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People keep coming back to Crystal Lake, myself included. I saw my first Friday the 13th film at age ten on a requisite dark and stormy night and here I am all these years later still mindlessly prattling on about it.
Except that's inaccurate: the requisite storm turned our satellite reception to shit so by the time it moved off I only really got to "see" the last fifteen minutes of Part 2. "What?" I said, for I was an inquisitive scamp. "This is it? What's everyone so hard on about? This is great shit. Hot chicks beating rednecks over the head with chairs? Yes, please!" At the time I thought, The only way they could possibly improve this would be to stage the whole thing in a Wrestlmania ring, surrounded by thousands of cheering assholes and lights.
Imagine my naive joy as I loaded Friday the 13th Part 3 into the VCR and prepared to have my mind blown by ninety minutes of that. Imagine my disappointment. No Amy Steel burdened with all manner of weapon, from chainsaws to machetes to her own highly-attractive knees. No Frugal Ku Klux Klansman since Amy and her douche boyfriend Paul let Jason Voorhees' malformed head out of the bag at the end of Part 2…and the beginning of Part 3. Still, as with the last picture, director Steve Miner helpfully tacks these last bits of Part 2 onto Part 3, just to make damn sure we're all caught up.
I appreciated that at age 10. Now I imagine a voice (the voice of Walt "Crazy Ralph" Gorney, or Bettsie "Mrs. Voorhees" Palmer, perhaps) solomly intoning, "Previously on Friday the 13th," as if this were some horrible TV series…rather like the one that would eventually bear Friday the 13th's name. Jason chases Ginny. Ginny almost kills Jason. Paul comes conveniently back from the dead since Ginny's obviously running low on Hero's Battle Death Exemptions. Ginny kills Jason. The end.
Except, of course, it's not, because Part 2 proved far too popular to leave things hanging like that. Especially in an age that had stopped considering the Cliffhanger Ending one of several potential stinger devices at the disposal of creative storytellers and instead looked upon it as necessary set-up for the inevitable sequel.
So here we are, on the other side of the BIG, JUTTING CREDITS (reminding us this was originally filmed in 3D, as will plenty of other things) and Henry Manfredini's somewhat-retro score which, no longer content to rip-off John William's Jaws, now rips-off its percussion track from every shitty disco band who ever debased the 1970s and its eerie theremin sounds from every Universal Monster Picture ever made between the 1930s and the 1960s. So I guess that's what they call "progress" 'round these parts.
Afterwards, Jason teleports (not shown) to a lakeside bait and tackle shop owned by the redneckiest couple of rednecks we've seen since Part 1. No Rosanne-ish air of dignity here. It's hair-curlers, bad game shows and nagging for the lady, whiskey bottles hidden in the outhouse for sir. Jason puts both out of their misery only after we've enjoyed what feels like a glacial age in their presence. I know it was only ten minutes…but I can't shake the feeling Steve Miner threw those in just for an excuse to wave more things at the camera.
Here's a fun game you can play. Pause that shot of a rattlesnake lunging out at Sir Redneck's face (dangit, it misses). Point out the clearly visible string jutting from the snake's mouth (and possibly wound round its jaw) to your friends. Allow them to reflect upon the fact that 3D is cheap, meaningless gimmick trotted out by desperate movie studios as an excuse to inflate ticket prices and make up for the fact that movie theaters are becoming irrelevant in an age of five hundred channels, an internet full of crap, and TVs the size of walls.
After you've driven all your friends away, resume film. Time to meet this week's episode's entry's cast. Thankfully, after Part 2's Bland Brigade, these Pretty White Kids seem a colorful bunch, even if their Problems are the same kind of superficial bullshit that now clogs basic cable line-ups. Chris (Dana Kimmell), the obvious Final Girl, we'll talk about later. Andy (Jeffrey Rogers) and Debbie (Tracie Savage), are our designated Guy and Girl couple, and thus doomed. Shelly (Larry Zerner) is the real wild card. Here the Odious Comic Relief is redesigned as a special effects nerd in larval form, the filmmaker's projection of their own "core" audience members. Too bad that projection is a socially-inept, insecure jerk, fond of dressing up in masks and fake-stabbing his friends. Vira (Catherine Parks) is Shelly's "date" for this "weekend in the country," and thus his Doom in a Blouse. Not that she'll fuck him. Nor should she. He's a socially-inept, insecure etc. Chuck (David Katims) and Chilli (Rachel Howard) round things out by being the worst type of movie stoners, having to be asked before they share the wealth…a disgrace to the entire stoner race. And two years out from Cheech and Chong's Next Movie. For shame.
This merry band is off to Chris' parent's place, Higgins Haven…which may be on Crystal Lake, but…shit, how large is the lake, anyway? Never mind. First they meet a crazed local in the Crazy Ralph mode, ignore his Warnings From the Divine, and proceed. They meet Rick (Paul Kratka), a Manly Spice chiseled from the Paul and Steve mode, at Higgins Haven, setting off an extended back and forth between Rick and Chris. This helped me come to terms with a central fact: the writing in this series has actually improved as things have gone along. Sure, Rick has a one track mind and that track leads right between Chris' legs, but she just ignores him and remains in a better humor about it than I certainly would, were I in her position. Here she is, trying to get over a Past Traumatic Experience, and all Mr. "Dumb Country Boy" can think of is doing the horizontal hoola.
Alas, it's 1982 and Final Girls hadn't yet learned to respect themselves. (Just look at the useless dicks Alice and Ginny settled for.) I only mean to say "the writing's improved" in relation to Parts 1 and 2. Characters are now recognizable as characters rather than mere archetypes. The Slasher movie has completed its house in Stereotype Land whence it remains to this day. Sensible plotting remains beyond the series, over the boarder in the lands of "real" movies. Having tossed the "camp" out of their "lakeside summer camp murder" movie franchise last go 'round, they here jettison the "lakeside." Why did Jason go after that Redneck couple anyway? Why go after the kids at Higgins Haven? Assume he just needs to kill everyone in the Crystal Lake woods. What kept him from doing so in the five years since his Mommy dearest's death-by-Alice? And I'm sorry, but…suddenly Crystal Lake's big enough for its own biker gang? The fuck you say?
I suppose anything that gives black actors speaking rolls is better than nothing…but, of course, they play criminals. And they die pointless deaths. But at least they served a narrative purpose, providing a conflict that Shelly must overcome. And does. So the film almost pulls me back from the brink by dangling the chance to watch at least one character develop before me, like a coy stripper dangling that last little bit of fabric.
In that same vein, Chris here is the first Final Girl with a Defining Element of Tragedy in her past. Alice had a thing obviously going on with her boss and "something" to do in California. Ginny had a college career, opinions, her boss wrapped around her fingers, and knees that functioned the way any sensible woman's should if and when she is chased by a maniac. Ah, but Chris…she has a tragic story to relate to Rick (and thus the audience) once they get tired of hanging out with her dumbass friends. A year ago, after a tiff with her parents, Chris ran away into the woods. She fell asleep while sulking and woke up to the sounds of a hamburger-faced maniac trudging toward her. She ran, he chased her, he caught her, she blacked out…and woke up in her own bed with no memory of what happened.
Here's a Death Exemption to end all Heroes Battle Death Exemption and yet another shark jumped in the name of adding depth to a series that self-consciously centers itself around the meaningless deaths of fake teenagers. Credit where it's due: screenwriters Carol Watson and Martin Kitrosser are actually trying. They just don't do anything with the tools they spread out in front of themselves.
As with Part 2, we spend an entire film watching Jason kill everyone he comes across…and yet here's Chris telling the laziest kind of survivor story. "I blacked out. I don't know what happened after that." Because neither of our screenwriters, nor our director, could figure out a good way to have Chris (a) meet Jason and (b) survive.
Goddamnit, Friday the 13th. Pick a sport and you're way out of it. Way out from any of your initial premises. Oh, Jason drowned in 1957, cries the first film. Driving his mom co-ed-killing insane. But wait, cries the second film. Jason didn't really drown. He's been living in the woods all this time, doing a bit of mom-worship and killing everything he comes across. So what sent Mom so carve-you-up mad? Who cares? this film asks. Here. We'll kill Jason and then bring him back to life again. Just like you did in the first film? Yeah, man. Only this time, we'll pit him against this chick he came across in the woods last year. So he found a nubile teenage girl in the Crystal Lake Woods and didn't kill her? Why not? What stopped him? What's so special about Chris? Hey, says the film, don't be so harsh. You ask too many questions. You got this negative vibe going. Smoke some grass. Chill.
I'd need more grass than Snoop Doggy Dog to "chill" in the face a plot hole like this. Okay, maybe Jason had to work his way up to Part 2's "kill-death-destroy" rampage. "Typical" real world killers (I use that adverb lightly, fully acknowledging its pitfalls) often take time to test how their fantasies play out before moving up to acting them out on humans. These often amount to a series of "Oh, shit," moments, as in, "Oh, shit, my victim didn't passively submit to being strangled and stabbed. I better refine my technique before I screw up and get my ass jailed." Only problem with that (from a storyteller's perspective, at least) being, who said Jason's a "typical" killer? Seems pretty a-typical to me, what with the coming back from the dead and all…twice now…
Never mind, says the film. Time to cull tonight's herd. With these deaths, and Debbie's death in particular, an almost shot-for-shot recreation of Kevin Bacon's death in Part 1, the series announces it's officially run out of ideas and started ripping itself off, right down to the violations of basic physical laws.
Debbie climbs into the hammock and starts paging through Fangoria in a perfect example of the co-option that turns entertainment "journalism" into cheerleading for shit. Blood starts dripping onto the (quite well-written) Godzilla article she's reading. She looks up. Fucknuggets! There's Andy, sliced in half by Jason's machete. A hand reaches out from under the hammock and stabs Debbie through the chest.
So…Jason killed Andy while Debbie was in the shower…stowed the two halves of Andy's body in the rafters without recourse to a ladder, chair, or any of the other height-increasing pieces of furniture in the room…magically ensured Andy's guts would defy gravity and stalwartly remain inside his abdominal cavity…and somehow concealed his own bulk behind the various covers thrown over the hammock until Debbie got into position.
Jesus H. Christ. So what if the film has characters in it? Every film should! And the little drips and drabs of characterization can't distract from the basic, logical problems underlying this whole series.
I should probably come up with some grand sociological theory as to why these films are so popular, given how deeply and truly they suck…but I can't get anything past Occam's razor except "tits + blood = financially successful horror movie." Except that's what They Who Live While Sleep want us to think. Really, the equation runs something like, "$1 million dollar film + $40 million dollar box office = successful horror film." Make um cheap, make um quick, and you'll make your money back, so long as you sacrifice whatever dreams you might've had of making "good" films.
There are good bits here. Shelly's "boy-who-cried-wolf" death scene is a perfect moment, and the inclusion of the Biker Gang both pads out the body count and provides a good reason for Chris' Mystery Machine to break down, forcing her into the usual Final Girl confrontation. A battle that's much more varied and kinetic than Ginny's…or Alice's…or Laurie Strode's, for that matter. One that's resolved with a brutal finality indicative of the Slasher movie's overall obsession with humanity's inhumanity towards itself…
…and then promptly ruined by a tacked-on, bullshit cliffhanger that does nothing but echo Part 1's tacked-on, bullshit cliffhanger. Oh, Friday the 13th series, you coy bitch, why don't you toy with my emotions some more?
Uneven, illogical, contrived, and haphazardly assembled, Part 3 could've signaled a move toward more nuanced storytelling and at least the illusion of depth other, better horror movies at least try to paint. The cast is a marked improvement over previous entries, evidence of the greater production value behind the show, but having only one note to play certainly must've made things easier.
Given the number of trends this movie set for the rest of the series (Jason's hockey mask and machete being only the most obvious, along with Chris Defining Element of Tragedy) I'm tempted to call Part 3 required viewing for anyone curious about why horror films suck as much and as often as they do…but I don't want to subject you to this much obviously horrific 3-D.
Thanks to the internet, terabytes of worth of data and opinion on all three of these films is readily available. Read some of that instead. I'd recommend Liz Kingsley's exceptionally well-done write ups of these films, which not only entertained me a great deal more than the film's they describe, they're also real value changers.
At least then you'll be reading. Improving your mind and what-not. And don't worry…there's no hockey-mask wearing redneck hiding under your hammock…or is there?


