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I did notice a small selection of local business signs, so after he found Twin Peaks for me, I asked shop owner Jack Epstein if he had a tin with the Tommy's Joynt restaurant sign on it. Open since 1947, Tommy's Joynt is a San Francisco institution I have enjoyed eating at on each of my now four visits to the city, twice on this trip. You can see the building and sign in my photographs here. Jack said he had been meaning to go there to photograph the sign but had not yet done so. After I took out my camera and showed him the picture I had taken days earlier, Jack told me it was perfect and to go around the corner to Walgreens and make a print. With a print, he could make a tin like the others by the next afternoon. In exchange for paying for the print and waving the typical customization fee, I would give him the print to use to make more tins. The tin turned out beautifully as you can see. I bought two (one for myself) and the gift went over as expected, quite well. I am proud to invite you to visit Chocolate Covered Sweets and Gifts to see or buy the Jack Epstein Japanese paper tin featuring my photograph of the Tommy's Joynt neon sign, not to mention sample the sweets and browse the other gifts. UPDATE 2013-03-23: During my recent visit I stopped by Chocolate Covered and the tin with my photo is still available. Jack told me it will be there "forever" and that when one is purchased, another is produced. When you enter the shop, immediately look right; it is high on the wall in front. Let me know if you see or buy one!
Located at 2023 South Pine Avenue, Ipanema Brazilian Steak House, a Churrascaria, serves food in the contemporary Rodizio style. Servers circle the dining room each with a long skewer of a particular food, offering their selection if you have your two-sided coaster turned to the "please, sir, can I have some more" side. They had pork, sirloin, prime rib, bacon-wrapped filet mignon, flank steak, chicken, lamb, sausage and pineapple all cooked over an open-flame of Brazilian mineral coals. Since some of the food could be messy to serve in this format, the silverware selection includes tongs so you can assist while the meat server carves. There is also a salad bar with various side dishes like mashed potatoes and vegetables, but because of the quantity and quality of the food brought to the table, I did not try anything else. All the beef products were delicious though I did not try the flank steak, or "shoe leather steak" as Mom calls it. The sausage was good, I did not like the lamb and the pineapple was incredibly wonderful. Mom said the garlic-mashed potatoes are great as well. It was surprisingly good overall and I would go there again even at $36.95 per person. Since it was too hot (the high was 96, heat index 100+) to hang out at a park as planned, we decided to grab a booth in the bar area of a local Chili's restaurant instead. We had a few beverages and looked at my vacation pictures while talking and catching-up. It was a great visit.
Photo Credit: David July Photo Credit: David July Photo Credit: David July


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The White Countess
2005, PG-13, 138 min. Directed by James Ivory. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Madeleine Potter, Hiroyuki Sanada, Allan Corduner.
REVIEWED By Marc Savlov, Fri., Feb. 3, 2006
The final collaboration between director Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant, who died earlier this year, is a gorgeous slice of Merchant/Ivoryisms (thanks in large part to the lushly vertiginous cinematography of director of photography Christopher Doyle) that nevertheless fails to ascend to the giddily suave heights of the team's greatest works, Remains of the Day and Howards End. That said, it's no less a welcome respite from the fawning boorishness of, say, Big Momma's House 2 for being just this shade shy of perfection. You certainly can't blame Fiennes, who, as the blinded, fallen-from-grace American diplomat Todd Jackson ("the last hope for the League of Nations," he's dubbed), reaches deep into his repertory bag of accents and pulls out a doozy of an example of pre-World War II Yank-speak. It's Shanghai, 1936, in the heady, debauched days before the Japanese invasion would spoil everything for everyone, and Jackson, who lost both his little girl and his joie de vivre in a recent train bombing, casts his damaged lot with the city's underclass of equally bloodied but unbowed expat hookers, scoundrels, and emotional refugees. Establishing a nightclub-cum-bordello and naming it after the deposed Russian countess played by Richardson, Jackson and his newfound love rekindle something approaching humanity in each other, even as the pending Japanese invasion threatens to obliterate everything else. The White Countess moves with the stately speed of most Merchant/Ivory productions, which is to say too damn slow, but the film is snatched from the jaws of tedium by Doyle's resplendently lush camerawork and Fiennes and Richardson's spot-on performances, which echo the heartsick downward spirals of war-torn romances the cinematic world over. The script, by Kazuo Ishiguro (Remains of the Day), also, perhaps not inadvertently, echoes the great-grandaddy of wartime love, Casablanca, but – ahem – lacks that film's epic subtleties. No matter. By sheer willpower (and some of the best art direction of this year or any other), this is a fitting, poetic epitaph to the life and career of Ismail Merchant.
A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin's independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community's political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.
Marjorie Baumgarten, June 11, 2010
Kimberley Jones, Aug. 22, 2003
Aug. 7, 2022
April 29, 2022
The White Countess, James Ivory, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Madeleine Potter, Hiroyuki Sanada, Allan Corduner

subset: commoncrawl


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Finist Painter: Looking Glass Edition
collaborative framework for XR art creation
Finist Painter: Looking Glass edition is an artistic framework that allows two users to collaborate using VR and Looking Glass with Leap Motion at the same time. If you want to dive deep into the development process, use cases and the inspiration behind the project, read our large Medium blogpost
what is looking glass
Looking Glass is a patent-pending combination of lightfield and volumetric display technologies within a single three-dimensional display system. 45 unique simultaneous views of a virtual scene are captured on a computer at 60 frames per second.
The Looking Glass always seemed incredibly interesting for us as user experience (UX) researchers, developers and designers. We've been following Looking Glass Factory for a while, since they first launched their volumetric display prototype (Volume) back in 2015. This year, the Looking Glass finally became a small, versatile and truly magical fish tank with a handy Unity SDK. At Synesthetic Echo we decided to develop something daring, deeply challenging and also fun. So we made Finist Painter!
We started to play around with the idea of using the Looking Glass as a device to preview and potentially interact with VR painting and sculpting software. We imagined potential use case scenarios - ranging from art direction meetings where a group of people can preview and correct a VR project or design brief in real-time without wearing the headset to showcasing public VR art in exhibitions and conferences without sacrificing the attention of a large group of people having to line up to wait their turn for the headset.
As we continue our development we are scheduled to deliver the demo to work with the brand new Looking Glass App Library. We often demo the experience at events and festivals and are always happy to accept honest feedback.Currently Finist Painter: Looking Glass Edition works for the Oculus Rift with the Looking Glass, as well as on the Looking Glass independently. The Oculus-only Finist Painter app will come to the Oculus store in 2019. If you have both Looking Glass and Oculus Rift and want to be beta-tester, please get in touch!


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Our Services
Working exclusively with claimants, we provide specialist services to all ages with:
- Brain Injuries
- Spinal Injuries
- Cerebral Palsy
- Complex Orthopaedic Injuries
- Behavioural and mental health conditions
We provide case management, occupational therapy and specialist training services.
Contact one of our team today on 01617 634734 for some friendly and professional advice. Whatever your situation, we promise we will do our best to help.


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- Home Page
- Company Profile
- Our Products
- Contact Us
Stainless Steel Canister
We are here providing the high quality stainless steel canisters that are made from high quality stainless steel making it rust and corrosion free. The stand is used for packing and storing of items. It has a leak proof seal and is available in various sizes and designs. The offered stainless steel canister is very useful and is made for use in various household and commercial applications. It is absolutely safe and reliable for use. The canister is made for providing the safe storage of eatables and other items. They are of high quality and very useful.
KARTIK INDUSTRIES All Rights Reserved.(Terms of Use)
Developed and Managed by Infocom Network Private Limited.


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Entertainer Kim Gu Ra and his wife divorce after 18 years together
Through his agency Line Entertainment, television MC and comedian entertainer Kim Gu Ra has confirmed with the media that he and his wife have divorced.
"After a court appointed mediation today, my wife and I have agreed to finalize our divorce after 18 years of marriage," he stated.
Kim Gu Ra continued, "It's true that in the last two years and four months, our family fought and had a lot of problems. However, as we continued to fight, we were getting close to hurting one another. Through our separation, we underwent three months of counseling. Eventually, we acknowledged the difference between us and have decided to end our relationship as husband and wife, and concluded that we will continue to focus and do our best as parents and raise our son, Dong Hyun."
In the statement, Kim Gu Ra reveals that their son has done relatively well through the difficult situation and that he is grateful and sorry towards Dong Hyun, also known to the public as MC Gree (1998; 18 years old).
"Dong Hyun will continue to live with me until he becomes an adult. We have decided to respect the decisions of Dong Hyun. And I will also continue to pay off Dong Hyun mother's debts."
According to Korea Times, Kim Gu Ra's now ex-wife has accrued 1.8 billion won in debt, or $1.5 million USD.
In December 2014, Kim Gu Ra was hospitalized for a panic disorder and briefly went into hiatus to recover.
Kim Gu Ra is expected to continue his appearances on television. To TV Report, Kim Gu Ra said, "It's not true that I will stop my broadcasting activities because of the divorce. I plan to continue my broadcast activities under my current programs."
Kim Gu Ra married his now ex-wife in 1997 and the following year, she gave birth to their one and only son Kim Dong Hyun the following year.
Source: TV Report and Korea Times


