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In December 2011, the OECD and the Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS, launched the OECD Russia Corporate Governance Roundtable. The work builds on experience from a series of roundtables meetings and workshops that were held between 1999 and 2008.
This new Roundtable will tackle outstanding corporate governance challenges in Russia and help develop a robust legal and regulatory framework. Through dialogue, research and access to international expertise, it will encourage necessary reforms and fine tuning of existing regulations. Importantly, it will press for better implementation and effective enforcement. The Roundtable is also an opportunity to improve the international understanding of Russian corporate governance developments and ongoing efforts.
The key objective is to contribute to the Russian financial market realizing its full potential. A better corporate governance framework in Russia will facilitate entrepreneurs' and companies' access to finance, so they can seize business opportunities and create jobs. It will also offer investors and the saving public with more reliable investment opportunities, and foster a mature and credible equity culture.
The Roundtable is a long term commitment involving a wide circle of Russian and foreign participants, expert groups, associations, firms and market participants who want to improve corporate governance in Russia. It also has the support of the Ministry of Economic Development, the Bank of Russia, the Moscow International Financial Centre Initiative, and the Federal Service for Financial Markets, among many other authorities.
"Our goal is to provide the international community with an accurate understanding of Russian corporate governance practices and to make it aware of ongoing reform efforts. We are confident that our project will help the Russian financial market realize its potential in full." Angel Gurría, Secretary-General, OECD
"This is not the first time the OECD has shared its expertise on corporate governance in Russia. Earlier cooperation bore important results, and many of the practices we take for granted today, such as independent directors on corporate boards, are the result of that earlier work. The agreement we are marking today will further develop the Russian legal system and strengthen corporate governance practices in line with international standards. I would also like to note that this project was made possible thanks to the support of the Central Bank of Russia, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Service for Financial Markets." Ruben Aganbegyan, President of the Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS (December 2011)


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Though the creators and the stars of the new radio program, Freeman Gosden and Charles Carrell, were both white, the characters they played were two black men from the Deep South who moved to Chicago to seek their fortunes. By that time, white actors performing in dark stage makeup–or "blackface"–had been a significant tradition in American theater for over 100 years. Gosden and Carrell, both vaudeville performers, were doing a Chicago comedy act in blackface when an employee at the Chicago Tribune suggested they create a radio show.
When "Sam 'n' Henry" debuted in January 1926, it became an immediate hit. In 1928, Gosden and Carrell took their act to a rival station, the Chicago Daily News' WMAQ. When they discovered WGN owned the rights to their characters' names, they simply changed them. As their new contract gave Gosden and Carrell the right to syndicate the program, the popularity of "Amos 'n' Andy" soon exploded. Over the next 22 years, the show would become the highest-rated comedy in radio history, attracting more than 40 million listeners.
By 1951, when "Amos 'n' Andy" came to television, changing attitudes about race and concerns about racism had virtually wiped out the practice of blackface. With Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams taking over for Gosden and Carrell, the show was the first TV series to feature an all-black cast and the only one of its kind for the next 20 years. This did not stop African-American advocacy groups and eventually the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from criticizing both the radio and TV versions of "Amos 'n' Andy" for promoting racial stereotypes. These protests led to the TV show's cancellation in 1953.
The final radio broadcast of "Amos 'n' Andy" aired on November 25, 1960. The following year, Gosden and Carrell created a short-lived TV sequel called "Calvin and the Colonel." This time, they avoided controversy by replacing the human characters with an animated fox and bear. The show was canceled after one season.


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Listen: The Cheater / Bob Kuban & The In-Men BobKuban.mp3
Just one of those moments in time – a song that basically came and went. Then one day recently, it got into my brain and I realized I hadn't heard it for eons. It sounded pretty great. Even though the singer and general lineup may have taken them down the Blood Sweat & Tears road, fate had a different plan. Not only did the next two singles barely scrap The Hot 100 ( 'The Teaser' #83 and 'Drive My Car' #93), the singer Walter Scott was murdered by his wife's lover. I'm sure, much to her surprise, she was next, proceeding to bury them under the cement in his back patio. Some of this is fairly well documented, but interestingly, last night, Matt & Kim played OFF BROADWAY in St . Louis. And I got into a fascinating conversation with the club's owner. Turns out Bob Kuban & The In-Men were a local band, and he informed me of the above gory details. Some of them, although possibly local legend, are just too gory to share. But enough said.
The record, seldom heard these days (good old, very old, American programmers hard at work putting themselves out of jobs – note WBCN in Boston), was a big hit, reaching #12 in '66 and sounded wonderful on the radio, it's blaring mono-ness complimenting the British Invasion dominance quite tolerably. Lyrically, alarmingly, and certainly unknowingly, predicting the future.


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Basic multifunctional face protector: It protects against wind, sun and sweat.
The position of the garment can be changed according to the rider's need.
* Light fabric that allows air circulation and easy breathing.
* It protects against the sun, wind and sweat.
* Breathable, keeping the body fresh and dry.
* Allows to change its position according to needs.
* Imported inks free of azoic components harmful to skin (Azo Free)
FIT differences
When you buy a new jersey, there is always the chance that it would not fit the same way than all the jerseys you have bought from Safetti before and the reason for this is different FITTINGS.
Safetti Lab during its research and development process tries to find mechanisms to serve the most bio types without changing sizes.There are infinitive body types and that makes it very difficult to serve every one with just one style. For this reason, there are different Fits.
We also consider cycling tendencies and fashion trends during our development process.
The result of this process is the development of different configurations that create our FIT scale
Below is a description of our different FITS:
REGULAR FIT: Relaxed and loose. It fits all body types. It does not "sticks" to your body. Type of Jerseys: Regular, Skin, Basic and Tradizione Cuts.
SLIM FIT: Close and fit to your body without restraining movement. It fits your body but allows freedom of movement. Ideal for weekend and frequent riders. Types of Jerseys: Skin Light, Race, Carrara, Firenze, Glamour.
SLIM FIT+: It is our tightest fit. Specially on the shoulders and chest. This is the preferred fit for Pro Cyclist and racers. Types of Jerseys: Dogliani
PRO: t is called"second skin" because of the way it fits your body. Recommended for avid cyclist Types of Jerseys: Lombardia.
** We recommend on jersey SLIM, SLIM Fit+, and PRO to order one size more than what you normally wear to be consistent with sizing, unless you are comfortable wearing your jersey race style (snug - like a second skin).


