text:
"At a time when Galway faces great challenges in health, housing and traffic, Budget 2018 is not providing the solutions.""An ambitious budget would have funded Sláintecare, the first cross-party plan for our health service. Budget 2018 didn't. An ambitious budget would have provided a fund to build a mix of affordable housing in Galway for sale and social housing, taking Galwegians off the streets and moving children out of hotel rooms and into homes. Budget 2018 didn't. An ambitious budget would have invested in bus networks and cycling lanes to unclog the streets of Galway. Budget 2018 didn't.""Instead of tackling the real problems facing the country, saving much more money in the future that could then be put back into people's pockets, government has tried to buy off every single voter with a fiver or a tenner a week. These major crises will now continue and worsen for at least another year because of government inaction. In the Social Democrats, we are trying to be honest with people about long-term solutions, keep taxes as they are and use the money to invest competently in the public services. We hope that the people of Galway will give us a chance to implement this kind of honest government at the next election."
Limerick situation suggests new A&E department will not solve Galway hospital woes
'The Future of Healthcare': October 5 at Harbour Hotel
"Despite having some of the most talented and hardworking frontline staff in the world, and one of the biggest budgets per person in the world for health, Ireland has struggled to do what most developed countries have been able to do – provide a decent public health service where everyone is taken care of safely, quickly, and affordably. To discuss these issues, I would like to warmly invite Galwegians who are interested in healthcare to this event. "
"Health reform is a key priority for the Social Democrats. For the first time in the history of the state, we have a cross-party plan for our health system called Sláintecare. It would move a lot of our healthcare outside of hospitals and into communities, and make care more affordable."
"Our population is growing and ageing, we are struggling to hire enough staff to fill hospital rotas and GP clinics even when the money is there, and we do not have enough services outside of hospital and closer to home. Most of my work is for the NHS in England and Scotland addressing these issues and I want to be part of the solution in Ireland too. I'll be giving an overview of some of my international health reform work, what lessons we could learn from that, and how we can translate political change into change in the health service."
"Is politics for you?": Saturday Aug 26 at Portershed
From today's Galway Advertiser:
Have you ever thought about getting involved in politics? This Saturday Aug 26 at 2pm at the PorterShed off Eyre Square, the Galway West Branch of the Social Democrats are holding a event called "Is Politics for you?".
The session will be mostly focused on the practicalities of what it is actually like to get involved in politics as an elected rep, candidate, campaign manager or party staff member. Organisers promise they will not be preaching about policy and instead will be focusing entirely on helping people to decide if getting more involved is for them.
Speaking before being available for Q&A will be Cllr. Dermot Looney – Councillor for South County Dublin on what it's like being an elected representative; Susan McGrady – Local Area Rep for Oranmore-Athenry on becoming a candidate/party representative; Anne Marie-McNally – Candidate Dublin Mid-West and Leinster House party staff member who will talk on working in politics and balancing politics and family life; and Sharon Nolan – National Executive – on the process for being selected as a Local Area Representative
Niall Ó Tuathail, Social Democrats Candidate for Galway will also be there to discuss local election plans for Galway and Sarah Jane Hennelly (Party Chairperson) will be there to answer any questions about the party nationally. If you have ever considered getting involved in politics, this event is for you!
"'We are already building and growing a grassroots movement based on that support base and are hoping to have a newly elected Social Democrat TD after the next General Election. If you would like to get involved in the campaign please email [email protected]," he said.
Niall Ó Tuathail predicts worst is yet to come on homelessness in Galway
Galway Advertiser: "Can Niall Ó Tuathail challenge a seat in Galway West?"
Is Labour's difficulty the Soc Dem's opportunity?
Niall Ó Tuathail's official announcement as the Social Democrats' Galway West candidate at the next General Election is simply confirmation of what many political watchers had long expected.
Mr Ó Tuathail ran in the 2016 election, gaining 5.38 per cent of first preferences and a total vote of 5,278 which saw him last to the 11th of that election's 14 counts. While he had hoped to challenge more substantially for a seat, and began the campaign with high hopes and confidence, his overall performance was, and was viewed by many, as quite respectable and a promising base from which to build on for the future.
Furthermore, a notable feature of his vote was that it overwhelmingly came from disillusioned former Labour voters, as well as from those for whom Sinn Féin is still somewhat problematic, and Solidarity and People Before Profit are too hard-Left – all indications that Labour's decline could be the Soc Dem's opportunity.
However following the election, Mr Ó Tuathail appeared to go to ground, while across the State, the Soc Dems seemed to become a moribund force, their momentum stalled. Establishing a new party is always difficult (just ask Lucinda Creighton ), but it began to look as though the party would never be any more than its founders and sitting TDs Catherine Murphy and Roisin Shorthall.
While the Soc Dems still have much to do to fully establish themselves and to capitalise on the now floating soft-Left/Liberal vote, an upswing in party activity in Galway has been noticeable in recent times, with Mr Ó Tuathail's re-emergence engaging in issues as diverse as the Connemara ambulances and the proposed renovations of Blackrock. The party has also been canvassing and in June appointed local area representatives for the Galway East region, with Rob Partridge representing the Loughrea electoral ward, and Susan McGrady for Oranmore/Athenry.
The challenge now is for the party in Galway to build on the potential that exists and turn it into momentum. Labour is down (very down ) right now, but will not always be so and in reality, both parties are competing for exactly the same vote.
Galway West's sitting TDs are Seán Kyne and Hildegarde Naughton (FG ), Éamon Ó Cuív (FF ), and Catherine Connolly and Noel Grealish (Ind ). Ó Cuív and Kyne are safe, meaning the battle is really for three seats. There has long been one Left seat in the constituency – a principle Michael D Higgins established in 1987 – and despite wishful thinking from some quarters, Dep Connolly remains the dominant Left presence in Galway West, with little to indicate this will change at the next election.
The question is, do two Left seats exist in Galway West? In 2016, the combined Left vote was 30.98 per cent – just under two quotas. Add in Independent councillor Mike Cubbard who draws some Left support and that becomes 34.28 – just over two quotas. So theoretically, the answer is yes. The eternal problem for the Left is that is extremely divided.
The Soc Dem's route (and Labour's ) to the Dáil is to try to take out FG's Dep Naughton, and position themselves as the 'only voice for the city' in the Dáil – an approach Dep Naughton worked quite effectively in 2016. In Mr Ó Tuathail, and in Labour's Cllr Niall McNelis, both parties have imaginative and energetic campaigners, but with recent polls showing the Soc Dems on two per cent and Labour at seven, neither is close to the 16.67 per cent quota needed in a five seater.
Yes, Hildegarde Naughton and Catherine Connolly's first preference votes were only 7.11 and 7.59 in 2016, but Dep Naughton had John O'Mahony's transfers to see her home while Dep Connolly can pull in huge transfers from the other Left candidates that Labour simply will not.
The spectre of Sinn Féin also looms large. As the third largest party in the State, a Galway West seat is surely a matter of when, not if, especially if SF ever decide to run a joint ticket of Sen Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and Cllr Mairead Farrell.
The Soc Dems' best hope in Galway remains taking over from Labour while that party is in the doldrums. Mr Ó Tuathail pointed out recently, "We were about 1,500 votes short at the last election and another 20 dedicated volunteers would have been the difference in winning". The Soc Dems have some highly capable and excellent people in their ranks in Galway – there is potential and commitment there which would be remiss of them to allow go to waste.
The battle within the Galway Left and for the (theoretically potential ) two Left seats in the constituency will be fascinating next time out. The potential is there, but the the question, as ever, for the Soc Dems is, is the party in a position to capitalise on it?
Niall Ó Tuathail selected as Social Democrats candidate for Galway West/South-Mayo
"I am proud to have the unanimous support of the incredible and growing team of volunteers in the Social Democrats Galway branch, as well as Róisín Shortall TD and Catherine Murphy TD."
"At the next election, I want to lead Galway into a conversation about the future – particularly the future of our healthcare system, the future of our city as we grow from being a large town to a small city, and the future of our politics where I believe we need a big new party that can lead government and implement ambitious ideas. I'm looking forward to having that conversation with people at the doorsteps, at public meetings, on social media and over the radio waves."
"We are delighted to have Niall as our candidate for Galway West for the next general election. He is a dedicated and tireless activist who offers a strong voice and vision for change in the community."Niall and his team bring real enthusiasm and ambition to our movement to build a social democratic republic based on the values of fairness, equality, growth and sustainability."I know Niall to be a person with great energy and integrity – in particular his deep knowledge and experience in the area of healthcare makes him a powerful advocate for reforms to build a fair and efficient health system of which we can be proud."
"We're delighted to have Niall Ó Tuathail stand again in Galway West, he has the drive to fight inequality and extensive experience in healthcare reform, we need more candidates of his calibre to truly represent the people of the West. Niall has inspired a diverse, proactive group of volunteers to join the team and our performance in the last General Election showed that there is a huge appetite for change amongst voters. We are already building and growing a grassroots movement based on that support base and are hoping to have a newly elected Social Democrat TD after the next General Election. If you would like to get involved in the campaign please email [email protected]"
Future of Healthcare Committee – what it means for Galway
Galway's public health services are on the medical equivalent of a life support machine. The A&E department of University Hospital Galway is so over-run that it is asking people not to come this week. People are tragically ending up in the Corrib due to lack of access to mental health services. Those with dementia are picking up infectious diseases while stuck in hospital beds that cost the HSE over 10,000 euro per month, preventable with a modest investment in their homes and home care packages. On a daily basis, patients and their families travel from all over the West of Ireland to an overloaded Galway hospital to receive basic healthcare that doesn't need to be administered in a hospital environment. To add insult to injury, up-front charges for GPs and A&E, as well as the cost of health insurance are spiraling upwards, adding to already strained family budgets.
Unfortunately, this outcome was predictable from the early 1950s when Ireland took a different path to a post-war Britain that launched the National Health Service (NHS). While the modern NHS has its problems, it is still an excellent publicly-run health system that is financed by income taxes rather than charging people for care when they need it. It is a little known fact that the Irish government of the day almost took the same approach, but it was fought by the Department of Finance who said we couldn't afford it, and by the Church which feared losing control of the hospitals. It turns out that we couldn't afford not to build an Irish NHS we are now paying the cost of that decision with an expensive and unfair health service that has cost taxpayers unnecessary billions and, more importantly, unnecessarily cost our people healthy years on this earth with their loved ones.
A Chinese proverb goes that that the best time to plant a tree was decades ago and the second best time is today.
This week, the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare, chaired by my Social Democrats colleague Róisín Shortall TD, published Sláintecare – the first coherent, long term plan in the history of the state that has cross-political support. The ambitious ten-year plan would see us get the majority of our healthcare (such as diabetes, COPD, dialysis appointments as well as minor injuries, blood tests and scans) from our GPs, small community clinics and primary care centres. All evidence shows that this will improve people's health and will be more convenient, as services will be delivered to all closer to home. The plan would also ensure that at least 10% of Ireland's healthcare budget will be invested in mental health, an area with huge need for expanded services.
What could this mean in practice for people in Galway? It won't solve our issues overnight, but as the proposed upfront investment hits the ground, waiting lists would begin getting shorter. New GP clinics and primary care centres with a broad range of services would be set up all over the county. Your local health centre would see increases in staffing levels and opening hours. Primary and community care teams would be strengthened – that would improve your access to public health nurses, counselors, eye doctors, speech and language therapists, dentists and home care assistants. In the NHS, where I work on health reform, we are even safely providing minor surgery and chemotherapy in the community.
Galway hospital would get much needed investment and refurbishment, and this plan could end the debate on Merlin Park. The question isn't whether a brand new hospital, if fully staffed, would benefit Galway. The answer to that is obviously yes. The real question is what is the best way to spend limited money to improve the health of Galwegians, and the direction from Sláintecare – and also the direction we are taking in the NHS – would suggest that strengthening primary care is the best thing to do for people's health and the best way to take pressure off hospitals.
Speaking of money, how would this impact your pocket? There is no question that we need to make an upfront investment to make this work, and the next few budgets would need to prioritise healthcare over tax cuts, something politicians will have to discuss honestly with the electorate. The direct costs of health – admission charges, GP charges, prescription charges – would go down, and many families should feel comfortable giving up their health insurance as services improve.
The measures outlined in the report will eventually save money. For every euro we invest in primary care, we save multiples of that due to avoided hospital admissions and the fact that the same treatment is being given by less expensive staff in less expensive buildings. If we don't make this investment and continue with an expensive hospital based system, costs will balloon out of control, people will die unnecessarily, and the differences between care provided to rich and poor will increase.
A report by itself changes nothing and the focus must move quickly to implementation. The committee see an implementation office being set up to make the plan a reality. I've been involved in similar implementation offices in the NHS and they do work very well if they are well-led, ruthless about priorities and make decisions based on evidence and data. This is a once in a generation opportunity to correct the mistake that was made in the 50s not to build a great public health service in Ireland. Let's move forward and make it happen!
Niall Ó Tuathail was a recent general election candidate for the Social Democrats. He works with the English NHS on health reform.
First published in the Galway Advertiser
Galway can lead the country in voting for change this month
From a Galway Advertiser 'Insider' piece:
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael / Labour governments are known quantities – the civil service really run the country, using elected politicians as spokesmen (and it is usually men!), and change comes at a snail's pace. Once one of them gets too big for their boots, we switch to the other and the cycle continues. As the current government argues that our choice is stability or chaos, we are at risk of returning to this tired formula in the next election, and for the foreseeable future.
Insider would argue that this "stability" also comes with risks – Fianna Fáil brought the country to its knees through cutting taxes and increasing spending while Fine Gael was calling from the sidelines for even lower taxes and even higher spending!
So what's the alternative? The political left in Ireland is often written off as the "loony left" – well meaning, but unable to govern and not credible on the economy. This political narrative is unusual in Europe where there are typically large centre-left parties that lead governments. Galway West could lead the country in showing this is possible in Ireland – we are unique in having many credible centre-left candidates in Seamus Sheridan (Green Party), Niall Ó Tuathail (Social Democrats), Catherine Connolly (Independent) and Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Féin).
Insider tries to divine what a resultant centre-left programme for government could look like, and how Galway's candidates would represent this.
Our public services would be front and centre
A common belief across the left is that the basic public services – health, education, childcare & housing – should be mostly financed and run by government. How would team Galway contribute?
Niall Ó Tuathail has experience in major health reform in the NHS in England and has outlined detailed policy on how to fix the Irish health service. He also has former Health Minister Róisín Shortall as a party leader. Catherine Connolly is a clinical psychologist who has also spent many years challenging the local HSE leadership in her role as a Councillor.
Insider would argue that a smart investment in our public services would create a fairer society and is in everyone's long-term interests – even those paying the most tax. For example, for every euro invested in primary care we save six euros in hospitals. This would be better for our health and better for our pockets.
This ticket would support Irish businesses
In politics, you are either pro-society or pro-business. Anyone outside of politics knows that to have a strong society, you need to have strong businesses. So how do Galway's lefties stack up on business?
Seamus Sheridan is arguably the most credible business candidate in the country on business. He and his brother have built cheese empire Sheridan's over the past few decades, employing over 100 people. Niall Ó Tuathail is more recently on the entrepreneurial path, setting up a software design firm working in healthcare and news. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Company, a prestigious consulting firm trusted for advice by CEOs and governments across the world.
With two TDs with real experience of starting businesses, Ireland could better support Irish businesses to get set up and improve our society by providing jobs, improving our quality of life with products and services, and paying taxes.
We would protect the most marginalised
The politics of the left argues that there is a minimum standard below which no person should have to live, and therefore aims to protect the most marginalised in society. What are the credentials of the Galway candidates on these issues?
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh has a credible track record of raising the issues of traveller ethnicity, direct provision and campaigning for the survivors of state institutions in the Seanad. In the Council, Catherine Connolly has been outspoken on supporting domestic violence and single mothers. All four candidates canvassed for a Yes during the recent marriage referendum, with Ó Tuathail leading the Yes Equality campaign.
Our environment on the agenda
Storm Imogen was the ninth storm this year – an average of one every four days. This is not normal and Insider believes climate change must be tackled.
A Green TD like Seamus Sheridan in government would force the environment up the agenda – not just climate change but other local environmental issues such as large-scale fish farms and sustainable agriculture. Catherine Connolly has been a relentless campaigner against a new road for Galway, in favour of improving public transport first.
There would be grá for gaeilge
Depending on who you talk to, the Irish language is somewhere between on the edge of extinction and potentially on the cusp of a mini-revival. Wherever we are on this, most would agree the language needs some support to survive and thrive.
Three of our candidates – Ó Clochartaigh, Connolly and Ó Tuathail – are gaeilgeoirs, with Trevor being the Sinn Féin spokesman for the language and gaeltacht. With such a team in government, we would have strong advocates for our native tongue in the Dáil.
The catch – there won't be massive tax cuts
There's always a catch! With an emphasis on state-funded public service, such a government would not be able to promise the short-term tax cuts on offer from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour.
What would Insider say to those who turn red looking at their paycheck each month? She would ask them to take the short-term pain for long-term gain. Investing smartly in our public services will reduce the long-term cost of the services and improve the value for money we get from our taxes. Supporting local businesses will provide employment and make our economy less dependent on multinationals. Protecting the most marginalised will allow us to create a more equal society that will be a source of pride and will reduce future costs for the state. Ireland playing a leading role in tackling climate change globally could secure our environment for future generations. Keeping our teanga beo will allow future generations the option of making it the main language on this island.
Galway West can lead the country in returning a majority of credible centre-left TDs with integrity and competence – Insider recommends we do it!
Manifesto Launch
On Friday 22nd January, we launched our very first policy manifesto. It's called Building a Better Future, 2016-2026. The manifesto sets out our position and approach to a wide variety of topics, under three core pillars:
Tackling Corruption
Building an Irish National Health Service
Demanding Responsible Economics
The manifesto is a 'working document' that we will update as we continue to work with people from across society on issues affecting them daily.
The Launch
You can download the manifesto now (click here) and read it for yourself.
We chose the iconic location on O'Connell Street for our launch today because the GPO represents the promise of a Republic which was never delivered on and which we should once again strive for. On the other side of the road we have Clerys Department store representing the realities of current policies and the very human cost of those failures.
We believe there is now a new option to build a better future for all.
The entire focus of our framework of policies is to reduce the cost of living for everyone by investing in key public services. Our health policy, for example will be to build an Irish National Health Service. In doing so you reduce healthcare costs whilst providing a quality healthcare system that people can rely on.
Political manifestos are generally huge bland documents that are read by few. We have created a set of practical policies that are accessible and brief yet their implementation would ensure a fairer society for us all.
Building a Better Future (2016 – 2026)
If you like what you read, and want to help us make this document a reality, why not Get Involved?
(photo courtesy of Broadsheet.ie)