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In 2006, Russell Whitmore opened Brooklyn's Erie Basin with a small collection of jewelry, objects, and furnishings sourced from the Northeast and his native Midwest. Since then, Erie Basin has become well known for a sophisticated, yet approachable, collection of antiques with a unique, well-defined aesthetic.
On the Web
Erie Basin's collection is heavily based on classicism and revivalism in the 18th and 19th century. Whitmore is interested in the way earlier styles were appropriated in Victorian and Georgian design – particularly the way classical symbols like urns and the Greek key came to be associated with mourning jewelry. Favoring gold, brass, jet and dark agates, his collection tends toward the dark and patinated, with accents of turquoise, pearls, diamonds, and bright colored paste. Whitmore pays special attention to how antique pieces relate to today's tastes. Rather than letting collectability and provenance rule, Whitmore values good design that withstands time.
Whitmore studied art at a small liberal arts college in a part of rural Ohio that also happened to be rich in antiques. When he moved to New York in 2003, he was drawn to Brooklyn's burgeoning contemporary art and design scene, and its association with historical design. Whitmore's interest in contemporary design continues to inform his collection of antique pieces.
Erie Basin has been praised in international media as one of the best shops in New York, and for its superb collection of antique jewelry and furniture. The New York Times recently wrote that "arguably the most provocative design sensibility right now can be found in Red Hook [Brooklyn], at Erie Basin."

subset: commoncrawl


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The polarized nature of American politics often makes it difficult to address fundamental differences between the country's two main political rivals, Republicans and Democrats. As each side is intent on discrediting the other at every opportunity, unbiased information regarding the two parties' actual stances on internal and external issues can be difficult to decipher.
Regarding Palestine and Israel, however, both parties' establishments are quite clear on offering Israel unlimited and unconditional support. The discrepancies in their positions are, at times, quite negligible, even if Democrats, occasionally, attempt to present themselves as fairer and even-handed.
Judging by statements made by Democrat presidential candidate, Joe Biden, his running mate, Kamala Harris, and people affiliated with their campaign, a future President Biden does not intend to reverse any of the pro-Israel political measures adopted by the Donald Trump Administration.
Moreover, a Democrat administration, as revealed, will not even consider the possibility of conditioning US financial and military support to Israel on the latter's respect for Palestinian human rights, let alone international law altogether.
"Joe Biden has made it clear … he will not tie US security assistance to Israel to political decisions Israel makes, and I couldn't agree more," Harris, who is promoted enthusiastically by some as a 'progressive' politician, was quoted as saying in a telephone call on August 26. The call was made to what Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, termed as "Jewish supporters." The Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel referred to this crucial constituency as "Jewish donors."
Although the view of the party's rank and file has significantly shifted against Israel in recent years, the Democrat's upper echelon still caters to the Israel lobby and their rich backers, even if this means continuing to mold US foreign policy in the Middle East so that it serves Israeli interests.
Republicans, on the other hand, have cemented their support for Israel, but no longer around geostrategic issues pertaining to Israel's 'security' or US interests. The speeches made by Republican leaders at the Republican National Convention (RNC), held in Charlotte, North Carolina last month, were all aimed at reassuring 'Christian Zionists', who represent the most powerful pro-Israel constituency in the US. The once relatively marginal impact of Christian Zionists in directly shaping US foreign policy has morphed, over the years, to define the core values of Republicans.
Regardless of the nature of the discourse through which Republican and Democrat leaders express their love and support for Israel, the two parties are decidedly 'pro-Israel'. There are many recent examples that corroborate this assertion.
On November 18, 2019, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Washington would no longer consider Jewish settlements illegal or a violation of international law. That position was later cemented in Trump's so-called 'Deal of the Century', published on January 28.
Democrats, however, continue to perceive illegal Jewish settlements as, indeed, illegal. "This decision harms the cause of diplomacy, takes us further away from the hope of a two-state solution, and will only further inflame tensions in the region," Joe Biden's campaign said in a statement, in response to Pompeo's declaration.
Although markedly different, it is hard to imagine a Democrat administration upholding the above position, while simultaneously refraining from reversing previous decisions made by the Trump administration. It can only be one or the other.
One's cynicism is fully justified, as we recently learned, that the Democrat establishment has refused to even use the word 'occupation', with reference to Israel's occupation of Palestine, in their party platform released on July 15. According to Foreign Policy, the decision "followed heavy last-minute lobbying by pro-Israel advocacy groups."
On December 6, 2017, the Trump administration made one of the boldest pro-Israel decisions, when he formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. A few months later, on May 14, 2018, the US embassy was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a brazen violation of international law.
The legal foundation of Trump's decision was the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. This Act was the outcome of bipartisan efforts, bringing together Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Interestingly, leading Democrats, such as Joe Biden and John Kerry, were the main cheerleaders of the embassy move, back then. Only one Democrat senator, the late Robert Byrd, voted against the Bill. In the House of Representatives, only 30 out of 204 Democrats voted 'no'.
Even though many Democrats rejected the timing of Trump's implementation of the Jerusalem Embassy Act, their criticism was largely political, primarily motivated by Democrats' attempts to discredit Trump. The fact that the Biden campaign, later on, made it clear that the decision will not be reversed should he become president, is a further illustration highlighting the moral bankruptcy of the Democrat establishment, as well.
The truth is, US unconditional backing for Israel is a common cause among all American administrations, whether Democrat or Republican. What they may differ on, however, is their overall motive and primary target audience during election time.
Political polarization and misinformation aside, both Democrats and Republicans head to the November elections with strong pro-Israel sentiments, if not outright support, while completely ignoring the plight of occupied and oppressed Palestinians.


