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Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Last updated 1 year ago
Jun 22 2010 | 10:57am ET
Aref Karim is the CEO and CIO of UK-based Quality Capital Management (QCM), a hedge fund manager specializing in managed futures. During 2008, a year which saw many hedge funds flounder, QCM's flagship Global Diversified Programme (GDP) returned 59%.
QCM trades in financial and commodities assets in 115 instruments worldwide, its positions constantly adjusted by means of a proprietary trading system, the Advanced Resource Allocator (ARA). Karim trained as a chartered accountant and worked for some years with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). FINalternatives senior reporter Mary Campbell caught up with him recently in London.
Your Global Diversified Programme returned 59% in 2008 but struggled in 2009, losing 12%, how do you explain the downturn?
The managed futures industry as a whole has performed poorly in 2009, and the way I look at it is 2008 and 2009 are one continuum in the market. It just so happens that December 2008 separated the two years. And at end December or very early in January 2009 we were at a high – pretty much most CTAs reached a peak around that time. In early 2009 there was immense concern expressed in the bond market about supply issues. With the stimulus packages that had been put together globally…there was much liquidity injected into the market, so that from the beginning of the year virtually...bond yields started to rise, as bond prices declined on concerns of over-supply and long-run inflation.
Our systems did very well in the last quarter of 2008 on the back of fixed income and the dollar, the safe haven play if you like…but when debt instruments unexpectedly started to come off, our long legacy positions from end 2008 carried forward to 2009 hurt us. Most of the losses of 2009 came in the first four months of the year.
Our investment process is largely driven by dynamic asset allocation through the proprietary ARA (Advanced Resource Allocator) model. This tends to try and shift risk away from positions not working in our favor; but of course, in order to do that, you need other markets where we are more favorably disposed to spread that risk to. And that is one area where the system struggled, because pretty much nothing else was going on in the other markets and the systems will only go into cash reluctantly.
In March of '09 equity markets hit a low. By April-May we were already starting to initiate long positions. But generally volatility was subdued in most markets. Our strategies tend to perform better when there is a rise of volatility in the market – particularly directional volatility, strong trends – and because we tend to trade off more from longer-term trends, those trends were relatively weak in 2009.
But in the greater scheme of things, there will be inevitably periods when any system or strategy is going to be a little out of sync…however it is important to stay invested. There is a path-dependency element that is crucial in investing and particularly for skew-focused strategies such as ours. Under-performance and timing errors are caused in a portfolio when an investor gives up and thinks 'Oh, things are just not happening here' and closes the investment. Often times, that's when opportunities come about.
In managed futures, returns come at unpredictable times and with equally unpredictable magnitude in a clustered fashion. And you just don't want to miss out on it. We do our bit and try and risk manage through difficult periods and with patience. When you put 2008 and 2009 together we still end up with about 40 % for the two years combined. The way I look at it is, over the 14 years we've compounded wealth of about 600% and what's the worst that we've done, peak to valley? Well, it's about 22% – which is not a bad ratio at all.
How are things looking now, as of June 2010?
The difficulties have continued into 2010 so far. Just when things started to look better and the world economy appeared to be somewhat on the mend a major credit crisis developed in Europe. And the contagion risk of this European debt crisis means, yet again, there is much concerted government and outside intervention to try and deal with this. Our long global equity index positions that had been doing well gave back much of the gains as markets reversed. And so did some of the commodities such as energies as the dollar firmed and the euro sank in May.
Numerous external factors, including governmental ones, have come into play. Authorities are trying to manage both the volatility and the direction of the markets at this point in time. A serious situation as this with all the intervention means the natural flows of the markets are not in operation. The question in the investor mind is with the new austerity measures imposed, will slower growth in much of Europe drag financial and commodity markets into a lull where we shy away from risk assets for a long period?
The China situation with credit curbs to prevent asset bubbles also puts some risk into the global economic recovery. So, if this situation were to persist for an extended period of time, for our type of strategies, and indeed for most directional managers, it would be difficult to make large returns. However, we also know from experience that even in uncertain periods these strategies can often extract enough returns from some of the periodic volatility in the market and so it pays to be patient. ..Something has got to give obviously when you've got so many variables thrown in – so many government interventions and policy decisions that are in play… a few here and there will suddenly cause the markets to move. And that is what's good for us.
You've said that you are a "believer in commodities." Why?
The distinction between financial assets – paper assets or IOUs – and real assets – as in commodities, the tangible, 'touch and feel' assets – has been acknowledged by most for a long time. We can print paper and take away paper. We can create or destroy purchasing power of financial assets in this manner. Real assets, on the other hand, are limited in supply. If you look at oil, there is a finite supply of oil in the ground. There is a finite supply of metals… and even in agriculture, you can see the impact of global warming, there's only x-amount of land on earth…So, you know, these two assets [financial and commodities] have different behaviors. Some of these commodities form the input to manufactured products … so you need the raw materials that go into cars and planes and whatever.
The correlation in the long run of financial assets and commodities has been low or negative. And this is quite evident, for example, during inflationary times when you can see commodity prices rise and real value of financial instruments fall or bond yields rise. The recognition of [commodities] as an asset class has become more evident in the last 20 years or so when institutions – and I'm talking about pension funds and other large financial institutions, including sovereign wealth funds – have realized [their] portfolio properties are different from traditional asset classes of equities and fixed income. For a long time, institutions have shied away from having commodities in their portfolios and have not recognized them to be a separate asset class. Such investors today recognize that this form of investment actually does add considerable value in terms of their overall portfolio allocations.
In my early years with a sovereign wealth fund –the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority –we expressed our desire to hold real assets principally through a large gold holding. We ran a commodity portfolio but largely in the form of gold and …that was to serve as a hedge against the financial assets the institution held. Most central banks typically have some of their monetary reserves in gold – the US Federal Reserve still holds something like 270 million ounces of gold and this does not move, it's been there for years. And there is a purpose for it. It is to act as a backstop to the fiat currency, the paper money of no intrinsic value that we can print easily. That has now extended into not just gold as a commodity …but commodities as a whole, through baskets. So the SPGSCI [Standard & Poor's Goldman Sachs Commodities Index], Dow Jones UBS etc, you've got all these swap products and indexes that have been created to replicate a whole basket of commodities… and investors have been buying into them. It's a great diversifier for a portfolio. I do believe that commodities are an essential part [of a portfolio] – their portfolio behavior is different, so therefore it makes [them] a separate asset class, and the diversification/correlation story is a good one. …Real assets are finite in supply whereas, paper, you can pretty much print at whim. At QCM we trade commodities and we have two products dedicated to this asset class.
You've recently introduced a UCITS III-compliant version of the GDP, is that your response to EU plans to regulate hedge funds?
What we didn't have in the past was an onshore, European investing vehicle. We have now partnered with Deutsche Bank on this product launch. And what the UCITS fund has done is to open that avenue for us. It is also a product where, potentially, retail investors can come in. We're not offering this to retail investors initially, but down the road it is possible that we will do this.
Retail investors, when taken, will be able to invest theoretically with a minimum of only $100 although for practical purposes we will probably have to raise that threshold. They can invest in a fully diversified portfolio of asset classes – equities, fixed-income, currencies to commodities, pretty much everything – so they have in one shot, through a futures portfolio, an exposure to all the asset classes but with a small but affordable amount of money [invested]. They have benefit of correlation, an investment that gives them portfolio insurance when equity markets get badly hit, and expect absolute returns in the long run. And what is more the product it replicates, the QCM Global Diversified Programme, has a long performance history in excess of 14 years.
The additional comfort, of regulation, as you mentioned…is a very important factor. We like the idea that this is going to be available to investors in a completely regulated framework with attractive terms. It offers daily liquidity – futures are highly liquid and transparent anyway, but nonetheless this product offers daily liquidity. It is fully collateralized so that investors will be fully protected from credit risk. It also deals with the problem of UCITS products in the extent to which you can trade commodities. A futures instrument where you can take physical delivery results in a problem with UCITS III. Deutsche Bank [has] created a swap structure and that allows us to offer investors exactly our Global Diversified Programme but conforming to the UCITS rules…It's a great solution from our point of view.
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My friend, poet Penny Perry, provides this review of Diane Wakowski's newest book of poems.
Diane Wakoski
Bay of Angels
reviewed by Penny Perry
Before Betty Friedan, before the pill, Diane Wakoski wrote about what other girls only whispered to their best friends: sex, rebellion, unwed mothers, freedom, equality.
In her 24th and newest book, Bay of Angels ($20, 134 pp., Anhinga Press: Oct. 15, 2013), she reflects on the woman she once was:
So many lovers for this girl
with long black stockings and Alice in Wonderland hair
. . .I thought of myself then/as a knight questing for love
. . .I might see the Grail,
over each man
tattoed or leathered or
wearing motorcycle boots.
A heroine to women, she grew up in Whittier, California, in what she once described as "a shack next to an orange grove." It is the birthplace of idiosyncratic personal myths, woven from weedy chaparral. From there she moved to the blooming plum trees and then the green hills of Berkeley.
Within the third section of Bay of Angels, The Lady of Light Meets the Shadow Boy, the poem, Marilyn Gives Me a White Fleshed Peach, captures how, in the land New Yorkers view as a cultural desert, Diane Wakoski remains proof that poetry lives in our groves, our irises and poppies, our ocean and hills:
My sister always offers me fruit of the season
– this May it was white peaches
whose skin peeled away and left me
with scented flesh that tasted like moonlight,
cool, singular, almost transparent,
a goddess food.
In an age when young women were supposed to be demure and undemanding, Diane Wakoski kept saying, "I want, I want," always in a conversational style that has, in her newest books, perfected the colloquial tone William Carlos Williams brought to poetry. Each new poem in Bay of Angels is an intimate, secret-shedding letter – and each takes place in a self-contained universe. The result creates a tapestry that rivals the richness of a novel.
From the poem Wanting to Wear His Tweed Jacket:
wanted him in every
landscape. But he led me,
he led me to the oceans of wheat, the
battlefields of wheat, the plains where
no Sappho ever lived or sung.
Always grounded in a certain place and time, these poems take flight. The first section, Celluloid Dreams, is named after some of her favorite movies, including Jacques Demy's La Baie des Anges, and David Lynch's Mulholland Drive. Like those films, her images dazzle:
A sailor's daughter without a silver compass,
charting a course,
navigating the movie screen,
I have looked for mariners all my life,
trying to find my father.
Early on in her career, Wakoski gave herself permission to be the "mythic Diane, rewriting her life in poetry, sometimes surreal and abstract, other times being the everyday woman in a supermarket." She spies her younger self in the "The Spiral Staircase:" Oranges vs. Apples,
. . .just the child
shaped like a shawl,
thick ankles and wrists,
old-woman child,
a little witch child
In the same poem, she describes her childhood home:
the house where the piano sat
upright like an old maid
at a dance.
Just as she has for over six decades now, she continues creating her own personal mythology: an ex-lover is The Motorcycle Betrayer; she is a shape-shifter, identifying with Diana the Huntress and the phases of the moon. The Diamond Dog tracks her lost father. She even created a twin brother, David, the lost boy who keeps her company. Casting myth into an everyday reality, she can, with her "California eyes," watch as Persephone Steps Off the Elevator at the Fourth Floor:
and emerges again onto the adobe walled landing,
the Southern California horizon wide as an avalanche. . .
In the introduction, Wakoski notes that "The Bay of Angels, of course, is a place, but to me it's where I'd like to drown, with angels all around me, holding cards and offering me poker chips, should I ever have to die that way."
The three sections of this collection provide room for this 75 year-old to long for sex, for love, for her father, for glamour, for winnings at the gambling table. These new poems are juicy with a love of music, food, sex, butterflies, birds, pop culture, highbrow literature, travel, friends and family. "Each poem has a secret," she has said, "and a problem that must be solved."
Of the 41 poems in Bay of Angels, some of the most endearing are dedicated to Mathew Dickman, the brilliant young poet she addresses as "Pizza Boy" and "Shadow Boy."
From Goldfish Narratives:
Boyish face, cowlick in his shiny
hair, hand placed on my arm so as not
to startle me when
he creeps up in the skate arena to
say, "hello, Diane." Not the boy
who killed his sister's goldfish,
not father,
not brother. I give him
the role of Winter's Champion, bashing
at the memory – his and mine – of mistaken
Celebrated for his own imagery, his shrewd observations and a fearless, touching vulnerability, Dickman introduced Wakoski, the guest lecturer, at the poetry festival in Idyllwild, CA this summer wearing an I Love Wakoski t-shirt. It was an echo: Back in the '60s, when women of her generation were fighting for their rights, Diane Wakoski's poems told them we weren't alone.
That t-shirt also carries a new promise . Every day now, when old white men seem intent on turning back the clock to take our hard-won rights away, that t-shirt – and this book – keep fueling the courage to say, "Quiet down, boys. We're working here."
In one of the final poems in this collection, Reinventing the Measure, the links between eras and places, myths and realities, illustrate how Bay of Angels equals the stature of the American original who is Diane Wakoski:
we do both live in the same place, near a great ocean:
it is called poetry.
travel to new poems; explore elements of poetry that can enhance your poems; meet featured poets; and try out writing prompts and exercises
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Though I have never met him, I count Scott Whitaker as part of my literary community. He has written outstanding reviews of two of my books and honed in on what I was trying to do in each. For these kind, generous and intelligent critiques, I also count him as a friend.
Now it's time for my readers to encounter Scott Whitaker the creative writer.
His poems have appeared in dozens of journals and literary magazines. He is the winner of the Dogfish Head Brewery Poetry Prize and the Delaware Press Association Award for Field Recordings, and has been a recipient of a NEA grant for transforming Romeo and Juliet into a rock musical for teenagers. He's been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for fiction and the Whitman Prize for poetry, among others. He is the literary review editor for The Broadkill Review and a member of the National Book Critics Circle.
His chapbooks of poetry include The Barleyhouse Letters from Finishing Line Press, Field Recordings, and News from the Front by the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. His YA novel, Seven Days on the Mountain, and short story collection, Toxic Tourism, are available at Amazon.com.
His newest chapbook of poems is The Black Narrows. After I read a few of the chapbook's poems that were published in The Broadkill Review, I wanted to feature Scott and his poems on this blog.