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Warwick Bramble at Fort Defiance
Fort Defiance owner St. John Frizell classes up gin and juice at his sunny Red Hook bar. A mash of pulpy blackberries-the last of this season's haul-gives the fruity, invigorating Warwick its purple hue. Shots of gin, lemon juice and black-currant liqueur provide the quaff's botanical backbone. 365 Van Brunt St at Dikeman St, Red Hook, Brooklyn (347-453-6672). $9.
Roman Candle at Double Crown
The Greenmarket's brief red-currant season provides the tart flavor base for this fizzy, ruby-hued sipper. Brawny aged rum, sweet maple syrup, and slugs of citrusy Lillet Blanc and sparkling wine balance the berry's mouth-puckering effects. 316 Bowery at Bleecker St (212-254-0350). $12.
Rosa Verde at Cienfuegos
Aged rum packs a rich, boozy wallop in this summery punch, which pairs mellow flavors (watermelon juice, celery bitters) with bracing ones (hot pink peppercorns, crisp arugula). Enjoy a glass or several-the Rosa Verde can be ordered by the bowlful. 443 E 6th St between First Ave and Ave A (212-614-6818). Glass $14, bowls $38-$110.
Green Mary at Rouge Tomate
This almost virtuous cocktail, a take on the classic Bloody, blends late-season farmers' market finds like green tomato and tomatillo with jalapeño and pickled onions to create a spicy, verdant juice. You'd swear it was a health tonic-until you taste the vodka. 10 E 60th St between Fifth and Madison Aves (646-237-8977). $14.
Corn Cocktail at En Japanese Brasserie
August's dwindling corn crop means this luscious nip isn't long for this world. Ripe, sweet local kernels are dried in-house and blended with sake, cream, salt and sugar; the resulting libation is milky and rich, like a boozy, vegetal milk shake. 435 Hudson St at Leroy St (212-647-9196). $13.
Spring Rickey at Raines Law Room
This easy-sipping, effervescent concoction is as pleasant to behold as it is to drink. Tart muddled raspberries dye the tipple-a blend of ambrosial elderflower liqueur and Beefeater Summer gin, infused with black currants and hibiscus-a deep, sultry red. A squeeze of lime and a dose of club soda cut the sweetness. 48 W 17th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves (no phone). $13.
Caprese at Annisa
House-grown basil provides the dominant flavor-and bright green color-of this blended, vodka-spiked riff on the classic Italian summer salad. Local grape tomatoes contribute sweetness, while egg-white froth stands in (convincingly) for creamy mozzarella. 13 Barrow St between Seventh Ave South and W 4th St (212-741-6699). $13.
Strawberry Lovage Letter 23 at Huckleberry Bar
A bouquet of savory herbs distinguishes this unusual gin drink, featuring tarragon simple syrup, celery bitters and lovage (a lemony cousin of celery). Tart-sweet muddled strawberries add color and round out the herbaceous edge. 588 Grand St at Lorimer St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-218-8555). $11.
Sugar Plum Mimosa at Marc Forgione
A jammy syrup made with Red Jacket Orchard sugar plums anchors this delicate, subtly sweet take on the mimosa. When the plums run out, look for other seasonal champagne cocktails (a Concord grape version drops in early fall). 134 Reade St between Greenwich and Hudson Sts (212-941-9401). $12.
Cucumber Collins at Franny's
Local Maxwell's Farm cucumbers are pureed-skins and all-to give this Tom Collins variation its pale green tint. Bubbly club soda, bright lemon basil and crisp Hendrick's gin make this an ideal warm-weather quencher. 295 Flatbush Ave between Prospect Pl and St. Marks Ave, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn (718-230-0221). $11.
Read more: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/restaurants-bars/88157/the-best-summer-cocktails#ixzz0yCCmxU42

