text:
by William Thomas, Pitzer Snodgrass, PC
Which is better, more or less documentation in your project file after the job is complete? Despite recent advances in technology, document retention has become a difficult, expensive and complex proposition. Computers have changed design professionals' work flows and methods, greatly increasing efficiencies, but also exponentially multiplying the volume of data; e-mails, attachments, drawing revisions, text and voice messages, not to mention folks are still sending faxes and letters, actual paper ones. All of this adds up and can become an unmanageable mess, even for the best of us.
Making decisions now about which project documents to keep and which to discard is like trying to pick who will win the Super Bowl in the year 2024. You never know which ones will be the most important until you are right in the middle of a claim. Experience and common sense tell us that there are certain documents that, no matter what, are probably safe bets to come in handy down the road. You may also be required by law or contract to keep certain records for certain time frames.
This article will offer suggestions on those categories of critical project documents necessary to defend claims, and which ones are better off being discarded as a matter of course after project completion. The question ultimately is framed as "what to keep and for how long?" Of course, these are only suggestions, and you should discuss implementation of any document retention program with your chosen legal and accounting advisors in your specific jurisdiction. Further, this article only addresses retention of construction project documents and not corporate, HR or tax records.
"Age of Discovery"
Modern construction projects, with all this data, are subject to modern lawsuits. These lawsuits are conducted by increasingly younger, tech savvy and sophisticated lawyers who sometimes make the litigation more about the discovery effort than about the facts of the case. Parties are allowed to submit detailed and specific "requests for production of documents" once in the lawsuit, or issue subpoenas to non-parties. State and federal court discovery rules could require parties to turn over copies of all information they have in their possession related to the project.
These "spare no expense" tactics drive up the cost of litigation and unfortunately are one of the many harsh realities of the process. Discovery requests can get at your paper files, as well as all of your "Electronically Stored Information" (ESI), such as e-mail and document servers, databases and other electronic documents. Everything is fair game, with few boundaries, so your files need to be in order.
Design professionals are a detailed bunch. Often, personnel on a project keep personal journals, phone logs, or other files where they maintain their own copy of project information. These "personal files" are discoverable project records the firm would have an obligation to produce once the litigation begins, so they too should be subject to collection and enforcement per the firm's document retention program.
Document "Retention"
Nothing is more uncomfortable than hearing your client testify in a deposition about their firm's "document destruction policy." Document retention is the name of the game, even if it means at some point stuff is no longer retained. The point is that everyone should have a formal, written policy. Put it in the firm's manual and disseminate it to employees. Inform your clients in your initial retention letter about the firm's policy, and ask that they acknowledge and approve of it, so later there can be no question you did what you said you were going to do with those documents at the end of the job. The American Institute of Architects, (AIA) and National Society of Professional Engineers, (NSPE) both offer suggested policies on their websites as a starting point.
Once you have a written policy, the next step is to make sure it is enforced uniformly, across the board, every time the same way. No one can complain about your firm's policy if it is uniformly enforced. You get into trouble when, on some projects more material was either kept or discarded than the policy provides. Assign an employee to manage the program and perform occasional audits to make sure it is being properly enforced. Periodically review the policy to keep it up to date with changing technologies and trends.
It would help to maintain the archived version of the file in a uniform and organized fashion, as opposed to simply dumping all the paper in a box, as it will save a lot of time on the back end. You will also need a place where all these records will be stored. Make sure your solution for electronic documents is secure and backed up. When discarding material, make sure it is disposed of securely, using shredding or other irreversible methods. The last thing you need when trying to dispose of a client's file is a claimed "data breach" or violation of a confidentiality provision in your agreement.
In or Out?
When it comes to project documents, then, which ones are essential to keep? The point is to keep those materials crucial to defending yourself against a claim, yet not to keep non-essential material that, when viewed in the context of hindsight, wind up doing more harm than good. Innocently, by keeping material in draft form, or superseded by later issued drawings, or with internal edits and notes, you may fuel an otherwise unfounded claim by allowing skillful lawyers opportunities to confuse the issues and make you look bad.
One way to combat this weakness, particularly if there is some indication during the course of a project that there may be a claim is to segregate any internal documentation related to the claim itself into a "circumstance," "potential claim," or "claim file." Arguably, this may be protected from discovery later. Further, all correspondence with counsel or your insurance carrier should be similarly segregated from the project file at large, so if material has to be produced later, it would be easy to remove privileged items.
The AIA and other professional organizations suggest categorizing and segregating project documents considered "temporary" and those considered "permanent." Temporary records are those that are works-in-progress, or earlier drafts of documents that become final, permanent records, like sealed reports or drawings. Permanent records should be kept, while temporary ones can be discarded at project completion.
The firm should develop a comprehensive list of the "essentials" that are kept on every project for critical reasons. The following are suggested guidelines when formulating a firm's document retention policy:
Things to Keep:
- Signed and sealed drawings and specifications are perhaps the most critical as they represent the "work product" of the design firm, and typically embody their opinions and recommendations for the job. Space permitting, they should be kept in perpetuity.
- Some additional suggestions are:
- Contracts, including all proposals, drafts, revisions and edits;
- Design criteria and development as approved by client;
- Calculations;
- Final reports;
- Shop drawings and submittals and logs;
- Product research and catalog cut sheets;
- Site visit reports and project photographs;
- Change Orders and logs;
- RFAs, RFIs and responses and logs;
- Close out documents and final certifications;
- Review of pay applications;
- Key correspondence with all parties;
- Correspondence with approval agencies and approval documents;
- Meeting minutes;
- Phone notes;
- Bid packages and information;
- Schedules;
- Certificates of Insurance from any parties;
- Warranty information and project close out documentation;
- Other communications may still be a significant portion of the documents retained. Correspondence on critical issues or project direction or details should be retained, however, other less formal and non-critical communications that are otherwise reflected in other documents can be discarded.
- If new, novel or special systems or products are specified for your project, it would be a good idea to retain all documentation related to that issue. The claim and/or trial will focus on this issue if there is some failure, and you want to make sure that your exercise of professional judgment was based on a sufficient amount of due diligence.
- Litigation usually focuses on things like substitutions of products that are not quite as good, or change orders or decisions that altered the original path. Consider maintaining a separate file on these issues that have some project significance, and keep all the documents that explain the reason why you got from point A to B. This will make it easier later to explain the story of the project to the jury from your perspective.
- If the firm has a formal, published "quality control" program, then you should keep all documents that evidence the program was adhered to, including review documents and marked up drawings. This would be an exception to the idea that draft documents not be retained, if they were the ones that were marked up as part of adherence to the QC program.
- Contracts are another exception to the "don't keep drafts" rule. Often times, your client may claim that a certain provision of your contract or terms and conditions were not "negotiated," like a limitation of liability clause. However, if you went back and forth on the language of the agreement, and that provision was never changed, that would be pretty strong evidence they accepted the clause, and it should be enforced. In addition, drafts may be used to explain ambiguous terms.
Things NOT to Keep:
- Working versions and superseded versions of documents should generally be discarded after final versions of the documents are issued. All "milestone deliverables" should be maintained, however.
- Informal communications and internal e-mails and memos may have been prepared which offer critiques, suggestions for improving plans or reports, or "self-critical analysis." These comments, while possibly helpful at the time to improve the finished product, are only going to be damaging later in a lawsuit, and should be discarded after the final version of the drawing or report is created.
"I have to keep this stuff how long?"
Defending yourself against ever growing numbers of questionable claims requires some level of documentary evidence. Perhaps something as simple as your contract's scope of work could clarify the level of your firm's involvement, or those boring logs which show that, in fact, no rock was encountered at the various boring locations in question. Some document will undoubtedly be marked as "Exhibit A" in the inevitable lawsuit that usually comes at least once in a firm's existence. (It is always a good practice to state explicitly what your scope of work does not include.)
Claims cannot be brought against designers in perpetuity, without time limit, however, in nearly every state. What this means is, pursuant to most states' "Statutes of Repose," claims against design professionals for their involvement in the design and construction of a project are extinguished after the running of a certain number of years. Typically, the statute begins to run after the project's date of substantial completion, or some other similar date. These "Statutes of Repose," laws passed by the various states' legislatures, fix a "drop dead date" when claims for projects can no longer be brought.
Why a cutoff date? Designers should not face endless liability for a project they turned over to an owner many, many years before. At some point, the owner has an obligation to properly maintain the building, which relieves the designers for any problems that could have been their responsibility. Further, over time, people's memories fade, records may be lost, and it just becomes unfair to make designers forever liable for something they relinquished control over so long before, (if they ever really had it).
But, mere extinguishment of claims is, as you may have expected, not so easy. Many states have what are called "savings clauses," which extend the cutoff date for claims if the injury is discovered within the original repose period. Further, most states have exceptions to the statutes for things such as fraud, intentional concealment or reckless disregard, among other exceptions. In other words, as you might imagine, people will often claim that the design professional committed fraud on the project as a litigation tactic just to get around the fact that they waited too long to sue.
So, as you can imagine, the conventional wisdom is that you should absolutely keep key project materials at least until the expiration of the repose period plus savings clause in the state where the project is located. Thereafter, recognizing that a claim could still be brought, it would be a good idea to continue to retain key documents identified above, unless space simply is not available, in which case, the design professional should make every effort to keep a group of core documents that should be retained by the firm in perpetuity. And that's a mighty long time.
Litigation Hold
Unfortunately, if you know or suspect that there will be a claim arising out of a specific project, you should suspend destruction of any project related documents. Some claimants will go so far as to send a "litigation hold" letter early on in the claim process, even before suit is filed, placing you on notice not to destroy any records in your possession, including ESI. If any records are destroyed thereafter, it will allow your adversary the opportunity to argue it was done for an improper purpose, in an effort to cover up or destroy unfavorable evidence, even if there was none there. In some states, they may have an independent claim against you for what is called "spoliation of evidence," in addition to an instruction being given to the jury that you destroyed evidence because it would have been unfavorable.
The clear message here is to refrain from discarding anything once a claim has materialized, and immediately discuss the issue with counsel in your jurisdiction if you have questions. You should also be careful what you put in writing once there is indication of a claim, and discuss the situation immediately with your carrier and lawyer, as they can assist you through the process.
Finally, if any documents are being maintained electronically, and are produced in their "native format," great care should be taken by your IT department to remove all Metadata before documents are produced.