The Black Narrows is a cycle of poems about a black-market community which existed on a saltwater marsh off Virginia's the Eastern Shore in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Here commercial waterman policed their oyster beds, killing those who would try to rob them. "I like the idea that on the edge of the America there existed this place where you could be anything you wanted to be, live a life that you wanted, if you chose to live by the very harsh rules of the environment," Scott said in a June 2013 interview in The Daily Fig.
And he takes the images, voices and stories of that marsh community and weaves them into poems in the same tradition as Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology. Here are monologues and elegies as well as nature poems. In the Daily Fig interview, Scott mentioned that The Black Narrows is peopled with "a baker who buries his victims in the marsh, a tavern mistress who runs the opium market, kids dealing with their alcoholic parents…." This is akin to theater — about people and relationships.
Here are three poems from The Black Narrows by Scott Whitaker:
Skiff skinny. Narrow as his favorite gal's thighs.
Enough to cover his own body, no more;
bare and tight and long. Copper kettle drum,
screwed to a frame of drift and shark bone,
brings enough steam to troll for bait fish,
red drum, an occasional shark for parts and oil.
He chugs chugs chugs, squat paddle wheel
pushing through four foot seas or a channel's icy chop.
Outlanders pay extra for salt goods, sea salt, saline
drip, byproducts of the little engine that puffs
puffs as he jags into the bay beyond the break
in the sawgrass. He breaks his fast with beer,
raw clams, little nicks, and grinds the meal
between his teeth, sucking their butter
sweet into his dry mouth. It is the only prayer
he can manage, except those quiet nights
at his bakery when he is in love with a new recipe.
Narrows noise goes round round round
that big skull of his, but in marsh,
building-deep and tall, he is loose, a single
voice among sandpiper song, loon call.
The dead buried there bother him not, a thief
or two, his ex lover's bully, somewhere socked
in the channel mud below his prow, the very silt
of his fattest oysters, bedded on the backside
of a murder rich mudbank. He bakes them with a wine
sour bread and upon them feeds, feeds, feeds.
Up into the gale she climbs, reaches to her thigh
for her rum flask and cigar. She goes up and up
and up oh Ally, Ally eye. The gusts are strong
enough to raise her up as if she were her own sail,
shirt, a billowing romance of wrinkles, her tattoos
peeking out and holding on for dear life. Oh Ally,
Ally eye. She is and she isn't, and always is always,
and howls in rain, the skein of the wind bearing down,
Ally, Ally eye. Fish and fowl and bending pine,
all is rushing out, all is blowing back on Ally, Ally eye.
Elizabeth's river cuts close to the balloon factory
where great airships bubble up like an engineers'
cartoon thoughts. Two great gears rise out of breaks
in the brick as they turn amidst steam releasing locks.
For those whose house is not a home there is work,
Sunday pay, and then penny pitchers as Harkers empties
the weekend kegs, clears the storehouse shelves,
oysters, clams, great sides of venison from smoke hooks.
There is a clear ring in the air, for only sail stretchers
are employed, their vices and straps compose soapy music
to accompany the thrum of river water turbine. Some
of the girls who work the dyes sing of the old country,
and in the wide halls of the factory, songs of love,
but only on Sunday, when the skeleton crew unlocks
broad notes, and unscrews the valves of pressure.
To order the chapbook from The Broadkill Press, click here.
To read interview (with writing advice), click here.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Lest we think that terrorism does not affect the world poetry community, remember Kofi Awoonor who was killed in the September attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya.
Kofi Awoonor was a renowned Ghanaian poet, diplomat and statesman, actor and academic. He was in Nairobi to attend and read at the Storymoja Hay Festival, an annual writing and storytelling festival.
He was born George Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor-Williams in 1935 but for the last 40 years has been Kofi Awoonor.
After graduating from the university in Ghana, he was a researcher at the Institute of African Studies before being appointed to run the Ghana Film Corporation. He was a founder of the Ghana Playhouse. He wrote, produced and acted in plays.
In 1975, after finishing more university studies abroad, he returned to Ghana. He became embroiled in one of the "subversion trials" of the military regime and spent almost a year on death row in prison. The House by the Sea chronicles his time in jail.
Kofi Awoonor served as Ghana's ambassador to Brazil, to Cuba, and to a number of South American countries. He was also Ghana's ambassador to United Nations and served as chairman of the UN's anti-apartheid committee during South Africa's transition from 1990 to 1994. He served as chairman of the Council of State, the main advisory body to Ghana's president, from 2009 until January of this year.
His first novel, This Earth, My Brother, is an experimental work he described as a prose poem. The story is told on two levels. The first level is a standard narrative representing reality. The second is a mystical journey full of literary and biblical allusions and this text deals with the new nation of Ghana.
He is most known for his poetry.
To hear Kofi Awoonor read one of his poems, click here.
To read one of his last poems, click here.
Another poem by Kofi Awooner:
The bowling cry through door posts
carrying boiling pots
ready for the feasters.
Kutsiami the benevolent boatman;
When I come to the river shore
please ferry me across
I do not have my cloth-end
the price of your stewardship.
[Kutsiami, in Ewe mythology, is the ferryman on the river which divides the living and the dead.]
It is terrible when any human is killed by terrorist acts. When terrorism destroys a creative spirit, a creative voice, the light of the world dims and our loss is vast.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
To be in love is a joy. To be charmed by the changing stages of a lifelong love is a gift. And to write honestly, engagingly and with grace, about the cycles of love, is, for most writers, a Herculean task — but not for Jamie Brown.
I first encountered Jamie Brown as the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Broadkill Review. He also has served as Fiction Editor of The Washington Review of Arts, Contributing Editor for The Sulphur River Literary Review, Poetry Reviewer at The Washington Times, and was a member of the Poetry Committee of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
But James C.L. Brown (writing as Jamie Brown) is a writer too. He's the author of a chapbook of poetry, Freeholder and Other Poems, a full-length collection of poetry, Conventional Heresies, and a chapbook of essays on writing short stories, Constructing Fiction. He holds the MFA in Creative Writing from American University.
In Jamie Brown's new book, Sakura: A Cycle of Haiku, he writes about the progression of love, using cherry blossoms (the "sakura" of the title) as prime descriptive image of the sequence (from bud to blossom to ensuing afterglow). Each haiku captures a moment, a feeling, and the placement of one haiku per page allows the reader to linger with each poem, letting the nuances flower.
What I especially like about Sakura is how Jamie often employs a kaleidoscopic approach to his sequence of haikus. In some poems, he'll repeat an image or phrase from the previous poem, showing the moments as connected, but, not staying fixed to only one point in time, shifts slightly in the new poem, letting the cycle advance.
Here is an example of this kaleidoscopic approach:
They were, one moment,
petals singed by the wildfire.
Passion's charred remnants.
The passionate heart
does not wait idly for love,
each night burns for it.
You can see firelight
at night above the lovers,
sparked by their hearts' flame.
You can see firelight
and the petals in her hair
the morning after.
The words "petals," "wildfire" and "passion" (or "passionate") tumble like shiny pieces in a kaleidoscope, creating a new pattern in each haiku.
And another example of this linking, and reforming, (from later in the book):
Like the promise of
delayed affection, her kiss
kept him waiting years.
Years pass like water
tumbling down a hill in spring,
heedless of its fate.
Fate, age, the cherry
blossom is mindless of these,
beauty its purpose.
Its purpose beauty,
the blossom does not worry,
content just to be.
Sakura: A Cycle of Haiku is a meditation on love. Genuinely tender, often quietly philosophical, the book has much to say about passion, affection and how the years can shape the lovers and love itself. In the end, there's an acknowledgement that:
Too much of love is
inexpressible in words.
Silence has meaning.
Click here to go to The Broadkill Press to order book.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Santa Monica Disposal & Salvage is an exceptional book of poems by Penny Perry. It is at once memoir, cultural and period snapshot and volume of compelling and grace-filled poems. Here, in these autobiographical poems, Penny Perry shapes a coming-of-age story filled with abandonment and redemption (or the "disposal" and "salvage" of the title).
Penny Perry's collection of poetry, Santa Monica Disposal & Salvage, is set in sunny Southern California, "a place everyone wants to visit," but the reader soon hears that not all is cheery here:
I learned early past every harbor
there is a line in the horizon,
a final swell, a last door you can't open.
Dare to lift trash can lids in paradise.
Peer under dead palm branches
for body parts you've left behind."
And it's this "left behind" that is a major theme, captured first in the book's title (which was the name of her father's junk yard — "my mother, an English major, named it — ") and carried as the abandonment and survival which mark these poems.
In addition to parental abandonment, which is central to the book:
After my mother died, [my father] disappeared.
We became each other's refuse,
egg-shell reminders of a former life.
Like gulls, those unwelcome picnic guests,
we circled each other…
there is also her grandfather's casting off his Jewish identity:
Blonde, blue-eyed, impeccable English,
he packed his prayer shawl and yarmulke,
changed his last name,
dressed in "Episcopalian clothes:"
white shirt, tie, black shoes.
Additionally seen are "old men playing cards" on the Santa Monica boardwalk by the beach, men who "escaped the Czar, Stalin, Hitler/and have come as far west as they could go."
And, early in the book, when doctors first began to use ether,
The doctor glanced at his medical license
framed on the wall behind him,
said he was afraid to use ether.
her mother's sister dies during a medical procedure: "It happened fast. Ether, a busy housewife,/pulled down the shades."
What, and who, has been left behind (as well as the feeling of being left behind) is one of the central motifs of this collection of poems.
But there is also salvage, and survival. Here is one example, and one of my favorite poems from the book:
Three days after my mother died,
her hollyhocks tumbled down
under their own weight. My father disappeared.
I had eaten the last
of her meatloaf wrapped in wax paper.
She had waved me out of her kitchen.
"No need to learn to cook.
You'll be a professor." She ground her own meat,
the red strings wriggling like worms.
Though I only had my learner's permit,
I drove her old PLYMOUTH to the store.
There were whole aisles in SAFEWAY
she never went down. That first day I bought
BIRD'S EYE frozen broccoli,
macaroni and cheese. The mothers
of my friends told their daughters,
"Stay away from her. Who knows
what's going on in that house?
Parties. Boys." There were no parties.
No boys. Nights, I would call Time
to her a lady say it was three-oh-three.
I made JELLO and SWANSON'S turkey dinners.
I asked the gym teacher, perky Miss Butler,
a woman whom a month before I would never
have talked to, about salads. Miss Butler
coached the girls' marching drill team.
She told me she had polio as a child.
People could survive all sorts of things.
She said, "Wash the lettuce first."
I fried hamburger meat, flames jumping
wildly under the iron skillet. A month later,
my father reappeared, moved us to a dingy
apartment across town. Nights, I would sit
in my mother's car in front of our old house.
The new owner, a gardener, stacked
my mother's hollyhocks.
I couldn't see the pale pink, ruby, and yellow
flowers in the dark. But I knew they were there.
(previously published in Contemporary World Poetry)
What impresses me most about Santa Monica Disposal & Salvage is the well-crafted way the book is put together. Not only does this volume of poetry mesh two opposing conditions (disposal and salvage), a long-standing poetic tradition, but also, in her placement of poems, this talented poet links her poems, so there's a unified bridge (another great tradition in American poetry) by which all the emotional and cultural perspectives bump up against each other. For example, in "Noon under the Orange Trees," she describes her mother, on her final afternoon, in a set of contrasts:
A California housewife —
blue jeans, hair in curlers
wrapped in a red bandana —
sits under an orange tree
eating a peanut butter sandwich,
reading Harper's Bazaar,
studying models in LILY ANNE suits
posing on Park Avenue.
In the next poem, "Foretelling," the grandmother arrives in
… her stylish wool suit, a LILY
ANNE copy, she steps up our stone path
and opens the door
and is told of her daughter's sudden death. The small detail of the name-brand suits links the poems. (The author uses specific store and brand names to ground many of her poems in time and place.)
This technique is also evident in the ending, and its images, of "Living in a Place Everyone Wants to Visit:"
Breathe in the scent of orange blossoms.
Count as lucky the waves in the sea.
which links to the final lines of the ensuing poem, "Floating:"
The doctor waved my mother in.
White face, head back, Leona was no longer breathing.
The ribbon in her dark hair floated in the breeze of the fan.
Penny Perry's Santa Monica Disposal & Salvage (Garden Oak Press) is powerful and captivating; her poetry, clear, gracious and graceful. This is a standout book by a splendid poet.
Click here to go to Garden Oak Press.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Arizona recently selected its first poet laureate (Alberto Ríos), making it the 43rd US state with a post of poet or writer laureate. Ríos was the unanimous first choice of an expert panel (which sent three nominations to the governor) after a selection process outlined by a law passed by the Legislature.
Alberto Ríos was born in Nogales, a small border town in southern Arizona, to a Mexican-American father and a British mother (whom the father met as a soldier in World War II and brought back to Arizona). He received his MFA from the University of Arizona (in Tucson) and teaches as a Regents' Professor at Arizona State University (in the Phoenix area).
Ríos is an award-winning poet, novelist and memoirist. His first book, Whispering to Fool the Wind (Sheep Meadow Press, 1982), was chosen by Donald Justice as winner of the 1981 Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets. The Iguana Killer: Twelve Stories of the Heart, winner of the 1984 Western States Book Award, was published by Blue Moon Press. He was a finalist for the 2002 National Book Award for his Poetry collection, The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body. His memoir about growing up on the US-Mexican border, Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir (University of New Mexico Press, 1999), was chosen for the OneBookAZ reading program in 2009. Ríos also has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation.
In the 1970s, as part of Poets in the Schools, he traveled all over the state doing workshops in schools and libraries. When his memoir was selected for the OneBookAZ, he again traveled around the state, going back to many of the same places as he'd been to for Poets in the Schools.
In 2002, a public-art project "Words Over Water" was installed in a series of granite tiles around Tempe Town Lake (in Arizona), each tile inscribed with a thought composed by Alberto Ríos and meant to represent the history of the Salt River. These single lines are philosophical aphorisms, often humorous, based on the Hispanic tradition of greguerias. Here are four of my favorite ones:
We have rain but it's a dry rain.
In the desert, water is the only thing that doesn't taste like chicken.
A lake is a river that has retired.
A lake is a hoof-print of the mighty water-horse.
But Alberto Ríos is a fine poet. Here are two of his poems:
In the old days of our family
My grandmother was a young woman
Whose hair was as long as the river.
She lived with her sisters on the ranch
La Calera — the Land of the Lime —
And her days were happy.
But her uncle Carlos lived there too,
Carlos whose soul had the edge of a knife.
One day, to teach her to ride a horse,
He made her climb on the fastest one,
Bare-back, and sit there
As he held its face in his arms.
And then he did the unspeakable deed
For which he would always be remembered:
He called for the handsome baby Pirrín
And he placed the child in her arms.
With that picture of a Madonna on horseback
He slapped the shank of the horse's rear leg.
The horse did what a horse must,
Racing full toward the bright horizon.
But first he ran under the álamo trees
To rid his back of this unfair weight:
This woman full of tears
And this baby full of love.
When they reached the tress and went under,
Her hair, which had trailed her,
Equal in its magnificence to the tail of the horse,
That hair rose up and flew into the branches
As if it were a thousand arms,
All of them trying to save her.
The horse ran off and left her,
The baby still in her arms,
The two of them hanging from her hair.
The baby looked only at her
And did not cry, so steady was her cradle.
Her sisters came running to save them.
But the hair would not let go.
From its fear it held on and had to be cut,
All of it, from her head.
From that day on, my grandmother
Wore her hair short, like a scream,
But it was long like a river in her sleep.