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Eric Gill's R: the Italian connection
Last edited 13 May 2010
The letter R in any of Gill's types is unmistakeably his own: the tail springs from the relatively small upper bowl with a dynamic curve and then, straightening, continues at an angle to the base line below, which it meets with a flat terminal, sometimes enlivened (as in Perpetua and Joanna) with a hint at a serif.
In 1930 Beatrice Warde picked out the R as one of the letters which helps Gill Sans to 'achieve a personality of its own', adding that it 'would be recognised by anyone who had watched this letter develop out of Mr. Gill's straight-tailed R'. A study of Gill's lettering shows that this form of R did not so much develop as happen rather abruptly in about 1907.
Gill had begun to use a 'straight-tailed R' when he submitted to the discipline of the calligraphic teaching of Edward Johnston.
This R, with its tail springing from the main stem, was shown by Johnston in his Writing and illuminating and lettering (1906), above, as (slightly surprisingly) one of the 'narrow letters' in his list of the essential forms of 'the Roman alphabet and its derivatives'.
In the chapter on lettercutting that Gill contributed to Johnston's book he showed the same shape (above) adapted for cutting in stone, and he suggested that 'beauty of form may safely be left to a right use of the chisel combined with a well-advised study of the best examples of inscriptions: such as that on the Trajan Column and other Roman inscriptions in the South Kensington and British Museums.'
But in an inscription that Gill cut in 1907 to the memory of Irene Nichols, a detail from which is shown above, several of the letters depart from his current style. The bracketing of the serifs extends so far up the stems of the thin strokes that these are almost wedge-shaped. E is a curved uncial form. G is curly. M has a high centre, and R has a curved tail springing from the bowl. None of these shapes is sanctioned by Johnston, although the high-centred M appears in his Underground letter. None resembles the letters of the Trajan column nor any other lettering of Imperial Rome. However all of them are present, sometimes as alternative forms, in an inscription (although it is not a Roman one), that is indeed in the South Kensington (now the Victoria & Albert) Museum, which acquired it in 1887.
The monument to the Marchese Spinetta Malaspina, dating from the second quarter of the fifteenth century, is from a vanished church in Verona. The wedge-shaped strokes of the letters of the inscription, which are cut to a uniform height of just under 4 cm, the high centre to M and the 'sprung' tail to the small-bowled R, are all characteristic of Italian, and especially Florentine, work of this period, and the resemblance to Gill's Nichols inscription of 1907 is striking.
Gill was not the only British designer to have felt the appeal of this style of letter, whose influence can be seen in work by William Morris and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Gill's mature letter forms are powerfully stamped with his own character, but they are a fusion of material from many sources.
In the Florentine R, however he discovered it, Gill found a form that would serve him for the rest of his life.
Gill was not historically minded, and his freedom from dependence on obvious models is not the least of the secrets of the appeal of his lettering at its best. The reader of this piece must decide if the suggestion that appears here is convincing. It originally appeared in the Monotype Recorder, new series, no. 8 (Autumn 1990), pp. 38-9. Most of that issue of the journal consisted of essays by other hands, leaving only two pages at the end for the words and images of what I called a 'tailpiece'. That meant its wording had to be short, no bad thing in a blog from time to time, so I have left the original words more or less untouched. But I thought it might be useful to add something by way of amplification.
Irene Nichols (1862–1907) was for a time a bookbinder. She had travelled in Russia and Poland, and then in Italy. She learned bookbinding in Rome, and when she returned to England she took lessons privately from T. J. Cobden-Sanderson at his own workshop, but she never joined the Doves Bindery, and after the death of her mother in 1892 (did she perhaps inherit an income?) she largely gave up binding for 'social work'. Her health, which had never been strong, became worse and she died in her forties from influenza. We know this much from a brief note published in her memory. Her monument, number 125 in Evan Gill's list of his brother's inscriptions, was set up at Ryde, Isle of Wight. Was her own evidently close association with Italy in any way responsible for this use by Gill in his lettering of an idiom that was new? There seems to be no way of discovering, but as we see, the effect of at least one detail seems to have been enduring.
As for the more general influence of the 'Florentine' style on ideas about lettering, which would continue to be seen in drawn and incised lettering, and also in types like the Florentine and Della Robbia of the American Type Founders Company, I imagine this to be a natural effect of the widespread study during the later 19th century of the Florentine sculpture with which the inscriptions are often associated. In the cast court of the South Kensington Museum there were casts of the Donatello Judith and Holofernes from the Piazza della Signoria, with his signature in a mature littera antiqua (for some reason it has just been moved next to the fragment of the façade of the late 16th-century London house of Sir Paul Pindar in the museum's new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries in which the Spinetta Malaspina monument has been re-installed), and of the Cantoria, the singing gallery of Luca della Robbia (1431–8), intended for the cathedral, which is exhibited in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. Its painted inscription is carefully reproduced on the museum's cast. (The eastern cast court is closed at present. The image of a detail of the Cantoria shown here was made at a distance from a gallery that overlooks the court.)
When I mentioned the influence of the Florentine letter on William Morris, someone whose lack of enthusiasm for Italian models generally might make his choice of this one seem surprising, I was thinking of the pierced brass weather vane at his Red House at Bexleyheath. (Perhaps I should add that my image was made in the garden at Red House when the original drawing had been brought there by John Brandon Jones with some other items on the occasion of a visit organized by the William Morris Society.) But the design is by his friend Philip Webb, the architect of Red House, and not by Morris himself. The drawing, on a scale of half an inch to one foot, is now among the RIBA Drawings and Archives, [33], 5 (folder PB86/Webb), held at the Victoria & Albert Museum. It is signed and dated Nov. 1859, shows the initals W and J, for William and Jane, intertwined, height 140 mm (5½ in), and the date in a fascinating and extraordinary set of numerals. It is one of the earliest examples that I know of the revived Florentine letter. As for Johnston's use in his Underground letter of the non-classical Florentine M with its high centre, the form is repeated in Gill Sans, and it is tempting to speculate whether this may have been was a part of the contribution to the project that it is known that Gill was paid for.
The essay by Beatrice Warde / Paul Beaujon that I cited in my original text was 'Eric Gill, sculptor of letters', in The Fleuron 7 (1930), pp. 27–60 (at p. 41). The examples of Eric Gill's work are from the St Bride Library. My thanks to Paul Donoghue for some useful discussion of Red House.
Last edited 13 May 2010.


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In the 1970s a fun place to go to for Sunday brunch was the Galway Bay Inn in Moss Beach. The owner himself, Michael Murphy, was often there, serving the customers.
Do you remember the restaurant?
I wish I'd kept the napkins with the four leaf clover logo. The Galway Bay Inn overlooked the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve; we'd get a seat by the windows; it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning. Do you know where it was?
In the early 1970s the low key Galway Bay Inn became the upbeat Moss Beach Distillery when several young, high energy guys bought the historic prohibition roadhouse, among them Dave Andrews and Sam Varela.
(Photo: I believe both Dave Andrews & Sam Varela are standing outside the Distillery; sorry the image is so small.)
Dave and Sam were personable and easy going; they soon had a big loyal following. Such a special, loyal following that every year there is a reunion in Princeton-by-the-Sea.
Here's what Sam Varela, former owner of the Moss Beach Distillery remembers:
Back in the very late 60's a drunken Irishman by the name of Michael Murphy, who worked for the Telephone Company, spent so much time drinking in Dominics in HMB, that one day he woke up there, and decided that since it cost him so much to hang out there, he might as well buy the place.
So he did, but not having much money, and being a real tight—– Irishman, he converted it to an Irish restaurant by simply adding an O to the name thus creating O'Dominics. Do you remember ?
After a few years in the business, he sold the O', and worked out a deal for Vic Torres' place with Pearl [Torres], a restaurant which was located over a cove that reminded Murphy of Galway Bay ( beats me ). Thus was born the Galway Bay Inn an Irish restaurant.
In early 1973, I was diving for Abs near Flat Rock, right below "Weebies" (Sp ?) place, which I think is where "Goofus, the duck" lived. This is a Sunday about noon; I didn't live on the Coastside then, so not too familiar with where I was. I was thirsty from diving, and wanted a beer, looked at the building , couldn't figure what it was, so checked it out, and by golly there was a Bar in there, but not one customer in the whole place.
To make a long story short, 9 months later I was behind the Bar and "Goofus" was in my ice bin behind the Bar with two of my friends, Jerry and Mark, cracking up.
October of 1973 the Moss Beach Distillery was born, as was the world famous "Tamale Jerry enterprise." As well as a classic Streaker with a very cold butt ! God those were fun times ! The "Still" today is geared for Tourists, not locals and lacks the Color of the early days. There are too many memories to list but I know you can recount many, I did spend time with Fannie and Frank Torres at their home close to the Still and enjoyed their stories. (Photo below: Fanny & Frank Torres; behind them the "lost" painting of Frank Torres wearing suit & tie, with Devil's Slide in the background, courtesy Millie Muller.)
Does anybody know who "Goofus the duck" was? And what about the Tamale Jerry enterprise? I know Sam is referring to photographer Jerry Koontz,
(Photo: Jerry Koontz & Doug St. Denis in the 1970s.)
and I do remember Jerry selling homemade tamales from a cart.
Sam? Are you there? Peter Adams remembers the good times. He and his wife send you a big hug.