text:
Meditation is our attempt to discover our inner self, a place beyond the usual workings of the intellectual mind. When we experience real meditation we become aware of the infinite within and our own unexpected wealth of divine qualities like peace and inner joy. Many people may have had glimpses of meditation unconsciously. For example whilst walking through nature and being awed by its beauty and magnitude. Others may have been moved by sublime music. At such moments our mind becomes still and we feel a sense there is something greater beyond our usual perceptions. As mysteriously as it came, such experiences may leave, giving only a fleeting glimpse of a feeling that is hard to describe. Meditation is an attempt to make such experiences permanent and also deepen and expand our own consciousness.
Latest events
Tarot Workshop
Become a professional Tarot Card Reader.
Venue : 109-A, 3rd Floor, New Manglapuri, Mehrauli, New Delhi - 110030
Landmark 1 : Near Shri Maha Maya Durga Mandir
Landmark 2 : Near HDFC ATM
Saturday and Sunday, 11th and 12th February 2017
Timing : 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Fee : Rs. 10500
What is Meditation ?
Introduction to Meditation
Without the help of meditation, you cannot attain Knowledge of the Self. Without its help, you cannot grow into the divine state. Without it, you cannot liberate yourself from the trammels of the mind and attain immortality.
Why Meditation ?
Benefits of Meditation
In today's world where stress catches on faster than the eye can see or the mind can perceive, meditation is no more a luxury. It is a necessity. To be unconditionally happy and to have peace of mind, we need to tap into the power of meditation.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
First posted Thursday, May 21, 2015
Pembrokeshire – the destination of choice for well over 4 million visitors a year. Tourism, and the broader visitor economy are key to the lifeblood of the county, supporting in excess of 16,000 full time equivalent jobs, a significant number of which are based in small businesses. The industry generates over £520million a year in Pembrokeshire, and with recently published visitor figures from Visit Wales indicating a rise in the number of overseas visitors in particular to Wales, it quickly becomes evident that supporting and promoting the tourism and visitor economy here is important.
The make up of Pembrokeshire's visitor economy is diverse – from a small, family run B&B, a beachside cafe and gift shop to a large theme park, hotel and restaurant, not forgetting of course all the supply chain businesses that also play a part (butchers, accountants, website designers, insurance brokers and many more). Some of these businesses will have sufficient resource to undertake proactive direct marketing campaigns of their own, whereas others will attract some of their visitors thanks to listings on websites such as Visit Pembrokeshire, the destination marketing site hosted and maintained by Pembrokeshire County Council. Of course marketing Pembrokeshire as a destination is just one part of the whole – to sustain and develop a vibrant industry there has to be a good mix of trade engagement, support, training opportunities, infrastructure maintenance and development, and general encouragement of activity across all levels from community to corporate.
The Destination Pembrokeshire Partnership core group comprises four key stakeholders – Pembrokeshire Tourism, Pembrokeshire County Council, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and PLANED. There are then additional stakeholder groups including organisations such as The National Trust, CADW and The Port of Milford Haven and broader again to include anyone who is involved in the tourism and visitor economy. The Partnership is the management group for tourism delivery in the county and has drawn up an action plan outlining how the development of the industry could be shaped and supported over the coming years. This is however not without challenges – pressures on public sector budgets (Pembrokeshire County Council, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority) and continuing pressure on private and third sector finances (Pembrokeshire Tourism, PLANED) mean that whilst working together under the umbrella of 'Destination Pembrokeshire' has to date been fairly straightforward, it may in the future become less so as the various partners all have a range of other activities and 'duties' to deliver and local government reorganisation becomes a reality.
With this in mind, the Partnership has been considering whether it is appropriate to consider a new way of working. A report was published on Tuesday 19th May (copy available on request) that looks at the existing structure and makes recommendations for future development. It is without doubt an exciting time for tourism in Pembrokeshire. Whether you are directly involved through the provision of visitor accommodation or activities, food and drink or shopping, or supporting businesses who do that, or simply interested in the industry and how it contributes to our economy, there is a great opportunity to actively shape the future of the sector here in the county.
Pembrokeshire is well known beyond the county border, but could it become more so? How best could we achieve more exposure on the world stage? What do we need to do here within the county to provide further support and opportunities for existing and new businesses? How do we make sure that we encourage such growth and development without spoiling what we have, the landscape and tranquility that many cite as reasons for coming here? The Destination Partnership wants to hear from you. Tourism in Pembrokeshire is everybody's business, so get involved, get talking, and lets work together to deliver a world class offer that truly is hard to beat.
First published on The Pembrokeshire Tourism Blog


text:
Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they're iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they're fair game.
So who's on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!
Chad's Pick: BeejiveIM 3.0.
What makes this IM/Chat client so great is the multiple services you can add (AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN/Windows Live, MySpace IM, Yahoo! and Facebook) and the great customization features. You can customize the background wallpaper for each chat, change chat bubble colors and more. Apple's Push Notification service works really well too, I can't praise it highly enough in this instance. If you need a mutiple -account chat client, Beejive is the way to go! - [$9.99 - iTunes link]
Chris' Pick: Zombieville USA
I have been spending some time this week playing an old favorite - Zombieville USA. I happened to open it up, saw my high score, and was on a quest to beat 714 zombies. Last night, around 12:32am, I finally got 726 zombies killed! [$1.99 - iTunes link]
James' Pick: iTunes App Store
Since I have been traveling for the last few weeks, I have been in cities where I am not all that familiar with the surroundings. Enter the App Store. With the ability to find new apps that help me in my current city, I was able to find out of the way places to eat, the BART schedule and tracker in San Francisco and a new game or two to pass the time.
Jeremy's Pick: Pocket Tunes Radio
Forget paying that $3 a month fee to Sirius XM and still listen to everything they have to offer including Howard Stern. Pocket Tunes does it all for a single fee of $9.99. Well worth it. (Note: you must have a Sirius XM subscription) [$9.99 - iTunes link]
Leanna's Pick: AT&T Navigator
I've been using AT&T Navigator for a couple days now and am rather impressed. It calculates routes quickly and the ETA is very accurate as well. You can also search for places nearby or by name and of course create favorite places. I've always been hesitant to get a navigation system because I though Google maps with GPS was good enough... I was wrong! [Free + $9.99/month - iTunes link]
Matt's Pick: iPhone 3GS Oleophobic Screen
Since getting the iPhone 3GS, I have sat down with it while eating, checking emails & Twitter, all the while sliming up the screen with my oily-chicken fingers. After eating I can simply wipe the screen onto my jeans & viola! the screen is clean. This is one of my favorite things about the new iPhone 3Gs!
Rene's Pick: 1Password Pro
Your Pick?
You're part of team TiPb too, so what's your pick? What app was your absolute fav last week? Let us -- and everyone -- know in the comments!
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.