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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text:
Latest News
I can't stop cheating on my husband
Dear Pastor,
I have a secret lover who I see for six months straight because my husband works on a hotel programme. When my husband is back home, however, I limit the time spent with my lover.
I am a former prostitute and now I am married, but somehow, I can't stop cheating on my husband even though he took me off the streets.
I need some help. I know you, Pastor. I was working at a hotel in St Ann and I served you. I don't know if you would remember me.
Initials withheld
You gave your initials and the name of the hotel, however, I deleted them because I do not want anybody to identify you. I remember the occasion. There were some very charming young women who served at that grand function. Those of us who were there commented on how efficient the workers were and how delicious the food was, etc I am glad I had the pleasure of meeting you.
Of course, I was not aware that you were having problems. As I think about it now, I am wondering why you have continued to cheat on your husband. You were a prostitute and your husband fell in love with you. He took you off the street. Therefore, he was aware that you were a prostitute. He has been taking care of you but you find it difficult to be satisfied with one man. I am sure that he would be very disappointed were he to find out that you are having a relationship with another man.
From what you've said, you are not short of money. He is working and I am sure that he is doing his best to support you. You have not made any complaint about that. And thank the good Lord that you are working. So your problem is probably sex or is it also greed? I am going to beg you to try and be faithful to your husband. He has done his best for you. You must not hide from your husband how lonely you are at times, and ask him for suggestions. I have a feeling that he is going to suggest that you should do something. It has nothing to do with another man, but I would not say what.


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Single post
IOS XRV working on VirtualBox
First of all, you may have been been struggling a lot to find the download link.
You can find the demo versions of IOS XRV here
As a starting point, you may have checked the hypervisor recommandation from CCO and realized that VirtualBox is not supported.
However, by following the instructions in this post, you will end up with a working XRV network over Oracle VrtualBox, which is very convenient in a non production or lab environment.
Simple picture of my XRV virtual net :
First VM Creation
Now that you have your « .vmdk » VM image, as long as a working VirtualBox environment, Let's start with the basics :
- create a VM :
- name : xrv1 (as per the picture above)
- type : other
- version : other/unknown (64 bits)
- mem size : at least 2GB (less than 2GB will lead to weird behaviour…)
- use an existing vmdk : the image you just downloaded
First VM Configuration
remove floppy and CD/DVD from boot devices
Console port
Add a serial port (Settings/Serial port) :
- enable the serial port
- port number : COM1
- port mode : host pipe and create pipe
- port/file path : \\.\pipe\xrv1 for first router and so on…
Network Interfaces
Add some network interfaces.
The first one is the Mgmt port:
- adapter 1 : enable network adapter
- attached to : bridged adapter (your Mgmt port will be statically addressed on your LAN)
- name : your physical network adapter
- advanced : virtio-net adapter type
Following interfaces will be Gi0/0/0/0, Gi0/0/0/1 and so on… :
- adapter 2 to 4 : enable network adapter
- attached to : internal network
- name : see segments names in the picture
- advanced : virtio-net adapter type
Clone your first VM
I did it three times to build the virtual network in the picture.
Configure your clones
don't forget to :
- instantiate the named pipe allocated to console port
- allocate new mac addresses to each segment
- rename the internal networks accordingly (see picture above)
Launch your network simulation
Each VM will show a blank screen 'Booting IOS XRv', which means that all is working pretty well !!
Now you can log into each router using console port through your favorite network emulator : serial port, and named host pipe.
Enjoy !