text:
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George Strait Tributes Police With Solemn New Song 'The Weight of the Badge' [Listen]
George Strait's "The Weight of the Badge" tips a hat to police. In typical Strait fashion, the song relies on a traditional county sound to tell the story of an officer who followed in the footsteps of his father, going into the line of duty for 15 years despite the pain of leaving his family behind each day.
Accompanied by the plucking of an acoustic guitar, gentle piano and mournful fiddle, Strait paints a picture of the unwavering strength of people who walk a dangerous line that's "razor fine."
The second verse finds the officer in the hospital after being injured on the job, surrounded by his family and vowing to pull through. "He swore that oath to protect and serve / Pours his heart and soul into both those words / Tempered strength is always tough / But he ain't gonna buckle / Under the weight of the badge," Strait sings meaningfully.
Co-written by Strait, his son Bubba and their longtime songwriting partner Dean Dillion, "The Weight of the Badge" is featured on Strait's new album Honky Tonk Time Machine. He performed the song during his Las Vegas show, Strait to Vegas.
Strait remains committed to traditional country on his Honky Tonk ... album, touching on themes of a lively country bar with the title track and "Every Little Honky Tonk Bar," honoring two of the most important parts of his life on "God and Country Music" and celebrating his favorite tequila with "Codigo."
These Are George Strait's Top 10 Songs:
George Strait's "The Weight the Badge Lyrics"
It's gonna be a long one, another grave yard shift / As he says goodbye to his wife and kids / He spends his life just like his dad's / Driving away under the weight of the badge.
He's seen it all in his fifteen years / Watching our backs, facing our fears / Lord knows it ain't no easy task / Keeping us safe under the weight of the badge.
He swore that oath to protect and serve / Pours his heart and soul into both those words / Lays his life on the line / And the line he walks is razor-fine / Tempered strength is always tough / But he ain't gonna buckle under the weight of the badge.
Not that long ago he woke up in the hospital / With his wife and kids praying by his bed / He said I'm gonna be alright / There's just some times you gotta fight / And the truth is, nothing truer could be said / I do it for us and I do it for them / And I ain't gonna buckle under the weight of the badge.
It doesn't weigh a lot until you put it on / And the weight of it is staggering / Then duty calls each time / He knows he's gotta answer / And it's all in the hand of the heavy weight of the badge.
And he ain't gonna buckle / Under the weight of the badge / No he ain't gonna buckle /
Under the weight of the badge.
See Inside George Strait's Unbelievable Custom Mansion