text:
Fold and Stretch
by Sara Cluggish
Before you are three fleshy, plump, pliable bodies, each weighing approximately 60 kilograms. The faceless, anti-form figures are sexually indeterminate and lack rigidity or strength. They are like lumps of chewy fat, organs without skeletal support, nerves separated from communicative sinews and muscles uncontained by fascia. Theirs is a dense, dead weight that spills outward, continuously disciplined by gravity as their gooey mass - composed of live, multiplying bacteria – expands steadily and imperceptibly.
Fold and Stretch is a tactile, tangible encounter with dough - a living, growing and ancient material with a long socio-economic history. From Asia, where wheat was domesticated, cultivation spread to North Africa and Western Europe enabling humans to form sophisticated agricultural societies, as opposed to nomadic lifestyles. While this historical lineage is of great interest to Wilson (and her collaborators, choreographer Lucy Suggate and baker Martha Brown), her artistic vocabulary remains inherently sculptural and grounded in the process-based aspects of texture, form and fluidity. Wilson's investigation of substances such as asphalt and brick can take years to complete, and Fold and Stretch is in the nascent stages of such inquisition. She often focuses on the various stages of alchemical transition - molten granite is poured and clay fired – but this performance offers up a laborious manipulation of dough as a pliable material that is not yet fixed and indeed will not become fixed. The three performers wrestle, sever, shape and play with its sticky viscosity on workstations-cum-operating tables, but ultimately the material is stored away and the dough ends in the same place where it began.
Last March, when embarking on the first iteration of this performance at Site Gallery, Sheffield, Wilson instinctually turned to an abundance of sculptural references. She spoke of the bulbous, disturbing anatomy of Hans Bellmer's life-sized, pubescent dolls in which he often inserted ball bearings that allowed his erotic, monstrous constructions a full range of movements. One can imagine him twisting and turning their limbs in the privacy of his workspace like the performers bent over tables in Fold and Stretch. More recently, the milky, fleshy consistency of Wilson's dough might remind one of the anthropomorphised, intestine-like NUD forms of Sarah Lucas, whose veiny, netted skin sit globular and contorted on industrial cinderblock surfaces. The curvilinear NUD sculptures have a flesh on flesh quality that is distinctly autoerotic, and, like the dough in Wilson's performance, provoke a half-liquid, half-solid state simultaneously associated with skin, body organs and excreted fluid.
No practice seems more apt than that of Lynda Benglis who in the 1960s developed a reputation for the process-centered materiality of her encaustic, latex and polyurethane foam works. Like the thick, malleable mixtures of Fold and Stretch Benglis' performative material investigations are dependent on the pull of gravity and tend to descend towards the ground. During rehearsal's for Wilson's performance at Site Gallery an oozing mixture with an overabundance of yeast made its way - completely unaided by performers - from closed container to concrete gallery floor. Poured, layered and embellished, Benglis' works have a similar appearance of gushing liquid frozen mid-spill, a quality curator Helen Molesworth has referred to as "a radical slippage of coordinates'' .
Wilson speaks regularly of an interest in bodily form and how one's hand might intuitively manipulate dough. In Benglis' early paintings, while the shape varied, the size of each was loosely derived from bodily dimensions such as the artist's height or the width of her arm. For Benglis and her post minimalist contemporaries this was read as a reaction to the machine aesthetic and cool, reductive work of minimalism, whereas Wilson refers to her work as "a counterpoint to the increasing pace, mechanical production and virtual technologies used today". The titles of Benglis' sculptures such as Cocoon (1971) and Embryo I (1967-76), suggest corporeal projections of nascent life forms. The waxy, fluorescent translucence of other works turn towards food-types as in Night Sherbert A (1968) and Night Sherbert B (1968), which allude to melting scopes of ice cream. Benglis used to imprudently refer to her sparkle knots as 'Nausea Balls' and the hot wax of her encaustic pieces conjure childhood memories. The artist recalls her fascination with smelling, touching and tasting wax candies at Halloween and birthday parties, giving weight to the ritualistic characterisation of these occasions, while Wilson's recent experiments have led her to the dark brown, malted Veda Bread of her own Northern Irish upbringing. Both sculptors ground their work in personal, experiential forms of knowledge and deep observation of material transformation. Memory is transferred through substance. Work, labor and pleasure are intimately conflated through processes of kneading, layering, pouring, pressing, folding and stretching.
Saturday, 24 September 2016
Monday, 19 September 2016
Fold and Stretch at SPACE
This Saturday 24 September at 4pm I am presenting Fold and Stretch at SPACE in London.
The performance was developed earlier this year for Site Gallery in Sheffield. Over four weeks (15 March – 9 April) I worked with Martha Brown, Founder and Head Baker at Forge Bakehouse in Sheffield and Leeds-based Choreographer Lucy Suggate to investigate the physicality of dough and its relationship to the body, movement and dance.
Posted by Laura Wilson at 09:55
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
If you've been following my social media ramblings for the last couple of months, you'll know that I've just finished a new solo album, titled Beauty And Desolation. I'm really happy with how it's turned out, and I'm really looking forward to it being out there in the world. So here's the first video from it. The album was all recorded live in the studio, and I've got footage of five of the 7 tracks – so this is the actual studio footage of the track being recorded, rather than some kind of elaborate recreation of what's actually an entirely improvised performance.
Here's the press release for the album, which has already been re-blogged by the good people of Bass Player Magazine.
BIRMINGHAM, UK—It doesn't take much to get Steve Lawson talking about improv, and on the eve of the release of his 27th solo album, Beauty And Desolation, he's eager to riff on the relationship between improv and the studio. Continue reading "First Track from Beauty And Desolation by Steve Lawson"


text:
Bourbon Street
110 E. Commonwealth Ave. (Harbor Blvd.) Send to Phone
714-626-0050 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu
OpenBreakfast Sat.-Sun., Dinner nightly
Open late Thurs.-Sat.
- Parking lot
- Dress code: Casual
- Entertainment: Entertainment Wed.
- Full bar
* Click here for rating key
Bourbon Street Restaurant Review: Bourbon Street's red brick walls, black banquettes and flat-screen TVs mirror the decorative theme that's common among the watering holes of downtown Fullerton. While this casual joint had chiefly been known as a bar and a late-night club, it has shifted gears to put a greater emphasis on food --- here, the fare is a blend of California and Cajun cuisines. The pulled pork and barbecue sauce-slathered Louisiana fries channel bar fare; down-home Southern items include traditional soups, sandwiches and mains, such as the fried chicken with Cajun creamed corn and the seafood jambalaya loaded with shrimp, scallops, clams and andouille sausage. The compact dessert list features Southern-kissed items, as in the bananas Foster. On weekends, the restaurant rolls out dishes like biscuits and gravy and country fried steak and eggs. Bourbon aficionados should note that the place lives up to its name by offering a deep selection of the eponymous spirit.
GAYOT's Annual Restaurant Awards honor America's best chefs, as well as promising newcomers and a top restaurateur.


text:
Food & Wine featured the Lenexa Public Market recently.
This week, inside a new, 200-acre complex that includes Lenexa's city hall, a new recreation center, housing and ample green space, locals are catching their first glimpse of the new Lenexa Public Market. Located on the first floor of city hall, the market is designed not merely to be a destination for food, but also a gathering spot for the community.


text:
We've all seen them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, blogs and other social media sites — the beautiful quotes that inspire you, make you laugh, and brighten your day. You may Share, Retweet and Pin them to enrich the lives of others, but have you ever created your own inspirational quote images?
While the idea of creating your own quote image may sound daunting, you can use these free tools to make the task fast and easy. In no time you'll be creating your own quote images and enriching the world with your insights and humor. You'll be enhancing your social media accounts, boosting your blog posts and/or creating inspiration for others when you share your quote images.
Recite This
When you want to share words of wisdom with the world, you can either type them in plain text:
Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud. ~ Maya Angelou
or share them as artwork:
Recite This is a free website that helps you "turn your quote into a masterpiece." No need to be a Rembrandt, just type your quote into the text box, choose a template and click the Create button. Voila! Instant masterpiece!
You can share your creation directly from the site onto your social media accounts, including:
- Tumblr
- StumbleUpon
You can also email your quote image from the site, download the image, and share it via a link.
At a loss for words? Recite This will even help you find a quote to share. Click on the tab on the right edge of the screen to look through their catalogue of quotes. You can search by topics, such as humor, inspirational, love and leadership.
Some eCards
You've seen these before and probably had a giggle when you read their snarky quotes. Some eCards might be on nearly everyone's Facebook feed for good reason — they're funny and tend to hit home. Note that some cards might be offensive, some are politically incorrect, but you're bound to find some that ring true to your life.
You can visit the Some eCards website to find funny cards to share and/or create your own. You can search through the site by category, such as:
- Confession
- Workplace
- Flirting
- Birthday
and more. You can also search by keyword to find a Some eCard on the topic of your choice.
Creating one is easy, go to the Some eCard Create page and the site will walk you through the process. You can choose the background color and image, then begin typing. Save your creation and you're ready to share it on social media directly from the site.
If the site's editors choose your card as one of the funniest ones, it may be featured on the home page. Good luck, there's plenty of worthy competition!
Some eCards is also available as an app:
- iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch for $0.99
- Android for free
The site is free to use and a Some eCards store is available if you'd like to purchase greetings cards and other products featuring their creations.
If you want to use your own photo in a quote image, head to PicMonkey and upload it directly from your computer, Dropbox, Flickr or Facebook. You can use your photo as the background and add text using your choice of font styles, sizes and colors.
PicMonkey is my "go to" photo editing site for the images I use here at The Wonder of Tech (including the first image in this article).
This video from PicMonkey guides you how to add text to your images:
Great news for fans of fonts! PicMonkey was updated yesterday to allow you to add text using your own fonts! Read about this exciting feature in the PicMonkey blog. See, Fun with Fonts! for more information about how to get your own fonts.
PicMonkey is free, but some features require a Royale membership for $4.99/month or $33/year.
[note] My full review of PicMonkey: PicMonkey – Make the Most of Your Pictures. [/note]
Canva can guide and inspire you in creating an image quote. The site offers a wide variety of templates, some sized especially for social media sites.
You can learn more about using Canva from their helpful Learn and Do design tutorials that show and tell you how to make and enhance your creations. They offer advice from the basics of how to use the site to design tips such as using color, adding depth and using photo filters.
Be sure to check out Canva's tutorial on 5 Techniques to Marry Text and Image to make the most of your quote images. Get ideas on layering images, using shapes and wrapping text, then find out how to make the magic happen!
Most of Canva's images are free, but some premium images will cost you $1 to use them.
ShareAsImage makes it easy to create quote images. With this service you can add text to images from anywhere on the web with just a few clicks.
According to ShareAsImage, tweets with images are 150% more likely to be retweeted. Need more convincing? The site also says that images get 84% more click-throughs than text links.
This video shows how easily you can add text to an image from the web.
You can type in your own text or copy and paste text from another website. Choose from over 30 fonts, add filters to images and share directly to your social media accounts. You can also see over 350,000 images already created on the website.
Website owners can use this service to allow others to share images from your website. You can choose to have your logo automatically included as a watermark on the image.
A Chrome extension is available so you can access ShareAsImage directly from your toolbar. See, 15 Fantastic Chrome Extensions to Make Your Life Easier for more information about Chrome extensions.
ShareAsImage is free to use, but a Pro account is available for $8/month that gives you added features and the ability to store your creations at their site.
Brainy Quotes
The easiest way to share quote images might be Brainy Quotes. This free site has done pretty much all of the work for you. All you have to do is select a quote image from their vast library and click on the social sharing buttons to post them to your account.
You can search for authors, keywords or topics or just enjoy browsing through the dozens of quote images available for sharing.
Your Thoughts
Do you enjoy reading and sharing quotes? Have you ever created a quote image? Do you have any easy tools to suggest for creating and sharing quote images? Tell us in the Comments section below!