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Johnson Selected to Women's Soccer First Team Pac-10 All-Academic
Nov. 28, 2001
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Four University of Oregon senior women's soccer players were Pac-10 All-Academic selections, the conference announced Wednesday.
Heading the list is Starr Johnson, who earned First Team honors for the second straight season. Johnson has a 3.70 GPA in Ethnic Studies. A defender from Kailua, Hawai`i, she scored two goals this season.
The Honorable Mention list included Oregon midfielder Chalise Baysa (Oak Harbor, Wash.), midfielder Annie Murphy (Eugene, Ore./South) and defender Angela Romero (Albuquerque, N.M.).
To be eligible for selection to the academic team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and be either a starter or significant contributor.
Oregon recently finished its best season (8-8-2) since it added soccer in 1996.
Women's Soccer First Team All-Pac-10
First TeamElizabeth Childs, WSU Sr. 3.87 Business AdministrationMorgan Crabtree, OSU Jr. 3.89 PhilosophyAli Fennell, USC Jr. 3.52 CommunicationsPatrice Feulner, ASU So. 3.79 AccountingNicole Ironside, WSU Jr. 3.99 EducationStarr Johnson, OREGON Sr. 3.70 Ethnic StudiesLindsey Jorgensen, WSU Sr. 3.80 MathematicsBrittany Kirk, CAL Jr. 3.62 Mass CommunicationsAmy LePeilbet, ASU So. 3.89 UndeclaredKim Stocklmeir, CAL Jr. 3.62 Business AdministrationKatrina Stroh, WSU Jr. 3.65 CommunicationsCarrie Walsh, STAN Sr. 3.83 Japanese & Spanish
Second TeamMegan Abbamonto, USC So. 3.47 UndeclaredMariette Boyce, WSU So. 3.79 UndeclaredCourtney Carter, OSU So. 3.63 BusinessKath. Harrington, STAN Jr. 3.58 Human BiologyShay Hobby, WSU So. 3.80 UndeclaredChrissy LaPierre, STAN Sr. 3.52 SociologyMegan McKinstry, WASH Jr. 3.55 Communications/Speech CommunicationsShannon McNab, CAL Sr. 3.53 Interdisciplinary StudiesShannon Monti, ARIZ Sr. 3.31 Studio ArtsVanessa Pierce, WASH Jr. 3.44 Communications/Political ScienceKatie Pittman, CAL So. 3.91 UndeclaredAmy Sauer, STAN Sr. 3.45 Sociology
HONORABLE MENTION: Chalise Baysa, Sr., OREGON, Bethany Bogart, Sr., UCLA, Katie Henderson, Jr., OSU, Allyson Marquand, So., STAN, Mandy Melendez, Jr., OSU, Annie Murphy. Sr., OREGON, Caroline Putz, Sr., WASH, Angela Romero, Sr., OREGON, Laura Schott, Jr., CAL, Hope Solo, Jr., WASH, Sarah-Gayle Swanson, So., UCLA, Marcia Wallis, Jr., STAN, Brittany Whalen, Sr., UCLA, Jenna Wirtz, So., WSU, Callie Withers, Jr., STAN, Kim Yokers, So., CAL.
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As I sit here on my bed contemplating the documentary, Happy, I just watched, I wonder how I am going to express to each of you what it means to be happy to me. Its difficult for me to explain to someone how unhappy I was for so long. It almost seems like a different lifetime. I try to think of the REASON I was depressed, and I can bring up different scenarios that I viewed as negative and depressing. The truth is, those things are still there, in my past. I still can feel them, hear them, and remember them, but no longer do they make me sad or depressed. I didn't change my life, I didn't change my past, I just changed my focus.
For example, there was a time in my life where I was depressed about the passing of a very important person to me. I let her death make me bitter and angry, because I was sad that I didn't have her anymore. I cried for her so many times that I lost count. She was more than family, she was one of my best friends, and we talked for hours. She passed right around the time of a huge change in my life, and I was upset that I didn't have her support or guidance anymore. For years I let my grief manifest into other feelings such as disappointment, anger, and sorrow. I was not living my own life, I was craving the days when she was still with me. Because I had been happy with her around, I didn't think it would be possible to be happy without her around.
As time went on, my depression became a personality of its own. I stopped enjoying any aspect of life. Whats sad is that this was also during a big time for me. I had a baby, I got married, and my husband and I had a life we were trying to start, but I was so consumed in this negative mindset that I didn't enjoy anything around me. I found every possible "bad" experience and I held onto it. I consumed every negative emotion that was pushed my way. I reached back into my childhood to things that I wasn't depressed about at the time and I created a whole new memory based on my new demeanor. I effectively changed my whole consciousness to be focused on the "BAD" things that I believed were happening to me.
As I write this, its like I am talking about a different person. Back then, in my deepest darkness, I was completely unable to see how miserable a life it was. I had my family telling me that I wasn't pleasant to be around, and a husband who was on the edge of running because I was never kind, but I didn't recognize it. I really thought they were all wrong, and that I was the realistic one. I was the only person who saw how bad things were, and they were pretending that everything was okay.
Then I woke up. I can't tell you the exact moment that it happened, because it was a process, but there was a moment that I realized that everyone around me was dealing with the same LIFE I was, but I was the only one that was foreboding. I was so consumed in what horrible things were going on, that I completely lost sight of the wonderful parts of my life. I couldn't change the fact that my loved one was gone, but I could embrace those hours sitting on her bed watching daytime soaps, and have faith that one day we would be together again. I couldn't change my situation, but I could be grateful for it. I had a husband who loved me unconditionally, two beautiful happy daughters who saw nothing but joy in life, a close knit family that I LOVE being around, and amazing friends who I could sit and talk to for hours and not even realize the time had passed. I had nothing to be depressed about anymore, because my mind was focused on all of the beauty around me and no longer on the things that I couldn't control.
In watching the documentary Happy*, I realized that the happiest people in the world are the people who focus their lives on compassion, love, and kindness. The happiest people have intrinsic goals focused on bettering themselves spiritually, and working towards their personal growth. The least happy people are those who focus on extrinsic goals and focus their lives on reaching materialistic or financial goals. More money and success doesn't increase your happiness, and until you change your perspective it never will. You'll always want more.
I don't know if my parents taught me this on purpose, but throughout my life I've learned that the most important lesson we can teach our children is to never harm anyone physically, spiritually, or financially. Always live in kindness and compassion, even when others don't. The happiest people are those that do good for each other, even in times of desperation. We as humans are not meant to be competitive, but to be cooperative. We are meant to work TOGETHER, not against each other.
If you want to be happy, I challenge you to do these three things every day for one week, and I promise you will be a happier person.
1. Practice compassion for all living beings. Do no harm physically, spiritually (emotionally), or financially.
2. Be grateful for all that you have. Count your blessings at the end of each day, and let go of all of the things that didn't bring you joy.
3. Do something that you love. Be playful at least once a day. Laugh, joke, and smile. Let go of any discomfort in the efforts, and really really enjoy something.
I wish you the best in improving your life, from this moment on. Remember that all it takes is a shift in focus.
Peace, Love, and Happiness.
The Happiest Woman Alive
*I watched this documentary on Netflix on instant stream, but you can also rent it from the website. http://www.thehappymovie.com/film/


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लाल दिव्याच्या गाडीला - superhit Ambedkar song | Anand shinde marathi songs | www.brambedkar.in
Laal divyachya gadila is my best Ambedkar song of aanand shindeji. Its very clear and fantastic voice of Anand shinde.
To listen more songs of songs of Dr Ambedkar please visit our website - www.brambedkar.in
Also you can download Ambedkar songs at this website.


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Price: $23,900
2001 23' Hydra Sport 230 Sea horse, hard top, cuddy, powered by 225hp Evinrude, Raytheon 1750 Sonar, Raytheon RL70C plotter/Radar, Raymarine VHF, Panosonic am/fm/cd player, Windlass, 30lb Plow anchor. lift kept, excellent condition. A must see vessel. Call Roger at: 239-699-0246 Gulf Coast Boat & Yacht Sales Asking $23,900.00.


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About our company
Blue Stripes Property Management Inc., with alternate name Blue Stripes Building Services is a professional building maintenance and cleaning services company, incorporated in 2006, in the State of New Jersey.
Since the time of its inception Blue Stripes Property Management Inc., has become one of the leading service providers in the State of New Jersey.
We at Blue Stripes use State of the Art equipment and products to help us meet our client needs. Client satisfaction is our #1 priority. We encourage our clients to tell us on how we perform. We take all comments seriously and address any discrepancies right away.
We have a highly trained staff. Our employees go through a series of training modules along with hands on training to ensure that they not only understand the basics of professional cleaning methods but also understand the safety aspects.
We emphasize on honesty and integrity and we preach these core values 24/7.
We also pay close attention to our employee satisfaction, because it is through this satisfaction that we can achieve our goals and pledges towards our clients.
Our comprehensive Site Safety and Health Plan, is an essential part of our training program.
Our safety training program covers safety training in areas of asbestos awareness; ladder safety; hazard communication; slips, trips & falls; personal protective equipment; back safety; safety housekeeping and accident prevention; preventing sexual harassment; controlling exposure to blood borne pathogens.


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Earlier in the week, we went to my favorite spot, 1000 acres. Construction was everywhere with trucks and more trucks working hard to
ruin access to part of the park reconstruct a stream for salmon migration. They did their best to keep us dogs safe with fences blocking the temporary road for all those big trucks and they even waved when they went by. Fortunately, most of the meadows were left unscathed so I ran and ran. But you know what that means–I get H..O..T. And it hadn't rained in days and days, so how was I supposed to cool off? No mud-puddles, no ponds, no water ANYWHERE. Well, except for the two rivers surrounding the park, but that was for later.
I explored a huge mound of dirt and rocks the construction people made
and….I FOUND IT!
Well, Mom couldn't believe it. How could I manage to find the only mud-puddle in the entire park?
I'm just talented that way….
So, off to the river we headed and…what did we find? All the trails were closed. WHAT??? Never fear–where there's a will, there's a way, at least that's what they say. I certainly wasn't going home like this, Mom said. So, we found our way to the river (around the construction) and voilà!
Clean up!!
A Toothbrush
A while back little ol' me won something–a Zututh Toothbrush
–from Bocci's Beef. Thanks, guys!!
It's one of these battery operated toothbrushes just for us dogs. So, I thought I'd take a look.It smelled OK and there were some good treats nearby. When I was through and had moved away, Mom turned it on. It made a funny noise and I took off for a hidey place. Mom said we have to work on it, which is what she's doing. Me? The jury is still out. I do think it's a wonderful product for us dogs and I'm going to really give it a try! We do have to have clean toofers, don't we?
Awards are the best and I've received a few here lately. Thanks a bunch to the sweet Pippy Monster for the Supersweet Blogger and Versatile Blogger Awards! And to Kuruk and The Cat on my Head for the WordPress Family Award. And to The Wee Rabbit for the Shine On award. Wow! All these awards makes my head spin. Thank you all so much–it means a lot.


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Come on, stay in touch, let me help you plan your event!
I will email you back either today or tomorrow.
My email is email@example.com and my mobile is 818.416.2384. Let's meet and talk about what you want to get done, I will create a plan to do just that.


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ProPublica Seeks to Diversify Its Funding Sources/
ProPublica, the non-profit investigative journalism outfit that launched in 2008 with a substantial gift from Herbert and Marion Sandler, is seeking to widen its revenue stream in more ways than one. Five years after its launch, it is diversifying its funding model and expects to raise more than two-thirds of its revenue from sources beyond the Sandler Foundation over the next few years.
Since its inception, ProPublica has been the beneficiary of Sandler funds since they first committed $10 million a year at the outset. But the Sandlers haven't been without their controversies, which has caused ProPublica to become guilty-by-association in some conservative quarters and a liberal punching bag by some conservative pundits (and proven that neither liberals nor conservatives have the high ground when it comes to financial impropriety).
Is ProPublica's new business model a reaction to the criticism or just good business sense? It's probably a little of both. In its recent announcement, Editor-in-Chief Stephen Engelberg and Managing Editor Robin Fields described the change very matter-of-factly.
"Recently, ProPublica has worked to create a more diverse funding model, seeking earned income and raising money from thousands of individual donors as well as family and institutional foundations.... We have no doubt that the next five years will bring new challenges. More people will get their news from mobile devices and tablets. New kinds of websites will be developed and proliferate. The business of journalism will evolve unpredictably."
This "earned income" comes primarily from sources such as web ads from select organizations, and the individual donations are beginning to come in through sources such as crowdfunding platforms like the Kickstarter campaign. For its part, ProPublica seems to have a proactive and forward-thinking approach to funding — something one might expect from such a dynamic organization.
In addition to the ongoing Sandler gifts, ProPublica also has been the recipient of gifts from George Soros's Open Society Foundations, the Knight Foundation (see Knight Foundation: Grants for Journalism and the Arts), the MacArthur Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ford Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation, among others.
Will this new revenue model prove to be the holy grail of funding for ProPublica? Time will tell. But it definitely seems to have the chops, so perhaps other non-profit news gathering organizations should stand up and take notice of ProPublica's approach to acquiring funding.


