrumental Selection
/ I'll Make Her Fain to Follow Me / Joyful Days are Coming / Get Her Bo /
Stoneman's Song / Hartley Calamity / Bonnie Woodha' / Banks of the Dee / The
Bonnie Pit Laddie (vocal).
Steam Ballads - Broadside - BRO 121 (1977)
Harry Boardman, Kempion, Jon Raven, Tony Rose
Recorded in 1977. The songs, mostly 19th century ballads, are:
Navvy on the Line / The Bold Navvies / Paddy Works on the Railway / A New Song on the Opening of the Newcastle & Shields Railway / Johnny Green's Trip fro' Owdhum to see the Manchester Railway / A New Song on the Opening of the Birmingham to Liverpool Railway / Iron Horse / The Oxford and Hampton Railway / The Cockney's Trip to Brummagem / The Wonderful Effects of the Leicester Railway / Cosher Bailey / Moses of the Mail / Fireman's Growl.
From Liszt to Music Hall
Open University - OU45 Arts Foundation Course - 1978
Recorded in 1978. This was an LP and cassette of 9 songs featuring Harry and John Foreman:
Side 1 featured classical music and side 2 featured the songs of Harry and John.
The Miller of the Dee , Manchester's Improving Daily, The Cotton Lords of Preston - Harry
Song of the Lower Classes, Villikins and his Dinah, Twickenham Ferry, If it Wasn't for the Houses in between - John
The Four Loom Weaver, Oldham Workshops - Harry
Golden Stream (LP) - AK Records - AK7813 (1978)
Golden Stream (Cassette) - DENE Records - DKA9138c (1991)
Harry Boardman
with Lesley & Tim Boardman, Chris Cole, Bob Diehl, Bob Morton, Steve Turner & Tony Hill
Handloom v Powerloom / Th' Coaler / Go George I can't endure you (tune) / I mean to get jolly well drunk / Flat Cap – Black Mary's Hornpipe (tunes) / Folk Song 73 / Frolicsome Kate / Three Jolly Boys / The Cotton Lords of Preston / Hard Times / Jack the Horsecourser's hornpipe (tune) / Drawin' t' rents / Jumping Jack / Ashton Mashers / Golden Stream / Alterations
Widely regarded as one of the best recordings that Harry made, it was re-released on cassette sometime after Harry's death.
Personal Selection (1986)
Harry Boardman
with Nick Dennerley, Roger Fisken and Bob Morton
What ails thee my son Robin /
Tom Paget / The Bitch Fox / The Plodder Seam / The Garland / Where's ta bin /
The Girls of Lancashire / The Flying Cloud / Bonny Light Horseman / The Grand
Conversation on Napoleon / The Streets of London (Jack of all trades) / The
Whaler's lament / Ninian South / Owdham White Hare / I'll tell thi Dick / The
Manchester Canal / Fortune turns the wheel
This was a cassette recorded by Alistair Miller at Leader Sound. The other LPs had been deleted by this time and Harry wanted something to sell at his gigs. This set of songs represented Harry's repertoire of the time.
This was the last commercial
recording he made before his death in 1987 although he had recorded some songs
from The Manchester Ballads for a programme on BBC Radio Manchester (now BBC
GMR). I happen to have a copy of that broadcast – I don't know if the BBC still
has it!
See page 2 for further details.
See page 2 for further details.
The Iron Muse – Topic Records – TSCD 465 (1997)
panorama of industrial folk music
Harry Boardman is one of the "other Topic artists" singing The Handloom Weavers Lament
Deep Lancashire – Topic Records – TSCD 485 (1997)
This is a re-release of the two early LPs Deep Lancashire and Owdham Edge.
Unfortunately, because of the lack of time available on the CD, several songs
have been omitted – sadly three of them that were Harry's.
These are - from Deep Lancashire:
Getting' Wed – Harry Boardman / Seaur Pies: John Howarth & the Oldham Tinkers /
The Lancashire Liar - Harry Boardman
And from Owdham Edge:
The Bard's Reformation – Harry BOARDMAN
The Oldham Tinkers are in the process of having their long deleted LPs re-released on CD and the producers have taken the opportunity of including the Tinker's contributions to Deep Lancashire and Owdham Edge as additional tracks. Unless Harry's LPs are re-released in a similar fashion, I doubt whether the missing tracks will be available to be heard again in their original format.
Two photographs of Harry from the Ormskirk Advertiser in the 1980's
As a tribute to Harry's work over the years, Cock Robin Music and Mark Dowding have teamed up together to produce a CD of songs called "A Mon Like Harry"
This CD, which has been featured on BBC local radio stations in the North-West and Midlands
regions, is available from either Mark Dowding or Chris Harvey
More details on Mark's website HERE
Harry Boardman - The Man and His Music
A documentary about Harry made by Chris Harvey and Mark Dowding is now available to listen to on:
This new documentary features memories of Harry and contributions from the following people:
Baz Barker, Alan Bell, Chris Cole, Mark Dowding
Personal Choice - Cock Robin Music CRM 180 (2008)
Chris Harvey of Cock Robin Music has taken the cassette of Personal Selection as this was the only version of the recording available and remastered the tracks correcting the pitch as the tracks were running slow to brighten them up considerably. Problems of balance and separation due to the recording room being rather cramped due to a grand piano taking up a lot of the space according to Bob Morton who played guitar on the original have been corrected.
Two changes have been made to the original format. "The Girls of Lancashire" now starts the CD and a bonus track of Harry telling a story about his dad going down to the pub has been added thanks to Mike Kiernan of Stockport sending Mark Dowding a copy of the gig that he recorded in 1981.
The CD is available from Mark via his website HERE and is priced at £8 which includes P+P
For information about Harry's broadcasts please go to page 2