text:
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2068: Holy Trinity, Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England
Richard Croft
Mystery Worshipper:
Church Mouse.
The church:
The Collegiate Church of Holy Trinity
, Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England.
Church of England
Diocese of Lincoln
The building:
One of the finest examples of English Perpendicular architecture in the country. Superb decorative carvings, examples of medieval glasswork and a timber ceiling.
There is a magnificent east window above the altar, made up of segments of full window pictures. It appears that some philistine of a vicar in 1737 complained that the windows made the church dark. There was an uproar at this intention by the people of Tattershall, who enlisted the local boatmen of the River Witham to be their "heavies" and protect the glass. Unfortunatly the glass was knocked out under the cover of darkness and taken away.
The church:
Holy Trinity is joined with St Michael's, Coningsby; St Margaret's, Roughton; St Benedict's, Haltham on Bain; and St Mary's, Kirby on Bain. All are part of the Bain Valley group of churches. Activities include Bible studies, flower festivals, harvest suppers, something called a Cameo Club Social Evening. The church has a reputation for concerts and exhibitions. A vast open space is used as a café, open most days. Holy Trinity is also very famous for its bat colonies, with over 600 at the height of the season. They often fly around if violin music is played, and have been known to dive-bomb the bride at weddings!
The neighbourhood:
Next to the church stands the 130ft tower of Tattershall Castle, which stands proud in the flat landscape of the Lincolnshire countryside. From the top of the tower you can have a good view of the planes coming up the runway from RAF Coningsby, home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. A mile out of Tattershall lies the resting place of the remaining wreckage from the Boeing 747 that was blown up over Lockerbie.
The cast:
The Revd Canon John Moore officiating, led by reader Mrs Sheila Mullinger. Ms E. Knowles played organ and interceded.
The date & time:
5 September 2010, 10.00am.
What was the name of the service?
Sung Eucharist.
How full was the building?
Around 30 people were present. Only part of the church is used for the service as the church is huge.
Did anyone welcome you personally?
As I walked into the service part I was greeted by Mr Mullinger, and several others whose names I can't remember but was told. As soon as I sat down, Canon John Moore came and gave me a very enthusiastic welcome, and then introduced me to the reader and the two women in front of me. When the service started I was welcomed by name, which was lovely.
Was your pew comfortable?
The wooden pew was fine. The church has many bats, which are of course protected, so before each service protective covers have to be taken off. Not one sight of bat droppings anywhere, very clean.
How would you describe the pre-service atmosphere?
The atmosphere was of quiet talking and of everyone being friendly but with reverence. The bells were ringing.
What were the exact opening words of the service?
Canon John Moore stood looking at everyone for a moment, and then with a lovely smile and arms open he said: "Good morning and welcome to my brothers and sisters in Christ." He gave a special welcome to the two children present, and then to me, the obvious stranger in their midst.
What books did the congregation use during the service?
I was given a lovely booklet containing
Holy Communion: Order One
Common Worship
, beautifully set out. I was also offerred a booklet that contained collects and readings. The hymnbook was
Hymns Old and New
. I was also given a leaflet called "Sunday Link" with details of services etc.
What musical instruments were played?
An organ. I think it was an electric thing as I couldn't see any pipes (
sorry, not very musical!)
. Very efficient.
Did anything distract you?
It was by no means a nasty intrusion, but I had a
shark try to eat me! Let me explain: There were two delighful children behind me, playing with a plastic shark and some other toys. They came and had a little look at me a few times by squeezing around the pew. Charming. I wasn't distracted by it, but I was very interested in how things were done at the altar. The reader prepared the altar, assisted by a very able server, beautifully attired. After communion I noticed Sheila the reader consumned the wine and tidied up.
Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or what?
The worship was lovely: more than halfway up the candle, I think. Six candles on the altar, two at the side. Canon John has a way about him: he has a very welcoming disposition, and took his time with his words. His invitation to the peace was so meant. I was particulary pleased that he didn't hog the entire service to himself. A chap called Len was asked to pray the Collect, so there were many involved in worship. It felt good, and if someone had made a mistake no one would have minded, and probably had a giggle about it.
The gospel procession was done with great reverence. I was having a good old nose as I like to see things done properly, and it was. In the prayer of consecration the server rang his bells. Sadly, incense was not the order of the day.
At communion a man stood by the two steps leading up to the altar, and he held out an arm to assist people down the steps. I thought that was charming and held onto his arm, just to show chivalry is not dead!
Exactly how long was the sermon?
The sermon was suprisingly short – six minutes.
On a scale of 1-10, how good was the preacher?
5 – I have a thing about the amount of boring sermons that are preached in churches. So I eagerly awaited this one. It was preached around the gospel, which was Luke 14:25-33 (on counting the cost of being a disciple), not the most inspiring of passages. I am so sorry to be saying this, because I think the preacher struggled with a rather boring subject. I felt there was too much biblical reference, and not enough human element in it. Nothing to even remotely make one smile, or nod, or shake one's head. I watched others in the congregation and some of them were looking around them. I thought maybe it was the wrong congregation for that sermon. Something more personal in its contents would have made them sit up and listen. I say all this with charity and love. I suppose what I am trying to say there was no Oomph in it! Sorry.
In a nutshell, what was the sermon about?
I think thepoint was that we must prepare for the spiritual life..
Which part of the service was like being in heaven?
The server ringing bells. Canon John's persona – his caring nature and spirituality came through. I loved the way he spoke about and to the two children. They took some little pen drawings up for him to look at. He asked if they were Jesus, and both he and Sheila thought that's what the pictures portrayed. The little chap said "No, it's a robot." We all clapped them – they seemed very at home there.
And which part was like being in... er... the other place?
The invitation to share the peace was done most lovingly, but most people seemd a bit uncomfortable with it. Personally I like to go around at least shaking hands. I didn't feel I could as a visitor, but then I probably have frightened them all to death. I think also I would like to have seen a little more of the Holy Spirit within people. The Spirit was there but probably hibernating for the winter!
What happened when you hung around after the service looking lost?
I was shown to the café for coffee. This is situated in the back of the church. People were friendly, and I had a lovely talk with the server. Café tables had pretty tableclothes. Parts of the church still had there bat covers on. What a problem. I stepped on, and then noticed, a tiny little memorial stone to "Tom Thumb" – it seems he was a Tattershall man. The
pièce de résistance
was the very new toilets. What a relief – a church with loo! Very disability friendly.
How would you describe the after-service coffee?
I an not sure if the coffee was fairly traded. I have yet to taste a decent cup of church coffee anywhere in Lincolnshire – now there's a challenge!
How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?
8 – Such a big church, but the worship part has been made comfortable. I feel maybe it could be a place I could worship in. There is lots going on. John and Sheila were so lovely. Again, as with all the churches in the area, I worry about the ageing congregation. Older people are so valuable to us with their wisdom and understanding, but how is Holy Trinity going to keep going when the bat population is bigger than the human one? I wish them many blessings – they are trying so hard to keep the church going. Their love of Christ is evident, so I pray he enfolds his arms around them and keeps them going.
Did the service make you feel glad to be a Christian?
I am always glad and estatic to be a Christian. But I am also sad that Christianity has that big F word to fight all the time. I mean "financial". Yes, the service filled me with warmth and a feeling of being part of something fantastic – if only things like bats and money didn't get in the way.
What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time?
Canon John's sincerity.
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tag | 20efea74affbf52b0fe638082269a87c07f5074a | |
tagger | airnan <firstname.lastname@example.com> | Sun Jun 11 20:24:39 2023 -0400 |
object | 493be1d2a60ebf22d3330c63d05fc977cf15c3af |
version 5.12.1
commit | 493be1d2a60ebf22d3330c63d05fc977cf15c3af | [log] [tgz] |
author | airnan <firstname.lastname@example.com> | Sun Jun 11 20:24:13 2023 -0400 |
committer | airnan <email@example.com> | Sun Jun 11 20:24:13 2023 -0400 |
tree | c997957b6bbef1ef43d5365927e6b678192f29b0 | |
parent | 308101ff5a91d3b96c3db6df999d253f59ba364c [diff] |
version 5.12.1
Lottie is a mobile library for Web, and iOS that parses Adobe After Effects animations exported as json with Bodymovin and renders them natively on mobile!
For the first time, designers can create and ship beautiful animations without an engineer painstakingly recreating it by hand. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words so here are 13,000:
Download it from from aescripts + aeplugins: https://aescripts.com/bodymovin/
Or get it from the adobe store https://exchange.adobe.com/creativecloud.details.12557.html CC 2014 and up.
Close After Effects
Extract the zipped file on build/extension/bodymovin.zxp
to the adobe CEP folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\CEP\extensions or
/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/bodymovin
(you can open the terminal and type:
$ cp -R YOURUNZIPEDFOLDERPATH/extension /Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/bodymovin
then type:
$ ls /Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/bodymovin
to make sure it was copied correctly type)
Edit the registry key:
open the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Adobe/CSXS.6
and add a key named PlayerDebugMode
, of type String, and value 1
open the file ~/Library/Preferences/com.adobe.CSXS.6.plist
and add a row with key PlayerDebugMode
, of type String, and value 1
Install the zxp manually following the instructions here: https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/installingextensionsandaddons.html Skip directly to "Install third-party extensions"
brew tap danielbayley/adobe brew cask install lottie
Old Versions
# with npm npm install lottie-web # with bower bower install bodymovin
Or you can use the script file from here: https://cdnjs.com/libraries/bodymovin Or get it directly from the AE plugin clicking on Get Player
See a basic implementation here.
Here's a video tutorial explaining how to export a basic animation and load it in an html page

You can call lottie.loadAnimation() to start an animation. It takes an object as a unique param with:
It returns the animation instance you can control with play, pause, setSpeed, etc.
lottie.loadAnimation({ container: element, // the dom element that will contain the animation renderer: 'svg', loop: true, autoplay: true, path: 'data.json' // the path to the animation json });
Check this wiki page for an explanation for each setting. https://github.com/airbnb/lottie-web/wiki/Composition-Settings
Animation instances have these main methods:
: 1 is normal speed.value
: numeric value.isFrame
: defines if first argument is a time based value or a frame based (default false).value
: numeric value.isFrame
: defines if first argument is a time based value or a frame based (default false).direction
: 1 is forward, -1 is reverse.segments
: array. Can contain 2 numeric values that will be used as first and last frame of the animation. Or can contain a sequence of arrays each with 2 numeric values.forceFlag
: boolean. If set to false, it will wait until the current segment is complete. If true, it will update values immediately.useSubFrames
: If false, it will respect the original AE fps. If true, it will update on every requestAnimationFrame with intermediate values. Default is true.inFrames
: If true, returns duration in frames, if false, in seconds.lottie.play() -- with 1 optional parameter name to target a specific animation
lottie.stop() -- with 1 optional parameter name to target a specific animation
lottie.goToAndStop(value, isFrame, name) -- Moves an animation with the specified name playback to the defined time. If name is omitted, moves all animation instances.
lottie.setSpeed() -- first argument speed (1 is normal speed) -- with 1 optional parameter name to target a specific animation
lottie.setDirection() -- first argument direction (1 is normal direction.) -- with 1 optional parameter name to target a specific animation
lottie.searchAnimations() -- looks for elements with class "lottie" or "bodymovin"
lottie.loadAnimation() -- Explained above. returns an animation instance to control individually.
lottie.destroy(name) -- Destroys an animation with the specified name. If name is omitted, destroys all animation instances. The DOM element will be emptied.
lottie.registerAnimation() -- you can register an element directly with registerAnimation. It must have the "data-animation-path" attribute pointing at the data.json url
lottie.getRegisteredAnimations() -- returns all animations instances
lottie.setQuality() -- default 'high', set 'high','medium','low', or a number > 1 to improve player performance. In some animations as low as 2 won't show any difference.
lottie.setLocationHref() -- Sets the relative location from where svg elements with ids are referenced. It's useful when you experience mask issues in Safari.
lottie.freeze() -- Freezes all playing animations or animations that will be loaded
lottie.unfreeze() -- Unfreezes all animations
lottie.inBrowser() -- true if the library is being run in a browser
lottie.resize() -- Resizes all animation instances
you can also use addEventListener with the following events:
lottie.loadAnimation({ container: element, // the dom element renderer: 'svg', loop: true, autoplay: true, animationData: animationData, // the animation data // ...or if your animation contains repeaters: // animationData: cloneDeep(animationData), // e.g. lodash.clonedeep rendererSettings: { context: canvasContext, // the canvas context, only support "2d" context preserveAspectRatio: 'xMinYMin slice', // Supports the same options as the svg element's preserveAspectRatio property title: 'Accessible Title', // Adds SVG title element for accessible animation title description: 'Accessible description.', // Adds SVG desc element for accessible long description of animation clearCanvas: false, progressiveLoad: false, // Boolean, only svg renderer, loads dom elements when needed. Might speed up initialization for large number of elements. hideOnTransparent: true, //Boolean, only svg renderer, hides elements when opacity reaches 0 (defaults to true) className: 'some-css-class-name', id: 'some-id', } });
Doing this you will have to handle the canvas clearing after each frame
Another way to load animations is adding specific attributes to a dom element. You have to include a div and set it's class to "lottie". If you do it before page load, it will automatically search for all tags with the class "lottie". Or you can call lottie.searchAnimations()
after page load and it will search all elements with the class "lottie".