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Matching Utility Loads with Solar and Wind Power in North Carolina: Dealing with Intermittent Electricity Sources
by John Blackburn, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics Emeritus, Duke University
with a Foreword by Arjun Makhijani
March 2010
Download the Media Advisory | Download the full report (Download is free, donations are welcome)
Takoma Park, Maryland, and Durham, North Carolina, March 4, 2010: Solar and wind power can supply the vast majority of North Carolina's electricity needs, according to a major report released today. Combined with generation from hydroelectric and other renewable sources, such as landfill gas, only six percent of electricity would have to be purchased from outside the system or produced at conventional plants.
"Even though the wind does not blow nor the sun shine all the time, careful management, readily available storage and other renewable sources, can produce nearly all the electricity North Carolinians consume," explained Dr. John Blackburn, the study's author. Dr. Blackburn is Professor Emeritus of Economics and former Chancellor at Duke University.
"Critics of renewable power point out that solar and wind sources are intermittent," Dr. Blackburn continued. "The truth is that solar and wind are complementary in North Carolina. Wind speeds are usually higher at night than in the daytime. They also blow faster in winter than summer. Solar generation, on the other hand, takes place in the daytime. Sunlight is only half as strong in winter as in summertime. Drawing wind power from different areas — the coast, mountains, the sounds or the ocean — reduces variations in generation. Using wind and solar in tandem is even more reliable. Together, they can generate three-fourths of the state's electricity. When hydroelectric and other renewable sources are added, the gap to be filled is surprisingly small. Only six percent of North Carolina's electricity would have to come from conventional power plants or from other systems."
Jim Warren, Executive Director of the North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NC WARN), added, "Utilities and their allies are pressing policy-makers to allow construction of expensive and problem-ridden nuclear reactors – with ratepayers and taxpayers absorbing enormous financial risks. Prof. Blackburn's groundbreaking study demonstrates that such risks are not necessary. Solar, wind and other renewable sources can meet nearly all of North Carolina's energy needs."
Dr. Arjun Makhijani, President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), explained why his center published Dr. Blackburn's report. "This is a landmark case study of how solar and wind generation can be combined to provide round-the-clock electric power throughout the year. North Carolina utilities and regulators and those in other states should take this template, refine it, and make a renewable electricity future a reality." Dr. Makhijani is the author of Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy.


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Princesses Moana, Rapunzel and Harley Queen decided arrange the Miss Charming Unicorn contest. Princess Elsa's beauty salon is ready to help the participants. Elsa is an unsurpassed master of makeup and face art, she also knows how to make incredible cute hairstyles in fantasy style. Join the girls and help each princess create her own unique image. Use delicate colors to color your hair, makeup with sparkles and rhinestones will help create a magical atmosphere. Lipstick can be non-standard shades. Unleash your imagination by playing the game «Miss Charming Unicorn Hairstyle».
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She Ping, a beekeeper and farmer near the southwestern Chinese city of Chonqing, attempted to set a record for the most bees worn on a human body. And while he successfully donned a buzzing, swarming bodysuit weighing 33.1 kilograms (73 pounds), due to the vagaries of international bee record scoring, he may have fallen short of his goal.
While She's estimated 331,000-bee feat might sound like a lot, and while he handily beat the previous Chinese title-holder Ruan Lianming (who wore 26.8 kilograms of bees in 2008), that might be only one of the record holders he's contending with.
The details are a bit murky; the Daily Mail reported on a contest in 2011 that saw 42-year-old beekeeper Wang Dalin reach the 26.8-kilogram (about 57 pounds) mark in winning an "hour-long duel" against fellow beekeeper Lu Kongjiang. A month earlier, in June 2011, beekeeper Zhang Xinglun donned an apiary coat himself, and Britain's The Sun newspaper reported he had once held a record 83.6 pounds of bees on his body. (All of which begs the question, Why are all these bee-record hopefuls from China? And why are British tabloids so interested in them?)
But all these accomplishments may be for naught. The website of the Guinness Book of World Records doesn't mention any of the Chinese bee-fashionistas; instead, it lists one Vipin Seth as wearing the world's "heaviest mantle of bees."
The Indian man wore a calculated 613,500 bees in his 61.4 kg mantle—which translates to a whopping 136 pounds and 4 ounces worth of bees, nearly double She's recently-reported record.
Seth's record was set in 2009 at the Indian Agriculture Research institute in New Delhi. A total of 54 colonies were used in that attempt, according to the Guinness Book's website.


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You can't go wrong with Sidney Poitier. This F*@% Yeah scene was famous with a whole generation of movie goers – so famous that they named an entire movie after the line Poitier utters in the scene. That's how bad-ass this scene is. I'd love to see a Star Trek movie starring George Takei called "Target the Center of That Explosion and Fire!"
Anyway, In the Heat of the Night is a gripping crime drama about a black police detective named Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) who investigates a murder with a redneck sheriff (Rod Steiger) in a small Southern town. Hilarity ensues. The great thing about the movie is that at the end, Tibbs and the sheriff haven't magically become buddies and come to understand each other or some happy bullshit like that. At best, the two cops have formed an uneasy détente.
There's a famous exchange at the beginning of the film where Steiger and Poitier's characters become acquainted. The sheriff asks Tibbs in a disrespectful tone, "What do the call you up there?" Poitier fixes him with a "fuck you" glare and says in a dignified, outraged voice: "They call me Mr. Tibbs!"
F*@% Yeah! I love that scene!
In the Heat of the Night was so popular that it led to a sequel called – you guessed it – They Call Me Mr. Tibbs, a TV show starring Carol O'Connor, and a series of TV commercials. "They call me Mr. Tibbs – by dialing 1-800-COLLECT!"
OK, I'm kidding about that last one.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Harper Lee's classic (and only) novel was the inspiration for an equally classic movie starring Gregory Fucking Peck as Southern lawyer and widower Atticus Finch, who raises two precocious youngsters while defending a black client unjustly accused of the rape of a white woman. If you have not read the book or seen the movie, you are missing out BIG TIME and are probably a communist.
Again, this is a movie with more than one F*@% Yeah moment, but my choice is the scene where Atticus Finch gathers his papers into a briefcase and walks out of the courtroom. In the segregated South, all the black townfolk have to sit in the courtroom's hot balcony, and as he passes below them, they all stand out of respect.
F*@% Yeah! That gets me every time.


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Chicken and Vegetable Soup
This recipe produces a thick chicken and vegetable soup. Some water or extra stock can be added if you prefer a thinner consistency. We like to serve this soup with crusty bread.
Soup will stay hot longer if the soup bowls are warmed before use. We warm ovenproof bowls in an oven at 80 degrees Celsius for about five minutes.
Preparation time: about 30 minutes
Makes about 1.5 litres (6 cups) soup.
Serves about 4-5.
1 large (about 370g) leek
1 medium (about 160g) carrot
1 medium (about 160g) potato
1 medium (about 160g) zucchini
2 medium cloves garlic
105g (1/2 cup) soup mix (a mixture of dried split peas, lentils and barley)
380g skinless chicken thigh fillets
20ml (1 tablespoon) oil
875ml (3 1/2 cups) chicken stock
Salt and pepper, to taste
Remove the dark green leaves, base, and any dirty or damaged outside layers of the leek. Slice leek lengthwise and rinse between the layers. Chop leek finely. Peel and finely dice carrot and potato. Trim and finely dice zucchini. Peel and crush garlic.
Rinse and drain soup mix. © exclusivelyfood.com.au
Trim any excess fat from chicken.
Heat oil in a heavy-based stockpot or very large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add leek, carrot, potato, zucchini and garlic.
Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until leek softens. Do not brown the vegetables.
Add soup mix, chicken and stock.
Cover saucepan (we have the steam vent on the lid closed to minimise evaporation). Increase heat and bring to the boil, and then reduce heat to low so that the soup is simmering.
Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1 3/4 to 2 hours, or until vegetables and soup mix have softened. Break up any large pieces of chicken; or remove chicken, cut into pieces and return to soup. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
Store soup in a covered container in the refrigerator or freezer. We freeze the soup in single serve portions. © www.exclusivelyfood.com.au


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On this week's episode of All Songs Considered, co-host Bob Boilen basks in the glory of his return by making fellow co-host Robin Hilton enjoy the musings of a box that when opened plays affirming statements with Bob's name that was gifted to him by a secret admirer. The theme of good vibes continues when artists that were featured on some of the earliest episodes of All Songs Considered, such as TV On The Radio and Rokia Traore, return with new music.
NPR Music's Lars Gotrich joins the discussion to explain post-metal in light of a new track from metal juggernauts Pelican. NPR Music intern Thor Slaughter brings the self-described "#1 cut" of Jackson and His Computerband. All that and more on this week's episode, and don't forget: "You're the best, Bob."
We've also got a new video to go along with our TV On The Radio premiere. The new single from the band is called "Million Miles."
TV On The Radio's Kyp Malone tells us via email that "It's fun to take the idea of a song outside of the world of sound, give it fuller expression, expand its dimensions. I've wanted to collaborate with [director] Natalia [Leite] since I first saw her work and I thought this would be a good opportunity. We got a lot of help from a lot of creative people. Very excited to get to tell a story in this form."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Anchor Beard Comb
Anchor Beard Comb
Regular price
Regular price
Sale price
Unit price
These combs are bench made and we've been making them since 2016. You must be tired of weak combs and brushes that fluff. Detangle any beard. Super thick or super curly is no match for this gift to beard with very strong teeth, you won't snap this comb like you do wood or plastic. A once in a lifetime purchase and so well worth the buy.
Hand polished at a bench using American Stainless, use this as a large EDC or keep it at home for the start of your daily routine.
Imperial = 6.37in x 1.5in / Metric = 162 x 38