text:
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bancroft_Hall :
Largest single dormitory in the World, named after former Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft, is home for the entire brigade of 4,000 midshipmen, and contains some 1,700 rooms, five miles of corridors, and 33 acres of floor space.
Bancroft Hall
No Thumbnail
© Bing Maps
By boothy443 @ 2007-04-03 19:09:39
Links: en.wikipedia.org
Blog Posts
Nearby Maps (50 km): 2,819
@ 2007-04-03 19:23:17
The red patio on either side of the center area is known as "The Red Beach." Midshipmen often sunbathe there (or we did back in '81 anyway.)
@ 2007-04-03 19:25:30
The big white 'T' in the center is the dining hall where all 400 midshipmen plus guests, visiting teams, officers, etc. all sit down to eat at once.


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On the occasion of their 20th anniversary, art rock band RPWL has released "A New Dawn," a 2 hour long concert featuring both stereo and surround mixes, each with audio tracks in your choice of English or German. The Blu-ray edition contains the following audio formats: LPCM 2.0 48kHz / 24-bit, Dolby True HD 5.1 48kHz / 24-bit, and Dolby Atmos 7.1. The lines from the German language live show were dubbed by the narrator and actors into the English version.
This autumn 2017 release documents the final stop of their "Wanted" tour. Recorded two years earlier in October 2015, on this special evening the band played in their hometown of Freising, Bavaria, featuring an elaborately assembled combination of elements that included multimedia and a play, all underpinned with the music by the band. This video concert was the first and only time that such a mammoth production was brought to the stage, extending the band to include a cast of around 50 actors and extras.
The Blu-ray also contains a few extras including a 15 minute "Making of film" of the concert movie, their encore at the Freising show of "Unchain the Earth" as well as a music video.
The production quality is stunning, capturing a performance rather than a concert drawn primarily from their latest studio album "Wanted." The actors and band tell a story with a thoughtful message which may or may not be for everyone. However, the music is top notch, generally appealing to those who enjoy Pink Floyd, born out of the bands tribute band roots. Fans can also hear some Genesis and Porcupine Tree tossed in the mix, a bit heavier at times but always melodic.
Since I am not setup for Atmos this review focuses on the 5.1 mix and offer some notes on the LPCM stereo mix. Overall both the audio and video are truly excellent, instruments are very clear and extremely well recorded. As an immersionist, it is fantasic to hear how the back channels are used so wonderfully, with effects discretely punctuating from all corners, while also presenting a live performance with an excellent live feel. While I did check out both the German and English versions, as an English speaker, I obviously preferred the English dubbed version of the narration parts, which worked exceptionally well. Regardless of your language choice, all songs are sung in English.
Picture quality is outstanding, and not even overkill for camera movement and excessive cutting. Shots give fans both a front row and set back view of the stage and performers, while also adding in plenty of closeups on various instruments. I specifically dig the overhead shot of the synthesizer on the second song "Swords And Guns." While much of the band primarily is focused across the three front channels, there are sections where the back channels roar with synths, backing vocals and other performer effects. Beyond that, the back channels typically emit the aural ambience of the theater, nicely extending the stage into the listening space.
While I personally yearned for a deeper bass and fuller snare and kick, I also recognize that the slightly thin sounding mix is a production choice rather than an imperfect recording. The impact is still there, and with very good clarity and nice overall balance. I really feel enveloped when the backing vocals land behind the sweet spot with some absorption up front, along with synth pads also falling behind me on the track "Wanted." Check out how the audience completely surrounds you during the breaks between songs, giving a true feeling of being right there at this unique and ever so special performance.
While some fans may not like the message that is part of the narrative, it does bind the entire performance together. I kept thinking how it would have struck a perfect balance by offering just the concert portions of the program as a separate chapter, but the performance is integrated too deeply for an easy and clean removal that would create an alternative chapter. The filming can be dark in areas and somewhat over saturated, yet I found none of that to be an issue that effected my viewing pleasure. I rather enjoyed the deep blacks and vivid colors while getting smothered with sound emanating from all speakers.
The center channel has been generously used throughout with a moderately wide soundstage. Dynamics are good and the recording is free of unwanted distortion, providing a distinctly clear aural experience. The LPCM stereo mix has a distinctly different coloration from the 5.1 surround mix that satisfies my bass desires and fulfills the slightly thin kick and snare I heard in the multi-channel mix. However, while there is some depth to the stereo soundstage, it doesn't compare to the actual 5.1 mix, flattening everything to the point where I no longer feel like I am at the show.
I don't get why the encore "Unchain the Earth" was not part of the main chapter, and also not mixed in surround. Alas, this song along with their video of Swords and Guns can be found in the Bonus Material along with the 15 minute Making of Documentary spoken in German with English subtitles.
All in all, this is by far one of the finest concert music Blu-rays I have enjoyed to date. An absolute must have for RPWL fans, strongly recommended for progressive fans, especially those who are into Pink Floyd. Likewise, this is a very worthy addition for surround enthusiasts who enjoy ear candy along with visual stimulation. Really, you can't go wrong with this disc, especially at the price point.
Format Info
Blu-ray with convert performance video in 48k/24 LPCM stereo, DTS MA 5.1, or DTS Atmos. Also available on DVD, however vidoe is reported to be in PAL format. CD and Vinyl editions available too.
Get your copy here:
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About the Author
Wesley is a lifelong music enthusiast. He started his career in the recording industry in New York City as an audio engineer, producer, and studio manager. Subsequently he toured across America as a guitarist with the short-lived band Land's Crossing. After many years in the technology sector and amassing a substantial vinyl and CD collection, he delved into immersive audio and created Hi-Res Edition to share with other listeners about the sound quality and discrete mixes available on many formats. He recently upgraded his system to 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos and continues to seek out and share about the best sounding releases.