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New Limits on Arsenic in Apple Juice
There's good news today for parents who give their kids apple juice: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced new draft guidelines that call for no more than 10 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic in apple juice - roughly the same level allowed in tap water.
Although some apple juices have tested high for arsenic, all 95 samples tested by the FDA already fell within the 10 ppb - reassurance that when it comes to arsenic levels, apple juice is safe.
"The most important message is we are confident in the safety of our juice supply," said FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg.
Pressure to develop the guidelines stemmed from a 2011 report on the Dr. Oz Show and arsenic testing by Consumer Reports, both of which raised questions about the safety of apple juice.
Arsenic and Apple Juice: New Testing Finds Low Levels
In response, the FDA undertook additional testing and commissioned a risk assessment study to determine an arsenic limit based on the amount of juice a child might drink and the level of arsenic needed to cause health problems.
Although compliance with the guidelines is voluntary, Hamburg said they "expect industry to change what they do and use this new level for quality assurance."
Arsenic exists in our environment as a naturally occurring mineral and as a result of contamination from industrial activity and pesticides that used to be allowed in agriculture. In very high doses over a short period of time, the chemical can be deadly. At low doses over a long period of time, arsenic can increase the risk for lung and bladder cancer, cause skin disorders, developmental effects, diabetes, and problems with the heart and brain.
Urvashi Rangan, director of consumer safety for Consumer Reports, called the FDA move "a very important first step."
"It is a very important precedent," she said.
I broke the news to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who raised the initial concerns about apple juice.
"I am thrilled," he said. "It shows the system works. I applaud them for creating a standard. This should give all the moms a lot of confidence that when we put our minds to it this we can make the world a better place."
But while apple juice may be safe in terms of arsenic, this should not be a green light to drink endless quantities. There is increasing concern about the amount of sugar children and others consume from fruit juices and links between fructose, the sugar found in fruit juices, and obesity. Ounce for ounce, there is just as much sugar in apple juice as there is in soda. The American Academy of Pediatrics in a statement reminded parents that "it is not necessary to offer children any juice to have a well-balanced, healthy diet."
My advice: a small glass of juice a day is fine, after that reach for the water.


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Open space is open to anyone who is or has a family member with ASC.
We are also invite professionals through out each month for you to drop in and see, sometimes you will need to book appointments but these are detailed on our calendar.
Open Space is open 10am-3pm Monday to Thursday
Please call 01625 617884 or email email@example.com
Cheshire and Warrington Carers Trust Carers Coffee Morning
3rd Tuesday of every month 10am-12pm
Occupational Therapist
Information/advice for parents/carers of children
CEIAS-Cheshire East Information and Advice service. Pre book through CEIAS email@example.com
CEAT– Cheshire East Autism Team, a chance to speak to someone from the team 1:1, for information on dates and times please email firstname.lastname@example.com
DWP – Department of Work and Pensions bookable appointments only with email@example.com
CEAT– Cheshire East Autism Team Workshops with Alison Lyndop (SALT ) 2021 dates to be confirmed
ASC Training Programme– email email@example.com for information
ASC Adults Support Group – 1st Wednesday of the month 1pm-3pm
DWP – Department of Work and Pensions bookable appointments via email@example.com
ASC Adult Counselling – Every Thursday, must pre-book via firstname.lastname@example.com
Adult Art Therapy
Every Tuesday and Thursday 1pm-3pm
Bozzies Breakfast Club every Friday during term time 9.30am-11am £6pp booking and payment essential.


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You are here: Home / glossary / Mate's Receipt
Maritime Knowledge base
a receipt for goods received and delivered on board the vessel. As the name implies, it is signed and issued by the Mate of the Ship, i.e. the Chief Officer. It may form the basis for the final B/L.


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Opuwo Country Lodge . . . Luxury Lodge Accommodation
The Kaokoveld, Kunene Region: Rugged mountains, dry river courses and solid 4x4 country associated with names like van Zyl's Pass, Hartmann Mountains, Marienfluss, Epupa, Ruacana and Swartboois Drift. A land vast and uninhabited, a wilderness in its own right where pockets of wildlife roam freely. This is also home to Namibia's last remaining nomadic tribe, the Ovahimba. Dictated by seasonal rainfall and constantly in search of new grazing for their cattle, the Himba remain nomadic and primitive. Their unique lifestyle and adaptability to survive the harsh Kaokoland environment has earned them their ethnic individuality.
The traditional Himba still prefer living the way their forebears hundreds of years before the colonial era or the appearance of westerners. Himba villages close to Opuwa town are accustomed to visitors wanting to learn and experience more about their culture and lifestyle. As part of our responsible tourism community programme, we at Opuwo Country Lodge have a standing arrangement with certain Himba villages to include them in our activity programmes. Our Himba guides escort guest and translate while guest photograph and inter act with the villagers.
Opuwo, meaning "finished" or "up to here and no further" Opuwo is the gateway to the Kaokoveld, the small town is the administrative hub of the Kunene Region. It has a few shops, filling station, school and houses. The airfield in town is managed by Opuwo Country Lodge and offers refueling and a transfer services to and fr om the Hotel. Opuwo Country Lodge is situated on a hilltop just outside of town providing luxury and standard accommodation with air conditioning, swimming pool, bar and restaurant, and camping sites, your ideal base from wh ere to explore Kaokoland.


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"You reach critical certain thresholds that are driven by the laws of physics and material science" – Perry Keller
DDR5 marks a huge shift in thinking for traditional high-tech memory and IO engineering teams. The implications of this are just now being digested by the industry, and opening up doors for new technologies. In today's electrical engineering podcast, Daniel Bogdanoff and Mike Hoffman sit down with Perry Keller to discuss how engineers should "get their game on" for DDR5.
Sign up for the DDR5 Webcast with Perry on April 24, 2018!
00:20 Getting your game on with DDR5
LPDDR5 6.4 gigatransfers per second (GT/s)
"You reach critical certain thresholds that are driven by the laws of physics and material science" – Perry Keller
1:00 We're running into the limits of what physics allows
2:00 DDR3 at 1600 – the timing budget was starting to close.
2:30 With DDR5, a whole new set of concepts need to be embraced.
3:00 DesignCon is the trade show – Mike is famous for his picture with ChipHead
4:00 Rick Eads talked about DesignCon in the PCIe electrical engineering podcast
4:40 The DDR5 paradigm shift is being slowly digested
4:50 DDR (double data rate) introduced source synchronous clocking
All the previous memories had a system clock that governed when data was transferred.
Source synchronous clocking is when the system controlling the data also controls the clock. Source synchronous clocking is also known as forward clocking.
This was the start of high speed digital design.
At 1600 Megatransfers per second (MT/s), this all started falling apart.
For DDR5, you have to go from high speed digital design concepts to concepts in high speed serial systems, like USB.
The reason is that you cant control the timing as tightly. So, you have to count on where the data eye is.
As long as the receiver can follow where that data eye is, you can capture the information reliably.
DRAM doesn't use an embedded clock due to latency. There's a lot of overhead, which reduces channel efficiency
DDR is single ended for data, but over time more signals become differential.
You can't just drop High Speed Serial techniques into DDR and have it work.
The problem is, the eye is closed. The old techniques won't work anymore.
DDR is the last remaining wide parallel communication system.
There's a controller on one end, which is the CPU. The other end is a memory device.
With DDR5, the eye is closed. So, the receiver will play a bigger part. It's important to understand the concepts of equalizing receivers.
You have to think about how the controller and the receiver work together.
Historically, the memory folks and IO folks have been different teams. The concepts were different. Now, those teams are merging
DDR5 is one of the last steps before people have to start grappling with communication theory. Modulation, etc.
Most PCs now will have two channels of communication that's dozens or hundreds of bits wide.
What is 3D silicon?
If 3D silicon doesn't come through, we'll have to push more bits through copper.
3D silicon is nice because you can pack more into a smaller space.
3D silicon is multiple chips bonded together. Vias connect through the chips instead of traces.
The biggest delay for 3D silicon is that it turns on its head the entire value delivery system.
7 years ago, JEDEC started working on wide IO
What's the difference between 3D silicon and having it all built right into the processor?
It's the difference between working in two dimensions and three dimensions. If you go 3D, you can minimize footprint and connections
Flash memory, the big deal has been building multiple active layers.
The ability to stack would be useful for mobile.
Where is technology today with DDR?
DDR4 is now mainstream, and JEDEC started on DDR5 a year ago (2017)