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Wyn Cooper's first novel, Way Out West, is now available from Concord Free Press. He has also published five books of poems: The Country of Here Below (Ahsahta Press, 1987), The Way Back (White Pine Press, 2000), Postcards from the Interior, (BOA Editions, 2005), Chaos is the New Calm (BOA Editions, 2010), and Mars Poetica (White Pine Press, 2018). His poems, stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Slate, Crazyhorse, AGNI, The Southern Review, and more than 100 other magazines. His poems are included in 25 anthologies of contemporary poetry, including Poetry: An Introduction (Sixth Edition), The Mercury Reader, Outsiders, and Ecstatic Occasions, Expedient Forms.
In 1993, "Fun," a poem from his first book, was turned into Sheryl Crow's Grammy-winning song "All I Wanna Do." He has also cowritten songs with David Broza, David Baerwald, and Jody Redhage. In 2003, Gaff Music released Forty Words for Fear, a CD of songs based on poems and lyrics by Cooper, set to music and sung by the novelist Madison Smartt Bell. It has been featured on NPR's Weekend Edition and World Café, and has been written about in Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Observer, and elsewhere. Songs from the CD have been featured on five television shows and in one film. The second CD by Bell and Cooper, Postcards Out of the Blue, is based in part on Cooper's postcard poems.
Wyn has taught at the University of Utah, Bennington College, Marlboro College, and at The Frost Place. He is a former editor of Quarterly West, and the recipient of a fellowship from the Ucross Foundation. He served as a member of the first working group at The Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute, a think tank founded by The Poetry Foundation. He lives in Vermont.
Wyn works as an editor for both aspiring and established authors. He works with writers of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and memoir, and offers advice on how and where to publish. Seventy books he edited from 2012-2023 were accepted for publication, and ten of them have won major awards. Go to the editing page for more information. Wyn can be reached at email@example.com.


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Manarola is tiny village on the Cinque Terre coast of Italy. It is built on a high rock 70 metres above sea level, and is one of the most charming and romantic of the Cinque Terre villages. Typical tower houses of the Genoese style are the main sight of this town. On the west end, you'll find a wild little harbor and the east side has a small church square where the townsmen meet for various activities.
credit: Michal Osmenda
credit: Richard, enjoy my life!
credit: Kevin Botto
credit: Daniel Stockman
credit: Richard, enjoy my life!
credit: roger kolly
credit: roger kolly
credit: Stephanie Klocke
credit: Luca Volpi


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Welcome Home
Roomscapes, Bath & Kitchen Designs in Vermont – Wendy Johnson CMKBD
Wendy Johnson, Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer, has been working in the field of kitchen, bath and interior design for over 35 years. She works with clients coast to coast – from the Northeast to Texas and the Caribbean, Colorado to the Pacific Ocean– helping them to express their own personal style in the environment of their homes. To this end, each project is a true collaboration.
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With a studio showroom in Southern Vermont, Wendy and Designs for Living specialize in new kitchen design, bath design, kitchen renovation, bathroom remodel, and space planning for any room designed for work and play and rest. Whether remodeling your existing home or building your dream home, Wendy offers complete design services and project management, plus task-specific consultation, space planning, color coordination, and product selection. Ask about her favorite cabinetry, countertop and accessory items! In addition to the services listed above, clients also benefit from Wendy's ability to bring top-quality industry partners to your project: architects, interior designers, and lighting and tile professionals.
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Wendy's Mission
Our Goal is to work with you and your team of professionals to provide you with design services and products to help you achieve, within budget, the perfect union of function, beauty, and personal expression in the architecture of the living spaces in your new or remodeled home…and to have fun doing it!


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Last week I was fortunate enough to facilitate a 2-day workshop at the Second National ITL Masterclass in Adelaide. It was quite an interesting concept with delegates splitting into cohorts and working over two days on a theme, developing a PLN, creating resources plus a final product to showcase, almost an intensive, project-based form of contemporary adult learning.
My workshop was called 'Nil Satis Nisi Optimum' (Everton's motto :) meaning 'nothing but the best is good enough'. Below is my prezi plus an outline of what we did.
Using the stimulus material in the prezi we:
- discussed the end product and how to get there (kind of backwards by design)
- outlined the technologies we would use (as a means to an end, not tech 101)
- discussed the 'Moral Imperative' of teaching using Fullan and Hargreaves as stimuli
- looked at crowdsourcing as a means to collaborate, share and draw on the qualities of the collective (excellent contemporary adult learning!) using Google Docs (see below)
- brainstormed what a great teacher looks like using Wallwisher
- looked at Ethics - leading by example using Creative Commons
- brainstormed what great eLearning looks like using Popplet (Fullan again)
- discussed what great PD looks like and modelled a mini-TeachMeet
Day 2:
- brainstormed what poor teaching and eLearning look like using tools of choice
- modelled staff meeting activity to engage whole staff in difficult conversations using Google Forms
- discussed what poor PD looks like and hence the need for empathy, meaning and proactivity rather than stick (or carrot...)
- developed resources as a PLC:
- crowdsourced ideas in Google Presentation (see below)
- Google Site of resources and PLC
- YouTube video (see below) (quite funny in parts and unflattering in others...)
- collective wiki
Overall it was a great event, the highlight of which was meeting and working with so many great teachers and adding to my PLN, not least @neptunet, @eddyednedted (best of luck with TeachMeet Darwin John!), @skye_myers, @rach_y, @michellepayne55, @helenbull (excellent video Helen!), @rvkent, @miroepps (awesome dance moves Miro!), @HejkaC, @GAPC, @kwindsor02 (get me to KI!) @SeeMyBus, @pupcallery (nice win Alex!), @jessicaefrost, @JenNeish, @wjwhittle, @paul_h_taylor, @brightwaterss, @pars0, @kpetz, @Shadow80aus (great site Simon!) and @bernieos1967 - Cohort 1 rock! It was also great to catch up with the other great facilitators @mrpbps, @LibHowe, @grahamwegner@jjash and @loisath.


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The latest film version of Les Misérables comes out on December 25.
The movie(s) and the musical are based on Victor Hugo's book Les Misérables, which is set in France in the early 1800s — not long after the French Revolution.
The story is full of characters with interesting (dare I say enticing?) French names. Will any of them become trendy baby names once the movie is out? Perhaps!
Here are six likely contenders:
- Character: Cosette [ko-ZET]
- Etymology: Unknown. Hugo may have based Cosette on the French word chosette, a diminutive of chose, "thing," hence, "little thing." He calls attention to the similarity between Cosette and chosette in this passage, in which Jean Valjean talks to Gavroche:
"The letter is for Mademoiselle Cosette, is it not?"
"Cosette?" Gavroche grumbled; "yes, I think it is that absurd name."
"Well," Jean Valjean continued, "you have to deliver the letter to me; so give it here."
"Here it is."
And he handed the paper to Jean Valjean.
"And make haste, Monsieur Chose, since Mamselle Chosette is waiting."
- Interesting fact: Cosette's real name is Euphrasie, the French form of Euphrasia, meaning "good cheer" in ancient Greek. Neither Euphrasie nor Euphrasia has ever appeared on the SSA's baby name list.
- Popularity graph for Cosette (and spelling variant Cozette).
- Character: Éponine Thénardier
- Etymology: Éponine is based on the name Epponina, which belonged to the loyal wife of Julius Sabinus, a Roman officer who rebelled against the Roman Empire. Hugo says Éponine's mother discovered the name (and the name of Éponine's sister, Azelma) while reading romance novels:
[T]he female Thénardier was nothing but a coarse, vicious woman, who had dabbled in stupid romances. Now, one cannot read nonsense with impunity. The result was that her eldest daughter was named Eponine; as for the younger, the poor little thing came near being called Gulnare; I know not to what diversion, effected by a romance of Ducray-Dumenil, she owed the fact that she merely bore the name of Azelma.
- Popularity graph for Eponine.
- Character: Fantine
- Etymology: Unknown. Hugo says this about the origin of both Fantine and her name:
Fantine was one of those beings who bloom, so to speak, out of the dregs of the people. Issuing from the lowest depths of the social darkness, she had on her forehead the stamp of the anonymous and the unknown. She was born at M—- on sur M—-. Of what parents? Who could say? She had never known either father or mother. She called herself Fantine. Why Fantine? She had never been known by any other name. At the period of her birth the Directory was still in existence. She had no family name, as she had no family; and no Christian name, as the church was abolished. She accepted the name given her by the first passer-by, who saw her running barefooted about the streets. She received a name as she received the water from the clouds on her head when it rained. She was called Little Fantine. No one knew any more.
- Popularity graph for Fantine (…currently none, as the name is too rare to have ever appeared on the SSA's baby name list).
- Character: Jean Valjean
- Etymology: Jean [ZHAWN] is the French form of John, which is ultimately derived from a Hebrew name meaning "God is gracious."
- Popularity graph for Jean.
- Character: Marius Pontmercy
- Etymology: Uncertain, though the name Marius "may be connected with Mars, the name of the god of war, or perhaps mas, maris 'virile'."
- Popularity graph for Marius.
- Character: Jean Valjean
- Etymology: Hugo says the surname is a contraction of voilà Jean:
Jean Valjean came from a poor peasant family of Brie. He had not learned to read in his childhood. When he reached man's estate, he became a tree-pruner at Faverolles. His mother was named Jeanne Mathieu; his father was called Jean Valjean or Vlajean, probably a sobriquet, and a contraction of voilà Jean, "here's Jean."
- Popularity graph for Valjean.
Which of these names is most likely to take off in 2013, do you think?
- Éponine – Wikipedia
- Hanks, Patrick, Kate Hardcastle and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
- Roche, Isabel. Character and Meaning in the Novels of Victor Hugo. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2006.