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Dinner @ Butcher Boy
November 26, 2017 in Asian by thywhaleliciousfay
Was instagram-surfing when I chanced upon Butcher Boys; An Asian-inspired grill and bar. Interested to find out if it would be similar to Burnt Ends, I decided to check it out with my friend. And reservation was made for 2 via Chope. With only 2 seatings, I chose 8.15pm over 6.30pm since it's impossible to reach at 6.30pm.
(Though it seemed they've since removed the 2 seatings from Chope. Instead, reservation before 8.15pm are subjected to a dining period of 1 hour 45 minutes to accommodate the next seating.)
And from the menu, my friend and I ordered:-
1) Crispy fish skin, $6 (above) – Nori salt, sesame tahini.
2) Kanpachi sashimi, $24 (above) – Soy, tokyu turnip.
3) Fried squid, $20 (above) – Curry, burnt onion.
4) Fried chicken bao, $18 (above) – Yuzu kosho, kewpie.
5) Duck banh mi, $18 (above) – Liver pate, sriracha.
6) Butcher boy bacon & cheese burger, $28 (above) – With fries.
7) Peanut butter and berry ice cream sandwich, $10 (above)
Unfortunately, Butcher Boy was nowhere close to Burnt Ends in terms of food. Butcher Boys' core wasn't grilled meats (which I arrived at the restaurant hoping so) since they offered buns, etc on their limited menu. Would I recommend Butcher Boys? Hmm… Not really. The place was too noisy for my liking considering that my friend and I met to catch up over food. The space was separated into two where the second (and slightly elevated) half was the bar. And one can also say I was surprised at how the drinking crowd was strong and rowdy on a Tuesday night.
So no, I wouldn't recommend Butcher Boy. But I reckon it would be a fun place for drinks.
31 Keong Saik Road, Singapore
Overall: 6.5
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 6
Fri – Sun : 12:00 – 15:00 (L.O.)
Ambience: 7
Mon – Thur, Sun : 18:00 – 22:30 (L.O.)
Value: 6
Fri – Sat : 18:00 – 23:00 (L.O.)
Service: 7


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Good grief, where has the week gone?! I swear, last time I checked it was only Wednesday!!
Anyway, it's Friday! Yay!
Time for more pictures! :)
Anyway, it's Friday! Yay!
Time for more pictures! :)
This is Dixie, my brother & sis-in-law's cat. Apparently, she was tired?
This is my nephew, Baxter. Ain't he a cutie? :)
My Florida book came! (And so did my brother's weird screaming monkey thing.)
My favorite ornament from our tree. XD
This was SO much fun!
(More to come on this soon, I hope!)
Sock monkey hat!
Hello Kitty hat in progress.
So, I wrapped a few presents...and this isn't even all of them. I had to stop because I ran out of bags.
Pepper has grown fond of hiding cookies in my bed. This was the most recent occurrence.
Crazy dog.
Monkey parts!
Wellll, that looks like all of them for this week! I have a backlog of photos and such I need to post, but it just didn't happen this week. Hopefully next week!
Until then!
Happy Friday!