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Cannes movies
The 2012 Cannes Film Festival buzz keeps getting stronger for a variety of movies. So far, the only confirmed screening is that of Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, which will open this year's festival on May 16. What else?
Well, according to Premiere there are a number of strong possibilities – none directed by Lars von Trier, who doesn't have any new movie ready, anyways. Below are a few highly likely Cannes 2012 entries:
- Jacques Audiard's Un gout de rouille et d'os / Rust & Bone, which was supposed to open in October in France, but has had its debut pushed forward to May 17. The psychological drama stars Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts.
- David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis. As per Premiere, the film's seller at the last Berlin Film Festival presented an "unbelievable" Cosmopolis promo reel, and even announced date and time for the film's Cannes screening. Do the math: Cosmopolis opens in France on May 23. Robert Pattinson, Sarah Gadon, Juliette Binoche, Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, Kevin Durand, Paul Giamatti, and Mathieu Amalric are featured.
- Abbas Kiarostami's Like Someone in Love (previously The End). Kiarostami shared the Palme d'Or with Shohei Imamura in 1997; two years ago, his Certified Copy earned Juliette Binoche the Best Actress Award at the festival. The Iranian filmmaker will quite possibly be back this year. Shot in Japan, The End features Rio Kase, Denden, Rin Takanashi, and Tadashi Okuno.
- Woody Allen's To Rome with Love, though in all probability out of competition. Last year, Midnight in Paris also debuted at Cannes. To Rome with Love's international cast includes Allen himself, Penélope Cruz, Ornella Mutti, Roberto Benigni, Greta Gerwig, Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg (as the Woody Allen surrogate?), Riccardo Scamarcio, Ellen Page, Alison Pill, Alessandro Tiberi, and Judy Davis. The film's previous title, Nero Fiddled was actually much better, but someone somewhere surely decided to cash in on the Midnight in Paris success. (If this catches on, I can see "Waltz in Warsaw," "Tired in Tirana," "Doing Dublin," etc. in Allen's cinematic future.) Possibly, To Rome with Love will be accompanied by Robert Weide's 3h30 million documentary on Allen, the concisely titled Woody Allen: A Documentary.
- Leos Carax's Holly Motors. If so, that'll be the first feature solely directed by Carax since the poorly received Pola X, which was screened at Cannes back in 1999. The Holly Motors cast includes Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue, Michel Piccoli, Denis Lavant, Jean-François Balmer, and Edith Scob.
Below are a few more strong Cannes 2012 possibilities:
- Alain Resnais' Vous n'avez encore rien vu / You've Seen Nothing Yet. The veteran Resnais – who turns 90 next June – completed his version of Jean Anouilh's Eurydice last April. The film's all-star cast includes Mathieu Amalric, Lambert Wilson (as Orpheus), Michel Piccoli, Anne Consigny (as Eurydice), Sabine Azéma (also as Eurydice), Hippolyte Girardot, Michel Robin, Pierre Arditi (also as Orpheus), Denis Podalydès, and Anny Duperey.
- Terrence Malick's The Funeral (possibly a provisory title), supposedly about an American man whose marriage to an European woman flounders. He then begins a relationship with a woman from his own hometown. Malick's drama features Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz, Javier Bardem, Michael Sheen, Olga Kurylenko, Amanda Peet, and Barry Pepper.
- Twi-haters will be gritting their teeth in horror and despair, while Robsten fans will rejoice in case Walter Salles' On the Road – starring Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, and Bella Swan herself, Kristen Stewart – also makes the cut. (Remember, Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen in the Twilight movies, will most likely be seen in Cosmopolis at this year's festival.) Salles' The Motorcycle Diaries was screened at Cannes in 2004, and let's not ignore the fact that his film version of Jack Kerouac's seminal novel opens in France on May 23 [not May 16 as previously posted; the Cannes Film Festival opens on the 16th]. Also in the On the Road cast: Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Alice Braga, and Viggo Mortensen.
- According to Premiere, neither Berlin nor Venice dared to invite Michael Haneke to present his latest film, Amour, which was completed last spring. That's because the German director of Hidden and The White Ribbon has strong ties to Cannes. Amour, the tale of an elderly couple attempting to cope with the wife's debilitating stroke, marks the return of 81-year-old veteran Jean-Louis Trintignant, absent from the big screen since Janis and John (2003). It also features Isabelle Huppert, Certified Copy's William Shimell, and 85-year-old veteran Emmanuelle Riva (Hiroshima Mon Amour).
Among the other strong possibilities for the 2012 edition of the Cannes Film Festival are Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways, in which Melvil Poupaud decides he wants to become a woman; Andrew Dominik's crime thriller Killing Them Softly, starring Brad Pitt; and Carlos Reygadas' Post Tenebras Lux, i.e., "Light After Darkness," which sounds like another dreamlike Reygadas effort.
Also: François Ozon's Dans la maison / In the House, starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Denis Menochet, and Emmanuelle Seigner; Joachim Lafosse's Aimer à en perdre la raison / Loving Without Reason, starring A Prophet's Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup, in addition to Émilie Dequenne, who is supposed to be outstanding as an infanticidal mother; and Pablo Larraín's No, starring Gael García Bernal as an ad executive who organizes a campaign to bring down Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1988.
Kristen Stewart / Garrett Hedlund / Sam Riley / On the Road photo: MK2 Productions.
Penélope Cruz / Alessandro Tiberi / To Rome with Love photo: Medusa Film.