text:
by Paul R. Billings
The National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration are about to resume their consideration of a research project that may produce the first human in whom a nonparental gene may be inherited.
This manipulation of DNA present in germ cells, destined to populate the adult ovaries or testes -- also called germline genetic engineering -- may have profound implications for the relationship of humans to their evolution and biological future, if allowed. But the suggestion about our modifying people's hereditary information to improve it is not even the most troubling aspect of this new endeavor. Giving the fetal targets of this research the status of ''patient'' would be. Those who enter into that special human relationship to receive medical care or information are patients. Whether to treat an illness or prevent one, the person who seeks a health care provider generally desires good communication and quality service.
While practitioners have become partners rather than oracles in health care only over the past half-century, becoming a patient still can mean grappling with fear of death or chronic illness and a range of other vulnerabilities.
And health care providers respond. Attention, diligence, empathy and other great efforts generally characterize how those who are dedicated to caring for their patients approach their calling. Doing no harm and trying to do good often requires a significant emotional investment by caregivers. So who gets this wonderful human form of kindness?
Adults or their guardians consent to this relationship and parents give permission for their children. But are fetuses patients?
For years, health providers while looking after pregnant women have assessed and tried to alter the development of the fetus. Rarely, shortly before birth, surgical or other procedures are prescribed in order to improve the health prospects of the child after birth.
But the proposal now under federal review would offer specific genetic treatments to fetuses less than 24 weeks of age; it would define them as ill or deserving of active disease prevention.
Functionally, they would be patients. They would deserve all the heroic knowledge, energies and emotional investment that we routinely expend on sick children and adults. If accepted, this could mean that patienthood begins at conception if a new embryo inherits a disease-associated gene. The eight out of 10 fertilizations that do not make it through to birth, most very early in pregnancy, would become mortality statistics and may deserve the fight we often wage against the pain and disability of illnesses, or preventing them.
The implication of defining disease in the genes not only creates early fetal patients but means that many more illnesses are pre-existing conditions.
Great strides have been made in understanding disease. New technologies may bring ever more effective treatments in to medicine's armamentarium.
But most fetuses are not patients and should not be labeled or treated as if they were.
Paul R. Billings is a director of the Council for Responsible Genetics in Cambridge, Mass. He wrote this article for the Los Angeles Times.
Printed in The Times Union (Albany, NY), 16 March 1999


text:
Trust in the Process
Trust in the Process
333.00 397.00
This 30 X 24 inch painting combines radiant color with layers of intention to create a palpable energy. Infused magic and love, the cocoon is suspended as the caterpillar transforms into the butterfly.
Allow this artwork to fill your sacred space and feel your trust in the Divine plan renewed.
Acrylic on Canvas
Add To Cart


text:
Another View: The next FBI director
The Washington Post reports:
"Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Senate Republican who has in recent weeks become a more outward defender of President Donald Trump, and acting FBI director Andrew McCabe, who on Thursday contradicted the Trump White House on a range of topics, will interview Saturday to serve as the FBI's permanent director, according to people familiar with the matter.
"The men are two of at least four people who will interview to replace James B. Comey, whom Trump suddenly fired earlier this week, the people said.
"The others are Alice Fisher, a white-collar defense lawyer who previously led the Justice Department's criminal division, and Michael J. Garcia, a judge on the New York State Court of Appeals who previously served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York."
Other names mentioned include two partisans, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and former congressman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who were enmeshed in the Benghazi investigations that ultimately went nowhere. The notion that a partisan Republican would even be considered suggests a lack of appreciation for the damage done to the president's credibility and the independence of the Russia investigation.
Among those interviewing the next director is Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose participation in the firing of James B. Comey raises ethical and legal questions. Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general whose memo was used as a pretext for firing Comey, is also participating. How are we to know if the contenders will be asked about the ongoing investigation? How will we know they will not be selected because they hint at a jaundiced view of the Russia investigation? (The investigation has metastasized with the report that the Justice Department is seeking "banking records of Paul Manafort as part of a widening of probes related to President Donald Trump's former campaign associates and whether they colluded with Russia in interfering with the 2016 election.") We won't -- unless the president's conversations are in fact being recorded.
Democrats are threatening to stall the hearings on a new FBI director unless Rosenstein agrees to name a special counsel (to replace himself in overseeing the FBI probe into Russian interference in the election). However, they may reconsider after hearing his testimony this week in a briefing for all 100 senators. He may provide information and/or establish credibility with the Senate that persuades both Republicans and Democrats to leave him in place to continue investigating the Russia affair.
There is no downside for Democrats and for conscientious Republicans in refusing to move forward with a permanent FBI director. For now, McCabe is doing the job. He's the one person who we know Trump, Sessions and Rosenstein would have had no role in influencing. It's not even clear the partisan Republicans will want a confirmation hearing for a new FBI director. This would devolve into a tutorial on obstruction of justice, queries about a White House taping system, a reaffirmation of the conclusion that Russia meddled in our election (which would contradict the president) and a critique of Trump's alleged conversations with Comey.
The one measure that Congress does have within its power is appointment of a special commission or select committee, which would be within Congress' domain. (The former would likely require legislation, which might need to be passed on a veto-proof majority.) They can do that now or in the future, depending on how well the Senate Intelligence Committee functions.
Where does that leave us? Perhaps the best arrangement would be to leave Rosenstein and McCabe in place and allow the Senate committee to continue its work on the Russia investigation. However, a separate investigation into the firing of Comey and potential obstruction of justice is essential. Both the president's and the attorney general's conduct must be examined. For that, Rosenstein must agree to appoint a special counsel (Rosenstein cannot investigate himself) and Congress should set up a select committee. That is the only feasible way to investigate whether Trump is guilty of either impeachable or illegal conduct.
Courtesy of The Washington Post.


text:
During the hours where the Scandinavian sun remains above the horizon, my colleagues and I in Tivoli Ballet Theatre have been living inside Tivoli's Koncertsal rehearsing for our upcoming production of the Nutcracker (Nøddeknækkeren, respectively in Danish). But seeing very minimal daylight the last month has been worth it for many reasons. For every dancer, one of the best way to capture the Christmas spirit is through marathon performances of the Nutcracker. We've been challenged with new roles inside a very unique, Tivoli-themed Nutcracker storyline. However, what has really struck me as the most inspiring part of this production is our chance to work with the live orchestra.
We began our first rehearsals with them this week. The conductor invited us to come listen to them play and practice a little bit beforehand. I took this as my chance to sit right at the front of the stage and observe. I did a very terrible job filming excerpts (in fact, maybe you should just close your eyes and only listen...), but perhaps I'll elaborate more on why this was so special:
I've never been a very musically inclined person. I never played an instrument or was able to read a score. My only relationship with music is through dance and the music I listen to on a day-to-day basis, through my headphones. But watching the orchestra fuse together the festive notes of Tchaikovsky is something spectacular. The best way I can think of describing the difference of sound is that while on a recording, the songs, though still beautifully composed, are simply flat in comparison to the 3-dimensional sounds of each instrument. I caught myself in a daze, almost creating a game of it, in which I followed each instrument throughout the song as they started and stopped their sections. I had never really recognized the importance of each instrument individually - how they effortlessly lace together, despite having such different acoustics, and create one entity of a song.
So my hat goes off to every member of the orchestra. You're giving our dancing and our upcoming performances a whole new depth and vitality that we would struggle to find with only a play button and a CD.
And don't forget to come see Tivoli's Nutcracker! Playing all through December, it's a great story, great dancing and fantastic music! ☺