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by James Scott Bell
Hemingway famously declared that all of modern American literature comes from one book, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The novel, however, was controversial from the jump. In 1885 the Concord Public Library banned it from their shelves for being "the veriest trash, suitable only for the slums."
In recent years Finn has been removed from reading lists for its copious use of the N word, though Twain was portraying a slice of 1840s America in order to expose and shame its prejudices. But this is not a post about that controversy. The interested reader can find a good overview of the dispute in this article.
What I want to focus on is Twain's use of the mirror moment, and the transformation of Huck. In my book on the subject I assert that knowing the mirror moment tells you what your book is really all about. And that's certainly true of Huckleberry Finn. (How Twain managed to read my book long before I was born is still a mystery.)
In the middle of the novel Huck has the opportunity to turn Jim over to some slave trackers, for a reward. In the culture Huck is part of this is the "right" thing to do. A slave is someone else's "property." Thus, helping Jim escape is stealing. And since stealing is agin' the Good Book, Huck is in danger of hellfire. So he's been taught.
But something makes Huck hesitate. He tells the trackers that he and the fellow on the raft (Jim in hiding) have small pox. The trackers make a quick exit.
All this causes Huck to reflect:
They went off and I got aboard the raft, feeling bad and low, because I knowed very well I had done wrong, and I see it warn't no use for me to try to learn to do right; a body that don't get started right when he's little ain't got no show—when the pinch comes there ain't nothing to back him up and keep him to his work, and so he gets beat. Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on; s'pose you'd a done right and give Jim up, would you felt better than what you do now? No, says I, I'd feel bad—I'd feel just the same way I do now. Well, then, says I, what's the use you learning to do right when it's troublesome to do right and ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same? I was stuck. I couldn't answer that. So I reckoned I wouldn't bother no more about it, but after this always do whichever come handiest at the time.
So here is Huck asking himself who he is, who he is supposed to be, and deciding for the moment that the best thing is to just not think about it. But he's teetering toward a transformation of some kind. He doesn't have the capacity (yet) to completely understand what's happening inside him. But we know whatever it is it's at the heart level.
Here is Huck's transformation late in Act 3. His inner struggle is too much to bear. He wants to feel cleansed, once and for all, so he won't go to hell. He writes a note to Miss Watson—Jim's "owner"—and says he's got her slave and to send the reward money. He feels good for a moment because he's not going to go to hell now. But then he starts thinking about all that he and Jim had been through:
I'd see him standing my watch on top of his'n, 'stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him again in the swamp, up there where the feud was; and such-like times; and would always call me honey, and pet me and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was; and at last I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had small-pox aboard, and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he's got now; and then I happened to look around and see that paper.
Huck takes up the letter and suddenly freezes,
because I'd got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: 'All right, then, I'll go to hell'—and tore it up.
One of the most powerful transformations in all of literature. Indeed, the esteemed Prof. Arnold Weinstein of Brown University calls it "[a]rguably the greatest moment in American fiction." By ripping up the letter Huck proves his transformation, his breaking free from a false moral prison into nascent humanity. It finds completion in the famous last lines:
But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there before.
That's how you make a classic. A moral dilemma, a mirror moment, a crisis of conscience, a final decision, proof of transformation, and a resonant last line.
Easy, right? Ha!
But, truly, these things can be done in any genre, and will elevate any book. There is plenty of competent fiction out there. But why settle for mere competence?
I'm sure each of you can recall a powerful, transformative ending in a book or movie, one that you've never forgotten. Tell us about it.