You can preview or take an svg snapshot of the animation to use as poster. After you render your animation, you can take a snapshot of any frame in the animation and save it to your disk. I recommend to pass the svg through an svg optimizer like https://jakearchibald.github.io/svgomg/ and play around with their settings.
If you have any images or AI layers that you haven't converted to shapes (I recommend that you convert them, so they get exported as vectors, right click each layer and do: "Create shapes from Vector Layers"), they will be saved to an images folder relative to the destination json folder. Beware not to overwrite an existing folder on that same location.
This is real time rendering. Although it is pretty optimized, it always helps if you keep your AE project to what is necessary
More optimizations are on their way, but try not to use huge shapes in AE only to mask a small part of it.
Too many nodes will also affect performance.
If you have any animations that don't work or want me to export them, don't hesitate to write.
I'm really interested in seeing what kind of problems the plugin has.
my email is email@example.com
npm install
or bower install
first npm start
This project exists thanks to all the people who contribute. [Contribute].
Become a financial contributor and help us sustain our community. [Contribute]
Support this project with your organization. Your logo will show up here with a link to your website. [Contribute]


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Carrie Underwood's 5-Year-Old Son Corrected Her When She Got Some Lyrics Wrong
Anyone who's heard Carrie Underwood's rendition of "Little Drummer Boy" with her 5-year-old son Isaiah by her side can attest to the fact that the singer's young son has inherited some of her vocal powers. In fact, Underwood herself is pretty impressed by the talent Isaiah added to her new Christmas album, My Gift.
"Isaiah's always had, like, that perfect little kid voice. He really has," the singer explains on a new episode of Today's Country Radio With Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music Country. "Even when he was itty bitty, it was just the perfect little tenor, and it was just such a cute little voice."
But Underwood goes on to say that vocal ability isn't the only thing she's passed down to her son. He also inherited her Type A approach to getting the words right and making sure everyone else does, too.
"He loves to sing and he memorizes lyrics, and even if sometimes I'm singing something from one of his little shows, he'll be like, 'No, that's not how it goes,'" she continues. "The fact that you know that, and the fact that you correct me, is so me. That's the me in you."
Underwood has said that it was an unforgettable experience bringing her son into the studio, and once she heard the way their song turned out, she couldn't have been prouder of his participation in her Christmas album. In fact, after recording "Little Drummer Boy," Underwood admits she knew right away that that was going to be the highlight of the project.
"Everything we did after that, I'm like, 'Well, it doesn't matter anyway, because this is Isaiah's record,'" she adds. "This is his album, let's be real."


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the last giveaway for customer appreciation week is this little guy: mr. robot, the necklace! he is ever so popular at my shows. You can request him in this color combo: black + aqua heart. Or he is available in silver or gold with a RED heart, your choice.
we'll make it easy for today: just leave a comment! any comment will do. your weekend plans. a "hello" telling me who you are. maybe you to see more of something on the blog or you have some helpful feedback for oh, hello friend. this is your chance to say whatever is on your mind ;)
Giveaway will end on August 9 -- check back here for winners! Please also leave your email address or be sure to check back here to see if you're the winner. Some of your names do not link to your blogger profile so I have no way of contacting you.


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Photos on Helen's Blog – Sept 3-Oct 13, 2014
Here are photos and collages on Helen's Blog from September 3 to October 13, 2014. Larger photos and full credits are either on the blog or on the website. I do hope you will take the time to be inspired by these great photos, some from the past, but all relevant today. You just must check out the new John Sahag albums up there on the website and see how tomorrow's man did hair for today, even in the 80s and 90s, why you should credit photos you share, the fab fashionistas at New York Fashion Week for Spring 2015 and, well, everything here, there, everywhere.
Scroll down the blog, past Pages 1, 2 and 3 or you will miss a lot! Check out all past blogs by scrolling down on this page, a fast way to see what you may have missed.


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Readefine Desktop beautifies Google Reader articles, RSS, plain text and HTML for easy reading. View multiple articles in a fluid, magazine style layout or navigate one article at a time in a book like multi-column layout. Tweak settings like font size, justification, column width, etc. for that perfect look.
Available on Windows, Mac, Linux. Use the installation badge above to install Readefine Desktop. For alternate methods to install, click here.
Follow @readefine | |
Tweet |
Checking number of downloads...
Readefine has a blog and is on Twitter. The original blog post about Readefine is available for historical reasons, but much has changed since then.
Follow these steps if the installation badge did not work for you:
Readefine v2.49 © 2011 by Anirudh Sasikumar.
Follow Readefine on twitter or stay in touch via Readefine's blog.