(published in The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body, Copper Canyon Press, 2002)
Tonio told me at catechism
the big part of the eye
admits good, and the little
black part is for seeing
evil — his mother told him
who was a widow and so
an authority on such things.
That's why at night
the black part gets bigger.
That's why kids can't go out
at night, and at night
girls take off their clothes
and walk around their
bedrooms or jump on their
beds or wear only sandals
and stand in their windows.
I was the altar boy
who knew about these things,
whose mission on some Sundays
was to remind people of
the night before as they
knelt for Holy Communion.
To keep Christ from falling
I held the metal plate
under chins, while on the thick
red carpet of the altar
I dragged my feet
and waited for the precise
moment: plate to chin
I delivered without expression
the Holy Electric Shock,
the kind that produces
a really large swallowing
and makes people think.
I thought of it as justice.
But on other Sundays the fire
in my eyes was different,
my mission somehow changed.
I would hold the metal plate
a little too hard
against those certain same
nervous chins, and I
I would look
with authority down
the tops of white dresses.
(published in The Morrow Anthology of Younger
American Poets, 1985)
Click to read an interview of Alberto Rios.
Click to see video and hear Alberto Rios.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
I saw a wonderful exhibit on William Butler Yeats, at the National Library of Ireland, when I was there recently. There were display cases containing drafts of his poems, letters, photographs, gifts from others that became subjects of poems, photos of various male and female friends, playbills and books. There were areas where videos played (one on his interest in the occult, another on Yeats and the women in his life, on the Irish Literary Theatre, and one as an introduction). One area had a place to sit and listen to an audio presentation of his poetry and a screen on which was projected the particular poem being read. It was a delightful exhibit — and I didn't have enough time to see it thoroughly.
But I grabbed the brochure for YEATS: The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats, as the exhibit is titled. On the back of the brochure is printed
Explore our Yeats online exhibition
So when I returned home, I checked out the website and — WOWY-ZOWY! — it's just like being at the exhibit in Ireland.
After clicking and getting into the site, there's a map of the exhibit at the bottom right of the screen. You can click an area and — whoosh — you're in the area, in front of a display case or video screen. Click on an object in the display case and a close-up with description appears. (I clicked on a lapis-lazuli carving that was hard to see up close in the actual exhibit and online I was able to see it in detail and with views from all sides.) Click on a video screen and see the video.
Click her to go to the exhibit.
This is an amazing exhibit — and all at your fingertips. I'm not certain how long the exhibit will run: I'm presuming, at least, through the end of this year.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Steve McDonald's poems are always a joy for me to read. He writes about ordinary people — and the everyday things and natural world around them — with open-hearted empathy. His writing is well-crafted, lyrical and, as I said before, a pleasure for the reader.
Steve's poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous journals including Nimrod, RATTLE, The Crab Creek Review, The Paterson Literary Review, Spillway, Blue Unicorn, The Sow's Ear Poetry Review, and The Cresset. His work has appeared in Best New Poets 2010. Steve is Professor Emeritus of English and former Dean of Languages and Literature at Palomar College in San Marcos, California.
Of his first book, Where There Was No Pattern (Finishing Line Press), poet Maurya Simon said it "brims with life…McDonald is a poet graced with a deft imagination, a poignant sense of mortality, and true insight into human pathos."
What I enjoy in Steve's poems is his humility and humanity, and how he's able to transform these into avenues for grace. For example, he's a regular guy who has to mow his own lawn — but, as a poet, finds a way to uplift the chore into moments of spiritual insight (from a poem in his first book).
His new book, House of Mirrors (Tebot Bach) is now available and already has garnered kudos from other writers. Judith Pacht, author of Summer Hunger, praises Steve McDonald's way of "[making] the ordinary extraordinary as he examines nature and ourselves in unflinching detail. In House of Mirrors, we move from the wonder of a spider and its intricate web to the machinations of the human heart…These are elegant poems — moving and redemptive." Dorianne Laux, author of The Book of Men, lauds Steve's new book's "attention to language and empathy for its subject matter, the human in all their many guises." Ellen Bass and Joseph Millar, distinguished poets, concur and add more praise.
Steve is a superb craftsman. He has an excellent sense of when and how to use poetic techniques to enrich and expand his poems. I especially like, in "Rain" from his new book, House of Mirrors, how he furthers a reader's sense of the rural landscape (besides using "fields" and "wet soil, bladed tillers and chisel plows" — what you'd expect in the country) by including farming images as part of his description of an elementary school: "the corn-silk yellow of caution lights,/ a crop of children,/…parents hovering like harvest moons."
For information about his new book and to order a signed copy, click here
Here are three of Steve's poems.
by Steve McDonald
No sidewalk, just the garbled lyrics
of a muddy path, just rain humming
I will wash the brown earth,
and a mother, perhaps twenty-five,
and a son, perhaps seven.
She is holding his hand, urging him
past fields darkening into thunder,
past roots
anchored in folds of wet
soil, bladed tillers and chisel plows
crammed into long low sheds.
In the distance
the corn-silk yellow of caution lights,
a crop of children,
an elementary school,
parents hovering like harvest moons.
It rains harder.
Hoods up, heads down,
mother and son
dodge sink-holes of mud-
filled puddles. A roadside flower stand
gathers its bouquets—carnation and daisy,
rose and mum—buttons its coat.
Rain blossoms
from rusty gutters.
Mother and son pass
bicycles tangled like razor wire,
a broken fence, a grocery—migrants
huddled against the weather,
fingers stuffed
into damp pockets, stories rising
like steam from wet earth.
The rain says pour.
Crates of oranges,
flats of strawberries, lean in,
by Steve McDonald
When limestone faces
wear rivers of cracks,
weathered grimaces
and frozen grins
create only questions,
awaken memories
of a parent,
perhaps, whose
series of strokes
left lips uncertain:
the legacy, a hieroglyphic
glance, shards
of shattered Rosetta stone,
the chance for communion
with the one who is gone,
gone. Just a bed,
a shroud of sand piling
upon a craggy face,
a sheet of wind sliding
over the body like a lover,
silent yet ready
with the riddle,
the one it will carve
in stone.
by Steve McDonald
Once, when a boy, I awoke alone
on the sun-baked boulders at the edge
of the canyon falls to find a snake,
green and yellow, curled on the rock
next to me, asleep, it seemed, or nearly so,
although its eyes were open, or perhaps
I was asleep and dreaming, for I did not move,
just gazed through eyes that seemed to have opened
in a way they had not opened before,
the snake and I waiting and watching
as the steady elegy of the waterfall
spilled into the sun-filled pool. And then,
it seemed, I awoke again to find myself
at the edge of the off ramp, waiting
for the light to change, waiting to turn
into the coffee shop for a cup of green tea
and a pastry to ease the burden
of the long drive home, and as I waited
and watched, a yellow motorcycle swung
like a scythe from one lane to the next,
then pulled to a stop in front of me,
and the rider, a boy in a red jacket,
rested his foot on the earth, one lover
leaning into another, then bent at the waist
as if to embrace his bike, the full moon
of his helmet rising above the curve
of his jacket, and emblazoned
on his helmet were scriptures of death,
one bone-white skull after another
so that when he surveyed the road
to his right and then to his left
all I could see were rotating skulls,
empty eye sockets, dark nasal cavities,
and I wondered why one would enwreathe
his head with death, what need that might fill,
and then I thought of the snake, its gaze
upon my gaze, and the pool, and the fall
of the water, and my own awakening,
and my eyes opened again to this boy,
the skulls adorning his head my invitation,
it seemed, to quicken him with imagining,
ensoul him with wondering, as together
we waited to spill into the pool of evening.
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Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: firstname.lastname@example.com. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail.
Notice to Readers Availability of Meningococcal Vaccine in Single-Dose Vials for Travelers and High-Risk Persons
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a single-dose vial of quadrivalent polysaccharide vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, Y, and W135. The single-dose vial replaces the previously available 10-dose vial, which, once reconstituted, has a 5-day shelf life. This limitation is obviated by the single-dose vial and should facilitate administration to persons at high risk.
Immunization is recommended for persons with anatomic or functional asplenia and deficiencies of the terminal components of the complement system. Additionally, travelers to areas with hyperendemic or epidemic meningococcal disease should be immunized (1). Updated travel advisories can be obtained from travelers' clinics, county and state health departments, and CDC.
The vaccine is not recommended for routine use in the United States for three reasons: 1) meningococcal disease is infrequent (approximately 3000 cases per year); 2) no vaccine exists for serogroup B, which accounts for about 50% of cases in the United States; and 3) vaccine is not efficacious against group C disease in children less than 2 years of age (2). This age group accounts for 28% of the group C cases in the United States (CDC, unpublished data).
In adults, the protective efficacy of the vaccine is 85%-95% for disease caused by serogroups A or C (3,4). Efficacy data are not available for serogroups Y and W135, but the vaccine is immunogenic for both of these serogroups (5-7). Side effects of the vaccine are mild and infrequent, consisting primarily of erythema and induration at the site of injection and low-grade fever. Protective immunity is achieved 10-14 days after vaccination.
The new single-dose tetravalent vaccine is available from local distributors or Connaught Laboratories, Inc., A Pasteur Merieux Company (telephone (800) 822-2463). Physicians are encouraged to report all cases of meningococcal disease to their local and state health departments. Reported by: Meningitis and Special Pathogens Br, Div of Bacterial Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC.
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text:
The Meyerhoff Alumni Advisory Board will host online elections from June 1st to June 8th. For detailed information on all officer, cohort representative and committee chair positions, and to vote beginning June 1st, please visit the website by clicking here.
For questions or more information, contact the elections committee at firstname.lastname@example.com.
The Meyerhoff Alumni Advisory Board will have a meeting on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Alumni House located at 5451 Wilkens Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21250.
If you are interested in atteding the next meeting (either in person or via conference call), please contact Mrs. Earnestine Baker at 410-455-3786 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
The Meyerhoff Scholars Program was recently profiled in Science.
To read the article, click on the link below.
Minority Retention Rates in Science Are Sore Spot for Most Universities
Ms. Bettel Mussie (M16) '08, biological science and psychology will begin an M.D. program at The George Washington University in Fall 2009.
Ms. Donnetta McFadden (M15) '07 biochemistry and molecular biology will begin a Pharm.D. program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore in Fall 2009.
Ms. Ivette Santana-Cruz (M15) '07 bioinformatics and computational biology will begin a Ph.D. program in human genetics at The Johns Hopkins University in Fall 2009.
Gerald Lopez (M9) '01, computer engineering, presented at the 2009 IEEE International Interconnect Technology Conference in Sapporo, Japan on June 1st.
His presentation topic, "A New Physical Model and Experimental Measurements of Copper Interconnect Resistivity Considering Size Effects and Line-Edge Roughness (LER)," can be viewed on youtube by clicking here.
Gerald Lopez is in the Ph.D. program in The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The Georgia Institute of Technology.
The Meyerhoff Alumni Advisory Board hosted their first nomination and election process this past Spring. Congratulations to the 2009-2010 Alumni Advisory Board of the Chapter of Meyerhoff Alumni.
President, Raymond Onley, M4
Vice President, Mawuli Dzirasa, M7
Secretary, Vondell Coleman, M4
Treasurer, Donna Person, M7
Parliamentarian, John Foster, M11
Historian, Tanisha Hall, M6
M1 Rep, Michael Haywood
M3 rep, Angelique Blanding
M4 Rep, Delayne Johnson
M5 Rep, Jason McCullers
M6 Rep, Jennifer Plummer
M7 Rep, Camelia Owens
M8 Rep, Alexandra Harryman
M9 Rep, Mileka Gilbert
M10 Rep, Lauren (Battle) Wills
M11 Rep, Tiffani Bright
M12 Rep, Richard Shoge
M13 Rep, Seth Miller
M14 Rep, Michael Aaron
M15 Rep, Candace Mainor
M16 Rep, Shayla Shorter
M17 Rep , Latey Jones
To learn more about the advisory board, click here.
Dr. Delayne Johnson (M4) '97, mathematics has accepted a position of assistant professor of mathematics education at Clemson University in South Carolina.
Dr. Johnson recently completed her Ph.D. in mathematics education a the University of Delaware. Her dissertation topic was "Equity and Social Justice in School Mathematics."
Dr. Tida Kumbalasiri (M10) '02, biological science and psychology graduated from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences with an M.D./Ph.D. in Neurosciences.
Dr. Kumbalasiri is an internal medicine intern at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.
Dr. Christy Gray (M8) '00, chemical engineering graduated from Case Western University with an M.D./Ph.D. in early June 2009.
Dr. Gray plans to complete her residency training in anesthesiology at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD and complete an internship at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. She will then return to JHU to complete her residency in the department of anesthesiology.
Do you remember your first days as a Meyerhoff? Throughout Summer Bridge, you made friends who stoked your curiosity and inspired a spirit of healthy competition that allowed you to grow not only as a scholar, but as a person. As you progressed through the program, the Meyerhoff staff supported you, helping you ace the tough exams, and acting as mentors through times of success and challenge.
As a graduate of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, you know the experience you were given at UMBC was priceless. However, in these hard economic times, it becomes necessary to think realistically about the costs of our Meyerhoff Scholars Program. In recent months, the endowments supporting the program have declined and although the program remains strong, alumni support is necessary to maintain the resources that make it so successful, including:
* Scholarships (tuition, fees, room, and board)
* Summer Bridge instruction, transportation, room, board, activities, textbooks/materials
* Student conferences, seminars, and summer internships
* Marketing and recruitment and day-to-day administrative operations
The annual Meyerhoff Cohort Giving Challenge allows you to demonstrate your appreciation for the program that gave you so much, as well as your commitment to future Meyerhoff Scholars. Last year, 165 alumni made a gift or pledge totaling $17,700. We would like to surpass that amount this year by increasing the number of donors and raise a minimum of $22,000. As of today, 69 donors have made gifts or pledges totaling $8,000 and we hope you will be a part of surpassing our goals.
Last year, the M1 cohort won the giving challenge; as of early June, the M6 cohort is in the lead for the 2009 prize, recognition on a special plaque in the Meyerhoff Office. The academic and career achievements of Meyerhoff graduates speak volumes about the Program's impact. However, the level of support of the program by its own alumni is just as important in measuring the program's success over time.
As it is said, "To whom much is given, much is required." Make a commitment to the future of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program by making your gift before the deadline of June 30.
To make a gift, click here
Joseph Keller (M15) '07, biological sciences recently completed his master's degree in computational neuroscience at the Cognitve and Neural Systems Department at Boston University.
Joseph is currently conducting summer research at Massachussetts General Hospital with EEG studies of patients under anesthesia. In the fall, Jospeh will matriculate to Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department to begin a Ph.D in neuroscience and plans to focus on dementia and alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Lekelia "Kiki" Jenkins (M5) '97, biological sciences recently accepted the David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship and Ford Postdoctoral Diversity Fellowship.
The Smith Fellowship is the most prestigious and competitive postdoctoral fellowship in the field of conservation. Dr. Jenkins will be based at the University of Washington and will conduct research in Mexico, Costa Rica and Ecuador. To learn more about Dr. Jenkin's project, click here.
Dr. Jenkins earned her Ph.D. in marine science and conservation from Duke University in 2006.