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A refrigerant air dryer is is used with compressed air for removing moisture from the compressed air system . Compressed air always contains water because your are taking in outside air which contains moisture. It is vital to have a compressed air dryer system in place to protect your equipment and tooling from damage. How does a refrigerant dryer work and why select this type of dryer system?
Refrigerant air dryers are commonly used as they are easy to operate, economical and low maintenance. Once installed it is likely that you may never have to think about it again. The system works by cooling the air to around 37 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point all the water vapor condenses into water. The water can then be removed by a simple water trap. Once the liquid water has been removed the air gets reheated to room temperature. Since most of the water has been condensed and removed the reheated air will be significantly dryer than from before.
The cooling process of refrigerated dryers is the same process used in refrigerators and freezers. The liquid refrigerant is evaporated in a separate circuit and used to cool down the compressed air. As the air cools the refrigerant gets warmer. The refrigerant moves into a compressor and gets re-cooled in a condenser, this process is a continuous cycle as more air is introduced into the compressor.
Here a few items to consider when making your purchase:
Maximum pressure: The dryers max pressure should be the same or higher than your compressor.
Inlet Temperature: If you exceed maximum inlet temperature you are at risk of damaging parts of your equipment. Some refrigerated dryers have an after cooler making sure your compressed air stays within acceptable temperature ranges.
Maximum Flow: Make sure your dryer has the capacity needed to there are no drops in air pressure.
Maximum Room Temperature: If you are placing your refrigerated dryer into a room with a hot environment there is a change that it could overheat, Make sure that your max operating temperature for the dryer is able to accommodate the max temperatures in the room where it will be operating.
EXAIR wants you to be successful in every aspect of your compressed air system. If you have a need for any of EXAIRS Intelligent Compressed Air Systems please give any of our Application Engineers a call or contact us through our TecHelp.
Eric Kuhnash
Application Engineer
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Twitter: Twitter: @EXAIR_EK


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As you know if you are a regular follower, we LOVE free adult colouring pages here and feature some every month of so. We are delighted to be able to work with some fantastic talent to produce exclusive pages for you all to download at no cost. Adult colouring books might be the latest trend, but this one is proven to be good for you as according to psychologists it that relaxes the amygdala, the fear center of the brain and allows your mind to get the rest it needs. We have rounded up all our fantastic free adult colouring pages into one place for you. As we add more pages, I will make sure they are added here, so make sure you either bookmark or pin this page.
But art and colouring is no new fad, psychologist Carl Jung prescribed coloring to his psychiatry patients. He gave his clients mandalas to color as part of their therapy, and mandala coloring books are popular today too. In fact colouring has many positive benefits for adults.
Free Adult Colouring Pages – A Complete Resource
To help you plan your colouring in sessions I have our complete free adult colouring page resources here for you all listed by topic. Either click on the link or on the photograph itself to get more information and be taken to the relevant page.
Free colouring pages for adults
More great colouring pages for adults
Christmas colouring pages roundup
I am also friends with some fab bloggers, who have rounded up their free colouring pages too and they can be found below:
Free Adult Colouring Pages
Free adult colouring pages by Craft on Sea
Free colouring pages by Daisies and Pie
Free kids and adult colouring pages by Kiddycharts
Our favorite colouring supplies:
I am a HUGE advocate of using the best supplies you can afford. It is really frustrating to use pencils that keep snapping or refuse to blend well, oh and don't get me started on pens that bleed through the paper. I always buy the best quality I can afford, not just for me but for my kids too. I want colouring to be a joyful experience. These are mine and the MiniMad's suggestions to you. Our tried and tested favorites. When I first started colouring I just pinched the boy's products, which is why adult colouring is so accessible and over the period of a year I now have my own supplies!
We are currently loving using Staedtler Triplus colour pens (UK Link/US Link) – they do not bleed through the paper, which is great for adults and kids and they are really bright. Plus you can get different nib sizes (UK LInk/US Link), my niece has the 3mm nib ones (I bought her them for Christmas and she adores them). I also love the way they stand up in the packaging, so you can see the colours.
For a more inexpensive pen, we like the BIC kids coloring pens. These are great with minimal bleed through the paper and last for ages if you forget to put the lid back on (yes I am guilty of this)! (UK Link/US Link)
Pencils are also great for colouring and I have to say that we have two distinct favorites. Once high quality and the other medium.
Staedtler Ergosoft pencils are great value. They are soft and blendable and last really well. These are our go to pencils for pretty much everything (UK Link/US Link), they are not paying me to say this – honest! These are the pencils that the boys use for all their work and colouring too. We avoid kids colouring pencils as they are hard and not as easy to blend.
If we could only have one colouring supply and money was no object then it would be prismacolor pencils. I was introduced to these by the amazing illustrator Jennie Maizels (go check out her sketchbook club, you can thank me later). They are blendable, fantastic colours, durable and everything you could need, but are at the top of the price range. (UK Link/US Link)
This brings me to paper – as you are printing off these pages you can control the quality of the paper and unlike colouring books that you buy you can print one sided (whoop). I print a lot of my pages on standard copier paper and if you have good quality art supplies then that is fine, however, if you are planning on framing or keeping your artwork then it would be better to print on a higher quality of paper. Or if you plan on painting them, then you can print on to inkjet watercolour paper (UK Link/US Link). For standard colouring get some bleedproof paper and use it to print off your pages (UK Link/US Link).
Pencil sharpener – you need to have a good quality pencil sharpener for your pencils. I LOVE standard office supplies one. It can be adjusted to sharpen to a killer point of to a more blunt edge and there is something therapeutic about the crank handle and all the shavings being collected (UK Link/US Link)!
We use a staedtler pencil sharpener for our on the go one and this is the one we keep in pencil cases (UK Link/US Link).
The other must have for me is a clip board. I am often found colouring in down stairs on the sofa on an evening (I try to reduce screens on a night) and rather than rest on a book I use a clipboard (UK Link/US Link).