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Metal Buildings
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Create the impossible by superimposing images.
By overlaying images, you can combine multiple snapshots into a single work of art. Explore different ways to superimpose images, and start your next project with the photo editing tools in Photoshop.
Find new ways to combine images in Adobe Photoshop.
"Essentially, when you superimpose an image, you combine two images to create something new," says Photoshop expert Jesús Ramirez. Superimposing is a broad term, and describes a wide variety of effects that a designer or photographer can use to merge, composite, and edit images.
By superimposing elements onto an image, you can create an illusion or conceal something in the original image. So whether you're layering an updated logo onto a product photo or you're compositing images together to make a collage, overlaying images is an important photo editing technique to understand.
Make a double exposure.
A unique way to overlay images is with a double exposure. A double exposure is a combination of two or more photos. Historically produced by creating two exposures on one piece of film, it's easy to create double exposures digitally. In Photoshop, you can quickly adjust the opacity of each image and even apply exposure gradients to your second image. This gradient will subtly fade your image, giving it a soft, subtle edge.
"Another way to superimpose an image onto another is by combining them using a blending mode in Photoshop," says Ramirez. These blending modes determine different ways that layers interact with each other. A layer's blend mode is set to Normal by default, meaning the layers don't interact or blend with each other. By changing these modes and experimenting with layer masks, you can merge the images together and create a new look.
Another way to combine images is to cut and paste sections of photos together. With the Lasso tool or Magic Wand tool, you can quickly make selections and cut out objects from their backgrounds. From there, you can easily copy and paste them onto other images. When you're done pasting an object, resize and scale it to fit the scene, or apply effects to help it blend into the background.
How to superimpose images.
Follow this tutorial to replace the background of an image and make it appear to exist somewhere else.
1. Organize your images in Photoshop.
Open the two images you want to work with in Photoshop, and organize the layers so the image you want on top is stacked above the background image. The order of layers matters when it comes to compositing and superimposing images.
2. Remove the background.
Click Remove Background to automatically remove the background of the top image and generate a new Layer Mask. This hides pixels without deleting them. "In Photoshop, you want to work nondestructively — in case you make a mistake, you can come back and restore the image," says Ramirez.
3. Adjust the mask.
Once Photoshop removes the background, you can tweak and adjust the image to make it look more realistic. Start by editing the edges of the Layer Mask using the Brush tool. By painting on the layer mask with black, white, or different opacities of either, you can create subtle gradients between two images that gently blend them together.
4. Add blur to the background.
In typical photos, objects in the background will be slightly out of focus, because the depth of field is shallow and the camera is focusing on the person or subject in the foreground. Recreate this depth of field and give your image a more cohesive look by adding dimension with Gaussian Blurs. To add blur, select the background layer, then go to Filter › Blur › Gaussian Blur. From there, you can adjust the intensity of the blur to create a difference in depth.
5. Turn it into a Smart Object.
"A Smart Object is a container that holds one or more layers. This allows you to apply nondestructive adjustments, distortions, filters, and transformations. In other words, you can always come back and make changes," says Ramirez. By making your layers into a smart object, you can treat your combined layers as one image.
6. Make the final adjustments.
By treating your multiple layers as one image, you can now adjust the contrast, temperature, and saturation uniformly, giving the final image an even more cohesive appearance. From there, just export it as a PNG or JPG to easily post online or add to your portfolio.
Let your imagination guide you.
You can use superimposed images to change the view from your bedroom window, to edit something funny into a historical photo, or to create evocative and thoughtful pieces of art. And with photo editors like Photoshop, you can create on your iPhone, iPad, or computer — whenever inspiration strikes. If you need a little help getting started, explore inspiration on Behance to see what your peers are up to.
Do more with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
Edit photos easily with Lightroom presets, Super Resolution, easily share photos from any device, and access your projects anywhere with cloud photo storage management.
You might also be interested in…
Craft surreal images using digital photomontage.
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How to put one face on another to fix photos, make memes, and give people a new look.
Learn when to use Gaussian blur filters and gain a better understanding of how they work.
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Louisville KY Tax Preparer Elizabeth Warford
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Give your room a dash of style with the Moroccan Pouf Ottoman. It is available in many beautiful colors to choose from. The round hand-made pouf is made from goatskin leather that enhances its strength and durability. It is stuffed with filling fibers that gives you perfect comfort and relaxation when you rest on it. The ottoman is perfect for seating and introduces a world-inspired appeal to any room. Pouf can be wiped clean with a damp cloth.
for interior design tips, exclusive sales, and new product releases