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- Home
- Airlines
- Airports
- Government
- Industry
- Lodging
- Rental Cars
- Submit
Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car
Founded in 1992, Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car has been honored to serve the needs of the world's most renowned personalities, corporate leaders, and members of numerous royal families.
With the help of loyal clientele, the company has grown consistently, at a rate of over 25% per year. Since it's inception, Beverly Hills Rent~A~Car has been one of the primary providers of luxury and exotic vehicles in Southern California.
Quality customer service, and a wide-ranging selection of the finest and most prestigious automobiles in the world, have given them a well-developed and international reputation.
"They want to be known as a company that provides you with the finest automotive transportation in California, coupled with a commitment to the highest level of customer service."
Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car has its headquarters in Los Angeles, CA and specializes in exotic car rental and luxury car rentals. Whether you are looking for a Mercedes, Jaguar, Range Rover, BMW, Porsche, Cadillac, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Corvette, Hummer, Viper, a conversion van, 15 passenger vans, a new hybrid or a decked out SUV, you have come to the right place. They carry only the newest models available and keep our rental cars in pristine condition all with low mileage.
Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car
9220 South Sepulveda Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90045
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Telephone:800-479-5996, 310-670-2020
Those who browsed 'Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car' also found interest in following Rental car companies . . .
- Rental Cars:


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In our previous post we incorrectly measured our studio at 50m2... unfortunately we must have been on the turps when we did this as it is only 25m2 at best... only half the size... *sigh.
The first thing you notice when entering our studio is the big behemoth of a cutting table! It measures 2m x 3m and is very imposing!
This cutting table also becomes our photography studio when not in use! We have a roll of white backdrop material above, which pulls down. In addition a large lightbox is on the right side of the table. Together they create a good basic photography studio! Otherwise, we turn to Gary from GNC Photography for the truly professional shots!
Behind the cutting table you can see the window to our sewing room. This room used to be a sound recording studio so we have double paned glass in an interior window... weird?! In addition we have 4 inches of insulation all around! Cool in summer, warm in winter! Bonus!
Hanging beside the sewing room window is our pile of bag patterns. These are constructed from old cardboard signs previously used in BWS stores. Big thanks to the crew at BWS Cav Rd for the constant hook up!
Beneath the cutting table is storage for rolls of fabric, foam, and other miscellaneous materials. At the moment it looks a little bare...
This is not the most ideal setup as some rolls are 50m in length, and well over that in weight. It is sometimes quite awkward to remove these particularly heavy rolls and place them on the table. In our ideal dream studio we would have a roller system in place so we could pull down the fabric without having to lift the rolls... oh for dreams!
To the left of our cutting table is the remainder of our "cutting room", which also affectionately known as the "crack den" by Nate and Gypsy. This is mainly because we have a couple of bricks wrapped in paper (to secure fabric while cutting in bulk!) as well as scales (to weigh bags for postage... honest!) in the room.
As you can see we have a hard to access sink at the rear of the room (blocked by piles of boxes), while on the left is our webbing cutting table and closer to the camera is our buckle storage shelves. The webbing cutting table is just short of 1m high and is perfect for working while standing up. Underneath this table are boxes of velcro, webbing, and our FRS Strap Ons.
Standing at the sink you can see our webbing cutting table currently put to good use as a "junk storage area". We definitely need a bigger studio!
If you could stand on the webbing cutting table (it wouldn't be comfortable as your head would hit the ceiling!) this would be the view back to where you entered. The imposing cutting table is front and centre, with the lightbox behind it. On the right is our "scrap" storage bins... more on those later!
And here you can see our piles of buckles, d-rings, and other assorted plastic components, neatly stacked on the shelf. These are also getting a tad low... time for a top up perhaps? Beneath it are off-cut rolls used in the manufacture of our tool rolls.
On the top shelf of the buckle storage area are our stamps for unique ID numbers, as well as our proudly and often displayed "Made In Australia" stamp.
Going back to our original starting position in the room, are our "scrap" storage bins. These bins are full of usable offcuts (which we use in some of our Lovehandles and other small products), as well as unusable pieces relegated for punching bag fill. We haven't built the punching bag to contain this material just yet, but we will soon! If you know of someone who would like some fill, don't hesitate to let us know!
Stepping in to the cutting room the first thing you would notice (apart from the four sewing machines) would be our extensive use of the "floordrobe".
These are the buckles that we use regularly in almost every bag. As such they are in a quick and convenient area to access. Ultimately we would have them neatly piled in carts on wheels, like in a hairdressing salon... damn, there are those dreams again! But this solves the problem at the moment!
And below are our current four machines. I know you already saw these in our Tools of BOgear post, but they still take up room in our studio so need to be introduced!
Our needle feed machine! Used entirely for lightweight objects, it doesn't see much action during the work week. However, it was used extensively for my waterproof bib-pants (I will be doing a write up on these pants shortly! Stay tuned as they ROCK... biased perhaps?)
Our main workhorse... a compound walking foot, needle feed machine. Every product that comes out of our studio is touched by this machine in some way.
Our straight stitch standard machine. It was lightening fast, but unfortunately is not used much at all. We recently sold it to make room for a new machine (or two).
Our dedicated binding machine! This is also a compound feed machine. Needle feed, walking foot, and moving binding bar! Oh, and it is cylinder arm so it is fantastic for binding inside awkward objects!
And as I alluded to slightly above, we have another machine on the way... shh... don't tell anyone, but it is truly AWESOME! It will deserve a post of its own!
Most of the area inside our sewing room is taken up with sewing machines and floordrobe storage. But we do also have a series of shelves for "proper" storage. On the top you will find our Babycandy bags (now safely stored in Rubbermaid tubs), while on the right are our individually bundled FRS Strap Ons. On the left are our pre-cut Beernutts and bag liners.
And at the bottom of these shelves are our piles of thread...
and our rolls of webbing, spare binding tape, and elastic...
As well as velcro and multiple zipping spools.
And so there you have it! A long sneak peek into our current studio! It is the fourth studio space so far, and although it may be small, the space is fairly efficiently used. We are fast growing out of the current space, but will make do with the current area as long as humanly possible!