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Manchester United players wear this football jacket when they face the media during European competitions. Made from hard-wearing ripstop fabric and designed for a slim fit, it wicks moisture from your skin to keep you dry when the heat is on. Stay dry Climalite wicks sweat to keep you dry in every condition Club details A team badge pays tribute to Man Utd
adidas Manchester United Ultimate Presentation Jacket Blue Men's Jackets Polyester h8OqlLhv


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Inspired by the icy cold temperatures currently being experienced in North America, Canadian born Chris Marchand has created a colorful fort that was completely made of ice in his backyard.
Marchand created the giant colorful structure by using materials that are commonly found in homes like plastic containers, water and ice (snow), food coloring and a toboggan. Over the course of a month, Marchand created approximately 30 blocks of ice a day in the 8 liter plastic container boxes. Every 12 hours, Marchand takes the bricks of ice and layers them on top of each other. The result is a 400 colorful blocks of ice stacked together to form a five foot tall ice fort that functions as a wind blocker as well as a visually stunning wall of ice.
Glowing Rainbow Ice Forts
More Stats +/-
Intimately Modern Concrete Houses
Topography-Imitating Structures
Modular Mobile Living Spaces
Spherical Blended Photography
Superimposed Rectangle Housing
Marchand Builds a Fort Made from 400 Colorful Blocks of Ice in His Backy
- By: TiffanyJan 27, 2014
References: imgur & mymodernmet
References: imgur & mymodernmet