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I love eating Ikan Bakar (Malay Grilled Fish) when I'm in Malaysia – we tend to use whole fish there - and they're often wrapped in banana leaves and cooked on a charcoal fire. One of the popular toppings used in ikan bakar is a sambal paste – and in this Fish and Hunt Australia segment, I used a Nasi Lemak Sambal by Dollee as a super quick » Read More
Fish & Hunt Australia – Quick & Easy Sambal Baked Fish
Fish and Hunt Australia – Quick Laksa Recipe
Click here to download a list of where to buy Dollee and other products used in the Fish and Hunt Australia cooking segments >> Recipe and Where to Buy This is the Curry Laksa I made on Foxtel's Fish and Hunt Australia Season 8, airing June 2015 onwards. We all love the idea of cooking everything from scratch, but I appreciate that » Read More
How to Use Jackie M Curry Pastes
I've been making my own range of Curry Pastes and Sauces for a number of years now, and they're based on the SAME recipes I used for my Concord restaurant menu and my (very popular but now discontinued) frozen meals range. If you love Malaysian curries but find the effort involved in tracking down ingredients and prepping them just too » Read More


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The Jaguar's Roar
I can still see it now; the three XJR-9LMs, line astern, cruising through the Ford Chicanes for the last time. The chequered flag poised, the ecstatic crowd bursting by the track's edge, Union flags everywhere and the mechanics exhausted but delirious on the pit wall. The celebrations were the likes of which I had never seen here before and have not seen since. This was the finish of a truly legendary race, a titanic battle between two of sportscar racing's most famous marques. This was the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours...
Produced in 2008, the 20th anniversary of this incredible race, this DVD is absolutely fantastic. For those of us lucky enough to have witnessed the events first hand, the memories will simply come flooding back but for those who were not, this is a fabulous look back at the events that led up to and unfolded that memorable weekend.
Using contemporary bespoke filming as the very chassis (488) is prepared for a return to Le Mans for some demonstration laps during the build up to the 2008 event, it gives a fantastic insight into the car, the drivers, the management, the mechanics and the rivals.
With extensive archive footage from the event, clever graphics and in depth interviews with all the key personnel, this is a must for any Le Mans enthusiast; there is no need to be British to fully appreciate this, just to be a true sportscar racing enthusiast!
The film explains how Jaguar and Tom Walkinshaw Racing first worked together, the input of the American Group 44 team getting the marque back to Le Mans in 1984, then the TWR project development. It's all there with some fabulous anecdotes and memories, first hand.
The then Jaguar Chairman, Sir John Egan, Tom Walkinshaw himself, Tony Southgate (Chief Designer), Alastair Macqueen (Chief Engineer) and all three winning drivers (Jan Lammers, Andy Wallace and Johnny Dumfries) as well as the legendary five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell who drove the chasing Porsche that year, all contributed hugely to the production.
Every winner of this fantastic event needs a little luck. With a chasing rival running out of fuel, a little help from the American IMSA regulations and a secret kept from the team by one of the drivers, the no.2 Silk Cut TWR Jaguar certainly had that ... but you'll have to buy the DVD to find out more!
The main feature lasts nearly 2 hours, but there are 'extras' too! Tony Southgate takes us on an extensive 'tour' of the car, Jan Lammers, Andy Wallace and Derek Bell describe a lap of the circuit in detail, and there is on-board footage from the car during it's pre-return shakedown run .. worth it for that glorious engine sound alone!
All in all, a quite stunning presentation. Is it worth it at £18? Every penny! Go straight to
to get yours!
All contents and coding of this website Copyright © 1998 onwards: Maison Blanche, Rick Wilson Photography & Rick Wilson Design, unless otherwise stated.