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Customize your JAMA Network experience by selecting one or more topics from the list below.
Herrero C, To-Figueras J, Badenas C, et al. Clinical, Biochemical, and Genetic Study of 11 Patients With Erythropoietic Protoporphyria Including One With Homozygous Disease. Arch Dermatol. 2007;143(9):1125–1129. doi:10.1001/archderm.143.9.1125
© 2019
Copyright 2007 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS Restrictions Apply to Government Use.2007
To study the mutations in the ferrochelatase gene (FECH) and the phenotypic expression of erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) in a group of Spanish patients.
Case series.
University-based hospital.
Eleven unrelated patients with EPP and 19 asymptomatic relatives from 10 families.
Main Outcomes Measures
Measurement of protoporphyrin concentration in red blood cells and feces by fluorometry and chromatography. Analysis of the mutations of the FECH gene by single-strand conformation analysis. Expression of mutations in Escherichia coli.
FECH gene mutations were found in all 11 patients. Ten were heterozygous and carried the IVS3-48C low-expression allele. Three novel mutations were found: IVS4 + 1delG, 347-351delC, and 130_147dupl 18. One patient did not present the IVS3-48C polymorphism and was found to harbor a novel A185T missense mutation in both alleles. The familial study confirmed a recessive mode of inheritance of the disease. The A185T mutation showed a residual activity 4% of normal when expressed in E coli. This patient presented cutaneous photosensitivity similar to the heterozygous cases, but a higher protoporphyrin accumulation in erythrocytes, microcytic anemia, and early signs of liver engagement. FECH mutations were found in 10 healthy relatives, none of whom carried the low-expression allele. The frequency of the IVS3-48C allele among 180 nonporphyric Spanish individuals was 5.2%.
These findings confirm, among a group of Spanish patients, that most cases of EPP result from the coinheritance of IVS3-48C and a mutation in the FECH gene, and also document the existence of patients with mutations in homozygosity that may present a more severe form of the disease.
Erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) (Mendelian Inheritance in Man 177000) is an inherited disorder of porphyrin metabolism caused by a partial deficiency of ferrochelatase (FECH) (European Community 184.108.40.206), which catalyzes the insertion of iron into protoporphyrin IX to form heme. Patients with EPP accumulate free protoporphyrin mainly in erythropoietic tissues, but the metabolite may also reach the skin, absorb light at certain wavelengths, and generate free radicals, resulting in phototoxic cell injury. Most patients with EPP develop solely photosensitivity commencing in childhood, but in some cases liver complications also appear. The strong hydrophobic nature of the molecule does not allow renal clearance but only bile secretion. Therefore, massive hepatic accumulation of protoporphyrin in the liver may cause cholestasis and liver damage in a minority of patients with EPP. Hepatic involvement may vary in severity, ranging from abnormalities in 20% of the cases to cirrhosis and liver failure in less than 5%.1-3 Blood disorders such as mild anemia with hypochromia and microcytosis may also be detected in 20% to 50% of these patients.2,4,5
The FECH gene is assigned to chromosome 18q21.3 (GenBank No. D00726), with more than 110 different mutations having been described in EPP families to date.6 Individuals who are heterozygous for these mutations remain asymptomatic, despite having FECH activity reduced by about 50%. Clinical expression of the disease in most cases results from the coinheritance of a null FECH allele plus a wild-type low-expressed allele, which further reduces FECH activity to below a critical threshold of about 35%.7 In a haplotype segregation analysis,8 it was found that the low-expression allele is the C variant of an intronic single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) IVS3-48T/C in intron 3 of the FECH gene. Because the IVS3-48C allele is relatively common among European populations,6 overt EPP is normally inherited in such a way that it resembles an autosomal dominant disease with low clinical penetrance.
Erythropoietic protoporphyria is rarely inherited as an autosomal recessive disease with true mutations in both alleles.9-12
In some areas of southern Europe, the prevalence of EPP and the genetic defects underlying the disease are not sufficiently elucidated. Therefore, we investigated the mutations in the FECH gene and the phenotypic expression of the disease in a series of Spanish patients with EPP. The molecular, biochemical, and clinical study included a rare case of recessive EPP.
We studied 11 unrelated patients (6 female and 5 male, with a mean age of 12.8 years [range, 4-26 years]) who attended the Department of Dermatology of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain) for photosensitivity and suspicion of porphyria. The diagnosis of EPP was established initially by clinical and biochemical criteria and was later confirmed by DNA analysis of mutations in the FECH gene. A complete hematological and biochemical profile and specific liver function tests were performed in every case. In addition, 19 asymptomatic relatives from 8 families were also included in the genetic study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki principles and was approved by the hospital ethics committee of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. Written consent was obtained from all patients.
Protoporphyrin concentration in erythrocytes was determined fluorometrically after solvent partition according to the method described elsewhere.13-15 Protoporphyrin in feces was extracted according to Lockwood et al16 and was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography according to Lim and Peters.17 Porphyrins in urine were analyzed by standard methods of high-performance liquid chromatography.17
FECH activity in lymphocytes was determined by incubating a homogenate with zinc and mesoporphyrin and measuring zinc-mesoporphyrin formation by fluorometry according essentially to the method of Rossi et al,18 as modified by Gouya el al.6FECH activity was expressed as nanomoles of zinc-mesoporphyrin formed per hour per milligram of protein at 37°C.
We analyzed exons 1 to 11 of the FECH gene and the associated splice donor and acceptor sites. The primers used for exon amplification are available from the authors. All polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses were carried out using the PCR Master Mix (Promega Corporation, Madison, Wisconsin) following the manufacturer's instructions. The following PCR conditions were applied: initial denaturizing step (5 minutes at 95°C), 35 cycles (1 minute at 95°C, 1 minute at 57°C, and 1 minute at 72°C), followed by final extension (10 minutes at 72°C) and maintenance at 4°C until single-strand conformational polymorphism or sequencing studies were carried out. Part of intron 3 was sequenced in all samples to test for the IVS3-48T/C polymorphism.
Single-strand conformation analysis was used to detect mutations. Three microliters of denatured PCR product was combined with loading buffer and loaded into GeneGel Excel 12.5 acrylamide gels (Amersham Biosciences, Uppsala, Sweden) and run following the manufacturer's instructions. The different migrations were silver stained.19 DNA samples with abnormal migrations were sequenced. The PCR products were purified using the GFX PCR DNA and gel band purification kit (Amersham Biosciences) and automatically sequenced using the BigDye Terminator v3.1 Cycle Sequencing Kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, California) and an ABI3100 automatic sequencer (Applied Biosystems).
Mature ferrochelatase was expressed in Escherichia coli strain JM109 (Promega Corporation) using the expression vector pKK223-3 (Pharmacia Biotech Inc, Piscataway, New Jersey). The wild-type human ferrochelatase complementary DNA (cDNA) was synthesized by PCR excluding the region encoding the mitochondrial leader sequence and including a new ATG start site of translation, and cloned into the EcoRI-HindIII sites of pKK223-3. This construct was designated pKK-FECH-wt. To generate the mutant construct pKK-FECH-A185T, a fragment of FECH cDNA, containing the A185T mutation was generated by PCR site-directed mutagenes20 using the pKK-FECH-wt plasmid as templated. Then, the PCR product was digested with the restriction endonucleases MfeI and CveI (New England Biolabs, Beverly, Massachusetts) and the MfeI-CveI fragment was ligated as a cassette into the corresponding sites in pKK-FECH-wt, and transformed in E coli strain JM109. The integrity of each expression construct was checked by automated sequencing. The primers are available from the authors.
Bacterial clones, each of them containing one of the plasmids pKK223-3, pKK-FECH-wt, or pKK-FECH-A185T, were grown to log phase and were induced with 5mM isopropylthiogalactoside for 3 hours. Then, cells were harvested by centrifugation and washed twice in phosphate-buffered saline. The pellets were resuspended in 250 μL of lysis buffer (100mM Tris hydrochloride, pH 7.6; 0.1% Triton-X 100) and sonicated on ice. After centrifugation, ferrochelatase activity was measured in the supernatant using protoporphyrin IX and zinc sulfate as substrates, according to the method described by Camadro and Labbe.21
The main clinical and biochemical outcomes of the patients with EPP are given in the Table. All presented acute cutaneous photosensitivity, with the symptoms beginning in early childhood in most cases. Only 3 cases presented with chronic skin thickening over the knuckles. Microcytic anemia was present in 4 cases. Liver function test results were persistently normal in 10 cases, most with a long clinical follow-up (mean, 8.6 years; range 1-26 years). Only 1 case showed alterations in the liver function test results. The main characteristics of this patient are described in the "Report of a Case" subsection.
Ten different mutations in the FECH gene were found, thereby confirming the molecular heterogeneity of EPP (Table). Four novel mutations were found: 553G>A in exon 5 (A185T); IVS4 + 1delG and 347-351delC, both in exon 4; and 130_147dupl 18 in exon 1. The A185T mutation was homozygous, while the other mutations were heterozygous. Only the already described 575del5 mutation was present in 2 patients. Patients 7, 8, 9, and 10 (I186T, H386P, 843delC, and R115X, respectively) were previously studied by Gouya et al,22 but the status of the SNP of the allele trans to mutant allele was not determined in that study. All patients, except patient 1 who was homozygous for IVS3-48T/T, were heterozygous for IVS3-48C/T.
The A185T mutation was expressed in E coli.FECH specific activity was determined in 4 independent experiments. The residual activity was calculated from the value of the normal FECH construct (pKK-FECH-wt) and was 4% of normal activity.
Molecular analysis of 19 asymptomatic relatives from patients 1 through 6 and 8 through 10 were performed. This allowed the identification of 10 relatives who were carriers of heterozygous mutations. Inspection of the intron 3 SNP showed that none harbored the IVS3-48C allele. All of these relatives had normal values of protoporphyrin in blood. Analysis of 180 nonporphyric unrelated Spanish individuals showed that the IVS3-48C allele was present in 10.5% (allele frequency, 5.2%).
Patient 1 was a 15-year-old girl with microcytic anemia since she was 4 months old and photosensitive dermatitis since she was 4 years old. When she was 10 years old, alterations in liver function had been detected, with the persistence of microcytic anemia. She presented an itchy erythema and edema on the hands and face after sun exposure. On examination, pitted and linear scars on the nose, cheeks, and forehead and mild skin thickening over the knuckles were observed. There was no family history of photosensitivity and no apparent familial consanguinity.
Results from porphyrin analyses included the following: erythrocyte protoporphyrin level, 32 μmol/L (reference value, < 1.5 μmol/L; > 90% free protoporphyrin); and fecal protoporphyrin level, 1066 nmol/g of dried feces (reference value, < 100 nmol/g), which allowed for the diagnosis of EPP. The excretion of coproporphyrins in urine was normal. Results from biochemical analysis included the following: aspartate transaminase level, 52 U/L (reference value, < 40 U/L), alanine aminotransferase level, 109 U/L (reference value, < 40 U/L), and γ-glutamyltransferase level, 57 U/L (reference value, < 40 U/L) (to convert to microkatals per liter, multiply by 0.0167); hemoglobin level, 11.5 g/dL (reference range, 12.0-17.0 g/dL) (to convert to grams per liter, multiply by 10); median corpuscular volume, 73 fL (reference range, 80-100 fL); median corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, 22.7 pg (26.7-33.3 pg); serum iron level, 59 μg/dL (reference range, 50-150 μg/dL) (to convert to micromoles per liter, multiply by 0.179); ferritin level, 28 ng/mL (reference range, 15-200 ng/mL) (to convert to picomoles per liter, multiply by 2.247); and soluble transferrin receptor level, −0.089 mg/dL (reference range, 0.083-0.176 mg/dL) (to convert to micromoles per liter, multiply by 0.0123). The appearance of the liver on echography was normal. A hepatic biopsy revealed normal liver architecture and the presence of brown material without birefringence at polarized light. Hemoglobin electrophoresis demonstrated normal percentages of hemoglobin A2 and F, and findings from DNA analysis excluded the thalassemia trait. Bone marrow examination showed normal percentages of the hematopoietic cell lineages with dysplasia signs in the erythroid cells. The bone marrow karyotype was 46,XX[20].
Findings from a molecular study of the DNA showed that this patient was apparently homozygous for a novel A185T missense mutation and homozygous for the T variant of the IVS3-48C/T polymorphism. The residual activity of the mutant FECH in E coli was 4% of normal activity. The FECH activity in peripheral lymphocytes was 0.4 nmol of zinc-mesoporphyrin per hour per milligram of protein at 37°C (reference value, mean ± SD, 4.5 ± 1). Two years later, the erythrocyte protoporphyrin level had increased to 77 μmol/L (fecal protoporphyrin level, 1221 nmol/g of dried feces).
Familial investigation showed that both parents and a sister were heterozygous for the A185T mutation, and none harbored the low-expression IVS3-48C allele, thus confirming recessive EPP. All were asymptomatic and had an erythrocyte protoporphyrin concentration of less than 1.5 μmol/L.
We present the clinical, biochemical, and molecular characteristics of 11 cases of EPP and 19 asymptomatic relatives from 10 Spanish families. Among the series of patients with EPP, 1 had homozygous disease. Recessive inheritance of EPP, with patients presenting mutations in both alleles is rare. Only 13 cases (12 families) have been reported to date,6,9-12 most being compound heterozygotes. To our knowledge, the patient who was homozygous for an A185T mutation is the second case of true homozygous EPP, with the same mutation in both alleles confirmed by molecular analysis.12 The A185T mutation is located within the β3-strand of the enzyme and may produce a significant structural alteration owing to the replacement of a hydrophobic amino acid by a polar amino acid. Although the alanine residue at this position is not invariant among different species, it is conserved in mammals, yeast, and some prokaryotic species.23,24 Expression of the A185T allele revealed a low but still detectable residual activity of 4% in a crude bacterial extract. These data indicate that the mutation produces important structural and/or functional consequences in the FECH enzyme but is not completely deleterious.
It has been suggested that recessive EPP forms may have a higher risk of liver failure than the more usual dominant forms.10 According to published reports, severe liver disease has been observed in 4 of 13 patients with recessive EPP detected to date.6,10,12 This is a high proportion, taking into account that liver failure appears in only in less than 5% of patients with EPP dominant forms.6,25
The determinants of liver injury in EPP are not well understood because genetic factors may modulate the accumulation of protoporphyrin in the liver.26 It is likely, however, that the amount of residual FECH activity in cells12,25 may play a key role in determining the course of the disease. Most of the missense mutations found in heterozygous EPP cases show a drastic reduction or even undetectable activity when expressed in prokaryotes.27-29 In contrast, in a report of recessive EPP, all the mutations retained a FECH residual activity ranging from 12% to 50% when expressed in E coli.12 This is in accordance with the general view that homozygous cases of porphyria must retain a substantial residual enzyme activity to be compatible with life. The A185T mutation, however, showed only 4% of the normal activity in E coli, thus suggesting a severe impairment in functionality. Consequently, even if this homozygous patient is free of cholestasis signs and the liver markers remain stable to date, the progression of the disease should be considered of risk and advocates close clinical follow-up.
Except for the recessive case, all the other patients in our study showed mutations in heterozygosity within the FECH gene. Some of the new mutations can also cause severe impairment in enzyme activity. The c.351delC mutation is a single C deletion from a stretch of 5 C that causes a frameshift and introduces a premature termination codon of translation in exon 4. As a consequence, we can predict the rapid degradation of the mutant transcript due to nonsense-mediated messenger RNA decay.30,31 The c.130_147dupl 18 mutation does not result in a frameshift, but its location within the mitochondrial leader sequence could result in a defective targeting to mitochondria or a deficient processing of the polypeptide. The novel splicing defect IVS4 + 1delG affects the consensus donor splice site of intron 4.32 Unfortunately, RNA from this patient was not available for analysis. Nonetheless, this mutation probably results in exon 4 skipping, as was observed in a previously reported mutation (IVS4 + 1G > C) in this donor site.27
All heterozygous cases presented the low-expression IVS3-48C allele, thereby confirming the common view that clinically overt EPP is associated with inheritance of this allele in trans to a severe FECH mutation.6,12,33,34 The study of the relatives yielded additional confirmation of the importance of this polymorphism in EPP, since all asymptomatic carriers had the IVS3-48T/T genotype. Familial investigation of patient 1 showed that several relatives harbored the A185T mutation, but none had the IVS3-48C allele. Therefore, the phenotype of a hypothetical carrier of the A185T mutation with the low-expression allele in trans remains unknown.
In conclusion, among our series of Spanish patients with EPP, we have found 10 cases with coinheritance of 1 FECH gene mutation with IVS3-48C and 1 rare case with a severe homozygous mutation with very low residual activity. This patient presented a cutaneous photosensitivity similar to the heterozygous cases but had a higher protoporphyrin accumulation, pronounced microcytic anemia, and early signs of liver involvement. These findings emphasize the need for further research on the genotypic-phenotypic relationships in porphyria.
Correspondence: Jordi To-Figueras, PhD, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Villarroel 170, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain (email@example.com).
Financial Disclosure: None reported.
Accepted for Publication: January 26, 2007.
Author Contributions: Drs To-Figueras and Carmen Herrero had full access to all the data and take full responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Study concept and design: Herrero, To-Figueras, Méndez, Enríquez-Salamanca, and Lecha. Acquisition of data: Herrero, To-Figueras, Badenas, Méndez, and Serrano. Analysis and interpretation of data: Herrero, To-Figueras, and Méndez. Drafting of the manuscript: Herrero, To-Figueras, Méndez, and Serrano. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Badenas, Enríquez-Salamanca, and Lecha. Obtained funding: Herrero and To-Figueras. Administrative, technical, and material support: Badenas. Study supervision: Méndez, Enríquez-Salamanca, and Lecha.
Funding/Support: This study was supported in part by grants from "Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria" (03/0489) and "Fundación Mutua Madrileña." Both are nonprofit organizations that supported the University-based research as a contribution to health progress.
Role of the Sponsors: The sponsors did not participate in the conduction of the study; collection, management, analysis, interpretation of the data; or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.
Additional Contributions: We appreciate the participation of the family members in this study. M. Bruguera, MD, provided help in the control of hepatic disease, J. M, Mascaró, MD, collaborated in the recruitment of patients, and M. Sala provided technical assistance.
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The Carmichael Show: Lots of stuff to unpack here, and this comedy, which moves to its regular time slot tonight, is just saying what's on everyone's minds about two words: Bill. Cosby. Read the full review.
Little Big Shots: A show about talented children showing off should be entertaining, which this is. A lot of that comes from host Steve Harvey's reactions when he talks to them before they get down to business. If Harvey ever heard the showbiz adage of never working with children or animals, I'll bet he's heard it now. He gets shown up at almost every turn.
The Voice: The battles begin. 7 p.m. NBC (KXAS-TV, Ch. 5)
The Bachelor: Ben has a hard time -- where's the drama in not -- choosing between the final two women. 7 p.m. ABC (Ch. 8)
The Bachelor: After the Final Rose: And then they talk. 9:01 p.m. ABC (Ch. 8)
2016 BET Honors: Lee Daniels (Empire), Pattie LaBelle and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder are among the honorees during the annual gala with host Arsenio Hall. Performers include Fantasia and Ledisi. 7 p.m. BET
The Haves and the Have Nots: It's the season finale for this prime-time soap. There's been murder. There's always intrigue. And Jim Cryer (John Schneider), who was arrested at a press conference during his run for governor, is still in jail. What's next, a swarm of locusts? 8 p.m. OWN.
The Americans: Still gritty in its fourth season premiere, this episode focuses on the repercussions from last season's troubles. 9 p.m. FX
Nashville: Paparazzi affect the nuptial plans for Deacon and Rayna in "Forever and Always." 9 p.m. ABC (Ch. 8)
American Idol: Fingers crossed as the top 5 finalists get the nod. 7 p.m. FOX (Ch. 4)
How to Get Away With Murder: It's the second season finale. And you know that means that Annalise has something to get off her chest. 9 p.m.ABC (Ch. 8)
Daredevil: Season Two begins -- and probably ends for a lot of you binge-watchers.
Grimm: In an episode called "Silence of the Slams," Wesen and wrestling are the greatest mashup ever. 8 p.m. NBC (KXAS-TV)
For Peete's Sake: Looking for a wholesome reality TV show? Look no further than this show chronicling the lives of former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, his wife, actress Holly Robinson Peete and their extended family. 8 p.m. OWN