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The Acts of the Apostles
"The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: … And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all."
—Acts 4:32,33
ALL WHO SINCERELY SEEK to understand God's great plan for man's salvation and ultimate blessing should also have a yearning to know more about the Holy Scriptures. It is in the inspired Word of God that we find the keys to our appreciation of the Creator's loving purposes for his human family. With this in view, it is appropriate that we present from time to time in the pages of The Dawn an overview of various books of the Bible, such as we will herein consider.
The full name of the fifth book in the New Testament is, "The Acts of the Apostles," although it is usually referred to simply as "The Book of Acts," or "Acts." As its name implies, it is, for the most part, a chronicle of activities in which the apostles of Christ played an active part. Like the four gospels, Acts is largely historical in character, but interwoven with its record of events in the early church are some of the most important doctrinal and devotional lessons to be found anywhere in the Bible.
This book was written by Luke, and opens with these words, "The former treatise [The Gospel of Luke] … of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen." (Acts 1:1,2) The first chapter of Acts is a transition from the life of Christ to the era of the apostles, for it records Jesus' last appearance to them, and his commission for the service they were to render in his name after he left them.—vss. 4-11
Verse eight of the first chapter records a promise given by the resurrected Jesus. He stated that the Holy Spirit would soon come upon the apostles, and that in the power, and by the authority, of the Spirit they were to be his "witnesses … in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
The second chapter records the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made to send the Holy Spirit. In the King James Version, the expression "Holy Ghost" is often used. This is a mistranslation. It was designed by the translators to give the impression that the Holy Spirit is a person, but this is contrary to the teachings of the Bible. The Holy Spirit is simply the holy power, or influence, of God, sent forth to accomplish whatever his purposes may be.
It came upon the waiting disciples at Jerusalem in a miraculous manner, to establish their faith and confidence in Jesus as the Messiah. He had left them, and even though they had been convinced of his resurrection from the dead, they would have been in a difficult position to represent him without this definite evidence of his return to the heavenly courts. Thus, in fulfillment of his promise, he sent the Holy Spirit to rest upon them.
This wonderful experience occurred "when the day of Pentecost was fully come." (Acts 2:1) Pentecost was one of the special feast and assembly days of the Jews, and many thousands of them visited Jerusalem each year for the occasion. This meant that there were Israelites in the city at the time from many countries, speaking the language of the country in which they lived.
This afforded a wonderful opportunity for the Lord to demonstrate that his favor was upon the disciples, by miraculously empowering them to speak to their kinsmen from the various countries in their own native tongues. Thus one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit at that time was the ability to "speak with tongues"—that is, other languages. (vss. 4-8) It was a very practical demonstration of divine power, and accomplished God's design to give all the scattered natural descendants of Abraham who were gathered there a witness concerning the Messiahship of Jesus.
The enemies of Jesus were now opposed to his followers, and charged that they were intoxicated. The Apostle Peter quickly and energetically refuted this charge, and in one of the most eloquent sermons ever preached, he explained to his hearers the true significance of what was taking place. He established the fact of Jesus' resurrection from the dead, and showed it to be in fulfillment of Psalm 16:10, where Jesus is prophetically represented as saying to his God, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."—Acts 2:27
The account states that the people were "pricked in their heart" by Peter's sermon, especially by the forthright manner in which he charged the nation with the crucifixion of Jesus. They asked what they could do under the circumstances, and he called upon them to "Repent, and be baptized … in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (vss. 36-38) Three thousand responded to Peter's message that day, and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.—vs. 41
The third chapter records another marvelous sermon by Peter, preached a short time after Pentecost. The setting was quite different from that in which he delivered his Pentecostal sermon. Together with John, Peter had gone to the temple at the hour of prayer. At the gate of the temple called "Beautiful," he saw a man who was unable to walk from the time of his birth. In the name of Jesus, Peter healed the man, enabling him to walk, even to the point of "leaping."—Acts 3:1-8
The crowd was curious, and Peter took advantage of the occasion to explain to them that this miracle had been performed in the name of, and by the power of, the resurrected Christ, the one whom they had crucified. Then he added, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence [face] of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."—Acts 3:19-21
The lesson is plain, based upon the miracle of healing the man who had been unable to walk. Peter is saying, in effect, that following the Second Coming of Christ, miracles of this sort will become universal, that there are to be times of "restitution," or restoration, of all things. Then he adds that this glorious Gospel, or good news, had been spoken by the mouth of all God's holy prophets.
Thus we have one of the key texts which helps to unlock the meaning of the entire Word of God. As we examine the various books of the Bible, in particular the prophecies of the Old Testament, this theme of redemption and restoration is repeated again and again. Now Peter confirms what has been said, for in this outstanding sermon he tells us that the "times of restitution" was the theme of all God's holy prophets. Indeed, all the other writings of the New Testament also reaffirm and corroborate this fundamental teaching of God's plan.
Jesus had said to his disciples before his death, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) The apostles and others in the Early Church experienced this persecution. Unbelieving Jews and Gentiles alike were unfriendly to them through intimidation, and by imprisonment endeavored to hinder and, if possible, to destroy their work. One example of this is recorded in the fourth chapter of Acts, verses 1-31. Such persecution was to become commonplace among the followers of the Master.
Severe tests also began to come upon the Early Church. Most people have heard about Ananias and Sapphira, his wife, who "lied … unto God." Acts 5:1-11 records the circumstances in which their falsehood was detected by the Apostle Peter, and they were instantly put to death. Much soberness of mind and self-examination came to bear upon all the followers of Christ as they heard of these things.
Chapters six and seven present the account of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. In particular, we note the powerful discourse which he delivered before the Jewish Sanhedrin when called upon to defend himself against the accusations of his Jewish enemies. Saul of Tarsus was then a member of the Sanhedrin, and consented to the death of Stephen. He even assisted in the slaying by guarding the clothing of those who stoned this young deacon to death.
Saul of Tarsus was later converted to Christianity. In chapter nine, verses one and two, we are informed that Saul, "yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem."
Provided with this authority, Saul was on his way to Damascus when "suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Upon inquiry as to who it was that thus addressed him, Saul heard the explanation, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest."—Acts 9:3-5
Saul was quick to discern that by persecuting the disciples of Christ he was in reality opposing God, for this experience revealed to him the fact that Jesus was the promised Messiah. In answer to his question, "What wilt thou have me to do?" Saul was instructed to go to a certain home in Damascus and there he would receive his instructions.—vs. 6
From being a bitter enemy of the Early Church, Saul, who was known afterward as Paul, became an enthusiastic follower of the Master. He devoted his life to the service of the Lord and the Gospel of Christ. By divine appointment he became one of the leading apostles, his efforts being particularly toward the Gentiles. After his conversion, Jesus said of him, "he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake."—vss. 15,16
From chapter thirteen through the end of the Book of Acts, with the sole exception of chapter fifteen, we have related the many interesting, and ofttimes trying, experiences of Paul as he traveled from place to place in the ministry of the Gospel. He was persecuted in many cruel ways. One of his journeys had Jerusalem as its destination, and he was informed by God, through the Holy Spirit, that bonds and imprisonment awaited him there. Because of this, the brethren endeavored to dissuade him from exposing himself to this danger. Paul's wonderful spirit of devotion to his Lord is displayed in his reply, "What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 21:13) Later, he traveled to Rome where he again faced imprisonment, and eventually death, at the hands of the Roman Emperor Nero.
On one of his missionary journeys Paul visited Athens, and was taken by the learned men and philosophers to the Areopagus, the "Supreme Court" of Athens on Mars' Hill. He had been accused of introducing a new god. Taking a position on the side of the hill, a massive heathen temple towering over his head, Paul began his defense by commenting on the numerous idols, ascribed to various gods, which filled the valley below him. In this setting, he called his hearers' attention to one of their idols, which bore the inscription, "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD," and said, "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."—Acts 17:18-23
Continuing, Paul said, "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands [a statement prompted by the imposing heathen temple on the hilltop above him]; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device."—Acts 17:24-29
Then, referring to the Athenians' lack of knowledge of the true God, Paul commented that in past times "this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."—vss. 30,31
It is noteworthy that Paul uses the word "assurance" in his reference to the coming day of judgment. This indicates that the "Judgment Day" of the Scriptures is to be a blessing to mankind. If it were to be doomsday, it would not have been a cause for rejoicing if Paul had given an assurance that such a terrible time would come. When we examine the great plan of God set forth in the Bible, we find that his Judgment Day is to be a thousand years in length, and will be a time in which all mankind will be given a true knowledge of God and of his laws, and have an opportunity to obey them and live.
In the Book of Acts we are also informed of the difficult situation that arose in the Early Church when Gentiles began to accept Christ and join the Jewish believers. When Jesus first sent his disciples into the ministry, he instructed them not to go to the Gentiles. (Matt. 10:5) Just before his ascension, however, he rescinded this restriction by telling them that they were to go into all the world. (Acts 1:8) The apostles, especially Peter, found it difficult to become reconciled to this broader outlook.
Cornelius was the first Gentile convert. The Lord granted a special privilege of grace, manifested in a vision to Cornelius, and one also to Peter. The purpose of these visions was to bring the two together so that the apostle could present the Gospel message to this devout Gentile. This information is recorded in Acts, chapters ten and eleven, and is one of the most interesting accounts related in the Bible.
In Cornelius' vision, the Lord instructed him to send men to call for Peter, who was in Joppa at the home of "Simon a tanner." The next day, as Peter was praying on the rooftop of Simon's home, he "fell into a trance." His "trance" was in reality a vision from the Lord, in which he saw a "sheet," knitted in the form of a basket, let down from heaven, filled with all sorts of "fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air." He was bidden to "rise, kill, and eat."—Acts 10:1-13
Peter recognized these animals and the fowls as being, according to the Jewish Law, unclean, so he refused to eat. Then the Lord said to him, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." (vss. 14,15) Later, led by a further providence of the Lord, Peter was brought into the house of the Gentile, Cornelius, and he and his household accepted Christ. Then Peter realized that in his vision God had been saying to him that the time had come when Gentiles, formerly considered outside the scope of God's favor, were now to be accepted. Commenting on his impressions, Peter said, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."—Acts 10:34,35
This wonderful experience did not entirely settle the issue for the Early Church. Later, a conference of brethren was held in Jerusalem at which the principal topic for discussion was the matter of Gentile believers, and how best to integrate them into local groups, which were at the time predominately Jewish. Peter was at that conference, and testified concerning his experience in connection with the conversion of Cornelius. Paul also was there and testified of the many Gentile conversions he had witnessed.—Acts 15:1-12
James, who apparently was the chairman of the conference, summed up the findings as follows: "Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon [that is, Peter] hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles [a reference to Peter's testimony concerning Cornelius], to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world."—Acts 15:13-18
This is a very enlightening presentation of the proper order of God's plan. The "tabernacle of David" is the ruling house of David. It had been overthrown more than six centuries earlier. The disciples believed that it was to be restored by Christ, but up to this time they did not have a clear idea of when this would be accomplished. The last time Jesus was with them they asked him, "Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus replied, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."—Acts 1:6,7
The outlook of the apostles was now broadening, however, and in this conference James discerned that the tabernacle of David would not be rebuilt until after "a people for his name" had been gathered out from among the Gentiles. The expression, "people for his name," identifies these called ones as members of the God's divine family. At first, this "high calling" was confined to the Jews, but now it was extended to the Gentiles.—Phil. 3:14; Rom. 9:23,24
When this work of selecting from the world those who are to be joint heirs with Jesus is completed, then will come the rebuilding of the tabernacle, or house, of David in the hands of Christ and his "bride," God's heavenly family. Then, as James further declares, "the residue of men"—all Gentiles and Jews—will be given an opportunity to receive the blessings of the thousand-year Messianic kingdom, the same period as the aforementioned "Judgment Day."
Since the Book of Acts records the establishment of the Early Church, beginning with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and under the guidance of the inspired apostles, it is interesting to note what did not take place. For example, there was no building of costly edifices in which to conduct religious services. There is nothing to indicate that a single meetinghouse was built under the direction of the apostles.
Several references are made to congregations of brethren which met in the home of one or another of the believers. Doubtless some of these groups, such as the one at Jerusalem, were too large to meet in homes, and no doubt assembly rooms of various types were used. So far as the records indicate, those early believers did not deem it necessary to build meetinghouses.
Another interesting fact is that there is no evidence of denominational names having been used. We are informed believers were first called "Christians" at Antioch. (Acts 11:26) This name is only used twice in the Book of Acts, and once later in a letter written by Peter. (Acts 26:28; I Pet. 4:16) The single word "church"—Greek, ecclesia—is almost the only name attached to the believers, who are referred to as the church of God, the church of Christ, the church at Jerusalem, at Ephesus, at Rome, in the home of Aquilla, and other similar references.
What strange departures from this simplicity have developed among Christian believers since those early days! Would it not be wise for all those who are seeking the "old paths" to return to those simple ways and customs? (Jer. 6:16) We believe that rich spiritual blessings await those who are courageous enough to do this.
Much more could be written on these pages with regard to the Acts of the Apostles, and we have only touched briefly on a few highlights. We encourage our readers to look more fully into this vitally important account of the establishment of the Early Church. You will receive a rich blessing, as you consider this wonderful portion of God's Holy Word. May we all have the same sentiments as the psalmist, who said, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."—Ps. 119:105


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Happy Tuesday, Bookworms!!
Today we're sharing our list of books we've read and really liked,
but really don't remember much about! (I have a LOT of those. Haha!)
Listed below are just a few books that I've read,
but I seriously don't remember too much about.
AND, all of the books listed below except ONE are series that I've started,
but haven't yet finished as well. That's something I want to fix this year!
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Alienated by Melissa Landers
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Ahhhh, so many books!
I am really looking forward to diving into these again.
(I *love* it when that happens!)
(And hopefully I can finish all of these series as well.)
What books made your list this week?
Leave a link in the comments so I can check them out!