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What exactly are non-fungible tokens and why are they taking the internet by storm? Here's a closer look at NFTs and how they work.
Just when you thought the hype around bitcoin was starting to level off, a new player appears to have entered the cryptocurrency arena and is now being dubbed the new frontier of the crypto gold rush.
It all started with a piece of art that sold for more than $88 million via the renowned Christie's auction house. However, the winning bidder did not purchase a print or a painting, but a digital art piece that only exists in the ether – they will receive a unique digital token known as an NFT.
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are the latest crypto phenomenon that has gone mainstream overnight. NTFs are digital assets built on the same blockchain technology as bitcoin and ethereum. But unlike cryptocurrencies, they cannot be traded or exchanged at equivalency. The tokens are unique asset identifiers that are considered to be non-fungible because they cannot be forged, replicated or divided.
The internet's newest, and arguably most confusing, asset is leaving investors (as well as people in the internet) scratching their heads. What exactly is an NFT and how does it work?
Let's break down the basics on this new digital asset.
As we've mentioned, NFT stands for non-fungible token. In economics, a fungible asset means that it's exchangeable, like money. For example, you can trade a $20 note for four $5 notes and it will be of equal value.
This, however, doesn't apply to a non-fungible asset, which has unique properties, meaning it cannot be interchanged with something else. This is because NFTs are unique and each one is one of a kind. For example, traditional works of art such as Da Vinci's Mona Lisa or Van Gogh's The Starry Night are considered as non-fungible. While you can make copies of them by taking a picture or buying a print, there will always be only one original and authentic painting.
While art paintings are one of a kind, digital forms of art (including audio, videos and drawings) can be easily and endlessly duplicated. They can be seen, screencapped and downloaded by anyone online.
This is where NFTs come in. They function as a non-duplicable digital certificate of ownership for any assigned digital asset. It is basically a contract that is assembled using bits of open source code and used to secure a digital item. Once the code is created, it is then minted and then published into a token on a blockchain.
NFTs are unique collectible tokens that are permanently tied to a specific digital asset. It is a form of digital asset whose ownership is recorded on a blockchain.
If you're an intermediate crypto trader, you may be highly familiar with this. But those that are new to it may think of it as a digital ledger that keeps a publicly accessible record of who owns what asset, similar to the kinds of networks that are behind bitcoin. Most NFTs are part of the ethereum blockchain, where the ownership and transaction history of each unique NFT are stored.
So, NFT tokens can be considered as digital passports. Each token has a unique and non-transferable identity to differentiate it from other tokens. Because of this, it can't be replicated. Similar to bitcoin, NFTs contain ownership details for identification and easy transfer between token holders. Like cryptocurrencies, they also have no tangible form of their own.
Once it is purchased, the owner of the NFT has the digital rights to resell, distribute or license the digital asset at their own discretion. The only limitation is that the creator can program, in the conditions in the NTF's code, how it gets used. For example, they can bar it from being displayed on a certain platform, such as a streaming network or a TV network. NFT creators can also earn royalties from future reselling transactions.
Digital artworks are particularly marketable as a unique collectible when published as an NFT. The sudden rise in popularity of NFTs came from a string of artists, influencers and musicians that have recently started striking gold by selling NFT versions of their digital art, as investors and collectors line up to get their hands (virtually) on them.
But are NFTs only for artworks? No. Almost any digital collectible can be converted into an NFT. You can turn real estate, online trading cards, GIFs, memes and even video game costumes into an NFT. In fact, the possibilities are endless – Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey's first tweet was turned into an NFT and was sold at an auction for $3.8 million.
World-renowned brands such as Nike, Louis Vuitton and the NBA have already started generating NFT-based consumer goods and services. The most popular NFT platform, NBA Topshot, has sold almost $349 million worth of unique NBA video highlights. In Australia, start-up Zora is attempting to cash in on this new digital economy by embarking on a journey to create a sustainable marketplace for creators by using NFTs.
To purchase an NFT, buyers must figure out what cryptocurrency is needed for the transaction, then purchase the cryptocurrency then create a digital wallet for the transaction. While ethereum is one of the most popular currencies for NFT transactions, each platform chooses its digital wallet service. Make sure to do your research before purchasing your digital currencies.
Once you've covered this step, you can start looking for NFTs to purchase in digital marketplaces such as OpenSea, Rarible and Mintable.
Be careful about buying cryptocurrencies and make sure that you are buying from a reputable crypto exchange.
With all this said, should you invest in NFTs? NFTs gain value from the same deflationary principles as bitcoin – there is a limited number of tokens and the item is unique and cannot be duplicated.
Additionally, an NFT's value is based on how well-received the item is by people who want to purchase it. If an item is highly desirable, its value will understandably go up.
People purchase NFTs for different reasons. It can be a financial investment, a sentimental purchase or a way for a buyer to support an NFT creator, like an artist or a musician. Think of it as people collecting sports trading cards or vintage toys.
But because NFTs are a relatively new asset, there is still a lot to learn about them. Additionally, it can be difficult to put a price on a digital art, making it an incredibly risky investment. After all, there are no guidelines on how much a meme or GIF is worth, so there's a lot of guesstimating involved on how much you'll be able to profit from it, or whether you will be able to sell it at all.
But if you want to be part of the so-called NFT gold rush, it's advised to set a spending limit and only spend what you can afford to lose. NFTs are highly speculative, so don't dive into it with the expectation of getting millions of dollars in one transaction. It may be better to keep the majority of your money in safer investments, such as index funds or ETFs. This will put you in a better position to take on risky investments.
While NFTs are an interesting new type of investment, it doesn't mean they're right for everyone. If you're determined to be part of the hype, it may not hurt to explore this asset and buy one or two that catch your interest. Otherwise, it's a good idea to watch this crypto phenomenon unfold from the sidelines where your money will be safe.
Zarah Mae Torrazo
March 30 2021
Sofie Korac is an Authorised Representative (No. 400164) of Prudentia Financial Planning Pty Ltd, AFSL 544118 and a member of the Association of Financial Advisers.
Financial Advice Sydney and the North Shore Office based in Gordon NSW