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Ah, "The Help." I'm linking to this review after the discussion about the film has already died down, but methinks it's going to be something of a hot topic well into the end of the year.
So, read on, reader, and please, discuss. My full review os now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.
Friday, August 19, 2011
'The Help' Review
Labels: books, emma stone, octavia spencer, Reviews, south philly review, the help, viola davis
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Posted by Fanatix 1347 days ago
Here is a roundup of all of today's biggest Arsenal transfer gossip and latest news… SEE ALSO: 5. Gunners youngster Gedion Zelalem has told Daily Express that he intends to fight for a fi... [Read More]
Posted by Fanatix 1351 days ago
Here is a roundup of all of today's biggest Arsenal transfer gossip and latest news… SEE ALSO: Martinez Arsenal: Porto star set to complete £25m deal in coming days £30m-rated Lazio star s... [Read More]
Five striker signings Arsenal should make to replace injured Olivier Giroud, including Chelsea target
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Five names Wenger should look at upfront. Read more Arsenal transfer news. With the news that Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud could be set for a potentially lengthy spell on the sidelines, the Gunners&... [Read More]
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A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Scene 1
William Shakespeare
If what you're looking for in the theatre is colours, dance, crazy scenery and exaggerated characters, then wonder.land, the National Theatre's new, modern, musical version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, is the show for you.
Having read many recent reviews rubbishing this adaptation of the famous book, both in newspapers and in many of the reviews by my fellow #LDNTheatreBloggers. I entered the Olivier Theatre therefore with reasonably low expectations; of a mediocre score, a chaotic set, and a confusing storyline. And these three things were all true. Damon Albarn's songs are pretty forgettable, the set is insanely cluttered, and the storyline, already confusing in the original book, is even more so with the added layer of modern conceit
However, surprisingly, none of this really mattered! I really enjoyed this musical; it's not one for the ages, no, I can't see it transferring or anything, but the experience was never boring – and what's more, at least it was an experience, and one which is actually surprisingly hard to forget. wonder.land pictures the mythical land of Wonderland as a virtual reality website; as the Cheshire Cat (an exuberant Hal Fowler) loudly proclaims as he whizzes about the stage on his seemingly magical armchair, "www dot wonder dot land…."
Aly is our hero, played with spirit by Lois Chimimba, a shy girl who escapes from her mum and dad's traumatic separation, three school bullies (amusingly named after the original Alice's cats Dinah, Mary Ann and Kitty), and her baby brother who won't stop throwing up, by creating an avatar, 'Alice', for herself. It is pointed out by the actors (just in case we didn't get it ourselves) that this avatar is white, in contrast to Aly's mixed race heritage.
"I hate me" proclaims Aly with a typically teenage melodrama mixed with truth. "Who are you?" is the repeated question she is asked; problems of self-identity which most can relate to. In fact, the entire musical has a very One-Direction-esque message "You don't know you're beautiful" aka 'be yourself'; be comfortable in your own skin. In this sense, then, it really isn't particularly ground-breaking at all.
What is fascinating, and the most fun to watch, is the way this world of wonder.land is created on stage, in contrast to the grey and dull world in which Aly, her mother, father, brother and schoolmates live. It's easy to see why headmistress Mrs Manxome (in the star turn of the night, a hilariously hyperbolic performance from Anna Francolini), after confiscating Aly's phone, is immediately drawn into this world of colour and creatures and craziness.
There's the digital purple, widely grinning Cheshire Cat face and the gas-masked, white tutu-ed White Rabbit (Joshua Lacey). There's the glittering blue Caterpillar (played by Fowler with another golden-toothed grin) and his body, each orb played by a different dancer with some incredible choreography by Javier De Frutos. There are the other avatars; a transvestite dodo, bulimic ballet dancers Dee and Dum, and a giant mouse, who in real life is "a short twat" who can't get any girls, among others. And, of course, there's Alice herself, played with bold sweetness by Carly Bawden, who becomes almost like a big sister to both Aly and Mrs Manxome. Enyi Okoronkwo is also convincing as Aly's only school friend, Luke, battling zombies in a very entertaining number within his own smartphone game.
With all this going on, it's hardly surprisingly the whole thing gets rather fragmented and chaotic as it continues. This isn't helped by the fact that all the 'real world' scenery and characters stay on stage whilst the larger-the-life avatars invade to create wonder.land. I see why this is done -to make it clear that it's only a virtual layer over the top of life, but it does just confuse things so much. Another recent production aiming to recreate the chaos of the internet Teh Internet is Serious Business managed this by not crossing the two worlds too much, and director Rufus Norris and set designer Rae Smith would be wise to consider the successful chaos of that production.
This was evening, then, that far exceeded my expectations. Thanks to the National Theatre's excellent Entry Pass Scheme I ended up with a second row stalls seat for only a fiver so I got to experience the confetti shower (of course there's a confetti shower) and felt like my eyes and ears were being constantly crowded with new, and even more crazy elements. The actors are excellent – I can't really think of a weak link – with the three female leads particularly standing out in both voice and character. The music is bland in that you don't really exit singing one of the songs, but they aren't so bland as to be boring when actually watching. The set is far too chaotic, especially during the last frantic number, and the overall message is pretty standard musical fare yes. It's not one for the ages. But I and my friend both had a really enjoyable night out watching wonder.land – and experiencing the fabulous exhibition enter wonder.land downstairs (it has a whole 3D virtual reality music video!) – and so I can't agree with all those critics who've slagged this musical off so much. Moira Buffini and Norris may not have created the next West Side Story, but I highly doubt you'll forget seeing this colourful, chaotic, crazy production.
wonder.land at the National Theatre: 3/5 stars