text:
Shinseki Nominated To Head Veterans Affairs
President-elect Barack Obama has named a decorated Vietnam veteran as his choice to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki is a former Army chief of staff who was known for criticizing the Bush administration's plans to invade Iraq with too few troops.
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
It's Morning Edition from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
And I'm Renee Montagne. President-elect Barack Obama has introduced his choice to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. It's retired General Eric Shinseki. He's probably best known as the general who questioned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's strategy in Iraq on the eve of the war in 2003. NPR's Joseph Shapiro is here to tell us more about that pick. Good morning, Joe.
JOSEPH SHAPIRO: Good morning, Renee.
MONTAGNE: Now, this is quite a vindication for General Shinseki.
SHAPIRO: Well, it is. It was Shinseki who told Congress right before the war started in Iraq that he thought it would take several hundred thousand troops to keep the peace in Iraq. And that was a lot more than Rumsfeld was claiming. And that got the secretary angry. And several months later, Shinseki retired. So yesterday President-elect Obama, in introducing him, said General Shinseki was right.
MONTAGNE: Now, how have other military leaders and veterans' groups reacted to the announcement of this appointment of General Shinseki?
SHAPIRO: Well, there was a pretty positive reaction. General Shinseki comes with a lot of credibility. And of course there's the symbolism of this appointment. The incoming president has picked someone who has this reputation for speaking truth, even when it's not what everyone wants to hear.
MONTAGNE: Tell us a little more about his background, his military career.
SHAPIRO: Sure. He's 66. He's Japanese American. He was born in Hawaii. He's a four-star general. And he twice was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries in combat in Vietnam. And that included - he stepped on a land mine. He lost most of one foot, but he fought to stay in the military. And he was one of only eight soldiers with amputations from that war who did stay on active duty. So he knows how injured veterans want to get back to leading normal lives.
MONTAGNE: And of course that would be one of the biggest challenges that he'd be facing at the VA, given the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and all the wounded service members coming home.
SHAPIRO: Right, he's got lots of challenges there. The VA provides probably some of the best treatment you can get for PTSD or traumatic brain injuries. But there've been some embarrassments in the last year. The VA's mental health director got caught in a private email trying to hide from the public the fact that there's been an alarming increase in suicide attempts among veterans being treated at the VA. And then another VA official in Texas told her staff to stop diagnosing so many soldiers with PTSD because she said too many were trying to get VA disability benefits.
And that gets to one of the biggest problems that veterans have to wait too long when they apply for disability benefits. About one in five wait six months or more - sometimes a lot more - to find out if they get approved for a monthly disability check. The VA's been adding staff to try to cut that backlog, but some staff have been caught by the VA's own investigators of trying to reduce their own backlogs by shredding documents or backdating paperwork. And then there's another problem, and that's achieving something that the Pentagon and the VA call seamless transition. That's the idea of getting a soldier who leaves a military medical system into a VA doctor right away. And too often that doesn't work very well.
And this weekend I spoke to a soldier I know who just left Walter Reed Army hospital three weeks ago. He's moved to a new city. He does have an appointment with the nearest VA hospital, but it's not going to be until January. At Walter Reed he was seeing a therapist every week. Someone was monitoring his medications. They were checking on him every day. He's a strong guy, but now he's got to wait two months for his next doctor's appointment.
MONTAGNE: Well, we always hear the problems facing the VA. Just give us a few of the good things that it's doing.
SHAPIRO: Well, the VA's been a leader in moving to electronic medical records and improving patient safety. It takes care of about five and a half million veterans, so it's learned how to use its size to keep down the costs of drugs and medical equipment. You know, President-elect Obama's been talking about expanding and improving health care, and the VA can be a model.
MONTAGNE: Joe, thanks very much.
SHAPIRO: You're welcome, Renee.
MONTAGNE: NPR's Joseph Shapiro on the appointment of General Eric Shinseki to be head of Veterans Affairs.
Copyright © 2008 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.
Obama Nominates Shinseki To Lead VA
President-elect Barack Obama on Sunday named retired Gen. Eric Shinseki as his choice to be the next secretary of veterans affairs.
Shinseki, the first Japanese-American four-star general in the Army, is best known for clashing with then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld before the invasion of Iraq, when Shinseki warned that the Bush administration was not planning to send in enough troops.
There's special significance to Obama using this day — Dec. 7 — to announce his choice of Shinseki: This is the 67th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor — a moment in the nation's history both Obama and Shinseki understand well, as both grew up in Hawaii.
Shinseki graduated from West Point in 1965, then served two tours of combat duty in Vietnam. He was wounded there, losing part of his foot when he stepped on a land mine.
Shinseki rose through the ranks of the Army to become the first Asian-American four-star general and, ultimately, the first Asian-American to head one of the military branches.
"And there is no one more distinguished, more determined or more qualified to build this VA than the leader I am announcing as our next secretary of veterans affairs — Gen. Eric Shinseki," Obama said Sunday.
Shinseki proved prophetic in 2003 when, during the buildup to the invasion of Iraq, he warned a congressional committee that securing Iraq after the invasion would require hundreds of thousands of troops.
Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz belittled Shinseki's assessment, calling it wildly off the mark. Marginalized, Shinseki retired later in 2003.
Obama, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, seems to appreciate Shinseki's candor.
"No one will ever doubt that this former Army chief of staff has the courage to stand up for our troops and our veterans. No one will ever question whether he will fight hard enough to make sure they have the support that they need."
Shinseki acknowledges many veterans today worry about their physical, mental and economic health upon leaving the service.
"Veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in particular are confronting serious, severe wounds — some seen, some unseen — making it difficult for them to get on with their lives in this struggling economy. They deserve a smooth, error-free, no-fail, benefits-assured transition into our ranks as veterans. And that is our responsibility, not theirs."
Shinseki pledges that, if confirmed, he will work to serve veterans as well as they have served the country.


text:
Going through financial hardship is a really stressful situation and unfortunately, millions of individuals around the world find themselves in this position each year. People in this predicament have quite a few options to recover from their financial woes, and bankruptcy should be considered as a last resort when all other alternatives have been exhausted. You've quite possibly seen a couple of those debt consolidating businesses offer their services on television for example. In a lot of cases, it can be overwhelming to try to find out an effective way to recover from financial problems, and many will declare bankruptcy simply because it seems the easiest way of doing so. But how do you know if bankruptcy is the right alternative for you? This article will shed some light into bankruptcy in order to help you evaluate if bankruptcy is the best option for your personal scenario.
Bankruptcy has some pretty serious financial implications: a bad credit report, increased difficulty in acquiring loans, and higher interest rates are just several of these. So needless to say, bankruptcy should not be taken lightly. There are loads of debt consolidating businesses that more than happy to assist you, which is similar to bankruptcy as all your debts are consolidated into one. This is typically considered a sensible alternative to bankruptcy as the financial penalties aren't as extreme. But the best way to find out if bankruptcy is the best option for you is to seek professional advice from bankruptcy experts. In the meantime, however, here are some indications that your financial situation is in a serious condition and bankruptcy may be the best option for you.
No Savings
If you don't have any money in your bank and you're sustaining a mountain of debt, then bankruptcy may well be the best alternative for you. Even if you have the capacity to work a second job to increase your earnings, will this allow you to recover from your debts in the next five years? If no, then you should look into seeking professional advice about your situation, as bankruptcy can be a desirable alternative. Declaring bankruptcy will relieve you of these debts and while there are financial penalties, it's probably the best way to recover in this situation.
Making Minimum Repayments Only
If you can only manage to make the minimum repayments on your debts, then the interest on these debts will magnify aggressively and you should really consider bankruptcy before your financial situation gets worse. Without any supplementary income, it can often times take up to 30 years to repay your debts by making minimum repayments only, so all the interest you'll be paying over this time can really amount to significant sums of money. Even though you'll still be paying off debts with interest after declaring bankruptcy, regularly you can negotiate better terms on conditions on your debts after declaring bankruptcy.
Debt Collectors Are Calling You
When you're being frequently hassled by debt collectors on the telephone and in the mail, it's a sign that your financial scenario is deteriorating and you ought to make some changes. When you're being contacted by debt collectors, it means that your creditors have sold your debts at highly discounted prices to debt collectors because they are convinced that you aren't in a position to pay off these debts in a reasonable period of time. This is a clear indication that you should honestly look at declaring bankruptcy as it's quite likely the best solution for both your finances and your emotional well-being.
Though there are some serious financial consequences, bankruptcy isn't the end of the world and in most cases, it's the first step to financial freedom. When you're facing a mountain of debt and you can't see any way of recovering in the near future, it's time to seek professional advice to identify what options you have. While there are many options available to assist you in financial hardship, if you're familiar with any of the above warning signs then chances are that bankruptcy is the best alternative to ensure you and your family can secure a bright future. Regardless, if you're facing financial difficulties, it's best to consult with bankruptcy professionals sooner rather than later. For a confidential discussion concerning your financial scenario, contact Bankruptcy Experts Fremantle on 1300 795 575 or visit www.bankruptcyexpertsfremantle.com.au