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CBS Sports, ESPN, Fox Sports, The Hockey News, NHL.com, Sports Illustrated, and TSN. What do they all have in common? Why, I'm glad you asked: They each provide their take on who's hot and who's not in the all-too-familiar weekly Power Rankings. So, let's round 'em up and find out just what exactly they think they know about our beloved Avalanche. This week, a whole lotta love for Varly.
Oh, and for those who don't already know: our very own Adrian Dater blesses Sports Illustrated with his burgundy-brazened voice. (It's always fun to see what he has to say about the NHL's bottom-feeders).
|Last Week
|What They're Saying
|Of all the young top picks on the Avalanche roster, none have looked as impressive recently as Gabriel Landeskog. Losses to Columbus and a 5-1 blowout against the Penguins at home move them down this week.
|The Avs looked miserable in a 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh at home Saturday but bounced back to shut out Minnesota on Sunday to stay in the hunt for what looks to be one or two available playoff spots in the Western Conference. The streaky Avs play eight of their next 13 on the road.
|Semyon Varlamov (.947 save percentage, two shutouts in February/March) has picked the right time to contribute his best hockey of the season. Last week's 2-0 loss to Columbus will sting throughout the summer if the Avalanche miss the playoffs by one point.
|After slow start, Semyon Varlamov coming around to help give the Avs a push. Varlamov has allowed four goals in past five starts for 4-1 record and two shutouts. Perhaps he should have started at home against Penguins (5-1 loss).
|They only rank the top 16 teams. So... f*** the Red Wings?
|Just when you think they're going somewhere, they get shut out by Columbus on home ice. A win that night and the Avs would have gained sole possession of eighth place in the West, but remained on the outside looking in. On the bright side, Semyon Varlamov is heating up in net. He recorded his fourth shutout of the season in a much-needed 2-0 win at Minnesota on Sunday.
|It's been a hot and cold season for G Semyon Varlamov -- maybe a little more cold than hot -- but he's been good since the All-Star break, putting up a 1.75 GAA and .941 SV%.
Click on logos for links to full power rankings.
A special thanks to EmilyB and the fine folks over at Japer's Rink for their assistance. Without them I would not have
stolen been inspired with this idea. No, but seriously -- they have some nice people over there, and even better articles.


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45-year-old Barry Loman is the head pro at Lake Spivey Golf Course in Jonesboro, GA. Husband. Father. Grandfather. Sounds like an all-around great guy, except for the part where the FBI arrested him when he allegedly arranged online to meet a minor for sex up in Catoosa County, drove up there from Peachtree City Sunday afternoon and met the FBI instead, getting his ass arrested for child exploitation. Ooops. Barry, you may have just made a mistake there buddy.
Loman, who also runs a golf academy that involves children, has been suspended from Lake Spivey Golf Course pending the legal investigation. According to the golf course they did a background check when he was hired and he doesn't have anything in his past that would have shown up on it. He also works with the children in groups rather than one on one.
Loman has been charged with Aggravated Child Molestation – Criminal Attempt, Criminal Intent to Manufacture Child Pornography, Reckless Driving and he has also been charged under the Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Act of 1999. All four charges are felonies (not sure how the reckless driving is a felony, perhaps in concordance with the other charges) and he is currently lodged in the Catoosa County Jail.


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Card and Scrap - Anything Goes
Brown Sugar – Anything Goes
Crafty Girls Creations - Always Anything Goes
Crafting With An Attitude - Anything Goes
Inspiration Destination -Always Anything Goes
~Handmade Greeting Cards, a Monthly Craft Challenge and an Occasional Lifestyle Post~
Beautifully coloured image Ellie and nice design as well. Have fun decorating the tree.
B x
What a great card - love the sketch, and the way you have coloured the image is fabulous Ellie
So Beautiful! Thank you for taking part in Crafter's Cafe Blog Challenge #138. All the Best!
Shireen ( DT Member of TCCB)
So pretty card.
Thanks for joining us at Brown Sugar Challenge, and good luck.
Super card and thanks for sharing it with us at Crafty Time. Good luck. Christine DT xxReplyDelete
Great card! ♥
Thank you for participating at Card & Scrap's challenge!
What a beautiful card. ♥
Thank you for joining us at Card and Scrap.
Be sure to check out our DT Call as well.
Hugs Line.
What a pretty card love the image and colouring thank you for sharing with us at Crafting with an Attitude - good luck
Lyn -DT
Thank you so much for visiting. As always I love reading your comments and creative criticism.
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Der Rosenkavalier
|Op. 59
|Richard Strauss
|Georg Solti
Der Rosenkavalier (Op. 59) (The Knight of the Rose) is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière's comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac. It was first performed at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden on 26 January 1911 under the direction of Max Reinhardt. Until the premiere, the working title was Ochs von Lerchenau. (The choice of the name Ochs is not accidental, for in German Ochs is translated as ox, which depicts the character of the Baron throughout the opera.)
The opera has four main characters: the aristocratic Marschallin, her very young lover Octavian Rofrano, her coarse, skirt-chasing country cousin Baron Ochs, and his young prospective fiancée Sophie, the lovely daughter of a rich Viennese bourgeois. Baron Ochs, having arranged with Sophie's father Faninal to combine his noble rank with Faninal's money by marrying Sophie, asks the Marschallin to suggest an appropriate young man to be his Knight of the Rose, who will present a silver rose to Sophie on his behalf as a traditional symbol of courtship. She recommends Octavian. When Octavian delivers the rose, he and Sophie fall in love on sight, and must figure out how to prevent Baron Ochs from marrying Sophie. They accomplish this in a comedy of errors that is smoothed over with the help of the Marschallin.
There are many recordings of the opera, and it is regularly performed.
Time: 1740s, in the first years of the reign of Empress Maria Thérèse.
Place: Vienna.
Act 1
The Marschallin's bedroom
Princess Marie Therese von Werdenberg (the Marschallin, the title given to a Field Marshal's wife) and her much younger lover, Count Octavian Rofrano exchange vows of love ("Wie du warst! Wie du bist"). To avoid scandal, he hides when a small black boy, Mohammed, brings the Marschallin's breakfast. During breakfast loud voices are heard in the garderobe and not the main door; the Marschallin believes that it is her husband who has returned unexpectedly from a hunting trip and has Octavian hide behind the bed. He returns disguised as a chambermaid, "Mariandel" ("Befehl'n fürstli' Gnad'n, i bin halt noch nit recht..."), who tries to sneak away through the garderobe, only to find that the Marschallin's country cousin Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau has unexpectedly entered through that same door to discuss his engagement to Sophie ("Selbsverständlich empfängt mir Ihro Gnaden"), the daughter of a wealthy merchant who has been recently elevated to nobility by the Empress. After boorishly describing his personal pastime of chasing skirts, and demonstrating it on the disguised Octavian, he asks the Marschallin which cavalier he should select to deliver the traditional silver engagement rose to Sophie. She recommends Octavian, and when Ochs sees the young count's picture, he notices the similarities in the count's face to the chambermaid "Mariandel's" and assumes that she is Octavian's illegitimate sister and he even boasts that nobility should be served by nobility, which leads to a confession that he has an illegitimate son working for him. The coarse Ochs propositions the "chambermaid," and, in response, Octavian pretends to be the country maid and leaves at the first chance he gets.
The room then fills with supplicants to the Princess ("Drei arme adelige Waisen"). An Italian tenor sent by the Spanish Ambassador serenades the Marschallin ("Di rigori armato"), while Ochs works out the marriage contract with the Marschallin's notary. Two Italian intriguers, Valzacchi and Annina, try to sell the Princess the latest scandal sheets, and offer their surveillance services to Ochs. Rudely interrupting the tenor's song, Ochs tells the notary to demand a dower from Sophie's family; to no avail, the notary attempts to explain that such is impossible under the law (Ochs confuses dower with dowry). Ochs leaves in fury, but not before employing the two Italians. Amidst all the activity, the Marschallin remarks to her hairdresser: "My dear Hippolyte, today you have made me look like an old woman." ("Mein lieber Hippolyte").
When all have left, the Marschallin, reminded of her own early marriage by Ochs's young bride, sadly ponders her fleeting youth and the fickleness of men ("Da geht er hin..."). By this time Octavian returns (in men's clothes) ("Ach, du bist wieder da"), she has realized that one day he will leave her ("Die Zeit, die ist ein sonderbar Ding"). She tells him so, and despite his fervent vows of love, she knows his love will not last. He is stunned by her mood change and abruptly leaves after the Marschallin asks him to ride beside her coach. She suddenly realizes that she has forgotten to kiss him goodbye, and sends some footmen after him, but it is too late, he is gone. The Marschallin summons her page to take the silver rose to Octavian to deliver to Sophie. After Mohammed departs, Marie Therese stares pensively into her hand mirror as the curtain falls.
Act 2
The von Faninals' home
Herr von Faninal and Sophie await the arrival of the Rosenkavalier (Knight of the Rose), Octavian ("Ein ernster Tag, ein grosser Tag!"). Following tradition, Faninal departs before the Knight appears. Sophie frets over her approaching marriage with a man she has never met as her duenna, Marianne, reports on the approach of Octavian ("In dieser feierlichen Stunde der Prüfung"). Octavian arrives with great pomp, dressed all in silver. He presents the silver rose to Sophie in an elaborate ceremony. Immediately, the two young people are attracted to each other and they sing a beautiful duet ("Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren...").
During a chaperoned conversation, Sophie and Octavian begin to fall in love (in this conversation she reveals Octavian's full name: Octavian Maria Ehrenreich Bonaventura Fernand Hyacinth Rofrano, aka Quinquin in intimacy). Ochs enters with Sophie's father ("Jetzt aber kommt mein Herr Zukünftiger"). The Baron speaks familiarly with Octavian (though they have never officially met), examines Sophie like chattel and generally behaves like a cad, also revealing that Octavian "has" illegitimate family. Ochs's servants begin to chase the maids, sending the household into an uproar. Sophie starts to weep, and Octavian promises to help her ("Mit Ihren Augen voll Tränen"). He embraces her, but they are discovered by Ochs's Italian spies, who report to him. Ochs is only amused, considering the much younger Octavian no threat, but Octavian's temper is raised enough to challenge the bull-headed Baron to a duel. The Baron receives a slight wound in the arm in the fracas and cries bloody murder. As a doctor is sent for, Sophie tells her father she never will marry the Baron, but her father insists she will and threatens to send her to a convent. Octavian is thrown out, and Sophie is sent to her room. As Ochs is left alone on the divan with his wounded arm in a sling, he begins to raise his spirits with a glass of port. Annina enters with a letter for Ochs from "Mariandel" asking to meet him for a tryst. The now recovered and drunk Ochs, in anticipation of his imminent meeting, dances around the stage to one of the opera's many ironic and wry waltzes, refusing to tip Annina, who silently swears revenge ("Da lieg' ich!").
Act 3
A private room in an inn
Valzacchi and Annina have switched alliances and are now helping Octavian prepare a trap for the Baron.
Ochs and "Mariandel" arrive for a rendez-vous. Ochs tries to seduce the seemingly willing chambermaid, though he is disturbed by her resemblance to Octavian. The guilt-ridden baron catches glimpses of the heads of Octavian's conspirators as they pop out of secret doors. A woman (Annina in disguise) rushes in claiming that Ochs is her husband and the father of her children, all of whom rush in crying "Papa! Papa!" As the confusion grows and the police arrives, to avoid a scandal, Ochs claims that "Mariandel" is his fiancée Sophie. Octavian lets the Police Commissioner in on the trick, and the Officer plays along. In the meantime the Baron tries to pull his noble rank to no avail, claiming that "Mariandel" is under his protection. Furious to be enmeshed in the scandal, Faninal arrives and sends for Sophie to clear his and his daughter's name. Sophie arrives and asks the Baron to leave her alone. Just as Ochs is completely befuddled and embarrassed, the Marschallin enters. The Police officer recognizes her, having previously served under her husband. The Princess sends the Police and all the others away. The Baron still tries to claim Sophie for himself after having realized the truth about the Marschallin and Octavian/Mariandel's relationship, even attempting to blackmail the Princess, but is ordered to leave gracefully, salvaging what is left of his dignity. Ochs finally leaves, pursued by various bill collectors.
The Marschallin, Sophie, and Octavian are left alone. The Marschallin recognizes that the day she so feared has come, as Octavian hesitates between the two women (Trio: Marie Theres'! / Hab' mir's gelobt). In the emotional climax of the opera, the Marschallin gracefully releases Octavian, encouraging him to follow his heart and love Sophie. She then withdraws elegantly to the next room to talk with Faninal. As soon as she is gone, Sophie and Octavian run to each other's arms. Faninal and the Marschallin return to find the lovers locked in an embrace. After a few bittersweet glances to her lost lover, the Princess departs with Faninal. Sophie and Octavian follow after another brief but ecstatic love duet (Ist ein Traum / Spür' nur dich), and the opera ends with little Mohammed running in to retrieve Sophie's dropped handkerchief, and racing out again after the departing nobility.