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Self Talk are releasing a dynamite EP 'Almost Everything' next week. Jen chats to Stacey to find out more.
Melbourne indie pop/rock quintet, Self Talk is thrilled to announce their upcoming Almost Everything EP featuring six dynamite tracks, which will be released on Friday 11 August 2017. Pre-orders available digitally via Inertia Access (where both 'Old Habits' and 'Bedside Dictionary' singles will be available to download instantly), and on vinyl via Lost Boy Records. Wasting no time, the band will hit the road the day after the EP release, co-headlining an Australian tour with Brief Habits in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.
The five-piece formed in 2014, when Stacey Cicivelli (vocals/guitar) found herself in a song writing frenzy that led her to bring on board Frank Morda (drums), Michael Keirs (guitar), Amanda Norman (keys) and Brendan Aked (bass), and combine their talents to flesh out the acoustic skeletons. With a 90s influenced wistfulness, punk energy and dash of pop that has become Self Talk's signature sound, the band are inspiring through heartache and hindsight, nostalgia and new beginnings.
Having toured with local favourites such as Ceres, Luca Brasi and Paper Thin, in late 2016, the band reunited with producer Aaron Dobos (British India, Ceres) to record their latest offering at Sing Sing Studios. With the first single, 'Old Habits' released in April – receiving airplay and glowing reviews from triple j announcers, the band is excited to release the second single, 'Bedside Dictionary' today.
The nostalgic number is about "relationships that don't really get past the beginning, not because they don't work or the people involved don't like each other, but it just doesn't go any further. Its about the various things that come with that, how it might feel, the frustration or disconnection, or even just acceptance really". The official music video will be released later this month.
Hi! Congrats on your new single 'Bedside Dictionary'. It is pretty tight and full of energy. I like the 90's tinge to it. While writing this song was there a certain sound in mind or it took on a mind of it's own?
Thank you! There's never really a sound that we're necessarily trying for, but I'm glad you can hear a bit of 90s in there! I write the songs and take them to the band, and sometimes they come out completely different to what I imagined, which is really great.
From the sound of 'Bedside Dictionary' I would have guessed that Self Talk was an older band. This is a complement! You came together as a band in 2014, can you tell us how?
I guess we've all been doing this for a while, so it makes sense for that to come through! At the end of 2014 I was writing heaps of songs and wanted to start a new project for them. We jammed a couple of the songs, then went into the studio in 2015 and recorded them. I wasn't sure at that point what Self Talk was – whether we'd just record those songs, release them and that'd be it. But I guess we all really enjoyed it, and I wrote heaps more songs, so we just kept going.
Stacey, do you do all of the lyrics and the band helps with the music? Is that how your writing process goes?
Yeah, that's pretty much it. I write the lyrics and the basic structure, then take it to the band so they can add the magic. We have some very similar but also very different influences, so I think we mesh well but end up getting a good mix of different ideas and styles.
'Bedside Dictionary' is about relationships that fizzle out. Was that written from personal experience? Or did you watch someone close to you that this happened to.
I guess it's a bit of both. It's not attached to one particular situation but a few different experiences, and also things I've observed and had conversations about. I read this thing on how the tiny relationships can sometimes be the hardest to get over because you're not really expected to mourn them, and other people don't take them seriously so you kind of end up doing it secretly and alone. I thought that was interesting.
There are loads of positive reviews on triple J for your first single 'Old Habits' and Untitled. Here is one
"So many things in this one that make Self Talk such a great band; those sugary-as hell synth & guitar lines, the beautiful portraits of broken relationships, and a production and arrangement that gives it a little Emo edge. You guys can keep putting out songs forever, as far as I am concerned." ImSpencer
Do you actively look out for feedback like this? Is it something that you get together to celebrate?
I wouldn't say we go out and look for it, but it's always amazing to come across feedback like that. We all like to think that it doesn't matter what people think of your music, but those positive vibes from other people really help.
Has there ever been a time when you received negative feedback? Do you guys have strategies to deal with this?
I'm sure there are plenty of people out there with negative things to say about our music, but I don't think we've come across any ourselves. I don't think criticism is something to be afraid of and I guess when it happens you have to take on board anything that can help you, but also remind yourself that you can't win everyone over, and just be okay with that. I think you have to develop a bit of a thick skin.
You have toured with Ceres, Luca Brasi and Paper Thin last year. Can you share any stories from those tours? Anything funny?
One of the best times on tour was driving to our show in Newcastle and hearing one of our songs on the radio for the first time, and Linda Marigliano saying lovely things about it! Not a funny story, but heaps of fun and completely unexpected! It was the best way to get pumped for a show!
Was it a learning experience? Can you share something that your learnt from supporting these bands?
Playing with bands like Ceres and Luca Brasi, who we love, is always a great experience for a little band like us. The adoring crowds, their tightness on stage, it's all really great to watch.
The tour with Paper Thin was amazing. We'd never done anything like it before as Self Talk, so it was great to go interstate and have people turning up to the shows and singing along. It blew my mind that there could be even one person outside of Melbourne who knew our lyrics! We love the Paper Thin guys, they are so lovely and were so much fun to hang out with. They were the perfect band to share our first tour with them. We've definitely learnt that it's really nice to share the whole experience with another band, which is why we're doing the next one with Brief Habits!
Your EP is due for release on August 11th, I love your cover for it. Vintage pic of people having fun! Was there a reason for choosing that image to use?
I spent a lot of time trying to the find the right image, and this one just jumped out at me. There's something about it. I love how it's this random, candid moment, but somehow so perfect.
The day after the EP is released you start your Aussie tour, I like how you have included Adelaide, they are often left out.
We love Adelaide! It's such a nice city. We played there last tour and had a great time, so we never questioned going back.
Finally, can you in 7 words tell us why people should catch you on tour to see one of your shows?
High energy, singalongs, and heaps of fun!
Good one! Thanks for your time Stacey, I wish you well for the release of your EP.
With special guests
SAT 12 AUG @ THE OLD BAR, MELBOURNE VIC 18+ [FB event]
FRI 18 AUG @ THE PHOENIX, CANBERRA ACT 18+ [FB event]
SAT 19 AUG @ THE RECORD CRATE, SYDNEY NSW 18+ [FB event]
FRI 25 AUG @ CROWN AND ANCHOR, ADELAIDE SA 18+ [FB event]
SAT 26 AUG @ THE MILK FACTORY, BRISBANE QLD 18+ [FB event]
Tickets available at the door – $10 entry