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BugsUsers can provide feedback in the form of bug reports. The reports need not be actual bugs, but features that users would like to see added to Konsole.
Submitting reportsPlease submit bugs and wishes by using the KDE bug report guided form at the KDE Bug Tracking System.
As a convenience, submitting reports is as easy as selecting Help->Report Bug... in Konsole's menu.
Please, please verify that the report it not a duplicate.
Once a KDE version x.y.0 is released, only bug fixes are allowed in that branch. New features and string changes will go into the next x.y.0 release.
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View reportsView all of Konsole's bug (without wishes) reports.
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Braised Lamb Shank, Spring Onion, Cured Olive & Couscous
The very talented Chef de Cuisine at Loulay, Chef Rob Sevcik, has done it again! He has created a wonderful recipe for you all to try at home with a Moroccan inspired preparation of lamb shanks over couscous. :)
Spring Lamb al la Loulay
(Braised Lamb Shank, spring onion, cured olive over couscous)
- 4 Lamb shanks
- 2 yellow onion - small dice
- 2 medium carrots - small dice
- 4 stalks celery - small dice
- 1 c. whole garlic cloves
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 c. white wine
- 2 Tbsp. Harissa paste
- Sachet e'spices (bay leaf, thyme, sage, parsley, leek, black peppercorn, wrapped in cheesecloth)
- 4 c. chicken stock
- 2 medium bay leaves (in addition to sachet)
- 8 oz. whole unsalted butter
- 6-8 spring onions depending on size
- 8 oz. pitted chopped cured Moroccan black olives
- 2 t. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups couscous
Serves 4-6
For the Lamb Shanks -
Preheat oven to 325F. In a large pot bring chicken stock and sachet to boil. Remove from heat.
In a dutch oven, add olive oil and put on medium heat. Season lamb shanks liberally with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. When they have achieved a nice browning on all sides (browning is not burning, there should be no black) remove from pot and set aside. The shanks should still be raw in the center. Working quickly add onions, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pot. Saute for 3-4 minutes until the vegetables start to get a little color. Add tomato paste and harissa and saute for 2 minutes until the paste starts to brown a bit. Add white wine and reduce by 1/3. Add hot chicken stock and sachet of spices. Add lamb shanks back into the liquid and cover pot. Cook for 2.5 to 3 hours or until the shanks fall from the bone when touched.
Set shanks aside and strain sauce then reduce by 1/2. Whisk in cold butter reduce by 1/4. In a small pan, saute spring onions in a bit of olive oil and add to sauce. Add olives and season to taste.
For the Couscous -
In a medium pot bring 2 cups salted water with 2 Tbs olive oil to a boil. Add the extra bay leaves. Add couscous, cover and remove from heat. Wait 5-7 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork. (I like to toss mine with a little bit of minced parsley as well but that is optional).
Spoon braised lamb, onions and olive over couscous and ENJOY!