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The Ukiah Symphony Orchestra is proud to announce its 37th anniversary season, once again working in collaboration with Mendocino College to bring to the community a full season of performances at the college's Center Theatre.
Mendocino College will offer its symphony orchestra classes in which both community members and traditional students will enroll as part of the instructional program.
To encourage a love of music, the Symphony has agreed that those under 18, as well as students of any age with an ASB student body card, can attend the concerts at no charge.
The season kicks off with a major fundraising concert performance of Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin at Nelson Family Vineyards on Saturday, August 6th at 7:30 p.m. The 1946 Broadway hit musical originally starring Ethel Merman features Roseanne Wetzel and Pedro Rodelas portraying the fictionalized story of Annie Oakley's romance with sharpshooter Frank Butler.
Our Own Back Yard! opens the season on September 10th and 11th showcasing original compositions by longtime orchestra members Jeff Ives and Clovice Lewis.
Fantasy Suite for Orchestra by Ives incorporates English Baroque fantasia, Balkan folk music and stately dance from Renaissance Europe with lively polyrhythms and Romantic swoon.
The Score by Lewis is a symphony—for a movie that does not exist—featuring a cello solo in one of its four movements which premiered in full in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 6th, under Leon Burke as part of a worldwide "Global Embrace" concert tour.
The program concludes with Joseph Haydn's classical piece Symphony No. 103 in E-flat Major nicknamed "The Drumroll" because of the long roll on the timpani with which it begins. Haydn was a prominent and prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period who is known as "The Father of the Symphony."
Rach III & the New World to be presented on December 3rd and 4th features solo pianist Lawrence Sarabi-Holmefjord on Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, one of the most difficult piano concertos ever written.
Sarabi-Holmefjord and his brother Julius cofounded the Aureus Academy in Singapore, a new music education center inspiring adults to take up a musical instrument for the first time or pick up where they left off as children. The accomplished pianist is quoted as saying, "Everyone deserves the gift of making music; I would make this my mission."
The concert concludes with Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," America's most popular and famous symphony. Dvořák was a Czech nationalist composer who directed the National Conservatory of Music in America in the late 1800s. After listening to Native American music and African-American spirituals, he was able to transfer that nationalist idiom to American soil in this great work.
The Dances of Argentina on February 11th and 12th brings to the stage Bay Area solo harpist Anna Maria Mendietta playing Alberto Ginastera's Harp Concerto, Opus 25.
Mendietta and Marcelo Molina, a U.S.A. National Tango Champion, dance tango numbers accompanied by tangos of Argentina by various composers. The symphony performance concludes with Four Dances from Estancia by Alberto Ginastera.
Free school performances the week prior to the concert are being made available to over 1200 local students.
The Sublime, the last concert of the season on May 20th and 21st, features solo cellist David Michael Goldblatt who has been with the San Francisco Symphony since 1978. He will be playing Joseph Haydn's technically difficult Concerto in D Major.
The Mendocino College Masterworks Chorale concludes this program in a presentation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem, the most performed and well-known work in the chorale repertory.
Adult season tickets for four concerts are $75; season tickets for seniors (65 or older) for four concerts are $65; season tickets for those under 18 or student body cardholders (ASB cards) for four concerts are free! You may go to ukiahsymphony.org to see dates for concerts and more ticket information. To request a 2016-2017 brochure, call 707 462-0236.
Article by Karen Rifkin
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Hiawatha Horse Park hosts the return of Flat Track Racing to Sarnia!
Saturday September 29th 2018 – Final race of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycles 2018 Championship Series.
Hill's Video Productions Mobile crew will be driving to Sarnia, Saturday morning to survey and plan the optical fiber and audio cabling for the 7:00 PM race. This will be the third race this year for Hill's under the direction of Aaron Hesmer of Flat Track Canada.
These races have been commentated live by Brian "FABS" Koster and "TUMBLIN Todd" Vallee. Track side Aaron Hesmer will be interviewing these young riders, finding out where they are from, who is here supporting them at the track and giving them an opportunity to thank their sponsors.
If you missed any of these races you can watch the whole race through FACEBOOK Live.
Welland County Speedway – June 2 – FACEBOOK LIVE
Flamboro Downs – July 28 – FACEBOOK LIVE
Hiawatha Horse Park – September 29 – FACEBOOK LIVE