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Marvell's ThunderX3 Server Team Loses VP/GM and Lead Architect
by Dr. Ian Cutress on June 23, 2020 5:00 PM ESTOne of the key drivers in the Arm server space over the last few years has been the cohesion of the different product teams attempting to build the next processor to attack the dominance of x86 in the enterprise market. A number of companies and products have come and gone (Qualcomm's Centriq) or been acquired (Annapurna by Amazon, Applied Micro by Ampere), with varying degrees of success, some of which is linked to the key personnel in each team. One of our readers has recently highlighted us to a recent movement in this space: Gopal Hegde, the VP/GM of the ThunderX Processor Business Unit at Marvell, has now left the company.
ThunderX was originally under the banner of Cavium, and the company released two generations of products built on Arm: ThunderX, and ThunderX2. We reviewed both systems, with ThunderX in 2016 and ThunderX2 in 2018, the latter being noted as a potential competitor in defined workloads as well as cloud and hosting providers, given the right price. We've seen ThunderX2 have some success in container deployments, as well as HPC. However, during the deployment of ThunderX2, Cavium was acquired by Marvell for $5.5 billion USD, with the company looking to bolster its CPU, networking, and security assets. That acquisition was completed in July 2018.
It was noted that before the acquisition, Cavium was keen to highlight it had a regular roadmap planned for its ThunderX line of processors and servers. ThunderX3 was understood to be an aggressive design suited for a wide range of markets. However, after the acquisition, limited information was provided beyond what was said by Cavium. It was with some personal frustration that attempting to discuss anything about ThunderX3 at the Marvell booth at Supercomputing 2019 was met with a wall of silence. It is typically very odd for a company to stay silent for so long, especially on a product where details had been expected a few months prior, based on previous release cycles. Conversing with peers at the time, we came to the same realization that ThunderX3 was, perhaps, later than expected.
However, much to our surprise, Marvell reached out to us in March this year to discuss the initial steps of ThunderX3. While it wasn't a deep dive into the architecture, we were certainly very glad to be told the highlights – a 3rd generation custom microarchitecture on top of Arm v8.3+, using four threads per core, scaling up to 96 cores or 384 threads per chip. This was combined with 8x DDR4-3200 memory controllers, 64 lanes of PCIe 4.0, and four 128-bit SIMD units per core. This is all to be built on TSMC 7nm. In our briefing, we were told that a critical element to the design of the chip is that it remains monolithic, and that the chip is to target a significant number of cloud-based workloads and HPC workloads with its differentiation (such as SMT4) to allow for higher utilization of the underlying hardware. We are expecting more information about ThunderX3 at Hot Chips in August, as well as an update on the roadmap.
Heading up Cavium and Marvell's efforts for the ThunderX project was Gopal Hegde. Gopal cites his experience in helping build the engineering teams across several sites worldwide, and as a core and platform engineer, helped define the specifications, the silicon, the brand, and the roadmap as part of a wider team. This was a position held by Gopal since 2014, and before that he was COO of Calxeda, according to his LinkedIn.
Gopal Hegde, Image from LinkedIn
It is worth noting that Dr. Shubu Mukherjee, Lead Engineer, also left the company in December 2019, to work at SiFive. Gopal Hegde has since transitioned to SVP of Engineering and Operations at SiMa.ai, a startup looking to provide energy efficient machine learning edge compute.
Having two key personnel losses in short succession inevitably put up a few question marks. A few of my industry key leads pointed to Gopal moving position as perhaps an inflection point in Marvell's ThunderX project strategy. At this point we're aware that while ThunderX2 has been generating revenue, we're unsure if it has actually provided a positive return at all, let alone sufficient revenue for Marvell since the acquisition to justify the purchase. Development of ThunderX3, a large chip on a leading process node, is going to take a fair amount of investment from Marvell in order to execute both on time and at scale. Usually when we consider the development of new chips by a startup, we talk about the 'cash burn' of the company as a way of measuring how much money it is going through until a product is launched. We rarely talk about it for the bigger names, the Intels, the Qualcomms, or the Marvells, but it might be poignant here. Marvell doesn't make these numbers public for obvious reasons.
The loss of two big names might give cause for Marvell to reconsider the feasibility of the project in its entirety. Qualcomm famously put the lid on its Centriq server project as a way of removing parts of the company that weren't generating sufficient revenue, and the start of that process publically began with the announcement of the senior VP of the business unit leaving the company. With that being said, Marvell's ThunderX3 is still on the list of presentations at Hot Chips in August and the company still seems positively bouyant about the ThunderX3 release.
We reached out to Marvell for commentary about the move and the future of the ThunderX processor family, and spoke to Raghib Hussain, Marvell Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of the Networking and Processors Group, and Raj Singh. Raghib is a co-founder of Cavium, and took on a senior role at Marvell after the acquisition. Raghib's background has primarily involved engineering roles.
"We made the strategic decision to integrate the marketing and engineering teams for all of our processor businesses, including OCTEON and ThunderX, under Raj Singh [back in September 2019]. Looking at the data infrastructure market moving forward, we see more similarities and synergies between our compute-focused segments. Under Raj's leadership, this organization now represents the world's largest and most scalable Arm-based infrastructure processor business, with solutions scaling from a few cores all the way up to server-class. Marvell's Arm processor portfolio is unsurpassed for the data infrastructure market and is bringing optimized power, performance and TCO advantages to applications from enterprise appliances to 5G base stations, servers in the data center, and in the near future – new and emerging edge data center applications."
Raj Singh is also an ex-Cavium employee, who has servers as part of his mandate as Marvell's EVP of the Processor Business Group under Raghib Hussain since September 2019.
Marvell also gave us the opportunity to ask questions on the business as well as the structure of where ThunderX fits in. We were told that the ThunderX project fits under the banner of 'strategic bets', and by grouping the processor line under the same banner as other products such as automtive ethernet and investments in the datacenter, Marvell aims to offer a datacentric solution to its customers and is in it for the long haul. At this point in time, immediate return isn't so much the main metric of the project, but the potential for a return down the road, which if a chip design is run more like a startup, might not be a feasible strategy if revenue has to start coming in immediately.
Compared to other companies in this space, Marvell explained that it has the ability to build IP that can be used across a dozen products in its portfolio, such as a memory controller that might appear across Octeon, ThunderX, Avera ASICs, and this allows it to amortize the cost of research and development across many projects from the mature businesses, the growth businesses, and the strategic bets. Marvell points to its growing R&D spend as a function of revenue, citing it as one of the highest percentages in the fabless semiconductor space.
The next big announcement for ThunderX3 is at Hot Chips in August. Marvell seem very keen to engage with us for a microarchitecture disclosure, so stay tuned for that.
Source: SiMa.ai Press Release
Related Reading
- Marvell to Acquire Cavium for $5.5 Billion
- Marvell Completes Acquisition of Cavium, Gets CPU, Networking & Security Assets
- Assessing Cavium's ThunderX2: The Arm Server Dream Realized At Last
- Investigating Cavium's ThunderX: The First ARM Server SoC With Ambition
- Marvell Announces ThunderX3: 96 Cores & 384 Thread 3rd Gen Arm Server Processor
- Hot Chips 32 (2020) Schedule Announced: ThunderX3 Included
3 Comments
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eastcoast_pete - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Thanks Ian! Do you ("we") know who the key customers are for Thunder X? AWS now has its own line of ARM processors (Graviton), and I wonder who else has either deployed larger number of Thunder X or was at least rumored to plan to do so. It might be a matter of if and who would buy Marvell's newest and hottest creation. -
cpuaddicted - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activi... -
joelkevinjones - Friday, June 26, 2020 - link


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The Departure of St. John the Evangelist and Theologian.
On this day, in the year 100 A.D., St. John, the virgin, the evangelist, and apostle who was the son of Zebedee, departed. St. John Chrysostom (of the Golden Mouth) said that St. John the Evangelist was originally a disciple of St. John the Baptist. He was the brother of St. James the Elder, who was killed by Herod by the sword. The Lord called him with his brother "Boanerges" (Mark 3:17), that is "sons of thunder," for their strong zeal and great faith. He was also the disciple whom Jesus loved.
The lot fell on him to go to Asia. The people of this area were stiff-necked, so he prayed to Christ to be with him. He went to Ephesus, accompanied by his disciple Prochorus. They embarked on a ship, but the ship was wrecked on the way and every one of the passengers clung to a plank of the ship's wood. The waves washed out Prochorus to an island, but St. John remained among the waves of the sea for several days, until the waves carried him, by the will of God, to the same island where his disciple Prochorus was. When they met together, they offered thanks to God for taking care of them.
From there, St. John went to the city of Ephesus where he preached the word of salvation. Its people did not accept his message at first, until a day when an only child fell in the furnace of a public bath managed by the child's mother. They took him in haste out of the fire, but he was dead and his mother wept bitterly. At this time, St. John went to the child, prayed fervently to God, made the sign of the Cross over him, breathed in the child's face, and life came back to him right away. His mother rejoiced and she kissed the feet of the Apostle and tears of joy were in her eyes. From this time on, the people of the city came to hear his teachings and many of them believed and were baptized by St. John. This made the priests of the idols resent him and they tried to kill him several times but they could not, for the Lord protects all His chosen ones. After a great effort and many hardships, St. John led them to the knowledge of God and ordained bishops and priests for them.
From there, he went to other places in Asia (Minor) and converted many of its people to the Faith of Christ.
This saint lived 90 years, and they used to carry him to the gatherings of the believers. Because of his old age, he only gave them very short sermons saying, "My children, love one another." He wrote the gospel known after him, and the Book of Revelation which he had seen on the island of Patmos, which is full of divine mysteries. He also wrote the three epistles known by his name.
He was with the Lord Jesus Christ at the Transfiguration. He leaned (reclined) on the chest of our Lord at the Last Supper. He asked the Lord, "Who is he that shall betray you?" He was standing near the Cross with the Virgin St. Mary and the Lord said to his mother, "Behold your Son," and to John, "Behold your mother." He was the disciple about whom Peter asked the Lord, "And this one, what of him?" The Lord said to Peter, "If it be that I wish him to be here until I come, what is that to you?"
When St. John felt that he was about to depart from this world, he summoned the people and administered to them the Body and the Blood of the Lord. He preached and commanded them to be steadfast in their faith.
He then departed from the City of Ephesus for a short distance. He commanded his disciple and others with him to dig there a pit for him. He went down in it, raised his hands and prayed and then bade them farewell. He commanded them to return to the city and to confirm the brethren in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, and said to them, "I am innocent of your blood, for I did not leave any command of God that I haven't taught you, and now, let it be known that you will never see my face again, and God will reward everyone according to his deeds."
When he said that, they kissed his hand and his feet, and they left him and returned to the city. When the people knew what had happened, they went out to where the saint was, and they found that he had departed. They wept and were deeply sad. They talked about his miracles and marvelled about his meekness.
In spite of the fact that he did not die by the sword, as the rest of the apostles did, he was equal to them in the heavenly glories, for his virginity and his holiness.
His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.