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2020-11-23 Product news
Start-up of Alfa Laval's new brazed heat exchanger factory paves the way for greater capacity and enhanced customer experience
Alfa Laval's brazed heat exchanger (BHE) production is moving into a new, purpose-built factory in San Bonifacio, Italy. Though only a short distance from the current site in Alonte, it will be a significant leap in terms of customer service and experience. Manufacturing has already begun at the advanced new facility, and preparations are being made for research and customer training on site.
Today's answer to tomorrow's challenges
As the need for energy-saving thermal equipment grows, Alfa Laval is ensuring not only the capacity to meet customer demand, but also the resources for continued development of heat exchanger solutions. The new BHE factory in San Bonifacio, where all major building work has now been completed, is a key part of this effort.
"Our new Italian factory will benefit Alfa Laval customers on many levels," says Fredrik Ekström, President Business Unit Brazed & Fusion Bonded Heat Exchangers. "Larger, more automated and better situated for logistics, it has ample room for further growth and will shore up our BHE capacity for many years to come. In addition, it will feature an advanced lab for refrigerant research and a well-equipped training centre. The move drives both our production and our collaboration with customers forward."
BHE production at the cutting edge
Modern in all aspects, the San Bonifacio factory is designed for efficiency, which includes having 1 MW of solar power installed on its roof. Besides loading bays, forklift-free internal logistics and other physical improvements over the Alonte site, it will have a digitalized warehouse management system to oversee the flow of materials and goods. In addition to increased capacity, the production itself boasts many new advances in manufacturing.
"In every way, the San Bonifacio factory integrates the future into today's manufacturing," says Massimo Balestrini, Vice President Operations and Product Group President BHE/FHE & WHE. "It has more space for machines, but above all it will be more productive. By automating processes and logistics, and by digitalizing in-factory communication, we make the work smooth and certain. This is a smart factory where speed, safety and quality will benefit everyone."
Ensuring a smooth transition for customers
While the technology is important, the human element is key in making the move to San Bonifacio a success. "Our first priority is ensuring customers' access to our products and expertise," says Riccardo Marchetti, Senior Manager, Operations Development BHE and Project Manager for the San Bonifacio site. "We chose a location close to Alonte in order to retain our skilled workforce, including our application and laboratory specialists. Likewise, the move is a transition over many months, so as to prevent any quality or delivery disturbances."
Despite the challenges of an ongoing pandemic, the transition has stayed largely on schedule. In September, the new factory received its ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 certifications, as well as PED, ASME and UL certifications. During the course of November, the ISO 50001 energy certification is expected to follow.
Elevating the customer experience
As production goes forward in San Bonifacio, Alfa Laval customers can expect more developments in the coming months. In particular, they can anticipate the opening of the refrigerant/thermal laboratory and the on-site training centre, which will offer them a wide range of new possibilities.
"This move is not only about building capacity, but also about building our cooperation with customers," says Fredrik Ekström. "Customers will benefit immediately from the improvements in processes and logistics. However, the promise of the new San Bonifacio site is that we will continue to advance thermal innovation and deliver new levels of customer experience."
>> Learn more about brazed heat exchangers and Alfa Laval's approach to thermal applications.
Editor's notes
This is Alfa Laval
Alfa Laval is active in the areas of Energy, Marine, and Food & Water, offering its expertise, products, and service to a wide range of industries in some 100 countries. The company is committed to optimizing processes, creating responsible growth, and driving progress – always going the extra mile to support customers in achieving their business goals and sustainability targets.
Alfa Laval's innovative technologies are dedicated to purifying, refining, and reusing materials, promoting more responsible use of natural resources. They contribute to improved energy efficiency and heat recovery, better water treatment, and reduced emissions. Thereby, Alfa Laval is not only accelerating success for its customers, but also for people and the planet. Making the world better, every day. It's all about Advancing better™.
Alfa Laval has 17,500 employees. Annual sales in 2019 were SEK 46.5 billion (approx. EUR 4.4 billion). The company is listed on Nasdaq OMX.
Quick facts: Alfa Laval in San Bonifacio
Total site area = 31,000 m2
Production area and logistics = 15,000 m2
Office and laboratory area = 6,000 m2
Alfa Laval copper-brazed plate heat exchangers are a compact, efficient and maintenance-free solution for heating, cooling, evaporation and condensing in numerous applications.
For further information, please contact:
Fredrik Ekström, President
Business Unit Brazed & Fusion Bonded Heat Exchangers
Energy Division, Alfa Laval
Phone: +46 705 547 409
E-mail: email@example.com
Therese Tonning
Marketing Communication Manager
Business Unit Brazed & Fusion Bonded Heat Exchangers
Energy Division, Alfa Laval
Phone: +46 46 36 72 09
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Black Sabbath Launch Online Escape Room in Honor of 'Sabotage' Reissue
Black Sabbath has launched a fun, new online escape room perfect for wasting time at work…I mean…perfect for testing your Sabbath knowledge.
Created to celebrate the new reissue of the band's sixth studio album, Sabotage, out now, the escape room game takes up to 15 minutes to play and features various Sabbath-themed challenges.
The free game can be previewed below and can be played at SabotageEscape.com. Fans are also encouraged to share their play time via social media with the hashtag #SabotageEscapeRoom.
Enter the new 'Sabotage' online escape room. Your mission is to recover a copy of the coveted Sabotage: Super Deluxe Edition. Test your knowledge of the band and solve the puzzles as quickly as possible.
— BlackSabbath (@BlackSabbath) June 15, 2021
Play here: https://t.co/4NTFi52byo#SabotageEscapeRoom pic.twitter.com/1JWjMEZ8Zf
Black Sabbath: The Best 30 Songs From The Ozzy Osbourne Era(s), Ranked
It was also the beginning of the end; the leadoff song on '13,' Sabbath's first album with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978's 'Never Say Die'; it was also their final album. Like a lot of other songs on the Rick Rubin-produced album, it had a lot of sonic references to the band's 1970 debut; in the case of this song, it bore quite a bit of resemblance to "Black Sabbath."
29. "It's Alright" - 'Technical Ecstasy' (1976) - Yeah, we said that all of the songs on this list are from the Ozzy Osbourne era, but not all of them featured Ozzy on lead vocals. "It's Alright" is a lovely piano-driven mid-tempo ballad featuring drummer Bill Ward on vocals. This song could hold its own along with a lot of the soft-rock hits of the '70s.
Sabbath saw that the drugs were taking over; this anthem isn't about the weather, but rather about how cocaine is a hell of a drug, and it tends to be all-consuming.
"Why make the hard road? Why can't we be friends? No need to hurry: we'll meet in the end" seemed to predict their impending split - within two years, Ozzy would be out of the band and Bill Ward soon followed. And indeed, they did get back together decades later, but it was often without Ward.
Is it about madness, the ozone layer, or both? Tough to say, but elsewhere on the album, the Sabs asked "Am I Going Insane?"
On '13,' Sabbath focused on their lengthier epics, but "Loner" was one of the few songs clocking in at under five minutes, and it holds up against much of their earlier catalog (as evidenced by its high placement on our list).
A heartbreaking piano ballad, the lyrics were inspired by Bill Ward's divorce; oddly, Ward doesn't appear on the song, which simply features Ozzy crooning, with Tony Iommi on piano and mellotron and Geezer Butler on bass and mellotron. But the song was universal enough that anyone could apply it to their lives; Ozzy re-recorded it decades later as a duet with his daughter Kelly, and it definitely took on a new meaning in that context.
Tony Iommi was the king of incredible riffs in the early '70s (you'll note that we marvel at his riffs often on this list), and "Lord Of This World" has one of his best. Sabbath was often accused of Satanism -- an accusation they laughed at -- and the lyrics here warned of the consequences of choosing evil: "Your world was made for you by someone above/But you chose evil ways instead of love/You made me master of the world where you exist/The soul I took from you was not even missed."
Black Sabbath has never been big on covers, but their first single, "Evil Woman" is a cover by a little known band called Crow, from their 1969 album 'Crow Music.' Funny enough, the song didn't sound nearly as evil as anything from Sabbath's first few albums.
One of Sabbath's faster songs, it is often cited as an early precursor to thrash metal and has been covered by Sepultura and Helmet.
It's one of Sabbath's darkest songs, and that's really saying something. But after describing the ways humans ravaged the earth, a few lucky souls escape the planet and make their home elsewhere: "Leave the earth to Satan and his slaves/Leave them to their future in their graves/Make a home where love is there to stay/Peace and happiness in every day."
The 14 minute-plus epic that brought the debut album to a close, it shows the band's prog-rock influence, but it's also one of the bluesiest songs in their cannon. The third section of the song was another cover: "Warning" was by the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation. Most fans wouldn't know it unless they checked the credits: it just sounds like a Sabbath song, and you can hear them evolving during the song. Fun fact: Aynsley Dunbar, like the original members of Sabbath, is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer: he was the drummer on Journey's first few albums.
18. "Jack The Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots" - 'Paranoid' (1970) - Even before punk rock, punks and metalheads had beef; Geezer Butler has said that Ozzy Osbourne wrote the lyrics to this one about a bunch of skinheads calling him a "fairy" because of his long hair. Ironically, a bunch of longhaired punks -- the Ramones -- would open for Sabbath a few years later. And wouldn't you know it: they got booed fairly often.
Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has always cited jazz as an influence, and you really get that in this jam from Sabbath's debut. Lyrically, it's a working-class anthem on par with Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son": "A politician's job they say is very high/For he has to choose who's got to go and die/They can put a man on the moon quite easy/While people here on earth are dying of old diseases."
The Ramones may not have gone down well with Black Sabbath's fans, but on the title track to their final album with Ozzy (before their reunions), you could almost hear a "1-2-3-4!" In retrospect, the album's title is ironic, given that both Ozzy and Bill would be out of the band in a few years. Years later, though, it served as a rallying cry, and Sabbath -- with Ozzy on vocals and sometimes, with Bill behind the kit -- was a huge touring band from the late '90s through the mid '10s.
A powerful anthem of self-reliance: the lyrics reject religion, instead urging the listener, "Don't let those empty people/ Try and interfere with your mind /Go and live your life/And leave them all behind."
Black Sabbath are often viewed as the antidote to '60s and early '70s hippie rock, but like many west coast bands, the Sabs were against war. For the hippies, it might have been because discipline is, like, a drag, man. For Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill, they grew up in Birmingham, England during a time when the wreckage from World War II was part of their landscape. They may not have lived through a war, but they knew what the aftermath looked like. So when Ozzy wailed, "Show the world that love is still alive you must be brave/Or you children of today are children of the grave," it wasn't about showing up to San Francisco with flowers in your hair, it was about survival.
Another anthem of self-reliance: "Got no religion, don't need no friends/Got all I want and I don't need to pretend/Don't try to reach me, 'cause I'd tear up your mind/I've seen the future and I've left it behind." The song is one of Bill Ward's finest moments with the band. It also inspired one of the best Sabbath covers: the version by 1,000 Homo DJs -- featuring Al Jourgensen of Ministry and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails -- is classic. But not as good as the original.
A couple of pieces of music that were put together for one track stretching to nearly ten minutes, "Behind The Wall Of Sleep" was a great lead into a short Geezer Butler showcase. But the final movement -- "N.I.B." -- had one of Tony Iommi's most fearsome riffs. The lyrics, by Butler, were deliciously evil: they were about Lucifer seducing a woman.
11. "Electric Funeral" - "Paranoid" (1970) - Another apocalyptic warning about the future if humanity kept on the course of never-ending wars, set to some of Tony Iommi's creepiest guitar playing.
10. "The Wizard" from 'Black Sabbath' (1970) - Sabbath mostly left the Tolkien-inspired lyrics to their neighbors in Led Zeppelin, but here, "The Wizard" was inspired by Gandalf, the character from 'The Lord Of The Rings' and 'The Hobbit.' The song is also notable for Ozzy's enthusiastic harmonica playing.
Of course Black Sabbath is probably still the heaviest band of all time. But they don't get enough credit for their mellow side. "Planet Caravan," though, is one of their best songs, and features gently picked and strummed guitar by Iommi, who also plays flute, and Ward lightly tapping on congas. It's another song that inspired a great cover: Pantera even got mellow to record this one.
Stoner metal starts here. The cough at the beginning of the song is Tony Iommi, who was sharing a j with Ozzy at the time. The pro-marijuana theme might not have been totally responsible, but smoking inspired one of Iommi's greatest riffs (we know, we've been saying that a lot, but hey, who had better riffs than Tony Iommi?).
Over a decade before Bruce Springsteen sang about the plight of Vietnam vets in "Born In The U.S.A.," Sabbath looked at their situation in "Hand of Doom." It doesn't get much more dire than this: telling the tale of Vietnam vets who came home and became heroin addicts. While parents were worried about Sabbath's devil-related songs, those were all in good fun. This one wasn't: "First it was the bomb/Vietnam napalm/Disillusioning/You push the needle in."
It's understandable that religious parents would be unnerved by lyrics like "Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope? Do you think he's a fool?" The lyrics may criticize originated religion, but Geezer Butler, who wrote the lyrics, and who was raised Catholic, didn't deny the existence of a higher power: "Could it be you're afraid of what your friends might say If they knew you believe in God above? They should realize before they criticize that God is the only way to love!" It's a jam about tolerance and acceptance and respecting the beliefs of others.
OK, this one might actually be Tony Iommi's greatest riff. But it's certainly the one that saved the band. Iommi was dealing with writer's block while working on Sabbath's fifth album, and this riff came to him, breaking his slump.
One of Sabbath's biggest radio songs, it sounds like a 'Twilight Zone' episode set to doomy guitars, and it's amazing that no one offered lyricist Geezer Butler a gig as a screenwriter after this one. The main character in the song travels to and sees -- surprise! -- an impending apocalypse. As he returns to the present "he was turned to steel/In the great magnetic field." Sure, maybe some explanation for time travel and transforming into steel might be required. Anyway! He tries to warn everyone in the present about the future. No one believes him, they all mock him and he decides to smite them himself, creating the apocalypse he had been trying to prevent!
Black Sabbath's biggest international hit single (it topped the pop charts in Germany, hit #2 in Switzerland, and #4 in the UK) is also one of their shortest, coming in at less than three minutes. Geezer Butler told Guitar World that the song "was written as an afterthought. We basically needed a three-minute filler for the album, and Tony came up with the riff. I quickly did the lyrics, and Ozzy was reading them as he was singing."
2. "War Pigs/Luke's Wall" - 'Paranoid' (1970) - By the time bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler came of age, mandatory military service in England had ended, but as the Vietnam War raged, Butler was worried about being drafted. Like his bandmates, he grew up poor, and in his case, two of his brothers had fought in the war. "War Pigs" -- with lyrics like "Generals gathered in their masses, just like witches at black masses" -- compared war to pure evil. It's not only one of the great metal or rock and roll songs ever, but one of the great anti-war protest songs of all time.
The first Black Sabbath song from the first Black Sabbath album, you could argue that this is ground zero for heavy metal. Geezer Butler's occult fascination inspired the truly creepy lyrics, which were written by Ozzy Osbourne -- who has never sounded more haunted. Bill Ward's drums are chaotic yet perfect and Tony Iommi's guitar has never sounded more evil.