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This is my May DT project using Kitten Memoirs Journal Kit... I choose to do a altered book this time. I painted all the pages with raw sienna to go with this beautiful kit. You really have to smile working with these beautiful images. I didn't even distress them. The kitten paper entry paired up so well with Tsunami Rose Designs flowers.
Check out DT Laura's Youtube Channel
TsunamiRose Designs Blog


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To create history in sales like it's predecessor Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, Xiaomi has launched all new Xiaomi redmi Note 4 priced at Rs 9,999 for 2GB+32GB, Rs 11,999 for Rs 3GB+32GB and Rs 13,999 for 4GB+64GB.
last month Xiaomi Redmi Pro launched in China but not yet launched in India. Xiaomi recently launched Xiaomi Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is a Metal-clad smartphone will support Finger print Scanner, Dual-SIM(4G+4G),Micro SIM, 4GLTE, NFC, Wi-fI, Bluetooth, USB Type C come with a bigger 5.5-inch Full HD 2D glass display with resolution (1080×1920 pixels), 401 pixels per inch and gorilla glass 4 protection and full GFF lamination.
It also powered by a powerful Octa-core, MT6795 Helio X20 chip processor/Snapdragon 652 SoC with 2GB/3GB RAM, 16GB/64GB ROM and 128GB MicroSD card slot offers you superior graphics and gaming experience, boosting 3D interfaces, colors and textures and run on Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS along with MIUI 7.0 on top which allows you to enjoy millions of apps from Google play store.
It also sporting a powerful 13-MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture and dual-LED flash and Sony CMOS sensors(Sony IMX214 with zero shutter lag) perfect for low light shooting and 5-MP rear camera for video calling and selfies will powered by a powerful 41,00mAh battery with sophisticated power management technology and fast charging technology.
According to report, Redmi Note 4 will launch in India with Snapdragon 652 SoC, 16-MP Rear +8-MP front camera.
While it's predecessor Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is available in China priced at 899 Yuan( Rs 9,999 in India) for (2GB RAM+16GB ROM) and 1099 Yuan( Rs 11,999 in India) for (3GB+32GB ROM).
Read More About:-Xiaomi Mi6 Price in India, Release date, Specifications
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Full SPECIFICATIONS:-
- SIM Type Dual-SIM(LTE+LTE), Micro SIM
- Network GSM, WCDMA (HSUPA, HSDPA), LTE-FDD
- 5.5-inch full-HD 2D Glass display with resolution(1920×1080) resolution and gorilla glass 3 protection
- Android 0 Marshmallow OS along with MIUI 8.0
- 64-bit Octa-core, MT6795 Helio X10 chip/Snapdragon 652 SoC
- Memory 16GB/64GB Internal Memory
- Expandable memory up to 128GB via MicroSD card
- Primary Camera 13-MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture and dual-LED flash and Sony CMOS sensors
- Secondary Camera 5-MP for selfies and video calling
- Sensor Finger print scanner, IR Blaster Gyroscope, Light sensor, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Electronic compass and Barometer
- Battery 4100mAh Sony/ATL battery
- Dimension 151x76x8.35mm
- Weight 175 gram
- Talk Time N/A
- Standby Time N/A
- Release date Q1 2017
- Availability Q1 2017
- Colours Gold, Silver, Dark Grey
- Rival Lenovo K6 Note
- Price in USA Approx. $135
- price in China 899 Yuan for (2GB RAM+16GB ROM) and 1199 Yuan for (3GB+64GB ROM)
- Price in India Rs 9,999 for 2GB+32GB, Rs 11,999 for Rs 3GB+32GB and Rs 13,999 for 4GB+64GB
At last few honest word, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is coming kill it's rivals like Lenovo, Micromax, LeEco and Samsung. What you think? Please be open to give your view.


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Children were: Joseph JOLY.
She was married to Isaac HAZEN WFT Est 1790-1813. Children were: William Blackimore HAZEN, Mary HAZEN, Obadiah HAZEN, Bethena HAZEN, Nathaniel HAZEN, Hilena HAZEN, Reuben HAZEN, Nancy HAZEN, Samuel Bell HAZEN, Eliza HAZEN, Isaac HAZEN, Nathaniel HAZEN.
She was married to MICHEL CHAUVIN on 27 Jul 1647 in Quebec, Canada. Children were: PAUL CHAUVIN, CHARLOTTE CHAUVIN, JEAN CHAUVIN .
She was married to JEAN GERVAISE on 3 Feb 1654 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Children were: MARGUERITE GERVAISE, CUNEGONDE GERVAISE, JEANNE GERVAISE, JEAN GERVAISE, LOUIS GERVAISE, NICOLAS GERVAISE, CECILE GERVAISE, URBAIN GERVAISE.
He was married to RENEE OUVRARD in France. Children were: JACQUES ARCHAMBAULT .
He was married to FRANCOISE TOURAULT on 24 Jan 1629 in Pont Charault, Luçon, France (St Philibert). Children were: DENIS ARCHAMBAULT, JACQUETTE ARCHAMBAULT, MARIE ARCHAMBAULT, LAURENT ARCHAMBAULT, ANNE ARCHAMBAULT.
She was married on 28 Sep 1648 in Quebec, Canada.
He was married on 7 Jan 1660 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
She was married on 28 Sep 1648 in Quebec, Canada.
She was married to William P WILLIAMS on 9 Feb 1853. Children were: Vila WILLIAMS, John M WILLIAMS , John WILLIAMS, Mary A WILLIAMS, George WILLIAMS.
She was married to Robert BEAVERS Jr. on 3 May 1773.
She was married to Charles Ernest MILLER on 9 Aug 1958. Children were: Linda Ann MILLER.
Children were: Dean Edward ASHTON, Shawn Michael ASHTON.
He was divorced from Dawn Bernice BEACHEY. Children were: Gregory James ASHTON .
Children were: Ashton Sherwood HERBERT, Bernice Eleanor HERBERT , Carol Dianne HERBERT.
Children were: Marilyn Eloise ASHTON, Darlene Mabel ASHTON, Kenneth Mervin ASHTON, Gary Petit ASHTON, Wayne Leroy ASHTON, Bryan Charles Walter ASHTON .
She was married to Austin Patrick O'BRIEN on 27 Oct 1956. Children were: Juliann O'BRIEN, Janice O'BRIEN, Larry O'BRIEN, Jim O'BRIEN.
Children were: Linda Marie JOHNSTON, Larry Clayton JOHNSTON , Mary Lee JOHNSTON.
Children were: Vera Myrtle ASHTON, Melbourne ASHTON, Lillie May ASHTON, Lorne Mervin ASHTON, Teresa Marie ASHTON.
Children were: DARREN Wayne ASHTON, Nancy Lynne ASHTON.
Children were: Mary Charlotte GLORIA .
Children were: Mary Joseph RENAUD .
Children were: Mary Joseph LEBEUF .
Children were: Abigail PARK, John PARK , William PARK, Joseph Kerr PARK, Samuel Hunt PARK, Mary Ann Martha PARK.
She was divorced from AYERS. Children were: Elizabeth AYERS.
Children were: Amanda RAMSEY, Lemuel B RAMSEY, Margaret RAMSEY, Nancy D RAMSEY, William RAMSEY, DeWitt RAMSEY.
Children were: Edward HART , Imogen HART, Susan HART .
Children were: Sarah TISDALE, Susan TISDALE, Martha TISDALE, Mary Ann TISDALE, Amelia TISDALE, Cyrus TISDALE, Wallace TISDALE.
He was married to Peninah SWAYZE on 9 Feb 1826. Children were: William Clark AXFORD , Ogden Sanford AXFORD, Hiram F. AXFORD, Robert C. AXFORD, Marshal H AXFORD, Serepta AXFORD, Zephyr AXFORD, Homer Jay AXFORD.
He was married to Sarah BEAVERS on 29 Jun 1762 in Sussex Co., NJ. Children were: ______ AXFORD, William AXFORD, Joanna AXFORD, Isabella AXFORD, Ann AXFORD, Sarah AXFORD, John A. AXFORD, Robert AXFORD.
Children were: Amelia AXFORD, Mary Ann AXFORD, Sarah Bowlby AXFORD, Abigail Hunt AXFORD, Martha E AXFORD, John A AXFORD.
Back to previous 50 names.
Go to next 50 names.
Return to Table of Contents