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Data Backs BLM Manager's Allotment Cuts in Face of "Cowboy Express" Protest
Washington, DC — A U.S. Bureau of Land Management District Manager from Nevada targeted by angry Nevada ranchers was more than justified in removing cattle from drought-stricken public rangeland, according to data released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Tomorrow, protesting ranchers start a "Cowboy Express" ride to Washington demanding removal of BLM Battle Mountain District Manager Douglas Furtado as an "abusive federal employee" even as conservation groups urge that Furtado be commended not condemned for his actions.
Like much of the West, Nevada has been in the grips of persistent drought, with nearly 90% of the state under "severe to exceptional" drought for three consecutive years. This, in turn, causes greater conflict over dwindling water and forage. Not surprisingly, Nevada has also become Ground Zero for rising tensions on range management as illustrated by this spring's armed standoff with renegade rancher Cliven Bundy who has been illegally grazing his cattle in southern Nevada for more than a decade.
"We all know about climate deniers, but this is the first we've heard of drought deniers," stated PEER Advocacy Director Kirsten Stade, pointing out that much of Furtado's Battle Mountain District has been among the hardest hit by drought in Nevada. "If we are to believe the ranchers, an extreme, multiyear, regionwide drought has magically spared only their allotments."
In July, Battle Mountain District Manager Furtado ordered livestock removed from parched range on the sprawling 332,000-acre Argenta allotment in northern Nevada after conditions fell below thresholds that ranchers and BLM had previously agreed would trigger removal. The ranchers contend that Furtado's actions were arbitrary but an analysis of Geographic Information Systems and BLM data reveal range in terrible ecological shape:
Nearly every Battle Mountain allotment evaluated failed range health standards for wildlife and water quality, largely due to livestock grazing;
Half of the Argenta Allotment, and roughly 30% of the Battle Mountain District is habitat for sage grouse, a species being reviewed for listing under the Endangered Species Act. BLM has been directed to protect the species' habitat but 90% of assessed sage grouse habitat was in Battle Mountain allotments failing standards due to livestock; and
Fence line contrasts visible in satellite imagery show that public lands in the checkerboarded allotment are far more heavily grazed than private lands, suggesting that ranchers are more protective of their own lands than they are of publicly-owned range.
"Doug Furtado should be praised, not pilloried, for doing his job," Stade added, noting a letter of support sent today from PEER and Western Watersheds Project urging that BLM as an agency to do more to stand up for its employees when they attempt to protect public resources. "The Cowboy Express is actually a cynical attempt to use iconic imagery to mask selfish abuse of public lands. If ranchers will not be responsible stewards then conscientious land managers have to make hard decisions, as Doug Furtado has done."
Western Watersheds Project intervened in the Argenta case when ranchers initially refused to remove their cattle despite their previous agreement. Even after an order from an Interior Department administrative law judge affirmed the BLM's authority to remove the livestock, as many as 100 cattle remain on the Argenta allotment to this day.
"The rancher resistance to drought protections in Battle Mountain is aimed at preventing effective protection of public lands and sage-grouse habitats across the West," said Katie Fite, Western Watersheds Project's Biodiversity Director. "It is meant to intimidate other federal agency managers so that they turn a blind eye to habitat degradation."
The records for all roughly 20,000 BLM allotments across the West, many of which show similar overgrazed conditions, will be displayed next month in a new PEER website documenting longstanding and serious ecological impacts caused by ongoing livestock overgrazing.
See the data on Range Conditions in the Battle Mountain District
Read letter in support of Doug Furtado
View the denial of the permittees' appeal of BLM's decision
Look at heavy hoof-print of commercial grazing in the West
All content © 2014 Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
2000 P Street NW, Suite 240 Washington, DC 20036


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If you need to or would like to use a Bible online, please follow the link Below
This link will open in a new window to book and chapter (you might have to scroll down to the verse)
**it links to bible.com**
Cornelius's Vision
1 Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,
2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.
3 About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, "Cornelius!"
4 And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
5 Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;
6 he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea."
7 When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants,
8 and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
9 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
10 But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;
11 and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,
12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.
13 A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat!"
14 But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean."
15 Again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy."
16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.
17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon's house, appeared at the gate;
18 and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.
19 While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are looking for you.
20 But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself."
21 Peter went down to the men and said, "Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?"
22 They said, "Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you."
23 So he invited them in and gave them lodging.
Peter at Caesarea
And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
24 On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends.
25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him.
26 But Peter raised him up, saying, "Stand up; I too am just a man."
27 As he talked with him, he entered and *found many people assembled.
28 And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.
29 That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me."
30 Cornelius said, "Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments,
31 and he *said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.
32 Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.'
33 So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord."
Gentiles Hear Good News
34 Opening his mouth, Peter said:
"I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,
35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.
36 The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—
37 you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.
38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
39 We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.
40 God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,
41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
42 And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.
43 Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,
47 "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?"
48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.


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Asuka Kasen's Condo
STRUCTURES Asuka Kasen's Condo | |
The compound of Asuka Kasen's Condo in GTA III, home of Asuka Kasen circa 2001. | |
Appearance(s): | |
Location: | Newport, Staunton Island |
Use: | Apartments |
Asuka Kasen's Condo is the home of Asuka Kasen, co-leader of the Yakuza in Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto III.
The building is located in the district of Newport, Staunton Island, close to a dock in view of Portland. Following "Last Requests", the condo becomes a home to Maria Latore, after she moves to Staunton Island with Claude to escape the Leone Family and Don Salvatore Leone, and is the base for Asuka Kasen's early missions in Grand Theft Auto III.
The compound consists of nothing more than a porch overlooking Southern Portland, containing a covered swimming pool, a pair of sunloungers and an entrance into the apartment building, which interior consists of only a simple flooring and wall. The condo is similar to another apartment across the parking lot to the south, though that condo's patio features a different railing, swimming pool, and entrace door. The entrances into the condos' compounds also bears dragon-like signage, similar to the Yakuza's gang logo during early development of GTA III.
Near the compound are 2 parking lots. One surrounds the 2 apartments and contains a Blista and 2 Yakuza Stingers. The other one is located west of the apartments. It will contain a Landstalker and a Banshee.
Two Marinas are also located near the apartment. The one closest to the compound will have a Reefer and a Speeder docked there. The other one will have a Predator and another Reefer docked there.
Aerial render of Asuka Kasen's Condo.