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Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Download this episode here. (40.9 MB)
Listen to F This Movie! on Stitcher.
Also discussed this episode: Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972), Pets (1973), Ghost Town (1988)
12 comments:
I enjoy classic films and have Turner Classic Movies, but I also have largely only watched the channel recently for the TCM Underground programming and genre films shown during the daytime. I rarely find the evening films of much interest anymore, especially since I have watched most of the famous films over the past two decades.ReplyDelete
The Eyes of Laura Mars is coming up this Friday. It is going on the DVR.
Agree with Stephanie, if I own a movie on home video I ain't streaming it... ever. Otherwise, what's the point of owning them?ReplyDelete
"Dolls" rulz! :-)
Was that Louise Belcher on the show? Kidding.ReplyDelete
I had to keep pulling my phone out of my pocket at work to write down all the picks. Can't wait to get home and get to watching. Pretty sure Re-Animator is the only Empire movie I've ever watched.
This has got to be one of my favorite episodes now, and it's given me such a big watchlist that I could not be more excited about! Also, very excited to hear Stephanie is coming back so soon.ReplyDelete
Your boy Pyun did two Full Moon pictures with both Arcade AND Dollman and Dollman rocks! :) ps. Always good to hear Stephanie too...ReplyDeleteReplies
Oh believe me, I realized I had left out Dollman after recording and was kicking myself hard. I also misspoke about The Evil Clergyman -- the rat doesn't have David Warner's face (though he's in it), but David Gale's. I was clearly not on my game.Delete
We all have our moments my friend! Great to hear some real love for Prison, love that movie... And feel the need now to get Cellar Dweller watched, even though it wasn't a pick I've always had it in the back of my mind as something to track down! Keep up the good work man...Delete
I think me being really sick and slow when we recorded messed you up. Sorry, Patrick and everybody!!ReplyDeleteReplies
Stephanie you were as fantastic as always! Always got to be on the side of someone with as much Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III knowledge as you! :)Delete
Stop it - you are charming and hilarious. You guys make me want to become an expert on Empire Pictures - seems like a pretty fun, exclusive club to be in!Delete
I always love the banter between Patrick and Stephanie and would like to see them drive from town to town in a convertible hearse solving mysteries.ReplyDelete
1. Stephanie has now become one of my favorite co-hosts. Have her on as often as possible.ReplyDelete
2. Patrick, bring back the Full Moon articles. They were wonderful and I miss them.


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Nuvole Vagabonde
Martinelli Luce creates fabulous lighting. The Nuvole Vagabonde is one of theirs that has caught our eye. This hanging light looks very similar to an artichoke. A stunning glowing artichoke. The delicate looking white opal methacrylate diffusers create the gorgeous lighting effect. The fixture has a soft soothing glow to it. The frame and rods are made with stunning chromed metal.
The Nuvole Vagabonde, by Elio Martinelli, is available as a hanging light, floor lamp, or table lamp.  A great sized lamp at 70hx160d. This lamp would look amazing above a dining table or as the centerpiece of a room. Nuvole Vagabonde, a befitting name since the hanging light appears to float softly in the air. Get this lamp in the size you need at Martinelli Luce.


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Shepherds Falls on the Lower Wind River is a spectacular series of waterfalls that have been rendered unrunnable by the construction of a lowhead dam just below the last falls.
Many a class V boater has shouldered their boats in frustration in the winter time, walking past a series of three perfectly runnable waterfalls that unfortunately terminate in a killer hole below the dam.
That's at regular flows. In the summer when the river level drops off and the hole below the dam is more manageable, Shephards is occasionally run by a few intrepid kayakers willing to hike their boats in to the falls.
Jon Loehrke is one such kayaker, and here are a few photos of his run over Shephards.
Jon, running the second 'stairstep' at Shepherds.
The third stair-step.
Running the lowhead dam located just below the slide pictured above.


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Google is the number one internet search engine use worldwide, even to the point of becoming a verb for searching information online. Anything you could possibly think of is available at your fingertips, whether it's information regarding research, looking for recipes or images, to locating and identifying nearby businesses.
Google is now actively used as a tool for businesses to advertise, and as a primary source for most customers to find information about a business. Google amalgamates a variety of information about the business, such a geographic location, business hours, contact information, website address, and the like so that customers browsing Google can easily determine what business suits their needs. One of these functions provided by Google are Google Reviews, a measure of the customers experience. Customers can quickly and conveniently provide a 5-star rating and description of their experience with any business listed on Google, offering a public and transparent way for businesses to monitor feedback and be accountable to their customer base.
Lessons for Others
Using Google Reviews, which are one of the most popular reviewing platforms due to the popularity of Google itself, is a very straight forward and simple way for businesses to get feedback for supply chain management from their customers. If a customer has a complaint and it is voiced on Google, businesses are obligated to resolve this issue to maintain high ratings with their customers, and because most businesses strive for that 5-Star review, businesses that solicit Google Reviews need to maintain a high level of service.
Industry: Search Engine
Name of Organization Contact: Sundar Pichai, CEO
Authored by: Morgan Baker
If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.
Mangles, C. (2018, January 30). Search Engine Statistics 2018. Smart Insights. Retrieved June 19, 2018, from https://www.smartinsights.com/search-engine-marketing/search-engine-statistics/