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The following is reprinted from The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.
(Image credit: NormanEinstein)
The romance of searching for pirate treasure has been celebrated in dozens of stories since Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. But is there really any buried treasure to be found? Maybe so … on Oak Island.
In 1795, a teenager named Daniel McGinnis discovered an unusual, saucer-shaped depression on Oak Island, a tiny island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Next to the hole was an ancient oak tree with sawed off limbs. And, according to legend, a ship's tackle hung from the tree directly over the depression - as if it had been used to lower something very heavy into the hole.
McGinnis was certain he had found buried pirate treasure, and with the help of two friends he began digging for it. Within minutes they hit rock - which turned out to be a flagstone buried two feet below surface. They hit another barrier made of oak logs at 10 feet deep; another at 20 feet, and a third at 30 feet. McGinnis and his friends kept digging - but they never found any treasure and eventually gave up. Still, word of their discovery spread.
In 1803, a wealthy man named Simeon Lynds took up the search. The diggers he hired found another platform at 40 feet, and found several more deeper down. Finally, at 90 feet, the workers found a large stone with strange symbols carved into it. No one could decipher what the stone said, but the workers were convinced they were close to treasure and kept digging. (The stone was later stolen.) At 98 feet deep, their shovels struck what felt like a wooden chest. But the sun was going down, so they stopped for the night. By the time the workers got back the next morning, the hole had flooded to the top with seawater. And it somehow kept refilling, even as the workers tried to bail it out. They never were able to drain the pit enough to finish digging. Like McGinnis, Lynds had hit a dead end.
Franklin Roosevelt and others at the Money Pit.
Lynds wasn't the last person to dig for treasure on Oak Island. In fact, so many excavations have been attempted that the precise location of the original hole - known as the "Money Pit" because so much money has been spent trying to solve its mysteries - has been forgotten because so many other holes have been dug nearby. Even young Franklin D. Roosevelt supervised a dig in 1909 (he followed Oak Island's progress even as president). And the search continues today. Some findings: There's at least some gold down there.
In 1849, treasure hunters sank a drill to the 98 foot level. Like Lynds, they hit what felt like a wooden chest. They dug through the top into what felt like "22 inches of metal in pieces (possibly gold coins)," through more wood, and into another 22 inches of metal. When they pulled the drill back to the surface, three links of gold chain were stuck to it. In nearly 200 years of digging, that's all the treasure that's been found. In 1897, another group of drillers dug down to 155 feet. They pulled up a half-inch-square piece of parchment - but that's not all. They also hit what they thought was a heavy iron plate at 126 feet, but couldn't pull it up.
Money Pit inscription and cipher at The Active Mind
In 1987, an IBM cryptologist finally deciphered an engraving of Lynds' lost stone. The message read: "Forty feet below, two million pounds are buried."
Image: George Bates
Maritime map set (The Oak Island Mystery)
Whoever dug the original pit went through a great deal of trouble to do it. In 1850, explorers resting on a nearby beach noticed that the beach "gulched forth water like a sponge being squeezed." So they dug it up - and discovered it was a fake. The beach was actually a manmade network of stone drains that filtered seawater and fed it into the Money Pit. The drains - designed to flood the pit whenever treasure hunters got close to the treasure - had been buried in sand to avoid detection. The Money Pit may even be protected by poison gas. On August 17, 1965, treasure hunter Bob Restall blacked out and fell into the pit he had dug. His son and four others tried to rescue him, but they also blacked out and fell in. Restall, his son, and two of the workers were killed. The autopsy finding: death by "marsh-gas poisoning and/or drowning."
In 1977, the Montreal-based Triton Alliance, Ltd., a consortium of 49 investors headed by David Tobias, bought the 128-acre Oak Island for $125,000. They have spent more than $3 million digging for treasure. During one drill, Triton's workers found bits of china, glass, wood, charcoal - even cement. But no treasure. Perhaps the strangest incident associated with Oak Island occurred in 1971 when Tobias' partner Dan Blankenship lowered an underwater video camera into a water-filled cavity at the bottom of a shaft. On the monitor, Blankenship suddenly saw what looked like a human hand. Horrified, he called over three crew members, who later verified his story. Asked by Smithsonian magazine about the legitimacy of his hand-sighting, he answered, "There's no question about it."
Oak Island's "treasure," if there is one, could be worth over $100 million. Among the many theories of what the Money Pit could be hiding:
1. The missing crown jewels of France. The Nova Scotia area was frequented by pirates in the 16th and 17th centuries - when the jewels were stolen. The local Mahone Bay takes its name from the French word mahonne, a craft used by Mediterranean pirates. 2. Inca gold plundered by Spanish galleons and later pirated by Sir Francis Drake. A carbon analysis of wood samples recovered from the area dated them back to 1575, around the time of Drake's explorations. However, there is no record of Drake ever having been to Nova Scotia. 3. Captain Kidd's buried treasure. Some believe Kidd buried his treasure there before being extradited and later hanged by the British. Before Kidd was executed in1701, he offered a deal: "He would lead a fleet to the spot where he had hidden his East Indian treasure, if the authorities would put off his execution. The deal was refused - and Kidd's treasure has never been found." There is, however, no evidence that Kidd was ever near Oak Island.
Others have their doubts. Some feel that the Money Pit is merely an elaborate decoy and that the treasure is actually buried in a nearby swamp. Others think it's just a sinkhole. Many doubt whether pirates had the resources and engineering know-how to construct such an elaborate trap.
Similar Money Pits are rumored to have been found in Haiti and Madagascar, although these discoveries have not been confirmed by archaeologists.
|The article above, titled "The Mystery of Oak Island," is reprinted with permission from The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!
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Xiaomi has today announced the Mi 9 Pro 5G at an even in China. The phone is an improvement over the Mi 9 series and includes a series of improvements such as processor upgrade, improved cameras, faster charging, etc. So let's dive in to learn more about the new smartphone.
Table of Contents
Design and Display
Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro 5G features a 6.39-inch full HD OLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection, a 90.7% screen to body ratio, and an in-screen fingerprint scanner for authentication. It comes in two color options: Dream White and Titanium Black.
At its core, the Mi 9 Pro 5G comes with a 7nm 2.96GHz Snapdragon 855 Plus processor (with Snapdragon X50 5G modem) running under the hood that according to the company offers a 15% increase in graphics performance, paired with up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. The phone comes with a 4000mAh battery and supports 30W wireless charging. Xiaomi says the battery on the Mi 9 Pro 5G can be wirelessly charged in just 69 minutes, while a 40W wired charge can fill it up in 48 minutes. In addition, the phone also has 10W reverse wireless Qi charging.
Other hardware specifications for the phone include dual SIM dual standby with a 7 antenna design that covers mainstream 5G bands and a customized L shaped vapor chamber cooling system with 5 layers of graphite sheet that help in cutting down on the heat. Xiaomi says the new vapor chamber cooling system helps in reducing the processor's core temperature by reduced by 10.2 °C compared to the Mi 9.
On the software front, the Mi 9 Pro 5G runs on Android 9 Pie with Xiaomi's newest MIUI 11 running on top.
For optics, the Mi 9 Pro 5G sports a triple camera setup on the rear, which includes a 48MP primary Sony IMX586 sensor with f/1.75 aperture, a 16MP 117-degree ultra-wide Sony IMX481 sensor, and a 12MP telephoto sensor with f/2.2 aperture and 2x optical zoom. The camera also includes a bunch of additional features like ultra-wide shots, moon mode, and AI Skyscaping.
Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro 5G: Pricing and Availability
The Mi 9 Pro 5G comes in four configurations: 8GB+128GB, 8GB+256GB, 12GB+256GB, and 12GB+512GB and is priced at 3,699 yuan (~$520), 3,799 yuan (~$535), 4,099 yuan (~$575), and 4,299 yuan (~$605) respectively. In addition, the 30W wireless charger which Xiaomi is selling separately will cost 199 yuan (~$20). The phone will be available for pre-order in China starting today and will go on sale on September 27.


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Jan Rudy
"The Last Czechoslovak and the First Slovak Fulbright fellow. I was told that after my return from University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1993. Long time ago but it was really wonderful time I spent there. Wish this program could expand to get other people from Slovakia the same chance."
Jan Rudy | professor of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior, Comenius University in Bratislava Faculty of Management


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This week my blog-compatriots have nailed everything I could have hoped to say about the topic of networking. So rather than reiterate their valid points, allow me to squee about the re-release of mine…
Many of you have messaged me to tell me that the short story prequel to my Persephone Alcmedi series Marlboros and Magic was unavailable on Amazon. I discovered that they had kept it from purchase because "Marlboro" is a trademarked name and it is against their policy to allow. (Though it had been allowed to sell for over a year…) So, I've finally got a modified cover, re-edited the text for a few minor rough spots, and re-uploaded it for Kindle. It's the story of how Nana got evicted from Woodhaven Retirement Community. Here's the link:
And here's a snippet:
**formerly published as MARLBOROS & MAGIC
Persephone Alcmedi leaned against the brick wall of the covered entry to Woodhaven Retirement Community. "You know why I'm here."
"Yep." Demeter Alcmedi, or rather 'Nana,' leaned against the opposite side tapping the toe of her untied tennis shoe—untied because her feet were swollen. She dug the cigarette case from the pocket of her white Capri pants, opened it and put a cigarette to her lips. As she flicked the lighter the stern expression on her wrinkled face dared her granddaughter to admonish her.
Seph crossed her arms and fixed Nana with a hard stare. Those little tubes of tobacco were the whole reason Seph was visiting on this late-September afternoon.
She looked Nana up and down. A silver bee-hive hairdo crowned her. As she mimicked Seph's pose, her shoulders sank lower creating secondary rounded shape. Her hips swelled in a generous third curve, producing an undeniable snowman shape. The plus-size tunic with big red cabbage roses couldn't hope to hide it.
Nana's icy practicality and arctic wit combined with her resourcefulness made her a fierce polar bear of an old woman. Therefore, it stood to reason that the heat from the chain-smoked cigarettes was the only thing preventing her from freezing solid.
But the rules were the rules.
"Do you need me to buy you some of those smoking cessation patches?" Seph asked.
"Nicotine gum?"
"No," Nana repeated belligerently.
"Should I hire a hypnotist?"
Nana's arms dropped to her sides in exasperation. "Now shit, Persephone."
"'What' yourself."
"You could stop any time you want." Seph made a decidedly magical hand gesture. "Cast a spell."
With a defiant lift of her chin, Nana looked away.
Seph knew what button to push. "The addiction tougher than you are?"
Nana stamped her foot. "I. Want. To. Smoke." She took another hit, blew the gray results into the air. "I like it. I like what it does. And since I'm paying mightily for the privilege of living in this dressed-up nursing home—"
"It's not a nursing home!" They'd had this discussion a dozen times four months ago when Nana moved into Woodhaven.
Nana harumpfed. "Polish a turd, it's still…a…turd." She punctuated the last few words by pointing her cigarette for each. "I should be allowed to smoke whenever and wherever I want."
"You knew the rules when you moved in here. You agreed. You signed a paper."
Nana smirked. "That's exactly what Mr. Loudcrier said to me yesterday." She mimicked a puppet talking with her free hand. "Blah blah blah."
Persephone recognized the name of Woodhaven's CEO. She hadn't been impressed by the self-aggrandizing ass, but he was in charge and it was his job to enforce the rules. "They have the right to evict you if you don't stop, and trust me, he will. Then where are you going to go?"
Nana gaped at her.
Feeling like she'd won by implying that Nana wasn't going to live with her, Seph pushed away from the wall. "You better think about that before you light up again." She left Nana with that thought and walked to her car without looking back.