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The Atlas of Palestine (1871-1877) in English
Refugees remain the most intractable issue of the Middle East conflict, as two new books show Ian Black Middle East editor guardian.co.uk Friday, 26 November 2010, 13.07 GMT Article history
Memories and maps feature prominently in the experience of Palestinians–a people scarred by dispossession, dispersion, occupation and profound uncertainty about their future. So amid the latest wrangling over the stalled peace talks with Israel come two sharp reminders of the depth of the conflict and how difficult it will be to resolve.
Salman Abu Sitta, a refugee from 1948, has spent years cataloguing the course and consequences of the nakbah (disaster) that Israel's "war of independence" represented for his people. Now he has published an updated version of his massive Atlas of Palestine, stuffed with tables, graphs and nearly 500 pages of maps that trace the transformation of the country starting with its conquest by the British in 1917 and the Balfour declaration's promise to create a "national home" for the Jews.
Aerial photographs taken by first world war German pilots are combined with mandate-era and Israeli maps supplemented by digitally enhanced satellite images that record old tribal boundaries, neighbourhoods and even individual buildings. Most striking are the hundreds of Arab villages that were destroyed or ploughed under fields, as well as postwar Jewish settlements and suburbs. The Abu Sitta family lands, for example, are now owned by Kibbutz Nirim, near the border with Gaza.
Abu Sitta is a leading expert on the nakbah and what is nowadays widely described as the "ethnic cleansing" it involved. There can be no mistaking where his sympathies lie and where he stands in the febrile debate about Zionist intentions. Still, large parts of his account draw on the history of the 1948 war as rewritten by revisionist Israeli scholars in recent years as archives have opened up and old myths been demolished.
He is also a passionate advocate of the "right of return", under which Palestinian refugees must be allowed to go back to their lost lands and property. Refugees are the single toughest issue of the Middle East conflict: the Oslo agreement between Israel and the PLO implied that the right would not be exercised inside pre-1967 Israel, but only in a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, and so, apart from a symbolic number of family reunifications, there would be no mass "return" to west Jerusalem, Haifa, Lydda or hundreds of now non-existent villages.
The notion was that such an arrangement would be part of a pragmatic final peace settlement that drew a line under a painful past. Abu Sitta, like many Palestinians, fiercely opposed Oslo, and his views have not wavered. What has changed is the sense that as prospects for that elusive two-state solution fade, the only alternatives are either the status quo of Israeli occupation, cementing what some call de facto apartheid, or one single democratic state in which Israelis and Palestinians live peacefully together–and to which the refugees could finally return.
It is hard to imagine how Israel would ever voluntarily agree to surrender the Jewish majority it has within the 1967 borders–the raison d'être of the Zionist movement. Yet it remains taboo even to question whether that right is ever likely to be exercised. Andrew Whitley, a senior official of Unwra, the UN agency that looks after Palestinian refugees, was forced to apologise recently when he called it a "cruel illusion" to suggest that the 1948 refugees would ever be able to go home .
Abu Sitta leafs through his atlas, which includes detailed plans for refugee repatriation, and insists otherwise. "In the age of advanced technology it is quite feasible to compare the rich and meticulously recorded history of Palestine with the existing electronic Israeli record of every Palestinian house and acre of land, who owned it and to which Jewish body it is leased", he writes. "From this, both cultural and physical restoration of Palestine could take place. What remains is the wisdom, enforced by political will, to implement it".
Social scientist Dina Matar also follows "the trajectory of a continuing nakbah," in her fine book about "what it means to be a Palestinian in the 21st century", but her mission is to record voices that are normally heard only in fragments and at times of crisis. This "composite biography" includes personal stories and "reconstructed experiences" from the 1936 rebellion against the British through to Oslo in 1993, and unifies the disparate worlds of Palestinians living in Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. Individual narratives of suffering, defiance and despair are linked by chapters of factual historical background, and tell of life in refugee camps, the experience of the Jordanian civil war or the first intifada, when the "children of the stones" took on the Israeli military but won only the brief attention of an indifferent world.
Matar, not surprisingly, identifies 1948 as the key date in Palestinian collective memory and notes "the persistent theme that the Palestinian sense of displacement was not the result of one specific event, but an ongoing process, continuing into the present".
Her telling subtitle–"stories of Palestinian peoplehood"–suggests that she too believes that the old aspiration of "statehood" is not likely to be realised any time soon.


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Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
T'was Grace that taught
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far
and Grace will lead us home.
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within in the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
When we've been here ten thousand years
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
then when we've first begun.
Lyrics by John Newton (1773)
Music origin unk.