text:
Hello, and welcome to the Reloading Podcast here on the Firearms Radio Network.
Tonight the guys are answering a few more questions.
I shoot long range and recently shot an F-Class match. I'm loading for a 260 Remington and I'm having a small issue with ES/SD. My $100 prochrono is showing an ES of about 20-30 fps per 10 round string, and I would like a little tighter spread.
I am using freshly annealed Lapua brass and all shoulders bumped 2 thousandths. Necks have been turned to fit my tight neck chamber. Flash holes deburred, primer pockets uniformed, and using CCI-BR2 primers. I'm weighing charges on Dillon balance beam scale and measuring seating depth off ogive. I'm also careful not to cook rounds in the chamber longer than a few seconds. My groups at 600 show very little vertical dispersion, but there is always room for improvement.
Your Question: What am I missing to improve my ES/SD? and/or is this a problem with using a cheap optical chronograph? I know a magnetospeed, Oehler, or lab radar will be more accurate, but wanted to hear from others before I throw more money at it. I read an article on accurate shooter comparing primers as they relate to ES, so now I am curious. How much do primers affect MV consistency? Bryce
Hello Mike
Thank you for answering and discussing my question on your podcast. I think it will help other listeners as well.
I did go ahead and safely fired all of the reloads at the range, it was however an interesting day. I could tell every time one of the magnum primers went off, the interesting thing was while my gun has been 100 ℅ reliable for about 1500 rounds on this day I had 5 or 6 times the spent cartridge instead of ejecting as normal it came straight back and smacked me in the forehead then the cartridge coming out of the magazine would stand straight up like a stove pipe. Very odd.
I'm an over the road truck driver and was hoping to get home sooner so I could let you know the amount of Power Pistol I used under a 147 grain copper coated bullet. I will follow up with you that info as soon as I get home over Thanksgiving.
Thanks again for your very informative, enjoyable and much need podcast. You bring together a great mix of knowledgeable reloaders.
I hope you, your family and the rest of the guys have a great Thanksgiving. Mark
Hi Guys,
Listening to a podcast from a few weeks ago there was mention of powders for reduced rifle loads. Previously I had been using IMR SR4759 in my .303 British for reduced loads, however, the powder was discontinued so I was forced to find a replacement.
The attached are what I found on the Hodgdon website for reduced loads in that search. I am currently planning to give the h4895 a try. Hopefully it works as good as the SR4759 as it was much more enjoyable to shoot my Lee Enfield, making recoil similar to that of a .223.
All the best
Nova Scotia, Canada
Please remember to use the affiliate links for Amazon and Brownells from the Webpage it really does help the show and the network.
New Patreons:
Current Patreons: Mr. Anonymoose, Mark H, John. C, Shane D, Anthony B, Tim A, Mike S, Russ H, Atilla the Hun, Richard C, Joel L., Rick R., Aaron S, David S. Erich S, Troy S, Peter D, and Brewer Bill
Thank you for listening.
How to get in contact with us:
Google Voice # 608-467-0308
Reloading Podcast on Instagram


text:
Finally Keiko Shikako-Thomas presented Integrated Knowledge Translation: Engaging Stakeholders, Influencing Policy, Promoting Participation.
Keiko discussed taking knowledge translation out of the lab to clinic and expanding that idea to the patients, administrators and policy makers to truly get new knowledge ingrained in our societies, not just our clinics.
To do this, she gave us 4 steps:
- Map. In this step, it is important to identify the important players in our goals and how to best engage them. We need to identify which of those players are already on-board and which are not.
- Engage. Then we need to come up with a plan to get those that are not yet on board to join our team. Some strategies may include: having deliberative dialogue, consultations, meetings, coming together with new and known partners to expand the new knowledge's reach. This can be accomplished with paid and/or volunteer folk.
- Measure. Is this working? Can use tools such as CIROP Measure of Impact or Ready, Set, Change!
- Sustain. Keep going! Keep in contact with all the people involved via newsletters. Continue working on other projects with your other interested organizations.
I must admit advocacy at that level is way beyond me and I was mostly wide eyed during that presentation and probably didn't glean nearly as much as Keiko intended. I did learn something of the process though– that I know next to nothing and had better stay in the following role for now. Haha.
Well, folks, that is the last of the lecture sessions from IV Step. I was sad to for it to end and to leave the wonderful atmosphere there. Almost like the let down after returning home from summer camp. But that's where the proverbial rubber meets the road: what now? We'll discuss that tomorrow!
Click here to see a full menu of IV Step lecture sessions!


text:
Tom Middleditch isn't your usual theatre maker. With an intense passion and a fiery red beard to match, he's attempting to build a bridge between two worlds: the world that most of us see, and the world that he sees.
Tom has Aspergers, one of a range of neurodevelopmental conditions that in new clinical definitions fall under the category of Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
Among many things, Aspergers is characterised by an intense focus on one or two particular subjects. For Tom, it's his passions for theatre and philosophy that drive him to explore and portray the autistic experience.
'People on the spectrum don't see the world in the same way that neurotypical people do,' he explains. 'It does make the world a very, very different place to deal with the sensory issues, the hyperawareness, overload and self-reflexive thinking.'
Tom is the co-founder of the theatre group A_tistic. The group's goal is to develop and publicise what he describes as 'spectrum theatre'.
'Basically, the idea behind spectrum theatre is to put autistic experiences on the stage as close to what it would have been like to experience them,' Tom says. 'That's the basis. But there are many, many ways to do that, in the same way that all of us think differently.'
One of Tom's major motives is to challenge the public's preconceived notions of autism. He says there's already a lot of 'safe' material in the theatre scene and that the portrayal of autistic characters on stage or on screen is something that should really be explored further.
'Otherwise, we're just going to be relying on Sheldon Cooper for the next twenty years' he says with some lament. 'It used to be Rainman who was the stereotypical autistic person – he wasn't autistic at all! But we have a long way to go.'
Akash Temple is one person who can testify to changes in the public's perception of autism. Akash is the communications officer at Arts Access Victoria and has been involved in disability arts for just over twenty years. With an autistic spectrum disorder herself, she has been a keen observer as the understanding of autism has developed.
'It has evolved massively,' she says, 'and the treatment is just extraordinary. But it is getting both better and worse.'
While the support and recognition of children with autistic disorders is dramatically improving, she believes support for older teenagers and young adults is dire. She produced a short film on the subject, Grey Blue Planet, in 2013.
'I think a lot of it you could blame on a lack of education in high schools for teachers, lack of resources, lack of funding, lack of one-on-one aid,' she says.
'A very large number of these people end up in a very confusing world without knowing necessarily what to do. And yes, there are success stories, but there aren't enough success stories.'
In her view, that's what makes people like Tom and his work so important. She recognises the value of the arts in engaging and creating a community of adults with spectrum disorders, but is upset that the funding and structures simply don't exist in Australia.
One of her hopes is to one day help establish a formal group for artists on the autistic spectrum. She refers to the deaf community as an example of a successful hub for like-minded artists.
Most importantly, she says, they are 'a structured bunch organised by people with autism, rather than organised by parents and other people who don't have autism'. The autonomy to self-direct is vital.
'That's what Canada, England and other countries have, and is why we're so backward here in Australia,' Akash says. 'That is what people like myself and Tom need to do, to build a platform to bring in the other independent artists.'
In some ways, Tom is already assembling that platform. His first attempt at spectrum theatre was Them Aspies, which ran for two seasons at Monash University.
Student theatre is always a centre of experimentation, being both bold and emboldening. Them Aspies was a classic example.
'It was a new work of theatre by someone who had never done devised work before, with a whole group of actors, some of who were on the spectrum, some of whom were not, doing a non-linear, non-narrative driven, autistic, experimental theatre piece. It was a massive risk,' he laughs.
'So it was incredibly rewarding to be able to say that we sold out that first season within three days,' he says. 'And to have more than one season is virtually unheard of.'
Tom acknowledges he no longer has the safe and nurturing environment the university provided him. But he will be taking A_tistic to a broader audience with optimism, with the theatre group now also leading the charge on 'relaxed performances' in Australia.
Ultimately though, Tom has his sights set on higher goals.
'Autism is still in a stage of awareness and acceptance. So the conversation is still waiting to be had. We're just stoking the fire to give people the tools to have it.'
Bren Carruthers
Image by Chris Smart, used with permission.


text:
We've had lots of questions about the mosaics from visitors over the past weeks and people have been intrigued to know their age, how they were made, and what makes the colours. Experts have suggested that it is possible to recognise the work of individual mosaic officinae or workshops in Britain. Chedworth has mosaics produced by two officinae based in Corinium or Cirencester as it is known today. Our corridor mosaics probably date to the fourth century AD and contain red, white and blue colours. The red tesserae or tiles are cut from brick and tile. The white colour comes from local limestone, and the blue from a rock called lias shale which is found in Dorset.
Mosaics can contain complicated patterns which help us to identify their workshop. The image above shows a section of corridor with a 'guilloche mat' inserted between a circular motif, with a border of plain stripes. Guilloche is a pattern based on textiles consisting of twisted multicoloured strands. A mat is formed by many strands laid in a rectangle and is a Corinium speciality. The top right corner contains a section which could be a maker's mark although this is hard to see. It is probable that this design was laid directly onto opus signinum which is a form of Roman concrete (Source: Peter Johnson, Romano-British Mosaics published 1995 by Shire Archaeology).
Our new volunteers Emily, Tony and Phil have been enjoying their first taste of mosaics today:


text:
Nobody starts a business with failure in mind. Yet small business owners by themselves rarely do what needs to be done to avoid failure. Small business failure statistics are all you need to look at to realize most small business owners don't do the right things when it comes to starting and running their business. Many fail in the first 5 years and even those that are able to survive the first 5 years are likely to fail before they reach 10 years.
With each small business failure, there are devastating consequences for the small business owner and his/her family. Most small business owners put every penny they have and can get their hands on into their business not to mention the time, energy, and personal sacrifices they make. The devastation caused by their business failure goes far beyond just them. It extends to their community, their state, and the country. A staggering amount of resources and opportunities are lost due to the vast number of small business failures. Sadly, business failure can be avoided by understanding why it happens and doing the things necessary to elude it.
Why It Happens
Michael Geber author of The E-Myth Revisited states in the forward of his book what he believes to be the primary reason:
"The problem with most failing businesses I've encountered is not that their owners don't know enough about finance, marketing, management, and operations – they don't, but those things are easy enough to learn – but that they spend their time and energy defending what they think they know."
In other words, Mr. Geber believes small business failure happens because the small business owner thinks they know more than they do about business.
During my professional career as a business executive and consultant covering 30+ years and more than 120 consulting engagements with small business owners, I have seen this be true time and time again – the owner is 100% the reason for the struggle and failure of his/her small business. Small business owners like to practice insanity which is defined as continuing to do the same things over and over expecting a different result. There are three bad traits common to small business owners causing their habitual "insanity":
Bad Trait #1 – Think they know what they don't know.
Here's an example of this from one of my past consulting clients James who is the owner of a residential and commercial contract painting company. James made the following statement when I asked him about his method for pricing work: "My father started this business back in 1956 and taught me everything I needed to know about it. I was 15 years old when I began working here. The way I price is the way my dad taught me. It has always worked and it is the only way it can be done for this business!"
At least 5 years before this conversation James's company began losing profitability and every year the losses had increased. James believed his dad had taught him everything he needed to know and he would never need to know or do anything different. He was wrong yet he practiced insanity by continuing to do things just like his dad taught him somehow thinking he would get a better result. He only got a better result once he changed and learned that there was a different and more effective method.
Bad Trait #2 – Suffers from the Field of Dreams Syndrome:
The Field of Dreams syndrome is based on the movie by the same name. It is the belief that customers will come just because you have a business.Mike, the owner of a limousine service company, made this statement when I asked about how he marketed and advertised his company's services: "I am listed in the yellow pages and I rely upon word-of-mouth from past customers. I've never had to do anything else to get business. The phone use to ring all of the time. I don't understand why the phone isn't ringing like it did. I have the nicest, newest, and cleanest vehicles out there."
Mike believed people would call his company just because it existed and had (in his opinion) superior equipment. Not the case as he was experiencing with a continual decline in sales every month.
Bad Trait #3 – Belief that outside forces cause most if not all of their business problems.
George owns a residential roofing company. Here is what George said to me during our initial discussion concerning the problems experienced by his business: "I don't know how you can help me, Carroll. My company does roofs and nobody is getting their roof done. And those that are getting their roof done are hiring the jack-leg running around in his pickup truck charging less than what my material and labor cost. I can't compete against that guy. I'll be glad when the economy picks back up so things will be back to normal."
George believed there was nothing he could do to improve the condition of his business. It was all the jack-leg's fault and what the outside world was doing it to him and his company. George didn't think there was anything he could do to gain control over any of it. Not true! George in time learned that he was the only one who had the power to change his company's condition and make it better.
There are other "bad traits" held by small business owners but they all are due to the small business owner and his/her erroneous beliefs.
How It Can Be Avoided
The reality of being a small business owner is you are the sole reason for your business's failure or success! To correct the most common problem of small business you must be willing to do what Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" song says – stand in front of the mirror and commit to the person you see there to do what is necessary for your business's success. If you don't, you, you family, community, state, and country will certainly experience the devastation of your business failure.
It does not matter where your small business is in its life cycle you must do the following to ensure your business's success.
1. Bury Your Ego and Be Open Minded.
Ego makes you close minded and erects a brick wall that keeps you from receiving and using available and valuable assistance such as advice, knowledge, information, and help. No one is perfect and knows everything there is to know. If you allow your ego to make you believe you "know it all " and are right when in fact you are not, you will miss out on important opportunities to improve. Removing your ego will allow you to learn and discover what you lack and need for improvement to take place. You will also find people more willing to help and provide you with things that will be of benefit to you.
2. Create a Passionate Vision.
The majority of small business owners I have worked with have a business which provides them with nothing more than a job. They have from the beginning structured their business to do nothing more than that. Now, they hate their business and are extremely unhappy. Their business is boring, takes all of their time, and provides them with little satisfaction, sense of accomplishment or fulfillment. If you want to be successful and happy you must do something you can be passionate about. This passion needs to be focused on accomplishing something specific not just for you but for others as well. Think about people who have been wildly successful such Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Oprah, and Dr. Phil. The one thing they have in common is their overpowering drive (i.e. passion) to change the world in a positive way. You can do the same once you create a passionate vision for your business.
3. Learn to Learn.
Never have I worked with a business owner who had a business without competitors. The typical business owner I work with has problems and their competition is doing better than they are. When asked why they think they aren't performing as well as their competition they say something like "the competition is much bigger and can afford things I can't such as newer equipment, more advertising, or better location". These are all superficial reasons and represent nothing more than excuses by the business owner. The reality is their competition is succeeding because they have figured out how to be more successful. You must learn to do the same. If you don't believe you can do it on your own then get help and get it now before it is too late.
The business world is a highly competitive place. Changes are taking place in all fields and industries worldwide at an increasing the rate of change. To survive and succeed as a business owner you must continue to learn, do things in new and innovative ways, and be passionate about what and how your business serves its customers. If you overcome the bad traits of most small business owners you will be not only have a successful business you will also be happy and enjoy your business more than you ever thought possible.
One of the easiest and fastest ways to overcome any bad traits you might have as a small business owner is to get help from a professional who trains small business owners to be successful. You can receive such help in a unique, fun, fast, easy and affordable way by taking my 12 session practical "Master of Business" owner training program.
commercial roofing companies near me


text:
A local congressman is calling for legislation to ease the plight of thousands of undocumented children from Central America who arrived in South Florida this year.
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, says the children should be entitled to legal representation once here. Deutch said he plans to push for a bill, when Congress reconvenes in January, requiring the U.S. attorney general to make sure each child is represented by an attorney.
Deutch's call to action comes after the Sun Sentinel and its sister paper El Sentinel published a four-monthlong special project that chronicled the lives of Central American youngsters who crossed illegally into the United States this year, and ended up with family members in South Florida. Titled "The Uncertain Future of Undocumented Children," the article shed light on the children's complex journey through the U.S. legal system.
"At a minimum, we should treat these children with respect and compassion when they come here," said Deutch in a phone interview. The congressman said he plans to push early next year for passage of the Vulnerable Immigrant Voice Act, which would grant lawyers to unaccompanied minors in deportation proceedings.
One of the undocumented children featured in the Sun Sentinel article received some welcome news on Thursday. Hugo Pascual Tomás, a 16-year-old Guatemalan who faced his third deportation hearing this week, was granted an eight-month extension by Judge Charles Sanders. His next hearing is set for August.
"There's a lot of work and research to do on it, but thankfully we now have a lot of time," said the boy's pro bono attorney, Natalie Navarro.
Unlike Hugo, many of the unaccompanied minors here do not have lawyers because their families cannot afford one, advocates say. Without an attorney, these children face difficulties proving their case in court.
"What kind of country would we be if we were to just throw these children back to the terror they fled?" said Rev. Frank O'Loughlin, executive director of the Guatemalan Maya Center, a nonprofit group in Lake Worth that helps youngsters like Hugo.
The bill co-sponsored by Deutch is similar to part of a broader immigration package that was approved by the Senate last year but languished in the Republican-controlled House.
Backers of the proposed bill — all Democrats — say the costs of providing undocumented children with attorneys would be offset by reducing the time that youths spend in detention and in court.
An influential member of South Florida's congressional delegation, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, favors helping the unaccompanied minors.
"I am supportive of increased resources to get more kids lawyers and get their cases heard," said Wasserman Schultz, adding that any measure should be adequately funded and not impact taxpayers.
"This nation was built on a foundation of fairness and the rule of law, and we should always take steps to uphold those principles," she said.
The arrival of more than 53,000 unaccompanied children from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador this year has had a major impact on some local schools and created a backlog in federal immigration court. The children come here seeking to reunite with families and escape the violence and poverty in their homelands. In Florida alone, more than 5,500 arrived this year. And more than half of them made their way to South Florida.
"Immigration officials and courts have certainly worked hard to address this really difficult situation, but we can do better," Deutch said after reading the Sun Sentinel-El Sentinel report. "For too many [of the children], we're failing."
Several organizations are also attempting to force the federal government to provide lawyers for unaccompanied minors. The American Civil Liberties Union, the American Immigration Council and several other national groups filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court in July, arguing that the children's right to a fair hearing is violated by not having a lawyer.
"The reality is that children are unlikely to understand the complex procedures, their legal options, or how to build a case," said Beth Werlin, deputy director of the American Immigration Council's Legal Action Center, in Washington, DC.
"Forcing children to proceed on their own violates due process," she added.
Some immigration advocates are hanging their hopes on legislative initiatives such as the bill that Deutch has promised to reintroduce in the House early next year.
"There's so much pressure to do something for these kids," said Sui Chung, chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association's South Florida pro bono committee. "Obviously the Justice Department feels a lot of pressure ... and there will be interest on the Hill and in the executive branch to find a solution. I think it will get done."


text:
It appears that your browser settings are preventing this page from loading the latest version. You may be seeing
old information or you may run into errors because of this. Your system time settings can also cause this issue. Please check that your system time is correct.
Please come see us on Day 1. Feels like 13 great items.
Call Us Today to Schedule your FREE In-Home Consultation.
Listed by
Caring Transitions Of Syracuse
Last modified 2 Days ago. 83 Pictures Total.
Want to let the company know how they're doing? Feel free to leave feedback!