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FOLLOWING THE SIXTH SENSE / Kossakowski. Szósty Zmysł.
Program type: alternative medicine documentary
No. of seasons: 3 (Ukraine, Russia, The Balkans)
No. of episodes: 38 x 30′
Produced by Inbornmedia
Rights holder: TTV
Available in Polish
(Original title: Kossakowski. Szósty Zmysł.)
Does the sixth sense really exist? Are there healers capable of perceiving the world and their patients with more than just sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell? Our host visits herbalist, shamans, biotherapists, mediums, spiritual leaders and witch-doctors that local people advise him to see on his way through Eastern Europe. Kossakowski is not afraid of tasting magical potions, being cured by leeches or fire. In order to give you insight into the intriguing world of alternative medicine he undergoes various cleansing rituals, takes part in mystical séances and tries out traditional methods of treatment.


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… is from page 495 of James Otteson's superb essay "Adam Smith and the Right," which is chapter 29 in Ryan Patrick Hanley, ed., Adam Smith: His Life, Thought, and Legacy (2016) (original emphasis):
With the advent of the digital age, however, economic production has been utterly transformed; what constitutes "means of production" has now become broad and open-ended. Accordingly, socialism has had to adapt to the times: rather than owning the means of production outright, it now proposes to centrally regulate people's behavior, and to redistribute portions of their productive output, in preferred directions. Whether realizing socialism's moral goals requires owning the means of production depends, then, on historical circumstances, but what will always be required is to centrally organize political-economic decision making. Without that, there is no socialism; with it, fairness, equality, and community can, it is hoped, be achieved.
By contrast, socialism's antithesis, capitalism, has at its core decentralized political-economic decision making. Its preferred values might be justice, liberty, and individuality (again, properly defined), but it holds that allowing individuals or voluntary groups of individuals to make political-economic decisions for themselves with little state interference is what enables the realization of the values it holds dear. So the former position tends to favor planned patterns of social order, or the correction of unplanned patterns, according to principles and authority centrally derived and administered; while the latter tends to favor unplanned or "spontaneous" patterns of social order that are deferential to what individuals and voluntary groups decide to do and skeptical of what third parties might like to mandate or nudge them to do.


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My goal is for Live Simply Natural to be a resource to help you feel empowered when making food choices. I'm a big believer that eating a well-balanced diet is the best way to maintain good health. So I'm breaking down everything you need to know to unlock the nutritional powerhouse of the most common whole food ingredients. Today I'm sharing one of my fall and springtime favorites – APPLES!
Produce Guide: Apples
Apples are a produce staple year round but especially during the fall. Fall is when apple season really sets its pace, though it gets an early jump in summer with some varieties ready to pick in July. There is no better ingredient to represent autumn than a crisp, sweet-tart apple. The fruit's widespread popularity is reflected in the incredible number of varieties available: In North America alone, there are 2,500 types of apples and over 7,500 kinds are grown around the world. From apple pie to apple salad, they are a fall favorite. Although not all apples serve the same purpose; particular types work better in certain preparations. Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Honey Crisp, and Red Delicious are typically the most common varieties. Mix and match flavors and textures to achieve your ideal combination.
Apples are extremely rich in important antioxidants, flavanoids, and dietary fiber. The health benefits include promoting oral health, maintaining cardiovascular health, a healthy snack for diabetics, improving respiratory health, fighting cancerous cells, preventing osteoporosis, helping keep the gut healthy, maintaining neurological health, boosting energy levels, and enhancing skin conditions while preventing premature aging. You can find red, green, and yellow colored apples. Each contains properties that are essential for your well-being. Red-colored apples are known as a great source of antioxidants whereas green and yellow ones have plenty of quercetin, which is extremely important for your psychological health.
*per 1 cup raw apples, 100g (source)
- Fiber | 3 g (12% DV)
- Protein | 0.3 g (1% DV)
- Carbohydrates | 17.3 g (6% DV)
- Vitamin C | 5.7 mg (10% DV)
- Vitamin K | 2.8 mcg (3% DV)
- Folate | 3.8 mg (1% DV)
- Magnesium | 6.3 mg (2% DV)
- Potassium | 138 g (4 % DV)
- Manganese | 0 mg (2 % DV)
When shopping for apples you rub your finger on the skin of the apple, an overripe apple will feel waxy. Feel for any bruises or soft spots by giving the apple a gentle squeeze. Avoid apples with bruising or obvious signs of decay aren't going to provide the best eating experience. Look at the color, apples with full color have absorbed lots of sunlight which leads to great flavors.
If you don't have immediate plans for your apples then the trick is to key them cold. They give off a ripening gas called ethylene that'll ripen other fruits and vegetables around. That's helpful if you really need that green bunch of bananas to turn yellow. Otherwise, keep apples separate and refrigerate them, which will slow down the release of ethylene. When stored properly, apples, especially the crisper varieties, should keep for several months.
Wash your apple thoroughly in clear, cool water. Do not peel or slice an apple until ready to use as it will begin to brown. Slow the browning by dipping raw, sliced, and/or peeled apples into lemon juice or vinegar and water, or by mixing apples with citrus fruits in a fruit salad.
Looking for more recipes that include celery? Check out our favorites here!
What ingredient do you guys want to learn more about? And if you have a favorite way to eat apples, tag @livesimplynatural or #livesimplynatural so the LSN community can get inspired by your dish too :)


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Star Forward
Get to Know the Orlando Magic's Aaron Gordon
The fourth overall draft pick in 2014, Orlando Magic's Aaron Gordon suffered an unfortunate mid-season injury his rookie year. Now he's back on the court and focusing on the fundamentals of the game in order to help his team score big and help himself stay grounded—but with a 39-plus inch vertical jump, he spends most of his time in the air.
At 20 years old and midway through his second season, Aaron Gordon is one of the youngest players in the NBA. Towering at 6' 9'' and covering the position of small forward, Gordon says height runs in his family. He's part African-American, part Native American and part Caucasian. His great-grandfather on his father's side was an Osage Indian who stood a whopping seven feet tall.
But with great height comes great responsibility. Gordon gave the Magic a scare midway through last season when he fractured a bone in his left foot. Earlier this year he fractured his jaw. But after missing 32 games and surgery in mid-February, Gordon's back. And his blend of size, athleticism, strength and improved shooting gives the Magic a real shot this year.
He says his key to success this season is focusing on fine-tuning his fundamentals. "We have a really detail-oriented coach. Finishing around the rim, screening and boxing out—that's what I'm focusing on right now."
Aaron Gordon Dunks.
The second-year rookie grew up in San Jose, CA, where his varsity career was highlighted by several Division II championship wins and earning a 2011 FIBA Americas Championship gold medal.
For college he committed to the University of Arizona and was named one of the 30 finalists for the Naismith College Player of the Year, named to the All-Pac-12 first team and earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Pac-12 All-Freshman team honors. After only one year, he declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility.
"When I first got here I didn't understand what it was like to be a pro," says Gordon. But, thankfully, he's had a lot of role models in his life. His father, Ed Gordon, was a star of San Diego State basketball and his older brother, Drew, also became a professional basketball player. Not only that, but upon joining the Magic, Gordon found inspiration in playing alongside Tobias Harris, fellow forward who was also drafted early. "Tobias is such a hard worker. He's a great example for me to follow."
Gordon says he wasn't even a little intimidated by his teammates when he first joined. "In order to stand out and succeed in this game, you have to have the right intentions. And these are shown through your actions." To Gordon, the Magic gives everyone on the team a chance to be heard. There's no single vocal leader. "Everyone speaks up a little bit. Everyone has a voice."
Gordon has certainly settled into his role on the team. Like a secret agent, he's becoming known for his ability to go unnoticed until he suddenly explodes to the rim. He's even been dubbed 00AG—for his number 00 and his initials AG.
He's also settled into life in Orlando. "It's a little bit like California," Gordon says. "I really like it. I went from living in one place my whole life in California to a dorm in Arizona to this." Gordon now lays his head in a spacious apartment in downtown Orlando where he likes to blow off late-night steam by taking a run around nearby Lake Eola Park.
"Orlando is an amazing place. It has good mixture of a lot of different cultures and things to do," he says.
For fun, Gordon finds himself venturing to International Drive to go bowling with his teammates at Kings Orlando, going to Epcot, having dinner at his favorite restaurant, Fogo de Chão, or watching the fireworks at Universal. He loves starting his day with Bikram yoga and tearing around town in his black-on-black Jaguar XJL, which he purchased with money from his close-to-four-million-dollar signing deal. But to Gordon, playing in the NBA has little to do with seven-figure salaries.
"I let my money make itself," he says. "Instead of spending, I save it and pretend I don't even have it. Not much has changed. I act like I'm my normal self."