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Sunrise Charm Necklace
Hanging on our Daylight cable chain, light glints from sunstone like the first rays of morning sun peeking through the clouds. Cloudy coral-orange, sometimes flecked with glittering metallic aventurescence, sunstone is associated with warmth, radiance, energy, leadership, and joy.
Solid 9k gold, always.
Ready to Ship!
Please note all measurements are approximate and may vary slightly due to hand-finishing.
Where and how do you ship? What are the fees? How long does it take?
All of our shipments are carbon offset through both Shopify Planet and our shipping protection provider, Corso (if you have opted in, which is recommended).
Please note:
Inventory status is indicated on product pages near the add to bag button.
Some of our jewelry is made-to-order and should ship within 4-6 weeks. (All 14k selections are made-to-order.)
We currently carry some limited stock. As we grow, so will our stocked items. Items in stock will generally ship within 1-2 business days (M-F), excluding holidays.
Duty and taxes for international orders are included at checkout, so no need to worry about surprise fees.
If your order is a mix of ready-to-ship and made-to-order, your entire order will be held until all items are in stock. If you would like to receive available items sooner, please place separate orders accordingly.
Delivery times are estimated and may be affected by unforeseeable delays such as weather, traffic, volume, etc.
Orders over US$1000 will ship with signature required for your protection.
United States
Standard | UPS or USPS | $200 USD and up | Free! | 3-4 business days |
Standard | UPS or USPS | below $200 USD | $11 USD | 3-4 business days |
Express | UPS or USPS | any order amount | $25 USD | 1-2 business days |
Standard | DHL Direct | $275 CAD and up | Free! | 2-3 business days |
Standard | DHL Direct | below $275 CAD | $26 CAD | 2-3 business days |
Express | DHL Worldwide | any order amount | $34 CAD | 1-2 business days |
United Kingdom
Standard | DHL Direct | £175 and up | Free! | 6-12 business days |
Standard | DHL Direct | below £175 | £12,50 | 6-12 business days |
Express | DHL Worldwide | any order amount | £24,00 | 1-5 business days |
Standard | DHL Direct | €225 and up | Free! | 6-12 business days |
Standard | DHL Direct | below €225 | €19.00 | 6-12 business days |
Express | DHL Worldwide | any order amount | €28.00 | 1-5 business days |
Standard | DHL Direct | $400 AUD and up | Free! | 6-12 business days |
Standard | DHL Direct | below $400 AUD | $32 AUD | 6-12 business days |
Express | DHL Worldwide | any order amount | $55 AUD | 1-5 business days |
New Zealand
Standard | DHL Direct | $425 NZD and up | Free! | 6-12 business days |
Standard | DHL Direct | below $425 NZD | $37 NZD | 6-12 business days |
Express | DHL Worldwide | any order amount | $60 NZD | 1-5 business days |
Do you offer shipping insurance?
By default, we offer Corso Green Shipping Protection for a nominal fee at checkout for orders up to US$1000, which we HIGHLY recommend. If you opt out for your order, we cannot be held liable if your package is lost, damaged, or stolen in transit. If there is an issue with your package and you have protected it with Corso, please file a claim through this link. If your package is lost and you did not protect your order, please contact USPS, UPS, or DHL directly.
For order over US$1000, we cover the insurance. Please note that signature will be required.
What's the deal with the gold?
The short story: We have chosen to exclusively produce our jewelry in solid 9 karat and 14 karat yellow gold due to the benefits of wearability, durability, and longevity (and in the case of 9k —affordability). Our metal is 100% recycled and nickel-free. Read on to nerd out a little and learn the nitty-gritty…
Solid Karat Gold
Solid gold means the material is consistent throughout the piece – it's the same on the inside as it is on the outside. Pure solid gold is called 24 karat or 24k. In other words, if you break the pure gold "recipe" out into 24 parts (karats), all the parts are gold. 24k is very expensive, soft, and malleable, but can be mixed with other metals to make it more affordable, stronger, and durable. This lightens the deep yellow color of pure gold and can also create other tones such as rose and white, depending on the other metals in the mix. For alloys (a mixture of two or more metals), the gold content is expressed by the number of gold parts (karats), or the percentage of gold used in the mix. So, 9k means 9 of the alloy's 24 parts are pure gold, or 37.5% gold (9 divided by 24). 14k means 14 of the 24 parts are pure gold. You can verify quality by finding a "9k" or "375" stamp on your jewelry (or a stamp using the same logic for other karats). While 9k gold is not as commonly found in the US market, it is very popular for fine jewelry in other parts of the world such as Europe and Australia. Since the gold content is lower than 14k and 10k, it is less expensive and actually a little more scratch resistant, making it perfect for daily wear and activity. Solid gold of any karatage is far more durable and valuable than gold-plated and vermeil jewelry, which has a limited shelf life.
Gold-Plated & Vermeil
Gold-plated jewelry is made by applying a very thin layer of gold to the surface of a base metal or sterling silver using an electrically charged bath of gold suspended in chemicals (to put it simply). If the plated layer of gold on sterling silver is at least 2.5 microns thick, it is often referred to as vermeil. Due to the nature of this composition, gold-plated and vermeil jewelry is susceptible to oxidation, discoloration, scratches, flaking, abrasion, and corrosion. If kept away from moisture, gold-plated jewelry has an average lifespan of up to a year; vermeil has an average lifespan of up to 3 years (it can be replated, but this can be costly). It is likely that most gold-plated jewelry will eventually end up being discarded, which is extremely wasteful. And the possibility of chemical exposure or leaching at any point of the plated product life cycle is not ideal for people or the planet. We'll stick with solid gold over here.
White Gold
White gold alloys naturally have a grey-yellow tinge due to the gold content, and usually contain nickel (not the best choice for those with metal sensitivities). The jewelry industry standard is to plate white gold with rhodium to give it a bright white color and temporarily shield the wearer from the nickel content (until the rhodium eventually wears off and the piece needs to be replated). Since we don't use plating and we don't want anyone to have an allergic reaction to our pieces, we only produce in yellow gold.
Will 9k gold tarnish?
Even 14k gold can tarnish due to the other metals present in the alloy… it just takes awhile and is usually not noticeable. Since 9k gold has a bit more of the other metals, the color may dull or darken very slightly over time, especially if you don't wear your jewelry often. If you do notice this, you can easily brighten that baby back up and get it looking like new again with gentle cleaning, a tarnish removal cloth for smooth surfaces, or a natural, environmentally-friendly tarnish removal cream (Sparkle Bright Products makes one) to work into the details of more textured pieces. But if you wear your jewelry daily (which we hope you do) and store it properly whenever you aren't wearing it, you will likely not see any dulling or darkening.
What's up with the stones & enamel?
Over one billion years ago, under intense heat and pressure deep within the Earth, some carbon transformed and diamonds were born – the hardest natural substance on our planet. Our Kimberley Process compliant, high-quality natural diamonds are all full cut, GH color and SI1-2 clarity (translation: white, clear, and sparkly), and responsibly-sourced by our Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) certified partners.
We do not use any lab-created/synthetic or simulated stones – all our gemstones are genuine mineral, high-quality, hand-cut, and responsibly-sourced from our RJC certified partners. Please keep in mind that it is natural for gemstones to show some variation in color, clarity, and pattern – in their uniqueness lies their beauty!
Traditional enamel is a glass-based material that, when heated at high temperatures, can be used to apply glossy opaque or translucent color to jewelry. We use "cold" enamel (epoxy resin enamel) to achieve the same effect. Cold enamel does not contain glass, making it way more durable for daily wear.
Orders & Returns
Can I cancel my order before it ships?
You may cancel your order for a full refund if you email firstname.lastname@example.com within 60 minutes of placing your order.
Can I modify my order before it ships?
We cannot modify orders once they have been placed, but you may cancel your order for a full refund if you email email@example.com within 60 minutes of placing your order and place a new order.
Can I change my address before my order ships?
Please contact email@example.com within 24 hours of placing your order if you need to update your shipping address. We may still be able to change the address after 24 hours, depending on the status of your order, but this cannot be guaranteed. If we are unable to make the change because your shipment has already been processed, you should be able to update your address on the UPS website once you receive your tracking number from us and it is in the UPS system.
What is your return policy?
Because we are a small business and our jewelry is either made-to-order or minimally stocked, please understand that we cannot issue credit card refunds on returns at this time.
If there is an issue with your purchase, the jewelry is returnable for store credit (in the form of a gift card) if shipped back within 30 days of delivery of your order. Please contact us immediately at email@example.com for assistance.
We will provide you with a return shipping label via email. There are no return shipping fees for defective items on US orders. A return shipping fee of US$11 for customer remorse will be deducted from your credit amount, but may be lifted on a case-by-case basis at Aiden Jae's discretion.
Please note, if you were charged a shipping fee on your original order, it is not refundable and will be deducted from your credit amount.
As a small business, we cannot handle return shipping fees. Return shipping arrangement and fees must be handled and paid for by the customer.
Please note, shipping charges, duties, and fees on your original order are not refundable and will be deducted from the credit amount.
To qualify for a credit, items must be in their original condition without signs of wear or damage and must be shipped back in all original packaging (pouch included). We reserve the right to refuse any return with obvious signs of wear, damage from use, or damage from improper protection during return shipping.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept returns on gift cards.
What is your exchange policy?
We're unable to offer exchanges at this time. If there is an issue with your purchase, please refer to our return policy above.
How does made-to-order work?
Currently most of our jewelry (except chains) is made-to-order, with full payment due at checkout. Your jewelry will go into production once you place your order and should ship to you within approximately 4-6 weeks.
How does waitlist work?
Since we are still a very new and small business, all our chains (except the Daylight cable chain which accompanies our pendants) are currently waitlist items. As soon as a chain style has enough waitlist interest for us to be able to carry stock, we will make that item available for ordering and advise on the delivery time frame. If you have signed up for the waitlist for that item, you will be updated via email so that you may place your order at that time, if you wish.
How do I take care of my jewelry?
Solid gold is tough, but even the toughest among us need some TLC sometimes.
We recommend regular cleaning once a month, especially if you wear your jewelry daily. Please, for the love of jewelry, work on a flat surface away from the sink:
- Mix a drop of gentle, phosphate-free dishwashing liquid with warm water in a small bowl using a soft toothbrush. If your jewelry is gold-only (no stones or enamel), you can use sparkling water and/or add a teaspoon each of baking soda and salt to amp things up.
- Add your jewelry and brush gently, paying special attention to texture, stone settings, hinges, and clasps to remove any embedded dirt. For gold-only items, you can soak the jewelry for 10 minutes prior to brushing.
- Transfer the jewelry to another bowl of clean, warm water to rinse.
- Remove the jewelry from the bowl, replace the water, and rinse the jewelry a second time (or more) to ensure no residue remains.
- Clean your jewelry one piece at a time to avoid scratches from touching.
- Dry your jewelry thoroughly with a soft, absorbent cloth.
- If you notice any dullness over time, you can easily brighten that baby back up and get it looking like new again with a tarnish removal cloth for smooth surfaces or a natural, environmentally-friendly tarnish removal cream (Sparkle Bright Jewelry makes one) to work into the details of more textured pieces.
While your solid gold jewelry can withstand sweat and bathing, prolonged or repeated exposure to chlorinated pool water or ocean water isn't ideal. Completely avoid any exposure to harsh chemicals and cleaners, such as bleach.
Chlorine, salt water, lotions, creams, perfumes, and prolonged exposure to direct sunlight can affect gemstone color, appearance, and durability. We advise taking pieces with delicately set gemstones off before showering, exercising, or any vigorous activity that may damage the stone.
Our pouches and inserts are perfect for storing your jewelry! Just put the jewelry away dry and keep your pieces separated to avoid them touching and scratching each other, especially when stones are present.
Do you offer a warranty?
We stand behind the quality and craftsmanship of our jewelry and therefore offer a 1-year warranty on every item. Should you run into any damages due to manufacturing defects within one year of purchase, please reach out to us at email@example.com for assistance. Once the item's return is approved, received, and inspected, at our discretion we'll have your piece repaired, replaced, or issue you a store credit (in the form of a gift card) up to the amount of the purchase price. Please note, our warranty does not cover lost items, lost stones, shipping charges, normal wear and tear (e.g., scratches, bent rings, broken chains), work done by another jeweler, or damages from neglect, improper care, or improper storage.
What makes
Aiden Jae
You'll be glowing in our gold...
From the slightly softer yellow tone of 9k to the classic 14k standard, by offering both options we are making our sustainable solid gold designs accessible to all.
Your sensitive skin is safe with us...
Our gold is nickel-free and plating-free and won't be turning anyone green (except maybe your friends — with envy).
You'll never want to take it off, and you won't have to...
Unlike gold-plated and vermeil jewelry, solid gold is always in style, providing durability that will last a lifetime and beyond, even with daily wear and washing.
You might even forget you're wearing it...
We pay attention to every little detail, from the design phase through the final finishing touches to ensure impeccable quality, comfort, and wearability.
Your values are our standards...
Responsible, ethical, and sustainable materials and practices are at the heart of everything we do.
Your good taste is in good hands...
In addition to our commitment to sustainability, we prioritize thoughtful design, quality, and craftsmanship. A keen eye and 20 years of industry experience is behind every style.