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As time has passed, a few more thoughts have popped into my head about things that happened on our Disney vacation. And when thoughts pop into my head, I usually like to write about them. So if you can stomach one more post about Disney World, I promise that I will write about something different next time! School starts here in about a week, and I have one kid going into second grade and one starting kindergarten. That ought to provide TONS of good blog fodder. But first, three more Disney stories:
1 – If your child worries about every single ride being "too fast," then don't take him on the "Star Tours" ride at Hollywood Studios.
We have been taking SB and AB to amusement parks and local fairs and carnivals since they were 3 and 1. They both have always loved the kiddy rides, and have ridden almost everything with no issues. AB is a bit braver than SB, who has avoided the truly thrilling rides, but SB has handled most of the ordinary ones just fine his entire life. Last June, however, when our family went to the "Celebrate Fairfax" carnival in Fairfax, Virginia, we experienced a drastic and unexpected change in SB's ride tolerance. The first ride he rode was small cars that go around in a circle – almost too much of a "kiddy ride" for a 7-year-old. In the middle of the ride, he began crying and screaming bloody murder! "It's too fast! It's too fast!" The worker stopped the ride to remove him. After he calmed down, we put him on some alligator-shaped boats that also went around in a circle. This ride was even slower than the cars. Although he boarded the ride willingly, he again began screaming and crying as soon as it got moving. So again, he was removed mid-ride. My husband and I had absolutely no idea what was going on. He had never been bothered by rides this ordinary before. In the past, he had always enjoyed them. And my stomach started to churn as I realized that our much-anticipated Disney vacation was only 2 months away. Would he ride ANYTHING at Disney?
The only ride that didn't send him into a fit of terror that day was the merry-go-round. In order to get our money's worth out of the "all-you-can-ride" wristband that I had already bought for him, I let him spend a large chunk of the afternoon in the fun house, climbing up the rope ladder and sliding down the slide over and over again. He seemed perfectly happy in this attraction, since it didn't move. Was he just having a bad day, or had he suddenly developed a fear of ALL rides?
After a discussion with our therapist, we decided to try to expose SB to some calmer rides before our vacation to see if he could handle them. We took him to Burke Lake Park, which is near our house and has a merry-go-round and a very tame train ride. Our family has been to Burke Lake Park hundreds of times throughout the boys' lives, and we have bought enough tickets for that little train to get us to New York City and back. Charlie even brought the video camera on this day to video any meltdowns or panic attacks so that our therapist could watch later. I wondered how it might look to a stranger if our child was screaming in terror and we were just sitting back and videotaping it! I decided not to worry about it.
The merry-go-round went fine that day – no panic or crying at all. Whew! So then we boarded the train. As soon as it started to move, SB started to breathe a little faster. "Mommy? Is this ride fast?" he asked me. "No, sweetie!" I replied. "You've been on this train many times before, remember? It's not fast at all. It's a nice, slow ride." He seemed to calm down at my words, and was able to stay calm for the whole ride. Again, whew!
Our master plan was to find another local carnival or fair to expose him to a few more kiddy rides before our Disney trip. But our weekend schedules are busy, there is not a fair every weekend, and sometimes we intended to get to a fair and the weather did not cooperate. So that plan never happened, and we left for Disney World, crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. This is one of the reasons that I chose the Winnie the Pooh ride as our first ride at the Magic Kingdom. Winnie the Pooh is a character for toddlers – it HAS to be a tame ride, right? Thankfully it was, and both boys loved the ride. There were a few times that day when he asked me if a particular ride was going to be fast, and I always assured him that it was not. We didn't take him on anything thrilling at all, and he loved everything that he rode at the Magic Kingdom. Oh, thank God!
I think that after a successful Day 1, I got a little too complacent too soon. I should have been more diligent. When SB asked me what rides there would be at Hollywood Studios the next day, I listed them all for him. When I said "Star Wars ride," he got incredibly excited. "Ooooh! A Star Wars ride? I wanna ride that. Yeah! I wanna ride the Star Wars ride!" Although he knows some of the Star Wars characters, this child has never seen a Star Wars movie, so I'm not sure why he latched on to the Star Wars ride. But he did. He was more excited about the Star Wars ride than the Toy Story ride, which is a movie he HAS seen many times. (By the way, the Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios KICKS ASS, and is a must-ride for all ages. In fact, you should plan to ride it more than once. After your first ride, you will want to ride it again because you will be dying to see if you can improve your score! But I digress.)
So we got in line for the Star Wars ride (which is really called "Star Tours.") I was not worried about how SB would handle it, because I knew it was a simulator ride, and that it didn't actually move. I figured that your chair shakes around while you're watching a movie, and that's it. We've been on rides like this before at Hershey Park. I mean, it doesn't actually GO ANYWHERE! How bad could it be? Both SB and AB were totally pumped in line, checking out C-3PO and all of the other things to look at while we waited. We picked up our 3-D glasses, and as we approached the "boarding area," my dad pointed to a sign on the wall and said, "Mindy? Charlie? Did you see this?" I looked at the warning sign, which said something like this:
"Star Tours is a highly turbulent thrill ride through space that includes sharp drops and sudden turns. Passengers should be in good health, and free from heart, back, or neck problems, motion sickness or other conditions that could be aggravated by sudden movements. This is not a slow ride. Children who don't meet the requirement of 48″ may not ride; expectant mothers should not ride, and children should be accompanied by an adult."
Uh oh.
The doors to the ride opened, and SB was already inside the ride before I had completely processed what I had just read. There was really no turning back. Again, uh oh.
So we sat down, put on our glasses, and buckled in. It was only a few minutes into the ride when our vehicle "launched" into space. I must admit, the effect was really cool. Between the seat vibrations and the 3-D movie, it really did feel like we were traveling at light speed through space. SB lost it immediately. "It's too fast! Too fast! I wanna get off! I WANNA GET OFF!!!!" We had been closed into our little capsule with about 25 or so other people for the duration of the ride, so there was not an employee in sight for me to even ask to let us out. The only thing I could do was to remove his 3-D glasses, put my arms around him, and cover his eyes. He sobbed and screamed and begged to be let off for the entire ride. Thankfully, the movie was loud, and I really don't think that the experience was ruined for anyone but my husband and me, who were on either side of him.
I had been so absorbed by SB's anxiety that I kind of forgot about AB, who had been sitting with my parents. This hit me as we exited our capsule. That was really intense! Oh boy, was AB upset as well? Was that experience as miserable for my parents as it had been for me? It turns out that AB absolutely loved it! Well, at least 50% of my children enjoyed it.
I'm thankful that after a short rest and snack, SB recovered fairly well and was able to move on to other rides and shows at the park that day. In the parking lot tram to our car at the end of the day, SB struck up a conversation with the strangers sitting in front of him. (For someone who is socially awkward, this is surprisingly common.) They asked him, "What was your favorite thing today in Hollywood Studios?" He quickly replied, "It was NOT the Star Wars ride!" Fair enough.
2 – Tom Sawyer Island at the Magic Kingdom is boring. Skip it.
Although I read many books and websites in my Disney vacation preparation, my favorite book was "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa. I liked how the authors (and their band of amusement park testers!) had written very honest reviews of every single ride and experience. (I also dreamed about what a fantastic job that would be – to simply enjoy Disney World every day as your job, and then write about your experiences! Maybe someday…) And now that I've been to Disney World after reading their book, I have to say that I agree with all of their assessments. Except one.
The first thing the review says about Tom Sawyer Island is that it's "the place for rambunctious kids." Well, I have two of those, so I'm already interested. Here are a few other quotes from the book about Tom Sawyer Island: "a getaway within the park. It has hills to climb; a cave, windmill, and a pioneer stockade to explore…It's a delight for adults and a godsend for children who have been in tow and closely supervised all day." And also, "It's a must for families with children ages 5-15." And lastly, "A true haven." Well, with a review that stellar, we had to check it out.
Tom Sawyer Island proved to be a major disappointment. First of all, it was really hot at this point in our day, so no one in my group was feeling their best. You have to ride a raft to get there, which requires waiting in line. And then it turns out that there really isn't much there to do, except for hiking trails. And of course, the one thing everybody wants after a day at a Disney amusement park is MORE HIKING!!!!!! The thing I will always remember about Tom Sawyer Island is that it was the place where AB (who is generally the easier child) decided to have his biggest knock-down, drag-out meltdown. I don't even remember how it started, but it ended with me and AB leaving the rest of the group to have a stare-down in some shaded spot that contained a few rocking chairs. After we had been there having it out for a few minutes, everyone who had been relaxing in the rocking chairs got up and left. (My kids often have that effect on people in public.) Once AB finally got over himself, calmed down, and stopped behaving like a major brat, we got in line pronto for the raft to the mainland, never to return.
3 – Pretending is great!
I've mentioned in my blog before that pretending is hard for many children with autism, because their minds are so literal. I talk about this a lot in "I'm not an ABA therapist…but I play one on TV." SB in particular has had a very hard time learning to pretend. He had no interest in any dolls or stuffed animals for the first 5 years of his life, and I think it's because he didn't understand what he was supposed to do with them.
But recently, this has all changed. The boys' very favorite thing to do lately is to find all of the stuffed animals in the house and use them to reenact whatever we did that day. If we went to a birthday party, the animals go to a birthday party. If we got stuck in traffic, the animals get stuck in traffic. If we eat at a restaurant, the animals eat at a restaurant. It's always fun and silly, and I'm so happy that both are using their toys to pretend and make-believe.
This pretending with stuffed animals is pretty much ALL the boys did whenever we were back at our hotel room on our Florida trip. In fact, before we left, my husband had to limit the number of stuffed animals (or, "friends," as the boys call them) that could come to Disney World with us. If he hadn't, I'm sure our suitcases would have been filled with 30-40 stuffed animals, and no underwear or pants. Each boy was allowed to choose one animal for their suitcase and one for their carry-on. (Of course, we acquired new "friends" in the gift shops as our vacation went on.) And when you are on a Disney vacation, you spend a lot of your day doing this:
Their favorite thing to reenact from our day, however, was riding rides. First, they would find some sort of receptacle, like a grown-up's shoe, which could be used as a pretend ride. Then they would put an animal in the shoe and fly it around the room, pretending that it was the Peter Pan ride, or the Haunted Mansion ride, or whatever other rides they had done that day. But they didn't always choose a shoe. Anything that could resemble a car-type vehicle that a stuffed animal could ride in would work. And I mean ANYTHING:
As I said before, our vacation was great. Disney World is a fantastic place for kids, and I know that the boys will have fond memories of this trip for their entire lives. But now it's back to reality here! We are gearing up for school, and I think SB is feeling it. He has been particularly cranky and bratty lately, and his behavior has been worse the last 2 weeks than it has been in a really long time. My theory is that he is feeling anxious about going back to school, and taking it out on his parents. Say a little prayer for us that we navigate the beginning of the school year without any trauma or bloodshed!


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Anthony recently attended the 41st Annual Dallas International Guitar Festival held on May 4th-6th, 2018. He was entered into the "The 10 Under 20" competition which is a contest designed to showcase the best young guitarist. Throughout the festival, the top 10 guitarists, under age 20, were chosen to perform onstage during the "10 Under 20" showcase and finals. At the showcase, the Grand Prize Winner was announced. Congratulations to Anthony who was selected as the Grand Prize Winner!! Anthony received a trophy along with other great prizes that included equipment and a scholarship.
Below is a video of Anthony's winning performance of "Pipeline." Check it out ...
- Eli J. Medellin, Boogie Magazine
"Hearing and seeing Anthony perform alongside veteran musicians made it easy to forget that he is so young. If you haven't heard him play yet, find him!"
- Annette Higby, Echo and Buzz
" ... he further dazzled my senses with the playing maturity of someone way beyond his years, demonstrating a total command of the fretboard with fierce string bends, wicked vibrato, and a lick vocabulary akin to a guitarist that's been at it for decades."
- Wayne Riker, San Diego Troubadour


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Timber Cladding Perth
Timber Cladding is available in Cedar and Spotted Gum:
Cedar Cladding & Lining Boards
Cedar Lining Boards and Cedar Cladding can be used to add a warm colour and lasting durability to your outdoor entertainment pergola. Native to British Columbia (Canada), the Western Red Cedar is an ideal cladding material. The tree can grow up to 60 metres tall when mature and 2.5 metres in diameter. Most importantly, for every tree harvested in plantation, three are replanted to ensure the forests of Canada are replenished.
We supply and recommend the T&G range of Cedar Lining Boards – pre-finished 86mm x 10mm.
Western Red Cedar Lining Boards are available in all structural sizes from big posts to large beam sizes for outdoor pergola structures. These Cedar Lining Boards are made from a tough and long-lasting hardwood, making them excellent for external timber cladding too. Western Red Cedar is a sustainable option choice because it is a plantation hardwood.
Spotted Gum Timber Cladding
Spotted Gum is one of Australia's premium native hardwoods with a striking appearance and a high degree of natural durability and strength. It is an ideal timber for a variety of structural, exterior and interior applications and is suitable for a range of building applications such as posts and poles, framing, flooring, lining, decking and timber cladding.
Grown along the east coast of Australia, the wood ranges in colour from light brown through to dark red-brown hues. This variation of colouring and attractive wavy timber grain will add beauty to any exterior-clad structure.
Contact us for the best timber cladding in Perth.
"These guys have become my one stop shop for all outdoor living and decking supplies. The high quality of all their timber products, matched by their friendly, efficient service and competitive prices means a lot to my business."Scott Turnbull, Turnbull Building Solutions
"I have been building decks for years and have tried numerous suppliers. Timber Decking Supply Shed is one of the rare bunch that go out of their way to actually prevent problems. No wonder I choose do deal with them!"Justin Sherrell, Builder
"After discovering Timber Decking Supply Shed my worries were over. I have never met people so passionate about their timber. Their knowledge of products and installation has been brilliant and my project looks great!"Adrian and Michelle Penny, DIYers