text:
Let's Get Excited About Christmas
During Advent, what exactly are we "waiting" for?
During Advent, what exactly are we "waiting" for?
Christmas is coming. What will you do to prepare?
On December 25 every year, the Christian world celebrates the greatest mystery in human history: the Incarnation. At a moment in time, the eternal, omnipotent, and patently-outside-of-time God entered history to become ephemeral, weak, and finite in time… Read More
What if a so-called "secular greeting" was actually Catholic to its core?
When does someone else's problem become our problem? St. Joseph offers a guide.


text:
Google has announced that with the launch of Chrome 68 in July 2018, Chrome will mark all non-HTTPS sites as "not secure".
The update will make your omnibox display look like this:
Chrome 68 omnibox display for HTTP pages
Overall, developers across the world have made significant progress towards safer connections and network. Let's look at Google's stats over the past year:
If your site has adopted HTTPS encryption before this announcement, then you can breathe a sigh of relief. However, if your site still isn't secure, then you've got a fair amount of time to make the transition.
There are now many ways to encrypt your servers, such as Let's Encrypt (this is free!) or with the latest Node CLI version of Lighthouse.
However, making the switch from HTTP to HTTPS is not a simple feat, as Google treats this as a full-on site move. This transition requires website redirects. Implementing redirects can cause a lot of problems and site traffic fluctuations if not done properly. So the sooner you transition, the better. This gives you or your web developers time to fix redirect issues, as well as other potential problems like content duplication.
HTTPS is a powerful security feature that Google is constantly developing and improving to ensure good user experience. A secure HTTPS connection has the following benefits:
The authentication process during a secure communication protocol ensures that your user is communicating with the actual website, not a "fake website" pretending to be your site.
2. Confidentiality
There are people online who would love to get their hands on vital security information, such as credit card numbers and passwords, among others. Encrypting the data that your user enters on your website keeps it secure from those who may want to see, or steal, this information.
3. Integrity
Running on an HTTPS server ensures that you and your user are sending each other data as you've intended. This means no extra or modified data is coming through, which may appear in the form of random ads or dangerous malware that can ruin the user experience.
HTTPS is a crucial part of user experience and should not be neglected. Great user experience can increase site session time and, subsequently, conversation rates. It is an essential part of search engine optimisation.
Web pages can't provide a good experience to site visitors if there are constant random ads popping up on your screen from third-party sites, or if there are malware risks.
On top of that, Google doesn't like interstitial (pop-up) ads for mobile either, so it will downgrade your site on the SERPs.
There are also many web platform features only available with HTTPS, such as storing sensitive user information or geolocation (receiving your user's current location information).
And if you're a business in New Zealand, 95% of your customers are using Google to search for your product. 54% of those searches are done using Chrome. Neglecting more than half of your customer base probably isn't the best idea.
Be prepared for the Chrome 68 update and secure your site before July 2018!
To stay updated with all the latest in SEO news, subscribe to the Pure SEO Blog. For exclusive access to lead generation tips, simply download our free guide below!


text:
Multi Purpose Insulation, keeping it simple and functional.
Winterizing The Chicken House
TBN Ranch Chicken Keeping Resources
amy elizabeth
Multi Purpose Insulation, keeping it simple and functional.
Clever DIY brooder for chicks, great for the small scale chicken keeper. Just remember they'll outgrow this space fast, so you'll need to prepare before the coop housing for your juveniles.
It would also be nice to have this brooder on hand for isolating chick/s that have an unexpected health issue.
My Two Cents | TBN Ranch
Liked the idea of the drinker on pellets, however, didn't like seeing a white light in the brooder lamp. In my opinion, always use a red bulb, chicks are easily agitated by bright lights and this can lead to behavior problems. The radiant heat shown in video is a superior alternative!
Thanks Gail for sharing with us!


text:
All the Bands You Missed at Northside Festival 2018 (Good Thing You Have Us)
We ran around Brooklyn for the 10 year anniversary of Northside Festival to catch (almost) all of our favorite acts. Many were some of Brooklyn's very own, while others were in town from places like Chicago and London, for the borough takeover. With overlapping sets and too many shows to fit into one night, let alone one weekend, we pulled aside a few so you could get to know them a little better. From good ol' Rock n' Roll, to R&B, to Post-Punk and some sweet ear pleasing Pop, we tried to hit all of the bases.
London & New York | Pop & Experimental R&B
POND: What do you miss most about each other while you're apart?
Emma & Josh: Support and over-sharing.
POND: What band were you really into in high school?
Emma: The Kooks or The Arctic Monkeys. I was a British teen.
Josh: LCD Soundsystem.
POND: Spring or Fall?
Emma: Fall, because my birthday and I like layers.
Josh: Fall, even though my birthday is in the Spring.
Brooklyn | Punk Rock
POND: Favorite road snack?
THICK: "Lets say what each others are"
Nikki & Kate (in agreement): Shari's are KIND bars.
Shari: Nicole's are gas station burritos or Lunchables.
Shari: Kate's are those pretzel hummus packs.
POND: One thing you recommend never doing?
Nikki: Eating the gas station burritos.
POND: Band you were into in high school?
Nikki: Taking Back Sunday
Shari: Matchbook Romance
Kate: Weezer
Chicago | Post-Punk
POND: Favorite road snack?
Jason: Well I don't eat it all the time, but a Star Crunch mushed with a Little Debbie Oatmeal Pie.
Eric: Ritz Bits.
Emily: Amy's soup out of the can…cold.
POND: Fried or scrambled?
Emily: Over Medium.
Eric/Jason: Scrambled.
POND: Best bubbly water?
All: TOPO CHICO!
Jason: Can we hashtag this? #keepitintheglass #keepitglassy
Keep up with Dehd on Instagram.
Brooklyn | Indie Rock
New York | Hip-Hop & Rap
Rhode Island | Punk
Brooklyn-via-Georgia | Noise/ Punk
POND: What is your favorite road snack?
All (instantly): COMBOS!
POND: Worst driver?
Blaze: Probably Reid, he once backed into five cars.
Reid: Yeah, me.
William: ….might have been three cars.
POND: What did you want to be when you grew up?
William: A video game repair man- I drew a picture of myself doing that in the first grade.
Blaze: An astronaut architect.
Reid: Mine wasn't very interesting, I wanted to do this or be a skateboarder.
Brooklyn | Mood Pop
Brooklyn | Rock
POND: Best band you've recently discovered?
Danny: Iceage and Cut Worms.
Alexis: Shame.
Jake: Flat Worms.
Mo: Recently rediscovered Swans.
POND: Scrambled or fried?
Danny: Rancheros?
Alexis: Fried.
Jake: Scrambled.
Mo: I don't do eggs. Tuna Sandwich?
POND: If you had to live anywhere else besides New York where would you live?
Danny: New Amsterdam.
Alexis: I'd honestly probably rather be dead or Mexico City.
Jake: In a camper van traveling to every city I've never been before.
Mo: My hometown or Austin, TX.
Brooklyn-via-Los Angeles | Pop
Brooklyn | Alt-Rock
POND: Band you were into in high school?
Peter: I'm still into a lot of the same music, but I'd say Saves the Day or Snowing
POND: The best band you've recently discovered?
Peter: TIGUE! Three percussionists - absolutely mind blowing.
POND: Guilty pleasures?
Peter: No such thing!!
Montréal | Post-Punk
Los Angles-via-Seattle | Garage/ Surf Rock
Brooklyn | Punk Rock
POND: Who has the coolest mom?
Amanda & Jamie: Eric's Mom.
POND: What did you guys eat for breakfast this morning?
Eric: Jamie & Amanda ate regular eggs, I ate pretentious eggs. Eggs are having a moment in the indie world.
POND: What is one thing you highly recommend never doing?
Amanda: Snorting Pop Rocks.
Keep up with Phil From Accounting on Instagram and Facebook.


text:
Memory Menders
No reviews for this business Add a review
- (03) 5996 ####
PO Box 6278Map
Dandenong VIC 3175Click to view map
- http://www.memorymenders.com.au
- Send email
About Us
Located in Dandenong, VIC, Memory Menders are a Photograph Restorations & Retouching supplier providing the full range of Photograph Restorations & Retouching products and services including colour enhancements, picture and digital refinishing over an extended service area. We can be contacted during business hours or after hours by prior arrangement.
View similar businesses near: Dandenong VIC
There are no reviews for this business
Aspera Images
"I find the service and the quality that they produce is amazing. "
Mariaj on 22nd Nov 2010


text:
Instrument finder
What kind of sound are you
looking for?
You can select one or more search fields and combine them however you like.
Older English viola by Harold Lester Styles
This young instrument is an older English viola made in 1980 by English violin maker Harold Lester Styles. It has a fresh aesthetic with bright oil varnish of a particularly attractive, radiant orange-yellow. There is a playful elegance to its distinctive scroll, gracefully curved sound holes and wonderfully crafted edges and inlays. The character of this viola is a perfect reflection of its origins in the atelier on Walcot Street in Bath, a western English city with a colourful alternative artistic and cultural scene. With its dark, mature, resonant sound, this viola was crafted with such great skill that it also has outstanding earnest and richly enigmatic tones as well. A typically English viola that is easy to play and good for professional standards, undamaged and in perfect condition.