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Article Live website chat
Innovative Marketing is a complete digital marketing turnkey solution with the added benefits of graphic design, photography, videography, website development and customized branding services.
We populate & manage the online community with your business' brand identity for you. All in an effort to develop and monitor your business' success and growth by keeping you in front of mind in the consumer's markets.
For more information:
Please get in touch with us on (039) 695-1613 | firstname.lastname@example.com
We would love to connect with you @InnovativeZA
More like these...
"Don't just partner with any digital marketing agency.
Work with a company you can trust."


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Parent Process Reference Framework: ITIL 4
Service Value Stream Activities
Highly impacted Service Value System(SVS) Activities:
- Plan
- Engage
- Obtain/build
- Design and Transition
The purpose of the business analysis practice is to analyse a business or some element of it, define its associated needs, and recommend solutions to address these needs and/or solve a business problem, which must facilitate value creation for stakeholders. Business analysis enables an organization to communicate its needs in a meaningful way, express the rationale for change, and design and describe solutions that enable value creation in alignment with the organization's objectives.
Analysis and solutions should be approached in a holistic way that includes consideration of processes, organizational change, technology, information, policies, and strategic planning. The work of business analysis is performed primarily by business analysts (BAs), although others may contribute.
In IT, business analysis practices are frequently applied in software development projects, but they are also appropriate to higher-level architectures, services, and the organization's service value system (SVS) in general. To restrict the application of business analysis to software development alone is to run the risk of developing incomplete solutions.
The key activities associated with business analysis are:
- analysing business systems, business processes, services, or architectures in the changing internal and external context
- identifying and prioritizing parts of the SVS, and products and services that require improvement, as well as opportunities for innovation
- evaluating and proposing actions that can be taken to create the desired improvement. Actions may include not only IT system changes, but also process changes, alterations to organizational structure, and staff development
- documenting the business requirements for the supporting services to enable the desired improvements
- recommending solutions following analysis of the gathered requirements and validating these with stakeholders.
Be the first to leave a review.


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Guest Rose Kennedy and Dinah Shore from Dinah's Place
Dinah's Place ran on NBC-TV from 1970 to 1974. The show featured
famous guest stars and experts on nutrition, exercise and homemaking.
Despite the fact the show was among the most popular programs in the
morning lineup of NBC, it left the air after Shore was sent a telegram
informing her the show was being cancelled, because it broke up a
"game show programming block". Thus NBC'S 35-year association
with Dinah Shore ended.


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Brass Plated Shade Washer 1 inch diameter slips 1/4-275207
Brass Plated Shade Washer 1 inch diameter slips 1/4-27
Product Code: 5207
Product Details
Use this washer under the finial to keep it tight on the lampshade. Once you have used a shade washer you will want them under all your finials.
Fitter Size
Most lamp finials have a ¼-27 thread and screw onto a lamp harp. Some lamps do require a finial with a larger hole. This is usually a 1/8-ip thread and measures approximately 3/8" in diameter. The finials on this site will specify which fitter the item has. If you find a lamp finial that doesn't have the correct fitter you can order an adapter that will adjust the size to fit your lamp. If the finial fitter needs to be larger order a Nozzle; item number F5209. If the finial fitter is too large order a Finial Reducer; item number F5208.
Customer Service
We're Here To Help
Your satisfaction is important to us! Email us your questions about products, online orders, store experiences and more.
Order Questions:
If you need help or have any other questions concerning your orders, please email us or call: 603-491-3225.
If you have a suggestion or would like to request a special order lamp finial please feel free to contact us.
If you are interested in purchasing multiple finials check our inventory at www.LampFinialsWholesale.com.
PO Box 216
Concord, NH 03302-0216 US
Phone: 603-491-3225
Other items you might like


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A canvas reprint of the original acrylic Rico painting from the Copacabana Series. Rico prepares to pounce on Lola, while Tony leans accross the bar in anticipation of having to tackle Rico. One size only, 8"x10".
Walls can display one's personality! These canvas with high-quality print will always look as tight and flat as the day they were made. Every frame is built with a solid face to support the canvas and prevent deforming.
.: 100% Cotton fabric
.: Recycled plastic frame
.: High image quality and detail
.: For indoor use