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Aden House is a superior residential home for the elderly situated in a quiet secluded area of Inverness, within east walking distance of the city centre. There are many services and amenities nearby including doctor's surgeries, churches, bowling green and shops. Registered with the Care Inspectorate, the home provides a warm friendly atmosphere, home in the truest sense of the word.
It is a pleasure to visit Aden House where your wonderful staff are so attentive to the residents and their visitors.
Aden House is owned by Malcolm McKinlay and run by Care Manager Margaret Stitt, who fully understand the special needs of the elderly. The full time care manager is committed to the smooth running of the home, and runs an open-door policy and is happy to meet with residents and their families.
Care staff are present 24 hours a day providing help with bathing, dressing, walking and meals when necessary. The staff is carefully selected for their caring attitude towards our residents and will encourage the maintenance of independence in all areas of daily living.


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Machine translations are useful for getting a general idea about what text written in a foreign language means. However, "general idea" isn't always exactly accurate; the translator literally translates (word for word) the text which often results in grammatically incorrect, if not completely incoherent, text. We've developed Bad Translator to show just how funny things can get. Enter any text in English then click "Translate!" to start. The program translates the text back and forth using Babelfish, Bing, FreeTranslation.com, and TransPerfect, then displays the final English translation.
Developed by Translation Cloud.
Example (original text from the 7th commandment of the Bible):
"You must not commit adultery"
...35 translations later Bing gives us:
"Thoust needs potato"
Start Translating (Badly!)
Got a funny mistranslation? Post it on our Facebook wall!
Share more Bad Translations on the Bad Translator Facebook wall and invite your friends.


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360 Video Player for Android
360 Video Player for Android is an app that I developed in 2017. The purpose for the app was to play 360 videos in an "app environment", meaning that … you open the app, you are in a menu title-screen that is actually another looping 360 video, you press a button and bam, you are in the actual video.
Makes it much easier to showcase a video to a possible client or during an event with many people.
Architectural Visualisation
Architectural Visualisation demo developed in 2016 in Unity for VR.
The demo allowed you to interact with various objects, change the color of the walls, carpets, floor, etc.
The main idea was to let the user experience on how his house might look.
Circular Valley
Another project that was done in two weeks. Circular Valley is kind of an arhitectural visualisation where the player goes on a path interacting with various NPCs.
It was available for PC/VR, we even did a small mobile version & a 360 video.
Office Safety App
Horse Race VR
My fist Unity project that I worked on back in August 2015. It was a short VR demo where the person "was riding" on a horse that was racing a car.
The whole project was done in two weeks.


text: December 15, during "La Damnation de Faust" at the Opera Bastille, 4EVER-2 took the opportunity to realize a single production to serve both HD-709 and 4K-HDR signals, using HLG technology. It was a big success for invited producers and directors of photography: they loved both the SDR quality and the HDR potential. They also could compare HD and UHD + HDR. This achievement was made possible thanks to an HLG prototype Sony XDC4300 camera. A FranceTélévisions production, AMPVisualTV production unit and equipment, Orange Labs HDR expertise.


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But when a wheel scraped or is scuffed, in addition to appearing generally the damage can significantly reduce the car's residual value also.
Alloy wheel scuffs can actually be more than an aesthetic difficulty; scrapes, deep scuffs and scratches that penetrate through the alloy foundation can really result in corrode, damaging the alloy. When the damaged area is exposed to corrosive undesirable climate conditions, road salts and general damage, the problem can escalate drastically. Finally, what started as a comparatively minor scratch or scuff often leads to complete alloy replacing or alloy wheel refurb Flitwick an extensive alloy repair.
The automobile owner can carries out scuffed and kerbed wheel repairs; however, it's worth noting that flawless repairs can be challenging to attain. For a first effort, an alloy repair might be complicated – the process may entail removal of the scuff or scratch, colour id, sanding, priming, masking, an application of basecoat, the lacquer and then the final finish. Merely purchasing the equipment and materials to execute the repair could prove costly, making a mobile alloy wheel repair specialist an appealing and cost-efficient alternative.
Advantages of Mobile Alloy Wheel Repairs
Mobile alloy wheel repairs are relatively quick and can be performed at the customer's advantage, whether at work, home or elsewhere, particularly since the repair process does not demand expensive, messy shot-blasting in order to carry out repairs. Commonly, a scuffed or kerbed mobile alloy wheel repairs will take a few hours to complete – this greatly reduces the labour prices that may be incurred in a car body shop.
Mobile wheel repair specialists can also perform feel and colour -fitting, to ensure a professional finish that is faultlessly. All colour- fitting, scuff repairs, lacquering and final finishes are undertaken within the cellular telephone service, and generally take around one or two hours. The finest specialists will ensure their work, and it is always recommended before booking your appointment to arrange a free quote – that way, you'll know exactly what to expect in terms of service and price.


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Fudoshin Dojo
Genbukan Fudoshin Dojo
The Dojo was formed in 1993 to preserve the teachings ofGrandmaster Shoto Tanemura in a true way and to continue to uphold the integrity of the Genbukan Ninpo organization. Classes are held Mondays and Wednesdays, 8-9:30 PM, at Maverick Training Center, 9009 South Memorial Parkway, Huntsville, Alabama, 35802,(next to Sports Page Lounge) phone 256-417-2441. We also train on the second Saturday of each month from 3-5pm.
At the October 2002 Tai-Kai 4th
(From left to right)
Dojo-Cho Brian Hodges, Grandmaster Shoto Tanemura, Royce Ogburn, Chip Malinowski
At the September 2003 Tai-Kai
(From left to right)
Jon Lundy, Dojo-Cho Brian Hodges, Grandmaster Shoto Tanemura, Chip MalinowskiAnnouncement: At the 2004 July Tai Kai, Brian Hodges earned title of Renshi after passing sword test from Tanemura Sensei.
For more information contactGenbukan Fudoshin Dojo-cho:
Brian Hodges


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I'm new to AQ and to this site, but I was wondering who many of the characters take after in AQ?
Greensleeves = Legolas
Grom = Conan
Hitch = Jareth/David Bowie (Labyrinth)
Nameless = Voldemort
Black Newt = Blackadder
Viktor = Van Helsing
Seth = Rumplestiltskin (Once Upon a Time)
Morgan = Merlin (Excalibur)
Hellen = Maleficent
Tyndall = Princess Nuala (Hellboy II)
Tyrek = Prince Nuada (Hellboy II)
Thornwood = King Balor (Hellboy II)
Raven = Jon Snow (Game of Thrones TV series)
Kragor = Skeletor (from Master of the universe)
Gabriel = Willow
Lucas = Atreyu (Neverending Story)
Tigris = King Leonidas (300 movie)
Julie = Kira (Dark Crystal)
Master Pim = Mr. Tumnus (Chronicles of Narnia)
Johnny = Jack/Tom Cruise (Legend)
Farfalla = Galadriel?
Thrandir = Gandalf the white?
Spike = Gimli?
Prince Aaron = King Arthur (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
Blossom = Tauriel (The Hobbit Movies)
Montoya = Juan Ramirez/Sean Connery (Highlander)
Elysia = Medusa
Bob = Tim the Enchanter? (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
Who else is there? I sure wish there was a Toon Link in Arcadia Quest!
*Contributions from Maenas.


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However, an unofficial contender for a replacement sprung up from 3D developers in Beijing, China: New Lively. I only tested this via BrowserPool* as I didn't feel like installing an executable on this computer today – just as Lively did it, New Lively runs as an exe-powered plug-in to your browser – so I wasn't able to see how fluid this worked. However, what little I saw looked indeed remarkably like the beginning of a Lively clone (probably close enough for Google lawyer's to get that C&D itch, though I'm not sure they have any incentive for that).
The NewLively creators – who say they "work in various fields of 3D and computer programming" – in their FAQ explains their motivation behind creating this clone:
We created Newlively for three reasons: 1) to restore Lively users their lost cyberspace; 2) to put our strengths to test whether our executive management are functional; 3) to test and prove to ourselves that our skills and abilities are in fact cutting-edge.
The FAQ also answers the question of how long NewLively was in the works. According to the team, "From decision-making to the release of the trial version, it took approximately one month."
[Thanks Ionut!]
*I can't access the BrowserPool.de website for some time now, though their virtual computer tool still works when you have it installed.
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Ok today's tip is not so much a technical WordPress theme reference but a life tip! If you're just getting started with WordPress you've no doubt become aware of just how much you can achieve without having to spend a single cent. From tutorials to free themes to support, awesome plugins and countless thousands of hours of hard work which make it possible for you, me and everyone else to take advantage of the most powerful publishing platform on the planet to do whatever we want with it – with no strings attached.
What makes WordPress stand out from everything else is not just the software itself – far from it. Don't get me wrong – the platform is fantastic. But the platform itself is not enough. It's the community. It's the generosity of the thousands who contribute themes, plugins, tutorials, tips, books and their time. Small business owners who once might have paid thousands of dollars for a basic brochure website can now setup their own website if they want to for nothing only their time. We should not take this for granted.
So here's a New Years resolution proposal for you – if you've never given anything back to the WordPress community, why not make 2011 the year you change that. Make a theme, build a plugin, write a tutorial or even just share your experience and help support others just getting started.
I've used countless publishing systems and CMS/blog software over the past decade so take it from me – there's nothing quite like WordPress. We really are very lucky to have it.